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“You two are insufferable!” Jacques yelled, the noise easily radiating throughout the Schnee Manor even with the doors closed.
“Oh, like you have any room to talk,” Winter sneered back.
“Know your place Winter. You are a Schnee, your actions reflect directly on this entire family!”
“It already reflects poorly enough on us how we treat the faunus, and now you want to reprimand us for trying to help the poor?!” Weiss argued. Winter put a gentle hand on her shoulder, to ease her nerves and to show Jacques how firm they both were on their stance.
“If we start making handouts, people are going to expect us to do that for everyone. We can’t let the company depreciate all because you children want to run around playing hero. Enough of this! Go to your room!” Jacques screamed. Weiss and Winter were more than happy to oblige.
Weiss and Winter retreated to their bedroom, a large room that was exceptionally well-decorated, if not incredibly simplistically: a tv hung on the wall by the door, their two beds sat in opposing corners on the far wall from the door, and they each had a very neat desk at the foot of their bed. Weiss did nothing if not take after her sister’s example. Still, the walls were adorned with a few rather splendid paintings, each of which easily auctioned for more than most of the citizens of Mantle would make in their lifetime. Bed sheets white as snow, made of the finest silks imaginable, and piles of comforters to fit the cold Atlesian winters. It was a room designed for royalty, but at the same time built like a college dormitory. A college dormitory out of the most expensive episode of House Hunters Atlas. They both sat on Winter’s bed, defeated yet again by the infuriating head of the Schnee household.
“He’s the worst sometimes,” Weiss scoffed.
“Sometimes? I think you mean all the time,” Winter replied with a chuckle. Weiss couldn’t help but join in. Even when things seemed the worst, Winter never failed to make her feel better. That’s just the power of a big sister, it seemed. Still, neither of them could shake the glum feeling of being helpless. The situation in the kingdom got worse by the day, and their father had zero intentions of helping anyone but himself.
“...Winter?” Weiss asked, Winter already able to guess what the following question would be.
“...I’m not sure yet Weiss. But we’re going to do something.”
“Right…”
“Tell you what. Do you want some hot chocolate? I’m sure he’s asleep by now, I can’t hear anything.”
“It’s kinda hard to miss something as loud as Jacques Schnee,” Weiss teased. They both shared a laugh. “I’d love some Winter, thank you.”
“I’ll be back shortly,” Winter said with a pat on her little sister’s head, and with that she was off. Weiss sighed as she sat alone in the quiet room. She debated turning on the TV to watch some more House Hunter Atlas, but she didn’t feel like moving enough to grab the remote. She picked up her Scroll and checked the time. 1:28 AM. She was surprisingly awake considering the late hour, probably due to how upset she was. She just wanted a way to do her part for the world, and her father had already forbade her from going to Atlas Academy, insisting that her singing voice was a far more important gift to the world. She often wished she hadn’t been born a Schnee, even if living in the lap of luxury was nice, she couldn’t help but feel guilty having it all while others had so little.
Her thoughts were disturbed by a strange thud just below her window. She sat up and turned towards the window, but before she could make any move the window was suddenly open. She blinked a few times, there was no visible explanation or evidence the window hadn’t already been open, aside from the fact there was a sudden draft in the room. The only evidence of movement was a small cloud of red rose petals floating in the wind outside of the window. Weiss was shocked, and quickly moved to close the window. As soon as she had though, she noticed something reflecting in the window. Someone. She turned around in a hurry and gasped.
Before her stood a girl about her own age, wearing clothes hardly befitting of the cold winter; a black hoodie, a scarlet red scarf, and a pair of very worn jeans. The girl was facing away from Weiss, looking through her closet–wait, who is this girl? Weiss cleared her throat, loudly, and the girl turned, a mixture of surprise, embarrassment, and shame on her face.
“Hello?” Weiss asked, an eyebrow raised in suspicion.
“H...hi…” The stranger responded slowly, speaking in a hushed whisper. Now that she was facing Weiss, she was able to get a view of the girl’s face. She had black hair with frosted red tips, cut into a mid-length pixie, a very round face, and dazzling, silver eyes. Weiss had to quickly avert her gaze to avoid getting lost in them. The stranger took it as a sign of disappointment and started scratching the back of her head in shame.
“Might I ask what you’re doing in my bedroom?” Weiss asked, trying not to make eye contact with this hazard to whatever shred of heterosexual thought processes she might have possessed.
“I… ummm… I’m sorry, I’m sure this looks terrible, but I lost both of my parents and I’m only 15 so nobody will hire me and my sister just died and I have nothing and nowhere to go and I’mreallyhungryandIcan’taffordfoodsoIwashopingtofindsomewaytohelpmyselfpleasedon’thurtme” The stranger rattled off, gradually gaining speed as she spoke until she was barely understandable. Weiss couldn’t help but chuckle a little, and Ruby turned towards her in shock.
“Believe me, this is far from the first time something like this has happened. I’m pretty well desensitized.” Weiss replied, trying to be vaguely reassuring.
“...Please don’t rat me out. I’ll leave”
“No!” Weiss pleaded a little too eagerly, prompting Ruby to turn back towards her in shock. Weiss paused for a minute before continuing. “I-uhm… I mean… Look, you’re clearly just trying to keep yourself alive. I can show you to my father’s study, you can definitely find something worth your time there. If you don’t get caught, I can help you get out of here too.” Weiss wasn’t quite sure what she was doing, but her mouth kept moving before she could consider what she was really offering. At the end of things, though, this was perfect. She’d wanted to help the poor, and that’s exactly what she was doing. Surely Jacques wouldn’t miss one or two things going missing? Besides, she could consider this payback.
Ruby was clearly just as thrown off as Weiss was. She looked away, embarrassed, but what Weiss was talking about was the entire reason she was here right now. “Why… would you help me?” Ruby asked, incredulous of Weiss’ intentions.
“Because I want to, you dolt.” Weiss replied, getting up and stepping towards the door with a harumph. Ruby followed her, still a little scared but she felt like she was warming up to the ice princess.
“I’m still not sure if I should be concerned that you’re so excited to let me wander.”
“Decide that on your own, now hurry up.”
Ruby was simply astonished. She knew that the Schnee manor was a literal mansion, but she had never realized just how big it would be. It felt as if she’d been walking for hours, but the clocks on the walls only read 1:40. Weiss was walking a considerable distance ahead of her, as they’d agreed, and Ruby did her best to walk only in the shadows as she followed the heiress through the labyrinth of hallways. She was grateful for Weiss, as she was sure she wouldn’t have been able to navigate this maze on her own.
Her thoughts wandered to why Weiss was even doing this. Was she leading her into a trap? No, surely she could have just had Ruby arrested in her bedroom with ease; surely a building this big had official security, another thing Ruby had neglected to account for. Perhaps Weiss had some form of ulterior motive, but Ruby couldn’t even begin to guess what that could be.
She was shaken from her thoughts, however, as she bumped into an obstacle she hadn’t noticed: Weiss.
“Hey, watch where you’re going!” Weiss whispered in an annoyed tone.
“S...Sorry…” Ruby muttered, “Why did you stop?”
“And just who might you be?” Winter interjected before Weiss could respond. Ruby looked up to see the taller girl clearly towering over her by nearly a foot. She looked rather similar to the girl already leading her, were they sisters? That would make sense. The sight of her filled Ruby with abject dread, surely there was no way two members of the Schnee family wouldn’t rat her out?
“Winter, shhh,” Weiss pleaded, reaching forward to hug her sister gently. Winter looked down at her in shock, trying not to drop the two mugs of hot cocoa she was carrying. Weiss hurriedly explained the situation, Winter nodding and donning a slight smile as she looked back towards Ruby.
“I see. State your name, stranger.” Winter commanded Ruby, her military experience shining through, leaving Ruby rather intimidated.
“I… Ruby. Ruby Rose, ma’am…” Ruby responded, trying her best to appear professional despite how embarrassing this situation was.
“I see. Weiss, I’m heading back to our room to drop off these,” Winter explained, gesturing to the mugs in her hands. “And then I’ll be headed back to the kitchen. Be quick about it, and bring Ruby back with you. There’s no reason to increase mission difficulty by deviating from the route.”
“Copy that, Winter,” Weiss replied, jokingly imitating Winter’s military speech. Winter couldn’t help but giggle a little at the clear inside joke between them. Ruby just stood awkwardly, having hardly understood anything Winter said, but at least knowing she wasn’t about to be ratted out filled her with a sense of calm.
“And Weiss?” Winter added, “I hope you’re not catching a fever. You feel rather warm.” Her tone was serious, but with a hint of what only Weiss could know was Winter’s idea of teasing. She felt herself blush a bit, but let go of Winter and kept moving in the direction she had previously been going. Winter chuckled and winked at Ruby before moving past her. “Oh, Ruby?” Winter added once Weiss was out of earshot.
“Yes ma’am?” Ruby asked, turning back to face Winter.
“Just Winter is fine. The easiest thing to take from the study would probably be some of Jacques’ older watches. Anything with a brand name you’ve never heard of before is worth less to him but about as much on the market, and watches are very easy to sell without raising suspicion.” Winter suggested with a warm smile, “And do me a favor and be nice to Weiss, she wouldn’t do this for just anyone.”
“Y-yes ma’am… I-I-I mean… Thank you, Winter.” Ruby stuttered, before they exchanged a polite nod and Ruby turned to follow Weiss from a distance as she had before. Winter chuckled a little to herself
“Oh Weiss… always the hero. Always the hero…”
Ruby wondered how anyone could truly enjoy living in a mansion such as this. All of the hallways had incredibly similar wallpaper and decoration, making it all feel incredibly monotonous. She couldn’t help but yawn a little as she turned the corner into another dull hallway. She wondered what was in all of the rooms she had passed by, but didn’t dare look through any of the doors for fear of being caught, or worse—losing track of Weiss.
Weiss, on the other hand, was very used to the mansion, having lived here her whole life. As she progressed down the hallways, she had to fight the urge to turn back to see Ruby, just to make sure she hadn’t gotten lost… yep. That was totally the only reason she wanted to look back. One hundred percent. Weiss couldn’t help but blush a little at the thought, and for that she was thankful Ruby couldn’t see her face right now. She turned another corner, the study finally coming into sight, and brought herself to a stop to make sure the coast was clear.
Ruby ducked her way into a new shadow, slowly making her way down the hallway. She desperately wanted to use her semblance to hurry towards Weiss, but she understood the importance of keeping distance between them right now. She was hesitant to trust Weiss, but to be honest? She was beginning to grow fond of her. She’d never met anyone before who would have gone to this level of trouble for her, not that that was very hard given how few people she’d really had in her life. But Weiss cared, and she wanted to help, and beyond that Ruby couldn’t help but admit to herself how beautiful Weiss was. Lost in daydreaming again, she looked up and realized she’d lost sight of Weiss, and was now faced with a fork in the path. She looked to her left, but before she could turn her head she felt a tug on her arm as she was pulled backwards, toward the right path.
“Shh!” Weiss urged Ruby before she could exclaim in surprise, placing a finger to the girl’s lips without thinking. Ruby looked at the finger and up at Weiss, staring right into her baby blue eyes and seeing her face reflected right back at herself. She couldn’t help but blush a little. Weiss rolled her eyes at the dolt in her arms, completely starstruck, and pulled her back to her feet with a sigh.
“Oh hello there kind stranger, I appear to be lost~” Ruby whispered jokingly, earning her a punch in the shoulder from Weiss.
“We’re here,” Weiss stated flatly, turning towards the door to avoid letting Ruby see how red her face was getting. Before them stood a closed door, hardly distinguishable from any of the other ones they had already passed. The duo turned towards each other, nodding silently, and with that Weiss opened the door.
Ruby had only had the opportunity to read a couple of children’s books in her life thanks to her parents, so she wasn’t exactly the most literature-inclined individual. Even so, she couldn’t help but feel impressed as she looked into the room, two of the four walls adorned from floor to ceiling with bookshelves filled to the brim with novels, encyclopedias, and any dictionary you could ever need. Ruby could only speculate, there must have been thousands of books. Aside from the bookshelves, one of the two walls had a desk stationed in front of it, facing towards the center of the room. The desk was covered in paperwork and a few open books, and an ink well that appeared to be made of solid ivory. The other side of the room featured numerous trophies and awards, as well as some mounted animal heads near the ceiling. The walls featured numerous small lamps, stationed between bookcases, but the real beauty of the room came from the pure blue crystal chandelier that hung in the center of the ceiling. Ruby had never seen anything so exquisite, if not completely excessive.
“Wow…” Ruby couldn’t help but mutter under her breath.
“Yeah, it’s… I don’t much like this room…” Weiss responded sheepishly. “So, Winter said something to you. What are we looking for?”
“Oh, uhm… She said something about wristwatches?”
“Ooh, good thinking Winter. I believe he keeps them over here?” Weiss said as she turned towards the far wall and looked for a display case Ruby hadn’t noticed in the corner. Ruby moved over to join Weiss, looking over her shoulder, perhaps a little too close. Weiss could feel herself blushing as the slightly taller girl pressed against her side. “U-umm, move over, you dolt!” She blurted out, embarrassed.
“Sorry, am I blocking the light?” Ruby responded absentmindedly as she moved to stand on the other side of Weiss. Weiss could feel how red her cheeks were, but she couldn’t bring herself to yell at Ruby a second time and simply accepted her fate.
The display case before them was lined top to bottom with expensive-looking jewelry, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, made of all manor of gemstones and precious metals. On the far side, however, sat a large pile of ornate watches, not so much organized as thrown in a pile. Ruby couldn’t help but wonder why only these were disorganized.
“These are my father’s cheap watches,” Weiss answered Ruby’s silent question.” “Well, cheap being a subjective term. He never wears any of these. His good ones are in his bedroom.”
“So he won’t notice for a while if we take one?” Ruby asked hopefully, pushing forward a little, bumping into Weiss, who turned her face away from Ruby to hide her panic.
“One? We can probably take three or four.” She replied, trying her best to remain calm.
“Oh my Gods, thank you, Weiss,” Ruby replied excitedly. Weiss turned towards her and managed a shy smile. Ruby couldn’t help but admire her savior a little, leaning in and giving her a hug. Weiss panicked, her cheeks practically the color of Ruby’s scarf, but after a moment she gave up fighting her sensibilities and returned the hug gently. It lasted only a moment but Weiss felt like an eternity had passed when Ruby let go of her.
“One problem. We’re going to have to find the key for the case,” Weiss explained, already stepping towards Jacques’ desk. Opening the first drawer, she was met with a small black strongbox, with a dial tone lock. She tried her mother’s birthday. Nope. Her parents' anniversary? Nope. She tried a few more dates she could think of before sighing as it dawned on her. Jacques’ own birthday. Weiss rolled her eyes as the box clicked open. Jacques had to be the most selfish man she had ever met. Inside the box she found a number of keys, no doubt meant for the display cases in the room, as well as some important looking documents. Ignoring her desire to peek at the documents, she brought a few of the keys over to Ruby and started trying them on the lock. By the third key she had the box open. Ruby gasped as she looked at the metaphorical pile of money that sat before her. Weiss reached a hand into the box and gently extracted a watch, carefully inspecting it and making a decision. She put the watch back into the box. Ruby watched in awe as the girl masterfully appraised the watches one by one, eventually settling on 3 and setting them on the table, before replacing the remaining watches as they had appeared and locking the case closed again.
“We’re taking these,” Weiss told Ruby as she grabbed some tissues from a nearby box and loosely wrapped each of the watches before handing them to Ruby. Ruby nodded and gently placed them in the large pocket of her sweatshirt. “Now let’s get going.”
Ruby hadn’t intended to be within the mansion any longer than necessary, but when they had returned to the room and Winter greeted them each with a cup of hot chocolate, she couldn’t help but accept the offer to stay for a bit. Weiss and Ruby sat together on her bed, cracking a couple jokes mostly aimed at Weiss’ father. Winter sat on her own bed, watching the two with a sense of amusement. Winter had never seen her little sister so happy as she was with Ruby, and she was also acutely aware of the blush on the girl’s face that Ruby was so oblivious to.
“Weiss,” Winter began, prompting Weiss to pause her story and turn towards her sister, a mixture of confusion and disappointment on her face. It was adorable how transfixed Weiss was in Ruby’s presence, it was like someone had finally shown her the sun. “Could I speak to you in private for a moment?” She flashed her younger sister a small smirk as she stood and stepped towards the hallway, gesturing for Weiss to follow her.
“This should just take a minute Ruby,” Weiss promised as she got up. As soon as her back was to Ruby her face sank, looking up at Winter like a sad puppy as she walked out into the hallway. “What is it, Winter?” Weiss asked, concerned and trying to hide her clearly too-apparent irritation.
“Well...Weiss,” Winter started, internally laughing at how obvious Weiss was. “I hate to interrupt your date but–”
“Woah woah woah, DATE?!” Weiss interjected, trying her best to whisper, she couldn’t bear the thought of Ruby hearing this.
“Oh I’m sorry, did you think you were discreet?” Winter shot back with a shit-eating grin. Weiss couldn’t help but blush even harder.
“I...I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“Hey, you know I love you, right? I’m not judging you Weiss. You seem happier than I’ve seen you in ages.” Weiss looked down at the floor, embarrassed, but offered no further argument. “I know you’re enjoying the company, but we need to sneak her out before morning, or she’ll definitely get caught.”
Weiss sighed disappointedly. She didn’t want to admit it, but Winter was right. “Alright…”
Winter gently patted Weiss’ head before opening the door once more, only to find that to nobody's surprise Ruby was sat precisely where they had left her. She could pass for a statue she was so motionless, presumably to avoid harming the trust her new friends had put in her. She took a deep exhale as she watched them re-enter the room, still not sure if she was free to move again.
“Alright, Ruby…” Weiss sighed as she continued, “Winter has pointed out that we still need to sneak you out before dawn to avoid getting you in trouble.”
“O-oh! Right!” Ruby responded with a nervous chuckle. Clearly she had forgotten as much as Weiss had. She stood up and collected herself, making sure she hadn’t left a trace before stepping towards the window. Suddenly she stopped. “Will I get to see you again Weiss?” She asked, her back still turned to the two sisters.
“I-I-I...I would… be open to the thought…” Weiss muttered in an excited panic. Winter couldn’t help but chuckle, which earned her a sharp nudge in the side.
“Don’t worry Ruby,” Winter explained, “I’ll pull some strings. You’ll get to see the ice queen again~” Winter shot Weiss an amused smirk, to which Weiss couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
“Well…” Ruby turned back towards Weiss with a massive smile that made the girl’s heart skip a beat. “I’ll look forward to that then, Weiss!”
Weiss couldn’t contain herself. She took a quick step forward and hugged Ruby tightly. Ruby gasped in shock but gently hugged the girl back. Weiss felt herself melt into Ruby’s shoulder as Ruby stared at Winter with a confused look. Winter simply smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. Ruby sighed softly and held Weiss gently for a few more moments before tapping her shoulder gently and stepping back. Weiss recomposed herself and smiled as Ruby turned back towards the window and opened it.
“Thank you both so much!” Ruby called back, before turning back into a cloud of rose petals and swiftly slipping through the window and down to the ground safely.
And with that she was gone, vanished into the night, and Weiss’ dreams would be a little different tonight.