Chapter Text
Chapter 17: The Conspiracy Wall
October - 80 AGW
Ruby Rose was worried about Weiss.
It had been a full day since Pyrrha's revelations about the Ranger Houses, and Weiss had become... obsessed. She'd skipped breakfast, missed combat class, and hadn't been seen at lunch. Now, as Ruby and Yang searched the fourth floor of Beacon, following a tip from a concerned student who'd heard "muttering and the sound of tape being ripped," Ruby's worry was approaching full-blown panic.
"She's probably fine," Yang said, though her tone suggested she didn't entirely believe it. "Weiss gets intense about things. Remember when she spent three days color-coding her notes by subject, then by importance, then by—"
"That classroom," Ruby interrupted, pointing to a door that was slightly ajar. Muffled muttering could be heard from inside, along with what sounded like papers being shuffled frantically.
The sisters exchanged a glance, then Yang carefully pushed the door open.
The sight that greeted them was... concerning.
Weiss Schnee stood in the center of an unused classroom, surrounded by what could only be described as full Charlie Day in the mail room. The classroom's windows had been covered with sheets of paper—some printed, some handwritten in Weiss's precise script. Red yarn connected various documents, creating a web of connections that stretched across the entire room. Empty coffee cups littered the desks, and Weiss herself looked like she hadn't slept in the entire day since their meeting with Pyrrha.
Her hair, usually immaculate, was coming loose from its ponytail. Her eyes had the slightly manic gleam of someone who'd had too much caffeine and too many revelations. She was currently taping another document to the wall while muttering under her breath.
"...but if House Coiled Lotus has presence in Atlas, and House Silver Birch covers the southeastern archipelago toward Menagerie, then the maritime connection could mean—"
"Weiss?" Ruby ventured carefully, as if approaching a startled animal.
Weiss spun around, a piece of red yarn in one hand and a photograph in the other. "Ruby! Yang! Perfect timing. I need your opinion on something."
She rushed over to them, nearly tripping over a stack of books she'd apparently borrowed (or possibly stolen) from the library.
"Look at this," she said, shoving the photograph toward them. It was grainy, clearly a zoomed-in portion of a larger crowd photo. In the background, partially obscured by other people, two figures appeared to be in conversation—one in what might be military dress, the other wearing what looked like a dark cloak. "I found this in an old news archive from a charity gala in Atlas three years ago. That's General Ironwood," she pointed to the military figure, "and that—" she indicated the cloaked figure, "—appears to be wearing the colors of House Coiled Lotus. You can see the purple rank accent if you look closely."
Yang squinted at the photo. "Weiss, that could be anyone in a dark coat—"
"It's not just anyone!" Weiss interrupted, her voice pitching higher. "Look at the stance, the way they're positioned—this is a private conversation happening in public. And if the Rangers have direct contact with General Ironwood, that means—"
She spun back to her conspiracy wall, trailing red yarn behind her like some kind of deranged spider.
"The question is," she continued, talking more to herself than to Ruby and Yang, "is it just the three Ranger Houses? Coiled Lotus, Ash Wood, and Thorn Rose—the ones directly involved with Blake and Jaune's sponsorships? Or is it bigger?"
She gestured to a section of the wall where she'd written the names of all six Ranger Houses in bold letters, with question marks next to each one.
"House Copper Stag covers central Vale's agricultural heartlands—what if they're supplying food to this theoretical alliance? House Amber Pine maintains the mountain passes between Vale and Vacou—perfect for controlling trade routes. And House Silver Birch," she turned to face them, her eyes wide, "covers the southeastern archipelago. That's the direct connection to Menagerie!"
"Weiss," Ruby tried again, "maybe you should—"
"And then there are the Mariners," Weiss continued, moving to another section of her wall covered in maritime information. "Three fleets—Tidal Sentinels for piracy control, Abyss Guard for deep-sea operations, Storm Vanguard for severe weather combat and tracking. If the Rangers are involved, what about the Mariners? They're structurally similar, historically connected, and they patrol the seas between all the kingdoms!"
She grabbed a marker and started drawing lines on the paper-covered window.
"The Tidal Sentinels alone have 140 vessels," she muttered, adding notes. "That's more than Vale's entire merchant marine. If they're part of this alliance, the implications for maritime trade—"
"Weiss, you need to sleep," Yang said firmly, stepping forward and gently but firmly taking the marker from Weiss's hand.
"I can't sleep!" Weiss protested. "There are too many questions! How does Ranger Wolfram—Onyx Wolfram, I found his full name in a military citation from the Falcrest Settlement incident—how does he have enough pull at Beacon to override admission requirements? That level of influence doesn't come from nowhere!"
She pulled away from Yang and rushed to another section of the wall.
"And Ozpin," she said, pointing to the headmaster's name written in the center of the web of connections. "Is he involved? He must be, right? This is his school. He approved Blake and Jaune's admissions. But why? What does Ozpin gain from facilitating a potential fifth kingdom alliance?"
"Or," Ruby said gently, "maybe he's just doing what he thinks is right? Like helping people?"
Weiss turned to look at her, and for a moment, her manic energy seemed to falter. She looked exhausted and uncertain.
"But what if it's not that simple?" she asked quietly. "What if there's a larger plan we're not seeing? What if Pyrrha, Blake, Jaune—what if we're all just pieces on a board we don't understand?"
The fear in her voice made Ruby's heart ache. This wasn't just about conspiracy theories—Weiss was scared. Scared for her friends, scared of forces beyond their control, scared that she couldn't protect the people she cared about if she didn't understand what was really happening.
"Weiss," Ruby said softly, walking over and taking her friend's hands. "You've been at this for over a day. You're exhausted. You can't figure everything out if you don't take care of yourself first."
"But—"
"No buts," Yang interjected, coming up on Weiss's other side. "You're going to clean this up, take a shower, eat something that isn't pure caffeine, and sleep. The conspiracy will still be here tomorrow."
"We'll help you sort through it," Ruby added. "All of us. But you can't do this alone, and you definitely can't do it without sleeping."
Weiss looked between them, then back at her conspiracy wall. Her shoulders sagged.
"I just... I hate not knowing," she said, her voice tight with frustration. "Every answer I find leads to three more questions. I thought it was just an arranged marriage. Then it was Rangers. Then it was multiple Ranger Houses. Then the Mariners. And now there's Ozpin and Ironwood and I don't even know how deep this goes. The more I look, the bigger it gets, and I can't—I can't figure it out!"
Her hands clenched into fists.
"How am I supposed to just stop when there's something this massive happening right under our noses? When our friends are caught up in political machinations we don't understand?"
"We know," Yang said gently, putting an arm around Weiss's shoulders. "And we love that you care enough to go full paranoid detective. But right now, the best thing you can do for everyone is take a big step back and get some sleep."
Weiss was quiet for a long moment, then she nodded slowly.
"Okay," she said, her voice small. "Okay. I'll... I'll clean this up."
"We'll help," Ruby said immediately.
Together, the three of them began the process of carefully removing the papers from the walls, untangling the red yarn, and organizing Weiss's research into neat stacks. As they worked, Ruby couldn't help but glance at some of the information Weiss had compiled.
There really were a lot of questions. Who were these Rangers really? What did they want? And why were Blake and Jaune at the center of something that seemed so much bigger than a simple arranged marriage?
But those questions could wait until tomorrow, after Weiss had slept and they could all think clearly.
As they finished packing up the last of the documents into Weiss's bag, Yang looked at the now-empty classroom with a low whistle.
"You know," she said, "if you ever get bored of being a Huntress, you'd make a terrifying intelligence analyst."
Despite her exhaustion, Weiss managed a small smile.
"I'll keep that in mind."