#monosweek2020

“No thanks.” She tried to sound thoroughly uninterested in the topic to cover the truth: she didn’t need to ask about all that. The specifics of a day in the life of royalty were well known to her. Part of why she’d come to the remote kingdom of Atlas was to escape… well, not quite that, but certain other things related to it. “I’m not that curious.”

“Oh… well, suit yourself… but I’d better not hear any questions after this about it!” The princess wagged a finger in her direction. “This is your only chance.”

“Noted.”

They continued on for a while in silence, Gambol and Shroud pulling the sleigh along at a brisk pace. Not their fastest but certainly better than a walk, as they shared her mentality; one didn’t want to be traveling the mountain after the sun set, as the shadows thrown at night could be either shallow shadows or deep drops. Best not to find out which.

“I suppose you don’t get asked about your own life much, do you?”

“Come again?” Although she hadn’t been thrilled about the job offer, she distinctly recalled Princess Weiss’ demand included only getting her up the mountain, not conversation.

“I’m just saying.” The woman obviously tried to act nonchalant, but there was something hiding just beneath her tone. “You probably don’t talk about yourself much. Not much to talk about outside of ice for an ice harvester.”

“There’s plenty to talk about,” she replied defensively before trying to focus back on the reins. “I don’t just harvest ice.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“I live in a cottage just past the outpost where we met. One I built myself, mind you, and keeping it repaired takes up a lot of time.” She shot the princess a smug smirk. “I don’t have a legion of servants to do things for me.”

“Legion of servants?” Princess Weiss scoffed. “Clearly, you have little idea of what happens in the royal palace.”

As much as she didn’t want to admit it, that piqued her interest. “So, you don’t have anyone seeing to your every whim?”

“I had Klein, my caretaker. Outside of him and my brother, I had no one else.”

“What about your sister?” She gestured towards the top of the mountain. “You had her, didn’t you?”

“I did… when I was younger.” Then, her expression fell into something akin to despair as she unconsciously brushed her bangs away from her clouded and scarred left eye. “But, then, she had to learn how to be a queen, and she didn’t have time to play with me. I understood, of course. It’s an enormous responsibility.”

“Yeah, she’s handling it real well.” Blake dryly remarked, receiving a light punch to her shoulder. “What was that for?”

“It’s not her fault! You have no right criticizing her for- for a moment’s misstep!”

“She plunged the kingdom into the dead of winter when we’re supposed to be in the middle of summer! I think that’s more than ‘a moment’s misstep’, don’t you?”

“Listen, it’s- it’s not-“ The words seemed to catch in the woman’s throat as her expression twisted, guilt and pain flashing in her good eye before she turned to look away. “It’s my fault, alright? I- I shouldn’t have upset her, but I was excited.”

A frown touched Blake’s lips as she glanced towards Princess Weiss. “I’m sure she’ll forgive you.”

“I’m not so confident.”

A solemn silence settled over them and the Faunus didn’t know what to do with it. On the one hand, she shouldn’t feel obliged to comfort someone who’d forced her way into her life. On the other, though, she wasn’t so heartless that she could let someone suffer in silence and not try to help.

“I… don’t know what that’s like. Having siblings.” Blake shifted in her seat. “I had parents- have parents, I guess, since they aren’t dead, we just don’t… talk.” She winced, realizing too late that bringing up the possibility of dead parents may not be the best conversation topic to broach with the somewhat recently bereaved princess. “I… was an only child is my point.”

“Did you… run away from home to become an ice harvester?” The princess turned back towards her and Blake could feel a blush beginning to rise in her cheeks.

“Well, no, I just kinda… ended up becoming one.” Another shrug as she continued, her voice taking on a low, somber tone. “I… made some bad choices when I was younger. Ones I thought my parents wouldn’t be able to forgive me for… so I ran away and ended up in Atlas. Got adopted by some ice harvesters, learned the trade, and… that’s been my life ever since. I… don’t think I could bear what going back would mean.”

“I can understand the mentality,” Princess Weiss replied, her voice soft. “When I did something foolish, Father would… punish me quite severely. Even worse if I cried. I can sympathize with wanting to avoid a beating like that.”

Beneath her beanie, Blake’s ears stood up, her expression turning to one of pure shock and horror. “I- what? No! My father would never lay a hand on me! I meant that I know my parents would be disappointed in me, not that they’d hurt me!”

“Disappointment? That is the fate you fear?” For a moment, the Faunus thought she’d revert to her previous haughty, holier-than-thou attitude but instead found barefaced confusion for a moment before understanding dawned. “I… can see how that would be equally daunting.”

“… really?”

“Yes.” Her head tilted, obviously looking towards the mountain’s summit. “I spent years trying to impress my sister, hoping that if I proved myself worthy, I’d be able to spend time with her. It never worked. I became very familiar with disappointment.” Then, Princess Weiss turned to look at her. “Though, frankly, the experience taught me that the disappointment others express towards us cuts even deeper when we’re disappointed in ourselves as well. When I eventually stopped trying to gain Winter’s attention, it was because I couldn’t bear the weight of my own disappointment any longer… so better not to try.”

Her grip on the reins tightened and she had to consciously force herself to relax as both Gambol and Shroud momentarily picked up the pace, sensing her tension. “Yeah… you have a point…”

Silence settled over them, the crunch of snow and periodic snapping of wood unable to bear the weight of snow and ice alike preceding a branch crashing to the ground.

“What’s it like living this far from the royal city?” Princess Weiss eventually broke the silence, tone wavering slightly, as if she didn’t know how the Faunus might react.

“It’s nice, most of the time. Pristine and beautiful in the winter, and full of life just about every other season. It’s relaxing, being so isolated and away from people.”

“I’m afraid I can’t relate.”

Again, Blake winced, mentally cursing herself for managing to say all the wrong things. “Well, that’s because… you didn’t choose it.”

“Excuse you?”

“I mean… you have a point. What keeps me from going back home is that… I am the one scared to do it. So living out here, away from people… it’s by choice. And since it’s my choice, I don’t regret it.” She made a vague gesture with her hand, dropping one of the reins to do so. “Being away from people, not having to worry about maybe making the same bad choices again… I… I chose to believe and follow someone who made me regret it. Avoiding that happening again… means a lot to me. Maybe it’s not the right answer, but it’s the one I chose. It sounds like… you didn’t choose the way I did.”

“Well, you certainly have a point there.” For a moment, it looked as though she might continue before stopping, her good eye squinting as she twisted around in her seat. “And, unfortunately, it sounds like I’ll be making you regret breaking that isolation sooner rather than later.”

“You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. Even if you’re a bit… much at times, I’m starting to see there’s a real person beneath the title and the attitude.” She reached up, readjusting her beanie cap. “I’m not going to regret meeting you just because it means interacting with someone when I’ve tried not to; that’s not how it works. And. Well. I don’t. Regret meeting you, I mean.”

The woman turned back to her with a deadpan expression. “While I’m glad you’re starting to recognize me as a person, I was actually referring to the wolves now following us and how that’s likely to present a problem that we’re going to regret running into soon.”

Blake tilted her head to the side, then twisted in her seat to find several pairs of golden eyes reflecting the weak light of the rear lantern on the sleigh, their shadowy forms beginning to gain ground on them. “Uh oh.” Turning back around, she picked up the rein and snapped her wrists, sending Gambol and Shroud into a gallop. “Yeah, that’s a problem.”

“You drive, I’ll fend them off,” Princess Weiss said, somehow producing a rapier from the bag she’d been carrying the whole while- a slightly impractical weapon considering the occasion, but a weapon nonetheless- and put a hand on the Faunus’ shoulder while moving into the back row of the sleigh. “And, for the record, I don’t regret meeting you, either. Even if your version of a compliment can be rather… blunt and backhanded.”

Again, she winced. “See, this is why I don’t talk to people; it’s too easy to say the wrong thing!”

“Yes, because talking to reindeer is clearly the more sane option.”

“Reindeer and cats!”

“I should’ve known you’d be a cat person.”

Blake couldn’t help but crack a smile at that. “You don’t know the half of it.”

--- The joke here is that, at this point in the story, Weiss doesn’t know Blake’s a Faunus, because ~canon parallels~.

They had small chats every time Weiss came by for her coffee. It had gotten to the point where Blake would have her order ready seconds before she walked through the door.

As Weiss walked down the sidewalk to her favorite coffee shop, she noticed there were several couples walking around. Many of them were holding hands and giggling together.

What’s going on…?

Walking further down the street, Weiss came across a crowd of people surrounding a man with a megaphone.

“Find your soulmates here, folks! One of these people is bound to be the one for you!”

Weiss rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Soulmates…

The idea baffled her. How could there possibly be such a thing? That there was exactly one person out of billions on the planet that was supposed to be with you?

It was said that the moment someone touches their soulmate—whether it be a high five or a kick to the chin—as long as there is skin on skin contact, you will experience what your soulmate felt during the most important moment of their life so far.

As if.

Weiss made sure her hair was immaculate and her clothing was on straight as she approached the coffee shop. Before she even opened the door, her favorite faunus was smiling at her.

“Hello, Weiss,” Blake greeted as she placed a cup on the counter, “I’ve got your coffee right here.”

“Once again, you have proven why you are the best,” Weiss chuckled as she placed a few dollars on the counter and picked up her cup, “As always, you may keep the change.”

“You’re too kind,” Blake giggled as she collected the money and bowed her head, “Is work treating you alright? You look a little tired.”

“Oh, it’s been pretty busy, but it’s nothing I can’t handle,” Weiss sighed as she set her purse down on the counter and leaned against it, “The coffee helps.”

“I’m glad,” said Blake, “As you could probably infer… I haven’t been very busy today.”

Weiss took a moment to check her surroundings and realized they were completely alone, “Huh. I wonder where everyone went.”

“They’re all at that rally down the street. Some guy keeps claiming he can help people find their soulmates,” said Blake with a twinkle in her amber eye.

“Oh, yes! I walked by him on the way here!” Weiss huffed, “Can you believe there are actually people who believe in that nonsense?”

The smile on Blake’s face faltered, “Oh… Yeah, it’s pretty dumb, isn’t it,” she chuckled, softly.

The change in Blake’s demeanor was not missed by Weiss, and she quickly realized her mistake, “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to undermine what you believe in,” she apologized.

“It’s totally fine. Really,” said Blake, “I realize the idea of soulmates isn’t exactly without flaw.”

Weiss opened her mouth to say something but frowned instead.

“Weiss, it’s okay,” Blake laughed as the knocked on the countertop, “Don’t worry. I’ll still be here with your coffee every day.”

Weiss nodded and let out a breath she had not realized she was holding, “Good. I don’t know if there’s anyone on the planet that can get it right, besides you.”

Blake laughed, causing Weiss to smile.

“Well, I should probably head back to the office. My boss is going to kill me if I’m late again,” Weiss sighed as she turned to leave.

Just as Weiss opened the door to exit the establishment, Blake called after her.

“Weiss, wait!”

Weiss turned and saw Blake step around the counter with a purse in her hand.

“You forgot this,” Blake smirked and held out the bag.

“Of course I did,” Weiss rolled her eyes with a chuckle.

She reached out to take her purse from Blake when her vision went black.

When she could see again, she was in an unfamiliar room. Loud shouting and crashes boomed from outside.

She looked around, confused, and jumped as a door swung open. Two faunus, a man and a woman with black hair and amber eyes, rushed inside. The woman immediately snatched Weiss’ arm and led her to a closet.

“Everything is going to be okay, Sweetie,” the woman said as she opened the closet, “Stay in here and don’t make a sound, no matter what you hear. Mommy loves you.”

The woman kissed her forehead and closed the door.

Weiss looked around and found a pair of golden eyes watching her. She gasped as the figure she watched mimicked her movements.

A mirror…

Except Weiss was not looking at herself. Instead, she saw a young cat faunus with worn-out clothing and messy hair.

She heard a scream from outside and cracked the door open to see what was happening. There was fire in the windows and the two faunus were on the floor.

Weiss’ vision went black once again. As her sight cleared up, she found her thumb resting against Blake’s finger with her purse gripped tightly in them. Her coffee was spilled all over the floor and she did not realize she was crying until a single tear fell from her cheek.

“Blake… I am so sorry,” Weiss sniffled as she met Blake’s amber eyes.

“Sorry?” Blake giggled with a smile wider than any Weiss had seen before. Her smile fell as she furrowed her brows at Weiss, “Wait… What did you see?”

Weiss felt her heart break as she recalled her vision, “T-there was fire everywhere. People screaming. I… I…”

Blake hugged Weiss tightly and squeezed her eyes shut, “Stop… I know what you saw now.”

Weiss wrapped her arms around Blake and buried her face in the crook of her neck. She never wanted to experience that ever again.

“So… I guess we’re soulmates, then,” Blake chuckled as she rubbed her hand in circles on Weiss’ back.

Weiss could not contain the giggle that escaped her, “Now I feel even worse for thinking it was all nonsense.”

The two girls separated and Weiss looked down at the mess of coffee on the floor.

“I’m sorry I spilled my coffee,” said Weiss as she wiped at her eyes.

“I should be thanking you,” said Blake, “You’ve given me something to do after I make you another cup.”

“Oh, it’s alright. I feel energized enough after what just happened,” Weiss laughed and sniffled, “I really have to get back to the office… Can we talk about this whole soulmate thing later?”

“Of course,” nodded Blake as she held her finger up, “Oh, in the meantime…”

Blake reached into her back pocket and pulled out a slip of paper, handing it to Weiss.

“What’s this?” she asked as she accepted the paper.

“My phone number,” Blake blushed, “So we can chat outside of store hours.”

“You carry around your phone number on a slip of paper?” Weiss giggled.

“Nope. I was actually going to ask you out today… And I guess now that we’re soulmates you could say it was destiny.”

Weiss looked down at the slip and held it up with a smile.