En Garde! A RWBY White Rose Fanfiction

Chapter 19: Winter Break

"Apparently, my parents decided to take me on the business trip to show me 'how business works.' Sorry we won't be able to hang out during break."

"Oh no problem! Have fun in Vacuo :)"

"Are the emojis really necessary?"

"Yes."

Ruby clicked off the power button on her smartphone and flopped back in bed. She'd been so looking forward to spending Christmas with her new best friend. Of course, she hasn't completely forgotten about Penny. In fact, they saw each other outside of school far more frequently than she did with Weiss. The heiress always seemed so busy with studying. Ruby bet it was an excuse to avoid saying her parents were strict. Based on the way she described them, they sure seemed like it. Weiss tried to speak respectfully of them, but Ruby could tell there was tension between her and her family.

Laying there in bed, Ruby remembered the day Weiss told her about taking over the Schnee Rust Company. The topic came up when Ruby was talking about Yang getting a job as a waitress at some diner, and Weiss mentioned that she had no idea what her sister was doing.

"Wait a minute. You have a sister? How did I not know this before?!"

"I suppose it never came up in conversation."

"But that's important!"

"I don't know. Winter isn't exactly the most important person in the world, even if she is my sister."

"Why's that?"

"Well, she was supposed to take charge of the family business in my father's place once she graduated college. Things seemed to be going all according to plan until one day, she just...disappeared. None of us know where she went or what she's doing now. My father went ballistic, and ever since he's been scrambling to prepare me for replacing her."

"That's so unfair! Don't you have a cousin or someone?"

"He wants the heir to be in the immediate bloodline."

"That's bull crud."

"It's called life, Ruby."

Weiss sounded so hurt when she said that, even though she tried to hide it. If Ruby was in charge of the world, she'd make sure Weiss didn't have to go on that trip and get her sister back.

"Hey, Yang!" the brunette called out. "You think I'd make a good world-ruler?"

The blond poked her head in the doorway. "Why not? You'd have all-you-can-eat chocolate chip cookies."

Ruby blushed guiltily, as she knew her big sis had taken notice the crumbs on her lap. If there was such thing as a cookie addiction, Ruby had it bad, and it was (normally) Yang's job to regulate her.

"In my defense, you left the jar in plain sight and with the lid off."

Yang laughed and left the room. "Oops."

•••

An hour passed. Ruby was bored. And hungry. It was hard to keep her satisfied because of her incredible metabolism rate. Those cookies were distant memories, and she wanted another one. Or twenty. Were there even that many left?

There was only one way to find out.

Creeping into the hallway, the stealthy brunette was cautious enough to tiptoe. She immediately felt a heavy bass pulse through her body, which meant that Yang was in the middle of one of her intense workout sessions and the coast was clear. Or maybe that was her stomach.

Ruby kept onwards at a leisurely pace, through the hallway and past the front door, knowing there was no possible way that her sister could hear her over,

"THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE'VE WAITED FOR! THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR"

She walked into the kitchen and hopped onto the counter. The most likely place Yang would hide the cookies was in the top cupboards, as Ruby always tended to knock over some ceramic object when pulling her climbing stunt and was too short to reach otherwise.

Systematically checking each cupboard from left to right, Ruby turned up with nothing. She huffed and closed the last door, her hunger driving her towards the refrigerator. Maybe there were leftover sweets.

Bingo. At the tippy top of the fridge was a familiar covered cake platter, most likely dessert taken home from one of her uncle's "work". But once again, she was too short to reach the top shelf. She groaned, closed the fridge so nothing would spoil, and went to get the stool from the laundry room, forgetting that it was right next to the garage.

Ruby ignored the increasingly loud music, her mind set on the stool and that cake. She hoped it was chocolate. Or maybe an ice cream cake. ~Self-control, Ruby. Don't drool all over yourself.~

She found the stool, still in its usual place under the dryer, and brought it back into the kitchen. She stood on it and was finally able to reach. Licking her lips, she lifted off the lid to reveal...crumbs.

"UuuuUUUUUUGH!" Ruby jumped off the stool and slammed the fridge door in frustration.

"WEEEEE AAAARE LIIIIGHTNIII-"

The music stopped.

"Ruby?"

"Oshit."

There was no time left. Shoving the stool in the cabinet underneath the kitchen sink, Ruby bolted for her room. If Yang caught her snooping around, she'd probably force her to eat some gross vegetable that was supposed to be healthy. Maybe she'd get a crack at the pantry if she was patient.

However, the sudden click of the front doorknob stopped Ruby in her tracks. In stepped Qrow.

"Hey, kiddo," he greeted her.

"Hi, Uncle Qrow. Definitely wasn't up to anything sketchy."

He laughed. "Sure you weren't, Cookie Monster. Anyway, I sorta forgot something important to tell you. We're gonna be having a guest over for the next couple of weeks."

"Who-" Ruby was cut off when someone came in behind her uncle. She only barely remembered her manners and kept her jaw from dropping. She was drop-dead gorgeous.

Clad in a military-esque white coat stood a cool, collected woman, perhaps in her mid-twenties. Her cotton white hair was pulled up into the most perfect bun the world had ever seen, save a single strand that fell past her cheek in a silky wave. Her clear blue eyes held a steady gaze and showed no emotion, almost inhuman, yet it only added to her stoic beauty.

Instead of standing there gaping like an idiot, Ruby just blinked a couple times. It still probably looked pretty dumb.

The woman in white stepped forward and robotically stuck out her hand. "My name is Winter Schnee. A pleasure."

AN: sorry if this chapter wasn't very refined. A certain editor hasn't gotten around to scanning it for mistakes yet, and this is my second to last week of school, so I've been super busy w/ finals and stuff. I don't even know how I remembered to publish this! Lol. Well, hope y'all enjoy anyways. I didn't wanna keep you waiting. I'll update it when I get the chance!