Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Art by Dae.

Weiss could only remember one other time she’d slept this well. This peacefully. At the hazy edges of her earliest memories, one distinct night stood out. Little Weiss had had a bad dream, and the emptiness of her palatial bed in her cold, lonely bedroom in its private wing of the Schnee mansion had driven her from it.

She remembered looking at her father’s closed office door and yearning, briefly, before moving on. Even at such a tender young age, Weiss had already learned that Jacques Schnee would never be a source of comfort in her life.

Instead, she’d wandered the desolate, shadowy parlors of the home that felt like no such thing until she’d found her mother. That’s where her older sister Winter had found her; tugging passed out Willow Schnee’s arm, the one not still firmly clenching a wine bottle, alternatively begging her to wake up and apologizing profusely for whatever she’d done wrong that was driving Mommy to ignore her. Although still a child herself, Winter had scooped her little sister up and held her tight, wiping away her tears and explaining, through her own thick throat, that nothing was Weiss’s fault, that this was just something Mommy did sometimes. She’d gotten her a glass of warm milk and then taken her to her own bedroom, tucking little Weiss in under her heavy blankets and curling up around her. Winter had warmed her body better than the embers in the fireplace, and her young heart, too little for the pain that being a Schnee had already inflicted on it, like no flame ever could. 

It was the best Weiss had ever slept. The only time she could remember waking up feeling safe, and warmed, and loved.

Until today.

Warmth. Weiss was surrounded by soft and warm. It was dreamily comfortable, a perfect hug like she hadn’t felt since that night, years and years ago, that Winter had tucked her in and snuggled her nightmares away. Weiss couldn’t remember why, but she knew the last few days had been stressful on her, body and mind. But now, something about the way her entire body felt embraced told her sleepy mind that she was perfectly safe, and perfectly cared for. With a deep, contented moan, she cuddled down into her bedding.

Her bedding moved beneath her and mumbled something.

Bed linens weren’t supposed to do that, right?

Reluctantly, Weiss groggily probed her senses. Now that she was focusing on it, she was really quite warm. And there was a smell, a mix of sweat and varying shampoos and something else that, while unplaceable, left her belly stirring with excitement.

Now that she was focusing on what she was feeling, her bedding material felt remarkably like… skin.

A lot of skin.

Weiss inhaled sharply, and her eyes flew open with a start. 

Skin, dusty pink and spotted with freckles, rolled across soft hills all around her. Under her cheek, her palm, and against her own skin. It gently rose and fell in the sunlight, and something in her really wanted to kiss it. Weiss turned her head a little, and a tumble of golden hair fell across her vision, silky strands brushing her face in a way that felt both familiar, and very strange.

Consciousness burning away the last clinging fogs of sleep, Weiss suddenly realized that she was sleeping on Yang Xiao Long’s breast. Her teammate , her friend’s , naked breast. And Yang’s chest wasn’t the only part that was naked; judging by how everything up and down Weiss’s body felt, she was very naked, and pressed against a great deal of Yang’s skin.

But then… what’s that wrapped around my back?

Her question was interrupted by a flicker of motion and a rumble near her face. The dark shape in front of her resolved itself into lustrously-black hair sprawling across the other side of Yang’s chest, with a feline ear rising from it and twitching in the sunlight.

…Blake?

Cautiously, Weiss raised her hand from where it was resting on Yang’s belly, lifting the sheet that covered them so she could steal a peek down. Her cheeks ignited with a hot flush as she confirmed that Yang, and herself, and apparently Blake, were very naked.

But that would mean…

The warm skin embracing her from behind pulled her tighter back against it, and Weiss felt a face burrow into her back. Her lower body shuddered, sensation climbing her spine with a shiver, as whomever was behind her stirred. “Mmmm, baking… cookies…” a voice mumbled.

Ruby. Who also feels naked.

Some part of Weiss’s mind was deeply, inexplicably happy being in a naked cuddle pile with her teammates, but she absolutely could not be listening to that base part of her right now. Her breath speeding up prompted Yang to shift underneath her again, which led to more ear twitches from Blake and those big, rich amber eyes, intoxicating like a snifter of brandy, flickering open. Weiss found herself staring into Blake’s sleepy gaze. Instead of being panicked, as was proper , the other student Huntress had the absolute audacity to smile at her. Under the sheets, Weiss felt fingertips sliding across Yang’s stomach to intertwine with her own.

It was then that Weiss noticed the ache in her belly, and between her thighs. A good ache, incredible even, like soreness of muscles after a really good workout. It felt… foreign, alien… but wonderful and satisfying at the same time. Weiss wasn’t some wanton hussy, but she wasn’t completely naive either.

I… Weiss, I’m pretty sure you just had sex. A great deal of really good sex.

As Blake’s heavy eyelashes fluttered at her, Weiss let her head sink back down into Yang’s tit. Sucking in a deep, shaky breath, she tried to flush her body with a sense of calm. Of course, it completely eluded her.

What the FUCK happened last night?!

Chapter Text

“Haha, see guys, I told you they were real!” A coarse male laugh, soon joined by a chorus of other amused boys, sounded from across the cafeteria. Followed very quickly by a feminine whimper of pain and discomfort.

“Guys, please stop! That hurts!”

Velvet . 

Blake trembled with rage as she struggled to keep down the hot knot of fury in her belly. Her fellow faunus was being abused- anyone who calls yanking her ears ‘teasing’ needs their extremities jerked on. Painfully . Everything in her wanted to spring across the tables and smite the bullies torturing her friend, the same thing she’d do for any faunus in distress. No Blake. No smiting. Just rescue them.

She knew where the anger she’d been entertaining could lead, how quickly it could turn into the kind of poison that destroyed lives. And hearts. That knowledge did more than any calming exercise to help quell the fire in her veins.

Besides, Blake knew there would be more immediate consequences should she give in to her fury, no matter how righteous it might be. She would, for sure, blow her cover and reveal herself as a faunus to all of Beacon. Everyone would know. Half of them would sneer at her, but Blake could live with that. She’d been on the receiving end of anti-faunus bigotry her whole life. Some of the first words her young cat ears had heard were snarls of “Nasty creature!” and “Filthy animal!”

No, it was the number of her fellow Beacon students whose hearts were at least trying to be in the right place who would pity her that made Blake’s stomach turn. She knew what they’d sound like. 

‘Oh, that poor Blake! Look how much she’s accomplished, after all she’s had to overcome!’

‘She’s so smart and capable for a faunus!’

‘Isn’t it amazing what the faunus can do if we just give them a chance?’

Seeing faunus abused filled Blake with anger. Being turned into inspiration porn for humans filled her with contempt . She’d never be their little mascot.

The worst part, though, would be the look of betrayal on her team’s faces when they found out. We’re supposed to hold each other’s very lives in their hands, and here I am keeping a huge part of her identity secret from them. How can they ever trust me again?

Envisioning the hurt she’d see in Ruby’s bright silver eyes and normally-bubbly smile, and surprise fading to distrust and resignation on Yang’s face, felt physically painful in Blake’s chest. And then there was Weiss. Heh, at least Weiss Schnee will probably have all her anti-faunus biases confirmed.

…wait a second, where is Weiss?

Weiss’s bright white ponytail had disappeared from the table team RWBY and JNPR shared, but it didn’t take Blake long to locate it.

“Is Weiss…” Pyrrha started.

“...confronting Cardin and his goons?” Jaune finished.

“Weiss?!” Ruby exclaimed, as she and Yang simultaneously began to rise from the table. Gulping, Blake belatedly followed them.

“Schnee!” Cardin exclaimed gleefully. “You want to pet the bunny? They’re freaky soft!”

“Let her go, Cardin,” Weiss said, her voice low and icy.

“...huh?” the bully replied, blinking his dull eyes in incomprehension.

“I said, ‘Let Velvet go, now’. And I’m not saying it again.”

Cardin’s teammates had started to move to encircle Weiss, whose small stature was suddenly very evident next to the hulking young men. They paused, though, when they saw Yang and Ruby, followed by a very nervous Blake, squaring up behind their teammate. Noticing their hesitation, he snarled. “Come on guys, bros before hoes! Are you actually scared of a bunch of girls?”

“...aren’t they all friends with Pyrrha Nikos ?” Dove murmured nervously, glancing over to where JNPR had stood up from their table. 

“Hey, assholes!” Yang yelled, cracking her fists together. “She’s not the one you need to worry about beating some manners into you!”

Cardin and Weiss were back to having a staredown, with the taller boy glaring down at her in surprise and contempt. “Seriously? Didn’t your family write the book on keeping these animals-”

Weiss smacked him. “You will NOT drag my family’s name into your base cruelty!”

Confusion overtook Blake’s mind for a moment. Did she… seriously just try to defend the Schnee record on faunus rights? Because that is a conversation I really don’t want to have with her…

While the heiress’s strike did have the desired effect of getting Cardin to release Velvet, it became clear that she was the new target of his ire. Looming, he rubbed his stinging jaw with one hand while balling up his fist. “Why you little bitch! I’m gonna-”

Whatever the thug had intended to do was cut short as Yang lunged forward and uppercut him. Cardin actually went airborne, high enough to come crashing down on the table behind him and spray the few diners who hadn’t already scattered with the remains of their lunches.

For a brief moment, the only sound in the cafeteria was the ting of silverware bouncing across the floor. Then, one of Cardin’s teammates roared. “GET ‘EM, BOYS!”. Russell, Dove, and Lark all charged towards Weiss and Yang, only to be intercepted by a sudden barrier glyph that stopped them like they’d just run into a wall. A bowl of soup came flying towards them, suspiciously from Nora’s direction, but missed and splashed across a group of bystanders. Sputtering angrily, one of them hurled a sandwich back in the direction the soup had come from, and in moments, the cafeteria had descended into complete chaos.

Food and fists were flying everywhere, with no clear demarcation of battle lines. Back on his feet, Cardin bull rushed into Weiss’s glyph and shattered it. But before he could bear down on Weiss, a plate from across the room smashed with pinpoint precision into his forehead and sent him staggering again. Out of the corner of her eye, Blake saw Pyrrha grin and give herself a fist-pump of congratulations.

Seeing her partner charge forward into the middle of Team CRDL and start throwing kicks and punches, Blake snapped out of her reluctance and sprung into action. “Up!” she shouted to Ruby, who quickly used a dinner tray to form a stepping stool and hurl Blake skyward. Snatching a baguette out of the air, she landed on Dove feet-first and knocked him flat before spinning and clobbering Lark across the knees. Which of course did nothing, because it was a loaf of bread, and put Blake in a vulnerable lower position that let the boy aim a sneering kick at her head. Tumbling backwards, Blake noted that a food fight required her to adjust her tactics.

Eyes flitting about for something to weaponize, Blake grinned as she noticed the taxidermied swordfish hanging on a nearby wall. Triggering her semblance, she disappeared just before a bowl of gravy splattered across where she’d been and rematerialized across the room. Grabbing the pointy fish down, Blake hefted it and immediately realized who it was better suited for.

“Weiss! Catch!” she yelled, lobbing the swordfish to where her teammate and Ren were back-to-back against a small group of assailants. Weiss spun into the air with dancer’s grace and caught her new sword, which she immediately put to use turning the tables on her attackers. With an elegant series of flourishes, she created an opening for Ren to scoop up a large spoon and a bowl of macaroni salad. His arm became a blur as he turned the side dish into an improvised Stormflower, sending a fusillade of cold, seasoned pasta at the students swarming them.

Yang and Cardin were locked in a battle of fisticuffs, throwing and blocking increasingly-vicious punches. The battle was moving too fast for Ruby to even try to intervene, but as she watched Yang getting pushed back closer and closer to the wall, she realized that she had to do something to help her sister. When her eyes passed over a window to the kitchen, though, the Huntress got a sudden idea and disappeared in a burst of petals… just in time to avoid a deluge of fruit jello.

Yang snarled as a haymaker swing from Cardin forced her to take another step back. She knew she was losing, slowly but steadily. She was faster and more skilled, but Cardin was a beast who seemed able to soak a bottomless number of hits, and his reach and power were wearing her down. Her opponent’s smug grin told her that he knew he had the upper hand as well. I can’t lose to Cardin Winchester, I just can’t! I will never live it down. Briefly, she considered tapping her semblance… but things like that were strictly forbidden outside of sparring class.

“Hey sis! Need these?” At Ruby’s shout, Yang risked a glance sideways… and saw Ruby slinging a pair of turkeys at her. Confusion was quickly replaced by a triumphant smirk as sister-think kicked in and she realized Ruby’s plan. With a sideways cartwheel, Yang disengaged long enough to punch her fists into the back of the birds.

“...what the?” Cardin stammered as Yang smacked her suddenly much meatier fists together like gauntlets and grinned. The birds absolutely changed the tide of the fight, giving Yang the extra reach and clobbering power she needed to start driving him back. 

“Thanks Ruby!” she cheered as she delivered a greasy gut punch that sent Cardin flying backwards.

Somehow, the food fight had devolved into “RWBY and JNPR versus everyone else”, and slowly the allies were being herded into a tighter and tighter circle. Ruby zipped around, desperately trying to reinforce her friends, while Nora gleefully hurled watermelons like dodgeballs.

“Guys, we’re getting outmaneuvered!” Blake warned as she narrowly dodged a spray of gravy.

“Hang on, I got this!” Pyrrha cried. “Jaune, Weiss, cover me!” The tray Jaune had turned into an improvised shield caught a flight of tomatoes that would otherwise have splattered her, while Weiss’s swordfish sliced a barrage of citrus fruits out of the air.

With a cacophonous rattle of steel, the nearby vending machines were emptied of soda cans that were subsequently turned into a storm of carbonated drinks around the RWBY/JNPR encampment. The other students scrambled backwards as can after can exploded on their auras, spraying them with a rainbow of syrupy, sticky fluid.

“Yee hah! Victory is delicious!” Ruby cheered, pumping an oversized ladle she’d acquired into the air.

Their victory cries were cut off suddenly, though, when a commanding voice that chilled every student to their core filled the room. 

“STUDENTS!” Gllynda Goodwitch roared. Immediately, everyone stopped in their tracks and turned to stare in terror. “What the FUCK is the meaning of this?”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“Why is it that, whenever there’s some kind of problem, it seems like you four are at the epicenter of it?” Professor Goodwitch addressed RWBY without facing them, opting instead to stare out the window of her office. Behind her, and on the other side of her intimidatingly-large desk, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake all wilted. Yang, of course, had something to say.

“...because we have an incredible ability to be in the right place at the right time?” she quipped.

Weiss slammed an elbow into her hard enough to make her gasp.

The terrible slowness with which Goodwitch finally turned to glare at them was a spectacle of dread in and of itself. “Miss Xiao Long,” she asked quietly. “Would you care to revise your estimation of how amusing you find the quantity of destruction you helped unleash in the cafeteria to be?”

Her words felt like glass daggers in their ears, and were fear-inducing enough to break even Yang’s spirit. “I- I’m sorry, Professor Goodwitch,” she murmured as her face dropped to the floor.

She must have sounded contrite enough for their teacher, who held her glare for a few more agonizing moments before grunting. “In addition to violating a score of school rules, your conduct was entirely unbecoming of even our most basic expectations for the Huntresses of tomorrow. Frankly, I question whether you four even belong here at Beacon. I think a suspension is certainly in order.”

Ruby and Blake seemed to shrivel even further in on themselves, while Weiss and Yang both exploded.

“You can’t be serious!” Weiss exclaimed.

“Over a food fight? ” Yang cried. “Gods, we’ll clean it up already!”

“I assure you I am quite serious!” Goodwitch snapped, her shrill voice silencing the girls’ objections. “And as for the detritus of your shenanigans, rest assured the other students involved are already spending their free time doing just that!”

After a brief moment of silence, it was Ruby who finally spoke up. “W- what makes us different, then, ma’am? I mean, if everyone else is just on cleaning duty…”

Goodwitch sighed. “You don’t seem to understand the gravity of your situation at all, ladies. You did more than participate in an unseemly waste of food. We have it on good authority that it was you who started things off by striking another student… a far more serious infraction.”

Wait, that wasn’t them, that was all me!” Weiss thought in a panic. Her eyes flitted to either side of her, waiting for one of her teammates to throw her under the bus and keep themselves from suffering the severe consequences Goodwitch was threatening. After all, why wouldn’t they? Being a Huntress was a lifelong dream for all of them, and Beacon was fiercely competitive. They’d all sweat and bled and cried to get here… and in one fit of righteous indignation, she’d ruined it for all of them.

They should all point fingers at her. Weiss was the one who fucked up. Whitley had certainly never failed to tattle on her for what little childhood mischief they’d dared engage in back in Schnee Manor, eager to avoid their father’s harsh discipline. And this was much more serious than breaking a vase or leaving the door to a room they weren’t allowed in open.

Much to her surprise, Ruby, Blake, and Yang didn’t even so much as look in her direction, and their lips were sealed. Are they… are they really not going to turn me in? Even to save themselves? Weiss’s heart was suddenly filled with an amount of gratitude that made her uncomfortable.  I mean… sure, we’ve gotten closer than I expected to when RWBY was formed, but I never would have expected this level of… no, I can’t let them do this.

“Professor Goodwitch, if that’s what all this is about… I’m the only one you should be punishing,” Weiss announced, struggling to hold her chin up as she stepped forward.

“Weiss, no!” Ruby gasped, as Blake reached out and grabbed her arm to try and pull her back. Weiss shook her head and shrugged her off.

“I’m the one who threw the first punch. It’s me you want.”

“That’s grimmshit, Professor!” Yang burst out. Goodwitch immediately fixed her with a harsh glare, but the blonde pushed onwards. “Weiss only slapped Cardin because he was being a bigoted, racist piece of shit to Velvet!”

“Yeah!” Ruby jumped in.

“He was tugging her ears!” Blake exclaimed. “That’s incredibly- I mean, I’ve heard that’s very painful for faunus!”

Their teacher held up her hand in a demand for silence. “We are well aware of Mr. Winchester’s unacceptable behavior, and rest assured he and his entire team will be spending their free time for the foreseeable future in remedial sensitivity classes-”

Yang snorted dismissively as she crossed her arms.

“-however, I must insist there is a significant difference between teasing someone and striking them.”

“Really?” Blake glowered, with a level of ire that surprised her teammates. “Can you explain that to me, Professor? I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Watch it, Miss Belladonna! You all are on very thin ice here!” Taking off her glasses, Goodwitch sighed and rubbed her forehead as she, at last, sat down at her desk. “As I was saying, I personally recommended suspension as your punishment. However , Headmaster Ozpin felt that this would cause an ‘undue disruption’ to your development as Huntresses… in which he still, apparently, places a great deal of faith.”

All of the girls’ faces brightened with relief. Their dreams weren’t going to die in Goodwitch’s office. Not today, at any rate.

“Instead,” the professor continued, “he has given you a… special assignment.”

The malicious glee evident in Goodwitch’s voice as she pronounced their sentence left them all shivering. “You shall be doing an extended weekend field mission with a professional Hunter to clear out the Hellmire Swamps of their recurrent Grimm problem.”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Team RWBY was quiet, deep in their own thoughts, as they made their way back to their dormitory. The few other students they saw in the hall gave them space, for which they were very grateful. When their door was finally closed behind them, the girls dropped with exhausted groans into their chairs and beds.

Ruby’s voice finally broke the awkward silence. “Okay, but, guys… that was awesome!”

“Right?!” Yang exclaimed. “Did you see when I socked Cardin with those turkeys?”

“Yes! Amazing, sis! And Weiss, when Blake tossed you that swordfish? You were so badass!”

The two other girls felt smiles break through their stiff expressions as the two sisters launched into a blow-by-blow retelling of their food fight exploits… which somehow became more and more aggrandized by the minute. Even their brush with suspension, and their upcoming weekend of punishment, couldn’t keep their spirits down in the face of the Xiao Long-Rose sisters’ bubbly enthusiasm.

While Ruby busied herself reenacting Pyrrha’s soda can storm, Blake slipped across the room and sat down next to Weiss on her bunk. “These sure are some special girls we’ve been teamed with, huh?” she asked with a grin.

“They really are, aren’t they?” Weiss murmured back as she looked up at where Yang and Ruby were gesticulating to each other, fondness glimmering in her sapphire eyes. Turning her head to meet Blake’s gaze, she smiled wryly. “I hope we can do right by them. We haven’t been together that long, but I already feel like… they deserve so much, you know?”

“Yeah…” Blake nodded in agreement, her ever-present bow bobbing atop her long raven-black locks. Clearing her throat, Blake went on. “Speaking of special… I think what you did, standing up to Cardin, was really, really cool.”

The honeyed warmth in Blake’s eyes made Weiss’s heart speed up a little bit. She’d been doubting herself since Goodwitch had dragged them off to her office, but Blake’s validation bolstered her confidence significantly. “Really?”

“Absolutely!” Blake nodded enthusiastically. Brushing a lock of hair back behind her ear, she bit her lip before continuing nervously. “I… honestly didn’t expect that from a Schnee. Standing up for a faunus like that.”

Briefly, a little voice in Weiss’s head suggested that she just spill everything, tell- show- her teammates her shameful secret. Stop letting it be a dreadful weight around her neck, damn the consequences. Damn what her father would do.

No! You can’t! Everything will fall apart. Weiss yearned to believe she could trust her teammates with her truth, but… Even if they still accept you, word will be spread. You’ll be free-falling. Weiss Schnee, as you know her, will be so done for she might as well be dead.

Weiss felt herself bristle, and fought hard to keep it from showing. It’s not her fault, Weiss. She’s not saying anything that most of Remnant doesn’t already believe. And it’s not like some of it wasn’t earned . She sighed and shook her head. “Racists like Cardin just give the rest of humans a bad name. Like… I know my family’s company hasn’t always been great to the faunus in the past…” Wistfully staring at the floor, she didn’t see Blake’s violent twitch. “...but we’re trying to be better! I’m trying!”

Finally raising her gaze, Weiss was surprised by the inscrutable look on her teammate’s face. Almost like she was in distress. “...Blake?” she queried.

All the warmth was gone from Blake’s eyes now. Fighting a tremor in her voice,  she replied. “You think it’s just people like Cardin? Really? I… I’ve known quite a few faunus, Weiss. I know most of them would say that the problems are a lot bigger than just the Cardins of the world. There’s lots of places where it’s still legal to pay faunus less for the same jobs, deny them housing… police harassing them in their neighborhoods.” Blake shook her head, whether it was with sadness or anger Weiss couldn’t really tell. “People like you trying to pretend that anti-faunus racism is just the fault of ‘a few bad apples’ or whatever… you’re part of the problem!”

A potent mix of both guilt and anger began to bubble inside Weiss. So much of her wanted to scream back at Blake that she was full of shit, and how dare she compare Weiss to fuckers like Cardin? A smaller voice, though, nagged at her conscience with the thought that her teammate was right. How many times had she seen something discriminatory and not even thought about it? How many harmless-feeling “animal people” jokes had she told?

And of course, the observation that it was ridiculously ironic that she was being grilled like this played over all the rest of her thoughts like a discordant children’s marching band.

Blake had risen and stomped back to her own bunk, all the warmth that had temporarily existed between the two of them frozen over with just a few words. Why does she have such strong opinions about faunus stuff, anyways? Weiss mused.

For their part, Ruby and Yang’s epic narration of the food fight seemed to have finally wound down as they picked up on the tension between their teammates. Their eyes flickered nervously between the two other girls, before Ruby cleared her throat. “So, umm… anyone know anything about this “Hellmire” place?”

“It sounds like a real pisshole, and Goodwitch was way too happy about sending us there!” Yang muttered.

It was Blake who jumped in with some knowledge. “I’ve read about it in passing, I think. A long time ago, it was supposed to be the site of a city, one as grand in its day as Atlas is now. One day though, it got attacked by a massive Grimm, a true kaiju-type. So big they actually named it…” She paused and scratched her chin. “‘Ancalagon’, I think it was? I dunno, it meant something scary in whatever old language it was. Anyways, it supposedly took over a hundred Hunters to bring it down, and it still destroyed the entire city and turned it into a festering swamp full of Grimm spawning pools.”

“Yuck!” Ruby exclaimed. “And we have to go deal with that? B- b- but… we’re just first years!”

Weiss snapped her fingers. “Oh yeah, I remember hearing about this too! Every few years there’s a big Grimm hunt there. Supposedly some unique and monstrous ones appear deep in the swamp. Rich people in Atlas pay a small fortune to have Hunters haul them through the swamp and wear a Grimm down enough for them to kill it.”

“Sounds like something a Schnee would do,” Blake muttered frostily.

“Hey…” Yang began, flipping her head upside down to glare at her partner under her bunk.

Weiss nodded. “Actually, yes. My father did just such a ridiculous thing once. He still won’t shut up about how he was ‘the most dangerous and deadly member of the party’.” She rolled her eyes. “I just presume that means he pissed himself when he had to get close enough to a dying Grimm to shoot it in the head.”

Everyone, even Blake, chuckled at the imagery as Weiss continued. “But yeah, the ‘mighty hunters’ hate dealing with smaller Grimm along the way, so usually someone goes in beforehand and cleans them out.” She shrugged. “I guess this time, ‘someone’ is ‘us’.”

“Maybe that won’t be so bad, then?” Yang said hopefully. “It’s like getting to go on a mission early! We’ll get lots of practice putting down Grimm!”

Chapter Text

“This sucks!” Yang wailed as she tried, futilely, to wipe the muck and grime off of her. She’d taken out the Carnagator with a savage punch from above, but the finishing move had also sent an explosion of swamp gunk all over her…

“YANG!” Weiss shrieked.

…and Weiss. Who, all advice to the contrary, had decided to wear her white combat skirt to the Hellmire. Judging by its current state, it would never be white again.

“Well, did you want to get eaten?” Yang muttered. “Gods, it’s in my hair!”

“It’s in all of our hair, Yang,”  Blake groaned, pulling a chunk of moss-like stuff out of her locks. “It’s everywhere. We’re never going to be clean again.”

RWBY had been slogging through the swamp for half the day now. All of them were painfully aware that all of their friends were back in Vale, enjoying their Saturdays, while they painstakingly dug minor Grimm out of the hot, dank muck. It had only taken an hour or two before the excitement of being on their first mission had been buried under the mud, sweat, and various unmentionable swamp juices now caking their bodies.

“Well, at least we’re getting valuable experience… right?” Ruby tried valiantly to boost her team’s spirits as she wiped down Crescent Rose’s blade.

“Yeah… so valuable…” Blake muttered, squeezing off a burst of gunfire to vaporize a Razorsquito that had been buzzing towards her. The oversized bugs were a ubiquitous threat, requiring just enough engagement to be annoying without providing any kind of challenge.

Weiss eventually gave up trying to get the muck out of her ponytail and sighed. “Look, we’ve just about finished this grid sector. We can report back to base camp, take a breather, and…”

“...see what torture Oobleck has in store for us next?” Yang said bitterly. “Was this really worth decking Cardin over?”

As the girls traded nervous glances, Weiss held her chin up high. “Absolutely.” 

No one caught the soft, appreciative smile Blake flashed her.

“...yeah, you’re right,” Yang muttered. “Standing up to bullies is always the right thing to do…”

“...even if it lands us in this godsforsaken swamp.” Ruby finished. “Alright team, let’s head back to Oobleck and see if we look sorry enough for him to take mercy on us.”

It was not Team RWBY’s lucky day. After half an hour of trudging through the Hellmire, they finally arrived at the dry, elevated clearing Professor Oobleck had set their Bullhead down in. Their teacher was reclining in a folding chaise lounge he’d brought with him, protected by the envelope of an ice Dust zone cooler that kept him comfortable, and deterred the numerous non-Grimm insects buzzing around. The girls stared at him with unbridled jealousy as he put his book down and took a long swig from his thermos.

“Ah, welcome back, girls!” he greeted them cheerfully. “Have you finished clearing out Sector 13, then?”

“All clear, Professor,” Ruby reported drearily as her team slumped down on the first dry ground they’d seen in hours.

“Excellent news! Well done!” the professor conjured a map from his scroll and gazed at it thoughtfully. “Hmmm, you’re running a bit behind schedule. You should probably focus on Sectors 27 and 29 next to have any chance of catching up.”

All of the trainee Huntresses groaned in unison. “Behind? How are we behind?!” Weiss cried out, an edge of despair in her voice. “We’ve been hunting since eight o’clock in the morning!”

“Hmmm, well, maybe you need some more pep in your step?” Oobleck offered unhelpfully.

Team RWBY was at least grateful that they got to refill their canteens and chow down on some energy bars before setting out into the mire again.

As they picked their way along a crumbling elevated highway, they had their first opportunity to really survey the swamp since landing. “Damn, this was a really big city, wasn’t it?” Blake observed as they took in the numerous towers of concrete, most of them tilted haphazardly from sinking deep into the mud over the years.

“Yeah,” Ruby answered as she hopped up onto a post and shaded her eyes against the glaring sun. “To think all of this was done by a single Grimm! What a monster that must have been!”

“I’m kind of glad they didn’t have cameras back then,” Weiss said. “I think just looking at that beast would scare people enough to attract even more Grimm!”

“It looks like we’re heading into more buildings,” Ruby observed. “Maybe things will be a bit dryer?”

Before they reached their next patrol area, though, the young women had to abandon their walkway and cross a relatively open expanse of murky water, dotted with small hillocks of dense vegetation. “What are the chances that at least a few of those lumps are more of these stupid Carnagators?” Yang asked as she cracked her knuckles.

“Does a Grimm shit in the woods?” Blake replied with a smirk, earning a giggle for at least the two partners even as Weiss groaned.

“Let’s just be careful, guys,” Ruby warned as she sighted through her scope. “This place is giving me the creeps! It’s like it screams ‘ambush’... if Grimm were that smart.”

“I’ll scout,” Blake volunteered, triple-checking Gambol Shroud’s action. “If one of those islands is just a pile of rotting plants… or something worse… I can just pop my semblance and escape.”

“Watch yourself out there, regardless,” Weiss warned, patting her on the shoulder. “Don’t get too far ahead of us, just in case you run into trouble.” Blake gave her a thin smile as she nodded.

The first couple hillocks the Huntress jumped to were fine and stable, and the rest of her teammates were quickly following her across the dark waters. The next one, though, started to turn immediately beneath her feet as soon as she touched it, forcing Blake to use her shadow clone ability to teleport backwards to safety. The roar of weapons fire filled the air as Ruby and Yang opened up with their guns… only for the unfortunate mass to disintegrate as the already-decaying plant matter was blown to bits.

“False alarm!” Blake called. “Thanks for the coverage though!”

“We’ve got your back, Blake!” Yang yelled as she reloaded her gauntlets.

The next bump Blake moved to proved to be solid again. And the next one. It was what was in the water next to it that turned into a very big and immediate problem. With a spray of dirty water, a huge black maw burst out of the swamp, beady orange eyes flashing just before the mouth full of sword-sized teeth snapped shut on Blake’s shadow. The Huntress had been too far from another land mass to teleport to safety, and instead landed in the water with a shriek.

“Blake!” Yang cried out. “Hang on!” Seeing the giant Carnagator closing swiftly on her sputtering partner, the blonde wasted no time springing into action. Discharging both of her gauntlet shotguns behind her, she launched herself towards the beast.

“Yang! Where are you- gah! Weiss, glyph me!” As Yang somersaulted into the air after landing a punch on the Grimm that it barely seemed to notice, Ruby dashed across a series of the glowing Schnee glyph platforms until she could swing her scythe low enough for Blake to grab.

“Send me to Yang!” Blake demanded. Ruby obliged, her powerful swing sending the other Huntress on an arc that let her snatch Yang out of the air and land them both on the Carnagator’s knobby back. “What were you thinking, just throwing yourself at it like that?!” she snapped at her.

“Trying to save my partner!” Yang retorted, grabbing Blake’s arm to keep her steady as the Grimm thrashed under their feet.

Blake felt heat rising in her cheeks as the two of them leaped onto one of Weiss’s glyphs, the crack of Ruby’s rifle buying them a precious few seconds to reposition and strategize. “Oh, well, thanks… just be more careful next time!”

Yang grinned and winked at her. “Hey, if I boost you can you get to that island?”

“Probably!” Yang made a stirrup with her hands that Blake jumped into, and hurled her skywards towards the hillock she’d spotted, keeping a grip on Gambol Shroud’s tether. Weiss’s glyph cracked beneath her feet just as Blake landed and yanked the cable, pulling Yang into a spin.

“Bumbleby, go!” the blonde cried jubilantly as she boosted her speed with a series of shotgun punches.

“Iceflower!” Weiss shouted, conjuring an ice glyph between Ruby and the Grimm. Crescent Rose’s next shot went cleanly through the sigil, charging up with Dust energy that blossomed into a jagged lump of ice that lodged in the Carnagator’s mouth. Stymied, the monstrosity flailed as it tried to clear its throat… leaving it right in Yang’s line of attack as Blake swung her downwards. She slammed down onto its upper jaw, which uttered a gruesome ‘crack’ as it broke around the ice shard. The Grimm’s roar of pain and anger was muted by the obstruction still lodged in its throat.

“Game over, bitch!” Yang cheered as she leveled her gauntlets straight at the beast’s fiery orange eyes and let them rip, firing as fast as Ember Celica could cycle. At first she was just blowing away chunks of the bony armor… but with enough of it shredded, she eventually was blasting into the Grimm’s skull. Black smoke gushed from the craters she left as Yang hopped onto one of Weiss’s glyphs, joining the rest of RWBY on the mid-sized island Weiss had found.

“You two okay?” Ruby asked urgently, checking over Blake and her sister as they caught their breath. “When you fell in, Blake… that was way too close for comfort!”

“You’re telling me!” Blake gasped. “I grew up near a beach, and I’ve never been afraid to be in the water before… but seeing that thing bearing down on me was terrifying!”

“Huh, I didn’t know you lived on a beach!” Yang grinned. “Alright everyone, winter break at Blake’s place!” 

Shit! Blake silently berated herself for her slip-up. Hopefully they all forget about that by the time this stupid mission is over with! Briefly, the thought of being able to take her whole team home to Menagerie, to tan and play on the beach all day and show them her favorite market stalls and food carts full of exotic tastes they’d never experienced before, filled her mind. She shook her head hard to clear the vision, but the after-image made her heart ache. It’s not like I could ever go home again, even if Weiss Schnee wasn’t one of my teammates…

“Anyways…” Yang stretched as she cracked her back. Blake noticed that Weiss’s eyes were almost bugging out at what Yang having her arms taut above her head was doing for the blonde’s chest.

As if you aren’t having a hard time looking away yourself, Blake!

“...where to next, fearless leader-sister?”

Team RWBY all surveyed their surroundings. They were just a little ways away, across mostly-dry ground, from the complex of sunken buildings they’d initially spotted. The dark windows and holes in the dilapidated walls looked eerily like empty eye sockets in a leering skull, and the thought of entering the structures sent a chill down all of their spines.

“Ugh, clearing all of that is going to take forever!” Weiss groaned.

“Well, hopefully all the noise we’ve made announcing our arrival will draw out any Grimm lurking deep inside those buildings,” Yang muttered. “I do not want to go crawling around flooded basements of… whatever unspeakable ooze this place is full of!”

Blake chewed her lip thoughtfully. “Even if that works out… I really don’t think we want to be here after dark.” All of the girls nodded fiercely. “Do you think it’d be worth the risk of splitting up in order to finish this quicker?”

No one was thrilled with that idea either, but it was ultimately Ruby’s call. “I think Blake has a good point,” she said, blowing her cheeks out. “Let’s split into partners. No one goes alone! Yang, Blake, you take the block to the right; Weiss and I will go left, and we’ll meet on the other side.”

Everyone nodded as they checked their weapons. “Sounds like a plan! Stay frosty out there!” Yang grinned.

“Stay safe , everyone!” Weiss responded.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Ruby and Weiss quickly figured out that, while the buildings looked thoroughly perforated from the outside, that didn’t mean they got much natural light inside. The darkness just added to the stifling heat and dank, rotten smell filling the corridors, and the girls made grossed-out sounds every time they stepped in something wet and squicky.

“Can we stop for a minute, Weiss?” Ruby asked as she started fumbling in her pack. “And can you give me some scroll light over here?”

“I can do better than that,” her partner replied as the tip of Myrtenaster burst into flame, filling the hallway with the warm light of fire Dust. “What are you looking for?”

“This!” Ruby exclaimed triumphantly as she pulled out a roll of duct tape. Weiss raised her eyebrows, but quickly figured out what the ingenious little Huntress was thinking as she turned on her own scroll light and taped it to the side of Crescent Rose. “Boom! Gun light!”

Weiss appreciated the long beam of aimable white light Ruby had, but quickly observed a potential problem. “Is that gonna fall off if you transform your weapon to scythe mode?”

“Huh, yeah…” Ruby scratched her head. “I guess I need to avoid getting stuck in a close fight?” she chuckled.

Weiss gave her a reassuring smile. “I’ve got you covered, Ruby,” she said as she patted her on her shoulder while she brandished Myrtenaster.

“You always do,” Ruby replied as she reached up and squeezed her partner’s hand. The young women locked gazes for a moment, lost in the way the firelight danced in each other’s eyes. With sharp breaths, they managed to pull themselves back to the mission at hand.

Weiss took the lead as the two Huntresses swept through the building, watching their footing on the slanted, slippery floors as they checked room after room. Their lights caught plenty of crawling, slithering things retreating into the shadows, and each sweaty corner they turned wore their nerves a little thinner. Still, they were grateful to not have any Grimm lurching out of the darkness at them. 

As much as she knew she should be wholly focused on keeping her eyes peeled, Ruby couldn’t keep her mind from drifting to the tight bun of hair, still white under the amount of dirt and grime that had clung to it over the course of the day, and graceful, perfectly-poised shoulders ahead of her. She knew that a proper tactical marching order would have her a couple feet further back from the swordswoman in case she needed to suddenly start swinging, but she didn’t want to be further away from Weiss; if anything, she wanted to be closer.

It’s crazy that only a few weeks ago we were at each other’s throats on the Vale airdocks! Well… she was at my throat. Ruby smiled fondly at the memory now. When she ended up as my partner, I thought my whole time at Beacon had just been ruined! Now… now I can’t imagine waking up without her. I mean, I don’t want to lose any of my team! But… Weiss… Something had changed, had passed between them, the night Weiss had asked her to go for a walk in the campus park, hugged her at the duck pond overlook, and promised that, from that day forward, she was going to devote herself to being the ‘best, most supportive partner ever!’” 

What *was* it that happened that night? Why do I feel like I’ve got a little piece of her with me all the time now? She smiled as Weiss glanced back over her shoulder and grinned at her, and Ruby’s heart rate picked up a little. Maybe I do… maybe that’s what being partners is? Being friends, even? Always having someone on your mind… yeah, that makes sense. 

“Hey Ruby, can you shine your light back over there?” Weiss pointed to a dank corner with a stagnant pool of muck in it. “I saw something shiny over there.”

Ruby’s attention snapped from thinking about Weiss to actual Weiss and followed her finger. Sure enough, something glittered in the beam of her scroll light. “What is that?” she asked as they stepped closer. “Nothing else in this poophole has been shiny…”

Weiss picked her away across the splotches of decaying plant matter on the floor, sidestepping a hole in the rotted timbers, and crouched over their mystery. “Eww, please don’t actually reach into that water for it…” Ruby gagged as she looked at the foul, greenish liquid.

Nodding, Weiss unstrapped Myrtenaster’s scabbard from her hip and reached into the pool. “Huh, it looks like there’s actually two things…” After some fiddling, she pulled out what looked like two dull silver bracelets, set with deep crimson gemstones. “...and somehow, they’re still perfectly clean? What could keep anything from corroding in this place?”

Leaning in to peer at the jewelry, Ruby examined it closely. “I… I have no idea. I’ve never seen anything like this before!”

Their inspection of the strange bracelets was shattered by distant ‘bangs!’ that, even muffled, Ruby would recognize anywhere. “Yang!” she yelled as she jumped up with a start. “They must’ve run into something!”

As they listened, the gunfire didn’t abate; instead, it was joined by the lighter ‘pop!’ of Blake’s weapon. “...and it doesn’t sound like it’s going down easy!” Weiss murmured worriedly. Snatching the jewelry and tucking it into her bag, she re-attached her scabbard to her belt. “Come on, we’ve got to get to them!”

“Hang on Yang, we’re on our way!” Ruby muttered, running after her partner as they looked for the fastest way through the complex.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“I am never going to get all this nastiness out of my hair!” Yang moaned as she and Blake picked their way through their side of the decrepit structure. Her fingers caught painfully on snags and tangles as she tried to run them through her locks, the golden curls having picked up an unpleasant green-brown tint from trudging through the swamp. She sobbed wordlessly.

Blake rolled her eyes at her partner’s dramatics. “Maybe you’ll have to trim most of it off and try a short look?” she teased.

“BLAAAKE, why would you scare me like that?!” Yang pouted, punching her lightly on the shoulder as Blake giggled. “I’ve never had short hair in my life!”

“Well, if you have to… I know you could make it look good,” she replied. In the light of their scrolls, the partners could see that they were both blushing from Blake’s comment.

“Ummm, thanks?” Yang said awkwardly. “But hopefully it won’t come to that. You can do a lot with a long shower and good shampoo.” She gestured to Blake’s tumble of raven-black hair. “What about you? You ever consider trimming it short?”

Blake unconsciously stroked a stray bang back behind her human ear. The only ears Yang… or anyone at Beacon… knows about. “I’ve thought about it, just haven’t tried it in a long time.”

“Hmmm,” Yang nodded. “Well, I think it’d look good on you, too. It’d be really… cute.”

Her partner had to bite her lip to keep from squeaking at the comment. “Well, hopefully all of us will be able to get clean after this mess, and no one’s hair will be endangered!” A mischievous twinkle lit up in the amber pools of her eyes. “Out of everyone, Weiss is the one in trouble!”

The two of them giggled at the thought. “Nah, she’ll be fine!” Yang smirked. “She’ll just re-dye it and it’ll be white as snow again.”

“You think she dyes it?” Blake raised an eyebrow.

“I mean, she has to, doesn’t she? No one that young can have hair that white…”

“I’m not too sure about that, Yang,” Blake shook her head. “I haven’t seen anything that looks like hair dye in her stuff.”

“Well…” Yang shrugged. “I can’t imagine that we’ll ever know all of Weiss Schnee’s secrets.”

“That is probably very true,” Blake replied, hoping she was able to hide her wince. You don’t even know all of my secrets, Yang. Although I wish I could tell you… Instead, she kept her mouth closed, and silence fell over the duo as they trudged down the hallway. They’d been working their way through the building for close to an hour now, and hadn’t run into anything interesting. Or any Grimm, since the Carnagator.

Even in their boredom, Yang still took point. “You know, you don’t have to do that, Yang. If anything, my reflexes are faster than yours.”

“Nope!” Yang shook her head. “I watched you almost get eaten once today. We’re not doing that again.” She gave Blake a cocky smirk. “Besides, just because you’re faster in exams doesn’t mean you are in the field.”

That IS why I picked her as a partner, isn’t it? Blake mused. Because being buff and strong perfectly balances my agility and stealth? I mean, it definitely wasn’t because I found her confidence and liveliness instantly magnetic… or because she was drop-dead gorgeous…

Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Blake.

She snorted. “Do you really want to challenge me as to who can move faster, Xiao Long?”

Yang turned around, walking backward so she could grin at her partner. “Oh. I’ll take you on any day, Belladonna!” Her bright lavender eyes dilated dramatically as she suddenly realized how that sounded. “I mean-”

And then she dropped through the floor with a shriek. 

“YANG!” Blake screamed as she lunged forward, her fingers missing her partner’s hand by inches. She quickly looked over the edge of the hole in the decayed floor that Yang had falled through, noting with relief that she’d only dropped a single story. “You okay down there?”

“Yeah, just hurt my pride is all,” Yang tried, vainly, to wipe the filth and gunk of the mire off herself as she stood up. Retrieving her scroll, she shone the light around her, stopping suddenly. “Blake… you ought to get down here and check this out…” she murmured.

Curious, Blake dropped gracefully through the hole. “What’d you fin- Whoah!” Yang’s scroll light, joined by Blake’s, swept over a long hallway of mosaic tiles. They were dingy and damaged, but the little pieces of glass had clearly once depicted vivid scenes.

“What do you think it is?” Yang asked quietly, her voice reverent before the remarkable art. “I’ve never seen anyth-”

“It’s faunus art…” Blake whispered, stepping up and gently brushing away some of the grime clinging to the mosaic. Her heart felt like it had stopped in her chest.

Yang came to stand next to her and squinted. “Oh yeah, I see, a lot of the figures are faunus…”

“Not just that!” Blake murmured. “It’s… the style choices, the borders between scenes… it’s all an old faunus style. Very old.”

“Wow, cool… I’ve never seen anything like it!”

Blake’s voice caught in her throat. “That doesn’t surprise me. A… a lot of old faunus art and culture was destroyed by humans as they drove- they took over the continents.” The bitterness in her chest made her voice tremble to the point that she felt Yang’s gentle touch on her back.

“Blake… how do you know so much about this?” she asked quietly.

The Huntress turned to her partner, and Yang felt something catch in her at the obvious pain she saw in the deep, whiskey gold pools of her eyes.

I could tell her. I *should* tell her. I hate keeping something so… so fundamental to who I am a secret from her, and I know she’d be accepting and supportive. Blake’s thoughts raced, a part of her wondering just when she’d decided that her identity, that she’d sworn to herself she’d keep a secret, was something she’d be comfortable sharing with Yang. No! I can’t tell her. It’s hard enough for me to keep this secret from my team and my friends… I can’t ask her to keep it too. It’d be awful to expect her not to tell Ruby. Instead, she went with a half-truth. “I’m… I’m just really interested in faunus history, is all. I think it’s fascinating.”

Yang nodded slowly, her expression betraying her skepticism. I know Blake is a lot more passionate under her cool, mysterious introvert persona, but… no hobby would have *this* kind of emotional impact on her. There’s something more to this story . “Got it,” she replied. But whatever it is, it’s her story to tell… when she’s ready.

Blake, meanwhile, had started recording with her scroll as she walked along the hallway, trying to capture as much of the remarkable mosaic as she could. “It’s no surprise that, if this place has mostly been visited by Atlas snobs, no one appreciated this enough to note it before. Frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t try to destroy it.”

Yang shrugged. “I dunno… I mean, it was Weiss , after all, who stepped up to Cardin when he was bullying Velvet.”

A fact that was still causing no small amount of conflict in Blake. Well yeah, she stood up for Velvet against blatant cruelty because, underneath that diva attitude she walked into Beacon with, she’s fundamentally a good person. I think. But… sometimes the people who are mostly comfortable with the status quo can be the biggest obstacles to change…

After all, Mom and Dad being too moderate and willing to wait for gradual change and acceptance of faunus rights is why I ran away… why I joined up with Ad… with *him*.

And look how well that turned out for you, Blake…

“Well, I suppose Weiss might be a special case…”

Her partner chuckled at that. “Yeah, Weiss is ‘special’ alright…” The two girls shared a moment of giggling as they thought about their teammate, until Yang shook her head and cleared her throat. “Nah, I shouldn’t talk like that about her. Weiss… she’s a lot cooler than I thought she was going to be when we first met. I’m honestly glad she’s on our team!”

As much as her people’s entire history with the Schnee family made her want to spit the idea out, Blake couldn’t deny that a part of her felt the same way.

Then, underneath the bow hiding her faunus ears, she heard something that made her twitch. Blake’s hand shot out across Yang’s chest, stopping her in her tracks. “Hey, you trying to cop a feel or som-” her partner started to tease.

“Shhhh!” Blake silenced her, the edge in her voice immediately taking Yang out of her jovial mood and into a combat stance. “Do you hear that?”

Yang listened for a moment, then started to shake her head. “No… wait. Something… is it that chittering sound?”

Blake motioned them forward to the next corner, and the two of them peaked around with their scroll lights… just in time for a roiling black mass full of hundreds, if not thousands, of beady little orange eyes to hiss with a cacophony of voices and surge towards them.

“Shit! Grimm!” Blake started to jump back, but Yang grabbed her and pulled her forward past the side hallway.

“There are no exits back that way for a long ways, but we’ve got to be close to the end of this building wing!” she yelled as both Huntresses took off at a run.

Blake dared a look back over her shoulder. Relying on her faunus night vision instead of her bouncing scroll light, she got a better glimpse of their pursuer. What she saw chilled her to the core: what seemed like a veritable wave of Grimm Ratlings, all screeching and scrambling over each other in their rush to catch their quarry. An individual Ratling or two wasn’t a problem, even a civilian could just stomp on them… but en mass, they could overwhelm even the most seasoned Hunter and chew their aura down to nothing in a moment, followed by stripping their flesh to their bones.

“It’s a Ratling horde!” she gasped anxiously to Yang, who cursed loudly.

“If we get out of here, remind me to chew Oobleck out for not letting us bring any grenades!”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

As they careened through the hallways towards the sounds of battle, Ruby absolutely chafed at how slow Weiss was compared to her. If only I could use my semblance, I’d have been there in a heartbeat! But there was no way she was abandoning Weiss in the middle of this dreadful place, even if it could get her to Yang faster. Big sis is more than capable of taking care of herself, and Blake!

…right?

“They’ve gotta be around the next corner!” her partner yelled to be heard over the roar of gunfire. That close, Ruby couldn’t help herself; she triggered her semblance and shot forward in a blur of petals. What she saw actually made her stop and scream.

Blake and her sister were backpedaling as they desperately tried to fire fast enough to hold back what looked like an entire wall of sharp, gnashing teeth and small, razor-sharp claws as a swarm of Ratlings. Even as she watched, Yang stopped firing and scrambled to ram more ammunition into her gauntlets, allowing the Grimm to loom over her.

“Yang!” Ruby screamed, launching herself forward as she switched Crescent Rose to its scythe form. Landing in front of her sister, she turned into a cyclone of blades, spinning and chopping as fast as she could. Scores of Ratlings burst into soot with each slash of her weapon, her sheer savagery stemming the tide for a moment.

“Ruby, fall back so I can drop a glyph!” Weiss yelled from behind her. After a final savage stroke, Ruby turned to retreat… only to get yanked to the floor by her throat. Gasping, she scrambled to her feet, only to fall again at another brutal tug from around her neck.

“Her cape! It’s caught on something!” Yang yelled as she spun back around and lunged to defend her sister. Blake was faster though, leaping in between Ruby and the mass of Ratlings. Quickly, she spawned two of her shadow clones before spinning to try and help her leader, the distractions buying them precious moments as the Grimm turned to rip them apart. Time, and space for Weiss to throw up an ice glyph, which immediately detonated over Blake’s shoulder and blocked the hallway with a plug of frozen Ratlings.

With their combined strength, Blake and Weiss were able to tear her cloak free, at the cost of a corner of the fabric that remained caught on a piece of debris. The stumbled forward just as the ice mass Weiss had conjured shattered, revealing an even more nightmarish vision: hundreds of Ratlings that seemed to have somehow coalesced into a single mass, rolling forwards to consume them.

“It’s a Ratling King!” Blake screamed as the tangled horror bore down on Ruby and herself. She’d always thought the things were just the stuff of legends; surely, the Grimm would never pack themselves so densely that their long, wiry tales would get tangled together and create some kind of conglomerate beast full of all the malice and terror of its component Grimm, except exponentially greater?

So much for not believing the fairy tales… she thought fleetingly as she faced her impending, hideous death.

Suddenly, the entire corridor lit up as swirling glyphs appeared on the floor, the walls, and the ceiling… then detonated as the King scrambled in between them. Ruby flipped herself and her cape over Blake, trying to protect them both as flames, and the stench of burnt Grimm fur, roiled over them.

When the heat subsided, Ruby and Blake found themselves staring into each other’s eyes with amazement that they were both, somehow, still alive. Ruby slid off of Blake’s chest and sat up as Yang leaped over them, her gauntlets blazing as shotgun rounds shredded the few remaining Ratlings scrambling through the dissipating grit and smoke the King had left behind.

“Are you two okay?!” Weiss cried as she skidded to her knees behind them, trying to check both of her teammates for injuries. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to set off those glyphs so close-”

“Weiss, that’s what just saved our lives!” Blake gasped, grabbing the other Huntress’s hand that was trying to pat her down. Their gazes caught, and they were both struck by the respective fear and concern, and appreciation, in each other’s eyes. “Thank you!” Blake murmured as she squeezed the heiress’s hand.

“Yeah! Great save, Weiss!” Ruby said as she hopped to her feet. Yang surveyed the hallway as Weiss and Blake helped each other to their feet, curling and uncurling her fingers under the smoking barrels of Ember Celica as she watched for any further threats. Finally, she let out a slow breath.

“I think we’re clear, ladies.”

“Is everyone okay?” Ruby asked as she surveyed her team. “I mean, other than how badly we all need a shower?” All of Team RWBY checked in that, other than their fatigue and frazzled nerves, they were good to go. “All right then… by the power vested in me as team leader, I’m calling this section clear! Let’s get back to camp and test out that portable shower Coco gave us!”

Chapter Text

Normally, the upcoming weekend would’ve been a source of excitement for Team RWBY. But, with their impending “Disciplinary Development Field Trip” to the Hellmire, none of the girls were managing to get in the spirit. Blake hadn’t turned the page of her book for nearly an hour; Yang and Ruby were half-heartedly tapping through the fighting game they were playing on their scrolls; Weiss wasn’t even bothering to get started on next week’s assignments yet. The mood in their dorm was dour, and the knock on their door startled them all.

“Um, come in?” Ruby called out in response.

Their door swung open, and Beacon’s own sapphic fashion icon, Coco Adel, sashayed in, carrying a large suitcase behind her. “Good evening, lovelies,” she greeted them, peering from over the top of the sunglasses she was never without.

“Oh, hi Coco,” Yang mumbled as the rest of her team offered vague noises of greeting.

Coco sighed. “Well, at least you all seem to understand that the Hellmire is gonna suck,” she chuckled. “Wish I could bail you out of that entirely, especially since you got here over standing up for Velvet, but… they don’t let me run everything. Yet. But, I can definitely make your weekend a little less awful.” She swung the suitcase to the middle of their floor and set it down, looking around expectantly as she checked to make sure she had all of RWBY’s full attention.

“I give, what’s with the suitcase?” Weiss asked.

“I’m presuming it’s got something in it to help us?” Blake replied, her eyes narrowing.

“Right and right!” Coco clapped her hands and rubbed them together as she got into presentation mode. “It turns out that the Hellmire mission is Goodwitch’s favorite punishment for whoever manages to piss her off the most in any given year… and last year, CFVY had that dubious honor.”

“Really? You guys?” Ruby asked in confusion. “I thought you were like, the up-and-coming stars of Beacon…”

Coco grinned fiendishly. “Let’s put it this way… being on Goodwitch’s shit list is a pretty good indicator of future success. So you’ve also got that going for you! Anyways!” She gestured down at the suitcase. “After our experience, Velvet and I cooked this thing up to haul with us on future missions into… uncivilized territory. Figured since you all backed her up, we’d let you take advantage of it this year.”

“Well that’s sweet of you, Coco…” Yang said. “But… what is it?”

Squatting down, Coco pressed a series of buttons along the top of the suitcase. It immediately sprang open… and again, and *again*, unfolding an increasingly-complicated array of knobs, pipes, and tanks that didn’t look like it had any business all fitting in such a small package. It was very reminiscent of her purse-minigun, Gianduja. It wasn’t until it finished setting itself up that the gadget’s purpose started to become clear.

“Is that…” Blake murmured.

“...a shower?” Ruby finished her thought as she hopped down from her bunk and started to poke around the elaborate, origami-like array of mechanisms.

“You guessed it!” Coco beamed at her engineering marvel. “Trust me, that swamp is *disgusting*. At the end of a day stomping around it, you’ll want a hot shower more than you do any fancy weapons or armor.”

All of RWBY had gathered around now as they looked the portable shower over. “Check this out: this tank can hold ice Dust if you’re going somewhere with limited water, but you’ll have plenty of that in the swamp. You’ll just need to clean it, which is what the intake hose is for…”  Coco launched into a quick explanation of how the device worked. “Just remember: the water heater tank consumes fire Dust at a prodigious rate, so you’ll need to move *fast* with your shower.” Her eyes sparkled mischievously. “Group showers recommended.” 

All of Team RWBY flushed scarlet.

When they’d landed in the Hellmire, they hadn’t really been taking Coco and her incredible showering device too seriously. As they walked back into camp after their grueling day patrolling the swamp, it was the *only* thing they were thinking about.

“Ah, welcome back students!” Oobleck called from next to the fire pit he’d stoked as twilight descended on their base camp. “How went the patrolling?”

There was a chorus of groans, and something muttered about “Ratling King” and “things in the water”.

“Hmmm, well, it sounds like you had a very busy and successful day on the hunt! I’ve taken the liberty of preparing us some hearty, traditional Huntsman trail dinner…” the professor wrinkled his nose as the girls approached. “...if perhaps you’d like to clean yourselves up a bit first?” As RWBY dragged themselves towards the Bullhead, he coughed dramatically. “Oh, and do remember to check yourselves for leeches, they’re quite endemic to this region and climate.”

There was a short moment of absolute perfect silence, the kind that only exists when the atmosphere is pregnant with the anticipation of the calamity that’s about to be unleashed. Then, the screaming began. Trying hard to suppress a smirk, Oobleck turned his head and strode a respectful distance away as the hastily-doffed clothing began to fly.

“Ahhh! Where are they?! Where are they?!” Yang yelled, right before she tripped over her own shorts as she tried to kick them off without removing her boots first and fell over. Ruby’s voice was one long squeal as she tore at the buckles on her combat skirt, while Weiss got her jacket stuck halfway over her head as she tried to peel it off without unbuckling it first.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK! Why did I go with the tight leggings?!” Blake cried as she dropped to the ground, trying to wiggle out of her pants.

It took Blake and Yang very little time to get to naked. “Are there any on me?” Blake shrieked as she craned her neck, trying to see down her back.

“Oh, shit, Blake… they’re, they’re all over you!” gasped Yang. “It must’ve happened when you fell in the water…”

Emerging from her jacket, Weiss took one look at the number of fat, blood-gorged slugs attached to Blake and promptly vomited.

“Fucking Grimm taint, get them off of me!”

“Hold on!” her partner exclaimed, moving to help.

“Yang! There’s two huge ones on your hip!” Ruby yelled.

“Shit! Wait just a sec…” Yang reached down to tear the loathsome thing off her skin, only to scream as she tore it away with a burst of blood and slime.

“No! You can’t tug them off!” Blake explained urgently, fighting down the urge to rip at the disgusting creatures feeding off her legs. “Their mouths break off in your skin and can get infected-”

Weiss puked again. Fortunately, Ruby was still holding her hair.

“-use fire! I’ve got a lighter in my pack!” The Huntress quickly retrieved the implement and ignited it, holding the Dust-fed flame up to the other leech attached to her partner. Yang hissed at the heat, but the leech almost immediately detached and shriveled. It was a dessicated crisp by the time it hit the ground. “Okay, now do me!” she ordered as she shoved the lighter into Yang’s hand.

Yang had, guiltily, imagined Blake’s naked body a couple of times before. I mean, how couldn’t I? Blake Belladonna is a smokin’ hottie! Now, with it all exposed to her, she wasn’t paying the slightest attention to the expanses of dark bronze skin moving over lean predator’s muscles, or the lines of her hip and collar bones. Burning leeches off of someone was the least-sensual thing imaginable. One by one, the bloated slugs fell away, and Blake’s rapid breathing began to noticeably calm.

“I think that’s all of them! Okay, check me!” 

“On it!” 

Yang had far fewer of the things on her, and Blake had to spare a thought to fight down the surge of heat in her belly that she felt as she ran a hand along her partner’s shoulder, brushing away a smear of leech leavings. Finishing her back, Blake returned the lighter to Yang to address her own legs and turned to the two other girls. “Weiss, Ruby, how are you… oh…”

Weiss and Ruby were standing there, oddly matched with the brunette still clad in her leggings, and the heiress still wearing her underwear and an undershirt, awkwardly not looking at anyone. Yang’s head snapped up as Blake’s voice trailed off, her eyes dilating in a panic.

“Oh, Ruby! Let me just take you somewhere a little more private, and we’ll-”

Her little sister took a deep breath and shook her head. “No, Yang… I think it’s… it’s time.”

The blonde stepped up to her protectively and placed her hands on her shoulders. “Rubes, are you sure? You don’t have to…”

“Nope! Gonna do it. I- I’ve been wanting to for a while now, just been thinking about how best to handle it, and…” a faint smirk tugged at her lips. “This really kinda seems like a sign, doesn’t it?”

Turning to her very curious teammates, Ruby took a fortifying breath. “Blake, Weiss… I’ve got s- something to announce.” She forced her silvery eyes up from their downcast gaze to look at each of them. “I’m trans. I… I haven’t always been Ruby Rose, aspiring Hunt ress .”

“Ohhhh…” Blake murmured, as Weiss’s breath hitched in her chest. “So… you’ve got…” she gestured to Ruby’s leggings.

“Heh, yeah, still there. Too young to, um, do anything about it? If I decide I want to?” Ruby blushed and hugged herself. “I just… I didn’t want you to be surprised by something other than leeches when I took everything off…” 

Yang’s eyes blazed, making it abundantly clear that, even buck naked, she would leap to her little sister’s defense if anyone had a problem with her revelation. Blake’s thoughts raced. And here I thought I was the one with the deep secret! Suddenly, the ears still hiding under her bow felt like they’d be much less dramatic to reveal. She seriously considered the idea for the second time that day. I could… it’d make sense, it’s the perfect time…

Her courage faltered on her lips. Instead, she gave Yang and Ruby a warm grin as she nodded. “Well, not a problem for me at all! Still as happy to have you as ever, fearless leader!”

The bright smile of relief Ruby returned at her words both warmed and broke Blake’s heart. Then, all eyes turned to Weiss, who was still standing there with wide eyes.

“...Weiss?” Ruby murmured, the tremor of apprehension on her lips. Honestly, I figured Blake would be cool. It’s Weiss I’ve been worried about. Everyone knows Atlas is super conservative, and I don’t know what I’d do if she didn’t accept me, if I lost her from my life-

The heiress crossed the space between her and her partner in a white blur, embracing Ruby in a fierce hug. “Thank you for telling us, Ruby. Trusting me. I know that couldn’t have been easy, and… you’re so brave!”

As her shock wore off, Ruby returned the hug, pulling Weiss against her as she trembled with relief. “So, you’re okay? You’re not mad, or-”

“No, of course not!” Weiss cut her off hastily, hugging her even tighter and cupping her head against her own. “Why would you even think that?!”

Ruby swallowed hard as tears of gratitude began to roll down her dirty cheeks. “I mean, um, Atlas kind of has a reputation? Especially the upper class… I was really worried you- you’d want nothing to do with me…”

Weiss stiffened momentarily in her arms, but shook her head. “Okay, that’s fair, but… never!” her voice dropped to a whisper, her lips so close to Ruby’s ear that she could feel them move. “I could never push you away, Ruby. Especially not over something like this that’s just… who you are.” She leaned back just enough so the partners could make eye contact. “You’ll always be my fantastic combat skirt partner!”

The whole team was beaming with tender smiles as they glanced at each other, their nods wordlessly affirming the camaraderie they’d already forged. “Besides!” Weiss said as she stepped back. “My sister Winter’s girlfriend, May, is actually trans too!” She shook her head and chuckled. “Let me tell you, you’re right about Atlas in general though. The way my father blew a fuse whenever Winter brought her over…”

“That can’t be easy on May, either,” Yang said softly, twinging at the very thought of how her sister might be treated because of her identity in a place less welcoming.

“It hasn’t been,” Weiss shook her head sadly. “She’s… she’s had a lot to deal with. Fortunately, she’s got the best girlfriend ever in Winter!” She chuckled. “You think I’m an ice queen sometimes… Winter makes me look positively tropical! Absolutely no one fucks with her girl without getting an earful from her!”

“And we will have your back just as much!” Blake stated firmly. A happy silence fell over the girls for a moment, before Ruby jumped and squeaked. 

“Shit! The leeches!”

She quickly finished undressing, and Yang burned off the few slugs that had managed to attach to her legs. All eyes then turned to Weiss, who blushed furiously and seemed to shrink under her team’s collective gaze.

“You have any big secrets you’re hiding, snowflake?” Yang chuckled, gesturing to the heiress’s clothes.

“No!” Weiss spat out hastily. “Not at all! I’m just… I’m just a little more private, that’s all!”

Blake and Yang both raised their eyebrows. “Okay, sure, but… leeches , Weiss!” Blake responded. “I promise, no one’s judging anything!”

“Or we can just go check together…” Ruby offered, her eyes full of her own special blend of earnest caring that had been melting the ice encasing Weiss’s heart almost since they’d been partnered.

“No, I got it, it’s fine!”

Yang looked like she was about to say something further, but her sister cut it off. “Well, okay then, if you’re sure…” She turned her gaze to where the precious portable shower rested against the side of the Bullhead. “So Coco said we’d need to group up to conserve water, and I was gonna suggest we pair off for it, but…”

Her sister shrugged. “I think we can cram in three people and let Weiss have her own. Unless…” she gestured to Blake’s bow with a smirk. “...Blake’s bow just makes everything too crowded!”

Blake’s nervous laughter was masked by Yang and Ruby’s more wholesome giggles, and the three of them set about expanding the shower. “I’ll just… wait in here…” Weiss mumbled as she walked into the Bullhead and seated herself on one of the jump seats.

Damn it Weiss, it was your chance! And they straight-up asked you if you were hiding something too. Now it’s going to be even worse if they find out.

WHEN they find out. You’re never going to be able to hide this forever.

Her tail twitched against the small of her back, where it was tightly wrapped up and bound with medical tape. Just like it always was. The withered thing , not that different from the gross, crooked tails of the Ratlings they’d barely survived hours earlier, that had defined her entire life. Her, and her family’s, secret shame.

Fighting the tidal wave of emotions that was threatening to swell up and drown her, Weiss proceeded to start feeling everywhere for leeches. She only found one, and retrieved Blake’s lighter to scorch it off the back of her thigh, burning herself in the process.

Her father growling as he looked at yet another genetic analysis, refusing yet again to believe that he was Weiss’s biological father. “It simply isn’t possible that I sired *that*!”, he’d rage as he gestured at his five-year old. Asking if she could go to a friend’s poolside birthday party and being sharply rebuked for not “thinking of the consequences” of “people seeing that *thing* on her. 

The number of times she’d heard “If you EVER let the world find out what a freak you are, you’re done! I will NOT let you ruin this family!”

Weiss wiped away tears as she listened to Ruby, Blake, and Yang screeching in laughter as they bonded over the awkwardness of their tight group shower. 

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Any other day, even Ruby would have balked at the pot of rice, red beans, and sliced hot dogs that Oobleck called “the hungover Huntsman’s hangover cure”. After their grueling day in the swamp, all of Team RWBY dug in with ravenous hunger.

“You know… with some cheese on it…” Yang mused as she chewed.

“No!” Blake and Weiss declared simultaneously.

Yang snorted. “Just goes to show you two have never had to improvise dinner for a hungry Ruby when Dad hasn’t gone grocery shopping in a week…” her voice trailed off as she realized what a dark turn her anecdote had taken. Every shifted uncomfortably, until Blake coughed and broke the awkward silence.

“Professor Oobleck, can I show you something we found in one of the buildings we cleared?” She proceeded to go through the photos and footage of the faunus mosaic she’d recorded, earning an excited reaction from their instructor.

“Blake, this is an amazing discovery! Something like this is of incredible historic and cultural value. I- I have to organize an expedition to document it more thoroughly!” He and Blake continued to pour over her work. “Of course, we’ll need skilled Huntresses to protect the researchers… have you started thinking about your second year internship options yet?”

The way her usually-somber partner’s face lit up made Yang’s heart flush with warmth as she watched with a smile.

“So, girls… what do you say to adding a little history lesson to your mission today?”

The chorus of cries and moans his suggestion elicited made it clear just how much enthusiasm everyone had for that idea.

“Now, now, it won’t be too bad. Maybe there will even be a bonus question about it on your next pop quiz… some points which a few of you could definitely use!” Weiss, Blake, and Yang all eyed Ruby pointedly as she deflated with a whine. Oobleck chuckled as he fished a box of green tea Pocky out of his pack and handed it to the girls to pass around as they settled in around the campfire.

“As you’re well aware, your history lessons regularly include reviews of folklore. Do you remember why we study things like that?”

“You can frequently gain valuable insights into how to fight the Grimm by studying historic tribal knowledge from the people who’ve lived around those varieties the longest,” Weiss recited a textbook-perfect response.

“...and we do need to learn, y’know, some stuff about the world in general, not just killing Grimm,” Yang added.

“...AND stories are cool!” Ruby chimed in.

Oobleck smiled. “All of those are great answers!” He gestured to Blake. “And, as Miss Belladona’s archeological discovery illustrates, there’s often hidden history, and another side to popular stories, if you look closely enough. Particularly when you compare the heavily-edited, often sanitized popular fairy tales with the older faunus versions.”

Both Blake and Weiss perked up at this while trying to look like they weren’t.

“I presume you’re all familiar with the story of the White Witch and the Benevolent Kings, yes?”

Yang rolled her eyes. “Well, duh. That’s one of the most basic stories there is-”

“Wait,” Weiss interrupted. “‘Benevolent KingS’? I thought it was ‘Benevolent King and Queen’?”

“...we grew up with ‘KingsS’,” Ruby scrunched up her nose.

“Same,” Blake added. “I think Atlas ‘family values’ struck again?”

Weiss snorted and crossed her arms over her night shirt. “Probably. Please, continue.”

“You were saying, Miss Xiao Long?” Oobleck gestured to the blonde.

“...right. Witch and Kings… the kind kings gave the White Witch magic, so that she could make the world better. Which she did! But she thought she could do even better, and grew jealous of the power the kings hadn’t given to her. Rebelled against the rules they insisted she follow. So, she fought them-”

“-and then the kings banished the White Witch to the Night Lands, which made them very sad!” Ruby couldn’t help but finish the story.

“Right, it’s a pretty straightforward morality tale for kids. Don’t be greedy, be thankful for what you’re given, and follow the rules,” Weiss summarized.

Blake ground her teeth, thinking about the times as a young, bitter girl just starting to truly understand that people looked down on her, hated her, because she was a faunus, that she’d raged against the unfairness of it all and been told, sometimes even by other faunus, that she should should just ‘be thankful’. For what freedoms they’d been given . That things weren’t ‘as bad as they used to be’.

That her own parents had been some of the ones who tried to mollify her with those platitudes. And that’s why… that’s one of the reasons I left. I said the things I said, I left, and now I can never go back.

“Hmmm, yes, a very simplified story, cleaned up and made presentable and palatable as a children’s story. The one they could make an animated movie out of,” Oobleck grinned slyly. “But, there’s a much older and more nuanced version of the story, preserved in some very rare faunus oral history.”

The girls leaned in with interest as the professor sipped from his thermos. As the silence continued, they shared confused looks. “So, um, were you going to tell us that version, professor?” Weiss asked hesitantly.

“Oh, right! Just got lost in thought. Well, in this version of the story, the kings gave the White Witch power to fix the world because… well, some versions say it was too much work. Others say it was because they didn’t know how to do it themselves. They ended up giving her too much of their power, so when she turned against them, they couldn’t do anything to stop her. So instead, they asked the cleverest creature they knew, the Fox, to steal their magic back. And the Fox did, defeating the Witch and restoring the order of the kings.”

Team RWBY looked at each other in confusion. “So… that’s it?” Yang asked. 

“Not quite! The Fox kept a little bit of the power for themselves, and thus became the first faunus! At least, in some versions of it.”

“That… doesn’t make any sense, though,” Blake muttered. “Fox faunus are incredibly rare, and many faunus consider them to be bad luck!” Seeing everyone looking at her, she hastily added “...or, so I’ve heard…”

“I… Professor, I still don’t think I understand the point of this version of the story, compared to the original- or, rather, the one we all know,” Weiss asked. Ruby nodded in agreement.

“Hmmm, any ideas?” Professor Oobleck asked.

“Is it… that there isn’t a point?” Yang replied as she massaged her chin. “That there’s not a clear-cut morality tale all the time? Things are complicated?”

“Or that people change stories for their own ends?” Blake speculated. “I mean, you said this is an older story… but none of us have heard of it before. It’s been replaced by a really trite version about obedience to authority.”

“Those are both very good observations, ladies!” Oobleck nodded, then shrugged. “I don’t really have a point, to be honest. Miss Belladonna’s discovery made me think of a journal article I’d read on the subject, and I thought it was an interesting story.”

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang all exchanged puzzled glances. “Okay… well, thank you?” Ruby chuckled nervously. “I will definitely remember this for extra credit!”

Oobleck smiled in satisfaction. “See that you do, students!” Standing up, he yawned and stretched. “Well, I think I’m going to turn in. I suggest you do the same. You have a big day back out in the swamp tomorrow!”

As their teacher ambled off to where he’d set up his tent, the girls all looked at each other. “Why is he so weird?” Yang murmured, eliciting a giggle from Ruby.

“Yeah… he does have a point though,” Weiss sighed. “You know he’s going to have us up super early tomorrow hunting Grimm in this… this awful, Grimm-damned place again!”

“We should definitely get to sleep,” Blake concurred.

After freshening up the fire with plenty of logs to burn through the night, Team RWBY crawled into their tent and burrowed into their sleeping bags. The sound of each other’s breathing slowly regularizing quickly began to lull them to sleep. Blake’s sensitive ears let her know that she was the last one still awake, a fact which did not make her happy. She was exhausted and everything hurt, the thought of tumbling into a deep sleep felt absolutely wonderful… but she couldn’t shake all the feelings the night had stirred up. 

An entire story of where the faunus came from that’s completely new to me… and I don’t know what I hate more; the story, or the fact that our culture has been so devastated that I’ve never heard it before.

Blake usually hated ‘and that’s where the faunus come from!’ stories. It felt like all of them just assumed that humans were normal, and had just… been there, while it had taken something weird happening to create the faunus. That they had to be derived, mutated , from humans or animals. What if we were the first ones, and they’re the weirdos? The ones who were an accident, who don’t belong?

She looked at Weiss’s sleeping face next to her, pale and beautiful in the faint moonlight that filtered through their tent. Bitterness rose in her throat that that soft, silver-white hair and delicate cheekbones, the product of Atlas privilege built on the backs of suffering faunus, got to slumber so peacefully while she lay awake, tormented. But, as she watched the heiress, Blake noticed how her face twitched and pulled like there was something painful in her dreams. Weiss whimpered softly and curled up around herself in a way that tugged at Blake’s heart.

No! Hating humans, wishing they had to experience what they’ve put us through… it’s wrong. It’s not fighting for equality, it’s becoming as bad as the worst of them. That’s HIS way. It’s… it’s why I left him. 

Blake reached out and wiped a tear off Weiss’s cheek, her touch continuing as she brushed a strand of hair back from her face, traced her fingers down to gently rub the troubled girl’s shoulder. As she watched, the tension softened from Weiss’s face, and she let out a slow breath that warmed Blake’s face. Blake smiled softly and let her eyes flutter closed, her mind a little lighter. 

Sleep found her quickly.

Chapter Text

Team RWBY’s second day in the Hellmire was not an improvement on the first. If anything, it was worse, because none of them woke up fully rested from the day before. Deeper, stinkier muck, bigger swarms of Razorsquitos, fouler strands of slimy dead plant matter sticking to everything.

But, at the end of the day, it was over with. Exhausted and disgusted with what they looked and smelled like by the time they landed back at Beacon in the last hours of the evening, the girls piled out of the back of the Bullhead and ran for the locker room before Oobleck could get the idea to make them swab out the aircraft.

The dorm hallways were quiet by the time they felt clean enough to risk being seen by their friends again, which was fine as the girls were far too tired to talk to anyone. “Ruby… please tell me you have a stash of cookies in your desk that you could share? I’m starving!” Weiss groaned as they stumbled over the top of the staircase.

“Weiss, I always have cookies!” Ruby sighed as she patted her partner on the back.

“Wow, Ruby sharing her cookies… that’s true love right there!” Yang chuckled. Ruby and Weiss both blushed fiercely.

“E- except Yang! No cookies for Yang!” Ruby stammered.

“Hey, ladies… there’s something by our door…” Blake pointed down the hallway, where there were several boxes waiting for them. Interest piqued, the team picked up their step and hurried forward. “...and it smells delicious!”

Quickly prying the biggest box open, their mouths were already watering as Yang pulled out two big hot pots of garlic udon noodles and shoyu ramen. Ruby picked up a note from the bottom of the box and read it aloud. “‘I know the Hellmire works up an appetite, so enjoy! Thanks for sticking up for Velvet! - Yatsuhashi’. Guys, I think CFVY left a meal for us!”

“Gods I could kiss them all right now!” Yang murmured. “All right, let’s get this all inside!”

Laying out the feast on their table, the next package they opened contained a pile of paper-wrapped, savory pastries and a note from Fox. “‘These are b’stilla, they’re a kind of meat and onion pie from Vacuo. I hope I put in what I was supposed to, I didn’t have a recipe so I was cooking blind.’” Blake read with a smirk.

“If these taste half as good as they smell, I don’t care what he put in them!” Weiss groaned as she inhaled deeply.

“Oh, Coco!” Yang grinned as she opened a case of sweet, bubbly wine with a sticky note saying ‘I don’t cook’.

“Hey Weiss, I think this one is for you in particular,” Ruby smiled as she handed her partner a box, daintily wrapped in white paper and tied with a blue ribbon. Eyes widening, the heiress plucked the note from the top.

“‘Thank you so much for standing up for me, Weiss (and RWBY!). It meant so much to me, and I’m sorry you got punished for it. Please enjoy!’ Damnit Velvet, how are you such a sweetheart?!” Opening the package, Weiss gasped as she unveiled a lemon tart topped with a blueberry compote. “Blueberries… they’re my favorite…” she murmured.

“Alright ladies!” Yang clapped. “We can thank our friends for how amazing they are tomorrow! Right now, I want to eat and sleep!”   No one needed any further encouragement to dig in.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

By mutual, unspoken consensus, all of the girls agreed to sleep through first period the next day. They were seriously considering sleeping through second period, and realistically the entire morning, when they were awakened by a light knock on their door.

“Hey,” Ren’s voice called out. “I made you guys some breakfast, but you better come claim it before Nora gets here.”

Yang’s head popped out the door long enough to grab the food and blow him a kiss. Ren’s cooking talents had already become the stuff of legend around Beacon, and just the smell of the big pile of fruit pancakes and bacon had Team RWBY well on their way towards feeling human again.

“RENNNY!” a high-pitched voice wailed across the hall. Sighing, Yang reached out again, this time pulling Nora in with them.

“Is it because I’m cute?” the redhead smirked as she helped herself to a strawberry-blueberry pancake.

“More to spare Ren the pouting and guilt-tripping,” Blake cracked.

“But you are very cute!” Ruby was quick to offer as she sipped the sugar-thickened coffee Weiss had handed her. Her partner making her coffee had become a regular ritual between the two of them. Ruby got her sugar and caffeine rush, and Weiss both enjoyed the ritual of using her fancy Atlassian press, and having an opportunity to support her partner and team leader.

Once everyone had a plate, Nora was quick to start asking questions about the team’s time in the Hellmire. With a grin, Yang slipped into her natural showmanship, weaving a grand tale of daring exploits and brushes with death that they heroically escaped, while leaving out the leech incident.

While Yang was coming up with new adjectives to describe the ferociousness of Carnagators, Blake slipped over to take a seat next to Ruby on Weiss’s lower bunk. “G’morning, Blake!” the younger Huntress said cheerfully. “Ren sure is an amazing chef, isn’t he?”

“Mmmm hmmm!” Blake nodded as she finished off a tasty bite of honey nut and apple pancake. “I’m okay with going on missions into swamps more often if we get feted like this every time we come back!” The two girls giggled, then Blake brought up the point of her visit. “So, um, with what you told us the other night… I just wanted to let you know that I’d be more than happy to help you with some cosmetics stuff sometime, if you’d like?”

“Really?!” Ruby almost squealed in delight. “I’d absolutely love that, Blake!” She blushed as she continued. “I mean, you always look so amazingly pretty with how you do yours! Especially your eyeliner! Yang’s tried helping me with that, but neither of us are very good at it.”

“It’s definitely a tough skill to pick up,” Blake agreed. She examined Ruby’s face for a moment, pondering. Ruby swallowed nervously as she realized just how intently she was being studied by such a naturally beautiful woman, and it took a lot to hold her composure. “The good news is you’ve got naturally thick and dark lashes, so between those and your silver eyes- which are remarkable, by the way, I’ve never seen any like them! -I think we could do some really vibrant looks by using brighter eyeliner on you. Maybe we can play with it sometime when we’re not both recovering from bog hell?”

Ruby nodded enthusiastically. 

Nora set the tone for RWBY’s day; they were the first first-year team to get a real, proper mission to go on, and everyone was excited for the details. The attention was kind of nice, and even Blake found herself eventually preening as she wowed people with descriptions of battling Carnagators and the Ratling King that might have been just slightly exaggerated.

Somehow, they managed to find time to return CFVY’s portable shower to them, and thank them profusely for the late-night dinner. “You know, you could probably market this thing, if being a Hunter doesn’t work out,” Weiss suggested to Fox as he took the suitcase bathing system back.

He snorted. “Please don’t tell Coco that! Woman already has a big enough ego.”

“Say, Fox… when you guys went last year, did you explore any of the building complexes on site? Happen to see any unique art or architecture, something like that?”

“Yeah, actually! I saw tons of amazing stuff there!” Fox responded dryly, then waited. 

After a few blinks, Blake’s face turned a fierce crimson as she gasped. “Oh! Fox, I’m so sor-”

“Don’t let him guilt trip you, Blake!” Velvet muttered as she entered her team’s dorm. “He goes out of his way to set up blind jokes, just to make people feel bad.”

“Ruining my fun is ableist, Vel,” he whined. 

“Like you don’t have aura sight that works better than my eyes do!” The rabbit faunus woman rolled her eyes and turned to Blake. “We actually were going to explore a tower we saw, but on our way there, it literally sank in front of us. Kind of put us off checking out any other ones.”

RWBY exchanged nervous glances, seeing clearly in each other’s eyes that they were all imagining the building they’d been in disappearing into the muck of the bog and trapping them in those dank hallways with the Ratling hordes. They had a feeling that they’d be waking each other up from nightmares about that dreadful place for months to come.

“Anyways, Blake, why do you ask?” Velvet cocked her head as she inquired, an ear flopping over.

Shit! I got so excited about that mosaic that I didn’t think this through at all! Gushing about faunus culture to an out faunus who doesn’t know who I am is going to raise all kinds of suspicious flags! She opened her mouth to start backpeddling with some non-descript reason, but Ruby, in her enthusiasm for… well, everything… ruined her plan.

“Blake found some really cool ancient faunus art in one of the buildings! Even Professor Oobleck was impressed!” Ruby grinned. “Show her the video you got, Blake!”

Velvet cocked an eyebrow as she came around to peer over Blake’s shoulder. Well, no way out of this now without making an even worse scene… As she fished her scroll out and pulled up the clips she’d taken in the abandoned structure, she heard the faint sniffle of Velvet’s nose taking a whiff of her… followed by the feeling of the other faunus tensing suddenly behind her. Fighting down her nervousness, Blake really hoped that she could count on Velvet’s discretion to not out her in front of everybody.

Her trust was not misplaced. Velvet watched the video clips of the mosaic, clearly impressed. “That’s really cool, Blake! I’d love to go over it in more detail later ,” she said, her pointed gaze making it abundantly obvious to Blake what they would actually be discussing.

The conversation did not happen that night, though. After saying their goodbyes, the girls retired to their dorm room to continue catching up on their sleep. Blake was just settling down to read a chapter of her book, a steamy opposites-attract romance about two young women who met at a deadly-harsh school for riding dragons, when Weiss sat down on her blanket next to her.

“Hmmm?” Blake asked as Weiss fiddled in a bag.

“Oh, I wanted to show you something else I found on our side of that building. I was going to bring it up earlier, but with all the excitement over what happened… I completely forgot until you brought up the mosaic with Velvet!” Weiss removed a pair of bracers from the sack and laid them down between them. Blake gasped involuntarily.

“Weiss! These…” her voice trailed off.

“You recognize something about them, too?” Weiss shook her head. “And here I thought I was a bit of a history buff!”

Blake picked up the jewelry almost reverently. “This… this looks like an ancient faunus script! I think I’ve seen it in museums before!” I know for a *fact* that I’ve seen it! Those old, tarnished and rusted pieces in our history museum in Menagerie… of course, I can’t fess up to that… Her fear at having her identity divulged to her team once again wrestled with her growing fondness and trust for these young women, but still won out.

“I thought that might be the case, given where I found it,” Weiss nodded. “The thing that really stood out to me is what great condition it’s in, for having been sitting in a pool of brackish water for who knows how long!”

“Wow…” Blake murmured as she turned the objects in her hands. “There’s got to be something special about them, then. Unfortunately, I can’t read the script.” She fought to keep the bitterness down in her voice. Ancient faunus was a lost language. Another victim of the conquest and subjugation of her people by humanity. “Maybe you should take it to Oobleck?”

“Hmmm, good idea,” Weiss replied, taking one of the bracers back and clicking it onto her wrist. Blake felt something wrathful stir in her belly at the idea of a Schnee casually donning part of the heritage they’d helped to destroy, but she didn’t see any way to raise her objections without blowing her cover.

“And it kind of looks good on her” was an unwelcome stray thought.

“Anyways, just wanted to let you know!” Weiss smiled as she collected her treasures. 

Above their heads, Yang groaned something about “turn off the fucking lights!”, and Blake and Weiss giggled softly.

“Goodnight, Blake.”

“Goodnight, Weiss.” 

By their third day back from their mission, RWBY’s celebrity status had faded noticeably, and they fell back into their usual school routines. Wednesday’s  combat class, though, made it all snap back into focus.

“Cardin Winchester versus Ruby Rose!” Professor Goodwitch called out for the next sparring match. A murmur of excitement went around the room; everyone was very much aware that there was no love lost between RWBY and CRDL, and the two team leaders could not have had more opposite skills and fighting styles. Ruby Rose was fast, but slight; whereas Cardin was a brawny beast who could both take and dish out damage, and was so far undefeated in sparring matches. There was a running conspiracy that Goodwitch was avoiding having him and Pyrrha go head-to-head until the end of the semester.

“Paste the little twerp, Cardin!” his teammates yelled from the bench. Ruby’s team could see the nervousness on her face as she rose to step to the mat, and Weiss gave her hand a quick, reassuring squeeze.

“Kick his ass, Ruby!” Nora whooped, followed by a whistle from Yang.

The tension crackling between the two competitors could’ve been cut with a knife… and then Goodwitch blew her whistle. Ruby was off with a burst of her semblance as she tried for a quick victory with one of her favorite moves. Dashing past Cardin in a blur of rose petals, she used Crescent Rose’s recoil to reverse course and catapult backwards, catching him with the sharp inside of the scythe blade. It was a move that could decapitate an Ursa, but her opponent merely grunted and shrugged it off with only a minor loss of aura. Ruby had to tumble to doge his counterattack with his huge flanged mace, which instead tore a chunk out of the floor.

“One solid hit and her aura is toast,” Blake muttered anxiously to Weiss.

Weiss bit her lip. As much as she hated to doubt her partner, especially given how capable she’d proven herself to be… this fight had her very nervous. “I’m worried about more than just her aura,” she confessed.

The dance that ensued around the sparring mat held the whole class’s rapt attention. Ruby was a blur on the battlefield, bright flashes of red shooting across the mat to land blow after blow before executing a graceful acrobatic turn or flip to change course and hit again. Weiss found herself having to remind herself to breathe. Usually, they were practicing together, and it wasn’t often that she got to sit back and just watch how her partner moved.

Weiss had been told plenty of times that her style was ‘graceful’. As a blend of sword flourishes and summoning gestures for her family’s unique semblance, blended with classical dance, it certainly should be. Ruby, though… underneath that combat skirt, she’s raw power. I know her weapon is ridiculously heavy, but she makes it look so easy to not just swing, but stop and change directions with on a coin. She could easily visualize Ruby’s muscles moving under her armor… I mean, it’s just *obvious* how that would work! I certainly wasn’t peeking when they all took that shower together! And my face definitely doesn’t feel warm!

Seeing a temporary distraction, Weiss glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw Blake giving their team captain similarly attentive looks. Deep in the recesses of her mind, something green hissed defensively… but she quickly shushed it. “She’s pretty amazing, isn’t she?” Weiss whispered to Blake, who jumped slightly like she’d just snapped out of a trance.

“Oh, definitely!”

Impressive as Ruby was, though, Cardin would just not drop. And Ruby was starting to visibly tire. When she paused to catch her breath, Cardin snarled gleefully and smacked his mace on the ground, igniting the head in a burst of flame Dust.

“Oh come ON!” Yang yelled as she leaped to her feet. “That can’t be legal!”

“Sit down, Miss Xiao Long! Unless you fancy another disciplinary excursion?”

Yang dropped back to her seat, mouth shut but eyes brimming with fury.

Cardin’s savage, fiery swings were getting closer and closer to hitting Ruby… and, inevitably, her luck ran out.

Damn it, what’s it gonna take to drop this jerkface? Ruby hissed to herself as she planted Crescent Rose in the ground a spun herself around for another attack. Also, I wonder how much Beacon spends replacing the sparring room floors constantly? Ruby knew she hit hard, but everything she did just seemed to be glancing off her opponent’s massive aura and heavy armor.

She heard her team cheering for her from the bleachers. This was absolutely a grudge match over the food fight, and she really didn’t want to let her team down by being defeated. Ruby knew Cardin would be insufferably smug about it, but the worst part would be Weiss and Blake trying hard to put on supportive faces and hide their disappointment.

Yang, she knew, would just give her shit. It was her right as her sister.

C’mon, Rubes! You’ve been Grimm much bigger and meaner than Cardin Winchester! Which, she realized with a chill, wasn’t really true. Grimm were just soulless killing machines; Cardin chose to be a racist, misogynist bully. Something about that hit different than even the claws of a Nevermore.

Alright, he’s obviously not very agile, so I can’t imagine he’s trained much on aerial maneuvers. Let’s see if I can get him airborne and juggle him! With her new plan of attack, Ruby came in with her scythe low behind her, winding up to throw herself into a backflip swing that would, hopefully, transfer all of her strength and momentum into knocking Cardin off his feet.

Somehow, the big brute finally figured out her pattern, and got his mace right where it needed to be to intercept her. Ruby barely had time for her eyes to fly wide open as she ran headlong into a mass of steel and flame nearly as big as her torso. She felt her aura break from the hit, and by the time she was flying backwards, everything was already aching. The sparring mat was receding in her vision as she heard students shouting. Then Ruby’s head cracked on something, and everything went black.  

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“...ouch…” 

Her chest hurt. Her head really hurt. Even opening her eyes was painful, the light above searing into her vision. Ugh, when did the sparring room get a sun lamp?

As she blinked slowly, Ruby figured out, more by touch than anything else, that she was not in the sparring room anymore. It actually felt like… am I in bed somewhere? How’d that happen?!

“Hey there, Ruby. How are you feeling?” Blake’s soft voice cut through the ringing in her ears, and Ruby immediately felt just a little more comfortable.

She was sure she meant to say something coherent, but was pretty sure all that came out was “...ugghhh…”

Blake giggled softly, and Ruby’s vision clarified enough to see her teammate put a bookmark in her book and close it in her lap. Leaning over, her hand felt cool and comforting as she brushed the stray bangs off Ruby’s forehead. “That good, huh? That’s not really a surprise.”

“Wha… what happened?” Ruby tried to sit up but immediately winced as pain stabbed through her chest, and Blake gently pushed her shoulder back down into the bed.

“Well, what’s the last thing you remember?”

“I… oh, shit! I was sparring with Cardin, and…”

“Yeah… he hit you really good,” Blake pursed her lips. “Broke your aura, and then you smashed into the wall hard enough to leave a Ruby-shaped dent in it. You’ve been unconscious in the infirmary for two whole days with a concussion and three broken ribs. These two refused to leave your side the whole time.”

Blake gestured to the other side of the bed. Rolling her head, Ruby saw Yang and Weiss sleeping on a small couch against the wall. Yang was sprawled backwards with her head leaning at an angle that guaranteed she was going to wake up with a sore neck, and Weiss had, somehow, ended up snuggled up tight under her arm, head resting comfortably on her big sister’s chest. A blanket had been draped over the slumbering teammates.

“Awwww!” Ruby squeed hoarsely. “They’re so adorable! ” She turned back to Blake. “Please tell me you’ve been taking pictures for blackmail purposes later?”

“Oh, absolutely! That was the first thing I did!” her teammate smirked. Her smile faltered a little as she continued. “Um, please don’t think I cared about you any less! It was just, someone had to go to our classes to take notes and get our assignments…”

“No offense taken, Blake,” Ruby grinned softly. “Thanks. For taking care of them and stuff.”

“Of course!” Blake handed her a glass of water, soothing Ruby’s parched throat. “Oh! And you’ll be happy to know that, even though he technically won, you still got a higher grade than Cardin on that match. Goodwitch tore him apart for poor tactics”. She giggled again. 

‘I love seeing Blake happy’ passed through Ruby’s foggy brain. Her cheeks are so cute how they squeeze up when she laughs .

“He’s been having a bad time since the fight, too. Almost everyone thinks he overdid it on you, and JNPR has been waging an all-out prank attack on him. I think Nora might actually land him in the infirmary too. Hopefully, you’ll be gone by then.”

Ruby giggled. “Hopefully! Have the doctors said anything about how long I’m going to be laid up?”

“I think they were planning to keep you here through the weekend and see how you were feeling on Monday. The big thing was making sure your head healed up okay. If you’re awake, we’re supposedly past that, so now your aura just needs to fix up your ribs…”

Over on the couch, Yang mumbled something in her sleep and raised her arm to cup Weiss’s head against her chest. The heiress, in turn, hummed contentedly and curled up even tighter against her.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Weiss this happy,” Blake murmured as she stared at their two teammates. 

“Yang is basically the best snuggler in the world,” Ruby nodded. “She’s really hot- hot as in very warm! -and she throws her arm around you and holds you tight. She’s like having a heated blanket that smells like… fresh-baked cookies on a spring day.”

Blake snorted. “That has to be the most Ruby description of what someone smells like that I’ve ever heard.”

“Not wrong though!” Ruby wiggled her eyebrows mischievously at Blake. “You should try a Yang snuggle sometime!” The sudden flush that pinked Blake’s cheeks confirmed a suspicion that had been building in her mind.

“Huh, that’s, um, an interesting thought!” Blake chuckled as she suddenly found an itch to scratch on her inner elbow.

Ruby opened her mouth to push her just a little bit more, only to have her intention turn into a wide, squeaking yawn instead. “I should probably let you get back to sleep,” Blake said with a soft smile as she stretched and yawned herself. “And on that note, I could really use some sleep too. You gonna be okay here by yourself, Ruby?”

The other Huntress nodded. “Not that I’m really by myself, with my sister and my partner keeping an eye on me,” she gestured to Yang and Weiss.

“Good point,” Blake said as she stood up. “Well, good night then, Ruby. Glad you’re feeling better.”

“Thanks, Blake. And… thank you. For being here and… everything.”

Blake smiled and brushed her fingers over Ruby’s shoulder as she padded out of the infirmary ward. Ruby sighed as she left. She could already feel her eyelids getting heavy and trying to tug her back to sleep, and she knew she’d succumb soon enough. Letting her head plop back into her pillow, she looked dreamily over at Weiss and Yang. Seeing two of the most important people in her life taking comfort in each other, even if it was inadvertent and they’d both be scandalized when they woke up, was a great thing to fall asleep to.

Chapter Text

Ruby ended up having to stay in the infirmary a day longer than planned, thanks to trying to spring out of bed on her own and un-setting a rib. When she was finally released, it was under strict orders not to participate in sparring, semblance training, obstacle courses… the doctor eventually just ended up writing ‘DESK WORK ONLY!’ and entrusting Ruby’s keeping to Weiss. Which, seeing as how high-energy activities were the Huntress’s favorite thing, quickly turned ‘saving Ruby from herself’ into a team activity. Even Pyrrha got involved in having to catch her by her collar when she was about to zoom off in a burst of petals to the next thing that caught her interest.

By the end of the week, though, the school physician cleared Ruby for all activities this side of actual combat. Coincidentally, Weiss was finding herself feeling… off . At first, she just chalked up being extra fidgety and anxious to worrying about her partner. Well of course I’m worried! She was seriously injured! The fear that had coiled like ice around her spine when Ruby hadn’t gotten up after Cardin’s strike still made her shiver when she recalled it. And now, the dolt won’t stop doing things that could re-injure her before she’s even fully healed! OBVIOUSLY I’m going to worry!

…hmmm, I should encourage her to rest by offering to go get her some food. What’s that ridiculous health disaster in a bucket she and Yang are always getting for movie nights? ‘Tater tots in bacon queso’? She’d like that. To the cafeteria!

“Ummm, Weiss… are you feeling okay?” Yang asked hesitantly.

“Hmmm? Yes? Why do you ask?”

“Well… it’s just that, usually, you barely even snack lightly on popcorn during the movie…”

“...but tonight, you’re eating melted cheese out of the bottom of the bowl with a spoon!” Ruby finished.

Weiss blinked as she looked down at the bowl in her lap that had previously contained ‘just a little taste’ of the Xiao Long-Rose sisters’ heart attack bait. A bowl she had emptied without even realizing it, and was now meticulously cleaning. “ Oh . I, um… I guess I was just feeling really hungry tonight?” She pasted a smirk over the fact that she still felt hungry. “Looking after you, Ruby, works up quite an appetite!” she chided.

Ruby giggled, and Weiss studiously ignored the side-eye that Yang, Blake, and Ren were giving her.

When Weiss woke up Friday morning, still hungry and with a deep headache that felt like it was pressing against her entire skull at once, she knew it was time for a self-assessment. Running through her meticulous mental checklists, it didn’t take her long to hit upon what had to be the source of her ailments.

“Shit! With the mission two weekends ago, and then Ruby’s injury and taking care of her… I completely forgot to pick up my medication!”

Weiss had been on ‘her medicine’ for as long as she could remember. She had damaged genes, related to the withered faunus rat tail hidden against her back, and her monthly injection was necessary to stave off any further health complications. After the colorful ways the doctor had described death by massive organ failure, little Weiss had never forgotten the drugs. Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical concoction was a result of the most advanced Atlas Dust-infused biotech and wasn’t available outside of the city; fortunately, she was a Schnee, and getting a vial discreetly shipped to her was a trivial expense. The ‘discrete’ part of that, though, meant that it was delivered to the city post office, instead of directly to the Beacon campus, so she had to go into the city to pick it up.

“Well, if Weiss is running errands… do we all want to make a night of it?” Yang asked.

“Really, it’s fine, you don’t have to all come with me…” Weiss countered.

“No, that sounds fun!” Ruby looked up from her magazine. “We could hit up the arcade. Dance Dance Uprise, anyone?”

A spark lit up in Weiss’s eyes. “They have DDU? Oh, you girls are going down!”

“Bring it, snowflake!” Ruby grinned.

Blake shrugged as she smiled at Yang. “I heard there’s a really interesting new Mistrali food truck in town I’d really like to try.”

“Maybe even hit up a club afterwards?” Yang raised an eyebrow. “In which case, ladies, I suggest we glam up and show this town how it’s done!”

An hour later, Yang was finishing up tapping blush onto her cheeks and putting her hair up into a high ponytail as she checked herself in the mirror. She’d opted for a bright yellow strapless top accented by a large black bow on the bust, with a black and yellow plaid miniskirt and black semi-sheer stockings. “Yeah Yang,” she murmured to herself as she swung her hips to the mirror. “You can get it!”  

“I’ll say!” Weiss said behind her. “Can’t say I expected you to clean up quite this… nice , Yang…” Her voice trailed off as Yang spun around, catching her teammate’s eyes looking her up and down. Her cocky smirk faltered when she saw the heiress.

“Damn… um, you too, Weiss…” Yang scratched the back of her head as she suddenly found herself hoping she’d used enough blush to hide the natural color rising on her face. Weiss had opted for a pleated trapeze mini dress, pale blue with silvery threads run through it that made it shimmer ever so slightly when she moved her body underneath it. The gauziness of the fabric tempted the eye to think it was translucent, even though it wasn’t, and demand repeated inspection. She’d used a faint silver frost around her eyes, otherwise keeping her face pale… except for the bright red stain on her lips. Lips that broke into a soft smile as she fluttered her eyes at Yang’s stuttering compliment.

Weiss had grown up being complimented on her looks. She’d quickly learned that such niceties became more and more uncomfortable as she aged, and the older high society men offering them had thoughts behind those creepy smiles and wandering eyes. They were the sort of thing she’d learned to let simply roll off of her, like snowflakes melting on the hood of a warm jacket. But something about how Yang said it, the awkward earnestness of it, went right through her armor and touched her. Averting her gaze, she crossed her hands in front of her belly and swayed nervously. “Thank you, Yang.”

“Yang! Weiss! How do I look?!” Ruby asked excitedly.

“Oh my gods, Ruby… you’re adorable!” Weiss exclaimed. Ruby was wearing a black halter top babydoll, dotted with red cherries. Blake had been helping her with her makeup, and had underlined the double-wings of her eyeliner with bright green that leaned into the motif while making her eyes absolutely pop.

Yang smiled and made an elaborate show of bowing and extending her hand. “May I offer the lovely lady a dance?” Giggling, Ruby took her sister’s hand, then shrieked with delight as Yang twirled her. She stumbled dizzily out of the spin, and into Blake’s arms.

“Careful there! We put way too much effort into your look for you to go hurting yourself again before you get to show it off!” she laughed. Ruby threw her arms around her teammate and hugged her tight. “Hey! Watch out for your face, it probably hasn’t set completely yet!” Blake cautioned.

“Thank you so much, Blake,” Ruby whispered in her ear. “Looking and feeling this pretty… it’s- it’s been a dream for… a long time.”

Blake embraced her back, pulling her tight as she heard the beginnings of a sob in Ruby’s voice. “It’s my pleasure, Ruby! And all I did was make a beautiful girl a little prettier on the outside. You better not start crying though, that’ll mess up your eyes in no time!”

They smiled at each other as they parted, and Ruby turned to compliment Yang and Weiss. Her big sister stepped over to her partner and touched her shoulder. “Thank you. So much,” Yang murmured softly. Blake returned her gentle smile as she reached up and held her hand on her shoulder. A little louder, her partner continued. “And talk about bringing the heat, Blake! Damn!”

Blake popped her hip and grinned. She’d donned a pale purple button down sewn with black thread, and knotted under her bust. Tight black leather low-rise pants hugged her hips, and she’d also done her shiny black hair up in a ponytail. Her look was finished off with heavy, smokey eyeshadow and golden shimmer on her cheekbones, and knee-high heeled black boots.

Team RWBY crowded together in front of their mirror as Weiss pulled out her scroll and took a group shot. “We,” she declared, “are some seriously hot bitches!”

When the girls sashayed through the common room on their way out of the dorm, Nora took one look and let loose an absolutely feral wolf whistle. Yang shot her a pair of finger guns while Weiss and Ruby blushed. Meanwhile, Jaune sputtered and spat a mouthful of cola up all over his sweatshirt, earning him a side-eye of consternation from Pyrrha, who in turn got a quick gaze of sympathy from Blake.

“You all look… very nice,” Ren said as he looked up from the batch of noodles he was stirring.

“That’s Ren for ‘You all are fucking hot!’ ’” Nora offered. 

“Love you too, Ren!” Yang chuckled. “Save us any leftovers!”

“Yang, have you met Nora?” Weiss laughed as she rolled her eyes.

“Y-yeah! You all look- look great!” Jaune managed to stammer.

“Jaune,” Blake stated flatly. “Maybe you should try taking your team, or even just your partner , out on the town? I bet you’d be surprised by how you all clean up.”

His cheeks flushed as he scratched the back of his head. “Ah, geez… I dunno, maybe?”

Blake met Pyrrha’s gaze again and shrugged helplessly.

“We’re gonna be out late!” Ruby said as her team filed out the door. “So don’t wait up! Unless there’s leftovers!”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

It wasn’t a long walk into downtown Vale, but it was sufficient to get Yang to start complaining about having worn her sandal heels. “Why can’t you all just fit on Bumbleby?” she lamented as she rocked back and forth, trying to give each foot a few moments of relief.

“Why did you wear heels if you aren’t used to walking in them, you dolt?!” Weiss smacked her forehead.

“Because they’re hot and I’m hot!”

“Wait, you ride your motorcycle in high heels?” Blake exclaimed incredulously.

“...am I not supposed to do that?”

“Pretty sure Dad lectured you extensively on motorcycle safety equipment before he let you get Bumbleby, Yang!” Ruby chimed in.

“Dad lectured me on a lot of things that I’ll pay attention to when he puts in the time to raise me,” Yang snorted, ignoring the pained wince from her sister. “Besides, that’s what aura is for!”

It was Blake’s turn to bury her face in her hands. “How am I supposed to keep you alive until graduation, Yang?” she groaned.

“It always helps to feed her,” Ruby replied. “Speaking of… can we check out that food cart, Blake? I’m starving!”

Weiss pursed her lips and checked the time on her scroll. “Hey guys, I really need to hit the post office before it closes…”

“That’s like, four blocks away, Weiss!” Yang pouted. “And food is right here! If we eat now, we’ll still have time to do your errand… and there’s a pretty hot club that way too!”

Blake lifted her nose in the air and inhaled deeply, letting the scents of the city flow through her. There were, of course, plenty of distinctly unpleasant smells; masses of people, the tangy ozone of combusted Dust from vehicles and factories. But she also smelled the leftover scent of a late fall rain from that afternoon's light storm, and the crispness of autumn reasserting itself. And, especially this close to the pedestrian bustle of the city center, a lot of delicious food. The hearty meat and vegetable aroma of Vale cooking formed a background to the hot, dry spices of Vacuo cuisine and the indescribably sweet and savory essence of Mistral…

Heartache blossomed in her as she caught a whiff of the tropical flavors of Menagerie. Of fish, with coconut and citrus and nuts. Of home . Blake fought viciously to keep the memories out of her mind, but the sights and sounds and smells of sitting down with her dad after a hard day of helping out in the community to a huge bowl of her mom’s ciopinno refused to budge. The hearty, fragrant tomato broth… the myriad textures and flavors of the different fish and crustaceans… the silly voices her dad would make when he scooped up a fish head and presented it to her, pretending it was talking to her while she squealed with laughter and her mother rolled her eyes fondly…

“Wub-wub, I’m so tasty, little Blakey!”

“Blakey…”

“Blake… Blake, you there?”

She snapped out of her reverie to the sight of Yang waving her hand in front of her face while Weiss and Blake looked on in confusion. “Were you just… trying to smell your way to the food cart?” Weiss asked skeptically.

Shit! Blake cursed herself for her carelessness… and cursed the fact that she was in the position of having to constantly hide herself from her friends. Quickly, she shook her head and grinned. “I mean, maybe? Worth trying, but… no such luck!”

Ruby pointed across the square to a brightly-colored food truck with paper lanterns dangling from its awning. “Good thing I think the one you wanted is just over there.” Following Ruby’s finger, Team RWBY went up to the cart to survey the offerings.

The cart featured various foods served on sticks, and there was something to appeal to everyone. The flagship offering was called ‘tteokbokki’, and featured a fried rice cake skewered with a variety of different meats and vegetables. Weiss, to everyone else’s surprise, was the first to order, getting several sticks that were heavy on spicy sausages. Ruby and Yang were instantly drawn to something called a ‘gamja hot dog’; a hot dog, battered and plastered with fried potatoes, then fried again. 

“It’s. So. Crispy!” Ruby squealed happily as she took a bite of hers after rolling it in a spicy ketchup and mayonnaise dipping sauce, while Yang’s mumbled something through her mouthful of crunchy delight. Weiss and Blake caught each other’s eyes and shared a fond look.

As for Blake, she had just ordered a tteokbokki with shrimp, when her breath hitched in her throat. Watching the chef skewer a long filet of fish onto a skewer and dip it into a savory broth to boil, she caught herself leaning on the sill of the serving window and standing on her toes to peer inside. “What is that? ” she murmured hungrily.

“It’s called ‘eumok-kkochi’”, the friendly proprietor explained. “It’s fish, dipped in-”

“I want it.”

“...okay miss. I’ve got three different broths-”

“Yes. All of them. One of each.”

Her teammates couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of Blake, practically plastered to the window watching her fish being prepared. “I feel like she needs, I don’t know, a little puppy tail coming out of her butt and wagging like crazy!” Ruby chuckled. Neither she nor her sister caught Weiss’s flinch.

Blake’s eyes were huge pools of amber gold as she came and sat next to them with her four sticks of food. Holding them splayed in her hands in front of her, she licked her lips as she tried to decide which one to try first.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy!” Yang grinned as she elbowed her partner.

“Yang…” Blake muttered, very seriously. “Look at all this DELICIOUS FISH!” The rest of dinner was repeatedly interrupted by rounds of laughter over the jubilant noises Blake made as she worked her way through dinner.

“Hmmm. I’m getting some more… anyone want anything?” Weiss asked. When even Blake shook her head, she went up to the cart… and returned with two of the gamja dogs, and a handful of pancakes called ‘hotteok’. “That cook is definitely sweet on us!” she exclaimed as she passed out the pancakes. “He gave me these to ‘the pretty ladies’ for free!”

“Gods, Weiss… I think you just put away more food than Yang and I combined!” Ruby gasped.

“What are you, the food police?” Weiss snapped, a definite note of irritation in her voice. As Ruby recoiled, she sighed and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Ruby. I’m just really hungry these days, okay?”

“The professors have definitely been putting us through the paces,” Blake nodded as she licked a sticky-sweet sauce off her fingers.”

“Listen, Weiss can eat whatever she wants, as long as it gets us more of these things!” Yang said excitedly. “These are absolutely delicious!” It only took Ruby and Blake one bite of the sugar, honey, cinnamon, and nut-filled dough to begin agreeing emphatically.

Weiss was still working on her second gamja dog when the team started down the street towards the post office, a spring in their step after their delicious meal. A spring that faded as they passed a scroll repair shop that had a very large sign proclaiming ‘NO FAUNUS ALLOWED’, and a silhouette of a dog-eared faunus crossed out in bright red. Blake could feel herself wilting, he ears straining to flatten underneath her bow, as she tried not to look at the racist display.

“Ugh, that shouldn’t even be legal!” Yang fumed. Ruby nodded, and Weiss bristled as she felt all eyes turning to her.

“You don’t have to all look at me!” she snapped. “Like I’ve said before, I don’t support that shit either!  Most faunus, just like most humans, are perfectly fine people. It’s just the few bad elements that give all the rest-”

The large glass window of the shop front exploded behind them. 

Team RWBY spun around just in time to see a bloody and battered human crash to the ground and roll out into the street. As bystanders began to scream and run, three figures wearing fearsome Grimm masks jumped out of the wreckage of the shop front, brandishing axes and shotguns. “Let this be a lesson to anyone who thinks they can mistreat the faunus!” the largest one, an apparent leader, yelled as they advanced on the fallen shopkeeper, winding  up their axe for a killing blow. The brutal blade descended… only to bounce off a whirling white glyph that suddenly manifested over the intended victim.

The three assailants all turned and stared at the four young women in club attire who were squaring up against them. “...are you fucking kidding me?” one of them demanded.

“What the Grimmtaint do you think you’re doing?!” Blake yelled as she stepped forward.

“Standing up for our rights against you people!” the leader shot back. Blake shook her head.

“By killing civilians for being bigots? What are you going to do, purge half the city? Sure, that’ll make people like you!”

“Maybe not, but it’ll make them respect us!” They could all feel the leer behind the gangster leader’s threatening mask. “Which is something I think you bitches could do with a bit of!” The three brandished their weapons as they began to close on the girls.

“Um, guys, we don’t have our weapons…” Weiss murmured as her teammates began to circle up.

Yang grinned savagely. “That just means I hit like a truck instead of like a tank!”

“Weapon lockers inbound!” Ruby called out as she slid her scroll back into her purse.

“Shit! Beacon students! Guys, this might be a bad idea…” one of the crooks cautioned, looking warily at their accomplices.

“Nah, we’ll just make it quick!” their leader cackled as they lunged forward and swung at Yang. The blonde dodged handily, going into a spin kick that connected with her attacker’s face and sent them flying backwards.

“FUCK!” another one shouted, bringing up their shotgun and squeezing off a shot at Yang. With a flick of her wrist, Weiss conjured a glyph to block the shrapnel spray.

“I can block them, but without any Dust I can’t use any attack glyphs!” the heiress warned.

“Don’t worry, I got this!” Yang called out as she side-stepped a swipe from the other gangster. 

Blake was already on the attack, though. With a snarl, she grabbed a stanchion from the outdoor cafe they’d been next to and whipped it by the cable at the shotgun wielder, knocking the firearm from their hands. Snapping the rod back to her hands, she sprang forward and engaged the leader, who was back in the fray. The awkwardness of her improvised weapon caused her to overswing, and she grunted as her aura soaked an axe strike that launched her backwards.

“Blake!” Yang yelled in fright. With her distracted, the gangster she was fighting landed an elbow to her chin that staggered her back and gave the gangster leader an opportunity to move in and bring their axe crashing down on her.

Or, it would have, if a blur of red petals hadn’t delivered a folding chair to their face.

“You stay away from my sister, asshole!” Ruby cried and she pressed the attack, smacking the thug repeatedly over the head

Shotgun crawled for their weapon, only to cry out in pain as Weiss’s heel stabbed into their hand right before they could grab it. “Not gonna happen!” she declared as she scooped up the gun. With a hiss, they ripped their mask off, revealing an angular reptilian face, and projectile spit at her. The fabric of Weiss’s dress immediately began to sizzle and her aura flared as some kind of caustic substance landed on her.

“Motherfucking, this is couture!” she snarled. Bashing things was far from her forte, but the butt of the crook’s shotgun smashed into their face a couple times was sufficient to knock them unconscious.

Ruby’s chair broke over her combatant’s head,  leaving them with an improvised metal collar that Yang quickly grabbed and used to toss them into a second-story wall across the street. The last of RWBY’s assailants dropped as Blake delivered a kick to their face, followed by a quick binding with the cable of the stanchion she’d claimed.

“Is everyone okay?” Ruby checked in with her team as they all stopped to catch their breath.

“I’m never wearing heels again!” Yang groaned. “These things suck for fighting in! I don’t know how you girls do it!” 

“Um, Yang? You got a little…” Blake stepped up to her, dabbing her partner’s chin with a handkerchief to wipe off the trickle of blood running down from her lip.

“I’m okay, but my dress is ruined! Since when were there faunus that could spit acid?! ” Weiss cried as she looked down at the burned hole in the abdomen of her garment.

One by one, they pulled off the masks of their attackers. They were all clearly faunus.

“These are some scary masks they were wearing,” Ruby observed as she turned one of them over in her hands.

“They’re not just any masks, because these aren’t just any criminals,” Weiss replied bitterly. “These are definitely-”

“-White Fang.” Blake finished, her voice tight.

Chapter Text

“The White Fang?!” Ruby squeaked nervously. “I’ve heard about them in the news, but… they’ve never been this close to home before! What are they doing in Vale?”

“Apparently, beating up anti-faunus bigots,” Yang muttered as medics arrived on scene and rushed to the bruised shopkeep.

“That makes no sense!” Blake exclaimed, fear and confusion in her voice. “The White Fang has always taken an aggressive stance on advocating for faunus rights and has been willing to fight in self-defense, but… going out and attacking a civilian?!”

Weiss snorted. “What fairy tale have you been living in, Blake? Do you get all your news from Menagerie or something? The White Fang is an extremist terrorist group. They’re the reason anti-faunus bigotry is still so prevalent in the Kingdoms.

Yang and Ruby had never seen Blake as furious as she was now as she whirled to face Weiss. Yang remembered a barn party where she’d seen some older kids lighting shots of a golden liquor on fire before tossing them back; her partner’s eyes burned with that volatile passion. “ ‘Extremist terrorists’?! ‘The reason bigotry still exists?!’ What the fuck , Weiss?”

Blinking in surprise, Weiss retreated from Blake’s outburst. “Wow, Blake, calm down! I’m just saying, the White Fang instigates a lot of violence by making people scared of faunus! They’ve been attacking everything to do with my family for years. I don’t know what their problem is, yeah there are still issues but-”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Blake fumed as she threw up her hands. “You think the faunus are responsible for our own oppression, after your family used us as slaves in your mines, and there’s still assholes like that in every town in Remnant? Of course a lot of faunus want to dismantle the Schnee dynasty-”

“-wait, wait, hold on a sec,” Yang cut in, physically inserting herself between Blake and Weiss. “Blake… why did you just say ‘we’?”

Her partner stiffened, shock filling her eyes as she realized what she’d just let slip. Fuck! Not like this Blake! Not like this… there has to be a way I can walk this back… She stood there trembling, panic evident on her face as the rest of RWBY stared at her. 

“Um, Blake? Are you…” Ruby stepped forward, reaching out to touch her teammate’s arm. Blake recoiled, clutching her arms tight to her sternum as her eyes darted around frantically.

“...and what do you mean ‘dismantle the Schnees’, Blake?” Weiss pushed on. “That’s my family you’re talking about! That’s me!”

“I… fuck, I…” Flashbacks tore through Blake’s mind, taking her back screaming to other times she’d felt this trapped and cornered. When she was eight, at a peaceful protest, and the police had kettled the demonstrators, keeping them pressed together under the hot sun as clouds of tear gas drifted over them for hours. When she’d been twelve, and a bunch of older human boys, remarking on her developing body, had backed her down an alley with an animalistic gleam in their eyes… until he’d showed up, fighting with a viciousness she’d never seen before until she was safe, and he knelt in front of her to ask if she was okay.

Years later, when he’d cornered her in their room and directed that ferocity at her for publicly disagreeing with him.

“Blake!” Yang grabbed her shoulder and shook her, breaking her out of her spiral as she flailed to push her away. “Are you okay?”

Blake took a deep breath as something hardened in her guts. This could cost you everything you’ve started to build here, Blake. It could cost you all of them . Her eyes surveyed her teammates, her heart wrenching at the thought of what the concern on Ruby and Yang’s faces could quickly turn into. Even Weiss’s cold stare had cracks of worry in it. …if you lose them over this, they were never meant to be in the first place.

Reaching up to her hair, Blake tugged at her ribbon, unraveling it and letting it fall free in her hand. All eyes went to her head, and all of them widened with varying degrees of dumbstruck.

“Blake, you…” Ruby gasped.

“...have cat ears?!” Yang finished for her.

“You’re a faunus?!” Weiss exclaimed.

“Yes. I, Blake Belladonna, am a proud faunus, and a daughter of the White Fang!” Confidence filled her lungs as she finally let the truth out. “And I am not okay being told that I’m a terrorist and that it’s my fault so many people don’t see me as a person!”

Silence hung over the group, all of them oblivious to the bustle around them as more authorities began to arrive on scene. “Wow… so, um…” Yang began awkwardly.

“You were in the White Fang?!” Weiss’s voice ran with liquid ice, so cold it was painful to hear. Blake just stared back, letting her defiant gaze speak for itself. Weiss received her answer clearly. “You… people I knew, friends , would never be heard from again after White Fang- after your attacks!” she hissed. “ You’re the reason I had to have security guards as a child and do lockdown drills in my own home!”

“And I have relatives, friends , who have slave and penal brands from your company!” Blake snarled back. “I spent my childhood being told that I was an animal by people like you!”

“Um, girls!” Ruby tried valiantly, but neither woman was paying attention to anything but each other by that point.

“‘People like me’, huh? ‘Dismantle the Schnees’! Tell me, Blake…” the heiress stepped up to her, their noses practically touching. “...do you want to ‘dismantle’ me?” Her voice dropped to a trembling whisper as her whole body shook, struggling to contain the rawness of her feelings.

Yang laid hands on both of her teammates’ shoulders, trying to push them apart. “Hey! No one is doing any ‘dismantling’ of anyone!” she barked. “Weiss, Blake doesn’t-”

“Of course you’d take her side!” Weiss snapped, breaking the stare-off she’d been having with her teammate. My *faunus* teammate! Who was in a terrorist group dedicated to hating me! “We’ve all seen how you look at her!”

“I’m not taking anyone’s ‘side’, and she’s my partner-”

“Oh come off it, Yang! Maybe you can fool yourself, but it’s fucking obvious!” Weiss rolled her eyes as she stomped over to where their weapon lockers had landed after the fight was already over with. Ripping hers open, she hastily strapped Myrtenaster to her hip. “I’m clearly going to be the bad guy here. Do what you have to do. No one follow me!” Weiss set off in a brisk walk down a side street.

“Wait, I didn’t even say- Weiss!” Ruby wailed as she started to run after her partner… only to slam to a halt as a glyph materialized in front of her.

“I said, ‘ Don’t follow me!’” Weiss said menacingly before she turned and sprinted off, leaving Ruby staring at her retreating form with hurt eyes.

“We can’t just let her run off like that alone!” Yang said. “We need to follow-”

“Hey! You there!” a Vale police officer called to them. “Witnesses are saying you’re the girls who foiled this attempted assassination?”

“An assassination?!” Blake exclaimed. “It was hardly-”

“I’m gonna need to get statements from all of you and have you hang around for a bit until the brass gets here.”

“But-” Ruby started.

“Misses,” the officer said, his eyes narrowing noticeably as he noticed Blake’s faunus ears. “You are all being detained for questioning in this matter. Do NOT go anywhere.”

Ruby, Blake, and Yang all turned to look at each other helplessly.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

It was nearly 40 minutes before the police were done talking to them, most of it spent standing around waiting on someone while uniformed figures shot hostile glares at Blake and her ears. “Gods, Blake, is it always like this?” Ruby asked quietly as the three women stood close together, she and her sister almost instinctively closing in to defend their faunus teammate.

She shrugged. “Honestly? This is better than usual. Usually I haven’t been a student in a town with a Huntsman academy, or had two humans vouching for me.”

“Fucking Grimmshit!” Yang growled, flexing her fists under Ember Celica. They’d all made a point of retrieving their weapons from their lockers, and some of the looks the cops had been giving her teammate made her very glad they had. “They have no right to treat you this way! They’re supposed to be protecting and serving everyone, not labeling everyone who looks different as enemies!”

Blake grimaced. “Yang… it really means a lot to me that you feel that way, but… this is just my life. They looked at me like this even when I was a little kid.”

Both of the Xiao Long-Rose sisters mumbled angrily, and Blake’s heart warmed in her chest. With anyone else, she probably would’ve felt condescended to, but… the way Yang practically interposed herself between Blake and the grizzled, suspicious investigating detective had made her feel so much… safer .

At last, the girls were released under orders to ‘return directly to the Academy, and don’t leave town!’. Neither of which they had the slightest intention of following; they’d go wherever their training missions took them, and before anything else, they were going to find their teammate. An idea Blake had been initially skeptical about.

“I mean, she made it abundantly clear she didn’t want anyone, particularly not a ‘terrorist’ to follow her…” the faunus had groused.

Ruby had given her a shocked and pained look. “Blake! You don’t… really want to let Weiss stay out all night by herself, do you?” The way she’d asked had driven a nail of guilt straight through all of Blake’s anger and deep into her heart, but she still clawed bitterly at the notion of acknowledging the concern for their teammate that she was feeling.

“Whatever. It’s not like she can’t just go sleep it off on a pile of money…”

“Blake…” Ruby pleaded.

“Fine!” she declared, exasperated. “We’ll go find Weiss tonight! It’d probably be fastest if we all split up-”

“You’re not going alone, Blake. Not tonight.” Yang stated firmly.

“...really, Yang? I’m more than capable of looking after myself-”

“I’m not leaving you alone tonight, Blake.”

Blake saw the fierce, protective determination in Yang’s eyes and realized that there was no winning this one. Admit it, Blake. A part of you doesn’t WANT to win, not when you could have her looking at you like that all night…

“Alright then, how about… you two take the inner two districts, I’ll go around the outer district? It’s a longer distance, and I’ll be able to check on that quicker.”

Yang and Blake nodded. “Sounds like a plan, sister-captain!” Yang saluted, and the girls went their separate ways.

After a few minutes of walking, Blake quietly brought the topic of Weiss back up. “So, if you were a runaway billionaire heiress, where would YOU hide out in Vale?”

Chuckling, Yang rolled her eyes. “I’m really kind of doubting she has a ton of urban stealth experience. If she’s stayed in this part of town, I suspect we’ll find her ‘hiding’ in the fanciest coffee shop she can find.

Both of them giggled. “Gods, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea, actually!” Blake admitted. “It’s been a long damn day already. You’re from kind of around here, you know any good places nearby to get some liquid energy?”

“Hmmmm,” Yang pondered, scratching her chin. “Actually, yeah! There’s one right up ahead!”

After a quick stop, the partners were finding their energy coming back from a hit of fresh, delicious caffeine. Yang ordered a caramel macchiato, upside down, while Blake got a dirty chai. “Mixing your precious tea with heathen coffee, Blake? I thought that violated everything you stood for!” Yang elbowed her partner lightly in the side.

Blake harumphed. “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

As they walked outwards orbits away from the downtown area, keeping their eyes peeled for Weiss’s tell-tale white hair, Yang fell uncharacteristically quiet. As she stole glances sideways at her, Blake could see her doing the thing she did where she chewed on her lips whenever she was lost in thought. She shook her head and sighed. “Go ahead and ask whatever’s on your mind, Yang.”

Her partner turned and studied her for a long moment. “Did… did I do something that made you feel like you couldn’t tell me, Blake?” she asked softly. Blake winced at the hurt in the other woman’s voice.

“No, Yang! It’s… it’s definitely not you!” She suddenly really wished they weren’t holding coffee cups, so she could’ve taken her partner’s hand without making an awkward scene out of it. “I thought about telling you so many times. I wanted to tell you.” Their eyes met momentarily, before Yang’s flicked to the top of her head. Blake couldn’t help but grin as she realized that Yang was seeing her ears twitch and turn with her expressions and feelings for the first time. Being seen by her feels good . 

“So why didn’t you?”

Blake’s shoulders deflated a little. “Do you know what it’s like to have everyone try to define you by something that’s a part of you, but that you have no control over?”

Yang looked down at her breasts and smirked. “I mean, a little bit…”

Blake rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at the edge of her mouth.

“”...but probably not as much as you do.”

“So much of my life has been defined by being a faunus. And I’m proud of my heritage and who I am! But… I had to learn about racism way too early because of these,” she flicked her ears with her fingers. “I made a lot of bad decisions, too, because of who I am. Beacon… Beacon was supposed to be a fresh start. And for once, I just wanted to be Blake , not ‘Blake the faunus’. I wanted the chance to define myself!” Her voice was taught with emotion, like she was begging Yang to understand her.

The blonde gave her a soft smile. “Okay, Blake. It… I can’t pretend my feelings aren’t a little hurt, but… I understand. Why you couldn’t tell anyone. And, for what it’s worth, I think you’ve defined yourself really well.”

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow. “What do you see in me, Yang?”

Yang gave her a long look. “I see a strong, smart, brave young woman who’s fierce about her beliefs and her independence… but is just starting to open up and let her friends in to see her warm, soft, fun-loving self inside.” Her smile seemed to light up the night. “And I’m really happy you trust me as one of those friends.”

Blake’s jaw worked silently as she stared in surprise, trying to wrap her mind around her partner’s acceptance. This is the part where everyone turns on me for screwing it up though. How is she… how is she just accepting me? Next thing she knew, Yang had enveloped her in a big, warm hug. After a moment, she embraced her back and leaned into her touch. Her voice was barely audible as she whispered “Thank you, Yang. Thank you.”

“I’ll always support you, Blake,” Yang murmured back as she pressed her cheek into the other woman’s thick, dark curls. The faunus woman felt her shift a little uncomfortably, and knew there was something yet to come. She hummed supportively, earning a quiet, awkward chuckle. “...and, I guess in the interest of honesty… I think you’re really pretty.”

Now, it was Blake’s turn to tense up. I know there’s something between us. I know it’s mutual. Even Weiss can see it, apparently. And… gods. The thought of telling Yang she was attracted to her that way , of taking that leap and hoping it landed her in her partner’s arms, called to her. But it felt like a siren song. You’ll fuck it up somehow, Blake. You just barely survived keeping a huge secret from her… you’ll end up hurting her somehow, and that will break her. Us. Because that’s what you do.

Blake couldn’t tell when the voice in her head had shifted from her own to a low, masculine rumble that dripped with both charm and venom, but it had, and it terrified her. Her chest tightened as it felt like dark tendrils, strong hands, were taking hold of her and pulling her back. It’s too soon!

Heart hammering, Blake retreated from Yang’s embrace. Her partner’s hands trailed across her as she went, like Yang’s first instinct was to hold on to her and she had to actively remind herself not to. Blake’s fear of that kind of possessiveness burned even colder inside of her… at war with the flicker of warmth that quietly told her ‘But Yang would never be like him’.

Would she?

Throat thick with tension, Blake forced herself to swallow and put a smile on her face. “I think you’re really pretty too, Yang. And… I know Weiss said… some things . But… can we just, pretend she didn’t for now?”

To her relief, Yang’s face looked grateful as well. “Yeah, I am very, very cool with that!” Then she proceeded to not help matters by doing that awkward chuckle where she scratched the back of her head, which Blake found almost irresistibly adorable. “In fact, we should probably get back to looking for her!”

“Right!” Blake declared hastily, her body loosening as they stepped back from the moment of intimacy.

Yang allowed herself the briefest wistful glance at her partner. Yang, you fucking coward.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Perched atop the battlements of Vale’s might walls, Weiss marveled at how difficult it was to tell the difference between the night sky and the vast swathes of dark forest that surrounded the city. The horizon was a barely-discernible line where the land got just slightly darker, and with all the light pollution coming from behind her, it wasn’t like there were vastly more stars visible in the sky than there were smaller settlements and homesteads dotting the countryside.

That was, I suppose, one of the nice things about the Hellmire; the sky. There were so many more stars to see. At least, during the few minutes where we weren’t objectively too miserable to bother looking at it.

She didn’t know how she’d ended up on the city walls. She’d just… walked , lost in her anger and hurt as she stormed without direction through the hustle and bustle of the city’s nightlife. Nightlife she was supposed to be enjoying with her team, her friends . Her head hadn’t cleared enough for her to even pay attention to her surroundings until the walls were visible ahead, and from there, climbing them for some solitude was a pretty easy decision to make. 

With a sigh, Weiss picked up a piece of weather rubble and tossed it out into the night. It went a pathetically short distance, not even leaving the radius of the city lights. She watched it drop until she couldn’t see it anymore.

“Grimm damnit that was pathetic!” she grumbled. “How is it that I can solo an Armas Gigas, but still throw… ugh, like such a girl!” Quickly, Weiss sketched a propulsion glyph in the air and tossed a handful more stones into it. The glyph flashed briefly before sending the rocks hurtling away like bullets. “There, that’s more like it!”

Of course you have to fall back on family resources to do anything, Weiss. It’s not like you can do anything for yourself, after all. Shaking her head violently, she tried to dispel the chiding voice of her father from her mind, but he refused to be silent. You put so much effort into running off to Beacon for your little rebellion, and it took you almost no time at all to fuck that up. Your whole team is going to hate you now. You might as well come home, I’m sure we can still find some appropriate suitors for you.

Weiss squeezed her eyes shut tight, determined to refuse the hot, salty tears she felt welling in her eyes.

“Weiss!”

Ruby’s voice made her start out of her rumination spiral. Spinning her head towards her partner, she saw her standing there, concern on her face and hands clasped in worry.

“Figures you’d find me eventually,” Weiss muttered.

Hesitantly, Ruby approached until she was standing next to her. “I did have to run over most of the city…” she said, somehow almost apologetically.

“You could’ve just gone home, you know?”

A pause. “Well, obviously we weren’t going to do that, Weiss.”

The heiress huffed in annoyance.

“Weiss… can I sit down?”

“Suit yourself,” her partner muttered as she scooted over slightly to make more room on the parapet. Ruby dropped down next to her, also dangling her feet over the edge of the walls.

“That… is a long way down!” she gasped. “I can’t believe they just let anyone who wants to come up here!”

“It’s not nearly as bad as when Professor Ozpin cannonaded us into the forest for initiation,” Weiss observed dryly.

“Heh, I suppose you’re right,” Ruby chuckled. “Hey, isn’t it wild that that’s the first time we all met and started getting to know each other and working together?”

Weiss sighed. “I think that’s kind of the point of the whole thing, Ruby…”

“...yeah, I suppose so…” The way her partner crumpled in on herself made Weiss feel even shittier. She was about to say something herself, when Ruby took a deep breath and turned her head to her. “Weiss, can we please at least talk about it?”

Her fingers curled against the cold stone of the battlement. “What is there to talk about, Ruby?!” Weiss snapped. “I just found out that Blake, one of my teammates I’ve been trusting my life to, my friend , was actually a member of the terrorist organization that’s been fighting my family for my whole life. And then I was kind of a bitch about the news, and now you all hate me. Sound about right?”

Ruby looked stunned, like she’d been slapped. “Why- why would you think we hate you, Weiss?!”

The heiress rolled her eyes. “Please, Ruby. You and Yang took Blake’s side almost immediately!”

“Hey! Stop… stop inventing stories and blaming me for things I didn’t do!” Ruby bit back with far more fire than Weiss had ever heard from her before. “Yang was only trying to keep you two apart, and I didn’t even say anything!” Her hardened eyes cast downward. “...which, is kind of a lame thing for a team leader to do… but you just, just did what you’re doing now!”

“Oh? Tell me, o great team leader, what am I doing now?”

Ruby stuck her chin out. “Presuming everyone’s mad at you and pushing them away without giving them a chance to tell you how they really feel.”

Something in Ruby’s words pierced Weiss’s self-righteousness and made her stop and blink. She’s right, you know. …no! No! Shaking her head, Weiss pushed back. “No- that’s not- Ruby, I grew up having to have my mom and sister soothe me to sleep because I was scared the ‘bad guys with the scary white masks’ were under my bed and were going to get me! The White Fang are terrorists! You can’t expect me to-”

“Yes, I can, Weiss!” Ruby’s hand landed on her shoulder. “I can expect you to at least listen when your teammate and friend shares a really deep part of herself!” Her silver eyes were flashing with some inner fire that pulled Weiss’s stare into them, opening a pathway for Ruby’s words through their heated emotions. “Do you think Blake doesn’t have a ton of baggage over this too? Like, I’m not a history buff, but even I know that your family’s company has done a lot of bad stuff to the faunus. But even knowing that, Blake’s fought alongside you, laughed with you, and supported you!” Ruby sighed, her voice tight. “I know neither one of you is like the accusations you’re throwing at each other. Can you please just… come back and try to talk it out?”

Weiss stared at her, the turmoil raging in her heart evident on her face. Everything she knew- thought she knew- about the world was fighting with Ruby’s words, and her memories of all the positive times RWBY had had together. The danger, the fun, even a few tender moments she’d had with Blake. She felt like her grip on her conviction was failing, and her fingers reflexively tried to dig in. Shaking her head, she started responding. “Ruby, I-”

“-if you can’t do it for Blake… could you at least do it for me?” her partner’s voice was barely a whisper.

Fuck .

She knew it was over then. There was no way Weiss could resist the pleading in Ruby’s voice, the earnestness in those eyes. It’d be easier to punch herself in the face than it would be to know she’d made the sweet, caring girl next to her hurt more. “...okay, fine. I’ll… I’ll try . For you , Ruby.”

Weiss was rewarded with a flash of a bright smile as her partner leaned in to envelop her in a hug. “Aaah! Ruby! You’re gonna make us fall off the walls!” she squawked, even as she embraced her back, letting Ruby’s touch dispel the tension in her body. After a moment, they both stood up and dusted themselves off. “Besides, it’s getting cold out here. This dress is not made for this!” Weiss muttered.

Ruby giggled. “If we hadn’t be being fancy tonight, I’d have my cloak, and we could cuddle under that!”

Both girls blushed hot and found other things to look at as the image of themselves pressed tight together filled their minds.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Ruby looked back and forth between Weiss and Blake, sitting on their respective bunks and unable to meet each others’ eyes, and sighed. “Alright, girls, I’m gonna go help Yang with the mountain of snacks I’m sure she’s picking up. Can… can the two of you please try to talk to each other?”

Both of her teammates bristled at her suggestion, but without even looking at her they could easily envision her puppy-eyed pout. Even the mental image was enough to put cracks in their anger. Blake had put her ribbon back on to disguise her ears once they got to the dorm, but she’d taken it back off again now. Her ears flattened under the pressure of Ruby’s gaze. “...okay, Ruby. I- I’ll talk…”

Weiss knew Ruby wasn’t going to leave until she acknowledged her as well. Unfortunately, being back in their room with Blake had stirred up the storm inside of her again, bringing all the hurt and feelings of betrayal that Ruby had started to placate bubbling back to the surface. I am Weiss Schnee, I’m the scion of the proudest family name in Remnant! How dare anyone expect me to-

‘...could you at least do it for me?’

…oh Grimm DAMNIT Ruby!

“Fine!” she hissed through her teeth. “We’ll… work on things.”

“Good!” Ruby’s hopeful smile lit up the room. She turned to leave, but suddenly caught herself and added one last thing over her shoulder. “You know… just a few hours ago, you two were good friends. I just… I hope you don’t throw that away…” Shooting them both worried looks, she finally left the room, the door clicking softly behind her.

Blake and Weiss sat awkwardly on their bunks, looking in different directions while both watching each other out of the corner of their eyes. After several minutes of awkwards sighs and huffs, the teammates somehow both reached the conclusion that it was time to meet each others’ gazes.

“So…” Weiss began.

“...so…” Blake replied.

More heavy, tense silence.

Finally, Weiss filled herself with a deep breath. “Blake, I… regret … how I initially reacted to your… revelations ,” she began cautiously, weighing each word on her tongue as she spoke. “It’s just… the White Fang was the literal bogeyman under my bed growing up, and I’m having a really hard time reconciling the Blake I know with… that .”

Blake’s ears flicked in annoyance, but she bit back the retorts she wanted to throw. If Weiss Schnee can show some restraint, so can Blake Belladonna! “Okay. Have you considered that your understanding of the White Fang may be wrong- or at least, a misunderstanding?”

Her temper flared in her chest, and Weiss struggled to keep her angry response to herself. Instead, she ground her teeth together and curled her fingers into the edge of her mattress, trying to keep her arms from trembling at everything she was struggling to keep bottled up. “I just… how can you have been part of so much violence and hate, Blake?!” Weiss’s voice was almost plaintive.

It was Blake’s turn to grimace. “Okay, see… that’s what’s pissing me off the most, Weiss! All you’re seeing is the anger and the lashing out, and none of the reasons behind it! None of our- of my - humanity that brought us to that!”

“But all of that is history now!” Weiss argued emphatically. “Like, I understand the faunus uprisings, I really do! I’m not one of those Atlasians who wants to go back to ‘the old days’! They- you - were being treated terribly, and fighting to end that… I get it! But now… slavery, that outright discrimination… it’s all illegal. And it’s groups like the White Fang that keep clinging to old grudges and holding everyone back!” 

Even as she spoke, her own words rang hollow in Weiss’s ears. Sure, that’s what you’ve *heard* for your whole life, Weiss. But… if it were true, why would Father be so vicious about what… what you have? What you *are*? Would he really threaten you with banishment and ruination if… Shuddering, she remembered him screaming at her for almost letting some play friends find out her shameful secret. ‘If you EVER embarrass this family by letting people know what you are, you’re through! I’ll cast you out where you belong, let you see how your own kind treats you!”

Blake couldn’t stop herself from laughing bitterly. “Weiss… I’m genuinely sorry you’ve lived such a privileged life that you’re able to think that, because the Weiss I’ve come to know wouldn’t if she’d really seen our reality!” She leaned forward and continued, earnestly, her words eerily echoing Weiss’s own thoughts. “Can you really look down at the people in Mantle, or all over Mistrial, or shit, even here, and say that all the problems are resolved?”

As Weiss bit her lip, Blake stared intently into the storm raging in those sky-blue eyes, feeling like she was watching a battle for her friend’s soul going on inside. She was genuinely surprised by how much it mattered to her that Weiss come around, and realize how wrong what Blake was sure she’d been taught to believe was. She’s better than this! And the thought of her not realizing that… of losing her because she can’t really see me… hurts. A lot.

Tension deflated from Weiss’s shoulders as she let out a loud sigh. “Okay… okay, Blake, you probably have something with that. I can admit that I- I probably have a lot to learn about seeing the world from outside of the marble tower I know I’ve grown up in. But, Blake… the violence! The White Fang kills people! And I just can’t… or maybe I just really don’t want to… see you as part of that!”

Suddenly, Blake surged across their bedroom, dropping to her knees before Weiss and grasping her hands together in her own. “Weiss, that’s why I left! The White Fang I joined… the one my parents were in before me… yeah, we did some pretty serious civil disobedience. We defended faunus communities from human mobs and corrupt cops. And… we even smashed up some SDC property, but we never hurt civilians! We even tried hard to not hurt the people actually hurting us, because we knew that retaliation and attrition would just get everyone burned.” 

Something dark passed over Blake’s face, something that immediately evoked empathy for her friend in Weiss’s heart. “Things… have been changing though. Some of the new leadership doesn’t feel that way. They aren’t willing to wait for gradual change- and believe me, I understand their frustration- but they’re willing to go to great lengths, and do terrible things, to reach our goals faster. And… even though it cost me everything … I left the Fang because I refused to become a part of that.”

Her dark eyes turned up to meet Weiss’s. “And then I came here, and the first thing that happened was I got put on a team with Weiss Schnee . I knew who you were, and so much of me really wanted to hate you for what you represented to my people. But… I decided to give you a chance to show me who you were, instead of just being your name. And I’m really glad I did, because I really like the Weiss Schnee I’ve gotten to know.”

Weiss’s throat felt thick as Blake gazed up at her, the deep amber of her eyes pleading with her for understanding. She squeezed her hands tight as she closed her own eyes, straining to expel the mental image of a fearsome, blood-stained Grimm mask over Blake’s pretty face from her mind. “Blake…” her voice trembled, “I want to, I really do! And… I’m gonna try.” Opening her eyes, Weiss felt her vision blurring with the same tears she saw sparkling in Blake’s. “I can’t guarantee I’m always going to be perfect, but… I don’t want us to be enemies.”

Blake stood, tugging Weiss to her feet as well and pulling her into a hug. “Thank you, Weiss. And I’ll do my best to be understanding of where you’re coming from too.” She knew this was not going to be easy, but the feeling of closeness with her friend as Weiss lay her head on her shoulder filled Blake with determination to try.

“Oh! By the way…” Weiss unclasped the faunus bracers she’d found in the Hellmire ruins and handed them to Blake. “These really belong to you, after all.”

“Oh wow…” Blake’s voice was reverent as she held up the pieces of her heritage, untarnished metal shiny softly under the light. “Weiss, you don’t have to give them to me…”

“Nope! I insist!”

A sudden idea crossed Blake’s mind, and she decided to pounce and act on it before she second-guessed herself. “Okay… how about this?” She fastened one of the bracers around her own arm, but then closed the other one around Weiss’s. “There! Consider it… a peace offering.”

Weiss gazed at the jewelry like she was seeing in a whole new light. “T-thank you, Blake. You… you really have no idea what this means to me!” With a tearful smile, she pulled her teammate back into a hug.

“Sorry Yang, looks like you’re going to have to share your mozzarella sticks!” Ruby announced gleefully as she bounced through the door.

“Aww, damnit! In the best way possible!” Yang proclaimed as she entered behind her sister, carrying several boxes of delicious-smelling food. “Really though, I’ve never been happier to lose something!”

Weiss and Blake both stared at the sisters. “You… made bets about whether we’d manage to work things out?” Weiss asked incredulously.

“Are you really that surprised?” Blake muttered.

“Hey! We both had faith that you would… eventually…” Ruby pressed her fingers together. “Also, idea! Let’s just celebrate and eat before the rest of our snacks get cold!”

The other girls’ eyes went wide at the pile Yang stacked on their table. “Wait… that’s the rest?” Blake gasped. “How much have you two already eaten?!”

Chapter Text

While her talk with Blake did wonders to help Weiss’s conscience, the afterparty did a number on the rest of her. At least, that’s what she told herself when she woke up feeling simultaneously nauseas and famished, and with a very uncharacteristically foggy brain. It got so bad that, in history class, Yang had to repeatedly kick her in the leg to keep her from completely spacing out.

This… doesn’t feel like a fried food hangover , Weiss mused as she struggled through her last classes of the day. Oh, shit, with all the turmoil when we last went out I completely forgot about my medication! I don’t think I’ve ever gone this long between injections… maybe I’m going through a bit of a withdrawal? She decided that she absolutely had to pick it up that night, and successfully bribed Yang to take her to the post office on Bumbleby by promising her dinner at a place that served something called ‘gyros’.

“See, I TOLD you you’d like this!” Yang smirked as Weiss licked the tangy, creamy sauce off her fingers in a very undignified way.

“I will admit, this tasted much better than I expected it to when I first saw that frightening pillar of meat.”

“Yeah… rarely pays off to let your first impression be your last one,” the blonde mused as she sat back in her seat across the table. Weiss snorted so hard she had to cover her mouth as a fit of giggles took her over. “What?” Yang asked. “I know I’m usually hilarious, but that wasn’t actually one of the funny ones…”

“No, no, it’s just… it actually fits so well!” Weiss finally managed to reply. “You know… when we first met, and you were walking around the commons with your tits pushed up, flirting with everyone in sight… I admit, I blew you off as a party girl who had no business being here.”

“Pffftt, you were just jealous of the girls!” Yang grinned as she hefted her bust in her hand, eliciting a eye roll from Weiss.

“Not going to be jealous of your back going out by the time you’re 30. But… that first impression was definitely wrong.”

“Oh no! Weiss Schnee is starting to think I’m reasonable and mature! Quick, I need to do something crazy!” Yang teased playfully. “Seriously, though… what IS your impression of me now then, Weiss?”

“Hmmm,” Weiss leaned forward, resting her chin in her palm as she surveyed the woman across from her, unaware of the tiny shiver that went down Yang’s spine at being studied so intently by her. “You certainly enjoy getting up to… shenanigans … sometimes, but… they’re almost always in the spirit of making sure everyone is having fun. You’re… you’re very thoughtful like that, you’re always trying to take care of the people around you. It’s admirable, and it makes me feel safer. Plus, of course, you’re very smart and incredibly hot!”

Yang’s eyes were wide and her jaw hanging slightly open as Weiss finished up. “Oh… oh wow. Shucks, Weiss… that’s… that’s really sweet of you. I did NOT expect to be seen like THAT.” Averting her eyes, she reached behind her herself to scratch the back of her head.

“Oh, and Blake gets completely lost whenever she sees you do that.” Weiss grinned.

The blonde jumped in  her seat. “What?! Nah, now you’re just making things up to flatter me!” Her freckled cheeks had quickly turned a deep crimson. “I mean, Blake a me get along great as partners, but-”

“Yang,” Weiss sighed. “Are you really gonna pull a Jaune here?” JNPR’s leader’s complete obliviousness to how smitten Pyrrha was with him was the talk of almost every girl in the school. Even Goodwitch had rolled her eyes at it once.

Her teammate sighed in defeat. “...is it really that bad?”

“Well, no, I don’t think you could possibly be Jaune levels of clueless, poor Pyrrha is practically pushing him into a corner and throwing her ankle over his shoulder, and he still doesn’t get it!” There was a brief lull in the conversation as both of them found themselves unable to avoid a little thought about the redheaded warrioress. “Anyways! But, yeah… Blake definitely likes what she sees!”

“Huh. Damn…” Yang’s voice trailed off in a happy thought kind of way, a little smile on her face that gave Weiss’s belly a tiny flutter just seeing it. “You know, Wiess…” she continued, “you’re a lot cooler than I thought you were when we met, too.”

“Oh? This out to be interesting!” Weiss leaned back and gestured for Yang to continue.

“I mean… no offense, but I really thought you were a stuck-up bitch when we first got to Beacon…”

“To be fair, I was, and can still be, quite the stuck-up bitch!”

“Okay, yes , but… there’s also so much more to you underneath that! In addition to being, like, model-pretty-” a cherry blush bloomed on Weiss’s cheeks, “-you’ve got a lot of friendliness and caring yourself, underneath that whole Ice Queen thing you do.” Yang paused for a moment. “And like, I think I’m starting to get that you have reasons for doing that… and I’m pretty happy to be one of the people you occasionally let inside.”

Flush with embarrassment, Weiss dropped her face to the table and covered her head. “I take back everything I said, Yang. You are a cruel and sadistic monster who clearly gets an unwholesome thrill out of torturing innocent young women!”

“Note to self: Weiss Schnee completely falls apart when you compliment her!” Yang snickered.

“Yang don’t you dare!”

The Huntresses’ talking and teasing continued for a while longer, until they noted that it was already far too late for them to have any hope of getting their homework done, and that they had better get going back to the dorms.

Stepping into the bathroom with her medication, Weiss fought the tremor in her hands as she tore the packaging open. She’d been okay while Yang was distracting her, but now, she was feeling positively unwell with what she was sure were some kind of withdrawal symptoms. I’m old enough now, I really should ask more closely about what this medication actually is. If Father won’t tell me, I might just have to go digging myself…

To Weiss’s horror, she saw that all the ice Dust cold packs had evaporated, and the normally pale blue vial had discolored to a dark green. No! No no no no no! It’s… it’s expired! She’d fucked up and waited too long to get it, and now her medication, which she’d been told many times cost more than the gross domestic product of a small city for each dose, was wasted. She’d have to order more… which meant going through her father… who would thoroughly chastise her for her mistake… and on top of that, who knew what kind of withdrawal symptoms she’d have to continue to suffer through?

Dejectedly, Weiss took some ordinary painkillers and crawled into bed, hoping that sleep might help her feel a little better.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Ruby cracked open the door to her team’s room and cautiously peeked inside. “Yikes, she’s still asleep!” she whispered to Blake as she beheld Weiss, having kicked off the big pile of blankets she’d gone to bed with, sprawled across her bunk.

“And she went to bed early last night too,” the faunus woman murmured as the two of them slid into the room, carefully balancing the handfuls of food they’d brought for their ailing teammate. Blake had mixed up a blueberry-green tea smoothie full of restorative herbs and vitamins that was very popular as a general cure-all in Menagerie, while Ruby had scrounged a variety of her partner’s favorite pastries, as well as some fresh fruit. Setting their offerings down, the two girls looked at Weiss with significant concern in their eyes.

“She’s been feeling icky for a few days now…” Ruby said softly. “I’m starting to get really worried.”

“Same,” Blake answered, stepping forward to at least put her teammate’s blanket back over her. As her knuckles brushed Weiss’s back, though, she started. “Gods, Ruby, she’s burning up!” Ruby knelt and touched her partner’s forehead, eyes dilating at warm to the touch she was.

“That’s not good! Weiss usually runs cold!”

The woman in question flickered her eyes open, staring at her two teammates groggily.

“What’s… oh, you’re ready already? Just… gimme a minute…”

“Weiss…” Blake replied, “It’s after lunch. You’ve slept through the whole morning, and you’re clearly not feeling well.” She knit her brows in concern as she exchanged glances with Ruby. “How about we help you up and get dressed and we’ll take you to the infirmary?”

“No!” Weiss snapped dramatically, half-sitting up before faltering and dropping back to her bed with a groan. “I- I can’t go… to the… infirmary…”

Ruby scratched her head. “You… can’t?”

Fuck! Weiss thought as she tried to swallow, her throat dry and scratchy. They’re right, I feel like shit, but if I go to the infirmary, someone is bound to figure out that I’m a faunus. That’ll be… that’d be it. No way a Schnee being a faunus would stay a secret for long . “I mean, I don’t want to.” It took everything she had to force a smile onto her face. “I know I must look like shit, but I promise I’m feeling better! Just… give me some more time, okay?”

Blake and Ruby shared a skeptical look with each other. “I’d really rather get you looked at…” Ruby began.

“Let’s… let’s let her do what she wants. For now,” Blake disagreed, knowing that her relationship with Weiss was still on shaky terms. “But if she’s not feeling better by tonight, yeah, we’ve got to do something.”

“Thanks, girls,” Weiss replied, curling up around herself. “And thanks for all the goodies. I know they’re gonna help.” Giving her more dubious looks, her two teammates finally left the room, giving Weiss the privacy she desperately needed. Weiss knew that there was definitely something wrong with her, but it would have to wait… because right now, she was really, ridiculously horny.

As if on cue, she involuntarily ground her hips down into her mattress, shuddering at the small bit of friction the action produced. What the stars is wrong with me?! She struggled to ponder, through the lewd fog filling her head. It wasn’t that Weiss had never touched herself, and she occasionally and discretely took the opportunity to satisfy her body’s urges. I’ve just… never felt anything like this before!

She realized that her humping her bed had lifted her night dress up well past her hips, and with a groan of frustration and shame, plunged her hand underneath herself. Her thighs were already sticky and her panties absolutely drenched, and even just lightly brushing herself through them made her start to cry out until she bit her other arm to silence herself.

Now that she’d felt herself, though, she couldn’t take her hand away. Weiss’s entire core tingled with sensitivity, and even as part of her mind screamed in revulsion at her weakness, she began to rub herself in firm circles. A low moan of relief came out of her mouth as everything in her body began to feel a little bit better, almost like she was scratching a maddening itch.

It was only a little bit better, though, and Weiss craved more . The soaked fabric of her underwear wasn’t enough to satisfy the need burning between her legs. Whimpering, Weiss slid her hand down her belly and under the band of her panties, her wetness softening the hairs of her mound as she sought herself out. When her fingers brushed her swollen clit, she had to bite down on her pillow to keep from screaming in pleasure as her hips bucked into the air.

Some distant part of Weiss’s mind tsk tsked out how outrageously lurid she was being; face down, ass presented, her fingers frantically rubbing through her slickness while she made pitiful noises into her pillow. It was a position for a porn holo starlet, not a dignified woman, even amidst the throes of passion. The rest of Weiss did not fucking care. The first sense of relief she’d felt in days trickled outwards from her belly as she stimulated herself, panting as she felt the knot of her orgasm building inside of her. She hadn’t needed to warm herself up in the slightest; relief, and the end of this madness plaguing her, was in sight. Just a little bit more…

Fucking gods, Weiss, how would you explain if one of the girls walked in right-

She came, hard, the tension around her core unraveling in a heartbeat and sending cool waves of relief through her aching body. Weiss cried and sobbed into her pillow, hoping that it was enough to drown the ridiculous amount of noise she was making. Her fingers continued stroking erratic patterns on her clit, her hand working on autopilot to try and draw out as much pleasure as she could.

At long last, Weiss’s knees gave way and she collapsed on her arm, her body feeling like a wrung-out washcloth. Sore, tired, but finally empty of the-

What the fuck? How am I…

-except it wasn’t. Where Weiss had expected the pleasant haze of afterglow, her climax instead quickly faded into the same heated, achey edginess that had been consuming her before she’d let herself submit to her temptation. Even with the tang of her musk heavy in the air, she was already craving it again . The friction, the pressure, the wet slap of her fingers exploring her most intimate self to bring her to another blissful unraveling.

With a groan of frustration, Weiss rolled onto her back, spread her legs, and set to work again.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“Hey there Snowflake, how are you- whoah…” Yang froze a couple steps into her team’s dorm, making Ruby crash into her butt, as she took in the scene. Or, more accurately, inhaled it. Weiss was still a bundle of linens on her bed, but the air was pungent with the smell of cleaning product, and multiple scented candles flickered away on every surface.

Out in the hall, Blake was barely able to step foot in the doorway before she started gagging, her more fine-grained faunus senses completely overwhelmed. “Fucking- Weiss, what did you do?!” she exclaimed. Ruby quickly crossed the floor to throw their window open, letting in a refreshing gust of chill autumn night air.

“Were you sick or something, Weiss?” Yang asked, kneeling next to her bunk.

“Y-yeah… it was gross…” Weiss muttered. At least, that’s a better explanation than letting them smell how much sex was in the air after I pleasured myself all afternoon and somehow STILL feel like I’m right on the edge!” Yang’s hand felt cool on her forehead, to the point that she whimpered and pressed into her touch.

“Yeah, she’s still on fire, just like you said earlier,” the blonde grumbled as she stood up and crossed her arms. 

Blake took her place, ears cocked forward in concern. “Weiss, do you have any idea what could be causing this? Did you get bit by something in the Hellmire, or eat something, or-”

“I missed a dose of my medication!” she snapped irritably. “I’ve never done that before, and… this has got to be withdrawal.”

Her teammates shared a dubious look. “Um, what the stars are you on that’s causing withdrawal symptoms like this?” Ruby asked.

“That’s… private.”

“Nope!” Yang announced firmly. “Not an acceptable answer. You missed a whole day of class and you look like you’re half-dead. We trust each other with our lives, Weiss; whatever it is, you need to let us know!”

“Maybe if you tell us, we can go find some of it. Or something to relieve your symptoms?” Blake added.

“Y-you can’t,” Weiss muttered as she tried hard not to squirm her legs together. “It’s a special m-medication made in Atlas. For my… gene disorder.”

“A gene disorder, huh?” Yang scratched her head. “Well, about all I know about medicine comes from our field trauma class and what I learned taking care of Ruby when we were young. Bit beyond me, but if it’s some fancy Atlas stuff…”

“Then we need to get her to the infirmary!” Ruby declared. “They’ll at least know how to make her feel better-”

“NO INFIRMARY!” Weiss flailed as she sat up, panting as she looked at her teammates with wild eyes. “I’m not going there!”

“...the fuck?” Yang exclaimed. “I mean, it’s not fun, but what-”

“No. Infirmary!”

Yang and Blake exchanged uncertain looks, but Ruby stuck her chin out defiantly. “Sorry, Weiss, but no. As your team leader, your partner, and your friend… we’ve got to get you help, even if we have to wrap you up in your sheets and carry you there!”

Panic surged through Weiss’s veins, accelerating her already hammering heart rate even further. She’d always had a private doctor, very well-paid for their discretion, in Atlas; even a cursory checkup would reveal her heritage, on top of the abnormality her medication was for that she still didn’t completely understand, and which frankly made much less sense now than it ever had. What ever possessed me to think I could make it through four years at an Academy without ever going to the infirmary, anyways? Weiss you idiot!

She could see her father’s glare clearly. News would spread like wildfire. As soon as it reached the Atlas airwaves, her father would unleash the barrage of press releases she knew he had prepared for this eventuality. The family’s secret shame, his desire to be a compassionate and caring father despite his wife’s obvious infidelity. She’d be quietly disowned and disinherited. She’d lose Beacon, and her friends here… provided they wanted anything to do with her anymore, given the depths of her deception. Alone and broken, she’d end up in some faunus slum, where they’d probably still hate her for who she’d been-

“Yang, could you get her please?” Ruby asked quietly.

“Sorry, Weiss, but this is for your own good,” her sister replied as she knelt and went to slip her arms under Weiss.

“No! NO! YOU CAN’T!” Weiss shrieked, kicking violently enough to send Yang stumbling backwards while Blake and Ruby looked on in alarm.

“Weiss, what the-”

There was a knock at the door, followed by “Hey, um, everything okay in there?”

All of Team RWBY froze and stared at each other. Pyrrha.

It was Blake who sprung into action. Cracking the door, she forced a bemused smirk onto her face. “Gods, I’m so sorry about that, Pyrrha!” she chuckled nervously. “Weiss is running a temperature, and we tried putting an ice pack on her to help her cool down. It was… a little too cold, I guess!” She opened the door just enough to show a red and sweaty Weiss, surrounded by Yang and Ruby, who waved awkwardly.

Pyrrha looked very skeptical, but when Weiss called out “Sorry, I was just really surprised!”, she nodded.

“Okay, I guess. Um, let us know if you… need any help?”

Moments after Blake closed the door, she stiffened in alarm. “Oh my gods, I just talked to Pyrrha with my ears hanging out!” she hissed.

“She… doesn’t seem like she noticed?” Yang shrugged, trying to sound helpful. “Either that, or she’s just too polite to say anything…”

“Ladies! Weiss!” Ruby barked, pointing at Weiss. “Like, I get it, but… bigger concerns right now! ”

It was a standoff. Weiss was curled up defensively on her bunk like a cornered animal, trembling with agitation and, unbeknownst to the rest of the room, need . Blake and Yang stood by, knowing that Ruby was right and they had to get their friend help, but hesitant to make the first move in what was promising to be a disturbing and probably violent interaction. Worse still, one they couldn’t understand in the slightest.

“Weiss… please …” Blake pleaded.

This ends with your secret getting out , Weiss realized through her feverish mind. Ruby is already determined, because she cares about you you idiot, and the harder you fight, the more Blake and Yang are going to dig in too. So you can go with them and lose control… or you can seize it.

Her fear snapped. Her back was against the wall of her lifetime of indoctrination, it she was so tired of fighting and hurting and whatever the fuck was happening to her . “Fine!” Weiss barked, staggering to her feet. “You really have to know?”

“...know what, Weiss?” Ruby stepped forward, reaching out a supportive hand that her partner jerked away from.

“THIS!” Weiss turned around and, to the rest of her team’s shock, pulled her nightdress over her head, leaving her in just her panties.

“Whoah, Weiss, what are you- wait, what-” Yang’s voice trailed off.

Blake gasped. “By the gods, is that-”

Ruby just squeaked.

Reaching behind her, Weiss yanked at the coils of medical tape binding her tail tightly to her back. It tugged painfully at the always-raw, sensitive skin, making her hiss, but as she wadded up the adhesive and tossed it away, the appendage limply unwound and hung down almost to the floor.

The room was silent for what felt like an eternity, and Weiss distantly noticed that at least getting her sweaty, oppressive garment off of her tingling skin felt nice.

“Yup, that is definitely a tail…” Yang murmured.

“Weiss, are you-” Ruby’s voice trembled.

“ You’re a faunus?!” Blake exclaimed, feeling so light-headed she actually stumbled and caught herself on Yang’s shoulder.

“Apparently, I am a faunus,” Weiss replied. It felt like a huge weight had just cracked and fallen away from her, and she dragged in what felt like the first truly refreshing breath she’d had in days. Was this… this was the first time I’ve ever said that out loud, wasn’t it?

“...I have questions,” Yang raised her hand.

Turning around, Weiss crossed her arms over her breasts defiantly. “Well, are you all at least satisfied as to why I can’t go to the fucking infirmary?”

“Yes… I mean, wait, no!” Ruby shook her head. “So… obviously, you have this big secret you’re carrying around. Believe it or not, I understand what that’s like pretty well. But… unless there’s a lot I don’t understand about tails, you’re still really sick, Weiss!”

“Ruby, I can’t!” Weiss was practically sobbing in frustration now.

“Why?!”

“It’s her family,” Blake murmured. “Specifically, her father.” Ruby and Yang turned to stare at the unexpected source of answers. “Jacques Schnee has made no secret of his bigotry against faunus. Can you… Weiss, I’m so sorry. I can’t even begin to imagine how… how he must have treated you…” Grabbing a sleeping robe from her own bunk, Blake stepped over and wrapped it around the trembling girl’s shoulders, guiding her to sit down and trying not to stare at the long, pink whip trailing behind her.

Even through Blake’s robe, Weiss felt desire bloom from the places where her teammate’s hands brushed her shoulders. It took control she felt like she was holding by a thread to not spin around, grab Blake, and beg her to touch her everywhere. Feeling her jump at the touch, Blake hesitantly withdrew her hands. Pulling the robe around herself, Weiss managed a small nod at the faunus woman’s words.

“EVERYTHING. I- if word got out, it’d be my fault and I- I’d lose everything!” Weiss’s voice cracked. “Inheritance, future… family… Beacon and you all… I’d be… I’d be nothing.” She rubbed her palms on her cheeks, like she was trying to push her tears back into her eyes. “Yeah, I know. Poor little rich girl has a mean daddy and think it’s a real people problem. Go ahead, say it-”

“Weiss!” Yang interjected. When the heiress’s bleary eyes snapped towards her, she said simply, “Shut up.”

“ None of us are thinking that, Weiss!” Ruby sat down next to her and grabbed for her hand, not realizing the lurid thoughts that raced through her partner’s mind at even that simple touch. Right then, Weiss didn’t care. She needed Ruby’s compassion and friendship enough to hold back her sudden hunger for her body. “And honestly… I know you’re having a hard time right now, but it really hurts that you’d think we would.”

Weiss’s tear-shrouded eyes could barely make out Yang and Blake, but she could tell that they were nodding in agreement with Ruby. Guilt piled into her emotional maelstrom. “S- sorry… and t-thanks.”

“Okay, so, infirmary is a big problem, we’re all agreed on that now,” Yang started to pace. “But then… what do we do about whatever is wrong with her?”

As Blake’s jumbled thoughts began to settle back into place, something inconceivable tickled the back of her mind. Her gaze snapped to Weiss again as the possibility snowballed in her head. Ravenous appetite, random body aches, excessive temperature and skin sensitivity… no, it can’t be! She’s too old, at least for this to be her first…

…but everything fits…

Ruby and Yang were debating packing Weiss into the shower and dowsing her with cold water as Blake leaned in and murmured, delicately, into her ear. “Weiss… I’m sorry, but this is really important. Are… are you… are you really horny?”

The way Weiss stared back at her was all the answer Blake needed. She stood up, rubbing her palm down her face as the room quieted, awaiting her evident announcement. “Guys… I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… she’s in heat.”

Chapter Text

“... heat?” Yang exclaimed. “That’s actually a thing?”

“I thought that was only in porn,” Ruby mumbled.

Yang’s head whipped around to her sister. “And just WHAT do you know about porn ?!”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Yang, I have been extremely conscious of what’s between my legs for a lot longer than most people. AND, I grew up with YOU!”

“...point taken.”

Weiss simply stared at Blake like she’d grown a second head. “It has to be. She’s a faunus, and all the symptoms fit perfectly! The thing that baffles me is… Weiss, has anything like this ever happened before?”

“Are you fucking kidding me , Blake?” Weiss snapped. “Of course it hasn’t!”

“That’s what I thought. So, this is your first heat. But…” Blake began to pace the room, having snagged a lock of her hair to chew on while her mind raced. “...faunus females get their first heat when they hit puberty! And Weiss is clearly past that! So how is this her first time?”

Even with her mind in freefall and her entire body rebelling in every direction at once, Weiss was able to feel a chill grip her thoughts. “...my medicine. It’s the Grimm-damn medication!” Her hazy eyes danced between her teammates. “Whatever it is, it must’ve been suppressing it!”

“Wait wait wait… can someone explain this ‘heat’ to me?” Ruby asked. “Is it like, your period or something? Because that would explain me not knowing much about it.”

“Cheater,” Yang grumbled fondly, flashing her sister a smirk at their regular joke.

Blake shook her head. “Of course you wouldn’t have learned about this unless you had a reason to study faunus biology… so, yes and no? Human females get periods, what? Every twenty-something days?”

“Closer to thirty, but yeah,” Yang confirmed.

Nodding, Blake continued. “Right, and that’s your menstrual cycle. Faunus females have an estrous cycle. It’s similar, but it happens less often. Mine is about every four months.”

“And I take it it’s more… extreme?” Yang gestured to Weiss.

“From everything I’ve heard about your periods, definitely. We… well, there’s no polite way to say it, we get incredibly aroused, and if they don’t get sex, our bodies… well, do this,” she pointed at Weiss as well.

Ruby’s jaw dropped. “Th- that’s… wow…”

“Tell me about it!” Blake grumbled. “That’s why, after you ride out your first one, almost every faunus who gets them takes suppressant, unless they’re trying to get pregnant. It’s really effective, it keeps you at ‘just slightly more horny than usual’, instead of ‘quivery mess of a sex fiend’.”

“So give me that! All of that!” Weiss whined.

Blake shook her head. “Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. One, this is apparently your first, and it’s the most extreme I’ve ever heard of. Two… you have to take it regularly for a bit before you know you’re going to start in order for it to be effective.” She gave Weiss a pitying look. “Even if you took a huge dose right away, it’d still take a couple days to kick in.”

“Fuck me,” Weiss moaned.

After a moment of awkward quiet, Yang spoke up. “So, um… isn’t that the solution, then? What Weiss just said?” At her teammate’s incredulous looks, she quickly continued. “I mean, we give Weiss some private time, she paddles her canoe to her happy place, and… everything goes back to normal?”

“Already tried that,” Weiss growled. At the startled gazes, she rolled her eyes. “What? You think I’m so sheltered that I didn’t already think to try that?”

“It wouldn’t work anyways,” Blake’s cheeks blushed fiercely as she started to stumble over the next part of her science lesson. “It’s… a hormonal thing. And not just your hormones. It… takes two.”

Everyone was back to staring at her in shock. “You… Blake, you can’t be serious!” Ruby gasped.

Blake buried her face in her hands as she nodded. “Either Weiss rides this out, gets an emergency room’s worth of sedatives… or she fucks somebody.”

Team RWBY’s dorm was the quietest it had been in quite a while, only to be shattered by a moan of misery as Weiss clenched her belly and flopped over on her bunk. “And it’s just going to keep getting worse,” Blake murmured.

Yang took a deep breath. “Okay, okay . Weiss is a total hottie, we know some guys, we can-”

“Absolutely not!” Weiss hissed.

“Weiss, you can’t seriously be planning to-”

“We are not pimping me out to all of Beacon!”

“Not all of Beacon, just… okay, Nora might kill us if we asked Ren, but Jaune?”

“YANG!” Weiss scarcely avoided shrieking.

“I think this might be pushing even Pyrrha’s charity…” Blake muttered.

“Or we go up a year if you like ‘em a bit more mature! Fox is pretty cute, and he wouldn’t even see anything!”

“I’ll do it,” Ruby said quietly. Yang, Blake, and Weiss all looked at her in shock. Straightening her shoulders, the young Huntress raised her chin with all the bravado she could muster. “I said, ‘I’ll do it’.”

Realization dawned on Yang first. “Ruby, no… just because… you don’t have to-”

“I want to!” Ruby proclaimed. “I mean, not want to - want to!” She really hoped that her skirting of the truth there wasn’t painfully obvious to her teammates. As much as she was trying to just focus on doing the right thing to help her partner, there was a part of her that was tingling with excitement at the idea of her and Weiss . “Like… I’m pretty sure that using it that way is going to feel really weird for me, hello dysphoria , but… if it’ll help Weiss… and she wants me to… I’ll make it work.” The scared but tender and brave look she gave Weiss cut through all the fog in her partner’s brain and pierced her heart.

“Ruby…” Weiss murmured. Images swam in her fevered imagination, of their bodies entangled, Ruby’s hands and lips on her skin, that look of fierce focus she got while fighting taking over her face as she filled Weiss out of compassion and- love, is that love? -even though it pained her… and yet it would still feel so good for both of them… The heiress buried her face in her hands and started to sob, overwhelmed.

Understanding suddenly came to Blake as well. “Oh! Ruby, no, it’s not like that! It… it doesn’t have to be a- a penis in a vagina! Err… other fem- I mean, ‘vagina-havers’, are just as capable of relieving heat horniness!”

“Phew!” Yang sighed in relief, while Ruby deflated a bit with an indecipherable look on her face. Suddenly, Yang froze, her eyes even wider than they had been. “Wait… if anyone can… ‘relieve’ her… does that mean…?”

Blake bit her lip as she looked around at her team. “Any one of us could sleep with Weiss and take care of this.”

Ruby, Yang, and Blake all shared shocked, nervous looks. “Are we… are we actually talking about this?” Yang whispered. “We… we can’t be serious, right?”

“This situation, ridiculous though it may be, is pretty clear…” Blake shuffled her feet uneasily.

“Either Weiss’s secret gets spilled to the world… we find someone else who will sleep with her, which runs the same risk… she keeps suffering like she is… or, one of us does it.” Ruby listed off options on her fingers, her voice getting more resolute as she went.

Painful silence reigned again.

“D- do I get a say in any of this?” Weiss forced out. “Seeing as how- how it’s me you’re discussing fucking?”

All eyes turned to her. “Well, yeah,” Ruby said quietly. “Obviously. So, um, Weiss… what do you want?”

Her partner blinked slowly at all three of them, trying to focus through the haze of animalistic need that felt like it just grew thicker with each passing moment. This is absolute madness! I am not sitting here, having a conversation with my teammates about who’s going to sleep with me! Who’s going to be my first time, to fix some horrific condition my asshole father may or may not have inflicted on me? This is the most nonsensical, ridiculous… thing that is actually happening. Because as much as her rational mind was in rebellion, Weiss’s body was making its needs abundantly clear. Her belly and her thighs ached with tension. She was literally hot with desire, with even the cooler night air coming in through the open window doing almost nothing to soothe her. Her panties were soaked, her skin felt like it was crawling around her trying to get someone to touch and explore it, and… and I cannot stop thinking about how badly I want to fuck any of them right now . As if to drive the point further home, her belly clenched again, like it was trying to squeeze her into sating her body’s primal wants. 

“F-fuck…” she said through clenched teeth. Looking around at her teammates staring at her, Weiss surrendered to what felt like the inevitable. “I’d… I’d rather it be one of you than anyone else…”

Ruby, Blake, and Yang’s hearts all started racing even harder as they looked at each other nervously. Swallowing hard, Ruby spoke up first. “I’m her partner, I should-”

“NO!” Yang cut her off. “I’m older and more experienced, I can’t let my little sis-”

“‘More experienced’? My ass, Yang! You barely got to second base with Yvette D’Arcenciel after your homecoming-”

“How do you even-”

“You are NOT as sneaky as you seem to think you are!”

“...whatever. STILL, I should do this before you-”

“Yang, I’m an adult too, stop trying to protect-”

“Both of you!” Blake stamped her foot, biting back her volume lest their outlandish squabble attract their neighbors’ attention again. “Unlike either of you, apparently, I’ve actually had sex! AND, I’m a faunus, so I have a better understanding of all of this than anyone else here!” Closing her eyes as she scrambled to find her center, Blake took a deep breath. “Weiss… if I’m who you want… I’ll do it. You. Sleep with you.”

The two Huntresses stared at each other for a moment that felt like it was being drawn out to an eternity. To Weiss, Blake’s warmed brandy eyes were, as usual, difficult to read. But she could see her empathy and concern, as well as a confidence, and a sparkle of desire, that whispered ‘let me take care of you’ . As for Blake, the ‘...please…’’ that clouded Weiss’s usually sharp blue eyes was all the confirmation she needed that she was, in the midst of this crazy situation, doing the right thing. Smiling softly, she extended a hand to the other faunus woman. “Shall we?” Blake asked invitingly.

Weiss stared at her teammate’s hand for a moment, her tongue flitting around her lips. Sucking in her breath, she closed her eyes and reached for a moment of clarity in the hot mess of her emotions. 

Are you really ready for this?

Do you even have a choice?

…yes, of course. There’s always a choice.

And I’m choosing this. Choosing Blake.

Returning Blake’s smile, Weiss took her hand. “Take me to bed, lover.”

As Blake helped Weiss to her feet and turned her towards her own bunk, Ruby and Yang exchanged looks. “Um, okay, I think that’s our cue to split!” Yang coughed. “So… have fun?”

“...have good sex!” Ruby added as the two of them hastily retreated from the room, leaving Weiss and Blake alone.  

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

While it was true that Blake had had sex before… she’d never had sex with a woman. And the one man she had had sex with had never let her take the lead or be in charge. As much as her younger, foolish self had thought they’d been ‘making love’, Adam had really just been using her. Because if HE was happy, why wouldn’t SHE be? she thought bitterly. …Blake, why are you thinking about him? Here! Now! With Weiss!

Blake had always known she was attracted to both men and women. It was something that she’d just never gotten to explore before. Never been *allowed* to explore before, because he’d go into a jealous rage at the very suggestion! He even reassigned Ilia after I made a casual suggestion for his birthday…

Fuck! Why am I thinking about him AGAIN?

As Blake laid Weiss down on her bed, she was all reassuring smiles outside, but inside her mind was racing. She might not have done this before, but she had read a lot of sapphic smut. Throwing open the doors of her very vivid imagination, she conjured up all her mental imagery of women slowly, tantalizingly exploring the sensuality of each other’s bodies, marveling at the noises they could produce as they found each other’s most intimate places with their fingers and their mouths.

Absolutely none of which took place, because as soon as Blake began to swing herself onto the bed over Weiss, her teammate grabbed her and pulled her down into a kiss that felt more like an attack. The heiress’s mouth was desperately tugging at hers, begging for it to open and admit her tongue, even as her hands roved over the material of Blake’s bathrobe, tugging ineffectively in multiple directions at once while her whole body squirmed beneath her. Before Blake could even process what was going on, Weiss had locked her legs around her waist as was trying to heave herself up to gain friction.

“Mmmph! Weiss! I- whoah!” She managed to lever herself back up, freeing her face from Weiss’s amorous cravings.

In the deep recesses of Weiss’s mind, she was deeply embarrassed. Embarrassed that this was even happening, and definitely embarrassed that she was behaving like a feral creature about it. That part of her went absolutely unnoticed in the neediness of her heat, unleashed now that Blake’s hands were on her body and there was her mouth it’s so close and she’s on top of me!

“Blake… please. I- I need-”

Seeing the wild look in her friend’s eyes, Blake abandoned her composed sapphic fantasies and just threw herself into what she knew the newly-discovered faunus woman’s body was craving. “It’s okay, Weiss. I’ve got you,” she purred into her ear, pulling the lobe between her lips as her fingers quickly ran down Weiss’s torso and pushed down her panties. The white-haired girl bucked and cried out as Blake discovered her wetness, and she had to clamp her free hand over her mouth hastily. “You’ve got to be quiet though! We do not need anyone trying to check in on us!”

Groaning and nodding, Weiss pulled a pillow over her face and panted into it as she thrust her core into Blake’s hand. After a whole day of aching need, finally getting what her body was sore for felt so good it actually hurt at first, the delicate fingers brushing her folds evoking sensation that was just too much . But as Blake pressed in further and began to stroke against her swollen flesh, Weiss felt herself sail over the crest of the pain and just… sink … into pure ecstasy. She was getting touched, and her entire body was singing with just how amazing it felt. Each point where Blake came into contact with her skin felt like a cool cloth placed on her burning hunger, and waves of relief rolled out from them. Even as her lower half became unresponsive to her mind and started reacting on its own, she pulled together enough thought to push her hands inside of Blake’s yukata. The woman above her hummed in excitement as Weiss’s hands raced over her skin, tracing up her sides and the swell of her breasts to card into her hair before reversing to draw down her back and wrap around her ass.

Blake’s own arousal took off as Weiss pulled her garment off of her shoulders and threw it across the room, leaving her in just her underwear. As she grasped at her flank and tugged her in, Blake obliged, swinging a leg to straddle and lower herself onto Weiss’s thigh. Her teammate responded, her dancer’s muscles pumping her leg back and forth across Blake’s own desire even as she kissed her way down to her collar. Weiss’s skin even tasted hot, and something primal in Blake was thrilled to see the chain of marks she had already left down her porcelain-smooth neck. The snowy hillocks of Weiss’s breasts called out to her, and she indulged herself, rubbing her cheek against the remarkably soft outer curve before dragging her lips up to the taut, pale pink nipple. Blake could tell her ears would’ve been flattened with pain if the scream of pleasure Weiss unleashed hadn’t been muffled by a pillow.

Her fingers had barely begun to explore Weiss’s entrance when she felt the hips beneath her rise sharply, the Huntress’s back arching into an orgasm. That was almost too easy! She chuckled to herself. She’d been long fantasizing about playing another woman’s body until she came, and having someone treat her the same, but… It really just makes sense. Poor girl is so on edge from her heat that she’s basically primed to go before anyone even touches her! That in mind, Blake didn’t stop her ministrations to Weiss’s body but instead doubled down, flicking her nipples with her tongue while pressing her fingers into her slit. Weiss shook and spasmed as Blake’s penetration parted her, stretching pliant and flushed flesh to reach into her and begin sliding back and forth.

Weiss’s entire body felt so tight beneath her that she tugged the other woman’s dampening pillow aside briefly just to check on her, and was rewarded with a rictus of ecstacy. Weiss’s eyes barely managed to track her as her mouth stretched open with a raspy, stuttering cry, her body trying to respond to the next release in her belly before the last one had even finished. The scent of musk flooded Blake’s senses, heightening her own desire as she ground her hips down harder on her lover’s thigh. A shiver ran up her spine as she felt pleasure begin to coil in her own belly.

A mischievous thought that, even given what she was currently doing, still felt deliciously naughty rose to the front of Blake’s mind. Panting as she looked down at Weiss’s flushed face, she embraced it. Weiss may be on a hair trigger, but I can still play with myself. Indeed, the thought of what she was about to do made her quim tremble as more slick flowed out onto their commingled thighs. Grinning predatorily, Blake trapped Weiss’s wrists with her hands and began to kiss her way down her heaving belly.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Yang and Ruby were uncharacteristically quiet as they left their dorm room, and the things they knew were happening in there, on the bunks below theirs , behind. They sauntered into the common area in the least-nonchalant way imaginable. Anyone with even the slightest ability to read the room would have immediately picked up on something being wrong.

Fortunately for the sisters, the only other students present were Jaune and Ren. Ren did immediately realize that something was off… however, he was also very conscious of the fact that ‘something being off’ was not actually that off for the Xiao Long-Rose sisters. And, even if there was something going on with them, Ren wasn’t the nosey type. He merely raised an eyebrow at the two girls and went back to the video game he was playing with Jaune.

“Hey ladies!” JNPR’s team leader waved to the pair. “How’s it going?”

“Oh… just kinda chilling,” Ruby replied with a squeak. Hopping up onto the back of the couch between the boys, she cocked her head at the holoscreen. “What are you guys playing?”

“It’s the most laid-back game ever!” Jaune exclaimed. “You just play this person going around a peaceful little town, helping the villagers with their mundane tasks…”

“...are you sure this is actually a game?” the Huntress asked skeptically.

“I get the cynicism, seriously. But… we’ve been zoned out playing since the end of classes.”

“It really is very calming,” Ren chipped in. “I’m thinking of trying to incorporate it into one of my meditation routines.”

“Okay, cautiously interested!” Ruby slid down onto the couch seat and watched as Jaune and Ren’s avatars collected pine cones for a distraught raccoon.

Yang, meanwhile, was pacing back and forth off to the side of the room. If she’d been paying more attention to Ruby, she would’ve been very keyed in as to the degree to which her little sister wasn’t actually interested in the game and was trying hard to distract herself.

But this was one of those times when Yang was completely lost in her own brain. As she made significant progress on power walking a worn path into the carpet, she kept scratching furiously at the back of her head, almost like she was trying to dig out the vivid imagery playing unbidden inside.

Blake is in there, having sex, with Weiss. Blake and Weiss. Naked, probably. Doing sex things. And I NEED to stop thinking about it but I don’t WANT to and I CAN’T even if I did!

And I was practically INVITED I could be in there doing sexy things too. With Blake.

FUCK.

Weiss had really grown on Yang as a member of her team. And she was genuinely willing to help the girl with this crazy faunus problem. Wanted to, even! Because that’s what she did, she helped the people she cared about. And it definitely helped that Weiss’s slender, graceful body and sassy personality were pretty damn attractive.

But… Blake …

Yang knew she’d been developing a thing for her partner for a while now. Whether it had started with that way her mouth twitched into a coy little smile to indicate a level of amusement that would have most people laughing out loud, or the way her ass looked in the tight outfits she preferred, Yang couldn’t say. But, now, all she knew was that the way those whiskey-gold eyes looked at her lit up her whole world. She felt warmer and fuzzier when her partner blinked herself awake in the morning, and her heart sped up a little bit when the faunus woman casually bumped her hip into hers in greeting.

Yeah, I was getting it kinda bad for Blake… and then I took a shower with her and saw her naked.

She felt bad about it, they were professionals in a deadly career where they had to trust each other with their lives on a regular basis. Maybe that pressure just made her feelings stronger. But Blake’s soft bronze-brown skin, shining with rivulets of water as they dripped from her raven locks to run down her lithe, toned muscles, wouldn’t stop dancing through her dreams.

And now, I can’t stop imagining what they’re doing in there… and imagining myself as part of it. FUCK!

…could I walk in there? Would… I could ruin my friendship with half my team… or have the most incredible night of my life.

Fuck it.

Clearing her throat, she caught the attention of the rest of the room. “I… gotta go check on something…” she muttered. When Ruby realized that her sister was headed back down the hall towards their dorm, her eyes flew open to the widest Yang had ever seen them. For all the confidence that she was trying to carry herself with, Ruby could tell that her sis was trembling with anxiety.

Yang’s heart was pounding in her throat as she stopped in front of Team RWBY’s door. Yang… are you seriously about to try and invite yourself into sex with your teammates and start a threesome? Are you *insane*?!

Taking a deep breath, she twisted the door handle and stepped into the room. 

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

What what what WHAT?! Ruby watched incredulously as her sister strode off to, apparently, barge in on Blake and Weiss having sex. I mean, why else would she be so damn nervous? What the Grimmfart is she doing?!

On either side of her, Jaune and Ren continued to be completely focused on… I guess they’re helping a chicken collect shiny rocks to… buy a fishing pole? How do they not realize what’s going on? Okay, it’s really, REALLY good that they don’t realize what’s going on, but… aaAAaaA, WHAT IS HAPPENING?

…your whole team is off having sex together, that’s what’s happening.

…and I kinda want to be there .

I mean, is it really all that wild that I want to? I like girls. Two hot girls, who I really like I mean one of them is WEISS, are having sex. In my room. And I really wanna have sex. Even… even if I don’t really know what sex even IS for me yet.

Being trans was really, really weird like that sometimes. Ruby had all the raging hormones that would be expected from a young woman; actually, more with the treatment she was receiving. But… her penis made her really uncomfortable. It didn’t feel right at the best of times; when she was aroused, it just felt wrong . Which just made her head a mess.

I’m a girl. I know it in my heart. And like… girls aren’t *supposed* to have penises. But they can! And that’s perfectly okay! And… am I a bad trans woman for feeling like I’m not okay because of mine? For… not wanting to, err, ‘use’ it? I wish I had a vagina, like I’m *supposed* to- but not *really* supposed to, it’s okay for girls to have different stuff. Just… not for me, I guess?

Damn, dysphoria SUCKS.

Maybe… maybe I *should* go and have sex, just to figure myself out. That makes it better, right? ‘Hey teammates, it’s your girl Ruby! I’m trying to sort out, oh, y’know, my entire sexuality and identity here. Mind if I… kind of just jump in here and see what works? Is that cool?

And oh FUCK YANG IS IN THERE! Nope nope nope nope nope!

…except…

NOPE!

…but why does the idea of her being there make me feel more comfortable? Like, is that… wrong?

How is it that I’m all ‘Woo-hoo!’ about throwing myself into a pack of Beowolves, but want my sis to- metaphorically, not literally! Eww! -hold my hand to have sex?! Gods, Rubes, that’s… that’s really fucked up! Isn’t it? Does being a wet hot mess of confused trans chick REALLY make sex THAT scary? Do *normal* people feel this way, or is it just another way that I’m… just a broken, weird trainwreck?

Groaning out loud, Ruby buried her face in her hands. On either side of her, Jaune and Ren paused and looked at her with concern. “Um, Ruby? You… okay there?” Jaune asked. He liked to consider himself a connoisseur of women’s moods. He had grown up with seven sisters, after all. He could definitely tell when something was bothering one of the ladies in his life.

Ruby squeaked as she realized what a public display she was making of herself. “Oh! Just remembered… that crazy Field Botany homework that I haven’t done yet! I- I should go get started on that!”

As the Huntress jumped to her feat, Ren pursed his lips. “But we didn’t have any Field Botany homework?”

“It’s extra credit. B- because I suck! At Field Botany! Maybe in general! AAAAH, I DON’T KNOW!” With that, Ruby disappeared into a burst of petals that slowly drifted down onto the very confused guys as she zoomed down the hall towards her team’s room.

Ren and Jaune stared after her for a moment, Ren blowing a raspberry to dislodge a petal that had settled on the side of his face. The two looked at each other, shrugged, and reached the unspoken conclusion to turn back to their game. Picking up enough sticks for Colonel Ketchup to trade for cheesy turnips to give to Mrs. Clackingworth so she could bake her pies for the weekly town party seemed like the safest course of action, in this situation.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

A flurry of thoughts went through Blake’s head as, even though her human ears were squeezed between Weiss’s thighs, her faunus ears swiveled and alarmed at hearing their door open and close swiftly.

What the FUCK who just walked in on us?!

…wait, the door will only open for our team…

…so which of them just walked in on us?!

…and just as I was starting to get the hang of this, too!

Weiss whimpered plaintively as Blake extracted her face from tonguing her, but her teammate was too sex-drunk to do anything else by way of response. Spinning around swiftly, Blake’s eyes went wide as she beheld Yang standing there, equally agape.

“...Yang?” she asked softly.

In the time that she had known her, Blake had already learned quite a few things about her partner. Yang Xiao Long was an adorably bad jokester who was always willing to throw herself whole-heartedly into anything. She was drop-dead gorgeous, even- maybe especially -when she was a flushed, sweaty mess and her hair a tangled golden thicket after sparring practice. She was passionately protective of the people she cared about, which was an incredible thing to be on the receiving end of. And… nothing about Yang was subtle.

Right now, with the way her eyes had sharpened to a vivid amethyst as they roamed over Blake and Weiss’s bodies while their owner trembled like she was balancing on a razor’s edge of tension, it was abundantly clear to Blake that Yang wanted to join them. And from the way she felt herself quickening with fresh excitement, Blake knew that she wanted it too. Straightening her back just a little to push her breasts out- look at how her eyes snapped to them! -and brushing a strand of dark hair back from the stickiness holding it to her chin, Blake offered her partner a hooded, sultry smile and nod before she turned and bent her head to between Weiss’s legs again.

The syrup of the other faunus woman’s arousal was hot and sticky on her tongue and she traced her slit from bottom to top, Weiss’s response following her from a low, throaty moan to a cute, desperate squeak as Blake flicked her tongue at the top. Yang’s arrival had caused Blake to release Weiss’s wrists, and now her hands were pawing and grasping at her head, trying to pull her into her core. Like she meant to press Blake’s entire face into her in order to relieve the bottomless well of need that she’d become. Having all that desperation focused on her was its own intoxicant, and Blake tightened her grip on Weiss’s quivering thighs as she made circles with her lips and her tongue.

Yang finally blinked as her head spun out of control. Blake… Blake just did that, right? You wouldn’t bat your eyes at someone who walked in on you having sex if you didn’t want them to get in on the fun, right? Even as her mind raced, she had started undressing herself. Yang’s nipples stood to attention as she pulled off her t-shirt and her boy shorts hit the floor. It wasn’t until she knelt on the edge of Blake’s bed and began running a hand up the muscular smoothness of her bare back that the warmth of her skin brought Yang’s mind crashing back into the moment.

This is happening. I’m naked. I’m touching her. Oh my gods I’m touching her! Blake’s sculpted back dipped just slightly below her fingers as she arched to the touch, bringing her ass higher while pressing her head deeper into Weiss. The heiress’s glazed eyes darted around Yang’s nude torso, pupils widening slightly at her breasts before Blake did something that sounded very wet and made Weiss’s pale blue orbs roll back as she whimpered and shook.

For all the times Blake had visited Yang in her uncontrolled dreams, she’d never imagined that her partner’s bare skin would feel like this beneath her touch. Somehow soft and firm at the same time, and warm . The smoothness of her responses to Yang’s hand guided it like a river current to the hem of her panties, somehow still on her despite the amount of lovemaking Blake and Weiss had evidently been doing.

Yang swallowed hard as her fingers slipped under the lacy silk garment, light and only serving to accentuate the curve of Blake’s ass, yet still weighing significantly in Yang’s mind. I’m… I’m really taking off another woman’s clothes. Her underwear. Blake’s *naked* under these, that  perfect butt curved like the whole side of the moon is just. Right here. And I’m touching it oh my gods I’m touching it! In defiance of her wheeling thoughts, her hand had slipped lower and lower, pulling Blake’s panties with it until they fell of their own accord and she was left cupping her ass. With a moan that almost sounded like a giggle, Blake pressed back into her.

How does she fit so perfectly into my hand oh my gods this is so neat I should squeeze it- Blake’s giggle became a gasp of excitement as Yang kneaded her flank, and at last the blonde’s trepidation and attempt to consciously narrate her actions fizzled out as desire took the helm. Clamoring behind Blake, she dragged in a ragged breath that was full of the heady scent of the woman’s musk as she beheld her glistening pussy nestled between her flanks. The wetness of her flushed, dusty rose folds demanded Yang’s full attention. Bending down, she dragged her teeth along Blake’s ass, a growl rumbling in her throat as she playfully bit down and tugged on the taut skin. As if on command, the faunus’s legs pressed apart, making herself more available for her partner to explore. Explore, Yang did; her whole mouth widened to slurp across Blake’s lips, strings of slick connecting the two women as her partner shuddered and cried out into Weiss’s belly.

For it being her first time, Yang was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable and natural eating pussy was, once she got started. It had always been this big, monolithic challenge in pop culture; even possessing one herself, she’d absorbed the perception that women’s sexes were somehow difficult or frustrating to stimulate. No; she just had to pay attention. Almost anything she did with pressure from her mouth and her tongue would make Blake feel good; she just had to listen to her responses, feel how her body clenched and squirmed for her, and move between those. Give her some ‘good’... that part is ‘better’... and THAT was definitely ‘best’! This is outright FUN!

Holding onto Blake’s hips, Yang joyfully dove into sucking and licking, even trying out pressing into her slit with her tongue here and there to taste how hot and wet and full of promise she was. Blake’s stream of gasps and moans was an intoxicating soundtrack to play along to as she realized that she was quickly taking her partner towards a climax. Excitement overtook her, and all Yang could think about was how badly she wanted to get her partner off, to hear her cry and sob with relief and know that she did that for her. The thought made something hot and tight clench itself in her belly, and with that goal paramount in  her mind, she plunged her tongue down to twirl around Blake’s clit.

Her response was immediate and powerful. Yang marveled as she felt Blake’s whole body tighten beneath her hands as her lover tossed her head back, whipping a curtain of black locks down her back.

“Oh, gods, fuck! Yang!”

The way Blake’s exclamation faded to a whimper as she called her name was the absolute hottest thing Yang had ever experienced. Blake’s whole body shook before her, and she struggled to just keep her mouth in contact with her as she bucked and cried, over and over again. At last, with a long, slow sob, she stilled. Sitting up, Yang’s racing heart warmed as she saw Weiss coddling Blake’s head against her chest, stroking her hair as she sank down through her afterglow. Wiping her lips, she sat back against the bunk post and grinned, immensely proud of herself.

When the cat faunus’s eyes flickered open again, she uncoiled herself from Weiss and leaned into Yang. Seizing the back of her head, she pulled the blonde into a deep, passionate kiss that, when she finally pulled back, left Yang feeling like her insides had been thoroughly mapped by her partner’s tongue. 

“So… I did it well?” she cracked a grin at Blake’s low, hooded eyes.

“Yang… fuck that was amazing!” Blake collapsed against her, pressing her head into Yang’s chest and rubbing her ear against her collarbone. “No one… no one’s ever done anything like that for me before!”

“Oh, wow, um, geez… I’m… I guess, happy to have helped?” Embarrassment over what she’d just done came crashing into Yang’s own arousal as she suddenly had to actually talk, leaving her completely flustered. Unsure what to do, she wrapped an arm around Blake and hugged her tight, until she heard a low rumble coming from the faunus. “Uh, Blake… are you hungry? ‘Cause I guess I could put pants back on and run and get snacks-”

“Yang.” Blake sat up and cupped her cheeks as she kissed her again. “No, you beautiful idiot, I’m purring .” As her cheeks flushed and her ears drooped in a sign of mild embarrassment that Yang immediately decided was absolutely adorable , the blonde found herself getting absolutely lost in the warm fires of her lover’s eyes.

The moment disappeared as Blake yelped, and they both turned to see Weiss having also crawled up to kiss her hip. At the acknowledgement, she looked up and hummed pleadingly as she traced fingers up and down Blake’s thighs.

“Has she… has she been going… since we left?” Yang murmured in amazement.

“Mmm hmm,” Blake giggled as she reached down and patted the side of Weiss’s face like she was an obedient pet. “Absolutely insatiable!” A lusty smile spread on her lips as she turned back to Yang before leaning in to whisper in her ear. “I want to watch you take her while I give my mouth a break. Then, I can repay you for just how incredible you were!”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Weiss had lost track of what was happening a long time ago. The feverish, painful need that had consumed her body had faded to a dull, almost pleasant all-over soreness that nevertheless still felt hungry . Fortunately, she now had two naked women in bed with her to satisfy that. Somewhere in the night, Yang had shown up, and being handled by her teammate’s strong arms while tangling her fingers in her golden mane was a rapturous experience.

Now, though, Yang was staring at her incredulously, panting to catch her breath. “Weiss… gods and spirits and everything else, woman, how can you still be going?!”

“I told you she’s insatiable!” Blake chuckled as she brushed Yang’s hair aside to kiss her neck.

Here and there, Weiss’s words came back to her through the clouds of arousal that still fogged her mind. “I suffered with this stupid heat shit for days , I deserve to get fucked senseless in recompense!” she muttered as she bent down to kiss Yang’s toned thighs.

“...Blake, do you have a pen handy? I need to make a note that she actually said ‘recompense’ during sex so we can tease her about it later,” Yang snorted as she tilted her neck to give her partner more access to the delicate, sensitive skin there.

Pouting, Weiss nipped her inner thigh. “Why are you being cruel, you, you… obnoxious harlot!” Her epithet made both Blake and Yang descend into uncontrollable laughter. Which, as much as Weiss’s still-achey core wished they were doing things to her, still made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Suddenly, the door sounded, and all three of their heads whipped towards it in alarm as it cracked open and Ruby slipped into the room. Her nervous eyes went as large as Willow’s second-best silver saucers that she’d used to let Weiss throw tea parties for her dolls with as she took in the tangle of naked limbs that was the rest of her team.

“Ruby?!” Yang shrieked, yanking a sheet up to try and cover herself. “What are you doing here?”

“What do you think, Yang?” Blake murmured with a soft smile.

The Huntress’s darted around frantically as she began to stammer. “I- I want- oh gods, oh gods this was a terrible idea, I’m so sorry! Forget! Please just forget I ever came in here and this ever happened and-”

As she turned towards the door, Ruby was stopped by Weiss’s hand on her arm. Slowly turning back to face the room, she looked her partner up and down, eyes darting between nipples and bite marks and the soaked patch of white hair between her legs. “Um… Weiss? You’re… you’re really naked…”

Snorting, Weiss grabbed both of Ruby’s hands and planted them squarely on her breasts as she looked her square in the eyes. Then, she cupped the other woman’s face and pulled her in to kiss her. It was a kiss she’d been fantasizing about planting for a while. Of course, that was going to be in a moonlit garden after a romantic evening where we danced around the obvious attraction between us, teasing each other deliciously with whether we were actually going to acknowledge it… but fuck it, this works.

Ruby’s head was spinning by the time Weiss finally pulled away. Her partner’s eyes were a bit wild and unfocused, and her usually neatly cared-for silver-white hair was a mess, and her skin shown with- Rubes, that is absolutely not all sweat -but her gentle smirk and fond faux exasperation came through with her words. “Ruby… you’re seriously overdressed right now.”

And then Weiss was pulling off Ruby’s shirt, and tugging down her pants, and pulling her back in to kiss again and oh gods I’m naked pressed against a naked Weiss oh gods this is happening!

Yang turned to Blake, her voice small. “So… this is… we’re doing this?”

“I mean, if you want to leave you can, but I’m pretty sure Weiss and I can stay between you two if that’s what you’re worried about…”

The blonde swallowed hard, but as she looked Blake’s body up and down, her answer became obvious. Smiling, Blake put a finger under her chin to guide her into another kiss. Which quickly turned into roving hands, adding to the list of places they’d discovered on each other already that night.

That’s right, Ruby… has a cock, Weiss observed as their skin pressed together. As they maneuvered around the bed, she glanced down. It’s… not what I expected? Granted, my only experience with cocks is from porn, and those things are massive and veiny and throbbing and look vaguely like medieval weaponry! Ruby’s is… can I say it’s smaller? Would she be hurt by that? How about… it’s cute and fun-sized? Her partner was definitely hard for her, and Weiss couldn’t envision herself getting impaled by it. Which was a relief. Even with the ache of her heat, getting her ‘insides rearranged by big, meaty dick’, as her socialite friends had so indelicately put it, held no appeal to Weiss. But Ruby? Ruby she wanted to take in her hand and stroke, just to see what kind of fun noises she’d make for her. Maybe I’ll even use my mouth…

Ruby’s whole body stiffened, a clear sign that something was wrong. She twisted gently away from where Weiss had taken her erection in her hand, and even in her sex-addled state Weiss’s heart broke a little at how unsettled her partner looked. “Ruby? What’s wrong?” she asked gently, enfolding the trembling young woman in a warm hug.

“It’s… it’s, that ,” Ruby murmured, trying to swallow the thickness that had taken over her throat. “Grimm damnit, it’s j- just what I was afraid of! It feels wrong, my stupid genderfucked head is too broken to even enjoy sex right-” Suddenly, she was crying onto Weiss’s shoulder, her distress a sobering splash of cold water for not just Weiss, but Blake and Yang as well.

“Ruby…” Shit, what do I say? Think, Weiss! Winter went through this with May! What did she do?! The first time Winter and May had tried to have sex it had ended in a tearful Winter, aided by a pilfered bottle of their mother’s gin, spilling the whole thing to her younger sister. How things had been going so well until Winter had tried to put her reading to work, because of course Winter had found and read a book about what she was supposed to do with a penis, and how it had all fallen apart for May and how guilty she’d felt for not being able to follow through, and how bad Winter had felt for triggering her dysphoria. They worked it out in the end though! I just… don’t know how! Grimm damnit Weiss, think!

Reflexively, she just hugged her shaking partner tighter. “It’s okay, Ruby,” Weiss whispered soothingly in her ear. “It’s okay! And don’t you dare say you’re broken! You’re just a little different, and…” she pushed her back, just enough to look into her eyes and wipe a tear away. “...we’ll figure it out together!”

Her partner sniffled as she tried to regain her composure. “R-really? You’re not… you’re not disappointed?”

“Gods, of course not Ruby!” Weiss hugged her tightly again. “I’m… I’m just really glad you came. I… I’m really glad you’re part of this.” Weiss brushed her partner’s red-dyed bangs back from her tear-stained face. “Would you like to touch me?”

Her soft words were rewarded with desire blotting out the confusion in Ruby’s eyes. “Yes. Oh gods, yes, Weiss…”

“Okay. Then let’s do it. No worries allowed. Just… explore my body, Ruby,”

The bunks could no longer contain what was going on, and Weiss and Blake’s mattresses were quickly tugged off and pushed together on the floor. The seam down the middle wasn’t the greatest, but all of the girls were soon way too busy to notice. Blake and Yang fell into a tight embrace, tenderly kissing as they pressed their thighs between each other’s legs and ground slowly. Ruby, meanwhile, embraced Weiss from behind, kissing and nibbling at her graceful neck and shoulders while her hands roamed up and down her torso and over her legs. Weiss moaned encouragingly as her hands ran along the crease between her thighs and her hips, and she felt Ruby’s firmness against her back spasm.

“Sorry,” her partner murmured.

“Not accepted,” Weiss replied huskily. “There’s nothing wrong for me, I like it. It feels nice, and… it’s really hot feeling how much I excite you.” She felt Ruby’s breath hitch behind her, and with a smirk she took her hand and guided it between her legs.

This is it, it’s happening, I’m… I’m touching pussy. Weiss, is asking me, to touch her there! Ruby knew she was at a bit of a disadvantage, not having the same anatomy of her own to have discovered. And her first hesitant explorations were nothing like what she’d imagined they’d be. She’s so soft, and warm, and… wow, the wet! Running her fingers through Weiss’s folds made her stiffen, and she reflexively ground her hips against her partner’s flank. Moaning, Weiss pushed herself back against her. Right on cue, the dysphoria reared itself in her mind… but so did pleasure. Maybe even more at the idea that Weiss found it hot than at how it actually felt for Ruby herself. Latching on to that thought, she pulled her partner tight against her while she stroked her core in the places that made her gasp the loudest.

“Yes, Ruby, right there- RIGHT THERE!” And then Weiss’s tight body was arching against her, spasms going through her as she came. Ruby hung on tight, clinging to her as she continued to rub small circles through Weiss’s dampness all the way through her pants and groans. Finally, her partner slumped in her arms.

“Did… Did I do it?” Ruby asked incredulously.

“Oh, you definitely did it!” Blake giggled from where she and Yang had settled down against each other, Yang’s face definitely buried in Blake’s hair.

“What… what she said,” Weiss hummed. “T- that was… fantastic, Ruby. You can keep going, if you’d like.” She wiggled her butt against Ruby’s cock by way of indicating what she meant, but Ruby shook her head as she felt the moment leaving her.

“I think… I’m actually good for now. Thanks, though, that was… it was a lot of fun!” 

Weiss laughed lightly as she twisted in her arms and kissed her. “It was fun… and I think you finally wore me out!” She yawned as her head flopped against Ruby’s shoulder. As she saw how her partner was grinning, she smiled and shook her head. “Dolt.” Ruby laid them both down on the improvised bed, holding Weiss close against her.

Blake and Yang were close enough for their warmth to wash over the two of them. Yeah, this is kinda weird and we’re definitely gonna have to talk about it, but… I think that can wait. One thing at a time, Rubes! Her three teammates were clearly wrung out and thoroughly spent. Yang was soon snoring, and Ruby could feel Weiss’s breath slow in her arms. Fumbling with her free hand, she managed to reach someone’s scroll, and with a few taps, turned out the lights.

Chapter Text

Hey Ruby …

Yang had been sharing a bed with her little sister for almost as long as she could remember. Obviously, there was a time when she hadn’t, because she still remembered being almost five when her mom told her that Ruby was done sleeping in a crib in her parent’s room, and would Yang be okay sharing her bed with her little sister? Of course, no one had known she’d end up being her sister, or Ruby, yet, but Yang had worked hard to re-imagine her memories with who Ruby really was, once she figured it out. She’d been overjoyed with the responsibility, and felt very grown up being entrusted to keep the little girl she already adored warm and safe at night. Yang had always slept with her body between Ruby and the window for just that reason.

She’d held Ruby through her early nightmares as she started to truly comprehend the threat of the Grimm, and had woken up from more than one bad dream of her own to her sister wrapping her arms around her and murmuring that things would be okay. When Mom had to go on her “special trips”, having each other close helped both of the Xiao Long-Rose girls get a good night’s sleep.

Then Mom never came back. And Yang didn’t know if she and Ruby would have ever slept for the next two years if they hadn’t had each other to hang on to.

Time doesn’t heal all wounds, but it does let them scar over. Yang and Ruby… figured out how to keep living, despite the gaping holes in their hearts. They grew up. Yang carried them both until Tai started to function again. Ruby discovered who she was. Eventually, they rearranged things and had separate bedrooms.

Every now and then, though, they still snuggled together. When one of them needed comfort, someone to hold them and let them pretend that the world wasn’t like it was. Or when it was really cold.

But right now?

“Rubes… you know I love you, but now’s not the best time…”

“Yang…”

“I just had the wildest dream! And when did you start sprawling across the entire bed?”

“ Yang…”

“...Weiss? What the-?”

Yang blinked her eyes open, finding herself staring down at Weiss’s bemused face. And the top of Blake’s head, her ears flicking adorably against her breast.

Wait… Weiss and Blake are sleeping on me?! And I’m- WE’RE- naked?!

“Let me guess,” Weiss murmured. “Your dream involved all of us having a foursome to… ugh, deal with my heat problem?”

“Y-yeah… wait, four?”  

A tousled dark-brown head of hair shifted behind Weiss, burrowing down into the cascade of hair going down her back.

Yang blinked and stared at Weiss, who smirked lightly as she stared back. “So, good morning, gorgeous,” the heiress said as she kissed the top of Yang’s breast. Groaning, Yang’s head dropped back onto her pillow. 

Blake stretched and uttered an adorable yawn-squeak before raising her head to survey her surroundings, just to find both Weiss and Yang making starry eyes at her. “Huh. So that did happen.”

“Welcome to the party,” Weiss snorted, making Yang twitch beneath her.

“Hey! That tickled!”

Ruby made a mumbling noise of annoyance, prompting the rest of the team to reflexively freeze. As she settled back down against Weiss, the other three women cracked into grins and giggles at each other. “So,” Blake murmured, reaching across Yang to pet Weiss’s hair back from her face, “you feeling any better, Weiss?”

She nodded and started to exhale, before realizing that she’d be blowing across Yang’s nipples. “Yeah, a lot better. It’s like someone’s turned the heat down 20 degrees and… I don’t know, uncramped my entire body. Blake, you said every faunus with the right equipment goes through this to start puberty? How do you survive?!” Her eyes became incredulously wide. “You don’t… as kids…?”

“Fuck no, Weiss!” Blake hissed. “First, if it starts naturally with puberty, it’s not nearly as bad as what you’re going through. And, it’s treated as a kind of coming of age event. I got the week off from school, bundled up in bed… Mom kept me supplied with herbal teas that help the symptoms and ice packs, and trashy TV…” Blake’s voice trailed off to nothing.

“You okay?” Yang whispered.

Mom took such great care of me then. She was so proud of her little girl growing up. And just a few months later, I was… saying awful things to their faces and storming out the door. I haven’t talked to her… or Dad… since… “Yeah, I’m fine,” she forced a smile onto her face. “Just… lots of memories.”

Quiet, except for Ruby’s soft snores, fell over them again. It gave Yang’s mind space to start racing. So… what are you supposed to do when you lose your virginity and wake up the next morning in bed with your three best friends?

Hey! I lost my virginity last night! I’ve had sex!

…with my teammates. Gods… what are the chances this doesn’t get messy?

Heh, it sure was messy last night and it was AWESOME!

Ugh, Yang, be serious!

“So…” she started.

“So…”

“So…” Blake and Weiss both echoed.

“...what do we do now?” Yang finished everyone’s question.

Weiss chewed her lips thoughtfully. “I think… it happened. And it’s perfectly fine! We’re all adults here. We just… go about our regular lives.”

“Right!” Blake spoke up, trying very hard to sound calm and confident. “I mean… yes, we all had sex. People have sex! It’s perfectly normal! No need to get all crazy about it!”

“Threesomes with your Academy teammates are ‘perfectly normal’?” Yang murmured.

“If you want to be pedantic, it was technically a foursome…” Weiss added.

“We are not talking about that!” Yang hissed, loudly enough that Ruby mumbled again and tugged Weiss against her.

“Anyways…” Blake fumbled around for a moment before finding her scroll. “We should probably… shit, girls, we’ve slept through our first two classes! We’re barely gonna make lunch at this rate!”

“Whaa? Lunch?!” Ruby woke up with a start, her head popping up from behind Weiss and blinking in confusion. “Food? I’m starving! Also…” the flush rising in her cheeks served as a good indicator of her rising awareness of her current situation. “...Eeep!”

“Good morning, Rubes,” Yang chuckled.

Suddenly spurred from their dreamy morning into action, Blake scrambled to her feet, allowing Yang to roll out from under Weiss and get up as well. Weiss was left squawking at a still-sleepy Ruby to get off of her, when something about Yang caught her eye.

“Heh, to think I didn’t even notice that you had a back tattoo last night, Yang!”

“Huh?” Yang turned around in confusion, trying to look over her own shoulder. “I definitely do not have any tattoos. Dad wouldn’t sign the consent forms, and I wasn’t old enough before I got here…”

“Um, well, you definitely have one now…” Ruby murmured, pointing at her sister’s lower back. “...and it kinda looks like one of Weiss’s glyphs?”

“ WHAT?” Yang yelled, running to the mirror. “What the fuck?!”

Sitting up, Weiss looked down at herself and squeaked. “How’d I get a sigil on my chest?” 

Ruby’s eyes went to Blake, who’d shrunk back against the wall and gone very quiet. “Blake, you’ve got one too, on your hip… Hey, Weiss, check me!”

Weiss rolled Ruby over and nodded “Yup, you got one right here on your shoulder blades… strange, aren’t tattoos supposed to like, be a little bump in the skin? These are perfectly smooth…”

“Why the fuck is this on my lower back like a- like a tramp stamp!?” When Yang whirled back around her eyes were sparking red, but they quickly faded in concern when she saw her partner. “Blake… Blake, what’s wrong, what are you doing? Stop it! ”

Blake was furiously scratching at the glyph on her hip, hard enough that her fingernails were digging bloody streaks in her skin. When she looked up, her eyes were terrifyingly wild and crazed… and focused on Weiss. “You… you branded me! You BRANDED ME, you SCHNEE BITCH!”  

With a howl, she launched herself across the room, landing on Weiss before she had any chance to defend herself. “Wait, Blake, I- I have no idea-” Weiss’s words were choked off as Blake’s hands wrapped around her throat and squeezed.

“Blake! What are you- STOP!” Ruby shrieked, trying to shove herself in between her teammates. With a snarl, Blake shoved her aside and resumed strangling the life out of Weiss.

All of Weiss’s years of combat training had been focused on swordplay and Dust work. She had learned to fight Grimm ; why would she ever be in a desperate, gritty struggle like this, gasping for air as she gazed up at the furious, panting face of someone she trusted? “ B-Blake…” she wheezed, slapping her hands against Blake’s straining shoulders even as her strength felt like it was draining into the darkness encroaching on her vision.

“Get off of her!” Yang roared, grabbing her partner from behind and yanking her backwards. Weiss drew in a loud, ragged breath, coughing as Ruby rushed to pull her into her lap.

“Let me go, Yang!” Blake flailed savagely, kicking and scratching at her partner, even stretching to try and bite her arm. “She- she fucking branded me!”

“Blake! We don’t know what happened! Calm down-”

“-THEY USED TO BRAND SLAVES, Yang! I’ve seen the scars!” The fight deflated out of Blake all at once. Sagging in Yang’s arms, her body began to heave with sobs as hot tears flowed from her eyes. “She… she put a slave brand on me…”

The raw pain in Blake’s voice stabbed into all of her team’s hearts, but especially Yang. Collapsing back onto the bunk behind her, she pulled her partner into her lap and hung on tight, whispering “Shhhh, Blake, we’ll figure this out. You’re okay, you’re okay honey…” into her ears as she cried uncontrollably.

Ruby was sobbing herself as she clung to Weiss, relief coursing through her with each rough gasp her partner was able to draw. “Weiss, Weiss… are you okay? Please, be okay!” Weakly, Weiss raised her hand and stroked Ruby’s arm around her.

“I’m… I’m okay, Ruby. I think…” she croaked faintly.

The tension in the room had all of Team RWBY breathing heavily as Yang and Ruby eyed each other, silently communicating where their respective partners were at. Ruby’s panic over Weiss’s safety was slowly residing, but even in Yang’s arms, Blake filled her with fear. She refused to take her eyes off the other faunus, even as she helped Weiss into her nightshirt and put on her own pajamas. Cautiously, Yang pulled a sheet around herself and her partner.

“You can let me go,” Blake mumbled lowly.

Yang shook her head. “Nope. Not until we talk about this.”

Blake bristled. “I said, ‘Let. Me. GO!’” With a snarl, she tore herself out of Yang’s arms, stepping away to her own corner of the room as Weiss recoiled into Ruby’s arms. Grimacing, Blake began swiftly pulling on the first clothes that she could find.

“Weiss…” Ruby asked softly. “Do you have any idea what these… these mark-things are?”

“I swear, I don’t!” the heiress exclaimed. Looking down at her own chest, she shook her head. “I’ve never seen a glyph like this before in my life, and I’ve *never* heard of our sigils appearing on people like this!” Her pale blue eyes glistened with tears as she gazed up at Blake, her voice pleading. “Please, Blake! You have to believe me! I’d- look, I know my family can be awful, but I’d never do something like this to you! To anyone! I don’t even know *how* it happened!”

Yang and Ruby’s eyes turned to Blake as well, who had dressed herself and stood trembling, unable to meet anyone’s worried gaze. As her hands kept curling into fists, her mind raced. Truthfully, she believed Weiss; she knew her friend, she knew whatever had just happened was weird , and she knew in her heart that Weiss would never do this to her on purpose.

Remember that time you and your friends were eating ice cream, and those older human kids came by and smacked it out of your hands, because “chocolate is bad for animals”?

Blake was ashamed of herself. Of her outburst, of how she’d clawed at herself, at how she’d assaulted Weiss. Attacked her like an animal…

When her dad had taken her to meet some elder faunus who’d been slaves. How she’d listened to their stories and felt their pain burn through her as her fingers traced their scars from the whips, the brands that rich humans had used to mark them as their property. How she’d cried for days.

Seeing Weiss’s fingers going to the red welts on her throat, her throat, shaped like Blake’s hands , then wincing away from how fresh and raw they were. How much Blake hated herself, was terrified of herself , for what she’d done.

Holding his tear-stained face in her hands as he sobbed in the dark at the memories. Kissing the mutilated flesh on his face, her lips unable to brush away the scars. The Schnee Dust Company brand that had been burned into the man she had loved.

“Blake, please… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, and I swear I’ll figure out how to fix-” Weiss was begging her now.

“I- I can’t be here right now,” Blake stated flatly as she pushed herself away from the wall she’d been leaning against. Springing over the mess of mattresses and bedding in the middle of their room, Blake strode purposefully for the door.

“Blake, wait!” Yang stretched out her arm and started to lunge for her partner, but the faunus woman dodged out of her reach.

“Let her go, Yang,” Weiss muttered quietly. Ruby and her sister’s head jerked towards their other teammate as Blake slipped out the door.

“Weiss, you can’t seriously mean to just… let her run off!” Ruby exclaimed. “Argh! Why is my team always running away? Is it me?!”

Chewing her lip nervously, Yang’s eyes flicked back and forth between Weiss and the door her partner had just walked out of. “Maybe Weiss is right, Rubes. Maybe Blake just… needs some time to cool off, right? But in the meantime… Weiss, can you please try to explain something here?”

Ruby’s partner threw her hands in the air. “I don’t know what you want me to do! I get why you think I have answer, these marks definitely look like Schnee glyphs, but I’m telling you, I’ve never seen or heard of something like this in my life!” Jumping to her feet, she began to pace the room in her very particular ‘angry Weiss pacing’ way. “So no, I can’t explain anything , I don’t know what happened except that everything has gone wrong in ridiculously short order, and- and I’m starting to feel it again, except this time I’m hungry on top of it all, and-” Overwhelmed, she dropped onto a chair and buried her face in her hands.

Alright Ruby, it’s leadership time!

…sure, our leadership pamphlets don’t include anything remotely like this, and I’m DEFINITELY not asking Professor Ozpin for advice on this one, but…

“Food!” she stated firmly.

Yang and Weiss looked up at her quizzically. “...food?” Yang finally asked.

“Yep, food! We might have missed all our morning classes, and my gods my history grade cannot take much more of that, but we’ve still got time to make it to lunch! Trying to problem solve on an empty stomach never works out, and we definitely don’t want Weiss getting any more horngry on us!”

Her teammates looked at each other dubiously, but eventually nodded. “Pretty sure I remember it being manicotti day anyways,” Yang said. “That stuff is the best!”

They were about to head out the door when Ruby glanced over at Weiss and squeaked. “Oh! Weiss, your neck…” Thinking fast, she grabbed one of her red scarves and wrapped it loosely around her partner’s neck, hiding the bright red marks without looking like she was bundling up for the winter while indoors. Weiss gave her a grateful look, and they headed down to lunch. 

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Lunch was incredibly awkward. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake’s morning absences, their bedraggled appearance, and the noticeable lack of Blake, prompted a slew of questions that they didn’t have good answers for. Eventually, their murmured deflections became so hollow that even Nora got the hint and dropped it.

“Just… if you girls need anything… you’ll let us know, right?” Pyrrha asked worriedly.

“We will, I promise!” Ruby nodded somberly. “If there’s anything you guys can help with, we’ll let you know!”

JNPR exchanged nervous glances with each other, but with a few subtle nods and gestures, they agreed to let it drop. Weiss, meanwhile, was so engrossed in her second serving of pasta that she didn’t even notice Velvet stop behind her and stare down at her in shock for a moment before she quickly hurried on.

As the present members of the team held a quick check-in with each other after lunch, Weiss already found herself shifting uncomfortably. Yang took one look at the way she was squeezing her hips and thighs and raised a knowing eyebrow. “So, now that you’ve eaten Snowflake, the rest of it’s back?”

Weiss whined in embarrassment and nodded. “It’s okay, I can manage it, I’ll make it through afternoon classes-”

“Weiss, you’re already flushed and warm…” Ruby muttered, placing her hand on her partner’s forehead.

“...and you’re practically rubbing one out just standing here!” Yang added. “There is no way you’re going to get through classes without causing a scene.”

A mewl that sounded of equal parts shame and horniness came out of Weiss’s throat. “Gods, I hate this! I’m such a fucking mess!” 

Ruby moved to hug her partner, but suddenly remembered how touch-sensitive Weiss was right now and thought better of it. Instead, she wrung her hands uncomfortably. “I mean, I’d go back with you and help you, um, take care of it-”

“Ruby, I can’t ask you to…”

 “Nope! I’m your partner… and I think we covered all of this last night… but I really need to go make big eyes at Oobleck to try and save my history grade.” She shot a quick glance at her sister.

Yang scratched the back of her head. “I’ve got a free period, sure…” She sighed. “I was going to go look for Blake, but, okay Weiss, let’s do this.”

“Absolutely not!” the woman in question hissed. “I appreciate it, really, but both of you have vastly more important things to deal with than me! Go! I’ll… take an icy cold shower or something.”

“Are you sure , Weiss?” Ruby’s hand hovered over her shoulder as she battled her touchy instincts.

“Yes! Now, go! Shoo!” Weiss waved her teammates away and did her best to trudge back to their dorm with her sense of dignity intact.

Twenty minutes later, she was squeaking in distress as she lowered herself into a bathtub full of cold water. Weiss knew that there were people in Atlas who made a big to-do about jumping into frigid arctic waters, usually right before they dashed into a sauna, but she’d never even been remotely interested in such shenanigans. Despite my family’s reputation as the ‘icy Schnees’, I quite like it warm and toasty, thank you very much!

Warm and toasty… like being snuggled between Yang and Ruby. Or in Blake’s arms…

No! Bad Weiss! I’m trying to cool off here, not get more riled up!

…Gods, Blake…

The thought of her teammate plunged Weiss’s heart into turmoil, almost enough to take her mind off the chill seeping into her body and its clash against the heat roiling in her belly. Part of her desperately wanted to be out with Yang looking for their teammate, to find her and get her back to them, safe and sound.

The other part of Weiss was absolutely terrified of being around Blake. The emotional whiplash between the night before, all the things they’d done with each other, to each other, and how incredibly good it had felt… and the memory of feeling like she was dying as she stared up into Blake’s face, felt her hands that had been inside of her hours earlier, crushing the life out of her, felt like it was ripping her apart.

She shook her head violently. “Enough about Blake, Weiss!” she snapped out loud at herself as she punched the water. It’s not like I’m thinking clearly now anyways… of course, it would also help if I had an actual explanation…

Looking down at her chest, Weiss ran her fingers over the glyph that had appeared there. It was dark blue, slightly larger than her fist, and centered right over her heart. What are you? , she mused. She’d been studying the symbology of her family’s remarkable semblance since before she could even manifest it, and while she hadn’t yet committed every one to memory, she’d seen enough to know that she barely recognized anything about what had, apparently, appeared in her skin. I think that one has something to do with ‘connection’... but that’s about all I can make out…

Weiss was sure she’d remember if she’d done something to cast the glyph, even if she had recognized it. And making a glyph a part of someone? She hadn’t seen that, even in the backs of the most advanced books she’d read. You’d think that if this was something that all Schnees had to look forward to every time they, well, ‘became intimate’, that SOMEONE would’ve written something down about it!

I’m certainly not having this conversation with Father… not that he’s likely to know anything, having married into the family. Mother? Weiss’s sigh was heavy with remorse. I don’t really want to have this talk with her *either*, plus, what are the chances of her being sober enough for this?

I guess that leaves Winter …

It wasn’t entirely because of the cold that Weiss’s hand trembled when she reached for where she’d dropped her scroll on the soap stand. Sure, she knew she could talk to Winter about this. Her older sister had been the one to give her ‘The Talk’, after all. And it wasn’t like she hadn’t listened to Winter spill about her sex life when she and May had first gotten involved. But talking to Winter would put the older Schnee into Professional Mode. Everything would become her problem, to be dealt with as directly and efficiently as possible.

And Weiss really, really didn’t want that kind of attention focused on the fact that she was rutting with her entire team.

Flipping through her contacts, her finger hovered over May’s icon, pondering whether she *really* knew her sister’s girlfriend well enough to drop this on her. You know she’d want to help in any way she could, Weiss. She’s better at exercising discretion than Winter is… and, you can ask her some stuff about Ruby.

Finally feeling like the cold had soaked into her enough to keep her from burning up with the need to fuck something for the immediate future, Weiss clamored out of the tub and wrapped a light bathrobe around herself. Team RWBY’s mattresses were still all over the floor, so she made a pillow nest and, taking a deep breath, hit the ‘Call’ button. After a few beeps, May’s feminine tenor picked up.

“Weiss? Hey, girl! Long time no chat!”

“Hello, May,” Weiss did her best to sound casual and conversational. “How are things in Mantle?”

“Well enough…” the other woman answered, her finely-tuned ‘Schnee alarms’ already starting to go off in her head. Her girlfriend could be frustratingly circumspect when it came to bringing up any kind of personal issue she wanted to talk about, while at the same time being so unsubtle about it that she might as well be announcing it from an airship. It seemed fairly safe to presume her little sister would be the same way. “How’s Beacon? Hopefully warmer than here!”

“Warm enough you can still go out without a coat during the day, although the nights are starting to get chillier,” Weiss replied. Silence hung over the line as she bit her lip, struggling to find the courage to broach the topic on her mind.

May sighed. “Good to hear… but, I’m sure you didn’t call to talk about the weather. Let me save us some time, Weiss; even over the phone, I can tell you’re doing the exact same thing Winter does when she really wants to talk about something, but is too nervous to bring it up. So I’ll tell you the same thing I say to her: it’s okay, you can trust me, I lov- well, um, I guess not quite the same as what I tell her, but, like, platonically love you in a practically-family way? Fuck, here I go trying to be the cool one and-”

“May,” Weiss blurted out. “Have you ever, um… had a Schnee glyph appear somewhere on you after you and Winter have… done stuff?”

The silence in the air sounded like nails screeching down a chalkboard in her head.

“Um… what?”

Weiss cringed, feeling like her face was on fire and very, very glad she’d decided to make this a voice-only call. “Has a Schnee glyph manifested on- on your body after you’ve had… sexual relations … with my sister?”

Silence again.

“Huh. No, can’t say that’s ever happened. So, um, I’m guessing there’s a reason you’re asking?”

“...hold on, I’m going to send you a picture.” Pulling her robe aside, Weiss snapped an image of the sigil on her chest and sent it.

A few second later, May responded. “Wow. No, um, never seen that, on either me or Winter. Do you want me to ask her-”

“No! No no no no no!” Weiss gasped. “Please, May… I really, really don’t want an entire Atlas science division looking into this!”

She could feel May thinking over the scroll line, and it suddenly occurred to Weiss that she’d put the other woman in an extremely awkward position. She could be discrete for now, but if this somehow escalated to something that Winter had to know about, her sister would be incensed that she hadn’t been immediately advised of the situation. “Okay, Weiss. Just… it doesn’t hurt or anything, right?”

“No, it just kind of… showed up, and is causing some concerns , but nothing like that.”

“Gotcha. Well, okay, I’ll keep a lid on it for now, and see if I can poke around a bit and learn anything without clueing her in. Also, congratulations!”

Weiss couldn’t help but smile, even as her cheeks flushed. “T-thanks. That’s, um, something else I wanted to ask you about… if that’s okay?

“Ooo, sexy stuff talk! THIS I’m much more qualified for!” May giggled.

“Okay, so, um, one of- my partn- the person I did the stuff with , is also transfemme,” Weiss sputtered. “She’s not super comfortable being touched down there, and I just… wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help her.”

“Ahhhh,” May replied knowingly. “Well, it’s not like we all feel the same about that kind of stuff, you know. Every trans girl is her own special snowflake of weirdness about her gender, so you’ll really need to talk to her more than anything, but… if I had to generalize a few points, I say first of all, it’s not about you, it’s about her. Like, if you’re doing stuff, she’s assuredly into you, she’s probably just struggling with… ugh, how to explain this?” 

She paused for a moment, and Weiss could almost hear May ruminating. “So, at least for me, it’s one thing to know you’re a woman. It’s another thing to believe it. Even after you’ve figured the first part out, sometimes it’s a real active effort, even after you’ve been out of your shell for years, to make the later part stick, you know? And then you go and get aroused and… it can feel like it’s just ruining everything you’ve worked so hard at building for yourself.”

“Oh wow,” Weiss murmured. And here I thought *I* had problems with residual conservative Atlas guilt over my desires! “So… is there anything I can do to help? I… I know I want to make her feel as good as she makes me.”

“So, again, you’ll probably want to talk to her. Some trans girls who still have their boy bits like to call them things other than the usual terms. Meanwhile… validate her. Let her know how hot you find her as a woman , how badly you want her as a woman . Like, TMI, but that’s one of the things that helped me and Winter the most.”

Humming, Weiss nodded to herself. “Okay, yeah, I think I can do that…” Suddenly, there was a knock on RWBY’s door. “Aack! I have to go, May, but thank you so much for everything… and for making my sister so happy.”

“The honor is all mine, trust me! Take care, Weiss. And be sure to let me know if you need any more help with… well, any of this stuff!”

After they finished their hasty goodbyes, Weiss tightened her robe over herself. She winced at how messy their room was. Nothing to be done about it now, though . Doing her best to block the view, she cracked open the door.

“...Velvet?”

“Hi Weiss,” the faunus woman shuffled nervously. “Are you alone? This is… well, pretty private. Can I come in?”

Weiss gulped. “Um, I suppose? The room is a disaster though…”

Velvet rolled her eyes. “I live with Coco, Weiss. I guarantee you, you have- oh, wow, okay…” her voice trailed off as Weiss opened the door just enough for her to squeeze in. Her eyes bugged out at the sprawl of mattresses and blankets on the floor, but quickly shook it off. “...definitely ignoring all of that… this is really awkward, and I might be way, way off base here, in which case, please just write me off as a weirdo…”

“Velvet, you have no idea how weird my life has gotten recently. Just… what is it?”

Nodding, Velvet slipped a pill bottle out of her purse. “I have no idea why you need this, but… I’m pretty sure you do?”

Taking the bottle, Weiss read the label. ‘General Purpose Estrous Suppressant, Extra Strength’. Looking up at Velvet’s nervous eyes, she sighed. “So… just out of curiosity, how would you know someone needs this?”

“Oh, oh … so, it’s, um, a smell…”

Weiss squealed in horror, and Velvet quickly waved her hands to placate her.

“It’s not that , it’s a pheromone thing! Something only faunus can smell! But, yeah… somehow, it’s really strong around you…”

Crumpling onto the bunk frame, Weiss groaned. “Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be?” She looked back up at Velvet, who seemed almost as embarrassed as she was. “Thanks, Velvet. So… if someone needed this because of, um, reasons … would they just take it and it’d start working right away?”

Giving her a critical eye, Velvet nodded slowly. “Well, it’s not instant. You- someone - will need to be on it for a couple days before it kicks in, and then take it on a schedule for the future. And this one is generic… they should really see a doctor specialized in faunus care to get a custom formulation for their body. In the meantime… I’ve always found raspberry and ginger tea to be really helpful, if someone is experiencing cramping or tightness. They might want to talk to Blake, I know she’s quite the tea connoisseur-” Velvet bit her lip as Weiss barked bitterly at the mention of Blake. “So, um, anyways… good luck to ‘them’, let them know I’m happy to help.” As she turned to leave, she paused and looked over her shoulder. “Weiss? If you- if someone - ever needs someone to talk to about… ‘reasons’... I’m around.”

Weiss forced out a thin smile and nodded. “Thanks, Velvet. So much.” As the door closed behind the other faunus, she slid off onto the floor. I really should try and put the beds back together, but… fuck it. Twisting open the pill bottle, Weiss tossed back several more than the instructions called for, then curled into a tight ball in the blankets, the scents of her team helping her drift off into a fitful sleep.

Chapter Text

The Vale fall chill ambushed Blake as the sun began to dip below the horizon, and she pulled her hands up into the sleeves of her sweater before muffling them together to try and retain body heat. I guess I really have been walking for that long. Still haven’t gotten anywhere though.

Blake didn’t recall where all she’d wandered since she’d stormed out of her team’s dorm room and taken to the streets of Vale. Most of the day was a blur of mental anguish as she replayed the events of the morning on repeat, flagellating herself harder and harder with each remembering. The raw, mindless fury she’d felt when she’d seen the Schnee symbol on her body, in her skin , haunted the edges of her mind like a red haze. One that she couldn’t believe she’d let take her over, no matter how traumatized she’d felt in the moment. Blake shuddered as the memory of how she’d felt ran down her spine like an ice cold iron.

What *is* that Grimm-damned sigil, anyways? She’d gone into a restroom and checked on it earlier in the day. Her aura had already healed most of the damage she’d done to her skin, with only a few of the deepest gouges still red and scabbed. The glyph, which, as much as she wanted to keep an open mind about what had happened  she couldn’t help but think of as Weiss’s, was completely undamaged. I’ve seen people with tattoos get wounded across them. Even when they heal with aura, their ink is still fucked up. This thing is still immaculate!

As Blake stared down at the cobblestones passing beneath her feet, she felt the next round of self-recrimination starting in her head. She didn’t even try to deflect it; she deserved to beat herself up for what she’d done. Just… how? How could you, Blake? No matter how much of a shock seeing that thing on you was, that’s no excuse for assaulting Weiss.

Weiss!

In the moment, all she’d been able to think was ‘Schnee’, and every cruelty and injustice that name had inflicted on her people. Now? All she could see was her friend. The way she twirled that little curl of her snow-white hair near her ear, the one that always escaped her styling, when she was deep in thought. That smirk she wore when she was trying to be annoyed at Ruby and Yang’s shenanigans, but couldn’t help but smile at them. How her cheeks flushed the color of sakura blossoms when she did that little giggle that she covered with her hand, the one that made her eyes sparkle with mirth. 

The way her cunt tasted. The noises she made when she came. The haze of bliss that clouded her eyes as she floated in her afterglow.

Weiss’s dreamy face, adrift in a cloud of her hair and her eyes half-lidded with desire, filled Blake’s mind. She reached out to touch her, to brush her cheek and run her thumb along her lips… only for her hand to betray her and wrap around her teammate’s throat. Weiss’s eyes bulged with fear and betrayal and hurt as she tried to scream, only for Blake’s hand to push her down, down to drown in the red haze that came pouring in again-

Blake gasped, wrenching herself out of her waking nightmare, helped at least in part by the familiar and enticing scents wafting into her nostrils. As she took stock of her surroundings, her heart lightened ever so slightly. Of course I’d find my way to Faunustown eventually. The buildings were shabbier than the rest of the city and the streets crowded with food carts and vendor stalls… but also brighter, as all the colorful signage began to come alive, lanterns and string lights and neon tubes all declaring the vibrancy of the faunus people. She couldn’t help but tingle at the smells of some of her favorite dishes; spicy fish curries and tropical citrus sorbets and root vegetables seasoned and roasted until they were as soft and sweet as candy. Like a lover’s beckoning finger, home pulled Blake in.

Soon, Blake was enjoying a steaming bowl of red cod curry. It certainly wasn’t like what her mom used to make, but she found herself appreciating the addition of some Vale seasonings and sensibilities to the dish. It gave the food a sense of being its own, rather than just a distant copy of what she’d have enjoyed back in Menagerie.

A lot like me.

Shit, maybe that was the wrong thing to think…

Memories of home put Blake in mind of what she’d been like back then. More idealistic. Maybe naive, but more innocent . Back then… before I’d let him claim my body. Both in bed, and on the battlefield. Before he stained my hands with blood and tried to turn me into his weapon, not of justice, but of vengeance.

Back when I was proud of who I was.

She tried to blink away the hot tears welling in her eyes, but they were already overflowing to escape down Blake’s cheeks. She’d believed in herself and her cause, of justice and equality for her people. Just like she’d started to believe in herself again at Beacon, where she was fighting a physical enemy to protect not just faunus, but everyone. Alongside people she… really, really cared about.

Of course you fucked that up, Blake. Just like he said you would.

“Go ahead and run away from me, Blake!” he said, a sneer on the lips she used to dream about night and day. “You’re just running from yourself. From the truth. You’ve tasted it now, you know I’m right. Only their blood will wash away their sins. Violence is our only answer; it’s our RIGHT!

And be honest… you enjoyed it.”

“Nooo!” she shrieked, dropping the remnants of her dinner as she finally shoved down the haunting memories. Panting for breath, Blake’s eyes darted around at the numerous people staring, some of them giving her worried looks as they murmured to each other. The walls of the buildings nearby seemed to close in around her, smothering and suffocating her as they tried to shove her back into the darkness of her own mind. Just like the walls of Team RWBY’s dorm had.

Run away. It’s the only thing that ever works .

Brushing off her skirt, Blake swiftly got to her feet and hurried from the area.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“Whu- huh?”

Yang chuckled behind her. “Sleepy eyes finally woke up!”

Weiss blinked slowly as consciousness returned. It had been mid-afternoon when she’d laid down for a nap; now, it was dark out, with the only light in the room coming from a scroll screen behind her. Also, she’d somehow gotten from being sprawled on the floor to being snuggled in bed.

Apparently, with Yang.

Rubbing the grit from her eyes, Weiss mumbled “What happened now?”

That got an even louder laugh out of Yang. “Don’t worry, nothing exciting, Snowflake! When Rubes and I… well, after class, we went out to look for Blake. When we came back after dinner, you were cocooned in all the blankets on the floor. We put the beds back together and tucked you in.”

“...and that explains you being in bed with me, how?”

“...well, when I tried to set you down, you got pretty grabby and wouldn’t let go. I was tired anyways, and it seemed easier to just… climb in with you, instead of waking you up to get away.” The blonde paused. “All things considered, just being in the same bunk didn’t seem like it was really a breach of intimacy or anything…”

Weiss felt her face flush hotly. “Y-yeah, that’s fair, I suppose.” Frankly, she was happy to have Yang’s warm presence with her. Her teammate just radiated comfort. “Hey, Ruby?”

“She’s not here,” Yang replied. “She, um, went back out to look for Blake some more, but it’s getting late. She should be headed back soon.”

Blake . Swallowing thickly, Weiss raised her hand to touch her throat. It was still tender. “So… no news on… her?”

The little pause before she replied told Weiss that Yang had noticed her reluctance to say Blake’s name. “No, nothing. She hasn’t answered her scroll all day… and her weapon locker is empty.”

“...fuck.”

“Yeah…” Weiss could feel the discomfort in how Yang’s body shifted against her. “Um, how are you doing about… that?”

How AM I doing? She pondered. A friend… a *lover*... just tried to kill me in cold blood. I’m hurt and I’m scared and I never want to see her again and I want her back already and… I don’t even know what way to turn in my own head!

“I’m fine,” was the obvious answer.

It took Yang several long moments to reply. “Ah, so that’s how we’re going to play this, then. Okay. You’re fine. Cool.”

Weiss sighed in exasperation, knowing it was mostly with herself.

“I hope she’s okay,” Yang murmured softly.

“...so do I, Yang,” the heiress managed to whisper back. “I really do mean that.”

Suddenly, Yang’s arm was around her, holding her tight, and Weiss could feel her teammate’s face buried in her hair, her whole body trembling as a ragged sob forced its way out. For a moment, her rage flared. Why are you crying for *her* after what she did to me?! The objection died in her head though as Weiss recognized that it was voiced by an older version of herself. The Weiss who’d arrived at Beacon at the top of her alabaster tower… not the Weiss she was now. This Weiss could feel all too clearly the pain in Yang’s heart, how fearful she was for both of her friends and how torn between them she felt.

There was momentary relief from the storm of her own emotions as she stepped outside of them and worried about the woman holding her. She wrapped her hand around Yang’s and squeezed it against her chest. “I can’t imagine how she has to be feeling right now, having one of my- a Schnee - symbol just… appear on her like that.

“That doesn’t excuse what she did to you, though!” Yang sniffled.

“Of course not. And… all that bad stuff happened in the past. It’s history. It’s not like it’s a current problem or something!” Weiss sighed. “Still… I guess I can at least understand a bit why Blake freaked out.”

Weiss felt Yang nod against her back. “Right.” A pause. “I just hope she cools off and comes back soon so we can talk about it. I know we’ve all only known each other for a couple months, but… it already doesn’t feel the same without her around.”

“...yeah,” Weiss managed through the tension that had gripped her chest. How WILL I feel when… IF… she returns?” The ghost of Blake’s fingers moved inside of her at the same time they clamped down around her throat, leaving her heart both racing and freezing beneath her chest. I just… I don’t know how to feel! I don’t even know what I WANT to feel!

Her body, though, apparently didn’t have that problem. Perverse as it was in the moment, Weiss felt a familiar warm and tightening in her belly, and before she could stop herself her hips shifted to grind back hard against Yang’s own.

“... seriously, Weiss?” the blonde muttered behind her.

“Grimm damnit, I’m sorry, Yang!” she burst out, pulling her hand away from her teammate’s to bury her face in her palms. “It just- it comes out of nowhere without me even thinking about it or wanting it! Fuck , this is so humiliating! I’m so, so sorry! You have to think I’m a monster for being aroused at a time like this-”

“Shhhhh, Weiss. It’s okay!”

“No it’s not! How can you say that?”

“Because it is, silly!” Yang kissed the back of her head as she pulled Weiss into a tighter embrace, the heiress feeling herself relaxing a little bit into her warmth. And her bosom. “I think we covered all those details last night. You’re not in control, you’re not choosing this, and you need our help.” Weiss could feel Yang’s breath hesitate in her chest. “And… helping you was pretty amazing.”

That earned a new whole-body squirm from the smaller woman. “It- really? Do you… do you really mean that? All of that?”

“Yeah. I really do, Weiss,” Yang’s breath was suddenly soft and hot against the back of her neck, and it made her arch her back outwards from it, pressing her belly against Yang’s hands and her ass back against her hips. “...do you want me to take care of you?”

Weiss whimpered. This is so stupid! I don’t want to be horny, especially at such a serious time! But her body was absolutely not cooperating with her. She could already feel her thighs moistening as desire to be touched flooded through her, and her thoughts of Yang holding her turned from ones of emotional comfort to memories of how those sure, strong hands had slid across her skin and held her curves while hot, eager lips sucked gasps of pleasure from her everywhere that they touched. She could see Yang looking up at her from between her legs, golden curls draped like silk across her thighs as the blonde smirked and murmured ‘Let me take care of you, Snowflake’ before her tongue dove back below her white tuft of hair…

She’d already guided Yang’s hand down her belly and tilted her head to expose her neck, reaching up with her other hand to pull her lover’s mouth to it. Yang followed her lead eagerly, her teeth brushing the moist spot her lips made on Weiss’s neck while she lifted the hem of her nightdress. Fingers ghosting along the ridge of her hip bone, she followed it down until she was touching the damp fabric of her lover’s panties, where even the slightest touch made the woman in her arms gasp and squirm for greater contact.

In truth, Yang did find it bizarre and almost squeamish how quickly Weiss had pivoted from their emotional conversation about what had happened with Blake to needing to be fucked. But… she could also understand. Both the simple facts of how the Atlas girl’s entire body was on a hair trigger right now, and how raw and vulnerable and in need of closeness and comfort the situation had left her. Yang felt that part too, intimately. 

Yang understood that she was something of a violent person. She had a quick temper, manifested in its purest expression through her semblance, and she really, really enjoyed being able to punch her problems repeatedly until they went away. But what she’d seen explode out of Blake today was completely different. She hated thinking ‘animal savagery’, given the kind of slurs she knew got thrown at faunus all the time… but she also didn’t really know how else to describe what she’d seen in Blake’s eyes and felt in her limbs as she tried to restrain her.

Seeing that had been fucking terrifying . Witnessing the woman she’d come to value and care about so quickly suddenly be ripped away and become fury incarnate had torn a hole inside of Yang, one she desperately wanted, needed to fill with human warmth and affection. Truthfully, Weiss’s heat just seemed like a convenient rationale; Yang wanted and needed the woman pressed into her, badly. She clung to Weiss’s slender body like it was a life preserver in a sea of fear and loss.

Weiss’s hips were already bucking rhythmically with the strokes of Yang’s fingers against her underwear, the girl herself curling inwards around the pressure, biting back cries of pleasure as she tried to relieve the tension coiling in her belly. Lipping her ear lobe, Yang murmured huskily to her “Open up for me, baby. Let it happen, let it go. I got you, I got you…” as her fingers brushed the softness of Weiss’s skin again before slipping underneath the hem of her panties.

Her lover started to shriek, and Yang quickly covered her mouth with her free hand. Weiss’s breath was hot and ragged against her palm as the arch of her back reversed, throwing her shoulders back against her as the taunting sensation she’d been riding became a raging torrent that flooded through her body, wiping away everything else inside her. Her hands scrambled at Yang’s arms, desperate to hold on to something as she was carried precipitously up the cliffs of her climax.

Yang’s fingers between the lips of her pussy were purifying in what, if she’d been religious and able to think at the moment, Weiss would have described as an almost spiritual experience. There simply wasn’t room inside of her for the painful mass of hurt and anger and guilt that had been sticking to her heart like the scum of the Hellmire all day; there was only how incredible she felt, how her orgasm seemed to fill out of her clit like a balloon she both craved the ecstasy of feeling burst, and was desperate to hold on to for as long as possible. Clasping Yang’s hand tighter against her face to muffle the screams she couldn’t hold back, Weiss gasped her name with every breath she was able to grab.

“Yang, Yang, Yang Yang Yang Yaaaannggggh!”

The blonde’s fingers had curved around, pressing into the clenched velvet inside of her. Even that slight bit of feeling penetrated ruined Weiss; she couldn’t hold on any longer and came, stars washing through her vision as she threw her head back. There was an impact on the back of her head but she simply didn’t, couldn’t , care. If it wasn’t the storm front of pleasure followed by the soft, warm haze of relief that was consuming all of her sensation, it wasn’t even real to Weiss in that moment.

Weiss’s fingertips and toes tingled as the last drops of satisfaction drained out of her, leaving her a limp doll in Yang’s arms as she gasped for air. As their joined hands came free of her mouth, she smiled and murmured. “Fuck, Yang… that was… it was so…”

“Gwab you hath fwun!” her teammate mumbled behind her, the thickness in her voice piercing Weiss’s afterglow enough to get her to scrunch her face in confusion and roll over. Yang’s eyes sparkled like amethysts as she smirked at her, her hand clasped over her nose… that very clearly was trickling a not-insubstantial amount of blood.

“Yang!” Weiss squealed, sitting upright so fast her head spun. “You’re- you’re bleeding!”

“Wworth it!” the blonde shot her a finger gun with her free hand.

“Wait… was that…” Weiss touched the back of her head where she’d felt the smack earlier, encountering something wet and sticky in her hair. She looked at the red stain on her fingers in horror. “No… I didn’t…”

“Ywou todally did!” Yang giggled as she started pawing the night stand for tissues, only to come up empty.

Weiss’s mouth opened and closed numbly a few times before she sprang into action. “You- UGH! DON’T MOVE! Let me go get a- a towel or… something!” Leaping to her feet, she hurried into the bathroom. Even through the smarting pain on her face, Yang couldn’t help but grin at her ass as she went.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

The asphyxiating weight of the Faunus Quarter was behind Blake, leaving her alone on the now dimly-lit streets with just her racing thoughts. It wasn’t a huge improvement, and she still smelled like fish curry, but at least she could breathe. Tired, sore, and feeling like all of her nerves were raw, Blake flopped onto a bench, the cold cement bracing and soothing through her clothes.

“You’re not what he said, Blake! You’re not like that. You’re not… like him!” she muttered to herself. “A moment of panic and anger is NOT the same as the sick pleasure I saw him take whenever his sword bit into someone!”

…right?

Choking back tears, Blake buried her face in her hands. I just want someone to tell me that I’m not the monster I feel like I am. Tell me it’s okay. Absolve it all . 

But the only people who could do that were back at Beacon.

Raising her head, Blake gazed up at the CCT clock tower where it stabbed upward into the night sky. She’d honestly always found the tower a bit ugly, but in that moment, it was beautiful to her. A lighthouse in her own personal storm, calling her home to safe harbor and rest.

Yeah, you have a LOT of apologizing and making up for things to do, Blake. Especially to Weiss. But… come on, you know these girls! Ruby and Yang aren’t going to be angry at you forever. Not even Weiss will. We ALL care about each other too much for that.

Stars, they might be staring out our window at the same clock tower right now, worrying about you and wishing you’d come home to them.

Blake sprang to her feet with nervous energy and started up the street, each step feeling a little lighter as she imagined throwing her arms around her team. Of course, I have to actually *find* my way home first… I’ve never been to this part of town before.

Fortunately for Blake, she had the Beacon tower to guide her way.

She was hurrying along the sidewalk, her entire mind focused on getting back to her team, when a figure tumbled out of a doorway up ahead of her, falling to the ground. They were followed moments later by a burly human man wearing a bartender’s apron. Blake’s eyes went wide with shock as the bartender kicked the collapsed person savagely in the ribs, eliciting a pained grunt. “And stay out, you filthy animal!” he yelled before turning to go back inside… but not before spitting on the pitiful figure at his feet.

Rage was already starting to boil in Blake’s veins as she raced forward, crouching next to someone who turned out to be an elderly rabbit faunus. “Hey, are you okay?” she asked urgently, helping the man to sit up as he wheezed for breath.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” he wailed. “I just… I forgot my glasses, you see, and walked into the wrong bar! I didn’t mean to break the rules, I promise!” He tried to say something more, but descended into painful coughs.

All the fury that Blake had been trying to divest herself of all day came flooding back as she glared up at the sign overhead, proudly proclaiming the pub as ‘The Blue Knight’. A prominent ‘No Faunus’ sign was displayed in the window. The sea of red that she’d been trying not to drown in called her name like a battle cry, and the faunus wilfully stopped struggling and let herself sink into its warm embrace.

“Come on, let’s get you home,” she murmured softly to the trembling man as she helped him to his feet. As they walked away, Blake caught herself biting her cheek. 

The blood tasted delicious.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

The window of The Blue Knight exploded inwards as an outdoor dining chair from the cafe next door came flying through it, smashing across several of the tables nearest the front and scattering drinks and patrons alike. Customers sprang to their feet, spinning towards the shattered glass just in time to see a lithe female figure in a schoolgirl uniform jumped through, landing on a beer-stained table.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, girlie?” a nearby patron yelled.

Their assailant stood, costume store Grimm mask and feline faunus ears on proud display. “Justice,” she growled.

The portly man stared dumbly at her for a moment before a sick leer spread across his face. “Oh, you picked the right bar for that then, bitch!” he snickered, cracking his knuckles. His meaty paw swung for the attacker’s ankle. Springing into the air, she somersaulted over him, landing behind the man and spinning to deliver a savage punch to his kidneys. As he dropped to the floor with a groan, The Blue Knight exploded.

The patrons nearest the faunus woman all sprang for her, some of them reaching to grab while others picked up heavy glass mugs and bottles. It should have been impossible for even the most acrobatic fighter to escape the dog pile, yet they were left crashing into each other as she disintegrated into wisps of shadow.

Blake grinned as she materialized on top of the bar, delivering a kick into the stunned bartender’s chest that knocked him backwards into the shelves of liquor and collapsing them in a shower of glassware and alcohol. Her eyes flickered towards the back of the bar as she prepared for her next move… just in time to go wide as two patrons drew handguns on her. The Huntress dove behind the bar just in time as gunshots rang out.

Shit! I was NOT expecting people willing to start shooting in a place this small! Unslinging Gambol Shroud from her back, she dashed forward, smashing the hilt into the skull of the next bar customer who tried to tackle her and kicking over their table. More guns barked, and splinters exploded around her.

“She’s shooting at us! Live rounds! Take her down!” an authoritative voice roared.

What the fuck?! THEY’RE the ones shooting, not me! She was tempted to fire a spray of bullets back at them, but even in the midst of her anger, she found her finger trembling over the trigger of her weapon. Instead, she tossed a chair over her table at the shooters, making them scatter as she leaped at the next group of patrons, smacking them with the flat of her blade and cracking heads with the hilt before whipping her weapon’s tether out and knocking two more combatants to the floor.

“She’s too damn fast! Form a perimeter and mow her down from there!”

None of this was going according to Blake’s admittedly-limited plans. In her righteous indignation, she’d just imagined she could smash up the offending bar, maybe punch out an owner or bartender or someone. But if these clowns wanted a real fight, she was more than capable of giving them one. More guns fired, but the Huntress in training easily blocked them with her blade. Off to her side, she heard someone shriek in pain.

“The bitch shot Earl!” someone cried out. “Drop her already!”

Heart hammering as the situation continued to spiral out of control, Blake launched herself into a true offensive. Utilizing her semblance freely, she burst between groups of fighters, laying into them with bludgeoning blows that, while non-lethal, delivered sounds of cracking teeth and crunching bones.

Somehow, it was less satisfying than she’d imagined it would be when she’d put her mask on. As much as she tried to tell herself that every strike was dropping a racist before her, someone who’d happily stomp on her face… she couldn’t help but imagine him fighting alongside her, and the wet sound of his blade carving deep slices into flesh.

Why? Why isn’t this what I wanted?

Why does this hurt me more than it does these bastards?

Why did I choose this again?

Why am I so broken?

I just want to go home.

With a scream, she cracked the woman menacing her with a heavy pistol in the face, spraying blood across the wall. Blake drew in a ragged breath and turned her eyes towards the street, seeing an opening she could bolt for. Suddenly, her entire world roared, and her aura flared painfully as something slammed into her back. Her vision swam as she was thrown against the wall and crumpled to the floor.

If I stay down, I’m done for. 

Maybe I should be?

No! I might deserve to lose… but they CAN’T win!

The bartender was grinning over her as he loaded a shell into a short-barrelled shotgun. “Too bad I’m going to fuck up your face, bitch. You’d be a real pretty lesson about knowing your place for all your little varmint friends-” 

She spun on her hip, sweeping his legs out from under him while she got hers underneath her. Rolls reversed, the panting bartender glared up at her from where he wheezed against the wall, staring down Gambol Shroud’s barrel. Against the hatred in the man’s eyes, it took everything in Blake to keep her hand from trembling.

“C’mon, do it!” he growled as blood dripped down his chin. “Do it like the animal you are!”

Tears streaming down her face, Blake flipped her weapon in her hand and swung the blade down.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Ruby yawned and smacked her lips as the late morning light finally coaxed her eyes open. Her muscles were still sore from her long excursion around Vale the night before, looking to no avail for any sign of her missing teammate. Despite her late evening, she was still apparently up before her sister and Weiss… who’d already been asleep when she’d gotten home.

Of course, the pile of intertwined naked limbs that they’d been when she arrived had told her that they’d probably had a very tiring evening of their own. Fortunately, it was finally the weekend, so they wouldn’t be in trouble this time for sleeping in. Rolling over, she peaked at Weiss’s bed beneath her. Somehow, her teammates had sorted themselves out in their sleep, with Weiss’s head tucked sweetly underneath Yang’s chin, barely visible below the blanket pulled up around them. A soft smile spread on Ruby’s face as she watched Yang adjust herself, cupping Weiss tighter against her and burying her face in her unbound hair.

It was with a twinge of sadness that she turned her eyes towards Blake’s empty bunk. I suppose it was too much to hope that she’d just come back and… be here, huh? The team leader bit her lip. She wasn’t sure what else she could do… they’d looked all over for her, and even Weiss had helped barrage her scroll with messages begging her to return. Geez, I really hope I don’t have to go to the professors with this! How do I even decide when that’s necessary?

Well, I can at least give her the weekend, I guess…

Something caught her eye on Blake’s bed, a little shape that made her heart seize in her chest. Rolling off her bunk and dropping to the floor, Ruby padded over and picked up the origami lotus. With trembling fingers, she unfolded it into a letter.

“No, Blake… no…” she whispered as tears welled in her eyes.

Chapter Text

“She just… left?” Jaune exclaimed incredulously.

“Seriously?!” Nora’s eyes were wide with shock.

“Shhhh! The whole building doesn’t need to know!” Weiss urgently hushed JNPR. There was no one else in the common area, but the hallways were open and you never knew who was just around the corner. As all of their friends’ worried eyes bored into her, she sighed and shook her head. “Yeah. She left a note this morning. Ruby and Yang are out looking for her, but…”

“I can’t believe Blake would leave like that!” Nora continued.

Ren scratched his chin. “She is the quiet type, and I could tell she had a lot of things going on in her head, but I never imagined it was that bad…”

Weiss’s shoulders slumped, snapping Pyrrha’s gaze to her. Her bright emerald eyes felt like lasers on her as the redhead asked softly “Weiss… what happened?”

“You guys have been acting kind of weird lately…” Jaune added.

“...even by your standards!” Nora piled on, eyes narrowing suspiciously in a way that would have been cute if she’d been interrogating a suspected pancake thief, but that Weiss found more than a little intimidating given how sensitive and personal things actually were.

Biting her lip, she tugged nervously at the end of her ponytail and tried to decide just how much of the ridiculous last few days of her team’s story to share. Not that she was really considering telling them about all the sex that had been revolving around her- she did NOT need Jaune staring at her like that -or her faunus identity, but… do I tell them that Blake attacked me? Reflexively, her fingers traced along her neck. Her aura had erased the marks, but she could still feel the burn of the welts and the pressure of Blake’s fingers squeezing the life out of her. Don’t they deserve to know that about their friend?  

Her heart rebelled at the idea. 

No! I *know* Blake feels awful about what she did. It’s going to be hard enough for her to face just us again… I mean, she’s trying to run away from even doing that! I’m NOT going to destroy her reputation with our friends and try to make her face that as well.

And… I *know* Blake’s going to be back.

“We… had a fight,” she answered quietly. “A lot of loaded things were said. Strong feelings were shared. She walked out yesterday, and… I thought she just needed time to cool off, you know?”

“What kind of things?” Nora pressed.

“That’s not our business, Nora,” Pyrrha replied quickly, earning a grateful glance from Weiss. “I’m just wondering if there’s anything we can do to help?”

“You said Yang and Ruby are already out looking for her?” Ren asked.

Weiss nodded. “Yeah. They kind of just… took off… as soon as Ruby found the note. I think Yang was headed to the airships, while Ruby was going to check the harbor.”

“The harbor ?” Jaune scratched his head. “A ship is like, the slowest way to leave town!”

Weiss just shrugged. She couldn’t exactly mention how they’d concluded that, given her background, Blake might find stowing away on a freighter to be the easiest and safest way to flee. Nor could she explain that she herself wasn’t out helping with the search thanks to the limited control she was able to exercise over her vagina. “I’m here to coordinate things, but I was thinking… is there a higher-level approach we could take?”

“‘Higher-level’?” Pyrrha asked curiously.

“...you’re wondering if we could find a way to access the transportation database!” Jaune exclaimed excitedly.

“Exactly!” Weiss nodded. “Almost any way she might travel would involve her ID being recorded. And, I could *probably* make it happen, but… that’d create its own mess.” Weiss knew she could have called up the SDC and tried to leverage her name to get someone in one of the data centers to do some research for her, or try to beg Winter into using her military access, but that would also put the attention of some very powerful organizations on Blake. Attention that she doubted the former terrorist needed.

Ren steepled his fingers in thought. “I think we get that access once we have our licenses, but…”

“Do we know any hackers?” Jaune asked.

“Velvet, maybe?” Nora offered.

Weiss hummed thoughtfully. “She is kind of a tech genius, I wouldn’t be surprised if she could do it…”

“You guys…” Pyrrha smirked and shook her head. “I agree that trying to track her down that way is probably our best bet to find Blake, but… there are a lot easier, and less risky, ways to do that.”  

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“Excuse me! Pardon me! Sorry to bother you, but have you seen this girl?” Ruby asked for what felt like the several-hundredth time that day. In all likelihood, it had been even more. She shoved her scroll with Blake’s picture pulled up on it in front of the group of sailors she was questioning, deflating when they all shook their heads to the negative.

“Okay… thanks anyways,” she sighed dejectedly. It’d been the same thing all morning and into the afternoon: no one she’d talked to in the harbor had seen Blake. Yang wasn’t having any more luck up at the airship docks. Weiss had just texted that she and JNPR had an idea and would report back soon, but… 

Nope! Keep your chin up, Rubes! You, out of everyone, are NOT allowed to start feeling all fail-y about finding her!

Thinking about her responsibilities as her team’s leader, Ruby looked at Blake’s picture on her scroll. The faunus, although none of them had known that about her yet, was sitting under a tree, brushing her hair back from her gentle smile as a beam of sunlight highlighted her face. It was one of the first times Ruby had really seen the girl smile, and she remembered the day fondly.

It was their first week at Beacon, and everything was still super-weird. Just a few days ago, Ruby had just been shopping after dropping off her big sis for the start of the semester, and still two years away from being able to apply to an Academy herself. Now, she wasn’t just attending Beacon, she was a *team leader*!

Like, how did that even happen?!

Ruby still wasn’t sure why Professor Ozpin had appointed her a team leader, and frankly, wasn’t sure she wanted the responsibility. She felt totally over her head, and really kinda wished she could go back to being Yang’s tagalong, like she’d been at Signal.

Yang was having none of it. “Nope, you’re in charge now, Ruby! And in case you hadn’t noticed, two of your teammates are not big on the ‘team’ thing.” Ruby was painfully aware of the problem; Weiss Schnee acted like she wanted nothing to do with the rest of them, and while Blake Belladonna was at least polite, she was also very much a loner.

One challenge at a time, Rubes. Win over Blake, and then all of you can work on Weiss together.

That was how the late summer afternoon found her approaching Blake where she was curled up, reading under a tree.

“Hi there, Blake!” she called out cheerfully.

Her teammate’s head swiveled smoothly up to her. “Oh, hello there Ruby.” There was a hint of resignation in her voice as she placed a bookmark in her chapter, accepting that she was going to be interrupted until her loud, spunky leader was done bothering her.

“Whatcha reading?” Ruby bent to look at the book’s cover.

“‘Daimyo of Love’,” Blake answered. It’s the sequel to ‘Ninjas of Love’.”

“Ooooo!” A blush rose on Ruby’s cheeks. “...any more, um, impressive katanas?”

Blake giggled. “Oh yeah! But… I doubt you came looking for me to talk about ‘katanas’...”

“T- That’s true…” Ruby fidgeted nervously for a moment before she sat down abruptly next to Blake. “So, I’m just gonna be honest, I’m trying to do the whole ‘getting to know my team’ thingy here, but I don’t really know what I’m doing and this feels super awkward!”

Tilting her head, Blake felt her ears flicker inside her bow.

“...but I brought cookies! And boba!” Ruby offered excitedly as she pulled the items from her bag, handing Blake an icy cold cup of green liquid and opening up a box of-

“Are those… macaroons?” Blake asked with a small squeak.

“Yep! They’re all tropical fruit flavors!”

Blake hummed to herself, her eyes rolling as she bit into a pastry. “Gods, this is delicious! I think it’s… lychee berry?”

“Yummy! This one is banana, with something pink in it…”

Quickly picking up one of the cookies Ruby referred to, Blake took a nibble. “Pretty sure that’s guava!” Picking up her drink, she eyed it for a moment before taking a sip. “Green tea mango, one of my favorites!” She favored Ruby with a bright smile, her eyes sparkling a bright gold. “Ruby, this is amazing! How’d you know?”

Swallowing a mouthful of her strawberry-banana tea, Ruby beamed. “Well, I noticed that you didn’t have a ton of personal stuff, but… one of the things you did have was that postcard of a beach tacked up by your bed… so I just kinda guessed that beachy stuff was probably important to you…”

Ruby hadn’t known it at the time, but that observation had melted Blake’s heart just a little. It turned out that it was a picture of Menagerie, a beach she loved to walk along picking up seashells and listening to the breakers crashing into the sand. It was one of the few mementos of home she’d been able to hold on to.

“Alright, Miss Leader,” Blake had laughed. “What would you like to know about me?”

The buzzing of her scroll snapped Ruby out of her memories as Weiss’s picture came up on the screen. As soon as she tapped the answer button, her partner’s voice rang out. “Ruby! We found her!”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Weekend shifts in the Vale Transit Department sucked . Gregoire didn’t even know why he was here. No one needed a records clerk on the weekend. The cops and Hunters had their own, automated access to the records database. Honestly, with the new computer systems they’d installed last year, there wasn’t really any need for records clerks at all anymore, save for the antiquated laws on data retention that required paper copies of things to be filed and stored for seven years. So really, all Gregoire did all day was print papers and stack them in boxes, so that they could never be looked at again until it was time to incinerate them.

It was definitely *not* what he’d dreamed of doing with his life, but hey, money was money. And with no one visiting the office, there were never any complaints about the collection of miniature wargaming figures he had lining his desk.

The bell on the front door tingled, snapping him awake from where he’d spaced out somewhere between ‘-ZW’ and ‘-ZZ’ in the towering stacks of the archives. “What the-? Who could possibly be coming in? We aren’t even open to the public today!” Grumbling, he hustled back towards the front of the office. At least I’ll get my steps in today .

“Sorry, we’re cl-” Gregoire’s tongue stuck in his mouth as he stepped out of the stacks. The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen was standing at his desk. She was tall, with plenty of perfect skin visible underneath tight shorts and an armored corset, and voluminous red hair that, somehow, managed to shine even under the weak fluorescent lighting of the basement Transit Department office. Hair she casually flipped over her shoulder as she looked up at him, green eyes sparkling as she smiled.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! Were you closed? Silly me, I must have missed the sign!”

“N- no, not at all, Miss!” Gregoire hurried to his desk, his mind racing as he tried to place the bombshell. Is she from one of my subscription sites? Because meeting one of them would be totally sweet! Hmmm, no, I’ve seen her more often than that…

Oh my gods, it’s Pyrrha Nikos!

He fumbled into his seat, adjusting his glasses from where his sweat was making the thick frames slide down his nose. Quickly shuffling the pile of paperwork on his desk into some haphazard order, Gregoire turned on his brightest smile and beamed up at his celebrity visitor. Or at least he tried to; the small strip of navel skin visible between the top of her shorts and the bottom of her armor was really, really distracting. “I’m, um, always happy to serve the public! Especially such a distinguished guest as yourself, Miss Nikos!”

Pyrrha squeaked in delight. “Oh! You recognize me? That’s crazy, I’m so flattered!”

“How could I not? I buy every magazine you do a spread in!”

Her cheeks turned pink as she buried her face in her hands for a moment before she giggled. “Oh wow! I’m so happy to meet a fan!” As she sat down on the edge of his desk, Gregoire couldn’t even manage to get upset at how her toned thigh pushed aside his gaming figurines. Picking one of them up, she turned it in her elegant fingers. “Oh wow, are these yours? This guy is so cool! He’s got a chainsaw sword!”

“Yeah, t- they’re pretty bad- badass!” he exclaimed excitedly. Pyrrha Nikos was playing with his models! The other guys in his group were never gonna believe this! He was totally going to have to proxy that figure as a warlord now! “I’m actually working on a replica chainsword for my cosplay!”

“That’s so cool!” she exclaimed. “I bet you’re going to look so fearsome when it’s done, all ‘Vroom, vroom!’”

“Y-you think so?” Gregoire felt like his face was about to split open from how wide he was grinning. She’s so into you, dude. You gotta shoot your shot! “Well… like I said, it’s not done, but… I could show it to you sometime, if you’d like…”

Pyrrha’s eyes went wide. “Oh, I’d love to, but…” her face fell and her shoulders slumped.  “...I’m just too worried about my missing friend right now to think about much of anything else!”

Gregoire’s heart seized in his chest. This is your moment! The triumph of the records clerk! “Well, I’m not supposed to do this, but… if she’s traveled by any licensed means lately, I can try to look her up…”

The redhead nibbled her lip as she gazed at her champion, eyes brimming with hope. “Oh, you could? That would be- oh my gods, you’d be my hero! I don’t want you to get in trouble though!”

“M’lady…” Gregoire smirked. “‘Trouble’ is my middle name!”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

As the Vale countryside rolled past outside her window, Blake tried hard to hold back the tears brimming in her eyes.

It was a losing battle. Sniffling, her head flopped back against her seat. The rhythmic, smooth rumble of the train offered little comfort to her frayed heart. Sucking in a ragged breath, she took a sip of the lemon-lime fizzy water she’d picked up at the Vale train station. She’d been traveling long enough that the cold drink had become lukewarm.

Why does this keep happening to me? Why… why do I keep doing this? Fucking up, hurting people I say I care about, and running…

‘Because that’s what you do, Blake’, his voice chuckled in her mind. ‘You screw things up and your pretty little head doesn’t know what to do about it, so you run.’

‘No!’ she hissed. ‘That’s not- that’s not true! I’m not like that… not like you say I am!’

‘Oh Blake…’ his voice was soft now, a tone that she used to think was caring and affectionate, but she now understood as condescending. ‘Why do you always do this to yourself? Get yourself worked up like this? You know you’re not cut out for it. This is why I always told you to let me handle these things… to let me take care of you!’

Blake’s fist slammed down hard enough on her armrest to crack the plastic. ‘No! I’m not- I’m not what you say I am! I’m not weak! And- you never cared about me!’

His laughter. ‘Maybe you’re the one who never really cared, Blake? After all, look at your track record. What you did to your parents… how you used and neglected Ilia- that girl adored you! And that’s not even touching what you did to me…’

Blake saw him staring at her as the train car she left him on fell away. The shock and anger on his lips… until he took off his mask. How his marred face had watched her with hurt and betrayal until he was too far behind for her to make out the details of him anymore. 

The last time she’d ever seen the man she’d loved.

‘Maybe you’re the one who never cared, Blake. Maybe you don’t care about anyone but yourself…’

“No!” she gasped aloud, tearing herself out of the dark spiral her mind had fallen into. Fortunately, the midday train to- where am I going, anyways? -wasn’t carrying many passengers. No one seemed to notice Blake’s little outburst. Especially not the two men a few seats up and across the aisle from her, still chatting away with each other as they occasionally partook of the bottle of wine and wedge of cheese sitting on the fold-out table between them. The sight of the friends sharing their journey with each other brought a hint of a smile to her face.

Oh, no, not just friends! Blake watched as one of the men cut a slice of the firm white cheese and reached to feed it to his partner, who took it in his lips quite sensuously. Looking at the three empty seats around her, she started to envision the rest of her team there with her.

Weiss and Yang seated across from her, bickering with affection they’d surely deny if anyone so much as raised an eye at it. Ruby sat next to her, having finally run out of energy after chattering a mile a minute for the whole trip about… too many things to keep track of, really. Blake hadn’t really minded, though; it was hard to be annoyed at Ruby’s enthusiasm. Now, though, she’d fallen asleep on Blake’s shoulder. One of her bangs had fallen across her face, fluttering into the air every time the young Huntress exhaled with one of her squeak-snores.

Keeping her shoulder still so as not to disturb her was the most important thing in Blake’s world.

Or maybe Ruby and Weiss were sitting together, being adorably awkward with how they kept flashing little grins and flirty looks at each other. Even before the whole *thing* with Weiss’s heat, it had been incredibly obvious that Ruby was smitten with her partner… and that Weiss was definitely warming up to the attention. Their fingers kept awkwardly brushing every time they reached for their shared snacks… almost like they were doing it on purpose… and they blushed and giggled every time.

That meant that Yang was sitting next to her. Her partner… her Yang. Her muscular arm tossed casually around Blake’s shoulders, inviting her to snuggle into her. So warm, and soft, and nice-smelling. Honeysuckle and sandalwood, with a dash of cinnamon and vanilla. Golden tresses tickling her faunus ears ever so slightly as Blake pressed her head in just a little firmer, trying to soak up the feeling of Yang. That feeling of… safety.

…what if Weiss was sitting next to her? The fresh, cool scent of her snowy white hair as she pressed up to her… 

…until she recoiled in terror, scrambling to push herself away from Blake as she screamed.

Blake snapped back to the present as she felt the train slowing, her hands flying out to brace herself against the aggressive braking. The couple she’d been watching shouted as their wine bottle tipped over, sending red liquid glugging out onto the train floor.

What the- she wondered, as the overhead intercom crackled to life.

“This is your conductor speaking. Sorry about the disruption, it appears that there’s some debris on the track ahead of us. It’ll just be a little bit while we get that cleared and continue on our way.”

Muttering, Blake reflexively pulled out her scroll to see if she could look up where she was actually going. Everything had been a blur when she’d stumbled into the train station and bought the first ticket to somewhere far away that she could get. All she’d known was that she needed to get away from Vale, from everything , before she managed to do any more damage.

She had to stare at the blank display for a moment before she remembered that she’d turned the device off, going so far as to remove the Dust cartridge that powered it. Scrolls could be used to track their users, even turned off, unless they were completely unpowered. She wouldn’t be able to turn it back on until she got a new ID chip for it. A new chip… that meant losing all of her contacts. No one would be able to reach her anymore. All of her pictures… they’d be gone.

Her heart broke a little bit more at the thought.

She heard the door between the train cars open behind her, and a painfully-familiar voice called out “Blake?”

It can’t be…

…Yang?

“Yang?” she said incredulously as she stood up and turned around, her bourbon gold eyes flying wide as a blonde blur rushed her. Next thing she knew, Blake was knocked backwards into her seat with her partner in her lap, arms wrapped around her in a tight hug.

“Blake…” Yang murmured softly into the crook of her neck as her fingers tangled into her hair, her body trembling. The world stopped for Blake as her partner’s presence washed over her. The scent she’d just been imagining. Her warmth. The silken feel of her hair against Blake’s cheek, the heat of her breath on her skin. The feel of her body on top of her, and the flood of memories that brought with it.

With a strangled sob, Blake’s arms encircled Yang and clung to her desperately as tears began to flow down her cheeks and into Yang’s locks. “Yang…” she gasped as she buried her face in her hair.

She lost track of how long they held each other. Eventually, the two girls separated and sat up, gazing into each other’s tear-stained faces. It felt so wrong seeing that kind of brokenness on Yang’s usually bright, cheerful face, and Blake reached out and brushed one of the wet drops away with her thumb. “Yang, what… how are you here?”

Yang chuckled and scratched the back of her neck. “We were able to put a trace on your ID card and figure out where you had to be. Speaking of, we owe Pyrrha big time for the date she’s going on next week with a records clerk named ‘Greg’...”

Blake’s eyes, somehow, got even wider. “Wait, so, the train? The ‘debris on the tracks’? That was-”

“Shhhhh!” Yang hushed her as her voice rose, looking around warily before she leaned in to whisper. “A couple of trees and a wagon of cabbages that I, um, borrowed,” she winked as she took Blake’s hand. “Now come on, they’re gonna have that cleared up pretty soon. We need to get off the train-”

Shaking her head, Blake pulled her hand back and clutched it to her chest. “What? No, Yang, I- I can’t! I can’t go back!”

“What?! Why?”

Blake shivered as she cast her eyes down to the floor. “Seriously, Yang? You saw what I did…”

“Weiss?” Yang asked. “Blake, no! Weiss… okay yeah she’s shook up, but she wants you back too! We all want you back!” She reached out to try and take Blake’s hands again.

“Yang, no!” Blake jerked back, her voice shaking with fear. “I can’t- I’m not safe! I fuck up and people get hurt! I did it once to you all already, and… I’m not gonna let it happen again!”

“What are you talking about, Blake?” Yang insisted, moving closer to her partner and taking her hands again. “Yeah, you… you lost it and hurt Weiss, and it was pretty traumatic for us all to see, but… we understand. She understands what it must have been like for you. One freak out doesn’t make you dangerous to us!”

“You… you don’t understand,” Blake choked on her words as she shook her head. “This isn’t- this isn’t the first time, Yang. And it already wasn’t the last! While I was out, I… I hurt people again. Civilians .” She tried, futilely, to jerk her hands away again, but Yang refused to let her go. Tearfully, Blake forced herself to meet her gaze. She’d never seen such a mournful look in those pools of lilac before, and it broke her heart even further. “So, you see… even if I don’t hurt any of you again… I’m just going to do something that’s going to pull you into my own mess. It’s… it’s what I do .”

“That’s… no, Blake! I refuse to believe that about you! I don’t know what all has happened to you… what all you might have done… but I want to help!” She licked her lip as she squeezed Blake’s hands. “We all want to help! Ruby, Weiss, me… Nora and Pyrrha and Ren and Jaune, as much as they know. You’ve got so many people who care about you! Don’t… please don’t punish yourself by shutting us out.”

Blake’s chest was so tight it was hard to breathe. Yang’s intense stare felt like it was pinning her down, refusing to let her run any further. Turning her light on all of her hurt and trapping it, not letting it slink back into the shadows of her mind but taking her hand and demanding they face it together. And, for a moment, Blake felt like she could. With Yang, and her teammates, supporting her… Could I? Could I really be the person I want to believe I am, not the person that haunts me? That HE thinks I am?

I want to.

Then, the train jerked forward. “Hello again passengers! We’ve gotten the tracks cleared up and are back on our way. Please bear with us while we get back up to our cruising speed,” the intercom crackled.

She shoved Yang away.

“Yang, go! You’ve got to get off the train before it gets going too fast! I… I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but… please, let me go. Forget about me. For your, and everyone’s, sake…”

Her partner’s face furrowed with hurt as she chewed her lip. The intensity in her eyes didn’t waver; if anything, it strengthened, and Yang set her chin with resolve. “Nope!” She switched seats so she was sitting across from Blake and crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. “If you’re really going to go, I’m going with you.”

Blake stared incredulously. Somehow, Yang never stopped surprising her. “You… you can’t be serious, Yang!” she exclaimed in frustration. “Beacon has been your dream since you were a little girl! Ruby’s back there! I- I don’t even know where I’m going!”

“Neither do I,” Yang shrugged. “But we’ll figure it out together.”

“ Yang…”

“You want me to respect your decisions, Blake? Well then you damn well better respect mine!” Yang snapped, crimson flickering in her eyes. “And my decision is that I’m not going to leave you, no matter what! You’re my partner! I made a promise to support you, and that’s what I’m going to do!” A hint of softness ghosted over the determination in her eyes. “That’s what I want to do.”

Flopping back into her seat, Blake stared at her headstrong partner. Her attitude stirred something in Blake, calling up a petty defiance of her own. With a huff, she crossed her own arms and glared. “Fine! This is what you want to do, you- you big idiot? This is what we’ll do! We’ll sit here and stare at each other all the way across Sanus if we have to!”

Yang smirked. “Cool! I’ve always wanted to see Vacuo!”

So their standoff began. The partners held each other’s stares for several long minutes before Blake huffed again and pointedly turned her head to stare out the window, determined to be very interested in the woodlands and occasional small farm settlement as they rolled past.

The Vale countryside might have been pretty if they were on a casual trip, but with the storm of emotions raging inside of her, they just couldn’t hold Blake’s interest. She snuck a glance back at Yang, quickly averting her eyes again as she realized that her partner was still staring at her. Many minutes had passed by the time she couldn’t resist the urge to check again, growling in frustration as she realized Yang was still focused on her. Blake made a big production of digging into her small pack to retrieve the book she’d grabbed from their dorm.

She lost track of how many times she’d skimmed the same page, not absorbing anything, by the time she slammed the cover shut and went back to glaring at Yang. The partner’s strict, determined fact cracked into a grin. “I’ve won stare-offs with Ruby, when she’s doing puppydog eyes . I can do this all day, Blake.”

“Fine!” Blake angrily shoved her book back into her bag. “You really want to be this- this childish? Okay, you win, Yang! I’ll go back with you! But don’t say I didn’t warn you when the next bad thing happens because of me!”

“I look forward to dealing with it with you, Blake,” Yang smiled gently.

Frustration, both with herself and with the amount of compassion Yang was showering her with, threatened to boil over in Blake again. Fighting to control the tremor in her voice, she shook her head. “What did I do to deserve you, Yang?”

“Well, I think it all started when you helped me out with an Ursa once. Which I totally had under control, thank you very much!”

Blake couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’re sure it wasn’t when I brutally shot you down that first night in the common hall?”

Yang sputtered in indignation. “Wha- I was not hitting on you then, Belladonna! I was just being friendly!”

“Sure you were, blondie.”

“Oh, trust me,” Yang fluttered her eyes and leaned forward, her voice dropping to a breathy murmur. “You’d know if I was trying to pick you up, beautiful.”

Blake held her gaze for a moment before they both collapsed into laughter. “Okay, fine. I don’t suppose you know how long it is until we can get off this train?”

Yang shrugged as she stood and cracked her knuckles. “Why not right now?”

…and Blake was back to staring at her in confusion again. “We… we’re on a moving train? A very fast moving train?”

“Exactly! So we better bail out now, before we get even further away from where I parked Bumblebee!”

Blake crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “And just how do you plan on stopping the train this time, Miss Wannabe Action Hero?”

Her partner flashed her best shit-eating grin. “Who said anything about stopping the train? This is what aura is for, isn’t it?”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

It wasn’t until the very earliest hours of the morning that an exhausted Yang and Blake stumbled back into Team RWBY’s dorm. It had been a long ride back through the dark on Yang’s motorcycle and they were both feeling sore… although wrapping her arms around Yang and resting against her back had done quite a bit to soothe Blake’s emotional turmoil.

She’d barely stepped through the door when she found herself with Ruby hanging off her neck, leaping onto her hard enough to knock her backwards into Yang. “Blake! I’m so glad you’re back!” she cried happily as she squeezed her teammate tight, nuzzling into her hair. 

“It’s… it’s good to be back, Ruby,” Blake replied as she returned her team leader’s hug, her voice heavy with emotion. “And I’m so sorry for-”

“Nope!” Ruby leaned back and pressed her finger to Blake’s lips. “We’ll talk later. For now, we’re just super happy you came back! All of us!”

Blake felt her heart squeezing in her chest as she tightened her embrace of the bubbly Huntress. “Your sister can be pretty convincing when she doesn’t try to pun her way through everything.”

Ruby snorted as she dropped to her feet. “Oh, trust me, you got off easy then. When she starts dialing up the puns, you’ll do whatever she wants just to get her to stop!”

“Proven method of getting stubborn Rubes to go to bed from ages 4 to 12!” Yang laughed.

As Blake turned her gaze towards Weiss, she swallowed hard. This… this is the hardest part, isn’t it. “Weiss… I…”

Weiss shook her head. “You heard our leader, Blake. Ruby rules apply.” She paused for a moment, biting her lip, then took a step forward and extended her hand. “I’m happy you’re back too, Blake. We’ll figure things outs.” 

Taking a deep breath, Blake took Weiss’s hand with both of hers. “Okay. Thank you, Weiss.” Glancing around at her team, she smiled as the tears began to fall. “Thank you, all of you. You’re- you’re all the best!”

Yang hugged her from behind, planting a kiss on her cheek. “You’re pretty great too, Blake.” Her nose wrinkled as she sniffed. “But, um, no offense, when was the last time you took a shower?”

Blake groaned. “Yeah, it’s been… longer than it should have been. Let me just wash up here-” a wide yawn interrupted her. “-and get to bed. I haven’t slept much in the past two days either!”

As much as she wanted to luxuriate in using her fanciest soaps and shampoos to wash everything about the past day and a half away down the drain, Blake was too tired to devote that kind of time to herself right now. Self-care would still be there after a long night’s sleep. She allowed herself a few moments of sensory delight from the hot water spray running down her face, each stream tickling her skin, before she hastily scrubbed herself clean and dried off.

I’m home. I’m going to fall asleep tonight with my team, my girls, all snoring around me. Tomorrow will be a new day, and whatever comes… I trust them. As she finished tying her yukata around herself, she stepped out of the bathroom with a sleepy smile on her face.

And froze, fresh dread stabbing through her all over again.

Yang, Ruby, and Weiss were all staring at a news broadcast being played on their holoscreen. “...and this is where the crazy animal tried to take my head off!” a man pointed to the deep cut in a wall, obviously carved by a large, sharp blade. “If I hadn’t ducked, I’d have been a dead man!” The view cut back to a reporter, who stood outside a familiar-looking bar. “The suspect in the apparent terrorist attack, pictured here, is still at large and should be considered armed and extremely dangerous.” The security camera image that came up was grainy, but to Team RWBY, it was unmistakably Blake.

Blake tried to speak, but her voice felt strangled in her throat. All eyes in the room turned to her, and she wilted back towards the bathroom. “It’s… it’s not what it… okay it is , but they’d just beat up and thrown out this elderly faunus man, and I was just so angry , and… I didn’t shoot or actually try to kill that guy, they’re the ones who started shooting-”

“Blake, Blake! Calm down!” Yang jumped down from her bunk and grabbed her partner by her shoulders, her sure, strong hands stopping her shaking. “We don’t care about any of that!”

“You… don’t?” she whispered, her eyes darting between her teammates for confirmation. Even Weiss gave her an affirming nod.

“There is a problem though…” Ruby said nervously, glancing at Yang. Blake followed her gaze and looked up at her partner with worry in her eyes.

Yang sighed. “I’m not at all surprised that the people at the Blue Knight were assholes. The place has that name for a reason.” Her eyes were full of concern when she met Blake’s wide-eyed stare. “Blake… the entire Vale police department is up in arms. You trashed a cop bar.”

Chapter Text

Professor Ozpin prided himself on being a very patient man who was good at keeping his feelings close to his chest when he needed to. Several millennia of being alive tended to develop that skill. Although, there were only two observable subjects in the world, and his wife- will I ever stop thinking of her that way? -had gone in the exact opposite direction, so perhaps there was something to it aside from extreme old age?

Even with all of that experience behind him, Ozpin still found himself slowly but surely losing his temper the long he had to interact with the pugnaciously small-minded bore that was the Vale police commissioner.

“Do you really mean to tell me, Professor , that you have no idea who amongst your students assaulted my people?!” the man’s voice would have been a roar if Ozpin hadn’t turned the volume on his holoscreen down substantially at the start of the call.

“Mr. Commissioner, I would point out, again , that you haven’t proven that the attacker was one of my students.” He gestured to the security camera image of the uniformed, cat-eared assailant, who was obviously Blake Belladonna, despite the cheap mask she was wearing. “As I’m sure you are aware, knockoff Beacon uniforms are widely available in costume stores. And I must again reiterate that we don’t have any feline faunus currently attending Beacon.”

The police commissioner’s porcine jowls flopped as he worked his jaw in frustration. Ozpin was well-aware that the Vale PD had an adversarial history with Beacon Academy; people who thrived on being in control and strictly enforcing rules tended to have a dim view of having teenagers with cutting edge weaponry, elite martial skills, and borderline-mystic powers running around their city.

Maybe if they don’t like my students, THEY should go deal with the Grimm, Ozpin mused. Alas, no, it befalls the more civilized amongst us to be the bigger person in these situations…

“I’ll be keeping an eye on you and your school,” the commissioner grumbled. “I still want to send detectives up to interview your gaggle of miscreants. Something about this ain’t right-”

“I assure you, we are taking this matter very seriously and will conduct an internal investigation, of our own , and keep you apprised of anything and everything we learn,” Ozpin replied, putting just enough gravitas behind his voice to make it abundantly clear, even to someone as thick-skulled as the commissioner, that the police would not be sniffing around Beacon, harassing his students. “Now, if you have no further relevant information that may assist us in conducting that investigation, I really must be going…”

The commissioner looked angry enough to try and bite him through the screen, but after a moment, he jabbed the ‘disconnect’ button to end the call. As his screen blanked, Ozpin moaned and sank down into his chair.

“I presume you have a reason that you’re protecting Miss Belladonna from the consequences of her latest folly?” Professor Goodwitch asked dryly.

“As you doubtless recall, Glynda, our numbers are slowly but steadily declining,” he replied, being careful not to let his exasperation with the situation be redirected at his most trusted advisor. “It would be a shame to waste a talented young Huntress letting her be locked away in a prison cell. Not to mention the political ramifications if- no, when , her identity as Ghira and Kali Belladonna’s daughter comes to light.”

“Even if she’s violent and unpredictable?” Glynda asked harshly.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow at her. “You know full well how appallingly racist the Vale police department is, and how sensitive Miss Belladonna is to issues of faunus rights. I don’t doubt she had ample provocation for her actions-”

“Really, Ozpin?” she shook her head. “This is going above and beyond your troublesome habit of making excuses for your favorite students. You have something else at work here; what aren’t you telling me?”

The professor couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Ever perceptive, as always, Ms. Goodwitch.” With a sigh, he leaned forward, as if he was worried about someone overhearing them, even in the privacy of his office. “Ruby has the silver eyes. We must absolutely cultivate her power and prepare her to use it against Salem’s forces. And as your own reports have indicated, Team RWBY seems to have bonded exceptionally well already. Allowing one of their members to be lost to the Vale penal system would doubtless have a very destabilizing effect on the development of the team, and Ruby in particular.” He chewed his lip for a moment as he considered his next words. “Additionally… there is something about Miss Schnee, something I haven’t quite figured out yet. At the very least, she offers us potential inroads into the SDC, whose avarice and negative social impact remains a substantial problem, even with James Ironwood on our side.”

Glynda narrowed her eyes at her boss for a moment as she considered his reasoning, but ultimately nodded. “Very well, I do see your reasoning. Still, I think this entire situation remains a problem that won’t likely go away by simply stonewalling it.”

“On that, we are agreed,” Ozpin crossed his fingers in contemplation. “For the students’ safety, and to avoid any additional provocation, we’ll issue a temporary ban on them going off-campus within the city. Additionally, I’d like to step up our timeline for trying to push Ruby to manifest her powers. When is the first year class’ next field training operation?”

Consulting her scroll, Glynda swiped through her calendar for a moment until she found what she was looking for. “We have them scheduled for a deployment in the Forever Fall in three weeks.”

“Let’s move that up to this week, then.”

“ This week?!” Glynda Goodwitch had gotten used to unpredictable ideas coming out of Ozpin’s mouth, but this surprised her to the extent that she almost dropped her scroll. “Professor, we won’t have any opportunity to go in ahead of time and clear out any exceptionally dangerous Grimm! They are only first years, after all…”

“All the better,” Ozpin mused. “Let’s be sure to put Team RWBY in the highest-risk areas. Exposure to danger will greatly increase our chances of prompting Miss Rose to discover her true potential.”

Professor Goodwitch sucked on her teeth for a moment before nodding. “Very well. I’ll make the arrangements.”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Breakfast was exceptionally awkward. Ren was Ren, and merely politely nodded at Blake, while Pyrrha restricted herself to a couple of subtle glances. Jaune and Nora, though, could not help themselves from giving the faunus woman repeated quizzical and nervous looks, each one making Blake wilt a little more in her seat. Yang grabbed her hand reassuringly underneath the table, but Weiss decided to take a more proactive stand.

“Alright!” she declared as she smacked her hand on the table, quickly capturing the group’s attention. “We are not doing this! Yes, Blake had a thing. The important part is that she’s back . Can you two,” she glared at Nora and Jaune, who shrank in their chairs, “not make her feel like a spectacle?”

Jaune and Nora mumbled their apologies, and a painful silence settled over the table. Looking around at everyone’s carefully-guarded faces, Ruby did her best to lighten the mood. “So… are these fried toast breadsticks great, or what?”

“Ruby…” Yang sighed. Suddenly, Pyrrha’s eyes went wide and she leapt up from her seat, quickly moving to stand behind Weiss and Ruby… which also put her directly in the path of Team CRDL, who had been approaching with suspiciously-large bowls of oatmeal on their trays.

“This way’s closed,” she said cooly to the boys.

“...the fuck, Nikos? You can’t ‘close’ part of the cafeteria!” Cardin snarled.

“And yet here I am.”

“Get out of the way!”

“No.”

By then, Yang had stood up and was casually stretching with balled fists, and Ren had the appearance of a coiled spring. Cardin and his thugs flashed their beady eyes over the group. Their reputation as the big bullies on campus was very well-deserved; Cardin, Russell, Dove, and Lark were some of the biggest, toughest guys at Beacon. Even Yang would hesitate to pick a fight with them, at least all of them together at once. 

But, as much as he would never admit that a woman was a better fighter than him, Cardin and his ilk were deeply aware that Pyrrha Nikos was a vastly superior fighter to any of them. They knew, she knew it, and she knew they knew it. Team CRDL would hesitate to take her on when it was four-on-one; with the rest of RWBY and JNPR backing her up, they knew they’d get their asses handed to them. Grunting angrily, they turned and retreated. Pyrrha kept an eye on them until the offending oatmeal had been thrown away.

“Thanks, Pyrrha,” Ruby breathed a sigh of relief as the tension around the table gradually subsided. “It would’ve sucked to smell like cheap school oatmeal for the rest of the day!”

“Hmmm, so you’d be okay smelling like good oatmeal?” Nora asked mischievously.

“Well, that depends… is it the strawberries and cream kind?”

“Ruby, no.” Weiss stated flatly, while Ren placed a calming hand on Nora’s shoulder.

The rest of breakfast passed uneventfully, and the teams returned to their dorms to work on assignments. A little while later, there was a polite knock on RWBY’s door.

“...come in?” Yang called.

Pyrrha Nikos slipped in through the door, closing it behind her. “Hey, girls,” she murmured, her eyes flitting around to each of the RWBYs.

“Hi Pyrrha… what’s up?” Ruby asked quizzically, half-rolling off her bunk to hang upside down as she looked at their visitor.

Following the redhead’s confused gaze, Weiss tilted her head up to look at her inverted partner and sighed. “Ruby… why are you like this?”

“Whatever. You adore me!”

The heiress made a small, disgruntled noise that did not match the blush on her cheeks. Pyrrha cleared her throat.

“Well, I just wanted to apologize again for Jaune and Nora this morning…” her eyes settled on Blake. “They were being inappropriate. And, this isn’t an excuse or anything, but… they were, WE were… are, I guess… really worried about you too, Blake.” She swallowed nervously, which was an uncommon look for the Invincible Girl.

“Pyrrha, I’m-” Blake began.

“I know we aren’t your team and all, but… you’re our friend too, and you just- disappearing -really hur- scared -us too.” Pyrrha was clearly trying to keep the edge out of her voice. “Anyways, that’s all, have a lovely-”

“Pyrrha… please wait…” Blake took a deep breath as all eyes in the room turned to her. “You’re… you’re right. I did hurt you guys too, and you deserve an explanation.” She visibly suppressed a tremor. “Could… your team come over?”

“Blake, are you sure?” Yang hissed urgently.

“Yeah… yeah, I need to,” she nodded her reassurance to her partner.

Pyrrha nodded and disappeared back across the hall. Weiss leaned towards Blake, wide-eyed, and whispered “You aren’t going to tell them about *me* and, um, all of *that*, right?”

“Of course not!” Blake replied swiftly. “But I am going to tell them who *I*am.”

At that, Yang wordlessly somersaulted down from her bunk and landed next to her partner, her arm resting on the bed behind her but very much pressed up against her back. Blake gave her a quick, appreciative smile at the gesture as Team JNPR quietly filed into the room. The door was barely closed before Jaune stammered “Look, Blake, Nora and I are really sorry , we didn’t mean-”

“Jaune… can I have a minute, please?” Blake asked softly, and the young man’s jaw slammed shut. She drew in a few steadying breaths. You can do this, Blake. It’s just Jaune and Ren and Pyrrha and Nora. They’re you’re friends, they’re safe too.

And you have *them* here with you.

It’s like she could feel the support of her teammates around her. Not just Yang’s presence next to her, with their hips brushing together and her strong arm against her back. Ruby and Weiss, too… Blake knew their eyes were on her, but instead of being intimidating, their gazes felt like soft blankets snuggling her, warm and comfortable and brimming with care and support. Silently, she thanked them all.

“Right… let’s just, rip the bandage off,” she muttered. Reaching up to her head, she tugged her bow loose, letting her ears flex at their freedom.

“...huh,” Ren observed as Pyrrha tried to muffle a little gasp.

“You’re… a faunus?!” Nora exclaimed.

“Yes,” Blake replied calmly. “Not just any faunus. I- I used to be part of the White Fang. Some… stuff … related to that was what drove me to try running away.”

“So… that whole thing with Cardin…” Pyrrha murmured.

“...was pretty personal,” Blake finished.

Nora and Ren were nodding, but Jaune had a troubled look on his face. “How… how long have you guys known?” he asked the rest of the room accusingly.

Weiss started to open her mouth, but Yang jumped on it. “It doesn’t matter,” she stated firmly. “It wasn’t our secret to tell.” Ruby immediately murmured her agreement, followed shortly thereafter by Weiss.

But JNPR’s leader wasn’t done. “And… this means that the faunus that attacked that bar downtown…” his eyes shot to Blake as he started pacing.

“Yes,” she answered, holding her head up and fighting the desire to shrink into Yang. “That was me. It wasn’t right , but it was prov-”

“How could you attack a bar full of people?!” Jaune exploded. “Law enforcement officers! I mean, are you sure you’re not still in the White Fang?!”

“Jaune…” Pyrrha grabbed his shoulder, but he shrugged her off as his eyes blazed at Blake.

Blake started to open her mouth, her throat tight, when Yang jumped to her feet and was immediately nose-to-nose with Jaune, showcasing the fact that she had a couple inches on him. “Hey, Jaune? For the sake of our friendship, you need to back the fuck off. Now,” she growled, red swirling in her eyes as Jaune stumbled back into Pyrrha, who visibly tensed at Yang’s aggressiveness towards her partner. Ruby dropped to the floor getting ready to intervene, but Nora beat her to the punch.

“Hey, HEY! Both of you! Calm the FUCK down!” she ordered, her shorter stature not doing anything to keep herself from pushing herself bodily in between Jaune and Yang. “Yang, if you punch my team captain, I’m gonna *have* to punch you back, and next thing you know we’re paying to rebuild half the dorm, okay? And Jaune! Let’s give our friend Blake an opportunity to tell her side!”

Jaune looked like he was about to argue, but Nora stuck a silencing finger in his face. “Maybe the police have always been the good guys to you, but Ren and I were vagrants for a long time. We’ve got plenty of stories, so we’re gonna give Blake a chance. Got it?” He grumbled, but acquiesced in the face of an impending Goliath’s worth of women ready to kick his ass, and Pyrrha pulling him backwards. Satisfied, Nora turned to Blake and nodded.

“Well… I was actually headed back to Beacon, when I saw an elderly faunus man thrown out on the ground, and the bartender came out and kicked him,” Blake began, her voice tremulous as she tried to calmly provide an overview of what happened. “I took him home, it turned out he’d forgotten his glasses and thought he was walking into his favorite, regular bar… not one with anti-faunus signs all over it.” Her nails clawed into her own hands as her voice cracked. “They could’ve just helped him. They’re supposed to, right? Instead- instead, they mocked him and beat him!”

Ruby was by Blake’s side as she continued, resting a hand on her leg. Weiss was about to jump up and join in the support, but a sudden fear pinned her to her bunk as her throat felt tight. A pang of regret went through her.

Drawing support from Ruby, Blake took a deep breath and continued. “So… yeah, I came back to trash the bar. I was just so, so angry and humiliated and- I wasn’t thinking.”

“And the gunfire and chop marks in the walls?” Ren asked quietly, having obviously seen the news pieces himself.

“They’re the ones who started shooting!” Blake cried. “I was just going to rough up the boss or something, I swear… but then they were all trying to kill me! And… yeah, I swung at the bartender, but I missed on purpose!” Her eyes dropped to her hands in her lap. “...if I’d wanted to kill him, I could’ve done it easily, but… I didn’t.”

Jaune rolled his eyes skeptically and scoffed. “Blake… I’m trying here, I really am, but… you really want us to believe that the cops started shooting first, in their own bar?!”

“Oh, that I can guarantee,” Nora muttered, with Ren nodding vigorously in support.

“It was… it was a really, really stupid thing to do, and I wish I hadn’t!” Blake choked back a sob. “That kind of violence is a big part of why I left the Fang. It’s not what I want to do, how I want to live, I just… everything was so raw, I just didn’t think…” She crumpled against Ruby’s shoulder. “Maybe I’m just a violent, defective person. Maybe they call us animals for a reason…”

“Absolutely not!” Yang snapped, dropping to kneel in front of her partner and taking her hands. “You saw injustice and cruelty, and you wanted to do something about it. I think… I think that’s really admirable, Blake.” Yang’s thumb running over her knuckles gave emphasis to the softness in Yang’s light purple eyes, and Blake smiled weakly at her in thanks. She shifted her gaze to Jaune, who was staring dissolutely at the floor. “So, does that satisfy you, Jaune?”

JNPR’s leader was tense, clearly unsettled as he worked his jaw in contemplation. “It’s just… it’s not that I don’t believe you, Blake. It’s just that… none of it sounds right, either.” He groaned in frustration.

“Maybe… it’s just that you’ve always experienced one side of law enforcement, and hearing someone from the other side is challenging your views in an uncomfortable way?” Ren asked with a slight smirk.

The edge of Jaune’s mouth twitched up in a hint of a smile. “Ren, buddy… how do you always make you feel like you’re talking about stuff on a completely different level from me?” 

“Hmmmm,” Ren not-replied simply.

“The really important thing here,” Weiss cut in. “Is: whether or not you believe Blake, Jaune… are you going to rat her out?”

“Oh, absolutely not!” he exclaimed, eyes going wide as he shook his head at Weiss’s suspicious tone. “Like, that thought didn’t even cross my mind!”

All eyes on Team RWBY flitted between each other and Blake, who finally nodded her chin slightly in approval. “Okay,” Weiss murmured.

Blake stood up and inclined her head towards her friends. “Thank you for listening to me, giving me a chance. And for helping to bring me home.” She turned to Pyrrha, gaze getting even softer as her ears flattened against her head. “Especially you, Pyrrha. I’m so sorry-”

“What are you talking about, Blake?” Nora laughed heartily, slapping the redhead on the back. “If anything, Pyrrha should be thanking you! She’d never have gotten her hot date lined up without you!” In response, Pyrrha whimpered and slouched against the wall.

As the tension slowly diffused from the room, spots of idle chatter began to spring up. Ruby, never one to miss an opportunity to be a morale-building cheerleader, clapped her hands excitedly. “All right! JNPR/RWBY group meeting: success! Let’s say we celebrate by getting some pizza and teaming up on our homework?”

“We literally just ate breakfast , you… you insatiable dolt!” Weiss exclaimed, poking Ruby in her tummy and eliciting a ticklish shriek.

“I guess I could make some light crepes as a brunch snack,” Ren muttered as he scratched his chin. 

Amidst a chorus of hungry noises, Nora threw her arms around her partner. “This is why I love you, Renny!” she grinned as she squeezed him until he was gasping for air.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

It turned out to be a very good thing that RWBY and JNPR managed to clear the air with each other. The next morning, before classes even began, the whole school was summoned for an assembly. Speculative murmurs quickly quieted down when Professor Ozpin stepped up to the podium, flanked by Professor Goodwich.

“Good morning, students. I hope your semesters are going well. Unfortunately, as many of you are no doubt aware, the world outside of Beacon is in a state of turmoil that has become even more pronounced as of late. I shall get straight to the point.” Looking over the top of his glasses, he surveyed the auditorium in his very particular headmaster way that made each individual student feel like he was looking at them personally.

“The other evening, a food and beverage establishment in Vale was attacked by an unknown assailant, who appeared outwardly to be a feline faunus from Beacon Academy.” The auditorium exploded into uproar, which Ozpin let go for a few moments before he raised his hand requesting silence. Blake sat stiffly, torn between ignoring the commotion around her or overreacting to it.

Which makes me look less guilty? Her mind raced as she tried not to let the panic be evident on her face. On either side of her, Ruby and Yang’s hands slipped into her own and squeezed.

The room quieted down upon Ozpin’s signal. “I would like to re-emphasize: the assailant appeared to be a feline faunus from Beacon. As you may be aware, we have no feline faunus currently attending, so I am very confident that some aspect of the attack is a deception. Their motive also remains unknown.” Fiddling with something on the podium, the headmaster continued. “Unfortunately, authorities in Vale remain unconvinced of Beacon’s innocence in this event. For the safety of everyone, all students are therefore restricted from going into the city until further notice, unless accompanied by faculty.”

A chorus of outraged cries and groans rose up from the student body, making Blake feel even more guilty. Now everyone had to suffer for her mistake. Gripping her hand hard, Yang leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Blake! Perk up and stop sulking! You’re making yourself look incredibly obvious right now!” Seeing her partner struggle and fail to hide her misery, Yang knew she had to act fast. “C’mon, right meow is not the time to fall apart like this!”

Not believing her ears, she turned to stare at Yang incredulously. “You did not!” she hissed savagely, her guilt temporarily forgotten at the audacity of her partner’s punnery. Of course, as Yang favored her with her cocky grin, it occurred to Blake that Yang had deliberately provoked her to snap her out of her wallowing, and her heart beat just a little fonder for the blonde.

“While I understand that this is an unpleasant situation and a restriction on your liberty that I am loath to impose, I must insist upon it,” Ozpin spoke over the aggrieved student body, his voice rising to fill the room. “Please be advised that we will be strictly enforcing this policy.” With a suppressed sigh, he closed his address. “Everyone except for our first year students are dismissed.”

As the other students began to stream out of the assembly, the first-years glanced at either nervously. At this point, they were all wondering if they’d somehow done something to get themselves in further trouble… especially when Professor Goodwitch stepped forward to address them.

“While some of you have gone on combat practicals already, the time has come for your first group deployment. You’ll be going deep into the Forever Fall forest, where you’ll set up forward operating camps while patrolling for Grimm and collecting samples of this.” Goodwitch levitated a large jar of a thick, bright red liquid over to the podium. “This scarlet sap, extruded by some of the oldest trees in the forest, shows promising signs as a Dust accelerant. It is, however, exceedingly rare and difficult to harvest… and that’s before you factor in the Grimm presence in the forest, and the fact that this material seems to actually attract the creatures.”

The student body’s excitement wrestled with their general anxiety over the fact that Goodwitch was giving them all her trademark stare, the one that made even the toughest student feel like they were back in grade school being disciplined. “I want to make this very clear to all of you: this is a dangerous mission. While there will be faculty present, we won’t be able to supervise you at all times. If you fail to utilize your training and rely on your teammates, there is a very real risk of grievous injury, or worse.”

While every student at Beacon understood that they were pursuing a career that would regularly put their lives on the line… having even their most unflappable professor remind them of their own mortality had a very sobering effect on the room. Sensing the nervousness, Goodwitch attempted a genuine smile. “On the other hand, if you use the skills you’re learning here and work together, in all likelihood, you’ll be perfectly fine.

“Additionally, if you haven’t figured it out already, life as a Hunter involves responding to crises on a moment’s notice. Your transports are wheels up in two hours. Go make your preparations.”

After a moment of shock, the auditorium exploded with frantic energy as students began rushing for the doors. It was remarkable that the fighting didn’t actually start there and then, with how some of them scrambled against each other. Team RWBY was no exception, with Ruby and Weiss following closely behind Yang as she blazed a trail through the crowd, with Blake nimbly dodging around bodies to bring up the rear. 

When they got back to their room, Ruby, Blake, and Yang began frantically packing their kits. Weiss, though, paused as she pulled her backpack out. Biting her lip, she turned to her teammates. “Can you guys get started on this for me? There’s something I have to go take care of.”

“Are you serious, Weiss?!” Yang exclaimed, but quieted down at the look in her teammate’s eyes.

“It’s… *faunus* stuff…” Weiss murmured, shaking her head at the immediate look from Blake. “No, I got it. Shouldn’t take long.” Grabbing her expired vial of medication from Atlas, she jogged out the door and made for the second-year dorms. 

As she knocked on CFVY’s door, it occurred to Weiss that she had no idea what Velvet’s schedule was, except for their shared lunch time, and didn’t know if she’d be in. Fortunately for her, the scrambling inside she heard turned out to be Velvet, flushed and sweating lightly in a tank top and and sleep shorts and with a pair of earphones draped around her head. “Oh, hey Weiss,” she gasped slightly.

Weiss felt herself blushing fiercely. “I- um, sorry, did I interrupt something?”

The rabbit faunus chuckled. “Not what you’re thinking! Just my ‘dancing to cheesy pop songs time’.”

The mental image of Velvet jamming out made Weiss grin. “You too, then?” With a sparkle in her eyes, she asked slyly. “You play Dance Dance Uprise?”

Velvet squeaked with delight. “Yes! I can never find anyone to go to the arcade with me!” Her excited ears drooped as she remembered the morning assembly. “...and now we can’t even go… but, I doubt that’s what you actually came to talk about,” she said as she eyed the box under Weiss’s arm.

Weiss nodded. “Yeah… so, you’re pretty science-y, right?”

Raising an eyebrow, Velvet nodded. “You could say that… I am here on an academic scholarship for my hardlight research…”

Whistling, Weiss continued. “...how are you at chemistry?”

“Pretty good… it’s not as much fun as applied physics, but it’s a prerequisite for most advanced Dust work. Why, what are you getting at?”

Weiss handed her the box and stepped closer. “This is a medication that my father has had me taking for my whole life. It’s some kind of stuff that’s only available in Atlas, and related to… well, what we talked about earlier.” She focused her gaze on Velvet until the other woman nodded in recognition.

“Oh, right, your, um, ‘heritage’. Interesting…” Velvet peeked inside the box, her eyes going wide at the fancy vials. “Let me guess, you want to know what it actually is?”

“Exactly.”

Velvet pursed her lips. “Okay, I think I can get some time in the lab this week. Hopefully I’ll be able to figure something out.”

“Thanks, Velvet. I owe you big!”

The other faunus shook her head. “Nope! Not accepted! We’re… sorta sisters now, we stick together. Although…” A dreamy look came across Velvet’s dark chocolate eyes for a moment, before she dismissed it. “Nah, that’d be ridiculous. Forget it.”

“No, what were you about to say?”

Looking slightly embarrassed, Velvet giggled. “Well… there’s this pastry shoppe in Atlas that made the most amazing caramel apple tarts…

“...Craig’s Cakery?”

“YES! How did you know?!” Velvet exclaimed with delight as she grabbed Velvet’s hands.

Weiss snickered. “They catered a lot of family events for us. I’m pretty sure we have a credit line with them… anyways, consider it done!”

“Weiss!” Velvet squeaked. “That’s… that’s outlandish! All the way from Atlas-”

“Not a concern,” the heiress cut her off. “My father was willing to ship me… whatever this stuff is…” she gestured to the box, “...regularly, he can pay to send my friend apple tarts.”

Velvet’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “Weiss, you’re the best! Ooo, I can’t wait to share one with Coco, I’ve been talking about them for ages!” She leaned forward and pulled her into a hug, which the surprised Weiss quickly returned.

“So, I would love to stay and chat, but Goodwitch just told us we’re deploying to the Forever Fall for a combat practical, and my team is going to kill me if I don’t get back to pack.” She pursed her lips in a grimace. “That, and Yang and Ruby are probably judging all my underwear…”

“Oh, the Forever Fall!” Velvet blew out her cheeks. “They’re sending your class early this year! Be on the lookout for Ursas, they have a lot of dens in the area and get really cranky when you wake them up. And be careful with the sap, the smell will wake up all the Lancer wasps for miles around and they swarm to it!”

“Good to know! Thank you so much, Velvet!” Waving goodbye, Weiss quickly returned to the RWBY’s dorm to salvage whatever mess her team had made of packing her gear.

Chapter Text

As the flight of Bullheads soared low over the wild sea of color that was the Forever Fall, students on board crowded to the windows. RWBY and JNPR were riding together, and the excited squeals of Nora, Ruby, and Jaune as they bounced around seeking different views had Pyrrha and Ren exchanging fond grins with each other.

Ruby quickly noticed, though, that rather than being her usual aloof self, her partner also had her face glued to a window. Quietly, she slipped over next to her and peered out over her shoulder. “Whatcha looking at, Weiss?” she asked quietly, watching the heiress’s smile reflected in the glass.

“It’s just so… so beautiful…” she murmured as her eyes swept across the riotous colors painting the ridges below. “It’s more incredible than I dreamed it would be.”

“You’ve been wanting to come here for a while, then?”

Weiss glanced back over her shoulder and nodded. “For as long as I can remember!” She sighed, her breath momentarily fogging the glass. 

It was very obvious to Ruby that there was a story behind this. Resting her chin on Weiss’s shoulder, she murmured softly, “...wanna tell me about it?”

Humming, Weiss nodded. “So, you have to understand, Schnee manor is… very tightly aesthetically curated. Atlas… it’s funny, in a city where almost anything can be had, if you have enough money… stark minimalism is the height of style.”

“ Weird,” Ruby rolled her eyes.

“My entire home was very carefully policed to make sure everything was always at the peak of fashionability at all times. Flat, ‘clean’ colors, cold palettes, brushed metal, art that… very much requires interpretation…” Ruby felt Weiss deflate a little bit under her. “It was so sad and depressing , especially when I was younger.”

“That really does sound like a lot,” Ruby said consolingly, visualizing the contrast between the quaint, cozy cabin full of personality and family touches that she’d grown up in, and the harsh, sterile opulence her partner had described. Reflexively, her hand went around Weiss’s waist.

“I had a painting of the Forever Fall in my room, though. My grandfather had made it when he’d traveled here. It didn’t ‘fit the aesthetic’, but even my father couldn’t get rid of something from Nicholas Schnee.” Weiss’s eyes got a little misty as she talked. “It was across from the foot of my bed, where I could see it when I went to bed and I woke up. In all of that perfectly-polished dullness , it was this… this incredible splash of color and vibrancy and messy brush strokes, that just… refilled me with life every time I looked at it. So, yeah…” she sniffed. “This place means a lot to me.”

“Oh, Weiss!” Ruby murmured as she squeezed her partner closer to her. “That’s… so sweet!” Suddenly, she became conscious of just how close she’d gotten to the other woman, and almost jerked back. But… we’ve been a lot closer than this… and she’s not flinching… “Um, is this okay?” she asked instead, flexing her hand to indicate what she meant.

After just a moment’s thought, Weiss smiled and pressed her head against Ruby’s. “Yeah. it’s… it’s more than okay, Ruby. I- I like… I like it when you touch me.”

Ruby squeaked, eliciting a giggle from Weiss as she wrapped her hand around Ruby’s waist and squeezed her. Her throat was thick and warm as she replied. “I… I like touching you too, Weiss. And when you touch me!”

Watching her teammates share intimate giggles and press against each other, Blake rolled her eyes and smirked fondly. Even with her bow still on, she could easily hear everything. Her ears twitched in the opposite direction moments before she felt a hand on her shoulder, giving her a squeeze.

“What are you laughing at, Blake?” Yang asked as she dropped down on the rumble seat next to her.

Blake nodded her head towards Weiss and Ruby. “Your sister and Weiss are being sappy and adorable.”

It was Yang’s turn to roll her eyes. “In other news: sky blue, water wet.” Blake noticed, though, how soft her gaze was as she looked over at where their teammates were very much cuddling together.

“Tell me you don’t think it’s cute,” Blake elbowed her own partner gently in the side. She knew she certainly did. Seeing the affection bubbling off of Weiss and Ruby gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling in her stomach… and, she realized, had her wishing it was an appropriate place for her to snuggle up with Yang. Pull her arm around her shoulders, feel the heat and curves of her body, catch a whiff of the smell of her hair and find little chances for their skin to brush together…

“Sure I do,” Yang murmured against her bow, knowing it was hiding an ear. Blake blinked as she realized how much she’d leaned into Yang as her mind had wandered. A little chill went down her spine at the sensation, and she knew her eyelids were heavy and low when she glanced over to the blonde. The very little air between them suddenly felt very, very tense.

Yang blinked first. “So, um, anyways… I take it the scenery doesn’t interest you? It really is gorgeous…”

Blake shook her head. “I’m good, actually. I’ve… been here before.”

“Oh, really?” Yang’s eyebrows went up. “There’s not much out here, I don’t think there’s even CCT coverage out here! What were you-” her voice trailed off as she picked up on the way Blake was shrinking down into her seat. “...oh.”

“Yeah. It was…” The hurt in Blake’s whiskey-gold eyes when she looked up at her broke her heart. “Can we actually not talk about it?”

“Absolutely. Sorry I brought it up,” Yang offered as her arm slid around Blake’s shoulder.

The faunus woman shook her head. “It’s not like you had any way of knowing. Thank you for understanding, though.” She let out a heavy sigh as her head flopped over onto Yang’s shoulder.

“Attention, students! We’ll be landing momentarily. Please prepare for touchdown and deployment,” the pilot’s voice crackled over the intercom. 

As RWBY and JNPR began to move back towards their seats, Nora bumped up against Pyrrha, nudging her hip in the way that the redhead had come to learn meant the shorter girl wanted to whisper something to her. She crouched a bit, and Nora leaned in. “Is it just me, or are the RWBYs getting awfully cuddly with each other?” she murmured, casting her eyes at both Ruby and Weiss, and Blake and Yang.

Pyrrha chewed her lip as she nodded. “Definitely not just you. Maybe we should ask them what they’re putting in their Sunflower Pop to get everyone so lovey-dovey?” she muttered as she spared a moment to gaze longingly at Jaune, who looked up from his bag of Pumpkin Pete’s Potato Puffs to give her a cheerful and oblivious wave.

“No shit,” Nora replied as she glared at where Ren was triple checking his weapons.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

The general chaos of students milling around the landing zone quickly resolved into order when Goodwitch stood up on top of a cargo crate and thumbed on her bullhorn. “Future Huntsmen and Huntresses, welcome to the Forever Fall, and what is, for most of you, your first combat deployment! As the briefings I’m sure you spent your flight time studying have informed you, your primary objective is to harvest scarlet sap, while your secondary objective is to eliminate Grimm.” She allowed herself a small sigh at the number of students she saw frantically pulling out their scrolls, no doubt realizing for the first time that they’d been sent exhaustive briefing notes.”

“Each team has been assigned independent operation zones, centered around the landing site. You will make camp in your operation zone and spend the next three days pursuing your objectives to the best of your ability. Please be aware that there is normally no CCT coverage in this region; while we have established a mobile hotspot, it is for relaying information to you and emergencies ONLY! Using scroll comms for non-emergency purposes will cause your entire team to automatically fail this assignment!”

Nervous murmurs went through the assembled students at the harsh threat. Goodwitch raised her voice slightly as she continued. “That said, as much as you may sometimes feel otherwise, we are not actually trying to kill you! I assure you that, if you’ve been keeping up with your studies, you possess the training and skills to complete this assignment successfully. Additionally, *should* you encounter a Grimm that outclasses your capabilities, *please* do not hesitate to send an emergency signal! In addition to your usual faculty advisors, we have a guest instructor for this week: Professor Qrow Branwen.”

Ruby and Yang both squeaked excitedly as the wiry man in the disheveled suit was introduced, earning curious looks from Weiss and Blake, along with JNPR. “That’s our uncle!” Yang quickly explained.

“He’s awesome!” Ruby added, with stars in her eyes.

“That… explains a lot…” Weiss observed dryly as she watched the man instructed with helping to keep them all safe took a long pull from his flask, returning Goodwitch’s glare with a cocky shrug. Pyrrha slapped a hand over her mouth as she tried to hide her laugh.

Soon after, the Beacon students were sent on their way. “Aww man! Our zones are on like, opposite sides of the area!” Jaune grumbled as he looked at the map on his scroll.

“Guess we’ll have to eat all these s’mores I packed away ourselves,” Yang chuckled.

Nora made a tortured noise in her throat, while Blake cocked her head curiously. “...what are s’mores?”

Yang’s initial look of shock was quickly replaced with a wide grin. “Seriously? You’ve never had s’mores? Oh, Blake… tonight, I’m gonna rock your world!” As soon as the words left her lips, the two partners shared a wide-eyed look of gay panic.

Their stares were broken by an excited Ruby grabbing both of their hands and tugging them towards the faculty airship. “C’mon! Let’s say ‘hi’ to Uncle Qrow before we leave!”

Goodwitch started to give them an annoyed glare as they approached, trailing a confused Weiss, but just ended up sputtering as Ruby and Yang dashed past her to embrace their uncle. “Hey, Squirt! Hey, Firecracker! Fancy meeting my favorite ladies here!” he laughed as Ruby jumped and hung off his neck. “And who are your friends here?”

“This is my partner, Blake!” Yang reached over and grabbed her nervous teammate, pulling her over to meet her uncle. “She’s the greatest, she’s crazy smart and lots of fun once she decides she likes you!”

“Yang!” Blake squawked, blushing fiercely as Qrow chuckled.

“And that’s my partner, Weiss!” Ruby, still hanging off her uncle, gestured for the heiress to come over.

“How do you do, Mr. Branwen?” Weiss bowed demurely. Ruby and Yang couldn’t help but catch each other’s eyes and snigger at how odd it was hearing someone refer to their uncle so politely.

“White hair… Weiss… Weiss Schnee?” Qrow raised an eyebrow as he extended his hand. At her affirmation, he whistled. “Damn, Rubes, you’re moving up in the world!” Ruby laughed as she dropped down and bounced over to give Weiss a hug.

“What are you doing all the way out here, working for Beacon?” Yang asked.

“Eh, I’m everywhere, y’know?” Qrow replied. “Doc Ozpin called up and said he needed some help, figured I could make a buck and see how much trouble my nieces were getting into.”

“More than they’ve been in already, if they don’t stop procrastinating and get going on their missions,” Professor Goodwitch commented snarkily.

Turning his head from her, Qrow rolled his eyes, to Yang and Ruby’s amusement. “Well, you heard the boss, girls. Get out there and show ‘em all how it’s done! And remember, I can’t do you any special favors out here!”

“Got it, Uncle Qrow!” the Xiao Long-Rose girls answered in unison as Team RWBY said their goodbyes, collected their backpacks, and set off in the direction of their patrol area.

“Alright, so, if I’m reading this right, we need to go… that way!” Ruby pointed towards distant hill dotted with tall, yellow trees.

“Um, can I see that a second, Ruby?” Blake asked as she looked over their team leader’s shoulder. Tapping a couple times on the map scroll, and looking up at a few landmarks, she nodded and handed the scroll back. “Actually, I’m pretty sure we want to go that way,” she pointed instead at a ridge covered in vibrant reds and oranges. “The way you pointed us would’ve had us going straight into Team CRDL’s territory.

“D’oh!” Ruby smacked her head. “Sorry, Blake! I’m such an idiot!” she lamented bitterly.

“No you’re not!” Blake admonished. “I see exactly what you did. You read the topography lines this way, when you were supposed to read them this way…” Leaning over Ruby’s shoulder, she pointed out her mistake. “It’s a pretty easy mistake to make.”

“Ohhhh! I see now!” Ruby exclaimed. “Thanks Blake!” She leaned back into the taller Huntress just a little bit as she flashed a grin up at her before setting out to take the lead. Behind her, Weiss and Yang both favored Blake with soft smiles of gratitude that made her blush a little.

As the girls left the landing zone clearing and passed into the canopy of colorful leaves, Weiss shoved her hands into the sleeves of her jacket. “Brrrr! They weren’t kidding about it being chilly out here! Glad I changed up my field gear!” The rest of the RWBYs nodded in agreement. Ruby had donned a long-sleeved black top underneath a dark red leather vest whose collar was trimmed with wolf fur, and a black-and-red plaid skirt over black jeans with cargo pockets, and of course her beloved red cape. Weiss was in a snappy white double-breasted jacket whose sleeves and collar were trimmed with black fur, and a matching flared white skirt over her black leggings. Meanwhile, Blake had a slinky black bodysuit and a cropped purple biker jacket with a full white fur collar that had immediately made Yang envious, finished with a utility belt hanging jauntily off her hip. On top of her head was a thick, golden yellow knit hat that Blake had pulled down to the tops of her human ears. Yang’s cold-weather gear was a tight off-white jacket with black shoulders and sleeves, and long black pants with stylishly flared legs.

“So… that was your uncle?” Blake asked as the girls picked their way down a steep slope, bouncing from tree to tree as they struggled to maintain their footing on the wet, slippery leaves.

“He seems like quite the character…” Weiss chipped in.

Yang and Ruby both chuckled. “Yeah… he’s pretty interesting,” Ruby replied.

“He was… kind of our surrogate dad here and there,” Yang had a distant look in her eyes as she spoke. “I mean, I took care of a lot of stuff when Dad was checked out, but there was a lot of adult stuff I just couldn’t do. It wasn’t always pretty, and definitely not all that sober, but… Qrow was there for us when we really needed him. He kept what was left of our family together.”

“We probably would’ve ended up in foster care without him showing up to the parent-teacher meetings and to mollify the social workers,” Ruby muttered. “They always felt like they were trying to bribe me into saying something bad about Dad in exchange for cookies.” There was an uncharacteristic bitterness in her smirk. “Of course, their cookies were cheap, nasty shit.”

Weiss and Blake exchange surprised looks as they realized they were getting a picture of the Xiao Long-Rose sisters’ past that they’d never seen before, and one that felt very much at odds with their bright, fun personalities. “Wow… how did all that happen? If you want to talk about it?” Weiss asked gently.

Ruby and Yang caught each others’ eyes, and Blake marveled at how much they seemed to communicate with only the most subtle movements of their eyes and faces… and how she saw her partner seamlessly assume a protective role over their team leader. It was so uplifting, until she considered how much weight it sounded like Yang had had to shoulder to take care of Ruby, and since a very young age. It left her feeling even more bitter at herself over the family she’d thrown away when she ran off to keep following the White Fang… and him .

“M-maybe later…” Ruby finally replied. “It’s… not a great hiking story, y’know?”

“Totally fair,” Weiss nodded.

“So, Weiss…” Yang asked. “Were you able to figure out anything about those glyph-things? I mean, I guess I’m presuming everyone else still has theirs? Ruby and I checked each other this morning…”

Weiss’s eyes shot to Blake as her chest constricted and her throat itched, but the other faunus only tensed a slight bit before she nodded. “Yeah, I’ve still got mine, too,” Weiss added before she sighed and shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. I talked to May- my sister’s girlfriend- and nothing like this had happened with them after they started… doing stuff .”

Snorting and rolling her eyes, Yang chuckled. “Weiss, Snowflake… we’ve all, or at least almost all, had sex with each other! I don’t think we have to be all middle school gym class about it!”

“Yeah, but… that’s my sister I’m talking about!” Weiss wailed. Ruby and Yang both fixed her with withering stares, deflating her indignation. “Okay, point taken. Either way , no, I haven’t learned anything. But May is going to poke around and see if she can figure anything out.”

Blake chewed her lip, pondering whether she had any right to speak up. When it became obvious that no one else was going to ask what felt like an obvious question, though, she decided to go for it. “Weiss, is there any reason you can’t ask your family more directly?”

The heiress sighed and shook her head. “I mean, I *could* ask Winter, I suppose, but… she’s guaranteed to figure out a lot more about what’s going on then we want her to. It’s just what she does. And forget about the rest of my family.” She blew out her cheeks. “I’m sorry, girls. I wish I had better answers, but I just don’t. I’m as mystified as you.”

“It’s not like, feeling weird for anyone, is it?” Ruby asked. When her whole team gave her raised eyebrows, she hastened to elaborate. “I mean, physically weird! Like, it doesn’t hurt or itch or anything?”

“Ah, nope,” Blake replied, as everyone else nodded.

Ruby shrugged. “Then… I guess we’re okay for now? I mean, I want to know what it is too, but… emergencies seem to pop up every day in our lives, right? I think we can just keep digging at this one without having to like, drop everything for it, yeah?”

“Is there anything we could do to help with research?” Blake asked hopefully.

Weiss pondered. “Hmmm… well, the Schnees have always been pretty secretive about our semblance, it’s the source of a lot of our power, so… there’s not much published literature on it.” She shrugged. “I guess we could take a page out of Oobleck’s pedagogy and try looking into some old legends and fairy tales to see if any of them reference something like this?”

“Peda- what now?” Ruby scratched her head.

“How he teaches,” Yang offered.

“Ohhhh, yeah!” Ruby giggled. “Weiss, you’re so fancy sometimes!”

The heiress chuckled. “I should occasionally put this lifetime of ‘No lunch until you finish your grammar lessons!’ to use for something, right?” It wasn’t until Yang picked her up from behind in a hug that she realized her teammates were staring at her, aghast. “Okay, you’re right, that is pretty fucked up… but unless you’re offering to carry me the rest of the way to camp, Yang, could you please put me down?”

The blonde grudgingly obliged.

The girls made it to the ridge crest they’d been aiming for without encountering any Grimm, although from the periodic sounds of gunfire that echoed over the forest, they knew that not all of their classmates had been as lucky. “That absolutely sounded like Nora’s grenades,” Blake said worriedly after a series of deep ‘whumps’ went off.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they encountered any Grimm,” Yang responded. “Nora might just have gotten bored.” Still, RWBY was on edge as twilight fell, leaving it quite dark by the time they found a small clearing where some large boulders provided shelter from the prevailing winds. Ruby and Yang gathered some firewood while Weiss and Blake set up their tent, and it wasn’t long until they were all seated around a crackling campfire.

Or rather, Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were seated around the campfire. Blake was getting her hands on every blanket she could find and trying to bury herself in them. Her teammates couldn’t help but laugh as a small mountain of coverings atop slender legs waddled up to them. “Blake, are you trying to tell us it’s a bit chilly out?” Ruby giggled.

“How. Is it. SO. COLD?” the faunus woman mumbled through her blankets. 

“It’s not like it’s *that* bad,” Weiss replied with a shrug.

Blake’s eyes, burning gold in the firelight, glared at her teammate. “Listen, I’m from a nice, warm , tropical paradise. Just because white-haired weirdos like you decide to live in an arctic wasteland…”

While Yang and Ruby hooted with delight, Weiss straightened, crossed her legs, and flipped her hair elegantly. Feeling comfortable with her friends and in a “I seem to recall you thinking I was pretty hot the other night!” 

Except for the crackling of the fire, the night became completely quiet as the rest of her team stared at Weiss in shock. Despite the cold, she felt her cheeks start burning. Shit! You went too far, Weiss! What were you even thinking-

“ Damn Weiss, that was AWESOME!” Yang hollered, hopping across the fire to drop down next to the heiress and throw an arm around her shoulder. “I absolutely did NOT expect that out of you!” Seeing even Blake giggling as some of her blankets fell away from her face, Weiss allowed herself to start to relax as well. Something she definitely found much easier with Yang’s arm around her. Leaning into the blonde, she started to laugh as well.

“C’mere, Blake!” Ruby cackled, burrowing up into the mass of garments to snuggle her. The sudden introduction of Ruby’s warmth into her cocoon left Blake sighing contentedly as she rested her head against Ruby’s hair. 

As they settled into each other’s comforting body heat, Team RWBY began strategizing for the next day. “So, remember what Goodwitch said about this sap stuff attracting Grimm?” Ruby asked. “I’m thinking that tomorrow, we shouldn’t try to collect any of it. We just go around marking trees. That way, any Grimm in the area will be attracted to the people who do start tapping right away! Let them fight ‘em! Then on our last full day, we can do our collecting. And since we’ll know exactly where we need to go, we can work close together instead of having to spread out. That way, we can support each other if we do attract any Grimm.”

“That’s an excellent strategy,” Blake nodded in agreement.

Yang whistled and shook her head. “Wow, when did my sweet little sister get so ruthless and calculating?” Her eyes glimmering like a sunset by the embers of their campfire, she grinned at Ruby. “I like it!”

Weiss pursed her lips a hummed as she pondered. “The only thing I worry about is if collecting the sap ends up taking a lot longer than we expected to. We might be setting ourselves up to just not have enough time…” Eventually, though, she nodded in agreement. “I think it’s worth the risk though. If it works, we’ll avoid a lot of heavy combat and having to do escort quests on our sap jars. Solid plan, Ruby!”

Their course of action decided upon, Yang wanted to make s’mores. But by that point, everyone else was feeling too cold to stay up for it. When even Ruby declined sweets in favor of a warm bed, her big sister knew it was time to call it quits.

The tent was sheltered from the wind, but it was still quite nippy inside, making the process of getting undressed and into their night clothes a race against their own rapidly-diminishing body heat. By the time all of the RWBYs had crawled into their bed rolls, even Yang was shivering a bit. After a few moments of trying to pull the blanket tighter around herself, it was Ruby who popped the question.

“Hey… so is everyone else still really cold?” She received a chorus of uncomfortable mumbles in confirmation. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she continued. “Do you all want to just… snuggle up, then? For the heat and stuff?”

There was a moment of quiet as the other three girls considered the thought… and dealt with the sudden blur of memories Ruby’s proposition brought up. It was truly a very short moment, though. “Gods yes,” Blake gasped, her breath visible in the chilly air. She didn’t even wait for anyone else before she opened up their bedrolls between Yang and herself and pressed herself into her partner. Yang received her happily, along with Weiss soon after as she burrowed under the blonde’s arm.

“Hey! This was my idea, lemme in!” Ruby wailed from behind Blake. With a chuckle, the faunus rolled to allow Ruby to cuddle up and tuck her head under her chin, before pulling the blankets up as high as she could. As nice as being physically warm and cozy was, Blake was sure that the way her heart felt right now was what was most important. The happiness and contentment coming from her teammates echoed her own, and the soft purrs coming from her chest quickly lulled them all to sleep.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

The next morning, Yang, Weiss, and Ruby awoke to the delicious smell of Blake frying up a skillet of potatoes, lardon, and beans topped with eggs and hot sauce; the face Weiss made when she took her first extra-spicy bite provided extra entertainment for everyone.

“Blake, this is delicious!” Yang exclaimed as she dug into a second helping.

“Thanks,” her partner replied, brushing her hair back behind a human ear as she smiled. “It’s a dish I learned in the White Fang. We improvised a lot in the field, and this was always a good way to start your day off right!”

Ruby snapped her fingers. “That’s a great idea! When we’re out on assignments, we can all take turns cooking our favorite meals!”

“Ruby,” Yang chuckled, “I don’t think everyone else is going to be as enamored with octopus hot dogs as you are!” At the horrified looks that took over Blake and Weiss’s faces, she laughed. “It was one of Ruby’s favorite meals as a kid. I’d chop up some hot dogs, then stick dry spaghetti in one end and boil ‘em. Boom! Octopus hot dogs!”

“That’s… adorable!” Weiss cooed as Ruby blushed and grinned sheepishly.

“What would you end up making, Weiss?” Blake asked curiously.

The heiress stared for a moment like a deer caught in a truck’s headlights. “Um. Can I bring a can of something? Or have a meal air-dropped?”

“Oh, why do I feel like watching Weiss cook would be the evening’s entertainment in its own right?” Yang’s eyes sparkled mischievously. 

Weiss shook her head dramatically. “No, no, no. I don’t cook. I’m not *allowed* to cook. The first time I ever tried to make coffee, I just dumped grounds into a cup of water and put it in the microwave.”

“...wha…” Ruby flapped her jaw incredulously as Yang stared.

“Weiss… how? I don’t even drink coffee, but I know how to make it!” Blake exclaimed. “How did you think that was how it worked?!”

“Listen! There was no one around to work the machine, and I’d never done it myself before! It seemed like it should work just like hot cocoa!” As her teammates all rolled their eyes, Weiss sniffled. “Yeah, yeah, I know, idiot spoiled rich girl. It’s not like I didn’t want to know how to do things, but no one would even let me learn! Whenever I tried to do something for myself, some servant would come scrambling to do it for me. If they didn’t, my father would yell at them.” She stared down into the mug of camp coffee she’d been swirling in her hands. “Figuring out how to take care of myself was an honest-to-gods act of rebellion to him.”

Ruby and Yang fell silent at that, and Blake reached out to lay a comforting hand on the heiress’s shoulder, stopping just short when Weiss flinched. Blake’s ears fell as she started to withdraw her hand, but Weiss reached out and grabbed hers before she did so. The two girls shared a look and a gentle hand squeeze.

Breakfast was followed by everyone gearing up and getting ready for their day. After agreeing that they’d split off into partner pairings and reviewing their zone map, the girls quickly plotted routes that divided their area between both groups and set off.

“Alright! So… we’re hunting for the biggest, oldest-looking trees in the woods, right?” Ruby asked as she casually swung Crescent Rose back and forth, whacking down any underbrush that looked like it could stand some pruning.

“Yes, with big red stains on them from where sap has leaked in the past,” Weiss added as she pulled up the briefing on the scarlet sap trees that they’d been given.

Ruby furrowed her brow. “But… if there’s already sap on the outside… why do we have to use that drill-y doohickey thing to get it?”

Weiss slapped her palm against her face and shook her head. “Because once it dries out, the sap loses the properties the scientists want to study? Which was in the briefing packet… that you , our team leader , was supposed to read?” She fixed her partner with an accusatory glare.

Shrugging guiltily, Ruby adopted her cheesiest smile. “I mean… I knew that my diligent, studious, beautiful partner would memorize all that stuff a lot better than I ever would?”

Weiss’s stare became even more withering, but Ruby could see the corners of her mouth twitching as she fought a smile and decided to push her luck. It wasn’t long before Weiss’s stern facade cracked and she started chuckling. “You know, you’re lucky you’re cute, Ruby Rose!”

“I know!” Ruby smirked. “Yang’s been telling me that my whole life!”

Weiss rolled her eyes and stepped sideways to lightly elbow her partner in the side. Ruby squealed indignantly, but didn’t have any complaints when Weiss remained pressed up against her. As they continued strolling through the ground cover of bright autumnal leaves, the heiress toyed with the end of her braid. “...beautiful, huh?” she murmured softly.

Ruby’s voice caught in her throat a little bit. “D- definitely!”

“Hmmm. Say it again?”

“...definitely?”

It was Weiss’s turn to squawk in annoyance as Ruby laughed, but the younger Huntress’s arm reached out to wrap around her waist. Weiss hummed contentedly as she leaned into her partner. “You really are beautiful, Weiss,” Ruby’s voice was much lower and softer now. “And smart, and brave, and caring… and a lot of other good things.”

Weiss’s heart was beating fast, but at the same time she felt light, her insides warm and fuzzy despite the chill in the air. Her arm wrapped around Ruby’s, and their fingers intertwined with a little squeeze. “And you really are pretty cute, Ruby. And lots of other good things, too.” 

Ruby and Weiss found themselves spending a lot more time looking at the excitement twinkling in each other’s eyes than they did searching for the special trees as they walked, arm in arm, through the forest.

Elsewhere in the Forever Fall, Yang whistled as she and Blake happened upon their first of the ancient scarlet sap trees. “Wow… I think I’m going to have nightmares about that thing! Tell me that tree doesn’t look like it’s been stabbed a dozen times and left to bleed out!”

Blake smiled as she nodded. “That’s exactly what it looks like… and it’s the source of a faunus legend about these trees.”

“Oh? Do tell!” 

After pondering for a moment about where to start, Blake began. “Well, the tale goes that, long ago, a faunus tribe lived on this land. They were a strong and proud people, and they’d long resisted the humans trying to drive them off of their land. So, the humans decided to take with deception what they couldn’t take on the battlefield. They invited the faunus elders to peace negotiations… where they gave them drugged wine. Once the elders were unconscious, the humans bound them up in the trunks of the oldest trees and left them to die. Having lost all their leadership at once, the faunus resistance crumbled and the humans took over the land.” Blake finished wistfully. “To this day, the blood of the elders leaks from their tombs, and our sadness colors this entire land.”

Her partner’s expression was stricken with horror and pain. “Blake… that’s… gods, I’m so sorry, I-”

“Yang, Yang! It’s okay!” Blake smiled as she grabbed Yang’s hands and squeezed them comfortingly. “It’s an ancient fable! And it’s not like *you* had anything to do with whatever kernels of truth there are in it!” She pulled the blonde closer as she looked up at her with warmth in her eyes. “I know you’re not like that at all. Just because you’re human… there’s not a drop of that cruelty in your heart.”

The hurt in Yang’s eyes melted away, leaving a soft lavender field for her to gaze upon. Blake could see herself dancing through those fields, falling asleep in them as the warm sunlight kissed her skin, so easily. The moment hung in the air, leaving them both breathing faster as it felt like they were falling into each other. Blake could feel her ears pitching back, and Yang’s tongue darted around her lips as the sense of gravity between them made a collision of their mouths feel inevitable.

A pair of small woodland animals screeching at each other as they crashed through the leaves and chased each other up a tree shattered the intimacy.

Jerking back, Yang’s hand flew to the back of her head as she scratched herself nervously. “So! Trees!”

“Yes! The trees!” Inwardly, Blake cursed herself for not having the courage to grab Yang by her collar and pull her into the kiss she was yearning for.

Yang was already busying herself reviewing their map. “Hmmm, we’ve already covered a lot of ground on this side of this side of this river-thingy here, and it looks like there’s a bridge nearby. Wanna check it out?”

“Sure, let’s do it,” Blake answered. They set off, awkwardly maintaining a respectful distance between each other and pointedly looking in every direction except at each other. 

Ugh! Why are we like this?! Yang groaned. I mean, WE HAD SEX! Being fun and flirty with each other, and maybe kissing if we both feel like it, should be easy by comparison to that, right? Right. She dared a glance in Blake’s direction, her eyes running down her long, raven-dark tresses and imagining- remembering - what they felt like in her fingers… and falling against  her cheek. And her thighs…

Yang shook her head violently. Because that was special circumstances and you know it, Yang! Like, we were medically intervening for Weiss, and a lot of stuff just… happened. If we go there again… then it starts to really mean something.

…wouldn’t it be nice, though, if it meant something?

Blake and Weiss’s inviting smiles parted into little gasps and whimpers in her mind, and Yang fell headlong into remembering how right their bodies had felt pressed against her. She knew full well that last night’s ‘just for warmth’ snuggle pile had meant a whole lot more to her… and she knew, deep down, that it had meant a whole lot more to the other girls as well. She was pretty sure she hadn’t been the only one imagining doing it naked, either.

Blake fiddling around with something next to her pulled Yang out of her own head, and as she watched, the faunus shifted her hat until her ears popped up through cleverly-sewn slits in the top. “Ugh! So much better!” Blake sighed happily. “I doubt we’re going to run into anyone out here, and they were getting so cramped in there!”

Part of Yang was absolutely smitten with how adorable Blake looked like that. The other part was extremely concerned for her. “It’s a really cute look, but… don’t your ears get cold? Like, frostbite-cold?”

The faunus woman chortled and shook her head. “I appreciate the concern, but no. At least, not in this weather. I can see why you’d think that, but they actually have a ton of circulation in them to keep them warm!”

The pair came to the bridge they’d been looking for, an old, weathered stone one spanning a width of dark, slow-moving water with little rafts of leaves lazily drifting down it. As they stepped out onto the arch, Blake couldn’t help but notice that Yang’s eyes kept darting to the top of her head, and she grinned and rolled her eyes. “You can’t stop thinking about touching them, can you?”

“I’m sorry!” Yang pleaded. “I know it’s really disrespectful, but… they look so soft! And you said they’re really warm! And, I just-”

“Yang, it’s okay!” Blake reassured her. “It’s only disrespectful if you do it without me saying you can.” Wide-eyed, her partner tentatively raised her hand to Blake’s head; as the faunus leaned into her touch, the blonde gasped as her fingers brushed the soft, warm fur, and she began to gently massage them.

“Wow… you weren’t kidding about the warm part!” she murmured. As Yang worked her fingers back and forth on either side of her ear, Blake’s eyes fluttered closed and she relaxed with a sigh that sounded extremely sensual. Startled, Yang jerked her hand back. “Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

Blake’s battle-honed reflexes kicked in as she grabbed Yang’s wrist and guided her hand back to her head. “I said it’s okay, Yang,” she murmured softly.

Cautiously, the blonde resumed the ear rub. Swallowing, her voice quavered a little as she spoke. “It just… it seems like it’s doing things to you…”

Smiling and nodding, Blake agreed. “It does, but it’s not like that . It’s… imagine the most deeply relaxing thing you can think of. A good shoulder or neck massage, except… delicate. Like sinking into the softest bed ever. It’s like that… and yeah, there’s a lot of intimacy in trusting someone enough to let them make you feel this way.” Blake’s fingers toyingly hooked into the belt loops of Yang’s pants and tugged her in between her thighs as she seated herself on the stone railing of the bridge.

The way Blake’s lips were slightly parted in breathy pleasure as she pressed her head into Yang’s hand was more intoxicating than anything she’d ever drank at those illicit parties she’d frequented at Signal. She knew she could do shots of the faunus’s whiskey-gold eyes long, long into the night, until they followed her into her dreams. Yang pressed in closer, reducing the distance keeping them from having what she knew they both wanted, if they had the courage to take it.

The last time they’d kissed, their lips had been hot and salty with the fine perspiration they’d worked up, and had tasted like sweet, tangy musk. Her own, Blake’s, Weiss’s… it had all become one heady essence amidst the cavorting of bare skin and hungry mouths.

What does Blake really taste like?

“What are you thinking, Yang?” Blake murmured. “I know your head went somewhere… your fingers slowed down.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I just… wherever it is, I want to be there too. With you.”

Yang tried to swallow the tightness in her throat. “I was just thinking, this forest, with all this color… but especially this river… it compliments your eyes so much.” She took a lock of dark hair and ran it between her fingers. “Golden fires, lighting up the night…”

Fuck, where did I get that from?!

A deep purr rumbled in Blake’s chest. “What are we doing, Yang?” she whispered.

“I think… I’m pretty sure we’re trying to decide if we should kiss each other…”

The faunus licked her lips. “Are we really asking ‘should’? I’m pretty sure we’re on ‘if we want to’...”

They’d drawn in even closer to each other, until their eyes had closed and their mouths were mere inches from each other, each utterance something they could feel against their skin.

A little grin tugged at Yang’s mouth. “I think we both definitely want to, Blake.”

“Then why aren’t we?”

Her lips pushed upwards towards Yang’s, but the blonde pulled back just out of her reach. “So many reasons. This… this time it’d be different. Wouldn’t it?”

“...yeah. Yeah it would.” Yang’s lips sank to chase hers, but this time it was Blake who deflected, letting her partner brush against her cheek instead. “You’ve seen how I am, Yang. I break things!”

“Maybe I wouldn’t mind being broken, if it was with you?” The blonde chased back up her jaw, hunting her mouth as it stayed just one small gesture ahead of her.

“Gods, Yang, I’ve come so close already. I don’t know if I could- if I could live with myself if I actually broke us. RWBY… you …”

“...what if I trust you not to?”

Blake’s breath hitched in her chest. She sucked in her lower lip and bit it, quivering with forced restraint. “You shouldn’t do that, Yang.”

“Well…” she could feel the smile on her partner’s lips. “As Weiss would say, I’m a brash, impulsive dolt.” Her mouth hovered just off of Blake’s, urging her forward but giving her space to make her decision.

Is this really happening? Is this some kind of horny fever dream, or is this real? Blake’s mind raced. She was trembling, but Yang’s hands around her body radiated calm and support. I’ve trusted her hands on my body… can I trust them with my heart. Blake committed. Just as she was pressing forward to claim her prize, though, the chill of her finely-honed danger sense ran up her spine. Her hands on Yang’s waist felt the same tension bloom in her body, and the two Huntresses sprang apart, the rush of each other fading fast as their sharp eyes scanned their surroundings and their hands went for their weapons.

Chapter Text

The gasp of air being knocked out of Weiss’s lungs as she was slammed back against a tree left her lips slightly parted… and a feral gleam in her eyes as she gazed at where Ruby was panting in front of her. Entwining her arms behind her partner’s neck, she pulled in with an encouraging, insistent pressure. One of Ruby’s hands was braced against the bark next to her head, while the other traced the back of her hip; a perfect illustration of the storm of hesitation and desire she saw playing out in the woman’s eyes.

“What is it, Ruby?” she hummed huskily.

Yeah, what IS it, Ruby? the Huntress wondered as Weiss’s pale sapphire eyes sparkled up at her. Why are you holding back? The tension had been escalating between her and Weiss all afternoon, with increasingly-long and sensual touches, suggestive quips, and looks of obvious desire. It was clear that they both wanted each other, and badly; but Ruby was still struggling to let herself go and just… have her.

Weiss looked *so good*, and she wants you *so badly*! And you want her! And it’s not like we haven’t done sex stuff! Crazy sex stuff! But… this is different, isn’t it? Like, this isn’t walking in at the end of an anything-goes sex party where everyone is already into it and getting each other there. This is just the two of us. It’d be all on you, Rubes!

Do you actually know what you’re doing? What if you fuck it up? What if you do something *weird*, or just… can’t get Weiss off? What if you’re just bad at things? Gods, how much would that suck if she had to fake it? She would, too, so you wouldn’t feel bad. Would you even be able to tell?

I mean, it’s not like you’re actually a *real* girl, you don’t have the bits to know-

STOP IT, RUBES! You know that’s not true!

Okay sure, keep telling yourself that, wannabe.

FUCK!

“Ruby, hey!” Weiss ran her fingers down her partner’s jaw, pulling her up out of her spiral. “Where are you at? What do you need?”

Ruby groaned and flopped forward, pressing her forehead against Weiss’s. “I don’t know! Argh, Weiss, I’m sorry! I don’t know why I’m like this-”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Weiss murmured gently as she stroked the back of Ruby’s hair. “You aren’t ‘like this’, you’re Ruby , you’re my partner .”

“Yeah, but…” Ruby sniffled, “you deserve someone who’s confident and sexy and knows what they’re doing, and who you can actually have sex with instead of-”

Weiss’s lips crashed into hers, hard, as she very insistently pulled Ruby to her. Theirs was not a tender, exploratory kiss; Weiss’s mouth opened around Ruby’s lips as her tongue pressed against them, demanding admittance. A startled Ruby obliged, accepting Weiss into her with a soft moan. Her partner’s aggression crashed through the scrambled thoughts in her head and urged her body to take over, knowing what it wanted.

Ruby’s hands slid down Weiss’s waist, over her hips, and down to the back of her thighs. Understanding her thoughts, Weiss put her weight on her partner’s shoulders, and against the tree, and raised her legs to wrap her thighs around her. Moaning hungrily as Ruby cupped her ass, Weiss tugged her in and kissed her deeper, tongue reaching for the back of her mouth as Ruby’s twirled around it.

Eventually, the Huntresses needed air, and broke their kiss with a gasp. “Weiss…” Ruby’s voice trembled weakly, and Weiss playfully booped her on the nose.

“Ruby Rose… any time that beautiful, wonderful dolt brain of yours starts telling you you don’t deserve me, I want you to remember two things.” Weiss leaned in and pecked her on the lips. “First, don’t you ever forget that *I* get to decide who deserves me, okay?” She kissed her again. “And second, I want you to remember how I just kissed you, and that I. Choose. You.”

Their next kiss was tender, and almost painfully slow, as both women taunted each other in a tango of asking, denying, and taking. With each glide of their lips over each other’s, Ruby felt the anxiety in her unwinding a little more, and her enthusiasm taking over. With a low growl, she ground her hips forward. With a squeak, Weiss’s thighs lifted higher, and Ruby felt herself press against her core.

Grimm damnit, why did I wear pants today?! Weiss lamented to herself. She was hot enough between her legs to forget the biting cold, and she desperately wanted Ruby to have access to her now. She writhed her hips, the friction she got sending shots of pleasure sparking through her body. Whimpering, Weiss tugged at her top, fumbling buttons open until she was able to push her bra up and expose her breasts. 

Yet another reason I’m glad I’ve trained swinging a heavy weapon around all day! Ruby chuckled to herself as she took her partner’s weight with one hand, freeing her other hand to kneed Weiss’s tit. Their mouths broke free as Weiss gasped at Ruby rolling her nipple between her fingers. When she leaned back in, she dove to Ruby’s neck, biting and sucking at her delicate skin and delighting in every noise she could elicit from her.

Noises that contrasted sharply with the crashing and snuffling that was coming through the woods, punctuated by deep growls. “What the-” Weiss’s head jerked up from Ruby’s collar, while the other Huntress froze and listened intently. Seconds later, they looked at each with fear in their eyes.

“Grimm!” Weiss murmured. “And it’s big!”

“We need to go up, fast!”   Ruby replied.

“Jump, I’ll glyph us!” The two Huntresses separated and lept straight up with everything they had; a glyph materialized beneath them, giving them an opportunity to jump again. After repeating the process again, Weiss and Ruby finally gained purchase on a branch along the bottom of the autumnal canopy. Weiss re-buttoned her top and drew Myrtenaster just a lumbering black mass hove into view. 

A yellowed skull, marked by jagged spines protruding from its ridges, swung slowly back and forth as beady orange eyes scanned the woods. Behind it was a huge, oily black body that seemed to ripple with every step the beast took, the bone shards rising from it shuddering with each heavy step. Hot breath blasted away huge swaths of leaves as the Grimm huffed, clearly searching for the humans who had been in its path moments before.

“Is that an Ursa?!” Ruby hissed.

“It’s gotta be an Alpha,” Weiss answered, staring at the monstrosity below them. “It’s the size of a bus!” The partners glanced at each other worriedly; neither of them were cowards, and fighting Grimm was their job. But this was no mere Beowolf or Boarbatusk; this was the most monstrous Grimm either of them had ever seen. Catching Ruby’s eyes, Weiss slid her scroll out of her pocket and raised an eyebrow. 

Should we call this in? I’m pretty sure an Ursa the size of a tank… fuck, that thing could EAT a tank… constitutes an emergency! But… Ruby shook her head. I don’t want to be the team that panicked over a big Grimm and cried uncle. It’s not even attacking us; we might not even *have* to fight it.

The Grimm also wasn’t leaving, though. With a start, Ruby realized that she and Weiss had to be radiating fear, and that that had to be what was keeping the monster in the area. Reaching out, she took the other woman’s hand, giving her a squeeze and a reassuring smile. As she looked into the argent pools of Ruby’s eyes, Weiss understood exactly what she was communicating, and her partner’s bravery loosened the tightness in her chest. The heiress nodded back. 

We’ve got each other’s backs. The two of us can get through this together… we can take on anything, even giant Grimm bears! Because we’ll be safe, as long as we have each other .

As they held each other’s hands, Ruby and Weiss felt warmth and strength passing between them. A feeling that only grew as the Grimm below, giving a final growl, shuffled off into the woods. Several minutes after they heard its last stomp, the two Huntresses hopped down to the ground and embraced. This time, they were panting in relief, instead of desire.

“I am perfectly fine telling Goodwitch and your uncle that that thing is here as we leave, and letting them deal with it!” Weiss said as she leaned on Ruby’s shoulder.

“Honestly, same.” Ruby murmured back. “That thing was scarier than the Nevermore we took down during initiation! Maybe if we were all here…”

“Speaking of…” Weiss looked up in surprise as Blake and Yang came jogging into the clearing, weapons ready.

“Rubes! Weiss! You’re okay?” Yang yelled as she ran up to them.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“That is one big Grimm,” Blake murmured as she stared at the picture on Weiss’s scroll while Yang leaned over her shoulder. “I don’t blame you at all for deciding to hide instead of taking it on!”

Team RWBY was seated around their campfire… or rather, cuddled on one side of it, all sharing their blankets. The night was even chillier than the previous evening, and everyone wanted as much of Yang’s warmth as they could get. “Seriously, sis! I’m just glad you’re okay! Both of you!” the blonde added as she passed Weiss’s scroll back.

Weiss struggled to accept her device, seeing as how her hands were covered in sticky strands of melted marshmallow, dusted with graham cracker crumbs. A dribble of liquified chocolate dripped down her chin as she swallowed the gooey mass in her mouth. “Um, could you just… hold on to that for a minute?” she muttered. “I’m a bit indisposed here!”

Smirking, Blake ventured her arm out of the blanket pile to retrieve her own stick of toasted marshmallows and start squeezing them into the cracker-and-chocolate sandwiches. “I never would’ve imagined Vale had such amazing cuisine on offer! Seriously, you two, I think this just changed my life a little.”

“I still can’t believe neither of you had ever had s’mores before!” Ruby exclaimed as she licked her thumb clean. She was having a really, really hard time not staring at her partner. Something about the poised and sophisticated Weiss Schnee struggling to get sticky marshmallow off her fingers was… doing things … for Ruby. “Hey, um, Weiss? Hold still for a second…” Reaching out, she wiped the spot of chocolate off her partner with her finger; both of their eyes hovered on it for a moment before Ruby stuck it in her mouth and sucked it clean, and Weiss inhaled sharply. On the other side of Yang, Blake had also stopped mid-bite and was staring wide-eyed at Ruby as well, her eyes big and fully reflecting the firelight.

“Well this is awkward…” Yang muttered, snapping Ruby, Weiss, and Blake out of ogling each other.

“So, anyways!” Ruby chuckled, “how did you two just happen to come looking for us right when we were in trouble?”

Blake and Yang glanced at each other nervously. Neither of them had been able to explain how they’d known that Ruby and Weiss were in danger, how they’d had such a clear sense of it that it had snapped them out of the moment of passion they’d been in. Yang could at least claim some kind of ‘sister sense’, but Blake was truly at a loss. “We… we don’t know,” the faunus answered.

“We both just really, really knew you were in trouble, and started running from one of the marked sites along your route to the next one.” Yang scratched the back of her head. “For all the good it did, it’s not like we showed up in time.”

Weiss shook her head. “Honestly, I’m glad you didn’t get there sooner. If you had, you would’ve run into that Grimm… and who knows how that would’ve gone.”

Ruby felt the mood around the fire fall, and knew she had to do something about it. “Hey, none of that defeatism on my team, girls! Yeah, me and Weiss might have been outmatched by that Ursa, but… I believe we can take down anything together!” Yang, Blake, and Weiss all exchanged little grins. Their leader’s enthusiasm was definitely infectious. That was part of what made Ruby so special; you couldn’t help but feel better when you saw her smile.

“Still, it’s quite… odd … that sense you got,” Weiss murmured thoughtfully. “Not that I’m complaining, but…”

“Maybe it’s like, a team bonding thing. We start to get, I dunno, really dialed into each other?” Yang offered.

“That’d be pretty neat! And useful!” Ruby replied excitedly. Her next words were more somber. “And it’d be really useful in helping us keep each other safe.” Her eyes panned around to the other three girls. “I- I really care about you all, y’know? I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, ever!”

“You’re all really important to me, too,” Blake murmured, meeting everyone’s eyes with her warm amber gaze. 

“Samesies,” Yang nodded.

Weiss took a deep breath. “You all… Ruby, Yang… Blake… I don’t… I don’t know if I can put words to how much you all mean to me,” she said quietly. “You’re… you’re the first friends I’ve ever really had!” She smiled fondly. “I never knew what it was like to not be lonely until I came to Beacon and met you all.”

The only sound was the crackling of the campfire and the wind stirring the treetops around them, until Ruby sniffled wetly and threw her arms around her partner. “Weiss! That’s so- so-”

“C’mere, Snowflake!” Yang enveloped both of them in an embrace. Blake looked on hesitantly, clearly wanting to join her team’s display of affection but worried about getting that close to Weiss. The heiress was buried between the two sisters, her eyes closed as Yang pressed her head against her chest. Like she could feel Blake’s nervous gaze on her, Weiss’s eyes flickered open, and her bright blue eyes met the other faunus’s. They held each other’s stare for a long moment, until Weiss gave her a smile and a nod. Blake’s eyes softened with relief, and then she was across the space between them, pressing herself into the group hug until her forehead was against Weiss’s.

Each member of Team RWBY, at the same time, marveled at how incredibly right everything felt.

They also very quickly became aware of the fact that, in their scramble to embrace each other, they’d unmade their blanket cocoon, and were rapidly feeling the bitter chill of the night. Gathering up their coverings, the Huntresses quickly piled into the tent.

As the other girls floundered around looking for their bedclothes by scroll light, Yang looked up at the ceiling and hummed. With the tug of a zipper, a solid panel opened up, filling the tent with moonlight as the transparent ceiling piece was unveiled. “Oh, wow!” Blake gasped as she looked up. 

“I’ve never seen the night sky like this!” Weiss murmured. “There’s so many stars! So much color!”

“Oh, yeah, I’m sure you have a lot of light pollution up in Atlas, huh?” Ruby said as she rested her chin on Weiss’s shoulder, staring up at the incredible sight with her.

“Yeah… and don’t get me wrong, the Atlas skyline at night is beautiful. But it’s got nothing on… this .” They may have been staring up into the sparkling gems scattered across the velvety darkness of the night sky, but Weiss knew she was thinking at least as much about Ruby’s skin pressed against hers; her warm breath on her cheek, and the flowery scent of the dry shampoo she used on field missions. Reaching behind her, her hand found Ruby’s, and their fingers intertwined.

Blake was in the process of unhooking her bra, when she felt the tingly pressure of eyes on her, Peeking back over her shoulder, she saw Yang’s lilac eyes, brighter than usual in the silvery light of the moon, fixated on her. Her partner, in the midst of pulling the tank top she slept in on, quickly realized she’d been caught staring and, with an embarrassed gasp, began to avert her eyes… until she caught the coy smile Blake flashed her. With their gazes locked, the faunus, very slowly, finished removing her garment.

Yang swallowed hard as Blake rolled onto her hands and knees across the short space between them. As she slinked up into Yang’s space, her hand pressed against the other woman’s abs and started sliding up her torso. “Blake…” Yang murmured huskily.

“I believe we had some… unfinished business… from earlier?” Blake’s voice dripped with sex and left Yang burning to finish tearing their clothes off, but… Blake followed her gaze to where Weiss and Ruby were staring.

A question, the question that they didn’t need to verbalize, hung heavy in the suddenly-hot tent. It was Ruby who answered it, taking Weiss’s face in her hand and turning her sideways so she could kiss her. Her partner sank into it immediately, returning the kiss hungrily, and Blake and Yang turned back to each other. “Are you good?” Blake asked, her eyes wide and hopeful.

“Y-yeah… I guess we’re doing this, then,” Yang chuckled nervously, pulling her shirt back off over her head and pulling Blake into her. Their lips, and their breasts, crashed together as heat blossomed where their skin made contact. Yang reclined, bringing Blake with her, the faunus woman swinging her legs apart to straddle the blonde’s hips. She hissed as Yang’s fingers traced down her back, pushing under the hem of her underwear as her thigh rose to press between Blake’s legs. Blake settled back against it with a groan, wetness blossoming from the friction as she tugged Yang’s lower lip with her teeth.

Weiss had pulled Ruby into her lap, her partner straddling her and cupping her face as they continued to work their lips together. Ruby squealed delightfully as Weiss grabbed her ass and squeezed, before she took the hem of her shirt and pulled it up over her head. Weiss’s lips fell greedily to her breasts. Feeling her partner swelling against her belly, May’s words about affirming her played in Weiss’s head.

“Fuck, Ruby, I love sucking your tits!” Weiss moaned as her wet tongue swirled around her partner’s nipple, drawing a string of whimpers out of the girl in her lap. “They’re the perfect size, and so cute, and you’re so sensitive!” 

“W-Weiss!” Ruby stuttered, her fingers tangling in the snowy tresses of the other woman’s hair as her hips rocked.

Next to them, Yang raised her bottom into the air, allowing Blake to tug her panties down her legs. The faunus girl’s nimble fingers pressed against her belly, leaving Yang’s hips bucking as she, very slowly, slid them down towards her hot, wet slit. “Gods, Blake, p-please!” the blonde gasped, taking her partner’s forearm in her hand and trying to move her along faster.

Blake giggled and pushed back. “Hmmm, someone’s needy!” Deftly, she detoured her hand to Yang’s thigh, stroking down the inside of it and towards where her own core, now exposed after she’d kicked her underwear off, was grinding out a wet trail of slick. Pulling back from where she’d been nibbling Yang’s neck, her eyes sparkled mischievously as she gazed down at her. “Gonna make me?”

Yang’s eyes went wide, and Blake could’ve sworn she saw a flash of red in them as she grinned up at her. Taking her hand again, Yang shoved Blake’s fingers forcibly down to her cunt, demanding that her partner get her fingers into her folds. Blake gasped with excitement and couldn’t bring herself to tease Yang any longer; curling her fingers, she sank them into the blonde’s entrance. A stuttering cry escaped Yang’s lips as her back arched up into Blake.

Ruby was on her back, squirming beneath Weiss’s touch as she kissed her way across her belly. When her mouth and fingers came to the hem of her partner’s underwear, Weiss looked up and checked in. “May I?” she asked, tugging the garment with clear intent. Biting her lip, Ruby nodded. Smiling, Weiss slide her panties down, exclaiming with glee when Ruby’s cock popped free and was already at attention for her. “And this adorable bit?”

Taking a deep breath, Ruby went inside her head. You want this! It’s Weiss, she wants you and you trust her and it’s okay for her to touch you.

“If not, it’s okay… but I’d really like to make you feel good, Ruby.” Weiss’s fingers traced along the crease between Ruby’s thigh and her hip.

“...okay, yeah,” Ruby finally answered breathily. Grinning, Weiss made sure Ruby was watching as she licked her hand wetly before wrapping it around her tip. Carefully thinking back to the videos she’d watched, Weiss stroked, pulling down the soft skin over Ruby’s excited head. It glistened before her, already moistened with precum, and she ran her thumb around it while Ruby twitched and stuttered out cries.

Weiss didn’t need to ask if it felt good; Ruby was writhing under her, and she could feel every jerk of her cock in her hand. The heiress focused on maintaining a steady stroke, enjoying the view of Ruby’s body heaving as she worked. It felt magical ; not just having so much control over what her lover was feeling, but knowing she was helping Ruby experience something amazing that her dysphoria had denied her for so long. 

“Gods, Weiss, it’s… it’s so… fuck!”

Blake glanced over at the other members of Team RWBY, happiness glowing in her over seeing that Ruby was getting to experience some pleasure of her own. Yang curling up under her, though, brought her attention back to what she was doing. “Fuck, Blake, I’m s-s-so close!” Yang gasped, her fingers scraping at Blake’s back as the tightness in her belly became almost unbearable. 

“Yeah? Come apart for me, Yang. I want all of you,” she murmured to her partner as she ran her tongue up the shell of her ear, thrusting the three fingers she’d gotten into her deeper. Yang groaned deeply as her tight muscles were forced to stretch for Blake, which broke into a high scream as she came. The faunus woman suckled her pulse point, unable to do much more than wiggle her fingers with how firmly Yang was clenched around her. The pleasure Yang was feeling echoed through her as well, every heave and spasm of her body against Blake’s eliciting a sympathetic response. It was like Blake could almost feel what her partner was feeling.

Which just kind of makes sense, when you think about it, Blake mused as she helped Yang ride through her orgasm. With everything we’ve already shared, and how in-sync our bodies are from all our training, of course my vivid imagination… and everything I feel for her… would fill in the blanks!

She brushed the sweat off Yang’s brow as the other girl shuddered and relaxed beneath her, leaning down to kiss her nose. “How was that, babe?” she murmured as Yang pulled her down to cuddle under her arm.

“Fucking… wow …” Yang’s voice was drunk with afterglow, but she bent her head to kiss Blake’s forehead as she reached over and traced her hipbone teasingly. “How are you so amazing, Blake?”

Blake rolled her eyes. “You’re such a flatterer after you get your brains scrambled, huh?”

“Nuh-uh,” Yang mumbled. “You’re amazing all the time. Maybe you’re just… oh-mazing now.” Amber eyes glared at her as she smirked. “Do ya get it? ‘Oh-mazing’?”

“No. No, I don’t get it.”

“Well, you see, because you just gave me a-”

“ No.”

Their banter was interrupted by a commotion on the other side of the tent. “You’re so hot, Ruby, I want it!” Weiss said encouragingly as she vigorously pumped Ruby’s shaft. 

And I really, really want to! Gods, I’ve never wanted to come so badly in my life! But it was like some blockade had manifested in Ruby’s stuff, some tether keeping her from going over the frustrating edge she could almost taste. It feels so *good* but it’s *wrong* I mean it’s not but it is it’s not me and ugh I’ve got to come or Weiss is going to be so disappointed… Ruby redoubled her efforts, trying her best to focus on how great Weiss jerking her felt, and how amazing a climax would be… but the harder she tried, the more she felt herself losing it. After a moment, she rolled away in frustration. 

“Ugh! I just… *can’t*, I’m so sorry, Weiss!”

Truth be told, Weiss was disappointed. She really wanted to share this with Ruby, share the intimacy of an orgasm with each other, let this remarkable woman feel all the warmth and trust and affection she felt when someone else got her off. And sure, her pride was hurt a little bit… but that paled in comparison to knowing that Ruby was struggling with an identity crisis and self-esteem and who knew what else. Weiss lunged, grabbing her partner and pulling her up into a tight hug. “Remember? No apologies allowed! I want *you* to feel good, Ruby… and if you can’t get to where you want to be, well, I get the feeling that, at this point, we’ll be trying this again sometime…”

Tears moistened the corners of Ruby’s eyes as she kissed Weiss. This time, it was an embrace of affection and caring rather than passion. As their lips parted, Weiss cupped Ruby’s head against her shoulder. “Thank you, Weiss. So much. I don’t deserve- nope, you’re gonna snap at me for that! I’m just… so glad you’re my partner.”

“Dolt,” Weiss murmured affectionately, sniffling back the tears threatening her own eyes. 

The partners looked up as Blake cleared her throat softly. “You know, I was just thinking… if you’re open to it, of course… what if we switch things up a little bit?” Her eyes were wide with desire as she ran her tongue across the back of her teeth. “Weiss, you go with Yang… Ruby, would you like to be with me?”

Ruby and Weiss looked at each other, silently checking in to gauge each other’s feelings and make sure neither of them would feel slighted. Neither of them had any trouble registering the interest in each other’s eyes, and with some awkward shuffling of naked limbs the situation in the tent was rearranged.

“Hi,” Blake whispered to Ruby as they took each other in their arms.

“Um, hi?” 

Blake chuckled. “So, Ruby… is there anything that you’d like to do with me? Anything that’d get *you* hot and excited?” She stroked the younger Huntress’s thigh by way of encouraging her to share her desires.

“Eee! I, um, well…” Ruby’s eyes darted furtively, looking everywhere but at Blake, until the faunus leaned in and calmed her with a kiss.

“Whatever it is, Ruby, it’s okay! I asked, because I want to have fun with you.”

Ruby sucked in a breath and nodded. “Okay, right. Blake… can I g-go down on you?”

Blake smiled warmly as she brushed her teammate’s hair back from her face, her ears turned down playfully. “Of course, Ruby! But first, come here and kiss me.” The two came together, with a little initial stiffness from Ruby that quickly relaxed away as Blake gently teased her lips open with her tongue. Hands began exploring over each other’s thighs and hips until Ruby moved up and cupped Blake’s breast.

“Is it bad that I’ve been- been thinking about how nice yours are since… that night?” Ruby murmured as she kneaded Blake, the faunus pressing her shoulders back to shove herself forward into her lover’s hands while she moaned appreciatively. She couldn’t help but giggle at Ruby’s question, though.

“No, not at all. I’m actually kind of flattered!”

Ruby felt like her ears were on fire, but Blake’s amused expression pulled her lips into a smile as well. “Me, I’m just jealous! I’d love to have your boobs!”

“Hmmm, I’m a fan of yours, honestly,” Blake mused as she traced around Ruby’s nipple with her fingers, delighting at how the girl twitched when she brushed over the sensitive bud. “Do you know how bad my boob sweat gets after a fight?!”

Laughing, they kissed again. This time, Ruby went on to move down Blake’s jaw to her neck, which her teammate stretched luxuriantly to provide her maximum access. Experimentally, Ruby pulled the skin up between her teeth and bit down, just enough to elicit a sharp, pleased gasp from Blake. She continued her descent down Blake’s body until her face was making a trail of kisses between her breasts. Sighing, Ruby rubbed her cheek against the warm, incredibly supple flesh; with a giggle, Blake squeezed her tits together so that Ruby’s face was buried in her cleavage. Wiggling her face back and forth, Ruby made hungry and delighted noises until Blake was laughing so hard she fell backwards. Their eyes locked as Ruby pounced on her, flashing with fresh playfulness as the younger Huntress began to kiss her way down again towards where Blake’s spread legs awaited her.

“Hey there, Sunshine,” Weiss said as she swung her leg over Yang’s hips and straddled her.

“Well hello, Snow Angel!” Yang grinned, running her hands up Weiss’s cream-pale thighs. “Couldn’t stay away and had to come back for more, huh?”

Weiss rolled her eyes. “Well, if you just want me to leave, I can…” She very deliberately ran her hands back through her hair as she spoke, stretching her belly and her breasts taught in full view of the woman beneath her. The needy whine she provoked gave her her answer. With a little smirk, she leaned down and kissed Yang where her jaw joined her neck. “That’s more like it,” she cooed.

You know Yang, you really seem to have a thing for spicy women getting on top of you and driving the action, huh? Yang mused to herself as she tilted her head to open her neck and shoulder to Weiss’s ministrations, each brush of her lips its own little sweet torture as it both lit up her nerves with exhilaration… and tickled a bit. People are going to start saying you have a type!

…maybe I do have a type? Maybe it’s Blake and Weiss… Because as much as the tension that simmered between herself and Blake thrilled Yang, she really enjoyed seeing the clear sky sapphires that were Weiss’s eyes stare at her with desire, and running her hands over her slender dancer’s body.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the heiress’s teeth tugged at her earlobe, on the opposite side of her head from where she’d started, having traced a trail of suckles all the way across her collarbone. Squealing breathily, Yang squeezed Weiss’s ass hard in her hands, pulling her down against herself firmly enough to feel the heat between her slick-soaked thighs. With an aroused humm, Weiss whispered lascivious words into her ear. “Can I… can I sit on your face?”

Yang’s breath hitched loudly in her chest as her half-lidded eyes flew open. “Um, you… you want to try that?” Weiss bit her lip and nodded. “I’ve only ever seen it in porn so no guarantees I know what I’m doing, but… sure!”

As she leaned back, Weiss scooted up until Yang’s ample breasts were squeezed between her thighs, and then continued forward still further. Nervousness and embarrassment that she thought she was over made Weiss’s cheeks burn. Even after my whole heat affair, THIS feels so… so exposed! She almost rolled off and abandoned the idea, but when she looked down, Yang’s smile gazed back up at her, gorgeous face and eager eyes sparkling in the center of the radiant golden splay of her hair. Her confidence bolstered by her lover’s evident desire, Weiss finished mounting Yang’s head and lowered herself down.

Blake tossed her head back and moaned throatily as Ruby’s tongue finally moved from drawing little patterns on her inner thigh to lap the whole length of her slit, pushing her folds aside just a bit until, at its apex, she flicked it against her clit. Blake’s hand was instantly in Ruby’s hair, tangling into her dark brunette and red locks as it took all of the faunus’s self-control to let her teammate work, when her body was screaming for her to just shove Ruby’s mouth into her.

As Ruby sucked on where she was really hoping Blake’s clit was- and judging by the faunus’s response, she’d nailed it- her emotions ran bittersweet. Gods, I love doing this so much! The smell! The taste! How soft and delicate it all is and the amazing noises they make at every little thing you do… 

I really wish I had one.

And maybe someday, she would. There were excellent surgical options available… but even the best surgeon in Remnant couldn’t magically grow her the thousands of additional nerve endings that a cis woman had in her clit, or make her gush with arousal like Blake was for her. Not to mention, it was a *very* complicated surgery that, even with a strong aura, would have Ruby out of action for months. Can I afford to take that time off? How many people might get hurt, or worse, while I’m laying around in bed getting the sex parts I want put in?

Even as she ground her hips down to stimulate her half-erect cock a little, Ruby fumed at it for being part of her. Grimm damnit, all you’re really good for is peeing standing up!

A whimper from Blake brought her back to what she was doing, and Ruby wrapped her arms under her teammate’s thighs to grip her hips while she swirled her tongue firmly in the folds of beautifully sensitive flesh. Blake’s fingers pulled at Ruby’s hair again, which she absolutely loved … Hmmm, I bet Yang hates that though. ANYTHING that messes with her hair OH MY GODS RUBY WHY ARE YOU EVEN THINKING ABOUT THAT?! Blake! Blake’s pussy! Giving Blake a mind-emptying orgasm!

…do other people’s minds wander this ridiculously during sex, or is it just another way I’m busted?

Ruby redoubled her efforts to get the best cries and gasps out of Blake that she could, giving herself just a moment to ground her focus with how warm and sensual the faunus woman’s thighs felt against her cheeks before pouring all of her attention into what she was doing. She’d heard once that you could make your tongue more varied and stimulating by trying to write out the alphabet with it, so she did that. Ruby’s brain was just starting to wander down the path of contemplating how to do the letters without retracing anything when Blake began panting faster and harder, each breath accompanied by a cry that, taken as a whole, was a plea to take her over her edge.

When Weiss’s eyes came down from rolling back in her head, she glanced over at where her partner and Blake were fucking. Ruby’s face was buried deep between Blake’s legs, and the other faunus’s face was screwed up with all the signs of an orgasm on the threshold of exploding and catapulting her into the heights of sensation… but somehow, Blake managed to open her eyes and notice Weiss watching her. Yang’s hands driving her hips down to let the blonde’s tongue get even deeper inside of her made it very hard to focus on anything else, but Weiss managed to flash Blake a smile.

Blake grinned back, and in the brief intimacy of that shared connection, it felt like a little more healing passed between them. If Weiss’s brain hadn’t been getting increasingly scrambled by the way Yang’s tongue was twirling inside of her and her lips mouthing back and forth over her clit, she might have even cherished the moment. As it was, though, the incredible things Yang was doing to her were already making her see stars, and the tension that had been rising from her belly like a storm-tossed reservoir felt like it was on the verge of breaching any second.

Blake and Weiss came almost simultaneously, neither able to tell who’s scream of release precipitated who’s. Weiss felt like she was worshiping the stars themselves as her head tossed back towards the transparent tent roof, and the distant colors between them blended with the vibrant storm that had consumed her mind as all of her nerves drowned under wave after wave of ecstasy. Blake, for her part, felt like she was soaring, pirouetting through bright clouds that flashed with wild lights as Ruby kept up what she was doing with her tongue, teasing out every bit of climax she had in her. It was all too much , and Blake craved the end and the warm haze of afterglow, while also never wanting the moment to end. 

Gradually, her release ebbed, and Blake’s mind sank back to reality as she became aware of her surroundings again. She felt Ruby slide up alongside her, cuddling her head into the crook of Blake’s neck, and she wrapped an arm around her lover and squeezed her tight. “You want me to do something for you, Ruby?” she asked gently. “I’m more than happy to…”

Ruby shook her head. “No… thanks, but I think I’m good for now.” She blew out her cheeks and sighed. “I think I’ve still got some stuff to work on before… before I can really fully go with it, y’know?”

“Well when you are ready,” Weiss murmured as she spooned up against Ruby’s back, “I’m absolutely here to take you there.”

“Same,” Blake nodded.

Ruby squealed and blushed fiercely, something that only Blake could truly see, and mumbled “Thank you, both of you,” into the top of Blake’s tit.

A blanket was tossed across their bodies just as the heat of sex began to dissipate and remind the girls of just how cold it was outside, followed by the blessed heat of Yang snuggling up behind Weiss. “You’re welcome,” the blonde muttered as she nuzzled her face into Weiss’s hair.

“Thank you, Yang,” Blake, Weiss, and Ruby all sang out simultaneously as Team RWBY all cuddled into each other a little tighter, one by one quickly falling into a deep, sex-drunk slumber as warmth and contentment carried them off to their dreams.

Chapter Text

Yang snapped awake with a start, her heart racing at the unfamiliar sensation of being buried in warm bodies. Almost immediately though, a gentle wave of comfort and happiness enveloped her, soothing her anxiety and turning her panicked inhalation into a long, gentle sigh. The adorable, annoyed noise Weiss made in her sleep over the way Yang’s chest had hitched under her head definitely helped too.

That’s right. I’m with my girls. My team. My… gods, we’re gonna have to talk about whether ‘friends’ still works if we keep doing this, aren’t we?

Because… I really hope we CAN keep doing this. I don’t know what came over us all, spontaneous orgies don’t really feel like a totally normal thing, but… it was amazing! Her head filled with lurid visions of everything they’d just done together. Weiss snuffled again against her, and Yang grinned as she reached down and tucked the blanket in from where it had come loose around her teammate’s shoulders and unkempt, freshly-fucked halo of silver hair. The blonde couldn’t help but remember a time, when she and Ruby were much younger, that she’d pranked Ruby by mixing colorful hot sauce into whipped cream and convincing her sister that it was strawberry flavored. Ruby had taken a big mouthful without even being prompted… and the resulting wailing had gone on for over an hour. Her Uncle Qrow had lectured her really good for that one. That’s right… that was one of those times when Dad wasn’t really functional . A little pang of hurt went through her, but that was something Yang was pretty used to feeling when she thought about growing up.

And ‘spicy whipped cream’ kinda describes Weiss perfectly, doesn’t it? She’s constantly on the edge of blowing up about one thing or another… and it’s more fun than it probably should be to nudge her over that edge sometimes, especially when she gets indignant about rich girl stuff… but underneath her temper, she’s a sweet woman who cares a lot about her friends… and just has this general ‘cold stuff’ vibe that makes me think of whipped cream… Yang was suddenly envisioning eating an ice cream sundae off Weiss’s tits, and swiftly turned her head in the other direction.

Blake was casually laying against her, an adorable little open-mouthed pout on her face. Periodically, her ears flickered, not unlike Zwei’s did when he was sleeping. I wonder what she’s dreaming about? Yang mused. Probably spicy fish & noodle soup… but maybe me? Us? Blake had Yang thinking about a peculiar mental image; sitting on the porch on a muggy summer night, with rain pattering on the roof. Just the right kind of warm that left you shifting and fidgeting because you needed something , and the rhythm of the rain was calling out to you, inviting you to go get soaked dancing in the cool waters and let the sweet darkness embrace you.

I’m so glad you came into my life, Blake. And you, Weiss…

Of course, pondering Blake meant acknowledging Ruby, her face nuzzled into the faunus’s belly with a cherubic smile. The same smile she’d been telling bedtime stories to and kissing goodnight for most of her life. Literally, her earliest memory.

“Yang! Come meet your new baby sister!” Tai called from the front door. Yang was supposed to be in bed… but, as usual, Uncle Qrow hadn’t managed to put her to sleep before he himself had passed out on the couch. Yang jumped up from the fantastically-choreographed fight her dolls had been having and ran to where her dad was supporting a weary-looking Summer Mom and the little bundle she held close to her chest. They’d left for the hospital two days ago, and Yang had been a bundle of nervous anticipation the entire time.

“Hey there Yang,” Summer Mom winced as she crouched down to Yang’s level. Even at her tender young age, Yang could tell the woman was really tired… but she was also radiating happiness. She turned the blankets she was holding around, and Yang stared in wide-eyed wonder. “This is your new sister.” The tiny face, fresh-scrubbed pink skin topped with a little bang of dark brown hair protruding from her swaddling clothes. Her eyes glistened like shiny silver coins as they took in Yang’s face with bright curiosity.

“What’s her name?” Yang murmured reverently, like even talking too loud might somehow break the baby.

“Her name is Ruby,” her dad answered proudly.

Summer Mom smiled as she held Ruby out to her, keeping a supporting hand under her while Yang took her in her arms, just like they’d practiced. “She’s going to be a very special little girl, just like you are. And she’s going to need her big sister to love her and take care of her. Can you do that?”

Yang’s voice trembled as she nodded. “I will, Momma! I promise!”

Tai’s breath hitched in his chest as tears welled in Summer’s eyes, although Yang was too busy staring down at her sister to notice. “She… that’s the first time she’s called me ‘Mom’...” Summer’s voice was barely a whisper as Tai knelt next to her and enfolded her shoulders in his big, strong arms.

Ruby made a bubbly giggle as she reached out and touched her tiny fingers to Yang’s nose.

Yang’s eyes were misty as she watched the gentle sink and swell of Ruby’s cheeks as she breathed. She was used to the warmth that filled her chest when she stared at her little sis, and she certainly never got tired of it. But what she felt now was something more, something indescribable. Yang would always be Ruby’s number one protector, the one who cherished her and defended her and loved her through whatever dark storms they faced. But, as she watched Blake’s sleepy fingers curl gently in her sister’s red-dyed locks, she really started to  believe that she might not be alone in that.

Not surprisingly, the RWBYs got a slow start to their morning, with no one wanting to leave the pile of blankets and warm skin until Yang decided that listening to Weiss fret about not getting their assignment done was worse than braving the morning chill. Not wanting to take the time to cook properly, they opted for breakfast bars and coffee made with hot cocoa packets. Yang’s anecdote about inventing the “poor girl’s mocha” when she was seven and she and Ruby were left alone for a week produced horrified cringes from Weiss and Blake, but their last full day of field exercises was a bad time to try and dig into the therapy that Yang and Ruby clearly could benefit from.

“Alright, everyone have some of Weiss’s Dust flares? I’d rather not rely on getting lucky feeling bad vibes if one of us gets in trouble again… that mega-Ursa is still around somewhere!” Ruby quizzed her team as they double-checked their weapons. While Yang and Blake nodded, she noticed her partner shuffling sheepishly. “Weiss, what’s up?”

“It’s, um…” the heiress scuffed her boots for a moment. “Just… I was thinking, for the sake of team interoperability, what if we mixed up partners for today?” She looked meaningfully at the team’s other faunus. “I, um, kinda want to talk to Blake…”

Ruby and Yang both raised eyebrows at their feline teammate, who nodded after a moment. “Sure, that’s actually a good idea!” Ruby approved.

“Woo hoo! The Xiao Long-Rose sisters ride again!” Yang whooped, pumping a fist in the air.

Weiss groaned and buried her face in her hands. “Ugh, this was a horrible mistake. Please, don’t burn the whole damn forest down!”

“No promises!” the blonde chuckled.

After an awkward pause, both Blake and Weiss kissed Yang and Ruby goodbye, leaving everyone with flushed cheeks but happy grins as they set out on their routes.

Moments of quiet between Ruby and Yang were a pretty rare occurrence; being loud was just second nature to both of them, and they almost always had something to talk about. But as they strode through the Forever Fall towards their first marked tree, Yang with the heavy sap extractor slung over her shoulder, awkward silence reigned between the sisters. 

When they finally reached the giant tree, having to talk through setting up the extractor at least broke the ice. Both girls had a knack for engineering, and roundly cursed whatever design committee had written the absolutely useless instructions they’d been given. When they finally sorted it out, Ruby commenting on the streaks of crystalized red sap running down the tree’s bark gave Yang an opportunity to share Blake’s story from the day before… which she almost regretted, given how much it upset Ruby. Finally, though, the extractor was pumping away dripping a trickle of the precious red liquid into their storage jug, and the sisters had nothing to do but sit down and wait for it to work.

“So…” Yang began.

“How’s school?” Ruby quickly blurted out.

“Really, Rubes? We’re in all the same classes. And it’s my job as your older sister to keep track of how you’re doing with your grades!”

“Yeah, but it’s my job as team leader to keep up with how my team is doing!”

After a moment of staring, Yang gave a weary sigh. “Alright, fine. Do you want to just skip what I’m sure could be a lot of painful dodging the question and just talk about IT?”

Ruby flopped her head back against the tree she was leaning against. “...okay, yeah, let’s get it over with.” She swallowed and closed her eyes. “Having sex at the same time is really fucking weird , right?” she spat out as fast as she could speak.

“Absolutely very fucking weird! Never in a million years did I imagine that this is the direction our lives would go! Like, okay, fine, the first time was one thing, but we were taking care of Weiss and everything was crazy and I can write that off as a very unique situation, but…”

“...but last night we straight-up chose this-”

“Nothing about this situation is straight, Rubes.”

“ Yaaannngg!”

“What, I’m just saying!”

“Gods, Weiss is right, you’re insufferable!”

“That’s not what she was calling me last night…”

“AARGH!”

“Okay, fine, fine! Just… trying to lighten this ridiculous situation!” Yang groaned. “But… you’re right. Last night we just… decided to do that.” She looked at Ruby with a genuine unsettledness in her eyes that the younger woman rarely got to see. “Does that make us freaky perverts or something?”

Ruby rubbed her eyes tiredly. “That’s what I’ve been simultaneously thinking and trying not to think about. And I just…” she looked into the concerned violet storm raging in Yang’s gaze. Ruby really wanted to just throw this whole thing to her big sister and let her tell her what to feel about it, but… I’ve relied on her to sort things out when it gets tough a lot, haven’t I? I mean, it’s not my fault, it’s not like I’ve asked her to, she’s kind of just- done it. But I can tell she’s *really* flustered by all of this… and I’m a big girl now. I think it’s my turn. “...I don’t think we are, Yang.”

The look of relief on Yang’s face was palpable. “...you really don’t?”

Shaking her head, Ruby continued. “Nope! I mean, it’s not like we’re doing stuff together …”

Yang made an exaggerated gagging sound. “No offense.”

“Absolutely none taken. And I’m definitely not thinking about you!”

“Same! You’re just, there , doing your thing too!”

“Exactly! And like, we could try to split up, but…” Ruby wrung her hands nervously, feeling like the territory was getting dicier. “...I don’t really think that would be fair to Weiss and Blake?”

“Y-yeah, me neither,” Yang nodded in agreement. “Again, it’s still fucking weird , both of us being with both of them, but…”

They locked eyes in the incredibly intense way that only two siblings could.

“...yeah,” Ruby continued. “I- I kind of like that, too. Like… I- I really like them both! And… it makes me feel really warm and fuzzy that they care about you, too…”

“...and that I care about them just like you do,” Yang finished their thought, and both sisters nodded. “We’re sharing something, someones , really important to both of us, that we both… like a lot.”

Ruby giggled. “Kind of like when Dad taught us to ‘think about each other’ when it came to sharing the spaghetti bowl?”

Yang almost choked on the swig she was taking from her canteen. “Ruby, please do not compare our girlfriends to a bowl of spaghetti!”

“You’re right, you’re right, that doesn’t work… after all, I’m the only one with meatballs…”

Yang screeched and shook her canteen at her sister, trying to spray her with water. “Transphobia! Transphobia!”

“I thought we agreed that I can’t hate crime myself!?” Ruby squealed as she rolled sideways to evade the stream of ice-cold water.

“I never conceded that point!” Their raucous laughter did a lot to dispel the tension that had hung over their conversation so far, and both sisters relaxed as they caught their breath. “So, um, because I’ve been trying very hard to not pay attention… how’s that going?”

Although the ‘actually having sex’ part of it was new, Yang had made it very clear that she would always be a safe person for Ruby to talk about her body and her unique gender issues with. From helping her pick out her first bras and panties, to introducing her to the wonders of sapphic porn, Ruby knew she could be vulnerable with and trust Yang completely. “It’s… frustrating? Like… Weiss and Blake have both been… enthusiastic and willing , but… I haven’t really *done* anything yet. I want to, but every time we start, the dysphoria hits me like a boarbatusk and I… lose it.”

“Shit, that sucks Rubes, I’m sorry.” Yang blew out her cheeks as she pondered the problem. “I don’t think your big sis can give you much advice on this one, except that it’s pretty clear both Blake and Weiss really are into you, as you are, so…”

“Yeah, it’s definitely a me thing, not a them thing,” Ruby agreed, hugging her knees to her chest. “I think it’s… just something I’ve got to work through myself, you know?” She raised an eyebrow at Yang. “Also… our girlfriends? Was there a conversation sometime that I missed here?”

Yang scratched the back of her head as she shrugged. “Nah… maybe I’m just getting ahead of myself… but, I mean, we gotta call this something, right?”

Twiddling her thumbs, Ruby nodded slowly. “I suppose so… at least, we do if we’re gonna keep doing it…” She gave Yang a querying look. “...do you want to keep doing this?”

Closing her eyes, Yang tried to ponder the question. Truthfully, though, she already had her answer. She just… needed to say it. When Yang opened her eyes, they were as clear and bright as her smile. “Yeah. Yeah, I really do!”

“Me too,” Ruby grinned. “I wanna keep being with them, Yang. Sex stuff, and… gods, relation-y stuff!” The Huntress kicked her feet and squealed. “Girlfriends!”

“Girlfriends!” Yang giggled. “Although… I suppose we should probably clarify that with the other ladies in question, huh?”

“I suppose,” Ruby chuckled. “Hey, do you think they’re having this same conversation about us?”

Yang puffed out her cheeks. “Maybe? Although, I kinda hope they talk about their other stuff first… Weiss and Blake need to clear the air between them, I think, before we can really all start figuring this out together.” 

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Maybe if I stop sitting on big rocks and staring off into the distance pensively, I’ll stop having to deal with these kinds of life-changing moments. Of course, Blake knew that was a silly idea. But, as she sat atop a rock on the edge of the serene pond Weiss and hers first tree was next to, watching leaves dance a slow ballet through the gentle eddies of the water, Blake couldn’t help but think back to that fateful day she and him had been in the Forever Fall, waiting to attack the SDC cargo train. How she’d perched on a rock in the sunlight, trying to focus on sketching in her journal as her mind tore itself apart over what she was going to do.

She still believed, passionately, in the cause of the White Fang. Being ‘model faunus’ and hoping the human kingdoms decided to start treating them as equals wasn’t enough. They’d been given the most useless hunk of land the kingdoms could find with Menagerie; it was clear that they just wanted the ‘faunus problem’ out of sight and out of mind. And Blake knew her people were strong, that under her father’s leadership they’d succeed in carving a new life for themselves on that island. But that did nothing for all the faunus who hadn’t wanted, or hadn’t been able, to uproot themselves and move.

And… what will happen in the future, if we discover a big reserve of Dust here? Or if the Grimm problem keeps getting worse and the humans need somewhere new to live. What’s going to stop them from just… taking it all back… unless we *force* them to respect us as equals? And hopefully, someday, that won’t even be a question anymore. The old divide will be long forgotten, and we can all live in peace with each other.

But until that happens, faunuskind needs to stand up for itself, and to protect those of us who can’t protect themselves!

But… he’s going too far.

Blake knew she could throw herself down a a deep, dark hole of reviewing how they’d fallen apart, how the break in their values had poisoned their relationship and brought us to this point. She knew she shouldn’t do that, that if she let herself ruminate the distress would become evident on her face and he’d know she was thinking of doing something drastic. They’d made love- no, it was just sex, he wasn’t making anything with her -in their tent last night. He was content with the dutiful smile on her face and focused on their mission. It gave her the space to think.

What was she going to do?

“Blake… it’s time.”

“Hey there, Blake.”

She snapped out of her memories as Weiss sprung up onto the stone next to her, alighting with her dancer’s grace and poise before seating herself. Close, but not too close. “Hey, Weiss. Get the extractor set up?”

“Yeah, it’s running. I think it’s supposed to take an hour, but the sap seems like it’s coming out pretty quick, so we might be done sooner.” Weiss paused for a moment. “That old tree must’ve seen a lot to be that full of untapped potential, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I bet,” Blake smiled and nodded. She thought about sharing the story of the red trees that she’d told Yang yesterday. She wanted to tell Weiss. Weiss was her friend… and, maybe, more… and it was part of her heritage, too. But if she suggested we team up so we can talk about what I think she wants to talk about… about *us*... then ‘Hey here’s a story about how your ancestors betrayed and murdered my ancestors, who also happen to be your ancestors that you’re struggling to accept’... yeah, probably not the best opener.

“What are we looking at?” Weiss gestured out to the pond with her delicate chin.

“Oh, nothing much. Just… thinking and watching the leaves drift around.”

Weiss nodded. “It is beautiful, isn’t it? This whole place, really…”

“Yeah…”

Silence fell between the teammates again as they both watched the the swirls of color on the water, stealing glances at each other that they pretended were surreptitious, even though they both noticed each other taking them.  Weiss chewed her lip, trying to find the nerves to start the conversation. Because this is your talk to start. Come on, you can do this. You can’t run a company someday if you can’t start a chat with your friend!

And Weiss knew that she wanted to keep Blake as a friend… get her back as more than a friend. For that, for her , she’d do this, no matter how hard it felt.

“Blake… can we talk about what happened?”

The other faunus closed her eyes and let out a tremulous breath. She’d known that this was coming, but that didn’t make it any easier. “...yeah. Okay, let’s do it.” She turned those big golden eyes that reminded Weiss of a snifter of fine brandy warming over a flame towards the heiress.

“Right… Blake, when you attacked me… it was terrifying and it hurt and part of me still hurts from it. I know I still reflexively flinch at you sometimes, and I know you see that. And I don’t know how long it might take to heal that… but I want to.” Weiss’s eyes were the vibrant blue of an autumn afternoon sky as she forced herself to meet Blake’s gaze. “Because Blake, I forgive you. It might take my body some time yet still, but I want you to know that, in my heart, I already have. You’ve become so important to me, and I- I want to keep you in my life, Blake!”

Weiss’s words hung in the air between the two teammates for a long moment as their eyes searched each other, testing the waters of what had just been said. And then…

“ Weiss!” Blake sobbed as she threw herself across the space between them, wrapping the other faunus in an embrace and burying her face in her shoulder. Weiss didn’t so much as hesitate, she practically caught Blake in her arms and pulled her in, pressing her face into the ebon cascade of her hair as tears began to flow.

“I’m so sorry , Weiss! No matter how set off I was, that’s not an excuse for hurting you! And I swear, I’m going to do whatever it takes to earn your trust back!”

“You’ve already got it, Blake,” Weiss murmured into her locks. “You never lost it.” She squeezed the other Huntress as firmly as she could, trying to absorb the trembles wracking her body into herself.

“H-how can you even say that?! I almost killed you-”

“But you didn’t, and you weren’t yourself! Blake… we haven’t known each other terribly long, but… I already know in my heart that the real Blake Belladonna is bright, and caring, and has a wicked snarky streak under that warm, beautiful exterior of yours…”

Blake snorted as they leaned back from each other just a little, only enough to rest their foreheads together. “Well now you’re just trying to flatter me, Schnee.”

Weiss chuckled softly. “Well of course I am! I need to butter you up so I can…” suddenly, her throat was painfully dry, and she swallowed as hard as she could trying to move any saliva in to relieve it. “...so I can kiss you again.”

Her teammate’s eyes got huge for a moment before the lids fluttered low. “Oh? Well, I hate to tell you, you’ve wasted your compliments, then.” Blake raised her hand to brush her fingertips lightly over Weiss’s cheek, smiling at the little shiver she elicited. “You can do that whenever you’d like.”

Weiss’s first instinct was to grab Blake’s face and start making out with her immediately. But, the Weiss who’d read lots of steamy romance stories intervened. I think this is one of those moments where, if you take it slow and tender, it can get so much hotter. So instead, she bit her lip just slightly and fluttered her eyelashes. The two girls’ faces were already very close, and as she caught the impish expression on Weiss’s face, Blake’s irises blew out in arousal.

“Well then… there is one thing I’m going to insist on, though,” the heiress murmured.

“Oh?”

Leaning in and letting her face brush against Blake’s, Weiss whispered breathily in her ear. “Close your eyes, and let me kiss you first.”

Blake’s breath caught in her throat, but she did as she was told. Weiss took a moment to reflect on the faunus’s face; the warm, bright earth tone of her skin, soft over her features, the gold of her almond eyes shuttered behind dark lashes and her lips slightly parted and read. Lightly securing Blake’s chin with her fingers, Weiss leaned in and, very slowly, claimed her lower lip. She worked her own lips over the plump, warm flesh, moistening it with the tip of her tongue as she gently tugged. A whine rose in Blake’s throat and she started to press forward into Weiss’s mouth, but a gentle push back on her chin made it clear Weiss wanted her to stay in place. 

Weiss pulled back on Blake’s lip until she released it with a soft ‘pop’, drawing a gasp from her teammate’s chest that she quickly covered as she repeated her tease on her top lip. This time, instead of tugging, she put her tongue to further use and pushed in until she was tracing Blake’s teeth, whimpering herself a little bit at the sensation on her sensitive tip.

That was all the signal it took to break Blake’s obedient restraint. This time, she lunged forward for Weiss’s lips more insistently, and the heiress allowed her to close the kiss. Their lips fully locked together, they pressed into each other greedily, roving hands tugging at collars and seams to emphasize their desire for each other. Their tongues met as well, hot and wet and demanding as the two young women explored each other’s mouths. Weiss squealed as Blake shifted her into her lap, straddling her thigh and grinding down hard with her core. “I missed you last night,” Weiss gasped in a brief moment when their mouths separated.

“Fuck, I missed you too, Weiss,” Blake growled back, her hands grasping her lover’s ass and lamenting the thickness of their cold-weather clothing. “I missed you so bad that I *almost* don’t care how cold it is right now…”

“Yeah? What do you want to do with me?” Weiss murmured playfully.

Blake was about to say something incredibly dirty and hot when a loud wolf whistle interrupted them.

“Hot damn, boys, looks like we hit the jackpot!” a gruff, crass voice called out.

Weiss and Blake leapt apart and spun towards the intrusion, hands flying to their weapons.

“Now now, no need for that, girls!” Cardin Winchester hooted from the head of his team of goons. “Please, don’t stop on our account!” All four members of Team CRDL, weapons already drawn, leered as they made no effort to hide the fact that their eyes were undressing Weiss and Blake. Their very gaze made Weiss feel like she needed a long, hot shower.

“Cardin, what the fuck are you doing in our territory? Did you get lost trying to find your dick?” the heiress shot back, her hand remaining on Myrtenaster’s hilt.

His teammates chortled, but a dark storm quickly clouded Cardin’s expression. “If you know what’s good for you you’ll watch your mouth, Schnee! It’s gotten you in enough trouble as it is!”

Weiss rolled her eyes. “I’ve told off vastly more intimidating men than you for most of my life. Please, spare me your boorish posturing and go away.”

“ Weiss,” Blake hissed. “Remember, these guys may be idiots, but they’re tough!”

Team CRDL had gotten closer, and was starting to spread out. Blake immediately flagged that they were looking to encircle the girls. I don’t want to wait until we’re in the middle of a fight to call for help. Whatever they have in mind, it isn’t good. Her hand darted to the emergency flare on her belt, but as she raised it to fire the signal into the air, a loud ‘crack’ sounded from the muzzle of Sky’s rifle-halberd. Her aura kept Blake from losing her hand, but it still hurt terribly… and knocked the flare away into the pond.

“The fuck-” Weiss’s sword cleared its hilt, but a chorus of weapons being cocked and aimed at them stayed her attack.

“Thought I told you to keep your hands off your toys,” Cardin growled menacingly, taking several steps closer.

“Would you just tell me what the fuck you want?” Weiss snarled, eyes leaving Cardin long enough to quickly check on Blake.

“We’re here to collect on what you owe us!” Cardin replied. At Weiss and Blake’s befuddled looks, he continued. “See, you’re the reason we’ve been wasting our afternoons in that stupid ‘sensitivity training’ bullshit. You’re gonna have to pay for that disrespect.”

“You did that to yourself, you ass!” Blake shot back.

“No, if you bitches had just known your place and kept your traps shut, none of that would’ve happened!” Dove snapped, gesturing angrily with his sword.

“Exactly!” Cardin casually swung his massive mace from shoulder to shoulder. “You fucked us over, and now, you gotta take a beating for it.”

“...seriously? Your genius plan is to beat us up?” Weiss started laughing. “So, you do that, and then what? You’ll be expelled immediately!”

Cardin shook his head. “Oh, those poor girls! We heard them fighting Grimm, so we ran to help! They were so bloodied and scared already, they couldn’t tell friend from foe and honestly thought we were attacking them!”

“That’s… that’s so fucking stupid. No one’s going to believe that!” Blake retorted, but the nervous glance she shot Weiss said that she wasn’t nearly as confident in CRDL’s scheme *not* working as she sounded.

“Guess we’ll just find out then, huh?” Cardin took a step closer. “Of course, if you girls want to keep going with that show you were giving us earlier, we might just have to beat you a little less…”

“Uh, Cardin?” Russell called out from where he’d almost flanked Blake. “Did you know this one’s a faunus?!”

Blake’s eyes went wide as Weiss spun to her. Shit! I completely forgot that my ears were sticking out of my hat!

“Wow, I knew you guys were morons, but I didn’t think even you could seriously mistake a cat-eared hat for actual faunus ears!” Weiss put up a good show of trying to laugh it off, but it was clear none of Team CRDL was buying it.

“Hey, wasn’t that terrorist who attacked that bar in town a cat eared faunus?” Dove asked. The look that came over Cardin’s face was an entirely different kind of predatory.

“Well I’ll be damned! So it was!” Blake and Weiss stepped together protectively. “Boys, we’re gonna be city heroes! The team that brought in a wanted terrorist, operating right under everyone’s noses at Beacon, of all places!” He grinned. “They’ll probably kick out all you faunus animals after this, just to be sure.”

Blake snarled wordlessly and finally unsheathed Gambol Shroud, twirling both blades in her hands.

“See guys? The animal is trying to attack us! She’s coming right for us!” Cardin’s eyes went to Weiss. “Hey, Schnee, you help us bring in your freaky little girlfriend here, we won’t tell anyone you were harboring a terrorist. Maybe even let you pass on the beatdown you deserve…”

“Not on your life, you pustulent wretch!” Weiss interposed herself between Blake and Cardin, whipping Myrtenaster to an en guarde position. “You’re not getting anywhere near her!”

Cardin whistled. “Damn, you dykes really are down bad for each other, huh? That’s what happens when you don’t make sure a girl gets a good dicking I guess. Suit yourself.” Smacking his mace on the ground, Cardin ignited the fire Dust inside, making red-hot flames swirl around the weapon’s head. “Team CRDL, attack!”

Their leader and Dove charged at the girls, while Russell sent his daggers spinning through the air. Blake deftly deflected the knives while Weiss conjured a glyph for them to leap to in order to avoid being surrounded, but Blake and Weiss had barely set foot on it when Sky’s rifle cracked again, and the glyph shattered beneath their feet. Weiss landed in a heap while Blake kept her footing… which, critically, allowed her to parry Dove’s sword swing. Entwining her ribbon around his leg, she was able to trip him into Cardin’s path, giving Weiss to roll to her feet.

“Go up!” Weiss shouted, planting her sword in the ground and sending a wave of frost out from it as Blake leaped into the air again. The freezing tendrils stuck Cardin and Dove to the ground, allowing Weiss to dash away from them… right into the path of Russell’s throwing daggers. She cried out as the blades slashed against her aura, opening up the arm of her jacket and drawing gashes that, while shallow, were still bleeding.

Blake opened fire with Gambol Shroud as Russell activated his semblance to recall his knives, landing several staggering hits on him. Sky charged forward to attack her in melee and she parried with her weapon’s sheath, barely able to deflect the ferocity of his overhead two-handed strike. As he was winding up for a second swing against her, a fire glyph quickly materialized over his head before blasting downward with a gout of flame that made his aura flash dangerously, and gave Blake the opportunity to tumble back. Internally, she cursed; Weiss had stopped to conjure that glyph instead of buying herself more distance from Cardin and Dove, who were now about to set upon her from behind.

Thinking fast, Blake whipped Gambol Shroud’s tether to her teammate, yanking it back hard as soon as Weiss grabbed on. Cardin’s mace smashed the ground behind her; unfortunately, in getting clear of that attack, she came flying at Blake too fast for the other Huntress to catch her, and those both went down when Weiss crashed into her.

“Look out!” Blake screamed as Cardin leaped to close with them and swung his mace down. She was pretty sure a single hit would smash her aura, and probably seriously injure Weiss with the weakened state of hers. With a desperate surge of energy she triggered her semblance, pulling Weiss with her in a shadow jaunt. They couldn’t get far, though, and reappeared barely a dozen feet away.

Weiss threw up another glyph that knocked Russell back in a spray of ice, but then it was Sky who was on them. This time, Blake threw herself over Weiss, gasping as she took the hit and got the breath knocked out of her chest. Snarling, Weiss emptied a whole chamber of lightning Dust, using her blade like a lightning rod to send a crackling bolt bouncing between Sky, Dove, and Cardin. The boys grunted and roared in pain, stunned just long enough for Weiss to pull Blake to her feet and haul her a short distance away.

“We’re… outnumbered…” Blake wheezed weakly. “You should… run…”

“ Fucking forget it, Blake!” Weiss snapped back as she kept an arm wrapped around her teammate, helping to take her weight as she struggled to regain her strength. “I’m not abandoning you!”

“You have to!” Blake tried to shove Weiss away. “I-it’s me that they want! I always… I always bring trouble. Save yourself!”

Weiss replied by emptying her ice Dust in Russell’s face, covering him in jagged crystals that would take him a while to break out of. “Damn you, Weiss…” Blake groaned painfully.

Sky had recovered from her lightning bolt first and was charging them, having used a backwards shot to launch himself into the air in a pale imitation of Ruby. He was bigger, heavier, and stronger though, and Weiss realized she didn’t have anything that could stop his swing as he descended towards them.

…are we even going to *survive* this? These crazy bastards might actually kill us! Come on Weiss, think! You cannot let them take Blake! Her problem was solved when, with a gut-twisting roar, a massive ursine skull appeared over them and snapped Sky out of mid-air. His face barely had time to register his surprise before the Ursa Alpha’s jaws closed with a wet ‘crunch’. Blood and viscera rained down from the beast’s mouth on the girls as they stared up in horror.

There was a high-pitched shriek as Dove screamed and ran into the woods, throwing down his weapon as he did so. Russell was still trying to break out of Weiss’s ice formation. “Cardin, bro! Help me!” But his team leader was staring up at the ursa in terror, his flaming mace sputtering weakly in front of him as he backed away. With a growl, the Grimm turned to the trapped Huntsman and began to lower its head.

“We gotta do something!” Blake yelled, snapping Weiss out of her shock. “Distract it, I’ll free him!” Gambol Shroud chattered as she opened fire on Russell, more bullets hitting and cracking ice crystals than hit him.

What… what have I got? Weiss quickly looked down at Myrtenaster’s chamber. Just a bit of fire Dust. Everything in her wanted to save it, use the last real weapon she had to try and help her and Blake escape; but, with just a glance at the determination on Blake’s face, she could tell that her teammate wouldn’t leave the survivors of CRDL to die, no matter how much they might’ve deserved it.

Together, then.

With a piercing battle cry, Weiss immolated her blade with the last of her Dust and drove it into the towering Grimm’s paw as hard as she could. The monstrosity roared and jerked its leg away, tearing Myrtenaster from Weiss’s hands as the looming head swung around to face the Huntresses. Russell, finally free from the ice, took off after Dove; Cardin had backed up into a tree and fallen to the ground, still staring up at the Grimm in shock.

Hot, rancid breath washed over Weiss and Blake as the ursa’s jaws, easily big enough to engulf both of them, closed in. They were out of options; Weiss didn’t have any Dust left, both of their auras were nearly gone, and they were wounded. “This is it…” Weiss murmured.

Blake, still clinging to her for support, turned and looked at her, fear brimming in her eyes. “Then… Weiss, I think I-”

“ YEAARRGH!” Weiss had never thought she’d be so glad to hear shotgun blasts as Yang came flying past them. Landing in the Grimm’s mouth, she braced her feet against the lower jaw while grabbing the upper jaw with her hands. Standing between canines the size of her torso, the Huntress strained with everything she had to hold the jaws open. “Hit it, Rubes!” she cried out.

Flower petals drifted down as Ruby materialized, rifle at the ready. The heavy gun boomed again and again as she fired directly into the ursa’s throat, barely missing her sister in the process. As the Grimm reared up, Yang finally jumped clear of its mouth, getting off a parting double shotgun blast for good measure, and propulsion away. “ Damn that thing has nasty breath!” she exclaimed as she landed next to Blake and Weiss. “You two okay?”

“Not really, but…” Weiss began.

“We’ll make it!” Blake gasped, trying to stand up straight. She cried in pain and staggered, this time landing in Yang’s strong arms. Relief was clear on her face as she collapsed into her partner.

“We aren’t out of the woods yet!” Weiss cried. The ursa was stumbling around drunkenly as black ichor poured from its eyes and mouth, but with its colossal size it was definitely still a threat. “We need to take that thing down!”

“That should be taken care of in a minute…” Ruby chuckled as she alighted next to Weiss, putting a reassuring and supportive arm around her waist.

Weiss stared at her, shocked by how calm her partner was. “What do you-” Suddenly, the Grimm froze, like some mighty, invisible force had grabbed it by the head and was holding it steady. The ursa actually whimpered as it struggled, uselessly.

“You’re not going anywhere!” a voice that usually struck fear into Weiss’s heart called out as Professor Goodwitch stepped into the clearing, her wand raised. “Mr. Branwen, whenever you’re ready… this is a rather strenuous hold to maintain.”

“Yeah yeah, I’m coming, don’t get your knickers in a twist,” Qrow muttered as he came forward, transforming Harbinger into its scythe form. Looking up at the struggling Grimm, he scratched his chin stubble for a moment, then turned to Yang. “Hey Firecracker, think you could give me a toss? Right about… there?” he pointed to a spot along the ursa’s neck.

Yang’s face split into a grin. “Sure thing, Uncle Qrow! But… if I’m helping you do your job, do we get extra credit for this assignment?”

“I’ll put in a good word for ya with Goodwitch,” Qrow grunted. “From how she was going on about you four, I think you’re gonna need it.”

“Awwww, man! Not again!” Ruby whined while Yang made a stirrup with her hands. When Qrow stepped into it, she grunted and heaved; the Huntsman shot through the air, going into a spin that turned him and his scythe into a whirling saw blade. He hit the Grimm’s neck with a spray of thick Grimmstuff, briefly disappearing into the cloud of blackness before the head fell away. A skull the size of a small car thudded to the ground, Qrow dropping to stand triumphantly on top of it until it evaporated underneath him and dumped him unceremoniously onto the ground.

“That… was so cool!” Ruby exclaimed. “You gotta teach me how to do that! Yang, we’re gonna figure out how to do that!” Weiss shuddered as she retrieved Myrtenaster from where it had dropped out of the defeated Grimm’s leg. Now that the nightmare creature was gone, her adrenaline crash was hitting her hard... as was the fact that she’d just seen a fellow student ripped to shreds. Wearily, she slumped against Ruby, who caught her and blinked in concern. “Weiss? Are you sure you’re okay?”

“No, but… I’ll be okay. Nothing a hot bath and a long weekend in bed won’t fix…” her partner muttered. “I’m more worried about Blake…”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s me with the broken rib this time…” the other faunus groaned. She squeaked in surprise as Yang lifted her up into a princess carry. “Yang! It’s not *that* bad!”

“Shhh! I got you, partner,” Yang hummed softly. With a weak smile, Blake relaxed in her arms and let her head flop against the blonde’s shoulder. She probably would’ve been asleep in minutes, if not for…

“Team. RWBY!” Goodwitch marched over and glared at the girls, who, despite having just defeated a truly terrifying, gargantuan Grimm, all shrank back from her shrill and authoritative voice. “What the fuck have you four gotten up to now?”

Chapter Text

Roman Torchwick was sleeping like a baby, blissfully unaware of the comically-large hammer floating above his head, threatening to bash his brains in every time he uttered one of his chainsaw-esque snores. Eventually, he rolled over, shifting his position enough that the snoring died down to tolerable ‘huffs’... but by that point, Neapolitan was very much awake.

Sitting up in bed, she glared crossly at her partner… but as he flipped his head on his pillow and ended up facing her, she found herself unable to stay annoyed at the blissful look on his pleasantly-androgynous face. They’d both had way too many nights when their faces had been marked by worry and fear… or the echoes of past traumas, and sometimes just plain hunger, for her to interrupt his sleep. No, things were going pretty great for them in the Vale penthouse apartment Torchwick and Neo operated out of, and if the worst thing she had to deal with was the man she knew she was in love with snoring too loud, she could take that as a sign of success.

Besides, it’s also a sign that I did a damn good job.

With a whisper-quiet sigh, Neo gathered a blanket around her nude form and slipped out of bed. She was immediately thankful for the years of ballet lessons she’d taken with her childhood friend Vanille, which allowed her to gracefully recover her balance after she stepped on the still-slippery anal strap they’d been enjoying and almost fell on her face. Kicking the toy across the room to deal with later, she gathered up her scroll and headed to the kitchen.

After reheating some spicy chicken fried rice leftover from dinner, Neo sat down at the counter and started scrolling through her socials. Not that she had any use for a social media presence of her own- What am I going to do, advertise that I’m an organized crime princess? Actually, that’d be pretty hysterical -but she had quite a few handles she kept up appearances on in order to stay insinuated in various Vale communities. And the city police department private chat server was going off .

It’d been comically easy to gain access. Chat up an administrative desk duty cop until he asked for nudes. Send nudes. Send note claiming that she was actually 15. Collect access credentials to police resources in order to not tell his boss… or his pregnant wife. And once you were on the inside, the idiots spilled all kinds of juicy information that made it trivial to stay ahead of them and compromise them as their various criminal enterprises needed.

Looks like they’re still going off about whoever trashed the Blue Knight. Fucking crybabies, you’d think some faunus had pissed in their grandma’s Pumpkin Pete’s Happy O’s. Giggling silently, Neo screenshotted a few of the most wildly racist posts. While it was true that there was plenty of discrimination and bigotry in Vale, the city *technically* had a zero tolerance policy for government employees… and since most of the fools were not creative in the username department, it’d be easy to blackmail them whenever it was useful. Or funny.

Still, a few of the posts made her shudder. Neo had seen, and done, plenty of dark things in her life. She didn’t really count burning her best friend’s parents alive in their home… they’d been abusive jerks and deserved it… but there had been other things. She didn’t feel like she had anything, though, on some of the violent and misogynist revenge fantasies that these cops were expressing. Most of these guys peaked at being gym class locker room bullies and shouldn’t be entrusted with the authority of a meter maid, let alone a gun!

Sure, she and Roman could, and had, fight their way out of tough situations… but most residents of Vale weren’t so lucky. At the rate this is going, we should consider offering protection services for faunus , Neo mused. She almost felt a twinge of guilt over the ethics of such an arrangement… the key word being ‘almost’. Good things were for those who could buy them, or take them, and if you couldn’t… well, sounds like a skill issue. Try harder next time .

Stifling a yawn, Neo checked the time on her scroll and did a double-take. Wow, that was some rabbit hole, I had no idea so much time had passed! But while dawn wasn’t that far away, there were still plenty of hours before either her or Torchwick actually had to be up and out of bed for anything, so she figured she might as well go back to sleep. Depositing her half-eaten rice in the kitchen on her way back to their bedroom, Neo slid back under the covers with a shiver. The silk sheets on her side of the bed had gotten cold in her absence, and she greedily snuggled up to Roman’s warmth. Mumbling in his sleep, he wrapped a lazy arm around her slight body, and Neopolitan, Crime Princess, sighed contentedly as she rested her head on her prince’s shoulder and closed her eyes.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“Your will shall be done, Mistress.”

Even when Cinder finished speaking, Emerald remained kneeling, her eyes trained on the floor, until the other woman finally rose to her feet. Glancing over, she saw that even Mercury had done the same. Kneeling was not something she enjoyed, but… Salem was fucking scary . The Queen of the Grimm had to be close to seven feet tall, which made her even more imposing when she was seated high up on her jagged crystal throne. Skin like bleached bone show through with sinister black veins that Emerald swore writhed when you weren’t looking at them directly, and eyes so red they felt like they could burn you with a glance… if I had known what I was getting into when Cinder picked up up, I’d have run screaming in the opposite direction! Damn her for being so smooth and confident. And beautiful.

Emerald slid a little closer to Cinder as they turned to leave, the fiery woman feeling like the only source of strength in the vast, cold obsidian throne room of Castle Evernight. But Cinder stood unmoving, making it clear she wasn’t leaving with Em and Mercury. “Go start loading the Bullhead,” she ordered. “The Queen and I have other matters to discuss.”

“O-oh. Sure thing. On it, boss!” Emerald hurried after Mercury, trying not to shiver as she felt Salem’s eerie eyes following her. As the doors of the throne room swung silently shut behind them, Salem fixed Cinder with a dour stare.

“I distinctly remember telling you that I prefer you not address me with all that genuflecting and ‘Mistress’ business, my dear.”

Cinder nodded. “You did, but I thought a certain element of… decorum … might be good to display for those two.” Her long, silky black hair shook down her back as she tossed her head in the direction of the door.

Salem hummed. “I suppose. Very well, but do know it’s unnecessary.” The faintest hint of a smile tugged at the corners of her pale lips. “That poor girl adores you, you know.”

Cinder snorted and rolled her eyes. “Of course she does. Have you seen me?” She cocked her hip playfully, pleased to notice that she drew out a little bit more of a smile from Salem. “Whatever,” she continued. “It makes her useful.”

The Grimm Queen’s smile turned downwards. “You should value human connection and affection more, Cinder,” she said quietly. “They are some of the most valuable gifts you can receive.”

A twinge of bitterness went through Cinder before she quickly shut it down, not having the slightest interest in acknowledging what Salem saying that to her made her feel. “I’d much sooner have these Maiden powers you’re sending us after.” She held up her hand, glaring at the writing black tendril swimming around her arm. “Maybe then this damn thing will stop itching so much!”

Salem looked almost sad as she regarded the young woman before her. “Take it from someone who has plenty of it, Cinder; no amount of power can fill the holes other people can leave in your heart.”

Cinder grimaced. “As much as I value your wisdom, Salem… I think I’ll just put that to the test for myself.”

Even though she didn’t need to breathe, Salem imitated a slight sigh. A reflex that she still hadn’t done away with, even after so many long years. “I suppose you would not be who you are if you were not possessed of such a strong need to learn things for yourself. But do not disregard my warnings about the strength of the Maidens! You are an impressive warrior, Cinder, but even the three of you together are no match for one of them.” She leaned forward on her throne, fixing the mortal woman with a serious stare. “Strength will not win this battle for you; you will need to rely on your cunning to take down a Maiden.”

Returning Salem’s look with fierce determination, Cinder replied “All of my battles I win for you , Salem.”

The Grimm Queen’s expression was impenetrable, a hollowness of porcelain and flame that felt like it consumed Cinder as she held Salem’s eyes. Eventually, she nodded. “Very well. Then I shall look forward to your triumphant return, my champion.”

Knowing she’d been dismissed, Cinder turned to leave, but paused in her step. “Salem… if power is truly such an empty thing to you, why are you so invested in recovering these Maidens?”

“They are parts of an ancient puzzle, one of the oldest in the history of our world… and one I must complete in order to finally set it right.” The crimson pits of her eyes seemed to almost sparkle for a moment. “That’s my purpose for seeking power, Cinder; to fix what was broken, and create it anew.”

Frankly, Cinder didn’t have a clue what Salem was talking about when she got cryptic like this, but the mystery and grandeur she exuded when she did sent a shiver up her spine. “Then… I look forward to being a part of whatever world you make, Salem.” With that, she turned and exited the throne room.

Salem stared after Cinder long after she had left, her fingers clenching the armrest of her throne so hard that the crystal cracked beneath them. Cinder infuriated her, precisely for what she knew, objectively, the woman stirred in her ancient mind, but that she couldn’t have. She’d never come closer to feeling again through the terrible void inside of her than when she’d found that young girl trying not to freeze to death in the streets during a bitter Mantle winter, and gotten her story from her for a warm meal and a cup of hot buttered rum. Had the stale apparitions of her memories come closer to taking on color and form and life again.

She was the reason that, after all these eons of this tiresome dance with her nemesis, Salem was, once again, making a move and playing to win.

Chapter Text

Glynda Goodwitch knew she had a reputation for keeping a stern, composed expression on her face no matter what was going on around her, and she used that to great effect to try and intimidate some level of decorum and respect for the rules into the unruly, horny teenagers with superpowers and deadly weapons she was responsible for. None of them knew the extent to which she was screaming inside. Every. Single. Day.

Ozpin better be glad he was able to add ‘saving the world from an evil witch and her army of nightmare monsters’ to the job description, because he does NOT pay me enough to deal with this…

Her current object of vexation was slumped in the chair on the other side of her desk, violet eyes blazing with defiance as she crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her foot arhythmically in a a way that Goodwitch guessed was supposed to annoy her. Swallowing her exasperation, she adopted her best calm authority figure voice.

“Right, Miss Xiao Long, let’s review this one more time. Your official after-action report for the Forever Fall incident is that ‘you and your little sis showed up ready to wreck CRDL’s shit for messing with your teammates, but you saw that the big-ass Ursa had already handled that like a boss so you just held it off until your Uncle Qrow came to take out the trash’. She turned from her holoscreen to fix Yang with a withering glare. “And this is the verbage you would like put into the record, then?”

“Yup!” the blonde gave her a smug grin as she watched the suggestion that she write up something more appropriate float past her. “It’s what happened.”

“Hmmm,” Goodwitch did her best to hide her sigh. She could not let these children know how much they could get to her, or her power and mystery would disappear and what little control she was able to exert would evaporate. “Very well. However, I do feel like there’s a point not being addressed here…”

That got Yang to shift uncomfortably. Still got it, even with this one! Goodwitch congratulated herself. “Um, what is it?” her student asked warily.

“How were you aware that your teammates were in danger? There was no breach of the scroll blackout.”

“Oh! Um…” the blonde scratched the back of her head for a suspiciously-long time. “I, uh, had a big sister premonition that they were in trouble.” Her answer sounded almost like a question, a response she was throwing at the wall to see if it stuck. Goodwitch was not impressed, and she raised an eyebrow to indicate it.

“‘Sisterly premonition’, Miss Xiao Long? But, correct me if I’m wrong, wasn’t your sister with you at the time of this… unsubstantiated phenomenon?”

“Well, sure she was, but, um… it’s kind of started expanding to the rest of our team! Kind of like how a semblance evolves?”

Goodwitch couldn’t stop herself from guffawing slightly at the obvious stretch Yang was trying to make. “...really? Miss Xiao Long?”

She realized her mistake immediately as the young woman’s resolve hardened on her face. “Really, Professor Goodwitch. Why, are you trying to imply something else?”

“The timing merely seems… awfully convenient,” she replied. Watching Yang’s eyes carefully, she tested her accusation. “Your fortuitous arrival on the scene would be much easier to understand if you and your team had arranged some kind of ambush in order to get back at Team CRDL for your assignment in the Hellmire…”

Yang’s eyes flared bright red as she sprung to her feet, slamming her hands down on Goodwitch’s desk. “That’s insane! Look, I didn’t like those guys one bit, they were asshole bullies, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to start a fight with them anywhere , much less in the middle of a Grimm-infested forest!”

The professor wasn’t satisfied with Yang’s answers in the slightest, but she also didn’t see herself getting anything useful out of the girl in her emotional state. “It was merely a possibility, Miss-”

“You’re trying to pin Sky’s death on us , instead of accepting responsibility for sending a bunch of first-year students on a really dangerous mission!” the blonde shoved her finger in Goodwitch’s face, all traces of nervousness having evaporated. “And I deeply resent that accusation!” She spun and stomped towards the door. “I’m done talking to you, so I hope you don’t have anything else…”

Sighing, Goodwitch nodded. “Very well. You may go, Miss Xiao-” But the door had already slammed behind her. After a moment, she let out a long, shuddering exhalation. Damn it, how do they manage to hit so close to the mark sometimes? Reaching into her desk, she pulled out a bottle of brandy and gave herself a generous pour. And we did get that poor kid killed. Might have lost another one, and it could easily have been much worse. Sometimes, I really hate you and your schemes, Ozpin…

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“And how, exactly, would we have arranged an ambush like that? If we had done so. Which we didn’t.” Blake gave Professor Goodwitch an annoyed look from her bed in the infirmary. Her fight with CRDL had left her with a broken rib and some internal bleeding, and she’d been ordered to take a few days of supervised bed rest. Which had not stopped Goodwitch from interrogating her about the incident with CRDL.

“That’s what I’m asking you , Miss Belladonna,” Goodwitch prodded. Her interviews with RWBY so far had left her with the distinct impression that there was something going on that the girls were keeping from her, and teasing out the secret was starting to become an obsession for her. “Surely someone with your extensive background in guerrilla warfare could have arranged such a thing.”

Blake tensed, which made her wounded abdomen hurt. Well that answers that question; they know about the White Fang. Her faunus identity had been clearly on display when Goodwitch and Qrow had arrived to put down the Ursa. She was debating whether she’d resume wearing her bow when she was out of the infirmary; she was honestly ready to be done with it and start standing up for who she was, but the possibility of other students connecting her to the Blue Knight tussle was a very real problem. Of course, if Beacon knows about the Fang, they probably already knew I was a faunus beforehand. My split with Mom and Dad wasn’t exactly low profile in Menagerie… just because most humans ignore faunus politics and events doesn’t mean all of them do. And Professor Ozpin is definitely someone who wouldn’t.

“Professor, if I had planned that, I would have made sure that we didn’t get jumped by Grimm in the process. The Grimm can always be huge variables in… ‘guerrilla operations’.” Taking a page from Weiss’s book, Blake practiced the best ‘with all do respect, eat shit’ polite bitch face she could imagine her teammate affecting and favored Goodwitch with it, batting her eyes heavily as she did so.

Goodwitch twitched in annoyance. “You clearly think quite highly of yourself in that regard, don’t you?”

The faunus absolutely refused to let Goodwitch see her inner conflict and remorse over some of the things she’d done in the White Fang. “Since you’re clearly aware of it, I’ll simply let my record speak for itself.”

Getting Blake Belladonna to spill their secrets was always the longest shot , Goodwitch told herself. “Speaking of, I’m quite surprised *you* got ambushed by what was, frankly, a team that did not excel at subtlety. What were you doing right before the incident?”

That got to Blake as the memory of what Weiss’s lips tasted like, and how her body felt under her hands, prompted a hot flush on her cheeks. “W-we were running the sap extractor, naturally!” she said hurriedly.

“And you didn’t hear CRDL approaching?” Goodwitch gestured to her ears.

“...really, Professor? Assumptions about what I can do based on my species? Surely that goes against the school policy on racism… although, seeing how strictly it was enforced in the past, I suppose it never did mean much.” Blake flicked her ears pointedly. “But no, I did not. Those extractors are very loud, after all.”

Goodwitch caught herself twitching again. Team RWBY is already far too confident for their own good. Maybe you’ll have better luck getting the details out of Weiss or Ruby. “Very well then, Miss Belladonna. I think we’ve covered everything we need to today. If any additional details occur to you, please don’t hesitate to contact me.”

As the nosey professor left the room, Blake was sure to mutter “Don’t worry, I won’t.”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“...and then Yang was all like ‘RAWR! IRON WOMAN!’ and held the thing’s mouth open while I went ‘Blam! Blam! Blam! And then you were all ‘You shall not pass!’, and Uncle Qrow just went ‘Bzzzzt!’ like a- a bleepin’ sawblade! And the Grimm was all ‘Squish! I am le dead!’” Ruby danced excitedly in front of Goodwitch’s desk as she re-enacted the Grimm fight, with convincing-enough sound effects to be the audio track to one of the low-budget Mistrali action movies Goodwitch secretly loved. Fortunately for her, the girl was so hyped up she didn’t notice the fond smile tugging at the corner of her professor’s mouth.

“Yes, thank you, Miss Rose. You have certainly added a great deal of… color … to the after-action report.” She steepled her hands and adopted her best merely-curious voice. “I am rather interested in how it came to be that Miss Belladonna and Miss Schnee were deployed together, instead of with you and your sister as their normal partners. That was an unusual strategy on your part…”

Ruby squeaked slightly as she paused her energetic narration and looked at Goodwitch wide-eyed. I- I can’t tell her that Weiss got inspired by our sex shenanigans from the night before to swap partners so she could make up with Blake over her trying to kill her that one time! Eeek, Goodwitch can’t already know about that, can she?! How would she? Oh my gods what if they listen to everything we say through our scrolls…” She realized that Goodwitch was giving her an increasingly-penetrating look the longer she took to answer, and quickly jumped on the first plausible response that came to mind. “Um, tactical flexibility training, Professor! We might not always be with our partner, y’know, so I thought it’d be a good idea to cross-train with each other! And since this was supposed to be a pretty easy job just, milking some trees…”

“Ah, I see you’ve been paying more attention in leadership class that your closed eyes and head down behind your textbook would otherwise indicate,” Goodwitch mused, smirking at the stricken look on the young Huntress’s face. “Also… as a moment of complete and utter candor, please, for the love of the gods, never, ever say ‘milking trees’ again, Miss Rose.”

“I- is that… not what it’s called?”

“It most decidedly is not.”

“Oh… okay…” Ruby looked vaguely like a lost puppy as she finally sat down, kicking her legs beneath her as they didn’t reach the floor.

Goodwitch sighed. Ruby is utterly guileless compared to her sister and Blake. If there was something nefarious going on here, surely she would’ve let it slip by now. Is it possible I’m just being overly suspicious? “One last question then, Miss Rose: how did you and your sister know that your teammates were in danger?”

Geez, she’s really riding me today! Think, Rubes, think! “Oh, that’s easy! I heard gunshots nearby.”

Goodwitch blinked. “...Miss Rose, we tracked you via your scrolls over the course of the exercise. For your safety, of course. You were over five miles away from your teammates.”

“...I have really good hearing?”

Professor Goodwitch raised an eyebrow at her, but Ruby was ready for it. “What? I do! My dad always used to swear I had to be part faunus… usually right after I’d gotten into the sugar bowl…”

The professor suddenly had a very distinct mental image of Ruby, surrounded by sliced-open bags of sugar, snorting lines of it off a table with an insane grin on her face. She recoiled in absolute terror from the thought.

“Uh, Professor Goodwitch, are you okay?” the Huntress asked, cocking her head in concern.

Her teacher shook her head like she was trying to clear out the remnants of a nightmare. “Y-yes, Miss Rose, I’m… fine. Thank you for your answers, you may go.”

“Okay!” Ruby hopped down from her seat. “See you in class, then!” she called, seconds before disappearing in a burst of flower petals.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“We were making out, okay?!” 

Goodwitch had been hoping that leaning on Weiss Schnee’s long history of obedience to authority might get some fresh detail out of her; hearing that confessed when she asked what the heiress and Blake Belladonna had been doing before the attack was the absolute last thing she had expected. “...you and… Miss Belladonna? Were engaged in intimate-”

Weiss shrieked and buried her face in her hands before her teacher could finish the sentence. “Please don’t tell anyone, okay?!”

The professor couldn’t stop blinking as everything fell into place. THAT’S why they’ve all been so nervous and secretive! They were covering up a relationship between their teammates… a potentially scandalous one that would cause a great bit of trouble for both of them, and their families, if it got out. The heiress to the Schnee fortune, built on faunus labor… and the daughter of the former leader of the faunus resistance, and now their national chieftain. Hmmm, someone should write a play about that…

“...rest assured, Miss Schnee, I have absolutely no desire to meddle in the romantic daliances of my students. That is more drama than my old heart could handle.” Goodwitch allowed herself a rare chuckle, which had Weiss looking at her like she’d just grown a second head. “Your secret is safe with me.”

“Oh- oh, thank you, Professor!” The relief on Weiss’s face made Goodwitch feel bad for how stressful the poor girl’s home life had to be, and for how hard she’d leaned on Team RWBY trying to crack their ‘secret’. They really are fine young Huntresses, despite their penchant for being at the epicenter of trouble.

“Well, I believe that’s all the questions I had, Miss Schnee. You may go.”

Weiss blinked in surprise. “R-really? Oh! Thank you, Professor Goodwitch…” She hurried to leave the office. She’d fully been expecting to be interrogated about how Yang and Ruby had shown up exactly when they did. That would have been a disaster, since she hadn’t really come up with a believable answer to that one yet. And while she didn’t feel particularly great for having spilled about her and Blake, at least she hadn’t given away nearly the whole extent of the ‘romantic daliances’ between the RWBYs.

As Goodwitch’s heavy office door closed behind her, Weiss breathed a sigh of relief and hurried to the infirmary to check on Blake, pulling out her scroll to check on the special treat she’d arranged as she went.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“Weiss, you are an absolute lifesaver!” Blake hummed as she tucked into a crispy crab cake. “I’m amazed anyone ever gets better with how- ugh -this infirmary food is!

“Think nothing of it, Blake!” Weiss smiled as she patted the faunus’s leg. The students still weren’t allowed to go out into Vale for food, so Weiss had ordered delivery at significant expense. Her teammates had been spending as much time in the infirmary with her as they could, and everyone was getting pretty tired of hospital food.

“We really need to stop breaking our ribs, girls!” Ruby chided over her shrimp and rice.

“Speak for yourself,” Yang chuckled. “I wonder how hard I could punch someone if they broke my rib first…”

“Yang, NO!” her teammates all yelled simultaneously, before they descended into laughter… which made Blake yelp in pain when she tugged a rib.

“So, what else have I missed?” she asked.

“Well, let’s see…” Ruby began. “Cardin and Russell got expelled immediately. They didn’t even manage to find Dove… Uncle Qrow tracked his scroll deep into the woods before he found it abandoned in the mud.”

“Damn,” Blake murmured. “I mean, the guy’s a toxic asshole, but… I hope he’s okay, wherever he is.” 

Weiss nodded. “Oh, and we passed, even though we only collected a single jug of scarlet sap.”

“...we actually got one?” Blake asked curiously.

“We left ours running, “ Yang replied. “Thing was overflowing by the time someone got back to it.”

Blake whistled. “I’m kind of surprised Goodwitch let us pass, given that.”

“There’s apparently a school rule that if someone dies on a graded assignment, you automatically pass,” Weiss replied soberly. Silence fell over the girls at the mention of Sky’s death. The heiress sighed before she continued. “I’ve been waiting to ask until we were all together… Ruby, Yang, how did you know we were in trouble? We didn’t even get a chance to fire off a flare…”

“Yeah, about that…” Yang tapped her fingers on Blake’s side table. “I got the exact same feeling I’d gotten the day before. I just… knew you two were in danger.”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah! I had the same feeling. One minute, everything was fine… better than fine, actually!” She blushed slightly. “Next minute… I was panicking over finding you before something awful happened! I’m glad you made so much noise, that’s how we located you.”

Something about what Ruby had said caught Weiss’s attention. “Wait, what did you mean by ‘better than fine’, Ruby?”

The Huntress looked even more embarrassed as her team turned to look at her. “I, uh… I mean… um… ah geez…” 

“Deep breath, Rubes,” Yang murmured and patted her sister’s back. Ruby did as she’d been told and nodded.

“So, right before I got the sense that Blake and Weiss were in trouble… I was kinda… ugh, I was horny, okay!?” she finally exclaimed. “And yeah, I was with Yang , and I swear it wasn’t about that! It just came out of nowhere! I’m a teenage girl, I have *needs*!”

“Um, Ruby… it might not have been *completely* out of nowhere…” Blake muttered as she and Weiss shared an awkward look. “Right before CRDL attacked us, Weiss and I were… um…”

“We were making out!” Weiss spat out, her cheeks burning fiercely.

“ Really making out…” Blake added.

All the RWBYs stared at each other as the obvious conclusion began to dawn on them. “And the day before?” Yang asked breathlessly.

“Weiss and I were… getting pretty into it.” Ruby squeaked.

“Yang, you and I were too…” Blake murmured.

“Are we all thinking the same thing?” Weiss asked nervously. “That… we’re somehow sharing emotions?”

“‘Somehow’,” Yang shook her head. “Weiss, if we are, it’s these marks!”

“That’s crazy!” Ruby exclaimed. “...isn’t it?”

“I… I don’t think it is, Ruby…” Blake replied. “Have you all been feeling a lot closer to each other, too, since… our first time?”

“Isn’t that what’s supposed to happen?” Weiss asked dryly.

Blake shook her head. “Sure, if you care about each other, but… this is really intense.

“I mean, you’re the only one who really has the experience to comment on that, Blake,” Yang mused. “But… yeah, I’ve definitely been feeling different. I thought that was just the whole ‘Congratulations on popping your cherry!’ thing, but… this makes more sense.”

All eyes had turned to Weiss. “Okay, fine, maybe!” she conceded as she threw her hands in the air. “But I swear, I still don’t know anything about it!”

“We believe you, Weiss!” Blake quickly said, grabbing Weiss’s arm. Ruby and Yang nodded. “I think we’re all just scared and looking for answers.”

“Seriously!” Yang exclaimed. “Look, I love you girls, but I really don’t want any of you, even Ruby, poking around in my head!”

It was obvious to everyone that Yang had meant ‘love’ casually, but hearing the ‘L’ word at all sent a little shiver through Blake and Weiss. Moments later, Yang’s eyes widened as she realized what she’d said, and she hastily continued. “I- I don’t suppose there’s any way we can test this idea out?”

“We could… I guess, be in different rooms and see if we can make each other feel things?” Weiss pondered.

“Alright, let’s try that then!” Ruby declared. “Hmmm, how about-”

“You and Yang go back to the dorm,” Weiss cut in. “I’d like to stay here with Blake for a bit… if that’s okay?”

“Of course, Weiss,” Blake answered softly.

Yang eyed them up skeptically. “You behave yourself with my partner, Snowflake! She’s damaged, and I’ll be pissed if you bust her up worse!”

Weiss groaned as Ruby and Blake giggled. “Seriously, Yang? In the infirmary ? I assure you, despite my recent incident, I am not an animal like you are!”

“You’re not?” Ruby asked innocently, making Weiss sputter even more as the rest of her team laughed. 

“All of you go away,” Weiss crossed her arms and pouted. Ruby and Yang cackled as they made their way out of the infirmary, leaving Blake and Weiss alone in the wing where Blake’s bed was. Blake winced as she slid herself over, making room for her teammate on the bed, and patted the space next to her. Sighing, Weiss swung her legs up and lay back on the reclined bed. After a moment, she rolled into Blake and pressed herself tightly against her.

“What’s wrong, Snow Angel?” Blake asked quietly as she kissed Weiss’s snowy white hair. Weiss didn’t answer for a while, instead just tightening her grip on Blake and burying her face in her shoulder as she sobbed quietly. The cat faunus’s heart throbbed painfully for her friend, but all she could do was rub her back gently and wait.

“I… I had to wash pieces of Sky out of my hair!” Weiss finally choked out. “I still don’t feel clean. I don’t… I don’t know if I ever will again.”

“Weiss…” Blake murmured softly. “You have to know that none of that was our fault! Those guys were complete bastards-”

“Yeah, I know. But that doesn’t mean I wanted them to die , Blake!”

Blake slumped against her teammate and sighed. “...yeah, I know. I didn’t either.” Her own painful memories of death and blood-stained hands churned in her mind, and she squeezed Weiss tighter.

“I know I had a privileged upbringing, but I’m not that naive,” Weiss continued. “I knew that being a Huntress would involve seeing death regularly. Might even involve having to take a life myself. I just… I had no idea there’d be so much difference between knowing those things, and actually feeling them.” She tilted her head up to look at Blake’s face. “I don’t… I don’t know if I can get used to this violence, Blake. I don’t know if I even should .”

Swallowing hard, Blake warred with herself. Do I… can I tell her? One of the darkest, most painful things in my life? Her heart hammered fast in her chest, so hard that Blake could feel Weiss noticing and gazing at her in concern. I thought I left it behind… the tang of blood in the air, the sound of a blade entering a body and a life leaving it. My blade. But here it is again.

Am I going to be haunted by the past forever? 

Can I ever outlive those mistakes?

Blake made her decision.

“Never get used to it, Weiss,” she whispered. “Not getting used to it is what… what keeps us human…” The heiress’s hand found hers and held it tight. “You just… have to learn to live with it. Live with it, and do everything you can to keep it from happening again.” Blake shuddered as she exhaled. “I… I killed someone once, Weiss.”

The way the woman next to her stiffened almost broke Blake.

“It wasn’t supposed to happen! I didn’t want it! We were… it was a raid on a warehouse of medical supplies! We sneak in, grab what we needed, get out, and send them to Menagerie.” Her eyes were watery as she looked at Weiss, her voice trembling. “There weren’t even supposed to *be* any guards, much less someone who’d actually try to stop us! But he… he attacked me from behind, and I just acted on instinct. He barely even had an aura, Wess. One cut… one accidental slash… that’s all it took…”

Weiss’s mind was a maelstrom of emotion. I knew she was with the White Fang, but… Blake actually killed a man?! A guard just doing his job? How can I- can I live with this? Her throat burned with the memory of Blake’s fingers tightening around her throat, and the rage that had filled her eyes as she loomed over her.

Her body answered for her. Without even consciously choosing to, Weiss found her arms encircling Blake further, cupping her dark locks and pulling her tear-stained face down to her shoulder. “It was an accident! It was never supposed to happen! ” the woman in her arms began to sob freely.

“...I know, Blake, I know.” Weiss murmured. “I- I can’t imagine you wanting to hurt someone, ever. That’s not you.”

“R-really?” Blake asked incredulously. “How can you see me like that, after-”

Weiss silenced her with a kiss. Chaste and tender, it came entirely from her heart, rather than her desire. Gradually, Blake felt herself relaxing into her teammate’s touch. “Blake…” she whispered as they parted. “Come on, after everything we’ve shared? I know you better than that! I’ve… I’ve known people who enjoy hurting others. They’d never doubt themselves like this.”

Blake was wiping her tears and looked like she was about to say something when Weiss’s scroll buzzed. Seeing Yang’s ID pop up, she answered it. “Hey Yang, can it wait? We’re kind of-”

“Whatever you two are doing down there, you need to stop!” Yang’s voice was strained. “My sister is balling her eyes out for no reason!” Blake and Weiss could hear the crying in the background as they looked at each other in shock.

“Well, that… I think that confirms that theory…” Blake sniffled. “We were… having a pretty emotional moment down here…”

“An emotional link…” Weiss murmured. “That’s- I’ve never even heard of a semblance like this before!”

“Well, Ren’s is able to dampen emotions,” Blake mused. “It’s not a huge stretch to sharing them, is it?”

“I- I suppose not…” Weiss replied thoughtfully. “Since you put it that way… wow, I wonder if this is some kind of evolution of my semblance?”

“Whatever it is… Weiss, I know you’re trying, but we *really* need to figure this out!” Yang said

“Agreed,” Blake and Weiss said simultaneously. 

“At least we have something to go on, more than just ‘strange glyph’,” Weiss continued. “I can start researching emotion sharing right away…”

“Get some rest first,” Ruby’s voice came through the scroll. “That’s an order! We all had a crazy time in the Forever Fall.”

“Yes ma’am!”

“Wha- hey! I am not a *MA’AM*!” Ruby screeched, earning giggles from her teammates.

“Thanks Weiss, now I’ve got to find cookies at this hour to calm her down,” Yang groaned as Ruby continued sputtering in the background, until her sister closed the call.

At least we’re smiling now , Blake mused as she reached out and brushed a flyaway out of Weiss’s face and tucked it behind her ear. Her teammate sighed and pressed her cheek into Blake’s hand. “Are you feeling better now?”

“...yeah, I am. You?”

Blake nodded, biting her lips as one more thought occurred to her. “Just… that’s why I left the Fang. That incident… and how some of the other members responded to it.” Her fingers tightened into claws in her bed linens. “Some of them… they congratulated me, Weiss! That’s how I knew… knew that I didn’t belong there. I couldn’t be part of something like that.” Blake fought back a resumption of her sniffling. “Anyways, I just… wanted you to know that.”

“Blake,” Weiss replied, stroking a hand through the other faunus’s hair. “...thank you for telling me that. All of that. And let me tell you,” she smiled warmly. “And… you definitely didn’t belong there. You belong here. With us.”

Her breath hitched in her chest, and this time it was Blake who *had* to kiss Weiss. It was soft and sweet, a simple statement of affection rather than a call for something more passionate, and both of them would’ve sworn that they could feel the other warming their hearts.

“Can I stay the night, Blake?” Weiss murmured when they came apart for air.

“As long as you don’t try anything fresh, Snowflake,” Blake chuckled. “I’m supposed to be recovering… and I’m pretty sure Yang and Ruby would both, err, know that something was going on.”

“Oh gods!” Weiss groaned as she slid under the infirmary bed sheets. “That’s a level of complication I do *not* need to think about!”

“We’ll figure it out, Weiss,” Blake sighed as the other woman tucked her head into her neck. “Together.”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

The official statement was that gross misconduct and reckless disregard for safety on the part of Team CRDL had resulted in Sky Lark’s death, and the rest of his team’s expulsion. Despite how dangerous Huntsman training was, actual deaths were still rare, and it was a sobering moment for the entire school. Yang was perturbed that the announcement made no mention of CRDL’s attack on Weiss and Blake, but the women in question asked her to stand down. The last thing either of them wanted was to be publicly associated with Sky’s death. That didn’t mean they kept it a secret from JNPR, though, after swearing them to secrecy.

“Ooo, I wish we could’ve been there!” Nora fumed, smashing her fists together. “I’d have smashed their kneecaps AND their balls!”

“Nora, don’t speak ill of the dead,” Ren chided.

“That’s bullshit! You heard what those creeps tried to do to Weiss and Blake!”

“And I thought getting chased around by that swarm of Lancers was an adventure!” Jaune grumbled.

“It was though!” Pyrrha assured him with a pat on the shoulder. “And your strategic withdrawal into the pond until backup could arrive was excellent tactical thinking!” ‘Backup’, had, of course, come in the form of Pyrrha herself, who had come running when she heard Jaune screaming and had handily dispatched the entire swarm herself.

“Thank’s, Pyrrha,” JNPR’s leader groaned, flopping sideways to rest his head on his partner’s shoulder. He didn’t see how pink her face suddenly was, or the little smile that blossomed on her lips as the other girls in the common room gave her encouraging looks.

“I just… I can’t get what happened to Sky out of my head!” Weiss said quietly as she hugged herself tight, drawing worried looks from her teammates.

After a moment, it was Ren who spoke up. “Disturbing things like that can be really hard to move on from, Weiss,” he replied. “I know some meditations that might help, if you’d like.”

“Oh, why thank you, Ren. I… I’ll probably take you up on those, actually.”

He nodded. “The offer is open to anyone, of course,” he added as he looked around the room.

“On the bright side, they’ve lifted the ban on going into the city!” Yang did her best to lift the mood. “I think I’d have gone stir crazy if I’d been stuck in here all weekend!”

Pyrrha winced and sighed. “Yeah, they did, didn’t they…”

Nora wiggled her eyes at her teammate. “Oh, is your new boyfriend in town getting anxious to see you?” Pyrrha responded with a very accurate pillow to the ginger’s face, leaving her cackling with glee.

“Gee, sure would be nice if you could find someone at Beacon who liked you!” Jaune mused. “If you had a girlfriend or boyfriend here, you could just tell that Greg dude that you’re off the market, right?” Jaune was so lost in his train of thought that he failed to notice how the entire room was staring at him incredulously.

“Are you… are you for real?”   Blake murmured.

“What? I’m just saying, in all of Beacon, we ought to be able to find someone who’s into the one and only Pyrrha Nikos!”

Pyrrha stood up very suddenly, dumping Jaune off her shoulder as she rose. “I- I need to go and… do homework,” she stated primly and proceeded to march out of the room.

“...what? What’d I do?” Jaune asked as he rubbed his head.

“Incredible,” Yang muttered.

Weiss took a deep breath and prepared herself to have a difficult conversation on Pyrrha’s behalf, when Velvet entered the room and cleared her throat. “Hey, Weiss? Can I talk to you for a minute? It’s about that science project you asked for help with.”

“We had a science project?!” Nora squeaked in a panic.

Shaking her head, Weiss stood up and gestured for Velvet to follow her. “No, this was a side thing we were doing. C’mon, Vel, our room is free.”

When Weiss closed the door behind them, the words spilled out of her mouth. “Well? You found something interesting?”

Velvet blew out her cheeks. “Yes… and no.” At Weiss’s curious look, she continued. “Weiss… whatever that stuff was, it’s wild. Even from what I was able to see… well, I’ve never studied anything like it! The molecular structure is impossible! Like, it shouldn’t be able to bond like that! I’m pretty sure they’re using gravity Dust to bind the drug together, which… I’ve read theories about it, but it’s cost prohibitive and I didn’t know anyone had ever succeeded.

“Well, that sounds like Atlas tech alright,” Weiss muttered. “So… what does it do?”

“That’s where I have to disappoint you, I’m afraid. The complexity I saw was… only a part of it.” Velvet glowered and crossed her arms over her chest. “The sample had already degraded too far for me to be able to tell what it does. It binds to some kind of proteins, but… which ones, and how it affects them, I couldn’t tell you.”

“Grimm damnit!” Weiss felt her hopes deflate a bit. “Okay… I’m normally not due for another dose for a couple weeks still yet, but… I could come up with an excuse to get another one sent early.” She grinned at the other faunus woman. “I believe I do still owe you a tart as well!”

Velvet’s ears quivered in excitement. “Well, then I eagerly await your delivery! And not just for the food… I’m really interested in this thing now.” She cocked her head. “ Especially since it’s something they were- making you put into your body.”

“Yeah…” Weiss pursed her lips. “The more I think about that, the more I worry about whatever it might have been doing to me.”

Velvet stepped forward and rested her hands on Weiss’s shoulders, before pulling her into a hug. “Don’t worry, Weiss. We’ll get it figured out."

Chapter Text

From ‘Atomic Physics for Beginners’ by Dr. Pietro Polendina

Perhaps, young scholar, you have heard of ‘atoms’. These incredibly-small bits of matter and energy are what makes up everything in the observable universe. But the building blocks go down even further! We know through science that atoms are made up of four elementary particles: the proton, the neutron, the electron, and the mote. The first three particles determine which of the 91 elements on the periodic table an atom is; the presence and arrangement of motes within the atom is what turns it into the remarkable material we know of as Dust.

There is only one type of mote; it is the number of motes attached to an atom, and the structure formed inside the atom by their arrangement across its surface. Any atom can, in theory, be transformed into any kind of Dust; practically, getting high numbers of motes to attach to lighter elements is extremely difficult, which means that heavier Dust types, such as gravity and hardlight, tend to be restricted to the heavier elements. Conceptual work has been done on using carbon-based gravity Dust, normally a practical impossibility, to create self-supporting macromolecular structures has show immense promise, particularly for the field of biotech, but such breakthroughs are still likely decades from being realized.

While we can talk about Dust on the level of the individual atom, in practice we can only work with it in larger sample sizes, as current technology limits our ability to isolate single atoms of an element. Additionally, a substantial body of work indicates that the state of matter an element sample exists in does impact its ability to be turned into Dust; thus far, no effort to utilize gaseous or liquid Dust outside of the experimental laboratory setting has been successful. This means that, ironically, even air Dust and water Dust have to exist as solids. The most common elemental medium for Dust is the combination of oxygen, silicon, iron, and trace amounts of heavier elements that we identify as Dust crystals. Molecularly speaking, these crystals are composed primarily of quartz; crystalline structures make up the vast majority of naturally-occuring Dust, and offer the easiest medium for storing synthetic Dust.

Mass increases the stability of Dust. Large, solid chunks of Dust crystal are remarkably stable, although, as numerous tragic accidents in Schnee Dust Company mines have shown us, they can still be detonated through careless handling or exposure to less-stable varieties of Dust, which often results in massive explosions and elemental discharges. Powdered Dust, on the other hand, is extremely unstable, and most jurisdictions mandate that it only be handled by individuals with a developed aura to stabilize it.

The method of action by which the energy known as aura interacts with Dust remains an unknown. Maybe you, young scholar, will be the one to unlock these secrets?

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

From ‘Hardlight and You!’

In its natural state, light behaves as both a particle and a wave, representing the first and second dimensions. Hardlight, an exciting new discovery from the hard-working scientists of Atlas, is created by manipulating light into behaving as a three-dimensional solid. It can thus be used to create structural material, most commonly barriers and cutting edges.

Hardlight structures are created by passing photons, the stuff light is made of, through a transparent surface made of hardlight Dust. The quality of this surface has some impact on the strength and longevity of a hardlight construct; constructs projected from common glass and quartz lenses have a significantly shorter half-life than those created from gemstone lenses.

The major source of a hardlight constructs’ durability is derived from its power source. Quite simply, the more power pumped into a hardlight projector, the stronger the resulting construct will be. Generally, this requires a large projector and power source to create things like the hardlight barriers being increasingly deployed for protection by Atlas military forces.

Since the development of hardlight Dust, there has been an increase in the number of individuals who’ve demonstrated an ability to manipulate the material partially or completely through their aura. [NAME REDACTED] has made remarkable developments in hardlight projector miniaturization, although their results have not been able to be duplicated due to the process relying on their aura. Even more promising, [NAME REDACTED] has demonstrated an ability to create hardlight constructs directly from hardlight Dust by use of their semblance, although doing so appears to actually consume the Dust. As is often the case with semblances, this process defies known laws of physics.

Chapter Text

“Are you guys ready for the greatest movie of all time?!” Jaune exclaimed excitedly as he skipped into the common room where Ren and Nora, Blake and Yang, and Coco and Yatsu had gathered for movie night.

“That’s a pretty lofty promise there, Arc,” Coco eyed him over her ever-present sunglasses. “I’ve yet to meet a man who can live up to all his promises…”

“Coco, you have never once let a man try to fulfill any promises to you, and have actually built much of your identity around that fact.” Yatsu chided as he bit into a harumaki. “Speaking of… Ren, these are delicious!”

Ren inclined his head appreciatively as he discarded his cooking apron and plopped down next to Nora as everyone added their approval of the food.

“Well, get ready to start being WRONG, Miss ‘Too Cool for Everything’, because ‘Attack on Tomato Witches’ will absolutely blow your mind!” Jaune started fiddling with connecting an old disc player to the TV. “It’s about witches who enchant plants to rise up and destroy humanity, and the teenagers who pilot giant robots to fight them! And-”

“It’s only available on physical media?!” Yang’s eyes went wide.

“It’s a cult classic that’s never been released digitally!”

“Wait, you don’t just… pirate stuff?” Nora asked before swallowing a dumpling whole.

“Wha-? Nora, that’s illegal!”

“...and why are the giant robot pilots teenagers?” Yang mused.

“You do realize you’re a teenager at a school for learning to fight monsters, right?” Ren asked.

“Gah! All of you! Just- shut up and watch the movie!” Jaune ordered as he finally got his battered old disc player connected and started the film.

Coco leaned over to her teammate and muttered softly, “Why are we here again?”

“Because you didn’t want to go with Velvet and Fox to the arcade, or go to sparring practice with Pyrrha, and our friends offered us delicious food to hang out with them?” Yatsu sighed.

“Fair enough. Especially on the food part,” Coco agreed as she popped a pod of spicy edamame into her mouth.

Blake giggled. In the relative privacy of their common room she was comfortable taking her bow off, letting her ears easily pick up all the quiet conversations. “Frankly, I’d watch anything if it meant I got one of these… what’d Ren call them? Poke bowls?” she whispered to Yang. After a moment, she bit her lip and murmured even softer. “...and to hang out with you.”

Yang’s cheeks still flushed a little bit every time Blake said something like that. Honestly, she hoped she never stopped getting that little shiver. “Sometime, Rubes and I should take you to a Patch fish boil,” she replied.

Blake’s ears twisted in a mix of interest and aversion. “A… fish boil? What’s that?”

“Only one of the best campfire meals ever!” Yang exclaimed. “You get a big pot of water boiling. Really boiling! Then, you season it and toss in your potatoes, onions… some carrots or other root veggies if you’d like. Lastly, some fish. Lots of fish.”

“...and that’s it?”

Yang chuckled. “I know, it sounds pretty basic, but it’s so good!” She smiled fondly as she reminisced. “You gotta do it over a fire, the wood smoke is a big part of it. And then you sit around the fire with your friends and family, chatting and loving your delicious food until the fireflies come out…”

“It sounds amazing, Yang,” Blake murmured softly. She’d been increasingly leaning into her partner, and Yang started to lift her arm like she was going to put it around her shoulders when she stopped suddenly, eyes wide as she realized what she’d been about to do… in public . Blake caught the nervous flicker of pale lilac in her gaze with her own soft golden orbs. Giving Yang a smile, she nodded encouragingly. The blonde swallowed as she glanced around at their friends, then raised her arm and invited Blake in, setting around her shoulders as the faunus relaxed with a gentle humm.

“That sounds amazing, Yang. Not… not just because of the fish, but… something like that with you and Ruby? Maybe we could even bring Weiss along.” 

Yang sighed, imagining sharing one of her favorite childhood memories with these women who’d already come to mean the world to her. The idea of showing them a part of herself like that, of bringing Blake and Weiss home , made something catch in her chest and leave it full of warmth. It was a… complicated … feeling for Yang.

She had a lot of fond memories of home. And a lot of painful ones. When Mom taught her how to weave a flower crown. Making confetti sprinkle pancakes with Ruby. The Winter Solstice she got her first bicycle.

The Solstice none of them got anything, that she and Ruby spent huddled under every blanket they had trying to stay warm because the heat had gone out and Dad hadn’t been home for three days. The number of times she had sat in the corner of the kitchen sobbing because she’d tried to cook something new and burned it, and Ruby was throwing a fit because she didn’t want hot dogs with mac and cheese *again* but it was the only thing Yang knew how to make.

All the times she’d fitfully fallen asleep while her young mind tried to reason out what she’d done wrong that made everyone who was supposed to love her leave instead .

“Hey, hey baby. What’s wrong?” Blake murmured softly. Yang blinked, coming back from her mind to find her partner’s arm wrapped around her.

“Huh? Blake, how’d-”

“I could feel it, Yang. I felt the- the hurt -coming off you. I don’t know what it was, but… I’m here, Yang. I’m here, whatever you need.”

Yang didn’t just hear it, she *felt* it. A cooling breeze of care and affection, soothing the raw pain she’d unearthed. The little Yang in her heart sniffled as a comforting blanket, one that smelled like Blake, wrapped around her shoulders. The sense of care that filled her made her audibly gasp.

“Blake…” she murmured as she nuzzled the faunus’s hair, the warm fur of her ear brushing against her cheek.

“I knew it!” Coco triumphantly exclaimed, snapping Yang and Blake’s heads up and around to meet her smirk. “Took you two long enough! I wasn’t entirely sure about Blake, but I called Yang the minute I saw her.”

As the room stared blankly at her, Coco grinned smugly. “My gaydar is never wrong.”

Yang and Blake both blushed bright crimson, while Yatsu started coughing profusely. “Coco… it took you most of the year to… well, you never did pick up on how into you Velvet was. She had to make the first move!”

Coco started sputtering as everyone else, even Jaune, tuned in with interest. “Really?” Yang asked, eyes sparkling mischievously. “We always presumed that it was Coco who swept Vel off her feet…”

“Oh absolutely not!” Yatsu chuckled. “Definitely the other way around.”

“Yatsu…” Coco groaned plaintively.

Her teammate was merciless. “Miss Ladykiller here was busy running around trying to pick up every girl in our year except the one on her own team who was constantly making eyes at her. Even I was picking up on her hints, and I’m aroace!”

“Okay, so one time I was clueless…” Coco grumbled.

“Coco… Vel had to invite you out to a picnic. At a lantern-lighting ceremony. Followed by a fireworks show. And it still took her climbing into your lap and kissing you for you to realize what it was all about.”

The room hooted as Coco buried her face in her hands, until Blake finally took pity on her. “Well, look at it this way, Coco: you got a smart, gorgeous, amazing girlfriend who clearly loves you to the Moon. I think that’s worth a little ding on your suave reputation.”

The second-year Huntress looked up with eyes brimming with affection. “Oh, it absolutely is. I would happily be the most useless, clueless lesbian in the world, as long as we still got to love each other.”

The chorus of ‘Awwws!’ gave Coco a chance to compose herself. “ Anyways, enough about me! What’s up with all of this?” she gestured her hand at Blake and Yang.

The partners blushed as everyone stared at them intently. “Well, yeah, there’s… it’s complicated, we’re still figuring stuff out…” Blake began as her ears drooped low.

Yang tilted her chin up and kissed her. It was tender, but by no means chaste, and Blake felt her heart skip as she reflexively pressed her lips back into Yang’s. Moaning just a little, she lightly wrapped her arms around Yang’s neck and gave her a little energetic play before tugging her lower lip out just a little when they split apart. The faunus smirked playfully as she saw her lover’s eyes struggle to focus again, while Nora wolf-whistled.

“Atta girl!” Coco cheered.

“So, um, yeah, like Blake said… we’re figuring things out.” Yang said with her cheesy smile that Blake was more than a little bit in love with. The two of them grinned at each other; yes, there were complications they were still navigating, and they knew that the fact that the rest of RWBY was also involved in their relationship probably couldn’t stay a secret forever, but… for now, it felt nice to be seen together and make a public claim on each other.

“I think you make a lovely couple, and I wish you all the best,” Ren toasted the duo.

“Hmmm, I wonder who *else* around here might make a really cute couple?” Nora responded, frostiness in her voice that seemed to go right over Ren’s head.

“Hey, so this is all lovely and I’m really happy for you, but do you all think you could stop being gay for long enough to watch the movie?!” Jaune finally broke in. “We’re almost to the scene where the tomato witch betrays her robot pilot lover to try and-” He smacked his hands over his mouth as he realized he’d just spoiled the scene.

“Jaune, buddy, have you even met sapphics? I live with two, and I promise you, they absolutely cannot do that.” Yatsu laughed, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Coco.

“Hey, just because we don’t want our lives to be as boring as yours-”

“-you mean as simple and low-drama?” he shot back, in what was clearly a routine of friendly teasing they went through regularly.

As their friends’ attention went elsewhere, Yang and Blake smiled at each other and kissed again. “You know, Weiss and Ruby are probably going to be back late,” Yang whispered suggestively.

Blake raised an eyebrow. “So, does that mean we need to hurry, or that we can’t start yet?” she mused, earning a groan from Yang as she pressed her forehead into Blake’s shoulder. Suddenly, they both stiffened as bolts of anger tinged with fear shot through them. From the look they saw in each other’s eyes, they didn’t even need to speak to know that they’d both felt, and were thinking, the same thing:

Ruby and Weiss are in trouble!

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“YOU’RE A BLAZING STAR!” the arcade machine proclaimed as Weiss nailed the final dance move, striking a dramatic pose in the process and earning yet another perfect score. The small audience she’d gathered clapped and cheered as she smiled and delivered a ballet-quality curtsey. On the platform next to her, Velvet wheezed as she collapsed against the railing, glaring at the ‘C+’ rating the game had given her.

“Gods, Weiss, how do you move like that!? And make it look so graceful and… pretty?”

Weiss chuckled. “13 years of professional dance training does have its occasional uses, I suppose.” Some audience members were trying to challenge her to another round, but Weiss had no intention of ditching her friend… who clearly needed a break. “Hey, let’s go take a breather, Vel. Treat you to some pizza and a Slush Sabyr?”

Velvet smiled weakly and nodded. “You’re a lifesaver, Weiss! Um, white garlic sauce with artichoke hearts, and black raspberry flavor?”

“You got it! Go find us a table, I’ll be back in a bit.” Weiss took her place at the busy arcade kitchen line, rocking back and forth on her heels as she took in the raucous sights and sounds of the gaming floor. Bright neon lights and pulsing bulbs set to cheerful chipset music competed with thunderous explosions and the pained roars of dying Grimm from the shooter and fighting simulators. She tried to smile at the kids gleefully machinegunning their way through hordes of Beowolves, but the rawness of her recent encounter with the Ursa Alpha, and the results, flashed in her mind.

It’s not like the simulations, little ones. When the Grimm are looming over you breathing rot and ruin in your face and all you can smell is fire Dust and your comrade’s blood… Weiss realized that she’d frozen and was breathing hard and heavy, while the line behind her started muttering angrily. Trying to drown the roars and screams echoing in her head in the cheerful tunes of the arcade, she hurried forward to order their food.

“You okay, Weiss?” Velvet asked worriedly when the heiress brought their food over. “You look pretty shaken up.”

Weiss exhaled slowly as she seated herself. “Yeah… I’ll manage. Some of the games were just giving me some flashbacks, that’s all.”

“ That’s all?!” Velvet exclaimed, grabbing her friend’s arm. “Weiss… look, I’ve never had that happen. Lost someone right in front of me… I don’t know what that’s like. But I can only imagine it’s a really big deal!” Her dark chocolate eyes were deep wells of compassion. “Frankly, I think it’d be kind of scary if you weren’t a little messed up.”

“Really?” Weiss replied, the faintest trace of hope in her voice.

“Absolutely!” Velvet affirmed. Her lip twitched as she looked at Weiss’s slice of pizza. “Although, that… thing you’re eating *is* scaring me!”

“Hmmm?” Weiss looked down at her pizza. “...what’s wrong with it?”

“You’ve… you’ve got an entire farm worth of meat on that pizza, Weiss!” the rabbit faunus looked at her in shock. “Pepperoni, beef, sausage, bacon… and that’s just what I can see! And you’re… you’re…” Velvet’s hands drew small curves in the air that were vaguely indicative of Weiss’s petite waist. She couldn’t help but break down giggling.

“Look, I like my meat, okay?” Velvet raised an eyebrow at her. “I mean, my meat pizza! Not- not that meat! I’m strictly vegetarian there! Wait, that doesn’t work, I…” Weiss slouched down in her chair and sucked on her blueberry slushie while Velvet cackled gleefully.

Before Vel could torture Weiss any further, they were joined by Ruby and Fox, the later carrying a huge fistful of tickets and a big smirk while Ruby was dragging her feet. “I don’t understand!” she wailed as she dropped into a seat next to Weiss and thumped her forehead against the tabletop. “Like… I don’t wanna be ableist about this, but… how did Fox beat me at a racing game?!”

“Echolocation,” Fox said with a shrug. “I’ve got bat-senses!”

Ruby and Weiss stared. “But… it’s a video game screen?” Ruby replied hesitantly. 

“Excuse me, are you trying to explain my own disability to me?” Fox responded with an edge of annoyance in his voice that made Ruby wilt in her chair.

“I’m- I’m sorry, Fox!”

“Ruby, you have nothing to apologize for,” Velvet said dryly as she elbowed her teammate in the stomach. “Fox does not have ‘bat-senses’. He has a super-fancy scroll- which *I* built him, by the way-  that analyzes his surroundings and whispers in his ears.” Fox put on an overdramatic, wounded expression, to which Vel just rolled her eyes. “ And , never let him talk you into letting him drive. We did. Once. Never again.”

“So it’s treason then, my dear?” Fox growled as he dropped to his knees. 

Velvet smacked him across the head. “Stop tormenting the first-years, drama queen.”

As everyone chuckled, Weiss stood up. “Hey Ruby, you want something to eat?”

“Oh, yes please!” Her partner craned her neck to look at the menu. “Oooo, can I get some fried grilled cheese and… a chocolate-strawberry cola?”

“A… what? A fried grilled cheese? How does that even work?!”

“Well…” Ruby answered, very seriously. “You make a grilled cheese sandwich and cut it into bite-sized pieces… and then you batter and deep fry them, I guess?”

Weiss blinked, then turned to Velvet. “And you thought my pizza was weird! So, oh wise senior students, how does this work? At what point am I allowed to medically intervene in my team leader’s diet in order to save her life?”

As she turned to head back to the food counter, Fox raised his handful of tickets. “I’m gonna go get myself a prize with these spoils of victory. And some grub.”

As the two headed off from the table, Weiss overheard Ruby excitedly asking Velvet about tech specs on Fox’s navigational aid. They could talk about that for hours , she mused. She might not even  notice if I fed her veggie bites instead of that artery obstruction she asked for. Laughing to herself, Weiss shook her head. No, that would definitely be enough to snap her out of even her deepest fixation. My precious dolt.

…’My’? ‘Precious’? Where did THAT come from? Of course, Weiss knew exactly where it had come from. It came from the same place that gave her butterflies in her stomach whenever she thought about any of her teammates. Her lovers. Yang’s cocky smile and easy friendliness. Blake’s quiet sensitivity that blossomed into a sharp wit once she trusted you. And Ruby. Her sweet rose, who put her whole heart into every person whose life she touched and whose sparkling eyes, Weiss had come to realize, were the best part of her day. They were *all* precious to her, and she couldn’t imagine her life without them.

I wonder if they feel the same way? I mean, we obviously *like* each other quite a bit, but… do their hearts speed up when they think about me? Is it just hot for them when we kiss… not that there’s anything wrong with that… or does it mean more? Does Yang love cuddling me as much as I do her? Does my touch and smile calm the storms in Blake’s heart like hers does mine? 

Am I a shining star in Ruby’s life? What… what are we all to each other?

Food ordered, Weiss stopped to grab a large handful of napkins for Ruby’s grease basket when someone slid up next to her. “Hey Weiss. Almost didn’t see you there,” Fox said with a smirk.

As Weiss dead-stared at him, she had the sure impression that, however it was he perceived the world, Fox was absolutely aware of the look on her face, and he enjoyed it immensely. Sighing, she glanced down at the large stuffed Colossamedon Grimm he had stuffed under his arm. “Nice shark,” she said.

“Heh, thanks,” he replied. “Totally worth all those tickets!” Fox shuffled his feet, and Weiss cocked her head curiously as she realized that the older Huntsman was nervous about something. When he realized she was waiting on him, he chuckled and continued. “So… your partner’s pretty great, huh?”

“...yes…” Weiss replied, all the thoughts she’d just been entertaining about the girl swirling back to the forefront of her mind.

“I mean, she’s crazy smart, she’s tons of fun and her enthusiasm for everything brightens even my day, and…” he cleared his throat and lowered his voice, “...she sounds really cute.”

Oh.

Oh no.

Fox shifted back and forth on his feet. “Do you, um, know if she’s seeing anyone?”

Weiss stared dumbly for a moment. Everything in her wanted to scream ‘Yes! Ruby’s taken! Totally off the market! I’m 90% sure she doesn’t even like guys!’ but… was it really her place? As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t speak for Ruby like that. They hadn’t discussed or formalized anything, it wasn’t her right. It pissed her off how easily she could see Ruby laughing on Fox’s arm, and the way that made her feel left her distrustful of all the dissuasive things she wanted to say.

“I- I… no, I don’t think so…”

“Cool!” Fox smiled, in that downplayed tone it felt like all guys used when they were excited about a girl, but had a chill image to maintain and couldn’t let it show too much. “That’s useful to know. Hey, want me to help you carry all that back?”

Very briefly, Weiss entertained the idea of dumping the tray of food all over his head.

When they returned to their table, Ruby and Velvet were hunched over a portable holoscreen, excitedly pointing at technical schematics on the display. Weiss would’ve rolled her eyes fondly if she hadn’t been so anxious about her conversation with Fox. Noticing them, Ruby perked up and waved. “Hey guys! Yay, food!” Her eyes went wide as she beheld the stuffed toy Fox had won. “Oh, wow! That’s a really cool Colossamedon, Fox!”

“Yeah?” he replied brightly as he sat down next to her. “Well, I’m glad you like it, because it’s for you!” As he awkwardly thrust the animal towards Ruby, who squeaked before hesitantly taking the proffered gift.

“Oh! Wow, are… are you sure? Those were your tickets you won fair and square, after all…”

Fox shook his head. “Yup, all yours. The fun of playing with you was reward enough!” Ruby blushed a deep scarlet as she hugged the Grimm shark.

“Thanks! So much! Hmmm, I think I’ll name him… Fanak!”

“Oh! Heh, that’s… that’s cool!” It was Fox’s turn to blush, the color on his cheeks visible even under his darker skin as Ruby picked his name in a Vacuoan dialect. Velvet looked between her teammate and Weiss, eyebrow raised, while Ruby giggled and played with her new friend’s plush teeth and made ‘omnomnom’ noises.

Velvet was about to ask Weiss if she’d accompany her to the bathroom so they could check in about this startling development when a loud, posh-sounding female voice called out behind her. “Hey! Didn’t you see the sign? ‘No Pets Allowed’?”

Ruby and Weiss looked around, startled and unsure who was yelling about what. Velvet sank in her seat though, her ears drooping, and Fox went from goofily staring at Ruby to bristling in a heartbeat.

“At the very least, you need to keep a leash on them for public safety!” an obnoxiously-loud male voice, with the timbre of someone who genuinely believed that the whole room was invested in what they had to say, added.

At last, the Beacon table identified the speakers. A small posse of young humans, centered around a woman dressed in clothes Weiss recognized as ‘designer for people who couldn’t actually afford it’ and a beefy man on her arm, were sneering at them expectantly. Fox was already on his feet, with Weiss and Ruby following while Velvet stared down at the table dejectedly. “You need to leave,” Fox growled.

“But not before you apologize!” Ruby snapped.

The man, a full head taller than Fox, guffawed. “Or what? You gonna sick your attack rabbit on us?” He twisted his lips to look buck-toothed and gnashed his teeth.

“Velvet could take you apart without breaking a sweat,” Weiss said icily. “Not that she’d need to, because while your motley lot can clearly barely scrape up a single brain cell between you, I don’t think even *that* qualifies you as stupid enough to attack a group of Beacon students.”

That got the group of bullies looking at each other nervously, but the woman who’d started it just rolled her eyes. “What-ever! You aren’t allowed to carry your weapons in town, and besides… people are on our side! We don’t want faunus terrorists around!” She glanced at the onlookers, who’d quickly cleared a wide space around the confrontation. “Right?”

There were far more cheers of encouragement than Weiss had expected to hear, and she was suddenly conscious of the fact that only Vel had her inconspicuous Anesidora with her, and that both she and Ruby were ill-matched for a fist fight. 

“Not a problem,” Fox grimaced, cracking his knuckles. “Weapons are for Grimm. Some old-fashioned Vacuo face-bashing will do the job on bitches like you!”

“Guys, we can just go…” Velvet muttered.

“Absolutely not!” Ruby answered. “We- you - have every right to be here, and these punks aren’t going to ruin things for us!”

Weiss sighed. “Look, we *could* thrash these guttersnipes, but I *really* don’t want to explain that to Goodwitch.” Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a thousand-lien note and held it up pinched between her fingers. Everyone’s, both her friends and their opponent’s, eyes went wide at the casual display of wealth. “If I give you this, will you all fuck off?” She eyed the other woman, who had ringleader vibes, up and down. “Maybe buy yourself an outfit that’s less tacky and was in fashion sometime in the last five years?”

The woman’s overly-made-up eyes went wide with fury as she sputtered. “Excuse you? This is couture!”

With a derisive snort, Weiss shook her head. “Honey, you couldn’t even buy that in Atlas, because department stores can’t afford the real estate.”

While it looked like the other girl was ready to order all of her minions to defend her honor, the man with her couldn’t take his eyes off the note in Weiss’s hand as he lowered his head to her. “Babe, that’s a thousand lien!” he whispered urgently.

Clearly seething, the woman reached out and snatched the money away. “Whatever. Your day will come, sooner rather than later. Real Vale people are getting tired of having animals dirtying up our community!” Weiss fluttered her hand dismissively, and the other group turned and left the arcade, grumbling and casting disparaging looks over their shoulders. Breathing sighs of relief, the Beacon students returned to their table. But their food didn’t taste very good anymore.

“Are you okay, Vel?” Fox asked quietly as he put a hand on his teammate’s trembling shoulder. Ruby’s eyes went wide as she stared at where the rabbit faunus’s fingers had made dents in the synthetic material of the tabletop.

“No. No, I’m not okay!” Velvet hissed. “Why is it like this everywhere? Why does it keep getting worse and worse? Why do they have to just… hate us like this?” The table cracked in her tight grip, and she snarled at it. “You know, maybe the White Fang is right! People like that are never going to respect us until we stomp the smugness off their faces!”

Weiss winced, and Ruby glanced at her worriedly before reaching out under the table and grabbing her hand. Velvet shook her head and sighed. “Whatever. I’m sorry our night out is kind of ruined. And, thank you, Weiss. I’ll… I’ll find a way to pay you back.”

“You absolutely will not,” Weiss replied quickly. “None of this was your fault. And I seriously just didn’t want to find out what Goodwitch would’ve done to us if we’d gotten involved in another… altercation.”

Velvet flashed her a nervous grin. “That’s probably a good idea, then. Being on her shit list is not fun. Still, thanks.” She picked up her half-eaten pizza and stared at it before dropping it back onto the plate. “I feel so ungrateful, but… can we please just go?”

“Absolutely,” Ruby said. As they all stood up, she only hesitated a moment before embracing Velvet in a tight hug, one that slowly brought a genuine smile to the rabbit faunus’s face as she tousled Ruby’s hair affectionately. As her eyes darted about, trying to catch and glare down all the nervous looks still pointed their way, Weiss felt a twitching in her tail.

Gods, this is what I’m going to have to deal with, if I ever decide to stop hiding it , she groused. Not that I’m seriously entertaining doing that anytime soon. Word would get back to Father somehow, and then… She didn’t need to spell out the details to herself; everything would be over. Her relative independence, her dreams of being a Huntress, her life. It was a secret she could never let spread beyond the women she trusted intimately.

Still, bearing witness to the kinds of things Velvet had to deal with regularly, and knowing the things Blake had lived through, left Weiss feeling painfully guilty over hiding her heritage. Even more painful than the nagging itch that she could increasingly feel in her tail. Was it her imagination, or was the damn thing becoming more sensitive? As she and her friends started the long trudge from downtown Vale back to Beacon, she squirmed, trying to shift her clothes against the spots tormenting her without making a scene about it. Clearly, she wasn’t successful enough, because Ruby broke away from chatting with Fox to walk close to her. “You got an itch somewhere, Weiss?” she whispered in her ear.

“Y- yeah. In my… my tail,” Weiss muttered in defeat.

“Do you want me to…” Ruby’s hand brushed across her partner’s upper back. Weiss sucked in her breath. Even when they’d been having sex, everyone had done their best to avoid her unsightly appendage. Which she’d greatly appreciated. This would be the first time anyone other than a doctor had handled it.

“...could you?”

Ruby’s fingers arched as they slide down her back, finding the wrapped-up tail under her blouse and beginning to scratch along its coiled length. “Just tell me where,” she murmured.

“Oh, you’re getting it,” Weiss signed in relief. Hoping to make what was going on less obvious, she slung her arm over Ruby’s shoulders. Suddenly, Ruby started, making Weiss start to pull away until she saw her partner fishing her scroll out of her pocket. Yang’s angry and frightened voice came through, even without the speaker on, as Ruby answered.

“Where have you been?! What’s going on? I haven’t been able to get to you, Weiss, or Velvet! Blake and I are worried sick!”

“Yang, it’s okay!” Ruby answered with a practiced placating tone. “We’re fine, we just ran into some… some very rude townies. We’re on our way home, we’ll be there in a little bit.”

(for shits and giggles, here's the sketch I gave Pao to work off of. An artist, I am not)

Chapter Text

“THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS!” Yang roared. As she swung her hand at the wall, Weiss quickly conjured a glyph in the way of her punch. Their dorm wall was saved, but the fact that Yang could shatter one of Weiss’s sigils with her bare fist was a little terrifying to Blake and Weiss. “How- how fucking dare they!” The blonde stomped a circuit around RWBY’s dorm, at least pounding her fists together instead of throwing punches at the furniture or the building structure. Her eyes were red and her hair smoking when she growled “Anyone wanna go down and beat up some training drones?”

“Yang, Sunflower… it’s close to midnight. Could we… could we not do that?” Blake murmured as she rubbed her partner’s shoulders.

The pugilist let out a deep breath as she visibly unwound. “Okay. Okay, fine, the training room lives another day. Barely .” She dropped down onto Blake’s bed, her voice sounding much more broken. “Why do people have to be such assholes?!” Blake knelt on the mattress and crawled around behind her to continue massaging the tension out of her partner’s tight neck muscles.

Across from them, Weiss and Ruby sat on the heiress’s bed, with Ruby holding her hand and stroking her thumb across her knuckles. “I was so pissed off!” their team leader agreed. “I was ready to start a fight!” Her eyes unfocused in the way they did when a new engineering project occurred to her. “Hmmm, I bet I could design collapsible versions of our weapons, especially if I got Coco’s expertise on miniaturization…”

Yang and Weiss murmured their agreement with the idea, but Blake shook her head. “Ruby, please… don’t.”

“But… why?” Ruby asked. “We could’ve kicked their ass super-easy!”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that. Any one of us could take a bunch of civilians unarmed. But… we’ve seen how fighting back like that goes. The cops show up. Best-case scenario, they blame both sides. More likely, they arrest and prosecute whoever actually struck first… which would be you. Either way, public opinion turns against us, you start seeing more ‘think pieces’ urging ‘violent faunus’ to ‘protest peacefully’, that ‘violence is never the answer’.” She snorted disdainfully. “Gods forbid you scratch someone’s car or burn down one little Dust station, and they start lecturing about ‘respecting private property’...”

“Umm…” Weiss interjected. “Blake, I trust your experience with this, but… there is a world of difference between scratching a car and burning down a Dust station , wouldn’t you agree?”

“Isn’t it all just a matter of degrees when you’re putting inanimate objects before the rights, respect, and lives of living, breathing people?” Blake asked, with the patient voice of someone who had had this conversation many times before but was still willing to help guide someone through it. “Besides…” she shrugged, “they had insurance. And the Dust fires were pretty damn colorful!”

Yang twisted, snagging Blake in her arms and pulling her around into her lap. The faunus squeaked in surprise, but settled and wrapped her arms around her partner’s shoulders. “What’s up, dayang?” she hummed as the blonde hugged her.

“Just… hearing some of these things makes me want to hold you really tight…” Yang mumbled as her cheeks pinked slightly.

“Hmmm,” Blake chewed her lip. “Well, I don’t much care for pity, but… I do like it when you hold me, so I’ll allow it,” she smiled as she pecked Yang on the forehead.

Ruby turned and looked at Weiss questioningly. Her partner chuckled. “I’m okay, Ruby. I… I would take a kiss, though…” Her ears flushing, Ruby obliged, their lips meeting in a lingering caress.

“So, Ruby,” Blake asked, trying not to giggle as Yang nuzzled her neck, “who’s your new Colossamedon buddy?”

“Oh! This is Fanak!” Ruby scratched the stuffed animal’s chin where it hung over the side of her top bunk. “Fox gave him to me after he beat me at a racing game! Wasn’t that nice of him?”

Yang and Blake gave Weiss a pointed look, which she returned with a nod. “Ruby… Fox was definitely flirting with you.”

Ruby uttered a loud ‘eep!’ and blushed harder. “Wha- what?! That’s… that’s crazy, Weiss!” She looked over at her sister and Blake. “Right? That’s crazy…” Her voice trailed off as she caught the gaze both of her other teammates were giving her. “...ah, geez. Fox was flirting with me, wasn’t he?” The young Huntress bit her lip anxiously as the rest of her team all nodded like it was obvious. “So, um… what do I do about that?”

Weiss and Blake turned their eyes to Yang, making it clear that this was her territory. “Well…” the blonde began. “What do you WANT to do about it?”

Ruby’s mouth opened and closed a couple times without her speaking a word as she tried to find an answer she didn’t have. “I… I don’t know!” Chuckling, she scratched at her head. “Which feels really weird to say, ‘cause until today, I was pretty certain I was a lesbian!”

Yang’s eyes sparkled mischievously. “Oh? Is a fox getting up in your henhouse, sis?” Silence fell over the room as the rest of her team stared at her with a mix of shock and consternation. After several tense moments, the grin wilted off the blonde’s face. “Okay, sorry, that one was-”

“An abomination?” Weiss offered.

“A hate crime?” muttered Blake.

“Betrayed by my own sister!”

“...I was just going to say a stretch.” Yang sighed. “Okay, but for real sis, it’s perfectly okay if you change your mind! Or if you just try it out and decide it’s not for you!” Yang scooted out from under Blake and hopped across the room to wrap an arm around Ruby. “I’ve been so proud watching you discover and define your identity as you’ve grown up, Rubes. You’ve got a great head on your shoulders, I know you’ll figure it out. And,” she kissed her sister on the top of her head, “I’ll absolutely love and support you no matter what you decide.”

Ruby blew out her cheeks as she pondered the ceiling. “It’s like… I’ve only ever had eyes for girls, but… Fox is a great guy, and finding out he’s interested just… I dunno, it’s kind of exciting! I guess I just never really expected anyone to be interested in little old me!” she said with a self-deprecating giggle.

Weiss smacked the back of her partner’s head, immediately followed by throwing her arms around her and hugging her tight. “Ruby Rose, don’t you dare! Don’t you dare go around thinking you aren’t worthy of people’s l- of someone being into you!” She was surprised by how much her voice was trembling, at how much hearing Ruby putting herself down stung her. 

“We’re all behind you completely, babe!” Blake said. “And, as the token bisexual in the midst of all these lesbians… men have things that are great about them too!”

Weiss forced a smile onto her face and said “Absolutely! You are smart and caring and you… you make every room brighter, Ruby. And , you are very, very hot!” The compliments came easy; it was why she was giving them that hurt. The sparks between Fox and Ruby suddenly felt like a fire threatening to burn up the precious but fragile connections Weiss was feeling to her whole team, and to consume her with them.

“Weiss…” Ruby murmured as she leaned her head against the heiress’s white hair. “...are you okay?” How did my feelings over this potential THING with Fox just get even MORE confused? It’s like my mind just got crowded! It suddenly occurred to Ruby that she wasn’t just swimming in her own feelings, but in her teammates’ as well. And while she couldn’t tell who was feeling what, she could tell that someone- possibly even me!- was *very* concerned about the whole thing.

“Y-yeah,” Weiss replied stiffly. “It’s just- why are you making me so emotional, you dolt?” An awkward silence fell over their dorm room as all of the RWBYs grappled with the mix of feelings, not all of them entirely their own, that was brewing in their heads. Yang took it on herself to break the disquiet.

“Heh, so that kinda brings up something else that happened today…” she scratched her head sheepishly.

Ruby sighed. “What’d you do, Yang?”

“Why do you just *presume* it was me?!” her sister squawked indignantly. Weiss and Ruby raised their eyebrows simultaneously.

“It wasn’t entirely her fault,” Blake came to her partner’s rescue. “We were- well, we might’ve been getting just a little bit snuggly, and, well…”

“Coco totally clocked that we’re together. The two of us, I mean,” Yang finished explaining.

“Ah. So… how did that go?” Weiss asked. Blake shrugged.

“Fine. No one cares that we’re two women, or on the same team.”

“And we got to learn that it was Velvet who picked up Coco!” Yang added, which earned a double-take from Ruby and Weiss. “But it does kinda raise some questions…”

“Like, what’s gonna happen when people start figuring out the rest of it?” Ruby asked nervously.

“I can’t imagine that’s going to go over quite as smoothly,” Blake sighed. “I mean, a whole team getting together?”

The look Yang and Ruby shared immediately caught their teammates’ attention. “You good if we tell ‘em now, Rubes?” the blonde asked quietly.

Ruby pursed her lips and nodded. “Y-yeah, I think so. If we, all of us, are going to be… whatever it is that we’re doing… I think it’s time.”

Weiss had no idea where this conversation between the sisters was going, but she took her partner’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Ruby gave her a grateful smile and squeezed back.

“Right, so…” Yang began. “...there’s some precedent for this ‘whole team sexy party’ thing, actually. That’s, um, kinda how we happened…”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“That’s… wow…” Weiss murmured as Yang and Ruby wrapped up the story of how their parents’ entire team had been in a relationship. How Raven leaving had broken Tai and Summer’s hearts, and pulled Qrow away on a fruitless search for her… and then how losing Summer had finally broken everything. “And… I’m so sorry, for both of you.”

Blake nodded, giving both of the sisters a tight hug.

“Kinda crazy that it’s happening again, huh?” Ruby chuckled, trying to hide the pain in her voice.

“It’s absolutely *not* happening again, Ruby!” Blake said insistently. “We’re never going to leave either one of you!”

Yang’s breath hitched, and a little sob escaped Ruby’s throat. “You promise?” she whispered.

“We promise!” Weiss said as she embraced her partner fiercely.

“Promise!” Blake echoed as she cupped Yang’s cheeks between her hands and kissed her temple.

As they held their partners, Weiss and Blake made eye contact with each other, the same words playing in both of their minds.

“These sure are some special girls we’ve been teamed with, huh?”

“They really are, aren’t they?”

“I hope we can do right by them. We haven’t been together that long, but I already feel like… they deserve so much, you know?”

The warm glow of Blake’s smoked brandy eyes saw the sky in Weiss’s, and they silently made a promise to each other as well.

“Hey, girls?” Ruby asked quietly. “Can we have a- a snuggle pile tonight? I don’t wanna do any… stuff … just, be together?” Her entire team smiled at the suggestion, and in short order Weiss and Blake’s mattresses were on the floor, along with all of their blankets. Ruby nestled down against Yang, pulling Weiss to her and burying her face against her partner’s neck. Blake tucked herself in behind the heiress, stretching her arm across both of the shorter Huntresses to entwine her fingers with Yang’s.

“This what you wanted, Ruby?” Weiss murmured, placing a gentle kiss against her hair.

“Mmmhmmm. Happy Ruby sandwich…” her voice trailed off into a yawn. It had been a long, grueling day, and it didn’t take long for Ruby to fall asleep. 

Blake was just feeling her eyes start to drift shut when Weiss squirmed uncomfortably against her. “Hey, um, Blake?” she whispered. “Could you… please scratch my tail for me? It’s really itchy all of the sudden!”

With a soft chuckle, Blake obliged her. Weiss groaned in relief as Blake stroked her nails up and down the appendage through her night dress. Pursing her lips, Blake made a mental note to ask Weiss if she could actually look at her tail later on; it was hard to tell under the fabric, but she thought it was actually starting to feel a little… hairy.

Nice as Blake’s ministrations felt, Weiss couldn’t bring herself to ask her to scratch her head as well. She addressed that itch herself, glad that no one could see her eyes go wide with concern when she felt two large, unfamiliar bumps on her scalp. What the fuck is *that*? She wondered. Whatever it is, it can wait until tomorrow. I’m exhausted, and I do NOT want to find out that there’s something gross wrong with me tonight!

It wasn’t long until the entire team was cozily asleep in each other’s arms.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“The next match will be Weiss Schnee and Melanie Malachite!”

Hearing Glynda call her name snapped Weiss out of the daydreaming that had been consuming her focus all through sparring class. More like day-dreading, Weiss. You haven’t been able to make it five minutes without getting caught up in a rumination spiral about Ruby and Fox. Normally she enjoyed getting to practice and show off in combat class, but today the assignment just annoyed her. Which is precisely why it’ll be good for you.

“Go get her, Snowflake!” Yang whooped as Weiss climbed down from the bleachers, checking the Dust chambers in Myrtenaster. On the other side of the arena, her opponent was preparing herself as well. Weiss didn’t know much about Melanie; she can’t have done anything too memorable in any of their classes, or she would’ve taken notice of her. Looking at her now, she couldn’t help but see a garish echo of herself. 

Melanie wore an ice-white dress with feather trim on the collar and the short skirt, and a long train that looked vaguely like icicles. Her black hair was done in a fancy updo held together with rhinestone-studded hair pins, and she looked nervous to be taking on one of the first year classes’ top-rated combatants. Curiously, Weiss didn’t see her weapon… until she detached the chunky platforms from the bottom of her boots.

Are those… ice skates? A shimmer of purple light flickered along the blades, and Weiss realized that they were imbued with gravity Dust as Melanie did a graceful pirouette on the floor as if it was a polished skating rink. So she can skate across any surface… alright, she’s going to be fast then. I bet she uses them to slash and kick, too. Glyphs on the floor will really fuck up her routine, I bet.

“Combatants, present!” Goodwitch called out, and Weiss and Melanie squared up across from each other. The buzzer sounded, and the match began. Weiss, expecting her opponent to try to close fast, immediately threw out two fire glyphs in her possible paths. She’d clearly underestimated just how quickly the other woman could move on her gravity skates, though, as she cleared the sigils before they could detonate into pillars of flame. Melanie wasn’t quite as lucky dodging Weiss’s second attack, an arc of flame thrown across the battlefield from her rapier’s tip; her aura flared as the flames shoved her off her trajectory, but she managed to keep her feet under her and curved onto a new attack vector.

Dueling close-up with a girl who had to fight with her feet shouldn’t have intimidated Weiss very much, she knew she was a very fast and skilled swordswoman. Despite that, she had a sudden very strong desire to not be in melee with Melanie, instead leaping into the air and somersaulting off a glyph to land on the other side of the ring. Heart beating fast, she spun her weapon to a lightning Dust chamber and fired a bolt.

Wait… ice?! What the fuck, Weiss?! Instead of a crackling lightning bolt, she spread a sheet of ice across the floor… one that would do nothing to hinder Melanie, but could be a significant impediment to Weiss herself. Glancing down at her sword’s hilt, she saw that she had, in fact, selected ice Dust… which was the opposite side of the revolver chamber. A very difficult mistake for her to make.

Up in the gallery, Ruby, Blake, and Yang all tensed as they felt their nerves tremble. Sharing confused glances, they quickly confirmed that the feeling couldn’t be coming from any of them. “Weiss…” Ruby whispered anxiously.

If anything, Melanie moved even faster over the ice sheet. She was back on top of Weiss in a heartbeat, springing into the air and bringing her bladed foot around in a savage spin that was coming straight for Weiss’s neck-

With a shriek, Weiss flailed with Myrtenaster, managing to parry Melanie’s attack more by luck than by anything else. The other woman dropped back, eyes wide in surprise at the usually cold and composed Ice Queen’s reaction. The panic she saw in Weiss’s eyes almost made her call a stop to the combat, but the heiress didn’t give her a chance. She lunged forward, slashing and stabbing wildly but powerfully, and fast enough that it was all Melanie could do to kick back and block her attacks. The rest of the class began to murmur, but Weiss was deaf to it; she was wholly focused on driving the ripping claws and gnashing teeth away from her face. A glyph! I’ll use a glyph to get it away from me! Deftly working her glyph creation into her sword strike, Weiss summoned a repulsion sigil between herself and her assailant.

Or rather, she thought she did. But suddenly, she couldn’t move her feet. Daring a glance down, she saw a gravity glyph swirling around her feet, anchoring her down. Weiss felt desperation closing her throat. How? How did a Grimm hijack my semblance and trap me with a different sigil?! Fuck! Where are Blake and Yang? Where’s Ruby?!

Melanie frankly had no idea what was going on anymore. Weiss seemed like she’d gone completely insane. She knew she wasn’t a skilled enough fighter to have much of a chance against the Schnee and her elite training, but her opponent was so out of control that Melanie knew she could’ve landed a solid hit multiple times over now, if Weiss’s display hadn’t been downright scary. Steeling herself, she wound of up deliver a knockout kick… when, suddenly, Weiss collapsed to the ground inside the restraining glyph she’d inexplicably summoned on herself , curled up, and started screaming.

Before she could even pull her kick, Blake Belladonna materialized in front of her, her cleaver sheath catching Melanie’s skate. Red petals whirled around them as Ruby flew to her partner’s side, followed quickly by Yang. “Melanie, stop! Leave her alone!” Blake pleaded.

Hopping backwards, Melanie slowly lowered her leg. As Professor Goodwitch rushed to Team RWBY, she scratched her arm and looked around with confusion. “So, um, did I win?”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“How’s she doing?” Nora asked quietly when Blake and Yang emerged from RWBY’s dorm.

“She’s a lot calmer now,” Blake said as she and Yang wearily dropped onto one of the common room loveseats. “She ate some soup, and Ruby’s got her tucked into bed.” That Ruby was also in bed, being her partner’s big spoon, was a little detail Jaune, Nora, and Ren didn’t need to know about.

“Thanks for the soup, by the way, Ren,” The chef bowed his head as Jaune brought Yang and Blake two big bowls from the pot Ren had cooked. After having missed dinner to comfort their teammate, the two of them tucked in hungrily. “Fuck, this is delicious!” Yang mumbled around a mouthful of noodles and pepper chicken with carrots, peas, and artichokes. “Although I’m amazed Ruby would eat any that didn’t have animal-shaped noodles…”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Ren chuckled.

Jaune sat down on the arm of Nora’s chair and popped the lid of a Sunflower Pop. “So… what happened?”

Blake sighed. “It sounds like she had a flashback to the Forever Fall and that Ursa. She started panicking and messing up… which just made her freak out more.”

“By the end, she honestly thought she was about to die,” Yang swallowed hard. The whole team had been rocked by Weiss’s raw fear pouring into their heads, and it had taken all of their combined willpower to keep from melting down themselves until they were able to help calm her.

Now, of course, they had to keep from drowning in her shame until Ruby was able to lull her to sleep.

“Damn,” Nora muttered, hugging herself tight as she curled up in her chair. “That’s… that’s awful. I feel so bad for her!” The ginger’s thousand-yard stare was at odds with her usually peppy demeanor, and Blake immediately recognized the look of someone else who’d seen way too much, way too young.

“I just… I wish I knew how to make it better!” Yang snapped. “That’s what we’re on teams for, right? To help and support each other?”

“I think… just because you can’t immediately fix things for Weiss, doesn’t mean you aren’t doing a lot to help her,” Ren said quietly. He and Nora shared a significant look. “Sometimes… maybe, a lot of the time… all you can really do is be there for someone.”

“Be there for each other…” Nora shared a rueful smile with Ren.

Jaune looked back and forth between his teammates. “Are… are you guys okay?” he asked gently.

After wordlessly consulting each other for a moment, Ren sighed. “Yeah, we’re okay. Nora and I… went through some things when we were younger, that’s all.”

The way Jaune bit his lip in concern made it clear that he wasn’t satisfied with that answer. Taking a deep breath, Nora elaborated. “We’re Grimm orphans, okay? We started off on the run from monsters, and it didn’t really stop for a long time. Doesn’t matter if they were Grimm… or human.”

“I know we all grow up hearing stories about the Grimm, but… damn,” Blake said. “I can’t imagine having actually encountered them as a child!”

“It’s terrifying.” Blake gasped as Yang spoke next to her. “When Ruby and I were really young, I got this dumb idea in my head that I was going to go find my… a missing family member. So I just, put Rubes in a wagon and set off into the woods. Of course, that went badly. Pack of Beowolves found us. If our Uncle Qrow hadn’t been following our little adventure… well, we wouldn’t be here right now.” Yang trembled at the memory, prompting Blake to rest her hand on the blonde’s thigh. After taking a swig of her drink, Yang continued. “Sometimes… sometimes I think we throw ourselves into fighting Grimm with so much bravado, like it’s all a big game we dress stylishly for and play with our fancy weapons, because… if we let ourselves stop to think about how gods-damned horrific they are, we’d all have a breakdown.”

The sobering thought quieted the already-depressed room even further, leaving the trainee Huntresses and Hunters all thinking of calling it a night, when the door slammed open to reveal an exasperated Pyrrha. Normally, anyone with a pulse would’ve had their breath taken away by how her tight red minidress hugged her body underneath her black leather jacket, but tonight, her eyes were full of the fury of an oncoming storm.

“JAUNE ARC!” she barked as she strode into the room, her eyes laser-focused on her partner.

“P-Pyrrha?” he stammered nervously.

Gripping him by his collar, she hoisted him to his feet and leaned down into his face. “YOU are going to put on your nicest suit, and I am going to wear a sexy dress that isn’t this one because it will never feel clean again, and YOU are going to take me out on a fancy date! To a nice restaurant! Where you will give me flowers, and tell me I’m very pretty, and hold my chair for me, and NOT stare at my boobs all night even though I wouldn’t really mind if you did. And THEN, when you bring me home, I will tell you that I had a lovely time, because we did, and YOU will say you hope we can do it again sometime, WHICH WE WILL! And I will give you a sweet little smile, and you will give me a POLITE kiss, and I will go to bed with butterflies in my stomach. IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?!”

“Y-yes ma’a-”

“AND IF YOU DARE CALL ME M’LADY, I WILL THROW YOU OUT THE NEAREST WINDOW! OR POSSIBLY MAKE A NEW ONE!” A stunned look came over the redhead’s face as her words finally started to catch up with her. Setting Jaune back down, she tidied the shoulders of his shirt before announcing “GOOD NIGHT!” and marching into JNPR’s dorm, her face burning red.

Dead silence reigned over the room after she slammed the door behind her. “So, um… I’m guessing that Pyrrha’s date with that Greg guy didn’t go too well?” Yang didn’t dare speak too loudly, lest it call Pyrrha’s wrath down on her next.

“Um, guys?” a wild-eyed Jaune said as he looked around at his friends. “Do you… I- I think Pyrrha might actually like-like me…”

Chapter Text

“Hey there, Ruby!”

The young Huntress spun around, trying to scan the crowd of students for who called her name while keeping the handful of caffeinated fruit smoothies she was carrying balanced in her arms. “Huh? Who- oh, hey Fox! What’s up?”

“Oh, not much,” he replied as he deftly weaved through the foot traffic in the hallway. “I was just looking for you.”

“Well, you found- hey, wait a second! I see what you did there!” She started to giggle, only for her face to fall at the scowl that came over Fox’s face.

“...wow, Ruby, so you think you’re allowed to make disability jokes already?” he said hotly.

“I- I- no! Definitely not! I’m so sorry, that was really, really insens-” she started squeaking… until she saw the smirk taking over Fox’s expression. “Hey! Are you just messing with me?”

“Of course I am, Ruby,” Fox chuckled. “After setting you up for one as good as that, I’d have almost been offended if you hadn’t run with it.” Tentatively, he patted her on the shoulder. “Plus, I know you’re cool.”

Something about the casual way he called her ‘cool’ made a tingle of excitement go through Ruby.

“Y-yeah?”

“Yeah! In fact…” he scratched the back of his head just a little bit bashfully. “I wanted to ask you if you’d like to, um, go out some time?”

Ruby looked at Fox, then glanced down at her armful of smoothies, then back up again. Oh, right, he probably has no idea what an inconvenient time this is right now! Hmmm, maybe I should mention it and ask if I can get back to him later? Ugh, no! I am going to do nothing but obsess about this until I answer him! 

…how ARE you going to answer him, Rubes?

Fox was clearly waiting for an answer, his dark sienna skin tinged with hope. Ruby swallowed hard. “Hey, Fox? Can we… go somewhere and talk?”

The grimace that flickered across his face this time was real, although Fox hid it quickly. “Oh, um, sure. I think this classroom right up here is empty?” The two of them ducked inside, and Ruby breathed a sigh of relief as she set down her load of fruit smoothies. Fox turned to her, brow raised. “What’s up, Ruby?”

“Oh! I usually handle the mid-afternoon energy smoothie run, since I can get from the wing our classes are in down to the cafeteria and back really fast.”

Fox cocked his head for a moment before he snorted and laughed, and Ruby could’ve sworn she heard him mutter “Gods, she’s adorable!” She started blushing fiercely, and was immediately ashamed of herself for being grateful Fox couldn’t actually see the shade of crimson she was turning. “Well, I just meant ‘what did you want to talk about?’, but… that’s very sweet of you!”

Ruby smacked herself on the forehead. “Ah, geez, I really am a dolt sometimes!”

“Hmmm, maybe. But… you’re cute all the time…”

Ruby ‘eeped!’ “Well, um, t- thank you! But, um, Fox? There’s something you need to know about me… it wouldn’t be fair otherwise. Wouldn’t want any surprises to just, come up , right?” Fox continued to face in her direction quizzically. “Err, right, totes makes sense that you wouldn’t get that one yet…”

“...Ruby? Can I… hold your hand?” Her breath caught in her throat, and Ruby’s hands were trembling as she reached out and placed them in Fox’s. He gave her a reassuring squeeze as he pulled her a little bit closer. “Ruby, I like you. Whatever it is, you can tell me, okay?”

The Huntress nodded as she exhaled slowly. “Right… okay…” She paused to clear her throat before plunging ahead with the conversation. “Fox… I’m a trans girl. And I’m really confident in my gender identity, and really happy with it! But… I might be, um, built a little bit different than you expected? And I just… if that’s gonna be a problem, I’d rather just get it over with right now.”

“Huh,” the man said. “You know, I’d never have guessed!”

Ruby stiffened. “Um… what’s *that* supposed to mean?”

Fox’s eyes went wide. “Oh! Sorry, that came out really badly. Let me… okay. So, I’m blind, obviously, right? Kind of makes life difficult sometimes. But my body has responded by developing a kind of… I call it ‘Aura Sense’.”

“Huh?” Ruby screwed up her nose, still not entirely confident or comfortable with where this exchange was going.

“It’s like… it’s not like I ‘see’ aura, if I’m understanding how you all describe vision correctly. But it’s… kind of everything else? I have an idea of what direction someone’s aura is in, and if I have some time to focus on it, it takes on a smell, a sound, a feeling that tells me a bit about them. And you, Ruby? Your aura is overwhelmingly girl-coded.” He grinned at her. “If you hadn’t figured yourself out and were still calling yourself a boy, I’d be really, really confused!”

Ruby blinked for a moment as Fox’s words sank in. “So, you’re saying… I have a girl’s soul?”

“I mean, if that theory of aura being a representation of your soul is right, then… yeah, totally!”

With a gasp, Ruby threw her arms around Fox and buried her head against his chest. “Fox! That’s- that’s so sweet! You have no idea what that means to me!” She couldn’t stop a little happy sob from taking over her voice.

“Oh, well- ah geez, I didn’t mean to make you cry! I’m so sorry-” he started awkwardly patting her back.

Ruby shook her head against him. “No, no, these are happy sniffles!” Pulling back enough to look up at him, she continued. “Seriously, hearing that means so much to someone like me! So, um,” she bit her lip nervously. “Does that mean you’re cool? With… everything?”

Fox’s grin beamed down at her. “Oh, yeah, totally!”

Her initial hesitancy had disappeared into the euphoria that Fox’s words had given her. “Well, in that case…” Ruby smiled brightly, “I accept!”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Yang snarled as, once again, Pyrrha caught her punch on her shield and deflected it. “C’mon, stop dancing around and fight me!” she challenged as the Invincible Girl tumbled out of the way of her spin kick. Pyrrha laughed as she lunged with her spear, striking a glancing blow that, Yang was starting to suspect, had intentionally barely nicked her.

“Hmmm, is someone getting a little… what’s the term you use, yangry?” the redhead smirked.

“Hey! That’s my line!” Yang decided on a risky strategy. Firing her gauntlets downward, she launched herself into a somersault right over Pyrrha, one that would give her a wide opening to strike Yang… and letting her land with a substantial charge to her semblance so she could finally break through her opponent’s defenses.

It was bait that Pyrrha, frustratingly, refused to take. Yang flared her semblance with her fast jab, but it struck with much less power than she’d expected to have. THAT was when Pyrrha struck. Catching Yang off-balance, she grabbed her arm and yanked her forward while spinning herself, letting her slam her shield into the blonde’s back and sending her sprawling on the sparring ring floor. In an instant, Pyrrha was kneeling on her chest, with her spear tip planted in the ground right next to her head. “Gotcha,” she grinned.

The fight faded from Yang’s eyes as she groaned and slammed her fists against the floor. “Grimm damnit! I swear, I’m going to get you someday, Nikos!”

Smirking as she extended her hand and helped Yang to her feat, Pyrrha couldn’t help but tease her a little. “Care to make it best out of five? Who knows, you might catch up with me?”

Yang shook her head. “Nah, I’ve learned the hard way not to push it too much on weekdays. 8am classes are even worse with aura hangover, y’know?”

Pyrrha nodded. “For sure! Well, I’m guessing so? No one’s ever broken my aura here…”

The blonde rolled her eyes and grimaced. “Yeah, yeah, you are the champion, we know. I’m going to go take a shower before you lure me into throwing down again!”

As they walked towards the locker room, Pyrrha pursed her lips. “Yang, could I offer you a bit of fighting advice?”

Yang raised her eyebrow. “Sure? I mean, you pretty conclusively just kicked my ass…”

“So, you’re an incredible fighter. Your semblance makes you really powerful, and I’m sure it lets you tear Grimm apart. But… it wasn’t that hard to adapt to. Your tactics are pretty much always ‘get hit, hit back harder’. So I just… didn’t hit you much. You always expended your semblance right away, even when you didn’t have it charged up enough to really hurt me.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Yang replied with a trace of annoyance in her voice. “So what should I do differently, senpai-chan?”

“Well, against me, I’d have fought defensively and built up a charge, then try and drop me with one solid surprise attack.” Pyrrha paused before she continued. “I’ve fought a lot of exhibition rounds against Grimm, and against human opponents. The people always made me more nervous. Grimm only attack one way: head-on, as hard as they can. People? People are unpredictable, and they’re always coming at you with different skills and semblances.” She gave Yang an encouraging smile. “You’re super-smart, Yang. Use that! Be as adaptable on the fly as you are fast.”

“Huh,” Yang nodded thoughtfully. “That makes a lot of sense, thanks! Back at Signal, there weren’t too many opponents who could really stand up to me just hammering them as hard as I could. Guess things are pretty different now, eh?”

Stopping in front of her locker and pulling off her sweaty dueling clothes, Pyrrha agreed. “And it’s probably only going to get harder from here on out.”

Yang couldn’t resist. “At least, that’s what you’re hoping for from a certain teammate, huh?”

Pyrrha’s eyes went a wide and vivid green as she sputtered. “Yang! You are- you’re irascible!”

The sparring rooms weren’t very popular that night, and the two women had the showers to themselves. As hot water sluiced over their bodies and Pyrrha began lathering up her hair, a pleasant smell of citrus and berries over sandalwood, with a hint of vanilla, toyed with Yang’s nose. “Wow, that shampoo smells amazing!”

“Thanks!” Pyrrha replied. “Velvet put me onto it, says it drives Coco crazy.” She handed Yang the bottle to look at. 

“Hmmm,” Yang smirked. “Sounds like someone wants Jaune to stop being so slow on the uptake and finally get his hands dirty…”

“Yang!” Pyrrha squawked, throwing a handful of bubbles at the blonde as she cackled mirthfully. “But also… yes!” she continued with a blush.

“Seriously, I can’t believe he took so long!” Yang pointedly looked Pyrrha up and down and wolf whistled, making the redhead blush even further. “I mean, you’re not just a snack, you’re the whole dessert buffet! And you’re a total sweetheart to boot!”

“W-well, thank you, I think?” Pyrrha chuckled. “But… yeah. It was getting a little frustrating, but… I think that’s just part of his charm for me.”

“Huh,” Yang replied. “I can’t say I really get what you see in him, but if it works for you, then I’m happy for you!”

Pyrrha sighed a little wistfully as she rinsed out her hair. “I’ve had so many people throw themselves at me over… physical stuff , or-”

“Pyrrha… we’re both hot as fuck. You can admit it.”

“...okay, yeah, because I’m attractive, and famous. But Jaune? Completely oblivious to all that! With him, I’m… ‘just Pyrrha’, his friend and teammate. And it’s so. Damn. Refreshing! I’m pretty sure that, annoyed as I got getting him to pick up on my interest… it wouldn’t have worked for me if he’d moved first.”

Yang considered that for a moment. “Yeah, I can imagine that’s a nice change.” She giggled. “Well, I can’t really imagine, I’m just a no-name country girl from Patch, but… I guess I get it?”

“Hopefully Blake wasn’t quite as charmingly dense, then?”

“Oh, not even remotely! She…” Yang suddenly realized that the two of them really needed to figure out their ‘how we started’ story, because the truth was absolutely *NOT* shareable. “-we figured out our mutual interest pretty quick.” Turning off her shower, Yang went over and grabbed a towel to start drying herself off.

“Well that’s a plus! You two seem so natural together! And… is it true Ruby is out on a date with Fox Alistair tonight?”

“Yup!” Yang nodded. “Which I did not see coming, but he’s a nice guy, and she was really excited about it.” Sighing, she continued. “That’s actually one of the reasons I asked to spar tonight. Even though I know everything should be fine, it’s… honestly, probably the first real date she’s ever been on, and my big sister senses can’t help but be anxious. So, thanks for the distraction!”

Pyrrha grinned as she wrapped a towel around herself. “Happy to kick your ass anytime, Yang!”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Try as she did to focus, the words would not stop swimming in front of Blake’s eyes. She knew her reputation as ‘the girl who always has her nose in a book’... but those were interesting books. Give me adventures, mysteries… romances, my beloved! Not these tedious academic essays and pedantic histories! Research had never been her forte, and trying to crack the mystery of Weiss’s sigil on their bodies was taking some intense research. 

But, tired as Blake was, the determination with which Weiss was throwing herself into cracking the books inspired her to keep reading. While Ruby was out on her date with Fox and Yang was sparring with Pyrrha, the two faunus had decided to spend the night in the library. Weiss had helpfully shared a scroll document with her that detailed the books she’d already studied and found nothing in, as well as a couple that the heiress thought might have something and wanted to get a second set of eyes on. Those were the ones Blake was reading through now.

At least, she was really trying to. The texts were so dry, though. In the stack of books she’d reviewed so far that evening, she’d only found two passages and a picture, which she’d stored in her scroll, that she thought might be promising. In particular, she’d found a partial picture of a circle carved into a clay tablet with cuneiform writing that, to her at least, vaguely resembled one of Weiss’s glyphs. The accompanying text, however, was fairly confident that it was an ancient complaint from a merchant about being sold impure copper. Meanwhile, her eyes were painfully heavy. Just… just one quick minute, that’s all… with a sigh, she let her eyes flutter shut and her head tip forward onto the pages in front of her. Not even the scratchiness of her bow around her ears was able to keep her awake.

“Hey, sugarplum.” Blake jerked awake to a gentle hand on her shoulder, and a steaming cup of masala chai, spiced just like she liked it, being set in front of her. Blinking, she turned her head to look up at Weiss smiling down at her. “You looked like you could really use a pick-me-up,” her teammate murmured.

Blake made happy noises in her throat as she picked up the cup and took a deep sip. “Perfection,” she whispered. “You’re my angel… Snowangel. Sorry I fell asleep on you.”

Weiss chuckled and shook her head fondly. After taking a quick glance around to make sure they weren’t being watched, she leaned over and kissed Blake on the top of her head, earning a contented sigh. “If you’re really out of it, we can just call it a night… or… ” Her eyes suddenly lit up. “Blake, could you come with me for a moment?”

“Uh, sure?” Blake took a big sip of her tea, then stood up to follow Weiss. Her confusion only grew as the heiress led her deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of stacks, until they were standing in the shadows of a seldom-used section. “Weiss… what the fuck are we doing back here?”

Suddenly, her back was pressed up against a shelf of outdated encyclopedias, her hands pinned to her sides by Weiss’s grip as she leaned in until she was whispering in Blake’s ear, her lips ghosting over her jaw. “I thought I could give you a pick-me-up and help us both unwind,” she said with a husky whisper that made Blake’s knees tremble.

“W-Weiss!” she gasped as her teammate dragged her teeth down her neck. Her head immediately felt hazy with the heat that was flushing in her belly. “How… how did you know I’ve always wanted to do this in a library?”

Weiss giggled against her neck. “It wasn’t exactly hard to guess that miss ‘constantly reading romances’ would have a thing for getting slammed into a stack of books and teased into letting her desires run wild, Blake.” By way of emphasis, she licked the shell of Blake’s human ear in a way that could only be described as absolutely filthy .

Blake whimpered as she felt her legs melting beneath her, her hips squirming against Weiss’s. The white-haired beauty released her wrists as she slid her hands over Blake’s thighs to slide under her uniform skirt and cup her ass supportively. Her ears flattened back as she grabbed Weiss’s chin and tilted it so she could plunge her tongue into her mouth, meeting her deep moan with one of her own.

“You know,” she murmured in between hot, wet kisses, “Remember our psychic link? We really shouldn’t be doing this to Ruby on her date!”

The growl she received as an answer sent a tremor down her spine as she felt her lover stiffen in her arms. “I don’t want to think about Ruby’s date. I want to think about what we never finished in the Forever Fall, and you trying not to scream out loud while I wear your thighs like earrings.”

“Gods damn, Weiss! When did you get so-” Blake’s sentence ended in a cry that she quickly muffled by slapping her hand over her mouth as Weiss’s hand ran up the inside of her leg, spreading them and pushing her panties to the side as her fingers stroked up the length of her wet cunt. Sobbing in pleasure, she buried her face in Weiss’s neck and tightened her grip around her shoulders as her lover began rubbing her in slow, firm circles.

Blake could feel herself rapidly ascending towards her peak, and she lifted her legs to lock them around Weiss’s waist to demand firmer contact. The position fed into the tension winding up inside of her, speeding her along the path to release. “Weiss! Fuck, Weiss!” she whined desperately into her teammate’s ponytail as she gripped her hair tightly. With her mind poised on the edge of spinning apart, she bit down hard on the heiress’s neck and sucked against her porcelain skin.

Hissing with pleasure, Weiss’s hips spasmed forward as she sank two fingers into Blake, going straight for the curl while her thumb continued working her clit. Blake screamed around the flesh in her mouth, riding the edge where she was desperate to both hold on and let herself fall into ecstatic ruin. She could tell, dimly, that it wasn’t just her own arousal she was feeling as Weiss’s hand reveled in her slick. A pleasure both alien and intimately familiar was dancing with her own as she felt her teammate both in her body and in her mind, their passion echoing off of each other’s, taking them both higher and higher.

“Fuck, you’re so hot, Blake! I could almost come just from feeling you in my head!” Weiss murmured encouragingly against where she knew Blake’s extra-sensitive feline ears were hidden under her bow. “And you’ve done such a good job for me! Now just let it all out. Let it go, Blake.”

Drowning her stuttering cry against Weiss’s skin, Blake came. Cohesive thought abandoned her; she was a quivering mess of raw sensation, bright hues of color that slowly melted into a relaxed ocean of being as she spent herself into the warmth and safety of Weiss’s arms. The faunus sighed contentedly as Weiss peppered her head with kisses and crooned comforting nothings to her as she gradually came back to the here and now.

Her afterglow was interrupted by the angry buzzing of Weiss’s scroll. Blake groaned, snuggling against the other faunus’s shoulder as she nursed the vivid bruise her bite had left with gentle laps of her tongue. Fighting to get her breathing back under control, Weiss fished her scroll out of her pocket, unable to not giggle as she saw Ruby’s picture on the caller ID. “Oh yeah, we’re in trouble!” Thumbing the screen, she did her best to sound nonchalant. “Hey Ruby! What’s-”

“What the Grimmshit are you and Blake doing?!” Ruby shrieked through the tinny speaker. “Nevermind, I KNOW what you’re up to! Did you forget I’m on a date? I had to hide in the restroom I was losing it so bad!”

“What makes you think it was me?” Weiss asked demurely. “Maybe it’s Blake and Yang , you’ve seen how the two of them are-” she yelped as Blake nipped the damaged skin on her neck.

“I know it’s you two because I called Yang first, and she was… *dealing with* the vibes you two were putting off!”

“Hi Ruby,” Blake said meekly into the scroll mic. “Sorry!”

They could both hear Ruby’s exasperated sigh. “Blake, I’m disappointed in you! I would’ve thought you’d have- have- have not done this!”

Now Blake was the one trying very hard not to laugh. “Look, Weiss made a very convincing argument!” As she finally dropped her feet back to the floor, the woman in question gave her ass a playful pinch. Ruby groaned over the scroll as Blake squealed.

“You two are the worst!”

“You could always have sped home and joined us, Ruby,” Weiss offered, rather suggestively.

“So,” Blake asked, “How did your date go, otherwise?”

“Really good, actually!” Ruby’s voice brightened. Blake took note of the very visible scowl that darkened Weiss’s face. “We’re actually just finishing up. I’ll tell you all when I get back, okay?”

“Sounds good!” Blake replied, arching an eyebrow at Weiss.

“Yeah. Talk to you then.” Weiss said before hanging up. She gritted her teeth as she caught Blake’s challenging gaze. “What?”

“You could just tell her that you’re not comfortable with her seeing someone else. You know, instead of being passive-aggressive about it.”

Weiss crumpled and shook her head. “I don’t have any right to do that to her. She should be free to discover herself, and… she was so excited about the idea. Ruby… deserves to be happy.”

“Weiss!” Blake snapped, her terseness catching the Huntress by surprise. “ You deserve to be happy too! You’re not just some random person in Ruby’s life; you’re her friend, her partner, her lover! It’s incredibly obvious how important you two are to each other. Sure, Ruby deserves to explore and discover herself, but she *also* deserves to be able to make informed decisions about that.”

Furrowing her brow, Weiss shook her head slowly. “Um, yes? Isn’t that what I’m saying? She should get to figure out-”

“No Weiss, it means she has a right to know how the decisions she makes, what she decides to explore with whom, is going to impact the people she cares about.” Blake stroked Weiss’s cheek with her fingers; Weiss pressed herself into her palm with a soft sniffle. “I… I care about you a lot, Weiss, and it hurts me seeing you like this. I’m sure Yang would say the same thing. And I’m pretty sure Ruby would be even more upset knowing that her seeing Fox was making you feel this way.”

Weiss sighed. “And that’s why she can’t know, Blake! I can’t do that to her!”

Blake pursed her lips. “Weiss… please listen to me here. I’ve been down the road of feeling like… like loving someone means you always need to sacrifice yourself for them, okay? And it’s not like that, not at all. Best case, you hurt yourself, and you hurt them when they figure out what you’re doing. Worst case… you get used by someone who never cared about you like you did them.” The muted gold of her eyes spoke of a depth of pain that made Weiss’s heart ache for her friend. “You deserve to want things too, Weiss. And the people who care… they deserve to know about them, and to do their best to give them to you.”

Spurred by the hurt in Blake’s voice, Weiss embraced her in a tight hug, one Blake needily returned. “Okay…” she said softly. “You’ve given me a lot to think about, and… I will. Thinking about it. Just… please leave it to me how to talk to Ruby about it?”

“Alright,” Blake answered, going to stroke Weiss’s hair… and being startled by the fleshy bumps her fingers ran over, and the yelp they elicited from the other faunus. “Oh my gods, Weiss, what’s this on your head?!”

“Ugh, I don’t know!” Weiss grunted. “I first noticed them a few days ago, and they’ve just gotten bigger!”

“And you haven’t gone to the infirmary or even mentioned them because…?”

Weiss rolled her eyes. “Really? We need to go over that again?”

“Fine, no infirmary, but… can I touch them again? I’ll be gentle.”

Lowering her head to give Blake a better view, Weiss obliged. She bit back a whimper as Blake’s fingers delicately probed the lumps. “It almost feels like something is squishing around in there…”

Blake hummed, trying to place what felt familiar about what she was feeling. “It’s almost like… like there’s something growing inside of them… oh my gods, Weiss!”

“What?!”

“So…” Blake swallowed as she met Weiss’s worried gaze. “Most faunus are born with their ears, but… sometimes, they grow in later.”

Weiss’s eyes narrowed. “Wait… you can’t mean…”

Nodding, Blake continued. “Weiss, I think you’re growing ears!”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“...so yeah I was a little nervous at first, ‘cause we were in a divey part of town and the restaurant was a literal hole in the wall, but oh my gods the food was amazing!” Ruby couldn’t help but bounce a little on her bed as she recounted her date with Fox to her teammates. “He said it was the most authentic desert nomad Vacuoan- his people- that he’d found away from home. You get this big plate of this spongy, sour bread stuff… I think it’s called ‘injera’... that you just tear apart and use to scoop up the different stews and stuff on top of it!”

“Wait, you eat with your HANDS?” Weiss wrinkled her nose. “For a DATE?”

Ruby chuckled. “Yeah, I was a little worried about that at first, but Fox showed me how it was done… and once I got a taste, I wasn’t really worried about being messy!”

“That is not a surprise,” Blake smirked while Yang shook her head.

Undaunted, Ruby continued. “There was this really yummy cabbage and potato stuff- Yang, even you would have liked it! And some super-spicy chicken- Blake, you’d love it, but I think it might kill Weiss.”

Everyone, even the delicate-palated Atlessian, laughed at that. “Well, the important thing is that it sounds like you had a good time,” Weiss said.

“Oh, definitely!” Ruby nodded excitedly. “Like, the food was great, and so was Fox. He was super sweet and funny, and had so many great stories to tell about growing up in a nomadic tribe.”

Yang wiggled her eyes. “So, you’re going to see him again?”

Ruby blushed. “I- I think I’d like to, yeah…” Blake caught Weiss’s eyes, but the heiress shook her head ever so slightly.

I *will* talk to her, but I’m not going to risk bringing her down after she had such a good night.

“Awesome! Awww, look at my little sis, taking a walk on the wild side with boys!” Yang teased, earning a squawk of indignation from Ruby, who tackled her. As the sisters fell into a tussle, Blake cleared her throat.

“I’m really happy for you, Ruby, but… there’s one other thing we need to talk about…” She gestured to Weiss, who sighed and nodded as Ruby and Yang looked at her curiously.

“Apparently, I… well, um… Blake is pretty sure I’m growing ears.”

Yang blinked several times before she shook her head, violently enough to send golden curls flying about her. “Wait… growing ears? But you already have ears?”

“ Faunus ears, you dolt!”

“Ohhhh!” Ruby and Yang expressed simultaneously. Ruby bit her lip contemplatively. “Wait… I thought faunus only had *one* faunus trait… and Weiss already has a tail!”

“Speaking of which… I, um, took a little peak when you were getting dressed the other day-”

“You were creeping on me?” Weiss replied, injecting her voice with more offense than she actually felt.”

“Just a little! And, hey, it’s not like you have anything to hide after you’ve sat on my face!”

Weiss flushed a vivid pink. “Okay, fine, point taken!”

Yang smirked. “...and besides, you’re pretty hot!”

“Yang, what was your point again?”

“Oh, right! I was just going to say, I noticed that your tail is getting really, um, furry?”

“Maybe that’s why it’s been itching so much…” Weiss muttered, reaching around under the back of her nightdress and pulling her tail out and around to look at it. “Although even that’s been calming down since it went from wiry hair to… whatever this fluff is.”

Blake sat down next to her to take a look. “May I?” she asked.

I… I can’t remember the last time anyone else has actually touched this thing! Weiss suddenly realized. Even during her sexual forrays, everyone had judiciously navigated around the appendage growing out of the top of her butt. Biting her lip, she nodded to Blake.

The other faunus took her tail tenderly and examined it, running it through her hands. Her breath actually caught in her throat. “Oh, wow , Weiss! This… you’re already so soft! This is definitely fur!”

“Blake!” Weiss gasped in embarrassment. “Did you have to phrase it like that?”

“Welcome to being a faunus, Snow Angel,” she hummed as she kissed Weiss on the cheek. “ Everyone is going to want to give you their opinion on your trait.”

Ruby shyly withdrew her hand from where it had been hovering near Weiss’s tail. “Oh, sorry!” she muttered. Weiss snorted and grabbed her partner’s hand and placed it back on her fur. Ruby’s eyes went wide as she petted it. “Oh my gods, Weiss! C- can I rub you on my face?”

Her teammates all stared at her, Yang in particular with an expression of horror. “Okay, so that didn’t come out quite right…” In the end, everyone felt Weiss’s tail, which on one level was mortifying for her… but on a deeper level felt really nice . Not only did each stroke send pleasant shivers up her spine, but Weiss could feel how amazed by what she felt like her teammates were. After a lifetime of thinking of her tail as *the thing*, damp and sore and gross, the inversion had her close to tears with happiness.

“Weiss… you really need to stop binding this up,” Blake chided her softly.

“It… yeah, I think it would feel a lot better that way,” Weiss confessed. “But how can I do that and not give away what I am?”

Blake bit back the rebuttal that was on her lips. It’s not like I have any kind of authority to push her to come out, not when I’m still hiding my ears. What a mess… if I stop hiding, I could get arrested. If she does, her asshole father ends her life and everything she’s worked for.

“Maybe you could ditch Team Combat Skirt and start Team Combat Dress?” Ruby suggested. “I promise I won’t take it as a personal betrayal!”

“Yeah, that could work!” Yang added enthusiastically. “Especially if you could bring Coco in on it and get her to design you something!”

Nodding slowly, Weiss started to smile again. “Hmmm, maybe… I can already envision some ideas that might work! But we still haven’t addressed the big question: how do I have two faunus traits?”

“I do have a theory about that,” Blake offered. “While you’re right about most faunus, it’s not unheard of for ones with hormone imbalances to manifest second traits.” Gesturing to Weiss, she continued. “So, if that drug was messing with her like that…”

Weiss shivered. “Ugh, I hate feeling like I’m some kind of mad science experiment! Who knows what all they could’ve done to me! At least the next shipment is due in tomorrow, so I’ll pick it up and get it to Velvet…”

“Let me give you a ride!” Yang offered. “I’ve been meaning to take Bumblebee out to stretch her legs, and this’ll save you a long, cold hike across town.”

“Thanks, Yang, that’d be appreciated!” Weiss turned to Ruby, who was standing over her looking curiously at her head. “Ruby?"

“Oh, I see them, right here!” her partner reached out and prodded at one of the lumps, eliciting a shrill cry from Weiss.

“Hey, they’re very sensitive! No touching!”

“Sorry! I was just wondering if maybe they were giant scalp zits?”

“ Scalp zits?! Ruby Rose!” Weiss shrieked as she grabbed her partner and threw her onto the bed. “That’s grotesque!” Blake and Yang gave each other fond glances as their teammates' squeaks and exclamations devolved into a tickle fight.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Weiss didn’t feel like she’d been asleep for very long when she felt a gentle hand shaking her awake. “R-Ruby?” she whispered, hoarse with sleep. No, that didn’t make sense. If Ruby was waking her up, it would be because she’d sprawled in her sleep and had Weiss’s face stuffed in her armpit or something. Then who…?

“No, it’s me,” Blake replied softly as she stroked Weiss’s arm. Weiss’s eyes flickered open, and even in their darkened room she could see the faunus woman leaning over her, nibbling her lip.

“What’s up?”

Blake leaned in, so close to her ear that her breath tickled her skin. “...would you like to finish what we started in the library?”

Weiss was suddenly fully awake. “I- I thought I finished you pretty good?”

Above them, Ruby snorted. Both women froze until it became apparent that she was still sound asleep.

“Mmmm, you did. But I have something for you.” The tip of Blake’s tongue ran over Weiss’s earlobe and up the edge of the shell, sending electric tingles through the heiress.

Oh.

If it hadn’t been for the teasing on her ear, Weiss probably would’ve said no and gone back to sleep. But now, her body was alive, and feeling needy. “...okay, but, where? They’re all asleep.”

“Follow me.”

As quietly as she could, Weiss swung her legs out of bed and padded out of the room after Weiss. Away from the window, the inner hallway was even darker, but Weiss found herself still able to see. Huh. I must be developing faunus senses on top of everything else… Blake led them to the common room, then into the kitchen, where she reached for the light dimmer switch.

“Forgot how hard it is for you to see like this…” she apologized quietly.

Weiss shook her head. “Actually, I can see fine. I think my night vision is coming in.”

Blake’s ears perked up at the news. “Wow, okay then! That should make sneaking around when we feel like it a lot easier,” she said as a smirk bloomed on her face. Continuing to grin, she patted the kitchen counter. “Would you like to hop up?”

Weiss’s cheeks burned hot as she realized what Blake was thinking. “O-out here? Someone could still walk in on us!”

Pulling her over and guiding her back against the countertop, Blake took Weiss’s lower lip between her teeth and tugged just enough to elicit a small whimper. “I guess you’d better try really hard to be quiet then, huh?” she said huskily.

Fuck. Feeling herself already getting warm and damp between her legs, Weiss sat up on the counter, as close to the edge as she could be. Eyes locked on her own, Blake knelt, swinging her teammate’s thighs over her shoulder and pressing a kiss into her soft skin.

“Oh wow, looks like someone’s ready to go!” she chuckled as she was treated to Weiss’s lack of underwear. Her forehead pushed up the hem of the heiress’s nightdress as she kissed her way up Weiss’s thigh until her cheek brushed against the folds of her entrance. Weiss sucked in her breath in anticipation as Blake taunted her by switching to the other side and repeating her approach.

“B- Blake…” she murmured, her fingers carding through the faunus’s hair and trying to resist the urge to tug her in. Her lover didn’t keep her waiting long; after a pause, her hot tongue slipped between Weiss’s folds and pressed its way upwards, ending with a flat flick of her flushed bud. She gasped before clamping a hand over her mouth, trying to muffle the noises clamoring to get out of her throat.

“Hmmm, I wish I could just hear you sing for me,” Blake whispered saucily. “Too bad I can’t be that greedy tonight.” Her mouth went back to work, her lips suckling Weiss’s entrance in between the meandering swishes of her tongue through the rising tide of Weiss’s slick.

Weiss barely quieted a series of screams into her hand as she grabbed Blake’s head between her ears, succumbing to her need to shove the other woman’s face into her. She felt the faunus murmur happily between her legs as she was forced in tighter, the warmth and pressure of her lips combining with the swirls and explorations of her tongue to stoke the fire burning in Weiss’s belly.

Blake raised her hands to grip Weiss’s thighs and pull them further apart, but her lover slapped them away. “No hands,” she practically growled. “Just use your face, sugarplum.” The kneeling faunus was almost ready to get fucked again herself with how dirtily Weiss said those words. Obediently, she pressed her tongue forward, probing deeper into Weiss’s entrance and earning a tremor through her whole body as the heiress began to pant. Soon, her whole face was moving in a circular motion, giving Weiss as much friction as her arousal-soaked lips could manage.

Fingers tightening in Blake’s hair, Weiss started to curl forward, trying to accept the pleasure she was being given into herself so it could lift her the final stretch to completion. “Fuck you’re so good!” she intoned lowly. Her entire body felt like a vial of Dust primed to explode, pressure building up inside until she thought she would shatter. For just a moment, Blake kept her there, lips pausing to envelope her. And then she sucked on her clit, and Weiss went over the top, her back snapping back as she let out a long, guttural cry into the palm clamped over her mouth. As Weiss slumped backwards and her hand in Blake’s hair relaxed, her lover switched from worshiping her slit to gently licking and nipping her thighs. The heiress’s body twitched at each touch as it drew out her orgasm until she finally settled into her afterglow with a satisfied groan.

It was when Blake drew back enough to smirk up at Weiss that she noticed something out of the corner of her eye and froze in terror. Weiss, dimly sensing her sudden tension, rolled her head sideways, only to almost start shrieking again.

Ren was standing there staring at them, an empty water glass falling from his hand. After a moment of mutual staring, her cleared his throat and spoke. “This… isn’t happening, Ren. You are having a very strange dream about your friends having sex on the kitchen counter, and it is dark and vague in order to preserve your sanity. You should go back to bed. Now .” With that, he turned and walked out of the room.

Looking at each other, Weiss and Blake exhaled sighs of relief when, suddenly, Ren’s head popped back around the corner. “Dream-friends, you better clean that damn counter thoroughly before I wake up!” Seconds later, they heard JNPR’s door close.

“...fucking gods that was hot!” Weiss murmured as she carefully tested her legs’ ability to support her weight.

“ Seriously hot!” Blake agreed, catching Weiss’s chin with her fingers and wordlessly asking to kiss her. A sense of degeneracy threatened to flush Weiss’s belly all over again as she leaned into it, tasting her own sweet saltiness as her tongue greedily probed Blake’s mouth.

Eventually, they stopped and managed to locate the cleaning supply cabinet, quickly dowsing the defiled counter is sanitary spray before returning to bed. Blake took Weiss’s hand and pulled her suggestively towards her own bed; smiling, Weiss agreed, and curled into Blake’s big spoon as her teammate pulled the comforter up over their bodies.

They both slept incredibly well.

Chapter Text

Yang grinned when she rolled out of bed and saw Weiss and Blake snuggled together in the bunk under hers. Weiss gets the cutest look on her face when she’s asleep and being cuddled , she thought fondly. She couldn’t stop herself from reaching out and gently running her fingertip over the feather-soft edge of Blake’s feline ear, stifling a giggle in her throat as her teammate’s ear flicked in annoyance and she uttered an adorable huff while pulling Weiss tighter against herself.

Her heart feeling warm and full, Yang stepped across the room and checked on her sister. “Hey kiddo. Getting up soon?” Ruby grumbled sleepily. “Remember, Ren’s doing omelets today…”

That woke Ruby up with a sharp gasp. “Mmmlots? K I’m up…”

“I’ll get Ren to start yours for you, so don’t be too long!” Chuckling, Yang padded to the door and slipped out into the hallway to the common room.

The delicious smell of Ren’s cooking had her humming appreciatively as she joined JNPR for what had become their Saturday morning routine. Cooking duties were usually traded back and forth between herself and Ren, particularly after Weiss had had to dowse Pyrrha’s attempt at waffles with an ice glyph and Ruby had tried to feed them all ice cream sundaes, but she wasn’t at all offended by the knowledge that everyone preferred Ren’s mornings. “G’morning, everyone!”

“It’s almost noon, Yang,” Nora laughed as she bounced up and down in her seat, a big mug in her hands. “There’s so much we can do with our day!”

Yang’s eyes went wide with anxiety. “Um, who let Nora have coffee? ” She suddenly noticed Pyrrha sitting in Jaune’s lap, giggling as she fed him melon slices. “...ah. That explains it. The Nora containment team was otherwise occupied.”

“Requests, Yang?” Ren called from the kitchen.

“Ruby will have her usual cheeseburger omurice, and I’ll… hmm, can I get a bacon-avocado-srirracha?”

“Not a problem!” Ren answered as he started whisking the eggs. “Nothing for Weiss and Blake?”

“They looked like they’re going to be sleeping pretty late,” Yang replied. She cocked her head as she noticed the unusual countertop configuration Ren was working with. “Um, Ren… why are you crammed up on the counter with all that open space next to you?”

The chef flinched. “...I don’t like that part of the counter. It has bad vibes today.”

“I… will take your word for it…” Yang raised an eyebrow. 

There was a high-pitched, squeaky yawn behind her as Ruby entered the lawn. “Hey everyone- oh, nice sweatshirt Pyrrha!”

“T-thanks! It’s Jaune’s!” Pyrrha blushed as she pulled down the hem of Jaune’s Pumpkin Pete sweatshirt to show off the cartoon character on the front.

“Awwww!” Yang, Nora, and Ruby all exclaimed at once.

Jaune chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. “Still not really sure why you wanted mine, they’re literally your sponsor! You can get boxes of them for free!”

“Yeah, but those don’t smell like… Jaune,” she sighed happily. The boy in question’s ears burned scarlet.

“Omelet’s up, Ruby!” Ren called out, handing her her plate. Ruby made happy eating noises as she squirted ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise onto her omurice and tucked in. “Thank you, Ren! You’re amazing as ever!”

“So, what’s everyone doing today?” Yang asked as she fetched herself a mug of coffee and added a dollop of cream and caramel, before preparing Ruby’s as well. “Rubes, you sure you still want five sugars? You’re gonna end up like Nora…”

“I… can… see… the… universe!” Nora murmured, her eyes wide and unfocused as she buzzed in her chair.

Ruby giggled. “Yes, please, Yang. I’ll be fine.”

“Jaune’s taking me out on a date tonight!” Pyrrha’s voice was on the edge of bursting into song like a cartoon princess.

Yang smirked playfully. “Aww, he finally got the hint after you ordered him to?”

“You better treat my Pie-Pie right, Mr. Team Leader, or I’m gonna kick your butt to the Moooon!” Nora announced.

“It’s like she got so hyperstimulated that she went all the way back around to being drunk…” Ruby murmured in awe.

“And what would my sweet, innocent little sis know about being drunk?!”

Ruby just raised an eyebrow. “Really, Yang? You want to pursue all those adjectives?” She started giggling at how Yang turned bright red and started sputtering.

“Well, *I* think you’re very sweet! And little! And… um, actually I don’t think anything else is my business…” Jaune’s voice tapered off nervously.

“Yang, food’s up!” Ren announced.

“Thanks Ren! I’m starved!” Yang welcomed the distraction from where the conversation had suddenly gone. As she collected her omelet, she shot Ruby a big sister glare. Ruby stuck her tongue out defiantly in return. “Anyways… Weiss and I are going into town to pick up some stuff she got delivered. Anyone want us to grab anything for them?”

“Actually, yes, if you wouldn’t mind,” Ren spoke up as he worked on his own omurice. “Can I give you a list of seasonings to pick up at Pen Zi’s?”

“Of course! Especially with how well you keep us fed!”

“I am going to fight… a Leviathan!” Nora confidently announced, before falling over on the couch giggling. “Ruby, want to help me?”

“Um, sure, that sounds fun…” Ruby replied tentatively, not entirely how seriously to treat Nora’s imaginative thoughts when she was *this* charged up.

“Don’t worry, she’ll burn out in about half an hour and sleep for half the day,” Ren offered. “She actually got paid once to do a metabolic study. The scientists were completely stumped on how her endocrine system actually works.”

“...or maybe we can just wait around and see what Blake would like to do?” Ruby offered to Nora with a smile.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Sliding the door of the classroom closed behind her, Weiss couldn’t help but reflect on how quiet the academic wing of the Academy was on weekends. Not even Velvet was diligent enough to spend her days off in her beloved science labs; the classrooms were absolutely deserted. Something about the emptiness was almost comforting to the heiress. As painful as the loneliness of growing up in the cold halls of Schnee manor had often been… it had been home , and that gave her a sense of familiarity as she settled into the dark back corner of the classroom.

She groaned a little in relief as she untucked her tail from its awkward coil in her sweatpants before she sat down. I never imagined it’d feel this nice! she thought as she allowed herself to stroke her fur for a moment. After spending so long with it being a source of shame and discomfort, the appendage was almost starting to feel… pretty . 

The thought gave Weiss a little bit of happiness to help bolster her spirits as she went into what she knew was going to be an emotionally difficult conversation. Taking out her scroll, she took a deep breath and tapped May’s icon. A few moments later, the other woman was on the screen brushing a teal bang back from her face. “Hey there Snowflake! What can sis-in-law May do you for?”

Weiss rolled her eyes fondly. “May, we’ve discussed this. You know you don’t get to claim that status until one of your useless dolts puts a ring on the other! Or do you have something to tell me?”

May sighed. “Maybe someday. Maybe . You know how stuff is with her job…”

Smiling sympathetically, Weiss nodded. The second-in-command of the entire Atlas armed forces being involved with one of the kingdom’s most visible socioeconomic justice vigilantes had always been an issue, and Weiss knew that it was only because General Ironwood had absolute confidence in her that Winter hadn’t been summarily discharged. “I’ll be the first to hug you into the family *when* you figure it all out, May.”

Sketching a heart with her hands, May smiled. “So, what’s up? How are things going with that weird glyph and your lady friend?” Weiss’s head thumped back against the wall of the classroom. “Uh oh. That means girl stuff, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah…” Weiss sighed. “I guess there’s no easy way to say it… she’s interested in someone else, too. A guy.”

“Whoah!” May’s exclamation did not fill Weiss with confidence. “Huh. Not what I expected to hear. So, um, I’m presuming you haven’t discussed exclusivity?”

Weiss chewed her lip as she gazed off to the side of the screen. How much do I share, here? Do I tell her what’s really going on? I feel like I have to, but… geez, the whole thing? Maybe just… be circumspect? “Well, see, we weren’t exactly exclusive, no. There’s… there’s another girl, too, and we’re all really close-”

“Damn, Weiss! Nice!” May exclaimed with a smirk.

“ May!” the heiress whined. “It’s not- ugh, we’re all just really really close, okay? And it kind of just… happened . We didn’t formally discuss it, and it didn’t really feel like a… what’s the term, ‘open relationship’?”

“Gotcha,” May nodded. “Plus, y’know, there’s a difference between an open relationship and a polyamorous one. You can be involved with multiple people and still not have it be open… before I got back together with your sister, that’s what I had going on with Robyn, Fiona, and Joanna.” She paused for a moment and patted her finger against her lips thoughtfully. “So, big question time: is it this girl seeing someone else outside of your relationship what bothers you, or is it that it’s a guy, specifically? And how does your other partner feel about it?”

Blake didn’t seem bothered at all… she was entirely supportive, really , Weiss mused. As for the rest of May’s question… that was more challenging for her. Would I be as bothered if Ruby was starting something with Nora, or Pyrrha? The thought of Pyrrha in particular made Weiss suddenly feel uncomfortably warm, and she quickly pushed it away. “I think… maybe a bit of the former? But… ugh, May, am I awful if it’s that she’s interested in another guy that bothers me? Bla- our other partner- is fine with it, but she knows she’s bi.”

May blew her cheeks out and nodded contemplatively. “So… I think it’s really good that you’re worrying about that, Weiss, ‘cause gods know it’s really, really easy to lose the line between hating all the grimmshit patriarchal bullshit we have to deal with, and taking it out on individual guys who are decent. But… since I know how much you Schnees like to blame yourself for everything… let’s maybe try giving yourself some grace before you immediately make yourself the bad guy here?”

Weiss furrowed her brow. “...can you elaborate on that?”

“Sure. Okay… let’s presume that it’s *not* because he’s a he that you’re bothered by this relationship. Let’s just pretend it’s another girl. Now-” May held up her finger. “I know your brain went directly to wondering how you’d feel if he was your cute female friend you occasionally crush on, and then thinking horrible things about yourself because of course you’d be cool adding them to your relationship…” May gave her a knowing smirk through the holoscreen.

With decidedly non-platonic visions of Pyrrha cavorting in her mind’s eye, Weiss groaned. “How did you-”

“Snowflake, I’ve had this *exact* conversation with myself! Multiple times.” She hummed mischievously. “From the way your pupils just popped, Miss Crush must be quite the hottie!”

“May!” Weiss hissed. “Stay on topic!”

“Right, right,” May chuckled. “Okay, so, as honestly as you can, imagine the girl you’re with already being interested in a total stranger new girl, and having to unpack that emotionally. Does it still bother you? Do you still feel that… let’s say, anxious insecurity? The same sense of violation over having a new person move into your intimate emotional space? The worry about being less important in your girlfriend’s life, or maybe replaced entirely?”

Closing her eyes, Weiss probed her thoughts and feelings, mentally pasting the bodies and faces of random women she’d seen in the street over Fox in her mind. To her genuine surprise, she still felt her hackles rising. Her Ruby, sharing her smile with an empty face. Not her usual bright cheerfulness that she showered on everyone, but the softer, closer one that came from her eyes as much as her lips that only those who had her trust and affection got to see. Ruby, emotionally unburdening herself to a strange girl, laying her head on her shoulder and soaking up her warmth and comfort. Ruby unfastening her belt and- Weiss’s eyes slammed open. “Nope! Don’t like that one bit!” She blinked at May’s knowing nod.

“That’s kind of what I thought,” the teal-haired woman said. “It’s the fear of sharing, or even losing, her, isn’t it? Not anything gender specific?”

Weiss continued her thought game, trying to imagine Ruby being interested in Jaune or Ren. She found herself wincing at the idea of Jaune, but that was more from the mental image of a shaggy, wet golden retriever rolling all over the place than anything else. Ren… improbable though that pairing would be, especially if Nora had anything to say about it… yeah, remarkably neutral. And that’s even recognizing that neither of them is nearly as close to us as Blake is. “Huh,” the heiress replied. “Yeah, I… I still think I’m a bit biased towards other women, but my conscience is feeling a lot better now. Thank you!”

“Sure thing, squirt,” May chuckled. “Now,” she flashed that grin that let Weiss know she was about to get put on the spot again. “Let’s talk about why you’re so unwilling to just talk to your girl about this!”

A scarlet tinge rose on Weiss’s cheeks as she stammered. “I- I- ugh!” Why *can’t* I just talk about how all this is making me feel? It’s Ruby! We trust each other with our lives, we’ve… shared our bodies in the most intimate ways possible. I trust her with my life, and I know she’d say the same. “I don’t know! I want to talk to her, but… what right do I have to ask her not to explore this part of herself, follow this new interest, just because I like her and feel a bit jealous?”

May could barely conceal her knowing smirk. “Hmmm, ‘like’ is what we’re calling this, then? Oh, Weiss… still doing the ‘I don’t deserve nice things’ grimmshit your father filled your sad, beautiful head with…” Her voice had gone from cocky to pained, taking Weiss aback.

“M-May?”

“I… I hate him so much, Weiss. I know he’s your father, and maybe it’s not my place, but… I hate what he’s done to you. Both of you. You’re both so fierce and strong and absolutely unable to see yourself as the beautiful women who deserve the world that the people who love you see… and sometimes, it just breaks my heart.” Her polished gold eyes flashed with an equal mix of compassion and righteous fury. “Weiss, if this girl values you half as much as she should- and I damn well hope it’s a whole lot more- she’d be pretty torn up knowing how much anguish this is causing you, and probably really wish you’d just talk to her- ”

“ So what, May?!” Weiss snapped back. “Because you’re right. Ruby would be hurt, she’d drop everything and do whatever it took to make me feel better. And I don’t have the right to put her there! I don’t want- I can’t be responsible for her turning away from part of her life for me!”

May flopped back against her couch and groaned. “Weiss… being willing to give things up for your partner, or partners… stars, wanting to let go of things that make them unhappy… is one of the most important parts of a long-term relationship! That’s love , Snowflake. That’s the give-and-take we do to build a relationship. You have the right- no, you have - to ask for what you need, Weiss! If you can’t do that… whatever you’ve got with these girls is doomed.”

As much as part of Weiss was still rebelling against what May was telling her, her words were ringing truthfully in her mind. She’s right, Weiss. If you can’t trust Ruby… and Blake and Yang… to hear your needs… visions of her mother, sacrificing until she had nothing left to give and took shelter in her bottle, swirled in her mind. You’ll end up like her. Letting out a shuddering breath, Weiss nodded. “Okay… you’re right. I need to… to trust them.” She gave the woman who’d basically become a second older sister to, and one who was usually easier to talk to at that, a fond smile. “That’s for pushing me to do the scary things, May.”

“Anytime, Snowflake,” May replied. “Somehow, I’ve ended up loving Schnee girls. It’s my lot in life, and I’m damn well going to do the best by you hot messes that I can!” Weiss’s smile cracked into a snort. “Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m making a mess of all those years of training to keep your all-important composure. So sad, too bad, you’re stuck with me.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Weiss grinned. “Thank you, again!”

“Keep me posted on how this goes! Good luck with your clutch of hotties!” May’s eyes lit with an impish spark. “If you need any tips and tricks-”

“ Goodbye, May!” Weiss laughed as she closed the scroll connection. Almost immediately, she cursed herself; she’d wanted to ask May if she’d turned up anything new about the glyphs she’d left on her partners. Her finger hovered over the redial button for a minute before she put her scroll down; she’d used up plenty of May’s time today, and it wasn’t like their sigil questions were as urgent in her mind as sorting out her feelings over Ruby. And, the clock was moving into the later part of the afternoon; she and Yang needed to get into town to get her shipment from Atlas. Flipping to the blonde’s contact, she messaged her to see where she was.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Blake’s ears swiveled as she heard one of her teammates enter their dorm. She could tell just from how the door sounded excited when it opened that it was Ruby; she grinned at her girlfriend in the mirror as the spunky little Huntress bounced up behind her and enveloped her in a hug. Probably thinking she was being sneaky about it, Ruby rubbed her head against Blake’s so that her cheek brushed against the faunus’s ear. Chuckling, Blake reached behind her head and scritched Ruby in the same spot. “You’re not subtle, cookie dough. It’s okay, you’re on the ear privileges list.”

Pausing for a moment, Ruby buried her face between Blake’s ears and rubbed her face back and forth with a happy hum. As her teammate broke down into laughter, she returned to resting her head on her shoulder. “Hey Blake! How’s it going?”

“Hey Ruby,” Blake closed her eyes and purred happily as she leaned back into the young woman’s embrace. “Good, now that I’ve got a Ruby hug!” 

Giggling, Ruby kissed her on the cheek. “Yours whenever you want one, sugarplum!” Peering down at the sprawl of paperwork and open scrolls in front of the faunus. “Whatcha working on?”

“Just following up on what I was researching with Weiss the other night before we got, um… distracted ,” she chuckled. “There were a couple things that jumped out at me that I want to dig into a little more.”

“Hmmm, anything I can help with?”

Blake’s ear flickered in amusement. “That depends, how much really dry archeology do you want to read through?” Ruby’s face fell, and Blake felt herself overwhelmed by the cuteness. “I’ll make you an ice cream sundae afterwards?”

Ruby gave her a determined look. “Alright! Let’s do this! What am I looking at?”

Sliding her a scroll, her teammate explained. “So, does this picture of this tablet look at all familiar to you?”

Scrunching her eyes at the picture, Ruby cocked her head and looked at it from a couple different angles. “Something…” suddenly, her eyes widened. “Hey! These patterns and inscription thingies kinda remind me of Weiss’s glyphs!”

“Exactly! Thank you!”   Blake exclaimed. “But the description says it’s… what, someone bitching about buying bad copper?”

Ruby clicked her teeth as she squinted at the fine print. “Well, it does mention that there are some other theories, but that they’re mostly disregarded as fringe conspiracies. Maybe we should check into those?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Blake nodded. Ruby quickly pulled her chair over and squeezed up to the side of Blake’s desk. The lo-fi pop Blake had on provided a pleasant background as the two women dug into their research… along with the occasional flirtatious giggle as their feet lazily danced around each others’. While her own research felt like it was hitting dead end after dead end, Blake noticed that Ruby’s gaze was getting more and more intense as she clicked through links on the scroll. 

The sun was setting when Blake leaned back and stretched her shoulders. “Ugh, I’ve got nothing! You want to do ice cream now?”