Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Weiss wondered if they were called sounders because of how much noise a large group of Boarbatusks could make. No matter how many feet were currently between the ground and her chosen vantage point, Weiss could clearly hear the grunts, snorts, and occasional squeals of the Grimm that she could see and those that she couldn't.

The ones she could see were going through the traces of humanity that had been left behind. One juvenile that was only beginning to form its armor plating was sniffing at a leaning drill experimentally before giving it a tap with its head. The contact forced the large tool to tip over and impact on the ground, the noise of which caused the juvenile to tense and lower its head to better present its half-grown tusks. No matter how challenging the grunt it directed at it was, the drill refused to get up and fight. Eventually the Boarbatusk understood that there was no threat and, after nudging the tool once more, moved on.

"I-I-Intruder."

Weiss shifted her position on the wooden beam enough to find the source of the noise that clearly did not belong to a Boarbatusk. Its red activation lights blinking weakly, the security android – an old AK-130 model – was lying on its back. Its right arm twitched and sparked, the robotic fingers attempting to arm its guns but not quite succeeding.

Considering the damage it took, Weiss was surprised that it was still online. She could only assume that no matter how many times its torso had been gored by tusks or trampled, the Boarbatusks failed to hit its power supply. The former heiress found it difficult to examine the injuries at its lower half because it was missing entirely; the legs having been sheared off and dragged away to who knows where.

"I-I-Intruder," the android spoke again, its speaker muffled due to its head being locked in the jaws of another juvenile. "I-I-Identify. Identify. I-Intruder."

Its fingers twitched and whirled, the tips finally sliding back to reveal the gun barrels that the android now attempted to point towards its attacker. Unfortunately for it, a second Boarbatusk had been attracted to the noise and when the robot tried to bring its guns to bear the creature clamped down onto the twitching limb with its mouth. With the two Boarbatusks having secured a point, they pulled in opposite directions.

"Intruder. Identify. Intruder. Identify. Idenfity. I-I-I-I-I-I-I-"

With a squeal of twisting metal the Boarbatusk wrenched off its head. The red activation lights flickered one last time before dying completely. Still, even with the android's final destruction, the Grimm devoted a bit more time to toy with it. Its prize clamped securely within its mouth, the Boarbatusk bit down with its powerful jaws while violently shaking its head, slowly crushing the android's decapitated head that had been reduced to its chew toy.

The other Boarbatusk continued tugging on the machine's arm. Without the help of its sibling to anchor it down, the Grimm only succeeded in dragging the torso along the ground with it.

Weiss didn't know if the android had been forced to be left behind due to the suddenness of the evacuation or if its controllers actually thought it could fight against the Grimm. The young woman would have to shake her head if it was indeed the latter. No matter how much technology improved, no matter how combat effective a machine may become, it was still a machine. Though thought up by human minds and forged with human hands, the 130 lacked the one thing that humans possessed: an Aura.

In that regard it was just as soulless as the Grimm. No matter how much Dust you used to power it, if it lacked the light needed to combat the darkness that was the Grimm then it was inefficient. Only when humanity's soul was combined with Nature's Wrath could a powerful weapon be forged.

Weiss Schnee was such a weapon: a Huntress who was about to bring the light against the darkness. She was just waiting for the signal.

There came a crash down below. What had to be the largest of the male Boarbatusks – its armor plates and tusks fully grown – had decided to satisfy its own curiosity by breaking down a door. Having balanced on its hind legs, the Grimm had brought its weight and power to bear when its forelegs smashed into the door's surface. It didn't take much as the door soon collapsed and the Boarbatusk wandered in.

Weiss assumed that the one-story building held the main offices for the supervisors of the construction crew mostly due to how it was the only one in the area that can be considered a building. The rest of this small town was like the eight-story – an apartment building, she assumed - that she was currently standing on; skeletons with beams bolted into place but very little else in terms of walls or doors. The workers hadn't gotten very far before the enormous Grimm presence had them fleeing.

To be fair, the former heiress knew that they hadn't really done anything wrong. They followed the correct precautions: hire a team of Hunters to clear out the area, be mindful of the migration patterns of the local Grimm that have been previously recorded, and stay clear of any of the popular nesting areas that were identified. Once the settlement had been completed and proper fortifications had been built, Mistral would find itself in possession of another swathe of territory that had been liberated from the Grimm to expand its borders. The land would then be converted to provide housing and food to constantly-growing human and faunus populations.

Maybe it was because it's been so long since such a trespassing and seizure of Grimm territory had been done that they weren't prepared for the unexpected rise in Boarbatusks. Despite being well past their migration season, the hastily-established borders found themselves being overrun by multiple groups of swine.

Maybe that was the problem: they had treated the Grimm like any other creature that can be predicted and avoided. Humans have been allowed to live for so long within the protected walls of their kingdoms that they've forgotten that the Grimm were not ordinary animals. No matter how far humans have come along, it cannot be forgotten that the Grimm shall always be their eternal enemy and the enemy reacted to an invasion of their territories as any other would.

Nothing was more evident to Weiss then the sounder itself. Normally such a group averaged twenty when it came to their numbers. This one easily doubled that.

They sent their young and their old, Weiss thought as she continued to watch, ice blue eyes monitoring the maturing Boarbatusks meander about from within the shadows of her hood. All possessing that instinctive purpose to return mankind to dust.

She was one of the chosen few to make sure that that would never happen. It had been a long and arduous journey full of trials that tested not only her body but her mind yet here she was.

A gentle breeze had the white material of her half-cloak dancing around her form. With the cloth lifted one could see the sheathed rapier at her side, the revolving cylinder decorated with cartridges full of multi-colored Dust such as red, blue, white, and yellow. Her left hand was at the hilt, her fingers wrapped loosely around it.

There came a glint from the finger that was to the left of her middle. Catching it at the corner of her eye, Weiss let go of her Myrtenaster in order to bring the hand into view where she could better examine the golden band of metal that was around her ring finger.

Admiring the golden surface as she smiled fondly, Weiss was once again reminded of her trials. Trials of love, loss…sacrifice. The road to becoming a Huntress had its perils and Weiss had been spared from none of them. The question would come up from time-to-time – whether brought up by herself or someone else – if she regretted her choices. Was she happy with a life that had become as treacherous as it was when the alternative could've been so much different?

It was a stupid question and she wondered why she still spent even a millisecond of her time pondering over it. She had regrets – who didn't? – over some of the consequences that had been the result of her choices. Had she done a few things differently, she could've easily spared herself from pain.

But did she regret the results? No. Not even for a moment.

There suddenly came a distant yet audible crack of gunfire. A single shot that echoed throughout the expanse of the half-completed town. Both Weiss and the Boarbatusks turned towards the noise. From down below there came a renewed chorus of curious snorts and grunts.

Up above, the Huntress's smile transformed into a thin line as she focused back on the job. That was the signal. Returning her hand to her weapon, Weiss made a small hop from her perch to empty air. Gravity immediately took over, grabbing and pulling her down. In contrast to the gentle dance it performed in the breeze, the ends of her cloak were now whipping around her head as she fell. Not even a second would pass before she was dropping down a floor, then a second, then a third.

Yet Weiss still had enough time to draw Myrtenaster, her left hand moving up and across to hold the hilt to the right side of her face so that she was practically looking down the length of the blade like one would peer down a gun sight. Her right hand also came up, tapping against the cylinder of her weapon as she drew upon the power of the Dust contained within before directing it down, two fingers pointing towards her feet while making a sweeping motion.

The power of Nature's Wrath came together beneath her in the form of a blue glyph that acted as a platform for the former heiress. Her descent stopped as soon as her feet touched it, her knees bending but that wasn't all. Before her cloak could settle back around her body, the glyph tilted down.

Weiss didn't so much as glance away from the pointed tip of her rapier. When the glyph tilted she watched as it became aligned with a Boarbatusk. Then, with the power of her muscles and Dust, Weiss struck when her bent legs and glyph acted as a spring to propel her towards her unsuspecting prey.

The slight movement of the Grimm's head might've been a sign of it catching on to the presence of the descending Huntress – whether hearing the flapping of her clothes or something else – but by then it was far too late. With her positioned eye, Weiss got a clear view of how the tip of her weapon pierced into the juvenile's hide where its still-growing armor failed to cover it before going in deep.

The Boarbatusk squealed in both surprise and anguish as the length of sharpened steel drove in hilt-deep. Its legs collapsed, its strength and life vanishing as it fell onto its belly. After Weiss twisted her blade the squeal stopped.

Three of its siblings whirled around to look upon the human who stood up to her full height while their slain brethren began to dissolve, returning back to the darkness that bred it. Weiss pulled Myrtenaster from its deteriorating body to hold it at her side, the tip now pointing towards the ground.

The sight of their sworn enemy overrode any feelings of fear or sorrow – if the Grimm could even feel such a thing – at the passing of the lone Boarbatusk. They started to snort and grunt menacingly, bearing their tusks and fangs while their feet stomped upon the ground in challenge.

The corner of her lip quirking up to form a grin, Weiss quickly brought her right arm up to thrust two fingers towards her foes.

Three glyphs – one for each – formed beneath the stomping feet of the Boarbatusks. The creatures barely had time to notice them before Weiss rolled her wrist so that those same fingers could point skyward.

Those challenging snorts and grunts turned into panicked squeals as the Grimm were launched into the air.

They wouldn't come back down alive. To any onlooker, they would see the Huntress launch herself up to the spinning and flailing Grimm, transforming into a white blur that sped past one of them. Yet another of those blue, glowing glyphs would appear in the air and Weiss would rebound off of it to fly past a second Boarbatusk. With each pass came a stroke from the rapier which ripped open their hides.

After striking the third, Weiss allowed herself to return to the ground, her boots sliding along the dirt until she came to a halt. Behind her dropped the three Boarbatusks; dead with black smoke trailing from their still bodies as they deteriorated.

The matured male that Weiss witnessed crashing into the offices earlier now rushed out of the building to see what was going on. By then the corpses had vanished completely leaving only the Huntress who turned to face her next challenger. The red, soulless eyes of the beast glared at her.

Unlike the juveniles, the male had grown enough to not only develop its tusks and armor but also learn a trick or two. It decided to use the signature move of its kind. Leaping into the air, the Boaratusk curled up on itself, forming into a ball before returning to the ground. When it did it had completely transformed into a spinning, armored weapon that shot towards Weiss.

The white-haired Huntress remained steady and brought up her rapier in an on guard position with head up, shoulders back, and right foot forward. Her thumb cocked back the hammer located behind one of the four prongs. While the Boarbatusk rushed towards her, intent on crushing the heiress beneath its bulk, the chamber of her weapon spun. When it stopped, the red Dust cartridge was glowing brightly. Upon stabbing towards the rolling Boarbatusk, the red glow had stretched to encompass the entire blade.

Myrtenaster didn't stab through the armor but with its Dust-enhanced power it didn't matter when Weiss's palm squeezed the trigger at the hilt. As soon as the tip met the Boarbatusk, the gathered energies exploded outwards with a force that not only stopped the charging monster but sent it flying backwards. It impacted into the wall of the same building it had come from, causing cracks to form upon its surface but the barrier held. The Boarbatusk flopped onto its back, dazed.

Weiss used the chance to rush forward and pierce the creature's unarmored belly. Like the others before it, the Boarbatusk squealed and twitched briefly only to become still as its life was extinguished.

Silence took over until Weiss had to reengage. It had taken a minute to slay five Boarbatusks but the previous scouting had hinted to such a number only being as little as a tenth of the entire group. And not all of them would be the weak juveniles that she had so easily killed; a few would be bigger…more difficult.

The Huntress nonetheless took advantage of this brief reprieve. Taking a step back, Weiss let her tight muscles relax, her shoulders lowering. After a slow, steadying breath she slid Myrtenaster back to its place at her belt.

The release of the Dust energies that she had gathered into her weapon for the previous attack had knocked back her hood to reveal her long, snow-white hair. Weiss had adopted a style that differed from how it used to be whereas once the ponytail had been high and off to side it was now low and centered. Holding it in place was no longer the tiara but a silky red ribbon, the ends mixing with her long white strands.

The rest of her attire showed just how far she had fallen from her lofty position. Instead of the lavish dresses and expensive jacket, beneath her cloak was a simpler blouse that was light blue. Her combat skirt possessed the same color but was its own separate article that covered her thighs yet lacked the flare that her previous one did. Around her waist was a belt hanging from which was her Myrtenaster and a gray pouch that contained spare vials of Dust for it. Although her mid-calf boots were of the same style as her previous ones, they were colored to match her blouse and skirt.

Gunfire continued to echo elsewhere to let Weiss know that the battle continued to rage despite her own little break. She was not alone in this task and while her clothing may have changed her sense of commitment had not. Taking a deep breath and reminding herself of the stakes that were involved, Weiss began to walk through this incomplete settlement, looking and listening for the next group to deal with.

As a growing habit she ran a hand beneath her ponytail to fully free it from the cloth prison that had been her hood so that it may better flow down her back. In doing so her fingers brushed the silk of the ribbon. It was habit still that had Weiss twirling one of the red ends around her fingers in order to bring it in front of her face.

Ruby…

She brushed it along the flesh of her left cheek. The motion would appear like Weiss was brushing an invisible tear from her face when, really, she was tracing one last addition to her person. Trailing down her left eyes was that ever-present scar.

Her first scar. The second was located just beneath her left eye, crossing over the lower half of the first to form a crooked X.

Weiss stopped. While the memories that the ribbon and the scar tended to provoke could be to blame, that was not the case. She looked over her shoulder.

The two could not possibly be responsible for the ground trembling beneath her feet. Oh no, that was the Boarbatusk that now charged towards her. A Boarbatusk that easily dwarfed the others that she had dispatched.

It was one of the fully-grown females that tended to shepherd these groups. It did not possess the vicious tusks that a male sported but it didn't need to. Not when it had more armor to make it difficult for even the thin blade of Myrtenaster to slip through. If the ground that only intensified its shaking was any indication as it drew closer, the female possessed nearly twice the bulk of a male. With such a mouth that opened wide to reveal its enormous fangs, such a Boarbatusk could easily bite the former heiress in half.

Releasing the ribbon, Weiss once again drew her weapon.

Soon, she assured herself.

She met the Boarbatusk head-on.

The first time Weiss found herself reevaluting her relationship with Ruby had to have been at the beginning of their third year at Beacon. At that point, she was wondering if she could keep it professional anymore for clearly the most difficult obstacle to get over was how grown-up she had become.

Gone was the child who she once believed had managed to luck her way into Beacon. Stepping into the courtyard, fresh from summer break, the heiress noted the familiar flapping sound of a red cloak within the autumn breeze. A turn of her head had her bringing the item into view to see it draped over a girl with matching red streaks in her dark hair.

As if detecting her stare, Ruby turned around to face Weiss.

At seeing the wide, bright smile on her partner's face, Weiss had been in mid-sigh as she could only imagine what shenanigans Ruby would drag her into this time. They would be exhausting, aggravating, drive her to the brink of insanity…but she would secretly enjoy them all the while. Her summer had been so dull with the severe lack of Ruby Rose.

That sigh, along with her lungs, froze when Weiss took note of the rest of her partner.

The most notable item was the red ribbon that was tied around Ruby's hair. For as long as Weiss had known Ruby, the scythe-wielder tended to have the hairs at the right side of her face longer than those at her left. During the summer she must've let them grow longer, the bundle of hair dropping far past her chin until it reached her breast. It had been tied into a braid and the ribbon bound it all together.

Weiss wouldn't discover the real reason for Ruby's design choice until later so linking the braid to her own off-centered ponytail had seemed ridiculous at the time.

Like Weiss, Ruby didn't seem to have any desire to change her usual getup during her summer break. Nonetheless, the clothing accentuated many of the certain…aspects that her team leader had gained instead. The corset, for one, was now hugging more defined curves while her stockings were worn tight against longer legs. Her skirt made it difficult to see the widening of her hips.

This was not to say that Ruby had grown overly curvaceous as her body had developed in ways more appropriate to her enormous strength. Similar to Pyrrha Nikos, there was definitely a layer of muscle that toned her limbs such as those legs; no doubt a result of always wielding that gigantic sniper scythe of hers and dragging giant Nevermores up cliffs. In no way can she ever be considered as thin or scrawny anymore.

There came a blow that landed solidly upon the heiress's pride when she realized that this eighteen-year-old Ruby, who had managed to match her in height even at fifteen, had to be at least half a head taller than her now. Not only that…

Weiss's gaze moved up from those curves to an area beneath her partner's chin. She hid a wince.

She's gotten bigger elsewhere too, she thought with a bit of envy. Ruby hadn't reached the measurements of her older sister but the image-conscious Weiss was still intimidated by what she saw.

"Eyes up here, Weiss."

Startled ice blue eyes shot up to meet twinkling silver ones. Ruby's smile turned playful.

Oh yes, how Ruby changed.

It took Weiss a couple weeks to know when Ruby was about to attack. A sudden displacement of air and the scent of roses followed by the sound of the settling cloth of that red cloak was a sure sign to let her know that Ruby had arrived. Of course, there was a clear difference between knowing when Ruby was coming and doing anything about it considering that ridiculous speed of hers.

Really by the time Weiss realized that her partner had arrived it was too late to do anything.

"Weiss!"

At first it was only a cheerful greeting that would follow Ruby's appearance. Before she had gotten used to it that was usually enough for Weiss to jump in place, yelping in surprise. Surprise would soon give way to irritation and Weiss would whirl around to face her grinning partner to unleash a few choice words about sneaking up on her like that.

No matter how angry the words got it did nothing to stop Ruby from continuing to do it. After a while, Weiss had decided to just deal with it. That ended up being a mistake for Ruby had translated it as permission to go further.

Now when Ruby appeared, chirping the heiress's name, the young woman would grasp a part of the heiress. This time it was her arm. Wrapping it within her own two, Ruby pulled the limb against her chest while her head leaned close to Weiss.

That was something that the snow-haired woman was having a much harder time dealing with. Whether on purpose or not (Who was she kidding? It was definitely on purpose), Weiss's arm would be drawn in between Ruby's more developed breasts, putting the heiress off guard at the two points of softness that enveloped her arm. That combined with the noticeably toned biceps that gently held her arm yet hinted to Ruby's true strength made Weiss, for the first time, feel a bit intimidated by the younger woman.

The feeling didn't get any better when, upon turning her head to face Ruby, Weiss found her nose nearly touching her partner's as she stared into those mischievous eyes. The hairs of Ruby's braid and an end of that red, silky ribbon brushed against her bare collarbone with their combined movements. Even with her head lowered, Ruby could meet her eye-to-eye; further evidence as to how much bigger Ruby had become in every way possible.

The closeness flustered the heiress. Her cheeks warming, Weiss turned her head away from her partner in an attempt to hide how awkward Ruby was making her.

"W-what do you want Ruby?" Weiss cursed at how she stammered out that first word. So much for that plan. Nonetheless, she refused to turn her head back.

"I was wondering where you were going!" Ruby replied, smiling from ear-to-ear not that the heiress would notice with her turned head. "It's lunch time but you're going the wrong way! The cafeteria's the other way!"

Weiss felt her brow twitching while she attempted to cool her cheeks through sheer will. "I'm very well aware of that, Ruby. I'm heading to our dorm. Professor Oobleck has offered some extra credit work and I'm going to get a head start on it. I have a small lunch packed for the occasion so-"

"You're going to eat alone?" Ruby's eyes went wide at that.

"It'll be much easier for me to concentrate if I'm al-woah!" Weiss was interrupted when Ruby pulled on her arm.

"Eating alone is bad for the digestion," Ruby spoke, practically dragging the heiress behind her in the direction of their dorm. "I'll come with you!"

"Ruby, wait! It's fine! I don't mind! Really!" Yet no matter how much Weiss protested or how much she tugged her arm in an attempt to free it, all she could do was stumble along after Ruby.

Okay, so Weiss would have to amend her previous statement: Ruby may've grown up but that child she remembered meeting during their initiation was still there. That overly-happy and headstrong dolt who would always leave her exasperated at the end of the day.

This new, older Ruby still left her exasperated but for slightly different reasons. She may still maintain a bit of that childish nature but Weiss had to admit that she matured in ways other than what could be found on her body. For example, when the two did return to their dorm and Weiss had begun working on her extra credit work, Ruby had remained unusually silent and was respecting her partner's privacy.

In fact, when Weiss would glance over, she would see Ruby's nose buried in her own textbook. That once teenaged girl who couldn't sit in one spot or keep constant attention to her studies was lying upon her stomach on the carpet of their dorm, her gaze staring intently at the printed words on the pages. Next to her was a package of cookies that she would occasionally reach out to pluck a chocolate chip morsel from to munch on. Not once did her eyes stray from her book.

The only time that Ruby did look away was to catch Weiss staring at her. As if able to sense when the eyes of the heiress would be on her, the scythe-wielder would turn her head in time to catch Weiss's stare with one of her own. The result would be Weiss jerking her head back around to her own book, cheeks aflame. When she thought it safe to take another look she would find that Ruby had also returned to her book with the addition of a smile on her face.

Weiss would later suspect – and rightly so – that Ruby had decided to lay on the floor instead of hiding out of sight in her top bunk for this very reason.

The heiress was completely baffled by how one summer had changed the partner she once knew so well. Seeking an explanation, she turned to the only person who could possibly give her one. She would soon regret it.

"Well she was fifteen-years-old when you first met her," Yang explained, amused by the perplexed Weiss. "Three years leaves a lot of room for more growth."

"How come I'm only noticing this now?" Weiss questioned. "This kind of growth is supposed to be gradual! How can she become the way she is in just one summer?"

Yang shrugged. "A lot of milk. Seriously though, it's not like it occurred all at once. She was growing at sixteen and seventeen; you just hadn't noticed. The rest of it just happened to come in one last growth spurt right when she was turning eighteen."

Weiss had paused at that, taking a moment to think back to the last two years. Attempting to visualize her team leader as she had been, the heiress thought she could make out slight discrepancies with fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen-year-old Ruby. An extra inch in height maybe, a subtle thickening at her limbs perhaps, but nothing that came close to the beaut- specimen that was the current, eighteen-year-old Ruby.

Choosing a different route, Weiss began again with, "That doesn't explain her attitude! She's always around me now! Every time I turn a corner she's there! I certainly don't remember her ever being this…" she paused to try to find the right word before ending with, "…clingy." Unconsciously she rubbed at her arm, remembering the touches of certain features of Ruby's growth that had encased it. "More so than usual."

If anything, that only got Yang to grin knowingly. The sight caused Weiss to frown. Just what, exactly, was the blonde all knowing about?

"She's just being affectionate. She hasn't seen her dear partner all summer."

Weiss felt her cheeks start to burn. This was becoming a regular thing this year it seemed. "She's suffocating me! How am I supposed to do anything with her around me?"

The grin widened. "Methinks that the Ice Princess is having trouble keeping her eyes off of my not-so-little sis."

The lump that came from Weiss hammering her fist on top of Yang's head took a couple days to fully heal.

Contrary to her complaints, Ruby hadn't really been doing anything to force Weiss to stray from her studies. In fact, when compared to their previous years, she found it easier to complete her own schoolwork this year. Teen Ruby and her attention-wandering tended to be a chore herself which forced Weiss, in order to fulfill her promise to be the beast teammate, to devote some of her time to help Ruby make up for her slackening grades.

Adult Ruby, on the other hand, did not have that problem if that incident in their dorm room was an indication. If anything it was Ruby who would drag Weiss to the library or their next class once she learned that was the heiress's next destination. While Weiss knew that it was just another excuse for her team leader to get all touchy-feely, she couldn't deny that when they did get to such a destination Ruby would devote herself to her work.

This actually led to a two-woman study session that benefited both participants. Whereas Weiss would have normally been the one quizzing Ruby and telling her to keep studying when her answers were inadequate, now the two partners were quizzing each other with answers and questions both being tossed between them. It was a refreshing and worthwhile experience if the heiress had to admit it.

However, it was during the weekends where Weiss's earlier complaints about Ruby smothering her became valid. With her team leader's increased motivation when it came to school, Weiss had dreamed of using what was usually a break from school to get even further along with their classes. This, unfortunately, was where Ruby apparently drew the line.

When the weekend came around they didn't even remain in Beacon; it was off to the city instead. Again Weiss was hardly allowed to have any say in the matter. As soon as she was awake, showered, and dressed, it was Ruby who would direct Weiss as to where to go.

Now the clothing stores she didn't mind, especially as Ruby had intricate knowledge as to where to locate ones that had the widest selection of combat skirts what with her having been born and raised in Vale. Weapon and Dust shops were equally worthwhile if only for the heiress to see the latest uses of humanity's most vital resource that her family mined. It was the movie theaters, restaurants, and other places of such worthless nature that she had a problem with.

They were time wasters. With the next Vytal Festival being months away, the heiress had no idea as to why Ruby would drag her away from academic perfection to spend so much time in the city.

"I don't see the point," Weiss would verbally say to Ruby in an attempt to get her partner to see sense.

It was during one of their city lunches that she tried. The two of them were seated in a booth next to a window that offered a clear view of the crowds and towering buildings that came with city life. Weiss had already finished her own meal which consisted of a simple, healthy salad and her empty plate had already been collected by their waiter. Ruby had chosen a grotesque lunch that consisted of a sandwich of ground beef cooked well done with a side of greasy, salty, deep-fried potatoes that had been cut into wedges.

To Weiss's disbelief, her team leader hadn't been satisfied and decided to go for dessert. Spoon in hand, Ruby was eating from a bowl filled with a frozen mix of milk and cream complete with strawberries piled all over it.

"Beacon supplies its students with the adequate foods to provide optimal nutrition," Weiss argued while Ruby stuck a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. "I don't see why we need to go to the city for meals, especially if you insist on eating something so unbelievably unhealthy. Have you even seen the nutrition fact sheets? They're required to provide them for a reason you know."

During her argument Ruby had spooned up another bit of ice cream but only raised it halfway to address the heiress. Loose strawberries slipped from the spoon and fell back into the bowl as she focused on Weiss. "It gets boring to eat the same old thing at Beacon. Don't you want to treat yourself every once in a while?"

Weiss was unsure what Ruby meant by 'treating yourself' but assumed that it involved that artery-clogger that she had witnessed her eat. If that was the case then, no, she didn't want to do that. Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose before she tried again. "Do you even know the amount of calories you just consu-mmf!"

She was silenced by a spoon laded with strawberry ice cream that Ruby slipped into her mouth.

Having declared Yang to be a lost cause, Weiss tried to find a sympathetic ear in the form of their faunus teammate. The feelings that she had been suppressing required an outlet and no way was she going to expose them to the blonde. The nature of the feelings themselves made it strictly impossible.

Amber eyes peeking over the top of her latest novel, Blake questioned, "And what do you think about all of this?"

"That's the thing," Weiss replied. "I shouldn't be."

Feeling inexplicitly torn, the snow-haired woman was pacing back and forth at the foot of Blake's bunk. With arms crossed over her chest, head bowed, and jaw clenched, Weiss was deep in thought over this conflict that she's found herself in the middle of.

This seemed really important. Understanding it as such, Blake set her novel to the side before sitting up on her bed and crossing her legs. Her eyes slowly tracked the pacing Weiss while her cat ears did the same on top of her head.

"My family is very traditional," Weiss started explaining, turning on her heel to cross in front of the bunk again. "And very strict. Yet those two things are what have allowed us to survive and remain as prosperous as we have been since the time of my grandfather." She sighed, eyes closing briefly. "Not that we had a choice."

Blake remained silent. This was not about the war between White Fang and the Schnee Dust Company. It was a factor but it was not the main point. The point was the well-being of two precious friends who fate may very well tear apart due to how one of them had been born.

Blake could understand that very well.

"We expect perfection because that's the only thing we can allow ourselves to have. Perfection leads to prosperity and prosperity means survival. It means status, fame…strength. Everything a Schnee must do, everything a Schnee does, is to better themselves and the family. My time at Beacon was only allowed because what I can learn here shall accomplish that. When it ends…"

Here the heiress stopped, one hand coming unbidden to her ponytail. She looped a lock of long white hair several times around her fingers before tugging on them. She bit her lip.

Seeing Weiss as stuck as she was, Blake gently asked, "What do you feel?"

"Pressure," Weiss replied, giving her hair another tug. "Fear of failure, to become a failure, to let my family's prosperity end here after all the pain and hard work that they've been forced to go through to come this far. It is pain that I have felt since my childhood."

Blake nodded solemnly even if Weiss couldn't see the movement with her gaze elsewhere. It was not unlike her own burdens. To be born a faunus was to be born to a life of pain and pressure that the masses would bring down upon you for being different. In general, what Weiss felt and what Blake had felt were not so different from one another.

The only difference here was that Blake had recognized and found her bit of solace that allowed her to overcome it. It was just a matter of Weiss needing to do the same. She needed to recognize what she had inadvertently found.

The faunus tried to point the heiress in the right direction. "And when you're with Ruby…?"

A slow, weary sigh. Untangling her fingers from her hair, Weiss let her arm and chin drop. "The pain…the pressure…it's still there. In some ways, when I think about Ruby, it just becomes more complicated. Stressful."

Her chin slowly rose. "But when I am with her I find myself forgetting about everything. I find my burdens lifted and in their place is a feeling of…" she chewed thoughtfully on her lip. "…a lightness. With her I no longer feel afraid of what may come. With her I feel like everything is somehow going to work out for the best." She scoffed at her own words.

Meanwhile, the faunus smiled. "I believe that's what people call happiness, Weiss."

Weiss blinked and turned to her raven-haired teammate. For some reason the smile that she saw was similar to the one that Yang had directed at her previously. That smile that frustrated her to no end because it told her that people knew something that she didn't.

Happiness?

The heiress thought back to those times in the dorm and the library when it was just her and Ruby, the two of them passing questions to each other, each one smiling when their question was answered correctly.

She thought back to those trips to the city that she had thought to be so wasteful. That visit to the arcade where Ruby had held a stuffed, white bunny to Weiss; a gift that her leader had apparently won for her and, if she looked right now, she would see it on top of her properly-made bunk. She had rolled her eyes at being given such a childish toy but for some reason she had never been able to throw it away.

She remembered that one time in the theater when she had cracked a smile and giggled. The reaction had not been because of the movie but due to the laughter of her partner who sat next to her. Weiss had laughed because Ruby was laughing and at the time it seemed to make complete sense to her.

Finally she was reminded of the cold treat that had slipped passed her lips. That sweet, juicy taste of strawberries with the frozen milk and cream melting on her tongue. The dessert that, when the waiter had come by asking if they wanted the check, had Weiss raising a hand and asking for one for herself. She had avoided Ruby's gaze and was distinctly aware of yet another bout of heat at her face.

Linked to each memory was Ruby with that dazzling smile, twinkling eyes, and that braid that waved gently at the side of her face with the slightest movement.

Back in the present, Weiss felt the corners of her mouth quirk slightly upwards. The facial reaction surprised her and, instinctively, she killed it. This so-called happiness felt unbelievably pleasant but the fencer found something wrong with it. Specifically how it had been absent during her childhood. Its current existence put her off.

"This wasn't part of the plan," she revealed to Blake, meeting her teammate's inquisitive look. "The plan had been to attend the top combat school to be trained by the best. I'd get perfect grades, get the strongest team, and all would know the name Schnee that would rival anything that had ever come from Beacon. No one would ever question my integrity as everything I had done here I did on my own. Once I graduate, I would take my position at the head of the company, find a suitor to continue our line, and produce a suitable heir who would replace me."

Blake had quietly listened, her sharp eyesight allowing her to clearly see how Weiss's blue orbs flicked from right to left as if trying to visually spot what had gone wrong. As she mentally went over this convoluted plan that the fencer just revealed to her, a question came to Blake's mind.

"Was this your plan?" she asked. "Or your father's?"

Those searching eyes and the heiress's entire body stilled. The silence that followed was enough of an answer for Blake.

"I didn't hear anything in his plan that considered what you wanted."

Weiss jerked both her head and shoulders up, eyes narrowing towards her black-haired teammate. Other than a twitch of her cat ears, Blake met her glare with an unblinking stare knowing that Weiss wouldn't be able to win this contest and not just because of her faunus heritage.

Finally Weiss blinked. Head and shoulders lowered as did her gaze. "I think that's because he didn't plan on me being happy."

If not for her ears, Blake might've missed the words with how quietly the heiress spoke them.

"Heeey, Weiss!"

The heiress stumbled and nearly fell forward. Fortunately, with half their third year at Beacon long-since past, Weiss was slowly developing a sixth sense when it came to Ruby's sudden appearances. She couldn't fully explain how but whenever she walked through Beacon's halls she would get hit with a premonition.

If the halls were crowded, Weiss would suddenly become acutely aware when the surrounding space opened up enough that Ruby would be able to slip through a body of students with her Semblance and catch her partner. If the halls were empty the heiress would note, even if she was the only one here, that things had become too quiet; a great time for her cloaked leader to appear.

This was one of those times. Having been walking at a steady pace with not a soul around her, Weiss halted with her left foot forward. She began to move her head to look over her shoulder.

One breeze and flap of a cloak later and a weight collided solidly into her back.

No, this has still done nothing to assist the heiress in avoiding such attacks; not with that speed. It did, however, give the fencer an extra half-second of time to prepare. Using that left foot as a brace, Weiss shifted the added weight upon it to keep from falling before straightening.

Not that Ruby had any intention of completely flooring her partner. The no longer thin arms that came around Weiss's neck tightened; not enough to choke her but enough for Ruby to help her in keeping her on her feet if it was needed. It was only when Weiss had straightened into a proper standing position did Ruby's arms become loose.

Weiss could no longer bring herself to summon up the previous irritation at such acts even if she wanted to. Those days seemed to be long gone now.

Now the heiress found herself tilting her head to the right, enough so that she could press her cheek against one of those arms. At her left came the silky sensation of a ribbon while the soft bundle of red and black hair that it was tied around caressed the skin there. Glancing over that way she would find Ruby's chin hovering over her shoulder. Past the hair and its accessory she could see Ruby looking to her.

"Hey, Ruby," Weiss greeted, a smile slowly sprouting.

"What should I do then?" Weiss asked, seeking wisdom. "I don't know where to go from here. Even I didn't expect this."

"The greatest things are the ones you don't plan on," Blake replied.

Their positions had been reversed. Instead of Blake sitting on a bunk it was now Weiss with the faunus kneeling in front of her, patting her knee in a form of morale support. It was the touch and the stuffed bunny that the heiress hugged against her chest that she was seeking to anchor her swirling thoughts.

"Everything that's happened to me since coming here," Blake continued, "I hadn't planned on. I turned my back on the only thing that had ever been constant in my life in exchange for something that I didn't understand but hoped for the chance that it would be better than what others were pushing me towards. Meeting Yang and Ruby, the two of us settling our own grievances, all of it had come from a chance meeting in a forest to something like one sentence spoken without thinking. I have regrets over some of the bumps that have occurred but do I have regrets concerning the results? None whatsoever."

The words that her teammate spoke made sense but Weiss found little direction in them concerning her own problem. It didn't tell her how she should deal with Ruby, how she could possibly handle this fluttering within her chest whenever her leader was near, or how flustered she always got when she was touched and dragged by her.

Even though Blake had just said it, it took the heiress a moment to understand that that was the whole point. "So you're saying to just let it go and see where it leads?" That was easier said than done; she preferred to manage things to keep everything nice and orderly. This whole thing with Ruby was anything but.

Blake smiled gently and gave her another pat on the knee. "That's life for you, Weiss. What you're experiencing right now is just something that can fall right into a person's lap or have them waste their days wishing for. Fighting it will only make it more painful. You will inevitably have to make a choice but do so after you've taken the time to understand your own feelings on the matter. Listen to them and not whatever plan had been laid out for you. The rest will fall into place."

The heiress looked down at the stuffed toy that she held onto. It was just one of the several strange additions of her life brought on by Ruby Rose. Just like the bunk beds, these objects and feelings had once been absent and unknown to Weiss while growing up. She fiddled with one of the fluffy ears.

That's life, huh? she silently questioned.

She decided to see just where it may lead.

"Where you going?"

Ruby's question and warm breath on her face brought Weiss from her musings. The heiress parted her lips, breaking her smile so that she could release a breath of exasperation. "I'm heading to Grimm Biology, Ruby."

"Mind if I walk with you?"

Ruby knew perfectly well that the class was on the other side of the Beacon campus whereas Weiss knew that her leader's Weapon Dynamics class was only one building over from their current location. A trip across campus and back would add another ten minutes to Ruby's time at least.

Weiss's lips came back together to reform her small smile. "If you want."

She did. Letting go of her partner's neck, Ruby pulled away so that she could stand at her side. The absence of physical contact only lasted a few seconds and then Weiss felt the fingers of Ruby's right hand slip between those of her left before squeezing. Weiss found herself responding with a squeeze of her own.

Going by Blake's advice, Weiss didn't even try to look to the future. Doing so would only lead the fencer to a void of uncertainty that gave her no comforts nonetheless an inkling of what she should do. In it were Ruby and the variety of consequences that would result if Weiss maintained her link with her.

Contemplating the future would remind Weiss that Ruby was a commoner who was nothing like the other noble individuals who had been born into such a privileged lifestyle such as Weiss. Nobility should remain noble and the heiress should keep her company to those who could benefit her line. Preferably with an heir of her own and being associated with another profitable business to add to the Schnee dynasty. Ruby couldn't provide either thus her affiliation with a Schnee should be invalidated.

So the snow-haired heiress decided to stick to the present and focus on the moments between her and Ruby. She found it to be much sweeter and easier that way.

Such as when Ruby held her hand. Weiss didn't mind that the rough, calloused fingers were unbefitting of a proper lady. Instead she found herself pondering how they and the strength contained within them could grasp her delicate ones with such a light, caring grip. Or exude the warmth that transferred from flesh-to-flesh.

Their times continued and Weiss chose to enjoy them rather than find reason behind them. The next time they sat together in their dorm or the library to study, Weiss took a second or two from her textbook and note-taking to listen to the turning pages and scribbling of a pen nearby that matched her own movements. Her blue eyes glanced up to meet silver. Instead of turning back to her own work with quick, jerky movements Weiss gave her partner a smile before going back to studying.

Occasionally Weiss would feel Ruby's leg give hers an accidental bump beneath the table or, when passing notes, her hand would brush against hers. She made no reaction although, eventually, Weiss allowed her own leg and hand to 'accidentally' do the same.

During their times in the city, Weiss would tune out the surrounding sounds of the crowds and focus solely on Ruby. No matter how many times they came to Vale's commercial district it never seemed to get old to the scythe-wielder. Her eyes were as bright as her smile as she scanned the city, her mouth moving as she talked about this and that whether it be their latest destination or a story of a Vale as it was during her childhood.

The destinations and the stories were all so childish and ate up hours of time but the heiress didn't find herself caring. They both proved to stir up a surge of envy as Weiss noted how her own childhood seemed to be severely lacking these things that were like everyday life for Ruby.

Their lunches now involved Ruby trying to get Weiss to taste what foods she hadn't tried before like the strawberry ice cream. Though she continued to keep to her salad, Weiss would become aware of one of those wedge-shaped potatoes or some other deep-fried monstrosity that Ruby held towards her mouth whether it be with her fingers or a utensil. Weiss would lean forward and eat it either way with her lips and teeth grazing upon the silverware or Ruby's fingertips.

In associating herself with Ruby, Weiss found herself experiencing more of that happiness.

Unfortunately, despite the joy she found in the present she would inevitably find her concentration slipping towards the future. It couldn't be helped; her common sense and its looming threat would come to her as their time at Beacon continued to dwindle. After the current year ended there would only be one more. Then they would graduate.

After that…she didn't know. There were the responsibilities she had to her family and then there was Ruby. They clashed ferociously, making it difficult to find a middle ground. Was that the choice that Blake had warned her about? As much as she wondered if a compromise could be reached, as a Schnee Weiss had to plan for the worst.

The logic that was as cold as her reputation put it in layman's terms: she would choose between a responsibility that dated back to her grandfather and a young woman who she knew for almost three years. If she was forced to make a decision, was she willing to toss aside all that training and studying to become head of the Schnee family for one person? Was Ruby even that important to her?

Funnily enough, it would be Ruby who would force Weiss to answer that question.

Doubly funny was how Weiss was thinking about it when she and Ruby returned to their dorm one evening. Although usually devoting an ear to listen to Ruby's plans on how to spend their time off, Weiss was lost in thought and her leader's words became background noise that she was ignoring.

She had been going through the motions. With classes having ended, Weiss was unbuttoning the jacket of her school uniform before tossing it onto her bunk with the tan vest following suit. Attempting to untie the red string that kept the collar of her shirt tight, Weiss did not notice how Ruby became unusually quiet.

It was only when Ruby's arms came around her waist and crossed over her middle did Weiss return to her senses. At the back of her head she felt something soft as Ruby buried her face into her ponytail, breathing deeply within that mass of snow white hair. The scythe-wielder's arms pulled Weiss back in order to draw her closer and the heiress became distinctly aware of how her partner's chest pressed into her back.

This was nothing like the more aggressive ambushes in the halls that her partner enjoyed. The effects were just as different with Weiss tensing within Ruby's grip, eyes wide with surprise and confusion at this behavior.

Unexpected it may be, Weiss allowed herself to be drawn in nonetheless. Her hands dropped from her collar to grasp Ruby's arms that were folded over her stomach but made no move to pull them apart. They remained like that for however long it was as Weiss wasn't keeping count. Eventually she felt Ruby move her head to the side in order to bring her lips closer to her ear.

"Hey, Weiss?" The voice was, unlike her chipper self, faint. It was more like Ruby breathing the question into Weiss's ear rather than actually speaking it.

Weiss turned a head a fraction to her right. It was far from enough to bring Ruby into view though the movement would let her partner know that she was paying attention. "Yes?"

"Are you happy?"

Weiss blinked, the question catching her off guard. Why bring that up all of a sudden? Had Ruby noted her silence and mistaken it as a sign that she was unhappy? Thinking that was it, Weiss hastily defended, "It wasn't you Ruby; I was just lost in thought. I was thinking about-"

You.

Weiss stopped.

It was obvious that Ruby noticed how the heiress broke off yet didn't comment on it. Her arms gave Weiss a squeeze before she repeated her question. "Are you happy, Weiss?"

"Yes." Weiss decided to just give her a proper yes or no answer to make up for her blunder. A truthful one as it was happiness that she was experiencing with-

"With me?"

Weiss tensed at the question although she wasn't sure why. She forced herself to relax as there was only one answer she could possibly have for that. "Yes."

Ruby pressed her cheek against the side of her head and Weiss could feel the flesh stretch into a smile. "I'm glad."

She didn't say any more and Weiss wasn't sure if she should say something. Despite her latest stance to live in the moment and to be guided by her own feelings, nothing was coming to the fencer. Bereft of direction, Weiss chose to remain in Ruby's embrace. The palms of her hands glided along Ruby's arms and the scythe-wielder nuzzled her cheek against her head in reply. Her lips remained near her ear but Weiss heard steady breathing instead of words.

"I was happy when you became my teammate," Ruby finally spoke again. "Not when we met in the Emerald Forest. To me, you became my teammate when you chose to be."

Weiss understood when that time was. In all honesty, she couldn't believe that over two years had gone by from when she had given Ruby that cup of coffee and a declaration to become a true part of Team RWBY. With the closeness that she was currently sharing with her team leader, Weiss found it equally difficult to believe how she had initially disliked her.

"You helped me a lot," she continued. "You probably don't even know how much. I had been sent to Beacon two years ahead and had to leave a lot of friends behind. I came here alone and was afraid."

Funny thing about that…, Weiss couldn't help but think. The heiress had come here alone but she hadn't been afraid. She had been confident in her own abilities as they were all she had ever needed to rely on. She hadn't been looking for friends but subordinates who would obey her commands.

"It was more than the grades." Another nuzzle. "It was your friendship and our time that we spent together. The friends I left at Signal are attending their first year here by the way but when I try to talk to them it's like I'm talking to strangers; we've been apart for too long and I've experienced so much that it's difficult to relate to them anymore.

"That's when I became afraid about us. We're nearing our final year at Beacon. I know that me, Blake, and Yang are all going to be Huntresses but I also know that you have responsibilities elsewhere due to your family's company. I understand that when our time is up, it'll be difficult to keep Team RWBY together."

Weiss felt a prick at her heart. She unconsciously tightened her grasp on Ruby's arms. She tried not to grip too hard 'less she ended up digging her nails into her skin but hearing that Ruby was just as aware of their problematic future bothered her.

Or maybe she should be relieved? As much as the future stressed her, seeing that she truly wasn't alone in the matter eased her somewhat. There was someone else who held the same worries that she did.

Ruby's arms constricted around her, almost enough to cause a bit of discomfort but not quite. "I wanted to make sure to treasure our time together if that was the case. I know that our studies are important but I wanted to spend time having fun with you. I've always admired your focus on work but if that's all it'll be for the rest of your life, why not take this time to enjoy it?" A pause. "You've been enjoying it, right?"

Weiss nodded. "I have. I said it before; I'm happy with you." Ruby's breathing had remained steady but the heiress noticed how it suddenly hitched as soon as she finished.

"I'm sorry," Ruby apologized. Weiss had no idea why. "You must think I'm just overreacting, right? You're probably not worried at all and I'm just a dolt for being so."

That's not true.

"I don't want us to become strangers. You're important to me, Weiss."

You're important to me too. Weiss felt her breathing start to quicken as did her heart. She felt the nails that she had tried to keep under control dig into her partner's arms.

"Promise you won't forget me, okay?"

When Weiss moved it was because she wanted to. As she told Blake and promised herself, she decided to let her feelings guide her. She put little thought into what may happen when she turned around within Ruby's embrace, her hands coming up to grasp the scythe-wielder's shoulders.

Seeing Ruby made it that much easier. In response to Weiss's sudden movements, Ruby had pulled her head back which gave the heiress a better view of how wide and startled they were. Weiss felt a sense of accomplishment to be the one who managed to catch Ruby off guard.

The kiss did an even better job of that. With her hold on Ruby, Weiss pulled her closer while she tilted her head.

Ruby's lips were rough yet meshed well with her soft ones. However, they were just as sweet as the strawberries that Ruby had her taste before and she enjoyed them all the same as she became lost in that sweetness.

She half-expected Ruby to push her away but as the milliseconds stretched into full seconds with Ruby's lips remaining locked with hers she found nothing to worry about. The fact that Ruby's arms now sought to keep her in place as if she might have second thoughts despite starting it certainly dashed any fears that her feelings wouldn't be reciprocated.

When they broke for air, Weiss was partially surprised to find the two of them on her bunk. She soon considered the position to be a wise one as she seriously began to question if her legs would buckle beneath her if she tried standing right now.

This did put her in a bit of an awkward position though. Finding herself on her back, she became aware that the knot she had loosened at the collar of her shirt had become completely undone with their actions. The result was a rather decent exposure of skin. While it actually didn't show off as much as her combat outfit, Ruby's position right on top of her and the hairs of her braid brushing along her throat and beneath her collarbone contributed to the growing warmth at her face.

Ruby's eyes were still a bit wide but no longer alarmed. Her face was as red as her partner's but then that grin that Weiss has come to associate with this eighteen-year-old Ruby appeared. It faltered when she, too, became aware of the position, transforming into a shy, uncertain look that Weiss remembered belonging to a younger Ruby.

She looked as if she was going to get up. Weiss stopped her with the hands that she kept at her shoulders. The uncertainty grew, forcing Ruby to look away.

Weiss was patient. More importantly, she was sure about what she wanted. Whatever the future may bring, whatever consequences may come with this choice, she didn't care. She loved Ruby and knew that her most desired place to be was with her. It will all work out somehow.

So when Ruby met her gaze with a silent question, Weiss nodded her head with an equally silent answer. There was still hesitation but soon Ruby was lowering back down for a second, more passionate kiss.

The remainder of Weiss's uniform was scattered upon the bunk with her vest and jacket. One or two articles perhaps fell off the bed entirely. Ruby's soon joined them on the bunk and floor.

Weiss got a long, in-depth look as to how Ruby truly changed.

Chapter Text

The Schnee Quarry has increased productivity by a third at least when compared to the beginning of last year, Weiss thought with a sense of pride. The freighter had already left for Vale two days earlier and the refineries are having difficulties keeping up with the influx of Dust crystals to purify and crush them. While putting aside one report to replace it with another, the heiress took a moment to glance at the screen of her business scroll. Stock prices have recovered and gone up by five percent.

For a year of effort after taking control of the Atlas branch of the SDC, Weiss thought she was doing rather well.

It had been as she had expected it to be. After their last year at Beacon, Team RWBY had graduated with each member being officially considered as a fully-trained Huntress who was now free to make their mark upon Remnant however they pleased. Of course, being Huntresses, there was only one thing that Blake, Yang, and Ruby could do with the training that had developed them into formidable warriors.

For the Schnee heiress, on the other hand, there was only one thing that Weiss could do with the studies and obligations that came before her time at Beacon.

Not to say that Weiss found herself taking complete control of the entire Schnee Dust Company mind you. Although she had been bred throughout her childhood for that eventual claim, she had spent four years at a prestigious combat school that taught nothing but fighting and humanity's natural enemy. While it would serve to make Weiss a powerful individual in terms of physical strength and knowledge of battle, had it debilitated her when it came to business and its own politics?

Her father hadn't spared her and Weiss didn't expect him to. To test her he had handed over control of all of SDC's assets within the Atlas region; a major center of SDC's industrial power. Atlas not only possessed the Schnee Quarry within its lands but the railways that would deliver the Dust to the refineries which would in turn send now quality-proven Dust to the docks. At the docks were the freighters that would deliver Dust shipments to Vale, Mistral, Vacuo, and pretty much anywhere else that the open seas allowed those ships to travel.

Such a process that supplied most of the known world with Dust required hundreds of thousands in terms of personnel and equipment that were used to mine, refine, and ship out Dust. All of which Weiss found herself managing to make sure that this well-oiled machine remained as such. For a first assignment soon after she had graduated from Beacon, it was rather harsh.

However, Weiss was very well aware that she wasn't at Beacon anymore. Those relaxing, happy times with caring teammates coupled with periods of life-threatening yet exhilarating engagements with the Grimm were gone and replaced with the cold, merciless logic that was needed to run such a large company. And even with those four years at Beacon, Weiss was still able to understand her father's logic when it came to this assignment: if she couldn't handle Atlas – large as it was –, then how can she possibly be entrusted with the entire company?

It was a heavy weight of responsibility but Weiss had taken it upon her shoulders willingly. Nothing made it more apparent than her first week when she found the desk of her newly-appointed office quickly filling with documents such as shipping manifests, production reports, profit margins, and personnel numbers not only for this year but for previous years as well in order to find patterns and compare it to the numbers that Weiss will be producing during her time. With them she could uncover what she should be expected to do, where she could tell she was falling behind and take action, and so on.

And Weiss enjoyed it. She may have been willing – perhaps even desired – to leave certain aspects of her upbringing behind her when she went to Beacon but while her childhood was far from perfect, there were certain aspects that she took actual enjoyment from such as her family's company. Beginning her teenage years, Weiss started to realize just how enormous and how much influence the Schnee Dust Company exerted throughout the world of Remnant.

For once she understood the numerous trials and staggering feats that her grandfather had accomplished in not only creating but expanding the company as it came to be once it had been handed over to her father. Her teammates got a brief look at it whenever the Vytal Festival came around and they found the heiress absolutely gushing over the amount of planning and organization that had to be done for an event that big.

But that was a festival. This was the Schnee Dust Company. And instead of being an observer, Weiss was in the thick of it.

I'm part of the process, the heiress thought. I manage, I make things happen, and the results that unfold are due to my choices and those who follow them.

Her father had given her three years. In three years he expected to see those results that would determine if all the money and resources that he had devoted to creating a proper successor paid off. It was not family pride that motivated Weiss but the idea that she could prove to her father that she would be even better than he expected. Three years? She would only need one to show results that she would later throw into his face.

She knew this because she had an edge; an idea that her father had never considered before. It was something that she didn't learn from him or any of her trainers but, rather, a byproduct of her time at Beacon.

To get the results that even her father wouldn't expect, Weiss focused on the Schnee Dust Company's most valuable yet most misused resource: the laborers.

The SDC had taken some political fire from civil rights groups and actual fire from a terrorist group for their questionable labor practices concerning the use of cheap faunus workers. As much as Weiss would later feel ashamed of her family's practice, that Schnee logic nonetheless understood the reasons as to why this happened.

That faunus night vision that had led them to the greatest military victories for their freedom worked equally well within the dark mines of the Schnee Quarry whereas humans needed special equipment in order to overcome it. It was not just the night vision either as different varieties of faunus possessed differing traits that went beyond whether they would be born with tails, ears, or horns. One could have increased agility and flexibility to maneuver through cramped tunnels, the other an extra bit of hardiness to handle the physical labor of the actual mining, and a third could possess acute senses that allowed them to detect toxic gasses or other dangers that could be found in a mine.

Grandfather Schnee had used the prejudice and unfairness that the world directed at the faunus to his advantage. When most of Remnant is populated by humans who exhibit contempt at the minority that was the faunus, the founder of SDC had given them a place to escape from it all. It would pay criminally cheap, offer them minimum shelter, and work them for long, hard hours in the dark but it was something that kept them away from the bigotry of human society and gave them a place in the world. Apparently that was enough.

But that was the past. The world was changing, the faunus were becoming more and more integrated into human society, and Weiss understood that the SDC needed to follow. Before she attended Beacon, Weiss knew of the deplorable conditions of the faunus laborers. She had known how their dwellings were nothing more than camps constructed at the quarries, that their pay was nowhere near enough to establish a living in a city, and that even if they could they would be too exhausted to do anything other than crawl into bed after a day's work.

Weiss had known all about it and she hadn't cared. In her mind, those workers should be grateful for being granted the opportunity to be productive members of society considering what their kind in the White Fang had done to her family.

Beacon and her team had taught her the folly of blaming an entire species for the actions of a few of its members. When she had visited the quarry, she was accompanied by the motivation to make everything right. She had walked away with personnel files, on-site recommendations and opinions, and then she had gotten to work.

Wages had been the most obvious thing to deal with although Weiss had issued them gradually as did promotions. Faunus who had worked for so long and so hard with little reward but establishing plenty of experience were finally allowed to move up the ladder where they could use their newfound authority to better monitor and direct their brethren for better productivity. Seeing their co-workers recognized and awarded with higher pay and benefits got the rest increase their own effectiveness. And so Weiss got the ball rolling.

To be fair, it wasn't as easy as it sounded as Weiss had to take in the consequences of these actions of goodwill. The entire point of faunus laborers were that they were cheap and the heiress was using money that the company made by avoiding doing what she was doing. And even if she bettered the lives of some workers she couldn't do it for all of them. Business sense said that she would have to lay off a number of them in order to continue this trend.

That was the only time that her father contacted her. Having ceased communications with his own daughter and making it quite clear that she would have to do this on her own when this all started, Weiss's actions had apparently concerned him enough to break that vow and ask what she was planning. The heiress wondered if it was the money she was spending or the betterment of the faunus laborers that concerned him the most. If she knew him well enough, it was probably a mix of both.

Either way, Weiss had hung up on him in reply. Her message had been clear: she had three years to get results and until then the choices and the consequences were hers and hers alone. If he wanted any part of this he had to wait for over two more years. She trusted that the businessman of her father would understand that this had been an investment and investments took time to see if they would gain him wealth or lose it.

Sit back, shut up, and let your investment work, was Weiss's silent rebuttal. He hadn't tried contacting her again.

Her father's concerns weren't completely invalid as Weiss was losing the company money. In the first few months the numbers had dropped due to increased wages, implementing procedures to cut the strenuous hours that the laborers worked, and even addressing complaints that had long been ignored in terms of improving some of those camps.

But those were for the short-term and Weiss wasn't going to allow her thinking be condensed by a temporary decline of SDC stock. It was the long-term that she knew she was going to get the results that she desired as she was not only relying on the quarry but the changing world to get what she wanted.

Her labors eventually bore fruit. A couple generations ago she couldn't say that she would be anywhere near as successful as she later became. However, faunus integration and easing tensions between them and humans that she had depended on saw her through. The previously bad press became promotional opportunities once people started noticing the changes going on in Atlas.

Specifically, it was the dramatic shift of the nearby city's ratio of human and faunus inhabitants. Laborers who now found themselves with money and, with it, an opportunity to better their lives were moving out of the camps and settling down in actual housing. Increased downtime between shifts also gave them a reason to enjoy the city life with their saved-up Lien which included buying the very products that the company they worked for made; from Dust to Shi-nee toothpaste.

As Weiss had planned, her changes went far beyond the quarry. Atlas itself was benefiting from the population growth what with higher demand to provide for them. Its city was growing and Weiss had used her complete management power to invest a bit more of SDC's funds into it. A portion of its population already directly employed by the company to work the refineries and docks, the constant flow of faunus laborers was expected to bump that portion to an entire third. This led to opportunities that, if the latest proposals that had been offered to the SDC were any indication, will prove to be highly beneficial.

Admittedly it had taken Weiss more than a year to witness any kind of development but what she was seeing on both paper and an electronic screen told her enough. Based on her calculations, she would have plenty to justify to her father that she had done well by giving the people he and his father had oppressed a chance. More importantly, she had managed to obtain something with the laborers that he couldn't: loyalty. No more laborers walking out when they had enough which would've left untrained replacements - not that the SDC ever did train their workers as they favored on-the-job training - at best and future members of the White Fang at worst.

On that subject, it certainly helped that terrorist activity from the White Fang had been brought to an all-time low in the Atlas region. Once having claimed to be fighting for the betterment of the faunus people, the fact that the SDC was bettering the lives of their brethren have given them little to justify any attacks they may've been previously planning on their old foe. That alone would be saving thousands if not millions of Lien that could've been lost to sabotage not to mention the lives of human personnel working in the region.

So here was Weiss Schnee almost two years later. How did she feel? Exhausted. Proud but exhausted. During this whole situation she barely had any time to relax. Now maybe she could just-

Knock knock knock.

Weiss slumped in her chair and tried to resist the urge to plant her face into her desk. She forced herself to move past this moment of weakness and immediately straightened. As soon as she accomplished that with both herself and her desk she soon called, "Come in."

"Sorry to interrupt," came Charlotte, her secretary. The graying brunette – almost twice Weiss's age – held a small stack of papers in her arms. She had been working for the company almost as long as the current Schnee head and Weiss had to assume that her usual frosty exterior was a product of working under her father for that long.

Weiss had expected trouble or at least some sign of dislike from the older woman considering how her own plans contrasted harshly with her father's but the supportive smile that briefly came to her face told her otherwise. That tone of her voice also helped when she placed the papers down on a space that Weiss had just cleared on her desk.

"Another proposal," Charlotte informed, sounding congratulatory as the documents were yet another product of Weiss's efforts.

It also reminded the heiress that there was still work to be done. She had won her own personal battle but she expected more when she eventually became the head of the Schnee Dust Company. Placing her hand on the papers, she slid them towards herself and offered her secretary a polite, "Thanks."

With a nod of her head Charlotte turned and left, closing the door behind her. Once she heard the door click shut the heiress blew a long, tired breath and returned to her slumped position in her chair. Her movements demonstrating how tired she felt, Weiss slowly flipped through the pages of this proposal. Eyes staring at the pages but not reading the words, Weiss ended up tossing the stack to the side for later. She didn't feel like it right now.

Besides, the sudden smell of roses told her that she had someone more enjoyable to direct her attention to. Weiss tried to lift herself up from her seat but hands grabbed her shoulders and coaxed her to remain seated with a bit of pressure.

"No need to get up," that playful, beautiful voice came from overhead. The hands slid along her shoulders to the base of her neck where rough, calloused fingers began to massage the muscles with a surprising gentleness. "Just sit down and relaaax."

With so many years of practice on these muscles that were always tied up in knots due to the stress of Weiss's past and future, the new arrival knew just how to loosen them up. It didn't take long to make the heiress gasp and arch her back as strong thumbs dug deep into her shoulder blades. Against their ministrations her muscles had no chance, melting almost immediately which forced Weiss to go limp.

The rhythmic pressure of those fingers on her neck and shoulders felt divine and Weiss experienced no shame in uttering an occasional moan at the treatment. With her there was nothing for her to hide…although her office possessing acoustic-dampening features – heavy, solid-core doors and cellulose insulation among other things - to counter potential eavesdroppers helped in allowing Weiss to let her partner know how good she was making her feel.

Weiss closed her eyes and let her head fall back as the kneading of her shoulders continued. When she opened them again it was to see the grinning, loving gaze of her red-cloaked lover. No doubt she used the brief opening of the door to sneak in. Summoning up enough strength, Weiss lifted a hand to grab onto that hanging braid and pull Ruby down to bring her mouth to hers.

Ruby halted her massage in order to shift her body and tilt her head to avoid an awkward, upside down locking of their lips, going further by kneeling down next to Weiss's chair. Weiss thanked her for her consideration as it allowed to better slip her tongue into Ruby's mouth, kissing her fiercely which caused her partner to let out a muffled squeak of surprise. The sound only strengthened these pent-up feelings of longing and desire that had come to the forefront as Weiss hugged Ruby with the same degree of fierceness, all the while drinking in the rosy fragrance of her hair and sweet, strawberry lips that she had missed.

Lost as she was, Weiss barely noticed her burning lungs until she felt Ruby weakly struggle in her grip. Realizing that suffocation was probably not the best way to celebrate this latest reunion, Weiss released her girlfriend who stared at the heiress with wide, surprised eyes and a dusting of pink on her cheeks. Weiss assumed her face was even redder than that.

"Wow," Ruby breathed which upped Weiss's facial temperature by a couple more degrees. The surprised look on her face eventually died down and those silver eyes focused on a point on Weiss's face. Upon lifting a hand and stroking her cheek, Ruby's fingers came back with a couple drops of liquid. "Happy to see me I assume."

Weiss sniffed and used her suit sleeve to wipe at the tears that Ruby made her become aware of. "What do you think, you dolt?"

Smiling sweetly, it was Ruby's turn to wrap her arms around Weiss and pull her close. The heiress willingly buried her head into her shoulder, her hands grabbing fistfuls of that familiar red cloak as she clung to Ruby.

This was not the first time that Weiss found that icy shield she had placed around her heart melting as soon as she was reunited with her love. The feelings of loneliness, longing, and complete and utter frustration at being separated from Ruby that she kept contained within her while she fulfilled her own duties came flooding out like the tears that stained the cloth that covered Ruby's shoulder.

It was more than just simple weeks – sometimes a full month – of separation that their opposite callings forced them to undertake that reduced Weiss to this pathetic state. There was also the fact that no matter how much they loved one another, no matter how much it hurt, it was the current circumstances that kept Weiss from making Ruby truly hers. Whether it was a sneaky visit in her office such as this or a midnight rendezvous in the bedroom of her apartment, the unfairness of this society and her family's own strictures that stood adamantly between them would always bring tears to her eyes despite indulging in the one person who made her happy.

One day she hoped to make things different. In her own way she was changing the structure of society this very moment with her work in Atlas. But as much as it benefitted a downtrodden people and further united two differing species of Remnant, Weiss still hadn't come close to being united to the one she loved most. Only when she became head of the Schnee Dust Company will she have the power to change everything.

Until then she was restricted to these wordless displays of affection that conveyed the one thing she wished to say out loud without fear of reprisal: I love you.

Weiss eventually pulled her face out from Ruby's shoulder but just so she could press her forehead against hers. Though her eyes were probably red and pale cheeks tear-stained, staring into Ruby's bright silver ones and seeing the caring smile blossom on her face forced Weiss to push her sorrow to the side in order to fully appreciate this moment that gave her hope that everything will work out.

One day. Until that day arrived they had to remain separated from one another.

What felt to be too soon, Ruby retreated from Weiss, standing up and surveying her desk before examining the entire office. While such a big office, there was very little in terms of decoration and Weiss had always felt bad about that. At the wall behind her desk was a full-length window that offered a rather expansive view of the city that Weiss indulged in from time-to-time, turning her chair around to see it sprawled beneath her. Currently the curtains were pulled together but Weiss could've sworn that they were open before Ruby's appearance.

Dominating the center of the office was a desk that seemed rather similar to the ones that the professors at Beacon usually had for themselves in their classrooms. With Weiss's small frame it looked rather large for the heiress but the space had been put to good use as two-thirds of it was taken up by stacks of paperwork and her scroll.

If she had a pot of coffee and some mugs it would've looked very similar to Oobleck's cluttered desk but she had kept them off to the left side of the room on a low table that had a couch on one side and two chairs on the other. A small bowl of sugar and short pitcher of cream completed the selection.

Although Ruby's addiction to coffee and dousing it with as much sugar as possible hadn't changed and the scythe-wielder was clearly eyeing the drink, she held back for now. Instead, the leader of Team RWBY turned around to face Weiss again. With her arms behind her back and a rather humorous grin on her face, Weiss became suspicious.

"What?" she asked.

"Someone else has missed you toooo," Ruby practically sang, body swaying in place.

Weiss quirked a brow, stretching the scar at her eye as she stared at her partner. "Yang?"

Ruby shook her head. "Nooope."

"Blake?"

"Nooope." After a second's thought Ruby frowned which, even at twenty-one years of age, hadn't gotten any less cute. "Well, not to say that they don't miss you. They do. A lot."

Weiss felt a spike of regret at that. It was rather rare to have Team RWBY together in one place and Weiss knew that much of the blame was on her. In order to meet her deadline, the heiress had to painfully reject invitations for a reunion that would involve all of them. When combined with the career choices of her former teammates, it was all but impossible. While the life of a Huntress may offer more freedom, missions came with a variety of circumstances that would request either one Huntress or a whole team. It wasn't uncommon that each member of Team RWBY would be sent on three separate missions with each one being completed in a different timeframe.

They had nonetheless been able to meet up at one point in time after their graduation from Beacon. It had been four months ago when Weiss had felt that the bulk of her work had been completed and she was able to allow herself a couple days off. She had not only met up with Ruby, Yang, and Blake but even the members of JNPR and old professors from Beacon.

All of them had gathered to witness their faunus teammate being pronounced as Blake Belladonna Long.

As envious as she was that the other half of Team RWBY had managed to find their happiness, it didn't mean that Weiss couldn't be happy for them especially as those two had been able to willingly brave through their own problems that came with not only two women getting married but a faunus and a human woman getting married. At the very least it was rather amusing to see Blake dressed in her black tux while Yang had gone with the white, frilly wedding dress. Not that being the one in the dress had stopped Yang from pouncing on her newly-declared wife as soon as they had been told to kiss.

"Alright," Weiss sighed. "I give up."

Ruby had been slowly approaching the heiress, the grin permanently etched on her face and her arms refusing to reappear from behind her back. Weiss constantly shifted her gaze between that face and those hidden arms as she tried to figure it out.

Too late. With a theatrical flourish of her cloak, Ruby held out what she had been hiding. The rattling of metal told the heiress the identity of the object before her partner held it over her desk. Her eyes widened in recognition.

"How did you find that?" she asked incredulously.

Ruby scoffed at the question. "Come on, I've been to your apartment enough to know your hiding spots. You did give me a key after all." She shrugged. "And I got bored."

Ah, right. A bored Ruby was a bad Ruby; Weiss should've known. She refocused her gaze on the long, sheathed form of Myrtenaster.

Despite her years with her precious rapier at her side, Weiss had never given Myrtenaster a proper scabbard mostly because she hadn't wanted such a thing getting in the way of her own acrobatic movements when she fought. Once she drew her weapon it would become dead weight that she didn't need. The heiress had thus chosen to go with a simple, buttoned loop at her belt to hold the rapier in place. The super sharp blade could easily cut it so the loop was designed to tighten around at the base of the blade where the Dust exhaust port was located to hold it while avoiding the danger. Weiss could then draw her weapon like a regular sword or, with a forceful tug, unbutton the loop to better drop into her opening stance.

When she had decided to put Myrtenaster away in a hidden compartment within her closet (she thought that had been a safe bet as, even if Ruby wanted a change of clothes after awakening in her bed anything in it would be too small for her), Weiss had given it a proper covering. In the end she had chosen a black leather scabbard that was designed with white roses and thorns that wove intricate patterns all along its length. She had thought it to be a beautiful and fitting design to keep her weapon contained until…well she didn't know when she would pull out her weapon again.

Technically she still didn't; Ruby did. Ruby who was currently hugging it…caressing it…and making Weiss rather jealous right now.

"I found her all alone in a cold, dark corner," Ruby gushed, the sheathed blade pressed against her chest while her head nuzzled the hilt. "You should've seen the dust on her and I don't mean the good Dust kind. All dirty and clearly aching for someone's touch."

Weiss felt her brow twitching in irritation at the sight of her lover giving her…love to an inanimate object. When Ruby dropped a hand to teasingly rub along the length of the rapier the heiress jumped to her feet and snatched it from her girlfriend. "Give me that!"

Giggling like mad, Ruby spun on her heel and made a dash for the coffee pot.

Glaring at her partner's back, Weiss shifted her attention to the sheathed Myrtenaster. With her one hand holding the center of the blade, her other hand came up to wrap its fingers loosely around the hilt. She held it in front of her to properly inspect it.

Even though it had been nearly two years, the weight of her weapon and how the hilt fit her palm was just as she remembered. Myrtenaster was light with the long blade balancing out the weight of the cylinder and metal prongs that acted as the guard. Weiss used her thumb to cock the hammer back before her fingers pressed down on the trigger to snap it forward. With that same thumb the heiress released the lock and the hand she had on the blade pushed down to perform the top-break action that left the rear of the cylinder exposed.

Had the cylinder been loaded with Dust cartridges, the extractor located in the middle would've pushed them out so that new ones could be loaded in. Very rarely had Weiss needed to reload as when the occasion called for it the battle would already be over and Weiss would be too exhausted to continue anyway. It was during her third year at Beacon that the snow-haired woman's stamina and Aura improved enough that she would still be able to keep fighting even after expending the energies of one load of Dust.

After pushing the blade up and locking both it and the cylinder back into place, Weiss finally drew Myrtenaster from its scabbard. More time was needed to erase the memories that had been embedded into her muscles. As if she was back in the sparring mats, Weiss brought her weapon across her body and held the hilt at the right side of her face. With one of the metal prongs nearly touching her cheek, Weiss stared down the length of the blade with the tip pointed forward.

It was her usual opening stance that, with the power of Dust, would allow her to transition to a high-speed thrust. She didn't thrust but, instead, kept Myrtenaster in its position while she mentally went over the sequences and forms that had been drilled into her. She was pleased to feel her muscles instinctively tensing in such a way that would allow her to complete whatever maneuver crossed her mind.

"You may not believe it," came Ruby's voice, knocking Weiss out of her reverie, "but you're missing the team a whole lot."

Weiss relaxed out of her stance and pointed her rapier up in order to inspect the steel blade. It had been polished recently which she immediately recognized as Ruby's doing. Looking at her lover, she saw Ruby stirring her coffee to properly mix what had to be her usual dose of cream and sugar.

"I'm missing fighting certainly," Weiss admitted, lowering and sheathing her weapon. "Dealing with Yang's puns, on the other hand, was wearing thin." She gave Ruby a wink to show that she was kidding. Mostly.

"Ah." Ruby swept her gaze upon the cluttered desk. "I think you moved up to really difficult prey though, love."

Hearing the words as she was placing Myrtenaster on her desk, Weiss paused before a frown came to her features. The tip of her index finger unconsciously traced one of the white roses before she confirmed, "More truth to that than I want to admit."

Before she could become lost in the gloomy thoughts that accompanied her situation with her company and her father, the heiress felt the warm, wet sensation of Ruby's lips on her cheek. Weiss had learned to stop questioning how easily such displays of Ruby's affection for her brightened up her mood so she just accepted it along with the coffee that Ruby had apparently prepared for her.

As would be proven a few seconds after she had taken her first sip of coffee, however, was that Weiss still had trouble accepting how evil her girlfriend could be.

"You know…" Ruby started slowly after Weiss let out a refreshing sigh, "…funny thing about all this."

Something clicked in the mind of the Schnee heiress. Whereas just moments ago she had written off the actions of her lover as sweet yet harmless displays to make her feel better, hearing that ominous tone made Weiss wonder about something.

Why, exactly, had Ruby gone through all the trouble of retrieving her weapon?

"I happened to hear about a job when I was coming over here."

The mug of coffee became very still in Weiss's hand as the heiress looked to her partner who was smiling sheepishly.

"It's a small job," Ruby continued explaining. "There have been multiple sightings of Beowolves at Atlas's borders lately; its being assumed that their numbers have gone up again and need to be put down. I can easily handle it myself…"

"…But you want to see if I can come along," Weiss finished for her.

"Oh, well, I didn't say that but if you insist so much I suppose I could let you join me!"

Weiss lowered her head, hand coming up to meet it as she sighed. Despite her apparent exasperation, the movement was also meant to hide the smirk at Ruby's antics. She thought she did a good job of killing it before looking back up at her girlfriend. "I can't. I have duties here."

In a display that was very unlike an adult, Ruby blew a raspberry in the direction of the heiress. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Alright, if you want to play that game then consider this as part of your duties!" Planting her butt on the desk, Ruby sipped from her own mug of coffee while her free hand idly prodded at some of the paperwork surrounding her. "I can't help but notice that there's a lot more construction going on compared to when I last dropped by."

Oh no, Weiss silently dreaded. She's going to use logic. She hated when Ruby used logic. It proved how devilishly clever her girlfriend could be and why it had ended up being a wise choice for Ruby to be given the position of leader of their team.

After all, a good leader knew how to manipulate her teammates.

"Makes you wonder how much room this city can make for their latest additions," Ruby continued, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "All these good people wanting a nice, warm home to settle into after a hard day of work. I mean it's probably not such a big deal now but you gotta wonder, in the not-so-distant future, how long before some expansion is needed. A couple less Beowolves can make things just a tad easier don't you think?"

Weiss was going to need to sit down for this - and quickly regretted her decision. Sitting back down in her chair while Ruby remained on her desk put her in an even worse position as the height difference between the furniture and women proved to make Ruby more imposing. Though well-used to this trick with how others sought to use her small stature against her, Weiss had never let it affect her before.

Then again, those others didn't have the advantage of being the love of her life who possessed an impish grin that was making her heart flutter in her chest.

"You probably know better than I," Ruby went on, giving Weiss a break when that grin disappeared behind her mug as she took another sip of coffee before continuing with, "but the latest numbers say a population increase of two…no, maybe three?"

"…Five percent as of last week," Weiss grudgingly answered. She expected that number to be much higher when her three year deadline expired.

Ruby left it at that, enjoying both the coffee and the position she had just placed the heiress into.

Being able to do little else than sip her own, Weiss looked to that cloaked nymph who seemed so out of place in her rather plain office with her vibrant dress of red and black. Slowly her gaze moved from Ruby to the sheathed Myrtenaster that lay next to her.

Weiss did miss it. She missed everything that Beacon had given her that her own family – with all their riches and fame – could not. That camaraderie and respect that you developed by fighting alongside others against the monsters of Grimm. That level of trust and understanding that allowed you to predict what your teammates were thinking or how they would react next which gave you the ability to know where your own skills could be used to best supplement the group.

Shared victory. It had been such an alien concept in the past.

Weiss glanced down at herself. She wasn't dressed in her combat attire and hadn't been so in the past year and a half. She wore a light blue, long-sleeved jacket but it was a much more formal suit jacket that was buttoned over a white shirt rather than a dress. No combat skirt or boots either; traded in for pants and high-heels.

Her father and her family's other shortcomings aside, Weiss did enjoy what her position allowed her to do. Although it wasn't fighting the Grimm, she knew that a person could do something other than slay monsters to create a better place. She treasured her time at Beacon but becoming an official member of the Schnee Dust Company gave her opportunities to create rather than destroy. She was giving people a chance, allowing prosperity to strengthen one of humanity's territories, and making the world better because of it.

Despite being in the same world, she in her chair and Ruby on her desk represented two separate existences. The most important thing that Weiss strived for in her work was to eventually see them come together. She had the power to do that but she had to be patient.

A sudden weight on Weiss's lap told her that Ruby wasn't going to be. Setting her now empty mug aside, Ruby had slipped off the heiress's desk and onto her girlfriend. Before Weiss had time to react, Ruby had drawn her arms around her neck and pressed her cheek against her own.

"It'll be like old times," Ruby murmured sweetly, rubbing their exposed flesh together. "Think of it as one of our incursions into the Emerald Forest. Just you, me, and a bunch of soon-to-be-dead Grimm." Her head lowered so she can place a light, teasing peck on the heiress's throat. "And when we're done it'll just be you and me."

Weiss had to suppress an excited shiver at the feel of the scythe-wielder's lips brushing that sensitive pulse point. Sex and logic; Ruby wasn't playing fair at all.

As ridiculous as it was to point out such a detail, when Weiss set her own half-empty mug aside to better hold Ruby against her she couldn't help but say, "This isn't usually the time for Beowolves." Even if she wasn't a Huntress, Weiss had nonetheless kept up with reports of the local Grimm populations. They would spike every year and a job would eventually be posted to trim their numbers but such a season for Beowolf hunting was still a couple months off.

She felt Ruby shrug within her arms. "Could be in response to Atlas's population rising. It didn't come from one of Professor Port's contacts but I don't see any reason to worry about it. Does it really matter?"

"No." Weiss set her chin on top of Ruby's head, eyes closing with contentment. "No, I guess not."

They stayed like that for a good minute with Ruby's head resting against her chest and Weiss's resting on top of hers, their arms around one another. With each breath that Weiss drew she took in that rosy fragrance that put her at such ease. Even though Ruby was taller and heavier than Weiss, her weight and body only achieved at warming and comforting the fencer when drawn as close as she was.

Weiss didn't open her eyes when Ruby shifted within her lap, thinking that she was trying to get more comfortable. It was only when she felt Ruby lean back towards her desk and she heard something sliding along the wooden surface of the furniture that the heiress opened her eyes.

Ruby held Myrtenaster right in front of her face. Once she had her girlfriend's attention, she shook it and performed a bad attempt at ventriloquism.

"Grimm please 'kay thanks," 'Myrtenaster' pleaded.

Weiss giggled and retook possession of her weapon. "Dork."

With one hand on Myrtenaster and the other around Ruby, Weiss found herself holding onto two of the most precious things of her previous life. Her cloaked partner had planned this all too well and Weiss knew that she was on the verge of accepting.

There remained one fear: could she do it? It had been almost two years and while her body remembered how to fight it didn't mean that it could still perform as it did. Restricted to a desk during that whole time with her deadline keeping her from even practicing to keep her skills sharp, Weiss knew she was no longer at her prime. She didn't want to become a liability.

Ruby must've seen the uncertain look that Weiss had directed at Myrtenaster because she gave the snow-haired woman a small squeeze. "It's alright. I'll be there to protect you."

Weiss let out a breath of defeat, those words sealing her fate. While her skills may've dulled, Ruby had sharpened her own in her quest to become a powerful Huntress. She would trust her as she always had. Placing Myrtenaster down and leaving it to lean against the side of her chair, she reached over and tapped on her scroll to open a line of communication with her secretary. Ruby watched her, curious but hopeful. Weiss held up a finger as a sign to keep quiet.

"Yes, Ms Schnee?" came Charlotte's voice from the device.

"Charlotte, I'm going to need you to cancel my 9:30 tomorrow morning," Weiss informed.

There was a brief pause before the reply came, "Understood." Between Weiss and her father, Charlotte knew better than to question a Schnee.

"I'll also be leaving early. You may retire for the night."

She also knew how to take a hint even if she didn't know the reason behind it. "Understood."

When the line closed Ruby opened her mouth to express her joy. Weiss turned the finger that she had risen upon her girlfriend, pressing it against her lips to keep her quiet. With head tilted, Weiss counted the seconds to give what she hoped would be adequate time for her secretary to be far enough away from the office. Finally she glanced down at Ruby.

"I'll go." She kept that finger against Ruby's lips to stop her from cheering. "But it'll have to be quick. We'll leave early, do the job, and come back. Clear?"

"Crystal!" Ruby chirped happily. Thinking of it as a sign that she should get up now, Ruby started to slide out of Weiss's lap. A hand that grabbed her shoulder kept her in place.

"We're going to make one minor change to your plan though." Weiss's other hand came up so that she was holding both of Ruby's shoulders.

Ruby tilted her head curiously up at her. "Hm?" The hands tightened their grip, forcing her to look at them.

Before the red-cloaked Huntress knew it, she found her back practically slamming upon Weiss's desk. With her grip still on Ruby's shoulders, Weiss had removed herself from her chair in order to stand up and over her girlfriend, her ice blue eyes narrowing predatorily as they slid over her form. In this position with Ruby's cloak flared out and body on display, Weiss was free to examine all the physical changes that had caused her to become smitten with her partner during that fateful year at Beacon.

Ruby trembled beneath Weiss's gaze but not from fear. Her eyes were wide with surprise but they became replaced with something else. The initial emotion wasn't unexpected; while Weiss was willing to drop her façade of the prim and proper heiress when it meant connecting with her love at such an intimate and physical level after a period of separation, this was the first time that she was taking the initiative in her office.

"You and me first," Weiss explained, bringing her head down. "Grimm second."

Ruby didn't seem to mind this turn of events. When Weiss brought her into a kiss that matched the fierceness of the previous one, her arms and legs came around the heiress to keep her in place.

There was little room for thought with what happened next. All there was was the enjoyment that came from one another's loving company as they expressed their heartfelt feelings in such a primal display of passion.

There also came this one, undisputable truth: this was where Weiss desired to be the most. Within Ruby's arms was the warmth, safety, and love that she could only find here. As long as she was with Ruby she would be happy.

As long as she was with Ruby, everything would be alright.

"YOU NEARLY GOT HER KILLED!"

Ruby shrunk back at the loud, rage-filled words.

Mr. Schnee, head of the Schnee Dust Company, hadn't let his lofty position make him weak. When you were fighting a war with a group hell-bent on tearing apart your family's legacy that controlled the majority of the world's supply of Dust, you couldn't be. In this kind of business you had to be both sophisticated and tough. He was doing a painfully good job with the latter.

Schnee was a huge, powerful man who managed to dwarf Ruby the same way that the Huntress did with his daughter. Age and the difficulties of his life had made that short bristle of once-white hair completely gray. Yet the hair was the only sign of his advancing age as surely the strength in those large arms that his own immaculate suit failed to hide the muscularity of still had a long way to go from weakening. Ruby had certainly felt it when he had nearly crushed her right arm when dragging her out of the hospital room.

Even if she had wanted to fight back, her left arm being in a sling kept her from doing so. As did the guilt and self-loathing as familiar ice blue eyes glared down at her with intense, undisguised hatred.

Because Ruby knew that she was the one responsible for Weiss's critical condition.

The circumstances leading up to the disaster didn't matter. She could blame the contact for lacking in information. She could blame whoever had first recorded the Beowolf sightings for not thinking of it as something more than growing numbers.

Blaming some faceless individual was useless. She had been the one who accepted the mission, she who had the most experience, she who had the most skill, and she who had pushed Weiss into going with her. She had been there and was unable to prevent what had happened. She had been the one to assure Weiss that she would protect her.

She was the one who failed.

That one observation that Weiss had made and what Ruby had dismissed so easily could've prevented all this had she not been so arrogant. It was true that it wasn't the usual season where a Beowolf population would need trimming but she had thought nothing of it. Her previous missions and growing reputation as a successful Huntress had blinded her to possible dangers.

The Beowolves had not been drawing closer to the Atlas region because of numbers. They had been forced to move because of a simple introduction of bigger, more vicious predators had used their declining numbers as an opportunity to take over.

When Weiss and Ruby had left to slay Beowolves, they found themselves running into a recently-constructed nest of hissing, slithering King Taijitu.

If anyone had been aware of their presence, the mission level would've been bumped up significantly. It wouldn't have been a job that could've been easily done with one Huntress; at the very least it would've required two.

It had not been two Huntresses that had been sent out. It had been one Huntress and the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. Had Ruby known she wouldn't have brought it up to Weiss. She would've waited until later and contacted Yang or Blake or both for assistance. If anyone from JNPR or the other graduating teams from Beacon happened to near the Atlas region she would've called upon their help if she wanted to. Ruby would've waited, saved the job for another time, and focused on spending as much time as she could with her lover within the safety of her apartment.

Weiss would not have found herself in front of the fanged maws of two Taijitu that sought to devour her.

Her delicate snow angel still possessed that speed and grace that had been refined at Beacon Academy. As the two serpents chased after her, their bodies slithering above and below one another while they snapped at Weiss, the former Huntress spun and twirled, expertly avoiding their bites and keeping her distance from them.

Such movements could've fooled anyone into thinking that Weiss hadn't been weakened by her time of inactivity. Ruby knew better. While her acrobatic movements made it difficult to see, the cloaked Huntress knew of the sweat that was dripping down a flushed, porcelain face as her stamina started to fail her. They had been fighting for a while now, slain a number of the serpents, and it was getting to Weiss along with the minor cuts and bruises that marred her flawless skin. And there was one other danger that came with their situation.

Despite her growing exhaustion, Weiss managed to take advantage of an opening to stab the blade of Myrtenaster into the ground, a blue Dust cartridge glowing brightly. A wall of ice came into existence, not only creating a barrier between her and the Grimm but actually catching a white-scaled Taijitu within its icy grip.

Breathing heavily, Weiss used the moment to wipe the sweat that was starting to drip into her eyes.

Outside of her restricted vision, a dark silhouette drew closer.

It wasn't just Taijitu that they were fighting.

The sound of shifting vegetation alerted Weiss to the Beowolf that used the opportunity to strike. Bounding out from its hiding spot, the creature lunged towards her, a clawed hand swiping at her head. Weiss stumbled back but it was too late.

Her Aura prevented the monster from ripping off her face. As the claws were just about to connect, they met resistance as they reached the protective force field.

The resistance didn't last a second as it was not only stamina that Weiss was running low on. Aura levels depleted, the strike continued unabated. The extra split second kept the heiress from being struck down by all five claws, but one managed to get through and sliced into the skin of her cheek, barely missing her eye.

Letting out a pained cry that sank Ruby's heart, Weiss held a hand to her cheek. Blood from the deep cut quickly stained her fingers and face.

The Beowolf would've pressed the attack had it not been for the black Taijitu that Weiss hadn't trapped with her ice wall. Having slithered passed her frozen barrier, the oversized snake knocked the Beowolf aside in order to try and swallow the heiress whole. Weiss managed to back-flip out of the way, avoiding the cavernous mouth.

When she landed it was to be hit with the Taijitu's tail. The force sent the heiress flying back, bouncing off the ground once, and then slamming into a tree.

The strong, thick trunk held.

The bone within Weiss's body that made that horrifying snap upon impact did not.

Eyes going wide with unspeakable pain, Weiss opened her mouth in a silent scream. Her consciousness let her feel it briefly before it too gave out on her. With Myrtenaster falling from her limp fingers, the heiress slumped against the bark. The only movement that came from her was her long hair. Having come loose from its ponytail, it fell like a curtain around her unmoving form.

The Beowolf loped up until it was towering over the seemingly lifeless heiress. Its jaws opening wide to reveal its jagged teeth, it bent down with every intention to sink them into the back of her neck.

It didn't realize it was dead until its two halves had already hit the ground.

Ruby was breathing heavily but not from exhaustion. With the blade of Crescent Rose embedded in the soil after her successful blow on the Beowolf, the Huntress stared with shocked, grief-stricken eyes at the limp form of her lover.

Guilt, rage, sorrow, anguish, and hate that was not only directed at the Grimm but herself too came together to form an emotional storm that thundered within her chest. Staring at the broken body of the most important person in her life, the blood that dripped from her chin, and the blood that pooled around the two halves of the Beowolf, the red coloring stuck to Ruby's vision.

Soon it was all she could see: a red haze that left her blind to anything else. It did not leave her deaf and Ruby took note of the menacing hiss as a Taijitu rose up behind her. Identifying the sound as belonging to the one responsible for hurting Weiss, Ruby had spun around, the embroiled emotions within her coming forth in a scream as she brought her scythe around to enact her vengeance.

She couldn't remember what, exactly, took place in this blinding world of red that she found herself in. She remembered hearing screams – one her own, the rest not – and brief moments of satisfaction that lessened the all-consuming rage and grief that afflicted her. The relief ended abruptly, forcing her to look for more of it.

When her vision cleared, Ruby found herself, Weiss, and a circle of death and destruction that had been established around them.

She became aware of a body that had become sore, especially the agony that radiated from her left arm. The torn muscles and tendons that the doctors would identify later had not come from the Grimm but, rather, an overexertion of the tissue that had been further strained with an unstable application of Aura while madly swinging Crescent Rose. Had Ruby continued, she could've torn her whole body apart.

She almost wished that she had. Lacking relief, she could do nothing to appease her anguish that fully came to bear on her. It only got worse when she retrieved Weiss. Within her grip she could feel something shift within her girlfriend's body that shouldn't. The cut that parted the flesh beneath her left eye painted a portion of her face and strands of her white hair red. She looked like the corpse that Ruby feared her to be.

That slow, weak breath offered Ruby both hope and fear as she made her way back to civilization. Hope for as long as it continued Weiss was still alive. Fear for the very real possibility that at any moment it would stop.

It nearly did. When the doctors had taken her away Ruby thought it did. She hoped that it was just the fear of separation that made her imagine it when she handed over Weiss; the fear that she would never see her again.

It was Ruby's exhaustion and mind-numbing grief that allowed the doctors to treat her. Even if the personnel that treated her arm couldn't help Weiss, she would've refused their help with the mistaken thought that she was taking them away from making sure she continued to draw breath in this world. Of course, once they realized that it was Weiss Schnee they were treating, it was probably only the best that were taking care of her.

It also meant that her father was going to become involved. As if timing it perfectly, he came barging into Weiss's room just as Ruby was being told that her snow angel would live before dragging the Huntress out.

And here they were.

"She is the one and only successor to our line," the Schnee Head growled, barely containing the rage that had sent him into a rant earlier and will probably occur again. "In our war it would've only taken one act of sabotage, one successful assassination, one slip of security to end the Schnee name right then and there. And just as she was beginning to take her place in the company, one decision of a stupid little girl almost kills her!"

Ruby had nothing to say as there was very little she could voice against the truth. With her head bowed, eyes watering, and breathing labored, she took the insults full force.

I'm sorry, she silently apologized. She didn't say it out loud as it would only make it worse. She knew that because it was what had launched him into an incomprehensible raving when she said them upon sighting him.

"You are nothing," he continued. "A commoner. A delinquent!" His voice was getting louder with each word. "You think being a Huntress means anything? It does not!"

It doesn't, she silently agreed. Although her chin was practically touching her chest she could hear the footsteps that paced in front of her. The subtle changes in the air hinted that Weiss's father was now gesturing wildly with his arms.

"You fight and die as you should!" he exclaimed. "A Schnee controls the very thing that keeps humanity alive! By controlling Dust we control our evolution as a species! Humanity needs Dust! It does not need the dogs that are sent out to fight beasts we have already conquered! My daughter does not need you!"

There came a cold, wet sensation as her tears trailed down her face. She doesn't.

All Ruby had to do was turn her head to see the indisputable proof of that. She may have been pulled from the room but the door remained open and she was standing at the perfect spot to peer into it. With the curtain having remained pulled to the side, she could still see the battered body of Weiss.

The worst had been dealt with. While it was difficult to see them with the hospital gown and blankets that had been pulled over her body, the bones had been repositioned and were starting to mend. The bruises and cuts, however, Ruby could see at her girlfriend's bare arms and face, including the one beneath her eye that the Beowolf had been responsible for.

The doctors had been too busy saving her life to donate their time on a cut that, while deep, had not been life-threatening when compared to the others. When Weiss had been declared as in the clear, her body's own natural healing abilities supplemented by her slowly-replenishing Aura had started to heal it on its own. Any stitches that could've prevented scarring would be too late now.

It was going to leave a mark that would always remind Ruby how she had let Weiss down. When, for one horrifying moment, she had come close to losing her while she had been in her company. The ache in her chest that came from looking at that injury made Ruby wonder how she could possibly look at her again without being reminded of her failure.

The answer to that was easy: she couldn't.

"YOU GET AWAY!"

The palm struck her hard against her chest, winding her. The unexpected blow knocked Ruby back, away from the door, away from Weiss, and onto the floor. She coughed as she tried to catch her breath.

Above, Mr. Schnee glowered down at her. "Don't even look at her!" Turning to the open door, he reached out, grabbed the handle, and slammed it shut.

With a pained expression both from the blow and her own heartache, Ruby stared at the door that cut her off from Weiss. That was probably going to be the last time she was ever going to see her again.

Whirling back around, the head of the SDC focused back on her, a threat already being spouted, "Do not even think of trying to-"

He stopped when he realized that Ruby was already gone, a settling cloud of rose petals signaling where she had been a moment ago.

"What did you do?"

It had been two weeks since Weiss had been hospitalized. While not yet cleared to go, Weiss had gotten sick of staying in her room and had demanded to at least be allowed to travel and had used whatever pull that came with her name to see it done.

She wanted answers. Not once since she awoke did Ruby come to see her. When she asked about a red-cloaked Huntress, the staff had been rather evasive about replying to her. The uncertain glances that they gave to one another told the heiress all she needed to know. She had suspected the reason for her girlfriend's disappearance as soon as she realized that her father was here.

He didn't come to see her either. The pieces were painfully easy to put together.

"What. Did. You. Do?" she questioned again, nearly spitting out each word. The glare she sent at his back looked as angry as the scar that was still raw and red beneath her eye.

She had known how to find him. As soon as she claimed a power wheelchair and left her room she would find him. Rather, he would put himself in a position where she would be able to locate him when he was alerted. After all, he wanted to make sure that his successor wouldn't hurt herself and if all he had to do was answer a couple questions then he would.

Weiss hadn't been disappointed; she didn't even have to leave the current floor before she found him. The hall was unusually empty – his doing, she knew, to avoid an audience of the common folk – with him right in the middle and staring out a window to look upon the human city.

She really wished that she didn't need the wheelchair when she pushed the stick forward to slowly eliminate the distance between them. Unfortunately, even with her anger, she understood the gravity of her injuries. Her bones had been properly set and were mending but she had to be careful. Even if she had been formerly trained as a Huntress and could properly manipulate her Aura to quicken the healing process, broken bones were still broken bones. They would still need time and it was best that she didn't strain them unless she wanted to lengthen her stay here.

And an argument with her father can be very strenuous.

"What I had to do."

The calm, cool words were clear evidence of that as Weiss tightly gripped the arms of the chair. She hated that. When she had been a child, when the White Fang had been at their most active, her father had been far from cool and collected at home. In public he remained a businessman, in the privacy of their home Weiss remembered him more as a madman.

Being the false businessman here was equivalent to a slap in the face for Weiss.

I bet this wasn't what Ruby saw, you bastard, Weiss thought, fuming. You probably went rabid. Thrown as many insults and threats as you could to scare her off. The idea that she hadn't seen Ruby because it worked infuriated her.

"Do you think I didn't know?" her father questioned, turning around to face her with his hands behind his back. Calm and controlled. Too bad Weiss could see the same anger and offence that burned in her eyes within his matching own. "About your trysts with that woman? We all have them and I was willing to let you indulge in your share thinking that you would move on."

"Move on?" Weiss growled.

"Yes, well, apparently that was taking you a little longer so I gave it a little push. We all wish to remain young and rebellious Weiss but we have to grow up eventually. I was willing to let you go to Beacon because I thought it would help satisfy your needs while improving your status and reputation through success to better prepare you for your role. Surely you understood that for you came to accept your place in the company right after you graduated. You just needed a bit more time to get over some of your…disagreeable tastes."

Disagreeable? Her knuckles turned white with how tight she gripped her chair. My Ruby? She's the best thing that's ever happened to me.

"My business was my own," she spoke aloud. "You had no right to interfere in my personal affairs."

Her father shook his head. "Ah, see, that's the problem. The good of humanity is what we're about, Weiss; there is no room for personal affairs."

Weiss raised her brow, accentuating both scars while she spat, "Good for humanity? You mean the good for the Schnee dynasty."

He shrugged. "I see no difference between the two. Dust has been what allowed humanity to survive and prosper and it is the Schnee name that spreads it all throughout the four kingdoms. We use it as a resource that we cannot survive without. That chair which you are sitting in right now is powered by Dust. The technology that saved your life was only achievable through Dust."

"Dust allowed humanity to fight the Grimm," Weiss countered. "Huntresses like Ruby were the ones who gave us a chance to build our civilization in the first place when we had been on the brink of destruction. They fight the Grimm even now so that we don't return to dust."

"I don't see how that invalidates my point. If anything, it proves just how wasteful it is to invest in that woman and her kind."

There was that word again: invest. Weiss had grown up around that word and had learned to tolerate it. She had been an investment, had accepted it, and it was why she got on with her life knowing that she could never have any kind of closer relationship with her father. When she had been younger and more naïve she thought proving to her father the potential she had would get him to love her.

But hearing Ruby being considered as not only an investment but a wasted one stoked the fires that burned within her soul. She knew that the answer to her next question would make her livid but she found herself asking it. "Why, pray tell, would she be considered as a wasted investment?"

Her father seemed surprised at that which Weiss took some satisfaction in. His answer, however, made it short-lived. Nodding in what she assumed was an understanding manner, he spoke, "I see. Understandable. I guess four years at Beacon would affect your thinking on the subject."

Weiss glared, wordlessly telling him to get on with it.

"Huntsmen and Huntresses have saved humanity from the Grimm, I'll give you that," he allowed. "But that was years ago." He motioned with his hand to take in not only the hall that they were standing in but the cityscape that could be viewed from the window. "Do we really look that desperate anymore? Are we anywhere near as primitive as we once were? Humanity has advanced, our technology jumped ahead by leaps and bounds. All of this was because of Dust, not your Ruby Rose.

"They're just exterminators now that are sent out to maintain the status quo. They're not contributing to society as we are. When we grow it is through economics, politics, and business. Not fighting. We maintain their combat schools for convenience but even then that'll change. Dust and the technology that they use will eventually replace them in a matter of time. Well, if they live that long. After all, it is a dangerous business and you never know what may befall them even if it's something as simple as a little bad luck."

Weiss had listened to all of it in silence. She hadn't spoken a word, instead enduring that arrogance and superior tone that had her grinding her teeth. Her arms were shaking and she wasn't sure what was going to break first; her chair or still-healing body.

Then she heard it. That last sentence that froze her entire being. The glare that she had been directing at her father was replaced with something else: disbelief.

"I happened to hear about a job when I was coming over here."

He…he didn't.

In response to her concern, Ruby shrugged. "Could be in response to Atlas's population rising. It didn't come from one of Professor Port's contacts but I don't see any reason to worry about it. Does it really matter?"

Her father was many things. She hated him for all of them but not once did she think he could go that far. Could the war with the White Fang and his own subjugation of a species turn his thinking to justify something like that?

"Do you think I didn't know?"

If he had truly known…if he had been able to track her…had figured out that she was going to be in the area…

"Yes, well, apparently that was taking you a little longer so I gave it a little push."

If you had Lien you had options. You can create opportunities. If you greased the right palms you can gain information…or keep it away.

"The good of humanity is what we're about, Weiss; there is no room for personal affairs."

Lost in this appalling thought, Weiss didn't notice that her father had been approaching her until she felt his hand on her shoulder. She jerked her head up, her disbelieving blue eyes meeting ones that have turned cold.

"You are my daughter and you are a Schnee," he spoke, his gaze and voice unwavering, completely unaffected by her silent suspicions that she directed at him. "You are the only one who's worthy to be my successor. You have done me proud, Weiss."

A long time ago that had been all that Weiss wanted to hear from her father. It had been what had given her the motivation to go through a rotten childhood and harsh upbringing.

And all she wanted to do right now was bite that hand that he had never once given her before. Whereas Ruby's touch had made her warm and loved, her father's chilled her to bone and disgusted her.

"Your three years aren't up yet but I can see that you will do the Schnee name proud."

I don't want it.

The only reason that Weiss didn't were those words that came unbidden to her mind. They had come to her immediately, without warning, and she found that they were completely and utterly sincere.

I don't want this.

Dropping his hand from her shoulder, her father walked away.

I don't want any of this!

Weiss felt sick. The nausea kept her in place, forcing her to lie back as she was afraid any movement on her part would push her over the edge. She took deep, slow breaths in an attempt to center herself.

Is that what being a Schnee means? Is that what my name is? Is that what my entire family is built upon? With a plan of deceit, subjugation, blood, and madness?

Forget trying to change it. Forget trying to better it. Her name be damned, she was going to let it end here.

Weiss eventually returned to her room. She stayed without fuss and waited until she was cleared to go. Before she left, the hospital staff handed over some items that had been requested to be kept for her: her Myrtenaster complete with scabbard and a stack of Lien. The latter, she soon figured out, was her cut from the disastrous job plus extra to cover for 'unforeseeable complications'.

How considerate of him.

She was going to need it. Once she got out of the hospital she made a quick stop to her apartment to retrieve some of her personal effects. Then she made a direct line for the docks where she booked a discreet, anonymous passage on one of the freighters heading to Vale.

She was going home.

Chapter Text

Considering that both humans and faunus lived in a world of extravagant cities with metal buildings several stories high and possessing such advanced technology that had constructed the airships that could fly over them, the existence of the flat-roofed stone establishment known as the Haywood Tavern could be seen as primitive.

As its current owner would inform all who asked - with much detail and waste of time -, the tavern was nearly as old as the stones that had been used for its construction within the forest clearing. Having been built at the edge of Vale's borders before the kingdom even fully-established them, the tavern had been used numerous times as a staging area for Huntsmen and Huntresses of the past due to its close proximity with the wild zones of the Grimm.

They still did. While Haywood did serve to provide food, shelter, and drink to the traveling warriors who appreciated the history, simplicity, and seclusion, it was also a place to collect the latest information concerning the Grimm and job listings of whoever requested some of those monsters to be cleared.

For Weiss, it had been the closest thing she ever had to a real home. She rapped her knuckles upon the wooden door. She couldn't remember there ever being a time when Haywood was closed but she wanted to be polite and let the owner know who it was.

"I shall be with you in a moment!" a voice came from the other side. Even with the door muffling the sounds, Weiss could hear the creaking of aged planks as the owner came close. The wood weren't the only things affected by time, the hinges squeaking as the entrance to the tavern was swung open.

With those overly large brows and moustache, it was difficult to make out facial expressions when combined with the lack of visible eyes. Fortunately, between her years at Beacon and her time spent at this tavern, Weiss had learned how to read the elderly gentleman who greeted them.

Upon looking down to spot the former heiress, the corners of the moustache rose upwards while brows lifted. "Ah, Weiss! How good it is to see you!"

Smiling warmly, Weiss bowed her head. "Peter."

Returning the gesture, Peter Port looked up to see who else had come with her. "And Mrs. Long, too! How it warms my heart to be visited by such favored students!"

Offering a smile and bow of her own, Blake greeted with, "It's good to see you again, professor."

"Now, now," came a well-mannered scolding, "we are not in the classroom any longer nor am I your professor! Fellow Huntsmen and Huntresses should address each other as such!"

Cat ears twitching and amber eyes tinged with amusement, Blake conceded. "Very well, Peter."

"Much more like it! Come! Enter my humble abode!"

Humble was certainly one way to describe it. A hardy if weathered place, its floor was decorated with clean tables and booths while on the walls were stuffed heads of slain Grimm of varying species and ancient weapons that similarly long-dead warriors had used including Port's own Blunderaxe. An Ursa skin rug was laid out in front of a fireplace. Behind the waist-high wooden counter where the ale and other beverages were poured from barrels was the door that led to the kitchen. A very enticing scent drifted from there.

The two women entered, shrugging off their jackets after brushing the snow from both the clothing and their own hair. Vale was in the middle of its winter season which explained how there lacked any other soul within the tavern. Vicious and bred by the darkness they may be, the Grimm were no more immune to the changing seasons as any other animal. Not to say that they weren't out and about during winter but their movements were minimized and the jobs were fewer in number. Hunters usually used the opportunity for a break or to travel to the other side of Remnant where the other three kingdoms had warmer climates.

After handing over her jacket that Port politely took along with Blake's to hang, Weiss looked around to find that little had changed. Off to the side was a staircase that led to the second floor. There, Weiss had used one of the rooms as her own for several months.

Although Blake and Yang had offered to take in Weiss when the former heiress returned to Vale, she had politely declined. Not only did she not wish to impose on her teammates' happy life, there was one other thing that Weiss needed that someone else was more suited to provide for.

Weiss needed a teacher and a location to reintroduce her to the Huntressing life. Peter Port and his family's tavern were the logical choices.

Though having been retired for quite a few years now, Port hadn't hesitated to take his former student back under his wing. While Haywood being a meeting spot for career Hunters had its benefits for Weiss to pick up tips and advice, the close proximity of the Grimm-populated wild zones proved to be as much of a training spot as Beacon's Emerald Forest and Forever Fall had been.

During breaks between training Weiss would work at the tavern. When she had left Atlas and her family behind she had done so with Myrtenaster, the Lien from that disastrous job, the clothes on her back, and other personal items that she had retrieved from her apartment. She wanted nothing to do with her family, especially its blood money.

Port had tried to persuade the former heiress that it wasn't needed but Weiss had been adamant. No longer was she going to allow someone to just give her what she wanted; she was going to work for it.

Despite the seclusion, Weiss had known ever since she stepped onto that freighter that would take her away that her father would eventually try and come for her. As not only his successor but the only other person who had the Schnee blood in her veins, Weiss was an irreplaceable component for the future of the Schnee Dust Company.

She realized she had been found during one of her waitressing days three months after she had settled down. Members of RWBY and JNPR were only a small percentage of the various Huntsmen and Huntresses that came to the tavern but the prickling sensation at the back of her neck had alerted Weiss to the individual who had taken the darkest of Haywood's corners for himself.

She recognized who he was as soon as she laid eyes on him. While wearing a cloak, Weiss had noted discrepancies that separated him from a Huntsman; clothes that were too smooth as well as his face, no unorthodox weapon at his side, and not one scar, callous, or anything that would've come from such a rough lifestyle. If Weiss had to describe him it was that he was too clean.

He had also been taking too much of an interest in her. She had felt his eyes on her for several minutes before she couldn't take it any longer and approached him, asking if he had an order that needed to be filled.

He ignored her question entirely. Looking up at her, he had simply asked, "You wouldn't happen to be Weiss Schnee, would you?"

Whatever unease Weiss felt at the question she had hid perfectly. Offering him a polite smile, she had replied, "I believe you have me confused with someone else."

He didn't say anything but his eyes were clearly focused at her face to examine the snow-white hair in its low, centered ponytail and the two scars at her left eye. After an uncomfortable, tension-filled silence he waved her off.

He didn't come back until days later with Weiss suspecting that he was contacting her father and would come back after receiving further orders. On the third day, Weiss was proven right when she spotted that cloak right when she felt the hairs at the back of her neck rise up.

"There's no need for games," he started when she dared to approach him. "I know who you are and, more importantly, your father knows you're here."

Weiss did little to hide her contempt this time. Lips turning into a thin line while blue eyes conjured up a frosty glare, she questioned, "Is that so? He wants me back I assume." It wasn't a question.

"He does. He says that you're the only one that can possibly lead the comp-"

"Save it!" Weiss snapped. "You said no games, right? I'll get right to it then: if I wanted the company I would've stayed. The fact that I'm here means that I don't want it. For all I care it can burn along with him. You can tell him that I said that, got it?"

He didn't reply, not right away. Taking the time to digest her words and realizing she meant them, he stressed, "Your father wants you back."

Weiss easily picked up on the warning. "And I just said no." Her already narrowed eyes became slits. "Are you here to try and make me come back?"

The man shrugged in response. "Not me. My job was to find you and deliver a message. I have done so and now I will deliver your message to him. Whatever plans he makes and whoever he decides to hire to carry them out for him is not my concern." He rose from his seat. "This will probably be the last you see of me but not the last you hear from him."

"I appreciate the warning."

His fingers briefly touched his hood; a silent sign of farewell and, perhaps, a little bit of respect if Weiss was reading him right. Then he turned and left. As he predicted, Weiss never saw him again.

And also as he predicted, she ended up hearing from her father again exactly three weeks later. One night she awoke to some noise outside of Haywood. Brain still addled with sleep, Weiss didn't think too much of it but was in the process of getting out of bed anyway when there came a loud thud of something hitting the side of the tavern, sending vibrations throughout the building.

If that hadn't awoken her when it did the loud blast of what sounded like a cannon going off would've.

Weiss had immediately snatched Myrtenaster and shot down the stairs, already assuming the worst. By the time she was about to reach the door it slowly opened.

She had been expecting an enemy, not Peter Port who calmly strode in as if he had been out for a midnight stroll. A stroll that apparently required the use of his weapon as the Blunderaxe that usually hung from a mantle on the wall was in hand. Smoke was trailing from the flared muzzle. That's when Weiss noticed that there were no more noises coming from outside.

"Oh, I apologize!" Port said as soon as he spotted Weiss. With that same calmness he slowly closed the door behind him and used a hand to dust off his burgundy suit. "I was hoping I didn't wake you!"

"What happened?" Weiss asked, nerves on edge despite his easy manner.

His moustache shifted around in puzzlement. "Hm? Oh, you mean that minor ruckus? Nothing to fear, dear girl! There were just some rather unsavory chaps that needed a well-deserved lesson in manners!" He sighed dramatically. "A professor's work is never truly finished it seems!"

Weiss wasn't sure how to respond. She looked to the closed door, Port, and then his weapon. No blood – his or someone else's -, no injury, not even a strand out of place whether it be his suit or hair. The smoke had finally dissipated.

"As I seem to have interrupted your rest," Port continued while walking past her, "how about I brew us up some tea as an apology?"

Weiss had kept her eyes on the older man, turning her head to watch him a little longer before looking back to the closed door. As tempted as she was to conduct her own search, the fencer found her tense muscles relaxing. "Tea sounds great."

"Splendid!" Port placed the Blunderaxe back upon its mantle, apparently deciding to clean the soot that clung to the muzzle later. "Take a seat by the fireplace and I'll kindle us a flame! You must be absolutely chilled!"

The adrenaline bleeding off of her, Weiss had to admit that she was starting to feel a little cold from the night air as she didn't even bother to change out of her night gown. Without another word, the former heiress took a seat by the fireplace while Port disappeared into the kitchen.

Later, with the two sitting in silent contentment while both tea and fire warmed them, Weiss would find all of this rather ironic. She was not sitting in some fancy apartment or mansion that was many times too big for one person nor was she surrounded by trinkets that did nothing but show off her family's wealth. Yet sitting here, right now, within a primitive stone tavern, Weiss couldn't remember being any more at peace.

And when she directed a smile to Port, she realized that she was in the presence of someone who had become more of a father to her than her real one had ever been.

That night nonetheless told her that she needed to move on. It wasn't just out of fear of further reprisals directed at Port - not that she doubted he could handle it - but determination to finally embrace a career as a true Huntress. With Port's contacts she got a job which she soon completed. Then she got another and completed that too. Then another and another.

With each job Weiss would prove to herself that she had what it takes. The muscles that had slackened when she had been cooped up in an office had been strengthened, the stamina that had failed her before was holding out longer, and her Dust spells could be cast with increasing number while her Aura held strong.

It wasn't just the Grimm that became her prey. The newly-minted Huntress would later have more visits from some of her father's hired help but she dealt with them as easily. It required even less effort when Weiss eventually got her own place in Vale where two certain teammates of hers couldn't resist getting involved with trouble.

The attempts to bring her back to her father and the company only stopped when both ceased to exist. Without a successor, her father did exactly what she expected him to do: destroy his company. Unwilling to see it in the hands of someone who did not possess the Schnee name or blood, he had taken it apart and sold it piece by piece. Despite all the media coverage that sought to record every last minute of the SDC's demise, there was very little concerning what happened to the head of the company other than his mysterious disappearance.

If losing his company didn't kill him, Weiss hoped that what happened afterwards would. Considering it was the faunus who held the most knowledge and the most experience when it came to mining and handling Dust, it was the very laborers who he and his father had subjugated for so long who eventually took controlling interest of all mining operations of the former Schnee Quarry.

Her family, and thus her personal battles, over, Weiss was free to enjoy the present and establish her own future.

"You're here a bit earlier than I expected," Port informed them after hanging their jackets. "The pot roast is going to need at least another twenty minutes before the squash and artichokes are sufficiently tender!"

The former professor had become a bit thinner with his advancing age but his bulk, outdoor lifestyle, and extravagant knowledge of the Grimm hinted him to being a surprisingly good cook. During her stay in Haywood, Weiss had learned that Port really wasn't kidding when he considered the Grimm as prey. If the stuffed heads and Ursa skin rugs were any indication, Port was well-versed in the methods that preserved the bodies of slain Grimm so that furs and meat can be collected and used appropriately. She fully expected the beef used in the pot roast had been taken from the body of a Boarbatusk which Port may or may not have kept caged somewhere before turning it into dinner.

Smiling reassuringly, Weiss took a seat at the counter with Blake following her lead. "It's okay. I'm sure we can pass the time over some of your savory tea."

"A marvelous idea, my dear! I shall return momentarily!"

"He really grows on you after a while," Blake commented when the man disappeared back into the kitchen. With a humored grin she added, "By then you can't help but find his personality rather refreshing."

Weiss nodded to that, her smile turning fond. "Long, self-absorbed stories aside, you'd be surprised how much wisdom there is behind him. And cooking skills."

At that, Blake's grin became uncertain, her right cat ear matching the movements of her brow that furrowed worriedly. "As much as I appreciate the invite…a Boarbatusk pot roast?"

"Yeah I know, it sounded crazy to me too. At least I'm giving you fair warning; when I first found out I already had two slices of beef that I suddenly wanted to come back out." At Blake's shudder, Weiss quickly assured, "It was still good! I mean the only reason I asked where he got the meat from was because it didn't taste like anything that I've tried before."

"I'll say."

"…I meant that in the best way possible. It's the Grimm meat concept you have to get past; the taste itself is rather good. Besides, if there's a Grimm tuna out there you'd probably be all over that."

Blake's eyes widened at that, her pupils dilating at such a thought. "Thankfully that's not the case."

"Are you sure about that? I mean you never take any jobs that involve aquatic Grimm so for all you know your last sushi platter had some succulent Leviathan in there."

Blake's next shudder was much more violent to the point where the faunus was hugging herself afterwards. "Stop trying to make me distrust fish."

As much as Weiss was enjoying teasing her teammate, she did relent. "Alright, alright, we'll move to something more pleasant. How's it going with Suko?"

The name proved to have the complete opposite effect in contrast to the one that Grimm tuna induced. Her expression warming, Blake presented a loving smile. "As of last week he's Suko Long now."

Eyes going wide, Weiss sat straight up in her seat as she regarded Blake. "Are you serious? It was finally approved?"

Blake nodded, her smile rivaling the one that had been stuck to her face for days when Yang proposed to her.

Weiss hadn't been the only one who saw an end to her personal battles. While she was putting an end to the Schnee Dust Company, Blake was assisting in dismantling the White Fang.

It was funny how that worked. White Fang had been steadily losing popularity and power over the years but it was only Weiss's changes in the SDC – and SDC's fall – that really crippled the organization. While Weiss had made the changes to clear her own conscious and repent for her family's wrongdoings, she hadn't realized that it would send the shockwaves that helped quicken the process. It was not just a case of faunus laborers being given opportunities by one of the largest companies – and one whose heads had held anti-faunus views – but it was also allowing them to better integrate into human society.

The shifting human/faunus ratio in Atlas eventually influenced the kingdoms into taking more accepting stances between the two races. True, there was still room for improvement even today but compared to years ago relations between human and faunus have never been better.

And White Fang, which had been built upon the discrimination and terror of the world, found itself unable to exist without those things. Not only was it losing justification in its act of violence but, more often than not, those same acts would catch innocent faunus lives within the collateral damage. Public view – human and faunus – turned against them and membership met a sharp decline.

In the end the only people who stayed with White Fang were the radicals and maniacs who were either that blind or delved in murder for the sake of murder. While upholding her own Huntressing duties, Blake decided to see to her personal ones by using her old contacts in the White Fang – specifically those who hadn't left with her but had remained until now – to assist local law enforcement in either taking into custody or eliminating the remaining members.

This included two bomb makers; a faunus couple, previously miners, who became very good at using Dust as improvised explosives. After a bombing spree that claimed multiple lives with the bombs themselves all being similarly-designed, Blake had helped track them down. Unfortunately, the very real threat of suicide bombings and itchy trigger fingers led to the couple's deaths rather than their apprehension in a bloody shootout with authorities.

Blake had thought that was the end of it…until a debrief at the local precinct had her running into a four-year-old faunus child who had been in custody: their son.

Weiss didn't doubt her teammate's goodwill but she suspected that little Suko's indirect ties to the White Fang and the horns that jutted out from beneath his brown hair had possibly given her a little more incentive to act. Blake had used whatever pulls her reputation possessed and the favors she collected in order to see to it that she wouldn't be going home without him.

Yang's attitude at seeing the small child who hid behind her wife's legs had been promising with a shake of her head and a comment of, "Strays bringing home strays. Should've seen this coming."

Suko's attitude to Yang was drastically different. While the horned boy had been open towards Blake, it was the opposite when it came to her human wife. Not only had he been hiding behind Blake upon being introduced, he had also been glaring at the blonde woman.

The opening weeks had been…rough. As long as Blake was around, Suko was tame. When left alone with Yang, he was a demon. Violent tantrums would usually erupt when in the presence of the brawler and on more than one occasion Blake would come home to find Yang in the center of the aftermath of a storm that had come through one of the rooms of their house picking up pieces of torn cloths and shattered glass.

Though known for possessing a temper herself, the circumstances surrounding Suko's origins – not to mention her wife's hopes - had Yang exerting a surprising measure of patience. It didn't mean that it would hold out forever and when she had awoken one night to find the bed she and Blake shared sprinkled with strands of golden locks and her long mane several inches shorter that had been it.

Blake was glad that an impromptu haircut had been all that Suko had done with the scissors. As for her whereabouts during that time, it had been her turn to take a Huntressing job and she wasn't due to return for two more days.

So she hadn't been there when Yang finally exploded on the four-year-old. She didn't know what was said – although Yang would admit that the word Grimmspawn might have been used once or twice – but the end results were both surprising and heartwarming. While Yang raged, Suko had stood defiantly against her with that glare that he tended to direct at her, willingly taking what verbal abuse came his way.

Yang only stopped when she noticed that Suko's defiant stance started to form cracks with the appearance of watering eyes and a quivering lip. Feeling horrible and ashamed, Yang had taken the young faunus into her arms to hold him tight. Suko had screamed and struggled to get out but the strength of a Huntress proved too much. Eventually the struggles turned into shakes and the screams turned into sobs with the boy soon clinging to her.

Things got a lot better afterwards. With Suko becoming comfortable with his new home, the wife and wife pair decided to fill out the paperwork for an official adoption, the results of which Weiss was now hearing.

The former heiress tested his new, full name aloud. "Sukoshi Jiao Long."

She recognized the middle and last portions of his name belonging to the same dialect of the human language that Yang's name could be traced to. The first, on the other hand, was rooted to a faunus one. Weiss would find the name beautifully appropriate for his mixed upbringing.

The corners of Blake's lips were as high as her ears. "He and Yang are visiting her family for the weekend to celebrate. I'll be heading over there later. Consider yourself invited if you wish to join us."

"I'm happy to hear that everything worked out and will certainly consider it." Blake's joy and smile turned out to be infectious with Weiss feeling her lips stretch to mimic the expression, glad to hear a happy ending for one half of Team RWBY.

Unfortunately, it reminded Weiss of the elusive closure for the other half. As much as she hated to kill this pleasant atmosphere, she couldn't stop her smile from shrinking. This, inevitably, led to an inquiry. "I don't suppose Ruby has met her adopted nephew."

Blake must've been expecting it with how quickly her expression turned somber before Weiss had finished asking. She shook her head. "No, she hasn't. Yang's getting worried."

Weiss sighed heavily, her head dropping in disappointment even if she had been expecting that answer.

When Ruby fled from the hospital she ended up returning to Vale where she had stayed at Yang and Blake's during her own recovery. Being the older sister, Yang had bombarded the younger one with questions when she opened the door to her house to find Ruby standing there with her arm in its sling. She didn't realize that it was more than just the limb that had been injured.

Ruby hadn't told them what happened. They would find out the next day but when she entered their household she had stumbled in with a listlessness that contrasted harshly with her usual energetic personality. Without a word she went to the spare bedroom where she remained for the rest of the night. During that time, Blake had awoken with cat ears swiveling in the direction to the sounds of muffled weeping.

The morning news started with a report about the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company having stabilized after doctors had worked to save her life in the aftermath of a savage battle with the Grimm. Unsurprisingly, Yang had shot from the kitchen table and made a beeline to her sister. Blake soon followed. Standing in a doorway that had been flung open, she had silently watched as Yang took her sister in her arms, whispering soothing words in her ear as she held her tight.

Ruby did little to react. Though having been drawn into her sister's embrace, the younger Huntress seemed oblivious to it. Her uninjured arm remained hanging limp at her side and while her chin was resting atop Yang's shoulder, her silver eyes stared ahead practically lifeless. The red, tear-stained cheeks reminded Blake of the sobs that she heard during the night.

She had remained in the room during her recovery, hardly ever leaving it. Yang would deliver her meals - barely eaten - and attempt to breathe some life back into her once lively sister but when she returned to her wife, Blake could see the disappointment and helplessness on her face.

A week before Weiss would leave the hospital and her father, Ruby left their company. One day the two women happened to hear their front door opening and closing. An immediate investigation turned up with an empty bedroom and Ruby nowhere in sight. Later that day a call came from Peter Port informing them that Ruby had stopped by to check the job listings before departing as quickly as she arrived. Her demeanor had worried him enough to contact them.

By the time Weiss did arrive at Vale, hoping to reunite with her team and her love, Ruby was already halfway around the world.

From then on Ruby would remain aloof, being sighted at one part of Remnant taking on a Huntressing job before disappearing and reappearing miles elsewhere for another one. Tracking, nonetheless contacting her, became impossible. This was not to say that she had abandoned them entirely. When Weiss had been staying at Haywood, Ruby would make sudden, short-lived appearances at the Long household. Although attempting to appear like her old, cheerful self, the married couple easily saw through the facade.

Any mentioning of Weiss made Ruby's stay that much shorter. When news came of the SDC's collapse and Weiss taking on a career as a Huntress, Ruby hardly ever appeared. While the sightings continued of a red-cloaked Huntress with a giant scythe taking on jobs, none of them involved her being anywhere near the city of Vale or even within Vytal itself.

Thus, true happiness continued to elude the former heiress.

"She has to come back eventually," Blake attempted to assure her in the wake of the snow-haired woman's crestfallen expression. "Her team is here. You are here."

"I'm wondering if it's because I'm here that she isn't," Weiss murmured depressingly.

Blake didn't know what to say. Port's timely arrival with a tray containing a pot of freshly-brewed tea not only spared her but his loud, baritone voice helped alleviate the dismal air somewhat.

"I believe you are in for a treat, Blake!" Port declared, setting the tray on the counter before pouring each woman a cup. "This special blend is made from herbs that can be found growing within the surrounding forest! It's fortunate that I possessed the hindsight to collect a batch before the coming of winter!"

His self-boasting bringing back some of her good mood, Weiss accepted her cup while Blake sniffed hers experimentally. Her faunus ears perked up in a clear sign of approval. "It has a rather soothing scent," she complimented.

"I assure you that the taste is equally so!" Port promised. "I don't suppose I have ever regaled you with the story of the tea's origins?"

"There's no nee-"

"Actually," Weiss interrupted, her tone causing Blake to look towards her fearfully. "I don't believe Blake has heard this one. It was during your great grandfather's time, correct?"

"Your memory is as sharp as ever! His discovery of the herb just happens to coincide with the largest recording of an elderly Death Stalker that had chosen this very spot as its lair and slain many a brave Huntsmen and Huntress! But I'm sure you have become very familiar of my family's rather tenacious nature that even such a mighty beast would fail to deter!"

Blake was shooting the former heiress a look of betrayal which Weiss returned with a smirk. As if they were back in Beacon, Port was standing proudly with chest jutting forward and arms held behind his back. Pacing in front of the two Huntresses as he recollected on yet another of his family's many accomplishments, the former professor would occasionally bring his hands up to make various, arm-sweeping gestures as if seeking to take an entire classroom rather than two former students.

Weiss found it to be refreshing and a great way to take her away from her broodings. As Port droned on, she would take a sip from her tea that helped sooth her exactly as he said it would before placing it on the counter to focus her attention on the elderly man. At a certain points in his story, Weiss would smile politely before shaking her head in mild exasperation.

When she faced forward again she happened to do so in time to catch the kitchen door slightly ajar.

With one hand on the door, she had opened it enough to poke her head through to take in the scene that had tickled her curiosity. A pair of eyes had started to shift to locate the source of the lecture but only got halfway to spotting the burgundy suit before swiveling to focus on the white form of Weiss. Then she jerked to a halt, becoming as still as a statue. Those silver eyes grew large while the braid and ribbon settled against her chest.

Like the hand that remained on the door, Weiss had been gripping her cup to raise it back up to her lips. The form of red and black similarly froze it and the rest of the heiress in place.

The two women could only look at one another before Port inadvertently got between them, disrupting their sight as he continued with his lecture, unaware of what was happening. Weiss leaned to the side, craning her head to look past him in an attempt to get a second look to prove that she wasn't seeing things.

She barely glimpsed the end of a red cloak before the kitchen door closed.

Weiss had remained in her seat for a second longer as her thoughts attempted to catch up with the results of what she had just seen. Then she was moving. Leaving her tea on the counter, Weiss went around the other side, hardly aware that Port had stopped talking and Blake was visually following the movements of her teammate. Neither of them seemed to notice what she had just seen.

The smell of the still-cooking pot roast hit Weiss full force as she entered the kitchen, scanning around in desperation to look for any sign of the individual. The stove, the brick oven, various cutlery, pots and pans…

…the back door settling back into place.

Weiss was throwing it open a second later, the door banging against the tavern. She traded the warmth of the burning stove and the smell of beef for the frigid temperatures of the winter night. The former heiress whipped her head around, attempting to find a sign of her. Despite Haywood being in the middle of the forest clearing, Weiss couldn't see any hint. She looked down.

A timely breeze blew the rose petals up from the depths of the footprints within the crushed snow. Without thinking, Weiss snatched one of them to better inspect this piece of evidence.

"Ruby…" she breathed, eyes wide and mouth parted in shock.

She returned to Port and Blake with the petal clutched tightly in the palm of her hand. The latter was looking at the fencer curiously before a sniff of the air had her looking at the pale, clenched fist. Curiosity turned into alarm.

Weiss was more concerned with the former, her growing suspicions proving to be valid with how his moustache lowered and brows knitted unhappily.

"You knew," she quietly accused.

"…Suspected," he slowly corrected. Sighing wearily, Port started to look more like his advancing age. "Between how long it's been and a growing pattern I thought she might stop here since you've established yourself in Vale."

The petal was crushed in that tightening fist. "Where?"

"I had been hoping that she was going to do this herself. It would've worked out better had she arrived first and kept distracted until you came." Looking Weiss straight in the eye, he concluded, "The desired results may yet be achieved."

She's fast, Weiss thought while the cold air she breathed in burned her lungs. With her Semblance she can outrun any of us. But she can't maintain that speed for long distances; she couldn't have gone far.

She prayed that her training had been enough. That her stamina would hold out for her to catch up.

"The only place she can go to is the city," Port deduced. "Whether she'll stop at her own quarters or leave entirely I cannot say. You're going to want to catch her before she gets there to be sure. Pray that she sticks to the main road."

The falling snow had lessened into flurries but the ice crystals still stung her face with how fast she was running. She silently congratulated herself for choosing pants instead of a skirt with the changing climate as the snow that she was kicking up so carelessly would've stuck to whatever flesh her boots didn't cover.

Of course there was the folly that she had left her jacket at Haywood. Her blouse had long sleeves but the biting cold pierced through the cloth. She dealt with it; she didn't want to waste another second. Even with the cold blanket of snow she was able to find the main road that she traveled on.

She'd stick to the main road. Weiss was sure of it. Between the darkness and the snow it'd be too treacherous to locate and take any kind of shortcut no matter how well you knew the terrain. Besides, she's a dunce. An idiot. A dolt!

…Please let me catch up to her.

The fear that she wouldn't, that Ruby would again leave her behind had her summoning as much speed as she could, her legs going as fast as she was able to push them no matter how much the snow tried to bog her down. Between her pumping arms, warm air that she puffed out formed into small clouds of fog in front of her face.

I'm not going to let my own weakness stop me this time, she swore. I'm not in a hospital bed, unable to prevent my father from pushing her away. I'm stronger. Faster. I can stop her if I can just get to her!

The footprints that she eventually spotted put her fear somewhat at ease but not her efforts. If anything, the sign that she was on Ruby's trail – that she had stuck to the main road – had Weiss mustering up whatever strength she may be holding back.

Even if the footprints were practically a blur as she sped past them, she was still able to examine them. Their appearance gave her further hope. They were not like the ones Weiss was leaving behind her; messy with kicked up snow and spread out with the long strides of a sprinter. These were the straight, close prints of someone walking.

…Or maybe not that straight. Taking a closer look would require her to slow down – something she was not going to do -, but Weiss thought that one pair of footprints failed to remain steady and in line with the ones before it. The pattern seemed to belong to someone who was stumbling their way along the trail.

In a few minutes Weiss would see that that was exactly what Ruby was doing. The moon was full and bright tonight, offering its pale light to allow the heiress to spot the red cloak that trailed behind Ruby at a longer distance than she would've with its absence. She killed the urge to cry out, afraid that Ruby would break into a run if she knew that Weiss had come after her.

It was the fact that she was closing in on her that Weiss started to notice the details. Ruby was stumbling. When her cloak flapped this way and that, the former heiress could make out with short glimpses how the younger Huntress was swaying in place almost as if the breeze that was manipulating her clothing was doing the same to her own body. Her steps became uneasy, erratic, forcing Ruby to stray to one side of the road before a shift had her moving to the other side.

She looked so…lost. To Weiss it appeared as if Ruby wasn't completely sure about where she was going.

Then she stopped and Weiss found herself doing the same despite having previously sworn that that would be the last thing she would do. Yet when her partner ceased walking and simply stood where she was, Weiss remained just as still.

Although her gasping breath could've alerted the red-cloaked Huntress to her presence, Weiss assumed that Ruby had finally heard the violent crunching of snow beneath her boots when the distance between them shortened to a few meters. Whatever the reason Weiss watched as the hooded head turned to look over one shoulder…and then came around entirely along with the rest of her.

The shadows of the hood kept Ruby's eyes and the entire upper half of her face hidden. The lower half and that braid of hers was all that Weiss was able to see.

But that was enough. What Weiss couldn't see in her eyes the former heiress could make out at her lips. Ruby's mouth was currently open with disbelief as she beheld the former heiress. Like Weiss, cold air was drawn in before being expelled as warm air that fogged the space in front of her. They were not being puffed out with the same violence as her own exhalations but they were not steady and even either.

It then paused as Ruby took in a breath and held it. Her lips drew closer together but hesitated as if she was afraid of using their movement and the air she just collected to speak. They came apart, enough for Weiss to see her teeth and tongue that started to twist into words yet no sound came out. Weiss waited and continued to receive nothing.

Ruby let go of the breath that she had been holding onto, suffocating whatever words she had thought about.

Don't…

Her teeth came together with her lips soon after, sealing her mouth.

Don't.

Her jaw clenched with grim finality.

Don't!

One foot created a small trench in the snow as it slid back. Away from Weiss.

"DON'T GO!"

The loud, pleading cry that shattered the silence of the night surprised Ruby. The muscles in her legs became tight with sudden indecision and that determined set of her lips and chin weakened.

The distraction was enough for Weiss to catch her. The distance between them vanished in seconds and the cold, stinging sensation that had overtaken the skin of her face gave way to the soft warmth of Ruby's chest and blouse as she buried her nose into them to find relief and to take in the fragrance that had been missing for so long. Her arms went beneath Ruby's cloak and around her back, finding their own heat and shelter there as they constricted around her while her hands clutched onto as much cloth as they could to relieve the chilled fingers.

It was only her entire front that was being warmed though. While Weiss pressed herself against Ruby at the same time she pulled her closer, the younger woman was doing little to reciprocate. Her arms were half-raised but the movement had been in response to Weiss colliding into her. They remained there, unwilling to take her in.

They weren't dropping away though, nor were they attempting to pry her off. That was enough for Weiss. After not having Ruby at all for so long, Weiss basked in the feeling of having her warm, strong body within her arms again. She could feel the curves of her waist against her arms, the muscles in her back and shoulder blades where her hands grasped her, and the soft chest that cushioned her face. It was like when she had held Myrtenaster after so long; the memories that she had of Ruby's form coming to mind so easily to her even when time had attempted to bury them.

It allowed her to note subtle differences between this Ruby and the one she had last held onto. Although it seemed stupid to utter at a time like this, Weiss quietly mumbled, "You've gotten thinner, Ruby." Her voice was laced with concern.

Everything about the Huntress seemed to be smaller. Weiss didn't remember being able to wrap her arms around her so easily and the extra space that she found worried her. She could feel the slightest shifting of the young woman that, if Weiss had to compare it to something, was like her shriveling within her cloak, hoping that the cloth would envelope her completely and have her disappear within its shadows.

Ruby wasn't pushing her away but Weiss felt her heart ache at the clear sign that she seemed afraid of her.

"Are you alright?" the former heiress asked quietly, feeling her eyes beginning to water at the silence that was the response. "Have you been taking care of yourself?"

With her head against her chest, Weiss could hear not only the heartbeat of the scythe-wielder but the lungs that shook with clear difficulties that had nothing to do with how tightly Weiss was holding onto her.

Something dripped on top of her head that had nothing to do with snow.

"…Why?"

Weiss looked up.

The hood was still up and hiding her eyes but like before Weiss didn't need to see them. Ruby's chin shook with the trembling of her lips and the moonlight glinted off of moisture that trailed down her cheeks. The lips parted to take in a breath that Ruby used productively this time.

"I almost got you killed," she whispered. The tears gathered at her chin to form another drop that fell upon Weiss. This one happened to drop exactly on her cheek where the tissue of her second scar crossed beneath her eye.

At her peripheral, Weiss noticed how Ruby's hand moved a centimeter towards her face. Whether it was to touch the scar or wipe away the tear – or both – Weiss didn't know as the entire arm halted again.

"I made your father mad at you," Ruby continued brokenly. "You lost your company and your legacy. It was all…" She trailed off and there came a sharp intake of breath before she shakily asked, "…W-why are you smiling like that?"

Weiss was well aware of the smile that had been growing as Ruby listed off her perceived sins. Instead of replying right away, Weiss unwound one arm from around her waist in order to reach up and pull down that hood. Those special eyes and the origin of those tears became exposed to her.

Ruby was afraid. Those beautiful silver pools that were filled with tears had shrunken and constantly sought to avoid looking Weiss in the eye. With her hood having been taken away, the younger woman lowered her head, her neck all but disappearing with how her chin dropped so lowly.

This wasn't her Ruby. This Ruby wasn't even like the one who had been afraid of Weiss. That nervous fifteen-year-old who had been intimidated by her, had been striving for her friendship yet flinching when each word she spoke she thought was going to give her another scolding or harsh look. At least that Ruby had been afraid of just the two of them and not a third, unseen party.

Weiss recognized this trembling, frightened Ruby.

This was how I looked, she realized.

Back when she had been burdened by her family with a plan that wasn't fully her own, Weiss had cried as Ruby was crying when they had been together. Whether alone in a secret meeting point enjoying each other's company or in her bed expressing one another's love, the opinions of others and the knowledge that what they had was damned had Weiss weeping at the unfairness of it all. Ruby had been there for her, holding her just like she was doing as she cried, soothing her with words that everything was going to be okay.

It had taken Weiss a long time to realize that she was worrying about the thoughts of people who didn't matter to her. They had never loved her nor cared for her as Ruby had done. All they had done was demand her to follow as they said she should in order to satisfy their goals.

Here it was the reverse. Ruby was crying because she had allowed the words of another to push her into thinking what she had was wrong. That strong, confident, happy Ruby who had been so willing to go against the establishment had become crushed by it. Even if it was something so pure that it couldn't possibly be wrong, someone had told her otherwise when she had been at her most vulnerable and she had believed it.

And this time it was going to be Weiss to tell her it was okay. Seeing her lover in such torment almost brought her to tears but, this time, she was going to be the strong one.

Standing on her toes, Weiss pressed her lips to one corner of Ruby's mouth. "Because I'm happy to see you again." The salt of Ruby's tears on her lips, the former heiress moved to kiss the other corner. "Because I love you."

How good it felt to finally say those words without any of that underlying fear that she had foolishly allowed herself to feel. Her lips placed one last kiss at the center of Ruby's lips. The salt of her tears became mixed with the sweetness of strawberries.

"So…" Weiss returned her head to Ruby's chest. "…don't cry."

The warmth that had been concentrated at her front sought to envelope her. The arms that had been so afraid to touch her now came around to squeeze her tight. With them came the cloak that was drawn around the fencer, perfectly shielding her from the unforgiving chill of winter.

Ruby tried to do as she said and partially succeeded. From within the mass of silky white hair that she buried her face in came muffled, half-choked sobs that shook her form between gulps of air.

Weiss didn't mind the increasing dampness of her hair when the rest of her felt so warm and safe. It had been so long but she was back where she belonged. Breathing deeply, Weiss took in Ruby's warmth, her scent, and that beating of her heart that gave her such peace.

Never again, she silently swore. Never again will we be separated. And if we do it's only with the knowledge that we're going to be reunited soon.

Weiss waited. She had waited a long time already and she was willing to wait a little more so that Ruby would be in the proper shape when the former heiress made her hers again.

"I'm sorry," Ruby hoarsely whispered, removing her face enough from Weiss's head so that her words were clear. "I'm sorry. It's all my faul-"

Weiss placed her palm over those fumbling lips, silencing Ruby.

"No more excuses," Weiss stated.

No longer able to speak, Ruby's red, puffy eyes stared down at Weiss. The former heiress was happy to see that they met her own. They were sad, full of regret, but Ruby now had the confidence to look at her again. Weiss moved her palm from her mouth and used it to cup her cheek instead.

"No more," she repeated, stroking that wet cheek. "There's no one for us to make excuses for because they don't matter. From now on there will only be me and you. Now, Ruby Rose, do you love me?"

Despite removing her hand Ruby still seemed incapable of saying anything. But that nod of her head told her enough.

Smiling, Weiss lifted herself up on her toes a second time. To her relief she found Ruby tilting her head to better position her lips which parted to fully accept her.

Right before she reacquainted herself with her lover Weiss whispered, "That's all that matters."

Stalagmites of pure ice shot up from the ground towards the Boarbatusks. At Weiss's command they drove into their unprotected stomachs. The juvenile had been easy prey but even the matured male hadn't been able to present its armor in time before being speared. Held up enough that their feet no longer touched the ground, the two Grimm remained skewered until they eventually disintegrated.

The third Boarbatusk managed to survive with the extra armor that came with being a growing female. The frozen tips breaking off as they failed to pierce the armor, the female squealed as it thrashed its head left to right, smashing against the ice to better free itself.

With perfect balance, Weiss slid along the frozen ground to slash at the Boarbatusk just as it cleared itself some space. Myrtenaster's blade bounced off the armor but the power behind the attack caused the female to stumble and slip upon the ice, falling on her side.

The Huntress used the momentum of the attack to direct her to a patch of ice that sloped upwards. Her boots remained on the ice before the slope launched Weiss up into the air. Allowing herself some self-satisfaction in showing off, the former heiress managed to spin herself in mid-air twice before gravity eventually brought her back.

Going down the slope this time, she made a return trip to the fumbling Boarbatusk. It had tried to straighten but failed to do so in time, allowing Weiss to split it open when she reached it.

There shouldn't be many left, she thought. With a small hop she left the frozen surface in favor of a more earthly one while her mind became occupied with counting her kills. In fact there should only be the one… She felt the familiar quaking of the ground beneath her feet and she looked up in time to see another one of the giant, female caretakers of the sounder.

The fighting had practically demolished the half-built town, not that avoiding collateral damage had been a priority; just the annihilation of the Grimm. What little that had been left standing the giant Boarbatusk now smashed flat as it broke through whatever barrier of wood and metal that separated it and the Huntress who had so thoroughly slain its herd.

With a grim smile, Weiss held out a hand towards the charging monster. As she summoned up the power of Nature's Wrath, she assured herself that soon they were-

Even before she failed to conjure up the glyph to act as an impenetrable barrier to stop the Boarbatusk in its tracks, Weiss had known something was wrong. It was a basic rule that in order to create such manifestations of Dust's energy she first had to have the power to mold it into being.

And the reason why Weiss couldn't feel the power being drawn out was because she had run out.

That disturbing revelation aside, she was too experienced to let something like that shock her into inaction. Trusting the power of her legs and Aura, Weiss crouched down, waited, and then launched herself up just as the Boarbatusk dipped and thrust its head up to smash into the small woman. Already well clear of the danger, Weiss had jumped up and over the monster.

She expected to fail but it didn't stop Weiss from making quick, sharp jabs with Myrtenaster towards the Boarbatusk's back as she passed over it. Unfortunately she didn't disappoint herself when even her own accurate stabs failed to slip between the protective plates to strike at flesh. She landed on her feet behind the giant female and was met with the two hooves of the rear legs that kicked out at her.

Weiss brought her arms and Aura up in time, her soul's energy instinctively forming into a shield over her limbs. The hooves smashed into it and while none of her bones broke, Weiss was knocked backwards.

Even with landing flat on her back, the fall dirtying her white cloak, Weiss managed to find some measure of pride in this minor setback. At one point such a blow could've easily taken her out but her Aura remained strong and while her body had collected some aches and pains throughout the fight, she was still combat ready.

Well, once she reloaded. When she inspected her Myrtenaster she saw that the Dust cartridges, usually full of light and color, had become empty and dark. She had used up her entire load. As difficult of a position it put her in right now, Weiss couldn't help but consider that as another point in favor of her years of experience and training.

Sitting up, Weiss dug into her pouch for one of her speed loaders: a metal tube that contained a fresh batch of Dust cartridges. Her thumb released the lock on Myrtenaster before a flick of her wrist exposed the rear of its revolver-like cylinder. The extractor within the center pushed outwards in response, expelling the spent cartridges.

The speed loader was a special design. It would keep the cartridges safe within its metal shell but once Weiss held it so that they lined up with the Dust chambers of her weapon, a push of a button would slam them home.

She had to hurry. The Boarbatusk had already turned around so its angry red eyes could land on the Huntress. It kicked at the ground and lowered its body, preparing to charge.

Weiss started bringing the loader to her rapier.

Bang!

The round struck the Boarbatusk in its flank. It didn't penetrate the armor but it served to get the monster to turn its attention elsewhere.

With another bang a second round struck its side. After a pause a third round landed at the same place as the second. Then a fourth.

Weiss stopped counting after number four. With her loader held towards Myrtenaster's cylinder but finger frozen over the button that would release the cartridges, the Huntress instead watched as the Boarbatusk cried out in a mixture of anger and pain as the repeated firing actually started to rip through its armor.

The marksman had been going for one of its front legs. After blasting off a huge plate of armor, two more shots shredded the meaty thigh of its right one. With a squeal of agony the Boarbatusk fell, the leg giving out on it.

Weiss had remained where she was, unmoving. Silently she watched as the Boarbatusk attempted to raise itself back up only to have its wounded leg buckle as soon as it put hundreds of pounds of its weight on it. It fell back down with another earth-shaking thud.

The former heiress scowled. I lost.

The tall shadow that eclipsed her appeared as suddenly as its owner who had no qualms of further shoving it in her face with a chirpy, "I won!"

"Hmph!" With Myrtenaster in one hand and her speed loader in the other, Weiss crossed her arms over her chest carefully so as not to cut herself with her own blade. Raising her chin indignantly, the snow-haired Huntress shifted her torso away from her partner. "We're going over the numbers later. I think my half had more Grimm than yours did."

The other woman scolded her with a click of her tongue. "Ah, ah, ah." Her shadow matched the movement of the finger that she wagged towards Weiss. "That wasn't part of the agreement. You even said that I would take the northern half while you took the southern half. We even used the office building…"

She paused at the same time Weiss noticed her shadow turn towards the direction of the landmark that they declared would act as the center.

"…which is no longer there… Regardless, we both agreed that whoever cleaned up their designated half first would be declared the winner! You never went into specifics."

Weiss sighed, slumping in defeat. Looking sideways to her partner, the former heiress pouted. "I was really looking forward to spending more time in Mistral…" She murmured it yet spoke loud enough and with the right amount of disappointment to hopefully sway her. "The Acropolis…the ancient monasteries…all those ruins filled to the brim with human history…"

"You had me going with the face," Ruby admitted, smiling good-naturedly. She then shook her head, her braid and white ribbon waving in the air. "But you had to become such a killjoy. Sorry Weiss, hot springs resort that has its own water slides! Man, who thought Menagerie would have such an awesome place?"

The wonders of ancient human civilization aside, Weiss found that the idea of spending a week at a resort that would have Ruby Rose wearing less clothing than usual helped her get over this painful stab of defeat.

"I suppose it is good for the skin."

Ruby rolled her eyes at that. "Anyway, back to business. What happened there?"

"What do you think happened, you dolt?" Weiss held up her empty Myrtenaster. "I ran out of Dust."

"Again? Geez, you need to watch out for that. Dust costs money, you know."

Smirking at how she stressed the word, Weiss quirked a brow towards Ruby. "Oh? And how much do you have left?"

Ruby faltered. "Er…" She pulled the bolt of Crescent Rose back to expose an empty chamber. "…None."

Weiss shook her head in exasperation, returning her speed loader to her pouch. "Good thing these jobs pay well otherwise we would never be able put money away for a vacation."

"Yeah, yeah." Planting the shaft of her scythe into the ground and keeping it there with one hand, Ruby held out the other towards the still sitting Weiss. "We'll come back to Mistral for next year's anniversary. I'm sure we'll manage to get through another one, right?"

With her hand stretched out as it was, Weiss could clearly see the golden band that was around Ruby's ring finger; a band very much like her own. Smiling fondly, Weiss grabbed her hand so that both pieces of jewelry twinkled side-by-side. "Right."

When Ruby pulled her up from the ground, the fencer decided to add a bit more momentum. Enough so that when she came to her feet, Weiss found her head planting itself within its favorite spot at Ruby's chest. Holding her Myrtenaster to the side with the blade pointed down, Weiss only had the use of her other hand once Ruby let it go to pull her partner into a gentle, one-armed hug.

There were so many ways that her life could've turned out. Had she remained at the Schnee Dust Company, Weiss might've ended up with a rich one if she had been willing to look past her family's crimes and dealt with the very real possibility that she wouldn't have seen Ruby again if she hadn't been there to catch her that fateful night in the woods.

Maybe she would've been able to find Ruby again and they could both be living in luxury right now; able to travel wherever they wanted and afford whatever they desired. Weiss would continue to work with relations between human and faunus while running the largest and most powerful distributor of Dust. Ruby, she guessed, would probably get bored and continue to take on Huntressing jobs.

Or maybe she would've ended up following the exact plan that her father had laid out for her: marrying someone who she hardly knew, producing a child that she would hope would grow to become nothing like their grandfather or great grandfather, and then pass on while the Schnee line continued.

There were so many what-ifs. So many opportunities that had been missed that could've drastically changed how Weiss was currently living.

But that's all they were reduced to now: speculation. Like someone who once taught her, it was best to focus on the here and now. And as Weiss reviewed her current life – to finally, truly be with the one she loved, possessing a career that she enjoyed, having a family that cared about her, the world continuing to go on without the interference of violent men -, she was happy with it. Whether she could've obtained a better future or not didn't matter: she was content with this one.

After all, it was what she wanted. Whatever may happen afterwards she'll take it as it comes. Maybe she won't go to Mistral for her next wedding anniversary, maybe she and Ruby will adopt as their other two teammates had, maybe they won't, and maybe they'll reach old age together or die fighting humanity's sworn enemy. Would they even remain together for that long?

She didn't dwell on it. Right now she was happy.

And Ruby – her partner, her leader, her wife – seemed to be just as content with how she returned the hug, one hand rubbing her back. She did, however, take note of something else that was currently going on.

"Not that I don't appreciate it," the scythe-wielder spoke, swiveling her head around, "but there is a one and a half ton of Boarbatusk slowly but surely coming over here to try and kill us."

"It can wait," came Weiss's reply.

"Ah."

Eventually the Boarbatusk did manage to reach them, its wounded leg forcing it to slowly limp towards the pair. It snorted, momentarily confused at the two humans who just stood there embracing, but its inherent hatred of the race would have it opening its mouth as wide as it could go in order to devour them together.

Weiss had opened her eyes and looked over Ruby's shoulder to see the slimy, fang-filled abyss about to swallow them whole before everything became a blur, her heart jumping up in her throat at the sudden feeling of acceleration.

When her vision cleared Weiss found herself in the air, her hair and clothes along with Ruby's flying around them. Uncaring of how they were now falling, the two of them parted from their embrace yet kept their hands linked together. A second later that connection was soon severed, their fingers brushing against their opposite before pulling away completely.

They were separated for now but had every intention of coming back together soon.

With hair, ribbons, and cloaks flapping in the wind while weapons became drawn, the two of them descended towards a very confused Boarbatusk that was currently spitting out rose petals and wondering where they had gone.