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Twenty years ago, war between the humans and faunus tore through the lands, devastating everything and everyone amidst its ashes. Royalty, nobles, workers and peasants were all left to starve as farmlands were destroyed by the countless battles that took place.
If the White Fang wanted equality, then they had successfully forced it. Humans were no longer above the faunus. No one was. The world didn't care what race you were. Human, faunus, grim, or animal, every single being on the land struggled to survive.
A young girl, barely aged eight, watched as her father fought tooth and nail with another man for a stale and mouldy piece of bread. She recognised her father's opponent. He had meetings with her father at the company before the war had started. She distinctly remembered the two laughing and shaking hands like dear old friends.
To see them now in this state scared her. The reality of the war finally sunk in. She no longer lived as a noble. What her life was like before was no longer relevant. No one cared who she used to be or what she used to own. Everyone was left on their own with no aid of money to help them survive. Not even her own father, who had won the fight, cared enough about her to even spare a glance at her as he devoured his winnings.
Try as she may to keep herself together, the young girl couldn't help but weep. This was the beginning of the end. Her family had either gone missing or abandoned her and she had no knowledge of how to care for herself. Years of being pampered by servants only proved to be the nails to her coffin.
So she wept. Given up all hope of finding salvation, the young girl wept for her inevitable end.
"Are you okay?" A quiet voice echoed down the alley. The girl saw a pair of small feet stop in front of her. "Are you hurt?"
Ever so slowly, the girl slowly looked up at the owner of the feet. A young faunus girl with dark feline ears stared back at her, eyes emanating such a warm and comforting gold hue.
"Why are you here by yourself?" The faunus girl continued to ask, unaware that her question only reminded the human girl about her misfortune.
"I don't know," she sobbed. She didn't know why any of this was happening. She didn't know why the world had suddenly changed. She just didn't know anything about what happened or what was going on.
"Woah. It's okay," the faunus girl quickly comforted, unsure of what to say or do to help. "Are you lost? Are you looking for your mum and dad?"
The human wept louder.
"Okay. Okay. Please don't cry. You're going to be okay," the faunus panicked. She reached out to try and pat the girl but pulled back at the last second, unsure if she should startle the stranger.
"My dad told me that no matter what bad things happen now, things will be better in the future. I'm sure we can find your parents again. I'm looking for mine too," she admitted. The human looked up at the faunus, vision blurry with tears. Despite being separated from her family, the faunus looked calm.
"We can look for them together if you want. I'll help you," she offered as she extended her hand out with a gentle smile.
The human stared at the hand for a moment before looking up to meet the golden eyes again. The ears atop her head flicked as her smile grew just a little more to seem more comforting. It was a first for the human to see a faunus up so close. Her father had forbidden any faunus to even step foot into their once grand mansion. She never quite understood why.
The way the ears seemed to move exactly like an animal's yet fit perfectly with the humanoid figure fascinated her. The faunus looked like any other human she had seen with just the smallest addition of quirks or tricks. Why did her father refuse to associate with them?
"Oh!" The faunus girl exclaimed, causing the human to jump. "I haven't introduced myself yet. My mum told me I should always introduce myself to strangers."
The human back-pedalled, cautious for any other sudden movements.
"I'm Blake. Blake Belladonna," the faunus grinned, her hand outstretched again in an offering of a shake. The human stared at the hand cautiously, weighing out her possible options.
She was just an ex-noble who was abandoned by her family so they could have one less mouth to feed. Her father had no care for who she associated herself with anymore. For all he knew, she would be long gone in a few weeks time.
So here presented an opportunity for her. A saving grace from all the misfortunes she's experienced. A faunus girl was offering to accompany her and find her family again. Considering she had no other options, she did what any other person would do in her situation.
She took Blake's hand and shook it.
"Weiss. Weiss Schnee."
Peaceful. That was what the news had been preaching about for the last year. Things were finally "peaceful" after almost thirty years of nothing but war and devastation.
The war had ended with neither side claiming to be the victor. Human or faunus, neither race felt like they had come out ahead. The war merely died out as supplies ran out for both sides. Peace was only claimed when there had been no mass destruction for about a month.
Many were still homeless. Many more just barely holding on. Faunus or human, no one cared anymore. They just wanted the war to end. They wanted to start rebuilding their future. They just wanted a home.
"Vale has been crowned the most stable kingdom in remnant after the war. People have finally finished working the farmlands to start food production and factories have started to turn on their machines after a decade of neglect. The leader of once was..."
The voice continued to drone on through the broken casting screen. It was closer to a radio now that the screen failed to display any type of image.
"We should find some shelter for the night. It gets dark early around this season." A quiet voice whispered to her friend. The faunus friend glanced up at the darkening sky, cursing the coming of yet another winter.
"Yeah, we should," she sighed. She wanted to go on just a little bit longer in their search for more supplies but she had long since learned that pushing through the cold darkness only proved to be futile. Preserving as much of their energy would be vital for their survival. They had survived nine years together. It would be a waste to just throw that all away because she was impatient.
From the day that they had introduced each other, Blake and Weiss had fought through the struggles of a war torn world together. Two young naive girls searching for their family had grown up to be two independent girls who proudly survived starvation, disease and isolation. They had survived the war. Now all they had to do was to continue surviving until the day they would settle into some sort of stability.
"I'm sure there will be supplies here. Vale is the most stable place in Remnant. If we could survive in Atlas for eight years, I'm sure we can make do here," Weiss reassured. A girl once left for dead was now stronger than ever before. She had learnt the ways of the streets and used her quick witted mind to play the odds in her favour. She had given up on ever finding her father. She had grown to realise that he had never loved her, even during their prime. It was probably for the best that she had been left behind. He would have probably sooner traded her for a loaf of bread than care enough to feed her one.
"I sure hope so. I'm honestly over all this doom and gloom," Blake sighed. Despite searching for so many years for her parents, she never found any trace of them. Were they dead or alive, sick or healthy, she had no clue. There was still a small flicker of hope that she would one day find them, but she had stopped throwing herself in the forefront for information on them. Her priority now was about her survival, and now, Weiss' too.
"I heard a lot of people needed help rebuilding their homes. Though they're not actually paying with money, they are offering some food and shelter in return," Weiss noted as she glanced over the flyers around the area.
"Are we even fit enough to do any rebuilding?" Blake was hesitant. They had forgone a proper meal the day before and Weiss was showing major signs of fatigue. Heavy lifting and rebuilding would be a struggle for them both.
"Fair point," Weiss admitted. "But there's no harm in asking. We can rebuild our strength up over the next few days."
Blake hummed in thought. She glanced at one of the newer flyers plastered on a nearby pole. Weiss did have a point. If the people were kind enough to offer food and shelter for the first few days, she was sure they could work for them properly afterwards.
The faunus silently led her companion over to the flyer and studied its whereabouts. The flyer stayed that they could use all the help they would get and the promise of a spacious shelter was tempting.
Deciding that they didn't have much of a choice. Blake ripped one of the slips off the bottom of the flyer and showed it to Weiss.
"How do you feel about rebuilding a school?"
Weiss rolled her shoulders stiffly. She had spent hours reading on her course materials and had forgotten to take her breaks. She glanced up at the room she shared with Blake that housed their limited belongings.
Four worn books that Blake had read over and over again were carefully stacked in the corner of their one seated study table in between the two single beds. A small shelf sat against the wall at the foot of Weiss' bed that housed their borrowed textbooks for their coursework and occasionally the borrowed novel for Blake's reading.
Despite having very little, Weiss was content with where they were. They were fortunate enough to have helped rebuild what was now known as Beacon Academy. The owner of this rebuilt school had offered all that helped an education. Teachers, professors and students were given accomodation as everyone shared what little they had. No one was technically paid in lien, because money was still less useful than the paper it was printed on, but no one minded. The educators were happy to share their knowledge for the future, hoping that their knowledge could be passed on in hopes for a better life than they experienced.
Students would then learn and help with the continued development of the school. There were just over a hundred and fifty students but the numbers were steadily growing. As for food and necessities, the students who had more time would find work outside of the school and bring the food back to share with everyone at there. The educators would also venture out and help with bringing back even just a loaf of bread to share.
In a world slowly recovering from war, every little bit counted. And everyone knew that. No one complained about how little they had. Everyone was more than happy to have each other and there was no amount of luxury that could have taken that sentiment away from them.
The door to their room unlocked as the raven haired faunus entered. Weiss felt the weariness of prolonged immobility fade the moment she met those golden eyes.
"My boss gave me some steamed buns today. I gave Sun and Yang one and had to fight them to save this one for you," she smiled as she held up a paper bag. Weiss pushed her chair back to welcome her lifelong companion home.
"Welcome back," she mumbled before pulling away. She eyed the paper bag with an amused smile before laughing quietly. The bag had definitely been wrestled with from the number of tears it had. "You know I wouldn't have minded if you gave it to them."
"I know, but they already had one." Blake shrugged. "It's still a little warm. Here."
Blake passed the bag over to Weiss with a warm smile before walking past her to prepare for a shower. Weiss curiously looked inside the bag and saw a strange sort of white bakery. She remembered back when they were still foraging through the Atlas streets as kids, Blake had mentioned her mother made the best steamed buns. It intrigued her since she's never heard of it before.
She briefly wondered if Blake remembered that talk they had all those years ago, when each day was a struggle and the only thing they reliably had were just them, themselves and each other. Although many chose not to mention or try to remember the dark days of their past, Weiss couldn't bring herself to forget them. There were so many memories she had that she wished to cherish forever despite the bleak and torturous context of them.
Weiss smiled as she shook her head fondly. She placed the bag on their study desk and watched Blake rummaging through their limited wardrobe. When she turned around, she saw golden curious eyes questioning her.
"We can share it. I'll wait for you to finish your shower," Weiss explained.
Blake rolled her eyes. "I've already had my one. That one is yours and yours alone. I expect a six page essay detailing your first experience with a steam bun by the time I come back from my shower."
Weiss feigned a gasp. "Six pages? For just a savoury piece of bread?"
"Ah, naive one. It's not just a savoury piece of bread," Blake laughed. "A steam bun is a gift from the gods. Six pages would be too little to describe their glory, but I have a test coming up so I won't have time to read more than six pages."
Weiss made a show of rolling her eyes as she sat down on their only study chair. She grabbed a pen and groaned as she wrote down the title.
"My... first... steamed bun," Weiss pronounced as she pretended to scribble on the paper. She could hear Blake stifle a laugh behind her. Despite not hearing her approach, she wasn't surprised when a hand patted her against the top of her head, an act that would have resulted in murder if committed by anyone other than Blake.
"I'll be back. Need me to grab anything on my way back?"
"More paper," Weiss said seriously. "I only have four pages here. I'll need two more to finish this essay." She held up the four pages to prove her point. It was Blake's turn to roll her eyes now.
"Just use the back of the papers," she suggested as she made her way to the door. "But seriously though, eat that bun before it gets cold."
Weiss wasn't given time to retaliate before the door shut closed. She smiled to herself as she stared at the paper bag on the desk. She wondered if Blake really did have one to herself yet. In all the years she had known her, she wouldn't put it past Blake to lie, especially when it came to food.
The faunus had countlessly lied to Weiss when they were younger about having already eaten so that Weiss could have more to eat. Although Weiss wasn't sure just happy many times she had done it, it was a handful of times that she did find out. It was when Blake would throw up nothing but acid when they did get a decent meal, that Weiss would realise her lies. Each time she would severely scold her but she doubted the faunus ever listened. She just grew more discreet and better at hiding it.
Weiss poked at the bag with a the back of her pen. She decided she would at the very least, eat half of it. The other could be given to Blake under the lie of being too full to finish it. Even if Blake did indeed already have one of her own, it wouldn't hurt to have more. She owed Blake that much at least.
"Ow! Ow, ow! Weiss!" Blake flinched with every dab of the disinfectant soaked swab against her gash along the side of her back. Weiss gave a deadpanned stare before purposely pressing and squeezing some of the disinfectant to run down the wound. Blake gripped her hands tightly on the base of the chair as she felt tears starting to form on the side of her eyes.
"'It will be fine,' you said. 'Nothing bad will happen,' you promised," Weiss mocked in her best impression of Blake's voice. Weiss glared at the guilty glossed over eyes fiercely. "I don't see anything fine with this Blake. Is this what you call 'nothing bad'?"
Blake folded her ears down as she winced away from the infuriated human. She knew she deserved it. She was just debating on whether the stinging pain against her back or the cold unforgiving eyes of her closest friend hurt more.
"I mean... I'm okay, right?" Blake mumbled meekly. She didn't even see Weiss react before a cotton swab was thrown at her.
"Okay?! You think this is 'okay'?" Weiss yelled. She stared at the gaping gash along Blake's back. She knew Blake was the one suffering from the wound but she couldn't help but feel hurt from it too. She thought their years of suffering were over. She thought they were in the clear. They had worked so hard to survive and build a stable life and yet... why did it feel like they had just thrown themselves into the fire again?
"I'm sorry," Blake apologised wholeheartedly. Weiss felt like shaking her furiously to knock some sense into her, but that would only further hurt her.
"I thought we would be fine," Weiss gritted. She glared at the floor that was starting to stain with drops of red. "I thought we would be fine from now on."
Weiss let out a long and heavy breath as she resigned and sat herself down on the floor. She had been thinking about how everything was finally over. They had their own home, food on the table and stable jobs to keep them going. Well, Weiss had a steady job.
While Weiss was now a medicinal practitioner, mainly dealing with small injuries and diagnosing illnesses, Blake had gone and taken the role of a huntress. With the kingdoms being rebuilt, they needed protectors. They were paid well, but more often than not the hunters and huntresses paid with their lives instead. It was a profession Weiss wanted Blake to have no part in but she couldn't convince her otherwise.
It had come down to either Weiss accepted Blake's occupation, or they would go their seperate ways. Weiss didn't have any other choice. She would sooner take her own life than leave Blake.
"It was just a mistake. Sun and Yang were there with me so I was fine," Blake tried to reassure her. Weiss looked up at her tiredly. She just felt so tired. After news had come that Blake had been injured, she felt like her world had shattered and it was only now piecing itself back together.
Weiss felt her throat tighten the longer she stared into those golden eyes. It finally hit her that Blake was alive. Blake was still breathing, living, alive. She couldn't help herself as she let her tears fall.
"Weiss?!" Blake panicked when she saw the woman break down in front of her. She shifted to get off the chair but Weiss' hand on her knee stopped her.
Weiss hiccuped as she tried her best to stop her tears, but they were uncontrollable. "You're... alive," she mumbled between her sobs.
Blake watched her helplessly, unsure of what to do. The faunus fiddled with her hands for a bit, clenching and unclenching them before slowly reaching out to grab the hand on her knee. She held the pale hands in hers delicately as she gave them a reassuring squeeze.
"I'm still here," she whispered, hoping to calm Weiss down.
Weiss stood up and threw her arms carefully around Blake as she held her dearly. She could have lost Blake. To have survived a war together, only to lose Blake to a creature of grimm after finding a stable life would have been devastating. Weiss wasn't sure she would have been able to recover or continue living without Blake there with her.
"I can't lose you," Weiss sobbed against Blake's shoulder. Her whole body was shaking with her tears continued to fall. Blake embraced her back, coaxing her to sit on her lap.
"But you didn't. I'm here, holding you. If it makes you feel better, you can punish me however you want," Blake offered. "Just... please stop crying."
Weiss had half a mind to bite Blake against the shoulder. "Stop crying? You think I want to be this sobbing mess?"
Blake tightened her embrace. "It hurts me when you cry. More than any wound or injury."
Weiss couldn't stop herself this time. She dug her teeth into Blake's shoulders in frustration. Blake winced but didn't let go. She just further ran her hand up and down her back to slowly calm her down.
"When will this end, Blake?" Weiss whispered. Her hands grasped the front of Blake's shirt desperately. "The war is over. Our suffering should be over. Why aren't we living our carefree lives now? Why in Remnant's name did you have to throw yourself back into the fight when we fought so hard to get out of it?"
Blake gave a quiet sigh.
"Because it's not over yet," she said quietly. "The creatures of grimm are getting dangerously close to the people and if we don't fend them off, then everything everyone worked so hard for would be destroyed... again."
"There are others fighting them off. Why does it have to be you?"
"Because you're part of the population too," Blake admitted earnestly. "I grew up with you, Weiss. I lived almost all of my life with you. I've seen how hard you worked to get us to where we are and I want to protect that."
Weiss stilled. This was the first time she heard of this. Blake had always said it was because they needed help that she had to help them. If she could help in anyway she could then she would. It always annoyed Weiss that Blake had always been so selfless even to those she had never met.
"If the grimm broke through... Beacon, Tukson, Junior's... all of that would be destroyed." Blake pulled Weiss closer as she buried herself into her hair. "But most importantly, you would be put in danger again."
"Then what about you?" Weiss retaliated.
"I made an oath that I would not leave you like that." Blake's voice was filled with the utmost confidence. "No matter what happened to me, I would always come back to you."
Weiss could feel herself calming down just a bit, but she still felt herself in shambles. The relief in knowing Blake was still there, that she was still so very much alive, made her heart ache right down to the very core. She was in her thirties and yet here she was, crying like the little girl abandoned by her family so long ago.
It had never occurred to her that they were missing anything. Blake had kept her oath throughout her whole career as a huntress. Although there were very close encounters, Blake always came back to Weiss.
Always.
So when it was time for Blake to hang up her badge, Weiss thought she had everything she ever wanted. Blake ended up being a teacher at the same school she helped to rebuild, taking on a less life-threatening way to life as their years ticked on to the forties. Although they had a healthy lifestyle now, both knew that their time was limited. With their childhood spent in a war torn world, they knew better than to count above eighty.
But that just made their way of life more fulfilling. They appreciated all they had and lived each day as if it was their last.
Through hard work and dedication, Weiss and Blake no longer had to worry about how much they spent each week. They didn't have to constantly monitor their bank accounts and never again did they have to count to their next meal.
So it had never occurred to Weiss that perhaps something was missing in their lives. Not until Blake slid a simple silver ring onto her finger.
"We never really established our relationship," Blake laughed as she admired just how perfectly the ring fitted. It was a little disheartening to only see a ring on aged hands. If only she had thought of it sooner. Much sooner. "We kind of just... went with it. I thought at the very least this would be enough to finally make it official?"
Weiss glanced down at the ring. It was odd to feel a weight there that was never there before, but it didn't seem out of place at all. It was like she always had one there but now it had evolved into a real physical form.
"So what would you call the relationship we had before today?" Weiss smiled. She looked up to meet the warm golden hues of the faunus. For decades she had stared into those eyes and not once did she ever tire of it. She only regretted that with each passing day, those golden eyes continued to be framed by signs of age. She felt like she could spend all her life staring at them and yet, it still wouldn't be enough.
"Friendship," Blake grinned. Weiss could see the teasing glint in her eyes and merely rolled her own.
"Yes, because all those nights we spent fooling around under the sheets was just to save on heating appliances," she mocked.
Blake laughed wholeheartedly as she wrapped her arms around Weiss' waist, embracing her ever so delicately.
"I can't think of anything to call what we had," she admitted. "I don't even know what to call what we have now. Lovers is far from it and soulmates just isn't adequate enough."
Weiss held her hand over Blake's. She made a mental note to go get Blake a ring first thing tomorrow.
"I know I've said this many times, but I'm glad my father left me." Weiss turned her head slightly to place a gentle kiss on Blake's jaw. "I got to meet you."
"Do you ever wonder what happened to them?" Blake asked curiously. "You know, our families."
"I do," Weiss admitted. "But I've learnt to move past that. You became my sole purpose to life. Everything I did was so that you could finally live the way you wanted to. To enjoy the luxurious carefree life I had once before."
Blake chuckled. She rocked them both back and forth mindlessly.
Everyday Weiss thanked the gods for the life she had right then. And everyday after that she would continue to do so. Blake was alive, happy and well. And what's even better, is that she was with her.
And if the ring was any indication of anything, she was sure that she would continue to be with Blake until the very end. She had walked through war, starvation, famine and life threatening dangers with Blake. Even in death, if they were separated in the afterlife, Weiss was sure she would walk through the gates of hell if it meant she could continue to be with Blake. And no god, deity, spirit or all powerful being could stop her.
Because she loved Blake.
And that's all that mattered.