For Want of a Schneeze
A/N: I realized that the ideas I had for Team Soal would take up too much space on the AU Showcase, so I moved them here. Also, this sets a precedent for whenever anything gets upgraded to a full fic; it will be removed from the showcase and made into it's own fic. Anyway, this'll probably just be the cleaned-up versions of the original three chapters I wrote for the showcase, and then a series of oneshots that I'd come up with for Team SOAL.
Weiss let out a short exhale as she formed the last glyph in a well-practiced series designed to slow her landing and touch her down gently.
Unfortunately, none of Father's training exercises took place in the forest, Emerald or otherwise.
A branch caught her jacket and sent her into a short tumble, kicking up all sorts of dust.
Well, not really all sorts, thankfully. One explosion a week was enough.
She stood up, dusted herself off, and sneezed. Unbeknownst to Ms Schnee, that sneeze would prove to deviate her life from the path handed to her, and, indeed, change the fate of the whole world. That well-timed sneeze caused Weiss Schnee to avoid meeting the eyes of Ruby Rose.
Instead, she found herself staring at a pair of boots that wouldn't have looked out of place in Winter's closet. However, the thought struck her that no matter how nice this person's shoes were, she should probably talk to them.
Fortunately, the owner of said surprisingly nice shoes spoke up then. "Weiss! Uh, not to be a jerk or anything but you're kinda... meanandIdon'treallywanttobeyourpartnersorrybye!"
By the time Weiss had looked up, Ruby was gone. In her place was a cloud of rose petals.
"Uh... bye?"
/
Ruby sped forth, intent on finding Yang.
'That was close. Definitely don't want to spend the next four years getting lectured. And th-oof!'
Ruby tumbled over the poor person unfortunate enough to be in her way.
Ruby couldn't help but feel that this collision could've been avoided if the figure in front of her hadn't wore green into the forest.
Her world came into focus on a hand being held out to her. "You okay? Wait, Ruby?"
Ruby looked up. Silver eyes met alert hazel. "V, is that you?"
"Yeah." She pulled Ruby to her feet. "I thought you weren't supposed to graduate for another two years?"
"Oh, I wasn't but then a bunch of stuff happened and I sorta met Professor Ozpin and he decided I should go ahead of time, so here I am!"
"Cool... So, uh, did Yang actually-"
"Yep! She's here too!"
V cringed. "Great."
Ruby rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't worry. I'm sure those pranks were all just Signal stuff. We're at Beacon now! And plus, we're partners! She wouldn't prank my partner... probably."
V sighed.
/
Elsewhere
/
Weiss was lost.
Very lost.
She was beginning to question the validity of her father's training regime, when it had given her exactly zero sense of direction.
Fortunately, Weiss was about to encounter someone with an excellent sense of direction.
Unfortunately, said someone was fighting a small pack of Beowolves.
A large crack resounded throughout the area, and Weiss began running towards it.
She found a girl spinning around a large rifle, and using it to bat away grimm as though they were made of paper. As she watched, a beowolf was sent flying into two of it's brethren.
Weiss knew, from a tactical standpoint, that the girl clearly didn't need her help,
Weiss knew, from a pragmatic standpoint, that she should be trying to conserve her energy, and her dust stores.
However, Weiss had been wandering the forest for what felt like hours, (it was forty minutes) she'd had a person (whom she wouldn't have wanted to team with anyway) outright run away from her for no reason whatsoever,(It was because she'd been a bit of a bitch to her) and she was kind of hungry. (Breakfast was like, an hour ago. Cut her some slack)
In short, (heh) Weiss was in a bit of a pissy mood. So, he decided to let loose a bit on the grimm.
She charged forward, and opened a glyph under her.
"Heads up!"
She launched herself over the girls head, and used a second glyph to propel herself at a nearby grimm. Myrtenaster pierced it's heart, and it fell.
The rest of the battle was a blur, her own short-range efforts being supported well by the larger girl's rifle.
Said rifle proved to be almost humorously effective against the grimm, a single shot striking down two or three of the beasts.
After the last of them lay dying, Weiss held her hand out to the girl. "Weiss Schnee."
"Lilac Amethyst." She shook the heiress's hand. Their eyes met.
Weiss suppressed a chuckle. 'Honestly, it seems like some people took the whole 'name your kids after colors' thing too far.'
She took a good, long look at the girl she'd be partnering with for the next four years.
She was a few inches taller than Weiss, enough to be noticeable, but not enough to keep her from still being seen as short.
Her combat apparel, in Weiss' opinion, needed a bit of work, but it was nothing that would interfere on missions. She was wearing a loose blue shirt and a pair of black pants, with flowery designs running up the legs in a dark purple.
Her hair was worn loose, the brown mass reaching her shoulder blades with a surprising lack of tangles.
A pair of dog ears poked out from the top-
Dog ears?
Weiss forced her eyes downward.
"So, uh... do you know which way the temple is?"
Lilac nodded, then set off walking. Weiss followed her.
/
Elsewhere
/
"Should we climb a tree? We might be able to see it from here."
"I dunno, Ruby... I'd rather stick together, and if we couldn't see it from the cliff, I doubt we'll be able-
"Whoa-ahhh-ohhh!"
A figure was thrown through the air past them, screaming his head off all the while.
"Jaune?"
"What the hell?"
They shared a look, and took off after him.
/
Back With the Character Who's Actually as Important as She is in Canon
/
Weiss was beginning to get discouraged. Lilac had brushed off or outright ignored any attempts she'd made at conversation, and, to be frank, she was running out of topics.
So, she decided to fall back on that which she'd mercilessly mocked so many times.
"So, Lilac... any guys you have an eye on?"
Brown eyes met blue for a moment, then the faunus kept walking.
'Well, I haven't embarrassed myself enough, so...'
"Girls, then?" Lilac showed no reaction. "I mean, there's no guys around here that are my type anyway. I prefer an intellectual, you know? I mean, there's this blonde, but I think she's straight."
Nothing.
Weiss sighed. She didn't want to have to do this, but it seemed she was going to have to have this talk a lot sooner than she anticipated.
"Look, uh... I know that you're probably a bit uneasy around me, but I just want you to know, I have no plans to continue what my father has done with my grandfather's company. I think the exploit-"
"IsawupyourskirtinthefightandI'msorrypleasedon'thateme!"
Weiss blinked.
"What?"
Lilac steeled herself.
"During the fight, I accidentally looked up your skirt, when you jumped over me. I wanted to apologize, but I was too embarrassed, and you kept trying to start a conversation andIwassomean, and-"
She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."
Weiss struggled to form a reply without embarrassing the girl further, but it was in vain. As soon as she opened her mouth, a girl wearing a cover-all suit of chainmail and a knightly helm was thrown through a nearby tree by an Ursa.
"Shit! Saph, you okay?" Another girl, this one wearing a black combat skirt, shouted while attacking the Ursa. "Hey, you two mind giving us a hand?"
Weiss and Lilac turned to the new foe.
Weiss sped in, using her glyphs to propel herself through multiple small strikes on the beast. Lilac fell back, and lined up a shot. The beast's original enemy swung her naginata in wide arcs, carving painful slices into it's hide. After but a few moments, Lilac yelled, and the two jumped away from the beast, letting her take off part of the top of it's head with a well-placed shot. The beast fell, and began dissipating.
"Well, that was fun." The new arrival brushed off her skirt, and grinned at the two. "Thanks for the assist! I was kinda worried I might be done for when Saph got taken out."
A groan echoed through the clearing. "Yeah, I'm fine, by the way. Thanks for checking on me."
Her smile just grew wider, and she yelled back. "No prob! Thanks for taking out the Ursa, Mrs. Chainmail!"
She turned back to Weiss and Lilac. "Seriously though, thank you. I'm Aureate, and helmet-hair over there is Sapphire."
Weiss took a good, long look at Aureate. She was almost statuesque when compared to Weiss and Lilac, standing at about 5'10. She wore a tight black tank-top, and a combat skirt that Weiss felt scandalized to be within ten feet of. She had her black hair in a short ponytail, allowing her cat ears plenty of room to breathe.
Weiss couldn't help but feel a bit proud that she hadn't been surprised this time.
She turned to Sapphire, who was managing to lift herself up off the ground slowly. Considering the hit she'd taken, Weiss was impressed.
This girl was huge, towering over the three. She was easily six feet tall. Mrs. Chainmail was clearly an appropriate name, as only her hands were completely uncovered. The only non-chainmail articles she wore were leather boots and her helm, which was a solid-looking hunk of metal, though it was pretty dented at that point.
She cut a pretty imposing figure, though Aureate seemed unimpressed. "Hey Saph, why don't you get rid of that damn helmet? This has gotta be the third time you've been blindsided because of it, and grimm aren't even smart enough to go for it."
Sapphire ignored her comment. "Did you grab Einmorte?"
"Yeah, totally, definitely grabbed the giant fucking sword I can barely lift while I was fighting an Ursa. Excellent tactical decision."
"If you spent half the time you're on your back benching, you wouldn't have that problem. Maybe you'd even be able to get a real weapon, instead of the knife on a stick you're stuck with."
"If you were ever on your back for something other than working out, maybe you wouldn't be such an irritable bitch all the time."
"If you ever actually thought with what's in your head instead of what's in your pants, you could come up with a better insult than bitch."
Meanwhile, Weiss was taking small steps away from the two. While she was pretty sure, judging by their smiles, that they were kidding with each other, she didn't want to get on Sapphire's bad side. Or be in the way if she decided to attack.
She turned to Lilac, only to see that the quiet girl had disappeared.
As if on cue, the bushes to the right started to rustle, and Lilac stepped through, an enormous sword with intricate red designs along the blade balanced on her shoulder.
Sapphire rushed her, and plucked the sword from her grasp. "You found it! Thanks!" She examined the blade, which gave Aureate the opportunity she'd been looking for.
She pulled the helm off her tall companion. A pair of long white rabbit ears unfurled gradually, but that wasn't as surprising to Weiss as the large girl's hair. She had a scruffy, boyish cut of pink hair.
Granted, Weiss wasn't exactly one to talk about odd hair colors, but it was just such a contrast with the rest of the girl's image that she had to stare.
An ear twitched as Sapphire rounded on Aureate, the latter suppressing a grin. "What, exactly, made you think that was okay?"
"Hm." Aureate reached a hand up and tapped the larger girl's nose. "You look much cuter without it. And don't try and pretend that wasn't hell on your ears. I did you a favor!"
Sapphire gave a muted snarl in response. It sounded distinctly like the word 'bitch'.
"Plus" Aureate continued. "I've been doing it ever since you started wearing that stupid thing when we were kids, and you've yet to actually try and stop me."
Sapphire huffed. "Oh, shut up." She turned to Weiss.
"Anyway, because my partner-"
"And best friend"
"Partner insisted on being rude, I don't think we were ever properly introduced. I'm Sapphire Lazuline, and this is Aureate Orchid."
Weiss nodded. "It's nice to meet you. This is Lilac Amethyst, and I'm-"
Aureate spoke up, affecting a ridiculous Upper-Echelon Atlesian accent. "I'm Weiss Schnee, and this is not worth my time. I'm losing a million dollars for every minute I spend talking to you lower class-"
Sapphire rapped her on the back of the head, and Aureate smiled. "Ah, just kidding around. I'd heard you were coming to Beacon. Gotta say, I'd probably have stuck with the heiress lifestyle, myself."
"You do seem suited to it. I'm surprised you haven't already released a sex tape, actually." Sapphire said, smirking.
Aureate let out a chuckle. "Well, I wanted to have a good co-star first. Hows 'Sapphires Fingers are a Girl's New Best Friend' sound?"
Sapphire blushed, but struck back. "We both know you'd never be able to deal with not having it named after you.'
"Eh, fair point." She turned to Weiss. "How about you? How does 'Aureate's Erotic Adventures in Schnee Manor' sound?'
The three turned to Weiss, who was an interesting shade of red that seemed to be fading towards purple.
"Did you break her?" Lilac wondered aloud.
The voice seemed to remind Aureate she had another person to make regret meeting her. "Ooh, what about you?! 'Aureate Orchid Shows Lilac her Flower!' Or-"
Weiss finally spoke up. "I am not that kind of heiress!"
"Which kind?" Aureate was smiling. She was in her element. "The annoyingly superior rich one, or the one who releases sex tapes and gets her own reality show?"
"Both! Er... neither!"
Sapphire started laughing.
Lilac stared at the three girls in front of her, and began reconsidering her life choices.
/
Some Time Later
/
The four stepped onto the central platform, and gazed around at the pieces spread around on the pedestals spaced around the temple.
"Huh." Sapphire was the first to speak. "Seems like we're the first ones here."
"Thank goodness we had Lilac with us. Probably wouldn't have ever gotten here if we'd been following you the whole time." As always, Aureate responded with a biting comment.
"Hey, I'm not the one who led us into the Ursa, am I?"
"Good job, Lilac." Weiss smiled at the faunus, who returned it. "You want to pick the artifact? You've definitely earned it."
Lilac circled the area for a while, before grabbing a representation of a White Queen, and tossing it to Weiss. "That's odd. There's four of every piece, even the Queen and King. Two white, and two black."
Aureate shrugged. "Well, there are a lot of people coming here this year. Saph, you wanna pick?"
"Eh, who cares? Lilac, toss us the other Queen, would you?"
Lilac grabbed the other white piece from the pedestal she was passing and threw it to Sapphire.
"Well," Weiss said, looking around at her group. "Should we head back?"
Aureate shrugged, Lilac nodded, and Sapphire started walking back the way they'd came.
The trip back was almost ominously quiet, and the four subconsciously kept their guard up the entire way to the cliffs.
They all knew that there should have been more grimm, but they wrote it off as luck.
Of course, this meant other teams were facing more grimm than usual. The future Team JNPR successfully slew a Deathstalker, Ruby, along with her partner, fought off a small army of Beowolves, and the future team CRDL wandered into an Ursae-infested cave and ran off, leaving Blake and Yang to take out the horde.
But to team Weiss? Easy walk out of the forest. Some people have all the luck.
/
Ozpin smiled reassuringly at the group. "Ruby Rose, Verdant Grove-
Snickers were heard throughout the auditorium.
"-Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao-Long. You four recovered the White Knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as.. Team Ruby" The screen read RVBY under their picture. Lead by... Ruby Rose.
Yang hugged Ruby, and wolf whistles could be heard throughout the audience.
They vacated the stage, and Team CRDL was brought up.
Aureate spoke in a low whisper. "So, seems like we're a team. What do you think our name is?"
Silence.
She smirked. "We've got Lilac Amethyst, Weiss Schnee, Aureate Orchid, and Sapphire Lazuline...Hm."
Weiss shot her a glare that clearly implied she needed to shut up.
Aureate continued on. "Maybe Team Asshole? You know, A-S-O-L?"
Sapphire punched her in the arm as Goodwitch sent them a glare, and motioned for them to take the stage.
Ozpin smiled at them. "And finally, Weiss Schnee, Aureate Orchid, Lilac Amethyst, and Sapphire Lazuline. You four recovered the White Queen pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as.. Team Soul" The screen read SOAL under their pictures. Lead by... Weiss Schnee."
Weiss smiled, and Sapphire clapped her on the shoulder.
They stepped off the stage, and Ozpin turned to the crowd. "Dorm assignments are posted on the walls outside, listed in alphabetical order by team name. Dismissed."
Lilac went off to find their room number, as the other three gathered their luggage together.
Weiss saw Ruby on the other end of the auditorium chattering with her team, and nearly went to apologize, but a glare from Blake stopped her. Still, she resolved herself to make peace with the hooded girl as soon as she could.
Then Lilac was there, and they were headed to the room, Aureate making jokes about whose bed she was sharing that night and Lilac outright offering, to the shock of everyone. When Aureate went silent, she'd laughed and said she'd known she was all talk.
The ensuing barrage of double entendres and jokes persisted until the four had made it to their room.