Chapter 41: Snow Day talks
Time frame shift: Volume 7 - Team VIEW Year 1
Character Change: James Ironwood-Viralious
Location: Atlas Academy: Training room
It had been a few days since Team VIEW returned from their mission and things had been slow. They luckily had managed to keep the truth of what happened under wraps, but didn't mean that things went perfectly for them. Headmaster Ironwood had called both Viralious and Winter in separately to once again hear their reports after Lute gave his report on injuries to learn more details the pair was unwilling to discuss while Jaquces was there.
As for classes and recovery, since first-years were still on missions they were glorified study halls with them training on the side. Viralious had basically fully recovered and was running through rudimentary drills with his dual blades. Slashing with a horizontal cut from his left blade before he drilled forward with his right blade into the empty space ahead of him. No bits of pain emanated from his side signaling he was basically healed… All that would remain is a small scar signaling where the bullet entered.
Stopping, Viralious lowers his blades before turning to the doorway and addressing the person standing there, "You know you don't have to stand there while I do drills… I doubt watching me swing at the air is that entertaining." He states in a joking tone.
"I could find less entertaining things… But I was just waiting for you to finish." Winter says walking from the doorway towards the sparring ring.
"Alright well what brings you here? Semblance training? Study chemical elements? Wanting to go get lunch?" Viralious jokes.
Winter rolls her eyes, "I came to take you up on your offer."
Viralious blinked in confusion, "What offer?"
Winter sighed, "You offered to help me fix my weapon, the spare metal and parts just came in this morning."
Viralious nods before sheathing his weapon, "Alright, let's get to it then." Winter nods and the two walk to the mailroom.
Ah, the Mailroom of Atlas Academy, one would expect it to be the most high-tech mail system known to man. Unfortunately, it was one of the least funded areas of the school… perhaps only behind the career planning department…
The room looked much less high-tech then the rest of the campus… it honestly looked less like a part of Atlas and more like something he would have seen at Signal. The place had the normal gray look of Atlas but the surfaces weren't clean and futuristic, they were drab plaster and tacky carpet that showed obvious spills of unknown substance.
The workers were automated robots with a small keypad that lagged presses for a good three seconds making it a nightmare to actually put in your package number to retrieve it. It was a wonder how the system hadn't collapsed yet…
Winter annoyingly finally was able to enter her package number and the old rusted robot turned and walked into the backroom with audible creaks and joints that desperately needed some form of lubricant.
"Why don't they just connect this to the Snow Shoe Shipping system… it would be a lot easier." Winter sighs in frustration.
"Probably because the general wants to keep the military and the SDC as separate as possible." Viralious responds and winces when he hears the sound of boxes falling, "I'm hoping that's not your order."
Winter sighed, "Hopefully everything is fine…" The decrepit robot slowly walked back into the room holding a white box adorned with the SDC logo. Placing it down on the counter, Winter goes to pick it up when Viralious says, "I can carry it if you want."
Winter gives a small laugh, "And they say chivalry is dead."
Taking that as a yes, he picks up the box and is surprised by how light it is, "Uh, Winter this seems a bit light to be parts for fixing a weapon."
"Yeah, that's part of the point. My saber is lightweight and simple allowing for quick movements. Not having a firearm to weigh it down helps too." Winter responds confidently.
Viralious laughs, "Yeah I understand that part… My old weapon didn't have SMGs."
Winter raises an eyebrow, "You don't talk about your old weapon much… I've only seen it in that video Basil showed you passing the exam at Signal."
Viralious shrugged or at least as much as he could while carrying a box, "I just changed weapons for a reason… besides I don't really need to tell much of how I fought with a scythe before switching to dual blades…"
Winter nodded, "I guess that's fair…How different is it fighting?"
"Well I can say that if I picked up a scythe I would be better than with the blades no questions asked." Viralious responds truthfully, "But that's to be expected I trained with that for a hell of a lot longer. Though I find it less acrobatic and exhausting with what I have now."
"How can it be less acrobatic, you do flips and spins all the time." Winter deadpans.
"Yeah I did those with the scythe too but had to shift weight constantly in my hands to prevent one of the heads from slashing into me." Viralious answers
"It's probably lighter now also." Winter points out.
"Eh, I doubt it… these have SMGs in it to weigh them down." Viralious jokes back.
Winter gives a small laugh as they enter the locker room. She strolls up to her locker and punches in her combination opening it and pulling out the broken pieces and hilt of her weapon. She hears a second locker close from her left and sees Viralious had taken out his weapon and was clipping it to his belt, "You're taking your weapon?" she asks in a confused tone.
"Yeah I was thinking of remodeling the ammo system to fit 36 instead of 32 bullets per clip. Maybe add a few more inches of length to the blades too… don't take that out of context." Viralious responds.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Winter jokes.
Viralious rolls his eyes and picks up the box again before speaking, "Sure you don't? It's not like we've been listening to Celica make crude jokes all year."
Winter waves her hand dismissively, "I've gotten better at tuning her out." before turning and walking towards the forge.
Viralious rolls his eyes before following behind, "So excited to have your weapon back?"
Winter pauses, "I don't know if excited is the right word… more like relieved… I mean I need it to continue my training."
Viralious shrugged, "I mean yeah that's true but a weapon is a part of being a huntsman… don't you feel like you're missing a part of yourself without it."
Winter pauses and thinks for a few moments before sighing, "Yes and no… My weapon while tailored to me always felt like something my father bestowed upon me… He asked what type of weapon I wanted and well… he had someone design and give it to me."
Viralious laughs, "I know the exact feeling. Back when I changed from my scythe I looked at it and it felt foreign… then Professor Basil and Makoto helped me make it on my own with the poison diffusion system."
"I don't follow." Winter replies.
"They helped me make the weapon my own." Viralious answers, "Their additions made it feel like it was a part of myself rather than a tool."
"Like an extension of your aura… using characteristics that make up yourself." Winter answers.
"Exactly. So if you feel that your weapon isn't a reflection of you then now is the perfect time to change it." Viralious answers.
Winter thinks for a moment before sighing, "I don't even know if I want to make any modifications."
"Then let's make a sketch of your current weapon and think about ways to modify it." Viralious answers just as they turn into the forge seeing familiar mouse ears tinkering with the hilt of her weapon.
"Oh, hello Professor Basil, I didn't realize the professors used the forges as well." Winter says waving slightly.
Basil visibly jumps at the noise before quickly turning around… "O-oh… S-s-sorry you ju-just startl-startled me." She breaths a quick sigh, "N-normally no w-w-we don-don't but I-I just ne-needed a qu-qui-quick tune u-up."
Viralious sets the box down at one of the empty workstations, "It's no bother, teach. Go ahead and finish up, we're just going to do some quick modifications to Winter's weapon."
Winter moves to the workstation that Viralious had placed the box at and plugs her scroll into it, the station whirls to life and begins syncing the blue prints on her scroll to display on the different floating screens.
Winter looks over the blueprints of her saber before opening the box. Inside are a few parts to design a dust diffusion and infusion system for the weapon. Other than that, are a few ingots of steel.
"Professor, Viralious said you helped him make his weapon truly his… Do you think you could help me with mine?" Winter says with a deep sigh.
Basil turns and looks at the two students standing at the workstation before grabbing her weapon and clipping to her waist, "I di-didn't real-really h-help him… I s-simply f-fixed his dust di-diffusion sy-system."
Winter raises an eyebrow, "He said you helped discover what-" Her words are cut off by Viralious.
"Makoto was the one who actually gave me the words of wisdom." he says with a shrug.
Winter gives him an annoyed glare before sighing… "I see… Professor Basil, do you think you could still help?"
Basil sighs before grabbing a chair and pulling it up to the workstation, "Alright… W-winter wh-why do you w-want t-to b-be a hu-hunt-huntress?"
Winter looks at the mouse professor for a moment before nodding and picking up one of the stylus pens sitting on the desk and getting to work on modifying the weapon.
Viralious and Basil smile before sitting down Viralious looks at the plans before speaking up, "How about instead of one dust diffusion chamber you have two so you could use two."
"I m-mean th-that's not a b-bad idea… I mean I u-use some-something sim-similar in mine." Basil answers.
Winter listens to the two onlookers' words before nodding and adding it to the schematics.
The three sit there for a long while, designing a weapon that answers what it means to be Winter Schnee.
Character Change: Viralious- James Ironwood
Location: Atlas Academy: General Ironwoods office.
"Sir, we're ready to send in a strike team." the soldier says over the secured channel.
General Ironwood looked down at the scroll before sighing, "Move in and neutralize the targets… Meteion needs to be taken out… if you can take their leader alive, then do it."
"Any other orders sir?" the soldier asks.
"Do anything you must to take them out." Ironwood states.
The soldier salutes the general before hanging up. With a sigh Ironwood flicks through his scroll menu before finding a familiar contact and pressing the call button.
The scroll rings for a few moments before the contact answers.
"James what the hell do you want?" Qrow asks over the scroll annoyed.
Ironwood sighs and counts to three before answering his friend, "I'm assuming you heard about the attempted assassination of Winter Schnee correct?"
"Who hasn't yet?" Qrow answers.
"The unknown huntsman was your nephew." Ironwood deadpans.
"What!?" Qrow yells
"Is he okay?" A female voice says from the side.
Ironwood raises an eyebrow, "Qrow… Who's with you?"
"Uh, my niece… Say hi to General Ironwood, Zeliska." Qrow says with a shrug.
"Umm, hello General… I didn't realize you were friends with Qrow." Zeliska says shyly.
Ironwood rubs the bridge of his nose, "Qrow… Why is she here?"
Qrow sighs, "Well, we were training when you called."
"And you didn't decide that you should take this call alone?" Ironwood restates.
Qrow looks at the general for a moment, "I didn't think it would be that important."
Ironwood glares at the annoying bird huntsman, "I am starting to agree with Viralious."
"Hey don't even joke about that, that little shit tried to kill me." Qrow jokes, "How's the brat doing?"
"He's doing fine. Our resident medic, Professor Lute, has just given me the all clear on his condition so he'll not be out for a period of time." Ironwood stoically answers.
"That's nice… I mean how's he handling Summer's…" Qrow starts before trailing off.
"Has he said anything about coming to Shade?" Zeliska asks
Ironwood sighs, "No, he seems quite content staying in Atlas… Miss?"
"Rustivia." Zeliska answers.
"Right, Viralious seems content here in Atlas… So, no, Miss Rustiva, he hasn't mentioned Shade at all." Ironwood informs her.
Zeliska looks at the scroll before giving an annoyed sigh, "He doesn't tell us he's injured and has the nerve to not even mention not coming here! Does a promise mean nothing to him?" She stomps off annoyed.
Ironwood looks at the screen before looking back to his friend who gives a guttural sigh, "Forgive her… One of her teammates got kicked out for doing some pretty reprehensible things…She was kind of hoping Viralious would come to his senses and come to make their team four again." Qrow responds, unscrewing the cap on his flask.
"I see… Qrow, I can't just send Viralious to Shade unless I have a good reason to." Ironwood sighs, "He'd have to want it or give a good reason."
"I know that James… It's just he needs to face what happened." Qrow responds before taking a long sip, "I've checked in on Tai and the girls and well, can't say things are going great."
"Is there anything I could do to help?" Ironwood asks.
"Yes, but it won't matter… right now Tai needs to get his head out of his ass and I doubt either of us can help with that." Qrow answers.
"I take it you've tried?" Ironwood asks.
"Damn straight… Oz too but, I think the only people who could do it are Ruby, Yang, my bitch of a sister, and Viralious."
Ironwood chuckles at his remarks, "I'll talk to Viralious… see if he'd be willing to go to Patch over the break and help out."
"Thanks so is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" Qrow asks, taking another swig from his flask.
"No, I was simply informing you on what occurred with Viralious… We'll keep in touch." Ironwood answers.
"Yeah yeah, Have a good night James." Qrow says before hanging up the scroll and leaving the general in silence.
Ironwood turns his chair around and looks at the city of Atlas from his tower. Waiting to hear the results of his team's attack on a Meteion stronghold.
Character Change: James Ironwood - Viralious
Location: Atlas Academy: Weapons forge
"Why'd you decide to mix a golden alloy into it?" Viralious asks Winter looking over the finished product.
"I t-think i-its to r-represent th-the shi-shining path for-forward for the S-SDC." Basil answers.
Winter gives a small chuckle, "No, but that's a better reason than the real one so we'll go with that."
"What's the real reason?" Viralious asks, raising an eyebrow.
"I mixed up the elemental lettering for gold and silver." Winter deadpans
Viralious and Basil stare at the heiress for a moment before the three burst into laughter after a few moments the laughter dies down and Winter stares down at her weapon, "S-so wh-what are you g-going t-to name i-it?" Basil asks her.
Winter grabs the accustomed hilt to her new weapon, the hilt while simple is a black leather grip adorned with a metallic gold trim for ease of handling. Above the hilt leads to the elegantly designed cross guard which kept the icicle spiral design however this time in the middle is a revolver system for loading two types of dust cartridges into it. Two metal pieces come in forty-five-degree angles from the weapon and point toward the hilt while a third is on the opposite side of the blade pointing towards the tip. The Ricasso flows from the hilt and comes to the middle before leading to a sharp point on the blade that extends the rest of the way out. The whole weapon has a length of a bit less than a meter, but seems dense. Regardless, it dances through the air as Winter gives it a few test swings. She smiles before pressing on the hilt and pulls out a parrying dagger which fits into the under part of the weapon.
Giving it a few more practice swings Winter smiles before turning back to her professor and answering her question, "Eisherz zwei"
"F-fitting…" Basil answers before sighing "I'm su-surprised you ad-added an ae-aerosol di-diffusion sys-system though."
"Yeah, I was kind of shocked too…" Viralious answers before smirking, "Guess I've made an impression, huh."
Winter looks at him, "I'll admit your poisons were an inspiration but… I was thinking more along the lines of ice flowing out… maybe like the ice lady from that game Russet was playing."
Viralious raises an eyebrow, "I thought you were reading while he did that?"
"It was hard to focus with him dying every thirty seconds and yelling at the TV." Winter answers.
Basil gives a small laugh before turning to the pair, "I-if you ex-excuse me I w-was hop-hopping to ca-catch u-up on some gr-grading today… H-have a goo-good day y-you t-two."
The pair say a quick goodbye before Basil turns and walks away with a wave.
Viralious then turns to his partner and smirks, "So how about after I finish the modifications to my weapon we give them a test run?"
Winter returns her partner's grin, "You're on Viralious. Any plans to raise the stakes?"
Viralious chuckles, "Winner picks where we go on a date tomorrow night."
Winter blinks in surprise before nodding, "Hope you've been saving up I've got the perfect place in mind."
A/N
A bit of a shorter chapter but a nice feel back into life at Atlas. Not a lot to talk about other than I got this chapter finished a bit earlier than normal as I do want to have something ready for September 1st since Team VIEW will be turning one year since it was posted! I know it's a shocker we're almost a year in but we'll talk more about that next week so let's discuss the chapter.
Now you might be asking, "Xcom why did you change Winter's weapon? It's the same as her current one in canon!" My response is you'll have to see and quite frankly, Winter's weapon is boring as shit! Seriously, it's a saber that has a parrying dagger that pulls out of it. Compare that to any other weapon from a character with more than 5 minutes of screen time and it's infinitely cooler… except maybe Leo but he's a joke. The other reason is I use Code Vein to create the posters and promotional pieces for this story, (yes, we have those, they will be coming out soon.) I ended up using the Iceblood from that game as a model since Winter needs a few action shots.
Well with that out of the way this is where I would like to thank my Editor, AmoebaHewdraw, for trying to help me get Oztel posted… AmoebaHewdraw: if you want to just write the first chapter I'll give you my notes. /s
AmoebaHewdraw's Note: At least spell my name right smh my head. Also, go play Baldur's Gate III. This isn't specifically towards Michael, it's to all of you. (For posterity's sake: Michael originally switched the "o" and the "e" in "Amoeba" which he has since fixed, ruining my joke.)
Until next time, Xcom out