Howdy folks, how's it going?
Here I am, with the beginning of the end of Volume 1. Like the last one, it is a bit on the short side, mostly because, well, I found it to be fairly heavy stuff as it is. More details at the bottom.
As always, a big shout out to my bud Chaos Productions for his continued assistance, and also congratulations since one of his stories, Strength of an Honest Soul, has recently gotten a TVtropes page. It's damn good stuff, and I highly recommend it.
And as always I own neither RWBY nor League of Legends.
Now, on with the show.
/
"I don't understand why you are making such an issue out of this." Weiss stated, her tone, with a sternness as cold as her icy stare, that Ruby had never before seen on the girl, even back in her meanie state when they had first met. It was plain to see that she would not be swayed from her stance.
"And that is precisely the problem, you refuse to understand!" Blake replied, much more open in her indignant anger as she glared at her teammate, teeth bared in a sneer. It was plain to see she would not budge either.
From his perch on her shoulder, Merle gave a weary sigh, and sitting besides her, Yang couldn't help but glance at the younger girl uncertainly as she looked back and forth between the arguing parties with growing concern.
In the end, and despite Ruby's, admittedly stilted, efforts to defuse the tense situation out in the streets of Vale, the best that she could get out of her teammates was an agreement to a temporary cease-fire, at least until they got back to the privacy of their dorm room. Of course, hours later, the moon already fairly high in the sky, all of them already in their sleeping attire, the two girls were still at each other's throats, their argument escalating all over again as the girl who despised the White Fang with palpable passion and the one who seemed keen on trying to defend them would continue to butt heads in a confrontation that the red-cloaked girl couldn't help but ultimately find meaningless.
"Stop…" The team's leader interjected softly, once again trying to settle things peacefully, making two sets of angry eyes to fall on her, which she didn't even react to. "Agree to disagree?"
"Yeah." Her sister butted in, just as eager to see the discussion over. "Ruby's right. I can understand that this is a… sensitive issue for the both of you, but maybe it'd be best if you just let the matter drop for now? Blowing up like this isn't gonna do anyone any good…"
The two sides were silent for a few moments, seemingly considering the words, then the Heiress gave a little shrug as she threw a contemptuous wave at the raven-haired girl.
"I wouldn't mind, as I don't even see what there is to argue about. It's her you should be asking that." She said imperiously, to which Ruby blinked, Yang winced and Blake predictably bristled.
"I know I shouldn't have expected a Schnee of all people to understand, but you, you take the anti-faunus mentality to a whole other level." The girl with the bow all but growled. "How can you be this flippant, this blind to how your family's unfair practices have been pushing the Faunus to extremism?"
"Because naturally, since I am a Schnee, I have a say in any of that, don't I?" Weiss replied, her words suddenly sarcastic, positively dripping venom. "Because I am a Schnee, of course my father would listen to all of my ideas on how to ruin the lives of our employees, which is obviously a great practice. Because I am a Schnee, I am clearly someone who must be hated and targeted alongside everyone else in the company who's just trying to do their job. Because I am a Schnee, of course I am the root of all the evil that ever befell the Faunus and deserve to be treated accordingly. Gods forbid that I am just one person as caught up in the problem as everyone else as opposed to a convenient scapegoat to people like you that don't see the whole picture, right?"
Blake found herself caught off-guard by the heated rant, and if she was being honest, a part of her could understand where it was coming from. But still, despite everything, she still could not find it in herself to let the matter lie, and thus she latched on to the one thing she found that allowed for a retort.
"The whole picture? What would you know of the whole picture, how could you possibly see it having spent your life cosily up in your mansion back in Atlas? What would you know of being a victim?!" She all but yelled in the heat of the moment.
And that proved to be a mistake.
For the briefest time, a haunting silence ensued, where everyone present besides the white-haired girl could have sworn that the temperature in the room had plummeted. And that was saying nothing of Weiss herself, her cold and uncaring façade cracking to reveal the fury underneath, so raw and glacial that the black-haired girl took a step back in fright.
"I-I'm sorry." Blake stated hesitantly, realizing she may have pushed things too far. "That was-"
"Tell me, Blake." Weiss stated, her voice calm, collected, utterly devoid of warmth. "Do you have any idea how I got this scar?"
"I-"
"No, of course you wouldn't. Let me regale you with the tale, then." The Heiress continued with a brittle, completely false cheeriness. "You see, years ago, when the White Fang's turn to violence first began, my Father received word from the Atlesian military. Tensions were at an all time high after a string of protests turned violent, and apparently there were plans in motion to target our family, which, imagine that, would turn out to be the first of many." She let the silence that followed those words linger for a bit, in an affectation of a dramatic pause. "Alas, Father, ever the shrewd businessman, had thought that to be a possible scenario and had a few contingencies planned. One of which was to send his family to a private hideout, out of the public eye, until things blew over enough that it'd be safe again. And so off we went, me, my sister Winter, and my pregnant mother, on a ship to a secluded, private estate in northern Atlas, where even the Grimm are few in number because of the cold. One would think that we'd have been safe, right?"
The girl reached softly for the scar, the uncomfortable and permanent reminder of that day, and the mock cheeriness drained from her face. For a split second, Ruby could see in her partner's face the sadness, the hurt, that remembering all of this was causing. But only for a split second, because anger was quick to take over again.
"Alas, what Father dearest failed to anticipate, was that the White Fang would see through it. Imagine our surprise when half the crew, men that we thought we could trust, turned out to be White Fang infiltrators. Imagine my confusion when they made their intentions for us clear. Imagine my fear when they forced the ship to crashland in the mountains in the middle of a blizzard. Imagine my terror when I was alone amidst the wreckage with my mother's unmoving body and freezing winds all around me, half blinded by my own blood."
Blake recoiled as if physically struck, her entire body trembling in shock, as she stared and the glaring heiress with a look of pure horror. Yang was little better, a gasp escaping her lips as she looked on in fretting worry, and more than a little pity. Ruby, for her part, simply blinked owlishly as Merle suddenly looked on to the proceedings with alarmed focus.
"I passed out shortly after, of course." Weiss continued, pointedly not deigning to acknowledge her teammates' reactions. "When I woke up again, I was in a medical facility, getting the best treatment money could buy. By some miracle, me and my sister survived the blizzard and were spotted by the rescue parties. Only us." She stressed out. "None but a select few actually know about this, of course. Father didn't want to give those animals the satisfaction of victory, or any reason to grow even bolder. To the world in general, my mother and brother's deaths were chalked up to medical complications during birth, and I have spent my life since witnessing the White Fang, again and again, trying everything they can to get at us, to hurt us, even the slightest bit. So," Here she levelled her icy gaze at her teammate, all the rage of the blizzard itself roiling in those blue orbs. "Pray tell me, Blake, am I not a victim? Am I bratty for not caring for the people who see keen to hate me for things I had no part of? Am I blind for only seeing how their actions have caused as much if not more suffering than what they supposedly went through? Am I flippant for hating the monsters that killed my family?!"
"I, I…" Faced with all the anger that the heiress had finally allowed to slip from her finely honed control, it was all that the black-haired girl could do to stutter meekly, trying desperately to think on something, anything, that she could say, and failing miserably.
"What," Weiss pressed on, her tone one of mock polite surprise. "No angry retort? No indignant attempt to defend your stance on the matter? Very well, then allow me to ask another question."
Her expression once again turned hard as ice, the edge of suspicion glinting in those blue eyes.
"Why, exactly, does it matter so much to you how I see the White Fang? Why are you trying so hard to justify the actions of the murderers even your parents have turned away from?"
…
…
A pin could have dropped on the other side of Remnant and the sound would've been defeaning in the downright oppressive silence that followed. Yang could only look on in concerned confusion and Ruby could only blink as Blake once again reacted to the question like she was physically struck, air escaping her lungs in a wheeze, her eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets and her jaw moving up and down as her mind, too overcome with shock, all but shut down at what she had just heard.
"W-w-wha-?"
"Come now, Belladonna." The heiress scoffed. "You just heard my story. Did you honestly think I wouldn't have gathered as much information about the White Fang as I was able, even with my Father trying to keep me in that gilded cage he called a mansion? Things such as how they actually started out and who actually started it all? I knew Ghira Belladonna had a daughter. It was obvious it was you the moment I saw you on day one, I just didn't say anything because, frankly, I wanted nothing to do with you, and after we became teammates because it seemed like the best way to keep things civil between us. So much for that, right?"
Merle gave a small caw of alarm, and Ruby found herself agreeing. She may not be very good at reading social cues at the best of times, but even she could tell that letting things go on like this for much longer was probably a very bad idea.
"Weiss…"
"Not now, Ruby." The heiress cut the younger girl off, too angry at this point to realise she just did it, her gaze never leaving the other girl, even as she took a demanding step forward. "I'm still waiting on a response, Belladonna."
But no answer was forthcoming, because the trembling girl simply could not think of anything to say, too overwhelmed by everything that had just occurred.
"Today would be preferable, Belladonna." The white-haired girl pressed harshly. "Why are you, the daughter of the White Fang's former leader, endorsing what it has become-wait…"
For a brief moment, Weiss' expression twisted in pondering confusion. Then, to Blake's horror, her eyes widened in surprise, realization, and fury.
"You…" The white-haired girl snarled, and before anyone could react she lashed out, violently ripping the black bow from the other girl's head… leaving her feline ears exposed for all to see. "You're still one of them, aren't you?! You're still White Fang!"
"N-no, I mean, I, I…"
The pressure finally became all to much for the revealed Faunus to bear. Horrified at what she'd learned, aghast at how she'd given her secret away, outright scared of the fury her teammate was displaying, Blake's fight or flight instinct, not for the first time, triggered heavily in favor of the later, and so the girl about turned and made a panicked bee line for the room's exit.
She didn't go far, as Ruby was suddenly there, barring the way, her scythe somehow in her hands.
"Stop." She said, as blankly as ever.
"Ruby, please…" The frantic cat faunus begged, eyes desperately shifting all around, vainly seeking a way past the younger girl. Let me go-"
"No." The team's leader replied. "No running. Stop. Sit."
"B-but-"
"Sit." Ruby insisted as she took step forward, her pale green eye flashing for just a split second, leaving a trembling, frightened Blake with little choice but to comply, slowly backing away before the smaller girl's advance until she hit the border of her bed, furthest from their glaring teammate, and her legs gave out from under her in defeat, looking for all the world like someone whose death knell had rang.
"Excellent work, Ruby." Weiss hissed, her glare never leaving Blake, who at this point was very much afraid for her life and her future, before she made to move for the door herself. "Keep an eye on her while I go inform the-"
Bop!
"-Ow!"
The ensuing quiet cut through the tension in the room like a scythe cuts through wheat, as all the girls present stared at their team leader with wide, uncomprehending eyes, tears at the edges of Weiss' in particular as she gingerly rubbed her head, where the younger girl had hit her with her weapon's blunt side.
"What are you-?!"
Bop!
"Ow, stop that!"
"No, you stop." The younger girl replied simply. "Stop both, sit both."
"What are you even-?!"
"Sit." Ruby once more stressed, her eye once more flashing, and the heiress promptly grew quiet, primly sitting down in the nearest bed, feeling much like a kid before an adult who was laying down the law.
In the ensuing silence, the younger girl, one hand on her scythe and another to her waist, looking against all odds like a scolding parent, shifted her gaze briefly in between her two previously arguing teammates, both of whom flinched slightly at the eye contact, and nodded to herself.
"Good." She mumbled. "Now, talk."
Their current animosity briefly forgotten, the two arguing teens couldn't help but glance at each other in confusion, each finding the other to be just as clueless about the current situation.
"What… what do you want us to talk about…?" Blake ventured hesitantly.
"Not me." Came the reply, along with faint traces of annoyance in the red-cloaked girl's unimpressed, dual-colored gaze. "Each other."
…
"…What?" Weiss eventually said, her tone quickly transitioning from flat incomprehension to shock. "Are you really telling us to just, what, talk this out?"
"Yes." The team's leader confirmed with a nod.
"…You can't be serious." The heiress breathed out in disbelief, jabbing a finger in the faunus girl's direction. "This… miscreant has spent this whole time trying to hide that she was a Faunus from us. And she just tried to bolt when I accused her of being White Fang!" She spat out the words like they were something disgusting. "The innocent don't try to run, Ruby. What can there possibly be to talk about?!"
Blake made to desperately interject, but she was promptly cut off, and against all expectations it was not by the incensed white-haired girl.
"Knew she was." The younger girl stated, with all the deadly seriousness of someone commenting about the weather, once again becoming the sole focus of very surprised stares. "Never cared. She's teammate. Teammates talk if trouble. So, talk."
"You," The faunus in the room floundered, not sure what to make sense of this new revelation. Was everyone here aware of what she'd been desperately trying to keep secret?! "You knew…? Why didn't you say anything…?"
"Obvious faunus." Was the reply, somehow in its blankness indicating that, had it been anyone else talking, they'd have been rolling their eyes. "Rest new. Said before, not matter. Have secrets, none my business. But matter now. Weiss, angry. Blake, scared. Facts out, but not all. Talk more, work it out."
"You're damn right I'm angry!" The white-haired girl exploded, finally loosing any pretense at control over her roiling emotions. "I came to Beacon hoping that I could, for even the briefest of times, put the Schnee name and the White Fang behind me, and just live my life on my own terms for once, without being the heiress of the company or the target of the Faunus' discontent. And now I find out one of my teammates is a White Fang infiltrator and that my Team Leader, my own partner, was somehow aware and kept it from me all this time. And now, you have the gall to try and suggest we settle this through dialogue? You who can't even speak straight?!"
Yang, so far silent and increasingly more worried as the argument ensued, suddenly gasped in shock, eyes widening panickedly as the harsh words registered. And a sepulchral, almost unnatural silence followed. Ruby, as ever, stood before the outburst like a mountain would stand before the wind, her only outer reaction being a slight tilting of her head, even as upon her shoulder, Merle glared at the white-haired girl.
Weiss, for her part, found the words she intended to follow with dying in her throat as she felt the soul-piercing stare of those twins mirrors of liquid silver and pale green that were the younger girl's eyes, and for reasons she could not fathom, she felt a chill run up her spine, a brief moment of raw, primordial fear of the strange, almost inhuman presence she glimpsed there…
… And then the moment passed, and Ruby's lips formed a firm line, and the blank apathy on her face gave way to a look of effort.
"I don't talk normally…" The words were not mumbled, as if they were half-dreamed. They were clear, concise, and strained, the voice that spoke them calm, collected, but raspy, almost gurgling in a way that spoke of lack of use or practice. "…because it is… difficult to do so… with brain damage. What… is your excuse?"
Weiss recoiled at the question, both her and Blake thrown for a loop by their leader's simple admission, their feelings of anger and fear washed away before the surprise of this newest revelation, neither having any idea of what they should do or how they should react, and thus Ruby continued unimpeded, her sister looking on sadly.
"It's very easy… to take the simple things… for granted. But I will not… see you hating each other… when it could be prevented. I knew she was a faunus… I didn't know about the White Fang… And I don't really care. She heard you… now it's your turn. I don't like forcing others either… but you have forced me to be… the adult here. You are going to… act like reasonable people… listen to what the other has to say… and work these stupid issues out… and nobody is going to… leave this room… until we have… reached an agreement."
Her decree issued, the red-cloaked girl all but collapsed into her bed, slumping with her back to the wall, her scythe help softly across her lap, looking genuinely tired from the sheer exertion of speaking. Her piercing, expectant gaze, however, never lost its edge, nor did it ever leave the targets of her words, who just sat there, completely stumped.
"I-it's true." The duo's attention turned to Yang, the blond's eyes downcast as if to avoid theirs, her voice thick with regret. "There… there was an accident, when we were younger. Ruby was lost in the woods and, something happened… she's had trouble speaking ever since…"
She didn't see how her sister's attention focused on her, her porcelain pale face giving nothing away.
…
…
After a long, long period of silence, it ended up being Weiss who first responded, heaving a loud, weary sigh.
"Fine, I suppose we can try it your way," She relented, anger bleeding out of her voice to give way to tiredness, before she once again directed a glare at the cat faunus, although on more expectant and distrustful than outright murderous. "Allright then, Belladonna, explain yourself. I'm listening."
Blake for her part, simply could not believe it how things had developed. The absolute worst case scenario of her secret getting out had just happened, and yet here she was, not forced, or perhaps it would be better to say not allowed, to run for her life, but said life, and future, also no longer in any immediate danger, all thanks to the quick and completely unexpected intervention of her weird, terrifying, confusing team leader. At this point, she honestly didn't know whether she should laugh or cry at the sheer weirdness of it all.
However, while her neck was tentatively saved from the chopping block, the black-haired girl was smart enough to know she wasn't out of the woods yet. In hindsight, and much as she was loath to admit it, she couldn't fault Weiss for her anger, not after what she had just learned (and wasn't that a bitter pill to swallow…) and her own panicked reaction definitely didn't paint a good picture. And even if after all this the thought of letting the truth out, and whatever the consequences to said truth might be, terrified her more than anything else, at this point she had no choice, no other glimmer of hope of defusing the situation. The cat was out of the bag, in some ways literally, and Blake needed to plead her case here and now because she wouldn't be getting another chance.
And so, breathing out through her nose in a desperate attempt at soothing her fraying nerves, the revealed faunus begun doing just that.
She explained her youth, working hard with her family to improve human/faunus relations. Her frustrations at the lack of progress. Her foolish decision of staying and trying to make a difference when Sienna Khan took over and the violence began. Her increasing worry and fear as she finally realized for herself their slow descent into extremism. Her breaking point, when could no longer bear the disregard for innocent life. Her turning her back and just trying to get away from it all. And her arrival to Beacon, the only path she had felt she could take…
"Yes." She ultimately said, somehow managing to stop herself from stammering. "It's true, I used to be part of the White Fang, both the old and the new one. And I will admit, I did some… unsavoury things, because I foolishly believed it was the right thing to do, to make things better for everyone."
She saw how her teammate was looking on, seemingly having taken a page out of their team leader's book and just staring unnervingly passively throughout all her explanation, with not a word out of her mouth. Not bearing to see that look anymore, the faunus lowered her head.
"And I know at this point you have no reason to take my words at face value," Her tone grew pleading, desperate, and tears begun pooling at the edge of her eyes despite her best efforts at self-control. "but please, believe me, I'm not with them anymore. I never killed anyone, I walked out precisely because it was getting harder and harder to do that, and I didn't come here undercover to target you. I… I am sorry about your family. I didn't know about what happened to you, none of the people I worked with knew. And I am sorry that I made assumptions and let my temper get the better of me. I didn't even know you'd be here until I saw you on the first day! I came to Beacon because I wanted a second chance too! I just wanted to have a chance to make up for my mistakes and get a new lease on life. Please, please believe me…"
For a long, long while, Weiss said nothing, a stony scowl taking over her features at hearing the desperate plea, as she sat there on the bed and somehow made it look like she was the judge, about the device on the disguised faunus' entire future, the later growing increasingly more nervous at the silent treatment.
From a bit further away, Yang looked ack and forth between the two of them, nervous anticipation radiating of the blonde as she fervently prayed for a peaceful resolution to this ordeal, for their team to not break and shatter due to this argument. And Ruby simply sat, watching unblinking as the minutes ticked by with all the vigilance of a gargoyle.
Ultimately, it was the later that broke the silence.
"I believe." The red-cloaked girl murmured, her tone downright sleepy, making her black-haired teammate raise her head, her yellow, almost feline eyes shining with tears, surprise and relief.
Weiss, for her part, threw a short glance at the younger girl, then once more breathed out a long sigh.
"Fine." She said, her tone spent, her shoulders slumping as she dropped the imperious, rigid position she'd sat in. "Against my better judgement… I agree with Ruby's assessment. I believe you too."
Blake almost felt faint at the words, releasing the breath she didn't realize she'd been holding for an almost unhealthy amount of time.
"Thank you, I-"
"Save it, Belladonna." The white-haired girl cut her off curtly. "I believe you, but that doesn't mean I trust you. Honestly, at this point I'm just… too tired to care. This conversation is over, and it's getting late. Have a good night."
With that, she lied down and turned her back on them all, making it clear she was done with all of them.
Yang saw this, and then turned to look back at her own partner, who sat, despondent at the harsh rebuke, eyes sad, and yet resigned.
"She does make a point." The blond ventured, giving a small, awkward smile as the faunus' attention turned to her. "It is getting pretty late, and this has taken a lot out of all of us." Her gaze shifted to her little sister, and for once, found her still in that slumped, doll-like position, but with her eyes closed, a very soft, nearly imperceptible rising and falling of her chest the only indication that she was still alive. "It'd probably be better if we called it here."
"…Yes, you're right." Blake ultimately replied, then hesitated. "Yang, I…"
"I know, Blake." The blond cut her off, her smile turning sad, and her tone slightly hurt, nearly making the faunus wince. "We'll talk more about this. Just… not now, ok?"
Her partner, who she'd kept in the dark all this time, was still willing to give her a chance after all of this mess…
"Ok. Good night." She replied, not feeling in the right to say anything else, the blonde just smiling another stilted smile at her before lying down too.
And so Blake found herself alone in the team's room. Tentatively, her eyes glanced towards the door, that small, cowardly voice in the back of her head wondering whether it wasn't too late to walk away…
Ruby's crow perched itself upon the door's handle, its beady black eyes staring at her in something that almost seemed like reproach, before it settled itself in for the night.
And Blake shook her head to quiet that voice, finally lying down herself. Things going forward were going to be difficult, but she'd given the faintest of chances, and for once she was not going to ruin it. Not anymore than she already had.
/
And so goes the first act of Volume 1, and some confirmations to this being firmly the most AU! Setting in my RWBY stories.
A few things:
-Yep, in this story, Mama Schnee, and by proxy Whitley, are long dead. The circumstances behind this event, which also caused her fear of flying, are of course, more complex than Weiss herself knows…
-Yes, Ruby has brain damage, and that is why she speaks as she speaks. Now, as a bit of a disclaimer, I am no neuroscientist. My research into the matter were simply to confirm that yes, brain damage can cause speech and language issues, but I didn't go into much detail on the specifics. This was mostly just one way of showing that, whatever happened that night with Ruby and Fiddlesticks, it wasn't just a convenient power up. There were physical, mental and spiritual consequences…
Next chapter, if all goes well, should see the proper end to the ensuing debacles, and I hope you're all looking forwards to it.
But before that, and a bit of good news to you guys, next month, there'll be a double update, one for Beneath a Broken Moon and another for 'Ere We Go, Pluz Ultra.
Cya all on the next ones.