Hello. Remember what I said about a slow flame? Well, hahaha! Wow… this chapter got angsty…
Be warned.
Breeze.
Weiss awoke with a start, disrupted by a gentle breeze. Being a known light sleeper, she regretted leaving the window ajar on her first night at school. At least, the breeze was warm.
As her eyes fluttered open, she was met with an unusual sight—two colossal moons greeted her, each casting a silver glow upon her resting place, a celestial blessing.
However, reality swiftly seized her senses, and the truth struck with the force of reason.
The Moon is singular, the one and only, shattered by the arm of God.
Meaning that the twin moons she beheld were not a celestial blessing, but the sinister creation of a demon.
"No," she whispered, realizing a darker truth. The twin moons weren't a creation of the demon; they were the demon itself. Its presence tainted the air, and she felt violated by its ragged breaths.
A sudden pang in her chest added to the gravity of the situation. Ignoring the pain, Weiss instinctively reached for her cherished weapon—a rapier steeped in tradition, always within arm's reach.
Yet, on this darkest night, it was nowhere to be found.
All freshmen were mandated to stow away their weapons in lockers, 'For this would be the last night they didn't deserve them,' or so the teachers said.
They didn't tell her it would also be her last night.
Struggling to stand, her legs betrayed her, just like the teachers who had enforced this ridiculous rule. Collapsing rear-first, she managed to put some distance between herself and the encroaching demon.
Yet, the achieved distance mattered little as the demon, aroused by her abrupt movements, instinctively crawled closer, finding satisfaction in her vulnerability.
As the demon sized her from above, a chilling realization struck—her fear was exactly what it wanted, an awareness that her despair was fueling its morbid delight.
Humiliating.
Undignified.
"NO!" she bellowed, her noble blood boiling. She vowed not to endure disrespect twice in one day, even if it meant her last. As a Schnee, redeemers of this world, defiance in the face of death was their true legacy, not what others thought.
And she must uphold her name.
The despair in Weiss Schnee's face faded, replaced by cold stoicism. Her heart paced in adagio as she rose again, standing with arrogance and cavalier pride. Her defined figure, visible through her nightgown, assumed a posture befitting nobility, royalty and the emissary of God.
Because Weiss Schnee was all those things.
Recalling what she learned in church, she casted aside doubts, a lesson ingrained in every Atlasian. She summoned the memories of those taken from her, gathering every soul.
She became the shepherd, leading them to the final reckoning.
Now, there was nothing between her and the demon. Unburdened by reservations or regrets, she unleashed her resolve as she opened her eyes. True to Schnee tradition, she dared the demon to strike first.
But her piercing gaze alone was enough to bring the fake moons to submission, conquered by the might of Weiss Schnee, heiress of th-
"A-A-A-A-Ahh…!" the demon pleaded for her surrender terms.
"...YOU!" Weiss cried in bewilderment.
Weiss now recognized the demon as the wolf girl she had been thinking about all evening.
"Oh, I can't believe it!" Weiss exclaimed, feeling a rush of dizziness as if all the built-up courage had suddenly lifted from her shoulders, leaving only rage.
The wolf kept her gaze to the ground.
"Do you have any idea—You almost gave me a heart attack! What on Remnant are you doing sneaking out on people—on me—in the middle of the night!?"
The wolf deflated, and so did its ears.
"Oh and don't even let me start with your eyes!"
Its arms rested on the floor.
"They look like saucers."
And her belly.
"It's just not natural."
And so did her nose.
"Your cloak is filthy too."
Even her forehead.
"Get a fucking comb!" Weiss spat with more venom.
Weiss' rampage was abruptly hushed by another freshman nearby. She sighed.
"So, did you—What do you want?" She asked, after a long pause.
"A-a-a-A-a-a-A-Ah…W-W-w-wa-a-awa-w-awa-a-" the girl stammered.
God, she's worse than the blonde boy. No, wait… Don't mess up this time!
Weiss swallowed, reminded of the aftermath of her last encounter with the girl.
"I mean—...Good night. I am Weiss Schnee, and I wished to have a word with you… if that's okay," Weiss introduced herself, adopting a graceful and polite tone.
The girl looked at her, confused, but nodded.
After a moment, Weiss continued, "I wanted to express my sincerest apologies for my earlier demeanor at the landing zone. I realize now that it was not my place nor intention to berate you so harshly, even though there were some concerns about the damage to expensive and highly volatile property of mine." she concluded.
The girl kept nodding, whether in comprehension or ignorance.
"I would appreciate hearing your understanding… and maybe your name?"
"...I- I thought you… were… A-Atlasian… b-itch…" the girl mumbled.
"What did you just say?" Weiss questioned in a dangerous tone.
"Ah! A-A-Ah… I… under… stand… yes…. I'm… Miss… Rose… Rose… p-pleased… to… make you… your… a-a-aqua… a-acquain... t-tance…" the Miss Rose responded nervously.
"Charmed. Little shit," Weiss sighed. "I suppose you learned that from the girl of earlier? The one in black, with a bow."
The girl remained silent, but her gaze betrayed her.
"Figured as much. Why aren't you sleeping with her?" Weiss asked, more annoyed than anything.
"I… was…" Miss Rose admitted.
"But?" Weiss pressed.
"I… I wanted to… apologize… for the… boxes… and… ask… you… about dust…" Miss Rose started.
Weiss lifted an eyebrow, but let her continue.
"M-My cloak… is… b-brokEn… works… w-with dust… m-makes me… invisible… was… a gift… from mom… b-beforE… bEfORe..." Miss Rose explained, shaken by the memory.
"I see," Weiss observed the girl, a hint of understanding in her eyes. She got closer and examined the dusty cloak. After a while, she added "Hm, a Dustweaver should be able to fix it," she said reasonably.
Miss Rose's eyes brightened.
"...But it will have to wait after the initiation, on that note, we should be resting for said initiation." the heiress reminded her.
"After… initiation… yes… thank you… s-so kind… thank you…" Miss Rose blathered while nodding.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Go back to your friend." Weiss interrupted, more annoyed.
"Yes… yes… thank you…" Miss Rose lifted herself and turned, but she quickly completed the circle. "W-we…uh… can… be friends… too…" she asked.
Weiss rolled her eyes but conceded, "Sure."
Miss Rose nodded and parted with a smile on her face. She returned to her resting spot; this time, brighter dreams greeted her as Weiss contemplated the unexpected turn of events.
She touched the scar on her left eye, wondering.
Breeze.
His personal Bullhead descended on a coastal warehouse, its blades sweeping newspapers and trash aside as it came to a stop.
Once inside, he activated the lights in the spacious hub, Glynda hadn't bothered leaving them on for his arrival. Taking a plate from one of the panels, he emptied a bag's contents onto it. He was ready now.
With preparations complete, he proceeded to the next room. Darkness greeted him once again; he flipped the switch on with his free hand. But, in line with this somber night, it only sparked a faint light above the center of the room, where their captive was, chained.
"You know, after you woke me up and made me travel all over Vale to your cottage, I was expecting at least a seat, not to mention a table."
"Ozpin," a voice called from the darkness.
"I know, Glynda. I'll handle it from here." he sighed.
Ozpin approached his resigned captive on the floor, sitting in front of her with his legs crossed and placing a plate of cookies between them.
The aroma of the cookies roused the captive from her trance, prompting her to reach for them. Despite her chains, she devoured all the cookies without her hands, licking the plate clean.
Her ears were now standing upright, fully attentive, and her tail vigorously beat against the floor with delight.
Ozpin waited patiently until she finished.
"Hello, Miss Rose." he saluted calmly, a quiet air of authority surrounding him.
"Miss… Rose…?" his captive asked in confusion.
"You have silver eyes." he elaborated.
"...Yes… yes…! I do…! they are… silver…!" Miss Rose confirmed, her amazement evident in her animated response and nods.
Glynda facepalmed.
"Do you know who I am?" Ozpin asked Miss Rose, dismissing Glynda's rude gesture.
Miss Rose's excitement halted, and she shook her head.
"I'm Ozpin, a pleasure to meet you," he introduced himself.
"Oz… pin… so… kind… Ozpin… so nice…" she mumbled, drifting into her own world.
"Do you want to come to my school?" he asked, approaching the subject before he started to lose her.
"Ozpin." Glynda warned, but Ozpin brushed it aside.
"...school?" the wolf girl pressed for clarification.
"The same that your mom graduated from. You have my condolences, by the way," he responded in a somber tone, having played his triumph card.
"MOM!?" she howled in shock at the revelation.
"That's right, Summer Rose used to be my student, a very close acquaintance of mine. And she remains the best Huntress I've ever known." Ozpin's words carried a weight of admiration, they sounded melancholic.
"Summer… summer… y-you know her… you knew… you… n-nobody… else… knew… no one… remembers… mom…" Miss Rose's voice trembled with a mix of disbelief and pain.
"I take that as a yes?" he asked insensitively.
Miss Rose, her eyes filled with tears, bursted into inconsolable sobs, seeking comfort in a tight embrace with Ozpin. After a while, as her sobs subsided, he gently inquired, "...So, do you want to talk about how it happened?" His question lingered in the air, inviting her to share the pain she carried within.
Miss Rose, still emotionally raw, nodded in response, silently agreeing to share the heart-wrenching tale she had been carrying for so long.
Breeze.
The freshmen were leaving Beacon in groups of eight as Bullheads picked them up, two groups at a time.
Meaning that a queue had formed, providing the perfect opportunity for Blake's plan.
Approaching the teacher with the student list, Blake and Yang hesitated.
"Uhm, sir." Blake finally spoke.
The teacher glazed at them once and swiftly skimmed through his board.
"Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, you should be waiting in the queue like all your colleagues." the teacher reminded them in a brisk and lecturing tone.
"We know, sir, but this is very important. We're worried about a girl we met… We think she may be suffering from domestic abuse," Blake explained, her words laden with concern.
The teacher's expression shifted through his glasses. "…What is her name?" he asked gravelly.
"We only know her as Miss Rose, no idea what her first name is," Yang responded.
The teacher skimmed through his board, "Hm, I see. Actually, I don't. I've never seen so many blanks in my life. I'll have to discuss this later with the headmaster," he admitted.
"What? What do you mean?" Blake asked, confusion etched on her face.
"Her lastname is indeed Rose. Name, unknown. Age, fourteen. Birthplace, Meragenie, Arte. Current address, unknown. Number, unknown. Legal guardian, unknown. Previous school, unknown. Weapon mastery, unknown. Status, accepted," the teacher recited.
"Wow, that's a lot to work with," Yang said, rolling her eyes. "Wait, she is actually fourteen!?" she exclaimed.
"You are thinking the same as I, Miss Xiao Long. Good. Miss Rose must be a prodigy. Nevertheless, I will pass along your concerns to the headmaster personally. After initiation," the teacher assured them.
"Huh, great. Thank you mister…?" Yang inquired.
"Mister Oobleck. Professor Oobleck, if you pass the initiation. Good luck," the teacher replied, with a nod.
"Thanks, bye-bye professor." Yang winked and bid him farewell, walking away with Blake under her wing.
Blake hadn't said anything yet.
"So… you really didn't think she was actually accepted into Beacon, huh?" Yang asked, noting her friend's expression.
"...It's not that. He said she's from Arte." Blake finally spoke, her voice carrying a hint of solemnity.
"Are you from there too?" Yang inquired, a growing smile on her face.
"I'm from Kuo Kuana, the capital of Menagerie," Blake revealed.
"That's still pretty close, right?" Yang continued, still hopeful.
"Yang," Blake hesitated, her eyes sinking with hollowness. "Arte burned down ten years ago."
Breeze
It embraced my body as I climbed to the open window. I looked at the darkened sky, the sun hiding from something, but I still felt the suffocating heat. I sniffed, and I understood why.
"The city is dying," I whispered.
"It's okay, dear. We will find a new home," Mom reassured.
"But I like this one…" I pleaded to both my mom and the brooding clouds.
Pale white arms hugged me from behind. Mom put her face on my shoulder, her scent of roses shielding me from the acrid smell of smoke.
"Did you pack everything important?" Mom asked softly.
I nodded.
"That's my girl. Please wait here; I will be back in a second," Mom said as she left the house, our neighbors waiting for her outside.
They were angry, yelling at each other. When my mom joined them, they yelled at her too. Mom yelled back; she was angry too.
I had never seen her this angry before.
But the neighbors started listening to her, like they always did before. Mom was the strongest and cleverest. She quickly came back like she said she would.
She told me to follow her outside, with all my things in my bag.
Mom had bags too, one big behind her cloak and two in her eyes.
We walked the road alongside our neighbors, starting as a few, but becoming an entire park as we left the city.
I watched my home burn in the distance, the fire seemingly originating from the nearby forest. I wondered if the animals were fleeing too.
I still felt the suffocating heat.
We stopped as we encountered another group, approaching from the front, followed by a truck. They resembled firefighters, raising hope that our home might not be lost.
I looked at Mom, attempting a smile. I wanted to see her smile too.
Mom dropped her bags and looked at me. She was worried; she guided me to the side of the road, knelt, and put her cloak on me.
"Please listen, dear. Mom needs to take care of something very important, but she also needs you to do exactly what I'm about to tell you," Mom said, her hands pressing my shoulders.
I nodded, confused but not wanting to disappoint her.
"Good girl, I need you to stay here and no matter what you see or hear, don't drop your hood and stay as quiet as possible. Okay?"
Now I was worried too. Mom was serious, giving me all the more reason to listen to her. I nodded.
"I love you, dear."
"I- I love you too."
She hugged me tightly, for a few seconds. But then she was gone.
A breeze, followed by a rain of petals.
Pale white rose petals.
A scream.
Followed by several more.
My mom was fighting the firefighters; she had a scythe with her. And the firefighters had guns.
Before I could continue watching, the truck rumbled awake with a dragon's roar, and as if professed, it belched fire at us.
Now everybody was screaming, and dying. I wanted to scream too, but I promised my mother to stay quiet.
My neighbors ran away in flames; I closed my eyes so I could not see them, but I still smelled the scorched flesh and heard the screams coming from all directions. Was I being called to them?
The suffocating heat intensified, but I didn't burn, even though I was being hugged by the blazes. They made my body shiver, my legs made me kneel as they failed me.
I don't know how long I stared at the dirt. Long enough for it to be now covered in ashes.
When I lifted my gaze, I found myself in a scorched field, where smoking boulders of bone and flesh lay everywhere.
I knew they were my friends and neighbors; how could I not, their scent was still there. I wanted to call for Mom, but my throat was dry, and so were my cheeks now.
I followed the scent of my Mom; it guided me to the only figure standing.
It was a woman, the same stature as my mom, but it wasn't her. She was looking at my mom on the ground, wilted, scorched, her scythe next to her.
The woman soon looked my way, and my heart stopped. There was malice in her gaze, but it disregarded me. She was looking to something higher in the sky.
Her face illuminated with what was left of the rays of the sun, revealing a smile, and I understood why she was spared from the burning.
She was radiated by the flame of Glory.
And Glory burns nothing.
She lifted her sword, pointed it to the sky beyond. But she was soon dismissed by the fleeting flame.
Following the order, she made her departure.
"I see," Ozpin said as he took one last sip of his coffee, courtesy of the supplies at Glynda's cottage.
He had done a good job calming Miss Rose while she recalled her story, in stutters and singular words. Ozpin connected the dots with what he already knew of Arte's tragedy, and he didn't like where the line was pointing.
"Menagerie's issues are not our concern, Ozpin. We already have enough on our plate with the upcoming start of the scholar year," Glynda reminded him.
"Indeed, but this is far from just a Menagerie issue, now is it?" Ozpin gazed at Miss Rose. "I thank you, Miss Rose, for sharing such a painful memory with us. It truly breaks my heart hearing how my best student met her tragic end," he handed the cup to Glynda with a gesture that earned him a roll of eyes from her. However, his attention was fully on Miss Rose. "I can't even imagine what you had to endure until this moment. It wasn't easy, was it?"
"No… It… wasn't…" Miss Rose confirmed, her voice carrying nothing but pain.
"And the fact that you are here is proof enough that you have been following your mother's steps. She must be proud of you. Know that I am," the headmaster admitted.
"Yes… yes… proud… my… mom… thank you… thank you… thank you…" Miss Rose acknowledged gratefully.
"That's why I'm offering you a spot in my school, the same your mom went to, as I mentioned earlier. I believe it will help you grow as a better person. More importantly, I need you here, Miss Rose. Will you help me?" Ozpin inquired.
"Yes… yes… yES… YES! YES, I WILL HELP YOU! I WILL BE BETTER! I WILL BE LIKE MY MOM!" Miss Rose eagerly responded.
"But there is one condition." Ozpin added, showing her the photos in his tablet.
Miss Rose looked at them and tensed.
"Don't worry, you're not in trouble. I just need you to not repeat what you did to those men with my students. You all will be living together at my school, Beacon Academy. I'm sure that you will make a lot of friends there, so don't bully them." Ozpin clarified.
"Friends… yes…I understand…" Miss Rose agreed.
"Excellent," he said as he grabbed the coffee from Glynda and took a sip, "Glynda, please make sure Miss Rose is presentable for her first day of school. I trust you to handle things from here." Ozpin said, having secured his silver eyed warrior with his silver tongue, he made his departure, leaving the two in the room.
"Beacon… mom… I'm a student… just like… you…" Miss Rose murmured, lost in her thoughts.
"You know, child, I understand that your life hasn't been easy. I get that," Glynda began, "But it doesn't mean that you have the right to make mine harder by making me dig seven graves in one night." she narrowed her eyes.
"Ozpin wants you clean for next week, so let's expedite the matter." Glynda continued, grabbing something from the dark part of the room.
And so, Glynda hosed Miss Rose with cold water, cleaning the blood and, hopefully, the thoughtlessness out of her.
Author's notes:
This was… something.
Was this chapter any good? I don't know. Was it as planned? Nope, I had a completely different tone in mind at the start, a singular one no less.
It's kinda switchy.
Anyway, we got a little bit of everything. We even got Summer! That means that I can now proudly say it:
~No beta we die like Summer~
Thanks for reading!