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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
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=Chapter 30
When Kali returned with Mrs. Schnee, Blake still wasn't back yet, but they had barely started to ladle out the stew when she breezed in the door. At least she hadn't lost so much sense of decency that she would make both their mothers feel out of sorts by refusing to show up in time for dinner.
After they ate, Blake caught Weiss alone and apologised for losing her temper. She forgave her and they went their separate ways for the night… though she couldn’t help feeling the matter wasn’t entirely settled. Blake would have to work through her feelings more completely or it would just happen again, which neither of them seemed to want.
“She’ll get over it,” Yang said in a calm tone as she held her hand in the backseat. “But yeah, that was pretty scary. She really thinks you’re… doing that?”
Weiss knew Yang was being careful not to drag Kali into the conversation, since she was the one driving them. They had already dropped Willow off, but Weiss decided to remain behind a little longer to spend more time with her girlfriend; her mother had looked unenthusiastic, but tried her best to hide it behind a diplomatic smile. Scooting a little closer, she laid her head on Yang’s shoulder, both for the creature comfort and to enable them to keep their voices down.
“She does. But I’m not! I mean… I did ask about it once, but I asked. That’s it, I swear!”
“I believe you, Schnee. But why does she act like it’s a fate worse than death?”
“Are we going to openly acknowledge that you’re talking about myself and your mother, Weiss? Or not?”
Cringing, Weiss sat up straighter and looked into the front seat at their chauffeur. “Sorry! But I didn’t want to betray Blake’s trust!”
“It’s alright,” Kali chuckled as she turned the wheel, bringing them past the diner. “She’s been making a few snide comments about how much time I’m spending with Willow. Even though I assure her that it’s strictly platonic, Dragons business… well, I’ve had a few relationships go awry in the past. She’s more protective than she ought to have to be.”
Weiss frowned, staring down at her knees. “It would be nice if she didn't behave as if my mother is some kind of, of… leper! Why shouldn't she be good enough for you?”
“Sweetheart, it isn't about tha-”
“You know, it really starts to wear on a girl's confidence when nobody seems to want her or her family around. I'm a good person! I try my best to treat my friends fairly, to look out for my mother and my girlfriend, and everybody seems to hate me for it! What more do I have to do?”
When Kali had no immediate reply, Yang sighed. “Aaaaaaand now we're talking about my mom. Great.”
“I never said that,” she hedged.
“Didn't have to. But I want you around, okay?” She leaned over to press her lips into Weiss's cheek. “And I'm planning on it for a long time.”
That went a long way toward soothing her nerves. A lilting “awwwwww” came from the driver's seat, but both girls ignored it completely. They were too busy snuggling and comforting each other.
It was highly tempting for Weiss to simply drop Yang off at her home and leave it at that; they had a fairly good evening together, all things considered, surprising as it was given that they had just watched one of their own be brutally whipped. But it was that last reason that impelled her to stay. Even though Yang had never explicitly stated it, she had a gut feeling that having to watch that affected her girlfriend more than she was letting on.
This time, Raven made no comment whatsoever when she saw the other two women entering her home. She and Kali shared a brief nod before they passed by the living room and into Yang's bedroom.
“Do you think we'll always have to sit around in here instead of being able to use the actual living room?” Weiss asked as they settled on the bed.
“Who knows?” the blonde answered gruffly. “You ask that like I really understand how my mom thinks anymore.”
Kali sighed from her spot on the corner. Privately, Weiss thought it might be worth investing in one of those church folding chairs Kali kept in her house for future visits. “I do. Trust me, understanding her won't make dealing with her any easier. More importantly, are you okay?”
“What?”
“You had to bear witness when Neo got flogged today. That takes a toll on a person even if they don't want to admit it.”
The light in Yang's eyes seemed to go out at being reminded of the ordeal. “I'm fine.”
“Are you?”
“There's not really any point in being anything other than fine. Right? What's it going to change if I'm not?” Neither of them responded right away. Frustrated, the brute moved forward out of Weiss's arms and began to pace. “I know you guys are just checking up on me, and I appreciate it, but buzz off, okay? I'm gonna be fine.”
“Yang-”
“No, Weiss! I'm…” Clenching her teeth, she turned and folded her arms over her chest while staring at the curtain over her window. “It had to happen. She hurt you. Even if she didn't do it herself, she helped make the woman I love come closer to death than she ever has in her whole life, and I can't… I won't ever forgive her for that. Even if Salem will, I can't do it!”
“You forgave me.”
All eyes went to the doorway where Raven was standing, leaning against the jamb with her arms folded as tightly over her own chest as her daughter's were. Her gaze was as empty and dead as it had ever been, but at least her entire focus was upon Yang.
“Mom… that's different. We both know you were never going to hurt Weiss unless she gave you a real reason to - and a cream puff like her couldn't do that.”
“Hey!” Weiss protested - but Raven was already chuckling harshly under her breath.
“All right, all right, so you've got me pegged. Maybe you ought to fill me in on what happened to you today.”
The three current Dragons spent the next few minutes filling Yang's mother in on the events of the day and what had led up to them. She listened impassively, neither expressing outrage nor disdain for either side. Once she had the full scope of the situation, Raven spent another minute mulling it over.
“And none of you know the name this mute girl wrote down?” When Kali shook her head, her old friend sighed. “Figures. Salem always plays things close to the chest. Always found that irritating.”
“You won't hear me disagreeing," Kali said. "But I also understand her position; we already had one traitor, and she doesn't want to hand off information so easily to any other potential turncoats.”
Shaking her head, Raven stared down toward her work boots. “She's really giving the girl a second chance? I wouldn't.”
“I know you wouldn't,” Kali whispered. There was a flicker of recognition in Raven's eyes, but she didn't comment aloud. Then she raised her voice to continue, “Yang had to watch Neo be chastised. She's had to help Weiss heal from her branding, her arm got wrenched out of its socket… and got an eyeful of what happened to Cinder, which I promise is not for the faint of heart. Don't you have anything to say to your daughter?”
“Like what? That she's tough? I knew that already. Glad she's proving me right.”
Even while a small, fierce smile was coming to Yang's lips, Kali sighed in irritation. “That's all?”
“Great,” she chuckled harshly, shaking her head again. “Here it comes - a lesson from the moral high ground, delivered by Reverend Belladonna. All right, let me have it; I'd like to get this over with so I can get back to watching TV.”
Kali didn't respond. She merely stared at her former friend for a long moment, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Weiss had rarely seen her looking so out of sorts, even if she had definitely seen her that angry before.
“What?” Raven prompted.
“Doesn't matter.” Much to their surprise, Kali stood and walked to the door, waiting for Raven to move out of her way. “Weiss, I'll be in the car. I have a crossword puzzle to do.” Raven certainly didn't stop her, and the woman stormed out of her house.
“Mom…”
“Don't you start, Yang.” When neither of the girls spoke up again, she threw up both hands and snapped, “I don't like being told how to live my life, all right? Kali was always good at that. Just not something I care to listen to anymore.”
“Maybe she's wrong about… whatever point she was trying to make,” Yang told her earnestly, though her voice was trembling with mild anxiety. “But you probably oughtta stop acting like she's only saying this stuff to make you mad.”
Scoffing, her mother finally dropped her hands to rest on her hips. “What other reason is there? She made all the right choices, I made all the wrong ones. All that's left is for her to rub it in my face.”
“You really don't know her at all,” Weiss mumbled.
“No, I don't know you at all. Kali is someone I know extremely well - she hasn't changed much in the past twenty years.”
“That woman has been more of a mother to me than my own mother has these past years - and I'm nobody to her! Even if you two have some kind of past… that doesn't represent everything she's ever been or ever will be! Can't you try to get to know the woman she is now before you dismiss her completely?”
Finally, Raven strode into the room, hands flexing as if she were going to launch herself at her daughter’s girlfriend. A glance at said daughter seemed to change her mind, and she stopped a foot away. “You have no idea,” she snapped down at her, those hypnotic eyes sending doom and gloom at the young cheerleader. “I would have given her everything - and that big lummox, Ghira? He may not have been as flighty as my Taiyang, but he's still gone, isn't he? So where are we both now? Alone. Alone, thanks to her being too chicken to- forget it. Not that there's any reason for me to tell you any of this, you, you… rich little cockroach!”
Yang rose from the bed, a hand reaching out for Raven’s shoulder. “Mom-”
“Save your breath. Neither of you understand anything. Kali didn't, Tai didn't… and this little arm candy of yours understands even less. In a week, she'll let you down, too - and then you'll see. Can't trust anybody but yourself. That's all I've ever tried to teach you to get you through this miserable life.”
Though Yang looked stricken as her mother turned on her heel and stomped off toward her bedroom, slamming the door like a child throwing a tantrum, Weiss was smiling. It took Yang a few seconds to notice, and a few more to formulate a response.
“What? What's so funny?”
“Nothing's funny. Don't you see?” When Yang only looked at her dumbly, she paced over and grabbed her hand, whispering, “She's opening up! Sure, she still doesn't trust me and hates my guts, and that's irritating, but she's starting to reveal why! This is a positive thing!”
Shaking her head with a weak little chuckle, Yang glanced at her door. “You are really a 'glass half full’ kind of chickadee, ain’t you?”
“Not particularly. But in this case, I'll take what I can get; she's your mother. Whether or not either of us wants to admit it, her opinion is really important. If there's any sliver of a chance I can maybe show her I'm not so bad, or that Kali's not so bad… isn't it worth it to try?”
Instead of answering with words, she wrapped her hands around Weiss's waist and pulled her in for a deep kiss. The two of them let it go on for longer than they probably should have, given that her mother was in the next room, but they couldn't be bothered to care at that instant; they just needed the intimacy, the closeness. Physical reassurance that their love was worth fighting for.
Some five minutes later, they broke apart when they heard the bedroom door bursting open. Though she didn't look at them directly, Raven grumbled, “Shouldn't keep Kali waiting like that. Go home, little Schnee. Yang will still be here to neck with tomorrow.”
And then she left again. As Weiss got up from the bed and brushed down the front of her dress, Weiss favored Yang with a sweet little smile. “See?”
“See what?” Yang laughed, face still flushed from their indiscreet moment.
“She still cares about Kali. And she didn't try to tell me I'm not allowed to ‘neck’ with you in her house again.”
Rolling her eyes, the brute stood and gave Weiss another little peck on the cheek to send her on her way. “That's not exactly picking out China patterns for us.”
“True,” she sighed airily as she began to pace toward the door. “But progress is progress.”

It was the middle of the night when Weiss was jarred from a sound sleep by the blaring of a car horn. She was so startled that she fell out of the bed in her haste to try and stand up as quickly as possible. Going to the window showed Kali's car, Yang already sitting on the passenger windowsill to get her attention. The waving arms weren't all that necessary, but they did help encourage her to move a bit faster.
“What's going on?” Whitley yawned as she passed him in the hallway, still dressed in his pajamas while she had already changed into jeans and a peach-hued blouse.
“None of your concern! Just… just go back to sleep!”
“Is this somehow because of you and those hoodlums?”
Through clenched teeth, she told him, “Back… to your room… and mind your own beeswax, alright?” He did not persist.
Yang's and Kali's faces were both masks of grim seriousness as she approached the car. She tried to ask what the matter might be, but neither of them responded - they merely waited for her to get in the car, and then they were off into the night.
“So,” she began in a quiet, nervous voice. “Anyone care to tell me what this is all about?”
Yang didn't speak at all. It took Kali a moment to glance at her in the rearview mirror and say, “Our biggest lead has gone cold.”
“Oh. So Neo's information turned out to be wrong? Or was she lying?”
“Not exactly.”
Weiss continued to try to wheedle information out of both of them for the rest of the trip, but they remained tight-lipped. They both seemed as groggy and irritable as she felt, which she could understand; they were all supposed to be sleeping, obviously.
In some surprise, Weiss noticed they were heading toward the same flat where Watts had patched up Yang as best he could. What were they doing in Huntsmen territory? She half-expected one of their number to come out of the woodwork, driving them back to their own stomping grounds. But no such event ever came to pass. They found an out-of-the-way spot to park a block over and Kali claimed it as silently as the rest of their trip had been.
“Hey,” Sun greeted them with a nod as they approached the door. Blake was already standing nearby and chatting with him, likely waiting for them to arrive. “You can go right up. We’re just waiting for Salem.”
As they entered and climbed the stairs, Weiss pressed in close to Blake and whispered, “What's going on? Nobody will tell me anything!”
“Thought you already had everything figured out,” she snapped. When Weiss only scowled at her, she sighed. “All right, I'm sorry. I think it's my time of the month or something.”
“I'm not really angry. I just want to know what's going-”
By that point, they were entering the waiting room where she had spent so much time fretting over Yang's fate. There were quite a few more Huntsmen in there this time, including the huge, burly one that was to be Yang's opponent before she convinced them to race. Watts himself was dressed in scrubs, though he had apparently concluded whatever examination had prompted him to don them in the first place.
Weiss relegated herself to one of the corners, trying to seem unimportant. Lately, she'd had enough of everyone assuming she was partially to blame for everything that went wrong. They weren't going to do that to her again - or at least, she wasn't going to paint a target on her chest for them this time.
“We are just waiting on Salem and Sienna now,” said Watts when he noticed Kali there. He didn't seem to have any concern for Yang or Weiss at all, and even less for Blake.
“Very good,” Kali answered him. “Would you mind if young Wukong accompanied me in there to examine the body?”
“By all means.”
That did catch Weiss by surprise. Body? But she didn't dare speak out, simply watching as the blond boy escorted Blake's mother into the examination room. Everyone else remained somber and silent.
“Who died?” she finally asked Yang some five minutes later, trying to keep her voice down to the quietest whisper possible.
“Nobody you knew. Don't worry. But… it's still not great news.”
The next time Kali emerged, she was dragging Neo out by the waist. The girl was making the most horrible noises of distress, gripping the doorframe and fighting with all her might to stay in there.
“Come on!” she was grunting. “Don't… any of you know sign language? Tell this girl there's nothing she can do!”
“Leave her be.” That was the way Salem chose to announce her arrival. Instantly, Kali let Neo go and turned to face her leader. “I presume that the examination has finished?”
“It has,” Watts told her with a weary sigh.
“You're going to get it now,” growled a man with a missing tooth. “We knew your truce was fake, and now we have proof!”
“Shay, relax.” Straightening his tie, he continued to address Salem directly and ignore all others in the room. “You're either angling for even more power than I previously thought… or…”
“Or?” she prompted.
“Or this is not your doing. The slug is obviously from a police-issue pistol. You Dragons don't even touch guns unless it's absolutely necessary, so either this was intended as a message to us from you… or from them.”
Salem contemplated that for a long moment, tapping her chin where it lay in the shadows beneath her hood. “We wouldn't be above it if we had exhausted all other avenues. But in this case, you're right; this had nothing to do with the Dragons. Well…”
After the pause became quite pregnant, Watts prompted, “Well?”
“Well, it may have something to do with one Dragon.”
Every eye in the room turned to look at Weiss. She tried for a moment or two to pretend she didn't notice, but it was an exercise in futility. Shrugging her leather-jacketed shoulders, she said, “What?”
“This is your fault, isn't it?” Sienna said in a flat tone. “Can't resist poking the bear.”
“How dare you accuse me of such a thing! I don't even know who that is in that room - what possible reason would I have for killing them?!”
The High Dragon herself turned to face Weiss directly. “His name was Roman Torchwick. A relatively sleazy character, but also relatively harmless; selling his services to the highest bidder. Though burning down our safe haven is a new low for him.”
“Your Neo was smitten with him,” Watts explained dispassionately, finally peeling off his rubber gloves and shoving them into the pocket of his scrubs. “Whether or not it was Roman in disguise, or her, they probably conspired together to set the blaze.”
“And to drug Emerald,” Blake put in, just to connect the dots faster.
“Hey, you guys can lay off anytime,” Yang snapped angrily - and Weiss found herself falling in love with her all over again for coming to her defense. “Why would she pay somebody to stab herself? That's crazy!”
“Didn't say she did,” Blake protested with a weary sigh. “I'm only making sure we remember that they did both of those things. Doesn't that clear Weiss?”
“Yes, but not her family,” Salem answered immediately. “And I think we all know which member I'm thinking of at this moment.”
Throwing up both hands in resignation, Weiss half-squeaked, “What am I supposed to do about it? He already more or less admitted to setting the fire, and he didn't care! The man has no remorse whatsoever! I… I can't even see him as my father anymore!”
“Control yourself,” Kali said gently, but firmly. “Our next step needs to be determining how he's arranging for these ‘accidents’ from inside the jailhouse. Not throwing around blame amongst ourselves.”
“It’s obviously someone on the police force,” said Watts as if it were an understood fact. When he was greeted by blinks from the others, a single eyebrow hiked. “Really? You’re skeptical? There can be no other manner of his manipulation.”
“It is likely,” Salem admitted. “But Ironwood runs a tight ship.”
“Even a tight ship can spring a leak.”
“Alright,” Yang sighed, running her fingers through her hair. “Let’s say it’s the cops. What do we do about it? I mean… call me a looney, but I think we gotta stop this now! He’s just gonna keep doing it. Maybe he would have stopped if Weiss quit the Dragons before, but now…”
Kali finished the thought for her. “Now, he wants revenge.”
From there, the conversation devolved into a discussion of potential methods of catching the mole in the police department. Weiss got a little lost; after all, she was no expert in such espionage. Besides, even if he had completely turned against the rest of the family… he was still her father. Her love couldn’t so easily be erased, even if it was slowly boiling down into hatred.
After a while, Weiss excused herself quietly and slipped into the examination room. Neo was crouched by the table, clutching the hand dangling from under the sheet and rocking back and forth. She started to call out to her — before remembering that would do no good. Instead, she crouched down by her side and touched her shoulder.
“Hey.” Neo didn’t catch that. She blinked up at her as if confused by her presence. “Can you read my lips?” She nodded, numb and distant. “I’m sorry. He was your friend?”
That started a fresh wave of crying that made Neo push her face into the corpse’s hand. Yet another situation in which Weiss felt more conflicted than she felt possible. This girl had caused her to suffer through the most horrendous injury of her entire life… but she was a human being, and in mourning for her accomplice. If Salem had forgiven her following the severe punishment…
Her hand began to pet up and down her back as she whispered “I’m sorry,” even knowing it would not be heard. To her surprise, the words were repeated — when Neo said them, they were more difficult to understand, but Weiss didn’t need her to repeat it again at all.
Once she looked up again for a response, Weiss said, “I’m sorry, too.” Neo made a fist in the center of her chest and moved it in a circle a couple of times. “Does that mean ‘sorry’?” When she nodded, Weiss repeated the action, and Neo pushed her small face into her shoulder, sobbing freely now.
“Great,” she sighed, embracing her tightly and beginning to rock. “Always wanted to make friends with an accomplice to my attempted murder.”
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Princess and The Dragons