"I can't protect you forever Weiss…" Winter said regretfully as her normally serious glare was replaced by one of sisterly worry, it had been another day of training with her around and with her pending transition from basic soldier to Special Operative, she couldn't spend as much time with Weiss…Whether to help her shelter her father's less than stellar intentions or the rather snide remarks from Whitley.
Weiss nodded as she stood up and resumed her dignified stand. "I know, Winter…But that's why I'm trying so hard to train in becoming a Huntress."
"Training physically isn't enough for the world out there, Weiss…" Winter retorted as she turned away from her sister and started walking away. "You need to be strong enough to walk away from Father…Even when his words grip you tightly."
Weiss felt her body stiffen at the prospect of confronting her father about going to Beacon but she agreed that it was bound to happen sooner or later. "I won't let him control me…"
However Winter disappeared from Weiss's eyes before she could hear the response from her older sister, in it's place was empty air and the snow fluttering in the wind; However something seemed to tugging at the younger Schnee's senses, it felt like gravity was pulling her body's compass towards the gargantuan yet equally small feeling mansion.
The doors in front of her slowly opened up and inside was a drastically different look to what she had been accustomed to, instead of the ivory white and marble that built up the inside, the entire interior looked like it had completely frozen over.
The halls that she walked down were sculpted with ice that was so clear and flawless that it was like walking in a cave of crystal, the statues were equally as beautifully haunting as they were haunting...She could see Beowolves, Ursa and other Grimm that she could remember from books encased in ice like statues and the portrait of Jacques Schnee that stood at the top of the stair's was gone, in it's place was a long hallway that looked like black ice dimly lit by braziers.
"Ominous…" Weiss sarcastically thought to herself as she navigated up the stairs, her heels echoing through the large hallway, she noticed archways on the walls either side of her like they were made for doors not quite there yet…Or at least not at a first glance, though she did notice a faint hint of burnt gold buried deep in the ice within one of these empty archways
"The Door knocks for you…"
Weiss paused as she heard a strange voice resonate through the narrow hallway, this feminine sounding voice was echoing around her like it was both far in the distance and whispering in her ear.
At the very end of the hallway was a wooden door that looked like it had swirls of black and white vines digging into it, a door that seemed to be the drawing singularity of whatever was pulling Weiss in it's direction.
"Open it…And reveal the secrets."
Weiss eyed the door curiously; She had already come to the conclusion that this was either a vivid manifestation or some bizarre oddity that she had daydreamed in between her travels…It still gnawed at her curiosity to find out where the door lead to, but as her hand reached for the doorknob.
A loud crash was heard ringing in her ears and suddenly Weiss was back on the airship that she had bribed to let her travel on, the sudden jolt from one consciousness to the next jarred her something fierce.
Weiss was currently sat in the cargo hold of the airship that had managed to escape Ironwood's embargo; She had managed to overhear that Winter had stationed herself somewhere in Mistral and currently trying to fight back Bandits, on top of hearing that Yang had been sent her new arm…Something that made her feel a mix of relief and the faintest pang of sadness at her inability to help her back at Beacon. "Hopefully she can be bounce back from this…She's too strong and stubborn to let something like this get her down."
Her thoughts rattled when she heard another loud crash followed by the sound of metal being pierced; White barbed hooks managed to stick through the hull of the ship and realised once she saw through the window that they were navigating the lake full of floating Gravity Dust.
A swarm of Lancers had chased them down and started to hook the ship in an attempt to get new prey, there had been radio chatter and a distress beacon that had been begrudgingly ignored…Now it was far too late to ignore any more.
"Kid…Help me get us through this and you can keep the money!" The pilot's voice buzzed over the intercom as he tried to shake off the hornet Grimm that have started chewing on the outside of the airship.
"We should have done this in the first place!" Weiss said out loud as she picked out some phials of Dust and loaded Myrtenaster, standing in her fighting stance with a Gravity Glyph to hold her down as the cargo doors opened up into the open sky.
With a flourish and a jab into the ground, Weiss started to shoot bolts of fire, lightning and ice to snipe the hornets out of the sky, though it took releasing the cargo full of Dust and launching it out of the hold in order to clear the sky behind.
Which managed to work for the smaller ones but the resulting noise and the continuous drops of the Lancers attracted something bigger and angrier that started to fire salvos of needles at the ship.
A Queen Lancer floated behind them with wings that flapped so loudly and furiously, it was like the heavy thrum of a military engine and powered by the ire of a matriarch Grimm.
"We need to hurry to land, it's a Queen!" Weiss urged the pilot as she realised that she was running low on options and the last of the Dust got used to clusterbomb the smaller drones. "Okay…I did it before, I can do it again!" She thought to herself as she focused every thought into summoning the Knight.
And on cue; The Knight from her past climbed out of the budding mist in front of her, brandishing it's greatsword at the ready before jumping out of the bay, lifting it's weapon over it's head as it landed on a floating glyph, before it started frantically slashing and striking at the Queen…Though something seemed to appear off as it let loose it's assault.
The Knight slowly began to shift from the colour of freshly laid snow and shimmering ice crystals, dimming it's lustrous hue before taking on the colour of black ice and the red of a dying fire within it's armoured plate, a monstrous howl echoed through the empty construct before it readied the final strike.
The Queen Lancer attempted what was either it's second wind or it's final gasp of un-life to swipe and thrust it's stinger towards it's assailant, it's frenzy was what made it a powerful force but even then it was one that absorbed every bit of Weiss's Aura to keep charged…In the end, all it took was one misfire and an accidental deflection from the dissipating misshapen Knight that caused the ship to take more damage than it could handle.
The ship began to dip lower and lower once the island ahead came into sight. "KID! You better hold on to something or we're gonna crash!"
"Not if I can help it!" Weiss thought to herself as she adjusted the knight to drive it's sword into the top of the ship, pulling harshly to make it lift it's nose away from the approaching ground but even then it wasn't enough to stop it's inevitable fate…The Knight finally disappeared in a black mist and left no other options.
With one last bit of her energy in her system: Weiss then started to form layers of Gravity Glyphs in front of the ship to try slowing it down, it worked for a moment and everything began to slow itself down. Though after a lengthy fight, the summoning of her knight and the forced boost to it's power forced those Glyphs as well as Weiss's Aura to break, the last few seconds of her consciousness before the crash was flooded with thoughts of her plan to reunite with Winter.
By the time she had regained consciousness, the sun had started to dip under the trees and Weiss was collapsed in a heap. "That…really could have gone better…"
While she stopped things enough to prevent both her and the pilot from suffering worse injuries; They were injured, they were still stuck in the middle of nowhere and in Weiss's case, they had no way to protect themselves.
Something that became adamantly clear when she saw people coming out from the tree line, something that should have been reassuring if they didn't look and sound like bandits coming to raid the crash. "Holy shit…Come take a look, we just hit gold!"
Weiss struggled to get to her feet but the drain on her energy and the slow realisation that things were looking bad kept her down.
The bandits checked over the ship and one by one, they started to crowd around her to see that they weren't imagining things…But that the actual Weiss Schnee was weak, tired and ripe for the picking. "Long way from home, aintcha princess?" One of the supposed lead Bandits snarked as he crouched in front of her.
"What do you think? We got the real deal?" Another Bandit quizzed as the sound of boots crunching started to make them move to the side for what was their lead.
What emerged into Weiss's vision was a young tanned woman holding on to a pair of bladed guns and then holstered them as she saw the white haired girl. "Oh yeah…White hair, fancy looking Atlas getup and a face that screams "I'm better than you!"? That's definitely a Schnee…"
This woman had short brown hair and icy blue eyes that seemed to pierce through anyone she made eye contact with, the only other thing that made her stand out was a tattoo of a bird rising from flowers on her left arm. Her outfit was surprisingly subtle for a Bandit; A light brown vest with dark brown panels and a dark brown buckled strap on the back, a collar that appears to be slightly turned up behind her neck and a torn white shirt that was partially unbuttoned revealing what appeared to be a black bra, something that seemed to make Weiss want to keep eye contact with her…Or at least not want to glance down.
Below that were maroon-colored jeans with the right side rolled up to her thigh revealing a dark pink lining alongside a brown belt with a pouch attached to the right side. She also wore dark brown calf guards with one having a garter styled strap that went under her rolled-up pant leg. She wore a pair of beige and dark brown lace-up boots with folded over sides, showing over the white lining accompanied by a pair of maroon socks that partially covered her calf guards.
She wore dark brown fingerless gloves of different sizes, with the right being wrist length with a large cuff whilst the other was elbow length and covered with a dark brown vambrace. This was Vernal…The leader of this excursion and judging from how the others were treating her: She was a Bandit higher up.
Weiss held her tongue to avoid biting back and making the situation for her and the pilot who was most likely still in the ship. "Just my luck…" She thought to herself, she wanted to fight back; More than anything, she wanted to kick these people to the curb and carry on yo find Winter…But her severe energy drain and the light injuries she sustained from being in the crash kept her from following through.
Vernal leaned down and nonchalantly plucked Myrtenaster from Weiss's hands and examined it like one would examine a kebab plucked from a barbecue. "Very fancy piece of tinfoil…But you won't be needing it where we're going." She chuckled before swinging a kick into Weiss's head and knocking the girl out for good. "Get her trussed up and hauled up, Raven's gonna want to see this."
"You have to change your mind sometime." A voice said from behind the metal door. "If you agree to my terms then you will be treated more than fairly."
Sienna Khan sat in a meditative position from inside her cell; The official story that had been passed around the White Fang Bases and the eventual spread to Menagerie was that the former High Leader had gone mad with anger at Adam's failure to follow through on the "whole plan" at the Fall of Beacon, lashed out and killed several loyal White Fang soldiers but was then detained by Adam Taurus who assumed temporary command until they can properly judge their High Leader.
The truth was far less dressed up: Adam had revealed his true colours along with his allegiance to Salem by staging a coup on Sienna, while she put up a fight and stopped things from going from bad to worse, she still ended up seriously injured and incarcerated until she could come to an "understanding" on the White Fang's future. "You came to me when you heard I was conscious, you came to me after I refused, I know you will keep returning to this room until I have only a single answer for you."
"The longer you continue to refuse my conditions, the harder it'll be for everyone else who follows your word." Adam stated plainly as he knew that the cell block was just the two of them. "Join me at my side as council and I can assure you that you and your followers will be kept safe."
"You truly believe that your desires will stop at mere council?" Sienna retorted with a bite of vindictiveness in her voice. "I know you Adam…I've watched you grow from a young boy trying to prove his worth all the way to becoming one of my most trusted soldiers…Everything that you've said you wanted, always comes with a cost."
"A cost? All I ever wanted was to see the Faunus take their rightful place…You of all people should be agreeing with me."
Sienna growled as she realised this was going in circles. "Fighting back against those who try to cage us and put us down is one thing…But what you are suggesting isn't just hypocritical, it's spitting in the face of everything that the White Fang stands for."
There was a loud bang on the door as Adam lashed out. "The White Fang's purpose is to give the Faunus power and a chance to stand up." He snarled through the door, knowing that Sienna could hear him more than clearly. "I could have made a difference if Blake had stayed by my side instead of running away but I'm not going to let you walk away from my plan either."
"What does the Belladonna girl have t-" Sienna was about to ask but then realised something that she honestly had rather stayed an unwelcome afterthought. "You weren't just training her to be a soldier…Were you?"
"You trained her too, Sienna…So don't start saying things that you don't want the answer to." Adam warned her with a low tone.
"I trained her because she was Ghira Belladonna's daughter and a willing acolyte to continue her father's pursuit of peace…" Sienna started but then slowly got up and walked to the door. "But you didn't have that little idea in your mind…Did you, Adam?"
"She was like you said…Nothing more." Adam reiterated as he could see Sienna in the peephole walking over to the door, this time she had a look on her face that had a sense of knowing but at the same time, it lingered with something that made him inexplicably angry. "The honor of training Ghira Belladonna's daughter was all I needed to push forward and wo-"
That sentence was cut off by the sound of Sienna's harsh, bitter bark of laughter as she listened to him. "You can lie to yourself all you want, Adam but you wear that mask for more reasons than what the Humans did to you." She mocked him as she ran a sharp nail against the metal of the door. "You were obsessed with her, you wanted to keep her close to you at all times…You were so lucky that Ghira was so blindly focused on advocating for a chance to speak but I know the truth…I saw the way you look at her, the way your voice snaked it's way into her mind and made her think that everything you did was right."
"Quiet…"
"You relished in every moment that that girl saw beauty in your facade and that's why I know the real truth about your dedications…Why you want to drag her back." Sienna continued her focused assault on his ego. "You needed that power to make yourself larger…You could have every Faunus in the White Fang throw themselves at you but you wouldn't even care."
"I said be quiet!"
"You couldn't stomach that she's better off without you." Sienna hammered in the last nails of her taunting, she may have been captured but she wasn't going to let fear control her or hold her in it's shackles. "It's why you took such joy in destroying Beacon…She outgrew you."
It couldn't be seen from Sienna's side of the door but there was a loud yell of fury as his sword unsheathed and the thrum of energy that carved a deep hole into the wall. "I will not have you judge me, Sienna! You are going to accept your place as my right hand, you will aid me in anything I desire because YOU ARE MY PRISONER AND MY CONSORT!"
"Your…Consort?" Sienna asked with a rather sudden confusion and the growing realization. "After all of this, you really think that I would willingly share my skills and my knowledge with you… Not only that, you seem to think that you are capable enough to convince me to share so much more than that with you?"
"If you want to see the outside world or the chance to see the White Fang assert itself, you will beg for it…On your hands and knees." Adam said with a low and deep tone that threatened everything of her, or at least attempted to.
Sienna was silent on the other side of the door, then a chuckle rumbled…Followed by an amused laugh that escalated into something that could only be described as taunting and condescending. "So that's the reason you kept me alive? Not to act as a hostage or as an advisor to your cause…But because you desperately desire to have someone to feign affection for you and act as some Barbarian bedwarmer alongside the Belladonna girl?" She asked him mockingly and even though he couldn't see it: A cheshire grin spread across her face when she realised that he was 100% cornered.
"I won't hesitate to take what I want, Khan…You know I will always get what I deserve." Adam snapped as he started stomping away from the prison block and out towards the rest of the base.
"Then I wish you good luck, "High Leader Taurus"…" Sienna Khan drew out the title as she sat back on her place in the cell. "Because I'm going to make myself comfortable in this cell…Because I will NEVER follow someone like you, no matter how much you beg, scream or demand me…" She affirmed herself as the loud door leading into the prison cells shut behind him.
Yang had been deep in thought as she travelled out of Patch and made it to the mainland. Ever since her father thought she was ready, she got her ideas in order on what to do; Finding Ruby on her way to Mistral, she had her plans to go see her mother in regards to her involvement with things…Or lack thereof, she still wanted to take her moment to confront her about the abandonment of her and her dad but finding Ruby took priority over everything else. "Hey Mister…I could use a drink over here." She asked the older gentleman who was mixing up a drink.
"Aren't you a little young to be drinking, miss?" The bartender asked as he raised an eyebrow at the blonde, he'd been keeping his eye on the door since he set up his gas station/rest stop on the edge of the forest. It had been the cheapest choice to set up there but it hadn't been the safest, if it wasn't Bandits that tried weaselling a freebie out of him in exchange for protection, it was the Grimm that skulked by to stalk for prey.
"It's hot out and I gotta drive, you really think I'm gonna get add getting plastered to my day?" Yang pointed out as she gestured to the bottle of water on his shelf.
After leaving Patch, Yang had decided to change up her wardrobe; wearing a new outfit with a tan jacket with orange lining and gold edging, unzipped halfway to show an orange crop top. The coat has darker brown short sleeves though one was fully run down to cover her Demon arm, a thick collar that completely encircles her neck, and two long gold-trimmed rectangular tails that looked to be fastened by buttons. She finished her look by wearing form-fitted black pants, though her hair has been let down again out of it's depression ponytail.
Around her hips and over the tails of her coat was a gold trimmed brown belt along with knee-high brown boots with gold caps on the heel and toe, a pair of black gloves with long brown cuffs reaching to mid-forearm complete the outfit, one was fingerless and the other was fingered to hide her Demon attachment.
There was a harsh, ragged laugh from a man standing next to her was holding onto a bottle and wearing a tattered Bandit outfit. "Come on, you're telling me that you're not gonna enjoy yourself out here?" He then turned to look at Yang, his eyes blinking as he gazed Yang up and down. "You don't look like a monk or a Demon Hunter, you look more like a huntress...And a beautiful one at that."
"I'm good…Thanks bud." Yang said dryly without even turning to look at him, taking the bottle that the bartender gave her and flicked the cap off with a gloved thumb.
"Hey, come on…I'm tryin' to be nice here." The guy said as he started to close the distance. "You're a lot better than every other bum that wanders through here….Not too bulky, not too lean…I dare say you're-"
Yang rolled her eyes as she could tell where this was going. "Just right…Again, I'm good." She said with a more snippy tone before turning her gaze down to the bottle, she'd rather not entertain this guy with an outburst. "Not to mention taken anyway."
"Just because you got a bike to ride, that doesn't stop you from riding on someone else's." The guy remarked with a sleazy smirk as he continued to push it and reached his hand out to touch her. "Plus I'm still gonna say…Your hair is-"
That caused Yang's arm to clasp around the guy's outstretched wrist….But it wasn't either of her hands on her body; The spectral arm that she had trained back on Patch was floating in place and her arms were crossed as she finally turned to stare him down, her eyes having taken on the same hue of red from her Semblance being partially activated.
The guy barely had time to process both the floating arm and the fact that this girl was now almost scarily identical to Raven as Yang's fist found it's way into his cheek, sending a tooth flying out of his mouth with the guy shooting through the door like a bottle rocket.
Once she saw the doors swing shut, she downed her drink and then quickly grabbed her wallet. "Okay, how much do I owe you for the drink?"
"Forget about it, after the way that guy's been bugging me all day…Consider it on the house." He remarked before passing her another out of goodwill. "So what brings you 'round these parts? We don't normally get visitors this far out, even before everything happened."
Yang thanked him as she sat on the stool. "I'm actually looking for someone…She's supposed to be staying out in this area."
The bartender laughed a little as he racked his brain. "Well, not a lot of people think to stop here thanks to the Bandits setting up camps in the woods…The only noteworthy person is…She's not exactly…Nice."
"Raven Branwen, If she's who you're worried about then can you tell me where she is?" Yang asked as she became serious once she saw the man grow nervous, though she quickly took her leave when she realised that he was not keen to talk about it.
"Look, you seem like a decent fighter but I don't think you should go messing with Bandits, they seem like a world'a trouble!" The Bartender tried to reason with her but then tried to reiterate when she went to the door.
"I am aware." Yang said as she left the rest stop and headed for her bike, stepping over the Bandit nursing his injured mouth/ego. "I guess I can try elsewhere…"
"Hey…Girly…."
Now it was starting to get annoying. "Seriously, you're not done? What'll it take for you to get that I'm spoken for, numbnuts?" Yang snapped at him as she cracked her knuckles to steady her shaking hand.
"No…Not that, I heard you're looking for someone." The Bandit said as he got to his feet, his mouth now in a crooked smile following Yang's punch and started walking towards her bike. "I've got connections that could help you out."
"I'm sure you do, buddy…But after you trying to drool over me, I'm not exactly eager to trust you at your word." Yang mentioned as she revved her bike into life.
"Look, just hear me out!" The Bandit said as he got closer and stood in front of her bike. "Raven Branwen, right? I know where she is…So if you just listen to me and let me, I'll take you to her."
Yang paused as she turned to look at him, her face was staring through him and weighed her options. "And how do I know you're not lying?"
The Bandit then flicked his pin that had the emblem of Raven's tribe symbol on it. "I may raid, I may cheat and I might be a hit with the ladies…But I don't lie about my allegiances and Raven Branwen is someone who I can get you face to face with."
Yang then looked to the road before leaned against the bike. "You are to lead me to the camp, get me through without a shakedown and face to face with Raven…We clear?"
"After that punch? No way am I testing your right hook again." The Bandit quipped as he climbed onto the back of the bike.
"Give me a reason to doubt you…Even for a second and I will break more than just a tooth out of your mouth." Yang warned him as she kicked off the stand, riding off into the forest and started to follow the Bandit's directions.
The pieces were starting to come together, fumbled as they were but all of it was falling into place.