The Princess' Rogue - Chapter 20

(It is highly recommended that you read the Author's Notes below before reading this chapter.)

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~ Vale City, Capital of Vytal. Execution Time. ~

“Citizens of Vale!”

Swiftly and silently she darted through the crowd, Weiss moving like a shadow amongst the people.

“Today, we are here to right a great injustice.”

Despite her best efforts, Weiss failed to intercept Yang before the blonde made it to the capital city, the heavy rain having swelled the river until it washed out the main road. Forced to find an alternate route, Weiss wasted countless hours trying to find her way around the heavily flooded road, all hopes of reaching the rogue in time crushed by the very element which was related to her Affinity.

“As you all know,” the booming voice from before prattled on. “Two seasons ago, our beloved Princess Schnee was taken from us.”

In spite of this costly setback, Weiss pushed on without falter, even as the winds howled in her ears and her body and horse grew weary. In the end, it took her nearly doubled the time she anticipated to make it to the capital city, but she made it. Utterly exhausted, her nerves frayed beyond belief, it was a miracle she was still standing at all. But that was of little importance right now, especially with Weiss arriving just in time to witness the very event she sought to halt.

At least the rain had stopped.

“And for two seasons, we all mourned her loss,” the same voice droned on. “But today, we mourn no further! For today, we finally bring the Princess' murderer to justice!”

The crowd cheered all around her, but Weiss paid them little heed. Her main focus right now was reaching the centre piece of the Royal Square, a hastily built wooden stage which stood all of ten feet high. Despite her smaller stature, Weiss was having great difficulty making her way to the front of the crowd without actually pushing people over. That should have been no surprise considering the hundreds of people from all around the kingdom gathered in attendance, a sea of bodies seen from wall to wall of the inner palace grounds with no space left unoccupied.

“For decades, he eluded us. For decades, he ran amok, doing as he pleased. But he does so no longer! For now, he has been captured!”

Surrounded by a platoon of Royal Guardsmen on all sides, the Knight Captain himself also standing watch amongst his men, the stage itself couldn't have been more than ten feet wide by another ten feet long. While not even comparable to the scale of theatrical stages in this age, that was more than enough room for the well worn chopping block which sat in the middle of the platform, a Goliath of an Executioner in all black standing off to the left. Closer to the right side of the stage was another man, a man with bright orange hair which covered the right half of his face, the pristine white robes of the King's Head Advisor adorning his figure. This man’s name was Roman Torchwick.

“Now,” Roman said, pacing around the stage, waving his hands around flamboyantly. “You all must be wondering, what kind of man could do this to our beloved Princess Schnee. Am I right?”

Weiss gritted her teeth as many in the crowd nodded their heads, a few of them even shouting out, demanding the identity of her supposed killer. The fools were drinking up Roman's words as if they were sweet like honey, something Weiss could only shake her head at. The hole in leadership left by Cinder's death had no doubt been kind to him, Weiss vaguely remembering the carrot top as nothing more than a lowly apprentice when she left the White Castle.

How Roman snaked his way up to the top so quickly, Weiss didn't know. And quite frankly, she really didn't care. Weiss' main concern currently was how she was going to slip past the Royal Guardsmen to save Yang when the time came. Now standing three rows from the front of the crowd, she could see just how well armed the Royal Guardsmen were, each watching the crowd closely for anything out of the ordinary.

“Worry not fair citizens!” the freshly minted Head Advisor exclaimed, the people hanging onto his everyone word. “You will have to wait no longer. Now you’ll get to see the monster for who they really are. Bring out the prisoner!”

At that shout, Weiss' hand immediately went to Myrtenaster under her cloak, her rapier having been named after a legendary hero from tales of old. With her heart pounding in her chest, she watched as a pair of guards disappeared into the castle, no doubt going to retrieve the prisoner from the royal dungeons. In the sparse few seconds she had before they brought Yang out, Weiss frantically sought a way to save her blonde companion. But she couldn't think of any, Weiss so utterly drained in both mind and body, the ex-heiress having run her borrowed stead straight through the night in her rush to get here in time.

At the sound of muffled screams coming from the White Castle, Weiss' heart went into overdrive, the blood pumping muscle in her chest thundering loudly in her ears. Seconds later, the guards emerged, a writhing, screeching body dragged between them. Weiss’ jaw clenched at the sight of the black cloth bag covering the prisoner’s head, her free hand balling at her side as she gazed at the ragged remnants of a brown hooded cloak hanging off of the prisoner’s shoulders.

Yang...

It took a few seconds for the crowd to notice the approaching trio, but when they did, the chaos was immediate. There was the screaming and shouting of insults. There was the tossing of rocks and other small, graspable objects at the accused. And there was also the weeping of the broken hearted. Had this been any other time, Weiss would have felt flattered to know so many people cared about her. Or rather, knew of her to the point of deluding themselves into caring. But as it was, Weiss really didn’t care for all this misguided affection. Having lived the sheltered life that she had, there was no way any of these peasants truly cared for her. They didn't even know her.

Not like Yang.

Clutching at Myrtenaster's hilt in a death grip, Weiss held her breath as the guards dragged their prisoner up the stairs of the wooden stage (practically kicking and screaming), before they dropped her on her knees before the chopping block. To ensure the prisoner did not run, the guards clamped their armored hands down on the prisoner's shoulders, preventing her from going anywhere.

“Citizens of Vale!” Roman Torchwick started up again, exciting the crowd once more.

She could do it.

“This is it! This is the moment you have all been waiting for!”

It was not going to be easy, but Weiss could do it. She could still save Yang.

“Before you stands the one who took away our beloved Princess Schnee from us!” the Head Advisor proclaimed, complete with a flourishing wave of his hand.

When the Executioner raised his axe, that would be her moment. With most of the eyes on him then, no one would expect a small girl in a white hooded cloak to come barrelling in to stop it all. And it wasn't like she was going to stop him really. All she was going to do was simply remove the prisoner before she could get beheaded, and then the two of them would dash off before anyone was the wiser.

“Behold!”

Yes. She could do it. All she had to do was wait. And then, the rest would be history as they say.

“I give you, Phoenix!”

With a nod from the Head Advisor, the Executioner stepped forward and pulled the black cloth bag from the prisoner’s head. A gasp escaped Weiss’ lips when that happened, almost every single person around her doing the same. Had Myrtenaster not been strapped to her belt, she would have dropped it.

“Surprised?” Roman asked, a smugness to his voice. “I assure you all, this is not a joke. You are not seeing things, my friends. Phoenix is as you see. A woman, and none other than the King’s former Head Advisor!”

Another round of gasps circulated amongst the crowd, Weiss herself gawking at the woman on her knees. Just like she remembered her, Lady Cinder Fall was adorned in that tight fitting, short red dress of hers, the new addition to her outfit being the brown hooded cloak which led Weiss to believe she was Yang. Unlike before however, the older woman’s face was no longer flawless, awful red and black scarred flesh marring the right side of her face. Her eyes were the same however, demonic and burning with a fire of madness as they glared at Roman. So caught up in Cinder’s initial reveal, Weiss failed to notice a lowly apprentice moving up to Roman’s side, a bundle of white and red in his hands.

“After disappearing for an entire season,” Roman spoke up again, sneering at his predecessor. “With no word as to where she was going, two days ago she returned to us, with this found in her personal chambers!”

Snatching the object from the apprentice, the lowly man scurrying off as soon as that was done, Roman thrust the article in question into the air, and held it up for all to see. At the sight of her jacket, most of the white material stained red with Yang’s blood, Weiss’ eyes widened, her free hand immediately clutching at her shirt as more gasps sounded. The shock only lasted mere seconds however, the people soon crying out in rage and horror, demanding Cinder’s head.

As the man newly turned Head Advisor soaked up the attention, Weiss’ focus turned elsewhere. Namely the location of a certain rogue by the name of Yang Xiao Long. The fact that her bloodied jacket was here meant the blonde had made it this far. Yet, if that was the case, why was there was no sign of the busty brawler anywhere?

While there was still the possibility Yang was already dead, at Cinder’s hands no less, somehow Weiss knew that wasn’t so. Call it a gut feeling or a sixth sense of some kind, but had something happened to the rogue, Weiss would have felt it. She just knew. But all she had felt these last few days was own inner panic, nothing more than that. So where was Yang?

“Cinder Fall,” Roman Torchwick said, turning to the prisoner. “For your transgression, in the killing of Princess Schnee, you are hereby sentenced to death.”

A sly grin.

“Any last words?”

The crowd quieted at the Head Advisor’s words, Weiss herself chewing on the inside of her cheek as all eyes turned to Cinder now. For a few seconds the scarred woman remained silent, the previous Head Advisor doing nothing more than continuing to glare at her successor. Just when it seemed she would do nothing whatsoever, a slow smirk stretched across Cinder’s lips, the chained Aura user laughing maniacally.

Weiss shuddered at that sound.

“Transgression?” Cinder questioned, that twisted smile of hers growing even larger. “Killing? Whatever do you speak of? All I did was simply clear the way to that which is rightfully mine.”

Weiss swallowed thickly at those words, her breaths coming out harsh to her ears. Her skin was absolutely crawling right now, the feeling of utter wrongness growing ever stronger the longer she listened to this abomination of a woman speak.

Clearly confused by Cinder's words, Roman frowned.

“And what pray tell, so rightfully belongs to you?” the Head Advisor asked.

Another blood curdling laugh.

Weiss clutched at Myrtenaster to stop herself from collapsing to her knees.

“Why the Vytal Throne, of course,” Cinder said, with a teeth baring Cheshire smile.

A beat.

“And you’re in my way.”

Before anyone could react, Cinder wrenched herself free from the guards’ grasp, bashing them in the stomach with her shackled hands. Unlike regular restraints, which merely chained one's wrists together, these particular shackles covered the entirety of the Aura user's hands like metal ball shaped gloves, preventing her from calling forth her flames. That really didn't dissuade the maniacal woman from doing so however, Cinder hollering wildly as she swung her shackles around like a mace, the metal restraints crackling as they began to glow orange.

People screamed in terror as one guard was sent tumbling off the stage into the crowd, citizens quickly scattering in all directions as the second of the two was flung head first into the Executioner. With the guards now out of the way, temporarily at least, Cinder quickly rose to her feet and rounded on Roman, retribution promised in her flaming amber gaze.

“You!”

Weiss scrambled backwards to avoid being trampled, the majority of the onlookers now fleeing out of the Royal Square in a panic. Only a few brave souls remained, aside from the Royal Guardsmen and the Knight Captain, those individuals, along with Weiss, seeking refuge closer to the walls of the square. Turning back to the stage once she was in the clear, Weiss found Roman backed up to the very edge of the stage, Cinder staggering up to him tantalizingly slow.

“Don’t just stand there you bumbling idiots!” the Head Advisor barked, turning to look at the gawking Royal Guardsmen ground side. “Kill her!”

At Roman's shout, the Royal Guardsmen snapped into action, the Knight Captain racing up the stairs of the stage. The Captain wasn't fast enough however as Cinder lunged at the King's Head Advisor before he set foot on the stage, tackling Roman over the edge of the wooden platform. Roman shrieked as he hit the ground, Cinder's near molten restraints hissing against his clothed stomach, blackening the fabric. That would be as far as she got however, the Executioner having long recovered at this point, the mammoth of a man grabbing the insane Aura user by the shoulder and yanking her airborne.

Weiss watched in rapt fascination as the fire wielder was quickly slammed into the ground, cratering it, the ex-heiress’ very bones rattling from that jolt. Before Cinder could recover, the closest Royal Guardsmen stabbed at her legs and arms with their swords, successfully pinning her to the ground. Wasting no time, the Executioner quickly pulled the massive axe from his back, taking only a split second to raise it high in the air before bringing it down upon Cinder's neck. Weiss shut her eyes and turned her face away just as steel met flesh.

“It is done,” Roman said, Weiss opening her eyes again to see the King's Head Advisor shove away the offered Knight Captain’s hand to stand on his own.

Spitting at the now headless corpse, the somewhat flustered Head Advisor dusted off his robes as the remainder of the Royal Guardsmen and Knight Captain set about cleaning up their mess. Satisfied his appearance was somewhat presentable, Roman turned his eyes skywards and nodded. Confused by this action, Weiss followed the carrot top’s gaze only to suck in a startled breath. There, standing on the balcony of the White Castle’s tallest tower in his regal purples, was none other than King Schnee.

The Schnee patriarch stood like a monolith, silently and expressionless as the peasants below did their thing. Having no doubt made an appearance for the beheading of his daughter’s killer, now that the deed was done, King Schnee took his leave and disappeared back into the White Castle without a word.

“Well… that was exciting,” someone said sarcastically.

Glancing to her right, Weiss found an extremely familiar looking young girl (though she couldn’t remember why at the moment) standing with another girl around the same age, and a man whose bulk towered over them both. The first girl had a favorite for the colour red if her cloak and dress was any indication, the other girl, most likely her twin, donning white instead. The man himself wore a white shirt and black pants under his very dark grey cloak. Weiss stared at the trio amongst the remaining citizens in the Royal Square – discreetly of course – as they continued to watch the removal of what was formerly Cinder Fall.

“Exciting?” the girl in white huffed. “More like undignified if you ask me. Of all the ways that could have gone out, she died like that.”

The white twin motioned towards the corpse, her face twisted in disgust.

“Gotta hand it to Blondie though,” the male of the group said. “She didn’t disappoint when she said this was going to be quite the show.”

Quickly losing interest in that conversation, Weiss turned back to the others who remained. Many of them were starting to disperse now, now that the beheading was done, Weiss herself also thinking it was time to leave. Before she did however, she took one last look at spot her father once stood, the White Castle tower balcony still as empty as it was the last time she saw it.

Coming back to the place she was born and raised, Weiss wasn’t quite sure what she should be feeling right now. Part of her felt surprised, surprised that after all this time, King Schnee made a public appearance, something he hadn’t done since her mother’s death. Another part of Weiss was angry, angry that that was all the reaction he had to the death of his daughter and the execution of his daughter’s supposed killer. Yet, another part of her was relieved, relieved that she was now free of the burdens of the life she was born into, free from that wretched, witch of a woman who had caused so much pain and suffering.

In some part of her mind, Weiss knew she should feel guilty, remorseful even, for allowing Cinder to die for a crime she did not commit. Yet she couldn't find the heart to care. Because in truth, Cinder had committed many other crimes which she deserved punishment for, and finally it had come to pass. That and if Cinder was dead, that meant Yang was alive and free, just like Weiss. Though, it was curious, how that maniac had lived all this time up to this point. Then again, Weiss never did confirm the psychopath was dead the first time around, and thinking about it further, Yang really didn't seem like the killing type, no matter the circumstance.

“Alright, alright, the show's over folks,” Roman said, drawing attention back to himself. He waved at the last few lingering souls, Weiss included, dismissively. “Be on your way now, before I have you all thrown into the dungeon.”

Deeming it really time to leave now, Weiss turned away from the White Castle and followed behind the small group filtering out of the Royal Square. But, as she ventured closer to the gate cordoning off the inner palace grounds, Weiss couldn’t but notice something a bit odd. Standing towards the back of the Royal Square just right of the gates, was a person. A child. While there appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary with them, a simple crimson coloured hooded cloak adorning their figure, the weird part of it was that no one seemed to notice them. Over a dozen people had passed them by already, yet none of them even gave the little one a passing glance. All the while, the child just continued to stare at the Royal Guardsmen now on clean up duty, soon a soft wind shifting their hood enough to reveal silver coloured eyes and short, reddish black hair.

Weiss froze in her spot, gaping.

“R-Ruby?” she whispered.

As if hearing her name, the child turned towards Weiss and smiled. Just as Weiss unconsciously started to reach out to the younger girl, the trio from before chose that time to walk between them, blocking Weiss’ vision for a second. When they had passed her by and her vision was clear again, Ruby was gone.

Weiss stared at the spot next to gate in confusion. Had she been seeing things?

“C’mon now, move along,” a gruff voice said, snapping Weiss out of her shock. Turning back to nod at the Royal Guardsman shooing the stragglers away, Weiss exited the Royal Square promptly, the gate separating the White Castle from the rest of the city closing shortly after that.

With all of the things that had occurred within the last hour, Weiss quickly found herself wandering through the city streets lost in thought. So many questions were on her mind right now, many of which she struggled to find answers for. How did Cinder end up with her jacket? Why did that maniacal woman have a cloak like Yang’s? Was that really Ruby she saw at the end there? And most importantly, where was Yang now?

Wherever Yang went, Weiss would shortly follow. It wasn’t a question. It was fact. Weiss needed Yang, and until the rogue told her to leave her alone, Weiss was going to be her shadow. The only problem now was that Weiss didn’t even know where to begin looking for the blonde.

If her vision, if Weiss could really call it that, was any indication, the most probable place to find Yang now would be wherever Ruby was. Sadly, Yang never did share that much about her late younger sibling aside from some childhood experiences, Weiss also getting brief glimpses of the blonde’s past through the memories they had somehow shared. So where would she even begin?

“Princess,” Pyrrha said regretfully. “Please understand, in our line of work, we have learned many secrets over the years…”

Of course.

Silently chastising herself, Weiss turned on her heel in search of her horse, her white cloak fluttering about her as she walked off. Hopefully the beast of burden had recovered by now from its lengthy run here, Weiss truly feeling guilty for having pushed the animal so hard. In her rush to make it to the Royal Square in time, she vaguely remembered leaving it outside the local inn, the innkeeper yelling something at her as she dashed the last bit on foot. Hopefully the horse was still there, though, knowing Nora, if someone aside from Weiss tried to take the animal away, Magnhild Junior would likely put up a fight. Those were Nora's special instructions to her steed after all.

So, with her destination and course of action now set, Weiss strode away with the White Castle at her back, her eyes set on the horizon.