Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He was there just as he always was. Even with her chosen point of seclusion within the cliffs and red-leafed trees of Forever Fall, Blake knew that she would never be truly alone. Ever since their meeting those many years ago, they had made sure that such a thing wouldn't happen as long as they both still breathed.

No matter the distance that separated them – whether a few feet or miles -, there was that little part within Blake's heart and soul that was completely Adam. Made due to desperation and a desire to never be alone in such a cruel world, Blake had taken the hand that he offered to her and, with it, the Aura that he laid bare and what she had taken to bind with her own.

He had become a paragon of strength for her. Seeing him stand up to the hate that humanity directed at them reinforced her own waning confidence for the eventual goal of equality.

Considering this bond that she had formed with him, she didn't know why she hadn't seen it sooner. That steady stance of his was not one built upon the belief of peace but one of contempt for the human race and their apparent enjoyment of preying upon a weaker minority. The violence and bigotry that humanity threw at him he absorbed and used to strengthen his own resolve. He had just been biding his time, waiting to strike back with violence that would eclipse anything that humans had done to them.

Adam would get his chance. That gathered, roiling ball of hate was allowed an outlet when the White Fang finally chose to fight fire with fire. If humanity wished to use fear to subjugate a race, they would learn the error of their ways when that fear turned against them.

Atop the boulder she was seated on, Blake kept her gaze up and away but knew that with a moment of concentration she could locate him. Stretching out with her mind and Aura, she could sense him prowling within the depths of the forest; a point of barely-contained aggression that disturbed the natural peace of the landscape.

A long time ago it was the world I feared and he that gave me peace, she thought sadly. Now, it's the opposite.

She retreated from him for the moment, wanting to ponder these latest thoughts that she had been having…and what they may entail.

Forever Fall was gifted with a constant, pleasant breeze. The gentle wind blew back her long, wavy black hair and the coattails of her vest. Above her, the branches of the surrounding trees swished and swayed, producing a relaxing melody as the leaves rustled within the wind. Many of them fell, providing a spectacle of the forest's name as they danced in the air.

A couple landed in her hair, the strands guided by the wind in random directions that happened to result in them snatching some of the leafy drops of this earthly rain. A renewed breeze saw most of the leaves freed to descend the rest of the way to the ground. Watching this display, Blake couldn't help but compare the journey of the falling leaves to the one she has yet to take.

All that's required is an opportunity - a chance to separate from a home that has become a prison. To break away from it is to give yourself to the current of endless possibilities. What you will find and where you will fall is all randomized. The only thing you can do is surrender to the flow.

Blake stared at the ground, watching the fallen leaves continue to glide along the grass even after they had landed. And even when arriving at your destination, the journey isn't over. You find yourself in a land of opportunities that won't keep you restrained to one point. That, she guessed, was freedom.

"Blake."

She registered his approach long before he had spoken. It was easier to know when he was nearby for even though he may have once been a presence of unshakable confidence, he had now become a walking construct of malice that wished to pay back all who had wronged him.

Deep inside she felt that part that was reserved for Adam pulse and stretch out the foul tendrils that clung to her Aura. Wherever they touched she felt those black emotions that had overtaken him attempt to seep into her very being so that she, too, may one day embrace the carnage that offered brief, grisly relief.

"It's time."

Blake kept her emotions and face hidden from him. He didn't know how his eagerness for blood had her trembling or how her features twisted to display regret. Her hesitation she used to fashion a mask that, while invisible, was just as effectives as the one he wore. When her mask turned to meet his own, all signs of her intent were invisible to him.

"Okay," she replied quietly.

---

 

"Oh man, I can't believe it!"

Blake felt her faunus ears twitch beneath her bow at the sudden, loud shout that broke the silence of the room. This was one of the few times that she was glad for the cloth covering as it offered enough protection to stop the newly-declared leader of equally newly-declared JNPR from destroying her more sensitive pair of ear drums.

She doubly thanked the accessory when the leader of RWBY – girl and team also recently-established – shrieked with just as much volume. "I know right!?"

The fifteen-year-old known as Ruby Rose had practically skipped into the waiting room outside of Professor Ozpin's office where the two teams had been directed to obtain their dorm assignments and scrolls that would act as their keys. Once the door closed behind them, Blake had fully expected the teen to let loose with the enthusiasm that was bubbling up towards the surface.

Nope, the honor apparently went to Jaune Arc. She had been so focused on the younger girl that Blake hadn't noticed the blond boy shaking with equal amounts of excitement until he decided to let loose.

Seeing a partner in jubilation, Ruby whirled around to face Jaune, grinning from ear-to-ear. "We're in Beacon!"

"We have teams!" Jaune added.

"We're team leaders!"

Both of them laughing gleefully, they grabbed each other's hands and started spinning around within the center of the room. Blake had to take a step back unless she wanted to get floored but despite witnessing such childish behavior, the faunus couldn't help but smile softly.

Certainly immature, she thought although the corners of her lips remained up. But it's…nice.

There came a huff at her back that, even with all the noise, her human ears managed to detect it. Already suspecting what she would find, Blake turned to look over her shoulder for the source.

She wasn’t disappointed. With arms crossed over her chest and a glare directed at the floor, Blake beheld an irritated Weiss Schnee. The heiress to the largest Dust company had a clenched jaw, her teeth grinding together as the continued glee that the two leaders displayed served to further annoy her.

Blake understood the reason for this unhappy Weiss. She had been standing next to the snow-haired girl during Team RWBY's formation and it was when Ozpin had assigned Ruby as their leader that Blake felt Weiss's ponytail nearly slap her with how quickly the heiress whirled her head around to stare at the scythe-wielder with shock. The fact that they were in an auditorium full of people forced Weiss to recover, the girl bringing her head back around to present the steady image befitting of a Schnee.

Blake nonetheless saw the look of offence and the heat of outrage that colored her normally pale face. It didn't take much thought to guess why the heiress was so upset.

She's sore because she's not in charge. Blake felt that pleasant smile turn into a not-so-pleasant smirk. The faunus wasn't going to lie; she did feel some justification at this turn of events.

As if sensing it, Weiss looked up at Blake who quickly turned her head back around. Justifiable or not, it would be best to avoid making a scene because of one misplaced facial expression. After all, she was trying to keep her faunus heritage a secret and instigating another argument with the daughter of the current Schnee head was certainly not the best way to do it.

Besides, she decided to put that battle to rest. That was no longer hers and, thinking about it, Blake felt a bit of shame for finding even a small amount of enjoyment at Weiss's misery. Nothing good has ever come from it. I'm not here because of her anyway.

Then again, when Blake turned to the teams, she wasn't sure if the scene in front of her was what she was looking for either. Ruby was currently silenced, the victim of another one of her sister's bear hugs that had her feet off the ground and kicking the air as she tried to free or, failing that, loosen herself from Yang's grip enough to breathe.

"Wait until you write to your friends about this!" Yang cheered, completely ignorant of the pained expression on Ruby's face. "You were moved two years ahead and chosen to be team leader! They'll be so proud of you!"

Ruby didn't say anything but her back did offer a couple cracks of protest.

Blake's pleasant smile returned, the antics of the two sisters making her forget about the spoiled heiress. Between first meeting Yang and Ruby in the assembly area to now, the younger girl had been the victim of Yang's hugs four times. At least those were the ones Blake had been present for anyway. Affectionate was certainly one word to describe the pair.

Jaune, on the other hand, was still talking adamantly and decided to throw in some wild gestures. With how he had one arm up to his chest and the other swinging wildly, Blake could guess that he was reliving his team's battle with the Death Stalker. He also found a new, even more jubilant, friend.

"And we all just charged it going 'yaaah'!" Jaune reminisced before bringing his imaginary shield up even if the real one was currently hanging from his belt. "And pow! Stopped one of its pincers!"

"And I went 'boom, boom, boom'!" Nora joined in. Unfortunately, unlike Jaune, the girl did have her grenade launcher out and the leader ducked when Nora swung it around in his direction.

Blake was not ashamed for ducking as well when the barrel neared her. It made her feel better when everyone else did, including Yang who released Ruby before throwing both of them to the floor. The only one who didn't react was Ren who stared dispassionately even when Nora pointed and kept Magnhild leveled at him.

"Ren, you were cool too until you hit that wall!" Nora made a motion simulating recoil with the launcher yet the green-dressed boy didn't even flinch. "Boop!"

"You can put Magnhild away Nora," he calmly advised.

"Okay!"

I thought my team was going to be interesting. Standing back up, Blake couldn't help but remember how unusually cheerful the hammer-wielder seemed to be even with the threat of two gigantic Grimm assaulting the teams from the ground and air. She also remembered getting bumped off the stone bridge by Nora after her failed attempt at smashing the Death Stalker.

With the threat of an armed, overly-eager, and potentially crazed girl having passed, everyone picked themselves up from the floor before resuming their own conversations. Remaining as the silent spectator, Blake watched the members of both teams talking and laughing with large smiles on their faces due to the success of their initiation.

Never mind, the faunus thought to herself. Now free from her sister's back-breaking embrace, Ruby was talking a hundred words per second with Yang, jumping up and down like the young teenager she was. Nora was currently latched onto Ren's neck, swinging around him while he offered the subtlest of grins. Jaune was talking to Pyrrha, still excited but his volume lowered and the redhead was smiling politely. This is what I was looking for.

Well, maybe not exactly what she was looking for. When she left the White Fang and wondered what she could do with herself when her past had been nothing but that group, she decided that one of the only courses was to become a Huntress. The last five years of violence had given her the skills to fight and one of the few places to put those skills to use was the career that she could obtain through Beacon.

Of course, the Huntressing lifestyle would give her more than a place to apply her particular skillset. What she wanted was someplace that was defined with black and white and not cluttered up with so much gray. Grimm were dark, Huntresses were the light. The former wanted to destroy both human and faunus while the latter was charged to protect them: black and white.

Gray was what happened when a group's nonviolent means were met with little gain. When the faunus became frustrated to the point that their thoughts became justified that the pure goal of equality can be achieved by tainting it with the same violence that humanity had given them but having never used before.

Gray was using chaos, not peace, to achieve equality.

Blake wanted things to be simple again. Her crimes in being a part of that chaos she could repent for by devoting her life to becoming a Huntress.

And yet, looking at the gathered students, Blake wondered if she had inadvertently found something else. She had hardened her heart and came fully prepared for whatever trials and hardships that becoming a Huntress would entail. Clearly a life – while simple - that would involve battling soulless monsters would be just as cruel and merciless as the one she had left behind.

But there was nothing of the sort here. Instead of hopes that were being worn away, confidence that was faltering, and shoulders that were starting to give under the weight of the burdens lain upon them, there was nothing but…normalcy. Here, there were people drawn together to uphold a righteous duty. Here, everything just seemed so very right.

"I mean I was surprised at myself!" Jaune was saying to Pyrrha. "I didn't think I could do all that! And with you! We only just met but it was like I knew what you were thinking!" Holding up his arm to represent his shield again, the young man turned it to the left. "You take the left pincer," he directed his arm to the right, "I take the right! We switch, and I slash left and you slash right!"

"Warrior instincts," Pyrrha replied, her smile refusing to falter in the least as she seemed genuinely pleased with his enthusiasm. "You're just that good of a partner Jaune, and you have a good team."

"Well yeah I know I'm good." The cocky tone and grin existed briefly, replaced by a sense of wonder. "But…I feel like it was more than that. When I moved it was like you were telling me where to go. I mean you didn't actually say anything but it felt like you wanted me at a certain point."

Near them, Nora stopped swinging around, seeming to take an interest in her leader's words. Likewise, Ren did the same, looking at the two while doing an admirable job of keeping his back straight with Nora hanging from his shoulders. The partners glanced at one another, a silent message passing between them.

"Did you two-?" Ren started to ask, looking to Jaune and Pyrrha.

"You bonded!" Nora squealed, not only cutting off Ren but causing the ear she shrieked into to start ringing.

"Wait." Jaune turned to look at Nora with surprise. "What?"

Pyrrha seemed just as startled by the interruption as Jaune was, her head whirling around to face a dazzled Nora. Her gaze quickly went elsewhere, suddenly unwilling to look at her teammates while her smile caved in.

"Um…what?" Jaune asked again, looking between Pyrrha and Nora. "I don't ge-gack!"

Dropping from Ren's back, Nora had rushed over and hooked an arm around both Jaune and Pyrrha's necks to better bring one ear from each to her mouth so that she could bombard them with questions.

"When did it happen? Were you guys together before Beacon? I mean, not together-together but it’s okay if you were; didn't mean anything by it! Ren and I are only together though. But when did you know?"

"I-wha-you-huh?" Whether it was because of Nora's grip on him or how utterly flabbergasted he was, Jaune tried and failed to form a decent response to any of the questions that his teammate was throwing at him.

Fortunately, Ren came to the rescue once his hearing was back to normal. Rubbing his ear, he calmly instructed, "Nora, let him speak."

"Okay!" Although Nora became silent, her arms remained locked around her teammates. Ren realized his mistake.

"…You can let them go too."

"I don't even know what you're talking about!" Jaune protested as soon as he was freed.

Seeing how dubious his leader was, Ren looked inquisitively towards Pyrrha. The Spartan seemed to understand with how she kept looking off to the side, her hand rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

"A…side-effect," Pyrrha finally explained. She willed herself to meet Ren's gaze and have her hand drop. "It happened in the forest. I used my Aura to unlock his for him and…well..."

Ren's brow rose questionably. "Why did you have to-?"

"That's great!" Nora again interrupted, punching at the air excitedly. "Ren and I have been bonded for sooo long because we're super besties!"

Pyrrha looked interested. "Is that how you two were able to find each other?"

"Yep! Led me right to him! I wanted to have a secret signal just to make sure though! Hey, does a sloth sound like this?"

While Nora demonstrated her sloth impression with a couple c-raaaws, Ruby looked towards Yang, having apparently been paying enough attention to the other team's discussions to ask, "Yang, what do they mean by bonding?"

She had probably questioned her in hopes that her older sibling would have some inkling as to what was being said. Unfortunately, even Yang had to shrug cluelessly before replying, "No idea. They didn't teach anything like that during my senior year at Signal. Maybe it's something new?"

"Very old, actually." The two sisters swiveled their heads around to the source and Blake tensed a bit at the stares they directed at her. Fighting back an urge to block their looks with a book – which she didn't have on hand anyway -, Blake continued, "It's a tradition that dates back to the earliest days of humanity's fight with the Grimm."

"Huh." Yang rubbed at her chin, eyes narrowing as she tried to recall anything. "That old? I haven't heard about anything like that though."

"I wouldn't be surprised."

"How do you figure?"

Blake paused just as she was about to explain, finding her own actions odd. Ever since coming to Beacon she had kept her interactions with the other students limited, preferring to stick to a corner reading a book. The only time she had really initiated anything was back in the courtyard when the desire to stop Weiss's arrogant lecturing to an apologetic Ruby drove her to intervene with a comment that had the heiress storming off.

Speaking of whom, Ruby drew a step closer to Blake, those silver eyes shining with interest. "Is it about Huntresses?"

There was something about that childlike intrigue that Blake found irresistible. There was no other way to say it: Ruby reminded Blake a lot of herself. Young, optimistic…naïve. But that had been before the harsh realities of the world had been unveiled to that little faunus girl, robbing her of her idealism when it became clear that such a pure thing was restricted to the books that she read for comfort.

As misguided as it may be, it was possibly that innocence that Ruby had that was driving Blake to speak. It was inevitable that one day Ruby would understand how indecent the world was, but perhaps the faunus could help her in avoiding a few of the pitfalls that she had unwittingly walked into.

"Well, you have to think," Blake started, resigning herself to this choice. "The previous combat schools were all about forging weapons and training you how to fight. Beacon is where those who have the most potential go to learn about the lifestyle of Huntsmen and Huntresses which holds various secrets and sacred traditions. For example, did either of you know about partners?"

"No," Yang admitted, shaking her head. "I mean, we all knew about the teams but nothing about how they'd be formed."

"Right, we now understand that this is a common thing but we didn't know until we were about to be launched into the Emerald Forest. What you might not have thought about is why they do it this way."

The two sisters looked at one another, suddenly thoughtful. On a hunch, Blake glanced over her shoulder to find Weiss having taken an interest in the conversation as well. Apparently she was just as curious as her teammates.

"I would think," Ruby began, brow furrowing in concentration, "that this was a test to see how well we can perform in an unfamiliar environment. Being flung to random points in a forest populated by the Grimm and forcing to work with whoever we meet is to see how well we adapt."

Despite herself, Blake offered her a short smile. Young as she may be, Ruby was at least able to comprehend such unique situations to find the lessons behind them. Between this and how she performed in the forest, the faunus knew she would make a good leader.

"I think it goes beyond that," Blake further explained. "Teams of four divided into partnerships of two, working and living with one another for several years, it's all rooted back to the early days of humanity. Before our advances in technology, before Dust, all that we had to fight against the Grimm was our Aura and each other."

"I suspect that this is where the bonding thing comes in," Yang guessed.

"Which is what, exactly?" Weiss impatiently asked.

Ignoring the heiress's tone, Blake sent a neutral glance towards her. "It's what makes Huntsmen and Huntresses better fighters. With the Grimm all around them, mankind had to work together no matter where the individual members came from." Mentally, she added, Which includes me and you.

Focusing back on Yang and Ruby, Blake went on, "Such a situation breeds equal amounts of trust and desperation to the point where two individuals would share their Aura with one another. By doing so, they shared their thoughts and strength with one another."

"Oh, wow!" Ruby exclaimed. Staring up at Blake with fists clenched beneath her chin, she looked absolutely enthralled. "So, what? Yang can share her strength with me and I can be even stronger? By sharing thoughts do you mean telepathy? That sounds so cool!"

The adorable expression had Blake producing another short-lived smile even if she felt a stroke of unease. If anything, Ruby's excitement justified her choice of revealing this now instead of later. As the red-themed girl said, it sounded 'cool' but she wasn't thinking of the strings that were attached.

"Nothing as straightforward as that," Blake replied with a shake of her head. "Although, if bonded for long enough, a pair could gain an understanding of one another that can come close to telepathy, I guess. Physical strength can't be shared but I suppose Dust spells can become more potent when two Auras are used to power them. Partners can even transfer their Auras to each other. The greatest strength of the bond, however, is that you are connected to someone you trust at such a level that it gives you greater awareness of not only your surroundings and your enemies but each other. During a time when it seems like the world is against you, just the fact that you are with someone like that can give you the strength to face it."

Blake didn't realize the wistful tone that was taking over her voice, or how she was no longer looking at Ruby. Instead, the faunus seemed to be looking at a point past Ruby's head and towards the floor. Blake imagined her memories playing on the smooth surface of the tiles.

"…You sound like you have some experience in this."

Blake snapped her head up towards Yang. The lilac eyes that had always been so carefree and relaxed were examining her with such thoroughness that she felt a bit uneasy. Maybe it had been a mistake to talk about this. She was trying to keep her previous ties to a terrorist organization hidden yet already she was unveiling too much information that was drifting too close to her past.

"Not me personally," she replied, keeping her voice and stare even to make it convincing. "But I did know someone who had been bonded before."

---

 

"Looks like we're going to be doing this the hard way."

She had seen them too. As soon the two of them dropped into the darkness of the train car, the lasers of motion sensors blinked rapidly as the security system detected their presence and sent a signal to its automated guards.

Blake could see them as well: more than a dozen AK-130 androids that were divided into two lines with one at each side of the car. And they had dropped right in the middle of them.

This wasn’t unexpected. More and more, the big companies like the SDC were turning to such automatons in an effort to provide better security for their shipments in response to attacks from the White Fang. The intrusion activated this group, red lights blazing at their chests and heads while metal visors slammed into place.

With mechanical synchronization, the androids all turned towards the pair before moving to surround them, their steel fingers forming into fists that they brought up to imitate a fighting stance.

Adam's amusement was transferred to her and even Blake had to smirk before standing from her crouch with a clever, "Don't be so dramatic."

Both of them felt the same concerning these robots. Their humanoid appearance, their stance, everything was meant to imitate a flesh-and-blood security force. However, to them, they were just another symbol of what they fought against: mankind's efforts to cut corners in order to preserve their wealth. Rather than pay for the training and experience of a soldier, they chose these drones that could be bought and sealed away until they were needed.

They were cheaper…and disposable.

"Intruder," came the deep-voiced word of one of the androids. Unlike the rest, the dark gray digits of its hands had extended forward while the tips slid back to reveal gun barrels. Pointing weapons and attention on Adam, it commanded, "Identify yourself."

Blake didn't need to see Adam's movements to know that he was going to strike first. While he did remove a hand from his sword and his stance became relaxed, Blake noted the contempt that exuded off of him and what had to be influencing a mocking smile.

There came a loud blast from his sheath as he pulled the trigger of Blush, sending his sword – Wilt – rocketing forward and slamming the hilt into the head of the android, knocking it and its weapons out of alignment. Adam used the strike to his advantage to run forward in a blur before snatching Wilt from the air, slice through the neck of the AK, and shoot off its head with another shot from his sheath before a second, diagonal swing went through its torso.

With such speed, the android's headless body seemed delayed in reacting to the attack. Only when Adam sheathed his weapon did the android split in two and fall.

The rest of the guards were even slower to respond. Displaying continued mimicry of human attitude, they glanced at each other, transmitting a wordless communiqué on how to proceed before the conclusion of an armed response became their answer. Snapping their arms back, their hands were swapped out with lengthy blades to arm themselves before charging.

A glimpse over her shoulder had Blake spotting the closest pair running at her back with the leader drawing one blade back to slice through her. As Adam had demonstrated, they were much too slow. With her hand already wrapped around Gambol Shroud, Blake bent her knees before a pulse of her Aura gave birth to a shadow clone that she used to launch herself backwards. Her movements proved to be faster than Adam's to the point where her two slashes were more like one that cut both of the 130s in half as easily as Wilt did.

Blake had already landed back on her feet by the time the androids dropped to the floor in pieces. She ran past them to reunite with her partner.

Adam stood undaunted within the center of the closing circle of guards. At Blake's approach, he held up his sheathed weapon.

Duck.

It wasn't so much a word as it was a suggestion that Blake felt within that part of her that was Adam. Taking heed, Blake ducked her head down as soon as she passed a 130, his blade swinging right over her head as he spun himself and his weapon around to carve open the android she just went by while she struck at the legs of another that was behind him.

The acrobatic maneuvers and wide swings would seem hazardous in such close quarters yet the two White Fang members danced around each other's attacks while performing their own. After kicking aside the 130, Blake cartwheeled away in time to crouch beneath another swing from Adam, this one going around in a circle that felled three more androids that had been closing in.

Two came in to replace them that Blake took herself. She sidestepped one, the sharpened edge of her sheath coming around to strike at its back to hit its power supply, sending it falling with lights going dark. She turned at the approach of the other just in time to cleave off its raised blade arm before another slash at the chest sent it slamming onto its back. Behind her came the clanging of Wilt followed by the booming of Blush as Adam used the rapid unsheathing of his sword to similarly disarm another AK before a bullet sent it falling.

Blake saw the next danger: another gun-toting robot that was already preparing to fire. She sent a warning to Adam just before the barrels starting spinning.

There came another suggestion from him, this time telling her to step back. She did just as he turned to face the threat, bringing Wilt around to dance in the space in front of him to deflect the incoming storm of projectiles as the AK fired.

This time it was Blake's turn. Mine.

Adam sheathed Wilt in time for Blake to take over as she sprinted forward, raising Gambol Shroud in front of her to deflect the bullets away from them as she approached. Devoid of human fear and caution, her target was moving in a slow walk towards her, the multiple barrels continuing to spit out bullets in hopes of overwhelming her. It only made it easier for Blake to draw in close enough to decapitate it, silencing the gunfire.

There were still more and Blake was jumping over her latest kill to attack the android behind it, bringing Gambol Shroud around to split it from shoulder to hip. She dropped to her knees, sliding on the floor before severing the legs of another.

There was at least one bit of solace that Blake could take from this fight: since she was fighting machines, she didn't have to worry about taking the lives of living beings. She could go all out on these toys that she was easily reducing to scrap metal.

With that in mind, she drew the sword portion of her weapon in time to carve open the steel belly of the next AK, cutting through the hydraulics and gears that had it doubling over. A flip that ended with a drop kick sent it crashing down where it would never get up again.

She didn't hold back. With blade in one hand and sharpened sheath in the other, she tore through the next group. She slashed and cut, transforming into a whirlwind of motion that tore through armor and severed robotic limbs before a pulse of her Aura and a clone propelled her ahead to another point where she could continue the next portion of her dance.

She was enjoying this. They were not her tormentors but the humanoid appearance of the AK-130s possessed enough of a likeness that Blake felt this sense of satisfaction every time she perceived that split second of resistance that occurred right before her weapons cleaved through the inferior metalwork of the automatons.

It scared her. They may be machines but she knew it was wrong to find enjoyment in this - to feel justified when she imagined the face of one of the multitude of bigoted humans being mirrored on the visors of these fakes before striking. Every attack she made she saw as getting back at all those who oppressed her and her kind, every cry that issued from her lips carrying the embroiled emotions within her that had desired this release. The androids that were hacked to pieces would be messages to convey to humanity that they had gone too far and they were now paying for what they brought onto themselves.

The adrenaline and the heat of the battle could be blamed for this but Blake knew that these feelings weren't her own. Couldn't be her own.

The real owner was coming up right behind her. Twisting her body around, Blake kicked the last android up into the air which she followed, slashing with both parts of Gambol Shroud. Another use of her Shadow Semblance had her returning to the floor while the machine was left in the air for Adam to use as an improvised battering ram when a devastating jump kick sent it hurtling towards the door of the train car, busting it open.

The two of them leapt through it, trading the interior of the boxcar for a flatbed that left them exposed to the rushing air that caused their hair and clothing to whip behind them. Unlike the boxcar that held the security droids, the open space of the flatbed was occupied with crates that were tied down with protective netting. Blake assumed that they held mining equipment or some other materials, not the Dust that they were targeting. Something that valuable – not to mention volatile – had to be stored within another boxcar somewhere further up the train.

And more of the 130s were coming to stand in their way. The alert must've been sent throughout the entire train as another group of androids were leaping over the crates or running along the open space of the flatbed, the extra guards no doubt summoned from farther up in storage areas similar to the one that the two Fang members had exited.

"Let's do this."

Blake switched her gaze to her partner just in time to see the glance he sent her way along with the words. That mask of his hid his eyes but Blake didn't need to see them, not when she had that part of him that radiated such elation of finally, finally being set free to bring the battle to their oppressors.

She couldn't leave, not yet. As much as she wanted to, she had to wait for the opportunity and this wasn't it. The choice may be her own but she owed Adam at least this much. He trusted her just as she once trusted him and she wouldn't abandon him no matter how much it terrified her to be near him.

So when he rushed on, Blake had no choice but to follow.

 

---

 

"So if this supposed to be such a secret," Weiss cut in and jerked her head towards JNPR, "then why do they know about it?"

"There's always the chance that someone would learn about it," Blake replied. She was also looking to the other team, specifically at Jaune and Pyrrha. The blond boy was speaking to the redhead in a rushed tone but the words weren't angry; just confused. A guilty-looking Pyrrha was doing her best to answer them. "I knew someone and the same story could be said for Pyrrha. The bond requires two but one can perform it as long as their partner lets them."

The faunus turned to the other half of the team to see Nora watching, amused, while Ren seemed troubled. "For others, it can come naturally. Bonding is about sharing your Aura with another. If two people find themselves to be that compatible with each other, a bond can be established almost subconsciously."

"Compatible?" echoed Yang. She was examining Ren and Nora with a risen brow. "…I guess I can see it. Opposites attract and all that, right?" She offered the group a smirk.

Blake returned it, admittedly amused with her partner's description of the pair. Hyperactive seemed such a polite way to describe Nora's personality when the faunus had first seen her riding in on the back of an Ursa in order to reach the Forest Temple. Such a feat did little to dampen the girl's enthusiasm with how quickly she had snatched her chosen relic before breaking into song and dance about being queen of the castle.

Ren, on the other hand, was rather mellow and seemed to have difficulties in keeping up with his partner. While Nora had been cheering and racing towards the next thing that caught her interest, Blake had remembered him hunched over and trying to catch his breath. Nonetheless, Ren had some capability to reel her in when necessary.

I wonder if they bonded so that Nora could leech off of him, she thought with some mirth. Maybe the reason Ren was the way he was was because Nora soaked up all their shared energy while leaving him with the bare minimum to function.

"So why is it such a secret?" Ruby asked innocently, her attention having yet to leave Blake.

Ah, therein laid the problem and the reason as to why Blake chose to unveil all this to her team. Back then she had thought being bonded with someone had been such a beautiful thing. The various members of JNPR had reasons that she could only guess but, for her, she knew that she had bonded out of desperation. She hadn't known the full nature of what such a thing entailed and when she did it had been far too late. At least this way they would know and maybe avoid the mistakes she made.

"Because there are dangers to being linked to a person on such a level," Blake replied. "They weren't so prominent in the past since, as you know, the Grimm had been on the verge of wiping us out and it was the discovery of Dust that prevented it. Being bonded may've made two warriors stronger but, during such a time, all it did was let them survive a few days longer."

She didn't mean to sound so grave but she couldn't argue against how it affected the group, starting with how Ruby's wide eyes shrunk a bit as she contemplated the terror and misery of such an era. Between seeing Huntsmen and Huntresses with such reverence and still at the young age of fifteen-years-old, Blake knew that Ruby was susceptible as any other child was when it came to the glory of such heroes. It made people forget that, in order for there to be heroes, there needed to be a time of great evil for them to rise up. And even then, people focused on their victories over their enemies and not the blood that needed to be spilled in order to obtain it.

Nor did they think of how such dark times may create additional evils.

Yang's cheerful grin lessened, showing that the blonde understood despite her easygoing personality. To Blake's surprise, she saw how Weiss became somber, that raised chin of hers lowering in the face of what it meant to be a Huntress. Apparently her wealthy upbringing didn't leave her as insensitive to the world as the faunus initially believed.

"When everything stopped looking so bleak," Blake went on, "and bonded pairs started lasting for years instead of days or months, they started to realize what it meant to be connected through their Auras, especially over such a length of time. It's more than sharing energy; it's allowing your partner to know and learn about you at an unprecedented level. By giving a part of yourself to them and vice versa, you're giving them access to your very being. After several years they might as well be a part of you. At that point, those thoughts and emotions that can give you an advantage in battle can influence you…the violent ones most of all."

Blake had to resist the urge to clench her hands into fists. It was not just bitterness at her own foolishness that she felt whenever she looked back on this. There was regret for not seeing it sooner, for believing that he wouldn't change, that no matter how far their cause drifted towards violence, they would be fine as long as they had each other. If she hadn't blinded herself to the possibilities, impossible they may've seemed at first, maybe she could've stopped it.

"By influencing you…" Yang spoke, pulling Blake out of her thoughts. The brawler appeared apologetic as it was obvious that this was a troubling subject but she truly wanted to learn about it.

"It's what happened to my friend," Blake explained. How she hoped that they would not ask for clarification and be satisfied with this. "She was bonded with someone that she worked with for years. Unfortunately, he started changing, and because of the bond she was afraid that his anger would change her as well."

---

 

The next car held their goal and, as Blake suspected, it was another boxcar that was filled with large, rectangular crates that were stacked together. Each one was marked with a white or red snowflake: the Schnee family insignia. As much as she disagreed with the changes that occurred within the White Fang, seeing the marks reminded Blake of why she had joined and followed it for as long as she had.

The Schnee Dust Company was known around the world as one of the largest producers and exporters of the energy propellant known as Dust. It was used everywhere as a valuable resource for not only Aura-users that could draw out the power known as Nature's Wrath, but a source of energy for nearly all forms of technology. With it, humanity was not only able to fight the Grimm but establish their rightful place on Remnant.

It was part of everyday life and the Schnee Quarry has allowed the company to meet the daily quota because of it. That and their 'controversial' labor forces who worked it.

Controversial? Blake couldn't help but scoff. Hardly.

Controversial would imply people actually discussing the problem and working to fix it. Decades have passed and nothing has changed since the SDC's founding or in any of the other Dust companies that have chosen to use the faunus as cheap labor to mine and refine this resource.

It wasn't just those despicable policies that White Fang stood against; it was every kind of discrimination that humans directed at the faunus. Stripped of rights, treated as lesser beings, and crushed by cruel, ruthless, human rule. No one was doing anything about it. The equality that had been promised to them after the war had been a lie all along.

"None of this is our fault," he had said, looking regretful for once. "They brought this on themselves."

As abhorrent as she was of the switch to organized attacks, Blake recognized why it came to be nonetheless. The White Fang had been originally created as a symbol for unity between humans and the faunus. When they were denied that, they became a voice that demanded it. When that voice proved to be too soft, it became clear that it was action that would be needed. The results were proving just how true it is.

It was just as their current leader said when he had taken over: from the shadows that they had been driven to they will descend upon the world, take back what humanity had stolen from them, reclaim their destiny, and set their future free. Above the shame, the hate, the pain, and the bindings of their fate, they will rise

Blake feared about what they would leave behind.

Adam wandered over to one of the crates, Blake calmly following. A quick use of Wilt did away with the locks and he lifted the lid for them to examine the contents. There came smug satisfaction when he spoke, "Perfect."

Blake eyed the crystals that were laid out before them. Orange, green, red, dark blue, light blue, white; a rainbow of colors was spread along the foam surface. It wasn't just the colors either as they had been cut into different shapes at different angles.

It was strange how something so small and pretty in appearance could lead to the betterment of one race and the damnation of another.

"Move up to the next car," Adam ordered. He set the lid back down so that he could fully address Blake. "I'll set the charges."

Blake forced herself to look to his mask and made a vain attempt to locate his eyes through the four slits that she could barely make out beneath the red detailing. "What about the crew members?"

No additional androids had assaulted them, not since they cleared out that last group. That was probably all that had been stationed on the train. The only obstacles that they could expect to encounter from now on would be the humans who worked on the train and they could hardly be considered as such. They would be defenseless, unarmed save for whatever tools they may try to use to protect themselves.

But they would be fighting for their lives. Human or faunus, everyone had a right to maintain such a precious thing. All Blake had desired was a faunus life to be treated as equally as a human's. She refused to fall into that trap-

"What about them?"

-that she could now see that he had fallen into. That curl of his lip expressed the scorn that Blake felt and knew to be all too real. Within Adam, she could sense the disdain of being asked such a question.

He didn't say it but he didn't need to. He saw no difference between the machines that had been programmed to go against them and the people who were just doing their job. They were transporting cargo that had been obtained through faunus labor, with faunus sweat and blood, and, thus, they were all guilty.

He didn't say he expected Blake to kill them but she could see that, in his mind, he didn't need to.

That was when she realized she lost him.

She had done so well to hide her doubts from him but she struggled to keep them concealed in the face of this revelation. She broke away from his gaze, her eyes drifting to the side before she closed them, willing her motives to remain veiled in the shadows of her mind.

She felt the shift of Adam's attention the same time she heard the hissing and grinding of gears that told her that she had been wrong in assuming that they cleared the train of its robotic sentinels. When she looked back the way they came, it was just in time to see the mammoth droid drop from the ceiling of the train car, landing on its four legs with a clang.

It possessed the same red and gray color scheme but the similarities ended there. More like a spider than a humanoid, the multiple legs lifted it to its full height of several meters. The visor of its angular face was directed at the two faunus along with its armaments: two arms that ended in double-barreled cannons while another pair with three each extended from its shoulders.

This was a heavier model. While this was the first time the White Fang dared to try and hijack an entire train, they hadn't expected this kind of resistance.

"Adam…" Blake voiced in warning, glancing at her partner while wordlessly expressing the idea of withdrawing.

Ignoring it, Adam stepped forward which the droid took as a sign to attack. All four cannons pointed to him, blue-white energy gathering at the barrels before a salvo of shots came flying towards him. Adam ducked and rolled to avoid them with Blake being forced to jump over one of the orbs and initiating a charge at the mechanical monster.

Drawing Gambol Shroud as the shots impacted all around her, Blake leaped towards its head. Given its size, she didn't expect it to respond so quickly or in such a manner that had it slamming its face right into her. Flesh and bone met solid metal with the former losing as Blake was sent tumbling back to the floor, the dual collisions leaving her stunned.

Tremors shook the floor beneath her as the robot drew closer to finish her off. Adam quickly stood in its way, launching himself at it similar to how Blake had done except this time there came the sound of metal striking against metal as Adam unsheathed Wilt and sent a flurry of blows that impacted against the armored torso.

The savage attack proved to be ineffective. Blake rose her head just enough to see Adam landing in front of her before one of the machine's legs smacked into him, sending him flying over Blake and back towards the other end of the car. The droid sent a few shots after him and then focused on its original target. The whining of hydraulics and the shadow that came over her warned the still-recovering Blake of that same leg having risen back up, this time intending to crush her.

Right as it was about to come slamming down, Adam was there. Blake barely had time to register his reappearance in the second it took for him to sweep her up in his arms and dart out of harm's way.

If she hadn't become so resolute with her chosen path, the action might've prevented her from giving up hope. In contrast to his brutality in combat, the way he held her against him was - dare she say it? - tender. With her heart beating so close to his, she could detect the compassion that was reserved only for her. It reminded her of their earlier days.

She didn't let it sway her. Those times were long gone, the compassion she felt a fragment. She didn't harbor any misguided thoughts about it being a potential anchor to bring him back. It was just a persistent remnant that would soon be swallowed up.

Blake was trying to avoid a similar fate. As soon as Adam set her back down, she tried again with an insistent, "We need to get out of here!" They didn't have to continue this and she hoped that she could use the moment to convince him to see it that way.

Unfortunately, that compassion was swept away in the wave of aggression that came back to the forefront. Adam already had a hand back at his sword, intending to resume his efforts of annihilating their opposition.

An opposition that brought its weapons to bear on them with a literal twist. The cannons merged together, combining into a single armament that began to draw power. There came a loud hum that resonated within the interior of the car, the energies that gathered in front of the barrels causing the hairs on Blake's flesh to prickle.

They couldn't dodge that. While Adam brought Wilt and Blush up to defend, Blake gripped the back of his overcoat. Her Aura came flooding through their bond to bolster his own, strengthening it and pushing it outwards.

She was alerted to the cannons firing when a burst of light and heat nearly blinded her sensitive eyesight. She forgot about the sting at her sockets almost immediately when a wave of pressure lifted her off her feet and threw her roughly backwards, towards the rapidly approaching door to the car before that, too, was ripped open by the blast.

Both she and Adam landed hard onto the next car – another flatbed – and slid along a good portion of its length before coming to a halt. As much as her body throbbed, it was pain that let her know that she was still alive. An attack like that could've done a lot worse had they not reacted in time. To her relief, she could sense that Adam was alive and a visible confirmation put her at ease.

Even over the rushing wind, Blake could hear the clanking of cybernetic limbs that heralded the approach of the spider-like robot. It was far from done and, as Blake would soon see, there was hardly a mark on it from their previous attacks. The sentinel possessed tremendous firepower and defenses that put the androids to shame.

"Buy me some time!"

Blake jerked her head towards Adam who was far from intimidated. In fact, the prolonged battle was working to anger him, making him more determined to see the machine fall.

Last chance. With that in mind, she shouted, "Are you sure?"

"Do it!" he snarled.

Last chance and last time.

Blake launched herself from the bed of the car and sprinted towards the soulless droid. The aches in her body meant little, the hopelessness of the situation mattering not. Possibly because of how she had fed more of herself into Adam, Blake felt what had to be his growing obsession to see the droid destroyed take over. Her vision came into sharp focus, her pulse pounded, her blood ran high, all with the anticipation of seeing this metal construct brought to ruin.

The next shots seemed slow, Blake easily dodging to the left and right. With a challenging shout, Blake whipped out Gambol Shroud from its sheath, the blade folded over to better reveal the pistol that acted as the hilt. With her semblance, a clone assisted in catapulting her up towards her target. Blake jammed the end of her blade into the center of its chest before letting go so that she could fly behind it.

The ribbon that was wrapped around the trigger of her weapon was still in hand. A swift tug caused the pistol to fire, the recoil serving to rip the blade out from the droid and return it to the faunus.

Fall!

She spun several times in the air, tugging the ribbon to produce a crescendo of bangs from Gambol Shroud that had it spinning with her to slash along the back of the spider droid that wavered in response to the repeated assaults.

FALL!

Her Aura matched the pacing of her heart. Another shot of recoil returned Gambol Shroud to her hand when she landed, the blade straightening while Blake fitted the fingers of her other through the hole of her sheath to bring it into play. Each heartbeat was followed with a pulse from her Aura as she went for its legs, a clone boosting her forward so that she may slash at one limb before another beat and another pulse sent her to the other to do the same.

Above her, the machine stumbled as it attempted to track the high-speed movements of the raven-haired girl. Its legs stomped and kicked in useless retaliation, hitting at spaces that Blake had already left vacant. A strike against its chest caused its processors to register that the intruder was now hovering in front of its face and one of its shoulder cannons dipped to fire a point-blank shot of energy.

When it registered that it missed, that its target had dropped back to the floor, Blake pointed the tip of Gambol Shroud towards its chin, her legs bent and poised.

FALL!

The muscles in her legs sprung her up and the ones in her arms stabbed Gambol Shroud into the angular head from below. This time it was her finger that jammed down the trigger and Blake's infuriated cries matched the firing of each bullet that pierced its throat until the click of an empty chamber forced her to disengage by kicking off its torso.

She knew Adam was ready at this point. A quick handspring brought her to his side and a glance revealed how his clothes and hair whipped at the air with such a fervor that was due to more than just the wind. Yet the rest of him remained immobile, his feet frozen shoulder-width apart while his hands clutched Wilt and Blush at his side.

But his heart pounded at an accelerated rhythm, his blood soared, and his very soul thrummed with a barely-restrained desire to unleash destruction. It seeped into their bond, using it as an outlet to bleed out the pent-up emotions that seeped into Blake's very being, fueling her aggression…corrupting her.

He turned to her, “Move!”

It was the last thing she wanted to do. She wanted to continue, to rush back in and finish what she started. She wanted to see the machine fall. Hack and slash until it was in pieces. She wanted to exterminate it just as humanity had tried-

His voice and her own revulsion snapped her back to her senses. With a start, she tried to get away, hoping that putting some distance between this battle would halt the domination of her mind. Meanwhile, the spider droid was merging its weaponry together for another powerful blast. With her moving out of range, it aimed towards Adam, the same blue-white energies gathering together to form another devastating beam that was fired to incinerate the faunus.

Blake turning her back and removing the spectacle from her sight was a useless gesture. She felt Adam's elation at the sight of certain death and the knowledge that the best was being thrown at him. And it meant nothing to him. She felt his Aura spike as it gorged on energy meant to kill him but only served to empower him.

His laugh echoed both in her ears and in her mind, a wicked sound that incited the imaginations of what he – they, could accomplish. What was being wrought here was only the beginning and proof that they were not inferior but superior. Humans were the lesser beings. They were the liars, the cheaters, the glutinous cowards that tried to assuage their fears with the chains meant to shackle what they do not understand.

They will understand and they will fear. The so-called proof of human superiority such as this toy shall come crashing down, revealing how weak they truly are. They will be driven to their knees, not by the monsters born of darkness but by the monsters that they themselves created.

When they are inevitably forced to face this truth, humanity shall wilt and die.

No! Blake tore herself free from this manipulation. That's not what I want!

Gasping for breath, the cold sweat on her body combined with the wind caused a shudder to course through her, assisting in bringing her back to reality. Instead of becoming lost in this glimpse of a grim future, Blake was relieved to find herself on the train.

The fight was over. Behind her, she could no longer hear the stomping of the droid or any other sounds of battle. What she could feel, however, was Adam. He was approaching her now, intending to rejoin her. Invigorated by his victory, she sensed his eagerness to complete the job. They were not done yet.

Yes, we are.

The thought came with everything that she had concealed from him. She couldn't go on with this. He had fallen and she was afraid that he was going to drag her down with him. Their cause has become horribly twisted, their beliefs no longer the same. She couldn't follow him anymore.

When she faced him it was to catch the stumble in his step before he stopped entirely. She sensed the bewilderment that her honesty provoked. Confusion as to where this was all coming from.

Blake removed Gambol Shroud from her back. This is not me going against you. I just can't be with you anymore.

Adam may not have heard the exact words, but he understood the meaning behind them. He reached out towards her. Wait!

She's already done that. "Goodbye."

She swung down, severing the connection between their respective cars.

And deep inside, she severed her connection with him.

 

---

 

"Ozpin said that whoever we meet will be our partners for our entire stay at Beacon," Yang remembered, thinking back to that moment at the cliff's edge. "I guess in that time we're supposed to learn how to work with each other and see if we are willing to bond with one another."

Blake nodded in agreement. "Vale is one airship ride away from Beacon but, otherwise, we're cut off from the general populace."

"It was the same at Signal," Ruby added. "It's located on Patch, just off the coast of Vale." Grasping another lesson she spoke, "They're trying to imitate the conditions of what it must've been like in the past!"

Blake hadn't attended Signal but she knew that the island it was located on didn't have any kind of Grimm population. It was too small to maintain one and, if it did, they could've been easily cleared out to make room for a training facility. It allowed trainees to train together and hone their chosen fighting style in peace but Signal was missing a few things that Beacon had. It seemed she wasn't the only one who knew this.

"The isolation perhaps," Weiss cut in, whatever annoyance she had previously held having vanished for the time being. She seemed as absorbed in the topic as the others to better fathom their situation. "Beacon has places like the Emerald Forest and Forever Fall which are teeming with Grimm all around us except for the cliffs at our backs."

"It promotes unity in the face of an encompassing threat." Yes, life at Beacon was very similar to her past, Blake noted. "For four years we'll be surrounded by the Grimm, our academics reminding us of the present and past. All we'll have is each other to overcome whatever obstacles are thrown at us. It'll minimize the mistakes that others have made."

"Speaking of which." That analytical look on the heiress's face morphed into one of wariness. "This whole bond thing…it isn't permanent, is it? It can be broken if desired, right? In case mistakes are made." Clearly she was rather uncomfortable when it came to this particular issue.

"Death is such a way, although not the only one," Blake informed. "If the people who are bonded wish it, they can forfeit it. It'll be mutual and, most of all, painless."

"Er…painless?" Ruby questioned uncertainly. "It can hurt if it isn't mutual?"

The answer came hesitantly. "…Yes, the deep ones especially." Blake took a breath. "It'll be very similar to if you lost your partner in battle. An illness or some kind of disease that offers a slow death would give you time to accept and prepare for what's to come. If a partner was struck down or pulled away from you without notice, the loss is can be very traumatic."

Several moments of silence passed before Yang spoke up. "Your friend broke away without consent, didn't she?"

Another silence fell over Blake and the entire space that was occupied by Team RWBY.

"…How bad was it?"

It was far too late to back out now. The faunus had been willing to go this far so there was no way she could stop right when she was getting to the end. She waited a few seconds to stretch it out a bit longer until she noticed how Ruby fidgeted where she stood, a visible sign of regret for prying.

"I wasn't there," Blake finally spoke, "but Aura is the manifestation of the soul. To have a partner become so attuned to you and then lose them, I can only assume it's like ripping out a piece of yourself."

 

---

 

Blake waited as the distance between her and Adam increased. While the train continued to provide momentum for her side, Adam's was losing it at an alarming rate. After returning Gambol Shroud to its resting place, she stood and, with an unblinking stare, watched as Adam became smaller and smaller. Soon even her sharp eyesight couldn't make him out when he became little more than a dot.

With nothing to see other than empty track, Blake turned and started walking, saddened but determined. It was the best time and the best way to end all of this. This mission had been chosen as their initiation. She had remained affiliated with the White Fang for five years after its transformation but most of it had been spent training. Being practically born into the group and being connected to Adam had assured her superiors that she could be trained without the threat of her turning against them.

This wasn't to say that she was fully innocent. She had done things that were minor in comparison to the killings that the other members participated in but it did little to alleviate her guilt since she had been contributing to the violence that the White Fang was becoming increasingly known for. Here it was the same: she had potentially saved the lives of the crew members but had left a trail of destruction behind her and assisted in the theft of a significant shipment of Dust.

The last time, Blake reassured herself. And they won't be coming for me. She was breaking away right when they were debating about trusting her with more. She knew about their more atrocious acts of violence but held no knowledge of the specifics such as who or how. She was as informed as a new recruit was expected to be. Surely the Fang wouldn't come after her when they had more important things to worry about.

She had planned accordingly. The mission would allow her to infiltrate the train and ride it to a new city. There, she can establish a new life for herself and create a path that would be her own and not one that people were forcing her onto. She would be free to make her own choices.

That was when her vision doubled and her legs buckled beneath her. Blake threw her arms out in time to catch herself, landing on her hands and knees.

What was-? She didn't get far within her own mind when another wave of disorientation hit her. Her vision spun in front of her and the faunus lowered further, trading her hands for elbows in order to rest her forehead against the cool metal of the flatbed. Eyes squeezed shut as she tried to control this bout of nausea that had her shoulders tensing in anticipation.

She forced herself to take deep breaths in an attempt to fight down the urge to eject the contents of her stomach. She tried to focus on the chilling wind and the floor beneath her on how they attempted to lessen the heat that was overtaking her body.

As intense and immediate the reaction was, it was quelled a little too easily. Blake remained where she was, waiting and expecting more to follow. Nothing else came and she dared to open her eyes and lift her head from the floor. Her vision had stopped spinning and the nausea had passed.

That had been…odd. Had the fight taken that much out of her? It had been difficult and she exerted herself more than she expected to. Maybe it caught up to her.

She gingerly picked herself up and followed the action with a shuddering breath as she balanced on her knees. Whatever that was, it seemed to have passed. She started to push herself back up to her feet.

It was not just weakness that had her collapsing again but also agony.

I-it hurts. A spasm that originated beneath her breast sent pain lancing across her chest, her body convulsing in response. I didn't expect it to hurt this much.

She hadn't given much thought on what would happen when she severed the bond. To be honest, she hadn't given that much thought into the consequences at all. When she understood what was going on, when she had realized the abyss that she was being dragged into, her dread at being devoured by the darkness had driven her to cut herself free.

Her fear had joined her with Adam and it was her fear that split her from him. She was being tortured for both mistakes.

There came a cry as her back arched off the floor before coming back down with such violence that surely a bruise would form at the center. The spasms worked their way from her chest to her limbs, shaking them madly while her head thrashed from side-to-side, the faunus gasping for breath. Blake curled into a fetal ball in an attempt to restrict the violent motions of her body.

She couldn't stay like this. No matter how crippling this was, she had to get up. Sooner or later, the train's crew would come to investigate and in this pathetic state she wouldn't be able to defend herself. She may've saved them but experience told her that she wouldn't be getting any help from them. Quite the opposite: knowing that they had been attacked and finding a faunus girl paralyzed with pain would lead them to locking her up….if she was lucky.

Gotta get up… The shaking persisted yet Blake demanded that her body obey her. She rolled onto her front, gradually removing herself from her ball. The hands that pressed against the floor were still shaking, the legs that she placed beneath her still weak. Nonetheless, the fate that awaited her if found and her mental encouragement had her working through the ache at her back as she stood.

Have to find a place to hide. Have to mo-

Blake was flung forward, breath coming out in a rush when she collided into a pile of netted cargo. She started to slide against it until she clutched at the obstruction, using it to keep her on her feet. She turned her head to peer over her shoulder to see what hit her and her eyes went wide at what she saw.

Usually her clones didn't last for this long. She used them to give herself an extra boost to avoid attacks or distract her opponents with the afterimage while she struck at a different angle. They would exist for a second before fading away like the shadows they were.

This one persisted. Furthermore, the features on this one were clearly visible. Enlarged amber met amber as Blake viewed the anguish stuck to its – her face. As if looking at a mirror, Blake saw her reflection staring right back at her.

What she saw was proof. I made a mistake!

The clone flickered and vanished, leaving her alone. For some reason the display encouraged panic that had Blake moving so that she could press her back against her support. Her breathing was short and quick as she stared at where her afterimage had been hunched over, helpless and afraid. She didn't know how much time passed as she stood staring at that empty space when she doubled over in response to another round of pain that coursed through her body.

That was when she saw it. Gazing down at herself, Blake could see her Aura that glowed around her body. Instead of a stable outline, however, she watched as it fluctuated and spiked in time with her physical convulsions.

She didn't cut him out. She had torn Adam from her heart and soul, uncaring of the collateral damage that she bore witness to. His absence was overwhelming, the void that he once occupied staggering.

God, are people really this lonely?

Like her soul, her heart contorted in response to this self-harm. Letting go of the netting in order to clutch at her chest, Blake dropped to her knees. It was excruciating. Was Adam going through something like this? Because of her? She didn't mean it to be like this! It was just…she just…he…

ADAM COME BACK!

Blake's forehead smacked against iron. The impact did little to distract her as she screamed and hollered, begging Adam to come back. Tears streamed down her face, sobs mixing with her shrieks.

Adam wasn’t there anymore. Her mental cries echoed in the gaps within her while the verbal ones were taken away by wind and distance.

He wasn't coming back; she made sure of that. What have I done!?

The train was putting miles of distance between them. It had been meant to keep Adam from coming for her so that she could obtain her own freedom. What an insane, idiotic idea that was! If this was what freedom was supposed to be, if this loneliness was what awaited her, then she didn't want it!

The train was taking her away from Adam. The knowledge that each second spent here meant another hundred feet being added had Blake moving. She pushed herself up, the girl stumbling to her feet. How she was going to get off, how she was going to find Adam, none of that mattered. She just needed to leave!

She made her way to the edge of the car where she had last seen Adam. Each step was followed by another stumble or shove that had Blake bumping against the cargo in her way. With each of her lurching movements, a clone just like before manifested behind her, all of them frozen in a picture of torment.

The bow at her head had started coming loose. Beneath the unraveling fabric were cat ears that swiveled and shook, ending when they flattened themselves on top of her head as if to add another visible indication of her fright.

The next time a clone sent her staggering to the side there was nothing to stop her, the ankle-high railings at the edges of the flatbed serving to trip her and send her falling right over the side to descend into the depths of Forever Fall.

 

---

 

Blake was pulled out of her memories when she felt a gentle grip on her arm. She looked down to gaze into pools of sympathetic silver.

"I'm sorry about your friend." Ruby added a comforting squeeze with her words. "I hope she's okay now."

Her young leader wouldn't know it but the gesture convinced Blake just how fine she was. "She is. She was lost for a while but she got what she wanted."

"Well don't worry!" Ruby released Blake so that she can thrust a thumb in her own direction. "I'll be extra careful! I'm going to wait and make sure that Weiss and I are perfectly compatible if we ever decide to bond!"

The heiress in question crossed her arms and glared at Ruby. "I'll save you the trouble: we're not and we never will." Apparently done with the discussion, Weiss walked off to her own corner of the room to brood if Blake had to guess.

Ruby was taken aback by the hostility in Weiss's tone, appearing dejected as she tracked her partner. "I guess I'm still just 'fine' for her."

Yang came up behind her sibling to ruffle her hair. "Eh, don't let the Ice Princess get ya down! Last night you were a hazard to her health so I call this an upgrade! Four years should give you plenty of time to get her to like you enough."

Ruby sighed, still a bit down. "I guess." She gave Yang a hopeful look. "But in case it doesn't work out, you and me can always bond. I mean, we're sisters! I'm sure we're compatible enough!"

Her older sister used her hand's position on her head to reach back, grab her hood, and pull it over Ruby's face. "Sorry little sis, but being on your team is all you're going to get from me. If you want a bonder you're going to have to break out of that shell of yours and get to know Weiss better."

"I don't need to break out of my shell!" Ruby argued. She attempted to pull her hood from over her head but Yang was persistent. She blindly slapped at her arms. "Let go!"

Blake brought up a hand to hide the grin that the sisters' antics inspired. Well, at least things won’t be boring.

The spectacle heartened her. While she may be lying about her past, she hadn't been dishonest about finding what she wanted. Here at Beacon, it seems that she found the life that she had hoped to return to: of fighting for what's right and making the world a better place.

Hypocrite. The insult served to lengthen her grin. Ruby had spoken similar words when they had formally met, yet Blake had shot them down. What changed?

Everything. She had hoped, but she didn't allow herself to truly believe that it could happen. Yesterday she found herself in an unknown environment surrounded by people who she knew nothing about. Anything could've happened, and having firsthand knowledge of how things can go wrong had her expecting the worst. She could've easily ended up with a team that was as violent and unforgiving as her previous cause.

But she got Team RWBY. It was a team led by an innocent fifteen-year-old and her sister who teased and adored her as any older sibling should. Both of them were honest souls that were driven by their ambitions to help people.

"Besides, I got my own partner to get to know better." Releasing Ruby, Yang directed a friendly smile to Blake. "How about it? Up to seeing how compatible we can be?" She waggled her eyebrows in a mock form of suggestion.

Blake was glad she hadn't removed her hand from her mouth so that her partner couldn't see how the corners of her lips did a complete reversal. This may be what she wanted, she may be able to do some good here and enjoy it, but this was still the real world. Two of her teammates may be more than she could ask for but a glance at number three reminded her of the perils that could ruin everything.

Weiss's position showed off the crest of her jacket perfectly. For a moment, Blake was back on that train, surrounded by the crates that were adorned with that snowflake-shaped insignia. She remembered the aversion that seeing the mark dredged up and how it was the actions of families such as Schnee who were to blame for the continued discrimination of the faunus.

This was a selfish fantasy that she was indulging in, no different from her books. She was hiding from the real world and entertaining herself with visions of fiction. Weiss, the ears she hid with her bow, and the past she hid with lies, they were all around her: catalysts that held the potential to turn everything upside down if they became mixed together.

There came a tap at her shoulder. "Hey, Remnant to Blake!" Blake blinked and became aware of how Yang was standing in front of her and looking concerned. "You okay, partner?"

"Sorry, I was wondering what's taking Ozpin so long. We've been waiting for a while now."

Another lie made to preserve this illusion. She was committed to becoming a Huntress and dedicating her life to a career that will allow her to atone for her crimes. Her best case scenario would be getting through these next four years without complications and graduating as an official slayer of the creatures of Grimm.

She made mistakes, had learned from them, and she would not repeat them. This included her trust. Never again would she give it up so easily. She can enjoy her time with Ruby and Yang but she can never allow them to get too close. Her past made it impossible.

And if the worst happened anyway? As much as she prayed that it wouldn't, it was also her past that proved that anything was possible. She didn't have a plan, not right now, and she wasn't sure what she could possibly do if this goes bad. Where could she go?

She hoped an idea will come to her soon. If she had to, she was willing to abandon yet another cause and alienate herself from her associates.

If there was one thing that she had learned, being alone was not the worst thing that could happen. It was giving time for everything you cherished to betray you.

Chapter Text

The noise lacked any significant volume but, even hidden, Blake’s sensitive ears heard it enough to rouse her from slumber. It helped that she was a bit of a light sleeper; a byproduct of her times with the White Fang before and after it changed. Sleep when you can but be ready to head out for the next rally or assignment at a moment’s notice.

“You can leave it right here, I’ll take care of it,” came whispered assurances.

It was difficult to get out of a perfectly soft and warm bed though. Extended boycotts and protests would have the determined members resting on the streets and Blake, of course, was such a member at the time. The actual bases and sanctuaries that they would establish for themselves were better but not by much as a good number of them had been repurposed at the spur of the moment. They tended to be overcrowded with hard mattresses and ratty sheets needing to be shared.

And although she had to share the room with her three teammates, Blake’s first impressions of their dorm were positive as it was clear that it was meant to hold four people. Other than the same number of beds that lined one end of the room, there were four desks spread out on the other that included their own shelves that hung above them on the wall. With a bookcase planted under the tall window, Blake would have plenty of spots to store her collection of novels along with their textbooks. Beacon was a combat school but it was still a school.

Fighting against the grogginess, Blake sat up in her bed and wiped the sleep from her eyes. A look to the entrance of their dorm revealed it to be ajar and a pile of suitcases and other luggage were stacked next to it.

Stepping inside, Yang had a suitcase in each hand that bulged with the amount of miscellaneous items that were stuffed in them. The blonde seemed unaffected by their potential weight with how easily she added them to the pile without a single sign of strain. She was about to walk back for more until she noticed that Blake was up.

“Mornin’, Blake!” Yang greeted with a wave and a friendly smile.

“Morning, Yang.” Her voice was a bit raspy and it didn’t seem she was quite awake yet with how she lifted a hand to hide a yawn. “What are you doing?”

“Getting our things. They just dropped them off a minute ago.”

Blake should’ve figured as much considering the sight. The giant airship that had brought them in had carried more than just students. While Beacon was willing to provide them boarding and other facilities, clothing and other personal effects had to be brought in by the students which were tagged and stored in the cargo hold. When they had been given their keys and dorm assignments yesterday, they were assured that their luggage would arrive on time before classes would start.

The faunus took a look at the clock to find that it was five minutes past six. Well, they were getting their stuff in the promised time but Blake would’ve preferred a day to get properly settled in; classes were supposed to start today. Not that anyone had felt like voicing objections at the time as the excitement of their initiation had caught up to them and left them wanting nothing more than to collapse into their bunks once they got them.

The early hour did little to dampen Yang’s enthusiasm, the girl humming some upbeat tune that Blake didn’t recognize as she went to retrieve whatever of their baggage was left. When she slid out of bed, Blake saw that Ruby and Weiss were still sleeping. At the foot of the heiress’s bed were neatly-stacked white cases.

Ah, that’s right. Not all of them had to wait as Weiss had contacted her personal bellhop to transport her luggage to their room.

“Would you like some help, Yang?”

Yang had already disappeared back into the hall but she still heard Blake. “Eh, if you want. There’s not really that much-“ There came a yelp and a thud.

“Yang?” The sounds had Blake quickening her pace to reach the open door. The sight that greeted her was the blonde bent over to examine the tag of a black duffle bag that she held the straps of but was making no move to lift it. Blake didn’t need to see her name on the tag to know that it was hers.

“What do you have in here?” Yang asked. “Bricks?”

Blake grinned with amusement. “Books.”

Her partner gave her a cursory glance before her bare foot nudged the bag which was followed by an experimental shake to coax the sound of rustling paper. “…That was my second guess.”

“I’ll take it.”

Yang ignored the proffered hand. “Nah, I got this.” Unlike her previous attempt, this time she lifted the duffle with the same ease as the others. “Just had to compensate for the weight.”

Blake didn’t doubt that. Yesterday she had witnessed the brawler punching a bear-like Ursa through several trees of the Emerald Forest followed by the amazing spectacle of holding open a Nevermore’s beak with one arm while the other fired off shells down its throat. She would not be so easily felled by books whether they be hardcover or soft.

If Blake hadn’t seen it before she might find it difficult to believe that the buxom blonde strutting around in a top and short shorts while resuming her tune was the same person who performed those feats. Compared to her sister’s childlike innocence and awkwardness, Yang was much more carefree and confident as was clearly displayed with how she had waved so enthusiastically to Blake during their first meeting with a bashful Ruby being dragged behind her.

The faunus found it impossible to not like her and it was that nature that convinced her to partner up with her. It helped that it had been easy to find her as the blonde had been calling out to no one in particular during her ‘boring’ trek through Grimm-infested territory. Blake had observed Yang’s encounter with the Ursi from the shadows and witnessed firsthand her unwavering confidence in the face of danger…followed by an explosion of power and fury when one golden strand of hair spelled doom for one of the monsters.

Surprisingly, Blake found her rage to be nearly comical considering the reason and had stepped in to take care of the second Ursa. In the wake of its collapsing body, lilac met amber with Blake throwing a grin for good measure that Yang eventually returned with a quip to signal another emotional switch. There would be additional ones that would have Blake rolling her eyes or smiling but each action was accompanied with a stroke of amusement and the assurance that she could live with this for the next four years.

There were a few more bags and Blake offered a good morning to Ren who was stuck with the same chore – not looking happy about it - before she tried to locate tags with the name Belladonna written on them. To her surprise, Blake found one left – the other three were marked with Xiao Long. The explanation that Yang had saved her own baggage for last touched the faunus and she grabbed one of them to haul with her own.

“By the way,” Yang spoke when they passed each other, “our uniforms came in too. I placed them on the desk. You can shower and change first.”

“You carried in most of the luggage,” Blake argued, unwilling to accept such kindness without a fight. “You should go first.”

“You’ll get sick of waiting, trust me.” Since her hands were filled again, Yang had to shake her head forcibly in order to direct Blake’s attention to her lengthy mane of messy hair. “These babies require special attention.” She used her foot to kick the door closed. “Besides, I need to find my hair dryer.”

Well she couldn’t argue with that. “Thank you.”

The uniforms were laid out on a desk like Yang said, all neatly folded and protected by clear plastic. With them were four coffee mugs stamped with Beacon’s insignia which amused Blake to no end when she remembered that the headmaster could always be found with one in hand. She preferred tea instead of coffee but, for all she knew, it might be something else that Ozpin always drank. She took her uniform and the hanger that was provided but left the mugs for later.

If there was a complaint that Blake had to make for the dorm rooms it was that the door on the left side offered a single bathroom while the one on the right was a closet to store their clothing. With a team of four, she would think that it would be more efficient to supply two bathrooms so things wouldn’t get backed up but figured that the public restrooms and showers would counteract it if students were willing to make the trip which, after their trials in the Emerald Forest, they did.

She put that concern to the back of her mind as soon as she entered the bathroom and locked the door behind her. Now that she had her privacy…

Her violet-furred ears took advantage of their freedom as soon as Blake unraveled her bow, flexing and twitching in order to work the stiffness out of them. While she had taken special care to select a covering that wouldn’t be uncomfortable, being tied down all night and restricted to the barest of movements caused some discomfort that needed to be relieved. It was a small price to pay for.

She got the water running before stripping out of her sleepwear and by the time Blake had pulled out her uniform and hung it up on the door it was hot enough for her. This time she couldn’t stop herself from purring with the knowledge that her teammates wouldn’t be able to hear as the soothing heat soaked and soothed her body. She may live up to the stereotypical noises that people suspected a cat faunus such as her can make but she enjoyed a hot shower as much as any other human.

It made that unflattering theory that some believed – whether as a cruel joke or actual seriousness – about faunus licking themselves for cleanliness agitate her so easily. Her cat ears, however, did flatten themselves against her head in order to keep exposure of water in her sensitive canals to a minimum.

She stayed as long as necessary, mindful of her team. She stepped out of the shower and used the supplied towels to dry off. Then, with her stomach clenching with anticipation, Blake threw on her uniform.

She chose to forego the knee socks and while she had some reservations about the skirt, she ultimately paid it no mind. Her measurements had been taken beforehand yet she was mildly impressed with how the shirt, vest, and blazer fitted so well. The gentle, earthly shades of brown were pleasing to the eye. The mirror let her check herself out and Blake found it impossible to stop the smile that spread across her face.

So here we are, she mentally conversed with her reflection. Blake Belladonna: student of Beacon and future Huntress. Ready to begin our new life?

She felt her ears flutter with the excitement that the thoughts bred and the mirror let her see the movement.

Oh…right. The feeling diminished as did her smile. Sighing, the faunus picked up the band and placed it on her head before retying the bow to hide her ears from sight.

Whether by Yang or her own free will, Ruby had awoken and, funnily enough, was admiring her own uniform. Hearing Blake’s reappearance, the young leader whirled around and the faunus had to stop herself from fidgeting at the intense, silver-eyed stare that was examining her so thoroughly.

“Awesome,” Ruby breathed out.

Blake barely heard it and she felt her cheeks grow warm at the compliment. She wasn’t sure how to respond and she was spared from doing so when Ruby snatched her cloak and disappeared in a shower of rose petals. Blake felt a rush of wind and heard a quick “Morning Blake!” at her side that ended with the door shutting behind her.

Embarrassment was temporarily replaced with astonishment as Blake whipped her head around. She had never seen Ruby move that quickly before.

“It’s her Semblance.”

Blake turned back to find Yang sitting in front of an open suitcase, various items – including a yellow hair dryer – having been placed around her. “Speed?”

Yang nodded. “A-yup.”

“Impressive.” The comment was sincere. For a girl who wielded a gigantic scythe, Blake wouldn’t expect that to be her ability. She was fast but when Ruby moved she couldn’t even track her. “I think I can guess what yours is.”

“Flashy, I know,” Yang admitted with a proud expression. She collected some bottles of shampoos and conditioners from the case and dumped them with her hair dryer. “Yours is pretty cool too. I didn’t get a good look at it but are you able to create clones of yourself?”

“Temporary copies,” Blake explained, her own pride flickering across her face. “I use them for distractions and boosts but that’s about it.”

“Really?” Yang gave her an exaggerated frown. “So I guess you can’t use them for something useful like sending them to class instead? Do your homework for you? Brush your hair?”

Her partner’s tone was light but it did little to stop a frown – this one not exaggerated – from appearing while Blake tensed defensively. “No.”

“Woah there.” Yang held up her hands in defense, expression becoming apologetic. “It was just a joke but I’m sorry if I offended you. Don’t get me wrong; that ninja stuff is pretty cool.”

The genuine apology and a reminder that joking was something that her partner seemed to enjoy did ease her stance. The praise served to wipe away the rest of her irritation. Blake knew that her reaction wasn’t entirely Yang’s fault. Being a faunus, she had come to expect ridicule and insults from a human and the joke, while innocent, had initiated a reaction that had become instinctive.

Would it have been a joke if she knew? Blake questioned. Yang and Ruby were both caring individuals but did that extend to faunus? Humans can be the best of friends with each other but the worst of enemies when it came to another race. Weiss she expected hostility but the interactions between her other two teammates and faunus were still an unknown to her.

Blake was wary about asking but she had seen others of her kind having been accepted into Beacon. Best thing to do was to wait and watch although she didn’t know what good it would do her in the end. Prejudice or not, Blake had no intention of revealing her heritage to them either way. Not so much because it meant she was a faunus but because it would eventually reveal her ties to the White Fang which could cause irreparable damage, especially with the Schnee heiress.

Everything had gone quiet in the dorm except for the sound of running water. Blake purposely chose not to break it and hoped that Yang would go back to sorting through her things. To her surprise, the onyx-haired girl found Yang examining her like how Ruby had done before. The corners of her lips quirked up.

“You look pretty good in that for a ninja.”

Her compliment invoked the same cheek-burning response. Looking down to hide them, Blake fiddled with the hem of her skirt. “I’m not much of a fan with this piece.”

“You seem like a real big one when it comes to that bow,” Yang countered. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without it.”

Blake continued to fiddle with the material but her cheeks cooled significantly. Yang had mentioned the bow before but that had been before they were partners and Blake was able to brush it off. “It’s important to me.”

“Oh.” She wasn’t looking at Yang but Blake could hear how her tone became muted. Then it came back with a bright, “Well, I can understand that! Ruby always wears that cape of hers unless she’s sleeping. And I did say I liked the bow. It suits you.”

The relief of how the simplicity of the excuse saved her encouraged Blake to meet Yang’s warm gaze. “Thanks.”

Yang nodded with a sunny smile before going back to uncovering more of her things, happy that any unpleasantries had been avoided. Blake actually felt a slight bounce in her step as she made her way to the pile, picking out her own bags to sort through.

The shower being turned off was all too noticeable given the peaceful air that was established. A minute later, the door swung wide open and out stepped the young leader of Team RWBY, clad in her school uniform. Unlike Blake, she had taken to wearing the knee socks and the faunus noted that Yang had apparently spoken true about the cape as Ruby had the red cloth hanging from her shoulders.

That cloak was lifted with the motion of Ruby’s twirl to show off her attire. When she stopped, it was to look at her teammates with the clear expectations of compliments. Her arms remained stretched out as were her lips.

Blake still found it impossible to resist Ruby once that bubble she generated around her sucked her in. Within it, she became infested with that energetic cheerfulness that wasn’t satisfied with being contained within such a small body. So when her leader beamed at her, Blake had to smile and offer a flattering, “Awesome.”

Pleased with the approval of one subordinate, Ruby turned to the other…and paled considerably.

Blake saw the source of her distress. Rising from the floor with slow movements, Yang stood up to her tall height. Whatever expression was on her face caused Ruby to shake her head in denial.

Yang nodded hers in reply.

Ruby’s head shook with a bit more fierceness.

Yang upped the speed of her nod and added a step towards her sister.

Ruby took a step back and peered over her shoulder to the safety of the bathroom that seemed so far away now.

Yang used the moment of inattentiveness to charge.

Ruby “Eeped!” and made a hasty retreat, grabbing the door with the full attention of slamming it in the blonde’s face. For someone with speed as her Semblance, she was too slow. As soon as her hand grabbed the knob she was forced to let go when Yang tackled her.

With her sitting position, Blake couldn’t see what, exactly, was going on when the sisters disappeared and the sound of them hitting the floor came afterwards. To anyone that wasn’t quickly becoming accustomed to their antics, it would sound like one of them was being strangled…which even Blake had to admit was probably happening.

“So cuuute!” came Yang’s squeal.

Blake had to rest her head against a stack of suitcases, eyes squeezing shut while teeth bit down on her lip to prevent her laughter.

On the sole bed that still had an occupant, Weiss rolled around to better present her back towards them.

---

 

=Two Years Ago=

The knight was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. Resting on one knee with helmeted head bowed and armored knuckles planted into the marbled floor, it appeared like a silent guardian awaiting commands or, in this case, to keep watch until an intruder would have it rising to its considerable height. A column held an equally gigantic longsword off to the side at enough of a distance that would allow the knight to reach out and arm itself to vanquish anything that may pose a threat.

When Weiss stepped off the stairs and a heel clicked audibly against a white tile, the knight remained where it was and she didn’t even give it a glance.

As enormous as the suit of armor was, its height and bulk seemed modest in comparison to the main entrance hall of the Schnee manor. The stairs that the heiress descended from wound up to three floors of height and the hall stretched at a rather incredible length towards the massive double-door entrance. Along the expansive walls were portraits of Schnee family members and ancestors mixed with expensive oil paintings of beautiful sceneries, the Schnee Quarry chief among them.

To show off more of the family’s wealth, a number of statuettes, vases, and even archaic weapons with decorations and polish meant to counteract their timeworn surfaces were on display. Hanging from the ceiling was a luxurious crystal chandelier. In response to the approaching night, the candles were lit to supply light that caused the whole thing to glitter.

Aspects of the manor may appear medieval but all of it was meant to display how the Schnee family had risen to such prominence in a generation of time when Weiss’s grandfather had formed the SDC and achieved such gains before handing the reins to his son. While the SDC may seem young when compared to the other Dust companies that had come before it, none of them had expanded as much or as quickly. The size of the manor and the riches it contained were meant to show all of Remnant as to who was at the top when it came to providing mankind its greatest discovery and key to its civilization.

Weiss moved across the hall, disappearing into one of the corridors where the marble tiles gave way to expensive rugs. Additional displays of material wealth lined one side while the other had windows that offered a limited view of the darkened courtyard and the lavish garden that landscapers had dutifully warped and tamed out of nature with smooth hedges and cultivated rose bushes. The Schnee manor was a monument that spoke of greatness.

It was also a fortress. The manor sported a wide-range of high-tech defenses and detection systems in these old-fashioned exhibits that were meant to keep people out. Behind the paintings were security cameras. Outside, there was an invisible laser net that was configured to respond to the intrusion of humans and non-humans alike. Selected tiles on the floor were pressure plates that could trigger biological or mechanical armed responses. There were at least two fortified bolt holes that members of the Schnee family could retreat to and be completely safe until the danger passed or was put down.

It was a prison. Everything that was designed to keep people out was also meant to keep her in.

A pair of servants, their arms empty and steps unhurried, hinted to their retirement to their quarters. Their backs were nonetheless straight and, upon sighting the heiress, they were quick to bow. Weiss gave them no response, passing them with a walk that was purposeful while she kept her scroll tight at her side.

The lingering aroma of a dinner recently cooked assisted Weiss in locating her target even if she knew where to find him. Everything here was like clockwork, including habits. A drawn-out day of business meant a late night return. Fortunately, it was an instance that would lead to a relaxing meal cooked by a staff member who was on the verge of retiring for bed so that they may reawaken in time for breakfast. After that, a drink and going over the financial records of the day’s earnings in preparation for what may be in store for tomorrow.

It was a quiet night. More advantageously, it was a night after several that were similar. No slamming doors, no curses being spat, nothing thrown or broken. Weiss had been planning for such a time and it was inconceivable to miss such a perfect moment. Tempers are at an all-time low and her arguments won’t be so hastily dismissed.

All it would take is one call to ruin everything, a single bit of news delivered by a servant to shatter the entire mood. And with her experience, she knew how things could become so warped in so little of time. She had to strike now.

The main dining hall was nowhere near as massive but it was still too big for the few who actually dined here. At the center was a long table that had an exquisite silk cloth draped over its surface. Over the scent of food, Weiss could smell the recent polish of the paneled walls; apparently the cleaning staff had managed to come through before the master paid a visit.

The solitary figure was seated at the far end of the table, occupying one of the many chairs that surrounded the furniture but were hardly used. As Weiss suspected, there was the illumination of the scroll in his hand, his finger having been in mid-swipe before she entered. A miniscule shift of her vision let her see the glass that held a generous measure of whatever liquid currently filled it. The color matched what was in the crystal decanter – a quarter empty.

Eyeing the expensive container and how the light of the nearby fireplace danced across the crystalline surface, Weiss wondered if she should truly consider his pickings of the liquor cabinet – possessing its own locks to dissuade the introduction of poisons – the advantage that she thought it was.

Mercifully, he had never overly-indulged in such a vice no matter how furious he would become. If Weiss had to credit him for something, it was his sense that such a route would further deteriorate the situation both in the office and at home. Instead, he restrained himself to such helpings to relieve enough of the stress to soften his resistance against sleep. She hoped that it would work to keep the matter strictly business.

However, she would make it personal if she had to.

Weiss pulled out a chair for herself at the opposite end of the table. No measure of closeness would work in her favor and she knew it would be an insult to the both of them if she tried. She set herself down and brought up her scroll.

She was aware of his gaze on her, eyes that she had inherited tracking her movements. He had set aside his glass but the scroll remained up, especially when he saw hers. It did little to weaken Weiss’s straight-back posture or put any form of hesitation in her fingers’ movements as she tapped her screen.

Eventually the crackling of the fire was joined with an insistent beeping while an indication light blinked on. It lasted for the second it took him to accept the transfer that uploaded her organized files to his screen. Those icy blues broke away from Weiss in order to view them.

Weiss’s, on the other hand, stayed on him. She set her scroll down on the silk-clothed table but didn’t relax her posture. It was more than just the profiles, the schematics, and the rest of the data that she had gathered; she had to make sure that he knew that her stance was one of sincerity and not that of selfish greed of a fifteen-year-old who was going through rebellion.

She was on the lookout for warning signs and had to make sure that her internal ease didn’t show at her exterior when she didn’t find them. He was leaning slightly forward, one hand keeping his scroll held perfectly straight while the other swiped a slow, steady finger across the screen as he cycled through them but giving him time to read them carefully. Not once did it break to acquire the full glass at his side.

Unfortunately, she knew he hadn’t gotten very far when he spoke, “I thought we talked about this.”

Weiss had to quell her irritation with a note that he was still staring at his scroll. “I mentioned it but the situation hadn’t left much room to sufficiently discuss it.”

That had been a month ago and two weeks after another funeral. Weiss would discover that it had apparently been too soon. Not so much because of any emotional burdens that may’ve lingered – they were far beyond that, the both of them -, but the work that needed to be done in order to promote a proper replacement. That and the condolences to surviving kin, review of security measures, and other forms of damage control had him exchanging barely a couple sentences with her concerning the subject before he was right out the door.

He offered a short nod of his head but little else. It was only after another motion of his finger and a scan with his eyes that Weiss saw the digits that held his scroll curl for just a fraction. She had been keeping track of the number of swipes and guessed that he was reading far enough that he saw the distinctive similarity of the profiles.

Their names, their status, and their price would provide heavy weight for recommendations. Weiss had done a lot of research to make sure that not only would the best be chosen but they would match well with the fighting style that she decided on.

That, at least, her father seemed to approve of. After going through the last of the profiles he murmured, “An elegant style.”

The only kind worthy of a Schnee. A sword may seem out of place in a world full of advanced technology but it taught more than fighting: it taught you discipline, balance, stamina, grace, speed, and coordination. The style of this swordplay in particular capitalized on it with swift, elegant strokes and stabs meant to slay your enemy with clean and accurate strikes, not the clumsy and savage swings of a more cumbersome weapon.

Besides, technology may have become prevalent in society but the mystical elements that mankind had weaponized allowed them to overcome those weaknesses. Weiss made sure to take her own abilities into account when it came to the construction of her weapon.

That did not go as smoothly with him. He flipped his scroll around so that she could see the schematic before the disapproving tone came, “You didn’t do this.”

There was no use lying to him. Keeping a straight face, Weiss admitted, “I didn’t. I convinced Fulgun to help me with the design based on the ideas that I supplied him and the resources that would be available to him.”

There was a slight arch to his brow whether it was because he hadn’t expected her to admit it or because he hadn’t expected her to do it that easily. He flipped the scroll back around. “The design is unique as are the ideas. Whether the resources will be available or not is uncertain.”

Weiss felt the lowering of her own brows, flawless skin stretching with them, but stayed quiet.

The rest of the readings passed on in silence. When he was done, he set aside the scroll and finally obtained his glass. Weiss translated that as a move to bide time to go over the details and come up with his own approach to handle the affair. The heiress knew that was a polite way of thinking of how to keep her jailed here.

“My first question,” he started, setting his empty glass aside, “is why?”

“Should that not be obvious?” Weiss asked with as much civility as she could muster. “We’re at war, father, and I prefer not to spend it as a defenseless target. We have our resources and skilled hands - the best that money can buy -, but our enemies are proving more and more tenacious. They only have to get lucky once and then what will I do?”

“A valid point and one I agree with. What I do not agree with is where you expect to go to accomplish this. What business does a Schnee have with such beasts? We control the supply of weapons so let the soldiers do the fighting. It’s pointless and counterproductive.”

“I do not expect to join them. I’m not stupid enough to lower myself to such an occupation when the destiny of our family is at stake. I’m just going to take advantage of their facilities to become stronger. The trainers that I picked out will be able to recommend me to them."

“I see no reason why you can’t simply let your trainers do that here.”

That was going to be the hardest part of the argument but it was the most important. Even if Weiss ended up getting all she asked, if she didn’t have this then everything would be for nothing. Beacon offered more than just a way to make her stronger: it gave her freedom.

She would not let her desperation show unless she wanted to risk losing it though. “It is ranked as the top combat school on the entire planet. Its professors are all former Huntsmen and Huntresses who have years of experience and its libraries carry all the gathered knowledge on how to fight. It is the safest and best place there is.”

“Safe?” he scoffed. “They send you out to fight monsters.”

“That’s why they only accept the best and the brightest to kill them. Do you doubt my abilities, father?”

He waved it off. “No, of course not. Don’t ask such a preposterous thing. You are the brightest and most gifted child there is and I’m proud of you, Weiss. Anything you want - anything you wish -, you can achieve it.”

“Then let me have this.”

“I will, and you can have it here.”

Weiss had the hindsight to place her hands beneath the table to keep them out of view so that her father wouldn’t see how they balled into fists. Even at the young age of fifteen, she possessed a good handling of her emotions when it came to these debates. Her first lessons specifically stressed how letting your emotions control you was letting your opponents do the same and turn the argument in their favor.

But she was still a fifteen-year-old girl. A girl who has gotten sick and tired of having been caged for so long and desired to be released no matter what it took. And if her father was allowed to be angry then why can’t she?

“Here?” Manicured nails started digging into her palms. “I can do nothing here.”

Her father looked at her incredulously. “This is your birthright. All of this will be yours one day.”

“But it isn’t!” Weiss snapped. “Do you not understand that!?” She was barely aware of the sound of the chair toppling over behind her or how she was now clutching the edge of the table as she shot to her feet. Her glare easily cut the distance that separated the two of them. “None of this is mine!”

She gestured around them. “This is yours! Everything in this mansion was built by you and grandfather! When you took over the company, anyone just had to look at something like this to know of your greatness! But what of me, father? I’m just another trinket that you keep locked away here, away from the world! No one knows anything about me!”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Now it was her father that was up. He was keeping better control of his voice but there was nothing he could do about the offended expression on his face or the color that was encroaching it. “Of course they do!”

“Oh, right,” Weiss replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’m not a trinket; I’m a delicate songbird that performs in front of the masses in another of your monuments. How is that going to help me? How does that make me a worthy successor of the Schnee name? What does White Fang have to be afraid of me for, father?”

That seemed to put a stop to whatever he was going to say next. Emboldened, Weiss replied, “That’s what Beacon will do for me. There, I can become powerful and people will know of it! They will recognize me as a Huntress, a slayer of monsters, the most talented there is! The Fang will know and they will fear me! I will show them the futility of their actions against us and prove to everyone why our family is strong!”

The rant left Weiss leaning over her end of the furniture, her hands bunching up the white table cloth while her breaths came heavily. For once, it was her father who seemed astounded by her anger instead of the other way around. The only reason Weiss didn’t smile in satisfaction was due to the dread of the possibility that she had just blown her chances.

Yet her father didn’t lash back at her like she expected him to. In fact, that color of outrage had fled entirely and her own glare had successfully melted his own. He had dropped back into his chair but Weiss remained standing, her eyes not leaving him for a moment.

When he went for the decanter, Weiss realized she won.

“Fine,” he spoke after downing his refilled glass. Some of the edge came back to his features but the heiress could see that it was mostly for show. “You’ll have your teachers but it is you who will have to get to Beacon.”

Weiss’s grip on the table relaxed and instead of retrieving her chair she straightened up. She knew what he was talking about and she had expected it. To get into Beacon, she needed to make up for what time she hadn’t spent in a regular combat school during the next two years. That wouldn’t be a problem as she was Weiss Schnee after all: the brightest and most gifted daughter of the Schnee head. She’ll gladly take any challenge and exceed it.

“Then I have nothing to worry about.” Weiss retrieved her scroll but, again, made no move to do the same to her chair as she stepped around it to get to the door.

“You can tell Fulgun that he’ll have his resources.”

It was because she had her back to him that Weiss smiled when she reached for the door. “I will.”

“After that, I think he’ll be needing a new job.”

The smile died and Weiss froze with her hand on the knob. She turned her head so that her left eye was looking back at her father. “I suppose he will.”

The idea that she had just ruined someone’s life to get what she wanted made her uneasy but she stifled that feeling of regret. The man can find another job with another company. He was skilled in his line of work so it should be easy for him.

Weiss, on the other hand, could not count on second chances. She had won her battle but the war was still raging and sometimes sacrifices had to be made. She’ll keep the casualties in mind but she’ll use the memories of the fallen to push her forward, not hold her back.

And this war had quite a number of them. She doubted they were going to end anytime soon.

 

---

 

=Present=

Yang hadn’t been lying about the maintenance that she devoted to her hair. After her own shower there came the sound of a hair dryer from within the privacy of the bathroom that lasted, in Blake’s opinion, almost as long as her twenty-minute cleansing with how the dryer clicked off, paused, and then started up again when the blonde found a fault that needed to be corrected. The faunus figured that such a mass of hair may be slow to dry but this seemed ridiculous.

When Yang finally did come out, she was still fussing over it. With her long mane draped over her shoulder, her fingers combed through the golden locks to locate any last minute knots. None were found to Blake’s relief.

That left the R, B, and Y of Team RWBY ready to take on the day. As for the W…

“She did push herself pretty hard during initiation,” Yang spoke in her defense and even Blake nodded in agreement as they scrutinized the blanket-covered lump. As wary as she was when it came to the heiress, even the faunus had to admit that Weiss possessed skill with not only a blade but her Dust spells. She supposed the combination could be rather taxing.

Although the latter isn’t that much of a surprise… Blake was very much aware that the vial of red Dust that she had picked up at Beacon’s entrance was just one of several that the fencer had supplied herself with. There were potentially dozens of them sealed away in those specially-designed cases at the foot of her bed to be used with her Myrtenaster.

“No excuses!”

While Blake had no idea where that timid little girl from two days ago had gone, she could guess at the why. As they had speculated the day before, being faced with a test that had them facing and overcoming life-threatening danger with their comrades brought some unity within not only RWBY but JNPR. For Ruby, it seemed to have allowed her to firmly settle herself within Beacon and become comfortable with the people around her. It certainly explained all this enthusiasm.

“This is our first official day as Team RWBY!” the red-black girl exclaimed as she unzipped a side pocket of one of her bags. She shoved a hand inside and started searching through the contents. “Preparations need to be made, starting with establishing our base of operations! We have no time to waste!”

Being made team leader probably helped but when Ruby withdrew her hand, fingers clutching the unmistakable shape of a whistle, Blake started to wonder about the wisdom of making a fifteen-year-old the head of a Huntressing team and not expecting it to maybe go over her head. Yang didn’t seem to share her fears, the blonde retrieving items from a case that hadn’t been emptied yet, her sister’s enthusiasm spurring her on.

It was perhaps Ruby’s excitable words that roused Weiss from her slumber. The blankets shifted then fell away entirely as Weiss sat up in her bed, bare legs hanging over the side. Her arms stretched high above her head as she yawned.

This didn’t deter Ruby from her chosen course of action as she quietly moved onto her partner’s bed, sitting on top of her folded knees while she brought the whistle to her lips. The subtle shifting of the mattress hinted Weiss to Ruby’s presence and blue orbs shifted sluggishly in their sockets to bring her into view.

Blake was prepared but still had to hide a small wince when the shrill song of the whistle stung her hidden pair of ears. Weiss had no such preparation, the heiress letting out a “Guh!” as the instrument had her jumping with those arms now flailing as she slipped and fell off the edge of her bed, landing on the floor in a heap.

Ruby jumped off the bed and managed to land properly on her feet before shouting, “Good morning, Team RWBY!”

Weiss extracted her face from the wooden floor and spun around so that she could look up towards Ruby. The look she sent her leader was one of perplexity and steadily-growing anger. “What in the world is wrong with you?”

Oblivious to the anger being directed at her, Ruby smiled gleefully down at her fallen subordinate. “Now that you’re awake we can officially begin our first order of business!”

“Excuse me?” the fencer asked, confusion beating her anger as she tried to regain her bearings. She picked herself up from the floor, idly brushing and smoothing down her nightgown.

“Decorating!” Yang supplied cheerfully. She had returned to Blake’s side, her arms filled with an assortment of items that ranged from a puppy-shaped pillow, headphones, and additional hair care products such as a brush and a another brand of shampoo - this one having the picture of a samurai to display its brand.

Weiss swung towards the two of them. “What?”

Blake had grinned at her partner’s cheerfulness but now sought to keep a straight face upon finding the eyes of the Schnee heiress on her. She lifted her own suitcase into view. “We still have to unpack.” It was already bulging at the seams yet despite holding out for this long the slight movement that she made seemed to be the last straw as it popped open, dumping out spare blankets, a book – of course -, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. Inspecting the mess, Blake added, “Annnd clean.”

Weiss’s expression was far from amused and Ruby used the moment to blare the whistle in front of her face for the second time. The fencer stopped herself from crying out this time but failed to prevent another surprised jump that had her losing her balance and falling over again.

“Alright!” Ruby positioned herself in the center of the room, the smile proving to be permanent. “Weiss, Blake, Yang, and their fearless leader Ruby have begun their first mission!” She lifted a fist to the ceiling and ended with, “Banzai!”

“Banzai!” It was not just Yang who dutifully copied her sister’s actions as Blake found her voice and fist joining in with the blonde’s. She couldn’t stop her grin this time and she was surprised that she didn’t want to.

She had to admit, this was all rather…fun. Seeing the members of JNPR and RWBY socializing back at the headmaster’s office had the faunus become a victim of this fluttering warmth within her that put her at ease as she viewed such joy. But there had been this uncertainty that kept her rooted as the spectator. As pleasant as the scene was, there was something so alien about it that had Blake hesitating to join in until there came the subject that drifted to her previous life of misery that convinced her to step in.

She wasn’t a spectator this time and that fluttering warmth had become a driving force that was being fueled by the carefree attitudes of Ruby and Yang. Such as now, it was sweeping her off her feet and throwing her forward without care to be part of these joyous acts. There was still something very foreign about all this but Blake couldn’t find it in her to care.

Weiss didn’t seem up to agreeing. Appearing positively exasperated, the heiress sighed and let her forehead rest against the floorboards, unwilling to face the sentence that had been dished out to her. Eventually she mumbled, “…I’m taking a shower first.”

While the water came on for a fourth time, they got to work. For Blake, there was one matter of business that she couldn’t wait for that involved the duffle bag that had given her partner some minor difficulties. She dragged it over to the low bookcase that she immediately claimed for herself – Ruby would have to put her stacks of WEAPONS magazines elsewhere – and took a seat.

As she had told Yang, the bag was filled with books; many of them large and cumbersome that would supply hours if not days of time in a quiet room to get through while the smaller paperbacks could be carried around on her person that she would pull out for whenever she had time to read a short chapter or two.

They had been a source of comfort in Blake’s life, the other being Adam. While she had devoted herself to a cause that required dedication and action in a vain attempt to change the world, the faunus found it pleasant to close herself off from it for a time with these tomes of paper and ink. All it required was a corner, a weak light, and the turning of pages to find herself in a fictional universe that became constructed in her mind with the help of the written word.

A place that was far more pleasant and merciful than reality. Numerous times she would set aside a book, another story completed, and ponder over such divergence. Books came in a variety of genres that told a different tale for a different person at a different place with differing conflicts yet there was a general consensus that came from the hands of real-life authors. Other than the obvious exceptions such as within the tragedy genre, the formula tended to be the same whether it had been constructed for romance, fantasy, adventure, or drama: there would be times of great pain and conflict for the protagonist yet the odds would always be beaten and a happy ending was obtained.

They were products of fiction yet constructed by ideals that the author believed and wrote down as if fact such as the triumph of evil never being granted. It puzzled Blake how such morals were so commonplace in one dimension when the relationship required the other that possessed such immoralities.

In the end, she supposed it was because they were just that: stories. They weren’t real and that was the attraction for both the author and the reader. They were written and read because they could be fashioned and chosen to be lawful and just. Pen, paper, and imagination can accomplish what the real world and its incalculable variables kept in a constant state of disarray. They were an escape, nothing more, but they were not treacherous either; always true to their nature.

Lost as she was, Blake almost didn’t notice a particular book that possessed a rather guilty nature she’d like to keep as secretive as her ears. She had held the black book in front of her, skimmed the red-lettered title, and was about to slide it into the shelf with the rest of its brethren before the recognition that had flown over her head did an about-face and struck her hard.

She swiftly tugged the book back, her eyes going wide as she nervously glanced around at her teammates who were suddenly way too close for comfort. Yang had pushed their beds off to the side so that she could better decorate the wall with a poster while Ruby was trying to figure out how she can get a rod and some red curtains to the hooks that topped their rather tall window. Blake used their distractions as an opportunity to slip her book into a side pocket of her duffle. She’ll figure out a better hiding spot for that later.

Yang had finished smoothing out her poster that was horribly lopsided and Blake’s curiosity had her examining it to possibly gain a bit of insight on her partner’s interests. It proved futile as the faunus couldn’t recognize any of the young men on the poster and The Achieve Men was ringing no bells whatsoever.

The brawler happened to glance over and notice Blake’s bewildered face. Looking between her black-haired partner and the poster, Yang adopted a similar expression before saying, “The Achieve Men.”

She said it slow, as if speaking to a child, but Blake couldn’t be annoyed at something that was becoming clear as being due to her own failing. She shrugged, clueless.

“The Achieve Men,” Yang spoke again as if doing so would magically unlock the knowledge that Blake was lacking. Seeing no change she tried, “Geoff, Ray, Ryan, Michael, Jack, Gavin?”

Blake shrugged again and started to look apologetic.

“Mark Nutt totally supports these guys! They had a concert a couple weeks ago to commemorate their latest album Tease It!”

Blake had no idea who that was either but she thought she remembered something going on in Vale around that time. Actually, the tune that Yang had been humming earlier sounded kind of similar to what her cat ears had been picking up before she plugged them so that she wouldn’t be distracted from her reading time.

Which still left her with no idea about what Yang was talking about. “I’m sorry?”

“You should be!” Yang cried, flinging her hands up in the air. “You read a lot don’t you? You’ve had to have at least read their comics, right?” Not waiting for an answer – possibly because she didn’t want to hear another negative from Blake -, Yang looked to her sister. “Ruby, did you bring them?”

Their leader had apparently managed to get the rod and curtain up with Crescent Rose and was now using the reverse end of her scythe to slide them closed. She must’ve been listening in though with how she replied, “X-Ray and Vav?” She spun around to face Yang, her weapon coming with her. “Of course! They’re the best!”

Blake was about to elaborate about her preference for novels and disfavor of comic books but was interrupted when half of the window curtain nearly fell over her. Unknown to Ruby, when she turned she brought Crescent Rose around and the super sharp blade had cut the fabric in half.

Someone was going to make it very known. “You klutz!”

All turned to behold Weiss who had stepped out with her nightgown neatly folded in her arms, having traded it for her own school uniform.

Ruby stared at Weiss and then towards the halved curtain. Realization dawned on her and she attempted to hide a fully-length Crescent Rose behind her back when she turned back to her partner. “Weiss, it was an accident!”

“And that would make how many accidents you’ve been responsible for?” Weiss asked angrily.

“Um…” Ruby leaned back, gaze becoming unfocused as she attempted to recollect the exact number.

“Forget it!” Weiss stomped over to her luggage and selected one from the pile after putting her sleepwear aside. A quick search produced a needle and a small spool of thread that she brought over. “I’ll fix it like always!”

Ruby seemed too surprised by what Weiss was holding to offer any kind of retort. “You can sew?”

“Of course I can!” Weiss snapped, seeming offended at the idea that someone didn’t believe she could do something that was likely a trivial thing to her. She tossed the severed section of fabric to Ruby. “It won’t be perfect but that’s because I’m not going to waste all my time to repair something you ruined!” She stepped on top of the bookcase. “Get up here and hold it in place!”

To be honest, Blake was as surprised as Ruby as she would’ve thought Weiss had enough servants around to do such a task without needing to learn how to do it herself. She looked over to Yang who shrugged.

“I learned to do it when Ruby tore her clothes,” the brawler told her privately. “But hey,” she shrugged and looked at the two girls who stood side-by-side on top of the bookcase and fussed over the curtain, “kind of cute, isn’t it?”

Blake didn’t think that was an appropriate word to describe the scene, what with Weiss occasionally snapping and Ruby hastily trying to follow through with her instructions, but she didn’t offer any argument. The softening features of the brawler as she watched the scene told the faunus that, despite what it may seem like, Yang was hoping that the girls would become closer as partners. Blake wasn’t sure if that was due to the wishings that came with being an older sibling or the slack Yang was giving Weiss for previously saving Ruby from being impaled by the stinger of a giant scorpion.

The repair job wasn’t that bad though; you’d have to peer closely to see the stitching. With that out of the way, Team RWBY’s mission to decorate their dorm room resumed without a hitch as they filled the closet, the shelves, walls, and desks with all sorts of personal trinkets that they brought with them and making room when it was needed.

…Which was when they inevitably ran into their next problem. Standing back with her team, Blake had to admit that her previous assumption of the dorm offering plenty of room may’ve been a bit premature if the beds that had been unceremoniously tossed together in the center during the team’s attempt to spruce up the place was any indication.

“This isn’t going to work,” Weiss stated flatly.

“It is a bit cramped,” Blake admitted.

“Maybe we should ditch some of our stuff,” Yang offered.

“Or,” Ruby contemplated, her eyes scanning the room before landing back at the middle. “We could ditch the beds…” Gasping at a sudden idea, Ruby hopped in place. “And replace them with bunk beds!”

“That sounds incredibly dangerous,” came Weiss’s unenthusiastic reply.

Blake did see how it could be as the beds were definitely not designed for such a thing. It was more than just putting one bed on top the other; they needed proper supports in order to make sure that they wouldn’t fall while raising them at a height that whoever got stuck on the bottom bunk wouldn’t hit their heads against the top. She had no idea how they were going to accomplish that.

“And super awesome!” Yang exclaimed.

…It didn’t mean that she was unwilling to try. And if they were successful they’d end up with quite a bit of open space. She looked down the line of girls to better address Weiss and Ruby. “It does seem efficient.”

Weiss stared at the two disbelievingly. Efficiency did not seem to be prevalent on the heiress’s mind when she drew her attention back to the beds. She seemed to grow increasingly uneasy as terrifying images occupied her mind. “Well, we should put it to a vote…”

It was a poor attempt at delaying the inevitable and Ruby pointed out the huge flaw in it. “I think we just did.”

Blake gave a thumbs-up to her leader and Yang followed suit with her own agreeable gesture. Weiss scowled.

In the wake of this completely fair and unbiased display of democracy at its finest, the team split into their respective pairs to establish their chosen sections.

“So how are we going to do this?” Yang questioned as she and Blake stood off to the side of the beds they retrieved from the jumbled mess and slid close together. “Do we just lift one and place it on top of the other?”

“It’s not going to leave much room for whoever’s underneath,” replied Blake, sharing her previous observations. “They’re too low.”

The brawler hummed and scratched her head in a sign of contemplation. “Which means our best bet is to have something stacked between them. I don’t really have anything that’ll work though.”

An idea had come to Blake but she was a bit hesitant to offer it to Yang unless they didn’t have a better idea. When her partner remained stumped, Blake went to the filled bookcase. “We can use these.”

The quizzical look that Yang gave her changed into wide-eyed astonishment upon seeing the armful of books that was soon presented to her. “Oh no, not your books! We can think of something else later if we have to.”

“I’ve read them before.” If anything, Yang’s unwillingness was persuading Blake that the idea was a good one. The blonde had obviously picked up on her passion for reading and this combined with the small acts of kindness that she had been showing her all morning made Blake want to do this to return the favor.

She liked her books, this much was true, but she figured that they can offer her enjoyment in other ways. And she wasn’t lying when she said she read them before.

It didn’t stop Yang’s misgivings as she inspected the stack Blake handed her before she went to acquire more. “I can see if Ruby has some she can part with. This probably won’t be good for them.”

Blake had faith in her novels and their sturdy covers. “Don’t worry about it; I have plenty.”

“Are you sure?”

The faunus saw it as fortunate that her back was turned so that Yang couldn’t see her smile. “Positive.”

Piling the novels evenly amongst the four legs proved to be a bigger chore than when they eventually lifted one bed on top of the other. The differing thickness per tome due to the number of pages led to multiple rearrangements to prevent any awkward tilts that could lead to disaster. When they were finally satisfied, it took a simple application of brute strength from Yang and careful steadying on Blake’s part to establish their bunk beds.

“We done good,” Yang declared with a nod of satisfaction.

If her partner meant constructing a precarious contraption that promised instantaneous death in response to the wrong moves of the occupants then, yes, they ‘done good’. Funny that Blake felt a sense of accomplishment if nothing else than because she could already see space that they managed to free up.

“So who gets the top bunk?”

“I’ll take the bottom,” Blake responded. “This was my idea.”

“Aw, you do care!”

The faunus blinked at the words and it took her a bit to understand that Yang had mistaken her intentions. She wanted the bottom bunk because it meant having her books in reach rather than always having to climb up and down. Her reminder that this idea was hers was meant to counter any arguments the blonde may have, not give the impression that she was doing it to accept what consequences may come if her books failed her and brought the beds crashing down.

The awkwardness she felt kept her from correcting Yang. Instead, all she did was mumble an embarrassed, “Don’t shake the beds.” Needing to look at anything that wasn’t Yang, she checked on Ruby and Weiss’s progress. She blinked again.

“Weiiiss, I need help!” Ruby pleaded, arms shaking with strain.

Her snow-haired partner made no move to get closer. “Are you nuts?”

Blake didn’t know where Ruby got the rope to create her pulley system and a silent question to Yang showed that she didn’t know either. There was no denying the scene though: Ruby, her hands clutching a length of rope to hoist up her bunk that was swinging precariously due to her efforts. The action wasn’t doing the young girl any good with keeping it there and Weiss was maintaining her distance for the sake of her own well-being.

“Cute?” Blake queried.

Yang shook her head. “Nope. Let’s give them a hand.”

Once Yang took over, Ruby climbed up to the hanging furniture with several more coils of rope. With Blake’s help – and a reluctant Weiss -, the three of them looped the bindings around the bed numerous times before hooking them to the ceiling. That should’ve been the end of it but Ruby insisted on some improvised curtains to better commemorate what she declared as Fort Rose. Obviously, Weiss wasn’t too pleased at the implication that pointed to her being beneath her leader’s creation.

Gazing down from her perch, Ruby inspected her team’s accomplishments before proudly declaring, “Objective complete! Now our second order of business iiiisss…” She made a motion to Yang who dutifully handed her a notebook. “…classes.”

Compared to her energetic beginning, the last word severely lacked it. It lasted until she spread the notebook out on her lap, pencil in hand, and then it was back. “Now we have a few classes together today. At nine we’ve got a-“

Weiss jerked her head up towards Ruby. “What!? Did you say nine o’clock?”

“Um…”

“Its eight fifty-five, you dunce!” Spinning on her heel, Weiss ran out the door.

Ruby was taken aback by her partner’s outburst and hasty exit. Soon though, she slid off her bed and followed her example by darting out the door. “To class!”

Blake was last out the door after Yang and the faunus noted that JNPR’s dorm was open with all four members sticking their heads out to see what was going on. If that didn’t tell Blake that they weren’t the only ones in trouble, hearing Jaune’s hesitant “Class?” confirmed it. She was already at the stairs when next came, “We’re going to be late!”

Eight Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training burst out from the dormitory building and stampeded through Beacon’s courtyard. Despite the threat of being late on their first day and the desperation that incited the two teams to sprint as fast as their legs could go, one thought became paramount in Blake’s mind.

This was the best morning she’s ever had.

 

---

 

This has to be the worst day she’s ever had.

Well, that wasn’t fully true. There were plenty of other days that Weiss Schnee could rank as being much, much worse than today but her extended suffering in the present was putting her past experiences off to the side for the moment.

Life at Beacon was becoming more than what she planned on which was both a blessing and a curse. Upon taking her first steps off the airship, Weiss was struck by the image of an academy that clearly represented mankind’s hazardous beginning and the advances that had been made since then.

Similar to the Schnee manor, the towers, the stone avenues, and high arches gave off a medieval appearance that masked the technology that the massive vessel that she just exited gave credence to. Yet Weiss found it refreshing. Considering that they were surrounded by Grimm-infested territory, one wouldn’t think to describe Beacon as free and liberating.

Weiss noticed the differences immediately. Even when she would discover that the advanced technology that came with humanity’s ingenuity was restricted to scrolls, vid-screens, holographic projectors, and rocket-propelled lockers, Weiss didn’t feel the smothering air that being in her own home usually pressed on her. Other than that last one, they were all meant for academic purposes, nothing more.

The wide open fields were welcoming and even when you went deeper into the campus grounds, the expansive courtyard broke up the dormitories, library, arenas, and lecture halls that could breed a sense of claustrophobia if allowed to be packed together. There was no deception to be found here. When the faculty was comprised of former Huntsmen and Huntresses while the students themselves already had years of combat training under their belt, there was no need for a sophisticated security system or defenses to offer a suffocating blanket of security.

There was a sense of freedom here and Weiss allowed herself to close her eyes and bask in the feeling. Truly she had found her liberation and the heiress allowed a full, genuine smile appear on her face. The expression felt out of place. It was as if her features were struggling to accept something that had been missing for what must have been a lifetime.

Sadly, it would prove to be the last one she would have for a while. The sound of what had to be hopes and dreams toppling behind her erased it as she spun around to locate the source.

It was only later that she would understand that she was being presented with an omen of the dark times that were ahead: a form of red and black with white scattered around it. A perfect picture of how her efforts were about to be undone due to the introduction of a childish dolt.

This was something that had been beyond her control. Weiss had months of planning for her trainers, her weapon, her fighting style, and two years to mentally and physically prepare herself for this day (although she was overqualified concerning the former). Whatever Beacon would throw at her, she would be able to take it. She had been sure of it.

Now Fate, that was a different opponent altogether. And it can be very cruel.

It had taken a sick delight in taunting her with this latest minion. When Weiss was amidst a crowd of students, it had taken a turn of her head to spot the red-black tresses next to her. When sleep was eluding her due to insistent ramblings, the source she sought to silence turned out to be that same short fifteen-year-old. When she had been catapulted to what she assumed was a random point in the forest, it soon proved to be the continued machinations of this unseen entity when she spun around and found her icy blues locking with a silver pair.

Thus, her fate was sealed.

She wasn’t above compromising though. She was willing to partner up with this child if it meant avoiding one that exceeded her incompetence. If this girl was to be her underling for her entire stay at Beacon, she could put their previous disputes as water under the bridge. And maybe she was ‘fine’.

Fate just laughed and spat in her face.

Ruination: that was all that she would get.

Waking up this morning, Weiss gave the benefit of a doubt that this had been an elaborate ploy. That false initiation had actually been a premonition of things to come if she failed to remain vigilant and avoid this cloaked fiend. Her plans could remain intact.

A turn of a head later and there she was, this time armed. The screeching of the whistle proved to be a wake-up call in more ways than one.

So started Weiss Schnee’s first morning as an official student of Beacon.

I can’t believe this! Weiss mentally despaired, not for the first time and definitely not the last. It had become an unending mantra as her day went on and served to turn everything that she had just admired bitter.

What freedom was there to be had if she was to bend to the whims of a girl two years her junior? What reputation can she possibly expect to make if her leader couldn’t even keep track of her schedule when she was too busy decorating? She was starting to wish that she had stayed at home to train.

No, she didn’t mean that. It was the only reason that she was willing to put up with this while praying that it will somehow work out.

“Weiss! Weiss!”

Upon stepping into the lecture hall that was reserved for her Grimm Studies course, she truly wondered if such a thing could happen. Correction: their Grimm Studies course. The heiress saw the waving hand before she heard the annoying chirping. Feeling her jaw clench, Weiss directed a cold stare to the one who sought her attention.

Immune to the temperature, Ruby pointed to a spot between her and her brutish sister. Blake was sitting off to Yang’s side. How cute; her team was all there and waiting for her.

Weiss needed to make an additional correction. This wasn’t her team; it was Ruby’s. RWBY for Ruby. Yet another joke that Weiss was at the butt end of.

She had tried to keep her distance for the day. As Ruby mentioned, they did have a few classes together and Weiss had managed to keep an agreeable degree of separation during then. Fortune favored her in that regard by planting other students in seats around her partner. For a good portion of the day, Weiss had been able to indulge in her fantasy of being a diligent student without restraints or distractions.

Not so for this class. Undoubtedly, Ruby wanted to make sure to rub it in her face this time. Steeling herself, Weiss took the reserved seat and forced herself to look straight ahead to avoid meeting the stare she felt being burned into the side of her head.

It’s just one class for one day, the heiress tried to reason. It became a contest to see how long Weiss could stop herself from calculating the number of classes that were in a single day and how many days were in four years. She lost pretty quickly.

An elbow nudged into her ribs with a little too much force. Suppressing the wince and her irritation, Weiss glanced to her left. “What?”

“How was your day, Weiss?” Ruby questioned with that ever present smile that had Weiss wanting to grind her teeth each time she spotted it.

She kept her cool. She may’ve been willing to quarrel with her partner on multiple occasions in the past but the situation has changed. Ruby got her role but she’ll keep her composure in the classroom. “Fine.”

Ruby’s mouth twitched to show the disappointment of such a blunt tone. Pity that she didn’t take the hint as her next words proved. “Just fine? We’re at Beacon, Weiss! The top combat school in all of Remnant! I mean our initiation was pretty cool, but today we’re actual students! We’re going to be Huntresses!”

The younger girl was practically bouncing in her seat which served to annoy the heiress. She had been chosen as team leader? How could Ozpin possibly think that this was such a good idea? Even though he had said they were being observed, Weiss was starting to believe that whoever had been doing the observing had missed quite a few things.

She almost got herself killed! Weiss remembered. And me along with her! Both instances had occurred in a span of mere minutes: from falling thousands of feet from the back of a Nevermore to the waiting stinger of a Death Stalker which she’d like to point out would’ve taken out Ruby had she not been there to save her.

That impulsive child was still talking. “I’ve been waiting forever for this! I wasn’t supposed to attend Beacon until after I spent two more years at Signal!”

Two years you skipped while I broke my back during mine. She couldn’t say the time had been wasted but she had used it to pour over the tomes that were in her father’s library while ordering others that weren’t. A bit of renovation created a training room where Weiss had spent under the gaze of a private trainer who refined her swordplay while another taught her how to properly harness the power of Nature’s Wrath from an endless supply of Dust that was provided for her.

It was hard but she had done it right.

“So why did you come to Beacon, Weiss?” Ruby asked. “I’ve been wanting to talk with you but we haven’t really gotten the chance.”

The scarred flesh over Weiss’s left eye twitched. “Ruby.”

Her partner looked to her expectantly. “Yes?”

“Class is starting. Pay attention.”

Ruby faced forward to see that their professor for the course had arrived. “Oh, sorry!”

Portly was certainly a word to describe Professor Peter Port as the burgundy suit he wore did little to stop the occasional jiggle of his belly that threatened to snap off the gold buttons that kept it clasped together. Weiss tried not to let such an uncouth display have her judge a man poorly as the gray of his hair and overly thick moustache and brows hinted to his advanced age. The fencer had been led to believe that the professors who attended Beacon were all Hunter who had sought to endeavor in teaching rather than spend all their time in the wilds with the Grimm so for a man like Port to grow so old spoke of great skill and experience.

Or luck, she thought dryly. She hadn’t given up on that as an explanation for Ruby’s presence. She just hoped that the stuffed heads that adorned the walls were really trophies of their professor’s previous kills.

Still, her attention was drawn to the charts and diagrams that decorated a section behind the professor’s desk that displayed hand-drawn pictures of different types of Grimm complete with annotations of notable features that each one possessed. While they were informative, Weiss was extra interested in the cage that was sitting at the far side of the room. The shadows and thin spaces between the bars made it difficult to see but she thought she could make out something moving within the gray metal of the box.

“Monsters!”

Weiss spun back to the front at that to see Port addressing the classroom with a sweep of his arm and boisterous bellow. Her intellectual nature kicking in, she retrieved a couple blank papers and a pencil to take down notes.

“Demons!” Port continued. “Prowlers of the night! Yes the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey!” That extended arm swung around in time with a hearty, “Ha-ha!”

Ah, starting off with ineffective introductions by vainly attempting to build tension over the subject matter combined with a poorly-executed joke to lighten the mood and appear more endearing to the crowd. The reigning silence was testament to the lack of results. Seeing nothing to be gained from the lips of their teacher at the moment, Weiss concentrated on the diagrams. Her pencil started moving as she sought to copy them.

She was the only one doing so. There were no additional sounds of writing and Weiss stole glimpses of her teammates to see what they were doing. They had their own papers out but none of them were making a move to copy anything down. Weiss felt a stab of frustration. She understood that there was nothing to learn from the opening speech – Port had switched to mentioning Vale and the other three kingdoms – but there was still material that offered wisdom if they looked for it.

Whatever. They better not expect me to share my notes with them. Resuming her work, Weiss kept an ear directed towards Port in case he started talking about something more noteworthy.

“That is what you are training to become!” he finished after a pointless reminder of the duties of Huntsmen and Huntresses. “But first, a story. A tale about a young, handsome man: me!”

Weiss felt a slight recession of her shoulders as her eyelids drooped in response. She was starting to pick up on the kind of character her professor was: well-mannered but rather bombastic when it came to his own accomplishments that were becoming fond recollections. Nonetheless, she wouldn’t be shocked to find them on a test so it’d be wise to listen to them.

Strangely, that was when she heard the scribbling off to her left. Blinking, the fencer looked over to see Ruby bent over her portion of their shared desk, pencil moving furiously. The optimism that came with the thought of her leader actually taking things seriously and jotting down notes died instantly. Her writing utensil was going wild on the blank sheet to the point where it seemed like she was tracing one big circle.

What is she…?  Weiss tried to see what she was writing but Ruby’s other arm blocked it from sight. She was about to lean over and tilt her head to peer over the obstruction until sense came over her and she focused back on Port. She was not going to let Ruby’s antics distract her when it wasn’t her concern.

“Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man. ‘Peter’, he told me-“

Unfortunately, Ruby’s snorting and smothered giggling made it Weiss’s concern. She shot the younger girl a glare.

Ruby responded by holding up the paper to her. It wasn’t blank anymore. Along with a little note of Grimm Studies Day and her name, there was a rather unflattering caricature of Professor Port that involved a body more bulbous than reality with stick figure-thin legs and arms. The face was rather accurate though.

The stink lines at the top were a clue but Weiss couldn’t wrap her head around what Ruby was getting at until she read the capitalized title on the bottom: PROFESSOR POOP.

…This was Ruby Rose. This was the girl who had been selected as the leader of Team RWBY. She’s supposed to lead a team of Huntresses into battle against mankind’s greatest enemy that was armed with teeth, claw, talon, beak, pincer, and soulless fury.

And Weiss Schnee, heiress to Schnee Dust, was supposed to follow this child?

There came a giggle at Weiss’s other side and she didn’t bother twisting around to see that it was Yang who was responsible for that and probably for the sound of a fist pounding against wood. Oh, she almost forgot; they were a duo.

Unbelievable!

The audible clearing of Port’s throat and lowered hairy brows brought order to Team RWBY’s desk. The unspoken reprimand and the jab against her pride had Weiss sitting up straight in her seat almost instinctively. Once again she was paying for Ruby’s idiocy.

The culprit was far from dissuaded. When Port’s squinting gaze was directed elsewhere, Weiss returned hers to Ruby to find another misuse of school supplies at work: the younger girl balancing a pencil on her finger which was balancing one of her textbooks.

At the head of the class, Port droned on. “The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable!”

Honor? Where was the honor in this? Weiss gritted her teeth, the hands she dropped beneath her desk curling into fists.

“A true Huntsman must be dependable!”

Depend on Ruby for what? Her grades? Her reputation? Her life? Her soul if that was truly what they expected her to do? She said it before: she and Ruby will never be compatible.

“A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!”

The only stratagem that Ruby possessed was using her finger to pick at her nose.

That. Was. IT!

“So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?”

Port’s challenge had Weiss become conscious of how her body was shaking with the rage that was developing in the face of this grave injustice that was so obvious to her yet invisible to everyone else. Ruby Rose was not a true Huntress. She was!

Maybe that was the problem. With no hesitation, Weiss shot her hand up. “I do, sir!”

Those bushy brows rose, whether to convey surprise or delight with how Weiss answered with such vehemence she wasn’t sure. They soon settled down. “Well then, let’s find out!”

The elderly gentleman had been approaching the cage that Weiss spotted earlier. It had advertised little life throughout the lecture but with Port’s change in proximity it suddenly started shaking. Snorts and growls emitted from within. Glowing red eyes pressed themselves against the bars to better fixate on the professor.

Unperturbed by the snarling beast, Port beckoned to Weiss. “Step forward, and face your opponent!”

She would do more than that. When Weiss sprung to her feet, it was with the intention to make one thing abundantly clear to everyone: she was the only leader that Team RWBY needed.

Chapter Text

After Weiss pulled her dress out from within her locker, the only article of clothing left hanging was the pale blue bolero jacket. It swung in place due to the rather forceful retrieval of the former and when it stopped it was slightly turned to present half of the snowflake-shaped crest of the Schnee dynasty towards the young heiress.

The symbol was successful at galvanizing her when she saw it although it may've influenced one too many tugs against the knot of the sash which bordered on painful with how tight the makeshift belt became. That just motivated her to drive her feet and calves into her boots with similar results as the action inflicted a sting at her heels. All of this worked to feed her anger and desire to correct a mistake that should've never been made in the first place.

The fencer did exert caution upon picking up her specially-designed rapier. Holding it up in front of her face, Weiss allowed her Aura to flare briefly so that its energy may flow into Myrtenaster. The revolving cylinder spun in response to show off the multi-colored Dust cartridges and she nodded in approval at seeing that each chamber was filled with the refined power that would fuel whatever spell she chose to unleash.

Sticking it in its place at her side, Weiss reached back into her locker to get her jacket before she halted so that her fingertips were left to brush against the material. Acting on a sudden impulse, she nudged the jacket enough to bring the whole crest into view.

The mark of her family represented everything that she wished to obtain when the time finally came. Whereas her home could be seen as a focal point of their established sovereignty, the crest was meant to show how far their influence had spread with every vial and crate of Dust that was stamped with it such as the few containers she kept at the top shelf of her locker. It was that influence that was dispersed all throughout Remnant whether by land, sea, or air.

Her father had spoken true: one day, Weiss would inherit not only everything that he and his father built but the responsibility that would come in making sure that their dynasty would further prosper. There was always room for expansion if you had the right opportunities and the strength to pursue them.

Weiss wanted to prove that she had it. Her jacket, her vials of Dust, her glyphs, all of them had this badge that was meant to transmit the pride and fortune that came with the name Schnee. Wherever Weiss would go, whatever she would accomplish, it would all be sent with a message that she was the rightful recipient of the title that awaited her. Here in Beacon, she would prove that she had the skill and fortitude to become a powerful ally or a fearsome enemy to any who held wavering opinions about her.

There was just one obstacle that was preventing her message from getting through to the public.

The hostility that a certain nose-picking girl encouraged returned and Weiss forcibly tugged the jacket free from the hanger. Once she got her arms through the sleeves and brought it tight around her shoulders, she gathered up the scattered pieces of her school uniform and all but flung them into the locker before shutting it. She'll worry about the proper storage of uniforms for another day.

The close proximity of the lockers to Port's classroom probably contributed to this live performance that Weiss was starting to suspect wasn't an irregular occurrence when it came to Beacon. Self-absorbed or not, Weiss had to admit that she found this teaching method to be rather invigorating. The prospect and obvious danger of combat with a monster added that extra dose of adrenaline and excitement that had been missing from her controlled sparring matches, as well as the fear.

It had been the same with the Beowolves. Surrounded by a pack of them, Weiss knew that the initial dread was due to her self-preservation instincts being triggered in response to the threat of serious harm. She overcame it then, replacing it with a slowly-building sense of exhilaration as she forced herself to stand defiantly against the beasts that unveiled themselves from the shadows in order to kill her.

She felt something else too. Behind the raised hilt of Myrtenaster, it had shaped a sneer that had come over her features just as she made a thrust towards what she assumed was the alpha of the pack.

We will be monitored and graded but instructors won't interfere, Weiss remembered. The headmaster had said that for the duration of the initiation but she wondered if that mandate extended beyond that. If she found herself in trouble, would Professor Port remain in place?

It was a concern that didn't hold any sway over Weiss. She wouldn't need help. This underlying sense of fear beneath the anticipation was sorely misplaced.

When Weiss opened the door to the lecture hall, she managed to catch the clamor of excited conversation in response to the show that the students were waiting for until it stopped upon the arrival of the star. Keeping her chin held high and back perfectly straight, Weiss strutted in.

Port was standing in a similarly dignified manner with his arms held behind his back. The persistent snarling of the animal caged at his side did little to affect his stance or his tone when he politely asked, "Are you ready to begin, my dear?"

Forgoing a verbal response, Weiss let her drawing of Myrtenaster do the talking for her. Presenting the blade ahead of her, the fencer rolled her shoulders back while her right foot slid forward. The possibilities of what her opponent could be went through her mind.

Not that big, she theorized. Cage is too small for anything like an Ursa or Beowolf. Maybe something I haven't-

"Go Weiss!"

Her concentration slipped at the shout of encouragement from Yang. She refused to turn away from her prey but Weiss did glance to see that her chosen spot just happened to put her in front of the desk shared by her team. Oh, great.

Even Blake was offering her support unnecessarily. "Fight well!"

"Yeah! Represent Team RWBY!"

Weiss found that she couldn't ignore that last one. She turned and snapped, "Ruby, I'm trying to focus!"

The smile that had been on the young girl's face dissolved at the loud reprimand. "Oh, um…" She lowered the arms that she had raised in excitement as she replied with a meek, "Sorry."

Weiss maintained her narrowed-eyed stare on Ruby for what she thought was an appropriate length of time to, hopefully, keep her quiet. She was not doing this to represent her team; she was only representing herself. The victory that she would seize here would come from her efforts alone.

Just as she recalled the Beowolves, she remembered how Ruby had blundered into the path of her strike. What should've been a straightforward fight turned into a hasty retreat when Weiss had set a portion of the forest on fire because of her partner's lack of communication. The heiress later came to the conclusion that Ruby ruined the demonstration that should've convinced the observers that she was the better candidate and Weiss was not going to let her do the same for this second chance.

Redirecting her sights back to the cage, Weiss saw that Port had retrieved a weapon that looked as archaic as the ones her family collected. By all the elements of Dust, that gunstock was made out of wood and she questioned the practicality of the location of the axe blades that were attached to it.

"Alright!" came his baritone call. "Let the match begin!"

Practicality aside, the blades were effective enough to cleave through the lock when Port swung this blunderaxe down. Without it the entire door of the cage fell away to reveal its occupant. Weiss barely had time to recognize the black and white of fur and bone-like protrusions that the Grimm were known for before her opponent was racing out of its prison.

She reacted to the charging creature by stepping to the side and slashing with her rapier. A clang resounded within the classroom as Weiss's blade deflected off the armored flank, the impact sending a shock up her arm. The fencer used it to turn her sidestep into a roll to put more distance between them, ending in a crouch.

Her dark-spawned enemy swung its wide body around, its cloven hooves sliding across the smooth tiles of the floor as it came to a halt. Four red eyes locked onto Weiss while the pig-like creature snorted.

The large tusks that curved in front of its armored head matched the written diagram that Weiss had minutes ago copied as well as the two smaller pairs that jutted up and down at its snout. What the heiress hadn't seen but could now, however, were the rows of razor-sharp teeth that lined its mouth. Whereas a Beowolf and an Ursa's bony growths tend to look more like spikes to add to their armaments, the ones on this Grimm were smoother and resembled armor plating that protected its bulk.

Boarbatusk.

"Ha-ha, wasn't expecting that were you?"

Weiss gave Port a quick peek over her shoulder. There came a sense of déjà vu as Weiss imagined herself back in her training room practicing her technique while her trainer watched her and piqued up with a compliment or advice. During that time though, Weiss had been practicing against a training droid within the safety of the Schnee estate to get accepted into Beacon.

For this, the stakes were much higher. Examining the Boarbatusk, the heiress tried to establish a plan based on what she's seen so far. She had to consider the armor plating as impervious to normal physical attacks but they didn't cover everything. An accurate thrust with Myrtenaster's slim blade could slip between them and stab into the fur and fat to slay it.

Attacking head-on will be difficult, she surmised. The armor protects the sides but they become scarce as they get lower.

The Boarbatusk was fast but its hooves and the smooth floor of the room hampered its ability to stop and turn. Weiss could keep dodging and split open its flanks to cripple it further during another charge. It'll make it easier for her to select a proper location on its hide for a death blow. Maybe she should use a Dust spell?

"Hang in there, Weiss!" called Ruby.

Weiss tightened her grip on her rapier's hilt. No, there was no need to drag this out. She'll go for the direct approach for a quick kill. The front had its weaknesses too: the four eyes and even the slit of black fur located between the protected face and snout. A successful stab at either of those spots would allow Myrtenaster to pierce the brain.

She can make it work. She didn't need to waste her Dust. She would have to get past the tusks in order to reach those vulnerable points but she was confident that she could do it. The Boarbatusk was fast but she was faster. The best and brightest that the Schnee family had to offer outclassed anything that the darkness spawned.

After all, it was just a beast: a rabid animal that needs to be put down as such.

The Boarbatusk's legs tensed in time with Weiss's. When the former commenced a second charge, the latter sprung from her crouch to meet it with a thrust. Tusks and blade were extended as hooves struck against tile while boots glided over it.

With her eyes looking down the length of her blade, Weiss witnessed the pointed tip rushing towards her intended target. The Grimm seemed almost eager to throw itself onto her weapon and die. That was until it turned its head and used its tusks to parry Myrtenaster.

The heiress felt a moment of surprise that it accomplished such a feat but it paled in comparison to the pain of those same tusks slamming hard into her side. The cry that issued from her lips would've been shameful to her ears if not for her having to worry about another problem. Although she was lifted up into the air, instead of being flung back there came a sudden jerk of her sword arm that twisted her around and returned her to the floor.

The Boarbatusk had not only parried her weapon; it managed to get the blade stuck in between those tusks! It was Weiss's tight grip on Myrtenaster that stopped her from being separated from it and another tug from the Grimm threatened to wrench her arm out from its socket. The fencer's other hand joined in to try and pull her weapon free.

She barely noticed Port saying something but the Boarbatusk's barbaric snarling and her own struggle made it incomprehensible. What she was becoming aware of though was how this duel had devolved into a humiliating game of tug-of-war that the Grimm was winning if the dragging of her boots was any indication. It was taking all it had for her to just hold on.

"Come on Weiss, show it who's boss!"

Somehow she heard Ruby just fine and, before she could think of the folly of doing so, Weiss looked over to glare at her. Does she ever shut-?

As if its primitive mind could identify the opening, a particularly violent jerk of the Boarbatusk's head yanked the rapier from the heiress's hands and sent it spinning to the other side of the classroom behind it. Unarmed, Weiss tried to retreat only for the Grimm to bring those curved pair of ivories back around to bash into her.

This time there was nothing to anchor her. When she was knocked off her feet, Weiss sailed up and back before landing hard onto her stomach.

This was turning into a disaster. Having been standing as a model of pride and dignity a minute ago, she was now struggling to her knees weaponless and breathing labored while the weight of the class's attention bore down on her. Her Aura had prevented her from suffering any major injuries from the repeated blows but being knocked around didn't do anyone any good. Her stamina, she also knew, had never been that great; a result of packing too much training in too many fighting arts – sword and Dust - while balancing out her education in two meager years.

"Oh-ho!" came Port's voice. "Now what will you do without your weapon?"

The answer to that was obvious: she had to get her weapon back. Raising her head to see where her Myrtenaster had fallen, the heiress was instead met with the sight of the Boarbatusk in another charge that would end with her being trampled beneath it. Eyes going wide, she instinctively leaped to the side and out of the way to land in a roll that brought her stumbling to her feet.

There came a crash and a squeal of the Boarbatusk hitting something sturdier than it. She'll congratulate herself on her theory of its turning capabilities later. Right now she desperately ran for Myrtenaster that lay on the floor.

She dropped and slid the last few feet, the slim hilt filling her palm. She used the comforting weight of her reclaimed rapier to try and tame her racing thoughts to form a plan on how to-

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted. "Go for its belly! There's no armor there!"

The adrenaline, the unexpected intensity of the fight, and her desperation to salvage this mess already had her on her last nerve. Hearing that infuriating voice that was responsible for all of this yet again had Weiss whirling around, the last remnant of her composure breaking as she hollered, "STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!"

Any shame that should've come with the infallible Weiss Schnee having lost her cool wasn't present. All that the heiress felt was satisfaction at witnessing the shock that rose to Ruby's face.

She can do this on her own. She did not need help! With her so-called team leader having been silenced, Weiss directed a particularly frosty stare to her true enemy.

The Boarbatusk had recovered from its collision with one of the desks at this point and the red orbs that lacked a soul yet held plenty of violence met Weiss's frozen blues. With a roar, the Grimm jumped into the air where its body curled up on itself to form an armored ball that started spinning. As soon as it returned to the floor, it shot towards Weiss with speed that excelled its previous charges.

It did little to discourage the fencer's newfound resolve to see an end to this duel. She held up Myrtenaster, the fingers of her free hand brushing along the cylinder as she drew out the power of Nature's Wrath contained within the loaded cartridges. She extended the blade forward while pointing her other hand behind her.

The blue glyph materialized in front of Myrtenaster to create a wall in the Boarbatusk's path. As proven with countless others of its kind, the Grimm couldn't contend with the might of Dust as it slammed uselessly against the barrier. Squealing in pain, it uncurled from its ball and dropped to its back, dazed.

Weiss backflipped up to the second glyph that she formed above her. Once her boots touched it, the glyph turned black and stuck the heiress's feet to it. She pulled Myrtenaster back in preparation for the death blow.

The Boarbatusk remained unmoving with its defenseless belly in plain sight.

Weiss hesitated for one beat too many. Then, with gritted teeth, she launched herself down and buried her weapon to the hilt within the creature's body.

The Boarbatusk squealed with legs kicking in response to the strike. However, the sound and movement were short-lived as the swift approach of death quieted its cry and sapped the strength from its limbs to leave them hanging lifelessly.

Weiss dropped to her knees and a hand next to the corpse. She still had a grip on Myrtenaster, using it and its spot within the Grimm's innards as a prop to keep her from fully meeting the floor. Her shoulders shook as she panted for breath.

She refused to maintain this state of weakness with the attention of the entire class still on her. With the help of her rapier, Weiss started to push herself to her feet. As if setting it up perfectly, the Boarbatusk started to dissolve and the heiress hoped for a bit of theatrics to enhance her image as she stood triumphantly while the Grimm was disintegrating into dark wisps of smoke that curled and twisted around her.

Port seemed willing to contribute with some genuine praise. "Bravo, bravo! It seems that we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!"

The spirited words managed to get Weiss to overcome her lingering fatigue. She let her body collect a final deep inhalation of oxygen before she regulated her breathing. With a quick flourish of her weapon, she straightened her posture and held her head high despite the complaints of her own body that requested her to ease it. She also kept her gaze straight ahead to further establish this cool image and to stop any wanderings of her eyes that may bring her team into view.

"I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today," Port continued, now addressing the other students. "Be sure to cover the assigned readings and stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"

Weiss persisted in her refusal to bring her team into view. Purposely turning in such a way to keep them out of her sight, she walked out of the lecture hall, returning Myrtenaster to its place at her side as she did so. Even after she left she kept her spine and shoulders stiff. The continued complaining of her muscles was drowned out by her own mental criticism of what had just transpired.

What was wrong with me? she asked herself, her measured walk turning into an angry stomp once she was sure that she was no longer in sight of her fellow students. I shouldn't have tried to attack it head-on! That was an unnecessary risk and it nearly ruined everything!

She had won but did not feel anywhere near as victorious as she should've been. How could she possibly be proud of that shameful display? She had gotten hit, had gotten her weapon stuck, had lost her weapon, and had been driven to her knees. Was a Schnee heiress supposed to be scrambling around for her sword while being chased by overgrown swine?

She couldn't even find any kind of satisfaction when she killed the Boarbatusk. She had slain it with a skillful use of her glyphs and a precise stab from her Myrtenaster but any thoughts of how that might potentially turn her audience's thinking that she was an exceptional student were dampened by a single outburst.

Why couldn't she just keep quiet?

Somehow all of her misfortune always led back to Ruby. In this instance, her partner's incessant babbling had robbed her of everything; from her composure to her win.

They'll think I won because she told me its weakness, Weiss thought bitterly. I could've figured it out!

She may not have deduced that its stomach lacked any plating but she noticed how the armor became scarcer down there so it would've only been a matter of time. A few seconds at most. If Ruby had taken her previous hint to let her concentrate Weiss would've been able to do it by herself. Blake and Yang had remained silent so why didn't Ruby?

Weiss almost didn't go for it. When she had the Grimm dead to rights, the idea came to her to let it recover so that she could kill it another way. As tempting as it was, she recognized it as irrational to willingly give up on such an obvious opening. Besides, at that point it was best to end the fight there and avoid any additional embarrassment.

That's twice now. Twice that she got in my way.

This was all Ruby's fault.

There came the sound of hurried footsteps of someone trying to catch up to her. Weiss didn't need to bother using an iota of her mental functions to guess who it could possibly be. Despite knowing the futility of the effort, the heiress turned a corner a tad sharp to try and get out of the individual's sight to convince them to give up.

"Weiss!"

It didn't work and Weiss had gritted her teeth with the expectation. For what was becoming all too frequent, she found herself turning around right on cue to spot Ruby just as she came around the same corner and skidded to a halt. The incredulous look that she directed at Weiss did little to lessen her irritation as she practically snapped, "What?"

"What's wrong with you?" her partner asked, truly seeming to be utterly clueless. "Why are you being-?"

What? What? "What's wrong with me?" Weiss interrupted, unable to fathom how her team leader was making it sound like this was her doing. "What's wrong with you? You're supposed to be a leader and all you've been so far is a nuisance!"

Ruby actually had the nerve to appear offended. Emitting a noise of disbelief that further rankled the heiress, the younger girl questioned, "What did I do?"

What hasn't she done? Nearly blowing them off the side of the cliff, preventing Weiss from teaming up with a suitable partner, making her set a portion of the forest on fire, putting them on a suicidal flight on the back of a Nevermore, and her complete disregard for her academics that was dragging the heiress down with her.

Instead of listing all of these faults, Weiss exclaimed, "That's just it!" She thrust a finger towards Ruby. "You've done nothing to earn your position! Back in the forest you acted like a child and you've only continued to do so!"

The cloaked girl had shrunk back at the finger that had been directed at her and seemed to become even smaller as Weiss ranted. Any previous hints of defiance were crushed as Ruby's tone became morose. "Weiss, where is this coming from? What happened to all the talk about working together? I thought you believed in acting as a team."

The subdued words succeeded in calming the heiress and Weiss felt the weariness brought on by the day's events lessen the tension in her limbs. Closing her eyes, she calmly replied, "Not a team led by you."

When she opened them it was to see her partner's chin having lowered until it was nearly touching her chest. Silver orbs that slid up from the floor displayed a clear sign of hurt. Weiss was actually surprised to experience an uncomfortable stirring.

She fought against it. She was the one who had been wronged, not Ruby. "I've studied." That edge came back though it held a fraction of its earlier intensity. "And trained. And, quite frankly, I deserve better."

As justifiable as it was, she remained unsettled by how Ruby was staring at her. She turned away from her. "Ozpin made a mistake."

Ruby didn't say anything and Weiss felt an unexpected urge that had her eyes attempting to swivel around to bring the scythe-wielder into her view again. The fencer managed to restrain her head from twisting around with them and, after a moment, she forced herself to stare ahead. When she walked it was without Ruby following her this time.

And yet it did little to erase this uncertainty. Weiss turned another corner, effectively putting a wall between them, but that wasn't enough. Those silver eyes remained in her mind as well as the words that Ruby had spoken.

Yes, she did say that. She had said that if they were going to get through Beacon they were going to have to do it together. But that had been before Ruby stabbed her in the back.

"I want you to know that I can do this."

Weiss halted in mid-step, something about the timid words that came unbidden to her mind causing her to do so. The fire that crackled and burned beneath her icy exterior weakened in the face of that particular recollection.

The heiress found herself looking down at her boots, lost in thought. Why is that bothering me?

The markings at the edges of the sleeves to her jacket were at the corner of her vision. While they did not possess the full shape, seeing them curled around her wrists reminded her of the design that she couldn't see but swore she could feel the weight of the extra stitching.

There were more important things than just the two of them. Ruby had nothing to prove to anyone, especially not to her.

Weiss became aware of a different weight on her person, this one loading down a pocket located at the inside of her jacket. It accomplished adding further stress to her mind and body. What am I supposed to say?

The clicking of heels started again as Weiss resumed what was becoming a random journey within the halls as any sort of defined destination was absent. She just needed to move and deceive herself into thinking that it would help her when, in truth, she had no idea as to how to get herself out of this corner that she had been forced into.

There came a break off to her left; an opening that led to one of the balconies. With this view of the outside, Weiss was able to see that the sun was setting. The sky had changed to a dull orange coloring as it dipped towards the horizon and the heiress felt this sense of dread coil within her stomach. She was running out of time.

Someone else was staring at the sunset. Amongst the benches that were scattered around the balcony, there was the solitary individual who stood with a hand resting against the rail. While they had their back turned to her, it was impossible for Weiss to mistake that burgundy suit for anything else.

A rather daring plan came to Weiss's mind as she stood and struggled with her decision to go for it. The fact that the sun wasn't going to stop getting lower on her behalf insisted that she decide immediately.

She really didn't have a choice. Second chances were difficult to come by and a third was all but impossible. Resigning herself to it, Weiss strode onto the balcony. Whether it was because he had come out to contemplate his own thoughts or he legitimately didn't hear Weiss's approach, the older gentleman didn't move an inch until Weiss spoke up. "Professor Port!"

Her professor turned to face her, presenting those bushy brows and moustache that stood out so prominently. "Ah, Miss Schnee. And to what do I owe this fine pleasure?"

A good question. With the suddenness of this plan, Weiss wasn't sure how to begin. It was a first for her to go into a conversation without a way to turn it in the direction she wanted to go and the heiress feared that this was going to end up exactly like her fight with the Boarbatusk. "I..." Her head lowered as a sign of her internal struggle until she managed to raise it back up, lips forming a smile. "I enjoyed your lecture."

It wasn't exactly a firm opening and she chastised herself for her hesitancy but the heiress figured that she could play on his self-absorbed tendencies. Not to say that she wasn't speaking with some sincerity; she was grateful for Port giving her the opportunity to prove herself in his class even if it was all for naught.

That, at least, seemed to be accurate with how Port replied matter-of-factly, "Of course you did child; you have the blood of a true Huntress in you!"

She wasn't expecting the genuine happiness she felt in response to the compliment though. Part of it, she knew, was because it let her believe that this could work but there was another part that made her legitimately flattered. She reasoned that this was probably Port being charitable yet she still asked, "Do you really think so?"

"Most surely!"

The assurance, again generous, served to convince Weiss that she had a chance. If Port honestly found her to be skilled then maybe she could convince him that she was skilled enough to be the true leader of Team RWBY. He was a professor at Beacon – a veteran at that – so surely he had some influence that may allow Weiss to usurp Ruby from her position.

It was an underhanded tactic and Weiss knew it. Attempting to argue that there was no difference between this and having her trainers recommend her to Beacon in the first place was a useless gesture. For here, she was trying to reverse a decision that would lead to the demotion of another.

She shouldn't care. It may be underhanded but it was a legitimate strategy. She's done it before even if it had been an accident.

"You're about to see a whole different side of me today, Weiss!" she claimed, throwing an arm around her shoulders and smiling brightly. "And after it's all over you're going to be like, 'Wow, that Ruby girl is really really cool!' And I want to be your friend."

Why was she being so reluctant then?

"Hm, something's troubling you."

Weiss had become downcast, gazing off to the side as she struggled with this reluctance that shouldn't exist but did. She glanced up at Port, finding one of those brows having risen curiously. "Yes, sir."

"Dear girl, confess to me your strife!"

The rather overly dramatic tone of her professor did calm her somewhat and Weiss followed up on it with the argument that it wouldn't have come to this if Ruby had shown that she was capable. "Well…" The rest came out in an indecent rush. "I-I think I should've been the leader of Team RWBY!"

Port didn't respond, not right away, and Weiss was impressed with how still he became. There wasn't even an errant twitch from his brow or moustache that may tell Weiss as to what he was thinking. The fencer dared to believe that he was taking her words seriously and was perhaps agreeing with them.

He was silent and immobile for several seconds. Then without warning there came, "That's preposterous!"

Now it was Weiss's turn to stand there except none of her emotions were hidden. Her brows had flown up and her mouth opened enough to create a dumbstruck expression. Regaining control of herself, Weiss clicked her mouth shut and surprise turned into offence. "Excuse me!?"

A raging Boarbatusk failed to intimidate her professor and it didn't seem like her shout was having any better luck with how his fists became planted at his sides. "I've believed in Professor Ozpin for many years and the man has never once led me astray!"

"So you would just blindly accept his decision even after seeing how exceptional I am?" That didn't make any sense!

"With all due respect, your exceptional skill on the battlefield is matched only by your poor attitude," he countered.

No one had ever spoken to her like that and Weiss found herself glaring up at him. "How dare you!"

"My point exactly." That usual jovial tone had vanished entirely, replaced with a tempered voice as he admonished, "I see a girl before me who has spent her entire life getting exactly what she wanted."

"That's not even remotely true!" Weiss hastily denied, raising her chin high while crossing her arms over her chest. Doing so had her folded limbs pressing the hilt of Myrtenaster against her.

It was that and how she could sense Port's doubtful scrutiny despite having shut her eyes that the heiress found her resolve crumbling. Frowning, Weiss tilted her head down, her eyes opening so she could look at her rapier. "Well…not entirely true…"

She had gotten what she wanted here. With her family's Lien and resources, she received the best training that money could buy and had a weapon forged for her chosen path – the latter at the cost of someone's job.

Even before this she can't say that she had been deprived. Yes, her father tended to limit her in certain regards but his daughter had always been provided with a luxurious lifestyle. As much of a prison her home became, there had been servants who would wait on her hand and foot, and when she did request things from her father he would provide them as much as he allowed in order to maintain his family's best interests.

And it hadn't always been like this, she reminisced. Before the White Fang things had been different. He would rarely get angry, all the security hadn't been necessary…the graves were unfilled…

"So the outcome did not fall in your favor," Port calmly spoke, returning her to the present. "Do you really believe that acting in such a manner would cause those in power to reconsider their decision?"

She…supposed not. Thinking back to the lecture hall, she admitted that her shouting at Ruby in the middle of a fight may have been as unsightly as her own blunders with the Grimm. Letting her temper get the better of her here, with a professor no less, wasn't going to do her any favors. And she had approached Port with the intention of essentially overthrowing Ruby. What kind of loyalty can she be expected to achieve with not only that girl but her sister if she used such measures against them? It was a blatant oversight of the long-term consequences of her actions that only an amateur should make.

"So instead of fretting about what you don't have, savor what you do. Hone your skills, perfect every technique, and be not the best leader, but the best person you can be."

Weiss wasn't sure what it was. It may just be Port's strangely gentle lecture that did not carry the veiled demands that she should become greater. Instead of seeking a more prestigious position that is worthy of her, she should become worthy of the one that she had been given. It was a notion that she had never thought of before, had never really been allowed to consider, yet she couldn't find anything wrong with it.

That last part specifically sounded sweet to her ears: be the best person that she can be. It incited that same liberating sensation that she experienced when she had beheld Beacon and the heiress felt the lifting of her shoulders at the sudden lightness that she felt.

It spread to her face and the corners of her lips turned up effortlessly as she regarded her professor. Guess she had to reevaluate her initial opinion of him; there was some wisdom in those fond recollections of his it seemed. "Thank you, professor. This has been rather...stimulating."

"Naturally!" he replied unabashedly with a proud jutting of his chest. "And I can assure you that the rest of your time in my class will be as such!"

She wasn't entirely sure about that; it all depended on how many of his stories he wished to recount to his students. Still, with a nod of her head, she replied, "I'll look forward to it."

"You will not be disappointed, my dear." Port gave a respectful bow of his head. "Unfortunately, while I do take delight in discussions with such attentive students, there are other duties I must attend to."

"I understand," Weiss assured, returning the gesture.

The man stepped past the smaller girl to head back into the building, leaving Weiss alone on the balcony. She ended up drifting to the same spot that Port occupied only a minute ago and the heiress gripped the railing to better stare down at the school's expansive courtyard that stretched out below her.

Her professor's words continued to echo within her and the view that was offered affirmed just how different things were here. These people and places that granted her knowledge but left her to her own devices as to what she would do with it gave her the opportunities that she had lacked. Here, she can achieve her own goals.

If only it was so easy to accept all this when she knew that this could still be taken away from her.

Weiss dipped a hand into her pocket. Considering how it felt so heavy to her, it was strange that the source of her distress was so thin. Once she pulled it out, the heiress held up her scroll in front of her.

It wasn't even active as the device was currently inert in its compact form. Yet the sight of it managed to beat down that lightness and laden the heiress down once more. Now what am I going to do?

She can strive to be the best person that she wanted to be here, but such a thing can prove to be worthless when it came to the views of those others in power no matter how far she separated herself from them.

---

The sun had finished its descent but despite the darkness that sought to replace light with shadow over Beacon and the lamp posts illuminating in order to combat it, Weiss still had no idea as to what she should do. She had spent what she assumed was the past hour wandering around Beacon's courtyard with no destination in mind after leaving the balcony. However, she was making an effort to keep away from the dormitories.

The avoidance was partly because the heiress didn't wish to encounter any of her teammates. For obvious reasons, she didn't expect a conversation with Ruby at any point for the rest of the night to go over well and an altercation, she knew, was all that she was going to get with the fiery blonde known as Yang Xiao Long. Blake she still wasn't sure about but considering how the two siblings had somehow managed to brainwash her in the past twenty-four hours if this morning's antics were any indication, she predicted no reprieve either if she happened upon the bow-wearing girl.

Retiring to the dorms also meant defeat. If she crossed over the boundary she may as well start getting her bags ready for the morning ride out of Beacon.

She tried to convince herself that a day shouldn't matter but it was a useless endeavor. Whatever excuse came to mind – that she had been busy, that she lost track of time, anything like that – was promptly shot down due to them being just that: excuses. A Schnee never falls back on such a thing because they never allow their existence.

So what was she supposed to say then? Astonishing as to how that question was proving to be a greater challenge than her life-threatening duel and Weiss found that no matter how high the degree of her intelligence was, she couldn't think of a solution for this problem.

Even her perceived sanctuary that was Beacon seemed to have turned against her. She knew it was ludicrous to think that her continued meanderings would somehow stop the arrival of tomorrow but the approaching curfew robbed her of that fantasy anyway. There had hardly been any students traveling through the courtyard when she started and, at this point, it was deserted. If it wasn't time for curfew now, it had to be a few minutes off at most.

It was that and the theory that her teammates should've retired to bed at this point that convinced Weiss to make the grueling journey to the dormitory building. The door felt ridiculously sturdy but that was due to the small fragment of strength that the heiress found herself barely able to produce as she pushed it open. Her feet all but refused to be lifted from the floor and Weiss ended up shuffling her way through the entryway, her shoulder brushing against the frame because of the miniscule space.

Unwilling to believe that this could be the end, her hand lingered on the solid wood until her fingers sluggishly slid from it to let the door settle back into its position with hardly a sound but still managing to prove deafening to the snow-haired girl.

That was it then. All that was left for Weiss to do was go upstairs, go to bed, let the last few hours of the night tick past, and then wake up to face the music. A shame; she had honestly been looking forward to another day of Grimm Studies.

"Weiss?"

Lost in defeat, the voice had Weiss nearly jumping with how unexpected it was.

The speaker apparently saw it and hastily apologized, "I'm sorry!"

Weiss turned to spot the source and found it to come from the common room of the dormitory. While the several teams that occupied the multiple floors of the building had their own rooms, there was still a lounge area for those who wished to either take a break from their own quarters or chat with the members of said teams while they either did their own work or relaxed.

There were a selection of couches and armchairs for whoever may wish plant themselves with short tables to dump their schoolwork and supplies. A fireplace had been constructed off to the side but it was currently empty of flame and wood as it wasn't the time of year for extensive use. To brighten up the room, a lamp had been turned on although it was currently set to offer a dim glow which explained why Weiss didn't notice it before.

Nor did she, obviously, spot the individual who had taken an armchair for herself. When she did, Weiss made out the bronze circlet and then the red hair that draped over it. Thin chains hung a pair of teardrop-shaped emeralds from the decoration which matched the color of the girl's irises.

Weiss may not be a fan of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes but she didn't need to be to recognize the face of Pyrrha Nikos. She knew her better as the top student of Sanctum and four-year champion of the Mistral Regional Tournament anyway.

Weiss hadn't solely spent her time researching for her acceptance into Beacon. Ever the proper planner, she had thought ahead and screened for suitable candidates in preparation for her team. While she may not have known how teams were formed, she wanted to at least decide who she wanted to be on hers. Pyrrha was the top choice to complement Weiss's intelligence and Dust control with pure physical strength. Smartest girl with the strongest, both of them celebrities in their own right; it would be a perfect partnership.

It ended up being another perfect disaster. That being said, the redhead was one of the few people here at Beacon who Weiss genuinely respected with her proven accomplishments and the heiress gave her a nod and greeting that transmitted it. "Pyrrha."

The Spartan glanced down at something in her hands and Weiss recognized the telltale light of an active scroll. Despite the metal headpiece, she was still dressed in her school uniform. "You're here rather late; curfew started ten minutes ago."

She must've looked at the digital clock of her device. Weiss didn't give a response right away, instead deciding to enter the common room and take an entire couch for herself. Shifting Myrtenaster around so that she wouldn't put a hole in the furniture, the fencer actually stretched herself out along the full length of the couch, resting her head on one arm while her feet propped themselves up on the other.

It was a very sloppy and unseemly display but, similar to her struggle with the door, Weiss didn't find it in her to care right now. Staring up at the ceiling, she finally replied, "I wasn't keeping track of the time." Which - while an excuse - was true.

There was a pause that hinted to Pyrrha being rather put off by Weiss's attitude. "I see."

The heiress didn't even glance over but knew that the other girl was examining her. She didn't have any kind of conversation that she could initiate though as her placement had really occurred on impulse. The explanation was probably the same as her walk: a mistaken idea that if she didn't go to bed just yet, she could somehow extend the night for far longer than whatever deity that had shaped the world intended it to be.

An uncomfortable air hung between the two of them and while Weiss was willing to let it last, Pyrrha seemed reluctant to do the same. "How was your day?"

For an attempt at a relaxing discussion, the warrioress picked the wrong opening for it. To be fair, it may've been influenced by how the heiress was acting.

Whatever the reason, Weiss reacted to it as any would in her position: a scoff. "You were there this morning; it didn't start out good for either of us." A humiliating sight to be sure. For being such respectable individuals, the way they ran through the middle of Beacon's campus in such a rush was akin to uncultured miscreants.

To Weiss's shock, she heard a short giggle followed by, "I suppose I was. But you have to admit, it was a rather lively morning."

Lively? Really? That was what Pyrrha was going with? Weiss gave her a glance this time. "I guess the rest of your day went fine then."

She witnessed a small smile appear on the Spartan's face as she nodded. "It's a combat school similar to Sanctum but there are quite a number of differences here other than the location. Our initiation gives credence to that but the topics our classes cover are remarkably different. The professors are unique as well."

That Weiss agreed with at least. While not having Pyrrha's experience at a normal combat school, the topics concerning the Grimm and the Huntressing life were leagues away from her previous business and political studies concerning her family's company. Professor Port hadn't been the only 'unique' professor that the heiress experienced today either.

"I haven't met him yet but Professor Oobleck is supposed to be teaching my history class tomorrow," Weiss pointed out. Although she hadn't formally been introduced, a blur that shot past her during her transition between classes had her questioning, and a second-year student later identifying, it as one Bartholomew Oobleck. While there were quite a variety of last names, Weiss's tongue twisted unpleasantly whenever she uttered that one.

"What a coincidence!" Pyrrha exclaimed, trying to add a bit more life into their conversation. "I have him tomorrow as well. I guess this means we'll be in the same class together?"

The fencer hadn't been giving it too much thought but hearing Pyrrha's excitement for tomorrow drove it home that Weiss probably wasn't going to be here the next day. Exhaling audibly through her nose, Weiss replied, "Yeah…I guess…"

The lackluster response caused Pyrrha to frown, the Spartan staring at her questionably. "Is there something troubling you, Weiss?"

Took her that long to figure it out did it? Weiss turned her head so that she was staring back up at the ceiling, lids sealing shut soon after. The idea of establishing a renewed silence was tempting but, in the end, Weiss found herself uttering, "Everything's troubling me." She released another sigh. "At the moment though, it's my father."

"Your father?"

If it was anyone else – specifically anyone in Team RWBY - Weiss wouldn't have unveiled this to them. But, again, her respect for Pyrrha and her lack of care when it came to anything right now was persuading her to speak. "He's expecting a message from me."

The light of the redhead's scroll was snuffed out as it shrunk in her hands before she placed it on the low table that rested in front of her. She looked to Weiss attentively. "I'm guessing the reason he's still expecting one now and you being here is that you don't know what to say."

An accurate guess even if it wouldn't take much deducing. Nonetheless, it encouraged Weiss to go on. "What am I supposed to say? When I left I told him that he could expect me to take the position of team leader with only the finest serving under me. What is he going to think when I tell him what actually happened?"

All that work, all that training, for nothing. Just because she fulfilled her promise to get to Beacon on her own, it never meant that she would be allowed to stay without worry. It was hardly that easy. For a Schnee, exceeding one challenge just meant that another needed to be placed on you to constantly motivate you to be better and not be allowed to become complacent.

Weiss may've gotten to Beacon, but she needed to show that staying there would benefit her and her family. If she had to look at it in a business sense – something she knew her father was doing -, her participation and success at Beacon could be considered as advertisement. The mark on her jacket was as much of a badge of Schnee pride that she carried as it was a burden of endorsement that was no different to when it was stamped on cargo crates. Her Dust spells were powered by crystals that were quality-proven by the SDC and her weapon was constructed by their finest engineers.

As much as Weiss was able to triumph with her own talent, she was also displaying how she was doing it with her father's resources. So how would it look when it turned out that there was someone out there who can be considered as better than her?

For me, Weiss thought, being the best person only works when it's beneficial.

"I understand how you feel."

The heiress became very still, not believing that she heard that right. She opened her eyes. "What?"

"I said," came Pyrrha's voice, "I understand how you feel."

A fuse was lit, a very short one. Whereas a moment ago Weiss was all too willing to languish around listlessly, the words that Pyrrha spoke served to ignite a sudden bitterness within her. Very slowly, the fencer turned her head back towards Pyrrha. Her next words came close to coming out as a growl. "You understand how I feel, do you?"

The short nod that Pyrrha gave her while expression became unreadable further insulted the heiress. No one understood her. How can anyone possibly understand her? She had always been kept away from the world, locked away in some castle. The only time people ever really saw her was when she was performing and any thoughts of Weiss Schnee as an individual was overshadowed by her father's reputation. Port may've had an idea about an aspect of her life but anyone who claimed to understand her was just lying through their teeth.

"So you understand what it means to have everything you worked for mean absolutely nothing." Weiss brought herself up to a sitting position, her legs swinging around so that they hung over it. "To have all your accomplishments and all your talents become obscured because of some nobody who managed to luck their way into Beacon. To know that the position that should've been rightfully yours being handed over to someone who is completely unworthy of the title. You're saying that you can understand how I feel about something like that?"

It seemed that famous Schnee intimidation was losing its touch or Weiss needed to start practicing again because Pyrrha met her glare unflinchingly. Instead of making an argument out of it, the redhead flatly questioned, "Are you forgetting about my team leader?"

Whatever retort Weiss thought to make was brought to a standstill at that, the heiress having opened her mouth, paused, and then closed it.

Right, Jaune Arc. Preoccupied as she was with Ruby and her own predicament, the heiress had forgotten about that buffoon. Between him and Ruby, Weiss refused to believe that both of them had managed to get into Beacon legitimately. Somehow though, that boy was picked over an undefeated champion to become team leader. Weiss's resentment may be warranted, but even she had to admit that Pyrrha had a better reason to be angry here.

It puzzled her that the other Huntress-in-training didn't seem to be. From what few glimpses she had seen with the two of them together, Weiss could recall Pyrrha actually encouraging Jaune even before they had become part of a team. Hell, she had even bonded with him.

She didn't get it. She wasn't going to pretend that she knew Pyrrha's own family matters, but she would think that her own fame came with some kind of parental pressure. Wasn't she concerned about what others may think about her own arrangement?

Struck by a sudden suspicion, Weiss looked down at Pyrrha's forgotten scroll. "Have you messaged your family?"

"As a matter of fact, I just did," Pyrrha confirmed. "I expect to hear a reply from them in the morning."

She didn't sound the least bit concerned about what that reply may be. Was that the result of confidence in what she told them or did she not care about what they think? "What did you tell them?"

Pyrrha shrugged at that. "The truth."

Weiss blinked. "…The truth? You mean that you got passed over for some bungler who couldn't even land on his own feet?" She had noticed that it was Pyrrha's spear that pinned him to that tree.

Those bright emeralds hardened at the slight against her leader. "The truth," she started, "is that I was placed on a team that Ozpin himself had selected through his own means and my leader is the latest son of the great Arc family."

Weiss blinked again at that. "Wait…what? Jaune?" The great Arc family? How did she miss something like that? No, she couldn't be blamed; if Jaune was the latest apple, he had fallen far from that particular tree. Nothing about him spoke of greatness.

Pyrrha grinned at her perplexity and laid back in her chair. "The Arc line is known for producing great heroes. There are quite a few stories concerning his sword – Crocea Mors – and the foes that fell to it during the war. I was proud to report that yesterday it contributed to my team's slaying of a Death Stalker."

That…that… Weiss tried to find some other name to call this account that Pyrrha had just given her and found that she couldn't. It was the truth. She was leaving out a lot of the details but what she was saying wasn't false no matter how much the heiress doubted this latest revelation concerning Jaune. And, she had to admit, it did sound impressive to her ears.

There was still one thing bothering her though. "And you're fine with that?"

"The truth?"

"No, following Jaune."

Pyrrha could put whatever spin she wanted when it came to the truth but it didn't change the fact that Jaune Arc was still her team leader. Her family may not have seen his deplorable performance but she has. How did it not bother her that she's supposed to follow his lead?

It still didn't. Even when asked that directly to her face, Pyrrha responded with another smile as she regarded Weiss. "There's more to this than being team leader, Weiss. And even if you aren't the leader, it doesn't mean that your efforts are going to be neglected. A team requires the support of all of its members. A leader can issue orders, but it's the teammates who carry them out and see them done. I will support Jaune as will Ren and Nora and it's through our combined aid that will make him a better leader and, in extension, make our team better."

Pyrrha was saying the same thing that Professor Port had said: don't be the best leader, but the best person. This time, however, it hit Weiss that her professor had meant exactly what the redhead had just enlightened her to. By the best person, Weiss had taken it as being the greatest member of her team. Ruby may be leader, but the heiress could still show that Team RWBY was only successful because of her expertise.

All her life Weiss had only been able to count on herself. Every single one of her actions today carried the belief that she could achieve her goals by herself. She was part of a team but it was what she did that mattered; Yang, Blake, and Ruby were all irrelevant. Finally she was starting to understand the folly of that thinking.

"I…get it," she spoke. She leaned against the cushioning of the couch. She got it but… "But how do I make my father see it? How can I tell him the truth when it's that I failed to make team leader and it's a fifteen-year-old child who became it instead?" She rested her head back, hand coming up to splay her fingers across her face.

"I don't know. I just know that I can't think of anyone else who got pushed up two years ahead by Ozpin."

The words took their time to sink in. When they did, Weiss shifted head and fingers so that one eye can land on a smirking Pyrrha.

The Spartan must've seen the comprehension because a second later she was standing up from her chair, scooping up her scroll in the process. "I should get going. Don't stay up too late; we both have classes tomorrow after all." She gave Weiss a curious tilt. "See you in Oobleck's class?"

Weiss dropped her hand from her face which now sought her jacket pocket. "Yes, see you then."

---

When Weiss did eventually arrive at Team RWBY's dorm, two things hit her instantly upon walking through the door. First was the bitter aroma of brewed coffee. It took a turn of her head to locate the cause: a coffee maker that was placed on a desk. It was still plugged in to keep the pot and the dark liquid it held warm.

Such a waste of electricity, Weiss chastised, flipping the switch to turn it off.

The scent had alerted her to it but it was due to the second thing that she noticed upon walking in that allowed her to see it: that being a point of radiance that was dampened by the curtains that hung around the bunk directly over her own.

Despite the sign of light, there was none in terms of life. There were no shadows dancing upon the thin material of the improvised drapes or any sounds of subtle shuffling of an active occupant. The bed was just as hushed as the pair that occupied the other side of the room – or it would be if not for the distasteful sound of snoring that came from Yang's.

The oddity played on Weiss's inquisitive nature. What has she been doing?

The fencer moved to their side of the room and stood up on the edge of her bed to better reach up towards Ruby's. This close she soon heard that there was at least some sign of activity being made by the younger girl; that being her own snoring. It was softer than Yang's, nowhere near as disturbing, but Weiss rolled her eyes anyway. Honestly…

All thoughts of irritation were swept aside as easily as the curtains when she saw just what Ruby's been doing.

The familiarity of the scene struck Weiss hard. Ruby was sprawled out on her bunk, arms splayed out around her as she slept. Her face happened to be directed in Weiss's direction, allowing the heiress to see that those silver eyes that would herald a soon-to-be headache were sealed with sleep. The gentle snoring came from the parted lips beneath them, the red-tinted locks of hair that fell over her features waving in time with her breathing.

Weiss could make a comment of how poor her posture was and a prediction of how sore her partner was going to be in the morning but her attention was focused on what surrounded her. Even in the midst of her slumber, a pencil remained held between the fingers of a hand that rested next to a couple sheets of paper, a corner of which was pressed against the mattress due to the weight of Ruby's head. The pillow it should be laying on was instead the home of a few books that were haphazardly piled on top of each other with one left open at a designated page.

Lifting herself a bit more, Weiss also saw her leader's scroll located on the other side. The screen presented multiple windows of online sources meant to help Ruby with her assignments. Weiss examined the scribbled letters on the papers. Nature's Wrath and its relationship to Aura…

Taking in the scene with wide eyes, a memory came unbidden to her mind. A memory that wasn't that recent but not that far either. A memory that placed Weiss in an identical position except it involved a table within the Schnee manor's library. While the morning drills concerning her rapier had fatigued her, she had stubbornly reasoned that she could relax her muscles while her brain took in the latest batch of her studies. The heiress was unable to recall how it happened but at one point the pages that she was skimming through became an impromptu pillow when she awoke from an unexpected nap with her cheek flat against them.

Weiss chewed on her lip, debating about something which ended with her reaching out and nudging Ruby's arm. The contact interrupted the steady rhythm of the younger girl's snoring, turning it into a snort while eyelids fluttered open. The silver irises looked blearily up at Weiss yet didn't immediately recognize her pale visage.

When they did, the pupils shrunk in the wake of the shock that originated from them and coursed throughout the rest of Ruby's body, jolting it into action. Arms went flying as Ruby hurriedly turned on her side, the pencil that she had loosely gripped tumbling from her digits and over the side of her bed.

"Weiss!" Ruby cried out, quickly rubbing the sleep from her eyes while she stammered. "I-I was studying and then I fell asleep, I'm sorry-!"

The same hand that wakened Ruby now came over her mouth to stop her from saying anything more. Weiss used the other to hold a finger to her lips to signal Ruby to keep quiet while nervously glancing over her shoulder to see if the noise managed to rouse the rest of their team. Fortunately, other than a slight movement from Blake, both of them remained in their dreams.

When Weiss directed her attention back to Ruby, she happened to catch the tipped over coffee mug that she missed. Considering that there were no stains on the sheets, she assumed that it was empty. Taking advantage of this opening, she asked, "How do you take your coffee?"

She removed her palm from Ruby's lips to let her speak, not that anything really coherent came from her. Caught off guard by the question, Ruby's mouth flapped uncertainly. "I…I don't…"

"Answer the question!" While impatient, Weiss kept her voice low although that did little to stop Ruby from looking like she got zapped anyway.

"Uh, cream and five sugars!"

Weiss rolled her eyes at that. All day she wanted nothing more than for Ruby to be quiet yet ask the girl a question and she can't even form an answer. "Don't move."

She eased down to the floor and didn't hear anything from Ruby. Taking it as her confirmation, the heiress went back to the desk that held the coffee pot. Next to it was a small bowl of sugar and short pitcher of cream. It was then that Weiss was aware of her oversight for not bringing Ruby's empty mug with her. Shaking it off, Weiss grabbed one of the other three mugs that were left instead.

Cream and five sugars, she repeated as she poured the still warm coffee into the container. That does explain a lot. She added a measure of cream before using a small spoon to start dumping the prescribed amount of sugar. While stirring everything together and giving the original black coffee a brown coloring, Weiss became absentminded.

She hadn't known what to expect when she woke up Ruby but it certainly hadn't been the apology that her drowsy partner had spouted. She was more inclined to think that Ruby would've given some kind of suggestion of displeasure instead considering the last time Weiss had spoken with her. But no; all that Ruby had been worried about was assuring her that she had been studying.

What a dunce. She shook her head but neither the action nor the thought carried any hostility. Setting the spoon aside, she made her way back to Ruby's bunk, pausing to bend down and pick up the pencil that had fallen to the floor.

When she boosted herself back up, she found that Ruby had stuck to her directions as she remained propped up on her side the same way as she left her. This included the look of incredulity on her face that grew upon Weiss presenting her with the full mug of coffee. "Here."

"Um…" Ruby took possession of the mug uncertainly. "…Thanks, Weiss." Unsure of what to say, she hesitantly sipped her drink, the caffeine and sugar affecting her instantly by providing a bit more life to her expression that chased away any lingering grogginess.

Weiss knew what she came to say but the thanks and the strange fluttering within her chest that was so different from the previous unpleasant stirring made her temporarily mute. Setting the pencil next to her leader, the fencer examined the gathered reading materials as if to draw confidence from them.

The coffee had been a good initial step with making up with her partner but even though she'd like to leave it at that, Weiss had to go further in the interests of her team. The setting was perfect: Ruby awake and studious while Yang and Blake were asleep. It would allow Weiss to wipe away any unpleasantries that this day had caused in time for the morning where things can go on normally.

With that in mind, Weiss brought Ruby back into her sight. "Ruby…I think you have what it takes to be a good leader."

It was a good thing that Ruby hadn't decided to take another sip when she said it as she looked rather startled at hearing the words; a reaction that could've led to her choking on her coffee. At first she was only able to blink disbelievingly at the snow-haired girl until a small, hopeful smile starting to spread on her face. "Really?"

The positive reaction had Weiss mimicking the facial gesture. She nodded in confirmation. "Just know, that I am going to be the best teammate you'll ever have."

Ruby's lips stretched further, showing the whites of her teeth. "I…thanks, Weiss. I'll try hard to become the best team leader you'll ever have."

They could probably go all night but Weiss wanted to avoid such a thing. This was meant to be quick, lasting as long as it needed to mend the bridges between them. The sincerity in Ruby's voice and the pleased expression told Weiss that this was enough. "Good luck studying."

She started to drop down to the floor only to stop partway. Well, maybe there was room for one last thing. She came back up and pointed towards the paper that Ruby had been resting her head on. "That's wrong by the way."

She lacked any manner of scolding, her tone light, and Ruby took the helpful advice for what it was as she set her coffee aside to double-check her work. Leaving her to it, Weiss set herself down and circled around their bunks in order to reach their shared bathroom. With all that had gone on today, she desperately needed it; she swore that she could still smell the stink of the Boarbatusk on her.

However, when Weiss opened the door, she couldn't help but look back over her shoulder, her gaze landing on her bunk. It rose to take in Ruby's. One day that thing's going to kill me.

But another memory, this one of another time that was long gone, crept up on her. "Hey, Ruby?"

The curtains on this side of Ruby's bed parted so that she could look down at her. "Uh huh?"

Weiss hesitated, for some reason unwilling to meet the curious eyes of her partner. She stared at her own bunk again. Why mention this? There was no reason for Ruby to know about something so trivial. Arguing that this could just be used as a friendly way to build a bit more trust between them, she quietly spoke, "…I always wanted bunk beds as a kid."

If Ruby had been thinking of replying, Weiss didn't feel it necessary to wait for her to do so. She stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. The heiress found herself pressing her back against it, taking in a deep breath as soon as her privacy was obtained.

Step two accomplished, she thought with relief, resting her head against the wood. Step three? Shower and sleep.

What she was to do afterwards will be decided in the morning. Wanting nothing to do right now other than give herself to the relaxing rain of hot water, Weiss slipped off her jacket. Compared to how forceful she had been when dressing in the locker room, the movements she used to undress were lethargic as she carelessly tossed the jacket on top of the sink.

She removed Myrtenaster next and set it against the bathroom wall. It was when she began removing the sash from around her waist that every muscle in her body froze.

The jacket that she just discarded shook, a beeping issuing from within the pocket.

So soon? Weiss assumed that she wouldn't hear anything tonight what with the late hour. It appeared that a couple of her steps had just switched around.

He must have got home late again, Weiss suspected, her insides freezing with the dread that formed within the pit of her stomach. Or is still at the office.

Or something else happened that was keeping him up. That possibility attempted to drive out the breath from Weiss's lungs.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the heiress approached the article that was responsible for the fear that caused her hands to shake. It was that shaking that Weiss blamed for her difficulties in retrieving the scroll when she dipped it into the pocket, fumbling until she pinched the thin shape. She drew it out.

[1 New Message]

The notification that came to the forefront tried to burn itself into her retinas and Weiss closed her eyes in response, taking a steadying breath as she did so. With a similarly trembling finger, the heiress tapped it against the screen.

For the next minute, Weiss held the scroll in a solid grip. Other than her eyeballs that swiveled around as they read the words that were presented to her, she didn't move an inch. Only at the end did the heiress move. Releasing the scroll so that it fell into the sink, Weiss traded it for the edges of the cabinet as she leaned heavily against it, unable to believe it.

It worked.

Once Pyrrha left her alone in the common room, Weiss had pulled out her scroll and got to work in typing out her message. For how much stress she went through, the words came unusually easy to her as her fingers danced across the touch screen.

As the Spartan suggested, Weiss had told the absolute truth. In her message to her father, she claimed to have been picked by Ozpin himself to form a team with a prodigy who he advanced two years ahead of her class; a feat that even Mistral's Regional Champion couldn't claim to have done. While Weiss knew little about her other teammates, they managed to kill one of the most terrifying specimens that the Grimm had to offer for their initiation so she was confident that she had been placed with exceptional individuals for her team.

The whole time Weiss was waiting for some kind of self-berating thought that she was telling a lie, that she was stretching the truth farther than it needed to go, anything that would lead her to believe that she was drifting too close to deceit.

She was very amazed that, when she proofread her message, that she felt nothing of the kind. Quite the opposite: Weiss believed her own words.

This whole time whenever Ruby's two year advance came to her, she explained it away as luck or some joke that had been played on her to mock her own hard work. It was when she was writing about her partner and the later review that it dawned on her that the reason that Ruby was allowed to attend Beacon so soon might in fact be because she deserved it.

It led her to seeing what happened in the Emerald Forest in a new light. They had killed the Nevermore together. As unorthodox as Ruby's plan was, it led to success and in such a display that Weiss realized justified that amazing strength and combat skill that she had once believed to be restricted to empty boasting.

"Think you can make the shot?"

The expression on Ruby's face when she said that was not that of a child. Eyes narrowed at her target in concentration, a hint of a grin on her face, and poised to deliver the death blow that she would achieve with Weiss's help, that was the matured look of a warrior.

When she sent her message, Weiss convinced herself to make up with her leader. While Weiss Schnee may not be the best team leader, she can be the best teammate to help establish what would be a lavish reputation that would be attached to Team RWBY during their time at Beacon. Yesterday Weiss had considered Pyrrha as the perfect candidate for strength but now she was reconsidering that Ruby was a suitable runner-up. What just happened in the dorm supported that.

Reading her father's response, Weiss found that he was pleased to hear that she had been placed on such a team and expected to hear more about them in the future.

The future…

With her chin tilted down, the ever-present crest on her jacket filled her vision. She lifted her head so that she could instead stare at the mirror that presented her with her reflection. A hand came up and she placed it over the left side of her face.

Staring back at her was Weiss. With that flawless skin and pale, noble features, it was that little girl who appeared so delicate that she needed to be sealed away from those who would wish her harm. Trapped within the sanctum, the only thing that she would hear was the news of another board member that had been killed, another family friend that had been kidnapped and executed. And each and every time when her father came home, bringing with him the rage and hate caused by those who had done it, little Weiss could only curl up, helpless and afraid and unable to do anything.

The hand slid to the other side.

Now it was Weiss Schnee that she was seeing with a mark that sullied that purity yet suggested to what she was truly capable of. She was still young in her own right, untested, but possessed the capacity to show just how far people had underestimated her.

Tell me something, she requested from her reflection. Can a heart turn to stone?

She had a plan for the future alright, and today she managed to keep it intact.

And until the time came to enact it, no one needed to know about it. Not her father and not Ruby.

Chapter Text

While her first morning at Beacon was rather fun, it couldn't be forgotten that they were in a combat school and moving on into the first week gave credence to it. Once the introductions and orientations for their selected classes had been done, the commanding professors showed little restraint when it came to issuing out homework and assigned readings for their students.

Lacking any prior experience to give her a reference to how things were done in a combat school (or any kind of school really), Blake was only able to assume that this initial rough patch was normal. Each subject that was taught may be similar in that they were meant to mold a trainee into a powerful Huntsman or Huntress, but the topics themselves differed greatly. Grimm Studies, for example, was meant to teach about the types of Grimm that were found in the wild zones of Remnant outside of mankind's safe havens that were the four kingdoms. Meanwhile, there was a class devoted to the application of Aura, another for Dust, and a third on Remnant's history. Whatever wisdom they wished to impart with their chosen field, a teacher may wish to do so through lectures or live demonstrations. And this wasn't even getting into the actual combat and survival courses that involved physical dueling with the occasional incursion into the surrounding Grimm-populated territories that acted as their field trips.

It was a lot to get used to. In order to become accustomed to the scheduling, the teaching methods, and what to expect to bring back to your dorm room with you whether it be an essay or otherwise, there was very little room for the merry activities such as decorating and constructing improvised bedding arrangements. The weeks flew by as the members of Team RWBY sought to properly settle into their training regime.

This was not to say that Blake no longer felt any enjoyment within Beacon with the onset of school life. Yes, the nights did tend to consist of her and the other girls hitting the books to start their assignments while struggling against the gathered fatigue of the day that made the calls of comfy mattresses and warm blankets nearly irresistible with the mornings spent finishing those assignments because they gave in, but Blake savored it.

To be exact, she savored the peace. Whether sitting at one of their desks or her bunk doing homework or catching up on reading, Blake devoted a bit of attention to the background noise of her teammates doing their work; the scratching of pencils broken up with complaints about it (mostly Yang and Ruby), while comments and criticism (the latter Weiss usually directing at Ruby) were passed around. This and the morning routine of showering, dressing, and shoving papers and tomes into bags were all part of this rhythm that they had established.

This contentment extended beyond the presence of her team. Walking through the courtyard with books held against her chest, there was this calming sense of simplicity that came when all that she was concerned with was getting to class on time to avoid a verbal lesson on timeliness. Fall was fast approaching but the waning summer offered enough of its warmth to keep the climate pleasant.

The people were pleasant too. It wasn't just the members of JNPR, RWBY, and her teachers that she would pass and return nods and short smiles to. Everyone here shared the same goal - the same dream - and that in itself established a measure of regard that influenced these simple gestures. They were total strangers but it didn't stop them from holding a door open for you when they saw your hands were full which initiated a ritual of thanks and you're welcomes. These small things that were exchanged served to be so fulfilling to the faunus even if they were so normal.

As for the classes themselves, the setting was similar to the dorms where Blake and her fellow classmates took down notes or performed a skillful presentation that cut into the droning of their professors. Most she shared with her teammates but there was an occasional one where she found herself without them. It was a rare occurrence but the placid atmosphere remained. It could even be argued that the lack of their company and side chatter that they tend to involve Blake in contributed to it. This did not mean that she didn't miss it.

It only lasted for the hour that the lessons normally ran up to and then she was meeting them in the hall to make her way to the next with them. Lunch was the only time where the entirety of RWBY and JNPR got together and the table they tended to occupy would be abuzz with conversations of what they had done, what they have left, what classes they did and didn't like, etc. Blake usually devoted herself to a novel but, quite frequently, she would be drawn in whether by her friends' efforts to get her to join in or even because she felt compelled to socialize.

It was all so natural and maybe that was why Blake had become lost to it so easily. And maybe that was why she was experiencing numerous nights of untroubled sleep; something that she hadn't been blessed with for a long time. She was no longer plagued by nightmares, no longer afflicted with this ball of uncertainty and doubt that kept her restless whenever she thought of what tomorrow would bring.

When she did retire to bed, it was with her team. Lying on her bunk with the covers drawn up to her chin, her hidden ears and enhanced vision supplied her with the sights and sounds that took over her nights. Directly above her she could hear the snores of Yang Xiao Long, the blonde akin to a stone with how deeply she slept. Other than the sound, there was barely anything in terms of movement which spared the faunus of any apprehension of seeing if the supports of paper and hard covers that she donated to their bunks were really as sturdy as she had spoken of with - as she was reconsidering - a tad of overconfidence.

The same couldn't be said over at Fort Rose. While the curtains kept Ruby hidden from view, Blake was able to see how her bed would occasionally swing due to the smallest of turns that she tended to perform even when lost in slumber as if to make up for whatever volume that her own gentle snores lacked in comparison to her older sister's.

Weiss wasn't granted with night vision but didn't need it in order to see what was going on right above her. Blake had witnessed how the heiress would be resting on her side with eyes closed and hands resting atop each other, fooling the ninja in believing that she drifted off. It was usually a minute or two later that she would be proven wrong when, in response to a shift of Ruby's bed no matter how minute it was, Weiss's eyes would snap open before directing a wary look at the bottom of Ruby's mattress and the ropes that were wrapped beneath it.

Waking up alive for several mornings in a row got Weiss used to it. Her steady breathing was nearly inaudible but present in this melody that lulled Blake to sleep, empty of fear but filled with the prospect of what this new life would give her when she next opened her eyes.

Ironically, it was everyone adjusting to their schedules and becoming relaxed that caused Blake to start fretting. Those conversations that they had in the cafeteria had gradually transitioned from the going-ons of school life to that of personal life. The change had Blake withdrawing from them as she used her novel to deflect whatever inquiries that may be sent her way. Gratefully, it worked more often than not.

Unfortunately, Yang wasn't required to restrict her inquisitive nature to the cafeteria.

"Where did you live before coming to Beacon, Blake?" Yang asked during a walk to their next class.

It was going to happen sometime and, being partners, it was inevitable that Yang would want to know more about her. Blake had actually expected the questions to come sooner rather than later but it did give her the extra time to think of potential responses for the predictable ones.

"Atlas," the faunus replied. It also helped that she could use the truth if she didn't go into the details. She had been stationed at Atlas before her last assignment had her coming to Vale.

Yang released a drawn-out whistle, impressed. "Wow, that far huh?"

As it was known, Beacon was willing to accept individuals who hailed from locations found outside of Vale and Vytal. To study at such an esteemed place of learning and become a figure of legend that fought mankind's greatest enemy, there were many who were willing to cross land and sea in order to accomplish that. There was nothing suspicious about Blake's answer and it was fortunate that it would work in her favor as Yang wouldn't have any intricate knowledge of such a faraway place that may let her catch whatever her partner may be holding back.

But she would still ask about it. "I've never been to Atlas. What's the combat school there like? Is it anything like Signal?"

Blake can still stick to the truth yet questions such as these can make doing so increasingly uncomfortable. "I never went to one. Someone taught me how to fight."

"So you were recommended?"

Blake shook her head. "No, I took a placement test."

There were additional ways to get into Beacon other than attending a preparatory school like Sanctum or Signal to develop a suitable transcript to grant attendance. Others could train under privately contracted Hunters who were willing to offer their services and recommendations for the right price. Since Blake never went to such a facility and the people she learned under were rather disreputable concerning public view, she had to take a placement test.

It was more of a courtesy than anything else in the off chance that talent could be discovered from unexpected sources. There were those who arrogantly saw it as a method to skip what they saw as a lengthy process but they tended to wash out pretty quickly. Yet others such as Blake who had their own weapon, Aura unlocked, Semblance refined, and displayed proficiency for combat were allowed to take a placement test to see if they qualified. Obviously, she had passed with an exceptional score that let her attend an exceptional school.

She hadn't been too worried about possible background checks because Blake Belladonna severely lacked one. The White Fang never kept extensive documentation on their members - at least not when she was still with them - and Blake didn't commit any crimes. Well, none that she could be linked to anyway.

She was still surprised with how effortlessly she had been accepted without trouble after she passed the test as the information she provided hardly received a scrutiny, including her claim about being human. Then again, when it came to Beacon's acceptance of faunus and another special case that Blake knew about - that being her team leader -, unusual circumstances appeared to be the norm. She figured that if you could prove that you can handle what'll be thrown at you then you were in.

Yang was willing to accept it as she shot Blake a grin. "Oooh, fancy." Instead of digging deeper she explained, "Ruby had trouble when she started at Signal. She tried all sorts of styles and weapons but could never find one that really clicked, y'know?"

Happy for the change of topic, Blake tried to keep it on their team leader. "And one day your baby sister came home with a scythe almost twice her size that's also a high-impact sniper rifle."

Yang chuckled pleasantly. "It was a bit of a shocker when the year came for students to forge their own weapons that's for sure. Even before that though she began going on and on about Uncle Qrow. He's an instructor at Signal and he decided to give her some private tutoring. His weapon is a scythe too so, naturally, she learned how to use one."

"Quite skillfully," Blake commented.

"Well duh; she had me to look up to after all."

"I wouldn't mistake being taller as being viewed with admiration."

"Ouch." Yang held a hand over her heart in mock hurt. "Kitty has claws."

The grin that had been forming in the wake of her rebuttal froze as did the rest of Blake after inhaling sharply. Yang moved several paces ahead until she realized that her partner was no longer following her and she turned around to see what was wrong. "Blake?"

"...What did you say?"

"Hm?" Yang squeezed past a pair of students in order to rejoin Blake and looked confused at being asked that. "I just meant I wasn't expecting that from you. That was quite the impressive comeback."

Blake blinked rapidly in understanding and nodded her head a tad forcefully. "Right. Uh, sorry; didn't hear you over everyone."

They weren't the only ones in the hallway as there were fellow trainees who were off to their own destinations, chatting as they went. It wasn't that crowded and there wasn't that much noise but Yang didn't have any reason to not believe her.

"Although..."

The faunus was suddenly leaning back, eyes widening slightly in response to Yang leaning forward, her own pair of lilacs examining her. A hand came up to her chin, stroking it thoughtfully.

"What is it?" Blake asked, somehow succeeding in keeping her voice steady.

"...You have gold eyes," Yang noted. "Kind of like a cat's."

If Blake wasn't stricken with this sudden panic, she might've made some sort of mental remark as to how Yang chose to link something that wasn't as prominent as her bow. She averted her gaze in an effort to get them out of Yang's sight while options of how to respond ran through her mind. Obviously the truth wasn't a viable tactic here which meant deflection. "I'm not the only one with a unique eye color; you have two after all."

"Ha, that is true! And even then at least neither of ours are pink!" Smiling good-naturedly, the brawler spun around to resume their journey which Blake used to release a breath of relief. It didn't last long before her partner's increasingly troublesome nosiness had her asking, "So who did teach you all that stuff? Please tell me that you had to spend days on a mountain top and refer to them as 'sensei'."

Then there were the questions that Blake wished to avoid entirely. Falling back on evasion, Blake made a sudden turn at an intersection while speaking a quick, "I have to go this way." She quickened her pace to try and put what distance she could from Yang to deter any thoughts of her following.

Thankfully, her partner didn't try to pursue her but did shout to her retreating back, "See ya at lunch!"

Smooth, Belladonna, Blake chided. Real smooth.

It was hard enough to think that she could pull this off for four years without slips such as that. It had been a simple comment yet the faunus had reacted to it with behavior that should've screamed suspicious. When she made her decision to break away with the White Fang, no one had known until she had done it - not even someone who had been bonded to her.

That could actually explain part of it. Deep within an organization and Adam always at her side, there was absolutely no room for error. To give away anything would result in a fate that she could only presume but knew would be unpleasant. She didn't think her brothers and sisters had fallen so far as to kill one of their own but death wasn't solely needed to make one disappear. There had been unexplainable absences involving those who had renounced their loyalty and Blake didn't want to find out where they ended up. The constant threats kept her on edge.

During the passing weeks here, she felt anything but threatened. She's too trusting. They all are.

None of them were skeptical of her and, really, had no reason to be at the moment. In the White Fang she had established herself as a loyal member who had given up her childhood to the cause and anything out of character would alert her comrades that something was amiss. Meanwhile, her life at Beacon hadn't reached a month. It let her be flexible as her teammates only had her words and the belief that she was a Huntress-in-training just like them to go by.

That flexibility, she realized, was luring her into a false sense of security that had her lowering her guard enough that Yang, ever the skillful brawler, had managed to slip through with a jab. It would later prove to be the first of multiple reminders of the perils that were ready to befall her as the next one took advantage of her distracting musings to shove her roughly with a muscular forearm.

"Watch where you're going, little lady," came a snide comment.

Blake instinctively rolled her shoulder back despite the unexpected contact to avoid getting pushed against the wall, her feet circling around each other to spin instead of stumble out of the way of the giant who lumbered by. The faunus sent a glare as soon as she straightened which he didn't see, having already turned away from her but not before she saw the slight peak at the front of his burnt-orange hair that he kept combed back.

She recognized him immediately as there were few people who were that tall or that rude. Being in the same year made it easier but it was an arrangement that Blake detested as she was unwilling to have anything to do with him.

Had things been different, it may not have just been their year that they shared. Had Blake landed elsewhere, if she had accidentally bumped into him or one of his cronies, or if she and Yang had picked up a bishop piece instead of a knight...the faunus still shuddered at how she managed to avoid her worst-case scenario in the face of those possibilities.

Team CRDL was the embodiment of everything that Blake had come to despise concerning certain specimens of mankind. To see its despicable members freely prowling around the campus after using these weeks to set up their hunting grounds to prey on their classmates served to remind her of what will happen if she didn't remain on guard. Last time she had been cornered, it led her to making the worst mistake of her life.

---

"So there we were..." Nora began, voice ominous while sweeping her narrow-eyed gaze across her audience, "...in the middle of the night."

"It was day," Ren interjected, all monotone with a blank stare.

"We were surrounded by Ursi..."

"They were Beowolves."

As if seeking to make up for her partner's lack of enthusiasm, Nora used the fists she planted at the table to spring to her feet while dramatically shouting, "Dozens of them!" The action succeeded in making Yang - sitting across from her - jerk back from the motion before nodding her head frantically to show she was listening intently.

It had an effect on Ren who added an extra decibel loaded with exasperation to his tone as he corrected, "Two of them."

Nora's excitement wasn't dampened in the slightest. "But they were no match! And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" Done with her story, Nora dropped back down to her seat looking quite proud with herself with arms folded and a smile on her face.

Her partner hung his head in response as he sighed. After a short shake he explained, "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now."

This was an example of the general conversations that tended to occur when RWBY and JNPR got together for their lunch period; normal, silly things that amused while informing others a little about the speaker and anyone else involved. Ruby tended to initiate dialogue when it came to learning about their respective weapons while Weiss chose to enlighten the teams to her family's products - both current and future releases to give them, as she mentioned, a 'heads-up'. Pyrrha got a lot of questions concerning her own feats of strength which she answered with modesty.

Blake was choosing to close herself off with another novel. After finishing her tuna sandwich, the faunus had taken the book that was atop a few textbooks that she brought with her. While her novel was meant to keep her face hidden from view, the others were meant to reinforce this image of her being busy to dissuade her friends from bringing her into their conversations. She wasn't deaf to them though; with four ears it was impossible to not listen in.

Like her, Ren preferred to eat and drink in peace so Nora was the one who dragged him into the latest discussions such as this one. However, despite how it may appear, this instance wasn't strictly about some dream that Nora had been having. This started because of an inquiry from Yang about a topic that Blake did well to keep any signs of unease of showing in its presence.

The blonde focused on Ren, ignoring her salad. "So you've been able to see it too?"

Ren took a sip from his mug, letting a second pass. "Yes."

Blake practically felt the glance Yang sent her way to seek confirmation and she kept her focus on the pages to appear like the devoted bookworm who lacked any interest in their business.

"It's a good thing he can!" Nora interjected, giving her partner a shove that nearly ended with him spilling his drink. "I've seen his dreams; so not cool."

"I find them very relaxing."

Nora flapped her lips at him. "You don't have any!"

"Which is why they're relaxing."

"How long does it take for you to even be able to do that?" Yang asked, interrupting their argument.

Blake knew the answer to be years. It wasn't just short thoughts that could be transmitted to a bonded pair of Hunters after such an extended length of time. Dreams were actually easier when it came to being shared as, during sleep, all other cognitive functions shut down which would lessen the chance of conscious thought getting in the way. The years of development and attunement of bonds led to some acts becoming subconscious in nature such as viewing another's dreams as your own.

She and Adam had those years. Unfortunately, when Blake would look upon his dreams, they became the nightmares that induced a number of sleepless nights. It was seeing that side of him that she had refused to believe was real until that moment and the fear that he may see her own doubts in her own dreams that further pushed her into breaking away when she did.

Ignoring how Nora was now jabbing the tips of her index fingers into the side of his head - "Dream stimulation!" she explained -, Ren calmly spoke, "Quite a while. If I remember correctly, it became consistent last year."

"That's a shame." Yang directed her attention to the other half of their table, sporting a playful grin. "I can only wonder what Pyrrha will see when it comes to Jauney-boy's dreams."

It didn't appear as if it was his red-haired partner that was troubling him. Jaune was looking to Pyrrha but it wasn't her name that he spoke. "Who? Cardin Winchester?" He waved off the worried expression that his subordinate directed at him. "Nah, he just likes to mess around! Ya know, practical jokes!"

Hearing that name had Blake lowering her book. Reading had proved to be elusive with the subject of bonds but this latest one concerning the leader of CRDL that bred this hostility made it impossible. Aware that his team had the same lunch period as them, Blake sought him out.

It didn't take a lot of effort to locate him in the midst of one of his 'practical jokes'; the irritating laugh was an unmistakable calling card. When she did spot Cardin, it was to see him sitting on a bench seat in reverse to rest his back against the table. His laugh and attention was on the girl who was doing her best to scoot away from him.

That lowered head of hers and the brown rabbit ears jolted up when it became clear that escape wasn't going to be that easy. At her other side was Russel Thrush who planted a boot on the seat to keep her from retreating any farther.

Predictably, Sky Lark and Dove Bronzewing were there as well to surround the rabbit faunus. The former had his hands above his head with fingers splayed out in an unflattering imitation of those lengthy ears as he danced in place. The latter sported a cruel smile similar to the rest of his teammates.

For a team named after a passerine bird, the scene being acted out here was reminiscent to birds of prey surrounding and toying with their latest morsel. It was seeing something so cowardly as this that made Blake wonder how those four passed the initiation. An explanation she was willing to get behind was that they managed to avoid the Grimm during their trek to the Forest Temple. There had been signs of people having made it there before she and Yang and, in their case, she found that theory to be the most plausible.

"He's a bully," came Ruby with an accurate description and a deep frown.

"Oh, please." Jaune lifted a finger. "Name one time he's 'bullied' me."

"He knocked your books out of your hands this morning!"

"He bumped into me," Jaune tried to explain. "I'm sure it was an accident."

"He got your shield stuck in the door two days before," Pyrrha pointed out.

"It can be finicky sometimes."

Even Ren felt compelled to speak with disapproval, appearing more stern than stoic. "He stuffed you in a locker and launched it to a random location."

Activity at their table halted with all eyes in the vicinity locking onto Jaune to broadcast pity to him.

"...I didn't land that far from the school," he defended hesitantly as if to block their stares with a statement that was nowhere near as durable as his shield. That uneasy smile did nothing to reinforce it.

Blake guessed it was that uncertainty that made Jaune such a tempting target for Cardin. She hadn't been there for his attempts at being suave as reported by her teammates so all the faunus had to go by was what she witnessed back at Ozpin's office and the weeks that followed. In a way he was a lot like Ruby in terms of his excitement and aspirations concerning the future but somewhere along the way they had become worn.

He wasn't as young as her but there was something about his boyish face that possessed a youthfulness that seemed out of place when compared to the rest of his team; even Nora. Whereas Ruby had started taking her responsibilities seriously, for Jaune it appeared as if he wasn't sure about what he should do. This bullying situation that apparently started since their first week was doing little to allow him to regain the confidence that he lost.

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help you can just ask," Pyrrha spoke, her gentle tone clashing harshly with the unbeatable warrior image that tended to follow her. She noticed the change too and Blake didn't need her sensitive pair of ears to detect the verbal sign of frustration born from being unable to do anything to help him.

"Oh!" Pouncing on this opportunity, Nora leapt to her feet. There was a wide smile on her face but there was something very...malicious about it. "We'll break his legs!"

Like her smile, there was a measure of what Blake could only describe as wickedness that was mixed with that cheerful delivery. She may have been imagining it but when Ren tugged on Nora's vest to return her to her seat, his hand lingered as if to make sure she would remain where she was.

"Guys, really, it's fine." Jaune picked up his tray and stood up, clearly wanting an end to this impromptu counseling session despite insisting on maintaining an image of feeble indifference. "Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone."

As if orchestrated, there came a pained cry almost as soon as he finished. "Ow that hurts!"

The source came from the rabbit faunus. Going by the tray in her hands, she was trying her own escape but Cardin had stopped her by grabbing one of her faunus ears. Blake whirled around just in time to see him tug on the appendage, drawing the girl closer while he laughed.

"Please stop," she whimpered.

Beneath Blake's bow, a cat ear twitched.

The cruel pull on her ear forced a painful tilt of her head. The cry of agony she wished to make in response and the plea to tell them to stop was choked off by her scarf-like collar that was pressed tight against her throat due to the grip her other attacker had on it to keep her from running. She struggled even if it was in vain, her efforts accomplishing nothing other than to have the cloth constrict further to cut off her breath.

A trickle of blood dropped down her face from the cut that the well-placed stone had opened at her forehead. It mixed with her tears as she cried due to this suffering that she couldn't understand the origin of and the helplessness at being unable to do anything about it.

Even amidst this torment her hearing picked up the disgusted comment that was directed at her. "What a freak!"

"What a freak!"

Blake felt a tightness at her throat but it wasn't an external obstruction that was the cause as it was internal in response to Russel's insult and the sight she was bearing witness to. She was about to rise. Whatever she would do afterwards, whatever may happen once she crossed over, she had no idea but the burning anger promised that something will occur that will lead to a satisfying conclusion.

Fortunately for Cardin, he chose that moment to let go. The bunny girl immediately stepped back and fled. The laughter of her tormenters followed after her and the faunus bowed her head. She tried to hide her face but Blake caught the twinkling of tears between her fingers when she went by.

"Atrocious." Pyrrha had been tracking the faunus and as soon as she was in the clear a look of disgust came across her face, her lips forming a scowl that was more befitting of an armored Spartan. "I can't stand people like him."

Blake maintained her observation of her fellow faunus who dumped her tray at the nearby trash can. Her long brown hair trailing behind her, the girl rushed out through the exit and Blake was able to see her turn left before the door closed to cut her off from view. By then she was able to speak and nearly growled out, "He's not the only one."

Yang rested her cheek in her palm, using her arm as a prop. She was staring thoughtfully at the door that the faunus had went through. "It must be hard being a faunus."

You have no idea. Blake gave the blonde a glance and then took in everyone else at the table. Jaune had left to clean his own plate and Pyrrha had gone back to being distressed about his situation with Ruby sympathetic to her plight. Ren sipped at his coffee, expression unreadable while Nora became occupied with whatever tune was going through her head and having it bounce from side-to-side.

As for Weiss...

The heiress had remained silent throughout the whole ordeal to file her nails. At some point she had laid the tool down and, to Blake's surprise, saw that her attention was currently at the double-doors where the rabbit faunus had disappeared.

But there was no sympathy. When she eventually went back to filing her nails, Blake caught the remnant of something that was the complete opposite: the turned-up nose of disdain. Not for a second did Blake believe that it was meant for Cardin.

...Nothing's different.

They can say what they want but they refuse to do anything. When it's one of their own, they offer and do what they can if they're in trouble. But when it is one of them, they sit back and watch but don't interfere no matter how much they dispute the morality of what they see. For those such as the Schnee heiress, their arrogant sense of superiority is justified by seeing the willful abuse of a lesser race.

Blake was exempt because nobody knew the truth. She was enjoying her school life with the lie that she was human whereas faunus such as that girl she now saw remained as outcasts. Beacon may accept the faunus, but the rules that an unfair society had established were the same.

Where is her team? Blake wondered. Why was Cardin able to have her surrounded and helpless to his whims? Had the rabbit faunus been abandoned by them? Left to fend for herself? Alone?

Blake wasn't going to remain negligent. She may be pretending to be one of them but she wasn't going to become them. She gathered up her books. At some point Yang had left with Blake noticing her absence when she stood up to leave. She gave her friends a quick goodbye and then made her way to the exit.

She could guess where her fellow faunus had chosen as her destination. She had gone left which would lead her to the restrooms. There was the chance that the girl could've decided to seek out the sanctuary of her dorm or gone to her next class but she doubted it when a nearby bathroom stall would do just fine in supplying her with privacy to let out those tears.

There was the question of what Blake would do if she found her. Talk to her obviously but what could she possibly say? That humans weren't all bad? That there were some good people out there?

She may as well be lying. It wasn't a human who was seeking to comfort her but a faunus who was disguised as one to avoid exactly what happened in the cafeteria. Any attempts at befriending her would also carry a measure of deceit unless Blake was willing to reveal her secret.

And what would that do? she asked herself. All it would prove is that faunus can only rely on other faunus and that any friendly interactions with humans are accomplished with lies.

Blake's hold on her books slackened with the slumping of her shoulders. It hadn't just been the White Fang and Adam that she abandoned. Time and time again she ran into these situations with the reasoning that one of them wouldn't lead to a dead end that would have her crashing and sprawled out on the floor. Seventeen years and there was no change.

For seventeen years she clutched onto that dream of equality. As long as she could remember, she had willingly carried it around throughout her childhood, keeping it protected against the insults and the stones with the use of her body and mind in the hopes that when she let go it was to see it spread to human and faunus alike.

She wasn't sure when it happened. It may've occurred on the train when she left, perhaps days before when she decided to leave, maybe the weeks and months she found herself thinking about it, or had it been when she had first given in to violence years ago? All she knew was that when she did look down she saw that that dream had turned to dust and slipped through her fingers without her noticing.

That was when she gave up trying to change things. Her goal to be a Huntress was formed with the idea of repentance and a selfish decision to stick to getting by in the world and let it sort out its own issues without her. She was still willing to try to ease the suffering of the victims, maybe give them advice based on her own personal knowledge, but she couldn't give them a dream that she lost. They would have to find their own way to get by instead.

"Where do you think you're going?"

The voice wasn't directed at her but Blake froze as if she had been caught in the process of a crime. Without thinking she pressed herself up against the side of the hall, clamping her mouth shut and holding her breath.

"I-uh-well, you see...," came an awkward response.

Blake recognized the voices but her sudden, unexplainable need for stealth kept her from stepping around and revealing herself to them. She drew away about an inch, enough to prevent any sound that would come from her coat tails brushing against the wall but not enough to break away from cover. Her steps became light to avoid the clicking of her heels as she moved to peek around the corner.

"There's a line between being confident and being a pervert," Yang spoke again. "And you're pushing it."

"It's not what you think!" Jaune had his hands high above his head which shook vehemently to deny the accusation.

"So you weren't about to go in the girls' bathroom?" Yang had a quirked brow and arms folded but the humored grin and how she casually leaned on one foot didn't exude a threatening aura.

Blond and blonde were positioned in front of the restrooms with them drawn towards the door meant for the female persuasion. Jaune was stuck in the middle of that and Yang with a twitch in either direction having him drawing too close to either for his liking which would get him to jerk to the other, repeating the process. The brawler gave him a bit of room although it was clear that she had been enjoying the show.

"I wasn't going to go in," Jaune replied, lowering his arms but not all the way to prove that he wasn't intending to do anything illicit despite Yang's teasing. "I was going to open the door a little and try to persuade her to come out, that's all!"

"Uh huh." Yang let the boy squirm a bit more under her gaze before it eventually slid to the restroom. The grin died and her forehead creased with concern. "Is she in there?"

The question served to invoke a similar reaction from the leader of JNPR. He stepped away from the door. "I think she is. I heard someone crying but it stopped as soon as I got here."

Yang nodded. "She probably heard you coming." She didn't explain how or utter a mean-spirited remark about it. Instead, the blonde unfolded her arms and moved towards the door. "I'll see if she's there. Wait here for a moment."

"Okay."

Blake watched her partner disappear into the restroom, leaving Jaune to act as a lookout. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously and it was probably a lack of something to do rather than detecting the faunus that had him scanning the vicinity. Blake dipped back so as not to be seen.

What were they doing? She mentally counted to five before daring to resume looking.

Visually confirming that no one around seemed to put Jaune at ease to try and satisfy his curiosity by pressing his ear against the door, being cautious so as not to have it swinging inwards. With him preoccupied, Blake considered it safe enough to lean further out, her faunus ears straining against their cloth covering. Their sensitivity made up for the distance that separated her from the room enough for her to know that there was something going on but any sound was basically incomprehensible.

That changed a minute later. Without warning there came a loud bang followed by a terrified shriek that had Jaune leaping away from the door. The conflict that played across his face was similar to the internal battle that Blake was experiencing when next came the sound of muffled weeping.

The only reason that Blake didn't charge in right then and there was another sound that was nearly drowned out by the sobs: a gentle, soothing noise that became easier to make out when the sobs lowered in volume. The seconds passed and while both started to quiet down, they grew louder at the same time with the plausible explanation for that being that the speakers were...

The restroom was opened and out stepped Yang. Her chin was lowered as if to better bring her mouth to speak directly into the furry ears that drooped in such a way that they partially hid the face of the person who she had an arm slung around.

Blake didn't need to see it to recognize the rabbit faunus. She was tiny in comparison to Yang and how she was attempting to shrink in upon herself succeeded in making it appear as if she was about to melt into the blonde's side. In stark contrast to her own formidable appearance when in her combat clothes, Yang was handling the girl as if afraid that she was going to fall apart at any moment. The arm she had around her was gentle but firm.

The sobs heard earlier had reduced to sniffles but the tears continued falling from the wells that were her brown eyes. With head turned away from Yang in equal parts of embarrassment and shame, the girl wiped at them to try and dry them. Upon sighting Jaune, those same eyes widened and the faunus struggled against Yang's grip to get away from what seemed like her being surrounded.

"Hey, hey," came Yang's soft voice. The arm tightened around the girl but just enough to keep her in place. "It's okay; he's a friend. We're here to help you." She gave Jaune a motion of her head, directing him to the scared faunus.

The boy stood there, speechless, and the encouragement got him to act. He held out a hand to the girl awkwardly but spoke compassionately. "Hello. My name's Jaune Arc."

Awkward or not, the girl flinched at the proffered hand as if expecting it to lash out at her, the shudder coursing through those rabbit ears a hint to how she was thinking it would do so. Finding herself unable to escape from Yang's grasp, she buried her head as if seeking to disappear within the folds of the blonde's jacket. She trembled in time with her shaky breaths.

Jaune's hand stayed out but it was clear that he wasn't sure how to proceed. He tried to locate help from Yang who gave him a reassuring nod and he translated it as to remain exactly where he was.

Eventually the girl removed her face from the leather to land a red-rimmed eye on Jaune. She refused to take his hand but after a moment she meekly spoke, "Velvet. Velvet Scarlatina."

There was a delay meant for Jaune to decipher what was said and, recognizing it as a name, he smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Velvet." He drew his hand back and something dawned on him. "Oh, uh, actually...we have the same class don't we? Professor Oobleck's?"

The other chocolate brown came out from the depths of Yang's clothing to better focus on Jaune. A measure of thoughtfulness broke through the suspicion that was playing across the glassy surfaces and the girl - Velvet - nodded hesitantly. "Yes, we do."

"Well that's good," Yang cut in smoothly, pleased with the exchange. "Jaune, I was offering to take Velvet here to her course with Professor Peach. I don't have any other classes that are near hers so maybe you two could meet up to go to your history class together?"

Jaune was put off by the proposal and the shadow of doubt that had repeatedly eclipsed his too-youthful features since his appointment to leadership crossed over them again. However, upon looking to Velvet and seeing the hanging bunny ears and her nervousness, the doubt was chased away by resolve rekindled. "Sure. I can do that."

"Always knew you were dependable." Yang shifted back to Velvet and gave the faunus a comforting squeeze. "And you can depend on my boy Jaune to keep you company. You'll be in good hands, I promise."

In spite of lingering misgivings, Velvet had been gradually drifting away from Yang's one-armed embrace with her ears matching it by rising a bit higher. She wasn't staring directly at Jaune but the reason seemed to be out of embarrassment instead of fear. Nevertheless, her next words were definitely for him as much as they were for Yang. "Thank you."

"Hey, it's no sweat." The thanks seemed to stoke Jaune's confidence enough that his chest puffed out a bit as he proudly proclaimed, "Whenever there's a lovely lady in need, Jaune Arc's ready to serve their every need!"

Those lengthy appendages sprung all the way up and now Velvet was giving Jaune a wide-eyed stare of astonishment. A second later, a giggle slipped through her lips and a pinkish hue painted her cheeks.

Yang rolled her eyes but a smirk was present. "Alright, slow it down there lover-boy." She gently guided Velvet to follow her. "Come on Velvet; lunch is about over and my class isn't that close to yours."

The faunus didn't offer any kind of resistance, willingly following the blonde. She did pause and then she was turning around to give Jaune a timid wave which was gladly returned.

Blake had stood where she was the whole time, completely enraptured by what she had just witnessed. Even when Yang and Velvet vanished from sight, the onyx-haired girl stared at where she last saw them.

With his back turned in her direction, Jaune was doing the same. He suddenly stiffened. "Oh man, I need to change!"

He spun around and while Blake was able to drop out of sight, his speedy footsteps had him nearly running into her before she could vacate the area entirely. She was at least quick enough to avoid a collision by giving Jaune that extra yard that was needed for him to register the unexpected presence and stop albeit nearly falling over with the abruptness and his arms pin wheeled comically in order to prevent it.

"Blake!" he registered as soon as he straightened. His head whipped around to where he came from and then back to her. "What are you doing here?"

If Blake hadn't been privy to what had gone on, Jaune's actions would've been suspicious with how he shuffled over to block Blake off from going further with poorly-disguised glances still being sent behind him. Yang and Velvet should be leaving the building entirely at this point but he seemed intent to impede her progress.

Blake wasn't sure how she should feel about that. On the one hand, Jaune may be doing this partially because he wasn't sure how she would react if she saw Velvet. Ironic considering what she was. On the other hand, Jaune definitely had to be doing this to prevent any further awkwardness if another person came upon the shy and tearful rabbit faunus.

The rationale served to stun Blake, delaying the response she finally managed to utter. "I was going to the restrooms." She craned her head, the motion for show and to manipulate Jaune into making another shift to obstruct her. "Is there something wrong?"

The quick bark of laughter was painfully strained as the boy failed to pass off her question as a ridiculous thing. "W-what? No, nothing's wrong! Nothing at all!" He nearly stumbled over his own feet to get around her. "Go on ahead and do your…do your thing, yeah!"

"Jaune."

He hardly got far before Blake's call had him pause and rotating to find that she had done the same. He grinned anxiously. "Yes?"

"I saw what you and Yang did for Velvet."

"Oh…you did?"

Blake nodded, expression unreadable which contributed to getting Jaune fidgeting and his grin faltering. Deciding to spare him she spoke, "That was very nice of you. I'm sure it meant a lot to her to have you two help her like you did."

Hearing that had Jaune visibly relaxing now that her opinion was out in the open. "I hope it did. I mean…" He hesitated, seeming to struggle before ultimately admitting, "I know how much of a jerk Cardin can be so I understood how she felt."

"Is that all?"

He was taken aback by that, blinking dubiously. "Is that…all?"

Seeking out to help someone was a noble goal but, given her experiences, Blake had learned to be attentive to the means rather than the ends. If Jaune's readiness to comfort Velvet was influenced by seeing a comrade against a common enemy, then the act lost the virtue that people can be mistakenly drawn to. It was a clever trap that Blake had fallen into and one that she could perceive here as well.

"Velvet's a Huntress-in-training," she continued and she knew how her words were sounding like criticism. "I'm sure she's here because she has her own exceptional skills that can be refined to make her a powerful individual. She has her own team that'll assist her if she needs it."

Her own kind. Blake didn't say it outright but it was on her mind as she spoke out these points.

It was those points that had Jaune withdrawing on himself, those baby blue eyes becoming downcast and flicking from side-to-side as if able to visually review the words that had been spoken to him. Blake admittedly felt bad about voicing them but knew that they were legitimate. Jaune may not see the situation the way she did but, really, that in itself was a problem: that of gullibility. It led to misunderstandings that could lead you astray and put you on a path with a heavy fog obscuring the destination. You can start on it with confidence, thinking that all you had to do was keep going straight and you would be fine, but when the fog cleared you found yourself knee-deep in something that you didn't want but couldn't turn back from now with how it clung to you.

It was best that people left each other be; leave them to their own groups with their own problems. Let them fix it for themselves rather than be swayed by outsiders.

"But they weren't there." Jaune met Blake's gaze and it was the faunus's turn to be taken off guard when that resolve that she witnessed a moment ago returned to give him a discernable maturity on those boyish features. "They weren't there to help her and I couldn't just stand by and leave her alone to cry. At the very least, I wanted her to know that not everyone is like Cardin; that there are good people in the world."

Somewhere deep inside, something stirred. Something once thought dead, buried, and rotted. Residual life granted it the ability to catch the words and it shook against its entombment.

It lasted a second and then it stilled but not before Blake recognized something hauntingly familiar about it. It left her momentarily mute, any plans for a reasonable rebuttal absent. All that she could say to Jaune was, "You didn't know her. Why would you care about someone who's a stranger to you?"

JNPR's leader shrugged, a sheepish smile more befitting to him appearing. "Why shouldn't I? Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet after all."

---

Jaune's leaving began a process that had the RWBY-JNPR table losing its members by the minute. A hand on her back had Ruby looking to see her sister on her feet. A raised brow of silent question was responded to with a wink and a thumbs-up which Ruby recognized as Yang being up to something. A ruffling of her red-black hair later and Yang was gone, leaving Ruby to smooth out her tresses and sticking out her tongue at her sibling.

Blake followed soon after, offering a quick goodbye and nothing else. Ruby watched her go as well but seeing another piece of evidence of her teammate's growing reclusiveness had the young leader sending a troubled look at their stealthier member.

She was aware of Blake drifting further away from them as time went on and it had actually come as unexpected to Ruby. Sure, when they met Blake had been a rather mysterious individual who said and did little but Ruby was under the impression that they got over that little hurdle after their initiation. That discussion they had at Ozpin's office, while depressing, was informative and Ruby saw it as Blake willing to open up to them now that they were teammates instead of strangers who had awkward meetings.

The next day reinforced that with the fun they shared as Team RWBY. Blake had been smiling and going along with them and everything seemed fine. What changed between then and now? These days when Ruby saw Blake it was similar to that night at the ballroom that served as the site for the first years' 'sleep over': seated at a corner, a book in hand, and seeking to separate herself from everyone else.

"Don't worry too much about it," Yang spoke, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"How can I not worry about it?" Ruby asked, visibly frustrated but welcoming her sister's touch all the same. She stomped her foot. "I'm team leader! If something's wrong with one of my teammates I need to find out what's wrong and figure out how to fix it for the good of the team!"

"And she's my partner." The blonde squeezed her shoulder affectionately. "Look, I'm sure she's just a bit stressed from all the work we've been put through recently; especially you."

That night when Ruby fell asleep during her studying had not been a one-time thing. As a leader, Ruby did have courses meant to develop her position such as small unit tactics and maneuvers to broaden her thinking to the point that it would become natural to take her teammates' abilities into account and how they supplemented one another instead of solely thinking about what she could do. They were mentally taxing as it is but combined with her regular classes the opening weeks had been particularly harsh on her.

She refused to be pitied on though. "I'm fine! I'm not a baby anymore!"

Yang smiled, the expression carrying the same amount of tenderness and a hint of pride. "I know; you're our leader. And as a leader you should have some faith in your teammates, especially when one of them is me. I'll keep an eye on Blake and if it really proves to be something that can't be settled with just the two of us you'll be the first to know."

Ruby frowned but couldn't find anything disagreeable with the logic or the plan that had just been presented to her. She sighed. "Fine. Promise that you'll tell me if something's wrong, okay?"

"I promise." After a second squeeze Yang removed her hand. "Besides, I believe you have your own partner to worry about."

Pyrrha's departure from the table – to find Jaune if Ruby had to guess - made that particular obstacle more apparent. With no one else sitting near her, there was nothing to deter Ruby's attention to the white-haired heiress next to her. Having considered her nails perfectly shaped, Weiss traded her filer for the apple that she bit into.

Unlike Blake, a relationship with Weiss Schnee remained rocky even after their initiation which came to the boiling point at Professor Port's classroom. The vehemence which Weiss struck out at her with during and after their lesson had succeeded in planting the seeds of doubt within young Ruby when it came to her arrangement as leader.

With some friendly words from Ozpin, it ended up opening her eyes. Coming to Beacon had been her lifelong dream and doing so two years early with Yang no less had filled her with anticipation…and perhaps a bit of hubris. The recognition of her skills by the headmaster and premature acceptance led her to overconfidence that had her relishing her position a bit too much. Weiss's angry judgment as being unfit for leadership had been a rude wake-up call.

Ozpin gave her direction. Her title as team leader wasn't meant for showing off but to be carried with pride and enforced by her working at her best. If she wasn't always performing at her peak, what reason did others have to follow her?

When she went back to their dorm, Ruby sought to prove to Weiss that there was nothing to fear with following her. What she expected to take a lot of work ended up sorting itself out when she accidentally fell asleep in the middle of her studies and Weiss catching her in the act. Making up with Weiss wasn't an okay for her to go back to goofing off of course and, if anything, Ruby wanted to be sure that her partner's confidence in her abilities would not go unfounded.

To her delight, Weiss didn't stop at retrieving a needed batch of caffeine either to help her leader. Ruby knew she was great when it came to fighting but studying…not so much. It was just a pain to sit around reading about history or studying the anatomy of the Grimm when a heavy-caliber round to the head or a crescent-shaped blade across the throat was all that was needed for a Huntress to take care of what any obstacles may cross her path. Well, usually.

Fortunately, Weiss's knack for the academics went a long way to assisting Ruby and she owed the heiress loads of thanks. The red-themed girl just wished that it wasn't their study sessions that was all that Weiss was inclined to spend with her – albeit with her usual huffs and eye-rolls that tended to come with some of Ruby's floundering when posed with a difficult question.

Watching her partner eat, Ruby waited until she swallowed a bite before speaking up. "Hey, Weiss?"

Weiss hummed questionably to show that she was listening but offered nothing else; not even bringing Ruby into her sight. The young leader fended off the prickling of disappointment, instead choosing to venture on with, "Since we've been getting some free time, I was wondering if you'd like to hang out. Maybe later we can…um…"

…Oh crap. Try to spend some time with Weiss and don't even have an activity planned. Great display of leadership, Rubes. Deciding that a specific activity wasn't entirely necessary, Ruby continued, "Well, I don't know what we can do exactly, but we could take an airship to Vale later and find something to do! Maybe replenish our school supplies or…you know, whatever may come to mind while we're out."

The heiress spared her from her standard responses of slight annoyance. In fact, Weiss appeared almost as if she was considering it with how the chewing slowed and there came a slight furrow of her scarred brow. Finally she shook her head but still didn't face Ruby. "I can't. We have our field trip with Goodwitch coming up so it'd be wise if we used the time to collect sources and references for Port's assigned essay."

"But that isn't due for three weeks!" Ruby protested. Granted, Weiss tended to apply extra effort when it came to Grimm Studies in particular for whatever reason but that was absurd.

That outburst got a reaction in the form of a look loaded with disapproval. "Three weeks that can fly right by when you take into account our other classes. We'll barely have a chance to do anything on the day of our trip to Forever Fall and we have our theoretical paper on Aura on top of that to prepare for."

Ruby pouted. Weiss had a valid claim but, still, she didn't see why they couldn't relax for a day. Not even that; a few hours would do. Things had been hectic earlier and all the time that Ruby wasn't in a lecture hall or an arena had been devoted to her schoolwork. Things have started to calm down though and while Ruby had no intentions of slacking off, she couldn't see why they couldn't have some fun during these breaks.

As if reading her thoughts, Weiss shook her head. "We can't allow ourselves to get complacent, Ruby. This is an opportunity to better establish our standing. What kind of best teammate would I be if I let you falter when now's the perfect time to strike?"

She sounded like a soldier preparing for battle. Ruby had initially admired her dedication and such talk had proven to be motivating - and kind of cool, if she had to admit - but today it was more frustrating than anything else.

It was hard to dissuade Weiss from anything when she got like this though and Ruby liked to think that, deep down, she was watching out for the team in her own way. "Fine," she spoke dejectedly.

Ignorant of her leader's attitude, Weiss stood up from her seat. "Good. We can't do it today but tomorrow we can head to the library. I'll access the school's inventory with my scroll and prepare a few selections that'll work for us." Ruby let her silence act as her reply and Weiss took it as a confirmation. "I'll see you later."

"See ya," Ruby responded with the same lack of enthusiasm, not that the heiress registered it.

Soon all that Ruby had to turn to were the chocolate chip cookies that were on her plate. Picking one up, she promptly shoved it in her mouth and bit down. It was no good; the baked good of crumbly and chocolaty deliciousness was inadequate in terms of providing suitable enjoyment.

Having the best teammate was all well and good, but what Ruby wanted was a friend.

A previously outrageous idea when it came to the Schnee heiress considering that she had wanted nothing to do with Ruby but she tried. In turn, Ruby thought she only needed Yang but the desire to fix her own blunders that left Weiss mad had somehow evolved in a need to acquire her respect and to get her to know that there was more to Ruby Rose other than Crater Face. She believed that she had Weiss's respect but friendship she saw as an elusive thing.

She had Yang though, and Blake, and the entirety of JNPR. She'd think that that would be fine and she could live with Weiss as a dedicated comrade instead of a friend but found that she couldn't. She wanted their partnership to be more than that.

She wasn't being selfish. While the bond thing sounded awesome, she wasn't going to let it just be about that between her and Weiss. Truthfully, she was fine about not sharing her Aura with Weiss if it meant sharing some good memories instead.

Ruby dipped a hand, the rustling of paper announcing the appearance of a folded note that the young leader opened and held up to read the contents. The tips of her lips went up but there came a hint of sadness in her silver eyes.

Lati, she reminisced wistfully. Aveline, Sven, Jake, Dante…

She wouldn't trade her early acceptance into Beacon for anything. Nonetheless, the letter that updated her on her friends' status at Signal…sucked. She could see them during breaks and planned visits into Vale, but not having them here with her for two years where they could share jokes and laugh and entertain themselves during downtime hurt.

If Yang was here she would probably make a joke about the 'Ice Princess' being too cold to know anything about that. Ruby knew there was another side of her partner that she kept wrapped up. Her secret want for bunk beds was a clue and, recently, the talk of the Vytal Festival would have an unusually wide smile on her face before she got it under control as if afraid to let it show.

Problem was that Ruby's attempts to draw that side of Weiss out had ended exactly as they did here: the heiress resisting and emphasizing on their need for studying. Ruby wasn't trying to replace her friends. There was just something about Weiss that drew the cloaked girl to her and want to get her to open up; a reluctance that had the snow-haired girl holding back from merriment for whatever reason that Ruby couldn't pinpoint. Everyone else was friendly and enjoyed each other's company but Weiss was as reclusive as Blake was becoming.

Ruby would let Yang deal with her partner, but she had no idea how to do the same with her own. She supposed she could try ordering Weiss to relax although she had a suspicion that that would result in backfiring. Exhaling audibly, Ruby put the letter away - and nearly jolted right out of her seat. "Gah!"

Nora had slid down the table while Ruby had been distracted to position herself directly across from her. When Ruby dropped the letter, it was to see the hammer-wielder having lied down across the table so that her face was little more than a foot away from Ruby's. That was actually not the strangest thing about Nora's position; that would be her lying upside down. And she was frowning while turquoise orbs gazed intently on Ruby.

"Er…" Ruby tipped backwards to try and get some space albeit not much unless she wanted to fall out of her seat. Nora's stare made her tense. "Nora, what are you doing?"

The frown didn't go away but Nora's response was bright and chirpy. "Turning some frowns upside down!"

"O…kay." She said it but it took her a moment to register what Nora was getting at. When she did, Ruby couldn't stop herself from smiling at this latest antic.

Nora let out a disappointed "Aaaw…" before rolling back over and adopting a proper seating position, her frown switching as well.

As kooky as Nora was, Ruby liked her. Nothing ever seemed to get to her and the young leader commended her for her constant cheerfulness. To put it bluntly, she was fun and Ruby could always count on her to lighten up the situation as she was currently doing.

Actually… Ruby glanced down the table and realized that Ren was missing. A rare thing as the two of them were practically inseparable unless their schedules conflicted.

"So what's got you down, Ruby my friend?" Nora asked. Taking advantage of the extra room with everyone gone, the girl gripped the bench seat beneath her to better sway left and right like a metronome.

Ruby's eyes similarly moved to follow her body, idly wondering if it was having a hypnotic effect on her as she felt compelled to speak. "It's Weiss."

"Hm." Nora didn't let up but her face scrunching up in deliberation was noticeable. "Weiss, ice, nice, dice, slice…"

"…Huh?"

"So what about your partner?" she asked gleefully.

Choosing to ignore whatever it was that she had been going on about, Ruby explained, "I suppose there's nothing wrong with her being my partner. She's really smart, a strong fighter, and she's been helping me a lot when it comes to our assignments." Fondness sought to dominate her features but was quickly discouraged. "But it would be nice if it wasn't just that between us. Other than that, we don't hang out or really do anything else together."

"Mhm, mhm, mhm." Nora bobbed her head with each utterance. "So she's a bad friend."

"What? No!" Ruby shook her own fiercely. "Nothing like that! I mean, she can't really be a bad friend when I'm not even sure we are friends."

That persuaded Nora to sit still and examine the depressing expression that the scythe-wielder possessed whose chin dipped so she could to stare forlornly at the table's surface. "So you're trying to get her to be your friend." Her bright smile somehow got brighter. "Well that shouldn't be a problem!"

Considering that Ruby had just been going over how much of a problem it was, Nora's boasting did little to sway her otherwise. Doubtful, she replied, "Easier said than done. This is Weiss Schnee we're talking about; crazy rich and famous. I don't even have a clue as to what kind of life that's like."

Coming from a modest upbringing, Ruby could only wonder what it was like to being able to have anything you wanted and be admired for it. She may not know the specifics but guessed that Weiss had some kind of humongous mansion to go home to, an army of servants to order around, and closets full of fancy dresses for lavish dinners. You know; rich people stuff.

Nora actually seemed surprised at Ruby's statement and even slightly miffed. "That's why I'm offering to help you, silly!" She pounded a fist against her chest, head held high. "I know what she's like! After all, I'm Nora Valkyrie!"

Ruby stared wordlessly at her as an awkward silence came over the two of them that was broken up by the surrounding students who went on with their lunch. Getting no reaction, Nora glanced at Ruby then - with another chest pound and an extra inch of tilt to her chin – repeated, "Nora Valkyrie!"

Still nothing. Well, Ruby did cock her head to the side and lower her brows but that was to convey puzzlement, not recognition.

There came another flash of turquoise that took it all in. "Valkyrie. Like, Valkyrie Shipping and Transportation?" At Ruby's helpless shrug, Nora frowned for a second before wiping it away with not just a whimsical grin but a tune as well. "By track, sea, road, or air, if you need it delivered we'll get it there!"

It was catchy but despite that and how Nora threw in some moves to go with it – standing up on her seat and holding her hand above her eyes like a sailor peering at the horizon, gripping an invisible steering wheel, and ending it with one leg raised and arms spread out to imitate an airship -, it proved unhelpful. Remaining standing, Nora planted her hands on her hips and explained, "My daddy owns the largest shipping and delivery company in Remnant. Well, he does now since he took over Hoffa Hand Deliveries."

Maybe her lifestyle was a bit too modest. When she met Weiss, Ruby didn't have any idea as to who she was either and had gone with 'some crabby girl' whose luggage she tripped over. Coupled with this, Ruby had to think that she might be poorly detached from the going-ons of the world when it didn't involve monsters and fighting.

"Anyway!" Spinning precariously on one foot, Nora spoke, "I may not be as rich as Weiss but not by that much. That Dust's gotta get around somehow!" Halting her spin, she next lifted her arms again and kept them there to balance herself when she began walking along the cleared seat as if it were a tightrope.

No one was giving her any special attention, Ruby being no exception as she had long-since written off scenes such as this as normal. Nora could never keep herself in one place for very long, always needing to meet some hidden requirement to keep moving no matter what. Watching Nora gradually make her way to one end of the bench seat where she spun around and started moving to the other, Ruby idly wondered how she got through her professors' lectures.

When she returned to proper hearing distance, Nora continued, "Daddy always got me what I wanted and called me his little princess. Dresses, toys, candies, ponies; every day was like my birthday."

"Sounds pretty great," Ruby said as she imagined what it would be like to have her own cookie treasury or stocking up an inventory of all the custom parts and mods that she read about in her magazines and would spend her time obsessing over like what kind of sights and grips she would dress up Crescent Rose with. Her accuracy was already top-notch and she had no idea where she would put it but a laser sight might be cool.

A laser sight in the shape of a rose instead of a dot, she fantasied, the idea overriding any sense of practicality. Yep, needs to be done.

"It was," Nora confirmed, reminding Ruby of her more pressing issue. "But all of that is just stuff unless you have someone to share it with." Coming up directly across from Ruby, Nora turned fully towards her, arms dropping away to be held behind her back. "My dad and Ren's dad are like brothers and the two of us have known each other since we were little. Toys are so much better when you have someone to play with and sugar sap caramels taste sweeter when you can split half a bag instead of having it all for yourself." A moment of deliberation later and she corrected, "Well, maybe not half a bag. A third is fine…nah, a quarter; Ren never minded."

Ruby understood what Nora was getting at yet didn't see how that was something that Weiss couldn't get. Resting her cheek in the palm of her hand, Ruby spoke, "I'm sure that Weiss had a line of people wanting to be her friends."

The comment was spoken nonchalantly – a casual presumption -, but the reaction that Nora responded with wasn't so. A sheet of steel came over those blue-green pair of irises and the ever-quirked tips of her lips smoothed down to a thin line. "They are not friends."

This alarming contrast to the pink-loving girl's merry attitude surprised Ruby and a jolt that was sent through RWBY's leader had her sitting up straight.

"Those people are liars," Nora explained with a Not-Nora voice. "They're not interested in playing; just money or favors. Daddy had to deal with a lot of them. He always said that they left him alone once he gave them a new pair of shoes and some snorkeling lessons but I think even that's being too nice."

While Ruby didn't get that last part – what did shoes and snorkeling have to do with anything? -, this air of menace that exuded from Nora had her swallowing hard. She discreetly glanced to her left and right, suddenly wishing that there was someone else nearby and the other students were much too far away despite being one or two tables over in her mind.

As if a switch was flipped, Not-Nora became Nora again and the severe look was swapped with her usual radiant smile. "But you're not a liar! Once our dads let us go to combat school, Ren and I made new friends with the bestest ones having to be you guys! Jaune's funny and Pyrrhas's so so nice and I'm happy to be the N of our team! Oooh!" Her face somehow lit up further. "I should have Ren make pancakes one day. We never got the chance to really celebrate our initiation and his pancakes are outstanding! Need to make sure we have plenty of syrup though because how can you have pancakes without it?"

Mercifully, whoever happened to be watching over Ruby decided to add the chiming of the bell to discourage a resurgence of that other Nora. The cloaked girl took advantage of it, using the opportunity to inhale her last cookie and quickly get to her feet. "I'm happy to know that you consider me as a friend, but I should really get to class. Like, now."

"Oh yeah, we were talking about Weiss!" Although appearing to have disregarded the sound of the bell and Ruby's insistence on getting to class, Nora did hop off the bench seat to land on the floor and skip after Ruby. "It'll be no sweat, Rubbles! All you need to do is get to know Weiss and show her what a great friend you can be!"

"I'll make sure to take that under advisement," Ruby assured, a little wary but seeing happy, ordinary Nora put her at ease. "I do appreciate your help, Nora. Now that I think about it, I don't remember ever thanking you for letting me use that rope for our bunk beds. It's been doing a marvelous job!"

"Well of course!" Nora replied. "That rope's strong stuff; I use it all the time. Chains might've worked better but they get noisy if a person moves around too much."

Unlike Yang and Blake, Ruby didn't have any kind of items that could be used in the construction of her and Weiss's bunk beds. A quick trip across the hall to JNPR's room and a question had Nora instantly offering her own resources in the form of cords of rope that she had taken from – of all people -, Ren's luggage. When asked if it was okay, Nora just said that it was extra anyway that her partner was holding on for her.

She hadn't had the time to ask during then but seeing that she did now, Ruby questioned, "What do you use all that rope for anyway?"

It was that kind of thing you noticed. You don't know why, but during certain moments you can perceive how a second seemed to stretch longer than necessary. For Ruby, that radiance in Nora's smile diminished. It didn't move, didn't even twitch, but that in itself was odd with how frozen it was for that stretched out second.

Turning her head, Nora fixed Ruby with that odd facial gesture before patting the young girl's cheek. "Don't ask questions unless you're sure that you really want to know the answers to them." Then Magnihild's mistress was giggling. "I always wanted to say that!"

Ruby stopped but Nora didn't seem to notice as she skipped on ahead without her. Ruby would remain where she was for a full minute, pondering over how something delivered so cheerfully can sound so very threatening.

---

Jaune's words refused to go away. While he did leave once Pyrrha found them and ushered him off to the locker room to prepare for the latter half of the day, it did little to clear Blake's mind of the jumble of thoughts that occupied her mind and had been worked into a frenzy.

It would've been easier had it just been words that Blake was trying to banish. However, the live demonstration that she bore witness to kept playing over and over again.

A faunus girl scared and alone; left to wallow in her latest case of misfortune that no one had tried to assist her with. She had sought solace in her own miserable corner, blocking out the brutality of the world in favor of the darkness of her own self-pity.

It was those moments of vulnerability that could change you for the worst. Maybe not the first instance, maybe not the second or the hundredth, but, ultimately, there would come a point when even your own makeshift shelter would come crashing down whether from within or without. Then you would have to make a choice: succumb to the savagery or be a part of it with the mistaken logic that your methods justified its use.

A thousand times the cycle had repeated with no deviation. No anomaly, no exception. Until today.

"They weren't there to help her and I couldn't just stand by and leave her alone to cry. At the very least, I wanted her to know that not everyone is like Cardin; that there are good people in the world."

One for every one thousand; that was how many good people there were and that was nowhere near enough.

…No one had been there to help me.

Not a human anyway.

The math kept it in perspective for Blake. What she witnessed was an isolated incident that occurred within a controlled environment. Even if someone had been there to help her like there had been someone for Velvet that would've been one good deed that sprouted during a lifetime of suffering. And once it passed, the possibility of a repeat was absurd.

Seeing Velvet again as the day went on was proof of that.

Blake had actually recognized the rabbit faunus. Faunus students were few and far between so it was a simple matter to keep track of them. Other than Velvet – and herself of course -, there was only one other student in Professor Oobleck's class who was a faunus with the rest being human.

Jaune had been good on his promise at least. Blake had arrived early and taken a seat at one of the desks. Weiss and Pyrrha came later with the former taking a seat at the desk behind Blake while the latter took one next to her. Finally, Jaune and Velvet appeared.

The rabbit faunus followed the blond boy in, ears higher than usual but the tips still drooped. Nonetheless, it was a vast improvement to when Blake last saw her. In fact, Blake was amazed to see that Velvet's lips were slightly elevated as well and she seemed to have no reservations about sticking close to Jaune's side. It was a scene that Blake had believed to be restricted to her imaginations brought on by her books yet here it was playing right in front of her eyes.

Unfortunately, like when she closed her books, reality had to take over. While Velvet sat down at a desk in the front row right in front of her, Jaune spared a moment to exchange some words with Pyrrha. The distraction was enough for another student to take a seat beside Velvet and, seeing it occupied, Jaune chose the next desk over. There wasn't that much space separating them but Velvet appeared disappointed and her brown ears lowered another degree.

Right when class was about to begin, Cardin and Dove entered the lecture hall. All optimism was trampled beneath their feet in the form of Velvet's lengthy appendages reverting back to their original position; nearly hanging right over her face while she huddled within her seat to keep out of sight.

Cardin did glance at her and Blake did stiffen upon sighting the hints of a smirk. Whether he was debating on humiliating Velvet or not she didn't know as that was when their teacher arrived and the members of CRDL claimed their own spots with the leader taking one above and behind Jaune; a fitting position for him Blake was sure.

Seeing the danger pass, Velvet didn't hide her relief. However, her ears and form remained bowed.

Professor Bartholomew Oobleck was an example of how varied the staff of Beacon was. Glynda Goodwitch was a stereotypical stern and strict professor; cool but uncompromising when it came to maintaining order. Peter Port, in sharp contrast, favored a more grandiose approach with bad jokes and overdramatic retellings of his experiences as a Huntsman.

Oobleck was hard to pin down, and Blake did not mean that solely in the figurative sense.

"Yes, yes!" their professor cried out as he glided along the floor. Or, rather, it appeared as if he was gliding with how fast he moved; there wasn't even a twitch of his legs to signal a sudden burst of speed. "Prior to The Faunus Rights Revolution – more popularly known as The Faunus War –, humankind was quite quite adamant about centralizing faunus population in Menagerie!"

Having moments ago been standing in front of the rows of desks, their history teacher sped as a white and green blur behind his desk where a map of Remnant was held up, sporting a mess of pins, lines, and written notes. After tapping his pointer to direct the students to the location of Menagerie, he zoomed off to the side, took a sip of coffee, and was then standing in front of his desk in an instant.

"Now!" he spoke, raising the wooden pointer above his head energetically. "While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!"

Not once did he remain at one point for more than two seconds. Whereas Port would pace in front of his class and sweep his arms as if to take in the entire room while Glynda would remain still but make sure her gaze would thoroughly seek out any who weren't paying attention, Oobleck would continually glide along the floor to make sure he visited every portion of his lecture hall, broken up by moments where he took a sip of coffee that was always on hand. With how many he took, Blake reasoned that he should be needing constant refills but not once did she see him take a break to do so. When she examined his desk though, she theorized that instead of a refill he just covertly snatched one of the other haphazardly placed mugs that – quite possibly – had been prefilled for his lectures when he zipped by.

Their professor's personal appearance was quite similar to the map and his desk. His white shirt wasn't fully tucked into his dark green pants and the collar was raised, a yellow tie hung slack from around his neck, and his left foot wore a brown-colored shoe while the right shoe was black. The style of his green hair can best be described as him pouring a lot of gel into it and sweeping it back in a single pass, uncaring of how messy it looked as long as it didn't fall in front of the opaque lenses of his glasses.

Such a messy attire should not be considered as him being unprepared. Far from it. In Blake's opinion, Oobleck was a professor who willingly sacrificed tidiness in his devotion to meet the day and impart his knowledge to his charges. A sign of that was how he would only remain stationary when he awaited an answer to a question he would pose to the class.

He happened to stop right in front of their row of desks for such an occurrence. "Now, have any among you been subjugated or discriminated because of your faunus heritage?"

Blake was as observant as he was for the results. She peeked over at the other faunus in their class – the floppy dog ears that were flat against his head hard to make out - to see him raising his hand.

Velvet was not as inclined to raise hers as fast. It was only when she saw a member of her race do so that she lifted her own albeit timidly.

The circumstances prevented Blake from doing the same but it was unanimous: there wasn't a faunus here who had been spared.

Oobleck must have chosen his position in front of Velvet for a reason because, upon sighting her hand, he tipped his head to her as a sign of sympathy before exclaiming, "Dreadful, truly dreadful! Remember students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" After an uncharacteristically slow downing of his coffee, he cleared a few feet of space to his right. "I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to the White Fang!"

There came a contraction of the muscles in Blake's shoulder blades at being reminded of what, exactly, happened to her group. Oobleck was spot on; it was the ignorance of humankind and their treatment of the faunus that bred the violence that dominated the actions of her former comrades. That didn't mean it made it right and Blake knew that too but what did people expect to happen?

She found herself analyzing the map of Remnant and that spot of land that was Menagerie. Unlike the other, larger continents that spanned across the mass of Remnant and were the site of the four kingdoms, Menagerie was one of the smallest bits of land to be found on the map. It was also the furthest away from the central gathering of most of those human capitals.

"They tried to banish us to some Godforsaken wasteland!" he snarled, the red detailing of his mask glowing intensely. "The only reason any of them stopped was because we made them!"

A chill ran down Blake's spine at the memory no matter how true the claim was. Menagerie was everything that humanity could've asked for to keep the faunus out of sight and out of mind. Surrounded by the sea and removed from the standard trade routes that humans shared with one another to this day, the faunus would be completely cut off and left to fend for themselves. So desperate to rid themselves of this minority, they had, as Oobleck said, been 'quite adamant' about 'centralizing' the faunus population to it.

It was humanity's ignorance that led them to thinking that the faunus would let them do so without a fight. When they did fight back, it was arrogance that had the humans losing.

"Now, which one of you young scholars can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war?" Shortly after asking, Oobleck directed his attention up. "Yes?"

"The battle at Fort Castle," Weiss replied matter-of-factly.

"Precisely!" Oobleck confirmed, slapping his pointer against his desk which he had miraculously returned to. "And who can tell me the advantage the faunus had over General Lagune's forces?"

"Hey."

Blake had forgotten about Jaune and it was her second pair of ears that let her catch the groggy syllable that was obviously not meant to be taken as him volunteering with how the blond lurched back in his seat when Oobleck was in front of him in a moment. "Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent, excellent! What is the answer?"

"Uh…" Jaune started uncertainly. "The answer…the advantage…"

The sluggish repeating of the question was a dead giveaway and someone else picked up on it. Next to Blake, Pyrrha audibly cleared her throat in order to get her leader's attention. Once she had it she pointed to her eyes while silently mouthing 'night vision'. When that didn't seem to click, she formed circles with her fingers and held them in front of her face.

She had his attention and Blake wondered if Oobleck truly didn't realize how Jaune was plainly looking over his shoulder in order to see his partner and her hints. In the end, it didn't matter. "Binoculars!"

The ridiculous answer coerced a round of giggles and chuckles from his fellow classmates. A particularly nasally laugh that was followed with the pounding of a fist had Blake seeking the source and a sneaking suspicion coming to mind when she found Cardin appearing quite pleased with himself.

"Very funny, Mr. Arc," Oobleck spoke after a disappointed sip of his coffee and a shot back to his desk. With Cardin's laugh lingering, he set his sights on the other team leader. "Cardin, perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject."

"Well," Cardin spoke lazily with feet propped up on his desk, "I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier."

Blake bristled.

"You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you Cardin?" Pyrrha asked in disapproval.

Cardin sent her a glare across the open space between them. "What, you got a problem?"

Pyrrha ignored the challenge, making it a point to turn away from him to address Oobleck. "No, I have the answer: its night vision. Many faunus are known to have nearly perfect sight in the dark."

Blake was ready to leave it at that but with Cardin's comment stuck in her mind and seeing how aggravated he became at Pyrrha's answer, she couldn't prevent herself from disgracing him as she added, "General Lagune was inexperienced and made the mistake of trying to ambush the faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched and the general was captured."

Her professor was nodding his head in what Blake knew was approval but she translated it as encouragement. Remembering how Cardin had humiliated Velvet and how he didn't stop, Blake smirked at him. "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."

That got a reaction. Dropping his feet from the desk, Cardin stood up and turned his glare on Blake. His hands clenched into fists and rage colored his features.

"Mr. Winchester," Oobleck intervened. "Please take your seat. You and Mr. Arc can both see me after class."

As thick-headed as Cardin was, even he wouldn't defy a staff member. After sticking his angry stare onto Blake for a little longer, he returned to his seat.

That was for Velvet.

There came a soft touch at Blake's arm. "Hey, are you alright?"

It was then that Blake noticed that while Cardin had turned away, she continued glowering at him. It was not just that she relaxed either as she found herself loosening fingers that had curled into fists similar to Cardin's. "I'm fine."

Pyrrha brows knitted with concern. "Are you sure?"

Truthfully, Blake would've felt better if Cardin had ignored Oobleck. She had taken pleasure in humiliating him just as he did to Velvet but that hadn't been enough. When he stood up to pick a fight, the faunus had been ready to meet him. She would've made him regret everything he had done to Velvet and any other faunus who he disrespected. She didn't have Gambol Shroud but taking him down with her bare hands would've been better anyway…and more satisfying.

She wasn't going to tell Pyrrha that and Blake reeled herself in. "I'm sure."

Still unconvinced, Pyrrha gently said, "Look, I know Cardin deserved that but you shouldn't let him get to you."

Blake chose not to reply and brought her attention back to their lesson. She knew Pyrrha was still concerned about her but, eventually, the redhead joined her. Unfortunately, it wasn't long until Blake found Velvet's subdued form at the forefront of her vision.

One good deed can't correct a lifetime of being at the receiving end of wrongdoings. Jaune and Yang had helped Velvet but she was still scared, still distrustful. With Cardin always around to remind her of what she's being put through because of what she is, Velvet can't possibly see humans in the same light as she did with her own kind.

As kindhearted as she was, Pyrrha didn't understand. Sooner or later, they'll get to you. They'll keep going and going, taking your reluctance to fight back as consent that what they were doing was appropriate.

The only time that they'll stop is when you decide to make them.

The rest of their class ended without any more trouble. Upon hearing the bell, students gathered up their books and notes before crowding to the exits except for Cardin and Jaune. With Pyrrha mentioning she was going to wait behind and Weiss nowhere in sight, Blake left the hall by herself, an objective in mind.

While Velvet remained bowed, her rabbit ears were easy to see over the heads of the other students even when not at their full height and Blake effortlessly followed her. She still wanted to talk to the other faunus yet she still wasn't sure what she should say. She hoped that when the crowd of students dispersed throughout the halls and give her a suitable chance to speak with her, it would allow her to think of something.

It didn't. Instead, she found something else to worry about.

Pyrrha may've felt a responsibility to wait for her leader, but Dove Bronzewing didn't share it. Nor did he apparently need his leader to urge him to do some mischief. When the students cleared, Blake caught sight of Dove and how he seemed to have an interest in Velvet.

They won't stop…

That desire that Cardin had influenced a moment ago came back with a vengeance when Blake spotted the grin that the boy possessed at seeing the tiny rabbit faunus. He quickened his pace, eager to come up on the unsuspecting Velvet.

Blake went to intercept, her pulse racing.

There came a pounding between both sets of her ears as she stared down at the body that lied at her feet. Breathing heavily, she tightly gripped the wooden shaft of her sign that had been broken in two with the missing piece lying on the other side of her fallen attacker. There was the salt of her tears and the coppery taste of blood on her lips, mixing together and doing little to halt the nauseous churning of her stomach. Her grip weakened, her symbol of peace-turned weapon slipping through now limp fingers and leaving behind the splinters that were embedded in her palm.

She didn't mean it. She didn't mean to do this. Why didn't they just stop? They knew they were hurting her but they just wouldn't stop.

Then Blake did stop.

Dove did too for the same reason: the one that had nails digging through the cloth of his uniform to better stab into his shoulder. Wincing at the pain, he turned to see who approached him.

Yang had her own uniform on but it hardly did anything to make her appear any less intimidating with how she stood over Dove. "And where do you think you're going?"

The boy glanced back over at Velvet who remained unaware, then at Yang. He straightened up and squared his shoulders, trying to make up for the height difference.

Yang brought her head down so that she was eye level with Dove. Then, in a deathly calm voice, she spoke, "Not even on your best day, with all your friends."

There came a flash of crimson within those lilac orbs and the spectacle chilled Blake. For Dove, it and the reminder of how very alone he was at the moment persuaded him to go elsewhere. As soon as Yang released him, he made a hasty escape in the opposite direction of Velvet.

The blonde tracked him to make sure he didn't get any funny ideas. Satisfied that he was gone, Yang looked as if she was going to go in the rabbit faunus's direction until she happened to catch Blake. The aggression was wiped away immediately and she smiled at her partner. "Hey, Blake!"

That welcoming smile that came so easily didn't get the faunus to forget what she had seen on the usually cheerful and caring blonde. Forcing herself to recover, Blake hesitantly spoke, "Hey, Yang."

Yang hadn't waited for her greeting, having turned to see the retreating Velvet. Watching her turn a corner apparently spurred the brawler into action. "Actually, glad you're here! Got something I want you to help me with!"

Before Blake knew it, her partner grabbed her wrist and the faunus found herself being dragged behind. She stumbled and almost fell over but regained her footing despite how Yang didn't slow down at all. "Yang, what are you doing?"

"Hold on, I'll explain in a sec!" she assured. After clearing the same corner, she was shouting, "Velvs! Velvet!"

The turn that Yang dragged her around came closer to getting Blake to topple over. Fortunately, this time Yang slowed and it was easier for the faunus to straighten for a second instance. She soon saw that the reason for Yang's courtesy was because they had caught up to their quarry.

Velvet had spun around at the blonde's call and was staring at the two of them in astonishment. "Y-Yang?"

"Heya!" Yang greeted, letting go of Blake's wrist. "I was planning on catching you and Jaune after your class was finished!"

The long ears twitched with the confusion that was evident in those brown eyes as Velvet regarded her. "You were?"

"Yeah!" That smile diminished and, with a furrow of her brow, Yang scanned around them. "But…I see that Jaune isn't here. Don't tell me he actually ditched you."

As thrown off as she was with this turn of events, the unhappy look on Yang's face had Blake mustering up an excuse for Jaune as she didn't want JNPR's leader to take any blame for what hadn't been his fault. With what he's done for Velvet, he earned that much. She didn't get a chance.

"No!" Velvet cried out hastily. She blinked, seemingly amazed with her own outburst then quickly looked down at her feet to hide a blush of embarrassment. With a bashful voice she explained, "I-I mean, it wasn't his fault... Cardin was picking on him and he got in trouble with Oobleck."

Blake was as surprised as her fellow faunus. She was actually defending Jaune after only having known him for a short amount of time. All so that Yang wouldn't get mad at him.

"I see." A frown was produced at the explanation but Yang shrugged. "Eh, I'm sure he won't mind."

Velvet lifted her head back up at that. "Mind what?"

"Well I mean I know he won't say no and I got the okay from Ruby. Anyway, I can't help but notice that you don't eat with any of your teammates during lunch."

"W-we have a different lunch period!" Velvet responded, her voice tending to stutter with how she made such quick replies, this one possibly because she wanted to avoid another potential misunderstanding. "I have a special class that I take because of my abilities."

"Is that so?" Grinning, Yang reached out and gave Velvet a hearty slap on the shoulder that got the faunus to squeak. "I'd love to hear it and I'm sure the others will! You can tell us all about it when we eat together tomorrow!"

There came another twitch from those ears. Velvet tilted her head to the right and the furry appendage at the same side bent to match the motion. "Together?"

The grin stretching to cross her entire face, Yang proudly proclaimed, "Velvet Scarlatina, as chosen ambassador of the Team RWBY-JNPR table, I cordially invite you to dine with us tomorrow and every day after that! And as a bonus…"

Blake yelped at the shove that nearly had her colliding into Velvet who managed to hop away to avoid it. When she straightened, Blake was face-to-face with her fellow faunus and guessed that she was as bewildered as she was.

"I want to introduce you to my partner!" Yang exclaimed. "Blake, this is Velvet. I kind of bumped into her in the girls' room earlier. Velvet, this is Blake!"

Velvet was blinking repeatedly at Blake. Managing to recuperate at this point, Blake held out a hand to her as there was no way she was going to give any kind of impression that she disagreed with this setup. "It's Blake Belladonna."

Velvet stared down at the extended hand, then to Yang who couldn't get rid of her grin. When she looked to Blake, the rabbit faunus appeared as if she wanted to drift away from her as her ears once again drooped.

Blake felt an uncomfortable twinge at that. I'm one of you…

Velvet's ears and body straightened. Then, smiling, she clasped Blake's hand with her own. "Nice to meet you."

One out of one thousand, huh?

It took a moment for Blake to register what had happened. When she did, she returned the smile and gave Velvet a shake. "You too."

She supposed it was better than nothing.

---

The progress bar that Ruby had been keeping track of became obstructed by the appearance of a message. While annoyed at the interruption, her curiosity and recognizing the name of the sender had the young leader eagerly reading the contents.

[From: Yang Xiao Long

Team: RWBY

Diplomatic negotiations have come to a close, fearless leader! Another one for the RWBY-JNPR court!]

Sweet! Ruby silently cheered, glad to see a mission that she had green lit for one of her subordinates meeting a resounding success. She had gotten Yang's request to offer an invitation to the rabbit faunus that was getting bullied during lunch and, obviously, she approved it.

That just left her with her own assignment. Clearing the message from the screen of her scroll, Ruby was ecstatic to see that the progress bar had filled up during her quick reading. Closing the device, the girl unplugged the small cord that had attached it to her pair of red headphones.

This probably wasn't what she was supposed to be doing with school property but if anyone found out, she was sure she could use the excuse that it fell within her parameters of team leader if her activities involved the betterment of Team RWBY. Besides, it was only a few songs.

Trading her scroll for the headphones, Ruby flipped it around in her hands until she was staring at the ear piece that had a screen of its own although much smaller. Pressing a couple buttons, she started scrolling through the songs that were saved within its memory storage until one in particular came up.

[Weiss Schnee – Mirror Mirror]

Slipping the headphones over her ears, Ruby pressed play and laid down on her bunk, ready to gather much-needed intelligence on her target.

Chapter Text

She fell.

She fell but it was for a second before she met the branches. The momentum that came with falling from the speeding train had red leaves slapping at her face while thin, wooden claws tugged at her hair and scratched her bare arms as she plunged earthward.

The pinpricks of pain served to bring her back enough to activate her Aura before she hit something very, very hard. It had her folding over it, interrupting her descent until she was sliding off. Not for a moment did it occur to her to reach out to turn that obstacle into a lifeline and soon she was continuing her journey down.

It ended when she hit the ground.

And for a while she didn't feel anything at all.

The rest of her senses were fine. Her hearing was able to make out the clacking of the train, her now uncovered pair of faunus ears letting it last for just a little longer before it retreated completely out of range. The mechanical sounds soon gave way to the natural ones: a timely breeze that retook possession of the branches that she had hurtled through, their creaking masked by the shaking foliage.

She could still see. Lying on her stomach with cheek pressed against the ground, she made out the carpet of blood-colored grass that extended all around her, broken up by the thick, brown bark that went on for miles and miles. The leaves – whether due to her or the wind – fell all around her.

She registered how a few landed right on her, partially shrouding her form. At her face, arms, and stomach, the stems and blades of grass poked the exposed skin. The breeze that roused the forest to life attempted to do the same to her.

But she didn't feel it.

She still breathed and the grass near her mouth played within her breath as readily as they did within the air currents. She blinked when she had to. Her body reacted when it was required to.

But by no means did she feel alive.

She was missing something. She wasn't sure what yet she perceived that something very important was absent whether because she had misplaced it or it had just gotten lost. Whatever it was, it left her detached from the world around her and her own bodily functions, making her more like a spectator that was viewing the world through someone else's eyes.

The mystery vanished as soon as the name came to her. With the next bit of air she gathered, a portion of it was devoted to utter a name without her volition. "…A-Adam…"

Her throat was raw and the name came out as a croak because of it but there was something that felt so very empty about it. It invoked a hollow resonance deep within her that drew her attention to a leftover throbbing at her skull where she had previously struck her forehead, the same with her back. The thin lines that traveled up her arms stung and the burning sensation at her cheeks was cooled by a wetness that originated from an itching at her eyes.

The name was oh so familiar but there was no comfort to be found. Just…emptiness coupled with a desire to satiate it. There came a perverse twist as that same name responsible for this emptiness became a focus that convinced her that it could fix it. She just had to find it.

Her movements were slow and hesitant and she accomplished removing her face from the ground before her cat ears suddenly turned in the direction of noise that was not being produced by her or nature. Past the swinging branches and the red-leafed rain, she caught sight of a bone-like mask with crimson lines curving along its surface.

"Adam…?"

A bestial growl was the response.

---

"So who was that, Ruby?" Yang asked as soon as their leader closed the door. Her legs were hanging over the edge of her bed and Blake found the swinging of her bare feet at the corner of her vision to be quite a distraction that kept her from being fully engrossed in her novel.

"Actually, it was Jaune," she replied.

It was another one of those normal nights for Team RWBY. With the coming of darkness the girls were dressed and ready for sleep but not before partaking in last-minute discussions while they relaxed. Noise and the flickering of light beneath their door had played on Ruby's curiosity to investigate what was going on out in the hall.

"Did he lock himself out of his room again?"

Ruby grinned although she didn't seem to be carrying as much of the humor as the action usually did. "That was what I asked but, no, we were just catching up; I hadn't seen him in a while."

"No one has seen him in a while. Did he mention why he's been hanging around Cardin so much lately?"

Blake tore her gaze away from the pages and her partner's soles so that it could flick up towards Ruby. She was interested as well. Despite Velvet having accepted their invitation, the number at their table hadn't risen to nine students due to Jaune's mysterious transfer to Team CRDL's right after the arrangement had been made.

Questioning his teammates didn't provide much information with Pyrrha in particular going cold and supplying curt responses. Considering their own talk, it was baffling to Blake how Jaune was now fraternizing with Cardin and his bunch.

Fraternizing may be too polite of a word, she thought. Retrieving food for all four members, gathering their messy trays when done, and it seemed like Jaune's number of assignments had spiked with how he wrote more than ate. His reward tended to be slugs to the arm and headlocks that appeared mean-spirited rather than comradely.

To Blake, the sight was akin to a servant who was acting under thankless masters. She was curious as to what had brought that on.

"He did mention something about that," Ruby replied and visibly wrestled with whether to tell what that is with lips pursed. In the end she decided on, "But I think he'll be able to handle it."

"Well I would certainly hope so," came Weiss, her statement lacking any sympathy. The heiress was seated at a desk, brushing her hair with the aid of a short mirror. "If he can't handle it then he shouldn't have accepted Ozpin's decision to make him leader."

Blake shot her a look of disapproval and even Ruby frowned at her partner, neither of which the mirror displayed for the heiress. Remembering how Weiss beheld the whole bullying situation with Velvet, Blake's opinion of the fencer hadn't improved since then. The others had welcomed the rabbit faunus with open arms and had willingly included her in their conversations but Weiss tended to keep her interactions to a minimum with her brushing off Velvet during those rare exchanges.

At the very least, for once it was the free-thinkers who outnumbered the close-minded individuals. Unfortunately, the exception was the future recipient of Schnee Dust. That girl who was concerning herself with her appearance was to become the next head of the company that had taken to such deplorable actions against the faunus. It didn't seem like Weiss disagreed with whatever abuse was sent their way.

Her father must be so proud.

She couldn't see what Yang thought of this but she did take note to how her legs stilled and there came a flexing of her toes. "I'm with Ruby on this. When it really counts, Jaune does know how to step up."

Ruby took some assurance from her sister's confidence. "I believe that too." It was enough for her to change to a topic that had her starry-eyed with child-like fascination. "But hey, tomorrow is our field trip to Forever Fall!"

Blake had initially elevated her novel to hide a tiny smirk that had developed at her partner's confidence in Jaune that she had witnessed when they helped Velvet. Shortly after hearing Ruby's chirpy exclamation, the cover hid how it swiftly perished.

It performed its job adequately as Ruby had become rather animated with the reminder of their field trip, bouncing on her heels. "They say that every inch of the forest is red and the leaves keep falling and never stop!"

"Hence Forever Fall," Weiss replied dryly. "It appears as if it's always autumn."

"But do they really keep falling forever?" Ruby questioned, attention on the ivory-haired girl. "I mean, if they do then wouldn't all the leaves eventually fall off? Do they instantly grow back or something? Wouldn't there be an ocean of leaves if that was the case? Where do they all go?"

Weiss dropped her brush and traded it for a palm that smacked against her forehead. "What are you, a kid?" Swiveling around in her chair, she admonished, "It's a figure of speech! If you paid attention to your geography you would know that Forever Fall extends for miles, taking up Vale's entire northern coast which becomes more mountainous the further you go. When you combine mountains and the coast you get…"

The bouncing came to a halt and her leader stared vacantly at her.

"…Wind," Weiss sighed, vexed. "A lot of wind." Sticking to a simpler route she explained, "A lot of wind with a lot of trees with a lot of leaves mean a lot of falling leaves to the point where it appears that they keep falling forever. They do grow back faster than normal but not instantly."

"Ooooh."

"Seriously." Weiss rubbed her temples. "That's like asking about the moon."

"Now that you mention it…" Ruby tapped her chin and stared at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Why does the moon look broken sometimes?"

"Are you seriously ask- no." Weiss planted herself back into her chair, having been ready to launch out of it and potentially strangle the younger girl. "No, not when I've finished doing my hair." Without her brush she stuck to using her hand to smooth out any strands that may've gotten displaced.

"Doesn't your company own a railway line that goes through the forest?" Blake asked.

"As relieved as I am to see that one of us does pay attention, I don't see how that has anything to do with our trip." Collecting her mirror and brush, Weiss went to the foot of her bed to deposit them in one of her cases. "It runs deep within Forever Fall and I doubt we'll be going that far in since we'll be hiking it there on foot."

Blake shrugged nonchalantly. "I was just curious."

"I don't know why unless you like watching trains go by."

"…I do," Ruby quietly admitted.

Weiss used a bit more force than necessary to snap her suitcase shut at that. "I think we should be keeping watch over something more important like the Grimm in case you've forgotten. Besides, it hasn't gotten that much traffic in a while." She used that same amount of energy to toss the covers off to the side and drop onto her mattress, putting her back to her teammates before pulling them over her. "We leave early tomorrow so let's just get some rest."

"Trains or no trains, I'm still excited," Ruby insisted. "It's always fun to visit new and exciting places." Taking heed to her partner's want for sleep, the scythe-wielder went over and gripped the edge of her hanging bed. She paused as she was about to lift herself up and looked down at the heiress. "Goodnight, Weiss."

A grunt was the response.

Glancing over to her other two teammates, Ruby offered the same to them before she climbed up and disappeared behind the curtains of her bunk. Blake waited until her leader had settled in and then leaned over to slide her novel into the small bookshelf. When she was about to turn off the reading lamp on top that had served as their only source of light, the faunus stopped when there came a tap against her head.

Yang still sat at the edge of her bed and had made no move to get her feet out of the way so that Blake wouldn't bump into them as she just did. When the ninja looked up it was to see her partner looking down at her peculiarly. "What?"

Yang pursed her lips in a manner similar to her sister's, leading Blake to wonder if it was a family trait that they shared. After a shrug, the brawler rolled over and disappeared as she settled into bed. "Nothing. Goodnight, Blake."

Blake's brows knitted together as she scrutinized the space above her. When Yang didn't reappear or offer anything else, Blake decided not to pursue it. "Goodnight, Yang." She shut the lamp off and settled in for sleep. It proved to be evasive.

---

With them having been excused from their classes for the occasion of their field trip, there was very little else for them to worry about once morning came around other than to grab their gear and gather with the other selected teams within Beacon's courtyard. None of them dawdled though as if there was one thing they all knew it was that Glynda Goodwitch did not tolerate such delays nor did she allow them to go unpunished whether with a verbal reprimand or a threatening snap of her crop.

Going by the clock that one of Beacon's towers sported, they were a good twenty minutes early yet Professor Goodwitch was waiting for them with a spine that was as rigid as the air around her that refused to be swayed by their punctuality. It constantly gave off an impression that was uncompromising and no matter what a student may accomplish those light yet piercing shade of greens beneath those rectangular lenses would always find a fault that she would call attention to.

This went to her dress which appeared more for business than slaying monsters with how the black skirt was buttoned tight around her womanly curves and over that white suit with the puffy sleeves. It fell to her thighs where black stockings sheathed her legs at the space between the skirt and those calf-length boots with their high heels. Her platinum blonde hair was done up in a tight bun that kept it from any unruliness.

Her cape and the teal gems that hung from her ears and collar, however, carried a bit of medieval mysticism about them like everything else when it came to Beacon. Purple on the inside, black on the out, the cape had been purposely torn and designed with the strips of cloth shaped to twist and curl with a freedom that Goodwitch usually restricted. The outside was decorated with a line of brown, diamond-shaped beads and an emblem of a tiara had been sewn above them. It was the cape and how her weapon was collapsed and strapped to her leg that referred to her own awe-inspiring skill with Dust that gave justice to the name Nature's Wrath.

"I think she really cares deep down," Ruby had told them early on when Yang had been at the receiving end of a lecture when she made the mistake of trying to send a text message with her scroll during class. The textbook failed to hide her scroll and did an equally bad job of preventing the slap at her knuckles that had her device flying from her possession and into Glynda's which remained there for three days so that Yang may reflect on the proper use of school property. "She's like an old grandmother who always says 'this is for your own good' except she really means it."

"If you call her old or grandmother she'll kill you where you stand," her sister warned while she rubbed the reddened area of her hand. "Although she does pull off the look a bit too well."

"Having seen her fight, I don't doubt it."

That was something that Ruby went into great detail about. That methodical disposition of Glynda's – as critical as it can be – translated well when it came to that brief demonstration of her power which identified and took advantage of the environment to launch relentless attacks that, even when blocked, would be seamlessly followed-up with another that came at her opponent from a different angle.

"And she did watch out for me," Ruby pointed out. "When I think back on it, I get the feeling that the reason she was angry was mostly because she was worried that I could've gotten hurt."

Goodwitch hadn't forgotten about it either apparently. At Team RWBY's approach, she specifically singled out the youngest member. "Ah, Miss Rose. I'm glad to see you bestowing your team with a proper example of being at the right place at the right time."

"Someone gave me a valuable lesson on it," Ruby replied, smiling pleasantly at the older woman.

Glynda had as much authority over herself as she did with her classroom but even so Blake managed to distinguish a fraction of a second's delay before she replied, "Yes, well, see to it that you continue to uphold it."

It was the closest thing that any of them had heard to a compliment much less Glynda actually being caught off guard and Ruby recognized it as such when her smile widened by its own fraction. "I will."

Blake wondered if there was an ulterior motive for their professor choosing that moment to focus on her scroll while her free hand pushed those thin glasses up to the bridge of her nose. She couldn't blame her as it was hard to remain steadfast once Ruby got cute with you.

Yang gave Ruby a covert nudge. "Nice," she whispered.

"I see that JNPR is similarly prepared." There came a pause and a squint before Glynda added, "Most of them anyway."

Blake rotated around with the rest of her teammates to see three out of the four members coming up to them with Nora leading. The hyperactive girl wasn't letting the fact that their field trip had yet to begin prevent her from performing an exaggerated march with knees rising high while she pumped her arms. Ren dutifully followed her, composed as ever, but not so for Pyrrha who took to the rear and had her head turned as if searching for something. Or someone.

"That just leaves us with Mr. Arc and Team CRDL," Goodwitch checked off and her finger was probably doing the same on her scroll. "I trust that they won't keep us waiting." It was still early but she sounded dissatisfied.

Once Nora joined them, the girl became as straight as a rod before saluting sharply to their professor. Blake used the opportunity to step back to partially obstruct Ren's path to get his attention. "Nothing's improved?"

With Pyrrha acting as she was, the other boy in JNPR was the second best person to turn to when it came to getting a suitable explanation. Even when Blake didn't specify what it was she was asking about, Ren shook his head in negative. "Not at all. We hardly saw him last night."

Blake blinked at that. "Ruby bumped into him when he was right outside of our dorm. I assumed that he was with you guys."

Again Ren shook his head but this time looking perturbed with this latest intel. "We didn't see him until we woke up and found him sleeping in his bed. Whatever he was doing, he didn't come back until very late into the night and way after curfew."

That got Blake worried. Being ordered around by Cardin to do miscellaneous tasks was one thing but to disregard a school regulation that had him going to who knows where with his team not having any idea about it was beyond troubling. "How's Pyrrha holding up?"

"She had been particularly sullen even before this," Ren replied. "It began right after she waited for Jaune after Oobleck's class."

Blake remembered that Cardin had been forced to stay behind with Jaune too. "A connection?"

"I think a coincidence," Ren corrected, magenta eyes becoming unfocused as a sign of deep thought. "She was rather distressed but it seemed to be as much of a surprise to her as it was to us when we saw Jaune hanging around with Cardin. Later on she became irritated."

The armored Spartan in question, Blake saw, had joined them but remained off to the side from the gathering. Her hands were being wrung together in a clear sign of brooding when mixed with her lowered chin. "And now?"

Ren was examining Pyrrha worriedly as well. "Upset."

As much as Blake regretted not being able to assist the same team that aided Velvet, the situation sounded more complicated than it appeared. If it was some escalated form of bullying it would be easy to solve but if the problem was rooted to some turmoil within the team itself then she had no idea how to approach this delicately.

It didn't appear as if it was going to be solved anytime soon either. Goodwitch brought up an antiquated wristwatch to check the time and the action was apparently enough to act as a summons that brought Team CRDL to the courtyard.

It went without saying that Blake and the others held no love for any arrangement that involved associating with the other team, hence RWBY and JNPR's mingling with each other while leaving CRDL out. Unfortunately, she suspected that the field trip was meant to do exactly that: a gathering of sap samples that would bring the first-year teams together with a joint venture in the middle of Grimm territory. She highly doubted its success.

Seeing the all-boy team and how they ignored the stumbling Jaune who was lugging a case with mysterious contents but heavy weight behind them was distasteful. The task was made even more difficult with how he was balancing several empty glass jars on top of the case – what they would be using to collect the sap from the trees of Forever Fall and what Professor Peach had supplied them all with.

Ren watched their approach grimly and even Nora's ever-present smile slipped. Pyrrha's distress grew and appeared as if she was about to go over and help Jaune but remained grounded and torn as if reluctantly following an unspoken order.

Goodwitch was as steely as ever. "I advise for improvement on timeliness, Mr. Winchester."

The muscular leader shrugged leisurely. "Come on professor, we're two minutes early."

"And since you've decided to grace us with your presence so expeditiously," she continued firmly, "I see no reason for us to linger any longer." With that, she turned and began their march with high-heels clicking upon the solid path of the courtyard while the ends of her cape beckoned for the students to follow her.

They fell in behind her, creating a vibrant mass of color considering their chosen style of clothing as they headed north. With Beacon situated up in the cliffs and its style of construction, the combat school flowed well into the rolling hills that bumped along the horizon. A step off the stone lane and a quarter of an hour of hiking had them reaching the apex of one that was high enough where, upon going down the other side, even Beacon's high towers would vanish behind it.

Just as they were about to venture over it, Blake paused. While the others walked around and ahead without her, the faunus peered back over at what had become her home. Her attendance had officially reached a month today and in that amount of time she had felt nothing but safety and contentment while living within its buildings.

She looked ahead. With her enhanced eyesight she could make out a line of red at the horizon that cut along the sea of green. Seeing it brought none of the feelings of security but a rising sense of dread.

She clamped down on it with the reasoning that she'll be fine. It had to have been long enough and she felt nothing when she had been sent plummeting into the Emerald Forest.

It's just another forest and we're just filling jars of sap. There's nothing to be worried about.

So why did she turn around a second time towards Beacon with the wish that she could go back to her dorm right now?

It's just another forest, she thought again, this time with irritation that she directed at herself to use in an attempt to reclaim her nerve. Get over it.

The others were going to notice if she delayed any longer as even Jaune was getting ahead of her. Cursing at herself, she hastened to catch up and managed to do so in time to snatch at one of the jars that tipped and rolled off the case while Jaune traversed down the steep hill. Ignoring his thanks, she silently placed it back and forced herself to keep moving.

She didn't notice how her fingers were twitching as soon as she let go of the jar.

---

The leaves let them know that they were getting close in the form of small clouds that scattered and sprinkled onto the ground where they flipped past the shoes and boots of the assembled trainees. Ruby became ecstatic, bending down to snatch a few of them as they went by to better scrutinize them as she turned them around in her hands. Despite how it was only the color that was different from the regular greens, she viewed them as if they were prized possessions.

Nora took it one step further, collecting them until she had two handfuls and then flinging them up in the air to create her own artificial rain that showered everyone upwind of her. A snap from Goodwitch put an end to their tomfoolery.

The patches of grass that matched the pigment preceded the first tree with limbs decorated with red foliage. Beyond that, the grass and leaves came together to form a carpet that welcomed the students of Beacon to Forever Fall.

"Yes, students," Glynda spoke when Ruby and Nora were joined with the other members of their respective teams to look around their surroundings in wonder, "the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful, but we are not here to sightsee." The last was enforced with a serious expression she sent over her shoulder. "Professor Peach has asked you to collect samples from deep within this forest and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so."

She stopped and turned to face them, bringing the entire band to a halt while she produced a jar of her own except this was filled with a liquid that matched the forest's hue. "Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm so be sure to stay by your teammates." She peeked at her watch. "We'll rendezvous back here at four o'clock."

Sweeping her gaze over her charges, that tough exterior actually cracked with a raised corner of her mouth. "Have fun."

The group took it as permission to separate into two smaller ones; RWBY taking one direction with the members of JNPR following them. Well, most of them as there came a tug of Jaune's hoodie that prevented him from following his teammates.

"Come on buddy," Cardin jeered cruelly. "Let's go."

Blake heard it but couldn't find it in her to worry about the blond boy's situation as she had to deal with an issue of her own: the hand that was shaking at her side.

She eventually noticed that errant twitching of her digits and had managed to bring them under control by stretching them as far as they would go until there was a pinch at the back of her hand that told her she was going too far. She folded them and flexed again and that seemed to do it.

If only it was so easy to block the paralyzing touch of that previous dread from traveling around her insides the deeper they went into Forever Fall. She focused on the presence of the gathered teams, listening to the crunching of their boots while concentrating on specific points to keep her mind occupied like Ruby's fluttering cape and the tip of Weiss's Myrtenaster that swayed behind her. That seemed to impede its progress.

When Goodwitch gave them the go-ahead, the teams scattering was like Blake's protective walls that blocked out Forever Fall crumbling all around her. That was when she realized that her hand was trembling. She gripped the white material of her shorts as she balled it into a fist to try and subdue it.

Stop it, she silently ordered. There's nothing to worry about. When she dared to relax, she was relieved to find that it stilled. Wary but breathing a bit easier because of her success, Blake caught up with her team to find Ruby inspecting her chosen tree.

"So we hack open the tree and collect the sap that's inside," Ruby listed aloud, staring up at the high branches. Removing the folded block of metal at her back, the girl held it off to her side to allow a shaft to extend from it while the block itself unfolded to reveal the signature blade of Crescent Rose. "No sweat!"

"No, you dunce!"

Ruby had pulled back her scythe and was prepared to chop away until the loud voice had her freezing in place. She turned to the source, her signature pout on her face. "Weiss, you know I can do it! You've seen me chop down a tree before!"

"Don't remind me," the heiress grumbled. "But that's not what I meant. Just brazenly cutting down whatever tree you find is an inefficient way to collect sap and you'll be killing off the whole tree."

"There's a lot of trees here though," Ruby countered, gazing around to take in what had to be dozens that were within sight. "Would it really matter if we cut down one or two?"

"It's a waste!"

Blake chose to step in if only to keep her mind occupied with a task. "I think having a tree crashing down might attract some Grimm, Ruby."

The reasoning did a better job of getting through to her leader who gave her target another look. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Here." Taking a knee, Blake drew Gambol Shroud before motioning Ruby to join her. Once she had her scythe planted and body crouched, the faunus gently placed the edge of her weapon against the bark. "You don't need to cut deep into it to get to the sap."

Ruby nodded, staring intently as Blake used the blade to scrape away at the bark that sent wood chips and shavings dropping to the ground. Considering that Gambol Shroud could cut through creatures of darkness and military-grade androids with ease, it was a simple matter for her to clear a few inches of space that revealed a section of wood that was lighter in color.

"Sapwood," Blake identified. "It's the part of the tree that transports all of the water and sap that's needed to keep it alive and growing. Tap into that and you let it and gravity do the work for you." She drove her blade in a bit deeper for emphasis.

"You sound pretty smart, Blake," Ruby complimented. She leaned forward to get a better look. "You and Weiss seem to know a lot about these things."

Blake chose not to respond. Her smaller weapon allowed her to carefully carve out an angular space that would let the lip of a jar fit comfortably. She gave Ruby some room. "Your jar."

Ruby popped open the lid and held the container against the cleared section just as the sap started to seep out. The red, sticky fluid slid down and then over the lip. Gathering at the bottom of the jar, it began to fill up at a rate that had Ruby commenting, "Wow, there's so much!"

"A lot of leaves mean a lot of sap," Blake replied, taking a page from Weiss's book. Her nose wrinkled as the strong scent entered her nostrils. "The trees here need it-" She broke off.

Her hand was shaking again.

The sap made her fingers sticky and it clung to the back of her throat, leaving an unpleasant syrupy taste in her mouth that she unsuccessfully tried to rid herself of with a gulp. The hilt of her sword felt gummy to her touch, dirt and leaves clinging to it and her but she dare not let it distract her from the beasts that her ears could detect the approach of. She caught a silhouette that was there and then gone again.

The scent that offended her sense of smell became overpowering as more of the sap flowed out from the wood and was collected in the jar. Ruby kept her attention on her task, not even registering how Blake had gone quiet or how the faunus was stepping away to put as much distance as she could from her leader.

It was a futile effort. The smell of the red sap was heavy in the air, the reason for it being how everyone else was collecting their own samples whether by following her example or because they had known the proper way. Ren had used the blades of StormFlower to carve into his own tree and just finished filling one jar which he handed to Nora before bringing up another empty container to do the same. Pyrrha and Weiss were clearing out the bark with their own weapons, revealing the sapwood that would soon be bleeding.

Blake held her breath but not before getting another whiff that had her gagging. She was beginning to feel queasy and lifting a hand to her nose and mouth reminded her of how it was trembling so violently.

She stepped further away, not just from Ruby but from everyone else as she became driven with a powerful urge to leave. She didn't want to be seen like this, not by them. They'd ask what was wrong and she didn't know what to tell them, couldn't even think of what to tell them when that scent was everywhere and she just wanted to leave and get control of herself.

She turned around so as to avoid one of them turning and seeing how ill she knew she probably looked while keeping her shaking hand in front of her, out of sight. She didn't move too quickly despite how she just wanted to run with the knowledge that she may make too much noise and they'll come searching for her anyway.

She just needed a few minutes. A few minutes away from the sap that invoked too many daunting memories.

Blake removed them from her sight but a bit more speed-walking was required before she stopped smelling the sap. Once she was in the clear, she took deep breaths of untainted air in order to quell her rising disgust. Her hand, however, continued shaking and all she could do was observe the tremors that coursed through the appendage.

…It figured. After all she had been through, after all she had been forced to experience due to the discrimination brought on by others, what would end up traumatizing her was what she had inadvertently done to herself.

She tried curling her fingers together to form a tight fist but it proved to be ineffective this time. She grasped it with her other hand, squeezing it before bringing it close to her chest. The trembling was transferred over to her other limb. Wanting to get off her feet, Blake sat down before leaning back against a trunk that had its bark intact.

One mistake. A single oversight that had turned what should've been a clean getaway into a frightening fight for her life with her being the only person to blame for it.

When she fell from the train, not all was lost. She could've just stuck to the tracks whether to wait for another to hitch a ride on or, if she had to, follow them to civilization on foot. All that she would've wasted was a day or two at most.

She hadn't stuck to the tracks. She had been out of her mind. That sloppy severing of the bond had left her irrational with the sole desire that got her up and staggering away from her marker within this wilderness was to find this piece of herself that was missing. She didn't know how she was going to do it, didn't even know where to begin. All she knew was that it wasn't at the tracks.

And like she told Ruby, she ended up lost for quite a while.

She couldn't regain her bearings. The sickness at her heart and the wounding of her soul had robbed her of all perception. The hunger, the thirst, the exhaustion, and the Grimm nearly took away her sanity. The sap helped and hindered her; giving minor sustenance in exchange for an attraction of the Grimm. As the days and nights passed, there came the very real possibility that she was about to relinquish her life to this forest.

That blessed hearing of hers that alienated her from society saved her life. The babbling of a brook served to snap her out of the gloom. Drinking pure water cleared her mind and cleansing herself from the sticky hold of the red sap freed her in more ways than one. When she stood, rejuvenated, it was with every intention to persevere and establish that new life that had set her on this course. Ultimately, she left the forest and didn't look back.

Only to have that new life force me to return to where I left behind all my troubles, she thought sourly. She had believed that the months in Vale were enough and that the one in Beacon accomplished in getting her over what happened. Obviously, she believed wrong.

Removing her hand from her chest it was to see that, gratefully, it had finally stilled. How long that would last she didn't know but it was best to make the most out of it. I need to collect my own sample.

She stood up, brushing off her clothes while establishing another plan. She could collect some sap out here away from the others. By the time she filled her jar and returned they should be done and if another episode was to occur she could deal with it herself.

A slight frown sullied her features as she took a gander around. As quick as it was for her retreating from the group, she wasn't a hundred percent sure as to what direction she should go to return to them. She had an idea but…

She stepped away from the tree that she leaned against. She had come from – she twisted around – that way. Even if it wasn't an exact retracing of her steps she should be able catch a sign of the others as long as she was close enough. To be on the safe side, she should locate them to be sure before she went about her task. The last thing she wanted was to get lost again.

I couldn't have gone that far, she reasoned as she moved with eyes and ears open for any sign of the others. It was just enough to get away from the smell. Yet even the scent of the sap didn't come to her after a few seconds of walking. It's fine; just a bit more than I expected.

There was still nothing and the faunus became aware of that previous sense of dread steadily clawing its way up. There's nothing to be worried about. Even if I don't know where they are I just need to go south and I'll find them. I have my scroll too so I can contact them if it comes to that.

She looked to her left. There's nothing to-

The sensation shot out from the depths of her lower belly, streaking past her lungs which froze at its passing. It reached out for her heart, seizing the organ before squeezing. What breath remained fled and Blake dare not try to replenish it.

…No.

It was a noticeable gap within the great expanse of Forever Fall. It made it easier to see what had attracted her gaze as if a magnet. The dull color of the stone clashed harshly with the bright tint of the forest, causing it to stand out the same way it jutted out from the ground.

A boulder in the middle of a forest clearing.

Blake was barely aware of how her head shook slowly to visibly express the denial over what she was seeing. Her lungs were beginning to burn and it granted them the ability to break out of the immobilizing hold to fill themselves with a heavy load of oxygen. The renewed functioning of one organ restarted the other. The grip on her heart lasted for a few pounds but even when it pulled away her heart kept going within her chest at a frantic rhythm.

It's not the same, she mentally rejected, eyes remaining glued on the center of the clearing. It's not the same. It can't be.

Forever Fall extended for miles, just like Weiss said. It was huge. To expect to run into the same clearing with the same boulder, the odds were too numerous to chart. They hadn't even gone that deep into the forest so they couldn't have possibly made it all the way out here. The mountains were still a ways off.

Forests were allowed to have more than one clearing. They could have more than one boulder and this one wasn't even in the center as it was more to the side. It didn't have the split in the middle either. It was different.

The leaves fell as they did back then though, showering the area and that large rock. She had watched them drifting in the wind from her seat, comparing their journey to the one she had yet to take. Now seeing them was inspiring this terror that she couldn't understand why was plaguing her because this wasn't the same.

She barely had a moment to notice how not one but both hands were shaking at her sides before there came the rustling of vegetation. Without thinking she was whirling around to face the noise, unintentionally stepping into the clearing. She desperately searched for the source but didn't find it.

Her heart kept going and going, beating heavily beneath her breast. It was thumping so strongly that she swore she could feel every line and contour as it worked against her. It let her feel another thing: an empty, hollow space that felt dead when compared to the liveliness that the rest of the organ advertised.

There came additional noise and Blake was taking another step with another whipping of her head. Her breathing was fast and shallow as if hoping to match the pacing and she couldn't stop the frenzied movements of her pupils that vainly attempted to find whatever it was that was out here with her.

Or whoever. Deep within that void came a wish, a need; a yearning to reclaim what had gone missing and what had left her alone…so alone.

…Adam?

The name horrified her as it crossed her mind and whiplash was becoming a possibility with the constant shaking of her head. Not Adam, he's gone! He wasn't there when you searched for him and he isn't here now! It's been months and you're better without him!

She caught a silhouette in time with another stirring from the surrounding woodland. She didn't make out what it was but it was big. Too big to be any human or faunus.

It's not him.

Her hand enveloped the cool, solid weight that was her trusted weapon's hilt. It was still trembling.

It's not him. He's gone and you don't want him back. It's not him.

At the crunching of leaves directly behind her, the faunus spun around, ripping Gambol Shroud from her back to bring the sharpened steel with her.

"Woah!"

The cry and flash of gold, out of place but familiar, got Blake to freeze in mid-swing.

Yang stood in front of her, balancing on the one foot that she had slid back in response to Blake's sudden turn. She had an arm raised and while Ember Celica did not activate to encase it, the brawler had positioned the armored bracelet so that it would've been able to block Gambol Shroud had Blake not halted her attack. As it was, the blade fell short of connecting and remained hovering in place.

Eyes wide and unblinking, Yang slid them from Gambol Shroud to Blake. When she was sure the danger passed she dropped her arm and glared at her partner. "What the hell, Blake?"

Blake did blink and mimicked looking at the blonde and then glancing at her weapon. Remembering what she had been doing, the faunus turned her back on Yang.

"Blake, wha-?"

"There's something out here," she interrupted, sincerely wanting to find whatever it was she had seen and distract the brawler for a few seconds to let her recover.

Yang didn't say anything else and after a moment she was standing alongside Blake to survey the perimeter of the clearing. It encouraged Blake to search the area carefully, slowly sweeping around to spot anything unusual while both pairs of ears listened for potential danger. Whereas before there had been plenty of commotion that had put the faunus in such a state, as of right now she couldn't hear or see anything out of place at all.

"You sure you saw something?" Yang queried after a while, sounding doubtful.

"I…did," Blake replied but her hesitance betrayed her uncertainty. She was positive that there had been something other than her partner prowling around but with there being nothing but the natural sights and sounds of the forest it must've wandered off somewhere. That or maybe Blake really did imagine it.

"I suppose I'll have to take your word for it. You don't usually let people sneak up on you like that."

The faunus found herself tensing at the accusatory tone of the blonde. When she turned her head it was to see Yang with a brow quirked. She was frowning and Blake wondered if she was displeased with her. Blaming the near miss for it, Blake returned Gambol Shroud to its resting place.

"There was something out there," she insisted, starting to feel a bit annoyed at the disbelieving blonde which had her pulling away from her side.

There was a pause and what Yang murmured next probably wasn't meant for human ears but faunus ones caught it nonetheless. "A lot of excuses though…"

Blake managed to stop her shoulders from springing up but her irritation built up all the same. She moved further away from the blonde to get some more space between them. At the very least, her hands had stopped shaking and her irritability alleviated her breathing and subdued her heart. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I actually came to find you to ask for your help." Yang produced her glass jar with one hand, the lid in the other. The container was empty but when Blake inspected it she saw splotches of red sap that was stuck to the inside. "Nora kind of sampled my sample when I was distracted. I swear, that girl has a sweet tooth that's worse than Ruby's. She said she saw you go this way."

Her partner's tone became lighter but it and the humor did little to lessen her annoyance. Seeing and smelling the hint of a trigger had Blake wishing that Yang would leave her alone. "Why ask me for help? "

Gratefully, Yang popped the lid back into place to seal the jar and cut off the subtle aroma of the leftover fluid. With one hand now free she flicked her wrist to bring Blake's attention to that same golden bracelet. "I don't exactly have the proper tools for collecting any and I'm sure a blast may attract some unwanted attention."

Sound reasoning but that didn't explain why Yang had to bother her. Hoping to convince her to return to the others, Blake said, "You don't have to ask me for assistance. I'm sure Ruby can properly show you how to collect some."

Yang conceded a nod but didn't make any move to go away. If anything, how she kept one hand at her hip while the other had the jar tucked at her side transmitted how she wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon. "True, but Ruby isn't the one I want to talk to."

"Why do you want to talk to me?"

The blonde paused, all sense of joy and joking vanishing as she regarded Blake with another frown. This one didn't seem angry though; more like disappointed that the faunus had asked such a question. "Because you don't talk."

Blake had gone far enough into the clearing that when she stopped it was with the boulder within reach. "I don't know what you mean," she replied curtly. She knew she was lying. "I talk."

Yang knew it too. "No, you don't."

Blake didn't deign the allegation with a response as any would be a worthless effort. Behind her she heard nothing from the blonde, her partner appearing willing to wait for whatever Blake may choose to go with instead. She suspected it to be another excuse.

Yang's patience wasn't up to the task though. "I'm not stupid, Blake."

The faunus knew she wasn't but she was proving to be meddlesome. Out of all the times Yang would decide to approach her, she had decided on the worst possible moment to do so and with a tone that made Blake feel guilty. Most of the time the blonde was laid-back and outgoing; keeping things light and upbeat even when fighting. When it came to Ruby and certain others, Yang would become the protective older sibling who doted on them.

Then there were those rare moments like the one with the Ursi and Dove; instances that brought out the raging inferno that dwelled within her and would consume those bright lavenders with scorching crimson. By no means did Blake want to be at the receiving end of such a thing and hoped that she would get away from ever experiencing it.

The disappointment that marred Yang's smooth features and tinged her voice was proving to be a contender though. There was no anger; a hint of frustration , a side of exasperation, but nothing as harsh. In fact, the blonde almost sounded a bit…hurt.

Yet Blake couldn't find it in her to say anything. Keeping her back to Yang, the faunus idly traced a nail along the solid surface of the boulder. It was an activity to get the seconds flying faster with the intention that getting enough of them wasted would convince Yang that she was doing the same with her time and would leave.

There was a sigh but by no means was it for defeat. "I've noticed it. Out of all the friends we've made, I've come to know so much more about them in a month than I do about my own partner." Blake didn't offer an affirmative or a denial which Yang took as permission to go further with, "When I try to, there always seems to be something that comes up or you're too busy with a book."

"Yang," Blake spoke. "I really don't want to talk about this right now."

"Funny because I consider right now to be perfect. You can't run away, you didn't bring a book to hide behind, and we still have about an hour before we have to meet up with Goodwitch. Not that I plan on using the whole amount."

She said it but Blake was tempted to give running a try anyway as, out of all of them, Yang was the slowest of the team in exchange for being a powerhouse. Such a strategy would hurt more than help in the long run though.

Seeing Blake remaining where she was and hearing no other objections, Yang continued, "You've told me you were trained by someone but have never said who. You say you have no family or other friends here but you haven't said who or where they are either. What you do tell me about Atlas I can't help but feel like you're holding things back."

The nail persisted in its attempt at carving a mark into the durable stone and the pressure increased with each point that Yang ticked off.

"…Is Blake Belladonna even your real name?"

That Blake couldn't ignore as she finally faced Yang to give her a glare. "Of course it is!"

The brawler had a hand already up as if expecting the heated response. There was a short grin meant to say that she didn't really mean that last one but the disappointment was still there. "At least I don't have to worry about that." She dropped both of them. "Look, it's not just me; you've been pretty distant with all of us for a while now and we've noticed. I was willing to give you some space but now there's this whole thing with Jaune and I want to make sure you're not about to do something as crazy."

"I am not going to be friends with Cardin Winchester!" Blake responded with conviction and an angry edge. Did Yang really think she would do something like that?

"I wasn't thinking you'd do that specifically," Yang replied as if reading her thoughts. "Although none of us expected Jaune to do it either. I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I would like to establish some better trust between us and you've been pretty reluctant to share anything."

The anger abated enough to return to mild irritation but even that lost its strength at Yang's wishes and how the blonde tilted her head as if expecting Blake to say something. However, she still didn't say anything. She couldn't. She had sworn that never again would she make that mistake that held such consequences like the ones she was currently experiencing in the presence of this forest. Once was bad enough but if it she ended up going through a repeat…

She couldn't do it. No matter how much better her new life seemed to be she wouldn't let it deceive her so easily. If it meant keeping her friends in the dark, to never get them to fully trust her, she could live with that.

"…And I think I know why."

The faunus blinked at that before looking at the blonde quizzically.

"It's partly my fault I guess," Yang continued, scratching the back of her head. She no longer appeared disappointed. To Blake's shock, she seemed to be expressing regret. "I've been talking to Ren and Nora a lot and was saying how cool that whole bond thing is but I haven't been taking your feelings into consideration. When you told us about your friend that day…I can't imagine what that must've been like and I assume that it might be why you've been unwilling to say that much about yourself."

She wouldn't know how accurate her theory was but that wasn't what was surprising Blake. She was the one who was supposed to be taking all the blame and yet Yang was making it sound as if it was her who was at fault.

"It's not you, Yang," Blake replied awkwardly. "My friend…" She paused, sighed, and lowered her head while her shoulders receded. "That thing with my friend is a reason but there are…" She found herself floundering, balancing on that line that divided too much and too little information. "There are others…not necessarily linked to but it is a factor and…"

"I can understand that," Yang spoke again, perhaps quicker than necessary. "I can understand why it or anything else that may've happened would make it harder for you to trust people, especially enough to form a bond with someone. Honestly though, I'm fine if we never do it but I still want to establish a more trusting relationship between us."

Blake couldn't believe what she was hearing and was slightly startled to find that she had taken a seat on the boulder with how put off she was at Yang's attitude. She was actually worried about her. What she was saying and what concerned her was not how Blake was purposely withholding things from her but how she may be causing her to hold back information about herself.

She instinctively fell back on that excuse that she was disguised as a human but that defense proved to be weak when she remembered what happened with Velvet. Velvet was a faunus and she had been in trouble but Yang had actively found her and protected her, going farther to invite her to their table so she wouldn't have to deal with Cardin and his band.

Yang was doing all of this because she cared. Even if she knew about her heritage, if Blake had to be honest with herself she didn't think this conversation would be going that much differently.

"I want to prove that you can trust me Blake, but I guess to do that I need to trust you. So I'm going to tell you something about myself."

"You've told me a lot about yourself already," Blake replied. She may've been holding back on a lot of things but when it came to Yang she knew a lot about her such as her time at Signal, what her favorite foods are, her motorcycle that she hadn't been allowed to bring with her but had affectionately named Bumblebee, and some rather embarrassing stories concerning Ruby such as her Beowolf-themed pajamas having included a stuffed Beowolf that she had named Mr. Woofles.

Yang had taken to entering the clearing, steadily approaching Blake. "Yeah, but this one's going to be a secret." She stopped in front of the faunus and ran a hand through her mane of golden hair to give it an attention-grabbing bounce. "You wonder why I'm so protective of my hair?"

"I can't say I have," Blake admitted. As uncomfortable as it made her to have Yang contributing more information about herself, she was intrigued. She had never given much stock in her partner's hair, having assumed that it was just her being vain. Sure, one strand tended to invoke pure rage and potential destruction of the landscape along with Yang's target but she never thought much of it.

"Not many do," Yang replied with a smirk. She set her jar on the ground and soon followed after it, resting against the side of the boulder so that Blake had to look down at her. "Truth is is that it's tied to my Aura. We have our weapons, Dust, and other tools that allow us to channel our Aura but, for me, my hair acts as a focus just as well."

Blake listened with interest. It was a lesson and one that students learned long before coming to Beacon. Along with the construction of their weapons, up and coming Huntsmen and Huntresses were taught how to let their Aura flow into their weapons that act as an extension of themselves. Doing so allowed them to perform as they did no matter how complex the weapon may be such as her Gambol Shroud. Using the ribbon tied to it and the pistol's recoil may seem chaotic but, with her Aura running through it, it gave her an awareness that allowed her to predict and control it so easily as if it were another limb. The same concept applied to Dust where an individual's Aura can shape its power into spells that they can direct.

But the soul and its energies were tied to the body first and foremost and Yang was one who took the most pride in it with Ember Celica being a weapon that relied heavily on the muscles and movements of her hand-to-hand fighting style more than anyone else. It was her Aura and Semblance that changed her physical appearance just as drastically with a shifting eye color and flaming hair. If Blake had to compare it to something it'd be like those who chose to mark their armor and clothing with sigils made of powdered Dust but much more personal.

"So the longer your hair…" Blake began.

"The more I can focus," Yang finished, pleased. "And if it's cut it makes it harder for me to draw out and control as much." She shrugged. "This is not to say that I'll be crippled or anything serious like that but I would feel…diminished. Besides, even if that wasn't the case, how could I let something this beautiful go to waste?" The last was reinforced with another bounce to her mane.

Blake understood what her partner was doing: she was confiding a weakness to her. It wasn't much of one from the sounds of it but it was a weakness all the same.

A weakness that she was entrusting to Blake; a partner who was remaining so distant yet she was offering it to her in an attempt to bring her in.

But Blake was still hesitant. It was the most that anyone has ever given to her – not to mention a human doing so – yet she was resisting the pull. Was Yang just doing this so she would be inclined to offer up something just as personal?

She could say that she was a faunus. Right here, right now, she could say it and she doubted anything would change other than having gained Yang's trust and perhaps the trust of everyone else. Yang, Ruby, and JNPR have all proven to hold no prejudice views against the faunus and she doubted that they would reject her. Even if Weiss did object she would be outnumbered and maybe she would eventually accept her.

…A good ending for a fairy tale.

They can accept a faunus but can they accept a criminal? A terrorist who had belonged to a group that is known for causing so much havoc and so much death? She could argue that it had once been peaceful, that the worst she had ever done was take part in boycotts, but she didn't let it end there.

Four years. Not a day or a week or a month or one year but four. She can't say that she had the hindsight to quit when she was ahead, that she understood what was happening and left right at the beginning. There were faunus who had quit the group after the change but not her. No, when she quit it was with a contribution to four years of violence and terror no matter how young and naïve she had been.

The real world went like this: she'll tell them, leave out the White Fang or not it didn't matter as someway, somehow, she'll be recognized or be linked to them anyway possibly because of how she lied about being a faunus. As a human she remained obscure but as a faunus she would get more attention. The latest child of the Schnee family – the number one opponent of the White Fang - or someone else would get suspicious and uncover the truth.

And then everything and everyone in her life will turn against her for a second time.

So she didn't say a word. She sat on that boulder with the intention of remaining tight-lipped until Yang understood that no matter how much goodwill she may hand out, Blake can never tell her anything about her previous life.

Her partner shocked her once again. Hardly any time had passed – definitely not enough for Blake to make up her mind - before Yang was speaking again. "I'm not trying to guilt you into telling me anything otherwise that wouldn't have had any meaning. If you ever want to tell me anything, I just want you to know that I'm willing to listen whenever that will be." She smiled up at Blake. "But, if it's not too much to ask, I'm fine with being considered as your friend instead."

…All because of one rash, stupid, foolish, idiotic mistake.

But she will cherish this as long as she can. She was pretending to be a human but she truly enjoyed the life that it granted her and she would enjoy spending time with the friends she was making here. So when Yang extended a hand up towards her, Blake closed hers around it and offered a tiny smile that hid so much. "Sure."

"Well, great!" Yang shot up to her feet with her jar, reenergized. "Then would a friend help a friend in getting some sap?"

The smile became a grin and Blake rolled her eyes before repeating, "Sure."

With Yang leading, the two of them settled down at a tree that they identified as being a bit taller than the rest. With Yang at her side, Blake began to strip off the bark in order for them to retrieve the sap.

It may be because of the subject matter but with her partner's proximity, Blake took note of a scent that exuded from her. She didn't know why she never noticed it before – maybe Yang used a different shampoo than the one with the picture of the swordsman -, but Blake detected a sweet fragrance that a quiet sniff identified as coming from Yang's hair; a few strands of which happened to brush her arm while she worked. It was strong but not overpowering, not like the sap. It was a fruity, honeyed aroma that reminded Blake of plums.

She found that she liked it. When the sap did start flowing, she concentrated on it and found it easier to prevent her hands from trembling.

---

Ugh, this is never going to come out, Weiss silently complained as she scrubbed harder with her handkerchief. She dug with the nail of her thumb to better scratch at the offending spot but when she pulled away it was to see a faint but noticeable blemish that persisted and a probe came back with an equally slight stickiness that had her turning her handkerchief on her finger with better results.

Her determined enemy remained infallible and how it stood out on the pale fabric of the sleeve of her jacket could – in Weiss's mind – be best described as mocking. She had been scrubbing and scratching at the accidental stain for a good minute yet she hadn't been able to erase its existence. By no means did she consider this a failure on her part though. Dust it all, why are we out here anyway?

She disliked this specific element of Beacon's education. Give her an exam or an intellectual problem to stimulate her brain and she'll solve it even if nine out of ten of them proved to hardly be a challenge. Nonetheless, her relative ease when it came to answering such obvious questions at least served to acquire the admiration – and maybe jealousy – of her peers.

Duels and other demonstrations of her combat prowess accomplished the same thing. While she had to resign herself to participating in such contests against foes who lacked such elegance and grace that came with her own swordsmanship, there was the satisfaction to be had when their unsightly assaults were easily turned away by swift parries or a stylish show of agility that would leave them exposed to the pointed tip of Myrtenaster or a Dust spell that flung them over the boundaries of the arena. When her opponents happened to be the Grimm, it worked to further present that Schnee talent prevailed against humanity's greatest foes.

What she was incapable of finding worthwhile other than that her professors ordered her to do it, however, was this latest field trip. Yes, she supposed there was the fact that there were Grimm in the area but their scarcity did nothing to distract her from what she was really doing: taking a walk through the woods and filling a jar with sap.

Weiss Schnee: the Great Reclaimer of Tree Sap. Not exactly a title meant to be imbued with a sense of pride with the same being said to the task itself. What does Professor Peach even need all these samples for anyway?

With the many generations of Huntsmen and Huntresses that have come out of Beacon, you'd think that there had been numerous opportunities beforehand for one of them to be sent out on such an unworthy task and spare the heiress from performing it. The speculation as to what laudable goal that their scholarly quest giver had in mind with the samples did little to ease Weiss's grievances as the few that she could think of sounded relatively meager whether it be identifying the genetic makeup that was responsible for the forest's appearance or why certain specimens of the Grimm were attracted to the fluid.

Maybe it'll be used later to bait some Grimm; Professor Port hasn't replaced his Boarbatusk yet. That was intended as a joke but, oddly enough, it interrupted Weiss's efforts to vanquish her red and sticky nemesis for a brief moment. Well, capturing instead of killing a Grimm can be considered as a more impressive feat I guess.

That shouldn't make this task any less undeserving of her but thinking about the elderly man and how this may aid him – although the odds say that that probably wasn't it – did assuage her. She wasn't sure what persuaded her to be so willing to give that extra effort when it came to that specific course and the teacher who taught it but ever since that first day she's had this unexplainable incentive to do better if only to redeem herself for how rude she had been to Port and how he helped her get over her problems with Ruby despite that.

Speaking of whom… Willing to concede this minor skirmish to the stain on her clothing with the prospect of winning the war once they got back to Beacon, Weiss looked around to see if she could spot that leader of hers but not before throwing a glance over to make sure that her jar not only remained at her side but was still full. I've got more than one wily foe out here.

The biggest danger that JNPR and RWBY had come to worry about was a certain orange-haired hammer-wielder. It had taken the disappearance of two samples before Ren secured his and Nora's from his partner's craving for the sweet syrup but that didn't stop her. Devoid of shame, she turned on the others by gulping down Yang's when she had been distracted by Ruby and went back to debilitating her own team by taking Pyrrha's. By then everyone was making sure to keep one eye on their respective samples.

She didn't see that Valkyrie girl and while that did generate some distress, Weiss reasoned that if she kept her jar close to her side she'd be able to see her coming and stop her. Tucking it tightly under one arm for good measure, Weiss searched for Ruby. There was Ren…Pyrrha…Yang had gone off to get another sample away from Nora and Weiss had no idea where Blake had disappeared to but she was more Yang's responsibility anyway.

Of course we'd come to the one place where red is an effective camouflage, Weiss thought with exasperation. As impractical as that cloak seemed to be - especially when it came to getting caught on things - it was a signature of Ruby's that she stubbornly refused to rid herself of and one that did make it easy for Weiss to spot her.

Despite the environment, that cloak helped her locate Ruby in the end. While it would allow Ruby to blend in here, it would work a lot better if the scythe-wielder kept it from flapping around. Weiss snapped her gaze to the movement that was only a few meters away and went towards it.

The cloth was partially hidden behind the thick trunk of a tree but even with it there came a twitch at Weiss's brow when she saw how low and how restricted it was as if it were being pressed against the wood. The fencer suspected the reason for it which became valid when she saw those stretched out legs before bringing Ruby entirely into her view.

While one portion of the cape was free to flap in the wind at her side, the rest was folded over Ruby's form and covering most of her body save for her legs. The hood was raised but only enough so that it acted as a thin safeguard that kept her hair and the back of her head from directly touching the rough bark which rested against it. Her face was bare and Weiss could see how her eyes were closed as if asleep.

Weiss stifled what was becoming a small reflex to snap at her partner that developed during the past month. In making good on her promise to be the best teammate, the heiress had graciously assisted her young leader when it came to her studies. It proved that she needed it as Ruby had showed to be quite inept when it came to her academics.

Okay, Weiss admitted, that was a bit harsh. Ruby wasn't inept per se but Weiss had quickly found it to be a challenge with how a lot of their lessons had a habit of flying over her head instead of sticking to her. Really, sometimes she found it impossible to get Ruby to just sit down and focus as a testament to the inattentiveness that came with being a girl of fifteen. It led to an aggravating first week.

But it was a first week that, looking back on it, Weiss understood that Ruby was trying with an effort to return the favor. The biggest obstacle was getting a hang of the various courses and while Ruby struggled to balance them out and many of her answers tended to be wrong when Weiss quizzed her, she was struggling to do so all the same. On top of that she did have special classes meant to develop her leadership skills and Weiss's ire lost steam on multiple occasions when a slumped Ruby was actually a tired Ruby rather than a negligent one.

It was the same here. Seeing Ruby resting as she was had Weiss standing still as she inspected her partner. If the heiress was honest with herself, this peaceful side of Ruby and how the surroundings matched her chosen dress was endearing. A leaf that had landed in her hair blended well with those streaks of red that went through her otherwise black strands.

Hard to believe that this girl is such a strong and capable Huntress-in-training. Ruby may come up short with her studies but when it came to fighting she was the prodigy that Weiss recognized her to be. For such a wild form of combat when it came to that oversized scythe of hers, Ruby had handily dominated both fellow trainees and the Grimm during her time here.

And she was getting better with said studies. Once she got a handling of her classes and their subjects, those study sessions have turned out to become less of a strain on Weiss's patience. The heiress just wished that she would work to keep on improving instead of acting on a tendency for loitering as she's been doing lately. She was becoming a Huntress for crying out loud. Deciding that she had let Ruby do enough of that here, Weiss stepped forward in order to wake her.

There came a shift originating from beneath Ruby's cloak at the same time her eyes snapped open and darted over to Weiss with an alertness that startled the white-haired girl. It vanished when her team leader recognized her and smiled brightly. "Hey, Weiss! For a second I thought you were Nora trying to sneak up on me."

Hearing the other girl's name had Weiss checking under her arm. Yep, still full. Relieved, Weiss looked back at Ruby. "I guess you still have your sample then."

Ruby nodded and she lifted her cape just enough for Weiss to see the glass of the container that was hidden beneath it. "The same one that I first collected with Blake's help," she proclaimed proudly.

Which had been after she nearly started felling some trees. Weiss chose to not bring that up. "Good. Since we have ours we should meet up with Goodwitch and hand them over."

Instead of agreeing, Ruby frowned in response. "Already? I just checked the time; we should have over thirty minutes left until four!"

"So we'll be over thirty minutes early," Weiss replied, not understanding Ruby's objection. "Come on."

Ruby's expression and position didn't change. She shook her head. "Nope."

The heiress blinked. "Nope?"

"Nope!" Ruby repeated, brighter this time as her frown performed a reversal. "We have thirty minutes and we're going to use them to relax."

"Or…" Weiss began, trying to be diplomatic and patient. "We can go to Goodwitch early and become better students in her eyes."

"Mmmm…" The younger girl scrunched up her face as if seriously contemplating Weiss's suggestion before chirping, "Nope!"

Weiss's palm slapped against her forehead, clearly not amused. Such childish displays were also making a comeback if last night and now was an indication. That thing with the trains and, seriously, asking about the moon told her just how much of a dunce that Ruby can be when Huntressing wasn't involved. "Why, pray tell, would you want to waste our time here?"

"Well it's either here or with Goodwitch," Ruby replied. "What are we going to do if we rendezvous with her? We're going to have to wait until four o'clock anyway as I doubt we'll be leaving without the others and do you expect everyone to be that early?"

By everyone Weiss assumed she meant that bunch of clowns known as CRDL if this morning was any indication. They were probably sitting on their butts right now, having yet to collect their sap if she had to guess and as much as she may put-down Jaune, the heiress had held him with enough regard to think that he wouldn't be reduced to their trained monkey. She could only wonder what's going on in Pyrrha's head right now.

Weiss refused to be dissuaded as, even if Ruby brought up a fair point, she didn't see how it invalidated her opinion to meet up with their professor. "But if we go to Goodwitch everything can be said and done."

"Tell ya what." Ruby straightened up against the trunk, lazily brushing off the leaf in her hair while her cape settled back over to hide her jar. "We'll compromise." Ignoring the fencer's risen brow she continued, "We'll relax here for fifteen minutes and then we can go to the rendezvous point with plenty of time to spare unless you really want to head to Goodwitch without me."

Clever girl, Weiss commented. The wry grin that Ruby had told her that her leader knew just how much that Weiss didn't want to return alone. It was partly due to her promise to be the best teammate but there was also the staffs' stress on teamwork. Weiss could imagine the criticism that Goodwitch would send her way when she reported in alone.

"I'll even send a call to Blake and Yang to get them to turn in with us."

Weiss glowered at the younger girl as she raised the stakes but it held little vehemence as the heiress mentally went over the offer. Turn in half an hour early alone or wait fifteen minutes and do so with the whole team and gain any praise that came with it. Ruby's adamancy about not getting up from the ground implied that any attempts at negotiations were destined to be wasted.

As annoying as it was, Weiss admitted that she was slightly impressed. A month ago she wouldn't have considered Ruby to be this clever and probably would've expected her to throw a childish tantrum in protest akin to their squabbling back in the Emerald Forest. Yet here that child was now. While the heiress still believed that her idea was better, this compromise that Ruby was offering was compelling despite how her leader's previous 'Nopes!' were far from that.

"Fine," Weiss accepted but with narrowed eyes to make it clear that she wasn't doing it because she liked it.

Ruby didn't seem to mind. Pleased with her minor victory, the girl scooted over and patted the vacant space of grass.

That was asking too much and the heiress didn't need to add grass stains to her skirt. Weiss crossed her arms over her chest, her container of sap in between them. "I'll stand."

"We've been walking and standing all day," Ruby countered and patted the spot a second time. "It's more relaxing to sit down."

"I agreed to wait fifteen minutes." Weiss cocked her head and turned her wrist enough to see the watch hidden beneath her sleeve. She didn't want to waste a second. "We didn't set any guidelines as to how I would do so."

Ruby gave her one of her trademark pouts but chose to forego any of her own efforts to alter their deal. After a shrug she rested her head back against the tree while singing, "If you say soooo~"

There came that twitch again but Weiss didn't make any other kind of response as she stood unwaveringly. Ruby said nothing else and, true to herself, had her feet moving back and forth while she lounged around. Weiss found herself watching the swaying toes of her partner's boots for what she figured was a minute but when she took a glance at her watch she saw that barely twenty seconds had gone by.

Twenty seconds and she was already regretting her decision. Fifteen minutes hadn't sounded like much but Weiss hadn't understood how this whole standing still thing could distort time as it was doing when there was nothing to distract her. She hadn't brought any of her work with her as they had been told specifically that their weapons and clothes were all that were required for this trip and nothing else.

Exhaling audibly, Weiss let herself be entertained by her partner's boots until there came an insistence to look at something else before Ruby caught her staring. She turned around enough to look at where she left the others and was able to spot the green of Lie Ren's tailcoat and the polished bronze of Pyrrha's armor. If anyone else had rejoined them Weiss couldn't see them.

She took another glance at her watch and was dismayed to see that a minute had only just passed. Her gaze slid from the timepiece to her nails so that she may inspect them. Perfectly manicured with smooth edges and not one crack or visible blemish in spite of today's menial labor. A scrutiny of the nails at her other hand had the same results.

A third check of her watch came away with one minute and twenty-two seconds which left thirteen minutes and thirty-eight seconds remaining. That calculation served to knock off two more measly seconds and leave Weiss with very few ideas as to what to do to accelerate the passing of all eight hundred.

"You were right, you know."

It was Ruby who spoke but when Weiss looked down she found her leader staring ahead. "Right about what?"

"About cutting down the tree." Ruby made a motion with her chin. "It would've been a waste. It didn't seem like a big deal but imagining having one knocked over in front of us right now would ruin the view."

Weiss followed Ruby's gaze and chin to take in said view. She had never been to Forever Fall before in person but the heiress did have an oil painting of it hanging within their dorm room. It was an expensive piece of art made by a reputable artist that Weiss didn't know of or really care and prior to its new place in Beacon the painting had hung from the walls of the Schnee manor with the others of her father's collection. It was that painting in particular that Weiss had admired the most out of all of them and when she had packed she requested her father to let her take it with her.

She could say that she had taken a liking to it because it was one of the few pieces that – while a product bought with Schnee wealth – didn't specifically illustrate the Schnee name itself unlike the family portraits. She remembered enjoying it as a child though; at an age when she hadn't begun to spurn the stifling pressure of living up to her family. Getting older let her appreciate the scenery that was captured on the canvas.

It was painted with a brush manipulated by a skilled hand yet there was nothing really orderly about the picture itself. Unlike the systematic cultivating of the gardens at her home, the trees, rocks, and grass possessed a randomness of positioning that should seem disorganized but had a natural blending that gave it an attractive quality.

It was still a painting and Weiss saw how it failed to convey what she now bore witness to as the landscape danced before her eyes with the trees swaying in place and swinging their branches to shuffle and sprinkle their collected foliage. There was no artificial influence; the synchronization one hundred percent natural.

"It is pleasant," Weiss agreed.

Ruby nodded. "I wish I brought my headset with me. It'd be nice to have some music to listen to."

The heiress hummed in a noncommittal fashion as, in her opinion, the music that nature provided was enough.

"I've been listening to a lot of new songs recently," Ruby continued. "They're…uh…really good."

It was Weiss's turn to nod although it was more automatic than interested. If Ruby's musical interests were anything like her sister's crude selections, Weiss didn't put much stock in her leader's opinions when it came to that art form.

It was the heiress's indifference that prevented her from perceiving her partner's uncertain tone. "They're really…um...pretty. Nice to listen to. And they're...yours."

The understanding came as slow as the descent of a leaf. When it did arrive, Weiss jerked her head towards Ruby to find the younger girl sporting a nervous smile. "Mine?"

"Yeah…"

Weiss wasn't sure how to properly respond to this and for a while all she could do was blink at her leader who appeared to be regretting having chosen this course. Finally she asked, "How many of them?"

"…All of them," Ruby admitted.

The fencer wasn't sure how she should feel about this either as it was difficult for her to legitimize what came up. Surprise and offence were two but she didn't know why as it was her singing that Weiss was specifically known for other than being her father's daughter. Disappointment maybe though, again, she didn't know why she should find her leader's listening of her songs to be so. One thing they all had in common was that they didn't encourage any sense of pride.

"All of them, huh?" Weiss repeated with a huff. "And you liked them?"

Ruby nodded her head vigorously. "I liked them a lot; the earlier ones especially! That's not to say they aren't all great because they are it's just that there were a few I liked more than the other ones and most of them happen to be in your first album and-"

She was actually sounding like one of her so-called fans and Weiss held up a hand to stop what was becoming a nonsensical ramble. "Alright, alright; I get it." Rubbing at her temples, she asked sardonically, "I suppose that you want an autograph or something?"

"That would be cool, I guess," Ruby said, embarrassed and Weiss's sarcasm apparently lost on her. Mustering up her courage, the scythe-wielder went on, "But that wasn't why I brought it up. I just wanted to compliment you and say that I think it's amazing that you were able to write and sing all those songs."

"I didn't write them," Weiss replied a bit sharply. "Not many singers write their own songs; I just sang them."

"Oh." The revelation seemed to deflate Ruby's optimism but the girl was still smiling nonetheless. "Well I still find it amazing that you were able to sing all of them, and so well too!"

Weiss nodded but was unmoved by Ruby's compliment. Refusing to add any more to the discussion, the fencer returned to observing Forever Fall's wooden performers. Ruby waited as if expecting her partner to say more but upon receiving nothing she decided to join her in the uncomfortable silence that fell over them.

No matter how much time appeared to stretch when it came to standing still, Weiss was prepared to spend the last – she checked her watch – eight minutes and thirty-four seconds without another word being exchanged between her and Ruby. Something that her partner mentioned nagged at her though and Weiss waited until there was an even eight minutes left before she queried, "What was it about the earlier songs you liked more than the later ones?"

"Huh? Oh!" Taken aback but happy to see Weiss willing to go on, Ruby explained, "The earlier songs sounded more…inspiring I want to say. Your later ones were good and I can tell that you were improving but something about them changed." She chewed on her lip, silver orbs glazed with consideration. "You sounded distant. More like you were just singing them from memory."

Considering that this is Ruby, the explanation was exceptionally insightful…and accurate. No one had ever scrutinized her music the way that Ruby was doing and Weiss had long-since become immune to the cheers of the faceless crowds who applauded her because she was the heiress to Schnee Dust no matter how neglectful she became towards her own talent.

Wordlessly, Weiss knelt down on the space that she previously declined and made sure to pull her skirt up enough to avoid tarnishing it. As much as she admired viewing the forest, she grimaced at how itchy the blades of grass and leaves felt against the bare skin of her knees but chose to ignore them. Ruby was confused at the older girl's actions but stayed quiet.

"Honestly," Weiss began when she got a comfortable position, "that was when I started hating it."

Ruby blinked, baffled. "Hating it? But you were so good!"

Weiss shrugged. "I discovered a talent for it when I was younger. I was given tutors and teachers who taught me how to refine it, got my own stage, and I did enjoy it. After a while though, it got old. I'd perform, people I know nothing about would cheer and applaud, and I would be given new songs to memorize and repeat the process all over again. The singing business isn't exactly what it's all cracked up to be, Ruby."

Ruby quietly digested the explanation and thought it over at the same time. "When you put it like that, I guess it can get pretty boring. Was it singing that you got bored with or was it just performing over and over again?"

The brought Weiss up short, specifically how Ruby caught onto that when she had purposely left out some of the details. She hesitated then conceded, "I suppose it was performing."

She liked her singing. It had been something she had a natural skill for and she enjoyed it. She wanted to improve and her instructors helped her accomplish that. When she got on stage and sang her first piece, it was one of the proudest moments of her life.

Later on it became something that wasn't fully her own anymore. Weiss acknowledged that she was younger during then but she dreamed of perhaps writing and singing her own songs. It never happened though. It was always the 'best' songs written by the 'best' writers that her father would select for her and she would sing instead. She grew tired of it.

And, of course, there was the White Fang and her decision to train as a Huntress. In order to prepare, she willingly sacrificed her singing in order to fulfill this latest ambition. However, that was a sacrifice that she admitted to holding some regret over.

"That's good," Ruby spoke. "About not getting bored of singing. When I listened to your last one it felt like you still enjoyed it."

Weiss knew what that one was. "I actually wrote that song."

Mirror Mirror. That performance had come after her training and when she got her acceptance into Beacon. It was a final public appearance that she decided to do on her own to show people the end of Weiss and the start of Weiss Schnee.

The inspiration for the lyrics occurred early on during that initial doubt. When she would stare at her reflection and see the frail girl who was red-faced, sweating, and out of breath after a day of training, what she saw and what she feared was if she had it in her to go through with her chosen path; if she had the strength and the heart to see it to the end.

That defining moment came after her accident when she peered at her reflection and saw the raw and nasty scar tissue that went down her left eye. Angry and passionate crimson that was painfully exposed on her otherwise smooth and pale skin. When it healed – when it cooled – it unveiled a truth that could save her from herself:

A heart can turn to stone.

That scar is what would draw people's attention away from her weaknesses. That loneliness would be her strength, allowing her to hide her insecurities and doubts from the world. She couldn't hide from herself though, couldn't hide how she wasn't as perfect as she wanted to be.

Not yet.

"You should write more of them," Ruby suggested.

"I don't have time for something like that," Weiss scoffed with a wave of her hand. "I'm training to be a Huntress and that doesn't exactly leave room to start performing again."

Ruby shook her head. "Not performing. Singing. If you still enjoy it you should keep doing it."

"Too busy."

"You can't be busy all the time!" Ruby objected with a puffing of her cheeks. "Even Huntresses can have some fun here and there. Blake has her books, Yang has her own friends that she hangs out with on occasion, and I enjoy my sweets, cleaning Crescent Rose, listening to music, and all that good stuff! For you it could be singing." Her features softened. "After all, what's the point of protecting the world when you can't enjoy it?"

Weiss really wanted to know where that other Ruby Rose went to. This one sounded too sensible, logical, and, Dust it all, so convincing. Leaning back on her folded knees, Weiss regarded this forest that had once been restricted to a painting on the wall.

There were a lot of new things that she's experiencing at Beacon. She had to share a room with three other people who she was supposed to depend on, had to share her classes with an even larger amount, deal with subpar food that wasn't cooked by some highly-paid chefs, the halls can get cramped, and the name Schnee wasn't held with as much reverence here as it did at home.

But they were things that she never had the chance to experience before and as exasperating as it can be at times, it was also very uplifting. More importantly, this was what she wanted. She had her own plan that she wished to see come to fruition but it may not happen during the first year which could leave her with opportunities like the one she was currently sharing with Ruby. What was this freedom that she had always wanted if she limited it?

She turned to Ruby to see her partner looking at her expectantly. Fighting and failing, Weiss smirked before shaking her head. "Not bad."

Ruby tilted her head questionably. "Hm?"

She held up her watch so that her leader could see the time. "You managed to distract me to get an extra two minutes out of the deal. How cunning of you."

"That wasn't what I was-!"

"I know, you dunce," Weiss interrupted. Smirk remaining in place, the heiress gracefully rose to her feet. "To be fair, I enjoyed it and I wouldn't mind being distracted again. Are you still planning on going to the city soon?"

"Uh, yeah," Ruby confirmed, not quite able to discern what was happening.

"You're the leader. Pick a day and I might just have to tag along whether for school supplies or whatever you decide is worth endeavoring in." As she was walking back, Weiss threw one last comment over her shoulder. "And as a leader you should make good on your promises and get Yang and Blake here!"

By then it clicked as to what had just happened and, smiling from ear-to-ear, Ruby jumped back to her feet with a batch of energy that needed an added outlet in the form of a punch that she sent skyward.

Mission accomplished! she silently cheered. With her primary objective out of the way, Ruby bent down and picked up her jar in order to achieve the secondary one. Now for Team RWBY to make their rendezvous with Commander Goodwitch! Hopefully Yang's having as much luck with Blake.

She also hoped that the two of them had come back. Wandering over to where everyone collected their samples, Ruby's good mood was dampened somewhat when she caught sight of Pyrrha which reminded her that her team wasn't the only one that had their own issues needing to be solved.

The Spartan was examining her refilled jar of sap when, suddenly, she went rigid before spinning around. Any thoughts of Jaune were put on hold at the display and Ruby asked, "Pyrrha, you okay?"

Pyrrha spared Ruby a glance but otherwise continued to look troubled about something off in the distance. "…Yeah."

Ruby craned her head around to try and see what caught the redhead's attention but all she saw was a hill that overlooked their section of the forest. She was about to ask if everything was really okay until there came the distinctive sound of a lid being popped open followed by a slurping noise. She was too late to warn Pyrrha and she barely caught a hint of pink just as it vanished.

Pyrrha didn't see the culprit but she didn't have to. Once she saw that her container had its lid and contents removed, she shouted, "NORA!"

Chapter Text

The passing of winter is considered as the midpoint of the year and at Beacon it was no different. In response to the colder temperatures arriving in time with the middle of the term, there was an increased emphasis on the intellectual pursuits within the combat school in the form of exams and the preparations that were needed for them. Survival courses still had a place as they would instruct trainees how to operate and adapt if their future careers led them to taking assignments in such environments but when it came to the minimized presence of the Grimm, the actual combating against such beasts followed suit.

As monstrous as they may be, the Grimm exhibited traits shared by any other animal which included distaste for such a frigid climate. There were Grimm out there that can withstand and even thrive in the winter time but for the selected varieties that were found at Beacon, the Beowolves were really the only known species that remained the most active while Ursi and the more fearsome Death Stalkers hunkered down.

It was an opportunity for the students at Beacon to return to their homes for an extended holiday upon the completion of their exams. The teaching practices at Beacon can be rigorous and they're designed to prepare students to become the warriors destined to be locked in battle until retirement or potential demise but such skills required a conviction to better bring them to bear on their enemies. After all, the greatest incentive to fight was when you actually had something to fight for. For the first generation of Huntsmen and Huntresses, they had fought for humanity's right to exist. Today, the latest generation protected all that was built and what they enjoyed with the sacrifices of their predecessors.

Once they got their reminder, it was back to their place of learning to carry out the rest of their term with renewed vigor. By then the bitter chill of winter began to wane and all those dark-spawned monsters arose from their selected dwellings to resume their predations. In turn, it was a perfect opportunity for the returning students to prey on them for an efficient warm-up. The first years in particular were given the honor of the first hunts and become reacquainted with their partners which is why teams such as RWBY and JNPR were put on a rotation to start off the second half of their term.

Some honor, Blake thought, retightening her scarf to better protect her throat from the icy touch. I don't think the Grimm want to get up at this hour any more than we do.

Winter was at its end but the early morning more than made up for whatever bite it may be losing. The sun that was only just lifting over the horizon provided what paltry warmth its initial rays gave off to improve their conditions. Miserably, it may as well have never shown its face.

As it was already known, depending on their breed and what extra appendage came with it, a faunus can gain an enhanced sense of smell, sight, or hearing. As a drawback, it meant one other part that was vulnerable to the cold with the cartilage of Blake's cat ears being no exception, giving her another reason to dislike the season. It led to a rare occasion where Blake had removed her bow and replaced it with an appropriate wool cap to keep the heat from leaving her head. In addition to warming that extra set of ears, the covering restrained a portion of her usual wavy hair enough to do the same to her human pair.

Her collar had been exchanged for a longer, thicker scarf made of similar material and her vest was buttoned over a long-sleeved thermal tee. Her gloves were leather held together with heavy-duty stitching that wasn't the warmest choice of fabric but it was enough to protect her hands without debilitating her usage of Gambol Shroud. Not that she had the chance to use it since the day began.

It was hard to not see the patrol and the early hour it was to be conducted in as a cruel and unusual punishment orchestrated by their headmaster instead of a method to reintroduce the students to the lifestyle that their break may've softened them to. The trees that have been stripped and remained bare served to deprive any roaming Grimm of cover that came with the vegetation and made it quite plain to Blake that there were none to be found in their vicinity. The ground was still solid so if there had been any Grimm around it would've been resistant to any impressions that would've come from their paws and leave behind visible tracks. Small patches of snow that stubbornly endured despite having fallen a week ago were undisturbed as well.

A bright yellow beam of sunlight broke the hold that a line of that offensive white stuff had on a thin branch and sent it tumbling down in a heavy powder that dusted a head of hair that was comparable to that ball of fire in the sky. Undisturbed by the onslaught, Yang casually swiped at the snow to remove it.

Envy was instilled into Blake as she kept her partner at the corner of her vision. While the faunus had done everything that she could in order to outfit herself for this occasion, Yang had not. She had her jacket and her scarf but…that was it. Her gloves remained fingerless, those shorts were still short, and that top kept a copious amount of cleavage exposed.

Just like her hair, Blake had assumed that her partner's more revealing attire was steeped in vanity to flaunt her other generous assets. And just like her hair, Blake discovered that there was a legitimate excuse for this exposure that went beyond that. In response to the bewilderment that was sent her way when her outfits refused to change after the first snowfall, Yang had explained that her Semblance was to blame for that too.

"It used to be a big deal," she informed them. "I'd get cold like anyone else but after my Aura and Semblance were developed I just stopped being so. It's kind of annoying to tell you the truth; sometimes I have to concentrate so I'm not too warm."

Annoying wasn't what Blake would call it as she secretly admired the blonde brawler. What snow she hadn't cleared melted immediately and even her locks were only momentarily dampened before drying. The next time Yang lifted her hand it was to brush at the droplets that annoyingly trailed down her neck that her scarf hung loosely around before another short-lived swipe came across her chest to attack the rogue moisture there.

Blake twisted her head around a fraction, amber eyes sliding down. Even if it wasn't solely vanity, the faunus had to admit that Yang had an appealing figure that warranted pride instead of shame. As curvaceous as she may be, the exposed midriff and arms were sculpted with hard muscle beneath that smooth skin, giving credence to her years of training and skill in close quarters combat. Blake couldn't blame her for showing that off.

Woah, okay. Blake blinked several times in quick succession and pried her gaze away from how the morning light glinted off what beads of water stayed on that ample bosom. She faced forward. Now where did that come from?

Ever since that talk of theirs in Forever Fall, the mild tension that had hung between the two of them had cleared somewhat. Blake still felt a touch of unease but not so much during the few days after they returned from the forest. True to her word, Yang had relinquished her pursuit of information regarding Blake Belladonna, entrusting the faunus to disclose whatever she may feel like sharing if such a time came.

Ironically, Blake had initially experienced an increased sense of pressure. Yang said she was willing but not only could the faunus not fully believe that but she remained bothered by how, since the beginning, the other girl had given up so much of herself. Granted, growing up differently had Yang freely giving away information that was innocent and minor in comparison to Blake's secrets but the brawler didn't know that. Blake expected that Yang would give it a week or a month before she got impatient and started asking again. Surely she would get tired of her insistent vagueness eventually.

She didn't. She wasn't asking anything directly personal and when Blake did give one of her half-truths if a conversation strayed too close Yang accepted it without question.

She wasn't letting any of that get in the way of their partnership. They studied together to take down their tests and trusted that they had each other's backs during team sparring or Grimm hunting. While their personal lives may not be evenly exchanged, it mattered not. When it came to Huntressing business they were familiar with their capabilities and how they complemented each other.

It was more than that also. Other than Huntressing, they would laze around in their dorm room with their other two teammates and take trips to Vale on the weekends to partake in recreational activities that had nothing to do with school; from something as simple as a trip to a café for tea and sweets to browsing through stores that mostly consisted of them window-shopping as they had little room for anymore additions to their dorm that wasn't clothing. It was simple, fun stuff that Blake had never enjoyed in the past and here she was now.

She liked experiencing them with her friends, Yang in particular as she was her partner and the person who she spent time with the most. It was the most comfortable she had been with anyone. She was funny and kind with moments of immaturity but Blake liked that about her too. They were friends and Blake appreciated that friendship.

That was all that was then: an appreciation of Yang. More specifically, an appreciation of how she didn't let such unnecessary weight get in the way or unbalance her.

"This is so boring!" said blonde suddenly cried in frustration. "There isn't a single Grimm in sight!"

"It does appear that way," Blake agreed, bringing Yang back into her view.

With the absence of Grimm, her partner had decided to make one of those patches of snow her target. Placing one boot in the center, there was a noticeable flare of heat within the chilly weather that began turning the snow into slush as it gradually melted. Yang took little entertainment as she asked, "Were there even any during the week you were here?"

"A couple Beowolf packs," Blake replied. "Mostly sightings with an occasional confrontation but given the points of contact it may have been one that was really active. There was a claim of an Ursa Major being found and slain but that had been a second-year from Team KORL and his partner hadn't witnessed it so it's hearsay at best."

Yang chuckled. "Trying to play off of Jaune's shtick, huh?"

The ninja allowed a grin to show. "Seems that way."

The gossip had spread pretty fast when it came to a little incident that transpired at the end of their field trip. While RWBY and JNPR had remained unmolested, CRDL had a nasty encounter with an Ursa Major: a rarer, scarier variant that was bigger and spikier than your typical Ursa. Going by the eye witness accounts, the creature had ambushed the team and disarmed Cardin while the rest of the members fled. In all likelihood, their leader would've been killed had Jaune not been there.

At Ruby's order, Blake and Yang had gone to fetch Goodwitch while she, Weiss, and Pyrrha went to assist the two leaders. It turned out that their help wasn't necessary as, apparently, Jaune not only held off the Ursa long enough for them to arrive but they had done so in time to see it get its head cut off by Crocea Mors.

Jaune Arc single-handedly defeating such an uncommon form of Grimm and saving Cardin Winchester – registered bully and 'tough guy' of Beacon – had boosted his reputation that had been flagging since the school year began. While his team had gotten fame for slaying a Death Stalker during their initiation and he was chosen by Ozpin as leader, his consistently poor combat performance in duels led many to assume that it had been a fluke with Ren the perfect student and Pyrrha the champion being the teammates who had done all the work for him. All doubt had been wiped away once the story hit and with Jaune's swordsmanship seeing a vast improvement since then he's been the subject of admiration instead of disparagement.

It was doing wonders for the self-esteem of JNPR's leader. Whatever had been going on with Cardin seemed to have ended as well with Jaune having returned to their table and bringing everything back to normal. Well, Blake could've done without that moment where he had sidled up to her and wondered if she – Bright Eyes, as he called her – would want to hear the whole story of what happened from the hero himself. A quiet, hard stare with those same ambers got him to back off although Blake had smirked in amusement when he turned away. Thankfully he didn't make that full reversion back to his more suave, annoying self that she heard about as the attempts at flirting were kept to that initial wake of his success before he settled down…that and Weiss threatening to cut his head off if he called her Snow Angel one more time.

"I have a faint memory of where the last sightings of those Beowolves were," Blake offered. "It's outside of our assigned area but if we're lucky they may've drifted this way overtime."

Yang nodded but she didn't stray from the snow that had become a puddle at this point. The softening dirt soaked it up soon after but the blonde kept her head lowered. It was then that Blake noticed those pursed lips that she had become familiar with as consideration.

"You could've stayed with us, you know," Yang finally spoke. "Considering the rest of us had places to go, I thought that you were returning home during the break as well."

"I didn't feel like making the trip," Blake replied with a shrug that she hoped was nonchalant. Another half-truth. "Besides, with you guys gone I was able to get some peace and quiet to get a lot of reading done."

"Heh, well if you put it like that…" There was a smile but it was faint and even that miniscule amount was forced. "Still, if you mentioned it before the airship was getting ready to leave we would've invited you to our place."

The faunus had purposely not mentioned it for that exact reason, having come to know her teammates very well. Students may take the opportunity to spend the break with their friends and family but for any who weren't residents of Vale and didn't feel like making the journey that went beyond it, they were free to stay at Beacon. It was actually a tradition for a third-year team to either volunteer or be selected through a random drawing to remain stationed at the school during the breaks as a test of reliability and self-efficiency as they would watch over the school without the supervision of staff members in case the Grimm decided to get active with the majority of the population missing.

Blake had chosen to remain with a few others as she really had nowhere else to go. She had expected an offer for temporary residence at Ruby and Yang's but…she had been apprehensive at the idea. Sharing a dorm room for so long probably should've made staying at their place of living an easy step yet Blake couldn't take it. The thought of spending a week at where the two sisters were raised made it uncomfortable. It was too personal.

"I didn't want to intrude."

The smile that Yang fully directed towards Blake wasn't forced. It was gentle, warm, and the ninja felt an odd fluttering within her chest when her partner lightly spoke, "Don't ever feel like you'd be intruding on anything with us."

Suddenly it didn't feel so cold anymore. In fact, the heat that blossomed at her cheeks came close to being sweltering. Blake used a convenient fixing of her already-fixed scarf to try and hide them while she quietly mumbled, "Maybe next time then."

A superficial alteration to Yang's facial gesture made it borderline evil in Blake's opinion and was a clue that the blonde knew of the effect the statement had on her. "I'll keep that in mind. Now how 'bout them Beowolves?"

Yang pivoting on her heel and marching off in a direction did little to relieve Blake and the faunus kept her scarf higher than it was previously. The taller girl whistling a tune that she found to be mocking suppressed an urge to mention that she hadn't said where the Beowolves had been reported to be. So, lapsing into an awkward silence, Blake chose to follow her partner in this random direction that she picked.

This friendship of theirs might be getting too comfortable when it came to Yang. She always had her jokes but in the past she had the courtesy to give Blake space so that the ninja could open up on her own free will. When she got the confirmation that the two of them were friends and she shouldn't press when it came to what was a sensitive past, it has seemingly become her mission in life to take pleasure in pestering her usually reserved partner whenever she could.

It was aggravating every so often but Blake couldn't say that she truly hated it. She'd never admit it to Yang but during that week alone in their team's door…well…Blake could admit to herself that the peace and quiet wasn't as great as she expected it to be.

She desperately prayed for it now though and for the cold that she had scorned to cool her face. Yang insisting on her whistling did not mix well with her hearing unfortunately and she tried to block it out by focusing on keeping a watch out for the Grimm.

We can't be caught off guard. That pack may not have been one pack after all and negligence isn't going to be the death of us. Mind your surroundings, block out all distractions-

"You know," Yang spoke without warning, spinning around to face Blake with a mischievous grin, "there was one advantage of you not being around."

Confound it, Yang. Blake couldn't ignore her, especially as Yang was still walking albeit backwards. As appealing as the possibility of her tripping over a root because of her nonsense was, the faunus watched out for it anyway. "What would that be?"

Yang had bent a degree towards the other girl, arms held behind her back yet continued moving. Blake couldn't put her finger on it but there was something oddly charming about the action when combined with that grin. She fought to maintain a front of disinterest.

"I was free to pick out a present for you!"

It was fortunate that Yang chose to stop at her declaration or she would've ended up going on without Blake. The faunus wasn't aware that she had come to a standstill and she was wondering why that grin the blonde had was getting larger until she realized that it may conceivably be in response to the stupefied expression on her face. It infected her speech when she asked, "A present?"

"Yeeep!" Yang replied, popping the p at the end. "You know; a gift! Something that friends give to friends for no reason whatsoever other than it being the friendly thing to do! I stashed it in my locker and I was thinking about giving it to you when this was over but since it's rather deserted right now, I guess I'll give you something to look forward to!"

Blake chose to just quietly stand there, eyes unfocused and unblinking. She barely registered that Yang had brought out her scroll and was punching in something before holding it up to her ear. She tapped her foot as she waited.

"Hey, Ruby," she said once her call was picked up. "No, nothing's wrong; I just need a favor. Have you and Weiss finished yet? You did? Good! Did you give her the thing?" She nodded to a reply that Blake couldn't discern. "Good, good!"

Blake couldn't understand what was going on. Why was Yang talking to Ruby? What did this have to do with her present? She had yet to wrap her mind around the fact that such a thing existed never mind that Yang had gotten one for her.

"Uh, right, yeah, hold on." Putting her sister on hold, Yang fiddled with her scroll a bit, stared at it for a couple seconds, then brought it back to her ear. "You ready? Okay: six, two, nine, three, three, eight." A pause and then Yang unexpectedly blew a raspberry. "Don't worry about it; I'm sure it'll be fine. I'll send it right back once I get Blake's present. Alright, love ya sis."

Hearing 'Blake's present' snapped the faunus in question out of her daze. Funnily enough, whereas a gift remained a conundrum, she deduced what the call was about. Locker…Ruby…six numbers…wait a minute. With a start Blake asked, "You're having Ruby launch your locker here?"

"Well how else am I going to get my locker here?" Yang made it sound like the most obvious thing in the world as she pocketed her device. "I mean, yeah, I think there's some kind of app that can let you do it remotely but I'm not familiar with it. Besides, Ruby always wanted to try it and when have we ever had an opportunity to use the actual rockets of our rocket-propelled lockers?"

Presently, the answer was never. Further along in the years they might but being first-years who were a few months into their schooling, the chance to use the secondary function of their lockers hasn't come up yet. Other than storing their weapons, armor, and any other items that they may want to put in, their lockers were able to be sent to locations based on six-digit codes. That feature would preferably be used to deliver Hunters their equipment and other supplies to the field when needed.

Yang's purpose was probably unfit for the deployment of her RPL but it was way too late now. If she was lucky, she'd take what she wanted and send it on a return trip with no one being the wiser. Until then there was nothing else to do but wait as the locker was to arrive at their general location. Yang had gone quiet and had her attention on the sky, presumably content with waiting till she had the gift in hand to flaunt it.

It proved to be a rare event of role reversal as Blake was restless. No one had ever given her a present before. Sure, she had received things from other people – faunus, obviously - but they were all tied to her work with the White Fang such as donations and a place to stay which escalated to combat training and the tools to construct Gambol Shroud.

Knowing Yang it wouldn't be anything like that. It would be…ordinary; an everyday item that could be purchased and picked up at a store. The reasoning failed to restrain her from tilting her head up to examine the blue expanse above them and then coming down to do the same to Yang who was oblivious to her partner's behavior.

Blake was curious…and a little excited. Or at least that's what this eagerness to know what this gift was had to be that had her asking, "So what is it?"

Yang shook her head, eyes not so much as straying from the sky. "Nope, not telling. I want it to be a surprise."

That should've ended it. The mystery of what Yang had gotten her would be solved once she had it in her possession after all but this desire to know was on par to when she would get to an interesting part in her book and would have to wait until after class to read what happened next. Actually… "Can I guess?"

Yang gave it a moment of thought before she shrugged. "You can."

"Is it a book?"

"…I suppose that is the obvious answer," Yang confirmed sheepishly. "But you won't be able to guess what exact one I got. I made sure to go through your collection and see what ones you had and if there were any sequels that would be coming out during the break."

Blake stiffened at that, a terrible thought coming to mind. She didn't find that one did she? She had been careful when it came to that particular book, having chosen to wedge it underneath her bed between the mattress and the frame. No one would think to check there.

If Yang did find it, she wasn't mentioning it which relieved Blake for surely the blonde wouldn't be able to keep a lid on it. With that danger out of the way, the faunus went to the possibilities of what the novel was that Yang could've gotten her. She had plenty of books that needed to be read but there were a few that she finished and was awaiting the next installment of the series, willing to break away from her current selection so that she may indulge in them.

There is Everyday Occurrences but isn't the next one later on? she pondered. Amat et Discedet was supposed to be continued as a series but would she have known about that?

It wasn't lost on Blake that here she was: a criminal-turned-Huntress-in-training with a head filled with literature of various nature that turned her into an excited, teenaged bookworm. Before she could try to narrow it down some more, Yang suddenly cried out, "Oh, there it is!"

Blake saw the bright blue line of a Dust-fueled propulsion system and then the thin, gray shape that it was attached to. Coming westbound from Beacon, the locker was a good thousand feet in the air and right over their heads. Now that it arrived it should be preparing to land with controlled thrusts setting it upright so that it could be immediately launched again if necessary.

…Except it wasn't doing that. The contrail remained long and constant, not breaking up in maneuvering bursts.

"It's not stopping," Blake said, her head tilting as the locker was no longer over their heads but now passing them.

"…It should be," Yang spoke worriedly.

"But it's not."

"Oh God, it's not!"

The two partners glanced at each other simultaneously, sharing a wide-eyed look of panic, and then they took off in the same direction as the now runaway locker. Dodging trees and jumping over roots, Yang produced her scroll, thumb tapping furiously on it before she brought it against her head and shouted, "Ruby, where did you send my locker?"

Blake was winding the lengthy ends of her scarf around her neck while running to keep them from being caught as she ducked under a branch. She couldn't hear Ruby's response but Yang's frenzied yelling was all that she needed to hear. "No! I said six, two, nine, three, three, five!"

That didn't match what Blake remembered. Did she say five?

Ruby must've pointed out the same thing as Yang shouted, "Yes, that's what I said!"

"Call it off!" Blake instructed. "Abort!"

"I don't know how!"

The rocket-propelled locker was proving to be much faster than the two sprinting girls as it remained unerringly on whatever course it had been set on. Growling in frustration, Blake leaped up, a clone propelling her to the tree branches. "I'll go on ahead!"

Whatever response Yang sent her way was lost as the faunus left her behind. Blake wrapped the wool cloth of the scarf around her nose and mouth to make the cold air easier to breathe in as she drew upon what speed she could muster as she jumped from branch-to-branch either with the use of her own muscles or a boost from her Semblance.

With her elevated position, Blake was able to keep the locker in sight and, thus, how it continued to move further and further away from her. It's just one number. It can't go that far off course because of one number can it?

Apparently it can as it had to have traveled a mile before the maneuvering jets kicked in, bringing it upright. And then it dropped.

Blake didn't have to check her map to know that the locker was coming down way off from her and Yang's assigned patrol area. Actually, she didn't think any of the teams for today had been planned to go this deep into the wilderness.

Breaking off from our appointed area, unsanctioned use of school-provided equipment…yeah, we're going to be in trouble. And that was if they managed to recover the locker itself.

No, she couldn't be blamed; this was Yang's fault. Blake would've been fine with waiting until they got back to Beacon in order to be given her present. Yang didn't have to make use of her RPL just to get her gift. She had nothing to do with this other than being the one to suffer by getting dragged into a chase.

There came another burst of blue fire as the locker slowed its descent. It was sturdy but a high-speed impact was out of the question not only to keep it from getting damaged but whatever it may contain from doing the same. A blessing when it came to Jaune's unplanned flight. Blake was able to keep track of it for a few more seconds until it disappeared from view.

That was fine. Swinging from one branch with her hands while a shadow clone shot her towards another, Blake assured herself that she had a general idea of where it was. A little recon would uncover its exact location and then she would wait for Yang to catch up and send it back to the school. If they're lucky, no one would know what transpired.

As much ground as she was covering, not once did Blake catch a hint of any Grimm. Their inactivity was becoming a much-needed reprieve. If Yang was following the same route, she shouldn't be encountering any delays.

So when she reviewed this situation later, the faunus would wonder why she hadn't expected her luck to kick in by having the Grimm appear right at the end.

Faint as it was, the guttural roar that Blake heard brought her to a halt with feet firmly planted on a wooden limb that her hands also grasped to leave her crouched upon it. Unfortunately, the move was cautionary as Blake knew where the noise had come from: exactly where she was heading. She prayed that she heard wrong but, true to said luck, the noise not only repeated but was accompanied by a second one.

She resumed her leaps though they were stealthier as the branches hardly creaked or shook with her lighter landings and take-offs. As she got closer, even the lower growls and grumbles of the Grimm were audible to the faunus. That and the crashing of something very solid and made of metal.

She was already assuming the worst and yet Blake was still amazed by what she found. With the final assistance of a clone that brought her to a high-placed branch to act as a vantage point, she inspected the area below her.

It wasn't two Grimm but three; all of them Ursi. When it came to sizes, they were each big and stocky complete with bony spikes on their arms and backs but one of them was just a bit more so than its brethren. Though not possessing a pack mentality like Beowolves, it wasn't uncommon for an Ursa to be accompanied by another as Yang had encountered two in the Emerald Forest.

If Blake had to guess, this was a small family that had been spawned together with a defined sense of hierarchy established during the months of seclusion. The largest Ursa was allowed its space as it investigated its latest catch while the other two entertained themselves with the spoils that were tossed off to the side.

The catch was none other than Yang's locker.

The scent of a human and their inherent hatred must've led the Grimm to smashing the locker as it had done. It hadn't held up well; the metal dented with the door itself having nearly been twisted off in the monster's efforts to pry it open. Claws had scratched into the metal as it had turned it over onto its back so that the Ursa could dip its head into the compartment and extract whatever it could find.

The two smaller Ursi were inspecting some of those contents. One had the red plaid skirt of Yang's school uniform partially draped over its snout which sniffed experimentally. A shake of its head flung the article of clothing away and it stepped over to try and sniff out the owner within the folds of the brown blazer. The second Ursa Blake thought was going rabid until she realized that the foam gathered around its mouth was due to the shampoo bottle that its teeth had punctured and what it was gnawing on.

The locker was a total loss but they did manage to find the Grimm. Blake didn't fool herself into thinking that Yang was going to be shown any mercy as there was no way that their professors weren't going to find out about this now. Shaking her head, the faunus turned to meet back up with Yang.

"That's Blake's present, you overgrown furball!"

Blake whipped her head around right as the Ursa at the locker did the same with the latest item in its mouth: a rectangular object covered in yellow wrapping paper with a black ribbon tied around it. Both of them watched as Yang came charging onto the scene, heading directly towards the monster with Ember Celica fully deployed over her arms.

She had to get past the pair that rounded on her. Seeing the girl it failed to find in her clothing, the first Ursa roared at her approach as it stood on its hind legs. As soon as she was in reach, it swiped at her with a paw tipped with sharp, foot-long claws.

Yang fell backwards, landing and sliding along the ground while the attack struck nothing but air. The move had the brawler going in between the legs of the Ursa but also towards the waiting, shampoo-covered fangs of the second one that snapped forward to seize her. Her solution was to smash the knuckle plates of Ember Celica into the ground at her sides, the resulting blasts sending the blonde flying over her adversary entirely.

Blake had recovered at this point and had the sword portion of Gambol Shroud unsheathed with the blade folding over to adopt a sickle-like appearance. The standing Ursa had turned to follow Yang, unwittingly presenting its back towards Blake which the faunus took full advantage of as she hurled her weapon towards the sweet spot: high-up at the spinal column similar to how she had taken out the one during initiation.

Without an Aura, there was nothing to protect the bear-like Grimm once Gambol Shroud got past the bone-like spikes and stabbed deep into flesh and muscle to penetrate the spine. The Ursa spasmed, issued a weak rumble, and then the full weight of its body came crashing down as it fell over, dead.

The other Ursa witnessed its sibling fall and brought its rage-filled glare on the faunus as she hopped off the branch. Once she landed on the ground, it dashed around the corpse and lunged towards the girl, arms outstretched to wrestle her down and maul her to pieces. Blake cartwheeled out of its path and tugged on the ribbon she clutched in her hand to depress the trigger of Gambol Shroud.

The built-in pistol went off, the recoil of the discharged round tearing the blade free from the dead Ursa with a twist of Blake's wrist sending it swinging around to the live one. Passing Blake had left its entire flank exposed and her weapon carved a deep, long line that traveled right down the tract of flesh from the rear leg to the front. The Ursa howled in anguish.

It proved to be short-lived. With the hilt of Gambol Shroud returning to her hand, a pulse from Blake's Aura straightened the blade and produced a clone that launched her to the Grimm. With its head reared up to better verbalize its pain, it was a simple matter for Blake to silence it by driving her weapon into its chin from below where the hardened mask didn't cover. This close, even with the suds of shampoo, she could see how the tip of her blade entered the bottom of its open mouth before continuing on to pierce the roof and the brain beyond.

The howl turned into a strangled cry that died off in time with the light of the Grimm's red pits that were its eyes. Blake made sure to yank her weapon out before she could lose it when the Ursa collapsed.

That concluded her part of the engagement. Suspecting Yang to be done, Blake pulled down her scarf, already speaking as she turned, "Well they weren't Beowolves but I– Yang what are you doing!?"

"Don't worry, I got this!"

She certainly did. Having situated herself atop the remaining Ursa's shoulders in front of its spikes, Yang had her legs clenched around the thick neck. Her gauntlet-covered arms were wrapped around its head and – to Blake's bewilderment – the blonde had one hand gripping its jaw while the other tugged at its snout.

The Ursa violently shook its head and jumped in place in an attempt to buck the offending blonde off. Efforts to try and claw at her proved to be fruitless with its arms too bulky to lift and bend enough to remove her. It doggedly retained possession of the yellow-wrapped gift and Blake understood that her partner was trying to force the Grimm to let go of it.

Instead of assisting Yang, Blake stood and watched the show disbelievingly. Her partner was cursing, the hulking monster roaring which was suppressed by the prize it stubbornly held onto for what seemed like no other reason than to spite the blonde. It smashed against a tree, its bulk toppling it over, and as it turned and started to run, Blake was afraid it was going to take Yang with it.

That was until a tremendous crack resounded throughout this patch of the woods, effectively silencing all other noise for a brief second. The Ursa fell, limp, and the collision shook the ground beneath Blake's feet.

It was only then that Yang let go, rolling off the lifeless body with a head no longer aligned properly and landing in a heap while Ember Celica shrunk into bracelets. After picking herself up, she examined her hands with Blake catching the hint of yellow paper. Despite having claimed her reward though, the blonde's form drooped as if crestfallen.

Eventually Yang turned to address Blake but her hands drifted behind her to hide the gift, her hair doing the same with her face when she lowered her head. She slowly approached the ninja, saying nothing, and only meeting her eyes once she stood in front of her.

"Here…," Yang spoke, dispirited but handing the item over to her partner.

Blake had stayed silent and exactly where she was the whole time. When she did take possession of the item, it was more like an automatic reflex rather than a conscious effort.

It was a book like she guessed. Even if there weren't tears in the wrapping paper to expose the cover, the too familiar weight and shape of it in her palm alone would've told her enough. However, she wasn't going to be able to read it. The fangs of the Ursa had not just torn the wrapping paper but managed to bite through the cover and the pages which were stained with drool. The fight had broken the spine and the faunus believed that if she unwrapped it right now, the entire thing would fall apart on her.

Blake quietly looked from the book to her partner whose clothing and hair had become disheveled with a couple twigs having gotten caught in her locks. Although sweating and breathing a bit heavily, her expression was akin to a kicked puppy. The shorter girl surveyed the rest of the battleground.

The locker lay where it was, unsalvageable with Yang's uniform and other personal effects scattered around it. The Ursi that Blake killed were at the last stage of decay, barely anything more than a pile of ash and smoke. Behind Yang was the largest one that was beginning to dissolve. Blake's gaze landed back on her partner.

For a while neither of them said a word.

"…Heh."

That was how it started: a sudden hitch in her breathing. It took control of her lips, morphing them into a grin and then Blake was giggling. With the ruined novel in one hand, she brought the other to her mouth to stifle it. Her shoulders shook to show off how badly she was failing.

Yang stared at Blake, no longer dejected but confused.

Kind of like how that Ursa must've felt. Blake squeezed her lids shut, the thought encouraging the giggling to morph into full-on laughter. She couldn't hold it back and her hand dropped away to better clutch at her sides as she chortled.

Yang seemed to be thinking that her partner had just gone insane though seeing her laughing for what had to be the first time since the forming of their partnership had her smiling. "Um…as long as you're happy?" It was the blonde's turn to take stock of the damage but, unlike Blake, she didn't find it as funny as she spoke, "I am going to be in sooo much trouble."

Her potential punishment did little to subdue Blake's merriment, instead adding to it. Tears appeared at the corners of her eyes and her sides began to hurt.

"I can only assume that the punishment will be un-bear-able!"

That's terrible, Blake criticized yet, somehow, she laughed even harder.

---

Attendance to Beacon and a career as a Huntress had been what brought her here. Vale was a bonus.

Although she decided not to take advantage of the viewing gallery located at the bottom of the airship, the small round windows that lined the main passenger cabin were enough for Blake to look down upon the mass of tall, flat-roofed buildings and narrow streets that were the hallmark of the cityscape of Vale.

As always, the general makeup of not just Vale but the other three kingdoms were influenced greatly by Remnant's dark history as each one was located close to the seas. While it could be readily explained as a method to promote better seafaring trade with one another, the placement of the kingdoms can best be described as beachheads that had been cleared out and fortified so that civilization may be brought to an otherwise uncivilized world. With Vale in particular, each and every square inch was devoted to the advancement of said civilization.

As if purposely shaped, the rivers perfectly divided the multiple districts with the industrial and agricultural sharing the same space of land but separated from the commercial and residential districts. Bridges, ferries, and railways connected them all together with workers going one way and product the other. Whatever goods couldn't be grown or made in Vale came from the other kingdoms with the use of freighters or cargo airships that landed at the docks and skyports.

The majority of the population was housed in those closed-in complexes in the residential district. Cramped but it was the norm with city life that happened to be mankind's only kind of life that they secured from the darkness. The exception were the upper-classmen who resided in large estates north of the refineries, farms, and other production facilities that they own and what has led to enormous wealth with their contribution to their fellow man's way of life.

Everyone and everything was connected in some way. The Grimm were not as much of a prevalent threat as they used to be and they weren't Huntsmen or Huntresses but the people here worked to support and develop their culture. Considering the proximity of two combat schools, even those renowned heroes will assist local police forces in preserving the peace that others may take advantage of.

During her first months here, Blake laid low and, thus, hadn't experienced much of what the kingdom had to offer. Other than having broken away from a terrorist organization and making sure she wouldn't be found as she tried to restart her life, Blake believed that she was well-versed in the ways of a human-centric capital. They cherished their lifestyle so much that they didn't wish it to be contaminated by lesser beings.

They don't mind having us work under their boots though.

Which was why it came as much of a surprise as it did when Blake had become enlightened to how different Vale was. It began when her friends would invite her on their trips to the city.

It was peaceful. Having originally been locked in a war that she didn't want but accepted as necessary because of the prejudice that was always around to crush the faunus under its weight, it was unexpected for Blake to not see it around every corner. She had thought of Vale as an escape…but not to such an extent.

The conflict that she had been a part of wasn't present here. There were traces of it but it wasn't a widespread phenomenon as it was where she had come from where the White Fang had the most members and where it had decided to concentrate its efforts on more industrialized nations that heavily exploited faunus labor. There was a faunus civil rights group that held protests but they were the nonviolent ones that the Fang once relied on. Even then the ceremonies themselves seemed centered on having Vale's governing body spearhead efforts to unite the races in the other kingdoms.

The Vale Police Department was thus unused to such savage and destructive crimes. Their force supplemented by graduating Hunters of Beacon – which endorsed human-faunus cooperation – who dealt with more extreme threats swayed the thinking of the general populace. The up and coming Vytal Festival was an event that was dedicated to the cultures of both races of Remnant.

If Blake wasn't previously a combatant, she might have been fooled into thinking that the campaign that the White Fang had undertaken against humankind wasn't as serious or as bloody as it really was. Ruby and Yang's friendliness had come to make sense if they had grown up in such an environment like this.

It was ignorance that kept Vale and its people separated and deceived them when it came to the severity of the problems that plagued the rest of Remnant but while Blake wanted to denounce it…she couldn't. She didn't want to. Ignorance or deception, it created a perfect place for a second chance.

"Attention all passengers."

The view of Vale was blocked by a holographic screen that popped up on the window. As if to give additional evidence to Beacon's standing on faunus, the face of the announcer that was displayed belonged to an auburn-haired young woman with horns that curled over the top of her head like a ram, a small cap with the combat school's logo having somehow managed to fit underneath them.

"We are beginning landing operations," she went on. "Please retrieve all belongings and prepare to disembark onto the skyport."

Blake passed her hand through the screen, killing the feed before the woman could go through her memorized checklist of the safety regulations and well-wishes for the passengers to have a nice day. The ninja had taken enough of these weekend flights into Vale that she had practically memorized the announcements. She did as advised though, closing the novel that she hadn't gotten far in at all and dumping it in a satchel that she shouldered the strap of.

True to their predictions, Yang hadn't been spared from punishment once they came back from their patrol. Coupled with the tongue-lashing and slap on the wrists from Goodwitch, it had been decreed by their headmaster that the blonde brawler would pull kitchen duty for however long it may be deemed necessary for the replacement of a locker. It meant every spare moment that Yang wasn't in class was spent assisting in the setting and feeding of the entire student body followed by the clean-up afterwards.

Blake did get the name of the book that her partner had bought along with Lien chips to pay for a replacement copy before Yang had been dragged off to her sentencing. Today's trip was meant to purchase it but the faunus was planning on seeing what she can get for Yang as a gift.

Because that's what friends give to friends, she reminisced, the unfamiliar but not unwanted warmth spreading along her chest in time with a pleasant quivering deep inside. She wasn't sure as what to get Yang but that was part of the fun, wasn't it?

There came a minor tremor that rippled through the ship that Blake associated to the wings folding down in preparation to come alongside one of Vale's skyports. Big as it was, there was an unexpected degree of finesse that could be coaxed from the vessel during docking operations to align the exit ramp with the pier.

"When you're searching…"

Blake had stood up from her seat and was making her way down the aisle when she heard the voice coming from farther up.

"…with no hope in sight…"

It was soft, barely above a whisper, and Blake pondered if the speaker didn't mean to have anyone listening in as the more the faunus advanced she noted that the surrounding seats were empty. Whoever it was wasn't saying anything more, the words having dissolved into a gentle humming of a slow melody. That shortly ended.

"No, that won't do," came a mumble. "Impotent's too formal and one syllable too many."

Her voice was still low but whereas the whispers and humming had been pleasing to Blake's dual set of ears, the next words carried irritated criticism that the faunus recognized and confirmed when she saw the tiara and the bundle of hair that it elevated and bound into that side ponytail. "Weiss?"

When Blake came around, it was to see the Schnee heiress bent over in her seat, engrossed in whatever she was writing on the small notepad. Her pencil tip had been slashing across the current page as if it was the fencer's rapier and those eyes were narrowed as if seeing an enemy in the letters that she crossed out. At hearing the black-haired girl, the pencil flew from Weiss's grip with how quickly she sat right up. "Blake!"

Blake blinked at the reaction, her puzzled ambers meeting Weiss's startled ice blues for a second before the heiress was looking down at the notepad which she immediately flipped shut. Normally composed and collected, the ninja took some amusement with how her white-haired teammate hurriedly placed it within her jacket while she tried to recoup.

"What did I say about sneaking up on me like that?" Weiss asked, trying to appear angry and distract Blake from what she had been doing.

The faunus tried and failed to keep a tiny grin from creeping up on her. "Not to."

"And what did you just do?" Like the one before, the question was meant to be a diversion while the heiress picked up her pencil.

Her stealth wasn't confined to surveillance as her near-silent movements might as well be second nature to Blake. Startling her friends and teammates or disappearing when a conversation no longer involved her was a frequent occurrence early on before she learned to be more careful. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't purposely being a slow learner when it came to Weiss.

If she wasn't always concentrating so hard on being perfect it wouldn't be so easy. She hadn't meant to do it in this instance though and she spoke the truth with, "Walking to the exit to leave and I just happened to notice you here."

Weiss gave her a look that said she didn't believe her. When she peered out the window though, she seemed surprised when she saw the pier and the exit ramp that was now touching down on it. Did she really not notice?

"If we've arrived then there's no reason for us to stick around here now is there?" Not giving Blake a chance to respond, Weiss nearly knocked into her teammate in her need to get out of her seat and move as quickly as possible to the exit without breaking into a run.

Now what was that all about? Blake wondered.

She hadn't known that Weiss had planned on a trip to Vale today. As a matter of fact, she tended to make such travels as infrequently as Blake if their other teammates weren't begging them to go or it didn't involve anything school-related. Even on the infrequent chances that she did, she'd make a mention of it.

The faunus mulled it over as she disembarked but was put on pause when the doors that led to the ramp slid open and a blast of cold air buffeted her, driving away the heated interior of the airship as she stepped onto the open-air pier. That early morning patrol was bad but this close to the coast and the updraft that came with a tall structure like the skyport had to be the worst. It convinced Blake to seek shelter within the nearby elevator with haste, managing to squeeze her way in just as it began to close and send its occupants down.

One of them happened to be Weiss and while she made few additions to her attire such as leggings to guard her usually bare legs and a scarf of her own to cover her similarly-exposed collarbone, it was enough for her to be unaffected. Ice may not be her Semblance but, to Blake, it might as well be. That cool expression that the heiress had after rallying her fortitude didn't help.

"Any particular reason that you're here in Vale, Weiss?" Blake asked while the elevator began its descent.

"I don't need a reason to be here," Weiss replied with her characteristic haughtiness and upraised chin. "It's a free service that students can use whenever they want."

That was a way to neutralize any chance of further dialogue and the ninja took it as such; neither her or the fencer saying another word during the time that was needed to be brought to the skyport terminal. While there was the occasional air traffic that would be diverted when necessary, this particular building tended to be reserved for the transportation of students and supplies for Beacon and came complete with an adjacent dock for the boats that acted as an optional mode of transportation between the combat school and the city using the river route.

Whether boat or airship, passengers transferred over to the lot where buses that have been requisitioned for the transportation of students for the weekend were parked and ready to take them wherever they needed to go. After locating one that would be heading into downtown Vale deep within its commercial district, Blake clambered on…with Weiss doing the exact same thing.

That shouldn't have attracted any extra suspicion as many trainees hardly had a reason to go elsewhere. In spite of that, with Weiss's defensive nature and her following in Blake's footsteps, the faunus was getting a hunch of what may be going on and made sure that she had a spot alongside her teammate by the time the bus pulled away.

Weiss was doing a commendable job of maintaining that presentable Schnee image with a straightened back and hands folded upon her lap while eyes were fixed straight ahead. Any sign of how she had been worked up back on that airship was gone, the separation from Blake having been put to good use.

It was too tempting. Remembering something that Yang had said during her conversation with her sister, Blake asked, "What did Ruby get you?"

If it was even possible, that back became straighter. She kept her head from jerking around to face Blake but the faunus noted how the pair of ice cubes within those eye sockets flicked from side-to-side in deliberation. Predictably, she fell back to her pompous, "I don't see how that's any of your business."

Unfortunately for her, it was that tone that tended to persuade Blake to try and get a rise out of the pampered child of the Schnee family. "I suppose it isn't. Yang happened to get me a gift and mentioned that Ruby had given one to you." When Weiss chose not to respond, Blake added, "It was a book in case you were wondering."

"I wasn't," Weiss replied stiffly. "Yang's your partner so there's no need for me to know just how you don't need to know about what Ruby may've given me."

Even if Weiss was usually uptight, Blake had to admit that she seemed to be taking it up a notch today. Choosing to give the heiress some space – if for a little while -, Blake looked out the window to take in the sights of the bustling activity of Vale.

With it being just after noon, they were smack dab in the middle of the busiest time for the city with the narrow streets increasingly packed with traffic the further they got into downtown which was barely regulated by the holographic traffic lights. The shifting lights worked in concert with the pedestrian crossings which winked to life to create a path to guide those on foot through the lines of cars, trucks, and buses when they were cleared to move.

They were too far from the docks but a glimpse up along the towering buildings would allow individuals to catch the silhouette of airships that passed high over the roofs. Blake barely caught the flipper-shaped wing of a larger airship like the one she rode in but most of the ones that populated the sky were sleeker, smaller variants that could act as personal rides for various businessmen who were always on the go or the bulky, cargo-carrying variant of Bullheads. Going through one intersection granted Blake a brief spotting of a railway line.

It was a very drastic switch for those who've been to Beacon after an extended period of time; going from the medieval-esque towers and open courtyards to the hustle and bustle of Vale that was steeped in the latest technological advances. Blake recognized that it was meant to be an inspiring lesson. Other than the combat school, the only other measure of human civilization that could be found in a wilderness that accommodated monsters were the stone ruins and outposts like the one that two enormous Grimm had backed RWBY and JNPR into.

Their fight would be the closest to a reenactment of how it was in the past where, instead of sprawling cities, there were meager points of resistance that held out for as long as they could until the never-ending wave of Grimm finally overwhelmed them, devouring the defenders and smashing all signs that humanity had ever made their mark on a world that belonged to the darkness before moving on to the next. In the past, there was desperation and desolation.

Vale showed how mankind rose above it to create the present and what all Hunters were sworn to defend. It may seem like two different worlds but the combat school and the hopelessness of a crueler era were right on Vale's doorstep. If that buffer of theirs was to ever fall, if that beacon of light that kept the darkness at bay ever went out, then the soulless beasts would come to reclaim everything that had been taken from them.

Blake waited until the bus had come to a halt at another traffic light before refocusing on Weiss, wondering if the heiress truly appreciated their duty or if she was using it to add to her family's fame. She was committed to her work but was that all meant to create a more prestigious reputation for herself? What did an heiress who had everything seek to gain from learning how to be a Huntress?

The faunus chose not to ask about that subject, instead going with her previous intentions. Aware of the fencer's exploits and how one in particular seemed to have an effect on her, she spoke, "I understand why you'd use pencil and paper instead of a scroll."

Weiss sent a sideways glare in her direction, clearly annoyed with this latest attempt. She stubbornly went back to staring ahead.

"I prefer it with my books instead of a screen; there is something very meditative about flipping through the pages. I assume that writing can be more expressive."

Weiss briefly closed her eyes, sighing with exasperation and a note of defeat. A hand went not to her jacket but to the pouch hanging from her belt, fingers that practiced and have become familiar with the action effortlessly opening the flap before digging out a small metal cylinder.

Blake examined the smooth surface, noting the tiny windows that were evenly spread around it. She was able to make out a different color behind each transparent surface. A latch in the back allowed Weiss to hold it with her fingers as she rotated it around to better show it off to Blake but it took the ninja a while to note how the object was like the cylinder part of Myrtenaster.

"A loader?" she finally guessed.

"Very good," Weiss replied with open sarcasm. "Ruby made it."

Then the colors that Blake could see had to be Dust cartridges like the ones loaded in Weiss's weapon. Blake had noted how the heiress would load Myrtenaster which possessed a top-break action feature like a revolver complete with an extractor that ejected the cartridges when spent. Then she would hand load a new batch one at a time. This loader must be meant to store and protect six cartridges that could be loaded with a push of a button.

"Seems like it would be convenient," Blake offered.

Weiss sniffed at that. "Convenient? Hardly." She brought the loader over so that she could examine it, slowly rolling it around in her hands. "It's big and something else that I have to carry that takes too much room. Besides, it's not like I'd ever use this much Dust in battle and I don't mind loading them one-by-one in our room."

Typical Weiss, Blake thought. She figured that carrying six together instead of loose would warrant the miniscule sacrifice of space but it seemed that the heiress was set on finding fault in her partner's work.

"It does fit well," Weiss unexpectedly allowed. "Too well. I assume that she must've snuck off with Myrtenaster and did the measurements herself. That girl really has no class; just taking people's things without their permission. I thought my weapon seemed cleaner that one time."

A brow was slowly quirked as Blake watched Weiss. The judgmental tone in her voice was lessening and the spinning meant for examination had ceased with the fencer staring at the gift. Her usually tight features softened.

"She just gave it to me," she spoke again after a pause. "Didn't even ask if I wanted it or if she could ask for something in return. She just made it and…gave it to me. Just like that." One thumb gently stroked along the metal surface as the heiress lapsed into silence.

Blake quietly regarded this new Weiss, the one who was so fazed at being given a gift from her partner and leader. A sense of déjà vu had her realizing that Weiss wasn't acting that much differently than when Yang got her that book. Both of them didn't really know how to handle this generosity. She hadn't expected Weiss Schnee to actually care though, not with that snobbish air she usually carried around her.

It served to keep them quiet for the rest of the ride; two girls of vastly differing backgrounds but held the same views concerning their carefree partners. When the bus came to a stop, the two of them disembarked and went to one of the interactive maps that were waiting to be used. Weiss tapped it repeatedly, the screen bringing up locations based on their category.

"You know what to get?" Blake asked when she saw that the current list was of bakeries. It was easy to guess what Weiss was thinking if she truly was here to get a gift for Ruby.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't," Weiss replied, seemingly back to her usual self. "As unhealthy as it is, Ruby likes her sweets. Not that that's going to be all I'm going to get her. I'll visit a Dust shop and get her a couple canisters and a box of casings. She won't be running out of rounds for a long time."

There was one Dust shop that they all frequented and the addresses that Weiss selected and downloaded to her scroll were near it. "Dust Till Dawn?"

"Might as well."

It had been Ruby's favorite hangout long before the robbery that she foiled, spending her free time perusing the latest issue of her favorite magazine and purchasing cleaning kits, the latest mods, and ammunition for her precious Crescent Rose. The rest of her team tended to go there for their needs as well, following their leader's example. The shopkeeper there was nice to them.

"I may as well stop there too," Blake spoke once Weiss cleared the map. "I'm not sure what to do for Yang so I might get some ideas while we're there."

Weiss frowned but didn't dissuade her, accepting the logic and the company when they started walking. From Dust Till Dawn was close and the traffic would go against them this time if they went on another bus although the faunus began to have second thoughts when it came to the wind chill that traveled between the buildings.

Why does Vale have to be so windy? she asked herself, making sure that her cap wasn't going to be blown off but doing well to keep her hidden cat ears flat against her head and out of sight with its help. Her continued exposure had her trying to make conversation if just to keep her mind off it. "Did you spend your break at home, Weiss?"

"You're awfully chatty today, aren't you?" the heiress grumbled.

Blake shrugged. Her earlier attempts had mostly been to annoy Weiss; it wasn't her fault that the elements were working against her in this instance.

"Yes, I did."

"Have you been taking to performing again?" That would make sense of what Blake saw and heard on the airship.

"No," Weiss replied bluntly. "I was by myself catching up on schoolwork and indulging in some hobbies. I don't need to be around people to spend my break."

That's what Blake had thought when she had been alone in their dorm room during the week. With no Ruby – sugar-filled or otherwise -, Yang, or Weiss, Blake was allowed an extended period of utter peace and quiet with no bickering, jokes, or any other such distractions. After raiding the cafeteria to put a couple cans of tuna at her bedside and freeing her cat ears, the faunus had settled down for nice, peaceful days of reading.

It was still as much of a surprise to her as it was back then when she found her concentration slipping. Usually so devoted in the assembled paragraphs of her books, Blake would find her attention straying over a length of time. Instead of the pages, she would be wandering to the empty bunk across from her and how the one on top was quiet and unmoving. The one over her head was straight as can be with no minute bulge that would signify a body lying on top of it.

It was quiet. Disturbingly quiet. It was fortunate that Ruby left her headphones behind. While having never fiddled with such devices before, Blake had managed to get it working and – after a long look at the selection screen – chose the latest album of The Achieve Men with the loud, offensive music brought to a decibel that was tolerable. Strangely, it worked to get her to focus.

"What about your father?" Blake asked.

"Like I said," Weiss spoke, a discernable edge in her tone. "I don't need to be around people. He wasn't there; had to deal with an emergency."

As much as Blake had been willing to go on before, she wisely chose not to in this case. The way she spoke right then on the subject of her father… "I see." Before she could stop herself she said, "Sorry."

Weiss must not have been expecting that with her slow response, one that she tried to pass offhandedly. "Don't be. I'm not."

That Blake found to be surprising, especially how the heiress seemed truly uncaring with the absence of her father.

"Have you ever noticed what kind of casings Ruby uses?" Weiss asked, changing the subject. "Hexe Arms; subpar at best. Can you even believe that? She uses Schnee Dust and loads them into their casings. Ridiculous."

Blake was a little surprised to find herself smiling faintly and deciding to go along with it. "I don't suppose she's mentioned Mr. Woofles to you."

The heiress quirked a brow towards her. "Mr. Woofles?"

Unlike the ride on the bus, the trip on foot was spent with idle chatter such as that, ending when their selected Dust shop came into view. A short, one-story building, From Dust Till Dawn appeared nondescript with how it was surrounded by others that were several stories taller than it. Being one of the rare Dust shops that – true to its name – was open for such long hours gave it a steady influx of customers and an occasional robbery if the shopkeeper's testimony was accurate when he had been held at gunpoint.

Entering the store, they were given a raspy greeting by the elderly man with his grayed hair and bald spot. His aged visage crinkled in recognition and he bowed his head towards them. "Ladies, always a pleasure." When the door closed behind them he squinted towards it. "Little Red isn't with you?"

"No, it's just us for today," Weiss informed as she approached the counter, not even sparing a glance at the Dust crystals that were lined up within the glass display.

He looked a tad disappointed, having taken an obvious liking to their young leader. "Please pass on my good wishes and my never ending gratitude when you see her. Is there anything that I can help you with today?"

"Why, yes you can." All business-like and polite, Weiss ordered, "Two canisters please, and I plan on purchasing a box of casings. High-grade of course."

The shopkeeper bent down beneath the counter, retrieving the items in question that would let Weiss siphon whatever Dust she needed from the tubes that lined the walls. Once she stepped away from the counter, he switched to Blake. "Do you care to make an order?"

"Just looking right now," Blake responded courteously. She made her way to the lines of shelves at the back of the store. "I'll be sure to ask if I need anything."

She hadn't been lying when she said that she wasn't sure what to get Yang. She knew of the blonde's interests but couldn't think of what she would possibly need. She liked her eccentric clothing but it never got personal enough that Blake knew of her exact sizes when it came to clothing. That and their fashion sense were so misaligned that the faunus couldn't select anything that she would find too revealing or colorful when, in all likelihood, Yang would love it.

The same can pretty much be said about any cosmetic choices. Blake did end up finding out the brand and scent of that shampoo that she admired – plum blossom -, but Yang had her stockpile of hair care products and she didn't know how she could possibly add to it. Surprisingly, as much time and effort she put into her hair, makeup was something the brawler didn't have a favor for, proudly boasting that her looks were all natural. As for jewelry, Ember Celica was the only thing she wore and needed.

Which had Blake entertaining the idea of following Weiss's example and getting some Dust: it was practical and she wouldn't have to worry about Yang not using it. Everyone used Dust as it was the baseline for nearly all forms of technology. Being the ones who wielded Dust to defeat the Grimm, it was no different with Huntsmen and Huntresses.

There were those like Weiss, Goodwitch, and Velvet who used Dust for spells but you didn't have to be a caster to conjure up its power. When it came to firearms, the volatile nature of Dust can be used as a simple propellant to launch projectiles or used to give bullets an additional property. Depending on what type you used, the Dust that Weiss was currently loading into canisters could be injected into a bullet casing and enhance the round. Blake tended to use more basic bullets for Gambol Shroud but she knew Ruby loaded Crescent Rose with gravity rounds for an added boost to the recoil that sent weapon and wielder at high speeds and incredible heights.

Ember Celica had similar choices. Inject enough of a powdered Burn Crystal into a line of shells and Yang could use the Aura that flowed through her body and her weapon to invoke the power of Dust in the form of her explosive flares for long-range attacks. Not as much of an extravagant use of Nature's Wrath but the concept that had been formulated between Aura and Dust upon the latter's discovery was the same.

But would that be alright? Blake wondered. Dust, while practical, just didn't seem like enough to her. It would cost more than the one – well, two – books that Yang had given her, but that wasn't the point.

The point was that feeling of satisfaction that came with the thought of giving Yang a 'proper' gift; the kind that would have her partner feeling as excited and good at being the recipient of it that matched what Blake had felt. Yang had gone through the trouble of looking through her collection, making sure that she would pick something that Blake didn't own but would enjoy, and the faunus just couldn't fathom that she could accomplish the same thing by getting her ordinary Dust.

So despite her minutes of browsing, Blake couldn't find any of the differing calibers of bullets, brands of lubricants, injectors, scales, or Dust crystals that clicked as being the right gift. When she went to the counter, it was empty-handed.

"That all for today, Rhea?"

But she did find some inspiration. There had been a couple more customers who were already present or came in after her and Weiss and that included the faunus who was finalizing her purchase. A woman, youthful but face slightly wrinkled and hair not as vibrantly black as it may've once been. Those wolf ears, however, were high and obvious.

"Yes, that will be all," she spoke pleasantly, at ease with the human shopkeeper if that and her smile was any indication.

"You've been coming much more often," he noted as he bagged her items. There was no unease on his wizened features, voice easy and conversational, and his movements were not rushed as if he wanted her out as soon as possible. "I take it young Romus is doing well?"

"Very, thank you for asking. He's in his second year and the crystals are for him."

"A special year for students at Signal if I recall. I've been here long enough to see and hear about many young ones who come to make their first purchase of Dust for the purpose of using them in their first weapon. Always a delight to hear about the next generation taking such a step in their lives."

"I can assure you that he is just as proud and excited," the wolf faunus replied. Once the bag that contained her items were placed on the counter, she took possession of them. "Don't be surprised if you see him coming here to buy his own Dust; I can't do this for him forever after all."

The shopkeeper chuckled, giving the woman a short wave. "I will look forward to it. Have a good day."

The faunus gave him a respectable nod before leaving, passing Weiss in the process. The heiress didn't give her any special attention but with how she was balancing the two filled canisters of Dust on top of a box of bullet casings, she may've been too busy to notice her as she struggled to keep her grip on them as she went to the counter.

...Things are different here.

The thought was a reversal of the one that Blake had within Beacon's cafeteria so long ago; back when she thought she knew about the cold hard truth of the world. Back when she thought the only dreams were those meant to be broken, hopes that were just as readily dashed, and faith in cooperation and unity was misplaced.

Back when she wasn't here.

Weiss quickly made her purchase, the cost not even giving her pause before she had a stack of Lien chips on the counter. With her own items in a more manageable bag, Weiss rejoined Blake, head cocking quizzically when she saw that the faunus wasn't carrying anything. "Didn't find something to buy?"

"No, there's nothing I want here," Blake replied but didn't sound disappointed. "You said that you wanted to go to a bakery next, right?"

At Weiss's nod, the two of them left the shop and the fencer carefully switched hands so that she could produce her scroll to bring up the addresses that she saved. Blake waited patiently and was marginally surprised that the cold didn't feel as bad as it was before she entered the shop. She felt warmer…lighter. She couldn't quite explain it but there was something about this sense of elation that felt so very gratifying.

She was finding it hard to explain a lot of things that have come about since arriving here in Vale. So many feelings that she hadn't felt before, so many sights that had never graced her before, things that she had thought were nothing more than imaginations that would never exist in the real world. What she had bitterly accepted as fact did not apply everywhere as she thought it did.

When she did think back to what she once knew was right, it was becoming harder and harder to remain convinced that what she had experienced wasn't a nightmare that she had been freed from. The months here were proving to blur and bring into question everything that had tormented her for years.

She found what she wanted.

Next to her, Weiss had put away her scroll but wasn't making a move to go anywhere. Instead, she had her bag parted open and was looking at the contents.

"What is it?" Blake asked.

Weiss chewed at her lip uncertainly, taking her time with whatever it was that was bothering her. She sent a couple glances to Blake before facing her fully and asked, "What do you think? You're her teammate too so do you think Ruby would be fine with this? I didn't make anything for her so would all of this really be okay?"

This latest example was one such thing. By all rights, the two of them should be sworn enemies who despised one another instead of fellow trainees who were walking, shopping, and talking together about how incomprehensible their partners were. Whenever she had thought of the Schnee family, Blake had imagined its members as formless specters who carried themselves high above everyone else and only swooping down to collect the money from the ground that faunus toiled over before returning to their lofty position, uncaring and perhaps even delighting how the blood and sweat stained their purses.

She couldn't fit that image to Weiss. Right in front of her - despite her race and the symbol that adorned her jacket and holding a bag of product that had come from her family's unjust practices -, Blake found herself looking at a girl who was sharing the same thoughts, worries, and wishes as she did.

Blake didn't even know if Weiss had always been like that or if being in Vale was changing her as well. How she treated Velvet did change though. Having once seemed like she wanted nothing to do with the rabbit faunus, Weiss had surprised them all just as their break was coming.

It had been like any other ordinary day although there had been a twist when the coming midterms had Velvet wearing her combat outfit to lunch with all of them wearing their uniforms. The form-fitting black top and leggings coupled with the soothing brown of her long-sleeved jacket and shorts were simple but very Velvet. The metal plates that covered her seemed more like accessories than battle-hardened armor with the ones at her shoulders smoothly contoured and decorated while the bracers, belt, and reinforced heel and toes were minimal but practical.

The box that held her weapon and what she carried around with her not so much. With Ruby looking over her shoulder to satisfy her need to check out new and interesting weapons, Velvet had placed the case on the table with her emblem of a stitched heart – the same at the breast of her jacket – visible to all. She had it open and busily sorted through the contents, rabbit ears twitching to better convey her plight.

"I thought I would be fine with the amount I had until I went home, but I was asked to perform a demonstration for my class!" she spoke in dismay. "I couldn't say no!"

She had a couple pouches but, other than a half-empty vial of green-colored powdered Dust and one Electric Crystal, they hadn't been carrying anything else. As much as RWBY and JNPR wished to help, all the members used Dust in a form that would be inadequate for her casting needs.

Well, all except one.

"Maybe my team will lend me some of theirs," she quietly hoped after a minute of fruitless searching. "I don't want to be a bother to them but…"

"Oh for the love of…here!"

Velvet jerked back, nearly falling out of her seat with the hand that was thrust in her direction, palm open. The faunus soon recouped and stared disbelievingly at the multiple and very full vials of Dust that laid within it before following that arm up to its owner. "Weiss?"

"If it will stop your pointless worrying, I'll give you some of mine," Weiss declared, annoyed but her hand remaining outstretched. The expression of disbelief on Velvet's face spread to the rest of their table as they all beheld this unusual display which influenced Weiss to shake her hand, the vials clinking together as she impatiently said, "Well? Don't just stare at them; take them!

After some hesitation, Velvet timidly reached out and brought the Dust into her possession. Giving them a wide-eyed inspection as if to prove that they were real, the girl redirected her attention back to the heiress. "Thank you. Oh, uh, don't worry! I'll make sure to replace them as soon as possible!"

Weiss seemed insulted at the idea. Pulling back her arm to cross it over her chest, she replied, "Did you forget who you're talking to? I'm sure I can live without such a trivial amount. Don't even bother."

Despite the snooty attitude, the other girl wasn't dampened by it. Taking more from the gesture rather than the words, Velvet smiled gratefully.

With that memory replaying in her mind, Blake gave Weiss a reassuring nod. "I'm sure Ruby will be happy. Constructing ammunition while eating a batch of cookies; that does sound like something she'll enjoy."

It worked to put the heiress's misgivings to rest. "I suppose you're right. It doesn't take much to appease our leader."

"But they are a rather unique pair, aren't they?" the faunus questioned with a grin. "Our partners."

Weiss paused at that but soon returned the gesture. "I suppose they are."

Indeed they are. Thinking of her own, Blake again recalled all these unique things that Yang was at the forefront of. These odd emotions and sensations whenever she was at the blonde's side, the kind smiles and spirited grins that she sent her way, all of it so welcoming and happy with no sign of malice. All from a human of all people.

Things can change.

And maybe she could as well. She's come to cherish this life that she had approached cautiously, ready to abandon it at a moment's notice when things may go awry. She still had her suspicions though and it kept her from fully accepting what it had to offer her for surely as wonderful as this life was, could she really fit into it?

There was one way to find out. She had sworn that she would never do so again and it seemed ludicrous that she was willing to throw away a lifetime of experience in the face of a decision that was being made after a few months. But in that amount of time she had come to find relief in something that she hadn't felt in a long, long time: hope. Hope that if Yang was to accept her and she, in turn, accepted this life, then she could finally be happy.

A very proper gift I think, Blake mused. She was nonetheless nervous and knew that this decision was something that she should think over a bit more before she went through with it, but it was a possibility. Thinking that enjoying something else that Vale had to offer – and perhaps with some company – might help, Blake brought up the suggestion to Weiss while the heiress reviewed their directions. "If you care for it, I do know of a tea shop nearby. I usually enjoy drinking on the open roof but I think it'd be better if we do so inside."

The heiress broke away from the screen to open consider the offer, eventually nodding her head in genuine interest. "I suppose I wouldn't mind. Beacon does have its stock of coffee but I find their selected tastes when it comes to tea to be deplorable to tell you the truth. A properly-brewed cup sounds enticing."

With her once unlikely traveling companion, Blake led the way; uncertain of what may come but, this time, so very hopeful.

Chapter Text

Goodbye and good riddance, Yang thought happily as she tossed the poor excuse for a hairnet that had tried – and failed – to tame her untamable hair.

That had to be the worst part of her punishment: having to be properly 'outfitted' for her drawn-out stay as a temporary member of Beacon's kitchen staff. The brawler had scoffed at the idea, especially with the hidden meaning that they even expected so much as a single strand to fall out of its own volition. If such a preposterous thing did happen, it's not like their food had ever been that great.

Probably why there were a select few students who enjoyed playing more than eating. That thought had the blonde cringing at those instances where she had been working long and hard over a sink to clear out the massacre that had been helpings of something that may've once been edible. She was convinced that someone had it in for her and used the situation to their advantage.

Not like they really needed to. Some of the dishes that came back had to be Nora's. The time and effort that it would take to scrub out all that syrup alone was bad but having to deal with everyone else's messes would leave Yang with the unsightly pruning of her hands and fingers that lasted until right before the process repeated itself. You'd think that Hunters-in-training would have it in them to exert the minimum amount of responsibility required for proper table manners.

Of course, it was irresponsibility that Yang had been pronounced as guilty of, not that she saw what the problem was. If students were going to be given lockers that came equipped with their own rocket propulsion system then what did their professors expect? Besides, she believed that she used it for its intended purpose; there was just a little something lost in translation that led to three big, furry snags.

Did she regret it though? That question tended to pop up whenever she was arms-deep in hot, filthy water and a layer of soap suds but the answer would arrive swiftly: the bell-like laughter and tears of mirth that had once seemed like impossible things to see on such a normally serious face.

The irony hadn't escaped from Yang that one of the first things she said concerning her partner was that Blake Belladonna was a lost cause. To be fair, that had been before they were partners and the brunette was making it quite clear that she hadn't wanted any company that night. Used to friends who were more outgoing, Yang may've been willing to forget all about Blake if fate hadn't intervened.

Having initially seen her as humorless with face barren of emotion, the short grins that had broken through during their meet-up and trek through the Emerald Forest had tickled Yang's interest when she saw that there was more to Blake than she originally considered. When she held that pony-shaped chess piece and was rewarded with a genuine smile from the quiet girl, Yang had decided that she could potentially have fun with drawing out more from her.

…A notion that has turned out to be a complicated task. At first it seemed as if it was going to be easy with her partner having so readily joined in with their task of decorating although Yang still found it inconceivable that she never heard of one of the best and most popular boy bands in existence. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Blake had just clammed up on all of them and she was back to that girl who sought the darkest corner to close herself off from everyone else.

Trying to deduce an explanation had the blonde thinking back to what Blake had told them about her friend and the partnership that had put her through what the team had been led to believe was a lot of pain. Admittedly, Yang may've been a bit selfish and foolish for focusing solely on the benefits and not pondering about the drawbacks of something like this bond. To be honest, she went on assuming that such a thing wouldn't happen. But Blake had witnessed the consequences and, thus, had to be more cautious than Yang.

Not that that had been the only reason for Yang approaching her in Forever Fall. She was worried about Blake and about their friendship. She tried to learn more when it came to her partner and many of her efforts were in vain as, true to form, the ninja preferred to remain evasive. She would answer questions that Yang posed to her but she never went into details, never gave anything extra, and she would be turning away with an excuse to keep their interactions brief.

When they talked in that red-themed forest, Yang had decided that the best way to do so was to let Blake know that she considered them as friends and while she did want to know about her friend, she was willing to wait for whenever Blake felt comfortable doing so. The brawler had felt bad about backing her partner into a corner like that and even worse when it was clear that there was something that distressed Blake that involved her history. Yang was quick to assure her that she didn't need to know, not right now, and she could wait. She just wanted to make sure that they were friends.

The admission that they were was all that Yang wanted and needed. She may not have come away with any additional information about Blake but knowing that she had her trust and confidence was worth it. It made it easier to convince Blake to spend time and socialize with her team like she did that day. When they trained together, Yang had noticed the change of how they viewed one another; that sensation that said that, no matter what the other circumstances may be, they would watch out for each other.

It was getting Blake to smile more often and, with it, the spark that had turned into an unexplainable need for Yang to go even further. She had her other friends who had come to Beacon but they had their own teams and their own partners to worry about which left her with Blake. That rewarding milestone came with the desire to get Blake a gift. The idea had come when – right before they left – Yang found out that Blake was staying at the school the entire time that they were away.

It had unsettled her. During the week, Yang found her thoughts drifting to Blake whenever she peered out over the vast cityscape of Vale with the awareness that Blake wasn't a part of it – or any kingdom for how much Yang knew - and had instead chosen to isolate herself. However many months may've passed and the numerous visits to the city that were undertaken, there was still that girl who preferred to remain off to the side and away from everyone else. So, after a quick look at the shelf committed to the bow-wearing girl's novels, Yang decided on bringing a bit of Vale to her; that being one of the bookstores.

The plan didn't go anywhere near as she intended it to play out but the results were more than what Yang could've asked for.

With a wave of her hand to the kitchen staff who she had come to respect a bit more if anything else, the blonde threw on her jacket and took the exit located at the back that was reserved for them. She just finished dealing with cleaning up after her fellow students had their fill of dinner so when she went out to the rear of the building and stepped onto one of the stone paths that wound their way throughout Beacon's campus, it was late in the evening with a darkened sky that hadn't completely made the conversion to night.

She wasn't alone though and Yang actually expected the steps that she knew were purposely made to be heard as they clicked against the pathway. After instigating a fair share of jump scares, the owner learned to not be as soundless as she tended to be; at least not when it came to creeping up on friends and teammates. Turning to her now, a teasing grin sprouting on her face, Yang brought up the line that she prepared for this occasion. "What good faith has transpired that would grant me the presence of a fair lady to see me out of my term of confinement?"

Blake smiling was nice and all but the blonde took specific delight in efforts that twisted it into an embarrassed expression like the one she was satisfied with seeing upon facing her partner; that and the color that stood out on that pale face while golden eyes became averted. It was a contradiction with the routine image of the cool ninja yet that bow on top of her head not only made it seem somehow fitting but also cute.

"I suspect your perusing of my compilation of tomes had the consequence of expanding your vocabulary," Blake countered, now meeting the blonde's eyes and the smile turned into a clever smirk.

Ouch, words, Yang thought, feigning a wince but felt blessed with the picture of a mischievous Blake who was trying – and falling – to distract the brawler from the shade of pink that persisted on her cheeks. With a shrug of surrender, she spoke, "Nah, I had that one on reserve."

It was a setup they've establish that had become natural: Yang with her jokes and Blake willing to go along with them but keeping the blonde reeled in. With another of their exchanges having been passed, Blake fell in step with her partner.

During the time that Yang had been stuck on kitchen duty, Blake made it a routine to visit the cafeteria at later periods when the initial rush of students had vacated. Sometimes she would wait until Yang was done such as this, other times not when she had an assignment or some other matter that required her to be elsewhere. Each and every time though, Yang would be able to see her take a seat that allowed her to be visible where she worked, her ebony-haired partner engaged in either one of her novels or a textbook.

On a hunch, Yang had gotten a peek at the title of the novel to find that it was the exact same one that she intended to get Blake but had been forced to give her money to pay for a replacement. The ninja happened to catch her staring and smiled knowingly. It was Blake's presence and the few words they exchanged that made it all worth it.

"So how does it feel to finally be free?" Blake asked as the two of them walked in the direction of their dormitory.

"Great!" was Yang's enthusiastic reply, raising her hands high above her head as she stretched to get the latest kinks out of her back. "Free from hairnets, free from dishes, free from…" Trailing off, she dropped her arms so that she could stare at her currently gloveless hands. "Well, ask me again tomorrow morning and I think the wrinkles will be gone."

"Right," Blake remarked and Yang glanced over to see a corner of her partner's mouth raised.

"So how's it been over at the dorm without me?"

"Surprisingly, not as quiet as you'd think. Ever since Weiss gave Ruby that gift of Dust and sweets our leader will hardly leave her alone. Then Weiss will pull out the story of Ruby's stuffed Beowolf to get her to stop and start teasing her about it."

Yang groaned. "I should've never told you about that. Ruby's probably going to get on my case soon."

"If you didn't want that to happen you should've been more cautious about what you should've said," Blake replied with a shrug. "Gossip spreads, Yang."

"Yeah but I never took you to be the gossiping type, especially with the princess."

Blake tilted her head at that, taking a moment as if to consider the blonde's words before saying, "…I never would've either."

Yang had seen that corner of her lip momentarily drift down with the motion of her head but it rose back up by the time she spoke. Seeing it and hearing the note of surprise that was mixed with authentic joy incited immense satisfaction.

Around them, the lamp posts flickered on in preparation for the coming of night. They served to remind Yang of what tomorrow would bring and how her punishment had hindered her in certain regards. "Ugh, all that time at the sinks and I haven't been able to get even one reference for the essay that Oobleck's assigned to us."

"Humanity's early expansionism and establishment of Mistral?" Blake guessed. "He assigned us the same thing."

Yang nodded. She hadn't been in Blake's class or even had Oobleck during the first half of the school year, having only begun taking his class with the start of the second. "We have a couple choices such as which of the crusades we'd like to write about and some of the leading figures responsible for the undertaking."

"I might be able to help depending on which you chose. I decided on writing on the advantages and later effects in society that resulted in the use of hiring faunus mercenaries and guides to fight and navigate the terrain for the later ones."

"In that case, maybe I should write about the same thing," Yang spoke with a conspiratorial grin.

Blake already knew what she was getting at. "I'm not letting you copy my essay, Yang."

"I said nothing about copying; maybe borrowing a sentence here and there. A couple paragraphs if you wouldn't mind."

"I would." Despite directing a narrow-eyed look of disapproval towards her partner, Blake didn't sound angry. "And I think Oobleck will notice. I'll give you some references but that's all you're getting."

"Can't blame a girl for trying." Yang held up a hand, waggling the pruned fingers towards her partner. "I've gone through a lot."

Blake rolled her eyes and chose to say nothing else with Yang following suit as she dropped her hand back to her side. They already cut through most of the campus at this point and Yang could see the multi-story building that was their dormitory directly ahead of them. As good as it was to return to Vale, Yang had missed spending time in their room with their team and she knew that Ruby had felt the same thing. One of the four kingdoms it may be but not all of their friends lived there and they had been sorely missed.

She had told Ruby upon their acceptance into Beacon that the combat school was their home now but she hadn't believed or appreciated her own words as she did when they returned from their break. It was more than the fighting and becoming heroes but the companionship that was developed between others who fought for the same thing and entrusting yourself to them. Stepping back into Vale these days tended to breed a sense of nostalgia rather than true fondness whereas with Beacon it was the other way around.

Hell, I even missed Weiss, Yang thought humorously. It's not like she hated the heiress but her bossiness – to compensate for not being leader even after all this time she guessed - could get annoying sometimes. Still, she seemed to be thawing out a bit and Ruby was happy and knowing that they were going to be stuck together for four years had Yang hoping they'd be the better friends that they were slowly becoming.

The ease of her conversation with Blake was showing Yang just how good of friends they had become and it was with her partner in mind that the brawler noticed that she wasn't at her side anymore. She quickly turned back to see where she lost her.

It wasn't that far. It must've been a few seconds but in that amount of time Blake had stopped and Yang had inadvertently put a few yards between them. Not far enough away to remove her from speaking distance but enough to give Yang a perfect view of the picture that had been drawn out for her.

Blake was smiling and Yang realized that this must be the most and longest amount of time that she'd seen her do so. She was turned away with the blonde only able to see one side of her face but that corner of her mouth was as high as before as the dark Huntress stared at whatever caught her interest in one of the ponds that dotted Beacon's courtyard.

The sun vanished entirely at this point, having completed its journey far enough beneath the horizon that not one band of light could shine above it anymore. In its place was the moon and its current lunar phase granted an almost full picture of the surface except for the jagged edges at the corner that would remind stargazers of the shattered face that was at the other side. Nonetheless, the pale glow of moonlight beamed down upon Remnant; not as bright as the sun but, arguably, much more beautiful.

It was the moon, its illumination, and that of the lamp posts that were reflected off of the still waters of the pond between the pads and lilies that grew upon them. And right at the edge was Blake; her outfit of black and white blending artfully with her surroundings. The white of her shirt and shorts and the pale coloring of her skin practically glowed underneath what light the night provided while her vest and hair seemed to be living shadows that swept around her with the smallest of movements.

It was between those points of light and dark that Yang could make out the speck of gold that gleamed beneath wispy, shadowy bangs and above the pale cheek. The blonde had known that Blake's eyes tended to do that but tonight it was rather lustrous even if she could only see the one.

"I like it here."

It dawned on Yang that she hadn't blinked in a while when she did at the words that her partner spoke. Regaining her sensibilities from the captivating spectacle did little for her to form a response to something that did not ask for it.

Blake continued, "I like this; talking and joking about today, tomorrow, and the days after with you, Ruby, Weiss, and all our other friends. I like how I can look forward to those days. I like being…happy."

Where is all this coming from? Yang asked herself, not desiring to speak it out loud with the risk that it would break her partner out of whatever spell was influencing her to stare longingly at those reflections while she spoke with a soft, tender voice.

"I've come to even like fighting. Not so much the fighting itself but doing it for a cause that I can rest assured is right and just. Fighting was all that I became good at and I had done so for something else that I had thought was…" That smile disappeared, that glow in her eye diminishing as the lid partially fell over it. "…not as right but…necessary. Or at least that's what I believed it to be."

It was the most that Blake had ever said about herself and an indication of why she had been detached from them. That voice was still soft but to Yang's ears it was no longer tender, instead sad and regretful.

"I used to believe in a lot of things. Some true, others that seemed true, but in the end they all proved to be deceptive. When I chose to come here instead it was because it was the only place that I thought I'd fit in. It's silly, really. Just as I had believed everything that was true was false, what I believed to be false was true. And it is…everything that I have found here."

Blake turned and a tiny shock ran down Yang's spine as not one but both shimmering ambers became fixed on her. "I want to thank you Yang, and apologize."

"Apologize?"

She nodded. "There are things that I have everyone to thank for but, as my partner, you have my deepest gratitude and apologies. You've shown me a lot, helped me when I didn't ask for it or didn't want it, and not just because we're partners but because we're…friends." The smile returned, expressing the appreciation she voiced but then it vanished to better display the regret that casted her gaze down.

"I've been ungrateful," she added. "I told you I had my reasons but, really, I just couldn't trust you. Couldn't trust any of this. It never bothered you though and no matter how selfish I was you would always try to reach out and draw me in."

The remorse and self-chastising had Yang speaking to try and comfort her partner. "It's alright; I understand. I told you that I could wait until whenever you were comfortable with telling me anything about you." Obscurity aside, what Blake was saying now convinced the brawler that she must be hiding something more unpleasant than what she could guess at.

What was supposed to be support turned into another load that caused Blake's shoulders to slump. "Even now I don't think I can. I'll be honest and say that I don't know if I will ever do so in a suitable time to prevent complications."

Yang cocked her head to one side. Complications?

Blake didn't answer her unspoken question as to what those may but she did meet her gaze again. "But I do know of one way that might be able to help with that."

That glow of her golden irises shifted with the changing light as the ninja made her way over, passing the lamp posts that were situated within the space that Blake cleared as quickly as Yang had made it. The blonde brawler knew how much shorter her partner was when compared to her but it was easy to forget that with how Blake normally carried herself unwaveringly. Coupled with this determination and implied but important conclusion that the ninja had come up with, Yang had to admit at feeling a bit anxious of her presence when she stood barely a foot away from her, chin lifting to look up at her.

"Yang, I want to form a bond with you."

She hadn't been expecting that and all Yang could do was stare at her partner before it hit her. "A bond?"

There was no hesitation as Blake immediately replied, "Yes."

Yang had resigned herself to such a thing being unlikely if not impossible with her partner so having this sprung up on her was alarming to say the least. Seeking to reconfirm it she asked, "Like…bond-bond? Sharing Aura? That whole mystical Hunter partner thing?"

Blake appeared serious but couldn't halt the miniscule smirk that said she was somewhat amused by Yang's perplexity. "Yes, that kind of bond."

"Er, are you sure?" Yang questioned again, not really believing it. "Isn't this kind of serious? Like, wait four years and then decide kind of serious?"

"That depends on how you look at it," Blake replied. "Some may believe it's to be done after our time at Beacon but others might think that it can be done earlier and the years partners spend training together can better strengthen it."

"Yeah but I didn't expect you to decide on going with it this soon. I mean, you told us about what happened to your friend and all."

That managed to wipe the smirk from Blake's face, all amusement gone as the black-themed girl did look uncertain at the possibility. However, she collected herself and steadily explained, "It was a choice that she made without much thought. I've put a lot of thought into this, Yang. I decided on this due to the benefits of not only what it would mean for me but our partnership and our team. By doing this, I believe that as our bond grows it will allow me to show more of what I've wanted to say but could never think of how to say it. In this way, I hope to gain the trust that we both want."

Not once did those iridescent irises stray, having locked onto Yang's lavender ones and remained immovable and unblinking throughout the whole explanation as if that alone would prove her honesty. Yang couldn't say that she had been able to do the same but was nonetheless absorbed by them and how the violet eye shadow flared out and back at the corners, complementing the peculiar but fascinating curving of her pupils.

She's really serious about this, Yang realized, speechless.

It was her silence that had Blake inching away as if perceiving how her closeness may be unsettling. Her staunch expression gave way to unease and she broke eye contact by blinking and looking away. "You can say no. You can say that you don't want to do this and I'll understand. This is a big decision and it is kind of sudden so if you don't want to do this now or you want to wait for those four years I'll respect your choice."

She'll respect it but Yang recognized that she'll be disappointed, something that she didn't want the other girl to be. How many times did she wish for something such as this? Every occasion she happened to witness Blake taking another area of seclusion for herself - choosing her novels instead of human contact -, every moment when her partner would break off to do something on her own, Yang would feel like she somehow failed. It was a hobby that Blake enjoyed but the brawler couldn't help but think that she indulged in it too often at times.

Plenty of progress had been made since then and now that she had cajoled Blake into making such a gigantic leap, was she really going to back down from it? She won't lie; it was an opportunity but a tremendous one that made her nervous in the face of its significance not only when it came to being a Huntress but what it meant for Blake. She didn't want to make her regret this.

Come on, what happened to your courage? she berated. Show some backbone! Blake's entrusting this to you. As if you'll give her a reason to be sorry about this.

Taking a deep breath, Yang shuffled her feet similar to how she prepared for a fight before she would drop into her stance. She didn't ready her fists though, instead giving Blake a grin. "What and ruin this perfectly good mood? I'll give it a go. Besides, you said bonds don't get really serious until later so if you find me too much of a handful we can always mutually break it, right?" She added a wink as much for herself as it was for Blake.

Her partner returned it, visibly relieved. "Right. Thank you, Yang."

They both stood and gazed at each other, seeming content to stick with doing this much as they conveyed their relief and hopes with shared facial gestures. For Yang though, it wasn't so much the pleasant atmosphere that had her hesitating as, soon, she was scratching the back of her head sheepishly. "Sooo…how does this work, exactly?"

Blake jerked. "Oh, of course you don't…never mind." Flustered – not that Yang minded in the least -, she promptly held up her hand. "It won't be that difficult, especially since this'll be done with the efforts of both parties. Essentially, this is like how we would channel our Aura through our weapons except you're doing it with another person. It's a two-way street so it's more about establishing a link than it is just enshrouding a tool to make it work for you. We'll be mixing and imprinting a piece of ourselves into each other."

Yang nodded, not entirely sure about the specifics but figuring that as long as she knew of the steps then the rest should come to her. She focused on Blake's hand. "And this…?"

"Physical contact."

"Ah." This time it was Yang's turn to feel stupid as she hastily brought her own up to clasp with Blake's.

The skin hadn't fully recovered from the hot and soapy dousing and Yang was upset about that. Upon her fingers slipping through Blake's, she was left with the impression that she was sullying her partner's smoother, slimmer ones. They were not as big or as rough as she knew her own were, but Yang could perceive the strength within them and a noticeable hardiness that weren't callouses yet let her identify points that came when the ninja would grip the hilt of her weapon for a length of time.

Self-conscious and wanting to draw Blake away from her imperfection, Yang joked, "You sure this is enough?"

Blake sighed, exasperated, but Yang did notice her struggling to retain it. "This is all we'll need. It'll serve as a spot to concentrate on and direct our Aura from one to the other. You draw it out, gather it here, and then you'll gradually make your way down and towards my center. I'll be doing the same."

"The center being…?"

Another sigh. "What do you think, Yang?"

"Right, right, right!" The heart; got it. Fearing that Blake was starting to have second thoughts, Yang hastily asked, "Anything else I should know about?"

"Not really as that's actually most of the work right there. At that point the imprinting itself will come naturally. The oath will help."

Yang lifted a brow. "Oath? I was supposed to plan a speech for this?"

"More of a confirmation than an oath," Blake explained, patient for this instance. "Reciting it will make forming the pact easier for both you and me. It'll come to mind during the bonding."

That sounded kind of important…and corny if Yang had to admit. She supposed it was like one of those things that the hero would always announce whether it be some kind of warrior code or a pledge to defeat evil like in one of those story books she used to read to Ruby. On second thought, that might not be a bad idea.

"Are you ready to begin?"

The butterflies in her stomach said no but Yang overruled them. "Yes."

"Good." After a deep inhale, Blake closed her eyes. "Draw out your Aura and focus on meeting me here." She gave a squeeze to where they were joined.

Yang copied her partner, taking a breath before shutting her own. She had confidence in this much at least; every Hunter was taught how to properly manifest and manipulate their Aura but, in her case, it was much easier. She always imagined it as a fire that burned within her heart, hers to mold and whip up into an inferno that would empower her while she fought and overwhelm her enemies. Nothing got it to blaze hotter than fighting.

It was not an inferno that she imagined though but an ember; warm and gentle. When Yang took her next breath, she thought of that warmth gathering at the center of her chest with the oxygen she breathed in. When she exhaled, she imagined it flowing out with the air. Instead of expelling it away from her though, the brawler had it course through the rest of her body, traveling up and down over her torso before going along her arms and legs.

Lacking sight, she couldn't see but nonetheless felt her Aura extend outwards to form the shield that would protect her and those she defended: a golden outline that lit up the darkness in a way that was akin to the sun and caused the natural and artificial lighting of the night to become inadequate in comparison.

She felt Blake too. With their fingers twined together, Yang was able to distinguish the presence that was noticeably mixed with her own. By her partner's instructions, the blonde focused there, gathering the warmth of her Aura within her palm in preparation for it to continue on into another's territory. Whether she was able to identify that Yang was ready or figured that she had given her a suitable amount of time, Blake began the process.

She was…not so much cold but cool. Nevertheless, feeling Blake's Aura stretch out and mingle with her own had Yang – having not felt something like it since the development of her Semblance – hold back a chill as her partner slid along her arm.

She didn't encompass the limb though, not like how they would do with their weapons. Rather, like their digits, Blake was twining herself around her arm and weaving through the mild heat of her Aura as she made her way to her shoulder. Following her example, Yang did the same, her Aura making its own journey to Blake's body.

The uncomfortable sensation that came with warm and cool blending together proved to be a distraction coupled with how…the best way to describe it was murky. While she could feel Blake smoothly slipping through her brightened Aura, for Yang it was like trying to swim down a channel of ink that parted at her approach with reluctance and even then she felt some residue sticking to her as if attempting to slow her down.

She didn't know if it was her or Blake who was at fault. With how effortlessly it seemed to be for the other girl, Yang guessed it was herself. Was this where she should speak the oath to make it easier? Blake wasn't saying anything but she was crossing over Yang's bicep while the brawler was barely getting by her elbow.

Yang brought one of those fairy tale pledges to mind, one that had stuck out due to the ease of how a little editing better matched it to the brawler. The persistent sluggishness of her progress convinced Yang to speak.

"To defend the weak, I give my strength.
To protect the innocent, I give my flame."

There came a miniscule twitch of Blake's fingers but she wasn't telling Yang to stop. Her silence and the words that emboldened Yang to better entwine with Blake and grant her momentum to reach up to her shoulder and begin a pass beneath her neck had her continuing.

"To burn away the darkness of this world,
I give you the light that is my…my…"

Whereas the initial trek had been like ink, Yang found herself hitting a block of molasses; thick and hardly yielding as it prevented Yang from going further. Puzzled but not giving up when her goal was within reach, she pressed herself against the obstacle which started to give way with the force that Yang steadily added to her efforts.

It was not Blake's fingers that twitched within her grip this time but her line of Aura that was tied with Yang's.

"Yang," she spoke, nervous. "Wait."

She didn't. She pushed…

…and tore it right open.

It wasn't an obstacle meant to impede Yang. It was a scab: a hardened layer within Blake's Aura that had been formed over a wound to protect it while it healed. According to the trauma that came to the forefront, it was still as fresh as the day it was made.

Despair. Pure and utter despair. The exposed nerves broadcasted pain, misery, loneliness, and anguish in a tidal wave of raw emotion that crashed against Yang, seeking to drown her and the light that she had brought to this place that had forsaken such a thing. She floundered, trying to hold fast only to have another wave crash into her to knock her over, wipe her out. It was taking all it had to not succumb to it and instinct had her attempting to burn hotter and brighter in order to persevere.

Then Blake was there, having retreated and interposing herself within this struggle. But she did not come to help.

"GET OUT!"

The scream and the shove were just as much physical as they were mental, the former ringing in Yang's mind and ears while the latter drove her out from Blake and had her backpedaling on the stone path of Beacon's courtyard.

The brawler became aware that she was gasping, her hands pressed against the sides of her head while she stared, wide-eyed, at the ground, unable to fathom what she had just experienced. What was that?

It was hard to think of anything else other than what she had found and knowing that she had done so within Blake. She had peered into her partner's heart and what she saw was something unimaginable. A jagged tear within her very being that had tried to close off all access until Yang had blundered in. It was as if…as if…

…As if something had been ripped out of her.

The revelation hit Yang like a rolling Boarbatusk. That wasn't a friend! That was Blake!

She shot her head up to find that Blake had also stumbled back but had gone off the path, stepping onto the grass. She hadn't pulled far enough away to remove herself from the light of the lamp post so Yang was able to see how her face was as white as a sheet, the blood having completely drained from it. Her amber eyes were large and obvious.

She was partially bent over and one hand had reached out to grasp a low-hanging branch of a tree to keep herself from collapsing. A creaking noise was heard as pressure was applied to the wooden limb, bending so far that at any moment it was going to-

Snap!

It did. Blake nearly fell with the broken branch in hand but managed to stay on her feet. She glanced at it and there came gasp as she quickly released it, Yang spotting the fear on the features that were visible beneath ebony bangs. Her other hand was hanging off to her side, fingers slightly curled and shaking. Slowly, Blake lifted it and held it in front of her.

Yang's gaze switched to the appendage and noticed that there was something off about its appearance. The palm was directed away from her but, along the back, she could make out lines that trailed down it. Lines that were long, splotchy…reddened imprints of fingers that had been clasped there.

Now it was Yang who was gasping, hands flying to her mouth. She burned Blake!

To burn away the darkness… the words came, as if mocking her.

Yang was stepping forward, reaching out to her partner. "Blake, let me-!"

Blake emitted a sound that Yang couldn't make out whether due to fear or pain that made it unintelligible. That extra step that she took away from Yang said it all though, the shorter girl drifting further into the shadows except for that palm she extended towards the blonde as a sign to stay back. Yang was about to heed her silent order until she saw the blisters.

Thinking quickly, Yang turned and ran, frantically removing her scarf and dropping at the edge of the pond that she dunked the article into. The action produced a loud splash, sending ripples that disturbed the once still surface. They hardly traveled far before she was pulling the scarf up, squeezing the excess water out as she returned to Blake.

"Blake, let me see!" Yang demanded, snatching her wrist. "Let me see!"

She offered resistance but it was half-hearted, choosing not to fight or pull away when Yang brought her hand towards her and hurriedly wrapped the orange cloth around it. She had gotten a look and Yang inspected what damage she could see before it was covered, bringing up the first aid and other medical knowledge that she had gained from their survival courses.

Burned, obviously. Blisters mean second-degree; moderate but with how large the area is – oh God, I burned her! She needs a healer. Beacon has good ones and should be able take care of it without scarring.

Considering what kind of injuries trainees may end up with, Yang was positive that Beacon had the resources and personnel to deal with this and, more importantly, the facilities should still be open at this hour. It was just a matter of getting Blake to them immediately.

It wasn't an insistence on getting her there that she spoke though. When she looked up and tried to make out her partner, it was her shame and guilt that had her quietly apologizing. "Blake, I'm sorry. I-I…" She swallowed the lump in her throat. "I don't know what happened. I'm so sorry."

Even in the darkness she could barely make out the slow shake of Blake's head. "It wasn't you, Yang. Not you."

Something about the whisper quieted the blonde. With Blake's hand still in her possession, she noticed how the digits moved within their swaddling. With the glow of Blake's eyes, she could see how they were focused on it.

"It's never you," she whispered again, sounding as if she had just been let down.

It came without warning, this sudden motivation that had Yang yanking on her wrist. Blake lurched out from the shadows, clearly not expecting it and how she stiffened expressed the same about how Yang wrapped her arms around her. Her uninjured hand came to lie against Yang but it was more instinctive rather than a wish to push the blonde away as it didn't apply any force.

Yang was reminded of just how much smaller Blake was and not just by height that had brunette's head resting against that ample chest. Her shoulders were slimmer, allowing Yang's broader arms to easily encircle her. That slender body seemed delicate but the muscular one it was against took care.

Blake didn't return the embrace but made no objections. Even if Yang wouldn't mind, she didn't cry and the blonde didn't expect her to anyway; she was always too strong for that. But that grip did the job of tearing at Yang's heart. The hand that had been against her closed around a section of her jacket with a grip that was tight, desperate, and afraid.

The moon remained high above the two partners. Flawless except for the crack that revealed how broken it really was.

---

Atop the roof of the dormitory building, students could view and bask in yet another point of radiance that occurred at night although this one was artificial: that being the green signal light of the combat's school most prominent tower that acted as an exhibition to the name Beacon.

However, the two students who stood poised had their attention solely on each other: one boy, one girl. With how still they were, they might as well have been statues similar to the ones that could be found on display complete with weapons of sword and shield. The long red cloth that hung from around the girl's waist was matched in length by the hair of similar color done up in its high ponytail, both of which lazily fluttered around her legs and face to break the stillness.

Without warning they lunged at each other.

Akoúo̱ was brought up high next to that bundle of hair, the blade of Crocea Mors deflecting off the rounded surface before Miló stabbed upwards. Whether it could've pierced the metal chest plate or not it didn't matter as the flat, triangular style of the heater shield intercepted the strike. The tip of the double-edged short sword bounced off the rainbow emblem.

Her smaller armaments allowed Pyrrha to move faster, her shield coming around to smash into Jaune's to knock it aside and then transitioning to a full-on bash. The boy stumbled backwards, his partner coming in for what may be an early kill until he managed to stop and pivot on his heel, using a portion of the momentum to spin and bring Crocea Mors swinging at the Spartan.

The attack was not graceful but it forced Pyrrha to back off, bringing her shield up just in time to have the longsword scrape against the bronze. After coming to an awkward stop, Jaune took a step forward and slashed again.

Learning from the opening exchange, he did not rush in to close the distance. Keeping to the strength of the basic design of his weapon, the length and weight provided powerful cutting and slicing motions. They held Pyrrha at bay, the redhead either nimbly dodging or bringing her shield into play to deflect them. Any attempts to close in and land an attack of her own was blocked by Jaune's shield, the flattened metal suitable at depleting all the energy and leaving nothing that she could use to carry into another potential attack. She gave up another step which Jaune eagerly took.

As soon as he did though, Pyrrha leapt into the air, twisting so that she could lash down at Jaune while she flipped over him. He made the switch from offense to defense effortlessly as he knelt down and covered his head with the heater shield. Pyrrha landed behind him and charged at his kneeling form, aiming Miló at his back.

Crocea Mors swung around in time to parry with Jaune immediately springing and rolling away to safety. He was on his feet an instant later, ready for a follow-up.

It didn't come. Instead of pursuing, Pyrrha remained where she was with her blade low and pointed to the floor.

"Excellent work, Jaune," she complimented with the same pride that was in her smile. "You identified and capitalized on the strengths and weaknesses of our styles even if the differences were minor."

"It wasn't that difficult," he replied bashfully. Whereas once the modesty would've seemed exaggerated, how his brow furrowed skeptically made it carry an analytical weight to his boyish features. "You were only using Miló in sword form. If you switched to the javelin or rifle, I would've been lost on what to do."

"The conditions of the duel can always change," Pyrrha allowed. "But in this instance you adapted to the ones that we have set and that's something to be commended for. Either way, there is nothing for you to criticize about what happened later. You didn't overly devote yourself to the attack which allowed you to anticipate and defend against my own. Truly impressive; I thought you were going to be caught off guard by that move."

"Well…" The boy's shield folded into his sword's scabbard so that he could better rub the back of his neck. "Yeah, I suppose that was pretty cool." He regarded the scabbard. "I just wish that my sword can change into a gun or something else too."

"Don't mistake its simplicity for inferiority." Pyrrha placed Miló and Akoúo̱ onto her back, freeing her arms which she then crossed to show the switch from dueling to lecturing. "The sword is an iconic weapon because of its inherent diversity that's led to the development of numerous styles. You have become proficient at fighting with the shield but there are a wide variety of forms that stress two-handed, one-handed, and even half-swording. Famous warriors credit the sword as the foundation for learning how to wield other weapons due to the options it provides so you can even say that it holds some influence over how some Hunters incorporate the folding frame technology that we use today, myself included. Its strength is in its adaptability, just like how it's yours."

Jaune shifted his attention to the blade, twisting his wrist so that he may better examine the sharp edges and the golden cross guard of his family's heirloom. With a considerate tilt of his head he murmured, "An appreciation for the classics."

Confused, Pyrrha was about to ask for clarification until there came the attention-grabbing noise of someone clearing their throat from the direction of the door that led up to the roof. A turn of her head brought none other than Yang Xiao Long into view.

"Hey there, Pyrrha," she greeted with a wave of her hand. She bowed her head to her partner. "Jaune. I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Not at all," Pyrrha responded. Stepping off to the side, she picked up a towel and water bottle, tossing both to Jaune once he sheathed his weapon. "Five minutes, Jaune."

"Might want to make that ten," Yang advised.

"Ten sounds great," Jaune cut in, promptly falling onto his butt before taking a long swig of water.

Going by the sweat at his face and the noticeable stains at the pits of his hoodie while drinking, it was apparent that the bout that Yang witnessed had only been one of several for the night.

It was inevitable that it would get out that the leader of JNPR and his subordinate had been taking on secret, late-night training sessions on top of the dormitory, especially when they eventually moved on to sparring with their weapons. Any questionable – not to mention embarrassing – rumors that tended to spread in the face of such nightly rendezvouses between the opposite genders didn't get very far though when the clanging of weapons happened to occur right over a building that housed a good portion of the student body to prove that that was all they were 'training' for.

Despite the secret no longer being so and with Jaune's refining of his technique, he and Pyrrha didn't seem inclined to take their sessions to a gym or more suitable training centers that were readily provided. It's become a thing for the two of them and, in this instance, Yang was grateful for it.

"Drink slow," Pyrrha warned, coming full circle with duelist, lecturer, and now den mother. Picking up her own towel and water, she met up with the blonde brawler. "Did you want to ask me something?"

Yang nodded and motioned her chin to the open door. "If you could."

Pyrrha didn't object and they entered the stairwell, walking down a quarter of a flight before Yang took a seat on a step with the other girl doing the same next to her. The redhead set down her water bottle but took a moment to towel off. She wasn't sweating as profusely as Jaune but there was a fine sheen that she dabbed at.

Usually Yang would struggle to not stare. It wasn't just the male persuasion that she was attracted to and Pyrrha was one of the few who Yang knew of to be as fit yet criminally feminine as she was. Despite their close proximity and the tantalizing view though, the Y of RWBY was unaffected by it tonight.

You're a lucky guy, Jaune, she nonetheless thought. Lu-cky guy.

"So what did you want to ask me?" Pyrrha queried once she was done.

"I was hoping to ask for some advice," Yang informed. Her brows knitted together. "Well, not so much advice but some help in putting things in perspective."

"I'll do what I can to provide for either."

Yang hoped she could. Her decision to confront Pyrrha had been rather sudden. After escorting and leaving Blake to a healer, the brawler had made the walk back to the dormitory alone and head swirling with thoughts that refused to be subdued. Hearing Jaune and Pyrrha immersed in one of their sessions had given Yang this idea that might be able to assist in centering herself and give her some guidance on how she should proceed.

"My questions concern you and Jaune," Yang revealed, "and how you two bonded. I remember you saying that it was an accident."

Hearing that had Pyrrha's usually kind and welcoming expression on her face growing defensive as she regarded Yang. "Yes, it was."

"You never broke it afterwards though."

"I was never given a reason to. We're supposed to be partners for our entire stay at Beacon so I didn't see why we should've done so."

Yang nodded in understanding, finding Pyrrha's logic to be the same as what Blake had come up with. Asking for a redo on partners was a ridiculous thing and with the time that's passed since then, the setup was as permanent as it was going to get even if they hadn't finished their first year yet.

"A few would find your arrangement to be mismatched though," Yang pointed out. "I mean no offense to Jaune or anything but he was kind of a bit…" She paused, trying to find a polite word to describe the blond boy before ending with, "…awkward when everyone started out."

"He was," Pyrrha agreed, conceding that much. "I was as much aware as anyone else but I chose to believe in him. I knew of his family and he did make it to Beacon so I chose to have faith in him as I would with anyone else who would willingly take on the task that we're to be entrusted."

She makes it sound so simple, Yang thought and chose to say as much. "So that was enough? I can see that Jaune's improved a lot since then but was that all it took? No trouble or surprises or anything like that?"

The Spartan hesitated, turning away from Yang to better stare at the hands that were folded on her lap. "I…wouldn't say that there hadn't been any trouble. I know you're thinking about what had gone on with Cardin but there was more to it than what you saw."

Yang decided not to say anything, able to vividly recall that instance. Her opinion of Jaune may not have been great concerning his skill in combat but she as much as everyone else had been worried about him. The boy had a good heart and Yang recognized it as such when she saw him standing in front of the restroom door that hid a crying Velvet. Her efforts to have him escort the rabbit faunus had been as much of a way to help the girl and JNPR's leader to give him a bit more confidence in the face of the bully who he unexpectedly became chummy with. She noticed how it had affected Pyrrha most of all with even Ren and Nora admitting that they were as much in the dark as they were.

"He did have surprises," Pyrrha continued. "I admit that during then I had been angry at him and much of what I thought about him was brought into question. I thought he was selfish, stubborn, and didn't appreciate any of what we were trying to do. But even then…"

She tapped a finger against her chest, right at the bare skin between the gorget that protected her throat and the cuirass. "I never lost faith in him. As angry as I may've been, as hurt as I may've been, I couldn't abandon him and I eventually realized that despite his circumstances and wishes that I perceived as selfish, his ambitions did carry an honesty to do good. I tried to do what I could but, in the end, my help and the duties that were given to him was something that he had to come to accept for himself."

Yang was watching the Spartan's face and the emotions that played across it. The one that it settled on was pride and a tenderness that Yang was able to relate to. "So no regrets?"

Pyrrha shook her head, smiling faintly. "None. I think Jaune will become a great leader and a great hero someday just like he wants to be and I want to be there to give whatever help he may need to reach it as long as he will have it. Things could always happen, perhaps something that either neither of us could've prepared for or what I couldn't have prepared him for but I have faith that he will be able to overcome whatever trials are sent his way."

Yang could see that the two of them had a lot in common. As strong as they were, they always sought to look out for those younger or more troubled than them. For Yang, it had been Ruby. For Pyrrha, it was Jaune. They may be powerful but they always sought to use their skills to watch over those who they've come to hold dear.

Blake was someone who became included in that regard. She was always been a strong fighter and a mysterious girl and Yang had never considered her as weak. However, there was that social awkwardness and notable uncertainty that reminded Yang of when Ruby had stepped into Beacon and fretted about what she should do without the friends she left behind. Whereas Ruby had her sister though, Blake had no one and even after settling down with her circle of friends that was RWBY and JNPR, there remained that stricture that Yang believed she could eventually get past.

…As of an hour ago though, Yang had encountered something she was still trying to comprehend that went beyond social awkwardness. It was a surprise alright and she didn't know how to handle it. She hoped to find some sort of direction from Pyrrha who was as new to this as she was but despite the emphasis on faith, the brawler wondered if that was really all that would be necessary. Jaune may've had his own bumps but she had a feeling that it was nothing compared to what Blake was going through.

There must've been visible traces of her conflict because Pyrrha had her head tilted and was looking at Yang with concern. "I guess I wasn't as helpful as you wanted me to be."

"No, you were quite helpful," Yang reassured. "This was something that kind of sprung up on me so even this much did a lot."

"Not to sound rude but I think there's someone else who can offer you more than what I possibly can."

Yang nodded soundlessly, knowing who the other girl was talking about. "There is but you were the first one available and I figured that it might be better to talk to someone who I could relate to." She quickly added, "Which you were. Besides, it's kind of hard to speak to him alone and for something like this I'd feel more comfortable if I could."

The last part was made with a token of humor and Pyrrha gave her a generous grin and a tip. "Try late in the afternoon tomorrow. Five o'clock. Indoor Practice Facility B."

Being the second in JNPR, it wasn't unexpected that she would know. The timing was perfect as she could sleep on it and better think of what she wanted to say. Yang tapped her knuckles against Pyrrha's shoulder and stood up. "Thanks, Pyrr. Don't be too hard on Jaune even if he can take it."

"Take care." Pyrrha waited until the unruly yellow curls disappeared as their owner wound down another flight before she collected her towel and water to ascend the few steps that returned her to the roof.

During her absence, Jaune had taken a seat near the edge of the rooftop where one of the lines of piping ran along it. Crocea Mors was sheathed and leaning against the metal while Jaune himself sat cross-legged with the empty water bottle crushed and left on the discarded towel. At Pyrrha's approach, her leader retrieved his weapon and stood up, determined.

"Ready," he confirmed before she even had a chance to ask.

There came that swell of pride as Pyrrha emptied her hands so that she could reach behind her to grasp Miló to initiate another round. Just as she was about to though, she stopped and instead examined Jaune.

Head held high, the sheathed sword in one hand while the other grasped the hilt, ready to draw it. Shoulders were set, feet spreading in response to her moving to acquire her weapon at the same time his knees bent to bring him lower to the ground. Blue eyes that would once be weighed down with doubt met her own confidently.

"Actually…" Pyrrha began, dropping her hand back to her side, weaponless. "I think we can call it a night. You've accomplished enough for today, Jaune." Aware of her face lighting up with that same pride she repeated, "More than enough."

---

Weapons have come a long way from when man had fashioned what they could from their environment to combat the dangers that spawned from it. Stone switched to metal, metal was forged into blades, and blades became supplemented with arrows which evolved into shot and slugs. They've gotten bigger (or in some cases, smaller), sharper, more accurate, and more powerful later on as ingenuity gave birth to new designs to better equip the soldiers sent out to fight. The latest trend that came with folding frame technology sought to provide combatants with a small arsenal contained in one package.

No matter the progress that was made with weaponry though, the greatest and most valuable tools that human and faunus had at their disposal were the hands that constructed and wielded them. Although it seemed ridiculous to combat titanic beasts with empty palms, there may be instances where they may be disarmed. As long as they had their natural armaments and the power of their soul, it didn't matter if they were disarmed for they would never be unarmed.

A few of the courses that took place in the Indoor Practice Facilities were dedicated to the application of Aura-assisted punches and kicks that would do well against a single monstrous opponent or hold off enough of them for the Hunter to either retreat, recover their weapon, or finish the fight if one well-placed punch was all that was needed. Students who were gifted at honing their Aura for such attacks could use the dummies that were strung up and made of materials to mimic a living target to practice converting their soul's energy into a concussive force that would send devastating shockwaves to damage the enemy from within as much as out.

It was a last line of defense and, while still capable of inflicting massive damage, had its drawbacks such as the expenditure of so much Aura that was needed for such a direct fashion as one student in particular could attest to. For him, such exhausting lessons were best followed up with twenty minutes of relaxing in an empty dorm room and sipping on tea that had been stored overnight to better absorb the relaxing scent and taste of the blossoms that had been blended into it.

It was his favorite part of the day and it was those simple things one looked forward to that made the exertions that took place easier to deal with. With the comforting thought of peace and scented tea in mind, he stepped out through the door that had the letter B of burnished copper embedded above it to better differentiate this building from the others.

He immediately recognized the irregularity in his otherwise regulated schedule in the shape of the golden hair that stood out prominently despite the number of fellow students who trekked through the campus to either head to a later afternoon class, their dorms, or wherever they decided to fancy themselves at this time. Actually, those curled locks were particularly noticeable because the owner wasn't going anywhere, instead standing as if waiting for someone.

Once those purple eyes met his magenta ones, he realized that this person was specifically waiting for him.

"Hey," Yang greeted abashedly with a wave. "Can we talk?"

At least in this instance, Lie Ren knew that the saying the more you wait the sweeter it is definitively applied to tea.

---

They didn't go far as Yang didn't want to waste time so they chose the nearest empty bench to sit down on. Unfortunately, even after Ren sat down next to her, she wasn't sure how best to start their conversation despite going over several possible openings. In the end, she decided to go with the simple route. "I wanted to ask you about the bonds."

Whereas Yang decided to lie back against the bench, Ren had chosen to lean forward enough to lay his elbows against his knees with hands forward and threaded together. He had his head turned to Yang and when she spoke it made a subtle incline.

That was really how such talks usually went when Yang wanted to ask Ren about something or just speak with him in general. Whereas Nora was energetic, Ren might as well be apathetic such how he sat with a slight slouch and stared at her, rarely showing much in terms of emotion and speaking when it was required. Nevertheless, the way his gaze focused strictly on her told Yang that she had his full attention.

It's been a while since she last asked him about the present topic though as - true to her promise - Yang had decided that it wasn't important concerning her and Blake. If it was unexpected to Ren or not the green-dressed boy didn't show it.

"I don't think I ever asked about how it came to be with you and Nora even though you two were together long before you came here," Yang said.

"No, you didn't."

And in their previous talks, Yang didn't find Ren's noncommittal fashion to be as unsettling as it was now. Then again, this was the first time that she was asking him something that had become relevant and very personal. That and Nora wasn't around. Choosing to take the same approach as she did with Pyrrha, Yang began with an easy, "Kind of odd considering it's the two of you. I know Nora must be quite the handful at times so I was wondering how you've been able to deal with her."

There was another incline but in this instance there was a phantom of a shift of his passive features that bordered on bemusement. "She was like this long before we came here as well. To be honest, when we first met I found her to be a loud girl who wouldn't stop bothering me."

Yang let a stroke of amusement carry into her next question. "Why was that?"

"She said she liked my eyes because they were pink." He shrugged. "Saying they're a shade of lightish red is kind of a weak argument with her."

Yang would have to agree with Nora on that one though. Seeing as she was getting a good look at them, the blonde couldn't think of anything else to describe his eyes other than that: pink. She passed on the opportunity to participate in that debate. "Sounds like Nora. I guess you two had some bumps along the way?"

"You could call it that. She'd always drag me around to play, share her toys with me, and hardly ever give me a moment of peace to myself."

"I see that certain things haven't changed," Yang noted. "Looks like someone got used to it."

There came a slow, thoughtful dip of Ren's chin. "An over simplification of it but I suppose that is the best way to describe it. I can't remember when it may've happened though as there just came a point where I grew accustomed to it just being Nora and I with it being the same with her. Whatever I may have thought of her previously, now it's just become a case where life would seem too quiet and boring without her."

Just talking to Ren without Nora at his side – or back - was a little disconcerting to Yang. "So when you two bonded…"

"By then it was an acceptance between us that we'd stick with each other," Ren finished.

So they just became compatible, Yang mused. It was vastly different when compared to how it happened to Jaune and Pyrrha but the process wasn't as much if Ren had to go through the embodiment of unpredictability that was Nora Valkyrie; they just got their differences settled and it came naturally instead of forcing it and doing it afterwards.

Reflecting on Pyrrha's and now Ren's words, Yang pondered if it was really that simple or if that really was the end. As diverse as Ren and Nora were, everything that they did with each other seemed to be like everyday life to them as Ren alluded to. Despite their contrast in skill and experience, Pyrrha had become connected to Jaune in an intimate teacher-student relationship. For the members in JNPR – and possibly anyone who initiated a bond -, it seemed like such a sure thing between partners.

Hard to imagine the possibility of such a sacred thing potentially failing if Yang hadn't gotten a look at the firsthand experience of the consequences. Which was where the next part came in.

"So you never wondered about things going wrong between you and Nora?" Yang asked after some hesitation. "About the idea of it failing?"

"You mean if Nora was to die?"

The sudden straightforwardness and morbid turn managed to catch Yang off guard, leaving her in momentary bafflement while Ren continued to present a neutral expression that wasn't fazed by his own words. Regaining control of her mouth that had partially opened on its own accord, Yang hesitantly spoke, "Not that specifically. There are other ways if I remember correctly."

"You would be," Ren confirmed. "However, I don't think they apply to me and Nora. Not anymore."

Now it was the blonde who had her head askew but kept her gaze locked on him. "What makes you say that?"

Ren didn't reply right away. For the first time since they started, he turned away from Yang so that he could stare straight ahead as if fine about leaving her puzzled. She didn't press for clarification though, her instincts telling her to wait.

She was rewarded when Ren directed her attention forward when he uncurled his index fingers and pointed them both to where he was looking. When the brawler complied, all she saw were the Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training who were walking around them. Male, female, human and faunus, all dressed in the browns of their uniforms or the vibrant and dull colors of their chosen combat attire.

"It's tough to see considering our circumstances," Ren said after a minute of them watching everyone go about their business. "We know that we've chosen to take on a career that is dangerous and life-threatening but here, right now, in our first year at Beacon, we sometimes take things for granted with how easy they may appear. Going to and from class, mulling over papers and tests, engaging either each other or the few and relatively minor species of Grimm in our immediate vicinity with the occasional rare variant.

It's not just here either. Remnant is in the midst of an extended period of peace, one that has not been seen for quite some time since the end of the war. It is natural for people to become complacent and believe that everything is right in the world, that the dark times are behind us where it had not always been the Grimm that were our worst enemies. Beacon is a combat school but it is one where combat has not become so widespread in a long time."

Yang nodded even if Ren had yet to face her again as she recalled just what they've been doing for the past few months. They've studied, they fought, but going over the time that she's spent with her team, at the end of the day they'd return to their bunks together, wondering what tomorrow would bring to draw them closer to becoming powerful Huntresses; happy and content with their chosen paths with the occasional, but friendly, bickering.

"We don't really know what the Grimm are truly capable of or the extent of their forms," Ren went on. "I suspect we will learn more as time goes on when we are better prepared once we come to fully rely on one another. At the same time, who knows if the next conflict will be from within instead of without. The reigning peace may be lasting for a while but it is still time that is vastly outweighed by that spent in war and it may come again."

Breaking away from the sights around them, Ren refocused on Yang. "What I'm getting at is the full weight of our duties will one day bear down on us and we will carry it together. We and our teammates will be brought closer because of it and the bonds – both figurative and literal – that will be forged and tested will become stronger than ever before. When I think of what may come, it's impossible for me to do so without Nora."

"…Wow," Yang praised, amazed by the astute observations brought on by such a quiet friend. "I can see why people call you the perfect student."

Ren couldn't hide the miniscule grin at that. "Not perfect but I like to think I'm very aware."

It was a thing that could be mistaken for the opposite when it came to his indifference. Yang settled more of her weight against the planks of the bench. "You convinced me."

They were taking it relatively easy as first-years. Signal and the previous schools taught them how to fight but when it came to Beacon they were only beginning to learn about what it meant to be Hunters. To fight together, trust each other, to be given all the knowledge and skills that they would employ to see them through the trials that they would inevitably face and conquer with the assistance of their teammates whether they be Grimm or otherwise.

But that was for the future whether it be sooner or later. Yang was a bit more aware of it now but, like Ren, she could only guess as to what trouble may come their way. As for the present, it was all about her teammates: Weiss, her sister Ruby, her partner Blake, and it was the last who Yang was worried about.

Blake once trusted someone. If she was really the friend that she told them about and her story was in fact the same, then Blake had formed a bond and ended up breaking it because of a partner who she had once known but became someone who she wanted to flee from at the cost of the injury that Yang discovered.

It was still daunting whenever she thought about it; that deep inside her partner was carrying something so horrendous. No matter how much of friends they've become, it hadn't done anything to heal it.

When Yang tried, she had been rejected.

"I must confess, I am curious as to what made you decide to approach me about this."

The blonde had ended up leaning further back in her seat to the point where she was now looking up at the sky, the sharp towers of Beacon partially disrupting her vision. She glanced over to find Ren still in his own bent position although she could distinguish the curiosity and a visible wariness that said that she didn't have to disclose that information to him.

She debated on it, wondering if she would be betraying Blake in some way if she told Ren. It had been something her partner had been trying to hide after all. Then again, I doubt Ren would spread this around despite that rather long lesson there.

Ultimately it was that thought and the fact that the issue she approached him about had yet to be resolved that convinced her. Silently apologizing to Blake, Yang did a complete reversal so that Beacon's grounds filled her vision instead of the sky. "Last night I tried to form a bond with Blake."

Ren didn't say anything, Yang having used 'tried' revealing how that went all on its own.

"I saw…" The hand that she had resting on the metal arm of the bench tightened around it. "I'm still not sure what I saw. I just know that Blake had been hurt. Badly. I think the reason for it is because she bonded with someone and she later broke it off. It wasn't mutual."

There came an understanding grunt from Ren. "She was traumatized. When you tried to form a bond, you were instinctively thrown out to prevent her from taking another shock when you touched on it."

Blake's white face and wide and fearful eyes came to Yang's mind and had her bitterly questioning if that shock really was prevented. "Is that what happens when things go wrong?" She looked Ren straight in the eye. "Have you ever wondered what would happen if Nora was to die or was taken away without notice?"

"I have," Ren responded. "And I know Nora has wondered the same thing."

"Cause of the bond?"

He shook his head. "No, because we're partners. Losing people you love will always hurt and before we came here we knew of the possibility. We can't predict what may happen and any promises we make in an attempt to deny it are meaningless. Death is an experience that is never planned on or measured and I suspect that if I was to lose Nora I would feel exactly what Blake is feeling. Possibly worse."

Yang couldn't even begin to imagine what could be worse than what Blake must've felt. She rubbed at her temples, suddenly weary. It was easier to deal with when it had just been the case of a friend of a friend. As insensitive as it may sound, proximity can be a factor when it wasn't directly personal or experienced; it's just how it is. Hearing about something happening to someone who you don't know didn't have the sobering affect as seeing and feeling it yourself.

She got her taste of the consequences that she ignorantly believed wouldn't happen to her. Getting a sample of them was a great way to fear them and Yang was questioning why people would do something that she now saw can cause so much pain. "How would you be able to handle something like that?"

"For certain? I don't know. All I do know is what Nora and I think. For her, she would enjoy what we have and not worry about it. She is not denying it for if there ever came a time where I would be without her, she would want me to live and enjoy life for the both of us."

"And you?"

"The same." Ren removed one hand from where it was clasped with the other and briefly tapped against his chest in a similar spot and a similar way that Yang had seen Pyrrha do so. "We may not be able to predict what may happen but being able to convey what we want so genuinely is more reassuring and believable than what words alone can accomplish."

Yang remained seated as she was with her hands against the sides of her head as she let the explanation sink in. They offered some relief even if she couldn't fully appreciate what it was that Ren and Nora had. Seeing them day-to-day though, satisfied and comfortable with each other and their life together yet Ren admitting that they were aware of such a fate managed to hearten her.

There was still one last question that bothered her though, one last thing that happened to be – no pun intended – the true heart of the matter. Blake had not been hurt because of losing someone close to her but because someone close to her had forced her to abandon them.

"Can she ever really move on?" Yang asked. "I tried to help and I ended up hurting her. Would she ever really be able to do that?"

"I think…" Ren began, his reply slow and careful, "…you already have the answer to that question. She may not have moved on, not yet, but I think her having come to you last night means that she is trying."

He was right. What happened had not been something that Yang forced Blake into but something that Blake had willingly offered freely no matter how terrible the results had been.

Blake was smiling and as time went on she's been doing it longer and much more frequently. As of a couple weeks ago she laughed in Yang's presence and during those weeks she had willingly taken her time to just be in it. Last night she provided a bit more of herself and wanted to repeat something even if the repercussions of a previous attempt were still causing her so much anguish.

With Yang.

Yang took a deep breath much like the one she had that night. When she let it out, the breath carried with it the stress that had tensed the muscles that she could feel relaxing. After dropping her hands she straightened in her seat, not completely restored but much lighter than previously. She gave Ren a grateful smile. "Nora's lucky to have you."

There came one last inclination but with it was a smile that was more sentimental than anything that Yang had seen on Ren before. "I'm lucky to have her. Good luck."

There was nothing else that really needed to be said. After a wave and an expression of appreciation, Yang hopped off the bench to join the student traffic. Ren didn't wait to watch her disappear as he took advantage of the extra space to stretch his arms along the edges as he laid back, releasing a breath of his own as he sought to indulge in this bit of peace and quiet.

That was until his vision went black.

"Guess who!" a voice chirped directly behind him.

Ren's next exhale was longer and seemed to tax him. "Nora."

The hands were removed from over his eyes and he could hear the pout when she whined, "Aw, how'd you guess?"

There were two obvious answers for that question and one of them also explained how Nora knew he'd be here instead of their dorm room like he would usually be. Twisting around in his seat, it was to see Nora tipped over enough so that pools of turquoise could better show off the glee that practically danced around within their depths less than a foot away from him.

He couldn't prevent it from infecting him and Ren felt the curving of his lip right before the incentive came to reach up and rub the top of Nora's head, evoking a giggle from the girl dressed in her attire that was all bright and lively.

All of this was very peaceful. It led to people becoming complacent but was it really a crime to bask in these moments that were few and far between? No one wants to be caught unawares when a later threat would use the time to prepare and strike but, going by their history, there was always one of those around every corner. Opportunities such as these were rare and meant to be cherished like any other precious thing.

Because when it vanished you never know when you might get another chance like this.

Something wrong?

The questioning and featherlight nudge had Ren become conscious of how his hand had stilled with palm flat against that shortened orange hair. The smile on Nora's face had morphed into a curious frown.

After a moment, Ren gave her a reassuring pat. No. He drew his hand back. Nothing.

He supported the claim with action, standing up from his seat. Nora's frown lasted as long as necessary which was barely a second before she was smiling again and skipped around the bench in order to bring herself to her place at his side to keep him grounded in the present and the joys that could be found here and now.

Thinking of one now, Ren offered, "Feel like pancakes, Nora?"

"That's a silly question!" Nora admonished with a hearty shove that nearly had Ren taking a staggering step to compensate but not quite. "I always feel like having pancakes! Um…" She held a finger against her chin in thought and she became somewhat guilty. "…I think we might be out of syrup though."

"I have an extra bottle stashed away for the occasion."

"You know me so well!"

That he did. Settling back into his own role that came with their partnership, Ren began leading the way to their home. "Come on, Nora."

"…Hey, Ren?"

Nora not instantly bouncing after him told Ren that something was off before he heard the soft-spoken query. Turning around it was to see her with her hands clasped behind her, the toes of her boot digging into the ground. Once she had his attention, Nora innocently requested, "Can I have an Ursaback ride?"

Ren's shoulders sagged at that to present the reluctance and weariness that came with the efforts to meet his partner's persistence in enjoying life. It was mostly for show though as, like always, Ren just couldn't find it in him to refuse this girl who seemed so at odds with him yet had become such an essential part of him. He wordlessly presented his back but had his arms spread in preparation.

With a squeal Nora was on him in an instant, locking her arms around his neck while he clutched her thighs. Once she settled comfortably against his back, Ren started walking, uncaring of the stares that passers-by gave them.

Despite enjoying the ride that was restricted to the two of them, it wasn't long before Nora was asking, "So what did Yang want?"

Ren shrugged, showing the ease of how he handled the hammer-wielder's weight. "Partner advice."

"Jeez, her too?" Keeping one arm at his neck, Nora moved the other so that she could fiddle with a lock of his hair that was purposely dyed to match those pink eyes that she said she liked so much. "Why can't people have normal partnerships like us?"

"I don't know, Nora. I guess we're just lucky."

---

Blake hadn't returned from the healers and Yang had known that her bed was going to be empty that night after she left her to them. The burns hadn't been that bad – the blonde had been assured that her partner's hand would be good as new – but it was going to be an overnight thing at least. She expected that, had understood it…but it didn't prevent her from feeling like her absence was wrong when she had lain on top of her bunk with the knowledge that there was no one beneath her.

When she awoke, the first thing that came to Yang's mind was to hang over the side of her bunk to inspect Blake's only to find the blankets and sheets as neat and straight as they were when the bow-wearing girl had made them that morning. That sense of wrongness evolved to potent distress.

Ruby and Weiss had noticed something off but they limited their reactions to inquiries as to where Blake could be. Yang had shrugged and said that she decided to leave early.

If Blake had stopped by anytime during the day Yang didn't know. Once she left for her own classes, the brawler hadn't come back at any point. Yes, she had wanted to seek advice but her planned meet-up with Ren was late in the afternoon. Yes, she wanted to prepare what she would say to Blake when she saw her again.

What she didn't want though was to come back to the dorm and possibly not see any sign of Blake having returned.

So when Yang did step into their room, she was grateful for this sense that everything was right in the world when she saw that blanketed lump.

It was still rather early to retire to bed but it hadn't dissuaded Blake from going to sleep. Quietly shutting the door behind her, Yang crept over to find her partner having come home.

Everyone had their own way of sleeping. Yang tended to shed the protection of her blankets, finding them inadequate when she had her self-warming Aura on hand that let her lie around carefree. Ruby liked to curl up cutely with limbs bent and close, sleep mask hiding her eyes. Weiss the noble princess would lie straight and on her side with hands folded beneath her head.

Yang couldn't help but find something inconsistent with how Blake slept. Actually, there were these tiny inconsistences that she possessed that went against the cool and controlled ninja image that she often presented, the bow being the center of it.

Her form-fitting combat attire was replaced with a looser and heavier yukata. Blake still had the need to pull the covers high over her body though, right underneath her shoulders. It kept her arms exposed with one resting straight and out along with the digits. The other stayed near, bent halfway with fingers curled in a feeble fist.

The bow she retained and it was the knotted fabric that gave her an innocence and vulnerability when she slept, unguarded. It may be because of what Yang had seen last night that caused it to stand out more than ever.

She was on her side but it wasn't as straight as the heiress; possessing a slump that was uncharacteristically undisciplined and lazy. Her face was directed towards Yang and the rays of sunlight that slipped through the curtains let the blonde see how relaxed her features were.

Seeing what she had seen, knowing what little she did know, it led Yang to wonder if Blake slept not only to rest but to give the illusion that she constantly presented a break; the deceptive appearance that hid how she had been harmed and refused to let people see how she was still affected by it.

Yang drew her attention to her partner's hand, the one that was closed and persisting to cover up another weakness. She raised her own tentatively, high enough to keep from touching the bed that it crossed over as it hovered towards Blake's.

She gently lifted her partner's index finger with the same, enough so that it could touch her palm. She flexed her middle finger to repeat the process and the pair began their exploration that mapped the lines and contours of the pale tract of skin. More of her fingers stretched, meeting and moving Blake's to leave her hand accessible to touch and sight.

They did a good job, Yang commented, relieved. Not all advances concerning science and magic were meant to create better instruments of war. There was always room for healing.

The manipulation wasn't going to stay unnoticed so Yang wasn't surprised when Blake was roused and her hand reflexively tried to close back up. The blonde didn't pull hers away which resulted in the wakening ninja to partially grasp it. That tranquil face was broken when lids twitched and slid up to reveal bleary amber eyes that needed a couple blinks to clear and focus. They shifted towards the reason of interruption which inevitably caused them to follow it towards the handler.

"Good afternoon, Blake," Yang greeted with a warm smile.

Her partner didn't respond, choosing to remain silent as grogginess gave way to perplexity once she was able to understand what was going on. Well, the furrowed brows said that she didn't really understand but she saw it. Yang was mildly disappointed when Blake chose to remove her hand but she didn't stop it, leaving her to muse if the ninja was using the rubbing at her eyes to justify pulling away.

Blake didn't return the greeting, sticking to silence for now. The blankets fell from her form when she sat up, gathering at her lap where she folded her hands over it. Her chin was low, eyes staring down.

"I'm glad to see that they were able to make your hand better," Yang said lightly, trying to break the lull that hung between the two of them. "You don't even have a mark."

Blake nodded but didn't turn to meet her. Within her lap she poked and prodded the appendage in question whether to confirm Yang's claim or trying to figure out what she had been doing was up in the air. "Not one."

She didn't add anything, didn't give Yang any room to pursue but that wasn't going to stop her. "I'm glad you're alright."

Blake didn't make any kind of response for that. She did cease the motion of her hands though with both turning to better grip the covers. After giving them a visible squeeze she spoke, "I guess you figured it out. You had to after having seen…that."

There was no room for denial, Blake's tone making that quite clear and Yang wasn't going to insult her. "I did."

Blake closed her eyes expectantly. She turned so that when she opened them it was so that she could meet Yang. "And you probably want to know what happened."

She did and Yang wasn't going to lie about that either. With how Blake was forcing herself to look at her unflinchingly, the blonde speculated that if she did ask, say that she did want to know, then the ninja might tell her albeit unwillingly.

Did she want to do it like that? Before the disaster Blake had admitted to still being unsure about telling her about her past. The bond had been supposed to make it easier in her mind so that she may be able to reveal all that she had kept hidden of her own free will. Yang highly doubted that she meant it to go like it did: inadvertently revealing something gruesome and now feeling inclined to speak because she couldn't have it unseen.

Would she be betraying her trust in that way? True, this was not something that either of them expected to happen so it could be argued that Yang had every right to get some answers from her. After all these months she spent waiting, being nice and friendly, trying to get Blake to open up more, this was an opportunity that she could use.

That sounded wrong. Yang had waited yes, she had tried to connect more with her partner, but was learning about a past that had always been hinted as unpleasant and she could now see was a gross understatement the main goal? No, that had never been the case. It might've been a factor but a secondary one whereas the primary had been to be Blake's friend. And in favor of reaching the primary the secondary can always be ditched.

Blake had abandoned it. Whatever she may've done, whoever she may've been partnered with previously, Yang recognized that she had tried to leave everything behind and came to Beacon because it was the only other place for her that wasn't that. Asking her about it, forcing her to remember and unveil it would just be counterproductive.

So there was the next question: did it really matter? If it was really something that Blake wished to forget and becoming a Huntress would allow her to do so, did it matter if Yang knew or not? All that evasiveness and obscurity that Blake had once thrown up had been because she wanted to keep everything in the dark where it would eventually be forgotten.

In its place it would be what bonds and trust that she would form here. Going over her discussions with Pyrrha and Ren, seeing what they've come to establish with their own partners and what will be reinforced due to the trials they may face in the future, Yang believed that the same can be accomplished here no matter what Blake may be hiding.

Despite mentally debating with herself, Yang noted how her partner remained still, waiting for her decision although not as patiently or as bravely as she initially appeared if the recession of her shoulders and how she became downcast was anything to go by.

It made surprising her simple. She may have experienced it less than twenty-four hours ago but when Yang's arms came around her she was as stiff as back then and hardly put up a fight against the brawler's embrace. Yang rested her chin against Blake's shoulder to better give her reply.

"I do." Blake was as rigid as a board after she uttered it but Yang went on, "If you want to tell me. I'm still going by what I said to you before: if you ever want to tell me I'll listen. But if you don't want to or if you believe that it'll be better if I don't know then I'm fine with that. I just want you to be alright."

Blake didn't say a word, didn't move a single muscle and Yang couldn't see her face so she couldn't get anything from there either. Then she was not only relaxing in her grip but returning it, her arms encircling around Yang's broader frame while her head nuzzled against that curtain of golden hair.

Her grip was tight. It was tight, desperate, and so very much like the one Yang had been subjected to that night.

But her words were soft.

"I'm sorry."

That was it then. Yang gave her a comforting squeeze while her cheek brushed against those wispy tresses. "Then I don't need to know."

There came a shudder that coursed through Blake and when Yang pulled away in order to be face-to-face it was to see those golden orbs glistening with tears that were gathering but held back from falling. Yang didn't prevent her from lifting an arm to obstruct her features and was in fact using the opportunity to be the gracious one to give Blake some space as she reached up to climb up to her bunk.

Another grip, this one gentle and located at her skirt, brought Yang back down to see that Blake's eyes were clear but in exchange there was an honest, grateful smile. In her other hand there was a long orange cloth.

"Thank you," Blake whispered just as quietly but that smile and how she held out the scarf towards Yang spoke volumes. "For this and…everything."

Yang nodded, aware of how the tips of her lips must be stretching as she took the fabric and her partner's thanks; right now the greatest reward that she could receive for her faith. Once she had it and Blake let go, Yang boosted herself up to her bunk where she came to a rest at her back.

For a while all she did was listen and was satisfied with being able to hear and feel the shifting of her partner even if it had been missed for only one night. A good while passed before there was the subtle creaking of the wooden frame and springs that said how Blake was probably lying back down, the rustling of blankets voicing how they were being pulled back over her.

When the noises ceased and there was nothing to be heard for a good minute, Yang looked over to the scarf she held in her hand. She had left it to Blake when she left her in the infirmary, wanting her to at least have something even if it had been best for Yang to leave her alone.

Overcome by a sudden urge, Yang held her arm and the scarf in front of her face. With her clutching one end, she grasped the other with her free hand and looped it twice around her palm before moving down, wrapping the cloth around the rest of her limb. While doing so, Yang had the bonding process in mind when she had felt the twining of Blake's Aura with hers; how it looped and mixed with her own while she did the same.

When a final tug tightened the scarf and she inspected her handiwork, it came to Yang that it was kind of similar to the black ribbons that Blake kept tied to her arms.

Beacon's our home now.

Dropping her bound arm on top of her chest, Yang would like to think that Beacon has come closer to being Blake's home too.

Chapter Text

Trained in what is considered as the deadliest weapon ever designed, being sent ahead to the most prestigious combat school two years early, and being given command of her own Huntressing team, some people tend to forget that Ruby Rose is a fifteen-year-old girl. Yang would never forget that though, nor would it ever slip her mind that Ruby would always be her baby sister no matter what her accomplishments turned out to be.

When she entered the machine shop, it was to see said sister seated at a wide table with the dozens of pieces – from the smallest bolt to the sharpened bits of steel that formed the blade – of said weapon laid out in front of her. Despite what could be considered as a mess that encompassed the entire surface, how Ruby picked up and set down each part exhibited a confidence of knowing which was what and where it would eventually fit to form her giant sniper-scythe.

Ruby developed a habit of devoting every Friday after classes into the maintenance of her weapon. The several machine shops gave her and whichever student who chose the tools necessary such as grinders and shelves full of cleaning solvents, swabs, wrenches, screwdrivers, and whatever else of every shape and size to better meet the requirements that were needed to disassemble, clean, and sharpen any armament that was brought in no matter what it may be. This included the gray coveralls that Ruby had thrown over her clothing – even stuffing her cape inside – and the goggles that were currently lifted up over her forehead.

A sweep across the table let Yang see the complexity of Crescent Rose. The crescent-shaped blade was actually multiple pieces that had been set down in a loose formation and how they practically gleamed told the brawler that Ruby had gotten through sharpening and polishing out whatever minor nicks and blemishes that may've been collected after a week of lessons although it probably hadn't been much. Not only was it exceedingly sharp to cut through the tough muscle and bone of the creatures of Grimm, the alloy that had been shaped and folded into its present form would allow it to do so again and again. Even if it wasn't Grimm, it still needed to survive crashing against equally-durable and sharp weaponry that others may wield in duels.

The red and black frame that the pieces would fit into and be set in place had similarly been taken apart in order to better reveal the muzzle of the integrated sniper rifle. The long barrel, like the blade, was actually one of two pieces that made up the shaft while the other half contained the magazine well and the trigger assembly. They were separated for now with Ruby concentrating her efforts on the bore. With the bolt locked back, she was feeding a long, thin brush to attack the insides that she had dabbed with a solvent to remove any kind of residue from repeated firing to make sure the action would remain smooth and the projectiles would set and fly effortlessly.

The scope was set off to one side. If needed, there was a range meant for practice shots for any recalibrations that may be needed once Ruby reattached it.

Yang remembered when she created Ember Celica during her time at Signal. All students were meant to forge their own weapons but there was prior training involved in order for a student to know what kind of weapon they wanted; which one would feel right. It had been easy for the brawler as she knew instantly that her greatest joy was to rely on the muscles and the strength of her body that her hand-to-hand combat style capitalized on. Ember Celica was conjured up to give those punches even more punch.

This was not to say she short-changed the design as, compared to Crescent Rose, her gauntlets were rather modest. No matter what shape a student's weapon took, the same care and thoroughness was applied to it in order to create what would be an extension of themselves.

The best way to do that was with Aura. Aura was the soul of the individual; the one thing that separated them from the darkness and made them the natural enemies of its minions. Their weapons would be a conduit for their Aura and what better way to do that than to have it involved during the design and construction process? After giving some mechanical knowledge and drawing up the design that was conjured up by the mind based on what a student wanted, they got to work.

It was more than just taking a bunch of parts and fitting them together. With the wielder's Aura enfolding and getting a sense of each piece, it gave them an understanding of how they meshed together as if they had always been supposed to. Each folding of the metal and tightening of a screw was made with the surety that that was how it was to be.

The end result was a product that might as well have always been a part of you. With the conditioning and linking that involved your soul, you created a weapon of unimaginable efficiency that couldn't be replicated in some factory. More importantly, that efficiency came with a familiarity that made something as extreme as fighting to something as simple as maintenance to be intuitive.

Ruby was a prime example of what kind of bond with your weapon accomplished. Two years ahead at Beacon was two less years that she had to practice with Crescent Rose yet she was considered as skilled enough to attend. She did have the advantage of her own personal instructor at Signal but her overboard design that nonetheless came into being with flawless performance demonstrated how attuned she was to it from the beginning. Yang had constructed Ember Celica to promote her strengths. Ruby had constructed Crescent Rose to nullify her weaknesses.

It was a proud end to a disheartening process. It hadn't always been as it was now as, instead of confidence, there had been dismay whenever Yang would find Ruby on her knees and tears falling from her young face, clutching yet another training weapon that refused to be wielded with certainty. Each failure was a step back from the dream that brought them both here and each time Yang would feel as if she was helpless when she had always been there for her sister. Every time little Ruby wanted to hear a story before going to bed, every time she had come running out of their dwelling to pepper her with questions about her opening years at Signal, every time with the idea that Big Sister Yang would help.

Yang wasn't able to help her then. She tried and would've been pleased if Ruby had taken an affinity to hand-to-hand as well but it just wasn't meant to be. In the end, it wasn't Yang but one Uncle Qrow who taught her the ways of the scythe. Soon Ruby was coming to Yang to talk about the progress she was making without her and it was Ruby who was shutting her out when she became engrossed in drawing up what would become the design for her weapon.

It initiated a different process and one that Yang felt with a mix of pride and heartache. It was a process that came with being an older sibling: when your younger ones learned to rely more on themselves than you. It was a natural stage and one that Yang had been happy to see Ruby reach. It did hurt when Ruby started coming to her less and less but Yang recognized it as part of growing up and had done everything she could to push her on. Their start at Beacon had threatened it when, having left her friends behind, Ruby had begun drawing back to Yang but the blonde had attempted to deflect her no matter how heavy her heart was.

Her worries were unfounded. Ruby made new friends, taken on new responsibilities, and Yang expected great things from her. Best of all, even if she couldn't guide Ruby, she was still around to assist her if needed.

Such bonds and how they bared their Aura to establish and protect them was humanity's best weapon, on par with their ingenuity. Dust, Semblance, their weapons, family, partners; all of it was closely tied to their soul and what made them what they are.

Ruby had finished with the bore and was cycling the bolt to make sure there was nothing amiss. Satisfied that there wasn't, she took a wetted cloth swab and rubbed it over the muzzle brake that she unscrewed from the barrel, her tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth in concentration. Yang must've moved within sight so that when whatever solution evaporated, Ruby saw her reflected on a now spotless surface.

Ruby swiveled around in her stool enough to face Yang but didn't drop either the swab or part to greet her. "Hey, Yang."

For just a moment, Yang imagined the greeting to be louder, high with excitement, and a cloak that had once been too big. She tossed the pleasant remembrance aside and slid a stool over so that she could plant herself in it. "Hey, Ruby."

"I'll be done in a minute," Ruby informed, returning her attention to her work.

"Take your time. The airship doesn't leave until a while longer anyway," Yang explained, content to just sit and watch.

Ruby gave her the barest of nods and Yang had made sure to take a seat off to her sister's side to better see it and the stern focus that replaced it as she became absorbed in her task again. Setting the muzzle brake aside, Ruby's hand briefly hovered over her collection until, with that same certainty, she picked up another piece.

Yang took it all in. The crinkling of Ruby's smooth forehead and the squinting of her eyes as she shut everything out and devoted all of her attention on something that had become so familiar to her. Despite wearing the coveralls to protect her clothing, her hands were bare and when she did work, Yang was able to discern how her fingers flexed with the tips taking an added second to brush along the metal of whatever part she was working on as if, even now, she was trying to get a proper feel of Crescent Rose in its most naked form.

The blonde had witnessed that look of concentration and confidence numerous times but - more and more - it was a look that wasn't entirely restricted to her sister's favorite hobby nor was it restricted to Yang's views. They may not all have noticed it but everyone in JNPR and RWBY had come under it for the first time during initiation when Ruby had been standing high on that boulder, that cape flapping in the wind behind her as she waited for who would become her friends and teammates to follow her to victory.

Ruby had always wanted to be like the heroes in those storybooks and yet she probably didn't even realize how she fell into the role as easily as Yang had seen her do so. It had continued popping up since then, starting with how, so soon, it had been on her face when she had cut in to Yang's grumblings about giving a certain Schnee heiress a piece of her mind after blowing up on Ruby in Professor Port's classroom.

"She's my partner and I'm her team leader," Ruby had said with the authority that came from her position and to her so fittingly despite her age. "I'm the one who has to prove that she can follow me."

It was the first time that Yang had been forced to take a step back from something that was bothering her sister due to her wishes, entrusting that the younger girl would be able to find a resolution to it herself as she wanted to.

Her baby sis was growing up. Even if Yang would be around to assist her, the moments when Ruby would outright need help from her as more than a teammate have been steadily decreasing.

"So where are we going?"

Yang blinked, having not become aware that, while she was continuing to watch Ruby, she started staring off into space as she became lost in her recollections and the swelling of love and respect that was growing with each passing. Ruby hadn't noticed it as she carefully fitted the trigger assembly together in the receiver housing; a sign that she was done with maintenance and would begin reassembling her gun-scythe.

Yang didn't say they were going to Vale as what else would they be taking an airship for? Instead she answered, "The Vytal Festival."

Ruby paused, a questionable frown coming to her. "The tournament and everything is still a ways off. Why would we go now?"

The attitude was a reversal to what would usually come with the mentioning of a ceremony that Ruby – and Yang – had waited their whole lives to participate in. However, as Ruby said, the time for the actual events were still a good while away. All that they would find by going into Vale now would be the various planners and volunteers who would be setting up the selected area of the city in preparation for the tournament and the other activities that would take place.

"I don't know," Yang replied with a shrug that she tried to make as if it was nothing except for the grin that she was failing to stop from creeping up on her. "It's actually Weiss who suggested we go."

The grin she had was in anticipation for Ruby's reaction to that name. As soon as she uttered 'Weiss', her sister perked up, her attention effectively drawn away from one of the most important accomplishments in her life upon hearing her partner's name. Out of all the friends they made, it was Weiss's regard that had become essential to Ruby and Yang knew it had to do with more than just being partners.

And she did get it from me, Yang mused.

Much like how it was with her and Blake, Ruby and Weiss's relationship was all about the younger girl trying to establish one while the other was reluctant to do so. And just how it was with Yang and Blake, Ruby had gotten her big break when she used the chinks she had made in the ice during their trip to Forever Fall to break through with the gift she had made for Weiss.

While they did have the same idea of gift-giving, Yang had no idea what Ruby was doing and vice versa until she had come home - Blake's new book wrapped and under her arm - to find Ruby drawing up diagrams for a loader for Weiss's Myrtenaster that she was making based on the measurements she took before leaving Beacon. Bereft of any knowledge of Weiss's interests, Ruby had fallen back on her weapon obsession and technical expertise to provide something that she saw may be practical for her partner.

Yang hadn't been there when Ruby had given it to her but she was present when Weiss felt compelled to return the favor.

"Ruby Rose, let me go this instant!" Weiss shrieked.

"Noooo!"

That was all Yang had to warn her about what she would find when she opened the door to their room. Right in the middle was Ruby, her arms around the heiress's waist and, going by how Weiss's were pinned to her sides, holding her very tightly. It was with that grip that Ruby held Weiss a good foot off the floor, leaving her defenseless to the red-black head that nuzzled against her side.

"I'm returning the gifts if you don't put me down in the next three seconds!"

The gifts, Yang soon identified, were at the two's feet and Ruby was making sure she didn't accidentally step on them. Along with a box that was labeled to be full of bullets of the same caliber that Ruby happened to use with Crescent Rose there was a tipped over bag with carefully-packaged cookies that had partially fallen out of it.

"You can take away the gifts but you can't take away the looovvve~" Ruby sang.

"L-l-love!?"

Unaware of how she was responsible for the red that was encroaching on the fencer's face, Ruby gave her another fierce nuzzle. "You liiiike me!"

Trying to contain her laughter at seeing the stunned look on Weiss's usually icy features, Yang leaned against the doorframe, arms crossing over her chest. That was when she happened to notice Blake on her bunk with a book held up as usual but she wasn't reading, taking entertainment from the spectacle as well. When she noticed Yang, the raven-haired girl gave her a grin that Yang returned.

The shock having passed but not the color on her skin, Weiss managed to wiggle one arm free and was pushing against the side of Ruby's face in an attempt to remove her.

Eventually she got herself free…after a few more minutes of struggling and spouting threats. Considering that along with the parts of Crescent Rose there were bullet casings marked with the Schnee crest that were tipped, primed, and loaded with Dust to be pushed in a magazine, the threats had been empty ones.

"Weiss does seem unusually insistent about going today," Yang pressed.

Ruby had stopped with a wrench in hand but whatever bolt for whatever section she was going to tighten together Yang didn't know as her sister turned to face her. She was surprised when Ruby glowered at her, having not expected that at all.

"…You told her about Mr. Woofles," Ruby accused.

It was kind of hard to take that seriously but Yang winced all the same, having expected Ruby to bring it up eventually. During the time that Yang had been at Signal, Ruby had taken to carrying around and cuddling a stuffed Beowolf at night to make her sister's absence bearable. Even with her later acceptance into Signal with her friends, it took a bit more time for her to grow out of it. Obviously bringing something like that up when she was a team leader was nothing more than embarrassing and, as Blake had said, Weiss wasn't afraid to use that resource.

"No I didn't," Yang replied innocently, eyes staring up at the ceiling while she carefully balanced on the back legs of the stool.

She could practically feel Ruby's gaze burn into her as her younger sister continued to glare.

"I didn't tell Weiss," she insisted just as she insisted on not meeting her sister's eyes.

There was a pause, Ruby's glare lowering in its intensity as there came a thought that led her to asking, "Did you tell Blake?"

"…Maybe."

"Weiss and Blake know?" There was the sound of what had to be the wrench clattering to the floor because when Yang did remove the ceiling from her vision it was to see Ruby with empty hands clasped over her face and forehead against the table, the goggles nearly falling from her head. "That's even worse!"

Yep, definitely still her baby sister and she found it as much as a relief as it was humorous when Ruby lifted her head to unveil the dark smudges on her face that came from whatever grime were on her hands and the pout that stayed with her as she rested on her chin.

"How could you?" she groaned.

It was just too cute. The stool clanking beneath her as she set it back down, Yang stood up and made the quick trip that had her at Ruby's side, the older sibling crouching down to better embrace the younger one. Ruby tensed in preparation but once she identified that it wasn't Yang's more crushing bear hugs, the top of her head touched up against her sister's chin while one arm curled around Yang's; the best way she could return it in her position.

"Get used to it," Yang spoke near Ruby's ear, a grin plastered on her face. "They'll be stuck with us for four years, after all. Might as well accept our new family now and, like any other, you don't keep secrets from them."

"Wish they felt the same," Ruby grumbled although there was no true resentment there.

"Give it time. They've stuck with us for this long so it's only a matter of time before they realize they're in it for the long haul."

Ruby's half-shrugged so as not to drive her one shoulder into Yang. "I suppose."

Sure, things might not be perfect but when are they ever? Being able to hug her sister within the middle of Beacon where they've always strived to reach, surrounded by friends, and partnered with teammates who they've come to appreciate if not cherish. it's as perfect as the two of them could ask it to be.

"Anyway, we got an airship to catch." Releasing her sister, Yang took a step back and produced her scroll. "And speaking of time…"

Ruby's brows lit up as soon as Yang flipped the screen towards her.

"Think you can beat yours?"

More than willing to prove her knowledge and love for Crescent Rose, Ruby hastily retrieved her wrench and sat back up in her stool to better bend over the table, the tool and free hand raised and waiting for the signal.

Yang tapped her thumb against her scroll. "Go."

---

Vytal. Vital. Life.

Life was what the Vytal Festival represented; the life that mankind had barely been able to preserve and then fought to have it prosper. It was an event that celebrated it and in times of peace such as this with years having passed with it undisturbed, it was practically worshiped.

Despite the festival taking place in Vale, all of the kingdoms took part in it as no matter how far the lands and seas separated them or how their cultures may've evolved differently due to their locations, they all went through the same hazardous beginnings and achieved so much due to their alliances that supported one another. Nonetheless, Vale itself had the added task of showcasing its achievements with the various dances and parades that were meant to flaunt as much as commemorate its prosperity to its allies.

Then there was the tournament: a true contest of skill and strength demonstrated by students representing combat schools such as Beacon who sought to test their mettle against each other. Again though, there was more to the tournament than to advertise who had the better fighters as the young Huntsmen and Huntresses to be were to prove to the citizens that they would one day come to protect that their safety and their way of life could be confidently entrusted to the next generation.

Of course, Yang just wanted to fight. Growing up in Vale, she and Ruby had attended the Vytal Festival when they were young and took part in the activities hosted by the event. They watched the parades, laughed and smiled while they played the games and watched the occasional show and Yang had taken to a dance or two while forbidding her sibling from doing the same. But what was always the most prominent on their minds was the tournament.

They had long ago sworn that they would be Huntresses so the tournament was a look to see what was in store for them. Viewing such displays of expertise whether the combatants relied on Dust or their weaponry would always inspire them with the motivation that, one day, they would be the participants and the spectators would watch and be awed at how far they came from when they had been in the stands.

Yang had known that each step brought her closer to that: from her acceptance into Signal where she counted down the years and then her transfer to Beacon. Since then, she counted down the months which became weeks and what would soon become days before she would attend and fate thought it acceptable for Ruby to do so with her. They promised to be Huntresses together and it seemed that they were going to achieve it together.

The very thought always bred bouncing excitement for the two of them.

It had never crossed the brawler's mind that Weiss 'Ice Princess' Schnee was just as susceptible to it.

Like Ruby, Yang thought it odd when Weiss came to her and Blake after classes with a request – well, a demand that was wrapped up to somehow sound like a request – to take an airship ride to Vale and where the Vytal Festival was to be located. And like any request/not request, the heiress had done so with a straight-back posture that would refuse to bend and an expression that wouldn't cave in the face of attempted compromise. Hence the not request.

After Ruby was retrieved, Team RWBY had taken the next airship to Vale. Weiss refused to relax though, sitting unmoving in her seat while her gaze became fixed on the windows of the viewing gallery. Once Vale came into sight though, they all noticed the impatient tapping of the fencer's boot. When they docked with the skyport, she had practically hopped to her feet and left with a pace that was rather quick.

That pace didn't settle at any point when they started walking to the docks and when they saw the plethora of balloons, flags, and other decorations, it dawned on them that Weiss was smiling and she kept it up right to the point where they saw a sign being strung up by Dust Till Dawn's shopkeeper.

Then she became ecstatic.

"The Vytal Festival!" she cried, the flag apparently a go-ahead to release her pent-up enthusiasm upon reading Welcome To Vale. Standing there with hands clasped tightly together, Yang would dare say that Weiss was positively giddy. "Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!"

Behind Yang, Ruby had her head tilted curiously as she examined her partner. At Weiss's outburst, she said, "I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss." Neither her face nor voice expressed any of the joy her partner was feeling though, actually appearing disturbed by it. "It's kinda weirding me out…"

"How could you not smile?" Weiss turned to face them all and, yes, she was still smiling. "A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances, parades, a tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization is simply breathtaking!"

She skipped. She actually skipped. Whirling back around, the ice cold Schnee heiress skipped beneath the sign as if she couldn't wait to cross the imaginary boundary it represented to bring her further into the preparations for the festival.

It was still just the preparations though and seeing and hearing Weiss being more excited about that than what would later take place had Yang commenting, "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."

"Quiet you," Weiss responded, her smile slipping to better direct a glare over her shoulder.

None of them could really say how it happened but Weiss had been leading them ever since they disembarked from the airship. As much as Yang had been willing to follow her, that pungent smell usually attributed to the docks hit her nose, causing it to wrinkle unpleasantly as Weiss led them over to the rails that was all that was between them and the drop that would have them falling into the water. "Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting these stupid docks?"

It was a loaded question as Weiss hadn't really explained why they were here to begin with. Yang had been willing to get Ruby and come along with the thought of more quality team time but the stink that hung heavy in the air was putting a bit of a damper on it, especially as she still didn't know the point of this visit.

"They smell like fish," Ruby complained, expressing her identical distaste for the docks by pinching her nostrils closed.

Uncaring of their discomfort, Weiss brightly explained, "I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today." That smile, they soon saw, had returned and Weiss placed a hand against her chest humbly. "And as a representative of Beacon I feel as if it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."

Yang admitted to being a little interested in that as she eyed the large freighter that was currently alongside the wooden pier, wondering if it was transporting anyone from such a faraway place that may turn out to be her opponent. The Vytal Festival had always been located near the docks to better organize the arriving visitors to facilities reserved to house them during their stay and the sign that they passed had probably been set up to welcome early arrivals who wanted to settle in and get a lay of the land.

I guess it wouldn't be a waste to meet them, Yang mused.

Blake identified the hidden motive and Yang's thoughtful look must've encouraged her to translate, "She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament."

Aaaah… Yeah, that sounded like Weiss. Yang tipped her head in silent acknowledgement to her partner, throwing in a grin for good measure.

In spite of her rebuttal, the brunette's lips had the hints of a smirk that was more amused than mean-spirited. Likewise, when Weiss rounded on her, the heiress had her arms crossed and face stony but she didn't seem that offended when she countered, "You can't prove that."

There was a conspicuous ease between them all that buoyed Yang's spirits. It hadn't just been her and Ruby and their respective partners who've come to an understanding as Weiss and Blake seemed to have become friendly with one another. Yang had noticed the occasional jab that Blake would send Weiss in a way that she had just done so but, in this instance, it lacked any of antagonism and Weiss was taking it in stride. Yang had never figured out why that was but she had the impression that it passed and that was all that mattered. It seemed that Team RWBY was really coming together.

"Woah."

Ruby had fallen behind, the group only noticing upon her speaking and when Yang looked back it was to see her staring off away from the docks and down a street. They all rejoined their leader to see what caught her interest.

It was a crime scene, the yellow tape that roped it off an obvious indication and what immediately caught Yang's attention. There was a lot of it and even if she couldn't make out the letters from this distance, she knew that the boundary was marked as the property of Vale's police force.

Ruby was already moving to investigate and the rest of the team followed behind her, all of them just as curious. They had been able to see that it was a shop that had been broken into but it was only by getting closer that they could make out the details such as the glass of a shattered window that were sprinkled along the sidewalk and the reason that the shop didn't have a front door was because it had been busted down and fallen inwards. Both forced entry points were sealed off by more of that yellow police tape.

There was a cop car off to the side and standing outside of the shop had to be who Yang had to guess were the plainclothes detectives who drove it here. While one examined the scene, the other was scribbling down something on the electronic pad he held in his hands.

It was the one who was writing that was the closest and when they stopped outside of the crime scene, Ruby asked him, "What happened here?"

"Robbery," the dark-haired detective answered, his beard hiding his chin with his shades doing the same to his eyes. He lowered his pad to better look to Ruby. "Second Dust shop to be hit this week." He stepped away from her a second later though, all the while muttering, "This place is turning into a jungle."

Yang clicked her tongue. "That's terrible."

True to their want to be heroes, fighting crime was something that fell into Yang and Ruby's expectations as to what they would be doing and Yang felt her stomach twist unpleasantly as she regarded the violence of the crime scene, specifically how both the door and window had been shattered as if the perpetrators hadn't been settled with creating one improvised entrance. This close, she could see that the interior of the shop wasn't any better as the display cases that would usually hold Dust crystals were similarly broken and anything that didn't hold anything of volatile nature had been recklessly knocked over.

If she was supposed to develop some immunity during her training as a Huntress, Yang must've gotten the short end of the stick. There was a difference between witnessing monsters rampage in the wilderness and inspecting damage that had been caused within the center of civilized life and knowing that someone had been perfectly fine with doing so. The timing that pointed to that same someone or someones doing it twice in quick succession made it worse.

"Dey left all da money again," the other detective spoke once his partner joined him, speech inflicted with an accent that Yang knew some downtown residents tended to sport. He was wearing the same tinted shades though lacked the beard and his more grayed hair was an unruly mess.

"Just doesn't make a lick of sense," the first intoned. He apparently traded his pad with a loaded sidearm and Yang felt different kind of twist when he waved it nonchalantly towards the shop. "Who needs that much Dust?"

"I dunno, an army?"

Another careless wave of the firearm. "You thinkin' the, uh, White Fang?"

"Yeah I'm thinkin' we don't get paid enough."

The second certainly didn't sound like he got paid enough to be interested. Going by their display of unprofessionalism, Yang wondered if life in Vale really was that good if these two were considered as acceptable examples of the city's police.

Not that she had much to dwell on it as, next to her, there came a scoff from Weiss who crossed her arms against her chest. "The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates."

"What's your problem?" Blake asked, frowning as she regarded her teammate with a hand on her hip.

Weiss glanced at Blake, seeming surprised that she even spoke up. "My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided faunus."

"Misguided?" Weiss practically gaped at her teammate. "They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet."

"So then they're very misguided," Blake argued, her features steadily hardening. "Either way, this doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."

Ruby decided to take that moment to intrude with a thoughtful hum. "Blake's got a point. Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months back." She gave the Dust shop another look but her eyes were unfocused as she mentally recounted the event. "Maybe it was him."

Weiss refused to budge from the topic as she raised her head crisply. "That doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."

"That's not necessarily true," Yang cut in, lifting a brow. She didn't know much about the White Fang but despite the acts of violence she tended to hear about now and again, she thought there had been mentionings of them being peaceful once.

Right now though, her interruption was mostly due to Blake. As Weiss listed off her reasons of disgust for the White Fang to her and Ruby, she failed to notice the affect it was having on Blake who was right behind her. Yang did though; how those lids lowered over those ambers until they became slits that glared at the heiress.

That was a new one and Yang found it unsettling. Blake got irritated now and again but this was the first time that Yang saw her actually getting angry as that glare was enhanced with gritted teeth. She didn't know what was going on but Blake appeared to have some kind of investment in the argument.

Fortunately, before it could go any further, there came a shout that originated right back at the docks they left moments ago. "Hey, stop that faunus!"

Team RWBY reacted to a sign of trouble as they did with the last although this one taking place now had them acting with haste as they ran back towards the docks. That freighter that Yang saw was still there except there was commotion going on on the deck. A pair of uniformed dockworkers were chasing a third individual but Yang didn't see any notable traits that would identify him as a faunus. The shout had definitely come from the ship though.

It was only when he hopped onto the edge of the deck that Yang saw it: a long, furry tail that matched the color of his blond hair and curled behind him. The brawler had seen several faunus in her lifetime but she had to admit that this was the first time she had seen one with a tail. Its appearance was like what you would find on a monkey.

"Thanks for the ride, guys!" the very obvious faunus shouted merrily towards his pursuers before hopping off the ship and landing on the pier.

"You no-good stowaway!" one of the workers shouted, giving up on the chase and settling with waving his fist at the apparent fugitive.

Noticing that they gave up, the faunus revealed another sign of his rather dexterous ability by making another high jump and twisting in mid-air so that tail of his can curl around an overhanging post. To Yang's amazement, the boy – she could now see that he had to be around her age – was held upside down effortlessly to the point where he had no trouble with taking out a banana he had stored in the back pocket of his blue khakis.

That's not all he's got. Not only could she discern his age, but she could also make out the rather prominent set of abs that his white shirt failed to hide…mostly because it was unbuttoned. Probably on purpose. Not that Yang could blame him.

"Hey!" the faunus shouted while he peeled the banana. His forearms were clad with red bracers but they – and being upside down – didn't hamper him in the least. "A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!"

He unpeeled the fruit by this point but just as he was about to take a bite he suddenly jerked his head back to avoid a stone that had been hurled at him from underneath. The one responsible for the projectile was the bearded officer as him and his partner must've heard the shout and came to investigate.

"Hey, get down from there this instant!" he demanded, clearly unamused by the faunus's antics.

Yang guessed that the banana peel that was thrown in his face immediately afterwards did little to calm him down. She couldn't see it but guessed that his expression was twisted into one of outrage beneath the yellow fruit skin that was now stuck to it.

The monkey faunus laughed as he hoisted himself with the use of hands and tail to crouch on top of the pole. He leapt over the heads of the detectives a moment later and managed to clear a good distance of space before dropping back onto the pier. He immediately took off running, the detectives giving chase.

Coincidentally, he happened to turn in Team RWBY's direction after running up the stairs to come up to their level. Neither Yang or anyone else made a move to apprehend him and the blonde actually had an amused grin on her face as she watched him run past them with the detectives tailing him – pun intended. Even if he was a stowaway, she had to admit that she found his attitude and the whole scene funny.

That amusement was carried into her joke. "Well Weiss, you wanted to see the competition and there it goes."

"Quick! We have to observe him!"

Wait, what? Yang wasn't being serious – she had no idea if he was one of those arrivals of Vacuo – but Weiss reacted as if she had as she took off after him. The only reason she ended up running after the heiress was with the knowledge that the team wasn't going to let her go off on her own and mild interest to see how the rest of the chase went.

They were able to catch up. Once they turned into the street that they saw the cops and the criminal go down they were able to catch sight of them. Yang was able to spot the shirts and suspenders of the former and those red bracers and tail of the latter right as they were turning down into yet another street. It didn't encourage Weiss to break off as she went around that same corner and Yang was aware that Ruby and Blake had followed her expectations by joining them.

The grunt that came a moment after the disappearance of the fencer and the thuds of someone hitting the ground suggested to the scene that Yang discovered once she rounded the corner and came to a halt. Right at her feet was Weiss who lifted herself up with her hands enough to see that her target and those who chased him were gone.

"No, he got away!" she cried out in dismay, completely unaware of what Yang guessed caused her fall.

Well, make that who. "Uh…" The brawler pointed down. "Weiss?"

Weiss glanced back at Yang then followed her finger to what it was that she pointed out right as a wide smile was produced on a freckled face that was no more than a foot away of her own. "Bwah!"

Even with her cry and hasty retreat, the smile didn't remove itself from the girl who was lying on the ground on her back. In fact, once Weiss pulled away, the girl held up a hand as she brightly greeted, "Salutations!"

Ruby and Blake had since joined them at this point and it was the younger girl who replied first, blinking incredulously as she did so. "Um…hello."

Her uncertainty wasn't unfounded. While Weiss returned to her feet, the girl remained lying there on the sidewalk. Wondering if she had gotten hurt from her collision with Weiss, Yang slowly asked, "Are you…okay?"

"I'm wonderful!" she answered as cheerfully as her greeting. "Thank you for asking!"

Yang glanced over at her teammates and found them looking at each other with the same dumbstruck expression that had to be on her face. Okay, good; she wasn't the only one who found something funny about this. The girl was still lying there, making no move to get up, and her smile seemed permanently etched as it didn't even twitch.

Yang tried again. "Do you want to get up?"

To her astonishment, the girl lowered her brows and her lips became crooked in a sign of her thinking if she wanted to get up or not. There came a nod of her head. "Yes!"

She planted her hands next to either side of her head while her legs swung up. With a push she sprung up to her feet, the sudden action and unexpected show causing not only Yang but the rest of her teammates to take a step back from the girl.

"My name is Penny," the girl introduced as if that was the most natural thing in the world after everything else that…wasn't natural. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Yang took the opportunity to examine Penny, noting how that freckled face was framed by ginger hair that went down to her chin and curled at the ends. It was difficult to spot when she was on the ground but now Yang could see the pink bow that was larger than Blake's and located behind Penny's head instead of on top. As for her clothes, Yang had to hide a wince at the rather plain and very out of date blouse and overalls with the blouse being a lighter shade of gray while the overalls were darker. It led the blonde to wonder if Penny was perhaps from the agricultural district as that was the only other place where she'd seen people wear a style of dress like that.

It might be because of the clothing that made the green lines that cut through her black collar and stockings appear as if they were glowing. Her eyes too now that Yang identified them and - the brawler tilted her head. Maybe it really was the blouse that was making the irises seem so bright that even the pupils had a green tinge to them.

"Hi, Penny," Ruby greeted. "I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

Yang's head remained tilted and she idly scratched at it. "Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" There came a slap against her side, courtesy of Blake, and it knocked the blonde back to her senses. "Oh, I'm Yang!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny repeated.

Weiss noticed it. "You already said that."

Penny went quiet, those unusually shiny green eyes steadily widening with slow realization. With a nod and yet another smile she confirmed, "So I did!"

Looking increasingly disturbed by the ginger-haired girl, Weiss began to move back but forced out a polite "Sorry for running into you" right before turning away completely. Yang decided to do the same.

"Take care, friend," Ruby spoke her farewells and followed her team.

Yang waited until she thought they had gotten far enough and uttered, "She was…weird."

No one else decided to agree or disagree. In the wake of it, Weiss decided to speak, "Now, where did that faunus riffraff run off to?"

Really? Seriously, what was with Weiss and-

"What did you call me?"

Holy!

Yang and the rest of them jerked to a halt. Okay, good; she wasn't the only one who didn't understand how Penny managed to somehow pop up right in front of them without anyone noticing. The girl in question was leaning forward and the brawler guessed that her dubious stare and question had been directed at her.

"Oh, I'm really sorry!" she quickly apologized. "I definitely didn't think you heard me!"

Penny shook her head. "No, not you." She walked past Weiss, then between Yang and Blake in order to reach her target. "You."

"Me?" Ruby squeaked out. With Penny leaning towards her, Ruby leaned back as she sputtered, "I-I don't know-I-what I-uh…"

"You called me friend!" Penny came closer until there were only a few inches separating them, peering at Ruby intensely. "Am I really your friend?"

"Um…" Ruby craned her neck to peek over Penny's shoulder.

Ruby. Ruby, no! Bad Ruby! Say no!

At least that was what Yang was trying to convey with her arms held up in an X while she shook her head. Ruby may've had some misgivings about making friends but when the effort was being made by someone else then she was notoriously bad at refusing the offer. Yang loved her sister's caring nature and she didn't want to seem mean but while she did apologize what she said previously remained the same: this girl was weird.

Weiss and Blake had caught on like the good teammates they were. The heiress was slashing a hand across her throat while the ninja was waving her arms and head even more violently than Yang. Maybe Ruby would get the message for clearly she couldn't deny the will of her team and democracy would surely prevail-

Ruby refocused on Penny. "Yeah, sure." She shrugged. "Why not?"

…Okay, good; Yang wasn't the only one who felt the need to drop to the ground in the wake of Ruby's disregard for her teammates' opinions.

Penny, on the other hand, laughed, raising her arms in victory. "Sensational!" Nearly hopping in place she started to list, "We can paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boys!"

Already regretting her decision that she shouldn't have made because the other one had seemed so obvious to everyone but her, Ruby quietly groaned and angled herself to Weiss. "Was this what it was like when you met me?"

"No," her partner replied, having gotten to her feet and was currently brushing the dirt off her jacket sleeve. "She seems far more coordinated."

Resigning herself to the fate that their wise leader had placed on them and might as well make nice, Yang asked Penny, "So what are you doing in Vale?"

"I'm here to fight in the tournament!" she answered and to Yang's surprise she actually looked serious.

Weiss arched her brow. "Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?"

Penny gave her a salute. "I'm combat ready!"

The heiress remained doubtful. "Forgive me, but you hardly look the part."

"Says the girl wearing a dress," Blake commented.

Weiss huffed, arms folded tightly against her chest while she declared, "It's a combat skirt!"

A red-black blur came at her side, giving shape to Ruby who copied her partner's stance. "Yeeeaaah!"

Weiss extended her hand for a low-five that Ruby took advantage of to slap her palm against her partner's. The action had Yang grinning. They really are getting along.

Weiss blinked, breaking her unyielding stance about her dress/combat skirt as something dawned on her. "Wait a minute." Whereas once she wanted to keep away from Penny, the fencer came close enough to grasp the girl by the shoulders. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion?"

Yang's grin was replaced with a frown. This again? They still didn't even know if that faunus was taking part in it. If he was a student from Vacuo or somewhere else that would have eligible members, the blonde would think that he would've been provided transportation to get here and not need to stowaway on a random freighter.

Penny looked confused. "The who?"

"The filthy faunus from the boat!" Weiss went on, holding up a badly-drawn caricature for reference that had Yang wondering when she even had the chance to draw it.

"Why do you keep saying that?"

Yang was just as surprised as Weiss was at the sudden question that Blake uttered, getting her to direct her attention away from Penny and to the bow-wearing girl. "Huh?"

"Stop calling him a rapscallion!" Blake demanded. She made a reversion to how Yang had seen her before: her eyes narrowed and glaring at Weiss as she walked up to her. "Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"

Letting go of Penny so that she could better round on Blake, Weiss sarcastically spoke, "Oh, I'm sorry! Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamp post as a lamp post?"

Even Yang had to give Weiss a look of disapproval, not that the snow-haired girl saw as she gestured to the items around her, her attention fully on Blake who snapped, "Stop it!"

"Stop what? He clearly broke the law! Given time, he'll probably join up with those other faunus in the White Fang."

Blake growled, the sound scaring Yang and how her partner's hands clenched into fists at her sides. "You ignorant little brat!"

The insult stunned them all, Weiss included who could only watch in shock as Blake spun on her heel and strutted off angrily. She wasn't done yet though, her surprise morphing into a scowl. "How dare you talk to me like that!?" She hurried after her. "I am your teammate!"

Blake stopped and waited for Weiss to catch up. Then she fired back with, "You are a judgmental little girl!"

"What in the world makes you say that!?"

Yang watched the scene unfold while trying to figure out how all of this came about. It started off like any of their normal treks into the city and somehow it devolved into this: her and Ruby's partners standing and shouting at one another in the middle of Vale, neither one refusing to back down.

"The mere fact that you would sort that faunus boy with a terrorist group based solely on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!"

Ruby wasn't fairing any better, viewing the events dismally. Being not only a partner but a team leader yet unable to think of how to step in and bring peace to the matter had to be even worse and Yang saw her body decline to the extent that her cloak was covering more of her than usual. It was her little sister's distress that had Yang touching her shoulder.

Weiss was still shouting. "So you admit it! The White Fang is a radical group of terrorists!"

"I think we should probably go," Yang advised when Ruby's sad silvers landed on her.

Penny came at Ruby's other shoulder to smile at the siblings, oblivious to the fight that was going on. "Where are we going?"

They both sighed.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Blake harshly denied.

---

Yang and Ruby managed to eventually interpose themselves in between their partners and they convinced them to follow the plan to return to Beacon – not to mention expressly stating to Penny that by they, they meant Team RWBY. Once they accomplished that, a silent arrangement was agreed upon by the sisters to keep their partners separated with Ruby going on ahead with Weiss before Yang followed with her own partner.

The brawler hoped that that would get them to cool off but the entire walk back to the skyport had her nervous for not once did Blake take her eyes off Weiss's back as she continuously glowered at her. The heiress must've felt it if not throughout their trip then at least during those moments where Yang saw her about to turn only to be prevented when Ruby – also sensing it – put her hand on her partner's arm to distract her.

Yang tried to say something but found that she couldn't, legitimately afraid of how Blake would react. She had never seen her this mad before. She prayed that maybe when they got to the skyport she'll be able to muster up her courage to say something and Blake will have calmed down enough to talk to her.

Luck was with them in that there was already an airship docked and ready for boarding as Yang didn't want to think of how she and Ruby can keep them from reinitiating their argument if they were both trapped in the skyport. Once Ruby boarded with Weiss and directed her to the main passenger cabin, Yang took the hint and led Blake to the viewing gallery. Maybe out of sight and out of mind will manage to triumph.

That didn't mean that Yang was going to rely solely on that. Although she and Blake had taken a seat on the line of couches so that they were sitting next to each other, Yang waited until after the airship had taken off and was brought a good thousand feet above Vale that she tried to speak to her partner.

"Blake?" she gently asked.

The ninja didn't answer, the airship floor the latest test subject of an attempt to bore through it with willpower alone. Her fists were clenched and had been clenched ever since they sat down, straining the material of her shorts.

Yang waited, mentally counting to ten and repeated, "Blake?"

"Did you hear what she said?"

How Blake delivered the question disturbed Yang. She practically forced it out between her teeth, almost as if they had been strangled out.

"I heard," Yang quietly spoke. "I think the whole block heard you and Weiss." She knew that the joke probably wouldn't help but she tried anyway, needing something else other than this bitterness that had this control over Blake and worry that had her.

Predictably, it didn't do anything as Blake went on hotly, "What she called him. Just judging him because of his race. Assuming that he's going to become part of the White Fang and all those other things that she said."

She didn't like this, especially with how Blake's hands twisted as she spoke. Needing to try something else and wanting her to relax, Yang reached over.

Whether she was consciously doing so or not, Blake refused to relax. Yang was stubborn though, and stronger, and she managed to worm her fingers through Blake's to create enough space that she was able to get through the rest of the way. Once she had a grip on her hand, Yang was relieved to feel the strength lessening in it. It didn't matter if it was because she was really calming down or didn't want to crush Yang's as the blonde would take either. Mercifully, the loosening of one appendage did ease the other as Blake was no longer gripping her clothes as tightly.

Though not completely accepting of such show of affection, Blake had grown tolerant and Yang would like to think that the ninja did take some comfort in it. She really hoped that right now was the case.

"I heard everything, Blake," Yang tried again. "We all did. Yes, Weiss did say all of that but I don't think she really meant any of it. It's just Weiss being Weiss. You know how she is."

The renewed pressure that Yang felt told her she made a wrong move before Blake even shook her head. "No, this was different. You don't understand, Yang; she meant every word. That bigoted little-"

"Wait, Blake, hold on!" Yang interrupted, the grip on her hand bordering on painful. "Look, just because Weiss said those things doesn't make them true. I certainly have nothing against the faunus."

She didn't and Yang couldn't think of a time when she ever did. Her parents had taught her to be kind and generous to people whether they be human or faunus. Besides, Yang couldn't understand why she would ever hate the faunus. Other than an extra set of ears, tail, horns, what have you, everything else about them was similar to any other human.

When she had gone after Velvet, it was because of a desire to help a person who had gotten bullied and was in pain. When she held her, she was as sad as she would be if it was a human girl who had been crying. Just because she had rabbit ears didn't make her any less of a living being in her mind.

That Blake understood as her grip loosened again. "I know you don't, Yang. I know what you and Jaune did for Velvet and you've never shown any dislike for faunus."

"And Weiss had helped Velvet on occasion," Yang pointed out, keeping her tone gentle. "Sure, she was cold to her at first but she was willing to help her out overtime."

Continuing to be a physical measure of her mood, Blake's hand slackened some more and she wasn't glaring as vehemently anymore. Holding back a sigh of relief, Yang decided to proceed albeit with caution. "I don't agree with any of what Weiss said but that faunus boy did break the law."

Blake stiffened but she didn't retighten her hold; more like she was struggling with herself to agree or disagree with Yang.

Even if Blake hadn't wanted to hear it, Yang knew that what Weiss said about that monkey faunus being a criminal was true. Stowing away wasn't a particularly big crime to the brawler and she did disagree with the heiress about her heavy-handed predictions about him joining the White Fang but the law was the law. She hoped Blake would concede that much.

Thankfully she did. That angry stiffening of her shoulders lessened just like her grip and Blake bowed her head. "He did."

It was a quiet admission but it was a step in the right direction. Yang squeezed but it was meant to be soothing. "I personally don't see that much of a big deal with it. He might not have wanted to pay for passage but he could've had his reasons. Maybe he really wanted whatever bananas that ship was carrying."

Blake wasn't unaffected by the joke this time, the corners of her lips twitching. She stopped it from going any farther and when she did speak, she sounded a bit somber when she spoke, "I'm sure he had his reasons."

Yang found that strange but chose not to address it. She was glad that Blake was no longer angry and chose the opening to cover more ground. She might be able to settle things after all and she really hoped that Ruby was making as much progress.

"I don't think all faunus are bad and I'm sure Weiss doesn't either. You have to admit though, the ones who are part of the White Fang have done some pretty bad things. I don't have a problem with the occasional stowaway but the things they've done aren't as forgivable, right?"

She said the wrong thing. Blake didn't crush her hand but she didn't need to. No, instead it went entirely limp as if it had become lifeless.

"You don't understand."

She didn't say that with any malice either. The hollow disappointment was more than enough.

And when she pulled her hand out, Yang realized that she horribly blundered.

Yet try as she might, she couldn't figure out how she had done so.

---

Ruby didn't have any luck either. When the partnered pairs reunited at the platform, the night that settled during their flight couldn't hide the look of defeat that Ruby sent Yang's way.

Upon sighting each other, Blake and Weiss shared another glare.

They were ushered on but Yang had no idea as to how she could prevent whatever may come when they returned to their dorm. She tried to get Blake to speak to her again but her partner had shut her out, unwilling to even explain just what it was that Yang didn't understand.

Eventually, that dreaded prediction came to pass. Like before, Ruby kept her and Weiss a good distance ahead but Yang knew that they were delaying the inevitable now. When they did get to the dormitory, the door barely had time to close before Blake was shoving it open. As if able to perceive what may come, the ninja visibly squared her shoulders.

When they got to the stairs, it was only seconds that Yang had stopped hearing Ruby and Weiss's footsteps and then they were clearing the last flight that would bring them to their floor.

When they entered the hall, Yang barely caught her sister's signature cape before it disappeared into their dorm room.

No matter how hard she tried, Yang couldn't think of anything to say; no last minute statement that could prevent what she feared may come, no plan for any more delays, nothing.

She and Blake entered Team RWBY's room.

Weiss was sitting at the edge of her bunk but was making no move to go to sleep no matter how much Yang wished her to keel over and do just that. Ruby was standing at the foot of the bed and when her other two subordinates entered, she worriedly glanced from one to the other.

Weiss set her sights on Blake where they remained unwavering.

Possibly because she wanted to make the first move, Blake asked, "So what about Velvet?"

And there they go.

"What about Velvet?" Weiss asked nastily. "I don't have a problem with Velvet. She's become a productive member of society unlike some other faunus."

"You mean the ones in the White Fang?"

"Of course! I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!"

Blake had ventured further into their room, enough so that she could drop on her own bunk to better meet Weiss face-to-face. "That is the problem!"

Ruby stepped over to Yang's side, crestfallen. As much as she hated to see her sister down, there was nothing that Yang could think for either her or Ruby to do. Whatever was going on with Weiss and Blake, this was an issue that neither of them understood.

"You realize you're defending an organization that hates humanity, don't you?" Unable to sit still, Weiss was on her feet, possibly in an attempt to use this window of height difference to her advantage. "The faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"

"There's no such thing as pure evil!" Blake objected, taking away that asset as she shot to her feet. Her fists were clenched again. "Why do you think they hate humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like you, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

"People like me?"

"You're discriminatory!"

"I'm a victim!" Weiss shouted, stomping her foot.

That brought Blake up short, any angry allegation dying on her lips. Her eyes were still narrowed and angry, her hands were still balled, but even so Yang could detect a degree of hostility that had been sapped from her partner.

Weiss took it as an opening as she regarded Blake. Then, with her own miniscule heat having been similarly taken away, she quietly asked, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the faunus?"

She maneuvered herself towards the open window of their dorm, breaking away from Blake who kept her gaze on her but, more and more, Yang witnessed how her partner's features softened as she became…guilty? Regretful? To what Weiss just said?

Yang didn't know but Blake was frowning except it was in a sullen way. That angry stare crumbled as well when she viewed Weiss's back. The heiress had her palms flat against the bookshelf, putting her weight against it as she stared out into the darkness; the moon deciding not to unveil itself this night.

"It's because they've been at war with my family for years," Weiss finally revealed quietly. "War. As in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear. Board members, executed. An entire train car full of Dust stolen."

Partially hidden by that off-centered ponytail, Yang could nonetheless make out that snowflake on Weiss's jacket, imagining it as the target she was referring to with the dot in the center being the bull's eye. Friends and board members having been successfully killed, the brawler couldn't begin to imagine what kind of prize the Schnee heiress was viewed as; how there were people out there who would want to strike right at that spot that was perfectly aligned with her vitals.

No wonder she's the way she is, Yang thought, speculating that Weiss's obsession for perfection had manifested because that was all that was keeping her alive. One slip in whatever security protected her could mean an assassin getting through and taking her life.

This would be the first time that Yang truly pitied Weiss and she could see that Blake wasn't unmoved by her plight, her partner shifting uncomfortably as the heiress told her story.

"And every day," Weiss continued, "my father would come home furious. And that made for a very. Difficult. Childhood." She bit off the last and a fist thumped against the top of the bookshelf for emphasis.

That struck Yang hard, the idea that even family had become a part of her misery. No matter what happened in their lives, she and Ruby always had each other and Yang believed that if they only had that to fall back on, that would be more than enough for them. Even if you were left with nothing else, family was the most sacred and most real thing that one could hold on to.

So what did that make Weiss? Possessing everything but at the same time nothing?

Ruby wanted to prove that she had something. Removing herself from Yang's side to take her place at her partner's, the young leader placed a hand on her shoulder. "Weiss, I-"

But Weiss wanted none of it. She whirled around on Ruby, severing that connection in the process as she snapped, "No!"

Her eyes – icy blue yet possessing a fire that smoldered within them – became aimed at Blake as Weiss resumed her spot across from her, the victim now a predator as she fiercely asked, "Do you want to know why I despise the White Fang?"

Something bad was about to happen. Yang could feel it in her gut: that sense of foreboding that manifested when you detected how an argument that was already bad was about to get worse.

It was how Weiss approached Blake as if attempting to back her into a corner as she declared, "It's because they're a bunch of liars!"

Any pity fled from Blake. Like anyone else who was being cornered, with no escape in sight, they were given two choices: surrender or fight. The clenched jaw was a sign that surrender was not a choice at all.

Weiss took another step forward. "Thieves!"

Blake stood to her full height in response to the nearing heiress, her own eyes alight with the building rage that influenced her fists to shake while teeth ground together as if in preparation for blows.

The next step Weiss took had her so close that she nearly spat in Blake's face as she ended, "And murderers!"

And before anyone could do anything to stop this…

"WELL MAYBE WE WERE GETTING TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!"

The verbal retaliation was loud and high and with that window open to the world Yang could believe that it was heard to the ends of Remnant and back.

But the silence that followed was absolutely deafening, and the damage immeasurable.

The one responsible didn't realize it. Not yet. She stood resolutely, silently daring her adversary to do or say something that could so much as contend with her indomitable position.

All it took was one step to tear it down, this one going backwards. Weiss's eyes were wide, mouth agape as she backed away from Blake.

Mirroring the heiress's response, Blake's eyes were huge to better display the horrid realization of what she had done while her lips parted open. The shock ran through her fingers, causing her fists to fall apart as every ounce of aggression was driven out from them. She sought aid from her leader only to find Ruby unmoving yet uncertain of how to react.

It was Blake's turn to step back from both of them as she stuttered. "I-I…"

In what had to be a last ditch effort, she went to her partner.

She was sitting down. Yang had no idea how it happened but when that visage of bloodless terror was directed at her, it snapped her out of the trance that had overtaken her and brought her to the chair that she grasped the arms of.

She wasn't sure what Blake saw during then but whatever it was took away that glimmer of hope that Yang identified before it vanished completely.

So too did Blake. After the barest of gasps she disappeared and the brawler only had a breeze and the door swinging open next to her to tell her where she'd gone.

"Blake, wait!" Ruby called, her lack of paralysis letting her act by sprinting towards the door. "Come back!"

She didn't cross through it though, freezing right in front of the doorway. After a moment of staring out to the hall, she looked back over her shoulder to her own partner, then repeated, torn about who to confront first.

By then Yang had the feeling return to her body that decided now of all times to fail her in such a critical moment. Leaping from the chair, Yang ran past Ruby and out in the hall but not without brushing her hand against her sister.

The message was clear: she'll take care of her partner while Ruby took care of hers.

---

Blake's White Fang.

Weiss hadn't moved even when Blake had run off, the heiress still staring at the spot where she had been a moment ago. Right where she had unveiled her terrible secret.

A secret that Weiss should've seen coming a mile away.

It makes sense, the heiress concluded, her intelligence going to work with putting the pieces together while all control fled from her body.

It made such awful sense. No wonder Blake had been intent on defending the White Fang despite their list of atrocious crimes. She was one of them.

But it was more than just that one argument and the months of her stay at Beacon flashed through her mind as she recollected every moment of her and Blake. From the beginning that bow-wearing girl seemed to have it out for her, making a comment about her family's business practices upon their first meeting. Throughout their time together she would continue uttering maybe not insults but a nugget of information that she somehow possessed about Schnee Dust.

She asked questions too; about Weiss, about her father, about her company's operations. Weiss had never found it suspicious when she did but how many of those questions were a subtle form of interrogation in order to gain more information about White Fang's prime target?

She's White Fang.

"Weiss?"

How many times have I had my back turned to her?

"Weiss?"

Weiss blinked, the empty space that Blake had occupied having mysteriously been taken over by Ruby who stood there looking and sounding nervous as she tried to get her partner's attention.

"Weiss, say something," Ruby requested timidly.

There was only one thing that Weiss could really say. "Blake's White Fang."

"…Can you say something else?"

Something else? How can she possibly say anything else? Ignoring her leader's plea, Weiss repeated, "Ruby, she's White Fang."

Finding no other way around it, Ruby relinquished a reluctant nod. "…I heard."

She heard but she didn't understand even after all that Weiss had just said they'd done to her. "She's responsible."

She didn't know how she could say it so calmly. The comprehension that this whole time there had been a terrorist sleeping in the same room as her, eating in the same cafeteria, attending the same class, and having even crossed an occasional blade with her in practice duels didn't invoke the dread that, at any point during those times, there was someone in place that could've done what she knew so many others had tried to do in the past.

How could she have been so stupid? Maybe it was that question that was leaving her dumbstruck.

Ruby cringed as if Weiss had shouted it and she meekly started, "We don't know-"

Her leader and the fury that Weiss felt burgeoning in expectance to what she was about to say were interrupted by a familiar beeping noise that had them reflexively searching for the source. Ruby spun around and bent over Blake's bunk, sliding the blanket aside to uncover the scroll hidden beneath it. She picked it up and brought it to her ear.

"Yang? It's Ruby. I-"

Ruby had her back to Weiss but the heiress saw her pull the scroll away enough that she could make out on the screen of a call that had been disconnected. It wasn't difficult to put two and two together: it was Blake's scroll and Yang tried to contact her with it.

"There you have it," Weiss mocked. "She's gone on the run like any criminal would once they've been found out."

Ruby swiveled around, the scroll still in her possession but held weakly. "Blake's not a criminal. She's our teammate."

The heat of outrage was turning out to be effective at chasing away the numbness that had left Weiss immovable after the shocking revelation. At Ruby's ludicrous statement, the heiress felt the strain of tightening muscles that had overtaken her during her argument, Blake having been the previous target of her ire.

Blake wasn't here anymore but that didn't mean there wasn't someone right in front of her that could serve as a suitable replacement.

"Ruby," Weiss nearly snarled. "Blake's. White. Fang."

Ruby's breath stilled for a moment, able to discern the passion that fueled Weiss's words and knowing that it was just the tip of the iceberg. Whether it was stupidity or her position as leader, the younger girl chose to try and form a defense for the teammate who fled. "That might not be true. Blake may not be with them anymore. She might not have done all that stuff that-"

"You DOLT!"

Not even during their meeting had Weiss loaded the insult with as much venom as she did now. The amount shocked Ruby, the girl breaking off so that she could stare with growing fright at her partner.

"Why would that even matter!?" Weiss shrieked. "Did you not hear what I said!? Do you not understand what the White Fang has done!?"

Blake's scroll fell to the floor, the action brought on by how Ruby dropped onto Blake's mattress when the back of her legs bumped into the wooden frame. Weiss couldn't remember how it occurred but she was now standing over her leader and partner who's become the recipient of the hatred and rage that had come from a childhood of fear and pain that had been hidden beneath a façade of aristocratic composure all this time.

Until now.

"What do you think she's done!? Are you going to sit there and tell me she's innocent!? She's White Fang, Ruby! Are you seriously that much of a dunce!?"

Ruby's mouth worked uselessly, trying to form and articulate words that just weren't coming to her - weren't even given the chance in the face of the storm that she was in the middle of. She was leaning back, her arms holding her up, and they began lowering her down as Weiss drew closer.

"The innocent. Don't. RUN!"

This close she could see the panic that filled those silver eyes. Those same silvers that had joined them together, the same irises that had them linked for the next four years of their lives, and it was with those stricken orbs that Weiss felt the gratification that came with her own revelation: that this was what Weiss Schnee was all about.

"W-Weiss I…" It was only because Weiss was this close that she could make out the frightened whispers of her leader as she vainly attempted to make some sort of rebuttal. "B-Blake…s-she's not…"

It was those pitiful efforts that got Weiss to restrain herself along with the knowledge that the harm had been done and, even if she was impossibly naïve, Ruby wasn't her real enemy. Scowling, the fencer straightened but Ruby made no move to do the same as she remained stuck to the bunk, her back having inevitably made contact with the mattress.

"Don't even speak to me," Weiss instructed, glowering down at her. "There's nothing you can possibly say."

Idiot.

Turning away from her leader, Weiss knew that that last insult was directed as much to herself as it was to Ruby.

---

Yang hit the wall, her shoulder connecting with it solidly before she pushed off it to give her momentum to clear the next flight.

She didn't waste the effort it would take to go down the stairs one, two, or three steps at a time, instead leaping over them entirely in a single bound that had her stumbling and slamming hard into whatever obstacle she used to stop and then give her a running start to jump again. Knowing her partner's speed, Yang needed to clear as much distance as she possibly could and even then she didn't think it was going to be anywhere near enough.

The brawler had always admired Blake's speed but at the moment she cursed at it and her own lack thereof. Those precious seconds that Yang wasted would be more than enough for her partner to reach the door of the dormitory building at this point while she still needed to clear one more flight.

It was the last that Yang hit something that wasn't as sturdy as a wall and it gurgled in her ear.

"Sorry, Jaune!" Yang hastily apologized, hoping that he won't take it personally when she pushed off his chest and ran to the door.

The boy didn't even have his armor on to make the collision any less painful. Winded, the leader of JNPR fell heavily onto the floor. Yang made a mental note to give him and Pyrrha who bent down to help him a proper apology later. Right now though, she had to catch up to Blake.

The door was nestled within its frame, undisturbed to give off the impression that no one had passed through it in a while. Yang didn't let it mislead her as she barreled on through with the risk of knocking it off the hinges if she hadn't turned the knob fast enough. There was still a possibility of having it crack with how hard it slammed into the wall when she threw it open before dashing outside.

She was all about taking in her surroundings, her curls thrashing in the air as she looked left and right, trying to spot any sign of Blake. There was none in her immediate vicinity but she again contributed it to the ninja's speed rather than the possibility that she stayed in the dormitory building.

Yang cursed, unsure of which way to go. Blake could've gone off anywhere. Deciding on an obvious plan on how to locate her, the brawler pulled out her scroll, thumb rapidly hitting the saved contacts and then Blake's ID. She held it against her head, desperately wishing that the tone she heard would give way to Blake's voice.

Her heart soared as she picked up and Yang was already talking before Blake could. "Blake, it's Yang. Where are-?"

"Yang?"

That same organ came crashing back down as the voice that replied was definitely not Blake's.

"It's Ruby. I-"

Yang made another note to include her sister in those who she had to apologize to when she hung up on her.

Her scroll's in our room, Yang deduced, staring disbelievingly at her own. That was her best chance of locating Blake and all the brawler could do was stand there, trying to figure out what her next step should be.

Come on Yang, think. Think! You're a Huntress! When you're hunting for your prey, what do you do?

One thing she should do was make a list of her prey's usual hangouts and eliminate each one until she came to the one that would be most likely for Blake to have retreated to. Her first thought was the library but it was the first one to be eliminated. Out of all the campus buildings, it was one that closed early on a Friday.

The various lecture halls would've also been closed up by now as the professors were just as enthusiastic about the weekends as the students were. Same could be said for the tech labs and the other facilities. The gyms and other recreational areas tended to stay open a bit longer so maybe she should try the nearest one?

No matter how many possibilities swarmed her mind, something still pestered Yang; that being the loss of her most direct line of communication to Blake. Her initial assumption was that Blake may've dropped it when she had been arguing with Weiss but as a good minute ticked by a terrible possibility came to her that the brunette may've left it on purpose.

That thought came at the exact same time as the lesson she should've never forgotten as a Huntress: make sure your prey was still in the area.

She wouldn't, Yang objected, the idea chilling her insides all the same. When she tried to deny it though, she was reminded of Blake's terrified face. It convinced Yang to check the time, silently pleading that it was far too late for Blake to possibly-

Shit!

The last airship was supposed to leave for Vale right now!

The brawler didn't waste a moment as she took off in a sprint. The previous ridiculousness became irrelevant as, the longer it stuck to her, the more Yang became increasingly convinced that that was exactly what her partner was going to do. It was because of how she remembered Blake looking at her, her partner having been seeking aid yet Yang had watched as whatever faith she had withered and died at finding none of it.

Blake, I'm sorry! It had come as a shock, Yang having not expected it at all. None of them did! No matter what the ninja's provoked announcement may entail though, right now Yang just wanted to find her!

She sped past Beacon's most iconic statue – the one of the Huntsman and Huntress standing high over a Beowolf –, taking the path that would lead to the landing pad and the airship that Yang could make out the running lights of. It was still there and Yang just needed it to stay there for one more minute in order to reach it.

I said I would listen! Just give me a chance! Don't go!

The vessel was ignorant to her pleas as there came the whine of engines that broadcasted its intent to take off.

No, no, no!

It would be the last flight for the night, the airship being the same one that delivered them from their trip before sitting and waiting for the students who finished their late afternoon classes and wished to start their weekend in the city early. There wouldn't be another one until tomorrow morning!

When Yang reached the stairs that would bring her up to the landing pad, it was far too late. There was nothing at the end of the ramp that extended from it, the ship having pulled away. By the time Yang skidded to a halt right at edge, those wings had already lifted and were held off to the side to signal having gone to full flight configuration.

Ember Celica obeyed its mistress's instinctive desire to catch it by deploying over her arms, shells spinning and clicking into place to provide a makeshift propulsion system. Yang didn't take advantage of them though, knowing that she wouldn't be able to catch the airship as it not only hovered away from the platform but climbed high into the air. Blasting over miles of Emerald Forest's treetops was much simpler to do than to reach and catch a moving target. That and there was a much more significant drop that Yang would have to contend with if she missed.

That didn't stop her from crying out and firing off a shell straight down, the Dust responding to her frustration by enveloping the projectile in its fire-based power to produce the flare that cut through the darkness as it soared down the cliff and towards the waters below.

When she brought the airship back into view, the night sky and the distance it cleared made it difficult to see except for the lights that dotted its surface.

She might not be on it, Yang tried to reassure herself, her gauntlets reforming into the bracelets as the energy bled out if their wielder. She may still be somewhere on the campus. She couldn't have decided that quickly to leave us…

Yet even as she brought up that list of places to search, Yang knew, deep down, that Blake had run away.

 

Chapter Text

=Five Years Ago=

It felt heavy today.

She couldn't specify what it was though. The long handle of the sign felt particularly weighty against her bare shoulder but she didn't attribute it to any kind of change that would make it so; it was the same as it's always been albeit worn. Like the one who held it, it had gone through a lot. While the sign itself was regularly swapped out to broadcast a new proclamation of peace, the shaft was a part that she felt compelled to keep unchanged.

Perhaps it was because it better displayed the trials that they had gone through. Any injuries and discoloration that came to her skin due to the response of the temperature or sickness that plagued her by being exposed to the elements for a lengthy rally always healed or vanished entirely overtime. The timber, however, kept the gashes, the stains, and the other marks that expressed the wear and tear that gathered over the years yet remained high to bear its message.

That should make it lighter, not heavier. She knew it wasn't to blame though for while it might explain the burden on her shoulder it didn't for her head that hung low enough that she could see as well as hear the dragging of her shoes against the sidewalk.

Everything felt heavier. There had come a notable shift as if in the air itself that made it oppressive. It extended beyond this single street that she walked down as she felt it all throughout this morning when she had woken up with the others.

Maybe that explained why she was the only one who got up.

It hadn't been like this yesterday. Yesterday they had been motivated, fueled by the desire to see justice done. They rallied, they had taken to the streets, and they waved and shouted with a fervor that was exceptionally strong that day. Yesterday she was inspired by it and believed that their cause would always be as unyielding as it's always been. No matter how many years have already passed or how many more would come later, eventually things would change with their efforts.

It was yesterday that everything went up in smoke. For the shop that they were objecting to, it went up in literal smoke.

She hadn't been in a position to see where it originated from. Having taken her place at the front like she always did, all she saw was the window shattering as something smashed through it. Then there was fire. After that, chaos.

It was her small stature that let her pass through the legs of her compatriots when she ran. She had taken a nasty fall and scrape on her arm for it but a silent message had been passed throughout the crowd that emphasized escape. The fire was only part of the reason as it was the sirens and it wasn't just the faunus in the streets anymore but human bystanders who previously stayed off to the side, issuing their own ill-spirited shouts at the protestors until they stormed in.

She made it out. A few didn't. Even when she did put the drama out of sight she still heard the shouts that followed her until she finally got it all out of earshot.

That was when it started. This morning's vigor had been completely drained in the wake of the day's violence. There was no sit down to talk about their actions of today or the enthusiastic planning of what they would do for tomorrow. It was all about taking stock of the injured and finding out where those who've disappeared ended up. When they turned in for the night, it was disturbingly quiet.

It's happened before. There was always moments when their endeavors appeared as if they were fruitless the longer they went on with little change in the grand scheme of things. They eventually moved on though, always with the thinking that their cause was worth something, that they've been making progress, that they've had to be doing something this whole time and the years couldn't have been wasted. It was just a matter of getting up and going on.

It was different this time. What happened was the apex of a string of setbacks. There had been members disappearing, faces that she remembered but haven't seen lately, and the turnout for their assemblies becoming less and less. What should've been a comeback had become another blow that still had them reeling.

She wanted to believe that this was just another bit of misfortune that they could get around it if they carried on. That's what she was trying to do right now for what else could she do? It's what she dedicated her life to and even with her young age she recognized the importance of it. If she just kept going…

Her ears flicked on top of her head, detecting a small gasp and the sound of someone moving off to the side ahead of her. Another pair of sneakers came into her view and she lifted her head enough to glance at who she was now passing.

It was a girl. Had to be her age and she had dark-colored hair like hers except it was shorter and what may be black was really a shade of navy blue that bordered on it. Her wide, surprised eyes made it easy to make out the aqua hue.

By no means were they the same, the girl's gaze frozen on what was on top of her head that made them so different.

She tried to muster up some of her fortitude but she didn't find the suitable amount in her this time. All she could do was turn away while those same ears went flat and continue walking.

She just needed to keep going. There was a street corner that she remembered them planning on gathering before the news came that led them to being at the shop instead. She was crossing through territory that was close to the shop but her destination was away from it. If she could get there and put everything that happened behind her then it might encourage her comrades to follow suit. Everything had to turn out alright eventually as long as they held firm.

Her ears sprung up to attention to better hear noise coming up from behind her. There was another pair of feet except this time they were running instead of stumbling. Curiosity had her looking over her shoulder.

The stone struck her right in the head.

She turned at the moment for it to strike right in the center. The sharp pain that accompanied such a blow had her crying out and staggering to the side where she hit and braced against a wall.

"She's one of them!"

The shout came with another stone, this one not as accurate but just as stingingly painful when it connected high on her back. She hadn't recovered yet but when a third hit her low she ran anyway.

There was more than one. The pain and building adrenaline that brought her out of her stupor made her aware of multiple pairs of feet that ran after her even if she couldn't distinguish the exact number. She didn't dare look back, not just because of not wanting to be distracted but her sight was already being obstructed. She felt it trickle down from that original blow at her forehead but it was too late to do anything when she registered the blood dripping into her eye.

The next rock whizzed over her head, the accuracy of her assailants suffering with the chase but it convinced her to lower her sign enough for the posterboard to cover the back of her skull. She was rewarded for her efforts when she heard the papery slap of a successful block.

She sloppily wiped at her eye, trying to clear the blood from it but only accomplishing in smearing it. It stung, and the tears that came from that and the stones had her praying that that was the reason why she couldn't see anyone else on the streets instead of them not being there at all for surely someone had to be witnessing what was going on.

If not this street then maybe the next one. She was turning just as pain blossomed at her leg from another hit. It forced her to stumble, an added debilitation she didn't need between her sight and the panic that had her focusing on running even if she couldn't keep track of where she was going.

Someone was there but they weren't there to assist her. She managed to make out the figure beyond her blurry vision right before there came the push that knocked her to the side. She wasn't driven into a wall but whether that was really a relief or not was debatable when she fell into the mouth of an alley, the shadows partially falling over her.

Her terror demanded that she get up and run. Letting go of her sign, she planted her hands onto the ground while she scrambled onto her knees. A foot driven between her shoulder blades smashed her back down.

"I got her!" it came directly above her.

Coughing due to the pressure that stayed on her back to pin her down, she nonetheless heard her pursuers using the opportunity to catch up. She clawed at the ground, her growing horror in response to her shrinking window of escape having her shout. "N-no! Let me go! Somebody help!"

The only ones who came were the ones who surrounded and grabbed hold of her. The foot removed itself from her back but only so that the hands that grabbed her arms could drag her deeper into the alley.

"HELP!"

She got a look at the outside. The walls of the alley restricted her vision but she could see some of the buildings across the street. Even this far and with the people crowding around her, she could make out silhouettes behind the windows. There were people there. They had to hear her, had to see what was going on.

But no one was coming to help her. The shadows took her in without any resistance from the outside.

Her night vision let her see what she already knew. The shouts had been high-pitched, the hands that grabbed her weren't big, and the figures weren't towering over her. When her sight adjusted, she was able to plainly see the truth for herself.

They were kids.  Some of them a couple years older perhaps but they were kids all the same. It was difficult to make out their exact features as the growing darkness and her eyesight's response was to make the color shaded and gray but visible. Visible enough to see the anger and disgust, all of it centered on her even as she struggled against the grip that had her.

There was a dissimilarity in the gathered faces and one that gave her a second of pause in what was becoming a futile fight. Instead of hate, there was a look of uncertainty and stilled movement that came from a girl who stood and watched.

It was the same girl who she passed less than a minute ago. She couldn't make it out but she knew with crystal-clear clarity that the hair was that dark blue coloring coupled with aqua eyes. It was that girl who remained off to the side, unsure of how to act.

Just when she thought she might find a point of sympathy, that same girl spat in her face.

The spittle that clung to her cheek served to cancel everything out. For one instant, despite the noise and pulls on her arm, despite the sights and sounds that she was cruelly gifted with, she perceived nothing but that mark of revulsion.

Everything came back into focus when someone grabbed a furry ear and tugged. Her head tilted with the motion while her lips opened to release the cry in response to the agony. The hand at her ear let go as if surprised.

"It's real!" came a voice, sounding amazed.

The hand came back and pulled harder and she screamed louder.

"What a freak!"

"Stop!" At least that was what she tried to demand. While her body heaved with sudden strength to try and break free due to the pain at her sensitive appendage, someone grabbed the scarf-like collar around her neck. The cloth pressed against her throat, choking off her pleas and screams. Without anything preventing it, the blood from her cut slid down to be mixed with the tears that fell from her eyes.

Her head that remained tilted and unmoving so as not to make things worse and her words being silenced were taken as a sign for her attackers to let up on their assaults but not their grasp. With one eye blind, she had to completely rely on the other. All four ears were unobstructed though to better hear the slander sent her way.

"This her?"

"Yeah it's her! She's always around!"

"I've seen her too!"

"Did anyone see her do it?"

"Who cares? She was there and she's always with them so she has to be involved!"

It took a couple more insults before she realized what was going on: they thought she set fire to that shop! What renewed strength that sought to empower her, however, was nowhere near enough as the hold they had tightened on her. This included the one at her collar that turned her denials into weak, incomprehensible croaks.

"She's trying to escape because she did it!" one of them accused in response to her struggles.

I didn't do it! She was only fighting because they were hurting her!

"So what do you want to do?"

She became aware of the shifting attention to one boy in particular. When she spotted him, there came an all-consuming sense of dread at the stare he gave her. Whereas the others had given her looks that were hot with emotion, he just gazed at her with cold disdain.

"I know what I want."

That cold delivery was followed by a spark that transformed into a flame that illuminated the interior of the alley. That flame hovered over the lighter that the boy held in his hand. Seeing it had her remembering the blaze that consumed the shop with fire that was larger and more violent than this miniscule sample.

And even if she couldn't guess his exact plan, the possibilities that cropped up were more than enough to terrify her.

The reactions of the spectators were the reverse.

"She burned your dad's shop so burn her!"

"Burn her ears! They're extras anyway!"

"She's just a filthy Grimmspawn!"

When he, and thus the lighter, came closer, she refused to accept whatever fate that followed him. With that same terror fueling her she fought with all she had. She tried to pull her arms free, tried to get back to her feet. She thrashed her head while she screamed for them to stop.

It didn't work. She managed to get up a meager inch before they overpowered her, forcing her back onto her knees. She got one arm free but when she tried to lash out with it it was immediately grabbed again. Someone kicked her in the side. Both of the ears on top of her head were taken and violently stretched to the extent that they may be ripped right off as her head was forcibly maneuvered to the side.

Her pleas and wails were silenced when her collar grew tight against her throat and cut off her breath entirely. Now she was just trying to breathe.

Her vision started to grow dark. Even her enhanced sight was giving way as the gray shading steadily turned black. Her body slackened but no one was giving her any mercy. Soon, all she could see was that flicker of light and the only thing she could hope for was that she wouldn't be conscious for what may happen next.

When she felt the flame touch her ear, her prayers were ignored as there was pain…

…and then they were answered when it was quickly taken away.

The next breath she took came in a rush as the pressure at her neck vanished. The healthy dose of oxygen chased away the growing darkness and she became aware of the commotion going on all around her. Her ears could still hear shouts but they were surprised and unintelligible.

There were two people in front of her, one on top of the other. The person on top was swinging his fists, hammering them down on the one beneath him. The lighter lay unlit and on the floor next to them.

One of the boys went to intervene. As if sensing his approach, the new arrival ceased his attack and launched from the ground. She barely had time to spot the short horns that protruded from his head before he tackled into his latest opponent.

Few others were willing to join the brawl. The humans who had stood so self-righteously scattered and she felt the various grips on her loosen or break away entirely.

There came a scream with the source originating from the boy who the horned faunus tackled into. He had a hand over his arm, a liquid staining the material around the area he clutched. No matter if everything was currently shaded in gray, she knew for certain that it was blood - not sweat - that was drenching his sleeve.

It was blood that was on one of the faunus's horns as he prepared to continue. Another human got in the way, rushing him, and the faunus had his back hitting and remaining flushed against the side of the alley. He had his hands around the wrists of his adversary, both of them locked in a power struggle.

She felt that last hold on her shoulders give way and out of the corner of her vision she noted how one of her previous assailants was preparing to join in.

What happened next was instinct, with little thought on the consequences. The only thing that dawned on her was that someone was rescuing her – one of her own. He was in trouble and about to be outnumbered, possibly overpowered. If she didn't do anything he may be brought to the same position that she had been in.

It must've been accidentally kicked over with her when she was taken or during this latest confusion with everyone scrambling around. Whatever the reason, her sign was within reach; that weathered handle pointed right at her. Waiting…

She took it, turned, and swung.

The crack resounded exceptionally loud in both pairs of ears. The shaft bent, splintered, and then broke entirely over the boy's stomach. He doubled over, unable to voice anything except for a wheeze that announced his fall before he collapsed.

Breathing heavily, she tightly gripped the wooden shaft of her sign that now sported a jagged end, the missing piece lying on the other side of her fallen attacker. She was standing now, her pulse pounding between dual sets of appendages. There was a prickling sensation at her palm where she gripped her symbol of peace-turned weapon, splinters piercing her skin.

He was facedown, motionless, but the tension didn't leave her limbs. When he did move, she held her breath, fingers fastening over wood in preparation for a renewed attack.

"Mom…"

The handle fell from limp fingers, lungs and breath freezing upon catching that whimper. The tears and blood that she ignored she could now taste on her lips; salt and copper mixing together and doing little to halt the nauseous churning of her stomach. She pressed her forearm against her face, trying to wipe it all away.

She didn't mean it. She didn't mean to do this. Why didn't they just stop? They knew they were hurting her but they just wouldn't stop.

Everything had gone quiet. When she eventually took a glimpse around once she could see without impairment it was to find that they were alone now. Just her, the human at her feet, and…

The horned faunus stepped over but he didn't concern himself with her. His head was bowed, attention on the twitching and whimpering boy. Without so much as a warning he kicked him, the whimpering turning into a screech.

He drew his foot back for another.

"STOP!"

He obeyed, jerking to a halt at the cry that she strangled out before looking up at her.

The horns gave it away and, this close, she could make out the slight differences in the shading of his hair to know that they were of two diverse colors: red and brown. He had one of those faces that she knew of but hadn't seen in a while.

"Adam?" she asked.

He didn't reply, instead looking over her shoulder. She heard it too; whereas her lamentations had been ignored by the outside, what had to be the cries of the runaway children were stirring up some kind of clamoring that was drawing closer.

"We have to go," he advised, already heading deeper into the alley.

She hesitated, her first impulse being to glance down at the body at her feet. Even after what had just occurred, about what had been about to be done to her, there came this worry of if he was okay…this regret over what she did.

"Blake!"

Adam was waving for her to follow him. Getting past her misgivings with the knowledge that his own kind was going to be here and help him soon, she stepped over the boy and ran deeper into the shadows.

---

=Present=

When she woke up, Ruby wanted to believe that what happened over the past twenty-four hours was nothing but a product of the dreams she was now leaving behind upon awakening. With the sun's rays beaming over her face, the young leader uncurled from her usual sleeping position to better sit up and stretch her arms over her head, releasing a yawn as she did so.

When she looked down, everything came back in a rush and all she could do was groan in disappointment at the empty bunk underneath Yang's.

It was the same as it was the morning after Blake ran away. Yang didn't return to the dorm until much later and by then Ruby decided on a vain attempt to go to sleep in a timely matter. At that hour there was very little else for her to do as Weiss made it painfully clear that she didn't want to speak to her anymore and had also retired to bed.

It was that argument and her concern for her two other subordinates that left Ruby awake and anxious, wondering how everything had gone so badly so fast. They were having fun. Everything was going fine until they stumbled upon the crime scene. No matter how many times Ruby went over it in her head, she couldn't understand how things had gone so wrong even though she could trace the path of how they moved from the robbery to the White Fang, the monkey faunus, Penny, and then back to the faunus and the White Fang which ended with Blake running away upon unveiling her membership and Weiss screaming. All of that in just one Friday afternoon.

With sleep evading her, Ruby was awake when their door opened and Yang returned, alone. They only spoke for a little while, enough for Ruby to be told that her sister couldn't find Blake and her suspicions that she may've left the campus and went to the city. They didn't talk about anything else, the shock and uncertainty of how to respond to what happened making them want to do nothing more than spend a period of restlessness on their beds before they eventually passed out.

They each gave off an impression that they still didn't know what to do with the arrival of Saturday morning. Blake hadn't come back and Ruby had to agree with Yang that it was unlikely that she was still at Beacon.

They did come up with a plan of action though: find Blake.

Well, it was Yang who firmly laid it out and Ruby who concurred. It was really all they could do. Despite what she may've said, there was nothing for them to really go on concerning their missing teammate…such as if she was even with the White Fang anymore. One sentence, as devastating as it may be, didn't say a lot.

Ruby's heard of the White Fang before. They weren't very big in Vale but between what Weiss had said and the occasional story whether delivered by VNN or someone else, she knew that they were a group of faunus who targeted humans. Kidnapping, theft, murder, sabotage; the whole list of tactics that were meant to cause damage and inspire fear. In short, a group of very bad people.

That can't be Blake though.

It was that thought that Ruby stubbornly held onto. No way could Blake have done any of those things. Not that girl who helped her out on her first day at Beacon, who had become and acted as her teammate for these past months that they've been together. Ruby refused to believe it.

Every time she thought that though, she would remember Weiss standing over her, screaming, "What do you think she's done!?"

She had no idea and right now it didn't matter to her. Blake was her friend and teammate and she was missing. All that Ruby wanted to do was find her.

She hadn't been searching for her though, the efforts mostly being conducted by Yang. The brawler had taken the first airship out to Vale and spent the entire day there in an attempt to find her partner. The task was easier said than done, the kingdom taking up miles and miles of Vytal's surface and one person wasn't going to be able to cover all of it by herself. Once again it was late in the evening when Yang came back, defeated, and she didn't even bother to change out of her clothes as she flopped onto her bunk.

For once it was her older sister who was in trouble and Ruby knew that she had to help her. Two people would still be nowhere near enough but that was still one more person looking. It'd be much better if it was three.

Yang's bed was empty, its occupant probably already up and doing what she could to pass the time until the first airship for Sunday morning was ready to depart. Ruby went to the edge of her own to better peer down below. Weiss's bunk was just as deserted.

The reason that Ruby hadn't joined Yang yesterday was because of the snow-haired heiress. Considering her own hatred for the White Fang and how Blake had said she was one of them, Ruby's fear had been that Weiss would tell Ozpin or some other professor about it. Yesterday had been all about searching and confronting Weiss about it, the fencer having left her bed and saw fit to just wander around Beacon's campus for whatever reason; whether to study or to be anywhere that wasn't their dorm room.

Ruby tried to contact her on her scroll but she didn't answer any of her calls or messages, worrying the younger girl and forcing her to look for her on foot. She won't lie: she had been nervous about confronting Weiss. Her partner would get angry but never had she been as livid as she was that night.

The worst part had to be that Ruby wasn't sure how best to arbitrate when it came to Weiss. What little that Ruby did know about the White Fang was nothing compared to what her partner experienced at their hands and she felt trying to talk to Weiss about anything related to it would leave her enraged. When she approached Weiss, she focused on getting her to keep Blake's secret a secret.

"Why would I want to cover for a criminal?" Weiss asked coolly.

She wasn't yelling but it was doing little to assuage Ruby and her partner's use of the word 'criminal' had her taking a quick look around. They were in the courtyard – Ruby had caught Weiss traveling through it – but it wasn't as crowded as it would usually be on a school day. Still, she wanted to be sure there were no eavesdroppers around.

Remembering how Weiss reacted the last time she tried to convince her that Blake wasn't a criminal, Ruby instead chose to go with, "I want to give her a chance to explain."

Weiss arched her brow as if to better demonstrate the scar at her eye as it stretched with the movement. "Explain about what? That she's White Fang? About what she's done? Maybe explain how she's really been spying on us the entire time?"

As much as she wanted to believe Blake's innocence, the last had Ruby's heart dropping at the mere thought. She shored up her determination, willingly meeting Weiss's gaze as she said, "Whatever she's done, I want her to explain it to us. She was assigned to us as our teammate and she owes us an explanation just as it is my responsibility as her leader to listen."

"That's even if she wants to talk. I think she made it quite obvious that she doesn't want to talk to any of us."

That Ruby couldn't argue with. Running away in the middle of the night and not so much as contacting them nonetheless returning to them was a pretty good indication that Blake didn't want to see them. At least not right now.

"It doesn't matter if she wants to talk to us or not," Ruby insisted. "We have a right to know and I want to know what her explanation is."

Weiss's brow rose an additional fraction and Ruby wanted to think that her partner was somewhat impressed with her resolve in the hopes that it would give her some leniency. "And how long do you plan on searching for her? Saturday's nearly up and it's going to be impossible to keep her absence hidden from the school once the weekend ends."

That much was true and Ruby was ashamed of herself for not being out there looking for Blake now as they would only have all of Sunday to search for her before Monday came around. They might be able to get away with explaining that Blake was ill or some other excuse but her absence was going to be noticed eventually the further they got into the new week, especially if they decided to skip classes in order to continue looking for her.

"Then it's the weekend that we're going to spend searching for her," Ruby replied, coming to a decision. "Monday too since we'll be able to excuse her easily enough. You won't need to cover for her because nobody will be asking. After that though…" She trailed off, knowing what she was about to say but not wanting to say it.

Weiss dipped her chin as a silent acknowledgement to the unspoken alternative, sparing her partner. "Then that's your limit."

She didn't wait for Ruby's response whether it be her thanks or her own agreement to the arrangement. Without wasting a beat she was already walking away, leaving behind Ruby who could only watch her retreating back.

Ruby opened the closet, sweeping her gaze over the hanging uniforms and combat outfits that belonged to her teammates. All four of their brown uniforms were there but it was Ruby's combat attire that was all by itself. She took the cloak for now but didn't pin it to her shoulders – not that her pajama top really had any -, instead throwing the hood over her head while her hands pulled the cape around her.

She wanted to be a Huntress, more than anything in the world. She would've been happy with just that but she's become the leader of her own team and has been so for a while now. Things have gone exceptionally well since then as she's blessed with the inclusion of her sister and two other girls who've come from different walks of life but were willing to follow her command.

And it was her team that was being torn apart. Blake was missing, Weiss was angry, and Yang was growing more and more distressed the longer she couldn't find Blake. If they didn't locate their runaway teammate within the allotted amount of time, who knew what would happen afterwards.

She wasn't going to let her think about that though. As tempting as it was to just pull her cloak tighter around her, to shut out her problems and hope that everything will magically fix itself when Yang found Blake, she knew that wasn't going to happen. She was a leader now and as a leader she had to be the one to not only fix problems but bring her team together in order to get over this latest test that was brought before them.

It was no longer a time for Ruby to prove that she was a Huntress but to prove that RWBY had what it takes to become Huntresses together.

When Ruby pulled her outfit of red and black out from the closet, it was with the resolve that, like it or not, Weiss was one of them and she was going to do her part as her leader's best teammate just like she promised.

---

She lost Blake.

It kept intruding Yang's consciousness whenever she wasn't actively looking for her partner or focusing on how she was going to do so. It haunted her the night when she vanished, tormenting her with the elusiveness of sleep. During her ride to Vale the day after, it kept going at her relentlessly, ceasing only when she acquired Bumblebee and rode through the commercial district of Vale.

Trying to cut down on the area she had to cover didn't make her task any less challenging and even then she couldn't be entirely sure if Blake hadn't gone elsewhere despite the commercial district being the logical choice for lodging and anything else that she may need to replace what she left behind at Beacon. It was with that in mind that she sped through the streets of Vale, hoping to catch sight of hair, ribbon, bow, or coattail that belonged to her partner.

Yang had to constantly beat back the question of if Blake was even on the same continent anymore when each turn of her head came up with nothing. That didn't stop her from making a couple passes near the docks.

When the night arrived, Yang devoted the extra hour before all airship traffic was closed for one last sweep that included a few side streets she memorized and would provide discreet roads of travel for those who knew of them with the cover of darkness. Ultimately, she had to turn in. She may be willing to go all night but as desperate as she was, she recognized the recklessness that would come with no sleep and a high-speed motorcycle.

She had also come back with the thought that if she opened the door to their room, it would be like last time and Blake would happen to be in her bunk. It didn't happen and when Yang dropped onto her own for another night of restlessness it was the perfect opportunity for those two words to resume their torture: lost Blake.

This morning, Yang traded one method of suffering for another. Instead of a cruel reminder of her fruitless searches, she chose a regret that may've been able to prevent all of this.

I should've asked.

She thought she made the right choice when she chose not to ask. She convinced herself that it would've been easier for Blake, that whatever she was hiding wouldn't matter. But she hadn't expected anything like that.

Things certainly didn't seem right now. Blake was gone and Yang had no idea where she could've went. She's spent all day looking for her with no sign whatsoever. If she made a different choice, all of this may not have happened.

But she didn't ask.

If she asked, if Blake really was ready to tell her about her past, then things could've gone differently. During that instance it was just the two of them; alone, no one shouting, and the revelation could've been made calmly and slowly instead of being delivered in one bombshell.

And Blake would be around to explain herself.

The White Fang. Like back when she heard the name in Vale, Yang had some recollection of the group. Yet despite Weiss's claims and how most of what she heard about the Fang was linked to terror and violence, the brawler thought she heard something about them being peaceful.

If they were, it certainly wasn't the case now. When she wasn't looking for Blake, Yang had done some quick information gathering. Once she punched the White Fang into a database, a plethora of news articles and reports of the latest tragedies that they were responsible for sprung up.

For their activities in Vale, it was relatively minor. They were linked to some civil unrest that included a Faunus Civil Rights Protest that went violent with the introduction of a couple agents but a lot of the other crimes they could be linked to were – like the robbery of the Dust shops – speculation at best. There was a report of a Schnee train being hijacked – possibly the one Weiss mentioned before - but the crime didn't result in any deaths: a few missing cars with one full of Dust and the destruction of the security androids that were stationed but the human crew hadn't come to any harm. That was almost a year ago.

Other than that, the crimes were nothing like the ones that have been confirmed and the White Fang had taken credit for: the bombings, the shootings, the killings. They were mostly centralized in the kingdoms that were more industrialized than Vale and a major supplier of important resources such as Dust like Atlas.

Blake said she came from Atlas, Yang remembered. Was she really part of all of…that?

Blake wasn't around and that was what the brawler was really mad about. Other than being angry at herself for not asking, she was angry at Blake for not being here to make sense of any of this. Considering it was still going to be a while for the next airship to be ready, Yang decided to turn to someone who could possibly give her an explanation rather than a list of wrongdoings. Taking to the gym and relieving her frustrations on a punching bag or five might help but she needed something more productive and she didn't have the energy for it; she hadn't slept well last night or the night before.

It was why she was currently navigating to a certain lecture hall. With the onset of the weekend, classes were put on hold except for any extra-curricular courses or Sunday makeup classes for students with flagging grades. It left a good portion of the school buildings deserted so Yang was mildly surprised when she came across Velvet, the rabbit ears being the first thing that she caught.

They were higher than they used to be. Everything about the rabbit faunus was different from when Yang had met her and invited her to their table. When Velvet came into view, her chin was up and form straight; not low and bowed. There was even a slight smile on her face, her brown eyes bright but unfocused as if planning on what she was going to do today.

The sight was successful in cheering Yang up a little, finding the reversal of Velvet's attitude to how she was back then heartening. Other than not being able to stand seeing the girl cry, Yang had to admit that her big sister instincts may've compelled her to find and comfort Velvet, having entered the restroom and stood outside the stall that the faunus had locked herself in, offering what words she could to comfort her.

Although she did calm down, she still refused to leave the stall. That was when Yang took a more direct approach and kicked the door open. The action had startled the girl but Yang immediately took her into her arms, offering her warmth and soothing whispers to pacify her.

There were no tears in her eyes, that much Yang could see when those browns became fixed on her and Velvet's smile grew. "Hello, Yang!"

Yang returned the smile as they stopped and stood in front of each other. "Hey, Velvs. What are you doing here? I didn't think you were someone who needed to take makeup classes."

"Oh, no," Velvet replied. "I just wanted to use the opportunity to turn in my report early so that I won't have to worry about it and focus on enjoying my Sunday."

"Well good for you. Did you happen to notice if Oobleck was in now?"

Velvet's smile morphed into a quizzical frown, the tip of her left ear curving to display how she was thinking back to if she had done so. Fortunately, she ended up giving Yang a nod of confirmation. "Yes, he is. I believe I saw him preparing when I passed his class. Are you taking his Sunday course?"

"No, but I did want to ask him about something." Yang may not possess the most spectacular grades unlike some of her more intelligent teammates but she took pride in the fact that she was passing all of her courses. Sure, there were a couple late homework assignments and projects but, hey, she turned them in eventually.

"Well don't let me bother you," Velvet said, stepping around Yang as she excused herself. "I'll see you later!"

Instead of resuming her journey to her original destination, Yang rotated around to keep Velvet in sight, finding herself bothered with something. She was looking at the faunus's ears and how they gently bounced with each step she took. Yang chewed on her lip and then asked, "Hey, Velvet?"

She once again stopped and turned around. "Hm?"

"Cardin. He hasn't been bothering you lately, has he?"

How Velvet reacted to the name of her tormentor had Yang second-guessing about her decision to ask. Any happiness was erased from Velvet's features and her lengthy ears drooped much like they did back then. She recovered though, any lingering anxiety being suppressed as she replied, "No, he hasn't."

Cardin and his team hadn't been bothering any of them for a while. According to Ruby, Jaune had warned Cardin about messing with his friends and a headless Major was apparently enough incentive for the bigger leader to listen. Velvet was included in that circle of friends.

That wasn't why Yang was asking and she didn't like the idea of having Velvet thinking back to those times but the results of when she hadn't asked about Blake plaguing her conscious had Yang asking, "When he did…did you ever come to hate him? As in…did you ever wish to hit back at him or his teammates?"

Velvet lapsed into silence and Yang again regretted her decision as she lowered her head, ears flopping over completely. Just as she was about to tell Velvet to forget about it, the rabbit girl spoke up albeit quietly.

"It…hurt." A shudder coursed through one ear. "They said a lot of mean things to me, pulled on my ears a couple times, and they wouldn't stop no matter how much I wanted them to. I may've hated them for it and I've wanted to hit back."

Now it was Yang who was hanging her head, feeling terrible for Velvet and feeling her own dislike for that bunch that made up CRDL.

"But whenever I thought of hitting back, I decided not to. They weren't the first so I know there are more people like them who make fun of me because of what I am." Velvet lifted her chin, the ears which conveyed so much of her thoughts and feelings in a way that a human never could matching the movement. "I met a lot of good people, especially here. There was you, Jaune, your teams, and my team. I didn't like CRDL but that didn't mean I didn't like all humans. I wasn't going to hate everyone or let them push me into doing something I knew I would regret when there are a lot of good people out there who've become my friends."

"…Thank you, Velvet."

She looked at Yang questionably. "For what?"

"I just needed to hear that. Thank you."

Velvet frowned and she examined Yang up and down, perhaps only now noticing the wrinkles in her clothing and how her hair was somewhat disheveled with the few locks that stood out more haphazardly than usual. "…You're welcome."

Although Yang gave her a wave of farewell before she started moving again, there was a delay and then Velvet's heels were clicking away from the brawler. When she couldn't hear them anymore, Yang paused and brought her fingers to her face, coming away with a couple drops of moisture that she erased with the leather of her jacket.

Yang had been enlightened to Professor Bartholomew Oobleck and his tendencies before she was switched to his class during the latter half of the year but it took some getting used to, specifically keeping an eye on him when he would regularly dart around the classroom. If anything, it kept her interested in the class in a way that Port's self-centered tales – and occasional attempts at flirtation – couldn't accomplish.

Honestly, she tended to find him kind of funny with his hyperactiveness and downing of however many gallons of coffee that kept him going. Ruby had her share of sugar highs so she was used to it and Yang could say that she never felt compelled to do any kind of math before as she did in trying to calculate how many cups he must drink for the entire school day based on how many he went through in one period.

Apparently class didn't need to be in session for him to indulge in those impossibly large quantities of caffeine as he was already downing a cup when she entered his classroom. He was currently busying himself with that world map that he kept behind his desk and was putting a new collection of holes into. Notes that presented pictures and captions were being taken down and replaced with those piled on his desk and even the floor.

His quick motions disturbed the sheets, sending some into the air but they didn't even have a chance to descend to the floor before he snatched them and pressed them against the map. Pins stabbed through to hold them in place and then one end of a red string was wrapped around the pin itself while the other end connected it to another, crisscrossing it with the multiple others that were meant to direct students to whatever area on whatever continent that was the subject of Oobleck's Sunday lecture.

Sometimes it wasn't his desk or the map that had what he needed. There was a ladder leaning against one of the bookshelves and Yang was treated with a humorous sight of a green-white blur speeding up the ladder, claiming a paper from one of the stacks that were on top of the shelf itself, and then shooting back down. She hadn't been able to make out his face during that rapid clearing but he must've seen her at the door for he greeted her right after returning to his desk.

"Ah, Miss Xiao Long!" At the same time he was greeting her, he was flipping through a textbook that he laid out and was adding his own plastic slips to mark a section that would become relevant later. "An unexpected but not unpleasant surprise! I don't believe you particularly require any additional time within my class but if you desire to attend today's lesson then I have nothing against it, nothing against it at all! Quite the opposite in fact!"

"As nice as that sounds, I'm not here to attend," Yang explained.

"Unfortunate, yet here you are! An assignment you wish to turn in? I hope you are not asking for an extension as I believe I was most generous when it came to the paper you turned in last week considering the circumstances!"

The circumstances being Yang's locker and the punishment that was issued afterwards. She did ask for more time and Oobleck had been generous in granting her that. "No, not an assignment or extension for one either. You can say that I came here for a lesson."

"One that does not involve the Treaty of Cambiare?" Suspending his preparations for now, Oobleck spun to the map of Remnant, pointer in hand although Yang hadn't seen him pick it up. "I must stress the importance of such an arrangement that culminated in our exploration and establishment of overseas trade." He used his teaching utensil to circle a large body of the seas. "It ensured the survival and prosperity of our territories even to this day."

Give Oobleck the opportunity no matter what time of day and he'll talk endlessly about one subject and then move on to the next and several after, going through generations of history in an hour with numerous coffee sips. Knowing that the next airship was to be ready in less than that, Yang directed her professor to her most pressing matter. "I actually wanted to ask about the White Fang."

Still looking at the map, Oobleck gave a thoughtful hum which was interrupted by another downing of liquid caffeine. "Something more modern. While I do not object for it is the present that is a part of history we'll be shaping, I haven't planned on reaching it for a while longer."

Considering that there was no other good place to sit and thinking that Oobleck would appreciate it, Yang decided to take a seat at the front row of desks as if she was settling herself in for class. "My team and I were in Vale and we visited a crime scene; a Dust shop that had been broken into. The police there thought it might have been done by the White Fang."

How Oobleck practically vibrated his head was actually him nodding. "I see I see. Yes, I have heard about that. No absolute proof they say but it is a shame that the White Fang has fallen so far that they aren't above something such as that."

Fallen. As in they had once been of a higher position until now. "I heard they were peaceful once."

"A word that is unsuitable!" Oobleck claimed, opaque lenses fixed on Yang. "When the group was formed, they were the very symbol of peace and the unity that was needed between the faunus and we humans! Needed, but so very very wasted. Why, the numerous faunus groups that demand for equal rights today are the remnants of what White Fang used to stand for."

After what Yang had seen, the terrorist group once being the epitome of peace was hard to believe. Those articles that she looked up had not been restricted to words: there had been images that went with the descriptions of violence that put what she had seen at the Dust shop to shame. This included the faces of humans who were labeled as collateral damage or had been summarily executed by White Fang.

It was with the carnage and the hardships in mind that Yang asked, "So what happened to them?"

Oobleck didn't reply right away, instead taking another sip from his cup. Unlike the others, however, this one was unhurried. "You ask a question that is rooted to an answer that is so very simple, and yet, has become so very complicated."

"What would that be?" As soon as Yang asked it, she jerked back in her seat.

Oobleck cleared the space between his desk and Yang's in a split second, the professor now standing up and over his sitting and startled student. Steam curled over his coffee cup that had become as still as his gaze, those lenses and straight line of his lips making his expression unreadable. Finally he spoke, "I am normal and you are not."

For a moment all Yang could do was sit and stare up at her professor, confused. He didn't rush her though, the man showing a remarkable amount of patience and inaction that was reserved for when he waited for an answer from his charges. It wasn't an answer that Yang gave him though. "What do you mean?"

"I refer to our most instinctive and protective response that can lead us astray," Oobleck answered. "Throughout our existence we have survived by being fearful of our surroundings that hide numerous dangers. It makes us cautious and that caution keeps us alive. Unfortunately, it is in this instance concerning the faunus that our fear keeps us divided."

He stepped back. Rather, he glided back to give them some space. He tapped the top of his head with his pointer. "Why do they need these?" He lowered it to point at his ear. "If they have these? Why do they have a tail? What use do they have for it when humans have no use for it?"

With the separation, Yang straightened to return to a proper seating position while regarding her professor and his words. When he pointed to the top of his head, the brawler immediately thought of Velvet and the lengthy appendages at the top of her head. "Does that really matter?"

Oobleck tipped his head to Yang. "For you – and I am happy to hear it from you – it may not. However, it is these differences that we focus on instead of our similarities and it is by doing so that we link them to something we fear. We have always feared the darkness and the faunus can prowl through it effortlessly. For those few who are born with horns, it is a trait that we find exceedingly bizarre and what may come to our minds are the spikes that the Grimm grow on their bodies."

Comparing faunus to Grimm? Now it wasn't only Velvet that came to Yang but the other faunus students at Beacon, the monkey-tailed faunus from the docks…and Blake. It was thinking about her partner that the brawler felt this revulsion that influenced her to speak. "Ridiculous."

"A reaction that is not as common as you or I would like it to be, I'm afraid. It is those traits that are so alien to us that have us alienating them and remain ignorant of what makes us similar, including them having a soul. Since we are the majority, we consider ourselves to be normal while they are abnormal. We think less of them and fabricate reasons and stories to justify it. We judge them based on their existence; a wicked irony that is lost on us."

Oobleck sped away, returning behind his desk so that he could once again view the map. His pointer slid and tapped against the representation of Remnant, hitting spots that Yang recognized as being the locations of the four kingdoms. "They are living beings with as much of a claim to the world as us." The wooden tip slid down and spun in place around Menagerie, so far away from the human kingdoms. "Yet we reject them and attempt to isolate them, forcing them to take drastic measures."

"It's because of people like Cardin, people like you, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

Oobleck couldn't possibly know it but his words inspired the echo that chilled Yang.

"That's when things become complicated," Oobleck continued, pointer low and held off to his side. "It's no longer just a matter of who is normal and who isn't but who killed who and who did what. For the faunus, Fort Castle was the site of their greatest victory while the humans who participated remember it as a nightmare when their seemingly unstoppable force is taken apart by shadowy fiends with glowing eyes and features that make their silhouettes inhuman such as those ears, horns, and tails. While peace may finally be attained, it is not only our fear but the hatred that is born from it that carries over.

The White Fang was created and meant to maintain it but we continue to reject them. We oppress them because we have chosen to remain ignorant despite the cost and the cycle repeats itself. As living beings, the faunus are no more immune to fear than we are and it is a natural reaction to have in response to our scorn. We fear because we hate and we hate because we fear. It's as easily flipped as a coin. And so history repeats itself."

All her life, the only conflict that Yang and so many of her friends and comrades who were becoming Hunters were fixated on was the one with the Grimm. They were the darkness, Huntsmen and Huntresses were the light, and it was both human and faunus kind that they protected. It never dawned on her that even with a clear-cut enemy that was soulless, there was nonetheless strife that could be just as vicious between those with souls no matter how far they had come.

She had seen hints of it such as Velvet's bullying, Weiss's distrust of the faunus, and Blake's anger. She knew it to be wrong and had taken action against it but she hadn't thought it was that serious as the true heart of the war seemed so far away. She had thought history as just that: history. Even the reports she read about the White Fang seemed unreal when compared to the life she knew in Vale where she concerned herself with Ruby.

Blake had come from that life though. That war. When Yang asked her next question, it wasn't so much the White Fang she was referring to but that ninja bookworm who was her partner. "Why do they do all of that?"

"Because they believe it to be right," Oobleck replied without hesitation, as if predicting it. "And I'm sure it did seem right. As much as we would like to think otherwise, people can be willing to conduct the most heinous crimes as long as they believe it is right. This is not to say that there aren't any within the White Fang that do what they do because they enjoy it but their numbers are few and far between. Most of the faunus in the White Fang, I'm sure, have turned to such actions because they believe it is the only way.

After a few years, you have faunus who are convinced it is right and those who are convincing themselves that their actions are correct. They do not give themselves the chance to think otherwise for to accept that what they've done is wrong, that the lives they've taken and the damage they've inflicted was meaningless, then it'll destroy them. So they choose to remain ignorant and become more susceptible to performing greater atrocities that will inspire great fear and even greater hatred. Just as humans have demonized them, they do the same in return; becoming the very thing they despised."

Usually so energetic and enthusiastic, the older man had sounded pensive throughout the entire lesson and when he raised his cup to his lips, there was a sluggishness to it. "It's why I decided to teach what I teach, Miss Xiao Long. It is easier for us to sit back and point fingers at what those in the past should've done or said to appease our need to judge. History does not judge nor is it written by the victor for there are never any in wars that should've never occurred in the first place. It is a recording of events that we should learn from, to put ourselves in the place of those who have taken such a path so we can recognize and know not to travel it and to make sure we don't make it accessible for others to take even if it is their choice to do so. Professor Port will do well to teach you how to stop the creatures of Grimm, but I try and teach how to stop the monsters that we create."

Yang remained seated and silent, unable to say anything with the lessons that she now mulled over, wondering how Blake fit into all of it. Her hands were out on the desk, open and empty, and her pair of lilacs stared sightlessly at them.

She was thinking back to what she had seen inside Blake, of that center of trauma that radiated such pain and misery. The brawler originally believed that the injury had just come from a severed bond. The anguish and despair that tormented Blake had been brought on by someone who had been close to her and then removed from her.

But how much of that pain had already been there from the beginning? How much of that had she been forced to carry all of her life? Just because of how people treated her for what she was.

Oobleck was just as unmoving, seeming content to just stare at the wide expanse of Remnant. Yang wasn't keeping track but a good minute had to have passed before Oobleck spoke up again.

"It's been five years since the White Fang turned. It's really not that long ago but it is long enough for many to forget what they once stood for. They refuse to see it as the most tragic of transitions. Sadly, there are those who have not only remembered but understand what has happened in a way that no one can comprehend. There are those who left after the change and those who decided to stay. But then there are those in the middle; those who remained because they wanted to believe they were still doing good before they understood what happened."

If he heard it, he didn't react when Yang inhaled sharply. The hands that had been open and immobile slowly closed into fists that started shaking.

"Fighting was all that I became good at and I had done so for something that I had thought was…not as right but…necessary."

Unaware of how there was another voice that joined his own, Oobleck went on, "By the time they leave, it is with a contribution to the cycle of violence they've become aware of. When they try to find another way of living, they do so with the knowledge that they are no longer blameless; that they've had a hand in what is wrong in the world and what they've once tried to fix. It is with this burden that they try to move on."

"When I chose to come here instead it was because it was the only place I thought I'd fit in."

"It is natural to want to forget what they've done, to leave their shame in the abyss that they've pulled themselves out from in hopes that it'll never see the light of day."

"I'm sorry."

"Miserably, while hate runs deep, remorse runs deeper. It weighs the spirit down, always there to remind them of what they've done, haunting them with the possibilities of 'if only'. I have witnessed with my own eyes how it has ravaged those who have tried to progress into this era of peace that we have now; a blessing for us but, for them, a curse when their mistakes appear that much more appalling."

"It wasn't you, Yang. Not you."

"I doubt I'll see the day but I like to hope that there will be a time when peace really does come without strings attached and it is strong and lasting instead of this delicate thing that is already flawed and ready to split. And I would like to think that, to achieve it, we will finally let go of the old hatreds and overcome our fears, putting a stop to these costly repetitions. Alas, all we can really do is offer what we can and wish for the best."

Yang quietly stood up from where she was seated once Oobleck was finished and, just as soundlessly, went to exit the lecture hall. Her hands remained clenched, her teeth biting down on her lip, trying to hold herself together until she made it out. Behind her, Oobleck removed his glasses as if to better see what the papers and drawings really represented when it came to the world of Remnant and its denizens.

"Dreadful. Truly dreadful."

Yang had gotten through the doorway and turned into the hall when the words reached her ears. She stopped and lifted her hand back to her face.

"You don't understand."

It wasn't one or two that fell this time. She could feel the tears being absorbed into her glove, soaking the material. Blake, I wish you told me.

Because only now did Yang understand the extent of her partner's suffering…and it may have arrived too late to save her.

---

The dummies were the latest that Beacon had purchased and offered to their students to train with. Weiss, naturally, had been able to obtain one months before they were released for public use.

When she first started out with the art of the rapier and began training with Myrtenaster, Weiss had practiced her drills and sequences against targets of thick cut vinyl and synthetic fills. They were human-shaped but lacked arms and legs, designed more to appear like the rounded head and torso that the fencer would be striking at when her thin blade slipped through her opponent's defenses. There were multiple bull's eyes painted on them, each positioned on the most vulnerable points of the body and it was those points that were reinforced to better handle being struck by Myrtenaster.

Weiss always went through over a dozen easy in short order when her growing power and speed would tear them apart no matter what they were made out of. As accomplished as she felt when she ordered a servant to replace a shredded dummy, she eventually wanted something that could last longer.

The latest - and expensive - models were formed with a gel layer that possessed molecular sensors. The gel, obviously, was meant to imitate the flesh of a live target and let students experience and see what it was like when they punched, cut, stabbed, bashed, or shot a target. The sensors would then detect and repair that damage, the gel regenerating and sealing the 'wounds'. It gave trainees something realistic to land their hits on and continue to hit. Unless there were explosives or some really heavy weaponry involved, the target can be relied on to get right back up.

Right now though, that durability was making Weiss try her damndest to make it go down and stay down.

It started with her usual opening drills, the tip of her rapier stabbing in and sliding out effortlessly with the miniscule but fatal cut sealing itself soon afterwards. Moving on to her memorized sequences, the heiress felt this growing sense of resentment when each completed sequence ended with a still-standing and fully-regenerated target. That resentment coincided with stabs and slashes that were not as clean with Weiss leaving behind ragged rips and tears that flung gel fragments to the side. No matter how messy or vast the wounds were, they closed up without pause.

The choice to devote a number of enclosed rooms for these specially-designed targets became a wise one. Considering the power that students can exert, the room let them toss and hurl the gel dummy around without the risk of hurting others. So Weiss was able to go all out.

Myrtenaster stabbed nearly to the hilt within the center of the chest and then Weiss was flipping over the dummy, ripping out her rapier to leave a gaping wound. Her boots barely touched the floor before she was speeding forward. The next stab was quicker to better shift into a flurry of slashes that lashed repeatedly across the back.

When she spun back around to the front, it was to see the last signs of her initial stab and messy removal disappearing as if to mock her petty attempts. She spun on her foot as if a ballerina, weapon extended and lacerating the fleshy surface that ended with a crouch to commit the muscles of arms and legs to an upward strike that tore through a portion of the head.

She eventually turned to her Dust, her glyph appearing beneath her feet as she drew on the power and sent it flowing through her limbs. She felt the lightness at her feet immediately, the friction between the soles of her boots and the floor vanishing as if she had just stepped on a sheet of ice. She practically sailed across the floor, whatever miniscule impediment the air and gravity offered similarly negated as her arm and blade hacked away, the only delay between strikes being the brief resistance of the gel before it split apart and then they were coming back around for another helping.

The only pressure she felt was the zeal that further enhanced her strikes.

It was getting slower now. The number of attacks and the speed that they were delivered with was creating a notable pause in the regeneration process as the sensors attempted to register and respond to the onslaught only to be encumbered when it had to process another slew of cuts.

But Weiss was going to show no mercy. She swung Myrtenaster over her head and blue, vaporous energies trailed from the blade before separating and then forming into miniature representations of her crest that shot towards her target. They did not bind and shackle the dummy though, instead blasting through and splattering the wall with gelatin gore. Already nearly torn to ribbons, the added holes had it sagging as if declaring defeat.

No mercy. Myrtenaster reacted to its mistress's passion by providing a visible, crimson manifestation of Nature's Wrath that consumed the steel. Her arm pulling back and tensing as if it, too, was gathering energy waiting to be unleashed, Weiss let it all go when she performed one last charge.

The power in her arm sent the rapier forward while the weapon itself launched the mutilated gel blob back to the far side of the room with an explosion of Dust-infused energy, ending with a sickening thwack when it impacted against the wall. It fell to the floor where it lay there, twitching, as the extensive damage had the sensors lagging and, in turn, the regeneration faltering.

The sense of fulfillment that Weiss experienced at seeing the carnage had the fencer finally relaxing, her blade lowering and pointing down while she allowed the breath she released to turn into an exhausted puff. Liberated from the single-minded determination to put the dummy in its place, she took note of the sweat that had broken out and coated her form and the danger of how her legs were beginning to feel like that jelly substance. Just as she refused to show her lifeless opponent mercy, she refused to let herself give in to this weakness as she turned on her heel and made for the door, returning her rapier to its spot at her belt.

Her decision to come to one of the gyms had been born out of a need to release this pent-up frustration that gathered within the past day. She tried to pass her weekend with some studying but found her mind wandering, unable to concentrate. She had thought that expelling herself from her dorm room would be enough and do something that didn't involve her teammates but it was inadequate. It led to aggravating walks along the campus and even then it did little to relieve the bitterness that she was feeling with…everything.

The source was unmistakably due to a certain confession that a certain so-called teammate revealed to the group.

Months, the heiress thought acidly and despite her tiring session, her arm still found the strength to slam the door behind her. Months!

It wasn't the revelation itself she had been furious with but the fact that she had been none the wiser that, this whole time, a member of the White Fang had been under the same roof as her ever since her first day at Beacon. She should've seen it coming. How many times had she prepared for such a contingency, of the possibility that now that she was out of her family's estate that the White Fang would come for her?

The answer: the same day she decided to attend Beacon. Yet on day one a member had managed to slip through just like that. Nevermind the circumstances or how much of a chance it was, it still happened and Weiss had been blind to it.

Hours of teeth-grinding deliberation eventually gave way to a question that led her to a priceless epiphany. The question being how did it happen?

The answer for that one came from the stares of early-risers looking for a workout who turned to look at the fuming heiress. An ice cold glare got them to return to what they were doing.

That was how it happened.

When all this started, Weiss had a plan and it involved uncompromising supremacy over her grades, over her team, over her performance, everything. By possessing meticulous control and discipline over herself and those around her, she would've been able to exert complete dominion that should've been impervious to surprises such as that one.

As it was the first day that planted a criminal in her midst, it was the first day where everything had gone horribly wrong.

She became negligent. The freedom that she expected Beacon to give her to work had instead deluded her. Its lenience had caused her to be lenient and before she knew it she was making compromise after compromise. In the early instances, she convinced herself that they had been necessary: that she wasn't leader, that Ruby had been picked, that she couldn't do anything about it so she resigned herself to live with it and she'll carry both of their weight.

It had been acceptable…or at least that was what she fooled herself into thinking. What she inadvertently created was a vulnerability. By giving Ruby a foothold, that red-cloaked child used it to destabilize the heiress. Helping her leader with her studies led Weiss to being taken away from them when Ruby had done some preparations of her own to lower her guard.

She managed to sneak through by banking on Weiss's singing which had the heiress confiding something that should've been none of her business. She had reawakened something that was better off abandoned and manipulated Weiss into actually re-experiencing a past time that was in the past for a reason.

The heiress had gotten distracted. She even voiced the word yet she didn't realize the debacle that was sure to follow it. As improbable as it sounded, she said she wouldn't mind being distracted again.

That wasn't the worst part though. The worst part came afterwards: after the socializing, the city trips, the gifts, all those things that she did that was considered as fun.

Those things she enjoyed.

The lenience had transformed into complacency. She noticed it. Over the months she just awoke one day completely at ease. She…liked it here. She actually began to believe that Beacon was a nice place as more than just a place of freedom. Ruby – who she had viewed as an unworthy child, then an acceptable partner, then tolerable leader – had become a trusted friend. All of her teammates had become dependable companions. She even began interacting with those outside of their lineup including a faunus who Weiss may not have disliked but would've preferred her to have more strength of character.

She had been duped and it was Blake who showed her how badly.

So what do we do now, Weiss? she asked herself. It wasn't the first time she thought about it and she counted on this session to clear her head to better figure it out. She entered the locker room, intending to use the public shower before changing into the spare combat skirt that she kept stored for instances like this in the gym lockers that weren't equipped with a rocket.

She was still pondering over the question and was in the middle of punching in her personalized code for her rented locker when the door flew open and a very familiar, very aggravating voice called out to her. "Weiss!"

There came a buzz from her locker, the holographic keypad flashing red to tell Weiss she put in an incorrect code due to a slip of her fingers. She used the flare of irritation to give the red-black figure a look that transmitted it. "What is it, Ruby?"

Ruby stood in front of the door although at a distance that wouldn't have it hitting her back if someone decided to come in. If she was unnerved by the look Weiss gave her, she didn't show it, actually sporting a frown. "I've been looking for you and someone said you were here. You weren't answering your scroll."

Weiss chose not to react to the disapproval, choosing to nonchalantly turn away from Ruby so she could concentrate on inputting the correct code for her locker. "No, I wasn't. If you recall, I wasn't answering it yesterday either so I don't know why you thought that would change."

Ruby tracked her down yesterday too with a request that she had to prevent herself from scoffing at. Her leader wanted to keep Blake's affiliation a secret and came to Weiss with the request that she say nothing to their professors until they either found her or people began asking about her. The request wasn't needed since if Weiss wanted to report her she would've done it the night she vanished.

She had her own reasons for not disclosing the information and one of them was to not make it public knowledge that this whole time the heiress to Schnee Dust had a White Fang member within striking distance. She wasn't going to outright say it though, having wanted to make Ruby squirm with the implied possibility.

"I need you for something," Ruby informed, similarly deciding on not responding to Weiss's rudeness.

Weiss managed to punch in the right code and there came a click followed by the door opening an inch so that she could slip her fingers through and open it the rest of the way. "And what would that be?"

"We're going to look for Blake."

She had to admit, she wasn't expecting that and the locker door froze where it was while Weiss gave a bewildered glance. "You're joking, right? I said I wouldn't report her but I'm not going to waste my time searching for her."

"She's our teammate, Weiss."

There came a slight clenching of her jaw that Weiss tried to hide by holding the door between her and Ruby while she pretended to scan the contents of her locker when the towel and her clothes were right in front of her. Teammate? It seemed she was the only one with the sense to realize that that wasn't what Blake was anymore. "A teammate who ran away from her team. I don't see why I have to waste my time running around Vale calling her name when it's quite clear she doesn't want to be found."

"That's not her decision to make." There was a surprising amount of sternness in Ruby's voice, even more so than when she said something similar yesterday. "She owes us an explanation. And since you're my best teammate, I want you to help us find her."

Cute, Weiss thought, unhappy with being reminded of one of her other mistakes. It was doing little to convince her.

"It'll be easier if there's three of us looking for her and if we ask around I'm sure we'll be able to find her."

Weiss doubted that very much, especially if you factor in the possibility that Blake wasn't even in Vale anymore. Someone who's been ousted as part of a terrorist organization wouldn't have any reason to stick around. Unless she does have one…

The fencer derailed that train of thought for now. "Vale is hundreds of square miles with millions of people. I doubt the three of us are likely to find her even if we are Huntresses. Besides, that girl was always good at hiding so I don't see why-"

Even though she heard Ruby coming, she didn't expect her partner to take hold of her locker door and remove it from between them with force. Even with the deed, Ruby did not use all of her strength to take away the barrier, using just enough that had it slipping from Weiss's fingers and hitting the locker next to it. The irritation became something greater and Weiss spun to glare at Ruby.

Probably because she expected the reaction, Ruby remained steadfast with her own eyes narrowed. With an authoritative tone, she said, "We're going to look for Blake."

Weiss leaned her head closer so that their foreheads were nearly touching, thinking that that would be enough to intimidate the fifteen-year-old. To her hidden shock, Ruby refused to budge an inch but that wasn't going to deter her. "You're looking for Blake. I'm not."

They found themselves competing in a staring contest, neither girl so much as blinking as they tried to stare the other one down. If anyone happened to walk in, it wouldn't matter; the two partners totally engaged in a battle of wills.

Ruby blinked first but before Weiss could feel some sense of victory in it she asked, "Do I have to make that an order?"

That not only got Weiss to blink but give Ruby ground as her head jerked back.

During the whole time they've been partners and Ruby leader, Weiss was never ordered to do anything. Ruby would issue sensible directions and the heiress would follow them but not once had her cloaked partner ever demanded her to do something that she voiced her honest objections about.

That wasn't going to change anything though if Weiss didn't want to do it. Reinitiating her glare, she was sorely tempted to call Ruby's bluff.

…It had to be a bluff. Ruby was being particularly assertive in this instance and there was an adamancy in those silvers that was a far cry from the nervous wavering and was reserved for notably fierce prey. It was the same look that Weiss had seen when Ruby was about to be launched headfirst into a Nevermore.

In the end Weiss relented, convincing herself that it wasn't Ruby but the thought that she wasn't going to let Team RWBY be immersed in further discord. Not on account of Blake Belladonna. She still had some use for it. "Fine. We'll do it your way."

Ruby relaxed as soon as she said it, reverting back to that fifteen-year-old who was happy to have her partner with her as she smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Weiss."

Her thanks were unnecessary. After all, Weiss would be lying if she said she wasn't interested to hear what their so-called teammate had to say for herself.

---

It was the same.

When Blake awoke, it was to see herself in the same situation that she ended up not even a year ago: alone, without a home. A stray once more.

There was no underside of another bunk to greet her when she opened her eyes; just a bare ceiling of the one bedroom hotel room. When she rolled her head to the right, there were none across from her either; just a wall complete with windows fully-curtained to block out the light of the day and leave her in shadows. Right where she belonged.

It was within those shadows that she got up even if she didn't have a reason to. Slowly bringing her legs around to let them hang over the edge of her bed, Blake planted her hands into the mattress at either side of her in order to sit up but not necessarily straight as she slouched.

It let her see her state. She saw the wrinkles of her shorts and how the ribbons hung loose from around her arms, threatening to fall off. The single button of her vest had come undone, leaving it hanging from the straps around her shoulders while the rumpled shirt beneath was exposed. She hadn't even bothered to strip out of her clothes when she slept, adrift in this apathy that influenced her in collapsing onto the bed and wait until she nodded off even if it took a while to do so.

Gambol Shroud imitated its wielder, its position on the floor near the wall alluding to the lackluster manner that it had been dropped and expected to prop itself against the wall only to slide and fall where it remained, unmoving, with ribbon curled listlessly around it. Like its owner, it had seldom moved from where it lay.

It wasn't silent. Being a city, there was always some noise and Blake could hear the cacophony of morning foot and vehicular traffic that heralded another day in Vale.

That might as well be another dimension that the walls disconnected Blake from as she concerned herself with what wasn't within this small space. No chirpy morning greetings or annoyed responses to it, verbal claims for the shower, hasty packing of bags and desperate searches for assignments, nothing.

…You should've expected this.

Blake brushed and tugged at her shirt, trying to remove what wrinkles she could although even that minor task was performed languidly. When she pulled her vest together to button it, the clothing slipped through weak fingers while the button itself refused to fasten.

…You did expect this.

Finally she closed her vest but another undertaking did not come to occupy her, leaving her vulnerable to the chastising that came because of how she ignored her own warnings.

This happened before. She had been forced to leave. She had abandoned a cause even if it was all that her life was about. In order to save herself, she fled. She had some place to go, at least had an idea of where she could seek shelter while she pondered how she could begin a new life that would be suitable to her skills.

She had been prepared.

So why aren't you prepared this time?

Because this wasn't the same.

When she left the White Fang, it was because she knew it was no longer something she could support anymore. It had become an abomination of what it once stood for; of how, by embracing violence, they gave in to their human adversaries. Even if they were still fighting, they already lost.

She lost too but it was only now that she realized how badly.

She thought her pain gave her experience. By seeing what lurked within the shadows of the heart and soul, by crossing both ends of the spectrum, she thought she had seen the truth of the world. It was cold, dark, and ruthless. As much as man would like to believe that they brought civility, they sought to conquer another species that wasn't like them. What was believed past remained stable in the present.

She thought the world to be cruel. She was not wholly right nor wrong.

When she began at Beacon, it was with suspicion. Taking her lessons to heart, she entered its halls and blended within its population with skepticism. Her attendance and eventual graduation was all that she wanted to give her purpose; to repent and to do good again.

But she always kept in mind of how things could go wrong. She remembered how others had not only harmed her but corrupted everything she once held dear. If she ever revealed her true self, everyone would shun her just as they had before. Because of how she wasn't like them, they would renounce her.

In that regard, she was right. But how she was right in that it would be the fault of the other party was the misconception.

Slowly, painfully slowly, the question morphed from how she would end up leaving to how she could stay. With it was no longer the belief that she would be abandoned by others but how they may accept her. Instead of planning for a retreat, she tried to figure out how to better reside in this contradiction of her past life.

Like the light she represented, it was Yang who revealed how beautiful this existence could be. It was Yang who made her smile and laugh. It was Yang who Blake thought could become her salvation.

It was Yang who made her realize that she was damned.

When she tried to bond with her, Blake thought that she would finally be allowed to accept this life. Yang would be her anchor that would allow her to remain here. To truly call this place home.

She felt that in her Aura. When she became immersed in it, Blake saw nothing but warmth and open reception that readily took her in. It was the purest thing she ever experienced. She was lost in it, only being brought back to reality by Yang's words that unveiled how different they were. Light and darkness: contrasting realities that could only clash, not unite.

Yang was pure, Blake was impure. It was her imperfection and her terror of Yang seeing her for what she truly was that had Blake shutting her out. When Yang pushed, she pushed back. And when Blake looked down at herself and saw the reminders of what doomed her from the start, one thing became abundantly clear: she didn't belong.

She was relieved when Yang chose not to pursue as she didn't think she could give her what she wanted with words alone. To do that would be inadequate; leaving so much of what she wanted to say, what she had truly believed even if what she believed in were lies, and Yang wouldn't understand.

She couldn't. That look on her face…

No, Yang hadn't expected that at all. When Blake chose silence, it was because she thought it was better that way. It might have been due to her doubt but there was that hope that was reawakened in the presence of her partner that had her thinking that maybe, just maybe, she really could leave behind what she was a part of and replace it with what she found at Beacon.

You got careless.

Blake lazily got to her feet and was rewarded with a faltering step as she crossed the expanse of the bedroom and went to the open door of the bathroom. By moving further away from what miniscule illumination the outside provided behind the curtains, her surroundings grew darker. She didn't flick the light switch of the bathroom, letting her night vision combat the gloom of the darkness with shades of gray.

It was cramped in comparison to the one in her former team's dorm room, possessing the bare essentials that were needed. Stopping at the sink, Blake gazed at her reflection.

She didn't need color to see how her usual wavy hair had become disheveled and listless. That wasn't what concerned her though. Instead, it was the two inhuman appendages that stuck out from the top that were the center of the issue that plagued her existence.

Good and evil. Dark and light. Everyone wanted such clear designations and didn't know how to handle the anomaly that existed in the middle. This included another division: man and beast. When she paused in her flight through Beacon's courtyard, she had viewed the example that was the statue of the man and woman that were high above the beast beneath them.

Where did the faunus fit? A race that appeared almost completely human except for that one extra addition to their person that made them different; that made man reject them even if the beasts made no distinction and would devour them equally. Blake spent twelve years trying to show that her people were human as much as anyone else.

For the four after that, she tried forcing humans to recognize the faunus as being the same as them. In doing so, however, had she done the reverse? And had she paid for it? By giving in to brutality, had she only proven that faunus were as savage as any beast?

That was when it no longer became an issue of where the faunus belonged but where did Blake Belladonna belong? Was she as human as she wanted to be or was she a beast? What became of an outcast who gave up one and fled from the other?

When she quarreled with Weiss, it wasn't the solely the White Fang she had been trying to defend. It wasn't about Velvet, or the monkey faunus, or the faunus in general. It was Blake. Just Blake. How could one as misguided as herself ever belong anywhere?

She thought she found someplace. She thought she found someone who could lead her back when another had led her so far astray. They were both wonderful, they were what she wanted, but she couldn't have them. Not when the darkness had already staked its claim.

If only she made a different choice. If only she refused the offer that she had known was wrong but was the only thing she thought she could do. If only she had been born and lived here instead of there.

If only…

The weight had Blake stumbling back to try and endure, soon hitting the wall. Even with its support she was falling, sliding down until she was on the floor. Giving up, she drew up her legs, her arms coming around to hold them against her chest in order to make herself as small as possible.

Even if she already knew the answer, she had to ask, "Why couldn't it have been her? Why couldn't she have been there instead?"

It came without pity. Because the real world is not a fairy tale.

Blake buried her face into her gathered legs, her arms tightening around them. With no one around her and not even a book to give her a flimsy fantasy to escape from it, the truth came down on her mercilessly.

Any knights are those who have been blackened and seek to corrupt.

Redemption does not exist.

If you fall you will never rise again.

For the resultant transgressions shall never be forgotten nor forgiven.

So when Blake wept, it wasn't over another lost dream. She wept for foolishly believing that she ever had the right to dream again.

---

=Five Years Ago=

She pulled her face out from her legs to look at him. "You did it."

They ran as far as they believed necessary, sticking to the dark bowels of the city that only they could navigate so easily while they kept alert for any signs of a potential chase. There had been no one and their escape led them to the docks which she didn't know to be a coincidence or brought on because of how she had mentioned numerous times how she liked the smell of them.

As sharp as the scent was in the air, it did little to distract her as the aches and pains of her body took the opportunity of the depleted adrenaline to make themselves known. A good minute was spent looking over her injuries, she and Adam having become accustomed to treating them.

They weren't bad. Bruises and small cuts with the one at her head requiring the most attention. It wasn't serious and only needed a clean-up as head wounds tended to bleed a lot. Despite being familiar with such things even when she was so young, she hadn't carried any bandages on her. In the end, she untied the gray cloth from around her arm to dab at her head until there was nothing left.

It was in her hand right now, nearly taken over by red. It hadn't all come from her cut though as Adam had used it to wipe the blood off his horn. They were both the same color – the vital fluid something else that human and faunus shared. If she tried she would find no distinction of where one splotch ended and the other began. Even internally they were the same.

That hadn't prevented what happened though and the next few moments were spent with her sitting there at the edge of the docks, curled up and going over the events. Adam didn't speak, giving her time to collect herself.

His response to her accusation didn't carry any surprise or dismissal. He nodded his head and flatly stated, "I did."

They exchanged words both during the run and later walk to the docks. He asked if she was alright with her responding that she was fine – to keep running anyway. When it was clear they weren't being pursued and their pace slowed down, the first thing she asked was of where he's been.

Adam had been with them although he joined the White Fang later than her. They had been friends, both working with their comrades to rally, protest, boycott, collect donations, anything and everything they could to be the voice of their people that demanded the equality that humankind kept out of their reach.

While she never wavered in their cause, over time he had grown…frustrated. He got angry at times – bitter -, but she was always able to calm him down with the insistence that they were making a difference and that one day this'll all be worth it. The others were still going so if they did too and stayed together, they would be fine. She thought that had been enough.

That was until the others started to create dissension in their ranks. Increasingly often, there were those in their meetings who would rudely speak up to discredit what they were doing. Like Adam, she never paid too much attention to it as they would calm down after inspiring words from their peers. People needed to vent and that was all that was.

That was until they began leaving. It may've occurred earlier with one or two members who decided to not show up one day but their absence was negligible. Then there were three or four. And during then, Blake awoke to find Adam having vanished with no prior warning.

It hurt and she asked about the whereabouts of her friend but it became obvious that he was another who abandoned them. She moved on though, hoping that he and whoever else decided to leave them would eventually come back. Only a few ever did and as to the remainders there had come disturbing reports about crimes being undertaken by faunus with matching descriptions of their runaway members.

Adam's description never reached her ears and she prayed that he wasn't one of them. However, a rationale that was much too mature for a twelve-year-old began to put the pieces together, starting with one statement that he used to reply to her query: "I never left."

He just confirmed it but she needed to ask with the thinking that he might have misheard her or she misheard him. "You burned the store."

Yet he replied the same way. "I did."

No one had seen the perpetrator but it had been deduced that the projectile had been thrown from within their group. Humans usually didn't need a reason to be violent but the viciousness of the fight had been because they saw it come from the faunus lines. No one claimed responsibility though and no one could even think of a potential suspect.

But the ease of which Blake escaped due to her small size had her thinking that someone of equal height could accomplish the task and flee without notice when the chaos set in.

"Why did you do it?" she questioned quietly.

"I was told to."

Her response to that was not quiet. His lack of remorse angered her and as she uncurled from her ball she was shouting, "You caused everything! What happened at the rally, all the people that were hurt, it was because of you!"

He whipped his head around to her, also becoming angry as he snapped back, "Are you stupid!?"

That did little to deter her. Having found the cause for what occurred to not only to her group but herself too she shouted, "They came after me because of what you did! None of that would've happened!"

He was glaring at her but didn't decide to supply another rebuttal as he spat, "Believe what you want!" Shifting away from her, he stared out at the waters but didn't make a move to leave.

That was fine for her as she did the same thing to get him out of her sight. She had been appalled at the thought that a faunus may've really caused what happened at the shop but to not only having one of her own but a close friend admitting to it was too much.

Neither of them moved or said anything as they quietly seethed. As much as she was happy that Adam wasn't saying anything to defend himself and she entertained the thought that he may know that what he did was wrong, his silence did begin to bother her. She wanted him to say something, to tell her what he had been doing and why he did what he did.

Well, he did tell her why he did it but she didn't know who this person was he was speaking about. Probably another of the faunus who left them and was responsible for some of the other shameful deeds that took place. Maybe if she got a name she could bring it back to the White Fang and they could do something about it or, at the very least, let people know that it wasn't them that were responsible; not for the shop or anything else that may've been done.

This could mean that Adam may be blamed but she didn't have to tell anyone about him. She may be mad and he did cause what happened at the shop but someone told him to do it. Tricked him. If she could identify who did it and put a stop to it, maybe Adam would realize how wrong he was. He was still her friend.

She gradually shifted back over to find that Adam was still determined to not do the same. While that renewed her anger and she was inclined to avoid speaking to him, she nonetheless asked, "Who told you to do it?"

He reacted in a way that she wasn't expecting. She expected him to snap again, mock her for asking and say that he wasn't going to tell her. He didn't do that. He shifted around and, to her surprise, he didn't seem angry. Instead, he looked as if he was sorry when he answered, "Our leader."

"What!?" She couldn't stop it even if she wanted to. Their leader? Impossible! "Don't lie! Our leader would never tell anyone to do something like that!"

It was definitely a lie. It was their leader who stressed the use of nonviolence. The boycotts and their other methods of protest were what he listed as acceptable for his followers to use. Never were they to let whatever humans would do to them sway them into doing the same thing in return. No good would ever come from it. Peace attained through violence was not peace at all and could only result in renewed conflict that the White Fang had been created to prevent from happening ever again.

Their leader had gone through the same discrimination that all faunus experienced and, really, his position made him a bigger target for it. He was a pillar of strength for them, a model of what all faunus wished to be with his goals being the ones they all shared. There was no possible way…

Adam lowered his brows in another glare but he didn't retort with hostility. "He is gone. We have a new leader who took his place."

She stared at him with wide-eyed disbelief. Their leader was gone? That couldn't be right. He never gave in before and he promised he never would, his position as unwavering as his stance on their methods.

Even if it was true, there had to have been some kind of warning. Someone had to know about it. He wouldn't have stepped down without telling any of them. They always followed his directions…always believed in them.

"You're lying," she accused again. "We would've known. He would've told us. He wouldn't have told you."

It was the hollowness that was in her voice that had Adam looking at her apologetically instead of lashing out at her. It was like he expected her reaction…had perhaps seen it before. "It's our new leader who wanted it this way. He wanted the switch to be done quietly. It was agreed upon a while ago but only now is it official and the word is spreading around. We've been visiting the different cells."

"We…?"

"I was with the group that came to yours," Adam explained. "It was how I knew where you'd be. I was looking for you and someone told me that you had gone off by yourself."

He made it sound like a ridiculous thing for her to do and, considering what occurred, it probably was. All she could do right now though was stare at him, still unwilling to believe that what he was saying was true.

Eventually she whispered, "Why?"

"Why?" That same note of incredulity. "Why do you think? All the years that passed by with no change. We've done nothing. Humans don't see us as equals. They still use us to work for them and beat up those who stand against them. None of them are stopping and no one is helping us!"

The last was delivered with some volume and she flinched at it. Nothing? All the work they've done? All that she's done? Was it really being swept away as nothing?

She shook her head to deny it the same time she voiced, "No…no, it wasn't nothing. We were doing good. We were making a difference! We just needed to show them-"

"Show them what?" he scoffed. "That we're helpless? That they can do what they want because we don't fight back? We've made no difference. Did you not know why you were all at that shop in the first place?"

"I did!"

She knew. When their previously planned rally point had been moved, she asked. They were hesitant at first at the idea of informing a child of what happened but there was no longer any innocence that could be saved from someone who was already well-versed in human cruelty.

A faunus had been denied service at the shop and had argued with the owner, making quite a scene before he had been thrown out. It hadn't stopped there though. That same owner and a bunch of his friends later ambushed the faunus, beat him up, and left him in the streets. Last she heard, he had been taken to a hospital but help hadn't come anywhere near quickly enough. They managed to get enough out of him to know who was responsible before they left him to recover.

"The reason I was told to do it," Adam spoke calmly, "is because he died."

She went numb. She didn't feel any of her injuries anymore. The smell of the docks was robbed from her along with her breath as she sat there.

"The owner was still there," Adam continued. "I know you saw him in there. No one did anything or took him in. So we had to do something. And the exact same thing was about to happen to you."

And it was going to be done by the son of that same owner. She had seen and even been the recipient of mean-spirited shouts, throws, and insults but it never broke her before. There were faunus who had gone through worse and she knew that too.

They were kids. Adults were always angry and she always saw them as people that would be replaced by the next generation. But to see how that generation was just as angry as their parents…who were ready to burn her ears because they were 'extras'…spoken as if they were something she didn't need because they didn't have it…

"We can put a stop to it. We can put a stop to all of it. We brought justice to others and I was able to stop them from hurting you. They're becoming afraid of us and we're letting them know that they can't push us around anymore."

"But that's…" she protested weakly. "That's…not what we're supposed to do. We've never done it before… We don't need to do that…"

His features hardened, done playing nice as he prepared his ultimatum. "We've already convinced a lot of the others to join us and your group is probably going to too after what they went through yesterday. There are those who think the same as you. They didn't want to change and they had to leave."

Leave? He didn't say the next part but she understood nonetheless. If she didn't agree, if she didn't change, then she would be forced to leave the White Fang. She would be disowned from the only thing she had been a part of. She had given her life to it and she was going to have to give that up?

"I can help you," Adam insisted. "I was taught things. They made me strong and you saw it. You've always been with us and I've seen how strong you can be. I can make you strong too."

As in he would allow her to do what he had done. The fighting, the fear, the blood-letting. Even if she had been scared, she had been horrified at what he had done. About what Adam did…what she had done to that human boy… But at the same time…

The fur was singed. When she brushed her fingers against her ear, she felt the tips that had partially burned. If Adam had come a few seconds later…

She started to forget about it. The panic that had taken over those kids, how one had been tackled and beaten on the ground, how another had been pierced at his arm to drench his sleeve in blood, the whimpering boy at her feet.

The only thing that was left was the fact that they stopped.

If she was strong, she could do the same thing. She didn't want to seriously hurt anyone but if she was strong enough couldn't she do it without doing so? She just wanted to do enough to make them stop and make them realize that they couldn't do this to any other faunus anymore. Wouldn't that be alright?

If she left, what was she going to do? She had nowhere else to go. She would be alone. If she ever got into a situation like that again, there would be no one to help her. What could she possibly do on her own when she saw for herself what would happen?

She didn't realize Adam was walking over to her until he was standing right above her. He was looking down at her, an expression of sympathy. He held his hand out to her.

"Come with me," he spoke gently. "And we can stop it all."

She dropped the gray cloth that she continued to hold on to; authenticity of how the only time human and faunus would come together was through blood. She replaced it with Adam's hand.

When that power she unlocked with his help coursed through her, she truly believed that she could accomplish anything. She could be strong. She could protect her people. She could make humanity understand that the faunus had just as much reason to live as they did. With this power, she could do everything that she wanted.

The aches disappeared. The cut at her forehead closed up, the flesh knitting together almost instantly. The splinters were pushed out, the bloody slivers falling away from the punctures of her palm that immediately healed.  It was like she was being remade in order to better perform the duty that she agreed to carry out.

When that power encased her though, it was not what she expected. It was not bright as if glittering armor that knights would wear during the service to protect the weak. It did not chase away the darkness. It was not a bright and visible inspiration to all.

It was a gloomy, foreboding black. When she looked down at herself, it was to see that blackness consume her in shadow.

---

The material spoke of innocence while the color expressed how it had been suppressed.

The length appeared as if a tendril that acted on her hidden will as it extended from her and curled around a weapon of multiple forms.

No matter which it took – gun or blade – its purpose remained the same.

A tool originally meant to store and protect, the sheath had been honed to a fine edge so that it, too, may become immersed in savagery.

Hands that have once been open and accepting of diplomacy closed over these armaments of war, leaving no room for peace.

Their direction shall not come from the soft whispers of a stilled heart but the vengeful demands that blared in her ears to drown out reason.

So, armed and misguided, she descended from the shadows to cast her own upon the world that she viewed with jaded amber.

Chapter Text

"She's been gone all weekend," Ruby said dismally, hanging her head.

All weekend with no sign of Blake. Once Yang and Ruby took to the streets of Vale, they decided on a slower, more thorough approach instead of having the older sibling race through the streets on her motorcycle and banking on the chance of somehow spotting Blake. They visited Blake's favorite hangouts and other places that they knew would interest their teammate whether it be the many bookstores and libraries or Dust 'Till Dawn.

Once they exhausted their options, they moved on to what Blake would need such as food, clothing, and shelter. They hit various hotels, taverns, grocery stores, and restaurants starting with those closest to the Beacon skyport. She left on a Friday evening without notice and they hoped that it would play in their favor by having Blake be more inclined to hit the closest refuge that she could find.

It was the obvious thing to do and that was why they only spent a couple hours searching before going further downtown. If she was really trying to get away from them, the ninja would've thought of it and put as much distance as she could between them in case of a search before settling down - late or not. As much as Yang didn't want to admit to that being the case, Blake was a rather conspicuous individual. Huntsmen and Huntresses being the way they are and having permission to carry their armaments with them, they were a noticeable bunch in contrast to Vale's citizens even if the common folk were used to the sight of them wandering the streets.

Even then, there was no uniformity in Hunters; each person dressing and arming themselves with a weapon that was unique to them. Their group was a testament to that with Yang's gauntlets and Weiss's rapier to Ruby's gigantic scythe. With their color scheme of yellow, white, and red, it would be difficult for someone to see them and not remember something about them even if it was just in passing.

Blake possessed some notable features even if she wasn't as brightly clothed. Ask a person if they saw a white and black-dressed girl who wore a bow, adorned herself with ribbons, and carried what looked like a cleaver on her back and there wasn't going to be a large number of people who she could be mistaken with. They also had her picture on their scrolls of course.

Yet they came up empty. No matter how many places they've been to and flashed her image to employees or random citizens, no one was able to give them anything.

When they turned in Sunday night, it was with failure and a dwindling window of opportunity to find Blake. It was Monday now, meaning that classes have resumed with the new week. Never had Yang found it so excruciating to sit in class as she did today with the knowledge that every minute – no, second – was another that had Blake's trail growing cold…not that they even had a trail to follow.

"Blake's a big girl, I'm sure she can handle herself," Weiss put in, nowhere near as concerned as Ruby.

Yang's fingers flexed at her side to better exhibit her irritability when it came to the heiress. As grateful as Yang had originally been when she saw not only Ruby but Weiss waiting for her at Beacon's platform, it dried up pretty fast when it came to the latter's lack of care to the whereabouts of Blake. Weiss was investigating and asking questions with them but not with any urgency.

The brawler had to constantly remind herself that the fencer was nonetheless here with them and had again met up with them at the airship once their Monday classes finished. It was all that kept her from responding as sharp as she wanted to when she said, "Weiss, come on; she's one of our teammates."

The heiress glanced at her with a dubious expression before asking, "Is she? We all heard what she said."

"Weiss," Ruby warned, her tone heavy with it. Yang knew from the start that Ruby persuaded her partner to come with them but even she was getting annoyed with her attitude.

"Maybe she is, maybe she isn't." If Weiss didn't get the hint by the added edge to her tongue, Yang thought that giving the white-haired girl that much would get her to shut up. For her sake. "Either way she's missing and we need to find her."

The emphasis and the glare got Weiss to concede by staring ahead. It didn't keep her silent though. "A member of the White Fang! Right under our very noses!"

"I just hope she's okay…" Ruby replied, once again casting her gaze down.

It was with Ruby in mind that had Yang forcing her digits to relax, having become balled. It took her a moment longer to realize that Ember Celica had reacted to her growing resentment by deploying over her arms. Like her fists, Yang coaxed her weapons to dismantle, the knuckle plate and barrel shrinking while the lines of shells slid back to slip beneath the bracelets.

She did it slowly with the idea that the conversion would go unnoticed at least by Ruby who was walking ahead of them. A part of her did wish that Weiss saw it to show how thin the ice she treaded on was. It was getting thinner alongside their chances of finding Blake.

---

=One Year Ago=

Vale: that was to be the site of their next target. Along the northern edge of the kingdom was the forest of Forever Fall where a railway line cuts through the blood-red trees. Regularly-scheduled cargo trains take advantage of it to deliver much-needed Dust and other supplies to humanity's safe haven. It was the Dust that they were after and it was the Dust that they were going to steal.

Blake was troubled. There was nothing particularly odd about their objective or, really, anything wrong with it at its core. It fell under the White Fang's directive that it's followed for the last four years: to target those who've benefited from the use of faunus labor. Schnee Dust was a favorite because of how they exploited such a cheap source so excessively, leading to such dramatic growth that's led to the company becoming the number one supplier of Dust in only a few generations.

It was a Schnee-owned train that they were targeting so, no, there was nothing wrong about what they were targeting; it was the where.

Vale. With this war of theirs and her participation being restricted elsewhere, she sometimes forgot that there were other capitals all throughout Remnant. All human-centric and, undoubtedly, all of them biased to some extent when it came to her kind. When she did remember, it would leave her wondering how the White Fang ever had a chance to spread equality throughout the world when their efforts of peace were so easily quelled.

Fear's proven to work so much better. What's occurred during four years vastly eclipsed what meager progress they made during her twelve. She doubted it at first, questioning what good it did to make people afraid of you instead of respect you. Was the White Fang's reversal in tactics really going to do the same with the results?

It did. Easily.

It was rough in the beginning. The covert change of leadership was supposed to make it smoother when the organization as a whole – upon gaining the loyalty and coordination of its scattered cells – launched their attacks. Despite the intensity and speed of which they were delivered, the human population acted as if it was a momentary spike that would pass. The faunus of the White Fang don't fight back after all; they just stand in the streets where they could be stepped around and ignored.

There was retaliation undertaken by both police forces and civilians, targeting what faunus they could find in order to make examples out of them. Beat them down and suppress them. It worked before.

Not this time. Any human who sought to administer their own justice paid for it. The hunters became the hunted when they were the ones getting ambushed, they who were being pulled into the shadows and tossed right back out to act as a warning, and it was they who became fearful. Once they understood that their actions would be met with a violent reaction, they hid like the cowards they've always been.

There would be no sanctuary though. Any shops that tried to deny the faunus were put to the torch and became fiery examples to all that they were to be served as readily as humans. They could not ignore them anymore and would have to accept them or face the consequences.

Acceptance, Blake thought. Is that really what's going on?

It was working. As uneasy as she may've been, she couldn't argue with the results. She could walk freely on the streets now. She didn't have to look over her shoulder or duck her head or lower her cat ears anymore to avoid attracting nasty attention. When she asked for a service, she was provided with one.

That was what she wanted, wasn't it? The means may be questionable but the ends were justifying them, weren't they?

That was what she thought when she took to her own patrolling once she was sufficiently trained. She was a whole new person now and she came to actually appreciate her choice that led her here. Looking down at the cityscape, she truly believed she was some kind of guardian with her faunus sight and hearing allowing her to better sweep her surroundings for trouble.

When she found them, she mused that humans really did live up to their hypocrisy. They resented the darkness but only up to the point where they could use it to their advantage just like they did with everything else. In this case, they did so with the assumption that it would hide their deeds by hustling their victim into the alley. Coupled with that hypocrisy was their willful ignorance of how they were not the masters that they thought they were.

She proved that to them when she fell upon them with the help of the shadows. With her training and the weapon she constructed for such a time, she took them down with ease. She didn't kill them, not only with the reasoning that they would better tell a tale when they're alive but because she didn't want to kill them. It had always been about getting them to understand that a faunus deserved to be treated as equally as a human and if it required a few bruises to prove it then she was willing to do that.

She felt accomplished, the unconscious humans another addition to the progress that they were making. She still remembered when it was her who'd been at their mercy and another had come to her defense. Now she was doing her part.

So she was taken completely off guard when the hand she held out to the faunus she rescued was slapped aside.

"You're one of them," he growled.

Blake was only able to stand there, shocked, meeting the angry gaze before her eyes slid up. No, he was definitely a faunus and like his gaze those canine ears displayed hostility with how they were back and lowered. He was one of her own but…how he spoke to her was the same as when a human had done so; as if she was something else.

There were faunus who left the White Fang and chose to stick to their nonviolent methods in separate, newly-established groups. Blake never thought badly of them for it even if a few used to be colleagues who didn't wish to speak to her anymore. It hurt but she acknowledged it as a sacrifice that she was willing to make if it meant finally reaching their goal.

She remained uneasy though and it was sometime after that occurrence that she started taking a closer look at what they were doing. Humans weren't giving her dirty looks anymore but that was because they didn't want to look at her at all. When she tried to meet their eyes, they would turn away uneasily. That marginal space that went unnoticed she now identified when they sought to keep out of her path. When she asked for a service it was done with a hint of fear that she could now perceive.

They couldn't know she was White Fang. She and her comrades kept their identities hidden as even with their success, human law enforcement could take them down if they were ever recognized. No, it was her ears. They were scared of her because she was a faunus.

Yes, it was a complete reversal alright, and how ironic that when Blake asked what they really accomplished she could answer that it was nothing. Humans have become the fearful and it was the faunus who were preying on them. Other than a subdued local populace, they made little gains elsewhere as the big-time corporations and political bodies maintained their alienation of the faunus. In some aspects, they've grown more forceful with the White Fang responding in kind.

That brought up her group's more unsettling acts. Since the start they've undertaken kidnappings and assassinations. Blake had been spared from participating as she was still too young and untrained and even if she didn't like it she thought she understood that they were just doing it to make a stronger point and would stop.

They weren't stopping though. In fact, they've gotten more brutal. And now that she received her first big mission that was not to take place here but elsewhere…

She rested the back of her head against the wood of their latest hideout, her eyes closing as it sunk in. She…didn't want to do this anymore. She's been aware of this unsettling sensation that had steadily grown until it brought her to this revelation. She's been trying to hide her doubts, thinking that they may pass, but…they haven't.

She did want to fight back. Whatever reservations she may've had, how strong she was becoming did influence fantasies that she found attractive. She wanted to use that strength to protect but she wasn't going to be dishonest in that she didn't find anything appealing about just being able to administer a blow for the sake of it. She tried to explain it as natural, that there was nothing wrong with taking some satisfaction in bringing down her oppressors through force to show that it wasn't allowed…but she's been enjoying it.

And lately she was starting to suspect that that enjoyment may not be her own.

Her lids suddenly flew up, head turning quickly to the end of the corridor where the door to the planning room was. Atop her head, her cat ears sprung up tall and swiveled around to do the same. Once they were given their mission, Blake was dismissed but Adam had been told to remain. For what she didn't know but he silently directed her to wait for him.

Something was wrong though. That part of her that was Adam was pulsating with intense aggression. This close, she could practically feel the extreme emotion slipping through the seams of the door, like a gathering flood that was about to burst through although the door remained immovable. That was until it was flung open.

"Adam!" a voice called from within the room.

The faunus in question stomped out, jaw clenched so hard that it shook and it was what made his reply an angry bark of, "I know!"

Blake pushed herself off the wall to straighten herself as she turned to Adam, confused and worried about what happened. Whatever it was though, he didn't tell her as he gave her a subtle twitch of his chin – the only thing she could make out with his eyes hidden behind his mask – before storming past her.

Blake peeked back to the planning room, a tailed faunus watching Adam go. He turned to her and she actually felt a jolt go through her when she made out how the man was looking at her as if wary. That was added incentive for her to take off after her partner.

No matter how the dark cloud around Adam raged, it did little to dissuade Blake from jogging over to reach his side. Much like how they'd been before, after Adam convinced Blake to join him the two Fang members stuck close to one another. Blake originally thought nothing special about it as they were friends before and he was who she went to when she was settling in during the White Fang's change of tactics.

However, they eventually became aware of this bond that formed and grew while they trained together; a bond that went deeper than friendship or camaraderie that allowed them to fight and work in concert. It might be part of the reason why they were given as much attention as they were as well as being two young faunus who could make better use of their training involving their Aura and the fighting styles they took up. Blake came to take comfort in it, happy to be linked to someone that got her through these trying times full of misgivings.

So while she could perceive the rage that dominated him, she nonetheless felt sure that she could pierce through it to reach him. "Adam, what happened?"

"Nothing," he growled out.

An obvious lie and she knew that he knew it too; the response really a delay that he needed. Still she asked, "Is it about the mission?"

"No." Right after he corrected, "Yes." There came an irate grumble and shake of his head. "Give me a minute."

She granted him that, the pace he was setting and she following with haste to keep up leading her to believe that he wanted to get out of earshot before he told her anything. Remembering that cautious expression that their planner had given her, Blake wisely stayed silent and stuck to examining her partner.

Gnashing his teeth in frustration, Adam held Blush in a tight grip, his finger dangerously close to the trigger as if desiring to unleash Wilt on whatever or whoever may cross his path. While she didn't say anything, Blake tentatively reached out through their bond, her presence brushing against his in a way that she hoped would calm the tempest that swirled around him.

It worked albeit gradually and Blake had to prevent herself from flinching at the vicious gusting of vehemence. The stable support that she gave managed to accomplish in weakening it but not break it entirely, Adam visibly displaying it by loosening his hold on his sheath while the muscles in his jaw let up enough so that his teeth were no longer grinding together.

He finally came to a halt with Blake doing the same at the exact same time when she registered it. Although his covering made it difficult enough as it is, he didn't twist to meet her concerned gaze. "It is about the mission."

That much she was able to guess. "Is there a change of plans?"

Their objectives had been laid out quite plainly: board the train, locate the car full of Dust, then separate it from the rest. If they met up with any resistance they were to neutralize it and they were informed that the SDC had taken to automated defenses in response to White Fang's attacks. If all went well, they would signal a team meant to pick them up and loot the car. It was straightforward so she couldn't see what else needed to be added to it.

"Only a minor addition," Adam replied. "They want us to make a better example of it."

How he said it developed a sense of apprehension within Blake that she couldn't fully explain, especially as, other than his anger infesting his tone, Adam found nothing offensive about whatever their planner may've meant. "What do you mean?"

"We're going to locate the Dust and steal it, that part hasn't changed." Going over the plan again and rehearsing it in his mind seemed to be appeasing him as the strain began to ebb to the point that the quick, subtle shake of his shoulders was as if he was dropping some of the burden off of him. "What is changing is that we're going to take the entire train. Once we've cleared it and taken the Dust, we blow it up with demolition charges. They won't be running shipments through there again for a long time."

Blake was glad that Adam wasn't looking at her as he couldn't see how her eyes went wide at that. At the same time, the idea and his satisfaction at the alteration of their plan prevented him from sensing her disbelief. Or, perhaps, prevent him from perceiving that her disbelief wasn't at not being told about the plan but the plan itself.

Unnecessary, was Blake's first thought and she tried to keep her horror from being picked up by him. Completely unnecessary.

Blake had no love for the Schnee Dust Company. As much as she may disagree with the assassinations, they were directed at those who were responsible for the company's actions. She would never call it right but…she didn't know. Even necessary – a word that she used for her participation and most of the White Fang's actions – wasn't an apt description for it. She just didn't agree with it and the only solace she had was that it wasn't her that was performing those actions.

By clearing the entire train…did they mean the crew members as well? To take them out along with whatever security may be aboard? Kill them? Even if that wasn't the case – if they didn't have to kill them -, what were they going to do when they blew the explosives?

As terrible as this line of thinking was, there was something that stood out to Blake. Trying to suppress her abhorrence, she asked Adam, "Why didn't they want to tell me this?"

Here Adam hesitated and there was a spike of offence that came with the curl of his lip. It waned in the face of the sympathy that he directed to her. "This is a test."

It didn't take much of a leap of logic for Blake. "They don't trust me."

"They have no reason to!" Adam replied with a bit of snap, rotating to her. In what must be a placating manner he continued, "You've been with us since the beginning. You've been with me even before then. I have no doubts about your loyalty, Blake, but they still need some convincing."

Convincing? For what? After all she's done for them? All she's given up? She was practically born and bred into the White Fang, her whole life having been dedicated to the group. Even if she hadn't agreed with the change at first – and she still disagreed on certain policies -, she still followed them. She still fought.

Yet now she was being told that it wasn't enough? That she still needed to do more? If it really was the worst that they were expecting her to perform, did this mean they weren't satisfied until she had taken a life in order to obtain a full membership? To permanently stain her hands so that she couldn't wash it off?

Adam had confidence in her and he freely showed it. She could do it. He had no doubt in his mind at all about her willing to go along with all of this, no questions asked.

So why was he so angry? Locking directly onto the slits of his visor, Blake firmly stated, "There's more to it than that."

Like a switch that was flipped, his features that became soft to better assuage her toughened up, complete with a click of his teeth coming back together.

She guessed right and immediately pressed on. "Something else is going on. They want me to prove myself because there's something else that they've planned." And considering Adam's reaction, it was a plan that even he was having trouble coming to terms with.

"…Yes," Adam confirmed.

That troubling feeling became full-on disturbing. Vale, this test that was being prepared for her, and even the details that she hadn't found strange before. The White Fang wasn't above stealing if it meant acquiring resources, even better if it was Dust as it can be considered as them taking it back from humans, but an entire train car of it? Was there more to this than making a better statement towards humankind?

"What is it?" Blake asked, desperately needing to know. If they really were expecting her to perform in such a way, she wanted to know the reason for it. "What do they plan on doing?"

Having been willing to answer her questions before, this time Adam clammed up. Though his mask was directed at her, she could practically feel his eyes shift away from her.

She asked again with more insistence. "What is it?"

"What's natural," he replied. "It's inevitable that we would move on, Blake. Our cause is right and we need to be able to reach our goals no matter what. We've made tremendous gains but we need to go further. We may not agree with some of the methods but it will lead to what we all want. And, sometimes, precautions need to be taken to insure its success."

He didn't trust her either! Whereas once he showed confidence in her, she could sense how he pulled away from her, as if trying to keep his doubts hidden. Not just in her but in whatever it was that was going on; what was causing him to try and persuade himself as much as her that what they were doing was right.

"Adam," Blake spoke quietly, waiting until she knew he had his gaze back on her. "This is becoming too much."

"This is what we wanted."

"Not like this!" she objected. "Adam, don't you think we've done enough? The White Fang was meant to get humans to treat us equally but they've come to fear us."

"Now they understand what we've felt," Adam replied, scowling.

"And what will that achieve? What will making them afraid of us do? We haven't come any closer to our goals at all!"

He stood where he was, quietly appraising her. "What would you want us to do then?"

Blake didn't know for sure but she didn't want them to do something that they'll later regret. "We just need to stop for a moment. You know our leader better than others. Just talk to him. Get him to suspend our operations for now."

"And then what?"

"They fear us. At the very least, they should be more open to negotiations. We should contact them to try and settle this peacefully."

"And then what?"

"We…" Blake paused, unsure of how to proceed or why Adam was asking her to explain more when the rest should be obvious. "We could put an end to this. We could finally establish equality."

"And then WHAT!?" Adam swung Blush between them at his shout. "What do you think is going happen afterwards!?"

Blake recoiled, her words effectively stolen from her as she stared at Adam in shock.

"We've done this before!" The red lines of his mask began to glow, the color adding a sinister illumination as he snarled. "They tried to banish us to a Godforsaken wasteland! The only reason any of them stopped was because we made them!"

The intense crimson matched the overwhelming squall of fury that Blake was swept up in as it roared across their bond. Within her mind she could see that hatred give shape to malicious phantasms that encircled her, reminding her so much of back then when she had been surrounded.

"And then what happened!? We lowered our weapons and they took advantage of it! They sought to chain us down! Banish us in their mines and the slums so that we can work under them instead! Any of us who tried to object were oppressed! We offer them peace and they spat in our faces!"

And just like then those wicked apparitions were torn asunder, their malevolent grins being ripped open into expressions of horror before they were sent scattering.

"You think this'll be any different!? It won't! We stop now and they'll try harder to bring us down and remain that way! No, the only way they'll learn is if we show every last one of them the folly of ever believing that they were superior to us! For the rest of humanity's existence they will only know fear!"

…You're hurting me.

Blake had to assume that how Adam gripped his sheath was as tight and as painful as his hold on her arm. Apparently unknown to him, he had backed her into a corner, his free hand having closed like a vice around her bicep to better pin her in place while he raged. Though she tried to hide it, a pained expression took over her face.

That didn't stop him but her mental interference was enough to get through to him. He immediately released her, his hand darting back as if stung. The infernal glow of his mask died just as quickly while what of his countenance that wasn't hidden by it advertised surprise at his own actions.

"Blake…" Compared to how loud he was a moment ago, her name may as well have been delivered in a whisper as he stepped away from her.

She didn't say anything, her preference to stare at the floor rather than him being all that she needed. That and how her violet-furred ears were folded down as if to hide from him; a response that was once reserved for the presence of humans.

Appearing regretful, Adam softly said, "None of this is our fault. They brought this on themselves."

She stayed mute and, taking the hint, the horned faunus removed himself, unknowing of the results of his outburst. Once he was gone, Blake brought her hand behind her back, slipping under the coattails in order to pull out a pair of items from the pocket there.

That mask of his should've given it away sooner. It was based off of a design choice that was being adopted by the White Fang as a way for members to hide their identities and offer full face protection. However, the curved metal that resembled fangs at their cheeks expressed how they desired to inspire fear by stressing their bestial qualities that their targets linked them to, ignoring their humanity. The red lines on Adam's mask referred to something worse.

The band and ribbon that Blake retrieved were meant to do the opposite. Once she became aware of how human civilians saw her, she chose the covering to alleviate their fears. Her brothers and sisters have embraced the side of the beast while she still strove to be seen as human.

The dreams should've confirmed it. Adam was close to their leader and it was not the first time that he'd been pulled away from Blake's side and would disappear on an assignment that only he could be trusted with. Blake never knew what those assignments involved but lately she's been having gruesome nightmares, unsure of their origins but becoming more vivid as time went on.

It was in the midst of her partner's tirade and the glimpse into the dark recesses of his soul that had Blake wondering if the nightmares were really just that.

They were corrupting her. In that brief moment, Adam's hate had been her own; his rage having passed through this bond of theirs so that it may burn as hotly within her as it did within him. Having felt it so plainly, she wondered if it had been subtly manipulating her this whole time by how she once relied on his presence. That gratification that she felt when harming others was in fact his and the longer she stayed here – the longer she stayed with him -, the more she'll be susceptible to it until she was truly lost.

She has seen what it is that she'll become if she stays on this course. Her cause is threatening to betray her and her friend was already lost to it and waiting for her to join him. It was the exact same scenario as before.

This time, however, she could see that there was nothing over this line she was being dared to cross: a point of no return. The life she once knew was gone and, this time, she was not going to follow it into oblivion. What they intend to give her as an initiation shall become her escape to…

To where? To this place called Vale she supposed but what will she find there? As corrupted as the White Fang's become, it was the only thing she knew. She also knew that if she was to find a new life, it would be one rife with distrust. To find a new place to live, she would have to do it with a lie in order to make it easier.

Blake lifted the band and placed it on her head. Then with the ribbon, she tied it under and over the band before binding her ears. When she made the final tug to tighten the bow that hid them perfectly, it was with the surety that anything was better than here.

Besides, she's endured plenty as it is. Remnant will be hard-pressed to find a way to get her to suffer more than she already has.

---

=Present=

Blake set her teacup on the small plate, the stilling liquid allowing her to see her reflection. "So, I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead I would dedicate my life to becoming a Huntress."

She looked across the table to the other occupant. "So, here I am: a criminal hiding in plain view. All with the help of a little black bow." She flexed her faunus ears to get the ends of the decoration to waggle for emphasis.

For once, her companion was the one who was speechless. After setting his own teacup down – not with his hands but with the monkey-like tail that was curled around the handle -, the blond-haired faunus had stuck to staring at Blake, hardly having so much as blinked during her story.

It was Sun Wukong who Blake and the others witnessed running from the police after stowing away on the ship. How it turned out to be like this with her having invited him to tea she was still trying to understand, especially as their acquaintanceship had begun with a sly wink that he gave her upon passing while on the run.

As implausible as it should've been, the first thought that came to Blake's mind was that he knew what she was. Something about that wink and the grin – as brief as it was – gave off an impression that went beyond a teen boy who had taken a fancy to a girl who caught his eye despite that being a popular plot point for a good portion of her romance novels. Him being a faunus and how he singled her out specifically within the center of her team further pointed to it. In one instance during the weekend, she asked how he knew.

"Do you think you're the only faunus who's tried to hide who she is?" was his reply. As obscure as it was, Blake found that she couldn't argue with that and chose to go with it.

It didn't really explain how he'd gone out of his way to follow her back to Beacon, supporting his claim as a great stowaway by sneaking aboard the same airship that Team RWBY had taken back to the school where he roamed around until he happened to catch the fleeing Blake with cat ears exposed. It was his mentioning of the airship that opened up the option of retreating from the school grounds entirely that Blake ended up taking. Remarkably, Sun chose to follow her still.

When she asked why, he had given her an easy shrug and a grin. "No real reason. Think of me as a mysterious wanderer in a city he isn't familiar with and looking out for anything that might be interesting."

Blake arched a brow. "And you find me…interesting." It wasn't a question.

The grin widened. "A cat girl hiding her heritage and studying at a school for Huntresses?" He produced another wink similar to the first. "I find you very interesting."

Apparently interesting enough to keep on bothering her throughout the weekend. While Blake wanted nothing more than to lock herself in a room and wallow in her misery, Sun paid her numerous visits as a knock on a door and her peering through the peephole would have her seeing him standing there. As if able to know when she was looking at him, he waved and asked if she was ready to come out yet.

She ignored him, thinking that he would leave her alone eventually. He didn't and, gradually, the cold shoulder evolved to annoyed looks that Blake would open the door in order to send him with the thought that that would get him to move on. That proved to be her undoing as Sun took it as a sign of her flagging resistance which led to her exchanging small talk with him before she would settle the door back between them.

She took some pleasure in his surprise when, this morning, she not only opened the door but stepped out, closing it behind her before heading out of the hotel. Sun walked along behind her, making some queries about where they were going when she checked out at the lobby and started traveling through the streets with no apparent destination in mind. She chose to maintain her silence though, waiting until she reached the first tea shop she happened upon and taking admittedly refreshing sips that she needed after eating little and drinking nothing but tap water during her two day isolation.

When she thought she was prepared, she stated, "So, you want to learn more about me."

It didn't matter anymore. That was her reasoning anyway. Her secret was already out and the odds were that it spread all throughout Beacon over the weekend, possibly to the city's authorities at this point. If not Yang or Ruby then Weiss would've made sure of it. She was a criminal who's been exposed and she would probably need to leave Vale entirely soon.

Sun's response to her past gave credence to it…after he expressed his opinion of how those in the White Fang were a bunch of freaks to him. Blake had the hindsight to bring her cup to her lips in order to hide her grimace even if she was expecting it. As she later found out, humans weren't the only ones who've come to hate the White Fang. Once a symbol of hope for the faunus, the organization has become a stigma to her people.

Suffice to say, she revealing that she was once a Fang member had Sun choking and spitting up the mouthful of tea that he was downing.

He listened though. He gave her a chance to explain and it came as a disconcerting blow when he seemed surprised of what the White Fang's original duties were. It seemed people really did forget what they once upheld, not that she could blame them.

He finally blinked, breaking the trance that left him unusually still and silent when compared to how he constantly pestered her. She was expecting what would come next: how he would say that it didn't make what they did right, that she was a criminal, and that she deserved what she got for being a part of all of it and not leaving sooner.

He didn't say anything as harsh. Instead, he actually seemed to be sorry for her when he asked, "So, have you told your friends any of this?"

Blake closed her eyes, the surprise she felt at not being cursed at outweighed by the thought of her friends. Yang…Ruby…even Weiss she couldn't honestly say she was happy to have left. She missed them, her partner most of all. They've all done so much for her, welcomed her, showed her that she could be happy and experience all that had originally been denied to her and what she gave up when she deluded herself into thinking she was doing it for the greater good.

In repayment, she lied to them. Whether her reasons were good or not, she still lied. It was another unforgiving lesson where something wrong was still wrong no matter how you tried to rationalize it.

"I…wanted to," she replied honestly, forcing her lids to slide back up despite the attractive plan to shut everything out and leave her to her regret and sorrow. She's done enough of that in the past forty-eight hours.

Sun placed his bracer-clad arms on the table, putting his weight on them while threading his fingers together. Still undeservingly gentle, he asked, "Have you tried?"

Blake sighed, sagging against the back of her chair. "I wanted to do that too but I always got stuck at trying to try and tell them. I could never figure out how best to do it."

"Talking usually works."

Blake slowly shook her head. "It's not that easy. One of my friends is going to inherit the very company that I've had a hand in attacking. I'm not blameless, Sun, and people don't forgive something like that."

"You could always give them a chance to." While his hands may be occupied, he still possessed another limb that was available to him. That tail of his crossed over the table, slipping through and then wrapping around the handle of her teacup so that he could lift it up to her. "You gave me a chance."

The words were as sincere and meant to be as supportive as the gesture. While Blake accepted the latter, gently taking the cup and sipping slowly, she couldn't do so as easily with the former. "It's not about giving them a chance; it's about me. I was given multiple chances to do things differently and I wasted every single one. It's too late for me and much too late for forgiveness."

It was a recurring theme in her story. When she left the White Fang, it was too late to do so guilt-free. She had her chance to save herself from the blame but she wasted it. She wanted to tell her team but such a day – if there ever would've been one - came too late. Her own partner had given her a chance to do so but she wasted that too. Even if she wanted to tell them now, it was too late. She had her chance to not take the airship and go back to explain herself but, yet again, she wasted it. In doing so, she left behind a confession to being part of a terrorist group and nothing else.

They probably wouldn't want anything to do with me now.

---

Ruby cupped her hands over her mouth, shouting to the sky, "Blaaake! Where are youuu?"

They were starting to run into some luck the further they went downtown. After downloading the results of their latest search criteria, Ruby read them off and led her team to each one-by-one. While walking to each site, Yang brought up Blake's image on her scroll and brandished it to whoever happened to pass them along the sidewalk.

Disappointedly, there was little change in results. Much like how it was yesterday, whenever she got someone's attention they would give her scroll a squint and then shake their heads. Yang was accustomed to taking a pummeling – came with being up close and personal with her fights after all -, but no blow that a well-skilled opponent or lucky Grimm had landed on her could possibly measure up to each negative response that carried with it the dismay and disheartenment that more than made up for the lack of bone-crushing strength.

It was the closest she ever wanted to be to throwing in the towel but, at the same time, there was no way she was going to. She never took well to losing and considering losing here meant losing Blake, it was inconceivable for her to give up.

During a notably empty stretch of roadwork, Yang took the opportunity to stare down at the image of Blake that she chose. It was a default image; taken when they were all accepted into Beacon and then linked to their scrolls before they were issued their devices to provide a photo ID that went with whatever text or voice-recorded messages as if the recipient really needed something else to identify the sender along with the name and team they were from.

Yang had customized some settings on her scroll, including swapping out her portrait, but Blake never did. As humorless as it was, it was the best thing that Yang could use as the stiff neck and plain expression showed off her face perfectly yet there was just enough room to take in her signature bow and the beginnings of her white shirt and black vest, the pistol grip that also acted as the hilt of Gambol Shroud extending over her right shoulder amidst her ebony locks to display her symbol and loaded clip.

Yang needed to make an amendment: the image seemed downright severe. Blake's lips weren't perfectly straight, the ends curving downwards notably. Her golden-eyed gaze was just as bare except for a slant that, looking at it now, Yang could see complemented that curving of her pupils to make – whether she knew it or not – Blake appear as if she was challenging the camera. The brawler never paid much mind to it before but…

Yang tapped against the bottom corner of her screen, bringing up the gallery of saved images that she started skimming through.

There were loads of images; an electronic album of their first year at Beacon. There were pictures of RWBY of course – including self-pics that Yang took of herself or with Ruby at her side - but there were images of JNPR, random shots of Beacon itself during initial exploration of the school, their professors, and other classmates.

They were organized by date so the further she got into the year, the more Yang saw of Blake. Much like how she was in person, Blake avoided being in the center of the shots as she did with attention. Any group photos usually had her in the corner or somewhere off-center but all of them with her not looking directly at the scroll itself as the dark-dressed girl purposely avoided it with a book or something else that was either legitimate or made up on the spot to excuse herself.

Later on though, she started meeting with the lens albeit with visible reluctance and exasperation. That was later joined with a subtle lifting at the corner of her mouth.

Yang ceased the swiping of her finger upon getting to one picture in particular. It was late in the winter when they all returned to Beacon and Yang and Ruby had done so with packets of hot chocolate mix and marshmallows to serve to their respective partners to better end their first winter together. Yang caught a particularly cute image of Weiss looking with amazement at her mug, a chocolate film at her lip. Ruby could be seen behind the heiress, grinning from ear-to-ear.

It was the one that she took of Blake that Yang was admiring though. Her partner had donned on her yukata, intent on spending the rest of that evening in her usual way by resting on her bunk with a book. Blake was against the headboard, her pillow tucked at her lower back to make it more comfortable, but the book in question was closed and resting on her lap. In its place she delicately held her own mug of drinkable chocolate and marshmallows. Upon sighting the camera, Blake faced it fully to properly send a small but genuine smile.

That was sometime after Yang saw Blake laugh for the first time. She wished she had a picture of that too but the thought hadn't come to her then. Besides, she assured herself that there would always be a next time…

There is going to be a next time, Yang swore fiercely. It was with that in mind that the blonde had a hand over her mouth as she called out. "Blaaake!"

Half an hour ago, those short, impassive squints that people would give Blake's image were lasting longer with a flare of what Yang hoped was recognition that got them interested. Gratefully, their comments switched from never seeing her to finding something familiar about her. Finally they got not one but two random citizens spread evenly apart who remembered seeing her around this section of the city. They mentioned it being a day or two ago but it was leagues more than what they had before.

Desperate and having a third individual give them a similar reply had Ruby giving in to shouting Blake's name with the chance that she might be nearby with Yang soon joining her.

They were the only ones doing so and not having a third voice join their own had Ruby stopping and turning around to address her partner. "Weiss, you're not helping!"

The heiress in question had been trailing behind them, silently scanning the area but with an expression that was far from as worried as theirs. At Ruby's criticism, Weiss gave her leader a look of mock surprise before sarcastically suggesting, "Oh, you know who might be able to help? The police."

"Weiss…" Nearly growling out her name, Ruby crossed her arms tightly against her chest. It seemed much too out of place for the youngest member of RWBY, showcasing how even her patience was becoming tested.

Hardly affected by it, Weiss flung out her own arms to her sides as if she was the one who was rightfully offended. "It was just an idea!"

Ruby turned around and resumed walking but not without tossing another annoyed look and comment back to the fencer. "Yeah, a bad one."

"Weiss, I think we should hear her side of the story before we jump to any conclusions." The tone that Yang used did not make it the suggestion that it may've seemed to be. She swore, if Weiss kept going and if even Ruby was becoming fed up with her attitude…

"I think that when we hear it you'll all think that I was right," she replied, unaffected by their warnings.

"And I think Weiss's hair looks wonderful today!"

The merry and not to mention unexpected comment served to bring the entirety of Team RWY to a halt, the three members whipping around to face the speaker. It served to put any annoyances on hold with Ruby exclaiming, "Gah! Penny, where did you come from!?"

It was indeed the ginger-haired girl who they bumped into three days ago and, just like back then, she had mysteriously appeared without anyone noticing. And just like then she found nothing odd about it as she waved pleasantly, her smile enhancing those too-bright green eyes as she greeted, "Hey, guys! What are you up to?"

"Um…"

Yang glanced over at Ruby, finding her sister to be uneasy about her 'friend'. Whether it was because she was uncertain about telling Penny about the situation with Blake or about giving Penny a reason to follow them was debatable. Thinking that they didn't need to tell the other girl everything and that she was someone who would recognize Blake, Yang chose to step in. "We're looking for our friend, Blake."

Apparently Penny did remember Blake, brows springing up in remembrance. "Ooooh! You mean the faunus girl!"

A collective silence fell over the three teammates who blinked in unison at her. Ruby volunteered to break it with the exact same question that was going through Yang's mind right now. "Wait, how did you know that?"

Seemingly puzzled by the question, Penny tilted her head to better point to the top of it. "Uh, the cat ears."

Yang blinked again. Did she mean…? "What cat ears? She wears a…" Her eyes widened in realization and she barely got the last word out. "…bow…"

The second round of silence made one of Vale's powerful gusts of wind particularly audible with the sound of a rolling tumbleweed enhancing it as the ball of dried up vegetation went right past them. Yang watched it go by before shifting to Weiss, the heiress as astonished as she was to the extent of being incapable of tossing out one of her mean-spirited quips concerning their missing teammate.

"She does like tuna a lot…" Ruby mumbled when Yang went to her.

White Fang being an all-faunus organization. Blake's eyes. The tuna. Her bow. They all assumed she was a faunus but it looked like none of them had been able to guess what kind.

How did I not figure it out? Yang asked herself.

The answer was so obvious that even if it came immediately, she wondered why it didn't do so sooner. Because I don't care.

Human or faunus, cat ears or no cat ears, Blake was still Blake to her. No matter what people called her or what she might possess, Yang didn't care. She hadn't come out here to find a faunus or a criminal…just her partner. Her friend.

Penny visually swept the area around them. "So where is she?"

"We don't know," Ruby replied sadly. "She's been missing since Friday."

Penny gasped and Yang had to step aside to avoid getting bumped into when she crossed the distance to seize Ruby's arms dramatically. "That's terrible! Well don't you worry Ruby my friend, I won't rest until we find. Your. Teammate!" She nodded her head determinedly to each word.

…Nope, was Yang's reaction and for once she and Weiss seemed to be in agreement when the white-haired girl motioned her head in a direction that was anywhere but here. High time we split up to cover more ground anyway now that there's four of us. Ruby will understand.

Unaware of the strategy that had been made by her subordinates, Ruby struggled to keep up a smile, trying to be polite. "Uh, that's really nice of you, Penny, but…uh…w-we're okay." She nodded quickly in what she hoped was convincing manner. "Really. Right, guys?"

She was greeted with empty space when she sought aid from her teammates who she could now see had abandoned her. Another forceful breeze blasted through where they had been a moment ago.

"It sure is windy today," Penny commented, taking an interest in the tumbleweed – the same one – bounce past them in the opposite direction this instance.

---

"You know, I think you're picking a terrible time for a trip."

Blake exhaled noisily. "Sun."

"I mean I've been around and I can tell ya that there's a reason why people are gathering here. Yes, there's the festival but that's because Vale's got the perfect weather for it! Vacuo at this time of year? Don't make me laugh!"

"I know what you're trying to do."

"Then there's all the hassle for travel arrangements. You think you're going to be able to book a flight out of here that easily? It's not just the sea lanes that are getting packed with all the incoming traffic. Waaay more trouble than its worth. And what's with those airline peanuts anyway?"

Blake chose to pinch the bridge of her nose for a reply and add a shake of her head. A better question is what was with this apparent attraction that light-haired individuals had when it came to her. The monkey faunus was still at her side even after they left the tea shop.

"In my honest opinion, you should wait a bit longer. A week or a month. I don't think a year sounds as absurd as it might seem at first. You should chill out and enjoy what Vale has to offer. Maybe hang out with your friends and pass the time by explaining your deep dark secrets that they'll totally forgive you for."

Now Blake shot him a dark look and when she uttered his name it carried a veiled threat. "Sun."

"Okay, okay!" He held up his hands defensively.

"Look," Blake began, her glare relaxing, "I'm not leaving. Not yet, anyway."

"Well that's sort of a relief." Truly glad to hear that much, Sun brought his risen hands behind his head. Though he arched back as if to stare up at the towering buildings that surrounded them, he maintained his pace alongside Blake. "Is there something else that you need to do?"

There actually is, Blake mentally admitted.

Blake wasn't leaving right now even if sense said that she should do so. She had her own savings of Lien that she gathered for such an occasion but they'll dry up pretty fast if she paid for anymore nights at hotels. Some other lodging – such as the alternatives she used when she first arrived in Vale – were inaccessible as, if anything, that would increase the risk of being located if the VPD was really on to her as people knew her there. With no other refuge in Vale, the sensible course of action would be to either barter or sneak aboard a vessel – whether it be air or sea – that could bring her to another continent and, with it, another capital.

There was something bothering her though and it assisted her in getting her out of her slump. She lost count of how many times she went over how things had gotten so messed up but she did gradually begin to focus on what inadvertently led her to ousting herself.

"You just arrived here but I don't suppose you've heard about the string of Dust robberies that have been going on, have you?" Blake asked. "There was one that happened the night before you arrived."

"Hm…" Sun knitted his brows together and at her peripheral Blake noticed how his tail curled up on itself behind him in thought. "I did find it strange that those two jokers just happened to be at the docks to chase me. Was that why you and your friends were there too?"

No, the reason they were there that day was because they were spending it as a team. They were smiling, joking, and talking excitedly about what they were looking forward to to the up and coming Vytal Festival. It was three days ago but felt longer still. The ache that Blake suppressed was still fresh though.

"No," Blake finally answered. "We came across it right before you arrived."

"And you want to…find out who's doing it?" Sun guessed.

Blake nodded. "Those same detectives were saying that the White Fang might be involved."

His spine visibly straightened at that and the quick glance he sent her way told her that he understood what she was getting at. Trying to remain cool, Sun regained his lazy composure and stared back ahead. "So what's the plan?"

A good question and Blake held a hand to her chin as she tried to think of what to do. "I still don't believe that the White Fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed that much Dust before."

Sun stopped, forcing Blake to do the same. "What if they did?"

It was a question that Blake had pondered about before. When she came to Vale, she had worried about the possibility of not getting away as cleanly as she suspected. It wasn't just Adam who could've easily guessed where she'd gone as there was only one destination that the train was going to. The best she could do was slow them down by separating the train cars and pray that they would be too busy collecting the Dust instead of catching up and giving chase to a runaway member that wasn't as deep in their operations as Adam was.

Despite her unplanned detour to the forest grounds of Forever Fall itself, she did make it to Vale in relatively short order and stayed alert for White Fang sightings. There were occurrences and the ones that were confirmed to involve the Fang she passed off as nothing. It didn't take much to cause civil unrest; that much she could attest to from personal experience. You only needed one or two well-placed agents or Fang sympathizers to dismantle something like that civil rights protest that happened the day she boarded the airship that took her to Beacon. Other than an unpleasant sense of familiarity, she didn't perceive any danger that could be directed to her.

Once she did start attending that combat school after putting her fears at rest, she put the White Fang out of her mind. It was only during the past three days that she started thinking about her group and revealing her story to Sun had her going over her last moments with it.

Even if taking a train car of Dust was an unusual amount, it should be more than enough to keep the White Fang satisfied for quite a while. She didn't know why they would turn to robbing Dust shops in the middle of Vale of all things.

But it has been almost a year and her mission was in Vale's vicinity. Even if nothing big has really come under her notice during that time…

While she mulled it over, Sun maneuvered in front of her, his hands waving and grasping what had to be the invisible pieces of a plan he was trying bring together to present to her. "I mean, the only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place that they would most likely go to if they were to do it…and not find them there." He grinned awkwardly as he sought her approval. "Right?"

Despite the rather roundabout logic, it was still logic and one that Blake found agreeable. After all, it was the obvious and only thing she had going for her right now. "The only thing is I have no idea where that would be."

Sun pounced on the opening. "Well while I was on the ship I heard some guys talking about offloading a huge shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas."

That caught her interest. "How huge?"

"Huge!" Sun held out his arms for emphasis. "Big Schnee company freighter."

"You're sure?"

Pleased at her insistence, Sun nodded enthusiastically. "Positive."

Atlas, Dust, Schnee. It was too perfect of a setup for her past to play out with the only piece missing being the White Fang. If there was ever a place that they would appear, that would certainly be it.

"Did you happen to hear which docks they were going to do the offloading on?" Blake queried.

"Day, time, and location," Sun confirmed. "As for the first two, they said it would be tonight. For the where, I can show you."

She knew what he was implying and Blake shook her head. That was too much. While she's welcomed his presence for this long, she wasn't going to have him follow her that far. "No, you're going to tell me and then stay out of it. This isn't your fight, Sun; this has nothing to do with you."

"Oh?" He actually seemed amused by that. "I beg to differ. I'm a faunus, the White Fang are all faunus, and they're giving faunus a bad name. I think it has something to do with me."

More roundabout logic but Blake wasn't going to let it slide as easily this time. "The White Fang is dangerous. I don't want to put you in danger in case they really are there." The last thing she needed was for someone to get hurt because they followed her into trouble. If there was going to be a fight, it was going to be hers alone.

"Don't you worry about that!" Sun's hands disappeared behind his back and when they reappeared, they each held what looked at a glance to be red sticks that broke in half, the pieces linked by the chains that jangled between them. "Meet Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang!"

What first came to Blake's mind were nunchuks but her experience of viewing a wide selection of exotic weapons during her time at Beacon had her instinctively making out the special attributes about these ones easily. Other than being made of metal with the red coloring broken up by gold detailing that matched the chains, Blake saw that they weren't something as simple as iron bars chained together. The curved handles, triggers, and the muzzles belonged to guns; small, lever-action shotguns to be exact. Gunchuks then, and even if it was a design she had never seen before, Blake could guess that these weapons took advantage of the recoil to perform a dangerous flurry of motion meant to overwhelm the opposition.

There was no distinguishable characteristic to tell her which was Ruyi and which was Jingu. What they did tell her though was that to use them effectively required a vast amount of dexterity to spin them without the wielder tangling them or hitting himself with them while working the triggers and the levers to not only fire but reload after each individual shot. She doubted Sun was just carrying them around for show.

After running her gaze along the pairs of weapons, Blake examined its owner with newfound respect. Clearly there was more to Sun Wukong than being a great stowaway. Having known that it was going to be difficult to keep him from coming with her or even him giving her the information unless she agreed to his participation, seeing that he was armed and potentially trained had Blake finally relenting. "Fine."

Smirking, Sun flipped them around so that one end of each was tucked underneath his armpits while he held out the other ends in front of him, the chains growing taut. "Besides, the White Fang might not appear at all and you've been worried about nothing."

Blake would like to believe that. While she may've protested against the feasibility that the White Fang were involved, the more she thought about it the greater her uncertainty became.

"It's inevitable that we would move on, Blake. Our cause is right and we need to be able to reach our goals no matter what. We've made tremendous gains but we need to go further."

I don't think it was just me that was being prepared that day, Blake thought apprehensively. Was the hijacking of the train really the start of something bigger? And were the Dust shops really a hint to what may come later?

She couldn't leave. Not yet. The last time she left, she at least made sure to do the right thing when she saved those crewmembers. Her escape plan may've required it but if she was presented with the option to leave and not involve herself in the hijacking at all, she wouldn't have taken it with the knowledge that doing so would've potentially doomed them.

Before she leaves Vale, she wants to confirm something that she was becoming increasingly fearful of: the White Fang were coming, and in their wake would be the nightmare that, to this day, she couldn't fully escape from.

She may not belong in Vale, but she didn't want to see it and its people become consumed by it either without her at least attempting to prevent it if it turned out to be the case.

---

"You know her!?" Yang nearly threw herself over the counter. "When did you see her last!?"

Weiss held back from rolling her eyes and took some relief that she was smart enough to keep herself at a distance in case they did get potential news about Blake and Yang would behave in an unseemly manner. The shushes that she received from the employees and looks she got from customers who were sitting and reading at a nearby table made up for it.

Yang ignored them though, attention fully on the elderly woman who had to readjust her spectacles when the teen nearly jumped her. "Why, I haven't seen Blake in nearly two weeks. Not since she picked up her last preorder."

It was another bookstore, this one deep in downtown and on the list that Ruby gathered from the city's interactive map although it was further down. They decided to separate from their team leader for a reason so it wouldn't do them any good to just bump into her again by arriving at the next location that she was going to.

How did she even find us anyway? Of course Weiss was referring to Penny; that profoundly strange girl she literally ran into. There was something truly off about her. Whatever, she's Ruby's problem now. Serves her right for not listening to us.

Penny's unorthodox ability when it came to locating them may play in their favor in finding Blake although Weiss shouldn't really be that puzzled. The sisters were hollering all throughout Vale so it was natural that they would attract Penny's attention. Either way, it looked like she and Yang may've gotten a possible hit for their random choice when the storeowner not only found Blake familiar when Yang showed her picture but even referred to her by name.

What potential optimism faded away immediately and Yang dropped her shoulders. "So she hasn't been around in the past few days?"

"No, I'm afraid not." Shifting her attention to the monitor at her station, the older woman lightly tapped on a keyboard and Weiss could barely make out how the tiny reflections on her glasses changed to coincide with whatever was brought up on the monitor. "She has a book on reserve but that's not due to be out for a while longer. She doesn't really stop by anymore unless she's picking something up."

"I see," Yang said disappointedly. She was about to step away only to pause and take a look around the interior of the bookstore. It was bigger than the ones they've visited previously and the number of customers who were perusing the shelves or taking advantage of the available tables and chairs alluded to plentiful business. "She's a regular here?"

Weiss assumed that Yang asked because of how far this particular store – Readers' Orchard – was from Beacon's skyport. With so many other bookstores that were closer, it begged the question of why Blake chose this one to shop and place orders at.

"Oh, she used to be more than that," the owner explained, smiling fondly. "For a time, she practically lived here. I never had a problem with it as this is a big place and I could always use the extra help, especially from one who appreciated books as much as she did."

Yang perked up at that and even Weiss had to take her own examination of the spacious store. Blake used to live here?

"She offered to work for free in exchange for a place to stay until she got back on her feet," the woman went on. "I didn't mind. Ever since my husband passed away and our son moved out, it can get a bit lonely when I close up."

It was common with a lot of these independent stores and shops. While Weiss had her family estate, she quickly learned that city residents were more limited when it came to housing selections in order to better cram human and faunus populations together. Quite often these places of work in the commercial district also acted as places of living.

The floor above may be reserved for personal use, Weiss surmised. If a family of three used to be housed here, then there was room that could be loaned out.

"This was how long ago?" Yang asked.

"Months now. She didn't stay long as she applied and was accepted into Beacon. I found that hard to believe as she was such a nice and polite girl; I couldn't think of her as a Huntress even if she had that unique sword. She was a quiet one though." The woman suspended her recollections for the moment, suddenly gaining an interest in Yang as she studied her. "Do you go to Beacon as well?"

Yang shifted uncomfortably. "Uh, yes. I'm actually Blake's partner."

"Ah, a caring one at that to be all the way out here looking for her." The woman suddenly frowned. "I hope she's not in too much trouble."

"Oh, no!" Yang waved her hands in what Weiss assumed was a pacifying manner and not a nervous flailing of limbs. "Nothing serious. She just…got lost."

Weiss bit back an urge to comment on that – both on the 'lost' part and how unconvincing Yang sounded – while the owner nodded. "Well she did seem new to Vale when she came here. It can be confusing if you're not familiar with the city. I hope you find her soon."

"I'm sure I will!" Forcing herself to look and speak with more confidence, Yang finally walked away from the counter and Weiss took it as a sign of them leaving. "I'll remind her of that book in case she forgot when I see her."

"Sorry I couldn't be much help."

"It's alright." Yang opened the door, the bell at the top chiming to signal their leaving. While she held it open for Weiss to walk through, she gave the owner a wave of farewell. "Thanks anyways."

The taller girl's pleasantries lasted as long as it took for the door to close. Once it did, she reverted to a more dejected stance as she stared vacantly at the knob and muttered, "This is hopeless."

The sightings seemed to have only motivated the brawler for as long as they could and this latest disappointment was the last straw. Between not having found Blake throughout the whole weekend and now Monday steadily reaching an end with no change in results, it was finally getting to her.

Weiss chose not to agree or disagree, busy mulling over this latest bit of intel as she wandered to the edge of the sidewalk.

The timing matches, she deduced. She took to lodging here for as long as she needed to infiltrate Beacon. Her arrival and attendance is unlikely to be chance.

"You really don't care if we find her, do you?"

Weiss turned to find Yang giving her a look with narrowed eyes that broke through the disappointment enough to make it clear that she was unhappy with the suspicion. Insulted, Weiss replied, "Don't be stupid; of course I do. I'm just afraid of what she'll say when we find her."

There was nothing but truth in them. Weiss did care about finding Blake but not for the same reasons that her other two teammates shared. It was those same reasons and the mounting evidence that had Weiss anticipating what Blake will say to them if they found her.

The fencer had done some of her own investigating without the knowledge of Yang and Ruby. Mindful of the possibility that Blake might've taken to leaving Vytal altogether, Weiss did make use of some of the resources that came with her name. Out of all methods of delivery that the Schnee Dust Company used, the sea was what they relied on the most. While geography was a factor as nearly all the human capitals had those bodies of water between them, there was also the fact that the White Fang didn't possess the means to attack such vessels during travel.

With the debacle that occurred at the Forever Fall railway line, Vale's become dependent on that specific delivery practice. It established extensive ties between Schnee Dust and the management of the city's docks that Weiss was able to use to her advantage when she requested sightings of a certain bow-wearing girl. She didn't specify who or what Blake was – she still wanted to keep that information to herself -, but they readily provided for her.

As of right now there hadn't been any sign of such a girl matching Blake's description having been seen at the docks nonetheless requesting passage out of Vale. While Weiss didn't rule out the chance that they missed her or Blake decided on something else, she was inclined to believe that she was still around when she took into account of what she's gathered so far.

The heiress had that in mind when the heels of her boots tapped against the asphalt, ready to resume their expedition but not without making a comment. "The innocent don't run, Yang."

The older sister was momentarily quiet but, much like the younger one, she had some unexplainable inclination to defend Blake as as soon as she began matching Weiss's footsteps, she said, "We don't know if she's guilty of anything right now."

Seriously, what was with them? What could possibly make them think Blake was innocent of anything? She admitted to being with the White Fang and that was more than enough. No one in the White Fang was innocent and when they've been all about killing and spreading as much mayhem as they could, there was no doubt in Weiss's mind that Blake had done something unforgivable.

I am speaking to her partner though, she reminded herself. Spend too much time with the enemy and you become sympathetic to them. She might need to help rid Yang of any misconceptions she may have for Blake. "She's said enough, Yang. She admitted to being with the White Fang."

"But not for how long or if she's even still with them," Yang retorted.

"I think her actions explain that. Someone who isn't with them or, at the very least, hasn't done anything shameful wouldn't have run off. If she was truly innocent, then there's no reason to not stay and explain herself."

Weiss was keeping her back to Yang and the brawler hadn't seen fit to walk alongside her, leaving the heiress to settle with her silence as an indication that her argument was undeniable. It stayed that way for a while, long enough for Weiss to realize that she wasn't sure as to where they were going but she soon shrugged it off as unimportant. At this stage, it wasn't so much them finding Blake that she was counting on.

"It's not that simple for her," Yang said unexpectedly. "She's a faunus, Weiss. Trust doesn't come easy for her. She might've just been afraid of how we would react."

Weiss rolled her eyes disbelievingly. "Yeah, react to her crimes. Why wouldn't she trust us, anyway? She's spent nearly a year living and fighting with us so don't you think that she would've trusted us enough to tell us?"

She barely detected Yang's slow, weary breath. "She…wanted to. I know she did. She tried to tell us."

"But she didn't. Sounds to me like the reason she might not have is because she suspected that we would react badly."

"Or because you were yelling at her," Yang replied and Weiss felt a stroke of irritation at the implication that she was to blame. "After everything you shouted at her, I can understand why she would want to run."

"Oh, so this is my fault?" Weiss returned sarcastically. "Because I raised my voice? Because I was being mean when I was informing you all of what the White Fang have done to my family?" What they did to me.

Understanding that she erred, Yang apologized, "Weiss, look, I'm sorry. I can't imagine what the White Fang has done to you-"

"No, you can't."

"-but that doesn't mean we can't give Blake a chance. We should really hear her side of the story."

"Why?" she practically growled, becoming increasingly enraged at how everyone was so blind to the obvious. "Say we give her a chance, what then? Shall we stand there and listen to her say that she lied to us? That she's killed people? That she's actually still with the White Fang?"

"Weiss!"

"No!" she snapped, body shaking with outrage. "Since you all refuse to see it, let me enlighten you to what's been going on: Blake was spying on us!"

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." Admiring the vial of red Dust that she held in her hand and the stamped snowflake, the girl's amber gaze slid up to focus on Weiss, a knowing smirk at her lips. "One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

No longer able to put one foot in front of the other thanks to this all-consuming fury, Weiss stood there and hissed out through her teeth, "She came to Vale and to Beacon so that she could infiltrate and tell her comrades all about the school and about us! And now that she's been found out, she's probably gone back to them! There's probably a whole group of them hiding out in the city somewhere, just waiting to strike! While you're all worried about looking for her, she's probably telling the White Fang everything she learned about us, helping them plan for an attack on us and-!"

Hands seized her. Weiss broke off when one gripped her shoulder and spun her around so that it and its counterpart can grab the front of her jacket before lifting her off her feet. Though caught off guard, Weiss instinctively struck at the arms only to have her hands bounce off the solid metal that guarded them. She still had a mind to voice her objections. "What are you-? Unhand me-!"

"SHUT UP!"

Weiss did but not because she was ordered to. When she looked to the face of her attacker, it was to see her at the receiving end of the pair of crimson fireballs that burned within sockets partially covered by golden bangs alight with flames of the same color. Those bangs were a portion of the blaze that had overtaken Yang's entire mane.

The heat was centered at her head, Weiss able to feel it with how the ends of those flames flicked and waved close to her, but she knew that the source was Yang's own body and Aura.  The hands that seized her jacket and bunched it beneath her chin were slightly cooler than the imitation of an inferno that was atop Yang's head. It was nowhere near enough to burn her or be considered as unbearable but Weiss could discern the rise in her own body temperature that was uncomfortable.

That discomfort was the least of her concerns compared to the seething blonde who was shouting in her face. "I am sick and tired of you judging her!"

Ignoring how she was beginning to sweat in what should be a cool spring afternoon or how the armor plates of Ember Celica pressed against her chest as Yang clutched against the handfuls of her jacket to lift and bring her close, Weiss willingly met her red hot orbs. "What am I supposed to think, then?"

"Nothing!" Yang snapped. "You don't think about anything and you don't do anything! All you need to do is shut up and actually give a damn about your missing teammate!"

"Why should I?" Weiss snarled. Seeing her struggles as futile, Weiss had her fingers wrapped around Yang's gauntlets in a show of defiance. "She didn't have the decency to tell us anything herself!"

"Let me tell you something about her then!" She pulled Weiss closer as is to give her smoldering gaze a better chance to burn into the heiress. "I know that she's been hurt! I know that whatever she's done, she regrets it!"

"And that makes whatever she may have done alright?"

"No, but I can tell you that she didn't come to Beacon to spy on us! She left it behind! She knows what she's done and she wants to do her part to make up for it!"

"So, what?" Squeezing in a vain attempt to crush the armor, Weiss bitterly asked, "Are you expecting me to forgive her? After what her kind has done to me?"

"You need to look beyond your own pain; there's more to this than just you, Weiss! Neither you or Blake wanted this war! No matter what you or others say or think, no one wanted or deserved any of this!"

The grip on her jacket loosened but Weiss didn't lessen the one she had on Yang's arms. The heat lowered to a degree while the flames receded but remained simmering. The brawler's stare was no longer as intense but her irises retained their red hue.

"I'm sorry, Weiss." Her voice changed as well, now gentle. "Whatever happened to you, I want you to know that you have my sympathies. Ruby's sorry too. She's worried about you just as much as she is about Blake."

Although Weiss maintained as much of a fierce front she could muster in her position, the pity accomplished in weakening it. The frozen glaciers that were her own eyes softened and strayed, her fingers relaxing a fraction.

"Blake's sorry too," Yang added. "It was her choice but one she's suffering from. She's stopped fighting so there's no need to continue this. Not with her."

"She made that choice." Her response was quiet but it carried a frigid chill. The glaciers that slid back to the forefront were once again hard with a reinforced layer of ice. "I was never given one because of it." Weiss's lip curled. "Whatever she may be suffering for it, I'm sure she deserves it."

The heat dropped but in a way that was negligible; like tossing ice cubes at a lava flow. It was noticed but only for the second it would take for them to melt and evaporate with the molten river hissing and bubbling in response.

Then it shot up. The air around them wavered as temperatures skyrocketed to a broiling point. Weiss didn't melt but another wave of sweat broke out on pale skin that became flushed.

Yang tore an arm out from Weiss's grasp, eyes and hair flaming with the latter throwing out fiery tendrils that were immersed in frenzied whipping. The brawler pulled back the limb, the appendage at the end forming a fist to show off the barrel that extended from the plate above her knuckles.

She didn't work the pump-action but Weiss wasn't going to find out if it was loaded nor was she going to hang here defenselessly. The hand Yang freed herself from dropped to Myrtenaster.

Before she could arm herself, Weiss landed hard on the ground, barely having the mind to keep her chin tucked in so that the back of her head wouldn't hit it even if her Aura would protect her. Her back was against the asphalt but the heiress used one hand to fix that, sitting herself up while the other wrapped around the hilt of her rapier in preparation.

Yang dropped her arm from where she brought it back but not forward, having chosen to drop Weiss instead. The one that had held the heiress returned to her other side. They both had tightly-clenched fists. Peering down at the fallen girl with contempt, Yang spat, "I don't know what Ruby sees in you! You're just a stone cold bitch, aren't you?"

This was unbelievable! Completely unbelievable! Unable to understand why this was happening, Weiss released Myrtenaster so that she could prop herself up with both hands as she screamed, "Why!? Why are you defending her!? How can you even excuse her if she ends up saying right to your face that she's done all those things!?"

Yang hesitated, the prospect earning a period of speculation as the brawler's eyes became unfocused as if they were trying to have such a scenario play out in front of them. As the seconds ticked by, Weiss began to think that she had gotten through to this oaf.

"I don't care."

The admission coincided with how ferocious crimson dulled and began to give way to tender lavenders. The gathering of flaming tendrils that was Yang's hair lost its vigor as the fire ebbed and faded altogether, leaving behind the curled gold that hung around her sedately. With a winding of gears, Ember Celica reverted to its docile form that matched the unballing of Yang's fists.

"I just want to let her know that it's okay to smile again. To laugh. That the world isn't something that she needs to be afraid of."

The change went beyond her Semblance and weapons and it was one that Weiss had never seen before. The broad shoulders of the brawler drooped and the laxing of her digits transferred to her toned arms that guaranteed tremendous power but now hung slack. That tall height of hers lost several inches as head and body became bowed.

"I don't want her to run anymore. I don't want her to feel like she needs to hide anymore."

Her downed gaze served to bring Weiss more into her sight instead of taking her out of it. Catching her eye, Yang lowered her brows and flecks of crimson danced within those lavenders to remind the heiress that she may be looking at a sorrowful teenaged girl but it was one who was a Huntress through and through. "Especially not from us."

With the fight drained from her and her subtle warning delivered, Yang turned her back on Weiss, leaving the heiress to her spot on the sidewalk. By the time it came to Weiss to pick herself up, it was due to the embarrassment when she noticed that there were people across the street looking at her.

Barbarian! she silently insulted, that same embarrassment and the bruising to her pride swallowing any shame that the blonde savage may've mistakenly thought she should feel. Why was she the one being insulted and humiliated?

Weiss purposely kept her gaze from across the street, refusing to give the peasants so much as an acknowledgement. She could hear the subtle chatter and when she stood up she could swear that she made out the name 'Schnee' as soon as the symbol on her jacket came into their view.

Stone cold…

It seemed like someone was finally getting that part at least. After a quick brush and straightening of her skirt, Weiss produced her handkerchief to wipe the sweat off her face while her skin cooled with the help of yet another of the city's breezes. While she regained her composure, Yang's warning went through her mind, the heiress able to decipher the meaning behind it.

That was fine; she was done with this charade anyway. If she was right, she may soon have no more use for Beacon or Team RWBY.

Chapter Text

"So, Blake is your friend?"

Ruby hung her head back with the idea that the next plane of existence would better hear her grievances that contaminated her breath as she replied, "Yes, Penny."

Unaffected by her exasperations – as she has been for the past hour -, Penny immediately followed up her query with another. "But you're…mad at her?"

"Yes-," Ruby caught herself, having been lulled too deeply in this routine of yes or no that she had to backpedal and make a correction. "Well, I'm not; Weiss is."

Undaunted, Penny asked, "Is she friends with Blake?"

Ruby had probably spent more time answering questions than looking for Blake but not once had she asked or thought of parting ways with Penny. While she didn't want to use the word, as annoying as Penny could be, Ruby did appreciate her sincerity to look for Blake. She just seemed to be too curious; like a little kid who was trying to obtain a better understanding of, well, everything. Ever since they were left alone together Penny bombarded her with question after question.

Thanks for that, guys, she silently referred to her insubordinate teammates. Once they deserted her, it was impossible for Ruby to come up with an excuse for Penny to not accompany her. There was just something about that earnest face that she just couldn't say no to not only in this instance but when Penny had asked if they were really friends.

Overfriendly maybe, but Ruby did think of Penny as a nice girl and splitting up would hopefully increase their chances of finding Blake. As for the search itself, Ruby did admit that Penny's questions that were born from her inquisitive nature were helping her keep her mind off of the more worrying conditions as she was voicing now. "Well, that's kind of up in the air right now."

"But why?" Penny stressed.

Where could she even begin with that? There were countless details cluttering up the matter and Ruby still couldn't even begin to sort them in a more orderly fashion. Strategy and tactics she was becoming adept at but gathering the resources needed to mediate between two teammates who were on opposite sides of a conflict that she was unfamiliar with was all but impossible. It was all the more difficult when there were so many fragments that were missing.

Knowing that it would be entirely impossible to explain it to Penny when she couldn't do the same for herself, Ruby gave her what they currently knew of. "Well you see, Blake might not be who we thought she was."

Gasping, Penny stopped moving and leaned towards Ruby, eyes wide as she quietly asked, "Is she a man?"

"No!" Ruby turned and shook her hands in negative, really feeling like she was older than she should be when she said, "No, Penny. She's…" She sighed. "I don't know what she is. She didn't exactly talk to us before she decided to run off."

For once, Penny took a few moments to process Ruby's explanation in silent deliberation. "I don't have a lot of friends. But if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things."

Ruby casted her gaze despondently to the pavement. "Me too."

It wasn't just Blake she wished would talk to them. Other than wanting to find her so that she could, Ruby wished that she could talk to Weiss as well. Having once thought that the most challenging part was over when she melted through Weiss's exterior, now she saw that there was something else hidden within her partner's interior that was so solid and cold that it hurt to touch.

Ruby hoped that some defrosting would occur by persuading Weiss to help them find Blake but not only were they having no luck with locating their missing teammate but Weiss remained unmoved. As much as the lack of results concerning both of them may've made her snappy towards the heiress, being away from her had Ruby wishing she could take it all back or, at the very least, have tried harder.

She really wanted things to work out. The last thing she wanted was to lose her team without fully understanding why.

---

Wind was not the only thing that came with a coastal city. At night's approach, a mild fog had rolled onto the docks that came with the shifting temperatures of the air and the amount of atmospheric moisture that such an extravagant body of water supplied. Throw in Vale's constant draft and it was a regular occurrence that the debilitating mist would be propelled inland.

With her chosen vantage point on top of one of the number of warehouses, Blake watched as the dock workers performed laboriously to unload the Schnee freighter of its cargo so that it could pull out before becoming trapped here. Navigation systems were all well and good but it was a safety precaution to suspend all sea-based transportation through the narrow channel that cut through the city's territory. Poor visibility and a potential error in those systems were unnecessary risks that could lead to collisions or vessels becoming beached, resulting in costly damage and whatever disruption of traffic that could last for weeks.

So, too, did all work on the docks themselves become postponed 'till conditions cleared up. While not high-priced freighters hundreds of meters in length carrying just as many tons of priceless cargo, heavy machinery such as the cranes that lined the docks could smash or drop something somewhere that shouldn't if the operators couldn't see. Even with the fog, Blake could spot a couple containers that were left dangling; the crew trusting that the durable cables would hold until morning.

It provides good cover, she predicted, scanning the deserted docks. If the White Fang were planning to steal the Dust, it was a perfect opportunity for it. Not only did they have the darkness of the night but the fog would allow them to swoop in without being spotted and take what they want if they were willing to brave through it. The only time that someone would realize that something was off would be when they went over the shipping manifest and figured out that they were one or two containers short in their inventory.

Even then such a discovery may come later rather than sooner considering the sheer number of containers that were offloaded and stacked together in several piles that dotted the area of the docks. Sun hadn't been lying about its size: the freighter they came in on was as big as regulation size allowed it to be, sporting its own onboard cranes to assist in unloading their cargo.

All from the Schnee Quarry and all mined by faunus hands.

Blake thought she actually became used to seeing the Schnee family crest what with Weiss having it marked on everything she owned, including herself. However, seeing these larger examples on the blue, red, and green crates were much different than the miniature one the heiress wore proudly on her back. Here, how it was presented so imperiously reawakened the enmity that led the cat faunus to her attendance with the White Fang before and after its change.

Our methods were wrong, she admitted. I was wrong. But so is that mockery.

Yes, that symbol was big and proud alright. While the SDC may not be the only Dust company out there, how it boasted its accomplishments so openly while masking its indecent methods sickened her. It was made all the worse with how people were so easily distracted by it. As long as they had their Dust, they didn't care how it was acquired.

Blake tried to distract herself with something else. Something that didn't tempt her with how those containers were laid out right in front of her as if daring her to do something about them when they were right in the open, defenseless.

Blowing out a calming breath, the faunus set her chin down on her folded arms. That wasn't why she was here; not at the docks or Vale. She left that fight behind a long time ago even if it refused to do the same with her. She was looking to do the right thing for once even if it meant ignoring this boasted injustice.

Unfortunately, there were few other things she could think about. While she was fine with laying here prone for several hours, Sun hadn't been as inclined to do the same. Halfway through the unloading process, he went off somewhere with the assumption that the White Fang weren't going to attack until all was quiet. It was sensible but Blake really had nowhere else to go.

She winced, the thought hitting her harder than she anticipated. Right, I really don't.

She wished that her fellow faunus was here to divert her attention to the only other topic that she could ponder over: that being what she would do after all of this was over whether the White Fang appeared or not.

She was running out of places to hide. The world wasn't really that big when you consider how few in number those safe havens were and getting fewer when it came to Blake. She could only relocate so many times before she ran out of options and by then she would have to take more desperate precautions. Maybe even change her name as Yang had joked about back in Forever Fall.

Yang…

That name served to bring up another complication that came to Blake's strategy to run: that being that she didn't want to.

It was downright comical in a sick, twisted way as to how mistaken she was turning out to be. She thought that leaving wasn't the hard part; just finding a place to go afterwards. She was very familiar on how things that have gone bad can get worse the longer you stayed. Staying ended up damaging her more than she needed to be and it was staying that could've condemned her had she not finally seen sense.

Still, it was all she had and she didn't know how she could replace it. No matter where she was assigned to go, she always had a place to return to in the White Fang. Losing that had been as painful and as disorientating as when she lost Adam.

But that was a strength that a faunus and a human possessed. No matter how agonizing it may be, pain was pain. You remember that it hurts but not how much. It was the mind's way of coping so that no matter what may happen to you you'll still be able to go on. Pain didn't make one stronger; it just teaches you how to not get hurt the same way again. And even then that knowledge could mislead you.

She remembered that the severing of the bond had been the worst she ever felt in her life and it hurt enough to leave a lasting impression on her. The flashbacks and the attack at returning to the area of her lowest point may seem crippling but it was also a condition as to how her mind and body was trying to prevent her from being harmed again. Even the wound she carried deep inside herself, as present and as real as it may be, was numbed and closed off to others as an instinctive precautionary measure. Even when Yang accidentally aggravated it and burned her, Blake couldn't remember the full extent of the agony she felt.

That's what made leaving easier. Once you found out where you wanted to go, you forget about where you've been before. No matter how much it may hurt, Blake would one day forget about all of this.

One arm slid beneath her, a tingling sensation running along the limb that came with lying against a hard surface for so long. Her fingertips lifted and pressed against the center of her chest.

…It was hurting a lot though. More than it did when she left the White Fang behind. Even if she couldn't remember how bad, exactly, it felt, she knew this because what precautionary thoughts that her mind may've concocted in response were proving ineffective in making this choice as easy as it should be.

She didn't want to leave. She didn't want to forget any of this.

So maybe she should try…staying?

What instinctive objections that came with weighty experience were shot down with what she never experienced before such as that sweet, honeyed scent that filled her nostrils and protected her from a trigger of her past. The source were the smooth, curly locks that went against her cheeks with gentle caresses and brought a shine to her day with their bright yellow color. A body that was used to being injured and cold became warm and safe because of how another held her with a gentleness that was unknown but made her feel so very secure.

She said she would listen, Blake reminisced, not with suspicion but with faith.

Yang never gave her an ultimatum. Never forced her to choose how she was to conduct her life. She always assured her that she could do whatever was comfortable for her, even if it meant keeping her in the dark when she had no reason to be. The only catch was that they remained friends and Blake would be…alright.

She's a human but she's different. This entire life I found is different. Maybe the results will be different too?

It sounded much too naïve. Even if she could prove that the White Fang weren't responsible for the robberies, what would that do? Their acts were still horrible and she helped them with it. She never killed but it seemed like such a weak excuse when she knew they were but hadn't prevented it.

…But I still want her to know.

Yang could hate her but Blake would prefer it if she did after she knew the whole story rather than just what Weiss spouted about her kind. At the very least, Blake wanted her to know that she knew that she was wrong. She may be a liar and a criminal but she was one who understood that and came here to atone for it.

She didn't want Yang's last memory of her to be running off and leaving her with the assumption that everything had been a lie. While she may've lied about who she was, what they had with their partnership…that was real. Every bit of it. Even if it was something that couldn't last between them, Blake wanted Yang to know that she savored the time they did share together.

I want to give her an explanation. After not giving her one for so long, she's earned that much. It's the only thing I can really do for her.

Sun gave her a chance and he didn't hate her. He was even helping her even if it's only been three days now and he knew nothing else except what she told him about her and the Fang. It was that thought that had Blake removing her hand from over her heart as the pain there subsided in the face of this hope that maybe-

"Did I miss anything?"

Before she could finish thinking of such an infeasible possibility that was providing unexplainable relief, Blake turned her head just in time for Sun to land on the roof next to her, arms laded with green apples. "Not really." The mission retaking prevalence, Blake returned her attention to the docks. "They've offloaded all the crates from the boats. Now they're just sitting there."

"Cool," he said absentmindedly. Picking at one of the apples, he held it out towards Blake. "I stole you some food."

Blake silently regarded the proffered fruit before switching to Sun. As supportive and sympathetic as her fellow faunus was, she really wished he put more consideration in his own actions. She was here trying to prove that her kind weren't all thieves. "Do you always break the law without a second thought?"

"Hey, weren't you part of a cult or something?"

Blake's eyes became slits of amber that glinted dangerously in the night.

The reaction had Sun angling away from her ever so slightly. "Okay, too soon."

Blake was about to inform him of just how 'too soon' it was when they were buffeted by a strong gust of wind. This was not a normal product of Vale's air currents though for they were never this fierce. That and they weren't usually followed up with the sound of jet engines.

She looked up in time to spot the pair of searchlights that sliced through the fog and gave her a way to pinpoint the hovering aircraft that they were attached to. The noise and the jet wash all originated from the engines that tilted at the ends of the thin wings as they brought the bulky fuselage over the two faunus and closer to the docks.

Blake could never mistake the shape of a Bullhead for anything else. The VTOL aircraft was a prized possession due to its reliability and its capabilities to fill multiple roles depending on its configuration, giving birth to several variants. They were a common sight in Vale and with it right over her head Blake could see that it was a standard, cargo-carrying model as, other than the searchlights, there were no chin-mounted guns that came standard with those converted to perform a combat-oriented role as a gunship.

Its accessibility made it available for private use and Blake knew that the White Fang possessed a couple of them so seeing one now made her nervous. Much like the boats and the docks, air traffic would be limited here. Its presence was not a good sign.

Blake soundlessly tracked it, Sun doing the same after dropping his load of apples. The Bullhead maneuvered itself over an open patch of space in the middle of the gathered cargo crates, the searchlights and its thrusters displacing the fog enough for the pilot to come to a smooth landing. The lights shut down but even after touching down the engines remained running, assisting in clearing the fog around it.

It was resting lengthwise so when the boarding ramp extended behind it, Blake was able to spot it and the lone figure who proceeded down it. Her breath stilling, Blake slid right to the edge of the roof, squinting as hard as she could.

He – or she – had a hood pulled over their head, hiding their face but Blake thought she could make out the metallic surface of a head covering. It matched the protective bracers worn over the long sleeves of a black, tight-fitting undershirt and, over that, a white tunic. A sash was tied around the waist and beneath that were long black leggings – Blake wondered if the undershirt and pants were a one-piece bodysuit – and boots.

It was at the back of the tunic that Blake saw it and the breath she was holding came out in a rush. "Oh, no."

When she was a child, Blake wondered about the name White Fang. For an organization devoted to peace and unity, it chose a name that was more befitting for what it would later become. It was at that moment when she saw one of their original flags being taken down and replaced with its current one that she understood the significance of the name: it was a warning.

The background of their flag stayed blue but the logo itself used to be a white wolf head, its jaws closed except for a notable fang that remained presented. Everything about it was smooth contours concerning the head and the white circle that was drawn around it. It was the picture of a fearsome animal that was nonetheless pure and docile.

The White Fang was created after the Faunus Rights Revolution. While the organization lowered their weapons and sought harmony, they didn't forget the conflict and what caused it. The selection of a wolf and its visible fang was meant to allude to how vicious it can be if it was ever provoked.

Humankind ignored that warning. By mistreating the wolf, its fangs became bared and bit the human hand that struck it. By doing so it was no longer docile, the fang no longer pure, and with that taint the wolf gained a thirst for blood that it desired to quench. Its pursuits splashed that fur in crimson that became raised and stiff, and the three claw marks that slashed across the logo was how it broke out of its circular containment in order to get back at all those who wronged it.

Seeing that symbol here gave Blake undisputable proof that the White Fang had come to turn Vale into its new hunting ground.

"Is that them?" Sun asked.

Blake wearily placed her forehead against her arms, waiting a second before she replied, "Yes, it's them."

When she looked back it was to see more of those hooded figures disembarking and Blake could see that they were in fact wearing those masks that many began using when she left. The rest of their attire must've been issued afterwards to bring a widespread uniformity to the group. All of them had that bloody logo on their tunics. One remained at the top of the ramp, directing his comrades to some cables strewn about the docks with the rifle he carried.

The anguish at seeing her former comrades having followed her here must've been obvious on her face as she viewed their activities for Sun was looking at her worriedly and quietly asking, "You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?"

"No, I think deep down I knew." Needing a break from the sight of the Fang actually here in Vale – that Weiss, the detectives, and herself too hadn't been wrong - Blake closed her eyes sadly. "I just didn't want to be right."

Forever Fall really was the beginning. Four years of contained violence and, just like the wolf they represented, the White Fang desired to spread it further. As much as she dreaded it, Blake wasn't sure how to proceed as the idea of engaging them wasn't as reasonable as it was when she tried to think of what to do in case this did happen. Her intentions she stated to Adam just before she severed their cars was that she wasn't going against them; she just couldn't be with them anymore.

"Hey! What's the hold up?"

Blake's eyes snapped open at the call of the latest arrival who chose to exit through the Bullhead's side exit rather than the rear ramp. Although clothed in white and black, this person's red-collared white suit stuck out within the crowd of Fang members. Instead of a hood he wore a black bowler cap while a gray scarf was tied around his neck. Other than how a section of his orange hair had been purposely lengthened and positioned to hide his right eye, there was nothing to hide his identity.

Clutching a cane in his black-gloved hands, the man approached the faunus and Blake could hear his annoyed instructions. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals pick up the pace?"

Not only was he not dressed in a uniform but he didn't have a tail. If he had any faunus ears, the hat would've hid them. That didn't matter though because Blake knew who he was.

Roman Torchwick. Everyone in Team RWBY had become at least familiar with him as not only did their leader encounter him but he was a notable specimen of the criminal underworld. Described as a certifiable sociopath and anarchist, he had a laundry list of crimes that included armed robbery, murder, and possession and trafficking of illegal arms.

He was also human.

The White Fang members didn't object or make any sign of protest. Instead, they went on with what with they were doing complete with the added haste that he stressed.

Blake was barely aware of her mouth dropping open and she struggled to regain control over it. Shaking her head as if doing so would expel this warped reality from her sight, Blake spoke, "This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human." She stood up, determined. "Especially not one like that."

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Ignoring Sun's bewildered question when she slid the sword portion of Gambol Shroud out from the sheath, Blake jumped off the roof, landing on a hand and knee before running towards the stacked crates that separated her from the thieves. When she slipped between the rows, she slowed to a cautious prowl, aware of her brethren's enhanced senses that could oust her. She was going to have to make this quick.

It wasn't about finding out if the White Fang were responsible or not anymore. To get an answer to why they were here and why they were working with a human of all people, there was only one person who could tell her and one way to make him do so. Remembering where she last saw him, Blake carefully navigated through the labyrinth of containers, pausing and making sure to check if there were any Fang members nearby or not looking in her direction when she had to cross through a visible break in her cover.

"No, you idiot!"

It wasn't difficult to locate Roman. When she did think she was close, she heard another one of his insults that got her attention and her growing ire. Peeking around the corner of the latest crate, it was to see him standing in front of a masked faunus, hands and cane held behind his back.

"This isn't a leash!" he sneered, referring to a length of tow cable that the member carried.

It was the insult and the opening that got Blake to act. Speeding out from the crate and towards her target, Blake grabbed the back of his suit while she positioned the edge of her weapon right against Roman's throat.

The man in question stiffened, reflexively stretching his neck out in response to the blade at his jugular. "What the-?" Eyeing what he could of Gambol Shroud, Roman attempted to turn enough see the face of his attacker and, this close, Blake could make out the dark green eye that spotted her beneath the long bangs that covered it. Rather than become worried, Roman actually sagged while muttering an agitated, "Oh for fu-"

"Nobody move!" Blake ordered, interrupting him.

The faunus who was carrying the cable dropped it when she appeared, trading it for the sword that hung from his sash. Other nearby White Fang members who saw the commotion ran forward with not just swords but at least two rifles that were pointed directly at Blake.

"Woah!" Roman exclaimed, possibly as much to the White Fang as it was to Blake as he was just as much at the end of those gun barrels and sword tips as she was. "Take it easy there, little lady."

The ninja surveyed the opposition that, to her disbelief, had actually come in the defense of the human who had moments ago been degrading them. That might just be because they didn't know who she was. Making a split-second decision, Blake released the fistful of Roman's suit so that she could lift her hand and tug her bow off, letting the wind carry the thin cloth away. With her faunus ears on full display, Blake cast her gaze on her former comrades before shouting, "Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?"

Their reaction gave her hope. Once they saw her ears, even their masks couldn't hide their surprise. At her question, they all traded looks with one another, appearing uneasy. The weapons that were directed at her slowly lowered.

Maybe there was some kind of big mistake. Even with what she saw previously, their reluctance to even brandish their armaments now that they knew she was one of them had her believing that she could convince them from…whatever it was that they were doing.

Before any of them had the chance to tell her what that was, there came a chuckle from her captive. "Oh kid, didn't you get the memo?"

Roman's nonchalance and demeaning tone worked to get Blake to add a bit of acid to her own voice. "What are you talking about?"

Continuing to look completely at ease with a razor-sharp edge at his throat, Roman replied cheekily, "The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together."

An impulse to inspire a bit of panic in that indifference had Blake performing a miniscule rotation of her wrist in order to shift Gambol Shroud enough that Roman had to crane his neck to compensate, his easy grin vanishing and being replaced with what Blake wanted to believe was the emotion she sought to invoke. Whether he didn't have a developed Aura or she managed to catch him with it down, there wasn't that sliver of resistance that she should be feeling between her weapon and his neck.

The edge was touching the thin layer of skin that was all that was between it and the arteries beneath. Even if he did activate his Aura, Blake was already inside its boundary. All it would take was a quick motion of her sword hand and he'd be on the ground with a growing pool of red forming around a twitching and gurgling body that would soon be a corpse. It was while mentally playing that scenario that Blake threatened, "Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation."

As if summoned by her words alone, the roar of engines and the resulting gale heralded the approach of another aircraft with Blake reflexively ducking her head. Within her grip, Roman shouted in order to be heard over the noise. "I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation!"

It wasn't another Bullhead; it was two. Having foregone the use of their searchlights, it was only with the newly-arrived aircraft hovering right on top of them that Blake saw them. These weren't the transport variants either as the guns that were absent from the first arrival were clearly presented to the faunus on these; big, multi-barrel guns that promised a hailstorm delivery of powerful rounds.

Blake was only able to stare with wide, shocked eyes and, despite herself, her blade drifted from Roman's neck. Not only was this not a minor operation, this was something that was originally unimaginable! Reliant on assassinations, sabotage, and other methods that could be accomplished with limited personnel, the White Fang had never been able to bring such hardware to bear in such numbers before.

The uniforms, the weapons, the gunships. She was looking at the beginnings of an army!

So caught off guard by this discovery, Blake didn't notice how the end of a cane was discreetly pointed at her feet until the ground exploded directly beneath them.

---

Corbin and the others of his group turned to what sounded like an explosion and, high above the warehouse, they could barely make out the plume of smoke that was stretching towards the sky.

Looks like there's been a snag, he thought sourly.

"Should we go see what's the matter?"

Although they all wore what has become a standard-issue uniform and helmet of their organization, faunus didn't strictly need sight to identify each other. Enhanced scent and hearing can be sensitive enough to distinguish notable differences in body odor and voice patterns that can become recognizable if a faunus was in the company of another for long enough. So when one such faunus did speak, Corbin was able to identify the deeper pitch and slight rumble that he had come to attribute to Medius.

Corbin shook his head. "No, we have our orders. If we run into any complications, we are to fortify the southern approach and delay any of the police who are called in."

Medius nodded albeit reluctantly and Corbin predicted what he was going to say next. "Not like this is our plan to begin with."

Deep down, Corbin felt for his brother-in-arms. No, this wasn't a plan that had been fully established by the White Fang alone. It may've been approved by their leadership and their target was the hated company that was Schnee Dust, but what was to be done here was not strictly for their benefit as it was for another.

Keeping his own displeasures to himself, Corbin tried to get Medius and the rest of their comrades to focus on their part. "They're counting on us. We're only doing this for the good of our cause and the good of our brothers who we're guarding while they complete their portion of the mission. Establish your positions."

That proved to be effective at least. Half of his group of a dozen men broke off to make their way to the warehouse they'd been dropped in front of that coupled as a distribution center where cargo was stored and loaded onto trucks that would transport all that product throughout the city of Vale. Such open roads that allowed trucks to go out were also a good avenue of those who wanted to enter the docks and that was what they've been assigned to obstruct.

For the good of the cause, he reminded himself. The rifle he held and what he now worked the charging handle of was a testament to what kind of good has come to the White Fang that overshadowed the indignity of how they acquired it. This included working with that Torchwick man.

Humans had a saying: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Much like anything else that was said by them, it was one laced with deceit and Corbin was no fool. By no means did he consider that vile piece of garbage a friend; just a temporary business associate. He wanted Dust, the Fang needed funds and equipment, and they could give each other what they wanted for now.

While the guns and other weapons they acquired weren't top-of-the-line, they were much more than what they used to have in the beginning as they had to make due with improvised armaments with the more prominent members being given special treatment. Never had Corbin expected to be graced with something like air support or a squad that was his to lead.

Yes, the White Fang was growing. Soon they'll have no more use for that business associate of theirs and they could stop running errands for him in order to move on to their true targets. Corbin took a moment to inspect one of them; this city that has become the latest site of the reckoning that would come to all humankind. For far too long they've deluded themselves into thinking that life was perfect and their cities were impenetrable. They were about to get a rude awakening.

Just as Corbin was about to turn away and lead the rest of his men to the next building to form their planned crossfire, something caught his eye. While he understood the protection and anonymity that came with their helmets, he still tended to curse at how the small slits restricted his vision. It was their sight that gave them an advantage so why debilitate it?

As obstructed as it was, Corbin was still able to make out the figure that was rushing towards them. His gaze piercing through the night and the fog, the first thing he made out was the cape that flapped behind them and beyond that…his eyes became huge with alarm.

A peculiar style of clothing, an unconventional weapon – there was no doubt about it. He turned back to his men to warn them. "We've got a Huntress!"

A tremendous crack of gunfire resounded through the night and when Corbin looked back it was to see that the meddler was much closer. Close enough that he could make out the young features of the girl, the crescent-shaped blade of a scythe that was much too large for her, and the soles of her boots that were on a direct course for his helmeted head.

---

Yes I am! Ruby mentally crowed when she felt the impact. Her victim reared his head back, helmet and the rifle he carried flying in opposite directions of his body that hurtled into one of the truck trailers that were parked in front of the warehouse.

While Ruby didn't know what she would find when she left Penny behind to look for the source of the explosion she heard and the smoke that was emitted because of it, running into masked individuals carrying weapons was usually a dead giveaway of nefarious villains doing nefarious things.

The blade of her scythe dug and etched a line into the asphalt before finally catching and ending her momentum. It happened to do so right when she got into the middle of this group of people. Not including the one who she just took out, there were five in total and it seemed all they could do was stand and stare as if needing a few more moments to figure out that it was a girl with such a gigantic weapon that was standing before them.

When one did come to his senses, he began to lift his sword but he and his comrades were given an entirely different reason to freeze when Ruby tilted and pointed the muzzle of the integrated sniper rifle at him, the young leader working the bolt-action to chamber another heavy round.

She didn't fire though. Much too close and even if they did have an Aura – the first one had an active one at least - she didn't want to test it to see if it would be strong enough to take a powerful shot from her weapon at this distance. So after making one tiny shift, Ruby pulled the trigger.

She didn't hit him but her target did jerk and stumble with a hand to the side of his head; the combination of the bright muzzle flash, the loud bang right in front of him, and the heavy round displacing the air right next to his head leaving him disoriented. While he recovered, Ruby used the recoil to smack the blunt side of Crescent Rose into not one but two of his buddies to send them scattering across the lot.

Three down, three to go, Ruby counted. She used the remaining momentum to carry her scythe up and then down in a hammer-like motion that pounded the edgeless frame into her previous and not-quite-recovered victim into the ground. Two to go.

One of them – another rifle-bearer – didn't share the same concerns that she did when it came to firing at close range; the barrel of his gun less than three feet away from Ruby's head when he pulled the trigger. It wasn't close or fast enough as, with another thunderous report, Crescent Rose sent its wielder out of the line of fire. Before her opponent even had a chance to readjust his aim and follow her, Ruby was already speeding back, her next shot spinning her and her weapon like a twister that ended when he was picked up by the latter and sent high into the air, his flight ending when he plummeted back down to Remnant.

Only one left. Replanting the blade of her scythe into the pavement, Ruby rested her back against the shaft, her stance as easy as her grin that she directed towards him. All he had on him was another of those cheap, puny swords that seemed even moreso when he took in his defeated comrades and the fifteen-year-old who was responsible.

"You could give up," Ruby suggested.

He did look rather unsettled but the proposal served to wipe it away when he bared his canines – which appeared exceptionally pointy in Ruby's opinion –and then he was lunging at her, sword coming down. Gripping the shaft of Crescent Rose in both hands, Ruby ducked her body down and manipulated it over her head, blocking the blade.

The man pulled his sword back and then swung low and horizontally. With that same hold on her scythe, Ruby hoisted herself up so that it passed right beneath her feet. Whether the third time would've indeed been the charm or not, neither were going to find out as when he did prepare for another strike, he was interrupted when another recoil-assisted blow sent him out of Ruby's sight, the now ownerless sword dropping in front of her as if a memento for her to remember him by.

The fight officially over, Ruby took a moment to inspect the area around her while she returned Crescent Rose to its resting place at her back, the scythe reverting to its more compact form. So these guys are White Fang?

Two of her defeated foes had fallen in a way that showed off the symbol on their backs that Ruby had quickly become familiar with during her brief research concerning the all-faunus group. Her curious nature getting the better of her, the cloaked girl went to one of the downed members. It was the one who she had taken out first and had come to rest at the trailer that she kicked him into.

The reason he caught her interest though was that his helmet had been removed, revealing an older but plain and unscarred face that one would not expect to find behind such an intimidating mask. Silently inspecting him, Ruby actually thought she made a mistake and he was actually human until she realized that the hood – still partially covering his head – was in fact hiding a pair of extra ears. When she knelt down to fully pull it back, it was to see that they were rounder than his human pair and covered in dark brown fur in contrast to his hair that was a lighter shade. They were similar to ears that one would find on a bear.

But without them, they really look just like us, Ruby contemplated with a hint of distress. Why would anyone make such a big deal out of such a minor difference? They had an extra set of ears, so what? If Blake really did have cat ears, it was just a matter of hiding them and then she wouldn't appear as any less human than any of them.

That didn't mean Ruby was thinking any less of her now that she knew she was a faunus. Her motivation in finding her was the same and as worrying as it was to see the White Fang here, she hoped that Blake was here too and she was trying to stop them instead of helping them. After all, something was going on at the docks.

And that something was making a lot of ruckus as Ruby heard more explosions similar to the first coming from behind the warehouse building. Straightening, Ruby pulled Crescent Rose from her back, intending to join in until a tingling of her Aura had her standing stock-still.

Danger. It wasn't just physical harm that a user's Aura protected them from. Its shielding capabilities and enhancing of attributes extended to an augmentation of sensory perception to the point where a Huntress will be able to develop a so-called 'danger sense' that was set off by the presence and intention of others who sought to harm them whether Grimm or otherwise. Basically it was like how people felt like they were being watched even if they couldn't see anyone but more exact.

Not around me, Ruby deduced, mind working frantically. No one else at the street level. Which means-

Above her. The warehouse. Able to guess how she was about to be attacked, Ruby tensed her legs.

A sudden thought came to her and had Ruby hesitating long enough to kick the unconscious bear faunus at her feet beneath the trailer before she leaped back at the same time there came the shattering of glass, the noise nearly drowned out by a gun firing at full-auto. A trio of rounds struck her high, her Aura deflecting them away but the kinetic energy of the impacts persisted in sending her spinning.

They were actually going to shoot their friend! she thought disbelievingly. She pulled the trigger of Crescent Rose, her baby flinging her clear before she took anymore hits.

The gunfire continued with the volume increasing as another joined in. Ruby rapidly played Crescent Rose, producing those bursts of speed that had the slugs slamming into the ground where she would be for a moment and then she was somewhere else.

Even as she evaded her mind was working. They had the high ground; a second group that had been setting up while she fought against the first. She couldn't go around because not only would it be longer but it was unwise to leave the enemy with such an advantageous position, especially when she may have to deal with them either way as they still had a commanding view of the docks behind them.

She was a Huntress, meant to fight Grimm instead of people, but some of the do and do nots still applied for combat situations no matter who her enemies may be.

So, coming to a decision, Ruby reversed direction, no longer retreating but advancing towards the warehouse. They were high up on the second floor but that didn't stop her as, with one mighty blast from her scythe, Ruby was flying up towards one of the broken windows where she could see how one of those masked and hooded faunus was frantically trying to load a fresh magazine into his rifle.

He barely had time to slam it home before witnessing the little red reaper coming for him with scythe swinging.

---

With both sets of ears ringing, Blake pushed herself up from where she had landed face down on the ground after being sent hurtling back. She shook her head, trying to clear herself of the daze that fell over her.

When she looked over her shoulder, it was to see Roman holding his cane up with the end and a flipped-up targeting reticle pointed directly at her.

She was moving just as there came a bang followed by the whistling of a giant red flare that shot towards her, rolling away so that it exploded behind her. The sound of another discharge had Blake continuing her roll, dodging two more shots in the same manner while she retrieved her dropped blade in the process.

With Gambol Shroud in hand, Blake brought herself to a crouch and turned to Roman. Any plans to bring the fight to him were put on hold though as the criminal kept his weapon trained on her and launched another salvo of whistling flares, forcing her to retreat with a series of handsprings. They exploded around her, the faunus able to feel the heat and pressure of each detonation.

Too close! When her feet next touched the ground, Blake added an extra bend to her knees to leap back with the aid of an afterimage that was left behind to be hit and swallowed up by a fiery projectile.

That was one of the only distinguishable 'weaknesses' that came with her Semblance. While the clones born from shadow and Aura weren't really her, they possessed enough substance to react as any live person would to what may strike them during the short amount of time they existed before fading away. It was a good way to trick an enemy into thinking they managed to land a blow on her, leaving them open for a counterattack for that split second. However, there was always something disconcerting at seeing a copy of herself perishing in such a way with the knowledge that, if she hadn't been fast enough, it could've easily been her.

They guarded her from being reckless though. Between how quickly Roman could get off such shots and how they left a stretch of the docks pockmarked with craters, it'd be foolhardy to try to come at him head-on. She still felt some slight disorientation from that sneak attack and she didn't want to find out what a direct hit would do to her.

Blake sheathed Gambol Shroud and ran to the Schnee-branded crates, seeking cover after one last blast exploded at her heels and caused her to stumble. No, the best strategy should be to evade and use her surroundings to get in close. Between what she remembered Ruby telling them of her encounter with Torchwick and what she's seen so far, he preferred to stand back and take on any opposition from a safe distance.

If she can engage him in close quarters, she was confident she could take him.

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty…"

It was those feline ears, unobstructed by the bow she tossed aside, that caught the snide remark and Blake gritted her teeth as she stayed close to the crates as she sought a good angle of approach, keeping them between her and Roman until she decided to attack. I'll be coming for you soon.

There came a new voice though and this one served to replace her building anger with distress. "Leave her alone!"

Sun! She forgot all about him! Her careful movements became a desperate rush for the nearest gap of the stacked cargo to see what was going on.

It had to be some kind of hallucination; a sight that should only exist within the most perverse of illusions.

One of the gunships opened its side hatches so that the uniformed and armed faunus it was carrying could jump out, joining the fight in an acrobatic display of flips and rolls that ended with them on their feet and weapons in hand. Sun was their target, the monkey faunus having intervened when Blake had briefly withdrawn. Although completely surrounded, his features were hard with determination rather than weak with fear as he surveyed the opposition.

Roman stood securely within the lines of the White Fang, grinning evilly. "You are not the brightest banana of the bunch, are you kid?"

Whatever surprise or misgivings that the White Fang had shown to Blake was absent when they charged at Sun, the first one to reach him armed with a sword in each hand. Sun struck first, throwing a punch that connected solidly against that mask and turning the faunus's head perfectly for the backhand that the monkey boy drove into it with the same fist.

The next one came at him from behind, swinging at his exposed back with another blade only for Sun to tilt his body away to let it fly harmlessly past before spinning in place to build up the momentum that had his tail whipping against his adversary's uncovered chin. At the same time, he sent a spinning kick to the face of another, knocking both of them down.

Blake's assessment of Sun's potential skills was proving valid with the ease in which he batted them aside, the metaphor becoming more literal when he pulled out Ruyi and Jingu Bang. Rather than gunchuks though, the two weapons combined to form a bo staff nearly six feet in length that he smashed across the stomach of the next affiliate of the Fang, sending him flying before spinning the long weapon over to do the same to another.

The relief that she should be feeling at her friend's skillful presentation failed to free Blake out of this stupor that had her standing there, wholly immobile thanks to the one thought that kept repeating in her mind. This isn't right.

Everything had only gotten worse since she spoke that aloud when this madness began. Faunus attacking faunus. The White Fang complying to the orders of a human without protest. Why was this happening? …How did this happen?

Blake never got an answer to the first question but she believed she found one for the second. She leaped up to the top of the crate she was hiding behind in order to get a better view over the brawl.

Roman remained at the sidelines, leaning comfortably against his cane while he admired the scuffle in a way that someone would when watching a dog fight; taking amusement in the senselessness of the act except for the frown that came when another of his game dogs was taken out. There was no concern or care, seeing each loss as an inconvenience and nothing more.

Disbelief gave way to blinding rage as it was that sadistic visage that Blake became fixated on. It was a face that she had seen all her life whenever a human looked down on her and her kind, that face that she sought to persuade or force to change, and it was that face that, even after all this time, remained present to take delight in this confirmation of how faunus were really nothing more than animals meant to serve their betters.

He caused it all. He brought the White Fang here. He was responsible for forcing her to leave not only this life but the one before.

He. Ruined. Everything.

Sun flipped and landed with his feet firmly planted on the spine of the last of his adversaries. A strong kick sent his opponent flying over to Roman, the well-dressed man ducking to let the flailing body fly over him. With his minions defeated and seeming insulted that he was to dirty his hands, Roman extended his cane and fired at the monkey faunus.

Now! With Gambol Shroud clutched in a white-knuckled grip, Blake leapt from her position after Sun spun his staff in front of him, creating a makeshift barrier that had the brightly-colored missile exploding harmlessly against it. Before he had a chance to respond when the smoke cleared, Blake landed in front of him, roaring, "He's mine!"

She unsheathed her blade to properly wield both portions of Gambol Shroud in each hand. Then, with a battle cry, she launched herself at Roman.

The human acted to her assault in a fashion she hadn't expected. Instead of retreating, Roman stood his ground, holding his cane as if it, too, was a blade positioned to perfectly block her sheath that was meant to split him in two. No matter its sharpness or the power that came with her fury, the cane held strong against it and Roman swung his makeshift weapon towards her head.

Instinct and training saved Blake from this unexpected development, ducking under the blow before retaliating with an upwards slash. Again did Roman not only bring his cane to ward off her sheath for a second time but also flip it around for another counterattack that she barely intercepted with her sword.

His unforeseen proficiency in close quarters was only feeding Blake's aggression and desire to see him fall at her feet. A combined strike of sword and sheath knocked his cane enough to the side that Blake created an opening to speed in with her Semblance, her thinner weapon cutting a line across Roman's torso.

That was what she wanted to happen anyway. That resistance that had been missing before was here now; the protective layer of an active Aura that Blake's weapon slid against, leaving even Roman's clothing undamaged. When she spun on her heel and boosted towards him again with the assertion that this next strike would break through, she was foiled when her human target recovered fast enough to bring his cane back into play.

The failure had Blake wishing she had made use of the opportunity when it wasn't there. She should've cut his throat when she had the chance. End his existence right then and there. He wouldn't be standing here right now. This fight of theirs would've been over before it even began and Blake could've tried to talk some sense into her brothers and sisters, convince them from whatever deceit they were the victims of that had them attacking one of their own and following this villain's orders.

She was doing everything she could to correct that mistake as she struck at Roman from all sides, body twisting and flying with the assistance of her clones while her weapons sliced at him from all angles. Yet each attack was soundly deflected, the man having adapted to her fighting style to the point where he was even striking back and forcing Blake to dodge such as a sudden palm strike that she narrowly avoided with an afterimage that took the blow in her stead.

Her onslaught ended when he hooked her sword with the curved handle of his cane, manipulating it out of the way so that he could then drive that handle into her ribs. Even with her Aura, the energy behind the powerful jab had her folding over it. Roman took full advantage of the break, the cane mercilessly impacting against her chin and getting her to stagger back. Far from done, he stepped after her and Blake was soon reeling from a resounding crack across her cheek. An effort to recover was rewarded when that cane smashed down into that space between her shoulder and neck, sending her to the ground.

Even when falling Blake still caught the flash of a white shirt and blue khakis as Sun joined in, kicking Roman away from her as he took her place to fight him.

No, he's mine! she mentally repeated. She struggled to her feet, the throbbing pain of where Roman struck her doing little to debilitate her. Each bruise was one that she swore she was going to pay him back for by tenfold, their presence a badge of shame that got her blood to boil due to how a human such as that had been allowed to hit her.

Sun had broken his staff into the separate sections that were his gunchuks. In his hands they moved at hurricane speeds, the short shotguns twirling and spitting out fire while they battered at Roman's defenses. Amazingly, the man easily met each attack, his cane not only slapping aside Ruyi and Jingu Bang but catching whatever rounds were shot from them. The two enemies each stood tall as unwavering models of offense and defense, neither giving ground while waiting to see who would outlast the other.

It was with them engrossed in their contest of strength that Blake took a moment to prepare to strike. She slid one foot back, her weapons held in front of her. Her hatred demanded that she attack now but she held herself back. She let it gather in the muscles that tensed in preparation for a window that she could release it all through, an accumulation of fevered passion that both strengthened and threatened to devour her if she kept it in for too long.

This is all…

Sun tossed one of his gunchuks in the air while he whirled around with the other, beating it hard against the cane in a bid to break through and leave Roman defenseless when he caught it and slammed it down towards the criminal.

His…

Roman remained unyielding, the monkey faunus's efforts being rewarded with a chuckle as he knocked aside both attacks. It was that chuckle he issued and how his weapon strayed too far from his body that Blake struck.

FAULT!

The clone that Blake left behind was a temporary monument to her freed malevolence, built from the disgust and loathing that twisted its features horribly. By the time it vanished, Blake was on Roman, those black emotions transferring to her swing that sent the sword piece of Gambol Shroud flying towards his unprotected chest with the intent of carving out that withered, pitiless thing called a heart.

Alas, his Aura remained steadfast and while Gambol Shroud did land true, it only accomplished in sending Roman soaring away and ending with his back colliding and sliding along the docks.

Blake was ready to proceed with what she desperately wanted to do next. She was going to make sure he never got up again. Pin him down and press both pieces of her weapons against him until they finally tore through that mystical obstacle and leave them free to perform the messy incision that would only end when he ceased living and she would witness the proof of his demise when she saw for herself how-

What was she thinking?

Blake nearly dropped Gambol Shroud in the wake of the alarm that came in response to her gruesome fantasies. Hers and hers alone. The imagined horrors were a product of her own thirst for grisly retribution that would come with the death of this man and any other wretched creature who had no right to call themselves living beings with how they treated others because of one dissimilarity that they believed made it okay to treat them so lowly.

In front of her, Roman stood up and pointed his cane not at her and Sun but above them. The crack of another discharge had Blake snapping her head up in order to follow the flare that was fired and she barely had time to realize that she and Sun were standing right under a crate held aloft by a crane before it was falling after being blasted free.

Blake flipped backwards, managing to get out of the way just in time before the container impacted with enough force that the ninja felt the ground shake beneath her feet. She checked to see if Sun made it as well.

He did. And his dive brought him right at the feet of Torchwick.

"Sun!" she called out in warning just as Roman directed his weapon down, the savage grin promising that he wasn't going to miss this opportunity for a point-blank shot.

But before he could there came an unexpected shout and Blake felt her cat ears twitch in its direction. "HEY!"

---

Ruby spun Crescent Rose in her hands, jamming the tip of the blade into the warehouse roof to better establish the dominance that her position provided after clearing and claiming it for herself. It was with this vantage point that she inspected the scene before her.

Definitely White Fang, she identified, the multiple figures she could see down below wearing the same white tunics and hoods like the sentries she had taken out. Her gaze drifted up. And they got air support.

She saw two of the Bullheads sitting at the docks but there were more flying around and it was those that worried her. The ones on the ground she theorized were after the cargo but the ones high above must be meant for support whether it be to drop off more troops or provide some firepower. They were going to be tricky to deal with.

First things first. Her attention went back to the docks. Blake, Blake, Blake…

A fight had certainly been taking place here as a lot of those uniformed bodies were on the ground, unmoving. The smashed crate in the middle was what caught her interest and a quick survey had her spotting a very familiar silhouette wearing an apparel of black and white and wielding a well-known pair of weapons. Blake!

Ruby couldn't stop the smile even if she wanted to, overjoyed at finally finding her. Regardless of how the circumstances can be taken right now, the young leader was inclined to believe that Blake was here to stop whatever was going on, especially when Ruby saw who else was present.

"Oh hello, Red! Isn't it past your bed time?"

So we meet again. Ruby's brows lowered severely at seeing Roman Torchwick waving up at her. A monkey faunus – she recognized him as being the stowaway they saw in Vale – was using the moment to withdraw, having been at the business end of that tricky cane before Ruby's shout distracted them all. Is he here helping Blake?

Any explanations could be made later. She found her teammate and it was her job to get her home safe and sound. If that included taking on Torchwick, she was fine with that and she silently swore that things were going to be different from their last encounter. No stupid tricks this time.

"Ruby, are these people your friends?"

Ruby spun around, eyes widening in surprise when she saw Penny standing right behind her. When she had taken off, she told Penny to go and get help as she was worried for her safety. What was she doing here? "Penny, get back!"

There came a whistling noise from below that was getting closer and even before she was turning to see what it was, the sound invoked a sense of déjà vu from the cloaked girl. It was only seeing the bright red imitation of a star coming towards her that Ruby remembered where she saw it before during the second it took to collide right into her.

It was remarkable with how so much occurred so fast in that one moment. At first there was only a wave of pressure that came with the detonation against her Aura. Then there was intense heat as what felt like a bonfire was instantly lit at her chest. Ruby screamed as she was flung one way while Crescent Rose went the other.

Deaf to her agony, that conflagration – having gotten through her Aura – ate away at the cloth of her blouse, seeking the skin beneath and whatever was underneath that.

Ruby felt the results of it finding what it wanted for a brief instant and then everything went black.

Chapter Text

"Ridiculous."

Ruby swiped at her bangs, the sweat having plastered them to her forehead so that she could better look at her partner incredulously. "Wanting to help people is ridiculous?"

The two girls had decided to take to one of the dueling arenas for this afternoon; a rare moment for the both of them as Weiss had done away with a test in a third of the time that her professor intended his students to use and Ruby was given a break from one of her leadership courses after she and the other team leaders were given an in-depth lecture and analysis on general defensive formations that were used and praised by Hunters today for their flexibility when it came to being applied no matter the diversity of the teams. The focus on academics for today must've made the younger girl restless and Weiss may've been similarly influenced enough to agree for some sparring.

It was after their latest round that they took a seat on the bleachers – Weiss refused to just drop and sit so shamelessly on the arena floor as her partner had done – where Ruby voiced a concept that Weiss felt compelled to address. "Helping people isn't ridiculous. Doing so without having to kill anyone is what's ridiculous."

"But we're training to be Huntresses," Ruby argued. "It's one of the reasons why I want to become one. We're supposed to fight and protect people from monsters. We're not supposed to fight other people."

"That doesn't mean you never will," Weiss pointed out, the time they've spent together and her becoming accustomed to Ruby's naivety having built up a tolerance for it. It – and possibly her tiredness after their sparring - kept her tone easy even if this was a lecture meant to have Ruby see sense. "You yourself fought those criminals that were robbing the Dust shop and that was before you even started at Beacon."

"But I didn't kill them; I didn't need to."

"That was a straight-up fight against opponents who were much weaker than you. Just like how we won't always be fighting Grimm, there will be situations that won't be that simple. Someone doesn't need to be strong to point a gun at another's head and threaten to shoot them. The best strategy would be to make sure they can never pull the trigger in that instance or any other ever again."

"You mean kill them," Ruby translated with a frown.

Weiss shrugged. "It's very difficult for a dead person to shoot a gun."

"There's always other methods though. Policemen are the ones who take care of criminals but they always try to find a peaceful solution. They try to negotiate and convince criminals to give up instead of just outright shooting them."

"Until they're given no other choice."

"But that's when they don't have any other choice. There's always other options, Weiss. We have options, too." Other than dabbing at the sweat at her face, Ruby was doing the same with Crescent Rose. The scythe currently in its folded, blocky form, the younger girl had it resting on her lap to better run the towel along its surface to wipe away what stains her sweaty hands may've left behind and the dirt that may've collected with slamming it around everywhere. "Fighting those robbers made me realize how strong I am when compared to others and it's that strength that'll let me defuse situations without anyone dying."

There were many different ways that this argument could go and almost all of them would lead to pointless ramblings if Weiss was to try and give a specific example of an unwinnable scenario and Ruby, true to her childish ways, would pick at it to find a way to win. Deciding against a pointless route, Weiss kept it general and, more convincingly, factual. "Again, it doesn't mean you'll never run into a situation where killing isn't the solution. If we never have to kill then wars wouldn't be so costly."

"There isn't a war going on though."

There was a response that immediately came to mind but the heiress held it and the resentment that it would've come equipped with back. Instead she replied with a hint of irritation, "There doesn't have to be one, you dolt. You fought weak enemies but there may come a day when you'll fight one who's as strong or even stronger than you. And when you do fight it'll be a life or death situation that only ends when either you or them are dead. During such a time you can't let something like mercy get in the way; it'll only distract you."

Ruby lapsed into silence, the towel stilling in her hands while her eyes stared unblinkingly at it. Not feeling as victorious as she thought she would, Weiss occupied herself with Myrtenaster. Despite having engaged with Crescent Rose, there were hardly any nicks or cracks on the blade; proof of strength of the durable alloys and latest forging techniques that went into the creation of such an elegant yet lethal weapon. A couple of the Dust cartridges, on the other hand, she could see were on the low side.

The fencer flicked at the lock with her thumb and carefully broke open her rapier so that the extractor wouldn't fling the cartridges out of the rear of the cylinder completely and instead leave them sticking out enough that Weiss could remove the ones that were running low and place them in her pouch. She could refill them later and right now she settled with loading full replacements one-by-one. As slow as the process may be, Weiss never concerned herself with a way to make reloading faster as her stamina and Aura wasn't up to par to go through more than one load of Dust.

That could always change later, she thought. It was too soon now but if she did end up sticking with Beacon for the full four years, she might need to think of a way if she did end up improving that much.

It was when Weiss replaced the last one that needed it did Ruby say, "It's not like I really think I'll be able go through my entire life without killing anyone. I'd like to and I will always try to find a way to do so but I understand there's a difference to what I want and what may happen."

Weiss put a hand on one of the metal prongs that acted as the guard to lift the blade until there came the click of the lock reengaging, firmly clamping it and the cylinder back in place. When she looked back at Ruby it was to see the girl setting the towel aside but her gaze remained on her weapon.

"During my first week with the other leaders we were told of the risks by our instructor," she explained. "One thing he said was that if we were to ever engage in such a fight, we have to remember that our opponent has willingly accepted the risk of dying in combat just as we did. We may prefer to fight Grimm but dead is still dead no matter how it may happen. Either way our objective is to avoid us and our teammates from meeting such a fate."

The heiress quietly examined her partner, that distant look that she had on her young features making her appear more mature and more like the leader of the Huntressing team that she is. It was that look and moments like these that reassured Weiss that she could exert enough trust when it came to following a girl two years her junior.

"Have you wondered about why I use a scythe, Weiss?"

Weiss blinked at the unexpectedness of the question. "It's a weapon that you wield with exceptional skill so isn't that enough?"

'Exceptional skill' came naturally and Weiss found that she meant it. As wild as Ruby's fighting style may be, she had to admit that there was some kind of connection between her leader and her weapon that went beyond what Weiss had with Myrtenaster. For Weiss, her sequences and forms had been drilled into her muscles so that she could perform them instinctively, without thought. It allowed her to free her mind so that she could concentrate and draw on the power of her Dust to unleash her spells.

For Ruby, she was able to perform with an unpredictability that Weiss would have to admit that she didn't have. Not only did she swing that massive scythe around, but she twisted and bent her small body around it in a way that had Weiss swearing that there were instances where she couldn't tell if Ruby was wielding Crescent Rose or Crescent Rose was wielding Ruby. It let her react and counter in ways that Weiss didn't expect yet seemed completely natural and fluid to her partner. Many a time Weiss thought Ruby left herself exposed but when she went on the attack, she would maneuver herself away and bring Crescent Rose to bear in her place.

With her young age yet all that skill she possessed now, Weiss couldn't even imagine how powerful Ruby will become when she got older.

"Ozpin called it one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed." Holding her scythe delicately as if such a thing had suddenly become a fragile possession, Ruby brought it up in front of her. "When Uncle Qrow introduced me to the scythe, I thought it was big and even a bit scary. But I was excited because such a big and scary weapon was perfect to slay big and scary monsters."

An inelegant but accurate description that Weiss had to agree on. Unlike the other big weapons that trainees wielded like Nora's Magnihild and Cardin's mace, there was something about that large, crescent-shaped blade that inspired an added degree of intimidation that Weiss would never admit but nonetheless wasn't immune to that the blunt head of a bludgeoning weapon couldn't contend with. Halberds and claymores made little difference as they may have the size but not the shape of the steel that expressed how they were specifically meant to mow through any and all obstacles with one sweep. There was a reason why 'scything' was its own term and Weiss had viewed Ruby demonstrate it on multiple occasions during Grimm hunts.

It was that blade that unfolded as Ruby unveiled its true form. She rested the long handle against her shoulder which served to accentuate just how much bigger the weapon was when compared to its wielder.

"I did ask why Qrow decided to teach me," Ruby spoke. "Back at Signal, I used to be horrible; I couldn't fight with anything. Then the top scythe-wielder came to me and decided to train me in everything that he knew. While I was happy with how well I took to it, I did wonder why he would teach me of all people in such a cool but deadly style. There had to have been others who would've been better choices."

She beamed up at the head of Crescent Rose with a smile of admiration and...longing. Not in a romantic way as Weiss picked up to there being something different but no less sentimental.

"He told me that I was the perfect choice," Ruby revealed. "I see the scythe as a weapon to do good and protect people despite its appearance. He said that was something that has become lost over the years. A long time ago, all of us were once united and worked to protect each other. No matter what weapons we used - whether it be hammer, sword, or scythe -, they were all meant to act as a shield for defense. We've strayed during the dark times, fighting each other more than the Grimm, and with this peaceful era he hopes that we'll be able to go back to what we once were."

She hugged Crescent Rose, one hand idly trailing along the handle. "I want to prove that Crescent Rose can protect people and that she's not just a weapon meant to kill. Killing, as Qrow said, has become too commonplace. People have come to depend on it as a viable option. It's a danger that a scythe exhibits the most and one that he believes I can overcome through restraint. If there's one thing I know about Crescent Rose, it's that once I swing it's hard to stop her and the damage she can do is a lot so I want to make sure to be as good as I can be to take care of every single one I take. I don't want to become comfortable with killing."

There was no critical rebuke from Weiss, the heiress instead quietly observing how Ruby treated her weapon. A weapon that can inspire terror and create wholesale destruction but a weapon that Ruby was embracing as if seeking to protect it from those corrupting views that people had for it. Slowly, Weiss looked down at her slimmer weapon and how it rested across her lap.

"Sorry, I guess I kind of got weird there," Ruby apologized, smiling sheepishly at Weiss although her hold remained on Crescent Rose. "I just want to make the world a better place and I believe I can do that with not only Crescent Rose but you and everyone else too."

Weiss didn't reply. With one hand wrapped around the hilt of Myrtenaster, the other slid underneath the blade so that she could gently lift it up from her legs.

"So why did you come to Beacon, Weiss?" Ruby asked.

Weiss again said nothing, staring at her own cold eyes that were reflected back at her and the risen braid of flesh that went down the left one.

Ruby frowned with concern. "Weiss?"

---

Corbin came to with a spasm of limbs, a shot of adrenaline being injected into his system to wake him up when his restored consciousness was joined with the sound of gunfire. Any actions that he should undertake were delayed because of his spinning vision, all thanks to the pounding located at his skull.

The question of why his head was hurting and what he remembered last was explained in a rush as his memories came back to him. His team was meant to slow down any police officials that were to arrive, they were attacked by a Huntress and-

That was a Huntress? he asked himself, the pale and very young face popping up in his mind. That girl had to barely be a teenager but she was carrying around that scythe, had moved faster than Corbin could react, and if the throbbing was any indication, she was much stronger than she looked. Strong enough to knock off his helmet as when Corbin held a hand to where the pain originated, there was no steel layer that usually came with it.

Setting aside his own discomforts for now, Corbin examined the surrounding area and, to his shock, was greeted with the sight of the scattered bodies and weapons of his comrades. Were they dead? There wasn't any blood anywhere and he thought he saw one of them twitch but he couldn't be sure.

More gunfire was produced, close but up high. The warehouse. He must not have been out long; a few minutes at most. Enough time for the Huntress to deal with his group and then engage the second that took up positions in the building.

It was the idea that the rest of his compatriots may be in danger that got Corbin to move from…why was he under a trailer? Ignoring such a trivial thing and explaining it away as having come under it when the Huntress kicked him, Corbin focused on arming himself and rejoining the fight.

There was a rifle nearby, whether his or someone else's he wasn't sure but he struggled to reach it. Slowly sliding out from beneath the trailer, the bear faunus attempted to get to his feet only to have his legs buckle and drop him to his hands and knees. He really did get hit hard, may even have a slight concussion. He hadn't felt any lumps or other exterior signs of injury when he checked his head but that didn't mean anything. Being unable to balance himself, this headache, and his swimming vision were more than enough to point him in that direction.

It wasn't going to stop him and Corbin focused on this need to arm himself. Taking it slow, Corbin gradually crawled on his hands and knees towards the discarded rifle, the thought a lifeline that helped him from succumbing to this dizzying pain. When he was close enough, he reached out and grasped the butt of the weapon to drag it towards him.

It didn't move. It felt heavy for some reason and the faunus tried to tug on it as hard as he could to no avail.

It took him longer than it should've to realize that the reason that he couldn't move it was because a high-heeled boot had been placed on top of it, applying enough pressure to leave the gun immobile. When it finally dawned on him, Corbin followed the boot up, eyes trailing up the material which gave way to pale legs and a skirt that was really part of a one-piece dress. A jacket was worn over it.

It was after passing the apple-shaped necklace that was resting on her collarbone did Corbin reach her face.

He knew her. There probably wasn't a faunus in the White Fang who wouldn't be able to recognize her on sight even if they were the victim of a concussion. Hair as white as snow and done up in an off-centered ponytail. Eyes that were as frozen as Remnant's northern, arctic continent and just as ruthless. A scar crossed down the left one, tarnishing her otherwise smooth and noble features. Though the top and bottom half of the imperfection were misaligned, how straight and narrow they were implied either a blade or something else that was as sharp and precise having sliced through the skin to leave behind such a fine mark.

As if by its own volition, his mouth moved and his lungs donated enough air so that her name could be passed through it. "Weiss Schnee."

The heiress of the Schnee Dust Company had her brows lowered and eyes narrowed to broadcast cold enmity. At the sound of her name, a corner of her lip curved up, the alteration to her features that was the result encouraging a chill that went down Corbin's spine.

"That's right," Weiss confirmed. "Here I am."

Before Corbin had any time to react, that boot that kept the rifle pinned in place shot up and slammed into his chin, his consciousness leaving him once again.

---

=Five Years Ago=

Something was wrong.

The day was as normal as any other. While the various maids, butlers, and other hired help went on with their jobs to maintain the mansion, Weiss had taken to the privacy of her room with sheets of music that she received from her singing teacher. Those sheets represented a milestone in her lessons as, during the past months, her teacher had stuck to developing the girl's singing through breathing techniques and controlling the pitch and tone of her voice to not only reach but maintain a wide range of notes no matter how high they went.

Her instructor was an experienced performer, having only recently retired from the stage but not from singing itself. Other than the thrill that came from being able to study under an actual singer, it was a famous one who Weiss's father admired and her albums could be heard echoing down the halls of the manor. While Weiss was motivated to develop this talent of hers, the idea of it being her voice that would one day travel through the halls because it could be something that her father would love to listen to gave her that extra incentive.

It was with that dream in mind that Weiss set the sheets on the music stand that had been lowered to accommodate her short height. They would remain there and she would stay standing in front of them until she could not only memorize but deliver every lyric with flawless performance. She came prepared as there was a pitcher of water and a cup on top of the nightstand next to her bed. Even if it went empty, she'll just make a quick call to one of the maids to refill it for her.

The pitcher hardly drained a quarter before Weiss was interrupted by a noise that clashed harshly with the melody. It was a noise that was unusual to the quiet atmosphere that came with such a large residence: that being a slamming door.

The yelling that came afterwards was no better and Weiss became anxious upon hearing it. Not only was it loud and angry, but the heiress recognized it as none other than her father. She couldn't make out what he was saying but she knew it was him even if he hardly ever yelled.

As nervous as hearing it made her, it didn't dissuade her from investigating. Abandoning the music sheets, Weiss pulled open the door and hurried to the stairs. Her room was on the second floor of the mansion and despite its large size, additions were still being made to it as, even one floor down, Weiss could see how the east wing was closed off for renovators to perform the final stage of the remodeling on the third floor.

That wasn't what concerned her though. Hands gripping the banister, Weiss peeked through the rails in time to see a pair of shadows that were disappearing down a corridor that would lead to the western end of the mansion. Her father was heading for his study then; a place he usually went to after coming home.

"Why am I only hearing about this now?"

Weiss reflexively shrunk back. Her father was no longer yelling but he was still angry and it scared her. What happened?

Another voice, one she didn't recognize, replied with slow hesitance, clearly as nervous as she was when it came to her father. "We couldn't confirm anything at the time. While his disappearance seemed out of the ordinary there was no real cause for alarm. Then we got the letter."

"What letter?"

Weiss didn't get the chance to hear what it was as they moved out of earshot by then. For a while all she could do was stand there, clenching at the steel rails during this indecision of whether she should follow or not. Curiosity ended up prevailing over her fear and Weiss descended the stairs with a rush. Her small, bare feet padded nearly soundlessly against the marble tiles of the entrance hall which appeared so big and empty. Other than the pretty crystal chandelier high above, the rest of the decorations were minor and rather sparse such as a few portraits and valuable trinkets that had been collected and put on display.

Weiss again hesitated, this time at the mouth of the hallway that her father and whoever he was with went down. Despite how far it stretched, they weren't in sight and Weiss probably waited long enough that she wouldn't be able to be spotted if she followed them. Overcoming her leftover misgivings with the assurance that she was a Schnee, Weiss quickly but quietly went down the hall.

A maid came around the corner, her head turned to where she came from. She looked worried and didn't notice the tiny heiress until she nearly bumped into her. Weiss was fast enough, deftly moving around her while the servant stumbled and then straightened herself.

"Miss Weiss, wait!"

She ignored the call although, like her father, the maid's panicked tone and her features creased with worry accomplished in adding to this feeling of something bad having happened. It was always calm in her home, the servants themselves enjoying what the Schnee residence had to offer. One of them graced her nose with the scent of roses, the cause being a nearby window that was partially open to let the fragrance of the nearby bushes waft in. Their petals were white of course to better match the color scheme that the Schnee family preferred.

Weiss began to pick up the muffled rumblings of conversation as she drew closer to the door that she knew to be her father's study. No matter what adjustments were made to her home or how many rooms it may possess, it was still her home and that would never change.

For her inconvenience though, it was one that possessed thick doors meant to thwart eavesdroppers. It didn't stop Weiss as the heiress tentatively pressed her ear to it, trying to make out anything that she could from the inside.

No amount of thickness could stop the enraged shout that broke through. "They did WHAT!?"

Weiss jerked her head back, eyes wide with surprise and terror at the sheer amount of vehemence that infected the outcry. It had her looking back down the hall, that terror prompting a desire to leave that came when a child didn't want to be around when their parent was angry. The heiress swallowed it down nonetheless and placed her ear back against the solid slab of wood.

The vocal vibrations that had the door trembling in the most subtle way against her hand and ear had to belong to the other man who was talking fast. She could only catch a few snippets though.

"…delivered this morning…DNA…"

Then came her father and his raised tone let her catch more. "Who was responsible for this?"

"...letter…Fang…"

"The White Fang are nothing but a batch of dissidents! Minor annoyances easily ignored!"

The White Fang? The name meant nothing to Weiss, having never heard of it before. They were involved though and she had to assume that they were the ones who were troubling her father. Her ear slid along the door as if repositioning it would allow her to hear better.

It didn't and her movements instead made the following statement of the mysterious man completely inaudible. Even when it was her father's turn to make a reply, she could only catch the end of an inquiry.

"…alive?"

"…recording…murdered."

The next time Weiss removed her head from the door it was due to the loud banging and crashing of something breakable being smashed against the floor. Even when no longer flush against the door, she heard him.

"AND NO ONE'S BEEN BROUGHT TO ANSWER FOR THIS BARBARISM!?"

Weiss went back to her spot.

"Nothing like this has ever happened before!" came the distinct response. "This has taken everyone by surprise!"

Her father didn't immediately reply but Weiss thought she could hear something. It took her too long to realize that it wasn't just the door but the floor that was tremoring and when she did the door was swinging inwards and Weiss was falling with it.

"GET O-!"

The order was interrupted when Weiss cried out. While falling, it was to be met with her father's knee when he stepped out to better demonstrate his incomplete order with finger pointed. The kneecap was perfectly positioned to connect with her cheek and suddenly she was on her rear, hand going to the pain that blossomed there.

"Weiss!"

Hurt and scared at being caught, Weiss kicked her feet against the floor while the hand that wasn't attending to her cheek assisted in her efforts to get away. She was shaking her head, about to tearfully utter however many sorries it would take for him to forgive her for listening in but he interrupted her.

"No, no, no! Weiss, come here!" He caught her immediately, bending down and scooping her up from the floor. He held her tight against his chest, one hand stroking through the lengths of white hair that flowed freely down her back. "I'm sorry. That was an accident."

While comforted by her father's affection, Weiss still caught someone leaving his study, using the distraction to swiftly retreat from the area. Weiss ignored him, not wanting anything to get her father mad again and instead returned his hug, injured cheek rubbing soothingly against him.

"Let me see." He tucked a finger beneath her chin to tilt it enough that he would be able to inspect her face.

Weiss resisted his efforts, keeping her cheek firmly in place. It hurt but she didn't want him to worry about her. Not when proving that she was strong could make him feel better. "It's alright, papa. I'm fine, I promise."

Fortunately he chose to accept it, his hand moving away to resecure his hold on her. Weiss relaxed in his embrace, happy that he wasn't yelling anymore and would've enjoyed just being here with him and feeling his fingers comfortingly running through her tresses. Nevertheless, there was something bothering him and with him having become calm she thought it safe to ask.

"Papa, what's wrong?" Weiss asked gently, her own arms gripping him tight in what she hoped was a similarly comforting manner. "What happened?"

His hand paused in its stroking but only for a moment. He curled some strands of her hair around his fingers, his thumb rubbing along the back of her head. Weiss waited as patiently as a child could but, even if she was a Schnee, she didn't have that much patience and soon asked, "Why were you yelling?"

He took a deep breath, Weiss's head moving with the motion. With his thumb stilling, he finally spoke, "Its Uncle Horace. He's gone."

"Gone?" Weiss repeated.

Horace wasn't her real uncle but he and his family were close to the Schnees as he was her father's best friend and most trusted aide. They visited the mansion a lot when they were invited over for dinners and get-togethers and Weiss would visit their place almost as frequently.

She liked those times when she went over. Their house was smaller but it was more than enough for them. While Weiss's father did have a small taste of a 'normal' life before Schnee Dust really got off the ground thanks his father, Horace and his family remembered how they were before the benefits that came with being confidants of a growing dynasty. Horace's wife even taught Weiss how to sew as that was how they took care of clothes and other belongings to make them last for as long as possible instead of throwing them out.

They had a daughter who became Weiss's friend: Aurora. She had bunk beds in her room with the bottom one reserved for Weiss when she slept over. It hadn't originally been made for her though; someone else used to sleep in it. There was once another girl, another daughter, who was part of the family but she was sick and had been sick since she was born.

Weiss never met her; she was 'gone' before she could. They were happy to have her though and assured her that she wasn't intruding by sleeping in her bed. Her presence may've even made it easier for them.

But now another loved one was gone.

"He was taken away," her father explained. "Some bad people took him away and killed him."

A heavy knot was twisted within Weiss's stomach at that. She wasn't stupid; she was twelve after all and a bright child who had always been told that one day she would do the Schnee name proud. Adults could try to protect her as her father was doing but she knew the significance of words like dead and killed. But hearing the second and being told that it happened to someone close to her…it just didn't seem like it was real.

The next question she asked seemed so simple and lacking that it may've sounded downright stupid, and yet it was the only thing she could say. "Why?"

"Because they're monsters," her father replied. "They think they can do these things and then hide like the cowards they are."

Weiss found herself agreeing with that description as how else could anyone have done such a horrible thing to Horace and his family? They were always nice to her and shown nothing but love and respect for each other. Only monsters would ever think that any of them deserved to die.

There came a tug at her hair and the young heiress winced as her father splayed his fingers along her head, the strands of hair curled around them being pulled painfully while her cheek was pushed further against his chest. The added pressure caused the small bruise there to sting.

"Don't worry, Weiss." The arm around her grew tighter. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Weiss squirmed, her father's embrace starting to hurt. "Papa."

That bitter tone was back and, with it, Weiss's fear as her father promised, "They'll all pay for this."

---

=Present=

Why did Weiss Schnee want to go to Beacon?

She was to inherit a billion-Lien company that was supported by mankind's dependence on the most valuable resource that it mined. Because of how it was so vital to their civilization and the growth that Schnee Dust had been able to achieve in such a short amount of time, there was nothing but continued progress that was expected to be made by the company. When she became the next head, Weiss would be just as rich and powerful as her father and grandfather with future opportunities allowing her to expand her supremacy.

There was nothing but luxury that would be achieved through such anticipated expansionism so why would the heiress wish to attend a combat school – reputable as it may be – when her future was already set for her? Beacon would not teach her how to run a business or familiarize her with the careful manipulations that came with dealing with politics.

There were a number of typical theories that could be reached and, perhaps, did apply to the heiress to some extent. Considering that she could easily hire her own private combat instructors to train her at home, one would believe that she came to Beacon for a more public showing of her skills. Everyone knew of her forebearers and their accomplishments but Weiss had only just begun. To become known as a powerful Huntress and to graduate as a top student to the top combat school was a good way to start and develop her reputation.

While not business-related, her accomplishments would prove that she was not someone who was only graced with a fortuitous birth. She had integrity and it would do well to let her handle the challenges that would come with administering her company. More advantageously, not only would she be succeeding with her own gifts but also with her company's assets. She would demonstrate to all not just her competence but the excellence that came with a Schnee product that let her accomplish so much.

It was sound. It was logical. It was even true.

But it was not the answer.

The answer was something so simple and straightforward that no one would think that the reason why Weiss Schnee would come to Beacon was really the same reason that everyone else had.

She wanted to fight monsters.

She just happened to know that the Grimm were not the only monsters that needed to be fought.

Weiss was looking down at one now. It was a monster who tormented her throughout her childhood. It was a resident of the shadows and dark corners that children would be fearful of even when it was nothing more than the results of their own overactive imaginations.

For Weiss, it had been so very real. That day five years ago was the day that she understood that monsters did exist and that they were out there waiting for her to take that one misstep that would have her tumbling into their domain. And until such a blunder was ever made, they settled themselves with stalking and preying on everyone who was associated with her.

Horace had not been the first and his family was not the only one who suffered. There had been more and during her months in Beacon there was probably another who had been abducted or outright shot or blown up in public. No matter the security or other protective measures that were made, there would always be some weakness or gap that would allow one of them to slip through. That was all that was needed to open up another grave.

Each success further enraged her father. As the first true heir to Schnee Dust and being trusted with a legacy that had only just begun, it was his duty to make sure it prospered. To have it threatened as it was with the war that had been declared by another party, he became determined to show that the Schnee name was unshakable and uncompromising.

Her home became a fortress. Contact with friends had been severed so they would not be used against her. Her singing and other talents would be used as a front to present how life was as normal as could be and that the Schnee family remained undaunted despite the threats and attacks that were made against it. All she had to depend on was herself while her father brokered deals and contracts that were meant to better arm them and make sure that the next assault made by their enemies would cost them dearly.

There had been no one there for her. There was no one for her to turn to. When she cried at hearing another person dead because of her name, when she heard her father lost in another episode, she had done so in an empty cage with no explanation as to why it was all happening.

It was never going to end. She was promised that those responsible would pay but they still continued. She was told that nothing would happen to her but, in her place, others would suffer.

That was when she made a plan of her own. No longer would she remain at the back of the chessboard while her pawns – her subjects – were taken out and the knights, rooks, and bishops were unable to properly retaliate. She wasn't going to wait until there was no one left between her and her enemies.

It was the queen's turn to take to the battlefield.

Her previous training was meant to prepare her for her entrance into not only Beacon but the war that she would be free to participate in. She removed herself from the safety of her base and her grades, her reputation, all of her triumphs would carry one specific message:

Here I am. Come and get me.

And when they did reach for what they thought to be the delicate neck of a songbird, they would instead find the talons of a raptor poised to tear them apart.

She knew her message may not be passed along as quickly as she wanted it to. Vale was a perfect place alright which included a lack of a suitable White Fang presence. She wanted a year but it could've taken two or maybe all four. As disappointing as it may be, she could take comfort that each delay would allow her to become stronger for when the White Fang eventually came for her. They had to. She was Weiss Schnee after all; the one they really wanted.

Her plan wasn't without complications though. She didn't become a leader but that turned out fine as RWBY can still become a renowned team. Besides, being a subordinate did have its advantages as she could act with potentially greater anonymity than she would if she was leader. While the idea had come to mind to turn any team she may command as her own fighting force, she dismissed it entirely. Too many have died in a fight that should've been hers to begin with and while she could use the team to bring it to her, she didn't want Ruby or anyone to participate in it.

Then there was her most recent and unexpected problem that occurred when she became at ease with this peace that Beacon had given her along with her freedom. It brought a disciple of the Fang right at her side without her knowing and at first she had been too disgusted with herself for letting it happen to pick up on the significance of the development: that being that the White Fang would arrive sooner than she anticipated.

And what do you know. Not even a year had gone by and here it was: the day that she had been waiting for.

It was the day where she could draw Myrtenaster as she did now. It was unhurried but her grip at the hilt was tight with the expectation to deliver the blade and her vengeance with lethal efficiency. Once it fully cleared her sash, Weiss lowered it down, the pointed tip tapping against the concrete.

She savored this position for a moment longer before she removed the tip from the ground and brought it to the beast's neck.

All it would take was that extra ounce that would come when she flexed her arm to cross that needed inch to complete the deed. There was no Aura to stop her and her rapier's sharpness would pierce through without so much as a pause. When that blood came gushing out, the stain it would leave behind on her blade and the ground would verify to this animal's kind that they were not untouchable and Weiss was not weak. If they wanted her they would have to be prepared to fight and she had no intention of losing.

Weiss would make them pay. If she had to, she would kill every last one of them if it meant getting them to understand that they can't do such evil things anymore. No one would suffer anymore, no one would have to die without knowing why, and no one would have to ask the unanswerable question of why someone they loved had been taken away from them.

All it would take was one tiny effort and she could make them all stop.

….

…So why was she hesitating?

Weiss stood where she was, motionless. Her arm and her weapon didn't so much as tremble. She stared at where the point of Myrtenaster touched the bare neck enough that there was a small indent made in the soft, yielding skin.

Her vision wandered. Moving along the pavement, it focused on a tiny object that was within reach of her foot. Gingerly, she stretched it out to touch and roll the casing enough so that the picture of the snowflake that was labeled on it was visible.

Myrtenaster soon drifted and Weiss pried her gaze away from the bullet casing to take a look around the rest of the area. There were casings belonging to bullets of smaller calibers but it was the larger ones that caught her interest. With them were gashes made in the ground that Weiss knew had to have come from a heavy, curved blade gouging it.

Ruby's been here, Weiss deduced. She was here and… She performed another scan. …and she didn't kill any of them.

There were bodies but not corpses. A few had broken bones, limbs that had been bent at odd angles, but none of them had been cleaved apart or split open. They were still breathing.

Dammit, Ruby.

Weiss cursed at her because it had to be her leader who was responsible for this unwillingness to do what had to be done. As much as she was convinced that she had to, the thought that she was about to kill someone who Ruby spared…bothered her.

Why didn't she kill them? A child she may be but she wielded such a fearsome weapon that was meant to kill everything in its path. Ruby had shown no quarter to the Grimm, slaughtering them in droves. Before Weiss's eyes she had seen packs of Beowolves torn to ribbons without pause.

Because she doesn't want to kill anyone, Weiss recalled. She wants to help people. The fencer looked down at her own weapon.

It was nothing like Crescent Rose. Myrtenaster was thin and elegant. Whereas the scythe was frightening, the rapier was graceful.

But just like Crescent Rose, Myrtenaster had an owner who sought to use it for a purpose that went against its appearance.

She doesn't understand, Weiss told herself. She's still such a child. She doesn't get it but she will when she gets older and realizes how brutal the world can be. And in this world there are people who deserve to die.

Weiss understood that and when she turned back to her original target it was with renewed conviction that had her raising Myrtenaster back up to his neck.

But like before she hesitated.

…They really did look human. With this one lacking his mask, Weiss could see his rather plain face. Even when she took note of his inhuman ears, what became significant was that human face that was calmed with the loss of consciousness. It wasn't contorted with hostility.

It wasn't like Weiss ever had a real problem with the faunus in general. She didn't trust them as who knew which one was an agent of the White Fang but she didn't hate all of them. The only ones she hated were the ones who merited it. They weren't people; they were monsters just like her father said and monsters were meant to be slain.

She's done enough of that in Beacon. She's frozen various specimens of the Grimm and shattered them into pieces, set them ablaze and turned them into ash, pierced their organs, obliterated them in every way that she could. What she had to do here didn't even require a fraction of such an exertion.

But they're not Grimm.

Why would that even matter? If anything, they were worse. Grimm were true to their nature and never tried to justify what they did. An Ursa didn't disembowel you and tell you that it had the right to do so. A Taijitu didn't hiss how the life it was squeezing out of you was one you didn't deserve before it would swallow you whole. Boarbatusks don't trample you and inform you over the crunching of your bones that you had it coming. They were just animals following their instincts.

The faunus of the White Fang were those who've gone rabid and their madness led them to believe that it was okay to kill innocent people. The only solution was to put them down.

…This wasn't how she imagined it though. When she did imagine a day like this, she did so with the fantasy that they would be coming at her by the dozens, howling and cursing her name. The threats of ending her life in whatever macabre manner that they would bark out would be cut short when she cut them open. When they fell at her feet, it would be with the gratification that they knew they underestimated her and would think twice before deciding to come for her or anyone else again.

"Get up…"

This faunus had been reaching for a gun when she found him. She should've let him pick it up. She should've let him take his shot at her. It should've been when the gun ran dry and she was still standing before him that she should've sent him off to the afterlife with the knowledge that it was a mistake to ever go against her.

"Get up."

The faunus didn't get up, didn't even wake up to her demand or to the blood that trickled down his throat. Myrtenaster nicked the skin but not on purpose. It was shaking and that was because Weiss's hand was shaking.

"Get up!" Weiss ordered. She whirled around on the others, still unconscious but it didn't stop her from screaming at them. "Get up, get up, GET UP!"

What were they waiting for? She was right here! Weiss Schnee! Why weren't they getting up and trying to kill her? This was their chance!

Forget it! Why did it matter how they died? They'll be dead and they won't be able to kill anyone ever again. She may not know what these faunus have done but that shouldn't matter either! They were all guilty! Even if Ruby came back and saw what she did to those she spared, Weiss shouldn't care how her partner may look at her!

It was all going to be worth it in the end. Even if she killed and kept killing until the White Fang ceased to exist, it was all for the best.

If it can put a stop to all of this, wouldn't that be fine?

Growling, Weiss refocused on the bear faunus. She drew her arm back, Myrtenaster coming with it, the rapier aiming for the same spot but, this time, she swore it was going to stab through.

…Wouldn't it be alright?

The growl became a scream and Weiss closed her eyes before throwing her arm forward.

Myrtenaster flew…spun…and bounced as it landed on the ground. The Dust cartridges were undamaged as the weapon rolled away, the metal prongs rattling against the lot before it came to a rest.

Weiss fell to her knees but her arm remained outstretched after having hurled her rapier away from her. Her breath coming out in shaky gasps, the heiress brought that hand back to place her palm over her eyes.

I'm sorry, father, she apologized. You have a weak daughter.

She couldn't do it. Despite how this faunus and everyone like him had it coming, despite how it was her duty as the Schnee heiress to pay them back for all they've done while she remained safe in her castle, despite all her preparations and desires for this moment, in the end she just couldn't do it.

Her hand fell away, hanging weightily at her side. She moved sluggishly, her strength having been as depleted as her resolve as she slowly got to her feet. When she looked down at the faunus, it was not offence that was directed at him for being alive but disappointment at herself for letting him live. It was nowhere near enough to motivate her to pick up her weapon and finish what she started.

Even in the midst of defeat, she was aware that while she lost one battle, another was raging nearby. She heard the chattering reports of gunfire going off in the warehouse but it stopped shortly after she arrived. The tumult of a more distant but no less violent conflict told her that there were what had to be more of the White Fang deeper within the docks.

They came for the shipment, Weiss surmised, her suspicions and her connections having led her here when she learned about the Schnee freighter that was to arrive. At least something had gone right.

Maybe she'll find it in her to do it. Maybe the heat of battle and an actual threat on her life will chase away her troublesome reluctance to kill an unarmed and defeated foe. She could still succeed with her own plan.

And if Blake was with them?

Weiss never came up with an answer for that. After retrieving her weapon, the fencer looked up at the warehouse with the intent to summon a glyph that would propel her up to the roof where she could get a view of what was going on at the docks. Myrtenaster froze in mid-raise and Weiss blinked. What is…uh oh!

Weiss turned and sprinted out of the way just as something – no, someone – landed with enough force that the ground shook and broke beneath their feet, fissures splitting open the solid concrete to create long, jagged lines that extended around the impact zone. Weiss actually felt one open up beneath her trailing foot and it was that and the miniature earthquake that had the heiress tripping and falling.

She reacted accordingly, turning her fall into a roll that ended with her crouched and facing the new arrival, Myrtenaster held across her in case they proved to be an enemy. No such attack came though, the person straightening within the miniature crater they created before stepping to a more flat surface.

Weiss saw the pink bow in their ginger hair and her brows flew up in recognition while her rapier was lowered. "Penny?"

The girl had knelt to set down a load that she had been carrying in her arms. At hearing her name, she spun her head around to meet Weiss and the heiress nearly took a step back. Short as their interactions may be, Penny always spent them with a wide, goofy smile on her face.

She wasn't smiling now. When Weiss saw her freckled face, it was to see a severe expression with a deep frown and those usually bright green eyes tight and dark. It was an expression that Weiss would never imagine on such a perky girl and seeing it startled her.

It didn't last long for once she recognized who it was that called her, that wide smile was back and her eyes lit up with delight. "It is a pleasure to make your reacquaintance, Weiss!" She tilted her head. "Your hair looks wonderful tonight."

Weiss didn't respond, having switched from Penny to what she laid out on the ground. A short body clothed in red and black with a cape partially draped over their form. It was-

"Ruby!" Weiss hurried over, Penny reacting by looking down at the younger girl who lay unmoving before standing up. With the ginger-haired girl between her and Ruby, Weiss stopped, looking at what she could of her leader before focusing fully on Penny. "What happened?"

"Explosive impact," Penny informed, her smile shrinking while her gaze became unfocused. "A rather odd weapon. By all appearances it resembles a tool meant to facilitate balancing while walking but the unstable appearance of the projectile and resultant detonation implies a Dust crystal or something of similar nature imbued within it." A pause, then, "I don't think the primary function is meant for walking."

Weiss stared at Penny incredulously, hardly understanding what the girl said – or that she was even capable of such vocabulary – but able to figure out that someone had attacked her leader. "Was it White Fang?"

Penny shook her head. "No, it wasn't White Fang."

That didn't make sense and Weiss needed a second before asking, "But the White Fang's here aren't they?"

She nodded. "They are."

"But they didn't do this to Ruby?"

"They did not."

Again Weiss was struck into silence. That didn't add up at all. White Fang was here but they weren't responsible? What was going on? Before she could ask for clarification, Penny was stepping around her and said something that Weiss didn't catch. "What was that?"

"Upper left pectoral," Penny repeated, stopping in the middle of the crater she made. "I have to go, Weiss. You're here and you're her partner. You can help her."

"Penny, wait!" Weiss tried. She didn't understand any of what was going on!

"Don't worry, Weiss!" Penny gave her another of her wide smiles while she bent low with her knees. "I'm combat ready!"

Another miniature earthquake was initiated and Weiss had to fight to stay on her feet which she succeeded in this time. When Penny jumped, the crater seemed to get deeper and small chunks of the already-cracked lot became dislodged entirely. Weiss watched in stunned silence as that awkward girl easily cleared the two-story building she descended from less than a minute ago.

What is she? the fencer asked herself once Penny was no longer in sight. A groan brought her to a more pressing concern and Weiss was at her partner's side, setting Myrtenaster down so that she could free an arm to curl behind Ruby's back to lift her up from the ground. "Ruby, it's me! What happened? Who did this?"

The cloaked girl's face was scrunched up in pain, droplets of sweat wetting her face. Her hair was disheveled and how her eyes opened and closed deliriously made Weiss nervous. Before she could check to see what was the matter with her, Ruby quietly uttered, "B-Blake…"

Weiss froze, all thought ceasing to make room for that name that had her full attention. Blake was here? Was she responsible for hurting Ruby? "Blake did this?" Teeth gritting with quickly-building anger at the possibility that she had been right all along, Weiss pressed, "Where is she? I promise, whatever she did to you-"

Ruby shook her head with as much strength as she could muster. "No." Silver eyes fought to open so that they could look blearily up at Weiss. "Blake's in trouble. She needs help."

Weiss went still for a completely different reason. Blake was here, White Fang was here, but Blake needed help? And if Blake wasn't responsible and the White Fang wasn't responsible, then who was it that hurt Ruby? "Ruby, what-?"

"Weiss!" a new voice called. The heiress looked for the source to see it as none other than Yang, the blonde sprinting towards them. Even while running she was shouting, "Is that Ruby? What happened?"

That was what she would like to know if only people would stop distracting her! If there was one thing that she had been told so far from both Penny and Ruby though, it was that the White Fang were here and that Blake may actually be fighting against them. As confusing as that was, Weiss made a decision to believe it as she shouted, "Blake's in trouble!"

Yang skidded to a halt at that, startled, and her gaze flew from the two partners to the direction of the docks where the sounds of battle continued. "Blake?"

"She needs help!" Weiss insisted. "I've got Ruby so see what's going on!"

"But…" Yang spun her head between Weiss and the docks and the heiress could sense her internal strife. "But Ruby…"

"I have her, just go!"

Yang stayed where she was for a bit longer, her feet stomping with indecision as one foot was pointed to her sister while the other was stretched to where her partner may be. As much as they wanted to, they couldn't each have what they wanted. The deciding factor came when another round of shots resounded from the docks. Then, with a roar of frustration, the brawler disappeared to the ongoing conflict.

How Weiss wished to see for herself what was going on. Unfortunately, her leader chose that moment to fidget in her grip as she weakly called, "Yang! Blake!"

Weiss returned to her, placing her other hand on her chest to keep her down. "Yang's got Blake so just lay here and-"

Ruby whined just as Weiss touched something warm and wet.

Right then and there, that was all the heiress could think about. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, all other noise muffled as all Weiss could do was look down at where her hand lay against Ruby.

Upper left pectoral. It was around that area that Ruby's cloak had fallen over her and now Weiss could see that the cloth material was slick with this warm, wet thing that she could feel cling to her palm. It was hard to make out but Weiss noticed a different, darker shade of red that stained Ruby's cape…and it was spreading.

When she turned her palm up, she found that the blood was much more noticeable on her pale skin.

Oh, no, Weiss dreaded and before she could stop herself she was grabbing the edge of Ruby's cloak and throwing it to the side. The cross-shaped pins were bent and broken and fell away from the scythe-wielder's shoulders as the article was removed completely. …Oh my God.

Despite the color of her blouse, Weiss nonetheless saw how a patch of it was unnaturally blackened, a faint wisp of smoke issuing from Ruby's chest. Much like her cloak, the fabric around the hole that bubbled and bled was soaked with her vital fluid that gave off such a strong, iron-coated scent because of just how much of it there was.

Time came rushing back and with it a flood of adrenaline that got Weiss to act. Setting Ruby back down, Weiss pulled off her jacket and, to her horror, she found that the sleeve that had been supporting Ruby was also stained with her blood. She hadn't felt it, the thicker clothing having kept her from detecting that amount and Weiss was harshly ridiculing herself as she bunched up her jacket and pressed it against Ruby's chest.

Why didn't I see it sooner? No, it wasn't my fault. There was Penny, and Yang, and that damnable cloak. No excuse; I should've checked sooner! Clearly she was in pain! I shouldn't have wasted time asking such useless questions!

"Ruby," Weiss breathed out. "Ruby, I need you to talk to me. Say something!"

Ruby groaned when Weiss brought her jacket against the wound but was making no other noise. She was breathing but only now did Weiss notice a sickly, gray pallor that had come over her features that wasn't much different from her usual skin tone but served to implant plenty of fear into the heiress.

"Weiss…" Ruby mumbled. Those lids slid up so that silver orbs could look back up at her again.

That was good. She just needed to get Ruby to focus. Weiss fumbled for her pouch. "Yes, Ruby, it's me. I need you to do me a favor. Just stay awake, okay? Stay still but stay awake. Focus on my voice, okay?"

Vials of Dust fell and scattered along the ground as Weiss desperately searched. That smooth, round cylinder that was the speedloader that Ruby made for her also fell and rolled away. Weiss tried to quell her growing panic, needing to make sure that it didn't take over as each passing second she wasted on her search was a second that Ruby may not have.

The wound's deep, Weiss went over in her mind, silently demanding that the blood drenching her jacket would stop. She's bleeding a lot. How much time before it gets serious? She's still young; she doesn't have that much blood to lose to begin with! I've got to seal it quick!

Even if she stopped the bleeding she didn't know if that was the only thing she had to worry about. It was the most obvious one but could a lung or some other vital organ been damaged? How did this even happen in the first place? Ruby must've gotten taken by surprise or her Aura hadn't been at its peak to protect her from the full blow. If anything, as dreadful as it was, Ruby may've been lucky as it could've been much worse.

"Weiss," Ruby repeated, more insistent this time.

"Ruby, stay still," Weiss ordered again just as she felt the plastic wrap.

"But Weiss, it's not what you think…" Though her eyes were glazed with pain, the younger girl looked up at Weiss imploringly. "Blake's not White Fang. I think I even saw her cat ears." A brief smile twitched onto her face. "They actually look kind of cute…"

That was what she was worried about? "I don't care about that right now and neither should you." Weiss removed the small, black packet from her pouch. With her keeping one hand on her jacket, she made use of her teeth to rip open the package. "I'm going to close the wound and you're going to be fine. Just stay with me."

The powder that Weiss dumped onto the wound after removing her jacket was a first aid tool that filled the demands of Huntsmen and Huntresses needing to immediately treat injuries that may occur in the field. Considering what kind of injuries were expected to be inflicted by fighting giant creatures, the powder was a blessing when it came to dealing with it, promoting hemostasis no matter how terrible the wound may be. Not only that…

Weiss placed her hand on Ruby's chest, ignoring the uncomfortable sensation of the mixed powder and blood while she flared her Aura. The agent acted immediately, not only hardening but expanding to properly fill the wound cavity.

It was a temporary but potentially life-saving fix. Not only did it seal the wound but it would keep everything in place until a proper healer or trained medical personnel at the proper facilities could take over.

Weiss really hoped she did it in time. Beneath her hand, she could feel how Ruby's chest rose and fell with a quickening respiration. That was a bad sign. It meant that Ruby had already lost enough blood that her body was compensating by increasing the rate of functions with what she did have left. Heart rate had to be increasing along with her accelerated breathing.

"Weiss…" Ruby whispered.

"It's okay, Ruby." Weiss was struggling to keep her voice from trembling. Needing to do something for her and her partner, the heiress took Ruby's hand in one of her own.

She wished she hadn't. Ruby's hand was cold. That scared her. Ruby was never cold; always full of warmth and energy and life…

"I'm going to call for help." Weiss reached for her discarded jacket and to the pocket where she knew her scroll would be. She had no idea what was taking the police or any other emergency services so long; someone had to notice that something was going on at this point. "Just breathe, Ruby. You're going to be fine so just…" Her voice hitched, the strain starting to get to her with all these things that said that Ruby wasn't fine. "Just…don't go, okay?" Her vision started to blur. "Please don't go."

As she pulled her jacket to her, all she heard from Ruby was her breathing. Then, "I'm sorry, Weiss."

Why was she apologizing? She didn't do anything wrong. If anything, it was Weiss who should be saying she was sorry. If she hadn't left her partner's side, if she had been with her, she could've prevented this from happening. "There's nothing for you to be sorry for. Just breathe, Ruby. Stop talking and breathe."

The same time that Weiss's fingers took hold of her scroll, smaller ones curled weakly around her other hand.

Heedless to Weiss's instructions, Ruby whispered, "I wish I…knew sooner. I wish I said…more."

What was she talking about? Seeing that her scroll was just as stained, Weiss wiped it against what section of her jacket that was still clean in order to clear the screen. Fearing that this was another sign of Ruby's worsening condition, Weiss begged, "Ruby, save your strength."

"Wish I…helped…more…"

"Help with what?" When she didn't get an answer, Weiss repeated. "Help with what?"

Silence.

Ruby's hand was not just cold anymore. It was cold and the fingers relaxed as it became so very limp. When Weiss went just as still, she couldn't make out Ruby's breathing. She turned. "Ruby?"

She wasn't breathing because her chest was no longer moving to fulfill such an action. Her head lolled away from Weiss, the position and how her red-tipped bangs fell over her eyes almost preventing Weiss from seeing that they were closed. Her lips were slightly parted from one last release of breath.

Refusing to believe what she was seeing, Weiss maintained her grip on Ruby's hand. Choosing to let go of her scroll instead, Weiss pressed her fingers against Ruby's neck, desperately searching…and then having them fall away in defeat.

Ruby was gone.

---

Blake carefully inched her head away from her cover, trying to get a proper look around it. She had to quickly duck back though, her efforts being rewarded with the slugs that ricocheted off the leg of the crane she hid behind.

They were shooting at her.

Although Sun managed to get out of danger, Blake had stood there, unsure of what to do. A part of her wanted to reengage Roman but another part held her back, afraid of what she would do if she met him in another violent clash. In the end, it didn't matter for when she prepared to move – whether to fight or run she wasn't sure -, another wave of reinforcements that dropped from the Bullheads kept her distracted when they fired on her.

She let herself be driven back to the crane, placing it between her and them as she tried to figure out what to do.

Her own comrades were attacking her. Whether this latest group knew of her previous ties or not, they were still former colleagues. She may not have fought at their side but she once fought with them all the same.

Her cat ears were still visible and they had to have seen them at least. That was doing nothing to deter them though. She was a faunus who had been restricting her efforts to the sole human who was here tonight but it was a human that the White Fang had a deal with and were even protecting from her.

Another volley of projectiles were fired but Blake wasn't in any danger of being hit by them. No, she knew their strategy.  They were keeping her pinned down, restricting her movements. While she thought they may just be distracting her while the rest of them either retreated or worked to finish what they started, her last look revealed that there were a number of them trying to circle around to flank her.

Trap, surround, and finish her. That was their plan and she wasn't doing anything to stop them.

She was a Huntress-in-training. Before that, she was a promising agent who was selected to be trained in the use of weapons, stealth, and Aura to become a formidable fighter. She was leagues above a typical White Fang foot soldier and just as Sun was able to take them out so easily, she could do the same.

But that would mean fighting one of her own.

Blake looked down at Gambol Shroud, sword and sheath in hand and ready to do her bidding. Once she built her weapon, she quickly used it to strike back at her human oppressors. Whether by laying waste to cybernetic sentinels or beating an intolerant human into the ground, Gambol Shroud had been responsible for the havoc she had willingly taken part in but only against humans.

Never had Blake risen so much as a hand against another faunus. As horrible as the things she may've done were, it was always for the betterment of her race. When she had taken to violence, she did so with the idea that it was for the best for her people. It was one of the only things that she had left and now she was in a situation where she may have to throw that away too.

It was more than that though. By attacking the White Fang, she would no longer be just a runaway. When word got back that Blake Belladonna had engaged the White Fang in combat, she would be labeled as a traitor. The organization would not be able to let that slide as easily.

And Adam would also learn about it.

So what should she do? Run? Leave and disappear before she dug herself in a deeper hole?

Sun got away from Torchwick but she didn't know if he was still here. Was she really going to abandon someone who helped her and willingly followed her into danger?

And Ruby. Oh, Ruby…

She saw Ruby take the hit that Roman shot at her while she was distracted. She heard Ruby scream. Blake didn't know why her former leader was here but if she was even remotely responsible for putting Ruby in danger…

There were many things that Blake knew she could never forgive herself for, but if something happened to Ruby she didn't know how she'd possibly be able to live with herself.

She had no choice. Resigning herself to this latest sin with the thought that one more was really no matter, Blake closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Right after she released it she leaped out from cover, her sheath coming up in preparation to guard her against the next shots that were undoubtedly about to be fired.

That was when the meteor hit.

Blake had enough time to see the White Fang members stretched out in their semi-circle before catching sight of the golden contrail of the shooting star that struck right in the center of them. The results were catastrophic, the gathered faunus being picked up and tossed about like leaves in the wind. Others who weren't in the immediate area found themselves tumbling to the ground due to the shockwave that followed the eruption, the ground upheaving astonishingly and knocking them off their feet.

Blake nearly met the same fate despite being much farther away. Halting her charge, all she could do when she recovered was stand and stare with wide-eyed amazement.

A fiery blaze roared spectacularly. Although concrete shouldn't be a proper settlement for a pyre unless you had the proper materials, the flames stretched high and burned hot enough that Blake could feel the sweltering heat that radiated what had to be all across the docks.

The source of such hellfire rose right in the middle of it. While the flames danced with an intense mixture of red, orange, and yellow, there was a patch of brilliant gold that sparkled with a radiance that put the entire thing to shame. Blake was immediately drawn to it; how that gold descended as if a fiery cape from the head of the warrior who may as well be the embodiment of such a cataclysmic element.

It could almost be described as pretty until one saw the points of crimson located at that same head. Whereas the hair was alluring as it personified that outward beauty a flame could attain with its appearance, it was those scathing eyes that represented the true nature of fire: to burn everything it touched.

Yang Xiao Long has arrived, and she was pissed.

Chapter Text

Team RWBY is comprised of exceptional individuals.

Ruby Rose: prodigy and chosen leader of this group. Having been mentored by the most skilled scythe-wielder in one of the most deadly combat arts known to man, her remarkable gifts brought her to Beacon two years early. She is the youngest in the team but not only were her already-exceptional fighting abilities meant to be improved even further but her mind would be sharpened with the strategies and responsibilities that came with her position that would see her leading her team to future victories.

Weiss Schnee: destined to inherit one of the most successful and fastest growing Dust companies. It was with the wealth and resources of that company that she became not only an accomplished fencer but a powerful caster of Nature's Wrath. Trained by the best that money can buy, supplied with an infinite source of Dust, and her precious Myrtenaster built and forged with the highest quality of materials, she was armed and prepared to handle any situation whether it was one to be solved with steel or magic.

Blake Belladonna: an ex-member of a former peace organization-turned-terrorist group. By a mix of choice and misfortune, she was trained to be an agent cloaked in shadow who would strike when the opportunity presented itself and what she would take advantage of with speed and precision. Though pushed and expected by others who gave her those skills and weapons to turn them on fellow living beings, she chose the route of the Huntress to repent and fight against the darkness.

Yang Xiao Long: the least exceptional of them all…and that was what made her the most formidable. Those two years at Signal Academy were two more years that were used to hone her Aura and her fighting style that stressed pure, brute strength. Instead of being taken under direct tutelage, she was to compete against the entire student body for a spot at Beacon. All that training and development was meant for her to fight one opponent and one opponent only: the titanic and soulless creatures of Grimm.

So it was no surprise that she would seem dissatisfied with these mangy mutts that were to serve as her prey for tonight.

Like a dragon exiting its fiery den, Yang left the wildfire that marked her entry to crackle behind her, the heat and infernal dancers going on with reckless abandon for a few moments longer before they slowly began to die out. The one at her head continued to burn; a flame-wreathed mantle that licked at the air threateningly all around her as if seeking something else to set alight.

That molten gaze searched for a proper victim, the brawler craning her neck and tilting her chin as if to better inspect the scattered band of helmeted Fang members. Many of them were still on the ground, only able to stare at this awe-inspiring individual who had literally crashed into their ranks. Being part beast themselves, perhaps they possessed an instinctive understanding of how they were in the presence of a much more fearsome predator and were temporarily shocked into inaction.

Yang found nothing of interest in them, her eyes intense but unconcerned. After a slow, careful sweep, they moved up to take in more of the docks, stopping when they met with a pair of stunned amber.

Distance did little to dampen the energy of the electrifying bite that ran through Blake upon being sighted; a natural response when you knew you've just been marked. How that searching motion of Yang's head ceased entirely and her brows rising up until they disappeared within her glowing bangs told the faunus that the Huntress-in-training had found who she wanted.

Neither of them reacted, one as disbelieving as the other at having found each other here. It was when Yang's brows began to lower – whether to replace her surprise with anger or something else – that Blake's cat ears pivoted to better detect the metallic clacking of a weapon being primed.

Yang's eyes snapped in the same direction and the ninja was soon taking in a pair of deafening blasts that had the brawler rocketing towards the interruption.

One White Fang member managed to overcome his stupor and had unwisely chosen to attract Yang's attention when he readied his rifle. With how he was pulling the trigger before even fully bringing it to bear was testament to the speed in which Yang had unexpectedly achieved with the dual recoil of Ember Celica. It caused his shots to go wide and Yang, unperturbed, pulled one arm back, a spent shell barely having the time to be dispensed and a live one replacing it before the still-smoking barrel was meeting with his helmet.

One punch was all it took. Able to send an Ursa crashing through an expanse of the Emerald Forest, the misguided faunus fared little better even if he did have an Aura. Yang's knuckles smashed into it and an instant later her gauntlet joined her efforts with a burst of sound, force, and fire. Instead of flying away, the brawler had angled her blow so that the faunus was going down rather than up, resulting in him skipping like a stone along several meters of the docks before coming to a limp stop.

Yang kept her body bent and twisted during and after his tumbling journey. Then she was standing up straight and Blake barely heard her threatening utterance over the sound of Ember Celica loading another fresh shell.

"Next."

How she said it was like a deity demanding another sacrifice and any mortal who refused would be tempting a fate worse than death. The one who chose to answer it was a faunus who Yang singled out for no other reason than having been right beside his comrade who the blonde had administered her wrath upon. Seeing no alternative, he lunged at her with his pair of swords, swinging both at the same time to have them pass each other while going through Yang's neck.

They were repelled by Ember Celica, the blades impacting against the unyielding armor. Yang pushed aside the swords and, not giving the faunus so much as a chance, sent her head forward.

Her skull met the faceplate but it was his metal protection that proved inferior. He reeled back, his grip on his weapons weakening and then giving out entirely when Yang shot out a hand to grab the front of his tunic and pull him towards her. She drove her other fist into his stomach.

Ember Celica let out another roar, her place within her victim's middle hardly dampening the noise. The White Fang associate heaved and was launched upwards but with her grasp still on his clothing, Yang had him flying up and over her head before she was smashing him down onto his back. Kneeling beside him, Yang sent another punch into his gut for good measure, his arms and legs jolting skyward before settling back down around his now unmoving form.

Yang looked up but if she was going to order another offering it was unneeded as the rest of the White Fang soldiers were preparing to retaliate as they gathered themselves and their weapons. Apparently done playing, Yang was soon streaking towards them with the help of her trusted gauntlets, transforming into another comet that didn't just crash into them but tore through them mercilessly.

As base and brutal as hand-to-hand can be, there was nonetheless an art to it that Yang demonstrated when she fought. There was a measure of grace to the flurry of punches and kicks that she would dish out to any opposition – man or beast - and along with it was a measure of restraint. While that restraint was rooted to respect for her own power, there was also the fact that Yang enjoyed such a devastating waltz and would keep herself reeled in in order to enjoy it more.

There was no restraint or grace here. Even if an enemy was to get her lost in her temper, it only accomplished in getting her further immersed in the flow of strength and movement that would have her pummeling away her grievances as well as her opponent.

This state that Blake witnessed the blonde in was a new one. There was no enjoyment or relief in this fight as when Yang hammered her fists into the crowd of White Fang or lashed out with a kick, it was with the motive to end it all with the fewest but strongest blows that would drive them into the ground where they would not get up again. Dipping into a crouch, it was to shoot right back up to generate as much power as she could into the uppercut that sent one faunus high into the air.

Before he even had time to start falling back down Yang was using another blast from her gauntlet to launch her back to another where she planted her elbow right into his chest before turning and bringing her fist to bear to smash him into the ground. She spun, her still-flaming hair creating a ring of unbearable heat that drove her circling adversaries back except for her next target who she dropped with a kick across the face at the end of her spin.

Sparks flew from Ember Celica along with the bullets that were deflected off of it. They did little to slow Yang down, the brawler running straight at the source and silencing the stream of gunfire with one mighty report from her gauntlet. There was no cry of victory or released passion from Yang that would usually follow such attacks, her jaw clenched and teeth tight together when she switched to one of her flares instead of a concussive blast that she fired off at another shooter, the projectile detonating against him.

Blake watched it all silently, ambers large and her own jaw slack. What is she doing here?

First Ruby and now Yang. When it came to the sisters, one was usually right behind the other but that didn't answer the faunus's question. Why were they here? How is it that they happened to be at this specific location at such a time?

What came to mind was Yang's searching gaze that had swept over and ignored the majority of those present. It was only when they caught Blake did they stop and stare at her with surprise but in a way when someone finally located what they were searching for.

They were looking for her! To be out here this late at night and to be nearby the docks to arrive in such a timely manner…it was the only explanation. There was no other reason that was as plausible as that one.

Just as Blake was asking herself why they would be looking for her, movement at her peripheral had her turning to see another small group of Fang soldiers coming to the battleground. It was the team that had been sent out to flank her but with the arrival of Yang, they had a more obvious target that was literally lit up for them. Ignoring Blake, two of them knelt down and shouldered their guns, peering down the sights through the slits of their helmets as they aimed.

Blake's head whipped around towards Yang, seeing the brawler with her latest prey held above her head before not one but both of her gauntlets fired to send him off in order for her to engage two sword-wielding foes. The ninja looked back to see the riflemen waiting for a clear shot and she could see how their fingers rested on the triggers. It would come soon as the time it took her to glance back it was to see a sword and a body at Yang's feet while she repeatedly jabbed her second opponent, his sword dropping from the hand that she held away from him. Able to perceive it, the pair tensed in preparation.

Much like how it happened so long ago, Blake reacted. This time, however, she had an idea of the consequences that would come with her decision…and she didn't care.

Gambol Shroud flew straight and true, the whirling sickle cleaving through the first gun before moving on and doing the same to the second in short order. They split apart in their owners' hands who stared dumbly at their destroyed weapons and barely had the time to understand what was happening before Blake's knee was smashing into one to send him into the other, having them collapse in a heap.

…That was it. No going back.

The realization didn't paralyze her. Instead, it had the opposite effect for when Blake landed on her feet it was with a freedom that allowed the muscles in her legs to tense with determination and let her move with no hesitation as she pivoted on one heel to send the other whipping into the side of the head of one of the faunus she knocked over and had been trying to get back up.

The two hadn't been alone and their comrades turned to see a black-clad cat faunus with sharpened sheath and sword presented. Though lowered and drawn back with aggression, her violet feline ears were visible within her onyx hair. Her golden eyes were locked directly onto them, the darkness illuminating them and making that inhuman curving of her pupils stand out.

And when she attacked, it was to show that they were no match for her. When one brought up his sword for defense, it was to see for himself the inferior metalwork that Gambol Shroud cut through with ease, leaving him exposed when the blade continued on without pause to slash against his torso. Fortunately for him, his Aura was more durable even if it didn't stop him from falling.

Another came and sliced at Blake from behind and his sword not only touched her but went through her. There came a short-lived sense of success before the supposedly wounded ninja vanished from sight entirely. Realizing his mistake, the Fang faunus looked over just in time to catch sight of the pommel of Gambol Shroud right before it struck him in the center of his forehead.

They attempted to surround and overwhelm her but found that they couldn't, not with how Blake sped amongst their ranks. They swung at either empty air or shadows that were meant to look like her but soon disappeared, leaving them exposed to the same lesson that had been delivered to their friend when they saw Blake either striking down another of their own or coming at them from the side or right behind them.

I'm not one of them. It was that thought that had come with her choice that was echoing within her mind with each stroke of her weapon. The thought that came when she spotted their helmets and not the humanity that they had chosen to give up. It was obvious to her when she saw the picture of an animal drenched in the blood it actively sought on their backs that had become corrupted until there was no difference between it and a Beowolf. It was an animal that had become so crazed that it didn't see the hypocrisy of obeying the commands of someone like Roman Torchwick, even when it meant attacking another of their own kind.

She. Wasn't. One of them.

There were no regrets over something she could now see was inevitable. Each fallen foe that was collected was one that she was going to face sooner or later and she had chosen to do so now, willingly accepting the consequences that may come from it. Any regrets that should come did not arrive and her hands and the weapons they clutched continued to move with such surety.

It was only when there came a sudden spike of heat at her back that she ceased. She turned to face the origin but she didn't lift her weapons, already knowing who she would find.

Yang had joined and was taking the last of the White Fang personnel for herself with a recoil-assisted backhand that had one of them spinning like a top. Not done, she grabbed onto his leg while he was falling and hurled him into his partner who caught him and staggered back to keep them both up. It all proved futile when the brawler brought both pieces of Ember Celica forward and sent them away with simultaneous blasts.

There was no one else to challenge them and no one was getting up to resume such a one-sided fight. The only two left standing were Yang and Blake and all that the ninja could do was stare at that veil of golden fire. Then Yang turned around.

Blake tensed as soon as those crimson eyes landed on her and, this close, she could see how that fierce coloring made Yang's pupils difficult to notice with how they were nearly consumed by it. Initially going to her face, they shifted down and the faunus truly believed that she could feel Yang's progress as there came a sensation best described as her body being seared wherever they went as they inspected her, starting at her feet and slowly making their way up.

They came back to her face, glowing red pausing to meet glowing amber…and then they slid up just a bit further and stayed there.

Blake gasped, one hand jolting up to the top of her head where the back of it brushed against a furry appendage that was stiff and startled. "Yang, I…!"

The hot cinders sunk back down so that the faunus could better peer into their pitiless depths and whatever she was about to say died at her lips. Her hand slowly lowered.

…I am so sorry.

Though her eye sockets acted as gateways to promised purgatory with her hair performing the role as its unsparing fire, the rest of Yang's features were passive with cheeks smooth and lips straight. It was as if she was waiting for Blake to defend herself from the retribution that was surely to follow.

Blake knew she had no such defense. I wanted to tell you. I tried so hard but I just…I couldn't…

While it was impossible for her to know what she was thinking and she probably only did it to try and get a verbal response from Blake, Yang inclined her head as if silently telling her to go on.

I couldn't trust you even when you never gave me a reason to. I was afraid of what you would think of me. I was afraid that you wouldn't accept me even when I know you did everything you could to help me. It was never your fault, Yang; I was hurt so many times by humans…and betrayed one too many by who I thought were friends.

And that's no excuse.

Blake had always wondered how Adam felt about her leaving. He probably would've tried to convince her to stay had he known but what would he have done if he saw that he couldn't? The last time Blake saw him he had been standing there, stupefied, as their train cars steadily drew apart with her having only said a goodbye. What did he do afterwards? What did he think during the throes of the same agony that she had gone through when she severed their connection and was responsible for?

Did he hate her? Curse her name? Wish for her death or some other form of punishment for her betrayal? Did he swear to hunt her down and either extract answers or revenge from her?

Or could he be regretting that he couldn't come with her? While she labeled him as too far gone, maybe that was just another mistake that she made. Even with all that he did, had it really been too late? If she had given him a chance to come with her, would he have taken it?

She never gave him such a chance. She ran just as she ran from Yang. The only difference here is that she didn't run fast or far enough...and she didn't even give Yang the courtesy of a goodbye. Yang had caught up and Blake could see for herself the judgment that awaited her. And there was nothing she could do about it.

So, accepting it and what may come after, it was a confirmation – not a defense – that she spoke. "You have…" She took a breath, finding that she didn't have the air that she thought she did and finished with a stammer, "…e-every right to hate me."

Yang came at her and Blake was expecting it. It was why she let both parts of Gambol Shroud clatter to the ground to show that she wasn't going to put up a fight; that she was going to freely take what Yang would sentence her to. It was why she didn't so much as struggle when the brawler grabbed her and brought her in, her arms being pinned in place while her chin was tucked against Yang's shoulder and…

...What?

It was not a scorching touch that worked to cleanse her of her sins. When gold brushed against her, they were not inflamed. The curled ends lightly touched the skin of her face with the strands bordering on ticklish. It was not ash or any hint of char that she smelled but that pleasing, honeyed scent that she attributed to plums.

The arms were muscular but did not seek to crush her. They were folded firmly at her back but only enough to keep her in place.

Yet Blake didn't move and found that she couldn't breathe. Meanwhile, Yang breathed slow, shuddering breaths right next to Blake's ear where the blonde placed her own chin at the faunus's shoulder. Though there was no heat, there was a warmth that Blake could feel at her front with how it was pressed against Yang's and at her back she could feel how it spread from the brawler's arms to encompass the rest of her.

It was only when Yang shifted – her chin rubbing the top of Blake's shoulder and cheek nuzzling against the side of her head while more of those tresses caressed her cheek – that the faunus remembered that she needed air and her first collection of it was sharp and deep that relieved her lungs while she took in more of that pleasant smell that exuded from Yang's hair.

Blake tried to look to Yang's face but any motion on her part incited the arms to tighten further around her as if afraid that she was trying to break out of them. It was a futile endeavor either way with how the pacified mane kept the brawler hidden from her.

What had to be an eternity later, Blake quietly stuttered, "Y-you're not mad?"

"What are you talking about?" Yang spoke. One arm retained its position but the other moved so that a hand could glide up along Blake's back, moving between her shoulder blades and beneath her own lengths of wispy hair. "Of course I'm mad."

She didn't sound mad; her voice only a couple steps above a whisper. Her hand stopped at the scruff of Blake's neck, right above the collar so that she could touch the bare skin along with her hair. It wasn't tight or rough, her gloveless fingers gently running along it and through her locks.

"You just ran without telling us where you were going," she spoke again. "Not one call or message to let us know where you did go." She sniffed. "I was worried, you know."

Oh…was she…was she crying? Blake still couldn't see, the touch at her neck making it harder to do so but she still felt how the once-intimidating Huntress-in-training tremored against her. A quiver even came to her voice.

"H-how was I supposed to feel? We've been looking all over for you and this is where I find you? And then you had to go and say something like that? I'm r-really mad, Blake."

Blake's eyes widened and her lungs once again froze when she made out a point of dampness where Yang had her head pressed against her.

"But I'm happy you're alright."

Blake didn't know how her body could continue to go against her but it surprised her when her throat grew tight. It coincided with a blurring of her vision and she detected another point of cool wetness that was located at her eyes. With what freedom that Yang's embrace did leave her, the faunus's arms came up, hands touching and then grabbing fistfuls of the brawler's clothing.

And then she was throwing them both to the side while shouting, "Look out!"

Even Blake's cat ears couldn't make out what Yang hollered in response over the deafening howl of heavy guns being fired. Where they had been standing a moment ago was chewed apart, bits of concrete flying everywhere, and a Bullhead passed right over them. When Blake spotted it over her shoulder it was to see it turning, its jet engines tilting in order to bring it in position for a second attack run.

"They called in the gunships," she said, all business-like with clear vision. If her dive was any indication, how she rolled off of Yang showed that she regained full control of her body.

Yang needed a little longer to respond, using one arm to prop herself up while another quickly rubbed at her face. When it pulled away, it was for Blake to see that Yang's eyes had reverted to their lilac coloring and were just as unobstructed. As soon as they spotted the Bullhead, they tightened back up.

"Like that's going to do them any good," she commented while picking herself up. "Let's take care of it."

Blake was nodding at the implication before she could stop herself. It could be due to such a reaction that came when two parties understood a threat that was coming for the both of them but there was also something else. How Blake stood up next to her reunited partner's side, how the two of them visually followed the Bullhead, it resurrected that something that had become so familiar between them during the months of their partnership that three days of separation couldn't erase it that easily no matter what the circumstances may be.

A worry came to the faunus though that had her looking at the blonde. "Yang, Ruby was-"

"I know," Yang interrupted grimly. "Weiss has her." If it wasn't for Blake's ears, she might not have heard her quietly add, "She better."

Weiss was here too? As unexpected as that was, Blake didn't ask for anything else for the same reason that Yang didn't say anything more; they had to focus on the immediate threat before they could worry about anything else, even if it was their teammates. So while Blake quickly retrieved Gambol Shroud, there came that distinctive, plastic noise of shells falling and scattering where Yang stood.

"I have a plan," Blake informed her. After a second of hesitation she asked, "Do you trust me?"

"Stupid thing to ask considering I never stopped." The words were contradictory but her tone had an airy quality and Blake caught a flicker of a grin along with the rolls of fresh shells that Yang held.

"Good." Somehow Blake accomplished in saying that word straight in spite of this sudden surge of emotion that demanded she say a lot more than that. "I'm doing the hard part anyway."

It was more than just the brawler's ammunition that fell into place. At the same time Ember Celica's plates fitted back over, Yang nodded her head to show how she had willfully returned to her partner's side. "I'll follow your lead. After this though, we're going to have a nice long chat."

---

Go to Vale, they said. Ruyi slapped aside a descending blade. Great opportunities await, they said. Jingu came right after, smacking into defenseless ribs before Ruyi returned for a second helping to drop the Fang faunus. You won't regret it, they said.

The only thing that Sun was going to regret is if he let one such opportunity get away. So when a replacement faunus came in swinging, the monkey boy ducked and ran by, his tail wrapping around an ankle and tripping him up in the process.

Ahead of him and what was too far away in his mind was the Bullhead that rested on its belly with engines running. A side door was open, waiting for its finely-dressed passenger who was running towards it to get in before the aircraft would take off. Ignoring the small fry and wishing that he had at least one shot left in his gunchuks to put into his quarry's back, Sun ran as fast as he could.

It did look like he was going to catch up to his target but whether it was due to the commotion or because he had a feeling that Sun was coming, Roman glanced over his shoulder to find the faunus right behind him. Seeing that he wasn't going to make it to the Bullhead without some kind of action, the human brought up that cane of his and fired a shot that was hastily aimed but nonetheless forced Sun to stop and dive to the side to avoid the explosion that he would've been caught in.

That was more than enough of a distraction for the big-time criminal to make it to the craft while the small-timer silently cursed when he saw the Bullhead lifting from the ground, Roman comfortably standing within the passenger compartment with one hand on an overhead rail to keep him steady. With an infuriating smirk, he lifted his cane and tapped the handle in a mocking salute against his hat before using it to hook and lower the door down.

Next time, asshole, Sun swore just before Roman was cut off from sight. His revenge flying away with the transport ship, the faunus refocused on the remains of the rearguard that he had blown past during his pursuit. Guess I'll have to settle with these guys.

As much as he would've liked a rematch against that man, Sun was still going to get some measure of enjoyment from these holier than thou creeps that were the White Fang. Always one to go against authority if only to take pleasure in ruffling some feathers when he proved to those in charge that they can't have everything in line like they wanted, the White Fang were a special case for him. Now, Sun would steal a few things, hitch a couple free rides, but he prided on doing so with his own skills and getting away clean. The chase and shouts - or just his self-congratulations - were the rewards of his admittedly unlawful deeds that he took pride in.

But these guys...well...saying they took things too far was an understatement. Call him a thief or a stowaway but those were labels that he flaunted as they didn't come with any violence if he was good enough; he had standards after all. The White Fang, on the other hand, held themselves up to such a pinnacle that they believed justified hurting and even killing people in order to get what they wanted. Human they may be and Sun won't say that his crimes weren't influenced by his own past grievances with their central authority, but how the Fang took to such measures as if they had a right to do so did touch a nerve.

So after a showy twirl with his gunchuks, the monkey faunus waited for one of them to make the first move, grinning and throwing out a comment that would aggravate them enough to come to him. "Who wants to go down first?"

It was the one to his left that did but not by Sun's efforts. Something flew in from above, striking the White Fang member from behind with the impact having him flipping forward and landing on his back.

When that thing embedded itself into the ground, it was for Sun to see that it was a sword. It was nothing like the more ordinary ones that the White Fang carried though as this one had a thin, gray blade with an unusual edge that curved up, down, and then up again to give it some odd dips. How it stabbed several inches into the concrete proved how sharp it was though. A line that ran down the middle was as luminous green as the odd symbol in the center of the round, bronze guard.

As if it had a mind of its own, that sword wrenched itself out from the ground and shot towards the girl who had mysteriously appeared amongst them. It settled itself above her, taking its place with the nine others that hovered around her ginger-topped head in loose formation. The large, pink bow seemed out of place within this array of weaponry...as well as that perky smile.

Without warning the girl twisted her body around, one arm stretched out and the swords matched her movements by fanning out along her limb and slashing at the chest of the next White Fang member. She pulled her arm back, the swords returning and flying past her when she directed them to two more helmeted faunus who were slammed together against a cargo container when the swords drove into them.

However surprising her entrance may be, one exceptionally quick faunus tried to take advantage of her weapons being elsewhere by rushing her before they could return. Those swords proved to be much faster as by the time the girl flipped away from her attacker with her arms extended, they were back in time to smack beneath his chin.

There were only three of the White Fang left and when she landed she swung her arm towards them as if she was throwing a discus. Her armaments did their best to imitate one, coming together and spinning like such a thing though the effect was like a bowling ball hitting pins with the impact tossing them up in the air before they crashed back down.

All of that occurred in less than ten seconds. Ten seconds and yet Sun was still trying to catch up with what he had just seen. "Woa-"

Ten sword tips immediately pointed in his direction.

"-OH!" Sun yelped, holding up his hands and his gunchuks. "Woah, woah, woah! Wait! Same team!"

That cheery smile had been stuck on that girl's face during her entire onslaught and Sun didn't find it comforting at all. In fact, it seemed to be another weapon meant to induce as much terror as possible as - after what he had just seen -, a rather frightening imagination came to his mind of being flayed alive with that facial gesture not so much as twitching during what would be an instant process.

Contrary to what he was thinking, the smile did curve curiously and there came an examining tilt of the girl's head as she stared at Sun. Those swords remained at the ready though. "You're not part of the White Fang," she stated.

Sun shook his head a little too quickly. "I'm not with those guys! I'm fighting them too." The chains of Ruyi and Jingu clinked together and the girl focused on them. "That makes us friends. We're on the same side."

She switched back to Sun, brows furrowing, and then that smile was back with a beaming vengeance. "Are we really friends?"

The faunus looked from her to those swords that were seemingly waiting for her command to fall upon him. That was plenty of incentive to give her a nod. "Uh…yeah, friends! So could you lower those?"

They didn't lower but their tips did point away. To Sun's surprise, the swords hovered closer together behind her back and after a moment he was only looking at a single blade. It remained out but the faunus figured that this was a good enough consolation.

"Glorious!" the girl suddenly shouted, now laughing and performing an excited hop to Sun's amazement. "A one hundred percent friend increase! My name is Penny!"

It was when she stared expectantly at Sun did he realize that this Penny was waiting for his own introduction. Finally lowering his own weapons, he said, "Oh, uh, my name is Sun."

"It's-" The girl paused and she seemed to be thinking about something before she nodded to herself and spoke, "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"It's a…pleasure to meet you, too." He was still a bit nervous but the dwindling number of rather pointy weapons had Penny's cheerful nature accomplishing in being reassuring rather than threatening.

"I have another friend!" Penny informed him brightly. "Her name's Ruby! I need to introduce you to her and she and I can talk about you!"

The name Ruby rang a bell and Sun soon remembered that that was because it belonged to one of Blake's friends. The recognition did little to distract him from what Penny planned on doing with her. "Er, talk about me?"

Penny frowned. "That's what friends do, correct? We get together and talk about stuff like cute boys." She held a finger to her chin and there came another questionable angling of her head. "I believe the expression is 'hanging out'. Oh, we should think of a proper playdate!"

"I…guess?" Sun replied slowly, not really sure if he should be flattered or not. The talk about the future did remind him that the present was still a very real thing and taking a good look around showed that, presently, they were still in a battle that has yet to come to an end.

If anything, it was escalating if the appearance of the two Bullheads on a direct course towards them was any indication. "Penny, we gotta move!"

Penny looked to the approaching aircraft and she gasped before running to Sun's side. "I'll protect you, friend Sun!"

He would rather get out of the way but Penny grabbed his arm and Sun hissed in sudden pain. This girl had quite a grip; her hand like an iron clamp that tightened painfully around his arm. He grabbed her own in turn and when he pulled it was to try and get her out of the way along with him. "No, I said we have to move!"

Penny didn't even budge despite his best efforts and she was saying nothing, actually looking serious. The sword hovering at her back split into ten again and formed a spinning circle in front of the two of them.

The approaching Bullheads fired and Sun could make out the illuminated tracer rounds that made up the rain of what had to be certain death, and it was Penny's swords-turned-shield that prevented it when they pelted uselessly against them. Sun was flinching with each note of a ricochet and how a stray projectile would strike the ground around him but none struck him or Penny.

You're dead, Wukong! he nonetheless thought. Not even a week here and you're going to die all because a black cat happened to cross your path. Hey, that's actually pretty funny. Wait, huh?

With his position behind Penny, Sun was able to catch how what had to be a mechanical backpack she was wearing open up and two additional swords unfolded before they were streaking right by him. Despite the oncoming fire, Sun found himself following them towards one of the nearby buildings where they stabbed into the side. It was then he caught something barely distinguishable that was trailing behind the weapons.

Are those strin-ooooooh!

All he had to warn him was a jerk and then he was suddenly pulled off his feet and flying backwards thanks to how Penny still held onto him. They were heading right for the building where he saw the two swords go and though Penny successfully landed on her feet, Sun – who hadn't been expecting it – fell and landed flat on his face when the girl decided to finally let go of him.

The first thing he did was look at those pair of weapons and, no, he wasn't imagining it; there were strings attached to their hilts. When he saw Penny in action, Sun had automatically assumed that it was some kind of Semblance that let her control her weapons like a telekinetic ability. But when he followed the thin strings, it was to see them connected to Penny.

Well that's…interesting, the faunus commented. He could see how they were connected to Penny but that didn't explain how she was able to control them the way that she did. It wasn't just having her Aura run through them as to perform something so complicated spoke of a different method.

A puzzle to be finished for another time. The Bullheads were correcting their course to reengage them and despite how Sun got back to his feet and clutched his weapons, he knew that Ruyi and Jingu didn't have it in them to shoot gunships out of the sky. Looking to his new 'friend', Sun told her as much. "Unless you can pull those down, my advice is to run." At least that he knew he could do well.

"I actually can," Penny informed him, once again smiling. "But taking in current conditions, I've concluded on a more efficient but no less direct means."

Sun looked at Penny strangely, a little put off by the constant changes of an awkward girl to a composed sword-stringer. "That being…?"

Penny didn't respond verbally. Her swords had followed their flight and when Penny held out her hands they formed another circle in front of her except the tips were directed at the Bullheads that were closing in on them. It was those tips that slid up and back towards the bronze guards, revealing muzzles and how the hilts tilted down gave the weapons the appearance of laser guns.

They started spinning, their speed gradually increasing in time with the humming and gathering of energy that formed a bright green ball in front of the weapons. Sun could feel the fur at his tail prickling along with the hairs on his body but couldn't tear his gaze away from a congregation of what he knew to be a vast amount of power.

Now that's very interesting.

---

Blake fired with Gambol Shroud's rarely-used pistol form and she saw for herself how ineffective it was when the short-lived sparks that blossomed along the hull of the Bullhead was all that she was rewarded with. Her weapon lacked the firepower needed to penetrate not just the armor but even the reinforced glass that protected the cockpit. She needed to get in close.

The gunship wasn't giving her the chance though, making sure to hover far and high enough away that she wouldn't be able to charge and reach it without it reacting accordingly. The crew must've realized for themselves how harmless she was at ranged as they didn't jerk the Bullhead away as the shots impacted, instead languidly setting it up for a return barrage.

The ninja started running along the top of the crate as soon as she saw its chin guns winding up for the second it took to unleash another shower of fire that came up short at her heels and one cartwheel later she was out of sight as she dropped back to the protection of the labyrinth of crates.

Shoot, duck, pop out again to do some more shooting, then duck back down to repeat the process. Right now she was just harassing the Bullhead, her attacks meant to set it up for what would come later. The pilots were now brave enough to simply hover around the crates, waiting for when she would reveal herself again to try and catch her. She didn't know if killing her was their primary objective as it was to keep her pinned down but they were certainly trying.

As for Yang, a White Fang soldier hurtling right into the middle of a painted Schnee crest heralded the blonde's appearance as she stepped into Blake's vision, currently dusting her hands off before regarding the ninja. "I think he's the last one."

Blake nodded while she thumbed the magazine release on Gambol Shroud, ejecting the spent mag while she dug for a new one. "I'm guessing that all we have left are stragglers. I saw one of the transports pull away so the gunships may be covering their retreat." Once she found it she slid it in place, racking the slide of the built-in pistol afterwards.

The fact that she hadn't seen a cargo crate latched onto the underside of it told her that they were giving up. Between her and Sun's interference and then Ruby and Yang, the notion of a stealthy and timely theft has gone out the window, forcing the White Fang to cut their losses and run. Blake was willing to let them go but she could hear how persistently the Bullhead was circling their temporary safe haven, looking for an opening.

It was only one Bullhead though and Blake remembered seeing two more that had been lurking in the skies before she and Yang took to safety within one of the piles of containers. The absence of them concerned Blake because it meant either they were confident that one can handle them…or the others were taking care of additional resistance. If that was the case, it could mean Sun or one of their teammates were in trouble if they rejoined the battle. They had to take care of it.

"I should have it focused on me now," Blake told Yang. "I'll draw it out and into position just like we planned. Then we bring it down."

Yang's expression morphed into one of concern. "You sure you want to do this? I usually play the bait, you know."

There came another surge of emotion just as intense as before but this time Blake couldn't help but smile appreciatively at Yang. She was genuinely worried about her. Even after all this time…all the things she could've and should've thought about her…

"This calls for speedy bait," Blake reasoned. "I can't hit it like you can and I need to draw it in so you can do it with everything you have." After she got her partner's nod of confirmation, Blake said, "I have to go. Get ready."

Another nod, this one determined. "I'll be there, Blake."

"I know you will. I trust you too, Yang. It's about time I really started to."

It was hard to make out, but Blake thought she could see a shifting of coloration at her partner's face. She definitely saw Yang look away, the brawler grinning sheepishly while she scratched lightly at her cheek. "Well I'll be sure not to let you down considering all the trouble to get it."

Blake didn't say anything but she did bow her head in apology to show that she was truly sorry about what she had put Yang and everyone else through. She owed them all an explanation and she wasn't going to let anything get in the way of that anymore. With one hand tight around the pistol grip of Gambol Shroud, the fingers of her other slipped through the rectangular slit of the sheath to grasp it. "I'm going."

As soon as she sprinted out of the maze, the Bullhead immediately flew around it in order to bring her in sight. Blake feigned a surprised stop, her head jerking up to the hovering aircraft, and then she was running in another direction with her goal being the edge of the docks and Vale's watery channel beyond. She fired while moving, the action meant to add more to this show of a desperate escape. The gunship followed after her, strafing parallel to the faunus to keep her in front of its guns which were already spinning in preparation.

The initial shots were off, hitting a few good feet behind Blake but the string of fire was drawing closer as the Bullhead tilted to compensate. Eventually she had to make use of her sheath, bringing it up to catch the few rounds that got too close. The heavier bullets sent uncomfortable shocks down her arm with each impact and just as the craft was about to better center its aim, a clone sent Blake out of harm's way.

The stream of bullets momentarily halted as the pilot readjusted and resumed shooting. The ninja was performing another series of her handsprings and she was able to track the progress with continuous glances of how a path was being torn into the ground as it steadily made its way towards her. Instead of waiting for it to be right on her before moving, Blake returned to her feet long enough to aim and fire a couple more shots with Gambol Shroud before zipping to the side to run again.

Another salvo didn't immediately follow and when Blake spared a look it was to see the Bullhead still tracking her but its chin was moving farther ahead of her. She stopped as the next storm of projectiles traced another line in the ground right in front of her before coming for her. She reacted quickly, leaping to the side and bouncing off one hand to flip her to her feet.

She didn't initiate another run and remained exactly where she was. When she brought up her pistol, it wasn't to perform another futile attack as the blade flipped back up and straightened to its proper sword form. She held it in front of her while her sheath was off to the side and clutched in a reverse grip.

With its prey now stationary, the gunship took its time to straighten. To Blake's quiet relief, the vessel actually descended in order to set itself up for what its pilot believed would be a final end to this chase.

Out in the open, no cover, and unable to properly counterattack. They thought they had her just where they wanted her, not knowing that it was actually the opposite. All Blake was waiting for was Yang.

I trust her. The thought wasn't meant to reassure her for there were no doubts in Blake's mind. It was a sincere certainty. She won't abandon me.

Behind her target, she made out the two other Bullheads that she had known were present and were occupied with something she couldn't see at the other end of the docks. Just as she feared, they had to be dealing with something else as the pair were in a tight, low, and speedy attack formation rather than slow approaches for a pick-up.

What she wasn't expecting though were the beams of green light that sliced through the fog and darkness to do the same thing to the gunships. The heavy armor that had so easily repelled Blake's shots were cut so cleanly and effortlessly as, when they split apart, the faunus could view the superheated metal of the tumbling pieces that acted as an outline of where they had been bisected. The tiny white figures that fell out of them had to be the crew or other passengers who had been stored inside.

The pilot and co-pilot of the one in front of her must've registered the destruction of the two vessels because it had become very still. That was when the orange-yellow flares streaked in and slammed against the side of the Bullhead. It shook with each impact against the fuselage with an explosion flashing against one of its engines. They were the most vulnerable points on the tiltjets and although they possessed their own sheet of armor plating to protect them, smoke and sparks were immediately tossed out to show that the engine was nonetheless damaged.

That was her opening. Blake was already charging right at the Bullhead while she sheathed Gambol Shroud.

The crew was no doubt as shook up as their vehicle for Blake had already cleared half the distance to it by the time they realized what was going on. There came a renewed whine of the engines and the damaged one coughed and sputtered while sending out more sparks. Despite the damage, it was fulfilling its purpose to lift the airship higher. Even if it ascended with difficulties, it was going to be out of Blake's reach even if she used her Semblance to try and catch it.

Yang appeared, placing herself right in Blake's path. She threaded her fingers together and held her cupped hands low between her bent knees. Blake made a short hop, her feet landing perfectly within Yang's palms while she used her free hand to grab her shoulder to steady her.

With all the power she possessed, Yang shot her legs and hands up to act as the springboard that launched Blake towards the Bullhead.

Like before, the pilot needed a moment to understand the trouble that was coming for the Bullhead but, in this instance, it was too late. The gunship tried to bank away, heading to the water that Blake had led it closer to, and it looked like it was going to get away successfully until a mid-air use of her Semblance brought the faunus right on top of the canopy.

Through the glass, she could see how the pilot and co-pilot looked right up at her and their masks couldn't hide how their jaws dropped open in shock. Blake twisted around and, with Gambol Shroud in a two-handed grip, she left behind one last clone for them to gawk at while she sped towards the wing and swung.

It was a lot more armor to cut through than a simple security android but Gambol Shroud cut through all the same. The damaged jet engine took nearly the entire wing with it when it fell away and with it gone the Bullhead was spiraling down as its leftover propulsion unit not only failed to compensate but ended up contributing to its chaotic descent.

The water had not been for Blake's escape but a benefit for her prey. Instead of crashing into the docks where there would be nothing to cushion it except for Dust-filled containers, heavy machinery, and warehouses, the Bullhead went belly-first into the watery surface of the channel. A giant geyser of water burst forth as a result of the collision and the gunship stayed upright for a few seconds before the improper distribution of weight had it slowly rolling over.

Blake watched from where she hung over the side of the docks. She had been falling towards the water as well but a quick unsheathing of Gambol Shroud and a throw had it stabbing into the docks with the ribbon acting as a lifeline that kept her from taking a plunge. It wasn't high enough to stop her from getting sprayed by a wave that smashed against the docks but she'll live.

With the Bullhead rolling over, she was able to witness the canopy opening and the crew left their sinking vessel behind to swim away from it. The faunus blew a sigh of relief but it was relief for having spared the lives of people, nothing more. She wasn't part of the White Fang anymore and they were no longer her comrades or even her brothers as she referred to them in their presence. She wasn't one of them anymore.

After all this, she can well and truly say goodbye to that life.

Blake was about to make the climb back up to the docks but there was a sudden tug on the ribbon that began pulling her up. Tilting her head up, it was to find blonde hair spilling over the edge and when she was reeled in high enough, Yang's face came into view. Smiling and looking happy to see her partner alive and well, the brawler held out a hand for Blake to take.

The faunus instead took a moment to inspect Yang's other arm. She had apparently removed Gambol Shroud from where it had been anchored after Yang had looped the ribbon twice around her limb above and below the bracelet that was Ember Celica. The sickle form of the ninja's weapon dangled from it, the blade tapping against the inert gauntlet.

Blake's gaze lingered on it before it was drawn back to Yang's face and her silent offer for support. She couldn't do anything about her lips matching her partner's expression that she accepted along with the hand that took her in the rest of the way.

---

It was when one last Bullhead had taken off and away from the docks that the police decided to choose to arrive, several cars with lights blinking and sirens blaring rushing to the scene. As Yang sarcastically noted, they came just as the action had come to an end, leaving the various officers to pick up and arrest what incapacitated White Fang members were left on the docks.

A couple immediately came to Yang and Blake in order to get their accounts of what happened but the brawler quickly turned them away with the promise that they would do so but there was someone they needed to check on first. After revealing themselves and having their identities confirmed as Huntresses studying at Beacon and that they wanted to attend to their team leader, they were allowed to do so as long as they had an officer accompanying them to make sure they didn't flee the premises.

Considering that they just took out a number of heavily-armed terrorists and a gunship, Yang had silently scoffed at the idea that one officer would be able to stop them if they wanted to leave but she agreed to it without a fuss for obvious reasons; there's been enough excitement for one night.

Worried about her sister she may be, it didn't stop Yang from experiencing the relief and joy at having her partner back at her side. Although having become a little on edge with the arrival of Vale's police forces – with her having hastily removed one of the ribbons on her arms to replace the bow she lost -, when Blake saw Yang look to her, any traces of her visible unease was replaced with a small smile that was meant solely for the blonde.

I found her, Yang thought, days of worries and regrets being wiped away at not only seeing Blake but seeing her smile again with Yang knowing that she was responsible for it.

It didn't make her forget all the trouble though as Yang had spoken truthfully when she said they were going to have a talk about all this later. But for now, she was simply going to enjoy the fact that she found Blake and she was about to be reunited with her team. Any drama that would come later can wait until then.

Another reason that the two girls had been granted a temporary reprieve so easily was that when Yang told the officers where she had last seen Ruby and Weiss, they informed her of a cordon that had already been made at that exact location. Despite the concern worming its way around her gut, Yang tried to reassure herself that they were probably collecting and arresting the Fang soldiers that she had seen there before taking off for the docks.

That seemed to be what they were doing. Along with the cop cars there were a pair of ambulances and a fire truck that sped past the Huntresses and made its way to the where they came from. Paramedics and uniformed policemen were scattered around the area and Yang was able to make out a White Fang soldier being rolled around on a gurney and attended to by medical personnel while watched over by authorities.

It was when Yang was trying to locate any sign of Weiss and Ruby that she heard it.

"I am Weiss Schnee, heiress to Schnee Dust, and I am NOT LETTING HER GO!"

Yang heard the speaker but her first thought was that she misheard them for surely that inhuman screeching couldn't possibly belong to Weiss Schnee.

She looked to Blake, finding her partner having also turned to her, and Yang had to assume that her eyes were just as wide and features just as influenced by the fright that came with their shared comprehension.

Something happened to Ruby.

Yang sought for the source and uncovered a clear spot within the otherwise crowded cordon. While the emergency lights of the gathered vehicles produced a dazzling display of colors, she nonetheless made out the white that she identified as being a hunched over Weiss. When she saw the black and red that was in her arms, Yang soon knew who that was because of how she was now jogging to the scene. That jog evolved into a desperate run.

Along with her pace, her fright grew to all-consuming horror. What she had initially thought was a trick of the light she could now see was in fact blood that stained the ground around Weiss.

And who she held wasn't moving.

No! came the desperate plea as Yang ran, the increasing number of details adding to her horror. No, no, no! Not Ruby! Not my baby sis!

"Out of my way, OUT OF MY WAY!" the brawler was screaming as she approached, a paramedic having happened to stray right in her path. It was that medic who turned to face her and see Yang bringing her shoulder forward, uncaring of how she was about to bash right through as the only thing she had on her mind was get to her sister and he was in the way of that.

Just as she was about to collide, someone grabbed her, arms slipping around her shoulders and bringing her to an unsteady halt. Yang instinctively fought back, trying to shake this latest obstacle off from her as she cried, "LET ME GO!"

"Yang, wait!"

Yang recognized the voice but that didn't stop her. "Blake, let me go!" Despite the ninja's hold on her, the brawler was still making progress although slow and awkward, Blake's boots dragging along after her.

"It's Ruby!" Yang shouted, still fighting and struggling to get closer. "It's Ruby! She's…she's…!"

She didn't want to say it, couldn't bring herself to do so, but it still came to her. She's dead. Your sister's dead because you weren't there! She was right there but you didn't do anything! Dead, dead, dead-

"Yang, no!" Blake exclaimed, still trying to restrain her. "She's alive! Look! Look!"

And Yang did look. As much as she didn't want to, the possibility that her worst fear wasn't true had her stilling and wiping at the tears that had been pooling in her eyes in order to confirm it for herself.

At first, all she saw was more proof. She had come close enough that she could see how Ruby remained still in Weiss's arms, the heiress having lifted Ruby to better clutch her against her chest while her face was hidden within her hair. It let Yang see how Ruby's own arms hung slack at her sides while her head was turned and tilted lifelessly.

Not lifeless. Yang scrubbed harder at her eyes to be sure of it but she thought she saw meager signs of what she hoped was life. A double check came in time to see how one arm subtly moved, fingers twitching. One brow performed a similar motion.

"She's alive," Yang breathed, all fight draining out of her as her body sagged within Blake's grip and the ninja had to switch from keeping the blonde back to keeping her on her feet. "Ruby's alive."

Her relief didn't last long though. Ruby was alive but why wasn't anyone else helping her? Why did Weiss have her?

There came an urgent demand for answers and Yang focused on the paramedic that she nearly trampled and who was looking at her warily. Blake had finally let go but she almost grabbed Yang again when the brawler gripped the medic's shoulders.

"What's going on?" Yang snapped, glaring at him. "Why aren't you helping her?"

Probably used to how people may react in such situations, the man recovered quickly and readily explained, "We've been trying but we can't! That girl," he motioned his head over to Weiss, "isn't letting anyone get close to her."

"Weiss?" Yang glanced at the heiress, still hunched over and not having moved at all. It was only now that the brawler noticed that a small perimeter had been formed around Weiss but no one was making a move to get close. Yang brought the medic back under her glare. "What about Ruby? Is she okay?"

"As you can see, we've at least confirmed that she's alive," he assured her. "But no one has gotten close enough to examine the extent of her injuries. She's alive but…but there's a lot of blood."

Dammit, what was Weiss doing? Pushing the medic aside, Yang squared her shoulders as she focused on the fencer, already stomping to her. "I'll get her."

A hand was placed on her, its grip as firm as Blake's voice. "Yang, you need to wait a second."

"Wait?" Yang looked at the ninja incredulously. "Didn't you hear what he said? Ruby may be alive but she's in trouble! She needs help!"

Blake didn't reply right away as she was busy examining the fencer and her live possession. Just as Yang was about to shrug her off and retrieve Ruby, Blake said, "That's why you need to wait. Rushing in there might only make it worse for Ruby."

That convinced Yang to pause. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not completely sure myself," Blake admitted. "But I can tell you that Weiss is in a very delicate state right now. If you try to force her to let go of Ruby, I'm not sure how she'll react. You're the only person here that she'll let get close and when she does you have to convince her to give Ruby to you; for both their sakes."

Yang may not understand what Blake was talking about but the severity she expressed had the brawler looking back at Weiss and Ruby with that measure of caution that her partner was trying to invoke. "You want me to try and talk her down."

"That's the course of action I suggest. If you do end up deciding on a more direct method, I advise that to be a last resort."

Yang frowned. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Like I said, I'm not completely sure about what's happened either," Blake replied truthfully, "and it'll take too long to explain. All you need to do is get Ruby carefully but quickly as I fear delaying may be just as bad."

So Yang needed to persuade Weiss to hand over Ruby as soon as possible but couldn't just take her sister out of her hands. A bit of a contradiction there and Yang said as much. "Kind of giving me mixed signals here."

"I'm sorry but that's all I can really give you." Blake took a step away from Yang to show that it was in her hands now. Her face expressed how she wished she could provide more but all she ended up giving was one last bit of support. "You'll be fine, Yang."

If it meant Ruby getting the help she needed, she was going to be more than fine. "I'll get Ruby." Yang pointed to the medic. "You make sure you're ready for her."

He dipped his chin in acknowledgement. "That's my job."

Not wanting to waste another second, Yang strode towards her objective, another pair of paramedics and an officer doing well to get clear so that she could move through them. As purposeful as her walk was, right as she had a clear path and sightline of Weiss and Ruby, she hesitated, Blake's stress on caution transferring to her legs and leaving them temporarily immobile.

There was a sudden change in the air. Although Weiss still refused to move or even look up, Yang felt like she had just stepped into an Ursa den: no sign of danger yet, somehow, she could perceive that she was trespassing and its denizen had taken note of it.

After reminding herself that Ruby's life may very well be on the line, Yang took a step forward. Then another.

It was after completing two more that a barrier was constructed to block her off. The blonde instantly recognized it to be Weiss's glyph even if the color was unusually dull. While the various ends of the snowflake in the center would smoothly circle in differing directions, in this instance they ticked about slowly like the hands of an old-fashioned clock.

The flare of aggression that Yang felt had her ignoring the oddities while her hands balled as a reflex in the presence of opposition preventing her from reaching her goal. She restrained herself with a reminder that not only did Blake tell her to talk Weiss down, but Yang knew that Weiss's glyphs were something that weren't going to be broken through so easily.

Instead, Yang took a calming breath and gently spoke, "Weiss, it's me. It's Yang."

"…Y-Yang?"

Her name was spoken in a croak and Yang blinked at that before speaking again. "Yes, Weiss. Can I come closer?"

Seconds passed before Yang was given a reply with how the glyph was dismantled. That was the best way to describe it as, like its formation, the Dust-casted barrier disappeared abnormally. Whereas it would normally shrink in upon itself before fading away entirely, Yang instead watched as the glyph cracked and broke apart with the pieces disappearing before her eyes.

Weiss's hand drew away from where Myrtenaster rested next to her to better rejoin the other that clung to Ruby.

Her way clear, Yang carefully stepped the rest of the way before slowly kneeling in front of Weiss. She used the opportunity to get a good look at Ruby and her throat immediately seized up. She couldn't get the full scope of the damage even with Ruby's cloak having fallen and becoming pinned beneath her body but she saw the charred bits of fabric of her sister's blouse and how the material was stained with what she knew had to be blood. It was that blood that stained Weiss's hands and the ground around them.

Of the wound that was responsible, Yang could only see parts of a white, foam-like seal. Weiss must've treated it but it did little to assuage the blonde's fears. She could see that Ruby was breathing, her chest rising and falling regularly and though she looked like she was resting that unnatural pallor of her features scared her. Ruby needed help now.

Diplomacy, Yang instructed herself but couldn't do anything about the clenching of her fists. Don't make it worse.

At some point Weiss lost her jacket, leaving her arms bare. Her body was practically contorted around Ruby as if to better keep her in place. With her continuing to veil her face with Ruby's red-black tresses and, wanting to be sure she was listening, Yang asked, "Weiss, can you hear me?"

For a moment there was nothing before she heard a soft-spoken, "Yes."

"Okay, good." Yang shifted where she was, trying to get more comfortable while vainly trying to get Weiss's face into her view. It was no good. "Weiss, I need you to give me Ruby."

There came a flexing of Weiss's limbs, the girl tightening her grip around her partner. "I have her."

"I know you do and I see you've done your best. But she needs help. You need to let her go so that she can get help, okay?"

Weiss shook her head against Ruby's, nowhere near enough for Yang to see her expression but her response was uncompromising. "I helped Ruby. She's fine. She's okay."

There was only so much that Yang could put towards diplomacy, especially in a situation such as this. Help was right behind her, ready to take Ruby in and make sure that she stayed alive. No matter what Blake may say, it didn't change how the one who was keeping Ruby away from that was Weiss. Even if she was in a delicate state, Yang was more than willing to knock her down in order to free Ruby from her.

But she tried. It was because of how she could see that Weiss did help Ruby that Yang reined in her desire to use her position to her advantage to grab her sister. "She's okay now but we need to get her to a hospital, Weiss. Let her go and give her to me."

To Yang's distress, she saw Ruby's face crinkle with discomfort as Weiss's hold on her grew tighter. "I have her," the heiress repeated. "She's fine. She doesn't need help."

Yeah, this isn't working, Yang decided, the fencer's insistence convincing her. The brawler readied herself, her legs tensing in preparation. Grab Ruby, knock Weiss down, and pull her clear before she could do anything. Any hard feelings she'll live with once Ruby was safe and sound. Sorry, Weiss. But for me, Ruby comes first.

She became as still as Weiss, counting the beats as she waited for what she hoped would be the right opportunity to strike when the heiress least expected it. Let her relax, let her think she wasn't going to do anything, and then…

"…She was going away."

The hoarse, wretched words got Yang to freeze.

"She was going away and she wasn't coming back," Weiss continued, barely audible against Ruby. "I didn't want her to go away. I wanted her to come back."

Yang stayed where she was, her strategy of a forceful retrieval leaving her and being replaced with a sudden suspicion. She squinted, trying to make something out.

It was difficult to do so. What she thought to be a trick of the light she saw something pulse around Weiss. It was brief but it was at her arms that Yang saw it: a quick, muted flash of white that winked in then out weakly. There came another, answering pulse, this one around Ruby; a glimmer of pink that changed to a darker red before it also vanished.

Oh, Weiss…what did you do?

No, she knew what Weiss did: she saved Ruby. Hearing Weiss, looking at Ruby, and inspecting all the evidence around them, Yang could see that her sister had been in dire straits and Weiss…saved her.

Setting herself down on her knees with relaxed fingers resting on top of them, Yang spoke, "Weiss, thank you." When she got no response she repeated, "Weiss, thank you."

It was the second that the heiress reacted to. She lifted her head and Yang could see how ashen her face was. Those eyes of hers were now sullied with reddened rims, the skin of her cheeks that sagged over her high cheekbones noticeably stained.

Seeing them incited a pair of droplets to slide down Yang's cheeks and she was ashamed of herself for thinking that she'd be fine with pushing this broken girl away from her partner. "You told me you had Ruby and you did. You're right, Weiss; you helped her. She's fine but she needs her rest now." She held her hands out towards her. "I promise you'll see her again but she really needs her rest. You know you can trust me with her, right?"

Weiss looked at her turned-up palms before gazing at Yang vacantly. Then, soundlessly, she loosened her arms from around Ruby in order to – with visible reluctance – hold her out towards the blonde. Yang kept her movements slow, leaning forward to slip one arm behind Ruby's back, the other behind her knees, all the while whispering to Weiss, "It's okay. Don't worry. She's fine."

Once she had Ruby, Yang stood up, Weiss's hands weakly gripping her leader's skirt before she let that last remnant of control slip away too. Thanking Weiss one more time, Yang stepped away.

What happened to you, Rubes? Yang asked her unconscious sibling once she could better see the injury. Her knees weakened and the brawler had to stop herself from stumbling as she made her way to the paramedics with the promised help waiting for her.

She experienced her own reluctance at letting Ruby go. It had been a long time since she held her like this and being reminded of just how small and light her sister was with her breath brushing along her neck had her recollecting all those times she carried Ruby to bed after she dozed off in the middle of one of Yang's stories when she was younger. Although soft, the gurney that she laid Ruby on wasn't her bed and instead of tucking her in, Yang backed away so that the paramedics could surround and see to her.

As much as it hurt, Yang shook her head upon being asked if she wanted to ride with Ruby as she was loaded into an ambulance. Other than sitting and fretting, there wasn't much that Yang would be able to do for her. What was becoming much too often, the brawler had to step back and let others help Ruby.

Besides, she recognized that there was somewhere that she can be more useful.

While watching the ambulance speed away, Yang became aware of a presence appearing at her side. Feeling utterly exhausted, Yang quietly murmured, "Weiss…she said…"

"I know," Blake stated and Yang happened to catch her bow wiggling on top of her head. "I heard."

Has it done that before? the blonde wondered, attention momentarily fixed on the decoration. Right now, unimportant. "You also knew that she bonded to Ruby."

"Not for certain but it was a very educated guess," Blake replied. "Considering her state and what she told you, I would have to assume that Ruby had been close to death and Weiss chose to bond with her to save her life. To form one during such desperate circumstances and to use it in the way that I believe she did, it can put a lot of strain on her and I was afraid of just how far she pushed herself when we were told she wasn't letting anyone near Ruby."

Yang brought Weiss back into view to see the fencer trying to stand. Her legs visibly shook and she hardly made any progress before she was dropping back down on her rear. "She's so weak."

"It could've been worse than that." At Yang's silent request for an explanation, Blake informed, "Reviving someone isn't the hard part as, even if the body ceases to function, as long as the soul still lingers they aren't truly dead. Keeping them alive is a different matter entirely. Remember when I told you of what a bonded pair could achieve?"

That seemed like several lifetimes ago and Yang struggled to remember what Blake told them after their initiation. "Vaguely. Increased awareness, sharing thoughts, and transferring Aura, right?"

"It's the last that I believe Weiss did. While she kept Ruby's soul anchored, she used her Aura in order to replenish hers and let her body heal itself." Blake's brows knitted with concern. "It's a very extreme way of doing it and I've never performed something that extensive but I can presume that it's very dangerous."

She expected what the answer would be but Yang still asked. "How dangerous?"

"It could've killed her," Blake replied solemnly. "It's like any other transfusion: a donor can only give so much before it kills them. With how serious Ruby's injuries were, she would've kept taking as much as she could and it didn't look like Weiss was stopping. I'm surprised she could still cast her glyphs. If you didn't stop her when you did…"

She could've died, Yang finished. Thinking back to Weiss's glyph, Yang theorized that she could've potentially broken it easily with how weak she could now understand it really was. That glimpse she had to the state of Weiss's Aura was the heiress giving what little she had left with Ruby taking and converting it for her own use. And if help still hadn't arrived and Ruby was still in such a critical condition…

The thought was too horrifying to finish. Banishing it from her mind, Yang focused on what she did know: that Ruby was alive, that she'll recover, and that Weiss would do the same.

It was Weiss who needed someone right now. Having failed to get back to her feet, the heiress had dropped to her knees. Her hands were held out in front of her, shaking, and she was just staring at the splashes of crimson that was stuck to them.

She became drawn to nearby movement. Without Ruby there to keep it in place, that red cloak rustled in the wake of Vale's nightly breezes. It was stained, the pins were missing, and it had a few tears in the cloth. Another breeze blew through and the light material fluttered, the cloak lifting…going away.

With a pitiful cry Weiss lurched forward and nearly fell over in her quest to catch the cloak. Once she gained possession of it, she held the article tight against her chest.

That was the image that Yang was given when she returned to Weiss. With her jacket missing and thin arms exposed, clutching Ruby's cape as if it was a security blanket, and giving Yang another vacant stare, the heiress looked like a lost little kid. Yang lowered herself down in order to take that girl into her arms.

"It's okay, Weiss," Yang whispered soothingly, embracing her. "Ruby's okay. You're okay. Everyone's okay."

Weiss said nothing. All she did was hold Ruby's cloak tighter against her.

---

"Uh, yeah, cops, not my thing."

Penny gave her companion a look of wide-eyed curiosity. "You don't like policemen?"

"Oh, it's not about me not liking them," Sun corrected. "Truth be told, we get along a little too well at times to where they like me to stick around longer than I like."

Penny hummed thoughtfully, her gaze moving from her new friend, to the gathering of patrol cars, then back again. "But I want to make sure my friend Ruby is okay!"

"I'm not saying that you can't do that; you can do so without me." The monkey faunus had his hands folded behind his head, spine curved back lazily, but how he stood unmoved and looking cautiously at where Penny wanted to go said that he wasn't inclined to join her.

"I want to introduce the two of you!" she nonetheless insisted. "The sooner you meet, the sooner we can make our playdate and hang out!"

"As nice as that sounds," Sun began, "don't you think it's a bit of a bad time for that right now? It'd probably be better if you waited for things to get a little less chaotic wouldn't you think?"

Penny frowned, once again moving her gaze to and fro as she looked between Sun and where she knew Ruby and her friends were. It did appear to be – as Sun said – 'chaotic' with all the personnel who were working around and Ruby was probably busy. She hung her head in defeat. "No, I suppose you're right; it does appear to be a bad time."

Sun quietly examined her downcast expression. "Hey, don't be so glum. I'm sure you'll be able to talk to her again and, just so you know, I'll still be around. If you're staying in Vale for a while, you can give me a call sometime."

That did cheer Penny up, the sword-stringer giving Sun a smile. "I'm going to be fighting in the tournament and I do have a temporary residence in the city."

The faunus arched a brow and gave Penny a once-over. "Fighting in the tournament, huh? Well, after seeing what you can do, I may have to watch out." He held out a fist towards Penny. "Good job by the way."

Penny tilted her head to better display her confusion as Sun held his knuckles out towards her, trying to find some kind of meaning behind it whether it was a challenge or something different. After keeping his hand held out for far too long, Sun offered, "Hold your hand out just like mine."

Wordlessly, Penny followed his instructions, her own hand coming up and fingers folding to better display her knuckles. Once she accomplished that, Sun reached out and tapped his fist against hers. "There, like that."

Penny's brows shot up in understanding. A variation of the standard hand gesture meant for typical greetings that could also be suited for displays of appreciation and congratulations. Ecstatic at having been able to learn and perform such a thing, Penny knocked her fist into Sun's.

It was a bit harder than how he did it and Sun drew his hand back. "Okay, ow, yeah." He massaged his now bruised appendage with the other hand. "I think you got it. Just ease up on the strength there."

Penny just beamed up at him.

"Anyway, I gotta get going," Sun explained, drawing away from the girl. "I'll see you later, Penny. If Blake's over there, could you do me a favor and mention that I hope to see her again, too?"

"I'll make sure to do that!" Her one fist still extended, Penny used her other hand to wave at the retreating faunus. "Goodbye, friend Sun!"

Once she could no longer see him, Penny refocused on her fist and made a second with her other hand. With them turned towards one another, she bumped them together to imitate and practice the gesture that Sun taught her. I can't wait to show this to Ruby. She suddenly stiffened. Wait, I forgot to ask for his number so that I could call him!

It was too late now and Penny started to wonder that Sun didn't give her one because he didn't have one. Maybe when he said to call him, he meant how Penny saw Ruby and the others were calling their friend Blake: walking around the streets and shouting her name. Satisfied that she figured it out, Penny started walking to where Ruby was while continuing to practice bumping her fists together.

So engrossed in her task, Penny almost didn't see the car that pulled up right in front of her. It wasn't one of the emergency vehicles as it was a rather plain, gray car. She recognized it though as she did the man who stepped out of the driver seat.

She didn't need to see his look of disapproval that she knew was there when Penny bowed her head, subdued, with her arms falling back to her sides. When she heard the click of a door being unlocked, she quietly entered the back of the vehicle, sitting down on one of the cushioned seats. The door closed behind her and the man retook his spot behind the wheel.

Over the sound of the engine starting back up, she heard the driver admonish her. "You should know better than to go running around in a strange city."

Penny's head lowered even further. "I know, sir."

The man twisted in his seat to look back at Penny and instead of a scolding, his next statement was made to sound reassuring. "Penny, your time will come."

She heard that before which was why she didn't say anything. Upon receiving only silence, her caretaker faced forward and shifted gears in order to begin driving. He did slowly pass where Penny had meant to go and she peered out the window.

She didn't see Ruby but she found Yang helping Weiss to her feet, the white-haired girl wobbling but the taller one held her steady. Off to the side was Blake and Penny smiled with a hint of sadness, happy to see that they found their friend but…

The girl pressed her palm against the window. She couldn't feel it. She could register an object at her fingertips as well as its reinforced thickness and how the outside was purposely tinted. As normal as the car appeared outwardly, it had its own modifications which included an augmented chassis. She could identify such hard points, process, and deduce the amount of force necessary to break through them.

When it came to combat, she was designed to be ready for it.

What she couldn't feel, however, was whether the glass was cool or warm. Such information did not warrant attention unless it proved to be detrimental to her. Even then, the data that she was supplied allowed her to sense but not feel.

What she could feel were the sensations that were produced by the scene playing out in front of her. When it came to naming and explaining them, she found herself bereft of such data. She could learn though – she was learning – and it was why she would leave the company of her caretakers in order to acquire it. Much like these emotions, she couldn't explain her need; it was just something she felt compelled to do.

She wasn't fully certain as to what she was really seeking. There were things that she knew she couldn't have or couldn't do, such as what Weiss was able to do for Ruby when she entrusted her to the Schnee heiress. But she did know that there was something out there that she wanted and felt that she could acquire. These past few days proved to be a valuable learning experience and she concluded that, while the information was still illusive, she was coming closer to reaching whatever obscure goal it was that was staying out of her reach.

Until her time really did come, she would keep searching and she would keep asking to figure out what it was.

Just before the car could bring everything out of sight, there was an irregularity that Penny detected at the last second. As Yang assisted Weiss, they left something behind them: a light blue jacket that lay crumbled on the ground. There was a symbol on the back but half of it was painted in red.

It lay there alone, abandoned, and forgotten.

Chapter Text

=Three Days Ago=

"You know, I've been taking to singing again," she spoke softly while her fingers smoothed down those displaced locks. "You were right: it was something I still enjoyed and was happy to do again."

There was no response.

"I've been writing a song, too," she continued. "I'm still having trouble finishing it but when I do, I wouldn't mind you listening to it."

Again there was nothing but silence. Her hand slid down, fingertips brushing an unmoving brow before she cupped a cold cheek. A teardrop fell and splashed against the other.

"So, please," she begged, trying to keep her voice steady despite the trembling of her lip that had another tear falling from her chin. "Open your eyes."

But she never would. She would never open her eyes, never smile, never laugh ever again.

Because Ruby Rose was dead.

For a while all Weiss could do was sit there, trying to figure out how this could've possibly happened. As if hoping she could spot some form of an answer, she had placed Ruby's head upon her lap to better stare at that lifeless face.

There was nothing there to explain it to her, leaving Weiss to vainly try to come up with an explanation. Had she done something wrong? She couldn't have; she did everything right. She discovered the wound and treated it accordingly. She could've discovered it sooner but that shouldn't have mattered because Ruby was still breathing afterwards. She was still alive.

So how did Weiss fail?

She turned away for only a few seconds. In that amount of time something must've occurred for when Weiss looked back, Ruby was gone. What did she miss? How, with all her boasted intelligence and talent, did she allow this to happen? Of all the times she had never fallen short in an endeavor, how was it that she did so here?

It was a question she couldn't answer. A problem she couldn't figure out no matter how hard she tried. All she could grasp was that for one moment Ruby was alive and talking to her and in the next she wasn't.

Then there came another question that was even more difficult to answer: why did this happen?

Why did Ruby have to die? Why did anyone have to die? For having a childhood that had been burdened by it, death wasn't a subject that Weiss developed an understanding for. She would just hear another name of another person who was killed and she would always wonder why it happened to them.

She was always given reasons. She was told that the people who did it were monsters and she would hear from those monsters that they did it because her family and those who worked for them were the monsters. No matter what explanation she was given, was that really enough to warrant death? The people she had known such as Horace and his family weren't monsters but they ended up experiencing such a tragedy anyway.

She was just a little girl at the time. How was she supposed to understand any of what happened no matter how gifted she was? All she knew was that people were dying in a war that had one day come to her doorstep without notice, turning everything in her life upside down. No one could've possibly expected her to understand how or why it happened.

In the end, she stopped trying to figure it out. With all that was going on around her, she found that the only thing she could do was accept that that was how it was. Death just…happened. It would happen after a month, a week, or as soon as a day but death would come along eventually and it could come in ones, twos, threes, or even more than that. She thought it would make everything simpler when she just accepted it. It was easier that way.

Eventually she accepted it as an answer as well as an explanation when she wanted to find a way to end it all. Death could only be solved with death. For one as smart as she was, it was such simple, circular logic that she ended up relying on. She would kill because other people killed.

Except she couldn't do that either. That simplicity convinced her into thinking that it was the right thing to do but when she found a perfect opportunity to enforce it she found that she couldn't.

She couldn't take a life and she couldn't save one either. She was a failure in both regards.

All that she was left with was that same question for a different person: why did Ruby have to die?

She didn't do anything wrong…

Ruby always wanted to help people. She didn't come out here to kill anyone. She didn't kill anyone. Out of everyone here, she was the last person who should deserve to die.

She likes her sweets a bit too much, Weiss thought, unaware of the steady stream that fell from each eye no matter how scarred one was. She could always focus more on her studies. She has to constantly come up with some pointless team activity for us to do. But none of them are a reason for her to die, are they?

It was Ruby's blood that was on her hands though. It was Ruby who lay here dead while the White Fang she didn't kill remained alive. It was her useless partner who was sitting and breathing over her.

It was Weiss who yelled at her. It was Weiss who abandoned her and left her to this fate that had fallen upon her because she had sought to administer death. She had once called Ruby a nuisance, she who once claimed that she was the one who deserved better. What did someone who couldn't keep her promise of being the best teammate really deserve?

Even in her last moments, Ruby hadn't been thinking about herself. She had been worried about Blake who she always believed wasn't the criminal that Weiss swore her to be. She had been worried about her sister who had gone off headfirst into danger to rescue her partner. The last words she had spoken were about…

…Me.

While that last vestige of life drained out of her, Ruby had been apologizing to her. She said that she was sorry that she hadn't known sooner, that she wished that she could've said more…that she could've helped more...

Weiss never wanted it but Ruby had always tried to help her. All Ruby wanted to do for her was to get her to enjoy something she once loved, to make her as more of a part of her team with their fun activities, to savor those moments together.

And all Weiss had wanted to do was look for the fight that killed her.

…It wasn't fair.

Weiss put her arms around Ruby, lifting her up and pressing her face against that red-black hair in order to soak them with the tears that fell from her face while the ones that had dripped onto Ruby's slid down her deathly cold and still features. Her shoulders shook, her body becoming wracked with sobs.

It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair!

With her voice muffled, it was the growing soreness in her throat that had Weiss realizing that her sobs had become screams to better lament the unfairness of it all.

She wanted Ruby to open her eyes so that she could see those silvers that she thought would lead her to ruin but she now knew to be the best thing that happened to her! She wanted her to talk and laugh again and Weiss would call her a dolt or a dunce; insults that had been becoming spoken with growing fondness! She wanted to be distracted by all those things that she enjoyed with Ruby and their team! She wanted to prove to her leader that she could be the best teammate like she promised!

She wanted Ruby back!

Her Aura blazed to life, white and pure as her wish. It manifested not as an outline but a divine radiance that chased away the surrounding darkness of the night. As Ruby became bathed in it, it was that white light that was to break the black grip of death that desired to pull her into a greater, more eternal darkness.

At first there was nothing there. Despite how Weiss curled her body around Ruby so that her Aura could touch and encompass the younger girl in short order, there was no sign of her anywhere. The heiress found herself fruitlessly reaching and searching within deep, dark waters, looking for anything of Ruby that she could grab and use to bring her out from their depths. For a few, heart-wrenching moments, she fruitlessly flailed within cold emptiness.

Then she touched on it. It was faint but when there wasn't anything else it stuck out prominently. She didn't need to see how a feeble, rose-red light issued from the center of Ruby's chest as she was able to sense its delicate beating as if it was trying to replace the heart that had stopped.

It was remarkable as to how it existed despite being so close to the mortal wound that had struck her down, the space separating them mere inches and what has become a boundary between life and death. As long as one iota of life existed though, it meant there was hope no matter how small it was. And you only needed a shred of hope in order for the light to exist and evaporate the darkness.

For Weiss, it was going to be more than enough.

She encased that speck of life that was as stubborn as its owner, doing the same as she had done with Ruby's body. She didn't stop there as her need to make sure it continued to exist had her weaving and twining her very soul with her leader's to better keep it in place.

It was that need that gave shape to the words that came to the fencer. They arrived naturally as if they were lyrics that she memorized even if it was the only time they crossed her mind. Instead of for a song, they were a verbal product of her heart's desires. Weiss spoke them with a hoarse, muffled, and stuttering voice but she spoke them all the same.

"T-to preserve this life I o-offer my own. As a tether,
g-grounded to this plane I do f-freely give myself,
and offer my soul as a guide and anchor. Two b-bound
as one so that both may live so long as o-one will b-breathe."

So bring Ruby back! she silently finished.

Finally did Ruby respond to her proclamation, the other half of the knot that Weiss had been tying growing taut in order to tighten it. Then she was reaching back, using her newly-formed link with the fencer to follow her Aura back to her own center to make her mark there and form a two-way connection in order to better secure what was being offered. Weiss didn't even hesitate to open the way to it. Like everything else about this procedure, it was all natural and instinctive as that was what survival was all about. Ruby wanted to survive and Weiss wanted to make sure she did. There were very few things as true to human nature as that.

That weak, rose-red illumination was growing stronger. Surrounded by white, it was gradually stretching to absorb and convert the energy that was being bestowed. White became pink, pink became red, and the process went on as Ruby regained enough of her Aura to devote it to her bodily functions. Cells began to regenerate, blood restarted their flow, oxygen was carried along with it, and for the scythe-wielder to accomplish that her heart and lungs began working again.

Her first breath was a gasp and it was the most beautiful thing that Weiss ever heard as was the melody that followed with quicker, shallower breaths as Ruby now began actively replenishing not what her soul needed but her body. Weiss reveled in all these signs that occurred within her arms that said that she succeeded; that Ruby was alive and breathing again.

She was going to make sure that her partner stayed that way. Even after Ruby's breathing reestablished a stable rhythm while her Aura reformed around her, Weiss didn't cease her efforts. Whenever her Aura began to dull, there came a flare of white that was fed to restore its brightness. She was not going to let her leader so much as falter here.

At the back of her mind, Weiss recognized the weakness that was overtaking her. Having imparted so much of herself into Ruby already, her persistence to give more was causing it to spread. But she didn't cease her efforts. What became most important in her mind was to make sure that Ruby wasn't going anywhere.

She brought Ruby back. She saved her. She was keeping her alive. She did and was doing what no one else could.

She wasn't going to let anything stop her until she saw those silver eyes again. So long as she breathed, Ruby would do the same no matter how much Weiss would have to give to keep it that way.

---

=Present=

Three days. Three long days.

Once Ruby had been evacuated from the docks and transported to one of the nearest hospitals, she ended up staying there for three days. Although she was declared as in the clear hours after arriving, the decision to have her remain there until she woke up had been made for what was considered as the best interests for her health. While Beacon had its own facilities, its headmaster nonetheless agreed with the arrangement as there was no need to transport the young leader when all that she really needed was undisturbed rest to recover. She would be brought back to the school once she was able to make the trip herself.

That day was today when Beacon was given a notice that Ruby regained consciousness the night before. After an early morning monitoring and check-up, she was deemed as safe to travel and could be retrieved at the earliest convenience where the school can take over the care of its student. That wasn't going to mean that she was back to normal as she would be prescribed with supplements and other medications and would have to take it easy for the following weeks. Science, magic, and Aura has come a long way but there were just some things that the body needed to do on its own, especially when it came to recovering from excessive blood loss.

Her team, at least, would be happy to have her back. It was not only for their sake that they were exempt from classes during the duration of her recovery but there were also reports to be made and debriefings to attend in the wake of the fight that occurred at Vale's docks. The appearance of a terrorist organization, a major player of the criminal underworld, and a frightening amount of weaponry within the city's downtown warranted an investigation to answer how it happened and what it may mean in terms of the future.

Such an investigation would be handed off to the appropriate departments though. Right now, all Team RWBY had to worry about was their leader.

It was Ruby who was on Weiss's mind as the heiress ventured to the hospital but not without making a couple other stops within Vale. She carefully shifted the gathered items in her arms – half purchased, half she brought with her from Beacon – so that she may rub at her eyes in an attempt to dispel the drowsiness that made the lids heavy.

She hadn't slept well during the past three days. She passed out at intermediate points during the trip and stay at the hospital to make sure that Ruby would be fine but one wouldn't really call that sleeping as it was just giving up once the demand for it became too great. The same could be said at Beacon where the fencer found herself wanting to sleep but couldn't because of certain…distractions. Eventually she would nod off but when she awoke it would be nowhere near enough rest and she would still feel miserable.

It wasn't due to the work that came with the aftermath of the battle that Weiss had been busy with as she had been relatively spared from it. Though not having been injured, the heiress had exerted herself quite a bit that night and she was allowed her own time to recover to properly situate herself.

That was much easier said than done. What plagued Weiss was something that sleep and time couldn't fix and it was why she made sure to take an airship to Vale when Yang had been called in by Ozpin for a meeting.

In order to get herself 'situated', she needed to remove the cause and do it before life restarted at Beacon with Ruby's return.

She could pick up on it. Beneath her breast was a sensation that she could only describe as a wrongness. Each beating of her heart was accompanied with something that felt off in the overall rhythm. It was unusual, it was foreign, and it was something that Weiss found disturbing because she knew it wasn't hers but it didn't stop it from existing right at her most vulnerable point.

Weiss did not regret what she did that night. She had nothing but time to repeatedly go over what happened but not once did she think for a moment that she wanted to take back what she did even if she did so out of desperation and with little thought about the consequences that she was suffering from because of it. To do that meant that Ruby would not have survived and that was something Weiss would never want to happen.

But she was alarmed with what did happen. She wanted Ruby to live and she willingly offered a piece of herself with Ruby trading a part of herself in return to better make sure she stayed in this plane of existence. That was fine. If it meant bringing Ruby back she found that arrangement agreeable.

What she nearly did after that though…

It did something to her. She didn't know what but it made her act…not herself. Even when she felt Ruby's breath on her face, even when she felt her shift in her arms, even when she took note of everything that said that Ruby was alive, she hadn't halted in her efforts to make sure that Ruby would stay that way. She just kept giving more of herself than what should've been necessary.

When the ambulances arrived and the paramedics tried to remove Ruby from her, she fought them off. She conjured up her glyphs even when they were just draining what reserves she had left that were already being sapped by Ruby. What should've been help became a threat and the idea of them taking Ruby away from her had scared her and she didn't know why. The only thing she was thinking was to not let Ruby go because, as impossible as it should've been, she was afraid that Ruby would leave her again if she did.

Such an unsightly and senseless display on her part and she would feel ashamed if it wasn't for her remembering what else she perceived going on. Taking place of what strength and Aura was being drained from her was a chill that was spreading throughout her body and she recognized it for what it was immediately. It was the same chill that she felt on Ruby when she had been lying limp in her arms and it was that cold that she forced to relinquish its hold on her leader.

It was the everlasting chill of death. Having been thwarted from one victim, it decided to take another and Weiss had no compunctions of being the one to replace Ruby.

She became irrational. While this bond saved Ruby, it had nearly driven Weiss to what she was sure was madness and never had she appreciated Yang more than she did for when Ruby's sister had brought her out from it. Whatever insults and slights she once directed at the blonde, she was silently apologizing for every single one of them. If she had been allowed to go on with her insanity for a little longer…

I didn't, Weiss assured herself as she experienced a weaker form of that chill that had her shuddering and would do so every time she thought back to it. I didn't and everything's fine.

Besides, it wasn't like this was irreversible. Ruby was alive and that was fine. The deed was done. Weiss may've gone through a bit of an ordeal both during then and afterwards but that was fine too. She could fix this. Things can go back to normal.

The automatic doors slid open at Weiss's approach, allowing the heiress to cross into the sterile environment of the hospital that had the heavy scent of ammonia hanging in the air. The front desk – true to form – was ahead of her but once she spotted it she didn't go to it just yet.

Thanks to the white and pale blue color scheme that such facilities like to sport, it made the figure of black stand out painfully. Oh, Weiss thought sarcastically, great. Exactly who I want to see right now.

Hilarious considering that it was Blake who Weiss hadn't seen after the team had sat silently within the waiting area until they were told that Ruby was going to recover. The white-themed girl hadn't exactly been in the right state of mind as the relief and the exhaustion made the journey back to Beacon an indiscernible blur within her memories. However, not once had she seen Blake at Beacon and it led to Weiss questioning if the faunus was with them during the return trip to the combat school.

She found herself drawn to that bow and, again, she wondered how she could've been so foolish to let such a simple decoration hide the truth from her for this long. Her self-chastising was interrupted when Blake – she guessed the sliding of the doors got her attention – turned to face Weiss.

At spotting the heiress, the ninja opened her mouth to address her but her lips suddenly stilled. Instead, it was her eyes that went into a flurry of motion as they beheld the fencer, her gaze flicking about as they took her in. Eventually they drew back up to meet Weiss's blank look but she stayed silent and simply stared at her.

Tired she may be, there came a spark of irritation as she detected sympathy within Blake's features. Her own hardening, Weiss curtly spoke, "Blake."

The faunus didn't return with the same and, to what was becoming growing offence for Weiss, she looked apologetic. "Weiss."

Neither said anything for a while. One quietly conveyed remorse, the other offence, but they didn't verbalize any of it. Looking increasingly uncomfortable, Blake volunteered to break the silence as she said, "Ruby's awake."

"I know," Weiss deadpanned. "That's why I'm here."

The faunus flinched at the tone but was nodding her head as if understanding that it was warranted. "I meant to say that she's awake now; I just asked. She's in room one-four-two."

"Good." There was neither an apology for her behavior or thanks for the information whether it be at her voice or her toughened exterior. "I came to talk to my partner and, if you don't mind, I'd like to do that alone."

At that, Blake performed another inspection but this time it was at the bundle of items that Weiss held in her arms; all of them stacked on top of the red cloth that had been neatly folded and, going by its appearance, freshly-cleaned. "Of course."

When Weiss did try to go to the desk though, Blake didn't get out of the way. She was about to, one foot having been raised to move, but it settled back down. It took Weiss longer than it should've to realize that her way was still blocked and when she stopped it was right in front of her faunus teammate who was chewing on her lip, her gaze casted down as she struggled with something to say.

Just as Weiss was getting enough of her energy back to snap at the delay, Blake looked back up at her and, after one last bit of hesitation, began, "Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with th-"

"Stop."

Blake did, blinking incredulously at the heiress.

"Do you have any idea as to how long we were searching for you?" Weiss questioned. When all Blake did was give her another blink, Weiss went on, "Twelve hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about what I would even do to you when I found you."

Though she transferred the energy into this response to give it the extra edge, it hadn't been meant for the explanation that was following as it swiftly dulled and Weiss's hardened features began to break beneath the burden of weariness. "Then there was another twelve worrying about Ruby, and another twelve to actually think about all of this, and during that time I've decided…"

The pause wasn't on purpose. It was meant to give Weiss time to wonder if she was sure about her own decision. Blake had lied to them, ran from them, hid from them, and Weiss remembered the anger and hate that she felt towards her and what she had originally thought was justified and wouldn't be appeased until she did…something to who she was sure was a White Fang spy and her potential compatriots.

Then she would remember how she instead dished it out towards Ruby who had looked so afraid of her…and Yang who had been livid enough to almost hit her…and then Ruby again who spent what could've very well been her last moments to attest to Blake's innocence…and combine that with her own failure…

"I don't care."

Blake stared at her disbelievingly and needed a moment before repeating, "You don't care?"

"You said you aren't one of them anymore, right?"

Long before Blake just said it, Weiss had heard from Yang during and after she informed the officers on site of how she and Blake had fought the White Fang. After having it confirmed later on, it was quite obvious that Blake was more than just no longer affiliated with them.

So when Blake was about to explain, "No, I haven't been since I was-", Weiss held up her right hand as a silent order to stop.

She failed to realize her mistake until the faunus was already looking at the raised appendage. Much like how she did upon first seeing Weiss, Blake's eyes grew large and her jaw went slack. The heiress quickly closed her hand and hid it back beneath the cloth she carried but it was too late, Blake following it and staring at where it was now hidden.

"I don't want to hear it," Weiss spoke, mustering up what vigor she could to effectively draw Blake back to her. It petered out sooner than the last scrap of it did and her efforts to muster it not once but twice started to take a toll. "I don't care anymore."

Wherever that anger was, however that hate managed to leave her, it wasn't here now; not just for Blake but the White Fang in general. The organization was still terrible and she knew she would fight them if she crossed paths with its members again, but any fantasies and the passionate fuel to power them that would have her viciously swearing to dish out her own measure of justice didn't come to her. All she was right now was tired.

Identifying this to be an end to their argument – if one could call it that -, Blake finally stepped aside while mumbling a soft, "Okay."

Saying nothing else, Weiss went to the desk and, ignoring a concerned question from the attendant there, gave her name and pulled up her Beacon ID on her scroll to confirm her identity and her relationship with who she was to visit. Once that was done, she was handed a small electronic pass that she was to keep visible at all times so that her name, destination, and the time she checked in could be displayed with bright lettering.

Weiss set her gathered items on the desk to pin it to her jacket and then smooth out a couple wrinkles when she felt an impulse to do so. It wasn't her bolero. While her teammates made sure to retrieve Myrtenaster and her Dust, her trademark jacket had gone missing. It was a loss that was acceptable as there was nothing that a reputable tailor and a custom order couldn't replace.

She was wearing her dress but for a temporary fix she chose the brown blazer of her Beacon uniform to cover her arms and keep up appearances. Not the greatest fashion choice but it'll do. After she made a couple passes through the lengths of hair – being sure to do that with her left hand -, the heiress picked the bundle back up.

Before she could begin her walk down the designated hallway, Blake spoke up behind her. "Weiss."

The fencer stood where she was, head twisting to show that she was listening but not enough to bring the faunus into her view.

"I can guess why you're here. I may not have any right to do so but, please, hear me out." When Weiss remained stationary, Blake continued, "I know you bonded to Ruby and that how you did it and the circumstances surrounding it may have been rather intense for you. Something like that I'm sure must be disorienting."

Disorienting was certainly an insufficient way to describe what she's been going through but Weiss felt no need to inform Blake of just how 'disorienting' it's been for her.

"The thing with bonds though," Blake went on, "is that something so sacred cannot be made easily. In order to form one, both parties must be willing to bind themselves in such a way to properly do so. To hold any reservations is to not fully commit yourself to it, leading to a greater chance of it failing. This isn't to say that forming one successfully will be fool-proof as-" she hesitated, then finished, "as I have made that mistake once."

Weiss wasn't as surprised as Blake may've expected her to be as the faunus was waiting for the heiress to properly respond to this revelation. In comparison to having been part of the White Fang, this latest secret was relatively minor and Weiss only wanted Blake to get on with it.

Blake eventually became aware of that. "I fooled myself into believing that I wanted it that way as I thought that was the only choice I had. It was later that I understood what I got myself into and broke it off. The pain that came later was only part of the agony I experienced as was the knowledge that my irresponsibility was what put me in that position. I committed myself to something I didn't fully understand and I paid for it."

Weiss found herself bringing more of Blake into view, her spoken mistakes and punishment prodding against that caution that led Weiss to worrying about the possibilities so long ago when she first heard about this concept. Though she had sworn that she would never end up in a position like this, the very idea of having someone who could be directly linked to her and influence her in such a way had nonetheless worried her enough to confirm that there was a way to sever such a connection. Hearing Blake's story made her want to do so more than ever.

"With all that pain, it's difficult to remember how I once treasured it," Blake admitted. "Despite what it later became, to have someone with me to face the trials that had been placed on us was a relief. I can see why Huntsmen and Huntresses would choose to form a bond so that they may have someone they trust so completely at their side to better support them against the evils of the world. Terrible hardship can result if it's done irresponsibility but if done right…it's why I don't think you should act so hastily. I made one for the wrong reasons but I don't think you did. I know you did it because you care about Ruby and I know she cares about you. I know that you're here now because you don't want to hurt her by doing this yourself. And I believe, if you let her, I think Ruby can help you."

"Enough." It had a bit of volume but there was nothing hostile being carried; only a motive to get Blake to be quiet. "I don't need Ruby's help. The only one who did the helping was me and it's not needed anymore. Ruby's fine now, you're back with us, and right now all I want is things to go back to normal. I…" Weiss released a breath and she had another need to rub at her eyes before finishing, "…I liked how things were before. If it means putting our own differences behind us I'm okay with that. Just let me do what I want."

"…If that's what you want."

"It is," Weiss responded and left Blake behind before she could be delayed any more.

Room 142. It was that number that became branded into the heiress's psyche. It was once she saw it and entered the room it designated that she could mend everything. She's managed to control the damage for now with the certainty that she'll be able to put it all behind her.

It wasn't whether she wanted to do this or not; she had to do this.

One-two-six…one-two-eight…one-three-zero. The signs that lined the wall to the left had even numbers while the ones to the right had odd numbers. Keeping her neck craned in the right direction, Weiss could feel it begin to grow stiff as she mentally read each one off.

One-three-four…one-three-six… She was forced to make a turn when the hallway did the same. One-three-eight…

Two more rooms left and Weiss could feel the anxiety growing enough to override her exhaustion. Her shoulders became straight instead of slumped and even if she could pinpoint which door she had to enter, her gaze didn't stray as she took in the last two numbers.

One-four-zero… She halted. One-four-two.

The door was closed. Some of the rooms she passed had been open, giving her glimpses inside where she saw occupied and unoccupied beds or ones that were hidden with curtains. Had this one been open, Weiss would've stayed off to the side instead of right in front of the threshold as she currently did.

This was the right room. If she hadn't been told that, Weiss would've still known. During the entire journey she felt what she dubbed as the wrongness swelling in response to drawing closer in proximity to the one who it originally belonged to. It incited an increase in tempo of her heart and, with it, an addition to the anxiety that sprouted roots and burrowed into the tiled floor of the hospital to keep Weiss in place.

Ruby was inside and all that separated them was this one little door. Once Weiss entered, she would persuade Ruby to end this thing that they had between them. Having been expected and educated to broker deals and contracts that would influence the revenue and interests of her future company and convince board members of whatever policies she may wish to implement, this would be nothing but child's play.

We're just giving each other back what belongs to us anyway, Weiss reasoned. There was no reason for Ruby to refuse nor should Weiss have any doubts that she could do this. She pushed against the door, her feet moving forward and ripping through the imaginary roots that fruitlessly attempted to impede her.

She anticipated Ruby being alerted to her presence and her young leader was sitting up in her bed. It was when she saw her that Weiss went as still as a statue, her hand stuck to the door.

It was the most magnificent and dismal thing for her to see. As she had desperately hoped for, she saw Ruby awake, breathing, and very much alive. The curtain was drawn away, letting Weiss see her sitting up with hands gathered at her blanket-shrouded knees. She was turned to Weiss, clearly having expected her, and there was that smile she wanted to see again along with her silver irises.

She was not dressed in her black and red blouse and combat skirt but a white hospital gown. More woefully, her cloak was missing. Her face and her arms possessed a shading that was off from her typical albino skin that was left over from that ghastly pallor that had previously overtaken her. Her smile, while genuine, looked slightly fatigued. It was these signs of frailty that had Weiss flashing back to her leader's life-threatening state.

She pressed on, especially when she saw Ruby's smile begin to switch to a frown matching the concern that fell over her expression. She swiftly brought up the general but natural steps of the script that she prepared for this occasion. Start off with basic greetings and pleasantries.

"Hello, Ruby," she greeted with a sprinkle of cordiality while conjuring up a smile. She shut the door behind her to establish privacy for this session. "I trust I haven't kept you waiting for too long."

Ruby didn't reply right away, instead soundlessly watching as the heiress took one of the chairs that were off to the side and dragging it over to set it at her bedside. As Weiss was settling herself down, the younger girl said, "Not long. They had me go through a few tests and told me to rest when they were done." There was a pause full of examination and Weiss liked to believe that she didn't let anything show despite how uncomfortable it made her. "I asked if everyone was okay."

Of course she did, Weiss thought to herself in order to quash down a sudden spike of…agitation? It was hard to tell what it was she felt at, once again, Ruby worrying about others being her first instinct. It's natural to ask. She didn't know how everything went because she was- She broke that off. Focus.

"Everyone's okay," Weiss spoke evenly. "Yang managed to help Blake and they were able to fight off the White Fang together. The police arrived soon after and took over. The only thing we've had to worry about these days are Ozpin's debriefs and reports that needed to be filled out." And for you to wake up.

Ruby had been nodding but in an absent-minded way; as if she didn't care how that, during those days, she hadn't been conscious. She had something else that became paramount to her and Weiss was able to guess what it was before she was even asking, "Blake's back?"

Stop asking about someone else. Weiss convinced herself that she wanted Ruby to stop because it was delaying her from her true goal and nothing else. "Yes, she is." She wasn't one hundred percent sure on that one but Blake was here right now. Anticipating Ruby's next question, she added, "I don't hate her. We were both willing to put our differences aside."

A tiny smile sprung up and there was honest-to-God excitement when Ruby asked, "So Team RWBY's back together?"

"Yes," Weiss replied. Get her back on track. "We're just waiting for you. Yang's supposed to be on her way and when she gets here we'll check you out and bring you back to Beacon. You probably won't be able to attend combat practices for at least a week but you'll have schoolwork to catch up with anyway."

"I'm just glad everyone's okay."

Ruby was looking right at her when she said it and that smile slipped. Weiss diverted her gaze, pretending to be more interested in the tray that was resting on a small cabinet that was within Ruby's reach. It had some half-eaten – and rather unappetizing-looking – food that included mashed potatoes and a yellow mush of vegetables that she assumed was corn; everything that was meant for healthy and easy consumption for a recovering patient. An opening. Use that.

Weiss only had the infamous reputation of hospital food to go on but it was one that appeared accurate. Keeping her one hand hidden, she used the other to give Ruby one of the items she brought with her: a small package of exceptionally ripe strawberries – Weiss wouldn't accept anything less – with their stems having been previously cut. Weiss was a little surprised that, as much as Ruby liked her cookies and other baked goods, her favorite food was actually strawberries.

"I didn't know how well you'd take to the food here," Weiss was explaining when Ruby took the gift. "I got these in case it didn't agree with you."

"It is kind of gross," Ruby admitted, setting the clear container of fruit on her lap. "Thanks, Weiss." She didn't open it and that smile that was causing Weiss's stomach to do several somersaults was lingering on her much longer than she thought necessary.

Keep going. Soften up her resistance. While strawberries were the healthier of the two items she brought with her, Weiss did purchase a packet of cookies to go with it. Wasn't blood sugar something that should be monitored after something like this? Weiss wasn't sure and mostly just bought the cookies because Ruby would like them. She even purchased some atrocious creation that had the exterior of a chocolate chip cookie but had a gooey, fudge filling with the idea that Ruby would like them better.

Ruby seemed to agree, that slight fatigue lifting as she took in the treat. "This looks good." But, like the strawberries, she didn't open them.

"I thought your sweet tooth would appreciate it," Weiss said and she chastised herself for not making her grin stronger than she knew it was right now. "I'm not sure of the health benefits but…"

Ruby returned the facial gesture but those damnable silvers were displaying that persistent worry for her. "I appreciate it."

The heiress wasn't sure how to respond so she chose to keep going with her strategy of appeasing Ruby to make what would happen later easier. She grabbed the next item and held it out to her partner. "I'm not sure how long Yang will take so I thought you'd like to listen to some music if we end up waiting for a while. You know, to go with your strawberries and the cookies."

Ruby didn't comment right away as she took the headset that matched her color scheme as did everything else she owned. She caught an addition to it that had her tilting her head to better read the white scribble located along the adjustable band. A short giggle later and she commented, "I did say that it would be cool."

That Weiss congratulated herself on. It wasn't something that she just went out and purchased as it was her own cleverness for capitalizing on an offhand remark that the both of them made back in Forever Fall that alluded to the possibility of Weiss giving her an autograph. It was more thoughtful than the food and the fencer was sure that she had Ruby just where she wanted her.

Just need to bring her the rest of the way, Weiss thought and she could do that with the last part of her planned presentation. She took the red cloth and unfolded it to reveal it as Ruby's signature cloak. It was the best way to end it. Even if Weiss never got around to asking her partner about it, it was clear that Ruby treasured it and the heiress made sure to restore it.

She fixed the tears and the stitching, unlike the curtains of their dorm room, weren't visible. She cleaned it, got the blood out of it, replaced the cross-shaped pins, made it as good as new. It was a task she completed with her own skills like how Ruby once did for her.

"I fixed this for you," she told Ruby. She held out the cloak and was pleased to see a wide, honest smile on Ruby's face at seeing something she cherished having been returned to her. Weiss found she was just as happy, the ownerless cloak having troubled her more than she expected. It was going to be good to see Ruby with it again – to have another part of what had been everyday life to be back to normal again – but she wrapped that and her own accomplishment up with modesty to better win Ruby over. "It wasn't that difficult; only took a few minutes to stitch and I put it through a couple cycles through the wash before replacing the pins and-"

She tried to hide it. As soon as Ruby took the cloak and had her attention on it, Weiss quickly pulled her hands back and tried to hide the right one in her blazer's pocket. But something happened. She wasn't sure what but Ruby must've picked up on something that had her maneuvering the cloak out from between them and glancing right where she was stuffing it in her pocket.

"Weiss, your hand!" Ruby cried out in alarm.

The appendage in question froze at the unexpectedness of this turn of events, leaving the bandages visible for a second longer before Weiss recovered and pushed it the rest of the way in. "It's nothing, Ruby."

The younger girl dropped the cloak, letting it pool over her legs and her other gifts. "It's not nothing! Weiss, what happened?"

Out of sight so get it out of her mind! Weiss frantically strategized. The cloak. Get her back to the cloak. "It's nothing, Ruby. Could you check the cloak for me? I want you to make sure I used the right pins."

"Don't worry about it!" Ruby shifted on the bed, trying to get closer to the edge and bring Weiss within her reach. Her white-haired partner scooted back, the legs of the chair sliding against the floor. "Weiss, let me see!"

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Everything was spiraling out of control and Weiss desperately tried to bring order back to it. Remind her about her health. Get her to stop moving. "Ruby, stop! You're still recovering!" Strawberries, strawberries, strawberries. "Lie back down and have something to eat!"

"You look exhausted! Are you okay?" Ruby's headphones slipped from under her cloak, her movements having them fall from the bed.

"Be careful!" Without thinking, Weiss bent down to retrieve them.

Her leader tried to use it to her advantage to lean over from her bed, reaching for the hand that she was trying to conceal. "Tell me what's wrong!"

It was when Ruby touched her arm that it became too much. Leaving the headphones on the floor, Weiss instead intercepted Ruby's extended wrist. "For once in your life, WORRY ABOUT YOURSELF!"

Ruby immediately halted her struggles, staring at Weiss with surprise. The fencer had a tight grip on her wrist, using that and the glare she sent to Ruby to prevent her from getting any closer. Such vehemence gave out quickly as Weiss soon released her, bringing her hand back to place it over her eyes as her glare melted into a look that she wanted to hide just as much. Slumping against her chair, Weiss softly pleaded, "Ruby…please."

Ruby didn't move and probably had her hand remaining out towards Weiss. The heiress couldn't see – didn't want to see – but she did hear the shifting mattress of the bed as Ruby, thankfully, followed her instructions to keep back. Weiss stayed where she was as she tried to regain her composure.

She didn't like this. She didn't like how it's become so difficult to do…anything. She didn't like how, even now, with Ruby out of her sight, she could sense that her partner was worried about her. She could guess that she was but that wrongness deep within her emitted the concern that made it a certainty.

Ruby was in a hospital for crying out loud. She was currently constrained to bed after a series of check-ups that were conducted to make sure that there were no complications during a recovery that was needed after having a hole blown into her chest. It was that wound that bled so much and formed a puddle around her body that was growing colder with each passing second.

And she was worried about Weiss?

The silence that fell over the room was broken when Weiss heard the sound of the plastic container that held the strawberries being opened. She didn't uncover her sight just yet, wanting to wait to collect herself.

She knew it would be impossible to truly do so, not with Ruby being able to look inside and see what Weiss was trying to cover up. Much like everything else, the heiress couldn't hide anything from her partner and she hated it. With Ruby here, Weiss couldn't go back to being Weiss until she got her out and took back what she had willingly given but wanted returned to her. She resorted to bribery but she would get down on her hands and knees if she had to and beg her to give it back.

So what was she waiting for? She tried to be nice and make it easier but this could still work. Ruby was worried about her? She wanted to help? Then she could help her by breaking this bond of theirs.

She waited a minute longer, mentally counting up to it before she allowed her sight to be unobstructed. In front of her, she could see that Ruby had indeed turned her attention to the strawberries and had just put another in her mouth. Unlike her usual eating habits, she wasn't inhaling them but chewing slowly before swallowing.

As much as she wanted this done as soon as possible, Weiss found herself watching Ruby eat, the younger girl selecting another strawberry to munch on. She wasn't looking at the heiress but that didn't mean she didn't have Weiss on her mind. This was just a show meant to fulfill her demand to give her space. She did glance briefly in Weiss's direction and, finding the heiress looking at her, she quickly refocused on the fruit that she popped into her mouth.

…You were dead.

Ruby didn't get far in her chewing before she stopped. Weiss didn't take notice of it, becoming distracted with how, three nights ago, Ruby wasn't breathing. The beating of her heart had ended. Her lungs didn't work. Her eyes were closed and weren't going to open again. She was here now, alive, but there was a period where she wasn't and may never have been so again.

You wouldn't be sitting here right now, Weiss thought. You wouldn't be enjoying those, you wouldn't be talking to me, you wouldn't be waiting to go back to Beacon to become a Huntress. You would've been dead.

And Weiss couldn't believe how much it was hurting.

When the killing started, it hurt. It hurt when Horace died, it hurt when Weiss was forced to sever contact with the remains of his family, and after that it still hurt when another human employed by her family's company was killed.

Much like how she accepted death in every other form, she accepted that it wouldn't stop. She couldn't remember the exact date but there was a point where Weiss was able to make it not hurt anymore. When she heard of another death, it didn't affect her anymore. The name passed through one ear and out the other with the only thing left to remember it by was the tally mark that was made during its passing.

She was lonely. She didn't have friends, her father wasn't there, and when he was she shied away from him, only ever approaching him when she wanted something. But it was that loneliness that became…not so much a strength but a buffer. It made it – like everything else – easier. She froze her heart, building the icy barrier around it. It kept the pain, her weaknesses, and insecurities sealed away while preventing anyone from seeing them. It kept them from getting close. It kept them from hurting her with their inevitable passing.

She became stone cold and wanted to stay that way. She was solid, immovable, and immune. It was by being so that she would have the fortitude to do what needed to be done. Nothing would distract her or dissuade her from her goal.

And if you died I wouldn't have cared. You would've just been another memory. Weiss shook her head. No, not even a memory. A memory would imply that I would even remember you. You would've just been another name.

Ruby swallowed but made no move to obtain another treat, having become very still.

If you died it wouldn't be hurting. It wouldn't be hurting like it's been the whole time I was at Beacon and you weren't. I would've been able to sleep despite all those things that reminded me you weren't there. Your bunk that had been still and silent just like you were that night. Crescent Rose had been leaning against the wall without you and I didn't know when you were going to pick her up again. I wouldn't have taken your cloak and started fixing it because I needed something to convince me that you were going to come back and wear it again.

I wouldn't have gotten pricked by the needle because of how tired and distracted I was. I wouldn't have let it happen again and again because the pain was nothing like what I was feeling with you gone. I couldn't even concentrate enough to heal them. All I could focus on was that part of you that told me just how far away you were from me and how you had nearly been out of reach. If I didn't let you get close, none of that would've happened.

And I…I…

Ruby moved again, straightening in her bed before directing a small, sad smile towards Weiss.

Weiss sucked in a breath. I would've made a mistake…

I wouldn't have been able to remember anything about you. I wouldn't have been able to remember how you like to take your coffee, I wouldn't have been able to remember how you convinced me to enjoy what I once loved, I wouldn't be able to tease you about that stupid stuffed animal of yours. You would've just been a name along with all the others that I would've used to justify drenching them in blood.

Except I couldn't do that either. Because I'm weak. And right now I want it to stop hurting. I don't want you to see how horrid I really am. I don't want you to see how your best teammate had been plotting something so nefarious behind your back. I want to go back to being Weiss…and I don't want you to see how I don't even know who Weiss is anymore!

Who was Weiss? She thought she once knew. She didn't want to be that weak, little Weiss who could only cower and cry. She thought she wanted to be Weiss Schnee the killer but she didn't want to kill, not like that.

Who did she want to be then? Weiss the heiress? The singer? Did she even want to be a Huntress? She didn't know!

I would've thrown away everything I have here – everything you gave me – for something that I don't even know. And you…you can see that, can't you? Maybe not all of it but you can understand…and you still…even after all I did and said to you…

Ruby's smile lengthened a little more and she brought up her arms, holding them out for Weiss. At the same time, that little part of her that was within the heiress took advantage of its position to begin melting that frozen barrier from the inside. Having been constructed with the intent of keeping people out, it was not as sturdy against someone who was already in and wanted to relieve her of the burdensome weight that she kept locked away. Someone who wanted to take some of it for her.

No. No, she didn't like this.

Weiss was barely conscious of her leaning forward and that movement was enough to get the weakening layer to crack. The crack extended and multiplied to form a spider web pattern that further destabilized it.

She didn't need this. She convinced herself that she didn't when she had been without it for so long.

She was off the chair and the edge of the bed was against her legs, forcing her to bend as one arm and then, slowly, the other came up.

But she wanted this so badly.

Ruby's arms went beneath her shoulders while Weiss's went around her partner's. Both settled behind their backs, both squeezed to bring them together, and while it wasn't what Weiss planned, the fragments that they gave one another were rejoined as their hearts beat against each other.

She forgot what this was like; this contact that she had loved and had once been normal before, like everything else, she gave it up because it was just something else that hurt when she became scared of the one who she used to go to for this. She forgot the trust that came with letting another hold her like Ruby was doing and basking in the security that she was rewarded with when it wasn't unfounded. From Ruby's hair, she could detect a scent that reminded her of a happier life.

It was just another thing that her partner was giving back to her.

"Are you crying, Weiss?"

Weiss felt Ruby's cheek touch her own and the tear that was sliding down it became hers. Despite such obvious evidence, Weiss still denied it. "I'm not crying."

"You don't have to hide it."

Weiss rubbed her cheek against Ruby's, doing the exact opposite as she erased all traces of the trailing moisture only to have her voice betray her with a stammer. "I-I'm not!"

There were no other tears for Ruby to catch and that was because Weiss wasn't letting them appear, unwilling to give her partner any more unnecessary baggage to carry when she's already given her so much. In return, Ruby didn't say anything else and settled with what she had in her arms. It was within this embrace that Weiss was starting to fully give in as the heaviness of her lids began to become too much and her body slowly relaxed.

A touch at her shoulders brought her back and, as much as she didn't want to, Weiss let Ruby push her away just enough to see her face and how that smile became crooked with suppressed mischief. Before Weiss could ask what it was her leader was planning, Ruby gripped the neckline of her gown and pulled it down just enough to keep her modesty but allow Weiss to see the only sign of her earlier injury: a thin, crooked line of scar tissue that went a few inches down.

"I guess this makes us scarmates now," Ruby joked.

Now Weiss was crying.

---

"There's nothing wrong."

As if actively seeking to discredit her, the wailing went on behind Blake.

"Everything's fine," she insisted. "She's just happy to see that her partner's okay."

Hospitals being the center of miracles as they could be for tragedies, the nurse seemed experienced enough to identify Blake's calm explanation and the cries issuing from the room as belonging to the former. Giving Blake a direction to call in case anything was wrong, the nurse left her at her position in front of the door, the faunus sighing with relief once she was gone.

Predictably, it was only with her task done did the wails degenerate to lower but no less sorrow-filled sobs. After performing a quick examination to check that no one else was coming down the hall, Blake carefully eased the door to Ruby's room open enough to peek inside.

There was a chair pulled up to the bed but it wasn't in use. It appeared as if Weiss had all but collapsed from it, trading one support for another that she practically draped herself over. Ruby was more than willing to comply as her arms were wrapped around the heiress to keep her up.

Weiss didn't return the embrace but not because she didn't want to. Her arms were as limp as her legs which has led her to becoming half on, half off the bed with her leader being the only thing that was preventing her from meeting the floor. Her head hung back to better release her cries and Blake could see the waterfall of tears that descended from eyes that were squeezed shut.

Ruby wasn't visible but that's because the younger girl had her head pressed against her partner's heaving chest to better listen to her freed torment. One hand rubbed along Weiss's back as if coaxing every last bit of anguish to be emptied out.

In doing so, Ruby's fingers glided through ivory hair that hung over the heiress's back instead of off to the side. The tiara was missing and the absence of its control had those snow-white lengths hanging as limp as their owner. With her head raised, Blake could see how those tears fell past the dark bags beneath Weiss's eyes.

Unable to hide them anymore, the bandages that were around the fencer's right hand were out in the open for all to see.

There was no anger for there was none to be found. What fight that had always driven Weiss was gone. Her composure, shattered. All that remained was the well that she had desperately tried to fill and cover up with all of that but had only accomplished in having its miserable contents build and build until they came spilling out through every crack that had been made in walls that could no longer hold them back. And as her partner, Ruby was there to soak up and clean the mess that was being made.

When the sobs lessened to whimpers, Blake shut the door to leave them alone. Now that her impromptu guard duty was finished, the faunus made her way down the hall, putting distance between her and her teammates. She had no destination in mind and was instead trying to get far enough away until she could no longer pick up those noises.

Then she waited. Waited until they no longer echoed in her mind as they did her ears. Waited until she made sure there was no one else around her...then she slammed her fist into the nearest wall.

Weiss is innocent.

Blake didn't retract her fist, instead replacing it with a forearm which was soon joined by the other. Her forehead followed as she leaned heavily against the wall.

All those times she thought the entirety of the Schnee family was to blame. All those times she had taken even an ounce of satisfaction when Weiss didn't get her way. All those times she allowed herself to utter a remark or get a rise out of the heiress because that was only a fraction of what she deserved.

She had seen Weiss as an enemy and one who she no longer wanted to fight but still held grievances for. She lost her war but she could get her moments of satisfaction at Weiss's expense because she was the daughter of the Schnee head. She had once thought of her as just as bigoted and prejudice as her father.

I was wrong. Everything I once thought and did...so wrong.

Who was her enemy? That girl back there? That girl who was weeping because of how something that she couldn't control had devastated her? How, because of who her father was, she was forced to experience the horrors of war that has taken away friends and family?

What was I fighting for? What did I accomplish?

Blake thought she was fighting against injustice. She thought she was bringing faunus and humans together. She used violence because nothing else was working; because she had been forced to. The means were not what she wanted but the ends would justify it.

But where were they? Where were the ends to this? What was being stopped?

Nothing, she realized despairingly. It won't end. It'll just keep going and going, the violence escalating with each completion of this cycle and more people will get hurt, angry, desiring revenge through methods they believe to be justified, and they will continue it until one side can no longer go on.

"An entire train car full of Dust, stolen."

I did that. That was me.

She was guilty. She had enough of a share of those tears to write the name Blake Belladonna all over Weiss's face.

She could now see the true extent of her crimes. Blake would never be able to erase her past mistakes but she believed she could leave them behind. She would never be forgiven for them - not by herself or others - , but she would no longer add to them. Whatever the White Fang did, she would no longer be a part of it.

How wrong she was. Everything that happened at the docks was because of her. She gave the White Fang the Dust they needed. She may not know what their exact deal is with Torchwick, but she was positive that her last mission had allowed them to acquire the tools they needed to expand their operations. Because of how successful they were with this arrangement she contributed to, they've come to reap more of the benefits at the cost of the peace of this city.

She was responsible for Ruby getting hurt. Not only had her leader been at the docks looking for her, but her assailant had been there because of Blake. Roman may've taken the shot, but it was only with the backing of the White Fang that let him be in that position to do so.

Thinking of that man reminded her of how she wanted him dead. When she had Gambol Shroud to his neck, she was tempted to slit his throat and later regretted that missed chance. During their fight, she became more and more determined to kill him. His taunts to her and the faunus reminded her so much of what others of his kind had done. Her rage towards all of them was her own.

It was never about Adam influencing her; it was just another of the several excuses that she's made for herself. She didn't want to admit that she was exactly like everyone else. She stayed with the White Fang because she wanted to strike back. She wanted to use violence when all those years without it had proven to be a waste. As long as she didn't kill while others did so, it was all okay. She was still better than them.

What kind of sick nonsense was that?

Who was really the irredeemable one? Adam Taurus or Blake Belladonna? Did she leave the White Fang because she wanted to do the right thing or because she wouldn't be able to feign innocence any longer if she stayed?

A part of her knew that most of what she was thinking was nonsense but she was so confused. Everything's become so warped. Her entire fight - her entire life -, all of it was meaningless.

A subtle, honeyed aroma managed to brave through the smell of disinfectants but it was too faint for Blake to take any real notice of it. While the potency increased with the approach of the one who emitted it, Blake didn't realize she was no longer alone until a hand was gingerly laid on her shoulder. She recognized the touch: the glove that sheathed the palm but left the fingers bare to make contact with her own skin.

It tugged with too little force but the faunus was turning anyway, face and arms leaving the cool surface of the wall while both of them fell. Staring at the floor, she could see how the toes of brown, knee-high boots were pointed to her low-heeled ones. One of the orange socks that stuck out was higher than the other and had a gray bandana wrapped around it. She could see the white and brown sections of a skirt and pressed against one hip was the other hand that clutched a bundle of folded clothing of red and black: a spare combat outfit for Ruby.

"Ruby's awake," Blake informed quietly. "Weiss is with her. You might want to wait a little bit."

A drop fell and splashed in the space between the two pairs of boots. A second followed.

"They're okay." She couldn't see but felt a third one make the short journey down. "They just need a little time to themselves but they're okay."

The hand squeezed her shoulder while another, invisible one did the same to her throat. "Are you okay?"

The gentle and worried inquiry was more than Blake deserved. Her voice having left her, she lifted her head and was immediately ashamed of herself for doing so. The tears that came on full display should be shed privately for she had no right to let another be moved by them.

But she needed this. She needed what this person had always tried to give her but she had rejected out of mistrust and a conviction to never let this happen again. She thought she could live the rest of her life without it but at this very moment she feared that if she didn't take it then she would well and truly fall apart.

Her lips moved but no sound came out and at first all she could do was silently mouth the negative that her head assisted in conveying with a slow shake. Finally, she whispered, "No. No, I'm really not. I don't think I can even remember a time when I was ever okay."

She couldn't read Yang's expression, the other girl having turned into a hazy, distorted blur of yellow, orange, and brown, but the hand at her shoulder pulled harder while the other was brought to her waist to better draw her in. Blake didn't fight and she hated herself for not doing so but she forgot all about it as soon as her vision went dark and the tears at her face and the ones that have yet to arrive were absorbed into the leather of Yang's jacket.

With her arm secured around her waist, Yang's one hand drifted up from her shoulder and to the back of her head to make sure that Blake wouldn't act on any second thoughts to pull away. It was not a warranted concern as Blake was burying her face deeper into Yang's warmth to stay there.

"I never killed." Blake felt Yang tense as soon as she mumbled it. "I hurt people but I never killed anyone." She had long-since accepted it as an invalid excuse to pardon the rest of her crimes but she needed Yang to hear this. She needed someone to hear it.

Her partner began petting her hair. "Okay."

It was a neutral response but it wasn't a condemnation either. That and the gentle stroking persuaded her to add, "Nothing else was working. It seemed right at the time."

Yang didn't even hesitate. "I'm sure it did."

"Then things got so messed up. I still don't know what happened. I was young and stupid and it was all I had but I know that doesn't excuse me. I could've left sooner. I could've tried and do something to stop it but I didn't and all of this is my fault and-"

"Shhh..."

The nearly inaudible shush succeeded in silencing Blake and a fresh wave of tears burst forth with the damp leather doing what it could to accommodate it. The stroking at her head persisted and she noticed how Yang took care about touching her bow. Blake clutched all of what she could that was Yang, wanting but unable to believe that such compassion was here for her and the only way she could convince herself that it was real was to hold on as tight as possible while she quietly wept.

Yang didn't disappear. She didn't turn to dust and slip through her grip like how something else that had been important to her had done when her attention had been elsewhere. The blonde kept giving her such light touches while her warmth comforted her even when she saw nothing but darkness.

She stayed. When Blake couldn't cry anymore and was left with the occasional sniffle, Yang didn't let go with the assumption that she was all better now. She remained for as long as Blake needed her, knowing that just because there were no more tears it didn't mean that it was over. With a lifetime of misery and lies and lost dreams, the faunus wasn't sure if it would ever be over but the blonde seemed determined to wait anyway.

Neither girl relinquished their hold on the other but Yang eventually lowered her head down, chin resting on top of Blake's head, and the ninja didn't flinch as the ends of her bow touched her partner. Once Blake's breathing settled, Yang said, "Come home, Blake."

Home? She didn't even know what that was anymore. It used to be the White Fang before she ran away from it. She thought Beacon might have become a home but could she really go back to it or has that changed too because of her? Would things really be able to go back the way they were?

She shook her head against Yang's chest. "After all I did? After all I put everyone through? Weiss is crying because of me. Ruby is here because of me and you should hate me because of that."

"I don't."

"You should!" Blake repeated fiercely. "I caused all of this because I ran. If I just trusted you and told you about me, none of this would've happened. Even after all you did for me, I ran away from all of you and put you in danger because of it."

"We're going to become Huntresses one day, Blake," Yang spoke easily. "Danger is kind of going to be part of the job. Hell, our initiation involved getting launched off a cliff and falling into the middle of a forest teeming with Grimm."

She wasn't going to let the brawler sway her that easily. "This was something that could've been avoided. I'm the one to blame for all of this. I don't deserve any of the kindness that you've all given to me."

"Other than the fact that we would've been there if we knew about the White Fang anyway," Yang rebuked, "let's go over who blames you. I know I don't blame you and you can trust me when I say that I know Ruby doesn't."

"There's still Weiss."

"Does she hate you?"

The silence said it all when Blake did think back to her and Weiss's conversation. She told Blake she was willing to put their differences aside. The heiress looked horrible, she was exhausted, and it was all because of Blake, but she said she wanted things to go back to normal which included the faunus being with them again. "…She should."

Yang sighed with a hint of exasperation and she patted the back of Blake's head. "I can never understand what you went through, Blake, so I can only say what I see and hear. This whole war, it just sounds like it's all about one person blaming the other and who thinks who deserves what."

"I know what I did," Blake argued. "It may not have all been because of me, but I know I have part of the blame for bringing you and the White Fang together in Vale."

"And even if you didn't, you can't say that the White Fang wouldn't have come here anyway. We can play the blame game all we want and go as far back as when the first human and the first faunus disagreed with one another and caused this whole situation to exist. We can also choose to end it just like I know you've tried to do. It's what brought you here. The team wants their teammate back and I want my partner back. Don't you think it's about time you think about what you want and not what you deserve?"

Blake didn't say anything, reluctant to let something so simple and so easy persuade her when there had been nothing in her life that was ever like that. Then again, there had been nothing like this in her life either: a team of humans that accepted her even with her secret out and all of them part of an institute where faunus and humans can co-exist and work together to make the world a better place. Never had she thought that she would be seeking comfort in the arms of one not of her race as she was doing so now. It wasn't the first time either.

And if Weiss, one who should've been a mortal enemy, was willing to put everything aside…

She did want it. It may not be the world-wide peace that she strived to attain but it was something that she always imagined seeing and becoming a part of. She could never expect to receive forgiveness but it has always been more about repentance anyway. And, maybe, she could salvage a little bit of that dream she lost in the process.

The alternative would be to run and hide somewhere else and she would be back at square one. Was she really going to pass up on an opportunity that was here for her in favor of another potential year of suspicion and uncertainty? It may not be what she deserves but…

Blake removed herself from Yang although her grip lingered until she was required to let go with Yang doing the same. When she looked up at her partner, it was to see a hopeful expression on her face as she awaited Blake's answer.

"I'll…try," Blake replied. "I suppose that if you're all willing to take me back even after all that happened, I could at least do that."

"Good!" Yang gave her a slap against the shoulder, her more easygoing attitude taking advantage of this to put everything behind them while the faunus grimaced but the corners of her lips twitched up to show how it was working. "I have no idea what the hassle would've been about dealing with a three-woman team and I'd rather skip that particular process." Holding where she hit her, she began to turn Blake around. "So how about we celebrate with a little Team RWBY reunion?"

Unfortunately, it was here that Blake refused, the faunus standing still when Yang tried to pull her along, leaving the brawler to stop and look back when she realized that Blake wasn't following her when her hand slipped away from her.

"Another time," Blake replied. "There will be plenty for that if I really am allowed to rejoin you guys."

Yang knew what she was talking about. Frowning, she said, "There's nothing to worry about."

Blake shrugged. "You might be right and me being able to hope that you're right should tell you enough. I said I'll try, Yang, and I promise you that I will."

The blonde did look as if she wanted to argue but Blake's unwavering stance and the promise seemed to appease her. "Alright. The weekend's right around the corner so I suppose that's as good as time as any for some celebrating; both Ruby's recovery and your return."

Blake bowed her head respectfully. "Thank you."

The partners went their separate ways, Yang heading to her sister and Blake heading for the exit. She made a brief stop at the front desk, making sure to drop off her pass before she left the hospital. Once she heard the doors slide close behind her, the faunus gazed at the streets and the ongoing traffic before looking up to take in the rows of tall buildings that stretched all throughout Vale.

This could be her home. To have Vale, Beacon, RWBY, any or all of them associated with that word initiated a sense of longing that one usually attributed to such a place that any person yearned for. Without it, you were never truly whole. It didn't have to be a fixed point as home to her had once been with her brothers and sisters and not where they ended up staying for that brief period of time before moving on to the next.

She lost her home and resigned herself to the belief that she could never replace it. She hadn't thought of Beacon as a suitable choice to do so when she first arrived but…maybe it can be.

She dug into the pocket of her shorts and produced her scroll. She actually did lose it, having only realized that it was missing halfway during the flight on the airship that she used to flee from her team. Even if she brought it with her, Blake did wonder if she would've trashed it due to her desire to run and sever all contact with her team so they couldn't find her.

Yang made sure to give it back to her, especially when she found out that Blake wasn't going to return to Beacon after they made sure Ruby was in the clear. Yang did tell her that her secret remained as such and Blake was admittedly surprised by that. Nevertheless, she decided to take refuge at Reader's Orchard – a place that Yang had also visited in her search as the kindly shopkeeper told her. Between the distraught Weiss and the bombardment of inquiries from students and staff that she predicted would come once news got out about what occurred at the docks, Blake just wanted to avoid any trouble and let the excitement die down.

This time, however, she wasn't alone. During her stay, she and Yang sent messages to one another that usually involved the brawler informing her about the debrief she was forced to attend and her efforts to cover for her while, at the same time, expressing her wishes for her to return. Reading through that conversation, Blake paused at the last of the messages that were traded this morning.

One was Yang informing her about Ruby waking up which led to Blake visiting the hospital. In the same message she mentioned how she went to another meeting with Ozpin to go over the travel arrangements and caretaking of Ruby once she returned.

Yang also informed her that the headmaster wanted to speak with her.

Blake hadn't replied to that as she immediately began assuming the worst. It could be, as Yang wrote, a simple debrief but the faunus's skepticism wouldn't allow her to believe it so easily and instead constructed worst-case scenarios that involved Ozpin knowing the truth about her. He had to have noticed that Blake hadn't been at Beacon whether during these three days or possibly the whole week. She didn't know the headmaster very well and despite Ruby's own opinions of him being a kind man, Blake's distrust of human authority couldn't be put to rest that easily no matter what her leader may say about him.

Reading the message, it came to Blake that Yang didn't have to tell her with the idea that doing so may scare Blake off. While it was easy to assume that Ozpin would want to talk to her – which Blake did assume -, her partner chose to warn her about it anyway, preventing the off-chance that Blake wouldn't know and she would be going back to Beacon unprepared if she decided to. Yang wanted her to make the decision to come back while fully-informed about what may be waiting for her.

What had to be during her own ride to Vale, Yang sent Blake one last message after she still hadn't replied. A message that contained three simple words:

[Come home Blake.]

For the chance to be able to have something to call home again and to have one with people who truly cared about her, Blake found that she was prepared to do whatever it took to get it, including facing one last judgment that a human may place on her. She was done running.

---

It was a reverse of the spectacle that Yang witnessed. In this instance, it was Weiss who was unconscious and it was Ruby who held her. She didn't know if it was by her sister's efforts alone or if Weiss actually assisted her, but the heiress had been brought onto the bed and placed on Ruby's lap, her head resting against the younger girl's chest.

And it was Ruby's turn to relieve Weiss of her own injuries. When Yang entered, it was to see her sister removing the last of the bandages around her partner's hand, revealing the small punctures and the swelling around them that dotted her palm and fingers. Then, with eyes glistening, Ruby traced the tips of her fingers along them, her red Aura flashing briefly.

"That's so cool," she murmured with a trace of awe when the swelling and the punctures disappeared.

Generous and 'cool' it may be but Yang felt a twinge of worry at seeing her sister donating even that small amount of strength when she was supposed to be recovering. There was a second bed in the room, empty, and Yang directed Ruby's attention to it. "It'll probably be better for her."

Ruby gave her a wry smile. "I finally have her and now you want me to let her go?" Fortunately, Ruby wasn't inclined to put up the fight that Weiss had done as she nodded soon after.

Yang carefully scooped up the heiress and was momentarily distracted by her size and weight; hardly that much different from when Yang had cradled Ruby against her. It tugged at her big sister urges and the brawler took extra care not to jostle Weiss before setting her down on the other bed.

She was still crying. Her breathing wasn't as rhythmic as it should be when lost in sleep – being broken with an occasional hitch - and her cheeks hadn't dried yet. Yang donated a couple seconds to brush away the errant moisture, touching the dark circles beneath Weiss's eyes in the process.

Someone with a heart of stone couldn't shed tears like that. If Weiss used to have one, Yang could see for herself that it had melted to a puddle that came pouring out of her.

I'm sorry, Weiss, Yang apologized, moving up to brush at a couple stray bangs. Thank you for saving Ruby. Again.

There was no difference between the tears at her hand and the ones on her jacket. Innocent. Guilty. All Yang saw were victims.

"Yang."

When Yang regarded her sister, it was to see Ruby holding out her cloak. Understanding what it was she was requesting, she took the article and placed it over Weiss, making sure to tuck the ends around her and Yang was again proven as to how small and fragile the Ice Princess really was when it covered her easily.

Weiss had never relinquished control of the cloak. The police officers had been generous enough to give them a lift to the hospital and during the whole ride Weiss held tight to Ruby's cape. While they all sat in the waiting room, Weiss stayed slightly hunched with an unrelenting grip.

When they were told that Ruby would recover, Weiss just squeezed the cloak tighter.

Having it back in her possession did seem to bring a notable ease to the fencer as her head rolled to the side, her breathing becoming more regular. Satisfied with that, Yang decided to take the chair that Weiss had previously occupied, planting herself at her sister's bedside.

Ruby was still staring at Weiss, the heiress having turned her head perfectly so that the young leader could admire her sleeping face. A hand came up and bunched the section of the gown that was over the center of her chest. "I wish I knew sooner. I wanted to help people but I didn't realize that, this whole time, there was someone who needed it the most right next to me."

"Trust me, you're not alone in that department," Yang replied, thinking about her own partner and just how much help she needed and would still need.

"How is Blake?" Ruby asked.

"She's going to try and stay," Yang quickly assured her. "She's worried about how a talk with Ozpin might go but it sounds like she's starting to realize that not all humans are like those who hurt her."

"Weiss told me that she doesn't hate Blake. I think she's beginning to realize that not all faunus are like those who hurt her either."

The two siblings shared a grin and it was Yang who joked, "Such frustrating partners we have, huh?"

"Not gonna lie; this wasn't exactly what I signed up for. If I knew this was what I was going to get for an early acceptance, I would've stayed at Signal. I'll go solo against a Death Stalker any day."

They giggled together, happy and relieved that they could even do so after all that those partners of theirs had put them through. It was thinking about what occurred during the past week that had Yang looking over Ruby, her cheery mood dampening when she remembered where they were and what Ruby was wearing. She shifted Ruby's spare combat clothes onto her lap while she asked, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm a little tired but fine," Ruby admitted, similarly sobering up but her lips stayed curved to keep the mood light. "The doctors said I was going back to Beacon but no combat training for at least a week."

"I have to pick up some medication for you." At Ruby's sickened expression, Yang assured, "Just supplements, really; nothing that a glass of milk won't help go down." The brawler lifted the clothing for Ruby to see. "Feel like getting out of here?"

Ruby shook her head. "No, not yet. I want to give Weiss some time to rest."

Yang glanced up at the peaceful heiress and felt bad. She had known Weiss was exhausted and was having trouble sleeping but she hadn't known it was that serious. Between the debriefs, gathering assignments from the professors, worrying about Ruby, answering concerned questions from their friends, and trying to convince Blake to come back, she hadn't given enough attention to Weiss when it was clear that she needed it.

"She got me a few things to eat," Ruby said and Yang finally noticed the items that were scattered on her bed. The scythe-wielder held out the open package of strawberries for Yang and the blonde gratefully took a couple.

They passed a good amount of time in silence, both of them eating and enjoying each other's company. It was when Ruby moved on to opening the packet of cookies and holding them out for Yang to take that the older sibling paused, gazing at Ruby's paler face and fatigued smile.

"I almost lost you, sis." Having been forced to stay strong in the face of so many of their friends and teachers, Yang felt it all begin to crumble in the wake of the worry and the fear of how, for a brief moment, she had been sure she lost something that would've been irreplaceable. Ruby was her baby sister; one of the only family she had left and she had been there to watch her grow up and become the girl she was now.

She was still only fifteen and her short life had nearly ended. Yang didn't know what she would've done with herself if Ruby had been taken out of her life; if she wouldn't have been able to see what kind of woman that Ruby would grow up to be and knowing that the danger had not only become real but was something that she would fear for the chance of it happening again…

"I know, Yang." Ruby took her own cookie but was content to just keep it in her grasp. "I'm aware of what could've happened to me and I'm also aware that it could happen again to you, me, Weiss, Blake, or any of our other friends. I won't lie and say it doesn't scare me because it does. But even if we never fully appreciated it, this was something that we knew came with our decision to be Huntresses."

The young leader twisted in her bed towards Weiss. "That wasn't the only thing I learned though. Yes, death is real and it scares me, but I also realized just how important this duty of ours is. Seeing what Weiss and Blake had been forced to go through, it only makes me more determined to become a Huntress and help whoever I can so no one else will have to go through what they did. And while I do so, I would want to enjoy what I can and not let myself be scared all the time. I may die and, having come close to it, I can honestly say that I don't want you to let it affect you longer or more than necessary. I'd cry and feel sad if any of you were to die and I would want you to do the same for me.

But I would want you to mourn for as long as necessary; a week or even a little more than that. Eventually though, I would want you to move on. This is something we wanted to do and, even if I'm not around anymore, you can still go on for the both of us. That's the best way you could make me happy."

Yang could only sit and stare with shock, amazed by how this little girl who once couldn't go to bed without hearing one of her stories had grown up so much without her noticing. Fifteen but, now, Yang could see the matured woman who was blossoming out from such a simple, innocent soul.

She couldn't stop the outpouring of tears or the cry that had her exclaiming, "I'm so proud of yooooouuuu!"

"Ack!" Ruby cried out, dropping her cookie as her older sibling pounced on her. She tried to speak choked, strangled words in the midst of the bear hug that was being administered to her. "Yang! Yang! I'm blacking out! I'm blacking out!"

Chapter Text

The air was charged with more than just the excited vigor that was given off by students who have finished the last of their afternoon classes and found nothing between them and the free reign that came with a clear Friday evening. The reality that there would be two full days of freedom right after motivated an added haste that seemed to make the crowd more animated as they traversed through the halls.

"Come on, Ren! It's Friday!"

Or that could be Nora. Yang only had the sudden breakup of a grouping of Hunters in front of her before she was mirroring their actions to not get struck by the extended arms of the hyperactive girl as she did her best to imitate flying through the halls while she sang.

"Friday, Friday!" she chirped as she went by. "Plans to go, places to make! Friday, Friday!"

"Did she…?" Yang began asking.

"Yes," Ren replied nonchalantly while passing, his and an extra bag – Nora's, Yang presumed -, hanging over one shoulder as he followed his more exuberant partner. "She thinks it sounds better that way."

"Reeennn!" Though having seemed ready to keep going until she was out of sight, Nora had actually chosen to wait, calling out to the boy while she spun on her toes with arms still extended. "Hurry up!"

"We have to go to our dorm first anyway, Nora."

"Well let's do it faster!"

Ren sighed but Yang thought she caught a tiny grin sneaking onto his face before he replied, "I'm hurrying."

He didn't but Nora didn't provoke him any further either as she settled with spinning in place. Once Ren reached her she took off again to clear another stretch before, quite possibly, she would wait for him to catch up again where the process would repeat itself. Choosing not to see if her theory would be proven correct, Yang moved on to her true objective but not without smirking to herself at the latest display from the pair.

She found Ruby after a bit more navigating through the sea of students and another break revealed her sister, arms laded with textbooks and notebooks with Jaune adding another of the second on top of it.

"The last few pages have all of the notes for this week," Yang heard Jaune say once she got close enough. "Our test Wednesday was no biggie and it was pretty light yesterday and today but that's because next week we'll be focusing on joint operations between Hunter teams. Us and the other leaders will be paired and rotated throughout the whole month to come up with how our teams can work with one another."

Such a prospect served to excite Ruby, the younger leader brightening upon hearing it. "You have no idea how long I've been fantasizing about that! Having different teams working together with all their different weapons! Yang and Nora would definitely provide all the heavy artillery and then there's Weiss and Velvet with their spells and – oh I made so many doodles and plans!" With her arms full, Ruby bumped her nose against a red notebook in the middle of the pile. "I can't wait to show everyone!"

"If you want, I can ask us to be paired first," Jaune offered. "Our teams are already familiar with each other so, if you need it, it'll give you extra time to catch up on your other work."

Ruby smiled appreciatively at her fellow leader. "I should be fine after the weekend. Weiss promised she would help me but I'll keep the offer in mind. Thanks, Jaune."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Jaune paused, silently looking Ruby over, and lightly said, "Glad to have you back, Crater Face."

Ruby grinned and replied, "Glad to be back, Vomit Boy."

Yang had stood and watched the scene, becoming increasingly heartened as it played out in front of her. Ruby had gotten out of the hospital yesterday and most of today had been spent collecting work from professors and accepting aid from fellow trainees who were happy to have Ruby back whether in the form of notes or books they checked out at the time. Going by her haul, it has been quite a successful day and seeing a live demonstration of just how well Ruby had come to fit into Beacon and its students buoyed her spirits.

When the leaders shared their farewells and broke apart, Jaune happened to be on a direct course for Yang and the brawler lifted a hand to grab his attention. "Thanks for helping out Ruby, Jaune."

The blond boy nodded, the confidence in that simple gesture and his smile carrying a weight of maturity to his boyish face that Yang remembered first seeing when he agreed to escort Velvet so long ago and has been appearing much more often since then. I guess Ruby isn't the only one who's grown up.

"With the help that she's given me, I owe it to her," Jaune spoke. He wasn't sticking around to chat though, gradually moving past Yang but lingering around to share a few words. "I'd like to stay and talk but I'm meeting with Pyrrha later."

"Training?" Yang guessed.

"Actually, no." Jaune stood where he was and appeared to be puzzled. "She wants to make a trip to Vale although I don't know why she wants me to come with her."

Yang experienced a fleeting sense of familiarity connected to her past flings with the opposite gender but limited her reactions to a curious, "Oh?"

Remaining oblivious, Jaune explained, "I guess it's for the dance but she says there's a dress she picked out at a clothing boutique. I did ask why she hasn't bought it but she told me that she wanted a man's opinion before she did. I don't think she even has a date yet."

Oh-ho, Yang thought, lips twitching as she vainly attempted to keep her expression straight. "Well don't let me keep you. This sounds like something you don't want to be late for."

"She likes to add a couple laps to our morning run if I'm late for night training and I don't want to find out what she'd do for this." Still not getting it, Jaune resumed walking, giving Yang a short wave. "Catch ya later."

"Good luck, Jaune." Yang let a teasing note slip into her voice and at Jaune's dubious glance he sent back at her, she silently added, And good luck, Pyrrha. With a reminder to ask the amazon all about it later, the brawler went to catch up to her sister.

Color – or what little color there was when it came to her – had returned to Ruby after a big dinner and a long, good night's sleep in her dorm room but the order to take it easy for a while remained in place. The doctors warned them that she may experience bouts of weakness and dizziness but as long as she didn't overly exert herself and let her natural healing abilities – boosted by her Aura – work while taking the prescribed supplements, she would be back in shape shortly.

Yang knew it would never be short enough for her baby sis. The two of them shared a love for combat training to demonstrate their skills and weapons so to have that taken away from them and being restricted to their academics for a week would be enough to drive either of them crazy. As much as she could relate to her though, Ruby's health came first and foremost for Yang no matter the amount of whining and complaining that may occur.

So when Yang approached, she immediately focused on the pile that Ruby carefully balanced in her arms. "You got all that?"

Even as she struggled to keep Jaune's notebook from slipping, Ruby replied, "No problem." When Yang reached out to center it, Ruby resisted her efforts to covertly take the entire load from her. "I said it's no problem!"

"You're supposed to keep physical exertions to a minimum," Yang reminded her gently as she tried to take it again.

"This is minimum," Ruby replied, shifting the books away from her again. "I don't even have Crescent Rose on me and it's not like these are anywhere close to her weight!"

Yang ended up relenting not just because of that but how pursuing this could potentially hurt more than help if it became a struggle. "Alright, fine." She placed her hands on her hips to show her surrender. "You get all your assignments?"

With Yang having ceased her efforts, Ruby similarly relaxed to better converse with her. "All the ones from the classes we don't share, yes. Jaune just gave me his notes so they'll be a big help."

"I saw." Yang gestured down the hall and Ruby quickly took the hint as the two began walking. "We've made a lot of good friends here."

"We have," Ruby agreed happily. "Good friends, awesome professors…" Trailing off, Ruby examined the lecture hall and the students who were dawdling, her smile becoming wistful. "It's good to be home."

Yang said nothing, instead reaching out and ruffling Ruby's hair which produced an annoyed yap from the younger sibling.

That was what made this particular Friday exceptional from the others. As the two girls ventured through, it was seeing their fellow Hunters-in-training moving so carefree punctuated with excited talk of how they'd spend their weekends that emphasized how this life has become so essential to them as more than just a way to fulfill their dream of becoming Huntresses. With the past few days having acted as such a significant obstruction to their daily lives, being able to return to it at the cost of catching up on assignments and taking care of their health was very uplifting.

They did have good friends who were willing to help them, professors who desired to impart their wisdom to their students to make them the better Hunters that they can be who may one day make the world better, and they had partners who've become as close to them as they were to each other. Everything was going back to normal but, with it, a better appreciation of what they had.

There were a couple obstacles that were preventing it from truly returning to what it was and Yang found herself inquiring about one of them when they saw the door to the lecture hall coming into sight. "How's it going with Weiss?"

Ruby wasn't the only one who got her well-deserved sleep last night. Although her unexpected nap at the hospital had brought a bit more life back to the heiress, it was when they were all back at Beacon did Weiss care to join them for dinner and, later, sleep. It was probably that remaining exhaustion that had Weiss unusually quiet in their company but Yang would like to think she detected a notable sense of ease as if the fencer was just as relieved to have everything back to normal as they were.

Maybe that was what allowed her to sleep as deeply as Ruby did. When Yang rolled over in her bunk in the middle of the night to check on them, it was to hear the gentle snores of her sister behind her curtains while, beneath her, Weiss slept soundlessly but without interruption. Yang hadn't seen Weiss in the morning although Ruby did mention that she was doing her own collection of makeup work.

"I got a message from her earlier," Ruby responded. "She was taking a trip to Professor Port's class and, after that, she wanted to meet with me later. I asked where but she didn't answer me."

"Sounds like she's up and about again," Yang observed and held the door open for Ruby to walk through.

"I certainly hope that's the case." Of course, speaking about one partner would bring up the other for as soon as Ruby exited the building she was already asking a question before the door finished closing behind them. "Get any news from Blake?"

Yang blew out a breath that said it all. "Nothing."

Ruby frowned briefly but quickly replaced it with a look that she tried to make encouraging. "She probably hasn't finished her meeting yet. Ozpin tends to like them late and she didn't come back with us so there is travel time to consider."

Yang nodded although the reminder succeeded in making her feel a bit troubled. It was why Yang was up last night to watch Ruby and Weiss because having an empty bunk, once again, beneath her had disturbed what rest she tried to get.

As much as she wanted Blake to come with them after that night at the docks, she understood the ninja's logic for not doing so. Considering all that went on and the controversy that would follow – not to mention the idea of putting Blake and Weiss together during then -, she was sympathetic to Blake's want to stay clear of it for now. Too much pressure could only result in a repeat that started this whole thing in the first place.

One of the first things that Yang did though was tell her that no one except her teammates knew her secret. While that did seem to be a pleasant surprise for Blake, that hadn't been enough to convince her and Yang didn't expect it to. At the very least, she had Blake's scroll on hand – having held on to it ever since her disappearance – and made sure to return it to her while biting back a joke of cats and bells.

It gave Yang something to work with as she made sure to constantly message Blake about the happenings of Beacon coupled with multiple attempts to get her to come back. While Blake responded when prompted, she shied away from directly answering any questions of returning. That did unnerve Yang, especially as the days were added up. While she accepted her partner's reasons, she was worried about someone taking unneeded notice of her growing absence.

Those worries became much more prominent with her meetings with Ozpin.

"There's just a discrepancy that needs to be addressed."

That was the last thing the headmaster said to Yang concerning Blake before she was off to the hospital to pick up Ruby. It was delivered smoothly and politely, devoid of any animosity, but Yang felt her stomach clench at the wording, specifically the fourth one. Nonetheless, it convinced Yang to try and get Blake to return as soon as possible to prevent any misunderstandings.

"Hey." Unable to reach out and touch her sister, Ruby settled with prodding her with her gathered texts against Yang to get her attention. "There's nothing to worry about. Ozpin's actually a really nice man. I talked to him too and said I had my full support for Blake."

She said the same to Blake and wanted to believe that Ozpin was as good as Ruby believed him to be. Their leader had the most experience with him but, as much as she didn't want to sound pessimistic, even Yang couldn't deny her sister potentially being biased what with her young age and it being Ozpin who allowed her to be here. True, during her own meetings the headmaster had always been kind and gentle and seemed genuinely concerned about Ruby and how it was affecting RWBY – including Blake - but…

She wanted to believe that their home would accept Blake - that it was truly different from what had been so cruelly dealt to her and what she experienced all her life -, and Yang was quietly ashamed of letting even this miniscule amount of doubt taint her hope. She couldn't help it, especially as Blake said she would trust her and Yang didn't want to prove her wrong because of the chance of her own trust being misplaced no matter how good everything seemed.

But all she really could do was resign herself to that paradox of trusting that her trust in something she believed in wouldn't betray her and, in turn, betray another's trust that they had for her. As she and Ruby descended the front steps of the lecture hall, Yang chose to brave through with a smile for the both of them as she said, "Yeah, I'm sure everything will be fine."

"What are you doing!?" came a timely shout.

She and Ruby managed to clear the last step before they turned to locate the source. Fortunately, while the shout pointed them in the right direction, it was the white attire that allowed them to spot Weiss hurrying towards them.

Definitely back to normal, Yang thought with a hint of amusement at seeing that harsh and bags-free look that was dominant on Weiss's face, complete with an agitated scowl.

The heiress had a hand on Myrtenaster, keeping it from swinging behind her precariously as she approached them with a pace that made her steps louder than usual. Her other arm was looped around a notebook and a textbook of her own but they were nothing like what Ruby was carrying around. At some point Weiss had managed to acquire another pale blue bolero and, combine that with the reappearance of her tiara, she was back to her stern self.

Yang couldn't help but quirk her brow though, finding something odd about the heiress. She couldn't quite place it but she felt like there was something off about Weiss's appearance. She didn't get too far in her musings though as Weiss was soon standing in front of them and fixing Ruby with a glare.

"What were you told!?" Weiss snapped at her partner.

Ruby jumped a little at the tone, jostling her cargo, and all she did was sputter uselessly as she tried to figure out what, exactly, Weiss was talking about. "Weiss, I-um-what was I told?"

"Unbelievable! Don't you have a care at all?"

"About what? Weiss, I don't-!"

"Give me those!" After tossing her own stuff on top, the heiress took the entire stack from Ruby's arms, her leader too flabbergasted to put up a fight. "You were told to take it easy! Are you trying to delay your recovery?"

For a moment, all Ruby could do was look down at her empty hands before switching to Weiss who was now difficult to see with their combined loads reaching up to her chin. Then it clicked and Ruby was soon countering, "I was carrying them fine on my own!"

Much like Yang had done, Ruby tried to retrieve the books but Weiss took a step back and angled them away from her to not only keep them out of reach but to give her another glare as the heiress exclaimed, "Just look at you! You couldn't even plan ahead and bring your bag with you to carry them in?"

"Well I didn't expect to get this much!"

"You were out of school for nearly a week and, if I so may kindly remind you, that was because you were in a hospital! You just got out yesterday! Why are you carrying around all these things without help, you dunce?" Weiss gave Yang a glare. "And you! You're her sister! How can you be so irresponsible?"

Before Yang could so much as utter a word, Ruby stomped her foot to redirect attention back to her and how her cheeks were puffed out. "This isn't Yang's fault! I told her that I had it under control and I did!"

"That's not the point! You're not supposed to be lifting anything at all!"

"They're just books!"

Yang quietly stood off to the side and watched things play out, vaguely aware of the grin spreading on her face. She barely even felt a spark of irritation when Weiss rounded on her, not when she could see for herself how another part of their life was back on track as the two squabbled.

"I'm completely fine!" Ruby attested. "A week? I'll be in shape long before then! See?" With a high-pitched 'Hooowaaah!', Ruby held out her arms in an imitation of Yang's fighting stance although her hands took a thin, knife-like appearance rather than curling into fists. Whatever intimidation she sought to provoke was gone as soon as she started flailing them around.

Yang was torn between giggling and wincing at the display, thinking that it was probably a good idea that Ruby never took up hand-to-hand. It was when her sister performed a sloppy high kick that any cheer vanished as Ruby's animated silvers dulled and the leg that she was balancing on wobbled beneath her. Realizing what was happening, Yang was lurching forward, silently cursing herself as a sudden bout of dizziness that they were warned about overwhelmed Ruby and had her swaying before she was falling back not towards the ground but to the raised and uneven stairs that promised to hurt a lot more.

She was too slow. Apparently having expected it, Weiss shot an arm out, using the other to balance the books perfectly while she grabbed Ruby to stop her fall. A tug returned Ruby to her feet but the fencer didn't let go as the red-dressed girl tried to steady herself.

"This is what I was talking about." Weiss didn't deliver that with any significant volume, having become low with concern. "Now what would've happened if I wasn't here?"

Ruby didn't answer right away, blinking rapidly while she shook her head. The trembling of her legs ceased, allowing her to straighten back up. Likewise, once she came back to her senses, she didn't possess any will to go on with their previous argument as she became downcast. "Sorry, Weiss."

Seeing that it was unneeded, Yang lowered the arm that she had risen and became riveted with what was in front of her. Weiss didn't remove her hand, still clasped around Ruby's arm, and her brows were now knitted with worry as if expecting her partner to collapse again. In turn, Ruby kept her gaze down before it soon slid up and she gave Weiss a smile. "Thanks, Weiss."

It was that and Yang forcing out a cough that had the heiress jerking her hand away from Ruby, the pink on her cheeks the brawler was able to catch when Weiss turned to her, then to a grateful Ruby, and it was that stain that she tried to hide with the books she acquired. "A-anyway, that just proves my point! If you're done messing around, we should return to our room as soon as possible!"

Ruby's smile faltered at the idea of turning in so soon but it passed and, possibly as thanks for the save, chirped, "Right behind ya, best teammate!"

The surprise on Weiss's face had to have been due to the ease of which Ruby gave in but the stretching of the pink had to have been caused by the way the scythe-wielder referred to her. It forced the girl to turn away from them completely and her movements were noticeably stiff as she began walking.

Looking too much like a mischievous red nymph, Ruby glanced at Yang. "I guess Weiss and I are really 'fine' now." A bounce coming to her step, she went after her partner.

Yang chuckled lightly as she watched her too-grown sister catch up to Weiss and match her pace. In contrast to Weiss's stiff spine, Ruby lazily arched a degree forward while her hands became locked behind her back. She had her head turned and was speaking to Weiss but they were too far away for the blonde to make anything out.

What she did end up noticing was the difference in Weiss's appearance. The sense of something being off, she now realized, was because of how the sleeves of the heiress's jacket were completely bare. The markings that were usually around her wrists were no longer there. Not only that, but with her back exposed Yang could see that the Schnee crest wasn't there either. The brawler had to assume that she must've ordered it and had it delivered sometime today.

A temporary arrangement until she ordered a proper replacement? Or was it permanent? Yang didn't know.

Take good care of her. Unlike the jacket, Yang knew that the direction can apply to either girl. When they were no longer in view, the brawler turned with no clear destination in mind but had the idea that the two could use some extra alone time.

A familiar beeping and vibration issuing from her person would give her better direction and Yang almost dropped the scroll with how quickly she fetched it. Delight and apprehension warred within her but it was the former that gained some ground when the blonde identified the sender.

Blake! A tap of a finger opened the message and Yang swiftly read the contents.

[Meet me where it all began.]

Short, cryptic, and totally Blake. The ambiguity of the message – leaving it open for good or bad news – did little to dampen the growing confidence that everything had gone well.

It was because of Blake's portrait and that apprehension retreated fully when Yang laid eyes on it. She caught on faster than she did with Weiss. It remained pretty standard; showing Blake's face, weapon, bow, and the beginnings of her vest and shirt. However, she no longer appeared as severe as Yang had originally described it. Her features were more relaxed as was her neck, her eyes were a bit more open to reveal her golden gems, but the source of Yang's relief was how, instead of down, her lips were up to create a small but distinct smile.

What joy she took from it waned when she returned to the message. After going it over once, twice, and then twice more, Yang couldn't help but scratch her head. Okay, I admit it: I have no idea what you're talking about.

There came another beep and another message. Yang opened it.

[In case you need assistance…]

Yang took a second to roll her eyes before reading the rest of it.

Ah, now she got it.

---

"Once we get back to the dorm, you're going right to bed."

Ruby pouted. "It's not even six o'clock!"

Weiss was unmoved. "By the time we get to the dorm and you get ready for it, it will be. You've been running around all day as it is and the next time you're about to collapse you'll do so on a soft and comfy mattress."

Although she was about to express her dislike with this plan with a frustrated groan, Ruby was brought up short when she felt a tic that did not belong to her but experienced all the same within her heart. It reminded her of when she did nearly collapse a minute ago and, despite her moment of weakness, she detected more than just a small contraction as it was a burst of panic that came from Weiss.

She was astonished at just how much she could feel from her partner. Ruby had never taken her icy demeanor to be literal, having chalked up their beginning interactions as being nothing more than Weiss wanting to achieve excellence, but she saw for herself how much was hidden behind that cold front when she finally broke through.

She felt Weiss struggle with more than just her exhaustion when she had been sitting at Ruby's bedside. Having once looked so sure about what she wanted from life, Ruby had seen a girl who had become adrift with confusion. The only way Weiss believed she could handle it was to draw back into herself much like she had attempted to do since the start of the school year.

There had been pain that she tried to overcome but was only eating away at her. There had been shame for a plan that Ruby wasn't aware of but knew it didn't matter because it was something that Weiss didn't want to fulfill. Remorse for…Ruby. For not being there. And still all that confusion.

Ruby didn't want her to face all of that alone, not anymore. They were teammates, partners, friends, and she wanted Weiss to know that she wanted to be all of that for her. And so it was tears of relief that Weiss had spilled while entrusting herself to Ruby's embrace as she let it all go.

As much as she wanted to think it, Ruby knew that that wasn't the end.

"Tomorrow's Saturday so don't bother setting an alarm," Weiss instructed when Ruby didn't say anything for a while. "Sleep in, eat a good breakfast, and then we'll hit the books."

She could feel it now. While Weiss kept her back straight, chin high, and tone all business-like, Ruby knew it was an act. The uncertainty was there that the heiress was trying to distract herself from with her words. It was those instructions that were as much for herself as they were for Ruby.

She wouldn't admit to it openly but Ruby knew that she was sorry. All this effort and even the ridicule was meant to say how she was going to be there for Ruby and fulfill her promise to be the best teammate that she neglected.

And, deep down, she wanted to make sure that Ruby wasn't going away.

Ruby had a responsibility to maintain the confidence and efficiency of the team as a whole. But as Weiss's partner, she had an added incentive to relieve any complications that may arise concerning their partnership. For this situation, she believed that a little morale support could go a long way.

Ruby quietly assessed a plan of attack, listing the vulnerabilities and advantages that she could use as she scanned Weiss. Arms limited, weapon sheathed, attention elsewhere…

Well, not for long. Catching wind of her plans, Weiss slowed while asking, "What are you-?"

Go, go, go! Ruby lunged forward, grabbing hold of her target. Despite the attack, the heiress managed to keep what would've been a yelp to an indignant squeak. She nearly dropped those literary texts but Ruby made sure she was careful which included keeping her arms loose around Weiss's left one.

"Ruby, what are you doing?" Weiss hissed out, keeping her tone low so as not to attract any more attention.

She didn't struggle, that Ruby counted on for she was in no position to do so. To keep her that way, the young leader brought out her big guns with extra wide eyes and a voice specially-loaded with extra sweet tipped with innocence. "I just want to prevent a repeat, Weiss. Since your arms are full, I thought I'd hang on in case I get another dizzy spell. Gotta keep exertions to a minimum, right?"

The wavering blues told her that Weiss was inadequately equipped to defend against her assault. Evasive maneuvers were limited and grew even more so when Ruby tightened her grip once she was sure that doing so wouldn't destroy the fencer's hold on the books. Then, exerting the amount of patience needed to perform the well-executed shot she could achieve with her high-impact sniper rifle, Ruby waited until Weiss dared to meet her gaze before pulling the trigger with, "That's what best teammates do, right?"

Weiss's breath caught in her throat and the pink flag of defeat rose to her cheeks before she quietly murmured her surrender of, "Right."

Lips curving to display her own flag of conquest, Ruby fortified her newly-acquired domain by resting her head against Weiss's shoulder which stiffened at the contact. She used the distraction to covertly slip a hand within Weiss's jacket.

"I highly doubt you need to get that close," Weiss objected, unaware of the prize that Ruby claimed from her.

She didn't have to but Ruby can detect how Weiss wanted her to. Those fears were alleviated and the relaxing of her shoulder was just another indication of the relief that came with the reminder that, yes, Ruby was here and the side of her head tapping against Weiss's chin told her that she was sticking around. With all that Ruby went through to get here, she wasn't leaving anytime soon. "I'm just getting comfortable."

Weiss huffed but it was an empty show of last-minute resistance. "Only until we get to the dorm. I swear, if this is what I'm going to be forced to endure then I wish you kept that stuffed toy."

A scrap of rebellion, eh? Ruby would have to stomp that out. Cheek firmly pressed against the heiress, Ruby suddenly spoke, "Weiss."

"What is it, Ruby?" Weiss asked.

"Weiss!" Ruby spoke again, louder this time.

"Ruby, what-?"

"Weiiisss!"

"Keep it down!" Weiss demanded, looking around the courtyard frantically. "People are staring!"

But she didn't, not with how she felt that part of her that was Weiss warming so pleasantly at hearing her name so happily spoken. There was bafflement to why and how it felt so good but Ruby didn't let her waste time on pointless analysis for something that didn't need it. "Weiiisss!"

"Ruby!"

"Weiiisss~"

---

Where it all began was with that first step upon one of the several gray, evenly-spaced pads that lined the edge of the Beacon Cliffs. When she arrived, Yang started at one end of the line before walking down towards the other, her gaze taking in the smooth stone and the etchings of the crossed axes and wreaths insignia of the combat school that marked each one. She didn't finish the journey though, choosing to stop at the third-to-last of the launch pads.

For Yang, it was that first step on this pad that put her on that one-way flight to begin her career as a Huntress. That was months ago but she could remember it vividly. To her left had been Cardin Winchester. To her right, Ruby. Standing in front to brief them on their objectives and how they were to live the next four years of their lives with whoever they were to meet were Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch.

And behind them was the Emerald Forest. As far as the eye could see was a sea of greenery worthy of its name with rolling hills that caused the landscape to rise and dip in a tide of unbroken foliage.

Even with Ember Celica propelling her over such a vast stretch of it, Yang never saw a break in the forest. That came later with the Forest Temple and the ancient outpost where Team RWBY was to achieve their first of many victories against the Grimm with their allies.

This is what's waiting for us, the brawler recognized. When she viewed the forest, she hadn't felt any fear. She had been confident in her skills and that of Ruby's to get them through what resistance the Grimm would offer them in order to obtain their relics. There had been excitement with the premature assumption that she was already here at Beacon so this initiation of theirs was just that: a test to better situate themselves into their new life. Once they left the forest with their established teams, they would move on.

Except they wouldn't. The Emerald Forest, Forever Fall, and wherever they would go to next where the Grimm dwelled - it was inevitable that they will one day return. Mankind had its kingdoms but they could only settle with those meager amounts of territory for so long. They were always growing, evolving, and coming up with new concepts and new ideas. You can only keep all that contained for so long until it became a requirement to expand.

It was the duty of Huntsmen and Huntresses to protect their way of life but that wasn't strictly limited to defense. As much of a bastion as Beacon may be, there may come a day where it would become a spearhead meant to thrust and drive the Grimm out and allow faunus and humankind to spread and develop further. There was still an entire world out there just begging to be explored.

Yang gingerly placed one foot on the pad. There wasn't a console or anything nearby of similar nature and the blonde sincerely hoped that her theory of only a command like Goodwitch may've entered in her scroll was what would initiate a launch was correct. When she gauged that a suitable amount of time had passed, her other foot set itself down as well.

In this instance, when Yang looked to her left and then her right, she imagined the exact same lineup as before except they would have a different mission in mind. Instead of going in, retrieving relics, and then coming back, they would be the first wave of newly-commissioned Huntsmen and Huntresses who were selected because of their skills and accomplishments to lead the way to the next era of prosperity. Warriors of light and righteousness off to combat and triumph against the darkness that was as vast and untamed as this forest so that civilization may thrive.

Guess I'm not as immune to delusions of grandeur any more than Ruby, Yang considered mirthfully, her imaginations mimicking those stories of heroes and their never ending battle against monsters.

But humankind needed to prove that they could be entrusted with whatever gains they may make, which included recognizing that there were others who had as much right to them and were working just as hard to obtain them. Stepping off the pad, Yang turned to where she heard the considerate rustling that marked the approach of such an individual.

The cliff was relatively clear to make room for the launch pads with hardly any tree or bush around to provide suitable cover but Blake managed to approach as stealthily as ever. When Yang looked behind her, it was to see her partner standing there with a smile that matched the one on her portrait.

"Enjoying the view?" she asked amusedly.

"You could say that," Yang replied easily. "The view, the memories, prospects of the future, and an appreciation for being able to ponder them."

One such batch of memories replayed themselves in her mind as Blake moved to join her at the cliff's edge. Watching her partner, Yang imagined one corner of her lip being higher than the other to better imitate the smirk that the ninja had sent her way to commemorate their team-up. That saunter of hers was the same though; the one that, coupled with a glance of silent 'duh' that she sent Yang's way, had the brawler standing back and admiring her newly-acquired partner with newly-found interest when they found the abandoned temple.

Sassy, Yang had thought back then but as a compliment.

"Very introspective," present Blake spoke, offering her own compliment.

Yang shrugged. "Well, all that and wondering if I can beat my distance record."

She was rewarded with the addition of some pearly whites to Blake's smile that further tickled Yang's recollections. "That sounds a bit more like it."

Coming to Yang's side to gaze over the forest, the blonde was momentarily distracted by how Blake's hair – so much straighter and wispier than her own curly but cherished mane -, gracefully flowed back around her face that her next remark was slightly delayed. "I do have my moments though."

"You do," Blake allowed, still staring out. "Several in fact, as you've proven overtime. Although I can see how standing here would have you reviewing how much time has passed." A pause and, with a discreet tilt of her head, she added, "Still doesn't feel like that much though."

"Well we did spend a lot of it just settling in," Yang reasoned. "I guess it's only recently that things have finally started to seem like normal." She almost didn't stop herself from switching normal with home.

"Yes, normal." Other than a short nod to go with it, Blake didn't show any other signs of how she felt about this supposed normalcy. Her smile didn't vanish entirely, a ghost of it still remaining, and she expressed a mild contentment as she surveyed the land.

With the late afternoon dipping into the evening, the sun was doing the same. It hadn't lowered enough for the sky to begin the transition from blue to orange but Yang could detect a miniscule shifting of light as that ball of fire better casted more of its rays over one half of the forest, brightening it while the other half began to darken in response. There was nothing disjointed about it though, Yang able to see the sparkling trail of light that stretched across its portion before dimming as it strayed too far from the sun, smoothly giving way to the approaching shadows.

"What was your landing strategy?"

Blake sent Yang an inquisitive glance. "Hm?"

"Just thinking about my own," Yang explained, remembering soaring over the tops of those trees with the wind whipping at her hair and face. She did get some pretty good distance; somewhat for the thrill but mostly as a challenge to herself when she saw how the other students settled with a more direct landing with the assistance of their Semblances and weapons. She wanted to go farther and faster, leaving them in the dust, and the one and only person who caught up to her had been Blake. "It didn't take that much time for you to meet up with me."

"Well you weren't really being conspicuous," Blake responded. "It wasn't hard to find you."

Yang sprouted a teasing grin. "Oh, were you actually looking for me?"

To the ninja's credit, she didn't get flustered and even possessed a similar expression. "You just happened to stand out more."

"Thanks, I think. You didn't answer my other question though."

"My landing strategy?" With a hint of mischief, Blake answered, "It didn't matter as I always land on my feet."

It took a while for Yang to understand what her partner just did. It was only when she saw that twinkle in her eye that she guffawed. "Did you just…?"

Blake held up a hand to hide her growing smirk but her shoulders shook a little as she tried and failed to restrain the short laugh that slipped through her lips and fingers when Yang slapped herself on the knee.

"I guess you have your moments too," Yang commented, wiping a single tear from her eye.

Blake said nothing, settling with lowering her hand to reveal the humor sticking to her features. When Yang reclaimed her poise though, she realized the meaning behind the joke and she couldn't help but look to Blake's bow.

The light and easy conversation had been meant as a delay with Yang trying to figure out when and how to turn it to what she knew was the real reason for Blake wanting to meet her out here. She found it to be difficult and wondered if it would've been impossible for her to do so if Blake hadn't just willingly given her this opening. The darker Huntress-in-training seemed aware of what she had just done as well, that whimsical countenance becoming subdued when Yang's attention on her bow told her that the brawler had caught on.

Yet Yang needed some extra time to formulate a proper approach. Blake patiently waited for it and, eventually, the blonde decided to ask a question she thought safe to ask considering her partner's attitude. "I guess your meeting with Ozpin went well?"

"It did," Blake confirmed. "He didn't want a debrief though; apparently there wasn't a need for one when I finally visited him."

There was no reason to be troubled by it, especially with Blake's relative ease, but there came a spike of worry when Yang remembered those last words that Ozpin spoke to her. "What did he want to talk to you about?"

"Something that I should've told you a long time ago," Blake answered. Instead of elaborating, the faunus reached behind her back and Yang heard the sound of rustling paper as she retrieved the folded sheet that she brought into view. "I remember you saying that you wanted to have a chat with me once everything settled down."

Yang remembered that too but that had been during the heat of the moment. With all that occurred afterwards, she didn't so much forget about it as she did let it slide. "I did say that but-"

"But I don't have to." Blake shook her head. "You're wrong, Yang; I do have to. Never mind what could or couldn't have been prevented if I had spoken up earlier. This is something I want to do. I don't want there to be any more secrets between us and I don't want any more of the regrets that will come by keeping them. If I keep on clinging to them, I'll never be able to put them behind me and move on. No more excuses, no more delays; just the truth."

There was little that Yang could say to that so she chose to not waste her breath as that would be nowhere near the amount to dissuade Blake from this course of action that she could see she was committed to. So, beaten, Yang slowly nodded. "Okay."

Blake closed her eyes, needing a few seconds to prepare herself as she breathed deeply. Within her grip, the folded paper crinkled in her hand as her fingers tightened around it but didn't crush it. On top of her head came movement, the bow twitching as her extra set of ears acted with what they could to prepare her. Yang didn't utter a sound and could make out how Blake took one deep inhale, held it, and then lids and lips opened as she used that storage of breath to begin.

"I was once a member of the White Fang."

It was said evenly, without so much as a break or stutter, and Blake stared at Yang with golden irises that may as well have been true, solid gemstones that had been carved and implanted in her eyes with how they were directed so openly and unwavering towards the brawler. No matter how much she expected it, the confirmation that was as sturdy as those ambers had Yang holding her breath throughout the duration of silence that Blake gave her before continuing.

"I was practically born into it." She didn't even blink, didn't even pause. "It wasn't like how it is now. Back then, it was formed after the war to promote the unity and equality that had been promised between the faunus and humanity. We were never given it though so the White Fang rose up as the voice that demanded it. And at every rally, for every boycott, I was there to prove that we were just as equal as humans."

For Blake's sake, Yang maintained eye contact as resolutely as her partner yet even she couldn't say if Blake was really looking at her; more like the faunus having chosen a point on the brawler's face to focus on while she was swept up in her delivery.

"I thought I was making a difference," Blake continued and there came another miniscule movement from her bow but nothing else. "Maybe I was. Maybe we were. We got impatient though and, for many of us, were pushed too far. I was twelve-years-old at the time when our leader stepped down and a new one took his place. When it happened, I was given a choice: stay with the White Fang or leave."

Here Blake faltered, her gaze which had been so solid and hard weakening and began to lower while her voice softened. "It was all I had. I didn't know what I could do and I didn't want to believe that everything we did was all…" She shook her head, as if brushing off her own honest – but biased – opinion to prevent any conflict of interest.

Much like with Weiss, all Yang saw at that moment was that scared twelve-year-old girl who had been forced to make a choice. No matter which path she took, each would change her life forever. She just happened to choose the one that was familiar to her instead of trusting what chance would come from a world that had been cruel to her.

She had once been innocent. Yang knew there was no crime in that.

"I stayed with a friend of mine who later became my partner - Adam." She had regained control of herself. "We trained together, fought together, and it was he who I was bonded with. Later, it was he who I became afraid of but not because I was being turned by him. My anger back then had been my own – it's still my own -, and while I may've thought the things I've done weren't right, I…" A glassiness came over her eyes and even if she kept staring ahead with head straight, her voice once again betrayed her as she quietly admitted, "I enjoyed it."

Knowing that her own eyes were mirroring Blake's, Yang blinked to clear them. "Blake, no more. You don't-"

"I want you to hear this," Blake interrupted, blinking as well but she didn't clean up as good as a pair of tears escaped the gathering at her eyes. She used her arm to wipe them away and when she looked back those ambers were clear again. "I want you to know the full story and not just what you've seen during our partnership. I won't hide or make excuses for what I am anymore."

As much as she wanted her to stop, to tell her that it didn't matter to her, Yang bit the inside of her cheek to prevent it.

"I never went so far as to kill anyone. No matter how much I may've enjoyed it, even a little, I still knew the value of a person's life whether human or faunus. I hoped that one day we would stop but when we didn't and the violence kept getting worse and my partner and everyone else was becoming lost to it, I left. I left what had once been the only thing in my life and, as you saw, I suffered for it."

She motioned all around them – the launch pads, the cliff, the forest beyond, and the two of them standing where they were. "I know that I carry some of the guilt and when I came here it wasn't just to do the right thing again but to make up for everything that I've done. I expected a long and difficult road but meeting you, Ruby, and even Weiss and how we're all able to work together despite our differing backgrounds, has given me hope again. I've made mistakes and I know that, but I want you to know that as much as I may regret them, everything that I've experienced here was real and I will use what I learned to protect it and you."

Blake erased the distance between them and held out the paper to Yang. "It's with this that I want to start our partnership fresh. This is where it all began but - this time - I want to start it off right."

There were no more tears in her eyes, only the determination that came with her pledge. As painful as the explanation was for her, Yang could see that unveiling the truth had lifted the weight from her shoulders that had kept her restricted to her past and unable to fully embrace the present. It had always held her back and was responsible for every half-truth and excuse that she used to keep her at arm's length from her partner and her team. With it out, there was nothing for her to hide and be afraid of anymore.

Yang looked down at the flimsy paper before taking it, unconsciously smoothing out what wrinkles it possessed. As she began unfolding it, she asked, "What is it?"

---

"Your profile."

Blake found herself participating in a silent battle with her sole opponent being herself when she stepped into Beacon Tower. Ever since entering the lobby, she began experiencing a minor sense of claustrophobia that did little to appease her anxiety, only increasing when she found Professor Goodwitch there to greet her.

The older woman said little, remaining true to her cool attitude when she uttered a short acknowledgement of Blake's presence before directing her to the single elevator at the back that would take her to the very top of Beacon Tower where Ozpin's office was apparently located. It made the faunus wonder about when RWBY and JNPR had been left waiting outside at what they all assumed was the headmaster's office after their teams were formed. Was that an alternate location meant for more extravagant events or was it a place where Ozpin would reside when he wished to be more leveled with his students?

Whatever the explanation, Blake wished she was there instead of here. Once she summoned the elevator, she acted on an impulse to look back at Goodwitch to find her staring at her. Blake would've felt better had she not caught a smile that the professor sent her way. She was sure that it was meant to be reassuring but seeing it on the strictest member of Beacon's teaching staff unsettled her. Reassurance implied that there was something going on that warranted it.

She didn't act on any of her suspicions though, troubling they may be. Instead, she chose to go with trust and the sliding of the elevator door acted as the quiet finality of her decision.

It was that trust and the promise that she made to her partner based on it that Blake was relying on as the elevator ascended and she tried to explain away that sinking feeling in her stomach as being caused by the lift.

It became harder the further she went up. Just because she was starting to trust again, it didn't mean that such a thing was going to magically become widespread. Looking through the view that the window at the rear of the elevator provided accomplished in showing Blake how she was being taken away from those few she trusted and being brought before a greater authority that had the capacity to grant her her desired home or take it away from her.

She had never been able to establish a solid opinion when it came to Beacon's headmaster as her interactions with Ozpin were at the bare minimum – the explanation being Blake preferring to avoid such a thing and Ozpin rarely having to draw his attention to her when he had an entire school to run. So all she had to go on were the few instances and stories she had been told that describe him as either friendly – as Ruby attested to - or very detached which was whenever he addressed the student body.

Well, that and the glimpses that she had of him throughout the semester. There were a number of moments when Blake would turn her head and she would catch the green and black of his suit, vest, and shirt. He would just be…there, usually with a mug in hand and that cane with the large, gray crossguard in the other that advertised the symbol of a cog. As he sipped from one and leaned against the other, he would watch his students going on with their daily lives accompanied with an expression that Blake couldn't read but possessed brown eyes that were intense behind his spectacles.

His office really embellished that more watchful disposition. Being located at the highest tower in all of Beacon Academy, it gave him an extensive view that was provided by the transparent face of the clock located right behind his desk. And, really, there was hardly anything else which Blake noted upon entering.

Up above were a mess of cogs and sprockets that turned and circled along the ceiling, each mechanical grinding causing the hands of the clock to turn while providing power to the green orbs that were barely distinguishable higher up. When day changed to night, it was those orbs that acted together to provide the signal light that would glow brightly and bask the combat school in its radiance. They were not as bright right now but they nonetheless produced a shroud of emerald green that fell over the office.

Other than that large, ornate desk with its glass surface and the throne-like chair behind it, the only other furniture that Blake could make out was off to the side: a short table with a chessboard laid out on it. The chess pieces were spread all across it, apparently in the middle of a war that has yet to finish but the ones that had been set off to the side hinted to how casualties had already been taken.

It was one of the equally small chairs that would seat the players that Ozpin gestured Blake to to repurpose for this meeting but she declined the offer. "If you don't mind, I'd like to stand."

"Not at all." The man had his elbows resting on his desk, hands up and fingers laced together. A smile, warm and pleasant on his middle-aged features, had formed since Blake entered and his words washed over her in a comforting swell. "Please, whatever you feel comfortable with. I promise to make this brief."

If she was honest with herself, Blake had to admit that his opening courtesy was successful in softening the resistance that she had been establishing in preparation for this meeting. It made her inquiry not as defensive as she expected it to be when she asked, "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, I did," he confirmed, still with that smile. "Recent developments had brought to my attention a discrepancy in our records that needs to be addressed."

There was only one 'recent development' that he could possibly be referring to and what minor laxing of her defenses was erased immediately. That sense of claustrophobia returned despite the empty and open office as Blake was reminded of just how isolated it was with its height and the limited avenues of escape. Suppressing that burgeoning of a fight-or-flight response with the thought that no actual threat presented itself yet, Blake calmly asked, "And what would that be?"

If he noticed it or understood how his statement troubled her, Ozpin didn't let any of it show in his well-mannered appearance. His movements were calm and unhurried but they didn't lessen the icy shot of dread when he retrieved a sheet of paper from his desk and slid it towards Blake.

It was indeed her profile. Printed and surrounded with bright embroidery right at the top was Beacon Academy, the insignia stamped at the corner. Beneath that were a series of blank spaces that a person was to fill out as prompted by the classifications that began each one such as name, age, gender, date of birth, etc. This was the same sheet that had been given to her upon her completion of her placement test and what she filled out on the same day. Right at the bottom was her signature and, beneath that, she could identify as Ozpin's to approve her.

She filled out every single one with the truth save an exception. Right between her gender and date of birth was one line of information that was entirely false.

Race: Human

She had saved that one for last with the knowledge of what she was going to write when she got to it. A vicious debate occurred when she first reviewed it, wondering if she really needed to do this or if she could get away with it. She passed the placement test and proved that she had what it took to attend the combat school but, in the end, knowing that she was going to be judged and that it was her race that had deprived her of so many of life's opportunities had her hiding it.

Logic couldn't sway her with the reasoning that even if her background was relatively unknown to the general populace when it came to her and the White Fang – or her being faunus - and could probably survive a check, the fact that she kept her name and everything else truthful may be enough to point them in the direction to know that this itsy bit of information was a lie. But she couldn't do it because she had become afraid of what she was and how others would see her. If she put down human, it may not warrant any interest for such a check.

It was bittersweet when she got the letter confirming her acceptance.

"I'll come right out and say it," Ozpin said, finger tapping against the paper. "Some of what's been written here is, quite frankly, untrue."

Now Blake was swallowing her growing terror of how yet another decision that she made because she thought it was right may very well doom her. "What would you like me to do?" How she managed to say it so straight she had no idea.

Ozpin gave a brief chortle. "Do? I thought it would be obvious as I was under the impression that such a mistake can be easily remedied by having you fill out another one. Truthfully, that is."

That was all he had to say. Blake was expecting more – considering they were in a clock tower, a death knell to signal the end of her life didn't sound that outrageous – but the headmaster didn't add anything else. In fact, he brought his hands back together in front of his face, partially hiding that persistent smile.

When it was Blake who didn't say anything for a while though, that smile wavered and the skin beneath his gray bangs could barely be seen creasing with concern. "Is there something wrong, Miss Belladonna?"

"That's all you wanted me for?"

"I know it may not seem like much," Ozpin explained, "but this is rather important. If you are to be issued a Huntressing license, we can't exactly do so under false pretenses. Believe me, much more troublesome complications can arise from that so it would be best to amend this early on to avoid them."

The man may as well have been speaking gibberish as Blake wasn't sure she understood a word that he just said. The only thing she could go on is what he should be saying and what he should be asking her. "You're not asking for a debrief? Nothing about what happened at the docks?"

He shrugged. "That particular issue has been handed off to the proper authorities. I couldn't delay it any longer and, though you were unavailable at the time, I believe that I was able to retrieve accounts from the rest of your team that I deemed satisfactory."

None of this was making sense to her. He had to know what was going on or be suspicious of her. At the very least, he knew that she lied on her profile and the only thing he could possibly be referring to was that she was a faunus which meant that... "But you have to know."

"I only know what I care about," Ozpin stated, turning somber. "That being that my students fulfilled their duties in keeping the peace by preventing what would've been a significant theft of Dust, regrettably a bit too early for my liking and at the potential cost of one of their lives. However, you all performed admirably and have returned safe and sound, including you."

Including her. She let that sink in as well as the implication that Ozpin was fine with having her here. "You still know; I know you do. You have to know of what I was once a part of."

"And right now, you're a part of my school. Blake – may I call you Blake?"

Numbly, she nodded her head.

Another easy smile and one that the faunus found genuinely comforting. "This school has been built on more than just what we've forged with our hands. Beacon stands as a testament to the traditions and way of life that human and faunus have followed together in order for us to achieve what we have now. No matter how the world may change, the life of a Huntsman and Huntress makes no distinction of who can join or who may not so long as they have the strength of heart to shoulder and carry the burden that will be placed on them and doing so alongside others no matter where they may come from. Believe me when I say that you and Ruby are not the only ones who've arrived through extenuating circumstances this year and, I hope, you will not be the last so long as there will be someone in my position who is willing to give others a chance."

"But I made so many mistakes."

Ozpin bowed his head towards her. "Speaking as one who has made many many more, it is those mistakes that can prove to be very valuable lessons that shall benefit not just yourself but others. We have seen the ends of the dark roads we've chosen to travel and the knowledge of what lies there can be used to protect what we care about, especially against the lasting consequences of our choices."

Having come knowing little about the headmaster, Blake found herself experiencing a sense of kinship with this man right then. In that moment, the reflections of the turning gears on the glass surface of his desk became much more pronounced while the next tick of the clock was more distinct.

When Blake looked past Ozpin and towards the transparent window of the clock, she imagined herself peering through it from his seated position. High above Beacon with his own little kingdom sprawled beneath him, everything in this office accentuated how time and life continued to go on at every second, minute, and hour. Every revolution of the clock was one more day that has gone by in peace.

With one day having passed, another started and with it the prayers that it'll end just as peacefully with whatever sins he may've committed deciding to delay their return for a little longer so that he and others will not have to pay a price that has yet to be collected. They've already taken much, Blake could now see, between the graying of his hair and the wrinkles in his visage that he tried to smooth with a mix of those gentle smiles and friendly twinkles in his eyes to hide the fatigue behind them. Though always standing tall and dressed immaculately, the cane expressed how a weight that came with more than just age was wearing him down.

Until such a day came when everything won't end like clockwork, he can only do what he can to ensure the readiness of the next generation for such a time. When he slid Blake's profile off to the side to reveal a plain, unfilled one beneath it, it was to create another chance not just for her but everyone else.

"What you write here shall remain strictly between us," Ozpin explained. "How others will see and know of you shall depend on what you choose to show and tell them. I would, however, like to advise that you impart the truth and the lessons from it to those who deserve it most. Your partner, I'm sure you know, has full support for you and today I had a visit from Ruby and Miss Schnee."

Blake jerked her head up at that. "What did they say?"

"Well, Ruby found the idea of Team RWY to be disagreeable." There was another brief chuckle at that. "I share the sentiment. As for Miss Schnee, I believe her exact words were that the next time any trouble comes up, you'll go to your teammates. Suffice to say, if your team hold no reservations about you then I can't see how I should either."

…She just didn't get it. Standing there dumbfounded in the face of all that was being offered, Blake couldn't understand how one life was just so good in contrast to another that had been so cruel and ruthless. How, when there had been so much darkness in her life, was there this light that was willing to take her in?

She looked down at the empty sheet, staring at it for a long while, and then off to the side. "If I may ask for one little favor..."

---

"My profile," Blake replied. "My real profile."

Yang saw that it was exactly that when she viewed the contents. They had their hard drives and databases but hard copies of important documents such as this were still the preferred medium of filing and storing sensitive information. It limited potential breaches and unauthorized access that digital copies were more at risk of.

As a profile, it was brief and simple; asking for the natural particulars of the one filling it out. Yang silently read them off.

Blake Belladonna, seventeen, female. Yang couldn't prevent the stroke of amusement that came with reading such obvious designations and thinking of the improbable possibility of them being something else. When she got to the next one though, her calm scanning ceased and no joke came to her.

Race: Faunus

Not even bothering to read the rest, she looked to Blake.

Her partner had her hands at her head, the fingers of each pinching the ends of the black bow. She must've been waiting for Yang because as soon as she had her attention, Blake began pulling on the knotted fabric with Yang watching as it unraveled.

One ear sprung up and was followed by the other. With the bow reduced to a ribbon and held at her side with one hand, Blake used the other to sweep through her tresses, those ears fluttering beneath her palm as she smoothed out her hair.

Yang saw them before but was stock-still when they became completely unobstructed. It had been dark and foggy when she first laid eyes on them but with the sun present she could clearly make out the unmistakable, triangular shape of cat ears. They flicked and flexed on top of Blake's head before stilling, allowing Yang to see the differing shades of violet. All along the back of the ears was fur of a darker purple while the inside of the flaps were lighter and better matched Blake's eye shadow.

The pointed ends tipping forward broke Yang out of the trance she hadn't realized that she had fallen into. Drawing back down to Blake's face, it was to see the faunus with her eyes as low as her ears.

"Sorry!" Yang hastily apologized, mentally chastising herself for staring. "I mean, I saw them before but I guess it's still a bit of a surprise." With another bit of self-directed ridicule, she started correcting, "Not that I'm surprised as in there's anything wrong with them it's just that I…well…"

"It's okay," Blake assured, forcing her gaze to meet with Yang's again. "It is a surprise and the fault is mine for hiding it so long."

There came an uncomfortable pang but the blonde couldn't think of the exact reason for it right now as she once again looked at those ears. Her fingers bent a fraction and Blake, spotting it, angled herself forward just as much. Yang quirked a brow in silent question, and Blake responded with a subtle nod.

Yang hated herself for thinking it but, with those ears, it was impossible to not imagine a cat who had been so cautious and afraid of human touch – hissing when they tried to approach her - finally giving someone a chance. How that cat remained watchful even with this opportunity she was allowing kept Yang's hands slow and careful as they came up. They halted when they became so close – no more than a length of fur from those ears separating them from her fingertips – and Yang looked at Blake again.

She stared at her evenly, not telling or giving her any sign to go on but not to stop either.

The first touch was a tentative, exploratory poke and Yang nearly gasped at the quick movement it incited when the right ear flicked about. After another check and another confirmation that Blake didn't find anything regretful about this, Yang moved from a poke to a single, gentle stroke along the back of that same ear. After slipping Blake's profile into her jacket, the fingers of her other hand soon joined in, carefully administering the same treatment to the left ear.

The fur was soft. Much like Blake's hair, it was smooth but the short, purple sections that she brushed had a velvety touch that couldn't be achieved with human locks. To describe it as pleasant would not be doing it justice as feeling them on her bare skin cajoled Yang to experience more of it as she continually stroked them.

She paused when she noticed a rumbling and was surprised when she figured out that it was coming from Blake. Scrutinizing the faunus, it was to see Blake doing an admirable job to keep herself from meeting Yang. She couldn't do anything about that color that hadn't been on her face before although strands of her onyx hair had conveniently fallen to try and hide it.

Before she could stop herself, Yang asked, "Did you purr?"

Thankfully, Blake didn't seem offended; only appearing more like she wanted to curl up on herself and hide with her embarrassment. Yang had to suppress a squeal which she made harder on herself when she scratched at the base of an ear to elicit another rumble that issued from deep within Blake's chest. Yep, that was definitely a purr.

Abashedly, Blake explained, "It's…been a long time since they were touched like that."

Blake probably thought nothing of her explanation, too distracted by her embarrassment and wanting to defend herself, and it didn't really strike Yang until a few more seconds of scratching and Blake purring.

When it did, Yang's fingers became motionless and all she could do was stare at those cat ears.

A long time. How long was that, exactly?

A different set of memories went through Yang's mind: ones that extended throughout their entire semester at Beacon. And each and every one involved Blake with her bow.

When she was eating, sleeping, fighting, studying, or just spending time with her team, the bow was always there. Other than recently, Yang couldn't think of any other moment when she saw her without it. What she did see and what came to her now were those instances when that decoration would twitch or move abnormally and what she brushed off as nothing; whether influenced by the wind or her seeing things.

This line of thinking led to when Blake would possibly have the opportunity to take it off and Yang assumed it was those brief ones that came when she showered or locked herself away in their dorm's bathroom or other moments of complete privacy.

She wondered just what Blake thought about when she saw those ears. What did she think when she would stare at the mirror while listening to her teammates just on the other side of the door and knowing that she could never show this part of herself? Did she feel regret for her choices or anger for how others treated her, both of which led her to being so guarded?

…Did she ever, even for a second, hate those ears for making her so different? To wish she had never been born the way she was and be 'normal'?

"Yang?"

The blonde had quietly pressed her face against the top of Blake's head, right between those ears that she delicately touched. Other than another flick of those flaps of cartilage, Blake made no other move and there came another flick when Yang quietly asked, "Did it hurt after a while? Keeping them tied down for so long had to have been uncomfortable."

She again recollected those moments that she carelessly swept aside as nothing but the wind and not how those ears struggled to convey feelings that had to be as restrained as everything else that Blake was hiding.

Blake said nothing and those ears stilled in Yang's grasp. Then, "It wasn't bad; the bow wasn't uncomfortable." There was a beat and, as if being persuaded by a short stroke from Yang, she admitted, "They get stiff after a while."

It was that movement that Yang saw when Blake removed the bow that had to be her working that stiffness out of them. "I'm so stupid."

"Yang?"

She breathed deeply. Whereas she enjoyed her own scent of blossoms, from Blake Yang got a full inhalation of jasmine that she found lovely. Caressing those feline ears, Yang softly spoke, "This whole time, I was so stupid. I wish I noticed something sooner. I wish I asked you when I could've."

Those furred appendages quivered in her grip, transmitting the grief that sullied Blake's voice. "Yang, no."

"All I had to do was walk in on you when you weren't expecting it. I was so tempted but, dammit, not once did I play with that bow because I was afraid how you wouldn't like it. If I just tried harder or did something-"

"Don't!" Blake snapped, thick with emotion. "Don't you dare! Not when you wouldn't let me! Not over something that was my choice!"

That space between those ears was becoming increasingly wet as Yang took a gulp of air and jasmine. "It was a choice that should've never been there for you to make. I don't want you to be afraid of the world anymore. I don't want you to hide anymore, Blake. No matter what you may have, you're beautiful to me and have every right to live as you want. Don't let anyone say anything otherwise to you."

Those ears ceased quivering and for a while all Yang did was nuzzle against the dampness that was her apology for everything that her kind had done to Blake. The gentle brushes and stokes were to make up for every pull and pinch that they must've experienced.

"All my life," Blake said, "I just wanted to hear that. If there had just been one person – someone like you – who had been there to say that to me just once…"

She reached up, grasping one of Yang's hands and pulling it away from her ear before bringing it down. She didn't do the same to the other but Yang let go and didn't pursue when Blake backed away, taking her hair and scent with her. She still held her hand.

"There was a time when I didn't think this could ever happen," Blake admitted, eyes bleary but fixed on Yang. "When I left the White Fang, I had also given up. I just wanted to get by in this world that I found to be cruel and unfair. There was a debt that I was going to repay for making it worse but that was all I was going to do. Coming to Beacon to be a Huntress was a way I could achieve both. Because of all that's happened to me, I told Ruby that the real world isn't a fairy tale."

Blake looked down the line of launch pads, making it a point to focus on the one that had been Yang's before taking in the rest of them. "You were here and I," she motioned much further back, "was there. You probably couldn't even see me and I couldn't see you. That's how it is with the two of us: we come from widely different lives, different races, and yet here we are now."

She put something in the palm of Yang's hand and manipulated her fingers to close over it.

"For me, this was where my fairy tale began…and I'd really like to see how it'll end."

Blake let go but Yang already knew what she would find when she looked down. The polished surface that had been sculpted with fluid ridges and curves and distinguishable indents made for eyes, ears, and a short mane. There was only one other time when Yang felt something like this and that had been when she held this particular, pony-shaped item high over her head with the intention of getting the first of many smiles out of her partner.

Opening her hand, it was to reveal a golden knight.

---

The sprinkling of the shower going on behind her, Weiss busied herself with the scratching of her pencil as she filled out the latest sheet that would join the small pile that had been clipped together with the steel rings of her binder. The contents of this one were different from the others but they would center around one important event: the Vytal Festival.

Although she hid it well during the semester, her team only realizing the extent of her excitement when she demanded for that trip into the city, the festival was an event that Weiss had been looking forward to. Her enthusiasm was, admittedly, influenced by her seclusion at the Schnee estate and the festival would open up a host of opportunities for her what with being an international event and a gathering of not only students but people of differing cultures that could be found all over Remnant. It was a convention that would let Weiss see all that she had formerly been isolated from.

The planning and organization that was put into establishing the Vytal Festival was also one that appealed to the heiress. As much hardship there was that entered her life due to her family's company, Weiss still appreciated all that had arisen due to her grandfather's and, later, her father's efforts. Questionable business practices aside, it was amazing how, in only a couple generations, the SDC had grown to supply the entire world with Dust through the use of their freighters, trains, and airships. The complexity of such a company had amazed and dazzled Weiss, inspiring aspirations for when she would one day control it all and what decisions she made to change it for the better would be her own with the millions of paid employees working to follow them. What she's come to learn here at Beacon with her team will go a long way.

That was years down the line though and, right now, Weiss was focusing on what she could savor here and now with the efforts of ordinary citizens who took pride in their city and how she'll be able to enjoy it with those who've become close to her.

There will be several parades, Weiss knew and she checked the schedule of events that she flipped to in her binder to better make her own preparations. The biggest one will be after the tournament though when they reach the closing ceremony. That's when they'll have the big fireworks display.

There was going to be so much to do before then with Weiss carefully scheduling and cataloguing each activity to provide the maximum amount of entertainment. Accompanying each annotation were the delightful imaginations of who she was going to spend it with that had her smiling as she did when inspecting the groundwork of the Vytal Festival.

The shower being cut off and the silence that followed had Weiss suspending her plan making for now. Using a puncher to make the needed holes at the edge of the paper, the fencer added it to her binder with a slip to mark where she left off and would resume when she had the chance. She barely had enough time to close it and read the taped title of Vytal Festival Activities with Property of Weiss Schnee directly underneath it before the door to their bathroom opened.

When she turned to address the one who exited it, it was to see Ruby clad in her pajamas and combing her damp hair with her fingers. Weiss had to suppress an urge to be annoyed. It was only that short wolf cut of hers and how easy it was to maintain it that kept Weiss from giving Ruby a proper lesson on caring for her hair but she wished she would exert a bit more effort than the casual swipes she gave it.

It did offer her other ideas though on how to better prepare the both of them for the festival. It would be unseemly to go in our combat clothes every day and I know she doesn't have much else to wear other than her uniform.

And what she did have Weiss immediately labeled as unacceptable. For a special occasion like what was to come later, they would need more proper attire. Weiss made a mental note to do a search and locate the most reputable clothing store where they would go for a fitting of a decent selection of dresses. Since they'd already be out, a visit to a salon or other parlor for their nails and hair would be sensible.

For now, it was Ruby's health that Weiss concerned herself with and she pointed to the low bookshelf between their bunks. "I left the pills and a glass of water for you."

Ruby frowned. "No milk?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Milk inhibits iron absorption and those supplements are meant to restore it." She might have been doing some extra reading involving their medical texts.

To her amazement, Ruby didn't argue, instead giving her another of those smiles and a, "Thanks, Weiss."

Her heart performed a small jump from that simple action as well as the sincerity that was confirmed by that niche that was Ruby. It's been doing that a lot lately and it reminded Weiss of when Ruby had refused to let go of her arm throughout their walk back to the dorm, constantly chirping her name while doing so.

Such a child, Weiss thought then and what she thought now to try and steady that organ that had become so lively. While Ruby took her pills, the snow-haired girl picked up her binder in order to place it on the shelf situated above the desk. When she turned around, she stiffened and couldn't prevent the cry of, "What are you doing!?"

Ruby swiftly drew her hands back while she turned to her partner, silvers large with surprise after having been reaching up to grab and climb onto her bunk. "What?"

"No physical exertions!"

When they came back to the dorm yesterday, Yang had picked up Ruby and lifted her up to her bed, the younger girl struggling and squawking the whole time that she didn't need help. She was ignored of course, the blonde dumping her on top. Weiss had quietly congratulated Yang for her thinking.

"I don't need you to help me up," Ruby replied, a miffed expression similar to the one she had given to Yang before her sister did away with it with a tender kiss and pat on the head.

Ignoring the uncomfortable scenario that came to mind at such a prospect, the heiress stressed, "No exertions whatsoever! I swear, if you keep this up you won't be recovering in time for the Vytal Festival never mind a week!" Another image came to mind, this one of when Ruby had nearly fallen with Weiss barely having acted in time to catch her.

A more potent sense of discomfort came with the thought and Ruby just happened to soften her disgruntled look soon after. "Where do you expect me to sleep then?"

"Take mine," Weiss instructed, gesturing to it.

Ruby blinked, looking at her partner and then her bunk incredulously. "You want me to sleep in your bed?"

"It'll only be during your recovery so I have no problem with it! With your luck and clumsiness, you'll probably end up deciding that tonight would be a perfect night to fall off that thing anyway." Attempting to appear dignified, Weiss crossed her arms over her chest. "Besides, I suppose I wouldn't mind trying the top bunk for once."

That seemed to convince Ruby but in a way that had Weiss frowning when her leader gave her a grin. "Well if you wanted to try it that much you could've told me sooner."

Weiss worked to motion her face away from Ruby before she could see signs of the warmth spreading across her face. "Just get to bed, you dunce."

Ruby was still grinning when she threw back the covers to settle into bed and Weiss was chastising herself for how easily her partner has been able to unsettle her. It was all Ruby's fault of course, the girl having become increasingly intrusive lately. Even before this, Ruby had made it a point to stick to Weiss's side when they both left the hospital, sitting with her both during the airship ride and at dinner.

That shouldn't have warranted any special attention but there was something about those instances yesterday and now today that made Weiss unsettled but not in a…bad way per se. More unfamiliar than unsettling if she had to admit it as she couldn't say she didn't like it.

She tried to reason it away as a natural reaction considering the circumstances. It came very close to Ruby not being here anymore so, as annoying as it may be, she was relieved by the fact that Ruby was here to do all that. And Ruby's growing clinginess was just her being thankful for Weiss having been there to save her life. It was all easily explainable and would pass after a while.

Still, there was that…pleasure when Ruby had been clinging to her and an abundant source of satisfaction when her name had been spoken so gleefully. She also knew that Ruby knew how good it felt because she just kept doing it, ignorant of all the unwanted attention they were getting because of it. Now, with her plans for the Vytal Festival and all the things she was looking for for the two of them to do just to have fun and not just because Weiss wanted to do good on her promise to be the best teammate…

She might have confided to Professor Port about it just as she might have asked if this was just something that occurred because of the bond she shared.

And he might have chuckled, those bushy brows rising and moustache twitching with amusement as he said, "You say it like these feelings just appeared overnight. Dear girl, they were always there; you and Miss Rose are just more comfortable with expressing them now."

And she might have decided that that didn't sound too bad…

"Hey, Weiss?"

Weiss turned to see Ruby having rolled onto her side, blanket pulled up to her shoulders. "What is it, Ruby?"

"I'm having trouble sleeping. Do you think you can help?"

Weiss didn't know how she could help as she began thinking of ways to make it easier for Ruby to sleep. There wasn't much that can be done, especially as most of what could be done her leader could do on her own. Count sheep, read a book, she just took a hot shower so that should help. "I don't know what you'd expect me to do to help you sleep."

"Well…"

Much like the second before Ruby had snatched her arm, Weiss caught a sense of what she knew now to be the mischief that the scythe-wielder was trying to hide. There came movement between the blankets, Ruby sliding them down just enough to pull out an item that had Weiss gawking at her.

That little red thief!

Within Ruby's hand was a small notepad and Weiss could see the scribbles on it that were in fact the lyrics of the song that she had been painstakingly writing since she decided to take it up again sometime after their trip to Forever Fall. Her brain furiously working to think of when Ruby even had the chance to steal it from her, the heiress concluded that she had to have done it during their walk back.

"Yang used to read me to sleep when I was little," Ruby said, idly flipping through the notepad. "And it looks like you decided to write a song after all."

Weiss had actually finished it today. She would use moments when she was alone to add another line that she would finally write after wracking her brain for a good hour to come up with the perfect one. She had been stuck with finding the right lyrics to bring it all together but the inspiration hadn't come to her until recently, allowing her to put the finishing touches on it.

How did she even know? Weiss asked herself as she moved over to Ruby's bedside. I never actually told her I was writing anything!

Well, not except when-

It was probably Blake, Weiss interrupted herself. Blake had known and probably told Ruby all about it. There was no other possible way for Ruby to have found out.

"I was hoping you wouldn't mind maybe singing this to help me sleep." Switching from the notepad to Weiss, Ruby gave her a pleading look with a slight jutting of her lip. "It sounds really pretty."

Weiss clenched her jaw, sticking Ruby with what she hoped was a look of annoyance but for some reason her leader didn't seem fazed by it. Wordlessly, she held out her hand and Ruby gave her the notepad.

She didn't put it away though, instead raising it up so that she could thumb through it to read the lyrics she decided on. When she first viewed her completed work, she congratulated herself with the thought that she did a good job. She never had the chance to practice the full song though and wasn't too sure about the beat that she would imagine in her head to give her the right delivery.

When she looked back at Ruby, any plans for a rejection never came and before she knew it Weiss was saying, "Fine."

Expressing excitement more than smug victory, Ruby settled herself comfortably onto her back but her attention remained on Weiss.

She had sung in front of a crowd of thousands on top of a wide open stage that seemed huge when compared to the single, tiny singer who stood in the center of it. With the lighting shining down on her, it had drawn the attention of the entire assembly on her.

Yet right in front of her leader, Weiss had to quell what should be an unfeasible nervousness that all of that hadn't accomplished in inducing. Taking a calming breath, Weiss closed her eyes.

"O-one-"

She broke off immediately, cheeks burning with shame as she stuttered and coughed. A terrible opening such as that should deserve some kind of reprimand or disfavor from the crowd.

Ruby didn't give her any of that. All she did was lean over to take a half-full glass of water that she apparently hadn't finished and held it to Weiss who gratefully took it, willing her face to cool while she dealt with a throat that had suddenly become parched. When she placed it back on the bookshelf and turned back to Ruby, it was to see her leader looking up at her expectantly and Weiss could detect a different kind of warmth beneath her breast that silently assured and patiently coaxed her to try again.

After a clearing of her throat, Weiss closed her eyes. While she hadn't taken to any lessons for instruments, when she had been writing the song she tried her best to imagine a score like what had been played for her during her performances and her fingers would unconsciously move as if she could play them while she sang.

For the opening, she thought of the gentle, unhurried melody of a piano and, at her side, her fingers twitched as if hitting the keys that would start it off. Once she got to a certain point, that was her cue to begin.

"One life~
Is not a long time~"

There we go. She didn't stutter or choke, the words coming to her and being sung perfectly as she stretched out the specific notes that were low and gentle but the natural pitch of her voice balanced it out. To her, it was perfect and she could sense Ruby's approval as she went on.

"When you're waiting~
For a small sign~"

---

~RWBY Soundtrack – Wings~

Blake watched as Yang examined the chess piece: such a tiny, ordinary item that her partner had picked out of an assortment of others based on how its appearance appealed to her. She couldn't know, especially at the time, just how significant it would become to Blake's life.

To be fair, Blake had been as unknowing. When Yang had selected it, it was one half of a contract that she and, by extension, Blake signed which would then be completed by a little sister who came to Beacon under circumstances that, while not as severe, were also unusual. With Ruby was a partner of her own who came from a different life but the same war that Blake had participated in.

Call it fate, coincidence, irony, or a joke played by a higher power, it nonetheless instigated an adventure that began with former truths and beliefs being shaken, delved into a clash of mistaken ideals that threatened to tear everything apart, and now Blake could see how the ending was being shaped in spite of all these challenges that had been set before them.

Within the center of it all was Yang. It may've been Blake who found her but it was due to a measure of attraction and ease that was developed at seeing the care and love that Yang held for Ruby that had Blake deciding to partner with her. It was that nature that took Blake in, supplying a friendship that budded and blossomed under the rays of the light that began to scatter the darkness that imprisoned the faunus after being left bruised and broken.

In a bid to retain their prisoner, the darkness took advantage of old fears and a misspoken secret. It had Blake running from all this and the despair that eagerly replaced that lost light nearly consumed her for good when she found herself surrounded by old comrades who had fallen under the sway of a mastermind who claimed total dominion of everything she once held dear. When all seemed lost, Yang descended as if from the heavens to fight them off and free Blake from renewed imprisonment.

A dazzling fairy tale for sure, and with it a typical ending that was developing in the presence of the rescued maiden and her knight.

Blake reclaimed possession of Yang's hand with both of hers, the symbol of their union clenched between them. Against the yellow surface of the chess piece, the black outline that formed around the faunus's fingers became obvious.

Yang jerked, lavenders wide with understanding. "Blake, are you sure?"

How could she not be sure? It was only with Yang that Blake was able to believe again so, with a smile, she replied, "Very."

"But we tried this before." It was the results of that instance that had Yang looking worried. "I hurt you last time."

Such concern even after revealing everything to her. Blake touched a cheek to center the eyes back on her when guilt had them wandering. "I told you that it wasn't you and I meant what I said. I couldn't fully commit, not with the doubts that I still carried that held me back. But after all that has happened and you still here, nothing could make me feel safer than to be with you."

When it came to catching one of them off guard, Yang had a bigger share of the points than Blake which made occasions such as these considerably more enjoyable to the ninja when it was the brawler's face that went red instead of her eyes. She tried to make up for it with her usual comments. "Well, I guess I need to try and come up with another oath. I kind of got lucky when I managed to think up the last one on the fly."

"You made that one up?" Blake asked, surprised and perhaps a little relieved.

"Was I not supposed to?"

"I said that it would come to mind during the process." Blake produced a faint smile. "It's not about what you think; it's about what you feel. When it comes to the oath, especially when its two partners who are fully committing, it forms based on the honest desires that they hold for one another."

"Honest desires, huh?" After pursing her lips in silent contemplation, she grinned confidently. "I think I got some of that."

The pressure that was applied to Blake's hand told her that Yang was ready. Sealing her lids shut, Blake drew out her Aura.

The shadows had always been a part of her life. Her kind had lived in the shadows casted by humans, the day she was pushed to the edge it had been in the shadows, and ever since she made that pact with them they were a weapon and a shield that she used to her advantage. Whenever the faunus drew out her Aura, she would imagine it as just another shadow that stretched and encompassed her to hide and protect.

For one who was used to being so cold and alone within their embrace, it made Blake anxious when she experienced how bright and warm Yang's Aura was. But, quickly, the ease of which she moved through it and how it welcomed her had her basking in the heat that she felt to be comfortable.

It was no different in this instance and even seemed easier when she met Yang at their clasped hands and the relic held between them. When she touched her, the blonde accepted her to the point where she practically cleared the way as Blake moved forward and wound around her wrist before proceeding up her arm.

Whereas Yang had been open and accepting here and back then though, Blake knew she couldn't say the same. During their previous attempt, those doubts that Blake referred to had come to the forefront when she felt Yang moving closer to her center and understanding that it was a human who was doing so. She thought she had been ready but actually having someone so close and getting closer had her shutting Yang out at the last second with disastrous results occurring when the brawler pushed.

She was committed now. Instead of growing dismay that developed into dread, all Blake felt were the aspirations of what it would mean to finally let this light become a part of her: something bright within the dark.

There was still one concern she held. She no longer had any doubts about Yang but there was one that lingered, this one involving her. As Yang drew closer to her heart, she wondered if she could ever be as worthy to her partner.

She felt a different sort of touch right then. Yang pressed her forehead lightly against Blake's and the faunus could feel that golden hair dropping around them as if a curtain. Within this privacy, Yang spoke:

"Though what was taken can never be returned.
Let my fire replenish your star to once more burn.
To give warmth by day and sight by night.
I pledge myself to be as a light to lead you from your past,
and to be the pillar from which your shadow is cast."

Whether she would be worthy or not, Blake was going to try her hardest to prove that she can. With that desire in mind, Blake made her response.

"Hope lost and broken dreams, void of light, no longer
will I remain. To protect the innocent and defend the weak, by
your side I shall be. The darkness who follows, the shadow cast
by your light."

She is shadow. Though closely-related, shadow and darkness were not the same. Darkness is the absence of light while shadow indicates the presence of light. A shadow was just as capable of signifying good as it can be with evil for, without light, darkness can grow from it.

It was light that Yang brought to her - right where it was needed most. That void within Blake's very being became filled with it. The torn open nerves that had been numbed and would writhe and scream when unveiled were soothed. The mild heat brought life back to them and they became protected as Yang placed a piece of herself over them: a miniature sun to illuminate Blake's heart and soul.

When Blake returned the favor and placed a piece of herself in Yang, it was not a mark of corruption. Just as a shadow can indicate the presence of light, it can also provide relief such as on a hot summer's day. Within Yang's fevered core, Blake was a pleasant coolness that one would refresh themselves with by taking shelter under a tree or a dip in a pool.

Dark and light. Human and faunus. Such clear designations that people preferred separate but didn't know of the beauty that can be made by mixing them together.

Blake saw it for herself when she opened her eyes and was greeted by the compassion within Yang's that was reserved for her. Her hair hung around them, inflamed, but it didn't burn viciously. Her irises were still those gentle lavenders and her flaming tresses didn't lash but waved leisurely. The bangs that were touching Blake were warm brushes against her face. To perform the role as the shadow that would follow Yang, Blake's Aura had changed. Instead of total, unyielding darkness, it shifted and moved along her body with a liveliness that matched Yang's fire.

Yang cupped her face and Blake already knew of the tears that were there for what else could she do at seeing and feeling something so wonderful?

"I forgot what this was like." She realized her error as soon as she spoke it. "No, this is different. Even before it was never like this. Not something this…beautiful."

Yang said nothing and didn't need to. Blake could feel her satisfaction to be here for her and how she had been able to save her from succumbing to the darkness. To experience something so pure and knowing that it had been here for her this whole time, Blake couldn't believe how she had been so foolish to not see it before. But now, she found her purpose and a meaning to her life again.

She was worried about the future and what may come next. There was still the White Fang and while she may not know what their deal with Torchwick was, she could only assume that it would not be the last she or her team will see of them. There may be another battle soon to come, possibly several battles.

If they came though, she would be more than ready for them because she had something to fight for again. Something that she'll guard and cherish…and love.

Fresh from the bonding with this outpouring of thoughts and feelings being traded by both parties, it made it difficult to know who that belonged to. When the emotion did come to her though, Blake knew that it was one she agreed with as love was the only thing she could feel for someone who has become so important to her.

The tilting of her head told her that, no matter who it originally came from, it was mutual as her lips became lined with Yang's. The initial touch was slow and hesitant, the miniscule contact asking if more was what they wanted. The second was deeper, more passionate, and carried with it the answer that resonated from the both of them: yes.

The tears continued falling but Yang was there to wipe at them to prove that everything that Blake was experiencing was real. Yang was here and she was taking away her tears as she did her pain. Yes, Yang loved her and as her hands moved up and stroked those feline ears, it was to prove that she loved everything about her.

It was another thing originally unknown to Blake so all she could do was let those blossoms fill her nose while a different kind of sweetness danced across her lips as Yang kissed her. Deciding that it was something else that was wonderful and what she wanted, Blake waited until they broke away and regained a suitable amount of air before her arms curled around Yang's neck to bring her into a second kiss, this one transmitting her sincerest thanks for letting her experience something so beautiful. The unraveled bow that the faunus retained slipped from her fingers, the ribbon floating off the edge of the cliff so that her freed digits could loop strands of flaming gold around them without fear.

The third kiss was an equivalent exchange of joy and happiness: Blake for being saved, Yang for having been able to save her.

They stayed at that cliff long enough to appreciate another union of light and dark that took place at the horizon; when the sun descended halfway and the two elements played along the surface and sky of Remnant in gorgeous harmony. They were already walking back home before the darkness took over completely, signaling another day's end.

When the light returned, a new day would begin. A new day to mark the beginning of a new home, a new family, and a new dream.

Upon Blake squeezing Yang's hand with their fatefully-chosen relic resting between them, it was with a promise that she wasn't going to let this one go.

---

"You'll be lifted up~
And you'll be there~"

Weiss let her voice slowly diminish into silence, her mental instruments doing the same. Opening her eyes, she regarded her audience.

The single, steady breathing proved to be more satisfying than any applause or cheers that would be initiated by thousands more. The heiress didn't know when and didn't really care but Ruby had drifted off to sleep, head lolled to one side and eyes closed. For a while, all Weiss did was stand where she was, quietly admiring her partner.

With the low neckline of her pajama top, Weiss could see a portion of the scar that stuck out from underneath. It was that scar that the heiress lingered on and, leaning down, she pulled the blanket back up over Ruby to hide it before she resumed staring at the peaceful expression on her face.

Weiss then held a hand to her own chest, right over where she can feel just how peaceful her leader was and that it was her who was responsible for it. Within a heart that had once been barren and frozen, a little rose had managed to brave through such arctic conditions to break through the ice and last long enough for it all to melt, giving way to fertile ground that'll allow that little flower to bloom and stand tall so long as it was properly cared for.

Though having not felt tired a moment ago, that peace became infectious enough that Weiss left Ruby's side to make a wardrobe change of her own, slipping off her jacket and dress before trading it for her nightgown. It was when she was hanging up her bolero on its own little hanger in the closet that Weiss stopped and stared at the bare back.

Who was Weiss? There was a daunting selection of who Weiss could be, many of which she had been pressured into due to the expectations of others with a few she had wrongly assumed she had to be.

There was only one Weiss she wanted to be though: Ruby's partner and the second of Team RWBY. She was more than fine with that. After all, if that dolt of a leader wanted to go around saving everyone then there had to be someone there to watch her back.

Closing the closet door, Weiss crossed the room to head to her chosen bunk, pausing to make another inspection; this one of the small space of the dorm and the four beds that were arranged within it. Much like how she viewed Ruby's descent into dreamland, Weiss found something so much smaller and simpler to be more satisfying than all the extravagant things that have been given to her beforehand.

Moving on, the heiress gripped Ruby's bunk, a little unnerved by the subtle swinging that her touch caused but, after using her bed as a stand, Weiss moved the improvised curtains to allow her to climb up without difficulties. Instead of doing that, Weiss found herself looking back down to her sleeping leader.

…There would be more opportunities to try the top bunk.

It was that reasoning and the one that played on her best teammate duties to be at her partner's side, especially during the early days of her recovery, in case she needed something that had Weiss dropping back down and slipping into bed next to Ruby.

She devoted a bit more time to once again stare at the most important thing that had been added to her life and confirming that she was still here with the rise and fall of her chest and the audible breath that passed through her lips. So involved in it that Weiss didn't immediately realize that Ruby's face was turning towards her and that was because her whole body was doing so. Before she could do anything, her partner had rolled on top of her, arms loosely splayed around her head with face tucked near the crook of her neck.

She was still sleeping yet Weiss was convinced that this was just another clever plot being conducted by her tricky leader. What she muttered next didn't help.

"Soft, Mr. Woofles…"

Any embarrassment was replaced with irritation as Weiss's scarred brow twitched and she glared at Ruby's dozing visage. It didn't last long as the heiress's glare softened and she rested her head back against the pillow. Arms came around the younger girl in a loose embrace.

This is my dolt, she thought, vexed.

After brushing a finger through Ruby's still-drying hair that smelled like her namesake, Weiss decided that she wouldn't have it any other way.

It was Ruby's turn to sing her to sleep, the breath at Weiss's ear creating a growing haze that came over her mind while lids became heavy, sliding down when they became too heavy.

Even after losing consciousness, the music didn't end. With the dual breaths supplemented by the beating of two hearts against each other, a little duet was performed reserved only for them. It would go on hours into the night and, as long as they willed it, years into their lives.

---

The long handle felt heavy against her bare shoulder, the aged wood bordering on uncomfortable against her skin. She retained the sign anyway as she shuffled along, worn sneakers being at the center of her lowered vision.

All she saw was the path that she continued to travel and had been doing so for what felt like miles. She didn't know what was ahead even if all it would take would be a miniscule raise of her chin to see where she was going. The only thing she could do was keep walking…keep searching…

There was a noise off to her left. Across the street was an open park with a playground in use if the playful cries and cheers were anything to go by.

Except she was deaf to them. The ears on top of her head didn't even twitch to take in the noise, instead hanging low and immovable.

When she did stop, it was when she found her feet stepping into a patch of shadow that came out of nowhere as the sidewalk had been brightly lit by the overhanging sun 'till now. Amber eyes blinked curiously and she turned her head to follow this point of darkness to the source.

An alley lay open to her on her right; long and seemingly endless with how far it stretched. Or that could be because of how black the interior was as her night vision couldn't even pierce it. It was a path that she couldn't see the end of and her first instinct was to move on as, even if she couldn't see the destination of her own, venturing down that one prodded at her caution of being lost with how dark it was in there despite appearing so straight and narrow.

"Wait…"

The voice seemed to speak into her mind but her ears twitched and pivoted as if they could hear it from right within the alley.

"This way…"

It was smooth and slippery, easily worming its way through that negligible thought of caution to better present itself and its offer.

"You are always ignored."

It was growing louder, more confident, now that it had her attention. Ears remained directed and her gaze didn't even so much as shift away from the lightless interior.

"You remain alone and unwanted. What you desire shall never be found out there."

It was almost hypnotic but she could barely distinguish a different kind of sensation. Similar to the voice, something smooth and slippery was winding its way around her ankles, leisurely spiraling up her legs.

"You ask what you should rightfully have already. I can help you take what should be yours."

A flicker of worry came to her at the same time the shadowy tendrils came to her waist, looping once around her stomach.

"No one will hear you. No one will come to your aid."

Whatever interest evaporated as the voice no longer sounded appealing as it grew more ominous. More threatening. The flicker of worry evolved into panic.

"There is nothing for you to do…"

She tried to struggle but couldn't, her legs stuck to the sidewalk. An attempt at her arms was restrained once the tendrils came around her shoulders, cutting off any impulse from being sent to the rest of the limbs. She tried to scream but the only one she could make was internal as darkness rose over her mouth and, soon, her eyes.

"…But step forward."

The only other sign of her fright was her ears, the furry appendages twitching and waving as if trying to signal for help. The darkness soon put an end to that last bit of resistance, shrouding and hiding them from sight.

"Step. Forward."

First an offer, then a threat, and now a demand. It was one that she could not disobey no matter how much she fought. She cried and hollered soundlessly in her mind that had become trapped in a body that was doing as ordered. That fear became overwhelming as she felt herself move forward but couldn't see what was ahead of her.

The voice suddenly let out a hiss and then she could see again. The darkness removed itself from her, being driven back into its den by the golden radiance that was originating from behind her. A hand gripped her wrist, warm and soft, and it tugged with a gentleness that she couldn't help but turn and follow, her sign being left behind as she was led across the street.

She barely had time to take note of the pair of lilacs surrounded by gold before light filled her vision while laughter did the same to her ears.