Weiss's stomach leaped into her throat as she sat there, rooted to her seat and frozen in fear. She felt lighter, barely connected to her seat as they dropped in altitude. This was it. After everything she'd been through and managed to survive in Vale, it was a plane crash that was destined to end her life. She didn't even do anything stupid this time!
"Come on!" Ruby said, her voice barely registering. Weiss allowed the girl to pull her to her feet and drag her toward the front of the jet. It was a struggle—Weiss had to grab onto every seat she passed to keep balanced. Pietro was breathing heavily and gripping his armrests tightly. Penny—much respect to her—kept her composure as she comforted him, though even she couldn't completely hide her worry.
The door to the next room opened right before they reached it, in which Winter appeared wearing a parachute.
"The pilots are dead," she said as the plane gave an ominous creak. "Electrocuted by the console. If we want to survive, we need to jump now. There are more parachutes in the back."
"But we don't know how to use a parachute!" Weiss said frantically. Penny was already heading toward the back of the plane in search of more parachutes.
"Then you'll learn!" Winter snapped. "We haven't got much time and there are no other options."
"My semblance!" Ruby said.
"What?"
"I can teleport! I can get me and one, maybe two people to the ground with my semblance!"
There was another creak. Penny reappeared holding a parachute in each hand, trudging her way back up the aisle. The plane shuddered violently and Weiss almost tumbled into the seat she was clutching onto for support. Then, without warning, a crack appeared in the floor beneath them. A second later, the entire jet split in two.
"Pen—!" Pietro tried to cry out, but a coughing fit interrupted him.
The back half of the plane went hurdling away from them, Penny along with it. They could just barely see the parachutes ripped out of her grip before she disappeared from sight. Wind was now whipping around the inside of the cabin, stealing away cups, cushions, and Pietro's golf cap. Winter—with difficulty—marched right up to the edge and stared out into the open sky. Weiss grabbed her wrist as she passed, afraid that she was going to leave her. Winter turned and took just enough time to give a meaningful look, not to Weiss, but to Ruby. Then she wrenched her arm free and dived out after Penny.
Weiss stared at where her sister had been standing, shocked. She felt Ruby take her hand and squeezed back on it for dear life. Ruby pulled her over to Pietro.
"Dr. Polendina!" she shouted, barely able to make herself heard. "Grab my hand and don't let go!"
The next thing Weiss knew, there was a tugging sensation in her gut, and then they were in free fall. She felt Ruby's hand clutched in hers and nothing else. She kept her eyes shut tight and was waiting, praying, for the nightmare to be over.
Another tug, and they were no longer falling. All the momentum they'd been accumulating a second previously was gone in an instant. They were safe.
Weiss felt the cool, hard ground under her back. For a moment, she just laid there, but then her eyes snapped open and she propped herself up on her elbows, peering up at the sky. There was no sign of Winter or Penny, but she could see the front half of the plane plummeting toward the ground. She followed it for about ten seconds until it crashed off in the distance. Whether the impact could be heard from here, she didn't know; her ears had popped a while ago from the air pressure and now all she could hear was ringing.
She lowered herself back onto her back and for a solid minute, she stayed like that, in awe of what had just happened. Were traumatizing, life-threatening events just something that she has to deal with now? How many more would she have to endure before her life could go back to being somewhat normal? She'd managed to go her entire life without a single one, and now she was on her sixth in three months. At this rate, she'd have her own PTSD to take care of before Jaune ever let her heal his.
It was the cold that eventually brought her back to her senses. Fall had only just begun, and they were close to Atlas, which was well-known to have harsher weather. She was just glad it wasn't snowing yet, though that was little comfort with the chill wind biting at her skin. Why hadn't she worn a coat onto the flight?
Weiss got to her feet and properly took in the scenery. They'd landed in a forest, which would put them a good several miles south of Atlas. The evergreen pines had not turned orange like the trees back in Vale's parks, their needles bearing the same thin layer of frost that coated the ground. They definitely wouldn't be able to walk the rest of the way, not in these conditions and not with Pietro missing his wheelchair. But they were close enough that surely their crash wouldn't go unnoticed, which was pretty much the only silver lining in this situation.
Ruby was helping Pietro move so his back was against a tree. Both looked uninjured, but neither of them seemed to be in the best shape. Ruby's left arm was quivering worse than ever and she looked on the verge of collapse. Pietro was once again being assaulted by his throat, but the coughs weren't subsiding as easily as they had done before.
"You okay?" Ruby called over to Weiss, her voice drowsy.
"Okay" was the last word she'd use to describe herself at that moment. But Weiss had actually heard her, which meant her ears had cleared up, so that was something. She was unharmed—physically, at the very least—and safe, which she knew was what Ruby was really asking.
"Yes," Weiss said, getting up and walking over to her, "but you're not."
"Pssh," Ruby said as she failed to stand up, instead stumbling and landing in a sitting position. "I'm fine, totally fine."
"Rest." Weiss put a firm hand on her shoulder, preventing the girl from trying again. "You've never teleported that far before, or with two other people."
"Fine . . ." Ruby said, though it didn't seem she had much choice in the matter. No sooner had she laid back than had she fallen asleep, unconsciously curling up and hugging her arms to her chest.
Weiss pulled Ruby's hood over her head to give the girl a bit of extra protection from the cold before checking on Pietro. His coughs had finally let up and all his focus was on some twigs and leaves on the ground beside him.
"Try to collect some wood and stones, my dear," he said, sounding unusually calm for someone who'd just watched his daughter thrown into free fall without a parachute fastened. "Smoke will make us easier to find. It'd also be best if we're not icicles by the time help gets here."
"Shouldn't we try to contact someone?" Weiss found her scroll undamaged in her pocket.
"If only that was possible."
Weiss was confused by what he meant until she unlocked her device to find the words, "Out of range" displayed at the top of the screen. This, of course, didn't make any sense. They weren't that far away from the city.
"No service?" she said in disbelief. "How can there be no service?"
He had to wait until he finished coughing before he could answer. "I suspect outside interference. Time more to discuss it once the fire's going."
"Right," Weiss said, though she still didn't move. "Do you . . . think they're alright?"
"Certainly. Now the resources, my dear."
She wished she had his confidence. Winter actually had a parachute when she jumped and Weiss was just barely containing her worry.
It took almost half an hour, but with Pietro's patient guidance, Weiss managed to build a functioning fire with the materials she'd gathered and the tinder he'd ignited. She kept glancing over at Ruby as she worked to check on her, but the girl was perfectly fine, except for some slight shivering that just made Weiss want to finish faster. The result wasn't the grandest campfire in the world, but it emitted enough heat to keep them somewhat comfortable and a thin column of smoke that would hopefully be noticeable from the sky.
All the while, her mind didn't stop racing. She couldn't get the words "outside interference" out of her head. All the odds had been stacked against them, almost as if to make absolutely sure that no one aboard that plane would make it off alive. The wings, the pilots, the service—the more she thought about it, the more she had to accept the unsettling truth that what had happened to them was no accident.
"Who could've done this?" Weiss sat on the ground with her arms crossed tightly across her chest, staring into the flames.
"Who indeed," muttered Pietro, his head leaning against the tree as he watched the sky. His voice sounded more hoarse than usual. Weiss wished she could get him some water. Perhaps it wasn't such a blessing that the weather was so clear after all—if it was snowing, they could melt that down to drink.
"Why would they do this?"
The old man said nothing. It didn't matter. Jacques Schnee is nearly murdered, and then two days later, a plane carrying two of his daughters is sabotaged. It didn't take a genius to figure it out. Someone had declared war on Weiss's family. Perhaps it was stupid to come here after all.
It could've been anyone. Her father wasn't exactly the most respectable man alive; he was in prison for a reason. With all the smaller businesses he'd destroyed, political bribes he'd given, workers he'd mistreated, and all the other toes he'd stomped on, it'd be faster to list everyone who didn't want him dead.
Weiss tossed more sticks into the fire as the girl next to her shifted in her sleep. If she were awake, she'd find some way to look on the bright side. Weiss did her best to emulate her way of thinking, and as a result, had to admit that things could be a lot worse. If Winter had managed to catch Penny and get safely to the ground, then it was quite possible that Weiss's decision to come to Atlas had saved lives. If she hadn't, Ruby wouldn't have come with her, and then more than just the pilots could have died . . . two innocent people whose names she'd never even learned. Things could be a lot worse, but they could be a lot better, too.
The unceasing rustling of branches in the wind was eventually broken up by the sound of helicopter blades. Weiss listened intently as it grew louder until she was able to see the vehicle descend and land somewhere nearby. Several minutes later, a group of four soldiers emerged from the trees.
Weiss followed them to the clearing they'd landed in, one soldier carrying Pietro and another carrying Ruby. She was apprehensive to board another aircraft so soon, to say the least, but it wasn't like there were any other options. So she stepped inside and strapped herself in.
"What about Winter and Penny?" she asked as the rotors began to rev back up.
"We've got other teams searching," the one beside her answered. "Our priority is getting you lot to safety."
And sure enough, once they were in the air, Weiss could see two more helicopters hovering low over the treetops. She even saw another column of smoke and thought it could be them, until she realized it was one of the plane's engines burning beside half of a broken wing.
Weiss tore her eyes away from the window and kept them on the floor for the rest of the short flight. That way, she could imagine Winter and Penny had already been found and were in another helicopter not far behind them.
Atlas was a unique city. Being home to Amity Base—the largest military base in Remnant, which also doubles as the headquarters for the Department of Defense—Atlas has no municipal police department. Instead, law enforcement was handled by enlisted soldiers stationed in several smaller bases located around the city in place of precincts. Similarly, all of Atlas's prisons were under the direct control of the military. It was due to these facts that the city sports one of the lowest crime rates in the country, and that vigilantism was almost non-existent there.
The helicopter landed at one of those smaller bases, where General Ironwood himself, the highest-ranking military official for the past decade, awaited them. Weiss had met him before—her Father had invited him over at the manor a couple of times to argue about decisions that affected STC imports/exports—but she had never exchanged more than simple pleasantries with him. This time was no different.
"Miss Schnee. I'm relieved to see you in good health," was all he said to her before moving on to dish out orders to his underlings. Weiss might have imagined it, but he almost seemed a bit distracted.
The three of them were moved to a medical ward to be examined for injuries. Weiss and Ruby were cleared and left to rest—Weiss with a blanket draped over her shoulders and a cup of coffee in her hands—and Pietro was taken into another room for a more thorough analysis. He tried to insist his respiratory problems were pre-existing, but his incessant coughing hindered his arguments.
Weiss's cup was half empty when someone came by to question her about the crash. She was getting so used to recounting near-death experiences that she almost launched straight into it, but then a thought came to her. They'd want to know how they survived without any signs of parachutes or wreckage anywhere near where they were found, but she couldn't tell them. Ruby's semblance was still unregistered. Saying too much would get her into a lot of trouble, so Weiss just mumbled something about "it all happened so fast", apologized, and refused to elaborate until she could speak to Winter.
It probably wouldn't make a difference. This wasn't something that could just be swept under the rug. Ruby's semblance would have to come out into the open and the Civil Anomaly Bureau would get involved. The best they could hope for was that the CAB could be convinced that Ruby had only just discovered her semblance today.
Weiss suddenly stood. If they had any hope at all of passing off that lie, they needed to get everyone in the know involved, including Pietro. She just had to hope she could talk to him before he said anything, if he hadn't already. He had no idea Ruby was unregistered—he might not even understand the full scope of what that meant, being from a different country with different regulations.
Weiss was about to step out into the hallway when she heard urgent voices that gave her pause.
". . . lost a lot of blood. We're bringing her into intensive care."
"Good. I want to receive immediate updates on any changes to her condition."
"Yes, General."
"Please, sir." That was Penny's voice. "Allow me to assist you. My—"
"You've done enough," said Ironwood, not unkindly. "The professionals will take it from here."
Weiss peeked out into the hallway and saw a group of people heading toward her with a gurney. It didn't take her long to realize it was her sister lying unmoving in it, her uniform tattered and bloodstained . . . red matting the white of her hair. Penny's clothes were in a similar state, though she somehow seemed to be wholly unharmed.
"Winter?" Weiss fell into stride alongside them as they passed. "What happened?" she demanded, not caring that she was speaking to one of the most powerful men in the country.
Ironwood halted and turned to face her and Penny, the doctors continuing onward with Winter and disappearing around a corner. "Miss Polendina here should be able to inform you. I want you both to wait back in the ward. All you need to know now is that Winter is presently stable and we believe her life is no longer at risk, though she is still gravely injured and requires treatment. You will be permitted to see her afterward."
"No longer?" Weiss repeated.
"Please, I can still help—" Penny tried to say.
"Your father will be wanting to see you as soon as possible," said Ironwood. "I've sent him word of where to find you. You should be there when he returns."
The man left with a quick gait in the same direction the doctors had gone with Winter, not giving them a chance to protest further. Weiss had half a mind to ignore his instructions and to follow him, but Penny had grabbed her wrist and was trying to lead her back toward where Ruby lay sleeping. In the end, Weiss's desire to stay by her sister's side was overpowered by her need to know how she'd gotten hurt in the first place.
Back in the ward, Weiss immediately rounded on the poor ginger-haired girl, who just happened to be the only other person present to take the brunt of her fury. "What. Happened?"
"Your sister attempted to save me," Penny told her consolingly. "However, when she finally caught up with me, we were already too close to the ground. The parachute opened, but it couldn't slow our descent quickly enough. We landed badly, broke several bones and hit our heads, and she was impaled by a loose branch."
"Impaled?"
"I healed her," Penny quickly continued. "As best I could. I covered the most urgent damage, but there was only so much I could do for everything else given the circumstances."
"What do you mean you healed her?"
Penny held up her own arm and gave it a firm pinch. Weiss watched in amazement as the marks left by her fingernails rapidly faded and then vanished entirely.
"I'm a paragon," Penny said. "My body heals itself at an accelerated rate—that's why I'm perfectly healthy—but I can use it to help others, too, to a certain extent. It's more effective the more I understand the injury. If I could be there for your sister's analysis, I could do more for her. I'm sorry."
"You're . . . sorry?" Weiss gaped at her. "You saved her life!"
Penny smiled. "And she saved mine."
Weiss felt a very fleeting urge to hug her, which was absurd as they'd only just met. Ruby was rubbing off on her too much.
"Dad!" Penny said before Weiss could decide on a more appropriate way to show her gratitude. Pietro had reentered the ward in a wheelchair pushed by the same doctor who'd looked them over earlier. Penny wasted no time in hurrying over to embrace him.
Weiss left them to it and returned to the bed she'd sat on before where she could continue to worry about her sister in silence. A weight had been lifted off her shoulders—Weiss knew she was alive now, though not how long it'd take her to recover. Winter could be up and back to form by the end of the day with the help of Penny's semblance, but there's no way they'd ever allow that. They were in Atlas—one of the last places in Remnant any paragon would go to be treated with respect. That's why Weiss had left in the first place . . . one of the reasons, at least.
First her father, now her sister—two Schnees brought to near death within three days. It wouldn't end here. Weiss had come back for her father, but that would have to wait. If all her family members' lives were in danger, then first and foremost, she'd have to break a promise.
A/N: Credit to my beta readers: I Write Big, 0neWhoWanders, and Bardothren. They're great writers who are a huge help with making this story as good as it can be.
