Mirror Mirror/Who's the Loneliest of All?
The dark moonless sky slowly changed from a dark blue to a lighter shade. A sun slowly rising was reflected in the eyes of the current watchguard. Nora, who was sitting around the campfire in the snowy forest, stood up from the log and stretched out her legs, trying to wake herself up before waking up her allies.
"Wake up, sleepyheads!" As her cohorts woke up, she continued in a sing-song tone, "It's morning, it's morning, it's morning, it's morning!"
As Ruby woke up, she curiously thought to herself, Is she always like this?
"Alright, Nora.. I think they got the message." Ren said to her.
Jaune got out of the tent and began to stretch his arms. A few moments later, Pyrrha yawned as she crawled out of the tent and stood up. "I'm surprised she's wide awake after her shift."
"That's Nora for ya." Ren smiled.
"It feels like it's early." Ruby said.
The lotus warrior looked at his scroll. "It's 7am. You guys want me to prepare breakfast before we get on the road?"
Everyone said yes and nodded in affirmation, so he got to work. As Ren got to work on his breakfast stew, Pyrrha knelt back down and grabbed her red cloak and white gloves from her tent.
Ruby thought to herself, I've noticed Pyrrha wearing that cloak a lot, as if she's trying to hide herself. But why would she want to hide herself? Then again, that's not the only thing that... Wait.
"Hey um, Jaune?" Ruby asked nervously.
"Yeah?" he responded.
"You said that Cinder Fall was the wielder of some kind of powerful weapon. What exactly is that powerful weapon?"
"Well..." Jaune began. "When Cinder went to the vault, she found a retrieved a powerful weapon called the Sword of Autumn. Anyone who wields it is given incredible power that makes them really dangerous to fight up against."
Pyrrha quickly nodded in affirmation.
That's strange. I vaguely remember Cinder having some sort of ability, something with fire. But I don't remember her having a sword.
She shrugged it off as she and everyone else got a portion of Ren's breakfast stew- potatoes, pieces of bacon and some apples chopped up into pieces with a small bit of cinnamon infused into the dish.
Her thoughts continued as she ate, Then again... Qrow told me about silver eyes. It seems that this silver eye power is magical in nature. Is it possible that Cinder has magical powers as well? If so, what are they? I don't know. Do Pyrrha and/or Jaune know? That can't be right. If they knew, they would have told us, right?
As everyone finished their breakfast, Jaune said, "Alright, let's pack our gear and get going."
The quintet finished packing up and moved out. They were on the trek to the nearest coastal city.
The young blond looked at the map and spoke, "Alright, the nearest port shouldn't be horribly far from here. From there, we should be able to get back to Vale and then find an airship to Mistral."
"Shouldn't we be heading back to Fiti?" Ren asked.
"You make a good point." Jaune said. "And I'm an idiot. Looks like we'll be heading there one more time."
The quintet was able to find a small passenger boat to Vale only hours before it's departure. By the time the ship got to Vale, two days had passed. The scene transitioned to a dark night sky with a few stars. As the group of former Beacon students waited for the boat to dock, Pyrrha, still wearing her white gloves and red cloak, grabbed her scroll and looked at it for the date and time.
11:30 pm
December 31st
The new year was almost upon them. Too bad there would be no celebration. As the boat came up to the port, the red-haired warrior pocketed her scroll and put her hood back up. A metal ramp served as a walkaway, and the heroes descended down it, first Pyrrha and Jaune went down, hand in hand. Next was Ren and Nora, walking side by side, their hands only a few spaces apart. And finally, Ruby came down, joining her friends on the docks. Jaune looked around to be sure everyone was there and they proceeded to walk forth.
"Man... This place has become a near ghost town." Jaune noticed.
"Almost everyone has left the city." Nora responded. "While me and Ren had internships at Beachside News, we learned about how more Grimm attacks have been occurring in Vale. I've been trying not to think about it too much, but now... that we're actually here... I can't really lie to myself anymore."
They took in the damage. Over half the city had been destroyed, especially the areas nearby Beacon. Out of the corner of their eyes, Pyrrha and Jaune noticed the building that was once Edom's Electronics Repair was closed down.
I hope he's okay, they both thought to themselves.
Ruby looked discouraged. "But isn't Beacon's staff supposed to stop them from attacking?"
"They are, but between rescuing civilians, aiding those displaced by the attack, trying to clear out Beacon Academy's Grimm and everything else, they've had their hands quite full." Ren elaborated.
She looked at Jaune sadly. "Shouldn't we do something?"
"Even if we did, we wouldn't be able to solve all their problems. If we did, we'd be stuck here for months." He turned to his significant other. "And Pyrrha is the one with a huge promise to keep."
"But it's not like we're under huge pressure to make it back to Mistral immediately." She looked at her white gloved hands. "Maybe there's something we can do, even if it's just one simple thing."
"But what?"
Before anyone could answer Jaune's question, Nora smelled something and scrunched her face in a look of disgust. "Ugh! Do you guys smell that? Smells like something burnt."
"Not burnt. Burning." Ren answered as he pointed to a section of the city about a mile away, completely on fire with Nevermore swarming the area along with other Grimm.
Ruby looked at the burning buildings in despair. "Oh no..."
"I think that would be it." Pyrrha said.
"Let's move!" Jaune commanded.
Ruby wasted no time running manually. As soon as she heard Jaune's command, she used her semblance to carry herself faster, leaving a trail of rose petals behind as she jumped into the fire. The members of team JNPR ran forth towards the burning section of the city. As the quintet went forward, they all knew that they were going out of the frying pan and into the fire.
[cue RWBY Music-Mirror Mirror Part I]
Meanwhile, in the Schnee Family Manor, Weiss's fingers glided across the white keys of the piano, occasionally striking the black ones with the tips of her fingers. After a series of notes and chords, she began to sing. As she sang, the piano decided an even sadder part of the song. After a brief pause, she began playing as she continued singing the first verse. As she ran through the rapidly ascending and descending piano scales, the piece changed from one minor key to another and she let her mind wonder.
As her mind was in two places at once, she thought back to her days at Beacon Academy. When she wasn't alone...
"Come on, Weiss! Hurry up!"
The music adopted a quieter dynamic, as she sung an aria.
In the courtyard of Beacon Academy, Weiss was struggling to keep up with Ruby. Ruby had already reached the fountain where the rest of their teammates were waiting.
"But we got here before you guys. What's your excuse?" Blake inquired.
"Oh stop it." Yang said to them. "I'm sure Ruby's just excited. It's the first weekend where we're not slammed with homework and actually have a bit of free time."
"Come on girls, the movie theater awaits us!" Ruby exclaimed.
As the team ran forth, the piano went through a crescendo and Weiss's voice sang the final verse.
"Hey!" Weiss called to them.
The heiress tried catching up with them, but was having a difficult job doing so. Still, she smiled as she ran to catch up with her team. As she came out of her flashback, she sang the final words of the song and played the last few notes before ending on a third.
She sighed as her hands drifted away from the keys of the piano. "No matter where I go, or what I do, I'm always the loneliest of all."
I thought I wasn't lonely. I thought I could have it all. I thought I could make a difference. she internally sighed. Look at how wrong I was.
As she departed from the piano room, she went down the hallways, light coming in through the windows. But then why it feel like no light was left? That only darkness remained? She had no idea. As she made her way to the garden, she stood before the stairway with a set of stairs to the left and right. Coming down from the right staircase, her eyes laid eyes on Whitley, her younger brother, standing near the foot of the steps.
"Good afternoon, sister." The teenage boy stood before her with his hand his chest, giving her a bow as she slowly went down the steps. "It's a pleasure to see you out of your room for a change. Unless you did so while me and father were away."
Weiss sidestepped upon reaching the bottom of the steps, turning to speak to him, and since he moved to face her, the two of them briefly circled each other.
"Hello, Whitley." Weiss greeted him. "You're in a cheery mood today."
"The meeting was an interesting learning experience." He clasped his hands behind his back, giving her a smirk. "I might even say it was a bit fun, studying their speech patterns and their expressions."
Weiss asked him, "What do you want?"
"Well, I'd love to tell you what happened at the meeting, but since I swore to the general not to say anything, you'll have to find out from father what happened. I'm sure he'll tell you what you need to know."
"I'm sure it won't be anything extremely important." She gave him a questioning look. "You seem... different."
Whitley said to her, "You've been gone for quite some time. I'll have you know I didn't stop growing while you were away at Beacon."
That is true. she thought to herself.
"True." she stated aloud. "I'm going to try and speak to mother."
"Good luck. You'll need it."
Weiss walked away, softly saying, "Thank you." as she passed by.
She went further down the hall, eventually finding her father standing there with a clipboard and pen in his hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Weiss's presence. He looked at his daughter curiously. "Weiss? What are you doing here?"
"Oh hello, father. I was on my way out to the gardens to see mother."
"I see. Did Whitley inform you of the events that happened as a result of the meeting?"
"No, he didn't. He said that I had to ask you because he swore not to say anything. What did happen?"
"The council placed a dust embargo and now Atlas is forbidden to ship dust to other kingdoms."
Weiss raised her eyebrows in response. "Well, that's... not good."
Jacques sighed deeply. "No, it isn't. This is going to cost me heavily. Once word reaches the other kingdoms, the Schnee Dust Company..."
Weiss tuned out some of his conversation.
He's only concerned about his company and their public image. the heiress thought to herself.
"...and that's why I'm thinking of monopolizing dust companies in Atlas."
Weiss, unable to stand her father's greedy scheming, silently slipped away without his notice. The snow angel was in the halls, silently gathering her thoughts. She reached the entrance to the garden and slumped her back against the opposite wall.
I'm the heiress of the company. I should be concerned about this embargo, but yet, if I be honest, I really don't even care. Why don't I care?
Weiss was emotionally exhausted. She had been depressed with the destruction and lives lost in the fall of Beacon Academy. She saw people injured, including her teammate Yang. She saw people die. For many weeks, she anxiously and fearfully waited on the thread of hope that Pyrrha had been saved and that her attempts to keep her promise. But when the news came, the little thread of hope was ripped out of her hands and disappeared. Was it possible that she was running or ran out of emotion? Was she slowly becoming numb to cope with it all? Or is it that she didn't like her father, knowing some of the things he had done? And that there could be more than she realized?
"Are you alright?" a voice asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.
Weiss turned to her brother. "I suppose so."
"What did he say to you?"
"He told me that Atlas has a dust embargo, and how it's going to affect the company."
Whitley gave her a curious look. "Anything else?"
"No, that was it. Was there something else he was supposed to tell me?"
"I don't believe so. That is all. If you need me, I'll be in my chambers studying."
Weiss was too depressed to care as Whitley walked away. As soon as he was far enough away from Weiss and other prying eyes, the youngest Schnee smirked.
He mused to himself, The seeds of deception have been sown. Perfect.
Blake and Sun stood on the rooftops of a city in Vale.
Sun chuckled. "So you really made a sheet dress to sneak into Senior's club?"
Blake nodded. "I did. You want to see what it looks like?"
"Sure."
"Alright then, close your eyes." Sun did as was told. The catwoman grabbed the sheet and the small black ribbons, wrapping the white sheet around herself and tying the ribbons to recreate the sheet dress she wore to sneak into Senior's club, the Black Key. Sun kept his hand over his eyes as she added the final touches. "You may open your eyes." He removed his hand and gazed upon her outfit, slightly gasping in awe. "Obviously I was wearing the black bow instead of the white one, but this is what I wore to sneak in."
"You look gorgeous in that outfit."
She dismissed the notion. "Heh. Come on. I looked like a mess that night and I still do now."
"No, you look beautiful." He took her hand and gently kissed it. She secretly grinned and rolled her eyes. He then noticed... "Um, Blake? What's with the ring?"
She held her hand up, showing her silver ring with black diamonds and red rubies. "Oh, this?"
"Yeah. It looks like a wedding or engagement ring, but you're not even married, and you're a bit young to be getting hitched, so that can't be the case."
She hesitated, pulling her hand away. "It's not quite a wedding or engagement ring, but... it's pretty close."
"A promise ring?" She nodded. "But I never got you one. Who... who gave it to you?" She turned away sadly and sat down on the rooftop away from him. He sat right next to her and looked at her in sad concern. "Blake?"
"Sun... The person who gave me this ring... was... Adam."
Sun gasped. "Adam? As in Adam Taurus? The same guy we're going after?!"
"Yes. The leader of Vale's White Fang branch, the man we are hunting down, the man who severed Yang's right arm... was once many things to me. For the longest time, he was a friend..." She began to hesitate and her speech slowed down slightly. "for most of the time I knew him, a mentor, and, the year before Beacon Academy..." She spoke softly, "my boyfriend."
"But why? How could you ever fall for a guy like him?! A criminal, a terrorist?!"
"Sun..." She looked at the ring on her finger remorselessly. "I think it's time I tell you... The story of the beauty and the beast. A tale as old as time. This... is the story of me and Adam. However, I must warn you- this story doesn't have a happy ending."