42

Chapter 42: Glyphs

Monday, 4:32 P.M., Beacon Academy…

...Cinder's Dorm

"Taurus, have you completely lost your mind?!"

Within one of Beacon's many generic guest dorms, Emerald Sustrai let out a silent groan. Curled up in the large windowsill, the green-haired girl tried to focus on the weapon magazine she'd been trying to read for the last hour. Propping up her head on her fist, her red eyes skimmed through various articles, less out of actual interest, and more to ignore-

"No, you will not! That is not a decision you can make on your own!"

Looking up at the ceiling in exasperation, Emerald glanced towards the nearby bed. She met the eyes of her partner, Mercury Black, who had looked at her at that same moment. Laying on his back, the grey-haired teen paused in his mindless tossing of a blue ball he had found, catching it as it fell into his hand. There was a brief moment of silent camaraderie between them, both thankful that they were at least not suffering alone. Then Mercury shook his head, rolling his eyes as he went back to his thoughtless distraction. Huffing, Emerald turned back to her magazine.

Both teens were trying to be as quiet and out of the way as possible. They had been planning to go into the city, either to case their next target or just to distract themselves from the mind-numbing boredom Beacon offered them while undercover. However, to do that, they needed permission from their leader, Cinder Fall. And at the moment, talking to her about anything would be…

"You bullheaded ass!"

...ill-advised.

Emerald flinched, her hands clenching, accidentally crumpling her magazine. She risked a glance towards her leader, quickly going back to her reading when she accidentally caught Cinder's burning yellow glare.

For the last thirty minutes, Cinder had been angrily pacing around the room, in a hushed shouting match with her scroll that was getting louder by the minute. Emerald didn't know what it was about, just that Adam Taurus was on the other end of the call, but she was starting to get worried they would start attracting attention soon.

Not that Emerald was going to say anything. She was worried, not stupid.

Whatever Taurus was saying, though, he was making Cinder angrier by the second. The room was steadily growing warmer, Cinder's powers raising the temperature along with her temper.

Emerald and Mercury both jumped when Cinder suddenly slammed her fist onto a nearby desk. Through gritted teeth, the dark woman hissed, "Taurus, I am already dealing with this from Torchwick, so I will only say this one more time: I don't care. I don't care about this girl, or what she's done, or any other petty little grudge you have against her. You are not wasting our hard-earned time, resources, and manpower, just so you can deal with your ex."

Both Emerald and Mercury's heads jerked up, staring at Cinder incredulously. They shot each other a look. They couldn't have heard that right.

Unfortunately, they weren't going to get clarification anytime soon. Taurus' response was so loud that the two could hear his muffled voice through the scroll, and whatever he said sent Cinder into a new tirade.

Emerald groaned again, turning away from her raging leader. She gazed out the window, staring forlornly at all the students milling around on the grounds. She'd gladly switch places with any one of them, even just for a few minutes, if it meant she could get out and do something.

Among the swath of teenagers on the grounds, she dimly recognized a few of them. One of them was impossible to miss, given the neon red cloak billowing behind her. The same girl that had nearly knocked Cinder over the other day was leading a group of other girls away from the school, waving excitedly for them to follow as she dragged one of them by the arm, a girl with orange hair and a bow.

Emerald scowled, going back to her reading as she tried to tune out Cinder's ranting.

This job really sucks sometimes.

Vale Docks, Warehouse District

"So, how exactly do you think this will go, Snowflake?"

Weiss' eyes flinched towards the sky, holding in a worried groan. The sky was starting to tint orange as her team made their way through the winding paths between the various warehouses. Penny, at the behest of Winter, lead them past buildings and containers with the confidence of someone who'd made the trek regularly. From the way the dockworkers and occasional Atlassian soldier barely reacted to her presence, Weiss figured that was exactly the case.

"I don't know, Yang," she said, answering the blonde's question. "Winter said she'd help teach you three, but we didn't really talk about how."

Yang hummed, folding her arms behind her head. "So, we're going in blind. Sounds fun."

"I think it'll be fun!" Ruby piped up, bubbling with her usual pep. "I've been thinking about all the cool things I could if I used glyphs along with my speed." She squealed in excitement, her crutches wobbling as she swayed side to side. "It's gonna be awesome!"

Blake giggled lightly at Ruby's bubbliness. Even with her leg in the shape it was, Ruby's energy would not be contained. "I think you might be getting a little ahead of yourself, Ruby." She looked over towards Weiss.

The heiress nodded in agreement, though a slight smile played on her lips, too. "Blake's right, Ruby. Winter's going to help you learn the easiest parts of our Semblance, the most basic of the basics. There's a lot more involved with the more complicated glyphs than you might think."

Yang chuckled. "We figured that, Weiss. Some of the things I've seen you do must be a pain to learn."

Weiss huffed out a laugh. "You have no idea…" she muttered under her breath.

Ruby was undeterred, exclaiming happily, "Even if we don't learn much, it's still a whole new Semblance for us to learn. Besides," Her face fell for a moment, looking slightly miffed. "It's bound to be more fun than detention was."

The other girls couldn't help but groan in agreement, Blake and Weiss trying to ignore the throbbing in their arms. For their first day of detention, Goodwitch had made good on her comment about moving the new combat bots. General Ironwood had donated just shy of a hundred of the now-outdated AK-130s, and Team RWBY, along with Sun, Neptune, and Penny, had spent the better part of two hours after class moving them from the airfield to the training room. While they were thankfully lighter than the previous AK-100s, they were still a pain to move for everyone involved, save Penny and Yang, both of whom could carry two bot-filled crates effortlessly by themselves, to the annoyance of the others. They had to pair off and carry every single crate together, much to the protest of their aching arms. Ruby was the only one who was spared the heavy lifting, due to her leg, but she had to suffer an even worse fate in her opinion: helping Professor Goodwitch with the paperwork.

Once they were released from their punishment (for the day, anyway) and Sun and Neptune took off to do their own thing, Penny received a message from Winter, asking her to lead Team RWBY to a warehouse the Atlassian Military was currently renting. They were still trying to figure out why.

"Still seems a little odd that we're meeting here," Blake couldn't help but mention, glancing around the docks. Her ears dipped when she looked towards a certain spot of empty tarmac. Before her Sadness and Regret could take hold, she felt Yang bump shoulders with her, flashing her a grin.

"Specialist Winter was already stationed here today for inventory," Penny explained, glancing back at them. "And stated that one of the empty warehouses would serve well for training away from prying eyes."

Weiss nodded. "That makes sense. There'd be a lot of questions if someone caught us practicing at school." She couldn't help but shoot Yang and Ruby an annoyed glare. "Again."

Yang rolled her eyes. "It ain't that big a deal, Weiss. Jaune and the others were cool with it."

"Pyrrha wouldn't look us in the eyes this morning."

Ruby giggled as she recalled what Yang and Weiss were talking about. As JNPR helped the sisters back to Beacon, Pyrrha and Nora helping Ruby limp along, while Jaune and Ren had to practically drag Yang by her shoulders, the two had laid out the whole Mates event, from the day after Blake's heat to them gaining their Affinity. Their responses had been… memorable, to say the least.

Ren, to no one's surprise, took the whole thing in stride, taking a moment to consider their words before stoically voicing his acceptance. Though his aloofness was somewhat ruined by the permanent flush in his cheeks. Nora was dumbfounded for a minute, before launching into a slew of questions, ranging from simple curiosity (which Ruby cheerfully answered) to wholly inappropriate (which Yang gleefully explained).

Jaune, true to Yang's words, hardly reacted to the 'revelation' that Team RWBY was as much an item as they were a team, more focused on the fact that they each now controlled four Semblances, while he was still trying to figure out if he even had one. Pyrrha had the strongest response, becoming a red-faced stuttering mess after discovering Team RWBY's new dynamic. Though she hadn't said anything negative, thankfully.

Yang waved Weiss's worries away. "The girl just found out the four hot chicks across the hall all share a bed. Give her a few days to process and she'll be able to talk to us again without her face matching her hair." She barked out a laugh. "Honestly, I figured Jaune would be the one to act like that. But, nope! Guy didn't bat an eye at us."

"I did tell you he already knew about us, Yang," Blake reminded.

"Yeah, I know," Yang conceded, looking up at the sky. "But come on! I like the guy, but he usually worries and freaks about everything. But this? Nothin'!"

All conversation ended when Penny came to a sudden stop. "This is our destination!" she stated cheerfully, waving them towards the wide-open door of one particular warehouse.

"Finally!" Ruby said, leading the group in. "This is going to be so…" She came to a sudden stop only a few steps through the door. Her mouth opened in shock. "Whoa…"

The walls were old, the aged metal-tinged green form years spent beside the sea. Catwalks lined the upper levels, stretching across its length. The warehouse was bare for the most part, save a few Atlas embossed crates stacked against the walls. At the center of the mostly empty warehouse, however, stood a familiar hulking figure.

The rest of Ruby's team were similarly gobsmacked, Yang pointing and shouting, "What's that doing here?!"

It was the Paladin, the same one they'd fought two days prior. The once-proud machine had been reduced to a mechanical corpse, bits of broken, melted metal scattered on the ground around it. It's severed cockpit sat in a twisted heap at its feet, the mech having to be held up by multiple cables running down from the ceiling.

Blake's ears pinned back, the sight of the mech putting her on the defensive. "Why is it-?"

"We had it moved here yesterday."

All eyes snapped towards the legs of the broken mech. Winter slowly walked into view from behind the machine, her boots clicking against the concrete. Sparing the Paladin a glance, she went on. "The technology used to upgrade this Paladin, as well as the Paladin itself, were all stolen from our warehouses here in Vale. We're hoping to inventory how much of our missing stock was installed into this Paladin, and pin down what, if anything, Torchwick and the White Fang still possess."

"Oh." Each girl made sounds of understanding. Blake relaxed, though her ears stayed a little bent, her eyes flitting around the warehouse.

Winter made her way in front of the Paladin, stopping right in front of the girls. She nodded towards Penny, who flashed a smile in response. "Penny, there are some supplies in the back office we will require. Could you collect them for me?"

Penny snapped a salute. "Absolutely, ma'am." She ran off at once, leaving Winter alone with Weiss and her… girlfriends.

Well… Winter thought to herself. This should be… different, if nothing else.

She turned her attention towards Ruby. "Ruby, a pleasure to see you again. I assume your leg is healing as expected?"

Ruby grinned, glancing down at her leg. "Yep! The nurse said the brace might be able to come off tomorrow."

Winter made a small sound of surprise, looking impressed. "Your healing factor is quite remarkable."

"Yeah, Rubes has always healed pretty quick," Yang smirked, nudging Ruby a bit with her elbow. "We figure her Semblance has something to do with it."

Winter moved her gaze to Yang, giving her an appraising look. "I see." Her eyes panned towards Blake, giving her the same look up and down. She shifted her weight slightly, so subtle only Weiss and Blake caught it, then drew her lips into a polite line. "I suppose I didn't give much of a proper introduction yesterday to you two." She held out her hand to Yang and Blake. "I am Winter Schnee, Weiss' elder sister."

They both blinked at her, surprised. Yang grinned her trademark half-smile, grasping Winter's hand tightly. "Yang Xiao-Long, Ruby's big sister." Her smile shifted to a smirk. "Nice to meet ya. Weiss has told us a lot about you."

Winter arched a brow, glancing towards Weiss. "Has she now?"

Weiss said nothing, shooting Yang a half-hearted glare. Yang just smirked back, and Weiss rolled her eyes.

Noting this, Winter looked to Blake, holding out her hand. The cat Faunus hesitated, her ears pinning back slightly. She suddenly glanced to the side, meeting Weiss's calming eyes. She sucked in a breath, her shoulders and ears relaxing as she took Winter's hand. "Blake Belladonna. It's an honor, ma'am."

Winter nodded in return, unsurprised by the girl's polite tone and nervousness. After hearing of her exploits with the White Fang, Winter wasn't sure what to make of her as of yet. Though, perhaps she could now get one question of hers answered. "If I may ask, do you have any relation to Ghira Belladonna by chance?"

Blake's ears pinned back in an instant, her jaw tightening. "He's my father," she hesitantly admitted after a few seconds.

Winter hummed, having expected as much. It certainly explained how Blake was so devoted towards Faunus rights, yet turned against the White Fang as she did. "I had the pleasure of meeting him once," she said, much to the surprise of all those assembled.

"You did?" Blake asked, blinking in surprise.

"About… what was it, six years ago? A chance meeting in Mistral, if I remember correctly." Seeing the anxiety in Blake's eyes, she decided to give the girl an honest concession. "He's a good man. A good leader."

Whatever Blake was expecting her to say, it wasn't that. After a moment of stunned silence, her ears slowly perked back up, a hesitant smile forming on her lips. "Thank you for saying so."

Winter gave her a small nod. Looking at the group as a whole, she said, "Weiss explained your… status to me…" She couldn't help fumbling with her words a bit. It was still hard trying to wrap her head around just how involved her sister now was with these three girls. Thankfully, outside of a nervous flick of Weiss' eyes, none of them noticed her minor slip. "And she believes you've all gained a Faunus Affinity. Could one of you please explain it to me?"

There was a brief moment of silent deliberation, the members of Team RWBY communicating through looks and, based on the glow of their Mate's Marks, feeling each other's emotions. Winter found it quite fascinating to watch, focusing on Weiss as each of the symbols on her neck would brighten or dim, and Weiss would change her focus accordingly.

A decision was apparently made, as Ruby was the one to speak. Meeting the young leader's gaze, Winter was once again struck by how much emotion was in her silver eyes, shining with honest kindness. "We're not sure how, but somehow we've been able to use each other's Semblances."

Winter pursed her lips. "Yes, Weiss said as much. I hope you'll forgive me for remaining skeptical. Such a thing is… well, frankly, it sounds like that of a fairytale." She took a step closer, curiosity burning through her doubt. "Could you show me?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Ruby shifted her weight, placing her left crutch under her right arm, leaning heavily on both. "Sure!" Smiling brightly, she lifted her hand and held her palm up, curling her fingers into a gesture Winter was very familiar with.

Looking back, Winter felt rather foolish. She knew Weiss would never lie to her, especially with something so ludicrous, but she still hadn't quite believed her. It was just too fanciful to be true, people gaining one another's Semblances. Especially a hereditary one like the one she and Weiss shared.

So no one was more shocked than Winter herself when her mouth fell open, her eyes bulging as she stared at the shimmering red glyph hovering over Ruby's palm.

Ruby giggled, apparently finding her expression funny. "See? I told you. And it's not just me. Blake, Yang?"

Having to forcibly tear her eyes away from the… impossibility in front of her, Winter snapped her head to the side, just in time to see Blake curve her finger just as Ruby had, willing a violet glyph into existence. The Faunus' eyes darted from Winter's face to the glyph, her nervous smile widening just a tad.

Her shock starting to wear off, Winter turned an expectant eye towards Yang. She watched as the blonde brought her hand up, then hesitated. Yang frowned, concentrating as she twisted her fingers. She looked to Weiss, holding her hand up for appraisal. Weiss gave her a nod, a proud smile forming on her lips. Grinning back, Yang looked down at her palm, the muscles in her arm tensing slightly. An ever-familiar Schriiing! sliced through the air, and a slightly oversized glyph formed over Yang's palm. Grinning at the yellow snowflake, Yang laughed in triumph, pumping the air with her other arm.

Winter stared, dumbfounded by the multicolored glyphs in front of her. She was only startled from her stupor when someone cleared their throat. Winter blinked, looking over to find Weiss staring at her, a suppressed smirk on her lips as her eyes danced with mirth. Humorous blue eyes darted from her back to the three glyph-bearing girls in a way Winter could only interpret as "I-told-you-so'. She narrowed her eyes at her younger sister, unamused. Weiss merely looked away innocently.

This struck Winter as odd. I don't recall her ever being so… impish. Her scrutiny shifted towards Ruby, remembering her… enthusiasm during their talk yesterday. Perhaps these girls are having a larger impact on Weiss than I thought.

Shaking off her initial shock, Winter nodded towards the girls. "Well, it seems Weiss was correct. This is… unprecedented." She floundered for a moment behind her calm facade. Where to go from here? She quickly settled for asking, "Is this the extent of your capabilities with glyphs?"

The three lowered their hands, their glyphs fading into the ether. Blake was the one who answered, albeit tensely. "It is. Weiss said that this one was the easiest to learn and that the others are much more complicated."

Winter noted how timid the cat Faunus was as she spoke to her. While understandable, given both their histories, she couldn't get to know the girl like Weiss wanted if Blake was constantly intimidated by her. Something to work on later, she thought.

Inclining her head towards Weiss, Winter said, "She is correct." She lifted her hand, a white glyph forming in her palm. "The barrier glyph is the absolute simplest at our disposal. It takes the least amount of effort to create, and requires an extremely simple visualization to focus on."

At that, Ruby frowned, her brow furrowed in thought. "Visualization?" she asked, not quite understanding.

Winter cocked a brow at her questioning tone, then looked to Weiss. "Did you not explain the concept of how our glyphs work?"

Weiss ducked her head, her face tinting slightly. "I meant to, but… I wasn't quite sure how to explain."

Winter frowned at her. "It's not that difficult, I don't think." Turning back to the others, she went to speak… only to hesitate. She'd been ready to give the same speech she'd given Weiss years ago, during that brief period where Weiss was just discovering her Semblance and Winter was still tolerating her father's presence. It had been easy enough at the time, given Weiss' willingness to learn and her own desire to assist her little sister. But now… she barely knew these girls. Yet, she was supposed to teach them a skill that only she and her sister shared.

Perhaps Weiss has a point, Winter thought, feeling an odd twinge in her chest.

Still, she was not one to back down. Weiss asked for her help with this, and she would give it to the best of her abilities. Steeling herself, she began her lesson. "Well, to begin with, you should all understand exactly what it is these glyphs do. When Weiss and I- and now you, I suppose- create a glyph, we are altering the world around us. Within the confines of these glyphs, we can change the rules of reality itself."

To her amusement, Ruby's eyes seemed to sparkle with stars as she listened to her words, mouthing the word 'cool' under her breath. Yang and Blake looked intrigued, but confused, sharing a quick look. "Could you explain that a bit more, please?" Blake asked.

"Certainly," Winter agreed. "We need only wait for… ah, perfect timing." The group looked towards the back of the warehouse as they heard a door creak open. Penny came in with a pair of wooden crates slung under one arm, and what looked to be a large cooler under the other. "Over here with them, Penny. Thank you." As the android set the boxes down a few paces away from them and began opening them, Winter turned back. "Perhaps it would be best to explain through demonstration."

The three girls looked at her curiously, while Weiss merely nodded, no doubt remembering how Winter had done the same thing for her years earlier.

With only the slightest turn of her head, Winter looked towards Penny. "Now."

In a flash, Penny pulled her head out of the crate and reared back her arm. The four members of Team RWBY caught only the brief glimpse of something grey and round in her hand before Penny threw it at Winter at superhuman speed.

The four girls flinched at the sudden action, panic on their faces, none more so than Weiss. Before they could fully process what was happening, Winter moved.

Without looking, Winter swung her arm towards Penny, her palm out. The glyph in her hand spun wildly, suddenly expanding to three feet in diameter. A dull thud sounded as something slammed into the glyph, followed by a metallic clang as the object fell to the floor.

Winter had to suppress the urge to smirk at their gobsmacked expressions, especially Weiss'. When she'd done the same for Weiss when they were younger, she'd used a kickball. Not a fifty-kilo ball of steel.

"Depending on the type of glyph," she continued, unperturbed that everyone was staring at the now dented ball of metal spinning on the ground. "We can change the world around us to fit the situation. A barrier glyph such as this one, for instance, achieves the simple function of creating a solid object in midair."

The barrier glyph faded away, and Winter then moved her hand into a different gesture. A new glyph formed on the ground beneath the metal ball, this one tinted black. "A more complicated example would be a gravity glyph, such as this one." Her fingertips twitched slightly, and the ball slowly rose to head-height.

Yang eyed the floating ball, crossing her arms. "Okay, I'll bite. What makes this one so complicated? You're just making it float. Our friend Pyrrha can do the same thing."

Winter arched a brow, noting how Weiss' eyes flicked between Yang and Winter worriedly. Her concern amused her somewhat. Did you forget you asked the same thing, Weiss? "A fair question," she answered. "The complication is that to alter the rules of nature, you must understand what it is that you are altering. A barrier glyph is easy because everyone can understand how a solid surface works. To alter gravity, you must understand the mechanics of it."

Blake's eyes lit up in understanding. "We have to know the science," she clarified.

Winter smiled kindly. "Precisely."

"Uh…," Ruby cut in, her eyes full of dread. "That sounds… complicated."

Winter turned to her, saying, "That's because it is, Ruby. The Semblance my family shares requires just as much mental preparation as it does physical ability, arguably more so."

A nervous chuckle passed Yang's lips, her shoulders stiffening a little. "Hehe… sounds fun…"

Weiss looked at her out of the corner of her eye, smirking. "There's a reason I strive to be the best student at Beacon, Yang. I have to be to use my Semblance properly."

Yang nodded faintly, her tone both apprehensive and impressed. "Yeah, no kidding. Half the stuff we've seen you do, I bet you need a big brain to pull it off."

Sensing the blonde's unease, and making a note to ask if Ozpin would allow her to see the girls' grades later, Winter continued. "Once you grasp the core concepts of a glyph's nature, Yang, it does become easier to conjure them through repetition. Our glyphs are extensions of ourselves, and like any part of yourself, the more you use them, the less effort will be required, both physically and mentally."

Yang's brow rose at Winter's words. She nodded slowly, her grin becoming more confident. "Okay, I think I get that."

Satisfied with her response, Winter decided to finish her little introduction. "Now, if we are done with the preambles, perhaps we could move on to some practical training."

This got Ruby's excitement up, the little leader practically bouncing on her crutches. "Oh, what are we going to do? Some kind of cool super-secret Schnee training regiment?"

Winter… could only blink back dumbly at her. She glanced to the side, seeing Weiss roll her eyes in exasperation, though an odd smile played on her lips. She met Winter's gaze, giving her a look that the elder Schnee took to mean "Seeing what I'm dealing with every day?"

Filing away both Ruby's… odd question and Weiss' subsequent amusement, Winter spoke to the younger girl. "Not… exactly, Ruby. I merely want you all to work on mastering the barrier glyph, as well as your endurance with glyphs in general."

When Ruby voiced her confusion, Blake and Yang seeming equally bemused, Weiss explained. "She wants to test the limits of your glyphs. How strong they are, can you control their size, how many can you make at once- things like that."

"Indeed," Winter confirmed. "Once I see where your strengths and weaknesses lie, perhaps then we can see about moving onto the more… thrilling types of glyphs."

Ruby's excitement dimmed a bit, making Winter wonder what exactly she thought they were going to be doing today. "Oh…" Then, so quickly it startled Winter, Ruby's face lit up once again. "Okay! Let's get started! What do we do first?"

Winter cocked her head at the girl's out of place enthusiasm. The young leader was not alone, as both Blake and Yang gained a determined glint in their eyes. Weiss was also looking at them, Winter noting the hint of pride on her face.

Winter smirked. Yes, this would be fascinating indeed.

One Hour Later

"Spread your fingers apart just a bit, Ruby. Keep your focus… yes, just like that!"

As Winter watched the red glyph above her head slowly double its size, she felt a swirl of satisfaction in her chest. Taking into account that this was their first real experience using glyphs, Weiss' team was doing surprisingly well. Better than she could have expected.

For simplicity's sake, Winter had broken down the barrier glyph training into three parts: size, platforms, and combat. Once each girl had mastered the first step, she would move them onto the next. Blake had taken to the practice surprisingly well, having near-perfect control altering her glyph's proportions in under ten minutes. Yang and Ruby had been a bit trickier, the younger sister having trouble with the minute movements required of her fingers to change the glyph's sizes, while the older seemed to have trouble with control in general. Still, with some pointers from Weiss and herself, Winter had enough confidence in their limited ability to move onto something more, as Yang had put it, 'fun'.

"Coming through!"

Looking upwards, Winter just caught sight of Yang landing onto Ruby's glyph, running across its surface before leaping off, summoning her own glyph directly under herself. Blake was hot on her heels, forming a violet glyph in front of Yang's as Ruby's faded away behind her.

It had started simply enough, with Winter having them focus on making glyphs strong enough to stand on. As Weiss soon warned her, however, it took Yang a mere five minutes after making a consistently strong glyph to turn the whole concept of the training into a game. Using her glyphs, she set to creating a constantly changing obstacle course in the upper levels of the warehouse. A mere yell of encouragement and roll of amber eyes later, and Blake had soon joined her, flipping through the air with stunning grace. Ruby, unable to join in the fun properly, settled for randomly adding her own glyphs into the mix, still trying to change their size consistently.

"Bizarre, isn't it?"

Weiss's voice broke Winter from her thoughts. The younger Schnee had wandered over to her, leaving Ruby to practice on her own. Winter followed her sister's gaze, watching as Blake, Yang, and now, after another yell of invitation, Penny, ran laps in the air, leaping and weaving through the ceiling's supports and catwalks, landing on their self-made platforms.

"That's one word for it," Winter agreed.

Truthfully, as she listened to Yang's constant laughs and taunts ("C'mon, Penny! Don't tell me I'm faster than the super bot!"), there was a part of her that wanted to berate them all, because their Semblance was one of the few proud things left of their family's legacy, not a plaything! But as she watched the teens use their new powers for… well, fun… it somehow brought a smile to her face.

"Thank you for helping them," Weiss said warmly, her bright smile in place. "You didn't have to."

Winter spared her a glance, then looked back to the team. "Yes, well… if they're going to have our Semblance, the least I can do is ensure they use it properly." She paused for a moment as Blake pulled off an impressive feat, using two vertical glyphs to wall-run ahead of Yang and Penny, much to Yang's annoyance. "You realize teaching them more than this is going to be extremely difficult."

Weiss let out a beleaguered sigh. "I know. Just thinking about trying to get Yang and Ruby to understand time-stop glyphs… or, Dust forbid, summoning… ugh…" She pinched the bridge of her nose, groaning.

Winter smirked at her misfortune. "They have a long way to go before they reach those skills." After a moment's thought, she offered, "General Ironwood has me stationed here in Vale for the foreseeable future. If you like, we can make these training sessions a regular event… when I have the time, of course."

Weiss blinked, then gave her a rare, unrestrained smile. "Thank you. That means a lot."

Winter merely hummed in acknowledgment, smiling gently. Then she frowned, turning her attention back to the training teens. "What are they doing?"

Weiss followed her line of sight, then groaned. Yang, Blake, and Penny had returned to the ground, circled in a huddle with Ruby just out of earshot. Yang was speaking rapidly, a manic grin on her lips as she gestured around wildly. Whatever she was saying, Ruby soon sported an excited smile of her own, while Blake shook her head in exasperation. Penny tilted her head at Yang, nodding every few words with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Great," Weiss huffed. "Yang has an idea."

Concern grew in Winter's chest at her sister's tone. "Should we be worried?"

Weiss sighed. "For her, maybe." At Winter's questioning brow, she explained. "Yang tends to leap before she looks. Same with Ruby."

Still perplexed, Winter replied, "Well, I doubt she could do anything that dangerous…"

Winter trailed off as the girls broke apart, evidently reaching a decision. Yang gave a fist pump as she turned to face the corpse of the Paladin. Ruby and Blake stood on either side of her, looking intently at the air above them. Penny suddenly leapt up, using two of her blades to hover up onto a catwalk spanning the width of the warehouse, directly above the destroyed Mech.

Winter's eyes narrowed. "What are they…?"

Yang suddenly hunched over, her whole body tensing. Ruby and Blake lifted their arms, each of their hands forming the gesture for a barrier glyph.

Weiss's breath hitched. "Oh, you can't be… Yang!"

Winter looked rapidly from her sister to her team. "What? What's she-?"

Schriiing!

In near tandem, Blake and Ruby's hands glowed, summoning two glyphs each. Two red glyphs appeared directly in front of them at differing heights, while two violet vertical ones materialized on either side of the mech.

Weiss had barely a moment to question this when Yang moved.

A yellow blur shot across the warehouse floor, trailing yellow flower petals in its wake. It seemed to leap up off the ground, skipping across the two red glyphs, then streaked toward the left of the Paladin. It hit the first violet glyph, bouncing upwards over the mech, hitting the underside of the catwalk with a violent clang! then to the other glyph.

Not really processing what was happening, Winter gasped as the yellow blur sailed off the violet glyph, out into the open air. Just when she thought it was going to slam into and through the far wall, a yellow glyph appeared from nowhere directly in front of it. The blur bounced off the yellow glyph, sailing up into the air back the way it came. It arched across the warehouse, skimming the ceiling, before crashing onto the catwalk beside Penny.

The moment the blur stopped moving, it exploded into a sea of yellow petals, revealing a breathless and stunned Yang. She looked down at herself, at Penny beside her, then to the warehouse floor below. The wildest, craziest grin Winter had ever seen spread across her lips as she threw both fists into the air. "Woo! Yeah! I did… oh, crap!"

Yang's legs suddenly gave out from under her, Penny swooping in to catch her before she fell. "Yang!" Blake shouted in panic, already moving towards the catwalk. "Are you okay?!"

"I-I'm good! Yang shouted back, trying to shake her head clear as Penny helped her stand. "I'm freaking exhausted, but I'm good!" She let out an excited cackle, lavender eyes slightly unfocused. "I'm great! That was… that was AWESOME!"

Winter blinked dumbly as Penny started hovering back to the ground, Yang cradled in her arms. Watching Ruby hobble over to them, babbling about how 'epic' her sister's performance was, the elder Schnee looked at Weiss from the corner of her eye. "You said that you four can use all of each other's Semblances?"

Weiss swallowed nervously, eyes glued to her girlfriends as she replied shakily. "We think so."

"So… you are capable of that?"

Weiss nodded mechanically. "P-possibly."

Winter took a slow breath. "Well…" she eventually said. "This is going to be… interesting, to say the least."

Betaed by Covert Weapon

Old A/n: Pretty much a whole chapter from Winter's P.o.V. Add that to the list of things I never thought I'd do in this fic.

I know I promised a few things that didn't show up in this chapter, but I felt those would work better in a later chapter. Don't worry, we'll get to it all eventually.

Next chapter… well, let me put it this way. Our favorite girls are going to be ~rolling around at the speed of sound!~

See ya then!