[IC] RWBY: The Snow Queen and the Gray Knight [Jett Ryu & XxLyraxX]

[Miraboreasu]

((I figured we'd go with canon and have Weiss on Team RWBY, and Gray's teammates being as anonymous as Velvet's.))

[XxLyraxX]

(Alright)

[Miraboreasu]

After the welcome speech the freshmen went to the ballroom, boys on one side, girls on another. Gray watched as the scraggly blonde strutted in... bunny footie pajamas? He grimaced, much like Yang.

[XxLyraxX]

Weiss stood in the bathroom for a few minutes before she changed into her white night gown and quickly made her way back to her corner. She sat down and began to process of untying her hair and brushing it out until it hung around her like a white cloak.

[Miraboreasu]

Gray watched Weiss silently for a moment before his attention was drawn to three other girls: a blond, a girl with short black and red hair, and a girl with long black hair. Something was happening but he couldn't tell what.

[XxLyraxX]

Weiss finished with her hair and looked around. She saw Ruby talking to a blonde girl and a girl with black hair. She could see that the black-haired girl was trying to read but Ruby kept chattering. I really hope she's not going to be on my team. I would never get a single second of peace. She thought to herself as she turned away and flopped onto her back.

[Miraboreasu]

Gray gave Weiss a look from across the room that said, "Really? What happened to the spitfire from earlier today? Or are you unfit to be called 'Snow Queen'?"

[XxLyraxX]

Weiss pointedly ignored the stare she could feel coming from across the room and instead sat up and began polishing her weapon and making sure it's chambers contained enough dust inside them.

[Miraboreasu]

Gray sighed, shaking his head. He stripped his shirt off, now in pajama shorts, and laid down on his sleeping bag. He felt almost comfortable. Almost. He felt eyes on his arm, and he went outside to get away from the looks, the whispers.

[XxLyraxX]

Weiss saw movement out of the corner of her eye and looked up to see Gray disappear outside. She heard the whispers that followed and glared at the people who were doing the whispering until the quieted and dropped their eyes to the floor. She stood up and followed him outside. "So how did it happen?" She asked quietly, standing quietly behind him.

[Miraboreasu]

Gray held his mechanical forearm, his flesh and blood hand clenching until his knuckles were white. "Seemed it was a normal training mission," Gray explained. "My team was assigned to hunt and kill a pair of King Taijitu. Turned out that it was a whole nest of them. We fought to the last one.

"The only member of our team who wasn't hurt was Pyrrha," Gray finished. "She's just that strong. I lost my arm in a single bite." He smiled, masking the painful memory. "I made 'em into boots, belts, jackets, and bags. That set I sent you for your sixteenth birthday was the spoils of war."

[XxLyraxX]

Weiss raised an eyebrow at his last statement. "Perhaps that's why there is no sign of wearing down." She paused for a moment before she stepped up beside him and laid a small hand on top of the mechanical arm. "Even the best of us gets the short end of the stick at times." She said softly. "Was it hard adjusting?"

[Miraboreasu]

Gray, at first, recoiled slightly at Weiss' touch, but let her feel his arm. He nodded. "It took months of rehab," he said. "I had infections that almost killed me, nerves clamped into place to make sure that they can be reattached when I need repairs. I went through hell-- by all rights... I should be dead right now."

[XxLyraxX]

It was Weiss's turn to flinch, eyes shooting up to his at his last statement. "But I'm glad you're not." The words escaped her before she could stop them and she felt her cheeks burn in a blush. She looked away and saw that the sun had gone down. "W-We better get some sleep, I have a feeling tomorrows going to be a big day. Night!" She then hurried away cheeks still bright red.

[Miraboreasu]

Gray watched Weiss leave, but was acutely aware that someone else was nearby. He sighed. "So... did the others graduate, Pyrrha?"

The girl with flaming red hair stepped out of the shadows, wearing short shorts and a tube top for pajamas. "Ari and Leon?" she asked. "Yeah. You fared worse than them--"

"Thanks, Catherine Obvious," Gray interrupted.

"But only because you dove in to save them without thinking of yourself." Pyrrha gave a small smile. "You've always been that way, as long as we were teammates. You seem shy around people, but you care too much sometimes, even if you don't know someone." She ruffled his hair before going back inside.

[XxLyraxX]

Weiss made it back to her corner where she proceeded to lay down, pull her blanket over her and face away from the door. Her cheeks were gradually cooling but she was afraid to look at the door in case she saw Gray come in and start blushing all over again. What's wrong with you, get a grip! If you're going to become a great Huntress you need to be stronger than this! She scolded herself, firmly closing her eyes.

[Miraboreasu]

Gray went back inside and laid down in his sleeping bag, covering himself up. Yes, he would get hot, but he hated how people looked at him. Mechanical prostheses weren't uncommon, so why did people look at him as if he were a freak?

[XxLyraxX]

Weiss tried to go to sleep but was unable to. She laid there staring at the ceiling for about twenty minutes before she sighed quietly and pushed the blankets off. She stood up and picked her way carefully around the people scattered around the floor. She reached the doors and slipped outside. She walked about a foot or two away from the door and sighed. She looked up at the sky, her white skin, clothes and hair making her seem like a ghost in the moonlight shining down on her. Looks like tonight was gonna be one of her sleepless nights. She had thought she had grown out of them as a child but it seemed not. A tiny smile touched her face when she remembered that on nights like this Gray wold stay up all night with her, talking over the phone so she wouldn't be lonely. Her smile grew sad as she thought back on how much they had drifted apart and she sighed once more.

[Miraboreasu]

It was a sleepless night for Gray as well. The excess heat from being under the blankets made the screws that had been drilled into his bones ache unbearably. Nearly everyone was asleep... save for a white-haired phantom of a girl going outside. He sighed, putting his shirt on and following silently. The cool air made him feel better.

[XxLyraxX]

Weiss sighed again, looking down before she began to sing quietly so as not to wake anyone inside. Singing always comforted her.

"Mirror, tell me something,
Tell me who's the loneliest of all?

Mirror, tell me something,
Tell me who's the loneliest of all?
Fear of what's inside of me,
Tell me can a heart be turned to stone?

Mirror, mirror, what's behind you?
Save me from the things I see!
I can keep it from the world,
Why won't you let me hide from me?

Mirror, mirror, tell me something,
Who's the loneliest of all?

I'm the loneliest of all."

She let her voice fade, briefly letting the mask she wears all the time to hide her emotions slip away.