Thank you for clicking on this story. Before we get started, I'd like to make a quick note to those unfamiliar with my style of storytelling. First, I know that the word count is large for a single chapter. My chapters are not intended to be read in a single sitting, but are meant to bridge the gap between the time one instalment is posted and the next. However, because this story is being written in tandem with another, this will only last a reader perhaps a fraction of the wait. If the word count is intimidating for this chapter, know that the others will be of more or less the same length. If chapters of this size do not interest you, I apologize, but the story will retain this verbosity.

Edelweiss is a companion novel to Valence, another story I am writing. It is not necessary for you to read Valence to understand this tale, but it would certainly add context. Edelweiss will run for five chapters and will total over 100,000 words by the time it is complete. As with Valence, PDF versions of these chapters are linked to on my profile in the case that the longer sentence/paragraph lengths prove incompatible with Fanfiction's formatting.

To those who have read Valence, this chapter takes place during the events of chapters four and five.

Again, thank you for clicking on this story and allowing me the opportunity to entertain. Without further ado, I will leave you with chapter one of Edelweiss. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1: Favor

Since generations immemorial, the Schnee name has struck awe in those who are aligned, envy in those who work beside, and fear in those that dare oppose. From the day the Lord Protector Wilhelm Schnee in the First Age, when the moon was still whole and the Grimm were scant few, sat beside dear friend Atlas, Vanguard of the North, Champion of His People, and Sovereign of Dust, the family of Schnee has remained stalwart and vigilant as they await their gracious rise to throne. With a patient smile, Lord Schnee attended King Atlas who had been of another name until that powered sediment raised him from humble farmer to humanity's paradigm. The Schnee family will remain loyal to Atlas, for at that time, his dear friend who had been Captain of the Äschernen Berge—later, the Snowy Mountains—stood fast to defend the peasant's honor in the face of the guards' attempted confiscation, but this action proved woefully unnecessary when the creatures of Grimm attacked. Once Atlas had realized Dust, he quickly rose to power with secrets and knowledge at his discretion and with a friend by his side. Since that time centuries ago, the Schnee family has only grown in circumstance, rising far above the Arcs of Vale, the Ducoeurs of Mistral, and even the elusive Al-Shams Flotilla of the Vacuo wastes. Yet in this tumultuous Eighth Age when the moon has scattered, the Grimm lick their wounds, and many of the prominent bloodlines have run dry, neither kings nor lords have any power.

During the Fifth Age—during the time of unification and the Second Fall of Vacuo—the Schnee family found their long sought-after power. However, neither coup was staged nor takeover of any kind initiated, but instead impotence found the childless king, and with his death, Atlas' dynasty ended. In the wake of his passing, the kingdom's people turned to the last Lord Protector, then Lord Regent to the Atlesian throne, and saw him decline the opportunity. In recent history, this Wolfgang Schnee has been seen as the family's greatest failure, but from a practical, unburdened perspective, he was the single-most influential person to this modern age behind old King Atlas. However, his efforts to ease the continent out of its monarchy-dependent mindset and into a parliamentary system allowed the success of not only the Schnee family in its present state, but so too the four kingdoms through widespread economic prosperity and a culture that promoted individuality over servility. Of course, because he initiated Atlas' golden age and died before having a hand in its progression, his reputation has been concealed and repudiated by the present head of the Schnee family.

Instead, the many warriors of the family name stand out. Above all others, there was Wilhelm, the first in their bloodline and the second to master the use of Dust, but there was also Ursel who lent her name to the bear-like Grimm through her exploits in the battle at Schwarzstadt that ended the Second Age as well as Siegfried of the Fifth Age whose breakthrough in Dust-based weaponry altered military strategy worldwide in a matter of days. Those who could show their strength in immediately recognizable ways were held on a pedestal within the current house of Schnee. Those who were not warriors—or, in more modern times, business revolutionaries—were to be kept out of sight for all future members of the family. However, this revisionist history had a glaring irony to it that Otto Schnee was doubtlessly aware of yet strived to amend through his own progress and influence.

Schnees who had sponsored the formation of the trade language, developed the walls that keep the Grimm from civilization, and set precedents for all other kingdoms with Atlas' parliamentary system were mere shadows in the family's history. Rather, they were to be expunged from time so to uphold the family's name, but the two present heiresses were aware of their history, yet only one cared. And in this way, it is odd to say that a Schnee cared, for their characterization since the end of the Seventh Age has been of the villain-tycoons who have no thoughts outside of greed and power.

Greed was not a conscious fault in Weiss Schnee's character, but a drive for power existed within her as it does with all others on Remnant. This was no attempt to dominate the kingdoms or find leverage over another person, but instead this was the younger heiress' need to have power over her own life and future. Even still, this was not enough for the media who she had spoken to only once and at a time when unbridled emotions controlled her answers.

Every Schnee since Wilhelm has had a reason for his or her prosperity. More often than not, these reasons tended to be bold business ventures, innovations in regard to Dust research, or even missions of diplomacy, but interspersed were the warriors whose legends extended far out beyond the confines of Schnee Manor—rather, Glatteis Manor in more recent decades. Weiss was not certain which category she fell into, if any at all. She was certain that her sister, Winter, was of the former and her father, too, despite his insistence that he is of the latter variety. Though, Otto Schnee's behavior should not be spoken of lightly. All Schnees, by the end of their lives, would have legends written about them, and his were thus far numerous and unsettling.

Regardless, Weiss knew that her time would come soon enough. Now was not her time nor would it be for a long while, but she would wait. Waiting was what she had been trained to do.

Winter's role in the company was of heiress and shadow to their father. Weiss' position was simply third in line and nothing else. She was to wait until her father either died or retired so he could pass on his position to Winter after whose subsequent death or retirement would lead to Weiss' opportunity. It was a morose fate that was never guaranteed because Winter was only a few years older than Weiss and in peak health like their father. Weiss had done internal estimations at numerous points in her life as to when her opportunity would arise, and the answers were seldom uplifting, yet she would never argue against this order of succession. No matter how many questionable decisions her father made or how little attention Winter gave, Weiss would remain loyal to them because they were family.

Love had not existed, not for a long time. Practicality, reason, logic, understanding, knowledge; all were the principles taught by Otto and were practiced daily to an almost militaristic degree. Winter had abided and learned well, but all this did was isolate Weiss.

Of course, she would learn these principles; the education she had been given was top-notch and left no room for ignorance. Tens of thousands of Lien had been spent on her conditioning alone, not to mention her sister's. From an early age, she had been trained in business practices and ethics when the information would have otherwise been incomprehensible to others of the same year. She had learned of debate and rhetoric and even the subtleties of manipulation so that a conversation would always be in her control. Then came her knowledge of the classics—arts, literature, linguistics, philosophy, the sciences, and mathematics—to which she could apply her speech and address a broader audience. Finally yet concurrently, etiquette had been instilled in the heiress, and from this came her patience.

Far too many times had she spent a day simply talking with people—people of importance to some, no doubt, but of superfluous meaning to all members of her family. Her handshake had become calloused and cold like those around her and her mind would instinctually dull as a form of self-defense against the bumbling drones she commonly came in contact with. Had she any sway in matters, she would have paid more attention, but she was third in line and was never allowed to forget it.

It should not be inferred that Weiss ever saw her life as trite or unfortunate. She knew of her family's position and enjoyed the response it allowed when she gave an order to anyone. The general exorbitance that surrounded her in everyday life was befitting and comfortable while the range of opportunities she had was nearly endless. However, seventeen years of the same general routine for the effect that she would eventually (in an estimated eighty-something years) take the reins of the Schnee Dust Company had inspired dissatisfaction.

Legends were not created by waiting, and she knew this. Weiss had expressed multiple times to her father how she desperately wanted to make a difference in the world, but he had reminded her that not only was she third in line to the throne, but she had been born as an heiress and not as an heir. He was a twisted man indeed who fought to uphold the family's rule of forbidding female members from combat that had been set in place just before the Grimm War that ended the Seventh Age. All the while, he spoke of Ursel and Hilda who, as heads of the Schnee house at their respective times, fought fiercely to uphold Atlas' security. Despite her father's restrictions, Weiss somehow knew that she could fight like her foremothers.

Her arguments that would pester her father for a year's time would result in an exception to the forbidding rule and allowance for her to have the same training he had in the art of swordplay. Almost immediately, she was proven correct. She could fight, but not like her foremothers, for neither hammer nor daggers could fit her expertise. Weiss learned with a sword as all male Schnees had and crafted her technique like none other.

Instructors came and subsequently fell to her natural talent, but even still she knew Otto did not think her a warrior. Perhaps the besting of the many instructors of increasing renown came from her ability to foresee a person's immediate actions. Of course, her learned semblance helped, but her instructors had semblances, too, and were far more experienced in their utilizations. However, it was her meticulous mind that could not slow on the field of combat that gave her an edge over another. By foot movements alone, she could tell what actions her attacker would next take regardless of the weapons he held. By the end of her training—rather, by the time she had exhausted the queue of instructors—she had proven herself able to defend the house of Schnee.

Once again, she had been informed that this defense could only come once she took the throne from Winter or if the White Fang chose to strike. However, this latter option was no longer a feasible one ever since the construction of Glatteis Manor on Kaiser Island. There was no hope of excitement for her at that age of fifteen because she knew that her life would consist solely of waiting until an opportunity found her.

Unfortunately, such an opportunity never came. Weiss would stay vigilant with her studies and continue to improve her combat technique, but it was not until both actions led her to Dust that epiphany struck her. She knew of the Dust-based ammunition and ordnance her family both supported and developed, but she never thought to use it herself because of her chosen style. However, she knew of old King Atlas' tale and knew that her predecessors had harnessed Dust for their protective needs, leading to her eventual forging of Myrtenaster—a sword that she believed would balance her fighting style between passionate legacy and cold sensibility. And it was with this rapier, primed with Dust and honed to a deadly edge, that she saw an opportunity.

The profession of a hunter had never been a romanticized concept to the heiress, being that it was only just a step above the Atlesian military in terms of what had been called "grunt work." Perhaps it was her grandfather or great-grandfather who had instilled the notion in her family that service to their kingdom was for lesser men. Whatever the case was, it was wrong, and Weiss knew that only she could see this—not Winter and especially not their father. In the current decline of their name's power and standing, when others saw Schnees immediately as the monsters they once fought, Weiss knew her family was separating itself from the rest of the world. Perhaps reunification would be her goal and legend, but to do so, she had been told to wait for her sister's death. Yet if ever there was a profession where an individual could make a difference outside of a corporate or governmental environment, it was of a hunter, or, in her case, huntress.

In this assumption, she would eventually prove correct, leading her to the present situation, but she had never lived a fairytale life and thus had to fight for her desires. When this profession was brought to her father, an immediate laugh came over him. She was a Schnee and had a reputation to uphold, he argued. Indeed she did, but the reputation had become muddled and grotesque, leading to the White Fang's aggression against them. She knew that becoming a huntress did not necessitate a more compassionate standing in the public's eye nor did it promise life after her stint within whichever academy she might choose. However, combat had done her predecessors well and she believed it might benefit her in kind.

Her father said she was not a warrior. Weiss, being the inherently stubborn girl that she was, challenged this claim, and when her sword was drawn, so too was his. She neither won nor managed a hit during the brief exchange, and worst yet, she was not given the privilege of an honorable defeat. He simply sheathed his sabre and walked away mid-fight as he asked the name of the academy she wished to attend.

As loyal as she was to Atlas, no school within its boundaries would be safe from her father's control. Of course, no kingdom was immune from the Schnee influence, but an academy of another land would more than likely be harder to sway. For this reason, she spat the word "Beacon." He assented, and a week later, an evaluator from Vale came to Glatteis Manor to test the heiress. With no small effort, she had passed and had been accepted into the school, but learned perhaps too late that there were fighting styles that she was entirely unfamiliar with—ones that used hands and firearms and weapons of which she could not begin to fathom descriptions for. There was a world outside of Atlas, and though she had seen it many times before, she knew now that she was a part of it.

The only support that she had ever been given was monetary in value, never sentimental. This trend would continue as she departed for the faraway academy. Neither Winter nor her father had the decency to wave her farewell, but she should not have expected such a flourishing show of emotion. While they had sent her away with assistants to port her luggage, she knew that they were simple formalities. She was left alone and in painful silence that would last the entire flight to the academy.

If Weiss had been asked when she was five years of age what she wanted to be when she grew up, she would have answered "a princess." At eight years of age, her answer would have been "a Schnee." At thirteen, her answer would have been, "a warrior." At seventeen, "a leader." Yet if one were to ask Weiss Schnee (descendent of Lord Protector Wilhelm Schnee and Ursel, who lent her name to the Grimm) what she wanted to be at eighteen years of age, she would have no answer to give. Perhaps "a huntress" or, once again, "a warrior" would have been acceptable answers for the time being, but these only represented short-run goals and she had been trained to think in terms of long-run strategy. There had, however, been a recurring descriptor that drifted regularly throughout her mind ever since the end of her first semester at the academy. As strange as it was, Weiss wanted nothing more than to be a teammate for the next few years. Rather, she wished to exceed at this prospect and prove not only to others, but herself, that the Schnee lineage was still human and salvageable.

Her time at that school proved far different than she had anticipated, with the chief irregularity being that she was not readily welcomed by anyone. However, her arrival at the academy, while jarring to her and causative of change within her outlook on society, is not the purpose of this tale—her actions and adventures within Beacon Academy are told elsewhere. This tale, which should not be seen as the beginning of her legend (for her legend began prior to this present situation), is of the respite after her second semester at the combat school, specifically, her summer break. The linkage to her aforementioned history comes in the forms of outlook and motive. While no one is a facsimile of their mothers or fathers, it would be wrong to say that we do not live without the burdens of their knowledge, prestige, and expectations. Weiss certainly did. Her father and her father's father and all fathers and mothers before lived on in the back of her mind, reminding her often that her actions were for her family—not the family that her father had undermined, but her family.

But to digress to our tale's true beginning, perhaps the frequently mentioned "present situation" should be identified.

In the sprawling capital of Vale, under the canopy of mirrored glass high-rises, white-bricked businesses, and a particularly warm, pleasant sun that made both styles of architecture glimmer, an alabaster limousine drove along a boulevard with intent to transport its passengers into the commercial district of the city. Those pedestrians who walked alongside the road were many and merry while within this vehicle were the four girls who comprised Team RWBY. Their present situation was of their summer break that, in an uncanny turn of events, left them collectively housed within this city—rather, on its outskirts, but further description in this regard is irrelevant for the moment. Weiss' excuse for not returning to Atlas had been ambiguous but truthful, leaving much to be desired while being respected by the others in her group.

But nothing as level-headed as respect was on any of their minds at the moment, as all four were of polarizing emotions. Ruby Rose was perhaps (and surprisingly) the calmest of them all, being that she happily watched the passing sights flash by the window opposite her bench. Of course, this action was proven rather awkward because her gaze often landed upon Yang, Blake, and the partnership's shared affections. For the sake of this tale's relative brevity, it should be summarized that Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long are, as of earlier in this second day of their summer break, dating. However, descriptions as to their current level of affections (which Weiss thought uncharacteristic for her Faunus teammate) and the means of their relationship's founding are not of this tale. No, this tale is of that young leader who felt awkward looking out the opposite window and her unamused partner in white who glared at the couple who rested their heads against one another.

"Will you two stop?" Weiss asked with no small amount of disgust lacing her tone. Unfortunately, neither girl paid any heed, instead nuzzling closer together and contentedly sighing at the emotion they allowed each other.

This was absurd—impractical, deviant, juvenile. They were huntresses tasked with upholding the barriers of humanity and defeating their snarling doom. Emotions were to be afterthoughts to their actions, not causative factors. Relationships were not simply unnecessary in this profession, they could only prove detrimental by way of slowing their movements, staying their hands, and muddling their decision-making processes. And this only accounted for relationships between a hunter and a civilian. Weiss had never read of relationships between two huntresses, and the present existence of one thusly mortified her. Their inane whispers and absent-minded compliments could not bode well for future combat endeavors. Attachment to a person who was off of the battlefield caused a defensive drive to protect the significant other from invading Grimm, yet a relationship between two huntresses meant that both were on the battlefield. In Weiss' mind, such affection would only get the entire team killed.

For that matter, Weiss was not fond of the term "friend" when referring to her teammates, not because of her lack of companions at a young age, but because of the similar attachment friendship causes in comparison to a romantic relationship. She would gladly delve into the inherent camaraderie that the team aspect allowed, but hesitated to call her teammates friends. Out of all of her teammates, she might eventually consider Blake a friend because they were of like minds and dispositions, despite the Faunus' previous affiliation with a blood-thirsty terrorist group. Even then, this present relationship marred Weiss' opinion of the girl in black.

Ruby would eventually answer for her sister and teammate, exclaiming, "But Weiss! You can't just stop young love!" This response garnered glares from those around her, with two out of the three holding incredulous blushes and the condescending third showing disdain. For this, the young leader backpedaled. "Uh, I mean young…like?" The glares did not immediately relent, causing her to laugh nervously.

Fortunately for the young girl, these tensions would eventually subside and her remarks would be forgotten. Despite this outburst, Ruby continued to be relatively calm for her usual self and Weiss could hold no concrete reservations against her. While the heiress did not believe in friendship, her partner did, as evidenced by the number of times Ruby had referred to Weiss as though such a bond existed. There was also the matter of the invitation Weiss had been given to spend her summer at the house of the sisters. As annoying and childish as Ruby so often proved to be, she was tolerable at times and genuinely kind—a trait that has proved difficult for any Schnee to find in another.

Due to Weiss' first impressions of the young leader, she still could not admit Ruby as anything more than a partner. She was endearing, of course, but unprofessional. They worked rather decently as a cohesive unit with the combination of Weiss' training that resulted from generations of proud warriors and Ruby's… Well, Weiss could not place what exactly made her partner competent. Actually, it is to say that she believed Ruby to be an excellent warrior, if frequently reckless. In fact, the girl who was two years younger than the trained heiress had been the second person to make Weiss question her own fighting style. She was adaptive, quick, and accurate, all while being earnest and supportive. Regardless, she was still a child and could easily become an annoyance as she had just been.

However, Weiss did not wish to remain in this angered state and thus released it with an inaudible sigh. Traveling had a habit of bringing headaches to the heiress and the transition from the academy to the large city which required long car rides was no different. It is not to say that she held any negative sentiments towards the young girl, but Ruby had unfortunately taken the brunt of the headache's effects through Weiss' ire upon waking up. Yet, cheerful as ever, Ruby only flinched momentarily to the irked outburst. Instead of shying away, she offered the heiress breakfast which came in the form of leftover pizza from the tired night before, a glass of tap water, and, thankfully, aspirin. Weiss, having been taught to be gracious when offered such assistance, took the meal with an admittedly insincere smile. Along with this, Ruby offered light conversation that seemed more so purposed to soothe the headache than discuss any demanding subject.

Weiss had known of Ruby's sincerity, but the events of this morning had shown her partner in a far different light than of the "dunce" she had so often been called before. Of course, Ruby still had her faults (of which there were many under the critical eye of a Schnee), but she had been a satisfactory partner and was the reason Weiss strived to become the best teammate she could. The heiress would maintain her stance that Blake was better suited to be a "friend" (if ever there could be one), but Ruby had gained her respect to an extent. For this, the heiress decided that treating Ruby with her usual derision would not be appropriate, at least not for today. Weiss promised herself that the events of today would be her means of paying back the debt she now owed her partner through civility, tolerance, and reciprocated kindness.

Now the four girls who comprised Team RWBY were on their way into the city so to tour it and gain an understanding of their summer's locale. At least, this had been the plan devised by Ruby and Weiss. If the heiress was correct (and in most cases, she was), then this plan of all four of them touring together would amount to herself and Ruby actually paying attention to their surroundings while Blake and Yang continued to focus on each other. This fact was entirely reprehensible, yet there was nothing she could do to counteract it. Instead, she sighed again and resigned to simply waiting for their eventual destination.

Fortunately enough, they would soon arrive in the center of Vale's commercial district and would all step out of the vehicle into the crowded square. While the towering fountain to their side distracted the others through its noise and grandeur, Weiss set her sights on the crowd around them and the stone shoppes surrounding this plaza. Vale was a densely populated city—perhaps the largest she had ever seen—and every time she visited, she had been surprised by the size of the crowds. She was not scared of the masses per se, merely aware of them. She saw the fleeting patterns in the sea of what could easily have been a thousand mindless individuals and found that the place where they had arrived was hosting some sort of street festival or scheduled market. Numerous stands and booths lined the perimeter of this square, corralling the crowd within as they circled through to see what was in stock. With this pattern observed, Weiss understood the general disposition of the mob and knew how to traverse it.

However, traversal was secondary on her list of current priorities with the first being her teammates' returned attention. Fortunately, the suited man who acted as their chauffeur and one of her personal assistants asked in his disingenuously even tone, "Will there be anything else, Lady Schnee?" This had drawn the attention of the three who stared at the fountain and the ire of the fourth.

How she loathed the honorifics they placed on her name. Neither was she a lady nor her father a lord, and yet the title still continued as though their family were considered royal. However, argument would only prove detrimental to her cause, being that the attendants had been trained to add the honorifics regardless of distaste. Moreover, they reported directly to her father on even the most infinitesimal details such as a disregard for tradition. Instead of reprimanding him, she kept her expression calm and shook her head. "No, thank you. I will call when we require your services later."

He gave the same slight, condescending smile that the attendants always did before bowing his head and turning back to the limousine. Weiss continued to watch him enter the vehicle and drive away with that same smirk. She watched him out of care for herself and to dissuade him from telling her father anything, but she knew he would. Those smirks meant that some sort of progress had been made in her life that would warrant a report to Glatteis Manor. Fortunately, she had sent him away and he could not disobey this order, leaving the four free from the invisible gaze of Otto Schnee.

Weiss was pulled from her spiteful reverie when she noticed Ruby moving to stand beside her. The young leader had a perplexed expression about herself as she looked to the crowd around them. "What now?" she asked, apparently forgetting the plan that she had co-founded.

This single instance of immediate forgetfulness managed to subvert the promises Weiss made to herself about remaining calm and keeping ridicule to an absolute minimum. "We've already gone over this," she groaned in response. "We are just going to look around and see where everything is."

"But where do we start, Weiss?" Ruby pointed to the crowd and the many roads behind them that branched from this town square. She seemed overwhelmed, but there was no excuse for this. The girl resided in this city and should have had some sense of where they were. Because the young leader seemed to lack this quality, it proved rather difficult for Weiss to maintain her composure—which, in reality, she did not because a frown had burdened her countenance.

The heiress spoke slowly and insistently so to make sure Ruby understood what was being said. "It does not matter which way we go. No matter where we go, we will still achieve our goal of exploring the city."

"Yeah, I get that, but where? I don't know if you know this, Weiss, but Vale is huge!" She stretched her arms out to either side to better convey the description. "There's tons of stuff down all of these roads and I don't even know where to begin! That, and we kinda forgot the map, but we don't even know where we're going in the first place."

Within this latter statement, Ruby had divulged a piece of information that was entirely new to Weiss, causing the heiress to forgo her level-headed sentiments. She glared at the girl in red. "You forgot the map?" Had Ruby forgotten the one item that might spare them all from wandering aimlessly through this metropolis—the one item that they had spent the morning writing on and marking for this specific occasion?

"Kinda!" Ruby exclaimed warily.

"How could you 'kind of' lose a map?" the heiress snapped. "There is no grey area in this matter! You either lose the map or you do not!"

"What do you want me to say, I didn't bring the map?" This was less so wary and more so genuinely confused.

"Yes!" Weiss sighed. "That is exactly the answer I am looking for!"

"Hey!" This shout came from neither of the bickering two and thus garnered their immediate attention. "Lovebirds!" This exclamation, however, caused reactions on both Ruby and Weiss' parts, being that of a shocked blush on the former and an infuriated blush on the latter. Yang stood nearby, grinning like a fool as she held the traitorous Faunus' hand. The flushing reaction on Weiss' part was mostly out of incredulous anger, but some small part of her had been reluctant to accept the term simply because of how boldly and matter-of-factly it had been shouted. The heiress was torn between denouncing this erroneous description and shouting back at the blonde. However, she would not have the chance to even begin either action as her witless teammate continued. "Me and Blake are going to head out. We'll meet you back here at seven. See ya!"

Just as suddenly as this declaration had been made, the other partnership departed, leaving Weiss to simply glare at them as they ran off and Ruby to pitifully fall from her disagreeing state into one of crestfallen acceptance. Weiss should have expected this abandonment as soon as she saw how attached Yang was to Blake. It was obvious in hindsight that the other partnership would want time to themselves, but it was unfortunate as well because this left her own plan in shambles.

The heiress wanted to be angry at the other two, but she knew they were beyond her control. Weiss heaved a deep sigh and turned to her partner. She had broken her promises and now the young girl seemed lost without her sister's expected presence. This state was doubtful to have come from Weiss' actions, but the girl in white knew that this morning's kindness still needed be paid back and her debt had only grown because of the short exchange they had just held. She moved to her partner with another sigh before saying simply, "Come on." The girl in red looked to her, seemingly confused. "With or without them, we will follow through with our plan. It would be a shame to let our work go to waste and I certainly do not wish to stand here until they return."

"But what about Yang and Blake? What'll they do? They didn't see the plan."

"Whatever they choose to do is of their own prerogative and has nothing to do with us." Unfortunately, this response caused the young leader to stare concernedly at the spot her sister once stood. The reparations that Weiss had promised were not presently working, leading her to suspect that a more placating route might better suit the situation. "I am sure they will find something to occupy their time, but whatever they choose to do will in no way alter our situation. I'd rather we find something to do as well."

Ruby blinked, assumingly recovering, however slowly, from her sister's sudden escape. "Well, what do you want to do?"

Weiss closed her eyes as a means of calming the headache that was beginning to come back to her. "Frankly, I don't care. You were chosen as leader and I am willing to follow." She paused, mulling over what she was next going to say and deciding that it was opportune, if uncharacteristically submissive. "You may choose what we do today."

Surprisingly, this did not elicit a cheery grin from the young girl, but instead a reassured smile. "Thanks, Weiss, but I don't really care, either. Though, you're probably right; it'd be dumb to just stand here all day. Wanna just wander around like we said we would?"

To say that this sudden change in expression was odd to the heiress would be an insufficient description of her surprise. In this particular instance, she had expected Ruby to perk up and be her regular, energetic self, but this reaction had been relatively unprecedented. Once again, she did not have the means of understanding this supposedly simple-minded child. This response had been, strangely enough, more mature than she was used to Ruby being. Instead of care-free, she had been careful and instead of impulsive, she had been passive. Weiss unwittingly blinked and showed this confusion, but quickly covered up this expression with her regular condescension. "That would be the plan, wouldn't it?"

Ruby let out a short laugh and teased, "Oh, come on, Weiss. Lighten up a little! It's the summer." Unfortunately for her, Weiss was not yet in the joking mood and gave a flat look. Unsurprisingly, this elicited the expected action from the leader in the form of a blatantly nervous chuckle. "Or, I mean, you could stay like that. That'd be cool too." The unamused stare held and made Ruby even more nervous than she already was, breaking the chuckle and causing the girl to glance at the area immediately around them. "So…uh, should we go now?"

This question did not warrant an audible response, Weiss believed, and thus she walked forward, into the crowd and towards a branching path from this square that was yet obscured by the masses and the booths beyond them. The sudden movement seemed to find Ruby off-guard, causing her to quickly catch up and eventually match her partner's quick, efficient gait. "So, uh, is there anything you wanna do? I know you said we'd wander, but we can't just do that forever." This deserved a response, but their current surroundings required attention, leaving all of Weiss' focus on the crowd that reluctantly parted to her commanding presence. "I mean, if you want, we could get lunch or something." The heiress disregarded this question not because it was uninteresting, but because it was irrelevant in the midst of this crowd. "Okay," Ruby sighed. "I'll just shut up now."

Hearing this resignation had a paradoxical effect on the heiress' emotions. On one hand, it was satisfying to hear that the inane chatter would come to an end, but on the other, this self-destructive effacement was reminiscent of her own that existed many years ago. Still, Weiss would maintain her uninterested expression as she parted the otherwise happy people. Soon enough, the crowd would be at their backs and before them would be the stretch of cobbled promenade on which so many jubilant individuals walked. After no more than a second of appraisal at the stone buildings to either side of this wide corridor, Weiss halted and turned her gaze on her now glum partner.

The cause of Ruby's discontent was entirely unknown, being that the heiress never truly cared for her partner's emotional wellbeing and thus lacked experience in reading her. However, the girl's disappointed frown blatantly contradicted Weiss' attempts at repaying her kindness. Furthermore, Ruby's uncharacteristic expression was only added to by her piteous speech. "Please don't be mad, Weiss. I'm sorry about whatever I said. I just wanted to make sure you could have fun today."

Weiss simply stared at her, mulling these words over and realizing the sincerity behind them as Ruby's expression sank deeper into the pit of doubt. Eventually, the heiress would sigh and reluctantly drop her distant expression. "I apologize for not paying attention to you," she appeased. "I would blame this headache, but it is not as bad as it was this morning and I cannot completely attribute my attitude to something so commonplace. Truthfully, it was your sister who caused this expression with her refusal to abide by our plan. However, I should have expected her abandonment and I should be used to this sort of disappointment by now. So, again I apologize, Ruby. I am not quite my usual self at the moment, as you can likely tell." She paused for a moment and added, "You did not do anything wrong."

Once again, the leader's reaction was unexpected. Rather than expressing relief at the apology and the knowledge that she was not the cause of Weiss' ire, Ruby seemed concerned. "Wait, you mean the aspirin didn't help?" Weiss did not have time to answer. "Well, let me make it up to you for making you mad. We need to get you some water and find a place to sit down. We can't have you passing out on the second day, can we?"

"Ruby," sighed Weiss exasperatedly. Her original intent for this response was to snap at the young girl for seeing the situation as more dire than it actually was. Instead, she shook her head. "It's fine. This headache is merely an annoyance, not a hindrance. And even if it was, I've dealt with worse before. I appreciate your concern, but I would rather return to our plan than deviate. Perhaps in doing so, it will go away in time." Then, due to her promise, she was compelled to muse, "And perhaps some conversation wouldn't hurt. I found our talk earlier surprisingly helpful."

At this, the young girl finally beamed. "Sure!" she chirped. "I don't know what we'd talk about, but I'd love to help!"

This was the sort of positivity that so often provoked Weiss' offense. She could never say that Ruby's personality was necessarily grating, but it often was annoying. Weiss attributed this distaste to her past life where positivity had been only a front for shallow usurpers whose focuses were ulterior and subversive. These people had, in effect, completely sullied the positive spectrum of emotions for the heiress through consistent disingenuousness. Because of this, Ruby's positivity had always struck Weiss immediately as deceitful, despite her awareness that it was not. Fortunately, the young girl was genuinely enthused about the prospect of assistance and Weiss could not fault her for this. As annoying as Ruby often proved to be, Weiss could never disprove her partner's earnest personality, and she was thankful for this. Being near someone who was honest about her emotions was refreshing and gradually restorative.

The two began their stroll down this promenade, without aim and beside one another. Around them were the fruits of this kingdom's focus. Whereas Atlas enjoyed its military might and Dust innovations, Vale seemed to focus on reconstructive efforts—not of governmental or even physical aspects such as houses or businesses, but of societal and cultural matters. At many points along this avenue were artists who designed spectacles both grand and intricate that could be seen on both canvases and the city itself. Concurrently, music of myriad varieties drifted through the air, creating a jaunty atmosphere instead of the cacophony that most would expect. The two had just passed a drum trio and were approaching what looked to be the string section of an orchestra (though, Weiss was certain that the group was an experimental endeavor and did not necessitate a link to an orchestra). Meanwhile, what could only be approximated as a solo tenor saxophonist could be heard playing a soothing tune far off in the distance.

It was a peaceful city that Weiss quite enjoyed—especially more than the general bleakness which Kaiser Island offered. It was warm, the people seemed happy for no particular reason, and the sights and sounds that surrounded the heiress inspired a desire for creativity and progress on her own part. However, she was pulled from her admiring thoughts by her partner's startled shout and sudden halt. Ruby's arms waved frantically as she tried to move her balance backwards as though she were teetering on the precipice a harrowing cliff while she shouted, "Weiss, help!"

The cause of Ruby's surprise had been a sidewalk painting that, from her perspective, must have looked like a perilous drop into a sea filled with jagged rocks. Regardless of what she saw, Ruby was about to fall onto someone else's work, thus causing Weiss to pull the young girl back by her cape. Keeping with her civil intent, Weiss calmly assured, "It's a painting, Ruby. You are not going to fall into an ocean in the middle of a city. But if you do not watch where you are going, you are liable to ruin someone's day."

"Wait. Painting?" Ruby looked to the cliff before her, and after a couple seconds, her eyes widened in realization. "Wow! That's a painting?" Weiss hesitantly nodded at her partner's sudden intrigue. The young girl looked over the piece in what could only be equated to child-like amusement, making the heiress question the veracity of her partner's life-long residence in this city. "That's so cool! How do you even make it look that? I mean, it looks like something out of an old cartoon!"

"Perspective," Weiss quipped dryly. Of course, Ruby would not understand the intent of this answer, but that did not dissuade the heiress from venting some of her frustrations.

She would remain beside her partner for the time being as the veritable child gawked at this rather large painting. With the conversations of the masses around them overpowering the slight sounds that were closer to the heiress, Weiss did not notice that a woman was approaching Ruby's side until she said, "I see you've taken an interest in the painting." Ruby turned to look at the figure that Weiss could only assume was the creator of this piece. This judgment came from the perspiration that nagged at this yawning, yet energetic individual. Ruby stood frozen in place as she simply nodded in lieu of an intelligible response. "Well, thanks!" the artist smiled. "If you have any questions, I sure wouldn't mind answering them."

Whoever this person was, she seemed relieved to take a break from her painting on this day of above-average temperatures. Unfortunately, the means of her break seemed to be Ruby—the girl who had no qualms with stating how hesitant she was about speaking to new people. Because the young leader had helped Weiss with her headache, the heiress would act in kind, choosing to interject herself into the conversation before it became any more awkward. "If it's all right with you, I have a few questions," she said, moving forward to step into the artist's line of sight. She was then permitted with a grin to ask her hastily made inquiries. "May I ask what this piece is about? I see the depiction of a sheer drop that I can only assume is intended to inspire a sense of awe and, in the case of this one here," she waved her hand towards Ruby, "fear. And judging by the inclusion of water, I would assume that this represents Vale in some way?"

The woman nodded. "That's about the gist of it. Yeah, it's supposed to represent Vale. You know the cliffs surrounding the valley? That's what this drop-off is and the water, as you probably guessed, is the ocean."

"And what of the rocks?"

"Well, judging by that sword on your belt, I'd bet you'd know." The woman's presuming statement fell on Weiss' flat gaze, leading her to elaborate. "The rocks are the hunters from all the way up at Beacon. Without you guys, we'd just be a city in the valley, waiting for the Grimm to attack. But with you guys…well, it certainly boosts our confidence to do stuff like this." She motioned to her painting.

Whether she knew it or not, the artist was complimenting Ruby and Weiss, but the latter was entirely uninterested in her flattery. "How long did it take you to finish this project?"

The woman gave a short laugh. "Oh, I'm not done yet. Gotta make sure everything's in order first, but by now I've probably been working on this for somewhere around seven or eight hours. I got out here at five, I think, and have been working ever since." She laughed again. "I'm glad it hasn't rained, though. I was going to hold off on doing this until after another front passed by, but it seems like it's just going to be dry for the next few days—or so I hope."

"Indeed," Weiss agreed. She then turned to look at the painting again, realizing that there was not more she could say on the matter. This woman seemed desperate for reprieve, but Weiss was not interested in providing her with shallow discussion. As such, the heiress decided that she would begin moving this conversation towards its inevitable conclusion. "It is not often that I say this, but I enjoy this piece. Though, I must admit that I am perhaps biased since this is the first of this type of painting I've seen. Nevertheless, I find it interesting and I think it is well done."

Suddenly, the woman's smile fell away and was replaced by an uncertain look. "Wait," she drawled. "Do I know you from somewhere? You look really familiar." Weiss sighed, knowing what was about to happen and coming to terms with it in this brief exhalation. The woman's eyes widened and she gasped, "You're…!" As expected, she did not finish this exclamation before she stepped away and sheepishly apologized. "I, uh…I'm sorry, but I have to get back to work." At this, the woman retreated without another word and moved to the far end of the painting.

Her apology was shallow and insincere, but so too was Weiss' conversation for the most part, and as such, the woman could not be faulted to that end. Weiss was upset with her to some degree, but she knew that this reaction was not the effect of her speech. The artist's fear had been caused by what had been done to the Schnee name. Because of this, the heiress was somewhat disheartened, but would not dare take action against her. Instead, she glowered at the woman and growled in the back of her throat.

Fortunately, Ruby moved to stand beside her, unwittingly halting on top of the painting (an action which Weiss could not say she was displeased with). "What was that all about?" she asked.

Weiss sighed, "Nothing."

"That sure didn't look like nothing." Weiss continued to leer at the woman who had so readily dismissed her at the realization of her surname. Ruby must have noticed this. "Hey, is something wrong? She didn't make you mad, did she?"

"Of course not!" the heiress instinctually exclaimed. It took a moment for her to recompose herself, and eventually she continued with a more civil attitude. "This is relatively nothing. She simply judged me before she met me—she spoke with me and yet she still judged me because of my name. Honestly, yes, I am fairly upset, but this will not be a hindrance."

"So, she doesn't like you because of your name?"

"As do most."

"Why's that?"

She truly was a child, Weiss thought. Perhaps her innocence was genuine and she honestly did not know. With the way she had acted on their first days at the academy, Weiss could guess that the young girl was oblivious to the social stigmata that attached themselves to the Schnee name, but even then, this level of ignorance—no, innocence—was bewildering. "It's…a long story, Ruby."

"Well, that's okay. I like stories! You can tell me about it while we find something else to do."

Weiss' point in saying what she had was to dissuade her partner from asking about the story. The tale was complicated and would doubtfully be allowed every telling detail that existed about her family's darker history. Furthermore, Weiss did not feel enthused enough to speak for as long as the story required. However, they were without the prying eyes of her father's assistants and this was a rare occurrence that the heiress felt compelled to take advantage of. The story behind the fall of the Schnee name—at least, her perspective of the story—had proved frustrating to keep confidential. Having no one to confide in over the course of her eighteen years left the heiress in a state of distrust and hesitation whenever the subject of her family arose, but now Ruby was allowing her the opportunity to freely speak her mind for once. "Okay," Weiss all but whispered.

Ruby seemed to have heard this, likely causing her renewed enthusiasm as she began to walk down the thoroughfare and through the crowd with abandon. Weiss followed after, but did not speak immediately. The story was convoluted in the extreme, with ambiguous actions and morally grey areas abound, leaving any sort of logically flowing narrative difficult for the most part. However, Weiss would order her events in a way that would best make sense to an outsider's perspective while providing the information in a positive light for the Schnee name.

She cleared her throat, catching her partner's eager attention. "You are aware of the Schnee family in that you are aware of the business practices and governmental ties that they have, are you not?" The young girl nodded. However, Weiss knew that Ruby was only humoring her. It was likely that she knew some aspects of the company, but she was a child, after all. "The Schnee name has existed for a very long time. For as long as Dust has been utilized by humanity, we—that is, the Schnees—have maintained a dominating presence on the world stage. We are the lead suppliers, manufacturers, researchers, developers, and whatever else have you in anything regarding Dust and have been this way for nearly five-hundred years." Ruby gave a low whistle and made a small comment about five-hundred years being a long time. "There is no other family on Remnant like us in this respect, and because of this—among other things—society has come to distrust us.

"My great-grandfather began buying shares in other companies, focusing research on creating better versions of the products they made, and, at times, even buying out the companies themselves. And I should remark that these companies were not small businesses or even simple franchises like those around us. The companies my great-grandfather bought were previously established and integral to our society but have since lost their names and prestige after being acquired by the Schnee Dust Company. Perhaps the animosity society holds against us comes from the fact that these companies and corporations were related and, after being combined, created a global monopoly on Dust.

"My grandfather followed this progression, but did not limit himself to competing Dust companies." The heiress sighed wearily, causing Ruby's brow to arch. "Perhaps it was his doing that began the decline of my family's prestige, though I'd like to believe it was someone else. He was ruthless and efficient in undermining competitors and he had the forethought to buy businesses that otherwise would not have had any interaction with us just so he could ensure his company's longevity. By his hand, the Schnee Dust Company expanded into unnecessary territories and now we have influence over nearly every market conceivable."

Weiss turned to look at her partner, expecting to find an expression of newly acquired hatred or the ever-so-popular desire for dissociation, yet found her smiling, apparently listening with rapt attention. This was entirely odd to the heiress—not Ruby's attentiveness, but the fact that someone was actually listening to her. Of course, she had given orders and had been heeded then, but those were one to two sentences at most. She did not quite know what to do with this attention other than continue speaking, but she felt relieved that another enemy was not being made in her partner. Yet relief was not the only emotion that existed within the heiress at this present moment. An invisible, subconscious smile unwittingly tugged at her lips due to Ruby's natural kindness.

She continued. "Neither my grandfather nor my great-grandfather were hateful people, despite what most would think. I had only the privilege to meet my grandfather before he passed, but in the few times that he spoke to me, I came to understand his reasons for acquiring the other businesses. After the end of the last Grimm War, the kingdoms focused on reconstruction of ideals and moral philosophy more than they did physical aspects of their everyday lives. The walls around the kingdoms had toppled, cities razed, families broken, but all anyone wanted to do was debate ethics and inspire creativity. Schnees are, by nature, pragmatists, leaders," she paused and then added, "warriors. Buying the other companies was intended to set society back on track. My grandfather said that we were always the force behind the world's decisions, regardless of the morality."

"And what about your dad?" Ruby asked. "I mean, if your great-grandfather bought everything Dust-related and your grandfather bought everything else, what could your dad do?"

He contradicted everything the Schnee name stood for. Of course, Weiss would not answer this way, but this is what she thought. "For lack of a better description, my father bought Atlas' government."

"Wait. What?" As expected, Ruby seemed confused by this. "How much did that cost?"

"There are some things even I do not know about my family, Ruby. How he managed to gain leverage over the kingdom we swore to protect is a mystery to me and one I dare not investigate lest I be convinced to further his cause." She sighed. This would be the first time she spoke negatively about her father to another and yet she felt no fear. "Nearly sixty percent of Atlas' GDP is attributed to the dealings of the Schnee Dust Company, making my father wealthier than even the kingdom itself. Because of this, he has somehow made Atlas' government dependent on his funding and has even meddled in military affairs to secure his position.

"Before I was born, my father took the initiative to supply the military with everything they needed without being asked. This included uniforms, weapons, transports, communications equipment, provisions, intelligence, defense contracts, and the list goes on. I am certain that the commanding generals are at his beck and call rather than the government proper. They more than likely know who is signing their paychecks now. At the same time, he is not the most…compassionate of individuals, leading public opinion of him to drop even further. I won't assume what his plans are, but I know that he is aware of his actions and their consequences."

A foreboding silence lingered after this last word. Otto Schnee was family to her, but he had disobeyed the oldest edict in their family's history by taking advantage of Atlas. What was worse was that he was the only one with the knowledge and understanding to keep the company alive with its unwieldy scope. Winter could not aptly lead a company of such magnitude and neither could Weiss, but they had been trained to do so anyways. To Weiss, her future seemed admittedly frightening because of what her father had done and how consistently successful he had been. And after all her interactions with Ruby—who was, in her mind, a fair representation of the world's people—the heiress realized that she lacked the confidence and competence to settle even personal quandaries without resorting to her sword's point.

Fortunately, these darker thoughts were cast aside by her partner's speech. "So," Ruby laughed, "that means you'll be queen of Atlas one day?"

Weiss sighed—not out of annoyance, but out of disgust at the thought. "I'd certainly hope not. I'd like a leadership position of some sort, but we do not need to regress to monarchies."

"Yeah, but you'd be great at it! You're smart and you know what's happening in your kingdom. That's more than a lot of parliament can say."

Weiss surprised even herself when she let out a short, morose chuckle. "I've been telling my father exactly that for years now. Unsurprisingly, it has never fazed him."

"Then he's dumb," the young girl surmised. "Yang always told me that if someone has their head up their…actually, I forget the entire saying, but it meant that if someone doesn't want to hear another person's opinion when the other person is right, then the person who's not listening is probably not very smart."

Weiss shook her head. "I can assure you that my father is anything but unintelligent. Conceited though he may be, it takes a considerable amount of patience and knowledge to usurp an entire government. I agree with the stance that his unwillingness to accept outside—or even inside—opinion is wrong, but this is a man whose character is founded upon the necessity for a warrior. And though he may be more businessman than fighter, I should discount neither his intelligence nor his combat prowess."

Ruby hummed in thought. "Yeah, but I could probably take him. That'd set him straight, right?"

This girl was both a child and a definitive byproduct of her sister's over-confident teachings. "Ruby, even I have proven unable to best my father in combat."

"Yeah, but I can take you, too."

This caused Weiss' brow to pique. "That is still up for debate."

"Nah," Ruby waved off. "I'm still up by two."

"We are not having this discussion right now," asserted the heiress. Ruby made a show of rolling her eyes, causing Weiss' further defense. "Our sparring record holds no relevance if you are unable to defend it. Being that we lack a designated arena for you to do so, your record is moot and therefore means nothing."

"All right, all right," conceded the young leader. Weiss smirked at this, seeing it as a victory for herself, but lost her expression when she heard Ruby mumble, "Talk about not listening to someone when they're right."

Weiss attempted to glare at her partner, but when she turned, she found Ruby beaming as though nothing was wrong in the world and as if the previous conversation on why the heiress was hated had not occurred. This look caused Weiss' own to falter and dissipate. She had been hasty with this glare and had not yet realized Ruby's intentions. Her ineffectual teasing was a means of transitioning from a problem of deep-rooted concern to a subject of little importance. In this regard, Ruby had proved clever.

There was something about the girl that Weiss could not entirely understand even after this last school year. Perhaps it was only her motivation, drive, or morality, but the cause of Ruby's positivity and her reason for becoming a huntress were linked to a revelation that Weiss could not so much as glimpse yet. She was selfless like her sister, but in a way that was less about the individuals immediately around her and more so about every being—good or evil—that may walk this planet. This was likely what Weiss had been able to empathize with and what had caught her attention. Though the heiress was far from selfless, she had the best interests of the world in mind. Because of this similarity, Weiss was drawn to the young girl—not out of any friendly or hostile sentiment, but for a reason she did not yet know. Whatever made Ruby act the way she did was something that Weiss felt the need to investigate, but not now. No, today was not the day for ulterior motives.

As Ruby smiled at nothing in particular and glanced often at the bustling shops and restaurants to either side, Weiss found herself in a state of calm that had not felt in a long time. Normally, she would find herself irritated by the waves of pedestrians passing her by due to the inherent unruliness of it all, but even the chaos was comforting in comparison to the frozen stillness of Kaiser Island. It was simply a pleasant summer day the likes of which she could have never encountered in the more northern latitudes. Except for a sporadic few, the people here were warm like the city's climate, being open with their conversations and blissfully unaware of where they walked. These people seemed only to desire peace on this day, not inconvenience as Weiss initially thought.

Unfortunately, she would eventually be pulled from this admiring calm by her partner's spontaneous enthusiasm over something in the distance. With an excited grin, the young girl bolted ahead in a flurry of rose petals towards whatever it was she had seen, leaving Weiss alone. "Ruby!" the heiress exclaimed in sudden frustration. Resentfully, she marched after her partner who had disappeared into the crowd. Obligatory kindness was momentarily forgotten as Weiss scanned the nearby establishments for her impulsive teammate, but once she saw the girl in red, she dropped her outraged sentiments.

Ruby stood before a man clad in gold—rather, a man painted entirely in gold from skin to suit. However, if the young girl had simply stared at this man, then there would be no need to remark upon the event. Instead of staring at this man on the pedestal, she looked to be instigating some sort of reaction on his part with the childish faces and sounds she made. To his credit, the man (who, by this point, Weiss had ascertained was a living statue) did not so much as look at the pestering figure. However, Ruby was relentless and Weiss, upon seeing her partner this way, was inclined not to intervene. Her reason for this passivity was a sort of cynical contentedness at seeing the young girl directing her annoyance at someone else for a change. Because Ruby was a sizable distance away and was bothering someone other than her partner, Weiss found her actions to be nonissues and her positivity to be tolerable.

The gilded man would keep his composure for at least a few minutes before his gaze grudgingly fell upon the girl. When Ruby, arms flailing in front of his face, saw the glare, she did not relent but instead grinned. She then proceeded to redouble her efforts, causing Weiss to question where this sort of teasing had come from. This was entirely out of character for her otherwise kind, supporting partner. Ruby was testing this man's patience, and was proving unfortunately capable in this regard, judging by the fact that one of his hands slowly balled into a fist.

It was at this point that the heiress decided her partner's antics had run their course. The man had been upset and was liable to take some manner of offended action, and because of this, Weiss stepped through the obfuscating crowd and approached. She caught Ruby's attention with her calm statement of, "That's enough." She received a surprised look from the man and a pleading frown from her partner who apparently wanted to continue. Weiss shook her head. "We should keep moving. I see no point in stopping for such a fleeting attraction—if one could call this that."

With only his eyes, the man was able to convey an expression of indignation, but neither girl paid him any mind. Ruby complained, "But Weiss! Yang does this all the time! It's fun! You should try it."

She received an emphatic "No" in response. "I do not care what your sister does. She is not here at the moment and we are very fortunate for this fact. Because of this, it would be wise of you to stop trying to impress her. Leave this man be. He has wronged you in no way and does not deserve your annoyance, especially with people around us watching." With her thumb, she pointed to those in the crowd who, after being designated, guiltily carried on down the promenade.

The grin on the young girl's face dissipated. "I-I'm sorry, Weiss," she stuttered. "I didn't know this meant that much to you."

"It doesn't," Weiss coldly assured. "You are simply wasting our time by ruining this man's day when we could be doing something more productive."

In most cases regarding Weiss' reprimands to her partner and leader, the heiress admittedly did not have a set goal in mind. Her intent was always to discourage Ruby, but she could never decide if her end should be silencing the young girl, proving her wrong, compelling her to act properly, or even getting Ruby to leave her alone. Unfortunately, the present reaction to her reprimanding was haunting to say the very least. Weiss' partner, who seemed at one point only to be a childish ball of unending excitement and enthusiasm, looked to the heiress as though she had realized severity in her own actions. It was a shocked, sorrowful expression that was entirely unpredicted.

"I'm sorry, Weiss," she repeated. "I didn't mean to do anything wrong, I promise. That's just what Yang and me used to do, trying to get these guys to move. But if you don't like it, I'll stop! Just please don't get mad."

Though the thought was admittedly melodramatic, Weiss could envision her partner crying after her last plea given her current mood. Yet this did not happen and, as such, it seemed to have had an even greater effect on Weiss. This was not a simple flight from negative emotions that were so characteristic to the heiress, but instead Ruby attempting to break an inescapable cycle of her growing positivity that always seemed to end in outrage from her cold partner. At least, this is what Weiss believed was occurring. "Ruby…" For the first time in a long time, Weiss did not know how to go about a conversation, being that this situation required tactful consolations she had almost no experience with. However, she would try for her promise's sake. "I'm…not mad at you. It's just that I'd like to keep moving. Frankly, this does not interest me and I meant no offense despite causing it." She realized that she was likely coming across as defensive and attempting to prove herself infallible due to her inability to properly apologize. She sighed. "I'm not upset with you. This man seemed uncomfortable and I was as well."

Surely an admission of fault counted as an apology of some sort. Whether or not Ruby interpreted this as such could unfortunately not be determined. The young girl whispered dejectedly more so to herself than Weiss, "Okay." Despite this one word having been intended for Ruby alone, Weiss heard it and was taken aback by its resigning tone.

That was a whisper of defeat—of a person who knows that what she desires is foolishly unattainable and therefore worthless. The young leader's apparent belief that her partner was disappointed had not been Weiss' intent but was now an undeniable byproduct of the detached heiress' lackluster personality. Weiss' perennial frown deepened as she watched the girl in red move from the living statue and trudge down the thoroughfare. It took no less than a second for her to follow after and, in effect, miss the thankful salute the man gave.

"Ruby!" she called. "Ruby, slow down!"

Standing as the lone rock that broke the waves of passing humanity, Ruby sighed amongst uninterested crowd members as her shoulders slumped. Her hands balled into fists for the briefest moment before relaxing and resigning, but Weiss had seen this emotion. Within the silver eyes that could harbor no animosity towards the girl in white welled a look of trepidation. It took but a second for Weiss to realize what this look was communicating, and once she did, a pang of concern struck the heart that held itself to indifference and frigidity. Ruby's hurt look communicated a single question: "Why?" She was instinctually preparing for a scolding when one was not coming. And in this regard, the heiress knew her aggression had become so commonplace that it unfortunately instilled within her partner a defensive instinct. She almost spoke, but Ruby beat her to this point.

"Weiss, I just want us to have a fun summer break. I get that what I was doing was wrong, but I don't want to be yelled at over something like that. You can tell me to stop, but please don't yell at me. You can do that when I'm doing something that could get you or Yang or Blake hurt, but…" She never finished this thought. "Weiss, I asked you to stay the summer with us so you'd have a good time, and I'm starting to think that I'm just getting in your way. If that's what's going on, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being a bad friend. I'm really trying, you know? But if I'm not trying hard enough, just tell me, and I'll try harder. I don't like it when you yell at me, Weiss. I don't know why, but when Yang does it, I can recover, but when you do it, I can't. It hurts, Weiss. I'm sorry."

Although Weiss did not see Ruby as a friend (and it should be stated once again that she did not see anyone in this light), they were partners and this meant a certain level of care for one another was required. She could be bothersome at times, but she had not been disorderly or irksome to the same degree she had been in their first semester. Seeing the excitable, credulous girl act in such a self-destructive manner hurt the heiress because she knew consolation required kindness that perhaps only Yang could provide, leaving Weiss with a helpless, sorrowful feeling. Yet Weiss was not one to be subject to helplessness and instead spoke to her partner, having little experience in what she was about to say. "Ruby," she began, "I'm the one who should be sorry, not you."

Though the girl's smile did not return to her, her hesitant gaze moved to Weiss, showing progress. "I never truly thanked you for breakfast and I apologize for that. My snapping at you at both the plaza and in front of that man was completely unwarranted. Perhaps my actions since our introduction have been a tad bitter and I realize what pain that might cause you despite my best intentions." Weiss shook her head, realizing that her speech was once again becoming focused on herself more than the girl before her. "Perhaps I have been…a bad friend to you, not the other way around. You were correct in saying that I should not have scolded you over something so menial, and I now regret it.

"I regret saying anything to upset you in this way and I regret saying anything to imply that you are getting in the way. I can assure you that you have been nothing but helpful today. And though I may not be having fun, I blame this on myself and my inherent…dullness." Weiss sighed and dropped her gaze to the cobbled path below. If she had learned one lesson pertaining to the Schnee name and its ideals in all her years at Glatteis Manor, it had been that sacrifices must often be taken for the betterment of anything and everything. Though humility was not her strongest suit, the expression Ruby had held justified at least some form of an attempt. "I am sorry, Ruby. If I ever gave you the impressions that I was angry at you or that I see you in a negative light, this is not the case whatsoever. I am sorry, and I do not ask for your forgiveness. Any contempt you may have for me would be entirely justified after everything I've done to you and after all the names I've called you."

Weiss could not say that everything she said had been truthful, but, at her core, she regretted her own recklessness and the expression she caused. When she looked back up to see the effects of her speech, she found Ruby standing only a couple feet away, holding a reassuring, if unsteady smirk. "Thanks, but you don't need to be sorry. You're our guest here—you can call the shots if you want to." She had not entirely recovered from whatever emotions afflicted her, but a façade of confidence was clearly being attempted for Weiss' sake. While the heiress did not need any sort of reassurance, she was glad that Ruby was not lost.

The two would simply stand there for a small while, one chastising herself at what she had done to such an innocent, care-free soul and the other hoping for her partner's recovery. Eventually, Ruby would muster a genuinely warm smile that somehow lifted Weiss' mood, if only slightly. "Come on," she said. "Let's go find something else to do—something that doesn't include statue people or me getting yelled at."

The inclusion of the girl's latter few words came with no sense of disdain but instead mirth. Ruby waited only a moment for Weiss' acceptance before walking off into the crowd. The girl in white would simply linger for a second, watching her partner whose recovery seemed both inhumanly quick and uncomfortably sincere. It is to say that Ruby's sincerity was uncomfortable only because Weiss was not accustomed to anything as positive as her disposition. However, she would shake these thoughts off and follow after the girl, catching up fairly quickly due to Ruby's purposefully slowed pace.

They would walk for a few minutes in silence, one being moderately happy again and the other being consumed by guilt at what had been said. Guilt was a strange sentiment to the heiress. Her father had learned as a child and passed on to his own that remorse, under any circumstance, was undesirable. Of course, Weiss had come to know regret over the course of her life, but guilt was still a relatively new sensation to her and one that she wished to do away with immediately. Perhaps her drive to rectify her family's standing came from something akin to guilt, but this present emotion brought responsibilities to the forefront that she had previously been unaware of. She knew that she was responsible for Ruby's safety, but the young leader's reaction made Weiss feel somehow obligated to care for the girl's happiness as well. It was a baseless notion and she knew this, but seeing the immediate effects of her outrage to such a harsh degree was illuminating.

She glanced over at Ruby. While the emotions of the previous conversations were still haunting the heiress, her partner appeared almost entirely unfazed. She was not as excited as she had been nor was she expressly happy about anything, but she seemed content, judging by the slight smile she held. Furthermore, her sudden question of "How's the headache?" was telling of her thoughts on the prior emotions.

Weiss wanted to reply with some remark about how her headache had not changed or even how it worsened, but when she felt for the pain, she could not find it. "Improving," she said simply, unaware of the broadened smile this caused on her partner's features.

"That's great!" Ruby cheered. "Are you sure we don't need to stop somewhere for some water, though? You know, just in case?"

It was surprising. The headache was gone. No trace of reactive malice or impatient anger could be found in the heiress' mind, and it was refreshing. She attributed this recovery solely to her partner who had distracted her both in the morning and in these last few hours. This latter timeframe even further surprised Weiss because her time alone with the lively girl had felt like mere minutes. "Thank you, but that would be unnecessary. I believe it has passed for the time being." She paused a beat to consider her past expressions of gratefulness and penitence before adding, "Thank you, Ruby."

"No problem! I'm glad to help! I mean, that's what partners are for, right?" She grinned brightly, showing the seemingly innocent positivity that so often defined her. To this, Weiss could not help but smile slightly back. Ruby's ability to quickly recover and move care away from herself and to another was simply astonishing. "That," Ruby began again, "and what kind of friend would I be if I didn't take care of you? Team RWBY's gotta stick together and I'm not gonna let a headache break us apart."

Her words were endearing and allowed Weiss some comfort in her apology's effectiveness. However, this did not warrant any sort of verbal response, but the heiress would allow Ruby a small, appreciative smile before her expression evened and fell to her usual calm. Once more the two would walk in silence, but in this particular case, the silence was not pressing or somber, but something akin to comfortable—though, Weiss could not bring herself to use the word. To some extent, today had altered her opinion on the young girl. Ruby was still a frequent nuisance and made the heiress uneasy in many a combat scenario, but she was kind and supportive and genuinely cared. Perhaps she had always been this way and Weiss had only now realized this quality, but…

There was no defense for Weiss' obliviousness during a time when she claimed her partner ignorant. It was disappointing, this inattentiveness. Not only was it disappointing, it was antithetical to her family's ideals of efficiency and effectiveness. To most, Weiss' lack of understanding of her partner's honesty may seem impossible, yet it is entirely probable and fact in this instance due to her childhood and early adulthood on Kaiser Island and in the confines of Glatteis Manor wherein riddles outnumbered straight answers, façades were the norm, and all were to be treated as either traitors or conspirators against the name of Schnee. To her, Ruby's kindness and positivity had always been suspect, but now she could see that it was genuine.

Ruby truly saw her as a friend—one that the young girl would wake up early for and attend to and even spend time with despite the heiress' caustic personality that both were very much aware of. Meanwhile, Weiss seldom regarded her as anything but a partner—and, at times, even less. There was a definite imbalance in the affections shared between them, but perhaps this could be rectified. However, this was a frightening thought to the heiress, and not in the way that a person faces their greatest fear, but in the way a person stares into the unknown of their planless future. She would consider a friendship, but a decision of this magnitude took time, she thought. Although Blake would have been a more reasonable choice for a friend, Ruby was kind and Weiss felt indebted to her in some strange way.

Thankfully, these thoughts and Weiss' decision were eventually distracted by Ruby's diverted attention. "Hey, Weiss? You see that?" She pointed to a group of people traveling the avenue, leaving Weiss confused by her intent, but soon came a gap in the crowd that allowed the heiress to see what was being referenced. Off to the side of the promenade stood a stand—specifically, a singular table beneath a canopy tent—where three people sat, one of whom appearing as though he was sketching something. "You wanna get our picture taken?"

The hopeful smile that accompanied this made the question seem more like an innocuous command, but Weiss did not mind. If humoring the girl meant amending the follies of their previous conversation and properly thanking her for removing the headache, then Weiss would gladly accept. She did not smile, but she did nod and caused Ruby's grin to widen brightly. "Come on!" the young cheered as she all but skipped to the artist's stand. Weiss followed after, fighting back a smirk of both happiness and pride at being so uncharacteristically warm and accepting. (Of course, "warm" is not an appropriate descriptor for her usual interactions, but we should allow Weiss this specific feeling of self-satisfaction, if only so her emotions might truly warm in time.)

As they neared the stand and the man sitting behind its table, the two patrons before him stood and left, staring inquisitively at a sheet of paper they were holding together. Judging by the man and woman's closeness to each other, Weiss could only assume that they were a couple—one that was allowed and proper, she might add, due to both of their civilian statuses. Weiss kept her gaze on the two that walked away while she and Ruby moved to the artist.

He was a cheery old man, whitened in age rather than greyed, who smiled at the partners as they approached. "Well, hello there!" came his affable greeting. The two girls stepped out of the sun and into the cool shade of his stand. "I see you two young ladies have taken interest in the arts. Welcome to my humble office." The man chuckled softly as he regarded the many supplies that surrounded him—pens, pencils, colored pencils, and numerous stacks of blank paper.

Ruby surprisingly seemed readily conversational to this particularly warm attitude despite having never met the man before. "Hi! We were wondering if you could take our picture, if that'd be all right."

He chuckled again. "Well, I could probably do that. Though, I'm not too keen on cameras these days, but I could draw you a picture, if you'd like."

This time, Ruby laughed, yet this came nervously and coupled with her scratching the back of her head. "Yeah, sorry. That's kinda what I meant."

"Don't you worry about it. It'd be my pleasure." He pointed to the seats before him. "Here, take a seat. It shouldn't take too long."

Ruby smiled at Weiss, silently attempting to goad her into taking a seat when the decision had already been made to do so. Though the gesture had been unnecessary, Weiss managed to smile back somewhat and moved with her partner to take a seat. She had had portraits painted of her before—mostly in paintings of her family, but there were one or two hanging in Glatteis Manor that focused on her alone. It was doubtful that this man's talent was comparable to the painters her father paid, but she figured that this opportunity was seen by the younger girl as one not to be squandered. To that end, accepting this offer for a portrait was seen as a way of balancing the care that Ruby had placed on the heiress.

The partners sat beside each other and the man flashed them a quick smile before he retrieved a sheet of paper. As he started to work, he absent-mindedly hummed an unidentifiable tune. After about a minute of outlining sketches and relative silence, the man would cease his humming and eventually drawl, "So, Ms. Schnee…" This came as an unexpected introduction to the heiress but was made more so jarring because of the lack of hostility in his tone. "How are you liking Vale? Warmer than Atlas, I'd expect."

Before Weiss could answer, Ruby asked, "Wait. How did you know who she was?"

"I didn't," he shrugged. "But there aren't many people in the world who wear that snowflake, have naturally white hair, and scowl at everything they come in contact with, much less all at the same time. Although, I have to admit I had my doubts about if it was you or not. I've never heard of a Schnee who's as comfortable with being outside as you seem to be."

"And you seem unintimidated by my presence." This was a rather uncommon experience for Weiss. Not only was a complete stranger speaking to her out of turn, he did not seem fazed by the power her father held and instead chucked. He was like Ruby in this way.

"Why should I be?" he asked. "Your father can't exactly put me out of a job. And even if he managed to, I'm already retired." He stopped his sketching and smiled at the heiress. "I do this because this is what I love, and even if you tell him to shut my office down, I'll still keep doing this. I'm too old to care about names and places and how I should react to them. I could argue politics with you all day, but then again, you two are still kids and probably don't want to hear about that stuff. Not to mention you probably know more than me on the matters." He gave a short laugh and returned to his drawing. "No, I'm not intimidated by you. You two seem like nice girls, even if one of you can't bring yourself to smile."

Ruby giggled at his teasing remark while Weiss chose not to react. Instead, she spoke. "To answer your question, I am finding the weather here pleasant. I would imagine it will get hotter," she was interrupted by a grunt of confirmation, "but I prefer this over the winter climate of Atlas."

"Well, I hope your thoughts stay that way because it's looking to be pretty rough. I'd hate for the city to rub you the wrong way just because of the heat. Hopefully, you'll get used to it in time. Certainly took me a while."

Weiss let this last comment fade into silence, knowing that it was intentionally open-ended enough for her to question his past experiences. Honestly, she did not care about his life's story, though it is not to say she thought negatively of the man. She wanted only for the picture of herself and Ruby to be complete so they could be on their way. The man seemed compliant enough to sit in silence as he continued his drawing, occasionally glancing up at the girls for reference. However, though he was seemingly at ease with this quiet, Ruby was not. "Hey, Weiss?" she asked. "What's it like there—you know, in Atlas?"

The heiress sighed. Despite calling the kingdom home for all her life, she was not the person to ask about any location other than Kaiser Island. "Cold," she replied wearily. "Cold in more than one definition of the word."

"Yeah, well, that's obvious! But I meant what's it like living there? Do you guys have favorite pizza places or parks you like to go to? Oh, what about sports or anything like that? Even you have to do something for fun!"

Ruby was truly interested in the northern culture, but she expected a people as vibrant and warm as those in Vale. Unfortunately, this was not the case. "Atlas has snow, clouds, and factories. Even if there were recreational activities, I would not be the authority on them."

"Oh. Okay." To her credit, Ruby did not press the matter any further, showing awareness of Weiss' forlorn tone. As much grief as Weiss gave her, Ruby was not an imbecile and actually grew to people and learned their emotional cues fairly well. For this, the heiress was thankful.

The three would remain quiet for the rest of the man's sketch. While Ruby began to show signs of discomfort from sitting still for the few minutes necessary, Weiss tuned out the world around her, finding an inner silence that was entirely calming. She could still hear the man's pen against the paper but only when this noise ceased did her eyes reopen. The sight before her was the man smiling brightly at them as he pulled the paper from the desk. "Here," he said, handing the paper to Weiss, "take a look."

Immediately, the heiress sighed. Ruby must have thought that this was an actual portrait stand, but even Weiss could not reprimand the young girl because she had made a similar mistake in trusting her partner. The believed portrait had instead been a caricature, judging by the impossibly thin neck and inhumanly deep frown Weiss had been given and the comically large eyes and goofy smile Ruby had in the picture. It is not to say to say that Weiss disliked the image, she simply had not expected a caricature—although, in hindsight, it was fairly obvious. This caricature was not necessarily bad (for the time put into it, it seemed incredibly well-drawn), yet it was not of her taste. But perhaps this distaste spawned from her observation of one glaring error.

However, her speech would have to wait because Ruby saw the need to speak out first. "Wait, that's not right. Weiss doesn't look like that!" The heiress' thoughts did not jump to scolding her partner for a lack of understanding, but instead to analysis of what Ruby had said. She had not defended her own appearance but her partner's, and this uncommon defense coupled with the genuine concern that laced her tone caused Weiss to unwittingly blush. "If you make me look like that, you have to make Weiss look better. She's the pretty one out of the two of us! She shouldn't be drawn that way—"

Weiss cut her off. "Ruby," she managed, "it's a caricature. It is intended to look that way." By this point, her cold façade had nearly shattered, revealing an embarrassed, yet slightly in-control heiress who did not know what to do with this sort of praise.

Ruby's eyes widened in sudden understanding as the man chuckled. "Don't worry about it," he said. "Ms. Schnee, if you would like me to change it, I will. It'd be no problem."

She took a few moments to compose herself and store the words Ruby had said deep in the far corners of her memory. "It's fine," she eventually assured. "I don't care about my depiction except for one small detail. You failed to include my scar."

His brows furrowed in confusion. "I apologize. I thought it would offend you if I drew it."

Weiss shook her head. "I would be more offended if you did not. I must wear this every day of my life, and neither discomfort nor offense will lead to its removal. If you could, please add my scar and we shall be on our way."

He nodded solemnly before taking the drawing back. His revisions took no more than a minute before he handed it back to Weiss. In turn, the heiress handed the drawing to Ruby, knowing that she would value it more. Fortunately, when Ruby was able to hold the image and study it in its completed state, she grinned widely and excitedly, easing the tensions between the three and allowing the man to smile again. Ruby could not have heard his warm farewell, leading Weiss to pay him and politely wave good-bye.

Ruby simply stood in place, staring giddily at the picture before her. As the heiress approached her side, the young girl said, "Thanks, Weiss. As soon as I get the chance, I'm getting this framed!" At this, she folded the paper into a neat square and tucked it into one of her belt's pockets. Weiss felt the need to scold her for tarnishing the man's work, but could not bring herself to do so. Ruby's defense of her appearance in the drawing still begged her attention.

There is a difference between simple kindness and whatever Ruby's speech could be described as. In truth, Weiss initially thought her partner's defense to be simple kindness, but now she knew it was not. There was an underlying tone of care that simply did not exist between one partner and another. Perhaps this spawned from Ruby's "friendship" with the heiress, but Weiss could not be sure. Her speech had caused a strange sensation—not one that was necessarily undesirable, but one that was strange nonetheless. Whatever had happened within Weiss was doubtlessly positive, but to what extent, she could not tell. At one point in her contemplations, she began to rationalize the positive effects of reciprocating Ruby's friendly demeanor, but this went as quickly as it came. Weiss knew she could never be as kind as Ruby was. However, no matter how much she tried to think of something else, Ruby's words and her own rationalizations always came back to her. Perhaps, she thought hesitantly, it would be beneficial to at least consider a friendship with the young girl. Consideration was harmless enough. And they would not be responsible for the city's defense for the next few months.

Unfortunately, Schnees were supposed to be cold, indifferent, distant—at least, this is what her father had said. Perhaps he had forgotten the story of Wilhelm and Atlas and their partnership in the First Age. Thoughts of her father and anything pertaining to him quickly vanished; he was not of importance at this moment, but instead Ruby.

Perhaps a mutual friendship could work between them. Though, this decision would not be made now—it required some time to mull over and a single day would not be adequate. Furthermore, this day was not about making this sort of decision nor was it about Weiss in any regard. Today was about Ruby and repaying her kindness. Weiss believed that some payment had already been made, but the day was not yet complete, leaving room for more possibilities wherein her partner's kindness could aptly be returned.

If one were to compare the kingdom of Atlas to the kingdom of Vale, this hypothetical person would be met almost immediately with innumerable disparities which separate the industry-focused continent and the nation which centers itself around creativity and expressionism. While Weiss did associate herself more comfortably with the harsher culture of her home, the people of Vale had been kind to her, and those who had not were nowhere near as hostile as Atlas' opponents to the Schnee name. Yet regardless of her preference to focused ideals, there was one aspect of Vale that the frigid heiress favored over her home. When the sun set in the northern kingdom, the temperature would fall and the sky would consistently darken, yet in Vale, it seemed only to warm rather refreshingly for the girl who had been raised in the cold. But perhaps this favor came with her positive mood.

A relaxing few hours had passed since the partnership's patronage of the caricature stand and the sun had begun its descent below the tops of the surrounding buildings, tingeing the blue sky yellow. In this time, Weiss had not raised her voice or even considered reprimanding her partner. In fact, Ruby's positivity had become enjoyable in a way—infectious, even. Weiss' expression had gradually grown happier over the course of the day, and now, under the waning hours of this retrospectively delightful day, she smiled unabashedly. The expression was still strange to her, being that it contradicted her personality, but she had enjoyed herself today. Ever since Ruby's defense at the caricature stand, Weiss had felt at ease with returning the affection, if only in her own way. She did not feel pressured any longer to repay Ruby's kindness, but found herself acting more tolerant towards the young girl nevertheless, leading to superfluous discussions, light-hearted observations, and even an instance of genuine laughter.

Now the two had returned to the city square so to meet with their teammates at the designated rendezvous time. However, Ruby and Weiss had arrived upon this location half an hour early, but they did not mind. Instead of idly waiting for time to pass, the two of red and white chose to brave the mob and browse the stands surrounding this congested area. Despite the hour proving difficult due to increased consumer population, traversal through the masses was fairly successful. Ruby stood nearby, seemingly content with looking through whichever stands Weiss chose. At the moment, they stood before a booth that sold hand-knitted scarves.

For the materials used, they were beautiful in their craftsmanship, Weiss thought as she appraised a particularly entrancing azure piece. It was entirely unnecessary in this summer climate and she had better ones of finer materials in her collection, but a fleeting thought crossed her mind as she held the cloth. Everyone else on her team wore some form of covering—Blake and Yang with scarves of their own and Ruby with her cloak that acted much the same. The reason why this thought had been fleeting was because of Weiss' will for it to be so. She was not one to fit in with a crowd. If anything, the crowd would conform to her instead, being that she was heiress to Remnant's most influential company. The idea of purchasing this scarf of undesirable material and enchanting construction came from the desire to be a better teammate and the irrational thought that imitation would be a possible way of achieving this goal. However, she had been proving her worth all day, and judging by Ruby's constant smile, she had been doing this well, so the purchase of such an item would be unnecessary.

She set the scarf in its original location, flashed a smile at the stand's owner, and turned to Ruby. "I've seen everything I need to here." Ruby turned as well, disengaging from nothing of particular interest to her. "Are you ready to head to the next one?"

Chipper as ever, Ruby chirped, "Yup!" At this, the two left the stand in search of another. The distance between their origin and eventual destination was broadened by the necessity for these lines of booths to break for the branching avenues around this plaza. Fortunately, the crowd seemed malleable enough and shifted to Weiss' undeterred stride. This superfluous nature of those before her was surprising and fortunate because in most instances, such maneuverability would only be possible with a scowl and an imperious attitude. However, she was smiling—only slightly, but she was definitely smiling—and felt no need to pressure the world immediately around her into change.

The next booth the partnership would reach was that of an antique dealer. Though the items on display were obvious replicas for the most part, there were a few originals in the collection and these were what drew Weiss in. Actually, it is to say that an old Atlesian dagger caught her eye, but it was the assortment around it that kept her attention. Most of what was on display consisted of recreations of Vale pottery and Mistralian books, but there were a few facsimiles of artifacts dating back to before the Second Fall of Vacuo. Even replicas of these latter objects were rare—whoever made them must have done their research.

"Wow," Ruby breathed. "You know, I'm not usually the history type, but these are actually pretty cool! Here," she picked up a pair of earrings and turned to Weiss, "let me see how they'd look on you."

Weiss simply smiled, choosing not to turn her head. "Ruby, you are aware those are fake, right?"

The young girl shrugged. "Probably, but I still think they look nice. Come on! Let me see how they'd look!" Rather than scolding her partner as would have been common practice, the heiress allowed Ruby to move closer. The earrings were held over Weiss' own before Ruby hummed. "I mean, they look nice, but I don't know. I think I like how you normally look better."

These sorts of remarks had been scattered throughout their conversations all day. However, all of them came from Ruby and caused the same reaction from Weiss on every occasion. These innocent, absent-minded compliments had always elicited an unwitting blush. Weiss could not bring herself to be outwardly grateful (she still had to retain some connection to her regular personality, after all), but she would not rebuke them. Kindness does not beget reprimand, but instead kindness, if only in idealistic circumstances. Unfortunately, Weiss was aware that she was not the amicable type and was also unsure of what to do with praise that was neither disingenuous nor linked to her surname. Because of this, she merely smiled at the compliment before turning her attention back to the selection.

The Atlesian dagger that had initially drawn Weiss' attention beckoned her again. She had seen a knife similar to this in Glatteis Manor, but was unsure of its association with the one in her family's collection. Unfortunately, the booth's owner was visibly nervous when Weiss reached out for the weapon, forcing her to appraise from a distance. Though it lacked her family's crest, the carvings on the blade and the visible wear of the pommel's steel dated it back to an age before Dust-based projectiles and modern forging techniques. It was apparently not a replica, but at the same time, it had many similarities to the blades of Hilda from the Third Age.

She thought about purchasing the dagger, if only to keep it as a reminder for why she had become a huntress. Regardless of who its original owner had been, the weapon was evocative of familial pride that simply could not exist for her father. She believed herself to be a warrior like her foremother, Hilda, but her business-focused approach to life's problems and pragmatic mindset often obscured her path. This blade and its hypothetical purchase would not be intended to show honor to her family or inexplicably force her to adhere to her own idealistic path, but would act simply as a reminder of what her family had been. There were a few mementos she owned already, and they had proven hauntingly evocative in most instances.

"What are you looking at?" Ruby turned away from the antiques in front of her and followed Weiss' gaze. Upon seeing the dagger, she gasped. "I didn't know they'd have a Second Age knife! I've never seen one up close before!" She ignored the owner's scowl and hefted the weapon, looking it over excitedly yet cautiously. "And it's from Atlas, right? That's why you were looking at it?" Her smile turned to Weiss for a brief second before returning to the knife. "It's still sharp, but I don't think it's seen a stone in its life. You guys always did make great steel."

True to her word, the young leader had an affinity for weaponry, but Weiss had not expected her partner's knowledge to surpass her own, even if her education on weaponry began only a few years ago. Upon further review, Weiss realized that Ruby's appraisal had been more accurate in that she had been correct about the blade dating back to the Second Age rather than the Third. Weiss nodded in response. "My father keeps a collection of these sorts of weapons. I was interested because this looks similar to a few showcased at home."

Upon hearing the word "collection," Ruby perked up. "Wait. Your dad has a collection of these things?" As she spoke, her pitch rose, indicating mounting enthusiasm and an inevitable request. "You have to show me them sometime, tell me about them, something! Weiss you can't leave me hanging like this, I've gotta know!"

Weiss gave an appeasing smile, knowing that bringing Ruby anywhere near Kaiser Island could only detriment the young girl—and not only her, but everyone on Team RWBY as well. "Perhaps later. This summer is not a good time." Despite this denial, Ruby continued to smile at the knife in her hand. "You truly have a fascination with weapons, don't you? Why is that?"

Ruby turned the instrument on its side, assumingly to examine the carvings on its blade. "I don't know. I just like 'em. They certainly help with slaying Grimm, though." Weiss did not feel the need to comment, being that she was already smiling and Ruby was continuing down her train of thought.

"Weapons tell a lot about a person—their personality, how they move, whether they're good or bad; that sort of stuff. I'm not the best with people, and you probably know that better than anybody, but I don't have to talk with weapons. I just need to look at them to know what's going on. And the best part is that even if people die, their weapons don't—well, if they're built well enough they won't. That's kinda what I'm hoping will happen with Crescent Rose. I think I've built her pretty well, so after I die, she'll hopefully be picked up by somebody and put in a collection like the one your dad has. Maybe someone will talk about me one day." She smiled warmly at the dagger before placing it back in its original spot. "I don't know. I guess I just get weapons. You don't have to show me your dad's collection—though I really, really wanna see it someday. I'm just thinking out loud. Sorry if I was annoying you."

"Don't worry. You weren't," Weiss assured. She didn't say anything more, simply letting the conversation fade into silence as they looked over the other antiques before them.

Perhaps a friendship could be possible between the heiress and the young girl. If the previous calmness in conversation was any metric to go by, then Weiss believed that fonder sentiments could develop between herself and her partner. It was naïve to think that friendship would detriment the team aspect of being a huntress, but, in her defense, friendship had been an unknown variable up until this point in her life. Her views against more romantic sentiments between hunters had carried over into her views on friendship, and in hindsight, this was found to be inappropriate. The decision would not be made now nor would it likely be made in the coming few days, but the sentiments were undoubtedly growing.

Ruby had proven herself tolerable. She was still easily excited and tended to err because of this excitability, but she had been calm for Weiss' sake and this was greatly appreciated. In fact, this was so greatly appreciated that a smile had been brought to Weiss' countenance and had remained there for these comfortable few hours. She was undeniably a child, but she had shown maturity in keeping her enthusiasm in relative control. For this, Weiss could not find any fault in her partner's character and felt at ease with her up until the moment Ruby would do something entirely uncomfortable and unexpected to the heiress.

Weiss stepped away from the antiques and voiced her will to move to the next stand. Ruby's unfortunate response to this was all of the following: she cheered "All right! Let's go!", smiled at her partner, and grabbed the hand of the frigid, impersonal, instinctually defensive heiress to the Schnee Dust Company throne.

Most would expect some immediate, shrieking reaction of disgusted outrage, but the placement of Ruby's hand had been so completely unprecedented—so utterly whimsical that its probability was too small to even take into account—that it took Weiss an agonizing minute to come to terms with what was happening. In that time, Ruby's pull was proven ineffectual, Weiss' gaze grew angrier, and yet never once did this grip falter. That is, Weiss had scared her partner into immobility through her glare at the grip. In that tense minute, Ruby's confidence wavered and a blush grew on Weiss' part—not out of embarrassment or concealed emotion as most would expect, but out of sheer outrage and fury. And at her fury's crescendo, Weiss Schnee would unleash the full force of her verbal wrath.

She suddenly wrenched her hand from Ruby's grasp and snarled, "Unhand me, you worthless child! Do you have any idea of who I am—of what you've done?" The answer was a definite "no" and Ruby's frightened eyes conveyed this. "Of course not! You always run headlong into situations without thinking! Are you even capable of that? Thought? Don't bother answering. The response you'd give is obvious. Do you have any idea of what you just did? Do you?"

These words were spat with a malice never before vented by the heiress in all her years of barely contained fury. All notions of returned kindness had been renounced at Ruby's touch. No friendship could be formed, no smiles could be shared, and even their partnership was under question at this reckless show of emotion. All external activity became nonexistent from the heiress' perspective, causing her to miss the shocked and concerned gazes of the surrounding mob. A small circle had formed around the two and contradicted Weiss' desire for privacy which Ruby's hold had disturbed. However, she did not care about any of this. The sanctity of her family's name and history would be upheld if the price was Ruby's discomfort.

"The answer is no. You couldn't bother to give the situation any sort of forethought and now you've gone and ruined everything. Do you have any idea how fast word of mouth spreads—specifically about a Schnee? Of course not! How could you? You are a mindless child who cannot comprehend the subtleties required of public interaction and yet you have the gall to do…to do…that!" From her own stumble, Weiss saw weakness, and for this, she roared with a greater fervor, "Never do that again! Lest you wish to lose the appendage, never touch me again!"

Ruby's breaths had become shallow, an expression of confused fear and sorrow crossing her face—an expression which, to Weiss, was almost satisfactory. She stuttered, "W-Weiss…"

"Quiet!" the heiress bellowed, drawing the attention of those oblivious few in the crowd who had previously given the partnership privacy in their midst. "I never allowed you to speak!" As the young girl shuddered, shrunk, and turned her gaze downward, a murmur of complaint emanated from the encircling mob. Weiss' glare swept over them, silencing their concern in an instant, before she returned to Ruby. "Look at what you've done! You've caught the attention of the city's slime and now my reputation is surely to be painted red! You insatiable moron! Is there not any length you will go to ruin my life? First you restrict me from an eminent warrior for a partner and then you swipe the leadership position from my grasp—the leadership position for which I have trained my entire life! Now you have shamed not only my reputation with your imbecilic actions, but my family's.

"Schnees are to never commiserate with those who contradict our endeavors and your existence proves a mar to my immaculate record. You are a flaw, Ruby Rose, a flaw not only to my livelihood, but to your own. You are childish, naïve, and should have never been allowed into Beacon at such an early age." The more pained Ruby's visage became and the more feeble her stance seemed, the more Weiss felt accomplished. However, the heiress' intent was not to hurt, but instead to educate and instill an understanding in her partner that such a show of unfettered emotion in a public place was unacceptable. "Do not think for a second that your prowess and quiddities may leverage my favor, for our interactions have been volatile ever since the explosive moment I met you. I used to call into question our partnership and now I see that stopping was a foolish choice."

Tears began to well at the corners of young Ruby's eyes. "Weiss…?"

"I said be quiet!" the girl in white snapped. "You lost your chance to speak when you touched me. By your hand, those around us have seen a connection that will never exist. By your hand, sensationalist journalists have found a story that could topple an already baseless empire. By your hand, the honor of the Schnee name has been jeopardized. If only you could see the damage that your action could potentially cause, then you would know how excruciating it is to be around your simple personality! With that one hand, you have presumably undermined generations of effort to reach this current status of renown and yet all you can do is cry. You are a child, nothing more. You lack forethought, decorum, and a sense of decency, and yet you managed not only to usurp my position as team leader, but have tarnished a name that has existed since Dust's first excavation. My father will doubtlessly know of what you have done and we will both suffer punishments levied only upon the worst of traitors to the Atlesian throne."

Weiss had intended to continue, but proved unable. It was not the self-concerned fear that had managed to worm its way into her furious tirade nor had it been Ruby's shock and panic that might shake anyone's resolve. Instead, it was a gasp from the surrounding crowd and a wave of intolerable heat that blasted quickly across the wary circle. In that moment of realization, it was apparent that Yang had arrived and was far angrier than Weiss could have ever been. Perhaps it was the heiress' knowledge that combatting a livid Yang was nigh impossible or perhaps it was the pull of some sort of a conscience that Weiss now doubted the existence of that dragged her from an emboldened state into one more remorseful and repentant. In that moment of realization, Weiss knew that she had done something horribly wrong to Ruby even after the young girl spoke out against such unnecessary harshness. Just as quickly as her ire came, it vanished, and in its stead came self-loathing hatred and a sickening awareness of familiarity.

From a frightened gap in the crowd marched the sister, eyes ablaze and locked on the heiress'. In Weiss' mind, whatever spiteful sentiments the blonde held were justified to some extent. Ruby's thoughtless action had been reprehensible and improper, but it was hardly appropriate to meet her with such destructive reprimand.

Under no circumstances would Weiss allow herself to become her father and another aberration in the Schnee lineage. As Yang stomped closer, Weiss knew that what she had done demanded penalty, and though she was hesitant and admittedly afraid of her reprimand's fallout on the parts of both Ruby and the protective sister, she would willingly face whatever the blonde deemed fit for punishment. Forfeit would be the honorable course of action, she believed. Forfeit, and subsequently apology, would be Weiss' choice in this instance, and she would await whatever justified action Yang could conceive.

However, to Weiss' surprise, she was met not with the barreled end of a gauntlet, but its hand and a searing grip on her bicep. Yang did not stop once she reached the heiress and pushed forward, forcing Weiss to move while placing a reassuring arm over Ruby's shaking shoulders. On one side of the blonde, warm affection was running its course, soothing the pained expression of young, innocent Ruby, and on her other side, a burning sensation destroyed whatever hostile sentiments remained in the frigid girl through fear and imbued contrition. Weiss had only a moment to realize that Blake was following them from a distance before Yang squeezed her arm again and forced her attention forward as they were led out of the city square.

In that moment when Weiss had seen the one person on her team she felt most similar to, she had seen a look of disbelief and abhorrence in Blake's perennially observational eyes. If anyone was to have an objective view on what had happened, it would have been the girl in black, and because the objective judgment had sided against Weiss, the heiress knew for a fact that she was in the wrong. This point was only added to when Yang leaned close to her ear and hissed, "What did you do to my sister?" Weiss guiltily closed her eyes. "You made her cry. You made Ruby cry. I had no idea you could sink this low, Schnee."

She had become her father—a twisted individual whose focus rested upon herself and no one else. The crushing grip on her arm thankfully hurt and it assured the heiress that she was wrong for once in her life. However, all compunctious sentiments and all penitent desires were cast aside for a singular, regretful pang in the pit of Weiss' black heart when Ruby whimpered from the other side of her sister, "I'm sorry, Weiss. Please forgive me."

Ruby was Weiss' only friend in this world and the heiress could no longer deny this fact. The girl had been kind and caring and vigilant in regard to whatever it took to make her partner happy. She had tailored her temperament to better accommodate Weiss' critical demands and had managed to bring a smile to a girl who believed she could not. Regardless, the heiress had tossed her aside during this past year and, as of scant minutes ago, she had forsaken this bond which Schnees historic have valued above all else.

Since the First Age of old King Atlas, Schnees have valued their supportive bonds with family and friends alike to the point of militant defense. The bond between that fabled king and his Lord Protector Wilhelm was what allowed for the family's prosperity. Schnees lived for efficiency and effectiveness, but could never survive without genial support, else wars and infighting torch the homestead. Ruby was a dear friend who deserved far better treatment than which she was given, and Weiss knew this now. Only sorrowful sentiments existed within the frigid heiress, replacing all forms of self-defense she could ever rationalize. There was no debt she had to pay to the young girl; she had only to be a better friend and treat Ruby with the respect that she deserved. Ruby was her friend and Weiss would freely admit this in the days to come.

As the sun set upon the kingdom of Vale, so too did the temperature. Perhaps it was only remorse, but a shiver ran up Weiss' spine despite the burning grip on her arm as she was forced out of the crowd and onto a branching avenue from this plaza. Ruby deserved better and Weiss tasked herself with reciprocating her partner's kindness to an appropriate degree. If Otto Schnee could not build amicable relationships on trust instead of influence, then she would in his stead. If Ruby was unhappy now, then the people of Atlas would be equally as disgruntled under Weiss' eventual leadership. There had been one too many relationships lost in the heiress' life, and she would not allow her only friend to suffer the same fate. Ruby deserved a better friend, and if this meant forgoing years of conditioning and etiquette, then Weiss would readily take this role, if only for her partner's sake.

And thus concludes chapter one. If the lack of romantic progression between Ruby and Weiss in this specific chapter was in any way frustrating, I apologize and ask for your patience. While their relationship may not flourish as quickly or brightly as Blake and Yang's in Valence, it will undoubtedly flourish. The seeds of progression have been sown and will grow in time. To that end, if you have read Valence, then you have an idea of when their relationship will truly begin. It must be understood that the combination of Weiss' cold, reluctant personality and Ruby's friendly, positive demeanor is inherently volatile and is to be handled tactfully from Weiss' perspective. On her part, certain aspects of her partner's personality must become accepted and other rationalizations are to be made before Ruby can be seen as anything more than a combat partner.

Admittedly, most of these rationalizations and acceptances will not be shown in the coming four chapters. They will be referenced and written about, but because of the decided pacing of this story, express narrative about said justifications would slow the novel down. Each chapter of Edelweiss is intended to detail the pivotal points in Ruby and Weiss' relationship during their first summer break from Beacon. Rather than focusing on the relatively insignificant actions that cause attraction within either girl's mind, each subsequent chapter of Edelweiss will jump ahead in the timeline to points where affections have sufficiently grown and where they will turn down different paths. In this chapter's case, Ruby found Weiss' favor and friendship. In the next, this friendship will begin to turn into something else.

Finally, I should apologize for the impending wait for the next chapter of this story. Because this novel is being written in conjunction with Valence, a novel of similar chapter lengths, it may take somewhere between a month and two for the second chapter to be posted. Again, I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but in order to do this story justice, I need to spend time ensuring that everything is as good as it can get.

Thank you for reading. I hope this chapter was to your liking. Stay safe and stay tuned.