Continent of Anima: A Snowy Forest
Complete silence describes the morale of the group, as everyone walks through the cold terrain while the snow continues falling from the sky. Link leads the way, and to the entire group trailing behind, he appears furious and like he could explode if provoked, but only the blond young man knows his true feelings. Betrayal, sadness, and disappointment is what he feels, having assumed he made amends with team RWBY. Ruby and Weiss were the biggest surprises to him, as they are the two girls from the team of four he trusts the most. Qrow is seething with anger and bitterness, the same goes from Blake and Yang. Ruby is stern but conflicted, unsure of what is next. Weiss is down and concerned about where she stands with her partner leading the group. Having only entered a relationship, she pointed her rapier 'Myrtenaster' at him as if they were actually going to engage in combat. Maria stoically enjoys her ride on the motorcycle 'Bumblebee' that is pulled by Yang. Lastly, there is Oscar who does not know what his life's purpose is anymore, not long ago he was a farmer with a simple life: wake up, get ready, work on the farm, eat, maintain said farm, wash up, go to bed, and repeat. Now he is merged with the soul of a man who has seen the world since its inception, but now that man is gone and the farmhand is all on his own
"It doesn't look like this is gonna let up." Qrow sighs as the snow picks up speed. "If we don't get somewhere soon, we'll freeze."
"Right." Blake mumbles. "I just wanna get this stupid relic to Atlas already."
"As long as we don't have to walk all the way there." Weiss shrugs. "This situation is already crappy, nevermind the fact that our destination is a place I don't want to go."
"Suck it up." Qrow rolls his eyes. "If Ozpin's useless ass wants to abandon us, the very least we could do is go to Atlas and get help from Jimmy."
"I thought trails led somewhere, old lady." Yang sarcastically scoffs while she turns to Maria. "Is this any better than where we just were?"
"Do you have nothing better to do than to harass a defenseless old lady?" Maria glares. "You're so miserable and negative, it's disgusting."
"How could I not be?"
"Well at least we're moving and keeping ourselves warm in the slightest this way." The elderly woman cackles. "Did you really say 'is this any better than where we just were?' Yes silly girl, if we stayed back there, we would've developed frostbite and-!"
(Yes, moving was a good idea.) Link internally mumbles
"Hey kid." Qrow calls out. "Any input?"
With the feeling that he is the one being addressed, Link glances over his shoulder and shakes his head
"You can speak." The older huntsman shrugs. "I know you haven't gone mute again."
"Leave him alone, he's clearly not feeling good, much like the rest of you." Maria dismisses him. "Besides, I'm right anyway, so no more input is needed."
"Sure." Qrow sarcastically raises both eyebrows
"Everyone, quiet!"
The groups stops walking and obediently listens to Ruby, who cups her right ear whilst narrowing her eyes
"Do you hear that?"
Everybody goes quiet, until only the blowing snow can be heard, in an attempt to hear what Ruby is talking about. Seconds later, a metallic squeaking can be heard
"L-Let's move." Link mumbles while he shivers. "S-Stay behind me."
Without listening to a single protest or even response from anybody, Link takes off sprinting in the direction of the squeaking
"He does speak after all." Qrow nods
"F-Follow him!" Weiss stutters as she is the first one to sprint, followed by the rest of her friends and group
However, the dramatic words hold zero substance as the trail eventually leads to a large farm, with no Grimm or people in sight. The metallic squeaking turns out to be one of the front gates, swinging back and forth with the wind. A large sign above the entrance spells out the words "BRUNSWICK FARMS" but despite having an owner, the place looks completely abandoned
"You can slow down now, kid." Qrow slouches over to catch his breath. "Damn… you might be fearless but damn do you also have a death wish."
(N-No, I want to make sure you all enter a safe environment.) Link narrows his eyes
"Well…" Blake begins. "At least one good thing has happened today."
"It looks like a ghost town." Weiss rubs her arm nervously
"But it's still better than a snowy forest." Ruby sighs
"Come on, I think we could all use some rest." Qrow steps forward, opens the gate, and looks at Link in the eyes. "Lead the way crazy man."
"I'm not c-crazy."
Link shakes his head but leads the way nonetheless, Weiss follows closely behind him, then Ruby, Yang, Maria, Blake, and Oscar. Qrow is the last one to enter the farm, a successful discovery by Ruby, as the snow starts to pick up even more. The older huntsman closes the gate behind them but the wind makes it violently slam!
Clang!
The sound startles everyone, but they carry on after they realize it was Qrow's doing. The atmosphere is cold and lifeless, and just like Weiss said, it is practically a ghost town. Link raises a hand to block the snow from hitting his eyes as he trudges through the cold environment. With the blind leading the blind, the entire group eventually makes it to the front of the largest house in the farming village
"I w-will s-see if anyone is h-home." Link marches up the wooden stairs and quickly knocks on the door
"Link! You can't just do that!" Blake gasps. "What if someone is home?"
"We need shelter, screw being courteous." Qrow shrugs. "If anything, he's being too nice."
Soon enough, team RWBY, Oscar, and Maria make it to the door as Qrow is attempting to open the door by jiggling the doorknob
"You guys felt it too, right?" Ruby asks while her uncle continues his struggles. "That eerie feeling of abandonment. I don't get it. The empty towns I've passed through were all damaged or unfinished. But this place looks... totally fine."
"M-Maybe everyone left in a hurry." Weiss shivers, hugging herself in an attempt to gain warmth. "B-Before things took a turn?
"It's a bit of a reach, but anything is possible at this point." Yang mumbles
Qrow backs away, frowns, and looks behind his shoulder, a look of concern in his eyes, but more anger than anything else
"Everybody stay on guard."
The older huntsman then kicks the door open with a powerful front kick! Link, team RWBY, and Oscar proceed inside with their weapons drawn. They cautiously look around the two story house, waiting for any sound or sudden movement, but when there is nothing…
"Close the door already!" Maria grumbles, walking inside without a care in the world. "It's cold enough in here as it is."
Oscar puts away 'The Long Memory', the staff that has been in possession with every reincarnation of Ozma, and with Blake's help, the two of them push a drawer against the door for reinforcement
"Well… it's lifeless but I saw a chimney from the outside." Blake nods. "Maybe we could get a fire going?"
"Please." Weiss continues rubbing her arms with both hands whilst hugging herself. "I'll look for some blankets in the meantime."
Weiss trails off, walking upstairs, but this decision gets instant attention from Qrow, who glances behind him
"At least one of you should go with her." He mumbles
"Come on angryman." Yang steps forward and hooks Link's elbow with her prosthetic hand
"..." Link does not speak, but willingly allows himself to be dragged upstairs, as that is where his partner is headed
"Better get started somewhere. There are a few rooms here-!" Weiss sighs, turns, and smiles when seeing the company she has. "Perfect, I thought it was only going to be me searching."
"No way, let's start." Yang nods
She and Weiss go exploring into unknown rooms that are soon revealed to be a bathroom and a closet with supplies. Meanwhile, Link stays put, watching both girls and making sure there is nothing that could catch them off guard. When they are done looking, the two girls emerge from the rooms, albeit empty handed
"L-Link?" Weiss gently bites her lip. "Are you okay?"
"If you're just going to be pissed and respond in four words or less, the least you could do is help." Yang sighs. "One big blanket should do the trick."
"Leave him a-alone!" Weiss shakes her head
Link turns to Yang, does not speak, and simply narrows his eyes, disapproving of her words
"Fine, I'm just saying… it would speed up the process."
Despite Yang's complaint, the three proceed as they had before, with Link watching their backs, while Yang now enters an empty bedroom with blankets, meanwhile Weiss enters what appears to be the master bedroom…
"AGHHHH!"
Weiss falls back and scrambles in a panic to get away whilst letting out the highest pitched scream ever heard from the young woman. Immediately, Link bursts through the door! Sword and shield drawn, and his eyes widen in the moment as well, upon the sight that scared his girlfriend. Two people are in bed, positioned like they were peacefully sleeping, but they are dead… And have been for some time as these people are decomposing corpses now
"What's going on?!" Ruby, along with Blake and Qrow reach the top of the stairs and stop behind Yang
Although the scene is very clear by now and visible to everybody. Link steps to his left in an effort to block Weiss' vision, as she looks visibly shaken. Blake and Ruby help the scared girl up to her feet, while Yang leads them back downstairs, blankets in hand
"Let's go, kid." Qrow lightly slaps the blond swordsman on the shoulder
"R-Right…" Link nods, slowly backs away, exits the room, and shuts the door in a hurry
Ten minutes pass, and there is now a vibrant fire burning in the fireplace thanks to Blake. A distraught Weiss blankly watches it, still shaken from what she saw earlier.
(Say something to her…) Link quietly exhales
Although he does not offer words of comfort, Link sits on the wooden floor, directly next to Weiss. They practically touch legs and shoulders, as he leaves no breathing room. Link turns to her, offers a weak smile, and wraps an arm around her shoulders, Weiss immediately gives in to the slight generosity by wrapping both arms around Link and resting her head against his shoulder
"Thank you." She whispers
(Of course.) Link nods
Blake, who sits on a couch next to Yang in the same room that could be a study or a personal library, smiles at Weiss and Link's embrace. The cat faunus takes a blanket from Yang, stands up, walks up behind them, and wraps a blanket around Link and Weiss, before sitting back down
(Thanks Blake.) Link closes his eyes, smiles, and leans his head gently onto Weiss'
Unfortunately for the pair, their gentle moment of peace and tranquility ends before it can even begin. Not even a minutes passes before the front door opens and closes, then Qrow enters the house, brushing snow off himself
"It's the same in every house." He shrugs. "Bodies. Every bed in every home. It's like the whole estate just went to sleep and never woke up."
"W-What?" Yang's eyes widen
"You're kidding." Weiss' jaw drops, her shivering comes to an end with the warmth of the fire, blanket, and the person next to her. "We're not staying here, right?"
"Try again." Qrow walks over to the fireplace, kneels beside Link, and rubs his hands together near the ongoing flame. "We don't have a choice. The snow has progressed to a storm and it's only getting worse. Like the bag of bones said, we'd freeze to death before we made it anywhere."
"Well, we might as well get comfortable then." Maria stands up, having been sitting on a single seater armchair all by herself, and walks over to a bookshelf. "I will ignore your rude comment only because you know I was right, hehehe!"
"Yeah yeah." The red eyed huntsman rolls his eyes
"Okay, then, let's do something rather than sit around." Ruby rubs her chin. "If this place wasn't abandoned, it might still have supplies we could use."
"Y-Yeah, maybe even a car." Oscar nods
"Fine, I'm in." Qrow nods, rises to his feet and begins walking away, "I'll do another sweep of the grounds." He glances in Weiss' direction. "No one else goes anywhere alone."
Link, sensing the insult aimed at his partner's way, turns and shakes his head at Qrow, but neither of them say a word to one another
"Yang and I can search the other buildings for vehicles." Blake stands up, a look of determination beaming in her eyes
"Ugh, fine." Yang shrugs her shoulders. "Whatever gets me out of this house."
Yang, Blake, and Ruby exit the room, with the latter being the one to move the drawer, allowing her teammates to leave; leaving Weiss, Link, Oscar, and Maria in the room
"T-Thanks for being here." Weiss tilts her head upward and whispers. "My hero."
(Heh, that's adorable.) Link nods, his weak smile grows
"What do you think… caused those people to be like that?" Weiss asks, hoping for an assuring answer
However, Link only grunts and shrugs his right shoulder to avoid nudging his girlfriend's head
"H-Hey!" Weiss' whispering dissipates as she grows concerned. "Do you simply not have an answer?"
Link shakes his head, much to the disappointment of the scared girl
"Are you still upset about…" Weiss turns, her eyes focus on the fire, rather than her boyfriend. "Earlier?"
And yet again, Link responds silently, this time with a nod
"Maybe you need some time away from me, is that it?" She asks
Weiss releases her grip around Link and slowly pulls away, Link attempts to tighten his grip around her as a way to say 'no', but when Weiss pulls away with more force, the latter admits defeat and allows her to pull away entirely
"I'm going to see what Ruby is up to, we'll talk soon, please?" Weiss pouts
"Mhm." Link sighs
"Okay."
Weiss quietly exhales in relief as she gets up, taking the blanket, knowing Link will have the fireplace. And with the soft fabric wrapped around her, she exits the room, leaving just Oscar, Link, and Maria now
"Well, that was hard to watch." Maria smirks as she sits down again
"Hm?" Link turns to her older woman
"Must you be so cruel to the young lady? She obviously likes and cares about you."
(I like her too.) Link nods
"Why are you so upset?" Maria asks. "Is it anger?... I thought so, but you don't look like you're ready to scream at or fight someone, so perhaps it isn't anger."
"I…" Link opens his mouth, but shakes his head instead
"Look, you can be upset at the girls and that depressed man whose breath reeks of alcohol all you want, but listen here." She narrows her 'eyes'. "The girl… she couldn't take her eyes off you during our walk here. Her eyes were either on the ground or on you."
(N-No way!) Link's mouth falls open agape, he turns away to look at the fire once more, and shuts his eyes in shame
"Now you're listening I see, good. Maybe you feel more hurt than angry, is that it? If so… let it go, child. Harboring resentment leads to destruction."
(She is not wrong there. I have held grudges and all I felt was anger.) Link nods and at last opens his eyes. "I… will apologize to Weiss the next time I see her, at least she deserves that."
"Well, it's a start." Maria nods. "Now that you're speaking more, what's your story?"
"My s-story? What do you mean, ma'am?" Link turns to the older woman
"Come on, it's not a trick question. Everyone's got a story. I have one, that boy over there has one." Maria points to Oscar with her cane. "Those girls and the grumpy man have stories too. I can gauge what each of them is… but I cannot read you so well."
"I see." Link rubs his chin. "My memory is not the greatest, I only remember life when I was fourteen years old and ever since then there have been countless instances of struggle, turning my life around for the better, someone or something rips it away from me in a violent way, then I start over." He grins. "Ruby is doing this to defeat monsters and be a hero, Weiss wanted to be more than another rich Schnee living life easily, Yang was doing it for thrill and adventure, but now wants to protect her sister more than anything, Blake wants to bring peace to the world. I do not quite know Qrow's story, and Oscar-!"
"Yeah, please don't." Oscar's head drops. "I was just a farmer living a regular life, I didn't choose this."
"Don't beat yourself up, child." Maria waves her hand downward. "Everything happens for a reason, maybe you are where the constant reincarnations stop."
"Really? Is that possible?" Oscar's eyes widen
"I don't see why not?" She nods. "I bet you that Ozma or Ozpin fellow did not have so many supportive friends in his previous lives. But now? You will not be fighting alone, which means your chances of dying diminish significantly."
"Wow… I never thought about it like that." Oscar smiles
"A smile, how lovely." Maria follows suit and smiles as well, before turning back to Link. "As for you, young man. I asked for your story because you are the odd one out."
"Huh? I don't follow." Link wags his head
"Do I really need to spell it out?" Maria rolls her eyes, "You look different, act different, the other brats look up to you or envy you, one of the two, and it is time for me to fess up." She nervously chuckles. "I could not gauge who you were or what your story was, because you are nothing like what was written about… the twilight demon."
"Oh…" Link's eyes widen as the color drains from his face. "You've read t-that?"
"More like who hasn't read it? It was a bestseller!" She cackles. "I should have figured it was too good to be true, 'based on true events' my as-!"
"Are you saying that because I am nothing like how that book portrayed me?"
"Obviously." Maria smiles. "Which makes me happy, because I instantly recognized you."
"I have never read this book, what is it about?" Oscar asks
"Please." Link shakes his head. "Do not tell him."
"Hmph, so be it." Maria stands up and walks to one of the many bookshelves. "I'll tell you what. Younger child, you maintain that fire and I…" She finds a book with an 'I' on the cover. "And I'll find another story to read for the three of us right before bed."
Maria returns to her seat and sits back down for a third time on the couch, then begins skimming through the book, curious if it is good to read or not. Meanwhile, Oscar sighs while Link continues watching the fire burn
Elsewhere: The Land of Darkness
In the dark and cold land, five Nevermores are perched on large purple crystals, presumably used by Salem to keep watch of any possible intruders, and awaiting the return of her crew that failed to retrieve the Relic of Knowledge from Haven Academy
ZOOM!
A stolen Mistral airship flies by, heading straight for the Evernight Castle. The Nevermore fly away and follow the stolen ship carrying the remaining members of the failed mission. The remaining flight comes to a close, and the airship soon touches down on a large purple rock that serves as a landing dock. The aerial Grimm following the ship also disperse, having done their job. Without any hesitation, Hazel Rainart steps off the ship, followed by a furious Mercury Black. Emerald Sustrai is the last to hop down, she crosses her arms nervously, but gets an assuring nod from the former and the three begin walking together. However, the trio do not get any breathing room or time to come up with the words to say as they approach the entrance, where Tyrian Callows is leaning against a purple crystal wall at the bottom of the stairs. His scorpion tail waves around excitedly, with its stinger missing, and a metal tip covering where it was cut off
"Hello hello! Welcome back!" Tyrian maniacally laughs. "I do hope you missed us as much as we missed you."
Emerald and Mercury stop to glare at Tyrian, but Hazel fearlessly presses forward
"Let's go." The tall man sternly mumbles
Soon, the three walk forward and past the scorpion faunus in seconds, not acknowledging his presence
"Oh look at the state of you two!" Tyrian points at the missing limbs of both Hazel and Mercury. "Looks like a new tail won't be the only thing that has to be made."
"That's enough." Hazel glares at the psychotic faunus
"Sureeee sureee! Just tell me…" He snickers. "Who caused those injuries?"
"The same brat that humiliated you!" Hazel roars. "What do you have to say for yourself about that?!"
"Oh him?! I was all by myself. Outnumbered six to one." Tyrian rubs his hands together. "What's your excuse?!"
"There wouldn't need to be excuses if you took him out in the first place!" Mercury growls
"But you see, that was not my job. My job was to snatch the little flower and bring her back here."
"All I hear are excuses." Hazel shakes his head
"How was I to know she was being guarded by a team, a professional huntsman, and a brat who is stronger than he is for his age." The scorpion faunus scowls. "All my efforts for what? So Cinder can get revenge on a child that bested her long ago."
Suddenly, he stops speaking, and a big smirk forms on his face as he now has the perfect chance to bring up a certain somebody
"And speaking of her… where is our Fall Maiden?"
Emerald stops upon hearing this, she growls, wraps her hands around both weapons on her back, which oddly prompts Tyrian to giggle, causing the former to angrily turn around
"What was that?" She says through gritting teeth
"Emerald, come on." Mercury places his right hand on her shoulder. "He's not worth it."
"Awww… don't tell me something happened to her?" He laughs even further
"That's it!" Emerald turns around and draws her weapons in a swift motion! "I will cut off more than just your tail. What that asshole Link did to you will pale in comparison to what I-!"
"Careful, little girl!" Tyrian sprints at Emerald, but slows down when she aims 'Thiefs Respite' at him. "Cinder isn't here to protect you anymore."
The scorpion faunus leans his head forward, getting closer and closer to Emerald's face, forcing her to back away, creeped out by the sudden behavior. Tyrian backs away, intentionally cutting his cheek with the blade of Emerald's weapon. The latter gasps, her eyes widen upon seeing this, and Mercury completely turns around to stand up for his close friend
"Back off already!" Mercury frowns. "You freak!"
"Oh, you misunderstand. I am in mourning just as you. Because you failed our Queen, and that is a tragedy for the three of you who survived to tell the tale."
Tyrian begins to laugh maniacally once more. Emerald shakes in fear at this revelation, while Mercury turns around, clenches his jaw in frustration, and attempts to pull the tanned girl away. The pair, along with Hazel, turn around to proceed up the stairs and into the castle
…
Minutes later, in the grand meeting room, Salem glares at all her underlings. Tyrian and Arthur Watts respectfully sit at the table, with the disgraced Atlas scientist fearing the worst, and although the scorpion faunus has fear in his eyes, deep down he is satisfied. Hazel, Emerald and Mercury kneel at the sight of their master, awaiting her wrath
"I would like you to explain to me two things…" She narrows her eyes at the injuries to all three of them. "Who caused all of this damage? And how is it that you failed so spectacularly? Your task was to bring me the Relic of Knowledge and nothing more! I did not tell you to initiate a battle!"
"Ma'am." Hazel begins. "The Faunus Militia split our forces-!"
"Stop. You already made a grave error."
Hazel's expression falls as he immediately goes silent. His eyes shake and a quivering bottom lip reveals his fear
"I will repeat myself." Salem shakes her head. "Who caused this damage? And who is responsible for your defeat?
"Yes." Hazel mumbles as he stands up, hesitantly. "Your grace, I take full responsibility."
"Grrr!"
Suddenly, Salem flips the table over to her left side
Slam!
Her strength and the rapid motion knocks Tyrian off his chair and to the ground, while Arthur quickly stands up and cowers away
"You? Full responsibility? But that wouldn't be fair now, would it?!" Salem walks forward. "We all know who's truly to blame, isn't that right?"
"I don't know-!"
Hazel, somewhat unaware that it was Cinder's hasty decision to change the plan, foolishly answers ignorantly. That is until Salem extends her arm towards him, twists her hand, and a dark red circle appears underneath Hazel. Multiple Grimm arms spring out from it and grab the tall man, easily overpowering him and forcing him down on all fours despite his size, weight, and strength
"Fine, if you won't answer me, then…"
Salem turns to the mint haired girl, whose eyes are wide as she hyperventilates
"Emerald… start talking to me, child. I want you to answer my questions." She coldly speaks whilst walking to her. "Now."
"The damage done to us was from everybody we fought!" Emerald quickly folds and spills the truth. "But mostly by Link! He is the one who did that to Mercury and Hazel, and he almost killed me too, b-but… he stopped for some reason."
"The fool chose to spare you. Take advantage, if there is a next time, you likely will not be spared again." Salem narrows her eyes. "...And this was done by Link, you say? The same 'nuisance' that was going to be disposed of as easily as Ruby Rose. Is that what you're saying?"
"Y-Yes!"
"And who was supposed to get rid of those two children I just named?" She looks directly into Emerald's eyes. "Does it by chance… correlate to the person who is really to blame?"
"Y-YES IT WAS CINDER!" Emerald nods. "We failed because of Cinder! She changed the plan and was supposed to kill Link, but failed at that too."
"That's right." Salem places a hand on the frightened girl's shoulder. "I want you to understand that failure. Understand how much you lost and how much more you will lose if you ever fail again. That boy may have harmed you all, but you still live and breathe… correct?"
The armless Mercury, handless Hazel, and scarred Emerald nod in unison
"The next time any of us come across that boy, he will be dealt with. To do what Cinder could not do. Am I clear?!"
Arthur, Tyrian, and the injured trio already under immense pressure all nod
"Good." Salem squeezes on Emerald's shoulder. "Speaking of Cinder, I want you to understand why Cinder will be left to toil in her isolation until she redeems herself. None of you are to go find her, she must make her way back to me."
Salem releases her grip on the girl's shoulder and walks forward a few more steps, until she is behind everyone. In the meantime, the eyes of everyone in the room shoot open
"She's alive?!" Emerald gasps
"You're joking, how could you know that?" Arthur frowns
"Are you questioning our divine savior?!" Tyrian dramatically wags a finger at the Atlesian scientist
Salem glares at Arthur after his smug remark, and now all the attention is on him
"I…" He chuckles nervously. "Of course not, forgive me."
"It is important not to lose sight of what drives us." Salem narrows her eyes, "Love, justice, reverence." She turns to meet Emerald eye to eye. "But, the moment you put your desires before my own... they will be lost to you."
Letting out an exhale and releasing her tightened grip, Salem spares Hazel from the grasp of the Grimm arms. Then, she walks back to the other side of the room, returning to her chair as Hazel catches his breath
"That isn't a threat, either. This is simply the truth. The path to your desires is only found…" She turns to face them all again. "Through me."
Hazel slowly rises back up to his feet, Mercury looks at Emerald with concern, while the latter continues breathing heavily. Tyrian lets out small chuckles and Watts awkwardly straightens his coat. Salem turns away from her group to glance outside, where several Nevermores are flying around
"And so we must press on." She shuts her eyes. "Our next goal is to obtain The Sword under Vacuo's academy, Shade. Where we will…"
However, as she trails off, Hazel balls up his right hand, shuts his eyes, and internally struggles to come up with the right words to say. The tall man knows he has more to report, specifically regarding Professor Ozpin's reincarnation and where the group of heroes is likely to go next…
Continent of Anima: Brunswick Farms
Nighttime befalls the abandoned farm where the heroes are currently taking shelter in. Those who went out to look for supplies or scan the perimeter have all returned. Ruby sits on the staircase, staring at the moon through a window. Blake and Yang return to the study to sit in front of the fire, and Qrow is sitting in a chair near a window next to the entrance, looking outside with his feet propped on the drawer, and an open bottle of wine next to his chair. Maria silently reads another book whilst peacefully sitting, Oscar paces back and forth, and Link sits on a two seater couch. Last but not least, Weiss enters the room, immediately faced with a decision as her teammates look at her with glee, with Blake nodding at her to join them, as opposed to Link who faces forward and does not even acknowledge her presence. Ultimately, the former heiress decides to sit next to the latter
"Hi." Weiss begins
"...Hello." Link mumbles
"There you are, I've missed you." She sighs in relief
"I never left." He flashes a soft smile
"Thank goodness for that." Weiss nods
"Weiss." Link closes his eyes, breathing in through his nose, and exhales from his mouth. "I need to apologize for not speaking-!"
"No no no no!" She rapidly wags an index finger from right to left. "I do not accept."
Weiss raises her hand, extends her index finger, and places it over her partner's lips
"There is nothing for you to be sorry about."
"S-Stop." Link mumbles while he opens his eyes. "You are far too kind to me. I'm sorry, Weiss. To all of you really, when you guys aimed your weapons at me, I took it personally… which coming from me is ironic because I drew my weapons on some of you at Beacon."
"Oh please, don't even compare the two." Weiss rolls her eyes, "Considering only a few people were on your side during a time where everyone needed to have been supportive, you had a right to be angry. Especially when some of 'us' were trying to pretend nothing ever happened." She glares in the direction of Yang and Blake, who are not so subtly listening to the conversation. "But hey, when you drew your weapons, I knew it was not directed at me."
"..." Link shakes his head, chuckling in amusement, "You always find a way to make me feel better while justifying what I do." He sighs. "Okay, I will no longer compare the two, but my apology stands. I should not have only spoken to Maria and Qrow while ignoring you, Ruby, Oscar, Blake, and Yang."
"I assume you are about to tell me, but the question has been on my mind." Weiss sighs, "Are you angry with us? With me?" She leans closer to Link, covers her mouth and lowers her voice. "Do you want to break up?"
"N-No!" Link shakes his head. "No to everything. I am not angry, I felt hurt. My intention was only to help Oscar to his feet. Oscar by the way, not Professor Ozpin. But I understand, in the moment, it was Ozpin in control and with the Relic only a reach away, who knows what he could have done. What stood out more is the fact that your eyes, along with Ruby's, Yang's, and Blake's were locked on to me… and Blake was the only one who looked hesitant about drawing her sword."
"If it helps, I immediately regretted doing what I did." Weiss' gaze falls to the ground in shame. "But I remained that way to stand by my team. I'm sorry, I should have realized how much it would negatively affect you. Girls?"
Weiss expectantly turns to her two teammates sitting in front of the fire
"Don't play dumb, we both know you're listening."
"Alright already." Yang sighs, but then speaks with a monotone voice. "Sorry Link, I may not sound like I am, but trust me when I say I do feel bad. Unlike you, I am very angry but… I shouldn't have taken it out on you or anybody who doesn't deserve it."
"I'm sorry too." Blake mumbles. "Link, you've done your best to be nothing but good to us and this isn't the first time our actions have made you feel betrayed. I saw the hurt in your eyes, and I promise to never be the cause that makes you experience that again."
"Thank you, all of you." Link nods, satisfied by the positive conversation. "I should apologize to Ruby as well, the sooner we all get along again the be-!"
"No need."
The leader of team RWBY speaks as she steps into the room, having clearly been eavesdropping the moment Weiss originally entered
"Apology accepted. I'm sorry too, of course." Ruby chuckles. "It was a big misunderstanding, you wanted to help Oscar, we thought you were being careless with the relic around Professor Ozpin, my team and I overreacted… ya know? Poor communication, heh!"
"Yes." Link smiles warmly at the silver eyed young woman. "Let's forget about it. Yes?"
"Mhm!"
Ruby meets his eyes and unbeknownst to her, is blushing due to Link's polite smile making her heart feel warm. Luckily for her, nobody seems to notice this as Blake and Yang turn to the fire, Weiss turns back to face Link once more, Oscar is looking outside of the house, and Maria just barely looks up from her book
"Y-Yeahhhh!" Ruby awkwardly cheers, grabbing everyone's attention once more and forcing her to turn away. "A-Anyway! Qrow said we should get some sleep. We're gonna head out-!"
Maria snaps her fingers as Weiss, Link, Blake, and Yang are about to stand up and get ready to sleep
"Hang on just a second." Maria closes a book with the number "III" on the cover, and places it on top of two over books with the labels 'I' and 'II' on a nearby table. "The last thing you'll catch me doing is letting some kid with red cheeks tell me what to do."
"Ummm…" Ruby scratches her head, panicking when finding out at least one person saw her blush. "B-But, uncle Qrow said-!"
"I don't care what your uncle said." She narrows her eyes. "You wanna get ready for bed? Sure knock yourselves out, but I am not going to sleep. As your elder, I overrule you and your uncle's word, and that's final!"
Team RWBY, Oscar, and Link turn to one another, some shrug and others nod in agreement. Blake and Yang grab the blankets the latter was able to grab before the corpses were discovered and with a few light throws, the two girls scatter some blankets on the floor to sit or lie on. And they do just that, the group of teenagers and young adults sit in a circle: Ruby and Yang sit with their backs turned to the fireplace, Weiss and Link sit across from them, and to complete the circle, Blake sits in between Yang and Link, while Oscar sits in between Ruby and Weiss
"What are we going to do in the meantime?" Oscar asks
"Ummm… I dunno, we have too many people to play video games and I wouldn't want anyone being left out." Ruby thinks carefully. "How about we just chat?"
"If you kids end up doing nothing, I will gladly read you all a story." Maria grins as she pats the three stacked books she already read silently. "Call it a last resort."
"We will take that into consideration." Yang smiles, then drops her head and lowers her voice. "Let's start talking about anything before the old lady puts us to sleep."
"Yang!" Oscar's eyes widen. "Be nice!"
"I wasn't trying to be rude, I'm just saying… we don't know when we will get another chance to peacefully talk like this."
"Fair enough." Weiss mumbles. "Does anyone have a topic…"
Oscar, Blake, Yang, and Link raise their hands in unison
"...That does not involve what we learned today?" Weiss scowls
Her exclusion of recent events makes the three former Beacon students and farmhand drop their hands
"Unbelievable." She grunts
"I have one, it is unrelated to what we learned, but it does involve magic." Ruby smiles
"Yes, go ahead Ruby." Weiss nods
"Okayyy, well it was mainly a question for all of us." She exhales, flashes a big, goofy smile, and looks around. "The idea of magic when we aren't talking about these gods, Professor Ozpin, or Salem is pretty cool right? Soooo, what magical power or ability would you guys want?"
"I can get on board with this!" Maria cackles from a short distance away. "Mine is simple. I would want to be youthful again with my working eyes, regardless of my age. I simply want to sprint, fight, and never worry about traveling to Atlas to have my eyesight repaired."
"Good start." Oscar nods. "Me next, and honestly I will keep mine simple. The magic we saw in the story Jinn told, that would be amazing."
"Isn't that cheating?" Weiss narrows her eyes
"Weiss, it's a hypothetical." Ruby giggles
"Fair enough."
"It would be amazing though, yes." Blake smiles. "I would go with mind reading, even though I think I read people very well. It would help knowing what people are thinking in case they aren't who we think they are."
"Are you talking about Adam?" Yang turns to her. "That guy you looked up to for a long time."
"Y-Yeah." The cat faunus looks at the ground in shame
"Sorry." Yang shakes her head. "A-Anyway, mine you could see as boring since it is kind of what my semblance is, but rather than having a temporary boost of power when I take damage, I would love invincibility. To be able to take damage, not feel a thing, and then dish it right back?"
"W-Whoaaa, cool!" Ruby nods excitedly. "Mine's a lot more sillier but I would love to be able to communicate with animals. Talking with them alone would be awesome, plus I could get a lot of help on missions from them too!"
"That is quite childish!" Weiss scoffs. "But it is adorable."
"Annnnd what's yours?"
The silver eyed girl leans forward, her hands touching the ground as she extends all the way across until she is face to face with her teammate
"WELL, what you guys are talking about besides Oscar and Maria more or less sound like superpowers you'd see in childish comics." Weiss begins. "Personally, I would thrive being able to control elements."
Despite her excellent answer, the rest of her teammates look at each other in confusion
"Can't you already do that with your weapon?" Yang raises an eyebrow
"S-She right. Wouldn't you want something else?" Ruby scratches her head
"Does nobody understand what I'm talking about?!" Weiss sighs
"I understand." Link mumbles. "You would like to be able to control and manipulate elements with your body and mind. To do something like creating ice with your right hand. Perhaps while having your weapon in your left hand to attack with fire at the same time."
"Finally, someone with a brain!." She happily nods. "Or to make a gust of wind just because I can. Maybe summon giant pieces of earth from the ground, or create a small tide of water, anything such as that with a basic action like a wave of my hand or a low kick."
"You'd essentially be like a bit of every maiden combined." Blake smiles
"I wouldn't go that far, but that would be an amazing feat." Weiss returns the kind gesture
Suddenly, every gaze, including Maria's, falls onto Link, as now it is his turn to answer the question
"Welllll?"
Ruby leans forward, repeating the same action as before, but keeps a bit more distance between herself and the blond who just made her blush minutes ago
"I… do not want a magical power. I am perfectly happy with how I am right now, especially with all of you here with me." Link's lips curl into a soft smile
"Aw come on, Link." Yang shakes her head. "You can make something up if you want."
"Yeah it's easy." Oscar smiles at him. "Maybe you and Weiss can control elements together?"
"Uh-uh!" Ruby leans away while she wags her index finger. "No copying!"
"But I thought it was just a hypothetical?" Weiss frowns
"Whatever!" The silver eyed girl sighs
"Okay okay." Link mumbles. "Hmm… if you say I can make something up, I suppose-!"
"Wait a second!" Blake crosses her arms and looks into the blond swordsman's eyes. "I sensed hesitation, when Ruby first asked you. Didn't anybody else pick up on that?"
"I did, yes." Weiss turns her head to face her partner. "Did you already have something in mind?"
(D-Damn it Blake. I was hoping none of you would notice.) Link shuts both eyes, his silence practically admits his guilt. "Yes."
"Perfect. What is it?" She politely smiles. "Is it unlimited aura and energy? That's really all you're missing to be the perfect huntsman and warrior."
"I think it's light magic!" Ruby giggles. "Look at him, he could be an ancient warrior."
"Or maybe dark magic?" Yang raises an eyebrow
"W-What?!" Weiss gasps
"I can see Yang's point." Blake nods. "In a good way of course. Link would use dark magic for good."
"Ohhh, I see."
Whilst team RWBY continues debating ideas, Oscar and Maria notice that the same positivity is not being reciprocated by the blond boy
"No." Link sighs, "Nothing like that." He opens his eyes and now bears a somber expression. "I will ruin the mood of the conversation. Can we move on to another topic?"
"Shall we put it to a vote?!" Ruby cheers
"It's pretty obvious 'no' is going to win, so there's no need to move on to another topic." Yang shakes her head. "Besides… we can all be open and honest unlike that bastard Ozpin. Or is it Ozma? Doesn't matter, come on-!"
"Okay!" Link raises his left hand and waves it in the air for all the attention. "I would want the ability to bring back those from the dead. Is there a name for it?"
"L-Link." Ruby immediately feels tears forming in her eyes, realizing what is coming next
"Resurrection." Maria coldly whispers as she lets out a big sigh. "Is that your story, child? Have you lost someone dear?"
"Multiple people." Link nods and looks around the room. "Resurrection, I would use it to bring back Pyrrha, Ray, her family and village, Amber, Penny, and more. Even people who deserve to face justice but did not need to die, like Professor Lionheart."
And just as Link predicted, the mood sours. The mention of Pyrrha sends shivers down Ruby's spine, the same applies to Weiss when Ray is mentioned. Blake and Yang, who witnessed Penny get shredded on their scrolls live, sigh at the mention of her name. Oscar and Maria shake their heads, with the latter saddened by the amount of special people who have been lost for a single individual
"..." The blond lowers his head and lightly shakes his head, "I apologize. I really miss them, and everyone else I have lost." He sniffles loudly. "I know I need to move past their deaths for my own sake, but it is very difficult to do that."
Realizing he was right about his answer inevitably ruining the mood, Link picks up his head, opens both eyes, and gives everyone in the room a gentle nod before standing up
"Where are you going?" Weiss looks up at him with concern
"Not far, do not worry about that." Link sighs. "I said I would ruin the mood of the conversation and that happened. I'm going to explore the house a bit, but please continue with the conversations. I would not want to ruin the night any more than I already have."
"Don't go." Blake looks at him eye to eye, showing extreme guilt. "I'm sorry I made you share your real answer."
"It is okay." He nods again. "You deserved to know the truth. Yang is right, it is important to be honest with each other, especially if Ozpin will just feed us lies."
"You really don't have to leave." Yang speaks up. "Your answer was dark and sad, but it's how you feel. You shouldn't feel the need to run away because of it. We're your friends and you can trust us."
"She's right." Oscar nods. "You can trust us."
"Guys…" Link weakly smiles. "I know that, but I need to be alone right now."
"We will give you your time alone, just one thing." Ruby stands up and looks directly at him. "Promise you won't go far?"
"I promise, to all of you." Link nods, then looks down at Weiss and mouths the words again. "I promise."
"You better." Weiss crosses her arms, maintaining her worried look
In a brisk pace, Link exits the room and does exactly what he said he would, leaving to explore the house and only the inside of the house, as he, Oscar, and Maria have been the only ones staying put in a room for most of their time at Brunswick Farms. Then five grueling and silent minutes pass before Yang decides to speak up, thus ending the tension and breaking the silence
"I think can we all agree…" Yang lowers her voice. "To just go to sleep, right?"
"Right, there's no going back to normal after that. Poor guy." Oscar sighs
"I should apologize to him again." Blake shakes her head. "Why did I have to press him about it?"
"Hey." Yang nudges Blake's shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up about it. Link said it was okay and if he lied to us then he's got a pretty good poker face."
"I don't believe he's lying." Maria says as she picks up one of the same three books again. "The boy's face says one thing, but his emotions could be completely different. I questioned him earlier, assuming he was angry, but speaking to him made me realize he was sad."
"What's your point?" Yang asks
"Did you not listen to me?! Kids these days…" Maria groans. "Fine. I am saying, on the outside he appeared to be lying and has other motives, like the way you all think he might leave for good. But on the inside he is probably hurting a lot and really just wants to be alone."
"Should someone go be with him?" Weiss mumbles
"Maybe in a bit, let's give him five to ten minutes." Ruby nods
"Okay."
"In the meantime, let's get ready for bed." Yang says as they all stand up
The team of girls and the farmhand grab their respective blankets while figuring out where each of them will sleep
"The rug could be a small layer of comfort, but it won't fit all six of us." The blonde girl rubs her chin. "And Link makes it seven if he comes back."
"When, not if." Weiss frowns
"Sure, sorry." Yang chuckles
"The four of you can fit on the rug." Oscar smiles at the four girls. "You guys were fighting Grimm on the train and deserve a little bit of extra comfort."
"You were fighting Grimm too, but thanks for being such a gentleman." Ruby smiles, jogs over to the farmhand and gives him a quick but tight hung
"Heh, of course." Oscar smiles and returns the hug, blushing in the process
"So the five of you are going to sleep on the floor when there's four couches?" Maria bursts into laughter. "You silly kids."
"Good point." Blake mumbles. "But I'm still okay with sleeping on the floor."
"Me too." Weiss nods. "If anyone gets uncomfortable, feel free to get on the couch."
In the span of a few minutes, everyone gets situated, with Yang and Ruby sharing a blanket, Blake lays on their left side, and Weiss beneath the three of them, with the latter making and reserving a spot with her blanket to share with Link. Meanwhile, Oscar is positioned above the four girls, sleeping on the floor, practically by Maria's feet while the older woman reads
"Hey guys." Ruby stares at the ceiling whilst mumbling softly. "Where's everyone's head at?"
"What makes you ask that?" Oscar turns his body towards the girl
"Because… when searching for supplies earlier, Weiss had doubts about our journey to Atlas."
"Hey! I took it back!" Weiss groans, feeling called out. "Sort of."
"I know I know!" Ruby giggles. "Sorry."
Silence…
"Come onnnn, speak up. Anybody?"
"I don't know what's next or if it's even worth it." Blake sighs. "What I will say is that getting to Atlas should provide us more safety than being here. So, I guess that alone makes this journey worth it… I guess."
"And I'll add onto that." Yang speaks up. "If Ozpin can come back and talk things out with General Ironwood, it will provide us protection… and it's the least he could do after lying to us all this time. Even if Salem can't be destroyed, we will last longer with the Atlesian military, huntsmen, and huntresses around, right?... that has to be worth a little bit."
"With a relic in our possession too, we have plenty of leverage." Oscar nods
"Looks like you've got your question answered with mixed results, mostly leaning towards positive." Maria cackles in satisfaction
"Mhm!" Ruby cheerfully turns toward the burning fire and shuts her eyes. "Okay! Now we should sleep."
"You kids sleep, I'm going to stay up reading." Maria lifts the book to cover her face
"Goodnight everybody." Yang calls out
"Night." Blake mumbles
"Sleep well." Oscar follows suit
Weiss is the only one who does not have parting words for her friends, teammates, and their new member. Instead, she waits until everyone shuts their eyes at the very least, before sitting up, wondering about her boyfriend who left and has not returned. Weiss carefully pulls the blanket off her legs and slowly gets up, heart racing when her heels touch the wooden floor, but luckily there are no creaks or clicking sounds
"Phew." She silently exhales, then slowly walks away, determined to find her partner. "I doubt he went upstairs, but then again… if he really wants space away from ME, that is where he would go because I cannot go back up there."
The girl debates with herself momentarily, before her gut feeling wins over logic. Weiss does not go upstairs and searches on the first floor only. She passes by Qrow, who has three bottles of wine resting by his chair, and luckily for her, her choice pays off perfectly when she finds Link in a room familiar to her. The barn has a room with a bar that was lit up by Weiss when she explored earlier with Ruby. This room is located straight ahead after one enters the house. Behind that bar, is yet another room with canned food, bottles of wine, and a wine cellar that is chained up. Inside the room with the wine cellar is Link, who is sitting down, slumped over, back against the wall… With a bottle of wine in his left hand and another bottle by his leg
"LINK!" Weiss opens her mouth, on the verge of shouting, but does not out of the courtesy of those attempting to sleep; instead, she marches to him in a huff. "What are you doing?"
"Huh?" Link jumps at the sound of the girl's voice and gasps when realizing who it is. "W-Weiss, hello."
"Don't hello me." Weiss crosses both arms, scowls, and stands over him menacingly. "Are you drinking… again?"
"This?" Link raises the bottle of wine, but it is completely full and has only been opened. "I found this room. Then I started thinking about everything and everyone I lost while thinking about how I could have prevented it… then I saw another vision, for the third time today."
"Oh." Weiss' scowl disappears instantly. "Who was it?"
"Pyrrha." He sighs. "Everything that happened, the entire scene… of course you already know what happens when I see these visions."
"They really do happen every day… poor Link." She sighs, eyes watery
"I opened this bottle, fought with myself on whether I should or should not drink, then… I went to sleep?" Link tilts his head in confusion whilst blinking. "I assume this is the part where you slap me and take the bottle away?"
"No." Weiss walks forward, and rather than do what Link said she might do, the ex-heiress promptly sits down next to the blond, then takes the bottle out of his grasp. "I… want the first sip."
"Y-You? Want to drink… with me?" Link's eyes shoot wide open. "I do not understand."
"I'm probably not thinking this through, but nobody at Beacon understood why you were drinking and sneaking alcohol in the school." Weiss inhales, slowly exhales, then brings the bottle closer to her mouth. "Nobody did, not even me. The most we did was scold you or force you to get rid of it."
"T-That's right." Link nods
"Well… here's the way I think about it." She mumbles. "I figure if you're just going to get drunk behind our backs, I should be by your side. To support you and try to understand why you drink. If I slap you and take the bottle away, that will not do anything beneficial for either of us."
(Wow. She's serious about this too.) Link nods, turns to her, and places his right hand on both of hers as they tightly clutch the bottle. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Mhm."
She nods, feeling more assured by Link's hand on hers, and then takes a small sip of wine. Weiss' facial muscles instantly tighten as the taste of the warm wine does not agree with her taste buds
"Ugh!" Weiss opens her mouth to cough. "Bleh!"
"You did it, good job Weiss." Link smiles as he sneakily takes the bottle away and scoots closer to her. "Are you cold?"
"N-No!" She shakes her head. "Maybe a little. What about you? If anyone hated the cold more than me, it was you."
"Yes, I am very cold. I only appear like I'm handling it better." Link chuckles, tilts his head back, consumes a larger amount of wine, makes a face similar to Weiss', then wraps an arm around her. "Come here."
"Okay." Weiss nods, slides over and leans her head against his shoulder. "My turn."
"Are you sure? You do not have to drink anymore, Weiss." He grins
"I'm sure, I want to understand, and this is how." Weiss forcefully takes the bottle away, then proceeds to drink double the amount… Of her previous small sip. "You believe in me, right?"
"Of course. You can keep that bottle then." Link nods, reaches for the second bottle by his right side, and picks it up
"Cheers!" Weiss swings her arm forward and collides her bottle against his
Clang!
"That could have broken the bottles." The blond gasps, but then laughs at his partner's actions
"I'm not that strong." She takes another sip, then lowers her head. "Strong? I'm not even that."
"Are you kidding?" Link raises both eyebrows in shock. "You were the most confident girl-! Person at Beacon."
"And that was clearly all for show. The real confident ones were Yang, Pyrrha, Nora, Coco, Penny, and so on. I was merely trying to compensate-!"
"Weiss. If it weren't for you at least four times, I would not be alive." Link shakes his head. "Did you know that?"
"What-?!"
The young woman covers her mouth in shock and disbelief at the spoken words; she vehemently shakes her head in denial
"You're lying." Weiss mumbles
"Am I?" Link lowers his head, leans towards her, and plants a kiss on her forehead. "How about I tell you then? Our mission at Beacon, the train we were on was about to collide with a complete dead end. Your quick thinking saved us. How about when you found me on that night out in the City of Vale? I would have been arrested and kept on a ship and if you remember… all of Ironwood's toasters went rogue. With no weapons and kept prisoner in a small space, you know what would have happened next."
"And I think that this is all in your head a bit much!" She blurts out and rapidly drinks again, blushing and flustered by the kiss. "There is no guarantee General Ironwood would have arrested you-!"
"Sorry to interrupt, but I was not finished." Link kisses her forehead again, "The night Beacon was destroyed by Grimm and Salem's group… after Pyrrha was killed." He shuts his eyes in frustration. "I was about to get into a fight with Cinder. That is until you sent Ruby up the tower and she stopped her with… blinding light? I am still not sure what Ruby did that day."
"You cannot thank me for that, no no no!" Weiss' jaw drops. "Thank Ruby instead."
"Most of the credit goes to you Weiss. Ruby told me your glyphs got her to the top in no time." He rolls his eyes and drinks more. "You got her up there. When I climbed up the tower myself, it took me so long."
"W-Well… Okay."
"Lastly, this last incident. Which ironically was on a train as well." Link's grin expands into a wide smile. "Everyone would have gone flying in a different direction. Some of us could have died… all of us could have died. You helped prevent that as much as possible by keeping us in place."
"Need I remind you that I am supposed to make you feel better." Weiss pouts… But cracks a big smile as well. "Thank you, though."
"Of course."
The two nod, smile, Weiss even moves in for a kiss of her own, though she chooses to kiss Link's cheek. More small talk and slow drinking follows, despite Weiss' obvious disgust, she drinks so her partner has company and does not feel alone. Meanwhile, the latter monitors her drinking, and even finds himself pushing the bottle away from Weiss' lips when he feels like she drinks too much in one sitting. Then, all the laughing and giggling comes to a close when Link tucks his left hand underneath Weiss' chin and turns her towards him
"Is this okay?" He asks
"We are in p-private, d-dolt." Weiss' blush darkens as she slurs her words and puckers her lips. "It is more than okay."
Link instantly kisses Weiss, not interested in responding to her sarcasm, and the two share a passionate, soft kiss, not worried at the possibility of being caught as someone would have to open two doors to reach them. The latter even puts her bottle down, takes both hands, and puts them on her boyfriend's cheeks, pulling him as close as she can to him, intensifying their kiss that lasts for an entire minute; until they both pull away to regain their breath
"You're really good at this." Weiss sighs. "Although, I suppose you have had experience."
(Oh no.) Link scratches his head in shame, but his smile remains. "That does not mean everything. You are an amazing kisser, Weiss."
"R-Really? But you're the first person I've ever kissed!" She shakes her head and drinks more wine, going faster and drinking more than her partner, who certainly has more experience with alcohol. "Don't lie to me… when we kiss, what am I bad at?"
"Nothing. You are…"
Shocked at how much Weiss is drinking, Link puts his hand on the bottle and pushes it down, away from her lips. He looks in her light blue eyes, showing no doubt or hesitation when speaking
"You're perfect."
"L-Link." Weiss' eyes well up with happy tears, along with a big smile. "Thank you."
Despite her happiness, Link misreads her emotions and pulls Weiss into a hug, tightly holding her. However, she sneakily picks up the wine bottle again and takes another swig. Although, this is obviously heard, making Link retract and sigh in the process
"At least you're not making faces anymore." He smiles
"S-Shush! And hey! Drink with me already." Weiss giggles
"Yes ma'am." Link nods and obliges to her wish
"How dare you! I'm not even that much older than you!"
"I-I mean it respectfully." Link chuckles and drinks more
The young couple consistently sneak glances at one another, while they foolishly race to finish their bottles of wine, as if it were a game. Eventually, Weiss is the winner, after tilting her head back and chugging the last of her wine, but Link is not too far behind as he does the same. Although she won, the former heiress instantly finds herself blinking, shaking her head, but feeling completely relaxed
"What is this that I'm feeling?" She gently pinches her cheek. "Help me."
"From what I remember, my old associate Carter said someone can get 'buzzed' or 'drunk' depending on how much they drink. And I know I have been both before." Link thinks carefully. "I think you are 'buzzed' right now, but I am not certain? How do you feel?"
"I feel… not too bad actually." Weiss giggles. "When I first started drinking, it was disgusting. But now it feels… nice?"
"That is very good to hear." Link chuckles
"Link?"
"Yes?" He turns to her
"I think I understand why you did this at Beacon so much." The girl's happy expression momentarily fades away. "Drinking numbs the pain doesn't it? You had so much on your mind with the way you lost Ray, her family, the village, Amber, being tormented by the 'demon', and knowing Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald were in the school, on top of most of us turning on you."
"To address the first thing you said, you are correct." Link nods, a grin forms on his face. "It did not get rid of the pain of course, but it helped me get through many many… many days. But please, do not say 'us', you were not in that group of people who turned on me. And Weiss?"
"Hm?" Weiss sets the empty bottle on the concrete floor
"It is more than having stuff on my mind. Call it unneeded pressure, but I feel like I am responsible for everything. Ray, Amber, Penny, Pyrrha, Beacon, everything. No matter how much Professor Ozpin and Qrow tried to tell me it is not my fault, I disagree." He sighs. "I wear the weight of all this pain… directly on my shoulders."
"Link…" Weiss shuts her eyes and sighs
Although in a drunken state, an idea pops into her head, and she breaks Link's soft grip around her shoulder by leaning away. Weiss briefly gets up, fluidly transitions to her right, then boldly straddles her partner, intimately invading his personal space, with her legs partially spread on either side of his, and awkwardly but confidently sits on his lap
"WEI-!"
"Shhh." Weiss covers his mouth with her left hand. "You're going to wake everyone up, you jerk. If I move my hand, promise you won't make any sound?"
Link quickly nods
"Good." She removes her hands, comfortably sits, ending the awkwardness as a result, and warmly smiles. "Hi."
"Hello." Link smiles. "I do not hate this at all, but why?"
"Because the truth is that being away from you, having to suppress feelings once more, along with intimacy, it has been quite… sucky." Weiss rolls her eyes. "I admit it. Besides, after what we just discussed, this is the least I could do to make you feel better."
"I have missed you a lot too. The exact same way you described it as well." The blond smiles at her. "Thank you Weiss, you-!"
"Just shut up." Weiss sternly commands as she places her hands on both of Link's cheeks. "And kiss me."
"O-Okay." Link blushes
Both rush to each other's lips and eagerly kiss once more, with more fire and desire than their previous kiss. Weiss moves her arms, wrapping them around Link's neck, pulling him even closer to her. Meanwhile, Link places one hand on her waist, the other on her hip which he gives a gentle squeeze, and rests his forearms on her thighs. Weiss gasps, nervously shakes, but enjoys the physical touch by her partner, and carries on with the kiss regardless. The two surrender to the moment and continue to passionately kiss…
…
Ten Minutes Later
Now giggling and laughing, Weiss and Link in their drunken states forget about time and how loud they are; Weiss continues sitting on his lap while Link holds both of her hands with his
"Weiss?"
"Yes?" Weiss smiles, never looking away from his eyes
"Am I crazy or did those doors move?" Link lets go of her left hand, shakily extends his right arm, and points at the chained wine cellar doors
"Y-You're n-not fooling me!" Weiss rolls her eyes, pushing through her slurred words. "You j-just wanna d-drink more!"
"N-NO!" Link's eyes widen. "No ma'am."
"Enough with the m-ma'am! I'm o-only a y-year older." She burps, blushes in embarrassment, and giggles
"F-Fine." Link chuckles and leans forward, pressing another kiss to her lips
"Mmm, that's better." Weiss says with a muffled tone
…
Twenty Minutes Later
Link and Weiss return to their previous state, sitting next to each other shoulder to shoulder, but now the former has yellow lightning dust in his hands
"I will gladly show you how I put dust in my clothes."
"Oooh, I'm t-totallyyyy going to u-use this to m=my advantage too." Weiss nods ecstatically
"If you remember, that is." Link smirks due to her slurring
"This isn't fair, you should drink another bottle to make it even!" She pouts
"N-No way!" Link playfully scoffs. "I said you didn't have to drink."
"True, but I wanted to do this with you." Weiss dramatically sighs
"I hope you don't regret this."
"Trust me, I will not. This is a special moment that I will cherish forever." She giggles
…
Another Ten Minutes Later
Long before not, Weiss is back to straddling her partner as the two of them giggle and make small talk. Link's hands are on both sides of the girl's waist, and her hands on on his, with the former students happier than they ever have been
"Ya know, s-someone could walk in and spot us." Link giggles
"So?"
"Are you kidding?" He slumps forward to hide his inevitable laughter. "You are the one who wanted us to keep our relationship private."
"I know, I know." Weiss rolls her eyes. "Blame the alcohol, I am not thinking straight."
"Okay." He winks. "Sureee."
"Good." She smiles, failing to detect his sarcasm
Time flies while Link and Weiss continue having an amazing time together. The secretive but not so subtle couple carry on with their bonding, laughing, fun times, and kissing as the night fades away. Ending what was initially a good day, turned upside down with the revelation of Ozpin's lies, taking refuge at the farm where all the residents are mysteriously dead, and with morale at an all time low, Ruby is one of the few with her chin up, head high, and the girl's never ending positive spirit blazing as always. Link is not far behind her as well, remaining as positive as he can be and having provided a good time to Weiss, ending their brief tension and strengthening their relationship even further
(Author's note: Hello and good afternoon, evening, or morning to everybody who reads this chapter! I would also like to let you all know that chapter's 35 and 36 have been edited, re-done, and updated if anyone would like to go back and read them :) I am almost done updating old chapters WOOOO it's been quite a while since I started but we are near the finish line. Hopefully when that is done, I will be able to publish new chapters ever faster. But for now, I will be signing off, I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter, have a wonderful day and I will see you all next time!)