Chapter Text
„You’ve seen the new neighbor yet?“ Mayor Robyn Hill didn’t look up from her scroll when her friend and roommate Fiona Thyme excitedly bounced in front of the window. New neighbor? Robyn hadn’t heard anything about someone new moving in and while she was familiar with everyone in the apartment complex across the street, she didn’t get as excited as the small sheep faunus.
“Nope, haven’t yet,” the blonde replied and smiled at Fiona who was basically glued to the window. They’d probably need to clean it later after Fiona was done. To be honest the windows of their place did need a cleaning and yeah, sure, all of them were adults but cleaning windows was just so damn annoying.
“Rumors said it’s someone famous! From Atlas even!” Now that caught Robyn’s attention, why would someone from Atlas move to Mantle? People didn’t do that without a very good reason, her other roommate, May Marigold, was a very good example for that. “From Atlas you say?” Fiona nodded and Robyn had to admit that now she wanted to know more, too.
“Yes, my uncle had heard some rumors! He hadn’t heard a name, just that it’s someone from Atlas and that they’re somewhat famous!” Her curiosity was the reason Fiona had stayed in front of the window for nearly half an hour now. “I wonder wh-“ Before the sheep faunus could finish the sentence, a car – a taxi actually - parked right in front of the neighboring apartment complex.
A woman with hair as white as snow got out and heavily leaned on a cane, apparently she needed the help to carry her own weight. She didn’t look old though, then the driver got out as well and placed two rather heavy looking bags right next to the woman.
“She does look familiar…,” Fiona mused and tilted her head as she tried to come up with a name. “Seriously, I’ve seen her before. That’s an officer’s uniform… and the white hair…”
Robyn sighed, she had a good idea who that person could be. “Special Operative Winter Schnee.” Fiona’s eyes widened at the name. “A Schnee? A Schnee moving to Mantle?” The sheep faunus couldn’t believe it, but the hair gave her away. There were few families with such a distinctive hair color. In fact the only other family that came to Fiona’s mind was the Marigold family, all members had blue hair and amber colored eyes.
“She looks… hurt,” Fiona said quietly once she actually noticed the cane the young woman used.
“You’re right. It looks as if she’s barely able to stand, not to mention walking.” Robyn nodded, but instead of giving answers this just caused even more questions. An Atlas Special Operative moving to Mantle? Moving in right opposite to the mayor? It was no secret that Mayor Hill didn’t exactly get along with the rest of Atlas’ council. Both cities were almost of equal size with Mantle being bigger, yet Atlas had four seats and Mantle only one – It was a miracle that Robyn’s hair hadn’t turned grey yet.
“I wasn’t informed of any missions, so whatever is going on here isn’t military business…” With that the blonde went back to whatever she had been doing on her scroll.
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One week passed and no matter how often Robyn glanced out of the window, the soldier was never to be seen. Apparently she wasn’t even getting any mail or visitors, Robyn only saw the usual neighbors she already knew.
“Why don’t you go and say hello?” The blonde yelped when one of her roommates suddenly stood behind her. “Fuck, May! Do you have to sneak up on me like that? You almost gave me a heart attack!”
May just shook her head. “Go and introduce herself, you’re driving the rest of us crazy with your curiosity and pacing.”
“Aren’t you curious, too? I mean, you used to know her, right?”
May didn’t say anything at first, but the way her eyes saddened told Robyn she shouldn’t have asked that question. The shorter woman’s past was… complicated at best.
“I did. We weren’t enemies, but we weren’t exactly friends either. Our families had very specific plans for us as you can imagine. Two heirs of the same age? I’m surprised they didn’t actually try to breed us by locking us in the same room.”
Robyn cringed at that, the Atlas elites were just horrible based on everything May had told them over the years. “I ran away to live in Mantle, Winter joined to military to escape that horrible home. I don’t know what exactly happened in Schnee manor, but the scars those kids have tell their own stories.”
That was when the blonde decided to actually follow May’s idea and introduce herself. Being on good terms with someone like Winter could be useful, a Special Operative was basically walking military knowledge and considering how unstable Ironwood was Robyn would take whatever she could.
“Well, any suggestions how I should approach her?” But May just shrugged. “Haven’t talked to her in years, so the only thing I can tell you is to be careful. You know how I was when I first joined you, I imagine her to be very guarded and hostile. Just use the experience you gained from dealing with the Atlas council.” Robyn nodded, that she could do.
For the next day Robyn had big plans. She had finished her work and mayor duties for the day and decided to get a few local specialties to eat. Atlesian or not, Robyn wanted everyone who lived in Mantle to know that she cared for them.
The doorbell was simple, no full name and it only said W.S. unlike all the other names listened for the inhabitants of this apartment complex. She rang the bell but nothing happened. So the blonde tried again and once more nobody answered. Getting frustrated she even tried a third time and this time there was a faint buzzing sound that indicated she could open the door now.
She’s been in this building before so she had a vague idea where the soldier’s apartment would be based on the number next to the door bell.
Robyn found it, but it looked like guests weren’t welcome here – or not expected. There was no decoration, no fancy or cute looking nameplate, not even a doormat. But before she had time to fully think about the meaning of this, a shorter woman opened the door. “What is it?” She sounded irritated and annoyed, but also careful. “I’m not expecting anyone or buying anything, so get lost.”
The blonde was a bit caught off-guard by the hostile tone, but hadn’t May warned her exactly of this?
“Hello, I’m Robyn Hill and you may have heard of me, I’m the mayor.” She introduced herself politely and held the bag with the food in front of her like it was a peace offering. Winter just stared, her expression unreadable.
“Winter Schnee.” The shorter woman replied and to Robyn it looked as if she fought the reflex to straighten herself to salute. “I… appreciate the offer, but I don’t need anything. Now, if you would excuse me Ms. Hill then I would like to return to my… work.” Robyn noticed the way the soldier had trouble standing upright right now, for some reason she wasn’t using her cane and it was obvious how much she actually needed it.
“Well, you should take it anyway. This is Mantle and we look out for each other here.” So before Winter could react she simply put the bag down. “If you ever need anything I’m just a few steps or a call away, I take care of all my citizens.” With that Robyn gave the soldier a kind smile and turned around to leave. Winter watched her until she was gone – just what the fuck was that?
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Robyn didn’t get the chance to talk to Winter for another two weeks.
“Hey Robs?” Robyn looked up from the document she was currently reading. “Seems like your soldier friend has some issues.”
“What do you mean?”
“See for yourself.” And Robyn did just that. She got up to look out of the window just to see nobody else but Winter Schnee struggling to carry a basked with what looked like groceries.
The blonde didn’t think twice, she quickly grabbed her coat, slipped on some boots and went outside to help the smaller woman.
“Hey Snowflake, need some help?” Robyn wanted to punch herself for the nickname, there was no chance that someone like Winter would appreciate it. Yepp, there it was – a glare that would even let Grimm Rivers from the old fairy tales freeze over. “No.”
“Easy there, soldier girl. I’m not here to start a fight, I just want to help.” Holding up her hands Robyn approached the younger woman like a wounded animal. “You’re clearly struggling and like I said, in Mantle we look out for each other.” Winter still didn’t look convinced, but her damaged spine and hurting arm were screaming at her to accept the help. So with a shaking hand she handed the basket over and Robyn gladly took it.
Robyn carried it all the way to Winter’s apartment, then without waiting for an invitation she brought it straight to the kitchen. The apartment itself looked sad, no decoration, no extra furniture. Well, there was a TV but other than that… It just didn’t look as if anyone even lived here.
“Thank you.” Winter sounded awkward as if she wasn’t sure what to do. Her arm twitched and went to her temple, but instead of saluting she pretended she was just trying to scratch her cheek. The soldier life seemed deeply integrated with this one. A Special Operative, Robyn needed to remind herself of the high rank.
“You know, just tell me if you need something again. One of my roommates has a car and it can’t be easy to walk all the way to the nearest supermarket with that.” She glanced at the cane and Winter felt the sudden need to shift her body so it was out of sight. As if she was ashamed of being hurt.
“I appreciate it, Ms. Hill. I might… take you up on that offer.”
“Just Robyn is fine, we don’t really care about rank or formalities here.”
“I see.”
For Winter the conversation seemed over and Robyn sighed quietly. At least she had made some progress with the soldier, but the smaller woman was still only a completely blank sheet with only her name written in a small corner. With nothing else to do and Winter not interested in keeping a conversation going, the blonde decided to leave.
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To Robyn’s surprise Winter actually did ask for help whenever the younger woman needed groceries. Of course she didn’t mind, she was a woman of her word and she was already buying supplies for four people plus May’s boyfriend who sometimes stayed for a few days. One person more wasn’t a problem.
“Thank you.” Winter said once she let the blonde into her apartment. “How much do I owe you?”
“50 Lien, I hope that’s okay?” But Winter just nodded, money wasn’t an issue for her. This made the fact that she moved into a cheap apartment in Mantle even more confusing. Instead of handing over a 50-Lien bill she gave Robyn 100 and the blonde’s eyes widened in disbelieve. “Uh, I said 50.” But Winter didn’t react. “It’s okay, I have more than I can spend.”
“Wow, the military pays its soldiers well!” She whistled and took the money, she had an extra city fond for donations like this. Then she noticed how tense and stiff Winter suddenly was, had she said something wrong?
“Ex-soldier.” Robyn tilted her head and kept looking at Winter as if she was trying to say ‘keep talking, I’m curious’.
“I’m officially discharged. Honorable discharge, actually.” Robyn was still not entirely satisfied with that answer, but Winter didn’t look like she wanted to continue talking about the issue. Instead she leaned on her cane while her eyes were focused on an invisible spot on the floor.
“Do you need help putting the groceries away? I can put the cans away for you if you want.” The older woman expected Winter to say no and to send her away, but instead she just nodded weakly without moving from the spot. Robyn was suddenly worried, what had happened to this woman? Mind and body so broken she barely seemed to function anymore. Whatever Winter was remembering right now it couldn’t be good.
“I just put those on this shelf.” The silence was suffocating, so Robyn just said whatever came to mind. “Those beans are best brand around here, they taste great with some fried rice. I also got you some cans of fish and even cup noodles, I know those are more for students, but they can serve as a nice midnight snack.”
Whether Winter appreciated the small-talk or not wasn’t clear, but she didn’t try to stop Robyn from talking either.
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“Huntresses!” Robyn stood right in the middle of their living-room in training gear. “It’s time the four of us have a well-needed training session!”
Three people groaned simultaneously but Robyn didn’t care. She was the leader and she wanted her huntresses to be in shape – not that any of them were actually out of shape, but a bit of training never hurt anyone. Sure, the Grimm attacks had gotten less, but that didn’t mean they had stopped and as mayor Robyn had a lot of responsibilities on her shoulders.
“Do we have to?” May was sprawled out on their couch.
“Yeah, so get your lazy ass up. You want to stay in shape for Wags, don’t you? I’m sure he appreciates it when his girlfriend is able to kick his ass!” May blushed hard at that, she wanted to deny it but Robyn was kinda right with that. Marrow did have a thing for strong women who hypothetically were able to kick his ass.
“He’s not coming over for a while, he’s on duty and Ironwood is keeping a tight leash on his soldiers lately.” Ah, so that was the reason for May’s grumpiness. “Well, tell us in advance next time he’s coming over so we can make sure to give the two of you some extra privacy.” Wow, the blue-haired woman was turning even redder now, it was almost impressive. It also clashed with her hair color.
“Urgh Robyn, you’re so… annoying!”
“And you’re lazy. So get your ass up before I beat it.”
“You couldn’t even if you tried!”
“Oh? Is that a challenge, Princess? If you want to be able to sit down during dinner I recommend you get up!” May just rolled her eyes at that and got up anyway. Not because she was intimidated or anything, she knew Robyn was right and that they needed to train. Joanna had already gotten their weapons and Fiona was busy making snacks.
“Fine, I’ll get up. Happy now?”
“As happy as a huntress.” May rolled her eyes again at that pun.
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The training field wasn’t very exciting, but it had everything a bunch of huntresses needed. In the distance they noticed a few faunus training and Robyn felt her heart grow heavier. It was at least ten times harder for a faunus to get admitted to a combat school in Mantle, and then getting accepted into Atlas Academy was for most faunus absolutely impossible. She knew how hard it had been for Fiona, or for Marrow… that was why she was here today as well. To train, to be a strong leader who could help even the weakest people of her city.
“Look who’s occupying the pull-up bars.” May pointed in a different direction and Robyn turned her head in confusion. Okay, what the fuck was Winter Schnee doing here? The woman was obviously struggling hard, she was still standing on the ground with both feet, the cane on the ground and one hand on the bar itself. That woman just couldn’t be serious!
“The three of you can start without me, we were just planning to do some sparring anyway. I need to talk to Ms. Snowflake over there.”
Winter didn’t notice the older woman approach her, she was too focused on trying to get her other arm up to the bar as well. But it was as if the muscles of said arm didn’t obey her. Winter knew it wouldn’t work, the nerve damage was too much, but she just needed to keep trying anyway.
“So… what exactly are you trying to do here?” Robyn had her arms folded in front of her chest as she stared at the ex-soldier. Winter better had a very good explanation for whatever this was. “Argh!” But she had startled Winter so hard the former soldier lost her grip on the pull-up bar and her damaged spine couldn’t take her entire weight like that. She fell, but just when she was about to hit the ground Robyn caught her. “Woah! Careful, Snowflake! I know it’s not uncommon that women fall for me, but this was new.”
The blonde carefully eased Winter down on the ground and let go. The smaller woman just scoffed, though there was a barely noticeable redness on her cheeks. Cute. “What are you doing here, I was just trying to train!” Robyn hadn’t expected such an angry tone, but it didn’t faze her. May had been hard to handle in the beginning, too.
“You call that training? Please, you can’t even stand without help!” Winter looked away, she was already more than aware of the harsh truth. “I know. But I need to try! What else am I good for if I can’t be a soldier?”
Robyn sighed and decided to sit down next to the small Atlesian. “Being a soldier was your job, but your job doesn’t define who you are.” Winter raised a dark eyebrow and for a second Robyn wondered if she dyed them to be that color. “That’s rich coming from you, aren’t you Mayor Hill?”
“Well, yes. I am Mayor Hill, but I’m also still just Robyn. I have a private life, I have friends and family, I’m not just the mayor of this place. I’m sure being a soldier wasn’t your entire identity?” The following silence was suffocating and Robyn worried she had lost Winter once more.
“No, you’re wrong. Being a soldier was everything I was. There is no family to return to, no friends I could call…” Winter sounded bitter and far too melancholic for someone her age. Robyn had no idea how old the ex-soldier actually was, but if she had to guess she’d say Winter was around 27.
“Why do you even keep approaching me? Since I moved to Mantle you’ve tried to talk to me over and over again. I really don’t understand you.”
“I’m just curious, you’re an ex-Special Operative who moved to Mantle, plus you’re from the richest family of this kingdom. You do have to admit that’s very unusual.” Robyn explained and Winter nodded. The explanation made sense to her.
“I just had to get away. After my last mission I came back like this, they tried to patch me back together, General Ironwood tried to find the best doctors on Remnant, but my spine and arm won’t recover. And my mind is scrambled.” This was the first time Winter actually spoke about what had happened to her. “I got an honorable discharge, more money than I’m ever able to spend… and a broken body and mind.” Then Winter stopped talking and Robyn knew that for today she wouldn’t get anything else out of the ex-soldier.
“I’m sorry.” That caused the younger woman to look up. “Excuse me? What did you just say?”
“I said I’m sorry.”
“That’s… the first time I heard someone say it. In Atlas people thank you for your service all the time… it’s always ‘thank you for your service’, but never ‘I’m sorry you had no other choice but to serve’.” Robyn wasn’t sure whether Winter would appreciate the gesture or not, but she put one of her hands on the shorter woman’s shoulder. In the background she could hear weapons clashing against each other so her friends were still busy sparring.
There was an implication in her words that was concerning. Winter apparently didn’t have any other choice than join the military back when she was younger. The question was why? And did Robyn actually want to know? Atlas elites were a horrible type of human beings, she knew more than enough about them because of May… Plus May had already mentioned that the Schnee home wasn’t a very friendly place.
The blonde sighed quietly. Here she was, comforting a woman she barely knew that got destroyed by Atlas just like the rest of Mantle. This woman was broken, her eyes empty and Robyn was genuinely worried about her. Sure, she had no clue how, but this was the moment Robyn decided she would do anything she could to help Winter.