Chapter 1

Fortunately for Yang, Weiss made short work of her foe and rushed to see how her teammate was doing. On her back and unconscious, Yang was defenseless as the small woman stalked towards her.

"Leave her alone!" Weiss's shriek pulled the small woman's attention away from Yang, most likely saving her teammate's life.

With a crooked smile, the small woman strode up to Weiss, confidence outmatching her diminutive size. Cocking her head to the left and adjusting the grip on her parasol, she took a small step back and waited for the Schnee girl to make a move.

Activating a series of glyphs on the ground, Weiss slid hard at the woman, intent on shoulder-checking her into the wall. With a simple twist and side-step, the small woman easily avoided the attack and pushed Weiss off balance, guiding her into the wall. Seeing her attack miss completely, but unable to stop herself, Weiss jumped at the wall, planted her right foot on it and used her leg to launch herself, rapier at the ready towards the pink-haired woman.

She made a simple twist and step maneuver, which allowed her to again avoid Weiss's attack. Weiss redirected her energy into a front flip, landing in a crouch, and, twisting as fast as she could, lashed her left arm towards her foe. A clang rang out as the parasol deftly blocked Weiss's blade.

Pain shot through her arm. For as delicate as it looked, Weiss was surprised at how sturdy the parasol was as her blade clattered against it. Wielded expertly, the parasol's movements matched Weiss's long-practiced attacks with ease. Using her glyphs to propel her at lightning speed around the battlefield, trying to gain an advantage, Weiss began to feel the tiniest bit of grudging respect for the woman she was locked in combat with.

She's really good! The speed of herblocks and counters and dodges are so fast, it's almost as if she can read my mind and knows what I'm going to do before I move.

Weiss's rapier, Myrtenaster, rang out with a metallic clang as it made contact with the parasol, a symphony of battle noises that her opponent orchestrated and conducted with a sense of ease and levity that she had never seen in an opponent before.

Desperately trying for the upper hand, Weiss dropped to a low crouch and whipped her left leg out and spun in a counterclockwise arc to try to sweep her opponent, which she knew would be easy to avoid, so she prepared to follow through on her arc with a waist-level slash of the rapier. In a graceful series of hops and back flips, the small woman nimbly avoided Weiss's leg and weapon. To add insult to the blows' failure to make contact, the small woman effortlessly flipped backwards and landed softly on a crate, daintily crossed her left leg over the right, and raised the now open parasol to her shoulder as if walking to a café in Summer's heat.

That cocky little… DOLT!

Seeing red, Weiss brought Myrtenaster into a ready position and purposefully strode towards the small, seated woman with the cocky smirk on her face. Her opponent tilted her head to the right, carefully appraising Weiss's approach. Suddenly, faster than Weiss could process, there was a gut wrenching pain in her abdomen as she was struck directly in the naval by the parasol and a second shock of pain as her entire body hit the metal floor.

With a twisted smile, turning to look at the supine figure on the ground, the small woman gently twisted the handle of the parasol and unsheathed the blade concealed within. Still smiling, she casually walked towards the injured girl, adjusted her blade, and prepared to end the battle for good. Almost instinctively, as the small woman approached Weiss's feet, Weiss threw her legs apart then scissored them together, her left heel struck the front of the woman's shin while her right instep struck the back of the woman's knee; with a quick twist, Weiss rolled to her left and followed through until she ended on her back and completed the takedown, crumpling the small woman onto her face. Immediately, Weiss scurried up the woman's back and used her right hand to force the woman's face into the floor while using her left to level the tip of Myrtenaster to the back of the woman's neck, directly between two cervical vertebrae in preparation for the kill.

No! Killing Grim is one thing, but she's a human. And a talented warrior.

"Please, don't make me do this…" Weiss implored.

The small woman shifted her head slightly under the pressure exerted upon it by Weiss's hand, trying to look into the Ice Princess's blue eyes. She blinked twice and released her grip on her blade and walked both hands up to either side of her head as she extended them straight above her.

"Y-you're really going to surrender?" Disbelief permeated her words.

Wordlessly, the small woman nodded.

"Okay. No funny stuff, either. Got it?"

Was it really going to be this easy after that fight?

Weiss got up off the woman's back and grabbed her under the left arm to hoist her to her feet.

"You're my prisoner now." Weiss's voice shook as she feigned confidence she did not feel.

The small woman nodded again.

Curiosity overtook Weiss as she asked, "Can you speak at all?"

She avoided Weiss's eyes, her own fixed on the floor, and almost imperceptibly shook her head.

"Well. Umm, you're a very good fighter. It would have been a shame and inexcusable waste to have to kill you." Unsure of what else to say, Weiss simply stopped speaking.

She's so meek and timid, but fierce and talented. I don't understand this woman. She is a phenomenal fighter, but she's also a criminal – working with that fiend Torchwick. I don't even know if I can have prisoners. Ozpin is probably going to make me turn her over to the Vale Police Department, or General Ironwood. But… I can feel it… She's meant for something more.

"Professor Goodwitch?"

"Weiss! There you are. This is one of Roman's accomplices, I presume?" Glynda inquired as she pushed her always-sliding glasses up, silently sizing up the small woman. "Not the same one I fought the night I met Ruby, though."

"Yes, Ma'am, she is. But…" Weiss hesitated, unsure of how to continue. "Professor, it's just that, she's a very skilled fighter and she has surrendered to me. She seems to have some sense of honor and respects the fact that I defeated her in single combat."

Glynda walked up to the pair and looked down at the small woman, capturing her heterochromatic eyes with her piercing green ones. "You nearly killed two of my students. And now, one of them seems to be hinting that she has something in mind for you other than sending you to the prison you obviously belong in." Goodwitch fixed Weiss with a penetrating gaze and continued, "And what, exactly, do you have in mind for this… criminal, Ms. Schnee?"

"Well. I, ugh…" Weiss struggled to think of something, anything that wouldn't condemn her prisoner to jail or death. "Professor, it's just that, as I understand some history and ideas from novels, sometimes when a foe is defeated, they are honor-bound to work for the one that bested them and attempt, through their good service, to earn their freedom and become a full member of their new society. I think that this woman would adapt to such an honorable captivity and work to prove herself. Maybe even earn the right to attend Beacon to become a Huntress who would uphold the law and safety of Vale's citizens?"

"Hmmm… An intriguing thought, Ms. Schnee." Shifting her gaze to the small woman in Weiss's grip. "And what do you think of that?"

The small woman turned to face Weiss and opened her eyes wide, imploring Weiss to speak for her.

"I, um, I think that she's willing to agree to that." Weiss said with an equal measure of uncertainty and hopefulness.

The small woman smiled at Weiss's words and gently nodded her head.

"Very well, Ms. Schnee. I'll clear this with Professor Ozpin, but from here on out, the securement of this woman is your responsibility."

"I understand, Professor Goodwitch." Weiss said as she looked into the eyes of the small woman she was given custody of. As she tilted her head to the side to appraise her new charge she noticed that the woman's eyes had changed color.