Fandom Distorted Mirror [IC]

[MyrtenRose]

She could've sworn she heard pitched laughter from the block of ice the Dragon was encased in, which incidentally had started to steam.

In some vague sense, Vernal did have that sense. The feeling that the frozen Yang was greatly enjoying this...she just didn't act on it, because well...pain. But her once maiden trainee did.

Cinder blinked, something drawing her attention even while all the rest of whatever the heck was even going on anymore continued to go on. Their trip to Vacuo at least delayed a little longer. The teenage maiden glanced around-​

"Whoa, what? Why me?" Ruby was right there. And come to think of it, what was even going on right now?

"Here." She deposited the unconscious Nora into the definitely not objecting and confused Qrow's arms before she strode over with purpose to that block of ice. A palm pressed against it, but rather than any fiery use of semblance, Cinder just focused with her magic and added a whole LOT more ice to the thing! Confident that would hold for more than long enough, she dusted off her hands and grinned before turning away and doing something else that absolutely needed to be done.​

...maybe she'd been thought of as more than just a weapon to point at the darkness.

When weiss obviously didn't comply with the request that would expose them to who knew how many enemies and horrors, Penny made a distressed, frustrated hum and turned around with a look that was a mixture of determined and terrified "I said-"

She jolted in surprise as someoned rocketed straight past into the ice wall next to her hard enough to crack it halfway through.

Giving Penny a hug.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

And with that she walked right back towards the portal.

She leveled her hand flat towards Qrow where he was standing with a sudden flare of light from her eyes and palm, giving a fistful of the bushy mane she was having to work very hard not to get in her mouth a sharp, demanding yank for attention; as though it were a bridle she could pull to force Yang to stop.

That was about when Ruby came charging through the portal at high speeds again, but this time from the opposite direction, and unluckily, reforming just in time to accidentally crash into big sis and her prisoner.

My name is Ruby Rose. You're probably wondering how I got here...​

 

[Gus Gungus]

In some vague sense, Vernal did have that sense. The feeling that the frozen Yang was greatly enjoying this...she just didn't act on it, because well...pain. But her once maiden trainee did.

Cinder blinked, something drawing her attention even while all the rest of whatever the heck was even going on anymore continued to go on. Their trip to Vacuo at least delayed a little longer. The teenage maiden glanced around-



"Here." She deposited the unconscious Nora into the definitely not objecting and confused Qrow's arms before she strode over with purpose to that block of ice. A palm pressed against it, but rather than any fiery use of semblance, Cinder just focused with her magic and added a whole LOT more ice to the thing! Confident that would hold for more than long enough, she dusted off her hands and grinned before turning away and doing something else that absolutely needed to be done.



Giving Penny a hug.

She could've sworn she heard "OH YOU FUCKING TWAT" somehow tear its way free of frozen lips and multiple foot-long layers of ice as the bronze glow at the center started to intensify in retaliation, but it was probably just the wind.

​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

That was about when Ruby came charging through the portal at high speeds again, but this time from the opposite direction, and unluckily, reforming just in time to accidentally crash into big sis and her prisoner.

My name is Ruby Rose. You're probably wondering how I got here...​

Whatever else her reaction was to Weiss' malarky, Yang showed how ready she was for anyone to try and stop her by turning Ruby's accidental tackle into an entirely purposeful counter tackle with her free arm, catching Ruby's momentum with a brief spin that ended with the Rose under one arm and Weiss still over the shoulder as they disappeared into Vacuo

 

[MidwayLives]

Paradise at one point had just been a number.

His family were Atlesian patriots. Any children bred were to grow up to serve just like those who came before them. Atlas was their home and that's all that mattered. It wasn't until the young faunus had come under the guidance and watchful eye of the good doctor that view started to change. Atlas would still be protected at all costs but Paradise was anything but just another worker drone. He had his own feelings, desires, and the like. He may have just been another grunt in terms of rank but he always tried to punch out of his weight class when he could. As his long white ears atop his head swayed from side to side, Paradise huffed as he sat outside the medical room that Magenta had been brought to.

To have seen his mentor, employer, and possibly(if you followed rumors around the base anyway)lover, being stabbed and left for dead just because of where his loyalties lay, it bothered the young troop something fierce. It was in the heat of the moment that Paradise had lent his rifle to that disheveled looking civilian who'd been there on the scene when it'd happened. Paradise wasn't sure what'd become of him or if he was even still okay. He knew that doing something like that would have normally earned him a scolding and a lecture but Paradise was more concerned about his friend. The one whom he'd trusted enough to turn his body into his own personal pet project with a whole articulate weapon's system built into his flesh.

Sometime passed and the door opened and a nurse gestured for Paradise to come in.

Holding his ears so they'd stop swaying, Paradise entered the room.

Bandages were wrapped around Magenta's torso but he was sitting up, his bill exposed.

"MAGENTA! You shouldn't be sitting up! You-"

"Paradise, my dear, please relax."

Magenta's left hand began to glow a spectral blue as he gently ran it down his chest. Severing the bandages and letting them fall to the side.

The nurse mumbled something about 'wasting bandages only so you could flex'

Regardless, there was only a scar where Gambol Shroud had penetrated his chest.

"She didn't hit anything particularly vital. She was just making a statement. Faunus like you and me who work for Atlas? We're no better than gutter trash. We're traitors to our own kind. A simplistic world view if I've ever seen one. But I don't plan on sitting around and playing semantics with terrorists." Magenta huffed as he grabbed his jacket off the nightstand and slipped it on over his shoulders, the warm fur of the jacket feeling nice against his bare skin. Better than the cold steel of a blade penetrating his chest. "I'm sure there's still work to be done, Paradise. Better we scamp on to it."

"R-Right!"

Man, Magenta just kept on impressing him!~

~~Now~~

Magenta and Paradise weren't aware of the betryal on the part of Ironwood and Carneilian.

Or their sudden allegiance with the same group who's leader had nearly killed the doctor.

But the noise of battle sounded close...too close...~~for them to do much~~​

 

[Gus Gungus]

The polite way of describing Weiss was that she had a casual relationship with the truth. The impolite way was that she was a bold-faced unrepentant liar with no ethics or qualms about turning someone upside-down and inside out just to suit her own cryptic agenda.

But whatever others thought of her, on some level she had always seen herself as someone with integrity. She lied because she had to lie, to get results, because others couldn't be trusted and would never allow her the chance to do what she needed to do to steer the sinking ship of Remnant to safety. They were lies told out of necessity, in the service of a better world. That creed was how she made herself bulletproof to those who vilified her; history's greatest leaders and saviors were nothing more than conquerors and radicals before the people flourished in the wake of their actions. This would be no different. These huntresses and heroic warriors may have looked at her with disgust now, but one day they'd all understand. One day Weiss Schnee would prove her worth, the worth of her name, and that the Schnee legacy had been destined to make lasting, positive change in the world—not leave it in deficit.

The last 24 hours had seen her reevaluate that destiny somewhat. Seen her finally stop saving her most cruel and delusional lies for herself, come to terms with the thought that she had made every effort to duck ever since she first learned about Yang and her life: if there was a world where Weiss Schnee was as pure, kind and genuinely good as the lumbering twit whose shoulder she was slung over, and practically every meaningful distinction between the two served to paint this Remnant as that one's dark reflection, then...

Then what did that make her?

Not somebody destined to be a hero. The opposite. Just someone doing horrible things for no reason, because she told herself it was right. Someone chasing a dream over the horizon that didn't exist.

Just another Blake.

But whatever she thought of herself, she had come too far to let this stop her entirely. The future of Remnant was better left in other hands, but she could still perform. There was still something she could do. She still had value.

She could still be remembered for doing one good thing in with all the bad.

She just needed Ozpin. Face to face, in a room with her. And then people were finally going to see exactly what a Schnee who put her mind to it could do for the world. Weiss lied, but as a councilwoman she had made a promise under oath; to protect the kingdom of Atlas, to safeguard all its peoples and leave it a better place than she found it.

She genuinely believed she could still do that. Her plan may have seemed as if it lay in shattered, mangled ruins, but the truth was significant parts of it were still intact. Certain realizations about herself and changing timeframes had most definitely led to some alterations, but in her mind it was still attainable. If she stayed her course and adapted, she could still leave this world having done something great. She could still honor that promise. She could arrive at whatever judgment awaited her and declare, the one time it mattered most, Weiss Schnee had told the truth.

If Yang took her away right now that didn't happen. She left Atlas in the hands of a lunatic, its most powerful weapon in the hands of something arguably more dangerous: a lunatic who thought she was right. Her legacy would be remembered for turning Atlas over to the monsters, not taking it away, for being the moron who gave them the keys and asked them to lock up after they were done.



"...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

Spoiler: Same energy

It was that moment that she decided to eschew all forms of verbal persuasion, threatening or otherwise. Instead she screamed, cried, cursed and pleaded with Yang all at once, all in the span of just one word, the intensity of her kicking and struggling ramping up exponentially the closer they got to the portal as she decided to say screw it and more or less just throw a full on tantrum. Her hands scrabbled and clawed for the edges of the gate, like it was a physical doorway she could stop herself being dragged through, and she didn't care how dumb she looked just then, how pathetic or querulous or feeble or childish or how her level of distress was getting closer and closer to that of someone who was being actually, legitimately abducted. All pretenses of pride, dignity and that haughty air of superiority she loved beating people over the head with were cast aside. This just had to stop HAPPENING.

"STOPPPPPPPPPP! STOP IT just STOP, STOP TRYING TO TAKE THIS FROM MEEEE! YOU CAN'T! PLEASE! YANG, PLEASE!!!!!!!"

Begging, not just asking for something but the genuine, panicked and desperation-fueled howl of someone who would quite literally do anything to prevent whatever was happening from happening, was not a sound that suited any Weiss's voice.

This was as close as they were ever likely to hear.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"STOPPPPPPPPPP! STOP IT just STOP, STOP TRYING TO TAKE THIS FROM MEEEE! YOU CAN'T! PLEASE! YANG, PLEASE!!!!!!!"

Begging, not just asking for something but the genuine, panicked and desperation-fueled howl of someone who would quite literally do anything to prevent whatever was happening from happening, was not a sound that suited any Weiss's voice.

This was as close as they were ever likely to hear.

Helios came to her aid.

A hardlight shield popped into place so suddenly just then that Yang likely bonked her head against it. The blue barrier hovering mere centimeters from the portal and temporarily barring anyone from getting in. Her armor systems were getting real close to running out of juice but that was absolutely the least of her many concerns. Gwen took a few uncomfortable steps closer, clearly still afflicted by the pain but trying desperately to not let it show. To not let it stop her. "Please, listen to her." Helios implored. "If what you're all talking about is as serious as you make it out to be, Atlas, my home, will need her. Not just for her personal power and capability in battle. Whatever this threat is that has you all so worried, if these relics are really that crucial, then please listen to sense and reason. If you take Weiss, now, then it's over. Atlas may not be harmed, but it will be under the command of someone who has decided to side with this dark threat. This...Ozpin. Even if Carnelian and James don't overtly have the Atlesian military aid this man, they could very easily have it hold back. To stay here, in Atlas. This Ozpin gets the staff and whatever its importance is, in addition to some very dangerous people back with him, and he no longer has to worry about that Atlesian military standing against him." Gwen grimaced at the mere thought of what was meant to be a noble fighting force doing absolutely nothing to stand against the darkness.

"Some of you may not like Atlas, but there is no denying how important it is. How powerful. Ironwood and Carnelian, it would take nothing at all for them to reassume command and get Atlas to fall in line. They could put the word out mere hours from now, denounce Weiss as a traitor to the kingdom. Have me dishonorably discharged for taking a stand against them, as Carnelian threatened to. Many if not most soldiers would fall in line, discipline is drilled heavily into all of us. Without them seeing what I saw, without having even the slightest idea what's really going on, they would unknowingly go along with it. It would be easy for them to cover it up. But we could fight back against that." Gwen stated.

"I don't know what Weiss has planned but...I passed Robyn Hill on the way up to the office after the councilwoman summoned me. She, her huntresses and those that support them have been at odds with the military more than once. Beyond that, she is key to fighting any lies that Carnelian and...and James try to spread. Weiss could reveal the truth, Robyn will confirm it, and I could have that broadcast to every scroll and television in the kingdom." Even gravely injured, Gwen still attempted to plan ahead, or at the very least think up one possibility. "But that only works if Weiss remains here in Atlas. Even if you guys shared the information and I learned all about what's really going on here, and I honestly doubt I could get up to speed on all of it any time soon, I'm not Weiss Schnee. It wouldn't be as effective if I tried to reveal it with Robyn, and much easier to dismiss. But her? Atlas's beloved councilwoman? People have faith in her, they believe in her. If she tells them something, they will listen." Helios exhaled, a wince of pain flashing across her face with the act.

"We could stop this coup from succeeding by getting the truth out. But we don't need you all here to do it. If you stay, if that lamp stays-" She glanced at the relic. "Then there's a chance this Ozpin gets them both. Whatever that entails I do not know, but you sure all seem to. Atlas has many huntsmen and huntresses, has the world's most powerful military and abundant supplies of dust. No offense, but any advantage a bunch of kids would offer would be miniscule overall compared to what we already have. Let us fight our own battles. The most heroic thing any of you can do is to leave."

Gwen looked at them all. "To be far away, keep that thing out of reach of this threat for as long as possible. And this way, there's a chance Atlas could come out of it with a military that will aid the fight, instead of being held back from it." In contrast to Weiss Schnee's emotional pleading, Gwen Helios still attempted to appeal with logic and sense. "The latter is what will likely happen if Carnelian and the rest get their way."​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

The polite way of describing Weiss was that she had a casual relationship with the truth. The impolite way was that she was a bold-faced unrepentant liar with no ethics or qualms about turning someone upside-down and inside out just to suit her own cryptic agenda.

But whatever others thought of her, on some level she had always seen herself as someone with integrity. She lied because she had to lie, to get results, because others couldn't be trusted and would never allow her the chance to do what she needed to do to steer the sinking ship of Remnant to safety. They were lies told out of necessity, in the service of a better world. That creed was how she made herself bulletproof to those who vilified her; history's greatest leaders and saviors were nothing more than conquerors and radicals before the people flourished in the wake of their actions. This would be no different. These huntresses and heroic warriors may have looked at her with disgust now, but one day they'd all understand. One day Weiss Schnee would prove her worth, the worth of her name, and that the Schnee legacy had been destined to make lasting, positive change in the world—not leave it in deficit.

The last 24 hours had seen her reevaluate that destiny somewhat. Seen her finally stop saving her most cruel and delusional lies for herself, come to terms with the thought that she had made every effort to duck ever since she first learned about Yang and her life: if there was a world where Weiss Schnee was as pure, kind and genuinely good as the lumbering twit whose shoulder she was slung over, and practically every meaningful distinction between the two served to paint this Remnant as that one's dark reflection, then...

Then what did that make her?

Not somebody destined to be a hero. The opposite. Just someone doing horrible things for no reason, because she told herself it was right. Someone chasing a dream over the horizon that didn't exist.

Just another Blake.

But whatever she thought of herself, she had come too far to let this stop her entirely. The future of Remnant was better left in other hands, but she could still perform. There was still something she could do. She still had value.

She could still be remembered for doing one good thing in with all the bad.

She just needed Ozpin. Face to face, in a room with her. And then people were finally going to see exactly what a Schnee who put her mind to it could do for the world. Weiss lied, but as a councilwoman she had made a promise under oath; to protect the kingdom of Atlas, to safeguard all its peoples and leave it a better place than she found it.

She genuinely believed she could still do that. Her plan may have seemed as if it lay in shattered, mangled ruins, but the truth was significant parts of it were still intact. Certain realizations about herself and changing timeframes had most definitely led to some alterations, but in her mind it was still attainable. If she stayed her course and adapted, she could still leave this world having done something great. She could still honor that promise. She could arrive at whatever judgment awaited her and declare, the one time it mattered most, Weiss Schnee had told the truth.

If Yang took her away right now that didn't happen. She left Atlas in the hands of a lunatic, its most powerful weapon in the hands of something arguably more dangerous: a lunatic who thought she was right. Her legacy would be remembered for turning Atlas over to the monsters, not taking it away, for being the moron who gave them the keys and asked them to lock up after they were done.

View attachment 822203

"...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

Spoiler: Same energy

It was that moment that she decided to eschew all forms of verbal persuasion, threatening or otherwise. Instead she screamed, cried, cursed and pleaded with Yang all at once, all in the span of just one word, the intensity of her kicking and struggling ramping up exponentially the closer they got to the portal as she decided to say screw it and more or less just throw a full on tantrum. Her hands scrabbled and clawed for the edges of the gate, like it was a physical doorway she could stop herself being dragged through, and she didn't care how dumb she looked just then, how pathetic or querulous or feeble or childish or how her level of distress was getting closer and closer to that of someone who was being actually, legitimately abducted. All pretenses of pride, dignity and that haughty air of superiority she loved beating people over the head with were cast aside. This just had to stop HAPPENING.

"STOPPPPPPPPPP! STOP IT just STOP, STOP TRYING TO TAKE THIS FROM MEEEE! YOU CAN'T! PLEASE! YANG, PLEASE!!!!!!!"

Begging, not just asking for something but the genuine, panicked and desperation-fueled howl of someone who would quite literally do anything to prevent whatever was happening from happening, was not a sound that suited any Weiss's voice.

This was as close as they were ever likely to hear.​

Helios came to her aid.

A hardlight shield popped into place so suddenly just then that Yang likely bonked her head against it. The blue barrier hovering mere centimeters from the portal and temporarily barring anyone from getting in. Her armor systems were getting real close to running out of juice but that was absolutely the least of her many concerns. Gwen took a few uncomfortable steps closer, clearly still afflicted by the pain but trying desperately to not let it show. To not let it stop her. "Please, listen to her." Helios implored. "If what you're all talking about is as serious as you make it out to be, Atlas, my home, will need her. Not just for her personal power and capability in battle. Whatever this threat is that has you all so worried, if these relics are really that crucial, then please listen to sense and reason. If you take Weiss, now, then it's over. Atlas may not be harmed, but it will be under the command of someone who has decided to side with this dark threat. This...Ozpin. Even if Carnelian and James don't overtly have the Atlesian military aid this man, they could very easily have it hold back. To stay here, in Atlas. This Ozpin gets the staff and whatever its importance is, in addition to some very dangerous people back with him, and he no longer has to worry about that Atlesian military standing against him." Gwen grimaced at the mere thought of what was meant to be a noble fighting force doing absolutely nothing to stand against the darkness.

"Some of you may not like Atlas, but there is no denying how important it is. How powerful. Ironwood and Carnelian, it would take nothing at all for them to reassume command and get Atlas to fall in line. They could put the word out mere hours from now, denounce Weiss as a traitor to the kingdom. Have me dishonorably discharged for taking a stand against them, as Carnelian threatened to. Many if not most soldiers would fall in line, discipline is drilled heavily into all of us. Without them seeing what I saw, without having even the slightest idea what's really going on, they would unknowingly go along with it. It would be easy for them to cover it up. But we could fight back against that." Gwen stated.

"I don't know what Weiss has planned but...I passed Robyn Hill on the way up to the office after the councilwoman summoned me. She, her huntresses and those that support them have been at odds with the military more than once. Beyond that, she is key to fighting any lies that Carnelian and...and James try to spread. Weiss could reveal the truth, Robyn will confirm it, and I could have that broadcast to every scroll and television in the kingdom." Even gravely injured, Gwen still attempted to plan ahead, or at the very least think up one possibility. "But that only works if Weiss remains here in Atlas. Even if you guys shared the information and I learned all about what's really going on here, and I honestly doubt I could get up to speed on all of it any time soon, I'm not Weiss Schnee. It wouldn't be as effective if I tried to reveal it with Robyn, and much easier to dismiss. But her? Atlas's beloved councilwoman? People have faith in her, they believe in her. If she tells them something, they will listen." Helios exhaled, a wince of pain flashing across her face with the act.

"We could stop this coup from succeeding by getting the truth out. But we don't need you all here to do it. If you stay, if that lamp stays-" She glanced at the relic. "Then there's a chance this Ozpin gets them both. Whatever that entails I do not know, but you sure all seem to. Atlas has many huntsmen and huntresses, has the world's most powerful military and abundant supplies of dust. No offense, but any advantage a bunch of kids would offer would be miniscule overall compared to what we already have. Let us fight our own battles. The most heroic thing any of you can do is to leave."

Gwen looked at them all. "To be far away, keep that thing out of reach of this threat for as long as possible. And this way, there's a chance Atlas could come out of it with a military that will aid the fight, instead of being held back from it." In contrast to Weiss Schnee's emotional pleading, Gwen Helios still attempted to appeal with logic and sense. "The latter is what will likely happen if Carnelian and the rest get their way."​

That sound made Yang’s sarcastic smirk flicker, the tension of determined misery it was supposed to mask bubbling back up to the surface as her steps slowed, even if they didn’t stop.

Yang had never really been a big picture kinda gal. She didn’t care about her legacy, how the world was gonna look at her after she was gone, how she would leave the world in her wake. She just did what she thought was right, in the moment. That wasn’t to say she took the easy way out; sometimes what felt right was the hardest choice, or the most difficult task, but she always tried to do it anyways. That’s all she was trying to do now. The right thing.

At least, thats what she was trying to tell herself. Whatever Gwent Heelies back there was trying to spin, the utter dread she felt about going through that portal and leaving Weiss on this side was as close as Yang was ever going to get to seeing the future, because Weiss had said what she said and Yang had the utmost faith that she was smart enough to have it all figured out.

Ozpin got something, or Atlas burned.

Ozpin was not getting the staff.

Ozpin and Weiss would both be gone.

There was no way that was the right thing. She didn’t understand why everyone else was just… accepting this! She could feel it in her bones, and the maiden had said as much earlier; Weiss wasn’t planning some heroic attack or defiant last stand, she was preparing for some sort of suicide run. Accepting the dangers of a fight was one thing, planning to die was horrible. There was no way this was the right thing.

...So why did stopping it feel so wrong too?

Like she was tearing something important out of Weiss. Like Yang was taking whatever foundation Weiss had built for herself and shattering it. She could hear it in her voice as she screamed. How was she any better than everyone else who’d tried to control what Weiss did or how she lived her life?

Except Weiss was making those choices for all the wrong reasons. She thought the best thing she could offer the world was to die heroically. That was.. That was wrong, it had to be wrong. For all the smack Yang had talked a few minutes earlier, for as much as she promised everyone who inevitably asked that yes she really did know this wasn’t her teammate and no she really wasn’t being used, this Weiss... was a wonderful person. Funny, capable of true kindness, strong, fierce, and with a disdain for evil so potent that it made Yang question how strong her own resolve really was. Maybe, at the end of the day, Weiss wasn’t a good person yet, but she was trying.

That was it, really. The Dragon didn’t care about anything but hurting everything that had hurt her. The Hand wanted to let the world burn. The Masque was flickering confused through the world with none of her sister’s resolve and determination to see a better world.

The Councilwoman was trying. From the day she set on this path, every horrible thing Yang acknowledged just as much as everyone else had been her trying to do good. Even this was her trying. She wanted to sacrifice herself for the greater good.

That was the hard choice. It was the right choice, according to seemingly everyone else in the room.

It wasn’t a choice Yang could make.

Yang put ruby down solely so she could give Gwen a thumbs down and promptly stepped around to the other side of the portal to just go through it that way, Weiss in tow as they made it into Vacuo’s burning sun.

....It just wasn’t a choice Yang could force onto Weiss either. It wasn’t in her nature. She wasn't strong enough to force it onto Weiss, she wasn't smart enough to convince her this was the right choice, nor hard enough to skip this whole charade and let Weiss do what she thought she had to. She just... needed to see a moment out of Atlas and ten thousand staring eyes, to feel the tiniest bit of sun, to just acknowledge that this could happen, that she could do something than throw herself on the pyre for the sake of everyone else, that there was at least one person in the worlds who wanted her to do anything but.

She far more gently than she’d picked her up put her down, and despite how pressed they still were for time took a moment to smooth out a few wrinkly spots she’d left on Weiss’ skirt before she gripped her shoulders and tried to look Weiss in the eyes.

She couldn’t. Without however many foes still breathing underneath all that ice along with her shitheel of mom making showing any weaknesses feel like a bad move, without either Ruby making her feel the need to put on a strong face, she couldn’t. Besides; if anyone deserved to see Yang without her own walls up, it was the woman she’d spent the the last two months being the world’s most annoying wrecking ball to trying to take hers down. The words were soft and quiet as Vacuo's dusty streets pattered with a few drops of water, as much the plea of the girl who was couldn’t take yet another person abandoning her as it was the huntress who still wanted to save everyone she could. If Weiss was still screaming, she probably couldn't even hear it, and if her fight or flight was still in full gear, Yang was left mumbling the rest to the open air.

“...I..I’m not gonna make you stay on this side. But please. Please Weiss. Your life’s more important than some stupid magic stick. You’re more important. Even if its just to me.”

Then if Weiss was still there, Yang's hands dropped down from her shoulders to briefly grip her hands before she stepped back

 

[MyrtenRose]

It wasn’t a choice Yang could make.

Yang put ruby down solely so she could give Gwen a thumbs down and promptly stepped around to the other side of the portal to just go through it that way, Weiss in tow as they made it into Vacuo’s burning sun.

....It just wasn’t a choice Yang could force onto Weiss either. It wasn’t in her nature. She wasn't strong enough to force it onto Weiss, she wasn't smart enough to convince her this was the right choice, nor hard enough to skip this whole charade and let Weiss do what she thought she had to. She just... needed to see a moment out of Atlas and ten thousand staring eyes, to feel the tiniest bit of sun, to just acknowledge that this could happen, that she could do something than throw herself on the pyre for the sake of everyone else, that there was at least one person in the worlds who wanted her to do anything but.

She far more gently than she’d picked her up put her down, and despite how pressed they still were for time took a moment to smooth out a few wrinkly spots she’d left on Weiss’ skirt before she gripped her shoulders and tried to look Weiss in the eyes.

She couldn’t. Without however many foes still breathing underneath all that ice along with her shitheel of mom making showing any weaknesses feel like a bad move, without either Ruby making her feel the need to put on a strong face, she couldn’t. Besides; if anyone deserved to see Yang without her own walls up, it was the woman she’d spent the the last two months being the world’s most annoying wrecking ball to trying to take hers down. The words were soft and quiet as Vacuo's dusty streets pattered with a few drops of water, as much the plea of the girl who was couldn’t take yet another person abandoning her as it was the huntress who still wanted to save everyone she could. If Weiss was still screaming, she probably couldn't even hear it, and if her fight or flight was still in full gear, Yang was left mumbling the rest to the open air.

“...I..I’m not gonna make you stay on this side. But please. Please Weiss. Your life’s more important than some stupid magic stick. You’re more important. Even if its just to me.”

Then if Weiss was still there, Yang's hands dropped down from her shoulders to briefly grip her hands before she stepped back

"Well. I tried." Her eyes turned downwards, staring at the ground. The barrier she put up flickered before the projection vanished entirely. She wasn't strong enough to even attempt at bringing Weiss back the forceful way, so she did not even bother. But after a moment, her gaze lifted to glance over at the headmaster's desk and with barely any hesitation, Helios made her way over until she slowly lowered herself to take a seat, taking special care to not shake too much. Her aura and semblance were gone, but she still had her mind and the tech on her person. An attachment emerged from her wristpad and she connected it, bringing the screens up and attempting to connect with the camera systems the hard, manual way as her fingers typed away. She didn't want to just simply sit by and wait until a decision was made on the other side of that portal, and at the very least trying to determine where Carnelian, the redheaded warrior and especially Ironwood were at this moment was something to do. Something to preoccupy her mind, keep it from dwelling on the pain.

Ruby started forward after she was dropped and both Yang & Weiss disappeared through the portal, but a pale hand gripped her shoulder before she got more than two steps in that direction. When she looked up, strangely it was the short-haired Raven who held her back, as well as warding off anybody else who tried to go through. Utterly terrible mom, not that much better as a person, but even she recognized that Yang...needed that moment. She didn't even look over at Ruby, her face about as expressionless as one could get as she stared at the dark red portal, and awaited whatever happened beyond it to be made clear. After a few seconds, Ruby's face turned back towards the portal as well.

Cinder, pulling back after that warm and hopefully real comforting hug to Penny, glanced back at the frozen version of Yang. Concern was evident in her eye from the steam and the bronze looking glow in the center of it all. Immediately the teenage maiden stepped back over there and placed one hand on it again. Excess light erupted out of her eye as she utilized the power and made sure to keep adding to the ice just as swiftly as the dragon was melting it, intending to keep the danger contained in there until they were done here. The other hand moved to blast out further ice for any of the other frozen blocks if necessary. And after a few seconds, she noticed someone's reflection in the crystal clear ice step up behind her.

Vernal, whose background cursing had finally ceased, though blood still dripped from her nose. After all this time...Cinder had planned to approach her, when they were not dealing with a metric ton of terrible stuff, but the former spring maiden just went for it.

"So...you're still alive."

"Told you before, kid. I'm a survivor." She didn't sound proud or pleased about it, more like she was explaining a fact.

Cinder's eye didn't move away from staring down the partial grimm encased in ice but she couldn't help but asking. "Why...why are you here?"

"...Now's not the time for that. If we all get out of here, before we learn whatever that rumble was about or things get even worse, maybe then I'll tell ya."

The huntress Raven had put herself between where the elevator was and the rest of the group, a wary stare peering to the elevator shaft and a guarded hand kept on the hilt of her weapon, ready to be drawn in the blink of an eye if it proved necessary. A moment later, another stepped up to stand beside her. Qrow. Her actual brother Qrow, and not the identical one who had been spending his time getting drunk in Vacuo. "Ray, I--"

"Don't start." She harshly cut off whatever he was about to say. That shut him up, thankfully, but Raven didn't get all she wanted either as her brother didn't step away from her. Just her luck.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Had she asked, there was a lot Qrow Branwen might've had to say about his niece's freaking weird little liaison with the Weiss of this world. None of that holier-than-thou crap about how Yang was a schmuck or a tool or a dead ringer for the chick he saw on a brochure about stockholm syndrome once, but he'd have been lying if he said all or even most of it would've been positive. There would've been a whole section on priorities; maybe a slideshow or two about expectations. It probably would've been the biggest lecture she got from him since he saved her and Ruby from those beowolves.

Except Yang didn't ask. So he didn't.

Instead he just shot her a frank, quizzical look when she steps through past him, little bundle of crazy in hand, and whatever he saw for that momentary snatch of eye contact had him sigh in a resigned way as he laid Nora down on the loose pile of blankets he'd been sleeping in. He set the relic down by her feet, swept his scruffier-than-usual hair back out of his eyes, stuck his hands in his pockets, and slunk through to the Atlas side with that classically bad Qrow posture, in perfect time to stop Ruby or whoever else tried to come through first with a staying hand on the shoulder and a shake of the head.

"Just... Give 'em a second. Aaaaababababa, I know, I know—"

He immediately cut himself off, waving his hands in placating fashion at whatever combo of Branwens immediately pounced to tell him how stupid that was, that they were pressed for time and had to go or whatever else.

"If anything bad happens, we'll jet. My niece just needs a minute none of you mooks are giving her. Let's call it a huntsman thing."

And in a way, it was. Yang might've been newer to the job than he was, but there was a universal truth about the 'noble profession' that anyone even halfway good at it was bound to find out sooner rather than later. The situations you ended up in, you couldn't always choose who you befriended; the face that made you smile during a dark time, the shoulder that supported you when things were rough. Sometimes the hardest part of the gig wasn't all the suffering you saw; all the carnage, the bloodshed, the death.

It was saying goodbye.

"Plus, y'know, if anyone wanted to use that time to get me caught up on whatever the hell's goin' on in this joint that'd be great too. Any takers? Ruby, Ravens, Crapsack Me?"

He sidled up to the latter, positioning himself so it was the two Qrows and two Ravens all standing at a cross-junction.



"Whoa. You think being a twin prepares ya, but..."

Helios came to her aid.

A hardlight shield popped into place so suddenly just then that Yang likely bonked her head against it. The blue barrier hovering mere centimeters from the portal and temporarily barring anyone from getting in. Her armor systems were getting real close to running out of juice but that was absolutely the least of her many concerns. Gwen took a few uncomfortable steps closer, clearly still afflicted by the pain but trying desperately to not let it show. To not let it stop her. "Please, listen to her." Helios implored. "If what you're all talking about is as serious as you make it out to be, Atlas, my home, will need her. Not just for her personal power and capability in battle. Whatever this threat is that has you all so worried, if these relics are really that crucial, then please listen to sense and reason. If you take Weiss, now, then it's over. Atlas may not be harmed, but it will be under the command of someone who has decided to side with this dark threat. This...Ozpin. Even if Carnelian and James don't overtly have the Atlesian military aid this man, they could very easily have it hold back. To stay here, in Atlas. This Ozpin gets the staff and whatever its importance is, in addition to some very dangerous people back with him, and he no longer has to worry about that Atlesian military standing against him." Gwen grimaced at the mere thought of what was meant to be a noble fighting force doing absolutely nothing to stand against the darkness.

"Some of you may not like Atlas, but there is no denying how important it is. How powerful. Ironwood and Carnelian, it would take nothing at all for them to reassume command and get Atlas to fall in line. They could put the word out mere hours from now, denounce Weiss as a traitor to the kingdom. Have me dishonorably discharged for taking a stand against them, as Carnelian threatened to. Many if not most soldiers would fall in line, discipline is drilled heavily into all of us. Without them seeing what I saw, without having even the slightest idea what's really going on, they would unknowingly go along with it. It would be easy for them to cover it up. But we could fight back against that." Gwen stated.

"I don't know what Weiss has planned but...I passed Robyn Hill on the way up to the office after the councilwoman summoned me. She, her huntresses and those that support them have been at odds with the military more than once. Beyond that, she is key to fighting any lies that Carnelian and...and James try to spread. Weiss could reveal the truth, Robyn will confirm it, and I could have that broadcast to every scroll and television in the kingdom." Even gravely injured, Gwen still attempted to plan ahead, or at the very least think up one possibility. "But that only works if Weiss remains here in Atlas. Even if you guys shared the information and I learned all about what's really going on here, and I honestly doubt I could get up to speed on all of it any time soon, I'm not Weiss Schnee. It wouldn't be as effective if I tried to reveal it with Robyn, and much easier to dismiss. But her? Atlas's beloved councilwoman? People have faith in her, they believe in her. If she tells them something, they will listen." Helios exhaled, a wince of pain flashing across her face with the act.

"We could stop this coup from succeeding by getting the truth out. But we don't need you all here to do it. If you stay, if that lamp stays-" She glanced at the relic. "Then there's a chance this Ozpin gets them both. Whatever that entails I do not know, but you sure all seem to. Atlas has many huntsmen and huntresses, has the world's most powerful military and abundant supplies of dust. No offense, but any advantage a bunch of kids would offer would be miniscule overall compared to what we already have. Let us fight our own battles. The most heroic thing any of you can do is to leave."

Gwen looked at them all. "To be far away, keep that thing out of reach of this threat for as long as possible. And this way, there's a chance Atlas could come out of it with a military that will aid the fight, instead of being held back from it." In contrast to Weiss Schnee's emotional pleading, Gwen Helios still attempted to appeal with logic and sense. "The latter is what will likely happen if Carnelian and the rest get their way."

That sound made Yang’s sarcastic smirk flicker, the tension of determined misery it was supposed to mask bubbling back up to the surface as her steps slowed, even if they didn’t stop.

Yang had never really been a big picture kinda gal. She didn’t care about her legacy, how the world was gonna look at her after she was gone, how she would leave the world in her wake. She just did what she thought was right, in the moment. That wasn’t to say she took the easy way out; sometimes what felt right was the hardest choice, or the most difficult task, but she always tried to do it anyways. That’s all she was trying to do now. The right thing.

At least, thats what she was trying to tell herself. Whatever Gwent Heelies back there was trying to spin, the utter dread she felt about going through that portal and leaving Weiss on this side was as close as Yang was ever going to get to seeing the future, because Weiss had said what she said and Yang had the utmost faith that she was smart enough to have it all figured out.

Ozpin got something, or Atlas burned.

Ozpin was not getting the staff.

Ozpin and Weiss would both be gone.

There was no way that was the right thing. She didn’t understand why everyone else was just… accepting this! She could feel it in her bones, and the maiden had said as much earlier; Weiss wasn’t planning some heroic attack or defiant last stand, she was preparing for some sort of suicide run. Accepting the dangers of a fight was one thing, planning to die was horrible. There was no way this was the right thing.

...So why did stopping it feel so wrong too?

Like she was tearing something important out of Weiss. Like Yang was taking whatever foundation Weiss had built for herself and shattering it. She could hear it in her voice as she screamed. How was she any better than everyone else who’d tried to control what Weiss did or how she lived her life?

Except Weiss was making those choices for all the wrong reasons. She thought the best thing she could offer the world was to die heroically. That was.. That was wrong, it had to be wrong. For all the smack Yang had talked a few minutes earlier, for as much as she promised everyone who inevitably asked that yes she really did know this wasn’t her teammate and no she really wasn’t being used, this Weiss... was a wonderful person. Funny, capable of true kindness, strong, fierce, and with a disdain for evil so potent that it made Yang question how strong her own resolve really was. Maybe, at the end of the day, Weiss wasn’t a good person yet, but she was trying.

That was it, really. The Dragon didn’t care about anything but hurting everything that had hurt her. The Hand wanted to let the world burn. The Masque was flickering confused through the world with none of her sister’s resolve and determination to see a better world.

The Councilwoman was trying. From the day she set on this path, every horrible thing Yang acknowledged just as much as everyone else had been her trying to do good. Even this was her trying. She wanted to sacrifice herself for the greater good.

That was the hard choice. It was the right choice, according to seemingly everyone else in the room.

It wasn’t a choice Yang could make.

Yang put ruby down solely so she could give Gwen a thumbs down and promptly stepped around to the other side of the portal to just go through it that way, Weiss in tow as they made it into Vacuo’s burning sun.

Gwen's appeal may have fallen on deaf ears, like Weiss could've told her it would have pretty much the moment she started talking, but the pure logical reasoning on display did at least have the unintended side effect of giving the councilwoman some time and clarity to level off somewhat. As well as making her feel more than a bit silly for letting anyone, much less a former subordinate, see her in such a panicked, disconnected state, but really how was she supposed to behave after the day she'd had? She was done, anyway. Done making herself out to be this guiding pillar of resolve and tenacity and always knowing what to do, done being the one people looked to in a crisis, done convincing people to believe in her. Just done.

As an argument, it made sense. It did Weiss no favors to point out that none of Gwen's vision for how this played out was what was actually going to happen, so she didn't. Instead she just shot the operative one last plaintive, long-suffering look as the most important woman in Atlas was bundled through the portal like its most important sack of flour, one that conveyed the true depths of her frustration with the stubborn ass of a baker she'd been saddled with.

....It just wasn’t a choice Yang could force onto Weiss either. It wasn’t in her nature. She wasn't strong enough to force it onto Weiss, she wasn't smart enough to convince her this was the right choice, nor hard enough to skip this whole charade and let Weiss do what she thought she had to. She just... needed to see a moment out of Atlas and ten thousand staring eyes, to feel the tiniest bit of sun, to just acknowledge that this could happen, that she could do something than throw herself on the pyre for the sake of everyone else, that there was at least one person in the worlds who wanted her to do anything but.

She far more gently than she’d picked her up put her down, and despite how pressed they still were for time took a moment to smooth out a few wrinkly spots she’d left on Weiss’ skirt before she gripped her shoulders and tried to look Weiss in the eyes.

"WHAT AM I DOING HERE, YANG?!"

At the very least it wasn't the anxiety-induced total nervous collapse of before, but not for one second did Weiss want Yang to feel like she was off the hook in any respect, and the yell she was met with was the type of angry, baseless, everything-is-your-fault clap of thunder countless incompetent parents had traumatized their children with in their misguided attempts to instill respect. It was the exact sort of behavior she had sworn to never lower herself to, but the fact was in that moment with all her best-laid plans collapsing around her ears she didn't care, she didn't care enough to try and prove she was a better person than she was, didn't care enough about being petty or spiteful or malicious or whatever else.

In fact, this was good. She was glad. The more Yang saw, the more Weiss managed to unravel whatever sickeningly intricate web of sentiment and codependence and would-be magnanimity she'd tangled this poor girl up in, the sooner she could realize there was nothing here worth the kindness and patience she'd been spared; nothing worth saving.

The sooner she could forget about her.

The hands were swatted away from her skirt with all the righteous fury and viciousness of someone small who'd just been muscled somewhere against their will, and for the third time in as many minutes Weiss shoved Yang, this time throwing absolutely all of herself into the offensive. She wasn't done yelling, either, though that was probably to be expected.

"NO, SERIOUSLY! THAT WASN'T RHETORICAL! I'D LIKE FOR YOU TO EXPLAIN TO ME, IN YOUR OWN LIMITED VOCABULARY, WHY I HAVE JUST BEEN KIDNAPPED AND... AND SPIRITED AWAY TO SOME GODFORSAKEN SQUATTER'S ALLEY IN THE DESERT!!! WELL? HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?! CAN YOU EXPLAIN IT?! NO, HERE'S A BETTER QUESTION, DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHY YOURSELF?!?!?! OR ARE YOU ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO JUST DOES THINGS, JUST ACTS TO SUIT HER WHIMS WITHOUT PUTTING IN EVEN THE BARE MINIMUM OF CONSIDERATION OR FORESIGHT, AND DAMN ANYONE WHO HAS CONFLICTING PLANS?!"

She scoffed, still not giving Yang so much as a second to get a word in edgewise as she stepped forward to shove her again.

"You know what? SPARE ME! I think I've hit right the nail on the head, haven't I?! You just like how it feels to BULLDOZE people! You know I never really could see the resemblance before, but I think everything finally just fell into place, Yang. Thank you. You are your mother's daughter! AND YOU ARE MOST DEFINITELY YOUR REMNANT'S DRAGON! And you think— Stop— who told you you could do that?! Oh, it's tears now, is it? W-why are you crying?! Why... why are..."

She couldn’t. Without however many foes still breathing underneath all that ice along with her shitheel of mom making showing any weaknesses feel like a bad move, without either Ruby making her feel the need to put on a strong face, she couldn’t. Besides; if anyone deserved to see Yang without her own walls up, it was the woman she’d spent the the last two months being the world’s most annoying wrecking ball to trying to take hers down. The words were soft and quiet as Vacuo's dusty streets pattered with a few drops of water, as much the plea of the girl who was couldn’t take yet another person abandoning her as it was the huntress who still wanted to save everyone she could. If Weiss was still screaming, she probably couldn't even hear it, and if her fight or flight was still in full gear, Yang was left mumbling the rest to the open air.

“...I..I’m not gonna make you stay on this side. But please. Please Weiss. Your life’s more important than some stupid magic stick. You’re more important. Even if its just to me.”

Then if Weiss was still there, Yang's hands dropped down from her shoulders to briefly grip her hands before she stepped back

...what in the world was she doing?

"...why are..."

She attempted to continue, though it was as vain an act as trying to ice skate uphill. By the time Yang finally managed to get her plea out uninterrupted it was to a Weiss who, for what felt like the FIFTIETH TIME today (but it was good to know she could always sink lower), was being buried under a sudden avalanche of realization, horror, and shame, and deep in the pang of anxiety welling in her chest something crystallized; again, not for the first time today.

She had to be one of the most horrible human beings who ever lived. She was awful. She was a monster. She was someone who didn't deserve to know the person standing in front of her, much less be afforded the right to spew an endless torrent of bile at her in the exact way her father used to carry out his daily reamings. She felt sick. She felt like going back into the office solely so she could jump out a window. The problem with achieving success through lies and manipulation was that sometimes you started doing it just for the sake of it, or because you didn't know what else to do; Yang wouldn't leave her, which was going to get her hurt, so her oh-so-enlightened solution to this problem was to... hurt... Yang??? What was the matter with her?

"...why..."

She didn't get it. Yang was just... so different from her. In so many ways. Maybe that was what appealed to Weiss, in hindsight—seeing someone so full of light and joy and an effortless confidence that belied stunning heroism and unwavering resolve in the wake of so much hardship. That was... she wanted that to be her story. Even more than to respect or fear her, she wanted people to admire her the way she did Yang. To make people feel... comfortable, safe, the way Yang made her feel. It was such an unfamiliar feeling. Like she could turn her brain off whenever she was around, let her guard down along with her hair and stop worrying about all that was wrong in the world and all the things she could do about it but wasn't and all the people out to get her and just, all of it. She could just stop thinking.

The genesis of her downfall could probably be traced back to that feeling. How addicted Weiss had gotten to it, how dependent. The fact that they were standing here, having this conversation even after three separate concerted efforts to disentangle herself from the idiot for her own good was proof enough of that. Weiss wasn't one to feel the need to prove anything to anyone but herself, but she came to crave that feeling so much she thought that if she could just convince Yang somehow, if she could only make her see that she wasn't the bad guy but the misunderstood hero... if she just saw that Weiss was a good person, like her... Maybe they could buck whatever morality trend the gods seemed to be imposing on the denizens of this world. Maybe... maybe Yang would want to stay. With her.

Gods, she really was deluded. Her and Yang weren't the same. They weren't even vaguely similar. Yang was the sun, providing safety and warmth to all who so much as stood in her glow.

Weiss was a blizzard in the dead of winter, and her touch brought only death.

Deluded and weak. There were so many different reasons to be ashamed just for thinking what she felt for Yang, let alone actually feeling it. And yet feel it she did. The first time she had hurt Yang she tried to put a stop to it, cut off her scheming and manipulations at the knees and sent her on her way with a warning that associating with her would bring nothing but misery; but the sleepless nights, unusually intense spikes of loneliness and air of general lethargy she shambled around her own home with for a full week afterwards had only served to cement what she was trying to deny. She missed so many meetings that week.

So she ignored it. The first chance she had to talk to Yang again, she did. And, almost instantly, she was punished for it. Worse, Yang was punished. She had almost died, for no reason other than Weiss was weak. So she took more extreme measures. Started treating Yang so coldly and harshly she'd have no choice but to distance herself from her, to get far enough away that she'd be safe from breathing in Weiss's poison. Like Winter. And then... and then...

"...why are you so nice to me?"

It was a surface-level question masking a mountain of baggage the size of an iceberg's underbelly. Weiss didn't think she deserved Yang's kindness. Weiss disliked herself too much to feel worthy of a single kind word anyone had ever spoken to her in her life. From an early age she had been brought up to view kindness as a transaction; a smile from her mother when she helped set the table, or an approving pat from her father whenever she represented the family well. As time went by, they became less and less frequent until they stopped entirely, and it was around that point that she started to self-sabotage—It wasn't that she didn't deserve kindness, it was that she didn't want it. If she was cold and snappish and offputting before anyone could even think of saying something nice to her then it was just something she had no use for, not something that eluded her. The number of compliments and false smiles she continued to get from Atlas's nobility of sycophants regardless only served to reinforce her belief that kindness was simply a fabrication, an elaborate social construct used to get what one wanted.

What could Yang possibly have been getting out of this?

She wracked her brain as she kept talking at a slow, deliberate cadence, searching Yang's eyes for the answer regardless of whether they were able to meet hers or not.

"I don't understand. I don't understand what you want from me. There has to be something, this isn't... it's that other Weiss, isn't it?" Her eyes narrowed suddenly, glare sharpening as a bit of an accusatory bite came back into her tone. "The one you know. You still believe we're the same person deep down, that you can—I don't know—hug me enough times and make enough frivolous remarks and the clouds will part one day and I'll just... be her."



Her gaze fell, no concealing the sadness welling up in them as she reminded herself (not for the first time) that that was all she was ever going to be in Yang's eyes. A sad, imperfect version of a dear friend. A charity case.

There was a dose of irony in there somewhere, but she didn't care enough to find it.

"I'm not stupid, you know, despite what you seem to believe. Delusional and paranoid, maybe. But not stupid. You may have helped expose certain... deficiencies... in my character I was unaware of, but I resent the implication that you somehow manipulated me just as much as you do. I'm well aware that all I've ever been to you is just some... some broken toy to fix. And that's all I'll ever be."

It hurt deeply to admit as much, but she fought to keep it out of her voice.

She failed. The sudden hardening of her tone was an effort to mask that, the resurgence of steel in her eyes as she scrubbed them with her sleeve in a vain attempt to hide the tears brimming in them and glowered directly back at Yang, fierce enough to scare off a predator in the wilderness.

"Well, for your own sake I recommend you get this through your thick skull: it is NOT going to happen. Do you hear me? Yang, it's too... it's too late for us. The only one you seem to accept that of is the other you, which frankly raises all manner of deeply concerning psychological questions I don't have time to unpack, but it's... it's all of us. Ruby, Blake and I... we've all done terrible things. Things that don't deserve forgiveness. And we can harp on about our great philosophical reasons for doing them or how we didn't know better or we'd like to change or whatever else we manage to convince ourselves of in the moment, but the truth is... we're slaves to our nature. It might come sooner, it might come later, but we'll always find the next reason to hurt someone. We'll always be able to convince ourselves it was the right thing. And if you continue to cling to this... this idea you have of us as people you can reach, who can be helped..."

She closed her eyes in a bid to steady herself.

"...You'll get hurt."

That was a mistake, because there was no disguising the buildup of tears that flowed free when she opened them again, the deep breaths she'd been trying to take growing short and anxious.

"You've been hurt. F-from the very moment we met I've watched you—I know you won't care to admit this but I pulled you down and tangled you up in my web and j-just, just did what I always do and I poisoned you, and maybe you don't see it but I do, Yang, I see how all the light and joy's been draining out of you the l-longer you've known me and it's just—" Her hand shot to her temple, a sudden lance of pain drawing a wince as she teetered a bit like she was dizzy. She finished her thought in a low, absent mumble, mildly embarrassed and now unable to bring herself to look the other's way.

"—I can't. I've watched that happen to everyone who ever mattered in my life and I can't watch it happen to you. I won't. I understand you're a proud young woman, who for whatever reason believes she needs to be above concepts like sadness and pain for the sake of other people. But take it from someone who's held herself above those concepts for years: keep doing down this road and it's... you'll fall apart, Yang. You'll burn up like a sun. You deserve so much more than that. Than... than me."

Despite everything, a wan smile flickered over her face, and for a moment she eyed Yang's hands where they had fallen like she wanted to reach for them again. But she didn't, and the smile was was tired, faded and then gone.

"And I... don't deserve you either. Nor the headaches you give me, for that matter. So go. Go home, you dolt. I'll make sure the relic reaches you. The kindest thing you can do for me is to go back to your family and your perfect Weiss and your even more perfect Blake, because dust knows she's sooooooo special."

Wow. She really was petty. She rolled her eyes.

"Ha. Sorry. I... don't think I can have this conversation anymore, I'm just going to..."

Without glancing back up to see what sort of reaction that produced in Yang's face—because no doubt she was going to have all sorts of opinions and ultimately she knew doing the decent thing here was going to require she hurt the poor dear one last time—Weiss cautiously moved to step around her and stand before the portal, straightening herself up a bit as she cleared her face with a sniff, preparing to step through.

But she didn't yet. It was probably selfish of her to want to hear that voice one last time as well.

She didn't care.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Plus, y'know, if anyone wanted to use that time to get me caught up on whatever the hell's goin' on in this joint that'd be great too. Any takers? Ruby, Ravens, Crapsack Me?"

“Ironwood and Carnelian turned on Weiss, allied with...the dragon-“ It was difficult to use that moniker for several reasons. “-as well as a few others including some Shadow Fang prisoners. They intended to take both the relics.” The Raven focused on the elevator shaft responded to the Qrow she actually desired to talk to, yet without looking away from the shaft. “That’s more or less it.”

“Still want to know what the hell those are.” A certain somebody grumbled to themselves.

“And you, brother? Anything go on with you, besides endless drinking?”​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"Well. I tried." Her eyes turned downwards, staring at the ground. The barrier she put up flickered before the projection vanished entirely. She wasn't strong enough to even attempt at bringing Weiss back the forceful way, so she did not even bother. But after a moment, her gaze lifted to glance over at the headmaster's desk and with barely any hesitation, Helios made her way over until she slowly lowered herself to take a seat, taking special care to not shake too much. Her aura and semblance were gone, but she still had her mind and the tech on her person. An attachment emerged from her wristpad and she connected it, bringing the screens up and attempting to connect with the camera systems the hard, manual way as her fingers typed away. She didn't want to just simply sit by and wait until a decision was made on the other side of that portal, and at the very least trying to determine where Carnelian, the redheaded warrior and especially Ironwood were at this moment was something to do. Something to preoccupy her mind, keep it from dwelling on the pain

One might've wondered just how much danger they were all in. Not just because of the obvious; Carnelian, the Dragon's slowly looming escape, the shadowy shapes that kept flickering across the icy dome, and an extremely angry maiden that was busy getting kidnapped


There was also the fact that there were two Qrow Branwens standing in the same room.

All that bad luck had to go somewhere. Gwen was the first one to see how it was turning theirs when she found Pyrrha Nikos far, far closer than she ever would have wanted; not more than twenty feet away from where she was right now, standing on a floating shield in the elevator shaft, an absolutely livid snarl on her face and a floating, compacted ball of metal that used to be an entire elevator that she was drawing back and slamming into the ice, blasting chunks off of it in an effort to dig back up into them

She also got to see that the bad luck went both ways, as one slam cracked a much bigger chunk off the ice shield, and there was a brief flicker of surprise on Pyrrhas face before a small glacier dropped straight on top of her and she disappeared from the feed back down the shaft

 

[MyrtenRose]

One might've wondered just how much danger they were all in. Not just because of the obvious; Carnelian, the Dragon's slowly looming escape, the shadowy shapes that kept flickering across the icy dome, and an extremely angry maiden that was busy getting kidnapped


There was also the fact that there were two Qrow Branwens standing in the same room.

All that bad luck had to go somewhere. Gwen was the first one to see how it was turning theirs when she found Pyrrha Nikos far, far closer than she ever would have wanted; not more than twenty feet away from where she was right now, standing on a floating shield in the elevator shaft, an absolutely livid snarl on her face and a floating, compacted ball of metal that used to be an entire elevator that she was drawing back and slamming into the ice, blasting chunks off of it in an effort to dig back up into them

She also got to see that the bad luck went both ways, as one slam cracked a much bigger chunk off the ice shield, and there was a brief flicker of surprise on Pyrrhas face before a small glacier dropped straight on top of her and she disappeared from the feed back down the shaft

“...defeated by your own efforts. What an idiot.” Gwen muttered to herself. Though perhaps defeated was the wrong word, no telling how long it would take that woman to get back up and continue her attempt. Even so, she appreciated the convenience of that, unaware as she was of the semblances responsible for that accident.

She paused for just a moment before having that video feed sent to every scroll in the room to keep them in the loop. Cinder in particular pulled out her scroll with her free hand when it vibrated, and though her magical reinforcement of the ice block Weiss had made continued, the maiden couldn’t help but laugh loudly as the woman who cut her eye out dropped a glacier onto herself.

“Ha. Bitch. That’s what you get.”
​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"WHAT AM I DOING HERE, YANG?!"

At the very least it wasn't the anxiety-induced total nervous collapse of before, but not for one second did Weiss want Yang to feel like she was off the hook in any respect, and the yell she was met with was the type of angry, baseless, everything-is-your-fault clap of thunder countless incompetent parents had traumatized their children with in their misguided attempts to instill respect. It was the exact sort of behavior she had sworn to never lower herself to, but the fact was in that moment with all her best-laid plans collapsing around her ears she didn't care, she didn't care enough to try and prove she was a better person than she was, didn't care enough about being petty or spiteful or malicious or whatever else.

In fact, this was good. She was glad. The more Yang saw, the more Weiss managed to unravel whatever sickeningly intricate web of sentiment and codependence and would-be magnanimity she'd tangled this poor girl up in, the sooner she could realize there was nothing here worth the kindness and patience she'd been spared; nothing worth saving.

The sooner she could forget about her.

The hands were swatted away from her skirt with all the righteous fury and viciousness of someone small who'd just been muscled somewhere against their will, and for the third time in as many minutes Weiss shoved Yang, this time throwing absolutely all of herself into the offensive. She wasn't done yelling, either, though that was probably to be expected.

"NO, SERIOUSLY! THAT WASN'T RHETORICAL! I'D LIKE FOR YOU TO EXPLAIN TO ME, IN YOUR OWN LIMITED VOCABULARY, WHY I HAVE JUST BEEN KIDNAPPED AND... AND SPIRITED AWAY TO SOME GODFORSAKEN SQUATTER'S ALLEY IN THE DESERT!!! WELL? HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?! CAN YOU EXPLAIN IT?! NO, HERE'S A BETTER QUESTION, DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHY YOURSELF?!?!?! OR ARE YOU ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO JUST DOES THINGS, JUST ACTS TO SUIT HER WHIMS WITHOUT PUTTING IN EVEN THE BARE MINIMUM OF CONSIDERATION OR FORESIGHT, AND DAMN ANYONE WHO HAS CONFLICTING PLANS?!"

She scoffed, still not giving Yang so much as a second to get a word in edgewise as she stepped forward to shove her again.

"You know what? SPARE ME! I think I've hit right the nail on the head, haven't I?! You just like how it feels to BULLDOZE people! You know I never really could see the resemblance before, but I think everything finally just fell into place, Yang. Thank you. You are your mother's daughter! AND YOU ARE MOST DEFINITELY YOUR REMNANT'S DRAGON! And you think— Stop— who told you you could do that?! Oh, it's tears now, is it? W-why are you crying?! Why... why are..."

...what in the world was she doing?

"...why are..."

She attempted to continue, though it was as vain an act as trying to ice skate uphill. By the time Yang finally managed to get her plea out uninterrupted it was to a Weiss who, for what felt like the FIFTIETH TIME today (but it was good to know she could always sink lower), was being buried under a sudden avalanche of realization, horror, and shame, and deep in the pang of anxiety welling in her chest something crystallized; again, not for the first time today.

She had to be one of the most horrible human beings who ever lived. She was awful. She was a monster. She was someone who didn't deserve to know the person standing in front of her, much less be afforded the right to spew an endless torrent of bile at her in the exact way her father used to carry out his daily reamings. She felt sick. She felt like going back into the office solely so she could jump out a window. The problem with achieving success through lies and manipulation was that sometimes you started doing it just for the sake of it, or because you didn't know what else to do; Yang wouldn't leave her, which was going to get her hurt, so her oh-so-enlightened solution to this problem was to... hurt... Yang??? What was the matter with her?

"...why..."

She didn't get it. Yang was just... so different from her. In so many ways. Maybe that was what appealed to Weiss, in hindsight—seeing someone so full of light and joy and an effortless confidence that belied stunning heroism and unwavering resolve in the wake of so much hardship. That was... she wanted that to be her story. Even more than to respect or fear her, she wanted people to admire her the way she did Yang. To make people feel... comfortable, safe, the way Yang made her feel. It was such an unfamiliar feeling. Like she could turn her brain off whenever she was around, let her guard down along with her hair and stop worrying about all that was wrong in the world and all the things she could do about it but wasn't and all the people out to get her and just, all of it. She could just stop thinking.

The genesis of her downfall could probably be traced back to that feeling. How addicted Weiss had gotten to it, how dependent. The fact that they were standing here, having this conversation even after three separate concerted efforts to disentangle herself from the idiot for her own good was proof enough of that. Weiss wasn't one to feel the need to prove anything to anyone but herself, but she came to crave that feeling so much she thought that if she could just convince Yang somehow, if she could only make her see that she wasn't the bad guy but the misunderstood hero... if she just saw that Weiss was a good person, like her... Maybe they could buck whatever morality trend the gods seemed to be imposing on the denizens of this world. Maybe... maybe Yang would want to stay. With her.

Gods, she really was deluded. Her and Yang weren't the same. They weren't even vaguely similar. Yang was the sun, providing safety and warmth to all who so much as stood in her glow.

Weiss was a blizzard in the dead of winter, and her touch brought only death.

Deluded and weak. There were so many different reasons to be ashamed just for thinking what she felt for Yang, let alone actually feeling it. And yet feel it she did. The first time she had hurt Yang she tried to put a stop to it, cut off her scheming and manipulations at the knees and sent her on her way with a warning that associating with her would bring nothing but misery; but the sleepless nights, unusually intense spikes of loneliness and air of general lethargy she shambled around her own home with for a full week afterwards had only served to cement what she was trying to deny. She missed so many meetings that week.

So she ignored it. The first chance she had to talk to Yang again, she did. And, almost instantly, she was punished for it. Worse, Yang was punished. She had almost died, for no reason other than Weiss was weak. So she took more extreme measures. Started treating Yang so coldly and harshly she'd have no choice but to distance herself from her, to get far enough away that she'd be safe from breathing in Weiss's poison. Like Winter. And then... and then...

"...why are you so nice to me?"

It was a surface-level question masking a mountain of baggage the size of an iceberg's underbelly. Weiss didn't think she deserved Yang's kindness. Weiss disliked herself too much to feel worthy of a single kind word anyone had ever spoken to her in her life. From an early age she had been brought up to view kindness as a transaction; a smile from her mother when she helped set the table, or an approving pat from her father whenever she represented the family well. As time went by, they became less and less frequent until they stopped entirely, and it was around that point that she started to self-sabotage—It wasn't that she didn't deserve kindness, it was that she didn't want it. If she was cold and snappish and offputting before anyone could even think of saying something nice to her then it was just something she had no use for, not something that eluded her. The number of compliments and false smiles she continued to get from Atlas's nobility of sycophants regardless only served to reinforce her belief that kindness was simply a fabrication, an elaborate social construct used to get what one wanted.

What could Yang possibly have been getting out of this?

She wracked her brain as she kept talking at a slow, deliberate cadence, searching Yang's eyes for the answer regardless of whether they were able to meet hers or not.

"I don't understand. I don't understand what you want from me. There has to be something, this isn't... it's that other Weiss, isn't it?" Her eyes narrowed suddenly, glare sharpening as a bit of an accusatory bite came back into her tone. "The one you know. You still believe we're the same person deep down, that you can—I don't know—hug me enough times and make enough frivolous remarks and the clouds will part one day and I'll just... be her."

Her gaze fell, no concealing the sadness welling up in them as she reminded herself (not for the first time) that that was all she was ever going to be in Yang's eyes. A sad, imperfect version of a dear friend. A charity case.

There was a dose of irony in there somewhere, but she didn't care enough to find it.

"I'm not stupid, you know, despite what you seem to believe. Delusional and paranoid, maybe. But not stupid. You may have helped expose certain... deficiencies... in my character I was unaware of, but I resent the implication that you somehow manipulated me just as much as you do. I'm well aware that all I've ever been to you is just some... some broken toy to fix. And that's all I'll ever be."

It hurt deeply to admit as much, but she fought to keep it out of her voice.

She failed. The sudden hardening of her tone was an effort to mask that, the resurgence of steel in her eyes as she scrubbed them with her sleeve in a vain attempt to hide the tears brimming in them and glowered directly back at Yang, fierce enough to scare off a predator in the wilderness.

"Well, for your own sake I recommend you get this through your thick skull: it is NOT going to happen. Do you hear me? Yang, it's too... it's too late for us. The only one you seem to accept that of is the other you, which frankly raises all manner of deeply concerning psychological questions I don't have time to unpack, but it's... it's all of us. Ruby, Blake and I... we've all done terrible things. Things that don't deserve forgiveness. And we can harp on about our great philosophical reasons for doing them or how we didn't know better or we'd like to change or whatever else we manage to convince ourselves of in the moment, but the truth is... we're slaves to our nature. It might come sooner, it might come later, but we'll always find the next reason to hurt someone. We'll always be able to convince ourselves it was the right thing. And if you continue to cling to this... this idea you have of us as people you can reach, who can be helped..."

She closed her eyes in a bid to steady herself.

"...You'll get hurt."

That was a mistake, because there was no disguising the buildup of tears that flowed free when she opened them again, the deep breaths she'd been trying to take growing short and anxious.

"You've been hurt. F-from the very moment we met I've watched you—I know you won't care to admit this but I pulled you down and tangled you up in my web and j-just, just did what I always do and I poisoned you, and maybe you don't see it but I do, Yang, I see how all the light and joy's been draining out of you the l-longer you've known me and it's just—" Her hand shot to her temple, a sudden lance of pain drawing a wince as she teetered a bit like she was dizzy. She finished her thought in a low, absent mumble, mildly embarrassed and now unable to bring herself to look the other's way.

"—I can't. I've watched that happen to everyone who ever mattered in my life and I can't watch it happen to you. I won't. I understand you're a proud young woman, who for whatever reason believes she needs to be above concepts like sadness and pain for the sake of other people. But take it from someone who's held herself above those concepts for years: keep doing down this road and it's... you'll fall apart, Yang. You'll burn up like a sun. You deserve so much more than that. Than... than me."

Despite everything, a wan smile flickered over her face, and for a moment she eyed Yang's hands where they had fallen like she wanted to reach for them again. But she didn't, and the smile was was tired, faded and then gone.

"And I... don't deserve you either. Nor the headaches you give me, for that matter. So go. Go home, you dolt. I'll make sure the relic reaches you. The kindest thing you can do for me is to go back to your family and your perfect Weiss and your even more perfect Blake, because dust knows she's sooooooo special."

Wow. She really was petty. She rolled her eyes.

"Ha. Sorry. I... don't think I can have this conversation anymore, I'm just going to..."

Without glancing back up to see what sort of reaction that produced in Yang's face—because no doubt she was going to have all sorts of opinions and ultimately she knew doing the decent thing here was going to require she hurt the poor dear one last time—Weiss cautiously moved to step around her and stand before the portal, straightening herself up a bit as she cleared her face with a sniff, preparing to step through.

But she didn't yet. It was probably selfish of her to want to hear that voice one last time as well.

She didn't care.

“...Why… why do you keep doing that?”

Yang hadn’t turned around, but the hands that were hanging limply at her side when Weiss had walked past had balled up into fists

“Maybe I really don’t know you like I thought I did; Didn't think you were the kinda person to keep measuring yourself against someone you’ve never met. Why do you think that’s the only thing I’m doing?”

It pissed her off. It didn’t swallow the waves of despair that were still roiling inside her, change the slowly cementing fact that there was nothing she could do or say to stop Weiss from doing what she thought she had to do, and that the promise Yang had made was going to be broken; But it did throw a life preserver into it. She rubbed her eyes with her sleeve more forcefully than she probably had to, and to little effect; they were still wet with unshed tears as she turned around, but some of the fire that never left her soul was back to burning inside them instead of just flickering at the bottom.

She couldn’t stop this, not without hurting Weiss in a way that she couldn’t bring herself to do.




But she hoped that she had enough in her to take at least one small weight of Weiss’ shoulders before she stepped through that portal.

“It’s not! You’re not just the Weiss I know, who’d be the same if I just put all your pieces back where they belong! Even if I thought I could just bend you into her shape, I wouldn’t! You’re already whole, dumbass! You’re you!”

She allowed herself a brief, utterly exasperated grin as she put her hands up.

“Do I think you could be a better person? Probably, definitely actually, you’ve done some terrible stuff. But, I mean, shit, Weiss, I think I could be a better person, I think everyone but my sister could. But that doesn’t mean you need to be fixed. All I know about you, for sure, is that some greater force than all of us, than all of this, decided that you were supposed to be an actual monster, that you were supposed to be on the side of darkness. And weiss, you, you...”

She stepped forward and even if Weiss hadn’t turned around, swept her up into a hug and even though they were quieter the words carried the full weight of Yang's soul.

“Whatever destiny you were supposed to have, you already beat it. Destiny said to serve the darkness, and you told it to fuck off. You’re already better than should’ve been, and you did it by being this version of yourself. Not the one I already know.”

She buried her chin a little deeper in Weiss’ hair, and the words that came next were far less forceful, and fare less sure.

“...So I’m sorry about all this. I wanted you to get through this alive, I wanted to see you be a better version of you, but it was always supposed to be you. Not my Weiss. I’m sorry I ever made you think that. and I'm sorry for trying to keep you from doing what you think you have to.”

She unwound the hug and took a step back, and made sure that if really was the last time Weiss saw her, she saw a Yang that was smiling as she gave her an almost playful shove of the fist into the shoulder back towards the portal.

“So if you’re really, absolutely, sure you gotta go, Snowflake, then go. Give ‘em hell. Just give me one promise in return; after its all said and done, after you’ve done whatever the hell it is you’ve gotta do over there, if there’s even the smallest chance you could help me keep my promise… take it. Try. ‘Kay? Even if its just a one percent chance, then take that percentage point and beat your way back out with it. Because I think the world's a better place with you in it.”

 

[Gus Gungus]

“Ironwood and Carnelian turned on Weiss, allied with...the dragon-“ It was difficult to use that moniker for several reasons. “-as well as a few others including some Shadow Fang prisoners. They intended to take both the relics.” The Raven focused on the elevator shaft responded to the Qrow she actually desired to talk to, yet without looking away from the shaft. “That’s more or less it.”

“Still want to know what the hell those are.” A certain somebody grumbled to themselves.

“And you, brother? Anything go on with you, besides endless drinking?”

"Well, went to Shade. Theo kicked the crap out of me when I asked for the relic, so that was great." He replied, any offense taken to the drinking cracks expertly buried if it even existed. "Maybe he'll reconsider now that I got the faces to back the story. Speakin' of which, anyone gonna explain this guy?"

He pointed to the duplicate of himself standing directly across from him.



"Yeah. Yeah, you. I see you over there, bein' all quiet and shifty. What's with this guy? I thought we hate this guy."

“...Why… why do you keep doing that?”

Yang hadn’t turned around, but the hands that were hanging limply at her side when Weiss had walked past had balled up into fists

“Maybe I really don’t know you like I thought I did; Didn't think you were the kinda person to keep measuring yourself against someone you’ve never met. Why do you think that’s the only thing I’m doing?”

"It's not something I'm doing, Yang! It's how things are!"

Weiss whirled with an exasperated mewl and an affronted flap of the hands, the note of frustration she detected in the huntress she craved the approval of so much needling at the old kneejerk defensive instincts lying dormant in her. It wasn't an angry sound; more... overwhelmed. Almost dejected, the kind of existential rabbit hole Weiss's restless thoughts were probably going to be spinning down in freefall for the rest of her life. It was a problem with no answer. Only once before could she recall experiencing a similar crisis, one that shook her to her core and terrified her to the point of reevaluating everything she thought she knew about the world; when she had uncovered the secrets of the kingdoms, the relics, the maidens, Ozpin, all of it. That had been a dilemma she faced alone.

If nothing else, even if it was fleeting, even if it made her selfish, she was glad that wasn't entirely the case for this one.

"Do you seriously believe this is all just random?! That you, specifically, and a handful of others were simply swallowed up by a wormhole one day and spat out into a world where your friends, specifically, are all enemies and your enemies friends? Do you have the slightest concept of how infinitesimally tiny the probability of that is?! It's completely ludicrous! No! Someone or something MADE this happen! Somewhere out there there's, there's a culprit! And that's terrifying! How am I supposed to not think about that?! How can you not be thinking about it??!"

She started pacing, arms crossed, shoulders hunched, aware on some level her mouth was running away with her thoughts again but too agitated or unsettled to care.

"I mean, what does that say about free will, Yang? Was she made in my image or was I made in hers?? Was my life even real??? Am I Weiss Schnee or am I just some, some simulacrum put here to be a cautionary tale for you and your friends???? And—And the thing is, the most pathetic part is I thought I was actualized!" Her voice cracked, the makings of a scoff, a sob, and a rueful laugh all twisted into one miserable sound. She dabbed at her eyes daintily with the underside of her sleeve, still a well-bred simulacrum if nothing else. "I thought... I thought I'd done what was necessary to take control back in my life! There isn't a single moment in the last ten years that I haven't spent trying to prove that to myself, and it, and now I don't even... what if this life was never even mine? I mean, is that so insane to contemplate? Am I unhinged for even thinking that way? Because I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, Yang, that's the thing I can never stop, I just get stressed and then I'm nervous and then my head is pounding and my mind just races ahead with all these different thoughts and scenarios and they're all just awful, they're all the different ways things are going to go wrong and it'll be my fault, and I, d-dust do you think that's part of it? I just don't... I can't, Yang I can't..."

'Breathe' was the word she was looking for. Weiss didn't seem to catch just how unmitigated her shoulders' rise and fall had become by the time she was well past the threshold of being able to avert what was coming, and she buried her face in her hands with a soft, shuddering sob that opened the floodgates fully and rapidly descended into soft, shuddering weeping.

On the plus side it did mean she finally shut up long enough for Yang to continue.

“It’s not! You’re not just the Weiss I know, who’d be the same if I just put all your pieces back where they belong! Even if I thought I could just bend you into her shape, I wouldn’t! You’re already whole, dumbass! You’re you!”

She allowed herself a brief, utterly exasperated grin as she put her hands up.

“Do I think you could be a better person? Probably, definitely actually, you’ve done some terrible stuff. But, I mean, shit, Weiss, I think I could be a better person, I think everyone but my sister could. But that doesn’t mean you need to be fixed. All I know about you, for sure, is that some greater force than all of us, than all of this, decided that you were supposed to be an actual monster, that you were supposed to be on the side of darkness. And weiss, you, you...”

She stepped forward and even if Weiss hadn’t turned around, swept her up into a hug and even though they were quieter the words carried the full weight of Yang's soul.

“Whatever destiny you were supposed to have, you already beat it. Destiny said to serve the darkness, and you told it to fuck off. You’re already better than should’ve been, and you did it by being this version of yourself. Not the one I already know.”

She buried her chin a little deeper in Weiss’ hair, and the words that came next were far less forceful, and far less sure.

“...So I’m sorry about all this. I wanted you to get through this alive, I wanted to see you be a better version of you, but it was always supposed to be you. Not my Weiss. I’m sorry I ever made you think that. and I'm sorry for trying to keep you from doing what you think you have to.”

Oh. She supposed she needed that.

A bizarre number of people seemed to think Weiss had a problem with her diminutive stature, but the truth was it was rather nice at times like this. The way she cried was sad in and of itself; gentle and quiet practically to the point of being inaudible, the product of plenty of practice ensuring she couldn't be heard behind a closed door. That meant she was still capable of listening when Yang spoke despite throwing away her composure so thoroughly and disgracefully (again), and when she felt her arms coming she allowed a single louder sob of anguish to tear its way out of her as she took to the embrace like a dying man to water.

At first she was too uncertain to even wrap her own arms back around the blonde in turn, so she just rested her hands on her collar and buried her face so deep in Yang's shoulder she honestly wouldn't have cared if she never came back up for air. For those few seconds, her thoughts slowed; her mind, lungs and heart stopped feeling like they were conspiring against her rather than keeping her alive. She finally allowed her arms to slip around Yang's neck, and then she just... let herself cry. On the rare occasion tears came, which appeared to be happening with frightening regularity of late, they were always something Weiss tried to beat back inside herself. To cut off at the knees. Another weakness to tame. She had become practically flawless at it.

It had been a long, long time since she just let the impulse to bury her head in something and cry run its course. She was glad that something was Yang.

"Yhrr shf-"

She didn't much feel like talking at that moment, and in all honesty she had probably said enough. But one thing among the caress of Yang's words did bother her, and the taller woman felt an astoundingly wet face shifting against her neck so Weiss could speak without sputtering on that ridiculously gorgeous hair again.

"You're so wonderful. Don't ever apologize to me."

The order may have lacked the teeth or icy resolve Weiss brought to bear normally, but Yang knew that tone better than to think for even a millisecond that it was a request. Other than that she was content to just listen, let their breathing sync, the fact that the huntress was saying all the right things to reassure her the cherry on top of the fact that her voice was like a calming melody to Weiss anyway. She didn't want to say or do anything that might spoil the moment, though a moment later she did cough and felt compelled to add.

"I, um... lost the coupon."

In a horrifying explosion, but neither of them needed to be reminded of that.

"I suppose I'll just have to owe you one."

She unwound the hug and took a step back, and made sure that if really was the last time Weiss saw her, she saw a Yang that was smiling as she gave her an almost playful shove of the fist into the shoulder back towards the portal.

“So if you’re really, absolutely, sure you gotta go, Snowflake, then go. Give ‘em hell. Just give me one promise in return; after its all said and done, after you’ve done whatever the hell it is you’ve gotta do over there, if there’s even the smallest chance you could help me keep my promise… take it. Try. ‘Kay? Even if its just a one percent chance, then take that percentage point and beat your way back out with it. Because I think the world's a better place with you in it.”

Yang found the arms she eventually had to disentangle herself from to be reluctant ones, and had all this not been occurring towards the tail end of a situation so urgent and pressed for time that it was honestly absurd they'd given it this much in the first place Weiss might've been a bit more adamant in that reluctance. But as much as she may have liked for the two of them to exist in a vacuum, away from everything else, she knew it simply wasn't the case.

And it never would be.

Her eyes were still sad, but it was a more accepting melancholy tempered by crystal calm that greeted Yang as they parted. They narrowed a bit in coy acknowledgement of the nickname and words, a wry smirk playing on the corner of her lips as she gasped in a scandalized way at the shove and threw a far wimpier one back in return. Not exactly a winning play, but she had a better one in mind.

"Oh, did you promise me something? I must've forgotten," she drawled, tossing her hair in the sort of dismissive mean girl way she thought Yang might find funny. "But I suppose it'd be a tragedy to disappoint that face, so I'll see what I can do. Oh, and Yang—"

She stepped forward, and barring any serious objections from the huntress made to float in from one side and leave another delicate, chaste—and perfectly innocent!!!—peck on her cheek.

Which meant it was a COMPLETE swerve when at the very last second she shifted her target a few centimeters to the left instead, planting one firm on the lips for however long it took Yang to react. At which point she abruptly broke it off, pinched her cheek and darted back out of reach to avoid any retaliaion, hand flying to her mouth to cover a bout of riotous giggles.



"Sorry! I am devious, aren't I?"

Oh well. She was a terrible person anyway.

And really, 'buh'? She forgot how repressed some people were at 20.

Confident that was about as emphatic a last word as one could seize, she refrained from waiting to see Yang's reaction before she turned and rocketed through the portal like an impish, giggling missile of some kind. Her disposition was solemn again when she landed, skidding to a stop on the other side and pointing for the door to Vacuo with a withering stare at whoever happened to be closest.

"Out."

"You sure we can't-"

"Out."

"Kay." He headed for the portal.​

 

[MyrtenRose]

She stepped forward, and barring any serious objections from the huntress made to float in from one side and leave another delicate, chaste—and perfectly innocent!!!—peck on her cheek.

Which meant it was a COMPLETE swerve when at the very last second she shifted her target a few centimeters to the left instead, planting one firm on the lips for however long it took Yang to react. At which point she abruptly broke it off, pinched her cheek and darted back out of reach to avoid any retaliaion, hand flying to her mouth to cover a bout of riotous giggles.

"Sorry! I am devious, aren't I?"

Oh well. She was a terrible person anyway.

And really, 'buh'? She forgot how repressed some people were at 20.

Confident that was about as emphatic a last word as one could seize, she refrained from waiting to see Yang's reaction she turned and rocketed through the portal like an impish, giggling missile of some kind.

After Weiss had departed....

"That was...something." Not even she could deny that was weirdly, strangely adorable and precious. If the two's attention hadn't been solely focused on each other, they likely would have seen her begin to stir a very short while beforehand, and by the time THAT happened, she was conscious enough to witness it. Still aching like crazy, which was a concern ™, but she was tougher than that. And she had enough presence of mind to notice what was going on around her. "Didn't know she was capable of giggling like that."​

"Well, went to Shade. Theo kicked the crap out of me when I asked for the relic, so that was great." He replied, any offense taken to the drinking cracks expertly buried if it even existed. "Maybe he'll reconsider now that I got the faces to back the story. Speakin' of which, anyone gonna explain this guy?"

He pointed to the duplicate of himself standing directly across from him.

"Yeah. Yeah, you. I see you over there, bein' all quiet and shifty. What's with this guy? I thought we hate this guy."

That being revealed did get this world's Raven's iron focus on the general direction of the elevator shaft to break, turning to look over her shoulder. "He beat the crap out of you??" She seemed alarmed, concerned...for about two seconds before she let out several chuckles. "Yeah, that sounds like Theo, alright. He and Tock often seemed like two peas in a pod, separated at birth." She deadpanned with a grin, finding the imagined picture of Theodore smacking the shit out of Qrow with his gravity gauntlets very very amusing. She continued more seriously: "Probably should have had more proof for your story though, yeah. Got to admit, without tangible proof, it.......well, far-fetched is putting it mildly."

The other Qrow's mouth opened when he was called out, but anything he was going to say was cut off by the other Raven. "Like I'm any more beloved?" She pointed out with a bit of a wistful frown. "Or this one." Her own multi-colored eyes locked onto Neo just then, remembering the villain well from the attack on her daughter she had thwarted...and the fact that she had also assisted with Ozpin's forces here back at Haven. "Adversity makes for strange bedfellows. You don't have to be worried about him." She stated with finality. "I'm keeping him in line."

The huntress didn't share in her double's confidence about that, but said nothing, perfectly willing to ignore that her brother was here.​

She grew solemn again when she landed, skidding to a stop on the other side and pointing for the door to Vacuo with a withering stare at whoever happened to be closest.

"Out."

"You sure we can't-"

"Out."

"Kay." He headed for the portal.

Both Ravens followed, one muttering "at last" to herself and the other shoving the trashy Qrow through. Vernal was quick to follow after them, though as Cinder approached(after giving the frozen Yang a completely bold grin and sticking her tongue out at her), she stopped right by where Ruby still stood and shot her a glance. One that was returned after a moment, and then after another moment both looked at Weiss. This wasn't the partner that she knew but to leave without saying anything seemed inherently wrong. But at the same time, anything lengthy was not something they had time for. So... "I hope everything went great over there, and that things go great over here too after we're gone."

"Yeah, what she said." They waited for any replies before both nodded respectfully and went for the portal.

Gwen didn't go, still tapping away and searching through the camera feeds, but she did briefly glance at Weiss. "Welcome back, councilwoman." ​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Oh. She supposed she needed that.

A bizarre number of people seemed to think Weiss had a problem with her diminutive stature, but the truth was it was rather nice at times like this. The way she cried was sad in and of itself; gentle and quiet practically to the point of being inaudible, the product of plenty of practice ensuring she couldn't be heard behind a closed door. That meant she was still capable of listening when Yang spoke despite throwing away her composure so thoroughly and disgracefully (again), and when she felt her arms coming she allowed a single louder sob of anguish to tear its way out of her as she took to the embrace like a dying man to water.

At first she was too uncertain to even wrap her own arms back around the blonde in turn, so she just rested her hands on her collar and buried her face so deep in Yang's shoulder she honestly wouldn't have cared if she never came back up for air. For those few seconds, her thoughts slowed; her mind, lungs and heart stopped feeling like they were conspiring against her rather than keeping her alive. She finally allowed her arms to slip around Yang's neck, and then she just... let herself cry. On the rare occasion tears came, which appeared to be happening with frightening regularity of late, they were always something Weiss tried to beat back inside herself. To cut off at the knees. Another weakness to tame. She had become practically flawless at it.

It had been a long, long time since she just let the impulse to bury her head in something and cry run its course. She was glad that something was Yang.

"Yhrr shf-"

She didn't much feel like talking at that moment, and in all honesty she had probably said enough. But one thing among the caress of Yang's words did bother her, and the taller woman felt an astoundingly wet face shifting against her neck so Weiss could speak without sputtering on that ridiculously gorgeous hair again.

"You're so wonderful. Don't ever apologize to me."

The order may have lacked the teeth or icy resolve Weiss brought to bear normally, but Yang knew that tone better than to think for even a millisecond that it was a request. Other than that she was content to just listen, let their breathing sync, the fact that the huntress was saying all the right things to reassure her the cherry on top of the fact that her voice was like a calming melody to Weiss anyway. She didn't want to say or do anything that might spoil the moment, though a moment later she did cough and felt compelled to add.

"I, um... lost the coupon."

In a horrifying explosion, but neither of them needed to be reminded of that.

"I suppose I'll just have to owe you one."

Yang let out a quiet snort and shook her head, doing her best not to tickle Weiss' nose in the process.

"I know I already ruined Weiss 'Never Say Sorry' Schnee's reputation, but you were owed one. From like, the universe, if not me."

This was all she needed. A moment where she knew Weiss felt safe. Where the councilwoman was making her choice to jump into the fire so she could save something, not so she could end something. She still felt horrible about just... leaving Weiss with the wolves and the monsters back in Atlas. Parts of her were still screaming thats where she should've been; not just for Weiss, but for all the people there. Weiss wasn't the only one Yang wanted to protect.

But Weiss was always complaining that she didn't need Yang's protection, and there wasn't anyone better suited for fixing that shitshow on the other side of the portal than her.

So this would have to be enough; an embrace she needed just as much, doing what little she could to help Weiss take some warmth back into the cold.

"But yea. You can owe me one."

Yang found the arms she eventually had to disentangle herself from to be reluctant ones, and had all this not been occurring towards the tail end of a situation so urgent and pressed for time that it was honestly absurd they'd given it this much in the first place Weiss might've been a bit more adamant in that reluctance. But as much as she may have liked for the two of them to exist in a vacuum, away from everything else, she knew it simply wasn't the case.

And it never would be.

Her eyes were still sad, but it was a more accepting melancholy tempered by crystal calm that greeted Yang as they parted. They narrowed a bit in coy acknowledgement of the nickname and words, a wry smirk playing on the corner of her lips as she gasped in a scandalized way at the shove and threw a far wimpier one back in return. Not exactly a winning play, but she had a better one in mind.

"Oh, did you promise me something? I must've forgotten," she drawled, tossing her hair in the sort of dismissive mean girl way she thought Yang might find funny. "But I suppose it'd be a tragedy to disappoint that face, so I'll see what I can do. Oh, and Yang—"

She stepped forward, and barring any serious objections from the huntress made to float in from one side and leave another delicate, chaste—and perfectly innocent!!!—peck on her cheek.

She smirked at the words and rolled her eyes, planting her hands on either hip and letting out a short laugh as Weiss tiny arms tried to shove her back. "Weiss Schnee, forgetting a debt? please. But yea, thanks 'Madam Councilwoman', just see if you can fit it into your busy schedule-"

The eyes Weiss met when she stepped in closer were still soft with hurt despite Yang's light and breezy words. Even if Yang accepted this was how things had to go, even if that small, not even really a promise from Weiss had lifted so much weight off Yang's soul, had left her convinced that Weiss was going to at least try to be a hero instead of just a martyr, she knew that's all it was.

That she'd try. Just as Yang didn't believe in destiny, she knew that sometimes, it didn't work out. That the heroes didn't come home to their family, or even win in death. But that was the life; Even if they'd come at it from completely different roads, the path they both walked was a dangerous one. So long as Weiss tried, that was enough. And if another one of these stupid, flustering, very confusing kisses on the cheek was what Weiss needed for good luck or to say goodbye or whatever then, well, gosh darn it Yang was willing to make that sacrifice-

Which meant it was a COMPLETE swerve when at the very last second she shifted her target a few centimeters to the left instead, planting one firm on the lips for however long it took Yang to react. At which point she abruptly broke it off, pinched her cheek and darted back out of reach to avoid any retaliaion, hand flying to her mouth to cover a bout of riotous giggles.

"Sorry! I am devious, aren't I?"

Oh well. She was a terrible person anyway.

And really, 'buh'? She forgot how repressed some people were at 20.

Confident that was about as emphatic a last word as one could seize, she refrained from waiting to see Yang's reaction before she turned and rocketed through the portal like an impish, giggling missile of some kind.

It was probably a few seconds longer than it should have taken, Yang's eyes wide with shock and with all of the sadness and heavy thoughts that had been behind them suddenly banished to the shadowrealm in favor of a healthy mixture of surprise, gay panic, warmth, and guilt. When she finally beat those emotions into slightly less chaotic shape that allowed a coherent thought, she tried in vain to snag Weiss' sleeve as she skipped off, her eyes slowly colors along with her cheeks.

"Weiss yoU CAN'T JUST DO THAT AN-"

Her disposition was solemn again when she landed, skidding to a stop on the other side and pointing for the door to Vacuo with a withering stare at whoever happened to be closest.

"Out."

"You sure we can't-"

"Out."

"Kay." He headed for the portal.

When Qrow came through the portal, he found Yang leaning against the wall with one hand, her eyes focused on the other as if she could study the nails on a prosthetic. She looked up, as if she didn't expect them to be coming through right after Weiss, and gave him a two fingered wave and greeted him totally casually because she was a totally casual person and this was a totally casual situation she was handling totally casually and her eyes were just red because they were sunburned and her irises were red because they were also sunburned she hated the sun always had.

"Yyyyyyyyyo."

After Weiss had departed....

"That was...something." Not even she could deny that was weirdly, strangely adorable and precious. If the two's attention hadn't been solely focused on each other, they likely would have seen her begin to stir a very short while beforehand, and by the time THAT happened, she was conscious enough to witness it. Still aching like crazy, which was a concern ™, but she was tougher than that. And she had enough presence of mind to notice what was going on around her. "Didn't know she was capable of giggling like that."

"That, t-that was NOTHING, she saw NOTHING! HEY Whats that over there I'll be back in six hours" she said, not even waiting for a response before she just straight up shotgun gauntlet jumped onto the nearby roof and power walked away

 

[Gus Gungus]

The other Qrow's mouth opened when he was called out, but anything he was going to say was cut off by the other Raven. "Like I'm any more beloved?"

"You're here."



There was an offbeat, almost intangible quality to Qrow's voice when it reached the Raven he'd quite literally known since birth again, and if she turned it was to a look that was... familiar, if distantly so. It was the kind of look she hadn't seen in a while. The kind of look he used to give her at Beacon, when she got somewhere with Tai or made the effort to talk to someone even though she didn't want to or knocked some preppy city douchebag who thought he was above training with non-kingdom 'barbarians' down a peg or two.

"Whatever else might be going on—And trust me, I'm having a hard time keepin' up—You know what that makes me?"

He vanished in a flutter of wings, and when he reappeared as anything other than a tiny black orb of motion it was behind the older Raven in prime position to grapple her into something that was about 75% headlock, 15% hug. The final 10% was drunk.

"PROUD OF YOUUUUUUUUU!"

Then, because Qrow was 100% drunk, he even had the audacity to use his other arm to sweep both this Remnant's Raven and her brother into it as well.



"Look at us! One big screwed up family! Or two versions of a small part of a big screwed up family!"

He ran away then.

When Qrow came through the portal, he found Yang leaning against the wall with one hand, her eyes focused on the other as if she could study the nails on a prosthetic. She looked up, as if she didn't expect them to be coming through right after Weiss, and gave him a two fingered wave and greeted him totally casually because she was a totally casual person and this was a totally casual situation she was handling totally casually and her eyes were just red because they were sunburned and her irises were red because they were also sunburned she hated the sun always had.

"Yyyyyyyyyo."

"Heeeeeyyyy."

Qrow was trying equally hard to look inconspicuous when he ambled through the portal, only lucky for him (or unlucky for Yang) her emotional state was about as hard to read as the Sunday comics given that it was practically written over her eyes. Plus whatever had Weiss had done to make her so off-kilter was clearly way more thorough than his shenanigans with the Branwen bunch.

"...Uh... she say something?"

"That, t-that was NOTHING, she saw NOTHING! HEY Whats that over there I'll be back in six hours" she said, not even waiting for a response before she just straight up shotgun gauntlet jumped onto the nearby roof and power walked away

"—Hey!"

He repeated, more emphatically, Yang finding higher ground brought her no solace because bird. He wasn't a bird by the time he touched down, though, his own pace not as motivated but still dogged as he took a step or two after her and uttered one final, solemn repetition.

"...Hey. Hey, Yang, look. I've been a pretty rotten uncle. Saw how lousy things were going in Atlas and I just thought—Figured maybe you kids'd be better off working separate from me for a while. You know."

The slur in his voice suggested he barely knew himself, at least right then. But he wanted to take the chance to at least try and explain it, to make sure Yang especially knew the reason someone in her life had bailed out on her had nothing to do with her and everything to do with his curse.

Or maybe just his flakiness. Like he could ever really tell the difference.



"Your sister and me, we're trying to deal with... all of this... in our own ways. Me with the drinking, her... going back inside that pre-Beacon shell of hers a little. Maybe we're not doing the best job. I know you're having a tough time too, you just got better than us at hiding it." He sighed, pinching his brow. "...We don't have to get into it now. I just hope none of that messes with the fact that if you need anything... to talk, or... you know, anything. I'll be... around. And I hope it doesn't mean you've felt like a paranoid wackjob version of your friend is the only person you've been able to lean on these past few months."​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"You're here."

There was an offbeat, almost intangible quality to Qrow's voice when it reached the Raven he'd quite literally known since birth again, and if she turned it was to a look that was... familiar, if distantly so. It was the kind of look she hadn't seen in a while. The kind of look he used to give her at Beacon, when she got somewhere with Tai or made the effort to talk to someone even though she didn't want to or knocked some preppy city douchebag who thought he was above training with non-kingdom 'barbarians' down a peg or two.

There was something unusual about the way he said those words, enough so that she looked his way with one eyebrow raised in surprise. Shocked surprise that only intensified at the expression on his own face just then. One that she hadn't seen in...years. Long enough that she didn't know exactly how to respond to it. Her mouth opened to say something but she didn't even manage to stammer anything out before he continued.​

"Whatever else might be going on—And trust me, I'm having a hard time keepin' up—You know what that makes me?"

He vanished in a flutter of wings, and when he reappeared as anything other than a tiny black orb of motion it was behind the older Raven in prime position to grapple her into something that was about 75% headlock, 15% hug. The final 10% was drunk.

"PROUD OF YOUUUUUUUUU!"

Her muscles tensed immediately at the burst of sudden movement, and she even initially flinched at the arm yanking her into some kind of alcoholic wrestling grab hug. Following that she just stood there, frozen. Not trying to fight it off, or escape it, just utterly still. It had been an even longer time than that look since he had tried to pull something like this on her. Hugs were in rare supply among the tribe of thieves and killers, especially with them two. Positivity didn't really come naturally to them. But after she got over that stiff awkwardness, it pretty much played out exactly how Qrow himself would have responded:

Eye rolling and some initially reluctant gentle patting to one of the arms. The most she could do at the moment anyway, since he was behind her.​

Then, because Qrow was 100% drunk, he even had the audacity to use his other arm to sweep both this Remnant's Raven and her brother into it as well.

"Look at us! One big screwed up family! Or two versions of a small part of a big screwed up family!"

He ran away then.

The other Qrow just hung there limply the whole time the awkward embrace lasted, but once the shock wore off, he was looking towards his Raven with a nearly unreadable look, but when she glanced over and met his gaze, she knew. Her eyes rested on him for a few moments before averting her eyes to the ground. Thankfully, it didn't last too long as the Qrow who started it all took off running.

"Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup, he's drunk." Vernal contributed her backseat commentary from several feet away.

"Tch."

"Pfft."

"Forget you saw this!"

Three voices demanded at once. She replied with only a look.

​

"That, t-that was NOTHING, she saw NOTHING! HEY Whats that over there I'll be back in six hours" she said, not even waiting for a response before she just straight up shotgun gauntlet jumped onto the nearby roof and power walked away

"I saw it all." : D

"HEY WAIT!!!"​

"Your sister and me, we're trying to deal with... all of this... in our own ways. Me with the drinking, her... going back inside that pre-Beacon shell of hers a little. Maybe we're not doing the best job. I know you're having a tough time too, you just got better than us at hiding it." He sighed, pinching his brow. "...We don't have to get into it now. I just hope none of that messes with the fact that if you need anything... to talk, or... you know, anything. I'll be... around. And I hope it doesn't mean you've felt like a paranoid wackjob version of your friend is the only person you've been able to lean on these past few months."

Super speed brought up Miss In Her Shell after both Yang and the uncle that pursued her, catching up with both in time to overhear the second half of that little speech. The only reason she missed the first half was she got delayed some. A delay that was explained, as when she reformed from her petal burst, all the Branwens were there too! Okay, maybe she had been more than a little touched by that strange but AMAZING display back there, and inspired too. After all, technically they were all family, to varying degrees of connection. "We all can be!" She tacked on to her uncle's statement(and she appreciated that they had sort of similar trains of thought just now), before rushing forth to pin Yang to the ground in a tackle hug. It had been TOO long.

"After all this, your first thought is to try and run away?! That's a big noooooooope."

One Raven was smiling, but her short-haired doppelganger and the other Qrow were just caught up feeling extremely awkward and uncomfortable, like they didn't belong anywhere near this. The kind of unpleasant things a portal semblance made it conveniently easy to avoid, but well...in this case the only portals she could make were to the people standing here. What's more, the former maiden couldn't bring herself to do it, even if there was another option.

​

 

[MidwayLives]

Neo still couldn’t stand anyone here.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

One that was returned after a moment, and then after another moment both looked at Weiss. This wasn't the partner that she knew but to leave without saying anything seemed inherently wrong. But at the same time, anything lengthy was not something they had time for. So... "I hope everything went great over there, and that things go great over here too after we're gone."

"Yeah, what she said." They waited for any replies before both nodded respectfully and went for the portal.

CRACK

The moment Cinder took her hand off the Dragonsicle, a frustrated scream from inside saw a network of cracks appear through its outer layer. Just how deep they ran was difficult to appraise, but a moment later they were gone as a small, finely manicured hand touched the ice firmly to renew it, the screams within growing fainter and more enraged in tandem.



Weiss glanced up at them, expression in its default mode of impassive with a hint of wariness as she took a moment out of her day to chide the younger maiden.

"There's moisture you can freeze in the air. Generating it all yourself is simply a waste of energy."

That single tip proffered, she turned her gaze to Ruby and studied her for a moment, letting her eyes crinkle into a pensive squint. When she finally spoke, it was with a practiced neutrality that matched her face, tone brusque.

"It's a shame we weren't able to speak more, miss Rose. I'm sure you're aware your sister thinks the world of you; She'd throw herself from the highest peak in Atlas if she thought it'd ease your burden even slightly."

Blue eyes settled on silver for seconds that felt like minutes, scrutinizing and curious.

"I sincerely hope you remember to return the favor every once in a while."

She gave them a curt nod in unison and let her gaze fall back to the scroll in her hands, thumbs already a blur as she ensured the preparations she needed were in place.​

m: the staff, you say... My my. It would appear our timeframe has jumped ahead considerably.
w: It's better this way. You have her?
m: naturally. Classroom 11-D; The site of many a drafty and joyless Saturday morning detention.
w: Wait for me there.

Gwen didn't go, still tapping away and searching through the camera feeds, but she did briefly glance at Weiss. "Welcome back, councilwoman."

"Gwendolyn." Weiss returned politely, if with a vague hint of an icy strain. She reminded herself to check the scarring on her knee if she ever had a single moment to herself again. "I have a list of instructions."

Presuming said instructions were followed, wherever Blake was coordinating her clones' assault from—Be it the same classroom or another location on-site—she heard the security mechanisms engage a split second before thick steel barriers shuttered down over the walls and exits, a layer of hardlight that seemed to glow brighter than the norm fizzling to life over them.

With everything that had happened, how close she seemed to have veered to a complete breaking point, it would've been easy to assume that she was done; that her reign was at an end, that she was out of cards to play. That Weiss Schnee didn't have a plan.



That would've been a mistake.​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Super speed brought up Miss In Her Shell after both Yang and the uncle that pursued her, catching up with both in time to overhear the second half of that little speech. The only reason she missed the first half was she got delayed some. A delay that was explained, as when she reformed from her petal burst, all the Branwens were there too! Okay, maybe she had been more than a little touched by that strange but AMAZING display back there, and inspired too. After all, technically they were all family, to varying degrees of connection. "We all can be!" She tacked on to her uncle's statement(and she appreciated that they had sort of similar trains of thought just now), before rushing forth to pin Yang to the ground in a tackle hug. It had been TOO long.

"Or y'know, just me and Ruby or whoever ya want really," Qrow mumbled, aware as he was that the bridges between Yang and any version of her mom probably maybe weren't all the way close to being mended yet the way his were. Or... were starting to be. Maybe it was just the cynic in him.

...

Was he still drunk?

​

 

[MyrtenRose]

CRACK

The moment Cinder took her hand off the Dragonsicle, a frustrated scream from inside saw a network of cracks appear through its outer layer. Just how deep they ran was difficult to appraise, but a moment later they were gone as a small, finely manicured hand touched the ice firmly to renew it, the screams within growing fainter and more enraged in tandem.

Weiss glanced up at them, expression in its default mode of impassive with a hint of wariness as she took a moment out of her day to chide the younger maiden.

"There's moisture you can freeze in the air. Generating it all yourself is simply a waste of energy."

Then...

A PERSONAL TIP FROM THE COUNCILWOMAN MAIDEN!! THE ONE WHO HAD KICKED SO MUCH MAJOR ASS IN THAT AMAZING LIGHTSHOW FIGHT AGAINST MY DOUCHEY DOUBLE!!!

That was some advice she would take absolutely to heart, even if it was a really minor tip, just because of who it was coming from. "Thanks!" : D​

 

[MyrtenRose]

"Gwendolyn." Weiss returned politely, if with a vague hint of an icy strain. She reminded herself to check the scarring on her knee if she ever had a single moment to herself again. "I have a list of instructions."

Presuming said instructions were followed, wherever Blake was coordinating her clones' assault from—Be it the same classroom or another location on-site—she heard the security mechanisms engage a split second before thick steel barriers shuttered down over the walls and exits, a layer of hardlight that seemed to glow brighter than the norm fizzling to life over them.

With everything that had happened, how close she seemed to have veered to a complete breaking point, it would've been easy to assume that she was done; that her reign was at an end, that she was out of cards to play. That Weiss Schnee didn't have a plan.

That would've been a mistake.

Gwen's ear perked up and she lifted her head back up from the screen to look towards Weiss and nodded. All the instructions given were followed to the letter and the area subsequently secured. When that was all finished, she looked back at Weiss and confirmed that it was done. Her eyes drifted down briefly towards Weiss's knee again, and the guilt got to her again. "Ma'am, I...there's likely no amount of times I could say this to make up for that error, but I am really sorry my failure cost you. I didn't...I was so focused on the gun on his hand that I didn't factor in Carnelian. The immediate threat was what I concentrated on, and I thought I would have been fast enough to stop Ironwood before he could pull his other weapon and...I wasn't. Worse, you paid for my mistake. I apologize for that blunder. If there's anything else I can do to try and make up for it, please tell me and I will endeavor to make it happen." Her eyes shut for a moment after that, face scrunching up into a wince from her ribs, but she didn't cry out with pain.

Her eyes shot back open and she buried the feeling at least a little longer. "Also, ma'am. This may be too much to ask, but if you can find it in yourself to explain what's really going on here, why these things are so important that Ironwood and Carnelian pulled this kind of move to take them, exactly what it is that I shot at my hero for...I would really appreciate being briefed. In full."​

 

[Gus Gungus]

Gwen's ear perked up and she lifted her head back up from the screen to look towards Weiss and nodded. All the instructions given were followed to the letter and the area subsequently secured. When that was all finished, she looked back at Weiss and confirmed that it was done. Her eyes drifted down briefly towards Weiss's knee again, and the guilt got to her again. "Ma'am, I...there's likely no amount of times I could say this to make up for that error, but I am really sorry my failure cost you. I didn't...I was so focused on the gun on his hand that I didn't factor in Carnelian. The immediate threat was what I concentrated on, and I thought I would have been fast enough to stop Ironwood before he could pull his other weapon and...I wasn't. Worse, you paid for my mistake. I apologize for that blunder. If there's anything else I can do to try and make up for it, please tell me and I will endeavor to make it happen." Her eyes shut for a moment after that, face scrunching up into a wince from her ribs, but she didn't cry out with pain.

Weiss sighed, a terse huff of air that nevertheless didn't quite carry the scorn and icy ire the councilwoman was capable of mustering. Whether that was owed to some form of empathy towards the operative's shows of loyalty and fortitude on her behalf or simple impatience was unclear. "It's fine, Gwen."

Her eyes shot back open and she buried the feeling at least a little longer. "Also, ma'am. This may be too much to ask, but if you can find it in yourself to explain what's really going on here, why these things are so important that Ironwood and Carnelian pulled this kind of move to take them, exactly what it is that I shot at my hero for...I would really appreciate being briefed. In full."

Weiss thought about it.

​