Update time, everybody!
I've finally managed to trick 300 people into thinking that my writing is good enough to follow it, woah! Also, I know that I only recently returned to somewhat regular updates but there probably won't a chapter next time either (I'll be visiting family).
Sorry about that.
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Topic: How do I find people to play with?
In: Boards General
IAmTheSwanny (Original Poster)
Posted On Oct 17th AW94:
Hey there, everyone, I'm kinda new here and I'm having quite a problem. You see, I really like the game mode (Seriously this thing is incredible, especially for a fan made project), but unfortunately I don't have anyone to play with. This game is clearly a team based experience, and playing with random people really isn't the optimal way to play. It's not that I don't have friends, because I do, but none of them are interested in playing video games like me.
That's why I have a question to all of you.
Where can I find people to play this game mode with?
I would love to know.
(Showing page 1 of 8)
XX_ThaProDude_XX (Unverified Tester)
Replied On Oct 17th AW94:
just say u dont have friends
u dont have to make an entire paragraph defending yourself
we arent going to judge
TheJerky11
Replied On Oct 17th AW94:
Ye, explaining yourself like that is soo lame.
IAmTheSwanny (Original Poster)
Replied On Oct 17th AW94:
I do have friends!
I probably have even more friends than you guys!
HappyNEWby (The Regular)
Replied On Oct 17th AW94:
Guys, please keep your conversation civil.
We are all friends here.
XX_ThaProDude_XX (Unverified Tester)
Replied On Oct 17th AW94:
of course we are all friends here
its because the op here doesnt have any other people to call friends
IAmTheSwanny (Original Poster)
Replied On Oct 17th AW94:
Screw you.
HappyNEWby (The Regular)
Replied On Oct 17th AW94:
What have I literary just written?
Blinkey01
Replied On Oct 17th AW94:
Okay, ignoring the jerks that started the fight, I believe you are already in a good place to search for people to play the ATG with.
Everyone here already plays this game, and i'm pretty sure many of us tend to look for people to play with as well.
Cheeky-Vicky
Replied On Oct 17th AW94:
You can also try talking to some of the randoms in the matches. Thats how I met quite a few of ym online friends
IAmTheSwanny (Original Poster)
Replied On Oct 17th AW94:
Would befriending the random people I played with really work? A lot of people I met during my games were quite rude.
HappyNEWby (The Regular)
Replied On Oct 17th AW94:
I don't think the people playing Arena of the Great are actually as bad as you think. I know met a lot of nice people while playing the game.
bligwiG
Replied On Oct 17th AW94:
ye i think so two
peopl jst tend to remembr bad expiriencs mre thn hte good onns
xxGReeneRG_CHurCHxx
Replied On Oct 17th AW94:
What was that grammar?
I could barely read what you've written.
bligwiG
Replied On Oct 17th AW94:
u stll red it tho ddnt u altesian gremarian?
HappyNEWby (The Regular)
Replied On Oct 17th AW94:
Guys, keep it civil!
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 6, 7, 8
(...)
The game was coming to a close.
They were winning—of course, they were—but their enemies were much closer to their skill level than usual. It was easy to see that people were starting to play the Arena of the Great really well. If Weiss were to guess, she would say that they weren't going to be the always-winning team for much longer.
Of course, that would only be the case if they didn't improve at the game as well.
A wide smile formed on Weiss's face as she saw her character sneak into the enemy base.
Their opponents were still busy trying to get through one of their lanes, and the chance of them noticing her here was practically nonexistent. On top of that, they would have to deal with both Knight and Chammy before getting to her, too, since they were still contending one of their lanes at the same time.
It wasn't a strategy they used often, but that was the best strategy they could have used for the current situation.
The early game went terribly for them. Their opponents used some incredibly risky strategies to get quite a few early kills, and it worked surprisingly well for them. There was almost nothing they could do to counter that.
Thankfully, Chammy knew about that strategy beforehand, and she already thought of a couple ways to make up for it later in the game.
They had to do some unusual plays here and there, and they ended up losing the first team fight of the game. With a little bit of effort, however, they did manage to succeed with what they were trying to do.
A quiet laugh escaped Weiss as she watched the enemy base slowly getting destroyed.
The comeback felt incredible.
"I see that the plan is working." Chammy—Ilya, Weiss had to remind herself—said with a hint of amusement. "How's their base holding up? Do we have to stretch out our fight for much longer, or can we relax?"
Weiss quickly checked the health.
"It's almost destroyed." She said. "If you hold on for a moment or two, we will win this for sure, guys."
"Got it." Knight—Jaune—said briefly.
Seeing that the situation was under their control, Weiss decided to relax too.
There wasn't much she really needed to do; she was literarily fighting a stationary object, and the character she was playing demanded little more from her than clicking her target and maybe using one or two of her abilities to spice things up.
At this point, she couldn't make the process of winning this game any simpler if she wanted to.
Their victory was essentially guaranteed.
It only took a couple more seconds for the health of the enemy base to drop to zero and for them to in turn win the game.
"We did it; another win to add to our unending victory streak." Chammy said.
Weiss nodded her head, though she knew her friends wouldn't see it.
The last match might have been closer than most of their games, but they were still unquestionably the greatest team of players in this game. The only thing they lacked was one additional member to complete the full team roster.
A quiet sigh escaped her.
They really needed to get a fourth member for their team at some point in the future.
It was a pity that none of them really had any other friends interested in gaming who would be willing to play with them. That would have made finding a single person to play with them so much easier.
Weiss shrugged.
Well, it wasn't that big of a deal anyway. She would rather be one of the better players with her friends than the best player with some random people she couldn't really talk to normally.
"Yeah, it was a fun game." Knight said, adding to the Chammy's reaction. "Do you want to play one more match, Ilya, Snow? I know it's getting quite late already. I probably won't play more than one game for tonight, either."
Weiss briefly looked at the time.
It was close to an hour after midnight already, and she was getting quite tired as well. It was truly late, but she felt that she could probably fit one more game for the night before going to bed.
There wasn't anything particularly important that she had to focus on the next day, after all.
Chammy groaned.
"I don't think I will be able to play more games for tonight, guys." The girl said. "I have a huntsman gym booked for the morning, and I don't want to waste my reservation. You know how expensive those things are, right?"
"Alright." Knight said. "What about you, Snow?"
Weiss hummed to herself.
It had been some time since the last time she played with just one of her friends. On top of that, most of the time such situations happen, they tend to play games other than Arena of the Great as well.
It would be quite a fresh experience for her to play ATG with Knight alone.
"Sure, I could play one more game with you, Kni-Jaune." She said, correcting herself at the end. They've barely played three matches with each other since she learnt her friends real names; she was still getting used to them.
Ilya groaned once again.
"Do you mean I'll be the only one leaving early today?!" The girl shouted.
Weiss and Jaune chuckled.
"Sorry, Ilya." Jaune said, although Weiss could tell that something was off about the tone of his voice. "I have nothing to do tomorrow, and my family computer is free right now. I'm going to be using this chance to the fullest."
The situation was somewhat unusual in it of itself, if Weiss were to be honest. Usually, Knight was the one who went to sleep first among the three of them, and it was already a bit later than when he tended to leave the team chat.
It was a bit weird for Knight to still be up and about.
Her other friend seemed to have noticed that something was off about Jaune's tone of voice too, because not too long after the boy finished speaking, Ilya quietened down for a moment.
"I see how it is." Ilya mumbled loudly enough for them to hear after a few seconds.
"Uh, what?" Jaune asked, confused.
"You want to have some private time with Snow alone, don't you?" Ilya accused. "I see that I'm just not good enough of a friend for you now that you met with me in person, am I?"
Weiss was pretty sure she could hear Jaune blush and sputter from behind the screen.
"I-It's not the case at all; you don't understand!" Jaune protested.
"Sure, it isn't." Ilya said, though her tone was obviously teasing. "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone then. I have a comfortable bed waiting for me, and a busy day full of practice is approaching. Good night!"
A chime of a person leaving the chatroom echoed through their speakers as Ilya logged out.
"Ilya!" Jaune groaned.
Weiss chuckled.
"Don't worry about the way Chammy was talking, Jaune." She said. "She was just teasing you."
Jaune sighed.
"I know." The boy said, dejectedly.
Weiss chuckled again.
"A-Are you ready to play?" She asked after containing her laughter. "I was thinking we can stack one lane with both of us; it seems like the best idea with just the two of us. With you as a support and me as a damage dealer, we will be able to easily carry a team to victory."
She was already thinking of new strategies they would need to adapt, with one less person they could reliably communicate with.
They would need to play a lot more reactively since arranging bigger plays would be next to impossible with two people. Also, they had to hope they would get decent teammates because even the best players wouldn't win against a team twice as large if they played alone.
It was going to be an interesting game.
"Actually," Jaune started, interrupting her stream of thought. "I was thinking about talking to you about something first, Snow."
Weiss raised her eyebrow slightly.
"Alright, what is it you want to talk about?" She asked.
It had to be something serious and private; if it wasn't, they would have most likely talked it over during the game or with Chammy present.
"I know who you are, Snow." Jaune said, his voice flat.
Weiss instantly froze.
"I'm sorry?" She couldn't help but ask; her mind was already dreading the worst-case scenario as she began to panic.
Jaune sighed again, although this time it felt heavier, more serious.
"I realised at the concert." The boy said, as if his words didn't just crush Weiss's world. "It took me quite a few of your songs to be sure, but you didn't really try to hide your voice back then."
Weiss opened her mouth to answer.
No words came out.
She didn't know what to say.
"Your singing is great, really." Jaune continued, unbothered by Weiss's silence. "My family and I loved it. I'm pretty sure some of my sisters are going to be your fans for life. I enjoyed it a lot too."
Jaune paused.
Weiss nervously tightened her fists.
A sigh left the boy.
"I understand why you don't want to reveal your identity, though." Jaune said a bit more quietly than before. "It would devastate Ilya; especially considering your guys' history. I probably wouldn't reveal something like that either if I was in a situation similar to yours."
Weiss choked a little as she fought back the tears from falling out of her eyes.
Jaune took a deep breath.
"I still think of you as a friend, Weiss." Her friend said.
Weiss shook in place.
"Sh-Should I tell her?" She asked.
A moment of silence met her question.
"I don't know, Weiss." Jaune said. "I really don't know. The only thing I know is that whatever option you choose, I will try to support you and keep the friendship between the three of us intact. That's the least I can do."
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.
"I-Thank you." She said. "W-Would you mind if we stop our gaming session for today, Jaune? I don't think I'm in the right mood to play any more matches tonight. W-We probably wouldn't have won anything, anyway."
Jaune sighed again.
"It's alright." The boy said. "I will hear you tomorrow, I guess. You will play with us tomorrow, right?"
Weiss smiled shakily.
"Yeah, I will be here; don't worry." She said.
"Thanks." Jaune said.
A chime of a person leaving the chatroom echoed in her headphones as Weiss was left alone to sort out all her emotions. The only sound keeping her company was the low humming of the fan her computer used to cool itself.
It wasn't so terrible, she supposed.
Although her identity had been revealed, the only person who knew that was Jaune—her very first friend—and the boy had already said that he would remain her friend. Chammy didn't know about any of that.
She still had her friends.
Unfortunately, it did mean that she would probably have to reveal who she was to Chammy as well.
It wasn't too terrible. She would only need to tell one of her best friends that she was the daughter of the man who basically killed her parents. On top of that, she directly benefitted from that man skimping out on paying the reparation for these deaths.
She would need to admit to all of that; in the middle of the night and through a voice chat program, they used to play games together.
Weiss turned her head towards her bed.
Yeah, she was going to think about it after going to sleep.
Hopefully, she would think of a decent way to handle this situation afterwards.
(...)
The day came, and Weiss was just as lost about the issue facing her as she had been during the night.
All the logic was essentially telling her to keep her identity secret from Chammy. Her identity already wasn't a secret to one of her friends, and Jaune already told her he would support her no matter what she chose.
If she were to reveal her identity to Chammy, their friendship would undoubtedly be endangered, and the only thing they would gain from it was Chammy knowing her real name.
It really wasn't that important.
No matter how she thought about it, she should truly keep her name a secret from Chammy to make sure their friendship was safe.
Weiss paused as she walked through the corridors of her mansion.
Despite all the logic supporting that decision and the risks doing otherwise would bring, however, she still felt horrible for keeping such an important thing a secret from one of her closest friends.
She couldn't handle this situation alone.
That was why she decided to seek help in the only avenue that was available to her.
She was going to ask her family for advice.
Of course she wasn't going to talk to all her family members about this issue like she had back in the day when she had first discovered the beauty of gaming. The fact she was keeping her gaming hobby a secret from both her mother and father was only a part of the reason.
In truth, she wasn't sure how someone like her father could help her with this issue.
That cold-hearted man was the sole reason she had that issue to begin with, after all.
Instead, she would go directly to a person she knew that could help her with problems like these, Winter, her older sister.
Although not a few years ago her older sister would have probably been as lost about the situation as she was, now she was pretty sure that wouldn't be the case. Winter had decided to join the military school and aimed to join the army. Her older sister was bound to have met a lot of people that let her gain a lot of experience in dealing with interpersonal problems because of that.
Asking Winter for help was also convenient right now because it was one of the few days that the older girl was back in the mansion. It was also one of the rare times that her sister had enough free time to spend on things other than training.
The only thing Weiss needed to do was go to her sister's room, knock, and ask her more experienced sister for help.
It would certainly solve her problem.
At the very least, she hoped that it would.
She swiftly made her way to her sister's room, and not a few minutes later she was already standing in front of Winter's room.
With a confident movement of her arm, she knocked on the door in front of her. She made sure to knock loudly enough for it to be easily heard and then moved a little back to await the response.
She patiently waited for a couple minutes in silence.
There was no answer.
Was her sister not here today?
She was pretty sure that Winter was supposed to be home right now. It was the weekend, after all, and her concert had been a big enough deal to have many schools and academies give their wealthy students a free day to attend it.
A dreadful thought went through her mind.
Was she being ignored?
"Are you looking for me, Weiss?" Winter's voice echoed from behind her.
"Ah!" Weiss nearly fell down in surprise.
Winter chuckled, though her voice sounded hollow.
"Winter, please don't scare me like that." Weiss huffed before turning around. "I couldn't hear you coming from behind, and you didn't announce yourself at all. Why were you sneaking around like that?"
It wouldn't have been an understatement to say that she was a bit miffed about being scared like that—nobody liked to be taken by surprise for no reason, and she was no exception.
The moment she noticed Winter's face, however, she immediately mellowed down.
Her sister looked exhausted.
It wasn't a simple physical exhaustion either; Winter looked almost as mentally exhausted as she did right after announcing her desire to join the army to the family. Whatever caused her to feel like that must have happened recently.
"A-Are you alright?" Weiss asked.
"Huh?" Winter blinked and shook her head a little to regain focus. "Yes, I'm perfectly fine, Weiss. Everything is alright. I apologise for startling you just now; my mind has wandered a little. It won't happen again."
Weiss looked at her sister with a doubtful expression on her face.
She might have come to Winter in search of help, but if her sister was also dealing with different issues at the moment, then she didn't want to add another thing for her to worry about.
It wouldn't have been fair.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Weiss asked again.
Winter sighed.
"I might be a bit tired right now, but it's not a big deal." Winter tried to assure her. "It was simply another fight with Father; nothing you have to concern yourself with. You were looking for me, right? Is there anything I can help you with, sister?"
Weiss looked at her older sister in front of her with uncertainty in her eyes and started to contemplate.
She loved her sister dearly, and although their relationship wasn't as close as it probably should have been, she still didn't want to take advantage of her like that. Both of them had enough issue on their own as it was.
It would have been especially bad considering that Winter looked completely drained already.
There were a lot of times she felt confident her sister would help her, but this time wasn't one of them.
Whether she liked it or not, her sister was too tired to do anything, and her adding more problems for her to deal with wasn't going to help with that at all.
"I-" She opened her mouth, paused, and then sighed. "Never mind, it's not a big deal, Winter. I'll handle it on my own. You should better lie down and relax. You look like you are about to collapse at any moment."
Winter looked at her with a slightly suspicious look, clearly not believing what she was saying, but in the end she was too tired to do anything about it.
"If you say so, Weiss." The older sister said. "I hope everything works out fine for you."
Weiss nodded.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure it does." She said.
Winter hummed with a slight nod before making her way past her and going straight into her room.
As Weiss looked at the rough way her sister closed the door behind her, there was no doubt in her mind that Winter most likely collapsed onto her bed the very first moment she could.
A quiet sigh escaped her.
It looked like she wasn't going to get any help from here.
She quickly glanced at her Scroll to check the time.
It was only a little bit past midday.
There weren't any lessons planned for her today as a reward for her great performance at the concert and the start of her musical career. It didn't mean that day was free for everyone else, though.
Her father was busy running the company like he always was; Whitley still had his lessons going on, and she didn't even want to think about the things her mother was wasting her time on.
The two people she cared for the most weren't able to meet her until evening. On top of that, she still wasn't sure how she was going to talk to one of them, despite having the entire day to think about that.
Another sigh almost escaped her as she thought about what awaited her today, but she chose not to think about it too much for now.
In the end, she still had a lot of free time, nobody to spend it with, and a personal issue gnawing at her the entire time.
With a glance, she took a look at one of the apps she had installed on her Scroll.
At the very least, she could spend some of that time on finally playing a few games of Dustless Tales against real opponents.
It wasn't like she had anything better to do.
(...)
The cards on her part of the field were systematically destroyed as her opponent took their turn.
A frown appeared on Weiss's face.
She was about to lose again.
All the plans and strategies she could come up with were taken apart in at most a couple of turns. No idea that she had worked, and every opponent she encountered seemed to always draw the right cards to deal with her.
The current match wasn't going any better, either.
Although she did manage to deal a couple points of damage to her enemy at first, it didn't take long for her opponent to turn it around.
The units she summoned were all quickly destroyed, and all the spells or traps she had prepared were countered as well. Now, all she could do was watch as the units of her opponent ordered all their units to attack her directly.
{Defeat!}
Weiss gritted her teeth as she saw the message pop up in the middle of her screen.
That was her sixth loss already.
She put down her Scroll, and sighed.
It was obvious she wasn't going to win any games today. No matter how much she tried, she just couldn't concentrate on the game enough for her to do well. There were other things on her mind instead.
The Scroll beeped slightly to indicate that it was running out of battery.
She really was a mess.
At least, all the games she played did help her to kill some time, since right now it was way over midday. She was pretty sure that Whitley had already finished all of his lessons or the day.
Originally, that wouldn't have meant much for her; however, because Winter was too tired for help, her younger brother remained the only person she could realistically ask for help with her issue.
Weiss stood up from her spot and stretched a little.
The Dustless Tales might have been a good game to pass the time, but it was hardly the best activity to keep her muscles active.
She could almost feel her legs falling asleep on her from the lack of any movement she unknowingly imposed on herself while playing the game.
Regardless, she still had to meet her younger brother in order to ask him for help, so the only thing she could do was hope that her legs would completely wake up on the way. She would stretch a little at the same time to help with that too.
With a clear destination in mind and a slightly sore body, she quickly started moving towards Whitley's room.
The corridors of the Schnee mansion felt as lonely as they always did.
Despite all the family servants running around trying to keep the place in pristine condition, none of the people working here bothered to interact with her in any way more personal than necessary.
Everyone was so absorbed in their work that the only reason they even acknowledged her existence was because she was the heiress of the company they were working for.
If she had ever brought her friends here, they would have probably ended up being completely ignored, or maybe even thrown out like some pests.
A quiet sigh escaped Weiss as she passed another small group of servants quickly moving from one place to another.
At least all the unfamiliar people working here meant that her family didn't have to waste the time on cleaning the whole mansion by themselves. She didn't even want to imagine all the chores her father would have for her if that wasn't the case.
Now that she thought about it, however, she noticed that a lot of the servants she was passing by weren't actually cleaning anything. Instead, most of them looked like they were running away from something while trying to make it look natural.
She looked towards the place they were walking away from.
Her mother, Willow Schnee, was standing there.
The woman wasn't drunk somehow.
She couldn't believe it.
It was incredibly rare to see her mother sober. On top of that, most of the times when the older woman was sober, she still had a massive hangover that prevented any interaction with her from being pleasant.
The chance to see Willow Schnee up and about in the mansion while not drunk was usually completely nonexistent.
Yet it was what was happening now, apparently.
"Weiss." Willow said, acknowledging her existence upon noticing that she was looking at her.
Her mother's voice was cold and distant. Weiss didn't get offended at that; it was the tone she heard her mother use when talking to people all the time. There was no hate or displeasure in it; only disinterest.
It was far better than the constant pressure she felt when talking to her father instead.
"Mother." Weiss said, returning the greeting. "May I ask what you are doing here? You usually don't bother exploring the mansion if you don't have to, especially if there are no guests expected to arrive later."
Willow turned directly towards her, looking at her with eyes that were tired of life itself.
"I ran out of drinks, and have to fire a couple servants for not caring about our stock properly." The woman said, flippingly. "What about you, daughter? Don't you have your lessons to attend to? You wouldn't want to disappoint your teachers, would you?"
Weiss frowned at her mother's question.
"I have an exemption from all the lessons today because of the concert I performed, mother." She said.
Willow hummed, barely interested in the conversation.
"I see." Willow said. "Why are you walking around the mansion, then? I might not know much about how you spend your time, but even I can say that you probably have better things to do than aimlessly exploring our empty home. Want to tell me, what are you looking for?"
Weiss blinked a couple of times.
That was unexpected.
Was her mother—the ever-drunk woman who spent most of her days either drunk or hangover—actually concerned for her?
What was going on?
"I-" She hesitated; it was great to see her mother sober, but she didn't really trust her enough to ask for help. "I'm on my way to meet Whitley. I have a problem he can probably help me with. You don't need to concern yourself with that, mother."
Willow looked at her, clearly not believing what she had just said.
"That's your only chance to get my help, daughter." Willow said lightly, as she already began moving past her. "I'm on my way to get more drinks. You should know well that
Weiss looked at the back of her mother and took a deep, calming breath.
There was no reason to waste her single chance at getting help from that woman, she supposed.
"I have made an online friend." She said before her mother could leave her alone. "She's a good friend, and we chat a lot. The only problem is that she doesn't know who I am, and our family caused her a lot of harm."
Willow turned towards her, a knowing look present in her eyes.
"Let me guess; now you're not sure whether to tell her who you are or not." The woman asked.
Weiss nodded slowly.
Her mother let out a shallow laugh.
"You should break your contact with them and forget about ever befriending such a person." Willow said harshly. "The sooner you do it, the better. That way it will hurt you and your so-called friend as little as possible."
Weiss could only widen her eyes and stare in disbelief at her mother's words.
"What?! Why!?" She asked in a demanding tone.
Her mother laughed again.
"There is no way for a good relationship to be built on a lie, especially not if one of the parties is significantly more powerful than the other one." Willow said with a hollow look in her eyes.
Weiss could only watch as the hollow look on her mother's face changed to a melancholic expression as the woman began reminiscing about her past.
"Trust me, I would know." Willow whispered, thinking nobody would hear it.
With her advice said, Willow Schnee slowly turned around once again and started to walk away—no doubt heading to one of their pantries or kitchens in search of alcohol—leaving Weiss alone to deal with the words she had just heard.
Weiss didn't stop her mother from leaving, knowing it would only make her angry.
Rather, she also turned back and started heading towards her younger brother's room.
She wouldn't follow her mother's advice.
There were a lot of things she was willing to do, but willingly cutting off her friendship with either Jaune or Chammy was not one of them.
Hopefully her brother would give her actual proper assistance instead.
(...)
The path to her brother's room was predictably uneventful after the conversation she had with her mother. No servants bothered to stop her, and there was nothing she needed to do on her way there.
It meant that she had the entire way to contemplate the talk she had with her mother.
Weiss still couldn't believe that her mother would give her advice like that.
Did that woman simply not understand how important her friends could be to someone like her?
Who was she kidding? The only relationship her mother had with another person was her marriage, and everyone in the family knew exactly how that worked out for her. There was no way that woman knew how valuable something like friendship could be.
Weiss huffed as she stopped in front of a door.
Regardless of how she felt after talking to her mother, she did finally make her way to her brother's room. She was standing right in front of it, and she was absolutely certain that, unlike Winter, Whitley was bound to be in there.
The only thing she needed to do was knock on the door and talk to him.
Surely, at least her brother would be able to give her some sensible advice.
With a steady hand, she knocked on the door.
A few seconds later, footsteps echoed from behind the door, and it opened to reveal her younger brother.
"What is it?" Whitely asked, a little grumpily—most likely not expecting any guests to visit him after his lessons were over—before reacting in surprise upon seeing who knocked on his door. "Weiss? What are you doing here? Do you need my help with something?"
A subtle smile made its way onto her face, and she almost let out a sigh of relief.
At the very least, it appeared that there was one thing that went according to her plan today.
"You're right. I did come here for your help, Whitley." Weiss said, talking a bit more formal than she thought she did. "I'm looking for advice, and I think you can help me with that."
Whitley raised his eyebrow.
"Advice?" The boy asked. "That's rare; usually you seem to have everything sorted out lately. I'm almost certain that you're way ahead of me in your studies, as well, considering that you're the one who's older here."
Weiss looked to the side, a little abashedly.
"Well, you weren't the first one I came to for help." She said, a little bit quieter than usual. "However, Winter was far too tired to help me today, and mother's advice was simply terrible. You're actually the last one I went to."
Whitley nodded his head with a hum, clearly not impressed with her explanation.
Thankfully, he didn't seem too angry about that.
"I see." The boy said, relaxing a little. "What do you need my help with then?"
Weiss let out a sigh of relief before explaining the situation to her brother in detail.
Although her brother knew that she had online friends already, he didn't know exactly what her relationship with them was or what the issue was that was gnawing at her. There was a lot to explain; thankfully, since her brother knew about quite a few things already, she didn't really need to hide anything about the situation from him.
In the end, it didn't take all that long to make sure Whitley understood what was going on and what she needed his help for.
Upon hearing everything she had to say, however, the boy only stared at her in contemplative silence.
Weiss shifted from one side to another under the gaze of her brother.
"I'm jealous of you, you know?" Whitley said.
"W-What?" Weiss asked back in confusion.
Whitley scoffed slightly.
"I'm talking about the relationship you have with your friends." The boy explained. "You have two people who trust and love you more than most of your own family, even though they should for all intents and purposes be strangers to you. You talk to them every night, with almost no exceptions, and the only problem you have with that relationship is basically your own doubt whether those two will be able to separate you from your family or not."
Weiss opened her mouth, trying to defend herself.
"Do you really think that someone who put enough trust in you to consider you their friend—despite knowing absolutely nothing about you—would abandon you simply because they suddenly learnt more about you?" Whitley cut in, with a cold tone to his voice.
Weiss paused, unable to say anything.
Whitley sighed.
"Do what you think is right." The boy said. "If I were you, I would have told them who I was a long time ago, however."
Her brother turned back to his room.
"Good night, Weiss." Whitely said before closing the door behind him and leaving her alone in the corridor.
Weiss stared at the closed door before her.
She quickly checked the time on her Scroll, the battery was low, but it wasn't quite out yet; it was getting late.
A sigh escaped her.
Her brother was right; she had known Chammy for long enough, and she had even helped her in her moments of weakness too. There was no way that they were going to drift apart simply because of her name.
There was only one thing she could do.
She was going to tell Chammy who she was!
With a shaky look, she once again checked the time; it wasn't that long until their gaming session.
Weiss gulped nervously.
Maybe she would tell her that the next gaming session instead.
There was nothing wrong with putting something important like that off for a day or two, right?
And cut!
Weiss is dedicated, but procrastinating.
Surely, that won't have any consequences for her, right? Surely...
Anyway, that's it for now, see yaa!