Tiny content warning for mentions of how feathers grow, which could be a bit gross, your mileage may vary on that one.
The morning the Vytal Festival was set to begin, Weiss woke up itchy. She grumbled, rolled onto her side, and stuck a hand behind herself. Her fingertips met something cool, clammy, and prickly. Now fully awake, she jerked upright and twisted around to look at her wings. They were covered in what looked like coarse, patchy stubble.
"Ugh." Her panic subsided. It had been a long time since she'd had feathers grow out this far, but she remembered reading about it in the pages she'd ripped out of Doctor Polendina's book. New feathers developed inside a stiff sheath that later fell away. As they grew in, it was normal for them to look more like porcupine quills.
Normal—and very, very gross.
She groaned and rolled back onto her stomach, trying to resist the urge to scratch. With all the nerve damage, she might hurt herself without realizing. This was, without a doubt, much worse than feeling nothing.
"Weiss?" Ruby's head poked down over the edge of her bed. "Are you okay?"
"Fine." She glanced at the clock, sighed, and threw the covers off. It was almost eight, she might as well get up.
Ruby hopped down from her bunk and gave Weiss a quick over-the-shoulders hug. Weiss intended to pull away—but instead she found that she'd leaned in and rested her forehead on Ruby's shoulder.
"Aw." Ruby gave her a squeeze. "I love you too."
Eventually, Weiss cleared her throat and untangled herself. Ruby grinned and sat on the edge of her bed. "Hey, do you want me to help you stretch them?"
It took a bit of coaching. Blake had been doing it for the past few days, and it was a little tricky to manage with just one person. But Ruby was quick to learn, and there was a casual familiarity to her touch that made it much easier to concentrate. Weiss could think to say things like, "The left wing can stretch a little further," and, "Ouch, too far," which was new and sped up the process considerably.
When it was over, Weiss actually felt relaxed. She wasn't sure why. Being touched was usually so intense, almost painful, and left her feeling jittery and slightly scrambled. She'd never been this coherent after Blake helped her over the break. It felt... pleasantly normal. She yawned and stretched her arms over her head—and without any fanfare, as if they'd been able to do it all along, her wings extended.
Not far. They could only move an inch or two—it was hardly even a twitch. So it was completely ridiculous for Ruby to cheer so loudly that Blake jerked awake with a yelp and Yang nearly fell out of bed. Almost as ridiculous as Weiss bolting into the bathroom so that she could watch herself wiggle her wings experimentally. Her vision blurred, and she wiped her eyes impatiently with the back of her hand.
"Does it hurt?" Yang asked, from where her three teammates were crowded in the doorway.
"No," Weiss said softly. It would, if she pushed too far—she could feel a little twinge every time she tried to stretch her wings beyond their limited range of motion. But this was proof that they weren't dead. They could move without cramping. She'd always thought...
Blake took a step forward, hesitated, then caught Weiss in a brief hug. There was a stiffness to it that made her stomach flip. She had pushed too far yesterday, then. She wasn't sure how—it wasn't as if there was a rule book for initiating hugs, she'd checked—but she couldn't risk doing it again. So she hovered uncertainly, wanting more but not knowing if she was allowed to ask, until Yang held her arms out in a silent invitation.
She took it, and to her intense embarrassment her wings started fluttering the moment Yang ruffled her hair. Weiss glared over her shoulder at them, and Blake chuckled. "Most traits will do that sometimes." Her ears drooped. "Ilia always used to turn orange whenever she was nervous."
That put a damper on everyone's moods—especially Blake's, which only got worse as the morning wore on. She was fidgety and restless throughout breakfast, which probably wasn't helped by the fact that team JNPR was brimming with enthusiasm. Nora was being her usual self, but it was Jaune of all people who seemed the most excited for the festival.
"My grandmother fought in the war," he explained, when Ruby asked him about it. "The Vytal Festival was always a big holiday in my house. A way to feel close to her, you know?"
"She was a big hero, right?"
Jaune blushed. "Well... yeah. She was pretty awesome! Rallied Vale's whole army after the defeat at Azure Court. I'm actually using her sword!"
"Whoa!" Ruby started bouncing up and down in her seat. "That's so cool! Your sword practically saved Vale! Why didn't you talk about that when I asked you what it did?"
His face fell. "It's, uh..."
"A lot to live up to?" Ren guessed.
"Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "I mean, she was barely older than me and she turned the tide of the entire war! If Vacuo hadn't seen that we weren't beaten yet, they might never have joined our side. And... then there's me! Hah..."
"Jaune," Pyrrha said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You're too hard on yourself."
"It's fine! Honest. It's not like I want another Great War to break out. I can just be happy knowing she made such a big difference."
The conversation veered into excited chatter about the upcoming ceremony, which Weiss suspected would actually be quite dull. Though that might be the Atlesian in her talking. She'd been at celebrations like this before at the manor, where there were quite a few descendants of the pre-war aristocracy present. She didn't care how good a speech Ozpin had prepared—nothing he said could possibly compare to the sheer bliss of looking a Marigold dead in the eye, and wishing them a happy Vale and Vacuo humiliated your ancestors day.
Blake didn't look too pleased, either. "Are you alright?" Weiss murmured under her breath, while the rest of them were distracted by Nora's very loud declaration that Pyrrha was going to destroy them all.
"Fine," she whispered back. "I just... don't really connect to the holiday, that's all."
"Oh. Is that because you're from Menagerie?"
"Something like that." Blake tried for a smile, then winced. "I'll talk to you about it later. It's... stuff you should know."
Weiss nodded. She tried to tune back in to the rest of the conversation—but before she got the chance, it was interrupted by a loud guffaw from somewhere behind them. Part of her knew who it was even before she twisted to look over her shoulder.
Sure enough, team CRDL was sitting several tables away... and Cardin Winchester was looking right at them. Right at Blake, if you wanted to be specific.
Blake heaved a sigh. "I guess he had to notice eventually."
"Ah, nuts," said Jaune. "He's coming this way."
A hand came down on the table between Blake and Yang as Cardin leaned on it. "Hey, kitty cat."
"Don't call me that," she said, without turning around.
Cardin pretended not to hear her, and turned to Yang instead. "That must have been a nasty shock, huh?" He made to clap her on the shoulder, then yelped when she caught his wrist. Her eyes flashed red.
Blake shook her head. Yang released him, and he stalked off in a pathetic parody of arrogance, lobbing vague threats over his shoulder as he retreated. Weiss watched him go, her lip curling in disgust. The petty power plays, the desperate attempts to assert his own superiority... she had half a mind to go after him. He'd look good in a giant block of ice. Or maybe a cast.
"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, leaning forward to check on Blake.
"Fine. I knew this was going to happen at some point. Just... try not to escalate things if you can avoid it, okay? I don't want this to turn physical if it doesn't have to."
"So... no breaking his legs?"
"No, Nora. No breaking his legs."
They left the cafeteria together, picking up Sun and Neptune on the line for the ferry. Weiss met their other two teammates for the first time, smiled politely, and tried not to bristle at having to interact with strangers. Being around Neptune was awkward enough.
She dropped out of the conversation as they took off, leaning her head against the window and watching the world fall away. It had been a while since she'd been on an airship—she felt as strange now as she had when she first came to Beacon, watching the Solitan sea rolling beneath her for hours on end.
Of course, this trip was shorter. So short, in fact, that they never even reached the shuttle's cruising speed. It struggled free of the ground, and by the time it was in the air it was already slowing down, spiraling onto the broad ring of landing space that circled Amity coliseum.
The ground was packed with students and paying spectators alike. Weiss stuck close by her team, and suppressed the urge to snap at him when Sun accidentally elbowed her in the side. Noticing the problem, her teammates fanned out around her, blocking her from the worst of the press as they entered. Inside was a mass of people the likes of which she'd never seen in her life. She'd thought sleeping in the ballroom with the rest of their class before initiation was bad—this washed over her like a wave of sound and color and smell. She wrinkled her nose and muttered, "Ugh."
Not for the first time, she wished she could have skipped this event altogether. She could have spent the time in their dorm instead, enjoying the break from binding her wings and reading Blake's books. But while it wasn't technically mandatory, she had a high enough profile that people would notice if she didn't show up. And, well, that wouldn't look great coming from the heiress of a prominent Atlesian company.
They filed into their seats. Weiss sat with her back straight, as she always did—it looked frankly ridiculous in the stands like this, but the alternative was to crush her wings behind her. She wound up between Yang and Ruby, with Blake on Yang's other side and all of JNPR just beyond her. Sun and Neptune stuck to the other side, with Neptune quietly asking Ruby if she knew when the fun stuff would start.
"It's going to be at least an hour of pontificating," Weiss said, "but I think there's a performance first."
Normally the Vytal Festival was almost purely based around the tournament, but this year was a big anniversary and, Weiss suspected, the various Councils wanted to make a show of unity. It wasn't exactly secret that Mantle was falling apart and had been since the war, and the White Fang had been making an absolute mockery of Vale's government lately.
We're fine, the ceremonies said. Everything is under control.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" boomed Professor Port's voice. A hush settled over the crowd. "Put your hands together for the sweethearts of Vale!"
"Here to perform a few of their latest hits," Oobleck chimed in, "please welcome..."
"The Achieve Men!"
Weiss threw her head back and groaned.
Yang's jaw dropped. "After everything we've been through," she said, putting a hand to her heart, "I never thought you would commit such heinous blasphemy, Weiss."
"Four chords. Their entire discography has four chords."
She didn't get an answer, because several distant figures strode out into the arena and the crowd erupted into frenzied cheers—none louder than Yang, right next to her ear. The hexagonal center rose up into a stage, complete with a range of musical instruments.
Blake waited, looking apprehensive, as the cheering finally died off and the guitarist strummed out the opening chords. They had not, apparently, learned any new ones for the occasion. Slowly, her ears perked up.
"You know," she said, leaning over to smirk at Weiss. "They're actually pretty good."
"Her taste is obviously compromised," Weiss said, poking Yang in the rib. "And she's been brainwashed to match." She jerked a thumb at Ruby, who had also joined in the cheering and whistling. "But with four ears I thought you'd be a little more discerning."
"So what I'm getting is that you're a music snob."
"Ugh." Weiss rolled her eyes—and then froze as she spotted a familiar magnetic tangle buried in the stands on the opposite side of the stadium. "I'll be right back," she said, standing up and squeezing her way past JNPR. She shot what she hoped was a reassuring smile over her shoulder, to which Ruby responded with a double thumbs-up.
It was something of a trial to navigate the mass of outstretched legs between her and her target, all while bristling at the constant and unavoidable close contact with complete strangers. But it was, at least, a distraction from the music—Weiss didn't care what anyone else said, it was bland at best and downright monotonous at worst. And... well. She needed to do this before she lost her nerve.
"Penny?"
"Oh!" Penny looked up and beamed. "Hello, Weiss! I was looking for you and your teammates, but the show started before I found you. They are very good, aren't they?"
Weiss chose not to dignify that last part with a response. "Ruby and the others are on the other side of the stadium. I can take you there, but... do you mind if I tell you something first?"
"Of course not!"
"I... um..." She swallowed. There were too many people around. None of them were listening in, they were too enraptured by the lackluster performance, but still. "Can we go outside for a moment?"
In the narrow hallway that ran around the outside of the arena, the noise of the music and the crowd was much softer. They passed an Atlesian soldier on their way out, but he only nodded politely at them and went back to watching the doorway. Once they were well out of earshot, Weiss took a deep breath and relaxed. There was no one else in this hall, except for a faint scent she didn't recognize at all near the opposite end—probably another guard.
Somehow, being completely alone did not help Weiss get the words out. After a long, awkward silence, aside from the distant Achieve Men switching to the next song in their set, Penny tried to help her. "Is this about the incident?"
"Yes." Weiss balled her hands into fists. "I... realized, recently, that it wasn't fair to ask you to keep that a secret. Even if you don't care about me, you're still in training to be a Huntress and that sort of ethical dilemma—"
"What?" Penny cocked her head to one side. "But... I do care about you."
Weiss cringed. "Oh. Well... yes, I suppose you're a lot like Ruby that way. You care when people get hurt, even if you don't like them very much."
Penny looked even more confused. "I do like you. You are my friend. You didn't just tell me I was a real girl, you told me it was obvious. No one has ever treated it like it's obvious before."
There was a long, shocked silence, during which a stray guitar riff could be heard from the stadium. "Oh," Weiss said. "Oh."
"I think," Penny said hesitantly, "that you would feel bad, too, if you had to choose between hurting me and letting me hurt myself."
Weiss felt her throat close up a little. She could just see it, too—if their positions were reversed, and it was Penny who'd been injured in that fight... "I would." And then, at last, "I'm sorry, Penny."
Just like that, any hint of hurt evaporated. "Apology accepted!" Penny said, beaming. "I am glad to see you're taking better care of yourself, friend!"
"Thank you." Weiss looked down at the ground, feeling at once flattered and terrified by a trust she wasn't sure she'd earned. What was it Ruby had said after the incident? We're probably the first real friends she's had in... well, ever. How lonely would it be, to be the only one of your kind? Not just in your family but all of Remnant? She had Blake, at least, and the book—the book! "This... may seem like an odd question, but do you know a Doctor Polendina?"
Penny's face lit up. "That's my father! He's the one who built me."
Weiss smiled despite the pang of jealousy. "My team and I found a book of his recently. He seems like a kind man."
"Oh, he is!" Penny got a little skip in her step as they headed back into the crowded arena. "He has a clinic in Mantle where he works on all sorts of new things to help people!"
"I'm glad." Weiss glanced into the stands as they passed, so that Penny wouldn't see her expression and do something embarrassing like ask her what was wrong. "Perhaps I'll get to meet—hey!"
A tall, solid figure slammed into her shoulder, almost knocking her to the ground. She caught a flash of the man's red hair as he turned around, just barely poking out from under the brim of his black hat. One of his eyes was covered with a patch. The other was bright blue, and fixed on her with a feverish intensity. Her heart leaped into her throat, and for an instant she was almost sure he was about to attack. Then he blinked, and gave her a charming smile.
"Sorry about that. I didn't see you there." He tapped the eye patch.
"Right." She took a step back, unnerved. "Well. Be more careful next time."
He tipped his hat. There was nothing in his expression she could pinpoint to explain why, but the gesture felt somehow mocking. Without another word, he turned on his heel and vanished into the crowd.
"That was... odd." Weiss glanced at Penny. "Right?"
Penny tilted her head to one side. Weiss abruptly remembered the way they met.
"Well, never mind," she sighed. "No sense worrying about one rude stranger."
She and Penny kept walking.