"Was it worth it, dear sis?"
From the question, Weiss almost scoffed. Although she didn't have the energy. She hardly had any to move her head, much less react. She could hardly move when she was tied firmly to a pillar and stuck like this for a few hours. A stream of blood surged down her nose and she watched it taint the dirty floor below.
The normal life she built for herself in Vale was everything she hoped for. She made lifelong relationships with friends who she considered family by this point. How could he even fathom such a question?
"Absolutely," Weiss finally breathed and challenged his gaze.
The defiance in her soul shined and pierced through him, although it withered notably the last few hours. Previously, icy eyes shattered him. Now, they were glassy.
Weiss had endured vicious beatings by her brother. All the years of his boiling hatred finally exploded all at once. Now, he seemed to grow tired of it after breaking a couple of her ribs, shattering her nose, and more than likely fracturing her left arm.
They need to hurry, Weiss thought as she tried to keep her glare locked with his. I can't handle much more of this.
"There's the look I was hoping for," Whitley said solemnly, seeing through her brave facade. "Perhaps you'll give father a better one."
He's here?
A fraction of hope faded when Jacques Schnee appeared in front of her. The whole time, he'd been waiting on his son to have his fun. He had a lot of frustrations he needed to unleash. Now that he was done, Jacques showed himself. The other Dusts stood at attention from his commanding presence.
They intend to execute me tonight, Weiss realized in apprehension. I thought they'd drag me to father in Argus, which would give me more time.
Dread pooled in her stomach when he stood directly in front of her with a scowl. His mere presence made her feel dizzy as reality hit her like a freight train. With him here, she was almost doomed. That was confirmation enough that her former gang planned to murder her tonight.
Whitley stepped back, excited to watch what his father had in store.
"Weiss," Jacques addressed, watching her blood drip onto the floor. "You caused me a lot of trouble."
Weiss attempted to take a deep breath to ease her nerves, but that proved endlessly painful with the rope so tight. Her adrenaline had finally worn off, leaving her to feel all the pain she'd endured so far. She bit back a curse and choked down a sob as the agony and reality hit her all at once.
"You could let me go…" Weiss breathed.
"I can't," Jacques replied quickly and looked to his underlings. "If I let my daughter get away with so much shit, how does that make me look?"
Evil laughs reverberated through the warehouse.
Calmly, Jacques approached her. Weiss could only watch and attempt to brace herself from what was to come.
"You got rid of my hair," Jacques said since he despised her dyed, fake hair.
It was a symbol of her rebellion. Previously, her hair was as white as the purest mountain tops. And now it was stained with a hint of blonde and red. Jacques couldn't stand that. That signature white hair was his that needed to be showed off, not hidden.
After he growled that, he punched her in the abdomen. Weiss was left to wheeze miserably in an attempt to breathe as any spare oxygen fled from her lungs. The ropes constricted her chest tighter with every pant.
More snickers echoed by her weak reaction. Satisfied, Jacques tilted her chin up so she'd properly face him. The haze of blue was lost in stern, impenetrable ice.
"You got a girlfriend."
That was said so coldly that Weiss felt her heart jump into her throat. Firmly, Jacques slugged her on the side of the face. A new stream of blood flowed out her nose and her head dropped as Weiss blacked out. That was about the fourth time she'd passed out since being trapped here. Add possible concussion to her list of injuries.
Her mind flickered in and out. She was fuzzy, but one thought soared above the rest.
Yang… hurry…
Jacques boomed when he finished the last of his list.
"You played schoolgirl like you didn't have a damn care in the world!"
Readily, Whitley handed him a crowbar. Jacques gladly took it and swung at her injured arm. Cracks resounded along with a tortured scream. It was definitely broken now. Weiss shrieked and tried to clutch onto it to protect herself, but that was futile.
"Good hit, father," Whitley praised, taking solace in her agony. "Here I thought she could no longer scream."
"You disobeyed me," Jacques snarled, thinking that was the worst part. "Made me look like a damn fool."
"Please don't…" Weiss whimpered when he lifted the crowbar again. "Stop…"
She wanted nothing more than to pass out to escape the pain.
Winter, is this how you felt?
The plea fell on deaf ears.
"You should've thought about this before you ran away," Jacques said grimly. "Winter disobeyed me and she suffered the same price. You leave my gang, you die. Isn't that right, Dusts?"
"That's fuckin' right," a member agreed.
"Finish her already!" another exclaimed.
More sinister laughter.
They have to come, Weiss drowned out their words as she gazed up at the ceiling in a quiet cry for help. Tears trickled down her cheeks when she felt like she was in the bottomless pit of despair, but she couldn't give up yet. She had to hang on. They have to come.
Her vision was blurry and spotted, so she imagined she was seeing things. At first.
A tiny black shadow appeared to be flying around in the rafters. It could have easily been a small bird, but she knew the truth. After a whole semester of building it, she knew it was the drone. It was her creation she worked so hard to complete with her beloved tech partner.
Brutis. They're here.
With that comforting thought, Weiss lost her grip on consciousness. When Jacques watched her dangle helplessly from the ropes, he frowned. He was hoping she'd hear his whole spiel, but apparently, Whitley went overboard.
"That's no fun," Whitley said in disappointment and his face twisted to confusion. "Why's she smiling?"
"Shock," Jacques replied and stepped away to make room for his son. "Go on."
Expertly, Whitley flipped out his pistol and cocked it sideways. The other gang members watched in anticipation as he aimed directly at her head.
When the bullet roared, Whitley's hand was pierced with-
"A dart?!"
The direct hit in his hand caused the bullet to narrowly miss Weiss. A tiny hole marred the pillar above her shoulder. The gun thudded onto the floor when he clutched his hand in pain.
Perturbed, Jacques glanced around for answers. "Who the hell did that?!"
When none of the gang members spoke up, the gang leader got angrier.
"Tell me this instant!"
Before Whitley could bend down to grab his gun, a shadow whirled through and grabbed it. The new black-clad arrival tossed it up onto the ledge that crossed the entire room. It didn't thud, which led them to briefly believe that someone caught it.
"Who the fuck are you, faunus?" Whitley sneered like the word was poison.
Blake poised her katana directly at him with no hesitation. Narrowed golden orbs and the sharp blade glinted under the fluorescent lights.
"Your worst fucking nightmare, bitch."
Normally, Blake refrained from cuss words. But after seeing what he did to her friend, she was more than livid and wanted revenge.
Whitley looked visibly confused by the unexpected weapon and dropped to a defensive stance.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Jacques wanted answers.
When Jacques was about to approach the pair, he veered off his intended path when steel knuckles abruptly screwed into the back of his head. A crack resounded like his skull split in two.
The lights were almost knocked out of Jacques as he tumbled to the hard floor with a yelp. He was sent soaring like he weighed nothing. When he hastily gained his bearings and grunted, he looked up to see his fiery blonde assailant.
"How dare you!"
"That was just a warmup, jackass," Yang said as she swung her dominant arm in circles.
Casually, the blonde popped her knuckles as she followed him. She was in complete control of her anger. She was a volcano and about to erupt. Steam rose from her bright hair when she locked onto her only target, but she stopped in her tracks when she heard a feeble voice.
"You're here…"
Fortunately, Weiss regained consciousness when Yang arrived. She watched her satisfyingly knock her father off his feet and almost smiled from the picture.
I knew she was here, Weiss thought. They're all here.
Her voice was barely audible, but Yang caught it. She wanted to cry from the bloodied state her girlfriend was in, but she was too riled up as anger boiled under the surface. She needed to direct this fury where it mattered.
"I'm sorry we took so long," Yang said genuinely and smiled at her to lift her spirits the tiniest bit.
She wanted nothing more than to kiss Weiss to give her comfort, but Yang had to focus on keeping these guys away from her.
"We gotta get back home," Yang said. "I want to make you brownies."
Back when Weiss first arrived in Vale, the girls baked her brownies. Unbeknownst to them, Weiss and Winter bonded through the treats. When Weiss received the goods on her first day at the apartment, she felt it was a sign from Winter. That it was okay to be here. That she approved.
Yang wanted to give Weiss that comfort. To remind her that Winter was on their side and they wouldn't lose. Through thick and thin, Yang had always been there for Weiss. Whether she liked it or not. Tonight was no different.
She has that look on her face again, Weiss observed with clouded vision. Like back when she wanted to pummel Cardin.
From how determined she looked, Weiss could only encourage her.
"Don't keep me waiting."
With permission, Yang whirled around to stand off with the notorious gang leader. He stood tall like a tower and firm like a brick wall, but that didn't deter Yang in the slightest. She simply tied her hair into a ponytail, held up her brass knuckles, and glared.
"Wouldn't dream of it."
Redo lyrics: "If I could change my tears into strength and power, surely I'll find the future I see in my mind- bring it to life!"
Stay dandy,
~Toto