Now for something new.
REAPER IN RED
INTERLUDE 1: Weiss
Even the idea that Weiss had fled in the face of that... that child was an affront to her very nature as a Schnee. She was the epitome of grace and class and responsibility. She held some of the highest grades of the year this far, had an excellent win percentage in Professor Goodwitch's class, and was vastly wealthy to boot.
Not that she truly cared about her socioeconomic status. But, it was just one more thing which divided her from her more common peers. Another was the turmoil which filled her mind every time she was passed by a faunus.
It wasn't their fault. She knew that. Deep down, she chastised herself every time she flinched when one was walking next to her, or nearby. They were just talking to their friends, or heading to class, or talking on their scrolls, or anything. But they would glance at her and her extremely recognizable white hair and blue eyes. And Weiss would flinch.
It was worse when they accidently bumped into her. They were students. She knew their names and even knew some of their teammates' names. But just the closeness of them. That little jolt would nearly bring her to tears and collapse into a ball.
It wasn't their fault. It wasn't their fault that her uncles and aunts all met their ends at the hands of faunus supremacists in the White Fang. It wasn't their fault that she had witnessed her godfather be gunned down right in front of her. Or her own personal guard take a knife to the chest that was meant for her, at the age of seven. No, it wasn't their fault. And that made it worse.
And then Ruby Rose; her small, childish, immature and incredibly powerful partner had yelled at her. Weiss had called them monsters. The very people she had spent years hiding under the covers from, losing sleep thanks to nightmares from, the epitome of violence and anger and hatred -even more so than Salemites and Grimm- the true monsters. They were inhuman. And Ruby had thrown it all back in her face.
No Weiss. You don't get it. Just because a faunus does something bad, it doesn't make them inhuman. Trust me, I know inhuman. Would you say the same thing about any human -bar faunus- who commits a crime? Should we all now lump all of humans into the same boat because some of them are evil?
It hurt, because it was true. Weiss had hated the White Fang. She had truly feared them. And in her hatred and fear, all other faunus had been lumped into that category. Enough so, that she hated and feared any faunus on the street. How had all faunus become synonymous with the White Fang who killed so much of her family? Was it because of her father? He had always told her, her brother and sister that any faunus could become an enemy. Any faunus had the ability to kill them at any moment if they weren't careful. If they didn't push themselves to be the best.
Ruby had shouted at her. Told her that the faunus had struggled for centuries. Been abused for centuries. Weiss knew her history. She knew that they had been slaves for most of recorded time. But things were getting better for them, weren't they?
How about those humans who let faunus die in caves all over Atlas. Shouldn't those be the real monsters?
No. Ruby was right yet again. Weiss understood full well that her father and the SDC operated in a legal grey zone when it came to dust mining and faunus labour. Restrictions and requirements placed on faunus labour were always being increased in the SDC. The pay was high enough that it still attracted faunus labour, but that was more due to the pitiful faunus wage laws around Atlas, as opposed to any good the company was doing.
She knew she was in the wrong. It troubled her so much that she knew it, but could only resort to running away when forced to confront the issue. Forced to confront her own biases she and her father had built up within her.
And so she walked the city of Vale alone. Stuck in her head, replaying that conversation over and over again. Ruby should have let her speak! Let her explain why. But no. Weiss shook the thought from her head. Even if she explained, it didn't change the fact that she was still wrong.
She needed to do something. Something to show everyone that her problems were with the White Fang, not all faunus. It may not be fully truthful, but it would be a start. A step in the right direction.
"Howdy ice queen," came a cheerful masculine voice attached to an even more masculine guy.
Who happened to have a monkey tail.
"What do you want, you rapscallion?" Weiss internally cringed. So much for that step in the right direction. Still, she maintained her icy demeanour.
The monkey faunus let out a chuckle. "Rapscallion? Stuck in the dark ages? I much prefer devilish rogue, or stowaway supreme, but you can call me Sun."
Weiss finally deigned to look at the young man who had instigated the whole situation. She wasn't sure if she liked what she saw. His hair was a mess and his shirt was wide open. His easy-going grin fit him though, as he lazily leaned back on his hands while sitting on the curb.
"Good afternoon... Sun. My name is Weiss Schnee. I will have you use it over ice queen, princess or any other nicknames you may choose to bestow on me."
Sun shrugged. "Fine by me. What happened to the rest of your little group?"
"We... had a small argument, I decided to spend some time on my own to clear my head."
Sun's tail flicked up, Weiss's eyes darted from the tail's movement back to Sun.
"Well Weiss, I'm new in town. Why don't you show me the sights and get a load off with a stranger." Sun moved to get up.
"I will do no such lewd thing with the likes of you!" Weiss shrieked, stepping away. The move brought another easy-going smirk to Sun's lips.
"It means to open up. You know, share what's on your mind? Nothing better than to share with a stranger. It's likely we'll never see each other again, so there isn't any risk. And on top of that, you're a Schnee, I'm a faunus, I doubt anybody would believe anything I said if I did slip up and share anything. Who'd believe the Schnee heiress spoke with a faunus, much less shared her feelings?"
Weiss flinched at the mention of her name and status. Sun noticed.
"Ooh, sorry if I hit a sore spot there. Please feel free to kick me or something. Just trying to be friendly here."
"But why?!" Weiss all but screamed, stomping her foot at the much too friendly monkey faunus and rubbing her temples. "We've conversed for maybe 3 minutes at most and I have made some quite racist ticks of mine well known to you. Unless you are truly a total imbecile and missed my reactions to your presence."
Sun shrugged, "What's the harm? If you attacked or started shouting racist slurs, then ya, I might have thought better of interacting with you. But, besides the whole 'rapscallion' bit, it's been fairly chill. You got some ticks sure, but you're still attempting a conversation. I may not be all gung-ho about trying to sway racists to change their opinions, but if I'm cool and their cool, then we're cool."
Weiss stood there for a moment. "You lost me."
Sun chuckled, "it's like this, Weiss. I'm not going to change myself to get in other's good graces. If people want to see my tail first, then I let them. If they want to see me first, ditto there. If it takes time for them to notice the person attached to the tail, I say take all the time you need."
"So.. you're okay with it?"
"No, not really. Having someone flinch or shudder at your very existence is a little rude."
"Well that was brutally honest."
"Hey, I did say I'm not going to change myself to get in anyone's good graces. I did also mean what I said before. You want to talk? Promise I won't ask any questions. 'less you want me to of course."
Weiss glared at him, trying to decipher his true intentions. He stared back with the same partly lazy, partly friendly expression he had the entire conversation. Finally, Weiss sighed. "Mind if I sit next to you?"
Gesturing to his left, she took a seat on the street curb, legs held close together and hands gracefully over top.
"Do you know about the White Fang?" Weiss began.
"Well ya, holier-than-thou faunus who enjoy fighting and beating up others more than the cause they say they support."
"Exactly! No..." Weiss backtracked, stopping her enthused reaction before it could come to the forefront. "And you know about the Schnees. Right, you do. Well my family and the White Fang are at war. Or, as close to war as a company and a terrorist organization can come to it. Deaths on both sides. It... didn't make for an easy childhood. Lots of dead relatives. It made it hard for my father. Every time somebody died, the rules would get tougher, the regulations and punishments more severe. Like a never-ending cycle. I know my family's company is as much to blame as the White Fang is.
"My team... No, I was criticizing the White Fang and faunus, and my team leader stood up to me. I didn't know how to handle it properly. I still don't. But I do know that I want to do something about the White Fang and show that I know the difference between good people and bad. That my father's thoughts aren't my own."
"Well, I don't know anything about that second one, but if you're looking to stop the White Fang, their going to be buying a shipload of guns and dust coming in at the docks two nights from now. No, make that three." Sun said.
"Please tell me I didn't just share my feelings with a member of the White Fang."
"Nah, those guys are just way too open when around other faunus. There were a whole bunch of them on the boat I caught a ride on."
Sun hopped up, motioning for Weiss to do the same. She did so in a much more elegant manner, but did follow Sun as he walked down the street, hands clasped behind is head as the two strolled down the way they came, turning off towards a smaller intersection.
Weiss jumped as her scroll rang. Without a word, she checked the name, hung up and placed the device back into her dress's pocket. Weiss was grateful that Sun did not make mention of the exchange, even though she could tell from his multiple glances at her that he was indeed curious. That was another good mark in her book.
And that thought surprised her. No, not that this rapscallion of a faunus was slowly getting into her good graces, but that she -Weiss Schnee- was allowing anyone whom she had deemed beneath her to even attempt to get into her good graces. Sun, for all his unpolished... everything, was quite charming and friendly when it came down to brass tax. Weiss stared at the young man, definitely her own age and definitely here for the Vytal festival. She would see where this conversational exchange would go. Weiss did not fully trust him; what reasonable person would trust anyone they met on the street? But, she no longer inherently distrusted him.
They continued to walk down the street, shoulder to shoulder, just simply talking and smiling.
Not once did Weiss look down at his tail.
Aahh! What is this madness?! A chapter not from the perspective of Ruby 'That Adorable Reaper' Rose? Now now my good sirs and ladies. That is why this chapter is an Interlude! Yes, this is the first of potentially many interludes in this story. They will crop up from time to time. Sometimes as a way to switch character perspectives for a bit, and other times to add in some world building or in-world stories and myths. Will they be a regular occurrence? Probably not, but I can assure you that they will still maintain the 2k minimum word limit that all other chapters of this story hold. That is my 0ne promise! Okay, I deserve a slap for that pun.
dragonqueen1993 - Sorry to say, Ruby isn't bleeding from Penny's touch.
Firewyrm2 - If you would like longer chapters, please look for stories with longer chapters. Similarly, I am not mougera. If you want me to only post when I'm done this story, then you will need to wait at minimum six months for the next post. I'm grateful that you enjoy this story to want more and longer content, but I'm not mougera and mougera isn't me. PS, the average chapter length in most books are between 1,500 and 5000 words. So, I'm actually in the sweet spot. :)
Alucard45 - Glad you're enjoying Penny. I promise you I did not turn Penny into a murder-bot. I however, did have fun writing the next few chapters... take that how you will.