Chapter 27: Broken Wings
Crescent Rose was lying on the coffee table in Weiss's penthouse, inert and lifeless without Ruby to wield it. Weiss was standing nearby, staring at the folded-up scythe like it somehow knew the solution to her predicament.
It was the morning of the day after Ruby had been kidnapped. Weiss was dressed in a white designer t-shirt and black leggings. It was an outfit she often wore on the days she allowed herself to dress more casually, although she hadn't made a conscious decision about what to wear today. She'd simply gone through her morning routine on autopilot. Her thoughts had been fully and completely occupied playing back each and every interaction she'd ever had with Jaune Arc. In hindsight, it was painfully obvious that he'd been trying to isolate Ruby from the very beginning. Weiss was thoroughly disappointed in herself for interpreting Jaune's actions as romantic interest in Ruby. No doubt that had been a consequence of the jealousy that had threatened to consume her. If she'd only been thinking more rationally, then maybe she could've prevented what had happened.
Weiss shook her head and scolded herself for focusing on her failures. She couldn't afford to be counterproductive at the moment. There would be plenty of time to berate herself later. Right now Ruby was all that was important. Weiss didn't know why Jaune had kidnapped her, and frankly, she didn't care. His reasons wouldn't matter once she'd rescued Ruby from his clutches. Unfortunately, she still wasn't exactly sure how she was going to do that. Contacting the police was an obvious first step, but even if Weiss trusted them to properly handle the situation—which she didn't—Jaune had made it perfectly clear that getting them involved would only endanger Ruby's life. If Weiss had still had access to the resources of the Schnee Dust Company she might have been able to bring overwhelming force to bear down on Jaune before he could harm Ruby, but that avenue was closed to her as well. Weiss knew she'd have to make do with what she had. Fortunately, what she had was probably more than Jaune would expect.
Plans were slowly forming in Weiss's head. However, none of them would get her very far unless she learned more about what Jaune was up to, or at least where he was keeping Ruby. And to find that out she would need to get one of her more potent assets back into action.
Weiss turned away from Crescent Rose. She walked from the penthouse's living room over to the kitchen. Yang was sitting there on a stool next to the kitchen's large island. Her head was buried in her hands. It was the exact spot where Weiss had left Yang last night after she'd failed to respond to Weiss's offer of a guest room. Weiss wondered if Yang had moved at all since then. Somehow, she doubted it.
In the immediate aftermath of Ruby's kidnapping yesterday, Weiss had found Yang unconscious on the floor of Torchwick's factory hideout. She'd managed to wake Yang up and had learned what had happened to her. Being beaten by Neopolitan and getting knocked out by a cheap shot from Ren hadn't left Yang in the best of moods, but when she'd heard about the fate that had befallen Ruby, she'd practically gone catatonic. Losing her sister had apparently been too much for Yang to handle on top of everything else that had recently happened to her.
"Yang," Weiss said, hoping that time had started to blunt the trauma Yang was experiencing.
Unfortunately, Weiss didn't get a response from Yang.
"Yang!" Weiss repeated, more insistently this time.
Yang still didn't respond.
Weiss's foot tapped impatiently against the kitchen floor. She sympathized with Yang. She really did. But if they were going to save Ruby they would have to act fast. And for that Weiss needed Yang to be at least semi-functional.
As Weiss thought about what she could do to get Yang moving again, an idea popped into her head. She momentarily left Yang and wandered deeper into her kitchen. She opened up a cabinet containing all manner of glassware. Then she reached inside and pulled out a stemmed glass, a snifter to be exact. She carried the snifter over to the kitchen's liquor cabinet, set it down on a nearby counter, and started rummaging through the cabinet's collection of bottles. She quickly found what she was looking for and withdrew a very specific bottle of brandy. She pulled out the bottle's stopper and poured some of the drink into the snifter. Finally she set the bottle down, picked up the partially filled glass, and carried it over to Yang.
"Drink," Weiss said, setting the brandy down in front of Yang.
Yang lifted her head slightly and lowered her hands. It was the most acknowledgement Weiss had gotten from her since yesterday. That was already an improvement.
Yang sat there for a moment. Then she picked up the snifter—although Weiss noted she was holding it entirely wrong—and brought the brandy to her lips. She tipped the glass back and drained its contents.
Yang's expression suddenly twisted into a grimace. She looked like she was about to spit out the brandy, but Weiss shoved a finger in her face and said, "Do NOT make a mess of my kitchen!"
Yang froze in place. Then she swallowed. She shook her head like a child who had been forced to take bitter-tasting medicine. She set the snifter down and said, "Something's wrong with your booze."
"Yes. I think that particular bottle was left out in the sun at some point," Weiss said. "But now that I finally have your attention, Ruby is in need of rescuing."
Yang stared at Weiss for a moment. Then she dejectedly asked, "So what do you want me to do about it?"
"The first thing we need to do is figure out where Jaune has hidden her," Weiss said.
"And?" Yang asked.
"And one of the many things you've bragged about for as long as I've known you is that you're, and I quote, 'an awesome scout'," Weiss said. "It's time for you to prove it!"
Yang turned away from Weiss. She muttered, "I thought you were smart enough to figure out by now that I'm full of myself."
"Now is not the time for you to find a sense of modesty!" Weiss said.
"Modesty nothing," Yang said. "I can't help Ruby. I'll just make things worse if I try."
Weiss's lips pressed together. Yang was in an even worse state than she'd feared. It seemed she would have to take drastic measures. She knew exactly what she needed to do, but it would involve twisting a knife into Yang's emotional wounds. For a moment she considered leaving Yang be. The actions she was contemplating taking seemed cruel. But if cruelty was what it would take to save Ruby then that was what it would take.
Despite the nature of most of Weiss's conversations with Yang, she did consider Yang to be one of her few friends. And although she would never admit it, she enjoyed the challenge of verbally jousting with Yang. However, Ruby was more important to her. She could and would accept the consequences of damaging her relationship with Yang. What she couldn't accept was not doing everything in her power to rescue Ruby. If she had to hurt Yang to do that then so be it. Maybe Yang would forgive her. Maybe she wouldn't.
Unfortunately, Weiss knew that antagonizing Yang wasn't without its dangers. She likened it to poking a slumbering grizzly bear with a sharp stick. A white glyph quietly appeared on the floor behind Yang. It was Weiss's insurance policy.
Weiss steeled herself. Once she was ready, she said, "Coward."
Yang's head lifted a little. She slowly turned toward Weiss like she wasn't sure she had heard her correctly.
Weiss said, "You're the great Yang Branwen? The terror of the Mistrali wilderness? Princess and heiress to the Branwen Tribe? Don't make me laugh!"
Yang pushed off her stool and raised up to her full height. She asked, "What did you just say to me?"
Weiss stood her ground. "I said you're weak! Your mother must have let you leave because she knew you weren't fit to take her place."
"Shut up," Yang said. Her voice was low and dangerous. However, her eyes were still lilac.
Weiss wasn't getting quite the reaction she needed. She realized it was time for her to go all in. A tingle of fear tickled her stomach. She reaffirmed her connection to the glyph silently spinning behind Yang and hoped it would work the way she needed it to work. Then she opened her mouth and said, "No wonder Blake left you. How could she love someone who's so pathetic!?"
Yang's reaction was almost instantaneous. She let out a guttural snarl and lunged at Weiss. Her eyes finally turned red as she grabbed a handful of Weiss's t-shirt and effortlessly lifted her off her feet. Then she blindly charged forward until she slammed Weiss's back into the first wall she encountered with enough force to make Weiss's aura flash. She shouted, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"
Weiss reflexively grabbed at Yang's hand to try to free herself, but she might as well have been attempting to tear apart a chunk of iron with nothing more than her bare fingers. She looked down and saw unbridled rage burning in Yang's eyes. She had unquestionably gotten Yang moving again. Now she just needed to keep Yang from doing something they'd both regret. Weiss's glyph began to spin rapidly, but she felt it resisting her. Fighting back panic, she closed her eyes and focused. However, fear turned out to be exactly what she'd needed. Everything suddenly seemed to slide into place, and a glowing white form began to rise out of the spinning glyph.
Yang looked about ready to rip Weiss apart piece by piece when all of a sudden a shimmering hand made from pure energy tapped Yang on the shoulder. Yang turned her head, but as she did so, the hand slapped her sharply across her cheek.
Weiss felt Yang's grip on her shirt loosen. Her eyes opened as she suddenly found herself sliding down the wall. She landed on her feet again.
Weiss quickly smoothed out the wrinkles Yang had left in her shirt. Then she looked at what was happening in front of her. Weiss's summon, a gleaming replica of Blake, was standing in front of a flabbergasted-looking Yang. Winter had once told Weiss that the semblance she'd inherited as a daughter of the Schnee Family would allow her to summon her defeated enemies to fight by her side. However, thanks to Ruby, Weiss had discovered that the crucial ingredient was actually having a strong emotional connection to someone or something. Blake usurping the position of High Leader, and all the residual dread that had stirred up in Weiss, had finally given her what she'd needed to expand her repertoire.
Yang had her hand cupped against her cheek. Her eyes were lilac again, and she looked stunned beyond belief. She let go of her cheek and reached out for the Blake duplicate. But the summon vanished. Yang looked devastated.
"Yang…" Weiss calmly said as she walked up to Yang's side. "We don't have to lose anyone else. We can save Ruby. But it all starts with you. I can't do this alone. I need your help."
Yang looked down at herself. Her fingers brushed up against the hole in her jacket. Then they came to rest over the fresh scar left behind by Ilia's sword.
Suddenly, Yang reached for her jacket's zipper and pulled it down. Without a word, she shrugged her jacket off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. Then she started marching toward the living room with great purpose in her stride.
Weiss followed after Yang and asked, "Where are you going?"
"Where do you think?" Yang said. She walked through the living room, all the way to the sliding door that led to the penthouse's outdoor terrace. She slid the door open and declared, "I'm going to find Ruby!"
Weiss smiled to herself, please to see she hadn't traumatized Yang needlessly. Then a stern look crossed her face. She said, "Don't try to rescue her on your own! Just find her. I'll be preparing what we'll need next."
Yang turned to Weiss. She looked at her with complete sincerity for once and said, "I won't do anything stupid this time. I promise."
"I know," Weiss said. "But please be careful."
Yang stepped outside. She walked over to the terrace's railing and put a hand on it. She boosted herself up. Then she fearlessly dove over the edge and slipped out of sight. A second later, an eagle rose up into the morning sky, flapping its powerful wings. It let out a mighty screech that echoed over the city of Atlas. It was a warning to Jaune about the trouble he'd brought down upon himself.
Weiss watched Yang as she vanished into the distance. Then she slid the door to the terrace closed. She slowly walked back through the living room, already lost in thought. She soon arrived in the kitchen again and glanced over at the wall that Yang had slammed her into. She was dismayed to see a noticeable crack in the drywall, but she reminded herself that the damage could be repaired. It was part of the cost of rescuing Ruby.
Yang's discarded jacket was lying at Weiss's feet. She bent down and picked it up. She contemplated the garment for a moment before neatly folding it up.
Things were finally in motion, Weiss realized. She had every confidence that Yang would find Ruby, and she intended to be ready to do her part. However, there was one final loose end that was still nagging at her. If Torchwick was to be believed—and amazingly Weiss did believe him in this circumstance—her father hadn't been involved in the plot to kidnap Ruby. All the clues that had pointed to him had been Jaune's carefully crafted lies. But that begged the question of what Father had been up to during his long absence from both the Schnee Dust Company and the eyes of the public.
Weiss tucked Yang's jacket under her arm and started walking again. She was tired of blindly fumbling around in the dark, hobbled by guesses and false assumptions. It was time for her to learn the entire truth. And the only person who could give her the answers she sought was Jacques Schnee himself.
Author's Note: This is it! The deepest of cuts from the original story: Weiss's bottle of brandy that had gone bad. Yes it was in my original outline. Why? I don't know.
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