Third Person POV
The cold snow of Atlas fell gracefully onto the Schnee manor. Inside, locked away like a bird in a cage, Weiss sat looking from her window and thought about the others. Before her scroll was taken from her, she tried several times to message her teammates only to get no response. Her father, Jacques, had taken away as much of her freedom as he possibly could. To him, his kids had done enough damage to the family name by abandoning the company in pursuit of more barbaric careers. His kids were valuable assets and as such, they could do more than just damage their family name but ruin it and the company. Weiss was only allowed to go to charity gatherings where she might sing on stage or other events approved by her father. As for requests, anything she wanted went through her butler, who brought the request to her father.
Being limited by her father's approval wasn't something new to her, ever since she was a child her interest had to align with his otherwise she'd get nowhere. One time, when she was little, she saw a picture in a kids book, it was a cute doll in the shape of a rabbit. She had asked politely if she could get one for her birthday, her father, uninterested, told her that if she improved in her piano lessons then he would consider it. So Weiss put in the effort, with her birthday approaching she grew more excited, Weiss never had a doll or any real toys for that matter so to her it was something wonderful. Something that, in the end, opened her eyes to the real world and its many disappointments. She didn't get that rabbit, just some fancy dresses and jewelry. Only one person really noticed Weiss slowly change over time.
Winter, her older sister, though cold in her affection she was glad that Weiss was safe after what happened at Beacon. She noticed while at one of the gatherings, when Ironwood told her to take a day off, that her sister appeared miserable. Offering to have a match with her to see what she learned, Winter found out that their father had gotten rid of Weiss' rapier. She was meant to be the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, not a Huntress, but so too was Winter at one point. There was no third sibling for them to move the title to, a few years after Weiss' birth the gap between their parents widened greatly to the point you'd never see them in the same building, let along the same bed. So of course, failing to make Winter into the heiress, Jacques wasn't going to make the same mistakes with Wiess. He already made the mistake of humoring her with a test, which she passed and as a result, left for Beacon Academy to become a Huntress.
As someone knocked on the door to her room, Weiss was sure it was about some social event or possibly time for one of her private tutors. Time did seem abstract with no clock in her room or scroll to tell her. Allowing the person to come in, it was a familiar face she had seen more in her life than her parents, her butler Klein. A good man who was slightly overweight and balding, though he had luckily not gone gray yet, still having color on his mustache and remaining hair. The only thing odd about him was the colors of his eyes, which would change along with a shift in his personality. He rolled in a light-blue trunk into Weiss' room with a sincere smile on his face.
Weiss: "Another dress from a suiter?" Her tone gave away how disinterested she was.
Klein: "I think you'll like who this came from." Opening the trunk revealed not only a combat outfit but also a new weapon to replace her old one. "I never said this, but Winter sounded concerned about you and wanted me to pass this along." Weiss walked over to the trunk, inside she was feeling something she hadn't since Beacon.
Weiss: "Does father know about this?"
Klein: "Know about what? I simply came here to tell you what was for dinner, nothing more." Weiss smiled.
Weiss: "Thank you for informing me."
Klein: "Of course."
He bowed before leaving Weiss with her gift. Taking out the new clothes, she noticed the coat and leggings were thick, more suited for the cold weather of Atlas than her combat skirt was. Sticking out from one of the coat pockets Weiss noticed a note, it had been written by Winter, briefly explaining that she, while unable to do much for Weiss, wanted to help. Though that message might not have sounded as heartwarming in Winter's own words, Weiss still read it with a smile. Putting the outfit back down into the trunk, she picked up her new rapier and held it like she did her old one. It felt different, obviously it would, it wasn't the same weapon she had trained with, it wasn't the same weapon that she used to pass her father's test, and it wasn't the same weapon which had her memories attached to it.
But still, memories can be made and training can be started again. Weiss, during the times she could in secret, worked on her new form. Some nights she'd find white Beowolves, her sister's summons, sneaking onto the grounds of the manor. Days of training would turn into weeks before becoming a month. Her sister relayed one final note to her, asking only one question, 'why did you want to become a Huntress'. It stopped Weiss, she hadn't expected such a question, but the more she asked herself the more she was unsure. Perhaps it was to not accept her father's will, an act of rebelling. Perhaps she wanted to believe in fairy tales like her leader, or perhaps, the worse, she didn't have a clue.
Far from the snowing land of Atlas, a young girl wandered from the shadows of an airship into the busy streets of Mistral. Even with her hood up, she didn't stick out much as her robes made her appear like an average person. She made her way to the lower levels of the city. She aimed for the place she once called home, having left it long ago in order to follow the footsteps of another. That person was once her mentor, but that title was lost now. Everything that had happened felt like a nightmare, only worsened by the fact that there was no waking up from it and that there was nowhere to run. Just like the alleyway she called home, her life was empty, anything that was there had no value. At least, that's what Blake thought to herself as she questioned her life.
It all started for her with a meeting that almost seemed fated. Blake, at a young age, with both her parents gone, lived on the streets, surviving not on the kindness of strangers, but whatever food she could find in the trash. Being the lower section of the city, people weren't well off, and those that were made it clear not to cross them. For Blake it was a constant game of avoiding people, keeping out of sight, and making it through the day. Her willpower could only take her so far, one winter when it turned especially cold, Blake found it impossible to keep warm. Unable to rest near a fire without drawing someone's attention and risk being attacked or worse. At the time she would have rather died then fall to a fate like that and so she sat in the shadows, cold and alone.
But one young girl, with short red hair, happened to see her when no one else did. When the young red-haired girl spoke up, it caught Blake off guard, scaring her for the first time in a while. That was the day Ada and Blake met. The two were ten years apart from each other, though they shared miserable upbringings, they were like night and day. Blake was quiet and to herself, always lurking in the darkness of the White Fang, which she joined alongside Ada who was charismatic yet not in a friendly way, but instead like a leader with a strong resolve that stood forward. Over time, as the White Fang moved towards violence and after she did something horrible, Blake started to see that they were turning into what they hated, what they claimed to stand against. She left that life, she told herself that she would help everyone, but she knew that was impossible, she tried to be realistic about it.
Then she encountered Ruby, that child inside Blake, that small piece of her that was alone and cold, that lurked in the shadows, saw a small flickering light. Though she kept quiet, she was glad to be on team RWBY, emphasis on was. The day Beacon fell, when the White Fang showed their faces, when Grimm stormed in, it was all shattered. Then when she saw Ada, when they met face to face and Yang joined in their fight, Blake accepted it. After seeing the gap in their strength she felt powerless, useless, and those feelings hadn't left since she was a child, she had just been running from them. Then Yang lost her arm, all Blake could do was take her and run. That was the only thing she was good at, running away. If an angry human found her as a kid, she ran away, the White Fang started to change, she ran away, Ada appeared, all she could do was run away.
It made sense that Blake would run from her team, she lied to them, was arguably responsible for what happened to Yang, and she feared what they'd think, especially Weiss, about her after learning she was once a part of the White Fang, but all the problems that could come from such things can just be avoided, right? That's what Blake wanted to believe, because despite how she displayed herself on the outside, on the inside she was still a child with childish beliefs of the world. When she finally faced that, she sat down in the alleyway and started to cry into her arms, wishing for someone to help. The only one of the four girls who could be in possibly worse shape was Yang, having not slept peacefully every since (F/N) and Ruby left.
Her mind dwelled on what happened at Beacon, how she was so weak, how everything came crashing down, and how now not only were her friends gone, her sister left her as well. She felt as though the world hated her, that it was showing her how useless she was, not just to herself but to others. It wasn't a feeling she just had after the fall. She wasn't as smart as Weiss, and both Ruby and Blake studied fine on their own, so she kept her grades to herself and didn't worry the others about her near failing scores. Then there was Ruby, the more she grew, while Yang was proud she also found herself needed less, something she felt uneasy about. Then there was Blake, a quiet stone wall that didn't need anyone, but Yang thought if there ever was a time she could help someone, it was with her strength, but instead, she was the one in need of saving after losing her arm.
Even at home, there was nothing she could do, she may have had her arm back but her father had taken time off from work to be with her. She felt as though she was just a waste of his time, that he didn't need to take care of her, because in the end it just made her feel like a burden. Then her scroll rang. She looked over to the side of her bed and saw that it was Ruby. Her scroll rang one more time before it stopped. Sitting on the side of her bed she reached for it, only to flinch when it went off once more, a message was sent this time. Picking it up, she opened it to read what Ruby sent. Though the message was sent with good intentions, it only made Yang angry. If Ruby was sorry she'd be here for her sister just like Yang was there for her when they were younger. But no one was here, even (F/N) who gave her her right arm back simply left her.
Letting her emotions out, Yang threw her scroll across the room before covering her face and crying her eyes out into her hands. Footsteps could be heard running upstairs, the door swung open to a concerned father. Seeing her scroll on the ground, he could guess why she was crying. Tai walked over to Yang, sat next to her, and placed his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. Yang was conflicted, her emotions all mixed together. Her father was here for her, but she didn't want him to be. She wanted to make up with Ruby, but she was still holding on to the fact that Ruby left her, just like everyone else. (F/N) gave her a part of her back, something that doesn't just happen every day, yet she was still mad at him.
Tai: "Is it about Ruby?" Yang took her hands away from her face and shook her head.
Yang: "It's not just that."
Tai: "Yang, I can only help if I know what's wrong." After taking a moment to calm her emotions she answered.
Yang: "Why... why does everyone abandon me?" Tai's eyes widened slightly.
Tai: "No one is abandoning you."
Yang: "Oh?" Her tone turned to anger. "Ruby didn't just run away? My friends didn't leave on their own? Mom didn't choose a mission over us? Raven didn't just leave?"
Tai: "It's not like-" Yang's anger finally let itself pour out for a moment.
Yang: "No! It is like that!" Her eyes finally turned red. "It's always been like that! ...people always leave once they realize I'm useless." Tai was hurt by her words.
Tai: "I never left you or anyone because they weren't useful towards me."
Yang: "Then where were you before? Because I remember having to be the one, the child that took care of Ruby while you did nothing." Tai lowered his head in shame.
Tai: "Yeah... I'm sorry you had to pick up those pieces. When that happened..."
Yang: "If you were sorry you would have said it sooner."
Tai: "I don't like talking about Raven, but when she left it affected our team. Qrow left for so long I thought he was dead. Summer wasn't that ray of sunshine she once was, it was like her heart became hollow. Then I was left with a child that I didn't know how to care for. Thankfully... Summer came and helped, things seemed better. After she left... it all felt like it was going to fall apart again but worse, a lot worse. How could I take care of two daughters and work enough to support us? What if while I was away you both were attacked by Grimm? If Qrow hadn't come back, if Ozpin didn't help... I don't know what would have happened." Yang was starting to feel guilty for what she said.
Yang: "I'm sorry... I didn't realize..."
Tai: "It's okay, I'm sorry too, I should have been there more for both of you."
Yang: "But what now?" She asked with watery eyes.
Tai: "I don't know, but I do remember a story that might help." Yang wiped the rest of her tears away.
Yang: "A story?"
Tai: "It's about an old man who lost his wife and daughter. He was pretty broken, every night he'd have nightmares of them, and every day he'd wake up as if he saw a ghost. It took him time, but eventually, he accepted what happened. Now letting go... that's something he couldn't really do."
Yang: "I think I get it."
Tai: "To this day, I still think he holds onto them." He got up and walked over to the door, with it opened he looked back. "Take your time, if there's anything you can learn from (F/N)'s stories, it's that life hurts, but you live for those good moments, you just need to find them again. That's what you can do now." Yang looked at him confused.
Yang: "That old man was (F/N)?"
Tai: "Yep, I think he still has a room for them in the tunnels under Beacon, but that's a story for another time. I'm going to check on the oven, I'll bring lunch up when it's done."
While Yang sat and thought to herself, and her father went downstairs, off in the kingdom of Mistral, there was Ruby. In the beginning, she didn't know what she wanted to do or should do, when she saw (F/N) leaving it seemed like a doorway away from what was going on. As she traveled with him she learned that that wasn't the case, and that she had run away from a fight and stepped into a war. Though she wouldn't fully realize what she was getting into until later, when (F/N) would show his darker colors, the Nox part of him. Currently, however, the two were simply moving on with their journey, able to see the horizon, but not what was underneath it and the moving shadows behind them.