CHAPTER FOUR

Inside, Weiss began to sputter. Then she seized on one distraction.

"Us? Dear sister, what do you mean?"

Could she also have found a symbiote? Was it infesting her speech patterns?

'Impossible. We don't affect yours, do we?'

Winter was not impressed. "He came directly to Ironwood, as one would expect. Ironwood put me on it to placate him. So please, stop wasting time."

Weiss sighed, her wild fancy bearing no fruit. It would have been nice to have another to speak to about this whole mess.

'We feel so appreciated right now.'

Weiss wanted to curse. Instead, she looked crestfallen as she realized her one out. "My card had been taken, I'm afraid. I thought I had retrieved it before any of the thieves could order some ill gotten trash but apparently I failed. I am deeply sorry, Winter."

Winter closed her eyes, shaking her head. "I didn't know what you'd be doing with a bra in that size anyways."

Weiss found her left eye twitched, just a touch. Bleiss could not, and would not, contain her laughter.

"Though disappointing to hear that you failed in this way, it is better than the alternative. I will report back post haste. Tell your teammate Yang to keep her hands off of your stuff, sister."

Weiss' eyes widened. "She didn't-!"

Winter rolled her eyes. "Dear, I've seen pictures of the girl. Only her figure could fill out the things ordered on this card. The Faunus fetish-wear recently ordered on these reports is also...concerning. Regardless, be well, sister."

When Weiss left the tower, she realized she had not, in fact, gotten the information she came for. Glaring back at the building, she wondered idly if it'd be worth returning. A new message from Ruby told her otherwise. Apparently it had turned into quite the urgent meeting. Sending a message to Blake to meet her on the way, Weiss turned her thoughts inward.

"Why did you-"

'We didn't.'

Weiss could feel an honesty there. "Why would you imply you had?"

She could practically feel the symbiote smile. "It was quite amusing. We would never abuse our mutual trust in such a way, not with one we have bonded to so closely.'

This put Weiss at ease, to some degree. Until a realization hit her.

'Yes,' Bleiss began, catching onto her thought process. 'Yang did steal your card to order those articles of clothing.'

"You were aware!"

'We do not sleep as you do. We could have acted to stop her, but found it more amusing to see how things turned out.' Bleiss had regained the same smug attitude as before. Wonderful.

Weiss snarled as she stomped onwards. "Wait. Why would Yang have ordered Faunus fetish attire..."

"Hey Weiss, what's going on?"

Weiss's attention was drawn to her dark haired partner. Suspicion ran heavy through her mind. No, surely Blake wouldn't have also stolen her card, just to order some embarrassing dress up clothing.

'It is funny you should say that...'

Weiss did not scream. She merely pointed Blake towards their location very forcibly and dragged the young Faunus along. She, and perhaps all of her team, would have much to answer for.

"She has so much to answer for!"

Weiss could feel herself shrinking away, becoming more and more part of the furniture in which she sat. Yang had brought them down to the police station to explain the situation, and she was ranting and raving about a black haired woman with red eyes. Who had destroyed her motorcycle. Who had been Weiss, but with an alien monster controlling her actions.

'Excuse you?'

Weiss had to keep herself from verbally shushing Bleiss. At any moment Yang would put two and two together and realize that somehow, some way, it was all her own fault. That Weiss had done this horrible deed. Weiss ignored the strange look on Ruby's face, wallowing in her own worries. This would be a disaster, a horrible thing that she could never repay, no matter what.

"My mother is such a bitch!"

Yang's final declaration caught Weiss and Bleiss off guard.

"Mother?" Weiss stood, now intrigued.

Yang snorted. "I guess you could call her that. The woman who gave birth to me, Raven Branwen. She's gotta be in the city, and I need to ask you guys to help me find her."

Blake nodded immediately. "We've got a few hours before the meeting tonight. That'll give the items I've ordered time to arrive too!"

A concerning excitement lit up Blake's features. Weiss paled at the implications.

"Blake, I have to ask, did you recently-"

"Team RWBY, move out!" Ruby had taken the wind from her sails entirely, pointing nebulously to the sky. Yet Weiss could tell, her cheer was not genuine.

Yang devised a plan where they circled the city in pairs, one pair clockwise the other counter clockwise. Weiss teamed herself up with Ruby, if only to separate from Blake's increasingly overwhelming presence and unsure how to handle Ruby's own odd behavior. Though, Weiss was rather curious about why Blake was so keen on this. Questions for later.

Weiss and Yang had been on the lookout for thirty minutes after, Yang's shoulders drawn forward and her attention keen. Weiss was fighting boredom, knowing that they would find nothing. Boredom tinged with regret over what they had done. What Bleiss had done. She, herself, obviously was mostly blameless.

'You could have stopped me at any time.'

"You were having fun."

'So?'

Weiss bit her lip. She knew the Symbiote would feel it now, if she hadn't before. The guilt Weiss had, that Bleiss could only express herself in such limited terms.

'Weiss. We're fine. We live, through you.'

"But you want things that I do not. How is that fair?"

Bleiss sighed, a point made purely for Weiss' own benefit. 'It is in our nature to exist in tandem with those we bond with. We exist as a symbiosis of one organism bonding with another. We may desire certain things you do not, but they come from the same place. Two souls, one heart. Two minds, one body. That is our strength.' Weiss felt a tendril emerge and poke her on the shoulder. 'Do not think we couldn't seize control if we so desired. We simply have no reason to. We are, for the moment, content with how things are.'

Weiss frowned. For the moment. Perhaps that worried her more than anything. Still, things were going well.

"You talk to yourself like this all the time, Snow Flake?"

Yang was grinning back at Weiss, though Weiss could tell it was a false smile. She had worn enough of those herself.

"Your mother, what is she like?" Weiss stepped up to Yang, walking side by side with her. Though, Weiss noticed with some annoyance, she couldn't keep up her sway. Damn Yang's hips. At least Weiss knew that she had the better...What was she even thinking!

'Ah, finally taking pride in our superior posterior. As befitting of us.'

Yang glanced at Weiss, Weiss swearing she saw the tint of her eyes change subtly. "She was, is, complicated. I don't know the full story, just stories from my dad and my uncle."

"She left us. When I was an infant. I never even knew, only found out about it after Summer died. Ruby's mom." Yang looked to the sky, something focusing around her.

If Weiss didn't know better, she'd swear she saw the hints of Yang's aura just edging up.

"My own mother has...not been around much, so to speak." Weiss looked to the sky now, ignoring Yang's sidelong glance. It was a pretty day out.

'That bird is a threat.'

Weiss suddenly felt a great murderous intent from Bleiss. Scanning the surroundings, she found the bird in question. A crow, or maybe a raven, sitting and watching them. How long had it been there?

'It's been following Yang since we left the police office. It doesn't act like a normal bird.'

Weiss wondered if it could be a threat, not wanting to verbally express herself.

'It may be a trick, an agent of the murderers. Two of them are dangerous, do not forget.'

Weiss nodded, continuing with Yang. Yang did not pry any further, and Weiss was otherwise occupied. They reached a corner, Weiss beginning to feel silly. How could a simple bird be a threat? How could they weaponize an animal? Semblances could do many things, but she had never once run into one that allowed shape shifting.

Yang turned the corner, the bird flying overhead to follow. From Weiss' back, a tendril shot out, ensnaring the raven. Weiss, panicking, leapt backwards, creating a glyph to launch her away. Unknowingly, she dragged the avian with her, Bleiss not letting go.

"Stop this! You're going to kill that poor animal!"

'It feels wrong. We can't crush it.'

"Why are you trying to crush a tiny, insignificant, weak b-!"

Weiss' words were cut off as the bird suddenly exploded into a woman, freeing herself of the black tendril with little issue. They had landed some ways away, in the middle of a construction site. The woman had wild black hair, burning red eyes, and looked incredibly like Yang.

"You really are here!" Weiss pointed towards the older woman, surprised that the universe had yet again given her a scapegoat.

"And you are going to fetch quite the pretty penny on the black market, Schnee Heiress." Raven rested her hand on her katana, readying to strike.

Weiss took a step back, raising her hands. "Wait, this is all a huge mistake!"

Raven's grip tightened. "You have no idea."

Within Weiss, Bleiss began to laugh. 'Bring it bitch.'

Weiss was an adapt fighter, passibly good in her age. What she was not was a seasoned warrior, who had ventured into the wilds and survived night after night. For every blow she could parry, Raven would strike her with three more. It was clear, very quickly, that Raven was taking it easy on her. Yet Weiss did notice something strange.

In between getting knocked around and slammed into the ground more than once, her aura had yet to break. Though it hurt, she was not injured. Weiss could only attribute it to the Symbiote, possibly bolstering her natural durability. Sadly, even with this newfound advantage, Weiss could not make ground against her foe. Weiss prided herself on speed, but Raven was simply faster.

Slamming Weiss into the ground again, Raven snapped her fingers. A portal formed behind her.

"Your daddy is going to pay big bucks for you, Schnee."

'Not if we have something to say.'

From Weiss' back, a black tendril launched out. It met Raven's blade, Raven unnerved but now expecting the additional attack. Weiss wondered if she had any clue what was going on, or chalked it up to the fabled and useful Schnee Semblance. Only this one had an unfortunate effect for Raven, as the tendril ran into the blade and split along its edge- only to continue. Striking Raven in the face with two tendril strands and then seizing around her blade and yanking it away, Weiss jumped up.

Only to be immediately grabbed by the ankle, Raven on her hot and heavy. Though the blow to Raven's head had disoriented her, it had not done much damage, Bleiss having little sway without Weiss. Weiss found herself hurled away by an incredible strength, Raven's eyes seemingly glowing. Smashing through the wooden temporary walls, she rolled to a stop beneath a crane with a heavy load.

"Since you want to be such a hard nut, how about I soften you up a little!" Raven's voice from outside called, Weiss still dazed. What was she talking about?

And then a bolt of lightning struck the crane's ropes, dropping the materials it had been carrying. Barrels, blocks of cement, and countless tools and nails, all plunging directly for Weiss.

The explosion of the impact rattled the ground, Raven crossing her arms. Her helmet was on now, knowing the police may be coming. The portal behind her remained, a gateway to her tribe. Even if the Schnee died, they could sell her body to the White Fang. They had quite the hefty bounty on Schnees.

What she had not expected was the rumble that followed, the ground below her beginning to crack. Leaping away as quickly as she could, she just barely avoided a massive black spike tearing its way to the surface. The spike, she realized, wasn't a spike at all- it was a humanoid, spinning so incredibly fast, inhumanly fast, tearing through earth and stone with grasping claws. Landing on the ground, the beast hunched forward. Its, her, jaw extended tongue running along her emerging fangs. Pitch black, with only twin white slashes that Raven supposed were eyes, with a body that pulsed and breathed. Some new breed of Grimm, no doubt.

"We, are Venom. You, will die."

Raven, having retrieved her sword in the chaos, closed the portal. She sheathed her blade, steeling herself for what was to come. "Maybe. But not by your hand, monster."

The creature, Venom, grinned. A smile of teeth.

"We disagree."

AN:

Hey there readers! So, in the next month or so, I'm considering going to Pat/ reon, as there's apparently a censoring I wasn't aware of. I am currently working on Venomous Weiss and Down To The River as you know, but I also am working on several original creations that I hope to one day get published. One of which is the start of a sci-fi/fantasy adventure series, The Lightning Brigade, already sitting at 21K words.

If I get my pat/ reon going properly, you will be able to keep up with what I do in roughly real time, and have access to my original stuff as I work on it from first draft to, hopefully, final product. Still working out some logistics, but you'll also get exclusive information on future plans of mine going forward, and possibly what purely fanfiction-y fun I attempt after Down to the River and Venomous Weiss wind down.

Though, I have plenty of plans for Venomous Weiss to keep it going and keep it fresh. So no worries about it being rushed, trust me. You will also be able to commission me to write short stories for whatever, if you feel so inclined. Again, all to be worked out as I work out how the Pat / Reon is going to be. Some of the money will be spent on art for these books, both fanfiction and original, and at a certain tier you can even create original characters for me to incorporate into my own original work, if you so choose.

Lots of fun stuff to come!

Let me know what you think in the reviews or in a private message and I'll keep you posted on how things go. Be well, all of you, and have a great day. The next update should be in two weeks, as next week I aim to get Down to the River out. Hopefully I can keep that pace up, and maybe even increase it as time goes on.

Keep circulating the links and stay frosty.