A Different Kind Of Victory

EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL PATRONS!

Commission for Antonslavik020 who wanted modern North Pole in the Olympics! A really neat idea! But just so you know, some details might be off, because I don't actually know how Olympic training goes ahaha. If it's too inaccurate, just imagine in as an AU where the Olympics are different than the real ones.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

-----------------


													A Different Kind Of Victory

When Weiss decided to follow in her older sister's footsteps to train as an athlete for the Olympics, she never expected it to be an easy task.

But ever since the day she was able to walk, Weiss had been a hardworking girl, always pushing herself to her limits and beyond, striving for perfection and excellence in order to bring proper recognition to the prestigious family name her father and sister had set before her.

In his youth, her father had struck gold with some very clever and meticulous business practices, and ever since had been endorsing and sponsoring the Olympic sports since he himself couldn't exactly participate. But when his first daughter was old enough, Winter wasted no time in setting out on a long, arduous journey of training in order to qualify.

For five years she'd participated in Olympic fencing, and received the gold medal three years out of those five, and silver the other two. She was a famous athlete, and very highly celebrated.

However, the world now knew that she was leaving behind her Olympic days and setting out to follow her passions, to travel and study the world.

But she wouldn't be leaving an open space in the competition behind her.

Rumor had it that she'd been training her younger sister in the art of fencing even before Winter had planned to stop competing in the Olympics. Their father's wealth ensured they could purchase the finest equipment and gear to train with, and their property included a vast courtyard where they had no boundaries.

Weiss had always been interested in Olympic competition from a young age. The sports had been a huge highlight of her life ever since she'd been young, considering it was much of what her father's business revolved around, and the fact that her sister competed.

In addition to Winter, there were several other athletes Weiss admired after all those years of watching the Olympics. But in recent years, she'd discovered her favorite.

Pyrrha Nikos was one of the youngest competitors the Olympics had ever seen. She was only eighteen, the same age as Weiss had been at the time, and yet even in her very first year of competing in the javelin throw, she'd earned gold, breaking records and winning hearts all around the world.

That included Weiss'.

After all, not only was Pyrrha a very beautiful girl, but she was also very well-mannered, kind, and outgoing. She never boasted about her victories or bragged about how hard and long she'd trained for. She even went so far as to sternly correct others who put down other athletes in her favor.

She was a girl who was very firm and fair in her beliefs, and she always practiced what she preached.

All of these qualities were just a few of the things that had drawn Weiss to her, and she could probably think of a million more if she were asked to.

She had wanted to follow in her sister's footsteps and compete in the Olympics all her life. But the fact that Pyrrha was also participating only motivated Weiss to train even harder in order to get there.

She worked tireless hours with Winter at home. Whatever free time Weiss had when she wasn't doing schoolwork was spent outdoors training under her sister's professional watch.

Whatever Winter advised, Weiss accomplished. Even if a certain skill took her weeks to perfect, she never gave up. She trained rain or shine, only ever taking a rare day off if the weather was particularly severe.

But even then, she'd practice her stances, jabs, and dodges in the privacy of her own room.

She would stop at nothing to make her father proud, to uphold Winter's legacy and to possibly cross paths with Pyrrha Nikos in the process.

-----------------

After many, many months of intense and occasionally even grueling training with Winter, Weiss believed she was ready to perform for qualification to be able to compete in the upcoming Olympics.

Winter had made sure to put her through rigorous sessions, both to test Weiss' unbreakable spirit, and to allow her to get used to the kind of intensity that would be required when training for such an ostentatious dream.

If Weiss was ever feeling exhausted or down on herself, she'd simply remember her older sister's words.

"Olympic athletes aren't born. They're created."

And Weiss knew she'd have to earn that prestigious title all on her own.

Therefore, on the day she was to make an attempt to qualify, performing in front of dozens of coaches and professionals all armed with critical eyes and sharp tongues, Weiss gave one of her best performances ever.

Even Winter was surprised by how exceptional she was during her mock fight against another trainee.

Her stances were almost flawless, her jabs were swift and unpredictable, her blows were harmless, but powerful. The judges and coaches decided almost right away that they wanted her to be competing, and Winter couldn't agree more.

As soon as Weiss removed her gear and was told of her success, she didn't know whether to clap or cry. She only just barely managed to bow and profusely thank the other judges before racing over to Winter and throwing her arms around her.

"Thank you, Winter! Thank you s-so much!"

"Don't thank me, Weiss. You've earned this." Winter hugged her tightly. "Tomorrow we'll take a day off, but after that, it will be non-stop training until the day of competition, do you hear me?"

"Yes! I'll never stop working hard, Winter. I'll make you and Father proud."

Winter stroked her fingers lightly through Weiss' ponytail and softly kissed the top of her head.

"You already have."

------------------

Winter may have pulled a few strings here and there, and perhaps she might've used her father's influence in order to decide who Weiss' coach would be, but no one could ever prove that she'd tweaked the decision in her own favor.

Now that all the future participants had been officially decided, so too had their respective coaches.

Perhaps some of the biggest news was that Winter Schnee would be training her own sister for the Olympics that year, seeking to add yet another eventual gold medalist to their family line.

Another piece of news was that the famous young champion Pyrrha Nikos would once again be competing in the javelin throw this year, and was already training for victory.

But perhaps the most intriguing news of all was the announcement of more surprise athletes in this year's competition.

Another girl at age of nineteen would be competing, making for three of the youngest competitors for the Olympics in addition to Weiss and Pyrrha. But even more shocking than that development was that the other girl's younger sister of only eighteen years would be competing as well.

The news and media were already giving mixed reviews of excitement and criticism about it all, but Weiss paid it no heed. She wouldn't be competing in the same sport as any of the others anyway, but even if she had been, she wouldn't have changed her training methods or done anything differently.

She was neither off-put nor intimidated by other competitors, despite their age, race, or any other factor.

Weiss had heard all about these other new girls, but she'd never imagined that she'd meet them before the big games got underway.

It was customary for athletes to begin training on the actual fields where they would be competing in the Olympics in just a few months' time. As soon as the option became available, Winter brought Weiss there as quickly as possible.

Naturally, there were dozens of other fencers practicing on the massive matted area intended for their sport, but only a handful of fencers and coaches could use it at any given time.

Therefore, when Weiss was sitting on the bench with her headgear removed to have a drink of water, she was able to let her eyes wander around the surrounding area.

To one side of her arena was an enormous track field, where at least fifty young women were dressed in tank-tops and shorts, practicing sprinting and stamina.

On the other side, the girls were dressed much the same, only they wore heavy boxing gloves on their fists and practiced concussive swings on dummies.

Winter would always advise her sister to observe the competition in the fencing arena, so she could ascertain what kind of skills her opponents harbored. But Weiss had already recognized and memorized a good deal of that, and what techniques and habits each person had.

So she let her eyes wander, until she happened to glimpse the two girls she'd been seeing all over television for the past few weeks.

Yang Xiao Long was a very fit and muscular girl, her long, thick blonde hair tied up into a high ponytail. Weiss watched her now as she struck devastating blows to the dummy before her, jabbing, pushing, and grappling with it.

On the other side of herself, Weiss could spot a rather small girl running with the rest of them. Ruby Rose, the boxer's half-sister, was also very much in-shape for her sport, and she was impressively quick. After only a few minutes of watching her, Weiss could easily see why she'd been chosen to compete.

The white-haired girl took a moment to be thankful that she wouldn't be competing against either of them when the time came.

But there was still one person Weiss had an even greater interest in.

The javelin throwers were here today as well, several arenas away, out on a long-stretching field that was at least a mile long. Whenever Weiss looked in that direction, she could see the distant shapes of the long javelins soaring through the air.

But she could always tell which person had thrown the one that traveled the farthest.

Since Weiss had admired Pyrrha for so long, she knew by now how to recognize the unique arch of her throws.

Sometimes, a few other people would come close to besting Pyrrha's throw, but never quite beat it. If Weiss watched long enough, she could hear the faint blow of a whistle past all the other noise. At the signal for the javelin throwers to go out and retrieve their tools all at once, Weiss could sometimes catch a glimpse of that long red ponytail streaming in the wind...

But she wouldn't do well to get distracted – not here.

The very second Winter called for her, Weiss was set and focused on her next round of training.

About a week went by in such a manner, with Weiss training on her fencing arena under Winter's command. A few times during her breaks, she'd even ended up sitting on a bench that was shared by none other than the famous new sisters.

They were very talkative people by nature, and Ruby was highly interested in Weiss' fencing, constantly complimenting her every chance she got. Yang was impressed as well, able to appreciate the difference in style of Weiss' sport in comparison to her own.

And Weiss would offer praise to them in return, occasionally speaking to them on a more personal, casual level.

Yang and Ruby had another supportive friend named Blake, but since she wasn't a competitor, she was required to sit in an audience stand several doze yards away.

On this present day, Weiss had just gotten finished with a particularly exhausting round of fencing. On top of her opponent having been bigger and much more aggressive than she was, Weiss had managed to keep her cool despite the intense heat of the sun, and had just barely managed to pull out one final point to score the victory.

Winter had both praised and criticized her for the performance, but insisted that she take a rest and get a drink, lest she get dehydrated.

While Winter stayed to watch more matches, Weiss staggered over to her usual bench and uncapped a bottle of water from a nearby cooler. Both Ruby and Yang had made the journey to the audience stands to sit and chat with Blake today, leaving Weiss by herself for the moment.

Still panting heavily from the sweltering heat, she tried to regain some composure by swallowing a few mouthfuls of icy water.

Of course, that would've been much easier to do if someone else hadn't suddenly sat right next to her, bumped her shoulder, and caused her to choke.

Weiss immediately pulled the bottle away from her lips, coughing unceremoniously as she spilled water all over herself and them. The other person was clearly startled by what had happened.

"Oh my goodness!" she gasped. "I'm so sorry!"

Weiss felt a hand on her back, firm but nervous, and another on her knee, trying to steady her. Eyes closed, Weiss covered her mouth with her arm and took a moment to calm herself.

Once the coughing had subsided and she'd gotten her breath back, she opened her eyes-

-only to lose it all over again.

Staring back at her was a pair of concerned, bright green eyes. The slightly-tanned skin of her shoulders, arms, legs, and midriff was revealed by the light fabrics of her shorts and t-shirt, which were slightly damp from both sweat from her training, and a bit of water from Weiss' incident just now. A long, crimson ponytail spilled all down the length of her back, blowing faintly in the warm wind.

Weiss almost choked all over again as her heart slammed to a halt, eyes wide and jaw gaping as the last drops of water fell from her chin.

Pyrrha Nikos looked back at her, still fretting over her condition.

"I'm so sorry!" she said again. "I didn't mean to startle you! It was my fault for bumping against you! Are you all right?"

Weiss couldn't remember how to speak. She was lucky enough that her body could naturally remember how to breathe on its own now, because she knew that if she'd had to do it manually, she would've passed out already.

Weiss had trouble understanding this as reality. The young champion - the girl she'd admired and had a crush on for so many months, the girl she'd been watching from afar and silently cheering on...

Pyrrha was now sitting right her next to her with a hand on her back, looking directly into her eyes, speaking to her...

Weiss realized she should probably respond.

"A-Ah, y-yes..." she wheezed. "I... I'm fine... just wet..."

"Um... I beg your pardon?"

When Pyrrha tilted her head and gave her a puzzled look, Weiss knew she'd just said something incredibly stupid.

"I-I mean- from the water! A-And I spilled it on you as well, a-and now y-you're wet..."

Okay, maybe responding hadn't been the best idea she'd ever had.

Weiss instantly clammed up and longed to vanish into thin air. She couldn't bear to keep holding Pyrrha's gaze like this, not when she knew how warm her cheeks were already becoming and how disorganized and unappealing she must've looked in that moment, frazzled and panicked and covered in water she'd just spit up.

With a whimper, Weiss ducked her head and turned away, burying her face in her hands. /She thinks I'm weird! She'll never speak to me again! It was nice while it lasted I guess.../

Weiss was prepared for the worst, for ridicule and harsh words.

But she must've forgotten exactly who she was dealing with.

Pyrrha laughed, but it wasn't hurtful or mean. Rather, it was soft, lighthearted, and put Weiss at ease a bit. She realized that her own turning away had caused the other girl to remove her hand from her back, and part of Weiss wished she would put it back.

Weiss remained frozen in place, mortified to be thinking that other people might have seen this catastrophe unfold. But Pyrrha's voice was kind and made her forget all else for just a moment.

"Well, if you're sure you're okay. I was actually watching your last match and I wanted to tell you myself how incredible I thought you were! I don't know much about fencing, but I can tell you have an amazing technique! I'm sure you'll win Atlas the gold in fencing this year just like your sister did! Best of luck, Weiss!"

And with that, Pyrrha stood and took her leave, jogging back over to where her coach and fellow javelin throwers were waiting.

Weiss stared dumbly at her back as she went. She didn't know if she was more incredulous at the fact that Pyrrha Nikos had just sat down next to her and spoken to her for a solid three minutes, or more appalled by the fact that Weiss had done nothing more than spit water on her and mutter nonsensical gibberish in return.

/That... could've been my only chance... And I wasn't ready for it, and now I might never get another chance again... I'm such an idiot.../

Hunching forward, she covered her face with her hands and curled in on herself, bemoaning her cruel fate.

But not a moment later, Winter was calling her back up for more training.

After the incident with Pyrrha, Weiss tried her best to take her mind off of it and focus on her training.

But she just couldn't. She mis-stepped, stumbled, allowed several of her opponent's strikes to go un-blocked and several of their openings go un-exploited. After only ten minutes, Winter called her off again.

"What has gotten into you all of a sudden?" she quipped. "Weiss, the Olympics are only a month away. You can't afford to start getting sloppy now. You want to win us a gold medal, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" she cried. "I'm... I'm sorry, Winter. I'm just not... feeling up to it suddenly..."

At that, Winter became less strict and more concerned. She'd known Weiss all her life, and she knew when something was amiss with her. Weiss didn't simply trip up on something - especially not fencing - for no good reason.

At that point, Winter feared the heat might've been getting to her, so she ordered Weiss to remove her gear and cool off a bit. Weiss did as instructed, letting the sweat-soaked clothes underneath finally be blessed by a breeze.

Winter put a hand on her sister's shoulder and guided her over to the bench once again, where she pulled a clean towel off a nearby pile of them, dipped it in ice from the cooler, and draped it across her sister's neck.

"Are you feeling all right?" Winter asked softly. "You look flushed. Don't tell me you're getting heatstroke. Weiss, you should've said something-"

"No..." she sighed, shoulders slumping. "It's nothing like that..."

Weiss refused to look at her older sister, which only made Winter all the more adamant to press her for information.

"Then what is it? Did you get injured in a match without telling me? Why are you holding your chest like that? Does it hurt?"

Weiss hadn't realized she'd been doing that, and she quickly dropped her hands into her lap and shook her head again.

"No. I'm fine... I just... spoke to someone..."

Winter leaned over her sister, pulling her in protectively. She was usually very good in keeping her emotions in check, but when it came to her little sister, Winter couldn't help but show her true colors, and she tended to fret. She could tell this was something that needed to be addressed not by Weiss' coach, but by her big sister.

"Did they say something insulting to you? Who was it?"

Weiss was thankful for her sister's proximity, because it allowed her to turn into her side and bury her face in her shoulder to conceal the blush.

"No... It wasn't something bad..."

"Then what was it?"

"It was... Pyrrha Nikos..."

With her sister's final wheeze of a whisper, Winter finally understood.

"Oh."

Now she understood. Completely.

She'd known for a while now about Weiss' crush on the young champion. Weiss might've been able to hide it from everyone else in the world, but her older sister was the one person she couldn't keep it from.

Winter wrapped both arms around Weiss and allowed her to hide.

"So then... what did you do?"

She could tell it must've been something embarrassing.

Weiss whimpered.

"I... spit water on her..."

Winter almost snorted out loud, but she fought to swallow it back down.

"Oh my..."

"She'll never speak to me again," Weiss moaned.

"Now, now, don't think like that. I don't think she's that kind of person, Weiss. Did she go running off screaming?"

"...No."

"Then you're fine. Knowing that girl, I'll bet she laughed it off."

"Actually... she did..." Weiss felt a spark of hope shimmer back to life in her chest. She slowly straightened her posture and lifted her head to look up at her sister. "Winter... do you really think it's okay?"

"I do. And I'm fairly certain this won't be the last time you speak to Miss Nikos. In fact, I can almost guarantee it."

Weiss sniffled once, then wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Winter. I'll go back to training now..."

"Nonsense. You've done quite enough for today. In fact, I should take partial responsibility for your mishap with Miss Nikos. It was my fault for pushing you so hard in training that you were so exhausted and not in the right state of mind when she found you. So let me make it up to you."

"Winter, really. It's okay-"

"We can train more tomorrow," she decided. "But for tonight, we're going out for dinner. Just you and I. Let's get back home so you can shower."

That was how Winter took Weiss' mind off of the troubling events of the day.

And she even went so far as to comfort Weiss all evening long, until she'd boosted her sister's confidence high enough to encourage Weiss to seek Pyrrha out again tomorrow.

-----------------

The next morning, Weiss was instantly reminded of everything that had happened the day before.

Everything from her incident with Pyrrha to her encouraging dinner chat with Winter flashed through her mind, but ultimately, she ended on the better thoughts.

/I'll try to find her and talk to her again today.../

Usually, coaching Weiss was Winter's job, but that morning, all through breakfast, changing, and being driven to the site of her practice arena, Weiss mentally coached herself.

/Just remember what Winter said and it will be fine.../

Once she and her sister had arrived at the practice fields however, Weiss forced herself to focus. She couldn't afford to miss another day of training due to over-thinking the situation.

Therefore, she worked hard all morning, taking every piece of advice Winter called out to her, besting each of her opponents with grace and speed. The driving factor that she might get to speak to Pyrrha after all of this fueled her to concentrate on the task at hand, and muscle memory did the rest.

She worked hard, but not excessively, until she'd completed four entire consecutive matches. At that point, Winter approached her and put a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"Excellent. Go take a break now."

As Weiss lifted her headgear and removed it, she just caught sight of her sister's little wink. Winter had been keeping an eye on the javelin throwers and had made sure to give Weiss her break at the same time as theirs.

Weiss mumbled a quick, shy thanks to her sister, then hurried off toward the benches.

Ruby and Yang were just leaving, but they didn't depart without pulling Weiss into a big group hug first. Everything smelled of sweat and sunlight, and the hug was a bit hard considering the toned bodies she was being pressed up against. But Weiss had gotten used to this by now.

She wished the sisters luck in their training before collapsing onto the bench. She grabbed a water bottle and a towel, keeping the former in her lap as she pressed the latter to her face to wipe off the sweat.

/All right. It's simple. I'll just keep an eye out for Pyrrha and if I see her I'll just-/

"Weiss! We meet again!"

The familiar chuckle of a greeting nearly sent Weiss spiraling off the bench as she jolted upright, removing her flushed face and frazzled bangs from her towel.

Pyrrha was standing before her, every inch of visible skin coated in a thin layer of gleaming sweat, hands on her hips, and a huge, kind smile on her face.

Weiss just counted her blessings that she hadn't been drinking again this time, or else there would've been a repeat of yesterday's catastrophe.

As she registered this as reality now, Weiss quickly fumbled for words.

"P-Pyrrha! I-I... good morning!"

/It is technically still morning, right?/

"Good morning!" she replied cheerfully. "May I sit with you again today, Weiss?"

It was all the white-haired girl could do to nod. Excitedly, Pyrrha sat down beside her and started gushing.

"Thank you! I saw the last of your matches and it was incredible! I can't believe how fast you are! People praise me for my strength, but I've always wanted to be quick like you are!"

Weiss was trying to keep up with the conversation. All the things she'd planned to say in advance were quickly becoming irrelevant as Pyrrha set a new topic of conversation.

"Well... being fast isn't everything," she said, trying to sound as modest as possible. "I've always wanted to be stronger. But I think we're both just doing what we do best in our own respects."

Nervous she'd said something too philosophical, Weiss fumbled to un-screw the bottle's cap and took a sip, making sure to swallow completely this time.

In the meantime, Pyrrha's face had lit up all over again.

"You're absolutely right! We train ourselves differently based on what we're passionate about!"

Weiss nodded, but could think of nothing more to say on the matter. She'd hardly even noticed that she was living out her dream once again, sitting beside and talking to Pyrrha. And they were doing it so casually, so comfortably, as if they were already...

"Oh!" Pyrrha gasped. "Weiss, may I give you my number? I'm sorry if it's a bit straightforward, but I think it would be fun to talk more together sometime! But I know we only just properly met, so if it's too early, don't feel bad about refusing! I understand!"

"I... I-I..."

"Oh gosh, you're turning red! Please, drink some more water!" Pyrrha insisted. "Here, how about this? I'll write my number and leave it here. You can take it if you want to, but don't feel obliged! I've got to get going now, though!"

Pyrrha tore off the label from her own water bottle and quickly scribbled something down on it, then left it on the bench. "It was so nice talking to you again, Weiss!Good luck! See you tomorrow!"

And as quickly as she'd come and with the same beaming smile, Pyrrha hurried off.

Weiss was left there on the bench, stunned beyond words.

/That... didn't just happen.../

She reached for the torn label, pinched it between her fingers, examined the legitimate phone number written there...

"My, my."

Weiss nearly shrieked as Winter's amused voice hummed behind her ear.

"Goodness!" Weiss cried. "Why does everyone keep sneaking up on me today?"

"Don't get too flustered now," Winter went on. "But it seems Miss Nikos has just made your job a lot easier, Weiss."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Winter put her fingers to her chin and couldn't help but smile.

"I wonder... If you think about it, it's really quite simple, Weiss. Weren't you the one who'd planned on asking for her number?"

"H-How did you-?"

"And there's really only one reason why you'd do that, isn't there? And it wouldn't be just to talk about the Olympics, I can assure you that. You'd call her because you wanted to talk to her, get to know her, right? Because you like her."

Weiss' only response was a thin breath of air and a reddening face that was promptly hidden into her towel. Winter patted her head lightly.

"Then that's perfect isn't it? Because why do you think Miss Nikos gave you her number? It's for the very same reason. Imagine the news headlines. Two of the youngest Olympic competitors dating when they aren't training to win the medals-"

"Winter-!"

"Oh come now, you were imagining it, too."

"Not until you started describing it!"

Winter laughed, and Weiss sunk further into her towel.

"Just don't let it distract you too much, all right? If anything, let this motivate you further. And once the Olympics are over, you can have Miss Nikos all to yourself."

With that, Winter left her little sister to her own devices.

Weiss had never expected it to get this far, and she certainly didn't anticipate it to go any further...

. . .

...And now, here she was, one month later.

Her name was being called over booming loudspeakers as millions of people watched her.

The official Olympic fencing matches were underway, and all the world was watching. That included her friends, Ruby, Yang, and Blake, her older sister-

-and her girlfriend.

It was a good feeling to know she had so much support during such a highly-stressful time. But there was even more excitement than there was stress.

She swung her rapier with all the skill Winter had taught her, and with all the motivation Pyrrha had given her.

Grace. Speed. Accuracy.

She excelled in everything.

And of course, hearing her name being announced as the victor after all those months of rigorous training was an incredible, indescribable feeling.

Feeling the judges place that gold medal – the one she'd earned for herself, for her sister, for her father, and for her kingdom – around her shoulders was even more surreal.

But perhaps the best feeling of all was running as fast as her feet could carry her into the exuberant arms of her cheering girlfriend, and letting the rest of Remnant watch as she kissed Pyrrha Nikos with her own two lips.

-----------------

A/N: Sorry to rush the ending, but word limit is a thing! Besides, the customer mainly asked for Weiss and Pyrrha meeting in the Olympics, and Winter 'coaching' Weiss on the matter. So I focused mainly on those things and sped along the obvious ending.

Again, I'm not Olympic expert, so don't eat me alive if my descriptions weren't 100% accurate.