Disaster AU Part 1 (Patreon)

Things were looking desperate for the members of Team RWBY. Their first mission as graduates of Beacon Academy gone awry due to a Nevermore appearing in their hunt for grimm. All four of them were taken down in one swift move by the beast, with Weiss and Yang taking the brunt of the damage due to the grimm’s claws, pinning them down to the ground under its weight, as Ruby and Blake were sent flying against the castle ruins walls. The sounds of their bodies colliding with the walls echoed through the open area as the Nevermore roared its dominance to drown it out.

“Ach!” The sound of the blonde’s voice came from Weiss’s left, giving her an idea of where to look for her friend.

Taking a second to try and breath, the heiress tried to open her eyes, seeing nothing but red as blood quickly coated her vision. “Ya… Yang! Where… Where are the others?!” Weiss’s voice came out strained, ragged, and almost broken from the sheer weight of the beast crushing her ribs.

“I don’t know! Everything happened so-”

“Get your claws off my friends!” The familiar sound of Ruby’s voice seemed to echo through the area as she stood in front of the best, body bloodied and cut from her collision with the wall. Suddenly, the very unique and familiar sound of the girl’s weapon, Crescent Rose, unfolding and deploying could be heard by the two that were trapped under the Nevermore. The girl planned to take the beast on by herself! “Come on!!”

Those were the last words to leave the girl’s mouth before the beast began to rise off the ground, flapping its wings to take flight. Luckily, this was just what the crimsonette wanted, bringing a smile to her lips before she turned and faced away from the two as she watched Weiss and Yang wipe the blood from their eyes. “Good… Blake is on her way! I’m gonna lure it into-”

“Ruby!” Weiss screamed, hoping to get her leader’s attention as she watched the flying grimm charge right for the girl with her back turned, claws aimed at her head. “Run, you dolt!”

“Just trust me, Weiss! I know what I’m-” As Ruby turned around, it was as if everything moved in slow motion. He vision was filled with nothing but the Nevermore’s claws heading right for her face. At least, that was until a quick flash of white and blue covered her view and she fell towards the ground and landing on her rear, a large puff of dirt surrounded her the beast. When things started moving at normal again, all she could hear was the grimm roar like it had hit its target before that same shade of white appeared through the dirt cloud. The girl quickly looked down towards her feet, curious. A glyph had been placed out in front of her face, torso, and thighs separately, one of the Nevermore’s claws barely piercing through the one guarding her thighs. “Okay, Weiss! I get it. I need help sometimes.” The leader turned to face her teammate that she assumed to be still beside her sister, gasping as she only saw Yang and Blake together. “Wei-”

“Took you long enough to agree…. Dolt…” the heiress’s voice came in front of Ruby as the cloud slowly started to disperse and show the aftermath of the beast’s attack. “Now…. Stand up… I’m gonna need help…” Everyone could heard her, but no one knew exactly what she was talking about until the could fully vanished, showing Weiss standing there with her rapier piercing through the Nevermore’s head. She listened to her teammate’s gasp as they finally realized that her left arm was gone and the grimm had managed to pierce just barely into her stomach to try and reach Ruby, luckily being stopped before going more than a few inches into her skin.

“Weiss!” Was all the three of them said as the beast started to vanish into the air, having been killed by Myrtenaster. The girl’s name echoed through her mind as she fell to her knees, landing on her side before her own rapier fell beside her, slicing her right eye and earning a scream of pain from the heiress as her teammates dashed towards her, Ruby obviously the first one there.

“Weiss! How could you?! Why did you?! I don’t- I don’t-” The crimsonette was frantic, scared, even ashamed of herself for failing her teammate this badly. “Why?!” Tears began to form in Ruby’s eyes as she reached down and gently took Weiss into her arms, seeing the blood from her right eye trailing down her cheek and blood pouring out from her shoulder since her arm was completely gone.

“My body just…. moved on its own…” She answered, a forced and clearly painful smile on her face as she kept both of her eyes closed. “Before I knew it… I was standing in front of you, something sharp against my stomach, and…” Weiss let out a few deep cough, spitting blood onto both her cheeks and Ruby’s while Yang and Blake finally made it, the two quickly wrapping up and doing what they could to treat the wounds while knowing they had to take her to the hospital or… the worst may happen.

“Ruby, we need to go! We need to get her to the hospital or we may lose her…” Yang was calmer than the rest, shaking as she took hold of Weiss’s hand, helping the girl to her feet before looking for the way the team come from before their confrontation. The blonde quickly picked up the heiress and put her on her back, turning to look at Blake. “Call for help and get Ruby moving! If we don’t go now, Weiss will die!”

That one word sent shivers through everyone’s spines. The thought of losing Weiss for good was terrifying to all of them as Yang began sprinting back to camp with Weiss resting against her. They weren’t even really able to treat her wounds properly, and as both Ruby and Blake saw blood trailing down Yang’s back and onto the ground, they knew they wouldn’t have long to save her.

Luckily for Weiss, she was able to remain conscious due to the bounce in Yang’s running with each step she took. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to keep her awake. “You don’t think a Schnee can die from such a thing…. Do you?” The young girl did her best to tease them as she could hear Blake and Ruby on the phone with both the Hunter’s Association and the emergency teams respectively. “Yang…. My arm’s missing… Isn’t it?”

“Don’t talk! Just save your strength… We’re going to get you help. I promise-”

“Your semblance…” She forced out, coughing again once the blonde stopped at the camp the team had set up. “Left.” Another cough as Ruby and Blake dropped their scrolls and came to their side. “Use your semblance... or the campfire… Burn some of… My wounds closed….” Weiss forced her good eye open as the team could hear dozens of footsteps quickly approaching them, unfortunately seeing nothing but haze and blur in front of her. She could distinguish the colors of her friends’ hair, but that was about it. “Do… Do you hear that…?”

“There they are!” Glynda’s voice called out to the medic team she was escorting towards the team of four.

“Glynda! Oh thank god, you’re he-” Before Ruby could even get the words out of her throat, she saw her old teacher reach for the young heiress and put a hand to her head, listening to the deep breath she took. “What are you-”

“Quiet, Ruby.” Glynda said in a demanding tone, earning a quiet eep from the girl. “I need to concentrate and keep hold of Weiss or my semblance won’t be able to hold the blood inside of her body as we transport her.” The blonde professor took a deep breath as the medics approached her and Weiss. “Grab the girl. Two of you stay and heal the team. Escort them to the hospital as soon as you’re done.”

Weiss let out a soft breath as she was pulled off of Yang’s back by a medic, taking a moment to look towards her teammates. She didn’t realize it, but the blue color of her eyes quickly started fading into a hazy gray as she did. The young girl was able to see her friend’s faces for just a brief moment. Sadness on Ruby, fear on Blake, and desperation on Yang’s. “Idiots.” The young girl paused for a second, her eye widening before she raised her remaining arm and clicked her teeth, forcing her stamina as much as she could to form a glyph around her shoulder, almost instantly freezing it as Glynda kept hold of her forehead. “I’ll be better before you know it.”

“How can you say that, Weiss? Look at you!” Yang shouted, stomping on the ground before watching the medical team start carrying the girl to the hospital just a short bit away. “I just… I don’t….” The blonde wasn’t able to finish her thought before her tears broke through, starting to trail down her cheeks.

“Yang, was it?” The medic who stayed behind said with a smile, starting to tend to her wounds while they all watched Weiss be carried off. “Your friend is already performing a miracle… You saw her eye…” He paused as he got the team’s attention. “She’s a Schnee… They don’t die easily, or stay dead for long in her mother’s case.”

All three of them stayed quiet as they listened, eyes darting between the medic that was tending to them and then Weiss’s sleeping bag. Blake was the first to take a seat, looking out to the field and spotting the heiress’s rapier on the ground. All three of them were injured severely, so they were going to be there awhile, and the faunus realized this. “Just… Hurry up….”

Ruby’s eyes went wide as she heard the calmness in Blake’s voice, growing furious at the prospect that someone could be this way. “Blake, how can you be so calm at a time like this?! Weiss…. She... She could be dying not even thirty miles from us, and you aren’t even-”

“Of course I’m worried, Ruby!” Blake quickly interrupted, covering her face to try and hide her own tears from the team and medic. “I just… We all know Weiss wouldn’t like us to be there if we are still injured like we are… She’s resourceful… She’ll… I hope she’ll pull through.” She didn’t want to shut down how Ruby felt, but whining wouldn’t solve anything, or make Weiss feel any better once they all finally met back up. “All we can do is hope…”

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It took almost two hours for Ruby, Blake, and Yang to arrive at the hospital, sprinting through the halls until they saw Glynda standing in a hallway by herself but on her scroll. As they all approached, they could hear the woman’s voice. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Schnee… The doctors say that while it will take her a total of two years to make a full recovery, she will never be able to pick up a weapon again…”

“What?!” Ruby’s voice rang through the halls before she activated her semblance, sending rose petals scattering through the hall before she got to Glynda’s side. “Tell me you’re lying, Glynda! That can’t be true! It was our first mission as a team! She can’t have been injured this badly! She just.. She can’t!” There were no tears this time as the crimsonette spoke, only anger as she stared into Glynda’s eyes. But as everyone was able to tell by the tone of her voice, it was anger at herself.

“Is this that young Ruby Rose that my Weiss has told me about?” Willow’s voice came through the older blonde’s scroll, catching everyone’s attention. “I can hear it in your voice, dear…. You think that Weiss is forced to obey what they say, don’t you?” She paused as she waited for an answer from the girl, unable to hear Blake and Yang’s footsteps approaching the sound of her voice. “... Well… from your silence, I’d assume that’s a yes. But, tell me something. When have you ever know Weiss Schnee to be one to disappoint her friends?” Once again, the woman was met with silence as a response, but she knew that it was the calm sense of confidence she held in her voice this time that had struck a cord or hope that they all needed to hear.

“I… I’m just scared….” Ruby started, tears welling up in her eyes but refusing to fall as she spoke to the woman on the other end of the call. “She’s my best friend… And my stupidity got her hurt! Have you seen her?!”

“I have not, but Glynda has filled me in on her condition.” Once again, Willow’s voice radiated with a sense of confidence that continued to strike a chord with the young girls. “There is about a thirty percent chance that Weiss will fully recover within the next year. But she’s beaten worse odds.” The older woman let out a soft chuckle before sighing, cracking her neck. “Glynda, dear?”

“Yes?” The stoic woman asked, finally having a chance to speak after the interaction.

“Give the young girls my number. Winter and I are on our way while Whitley and Jacques stay behind to look over the manor with Klein. If they want, they can call me while we are on our way.” Before anyone could get another word in, the woman hung up the call, leaving all four of the girls in the hallway silent.

With a tap of her screen, Glynda sent Willow’s contact info to all three of the girls. “I’ll clean up the rose petals that Miss Rose has left in the hallway while you three sit.” The professor pointed down another short hallway, pointing to a blocked window. “She’s in there going through surgery. That’s all I know.” The woman gently placed her hand on Ruby’s head before walking away from the group, leaving them to sit on the floor and wait, staring at the window in near silence.

None of them said a word, neither out loud nor texting anyone about Weiss’s condition, even as their phones continued to go off from their friends calling and texting them to check on everyone. They all knew Willow was right about Weiss. That in her time at Beacon, she had never once disappointed anyone, proving to be above and beyond the stereotypes of the strong rich girl from a prejudice family. However, due to their lack of communication, neither of them had realized that a few hours had passed and that Willow and Winter were finally there.

“You three decided to sit here and mope?” The woman’s voice called from the other end of the hallway as she walked towards them, the sound of her heels clicking on the tiled floor. “And here I thought I managed to make you feel better.” Willow smiled as she approached the girls and stepped in front of their view, blocking their sight of the window to Weiss’s surgery.

All three of the girls looked up to the woman, taking in her features. The long white hair that hung down just past her hips, the slender frame that should have been almost impossible for someone of her age, and the piercing blue eyes that looked down and met their own. “Are you…?” Ruby was the only one to speak as she watched Winter approach the group with a briefcase in hand. “Weiss’s mother?”

“Indeed I am. Willow Schnee at your service.” The older woman smiled as she bowed before the trio, standing back up just to grab hold of Winter’s wrist. “Save that for later, dear. We want to make sure that our girl wakes up before we show her our gift.”

“Gift…?” Blake asked, curious what the woman meant as she looked towards Winter, seeing the pained and concerned expression on her face.

“Yes!~” The eldest Schnee smiled and took the case from her daughter, sitting on the floor on her knees in front of the rest of Weiss’s team, taking a second to open the case and show a new and improved rapier inside of it. Or at least two hilts to one that looked interchangeable. “I’ve been hoping to give this to my little girl since she graduated, but you four went out on your first mission so fast I didn’t have a chance. So… I had the boys at the labs make some adjustments to it.~”

“What adjustments? Is it better suited for her now?” Yang asked, happy to see the two had such high hopes for one of her best friends, but still concerned for what might happen.

“Yes and no… It’ll take time to get her the most crucial piece of this, but…” Willow smirked as she took out one of the hilts, pressing a button near the top with her thumb, making a blade extend out of the top. “Just as thin and light as Myrtenaster, but ten times as sharp and durable!~”

“Wait… So what’s that hilt for?” Ruby asked, reaching into the case and picking it up. “If the blade comes out of the top… Why are there two…?” It took a second, but the crimsonette easily realized why.

Willow gently took the second hilt from Ruby’s hand and smiled to the girl. “Weiss had always told Winter how she wished she could use both hands effectively in battle.~” Another press of a button and a second blade sprung from the hilt. “Same specs at the other one. Only this one has the dust cartridges in them.”

“But what’s the point?! She only has one arm! She can’t use two rapiers!” Yang pointed out, shouting at the woman.

“That’s the best part! And this was Winter’s idea.~” Willow put everything back in the kiss and smiled, closing it and moving out of the way so Winter would come into view.

Winter turned in place to look at the three confused girls, letting out a quick huff before facing the window to Weiss’s surgery room. “We’re in the process of making my sister a new arm as we speak. It will take some time, but she will fight again. She is a Schnee that doesn’t back down. So as soon as we heard her condition, we put in the call to get it ready.”

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