XxX-XxX-XxX

Official Supporters:

Compulsive Reader, The Impossible Muffin

Adeptus Militaris, Wilger

Commissioner, Gib, Death Daddy, Le Spork, Polemoduke

If you want to be on the Supporter list, PM me for details or join our private server for details. Hope you enjoy reading my stories, please leave me a comment to let me know if you did, or where I can improve. Link here, where able to be seen : /2UZncAm

Second link here, remove ( and ) and it SHOULD work : D(i) (slash)kfhkfUb

I have a kofi account now, too, under this name for those interested.

Beta(s) :

XxX-XxX-XxX

Requested By : Polemoduke

XxX-XxX-XxX

"Where are those two now?" Weiss huffed when she stepped out of her shower and found only Pyrrha in their dorm, the curtains drawn against the really quite rudely placed light outside their window. "It's almost bed time!"

"They went to the library." Pyrrha answered quietly, turning in her seat to face Weiss with a thin frown. "I asked them to, so we could… Talk."

"O-Oh…?" Weiss asked, pacing over to her bed, straightening her gown and taking a deep breath as she did. "About what?"

"You've been…" Pyrrha sighed, "I wished to ask you for a favor."

"A favor…?"

"It would mean a lot to me if you would think about your words a bit more."

"I'm sorry?" Weiss scoffed, "I weigh my words-"

"Weiss." Pyrrha sighed, "Do you feel like people are happy when you talk?"

"Where is this coming from?"

"Professor Oobleck." She answered crisply, "Ruby spoke to him about your… Issues, together, and he in turn spoke to me. And now, again in turn, I'm speaking to you. Not," she enunciated sharply, "attacking or belittling you. Speaking to you, and asking you to try. Think a bit harder about what you say, and just see how it goes."

"Why?"

"Would you not be happier if everyone around you was happier with you? More… Accepting of you?" She asked, smiling thinly and adding, tensely, "I can tell, you know. You're a lot like me in that regard.."

"I… Am?" Weiss asked, crossing her arms and thinking for a moment before finally adding bitterly, eyes stinging a bit, "Because you seem far more accepted than I am by this team, Nikos. By this school, in fact."

"Because I try." She said, "When I was younger, I was not accepted. Not at all."

"You weren't…?"

"How could my peers accept me?" Pyrrha scoffed, rolling her eyes and pressing a hand to her chest as she went on, quiet and almost pained, "I was the one that beat them into submission, time and again. Who left them bruised, exhausted and battered after every spar, every class, and who the teachers and everyone else in Argus put on a pedestal. Raised above them, and at the time happy for it, how could I ever have been accepted by any of them?"

"I had no idea…" Weiss murmured, feeling a sudden… Tugging in her heart at the image she painted.

"I think you did, and do." Pyrrha smiled, turning and opening a drawer, tugging out a little case and turning it so Weiss could see its front. Her own face, smile thin and eyes hard, met Weiss' gaze. Weiss sucked in a breath and Pyrrha smiled thinly. "One of your songs, 'Life on the Wind', had a line that stood out to me. 'Stuck up on my altar, I could not see. All the things you hate, were done for me'. Altars and pedestals… Loneliness."

"I-I…" Weiss blinked, "I don't…"

"Don't what?"

"I don't know how to…" She waved her hands between them and grimaced, frustrated at how hard it was to phrase her thoughts all of the sudden. "I don't know how to be any other way. This… Is what I was taught. So I don't know what to… Do."

"Try. That's all there is to it." Pyrrha said, smiling, "Just think your words over a bit more, try to imagine how you would feel in their place. I'll help you."

"You will?"

"I will." She promised, "Doctor Oobleck suggested you would need as much. A 'firm guiding hand' he said."

"I suppose…"

"Mhm." Pyrrha hummed, her smile warm and almost comforting in a way Weiss wasn't really used to. Hopeful, Pyrrha asked, "Will you try, then?"

"I… Will." She sighed and nodded, turning and reaching for her blanket. Laying down, she said, "I think I'm going to go to bed early, now…"

"Of course." Pyrrha answered, "I'll let the others know to be quiet. And good night."

Weiss didn't answer, already thinking about what she could change and how. It was hard to even imagine, but… She wanted her team to care for her. Even if she didn't know how to get there, it was worth trying. If only so she could say she had if things fell apart.

XxX-XxX-XxX

"What book did you even read to-"

"Weiss." Pyrrha chided gently, watching the girl's shoulders stiffen. "Remember what we talked about last night. Our words have weight."

"R-Right, um… The names are correct, but the date isn't." Weiss said, leaning over almost into Ruby's lap so she could pore over her notebook while the girl leaned against Pyrrha's side, holding her tray up in the air so she could eat her biscuit without spilling crumbs into Weiss' hair. Finally, to Pyrrha's relief, she sat back up straighter and said, "You have the wrong year and month, and you have the officers mixed up, as well as the tactics."

"Okay, so what are the right answers…?"

"I can't just tell you, you dummy." Weiss chided her as Ruby straightened up and sat her tray on the table. When Pyrrha turned to give her a look, Weiss rushed to defend herself, "How will you ever learn if I just give you the answers?"

"B-But I skipped the year you all learned this!"

"Which makes you learning it on your own all the more important."

"Awwww, there goes Nice Weiss…"

"Excuse you?" Weiss hissed more sharply, "I am just trying to-"

"I see you two are already at it." Yang snorted before Pyrrha, watchful of the young Atlesian as she had been all day, could step in. She snorted again when Weiss only huffed and Yang settled in across from them, late as she and her team so often were with her breakfast in hand. Blake sat on one side, and Ren sat on the other, with Nora at the far end. And being a lot quieter than usual. Pyrrha flicked her a look and Yang sighed, "Yeah, she's still being shy."

"Oh…?"

"I am not being shy!" Nora squawked, flicking Yang a scowl and pointing a finger at her accusingly. "How dare you, traitor!"

"Pretty easily." Yang smirked, "What're you gonna do about it? Kiss my partner again?"

"Y-Yang!" Blake whined, flushing brightly while Ruby sniggered and Weiss rolled her eyes. Ren, at least, sat up and flicked his partner a worried look before turning to watch Blake flush and fiddle with her eggs anxiously. "You said you wouldn't tease about that!"

"I said I wouldn't tease you." Yang countered, smirking, "Not that I wouldn't tease her."

"B-But- Ren!"

"The defense is willing to let the argument stand on technicality." The man said, smiling thinly and adding, "Mostly because it's… Rather funny."

"Traitor…"

"Hey!" Nora grinned, "That's my line!"

"Ugh…"

Pyrrha snorted and smiled, flicking the two women looks before taking a bite of her food. When she swallowed and the conversation hadn't moved on, she took a breath. And then, not for the first time, tried to feed her curiosity and probed, "You… Still haven't told us why you decided to Court her, Nora."

"Can we not call it that…?" Blake whined weakly, laying her head down on her arms to hide her face and groaning. "Please…?"

"But that is what it is." Weiss argued simply and, for her, gently. Which was to say in her usual haughty, matter of fact manner of speaking. When Blake groaned, Weiss sighed and said, "Why are you even so embarrassed? You didn't do anything."

"Because she liked it~" Nora teased with a smirk and, to Pyrrha, just the tiniest bit of… Something in her voice. What, Pyrrha couldn't guess, and Nora moved on before Pyrrha could think about it, tossing an arm around Ren's shoulders and tugging him in against her side. Proudly, in that faux-royal voice she loved, she asked, "Because who could ever dislike a royal kiss from moi?"

"I could." Weiss deadpanned almost immediately. "Jaune?"

"Seconded."

"That's just because neither of you have tried it!" Nora smirked, winking at Weiss and adding jokingly, "Maybe if you're good, Weiss~"

"W-Why me?!" She squawked, "Arc seconded the motion!"

But, when she turned to him, Jaune was looking over Ruby's work and humming quietly, "Yeah, wasn't that the, uh… Lady commander? I forget her name."

"Ashe?"

"Maybe!"

"Are we in government now…?" Pyrrha chuckled when it was clear Jaune wasn't going to say anything no matter how long Weiss stared a proverbial hole into the side of his head, taking a quick drink when Weiss turned to her, wide-eyed and open-mouthed in surprise.

"You too, Nikos? You also betray me?" Weiss whined, sounding every bit as betrayed as she sounded. Looking away morosely, she groaned, "I am surrounded by the corrupt and the soon to be, it seems. Tragic. Truly, truly tragic…"

"Treason is a tragedy…"

"Oh, now you're on my side, Valkyrie?" Weiss scoffed, "What if I don't-"

"A queen chooses whichever side she finds best!" Nora chirped, pressing her fingertips against her chest in that 'royal' way she did and smiling primly. "And it is not for her lessers to question her motivations! Just be happy to have her highness on your side!"

"You're lesser?!"

"She is a team leader." Pyrrha hummed, "And you aren't. Clearly, that is a difference in rank, isn't it?"

"Nikos, you twist the knife most deep…" Weiss groaned, then noticed Blake sitting up, seemingly feeling safe to eat without being heckled, and asked, "Blake! Surely you will rescue me, yes?"

"Uh…" She flicked Pyrrha, Nora, then everyone else a look and finally asked, confused, "Why would I do that…?"

"I'll… Pay you?"

"Do I look like someone who can be bought?"

"...Nooo?" Weiss tried unsurely, cocking her head and leaning back. "Xiao Long, can your partner-"

"Oh no, I'm not your back up, Schnee." The blonde snorted, sounding as amused as Pyrrha felt by the whole ordeal. Laughing brightly, she said, "I am having way too much fun watching everyone torture you to back you up."

"I see." She said, sounding resigned before she asked, "Can you be-"

"Ten thousand Lien."

"Extortionate!" Weiss squawked, shaking her head and asking, "Someone, won't you back me up here?"

"I will, Miss Schnee." A short, portly man grunted from behind her as he joined their little group and smirked. "Positively devious, you lot. How could you outnumber her so?"

"Thank you, Klein." Weiss smiled, and a heartbeat passed as the rest of the two teams flicked each other confused looks. Then she blinked, her eyes narrowed and she spun to squawk in surprise, "Klein?!"

"Hello, Miss Schnee." The man smiled warmly, taking the hand she offered and kissing the back of it gently. Letting it go, he answered the obvious question on all their minds, "I am a servant, caretaker and general secretary in the employ of the Schnee family. It's a pleasure."

"Sup."

"Hello!"

"Yo."

"Are you a real life butler?"

"He is, Ruby." Weiss sighed, "In Atlas. Why are you here, Klein?"

"Your father required accompaniment on a trip here, to negotiate Dust importation for the year." The man answered simply, frowning when Weiss stiffened. Stepping closer, he laid a hand on her shoulder and said, "He does wish to invite you and your partner to dinner. But, from what I have seen, that is all. He's curious, has business, and will leave by week's end."

"I-I see…" She murmured, "Very well then. He may call me when he wishes, and I will come to him."

"Very well."

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked quietly, watching her partner turn back to her food with a flat, almost emotionless, face that Pyrrha knew well - a mask of calm, the same kind she'd been trained to employ. "It's… Your dad, right? Aren't you excited?"

"Ruby…"

"Of course I am." Weiss cut her off quietly, "Why wouldn't I be excited to see my father?"

"You… Don't seem to-"

"Ow!" Ruby's words were cut off by a sudden, loud squawk of pain, and out of an instinct born of months of training to run down cries for help, they all turned to follow the sounds. An upperclassmen, Velvet, was standing a row across the by now mostly empty cafeteria, bent to the side awkwardly with her food tray in her hand while Winchester had one of her ears in a fist and was yanking on it, laughing all the while. "Let go! That hurts!"

"Bastard…" Yang murmured, "Absolute bastard."

"Mhm." Pyrrha nodded, turning and just registering the scowl twisting across Blake's face before Nora shot past behind the girl. Once she realized what was happening, Pyrrha shot to her feet, "Oh no…"

The woman grabbed Cardin by the arm as soon as she reached him, and squeezed his wrist so hard he fell out of his seat and let Velvet go. As she staggered away, Cardin punched at Nora's hands, shouting, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

She didn't answer, just pivoting and yanking him around and up, before bringing him down against the top of the table, laying him out like an entree. He tried to rise and she squeezed his wrist, her fingers working back and forth as she very obviously rubbed the joints bones against themselves until he relented. Slowly, she reached over for a piece of his team's table ware and leaned down to whisper into his ear then, after a moment, snapped it with a thumb.

Leaving him, she stole an apple off his plate and turned, hopping along on her way back to their table where she plopped back into her seat. She took a big bite of her pilfered produce and then noticed their raised eyebrows and grunted a short question around her fruit, "What? Asshole was botherin' my Blakey and bein' a racist little bi-"

"Miss Valkyrie!" The girl choked, both on her words and literally on her apple, and spun to look up into Goodwitch's glaring gaze. When the young Huntress hopeful didn't answer, she snapped, "Just what was that?"

"Uhh…" Nora blinked, "W-Well, I- I mean, he was-"

"Winchester assaulted an upperclassman, and for racist motivations." Blake suddenly cut in quietly, face flat and impassive as the Headmistress turned towards her. "It bothered me, but I… Didn't want to get involved. So I asked Nora to instead."

"Oh, did you now?"

"Mhm." Blake nodded, "You know why."

"That I do…" The Headmistress hummed, flicking the group a look that lingered a bit longer on Weiss than she understood or liked before she sighed and nodded. "Fine. This once I will excuse it as he is uninjured, and she acted in the defence of another. Presuming there's footage on our cameras, that is."

"There will be, Headmistress." Pyrrha said, stepping in to lend her own support while Weiss' lips thinned.

"Yeah!" Ruby added, "Right, Jaune?"

"Yep."

Pyrrha flicked Weiss a curious look, but the Schnee stayed quiet, staring off into space almost absently. But she didn't look so much distracted as… Torn, somehow. Which was a new look on the girl, at least to Pyrrha's knowledge, even after their talk and Weiss' promise to try and be a bit gentler. A promise that Weiss had worked hard at keeping, at least since that morning, but now she didn't look sure of what to say for the conversation. Almost like she was put off by it, or… Or something else she couldn't quite-

"Very well, then." The Headmistress' words cut her train of thought off as she sighed and turned, opening her Scroll and typing into it while Pyrrha blinked and turned back to Weiss. Who now seemed back to normal, more or less, frowning at her partner's little… Victory wiggle while the Headmistress went on, "I will make a note to review the matter tonight with my dinner. And rest assured you all will be quite unhappy if you spoil my dinner with bad news. Am I clear?"

They all chorused their assent, and as the Headmistress left, Weiss seemed to… Deflate, a bit, almost like she was disappointed.

But by what…?

Before she could think too much more about it - or ask - the bell for the next class rang and they all stood, Nora packing food into her mouth in a desperate play to finish her plate as they carried it over to the drop-off. When they did, she leapt onto Ren and Blake both as they walked ahead, side-by-side, and wrapped her arms around them. Both sighed sufferingly, but let her hang onto them and chatter about Magnhild's new inertial dampener as they went.

XxX-XxX-XxX

"Much better." Weiss smiled, sitting on her bed with Ruby beside her and Jaune laid out on his bunk a few feet away, rolled onto his side and watching them go over Ruby's notes. Smiling still, Weiss said, "I know Port's classes are… Well…"

"Boring?"

"Dryer than Vacuo?"

"A bit slow, you absolute-"

"Weiss…" Pyrrha sighed from her desk, not even turning as she added, "We talked about this."

"Right, um… You dolts." Weiss sighed, rolling her eyes and biting down on the more acidic barb that leapt to mind as best she could, more than aware of Pyrrha listening in from across the room. The Mistralian turned from her own assignment to smile as a bit of encouragement, and Weiss let herself relax, just a bit. "B-But you're trying, I can tell."

"Mhm." Ruby nodded, suddenly throwing an arm around her shoulders and giving her a squeeze before she could blink and glare and Ruby backed off, giggling and smiling. "You are, too, Nice-Weiss."

"I am always nice!"

"Are you…?"

"Jaune…" Pyrrha sighed, "Don't be cruel. You know she's doing her best."

"I'm just teasing, Pyr." The blonde chuckled, rolling onto his back. More earnestly, he said, "Honestly, you're doing great at being nicer, Ice Queen. We're all very proud of you."

"Y-Y-You can't just say that, Arc!" Weiss suddenly stammered, flushing as much for what he'd said as for her stammering at all. Stuttering was not something Weiss Schnee did! When the young man snorted, she scowled and said, "Arc, you are an insufferable little-"

A heavy, familiar pounding on the door cut her off and had her on her feet even before she heard the annoyed, muffled, "Weiss!"

"Who in the-"

"Father!" She smiled as she opened the door and was met by his glare, hands clasped behind his waist. Nervous, but knowing better than to show it, she stepped forward, more into the hall than her room, and asked, "Can I help you? What brings you all the way here?"

"You, girl." He snapped, "Ignoring my calls? The gall."

"Ignoring your-" She blinked, "What calls?"

"Do not play dumb with me." He hissed, "I have called you three times, and even had Klein message you. Did you instruct him to have me call on you just to ignore me?"

"No!" She promised, patting her sides to check her pockets and then scowling when they came up empty. Turnig, she asked, "Jaune, can you call my Scroll?"

"I guess…?" He rolled over, sitting up and doing as she'd asked. A moment passed and he shrugged, clicking it closed, and said, "Voicemail. I think it died?"

"Maybe you left it in your locker after combat course?" Pyrrha suggested, "That's the last I saw you with it."

"That must be it." She nodded, turning and smiling, "I apologize, Father, I fear I forgot my-"

She caught the flash of white just in time to throw her Aura up, but the backhand still surprised her and sent her back a step. Turning with a hand to her cheek, she listened as the man snapped, "So your petty excuse is that you're too dim-witted to even remember to carry your bloody-"

Suddenly, something slammed into the man shoulder-first, driving him across the room with a 'thwunk' of man hitting man. Her father slammed into the wall beside Noble's door and blinked, bracing against it as Jaune turned at the hips and cracked a fist across his jaw. The strike threw him to the floor and Jaune stepped back, between him as he pulled himself up with the wall's help, hand pressed against his burst lip as he turned and snarled.

"You-"

"Don't you ever," Jaune snarled loudly, cutting him off and pointing a long finger at him as Nora stepped out of the door, looking confused, "come here and hit one of my team again!"

"You can't just hit me!" Jacques snapped, "Do you know who I am?!"

"Weiss' poor excuse of a father." Pyrrha offered, stepping up to Weiss' side while she watched Jaune's shoulders rise and fall rapidly. Pyrrha laid a hand on her shoulder to nudge her back into a hug Ruby wrapped her up in. Blinking, Weiss just accepted it, watching Pyrrha say, "Now, unless you fancy your chances against the both of us-"

"All three of us." Nora cut in, waving as she leaned against the edge of her door, "I can make it six, too, if you wait for my team to get back with our snacks."

Glaring hotly, but facing down the prospect of going toe to toe against half a dozen Hunter trainees, the man backed down. Then turned, storming off while Weiss' team turned to her, faces full of worry. And apology. Throat tight, she listened to their comforting words as they surrounded her until, finally, she held up a hand.

"I… Would like a shower." They exchanged worried looks but let her go and, wordless, she slipped into the bathroom.

Inside, she slid down against the door to sit on the floor, hugging her legs to her chest while her mind raced. She'd thought her team didn't like her, but… Why would they do that? What would her father do in response? Nothing good, she was sure. Terrified, she took a shuddering breath and murmured a quiet, "How can this possibly get worse…?"

XxX-XxX-XxX

Ended up cutting a scene in this one- Oobleck and Ruby talking, and then Oobleck and Pyrrha talking. Chapter ended up super long and cut it for that reason, and it felt like padding. I condensed the gist into the first chapter and what Pyrrha says about it, so no plot is lost, but if people WANT it I can add it to the next Prodigy centered chapter.

XxX-XxX-XxX

Dino Guy 2000 :

Nora and chaos may as well be synonyms, lmao.

SenSlice :

Yep.

Mengsk :

Their classes will feature a bit more in this fic than others. And yes, Nora kissed Blake. On le lips. Lol. As for Nora's issues…

Yeah, kind of put a spotlight on all o' that, lol.

Sardonic Effigy :

Yeah, Pyrrha is trying to do a lot. And I'm trying to cover a lot, too. Slice of life, drama stuff isn't my normal forte. XD Glad you liked it.

Geralt Rex :

Ye. And in this chapter, Weiss learns a similar lesson. They're surrounded by people who genuinely care, and aside from Ren for Nora, it's… New to both, lol.

Bronyroleplay :

Ye. It's a new frontier for me, but I'm giving it a shot.