Burden and Blame Chapter 2

Weiss was sick and tired of waiting for her leader to wake from her dreaded coma. No progress had been made in terms of improving Ruby's skills as a fighter, or her knowledge in the classroom. Eagerly awaiting her teammates' return from their final classes, Weiss had finally come up with an idea that was sure to make them all ecstatic.

As they came in, Weiss sat up on her bunk with a smile. Scared, having never seen the heiress smile at them so honestly before, they approached hesitantly.

"Weiss? Is everything alright?" Blake asked, just as off-put as Yang.

"Actually yes, everything's alright. In fact, I have some really great news."

"And that is…?" Blake asked, trying to resist the urge to turn and flee.

"I may… have a way to wake Ruby." Weiss said happily with a small amount of hesitation.

Both Blake and Yang's jaws dropped. The two girls had known it was something big, as it had got Weiss to smile, but not something like that. It was almost too much for Yang to handle as she started blinking, making sure she had heard correctly.

"How?!" They both said in unison in more than surprised tones.

"Well, I'm a Schnee Heiress…" She said, pausing to let it sink in. When they still didn't connect the dots, she explained a little more.

"I have access to the best that money can buy. I can contract a team to attempt a cure. Within a few weeks, hopefully they could have it tested, and then have a batch sent here. If all goes well, Ruby could possibly wake up in the near future."

The two onlookers stood speechless as Weiss had just come up with a plan to solve a problem that had been plaguing them for weeks. It seemed like nothing could make today better besides the awakening of Ruby at the very moment.

"You know you two could thank me or something you know."

Yang said nothing as she moved in to give Weiss a massive bear hug, almost squeezing the life out of her.

"P-please! Please let go!" Weiss managed to get out before her air supply ran short.

"Well…" Blake sighed "Looks like the Ice Princessis desperate to get her little flower back as soon as possible."

Weiss blushed, trying her best to remain coordinated and cohesive.

"Well that's not all of it! We need our leader back. On top of that, the more we wait, the further she gets behind." Weiss' confidence in her own excuse was lacking. "You know I'm right. It's for her own good as well as mine- I mean ours!"

"Uh-huh… And next you're going to invest the rest of your money into a cure for cancer." Blake said, sarcasm clearly evident.

"Just, lay off for one moment would you?" Weiss asked, even more blood rushing to the pale girl's face. "We all know that we need Rose back, and this is the quickest way to do it."

"I have to agree, I want to talk to my little sister." Yang said, hope in her voice.

"You already talk to her..." Blake said, referencing the numerous amounts of times Yang had sat next to Ruby's bed and carried on a conversation singlehandedly to make herself feel better.

"I want her to be able to actually talk back!" Yang said with irritation showing in her voice.

"Not like she would actually get a moment to talk if she were awake…" Weiss thought as she listened to the conversation before her.

"Well if what Weiss said is possible, then that can happen." Blake said.

"Should I go through with it then?" Weiss asked, planning on doing it anyway.

"Of course." Yang said with excitement.

"Go for it." Blake said flatly.

"Great!" Weiss said happily. "I'll make the calls tomorrow morning and see what I can do."

The others prepared for and went to bed. All but Weiss eventually drifted off into a deep slumber. While everyone else dreamt, Weiss was wide awake as she desperately sought anything that would aid in her attempt at waking Ruby.

The next day, Weiss was up before everyone else. She woke early before sunrise, took her shower, and ate breakfast before Blake had even managed to open her eyes.

"C'mon and get up. Today's Saturday, so we don't have classes and that gives us time we can be using to help Ruby." Weiss said to Blake the moment she sat up.

"Damn it Weiss!" Blake said drowsily. "Give me two seconds to wake up, will you? Wait… did you even sleep at all last night? You look horrible."

Weiss replied with an angry glare at Blake who was immediately wary of the heiress.

"Just pretend like you're still asleep like I've been doing and maybe she'll give up and go away." Yang said, her voice muffled by the pillow her face was crammed into. "Oh, she's still there, isn't she…?"

"Yes I am, now both of you get the hell up, now!" Weiss yelled, annoyed how both of her teammates hadn't budged.

Unmotivated groans came from both girls as they slowly got up. Weiss, satisfied with her work, went on to grab her scroll and began dialing a number for a pharmaceutical company.

"Hello? Yes, this is Weiss Schnee of the Schnee Dust Company, and I would like to talk to your director." The conversation went on, and eventually she was connected to the head of the company.

"Ms. Schnee. What an unexpected honor."



"I need to borrow your finest chemists, engineers, scientists, researchers, and your best laboratory."

"Ma'am, may I ask what this is about?"



"Yes, I am in need of medicine that can solve the issue of a coma. If I remember correctly, my family invests in your company, indeed?"

"Yes, that's correct. What would we have to gain, if said medicine were to succeed?"

"Well, it's not just about what I would pay, but what the market would."

"Hmm. I think that's a fair statement, but you'll have to fund this little project yourself."

"But of course. I'll also be contacting several other companies and informing them they will be working closely with you to get this done. The faster it's completed and the more efficient it is, the more I pay, and the more you can sell it on the open market for, with the reputation of having satisfied the Schnee family backing it."

"Alright. We'll have our best staff assembled and ready to proceed by this afternoon."

"Good." Weiss ended the call and proceeded to repeat the talks with several of the world's most reputable medical companies, meeting no opposition along the way. Blake and Yang simply watched in confusion as Weiss had just formed the world's best team of medicinal experts using her family's name alone, Lien hardly being mentioned.

Weiss turned around after the final call and summarized the events of the past few minutes.

"Well, everyone seems willing to work together towards mutual gain, and to make a little extra cash, so this might work." She sighed. "Only problem is that it may not be done for a month or two, if ever."

"Something's better than nothing." Yang said, full of hope.

"Yeah Yang, you're right about that. I just hope this goes well. I caused this, so getting Ruby out of her coma is the least I can do to make up for it." Weiss thought to herself.

"So what happens if this all works out?" Blake asked.

"Well, then we get our teammate back and train her in what she's missed, obviously." Yang said.

Weiss wanted to bang her head against a brick wall. "That's not exactly going to be easy. She's missed weeks' worth of work, and I'm not exactly sure she's learned anything being in a coma and all."

"You know…" Yang started. "I wonder what she must be thinking about."

"From what I've read about comas and dreams, the people who are dreaming or in a coma have thoughts based on what they hear." Blake said, adding her knowledge into the mix.

Weiss got a sudden chill down her spine. "Oh no. No, no, no. If that's true, she will have heard everything I said and then she'll know how I feel about her. But wait, if she's in a coma, and Yang was right about her feeling the same way, she'll just assume it was a part of her dreams and not say anything about it!"

"You alright there, Princess?" Yang asked, snapping her fingers in front of Weiss' face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just trying to remember if I forgot anyone who would be useful in creating that medicine."

Weiss caught Blake's eyes. Blake gave a small smirk, knowing exactly what Weiss was thinking about.

"Yang, you want to go get something to eat since Snow Angel here took away our breakfast?" Blake asked.

"Sounds good enough to me." Yang replied walking towards the door.

"Fine, let's leave Weiss to her thoughts of 'medicine'." Blake had emphasized the last word to further prove she knew what was really on Weiss' mind.

With that, both girls walked out the door, leaving Weiss sitting on her bed.

"Well, that's taken care of. What else is there I can do with the rest of my time?" Weiss had not anticipated being left alone. "Maybe I'll work on something for Ruby… Yeah, a surprise. She likes surprises, right? What if she doesn't? How could she not? Fine, I just won't do it. Well, that wouldn't be nice…"

Weiss sat and argued internally, finally coming to the conclusion that she would indeed work on a special present for the comatose girl. It would be one of the nicest things she'd done for anyone, besides creating a cure; still for the same girl.

"Ruby will be the end of me one of these days. I just hope it's worth it when that day comes." Weiss thought as she sunk into her bed, with Ruby's hanging Bunk of Doom above her.

"How ironic that I think Ruby will kill me somehow, and then I see that." She thought, losing consciousness and falling into the deep sleep her body had been begging for since she stayed up all night gathering the names and numbers of the corporations she had contacted.