Last Huntress - Chapter 14

-The World Has Turned And Left Us Here-

Three days.

That was how long it took for Ruby to grow completely fed up of the light small talk that dotted the times when she was conscious in an unfamiliar bed, in an unknown room, and with a woman who might as well be a stranger given the years since they had last seen one another. It was the most potent source of her growing frustration that Blake remained blissfully evasive of any real topic to speak about, aside from her injuries and how well the healing process was proceeding.

But she did not wish to hear again about what organs were now either wholly or part synthetic, or how her Aura was beginning to take over the process after her system had recovered from the shock of multiple infusions from her savior. She did not wish to dwell on the ghosts that had haunted her waking hours of detox, and now patiently waited for those terrifying moments when her eyes could no longer hold themselves open.

She did not wish to think of the mess she had made of things by pursuing the lead on Russel straight into the lair of a man who wanted nothing more than to see her entrails torn from her body by Grimm. She refused to ask her caretaker what news there was from the city, if her sister was alright or if she had placed Yang into danger by her own reckless behavior. But not out of a lack of concern.

No, she refused to ask more than the most basic of things of Blake. An arm to support her as she hobbled to the bathroom, a glass of water to clear away the last vestiges of a dry and cracked throat, or to check the bandages on her back that she could not reach. To exchange any more words than they already had would allow those questions that burned in her thoughts at all times the older Faunus was in her sights.

But on the third day since Ruby's return to some semblance of lucidity, halfway through yet another reassurance that her wounds were recovering well, those words were unwilling to be restrained. They slipped out while Blake was kneeling on the bed just behind her, warm and calloused hands smoothing out a new bandage over the stitches where wolf claws had scored through her skin. Worse still, they came in the form of a whisper that sounded as if she were on the brink of tears. "..Why did you leave?"

There were tears. It was an insidious and alarming reaction as a pang of deep hurt radiated out from her chest. Ruby blinked as she felt the moisture begin to trail down from the corners of her eyes, surprised that she had stumbled upon a sharp cut that lay within, and unprepared for such a vivid emotion after the numbness that she had forced upon herself for these last few years. She brought a hand to her chest, rubbing at the area as if she could hope to massage that frayed needling from her heart.

"I.." Blake had taken nearly half a minute to answer, a hand having remained awkwardly on the back of her shoulder blade the entire time. At the first sound of a forthcoming explanation, Ruby turned herself slightly so that she could look the other woman in the eye. It was only after she made the movement that she realized she had exposed the emotions she had been caught so unaware by. "..Thought it was for the best."

There was a slight cringe at the corners of those wide, amber orbs she stared into, telling her that Blake knew exactly how poor of an answer she had provided. There were pools welling within those eyes as long eyelashes came together in a shaky blink. "I-I don't know!" The confession came in a hushed and hurried tone, and the Faunus looked away, feline ears drooping. "All I remember is being afraid and telling myself over and over that you and the others could never understand. I wouldn't.. I couldn't believe that I had a place among you all."

"So I ran, and I kept telling myself to run. How could a Schnee ever accept a Faunus as a teammate, as a friend? Especially with what the Fang had done to her family.." Golden irises turned back to lock onto Ruby's tearful gaze, no longer welling up with tears but no less intense as Blake spoke with a firm conviction to her voice. "And I thought that you and Yang-" The hand on her back raised tentatively to brush fingers against the dyed tips of her furry wolf ears, very lightly touching upon the sensitive organ before pulling back. "When I saw you after you took down Russel.."

There were no sniffles as Ruby felt a few small beads of moisture make their way down her face, there was no catharsis to be had with this explanation. It just hurt. A deep and raw gash that cut into the formative years of her life. Not the first of such experiences, but one of those that had set the path she had been on since then. It wasn't that she blamed Blake for how things had turned out, but there was a welling of anger beneath the pain, and a dose of sympathy from the guilt that had etched itself into the lines of the older Faunus' expression.

"I thought I was protecting myself. I was sure that I was already rejected, and that by running I would spare myself the pain. I.. Screwed up." That hand that was ghosting along the outline of one of her lupine ears fell away, and the slender form near her on the bed withdrew an inch or so. "I'm sorry."

The bed shifted as Blake slid off the edge and stood, moving for the door of the bedroom. Ruby didn't get up, and doubted that she would be able to even if she had wished. But she spoke softly, knowing that the other Faunus would catch her words. "Life turned out a lot differently than a fairy tale, didn't it?" She referenced the first real conversation she had with the other Faunus, back when they were just girls who found a connection in one another. Leaning heavily on the arm that supported her, she felt the ache of her injuries in each breath and movement of her lips. "I've screwed up, too. I don't hate you for leaving, Blake. I'm just sorry how things turned out."

With a hand on the door knob, the raven-haired woman glanced over a shoulder at her, accompanying the gesture with a humorless chuckle. "Reality hasn't been kind, true." The Faunus turned a bit, just enough to be able to look at her fully. There was a desire within those gorgeous eyes, a need to unshoulder more of the thoughts that burdened a mind. Ruby felt the same, a surprise to her. There was something that made it incredibly easy to speak to Blake, as if the torments of their lives had made them kindred. But it was clear that her time of activity was quickly drawing to a close, as she struggled in the simple task of staying upright as she sat on the bed. "Get some rest, Ruby. We have a lot of to talk about, I think."

As she watched the older Faunus leave the room, and settled back into her pillows with a barely suppressed whine of agony as the movement pulled at the stitches holding her stomach together, she let the corners of her lips twitch upwards. Three days of small talk, three days of bullshit. At least they had broke the ice now.

"-to assure that imports continue normally and without delay."

Weiss Schnee stood with her hand braced against the base of her spine, back straight as a ruler, and her feet a comfortable distance apart. This was a posture she had been drilled in since the day she could walk, a stance that implied attentiveness, mutual respect, and a certain kind of professionalism expected of a Schnee. Almost military in the precision at which she had been coached in how to straighten her shoulders, set her expression, or clasp her hands. Those lessons had stuck with her through the years, even so that the lack of an arm did not change the habit.

Behind her, the holographic display lit the entire middle of her office. It was a large space, and the members of the Remnant Security Council were arrayed in a circle that began and ended on the sides of her desk. Those gathered were droning on about some logistical issue or another, as if the fact the Grimm remained a problem for shipments between cities was still surprising. They could see her, she knew, from the display that would track her movements through this room. But while they all sat within the same room, she stood in her office.

She had attended a meeting in the room where the Councilors now sat, once. Four years ago and still she refused to set foot inside the chamber where they had decided to effectively end the careers of all Hunters. The thought of that memory saw a smile grow over her reflection in the glass windows that overlooked the city of Vale far below, even through the rivulets made by the falling rain, a wry expression that announced perfectly how she felt being present within these meetings.

They all would have loved to have seen her, and all those within the ranks of the Academies, thrown in a cell where they could cause no more trouble. Now she sat at their table, to the chagrin of every single one of them.

Times had changed. And she could not be ignored, even by those that considered themselves the absolute authority in Remnant. They may have had influence, but she had the money to buy that influence. Schnee Dust & Arms Corp. had grown to a point where it had a hand in nearly every market, established or emerging. From the energy stations that powered the great cities of the world, to the latest advancements in cybernetics, she had dragged the corpse of her father's company from the ashes and assured that it was a cornerstone of the economy.

But what truly made her powerful was how she had done it. Her opponents had called her many things in these last four years. Ruthless, calculating, a bitch. But all spoke with reverence to her cunning, to the way she had slowly inserted her interests into the technology that fueled the defensive Barricades that now protected the major population centers of Remnant. Her father had always said that a good business was built on what people could not do without. For him and her grandfather, that resource had been Dust.

But this was a new world, and only she had had the vision to see which way the winds had been blowing. Defense contracts, software companies, and abandoned factories. Within a few months she had a near monopoly on supplying the Barricade program. A commodity that this new Remnant could not live without. The media called her takeover of the SDAC a coup, but by the end the shareholders had begged her to take the reins from her father. From there, a multitude of doors had opened. One of them being a say in how the very governments of the world were ran.

Three years later, and her company employed enough citizens to be considered a kingdom all on it's own. Being powerful did have its disadvantages though. She hated meeting with these people.

"-mentioned Ms. Rose by name."

That got her attention, and in the reflection upon the glass she saw her cold blue eyes widen as she turned slightly, displacing the long strands of platinum hair that hung on a shoulder as she tuned back in to the conversation.

"The inclusion of Grimm in this alleged execution is what truly concerns me, not these gangsters or their issue with a former student of Beacon."

"If she were acting in the capacity of a Hunter, she should be located and arrested immediately. We must come down hard on any who would disobey the orders to disband."

Weiss turned and touched her hand upon the surface of her desk. Her fingers moved quickly in practiced motions, the interface searching for the file she sought before displaying it. Another press of the screen sent that file to the Council. "Official reports have Ruby Rose listed as a common bounty hunter, Councilor. It is unlikely that this incident was little more than her upsetting the seedy elements of Vale."

Her words were met with several seconds of silence, as if they were shocked that she had decided to weigh in, but they soon recovered. "Nevertheless, Ms. Schnee. I believe it would be prudent to deploy defense forces in the city for the time being, and quell this brewing conflict that your former teammate seems to have initiated before it gets further out of hand."

A murmur of agreement went through the Council, and they all looked to her to fall in line. "I disagree." Weiss stood tall over her desk as she spoke, her hand returning to a practiced position at the base of her spine, and a phantom memory sent signals of her other limb to do the same. No such action came, as the right arm was no longer there, but those signals did not stop. It set an inch into her shoulder, as if her body was repeatedly commanding that missing hand to move. "This is a turf war, and I will not draw any forces from the Barricade to deal with a problem that the police should be handling. In fact, the entire situation seems a failing of the local government."

Some of the Councilors grumbled at her assessment, while others sat with polite, fake smiles that caused a flare of anger at the way they almost seemed condescending. As if they knew the right way to defend against the Grimm. Finally, the man who had first suggested that she draw Barricade forces in to deal with the problem spoke up. "Ms. Schnee, surely you-"

"Be quiet, Councilor." Her sharp tone silenced him immediately, and she maintained an icy glare for a few more seconds before continuing. "I have made my decision regarding the proposal that I divert my assets to deal with a local problem. Walls have made you soft to the horrors of the world, ladies and gentlemen. But do not forget that my company is responsible for the peace Remnant now enjoys. The forces of the Barricade are not for you to use at a whim, but to hold back the darkness that has not forgotten us."

"Perhaps your training at Beacon is interfering with your ability to-"

"I'm not finished!" She swept her gaze across all the assembled members of the Council, lips set in an angry line as she dared any of them to interrupt her. "Corruption within the government of Vale, within the very politicians that you have appointed to watch over the kingdom, is the cause of this coming conflict. Through them, these gangsters have been allowed to run rampant, without fear of reprisal." Hovering a hand over the key that would terminate her connection to the holographic feed, she spoke with barely masked contempt. "You made this mess. You fix it."

A second later there was a sudden darkness to the office as the holograms winked out of existence, before illumination slowly returned as the internal lights increased their intensity to compensate. Weiss let out a slow breath, trying to bleed away the anger that had clawed its way into her chest, where it churned and scorched at her in an attempt to be released. She had heard the news from the Crimson Quarter, that Ruby Rose had been involved in some sort of gang war.

Ruby Rose.

She hadn't heard the name spoken aloud in years, and had been fine with leaving such a person in the past. As if on cue, the burning ache that ran down the length of an arm that was not there caused her to glare at the pinned sleeve that concealed the stump. She reached over, kneading at the skin beneath the white cloth with a sense of force behind it, trying to massage out the feeling before it worsened. It was a long minute before she heard the sound of expected footsteps.

Her assistant moved with a scroll pad tucked in the crook of her arm, and Weiss' personal scroll held between dainty fingers. A pretty young redhead with freckles and vibrant green eyes, the woman eyed her with a look of concern. "Are you alright, Ms. Schnee?" A nod was her answer, enough that her assistant extended the scroll to her. "Commander Ironwood for you, ma'am. Are you sure you should antagonize the Council like that?"

Taking the scroll and seeing that the call with the man was on hold, Weiss hissed at the pain in her phantom limb before giving a slow nod. "They need me. And if they had even a hint of what I was trying to do for this world, they would do the right thing and get out of my way." Straightening and taking in a deep breath to compose herself, she halted with her thumb over the button that would reactivate the call. "Thank you, Penny. You're dismissed."

"Yes ma'am." Penny gave a slight bow before turning on a heel and walking back towards the door of her office.

Watching the young woman go, Weiss turned back to face the windows. She took a long moment of simply observing the way the rain trailed down the tinted surface of the glass, before tapping the button and raising her scroll to her ear. "This is Schnee."

"Your new assistant is very good at stalling someone trying to get a hold of you, Weiss. " James Ironwood's voice came through in clear quality, a feat of engineering to be sure, as the Commander of the Barricades tended to be in the more remote corners of the world at any given time. A career in the Atlesian military and left him with a desire to carry out inspections in person. A dangerous and timely tendency, but one that she allowed out of the knowledge that he would assure a quality to the defenses like no other could. "Make sure you hold on to that one."

"I plan to, Commander." She let out a sigh as she watched lightning crack through the sky above Vale, connecting with the rod above a shorter skyscraper for a brief flash of blinding light. "I trust the Council has contacted you to let you know that their feathers were properly ruffled?"

"To put it lightly." There was a strain in Ironwood's voice, a tired tone that spoke of the time the Commander put into assuring that all of her assets were operating at peak performance. "They are demanding that we pull some of our forces into the city to assist the police with the investigation into the gangs."

"Demanding?" She scoffed at the word, leaning her left shoulder against the glass. "As if they could force us to do such a thing. Tell them that my answer stands, James. Fear in the city will grow, and we must maintain the integrity of the Barricade at all costs in these coming months. I will not allow our progress to be halted due to the interference of politicians."

"Of course, Weiss."

"And James?"

"Yes?"

Weiss turned away from the window, striding back to her desk. She slipped into the chair, a small smile coming to her features as the screen lit up with recent reports from several divisions within the SDAC. Her pain had calmed itself considerably, now setting in as a pins and needles feeling. It would soon fade away yet again, a constant reminder of what it was to let your guard down among the Grimm. "Get yourself a secretary to screen your calls for you. You no longer work for the Security Council, you work for me."

Author's Note: I know it's short, but I wanted to get a chapter out after so long. I'm sorry that I said I would be releasing quicker but was not able to, some things came up in life. So many people were wondering what Weiss was up to.. Well, she's been busy in this AU, as you can see. At least one member of the team became a productive member of society, right? Anyway! I've commissioned some more art for Last Huntress, that will hopefully be coming soon now that Noxy is back at it! So.. Keep an eye out for that. As always, a huge thank you to those that follow(holy crap when did we break 350?), favorite, and review this fic, your support is immensely appreciated. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter in a review, as well. 'Til next time! -Fox