Chapter Text
She manages to leave the infirmary a day earlier than expected, after what Marrow called ‘incessant whining’ and what Winter would say is ‘gentle persuasion’. Soon enough, she finds herself next to him in their Remnant history class, which continues to be as boring as it had been. Out of the entire class, Marrow and Winter are the only ones who are properly paying attention. Or at least more than not at all. Rin is secretly reading a book whilst Alex is taking an obvious nap next to her.
The relationship between their teammates and Marrow is still frosty, Alex and Rin managing to avoid activities that involve Marrow. Only talking amongst themselves and asking Winter essential questions about assignments, there’s a clear split in the team. She wishes that it wouldn’t exist, but she cannot force anyone to do something against their will, but it's not hard to miss the sighs from Marrow each day, or the quiet mutterings from the two during the night. There’s an upcoming group assessment, its details yet to be explained so she hopes quietly that it drives the team to work together. But it requires them to see Marrow in the same way as everyone else, which is far from happening.
The current class is about the factors leading towards the Faunus war, which has every eye taking small glimpses at Marrow. They become shamelessly obvious whenever the topic of Faunus' rights comes up. He keeps his head down as he writes down his notes, at a slower pace than what he usually does. His scratchy handwriting, whilst nearly illegible, is far quicker at getting the words down than her own, yet he lags behind her today in notes.
The bell finally rings and everyone hurriedly packs away their belongings. It was the class just before their lunch break, so Marrow packs away his stuff at breakneck speed and pushes Winter to do the same. Giving a little roll of the eyes, she does so and they make their way to the mess hall. He talks about his excitement over the lunch menu today, since it was a Friday it was expected that it would be somewhere along the lines of fish and chips. Winter is not as excited, not a fan of seafood in general. She learns that it's the complete opposite for Marrow, as he mentions how his grandfather had always made it whenever they had come over, the warm crispiness of the fish and the crunch of the chips reminding him of home. Before he goes on about the wonders of mushy peas, someone is shouting Marrow's name in the middle of the hallway. Ready to defend him, she takes a step in front. Her father wont find out.
But, there is no need for the precautious actions as it is Hill greeting Marrow. She hugs him tightly and scuffles his hair as they catch each other up since they last met (when Winter was unconscious in the infirmary). Winter awkwardly walks next to him as the three of them make their way to the mess hall. Even if she had been ‘hospitalised’ after their duel, Hill still maintains the cold behaviour towards her. Still, she did check in just once to see that I haven’t killed you and swiftly left after being sure that Hill hadn’t committed manslaughter (or murder). She tries her best to act as least awkward as she could but resorts to looking at the daily stocks on her scroll. She does catch Hill looking at her, only to turn away when their eyes meet
Lunch passes without any commotion, if she doesnt count the number of disgusted looks that Marrow gets. He either does a good job of masking his emotions, or he’s got used to the treatment. She hopes that it's none of these and that he’s just unaware. Hill also doesn’t stop looking at her.
She does note however, that the dish called ‘fish and chips’ does little to describe how tasty the meal is. Somehow, battered fish and fried chips are an amazing combination, somehow far better than the cuisine that she received at the manor. Vinegar is a must with the chips, its sour tanginess elevating the flavour even more.
The day passes, attending more menial classes which they both hope become better as they advance through the Academy. There is an announcement that tells all first year students in the academy to report immediately to the hall after their final class of the day. It has everyone talking, everyone curious to know what it could be about. Some suspect a new professor, others think about a grand announcement to do with the Vytal festival that is upcoming soon later in the year. Winter doubts all of these, as she knows that all of this information would have been covered in the first speech after they had been inaugurated as students, to which there were no new professors and the Vytal festival was going to be hosted at Atlas this year.
Even as she sits in one of the uncomfortable chairs in the grand hall next to Marrow, Hill is there with her partner, Marigold. Her blue hair is hard to miss and Winter has heard conversations over how the ownership of the Marigold wealth is up in the air due to ‘particular actions’ of the girl. She’s busy thinking about what in particular caused such a conflict within the Marigold family that she doesn’t hear Marrow asking her a question until he lightly taps her on the shoulder. Flinching slightly, she listens to what he has to say.
“You’re still not on good terms with Robyn are you?”
“No,” she replies, looking straight at where the General would stand. He carries on.
“Why not”
“She wants me to do something that's in the past”
“Like what?”
“Can we not talk about this?”
“Winter come on, I care about both you and Robyn?”
“I don't see why you need to bother yourself with my issues”
“Because I’m your friend?”
“You shouldn't worry about my issues with Hill, it's nothing to worry about.”
“It would be nice if the two of you could get along.” It’s a fair point and Winter concedes, deciding that maybe she should talk to Robyn about it and see whether her opinion on her might change.
“Look, I’ll talk to her once I get the chance.” Before Marrow could say anything else, the General’s voice booms through the hall, silencing everyone in a matter of seconds.
“Good afternoon. I’m sure you are all wondering why I have gathered you all here on such a short notice. You are all here to be notified that you are starting your first practical assessment tomorrow at 0800 hours. You are to report to here no later, or you will automatically fail this practical assessment, which will make your future academy life difficult.
You will be tested on physical, mental and strategic skills. I am not going to reveal what is going to happen in the assessment, but I advise you all to treat it seriously, as in extreme situations, you may be risking your life.” Loud chatter echoes throughout the hall, until the General raises his hand and silence falls within the hall again.
“Some of you may find this to be unfair, as you may believe that you are not adequately prepared for this. But that is exactly why the first practical assessment is announced without any warning. To be true Huntsmen, you must be prepared to go on your mission with little to no preparation.
Professors will be overseeing this practical assessment and will intervene in situations where it depends on the safety of your life. Further information will be sent to your scrolls in an hour's time. I advise that you eat well tonight in the mess hall. Dismissed.”
Everyone hurries out of the hall, desperate to make most use of their time left until tomorrow morning. Winter sits in her chair, thinking about what the physical assessment could possibly be. It must be some sort of expedition involving Grimm. The General wouldn’t mention strategic skill if it was just an assessment based on physical strength or endurance. But then what type of Grimm? There’s far too many types that it's impossible to rule out any, but she’s sure that the team would encounter something like a Saber, due to the cold climate of Atlas. She should figure the rest out after a quick training session. Getting up from her seat, she brushes past Marrow and goes through a list of drills to do until the assessment tomorrow. He says something to her, but she doesn't hear exactly what and takes a mental note to ask him when they’re both in their dorms.
Collecting her weapon from her locker, she readjusts her ponytail to make sure it doesn’t fall out during her training. By the time she arrives in the training hall, she realises that, much to her dismay, Winter is not the only one who took the initiative to go through some drills. Hill is already there, taking quick but accurate shots at targets with her crossbow. Winter still doesn’t understand how such a small thing can deal so much damage. The bolt can only be so large and heavy to function on her small crossbow. She's about to leave the room to find a quiet classroom to practice alone, but Hill catches her before she can.
“Schnee.”
“Yes?”
“Here to train?”
“Yes.”
“Want to duel me again?”
“No.” Hill chuckles at that as she loads a bolt into her crossbow.
“What, too sore about the outcome of the previous one?”
“I have no need to duel you.”
“So you’re admitting that you’re a pussy?” Irritation turns into anger and she lets a glyph form below her, spinning slowly. Closing her eyes, she tells herself that it is not worth the time to bother herself with someone. A waste of time especially when she knows all of the move sets that she has to offer.
“I’ll leave this side of the room to you.” She turns, letting the glyph disappear as she walks past Hill to the further end of the room.
Before she manages to take another step, something whizzes dangerously close to her ear and she hears the wind blow as the object flies through the air. She whips around to see Hill poised in a stance just after she would release a bolt from her crossbow.
“What was that?!” she demands, feeling her right side of her head to check that nothing is hurt, even if her aura is active.
“Just wanted your attention.” Hill’s arms are folded, left hand spinning a bolt idly as she waits for whatever Winter has next to say. The sight of her so relaxed when only seconds before she had nearly caused a fatal injury makes her blood boil. She’s unable to quench her anger when she responds back to Hill.
“That could have killed me!”
“Don't be dramatic, you know I missed your head on purpose. Can’t promise the next one will though,” Hill says as she draws up another bolt onto her crossbow. Not believing what is happening in front of her, Winter draws her sabre and separates it into two, conjuring a shield with her glyphs just before the bolt flies into the air. The shield easily deflects it, but she’s covering her head with her swords, in the slight case that she wasn't quick enough. Slowly, she readies her weapon into a fighting stance.
“What do you want?”, she shouts as she defends against Hill’s attacks that rain down upon her, backing away as the attack continues to hold up. She only gets another flurry of attacks that she breaks through, using her glyphs and dust to snap the bolts in half. Somehow, Hill has a never ending supply of bolts and her breaking them seems to do next to nothing to hinder her as she continues to attack her.
“Why haven’t you explained to Marrow?” She knows exactly what Hill is referencing, yet she ignores her as she tries her best to not be impaled by a flying bolt. Hill becomes more and more aggressive, infusing her bolts with various kinds of Dust. One moment there's a burst of flames then next Winter feels the reverberation of ice shards breaking apart. This makes her lose her footing, stumbling backwards and barely able to keep herself standing.
“How can you in good mind let yourself be his friend whilst you do nothing to help his situation?” Hill lunges forward, crossing her arms in front of her face as she breaks through Winter’s shield. Surprised, Winter barely manages to keep her form as she blocks swipes at her with her sabres. The sound of metal clashing against each other fills the room as Hill swipes at Winter, who is barely managing to hold out against her.
“You have so much power to do what’s right, so why do you let it all happen?” She aims a bolt at Winter, who tries to counterattack back by parrying away her crossbow. Carelessly, she forgets that Hill has a second hand, which she only remembers when she feels a fist slamming into her cheek. Staggering backwards, she falls flat on the ground after losing balance. Hill’s arms aren’t weak, and her head is slightly spinning as she tries to bring herself back up.
Hill shoves her back onto the ground and pins down her arms, Winter’s legs flailing as she unsuccessfully tries to escape from her grip. From this view, Winter can see why Hill’s punch hurts so much, her triceps flexing as she holds her down. Hill is close enough that she can feel her sweat drip slowly onto her neck, each droplet becoming more and more heavier. She doesn’t know where to look. Feeling herself heat up, she looks to the side, unable to look at Hill in the face. The skin on skin contact burns, she feels how Hill’s hands are soft but firm, unlike her own calloused hands from her swordsmanship. It's getting hotter and hotter, she wishes for Hill to get off her but she also wants to keep feeling this, this weird feeling in her stomach.
“Why didn’t you defend Marrow?” She tries to squirm out of her Hill’s grip, but it continues to pin her down.
“It’s complicated.”
“Complicated my arse.” she replies, grip tightening on her hands. This only makes Winter fluster even more, face heating up as she uncomfortably wriggles in Hill’s grip. Winter gives in, knowing well that Hill is stubborn enough to keep her down until tomorrow morning. Letting out a sigh, she gives two words of explanation.
“My father.” Hill’s face is unimpressed, a brow raised.
“Yeah and?”
“You have to promise me you wont tell anyone else about what I’m telling you.” She somehow manages to look even more unimpressed, prompting Winter to plead with her. “Please.” Her expression stays the same, but her grip loosens. Letting out a sigh, she agrees.
“Fine, I won't tell anyone.” A few more moments pass until Winter steels herself to give a reply.
“My father has his bias against Faunus.”
“Yeah yeah we all know that he’s a racist bigot. Old news.”
“The White Fang’s disruption of the SDC transports makes him angry. Angry enough to take it out onto other people.” She looks into Hill’s eyes to see if there’s any understanding. Predictably, there’s none.
“Everyone in Atlas knows about the terrible working conditions in SDC factories, what are you trying to get at?” In the heat of the moment she decides to just explain it to Robyn clearly and not as if they’re playing Atlesian politics, since she’s already in such a vulnerable position she doesn’t know how it could get worse.
“I don’t know what’ll happen to Weiss and Whitley if he learns I have a Faunus partner,” she blurts. Her voice echoes in the room and she’s grateful that only her and Hill have the sense to train at 11 in the night. Robyn’s eyes widen and she completely loosens her grip on Winter. The latter takes the opportunity to push her off and rolls over, flipping the positions. Realising that she is literally on top of Robyn Hill, Winter scrambles off her and dusts her clothes off as she reaches for her swords.
Hill looks deep in thought as she sits up, supporting herself with a knee propped up. Winter stands up from the ground. Clicking her sabre back into place, she straightens her clothes as she thinks over what she just told Hill. She regrets it, but more so she prays to the gods that Hill keeps her word. She never intended to tell anyone about this, not even Marrow but the stupid persistence that Hill has admirable, if not under these conditions. Hill stares at Winter whilst she straightens her uniform and makes herself look presentable. It’s mildly uncomfortable, but she would rather go through this than have another battle with Hill. They’re becoming more and more difficult over time and she refuses to admit defeat for a second time against this woman, even if she was rendered weapon-less only a few minutes ago.
“You still should explain it to Marrow.”
Winter is nearly out of the room when she says this. She lets out what she hopes is her final sigh of her day as she grabs the handle, giving Hill one final look. The door clicks behind her as she exits, leaving Hill alone in the training area.
It's late in the evening when she finally returns back to her dormitory, managing to find some quiet space to train in the outer grounds of the academy. The bitter November cold hopefully prepares her for tomorrow’s assessment as now all she wants is a hot shower, but seeing Marrow reminds her that they had more to talk about.
She finds him reading a book, sitting on the edge of her bed in his cartoon pyjamas. He continues to read the book, only to give Winter a small greeting when she returns to the dorms. Loosening her tie, she wonders if Marrow is going to say something. By the time her shoes are unlaced, he speaks up.
“Did you talk with Robyn?”
“Sort of,” she replies, knowing that they spent more time duelling each other rather than fighting. She sees his eyes light up, posture perking up a little as he continues to ask.
“Did you guys make up?” There’s a hopeful smile on his face that she knows won't last.
“Not really”. He lets out a sigh and gets up from her bed. He climbs up into his bunk and bids Winter a good night, hoping that they do well tomorrow in the assessment given. She expected him to ask more, but maybe he had changed his mind. Rin and Alex are fast asleep, preparing in a different way from Winter for the next day. She’s getting ready for a shower when she remembers Hill’s words. Let alone Hill’s words, there has been this unexplainable urge to explain to Marrow what happened, but something within her pulls her back, telling her to stay comfortable in the confines of safety. She’s internally debating with herself as she moves throughout the dorm, brows furrowed as she looks for her towel. Towel missing and a moral quandary that has her torn, has Marrow calling out catch as he throws her towel, managing to find it before her.
“Thank you”. It's not a big deal, he says, who's still sat up in bed reading some fiction book that Winter has never heard of. He gives quick glances towards her, only to quickly look away when she catches his eye. She’s taken off her uniform, only wearing a simple top and shorts when she does him a favour, “Is there something else you wanted to ask me?” He looks away, back to his hands, to Winter, then away again before replying to her.
“What’s going on between you and Robyn?”
She stares at him, not knowing how to reply. If it was any other time, she would divert the question or maybe even flat out refuse to answer. But after the tiring duel with Hill, she can’t will herself to act as she has for the past days whenever he asks this question. Between the time she was in the infirmary and now, he’s only asked thrice. The saying third times lucky seems wrong here, as she feels far from lucky having been asked this again.
She shouldn’t lie, but the direct question she’s being asked itches her urge to run away into the shower and blast piping hot water into her face. Blankly, she looks into his eyes hoping for him to say something more, the concept of replying to such a question unbearable.
“Look, I know that some argument happened between the two of you. And I know that if it wasn't such a big deal, you still wouldn’t be trying to kill each other”. She doesn't know how to respond, not wanting to hurt his feelings but something within her tells her that not telling him the truth would make the situation worse. Looking down onto her hands, she picks away at her fingernails as she feels Marrow’s gaze burrow deeper into her.
“So, what is it?” His face no longer has the softness that she’s got used to. He looks at her seriously as he waits for her answer. Looking into the corner bedpost near her alarm clock, she decides to rip the plaster off and tell him the truth that realistically she should have told him earlier, far earlier. Hopefully Marrow won’t hate her after this.
“Remember when Hill had told Carmen to stop his behaviour?”
“Yeah when he was racist.”
“She didn't like how I hadn’t taken any action against him before she did.” she can't bear to look at him, feeling so wrong but not knowing why. Maybe the fact that lying to your partner is really not good.
She finally looks at Marrow, finding the courage to do so. He’s not looking at her but somewhere else, eyes fallen. Anyone from a mile away can see how he feels. She looks away again, unable to bear with the fact that she’s made him so upset, someone who’s meant to be her partner and unknowingly, Winter’s friend.
“You lied to me.” He looks back at her with the same disgust that Hill used to look at her with, before it changed into the pity it is now.
“I’m sorry.”
“Right.” He flips over with the duvet, turning his back to her. Switching his bed lamp off and saying nothing more, he leaves Winter standing alone in the dark of the dormitory. She has to turn on her flashlight from her scroll to get to the shower, not wanting to wake everyone in the dormitory up by turning on the main lights. She clicks the door behind her softly and slowly slides down the door as she lets out another sigh.
She expected that, but she didn’t realise Marrow would be so harsh about it. She regrets not telling the truth, but how would she have explained it to him when they're in the academy infirmary. She now wishes she had just told Carmen to act proper, or less crass, or just anything so that Hill would have seen her to be satisfactory in her eyes and not caused this problem in the first place. She knocks her fists against her head, harder and harder until it actually becomes painful. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She knows how to use her words, yet for some stupid reason she didn’t at that time. She hates to admit it, but Marrow is important to her, he saw her as just someone who wanted to get through the Academy, rather than the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. Even if she never showed it, she appreciated his little quips about the ridiculous things of the academy, such as the hats that they have to have in their uniform even though they are never going to wear it. Or the fact that the library heating is what he believes is where half of the Academy funds go to, since everywhere else is too chilly to go without an extra layer underneath their uniform.
A feeling she can't explain fills her again. She’s experienced more emotions at the Academy than she ever had in the manor, even when with her siblings, but unlike the ones when with her siblings, not all of them are good. A gnawing sensation grows in her mind whilst her heart feels heavy, she fists her hands into her shirt and bows her head down. Something warm is trickling down her face, making its run down the slopes of her skin. She unwillingly cries silently in the bathroom of her dorms as she realises that it is guilt making her feel like this.
Would Weiss or Whitley have done the same thing as she has? Would have they cowered like she did until it was too late? Being reminded of them, she types out a reply on her scroll as their letters that they now exchange digitally.
Dear Weiss and Whitley,
How are the two of you? I know that it hasn’t been long since I last wrote to you and that you’re going to get this message quite well past your bedtime, but I suppose you would never hate receiving a letter from your older sister would you?
Currently I’m reminded of the manor and how cold it is there, since it’s getting colder and colder lately. I’m sure that the fireplaces are doing enough to keep you warm. I dont have the luxury of those here unfortunately. Just ask Klein if you don’t feel to good, maybe he’ll make you some pancakes in the morning.
Despite the cold, I haven’t managed to catch the flu. Hopefully never.
I’m sorry that this letter is quite short. Since I only wrote to you a couple days ago, nothing much has happened in between. I had fish and chips, a lovely meal which we really should have in the manor. There’s an assessment tomorrow, but I’m sure that it’s not going to be that difficult. Is mother getting better?
Write back,
Winter