Interlude 1: Unbound Eagle

One day before deployment to Vale

Schnee Estate

Atlas

In the last days of the Empire, when Kaiser Zolorin had his armies shattered in the deserts of Vacuo, Mantle was undergoing a battle itself. With the majority of the Imperial army away fighting in another continent, the capitol, though initially orderly and without trouble, found itself under increasing disorder as the ten long years of the Great War dragged on. Organised criminal elements, young revolutionary movements and even opportunistic military officers saw the writing on the wall.

For a week, Mantle became a battlefield between all of those different groups, each having their own specific goals and agendas, though in what was perhaps an ironic ending, they had each weakened the other so much that when the Imperial army remnants crawled back to the city, order was restored under their banner. Of course, the changes in government agreed upon on the island of Vytal eventually made their way back to the continent, but the existing power dynamics had shifted so much that a revolution may as well have happened.

Popular imaginations of revolutions, such as those seen in the Faunus Rights Revolution gave the inhabitants of Remnant a somewhat skewed image of them. The idea of revolutionaries with brand new ideas for how society should be changed and run was novel and even inspiring, but seldom discussed was how revolutions often went the other way.

Revolutions often happened to keep existing power, rather than upend it completely. In the case of Mantle immediately after the Great War, that was exactly what happened.

The old aristocracy, though thoroughly weakened, still remained as the elites of Mantle, and now Atlesian society by virtue of their immense wealth. The only meaningful changes, at least to outside observers, were the relative strength of the various noble houses. The Rosen family for example, disgraced due to their repeated Naval defeats from Vale and their mishandling of projects, fell out of favour, and eventually disappeared outright during the Faunus wars. To this day, their once great estate remained empty, save for trusted keepers that sometimes included the Schnee family through a friendship with the late Nicholas Schnee.

Winter knew all of that, because she too was part of the Schnee family, despite being away from the estate more often than not these days. Walking through the large, empty halls of the estate where she grew up in, she couldn't help but feel the same feelings of regret she once had when first joining the Atlesian armed forces. Those days were long past, but still, there wasn't a month where a senior officer would ask if she ever regretted leaving behind the Schnee Dust Company; her answer was always the same.

Military duties aside, she was here for a reason, not to lose herself in old memories. Turning to Klein, who had let her in and was now leading her along, she asked him a question.

"Anything…happen while I was away? I remember it has been quite some time…"

"Hm? Oh yes, I believe it has been more than a month since you last decided to visit." Klein responded in his jovial persona, Winter half expected him to reply in his other one instead based on her visit today. He did often 'remind' her to visit more often, subtly and not so subtly at times through angry messages on her scroll. Being practically the one who raised them for all these years, Winter had a certain weakness toward him whenever he called or messaged.

This time, however, she was not here because he finally guilted her enough into visiting, but to say goodbyes for a potential long deployment under orders of General Ironwood. "I see. And what of my Mother? Has she been in good health lately?"

Asking that was redundant, for she knew the answer already. Klein did not answer her, instead gesturing out of the window and into the estate garden where her Mother usually spent her days, with a glass of wine held in hand. Indeed, she was there again today, another glass of what she assumed were equally strong spirits being sipped away. Her Mother didn't always have that image, Winter remembered a brief period of time in her childhood of happier days and moments, when her Mother and Father still at least pretended to love each other.

"There is a silver lining to that however, Weiss has made good progress on getting her to drink less if I may say. Roughly half her usual compared to before." Klein added hastily. Winter was surprised, she did not know her little sister's attempts had born any fruit until now, even though she thought it was to be a hopeless affair.

"Shall I take you to her?"

Winter shook her head, she wanted to save meeting her Mother for last. "Weiss first, I assume Whitley is with her?"

While she and Whitley were never particularly close, with her leaving for the military doing nothing but widen that rift, Weiss still made attempts to get the two to bond whenever Winter visited. The action had its ups and downs, but she could say that the two were amicable on good days, usually when Weiss was there with them.

"Actually, not today, Whitley is off attending a bloody board room meeting with your Father, just Weiss ere' today." There it was, Klein shifted personas. Leading her out to the greenhouse area, when Klein swung open the doors she was blasted by its warm air, a welcome refuge from the cold air outside.

"She's here, tending to those flowers like she always does. Better a hobby than what your Mother does I'll say." In that sense, Weiss took more after their grandfather than her Mother, this greenhouse was built by Nicholas Schnee with plants he had found all over Remnant during his travels. It was a reminder of what once was, the prior era perhaps, complete with the old Imperial Mantellian architecture before art itself was 'banned'.

Loathe as she may admit, Weiss was much better at being…a person? No, in terms of everyone in the Schnee family, she was the closest to functioning like a 'regular' person out of any of them. It was as if the Schnee name meant nothing to her, that part did not in any form dictate who she was, unlike everyone else in the family apparently. Joining the military was a way out of that gilded cage, and yet she found herself acting under the Schnee name more often than not.

"Klein, before we move any further, has she changed her mind at all?"

Winter still remembered the fallout from her Father when Weiss told them of what she wanted to do in the future over dinner. Though it was not even a year since that day, Winter still could not really move beyond it. What were the words Weiss had said at the dinner table? She had managed to get the five of them together for a dinner in Oum knows how long, only to drop that revelation in front of them.

"Hah! The young lady is iron-willed is what she is. Believe me, Sir has spared no expense in trying to get her to reconsider, but he'd have better odds training a boarbatusk in doing acrobatics than get her to change her mind by now I reckon."

Yes, Winter could imagine, after all, finding out that your youngest daughter suddenly declined to become the heir to your massive corporation would be a shock if you were in her father's shoes. To this day, Winter could not understand where it came from, Weiss didn't show too much interest in being heir, but to suddenly have that come out of nowhere? And to suggest different paths for her to take. Bizarre, and downright terrifying for them at the time, though Atlas's best psychiatrists swore that she was completely fine and not clinically insane.

Declining to become heir to the SDC was not the important part, she was fine with her choosing an alternative since that was what Winter herself did, but rather it was everything that came after. All of those weird career paths she suggested filled her with dread, and every visit seemed to have a brand new idea for Winter to cringe at.

"SCREE!"

"Oh my!" Klein was surprised by the sudden call of an eagle, reverting to his other persona. It seemed that despite years of living with Weiss's pet, he was still surprised whenever it appeared.

Winter by now knew what was going to happen, and as such, let her arm out for the eagle to land. With a whoosh of its wings, she was now facing a Solitan Bald Eagle directly, one that she knew with familiarity.

"Grim, I trust your master is well?" Of course, eagles could not talk, but Winter liked to think that he still understood her words. All she got as a response was instead a tilted head, causing her to sigh. Weiss said that it showed up out of nowhere a few years ago, since then it had become an inseparable part of her, taking him along wherever she went. If she didn't know better, she would have said Weiss was a secret eagle trainer because there was no way Grim would have been that loyal to her from the beginning.

"I do wonder why he only chooses to greet you, whenever I arrive he ignores me like I am invisible! What did I ever do to him?" Grim only greeted Winter and Whitley that way as well, and to their Mother to some extent, but downright hostility towards Jacques most of the time. Rubbing her free left hand against his beak, she asked him where Weiss was. Again, as if he understood her completely, he lifted his left wing in the direction of the Rose Pavilion, where the garden's collection of roses lay.

"I'll get some refreshments while you make your way in, I'm sure you two will need some privacy. Excuse me." Now alone, Winter and Grim made their way further in, looking at the careful cultivation of various flowers that were managed in there. The rows of shrubbery and hedges, occasionally interrupted by beds of flowers were organized by someone who cared about them deeply. Weiss was one such person, often reminding Winter of stories their Mother used to tell of their Grandfather.

Walking up to the blue-tinted pavilion, Winter did not see Weiss at all. It was only when Grim nudged her using his beak in a certain direction did Winter see her; toiling away at a bed of blue roses. She was fond of those flowers in particular, having worn one on her shirt for as long as she could remember.

As Winter neared her, she saw that she was wearing a simple plain white dress again. If her Father saw her he would definitely have had something to say about it along the lines of 'shaming' their house by wearing something not befitting their status. At that moment Grim suddenly took off from Winter's arm, and landed right next to Weiss.

"Ah, I see Grim found you first!" In her usual cheery and soft tone, Weiss put down a small shovel and rose, greeting Winter with her usual calming smile. Unlike her and their Mother, Weiss wore her hair down, preferring to have it loose than in a ponytail.

"Weiss, it is good-"

Before Winter could get another word in, she was brought into an embrace with her younger sister. Even after all this time, Winter still felt somewhat awkward with her doing them for some reason, but she never once moved to stop her doing it.

"When was the last time you visited? A month, maybe more?"

"A month…and a few days I believe."

"Hmm. Quite a long time since then, I believe I specifically asked you to come back more often…?"

"Hrk." Now that she mentioned it, Winter did promise to do something like that the last time she was here…

"Honestly, I wonder at times if I am the elder sister, always having to ensure my other siblings are well and getting along…"

Winter looked away further in shame, and though unfortunate to admit, there were moments where Weiss acted more like an elder sister than she did. Especially when it came to interacting with Whitley, it was no secret that she and her younger brother got along very well. Much more than she ever could, perhaps because of her own fault as well.

"Come now, I'm just teasing. What do you think? These I had just gotten the gardener to help me plant, I believe they give the garden a much-needed variety."

The blue roses were planted all over the pavilion, organized into star shapes of some kind. Though a somewhat odd approach as far as flower beds were organized, she had to say it was certainly unique. That uniqueness gave Winter an idea, and she tentatively asked a question with some caution.

"Are…you planning to become a botanist? It's just that your hobby is all I ever see you really-"

"I'd much rather you ask me directly, Winter."

Again, Winter's subtle attempts were completely seen through by her younger sister. Seriously, she was sharper than a lot of other officers she knew, one that someone her age should not have been able to have. Perhaps that was why Father wanted her to become heiress after she left for the military and not Whitley, that sharpness would have helped the SDC continue on in either case.

"Have you not changed your mind, truly?"

"If I did, you would have known about it by now, Winter. My mind was made up a long time ago, Whitley has all but been decided as the next heir, hence why he has followed along with Father to a board meeting today."

Probably to introduce him as the next heir as well, even if in an indirect manner. Regardless, that was not the only thing Winter wanted to talk with her about. Before she said anything, however, she noticed a magazine depicting the makes and models of various airships, civilian and otherwise in Weiss's gardening toolkit. Crouching down to pick it up, a smile crept up on her face as she remembered playing together as children on their family's personal airships.

"Still interested in them? I admit they have always fascinated me, but you were positively obsessed with them if I recall."

Even very young, Winter had memories of Weiss spending hours upon hours looking outside of their window during flights, each time she wondered what her younger sister could possibly be thinking about. It was just flying up in the sky, wasn't it?

"Oh, but it is so much more than that, is it not? Flying, whether on wings or not, is the ultimate expression of freedom. There is no other action in the world that is as free as going where the horizon stops, and beyond. It makes me want to take up aviation every time I think about it, though I'm sure Father will have some things to say about that."

She nodded, Father definitely would have had some choice words to say about doing such a lowly job. However, an idea crept up Winter's mind upon thinking about it, and she turned to Weiss again, who had turned away to look at the clouds pass by them.

"You know, the good General I am under could write you a letter of recommendation. The Atlesian Army Air Service is always in need of talented and interested-"

"And be under some cage, never to be sent to anything remotely dangerous or even beyond Atlas because of my status and identity? I'm not so naive, Winter, I know how the Atlesian military works. Even if you personally vouch for it, I am sure that whatever commanding officer I will be under would disagree."

"It wouldn't happen-"

Any further comment from Winter was shot down by Weiss, who simply gave her the 'look'. Piercing blue eyes stared back at her own, and she was forced to back down from any further attempt.

"I have a life, therefore I have liberty, and with that I can use it for the pursuit of happiness. You used yours to pursue a career as a Specialist, could I not use mine for my own desires?"

…Weiss unfortunately had a point. Winter had her own selfish desires back then, so why couldn't Weiss also have her own? Sighing, she brushed aside some loose strands of her hair before replying to her.

"I didn't know you were reading the posts of an extremist." The quote that Weiss said just now came from a well-known infamous Atlesian poster on the internet, though his or her identity was unknown, most knew them simply as FightlingLady-10. That account garnered a lot of attention for the things espoused there, though not all were particularly welcome, especially regarding what was said about Faunus treatment in Atlas. She found herself sometimes agreeing with the things that were said, but again, with the White Fang's increase of terrorist activities, any form of 'extremism' was under current extreme scrutiny. It didn't help that many impoverished, especially Faunus in Mantle often agreed with the sentiments publically.

Weiss shrugged lightly in response. "I need something to do here after all, can't spend all my time gardening."

Fair enough, but Winter still wanted to give her some words or warning. "Just don't let Father hear you say anything like that, you know how he feels about…those kinds of things."

Having finished packing up the rest of her tools, she turned to Winter with a blue rose covering her lips, before letting out a wry smile. "No promises."

Toolkit in hand, along with Grim perched up on top of Weiss's shoulder, they set off back for the entrance to the greenhouse, hoping to catch Klein before he wandered in. Of course, she wondered how Grim's talons were secured on Weiss's shoulder without her crying in pain about it. Winter had an unfortunate incident before where she let Grim land on her shoulder, the resulting holes in her uniform had to be fixed by a professional. She chalked it up to Aura channelling to the shoulder area, which was probably the only time Weiss used her Aura for anything outside of the Schnee Glyph summoning exercises.

Wait, did she even do those anymore? After she had declined to go to a preparatory school, those exercises gradually stopped happening if she remembered correctly. Before she could think more about it, however, Weiss held out a brochure of some kind in front of Winter.

"What is this?"

"Something I'm planning to do, you asked me what I planned to do in the future…this should be one that even Father can't disapprove of."

Upon closer inspection, Winter did not hide the surprise in her voice as she read it aloud. "Politics and Business at the Royal Valean University?"

The bewildered Atlesian specialist stared at Weiss, her hanging mouth open and liable for insects to fly inside.

"Vale is far, true. However, my graduation at school is fast approaching, and I will need to apply for something soon. I saw that they were handing out these flyers, and I grabbed one just out of curiosity."

"You know Atlas also has multiple universities you can go to as well, right? Why go as far as Vale?" Not that Vale was bad by any means, but Winter couldn't help but feel a tinge worried about her safety. If she was anyone else, she would not have cared all too much, but she was Weiss Schnee, a target for anyone, including the White Fang. Vale was not as secure as Atlas was in that regard, so saying that Winter was more worried than before was an understatement.

For a moment, seeing Weiss nod her head in agreement relieved her, which was immediately taken away by her next words. "Also true, but to…spread my own wings as you have said before, staying in Atlas will not be beneficial to that goal. What matters is not to know the world, but to change it, and to do that, I need to at least know a bit about the world first."

All of those talks Winter had with Weiss about 'finding herself' in the past suddenly backfired on her spectacularly, and she was left speechless. Her mind flopping between kicking herself mentally for it and preparing dozens of reasons why she should not go abroad. If she was going to something like Beacon she wouldn't have minded, since she would have been studying to become a huntress then. However, Weiss had next to no formal combat training outside of some fencing lessons, she was most certainly no aspiring huntress, capable of defending herself.

"I…I…but…you shouldn't have…listened to…me?"

"Aunt Gelè seemed to like the idea, besides, I've already applied."

Aunt Gelè?! She asked her before me?! Winter mentally screamed, not that their Aunt was unreliable, she too was in the Atlesian armed forces but as a Vice Admiral. She and Father did not get along too well however, with the latter preferring that his children did not meet with her regularly.

"Vale is also located right next to the sea, something that Atlas…lacks." Winter detected an odd sense of melancholy and nostalgia when Weiss said that. Which was odd, considering the only time they had ever spent near an ocean was during vacations and other big events abroad, Solitas was too cold to have any beaches after all.

"But…"

"Oh my, would you look at that? Klein is just over there, and with the apple pie I baked! Come, you must have some, it has been a while since you last had any, correct?"

With that, Weiss hopped along, leaving Winter behind in the dust. Staring at the brochure, she realized that she hadn't even gotten the chance to say that she was being sent to Vale this entire meeting yet. Quickly shoving it in her coat, she raced ahead to catch up with her younger sister.

Future troubles aside, however, Winter cherished moments like this, and for once, allowed a small, genuine smile to appear on her face.

As Winter's personal airship blasted off from the launchpad, Weiss waved goodbye at it, knowing that she was watching her from above. Bringing Grim up to face level, she asked him a question out loud after ensuring that there were none around to eavesdrop.

"Even now, we're dealing with troublesome siblings, aren't we?"

Grim did not respond, instead doing a motion that vaguely resembled huffing. Stifling a chuckle from his actions, Weiss was about to head back inside when she noticed the sky above her brighter than usual. There were clear skies tonight, revealing the full bounty of the heavens to her. She could, for a moment, imagine those stars arranged neatly, into stars and stripes that made up the Eagle Union. Those days were long past, but she still dared to hope.

"Enterprise...Hornet...I hope you're doing alright..."

Wherever they were.

AN:

I'm looking for a beta reader! For either this fic or my other fics in general, if you are interested please shoot a DM over to me on FF net with a short 150-word paragraph explaining what genres you like to read and any relevant writing/reading experience you may have.

This was planned from the early stages, though not in this form. I've been working on this interlude for a while now, even before the last two chapters but never found the right place to release it. Ruby was never going to be the 'only' Kansen in Remnant, I just had a lot of trouble figuring out where to introduce it. With the fic coming up upon 50k words, I knew I needed to do it soon.

Be civil in the comments below