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"Something is wrong with Weiss," Ruby informed me in a rushed voice by my door.

"What do you mean? Like she's sick?" I asked, getting up.

"Not really. Just… come see." Ruby hurried off back to Team RWBY's room. I followed her out the door of the room I'd been standing in and across the hall.

Weiss was sitting on her bed with her hands over her eyes. When she looked up at out entrance there was a flare of blue power to either side of her blue eyes.

"You're a maiden!" I exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" Blake asked. She had never seen the power, I realized.

"Is that what's happening to me?" Weiss wondered. "I feel so strange. I feel warm and cold at the same time."

"Everybody cool it," Yang cut in. "We don't know for sure that she's a maiden. Which maiden would she even be?"

"She must be winter, by elimination," I said. "Something must have happened to her sister."

"Something happened to my sister? You mean she's…"

"She must be dead and you must have been the last person in her thoughts," Blake murmured.

"But how? I just saw Winter yesterday," I wondered. "We were training her new powers just the other day."

"The enemy must have got to her. The Arc sisters or Cinder," Yang said.

"My sister is gone?" Weiss asked. "No, no. This can't be. There must be another explanation."

"The odds of it being summer by chance or the other two seem low," Blake seemed to agree with me. "You must be winter now."

Weiss choked back a sob and curled in on herself. "No. Not Winter."

"What do we do?" Yang asked.

"We have to let the General and Ozpin know," Blake spoke softly. "They'll have some idea of what to do next."

Weiss's eyes still glowed in little blue flares. She was crying and it wasn't pretty. Her cheeks flushed bright red compared to her normal pale complexion. Winter was the only family she got on well with. It must be hard on her to find out this way. So brutally. So directly. There was really no way around it. It was so cut and dry.

"I sent Oscar a message," Ruby whispered. "He'll know soon."

"I'll send one to the General, then," Blake mumbled. She pulled out her scroll and tapped away on it for a moment or two. Then I just ended up standing in silence and listening to Weiss cry quietly.

Crying girls. Cryings girls, crying girls, crying girls. I was never the best at cheering Ruby up when she was feeling down. Luckily Ruby had a better idea of what to do than I did.

She walked over to Weiss and put an arm around her and kissed her forehead. Then she went to rubbing Weiss's back and arms with her own wrapped over her.

"Weiss…" she whispered again. "It'll be okay. You'll see."

I didn't know what to do with myself. I just leaned by the door and watched my girlfriend comfort the other one. I wasn't good at this. Never had been but I had to try something, didn't I?

"Weiss," I breathed. "You're strong enough to get through this. Your sister chose you with confidence in your abilities."

She just cried a little harder. Maybe I shouldn't have bothered to say anything. I probably only made things worse for her. I was really bad at being a source of reliable comfort but this wasn't about me. This was about Weiss and what she needed.

I could hear footsteps from the long hallway behind me. I didn't turn around to look and see Oscar standing next to me.

His eyes glowed faintly as he took in the sight before him. Weiss crying on her bed with Ruby wrapped up in her. Blake and Yang hovering concerned to the side.

"Is it true?" He asked. "Has winter's powers passed to Weiss?"

"It looked that way to me," I told him. "Her eyes had the glow of a maiden to them."

"We need security measures. Winter should have been safe," Ozpin murmured. "This shouldn't have happened. We're lucky Cinder Fall didn't get her hands on the power of a third maiden. I can only imagine how powerful she would be then."

"So that's that then. Winter's… gone?" Blake asked.

"No, no, no, not her. It can't be," Weiss moaned.

"You and her must have been close for you to be in her final thoughts. And she kept the power out of the hands of our enemies. You should be proud of her. She did well," Ozpin spoke quietly. "But you must face reality. She is gone now. And you are the new winter maiden."

Weiss just seemed to ball up on herself even more.

"I think that's probably about enough," I murmured to Ozpin. It seemed neither of us were any good with upset ladies. Or at least neither of us were getting through to Weiss very well. Sometimes shit just goes bad. "Talk to us about these security measures."

"Well I would need to talk to - James!" Ozpin said as the General appeared in the doorway.

"Winter Schnee never checked in this morning," the General muttered. He rubbed the bridge of his nose hard. "Her body was found near her apartment this morning. The wounds matched that of curved swords. I feared the worst for the maiden's powers when I found out. I'm glad that they're still on our side but Winter is a heavy loss. I… I will miss her."

"We were just about to talk about the security of the new winter maiden," Ozpin tapped his cane against the ground twice.

"That's probably for the best. Better to keep our eyes on the money. Winter would want it that way. She wouldn't want us to be distracted by her death. You're confined to the academy for the time being. And when you do go out you'll take an armed escort with you," Ironwood crossed his arms behind his back and spoke loudly in Weiss's direction. "Your team can do the trick or even Penny when your team isn't available. Winter was attacked when she was alone. We'll make sure that you are not. Even Cloud should manage for it."

"So I'm to be watched during all hours," Weiss bit out. Grumbling from the fetal position.

"Not any more than we can help. It's my understanding that you didn't go out without your team anyways. We'll just keep that up. And Cloud can be part of your retinue. We'll have to keep you safe and you'll start training your maiden powers immediately. Today, if you think you can," Ironwood finished.

"I'm… I'm not sure. I feel so tired," Weiss murmured.

"Winter was the same way when she inherited the powers," Ironwood went on. "Rest and take your time recovering. We'll keep you safe."

"How?" Weiss demanded. "Cinder Fall has been invincible. The only person who's come close to contending with her has been Cloud and he's nearly unstoppable while his semblance is active."

"And I'm not sure I can beat her," I muttered. "She sort of whaled on me before I got Mercury. I'm really not sure I can stand up to her if she comes for Weiss. Not alone at least."

"You'll have Penny again," Ironwood seemed to be pleading with me even though I was totally on his side. "You can match her. You have to."

"We need more. From you, General. Robots and sentries," I said, crossing my arms.

"I don't want to be watched all the time, I enjoy my privacy," Weiss protested.

"This is about your life, just until I kill Cinder. Or she kills me. Either way I won't have to worry about you anymore," I explained.

"I don't need to be watched all the time."

"Your sister said the same thing to me," Ironwood cut in. "I thought she would be safe here in town, just back and forth to her apartment. Take the escort. You'll have privacy in your room, same as now."

"Fine," Weiss decided. "Just robots, though. Not real people."

"Very well. It's a good decision," Ozpin decreed. "Odds are Cinder Fall will make another attempt at getting her hands on the power. We should be ready for her when she does."

"You're not thinking about using Weiss as bait, are you," I pressed.

"No, nothing of the sort. But she is a target. When the power didn't transfer to Winter's killer the list of people Winter was personally close to was short. It takes a great deal for the thoughts of someone not to be on their attacker as they are killed. At least in my personal experience." He would know. He'd died a lot. "What Winter managed couldn't have been easy and took great courage. But it takes more than a close friendship to make something like this work. We should expect that they know specialist Schnee was close to the person the power transferred to. Penny Polendina perhaps. Or Ms. Schnee. Both make ideal candidates," Ozpin argued.

"They could think the power transferred to someone random. That Winter's last thoughts weren't about anybody," Yang postulated.

"I suspect that's a possibility but unlikely. They will act as though they know where the power is when they make their next move," Ozpin disagreed. "They will act on the intelligence that they have."

"I'll order your new guards to your room. They'll follow your every order," Ironwood excused himself. "I'm… I'm sorry."

Weiss just put her face back down in her arms.

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I respected the fuck out of Weiss. She could take a punch with the best of them and come out the other side clean. She could get knocked down and get back up again so fast. If one of my sisters had died it might put me down for a bit even though they tried to kill me. I had so many fake memories of being with them that they meant something to me. Winter and Weiss weren't like that. Winter actually meant something to Weiss unlike what my sisters were to me.

It would put me down was the point but Weiss was back on her feet and fighting within the day. She was focusing on using her brand new powers. She pushed herself through her exhaustion and was summoning icicles from her glyphs. Using the power of the maiden in conjunction with her semblance to accomplish a great effect.

She was so strong. To be up and fighting already. To be training again immediately. It was fantastic to watch. She'd wiped her tears and been back at it. She made me look so weak. So fragile. So breakable.

Here I was encumbered by the things that might be. Salem might dominate my mind. Maybe I couldn't save my sisters. I may be too weak to fight Cinder. I gave the depressing thoughts so much power over me. Weiss's sister was actually dead. For real, for real gone. Was she moping about it? No. Did she want to use drugs to get over her grief? No. Was she overwhelmed by what happened to her the way I still was? No.

I admired that. It was unbelievably attractive. It was so endearing the way she was already training with Ozpin and I the same way her sister had just days before.

She didn't let it really get to her at all. I reached out to her and took her hand in mine. It was soft but calloused from wielding Myrtenaster. There was a supple strength to her fingers. I rubbed a little circle into her hand before I released her.

"I…I admire your strength," I told her. "What you're doing isn't easy."

"I don't know. The power seems to come to me naturally," she deflected.

"Not that. I mean what happened to your sister. You're so strong I can't believe it. I'm watching you do it and I still can't believe my eyes. If something happened to my sisters I'd be in shreds."

"Even with how they attacked you?" She had to wonder. It was a valid point. One that I had already considered.

"Yeah. Even with how they attacked me. And here you are still holding up."

"Truth is that I'm not. I'm throwing myself into this to distract myself, I don't really want to think about how she's gone," Weiss whispered. "She was all the family I really had. My father, brother, and mother don't count. Well maybe my mother but not like Winter did."

"You're not resorting to hardcore drugs," I started to list. She hit me with the back of her hand softly in the dim training room light. "You're not killing damn near indiscriminately. You're just dealing with it. And with your complete new responsibilities."

"It's what I have to do. I don't have time to grieve. It's my new responsibility. Cinder will come for me and I have to be ready for her when she does."

"We'll be ready for her. I'll die before I let her hurt you," I promised.

"That's not incredibly reassuring. I'd rather you lived," she shot back at me. Cutting deep. Sometimes I really would rather that I didn't. Live that is. But that was just me being weak. I could hardly confess that to her after her losses and the strength she was showing. I had to be at least as strong as she was. Or at least act like it for the things that mattered.

"I just meant that I'd do my best to protect you," I told her. I took both of her hands in both of mine and she looked up at me with big ice blue eyes.

I bent down and I kissed her forehead while I gave her fingers a squeeze. She sighed slightly and leaned into me.

"Keep yourself safe too, Cloud. We need you too. Don't go into a fight you can't win."

"I won't. Cinder is a bit of a unique case. Maybe I can take her. Maybe not. She really was trouncing me until I got my hands on Black. The lighting and fire and wind were overwhelming. Plus her glass weapons and dust sewn clothing. It's a lot. She's a bit of a handful. I have no choice but to fight her the next time we meet. I'm the only one who really can. Oscar just isn't strong enough yet."

"Not very optimistic of you," she murmured. "I can tell you're trying but you really are quite the pessimist."

"She scares me. I'm afraid of what she might do to you to get her hands on the power."

"I'll be fine. I have you and Penny to protect me and it's just until I master the power of the maiden," she reassured me. Figures she'd be the one to reassure me even though by all rights I should be trying to comfort her. Cute Cloud. Real cute.

"That's going to take years. To really master the power. That's a long time for her to come and get you."

"I have faith that you'll shield me from her. You're stronger than any of us. You fought her twice before and matched her both times. With a little bit of help you can defeat her and then…" she trailed off but I just stood and waited. "And then you'll be the most dangerous person on the planet. Not so bad for a 'failure.'"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well second most dangerous, maybe. There's Mother and my Father who could be making more of us. Based on that little black book he had no plans of actually stopping making more. And Ozpin."

"You're splitting hairs. You should be proud of how powerful you've become. You have worked hard."

"Maybe. Or maybe I was born with it. Or not born. I didn't have a birth. I was made like this. You earned where you are now. You fought to overcome your own family and get to stand here. It's amazing. I try and emulate you every day. You overcame the lot in life you by all accounts were born into. I admire that. It gives me hope that I don't have to be what my family wants me to."

"You're making me blush," she whispered. Her cheeks were indeed slightly rosy.

"I mean it. You're such a queen. And you're rock-solid."

"Watch it," she warned me.

I did. "And you're taking to this maiden stuff like a fish to water. You're doing better than your sister did."

"It's not so hard. It's a bit like using my semblance or dust."

"It is hard. You make it look easy because you're good. That's what it is."

"You would say the same thing about Ruby," Weiss dismissed me.

"I'd say similar about Ruby. Ruby is more empathetic. I've also seen her shake in her resolve."

"And I don't?"

I crossed my arms. "I've never seen it. You do what you had to do to stay true to your principles. All the time. Without hesitation. That's the difference. Just let me gush over you for goodness sake."

She laughed a little at that. It was weak but it was true.

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-WG