Welcome to the next chapter of RWBY: Team DUSK, before starting the story. Let's answer some reviews:
Altajir95: Thanks. And as always.
The Therapy Session
Almost a week passed since the Camping Trip Incident, though the three days proceeding the incident weren't at all peaceful considering two of their friends were out of commission. Those involved were worried about both the conditions of Daniel and Sandra, who had been under the influence of the Cockatrice. However, as the two soon returned to their regular school lives, the soon atmosphere returned to normal too.
Though, both the mental exhaustion and damage caused by the Cockatrice did cause Daniel and Sandra to undergo a therapy session under Glynda's request. During one of these sessions, Sandra found herself inside a personal office that Glynda had in Beacon.
In an attempt to make her feel more comfortable, Sandra had been lying down on a couch in the office, while her assigned theorist sat beside her. It has been a couple of minutes as the two remained inside that quiet room without the slightest interruption.
"So, Sandra this is going to be the last day of our session. I hope that you haven't found this entire ordeal as forced."
Glynda gently spoke.
"No, this is fine. I mean, it would've been weird not to do something like this considering that Daniel and I took a supposed lethal mental attack from a Cockatrice. So, don't be worried about something this minor."
From Sandra's tone and watching her acting around classes, Glynda was glad to hear that she was acclimating easier to normal school life. But, there were still some situations where she seemed to be struggling in being her more natural self around others.
"That's good to hear. Please remember that no matter what is said inside of this room, it'll remain between us. I won't even mention this to the Headmaster even if he inquires about it," Glynda in a clear, reassuring tone, which Sandra believed. "I know I asked this question before, but have you had any dreams about what as of late about what happened?"
"To be honest, I was dreaming about what happened when I was a kid before the Cockatrice hit me with that last attack. But, since then I haven't dreamed about it before. I know that I haven't gotten over it, but I guess breaking out of it gave me a bit more closure."
Sandra replied, thinking about the situation with her mother, which she re-experienced, because of the Cockatrice. After facing off against that inner, darker representation of herself, then the support from her teammates, Sandra felt herself feeling better than before.
"I can tell. Before, I could tell that you were becoming more used to being a member of a team. But, since then, it appears as if your interactions with them have become more natural."
Glynda stated while looking to notice that Sandra leaned up from the couch.
"Yea, it's been fun being fun hanging out with them since classes started. Daniel, being Daniel and saying all the dumb jokes that are sometimes funny, and giving good suggestions about our teamwork. Hunter has gotten used to striking up a conversation with me and working together more. And Alyssa, being Alyssa continues suggesting that we start doing things together as partners."
"That's good to hear that you and your teammates have started doing a lot more things together. Among the first-year students, there are multiple teams that the teachers here have high expectations for in the future. And it'd be a shame if those teammates were to fall apart in their first year."
In mentioning that, Glynda thought back to the dispute that she heard about between Ruby and Weiss during the first day at Beacon Academy. At first, she believed that the current partners being complete opposites would be a terrible mismatch. However, Glynda was happy that she was wrong considering that it afforded them various new experiences.
"I can tell that most teachers here who read about my previous records from Oscuro Academy would've been a bit worried about me enrolling here," Sandra uttered as Glynda was silent as there were some teachers worried about her being added to a team. At some point, she was a part of the teachers who were concerned about Sandra being someone's partner. "That's fine. I would've been worried too if I were in your position."
"Miss Skye," Glynda didn't know how to respond at first. But, in this situation, she had to be honest with the student she was attempting to help. "There were indeed some reservations about such things, but that didn't mean I was judging you as a person."
In hearing that honest response from Glynda, Sandra couldn't help giving a genuine smile.
"I can respect someone in your position still being honest in this situation, though, I can tell that there are certain things that most people cannot share sometimes. I mean, I was one of them at some point. But, in being a part of Team DUSK, I realize that there are things that some of them still cannot share. And that's the reason that I plan on becoming someone that my teammates can depend on."
That response alone caused Glynda to give a genuine smile in response.
She didn't show it often, but the thing she loved most was seeing her students undergo such great growth as a person instead of Huntsmen alone. There was quite some more time as the two talked before Glynda looked over to see what time it was.
"Well, it appears as if our time is up," Glynda said as Sandra stood up from the couch, stretching her arms out. "I mentioned this before when we first started. But, if you need to talk about anything, then my door is always open for the students, Sandra."
"I'll remember that Professor Goodwitch. And thanks for talking to me."
Sandra gave Glynda one last wave before heading outside of the room, leaving the teacher inside of the room to contemplate what the two talked about.
"Yes, I can see that Sandra hasn't been affected by the incident and has recovered from it. It appears as if she has found closure because of the Cockatrice. I'm sure that Sandra would be able to improve herself as a young woman instead of just a Huntress," Glynda said feeling happy about that before switching to a topic that had entered her mind. On her desk, she moved from the personal notes taken about Sandra, onto the ones about Daniel. "Now, what am I going to do about Daniel?"
She took notes about the two of them, about their responses to consider what she should do next. Of course, she wouldn't be keeping those notes for long nor planning on putting them on actual records. For Sandra, things were about the same as in the conversation the two had. But, for Daniel….
"It's hard to tell what Daniel is thinking or feeling throughout the conversations. I can tell that he's being honest in regards to what happened, but he's not showing many reactions to it as Sandra did. It's as if Daniel isn't bothered about it at all despite the mental strain it would have caused to a normal person."
Glynda recalled the words she heard from Ozpin about the members of the Norden Family being the same in that regard. But, it makes her worried about the kind of life that Daniel would end up leading if he never considered the mental effects and dealt with them.
"I'll attempt it once more, it's going to be our last session. In all that happened in life, Daniel might be too used to telling people what they wanted to hear and putting up a brave face. I won't be able to call myself a teacher if I don't attempt to help my students before something happens."
Glynda was assured that she'd do her best to not let something of that nature occur to one of her students.
After Sandra left Glynda's office, she started heading down the hall as the students were passing her up. Having finished that last session, she felt as if some weight had been lifted from off her shoulders.
"I didn't think that it would help at first, but I feel as if talking about it did help me a bit."
Sandra said to herself, feeling much better than she first thought. During that, she couldn't tell that someone was approaching her from behind. Said person ensured Sandra wouldn't be able to tell she was being followed while making sure their footsteps weren't heard.
"Hmm, should I go and find Alyssa? Most of the time, I'd find her waiting outside Professor Goodwitch's office for me to be finished with my session. I mean, it's not like I would've liked…."
Sandra was surprised as she noticed hands clasping around her face, obscuring her vision. She almost flinched on reflex, stopping herself from realizing that there was a handful of people who would attempt to do something like this to her.
"Alyssa, I know that's you."
"…."
That person didn't respond, causing Sandra to believe that it was her more and more just messing with her.
"Come on, stop messing around. I know that Daniel or Hunter wouldn't…."
"Sorry, hun," a familiar voice from behind her caused Sandra to shutter. "But, this isn't your partner."
At that moment, Sandra used her semblance to phase through that person's hands, then turned around to find a playful-looking Coco. Instead of being dressed in her usual school uniform, she was dressed in casual clothing. It again showed more of the upperclassman's impeccable fashion sense, something that Sandra couldn't deny.
"What do you want Coco?"
"Hmm, what else could I do aside from wanting to check up on one of my favorite underclassmen?"
"Don't you mean, harassing your underclassmen?"
Sandra asked back, knowing that Coco has taken the kind of interest in her that she'd rather not have.
"Come on, I wouldn't call it harassment. I'd rather call it taking an invested interest in," Coco stated giving Sandra a gentle and cool smile. "So, how did your little session with Miss Goodwitch go?"
"It went well," Sandra replied, having no issue in saying that much. But, that was as long as Coco did nothing untoward to her. "I have to admit that it was good talking to someone outside of your teammates from time to time. In Vacuo, there are not many people that you could talk to when it concerns things such as emotions."
"Well, it's good to get things that are bothering you out in the open. Doing it, makes you feel as if there's one big weight off your chest," Coco said smiling and standing beside Sandra without showing alternative motives at all. "I'm kinda jealous though."
Sandra was confused about what Coco meant about that, considering there was nothing for the upperclassman to be jealous about. All she did the entire time there was sitting inside of a room for almost over an hour, talking to a teacher about her feelings.
"What would you have to be jealous about?"
"You spent an hour for four days alone with Miss Goodwitch."
"Eh?"
Sandra stared at Coco as if she had two heads.
It didn't take Sandra to recall that, because Coco was attracted to her, then it wouldn't be surprising that there are other women too.
"I'm sure that you noticed this, but Miss Goodwitch has a good fashion sense that makes even me jealous. She's also got a nice body and cool look that I couldn't help noticing the first time I met her. But, I doubt that she'd ever agree to go out with a student. And she's one of my favorite teachers too, so I wouldn't want her losing her job as a result of that."
Coco spoke as Sandra could practically feel the truth and emotions behind those words.
"Is there anyone you're not interested in?"
"Well, at the moment I'm interested in you."
Once Coco and Sandra found themselves in a place where most wouldn't be able to see, the upperclassman put her hand against the wall blocking her path. In seeing that Sandra turned to find Coco standing right there in front of her smiling with coolness and confidence. Witnessing the upperclassman, who was by no means unattractive, Coco's fashion sense enhanced that.
"C-Come on, I hadn't even had a boyfriend, let alone thought about having a girlfriend."
Before all this, Sandra was still nervous about the fact that Coco showed this kind of interest in her. There were a lot of students her age who tried making a move on her, but, of course, it ended in them backing down. However, it is the first time that another woman tried doing something of this nature. Together with this brand new view on life and personality shift, it got worse.
"Heh, your reactions are much cuter now," Coco said, leaning forward and getting close to Sandra's face. "We don't have to go that far, hun. Even I haven't had much of a serious relationship as a first-year leading to this point. So, why don't we start and get to know one another first? And this will be the first step."
Soon enough, Coco reached inside of her pockets, then handed out a ticket in front of Sandra after she stepped back a bit. Taking the ticket off her hands, Sandra stared at the ticket with surprise as it was to a rock band which was one of her favorite genres.
"Surprise that I guessed your favorite kind of music," Coco guessed smiling while holding her ticket inside of her hands. "I kinda thought about the song that you played for us and guess this would be the kind of band you'd be interested in hearing."
"Couldn't you have invited Velvet or someone else?"
Sandra was nervous about being around Coco alone, more so if there would end up being a crowd of people and the two would end up bunched up.
"Do you think our little bun-bun would love being in a crowd of people, while loud music is playing?"
"Eh, right?"
Sandra thought about it, and with Velvet's ears and knowing how sensitive a Faunus' hearing could be. So that'd be the worst possible kind of position for her.
"Come on, don't be so nervous. I'm not planning on doing anything. I was looking forward to going to this concert too and thought it'd be a fun experience," Coco said in a reassuring tone. "It's just going to be two music lovers at a concert listening to a good rock band. I won't force you if you don't want to go."
Sandra could hear that Coco wasn't teasing, and instead, she was being genuine in wanting to go out and listen to this band. And in seeing that, she let a sigh escape from her mouth as she slipped the ticket inside of her pockets.
"Fine, I'll go. But, don't expect anything aside from listening to music."
"I wasn't. But, I wouldn't mind if you wanted to do anything, though."
Coco said, tilting her sunglasses, then winked at Sandra.
"Don't make me regret this."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
After that was the last comment from Coco, she removed her hand from beside Sandra, with the underclassmen standing up straight. Sandra was glad that Coco had enough sense and prudence to choose a place where no one could see them. She didn't feel like hearing rumors about a 'relationship' between them, which would result in an assortment of things she didn't feel like dealing with.
"What happened with Alyssa? Normally, she'd be here instead."
"There was some project that she needed to finish up. She thought about finishing it later and coming to see you, but then I volunteered. I planned on coming to ask you if you wanted to join me anyway, so I felt like it was killing two birds with one stone."
"I think I know, which class that project is for. I think that I have some homework to finish up."
"Well, then as an upperclassman, I think that my help would be useful."
"Thanks."
Sandra couldn't give another response aside from that, not minding some assistance in finishing work.
Meanwhile, Daniel was sitting inside the library, not alone as Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang, all of whom were in the process of finishing some school work. There were others in the library too, such as Hunter and Velvet, the two Faunus was doing some personal reading.
"Ugh, this homework from Professor Port is hard to get sometimes. And Professor Oobleck's homework doesn't make things better."
Ruby said, frustrated as she started working on the homework for two teachers she found difficult to understand sometimes. She leaned forward with the pencil she was using in-between her nose and upper lip while pouting a bit. In seeing her partner acting like this, as usual, Weiss let a sigh escape from her mouth.
"I don't see the issue. I happen to understand their lessons quite well."
Weiss replied as if showing off.
"I think you're the only one there, Ice Queen," Yang teased, earning Weiss' ire as she disliked that nickname. "I'd find it hard to pay attention to one teacher who speaks more about their personal experiences. And another one who speaks at least ten words in less than two seconds. From time to time, I feel as if I'm caught in the middle of a cartoon watching him zip around from place to place."
Yang stated, dropping her pencil on the table, then stretched out her arms.
"Ah, I have to agree with Yang to some extent. It gets hard understanding Oobleck sometimes."
Blake added as Yang seemed to appreciate the assistance from her partner.
"Ugh, none of you appreciation for a good lesson. What do you think Daniel?"
Weiss asked, turning to the person who has been more often than not on her side.
"Uh, I don't think that Dani is the right person to ask about things related to the class."
Yang replied, with Ruby and Blake agreeing with her in that regard about Daniel being on the same page as the three of them.
"…."
However, neither of them got a response as Daniel seemed focused, too focused on the school work placed right in front of him. It was almost odd as he would also make it a habit of giving out his usual snarky comments about once asked. Staring at Daniel, the three young women looked at him with some concern.
"Uh, Daniel did you hear Weiss?"
"Hmm."
Daniel answered Ruby, showing a vacant.
"Daniel, are you working on the assignment?"
Blake asked, showing some concern too.
"Ah?"
Daniel gave that response to Blake's question.
"So, Daniel. When do you plan on getting married to Weiss?"
"Wh-What, wait…?!"
Weiss' face turned bright red at that question, but without showing the intention, she began focusing her attention on the next words that'll leave from Daniel's mouth.
"Ah, that's going to be as soon as I…," Daniel was prepared to respond, before realizing the question answered. Now conscious of the situation, he turned his attention towards the blonde-haired young woman wearing an amused smirk. "Nice try. But, that's going to work, Yang."
"Come on, what else could I do? I mean, you were rude for not answering a woman. Isn't that right, Weiss," Yang replied wearing a smile on her face, before turning her attention to Weiss who didn't respond. "Uh, Weiss? Weiss are you still there."
Ruby, Blake, and Yang turned to find Weiss' face turned as red as a tomato and became unresponsive without a sign of reacting at all. She did nothing else aside from looking downward at the table, her partner looked down to find that Weiss' eyes looked to be spinning around.
"Uh, Weiss," Ruby poked her partner's cheek multiple times, but there wasn't the slightest reaction from her. After waving her hand in front of Weiss' face there wasn't the slightest reaction. "Yang, I think you broke Weiss."
"I guess she couldn't handle that question. But, I didn't think that Dani would respond like that," Yang said, noting that Weiss was out of commission for the moment. "So, if you plan on marrying Weiss here, then who's going to be the best man?"
"I'm not going to dignify that with a response. More so, since the actual guy friends that I have might even end up fighting over it," Daniel said that last part under his breath then looked on towards Weiss who was still caught in a daze. "Well, I know at least one thing that'll snap her out of that. Weiss, I'm going to call Winter and tell her you aren't working."
"Please don't do that."
Hearing her older sister's name, Weiss snapped out of it and showed a cuter side of herself. At that moment, she did appear more like a younger sister, something that didn't go unnoticed by the sisters themselves.
"Heh, I didn't think that I'd get such a cute reaction from Weiss. I guess that your sister must be someone you're afraid of or respect."
"It's a little of both, I'd say."
Daniel thought in thinking about the relationship between Winter and Weiss, knowing that the two were as close as Yang and Ruby. Differing from Yang, Winter sometimes takes the more tough lose approach, but it's with the best intentions for Weiss.
"What were you thinking about, Daniel?"
Blake asked, recalling that Daniel ignored them all until picking up on what Yang mentioned.
"You could say that. I was thinking about something…a bit personal."
Daniel replied, not knowing what kind of response to give them.
But, Daniel was well aware that not telling them anything at all would be as bad as remaining silent and acting in the same nonchalant manner as usual.
"Does this have something to do with what happened with that Cockatrice?"
Ruby asked, recalling that the mental exhaustion caused by that incident had resulted in them being asleep for three days straight.
"It's a part of it. Not that something like that would be enough to put a damper on me," Daniel spoke first in a tone of nothing short of total confidence, then it went into a bit more emotion. "But, taking a walk down memory lane, because a Grimm wanted to bring up the worst memories kinda leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
Daniel gave them an honest response, something that the four women could understand as they were among the few who knew that he almost died at some point. Weiss herself was more aware of the incident, and as such, she understood the situation more. But, she hadn't heard much about the events themselves from Daniel himself aside from information on paper.
"Uh, Daniel I know that Professor Goodwitch has had you and Sandra talking with her for four days. But, if there is something that you don't feel comfortable talking about with her, then you could talk to us about them. Or you could talk to your teammates about it."
Ruby stated, turning her attention over towards Daniel.
He heard the sweet and genuine concern originating from the younger team leader, who was looking over at him with an expression that matched. Daniel felt touched and glad to hear the amount of care that originated from the younger silver-eyed girl. Reacting to that, Daniel extended his hand and placed it right on top of Ruby's head and causing some hint of red to appear on her cheeks.
"Thanks for that, Ruby. I feel a lot better after hearing that."
"Hehe."
Ruby couldn't help letting out a little cute laugh after hearing that as she retreated onto her seat.
"Ah, my baby sister's first crush."
Yang uttered under her breath low enough that Daniel and the others couldn't hear it. But, at least one person at the table could somewhat hear what she said, which was her partner. Blake let a light laugh escape from her mouth as Yang wondered what she was laughing about.
"…?"
Weiss amid this was held her pencil in her hand as she looked to be prepared to start her homework again.
However, on the inside, she was feeling frustrated about the situation in front of her. But, it wasn't directed toward Ruby, instead, it was more directed towards herself. She and Daniel were as close as childhood friends, but she hadn't done much for him. For as long as Weiss could remember, he has been there for her through a lot of those stressful and emotional moments growing up.
From the pressure that her father had been placing on her, which didn't help as the White Fang had targeted the Schnee Dust Company. She was there for Daniel when things started happening to his family, but she was naive to think that he managed to push through them.
"Daniel helped me more than most of the people in my life. Most of the people that I could say have been those I could count on have been Winter, Klein, and him. But, it wasn't until he left that I realized that he had been hiding something back from me. And then he entered my life again right here at Beacon, where I tried getting away from Atlas for four years."
Weiss was thinking about all the things that happened in almost over a month since their first-year lives started, they all were things she hadn't expected at all.
"Daniel, how do you do this one?"
Ruby asked, pointing to a problem with her homework.
Staring at it, Daniel could see that it was a problem from Professor Oobleck's class, and could understand where she was stumped at. More so, considering that the professor spoke too fast to understand and often handed them a large amount of work.
"Sure thing. I just so happened to have come up with something to handle lessons like this at Atlas, when I was still attending the combat school there. A lot of the lessons there seemed to go one-on-one, and the one thing that I looked forward to was combat class. And it's pretty handy in a lot of the lessons that you can find here."
"Really?! Thanks!"
Ruby happily replied taking anything to make lessons like these easier.
"Oh, now you're speaking my language. I'd love to make Oobleck's class easier to get, and get the chance to finish his homework finished faster."
Yang jumped at the chance too, then picked up and placed her chair right beside Daniel with Ruby. Both sisters started leaning up closer to Daniel as he decided to teach them about getting the important parts and not looking at everything as a whole. Blake was taking in what she was able to hear from their conversation instead, while their white-haired teammate had decided something.
Their group continued doing their school work there until it was time to leave, with most of them returning to their dorm rooms. However, Daniel still had that last session together with Glynda and separated from his teammates and friends.
As the sun was coming closer and closer to setting, Daniel found himself inside Glynda's office, but neither of them said a word the entire time. It has been a couple of minutes without the person who'd assigned this session to him. Daniel almost found himself wanting to speak up first but thought that the blonde-haired professor was in deep contemplation about this last session.
"This silence is a bit unsettling. Am I supposed to say something, or am I supposed to…."
"Daniel."
"I guess that I didn't need to wait that long," Daniel thought before wearing his usual expression and answered. "I didn't think that you'd ever start, Professor Goodwitch. So, was there something on your mind?"
"I have been thinking about taking on a different approach in regards to this particular situation that had involved you and Sandra in the Emerald Forest. But, I wanted to ask your opinion about my decision in holding these sessions for the last four days."
Daniel could see that she did switch to a different method and wanted to hear his side first.
"I mean, it's understandable. Sandra and I fell victim to a Grimm that no one in the history of Remnant survived even after being taken somewhere for treatment. There's also the fact that despite that, both of us were out for a total of three days from mental exhaustion. It would be weird of the teachers who're training future Huntsmen, and not be worried about the lasting mental effects."
Daniel replied honestly, showing that he had full knowledge about their intentions with this.
"Yes, Sandra has shown signs of accepting and handling what happened to move on from it. But, you haven't been as affected by it as Sandra, and continued acting as you normally would," Glynda leaned forward and linked her hands together. "From my experiences as a teacher to me it would appear odd for a student, a teenager no less to be this casual about something. And under normal circumstances, I would urge them to leave school for either some time to contemplate or find another path."
Daniel could understand things from Glynda's point of view as the students here will be going out into battle with the creatures of destruction. It wasn't odd to see a student holding back emotions to keep from getting kicked out and find themselves breaking down soon after. But, the chance of being asked to leave Beacon for a little bit of time was also a test from the professor.
He guessed that she wanted to see how he'd react to hearing she was thinking about asking for him to leave this school. Glynda was an experienced Huntress and teacher, meaning that reading the emotions of students and a potential situation became a skill she honed.
"But, of course, I wasn't planning on ever asking you to do such a thing. A lot of the teachers read about the past of students before allowing them to enter. Because of that, I, Headmaster, and others are well aware of what you went through in the past. A lot of things happened, but instead of breaking down, it became something that'd made you have to grow up faster than most. There are also the skills that you developed, while in Mistral too."
Daniel didn't respond as the kind of information about him would be something the teachers would be aware of.
"But, despite all that you still somehow manage to continue being a casual and light-hearted teenager, which can be either admirable or a bit frightening. I just want you to be aware that there are people that you can depend on, like the teachers, your friends, and those on your team. Being a team leader doesn't mean that you'll have to handle everything on your own."
Glynda thought about this method of getting through to Daniel in this conversation, because before she thought a gentler approach would be more efficient. But, instead, she decided to take a straightforward approach with him considering the things he went through compared to other students.
"Hah, thanks for that Professor Goodwitch," Daniel replied while letting a satisfied breath escape from his mouth, surprising Glynda. "Most of the people that I met before would talk to me as if I was as brittle as glass or wouldn't be able to understand anything. But, you're one of the first people who talked to me as if I wasn't a kid."
Hearing Daniel's honest response caused Glynda to feel a bit more relieved about her choice.
"Well, as long as you understand and consider the words that I said, then I don't think that you'll have troubles in the future. The Headmaster and the other teachers are looking forward to the future of the students who were able to defeat a Cockatrice."
"Yea, I plan on making a big splash after becoming a Huntsman. And if Hunter, Sandra, and Alyssa don't mind, I wouldn't mind having them there with him."
Daniel smiled at the thought of Team DUSK still being a formed team even after the four of them graduated from Beacon Academy. That was something that he couldn't help thinking about the more that he got to know them all through this first month.
"Well, I doubt that there's much that we could talk about at this point. Unless there's something that you wanted to discuss before leaving here."
"Hmm, well is there a chance that I could have one week without homework?"
"No."
Glynda's straightforward response didn't surprise Daniel, who let out a nervous and amused laugh.
Seeing that there was no point in being there anymore, Daniel soon stood up from the couch and started heading outside of the office. Once he left the office, a faint laugh escaped from Glynda's mouth in recalling Daniel's attempt at humor.
As if on schedule, there was a notification originating from her Scroll about an incoming call, causing her to pick it up without looking at the caller ID. She didn't need to look and see who the person was as there was one person with this good timing.
"Hello, Professor Ozpin?"
Glynda asked as an amused sound could be heard from the other end of the line.
[A punctual response as always, Glynda. So, how did the sessions go?]
"Now, Headmaster, I believe that I promised them that whatever the two talked about in this room would remain in this room."
Glynda replied to the question, showing that she intended on keeping her promise to her students.
[Of course, I didn't mean to ask about anything personal about them. But, I was inquiring what your thoughts about them being able to continue their attendance at Beacon.]
Ozpin asked Glynda, who looked to be thinking about it to herself before starting to speak.
"I believe that Sandra and Daniel have been through situations that most their age would surrender and give up. As sad as it sounds, it was because of those situations that the two matured and reached the point where both of them could endure this incident. And because of the support from their teammates, I believe that the two will be able to handle whatever comes in the future."
Glynda replied honestly.
[So, I can take that as your reassurance of them.]
"Please don't come up with any ideas. Neither of the teams that have attracted your attention isn't prepared to handle what we professors are handling behind the scenes. And the same thing could be said about their leaders, which includes Daniel. I believe that he has enough on his shoulders than to handle anything else."
[I know, it's been almost over a month since school started.]
Ozpin replied, sharing the same sentiment as Glynda as the two professors ended their conversation. But, both of them believed that Team RWBY, JNPR, and DUSK showed the most promise in the first years, but it was a bit too soon for them.
Having finished his session earlier with Glynda, Daniel found himself sitting on his bed and dressed in the clothes he'd wear to bed. Instead of being alone on the bed, he was sitting their legs crossed in front of Hunter who had his eyes trained on him. Leaning down on the adjacent bed was Sandra, wearing her headphones and reading a book she brought from the library. Secretly, though, she was paying attention to the situation that was happening right there in their dorm room.
Sitting there at the bed's corner legs crossed and looking at her two male teammates was Alyssa, who of course initially asked permission first. She looked with great concentration as a breath escaped from the blonde's mouth, then started speaking.
"Alright. One, two, three…and go!"
Reacting to that, Daniel showed a coin in his hand, then started making a wide arrange of fast movements, which ranged from shifting it from one hand to the other. There didn't appear to be a pattern from both the motions and shifting of the coin's position. Meanwhile, Hunter was watching the entire thing using hawk-like eyes watching its intended target.
One minute passed, and Daniel clasped his hands together before calling them into a fist as the coin was hiding inside one of them. Hunter looked forward at the two closed fists in an attempt to look for the coin, which should be in either hand. In placing a hand on his forehead in thought, Hunter thought about the movement of the coins switching from Daniel's hands.
"…."
Hunter pointed his finger at not either Daniel's hands.
Instead, Hunter pointed at the pillow right behind Daniel, causing them to let an amused laugh as he received the exact coin underneath that pillow.
"You found it, Hunter."
Daniel replied, flicking the coin towards Hunter using his thumb, who caught it in his hands.
"I didn't think that Hunter would find it that time. I never thought that Hunter was lying about his perception being that good, but I didn't think that it'd be that good."
Alyssa started leaning her chin against her open hand.
"Well, that's good for me then. I mean, I have a partner like Hunter who can watch my back," Daniel commented in a light-hearted manner while patting his partner on the back. Because of that, Hunter looked a bit bashful from the compliment not being used to compliments from others. "So, now that Sandra and I are freed from all those sessions. How about we do something together as a team?"
"Sounds interesting. I'm up for whatever we're going out to do since it'll give our entire team a chance to relax for a little bit. Besides, I think that it'd be good for both you and Sandra too. I mean, that is after Sandra finishes her little da…kya!"
Daniel and Hunter were surprised to see that Alyssa kicked off Sandra's bed from the occupant herself. Even though it looked a bit accidental, the force behind that kick knocked the blonde-haired girl off the bed.
""That was a cute scream.""
Daniel and Hunter thought thinking back to the scream Alyssa made before being kicked off the bed.
"Oops. My bad."
Sandra spoke in a deadpan tone, showing no actual emotion about what just happened.
Instead of being mad about what happened, Alyssa let out an amused laugh and realized that it was because of her mention of her little "date" with Coco. Not seeing a problem with it, at first, Sandra mentioned it to Alyssa. But, she knew that Alyssa wouldn't mention something talked about in private and realized that it was one of Alyssa's attempts at teasing her.
"Hahaha, I have that coming."
Alyssa said, placing a hand on her head as she started standing back up.
A small moment like that between their young women teammates had caused a laugh to escape from the mouths of the young men watching the situation.
"Hahaha, moments like this that make me glad that I started going here, and met you three here. You guys are just too much fun."
Alyssa stated, loving the situation more though.
Her comment and statement were something that the three of them could agree with too. It was surprising that all their meetings happened most surprisingly. And the first time that the four worked together against the Behemoth, resulted in the birth of Team DUSK. And the four looked forward to what was going to happen in the future too.
At that moment, a sound caught Daniel's attention; and recognized it as the notification from his Scroll. Reaching for it, he opened it and noticed that there was a text message from "that" person. In noticing the message, Daniel stood up from his bed and stretched out his arms and legs as he slipped his feet into house shoes.
"I'll be right back. I need to go meet up with someone."
Daniel started looking at his teammates, who surprisingly didn't say anything.
Not paying much attention to that, Daniel started heading to the door leading outside as he wondered what kind of thoughts was going through their heads. Once Daniel left the room, there was an immediate conversation going on between them.
"So, who texted him this time?"
Alyssa asked, finding her way onto Sandra's bed again.
"Who knows. It could've been Weiss," Sandra replied, closing her book and moving her headphones around her neck. "Not that I can guess, it's almost as if Daniel has a constant nonchalant look."
"It could've been Yang. I doubt that Blake would call out Daniel using a text and at this time."
'It could've been Ruby.'
The three of them came up with their guesses about who texted Daniel this time of night, then there was the slightest pause among them. And the three of them locked eyes with one another.
""'Let's bet on it.'""
Sandra and Alyssa replied while Hunter signed more energetically.
From there, the three of them started putting up their bets about who Daniel was going to be meeting alone.
Daniel found himself on the roof of their dorm room, walking through the entrance where he found "that" person standing out there. Standing there was Weiss dressed for the night and wearing slippers that matched the bluish nightgown. Based on what she was doing before he walked in, Daniel guessed that she was gazing at the moon for a good couple of minutes.
"Didn't think that you'd ask to meet me up here alone? It almost sounds like something that either Ruby or Yang would do. Did you take advice from them?"
"If I didn't know you, Daniel. I would've thought you were insulting me."
Weiss said with the slightest bit of humor hidden in her tone.
"Come on, do you think that being more casual like them is a bad thing."
"No, but that's most, if not all the time for them."
Weiss replied, turning around to face Daniel wearing a much gentler look on her face.
"So, was there something that you wanted to talk about," Daniel asked, continuing to walk towards Weiss until he stood next to her. "Unless you called me out on the roof just for a little bit of alone time."
"Hey, Daniel. How long have we known one another?"
Weiss' question was something that stumped Daniel about the suddenness of that question, and the reasoning behind it.
"Well, we've known each other for ten years since we were seven years old and met at that event at Atlas. Since that moment the two of us have been friends."
"Yea, you were the one person who was my age that I could talk to and became the first friend that I ever made," Weiss stated, smiling as she started thinking about all the things that the two did together. "But, I haven't been as much as a good friend as I should've been."
"What're you talking about? There hasn't been anything that you've done wrong."
Daniel became more confused about what she meant about it.
But, he didn't stop Weiss from continuing to talk about when she was referring to herself as being a bad friend to him. It was half about wanting to know what she meant about that, and the other half about letting her express all the feelings built up from feeling about this.
"It wasn't until you weren't there that I realized that, while I went to you with all of the troubles that I went through in regards to my family. But, I didn't even attempt to offer that same gesture. Instead, I never pressed the situation whenever I heard you say that you were fine."
Instead of showing her usual calm and composed look, Daniel could see that there were more emotions shown on Weiss' face. He thought a long time ago that hiding things from people would be better than putting more things on their shoulders. For Weiss, she had numerous things on her shoulders that no one else would have noticed or been aware of. Almost all of it stemmed from the fact that her father was the definition of a cold-hearted bastard whose one concern was business no matter how it affected others.
"Weiss…."
Daniel found himself uttering out loud, then walked forward and wrapped his arms around the white-haired young woman. She hadn't been expected a hug from Daniel, but feeling the warmness from the hug was just enough to calm her down. Weiss, in turn, returned the hug, as she seemed to nuzzle her head against his chest. Daniel and Weiss remained in the same position for what looked to be a couple of minutes.
"Uh, well I wasn't expecting that. But, I guess that it wasn't a bad thing," Weiss stated stepping from Daniel, then tried regaining her composure after that happened. "So, the reason that I called you up here was that I want you to know that no matter what it is. I'll listen to whatever you tell me. I don't want it to be the same as when we were kids. I want you to know that I'll do the same thing that you've done for me. Whether it's something small or big, I'll listen to anything you feel comfortable talking to me about."
Hearing that coming from Weiss' mouth caused a feeling of happiness to well up inside of him, because of the feelings felt from the words and sentiment alone.
"Thanks for that Weiss," Daniel replied and could see that she looked prepared for whatever he had to say right then and there. Both of them were alone. There was still time for the two of them. And it wouldn't be bad talking to Weiss for the entire time they're on the roof. "So, mind listening to something more recent?"
"You're talking about what happened with the Cockatrice," Weiss thought that was the most recent incident to date and was confirmed as Daniel nodded his head. "Yes! If you're fine with it, that is."
"Of course, it wasn't anything bad. Just a bit of an irritating reminder."
Daniel replied, then pointed to a place where the two of them could sit.
Following his lead, Weiss started walking beside him and took a seat right there beside one another. After getting in a comfortable position, Daniel started speaking and thought back to the fight against the Cockatrice.
"So, it first happened like…."
It was around that time that Daniel got hit by the Cockatrice's attack protecting Sandra, and found himself in a real familiar location. He was standing around a city that looked to be at nighttime, feeling the cold temperature. It, of course, didn't take him long to realize where he was.
"Ah, it looks like that Grimm sent me to Mantle. But, I can't tell…."
[Ouch!]
[Why you…!]
[There looks to be a fight going on.]
Daniel turned around to find a bunch of normal civilians walking around to find that there looked to be a fight that was happening right there. Gathering around, the men and women found three children who appeared ten years old or older knocked to the ground. All three of them had noticeable bruises on their faces while looking forward to looking mad at the person who beat them up.
[What's the big idea?!]
[Why'd you even get involved in this?!]
[Yea, this has nothing to do with you, Daniel!]
As the last one mentioned, standing there wearing street clothing no different from theirs and his necklace there in plain sight was Daniel. But, instead of it being the much older version, it was the younger version, which looked to have turned ten not that long ago. He looked to have taken some hits too, as there was a bruise or two there on his face.
[So, what if it doesn't have anything to do with me? I'm not letting three idiots pick on someone who wasn't even trying to fight back. If I see that, then I'm going to make it my business.]
The younger Daniel replied, not backing down in the slightest.
Standing there in the background, appearing to be hugging a bag in their hand was a timid-looking male Faunus, who had dog ears.
[So, what? No one cares!]
[Yea, just look!]
In saying that, none of the adults, all of them being humans who gathered there focused on what concerned the Faunus child. Daniel didn't look fazed about the comment as the three kids started standing up again, starting to rush him again in unison.
[So mind your own….]
The one who took lead was knocked to the ground as Daniel kicked him down. After he went down, Daniel hit the two boys, knocking them to the ground again.
[Who cares! If no one's going to help him out, then I'm going to help him! Because I'm not afraid of a coward who'd turn a blind eye to someone in trouble!]
In uttering those words, the adult men felt as if it was targeted more at them as Daniel stared at his younger self.
"Huh. I almost forgot that I said that."
Daniel stated crossing his arms.
[Ah! My baby!]
At that moment, a woman came out, who looked to be one of the kid's mothers walked up and looked at her child beat up there.
[Mom! This kid over here beat me up!]
The kid, the leader uttered pointing at Daniel faking to earn sympathy.
"[That little turd.]."
Both the younger and older Daniel uttered out loud.
[Oh my poor baby!] The mother shouted, hugging her son, who sent a sly smile in Daniel's direction. The mother soon turned her sights towards Daniel, who looked on wearing a blank look. [I know you, you're that little ruffian child of that woman from the Norden Family, aren't you?]
[What gave it away? The silver eyes? Or the necklace?]
Younger Daniel answered her question with a question, showing little to no care about the woman in front of him. In the background, the older him laughed at that comment.
"Oh my god! I don't even remember saying that!"
Daniel didn't see the issue in laughing since this was just a memory.
[Don't talk back to me like that! I could have your entire family sued for hurting my sweetie and his other innocent friends for no reason.]
[Yea, innocent. I'm sure that innocent kids would pick on a defenseless Faunus.]
[Humph. A Faunus. I doubt that those animals have the right of being in the same place as us. All of them should go live in the slums, though it's more than they deserve. Now apologize to my child for hurting him or else I'll do what your parents should've done and discipline you.]
[….]
Daniel stared on with a blank look as if the mother had two heads, his arms crossed, and showed no intention of even considering her request. Looking at him, the mother was fuming as Daniel showed no kind of respect at all, and raised her hand into the air. Still not looking worried, Daniel stood right there in the same position even as her hand was brought down.
But, the mother's hand was caught before it came close to Daniel, the culprit being a woman and mother herself.
[There you are, Daniel?]
Standing right beside, the woman holding onto her wrist was Daniel's mother, Natalia Norden, wearing a casual smile. In looking at the clearest possible image of his mother, the older Daniel looked on as different emotions all started welling up in his chest. Her silver hair and matching eyes are still dressed casually despite being a woman born into an upper-class lifestyle. At her ankles, her weapons were inactive and prepared to be used if the situation called for it.
Filled with life and the kind of freedom that made other young women who aspired to be Huntress look up to her.
Seeing his mother again was something that made Daniel want to press pause on this entire recollection without wanting to press play.
[Hey, mom.]
[Sooo, mind giving me the short version?]
Natalia asked with the same casual tone Daniel uses.
[Three kids picked on the Faunus here, and are now trying to gain sympathy.]
[I see.] Natalia nodded her head as she turned her attention to the woman next. [So, mind explaining the reason you thought raising a hand to my kid was a good idea?]
[L-Let me go.] The mom tried removing her hand, but couldn't move an inch despite her attempts at yanking it back from Natalia. In staring into Natalia's eyes and the expression she was making at that moment, the woman almost shuttered under the gaze. [Y-You're kid beat up my kid because he was protecting some Faunus. All I did was try to discipline him, something that you didn't do. I might even attempt to sue the Norden Family for…ah!]
At that moment Natalia released the women's wrist, then tossed some lien in her face and it caused a surprising sound to escape from her mouth.
[Take my advice and take that, then maybe use it to teach your kid a lesson. Because the one person that should be blamed would be the kind of mother who doesn't teach their child to value all life. Humans. Faunus. And even animals. No matter what, all life is an important, and precious thing that can be replaced. If you still feel as if your child did nothing wrong, instead of attempting to 'discipline' my kid. How about we mothers talk about private little chat about it?] Natalia asked, staring at the mother, who shook her head in refusal. [That's a shame. But, don't forget that children know nothing about life and learn from experience. So, please consider not poisoning your child's mind with your personal belief.]
[Yes, ma'am! Please come here, sweetie, and let's go home!]
The woman's personality took a complete one-eighty, then grabbed onto her son's hand and started taking him somewhere else. The two other kids followed behind them at a quicker pace. Natalia looked down to realize that the mother didn't bother taking the lien.
[I thought she wanted the lien, but she didn't even take one of them. That's a waste.]
Natalia leaned down, and started picking up the lien she tossed at the mother.
[I doubt that anyone would value their safety over lien when dealing with your mom.]
[You make me sound like a Grimm or something.]
Natalia replied, sounding a bit saddened about that comment.
"[To humans at least.]"
Both Daniels, the older and younger one replied.
[I heard that. You're likely you're one adorable snarker.]
Natalia smirked at her child's joking response, poking his cheek using her finger and squishing it.
Having picked up and dusted off the lien she picked it up off the ground, then headed in front of the Faunus who'd been hiding behind Daniel. She looked to see that he was holding a paper bag in his hands, which looked to be a bit torn in some places and looked smushed too.
[Well, since that woman didn't want it. Would you like to take it?] Natalia kneeled in front of them and held the lien in front of the Faunus child. [If some of your items got smushed, then you could buy some more using it.]
The Faunus looked at the lien curious about whether or not he should take it. He didn't think that he could trust a human, but looking at the genuine smile from Natalia and witnessing what Daniel did. He reached his hand, then took the lien from her hands.
[…thank you.]
The Faunus child spoke with more emotion behind his voice, then started heading out.
[Now, last but not least.] Natalia stood back to her feet, then turned her sights on the people watching the entire situation. [What're you all doing, looking on as some poor, innocent kid getting bulled without doing a single thing to help him?! Don't tell me that all of you were intimidated by a bunch of kids! Or thought, of it, was a Faunus so it wasn't our concern! You want to place blame on Faunus for acting hostile against humans! But, it's your fault that Faunus feels like they have no other choice! You're the kind of people I can't stand!]
Natalia's declaration to the entire crowd watching the entire situation, caused different feelings to well up inside of them. Some of them were irritated. Some of them were ashamed. And some of them felt like children who've just been disciplined.
"That's my mom for you. She says what she wants and doesn't care who she's talking to."
[You were lucky to have had such a woman for a mother.]
"Yea," Daniel replied to the person standing beside him, which similar to Sandra was a duplicate of himself. It had manifested there beside him without letting its presence known until then. But, at that moment, Daniel pulled out Vanir and pointed it at the duplicate. "So, you're supposed to be a projection of that Grimm, right?"
[Yea, and before you consider it. You can hurt me.]
The duplicate stated in an amused tone.
A slight pause occurred between them before Daniel pulled the trigger several times and passed straight through the duplicate.
[See, I told you.]
"As if I'd trust the words of a Grimm."
Daniel replied, and holstered Vanir.
But, he didn't let down his guard around this Grimm-manifested duplicate of himself.
[Now now now, don't be so hostile. Didn't I do a good thing by letting you see your mother again?]
"…."
Daniel ignored the duplicate and instead focused on seeing his mother marching out of the situation, holding onto his younger self's hand.
[She was a really good mother for someone born into Atlas. Born into a high-class family, she'd never shown arrogance. She loved life and lived free. Never showed fear, and spoke her mind no matter what. I can see why a lot of young girls from Atlas aspired to become a Huntress if Natalia Norden was their role model.]
"…."
Daniel ignored it again.
[So, it's kinda a shame that this happened a couple of months later.]
With a snap of its finger, the entire scene changed to a familiar sight that Daniel wouldn't and couldn't forget. It was snowing in Atlas as the location changed to a private-owned graveyard, where multiple people gathered around. All of them were dressed for the scene, standing around was a mixture of humans and Faunus, of course, those who wanted to pay their respects.
Among them, there were members of the Norden and Schnee Family, missing the patriarch, but the personal and loved butler, Klein stood there too.
Daniel's aunt, and Natalia's younger twin sister, Olivia stood there sadly and almost despondent, dressed in a black dress, wearing a cast and sling around her left arm. Right beside them, was Daniel's younger male cousin, Gilbert; his younger female cousin, Diana, who was holding onto her younger sister, Helen's hand. There was also Daniel's aunt-in-law, who stood beside her son.
Standing there too was Richard, dressed in a black suit and wearing an expression that couldn't even be read at that moment. In front of them, there were three gravestones with the Norden emblem engraved on them, in addition to the names of the people resting there. Gerald Norden was a Great Man, Hero, and Father. David Norden, the Light of the North. And Natalia Norden, a Brave Hero, and Mother.
Right there besides Norden, were Willow, Winter, Weiss, and Whitley Schnee. Willow, the matriarch looked sad as a good friend of hers was lost. Winter, the elder sister, who didn't show much emotion felt a great loss right then and there, a woman she did respect. Weiss looked as sad as Willow, more so directed to Daniel who'd just lost a parent. And Whitley didn't appear to know how to feel at that moment.
Soon enough, people started leaving the funeral, there were some words shared as people paid their respects. Despite it being time to go, Daniel stood there in front of his mother's gravestone, his family choosing to give him some space. After some words from them, then condolences from Willow and Winter, a hug from Weiss, the Schnee family members started leaving as Klein led them.
Standing there alone, the younger Daniel was looking downwards as tears fell from his eyes, shaking out from frustration and tightening his hands into fists.
[Before you left on that mission to Mistral with Auntie…you said together we'd taste the latest meal that you tried making alone again. …I was looking forward to it…since it was the first time you didn't almost set the kitchen on fire. …I…I thought there was a lie or something…when they said you weren't…coming back.] A shaky voice was heard in the tone of the younger Daniel, but he continued speaking. […I sat at the table staring at the meal you'd made before leaving. I wouldn't eat anything aside from the food all day until it was nighttime. …y…you added a bit too much salt again…. B…But, it was good…it was a delicious meal.]
Daniel witnessed as his younger self kneeled to the ground crying, while staring at his mother's gravestone, and couldn't come to terms with the truth. He was a child who loved and respected his mother, and couldn't believe a couple of Grimm would be enough to kill his mother.
"…."
[To think that the last meal that your mother cooked was good. How many times did she almost burn the kitchen down, and the last meal you cooked was good. I believe that's the definition of iron….]
At that moment, a blue slash was released from Retribution, which was intended to split the duplicate in half. But, like before, the crescent slash passed through the duplicate, not affecting it in the slightest.
[Come on, I mentioned before that it wouldn't…. Oh, my.]
Daniel's duplicate looked forward surprised to find Daniel staring straight at it wearing with a blank look, while his eyes showed nothing short of hatred and contempt.
[How many people, your friends would be surprised to see that expression of yours? I can feel the hatred coming from you at this moment. I believe that you're starting to resemble that older brother of yours more. It must be so hard keeping up the older brother persona without knowing the feeling of relying on yours. So, when do you plan on telling Weiss the second reason you left?]
"Are you done?"
[Huh. His anger is settling down….]
The duplicate was surprised to find that Daniel's anger towards it was settling down at a steady pace.
"Is this all? You show painful memories to make people fall into despair, feed off those emotions, then kill them at that point. I didn't think that the projection produced by a Grimm would act so human. I don't need you to show me memories, I think about from on my own. So, I don't need a half-assed replica to remind me and desecrate my mother's memory. Besides, I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment dealing with the Grimm itself."
[How're you planning on leaving here? There hasn't been one human to….]
"Before you mentioned that I couldn't hurt you. Meaning that at least, at the moment, I can't kick your ass to get out of this mental space."
[I told you this already. So, I don't…ugh.]
Daniel pulled out Vanir, then pointed it right at his head and caused the duplicate to look surprised.
"What's with that look? I didn't think that the projection manifested from a Grimm would look concerned."
Daniel was looking confident at the Grimm despite pointing a gun at his head, then prepared to pull the trigger.
[What're you doing?! Doing something like that won't….]
"Looks like this is an alternative escape. I tried waking up using the usual methods, but of course, something like those wouldn't be effective. So, I guess that a big enough mental shock would be enough to force myself to wake up from this," Daniel noted as he started pulling the trigger more to the point that a bullet could be released at a moment's notice. In doing this, the duplicate started reacting and panicking to that more and more to the point it'd looked human. "I guess that replicating humans was a mishap on your end. And this is…."
[Damn you human! Don't think that escaping from here would be the end! Even if you manage to kill me out there you'll never escape from facing it! You'll never…!]
The duplicate started looking more Grimm as time passed, instead of it mimicking an actual human at that point, and caused Daniel to smirk.
"…jackpot."
Daniel pulled Vanir's trigger and at that moment felt the bullet piercing his head, which caused the mental space to break apart. And caused him to take up the actual physical world, where he rejoined the fight against the Cockatrice.
"And that's pretty much what happened."
Daniel explained as Weiss looked stunned about hearing the entire thing.
"Y-You k-killed yourself to escape from that mental space," Weiss was stunned that Daniel was strong-willed that he could do something like that. "But, what if something bad happened?"
"I wouldn't shoot myself with a reason or plan. I was convinced it'd work after that duplicate of me started reacting like that. I mean what duplicate produced by a Grimm would care about their victim shooting? It'd just speed up the process of it killing us."
Daniel soon felt Weiss hitting him on the head as sadness could be seen in her eyes, but the force behind that one wasn't meant to cause actual pain.
"You're a reckless idiot."
"You befriended a Norden, and then you got to know me. So, you should've expected that," Daniel countered her response as Weiss pouted and gave him a cute glare, causing him to hold up his arms in response. "Please don't give me the cute Schnee glare. Believe me, I'm not an easy person to take down."
"Don't joke about something like that, idiot."
Weiss sighed as if losing all strength to argue about that, then leaned her head against his shoulder as the two of them sat in silence. He thought that Weiss was taking in what she heard from Daniel, and letting the information sink in before speaking.
"Daniel, there's a lot more than you're not telling me, isn't there?"
"Yea," Daniel agreed, not seeing the point of lying about that. "It'd be wrong for me to pour out everything in a single setting."
"As I said that's fine, because, just as you were there for me. I'm going to be there for you no matter what is it."
Weiss leaned up, then Daniel felt her kissing his cheek, causing them to turn red from the feeling and heat that'd started welling up as time passed. She then returned to her previous position, then leaned her head against him as a smile could be seen on Weiss' face.
"…."
Daniel smiled too, as the last words he could get from the duplicate entered his mind.
[You'll never escape from that truth, and you know it! She's going to find out about him at some point! And Weiss will hate you, him or herself when she finds out because she bears the responsibilities of being a Schnee!]
"The sins of the father are to be laid upon the children, isn't that it," Daniel said, as Weiss was happily leaning up against his shoulder. "The sins of the father should remain the sins of the father unless the children themselves decide to fix them. Geez, it's that jackass' fault things started in the first place, and now someone else needs to fix it. But, his one noticeable accomplishment in life is his kids."
"Hmm, it's getting a little bit. Not Solitas cold, but let's head inside anyway."
"Still showing signs of that humor."
"I blame you, that dolt, and her sister."
Weiss commented as she stood up, then stretched her arms.
"I'll take that as a thank you," Daniel replied nonchalantly as Weiss humorously rolled her eyes, then opened the door leading inside the dorm room. Before heading out Daniel started thinking again, then two different men entered his head. "Weiss wants to live her life as she wants. And there are going to be two jackasses in the way of that. I could handle the situation concerning her asshole father. But, the second one though is going to take a little bit more effort to take care of."
A/N: Well, this is the end of the next chapter of RWBY – Team DUSK, this is the aftermath of the previous incident and the little sessions that Glynda prepared for Daniel and Sandra. Not much action happened, but I thought that this was a chapter that was needed to end the arc. But, there was a little more insight into Daniel's part too from his mother and her funeral. In addition to his experience due to the Cockatrice putting him in the same state as Sandra. And that moment between Daniel and Weiss.
This is a reminder, but there is a lot of time that passes between time-skips and the events that happen in RWBY. So, it might seem slow to most, but I'm making sure to add as much as possible to not make it look rushed since there is a lot of freedom.