"So!" Nora shouted as they entered the cafeteria. "How late are we?"
For someone supposedly late, she sure seemed happy about it. Then again, Pyrrha supposed Nora had no reason to really be upset; this was the general hosting the event, and when you're in good spirits with the one running the shindig, there's reasonably nothing to fear.
"Meh." Yang held her hand up, half cocked and flat. "I'd say about half an hour and you would have been. Party hasn't started yet."
"Nope." Blake flipped a page through her book. "We're all on standby until things officially begin."
"Daw..." Nora slumped, falling halfway on the table and letting her chin rest alongside her torso. "Being early is no fun."
Ren rolled his eyes at this, and Pyrrha simply kept up her smile. Personally, she was just glad she got a bit more time with everyone. Well, it wasn't quite everyone per say: Weiss, Ruby, and V were all absent from the group, which is what pushed Pyrrha into asking of their whereabouts.
"Are Weiss and your sister not ready for later?" She sat peacefully while speaking, getting comfortable as Yang took a small sip from a juice box.
"Ruby wanted to read a bit more of her book, and Weiss is off with her sister." The blonde's eyes narrowed a tiny bit. "Apparently, her family are all held up here while their home is being fixed up."
"Oh..." Considering how Yang didn't look all that happy about it, she figured it only right to question if this was good news or not. "You don't sound all that pleased."
"It's whatever." Taking another sip through her straw, Yang's eyes fell to the side, towards the door of the main hallway. "She wasn't exactly excited about it when Winter came for her, but seeing as her dad's a total dick, I can't really blame her."
"It doesn't sound too great." Pyrrha admitted, inquiring a little more. "And it partially sounds like you can relate."
"Only a little bit, but that was years ago." Yang placed the juice box down, looking at it strangely. Pyrrha, and perhaps this was only due to the knowledge of her own impending doom, felt a sprinkle more curious than usual, and sought more answers.
"If you don't mind sharing: how so? Neither you or Ruby show many signs of a troubled childhood... at least, from my own experiences with other people." Pyrrha paused for a second. "That wasn't insensitive, was it?"
"A little." Yang answered with a shrug. "But it doesn't affect me enough to care. Really, it wasn't much at all." A fog appeared to fill her sights, and Pyrrha instantly felt the shift in pressure around her friend as she began. "When our mom, Summer Rose, never came back from one of her missions, our dad started to change. It wasn't anything crazy, but he was more... I guess the best I can say is 'agitated' in his usual day to day routines, both with, and without us."
Pyrrha could almost tell where this was going, but never said a word, and Yang continued with a scowl that deepened just an inch or two.
"You could say things only really changed when we finally got the news that she had passed." Yang grimaced after that. "I... We had never seen him so angry before: he was like a completely different person."
"Tragedy often brings out the worst in people." Ren appeared entranced, snapping out of it when he noticed Yang had stopped, to which he quickly apologized. "Sorry. I sort of fell back into some old memories of my own while you were speaking; similar events and such."
Yang cracked a grin. "Don't worry about it; you and Nora went through some things too, didn't you?" Ren nodded, with Nora just shooting a lazy thumbs up - the girl's face may have fallen flat, but Pyrrha could tell she was hanging on every word; she could just feel it. "Besides, I'm pretty sure it's obvious where I'm going with this, ain't it?"
"It is." Pyrrha said politely, nodding a little to her friend. "But this is your story to tell, so please continue as you were going to."
"Heh, yeah, alright." Yang breathed in deep before laying the rest out. "Anyway, as you can guess, our dad was pissed. All I really remember before things changed was him yelling at our uncle Qrow about something, and he was yelling back. I think it went on for a day before the truth really set in. Dad lost all energy after that, and he even stopped eating." Yang's fists visibly tightened. "I had to put what little of mom's cooking lessons I knew of to the test, and even then, he barely touched any of it. I think he was just waiting by that point: waiting to wake up, to see proof that it was all just a bad dream."
Delusions and disbelief; Pyrrha could relate. Heck, even now she herself felt the desire to question if her life was her own, considering what the phantom of the dream had told her. While it would have been easy to listen to V about the dreams, what was said and shown far outweighed any doubt she once had, especially when the strange visions before were taken into account. The woman shook herself from these thoughts though, right in time for Yang to break the moment of silence she'd let settle after that last bit.
"I... kind of wanted it to be one too, but even as a little girl, I knew better. I was actually afraid for once; I'd never been scared before, at least, not as strongly as I'd been back then. I used to think horror movies would be the worst of it, but knowing mom wasn't going to come back home... well..." Yang had to pause a second, letting her eyes shut to wipe away whatever glimmer threatened to show, before opening back up and facing them again. "That hit me with a special kind of terror. Even now, I can still feel a little twitch in my chest when thinking about it: when remembering our mom isn't ever coming home, and that we're never going to see her again."
She shouldn't have brought it up. Pyrrha was regretting it a little now: feeding that smidgen of curiosity. She had no right bringing up those memories for Yang. She had no right forcing her friend to experience those awful feelings again. But even with that regret, Pyrrha was glad she asked; knowing all of this made her feel a little closer to Yang, and that alone was worth it. Yang steered herself back on track afterwards, and her tone eased off.
"It took nearly getting ourselves killed, and I guess a strong lecture from uncle Qrow afterwards, to get him to open his eyes. I don't know what our uncle said, but after that our dad went back to his old self almost instantly... at least, with how he carried himself and worked. I'm sure he still felt awful over losing mom, but he was done letting us suffer for it." Yang sighed, dropping her head in an open palm, leaning fully on her elbow as the finale came about tiredly. "I don't blame him for grieving like he did; anyone would be beating up inside if they'd lost a family member - I sure as Dust knew I was. Still, I knew even then he wasn't acting like a good dad should have."
"I see." Pyrrha let out a small breath of her own. "I apologize for making you go through all that again."
Yang waved her apology away - quite literally: she waved her free hand as if fanning the words off.
"It's cool. Besides, I really shouldn't be comparing my dad to Weiss's; it's an insult towards my old man." A small smirk bit into the corner of Yang's lips. "At least ours had the common sense to wake up and snap back from his stupidity, and we love him all the same for it. Weiss's pops, from how she speaks about him, is just a prick for cash. Ain't that right, Blake?"
The girl in question just flipped through another page and confirmed it.
"The S.D.C. is known for tearing apart any and all competition, both legally and not, or so the rumors go. And considering Weiss and her siblings aren't in charge, that leaves just the board of directors and her parents themselves." Blake then put her book down, actually looking at them this time. "From what she says, her mom's more into drinking than running the family business, meaning most major decisions fall squarely on the shoulders of Jacques Schnee himself. So, my partner's observation - by the presence of overwhelming evidence - rings true: Weiss's father is "just a prick for cash" until proven otherwise."
Yang smirked hard, chuckling a little before questioning, "so... how long have you been wanting to make that case, miss attorney?"
Blake just grinned, leaning back and relaxing. "Too long."
"So!" Nora popped her head back up, excited, and then sinking into a slippery expression of mischief. "Is this the part where we start smack-talking Weiss's dad behind her back?"
Yang shot her partner a cheeky grin, and Blake seemed to oblige.
"I suppose we should get our gripes out in the air now to avoid accidentally bringing them up later."
That was code for: let the bitching begin. Pyrrha, although not joining in the conversation, found great entertainment in all the ways the trio had for mouthing off Mr. Schnee's many rumored faults. Ren just listened, as he always did, but Pyrrha could see the tiny smile he held throughout it all.
Truly, she would miss them.
.
.
"I see..." Weiss said, holding out on any immediate animosity towards the news.
Winter nodded, returning her eyes to the path ahead as they paced down the hall. To tell the truth, Weiss hadn't been expecting her sister to request some time together, but with the meeting on the horizon, this was their only chance to really talk.
"Believe me, I'm not very enthusiastic about it either, but it's currently not safe at the manor."
"But still." Weiss wanted it clear from her tone alone that she was only asking out of pure wondering. "Why here? Certainly there were plenty of more discrete - and luxurious - spaces for father to acquire."
"Of course." Winter kept pace as they turned a corner, leaving towards the deeper end of the dorms. "However it was the general himself who made the offer."
"Again, I ask why?" Weiss shot her sister a tough frown. "It's no secret he and father aren't all that friendly around each other."
"No, but with the attack on our home, we cannot afford to ignore our father's safety. If the attackers went out of their way to assault the manor in search of us, then they'll surely try something similar again." Weiss was inclined to believe that line of reasoning, but the way Winter said it was a little strange. Nevertheless, the older sister continued. "And, with the event so close, the general most likely found it better to shelter him here, for the sake of convenience."
"...Can I ask you something?" Winter looked down at her, slowing a bit and nodding. All of this seemed fishy, and Weiss just had to know. "Will we be keeping an eye on father as well?"
Winter said nothing at first, but passing an uncomfortable silence, and with nothing but the sounds of their unnaturally sluggish speed following the question, she relented with a sigh.
"No." Steadying her tone, Winter continued, swiftly picking back up their walk. "You and the others won't. You will all be handling Robyn, and only Robyn."
"And you?" Weiss pretty much knew the answer by the statement's word choice alone, even if her sister didn't want to admit the truth. Winter's shoulders braced just a pinch harder than usual.
"I will be tending to my own duties."
Weiss, seeing she wasn't going to be getting anywhere else with the topic, dropped it in favor of pointing out, "father will surely suspect foul play. Offering him a place to stay, while not only strange due to their relationship, is made doubly damning with the meeting between the three of them. You know he's going to try and make a mess of it."
"I do." Winter's view never twitched, and as they came upon the back end of the dorms, she stopped. Turning to face the door, she finalized their little chat by saying, "but that will be taken care of later. This is where they're all held up."
"In here?" Weiss knew this section of the dorms: they were the same as any other student's. "Are you sure this is right? The teacher's dorm is deeper in."
"I'm aware, and so was the general-" Winter's lips began to smirk, just a little, and Weiss felt a tiny bit of amusement brew as her sister added, "however, the student dorms are closer to the main hall and elevator; which is to say, the quickest route to where our meeting itself will take place."
"Down in the lecture hall." Weiss finished off, with Winter herself nodding again. Weiss clasped her hands behind her back, cheekily awaiting what laid within.
The thing about the student dorms compared to that of the teachers was that it held significantly less space within. Weiss was used to it from Beacon, but at least back there they never needed the rooms for much else other than sleeping and getting ready in the morning - maybe even some studying on the side before a test or something. Regardless of her own acceptance of the space as adequate for her needs, their father was much more a man of overabundance.
This was never made more apparent than his look of absolute disgust as they opened up the door, stepping inside to see him seated in a small chair by the only desk present. Said desk was extending from the wall itself, and gave very little room to work with; at least for what Jacques Schnee was used to. Weiss bit back most of her amusement at the sight of their deathly disappointed dad, and instead acknowledged their brother, who greeted them from the top bunk of the first set of bunkbeds near the back wall and window.
"Winter, Weiss." He nodded to them both, not making any moves to climb down and greet them directly. That was fine though, because Weiss herself wasn't exactly sure how to go about greeting her brother anyways. Really, it had been so long since she'd last seen her family, and with all the chaos she'd trudged through just to get here, she felt as though she wouldn't be capable of holding back a more 'hands on' approach.
Their mother was different though, as once she spotted them, Willow Schnee rose from her place on the bottom bunk and strolled on over.
"Hello moth-!" Weiss was caught up in yet another hug, which wasn't new in the slightest for her by now - seeing as she was living with Ruby and the others, who had a bit of a thing for pity parties by this point. However, Weiss was still a little shocked nonetheless, and that was due to her mother's reaction to them alone. Ever since her drinking began, the woman had locked herself away from the world... emotionally at least.
It had been years since their last embrace of this magnitude, and Weiss wasn't sure how to react.
Willow apparently was, as she stood immediately after and gave Winter the same treatment. Her older sister looked even more at a loss for what to do, and instead of just taking it, gave a few confused pats to their mother's back. Weiss eyed her little brother quickly, noting how he curled a brow upwards in reaction to Winter's handling of the situation, almost as if he were trying to find the reasoning behind it. The thought of their brother's confusion alone disgusted Weiss on a deep and personal level, but not because she hated him.
Instead, Weiss was worried their father had finally sunk his claws too deeply into Whitley's psyche.
"I'm so glad you're both safe." Willow mumbled as she let go, and both sisters were left aloof. Seeing as this was far too out of left field for any of them to ignore, Weiss opted to be the one addressing it.
"Thank you for your concern, mother." She placed a hand over the hilt of her weapon. "However, Winter and I both are more than capable of tending to ourselves."
"I know... I just..." Willow looked to be having a harder time speaking, to the point Weiss was losing her patience. Something had happened to their mother, and both sisters wanted answers. Luckily, and before either of them jumped into action, Whitley snuck in with the revelations they sought.
"Mother is simply worried our attackers may return." He leaned over, swinging his legs off the bunk and plopping down to the floor. Surely their father would have said something, had he gotten enough willpower to stop staring hatefully at the desk his linked hands and arms rested on. "Unlike father or I: she had the misfortune of meeting our assailant face to face."
"You what?!" Shooting her mother a look, Weiss was then stopped from questioning the claim by Winter.
"Calm yourself. Mother made it out unscathed."
Weiss then sent an aghast look to her sister.
"You knew?!"
"I was sent in to investigate, remember?" Winter sighed, turning over towards their brother. "Nice to see you as well, Whitley."
The lad merely hummed, crossing his arms behind his back and straightening his posture.
"The feeling's mutual." He then moved on with the conversation. "Now then, if you would be so kind, might you explain why you've come to pay us a visit?"
"Nothing important." Winter spoke, blinking calmly. "We're simply here to check up on you. It's been a while since we've last got a chance to catch up, and with the meeting so close, both Weiss and I figured it was only appropriate to come see you beforehand, while we have the chance."
"How kind of you." His smirk would have once irritated her, but Weiss found herself more saddened than anything. His taunts and jabs were nothing but a reminder of who was poisoning his mind, and Weiss had to force herself not to flinch every time she glanced their father's way. Whitley stole her attention again, however, with something she partially expected when Winter first asked for her company in greeting the family. "However, I find it a little hard to believe that you're only here to whittle the time away before the big event."
"Yes." Jacques Schnee finally spoke, unclasping his fingers and pulling away to stand. "I quite find that odd bit of timing strange as well." He faced them, carefully, with a mask of charred steel, which barely contained his apparent fury. It left him though, and he began his trek over. "However, accusations are useless without solid proof of anything." He stopped, nodded towards them both, and took off, only saying, "while I'd love to stay for this chat, I unfortunately must be off to prepare myself for the event. Farewell."
And just like that, Jacques Schnee made his exit, leaving behind a perplexed Weiss. Winter and the rest, though? They appeared not so surprised, and so Weiss alone called on the odd behavior.
"How long has he been like this?"
Whitley smirked. "So you've noticed the change?"
"Of course." Weiss said, facing her little brother with an upset calm. "He hasn't even commented or complained of my standing… or appearance. He's made no attempts to get me to return home or anything either."
"You appear to have gained quite the ego." The boy chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Is that how you see it? His lack of direct attention towards you is what makes you suspicious?"
Weiss bit down on her lips, but settled them out again. "No. However he'd been nonstop with the constant calling back when I attended Beacon, before it fell. I find it hard he wouldn't say anything when given the chance to."
Whitley lost a bit of his cocky look, breathing steady and begrudgingly answering the indirect question.
"I suppose that's fair." He let his stance tumble just a bit, more relaxed now that the big man was out of the equation; supposedly anyway. Seeing him react in such a way though, it had Weiss hopeful that their father hadn't completely turned her little brother into a slave. "He's up to his usual scheming, if that's a concern. With the election so close, father is more focused on how to further ruin general Ironwood's reputation in any way he can."
"He won't." Winter cut it, sounding so sure of her claim. "Father isn't the only one suspecting potential counter play."
"No." The boy added, zeroing his sight in on her. "However he's more than adept at taking the reins of whatever gathering he's in. He wouldn't even need to prove anything; all father has to do is instill a sense of doubt into the people, just enough to get them to lose trust in the general completely." Whitley's eyes narrowed. "And with the man's current reputation, I can guarantee this won't provide much difficulty on his end."
"With due respect, dear brother…" Winter narrowed her eyes as well. "I have to say I disagree. He may not be the most paraded of people right now since the embargo, but the general is far from dull enough to fall for father's tricks."
Whitley grinned, teasingly. "I never said he was, and I know Ironwood isn't one to go down without a fight. Still, regardless of how you feel for him, your general is going to need something major planned if he has any hope against what father's willing to give."
Winter scowled, huffing and correcting her stance once more, which had twitched with Whitley's off-handed jabs.
"I suppose we'll just have to wait and see, brother."
Whitley rolled his eyes. "Believe me, sister: I'm no more thrilled than you are, but these are just the facts." He once more eyed Winter directly, and Weiss saw his face lock up; Whitley never looked so serious before. "Father will seize any opportunities that tumble his way, whether he can handle them afterwards or not."
"Hmm?" Weiss spoke up next, itching at the thought and asking, "you don't believe he can handle a seat on the council?"
Whitley scoffed, hummed, and replied. "Of course not. Is this really so surprising?"
"Well... yes." Weiss was telling the truth too, and faced her brother with mild conflict. "You've always agreed with what he'd decided on before. What makes this decision any different?"
"I agreed with the decision itself, not explicitly him." Whitley let his arms come around front, crossing them. "As for before: he was right in those times. He is the head of the company, and with how it's run, he can very well order any changes he wishes and get little resistance. The council seats are different though: he'll have much more opposition, and I know for a fact he isn't ready for the amount of pushback he'll receive on decisions." Weiss watched her brother smirk and shoot a look at their mother. "Although you'll find it best by mother's word."
The sister's set turned to Willow, and the woman solemnly nodded.
"Your father has become... complacent, with how the S.D.C. is run." She sighed, twiddling her thumbs as she carried on. "He's so used to doing whatever he wants that I don't believe he'll last all that long on the council. His focus is narrow and short, to the point I'm certain he'll just end up swindled along into whatever choices the rest of the council wants."
"Is that... true?" Weiss was a little flabbergasted by what she was hearing, shooting quick looks between her mother and brother, who were both on the same page. She settled on her mother, saying, "he was never like that before."
"No, he wasn't." Willow told curtly, but then said, "however, since you left, he'd grown increasingly more abrasive and twitchy. He's no longer concerned with most things, and instead seeks more and more power: it isn't all about success and wealth anymore."
Whitley then jumped in. "If you ask me: he's losing his mind." Her brother settled his smirk into a flat look. "Your departure triggered the worst of his anger, to the point he doesn't even bother with most mundane or direct tasks himself anymore. He just gets other people to do that." Her brother's face fell deeper, looking just a little too dark to be peaceful. "And, thanks to that, he's tossing more and more scrutiny on my shoulders with each and every decision I make."
Weiss knew that bullet of info was meant for her. It shot through her, ripping past her own previous reasonings and logic on the matter, and leaving a hole of guilt gaping and bleeding in its place. Whitley was directly telling her that, because of her choice to become a huntress, their father was doubling down on him. She wanted to say something, primarily 'sorry' in some fashion, but what good would that do? She couldn't take back whatever their father had done to him, and she for sure couldn't erase the effects it had. And even if she did, would he even accept it?
Still, she had to try, so useless or not: Weiss would give it her all.
"It is not Weiss's fault our father chose to take his frustrations out on you." Winter spoke with a hard tone, building her foundations strong once more. Whitley though, he wasn't set on letting her have the last word.
"No, she's not." The boy glared. "However, she is responsible for how she handled his attempts to reach out to her. Day in and day out, I've had to listen to him ramble after every missed call, about how she was ruining her opportunities and shirking her responsibilities as the company's future head."
"I'm sorry." Weiss babbled out, only for Winter to speak up.
"Weiss, you have nothing to apologize for."
"But I do." She meant that, and looked at her brother. He actually seemed a little taken aback by the response, and while it was tiny and so very missable, she saw him flinch when she said it. "I could have at least listened to him, if only to update him on my studies." Weiss took a breath, before passing it back out and admitting the truth. "But no; I just ran away instead. I was scared of what he'd say or do, and so I ignored the problem rather than facing it head on, leading to him taking it out on you."
She looked him right in the eyes, and with complete sincerity, told her little brother, "I'm sorry, Whitley. I didn't mean to redirect his anger towards you."
Whitley was more outwardly conflicted now, bordering on confusion. He clearly hadn't expected an apology, or anything of the sort. Weiss saw how the gears in his head turned, and was willing to accept whatever retort he had in mind, regardless of what it was. It was only fair after all, since she'd up and hoisted their father on him, a father which she herself had opted to run away from. Whitley though, he couldn't run away: he had to accept and deal with whatever their dad had in store. Only now could she see how cowardly she'd been, and how careless and cruel her choice was. She'd abandoned her brother, all for the sake of herself.
Said brother just sighed.
"Whatever; it doesn't matter now." His eyes perked up. "What does matter is how you handle everything to come. Father's obviously got a game plan, and you two aren't just going to sit there and let it play out. The general's not stupid; he has you doing something, so whatever that something is, it better be good."
Weiss nodded, noting the little sprinkle of life to fill his eyes.
"We'll handle things on our end." Winter confirmed, relaxing her tone. "But I wasn't lying about what I said earlier: we did come to spend a bit of time with you and mother... even if most of it has already been lost."
"That's fine." Willow stepped in. "We can still make use of what time we do have before we go our separate ways later tonight." She then extended a hand. "Perhaps it's best we get acquainted once more, at least a little bit."
Weiss smiled a little as her sister accepted the hand, noting from the corner of her eyes as Whitley did the same.
Winter wore a peaceful smile of her own.
"Yes, we should."
Author's note
…
Nope, it's not the big fight or the meeting, but we're so darn close. Besides, we still have to finish up the general's little story before moving on, and while it isn't the most exciting part, it'll at least show us a different side of him, which may end up having an effect later on.
Anyway, here we find Pyrrha doing her usual thing, and Yang has a trip down memory lane. Weiss and Winter meet up with the family, with Jacques Schnee himself distancing from them to prepare for the event.
Things are heating up, and soon we'll see how it all boils over.
Anyway, that's it for this one; see you next time.