When the jets from the Atlesian Military Base in Argus had reached the airship I had been on, they had docked on top and people boarded. The cockpit was officially taken over by a replacement pilot, and I was confined to Weiss' room.

Under my watch, a paramedic performed an emergency surgery on my sister's eye. As I watched steady hands remain unfazed by even the smallest turbulence as they sutured her wound shut, I was impressed.

The sense of equilibrium needed to adjust wrists, elbows and shoulders to ensure a finger didn't move a single centimeter on a shaking airship was way out of my wheelhouse.

Her eyeball and eyelids were saved, but her vision was probably gone. We wouldn't know for sure until she woke up.

If I had attempted first aid on Weiss, I might've poked her eye out.

A few hours passed in relative silence, after I had given my —altered— report about what had happened, they didn't ask me any more questions.

[Survived!] - [10 Coins!]

As soon as I landed, I had successfully 'survived' and earned 10 Coins.

[Next Step: Arrive at Vale!]

My feet had barely touched the pavement of the landing strip, when a short lady in a military uniform strutted over to me.

"I'm the Special Operative in charge around here, at your service." She gave a small salute as she puffed her chest out. "I must say, it's an honor to have some members of one of the greatest families in all of Atlas at my little base."

Who?

Forgive me for saying this, but I haven't even tried to remember the faces and names of the non-canon characters in my life here.

I didn't remember a single one of the Schnee servants, my classmates, teachers, or even celebrities. None of those people were even worth the effort.

However some names were vaguely familiar, but if it wasn't clear in my memory, I eventually forgot them too.

In the show, there's primary characters, secondary characters, supporting characters, and then the extras. If a character was actually integral to the plot, I probably remembered them.

But, one-note mob characters? Yeah no, I forgot basically all of them.

Still, this Special Operative seemed a bit familiar.

As I squinted and tried to recall where I've seen her wide face before, her Status popped up.

[Name: Caroline Cordovin.]

[Trust: 9%]

"Cordovin."

I said her name to see if that would help me remember, but I didn't really get anything more.

"Ah, so you've recognized me. Yes, I am Caroline Cordovin, in charge of overseeing Argus and given the honor of piloting the Colossus."

[Subordinate Gained!] — [Name: Caroline Cordovin.]

[Trust: 10%] - [Cost: 0/1]

I really don't remember her, but it seemed like she had some Trust towards me already, so I played along and listened to her brag. I pretended to be impressed for a bit until she was done.

Then she started talking about how she was saddened to hear that Weiss and I would be attending Beacon in Vale.

It was a hassle, but I had died and spent my only Gem. I did need to get someone to Max so I could get another.

By the sentence, her Trust increased a bit. It wasn't exactly close to 200%, but it was a start.

Every time it reached a multiple of ten, her Cost also increased by one. And, well, Weiss had Trust: 200% and Cost: 20, so it wasn't hard to see the pattern.

At every multiple of twenty, I got 1 Coin. Again, Weiss had 200% and I had started with 10 Coins, not hard at all.

Also, every 2 Trust, also gave her a Boost: 1% ATK.

[Trust: 61%]

Around just under an hour had passed, and I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. This woman never stopped talking about her pride in Atlas, her respect for the Schnee family, just non-stop yap yap yap.

Two men in red uniforms had rushed over while she was still talking.

"Noire Schnee, your sister has regained consciousness and is demanding we bring you to her."

The guy looked a bit pale as he spoke, if he was a guard he should take better care of himself. Still, thanks for the interruption.

As they had landed here, Weiss was rushed off without a second word. Though I did have to re-explain Noelle, I had already told the people in the airship about her, and I repeated that to the personnel here too.

Noelle was a Aura/Dust familiar I manifested with my new Semblance, true enough anyway, and that I had created her with the intention of watching over my sister, so it couldn't leave her side.

"Sorry, for ending this conversation here, but I must go to my sister's side." I apologized to Cordovin, and then turned to a guard. "Please, lead me there." I had just earned my third Coin from her, and I couldn't stand another second.

As I walked over across the base, I decided to spend my Coins.

[Spend 10 Coins for 1 Gacha Roll! - Spend 100 Coins for 11 Gacha Rolls!]

[Account: 14 Coins!]

I had wanted to do it right after I had received the 10 Coins, but that lady had interrupted me. It might've been wiser to save Coins, but honestly, a single extra item just wasn't worth the wait.

[Result] — [Ninja Cloak (Cost: 10)]

[Ninja Mask and Cloak: Turn Invisible when standing still. 50% Damage to Sneak Attack.]

[Select Subordinate] —

[Weiss Schnee (Cost: 10/20).]

[Caroline Cordovin (Cost: 0/6).]

I probably should've thought this through a bit more. What was I going to do with this? My sister wasn't in any condition to suddenly be wearing a cloak.

Additionally, Weiss was more of a magic-swordsmen than a plain mage that stood still to cast spells. And, she was a rather honest fighter. She kept to the limits of dueling even when she didn't need to.

Her swordplay and footwork were both mechanical, rigidly executed with 'proper' form.

I had tried to ease her out of that style, but her lessons with Winter had drilled them into her.

In a similar vein to my swordplay, having trained to imprint my reactions as reflexes and to use every part of myself for a committed attack, to Weiss the etiquette of battle was just as ingrained in her as how to hold her sword.

As a result, her next move was always telegraphed if one knew her forms.

Anyway, she didn't have a need for invisibility or to increase the damage of her sneak attacks. And even if I could, I wouldn't give it to Cordovin.

As I did nothing, nothing happened.

The little screen didn't give me a message to hurry up, and it didn't do anything else either. When I turned my eyes away and shifted my focus, the screen vanished. When I refocused, it returned.

Seems there wasn't a need to do anything with it just yet.

Really, no one among the main characters was suited for it.

Ruby Rose seemed like the obvious choice, I mean it was a cloak and she was a sniper. On the battlefield, snipers needed to remain concealed as they shot at unsuspecting people.

However, Ruby was a bit of a different-sort of sniper. She mainly used one for its recoil, and I can't recall her ever sniping something.

Blake Belladonna was the next person I considered, since her whole schtick was shadows one might assume she'd make a good assassin. However, her shadows were more symbolic and she was more of a hit-and-run type girl.

There was Lie Ren, and he already had a stealth based Semblance, one that hid emotions from Grimm. Like I stated: no one among the main cast was suited for it. But he was a pretty prominent supporting character, so I'll see what I could manage with him.

In the end, my mind kept wandering back to Ruby. I mean, her style doesn't change the facts, this item would be great on her.

And it wasn't like she was an unchanging video game character, I could try to train her so she could use it effectively.

I really didn't feel any sort of tension as I walked through the military base, none of the guards seemed to be on alert around me.

I had taken care of the attackers' corpses, and fortunately the airship hadn't been big enough for security cameras. The only evidence left behind was the dead pilot and the pile of Faunus gore in the cockpit.

I had considered bringing a fuel cell from the engine and exploding the cockpit, but I didn't want to risk a crash with my sister still onboard and injured.

Regardless, no witnesses had seen the murder of the Faunus man, so I had felt confident in my reporting my altered version of events.

I had mostly spoken the truth, but then I lied and claimed the dead man had tried to use Gravity Dust barehanded and then exploded.

After the SOS was sent out, the other White Fang members took the Dust with them as they fled from the incoming Argus reinforcements.

Everyone who could reveal the true events were dead

…Except for Weiss.

She had killed somebody, and had passed out shortly after, and probably regained consciousness in a daze. A single utterance of what she experienced could unravel my entire lie.

Again, the guards didn't seem on edge, but my focus still kicked into overgear just in case.

The medical wing was pretty quiet, the sound of a pin dropping would probably echo pretty loudly.

The room had a nice view of the ocean framed by large windows at least, so the barren walls could be excused.

Weiss was already standing and straightening her clothes, her hair was still untied though, so she was probably barely done dressing just before I entered the room.

I was almost pissed off at the guard who swiped a keycard against a reader and pressed a button for the door to open, all without knocking first.

"N-Noire!" My sister jumped in her skin, deep red flushed her cheeks and she swirled around on a heel. I heard deep breaths as she tried to calm herself.

I silently glared at the guard, it had been the one who hadn't spoken yet. Great job, you've embarrassed my sister, I hate you now.

If my sister didn't take priority, I probably would've found a way to ruin this guy's life. Oddly, the two guards were both a bit paler than healthy.

"Weiss, I'm sorry for the intrusion, but when I heard you wanted to see me I rushed over here."

I stepped into the room, and the door closed behind me with a click. Noelle had been sitting on the bed, but when I entered the room she fluttered over to Weiss' side.

"Noire." Her voice was weak, unsure. "On the airship…" She spoke without turning back around to face me. "Did that really happen, or was I knocked out and dreamt it up? I still have your gift on my wrist, but it doesn't feel real."

"It really happened."

I heard a gasp as her shoulders trembled.

She had really killed a living human being.

"Weiss, I'm not sure how you feel about it, but know that I'll follow you to the ends of the world, you are the only important thing in my life. Even if some people would frown upon it, I'll stay by your side regardless."

Murder was a pretty touchy subject, even self-defense could be controversial. Most circumstances aren't considered when talking about deaths as a statistics.

When a life's on the line, people make hasty judgments, and come to regret those actions later.

Weiss probably should've spared that man, he had already been defeated and restrained. He would be punished by the law, and my sister had no authority to play judge and executioner with him.

Still, I don't really care. He had scarred my sister's face, then provoked her further, the death of the pilot had tipped her over the edge and she succumbed to her emotions.

She seemed regretful afterwards, so she still understood the value of life.

All in all, a worthless man died and I got a pretty good item in return. I wouldn't mind a repeat of her actions if I got more rewards too, however I wouldn't encourage murders that didn't give anything but trouble.

A warm body suddenly collided with mine in a Strong Hug that seemed to squeeze existence itself. My breath was knocked out of me, and I lost my balance but remained upright because of the arms encasing me.

I could feel my spine pop as my vertebrae were suddenly squeezed, and I could feel my rib cage creaking. The sudden impact had probably affected my liver, since I could feel a change in blood pressure that almost floored me.

Before me, holding me, was a small girl with white hair.

Weiss, despite being my twin, was a few inches shorter than me. And even if she was taller than me, I don't think I'll ever see her as anything other than my little sister.

"I love you too!" She shouted suddenly, her words were deafening, as she looked up at me.

Ah, so it couldn't be entirely saved.

A dead gray iris caught my focus. Over the near center of her right eye was a healed scar, slightly larger than the one in my memories.

I think it was on a different side of her face also.

She was scarred over the eye. This brought up a few concerns, mainly that fate was at play to ensure canon happened.

I wasn't canon, and maybe by interfering with fate I would incur its wrath and be dealt with. I didn't care, that was just a lesser concern for my sister's safety. If canon and fate wanted to harm my sister, then they could go screw themselves.

It took a few seconds, but then I realized what she had said.

She loved me.

Ah, how warm it felt to be told by your family that you were loved was something I had never experienced before right now. I couldn't help but smile down at her.

As I hugged her in return, my hands and face had felt her hair. I hadn't washed it with any shampoo or conditioner when I cleaned it but it was still soft.

"Would you like me to tie your hair up for you?"

…

After a bit of chatting, I had asked if Weiss was cleared for departure, and then Cordovin sent us off in an new airship with a complicated smile.

The new airship was of a newer model than the one originally intended for us, it was safer and faster, so we would be arriving at Vale sooner than expected.