A/N: After months of dealing with personal shit, I am officially ending my hiatus. This chapter took me like 6 drafts and a lot of hair-pulling but I finally produced something I'm proud of. I apologize for the wait but I assure you it was 5000% necessary and I'm ready to embrace the Monochrome hell again. Also, with the imminent introduction of Winter Schnee in the show and all of the hints that she's totally nothing like I imagined, I guess I should label this "that AU where Winter is Weiss's drug addicted asshole twin." This is what I get for writing characters before they're officially introduced in canon. I have exactly 0 regrets. Anyway, please enjoy!
Weiss had one immediate thought upon realizing that she was dreaming, that the bodiless hands grasping for her were figments of an overtired imagination. Her own hands sought Blake as she thought desperately of warmth and life and a familiar body to cling to, but her eyes opened immediately when her fingers closed around empty air. The events from the night before came back to her in a sudden rush, bringing her up from the sheets in a mild panic. She recoiled at the sudden flash of bright light across her eyes as her movements brought her gaze directly into a sunbeam.
"Shit," she hissed ineloquently, blinking away the temporary blindness.
"That's one way to say good morning," she heard a voice call from the kitchen. Her vision took a moment to refocus before Yang came into view, smirking at her from behind the dusty counter. A quick glance around revealed that they were the only two inside.
"Where –"
"Blake's on the roof with some charts, Ruby hitched a ride into town on the truck that came this morning with our supplies. She has a few calls to make," Yang filled in quickly. "Want breakfast?"
Weiss frowned, glancing up at the ceiling as she stepped out from underneath her sheets. "Blake shouldn't be on the roof."
"Blake's a big girl; she can take care of herself," Yang said in the patient tone that said that she'd already had this entire conversation in her head. "We got some eggs from the truck, you want one, or two?"
"After what happened last night, she shouldn't be out in the open like that," Weiss scolded.
"After what happened this morning – namely, Ruby and I fighting hordes of weird-ass Grimm and turning over every stone in a half-mile radius – I'd say she can be wherever she wants," countered Yang before she turned away and began unpacking a box of food. "I can also make you some toast."
"Morning…" Weiss repeated to herself. "What time is it?" she asked hesitantly, halting the instinctive motion to reach for the scroll she'd intentionally left behind.
"Almost sunset," came the reply. "There's no butter for the toast, but the bread's pretty good."
Sunset. Weiss repeated the word in her head until it finally registered, bringing a sputtering rage to the surface as she looked back out at the daylight that was just beginning to fade. "Why did no one wake me!?" She exclaimed.
The sudden slam of a fist on the counter startled Weiss into staring directly at bright red eyes. She took note of the half-healed scratches on Yang's face from the night before, the bruise forming near her jaw. "Because you needed sleep more than anything else, just like you need some food right now, so how about you pipe down and let me make your fucking breakfast, alright?"
The violence from the night before reached forward from Weiss's memory. The image was enough to stun her into several seconds of silence before she finally nodded. "Two eggs, please. No toast. Thank you."
Yang whirled back around and continued the task of unloading the food box.
"Can I ask why she's on the roof?" Weiss asked after a moment had passed.
"The official reason is to survey the area. So, she probably needs time to brood in private," Yang answered as she worked.
Slowly, Weiss stood up, straightening out her nightgown and walking slowly to the kitchen. "And how are you doing?"
Yang leaned down over the stove, igniting it with a gentle exhale as she pumped the dust lever on the side. "What? That guy didn't even leave a dent." She said as she placed a frying pan over the heated metal, cracking two eggs into it while making a concentrated effort to not look at the heiress, probably due to the fact that her eyes still hadn't cooled off.
"Thank you, Yang," she breathed, stepping into the kitchen and wrapping her arms around the brawler from behind. "For everything," she added after a moment.
Yang did not return the hug, stiff in her grip. "You really don't get what I mean when I say that my protection is unconditional, do you?"
Weiss pulled away.
"You don't ever have to thank me," Yang said after a moment. "You just have to understand that I will do anything to protect any of you. Including stopping your father, if it ever comes to that."
It was a series of words that, when strung together, only made Weiss want to throw back her head and laugh. She barely restrained the urge, reminding herself how little sleep her teammate had gotten. After the beating Yang had taken the night before, her tired anger was certainly justified, if futile. "There is no stopping my father. Not on our terms," she said with absolute certainty. In the next breath, she forced out: "I need to know that if I leave, you won't be upset with me."
If Yang was surprised by the statement, she didn't show it. "I'm not the one you should be asking."
"I don't want to," she insisted. "I'm…honestly surprised by how badly I want to stay out here. I can't help but feel like leaving would mean abandoning you three," Weiss admitted softly.
"You're going to have to make a decision one way or another," Yang reminded her. "But…"
Weiss waited a long moment, but the rest of the sentence did not come.
"But?"
The silence dragged on, and Weiss felt the temperature in the room start to rise. Yang did not look at her as she seemed to struggle with some great question.
"Something has to give," she finally offered.
Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Say what you're thinking. You're not usually quiet about your opinions. No reason to start now," she said, bracing herself.
Yang turned away from the eggs to face her, heaving a sigh as she did so. Big hands came to rest on the counter as she gave Weiss a look full of sympathy. "I know you. I know you're not going to be happy if you're constantly worried about putting Blake's life in danger; we saw as much while we were still at Beacon. But we don't have all those walls surrounding us now. You'll start questioning every step you take. You'll drive yourself crazy out here."
Weiss dropped her gaze. She wanted so desperately to say something, anything to contradict the words, but the memory of dream-hands reaching from the shadows to take Blake away kept her silent.
"I can't tell you what the right answer is," Yang said when the silence had dragged on long enough to become awkward. "I'm not going to tell you to leave, either, because I know what that would do to you and Blake, to Ruby. To me. But I know you well enough to understand that you're not going to be able to exist like this for too long. And if staying with us won't work for you, if going back to Atlas won't work for you, you're going to find some third option."
"What else is there?" Weiss asked softly. "There's no way to win this, Yang. No way to stay with the four of you without putting you in danger." She felt the prickling threat of tears behind her eyes and silently ordered them to stay in place.
Yang stared at her for a long moment. "I won't speak for Ruby and Blake. But just in case you thought I was kidding, if you ever want to go against your father, you have a willing soldier."
This time, Weiss did laugh. The sound exploded out of her mouth without her permission, growing into some half-crazed noise of hopeless desperation. "I'm sorry," she breathed when she could pause long enough to take in Yang's expression of annoyance. "I'm sorry, it's not…not possible - " the laughter took over again, tears springing to her eyes and rolling unhindered down her cheeks as she choked on a particularly explosive giggle, throat tightening as her knees buckled. She fell to the floor with complete disregard for her usual grace as the laughs became strangled sobs.
The world pitched sideways, and she caught a brief glimpse of Yang's concerned face before the tears obscured all recognizable details. She buried her face in her hands and let the sobs overtake her, entire body trembling under their weight as big hands came to rest on her shoulders.
"Hey. Look at me."
She couldn't.
"I know you're scared. I'll be honest, I am too. I can protect Blake from Grimm. I can protect her from assassins. I can protect her from racist humans on the street. I can even protect her from you, if you do something dumb like break her heart when you're in one of your moods."
"You say that...like it's happened before," Weiss managed to force out between her tears.
"I had this big speech planned just in case it did. It was a great speech about how much of a cold, heartless ice queen you are. I'm sad I never got to use it." She switched gears when Weiss elbowed her in the ribs. "My point is…I can protect her from anything. Except your father. And that…scares me. But I'm not about to let that stop me from trying."
Weiss couldn't remember if she'd ever heard the brawler admit her own fear. The words served as a jolting reminder it wasn't just Blake who was stifled by the weight of her father's gaze. Yang had taken a beating for them. She and Ruby had woken up early and cleared the area on what was presumably very little sleep. The sobs began to subside as she thought of everything her teammate had done for them, everything she'd faced in the name of protecting them. And now, she was making her breakfast…that was beginning to burn on the stove.
"The eggs!" Weiss yelped, wiping a hand across her face as she suddenly became aware of the burning smell that was beginning to fill the small space.
Yang immediately released her and jumped up, whipping the frying pan off the burner and smothering the small flame that had ignited. "The fucking valve's broken!" she growled as she sniffed the air. Weiss followed suit and winced at the strong chemical odor. "Shit!"
"Honestly, I'm not that hungry anyway," Weiss said with a sniffle.
Yang glared at the heiress. "You're eating. I'll fix the damn thing."
"Thanks," Weiss said quickly.
"Make it up to me by going out and talking to Blake while I work on this. She'll barely say a thing to me," Yang said, doing a poor job of disguising her concern as she moved to open the nearest window and vent out the smell. "And…to answer your question, I'll support what you do. As long as you feel like it's the right decision. You'll figure this out."
Weiss sat heavily on the mattress with a sigh, allowing herself just a moment to wipe her face and gather the energy required to get dressed. Practicality had gradually darkened her wardrobe; too much time spent scrubbing bloodstains from white dresses had accumulated to make the thought of doing the task almost less appealing than the prospect of seeing her father again. But the aversion she felt to the few white garments pulled from her bag was not out of worry that the fabric would stain.
Dimly, Weiss recalled her father's words. You are never to be without nice, white clothes. I may call upon you at any moment, and when I do, I expect you to look like a Schnee.
Packing them had been habit. She glanced around the shack once, wondering when exactly she had planned on being able to wear anything white, anyway. She opted for a simple, black combat skirt and matching top. Myrtenaster was clipped at her side without a second thought.
After walking out onto the wooden deck, Weiss circled the entire lodge, looking for a ladder before giving up and using a glyph to boost herself the extra few feet.
"Can this roof hold two?" she asked softly to Blake's back when a loud creek sounded from the wood she had hesitantly alighted onto. The faunus was silhouetted against the orange streaks that were beginning to form in the sky as the sun, already low enough to be hidden among the trees, began to set.
There was a long moment in which Blake's refusal to respond cut through Weiss like a hot knife. A back-turned ear was the only indication that she had even heard.
"If it starts collapsing, I'll catch you," the faunus finally answered without turning, easing some of the tension. She took the words as invitation, stepping carefully. After considering her options, she moved to sit directly behind Blake, setting Myrtenaster to her left as she leaned backwards. The back of her head came to rest against the space just above Blake's shoulder blades.
The faunus stiffened, surprised by the sudden weight. "What are you doing?"
"Watching your back," Weiss replied, eyes scanning the trees in front of her as she spoke.
She felt Blake shift, the material of her dark vest sliding against white hair as she moved, but the faunus didn't pull away. "You don't have to do that."
"Yes, I do." The admission was whispered softly enough that she doubted Blake would have even heard her had she been human.
"You don't," Blake corrected firmly.
Weiss blinked, biting down on her tongue to stop herself from arguing. Strong was the instinct to insist, to pledge her life to protecting Blake, as she had done countless times before. Her own silence felt like defeat to her ears, and Weiss silently acknowledged that she had prepared for this on some level, the only option more favorable than Blake being killed by her father. Still, her chest constricted at the thought.
"…But you do anyway," Blake finally whispered after Weiss had given up on hearing her say anything else. "Despite everything," the faunus added, back muscles moving gently against Weiss's skull.
Weiss's eyes turned up to a sky that was almost as blue before returning to the trees. "There's nowhere in Remnant I would rather be."
"That's a lie, but it's a sweet one."
"Well, I suppose it's not technically correct," Weiss amended as she scanned the surroundings. "I would rather the four of us be somewhere he didn't know about. And if there's some hidden five star resort out here the three of you are collectively hiding from me, then I suppose I'd much rather be there, it's true."
She felt, rather than heard, the brief chuckle from behind her.
"Ruby went into town to see about that," said Blake. "Not the resort part, the 'somewhere else' part," she clarified.
"He probably found us through the school's records," the heiress mused. "I hope she thinks to call Ozpin and request that our assignments be held in the strictest confid – what is that?"
Blake's hand had appeared beside her head, flingers clutching a tiny metal chip. Weiss pulled it from her grasp. "Tracker. I found it when I searched the vials from the gunblade this morning."
Weiss swore under her breath and nearly dropped it.
"I was planning on tying it to a Nevermore's claw."
Afraid of having to search for something so small, Weiss set the chip next to Myrtenaster as if it were a live bomb. "That should give us a few days, maybe. Enough time to…figure things out." She stumbled over the words, choking on the implication that she couldn't bring herself to voice. Any longer than a few days and they might risk encountering her father's Round 2.
"Your father thinks I mean to kill you," Blake stated. Hearing the words out loud somehow made them even worse than the unspoken implication that had kept Weiss from being able to look her directly in the eye. She wished she could right now, but the rigidity in Blake's back kept her still.
"I can't be certain," she started to counter, because refuting the words marginally decreased the panic in her stomach. Shoulder muscles tightened against her skull, and she sighed softly, pulling away from the comforting weight to sit up straight. "…But, I think we might have to assume he's learned your past by now."
"Whether he has or hasn't makes no difference to me," Blake said quickly. "What matters is that he sees me only as someone who will destroy you."
Dimly, Weiss recalled the words Winter had spoken to her from her hospital bed, and with it the lifelessness that had infected her tone. The voice of someone who had realized with stunning clarity that she meant nothing to the man who had raised her.
SDC is his real child, not us.
"The only real threat you pose to Arktis Schnee is the exceptionally tight grip you have on his last chance to keep SDC under control of the family," Weiss said with a humorless chuckle, pausing in her vigilance just long enough to run a hand across her forehead in an instinctual attempt to quell her anxiety. "He doesn't care about me, or what I want. But he'll do anything to ensure that the business stays in the Schnee family, and I'm the only one left who could take the job, in his mind."
"Why don't you?"
The question startled her. "I…what do you mean?"
Blake took a moment to compose her thoughts. "Before we left Beacon, you told me that you'd have to go back," she reminded. "I was surprised you chose to spend any time out here with us, honestly. You could have everything if you just…went back home."
"Everything," she echoed, letting the word fill her with memories of regular trips to the spa, on-call meals, and a chauffeur available at all hours of the day with the touch of a button on her scroll. The trees she watched paled in comparison until she let out a long, pained sigh and remembered how miserable she'd been living in the shadow of SDC headquarters. "Everything includes my father and his standards. The same ones that nearly killed my sister and left her ineligible to take his place. And I haven't exactly been living up to his expectations these past few years, either. Given the lengths he's going to just to bring me home, I'm not sure I could survive his attempts to 'fix me.'"
"Fighting Grimm in remote regions throughout Remnant seems like a much safer career path," Blake pointed out.
"I know you're joking, but it's true. I've trained for this life. I can face it with a weapon in my hand," Weiss's left hand found Myrtenaster automatically, lifting the sword into the air and thrusting it out towards the trees. Her mind conjured the image of Arktis Schnee in the spaces between the trunks, a ghostly specter that seemed completely out of place before Myrtenaster came back to rest in her lap. "I'm not equipped to face my father, or the life he wants for me. Winter of all people couldn't even deal with him!"
"You're not your sister," Blake said as she leaned forward.
"You haven't met my sister."
"No. I haven't. I've only met your father, once, very briefly, when I had to pretend that I hadn't fallen in love with his daughter to keep my ears attached to my head." Blake spoke with all the emotional attachment of someone stating dinner options.
The inch of distance between their backs suddenly felt much larger to Weiss. "I'm sorry –"
"Stop."
The word rang in her ears much the same way the sound of Gambol Shroud's shots did.
"Don't apologize for him anymore. I know you well enough to know exactly how sorry you are and how badly you wish it could be different but it isn't, Weiss." There was an edge in Blake's tone, a sharpness that sounded restrained.
"I know." Weiss's answer was reflexive, a thin sheet of armor to protect herself with. The urge to lean back was strong. She resisted, letting the wind pass between them as another breeze made the leaves whisper.
"It doesn't…it doesn't solve anything," Blake said, much softer than before.
"I know."
"There's something I need to tell you."
The roof beneath Weiss's fingers felt even less sturdy than before. "Oh, dust," she whispered to herself, finally turning away from the trees and squeezing her eyes shut. "Yes?"
"I…" each of beat of hesitation felt like an eternity. "When you told me you were coming with us, but that you'd go back to Atlas…I realized what I wanted to do. I didn't tell you sooner because it never seemed like a good time." She faltered again, tightening the knot in Weiss's stomach. "Now it's an even worse time, but…"
Say it say it say it! Weiss wanted to scream, fingernails digging into the wood to stop her from turning around.
"…I decided to stay with Ruby and Yang, until you left. Then, when I have a little money saved from contracts…I'm going to break off and go after the White Fang."
The battle for composure was lost, and Weiss whirled around to face the back of Blake's head. "You're…you want to go after the White Fang…by yourself?"
"Not by myself," Blake explained. She didn't turn around. "I've been gone for five years and I need a lot more information. I can't rely on the official reports stating how many current members there are, because they were never accurate before. I was planning on finding more defectors. I have a few ideas of where to search, I know I'm not the only one to leave." Her words came out in a rush, like she was in a hurry to justify the decision. "Are you really surprised?" she asked softly when she didn't get an immediate response.
Weiss wasn't, not completely. On some level she had prepared for the day that Blake requested help taking down her former organization. But to do so without her team? "Yang doesn't know about this, does she?"
"Neither of them do."
Weiss swallowed the bitter lump caught in her throat. "And when were you planning on telling them? Or me? How did you think there was any way we'd ever let you do this alone?" She could hear the hysterical note in her voice as she reached out to Blake's back with a trembling hand.
"I need to do it alone," came the response, swift as a closed door. Weiss's hand stopped in the air between them as if it had hit a wall. "At least, I need to do it…without you."
Ice crystals sprang from the wood beneath Weiss's seat and slowly began to spread across the surface of the roof as she wrestled the urge to argue, a ringing of internal screams drowning out the lingering echo of Blake's words. She could think only of the night before, the memories of the dead man's vacant stare. Though he hadn't spoken a word while alive, her mind had conjured judgement in his empty eyes, accusations of selfishness filling her head with the ghostly movement of pale lips.
You keep her near you, though it may kill her, they said, part of a never-ending litany that forced her to admit that Blake had every right to demand distance. Still, it was no easy surrender, and the tears that rushed to obscure Weiss's vision brought with them the whisper of an emptiness vast enough to swallow her whole. She felt the desperate need to throw words into the void – promises, reassurances, love. Anything, anything to keep Blake by her side.
"Oh," was all she said instead.
She could hear Blake's breathing, nervous and erratic, as she silently prayed for her to turn around. Blake drew her legs to her chest, hugging herself as she lowered her chin onto her knees. "It's not…it's not because I don't want to be around you," she finally said. "Just that you're…human and I, I'd need to earn trust, and you're…a Schnee, and not exactly unrecognizable."
You are a Schnee. There it was again – her name, stepping into the space between them and making it feel like an insurmountable chasm. "I'm more than just a Schnee," she whispered bitterly, suddenly wishing she could scrub herself of the name and be rid of it.
"I know that," Blake assured her quickly. "But, they don't."
The tears that had begun to spill over onto Weiss's cheeks quickly became hot. "And why shouldn't I get the chance to prove it?" she demanded angrily. "I don't want my fate to be decided by my name, Blake! I went to Beacon to get away from it, I came out here to get away from it, and I'm…" she choked on the words, left hand tightening around Myrtenaster's hilt as though the sword could bring her comfort. "I'm so tired of running! From my father, from the life I'm apparently supposed to be living…but if I go back, all I'll be doing is playing into his hand, giving him exactly what he wants, letting him decide everything, just like he always does! I'll be running away from you, from myself, my training, everything I've worked for! I can't stop you from living the life you want. I can't force myself to be in it if you don't want me there, but I need you to understand that I would give anything to be able to choose. I'd burn his fucking company to the ground if I could, I swear! Rid the world of all his greed, rid myself of his expectations, but I just can't!" Her last words broke into a sob.
Blake loosened her deathgrip on her knees. When she spoke, Weiss heard the tears in her voice, and they nearly broke her again. "I've spent the last several years trying to rid myself of the White Fang's influence and move past it, but it never really goes away. I can't forget about the people I killed, the deaths I overlooked, all in the name of false justice. I want to burn it to the ground, too, because maybe I'll finally find some release, but…what will be left if I do? I'll still have to live in this world when it's gone, I'll still have to feel like a second-class citizen just because of my ears, regardless of whether or not I'm with you. I just don't know what else to do. We've both spent so much time trying to get away from these parts of ourselves but…it never ends, does it?"
"I had to believe we could do this," Weiss admitted softly through her tears.
Black ears twitched. "Do what?"
"Find something in the middle. Something worth holding onto." She watched Blake's back as it straightened, thick curtain of midnight hair blowing in the breeze.
"…Didn't we?" Blake finally asked, almost too softly for Weiss to hear.
"Look at me. Please," Weiss begged.
Slowly, Blake turned around on her seat, keeping her head ducked low until her body was completely angled towards Weiss. She looked up, brushing aside the stray hairs that had fallen to obscure a face so thoroughly tearstained that it was a wonder she still had the ability to cry.
Weiss's first instinct was to wrap her arms around the trembling faunus, to bury cold fingers into her hair and whisper again and again that it would be alright, they'd figure it all out. But the words felt empty, even in her head, and the lack of solutions kept her rooted to the spot as the ice around her spread faster.
Blake was the one to hurl herself across the chasm, desperate hands latching onto frigid skin, tugging Weiss to her chest with a fierceness that caught the heiress off-guard. Warmth enveloped her as Blake's arms locked tightly around her shoulders, both of them shaking with sobs and cold as Weiss futilely attempted to reign in her Semblance.
"Breathe," came the soft reminder at Weiss's ear, sending a fan of hot air across her cheek.
She sucked in as much air as she could before releasing it roughly as she cried. Blake only held her tighter, her own breaths sounding ragged and uneven. Weiss's fingers twisted around the fabric of her vest, shivering hands tucked into the fraction of space still between them. She sought out sources of warmth, folding herself into Blake, who moved to accommodate the smaller woman. The hot breath was everywhere now – against her face, her neck, her shoulders, every part of her that she could manage to pull into the tight space. It wasn't enough. Her cold lips found the source in a hesitant kiss, feather-light until Blake responded by surging forward again, tears mingling on matching red cheeks as they allowed themselves a moment to be desperately lost in each other.
They parted only when oxygen became a necessity, foreheads touching as each caught their breath, blue and gold eyes searching for words unspoken as the temperature around them very slowly climbed back up. Weiss found love, closely followed by pain and fear. She hated seeing them, but there they were, far beyond the reach of Myrtenaster's blade.
"I can't do this to you," she breathed, a fresh tear emerging from her left eye and trailing the lower half of her scar as she spoke. "Yang is right. I can't live with myself, knowing that I'm putting you in danger."
She caught another glimpse of the pain, raw and immense, right before Blake's eyes squeezed shut. "Weiss, I can pro –"
"Stop," interrupted Weiss. "I know you can protect yourself. But I don't want you to have to. Not from him." She had to take a deep breath before adding, "Not from me."
Blake's eyes opened again, trained on Weiss's cheek. A hand detached itself from her shoulder to chase a runaway tear she hadn't noticed. "Is this really what you want?"
Weiss wished she had it in herself to lie, for the sake of making this easier, but Blake's knowing stare had a habit of wrestling truths from her. "No," she admitted. "But there are no other options, are there?"
Blake opened her mouth to speak, but stopped short, right ear swiveling atop her head to catch some distant sound. She pulled away from Weiss in favor of staring off into the trees, suddenly alert.
"What is it?" Weiss asked, reached automatically for Myrtenaster. Her hand found the metal chip next to it, and she nearly jolted at the contact, brushing off the thin layer of ice that had formed over the surface.
A moment passed in silence before Blake responded. "Ruby is coming back."
Weiss sniffed, wiping hastily at her tears and holding onto the metal chip as she followed the faunus's gaze. Sure enough, a flash of red could be seen among the far-off tree branches, rapidly approaching.
"We're going to need to discuss this with them," she said as she watched her partner draw closer, Crescent Rose in hand. The prospect sent a shard of ice through her stomach. "I'm…not sure how to bring it up."
Blake's hand found hers and squeezed once, tightly. She tried to draw strength from the action, squeezing back and trying not to think too hard about the prospect of letting go. "Give yourself time."
She had to consciously resist the urge not to heave a sigh. "We don't have time," she insisted.
"We'll make some," Blake responded firmly, dropping her hand and moving to stand up, grabbing Gambol Shroud and tucking it behind her as Weiss followed suit.
"Hey guys!" Ruby's cheerfulness felt like a sudden invasion, but as she made the leap onto the roof from a nearby tree branch and brought her scythe to rest with a loud thump, Weiss soon forgot about her partner's eternal sunshiny attitude.
"Dust, Ruby, that's a lot of blood!" she exclaimed, running to close the distance as she realized that even her leader shouldn't be anywhere near that red. Her face was covered in splatters of crimson, and though the stains were harder to see on her cloak and dress, the trail she was leaving on the wood behind her certainly was telling.
"Oh. Yeah. It's ok…most of it isn't mine," said Ruby, waving off Weiss's concern as she labored to catch her breath and quickly folded up Crescent Rose. "Couldn't catch the van back…so I ran most of the way…which sounds a lot more fun than it is," she huffed. "I hate to leave this place…they really need us, but I found some replacements – "
"Replacements?" Blake and Weiss asked in unison. The pair exchanged glances while waiting for Ruby to compose herself enough to answer.
"Yeah! Since your dad knows where we are, I called around on the radio looking for someone nearby who can take over this contract while we figure out where to go next!" she reported, sounding much happier about the idea than Weiss felt. Her smile faded when she looked back and forth between her teammates, as if suddenly noticing the condition they were both in. "Um…am I interrupting something?"
"It's fine," Weiss said quickly, looking down at the rooftop as she spoke. "Did you find anyone?"
"I got Neptune and Sun to agree to man the lodge; they say they can probably be here late tomorrow night, or the day after. Oh, and Coco and Velvet are coming!"
Weiss felt a sinking feeling in her gut as she processed Ruby's words. On the one hand, having more huntsmen around kept them safer, theoretically. On the other hand, having more people around meant more of her friends were in danger if her father decided to send someone with a slightly more varied skillset. She squeezed the tracker in her hand, suddenly very eager to go dispose of it.
"Are they…also manning the lodge?" asked Blake.
Ruby shook her head. "They're just passing through. Coco wants to talk to Weiss. No idea what about," she added to cut off her partner's question. "Meanwhile, we should probably have a team meeting to talk about our next move."
It looked as though Ruby would take care of the question of how to bring up the departure that was starting to feel more and more inevitable to Weiss. Still, it was the last thing she wanted to think about, so she settled for the short-term. "My next move is getting rid of this," she said, opening her hand to reveal the chip.
Ruby winced, recoiling from her hand. "I'm going to guess that's his?"
There was no need to ask who 'he' was. Weiss just nodded.
"Probably a good idea, then!" Ruby said with a smile. "Do you want company?"
"No," she answered. "You've done more than enough. Go rest; I can take care of it." She couldn't meet Blake's eyes as she spoke, but she felt them on her.
"Be careful; it's getting dark," the faunus said, reaching out to squeeze Weiss's shoulder gently.
"I will," she responded, turning away from the both of them and clipping Myrtenaster to her belt before approaching the edge of the roof. "I won't be gone long," she said over her shoulder before vaulting down onto the wooden platform
As she traveled through the trees in the last of the failing daylight, Weiss felt the weight of Blake's golden stare with every step. She wondered if she was imagining the sensation, or if the faunus had actually followed her from the lodge. If she had, she left no trace of her passing, save for the warm stirring in Weiss's chest as she gripped the chip tighter to make extra sure it wouldn't slip from her grip.
"I'm not letting you anywhere near her," she said to her father, wishing he could hear her from a continent away.