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Princess and The Dragons	By : RWBYRemnants Category: +M through R > RWBY Views: 1054 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: RWBY is not mine and I make no money from this fic

Chapter List
- 20
- 21
- 22
=Chapter 21
Once the police came, they took one look at the situation and sided with the two women. Though they could serve as a terrible reminder for the rest of their lives, the bloody welts on their faces and arms provided explicitly clear evidence that they had not attacked the man of the house without provocation. Whitley looked shocked and saddened to find out he might actually have been mistaken in his estimation of the situation, and retreated into his room once the officers were through questioning him.
By the time they were wrapping up the scene, carting Jacques off in an ambulance with handcuffs binding him to the stretcher, Pyrrha had shown up out of nowhere. Of course, it wasn’t truly out of nowhere; the presence of police vehicles with their sirens wailing had drawn the attention of quite a few people in the neighbourhood. Weiss could tell her mother was embarrassed at all of the attention, even on top of her behaviour for the past several years of their lives and the truly awful experience of confronting her husband’s true nature.
“It’s good to see you looking more yourself again,” Pyrrha finally breathed as she embraced Mrs. Schnee gently, as if worried she might break her.
“You, too,” she said with a weary smile. “I’ve missed your face around the house. And I’m… I can’t even begin to-”
“Mother had a problem,” Weiss interrupted. “And she’s working on it. That’s all.”
Though the elder woman looked even more ashamed of herself, Pyrrha let out a sigh before smiling and patting her forearm. “Well, that’s all we can do, isn’t it? Work on our problems. I have faith in you.”
While tears were streaming down her face again, Weiss steered her into the living room and sat her down in a chair. She could tell she needed a moment, so she slipped back out the front door again to talk to her friend.
“I don’t know what to think,” she whispered, staring down at the ground. “She’s… this is really hard on her. And you were right about my father. Somehow, I just thought if I kept ignoring the problem, it would go away - and Salem was counting on me to-”
“Shhh.” Her index finger rested against Weiss’s lips just long enough to silence her before she dropped it. “Take a moment to breathe. I know…” She shook her head for a moment. “You’re really in a pickle, Weiss.”
“What am I supposed to do? I’ve lost my father, my mother is barely holding it together… Yang’s mother hates me. I’ve made a choice to stand by my gal no matter what, but that doesn’t mean everything is about to magically get easy.”
Pyrrha tapped her chin for a moment. Then she straightened and said, “Salem.”
“What?”
“Let’s ask Salem. I believe she would be understanding of your… problems. Besides, you have to tell her about losing your ‘in’ with your father.”
Though she didn’t want to admit it, she knew Pyrrha was right. Salem may have terrified her but it was unwise to sit around, waiting for the High Dragon to find out from someone else. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly before saying, “I suppose I’ll need to ask you for a ride? Although I could probably borrow my father’s car at this point; I doubt he’ll be needing it soon.”
“I’ll drive you,” she chuckled. “We shouldn’t have to risk you getting in trouble for stealing a whole car. What about your mother, though?”
“Oh… go and get your wheels. I’ll be right back.”
Her mother hadn’t moved, other than to curl in on herself again. Weiss knelt at her side, taking her hand between both of her own. “Mommy?”
“Yes?” she sobbed.
“I’m going out now. I… well, there’s something I have to do. With the Dragons. I know you probably hate that I’m-”
“Go on. Don’t worry about me.”
“Of course I’ll worry about you! I just… need to do this. Will you be alright until I get back?”
After a brief pause, she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Yes. As long as you do me one favour.” It cost her a lot to continue. “Go… into the cabinet under the sink and throw away the bottle of bleach all the way in the back. Take it with you and dump it out somewhere, or… or just make sure it’s gone.”
“What?” she asked, completely confused. “Why would I need to do that?”
“Because it’s filled with wine. It’s… I hid it there, because I’m weak… I’m so weak!”
A fresh sob erupted as she pushed her hand into her mouth again. Weiss could understand; if the whole reason her mother had become a wino was because she was upset about their family situation, then she might not be able to resist on a night like this. She was reaching out for help, acknowledging her own limitations. Standing up, she pressed a kiss into her cheek.
“I love you. I’ll take care of it. And… a-and this isn’t forever! You’ll… Pyrrha’s right, you just…”
It seemed they were both out of words. But unlike other times in the past years, Willow reached up and ran her fingers through Weiss’s hair, smiling at her. Really seeing her instead of looking through her at the demons.
“I love you, too, my little angel. See you soon.”

Again, Weiss felt awful for lying to someone. This time, it was a small lie.
“Maybe… you should slow down on that,” Pyrrha said in mild alarm as she watched Weiss tip the bleach bottle back again, swigging down the bitter red liquid.
“I’ll stop after this,” she gasped, capping it just as she had promised. “But… Salem scares me. My brand hurts right now from having it smacked with a belt, so I definitely can’t forget how scary the last time was.”
“But you sat with her waiting for Yang, didn’t you?”
Shrugging, she put the wine under her arm as Pyrrha pulled into the lot behind Shopkeeper’s. “We didn’t speak. And she still wore that big cloak. Why do you think she does that? Why is she so, so… shadowy?” But knowing her friend would have no answers, she sighed and smiled weakly. “Thank you for being such a good friend. Maybe… maybe after this, I’ll get my own motorcycle. Start taking care of my own transportation. And then you won’t have to be my chauffeur, which isn’t fair, and it isn’t-”
“I’m happy to do it,” she reassured her with a wide smile. “You’re in an impossible situation, and doing the best you can. Don’t worry about me.”
The corner of her mouth twitched up a little higher. “My mother said the same thing. Not to worry about her, I mean. I have so many selfless people in my life.” Her hand reached over to take up Pyrrha’s. “Come in with me. You know Cinder will be happy to see you.”
“Oh, please,” she tittered, rolling her eyes. Her cheeks did pinken, but Weiss was reasonably sure it was just all the attention; she was still fixated on that blonde boy from her class. Still, she did get out of the car and enter the den of sin.
By the look of all the girls in the restaurant, no one had heard what happened. Either that, or they didn’t care; most of them were relatively unconcerned with Weiss and barely knew her. Only the girls from the high school lit up when they saw her approaching their corner.
“Hey, hero,” Coco said with a huge grin. “Dove right in to get Yang patched up. Not bad, not bad.”
“Maybe we were wrong about you,” Cinder conceded, her manner more reserved as she inspected her fingernails. “Maybe. But I’m fairly sure I’m right about this tall drink of water.”
With a nervous little laugh, Pyrrha waved briefly to her. “Hello, again. We’re actually here because Weiss has some news for Salem. Is she in?”
Inwardly, Weiss felt herself cringe at the way she put that - as if this were some kind of impromptu doctor’s visit. But none of the others seemed to feel the same. Emerald immediately said, “She’s back there, yeah. But she’s in with, um, a client.”
Suddenly, Pyrrha’s question didn’t sound so out of place.
“Wait with us,” Cinder encouraged in a velvety smooth voice, looping an arm around Pyrrha’s back and leading her to the table. Weiss had to suppress an annoyed sigh or a stern comment, but her friend could handle herself. “I’m sure you have some fascinating stories that I’d love to hear.”
Even while Emerald was rolling her eyes, Pyrrha was allowing herself to be seated. Meanwhile, Velvet approached timidly and gave her a quick little hug.
“That was a brave thing you did for Yang, and that boy. Quite brave.”
“Don’t mention it,” she said with an awkward smile. “Are Kali and Blake here?”
“No, sorry.”
“Damn,” she sighed, folding her arms over her chest and staring anxiously at the door that would lead to her fate, whatever it may turn out to be. “I was hoping for some support.”
“What do you mean? We can support you!”
Wincing at how that ended up coming across, and at the earnestness in Velvet’s fair features, Weiss flashed her a pained smile. “Oh… no, I didn’t- well, it’s only… Blake and her mother have become close friends of mine. Especially Kali, with how supportive she is, and always, well, mothering! So… it’s nothing against you and the rest of the Dragons, of course. But you know how Cinder and Emerald and those others can be sometimes.”
“Yeah,” she said with a clearly nervous laugh. “I do.”
That brought back a memory. “What did happen between you and Cinder? I’m almost afraid to ask, but…”
“Nothing worth mentioning, really. Coco loves to be dominant in the bedroom, and I can say the same about Blake to a much lesser degree. That’s fine! But Cinder… it’s a quite another level. She made me feel awful - like I was just an animal to her. A thing. And alright, she did apologise when I told her later that she made me cry, but she also seemed… irritated?” Her slight shoulders raised and lowered. Weiss noticed Cinder was watching them from her seat beside Pyrrha, but she was far enough away that she couldn’t hear a word over Fats Domino blasting out of the jukebox. “As if I ought to have known my own limits, told her in advance. Which I would have if I’d known how much rougher she was! But she didn’t say that, and didn’t shout at me or argue. Just was irritated, as I said. Like a child who’s had their toy taken away because they’ve been a prat; she knew what she did wasn’t on and apologised, but didn’t like that she needed to.”
“Oh.”
“But she really isn’t a bad person,” Velvet said urgently, as if needing to make up for the character assassination. “Truly! Other than that incident, she’s been rather good to me, and agrees that my parents wanting to leave is tragic. And since her own family life is so… well, it is the way it is…”
Nodding, even though what she wanted to do was ask more about Cinder’s home life, Weiss reached up to pat her on the shoulder. This was more important right now. “I understand. Sorry for having to bring all that unpleasantness up again.”
“Oh, no worries,” she said with a wider smile, even if her eyes were still shadowed by melancholy. “That’s life.”
Weiss barely had enough time to drop the wine off with the bartender and head back over to chat with the girls for a minute or two before a man exited the back room. He must have been a Huntsman, because when Cinder and Emerald started booing he merely laughed and made a rude gesture at them, and they laughed, as well. Then Cinder hopped up and glided back there to check on Salem’s status.
“She’ll see you,” she called over to her, beckoning. “Don’t dawdle.”
Weiss wouldn’t have dared.
As usual, Salem was cloaked in shadow instead of her actual cloak, and smoke hung heavily on the air. Weiss didn’t wait for Cinder this time; she confidently strode to the booth and sat in the bench opposite the High Dragon, trying not to wince from her brand being shifted.
“Well?” Straight to business, apparently.
“My father has been arrested.”
“Oh?” she breathed in mild surprise. “Whatever for?”
“Domestic violence. He…”
Only now was Weiss tripped up. She didn’t want to describe what happened, or relive it. But she needed to find the best and most accurate way to retell the tale so Salem would be aware of the situation.
“It’s written on your face, little one. Literally.” A ghostly hand reached across the table and grasped her chin, thumb rubbing over the welt her father’s strike had left. Hard. It burned, but it was a pain she could weather easily - a lot more easily than the initial strike, or the feeling of betrayal it brought with it. “Did you get him back?”
“No. But my mother did. She smashed a vase over his head - a very expensive one, too.” When she saw Salem’s teeth glinting in the dark from her smile, she couldn’t suppress one of her own.
“Satisfying?”
“Yes. I wish it wasn’t - I wanted him to… be…”
“A father.” When Weiss nodded, she leaned back and sighed. “You still expect too much from men. They’re beasts, incapable of controlling themselves, and should be regarded as such. No matter. What will become of his control of Schnee Communications?”
Though she couldn’t quite agree with the way Salem saw men - her father was simply a bad apple, not a representative of all of them - she knew pressing the point would be unwise. “Well… I’m not sure. There’s only been enough time for me to ask him to look into hiring Mr. Scarlatina; I didn’t think… well, he found me out way too soon, and he lost it. I couldn’t get him to believe I didn’t know what he was talking about, he just… needed me to be a bad child.”
“Your acting skills leave something to be desired, then.” She considered while Weiss tried to ignore the flicker of fear in her stomach. “Not your fault. You’re a babe in the woods, and you have done well so far; saving my warlord, restoring peace between us and the Huntsmen. And we can’t always predict how animals will behave.”
Something about that struck her. First, Velvet was saying Cinder treated her like an animal, and now, Salem was saying the same about the male gender as a whole. Perhaps the teenage Dragon was hanging around with her mentor a little too often.
“Cinder?” The girl approached and dipped her head slightly. “The phone.”
From a neighbouring booth, Cinder retrieved a black telephone with a longish cord, setting it in front of her boss. Salem picked up the receiver and began to spin the dial. “My Duchess seems to be the best one for this job; that business acumen of hers. Ah - Kali?” A brief pause. “I’ll need you to pick up the little Schnee and take her home. And once you get there…”

In very little time at all, Weiss and her surrogate mother were riding through Vale in her Ford, on their way to speak to her real mother. Though Weiss felt guilty about leaving Pyrrha to head home on her own, she privately thought it was smart they didn’t stay much longer; she looked a little green around the gills from having to rebuff so many of Cinder’s advances. The only one who looked greener was Emerald - with envy rather than nausea.
“Mother?” she called out as they entered. “Are you still here?” No response. The living room was empty, so she gestured for Kali to enter.
“It’s a lovely home,” she remarked easily. In preparation for this meeting, she had donned another lovely dress fit for any homemaker, quite modest with its high neck and capped sleeves but very becoming on her figure. The little peep-toe window at the tips of her black heels were the only flirty accent that reassured Weiss no one else had forced her into the outfit against her will.
“Thank you. Will you wait here for a moment, please?”
“Of course.” The tone was overly gentle, coddling. She had been using it ever since Salem explained why Weiss needed a ride, and the reality of her situation. It was maddening, but at the same time, she appreciated having friends who truly gave a damn about her safety and wellbeing.
To her surprise, her mother wasn’t in the drawing room or her bedroom. She was in her room, standing with a handkerchief pressed to her mouth and gazing around at the surroundings.
“Mother?”
“Oh,” she breathed in mild surprise, a watery smile springing up. “I’m sorry, Weiss. How are you?”
“I’m fine. How are you?”
“Fine.” After a moment, she shook her head, sinking down onto the corner of her bed. “And now… we’re lying to each other again. Old habits die hard.”
“I am fine, though. Not great! Not… thrilled that my father is such a… a-”
“Say it.”
“An un-nice person.” When her mother laughed, she smiled slightly. “You know what I mean. But I have a feeling you’re worse off than I am, and today, I got my mother back, and… and I still have my friends. Especially now that I don’t have to hide them.”
The smile on her mother’s face faded. For the first time, she realised how old she looked. Still beautiful for her age, but there were bags under her eyes, wrinkles at the corners and by her mouth. Being with Jacques had obviously aged her quite a bit.
“Your ‘friends’. I… might not have agreed with your father on how he handled the situation, but I agree that it should be handled. They aren’t the type of people I want you associating with.”
“Mother…”
“I won’t do what he did,” she told her firmly, holding up a hand to forestall her complaints. “That was… well, let’s not think about it. And I won’t forbid you to see them, but honey… can’t you enjoy your friendship with the Nikos girl more? It’s… safer. And I’m going to be a lot more worried now that I don’t have the wine to keep me from worrying anymore.”
Frowning, she sat down next to her mother, painfully aware that she was now wearing the jacket. Not hiding. “Sorry, Mommy. I really am sorry that… that the people I care about aren’t people you like. Or that I would have liked before I got to know them. But I can’t turn my back on them now.”
“Can’t you? It’s easy. Your father seemed to have no problem doing so to us.”
“They aren’t those kinds of villains, and neither am I,” she replied harshly, and Willow flinched. “Sorry.”
“No, no… it’s alright. We need to start being honest with ourselves about what kind of man he was, or we… or the lies will only get worse. The ones we tell others, the ones we tell ourselves.” Her voice broke. “I let him hurt you too many times. More than once was too many. And I let him hurt me so much more, but I could tolerate that as long as he- as l-long as he d-didn’t-”
Weiss wrapped her in a tight hug, squeezing as hard as her arms could handle. She wanted nothing more than to march into the jailhouse and stomp on his head with Yang’s boots - or maybe borrow one of the girls’ heavy chains to really give him what for. But that would make her no better than him. She wouldn’t rule it out, but she would try to be the better person.
“Don’t apologise anymore,” she whispered as softly as she could. “I love you, Mommy. Always have and always will. And… I don’t know what I would have done in your place, either. It’s hard; he’s your husband.”
“Not anymore.” The growl in her tone shocked Weiss a little, but it was also heartening.
“Good. I… I don’t know what we’re going to do now, but I agree with you.” Then she sat up straighter. “Oh!”
“What is it?” she asked, sniffling and wiping at her cheeks.
“There’s someone here to see you! And this is good because-” Pausing, she hopped up and began to pull at her mother’s hands to help her stand. “-because she’s one of the Dragons. But, well, she’s not really a Dragon; she’s one of their moms, and cooks for them sometimes.” That may have been a little white lie, but it was more or less true, functionally. Other than the rumble, typically Kali was content to cook food and stay in the background. She could clear up the rest of her roles herself.
“A gangster cook?” They both exchanged a bemused smile, even if Willow’s was a bit watery. “Well, where is she? Downstairs?”
Her mother insisted on nipping into the bathroom to fix her face and hair before entertaining guests. Appearances had always been of utmost importance to the Schnees, after all, and she couldn’t expect her mother to change her spots entirely - not on the same day as they ousted Jacques from their home, tentative as that was. Then they descended the stairs together.
Kali stood from the sofa where she had been waiting, and pressed a hand to her chest. “My goodness, look at these twin beauties gracing me with their presence! Such style, such grace!”
“Stop it,” Weiss laughed. But her mother seemed a little confused by the praise.
“I… I can’t tell if you’re joking or not,” she confessed.
“Not at all,” she assured her as they arrived, reaching forward to take one of Willow’s hands and pressing it between her own. “Kali Belladonna. Pleasure to meet you.”
“Willow Schnee.” Then she shrugged, self-conscious. “I look like a wreck and I know it; crying for hours, and… can’t I get you something? Tea?”
Kali led her over to the sofa, pulling her down onto the middle cushion and taking one of the ends. Privately, Weiss noticed that she was sitting very close to her, but it could just as easily have been because she wanted to comfort her as any untoward reasons. “There, there. You’ve had a terrible day; it’s not your fault, please don’t feel like you have to go to any trouble on my account.”
“Thank you,” she sighed wearily. “Ordinarily, I might put up a fight, but… thank you.”
“I must say, if I knew Weiss had such an attractive twin sister, I would have stopped by much earlier than today.”
“What? Oh,” she tutted, rolling her eyes. “Don’t try that flattery on me.”
“You mean you aren’t sisters?” she said with a theatrical gasp. When her mother actually laughed quietly, she smiled. “But don’t worry, I’ll stop buttering you up if it actually does bother you.”
“It doesn’t. I just… I can’t feel very attractive right now. I can’t. Not after-”
“No, no, it’s fine. So! I’ll admit that my visit is not strictly an excuse to pay you compliments.” Barely glancing at Weiss as she seated herself on her mother’s opposite side, she went on, “This is a very tricky time. I’m going to have to ask you some difficult questions about your, erhm… financial situation, business. It’s not fun, but I’m hoping to help you and Weiss avoid having the rug pulled out from under you.”
The sudden topic change startled her. “What? I mean… I’m sorry, I don’t understand. I only take care of managing the bills in the house; my husband is in charge of the finances and our bank holdings.”
“Are they all in his name?” When she only blinked, Kali pressed, “Are any of his shares in your name? Do you have a joint bank account?”
“Sorry again, but I don’t see what business it is of yours.”
Kali didn't even flinch. “It’s not. But do you want me to paint you a picture of what may happen if we don’t try to work on this immediately?”
“No, I don’t. But… I’m curious now.”
Taking that as permission, she went on, “Your husband is a first-time offender. We both know the law, the courts, always favour men - it’s just the way the system works. He looks repentant for striking his wife and child, says he was overworked, under a lot of stress. The judge herds you into court to testify, asks you if he’s done this before. Then he starts bringing up your drinking problem, and well… you’re faced with two choices. Either you leave him, and leave all of his money, and wind up out in the street, or you go back to an abusive husband and suffer. Do those choices appeal to you?”
As horrified as Willow looked, so did Weiss on her other side. “Oh. I… no, be reasonable. He won’t get out - he struck me with a belt. He’s never gone that far before.”
“Exactly; he’s never gone that far before.” Weiss found herself dismayed at how much inflection could change a sentence. “That would make it quite easy for him to convince a judge he never will again, even though that’s exactly what he’s promised in the past about striking Weiss.”
“How much have you told this woman?” she demanded of her daughter, though she looked more stunned than upset.
“Enough, Mommy. I… I know it’s hard for you right now. It was hard for me, too! But I trust her. She helped protect me when Father made the Dragons think I ratted- I mean, sent the police after them. Which wasn’t a very nice thing to do when he knew I was friends with Yang.”
Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose. “I know. God, I don’t know what to do right now… I should be telling you never to see them again, but I know that wasn’t fair of him to ask. But I don’t want you getting hurt, either!”
“We won’t hurt Weiss,” Kali told her firmly - conveniently leaving out a certain initiation ceremony. “My Blake and her get along well, and that girl Yang is like a daughter to me, as well. We Dragons may not be ‘safe’, but we are loyal, and we protect our own - and that includes your Weiss now.”
“And me? You really would help me figure out how to… how to avoid living on the street simply because, what, Weiss is wearing your jacket?”
“I would for that alone. But I genuinely like her; she’s a sweet girl. Also…” Kali shrugged, wrapping an arm around the aggrieved woman’s back. “My Ghira was a good and decent man, and I miss him every day since he was K-I-A. I'd give anything to be reunited. For your husband to take advantage of you, to treat you like dirt when he’s lucky enough to still have a spouse as good and loving as you are… that’s simply disgraceful. I can’t let that go on, and if I can help you escape him, then I will. It’s my duty, woman to woman.”
The tears started fresh. Weiss expected them, and already had her handkerchief ready to offer. Kali simply held onto her as she cried, and Weiss took her hand up and patted it again, waiting for the emotional outpouring to pass.
“I’m n-not good,” she finally blubbered. “Or loving! I’m not!”
“You are,” Kali whispered softly, petting over her hair. “And it doesn’t matter right now, anyway. We just need to make a plan and make it work.”
A long sigh issued from her mother’s throat as he brought herself under control again. “Alright. I’m… I’ll try to help however I can. What must I do?”
“Nothing all at once. Find your husband’s business documents and we can get to work. And… you said your name was Willow?”
“Yes, Kali.”
Smiling at their shared memory skills, she kissed her cheek before standing up. “It’s going to be alright. One way or another, you have Dragons at your back now. We’ll get through this together.”
Vaguely flustered by the cheek-kiss, her mother stood to follow Kali upstairs to fetch important paperwork from her father’s den. Weiss remained downstairs, squinting suspiciously up the staircase at the two women. Maybe she shouldn’t be thinking it, especially after everything they had been through over the course of a single day. But she couldn’t help wondering…
‘Did that just go the way I think it did?’
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Princess and The Dragons