NOVEL NEXT Chapter 44: Weiss & Ciel
“W-Wait!”
The stutter in her voice is not because she’s afraid, but because she knows she’s supposed to be a soldier and good soldiers follow orders and don’t disobey. But Weiss can’t help it. Even if part of her feels like a spoiled brat for doing this, a far larger part knows she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t say anything. As the Atlesian Specialist spins back around, her eyes narrowing in frustration, Weiss nevertheless stands her ground.
“I think… I think it would be best if Ciel came along too. I don’t think she should be left here!”
She resists the urge to make it an ultimatum, to try and place her foot down and say she wouldn’t go anywhere without Ciel. That would be disobeying a direct order, and Weiss knew that wouldn’t end well for her, no matter her family name or status. She also resists the urge to reach out and grab Ciel’s hand for comfort. As much as interlocking fingers with her lover might make Weiss feel better in the moment, she recognizes that it will only make things more difficult in the long run.
Seconds drag on as Specialist Bree’s narrowed eyes narrow even further, her jaw works, and she looks between the two younger women for several long moments. Finally though, the Atlesian Specialist lets out a grunt.
“… Fine. Bring her. The General will want to know exactly how she knew about Asset Polendina’s mission anyways.”
The Specialist spins back around at that, leaving Weiss to blanch and shoot Ciel an apologetic glance. The dark-skinned woman just smiles and shakes her head in response, showing she doesn’t blame her. In the end, Ciel shouldn’t get into too much trouble… it was Penny’s decision to tell her about everything after all, not Ciel’s. So it should be fine, right?
Either way, the two of them race after Specialist Bree, hurrying to catch up and fall in behind the other woman. The Atlesian Specialist sets quite the pace, but they keep up all the same, leaving the camp behind and making their way back behind friendly lines… all the way to the depot.
Weiss and Ciel are left to watch as Specialist Bree effectively browbeats her way through any obstacle that dares get in her path. She has her orders and she has her mission, and there’s nothing that’s allowed to stand in her way. It honestly reminds Weiss a lot of Winter. The two female Specialists couldn’t be more dissimilar in terms of appearance, but in terms of attitude, they were very much the same.
Actually, it had Weiss wondering if maybe Winter had trained Specialist Bree or something. She didn’t dare ask while they were still on the move… but eventually, things finally calmed down, though only because they were forced to. It had taken a few veiled threats, but Specialist Bree had gotten them all seats on the next train heading back for Atlas. The only issue was, it was a cargo train, NOT a passenger train.
Ultimately, they found themselves sat atop crates in one of the train cars, making the best of a bad situation and simply surviving the exceedingly bumpy ride. It’s then, with nothing better to do, that Weiss decides to ask her questions.
“If you don’t mind me asking, Specialist Bree… how well do you know my sister? Were the two of you close? Did you train together?”
The Specialist stills at that, tilting her head to the side for a moment. Initially, Weiss thinks she’s just not going to answer, that she’s planning on ignoring the question. But after a few seconds of quiet, the other woman finally speaks.
“Specialist Schnee was in the class before mine, so no we did not train together. We had a handful of missions here and there, but ultimately I was part of a squad and she was trusted with solo work more often than not. These last couple of years haven’t been easy on Atlas or the Specialists by any stretch of the imagination. But we made it work.”
Weiss digests this, while Ciel makes a sound of confusion in the back of her throat.
“Why has it not been easy? I know Mistral have been angling to start this war for a while now, and we just preempted them… but surely Mistral is easier to deal with then the Grimm, right?”
Specialist Bree’s eyes slide over to Weiss’ lover at that, and she raises a single eyebrow.
“Do you think that just because the Grimm went missing, we stopped working to protect against them? An enemy in the open is much easier to deal with than an enemy in the shadows. In that way you’re right. Mistral IS easier to handle then the Grimm. But the Grimm aren’t truly gone. At least, General Ironwood doesn’t believe so.”
Weiss jolts at that. He… he didn’t? These past couple of years had honestly been amazing without the Grimm. The Schnee Dust Corporation and her family by association had never been stronger. Her father had been one of the first to push out into lands that had once been deemed too dangerous for Dust Mining, and he’d made out like a bandit.
She’d believed that Mistral was the only dark spot on an otherwise bright future, but now it sounded like Specialist Bree was saying otherwise. But then, if General Ironwood believed the Grimm were still out there…
“Why would the General let Atlas start a war with Mistral if he thought the Grimm weren’t truly gone?!”
The slight panic in her voice is embarrassing and Weiss blushes when both Specialist Bree and Ciel look at her, but she still wants to know the answer to her question. Even if it does make Specialist Bree look at her as though she’s incompetent.
Her lecturing tone makes Weiss blush and hang her head.
“I-I see… sorry.”
Silence falls for a moment, an awkward silence… at least for Weiss anyways. Specialist Bree looks satisfied and even leans her head back into the wall of the train car behind her, letting her eyes drift shut. They snap open again when Ciel suddenly speaks up, however.
“Penny’s mission with Specialist Schnee… did it have to do with the Grimm and General Ironwood’s belief that they aren’t completely gone?”
Weiss’ breath catches in her throat. Did it?! Was that where Winter had gone? If it was… why had General Ironwood sent Specialist Bree to pick them, or rather HER up now? What did it mean for Winter’s mission?!
She wants to ask all of those questions and more, but the words catch in her throat as their Specialist escort turns a truly dark look in Ciel’s direction. Specialist Bree doesn’t have to say anything… it’s incredibly obvious that Ciel has overstepped with that question and the best thing she can do at this point is avert her gaze so they can pretend she never said it. Weiss isn’t even the subject of the glare and she almost wants to avert her gaze anyways, that’s how powerful the look is.
… But Weiss’ lover doesn’t do that. She looks right back at Specialist Bree, staring the other woman down right back, her own eyes demanding an answer. Biting her lower lip, Weiss wonders if she should intervene. If she should say something. But before she can, the Specialist finally… cracks. Specialist Bree looks away first and for the first time since they’ve met her, she actually looks a little vulnerable. Letting out an explosive sigh, she shakes her head.
“I don’t know. I don’t know the details of Specialist Schnee’s last mission or Asset Polendina’s role in it. All I know is what the General has told me and that’s to bring Weiss Schnee to him. So that’s what I’m doing.”
It’s the way Specialist Bree says it that makes something clench painfully down in Weiss’ gut. She claws at the edge of the crate she’s sitting on, leaning forward as her lips pull down into a frown.
“… You don’t know for certain, but you have ideas don’t you? You have theories.”
She knows she’s right when Specialist Bree won’t even meet her eyes. She knows something is truly wrong when the Atlesian Specialist opens her mouth and then closes it, second-guessing herself. But the fact that she was even willing to do that much in the first place tells Weiss that they’re on to something. Luckily, a quick glance at Ciel has them turning their unintentional tag-teaming into very intentional tag-teaming.
“Why would General Ironwood recall Weiss like this? What do you think he wants with her, Specialist Bree? Does it have to do with her sister?”
“No! … Yes. I… damn it all, maybe.”
Weiss pales at the stricken look on Specialist Bree’s face. She glances between the two of them for a long moment before letting out another sigh and focusing on Weiss in particular.
“… Winter told me once that she’d made a deal with General Ironwood. When you first decided to run away and join the military, she made him promise he wouldn’t take you into the Specialist Program.”
Startled, Weiss gapes at Specialist Bree.
“What- but why?! I thought-!”
A sad smile appears on the Atlesian Specialist’s face.
“You thought you failed the test to see if you had what it took? You didn’t. She told me as much. No, she wanted you to be a common soldier because it was safer. With how mechanized Atlas’ military is these days, even on the frontlines you weren’t likely to see much danger hiding behind a bunch of our bots, not so long as you kept your head down and your aura intact. But we Specialists don’t get that sort of privilege. We don’t get to hide behind our military’s robots. She was trying to protect you.”
Weiss bristles, feeling no small amount of aggravation towards her sister in that moment. Winter had no right keeping Weiss from following in her footsteps! In her anger, she doesn’t catch on to the real heart of the matter. But Ciel does. The dark-skinned woman grabs Weiss’ hand, a move that startles the Schnee girl even as Ciel leans forward, pinning Specialist Bree with a stare.
“If Winter made a deal like that with General Ironwood, why is he going back on it now? Why would he recall Weiss if Winter said she was supposed to be off-limits?”
… Oh. Oh no. There’s a dull roar in Weiss’ ears as Specialist Bree lowers her head, staring at the floor. Each second feels like an eternity, until finally the Atlesian Specialist speaks.
“The only reason I can think of for General Ironwood to go back on his word… is if he considered the original deal null and void. He’s a pragmatic man, the General. So long as Winter was working hard for him, he wouldn’t mess with Weiss. But if something happened to Winter… if he knew she wasn’t coming back… then I can imagine the General would see an opportunity to replace her… with her younger sister.”
No… no no no…
Looking back up at them, Specialist Bree focuses on Ciel.
“I don’t know if Winter is dead or not… or what that means for Asset Polendina and the chances of her remains being recovered and repairs being enacted. I don’t know anything for sure.”
Weiss stares off into nothingness, only Ciel’s hand in hers keeping her tethered to the moment… but barely at that. The tether feels frayed, and it feels like even the smallest thing might see her adrift, might see her lost to nothingness. Her sister was… dead? And General Ironwood was going to use her to replace Winter? That was… it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. Winter couldn’t be dead. She just couldn’t be…
Suddenly, Specialist Bree’s no-nonsense, strictly professional tone is back in a heartbeat.
“I advise you both to forget everything I just told you. Or at the very least, lock it away deep down inside and don’t let on that you know. Even speculation can be sensitive intelligence if anything I said turns out to be right. For now… we have a few hours until we’ll be back in Atlas proper. Get some sleep.”
Sleep? How was Weiss supposed to sleep when her sister might be DEAD?! She wants to scream. She wants to yell. She doesn’t do any of that. She just sits there, even as Ciel whispers things Weiss doesn’t manage to comprehend into her ear. Her dark-skinned lover pulls her close, into a hug, and Weiss finds herself leaning on Ciel as the tears start to fall.
Unfortunately, when it rains it pours. And before Weiss can even really get started on sobbing brokenly into her lover’s shoulder at the thought that her sister might be dead… the train suddenly comes to a crashing halt, seeing all three of them being thrown from their perches.
Specialist Bree curses up a storm, while Weiss yelps and Ciel squawks. Their aura makes sure they don’t get TOO banged up, but it still takes a second to right themselves.
“What the fuck was that?!”
Hearing the Atlesian Specialist cuss like that almost makes Weiss laugh. Almost being the keyword. Still, before she or Ciel can even come up with a reply, the doors at both ends of the train car suddenly fly open and reveal two different people. Two different people wearing masks. Very distinct, very familiar Grimm masks.
“We’re here for the Schnee. Hand her over and no one gets hurt.”
As Weiss stares at the two White Fang who have invaded the train car, Specialist Bree lets out a bark of laughter and slams her fists together, activating an exoskeleton suit that Weiss hadn’t even noticed until now.
“Honestly, I’m glad you showed up. I really needed the opportunity to hit somebody.”
Glancing at Weiss and Ciel, the Specialist jerks her head towards one end of the train car.
“I’ll take care of this one, hold that one off until I’m done! Be just a sec!”
Weiss almost scoffs as she goes for her rapier. Hold them off? A single White Fang? Glancing to Ciel, she nods as the two turn to face their opponent. There’s no doubt in Weiss’ mind that Specialist Bree will handle HER White Fang in record time, but Weiss will be damned if they need the Specialist’s help on their end.
Tilting her head to the side curiously, the female White Fang standing before them hums for a moment but doesn’t make a move… and then a loud cry and a crashing sound comes from behind them, forcing Weiss and Ciel to spin back around.
There, on the floor of the train car… Specialist Bree lays with her exoskeleton mangled around her. And the male White Fang standing over her, holding pieces of it in his gloved hand.
-x-X-x-
The Patreon Vote:
[X] Fight on. Can't trust the White Fang, maybe her and Ciel can still win. - 83%
[ ] Surrender. They're here for her. If she gives up, maybe they'll leave Ciel alone. - 17%
(From this chapter on, I will be posting the results of the Patreon Vote for the chapter to increase transparency and alleviate the issue of constant cliffhangers.)