Chapter 4: Blossoming Carnation
Touko had gotten to work, creating plans for what she wanted out of a weapon. She had a whiteboard layed out with her plans, and every single thing she rejected.
'Swords? Too basic, and where the hell would I add a firearm? I can respect their versatility but I need something a bit more... me.'
'An Axe? Too heavy, if I miss with something like that i leave myself wide open and its probably easy to dodge.'
'Scythe? Wildly impractical, definitely only something one could wield with a lot of skill, but I appreciate the ability to stay at a distance.'
'Maybe something more close contact? Out of the question. Every single time i've gotten hurt its been because of things getting too close.'
Touko had nailed it down, she'd need something lightweight, versatile, able to hit hard but also allow her to keep her distance.
She'd realized what she would want is a Lance.
Not just any Lance, one that could be used in a manner of ways. She began furiously scribbling down her ideas, each day waking up and tossing aside the old idea as she refined it more and more. She had two years to get her weapon ready, and she was going to make damn sure it was the most impressive thing she could do.
As she toiled, days turned to months, concepts turned to prototypes, prototypes turned to scrap as she kept refining the concepts down. She realized the infeasibility of the latching system she had in mind and resigned herself to making a single lance instead of a twin-headed design, feeling that's something she could add in the future. She'd gotten so consumed by her project that she'd neglected many things, such as eating or spending time outside of her room.
Touko was exhausted, her room a mess, her allowances completely spent as she looked upon the final prototype, everything felt right, the sliding mechanisms worked properly, the dust conduits were secured, it compacted to its stowed form without any hassle. It didn't even weigh very much. It was pristine, not even painted yet. The girl was pale and definitely needed a sandwich, but now she was proud of her accomplishment.
The Ultra-Lightweight Combat Lance, or as she liked to call it:
Carnation
It had only taken her a year and a half, countless sleepless nights and so many failed prototypes. But she had finally done it, a weapon she could call her own, and her chance to get that ticket to Beacon. A chance to see more of the world, a chance to be something more than she is now. And most importantly for her, a chance to find friends and companions.
For now though, she would have to wait to show it off. She grabbed Carnation off the table and stowed it as she brought it down to the garage for painting, her color choices were true to her name, a striking bright pink to contrast with the black. With painting finished, it was time to take a soak. Tomorrow night would be the day she shows off Carnation to her family at the dinner. The last one they would have before the school year started. Her one and only chance.
Touko didn't hear the usual call to dinner like usual, She knew it was the time but neither her mother or father had said a word to her. She decided to forgo the usual dress, wearing a long red coat and purple dress shirt, dressed the way she wanted to dress, she collected Carnation and headed down the stairs, stowing it behind her with a standard magnetic weapon holder as was common in this era. It turned out the reason she hadn't heard any call was because her parents seemed to be in an argument, but with whom, she couldn't quite make out any other voices right away but they became clearer the closer she got.
"You have a lot of nerve demanding I make you more AKs after complaining that they were all destroyed, its not my fault you can't fortify or protect your shipments better, Schnee!" Claude yelled, peering over it was clear he was talking to somebody over a video call. A man Touko had never seen before with a garish moustache and a bad taste in home decorating going by the drab whites and blues.
"All I'm saying, Claude, is that your product was... inefficient against the White Fang raid. And that I'll need more of them to protect the next shipment. After all, I'm supplying you with the dust so its only fair I get compensated for that. Or would you rather pay market value? I hear Dust is getting quite expensive in Vale, not that it affects me much, Supply and Demand is the name of the game, and Demand remains high while Supply there is getting quite low." The man in white said with a snake-like voice, while it was as plain as the white suit he was wearing how much of a jerk he was, he had a very shrewd business sense about him, though Touko didn't really know about that very much, she tried to slowly back away, but Carnation bumped into a table and knocked a book down, showing how unused she was to keeping proper clearance with it on her back. Before she knew it, all eyes were on her.
"Touko! I didn't hear you come down... what on earth are you wearing?" Shirley questioned in an appalled tone of voice. "Take that stuff off, we'll be starting dinner soon. Touko simply shook her head before her rebuttal. "I'm almost an adult, Mom. Let me wear what I want to wear, I've told you time and time again I hate wearing skirts!" This prompted a chuckle from the man in the video call. "What a firecracker of a Daughter you have, Claude. So resistant to authority, you wouldn't see such a scene out of my youngest daughter. Why i'll tell you-" Claude couldn't bear to hear the Schnee patriarch prattle on about his kids and snapped at the man. "JACQUES! We will finish this discussion later. I would ask you not to talk about my daughter like she's improper just because she's not one of your puppets." With that Claude put the Schnee on ice and disconnected the call. "Now then, Touko. Can you do what your mother says and go get cha-" Touko gritted her teeth and cut her father off.
"I already said I wasn't going, I want to be treated like an adult here. You were just talking about how I wasn't a puppet, right? Was that all for show for your business partners or am I just supposed to be down here to be a normal girl?" This bout of frustration and anger was new from the girl, at least towards her parents. Her face was burning, she'd never talked back before to anybody, especially not her parents. Deep down she felt awful but she knew she needed to grow a backbone at some point in her life. Claude shook his head, chuckling under his breath. "You remind me of your mother when we she was younger. She had a bit of fire in her just like that. Alright, you don't have to change. Just don't scare our guests with this new side you're showing us." Shirley just looked annoyed, but acquiesced to her husband's decision.
The night's unique nature didn't end there; however, as the Atlas guests arrived it was very apparent that more guests were coming in. First was Pietro, as was standard in his chair. Behind him was a cloaked figure that didn't appear to be saying anything. Claude was the first to greet the aged scientist, who appeared to be coughing a bit. "Pietro, good to see you again after so long, is Dr. Morton going to be here too?"
Pietro shook his head. "Dr. Morton's been... relocated to a different division. He's more in experimental studies rather than applied robotics now. Ever since the Paladin incident that claimed Arthur's life, he's been acting quite strange. Arrogant even, but that's not important right now. I hope you'll excuse my plus one, but they won't be eating so it shouldn't be too big of an issue."
Claude sighed. "Well, I don't mind accommodating an observer's beliefs, but could they at least take off the shrouds and introduce themselves?" Pietro simply shook his head. "It's complicated to explain, but I insist the shrouds stay on, don't worry about the extra meal though. James is bringing a plus one as well, his newest understudy." Pietro almost seemed a bit uneasy bringing that up. As Claude was about to pry for more info though, she stepped out of the car.
It would not be hyperbole to say that the air froze, as the woman stood up, brushing a lock of white hair from her face back into her hairdo. As the general stepped out she moved aside, allowing the stern-faced man to stand tall on the Fuchsia grounds.
"Claude, its been a while." James says, with a slight kindness in his voice. "I'm sorry we've not been able to have these sorts of meetings in a while, but my hands have been somewhat full with both Headmaster and Military duties, in addition to preparing for the Vytal Festival, its been a headache. Which is why I've brought my Right-Hand woman with me." James motions to the white haired woman. In comparison to Ironwood's demeanor she came off as more cold-hearted than the supposedly heartless General. "Claude, I'd like you to meet-"
"Winter Schnee... I know you well enough." Claude said, his paranoia setting in. "So this is how Jacques is going to learn how to undercut me and steal my work just like he did in Atlas, isn't it? Having his eldest daughter join the military and become a trusted member of Ironwood's inner circle." It was clear that Claude was suffering from a delusional episode at this point. "I was just on a call with that leech, and he blamed my product for not being able to keep his shipments safe from the White Fang. How was I supposed to account for those psychopaths? And then he has the gall to demand I send him more after badmouthing them? Its clear he thinks the AK series is good, better than human at that, but he just wants me to sell them to him at a discount! The nerve of that scumbag!"
As Claude rambled on, Ironwood only sighed as he looked on to his protege. "You'll have to excuse him, he's... had issues with your family in the past."
Winter shook her head. "Its fine, that sounds exactly like Father. The man would cause an industrial incident if it meant he could squeeze a single Lien of profit out of it." Saying that, she decided to try and break Claude out of his delusional spiral. "Mr. Fuchsia, I can understand why you would have trepidation about my family after dealing with that man who I unfortunately call my Father, but I assure you I have no reasons to talk to him about anything, we haven't spoken to one another in years."
The general sighed, trying to take his mind off of the Fuchsia patriarch's rambling as his wife dragged him away, he looked over at Pietro, who seemed to be catching up with Touko.
"Mr. Polendina!" Touko exclaimed, happy to see the man who had fostered her interest in science and technology, she had opened up a considerable bit towards him over the years. "How have you been? Its been so long since we've last seen each other!"
Pietro smiled at the girl, stifling a cough as he greeted her. "Well if it isn't Ms. Touko, you seem a lot cheerier since the last time we met. I gotta say, the long coat suits you, makes you look like a proper scientist. Are you thinking of taking up the sciences in your future?"
Touko beamed, but shook her head. "Not exactly, what I want to do is become a Huntress. Sciences are useful, and its definitely something that's helped me along, but I know my true passion lies in weapons." As she was beaming, planning on showing off Carnation, she got distracted by the small individual covered head to toe in robes. "Are they with you? I don't recall seeing anybody else coming with you in the past besides those creepy guys."
Pietro looked concerned but tried his best to explain. "Yes, she's with me. But you know how sometimes you see somebody at a job that's just learning? They're doing something similar, shadowing to get an idea for how things work. Just pretend they're not there right now, I'm sure in the future you'll have a chance to meet and it'll all make sense." In an effort to change the subject, Pietro tried to bring the topic back around. "So, you had something you wanted to show me?" He leaned forward from his chair in interest.
Touko smiled as she nodded, reaching behind her back and pulling Carnation off from its holster. "This is Carnation, I built it myself."
Pietro looks over at the gun, observing it. "It's a nice little gun, definitely great for a first attempt."
Touko smirked. "Well, it does do this, too." Touko held onto it and extended it out, the blades on the front extended in front of the barrel of the weapon, turning it into its spear configuration. "This is actually like attempt number 11, still has some kinks to work out but the design is mostly finalized."
"Well, I'll say. That's an impressive weapon." The voice came from afar as the General walked over to Touko and Pietro. "Where did you learn to build that? Claude would have told me if you had started attending a combat school."
Touko blushed at the sudden praise and attention from the General, she was understandably a bit scared of the man, he had a pretty imposing demeanor after all, but here he was genuinely interested in something she had made and smiling?
"I actually snuck out to Patch a few years ago, since my Mom got scared of me getting injured she didn't want me attending a combat school. I slipped out and went to see Signal, got really interested in the Weapons, watching people make their own weapons was so cool so I took notes. Slept in the woods, and evaded authority for three days." Touko had started rambling a bit, trying to justify her reasoning for what she did. "Things were great but I was kind of sad about the fact that I couldn't attend or make friends, which caused some Grimm to come after me. But I was saved by a cool guy who smelled of alcohol who made sure I got home safely."
That last line caught the General off guard. "You said he smelled of Alcohol?" He looked a bit surprised but chuckled a bit. "You know, I go way back with that guy. But the way your curiosity led you to disobey authority and risk danger, normally that sort of thing wouldn't fly. But it's also the sort of thing that separates normal people from Huntsmen and Huntresses. Normally, academies require you to have trained at a combat school before you can be accepted, but you seem crafty enough to be able to pass the entrance exam without that. And your family would have enough money to let you brute force it regardless. So I'd be happy to extend an invitation to Atlas Academy, if you so chose." With that, the General extended his hand.
Touko froze for a moment, before sighing and looking the General in the eyes. "I'm sorry, sir. As much as I appreciate the invite, I feel like the rigid military lifestyle wouldn't be a good fit for me, not to mention I think my parents wouldn't allow me to go anyway considering the close proximity to the Schnees."
The General paused, not frowning but somewhat chuckling under his breath. "You know, I had a feeling you would say something like that. You're definitely right in that regard, Claude's Schnee-phobia runs deep. But I don't feel right letting a bright mind like yours go to waste, if there's anything I can do I'll make sure it happens."
This was Touko's opportunity, as the General said it, she wasted no time in spitting it out. "I want to go to Beacon."
Ironwood smiled, seeing the man smile this much was somewhat unnerving. For somebody who's been mentioned as the heartless, scary man he seemed like a genuinely kind person. "Well, Beacon is the hardest school to get into and has a lot of applicants, but at the same time Oz is an old friend of mine and owes me a few favors. So keep an eye on your mail for the acceptance letter, okay?" As he said that, the General nodded and made his way inside with Winter, the Night continued on as usual afterwards.
As the Atlas guests made their way back to the airport, Ironwood pulled his scroll out, going to the contact 'OZPIN' and making a call.
"Hello, James." The voice on the other end, most likely Ozpin, responded. "You know its quite late at night, don't you? We're about a month away from a new school year and you're calling this late?"
"Oz, I know you're generally awake at this time of night anyway." Ironwood rebutted.
"Well, you know me quite well, so what seems to be the trouble?"
"I met a promising young girl a few years back who wants to attend your school this year."
"There's always promising young girls, James. What makes this one special?"
"She made her own weapon."
"At minimum, all of the students from Signal do, and a lot of the ones from other intermediate combat schools do too."
"By herself, she never attended Signal or any combat school for that matter."
"Again, still not very impressive."
"Oz, I'm asking for a favor. The girl is smart, she wants to go to Beacon. I can vouch for her, she said she met Qrow when she snuck into Signal, she has initiative. I gave her my word that I'd get her into Beacon."
"..."
"Oz? Are you still there?"
"*Sigh* Alright. This wouldn't be the first person I've accepted this year with shaky credentials or fake transcripts. If its the future they want then I can't get in the way there. What's their name?"
"Touko Fuchsia, she lives in the upper-class coastal region of Vale."
"I'll send her an acceptance letter in the morning."
"Thanks, Oz."
"Thank Qrow, he just vouched for her too."