Chapter 14 – The Day Before the Date

In which Weiss Schnee must take responsibility for the problems she's caused.

On Thursday evening, a few hours before bed, Weiss was beginning to feel very uncomfortable about the prospect of her impending romantic morning, afternoon, or evening with Blake. She had yet to properly plan it (and she refused to compromise and push it back, for that way lay accepting the temptation mediocrity), and although she had a good reason for her failure to remain prepared, that good reason was also a problem.

She and Blake were so accustomed to spending together that she had no idea what would make it romantic as opposed to…normal.

It shouldn't be a problem in theory, as if Blake truly did harbor feelings for Weiss (and vice versa, thought Weiss was fairly certain she knew that the answer was yes, even if she had yet to sort out what those feelings were), then Weiss' best option would be to treat this as a normal occasion and not make it weird. Blake and Weiss were so comfortable together because they were who they were, so why change it?

Except this was supposed to be the next step in their relationship; had they desired to continue along with the familiar as though nothing had changed, they would not have asked one another out. Weiss had been the one to provoke it, and it was thus her responsibility to figure out what that meant.

It didn't help that Weiss was so incredibly content as she simply…simply spoke to Blake. No romance, no dating, no specialness – Ruby was even present and tangentially participating in the conversation, though not much due to it being about Faunus issues.

"I'm telling you, Weiss. This is going to be a big thing. Mark my words, you are going to be hearing about an actual attack any day in the news."

Weiss shook her head. "I don't disagree that this new group of human supremacists needs to be treated just as seriously as any prior, but what I doubt is that they will make anything more than a splash. It's not as though a delegation of armed humans will be able to overturn civil rights legislature."

"Not every victory the White Fang has had was in the realm of systematic change, Schnee," Blake countered. "Many times when I was a little kid, my father recounted his greatest achievements to me on his lap, and it was always helping individuals or families overcome their problems. He didn't pass laws and enact bills that stopped the racism they were facing; he merely set out to rebuild their burned down homes, mend the windows shattered by bricks, and painting over slurs or 'Faunus go home' or such things."

"The most memorable achievements, but not necessarily the greatest. And it's not as though Ghira is truly representative of the White Fang. He's their muscle and planner of operations, but it's your mother who's the real power, and I've no doubt she would back me up that it's through changed policy where true success lies."

Ruby chirped in. "But you aren't talking about whether policies are more important than actions. You were saying whether or not the bad guys are dangerous."

"I never denied their danger," Weiss said. She knew that any time there was a group of angry humans, they could easily wreak havoc on innocent Faunus. Just as the SDC had faced (and driven to extinction) its own rivals in the sphere of commercial Dust production, there had always been an anti-White Fang that sought to undo or challenge its efforts. So many had risen up – Humans First, the Atlassans, the Congress of Eno. Anthrosurgent was just the latest in a long and undignified line of small men and women who took up arms claiming a righteous cause and inflicted as much damage as possible.

Blake shook her head. In a rare turn of events, there was no book in her hands; this was far too important a topic to remain distracted while discussion. "But I don't think you realize just how dangerous this particular group is. The other ones were all dismantled by the White Fang, hunters, or even the military in the same amount of time it took to build them up. Right now, we don't even how frequently they…" Blake paused. "…okay, I'm getting a little too invested in this. I nearly just spilled a secret dad told me."

"Perhaps we should discuss something else," Weiss said, fearful of failure in this debate on the horizon. If Blake knew some sort of inside knowledge from Ghira, who was probably more informed about this particular threat than anyone, it was quite possible that Blake was in the right here.

It's not as thought she doesn't remember the other groups just as vividly as I do. Some of them made it as far as the manor's front gates. One even snuck halfway from the shores of Kuo Kuana to the Belladonna estate to try and kill one of our parents when Father took me and Mother. She remembers this, so if she's saying they're worse…

Weiss shuddered. She suddenly felt a genuine desire to discuss something else.

"Dad called me," Ruby chimed in. "He said Yang's doing a lot better. She's still at home for now since he wants to keep an eye on her, but he's been telling her stories about patterns he's seen in how bullying behaviors start and how these things tend to go. There's a good chance she'll be back in Vale by next week, or even sooner."

Great. Just great.

Ruby seemed to realize that this wasn't exactly good news for Weiss and dropped the topic. Make no mistake, she was all for a Xiao-Long redemption arc just as much as the next Faunus, but the notion of her returning so soon was just…frightening.

Blake was right – there's no way I'm going to be able to be an unfeeling wall of stoicism if I have my worst fear bunking just above my partner every day.

It was far too desirable to simply wish that Yang was beyond redemption, as that would allow Weiss to take the easy path and dismiss her. She had to frequently remind herself that Yang being a better person was a good thing for everyone else: Ruby got her sister, Blake got her partner, Beacon got one more huntress.

It's good for me too. If Yang turns comically evil, I'm the personification of the rich princess tied to a train track that she twirls her mustache to the sight of. Better I forge friendship anew with my teammate than become nemeses with an aura-user who can and would massacre me in a straight fight.

"How about the Vytal tournament?" Ruby asked. "That's something I'm sure we all want to talk about."

Weiss agreed heartily. As a Schnee, she was expected to excel above the rest, and participating…or even winning…an international tournament regarded by all with great respect and prestige was a guaranteed way to excel.

"I believe there's more than enough open slots for the hosting kingdom's teams," Blake explained. "If you're from Mistral, Atlas, or Shade, you need to make arrangements to fly out, meaning that participating spots have to be tightly controlled, but Valeans get more leniency – one of the benefits of footing the cost and hosting."

"Team RWBY shall be participating," Weiss agreed. "I have the utmost faith in our skills. Perhaps we shall even emerge victorious."

Blake snorted. "Pyrrha."

"Damn it," Weiss cursed. "B-But it's not a guarantee. She was undefeated in her tournament career, but none of us were tournamenteers. We've yet to test our mettle against her."

"She is kinda at the top rankings of all the spars so far," Ruby pointed out. "No one's beaten her in Goodwitch's class."

Probably on account of that ability of hers to telepathically defeat her opponents before they even start fighting, Weiss thought uncharitably. I saw her disarm those sexual predators we took the relics off of, and she froze Yang's arm in place when we were at the temple. I don't exactly know what semblance or power was behind those actions, but it's obviously immensely powerful, perhaps even more so than my Glyphs.

It felt dishonorable, using knowledge of Pyrrha's powers that she'd only showed when she thought Weiss was on her team, but to intentionally handicap herself would be even worse. After all, if she hadn't been shown Pyrrha's semblance, Weiss might've made more of a concerted effort to uncover it.

"There's Adam," Blake pointed out. "He's also a contender for victory."

Weiss politely stood up, made her way to the bathroom, and leaned over a sink. With the door still open, she gracefully shoved her fingers into her throat and began to play table tennis with her uvula. After expelling a sizable volume of stomach fluids down the drain, she wiped her lips against a towel and sat back down at her chair.

When the maneuver was finished, Blake burst out laughing.

"I don't get it," Ruby pouted, looking at Blake and wondering why she couldn't make sense of the joke. "Who's Adam? Why did Weiss just do that?" Ruby's hands went up to her cheeks. "Is she anemic?!"

"How dare you!" Weiss said, offended. "My blood is only the finest Schnee-quality cells known to human and Faunuskind!"

"No, wait, not anemic," Ruby said, correcting herself. "I meant bucolic."

"Adam is the strongest 'athlete' in all of Menagerie," Blake explained. "And he's also a…hmmm, how to put it?"

"A Neanderthal Faunus," Weiss offered. "A dictator's head, hold the tator's. A few thousands legs short of the full millipede. The reason I eat beef instead of going vegan."

"He's a bit of a character," Blake translated between her laughs.

Weiss harrumphed. "I look forward to proving to that man just what a true Faunus warrior is when we meet in the finals…if he even makes it that far."

"Or maybe we'll fight him as a team in the first round!" Ruby said excitedly. "That sounds sweet! You, me, Blake 'n' Yang, kicking Adam's butt! Fuck that guy!"

"Agreed," Weiss said in agreement, finally concurring with Ruby. "Fuck that guy."

Weiss couldn't bear the shame of backing down, so she simply resolved to let the affairs on Team JNPR play out however they did. Her involvement in it had been minimal, merely reaffirming Arc's existing beliefs, so she hadn't engendered a new problem, only exacerbated an old one. If Pyrrha wanted her to stay out, Weiss gladly would.

That didn't make her feel like any less of a hypocrite for having completely compromised her own leading strategy in spite of not reaching out to Arc and advising him to do the same.

Blake and Ruby, with Weiss' consent, patted her wings and shoulders respectively as Weiss sobbed into her pillow.

"I…I j-just rolled over in my sleep, and…"

Her wings were still broken, and they only grew sore at having to support Weiss' weight as she'd lain on them. However, the pain had been enough to wake her from her slumber in a cold sweat, flashing back in terror to Yang's assault in a quasi-nightmarish state.

"I'm sorry!" Weiss bawled.

"It's okay, Weiss," Blake reassured her. "You're okay."

How pathetic was this – a proud Schnee heir reduced to a crying, crumbling mess of tears, snot, and feathers the first time she stepped into the ring against a real huntress. Weiss sobbed even harder at her own uselessness.

Ruby seemed to notice. "What's wrong?"

"Just the pain," Weiss mumbled.

"Nope," Ruby said, refusing to accept that answer. "You started crying a lot more all of a sudden. What's wrong, Weiss?"

You have to adapt, Weiss. You're no longer the type of leader who can remain above it all, like Father. You need to be like grandfather, a hunter among the people, at their level. That means opening up.

"It was just…my first ever fight, and I failed so –"

"Yang failed," Ruby immediately said, her eyes hard. "She failed me, she failed herself, she failed everyone. Not you. I've lost every spar with Yang I've ever had."

"But you didn't fall apart when you did."

"No. Because each time, Yang would pick me up, pat me on the back, get me a cola, and tell me 'next time.' If someone did to me what she did to you, I'd have probably quit Beacon altogether." Ruby looked away. "She bullied you, Weiss. She coulda punched you to oblivion, but she went for your wings because she wanted to ruin something that meant a lot to you."

"If you're worried about not being good enough, you took down an Arma Gigas and a Blaka Gigas," Blake pointed out. "And you carried both our team and Jaune's during initiation. Plus, Yang demolished Nora without it even being a fight. Plus squared, you could've flown away from her, but you chose to fight head on to satisfy Yang's thirst for vengeance. You just didn't expect her to lose her shit in the middle of class." Blake tapped Weiss' nose. "It's a matter of poor judgment, not weakness," she joked.

"Remind me to listen to you next time you tell me not to do something stupid," Weiss said, recalling how Blake had cautioned her before the fight to not do it. Weiss had felt so rational at the time, thinking she'd guaranteed that Yang would behave herself by challenging her in combat class.

"Just you watch, Weiss," Blake said. "When we get to the tournament, we'll crush the rest. You shine when you have a full team at your back, but not because you depend on our strength. No, you're the kind of huntress who empowers the rest of us to reach our fullest potential. You were literally born with the semblance of a leader."

Weiss didn't want to sound like a child. She didn't want to give off the appearance of a spoiled, infantile baby who still needed to be mollycoddled despite being seventeen-years-old. She hated the idea of doing such an abrupt reversal on her prior stance regarding a leader projecting strength.

But…

"B-Blake…um…"

"Yes, chicken wings?"

Weiss tried to hold back her tears. "C-Could we…could you and I make our beds bunk-beds too? I just don't want to…I can't be alone tonight."

It would actually make Blake further away from Weiss than if they'd been pushed right up next to one another, and Weiss would no longer be able to see her prospective girlfriend (if things went well on Saturday), but it was the idea of it that comforted Weiss. Even if she logically knew that it was a meaningless action that only endangered her due to no one on their team knowing the basics of bed architecture, her heart would be soothed by the gesture's symbolic significance.

"Of course, Weiss." Blake hopped off of Weiss' mattress. "So…top bunk or bottom?"

Now free from the fear that plagued her so, Weiss dreamt of Atlas.

She dreamt of the billowing columns of snow that come down like inverted plumes of white smoke. She dreamt of the ice-capped mountain ranged with skiing ranges that she'd seen from the comforts of their luxurious resorts but never been permitted to visit. A Schnee enjoyed oneself in finer ways, never brutish sports or adventures horseplay. So said her father.

She dreamt of her first time witnessing the military – not her first time seeing a soldier or a drone, but her first time realizing just what the might of Atlas truly meant when people said that line time and time again. It was said to be an unprecedented era of peace following the Faunus Rights Revolution, and yet there were still antiquated implements of war being churned out as though the war was still ongoing. It was only when Weiss grew older that she realized that it truly was ongoing in the minds of some, and it would never end.

She dreamt of her sister, Winter, who'd left home to have her mind poisoned by the people who did a double-take every time they even saw a Faunus. She dreamt of the way Winter asked Weiss to tuck in her wings, and the way Winter looked at them with just a hint disapproval when Weiss kept them outstretched at Father's request. Winter always said that she loved Weiss dearly, and there were times when Weiss truly believed it, but in her actions, she'd never truly loved all parts of Weiss. It was never hatred, just a desire to not have to look at the wings that her warmongering teachers and superior officers had subtly suggested were signs of danger and foreign influence. Winter would've preferred if Weiss could just become 'normal,' and since that was impossible, she always did her best to trick herself into believing that those wings didn't exist and Weiss really was 'normal.'

She dreamt of what used to be home and still partially was. She dreamt of the manor in which she'd spent nearly her entire life, of the servants who'd remained always just an arm's length away. They were never close enough to be friends, but ever present and still an important part of Weiss' life.

She dreamt of her brother, Whitley, who'd never truly been her brother. Ever since he was born, there was always some reason he stayed away. First, he was just a baby, too young to be handled by an elder sister. Then, when he grew old enough to just barely walk and speak, he was too immature for a half-teenaged Weiss to be around, and Weiss had also slowly begun to realize that they only shared one parent – a mother that Whitley had turned away from both children. By the time he was of an age to meaningfully participate in a conversation, he was also old enough to realize that his best bet towards gaining the affection of a father who cared little for him was to remove Weiss from the picture.

She dreamt of the hundreds of bird species that dotted the landscape of Atlas. She dreamt of cormorants dipping into the ocean for fish, of penguins sliding along the far western slopes into the ocean, of petrels soaring along naturally occurring oceanic winds. She dreamt of the jays and robins that existed in the few remaining Atlesian forests, of the ostriches that zookeepers lauded about on display as novel curiosities, of the pet cockatiels imported from Menagerie and southern Mistral despite the people of those kingdoms being considered savage by Atlesian standards, of the invasive crows and magpies that somehow managed to carve out their own corner of Atlas and survive within the city's heated walls.

For some reason, she could not find a single seagull in this avalanche of Atlesian avians.

Because on the rare chance that a seagull migrates north, it dies from the climate of our inhospitable coastline. Seagulls aren't meant for Atlas.

Because seagulls are wretched scavengers that live off of trash and offer no beauty into the world. They exist solely as pests, never pets.

Because seagulls are weak little cowards that don't take responsibility for their own actions.

"W-What do you mean?" Jaune asked. "You agreed with me before!"

Weiss shook her head. "I was wrong. A leader doesn't need to stand alone. If they do, they only grow further away from the team, not closer to it."

Jaune blanched. "But I'm supposed to be the hero, not the damsel. If I let someone else train me, then how am I supposed to stand on my own two feet?"

"You agreed to let me train you."

"That was when I thought you were going to be my leader."

Weiss crossed her arms. That this man, who had no idea what hunting was truly like, seemed to think himself possessing some sort of innate talent that would merely appear like unlocked aura irked her greatly.

I, too, was probably equally foolish just a few days ago. Hypocritical, too – I insisted Ruby catch up to speed but thought Arc above it because he was a leader. I suppose it falls to me to correct his course since I enabled him.

"Jaune, do you know how I got as strong as I am?"

He shook his head.

"By training under a mentor that was superior to me. Everyone has to start somewhere"

Jaune frowned. "But Pyrrha's just as old as I am. Ren and Nora, too."

"It's not years alive that count in this regard; it's years of experience. Pyrrha Nikos has been a reigning tournament champion before she reached the double-digits of age. You, on the other hand, have barely a full week under your belt, most of which was spent asleep during lectures. She outclasses you in every regard, as she should, for if you were superior to her in spite of her years of combat in the arena, I'd fear the implications of what that says about Mistrilian training regimes. Putting in the effort means nothing if you don't do it in a concerted method with a concrete goal in mind. I can guarantee you that training with Pyrrha Nikos will improve you to the point that you can fight on your own far faster than ignoring your partner's pleas to accept her aid ever would. Honestly, you should feel lucky – I'm sure there's thousands of people who'd line up to have a sparring partner so famed and battle-tested."

Jaune scowled. "Oh, well if it's suuuuch a great opportunity, then –"

"Grow up. Seriously, grow up and act your age. My fifteen-year-old partner shaped up and is conducting herself better than you are. This is a school, Jaune. You came here to learn. I've already learned my lesson, and I'm trying to help you by sharing it." She matched his frown. "But if you refuse to heed it, I suppose you'll learn it eventually. I merely hope that Team JNPR isn't as wrecked as Team RWBY is when you do."

Weiss had done her part. She'd more than made up for pushing Jaune down the wrong path, and if he chose to continue along it of his own free will, she was no longer beholden to her former camaraderie with him to correct this course. Pyrrha had asked her to step in, and Weiss had stepped in. It wasn't up to her to fix another team's problems.

"I'll…I'll think about it," Arc mumbled, retreating back into his own dorm room. "I gotta get ready for class."

I swear to the Brothers, this isn't my job, Weiss thought as she left to join her team at the cafeteria for breakfast. Seriously, it isn't. It's Ozpin's. He named us leaders and then left us to our own devices. It was on his deputy's instructions that I distanced myself from the Rose sisters, and it was because of his machinations that I was split up from Pyrrha and Jaune and paired with them. Now, when things are harder than ever for my team and for Arc's, he's nowhere to be seen, and it falls to the children to self-repair our own teams. No aid has ever been offered other than offering to expel my rowdy troublemaker, and that was only after she nearly asphyxiated me in my own feathers. It's little wonder that both Jaune and I took in the message that we were expected to do it all by ourselves.

When Weiss finally did get to the cafeteria, Blake and Ruby were there waiting for her.

"You finish what you needed to do?" asked Ruby.

Weiss nodded.

"Was it…" Ruby's lips curled into a mischievous smile. "Was it asking yer old ex-partner Jauney out? I saw you knocking on his door before we left."

Now it was Blake's turn to smile. "Oh, I highly doubt it was that."

"I merely spoke to him as one leader to another regarding some poor advice I gave him. As some of the responsibility for any ill-informed choices he makes falls to me, I felt obligated to at least try to fix my mistake."

Ruby shook her head. "You sure it was just that and no kissy-kissy?"

"Ruby, I'm not having some sort of affair with Jaune." Weiss rolled her eyes at the repulsive thought. Blond and white hair did not mix. "If you must know, I asked out Blake the other day."

Blake didn't seem as surprised by Weiss bluntness this time around. Weiss had no idea if their relationship was supposed to be a secret, but as neither had requested it, she figured there was no such expectation.

On the other hand, Ruby dragged her eyelid down, stretching out her face as she rubbed down her cheeks. "I can't keep doing this, you guys. You're together, then you're secretly not, but when I don't believe you, you suddenly are a couple? Please, Weiss, no more mind games, I'm begging you!"

"We agreed to go on a date yesterday," Weiss admitted.

"Schnee's taking me out to the blood drive," Blake said, somehow keeping a straight face. Her eyes met Weiss' expectantly, and she received a curt but reluctant nod. "We'll be donating some plasma…" She reached out and patted Weiss' hand. "… together."

"Ehhh," Ruby croaked, banging her head against the table. "What's real? What's fake? Who even are you people?"

"You people?" Weiss asked, unable to resist. She raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Ruby let out a lowing noise similar to a head of cattle that was in the process of being slaughtered, and Weiss couldn't help but feel a swell of pity at the cute little thing's behavior. "We're kidding about the blood drive, Ruby, and the racism. But we are girlfriends…only recently, though. It was your words that prompted it, truth be told."

Ruby's eyes went upwards in thought. "So…what you're trying to say is that I'm an expert matchmaker?"

"A…budding matchmaker, perhaps. Thought it was mostly my –"

"Basically, I'm the minister who married you two to one another." Ruby squinted. "One might even say I'm the godmother of your future child, one might say."

"Ruby, your dolt-hood is truly the stuff of legend," Weiss said with an eye-roll.

"Weiss! That's no way to speak to the godmother of our child," chided Blake. "Show a little respect. She's practically our mother-in-law."

Their goofing off could go no further, sadly. A yelp of pain drew the attention of all three girls.

Across the cafeteria was a Faunus, a shortish rabbit-eared girl in a school uniform that Weiss had never met before. This was probably the first Faunus Weiss had seen at Beacon that wasn't on her team, but that wasn't the reason her attention was drawn to her.

Cardin Winchester, the human boy who had only gotten into Beacon because Weiss had deigned to bequeath one of her relics to his team, was pulling on her ears.

Fixing this should normally have been the responsibility of someone else, likely this Faunus' team leader or a teacher. As a matter of principle, Weiss didn't believe in involving herself in the affairs of others, hence her displeasure at being a focal point of Team JNPR's arguments about Arc and his role as leader

But this was different.

This was a Faunus, one of her people, in need, and only imperiled so because of Weiss' actions during initiation.

"My ears!" the girl moaned, bending over from the yanking. "That really, really hurts!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Winchester said sarcastically. The brute was seated on a cafeteria table lackadaisically, as though the effort of bullying the Faunus girl wasn't even tiring to him. "Does that make you uncomfortable, Velvet?"

"It huuuuurts! Let go, please! I'm begging you!"

His only response was to laugh in her face cruelly.

Weiss turned back to her team. Ruby looked disturbed by the whole thing, and Blake was rising to her feet to put a stop to it, but Weiss held out a hand.

"Please. Allow me."

The cat Faunus sat back down. "We'll be here if you need backup."

Weiss nodded and left the table behind. Myrtenaster was with her (she'd taken to carrying it with her as something of a s̶e̶c̶u̶r̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶b̶l̶a̶n̶k̶e̶t̶ extra measure of defense in the days following the injuries to her wings), whereas Blake (and Winchester for that matter) was unarmed. She was thus best suited to deal with this if it required an element of force.

I thought it had been the right choice at the time, offering him the relics that were stolen by those other miscreants, but it would appear that everyone in the forest was a monster in disguise that day.

Weiss couldn't help but sneer. Winchester didn't even notice her as she strode up, so focused was he on the girl he tormented.

Placing a hand on Myrtenaster's hilt, Weiss drew it forth just an inch. Before she could even insist he unhand the defenseless girl, Winchester tugged harder, and she let out a new wave of wails, breaking Weiss' heart further.

"I bet that hurts, doesn't it?" Cardin asked the red-faced girl, smirking like the simpleton he was.

Then, he paused. The smirk briefly faltered.

"Uh…d-does it?" he asked, eyeing her up and down. "Are y–"

"Green!" the rabbit Faunus shouted out. "Oh, it hurts so bad!"

Winchester's smile returned to him, and his head slowly lulled up and down. "Yeah it does."

It took Weiss two seconds for that little exchange to sink in, two more for her to look at Velvet's bright red flushed face, and two more to begin furiously blushing herself. Pushing her sword back down all the way into its carrier, Weiss tried not to facepalm.

Cardin looked up for the first time and noticed her, blinking a few times upon realizing he was been observed. "Oh, uh…hey, Schnee. You need something?"

"Can you not? This is a cafeteria, you two. We're in public."

The human at least had the good grace to grow sheepish at that. "Oh, uh, sorry. We'll go somewhere else."

"Harder daddy! Pull on them harder!"

He got up from his table, not letting go of her ears. "C'mon, V. Let's take this somewhere private."

"U…U…U…UWU! UWU! UWUUUUUUUUU!"

Next Chapter: The Wave

In which Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna determine whether a relationship between friends can work.

Author's Notes

The rizz of this Winchester – not even the end of the first week of class, and he's already drowning in kinky rabbit booty. Unspeakable…

We're in a different timeline here, one where Faunus rights had a powerful ally in the form of Jacques. Different folks will hold different beliefs and values, most of them more favorable to the Faunus. It may just be a minor bait-and-switch innuendo joke, but it's also a sign of the times.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!