Chapter 22: Melting Vale

Ruby Rose

"They're going away now," Ruby noted, staring down her rifle, the distant young nevermores departing with a few new holes in their feathered bodies. It was hard to make shots hanging out the side of an airship, but the grimm were riled up something fierce, negative emotions were high, and it was only getting worse as they approached Winterstown and Castle White.

"Good," Velvet replied on the pilot's intercom, "we can outrun them if we need to, but I'd really rather save the fuel. We don't know how much we will need." She sounded anxious, but how could she not be? Pyrrha and Nora were supposed to be part of this team. They were down by a third of their strength, and while they all kept their cool on the long silent ride their mood grew more tense as the sun set and the lights of Winterstown appeared on the horizon.

"I don't think fuel's gonna be a big problem Vel, we are saving the kingpin of dust." Yang kept cheery of course, violet eyes still locked on the yellow twinkle of city lights, the center rock flashing. Castle White.

"She's right, don't worry about the cost. We're nearly there anyways." Weiss was the most anxious, her glare so tight on her home it was like she was pulling the fortress closer with a stare. The only one not staring was Blake, she preferred looking at the ground. Fighting the White Fang had that effect. She knew people, it had to be hard.

"Is everyone ready? Everyone knows what we're doing?" Ruby had been over the plan with them so much her head spun at the thought of it. It was comforting to see them nod yes.

"I can see fighting from here, White Fang against SDC drones," the intercoms gave them more to worry about. Not on time it seemed, but together, a team of the best of Beacon, things could still be changed.

"Can you see my father?" Weiss asked.

"No, nothing but faunus and robots," Velvet answered, cockpit had the advantages of scopes and cameras. Thankfully they wouldn't go in completely blind.

"Alright, I want to go first," Blake announced as the sounds from the city grew louder. Police sirens, their lights all over the bridges that separated the Castle from the town. All of those bridges were raised.

"You sure?" Yang asked, noting the look in Blake's eyes, the apprehension. Ruby hoped she didn't feel guilty. She didn't cause this. Weiss knew that.

"Blake," the Schnee cut off, pulling a special cartridge made for Blake's use, both with her semblance and her weapon. She had brought some for everyone. Either she didn't care about Blake's guilt or understood something Ruby didn't, but she was happy to hand it over and let her go. "Keep safe, don't let yourself get hurt protect them. They're trash, you're not."

"Weiss, we're the sa—"

"No, you are not!" the silver girl shouted, shoving the special dust set in her face and gripping her hands so hard Ruby grew worried, "This isn't a faunus thing, this is a choice thing. You chose to be a Huntress, you're here with us because it's how you chose to live. We chose to be like sisters, not monsters, and I don't wanna hear another word"

"We're approaching the wall! First drop get ready!"

Blake smiled, a little smile like usual, and took the gift, "Thanks Weiss, I never thought I'd ever say you might be my best friend." Ruby let out a sigh of relief, interfriend fighting was not something they wanted to take into the chaos out there. Yang though, looked a little pissed.

"Hey? What am I, huh?" Ruby was surprised to see her sister actually looked a little pissed, Blake seemed to expect it though, and Weiss just let out an irritated sigh.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that, Yang," Blake started, her amber eyes tracing a path between Yang and the airship's ledge.

"You sure you want to do this?" Weiss asked, which made both Ruby and Yang look at each other with a bit of confusion. Maybe even a bit of jealousy. What the heck did Weiss know? Why did she know it? Please don't break my heart until after we save the world.

"Yeah," Blake nearly whispered, strutting her way to the airship's edge, her black shoes skidding as she stepped, hands holding on to the edge for balance. They were approaching the outer wall, from their position they could see the drones and the White Fang, the fiery spots of gunfire and the shouting of fighters. "When we go down there, if we even make it, these people will tell you things about me. I'm not going to have any secrets left. I'm gonna be outed, so why not go all the way, huh?" Blake held at the edge, her weapon converted to her ribbon and sickle mode. "Yang, you're not my best friend, you're everything. I'm falling for you." Yang was agasp, Blake smiled, and before a word could be uttered, the faunus let go and fell backwards, dropping from the airship. Wind snagged her and with a fling she hooked onto the outer wall like a master, right into the courtyard.

"Aww, that's so cute!" Ruby let out without thinking, not noticing the flames that were completely and actually swirling a fine enferno around Yang. The red flood in her eyes, she was breathing smoke.

"You do not," Yang started huffing, stepping back to give herself some space. She was going for it. "Get to just do that!" The fire popped out from her feet, the dragon of team RWBY rocketed out of that airship like a demon out of hell and watching her, making no effort to slow down, smash the earth beneath her was inspiring as much as it was scary. Earth cracked red and glowed beneath her flame, many drones knocked back by the force of her landing. Ruby was definitely going to need to mediate immediately, or Blake was going to turn into an oven baked kitty.

"Could you not smash the courtyard? Thanks!" Weiss shouted, gesturing with a flick of the wrist for emphasis. Yang couldn't hear, or didn't care, probably didn't from the way she burned up a bright orange fury.

"I was going to say, next up," Velvet spoke over the intercom, "but even I saw that. You two are up." Weiss and Ruby glanced at each other after the call. She seemed serious, though the way her mouth twitched just a touch told Ruby she was nervous. So, the redhead flashed her a smile.

"Jumping off stuff is the best part, huh?" she joked, pulling out Crescent Rose, the curved weapon ready for action, both of them were.

"You are an endangerment to my health," Weiss cut back, her own sword out and loaded. Tossing the redhead her extra dust set, the two of them stepped towards the edge. Castle White looked a glistening bright tonight, despite the fighting, it was a pretty place, carved from the moon itself. It was good to know they were going to save this place.

"You lov—err, you like it, right?" Ruby tried to be smooth, even like this, just didn't work out to well.

"Depends on how it ends, right?" Weiss countered, "But for now, I've enjoyed us." The Schnee girl dropped from her airship, twirling like a dancer in air, black glyph platforms stopping her with every third twirl towards the grand entrance. She moved like a dancer through air, elegant, but a bit slower than what Ruby had in mind.

"I'm off, Velvet!" Ruby dove from a dash, speeding up with a semblance boost, free from whatever evil spell Zawisza put on them. She twirled too, in her cape, like a comet speeding towards a triumph. She cracked against the ground, but caught her footing, the redhead sliding forward, passed Weiss when she landed by a foot. "I win!"

"Ruby, this is not even like close to a ga—"

"Weiss Schnee!" Both of them recognized the voice when it spoke, the faunus warrior Adam Taurus, killer with a sword and head honcho for the White Fang. He was able to get away from justice when the rest of Cinder's operation went down. If Ruby didn't have an old man to save, she would have loved a second chance at justice. "I knew I could smell devil here! Fight me Schnee, I'll cut you down in front of your who—"

"Adam!" Blake swung in from the tower to the right of the entrance, keeping to the roofs and moonstone wall-walks. She rained down a few shots from above, the popping sound of her weapon freeing the pair to rush forward into the final stretch of courtyard. Ruby smiled as she left her teammates to take care of the big fight. Blake needed to work stuff out with him anyways.

"Alright, now we just need to get inside…" Weiss paused as from the inner Castle walked out on of the many armored robotic knights, black, silver, and red like most Schnee defense androids, "Oh, come on!" Ruby wasn't worried.

"White Rose!" the leader ordered, hundreds of hours of practice snapping into them at once. Weiss glyph hopped forwards, standing so high she danced above the knight. The defensive bot of course kept its eyes on her. Ruby dashed forward.

Rose petals scattered from her body as she moved in a blurred line, firing a shot to propel her even farther, transforming Crescent Rose into a scythe right in time to slice through the knight's leg. It dropped, and Weiss, bursting into a flurry of cleaves that looked like a flower in bloom, destroyed its head before it even hit the floor. Together, like this, Ruby felt invincible.

"I always hated those things," Weiss mumbled, landing gently. Together they entered the moonstone inner sanctum. Ruby remembered this place from the last snowy venture, it looked the same, yet twisted and distorted. The finery and furniture were destroyed, tossed to the side, the walls held together, but the human touches were wrecked. Above, it was snowing, the creepy open ceiling allowing it to drop on them, but tonight it was worse. The sky was bursting apart, a storm carving air, shouting as bolts of lightning struck at the center of the facility. Bolts that reminded her of a recent tempest out in the forest. The electric semblance.

"Weiss, that storm! It's the person Azura was after! Your dad's in trouble! We have to find him!" From the catwalk above an older White Fang enforcer was struck down onto the moonstone flooring, sending cracks from where he hit. A sword punctured him through, the thin string connecting it to the wielder gave away who it was.

"Friedrich Schnee is in the dining hall fighting a faunus," Penny responded robotically, which was weirder than it really should have been considering, but her eyes turned sad seeing Ruby, defeated even, "Salutations, friends. I wish you weren't here, you're marked as guests."

"What does that mean?" Ruby put her guard down around Penny, as she did around any friend, she almost regretted that this time. Penny's sword spun up, though she looked like she was about to cry, that laser fired without hesitation.

"No!" Weiss never had her guard down, thick sheets of ice fired from her weapon to form the barrier they needed. Instead of being blocked the light refracted and divided into a thousand cool, but just a scary, lasers going everywhere other than at them. "You know, I expected a bigger robot, but this is way worse!" Weiss reloaded her ice, already using too much of it in that one burst. "Ruby, you have to go. You're fast, get my dad and he can turn this all off. Velvet can pick us up and we can go home and I will buy you whatever you fucking want for a week!"

"All I want is you, but yeah I get it. Go, go, go!" Ruby barely kept from tripping on herself as she darted around the block of solid frost. Her semblance was fast, really damn fast, but anyone who knew anything about rotational motion and not taking action movies seriously, knew turning around was faster. Thankfully, a glow was bright behind her. Ruby didn't have to see to know the sound of Weiss' slow down glyphs, She was always watching her back. Ever since winter, ever since before that. Teaching, shaping, loving. Picking up speed, she blurred once again, rose petals pouring off her skin, a symbol of her heritage, and a promise.

I won't ever let you down.

Castle White was, is, and shall always be too large. Ruby was convinced of this as she sped her way through the doors and corridors, unfamiliar with the layout as much as she should be, but still too fast for any of the security to notice her as they left for the battle outside. It may have been only a few minutes, faster than Weiss could have run it, but every minute was more time off the clock, more lightning bolts from the sky, more problems. It would be those few minutes Ruby blamed for what she found beyond the doors of the dining hall.

There were no upright tables left, no security to speak off, no food, though the remnants of these things were shoved to either side of the dining room. The partial moonstone ceiling was warped by the heat of lighting strikes. Other thick lines of molten stone carved every surface, patterns twisted and thin like wips of lava. Perhaps that was what it had been, the way the warrior looked in the center of the room, an old faunus woman with traditional clothing singed and burnt, seemed to confirm Mr. Schnee's weapon of choice. Her's was a naginata, she could tell because it stuck out of her target, the wounded elder Schnee impaled against the back wall, motionless aside from his raspy breathing. A mark he was still savable. Ruby didn't need to know anything else. One might have said she charged, but it was more accurate that she never stopped

Ruby Rose became a living breathing bullet, spinning as she dashed, her cape swirling with her, wind dragging every last bit of rubble with her. Now she was practically a buckshot. Without a word, the faunus woman called on the storm, a bolt of lighting pooling into an electric boon in her hands. Masked in grimm bone like the rest of the White Fang, there was no reading her. Ruby didn't care, she went without flinching. Their semblances clashed and Remnant broke beneath them, electric force bashed against kinetic. Both adversaries snapped back feet from each other. Ruby, skitting on her feet as she tumbled, switched crescent rose to sniper mode, aiming down the sights for a fatal shot. The faunus called on more lightning, feet from her naginata, but too far for her to grab. Blue fury came from the sky and formed a bolt in her hands. Ruby had to make the shot, though the rounds were never made for people, she had to, for Weiss. Mr. Schnee had told her the world would try to crush her, Weiss, and Ruby said she'd do it all. Was she lying? Finger on the trigger, this decision was being forced on her too often, would it be more? Finger on the trigger.

And an old man spared her innocence.

That molten whip, a rope of firedust held together by a semblance much like Weiss', wrapped around the faunus' wrist, burning through the hand that held the lightning, shocking her from her concentration. The bolt was freed, traveling down the path of least resistence, her, to the floor. She screamed for a second, as the concentrated storm coursed through her, then dropped. Unconscious, beaten, but not dead. Ruby was thankful. Even if she was evil, huntresses killed grimm, not people.

"Mr. Schnee!" Ruby darted towards the man, never forgetting why she was there in the first place, "It's me. I'm here to get you out of this!" Closer inspection wasn't any more flattering. The spear like sword was still in him, below the heart, lots of lots of blood. He was pale, eyes droopy and worn even more than they were usually, the fire whip in his hands dissolved quickly, not really the best use of his concentration right now.

"I didn't think someone older than me would be that spry. I'm not a huntsman, but surely… no matter, I will not make it. Weiss, she came with you, didn't she?" He kept strong enough to keep his voice both condescending and scary. Still he seemed to have trouble maintaining eye contact. That was worse.

"Yes, all of RWBY did, we came to save you. We have to go now!" He smiled, so slightly at the thought. His surprise was a little sad.

"You know, I wanted Weiss as far away from danger as I dealt with this White Fang problem once and for all. This is not what I intended." He did not move, try to get up, or take out the blade.

"Well that happens, gotta roll with the punches," Ruby awkwardly replied with a faked grin, "Seriously, let's go. I got to get this out of you!"

"I'm not leaving, idiot. I won't survive the move, won't survive much of anything, the least you can do...is listen," his speech became slower, more pained, and Ruby became increasingly worried, "Listen, you must tell Weiss, she is to do anything necessary to keep this company, keep the fires going. We mine the dust that keeps the world from burning out all of its light, and you huntress, you know what awaits us in the dark, don't you?" The old man reached out his hand, tips lightly touched with blood, to Ruby's face. It was uncomfortable, fairly terrifying, but she didn't stop him. "I won't be able to keep you apart. Weiss will have her way, even if it's a fool's idea, but at least, this will make it easier. I knight you, Ruby Rose, into the Schnee Order. A worthless formality, but it will provide you more legitimacy in the eyes of my greedy cousins." His finger gently wrote on her cheek. She didn't even want to see it, but it was a signature in red for sure. "Zawisza will know what it means, go, get Weiss out of here. She hates me anyways."

No, Ruby's head pounded, not from any love or admiration of him, No, it's not fair. You didn't say goodbye. Anger struck her, anger she never realized boiled in her. No parent had the right to just walk away, just leave without goodbye. Dying for what was right? It wasn't ever going to be right. Nothing would make it okay, not even a goodbye. It's not okay, mom. It was never okay!

"What?" Mr. Schnee barely mouthed as Ruby ripped the blade from him, a screech shattering her ears as she did it, but despite the blood, red like roses, she did not regret it. He could hate all he wanted while she lifted them up, taking the weight of two on her shoulders. It ached, but it was not going to end like this, it wasn't going to end in abandonment.

"You're not leaving her without a goodbye. You will not!"

Blake Belladonna

"Traitor!" Adam shouted out along with his perpetual string of curses, but Blake kept out of his strike zone. The faunus leader was a better close range fighter than his former partner would ever be, but she was faster, more agile, and with her ribbons, more vertical than he could ever be.

"You've got to let it up, we can't keep doing this!" He literally couldn't. The White Fang were for the most part broken, their young malcontents weren't prepared for this, many of them hiding in the corners as the more experienced were caught between the security and, well, Yang. The latter of whom seemed to scare them more than anyone. She was bursting with flames today, literally drop kicking a knight statue and engulfing both of them in a torrent of fire. That confession clearly upset her, a betrayal Blake was sure she would answer for, but right now, Blake focused on the target that it all boiled down to. Adam, he was too keen, this would never end until he was behind bars.

"You've betrayed us for a Schnee! You're an animal just like them!" His body gave off the red glow that raised with his anger, a burst that could undo her. It wasn't just the two of them though, easily forgotten was the rabbit in the sky, Velvet.

"You might want to block!" Blake joked as high caliber shells rained down from the airship's main gun. A spinning dust hellfire she was more use to being on the receiving end than on the giving. It felt good she had to admit. Adam was too agile to be hit of course, blocking every round with the same katana he wielded that day on the train. Blake, however, became invisible, merely the black whisps of smoke on the battlefield as far as he was concerned, unable to focus on anything else besides a pissed off airship.

Of course it could never be that easy, the glint of steel alerted Blake to the dirk that came at her, nicking her clone as she popped back. One of the leaders of the White Fang, a handsome tall man with dog ears, always kept knives on him, and judging from his silent demeanor, he was rather upset at Blake's choice in company.

Blake went on the defensive, the faunus blocking shots of his twin daggers with her more encumbered swords. Gambol Shroud was quick, but too massive to compete in speed. What strikes she couldn't block, she dodged, letting a copy of herself take the strike. This was a long game strategy, soon he began to grow less cautious of the clones, unaware of the dust cartridge Blake left behind. Fire mix left the clone volatile, a strike and it burst, knocking him off center. Half of Gambol turned into a sickle, letting her wrap a ribbon around his leg. The other half was a rather intense club. Flipping him up in the air with the clothe, a swift shock to the head knocked him out. No kills, everyone was going to jail, no more faunus blood.

"You could have been everything, Blake!" Except her's maybe, "You were mine! I would have made you great!" Adam shined a deep red, brighter than a thousand blood moons, lines of power spreading from his mask to his clothes, the sword bathed in this dark light. He seemed imbued with the power of the clouds at dawn, the darkest light, but the sun stood in his way, the true dawn. His sword contacted Yang's gauntlets, her fire mixing with his, the light so intense Blake's vision turned white hot. The wave of force between them knocked the cat faunus to her knees, how it didn't kill both of them was insane. When all was done Adam stood disoriented, katana snapped into pieces. Yang didn't stand at all. She was on knees and fists, compressed into a crater that was once a moonstone courtyard. Ember Cecilia, her gauntlets, took the blow, they cracked, they shattered, and Yang burned.

"You see, bull boy, you done fucked up. You did it three times just now," Yang's body began to rise, as did the heat. Blake felt it on her face. "Number one. You broke Ember Cecilia, my sweet Cecilia, so I got to break your face," she spoke calmly, that frightened Blake, "Number two. That girl you tried kidnapping, is my sister's girl. No one touches that bitch but me!" Yang got louder as she roared, fire spewing from her mouth with every exhale, she was a dragon, "Number three, and this is where you really fucked this up. Blake isn't anybody's anything and sure as hell is not your anything!" The flame consumed her, and after a step, she launched into frenzy, body a typhoon of fire. Blake was convinced his fate was to become ash. "If anything she's mine, mine, mine, mine!"

Heart stopped, cheeks red hot from the heat, Blake watched in that moment. A blazing dragon battled the red bull, and it was in that few seconds, Yang as she burned an auburn light at the foot of Castle, the one light brighter than anything Blake had ever seen, that Blake knew why she loved her. The way she fought, breath full of fire without a moment's hesitation. There was no fear, no question of morality, she was right and fought with no reservations. It was a clarity Blake envied, and watching Yang fight Adam was almost hypnotic in its awe inspiring ferocity. To be that certain, to be that unstoppable. It was beautiful. Blake didn't want to be made from shadows anymore.

Adam channelled his burst semblance through his hands, slicing the flames as Yang tossed punch after punch at him, each limb sending a vortex of searing fire. No bull could beat a dragon, especially not one powered by his strongest attack and feelings Blake hadn't processed yet. He dodged another heated strike, but that would be the last one. Fire and all, the right hook that Yang sent struck him so hard color faded from the world, if only for a moment. His mask shattered, fist following him down, Yang made a matching crater for them to sit in together.

"Yang!" Blake called out, running over to the edge of warped moonstone tiles.

"I'm okay!" she shouted, her voice weary. Couldn't be easy to let that much power flow through the body. Blake wouldn't stop worrying till they got to the Beacon doctor and someone explained how Yang could be so god damn near invincible.

"Thank goodness, is Adam, you know, alive?"

"What do you care?!"

"Are you," Blake blushed at the thought, it was impossible, "Jealous? Yang, he just tried to kill me!"

"Fine, yeah. He's just got a really broken nose and the workings of a cool stone angel." Yang's celebratory spirit was broken up a touch by the incoming White Fang, mostly the young ones that ran away had shuffled back meekly with swords and guns in hand. Both partners sighed from exhaustion. "Okay," Yang started, getting up from her hole, "You just saw me annihilate your boss, do you all really wanna go? 'Cause I can fucking go right now!" With a scream, they returned to the activity of running away. "Awesome!"

"I think it's more the killer robots," Blake whispered, looking towards the castle and namely the large knight bot leading a series of spider mechs and assorted smaller defense drones.

"Can you all just not for one god damn second!" On cue the leading robot's head exploded, fire and ash raining down from the shattered skull, body buckled from the shock. The rest began to shut down. Why, Blake was unsure.

"Blake, I'm a wizard!" Why they shut down, the faunus was skeptical, why the machine exploded she was very sure of.

"Again, I think it's got to do with the backup." The sky was flooded with airships, the Schnee forces from Beacon had left in full force, taken little time to get there as well. Blake was almost impressed to see them so quickly. Either way it was welcome. Exhausted, Blake sat by Yang, both of them shoulder to shoulder, covered in ash, smelled awfully like smoke and sweat.

"I'm sorry, Yang," Blake mumbled, knowing she didn't need to explain what about. They needed to talk about this, and soon enough, the Schnee security might be dragging her off to jail along with the rest of them.

"Don't be," Yang said with a pause, her violet eyes turning over to Blake, "I've decided I like you, too."

"Yang," Blake wanted to smile, wanted to be happy, but she wasn't stupid, "You're straight. I know because we've talked about this. You don't like girls."

"I don't know. I think of boys in like I want to kiss them and stuff, but right now you're the one I want to hold my hand and not be with anyone else." Blake smiled, but wanted to cry.

"We can't be together just holding hands." Let me go, she wanted to add, I don't want to force you.

"I can kiss you." Yang answered matter-of-factly, as if the ability defined her. Yang was generally so worldly, how she missed this was beyond Blake.

"But it's got to be more than that, you have to want to kis—" To prove her point Yang did it, completely catching Blake off guard. Without notice, without energy, it was a terrible kiss. Still Yang held it, a tight kiss. It broke her.

"Not bad at all, kind of nice even." Yang joked. Blake felt like she was being tortured. Things didn't work this way, things weren't kind, no one was like this. No one.

"You can't make yourself love me," Blake whispered, feeling the need to cry overwhelm here. She was so happy, but it wasn't going to work, it wasn't going to be real.

"I'm Yang, nothing tells me I can't… I want to try…" Yang pulled her chin up, forcing their eyes to meet. She was trying to hard to make her believe it. Why, why bother trying?

"You'll just hurt me," Blake admitted her fears. She wanted this to be true, but how would she live it she tasted it first. It was easier to forget the sun when it never touched your skin.

"I want to try," Yang's response was stern, but a question, a request for permission. One Blake dreamed of. "You're special to me. That's all I understand, that's all I need to. The rest is for others to think about. Who says I can't be entirely straight but love you?"

"Everything," Blake barely whispered. People were landing around her, their moment was coming to a close, she had to answer. All her life she fought for everything, she had no family, no friends. RWBY changed her life, gave her family without a cost, a best friend from the oddest of places, and a girl she would beg to spend the rest of her life with. Was it fair to expect her not to beg for the chance? "Still, you can try."

"I've never followed any rules if they tried to stop me from being who I want. I'm not going to start now."

Ice Queen Weiss Schnee

Penny's swords followed Weiss wherever she went, preventing her from targeting the core, the small robot herself, but between pillars of ice these wired cords tangled, between glyphs and altered time she got closer, and with a healthy bolt of fire, Weiss tossed her into the wall. She added the star bolts to stun, but it was over. The girl dashed with a forward stab and entered her chest. Before Penny could scream, Weiss, unsure how one even killed something like her, scorched her with more dust, much of the paint burning off the robot. After a moment of struggle the machine went limp.

"Penny? Weiss whispered. She was afraid of the thing, but in equal measure, Ruby was good friends with it, whatever it was. It wasn't exactly a conversation she wanted to have.

"Hi, is that you, Weiss Schnee?" Penny's voice was distorted, body did not move while she spoke. It shocked the silver girl at first, but then the obvious struck her, it was an internal speaker.

"Yes? It's me."

"Oh, good," the robot replied, "I lost all function, my eyes can't see. I'm glad, this way Ruby will be safe. Thank you for defeating me!" That was unsettlingly happy, Weiss noted.

"Yes, are you fixable?" Weiss asked, knowing if she was SDC technicians could do it easy.

"I mean, I have my battery, my processing cores, and my memory, so I think? I don't know. I'm just glad it's over. I'd like to be fixed, but I feel bad...so much bad stuff. Do you think Ruby hates me now?" Weiss didn't know, didn't know even why it cared, but still guilt struck her hard.

"No, don't worry, Penny. I'll get you fixed up, I'm sure Ruby will understand."

"Thank you, Weiss," it replied like a motionless doll with a speaker. Weiss supposed she was that after all. "I'm going to shut down for now, save battery. I'm rather sleepy. Goodbye, friend." What light was left in her eye turned off, and Weiss, too afraid of further damaging it, left her sword in.

Noticing the odd quiet, she left her sword, slowly walking down the main hall, carefully listening for noise. Only the sounds from outside left. All except for the whistling of rushing air.

Ruby? Yes, it sounded like her, but yet too slow. Seconds later the cause of the delay was noticed. Stepping into the back of the main hall, dripping with sweat and petals, Ruby walked in, holding on her back a man twice her size. Weiss' father.

"Oh gods," Weiss muttered, noticing the blood. She thought it was Ruby's, but when she lowered him down, the truth was revealed in the form of a clear hole all the way through his center, barely thin enough to keep things inside neatly.

"Weiss, I'm sorry I ran as fast as I could!" Weiss didn't even register Ruby's words, sliding into position by her father. Panic set in her eyes drifted from his pained face to the wound.

"Don't worry, I'll close it!" Weiss shouted too loudly. She used her semblance to seal it shut with Ice, a painful measure, but one less horrifying than fire. Whether it was enough, or the only wound was a very big question. "Father, is there anything I can do?"

"Weiss," he started between gasps, "I will not survive, so—"

"You're going to be fine, we're here to rescue you!" Weiss yelled back, a smile so fake on her lips, it practically felt like a cardboard mask.

"Shut up and listen!" her father yelped, irritated, "You must do what must be done. The company, the mines, the family must all go on, if not...if not… we must. It needs to continue. Understand?"

"Yes." Weiss replied, trying to not irritate him further as she worked on the wounds. He had lost too much blood. Was he in shock? Aura kept fights from progressing to this point, the worst thing she was use to healing were bruised ribs.

"Miss Rose?" he asked, ignoring his daughter in favor of her partner. It stung some, but Weiss couldn't think on that.

"Yes, I'm here!" Ruby wasn't a healer, she couldn't work a bandage around a paper cut, made more sense this was, Weiss excused.

"You remember what I taught you? About the, the, the ice shells, yes?" Father mumbled with a hurried breath. No one ever in life made him speed up for anything. The world had to work on his pace, his perfect pace or be destroyed. Now he was so fast, stuttering on words, lost was his eloquence.

"Yes," Ruby answered, confused but aware, focused.

"Weiss will need every break she gets after this, her time can't, it can't be wasted looking after your bullets, you understand?" Bullets? He was dying thinking about fucking bullets Weiss made in spare moments? Was every moment meant for the company? A dollar saved not working on a spare round?

"Okay, yeah," Ruby replied like she understood him. She never could understand someone so horrible, so selfish.

"Always stand, you must stand to her right in all things, she's left handed, like me. It's important." What was important was her life, showing even the faintest love and respect. Being human.

"Always," Ruby responded, eyes serious. She was getting it. It wasn't fair.

"She's rash, you both are, but I know her anger. She will prioritize being right over being smart. Ruby, you must know to calm her at the right time, don't let her, don't let them make a fool of her," father kept muttering, his eyes no longer holding focus. Glazed over, he wasn't able to clutch Ruby's scarf anymore. This wasn't fair, he didn't get to do this, he didn't earn the right to say I love you through Ruby, he didn't get to wipe all this bullshit away like this. "Ask Zawisza, he knows where her things are, she likes her flowers tended, but do not let the others know, they'll make her seem weak, they'll do anything to...I...she likes to practice piano in the mornings, have it tuned, she is terrible at using the tu...but the music is...it's beautiful." She gave up music, gave it up long ago. Why remember the stupid piano?

"Daddy, just fucking talk to me!" Weiss cried out, voice reverberating through the strange acoustics of their open halls. The older Schnee turned, eyes awake for one brief second, shifting towards her. Was he crying? Were those tears on his cheeks or warmed snowflakes gently flowing like the rivers of a melting Vale? "I love you too, just please, please talk to me. Don't leave me alone, you always leave me alone."

"I'm suppose… to say goodbye, but I keep...things to do...to take care of you...so many things." He was so befuddled at her soft mumblings, mouth agape, eyes widened. Weiss wondered if everyone looked so silly when they passed.

When it was clear that he had passed. Weiss stopped working, stopped moving, she didn't cry, didn't feel. She was in the process of building a cocoon of ice. She supposed its what the next heads of the family did to complete the transition into unfeeling monsters. It was her turn to freeze over inside. She couldn't though, it was too warm, too warm with Ruby's cloak around her, too warm being held. Weiss couldn't turn to snow, not while her girlfriend melted her down. She cried.

It would be ten minutes longer before the rest of team RWBY and the SDC found her. The entirety of that time was spent in silence. Ruby held her as snowfall began to build up on her hair, melting into wet spots. When Zawisza found them, he seemed just as much a mess as everyone else, hair soaked in sweat, clothes ripped up from the fight, arm still busted from Nora's hammer. He said nothing coming onto the scene, where Blake and Yang rushed to their teammates. He took a knee at his fallen boss. Zawisza wasn't smiling, for the first time in years, he wasn't smiling. Instead, he wept openly. Vera and the other guard had no such affections. Loyal, but there were few who loved her father.

Blake was the first to say anything, "I'm sorry, Weiss." Simple, but it meant something to be brave enough in a moment this tense.

"I'm sorry. I should have rushed inside with you," Yang offered in a rare moment of regret. Weiss didn't think she really meant it, more it felt right at the time. Sweet enough.

"I'm sure you saved a lot of faunus lives, there was nothing you could do," Weiss tried not to sound sarcastic. She was numbing herself a little, not to the level she was suppose to, not to be a Schnee, but enough to survive tonight.

"You should kill them all," Zawisza cut in, his tone lacking in any of his pleasant cadence. This was the cold unfeeling core of the brutal enforcer.

"No, we can't do that, they're mostly kids! We knocked out the dangerous ones, the rest barely knew what they were doing!" Blake immediately argued. After all that's why she came, to save her former friends from what would have been a complete massacre.

"If we arrest them, how many get out on bail or jailbreaked? The kids sure, but Adam will be free with his family's money! We could remove the White Fang in one swoop, it's why Friedrich planned this! Don't and this will all be pointless!" Zawisza was actively mad, a rare new feeling for him. Weiss didn't care though, not about him or his feelings.

"Wasn't this always pointless?" Weiss found it exhausting. How this could keep going, this constant fighting. More than moral absolutism, it was lack of energy that motivated her desire for peace. "Bring them to jail."

"Very well, Miss Schnee. Arrest them, including Miss Belladonna, Vera," he dared.

"Don't you fucking try it!" Yang shouted, raising her naked fist. Her weapon was missing, had she lost that for Weiss?

"What do you think you are doing!?" Weiss cut in between them, not willing to just let that slide. After everything, she couldn't lose more.

"Blake Belladonna, do you deny being involved with the train car theft three years prior? As a representative of the SDC I hold you under citizen's arrest! I bet she didn't explain that event in her past, Miss Schnee." She had not. How could she? Weiss never wanted to hear about it. The White Fang ruined her childhood. Growing up in a family with several early funerals, a business always threatened. A father always so mad. The profits lost on that train, a cash grab pretending to be an act of justice. That train car, that night, that stood out in her childhood as a specifically bad memory. Blake made that memory happen.

"I don't deny it, Weiss. I'm so sorry. I wanted to tell you, but I just.." Blake seemed much more worried of what her friend thought than the SDC taking her away.

"Yes, she did tell me," Weiss lied, "She did because I requested it of her. I am the owner of the SDC, it is my dust, she was acting under my orders. I gifted it to her even!" Outrageous, obvious, but it was enough to shock Vera, err Winter, and Blake stood agasp. She had ruined Weiss' childhood, she and her friends were thieves, they were monsters, murderers, they were. Blake is her friend, best friend really, assuming Ruby was something different, a sister. They argued, they bickered, they have and will never agree on anything, but damn. She had lost so many things, things stolen from her. RWBY was not going to be one. Ever. Her father was already enough.

"You didn't even know her. I hardly am inclined to believe you, Miss Schnee," Zawisza bit back, anger in his eyes. His anger didn't mean a thing. He was not in control here, he never was.

"I am the owner and CEO of the SDC, I am the owner of this Castle, I am the head of this family, I am your boss. Frankly, Zawisza, I don't think it matters whether you believe me or not. My word is law!" Weiss' hands shook as she stood defiant and strong. Shook so terrible till something warm and small grasped it. Ruby. She was right there, right there next to her, looking just as defiant. She was always right there. Always right there….on her right side. Exactly where she would always be. Together they were free now, despite the loss and hurt, free and invincible.

There are no more strings on me.

*** Good old finishing at 5:21 in the morning. I was going to do this or fucking bust last night. My goal is to complete MV before RTX. This being the last full chapter, totally doable. Next will be the epilogue of course, but it will be shorter. I'll say my final goodbyes there. But for now thanks for the support, review and tell me what you think, and I am sorry for doing this before choice!

Thanks so so so so much to Lazykatze for the beautiful edits. She is a doll. I love her!

Edit for Grammar 7/30/15