Chapter Text
“How far would you go to fulfill your role as Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company?”
The innocuous question felt rather sudden, though, so too had the impromptu arrival of Winter Schnee at the doorstep of Weiss Schnee. The sisters had kept in a low level of contact through the years, but it had been quite some time since the two had had a conversation of any substance.
“Let me guess. Has our father devised some new task to test my loyalty to the family name?”
Musing to herself Weiss took a slow sip from a rather expensive tea cup. For families elsewhere in the world such fine wares often sat unused in cupboards for generations until sold or pawned off in times of financial crisis, but for Weiss such items were a lien a dozen. In fact, everything at the table the two shared had a considerable price tag on it, including the table itself.
Around the pair, the perfectly air conditioned environment spoke to the status of Weiss Schnee, and while she held no particular desire to show off or purchase luxury to show it off, this had always been the standard in her life. Price meant little, and she could afford to be impulsive with certain purchases, though she prided herself on her pragmatism despite a near unlimited financial pool at her disposal.
“Quite the opposite in fact.” Winter’s words remained polite, yet neutral in tone. What she’d said, however, surprised Weiss enough that the contents of her teacup threatened to spill over from a surprised twitch. “Father is ready to begin the process of handing over the company to you in its entirety.”
There was a sudden pounding in Weiss’ chest, her heart racing as she fought to keep her exterior composed. No matter how skilled she was in keeping her emotions in check, it was impossible not to react when such a bombshell was so abruptly dropped on her.
“Really now?” Her words were shaky, and she scolded herself for the crack in her visage as she set her teacup down and coughed to refocus. “Last I’d heard father had been making the same power moves as always, so it hardly seems like he’s making adjustments for a transfer of power. That is, unless he plans to leave me to deal with the fallout of some horrific business transaction.”
With a weak laugh and a shake of her head, Weiss quickly returned to a state of processing. Despite her feelings towards her father, and the numerous spiteful ways he’d attempted to rein her in, she doubted he’d put the company - and subsequently his own lavish lifestyle - at risk just to spite her.
“Truth be told, there is a catch.” Winter’s expression at last broke, a hint of amusement presenting itself as Weiss rolled her eyes.
“Of course there is.” With a gentle sigh, Weiss stared across at her sister, breaking into equal amusement. “Need I be wed to a suitor from another company, or perhaps a powerful family? Maybe make a grandiose speech about what a loving father Jacques Schnee has been all my life? Whatever trivial task-”
“You’re to be cut off.”
Winter’s expression maintained its amused state, particularly as horror overtook Weiss’.
“Apologies, but what do you mean cut off? That feels quite the antithesis to inheriting the entire company! Am I meant to surrender my wealth and live some sort of commoner life as some sign of goodwill for the people? That's absurd!” Weiss stood, slamming her hands on the table, though she immediately flinched upon contact. The strike itself hadn’t hurt, but the gentle rattling of the teacup sent a stake through her heart, everything now feeling so fragile. All around her, the luxuries she took for granted felt at risk, and that a splash of water, a gentle nudge, or the smallest fall could damage property worth more than the average person could ever hope to afford.
Despite her leap in logic, Weiss wondered if perhaps her father’s sudden decision had been a result of the company’s PR. Their workers rights had never been the best, particularly when it came to labor involving the faunus, with numerous litigations having been taken over the years regarding worker benefits, safe working conditions, and so on. Great strides had been made to amend these issues - most inherited from, as Jacques called it, ‘a different time’ - though it wasn’t until he’d been pressed by his own legal team that he ever paid any real attention to the matter. Was cutting her off from her fortune in return for the company some silly way in which he felt he could ‘reach the people’ or something!?
“No, although the vehement way in which you handled that conclusion is a key detail as to why you’re being cut off.” Winter’s amusement had faded, replaced with a stern glare. Weiss’ hands clenched, brow furrowed as she realized how selfish and much like their father that particular outburst had been. It truly had been more retaliatory against what she thought was a ploy by their father, but perhaps there was a part of her she’d refused to recognize that had leapt to the surface.
“So-” Once more scolding herself, Weiss unclenched her hands and relaxed her face, returning to a more dignified stance. She tucked a few strands of snowy white hair that had shifted in her outburst, and gave a more tempered gaze towards Winter. “So then, what is the justification for this then? Surely there’s more to this catch than merely stripping me of the family’s funds.”
“Of course.” Winter took a slow breath, her eyes scanning across her younger sister head to toe, a piercing gaze taking proper stock of how she’d grown. “While you are right that this is somewhat connected to the company’s image, this decision isn’t a spiteful decree made by our father. Instead, in an effort to, shall we say, avoid letting another Jacques take hold, a caveat was added to those in line to inherit the company. This caveat involves having you cut off and removed from Atlas for no less than two years, after which you will be given total control of the company. Assuming, that is, that you make it the full period.”
“What is this, a movie?” With a laugh of disbelief, Weiss shook her head, gazing across at Winter in hopes that this was all an elaborate prank. “I’ve heard this one before - actually I may have even seen part of it after falling asleep watching TV one evening. Am I meant to learn a lesson about living without my wealth, and then prove that I don’t need the money in the end, or that I’m going to use it for good?”
“That is the idea. I can’t exactly call our legal team the most creative bunch, but I hear the concept left father feeling particularly… inspired .” Amusement returned to Winter’s expression, Weiss realizing this may not be the elaborate prank she thought it to be, even if the concept had been wildly uncharacteristic of her elder sister from the beginning.
“And so, what do you mean when you say that this is all assuming I make it the full period?” Taking stock of the situation, Weiss knew she needed to rapidly put all of the pieces together to plan her best approach to this absurd scenario.
“In essence, you may, at any point, surrender your inheritance to the next in line. Upon doing so you’ll be able to return to your life as a Schnee, but any hopes of taking over the company will be forfeit for the rest of your life. There’s several pages worth of legal documents for you to read over, and several contingencies related to a board of trustees and the Schnee Dust Company shifting in ownership should certain scenarios occur without a proper heir.” With a snap of her finger, Winter summoned a pair of suited individuals who walked through the doorway of Weiss’ apartment without so much as a greeting. Weiss was suddenly presented with a pair of suitcases, which Winter snapped open to reveal two distinct and thick documents.
As Weiss’ eyes skimmed the first page of each document, it looked like her decision was going to boil down to accepting or declining the catch before anything could proceed.
“How come I haven’t heard of this sooner? Why didn’t you tell me?” Despite the distance that had grown between the sisters, their mutual distaste of Jacques felt enough to warrant at least a heads up.
“Part of the paperwork - whether you accept or not - involves an NDA clause. If you had gotten word of this you may adjust your lifestyle in order to more easily transition into the cutoff, when the aim is to prove yourself capable of either life at the drop of a hat. If you were able to prepare it may be easier to feign your way through, how did you put it, living as a commoner .” Weiss winced a little as Winter repeated her tasteless comment before being offered a pen.
“Lovely.” With a huff, Weiss stared down at the paperwork before her.
This should have been an easy decision. It was everything she ever wanted, and all she needed to do was be self-sufficient for two years!
In a foreign territory.
Without any access to the vast wealth she was accustomed to.
Where she would have to… get a job .
Where…
A chill went through Weiss’ spine as she swallowed hard. This should have been such an easy decision, but she’d already started to hesitate. There was a mounting pressure, one that she thought she’d been handling since the day she found herself the new heiress after Winter had declined, but now so suddenly faced with the reality of it all…
“If it helps…” Winter’s tone had grown soft, pulling Weiss from her spiral as the sisters shared a gaze. “Think of the family before you make your decision. Think of father.”
For a moment Weiss’ mind filled with images of her, Winter, Whitley, their mother, and Klein. She assumed this to be a warmth and compassionate reminder of everyone that believed in her, but to end mentioning Jacques…
The only one that didn’t believe in her…
In a flash Weiss was scanning the acceptance document, ensuring that despite a sudden emotional rush that she was not falling for any legal traps. She was going to become the CEO of the SDC, and nothing was going to stop her. Not hangups in legal documents, not the cruel lack of faith from her father, not-
---
As the door of the taxi slammed behind her, Weiss found herself in an entirely new world. The air itself felt different in Vale; the smells that surrounded her, the way people dressed, the cars, the… quality of the housing.
Looking down at the single bag of essentials that the company had provided her, including a small wallet with the identification card of one Weiss Kald , her eyes then drifted towards the cracked architecture of an apartment complex matching an address she’d been provided.
“...the bare minimum will be given to settle in over the first month, after which the inheritor will be required to…”
Her hand clenched hard on the handle of the rolling suitcase she’d been provided, and she made her way inside. The space smelled dusty, the floors spotty in a myriad of places and colors, and as she knocked on the door of the landlord she found herself face to face with a burly bearded man. He looked messy, despite having on a black vest and a dress shirt, and it looked like he was in the process of putting on a tie when she’d interrupted him.
“Yeah?” His voice was coarse, no refinement to be found, and as Weiss took a deep breath she forced her most dazzling smile.
“Hello! I’m… your new tenant, Weiss Sc- Kald , and I’m here to pick up my apartment key.” As she spoke the man gave her a slow onceover.
“Right, the Schnee brat.” Weiss’s eyes widened in surprise as the man sighed and stepped into the apartment, leaving the door open for her to follow after.
“Ah- I’m sorry, I assumed that with my identity card…”
“Look, I’ll be brutally honest, I was given a nice little care package to evict one of my prior tenants to make room for you. Those lawyers went on and on about the location and quality of my establishment, but truth be told I glossed over most of it.” Shuffling through a drawer of keys, he eventually pulled one out and offered it to Weiss.
Apt. 480.
“So…”
“Anyways, rent is covered for the month, but you’re looking at 400 lien twice a month subject to change based on your utility usage. I cover up to a certain amount, but if you start burning through my water or jacking up my power bills expect to see that value change.”
“400… flat? Not… thousand?” Was she really so disconnected from the common person that this value was that jarring to her?
“If you need anything, my number is listed as “Junior” in the registries, and then there’s cards provided to each apartment next to your landline. I work elsewhere during the evening so try and contact me earlier rather than later.”
“Junior?”
As she tried to process the dump of information being given to her, Weiss found herself slowly being corralled out of the apartment.
“Ah- excuse me.” As Weiss found herself back in the main hallway, her mind had clicked on one particular detail of Junior’s little exposition dump. “I believe that per the contract related to my role as a tenant, you cannot decide to ‘jack up’ my bill without proper notice being given ahead of-”
“Brothers I already regret this… Look, whatever, call it a scare tactic not to jack up my bills that keep this place running. Just shut up and go settle in. If you’re some cut off little rich girl then the best advice I can give you right now is that you get yourself a job to even pay the rent, because I’ve got free control over kicking you out if you can’t, and I’d keep that in mind before getting uppity with me.” With a sneer, Junior slammed the door shut on Weiss, who had resisted bringing up her rights as a tenant again. He made it sound like it would be so easy to evict her from a space she was living in, but surely the law would be on her side. At this point though, perhaps it would be easier to adjust for the time being, and once she’d built herself up enough savings she could move into a much nicer establishment.
“Jerk…” With a sour face towards the door, she looked down at her key.
“Well, if this works the same way a hotel does, then this must put me on the fourth floor…”
With a huff Weiss glanced down the hall towards a stairwell and an elevator. The decision was obvious, but as she approached an “Out of Order” sign on the elevator caused her heart to sink. Despite the sign she pushed the up button wondering if this was all just an effort to save on his bills by Junior, but the lack of any visible or audible response of the button press told her that it was, in fact, broken.
“Stupid cliché…” With a firm - perhaps little too firm - kick to the elevator door, Weiss buried the pain in her toes as she stared up at the spiraling stairs, and with a determined huff awkwardly dragged her suitcase up flight after flight.
Thump.
“Stupid… suitcase…”
Thump.
“What, I-”
Thump.
Pausing nearly halfway to her floor, Weiss had tried to adjust how she was holding her suitcase to avoid letting it bump the stairs as she pulled it, but now holding entirely still she found the source of the noise was not her, but something above her.
Thump.
“Please don’t be a feature … and please don’t be in my apartment…”
Was it a rat, or perhaps a noisy kid? An obnoxious neighbor or something more… degenerate…? Weiss hurried up the rest of the way to her floor, caring little for any noise her own baggage may make at this point, and after reaching the fourth floor her eyes darted around the halls around her. It looked like there were maybe 8 apartments per floor, but before she could get distracted calculating the number of other tenants she was dragging her suitcase down the hall towards the source of the noise.
430… 440… 450…
With the numerical breakdowns she had to be getting closer to not only her apartment, but the source of that awful thudding.
Then, rounding the corner, she froze.
Three doors were present down the hallway, and if she had to guess hers was the one at the end, but what horrified her was what she was seeing at the door before hers.
In blue jeans and a tight black tank top with a cartoon corgi on the front was a woman her own age slamming her head repeatedly against a door. Her arms were dangling loosely at her sides, and she would slowly stand up straight before letting her head fall back against the door. It was like something from a horror movie, where a spirit possessed a body, a ghost manifested to instill terror, or a zombie functioning on instinct simply repeated a vague action from life.
Weiss took a slow step back in horror, but the floorboard she’d shifted to creaked in response, causing the girl slamming her head to pause. Her expression was hidden beneath messy black hair with crimson highlights at the ends, but as she turned to face Weiss she was appalled by the distinct red circle on the girl’s forehead. Silver eyes stared at her for a few seconds, and for a moment Weiss could only stare back with her own pale blue.
“I forgot my key…”
The girl’s expression turned pitiful, tears seeming to well up in her eyes, leaving Weiss dumbfounded.
“Should… Is there a spare?” Not quite sure how to approach the situation, Weiss glanced back towards the stairwell assuming that Junior would be the best one to handle this, but the girl gave a pained laugh that only seemed to bring more tears.
“I lost that one too…”
There was a lengthy silence between the two, and pursing her lips Weiss glanced past the odd girl and towards what she assumed was the door to her own apartment.
“Well, if you don’t mind…” Pressing herself as close as she could get to the wall opposite the girl, Weiss tried to ease herself past in hopes the conversation would end there, but instead she found watery eyes following her like a painting in a movie.
“I’m definitely about to get murdered, aren’t I?”
“Are you new? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.” With a sniffle the girl rubbed her eyes on her sleeve, and Weiss gave a weak smile back.
“Ah- yes, moving in today actually. Just, right over there.” Shuffling a little faster, Weiss was nearly past the girl, who looked towards the door with surprise.
“Oh wow, they replaced Cardin quick . He like, just got kicked out a few days ago. Lucky you.”
“Yup. Lucky me. Just… trying to settle in.” It seemed whatever emotional crisis had befallen the girl was over, though Weiss hoped that meant she’d go deal with her key situation as opposed to continuing to stare at her. Despite what she felt were plentiful hints that she was busy, Weiss found that even after passing the girl that she continued to stare at her.
“Well, if we’re going to be neighbors I should introduce myself!”
“Nooooo. Pleaaaaase just go awaaaay.”
Weiss had finally gotten to her door, but before she could unlock it the girl was already at her side.
“I’m Ruby! Nice to meet ya neighbor!”
“Weiss… Kald.” Taking half a second to shake the extended and weak gripped hand of her new neighbor, Weiss quickly unlocked her door in hopes she could at last escape this conversation, but Ruby seemed to have no intention of letting her off easy.
“Need help unpacking or anything? Oh, can I come in! I… don’t have a housewarming gift, but-” Considering how depressed Ruby had seemed mere moments ago, there was a sudden enthusiasm in her that Weiss had no idea how to quell.
“If… I say no, are you going to go back to slamming your head on your door? Instead of, say, going down to talk to Junior, or anything the least bit reasonable?” By this point Weiss’ politeness had worn thin, and hands on her hips she glared at Ruby with a chill in her words she hoped would finally drive her away.
“Mmm… Probably.” Completely unphased by Weiss’ tone, Ruby shrugged her shoulders, taking a brief glance back to her locked door and then turning back.
“Nothing? No excuse about Junior being mean, or maybe complaints about the stairs? Just how unreasonable is this girl!?”
Faced with the ultimatum of continued socializing, or the return of the thumping from early to disturb her while she unpacked, Weiss found herself with another tough decision. Eventually though, she realized that she would likely be forced to socialize with her neighbor one way or another, and pragmatically having at least one connection in town couldn’t hurt in the long run. This was all temporary of course; long enough for Weiss to build up enough savings to move literally anywhere else at this point, and desperately holding onto that shred of logic she gave a slow push to her door and gestured for Ruby to come in. It was a little suspect that her 'neighbor' couldn't get into her apartment and had invited herself over, but Weiss had told herself not to be paranoid or on edge in this new environment, and that the company would have thoroughly vetted the neighborhood for safety ahead of her arrival.
“This is all just a means to an end. Two years, and that’s it. Nothing will get between me and my destiny.”
A sudden breeze passed through right before Weiss closed the door to her apartment, and before Weiss could even take stock of her surroundings she could see Ruby had opened the window in what looked to be a kitchen area and was leaning out dangerously far.
“What are you doing!?”
“I left my window open, so I’m seeing if I could crawl out on the ledge and reach it from-”
Weiss had dropped her luggage by the front door and practically teleported to Ruby, pulling hard on the girl’s shirt to drag her back inside.
“What the hell is wrong with you!” Slamming the window shut Weiss glared down at Ruby, now sprawled across her kitchen and groaning as she stood up.
“What! I climb stuff all the time! Besides, falling would be way better than dealing with Junior or all those stairs again.”
“There it is…”
“Look, I’ll go down to talk to Junior if it helps. I need to get a few groceries and such anyways, so it’s not like I won’t be going back down there soon. Just… stay away from the window, okay? I really can’t afford to have someone die falling out of my apartment window the same day I moved in.” Weiss pointed towards a couch in the living room; an ugly brown item that, despite looking like it had been cleaned recently, had several stains telling of its age. “Just sit there while I unpack, and I’ll have you another key in no time, okay?”
“Hey, I’m not some kid you can just put in time out or keep distracted with a TV alright?” Fixing her shirt from her little tumble, Ruby huffed as she stared down Weiss. “But uhh- Yeah, I won’t go climbing out the window again. I guess it would be pretty suspicious if you moved in and someone fell out of your window the same day.”
“Ah yes, the natural response is to assume my inconvenience would be the priority, and not your own death.”
“Quite.” With another sigh, Weiss looked back to her suitcase and shrugged. “Well, in that case I suppose you’re welcome to help me settle in then, but truth be told I don’t have that many belongings with me.”
As Ruby followed Weiss’ gaze to the singular suitcase still by the door, she raised a brow.
“Wha- Seriously? I just assumed the rest of your bags were downstairs or something. That’s all you have?” Suddenly closing the distance between them, Ruby gave Weiss and inquisitive look, her eyes tracing across her figure.
Unlike her former attire, primarily high quality dresses that made her dazzle when the light hit her just right, Weiss had been given a number of ‘fashionable’ choices to take with her to Vale. In the end she’d selected a pale blue t-shirt that matched her eyes, and jeans similar to those Ruby was wearing, though she found herself envious of Ruby’s pockets. Her shoes were plain white tennis shoes - a pragmatic recommendation from her sister that had cost her a fairly cute pair of boots - and for the first time in a long time Weiss found herself without a single piece of jewelry.
“Did you like, run away or something?” As Ruby continued to analyze Weiss, she began to speculate on a backstory that could explain Weiss’ presence. “Oh, or are you like a spy settling in undercover?”
“What are these leaps in logic!?”
“It’s… personal, but ah- Let’s just say my… family kicked me out! Yes, that’s precisely what happened! I got in a huge fight with my parents and they kicked me to the curb with whatever I could carry.” It wasn’t the furthest from the truth, but given she was using a fake identity for the duration of her ‘test’ Weiss realized she needed to have at least some semblance of her history stitched together to get through it. Another painful caveat was that she couldn’t use her family name to sneak aid from anyone for the duration, lest people curry favor with her or she make promises to fulfill favors once she was CEO.
“Pfft. Yeah right, that makes the spy thing sound reasonable.” It was obvious given Weiss’ tone that Ruby wouldn’t buy into her thrown together story, and she kept her brow raised in hopes it would draw out the truth.
“Alright listen, I just-” Weiss found her voice suddenly anxious, her chest tightening as she stepped from Ruby and stared blankly at the sink. “I’ve essentially had to hit the reset button on my life, okay? I don’t want to be here, but I don’t have a choice either, so please just… ease up on me a little. I barely have the bandwidth to handle myself at this point, much less explain myself to a total stranger that just tried to climb out my window, okay?”
Turning back to face Ruby, Weiss could see a hint of pain in her eyes.
“Sorry… I guess I just got so caught up in my own world that I didn’t even register that you had your own stuff going on.” Rubbing the back of her head, Ruby forced a laugh. “Guess you can see how I could keep locking myself out of my apartment.”
“I mean…” As Ruby’s forced smile fell almost immediately, Weiss let out a defeated sigh. “Given your situation the least I could’ve done as a good neighbor was see if you needed a hand or something. Look, I’m new to the area and have literally no sense of the city, so how about after I unpack you show me around? We’ll pick you up a new key, I need to pick up some groceries, and at some point we can just stop and get some coffee or something?”
As much as Weiss wished she could spend these next two years in a vacuum before she returned to the life she knew, it was becoming more and more apparent that that wouldn’t be the case. She’d need to make friends if she was to learn the lay of the land, she’d need to get a job that would no doubt involve some form of customer service, and above all else she needed to prove to her father that she could survive this silly little ordeal. Like a play, she would need to take the role of Weiss Kald, and-
“Oh my Brothers I am in a spy movie…”
“Are you sure?”
Ruby’s words snapped Weiss from her odd epiphany.
“Huh?”
“Look, I know I’m a lot, and you wouldn’t be the first to give me enough of your time to not be rude, and then avoid me forever. I’m not that oblivious. If you’d rather I just… we were just neighbors that never spoke and kept to ourselves, I can totally do that.”
“I mean…” Weiss paused for a second, before offering a smile. “We’re about the same age, live next to each other, and have shared distaste for our landlord. If that isn’t the best cookie cutter start to a friendship, I don’t know what is.”
“I guess. Really it could only be more cliché if we were roommates instead, right?”
“Oh Brothers no…”
“Ye-yeah, I guess that’s a good point.” Weiss forced a chuckle, an odd part of her proud that she’d somehow managed a… ‘friend’... on her first day. Even if this was still just a means to an end, at the very least having a neighbor and a guide like Ruby felt tolerable, putting Weiss ahead of schedule given she’d initially planned to figure out a great deal entirely on her own.
“Alright well, I’ll give you a moment to unpack then and… go wait in the hall.” Even with the relief she’d expressed when Weiss described their cliché meeting, Ruby’s insecurities were still clearly on her sleeve. For a moment she thought about commenting on Ruby’s offer to help in the unpacking, but given the singular suitcase it felt like a moot point.
“Okay, I’ll be out as soon as I’m done getting settled. I shouldn’t be too long since the tour of this place has been more of a twirl anyways…” As the two moved back towards the front door Weiss registered that she could see basically every ‘room’ of the apartment from the living room, and that these ‘rooms’ consisted only of a kitchen, living room, bedroom, and a bathroom. Honestly without the furnishings designating each space Weiss could have easily mistaken the space for a closet back home.
As soon as Ruby was out the door, Weiss put her back to it and let her weight sink against the wooden surface. Staring up at the ceiling she let her eyes close for a second, recalibrating to this new reality as best she could.
“When I open my eyes… I will be Weiss Kald…”
With a mental countdown, Weiss’ eyes snapped open, a smile on her face as she dragged her suitcase to her new bedroom and began to unpack.
“So then, Weiss Kald, who are you?”