章 1805: 36
Chapter 36 Chapter Text
"Yang?" Weiss asked quietly as she walked up behind her partner and chewed on her lip thoughtfully, seeming so much smaller than how she normally presented herself- this late at night, there was no need to keep up appearances or try to make herself seem more important. Yang stood there, out on one of the many balconies that the dorms had built in, with Weiss standing at the entryway and almost shuffling in place. "Sorry to make you wait. I… there's… I wanted to talk to you about something…"
"Yeah, you said as much earlier," Yang nodded, folding her arms as she leaned back against the railing, her gaze much more serious than usual as she waited and let Weiss approach on her own time. "What's up snowcone? It's gotta be important if you're talking about it the night before a three day long class trip."
"It's… am I… being a bad ally?" Weiss asked, twiddling her thumbs awkwardly as she stepped out into the cool night air and tried not to shiver- either from her nerves or from the late night breeze. She might have lived in colder places, but she'd gotten used to Vale's warmth already. "To… to your sister. Or… in general I suppose."
Yang blinked, cocking her head to the side and frowning as she tried to figure out just where this was all coming from- hadn't things all been fine and dandy for Weiss recently? "What uh… what brought this all on, Weissicle? You seemed fine about all this earlier…"
"Well… I suppose it's just that I feel as a Schnee I should be doing more somehow. That just… doing as I have and trying to throw away my past thoughts and behaviors isn't enough," she sighed, staring down at the railing as she joined Yang, her gaze unfocused but still peering down at the courtyard below. "I don't know. I don't want to assume or pretend that I have to do everything, or that anyone would expect me to do more- or that even if my help would be taken at all on account of my family name, but… I don't know. It's hard and the books that Blake gave me only reveal so much."
Yang said nothing, simply letting Weiss get her thoughts in order and turning around so she could gaze up at the stars, no judgement cast on the girl who she'd partnered up with. She did, however, lay a comforting hand on Weiss' back, flaring her aura to try and stave off the mild chill in the air and lighting up the balcony a little more than the starlight already provided.
"I used to think I was a victim of faunus crime, you know?" Weiss murmured out a slight non sequitur, clenching her fingers and feeling her nails dig into her palms. "I suppose I am, in some ways. I didn't ask for my family to fall apart at the seams. Didn't ask my extended relatives to be assassinated as a girl. But all that said- up until the time that I came to Beacon, I thought faunus were… riffraff. Filthy. Rapscallions. Thieves and liars and criminals and fiends of the highest order. It's… I don't think I ended up being as bad as I could have been but well… You know how I was. I had a reason, but it was still… shitty … of me. But as a result of my upbringing, the White Fang terrified me for years and years, and… when our team first formed, I thought Ruby was terrifying, too. An open White Fang agent? Here? I even tried to report her before Professor Goodwitch shut that down-"
"Wait what- when did that happen?"
"Ah… before Initiation? I'm sure Ruby saw me when I froze up at the sight of her. A-anyway. As I was saying… I was afraid of Ruby… but she called you her sister. And she was so nice… And I… couldn't help but start to see her for how she really was. And I wanted to learn. To be better. Because I refused to end up like Cardin or his cronies. But… at the same time… I can't… I still feel like a terrible person because every time I try to be better, try to be more open minded… I'm still reminded of that fear and paranoia and just how much harm my family name does still…"
She sighed again, shaking her head. "I apologize, I didn't mean to go on such a long rant but… I don't dislike Ruby now, Yang. I really don't. She's smart, she's strong, she's clearly extremely skilled, she's powerful, and she's good at coming up with team strategies on the fly. She's… a competent leader, a good classmate, and… as much as I think I can say it… a good friend. I just… want to know how I can… be the best friend and ally I can be, really. To Ruby… and also to Blake, I think?"
"That's… something you'll have to figure out for yourself, I think," Yang answered, a heavy sigh on her lips as rubbed a slow circle on Weiss' back, her Aura flaring up slightly brighter in response to her partner's shivering- she may not have trusted Weiss as much as she could have earlier on, but the heiress had entirely proven herself to be every bit as intelligent, capable, open minded, and skilled as one could expect from a first year student at Beacon Academy.
Really, Yang didn't see what Weiss was so worried about given how wholeheartedly she'd gone in with changing her mind and being a better person than she'd started Beacon as. "If you want my thoughts on it, Weisscream... You're doing fine. Honestly, better than fine. You don't flinch at all anymore when you look at Ruby's mask and you've never used any slurs or treated any faunus poorly here after you had that talk with Ruby and started going through those articles Blake gave you. Yeah, you're still justifiably paranoid about the White Fang coming after you cuz you're a Schnee, but… that's understandable. You're my teammate and my partner, and you're a pretty damn good friend too. Also you threatened to murder a guy in Ruby's honor so that means we're cool. Also uh, what was that about Blake?"
"Thanks… I… I appreciate it, Yang. And uh, nevermind, just… had a strange thought," Weiss murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and smiling softly. She let out a sigh, feeling the warmth of Yang's hand against her back and shuddering ever so slightly as it lifted her spirits. Idly, she looked out at the school grounds below, unaware of how the moonlight shone down upon her hair and highlighted her entire body in silvery, delicate light. "I think we should probably head in soon… it's getting late and we have a long three days ahead of us."
She paused, trailing off as Yang seemed to look away suddenly and stare off into the distance. "Is… something wrong?"
"Nothing! Nothing. Sorry, I was just thinking of uh- um," Yang flushed, shaking her head as she breathed out slowly and released some tension from her shoulders, eyes flaring red while shook herself out and let her hair flare up into an aura of flames. "I er… Ugh… it's dumb, and pretty stupid."
Smooth recovery, Xiao Long.
"If it's something you need to get off of your stupidly prodigious chest, it's probably not dumb ," Weiss retorted, breaking composure a bit to elbow Yang in the side, not moving from where she stared out at the starry night sky. "I just finished telling you how I still feel like a bad ally even when you told me I'm fine. I'm sure whatever you have to say is of equal import."
Yang blinked, then chuckled lowly as she rejoined Weiss at the railing, leaning over it slightly and sighing again. "I guess so… it's just… I'm always thinking about Ruby, y'know? She's my baby sister and… as much as I love Cinder- she hasn't always been there. She's only been with our family for… what, seven years now? Ruby's always been my priority, someone I have to protect… and now she's all grown up and a leader and… honestly, it's just weird, y'know? Seeing someone I spent years trying to raise with Cinder's help being in charge of me… It's kinda crazy."
Yang grimaced, running her fingers through her hair and trying not to feel weird about not having Ember Celica's comforting metallic weight around her wrists at all times. "I dunno. It's dumb. My baby sister's all grown up now and I can't help but feel like I still want her to be that adorable little puppy I carried around everywhere for just about two years before she figured out how to be human again…"
"Hm," Weiss murmured, nodding slowly as Yang wound down from her previous embarrassment, eyes dimming as her Aura settled slightly. "Well. I can't exactly relate to your unique set of problems seeing as my younger sibling was raised mostly by nannies and I was largely isolated from most of my family… But I think, from what I've seen, you've done about as good of a job at being Ruby's big sister as anyone could ever expect. You've raised her to be fierce, strong, capable… and both a good leader and a good friend. Just… you probably should have taught her more restraint so she would ah…"
She coughed, looking to the side. "Not… blow up the sparring arena. Again."
"Hey, she only did that the one time," Yang pointed out with a light snort, cuffing Weiss's shoulder with a friendly grin.
"Yes, and then she blew out a wall in the Dust research labs trying to make new grenades with Nora. And then she all but bribed me into doing her Dust math for her with those hellishly adorable puppy dog eyes," Weiss grumbled, crossing her arms and turning away. "And then she made Blake an entirely new Gambol Shroud the night before a three day grimm killing trip-"
"What, do you want an upgrade too? You jealous, Ice Queen?"
"Of course I do! And don't call me Ice Queen! Ahem- I just… don't have any ideas for Myrtenaster…" Weiss sighed, huffing a little bit. "I didn't even make Myrtenaster myself- I chose the initial design and the rough functionality, but everything else was made by a dedicated team of weapons engineers and machined from the highest quality stock- Myrtenaster only became mine when the individual parts were shipped to the Schnee manor and I had to do the first assembly by hand. Sometimes she still doesn't feel like she's mine because of that…"
"... That's pretty rough, Weisscream," Yang muttered, then clapped Weiss on the shoulder and turned the both of them back to the dorm proper. "Tell ya what- ask Rubes about it when we all get back and I guarantee Myrtenaster's gonna be shiny and new within a week of that meeting- plus you'll be there every step of the way, just like how Blake was… eh, more or less."
"That… sounds acceptable."
"Great, now let's get to bed. We got a loooong three days ahead of us."
[That was a little heavy, have this as a palate cleanser. There's no specific chapter this happens in cuz Ruby does this literally all the time]
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