Weiss Schnee
"Created... Grimm...? But... Grimm have always been-" The history had been destroyed?? "How could you even know-" How old is Ozpin?
"Do I want to just believe him...?"
"As much as I'd love to answer all your questions... I feel that it's unnecessary for now. The current issue is more pressing." Current issue? More pressing??
"Someone made Grimm and your telling me that-"
"Calm down Ice Queen Junior..."
"What did he just call me??"
"Yeah dosent sound as good... anyway, Oz is right. Grimm aren't the thing we're focusing on right now. Who made them or if there made dosent change much unless she decides to act, and she hasn't in the last three hundred years at least."
"She's still alive...?" Weiss muttered in horror.
"Yes... Dragons are quite resilient creatures... there one of the few creatures that don't die of old age." Ozpin took a sip from his cup like it was no big deal.
"She's a Dragon too?? Wait... Dragons aren't extinct!?"
"Specifically She's the Grimm Dragon... Dragons are so powerful that each have there own title... Ice Dragon, Fire Dragon, Holy Dragon-"
"Holy Dragon?"
"-and some of them have been called way weirder things. Though, the title frees up if one of them dies... so all of the titles except one are available right now... to be honest? That's the real reason everyone's rushing to be the first to get the Dragon Formula... all that power plus a free title... and if your lucky you'll get one of the more powerful ones." Qrow rested his head on the table, clearly not sure what to do with himself without anything in his flask.
Weiss knew about titles. They were more then just words. More like magical enchantments that picked and chose there bearer... the Harbingers were the most powerful example, though nothing was stopping someone from having multiple titles...
Weiss briefly considered the thought of someone with all four Harbinger titles... she felt a shiver pass through her whole body.
"So... what is the current issue?" She turned to Ozpin, who turned to Qrow, so Weiss followed his gaze.
"You can't tell Ruby." He didn't lift his head as he spoke, and Weiss was exasperated.
"She deserves to know that-"
"What she deserves to know dosent matter... what matters my promise to a dead woman..." He raised his head with a groan, he kept his eyes closed, finally looking a little serious funnily enough.
"...Ruby's mother?"
"Summer... her name was Summer. She had Silver eyes too, and she knew what they were. She also knew that certain people would want to kill her for having them." Weiss clenched the edge of her dress tightly under the table... the idea of people going after Ruby... but Penny could keep her safe... right?
Seeing Qrows power today... hearing about people stronger then him...
"Ruby is... shes safe. No one can touch her. Your her uncle, she has my support, and her sister and her wife are legendary Hunters in there own right-"
"I know. But we can't be around her all the time... and before you mention the Homunculus, I got a pretty good look at the barriers she makes... there strong. Like, really strong. But if I went all out I could get through it, and there are stronger people then me out there."
"...your sister I'm assuming... and that Dragon..."
"Salem. Her name is Salem." Ozpin cut in and was still clutching Qrows flask... Weiss finally noticed the Runes on the outside. Was it transmutation or did it turn mana into alcohol? Questions for later...
"Even that chick with the Gold eyes could probably get to her if she wanted to... her friend too, but that's more of a hunch."
"This 'Neo' certainly is interesting... ive never heard of Pink eyes... the most likely option is a mixture of white and red but-"
"Why only the one eye?" Weiss felt like she had just faded into the background as they started this discussion for what looks like not the first time.
Ruby still deserved to know... didn't she? Even if people finding out was dangerous, she should be allowed to know that she's in danger... If she did know then... how would Ruby react? Would she be happy about being special? Happy her mother kept this from her, even after death? Happy her uncle had kept this secret, happy Ozpin only believed in her because of her eyes?
"Would she think I already knew...? That... I only believed in her because-"
Weiss shook her head. Ruby wasnt like that. If Weiss told her, Ruby would probably believe her even more. But...
She looked at Qrow again. If he didn't want Ruby to find out, if he wanted to keep Summers secret... what would he do if Weiss spilled the beans? It might have been different if she hadn't known about it being a secret, but Qrow didn't seem too forgiving... she needed something... a way to tell Ruby. A way to keep Qrow from getting angry at her...
That form of his from earlier was definitly going to visit her in some nightmares...
"What would it take for you to let Ruby find out?" She butted into there conversation, but frankly she didn't care. Qrow turned to her with a tilt of his head.
"If I knew for a fact that she was safe. Even if I was around her twenty-four seven I still wouldn't consider that safe enough."
"What if she was a Dragon?"
"What."
"What?" She looked between Ozpin and Qrow. "You didn't tell him what Ruby's researching?"
Well, add another thing into the very long list of things Weiss had found out today.
"Ozpin can use Holy magic... and apparently Qrow has no qualms with attacking his employer..." She sighed as she slipped into her bedroom, the space felt so lonely now... It always did on days she had gone to see Ruby...
"Which is nearly everyday..."
"At least they didn't destroy anything..." In truth, the fight had been more of a trading of flexing power... the fact that Ozpin could somehow match the Harbinger of Death in that was something worth remembering, even if Qrow probably wasn't going all out.
After changing into her pajamas she flopped onto her bed, a habit she had picked up after seeing Ruby do it so much. The bed was comfy... mostly. It hadn't felt right since...
Weiss felt the blanket move and something enter the other side of the bed. She refused to open her eyes, too tired and too annoyed at the fact that she was still awake to bother looking out at the moonlit room. The form next to her settled and Weiss shuffled closer, wrapping her arms and legs around the source of heat. Her body fit like it was a mold, and she felt a set of arms wrap around her in response, a light kiss being pressed to her head as they embraced. Now she could sleep... now she was safe and with the one she loved... and yet, she opened her eyes anyway, looking up and staring into those silver eyes. She moved her head up, wanting a kiss goodnight, as they did every night... she knew that, even if she couldn't remember them.
That was when Weiss had woken up. Just before the kiss... just before she could claim that moment... even if it wasn't real, she couldnt have that moment in the real world after all.
Maybe that's why her dream had ended, she knew what Ruby's warmth felt like from the few hugs they had shared, but... how could she even begin to imagine what a kiss felt like?
She sat up on the bed, her hand moved to her lips and she touched the bottom one gently with a finger.
"I wonder if Penny has kissed Ruby..."
She groaned and moved her hands behind her head, undoing her ponytail and letting her hair down, she layed back down on her back this time and looked up at the wooden frame of the bed. Jealousy wasn't a good colour... she knew that, she was pretty sure everyone knew that.
She liked Penny. She would never deny that, the girl was pure and kind, a soul that could never deserve to be hurt... yet Weiss always found herself wanting to- She groaned again. Her thoughts felt out of control... she couldn't organise the images in her head or the voices that filled her mind...
Trying to distract herself by thinking of Ruby didn't help... she kept seeing the girl next to Penny... she couldn't stop seeing the pair... she squeezed her eyes tightly and tried to force an image of Ruby on her own... Ruby smiling at her. Ruby going on her lovely magic talks... Ruby-
Her mind had flashed her something even worse... an image of Ruby and Penny kissing...
She flipped her blanket and crawled under them, covering herself completely as she sighed. She turned her mind to her memories of today, the image of Qrows apparition of Death. Once that entered her mind again...
Weiss didn't really sleep that night. But she was haunted by something she had faced already, rather then something she hoped to never face.
"Breathe Weiss... breathe..."
The ringing of metal filled her ears as another seemingly invisible slash connected with her weapon, she let out a grunt of pain as her body moved to the side to keep a hold on it's handle. A loud crash sounded next to her and she set her eyes back forward to her opponent, a large blade sunk in the ground next to her. Though perhaps large wasn't doing it justice.
She readied her rapier once more, the runes running down the blade glowing as she carefully thought through her options. She struck an intimidating presence, her combat outfit was efficient and graceful In design, yet was made with more Dust then most people could even afford. Her weapon oozed with magic, the blade having been forged by some of the finest craftsman in Atlas. And of course, the Arma Gigas behind her.
The Knight-like golem filled her with confidence, it wasn't quite a summon but it followed her orders and protected her automatically. The twelve foot tall Knight wielded a greatsword of equal proportions, and it was a scarily fast fighter.
But not as fast as her opponent. This was Weiss at her peak currently... and still all she could do was barely block or dodge and hope the Gigas connected with a counter... so far those efforts had given less then ideal results.
"We may stop whenever you like sister." If that was Winter's version of taunting... well, it annoyed Weiss all the same.
Her sister had still yet to transform... she couldn't even force a half transformation from the elder Schnee... it made her feel weak. She hovered her hand over the Iron Schnee Sigil that rested on her hip, it was small enough to fit in her palm, and it felt electric to the touch... she still had quite a bit of mana left.
She considered her options... Ozpin may have improved many of this castles features over the years, but the training room was rather lacklustre. A very large open space, but no means of creating different types of battlefields... so no cover or chance to set a trap that might even the playing field.
Weiss's Affinity was Ice magic... but she couldnt cast magic, so she had to depend on a Sigil, which didn't use her mana so she couldn't count on her manas incensed effectiveness with ice magic... she still did have her own skill with the element but... using Ice against someone with a greater Affinity for it then herself? Who also happened to be an Elemental of said element? Pretty bad idea.
The obvious answer was fire magic... but Winter was rather adept at countering that. Not that she needed to show her true skill or power in this circumstance.
Winter had magic... that very simply meant that she was much stronger and much faster then Weiss. Her attacks were so quick they seemed invisable, and if her sword wasn't practically indestructible Winter's blade already would have gone straight through it... Winter was going easy on her.. it was obvious and didn't need to be said.
Truthfully Weiss was thankful for that. She wanted training, not several broken bones.
Still... Weiss was rather observant, so she had one edge on her sister.
Winter's foot twitched, it wasn't even a centimetre of movement but Weiss registered it and changed her guard before Winter even disappeared. The feeling of the wind being knocked out of her lungs was all Weiss could register as she was forced back by the sudden blow to her blade. Winter was aiming for her weapon, she could have simply stepped around her guard if she wanted, but this is how Winter always trained with Weiss.
She would commit to any attack she decided to do. She had plenty of time to react to any defenses Weiss might throw up, but she never avoided them if Weiss had managed to protect herself in time.
The Gigas wiffed another slash and Weiss felt her breath return after a few moments, with Winter standing exaclty where she had been before... Weiss could have sworn she saw a small smirk for a moment.
"Your improving Weiss. That much is clear. I think that's enough for-"
"Winter. If I may be so bold..." She readied her weapon once more. "For just one attack, show me more."
"Your asking me to come at you with power?" Weiss simply nodded in response and Winter sighed.
"Very well, but be ready to answer why once it is done." Winter's skin flipped from pale to white in a breath. Weiss felt the rooms temperature drop to near freezing and gripped her blade harder.
Winter's eyes now featured black sclera, and glowing light blue centres. Her hair, what little of it was loose, seemed to flow like it lacked gravity. Long streams of an almost fabric like substance drew out from multiple points all over her body, they slowly danced in an invisable wind, also exempt from gravitys effects.
A half transformation. Weiss had only seen it a few times. It was an increase of power in every way. Speed, strength, perception, magic ability. It also raised her Affinity with ice magic... as if she needed it to be any higher.
Weiss took a deep breath, the cold air stung on the way down, but she settled on a face of determination, ready for the blow.
Or she thought she was.
While the other attacks had been invisible, Weiss couldnt even register that she had been hit at first. Her blade flew from her hand and her body followed in momentum, time seemed to slow down as she watched her rapier stab into the wall of the training room, with her following not far behind.
The blast of speed and cold wind finally made a sound just before Weiss hit the wall, though she hit a different wall then expected.
She let out a groan as the cold arms wrapped around her and she slowly drifted down in Winter's grasp... they had been about five metres off the ground, and Winter loved showing off that she could fly in this form... Winter's skin was below freezing in temperature though so she'd rather not be hugging her sister at the moment!
"Are you alright?" Weiss managed to get out of her sisters hold and huffed as she took a step away.
"I'm perfectly fine." It had hurt a little bit... not as much as it would have if she actually hit the wall though.
"I'm sorry if that was too much sist-" Winter was cut off by a loud bang and Weiss quickly wiped around to look at her again. The arma gigas hadn't been called off yet, its fist had flown straight into Winter in an underarm punch that grazed the floor.
Weiss looked horrified for a moment... before she got a better look. The Gigas's fist had stopped before connecting with Winter, taking a step around the fist, Weiss could see why.
Winter's hand was outstretched, having blocked the punch with a single arm. Her body looked almost glass like and Weiss could feel the temperature drop to below freezing. Winter's hair was letting out snow flakes, and her eyes glowed so brightly that she couldn't even see her sclera anymore. The wisps of ice like fabric that generated from her body where much longer now, they seemed to move almost like they were alive.
A full transformation... Weiss took a step back.
"Sister. If you would call off your golem please. I'd rather not destroy it." Weiss nodded and quickly moved over to the Gigas's legs, needing to be close to speak the deactivation command.
When the golem collapsed back into one of the slots for her Scroll, she turned to her sister with an embarssed expression... Winter just smiled at her as she returned to her human like form.
"I'll admit, it I wasn't expecting that."
"It wasn't exaclty planned... I just forgot to call it off.." Winter shook her head.
"Maybe you can view it as a bad thing, but I can see your progress. As a human you can only do so much, but if you ever need to fight someone with magic you can hold your own even just a little bit. Most people won't be expecting A human, let alone a princess, to fight back." Winter approached and wrapped Weiss in another awkward hug, it was familiar feeling, the warmth only coming from the meaning behind it rather then the actual temperature of her body. "Weiss... why did you want to train with me today? I'm sure we could have found a better teacher for you."
"You're one of the only people I trust Winter... when you come at me I'm not scared. I know you wouldn't actually hurt me, and that let's me act... even knowing i can't actually do anything..." Her grip around the elder Schnee grew tighter.
"Weiss... are you alright?"
"Winter... I don't know what to do..."
"I will help you in any way I can Weiss. You just have to tell me. Let me help." Cold strength, a support beam. Winter's comfort always came in that form, there father had done a lot of damage as Winter was growing up. It was only thanks to Winter's efforts that Weiss hadn't become the same.
"Winter I... I'm in love with Ruby..."