Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ruby Rose finished tying the red laces of her boots in her room and completed the transformation from her Pharos Academy uniform to her much more preferred Huntress outfit. Or what would at least eventually be her Huntress outfit when she was older and had graduated from Beacon. The black dress with the red underskirt, her leggings, boots, her long cape, and most importantly, her silver rose emblem on her belt.

“Okay, ready!” Ruby cheerfully exclaimed to her own reflection in the mirror hanging from her closet door.

And then immediately deflated as she sighed down at the floor.

“What am I even doing? Acting like I’m the one about to head off to Beacon?” Ruby rolled her eyes and sat down on her bed in the otherwise empty room. “Today’s Yang’s day to celebrate… I’ve still got two more years left.”

It was a Friday night in Vale, in the Branwen/Xiao Long/Rose household. However any of them wanted to call it. And today was a special Friday as this was the start of the final weekend before her big sister Yang went off to Beacon Academy. Ruby was proud of her sister, but she couldn’t deny that she really wished she could be going too. It wasn’t jealousy, just impatience, Ruby had dreamed of becoming a Huntress since as far back as she could remember. Just like her father, her uncle, her aunt… and her mother most of all.

Ruby’s eyes drifted over to her nightstand, where a photograph of her family sat. What used to be her family.

She was young, four years old maybe? Standing next to her sister who already towered over her, while her mother and father stood arm in arm behind them. Smiles all around.

“Guess you can watch me wait for a couple more years,” Ruby sighed. “You’ve both been watching me for a long time… what’s a little more?”

She remembered the day, despite barely being five, when they learned her mother had died out on a mission. “Disappeared” officially but everyone knew what it meant. She remembered the tears they all shed. And she remembered barely a year after that when her father died as well. Almost leaving her all alone if it wasn’t for her sister. But it hadn’t made her stop wanting to be a Huntress too. It hadn’t made her stop wanting to be like the heroes in the stories her mother would always read to her. But… it had made her realize, even as a child, that life wasn’t always like a fairy tale.

Ruby tore her eyes away from the photo and stood up with a big stretch. She still had things she wanted to do tonight and thinking about all that stuff wasn’t going to help with nothing. She put a smile on her face and walked over to her desk, grabbing Crescent Rose and strapping it to her back. Her baby. Ruby looked back at the nightstand for a moment, the photograph, and next to it the old worn copy of The Girl Who Fell Through the World that first belonged to her mother sitting there.

“Bye, mom. Bye, dad. I’ll see you later,” Ruby’s smile grew a little warmer as she turned and stepped out her door.

Walking down the hall, Ruby quickly popped into the living room, she was only planning to say hi and then bye before anyone could stop her, but things didn’t end up being so simple.

“Ruby!” Raven said, catching sight of her adopted daughter as she almost zoomed past the doorway. “What are you doing?”

Ruby sighed and walked back into the living room, making sure to roll her eyes out of sight first, and waved. “Hey, Raven. Just going out. Oh, hey Yang.” Ruby said as she saw Yang on the couch in front of their television.

“Sup!” Yang smiled and waved over at her. In her other hand was grasped something that Yang had practically been unable to put down for weeks: her letter of admission to Beacon. No surprise she was still obsessed with it and reading it over and over the closer she came to actually going there. Yang sat up and placed an arm on the back of the couch, turning and facing Ruby directly. “What’s up? What are you going out for?”

“Yes, what are you going out for?” Raven asked, a slight knitting in her brows as she looked at Ruby. She stood tall, the kitchen behind her and an apron tied around her waist. “This is our last weekend we’re all going to be together for a while… I was thinking we could stay in tonight.” There was a brief glimmer of sorrow in her eyes as she spoke before they returned to normal.

Neither Ruby nor Yang knew exactly what had led Raven and their father Tai to separate from each other, but it apparently hadn’t been enough to ruin everything between them. Even as a young girl, Ruby could remember her Aunt Raven coming by and visiting every now and then, though she didn’t learn Yang was actually Raven’s daughter until much later. She didn’t get back together with dad after mom died or anything, but once dad died too she swooped in just like her namesake to take care of Ruby and Yang. Ruby might not have had any real relationship to her, but the woman adopted her all the same. And it was something Ruby was always grateful for. Always.

But Ruby still knew deep in her heart that there was one line she would never cross with Raven.

“Well… yeah, but like, the two of us are still going to be here together for two more years,” Ruby shrugged nonchalantly. “And we still have the whole weekend and everything.” She poked her finger into her ear and rubbed it around. “So, didn’t really seem like a big deal if I went out...”

“Oh...” Raven’s mouth tugged down in the barest of frowns. “Well, I still thought you’d want to celebrate with your sister as much as you could before she left. And you still haven’t told me where you’re going out to.”

“Yang and I celebrated a ton when she got accepted, right, Yang?” Ruby asked her sister.

Yang, perhaps slightly oblivious to her mother’s consternation, gave Ruby a happy thumbs up. “Right! That was the most pizza I ever ate in one day. I’m still feeling it.”

Ruby smirked at her sister, fondly remembering that day as well. “And anyways, I was just heading out to From Dust Till Dawn tonight. I’ll be back later,” Ruby shrugged.

“The Dust store? Why are you going there?” Raven raised an eyebrow.

“It’s because Yang is going to Beacon soon. I’m not going to have a sparring partner anymore, I need to work even harder now to get better. So that means getting all the weapons and supplies I need from the start. I’m kicking my training into high-gear from here on out!” Ruby smiled proudly and pumped her fist in the air. “Also figured I could look around some Vale Hunstman shops for better materials for Crescent Rose or, I dunno, ideas on improving my baby. Doubtful, cause it’s hard to improve perfection, but still.”

“You could try making it a sword like Harbinger! Or a whip-scythe! I don’t think those are real yet, but you could make the first one!” Yang suggested, exuberantly jumping over the back of the couch and giving Ruby a high-five.

“Exactly!”

“You’re already the best student at Pharos though—well, now that I won’t be there anymore—so I think you’re maybe going a bit overboard,” Yang winked.

“Pff,” Ruby snorted and crossed her arms. “When it comes to learning to kick butt as a Huntress you can never go overboard.”

Raven sighed deeply and brought a hand up to her forehead. “The two of you… what a handful.” She calmed herself down and looked at Ruby. “Alright, Ruby, you can go do that. But can you at least eat dinner with us first? We were just about to start.” She gestured to the kitchen behind her where Ruby could indeed see a smorgasbord of Raven’s homemade food gathered on the counter.

Ruby briefly looked at all the food before she grinned and gave Raven a thumbs up. “That’s a-okay with me!”

As the three of them sat down at the living room table just a few minutes later, chowing down, Raven’s attention was firmly glued on the news program that had just started at the hour. While it had previously been talking about the usual things—the weather, the Grimm, etc., it had switched over to a special segment on Beacon Academy. Specifically about a very special student that was going to be starting there this year. Ruby, seeing Raven’s rapt attention, followed her eyes over to the television.

FAUNUS AT BEACON: THE FIRST OF MANY OR THE MISTAKE OF VALE?

The chyron was impossible to miss, they wanted to be sure everyone watching saw that word: Faunus.

Two people sat facing one another in typical news debate format, one middle-aged woman and one older man. Neither of which Ruby recognized even when their names briefly appeared on screen.

“Headmaster Ozpin may have wanted this, the Council of Vale may have voted for it, but do the people of Vale want it?” The older man said, the question clearly hypothetical. Ruby could tell from his tone he didn’t want a real answer.

“I think the people of Vale are sick and tired of seeing the Faunus treated like a universal second-class,” the woman responded. “No other Academy has yet to accept a Faunus in to be trained as a Huntsman. Beacon is lighting the way forward.”

The man huffed. “If one thinks the Faunus can be trusted. There are reasons for why they’ve never been allowed in the Academies.”

“And what reasons are those?” The woman pressed.

The man coughed, ignoring the question. “Faunus terrorism has been on the rise for years now, and the people see us answering that by appeasement. Allowing a Faunus into Beacon, the daughter of the man who started the White Fang at that, is going to embolden these terrorists. It will tell them that violence works, it will tell them to become more extreme, not less.”

“Ghira Belladonna has not let a day go by without decrying the current White Fang. The organization he created is vastly different from what it has been corrupted into.”

“I see you don’t refute the point I was making.”

“Oh you-”

“I can’t listen to this crap,” Raven grumbled and switched the channel over. A frown on her face as she looked across the table at Ruby, while Yang was still eating and hadn’t been paying attention at all.

“I uh… I think it’s good that Beacon’s letting Faunus in,” Ruby awkwardly grinned and shrugged.

“As you should, your parents and I raised you right,” Raven smiled back. “It’s about damn time this happened if you asked me. Oz, he would’ve done it years ago if it was only up to him but… well, that’s politics. The Faunus situation… it’s always been really complicated and there are still a lot of people who...” she trailed off as she glanced at Yang. Who was still eating. “Feel free to join the conversation at anytime, Yang.”

“Huh?” Yang finally perked her head up. “Oh, uh, what were we talking about?”

Ruby snorted, fighting back a laugh.

“I worry about you… well, actually, it’s not like either of you is that responsible,” Raven groaned. She shook her head and narrowed her eyes at Yang, seriously gazing at her. “Look, Yang, I know I don’t need to tell you this, but if you meet that Faunus girl who’s going to Beacon you better make a good impression. Alright?”

“Hey, it’s me,” Yang leaned back and shrugged with a grin. “I’ll be the best friend she’s ever had if we ever actually run into each other. You think I’m gonna care she’s a Faunus? Hell no.”

Raven sat back. “I guess when it comes to you I’m more worried you’ll come on too strong and make her feel weird.” She crossed her arms under her chest and looked up at the ceiling. “Hm… you know I also heard that the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company is attending Beacon this year too. What a crazy year. You practically couldn’t get too people more important and yet more different attending at the same time.”

“Hey,” Yang stood up, putting her hands on the table, for once she looked almost serious. “Heiress, or Faunus, or whatever, the fact we’re all going to Beacon to learn how to kick Grimm butt makes us all way more than similar enough in my book. Right, Ruby?”

“Yeah!” Ruby pumped her fist for her sister. “Huntresses!”

“Yeah, alright,” Raven rolled her eyes. “I’ll try not to worry so much.”

“And on that note-!” Ruby started with a grin as she pushed out her chair and stood up, grabbing Crescent Rose from where she left it leaning up against the wall. “I’ll be out!”

“Fine—just be back before too late,” Raven says, waving Ruby off.

“Have fun at the Dust shop! Get some real good explosive Dust!” Yang grinned.

“Start my new training off with a bang?” Ruby’s eye twinkled.

Yang—unable to let the set up pass—grinned wider. “Yeah, just like how I always start my training out with a Yang!”

Raven sighed and shut her eyes, feeling a headache approaching.

Ruby couldn’t help but laugh a little, shaking her head as she put on Crescent Rose and made to leave the living room, heading out towards the front door. “See ya, Sis! See ya, Raven!”

“See ya, Ruby!” Yang waved her goodbye. Behind her, still at the table, Raven’s mouth opened and closed before she slowly and sullenly stared down at her lap. And Ruby was off.

From Dust Till Dawn was open all through the night, one of the few Dust shops in Vale that serviced customers at these hours. It was a matter of convenience. The owner saw it as a way to separate his Dust shop from others and let customers know that there was one place that could always suit their needs at any time of day. However, that did lead to one other small issue. From Dust Till Dawn was also the most robbed Dust shop in all of Vale. The reason was obvious: It was a lot easier to rob someplace and get away in the dead of night than during the day.

And that was why a rather dapper fellow in a bowler cap spinning a cane around in his hand and humming a carefree tune was currently walking down the street towards said shop. The streetlights could only illuminate so much.

The criminal mastermind (in his opinion) paused briefly as he walked by the window of another store, catching his dashing reflection there and grinning. Of course, that grin was somewhat dashed as his… companions… walked into view on the window.

Roman Torchwick, with his green eyes and bright orange hair, sighed and planted his cane between his feet, looking at those he was leading tonight. “You know, I’d complain about how… eye-catching… your uniforms are for what should be a discreet robbery, but I do suppose that would make me just a teensy bit hypocritical.”

Reflected on the window was a red emblem, the head of a wolf that was almost Grimm-like in appearance, with three slashes through it.

“If we are seen, we want people to know it was us who did this,” one of the White Fang soldiers told Roman. One of four that had joined him tonight in all their fanatical glory. Wearing their typical uniforms and masks that were not for the concealment of one’s identity at all.

“Ahh...” Roman nodded, smirking at him. “A win-win situation is it? If things go off without a hitch, well good! We have a whole bunch of Dust gathered without a problem. If things go bad? Well, then people see the White Fang terrorizing Vale some more, and they become more afraid of you. I see. It’s stupid, but I see.”

The other Faunus growled at him but their apparent leader held them back. He had dog ears of some sort, like a doberman.

Would he be offended if I called him their pack leader? Roman mused to himself.

“What you think doesn’t matter, Torchwick. We are allies of convenience. Nothing more. Now let’s hurry up and hit that Dust shop,” the man said, striding past Roman.

“Lead the way, guide-dog,” Roman chuckled.

Ruby’s trip had taken a lot longer than she originally planned. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, she just didn’t really feel like going home yet despite what Raven had asked. So she ended up browsing the rows at From Dust Till Dawn again and again, wasting hours in the store. Tuned out, zoned out, looking at vials of all types of Dust. She had bought some already, and might buy more, but for the most part she was just casually wandering.

She didn’t pay attention when the bell at the door rang and more people walked in. Sure, it was later than usual for that, but she was here so it’s not like it was impossible for more customers to come in.

“Hmm hmm hmm...” Ruby hummed to herself, vaguely hearing someone talking up by the front desk. She was about to turn the corner and walk down an aisle she had been down half a dozen times already, when she bumped into someone first.

“Oops, sorry,” Ruby said automatically and looked up at the tall man.

Her eyes widened.

“Oh.”

She had never seen this uniform in person, only on the news. It was recognizable to every single person living in Vale. Probably all of Remnant. And even behind the Grimm mask over the dog Faunus’s face, she could see the hatred in his eyes as the White Fang soldier glared down at her. From his hip he pulled out a simple long knife and held it threateningly up in front of her face.

“Little girl, you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hand over all of the Dust you have on you and I might be merciful,” he growled.

“Wait,” Ruby held up her hand, frowning, not showing any fear in the slightest to the surprise and confusion of the White Fang threatening her. “I need to say ‘never mind’ first.”

“What?”

She coughed.

“Never mind, I’m not sorry,” Ruby said.

And before he could react the small girl had kicked him hard enough in the gut to send him flying out through the glass window of the store. The glass shattered on contact and the Faunus rolled out onto the street, groaning in pain. Ruby smirked, even as three more White Fang gathered in front of the store, staring right at her. She also saw a very frightened shopkeep and some weird guy with a weird hat looking at her with bemusement.

“Okay,” the man in the hat blinked. “I guess this is a publicity mission now.”

“I don’t know what that means!” Ruby shouted with glee and placed a hand behind her back on Crescent Rose. “But you’re not robbing this store!”

He rolled his eyes and glanced over at the other White Fang. “Right. Kill that kid.”

The three White Fang pulled out knives of their own and charged Ruby, but Ruby’s smirk merely grew as she ran to meet them, pulling Crescent Rose out at the same time but not opening it just yet, there was no room in the store for that. Right as the four were about to ram into each other, Ruby activated her semblance and burst past them with a scattering of rose petals, carrying them all with her speed right out the window. She landed on her feet, skidding over the asphalt on the street, while they all tumbled painfully onto the sidewalk.

Then she opened up Crescent Rose.

The staff extended out as the heavy scythe blade that was pretty much just as big as she was unfolded. Ruby twirled her baby around before slamming the tip of the blade down into the street and pointing it at the remaining White Fang. With a yell, they fearlessly ran at her once more, not afraid of fighting or taking down some little girl. The first one, a female soldier, jumped at and swung at Ruby’s head, but Ruby pulled the trigger of Crescent Rose and with the recoil swiftly blasted herself out of the way of the blow. The woman stumbled after overextending herself and Ruby brought her scythe around and slammed the backside of the scytheblade into her gut.

“Guh!” The woman groaned in pain as the wind was knocked out of her, but that was hardly it. Ruby’s swing continued and carried the woman with it, throwing her back against the brick wall of the nearest building.

The other two Faunus came at Ruby’s right and left but a quick pull of her trigger, that ended with a tree down the street having a limb blown off, again shot Ruby backwards as they missed slashing at her with their knives. She ran at them, swinging Crescent Rose in a wide arc that was blocked by one of them. The other took the time to lash out at her, lunging forward and stabbing towards her chest. Ruby smirked and fired Crescent Rose once more, the sudden force yanking the Faunus who had caught her blade forward and making him smash into the one trying to stab her.

Their momentum almost carried them into her so Ruby hopped over them, deftly landing on the ground as they fell. Both of them were still in the fight though. They untangled themselves and ran at her to try and get the fight into their favor, wanting to take control of the flow. They came at Ruby with a barrage of swift slashes, trying to overwhelm her completely, but Ruby wasn’t just fast on her feet. Crescent Rose blocked each and every attack they made against her, sparks shooting off each time their blade’s clashed.

Ruby backstepped and lowered her hands down to the base of Crescent Rose’s grip while the two White Fang were still together right in front of her. She swung her weapon with full force, outside of a range they could really do anything to her with their much shorter weapons, and the blade slammed into and caught the first one—smashing him into the other—and at the apex of her swing, Ruby pulled the trigger for further momentum as Crescent Rose fired and the two soldiers were sent screaming down the street, sliding across the asphalt painfully for a good thirty feet.

“Yeah!” Ruby shouted joyfully.

Meanwhile, the doorbell to From Dust Till Dawn dinged behind her. Ruby spun to see the man, who she was pretty sure was a human, casually stepping out from the store.

“Useless animals,” the man shook his head as he looked around at the fallen White Fang. He then turned his gaze to her and glared. “Little red, you really shouldn’t be getting on my bad side like this.”

“Yeah, well, you really shouldn’t be robbing Dust shops! Whoever you are,” Ruby pointed at him.

The man blinked, jaw dropping as he stared at her. “Wait, you did all this and you don’t even know that? You seriously don’t know who I am?”

“Uh, should I?” Ruby shrugged.

“Yes! I’m Roman Torchwick! Vale’s greatest criminal! Of course you should know me and you certainly should know not to cross me!” Roman yelled.

“Okay?” Ruby shrugged once more, awkwardly rubbing the back of her head. “I mean, you were robbing a store, with terrorists, and they tried to rob me too. So that’s kind of all I needed.”

“Alright, you know what? I don’t care,” Roman seethed and picked up his cane, pointing it at her. “Goodbye, little red.”

He pulled a trigger up around the cane’s handle and fired an explosive blast of Dust right at Ruby’s face. Her semblance saved her from a nasty burn and scorch marks to the face as she fluttered into a stream of rose petals and flew around to his side. Instead only a portion of the street was blown up. But Ruby wasn’t paying attention to that as she swung her scythe at Roman. Immediately though she saw the difference between him and his White Fang cronies. Roman brought his cane up to block her scythe and turned it to the side, jumping at and trying to bludgeon her with it. Ruby had to jump back, her scythe a bit unwieldy when she couldn’t maneuver around too much, and Roman threw numerous jabs and thrusts at her that she had to block or parry with the long shaft of her weapon. He was strong like a Hunstman was. Ruby had sparred with both Yang and Raven, and her instructors plenty of times, but this was the first time she’d been in a real fight with someone like this.

It was kind of fun.

Ruby swung at his legs and Roman hopped over it, kicking her in the chest and making her roll away onto the sidewalk. She slammed Crescent Rose’s tip into the cement to stop herself, the barrel of the rifle inside it now pointed straight at Roman. Ruby smirked and fired.

He swiftly blocked the bullet with his cane, the ricocheting bullet instead shooting into the storefront and blowing up part of its sign.

“Well you’re just not a nice little girl, are you?” Roman snorted.

“You tried shooting me first!” Ruby threw out her hands in annoyance.

“Yeah, and I’m a criminal. But speaking of shooting-” he pointed his cane at her once more and tried to blast her with it.

Ruby jumped to the side, wrenching Crescent Rose out of the ground right as an explosion blew up that slab of the sidewalk. She activated her semblance and burst towards him, trying to win the fight with a single swing too fast for him to actually block. Still, as fast as Ruby was, Torchwick could still see her coming and he didn’t even try to block. Crescent Rose’s blade hit empty air as he launched himself away from her and ran out into the middle of the street. The both of them could now hear sirens coming from elsewhere in Vale—it seemed that whatever call the shopkeep might have made was finally being answered.

“Absolutely fantastic. Well this was a complete waste of time. Dumb mutts,” Roman groaned and shook his head. He spun his cane around and planted it by his feet, looking at Ruby with a smug grin. “Well little red, it has not been fun meeting you, so I think it’s about time I take my leave.” He raised his left hand and snapped his fingers. “Neo.”

Ruby was confused for just a moment until a small figure jumped down from one of the nearby roofs and landed right next to Roman Torchwick. A girl—woman maybe—shorter than Ruby herself with pink and brown hair and matching eyes, holding a parasol, waved at her. She casually stood next to Roman and opened the parasol, resting it on her shoulder and giving Ruby a wink.

Ruby didn’t exactly care who she was or what this was about. If they were just going to stand there and not fight then so be it. She pointed the barrel of Crescent Rose straight at the duo and fired.

Instead of seeing them get hit, or dodge though, she instead saw what looked like a glass mirror shatter into a million pieces and the two of them vanish.

“Huh?” Ruby blinked. They were gone without a trace. She stood there for a moment, still holding Crescent Rose just to be sure, until she realized that they had indeed run away. “They… they ran.” Her face was dull with shock, but slowly a wide grin began to split her face as she threw up her arms in victory, proudly holding her beloved Crescent Rose over her head. “They ran! That means I won! I stopped a robbery! The day has been saved thanks to Ruby Rose: Huntress in training!”

She was breathing heavily in exuberance before she calmed down and really started to focus on everything else around her. There were holes in the street, blown up parts of the sidewalk, scorch marks on the ground, a broken window, a destroyed tree, the store’s sign was missing the “Dust” on it, and there were four unconscious White Fang terrorists lying on the ground around her.

“Ohhhhh...” Ruby lowered Crescent Rose and plopped the bottom spike of the scythe on the ground. “I’m about to be in so much trouble, aren’t I?”

“Yes.”

Ruby’s eyes widened in surprise and she turned around at the sound of the voice behind her. Seeing a very stern and very annoyed looking woman glaring at her. And this time, it was someone Ruby definitely recognized.

“You are,” Glynda Goodwitch said.

“Miss Ruby Rose. Citizen of Vale. Student at Pharos Academy. Daughter of Raven Branwen, legally at least. And sister to Yang Xiao Long, who will be attending Beacon in just a few days,” Glynda Goodwitch read off as she stalked back and forth in front of the table Ruby was sitting behind. “And for some reason when you found yourself in the middle of a robbery being committed by not just the most wanted criminal in Vale but also by the White Fang, instead of getting help you decided to take matters into your own hands and fight them yourself.”

“Well, I mean, I won, so...” Ruby shrugged, looking down to the side.

Glynda slapped her riding crop onto the table, making Ruby flinch and look up at her. “And you’re lucky I was there to clean it up. That was quite the bit of property damage you caused.”

Ruby sighed, it’s not like she could avoid causing damage when fighting in a place like that. Wasn’t it more important to stop the criminals anyways? And now here she was in a police interrogation room. Which she thought was a little bit excessive. Perhaps Glynda saw the discomfort on her face because the severe look on her face relaxed.

“However… you are correct. Not only was nothing stolen thanks to you, the authorities managed to apprehend four members of the White Fang. Which is why you will not be punished for what you have done,” Glynda said.

Ruby’s eyes sparkled as she smiled up at the teacher. “Thank-”

“Nor will I be congratulating you either,” Glynda frowned. “Your mother and sister have already been notified and will be here soon enough.”

“Oh,” Ruby deflated and sunk down in her seat. She then looked up, bothered by something even though she knew she really shouldn’t have taken such an issue with an innocent statement. “Also, could you not call Raven my mother?”

Ruby almost immediately winced. She shouldn’t have said that. It was unfair to Raven and so pointlessly small for her to get bothered like that.

Glynda raised an eyebrow. “Miss-”

“Rose,” someone else finished.

Glynda turned and Ruby looked past her to see a silver-haired man in the doorway to the interrogation room. He had an easy-going smile on his face and a pair of black glasses resting on his nose that didn’t cover his eyes. And of course—Ruby recognized him as well as he stepped forward and stood right beside Glynda.

“Getting involved in an armed robbery, fearlessly fighting off a band of criminals while outnumbered, and doing it before you’re even a student of Beacon? That’s exactly the kind of thing I could have seen Summer getting into when she was your age,” Ozpin said.

“Ehe… well...” Ruby blushed and grinned, humbly scratching the back of her head.

“Do you know who I am, Miss Rose?” Ozpin asked.

“Y-Yes. Of course,” Ruby nodded, doing her best to not be nervous. “You’re Professor—Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon.”

“That’s right. I remember personally writing the acceptance letter to your older sister not too long ago,” Ozpin rubbed his chin as he smiled down at her. “I have high hopes for her at Beacon considering her parents. Just like I have high hopes for you.”

“T-Thanks… still two more years left for me though...” Ruby said. “I-I know Yang’s going to be amazing though!”

“I believe you’re right about that. I also remember personally taught both your mothers and your father, though that was more than just a little while ago,” Ozpin chuckled before pulling out a chair on the opposite side of the table and sitting down right across from Ruby. He regarded her closely and it took Ruby a little more effort to not get nervous again. “Two more years you say?”

“Yeah… before I graduate from Pharos.”

Ozpin leaned back, humming to himself. “Is that so…? You know, this is quite the big year for Beacon Academy. It’s going to be the sort of special year for Huntsman and Huntresses not seen in generations.”

Glynda blinked, gaping down at him as she seemed to understand something he was getting at before Ruby did. “Oz...”

“You realize that, don’t you? How special of a year this is for Beacon and Vale? No, not even just them, but for every Academy and Kingdom on Remnant?” Ozpin asked.

“Y-Yeah. I do. It’s the Faunus girl… and I also heard about the heiress to the SDC being there...” Ruby nodded.

“And the daughter and niece of the famed Branwen twins. And Pyrrha Nikos, a prodigy not seen in years. And many, many, others who shine with untold potential,” Ozpin smiled. “And so I was thinking—it would be a shame if you couldn’t join them, wouldn’t it?

Ruby’s eyes widened further than she ever thought they could go. She sat there silently, stupefied, wondering if this was really happening. Was this fate? Dumb luck? She couldn’t believe it. Was the Headmaster of Beacon actually saying what she thought he was saying. Her hands shook with excitement, face brightening up as she smiled and her silver eyes twinkled. The elation was radiating off her in waves. He was going to. He was really going to.

“You defeated and brought to justice several members of the White Fang. You personally fought and held off the dangerous criminal, Roman Torchwick. And the timing seems almost like fate, doesn’t it? Ozpin raised an eyebrow at her. “Well, Miss Rose? Would you like to come to my school?”

“More than anything.”

Chapter Text

“You have no idea how proud I am of the both of you,” Raven said as she hugged her daughters tightly as they stood at the dock of the bullhead station that would take both Ruby and Yang to Beacon in a few minutes. She let go and rested a hand each on their shoulders, smiling proudly at them. “Yang, you’ve worked so hard to get here. Be the best Huntress you can be.”

“You got it, mom! I’m gonna be kicking butt from day one!” Yang cheered with a big smile.

“I know,” Raven squeezed her blonde daughter’s shoulder before focusing on Ruby. “And Ruby, I don’t think you know entirely just how big of a deal this is, but you deserve it. I’m… definitely going to miss not having you around for those extra two years, but I know you and Yang are probably happier than anything to be going to Beacon together.”

“Y-Yeah,” Ruby smiled, a bit embarrassed, and a bit nervous. But Raven was right that she was super excited that she could share her career at Beacon with her big sis.

“You two look out for each other,” Raven said, letting them go.

“We will!” Yang grinned and wrapped an arm around Ruby’s shoulders, pulling her into a crushing side hug. “I’ll make sure the little scamp doesn’t get into any trouble.”

“I’m the one who’s going to be making sure you don’t get into any trouble,” Ruby pouted and tried to pull Yang’s much stronger arm away.

“That’s what you both need to do,” Raven sighed and shook her head. After a moment she stopped, a somewhat melancholic smile on her face. “Tai and Summer… would also be so proud of the both of you.”

The three of them grew a little quieter after she said that, the mood becoming solemn for a moment before Raven clapped her hands together and smiled. “Right! None of that! This is a really happy occasion, don’t need to dwell on anything like that. You girls… Beacon’s going to be tough. Tougher than Pharos by a long shot. But you can handle it. Keep your heads high, your chins up, and never give up. Remember how good you are. Remember how much I—we all—love you.”

Yang lunged forward to hug her mom tightly. “Thanks, mom. I’ll miss you, but we’ll definitely come and visit when we get the chance to.”

“Yeah,” Ruby nodded. “Promise.”

Raven patted Yang’s back and smiled at Ruby. “Thanks girls, gonna be lonely without you. But at least inner Vale isn’t too far from Beacon...” she looked at the Beacon Bullhead that was just now starting to let people on. “Welp, guess that’s your cue.”

Yang pulled away from her and picked up her bag, Ruby doing the same.

“See ya, mom!” Yang gave her a wave and turned to leave towards the bullhead.

“See ya, Raven,” Ruby smiled and waved as well. But as she turned to follow her sister, Raven called out to her.

“Ruby, hold on one second,” Raven said, a little apprehensive.

Yang looked over her shoulder and cocked an eyebrow at the two of them, but Raven just silently waved her to go on. So Yang shrugged and happily jogged over to the bullhead while her little sis and mom stayed behind.

“Uh, what is it?” Ruby raised an eyebrow at her aunt.

Raven rubbed the back of her head, looking away for a moment before she reached into her bag and took something out, handing it over to Ruby. “I figured you should take this with you. It… belongs to you, really.”

Ruby looked down at the worn and familiar copy of The Girl Who Fell Through the World that Raven was holding. It’s not that she had forgotten to take it or anything. It’s just that she knew her life at Beacon was going to be a lot different. Was it the place for fairy tales? Even one as important to Ruby as this? Whatever room she had at Beacon wasn’t going to be like her room back home. She was going to be training to be a Huntress for real now, not reading fairy tales for children. It was an important keepsake… her mother’s… but she also wasn’t sure if she should just take it with her.

“That book, your mother had it since she was a kid… and I just don’t think she’d want you to be anywhere without it,” Raven said. “I-It’s yours, so you don’t have to worry about taking or holding onto it or anything.”

“Thank you...” Ruby quietly said and took the book, placing it in her bag. “I-I’ll keep it with me.”

Raven’s face brightened up. “O-Okay, good. You, uh, you have a great time at Beacon, Ruby. I love you.”

Ruby smiled awkwardly and started walking away to join up with Yang, waving goodbye. “L-Love you too, Raven.”

“Yeah...” Raven sighed once Ruby was out of earshot. “Bye, girls.”

“Okay I’m not really surprised that you’re more excited than me considering you just learned you get to come to Beacon, but Ruby? You really need to sit still,” Yang said to her sister as the younger girl practically vibrated in her seat, staring out the window the whole time as they flew over Vale towards the great Huntsman Academy.

“But Yaaaang, look! We’re flying all over Vale, right towards Beacon and we’re almost there! This is incredible!” Ruby squealed. “There are going to be so many Huntsmen and Huntresses, so many weapons, so many… manys!”

“That’s not a word,” Yang smirked, rolling her eyes at her sister’s antics. “Also… I hate to rain on your parade a little, but because this all happened so quickly for you I kind of think you’re forgetting about something.”

Ruby turned to look at her with a questioning face. “What?”

“At Beacon, we’re put into teams of four. Best case scenario you’re going to be forced to get along with two complete strangers for two years. And that’s only if I end up on your team too. We might not,” Yang shrugged. “So, uh, you’re kind of going to have to actually try and make some friends.”

Ruby’s pupils shrank down to pinpricks. Ruby Rose, best student in her year at Pharos, wielder of exotic scythe-based weapon, weapon nerd—and utterly friendless aside from her awesome big sister. Who Yang made sure she knew didn’t count.

Ruby grimaced as she hunched over in her seat. “It’s not my fault everyone thinks I’m weird.”

“Ehhh...” Yang wavered her hand around and looked away.

Ruby punched her in the shoulder.

“Look,” Yang smiled good-naturedly and patted Ruby on the head. “It’s no big deal. There are a ton of different people coming here, and I’ll bet you can at least get along with one of them. We’re all becoming Huntresses after all. Just start there.” She looked around the interior of the bullhead. “What about that guy?”

She pointed out a tall, blonde-haired, boy who was stumbling towards the back of the bullhead—before he held up his hands to his green face and ran for a corner to puke in. The gross sounds, and smells, were amplified by the cramped interior and everyone else turned away, trying to ignore it.

“Okay maybe not him.”

Ruby groaned and would have started to complain some more but the pilot decided to announce right then that they were coming up on Beacon and her worries were momentarily forgotten again. Yang couldn’t help but snicker and roll her eyes as Ruby plastered her face back to the window of their row. She didn’t really get what the big deal was compared to Ruby, it was just a building. Cool looking but still. They had seen pictures of it and videos of it on the news everywhere.

“It’s almost like a castle or something...” Ruby whispered.

Yang smirked and decided to humor her sister, leaning up close by her and also staring out the window. She had to admit it was a pretty nice sight—even if just because they were flying in the sky. But yeah, Beacon was an impressive building, the tower taller than any building in Vale, all that white stone, placed up against a huge waterfall that Yang might have fantasized about bungee-jumping down every now and then. The whole school grounds put Pharos to shame, living here would almost be like living in their own miniature city. Maybe Ruby was right, it was a little more exciting seeing it for real than just in the pictures. And that’s where the two of them would be for the next four years.

“Pretty cool,” Yang nodded as she and Ruby watched the bullhead approach.

They were able to set down in just a few minutes and as soon as the doors were open Yang and Ruby jumped out with the other new arrivals, met by Beacon staff and told to check in at the large auditorium.

“Of course in just a short while there’s going to be a speech given on the grounds that you’re more than welcome to attend,” the staff member said with a smile.

“Speech?” Ruby asked.

“Yes—Miss Blake Belladonna is giving a speech at the behest of Headmaster Ozpin. It’s going to be televised all across Vale.”

“Meh, politics stuff,” Yang shrugged. “Count me out, just tell me what we need to do today so I don’t suddenly find myself kicked out of Beacon cause I didn’t sign the right forms.”

“As new students, the two of you will need to register your weapons and place them in lockers, then wait in the auditorium and mingle with the other new students until Headmaster Ozpin arrives. He’ll formally greet you, give an entirely different speech, and then the rest of the night is yours. The initiation exams will then start tomorrow.”

“So we don’t have, like, our own rooms until we pass initiation?” Ruby asked.

The staff member shook his head. “You’ll all be sleeping in the auditorium together for the next four days.”

Ruby grimaced. “Eughhh...”

Yang plopped an arm on her shoulder. “Hey, look on the bright side, easier to meet new people and make friends right off the bat!”

“I guess…” Ruby grumbled.

Yang rolled her eyes and gave the staff member a thumbs up. “Thanks for the help!”

“It’s my pleasure,” he smiled.

Yang started walking away, going the same way that most of the students from their bullhead and others that had been arriving at Beacon were. There also seemed to be some other transports and new students who had arrived from other means, Yang was almost surprised by the numbers. Lots of new faces to learn. She wondered if any of them were going to be her future teammates. Speaking of that…

“You know, Ruby, you should try saying hello to someone. Anyone. If we get on the same team then awesome, but I want to know you’re going to be okay if we don’t...” Yang said, looking back at her little sis, who was frowning at the ground as she walked.

“I’ll be fine...” Ruby said.

“Sure,” Yang rolled her eyes. “Look, why don’t you go to that speech? I don’t really care about it but I bet a lot of other new students are going to go and listen to it. Maybe you’ll meet a new—scratch that—first friend there?”

“I don’t-”

“Aaaaanyways, I was just thinking how I should totally go do something else and it’s totally private and personal and my little sister shouldn’t follow me because she needs to get out of her shell and make friends with someone else,” Yang spoke dizzyingly fast. “So okay bye!” And she started to run off in the opposite direction from where they were told to go.

“Wha—Yang?!” Ruby shouted after her.

“Don’t worry!” Yang smiled over her shoulder at the shrinking form of her little sister. “I bet whoever you bump into next is going to be super cool! You’ll make friends easy!”

Weiss Schnee walked across the grounds of Beacon Academy shortly after her personal transport had dropped her, her luggage, and her servants moving the luggage, off. Her stark white dress was immaculate, her boots added another couple of desperately needed inches to her height, and the perfectly crafted Myrtenaster rested on her hip. She stopped for a moment, staring up at the tall and imposing tower, and attempted to smile. This was going to be her new home for four years, and she was genuinely happy to be here and away from… everything in Atlas. But the smile would not come just yet. She was currently too full of stress despite looking as calm and cool as she did. She simply wasn’t relaxed enough for a genuine smile to come to her face at the moment.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Everything will work out. Everything will be perfect. I’ll make it perfect. I’ll prove him and everyone else wrong.”

She opened her eyes back up and almost started walking again until the buzzing from her scroll interrupted her.

No. Absolutely not. She isn’t. Weiss felt a spike of anger in her head, the negative thoughts coming to the forefront of her mind as she pulled out her scroll and saw the incoming call from one Winter Schnee waiting for her. Weiss almost wanted to decline it but she shook her head and calmed down, trying to be more positive. Give her the benefit of the doubt Weiss, don’t just assume the worst, don’t just assume the worst. Give her a chance first.

Weiss looked behind her to make sure the servants were far enough away that they couldn’t hear her conversation and pressed the accept button and held the scroll up to her ear. “Winter.”

“Hello, Weiss, you should have just arrived at Beacon?” The mature voice of her older sister came through the other end. It was less of a question and more of a statement.

“Yes, just now, I am on my way to check in and-”

“Have you taken your medicine?”

Weiss’s grip tightened on her scroll, her face pulling down into an angry scowl and her jaw clenching. “I do not need to be reminded to take my medicine as if I was a child. I have been accepted into Beacon Academy. I am training to become a Huntress. You do not need to baby me. And you will not be able to baby me from here on out.”

“Have you taken your medicine? Yes or no.”

“Yes,” Weiss growled into her scroll, doing her best not to shout.

“Good. Do not forget for even a single day,” there was a momentary pause, nothing but quiet static on the call. “...I love you. But I’m busy, we can talk more after your initiation exams are concluded.”

“I love you too,” Weiss said and hung up, putting the scroll away. She squeezed her eyes shut, lowering her arms to her sides and trying to focus, trying to suppress the anger and frustration building within her. She knew how badly stress like that could affect her and she needed to get it under control. “Why does she have to… why can’t she… ugh!” She tried to remember all the exercises and meditations taught to her, finally finding at least a modicum of peace before she opened her eyes again. “Alright, time to—wah!”

Weiss fell as someone else stumbled into her and the two girls tripped over one another’s legs, Weiss landing with a disgruntled oof and the other girl an embarrassingly high-pitched squeak.

“What?! Watch where you’re going!” Weiss yelled at the girl who had bumped into her.

“S-Sorry!” She apologized and stood up and Weiss had to raise an eyebrow as the girl was almost the exact opposite of her color wise. Almost as if someone was trying to play a practical joke on her.

"You had better be, ugh!” Weiss stood up and rolled her eyes, her stress boiling over even as she knew that she shouldn’t let herself get like this. “Seriously, I was standing still, how do you bump into someone like that? Are you blind or something?” Well, forget about that.

“I said I was sorry...” the girl bashfully looked away.

There was something in Weiss’s brain telling her to apologize. “Hmpf! Do you have any idea who I am?”

Dang.

“Um...” the girl looked her up and down. “No?”

“I, am Weiss Schnee, you should at least recognize the name?” Weiss glared at her.

From the widening of her eyes, which Weiss couldn’t tell was in fear or wonder or what, she did. “Ohhhh, Schnee as in…?”

“Correct. And who might you be?”

“Um, Ruby Rose. Hi,” Ruby offered an awkward smile and wave. “N-Nice to meet you? I heard the heiress of the SDC was coming here to Beacon this year. Huh, kind of a coincidence to bump into you and all...”

Weiss turned up her nose and looked away. “You should consider yourself lucky to speak to the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company at all.”

“The Schnee Dust Company is scum.”

Weiss’s head swung back around, staring wide-eyed at Ruby. “What did you just say?!”

“Uh… what? I didn’t say anything,” Ruby shrugged.

Weiss froze. Her eyes darted back and forth as she fought to keep her hands from trembling. “D-Don’t lie… I heard what you said.”

Ruby looked at her in pure confusion. Honest confusion. She genuinely had no idea what Weiss was talking about. And that meant…

“What are you talking about?”

“You… I… forget it! Just forget it! Never mind!” Weiss shook her head. The words from Ruby making her even more agitated. She had to grasp her left wrist to stop her hand from shaking anymore.

“Are you okay?” Ruby reached out a hand towards her.

“I’m fine!” Weiss stepped away and snapped her fingers at her servants. “Hurry up! I want to check in already and get this done with!” Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and started marching away. Ignoring her brain and not looking back at that obnoxious girl who bumped into her. She was fine. She did not hear something that wasn’t there.

What she did hear was Ruby shouting at her as she power-walked away. “I think your sword is cool!”

Blake Belladonna sat down in the back of a temporary stage that had been erected just for this moment. In a few minutes she’d be called out by Ozpin to walk on stage with him and deliver a speech she had practiced in the mirror a dozen times before today. A speech she herself had wrote, to the surprise of her father and the delight of Ozpin. She had made it clear to them both that it was important to do it herself, the people would find it more genuine, and they’d like that. She wasn’t about to go on stage and repeat anyone else’s words.

That said, she was still nervous. This was a big moment. This was when the New World everyone was hoping for would start for real. She breathed in and out, closing her eyes, not paying any attention to the sound of the crowd outside or what anyone else was saying. Blake had a big part to play and she wasn’t going to screw it up.

Her ears perked up, catching the sound of a man walking towards her while the tap of a cane on the ground joined him. Her Faunus senses caught it before any of the humans in her position would have.

Faunus. Humans. Here she was, the first Faunus to be enrolled in Beacon. No one needed to say anything more than that for Blake to have known how important this was from the start. Generations of injustice that were about to be repaired—or at the very least starting to be repaired—by Blake’s appearance here. That was the goal her father and Ozpin had been working towards for years. With a bit of wry amusement, Blake wondered what would happen if she actually failed initiation in the coming days? Would Ozpin let her pass anyways and quietly sweep it under the rug? It was actually a little funny to think about.

Not that she intended to fail. At anything. She was going to be perfect. The perfect Huntress. The perfect Faunus. She wasn’t going to let anyone have anything bad to say about her. She was going to be a symbol. She needed to be a symbol. No matter what, she would be the perfect ideal. For her eventual teammates, for her fellow students, for everyone watching and judging her and the Faunus. Let them be able to judge nothing.

“Miss Belladonna? Are you ready?”

Blake opened her eyes and looked up at Ozpin with a smile on her face. “Absolutely.”

“Alright then,” he smiled down at her. “Let’s give the people of Vale their first true introduction to Blake Belladonna, the first of many Faunus to come to Beacon Academy.”

“Your optimism’s infectious,” Blake smirked.

“Hopefully,” Ozpin winked and led her up towards the main stage. She followed close behind him, the curtain separating the backstage from the outside world was right in front of her—it was almost poetic—she was coming from backstage into the light like some character in a theater production. And just on cue, the curtain separated and she and Ozpin walked out together. Human and Faunus.

As equals, or at least appearing to be. That was the message.

Blake looked out at the crowd that had gathered for this. In the front of course was the press, lots of reporters with cameras already recording and transmitting the live feed across Vale. Behind them was a number of visitors to Beacon along with other staff and teachers. And behind them all was a crowd of students, both new and old, that had decided to come and see this momentous occasion. Blake was going to give them all something to talk about. She walked proudly, standing straight and tall, with a million Lien smile on her face, she had to be perfect for the television and everyone already watching even before she said anything.

There was a podium at the front of the stage that Ozpin walked up to, though the man had assured her beforehand that he had no intention of taking her spotlight. He was there to introduce her and nothing more. Then the microphone was Blake’s.

She felt so many eyes on her, knew so many people in the crowd and at home were talking about her already.

Ozpin cleared his throat in front of the podium while Blake stood next to and slightly behind him. She was smiling. Perfectly.

“Ladies and gentlemen both here at Beacon and all across Vale-” Ozpin started magnanimously. “As you know, this year marks a momentous change in the history of Beacon Academy and hopefully for every Academy across Remnant. It is something that has been a long time coming—the result of years of hard work and cooperation between humanity and the Faunus. But, you all already know me, you have heard me give speeches such as this many times. This hour is not for me, it is for young Miss Blake Belladonna. I implore you to give your eyes and ears over to her.” He gestured to her and stepped aside as a small smattering of applause came from the crowd. Blake wasn’t sure if it was for him or her.

She stepped up to the podium, placing her hands on it and gazing over the crowd. No time for nervousness. No time for fear. The cat ears on top of her head were held straight up for all to see clearly. She was showing herself off proudly when even just a few decades ago many Faunus like her would have done their best to hide their traits.

Blake’s face was bright and a warm, powerful, assured, smile was seen by all. The cameras caught the strength in her eyes and how she carried herself. She took a deep breath and leaned towards the microphone.

“People of Vale, I am Blake Belladonna. And I am a Faunus. I am here today thanks to the work of great men and women in both Vale and my home of Menagerie. But I would not have come here if I myself didn’t truly want this. I am a Faunus, a proud Faunus, and I want everyone to know that I have chosen to come here because I know how important it is to my people. But not just my people. To humanity as well. This is the first day where the barriers of old are broken down, where a new world better for everyone can begin to be made. The world isn’t perfect, and getting there takes time, progress is difficult and riddled with mistakes and setbacks. But it never gets made if someone isn’t willing to take the first step. Today is that first step. I do not want you to think that what I’m about to say comes from a place of anger, it comes from a place of love and caring for my people, but today is when generations of grave injustice begin to be undone. Not even ten years ago in Vale could Faunus be legally paid less than humans for the same jobs, or could be punished without legal recourse, or kept away from government services and housing without issue. But all of that has changed and now so has this. I will be the first Faunus at Beacon Academy. And in four years I will be the first Faunus Huntress. I will walk the halls of Beacon proudly. I will both learn and teach. I will be a symbol that not only young Faunus everywhere who wish to become Huntsmen and Huntresses can look up to, but young humans as well. I am the bridge of our two peoples. I will be your protector, your comrade, and together we will make life better for the Faunus and all of humanity!”

When the applause came again, Blake knew that this time it was indeed for her.

Ruby didn’t go to the speech in the end even though she kind of wanted to. Her mood had soured too much with Yang ditching her and then a very unfortunate encounter with a very famous girl. Even now she was worried about that, not scared or anything, but just wondering if maybe she hadn’t apologized well enough. She seemed to really upset that girl, Weiss, and maybe next time they met she could try apologizing again. Ugh, why was it so difficult to talk to people and make friends?

Her first, last, and only resort—complimenting her weapon—hadn’t even worked. And that sword was cool looking!

At least she had Crescent Rose safely in a locker and now she just needed to find-

“Yang!” Ruby shouted as she spied her sister casually strolling through the grounds. With a frown and a quick burst of rose petals, Ruby jetted right next to her sister.

“Oh, hey Rubes! Have fun?” Yang smiled, either truly oblivious or just faking it.

“After you ditched me? Not entirely,” Ruby glared.

“Whoa, I didn’t ditch you! I left you. And it was so you could try making some friends on your own. Which you, really, really, need to be able to do,” Yang held up her hands defensively.

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Thanks. Well you know what happened after you “left” me? I bumped into—literally—another girl and naturally she got mad at me because of that. And that kind of left me feeling bad enough where I didn’t really want to do anything else cause my first time meeting someone new here at Beacon ended in disaster!”

“Ouch,” Yang winced. “Er, okay, maybe I’ll help you out some more. You at least get Crescent Rose stowed away? I got Ember Celica all taken care of.” She held up her hands to show her now bare wrists.

“Yeah,” Ruby nodded, not bothering to stay angry at Yang. What was the point when everything slid off her like water off a duck’s back? “I guess we just go inside the auditorium and wait for Headmaster Ozpin?”

“Yep! Was about to go inside myself,” Yang grinned. “Hey—that’ll totally give you more opportunities to make friends!”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Sure.”

“Who was the girl you bumped into by the way? Just apologize and I’m sure things’ll be fine, maybe you can still be friends?” Yang shrugged.

“I did apologize and she didn’t accept it, but maybe that’s my fault...” Ruby sighed.

“Pff!” Yang snorted. “No way. If you did apologize already and she rejected it, that’s on her. Never mind what I said about being friends with her. Just point her out to me and I’ll clock one for ya.”

Ruby smirked. “Okay, sure. I’ll point out Weiss Schnee to you.”

Yang paused, blinking. “For real?”

“For. Real.”

A huge grin slowly spread across Yang’s face. “Now that’s a hell of a first impression to make on someone like that, sis.”

Ruby was about to retort—about to blame Yang once more for how she kind of started all of this in the first place—when her scroll buzzed. Wait, Yang’s buzzed at the same time too. And as Ruby looked around while pulling her scroll out, she saw that pretty much everyone nearby was also answering their scrolls. What was going on? Had everyone gotten called at once somehow? She and Yang took their scrolls out and opened them, their eyes going wide as they saw the screen of Vale’s emergency broadcast alert that was typically reserved for large Grimm attacks.

They shared an uneasy glance but before Ruby could question anything the emergency broadcast message on the screen fizzled into static and was replaced by something else.

The red symbol of the White Fang.

Along with a voice now streaming through their scrolls.

“People of Vale. This is not an emergency. This is an announcement from the White Fang. We have hijacked your emergency broadcast system for this purpose.”

Ruby and Yang gulped, glancing at each other as the White Fang symbol disappeared and was replaced with the face of a man every human and Faunus in the kingdom would recognize. Red hair, bull horns, and the scarred remnants of an SDC brand over his left eye. Adam Taurus, leader of the White Fang.

“By now you have surely seen the speech delivered by Blake Belladonna. The daughter of the failure Ghira Belladonna and newest puppet of Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon. Let me make this clear to all of you watching now—the traitor does not speak for the Faunus. I speak for the Faunus. Do not be deceived by pretty words and lies. Peace? Equality? With humans? You don’t need two eyes to see that it’s all an illusion. This is nothing more than an attempt to placate us. To pacify us. Don’t forget the centuries of pain. Don’t forget the oppression and injustice meted out against us by humanity. This is merely another attempt to keep us under their thumbs. There can be no peace. Humanity will suffer for their crimes, and I, Adam Taurus, will be the one to deliver that suffering to every man, woman, and child on Remnant. And I will not stop until the Faunus have risen. Blake Belladonna, you are a symbol of everything wrong with the Faunus of Menagerie. And you had best start sleeping with one eye open. However, the filthy traitor to her people is right about one thing. There is a new world approaching. And it will be here very soon.”

Chapter Text

The large main auditorium of Beacon Academy was full of dozens of new students all two years older than Ruby and most of them already mingling with one another as they waited for Ozpin to come in and greet them. The building was rectangular in shape and could probably seat several hundred if chairs were brought in. Ruby knew a lot of events and announcements were held here, but ones that were mostly more casual. The far more important team revealing ceremonies were held in the grand ceremony chamber directly below the main Beacon tower. This large auditorium connected to the rest of the academy by a side door leading to a long hallway that took one into the main building.

Everyone here had surely seen that broadcast from Adam Taurus just minutes ago, but they were doing their best to ignore it. They were just students after all, and this was a big day for them, why bother dwelling on that crazy terrorist? Besides, they were used to it by now. Ever since Adam Taurus had taken over the White Fang he did more and more things like that. Or worse, staged actual attacks. That was just the reality for Vale now. No one wanted their first day at Beacon ruined.

Although Ruby was already not too happy about how hers had gone.

Yang though, standing right beside her, was seemingly just as carefree as ever before. Her big sis was relishing in the crowd around the two of them. And Ruby noticed quite a few boys staring back at her. Big surprise. With a body like Yang’s and the clothes she wore… Ruby was surprised more boys at Pharos didn’t try anything. That might be the one bad thing about getting on a team with her sister—she really didn’t want to get involved in Yang’s dating life.

Although if they ended up with a team of four girls it probably wouldn’t matter. And they’d be busy over the next four years training to become Huntresses.

Ruby nodded to herself. “Yeah, let’s do this.”

“Huh? You say something, Ruby?” Yang asked.

“Nope! Nothing!” Ruby quickly shook her head.

“Uh, alright?” Yang looked at her weirdly but Ruby just turned away.

She then caught a shock of white that stood out in the auditorium even with its huge amount of people and all the myriad of colors and sizes they came in. Weiss Schnee. The girl she had made such a poor first impression with. Although maybe Yang was right, maybe she didn’t need to apologize again. When by chance Weiss’s blue eyes connected with hers, Ruby saw an unreadable expression pass on the other girl’s face before she looked away and went stalking off somewhere else, disappearing into the crowd.

Ruby sighed and hunched over, this sort of party really wasn’t her scene. She already felt drained.

The sudden increase in whispering grabbed her attention though and Ruby looked up to see someone walking through the crowd, having just entered the auditorium later than everyone else. It was obvious why she had caught to much attention. And would’ve even if not for her late arrival.

“Blake Belladonna,” Ruby said as she watched the Faunus walk through the crowd of would-be Huntsmen and Huntresses. She carried herself tall, ears on display for the whole world to see, and a friendly smile on her face.

Although Ruby could see quite a few others sending some not so friendly looks in her direction at the same time. Ruby frowned at that. Really? They were supposed to be Huntsmen and Huntresses, fighting Grimm and protecting the kingdoms. How many here really had a problem with a Faunus being at Beacon?

If Blake noticed those looks and was discouraged in any way she didn’t show it though. She was the perfect model of a student, striding past everyone towards the middle of the auditorium where all could see. There didn’t seem to be anything that intimidated her.

“Oh, she’s doing it as a show...” Ruby murmured to herself. Maybe a little cynical, but that’s what it looked like. She was making sure she looked unwavering to everyone.

“Hm?” Yang said as she turned to where Ruby was looking, apparently she hadn’t been paying attention. “What’s up, something happen? Oz finally here-”

Ruby heard the breath hitch in Yang’s throat and Ruby glanced up at her big sister to see her staring like a deer in the headlights at the Faunus girl. Her mouth was slightly ajar and she was slowly blinking her lilac eyes at the other girl. To make it worse, Blake was facing their direction so if she happened to look at them, she’d notice Yang staring right at her face. Ruby, confused, raised an eyebrow at her big sis. “Yang? What are you doing?”

“I-I, uh...”

“Yang, seriously. Stop staring. You’ve seen Faunus before and you’ve seen her face on the news before. Geez,” Ruby rolled her eyes and lightly elbowed her in the side. “She’s gonna think you’re being rude or racist or something.”

“R-Right! Yeah,” Yang shook her head and managed to look away from the Faunus. She brought a hand up to her chest while her brow furrowed in confusion. “Yeah… huh.”

Ruby stared at her sister. I have no idea what’s going on.

Yang, on the other hand, was feeling quite odd. Ruby was right, she had seen plenty of Faunus before. Talked to and hung out with them even. And Blake Belladonna’s face wasn’t anything new either. And yet when she looked over and locked eyes with that cat-eared girl for the first time in real life, something had happened. Something unfamiliar and she really wasn’t sure what. She didn’t even realize she was staring for that long until Ruby elbowed her. Yang kept her hand over her chest, looking down towards her heart that was beating harder than normal. There was a strange fluttering inside her that was so much different from her usual cocky and self-assured attitude.

What’s up with me? Yang wondered.

She briefly glanced back up towards the Faunus girl, seeing her cat ears twitching atop her head as she confidently stood there, the center of attention in the auditorium. Yang felt a faint blush rise to her cheeks.

“Huh...”

Weiss spared Blake Belladonna but a glance as the Faunus entered the auditorium. She knew this was coming and already had schooled herself on how she would act in case the girl had a problem with her. Which she almost certainly had to, Weiss thought. Her father’s actions… they had made things so much worse for the Faunus than they already were. And that Adam Taurus, every time he appeared in person, or on a broadcast, he proudly showed off his wounded face. Everyone knew who was responsible for that.

Weiss would not be the one who started anything. She had enough reasons for people to be against her, she didn’t need to make new ones. She may have hated the White Fang for what they did but she refused to let that stain her thoughts on all the Faunus. Blake Belladonna was the daughter of someone her father despised and her sister admired. It was only obvious which way Weiss chose to follow.

No, she would not let her father’s terrible beliefs and practices corrupt her as well. He already hated her, why not make him even more disappointed?

That was why despite that everyone knew both the daughter of Ghira Belladonna and the daughter of Jacques Schnee were attending school at the same time, Weiss had no desire for any sort of confrontation. She would not rise to those sorts of expectations. She would not cause a scene.

“The Faunus hates you anyways. No matter what.”

She would not listen to voices like that either.

So instead Weiss was seeking out someone else here. Someone almost as famous as her and Blake.

And there she was. She stood out among the other girls and new students in the auditorium, taller than most girls, standing stalwart as a statue with her long red hair and golden armor. Pyrrha Nikos. Weiss had had this planned for a long while—she wanted to make the best possible team while here and that meant the best possible partner. Weiss had researched all the top students coming to Beacon this year and none of them even came close to the level of Pyrrha, she had watched all her fights, Weiss knew true excellence when she saw it. If she and Pyrrha were on the same team, no one would be able to doubt her. No one would be able to look down on her—especially not her own family.

And she was Weiss Schnee! There was no way Pyrrha would reject the opportunity to join a team with the richest and most powerful girl at Beacon! All she had to do was introduce herself and soon everything else would fall into place. Her carefully prepared plan would work.

So she put the friendliest, most confident, smile she could muster on her face and steadfastly approached her desired partner for the next four years at Beacon. Surprisingly it didn’t seem like anyone else was trying to talk to her. They were likely intimidated—probably the same reason no one aside from that oblivious girl from earlier talked to Weiss. That was surely the reason. Not because the SDC was hated and they all disliked her from the start and there was nothing she could do about it and she should stop hoping for anything better and she should just go home and she was stupid to have come here and-

Stop. Weiss clenched her left hand into a fist. She couldn’t get like that and ruin everything. She paused her stride for a moment and took a deep breath, calming down and preparing to talk to Pyrrha. One more step and she raised her hand, calling out to the girl.

“Pyrr-”

“Hey! I thought I recognized you! You’re the girl on Pumpkin Pete’s Cereal, aren’t you?!” Weiss was immediately cut off by some boy stepping in front of her and reaching forward to exuberantly start shaking Pyrrha Nikos’s hands without even asking first. “Wow, I love that cereal! What did you have to do to get on the box? What’s your name?”

Weiss’s jaw dropped and her eye twitched. Am I having an episode?

Pyrrha, surprisingly, didn’t seem offended at all by this scraggly blonde boy invading her personal space with the most inane of conversations. Weiss just had to stand there as her opportunity to initiate a conversation—make herself come off as the friendly good girl—to Pyrrha Nikos was dashed. But not all was lost! She could still talk to her, she knew a lot of about Pyrrha, it would be easy to butt into the conversation.

Weiss calmed herself down once more, coughing into her fist and trying to make herself known. “Pyrrha-”

“Hey, it really is Pyrrha Nikos!”

“Wow!”

“I-Is it okay to talk to her? I was kind of afraid...”

“She seems friendly.”

“I can’t believe I get to meet Pyrrha Nikos!”

A crowd had suddenly swarmed around the Invincible Girl from Sanctum and Weiss was nearly pushed aside. The floodgates had opened and all it took was one awkward guy starting a conversation with her. Weiss’s eye continued to twitch as she found herself completely sidelined. This was not how this was supposed to go. What about her plan?

“She would hate you anyways.”

“She wouldn’t want you as her partner when she learns the truth.”

“No one would want you as their leader. You can’t be a leader.”

Weiss grit her teeth and brought a hand up to her pulsing forehead. There was nothing she could do. The doubts were in there, everything had been ruined. Weiss spun on her heels and walked away as the others continued to talk with Pyrrha and Weiss fought to ignore the continued whispers in her head.

As Ruby drank some punch at a table in the corner and tried to avoid anyone else while Yang stared off into empty space (seriously, what was up with her?) the side doors of the auditorium leading to the interior of Beacon Academy opened up and in strode Headmaster Ozpin with Glynda Goodwitch by his side. The various conversations began to die down and Ruby quickly drank the entire cup of punch she had before setting it down. At first, Ozpin and Glynda paid them no heed, they both walked straight towards the raised dais at the back of the auditorium where a single microphone was already waiting. The two stepped up it while everyone started to file in closer to the dais so they could hear whatever Ozpin had to say as best as possible. And show off their enthusiasm as well.

They were about to become Huntsmen and Huntresses after all.

Even Yang finally snapped out of whatever weird funk she was in and the two of them walked a bit to stand in the middle of the large crowd of students. Ruby felt herself shaking, but with excitement. This was it. This was when it all started for real.

Ruby took a closer look at Ozpin as he stopped in front of the microphone. In addition to his cane he was holding—coffee? Hot chocolate? Compared to when she first met him he wasn’t smiling warmly either. She wondered if that was because of the Adam Taurus thing or if he just wanted to look serious in front of the new students.

“Ahem,” Ozpin cleared his throat and took a sip from his mug. “Well, you students all certainly know who I am and I’ve already done a little more talking today than I normally do, so I think we can skip introductions and get straight down to business.” He still didn’t allow a smirk or smile of any sort on his face as he gazed out at the nearly full auditorium of young Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training. “All of you want the same thing: to become a Huntsman. To become a Huntress. That is your reason for being here. But what is your reason for that? I’m sure each of you would say you wish to protect people from the forces of Grimm, noble, but obvious. The path you have chosen is a difficult one. You must have something stronger in your hearts than simply the most basic and general of motivations. Or you will fall.” He let his words sink in before continuing. “You have been accepted into Beacon, but you are not truly students yet. The initiation exams are your last hurdle before you can consider yourself a genuine student of Beacon, learning to become a Huntsman or Huntress for real. I look out before me this evening and I see a throng of young and confident faces, aspiring to be great, aspiring to prove themselves, but inexperienced. Unfocused. Do not lose that confidence, but do not make the mistake of thinking that confidence is all you need. You will learn and discover much here, if you pass initiation that is, and I and the other teachers of Beacon will mold you into the next generation of protectors of Vale and all of Remnant.” He took another long sip from his mug. “The staff will bring in beds and other sleeping supplies for you all soon, and early tomorrow morning your first of three exams will take place. I suggest you clear your minds and get a good night’s rest. Good luck.”

With that he left, obviously not taking any questions, with Glynda Goodwitch following out right behind him.

As Ruby watched him go back from where he came, Yang leaned down to her with a whisper: “Do you think he gives the same speech every year?”

Ruby rolled her eyes.

It took a little while before the auditorium was completely set up but soon the beds were brought in and the lights were getting turned off as everyone got ready to get some sleep. Three imitation exams, that was what Ruby was looking forward to and worrying over at the same time. She hoped they all had to do with fighting. Or weapon knowledge. Please not history. Please not “How to make friends”. Although that would probably be a weird exam.

Yang was packing her things beneath the cheap frame of her bed with a big smile on her face, not a care in the world. “We’ve got this in the bag, Ruby. If Oz let you come here two years early in the first place I bet the exams are gonna be a piece of cake for you.”

“I hope,” Ruby sighed as she sat on her bed, in her pajamas already.

“Come on, Rubes, what’s up?” Yang raised an eyebrow at her. “I know you wanted this more than anything, right? And haven’t you at least gotten to see a ton of cool weapons being carried around today? Chin up!”

“I just feel like there are parts about being a Huntress, and being a student here, that I wasn’t really prepared for...” Ozpin’s speech was weighing a little heavily on her mind.

“That’s why it’s a school,” Yang shrugged. “You’re learning, you’re here to get better.” She leaned down and winked at Ruby. “And lucky for you, you have your big sister who’ll look out for you the entire time.”

Despite herself, Ruby smiled a bit. “The big sis that ditched me earlier today?”

Yang flicked her forehead. “Gonna keep that over my head for the next four years?”

“Excuse me? Is it alright if I take the bed next to yours?”

Ruby and Yang turned towards the voice and Ruby immediately sat up off her bed and stood next to Yang straight as an arrow while Yang’s eyes shot wide open. Blake Belladonna. She was looking between the two of them expectantly, wearing a dark dress for pajamas. Both sisters shared a glance with one another, surprised.

“Er, I can go find another if that’s not okay...” Blake smiled awkwardly.

“No! No, it’s fine!” Ruby waved her hands around disarmingly. “Totally fine! We were just surprised!”

“Y-Yeah,” Yang nodded, trying to put a friendly grin on her face. “H-Hi! So you’re the… uh… you’re… well. Hi!”

Blake giggled as she looked at them. “Sorry, but you don’t have to try and dance around anything. Yes, I’m the Faunus. And I use a bed to sleep on just like anyone else. Or occasionally I sprawl over the back of a couch.”

Ruby sighed. “I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to be rude or anything. I’m Ruby Rose by the way.”

“And I’m her big sister, Yang Xiao Long!” Yang said and plopped her arm atop Ruby’s head. “Your name is Blake, right?”

“That’s right,” Blake nodded, but her brow furrowed in confusion as she looked back from Ruby to Yang to Ruby to Yang. “Sisters?”

“Same dad, different moms,” Yang casually shrugged.

“Oh, sorry if I was prying...” Blake apologized.

Yang shook her head, smiling all the while. “No way, it’s no big deal. And besides, being half-sisters doesn’t stop us from being the best sisters ever. Right, Ruby?”

"That’s right,” Ruby said with a roll of her eyes.

Blake smiled once more. “That’s nice. I’m an only child so I wouldn’t know.”

There was a lull in the conversation which surprised Ruby. Though she wasn’t the best conversationalist in the world by far, Yang always seemed able to talk the ear off of anyone. Her sister was being weird today. She wondered if it had something to specifically do with Blake. Even now her sister was awkwardly fidgeting in a way she didn’t normally do when talking to people.

“So...” Ruby tried to segue into something else. “Did your speech earlier today go well? Yang and I both heard about it but neither of us saw it. W-We’ll definitely watch a recording later though, for sure!” She hastily added.

“I think my speech went well. The crowd at least seemed to like it but they were probably told by Ozpin to applaud anything,” Blake chuckled and shrugged.

“Yeah, the only thing Ruby and I caught live was that broadcast from Adam Taur—oomph?!” Yang wheezed as Ruby’s elbow was jammed into her ribs much more roughly this time.

“Don’t bring that up!” Ruby blushed in embarrassment and nervousness at her sister’s faux-pas. She looked back over at Blake to see the Faunus forlornly looking at the floor, her ears wilted.

“It’s okay. I saw that too...” Blake said. “Look, like I said, you don’t have to be scared about what you say around me. I hate what the White Fang has become too and Adam Taurus is the worst of them all. Just so long as you, you know, don’t judge all Faunus by the White Fang...”

“We don’t! S-Sorry!” Yang quickly apologized, even faster than Ruby. “I totally didn’t mean anything by what I said.”

Blake looked up, a happier expression on her face as he ears perked up. “Thanks. It actually means a lot to hear that… this is… a pretty big deal for me and the rest of the Faunus.”

“Well, we’re happy to have you here, Blake,” Ruby smiled. “You don’t need to worry about anything from us, and if you need someone to talk to well I guess we’ll be close for the next couple of nights at least.” Wow, was talking to new people actually this easy when they were nice?

“Thanks,” Blake said and walked over to the empty bed next to Yang’s. Which made Yang’s smile widen ever so slightly. “I’ll take this bed then. And if you’re curious about me or the Faunus you can go ahead and ask too. That’s also kind of what I’m here for. Supposed to be bridging the gap between humans and Faunus, doesn’t matter who it is.” Her eyebrows shot up. “Oh, um, I didn’t mean that to sound as rude as it did...”

Yang laughed and patted her on the shoulder a few times. “No problem, now we’re even.”

“Right...” Blake managed an embarrassed chuckle.

Ruby meanwhile was smiling, happy that things seemed to be going well with someone at least. She managed to not screw things up with Blake and Yang seemed to be getting along with her already too. Maybe Blake could be her friend? Fat chance, but maybe. Ruby was almost surprised that Blake was out here mingling with everyone else in the first place, but she figured that must’ve kind of been the point. She had to be a normal student like everyone else.

For a second Ruby also thought she saw a head of white hair walking towards them out of the corner of her eye but when she turned to look it was gone.

Was that...? Ruby frowned and tried looking through the auditorium but she couldn’t see her. She shrugged to herself and sat down on her bed, getting ready to end her first night at Beacon Academy. She wanted to take Ozpin’s words to heart and have a full night’s rest before whatever the first exam was. Yang was talking to Blake and telling her what sounded like everything she knew about Vale. That got an amused smile from Ruby as she lied down and pulled the covers over her body, staring up at the ceiling and waiting for sleep to come.

Weiss was not fully deterred in her attempts to keep this day from being a total loss. As soon as the beds were brought in and she got over the idea of communal sleeping arrangements she had claimed a bed for herself and then set out to at least make one thing right. That girl, Ruby, she was going to apologize to her for the unfair way she had acted towards her earlier. The stress had gotten to Weiss, sometimes badly enough where even her medicine wouldn’t help her to completely avoid her symptoms. She needed to apologize and correct her image and possibly even generate a friendship here now that her attempts to get on Pyrrha Nikos’s side had failed. Although it was just some random girl who now that Weiss thought about it looked too young to even be here. But still, an ally was an ally.

No. Friend. Not ally, Weiss.

She had looked around for a bit before she spotted the girl. It was easy when she was standing next to another taller girl with very long and bright yellow hair. Weiss took a deep breath to calm herself down, the hundredth time today, and walked towards the girl.

But stopped as she saw who else she was already talking too.

Blake Belladonna? Weiss blinked. Immediately she was hit with a wave of apprehension. She didn’t have a problem with her, she had been over this, but she didn’t know what the Faunus thought of her. And she couldn’t go out there, apologizing to the other girl while someone like Blake Belladonna would be right there listening to and seeing it all. She couldn’t. Weiss trembled for but a moment before she quickly turned around and started walking away.

“Stupid… you need to apologize, what’s wrong with you?” Weiss muttered to herself as she walked over to the bed she had chosen for herself, her failed attempt to speak to Pyrrha now joined by a failed attempt to smooth things over with that Ruby girl.

You can’t apologize because that admits fault and that admits fallibility and that admits weakness.

Weiss shook her head. No, no, no, that’s wrong. I can’t think like that. I just didn’t want to look bad in front of Belladonna. I can’t push everyone away and make them hate me. I want people to like me, I need to be kind, don’t I? I need to take responsibility and admit when I’m wrong...

“They won’t forgive you anyways. You already ruined everything.”

She grit her teeth and lied down in bed, unable to ignore the voices. Both hers and the others.

It’s stupid, I’m Weiss Schnee and I shouldn’t have to apologize for anything. It’s her fault for making me do this!

A headache pulsed behind her eyes. It hurt to think that way for some reason. She squeezed her eyes shut and curled up in the small, uncomfortable bed. It wasn’t like home at all.

Don’t cry. You can’t cry your first night at Beacon. You can’t.

“All of them?” Ozpin frowned.

Glynda Goodwitch sighed in exhaustion as she spoke with the Headmaster in the high tower of his office. “Yes, all four of them. I’m sorry, Ozpin, I should’ve made sure the police were being more careful. More watchful. But-”

Ozpin held up a hand. “It’s not your fault, Glynda. We merely… underestimated the passion of Adam Taurus’s followers.”

“I didn’t think they’d kill themselves in prison just like that though,” Glynda frowned.

“Yes,” Ozpin nodded. “It’s unfortunate but the White Fang has become increasingly fanatical since Adam Taurus took over. It seems it has reached the point where even the average soldier is willing to take their own life rather than be used against him.” He sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Unfortunate. I was hoping one of those we captured thanks to Miss Rose’s late-night robbery foiling might be willing to talk.”

“What do we actually do now? After the hijacked broadcast things are even worse in Vale. The tensions between human and Faunus are only getting worse and worse—and if it keeps going it will bring the Grimm to our walls.”

“We do what we can. We hope. We hope that the new generation doesn’t make the same mistakes as the old. We hope that Miss Belladonna can bridge the gap that’s festered for centuries. We hope, Glynda,” he smirked. “And investigate, of course.”

Glynda rolled her eyes. “I was beginning to think you had gone senile.”

“Not quite yet. We know Roman Torchwick is working with the White Fang at least—although I don’t have the foggiest idea how that started. He’s a criminal but that’s all he’s ever been. And the White Fang wouldn’t normally associate with a human even if he was useful to them.”

“So then?”

“Roman Torchwick must have promised something great to Adam Taurus. Or, more likely considering what we know of Torchwick, there’s someone behind him who’s making them work together for some other reason. Or, I simply don’t know enough about the minds of criminals and terrorists to ascertain why they do the things they do,” Ozpin chuckled mirthlessly.

“I guess you’re looking forward to James’s arrival so he can start dealing with all of this in your stead then?” Glynda smirked.

Ozpin coughed. “But of course.”

Chapter Text

A loud ringing noise caused Ruby’s eyes to snap open and she sat up in bed so fast that if she had been sleeping in a bunk bed she would’ve smacked her head on the bottom of the top bunk for sure. She momentarily forgot where she was until she heard and saw all the students having similar confused reactions around her. Aside from Yang who was still asleep.

Ruby groaned and rubbed her face, looking up at the ceiling where the ringing was coming from. One space down from Yang’s bed, Blake was holding her hands over her cat ears with a pained look on her face. Ouch, yeah, that was probably a lot worse.

The ringing ended after a few moments and was replaced with a series of chimes, at which Ruby reached over to Yang’s bed and prodded her awake.

“Wake up, Yang, it’s morning and I’m pretty sure something’s about to happen.”

“Huh? Wha?” Yang groggily asked as she sat up. “Is it breakfast?”

“I don’t think it’s breakfast, I think something is happening for our exam,” Ruby said.

“Hello new initiates,” Glynda’s voice came from some kind of hidden speaker system in the ceiling. “Get dressed and proceed to the mess hall for breakfast.”

“Alright, never mind. It is breakfast,” Ruby frowned at the ceiling.

“At least the ringing has stopped,” Blake groaned and stood up, stretching.

“Sensitive on the cat ears?” Yang asked and Ruby again almost elbowed her sister for being so direct.

“Oh yeah,” Blake sighed in exasperation and nodded before smiling over at Yang and Ruby. “It’s not just having four ears, it’s one of those pairs being way more sensitive than the other.” She explained, not seeming bothered or offended. That was good at least.

“Cool. I’ve met and talked to other Faunus and all but not like… about anything, really,” Yang said.

“Well there are a lot of different Faunus out there. What might be the case for some isn’t the case for others. I’ve met other cat Faunus who don’t have cat ears like I do,” Blake shrugged. “But feel free to ask me anything, like I said last night, that’s kind of a large part of what I’m here for.” Her eyes looked over at Ruby. “And you don’t need to worry about your sister offending me. Really.”

“Huh?” Yang looked over her shoulder at Ruby, who was awkwardly rubbing the back of her head. “Ohhhh… Ruby thinks I’m going to say something dumb, huh?”

“Again,” Ruby narrowed her eyes at her sister. “I think you’re going to say something dumb again.”

Yang stuck out her tongue at Ruby and hopped out of bed. “Whatevs, let’s go get breakfast, I could eat a horse!”

At least Beacon gave its students a good breakfast. Although Ruby guessed that technically they weren’t real students yet she somehow doubted they were being fed differently. Both she and Yang were eating full stacks of pancakes, Blake sitting right next to them with a bowl of fresh fruit. Ruby glanced around as she ate—this being her first time in Beacon’s mess hall she kind of wanted to check it out—but it was basically like any other mess hall, just bigger than the one at Pharos Academy. She saw a few other people she recognized from yesterday, including Weiss Schnee who was sitting far down the same aisle. Ruby stayed staring at her for an extra moment or two, she looked tired.

“So what do you think the first exam’s going to be?” Yang asked Ruby between bites.

“I don’t know,” Ruby shrugged. “Every Academy keeps its initiation secret. The only thing the teachers at Pharos ever said was that you need to be prepared.”

“And that could mean anything,” Yang rolled her eyes.

“Yep,” Ruby nodded.

“Oh, if the two of you want to know what the exams are I can tell you,” Blake said to them. “Ozpin gave me insider info to make me look better.”

“Seriously?” Yang’s eyebrows shot up.

“No,” Blake stifled a laugh.

“Oh,” Yang sank into her seat. “Not funny.”

“We shouldn’t be using information like that anyways. We’re supposed to be Huntresses soon and a good Huntress wouldn’t cheat,” Ruby murmured.

Blake raised an eyebrow at her. “Sounds like you have some strong feelings on Huntresses? For me it’s a little different, it’s not really the title itself or what a Huntress is supposed to be but the opportunity that was denied to us for so long. Huntresses, and Huntsmen, have always been the defenders of Kingdoms and it’s difficult to learn to become that strong on your own. Keeping Faunus out of the academies… it was a way of controlling us and keeping us down. I don’t think I have a very romantic view on being a Huntress, what’s more important to me is the opportunity it represents for my people.”

Ruby understood that even if she didn’t really like Blake saying the moral part of being a Huntress—or what a Huntress should be—wasn’t as important to her. But Blake had a lot more on her shoulders than anyone else here, her situation, her past, her reasons for being here were all different. Ruby wasn’t sure she had the right to judge. And truthfully deep down she herself didn’t have that much of a romantic view of Huntresses anymore either, even though she wanted to and would say she did. Ever since-

A chime sounded from above and Glynda Goodwitch’s voice came from the ceiling once more:

“Initiates. Your breakfast is ending in five minutes. You will soon be escorted to your first exam which is—to put it simply—an exam. Good luck.”

“An exam? Like a test?” Yang frowned.

“Sounds like it,” Blake said. “That’s… not what I was expecting either.”

“An exam could really still be anything though. It could even mean a physical checkup. Although they already have all our medical records...” Ruby shrugged.

“Ugh, I’m not dumb or anything but I really prefer to just punch things. Please tell me I’m not about to take a math test,” Yang slumped over onto the table.

She was not about to take a math test.

The initiates soon found themselves in an ordinary, but large, classroom full of ascending rows of seats all facing a large chalkboard and open area at the bottom for presentations. They were not joined by the expected Glynda Goodwitch but instead were facing off against a teacher with wild green hair and glasses so thick you couldn’t even see his eyes behind them. Next to him was a table with a stack of papers and pencils on it. When everyone was seated and settled down, he raised his fist to his mouth and coughed.

“Greetings, new initiates! I am Doctor Oobleck. I teach history and archaeology here at Beacon Academy. Fret not! This test you are about to take concerns nothing of the sort. I am merely the proctor for it. This test has fifty questions in a variety of multiple choice, yes and no, and short form answers. You must complete the test in its entirety before you may leave. However, you may leave as soon as you’re finished, leave the completed test with the staff member at the back of the classroom, and go either straight to lunch or spend the rest of the day at your leisure. Now, though you must answer every question, do not worry about getting something “wrong”. This is not that kind of test. We only ask you take it seriously. After all, it’s not like this applies to your grades. You’re technically not students yet so how can we grade you? Ahem, right. You may begin as soon as you have the test in front of you.”

Ruby’s eyes were spinning, why did he have to talk so fast?

As one of the tests came to rest in front of her along with a pencil, Ruby took them and wrote her name at the top of her paper. She wasn’t too worried about whatever this test might be but she really wished their exams consisted of going out hunting Grimm or something instead. She missed her Crescent Rose… all stuck in that locker. Yang and Blake were on either side of her and Ruby could already see the disinterested look in Yang’s face with a glance to her side. Blake on the other hand was studious as her eyes went up and down the test, she seemed to be examining the whole thing first before actually answering anything.

Well, better get this started. Ruby mentally shrugged and looked at the first question.

Which of the following describes you best? 1. Talkative 2. Reserved 3. Outgoing 4. Inquisitive 5. Explorative 6. Positive 7. Negative

Huh? Ruby stared at the question. That was not what she expected. And what did it even mean by explorative? And who would actually put Negative even if they honestly thought that was the case? Some of these words didn’t seem to have any real relationship to each other and were just randomly chosen. She scowled at the question and looked at the next, wondering if it was the same.

Which season is your favorite? 1. Spring 2. Summer 3. Fall 4. Winter

Ruby blinked. This wasn’t any sort of academical exam, it was a personality quiz—or a psych evaluation. What did this have to do with anything? And someone could just lie on it if they wanted to. Was that the point? Were the tests going to be compared to what they already knew about each and every one of them to see who was honest and who wasn’t? There had to be some greater meaning to all of this. Maybe they just wanted to see how people would handle something unexpected, see how much thought they actually put into it.

Ruby looked at the first question again. Positive. She wanted to circle that word. But her pencil stopped before it could and a frown tugged down her face. She moved over and circled Explorative instead because something about that word was calling to her.

Favorite season? Summer for sure—and not just because it reminded her of mom.

She zoomed through most of the rest of the test pretty quickly, but the more questions she answered the more annoyed she got by just how pointless or redundant some of them seemed. When did you decide on Beacon? How did you decide on Beacon? Why did you decide on Beacon? Did they really need all three of those? Then there were the ethical questions about if it was ever okay to steal, what would you do if you saw a fellow Huntsman breaking the law, would you save your teammate or a civilian in a Grimm attack? She had answers for all of those but it just brought her more and more to the realization that this wasn’t like her fairy tales. She wanted to be that hero in the stories her mom told her about.

They didn’t take meandering, pointless, tests like this.

Romantic… that was the word Blake had used. Was Ruby wrong to want that?

She put those distracting thoughts out of her head and looked down at the next question, one of the later ones.

Do you consider yourself to be a good person? 1. Yes 2. No

Ruby’s pencil paused over her paper. Of course she did. She was trying to become a Huntress. She was trying to live up to her mother’s name. Yang would definitely say she was a good person, Raven and Uncle Qrow too. She had just stopped a violent robbery before coming here! But was it okay to just call yourself a good person? Was it a trick, seeing who was humble and who wasn’t? But of course Beacon would want all their new students and Huntresses to be good people. Gah! She was overthinking this… she knew she was. But would a good person be so stressed about this? Or have the cynicism she desperately pretended she didn’t have?

Would a good person have those stamped down feelings that she tried to ignore when it came to her sister and aunt?

Ruby clenched her teeth and circled Yes. She was a good person. And she was going to become an even better one. This question was a trick.

The rest of the test went by quickly for her, nothing taking nearly as much thought anymore until she got to the final question.

Why do you wish to become a Huntsman/Huntress?

There was enough space to write an entire large paragraph below the question as well. Ruby once more had stopped and furrowed her brow in thought, but the question didn’t bother her as much as the other had. The correct answer was surely: “Because I want to protect people”. But that was the obvious answer for all of them. What was her personal reason for all of this? That was what this question asked.

Ohh… Ruby blinked. Is this why Ozpin said all that stuff last night?

It still would’ve been easy to put down anything, there were half a dozen things she could’ve written that would’ve been just as true. But there was one reason, even if it wasn’t as pure-hearted as some others, that Ruby knew was the truest of all. And she wanted to be honest. More than any of these other questions, she had to be honest for this one. This question was her life.

Ruby put pencil to paper: I want to be like my mom, and I want to be a hero like in the stories she used to read to me.

She sighed and closed her eyes, placing her pencil down and taking a big stretch in her seat. Done. She didn’t expect a simple exam to cause this much stress. Once she opened her eyes again she took a look around, noticing for the first time that Yang had already finished well before her apparently, and so had Blake. In fact it seemed she was definitely in the slower half of new initiates. One of the only people she recognized still in the classroom was Weiss Schnee sitting in the first row of desks at the bottom. Well, Ruby was hungry, the test had taken a lot longer than she thought it would. Time to get lunch!

She pushed out her chair and stood up, taking the test with her to leave it with the staff at the back

“Really hope the other exams are about fighting Grimm...” Ruby mumbled.

Yang had a smile on her face the entire time she was taking the test. It was lame, but it was easy. The only real problem she was having was that very first question, she had gone back to it a dozen times, circling, erasing the circle, and circling again either “Talkative”, “Outgoing”, or “Positive”. Couldn’t she at least circle two? Just one was way too tough to narrow down—though she bet Ruby probably circled “Positive” and moved on without even thinking about it.

Favorite season? Spring. Favorite color? Yellow. Do you have any hobbies considered dangerous?

Does riding a kickass motorcycle count?

To be honest, some of those ethics questions were a little tougher, but only because they were designed to not be just yes or no questions. Yang wasn’t dumb, she knew what they were being tested on. The one question that she had to take a little time with was answering what she would do if she had a teammate or someone she had to work with that she didn’t like. And most of her trouble with that was she just wasn’t experienced with something like that. She either got along with someone or she punched them and moved on. Her moms and her dad raised her well.

She glanced down at one of the later questions.

Do I think I’m a good person? Hell yeah I do!

She wanted whoever it was that read these exams, whether it was Ozpin himself, or Glynda, or whoever, to know exactly what kind of person she was. Somebody always upfront and honest with what she was thinking and feeling. It’s not that she breezed through the quiz because she didn’t care or wasn’t thinking, she just didn’t need to think that hard about any of this stuff.

Yang was happy with herself.

The last question was also one she answered easily: To kill Grimm and look awesome doing it!

Sure, there were other things that went along with that, but if she wanted to show Ozpin the most Yang answer she could? Well that was it. Maybe mom and Uncle Qrow and dad and mom again wouldn’t have been the happiest with that answer, but Yang wasn’t going to put up a front. She figured Ozpin and everyone here at Beacon cared more about getting new students who could kill Grimm the best. Everything else was window dressing.

Yang cracked her knuckles and leaned back in her seat, taking a look around at everyone else. Seemed practically everyone was still writing stuff down. Slowpokes. Ruby looked to be focusing pretty hard too, something that made Yang grin. Her little sis was great—the best—but she could really overthink things too much. Blake was still taking the test too but she looked a lot more relaxed. Like she was going over her own answers to make sure she hadn’t gotten anything wrong even though it wasn’t that kind of test. For not the first time, Yang was really grateful that the bed in the auditorium next to hers hadn’t been taken yet when Blake came over. She really just liked talking to Blake for some reason, and that smile made her feel funny…

Well, whatever it was, she liked hanging out with the Faunus so far. Since Blake looked like she was going to be finished soon it seemed like they could hang out the whole afternoon too. Nice!

Yang got up and took her test with her. One exam down, one step closer to being a real Huntress.

It was bad enough that she hadn’t slept well last night thanks to all the mistakes.

It was worse that she had to be extra discreet in the morning when taking her pill to make sure nobody saw since she didn’t have a private room or bathroom.

It was even worse than that when she had to eat breakfast and felt alone despite being surrounded by so many people happily talking with each other.

And somehow, worse than any of those things was this test causing her to delve deep into her own mind and wrestle with a number of difficult things.

And worst of all was that she was being honest. Weiss had lied enough, she wasn’t going to lie on her first exam at Beacon. No matter what she was forced to admit about herself and how much it might hurt, whatever she wrote down on this stupid piece of paper was going to be honest. She cared how whoever read this paper would view her, especially if it was Headmaster Ozpin himself. It made her worry and stress out all the more. But for everything she hid about herself, tried to hide away, or ignore, or obfuscate with a proud and caustic exterior, she could not lie on her first initiation exam at Beacon. It was too much.

Negative.

Winter.

No.

Yes.

No.

Trust.

Pessimistic.

I would side with my Team Leader.

No.

No.

And so on and so forth. Every answer an honest one no matter how unstable or negative it made her look. But even as honest as she was being with herself, choosing to do this difficult thing, a couple of the questions still brought her to a pause.

Do you consider yourself to be a good person? 1. Yes 2. No

That’s not fair. Weiss’s fingers dug into her opposite wrist. How can you ask me something like that?

She wanted to prove something. But to do that she had disobeyed her father, made her sister worry like death, and had already failed repeatedly the very first day she arrived at Beacon anyways. Her whole life had been nothing but her causing harm to her family in some way. What was a good person anyways? She had good intentions didn’t she? But she had been so selfish trying to see them through. She couldn’t even make a simple apology to some random girl here who had done nothing wrong to her. And she had been too afraid to say anything to the Faunus girl even though she should have. Did that make a good person?

All I do is hurt people and make selfish decisions… Weiss bit her lip to keep from crying in the middle of the exam as she circled “No” for that question.

At least she was almost done. Weiss sighed and took a moment to calm herself down. She needed it, this was much worse than if they had been told to go hunt Grimm or fight each other or something like that. Hopefully the other exams wouldn’t wear on her mind as much.

The rest of the exam was easy until she got to the final question and her eyes narrowed once more at it. It didn’t bother her like some of the other questions, but to be honest on it was to show how selfish she was, even if it was the truth. Her reason for coming to Beacon and wanting to be a Huntress wasn’t to protect the innocent or anything noble like that. More than anything she had written down, she knew this was going to make her look the worst in the eyes of Ozpin and the others. But she had been honest so far. She wasn’t going to lie on this most important of questions of all things. And in a way, Weiss wanted this to be known. Weiss wanted to be able to show this part of her heart.

Her pencil scratched elegantly against the paper: I want to prove that I can do anything.

Weiss felt her forehead throb, too much stress today. But at least the hard part was over.

If Blake was being honest, she spent way more time watching the people around her take the exam than she spent answering it herself. These questions were easy for her. The ethical and moral quandaries were child’s play for someone like her who had lived her whole life dealing with the oppression of her people and learning from her father. Blake had put a lot of thought into these things. The hardest question of them all to answer might have been what her favorite season was. And she almost laughed out loud when she came to that silly “Do you consider yourself to be a good person?” question.

Yes, I do consider myself to be a good person. I consider myself to be a great person.

She had glanced beside her at Ruby and Yang during the middle of the exam, seeing the nervous concentration on Ruby’s face and the easygoing smile on Yang’s. She had only met them just last night but it wasn’t even the first time she had to wonder again if those two were actually sisters. Even just half-sisters. What a strange pair of siblings they made.

And then there was the Schnee. Blake really had no idea what to make of her. She was expecting someone who exuded confidence, arrogance, derision. But Weiss Schnee was quiet and seemed constantly agitated from what Blake saw during this exam and earlier. Blake knew she should’ve spoken to her last night, it would be good for her role here to at least make acquaintances with the Schnee if nothing else. The daughters of Ghira Belladonna and Jacques Schnee getting along and making common cause? It would look good for human-Faunus relations. But Blake had been a little afraid that the girl would react poorly to her and start something—and that Blake might lose her cool and continue it. That could ruin everything when she needed to be perfect and look as good as possible.

Most of the new students here seemed fine with her, but she saw plenty of looks aimed her way last night that weren’t fine with her as well. She didn’t want to spark anything that could lead to a whole bunch of students siding against her.

Though it seemed like her fears were unfounded if for no other reason than the Schnee being so different than expected. She certainly didn’t seem the type to round up the anti-Faunus students here and turn them against Blake.

Guess I better talk to her soon. Blake decided.

Now there was still that last question to answer and Blake propped her elbow up on the desk and rested her chin in her palm as she stared at it. The problem was that answering this question honestly was going to look like the most childish, generic, storybook thing any Huntress could say. It was the truth though at the same time. Deep down there was nothing Blake believed more in. There was only one thing she could say for why she wishes to become a Huntress: Because I want to make the world a better place.

Such a generic answer, most people would probably roll their eyes if they saw that, thinking Blake was probably just trying to give the best answer possible. Or the best looking answer at least. But if they thought that then they didn’t know just how seriously she took this.

Blake was here to make the world a better place. That’s something she had believed in since she was a child.

Exam over, time to turn in and eat lunch. She heard Ozpin say they had swordfish at Beacon…

Chapter Text

It was pretty obvious early on that the second exam would be much more physical than the first.

For one, they had all been taken to an absolutely gigantic building far away from the rest of the main academy. It was built right up against the Emerald Forest. Two, their proctor for this exam was a bigger, rounder, (okay, fatter) man who carried a weapon on his back that looked like a combination of an axe and blunderbuss. And three, he was standing in front of a gigantic, and incredibly dangerous looking, obstacle course.

Ruby’s eyes were shining with glee and she was certainly not the only one. Once she and Yang had seen it they shot each other a thumbs up with a matching pair of giant smiles. This was more their speed. Most of the students seemed to feel the same way as well. She was already pushing all those thoughts the first exam had generated out of her head. This was the perfect thing for getting back to normal and being positive.

The obstacle course was maybe two hundred feet wide and the building went long enough that Ruby couldn’t see the end. There seemed to be no set path either, depending on where you started you’d immediately hit walls, or pillars, or have to climb up some kind of rope bridge, or carefully run across a thin beam over a pool of water, and it got crazier from there. Giant rotating saw blades, guillotines, swinging maces, electric fences, jets of fire and high pressure water shooting from the ground or out of walls, huge segments of the walls smashing into each other. There were all sorts of things in the way. And judging by the size of it, Ruby was expecting that way more than one or two new students would be running it at a time. It was going to be pure, amazing, chaos.

The rest of the building also had a second level, a gallery that ran the length of the obstacle course, but Ruby couldn’t see anyone standing up there just yet.

“Well hello, initiates!” The big professor said after they had all gotten settled in. He had a booming, jovial, voice to him. “I am Professor Port and I am here to inform you about your second exam—which is far superior to and much more fun than your first exam. For all of us.”

Yang bumped Ruby’s shoulder, excited.

“Now as you can see behind me, this is the Beacon obstacle course. And as you can see looking at yourselves and each other—you don’t have your weapons with you, do you?” Port raised an eyebrow.

It was true, they had been specifically told they wouldn’t be using their weapons today and thus poor Crescent Rose was still stuck in a locker for at least one more day.

“That is because the purpose of this obstacle course is designed to test your own physical abilities and use of your semblance and aura. No weapons, only what you bring with you. You will be allowed to go anywhere to get past the course, taking any route, getting through it by either strength, speed, finesse, or intelligence. Use your talents to the best of your ability to conquer the course!” Port loudly explained to them, finishing with a hearty laugh. “Now though, don’t let yourselves get too carried away. It is not a race, nor a competition. You are being tested against yourselves. You also must neither interfere nor help with any other initiate on the course. Those are the rules.”

Blake raised a hand. “Is everyone running it at once?”

“Yes!”

“Oh...” Blake lowered her hand. “That’s going to be busy.”

“Indeed it will be!” Professor Port laughed some more. “Be careful and try your best to navigate the course, we’d like to avoid any casualties this year. Headmaster Ozpin is also currently waiting at the finish line, and he’ll see when and where each and everyone of you finishes. Oh, but please let me reiterate. It’s definitely not a race.”

Ruby, Yang, and Blake all shared a look.

“Uh, sir?” This time it was that scraggly blonde boy who threw up on the airship that raised his hand. Ruby got a better look at him now, wearing blue jeans, white and gold armor on his chest, pretty tall too.

Port raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“What if uh… what if you don’t have your semblance figured out yet?” The boy asked.

“Oh, well in that case you can try discovering and learning to utilize it within-” Professor Port lifted his wrist and looked at his watch. “-the next twelve seconds.”

Yang chuckled from next to Ruby.

“There’s going to be a buzzer ringing any second now and once it does feel free to take the obstacle course by storm. Try not to get trampled if you’re in the front by the way,” Professor Port coughed as he started walking to the side to get out of the way of everyone. He paused and raised his hand, snapping a finger as if just remembering something. “Oh and by the way, while you’re all running the course I’ll be up on the second level firing a grenade launcher down at you, so watch out for that.”

“Wait, what?” The blonde boy paled. “Am I the only one who heard that?”

In the next second the buzzer rang and dozens of new Beacon initiates charged into the obstacle course.

Ruby wanted to get some distance between her and everybody else quickly, the more space she had the more options she had and the less likely she was to get in anyone’s way or vice-versa. So she activated her semblance and zoomed up a ramp that looked like it had some kind of slick material on it that would’ve made it difficult for someone to climb up normally. A burst of rose petals was left behind as Ruby laughed, taking what she was certain had to be first place to start off this not race. She hoped Yang and Blake were doing alright but she wasn’t about to slow down for them.

After all, it was every Huntress for themselves.

She hopped over a pit full of spikes, grabbing a ring hanging above it and swinging to the other side, stepping out of the way of a hammer swinging at her head, and then quickly activated her semblance again to move when she noticed the spot she was standing on was about to burst into flames. As she felt the heat at her back she wiped her brow in relief.

“Phew...”

Pssshhhhh~

Ruby looked up just in time to see a flaming grenade falling towards her position. She jumped, over an electrified fence, and felt the explosion behind her, the heat and pressure of the grenade blowing her even further. She collided with a wall and slid down it—then immediately somersaulted away from where she was as two slabs of the floor shot up on springs and almost sandwiched her between them.

“Close one,” Ruby muttered.

“Hahaha, excellent work so far! Keep going!” Professor Port laughed from above before firing more grenades down below.

She knew who Yang’s favorite Professor was going to be.

Ruby hopped back to her feet, not wanting to get hit by anything else or swarmed by others trying to make their way through the same spot as she was. She zoomed past a number of obstacles before coming to a high wall with no easy way around or over it. And she had just used her semblance, her aura was lower than she wanted. Ruby frowned, wondering if instead of just speeding straight in it would’ve been better to survey the course first and find the correct path. Shoot, was that what they were actually supposed to do? Not get caught up in finishing but instead be smart about it? Agh! She was overthinking again! At this point she had to just get through it.

She saw a dark figure out of the corner of her eye to her right and glanced over to see Blake running right for the wall before jumping straight up—and then a second Blake appeared that the first Blake vaulted off of and easily reached the top of the wall. For a second, Blake stopped at the top of the wall and winked down at Ruby before continuing on.

“Oh it’s on.”

Blake used her natural agility to easily get past most obstacles even without having to do anything fancy, and her ears could pick up some of the traps and other tricks in the course before they even activated. This was pretty much her comfort zone. She was even willing to bet that her semblance was far more useful here than most students’.

She nimbly sprinted over a zig-zagging platform over a pit of water while swinging logs came at her and only had to use her semblance to save herself at the very end when a grenade went off a little too close for comfort. They sure were taking this seriously.

Well, being a Huntress, fighting the Grimm, or terrorists, was life and death. Blake frowned, knowing that things were only going to get more serious from here on out. But she still had to smile—hopefully whatever team she ended up on made that easy.

If she had Gambol Shroud with her this obstacle course would be even more of a breeze, in fact she was certain she could take first place. Alas, she’d just have to show off everything else about herself. When she got to a field of pillars in the floor that had a series of swinging maces on ropes attached to the top of them she didn’t even flinch as she jumped, dove, and danced around all of them. Perhaps even a bit more stylishly than she needed to. No Faunus with her training would have a problem with this.

Which is why Faunus should have been allowed to do this for years. Blake sighed internally, trying to avoid thoughts like that at the moment. She didn’t need to think of anything painful like that. Suppressing her emotions on such a thing would come in handy for the rest of her time here.

She heard another grenade explode behind her along with the shill scream of a girl.

“Good luck back there,” Blake chuckled, well ahead of the pack.

She came to another narrow platform that had blades swinging at your feet at even intervals that you had to hop over to get to the other side safely. Blake didn’t even need her semblance to sprint across it and make every jump, landing with cat-like precision on the other end. The trapdoor that then opened right underneath her was avoided by a careful semblance jump. Piece of cake.

Yang ran up and over a series of jagged ramps that normally she’d just shoot herself over with Ember Celica. No such luck today. She had to admit that while the course was a lot of fun to go through, she didn’t have a semblance as handy for it as Ruby. Not at the start at least.

She jumped down onto another platform and immediately had to jump over a gigantic log that came swinging from above, trying to knock her backwards.

“Hup!” Yang grunted as she jumped on top of it, placing her hands on the log, and flipping over it completely. She came to an easy landing on her feet and grinned. “Ten points!”

Yang never stopped moving forward, never stopping to catch her breath or take a look at what was around her. Even from the start, the route she chose was the one directly ahead of her. Was it the best route for her? Probably not, but Yang was going to power through everything in her way because that was just the way she did things. It wasn’t just being dumb either—Yang thrived on the adrenaline, the thrill, feeling she got stronger and stronger the more she had to push herself. It wasn’t just a semblance thing, it was how she was.

Of course it didn’t help when after climbing up a huge platform, the top of it opened up into a trap door that dropped her down to an entirely different level of the obstacle course. Yang growled and forged ahead, jumping past the rotating saw blades and hammers that were swinging down at her. Up ahead there was a tall vertical wall with a rope at the very top. Yang ran, ran up the wall a couple feet, and grabbed the rope to pull herself up all the way. She came face to face with a few more walls in her path.

“Come on...” Yang sighed.

Psssshhhh~

“Huh?” Yang looked up to see a grenade flying right towards her.

She smirked.

The grenade exploded right on top of her, fire and high-pressure air blackening the platform and leaving a cloud of smoke and embers behind that continued to sizzle. Direct hit. And not even a second later the smoke was all blown away by a new fire—Yang appearing on the smoking platform with her hair burning gold and her eyes a hot red. She smashed her fists together and charged forward, demolishing the wall in front of her and the one after that, brute forcing her way through the obstacle course.

This was how her semblance would aid her here. And Port said this was about showing off what you could do, so why not have some fun?

She sprinted down a walkway where barriers of varying heights and shapes continuously came at you, forcing one to either jump over or duck underneath them or contort their body in some weird way to avoid them. Yang didn’t bother with anything like that. And she didn’t care that she was destroying part of the course to make anyone coming after her have an easier time. With her semblance blazing she obliterated everything that stood in her way, every barrier shattering as she came in contact with it.

“Better bring on the Grimm next time!” Yang shouted as she ran through the course.

Weiss would’ve enjoyed having Myrtenaster and some Dust on hand to make getting through the course even easier, but truthfully her glyphs were more than enough. At one pit of spikes where you were supposed to jump from narrow platform to narrow platform to cross, that weren’t in any order or pattern of course, she instead made her own glyph platforms that easily allowed her to traverse the pit. Her mind was much more focused today for this exam, it was good to be doing something physical, that required constant movement and attention so her dark thoughts couldn’t worm their way around inside her head.

The only thing she was worrying about at the moment was how she was still clearly not in first. That was partially because she had been near the middle of the group when the buzzer went off in the first place, but she had seen many others tackling the course faster than her. It wasn’t supposed to be a race, right? But as if she could be anything but the first to finish.

It didn’t help that one of the people she saw zooming ahead of her was that Ruby girl. And another the Faunus girl.

Weiss sighed as she stopped in front of a gateway that alternatively was either open or blocked off by jets of flame. She frowned, taking the time to look around at the rest of the course and seeing if she could find the perfect path for her. While also keeping track of Professor Port firing those grenades at them.

She saw that Ruby girl speed around an obstacle in the distance, scattering rose petals everywhere.

“Wait...” Weiss frowned and thought back to what Professor Port had said. “Any route… getting past the course...” She looked up towards the ceiling. “It’s to see how well we can use our semblances is it? Finesse and intelligence? Fine then.” Weiss smiled. “Silly me—the best way to get through an obstacle course is to avoid the obstacles.”

Weiss concentrated and activated her semblance, creating an ascending staircase of glyphs that took her not just above where she was, but high above the entire obstacle course. A new spread of glyphs before her and she started jumping at high-speed from one to the other.

Ruby flew through the obstacle course as fast as she could, pushing her semblance to the limit. It wasn’t even so much about the exam anymore as it just felt plain good to let loose like this. She managed to keep a close tail on Blake, who was able to get over and past a lot of the obstacles just as quickly thanks to a smart use of her own semblance. Ruby occasionally had to make a sliding stop or turn very quickly to avoid accidentally running into something—the drawback of speeding like this and shooting rose petals everywhere.

There was a door ahead where both sides of the door were constantly mashing together while metal spikes lined the insides of them like a pair of vertical teeth. Ruby took a deep breath and burst through it at just the right moment, not even getting a snag.

She then heard the obstacle behind her explode and looked back to see a burning Yang charging through its ruins.

“Oh,” Ruby blinked. A grin came to her face. “Sorry, Yang, but you’re not getting ahead of me!”

Ruby giggled and fluttered off, hearing Yang’s aggressive yells coming from behind her. Blake was ahead, jumping on top of a series of poles that constantly went up and down so you were never stable. But the cat Faunus didn’t seem to have any issue with balance as she easily conquered them. Ruby took a different route, instead zooming around a more open platform that had jets of fire shooting up from grates in the floor at random intervals, and electrified wires that tried to herd you into a certain path. It would’ve worked on some but with her speed she could keep enough of a pace that the flames never came close to getting her.

She could see the end of the obstacle course coming up soon as well. It seemed the entire last section was just a big pool of water with a few platforms rising out of it. The platforms were different heights and sizes and from what Ruby could tell they seemed to be partially floating in the water so they wouldn’t make for a stable spot to stand on. Meanwhile hanging from the ceiling were numerous swinging hammers that would probably knock you off if you stayed on any one platform for too long.

Ruby came out of her semblance and slid to a stop in front of the huge pool of water. If she had more aura still she could easily jet across it with just her semblance but she highly doubted anyone still had enough aura in them to do something like that after running themselves ragged through the whole course. She saw Blake out of the corner of her eye up on a higher platform leap to the first floating platform. It sank slightly and moved a bit, likely tethered by just a rope or something underwater, and unlike at other moments Blake almost seemed about to fall off. She was probably tired.

Meaning this was Ruby’s chance to get ahead of her again. She used the last bits of her semblance she could right now to shoot herself onto a nearby platform that immediately wobbled and bobbed about in the water. She probably looked like a dork as her arms flailed about but she didn’t care.

“Hyah!” Yang yelled from behind her as she jumped onto her own platform. The loud yell catching Blake’s attention as well.

Together the three shared a look before they all jumped at once—moving from platform to platform to get to the finish line just on the other side of the water. Whether it was supposed to be or not, it had turned into a competition. No one had a straight or easy shot to finish the last leg and Ruby could see Yang cool down as her semblance deactivated and Blake was also clearly not using her shadows anymore. They were all low, no more semblances.

The trio, and Ruby was fairly certain the trio at the front of everyone trying to get through the course, bounded from platform to platform with the last of their aura, occasionally faltering, occasionally almost falling, but still going. The platforms thinned out the further into the pool, giving fewer and fewer options on where to jump to. At the very end there were only three or four that you could actually use to finish your jump if you didn’t want to land in the water. And as Ruby looked around, catching sight of her sister and Blake, she could tell they were all on a collision course for the same one of those final platforms coming up. Not like any of them could stop though. At almost the exact same time they all leaped to the final platform, the three landing on it together and sending it bobbing and wobbling like crazy thanks to the added weight.

None of them wanted to be outdone and none of them wanted to fall. They managed to keep their balance and once more the three launched themselves the final distance over the pool, landing hard on the ground and rolling past the finish line in a rather uncoordinated and not very pretty heap.

“You know it really wasn’t a race.”

The three of them looked up, exhausted, to see Ozpin sitting at a small coffee table just off to the side and sipping on a mug of hot chocolate while he watched them and others complete the obstacle course.

“Also, you weren’t the first ones across anyways,” he pointed over further past the finish line.

Ruby, Yang, and Blake, looked over to see Weiss Schnee calmly standing by, looking none the worse for wear, and waiting for the rest of the initiates to finish. She didn’t say anything, but with a smile that smug she really didn’t need to.

Ozpin coughed. “Now I’d really advise the three of you to catch your breath. Tomorrow is going to be much more exhausting.”

Two minutes earlier...

Weiss dropped down from above onto the ground, well over the finish line, after skipping practically the entire obstacle course thanks to using her glyphs in the air.

“Finished,” she announced, breathing a small sigh of relief.

“Excellent work, Miss Schnee,” Ozpin said, almost startling Weiss as she hadn’t even really noticed him sitting there thanks to how nonchalant he was being. He practically faded into the scenery. She looked over at him and quickly straightened up. “Very smart of you.” He offered a small nod.

“Thank you, sir,” Weiss confidently nodded back.

“You may now wait here and wait for the exam to finish. Once it’s all over we’ll be heading back to the main Academy grounds,” he told her and his attention went back to the obstacle course and the ones still running it.

Weiss didn’t say anything else. She didn’t need to. A surge of pride and confidence started to fill her body as she basked in this victory.

“You can do this, Weiss,” Weiss whispered to herself as she clenched her fist in determination. “You can still be the best. You just can’t let anyone or anything get in your way.”

Chapter Text

“This is your final and most important exam,” Ozpin stated as he stood in front of the gathered initiates. His hands rested on his cane as he held it planted before him, his gaze long and steady. “Welcome to the Labyrinth.”

He didn’t really need to tell them this was the most important exam. Both where they were and the fact that it was Ozpin personally introducing them to it was more than enough. Still, Ruby was happy, because for the first time in days she had Crescent Rose with her! Just feeling that familiar, lovable, hunk of metal on her back was more than enough to make her happy. Everyone had been instructed to retrieve their weapons for the final exam and Ruby had nearly jumped for joy when the announcement was made.

Although where they were now was a little… odd. She had no idea something like this existed at Beacon.

The initiates had been gathered and taken down a long elevator that went deep underground. From the looks on everyone else’s faces it was apparent they were just as surprised as Ruby. After the elevator stopped they came out into a long room, with a high vaulted ceiling and torches lining the entire length of it. If the architecture wasn’t so modern and metallic she’d think they were down in Beacon’s dungeon or something. Walking to the end of the hallway they all came face to face with Headmaster Ozpin standing in front of a large black door triple his own height. Some sort of computer screen was attached above the door but it looked turned off at the moment.

“As you may be able to tell from the fact that you have your weapons with you, this is serious. You will be sorted into random pairs and sent inside the Labyrinth one pair at a time. When inside, you will navigate to the best of your ability until you find another pair. And then, as a team, the four of you will find your way out of the Labyrinth together. You will be watched the entire time—but not for your safety. Only you can keep yourselves safe in there,” Ozpin explained. “The Labyrinth itself is expansive but there are multiple ways out of it to be sure. The danger of course is the Grimm inside it.”

Ruby and the others stiffened in surprise. Actual Grimm in there? She had been wanting to fight Grimm from the start but learning that apparently Beacon kept a bunch directly underground was a little concerning.

Ozpin nodded, answering the unasked question. “That’s right. We catch Grimm and keep them here specifically for this purpose. You can fight them, you can run from them, whatever you see fit. The goal is to form a team and have all four of you escape safe and sound.” He paused for a moment before a playful grin came to his face. “Oh and the random pairs you’re about to be made into and the teams you form in there will be your teams for the next four years at Beacon so hopefully you’re quite lucky with who you get.”

Dang. Ruby’s face fell. She immediately looked over to Yang and Blake, who didn’t seem nearly as bothered. Please, please, please one of them.

“The computer screen will show two names shortly. When you see your name, come up here and stand before the doorway. The Labyrinth will open for you and then… well, good luck,” Ozpin smiled.

“Excuse me, sir?” Pyrrha Nikos questioned, a frown on her face as she seemed to be thinking about something that had to do with this exam. “If we’re all going into the Labyrinth at the same spot, at even intervals, won’t that make finding other pairs too easy? Whatever the course it takes inside there, there are only so many directions one could go at the start.”

Ozpin chuckled. “Right you are, Miss Nikos. But don’t worry—just because the door is in the same spot each time it opens and closes, it doesn’t mean where you end up is going to be the same every time you step through it. This Labyrinth is… rather special. I assure you that you will all end up quite mixed up in there, regardless of when you enter it.” He looked up at the screen. “Now then…”

It flashed on and for a second there was a blinking loading icon in the middle of it before-

Lie Ren / Nora Valkyrie

“Wooooooh!” A loud voice shouted from behind Ruby as a girl with bright orange hair and carrying a large hammer jumped forward. “I knew it! I told you we were fated to be partners, Ren!” She shouted in excitement and anticipation as she vaulted over the floor and landed right in front of the door. “Yeah!”

A deep sigh followed her as a much more quiet boy with black hair and wearing green walked forward to join her. Ruby was looking for his weapons because of course she was but she couldn’t see them on him. Hidden?

“Yes, Nora. It seems you were correct,” Ren stated as he stopped next to her.

Ozpin stood off to the side as the first pair got ready. The door slowly opened up and Ruby tried peering inside it but all she could see was utter blackness. She had no idea if it was a trick of the light or some aspect of the Labyrinth itself. Nora and Ren simply hunched down and got into running position, once the door had opened all the way with a great lumbering thud the two of them dashed into the Labyrinth, quickly disappearing from view. Automatically, the door closed once more and the screen above it blinked as two new names popped up.

Pyrrha Nikos / Jaune Arc

There were quite a few groans from people who were disappointed at not getting matched with Pyrrha Nikos, but Ruby on the other hand was just thinking about how she finally had a name to the face of that blonde boy who had thrown up on the airship she and Yang took to Beacon. Although admittedly her eyes were drawn to Pyrrha Nikos as well—that girl was pretty famous. She looked strong, and alert, standing straight in her red and gold armor, a spear (that Ruby was pretty sure was also a gun) held in hand along with a small shield on her other arm. After a moment the two of them were shooting off into the Labyrinth as well. Or Pyrrha was. Jaune was huffing as he tried to keep up.

From there a few more pairs were made and Ruby got increasingly antsy. She just wanted to see her name up there with either Yang or Blake. That would be fine. She could do that.

Blake Belladonna / Yang Xiao Long

Crud.

“Yeah! Time to kick butt, this is the kind of thing I’ve been waiting for!” Yang shouted as she strode forward, smacking Ember Celica together, Blake smirking behind her. Yang sent the Faunus a wink as well once the two stood before the opening door. “And I think I just got pretty lucky when it comes to my partner.”

“I think you might be right about that,” Blake grinned.

And they were off. And Ruby was left alone.

Well this is just great. What do I do now? Please let me get someone I can get along with. Someone nice, and friendly, and supportive like Yang. Someone who wont be bothered by my weirdness or the fact I’m two years younger than them. Yeah, someone like that! Ruby nodded.

Ruby Rose / Weiss Schnee

Ruby glanced up at her name and then turned to see Weiss Schnee a few feet away, her face already looking at Ruby’s as well. There was an unreadable expression on it, her blue eyes boring into Ruby’s silver. For the first time, Ruby took enough of a look at her to actually notice the scar over her left eye.

“Uh, hi again,” Ruby waved to her.

Weiss frowned. “Hello.”

“Well… uh… time to be partners?” Ruby smiled awkwardly and shrugged.

Weiss rolled her eyes and walked towards the door. “It seems so.”

Ruby sighed and joined her by the door as it opened for the two of them. “A-At least we already know each other! I bet this’ll go great, y-you can tell me about your weapon and how you fight and I’m sure we’ll handle any Grimm in there no problem.”

“As long as you don’t trip over me and make me look bad, then sure,” Weiss smiled, but a mean and mocking one.

“Right… yeah,” Ruby frowned and looked away. This wasn’t starting off well.

Of course like every other pair, as soon as the door was open all the way the two of them ran inside the Labyrinth. Darkness overtook them but just as quickly the walls around them seemed to light up slightly, showing off the black stone making them, flaming torches either ensconced in the walls or hanging from the ceiling, and numerous branching paths already all around them. Behind them the door closed and Ruby and Weiss came to a stop, suddenly finding themselves in a circular room with eight hallways shooting off from it in every direction.

“Huh,” Ruby scratched her head as she looked around. “Eeny-meenie-miny-moe?”

“Ugh,” Weiss groaned in annoyance.

“So, Weiss… what’s your semblance?” Ruby asked.

“Glyphs. I can make a number of Glyphs for a number of purposes, I believe you saw me using them last exam?” Weiss answered.

“Y-Yeah, just wanted to know for sure,” Ruby nodded. Although she actually hadn’t seen that. “My semblance let’s me move really fast. You saw that too, right?”

“I did.”

“Right… so what’s your weapon do?”

“Well aside from the obvious, it helps me focus my semblance and also holds numerous dust vials that I can use for all sorts of things,” Weiss answered, eye beginning to twitch.

“Cool… so what’s your weapon called?”

“Myrtenaster.”

“Oh, nice, cool name. My weapon’s Crescent Rose, she’s a scythe—and a sniper rifle! I made her myself and-”

“You know I didn’t ask, correct?” Weiss sharply looked at Ruby.

Ruby wilted. “Y-Yeah… but I figured… I mean we’re going to be partners from here on out so it’s probably best that we actually know what the other can do and all… and we’re probably going to have to fight some Grimm in here soon...”

They had chosen a hallway at random—at Weiss’s suggestion—and had been walking without seeing any sign of another pair or any Grimm for a little while. Ruby wasn’t sure what that meant, every pair entered fairly quickly after the other, but it was like they were alone. Not even any far off sounds of fighting, people running, or talking. How big was this place? Most of the hallways and branching paths had white arrows painted on the walls pointing towards them too, Weiss figuring that it was a sign of where they were supposed to go to get out in here.

“I just need you to not get in my way. Headmaster Ozpin and whoever else is watching need to see what I can do. They need to see my abilities, not yours. I plan on being leader of whatever our team is and I can’t do that while coddling you,” Weiss snorted.

Ruby frowned and immediately shot in front of her face, bringing the both of them to a stop. “You don’t need to coddle me. I can take care of myself just fine.”

Weiss raised an eyebrow. “Can you? I’ve always thought this but honestly you don’t even look old enough to be here. Are you a child who snuck their way in?”

“No. I’m a child who got invited here by Ozpin himself,” Ruby grinned.

Weiss’s eyes widened in surprise. “E-Excuse me? What are you talking about?!”

Ruby put the smuggest look on her face as she could while folding her arms over her chest. “You heard me. I’m 15, two years younger than you, but Ozpin scouted me personally. I’m just awesome like that.”

However, Weiss did not explode in anger or annoyance like Ruby expected. Instead the older girl just silently stared back at her while looking… afraid?

“Uh… Weiss?” Ruby reached out, concerned, her play-smugness falling away.

“S-Shut up!” Weiss shook her head and avoided Ruby’s hand, stepping past her. “Forget it! So you’re some special prodigy picked out by Ozpin, it doesn’t mean anything! Just stay out of my way, I’ll prove to everyone watching that I’m the best one here. I won’t have it taken away from me. I absolutely will not fail.”

“Weiss, seriously, are you okay?” Ruby asked, walking up to Weiss and grabbing her shoulder.

The heiress shrugged her hand off and kept moving forward. “Yes! Let’s just find another pair and get out of here. That’s all that matters.”

“You don’t seem okay...” Ruby whispered and hurried after her partner for the next four years.

“Haaah!” Yang yelled as she plowed her fist into the Beowolf’s face and a loud explosion blasted from Ember Celica, the shotgun shells fired from the gauntlet blowing the Grimm back into the wall and reducing it to dust. She ducked under the swipe from another one before punching it in the gut and shooting it away. “Hell yeah, that’s how it’s done!”

Blake meanwhile jumped and weaved between leaping and striking Beowolves. One particularly aggressive Beowolf had thought it carved through her midsection—only for that Blake to vanish and the real one to reappear behind it, stabbing Gambol Shroud into its shoulder and swinging it around by her weapon’s ribbon, throwing it into the attacking line of Beowolves. Blake pulled back her weapon and converted it into pistol form, shooting at the downed Grimm and ending them before they could get back up.

There was one final Beowolf that had been clawing its way across the ceiling and it dropped down behind Blake to try and catch her off-guard.

Blake’s sensitive ears heard it coming from a mile away. She spun, pulling the combination sheath/cleaver off her back, and swiftly decapitated the final Grimm.

Yang saw all this and grinned at her partner. “Nice work! Guess there’s at least one cat out there who isn’t afraid of dogs.”

Blake snorted in amusement as she placed her sheath back and put Gambol Shroud away. “You know I could very easily get offended by that, right?”

“Yeah, but you won’t. You’re cool like that,” Yang gave her a thumbs up.

“True, I am cool,” Blake grinned back. “And I know you certainly don’t mean anything bad by it. But not all Faunus will take that in a nice way. Some really will be offended.”

“Er, right…” Yang winced. “Sorry.”

“No problem. And I’m not angry, just keep it in mind when it comes to other Faunus,” Blake winked.

“Yeah, thanks,” Yang’s smile came back and the two started walking together again through the Labyrinth.

Blake, curious a bit, looked over at Yang. “You know… it’s pretty confident of you to say something like “You’re cool like that” to someone you barely know. We only met a couple days ago.”

“I dunno,” Yang shrugged. “Always felt like I was pretty good at reading people and knowing who’s a jerk and who isn’t. I just think I have a good eye is all, and I’m always upfront with how I treat people. You just… seem cool.”

“Thanks…” Blake quietly responded.

“Oh! Speaking of cool-” Yang turned to her with a big smile. “Your weapon! And your semblance! They’re pretty awesome—your sword can turn into like a grappling hook? And it’s got that ribbon, and the gun form, and you even use the sheath as a weapon too? Nice! Ruby would be going crazy over it right now too. It really does a lot, way more than what I do.”

“Fits your style though. Just like mine,” Blake smiled as she looked down at Yang’s shotgun gauntlets.

Yang saw and held up her hands to show them. “Yep, I like getting up close and personal. Ember Celica by the way—what about you?”

“Gambol Shroud. What about your semblance? I didn’t see you use it,” Blake asked.

“Heh, when I take damage I can convert it to energy and power for myself. The more I get hurt and take hits the stronger I get, buuut that can kind of be a risk too cause then I’d be running low on aura. Those Beowolves didn’t even scratch me and I don’t need my semblance to deal with them,” Yang shrugged. “Also… uh… sometimes when I’m angry I can kind of activate my semblance automatically. Like when I was a kid, I unlocked my semblance in the first place when I got in a fight with some bully and he yanked out a little bit of my hair. Showed him how that was a big mistake.”

Blake giggled at the story. “I guess that semblance is just as fitting as your weapon. Me, I can make clones of myself. They can take a hit for me, hide where I’ve moved, I can jump off of them too if I need a springboard.”

“Gives you a lot of options, just like your weapon,” Yang winked.

“That’s right,” Blake smiled.

Yang nodded as the two of them continued moving through the Labyrinth, still without having met anyone aside from those Beowolves. “Geez, dark in here.”

“Maybe for you,” Blake said and pointed at her eyes. “All Faunus have night-vision.”

“Pff, lucky,” Yang put her hands behind her head as she walked. “You should be leading us on and looking for a way out of here then.”

“We’ve got to find another pair first.”

“Eh, I bet it’ll all turn out fine.”

Weiss was poised. Ready. Myrtenaster gripped in her hand as a glyph appeared under her feet. The Boarbatusk running at her was too armored from the front, but she would speed up with her glyph to shoot herself around it and stab at its less protected side. Easy. Foolproof. And being able to stay so calm and react in the face of a charging Boarbatusk would certainly look good to anyone watching. She was getting the leadership position when this was all over.

The Boarbatusk was close now, it was moving too fast for its own good and wouldn’t be able to adjust. Weiss accelerated herself with her glyph, shooting to the side of it, and immediately formed another glyph under her feet that shot her towards the Boarbatusk again. Myrtenaster was pointed straight out at some of that black, unprotected, flesh. She would skewer it easily.

And she did so. Right at the same time as Ruby came flying in with Crescent Rose from the other side. The Boarbatusk squealed as it was stabbed and then cut in half right after and Weiss and Ruby’s eyes widened as they barely had time to turn slightly to avoid crashing headfirst into each other.

Instead Weiss went tumbling one direction and Ruby the other, both of them rolling across the rocky ground.

“You dolt!” Weiss growled as she picked herself up. “Watch where you’re going!”

Ruby shot up too and glared at her partner. “Excuse me? You were just standing there, I saw a Grimm to kill and I killed it!”

“I had it handled!” Weiss pointed at her. “Be more aware of your surroundings next time!”

“Be faster! And don’t ignore me, I asked you in the middle of the fight if you needed me for anything and you just turned up your nose and ignored it!”

“Ugh!”

“Bleh!”

“You are such a child!”

“You’re being way more childish right now!”

“GRRRROOOOWWWWRRRRR!”

Weiss and Ruby looked around them at the numerous Creepers still in the room and ready to attack them. The argument would have to wait a minute or two.

Weiss turned and the chamber of Myrtenaster spun as a number of glyphs appeared in the air. Ruby meanwhile tightened her grip on Crescent Rose and burst forward with her semblance, spinning with scythe in hand and blasting a shot from Crescent Rose every now and then to keep up the momentum and give her even more power behind her swings. Weiss then pointed Myrtenaster at the Creepers coming at her and dozens of shards of ice shot from her glyphs into the Grimm. Many were impaled or stuck in place by the ice—at the same time, Ruby was carving through all the ones on the opposite side of the room. Her big scythe perfect for ripping apart swarms of Grimm like this. With a bit more precision than her partner, Weiss shot forwards and finished off all the remaining Creepers not killed by her Ice Dust with the tip of Myrtenaster.

The two of them had entered the large room they were in a little while ago, suddenly set upon by a number of Grimm and made to fight immediately. Though their teamwork was lacking they had managed to kill off all the Grimm currently around them.

Ruby came to a stop, digging the spike of Crescent Rose into the stone floor and wiping her brow of sweat. “Okay… now where next?”

“Just continue to follow me and we’ll be out of here quick enough,” Weiss arrogantly replied, even though Ruby hadn’t really been asking her.

“That’s worked so well for us so far,” Ruby rolled her eyes.

Weiss glared at her. “It’s only natural we’d run into Grimm before anything else when considering the nature and purpose of this exam.”

Their first Grimm room was a large chamber with a high domed ceiling and three hallways leading either in or out of it, including the one Ruby and Weiss had come in from. Of the other two, one had several white arrows on the ground pointing towards it while the other was devoid of anything. Ruby and Weiss kept their weapons out and at the ready, prepared for anything as they looked at the two other hallways before making their choice.

“Obviously we should keep following the arrows,” Weiss said.

Ruby had a nagging feeling in the back of her head but did she want to disagree with the already volatile girl and start off another argument? Not right now. “I guess so… we still need to find another pair first.”

“And I intend to do that and get out of here faster than any other team,” Weiss said.

“Er, if you say so,” Ruby shrugged.

“Are you doubting me?” Weiss glared at her.

“No!” Ruby quickly defended herself, waving her arms around like crazy. “I’m just saying—like—we were one of the later pairs sent in here. And I don’t really think speed is the point of this exam…”

“Hmpf!” Weiss turned her head away, ponytail whipping to the side.

Ruby was about to try and reconcile with her partner when the two of them heard a loud braying noise and numerous heavy claws and paws running over the stone floor of the Labyrinth towards them. The two of them turned to the hallway they had come in form to see a pack of Beowolves running down it. They’d probably be upon them in less than a minute.

“Grimm are really good at detecting negative emotions,” Ruby rolled her eyes.

“It doesn’t matter, we’ll destroy these ones too,” Weiss raised Myrtenaster’s blade before her face.

“No, let’s just run, we don’t have to keep fighting,” Ruby shook her head.

“Run? We need to show Ozpin-”

“We need to find another pair. That’s the number one thing Ozpin told us. Fighting the Grimm, destroying everything we see, doesn’t matter right now. And then we don’t even know how much further we have to go or what else we’ll be stuck doing down here. Getting in every little fight is just going to exhaust us,” Ruby said.

Weiss frowned but she lowered Myrtenaster’s tip to the ground. “Alright but they’re still going to follow us anyways so what exactly do you plan to do?”

Ruby furrowed her brow in concentration. She looked at Weiss, her sword, and over at the field of ice shards that were still embedded in the ground. “Your Dust.”

“What about it?” Weiss raised an eyebrow.

“Your Ice Dust,” Ruby smiled. “Can you make a wall of ice that blocks off the hallway? And then, for each hallway we go through can you keep blocking the exits off with more ice so we won’t get lost or turned around? Nothing will be able to come from behind, and we’ll be sure we don’t accidentally back track, your ice will be like a marker each time we have to go somewhere new.”

Weiss looked at the hallway’s exit, thinking about how much Dust that would take each time, but she couldn’t really find fault with Ruby’s logic or plan. “I believe so.”

“Okay!” Ruby cheered, happy that they agreed on something. “Show me what you’re made of!”

Weiss, for her part, actually smirked. “Of course.”

The Dust chamber of Myrtenaster spun once more, a fresh vial of Ice Dust locking into place as a large glyph emerged on the floor right where the hallway exited into the large room. Weiss concentrated, and ice quickly grew from glyph, creeping up the sides of the wall and merging together to create a thick wall of ice, blocking the Beowolves off from them. The two heard a dull thud as the first of the Beowolves crashed into the newly formed barrier, and then a few more minor thuds as they tried to break their way through.

“That won’t hold them forever, we should move,” Weiss said.

“Right,” Ruby nodded and together the two of them ran down the hallway with the arrows.

It took them twisting and turning through the Labyrinth, occasionally they came out into new rooms that could be as small as a bedroom or big enough to hold an office building. And all of this was right under Beacon? There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it either, Weiss making sure they followed the arrows while they both kept an eye out for anymore Grimm. It wasn’t until they arrived at a gigantic room that had a slow bend to it like a boomerang that they decided to stop for a moment. Not only was the room huge but along the wall to their right were almost dozens of smaller passages—while to their left were two huge openings a good fifty feet tall each.

“Geez, what even is this place?” Ruby wondered, scratching her head.

“I was not expecting it to be this big or difficult to get through…” Weiss huffed.

“And we still haven’t found anyone either,” Ruby sighed.

“No, but-” Weiss paused mid-sentence. Her head perked up as she looked towards the wall to their right. “Do you hear that?”

Ruby was about to ask her what, when she started to hear several small explosive and thudding noises coming from the wall. Gunfire and explosions of some sort, along with something heavy being hit or slamming into the stone. The two girls stood their ground, but had to move the very next second when the wall exploded and a huge Ursa came tumbling out, burning stone flying in every direction. Ruby and Weiss jumped out of the way as it rolled past them, all the way to the other side of the room before making a crack in the wall. The Ursa let out a weak, defeated, cry before vanishing into nothingness.

“Next time pick on someone your own size!” A voice shouted from the hole in the wall and Yang jumped out, followed by Blake right behind her.

“That was maybe a tad excessive,” the Faunus said.

“Yang!” Ruby shouted with glee at the sight of her sister.

Finally noticing the other two in the large room, Yang and Blake looked over at them as well.

A huge smile lit up Yang’s face. “Ruby!” And that same smile faltered a bit when she saw the girl standing next to her sister. Yang hadn’t forgotten what Ruby told her about her first meeting with Weiss on the first day at Beacon.

Blake and Weiss as well were… having a quiet reaction. It was clear as soon as their eyes met that there was a lot going through both their heads.

“Well… this is going to be an interesting team once we’re out of here,” Blake said.

Ruby looked between Weiss and Blake. “Er, well, at least we found each other?”

Weiss fought a grimace as she raised a fist to her mouth and coughed. “Yes. I think that’s the most important thing right now. We should concentrate on finishing this exam and getting out of here first.”

“Guess so…” Yang lackadaisically walked towards the other pair. “I think Blake and I have kind of just been stuck going in circles though.”

“We kept ending up in the same room over and over,” Blake nodded.

“Weiss and I have traveled through a lot of rooms but I haven’t seen anything that looks like an exit…” Ruby admitted.

“As long as we keep following the arrows we should get out eventually,” Weiss said.

Ruby frowned. “Actually I-”

Thump

“What was that?” Ruby looked around.

Thump

The ground vibrated beneath their feet.

“It’s coming from that big tunnel,” Blake pointed at one of the huge passages leading out of the big room.

THUMP

“There’s only one thing it could be down here,” Yang raised her fists, Ember Celica at the ready.

“Sounds way bigger than an Ursa this time...” Blake said, standing beside her.

Weiss and Ruby raised their weapons as well, preparing for whatever was about to come out of the darkness.

THUMP THUMP THUMP!

“It’s here,” Ruby tightened her grip on Crescent Rose.

Out of the shadows stepped a giant lumbering monster, but what was weird about it was that it didn’t really look like a Grimm. It looked like some kind of golem made of boulders all stacked and joined together in a giant humanoid shape. The only thing that said “Grimm” on it at all was the white and red mask in the center of the boulder that passed for its head.

“It’s a Geist,” Weiss narrowed her eyes.

“A what?” Ruby asked her.

“A type of Grimm that possesses inanimate objects. They usually can’t possess something this big though, this Geist must be old and powerful,” Weiss explained.

“They’ve probably had it down here for a long time,” Blake said.

“Whatever, let’s take it down!” Yang yelled and charged.

“Wait—Yang! We need a plan for something this big!” Ruby yelled after her sister but Yang was already going in.

The blonde warrior hopped on top of the boulder fist that was coming down at her, letting it crash into the ground and jumping up to the Geist’s shoulder where she started peppering the head of the Grimm with shotgun blasts. Seeing the Geist distracted trying to deal with Yang, Ruby and Blake converted their weapons to their gun forms and took potshots at it while Weiss adjusted Myrtenaster and shot a ball of fire from her glyphs. Their bullets and Dust exploded almost harmlessly against the boulder body, doing no real damage at all. Yang wobbled as the Geist moved, bringing up its other fist to try and smack her away. She fired her guns beneath her for some extra jumping power and leaped over it, spinning in the air and shooting the Geist directly in the face once more.

All it did was scream in some kind of warped howl of anger, not even stopping as Yang landed back with the others.

“I don’t think that worked,” Blake grimaced.

“Well we don’t need to fight it, we could try running,” Ruby suggested.

“Running again isn’t going to look good,” Weiss frowned.

“Running at all is lame,” Yang nodded.

“We’re not being ranked against other teams or something, finishing the actual exam, the mission, is more important!” Ruby shouted at them.

“It’s a giant Grimm, Ruby! Don’t you want to destroy it?” Yang asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Of course I do but we’ve already had to fight a bunch and-”

“You guys? It’s still trying to kill us,” Blake pointed out.

The Geist let out a great roar as it swung down its huge boulder fist at the four Huntresses, maybe Yang could stop it with her semblance but then she’d be wiped out, all four of them just ran from it as the boulder smashed into the ground and into the wall behind them. The Geist dragged the boulder across the wall, pulverizing the entrances to the opposing tunnels and making them all collapse and be buried in rubble. Weiss created a glyph in the air for them to jump on, catapulting the four of them a safe distance away from the Geist.

“Well I guess we’re not going that way now...” Yang said as she eyed the destroyed tunnels.

The four of them skidded to a stop on the ground, Ruby pulling up Crescent Rose and aiming right at the Geist’s face. Her bullet impacted right onto the Grimm mask but aside from the head jerking back slightly it was unharmed.

“We don’t have the firepower to take it out,” she grumbled.

“So what do we do?” Weiss asked, grimacing.

Ruby bit her lip, looking from the Geist, to her partner, to Yang, to Blake. Her eyes zeroed in on Myrtenaster, Gambol Shroud, Yang’s eyes that could turn red at any moment. The Geist was lumbering towards them, each step it took shaking the huge chamber.

“Weiss,” Ruby called to her partner. “I saw you make a glyph earlier that sped you up, and this one you just made now shot us into the air. Can you make stronger versions of those?”

For a moment, Weiss looked like she would respond indignantly or at least ask Ruby why she wanted to know. Instead she merely pursed her lips together and nodded. “With Gravity Dust I can.”

“Okay,” Ruby nodded, all eyes on her now as she smirked. “I’ve got a plan.”

Weiss, Blake, and Yang ran down the gigantic corridor the Geist had originally come from. Ruby was back in the large room they had met it in, currently distracting it and running circles around it with her semblance so the three of them could get into position for her plan to take the big Grimm down.

“Are you sure about having your sister work as the bait for this?” Blake asked Yang. They were hoping that the tunnel would open up into a new larger room soon—where the Geist had originally been staying before it heard them.

“Ruby’s fast and she knows what she’s doing,” Yang said, not even looking back—showing total confidence in her sister.

Weiss looked over her shoulder, seeing a red blur shoot around the huge stone Geist, getting it to spin around and dizzy itself, never even coming close to catching her. She bit her lip, a difficult and confusing mess of emotions pooling in her stomach. “She does, doesn’t she?”

They only had to run about a hundred more feet through the dark tunnel before it opened up into another large room. It wasn’t close to the size of the one they were in previously but it was definitely more than big enough for the Geist to enter and move around in. The three of them came to a quick stop and Yang reloaded Ember Celica.

“Okay, time to tell Ruby that we’re in position,” Yang grinned and fired at the ground, essentially shooting herself and blowing up a portion of the floor at the same time. The bang was loud enough that it reverberated all the way down the tunnel and out of the cloud of dust emerged a burning Yang, semblance activated.

Blake kept Gambol Shroud in its gun form and Weiss readied Myrtenaster, all three of them getting ready for their parts to play.

And then Ruby-

“Come on you big stupid jerk! Follow me!” She yelled at the Geist as she zoomed into the tunnel where the others were waiting for her, having heard Yang’s signal and putting her semblance into overdrive. However, she wasn’t outspeeding the Geist completely even though she could have. She stayed close enough to it so that it stayed focused on her entirely, looking down at the red blob just ever so slightly avoiding it.

Ruby grinned as she kept moving—seeing the exit of the tunnel right ahead. There were Yang and Blake already in position on opposite sides of the exit, and when she went a little further she saw Weiss slightly behind and off to the side of Yang too. Good. Ruby stopped using her semblance, saving the last bit of aura she had, and ran out of the tunnel towards where Weiss was standing. The Geist hot on her heels.

“Blake! Yang! Now!” Ruby shouted.

Blake held tightly onto Gambol Shroud, in its gun and grappling hook mode, and threw it towards Yang across the way, firing it as she threw just to give it an extra bit of speed through the air. Yang grabbed it, her semblance still activated, and the two of them yanked the ribbon of Gambol Shroud taut. It was pulled across the tunnel’s exit, a few feet above the ground, and the Geist was so focused on Ruby it didn’t see it at all. Its “foot” hit the ribbon, Yang and Blake holding on with all their might, Blake driving her sheath into the ground just to have something to hold onto and pin her in place.

The Geist roared and stumbled, tripping over the ribbon and going straight for the ground.

“Weiss, the floor!” Ruby directed.

Weiss pointed Myrtenaster at the ground, stabbing in, and with her Dust and semblance coated the floor in ice right as the Geist was about to land. It hit the newly formed ice and slid hard across the floor until it collided with the wall on the opposite side of the chamber, sending an earthquake through the stone around them.

“Yang! Weiss!” Ruby pointed towards the ceiling above the Geist.

“On it!” Yang called out, getting a running start, jumping off a shadow helpfully made by Blake, and then using her shotguns to shoot herself even higher.

Right towards a black glyph directly over the body of the Geist that Weiss had just created. Yang stuck to it, upside-down, feeling a combination of pressure and the sensation of becoming a coiled-up spring about to snap. The hands of the glyph spun faster and faster as Weiss concentrated, and with Yang’s semblance full on blaring, Weiss shot her down at max speed and power towards the fallen Geist.

“HAAAAAAH!” Yang yelled as she collided like a missile with the Geist, a huge explosion occurring as the boulders that made up the Geist’s body were blown to pieces. Its body, arms, legs, all reduced to total rubble.

The head went flying too and the Geist, perhaps realizing it was in danger, separated from that last boulder and floated through the air, looking to escape.

Not that Ruby would let it. She already had Crescent Rose out and ready, prepared for this. The Geist was in her crosshairs and with a single pull of the trigger she fired a bullet straight through its head, shattering the Grimm mask and destroying the Geist for good.

Warm elation filled up her body and she jumped with joy. “Woohoo! Yeah! Team… uh… whatever our name is going to be after today did it!”

“Hufff...” Yang groaned and panted as she stepped out of the rubble, her aura gone and her hair and eyes back to normal. “Y-Yeah. Did it...”

“As… inelegant… as that plan was, I must admit it worked,” Weiss said.

Blake walked over to help steady Yang after retrieving Gambol Shroud. “I’m surprised. Not that I didn’t have confidence in any of us, but I didn’t expect we’d be able to coordinate and complement each other so quickly.” Blake smiled at Ruby. “Good job.”

“Hehe, thanks,” Ruby blushed and rubbed the back of her head.

Weiss frowned, looking away from the others.

“A-Also, Ruby, did you say “Ice the floor” or “Weiss the floor”?” Yang asked her.

Ruby rolled her eyes. “I said Weiss, comma, the floor. I’m not you, Yang. No bad jokes in the middle of fights from me.”

“Super missed opportunity,” Yang shook her head.

“Excuse me?” Weiss raised an eyebrow at her. “Exactly how so?”

“Look at you. You’re all… snowy,” Yang shrugged.

Weiss glared at her for a moment before looking back to Ruby. “Alright, can we move on from this utterly inane topic to getting back out of here? We need to get going until we find another hallway with arrows.”

“No,” Ruby said.

Weiss blinked, along with Blake and Yang.

“Why?” The heiress frowned, feeling her left eye twitch.

“Because that’s the wrong way and I’m sure about it,” Ruby held up a hand to calm Weiss before she explained further. “Think about it. This is a Labyrinth. Why would there be directions on how to get out of here? We’re supposed to discover the way out on our own after forming a team. The arrows, they must be a trick, just a way to get you more lost down here. We were following them long enough and they brought us nowhere. Whenever we get to a room where we see two tunnels, or hallways, or whatever, and one has arrows and the other doesn’t? We should be taking the unmarked one.”

Blake thumbed her chin. “I… think Ruby is right. It makes sense.”

“Eh, whatever, I’ll go with that then,” Yang said, not thinking too much about it.

“I-” Weiss frowned. She didn’t want to admit to being wrong, or needing to be corrected about something. But Ruby had a point. It made sense when she thought about it. “I suppose we can try that...”

Ruby smiled at her partner, and looked over at Yang and Blake as well. “Ready?”

“I think as long as we keep moving we should be fine,” Blake nodded.

“Yeah, not exactly in condition to fight anymore,” Yang continued to breathe a little heavily.

“I might have put too much into it…” Weiss offered a small smile in apology.

Yang shook her head. “No way, was awesome, just took a lot out of me.”

“Okay, come on team, let’s go!” Ruby cheered as everyone got together, in good spirits with one another too after conquering that Geist, and left to find their way out of the sprawling Labyrinth.

“Well done,” Glynda Goodwitch was telling them an hour later as they emerged from the exit to the Labyrinth—which happened to actually somehow be the same exact door they had entered earlier. She had apparently been left to wait for each and every newly formed team that came back out. “You’ve completed the third and final exam as new initiates of Beacon Academy.”

Ruby smiled, looking at the three others with her. Her big sister, the surprisingly friendly and easy to get along with Blake, and even Weiss who despite being kind of weird at times didn’t seem so bad. She was… actually happy. For as worried as she was about teammates and friends here at Beacon, this had turned out pretty dang well. As tired as they were, Yang, Blake and Weiss looked just as happy and proud as well.

“Tomorrow the Team Creation Ceremony will be conducted and you will no longer be initiates—you will be true students of Beacon Academy and well on your way to becoming Huntresses. Best of luck in your future endeavors.”

Chapter Text

“Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren. The four of you will form Team JNPR. Led by—Jaune Arc!”

The entire new class of students applauded for the newly formed team, the sound loudly echoing in the ceremonial chamber at the ground floor of Beacon tower. The ceremony had begun the morning after the third exam, so everyone could get some rest and clean up after what they had been through. Once breakfast had been taken care of, Goodwitch shepherded them into the grand circular room where Ozpin was waiting for all of them. Up on his slightly raised stage with the two huge holographic screens ready to show the new teams when they were brought up and announced.

Ruby was excited. Yang was excited. Blake was excited. Weiss was stressed.

“Good luck! Let’s be great Huntresses together!” Ruby cheered for Team JNPR, loudly clapping and whistling.

“With the Invincible Girl on their team I’d say they have a bright future just because of her,” Blake said.

“Pff, Invincible Girl my foot!” Yang rolled her eyes. “But I bet they’d be a fun team to fight.”

Once Team JNPR had left the stage, Ozpin cleared his throat and brought up the next four students. The fanfare was essentially the same but it was a little more muted—people had probably been really excited for Pyrrha in particular. Ruby watched with a big smile the whole time, hardly able to wait until they were the ones called up there. Next to her, Weiss did her best to not clutch her wrist and dig her fingernails into her flesh.

“… the four of you will form Team CRDL. Led by Cardin Winchester!”

Ruby snorted and giggled, poking Yang in the side. “Hehe, his name and their team name are basically the same.”

Yang tried to hold back some laughter too as she smirked and nodded swiftly.

“And now, would the next four students come up...” Ozpin said, gesturing to the audience as the computer screens flashed with pictures of Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang.

“That’s us!” Ruby threw a fist into the air and marched up onto the stage with Ozpin and the rest of her team. The other students cheered and applauded a little louder—and she had to imagine that was probably for everyone except her. Blake and Weiss were special and Yang was… well Yang was just hot, Ruby was used to seeing her sister get that sort of attention.

"Well done,” Ozpin smiled at the four of them. He didn’t give them any special introduction or say anything mentioning Blake’s heritage or Weiss’s family. Probably didn’t want to look like he was biased or playing favorites. “Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long.” He paused as he took a last appraising look at the four girls. “Together you will form Team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose!”

Ruby’s mouth dropped in shock, she couldn’t believe it.

“Way to go, sis!” Yang threw her arm around Ruby’s shoulders and pulled her in for a hug.

“Congratulations,” Blake smiled.

Weiss meanwhile stood where she was, a small frown tugging down her face and her eyes strangely empty. Only as she realized she needed to do something to not look strange did she start clapping and plastered a smile on her face for her new leader.

“I’m… I’m the...” Ruby looked out at the crowd of students applauding her and the rest of the team. She swallowed, clenching her fists tightly. A large smile slowly broke out across her face. This was the beginning.

I’m here, mom. Just like you. I’m going to become a Huntress, one who you can be proud of. No more negativity. No more pessimism. I’m going to be the best team leader and Huntress ever—just like you were. I’ll live up to you, I’ll be the hero like in the fairy tales, but for real. I promise.

Four girls stood in the doorway of their new dorm room at Beacon Academy. What would be their home for the next four years. Ruby had opened the door and let it swing inside, a big happy smile on her face. Four beds, a window, a closet, a bathroom. Their home.

“This is going to be amazing!” Ruby shouted as she zoomed inside and looked everything over, their luggage, sans their weapons that were still kept in the lockers, was already delivered and lying around the room as well.

“Really? It’s rather… small, isn’t it?” Weiss raised an eyebrow as she looked around, her own mountain of luggage dwarfing the others.

“I would say cozy instead,” Blake said before blushing and rubbing the back of her neck. “Buuut I’ll admit my bedroom back at Kuo Kuana is bigger...”

Ruby and Yang rolled their eyes together.

“Hey, take it from a pair of sisters who shared a room for like, ten years. This is plenty big enough for four people,” Yang smirked. “Well, four girls at least. Be a little awkward if we had any guys.”

Blake grimaced. “My dad would’ve flipped out, I kind of wonder if Ozpin had this planned with him so I wouldn’t have any boys on my team.”

Yang felt her chest tighten up a bit as she looked over at Blake. “Yeah… good thing.”

“Well...” Ruby frowned as she looked around. “It’s true though there won’t really be a lot of space for our things-” she glanced at Weiss. “-Weiss’s things. With these beds taking up most of the floor.”

Weiss glared at her.

“Sooo...” Ruby continued, tapping her chin. “Who wants bunk beds!”

“Bunk beds?” Weiss raised an eyebrow at her.

“Yeah! We’ll have twice as much space if we turn these into bunk beds,” Ruby eagerly pointed around to the opposite sides of the room. “Yang and Blake can be on one side and then you and me on the other! Oh—I get top bunk though!”

Weiss sighed. “Fine. I suppose having bunk beds is fine as long as it gives me more space to breathe in here.” She liked the idea of being on the bottom bunk too anyways, she wanted to place some of her things under her bed. Including a very important case in a very important bag.

“That sounds good to me,” Yang shrugged.

“Me too,” Blake smiled.

“Okay! Then it’s time for bunk beds and decorating Team RWBY’s dorm room!” Ruby pumped her fist in the air.

The four of them quickly renovated the dorm room, turning it from the practical if crowded space it was into the strange and now crowded with a ton of extra stuff space. As soon as the beds were stacked, rather precariously, atop one another, Weiss started to unpack her luggage and move her extra clothes into the closet, and slid some remaining bags under her bed. Ruby, true to her word, hopped up onto the top bunk with her bag and tried to smooth everything out. Yang and Blake’s space was much less rowdy looking, instead the nightstand by the bottom bunk just becoming a mess of Yang’s hair care supplies and the walls around the beds starting to become cluttered with posters of her favorite bands.

“Do you want the top bunk?” Yang asked Blake.

“Because cats like high places?” Blake frowned.

“Uh, wha—no! I didn’t-” Yang was cut off as Blake started to laugh.

“Got you,” Blake smirked. “Relax, Yang. And actually I’d rather have the bottom bunk, it’s closer to the bookshelves...”

Hearing the word “book” mentioned, Ruby remembered something. She reached into her bag while the others were still talking or organizing their things, her hand feeling the cover of an old, worn, book. Ruby took out the old copy of The Girl Who Fell Through the World and looked at it with a small smile on her face. That’s right, she had this with her. She didn’t need a bookshelf for it like Blake did, nor would she want to put it there with a bunch of other ordinary books in the first place. This was going to be right under her pillow. It was her connection with her mother just as much as the silver emblem she wore, here with her for the next four years. She stared at it, getting lost in thought.

“Ruby?”

Ruby jolted up, looking down to see Blake standing next to her bed.

“S-Sorry,” Blake’s ears wilted a little. “I just… I saw you with that book. Um, do you like to read too? Which book is it? I might have read it too.”

“Oh,” Ruby blinked, awkwardly chuckling. “Don’t worry about it, Blake. I was just thinking about something.” She showed Blake the cover. “It’s The Girl Who Fell Through the World. And I don’t know… I don’t really think I’m much of a reader, this was just my mom’s book. It was her favorite and… I guess it’s my favorite too.”

Blake’s face lit up and her ears went back to standing up straight. “I love that story! I read it as a kid again and again, I love all the old fairy tales, like the Story of the Seasons and the Tale of the Two Brothers and-” she stopped. “I’m sorry! I’m rambling, I kind of get that way when it comes to books and you even said that you weren’t really an avid reader. B-But you know my favorite book is The Twin-Souled Man, i-it’s about a man with two souls that are fighting for control of him. Something about it always really spoke to me...” she trailed off quietly before blushing in embarrassment. “Sorry! I’m rambling about books again...”

Ruby giggled. “It’s fine, Blake. If you want to tell me about the books you like sometime I’d be happy to hear.”

“R-Right… I’ve read The Twin-Souled Man probably a dozen times… I keep going back to it.”

Ruby rubbed the cover of her book. “I’m kind of the same way with this but that might just be because of my mom...”

“Did you know that that book is really mysterious?” Blake suddenly asked her. “The Girl Who Fell Through the World? No one actually knows who wrote it or where it came from… it’s like it just appeared in Remnant one day. There are some old folktales in Menagerie and Mistral about it, and some people who claim to have seen something similar happen to other people as what happened to Alyx when she fell into the Ever After.”

“There are rumors about people falling into mysterious glowing golden portals and never being heard from again?” Ruby raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not sure if they’re real but enough people have spoken about them,” Blake nodded. “It almost makes you wonder if some of the old fairy tales aren’t just fiction.”

“Please,” Weiss said as she stood up from packing her things under her bed. “I’ve read that story too, it’s fine but there’s nothing actually magical about it. It’s just a typical morality lesson for children.” She frowned. “And wishing to magically get whisked away from all your problems is just a fantasy.”

Blake was close to retorting when Ruby spoke up first-

“Yeah. I actually think you’re right about that, Weiss,” Ruby nodded.

Weiss and Blake both looked up at her in surprise as Ruby lied on her bed, book in hand, smiling longingly at it.

“But that’s why I’m a Huntress. Or going to be one. Because I’m going to solve those problems, because even if life isn’t like a fairy tale, we can strive to make it that way by being better and better. I don’t care if someone says the real world is different, I already know that, I’m still going to be like the heroes in the story, and I’m going to get that happy ending for everyone. Because why can’t I? That’s who Ruby Rose is. If I just magically wished myself away instead of doing something about my problems… I wouldn’t be Ruby Rose anymore.”

Blake stared at Ruby as she spoke, a longing but almost sad smile spreading on her face. “I think that’s… really something wonderful to strive towards, Ruby.”

“That’s my little sister for ya!” Yang said, grinning as she came up behind Weiss and Blake and threw her arms over their shoulders. “You guys started talking about some pretty deep stuff for what started with talking about an old fairy tale.” She looked up at the book Ruby was holding, her smile also becoming a bit sad. “Mom’s old book? I know you always kept that in your room, did mom give it to you before we came here?”

“Yeah,” Ruby nodded. “Right as we got on the airship actually.”

Weiss, pulling herself out of Yang’s embrace, frowned as she looked between the two girls. “Wait—what did you just say? Are the two of you sisters? And you were… living with two mothers before one passed?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Yang made a big “X” in front of her body. “Bzzt! A little wrong there, Weiss.” She then glared at the white-haired girl. “And a little more tact, maybe?”

“It’s fine, Yang, we were going to have to bring this all up at some point anyways. And I kind of forgot that Weiss didn’t know anything about the two of us… sorry, Weiss,” Ruby apologized, sliding The Girl Who Fell Through the World under her pillow and hopping off the bed. “Yang and I are half-sisters. Same dad, different moms.”

“You would not be able to tell that just from looking at you,” Weiss said, Blake discreetly nodding.

Ruby smiled while Yang rolled her eyes. “I know. We’ve heard that a lot.” Her smile broke for a moment as she tried to gather thoughts. “Right now… Yang and I live with her mom, Raven. My aunt. My mom, Summer Rose, she died ten years ago. And our father, Taiyang Xiao Long, he died about a year after that. Raven took us in when he did.”

Yang’s hands clenched into fists as she stared at the floor, squeezing her eyes shut.

“I’m sorry,” Blake frowned and reached out to take one of Yang’s trembling hands. “I didn’t know about that part...”

“Thanks,” Yang managed to smile for her. “It’s… it’s been a long time anyways, it’s okay.

“I’m sorry too,” Weiss said to Ruby. “You’ve lost more than anyone should have to. And… I’ve been rude to you.” Her face twisted uncomfortably, looking away as she spoke. “I apologize.”

Ruby exhaled deeply. “It’s okay. Like Yang said it’s been a long time. And we’re here now.”

Weiss felt that pointing out that unlike Ruby Yang still had her birth mother was probably not the right thing to do. Even if it would justify perhaps Ruby not feeling the same way about these things as her older sister. She instead reached forward and held her partner’s arm in an affectionate gesture.

“Thanks, Weiss,” Ruby smiled.

Weiss forced a small smile back. “What are teammates for?”

“It’s almost fate, isn’t it?” Ozpin asked as he looked over the team rosters.

“Some people—including a certain businessman and Faunus rights leader—might almost think you contrived to have Team RWBY come out the way it did. Not to mention a pair of little birdies rather close to the two other members on that team,” Glynda said as she stood behind him, looking at his computer display as well.

“Well those people would be wrong. As I’m sure you’re well aware, Glynda, I would never do such a thing. It’s far more… impressive… when something like this happens naturally. It’s like the world is telling us something, isn’t it?” Ozpin looked back and raised an eyebrow at her.

“I’m not sure I entirely agree, but you’ve always put more faith in luck than I have,” Glynda crossed her arms over her chest.

“Luck, chance, fate, destiny,” Ozpin shrugged. “These things are more powerful than you or I. That’s why I’ve always let the teams form the way they do.”

“And exactly why James doesn’t...” Glynda snorted.

Ozpin chuckled. “Yes, our good friend has a much different view on things. Always with a more pragmatic approach, wanting to treat Huntsmen and Huntresses like an army to be regimented and deployed at his need.” He winked at her. “But it’s good to have someone else around with a different way of thinking and seeing things. It can keep you from being complacent, nothing but like-minded people around can keep you from doing something better just because what you’re doing now works.”

“I’m still not looking forward to this, Ozpin,” Glynda sighed. “Coming early for the Vytal Festival is one thing, but bringing his own forces to supersede our authority and-”

“James is not going to supersede our authority. He is coming here to help,” Ozpin sternly stated. “The White Fang are one issue. The agitated Grimm are another. You’ve seen the signs, Glynda, the reports. The Grimm are not acting the way they have for centuries. Something is happening around Vale. Around Beacon. If it was just the White Fang I wouldn’t be quite so worried, but at the moment, I see no reason why we shouldn’t call upon and rely on an ally. James is not our enemy and we should not treat him as such. As… stubborn as he can be at times, we’re on the same side.”

“His heart is in the right place, is it?” Glynda raised an eyebrow.

“Just so,” Ozpin nodded. “And back to the topic of teams… I genuinely think this is a good thing. If Miss Schnee and Miss Belladonna become friends just think about what it will do for Human-Faunus relations? Ghira and I are both in agreement that with the White Fang not just becoming more bold, but more popular, something needs to be done. This is the first step to correcting generations of injustice, Miss Belladonna was right about that. We, every Academy, should have been pushing for Faunus admittance for longer than we have. That’s not even to mention Miss Rose and Miss Xiao Long, I have high hopes for them as well. If they can live up to their parents they’ll be the best Huntresses of their generation. Miss Rose especially… I just saw that spark in her when I met her at the police station that night.”

“I’m not sure how any of these girls would appreciate how you talk about them as if they’re tools.”

“You know that’s not how I view them, Glynda,” Ozpin frowned. “But it is true that we need children like them. And as long as the Grimm are around we always will. If the world can be made a better place at the same time… why not?”

Vale was a large city, with a lot of business that was done in and through it. No one could even count the amount of buildings that actually existed in the city or which warehouses in the industrial district or close to the docks were actually still in use or abandoned or not. No one had the time, no one had the desire. One such warehouse in the industrial district that was officially abandoned and not in use by any business was currently full of very busy people. Faunus, all wearing the garb of the White Fang, organized vials and crates of stolen dust, along with other expensive equipment that had been stolen or pilfered through other means.

In the foreman’s office, or what used to be the foreman’s office, two humans who would be normally very out of place in such an organization stayed. One was quiet. One was loud. One twirled her umbrella in her hand in agitation. And the other spoke on his scroll.

“Despite the recent hiccup it’s actually going pretty well. Better even. The police here can’t stop us at all,” Roman Torchwick spoke to the one calling him. “That’s not to say I’m happy with this job though. You know I-” he stopped and frowned as the person on the other end said something. “No, I just-” he grimaced. “Look, I know, okay? I know.”

Across from him, Neopolitan narrowed her eyes in frustration as she listened to his conversation.

Roman saw her and lifted his free hand, making a “yak-yak-yak” gesture with it as he talked on the phone.

Neo smiled.

Roman frowned as his conversation partner said something else. “I just don’t like working with these dumb mutts. Just being around Faunus is bad enough but actually working with them? I have standards.”

Another frown.

“No, I haven’t forgotten our arrangement. But I’m a little concerned with what might happen to me if Adam Taurus finds out that I wasn’t quite honest when I first came to him with my business deal.”

Roman heard something from the other end and blanched.

“Okay, okay, I get it. And no—he doesn’t suspect anything, he doesn’t know you exist at all. And in other good news I’m pretty sure Beacon has no idea what’s going on either. Whenever Adam bothers with talking to me he can’t keep the smug satisfaction out of his voice, talking about how “Perfectly my plan is proceeding” and other half-baked megalomaniacal nonsense. No matter what, things should turn out well for you,” he coughed. “Which uh, means they should turn out well for me when this is all done too, right?”

He sat there, holding his scroll for a moment longer, hearing nothing.

Roman blinked and clicked his tongue, looking over at Neo. “The bitch hung up on me!”

Neo rolled her eyes and pointed at herself.

“Sorry, sorry, I should have asked if things were going to turn out well for us. Not just me,” Roman apologized.

Pink light glittered around Neo’s neck and she was soon holding a noose up around her, her head lying to the side and her tongue lolling out. Before making the illusion shatter and glaring at Roman.

“Yes, thank you, I didn’t know we were in way over our heads and probably going to die. That was a helpful image, Neo,” Roman sighed and leaned back in his chair.

Neo walked behind his desk and laid a hand on his shoulder, her face full of concern.

“I know, but it’s fine. I’m me, remember?” Roman smirked. “I can get out of anything.” His eyes drifted to the office’s window where he could look down at all the White Fang grunts below. “Those psychos though… Hornhead’s got a real pack of fanatics here. If they even start to sniff out that we’re betraying them I don’t think it’s going to end well.”

Neo silently scoffed and rested Hush on her shoulder.

“Aw, thank you,” Roman reached out and patted her head. “Speaking of the mutts though… you know you have that job to do coming up in a few days? Looking forward to it?”

A nasty grin came to Neo’s face as she pressed one of Hush’s buttons and the spike of its blade popped out the top of the umbrella.

“I don’t know why I even bothered asking.”

Chapter Text

The bathroom of Team RWBY’s dorm room was locked as Weiss stood alone inside it early in the morning, staring at herself in the mirror. She had showered and gotten dressed, but that wasn’t all she needed to do. She stared at her reflection. Nearly glared at it while her hands tightly gripped the porcelain sink.

You can do this, Weiss. You can do this. They don’t know the truth. They’re all friendly, they’ll like you as long as you can keep it hidden. You can do this. It doesn’t matter that you weren’t made the team leader. You can still prove yourself. You can still become the best Huntress you can be. You’ll be the best W in Team RWBY you can be. Be there for your team. Be good. Be strong. Be positive. Don’t let the stress get to you. It doesn’t matter that you’re not the leader. You didn’t fail. You’re not a failure. You’re not worthless. Support your team, don’t let them down, don’t let yourself down. You matter. You can do things they can’t. Focus on that. You can do this, you can do this, you can do this.

She reached into her pocket and took out a small orange bottle, unscrewing the lid and taking out a single green pill. Weiss popped it into her mouth and swallowed it easily, not even needing to have a glass of water with it after so many years. She felt it go down her throat and settle in her stomach as she took a last calming breath.

Weiss looked into the mirror and smiled at her reflection. “Okay. I can do this.”

She stepped out of the bathroom completely casually and walked over to her bed. It was their first real day as a team, when they’d have real classes together, and she and the others were now wearing their Beacon uniforms instead of the clothes they had brought with them. Yang and Blake were talking about something by their bunk beds, while Ruby was sitting on hers, her feet dangling off the side. Good. No one was paying attention to her or trying to talk to her at the moment. She needed to do something before they left to go to class and she needed to do it without them seeing. It wasn’t anything bad, or anything that concerned them, Weiss just needed to keep it a secret. She had to put her pill bottle back in its case in her bag under the bed. Where no one would find it unless they were engaging in an outrageous invasion of her privacy. Something she could not fathom any of her teammates doing.

It was easy enough to do, she just had to act natural. Don’t be stiff, don’t do anything weird, she just finished cleaning up in the bathroom so perhaps she had some kind of beauty product she was now putting back? That’s all. She didn’t make eye contact but she didn’t intentionally look away from any of them either, she merely knelt down in front of her bed, pulled out the bag, opened up the plastic case inside, and then removed the pill bottle from her skirt’s pocket, tossing it inside. A quick zip-up of the bag and a push back under the bed and it was over.

Good work, Weiss!

No one saw or suspected anything. All the practice she had done to hide her condition before coming here was paying off. She just had to do this every morning for the next four years now.

...easy.

And get her pills replaced by high-speed package delivery from the SDC under the guise of “chronic migraine medication” because no one here could know about it or wonder why she kept going to the local pharmacy. It was the best way to reduce questions being asked of her. It was a lot easier to casually pick up a package delivered to her and get her pills without anyone finding out.

Surely this was much better than telling her teammates the truth.

Surely.

But speaking of her teammates, Weiss had something else she really needed to do. Something that couldn’t be put off any longer—even though there hadn’t really been a good opportunity for it before now. She would’ve liked to have done this one on one first, without Ruby and Yang in the room, but she certainly wasn’t going to tell them to leave either. And it was probably good that they could be part of it too anyways.

Weiss stood up and turned towards Blake as she and Yang were still chatting.

“Blake? May I speak with you?” Weiss asked.

Blake along with Yang turned to her, and Ruby also peered over her bed, attention caught at the formal tone Weiss was using.

“Sure?” Blake raised an eyebrow and walked over to Weiss, the two of them meeting in the middle of the room.

Weiss bit her lip, a little nervous, her hands were wringing together in front of her skirt. “It’s nothing bad but… I still feel the elephant in the room needs to be addressed. And I want to start our time as teammates off properly. And that can’t be done until we talk about this, because I know you also had to have had it on your mind.”

“Uh, what’s going on?” Yang asked while Ruby hopped down from her bed.

Weiss ignored the two of them for now, she didn’t want to lose her nerve with Blake. “You are Blake Belladonna-” Weiss calmly began. “You are the daughter of Ghira and Kali Belladonna of Menagerie. And you are the first Faunus to be allowed to enroll at Beacon Academy, any Academy, and train to become a true, licensed, Huntress. And I am Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and daughter of Jacques Schnee… who has done and said many harmful things to the Faunus. But I am not my father nor do I wish to be. I do not hate you, I do not hate the Faunus, I respect and admire you and why you are here. And I want us to get along for the good of humans and Faunus everywhere.”

“I… wow,” Blake blinked a couple of times, she had been listening and watching with rapt attention as Weiss spilled her guts out. As Weiss finished, a smile came to Blake’s face. “I was really expecting the worst when I came here, you know? Not because I wanted to, but because I had to. I had to keep myself psyched up for what might be a miserable four years, dealing with people who hated me and didn’t want me here, knowing I had to stick it out for the good of my people. But here you are telling me this… it’s almost ironic. I had no idea what type of person you were, I just knew you were, well, a Schnee. And I didn’t have high hopes, as unfair as that is to you. But you’ve already… Weiss, literally just by saying this and talking to me right now, you’ve already completely blown past my expectations. I… thank you. It means a lot to me that you’d say that. And that you honestly feel that way.”

“I meant everything I said. I do not want to emulate my father in any way,” Weiss shook her head.

“It’s okay, I’m not going to judge you for him,” Blake held up a hand.

“But...” Weiss frowned, looking down. “Even if I say these things… my entire life, I’ve been living off of the oppression the SDC and my father have committed. Even now, everything I have is built off that.”

“You can’t help what family you’re born into, Weiss...” Blake tried to reassure her.

“You can’t help being born a Faunus either but it’s not quite the same,” Weiss sighed. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be combative when we were getting along. I’ve just felt guilty about this for a long time. But please believe me when I say I want to help you and your mission here as best I can, to fix things between humanity and the Faunus.”

“I do believe you,” Blake smiled. “It’s okay, and you don’t need to worry about offending me. So long as you don’t hate Faunus or think something I do is just because I’m a Faunus.”

“That can be done,” Weiss smiled and nodded. “All I hate is the White Fang.”

Blake grimaced and forlornly looked at the floor. “On that we can agree. The White Fang, they’ve been ruining everything my father started and has been trying to build. I don’t understand how they can’t see that they’re just making everything worse. I know you have your reasons for hating them too but I… I doubt anyone despises them as much as me.”

Yang plopped a comforting hand on Blake’s shoulder. “It’s alright, you’re going to make everyone see that those jerks don’t matter anymore. You’re already doing more for the Faunus than they ever have.”

“Thanks, Yang,” Blake smiled.

Weiss sighed in relief. “I’m glad we could have this talk… it went much better than I expected.”

Blake began to speak but she was cut off by Ruby-

“Er, guys? That was a good talk and everything buuuuut class starts in two minutes,” their leader announced.

Weiss looked at the clock in their room. “Oops.”

“Being late on our first day of class? It’ll be like Pharos all over again,” Yang grinned.

“I’d rather not,” Blake rolled her eyes and grabbed Yang’s arm. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Let’s go!” Ruby cheered and led the way, running out of their dorm.

Weiss was about to follow when her scroll buzzed in her pocket. Who could—oh.

She wasn’t very excited as she took out her scroll and saw that she had a new message. As expected, it was from Winter. Part of Weiss wanted to just ignore it but she knew she shouldn’t. Regardless of any issues she had, she knew Winter cared and didn’t deserve to be ignored. And would likely be expecting a reply. Opening up the message she read:

I expected a call from you earlier. You should have been placed on a team and gotten settled in by now, correct? Were you made team leader just as you planned? It would be impressive if you were. Please call me when you have the chance, I worry about you.

Weiss’s hand tightly gripped her scroll as her left eye twitched slightly and a dull throb emerged behind her skull.

Pencil tapped against paper as Weiss focused all of her attention on Professor Port’s rambling stories of how he had personally hunted down and slaughtered numerous Grimm. Weiss didn’t even realize she was committing the nervous tic, so focused on not thinking about herself right now. Not thinking about Winter’s message. That’s what she had had her whole little pep talk in the bathroom for. Don’t let everything be ruined, the day had been going so well.

She didn’t care that the professor’s stories were incredibly boring and he was making himself out to be some sort of god-like Huntsman. It kept her mind off other things. She welcomed it.

She hoped her teammates didn’t notice her agitated state. She hoped they didn’t notice the change in her expression since leaving their room.

Don’t think about it, Weiss. Just listen to the story about how Port destroyed a den of Beowolves all on his own with only a butter knife for a weapon. She nodded to herself, eyes still focused towards the front of the classroom, she looked like the perfect student.

I am the perfect student. Studies have always been my strength. This is the first place I can prove myself as truly worthy, of truly belonging here. I know I can be the best in class on my team. That’s how I can support them, being the most studious, the smartest. Helping them that way if they ever need that sort of help. No offense to Ruby, but she did skip two years, and Yang doesn’t seem to be paying attention at all. And is however Blake was educated comparable to hers? Oh no, I shouldn’t say something like that, it might be offensive. But still! This is good, this is how I can be useful to my team!

“You wanted to lead the team, you wanted to prove you were the best.”

I didn’t hear that. Weiss grabbed her wrist and squeezed. That wasn’t real and I know it.

“Supporting them is nothing like leading. You’ve already failed. You’re useless, don’t kid yourself.”

Weiss ignored the voice, her medicine doing enough work that she knew it wasn’t real. Though the fact she was hearing voices at all meant she was too stressed. She needed to deal with that stress before it got worse and she had an actual problem.

Let her continue to focus on the lesson. Let her continue to learn about Grimm, how to kill them, what was expected of Huntresses. Don’t focus on the fact you weren’t made leader. Don’t focus on how your leader is a girl two years younger than you who acts quite silly and weird and didn’t even know what a Geist was. Don’t focus on how she figured out how to get out of the Labyrinth before you, or how it was her plan that allowed you all to beat the Geist. Or how Blake and Yang both clearly already have faith in her and would definitely listen to her over you in any situation. Don’tbeworriedaboutanythinglikethatanddon’tletitgettoyoubecauseyou’resmartandcapableandyou’renotafailureandthere’sabsolutelynothingwrongevenifyoucompletelyfailedsofarateverythingyouwantedtodoatBeaconandnoonerespectsorcaresaboutyouandyourfatherwasrightandWhitleystillhatesyouandthere’snothingyoucaneverdotochangeanythingbecauseyou’restillacrazypyschothatdriveseveryoneawayandruinseverythingandyoushouldjust-

“Wooh! Go, Ruby!” Yang shouted from next to her.

Weiss blinked, torn from her thoughts, and looked down at the front of class. When had Ruby gone down there? How long was she lost in thought? Her leader was proudly holding up her scythe as the bifurcated remains of a Boarbatusk disintegrated on the ground.

“That’s right!” Ruby smiled and gave a thumbs up to her teammates.

Blake chuckled and clapped, while Weiss realized her mistake and started clapping lightly for Ruby’s success as well.

What happened? Weiss felt herself sweat as Ruby came back up to join them, giving her sister a high-five. She tried to act natural, feeling the pain in her forehead getting worse. How did she lose track of time like that and zone out so badly? Another episode?

If Weiss was back home she’d excuse herself back to their room to sleep, or at least relax, the rest of the day. But she was a Huntress in training now. Even if it wasn’t the very first day of their classes she couldn’t do that. And she would look weak. Something she could not allow on top of everything else.

“G-Good job, Ruby,” Weiss said as Ruby sat down, managing to force a smile on her face.

“Thanks! I was getting really bored listening to Professor Port so, yeah, getting to fight a Grimm in the middle of class was pretty nice,” Ruby blushed.

“Right...” Weiss sighed. “Well boring or not I hope you can take your studies a little more seriously at some point...”

“Eh,” Ruby shrugged.

Weiss’s eye twitched.

“And this girl is still a better leader than you could ever be.”

Weiss bit her lip in time to stop an automatic response to a voice that was not there.

Everything was so… off. And she didn’t know why.

Class should’ve been her element. Although she was no slouch when it came to any aspect of being a Huntress, she was always proud of how diligent and intelligent she was. And yet for some reason she couldn’t focus on anything. Couldn’t draw up the will to care about what was being taught in class, or ever raise her hand to answer a question.

She and the rest of her team moved from class to class through the day and Weiss could hardly remember anything about it. Sometimes it felt like she was watching herself outside her own head. Sometimes her memories would lapse and what she had been seeing or doing for the last hour would be nothing more than a blur. She was fairly certain she had engaged in conversation with her team during lunch, but she couldn’t remember at all what she actually talked about. But they didn’t seem to notice anything off with her. They likely didn’t know her well enough to. Maybe they thought she was strange, or quieter than they expected, or nervous the first day at Beacon after living in Atlas her whole life.

Or maybe they did notice. Maybe they were talking behind her back. Laughing at how strange and awkward she was. Probably wondering why she was so quiet and what made her so off.

They probably suspected something. She could see how much easier the three of them talked with each other—she was the odd one out here.

She was standing over herself. Watching as her body talked to her team. The conversation was a normal one, they were preparing for Doctor Oobleck’s class. Weiss stared at herself. Watched as her own mouth moved when Ruby had asked her something. Talking. What was going on right now? Was this actually happening?

There was something very wrong. She shouldn’t be having an episode like this. She took her pill.

Or maybe she hadn’t. Maybe that was another mistaken, false, memory. That happened sometimes. Maybe all of this was a hallucination and everything she thought had happened today was in her head. It had all gone too nicely, hadn’t it? She was hoping for far too much, expecting far too much. Her mind was tricking her again. Her illness was spreading those doubts again. Knowing she couldn’t take a second pill in a day, making her convince herself that she really had, so now here she was trapped in her head with everything going wrong.

Another question came to her ears from Ruby. The girl had asked if she was alright.

No. No, why would she ask that if she was part of this? Why would she ask if she was already secretly laughing at her and plotting against her with the others?

No, this was wrong.

“Yes, Ruby, I’m alright,” Weiss said as she massaged her forehead, trying to pay attention to whatever it was Doctor Oobleck was going on about right now. “I just have a headache.”

“Oh, okay, you just looked really… stressed? Focused?” Ruby pondered from next to her. “I mean—I know you scowl a lot already but this seemed kind of different.”

Weiss sighed. “I’m fine, Ruby.”

“Huh?” Ruby said, her head peeking down at Weiss from her bed. “Did you say my name?”

Weiss was sitting on her bed. Her fingers dug into the sheets as she took a look around, they were all back in their dorm room. “When… when did we get back here? Weren’t we in class?”

"What?” Ruby frowned and flipped over, landing on the floor. “Classes are over. Weiss… you’ve been looking kind of strange all day, are you sure you’re okay?”

Weiss pursed her lips, not moving from her bed just yet. “I’d remember if we came back. I took it… there’s no way I should be having these lapses right now. Am I alright?” She stared ahead at the wall.

“Weiss?” Ruby asked, concerned, reaching a hand towards her partner.

Before she could reach her shoulder, Weiss flinched away. “W-What are you doing? Nothings’ wrong!”

Ruby jerked back, an almost frightened look on her face. Blake and Yang, who had been on their beds reading and listening to music respectively, also jolted up in surprise as they heard the sharpness of Weiss’s voice. Yang frowned and took her headphones off while Blake fixed the two of them with an inquisitive stare.

“What’s going on?” Yang asked.

“I-I don’t...” Ruby shook her head.

“I would remember this, I would remember, and I wouldn’t have been distracted, and I wouldn’t have heard those voices that weren’t there. You weren’t actually talking to me in class, because it doesn’t make sense,” Weiss stood up off her bed and began pacing back and forth.

“Weiss?” Blake asked as she got off her bed as well and a perplexed Yang hopped down.

“What?!” Weiss turned to her, a harsh glare on her face.

“Weiss, what’s going on?” Ruby tried reaching out again.

“Stop that! Stop acting concerned for me! I know you know, I bet you all actually know. I bet you’ve all been talking and laughing about it. Tricking me,” Weiss pointed her finger at them. “I bet that was all a big joke to you three this morning, no, since we first met. All just humoring me, just setting me up.” Her hand shook. “But you’ve all been working against me, huh? I know you’ve been talking to each other from the first day, every night, and I’ve just been some outsider, haven’t I? When did you figure it out? Did you see me take it this morning? Did my father tell you all about it so I’d go back to him?"

Ruby and the others were staring at her wide-eyed as she ranted, Weiss’s eyes twitching and her whole body trembling.

“Weiss, please, calm down, I-I don’t understand what’s wrong,” Ruby shook her head.

“We’re not… working against you,” Blake said, not entirely sure what Weiss even meant by that.

“Yeah, what you’re saying doesn’t make any sense,” Yang held up her hands defensively and took a step closer to the other girl.

“No! No, no, no! This isn’t right! None of this is right!” Weiss clutched her head as she paced back and forth. “This is wrong, why is it all wrong? Why didn’t anything work out?” She glanced at Ruby out of the corner of her eye for a moment. “Why did you have to take my spot? If you didn’t take it I would be fine. He wasn’t right… he wasn’t right about me being worthless. I should be the leader. I shouldn’t be like this, I shouldn’t be here, something is wrong!”

“Weiss, you’re acting crazy!” Yang said.

Weiss paused mid-step. She slowly turned to look at Yang with a frozen look of mishmashed horror and anger on her face. Her voice was calm and quiet as she spoke. “I’m not crazy.”

Ruby gulped, sharing a brief look with Blake. The young team leader stepped forward, again trying to reach towards Weiss and hoping the other girl would take her hands. “You’re not crazy, Weiss. We just want to know what’s wrong. Are you okay?”

“I am okay, because there’s nothing wrong with me. There’s never been anything wrong with me,” Weiss held her head tighter. “You’re wrong, you’re wrong, you’re wrong, you’re wrong, you’re wrong, you’re wrong, you’re wrong-”

“Weiss!” Ruby grabbed her. “Weiss, calm down!”

“Let go of me! I don’t need help! There’s nothing wrong with me! I don’t know what you think but you’re wrong, you didn’t see what you saw, the pills aren’t what you think, none of it is what you think!” Her left eye twitched. “You’re all against me… it’s a trap… a trick. Everything was a lie and you’ve been planning this from the start to bring me down...” She started breathing heavily, pulling herself out of Ruby’s grip. “I’ve gotta get away… I have to go… this isn’t right.”

Before any of them could say anything else, Weiss turned and ran out the door, leaving her shocked teammates behind.

Chapter Text

Weiss ran and ran down the halls of Beacon in the low evening light. She didn’t know what she was doing, she didn’t know where she was going, she just needed to go. The fresh memories of what she had just said, in the middle of another of her many mental breakdowns, were bombarding her. She had ruined everything. With just a moment of clarity that came from being out of that room Weiss knew she was wrong, she knew she had accused them solely out of paranoia and the stress making her symptoms act up despite taking her pill today. But it didn’t matter, because it had already happened. They had seen her at her worst. They had listened to her insane rantings. If they didn’t already know what was wrong with her they’d surely figure it out soon. So Weiss kept running.

“Why did that happen? Why did I have such a bad episode?” Weiss grimaced, tears flowing from her eyes as she ran. Her mind was clearer now although most of the day was still in a fog. The stress had simply caused a break, she knew that. It had happened before. Sometimes she had especially bad days where even her pills couldn’t really help her. Usually they were triggered by something.

She knew what had triggered it despite things looking so good in the morning. Not Winter. Her own insecurities that she had tried to ignore.

“It’s not fair, I didn’t want that to happen...” Weiss sniffled as she left the dormitories behind completely and ran out into the courtyards of Beacon. It was night. How late was it? She had no idea.

Her feet carried her to the statue of the Huntsman and Huntress right outside the main amphitheater. Weiss came to a stop in front of it, breathing heavily. She stared up at the two figures at the top of the statue as she felt her strength leave her body, falling to her knees.

Ruby ran after Weiss, hitting herself for being too shocked to run after her immediately and letting her get away.

“Stay here in case she comes back, I’m going to find her!” Ruby had shouted to Yang and Blake before bursting out the door in a storm of rose petals.

Where are you, Weiss? What’s going on? Ruby bit her lip as she searched through the halls.

She wasn’t even close to Weiss. If anything, Weiss was kind of a bother. But they were teammates now, right? Shouldn’t she be looking out for her?

She was running full force, going as fast as she could without using her semblance, looking out for any sign of white hair. Because of her speed and lack of paying attention to anything else, she turned one corner and almost went careening into someone walking down the hallway in the opposite direction. Ruby’s eyes widened as she slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop—right in front of a rather surprised Headmaster Ozpin.

“Well. Good evening, Miss Rose,” Ozpin blinked. Cane in one hand and mug of hot chocolate in the other.

“H-Hello, Mr. Ozpin!” Ruby shouted, nervously. “S-Sorry, I was in a hurry and I didn’t hear you walking around the corner...”

“Hurry for what, if I may ask? It’s quite late,” he raised an eyebrow.

“I uh… kind of, sort of...” she didn’t really know how to explain it and she didn’t want to mention Weiss specifically. “A team problem?”

A knowing smile came to Ozpin’s face. “Ah, first team argument? I must say you’re ahead of schedule on that.”

“Not exactly but… yeah,” Ruby sighed. Being face to face with Ozpin now she remembered something Weiss had said in the middle of her breakdown, and she wanted the opportunity to ask about it. “Er, Headmaster? Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead,” he smiled.

“Am I really the one who should’ve been made leader of my team?”

“Yes.”

Ruby blinked. “Uh, that quick? Really?

“Yes,” Ozpin repeated. “There’s no doubt in my mind that I made the correct choice. I think you’ll do a fantastic job as the leader of Team RWBY.”

“So after all three exams that’s what you came up with when you looked at the four of us?” Ruby wondered.

“Hmm...” Ozpin continued to smile, an amused glint in his eyes as he seemed to consider something. “I’m going to let you in on a secret. The first two exams don’t matter. Only the third exam has any bearing on team construction and picking the leader. The other exams are just for my own, and the rest of the staff’s, benefit to get a better grasp on you as individuals.”

Ruby stared at him, unblinking. “Should… should you be telling me that?”

“Probably not, but I trust you,” he winked.

“But the third exam… it’s all based on luck. It was pure chance Weiss ended up my partner and Yang and Blake were the other pair we ran into.”

“Indeed. And in my experience luck, or fate to some, has always been the best decider of teams. Meanwhile the choice of who is made leader comes from my observations during the third exam. And you, Miss Ruby Rose, showed great leadership and even greater potential.”

Ruby blushed. “Thanks… I don’t know how I feel about that luck part… but thank you.”

“Doubting yourself as leader?” Ozpin asked.

“No, I wasn’t. I was just… well, maybe I was. I just wanted to be sure it was the right decision,” Ruby shook her head.

“Miss Rose, what I say shouldn’t be what you need to decide that. Do you feel like it was the right decision?” Ozpin asked.

Ruby pursed her lips, deep in thought. She thought about Weiss, she thought about the exams, she thought about her dream. After a moment she looked up at him and nodded. “Yes.”

“Then I think you’ll be fine. Sorry to keep you from whatever it was you were in such a rush for, hopefully the next few days of class go better for you,” he said and started walking past her, taking one more sip from his mug.

Ruby grinned, feeling a bit better now as she chased after Weiss. She started running off and waved goodbye to Ozpin. “No problem, thanks for the talk, Headmaster!”

Weiss stayed on her knees, staring at the cold stones underneath her. What did she do from here? Was it all a mistake to have come in the first place? The night was growing colder, she was sure if she lifted her head to the sky she would’ve seen more and more stars coming out, and the broken apart moon would be hanging directly over her head. She breathed slowly, in and out, tired.

“So is this it? Is this what we amount to?”

Weiss looked up, peering into her own face as an indignant mirror of herself stared down at her, arms folded over her chest.

“Well?”

“You’re not real. I’m just having another hallucination,” Weiss squeezed her eyes shut. “The pills usually stop visual hallucinations entirely. This is just a bad day.”

“Keep telling ourselves that. It doesn’t stop us from being crazy, does it?”

“No...”

“It doesn’t stop us from being somewhere we shouldn’t be. Despite what father told us.”

“Shut up,” Weiss couldn’t help but glare at herself. “He’s wrong about us. I belong here. I can do it.”

“Then why weren’t we made the leader? Why are we still having so many problems? Someone was wrong, but I don’t think it was our father. It’s a shame. I didn’t want to be this pathetic.”

“We’re—I’m not pathetic. I’m not a failure.”

“Who are we kidding anymore? Let’s just go back to Atlas. We’ve already ruined things here.”

“No,” Weiss shook her head.

“Come on, why are we lying? If we could really do anything would we be talking like this right now? We said we wanted to prove that we could do anything but you know we were wrong by now.”

“No,” Weiss squeezed her eyes shut again, trying to ignore the hallucination. “Stop talking. Just go away, you aren’t real.”

“At some point we’re going to have to accept the truth.”

“Weiss?”

Weiss opened her eyes and turned her head, seeing Ruby standing behind her, the girl looking nervous and worried as she walked towards her hesitantly. Stopping a few feet away.

“Ruby...” Weiss whispered.

“I-I followed you… are you doing alright?” Ruby asked, she seemed to be aware of how dumb the question was but she didn’t know what else to say.

Weiss blinked and looked around for a moment, seeing no one else but the two of them there. She turned, still on her knees, not standing up just yet. “No. But I’ve calmed down a little.”

“G-Good?” Ruby shrugged and tried to smile. “I was, uh, really worried about you...”

Weiss shook her head. “I’m just having a bad day.”

“Oh, that’s okay, I have plenty of those too.”

“Heh,” Weiss managed a humorless chuckle. “Not that kind of a bad day. But thank you.” She looked up at Ruby. “You really came after me? After everything I said and how I was acting?”

“Of course! I had to make sure you were okay!” Ruby shouted as if it was supremely obvious.

“As the leader?” Weiss raised an eyebrow.

Ruby stiffened. “Weiss, about that-”

Before Ruby could finish, Weiss shook her head.

“I was jealous. I was upset that I didn’t get picked as the leader, stressed, even though I know Ozpin made the right choice. I had wanted to be the leader of our team to prove to myself that I wasn’t useless. I wanted to prove that I could do anything. I-I didn’t say anything, but I think it really hurt me when you were announced as leader over me. Knowing that you’re better suited for it didn’t really matter, it still made me feel inadequate,” Weiss admitted.

“But Weiss, I-”

“It’s not a big deal. I know that there’s far more to being a Huntress and part of a team than just being made the leader. You didn’t ask for it, I know that, but you were given the opportunity because you deserved it. And I didn’t,” Weiss smiled sadly. “And I have to accept that now.”

“You can still be an amazing Huntress, Weiss… I-I think you can be. For sure,” Ruby told her.

“Thank you… you’re being a very good team leader right now,” Weiss sighed.

“I-I just wanted you to know that I’m here to help you… whenever you need it. N-Not just as your team leader! But… as your partner. And as your friend,” Ruby told her.

“Are we friends?” Weiss asked, genuine curiosity in her voice.

“I think we can be...” Ruby shyly looked down and poked her fingers together.

“I’ve never had a friend.”

Ruby swiftly looked up. “Huh?”

“I’ve never had a friend,” Weiss repeated.

“Oh,” Ruby blinked. “Well me neither.”

Weiss looked taken aback. “You’ve never had a friend either?”

“Nope,” Ruby shook her head. "I don't think sisters count, so no."

“But you’re so… nice, and apologetic, and approachable...” Weiss frowned.

“Maybe you think that but uh, I’ve always been really awkward with people...” Ruby thought for a second. “Although I guess maybe Blake is my friend now? Not sure. How do you tell when someone’s your friend?”

“How would I know?” Weiss smiled in amusement.

“Oh… right.”

A giggle escaped Weiss’s lips before she could stop it. “You’re… didn’t you come here to cheer me up? Help me out? I have to take back what I said—you’re not doing a very good job of it.”

Ruby sighed and hunched over. “Sorry… doing my best. I kind of understand what it means to be a leader a little better now, and the expectations that come with it. But I guess I’m not perfect at it just yet.”

“It’s fine,” Weiss smiled at her. “Thank you. I appreciate what you’re doing, it’s very kind after everything I said.”

“I just… didn’t think you were feeling good after that. And I wanted to help you...” Ruby rubbed the back of her head. “If you ever need to talk about something, we can.”

“As teammates? Or...” Weiss blushed, a little embarrassed.

“As friends,” Ruby smiled.

“Then I would...” Weiss took a deep breath and stood up. “Then I would like to ask… if I can be your first friend, Ruby.” She held her hand out towards her team leader.

Ruby took it, positively beaming. “Absolutely. And I can be your first friend, Weiss.”

“That you can be,” Weiss felt moisture start to gather in her eyes and so she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as she held hands with Ruby. “I… there’s also… something I need to tell you and the others when we go back to our room. It’s important, and personal, and… and even scary. But I need—I want to tell you.”

Ruby clasped Weiss’s hand in hers, causing the heiress to open her eyes again to see Ruby’s smiling and supportive face.

“And whatever you need to tell us, we’ll all be there for you.”

Back in their dorm room, close to midnight almost, Weiss fidgeted and gathered her thoughts together while her three teammates patiently waited. She had a lot that needed to be said. A lot that was on her mind. And it was difficult for her to even begin. And she needed to get off on the right foot with them for all of this. So perhaps a fix was in order.

Weiss coughed into her fist. “I would like to first introduce myself to all of you.”

"Uh, we already know you though?” Yang said, tilting her head to the side.

Weiss glared at her. “Humor me then.”

“Yang...” Ruby sighed.

“Fine, fine, didn’t mean anything by it,” Yang held up her hands defensively. “Continue.”

“Thank you,” Weiss closed her eyes and took a deep breath, a hand held over her heart, calming herself as best she could while Ruby stood beside her and Yang and Blake sat before her. She opened her eyes and smiled at them all. “My name is Weiss Schnee. I have an older sister and a younger brother. I’m the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. I wish to become a Huntress. I now am the W in Team RWBY-” she glanced at Ruby as the two smiled at each other before steeling herself further and standing up straight. “And I have schizophrenia.”

Blake’s cat ears flattened and her face fell. Yang’s relaxed face morphed into one of surprise and sorrow as Weiss admitted her illness.

“Early-Onset Schizophrenia. It’s rare, but it happens. I was diagnosed ten years ago around when I turned seven. I take medicine daily for it but it isn’t perfect,” Weiss’s hands started to tremble so Ruby reached out to grasp her hand to help calm her down. Weiss took a few shaky breaths and continued. “I still have symptoms and side-effects from the medication… and stress can make it worse. No one knows this outside of my family and now… you. But I had to tell you. I just had to, we’re a team now and you deserved to know the truth about me. You deserved to know… why I am the way I am. For your own good as well as mine.”

“W-Weiss, I’m… I’m so sorry,” Yang said, standing up and reaching out to awkwardly hug Weiss before drawing back. “I… I had no idea. I thought… I don’t know...”

“I didn’t know either,” Blake quietly said, getting up as well. “I never suspected you would have a secret like this—that you’d been dealing with something like this. I’m sorry, but thank you for telling us. I know that must be difficult for you.”

“Yes,” Weiss nodded shakily. “But it’s necessary. I… I want us to be a real team. And I trust all of you.” She sighed. “It probably would’ve come out anyways after another moment like earlier today...”

“Did that happen because you forgot your medication or something?” Yang asked, swiftly earning an elbow to the gut from Blake.

“No,” Weiss shook her head. “That was just stress. I never forget to take my medicine. The… the last time I stopped taking it was when I was ten. I was being a child, and I was angry… at a lot of things. I didn’t want to have to take it anymore so I secretly stopped. For a few days it seemed fine.” She started to tear up, bringing her free hand to try and wipe the tears away. “But… but it’s difficult to really judge that, or how sick you actually are with an illness like this. Before I knew it, I was already suffering from hallucinations and confusion and I…” She swallowed, her throat dry. “And I stabbed my little brother.”

The other three gasped in shock, Ruby’s hand tightening around Weiss’s.

“H-He’s okay, it wasn’t a serious wound,” Weiss sadly looked at the floor, unable to meet their eyes. “He just… he doesn’t like to be around me anymore.” She had to reach a hand up to massage her forehead. “After that, I knew I could never stop taking my medication again. There hasn’t been a day since where I missed it. I… caused some unfortunate issues in my family because of that. My father wanted to forbid me from training to be a Huntress but my older sister interceded. She’s always been supportive of me, she wanted me to have the same opportunities as anyone else. When I said I wanted to be a Huntress—she was the one who made sure it could happen. I have… had some problems with her too, but I do love her.”

Weiss took another deep breath as she proceeded to reveal a selfish truth about herself that had been eating away at her since day one.

“And another thing. I… I didn’t become a Huntress for the same reason as all of you. I didn’t come to Beacon for any noble, selfless, reason. I came here because I wanted to prove that I could do something. I wanted to show him that I could be whatever I wanted to be. That I wasn’t…. worthless… and useless… a-and a disappointment, like he always said I was,” tears started to spill from Weiss’s eyes as she finished.

“From the way you describe him I’m amazed that bastard let you come here,” Yang growled.

“I think I know why he did,” Blake said, eyes narrowed in thought as she gazed at Weiss. “You threatened to tell. You threatened that you’d tell the whole world that Jacques Schnee’s daughter, his heiress, was schizophrenic. And someone like him would want to do whatever he could to avoid the media circus.”

“The exact word I used was “crazy” when talking to him, but yes,” Weiss smirked, joylessly.

“You’re not crazy, Weiss,” Ruby leaned in and hugged her. “And you don’t need to justify anything about why you want to become a Huntress. You deserve to be happy too.”

Weiss sniffled, not returning the hug but leaning into Ruby’s body all the same. “Thank you.”

“So your father is okay with all of this? Or as okay as he can be?” Blake asked.

“He knows he can’t announce I’m no longer his heir without questions being asked, but I think he’s looking to find a way to get this all quietly taken care of. Or hoping that a miracle cure for my illness will be found at least,” Weiss sighed.

“With all of your family’s money he wasn’t researching one himself?” Yang raised an eyebrow.

Weiss scoffed. “It wouldn’t be profitable, and people would wonder why Jacques Schnee was suddenly doing something so kind and good.” She wiped her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I’m here, living my life, proving that he was wrong.”

“That’s right,” Ruby hugged her tighter.

“I believe in you too, Weiss. I think you’re amazing,” Blake smiled.

“Yeah,” Yang nodded, looking almost exhausted. “That was a lot to take in too… anything else you need to get off your chest while we’re here?”

Weiss thought for a moment, eyes briefly glancing up at the ceiling. “I always wear high-heeled shoes or boots because I hate how short I am and I’m especially annoyed with being shorter than Ruby when neither of us is wearing shoes.”

“Huh?” Ruby looked Weiss up and down before beaming, realizing she was indeed maybe an inch taller than her partner. “I didn’t notice that!”

Weiss rolled her eyes. “Ugh. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Nothing wrong with being short though? It’s cute, and guys like short girls,” Yang gave her a thumbs up.

Weiss flatly stared back at her. “Oh yes, because I’ve given so much thought to romance what with having to deal with my crippling schizophrenia for my entire life.”

“Good point.”

Blake giggled. “Well, it’s good you can still have a sense of humor about this stuff.”

“Hmpf, I’ve had enough years to be miserable about it already,” Weiss sighed and pulled herself out of Ruby’s hug. “And one more thing concerning my… condition. If I ever get angry at you for something that didn’t happen, or have another episode like today, I’m sorry. I need to apologize for that in advance because it… because it is going to happen again. So forgive me if I make things difficult every now and again. But that’s not all. I don’t want… I don’t want you treating me differently just because of it or act like you need to worry about stepping on eggshells around me. Please, treat me the same, please don’t be different. Please.” Weiss pleaded. “And furthermore… if at some point I’m ever just being a plain bitch don’t be afraid to call me out on that either. I refuse to use my illness as a shield for my behavior. Sometimes the awful parts are going to be all me.”

“Don’t worry about that, I’ve never had a problem with calling someone out over anything,” Yang grinned.

“Yang...” Ruby frowned at her sister.

“It’s fine, Ruby, I’m fine with that. And… I suppose that’s all I have to request of you and tell you about,” Weiss said.

Ruby rubbed her arm affectionately. “This must’ve been really difficult for you, but I’m glad you told us. We’ll do what we can for you.”

“I actually have a question before we all get some sleep,” Blake said.

“Yes?” Weiss looked at her.

“Does… well… does Beacon and Ozpin know about this? I’m not going to tell or anything, but knowing about the requirements for coming here, and the medical records they check, among other things, did they let you enroll while knowing about your illness?” Blake asked.

Weiss shook her head, a troubled look coming to her face. “No. Only my immediate family, and now you, know about my schizophrenia. One of the perks of my family I suppose is my father’s ability to cover up and hide practically anything with the wealth of money he has. There are no official records of my illness or any hospital stays and most of my treatment was done with the help of private doctors in the first place. If Beacon does know, they found out on their own through some other means.”

“I don’t think Ozpin would kick you out or anything but we probably shouldn’t tell anybody...” Yang winced.

Weiss snorted. “Of course. When was the last time you heard of a Huntress who was cra—who had a mental illness?”

Ruby immediately grasped both of Weiss’s hands, holding them tightly, and bringing them up to her face. “You’ll be the first. And you’ll be amazing.”

Blake put a hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “Er, Ruby? I don’t know if that’s quite as inspiring as it sounded in your head.”

“No,” Weiss shook her head, smiling at Ruby. “That’s quite alright.”

“Oh, good,” Ruby giggled.

Weiss smiled for a bit more before releasing a long, shuddering, breath and pulling her hands free of Ruby’s. “And on that note, I need to sleep. I think all of us need to sleep and put this day behind us.”

“You’ve got that right, but hey, just like Ruby, you can talk to me about anything too. We’re teammates now, you’re my little sister’s partner. And...” Yang rubbed the back of her neck. “I honestly wasn’t sure about you when we first met and got put on the same team, but I think you’re cool now. Soooo, friends?”

“I would like that,” Weiss nodded. “Friends.”

“Me too,” Blake offered her a hand. “We had an important talk this morning, but that was different. That was formal. This right now, this is me asking if you’d like to be friends with me, Weiss Schnee?”

“I very much would,” Weiss graciously shook her hand.

“Alright, then we’re friends now too,” Blake smiled.

Ruby beamed at Weiss. “See? We’re all here for you.”

Weiss looked at her, and at the smiling faces of Blake and Yang. A warm feeling spread throughout her chest as she started to feel like that just maybe, everything would be okay. “Yes… I see.”

Chapter Text

Yang stretched on her bed in the morning before classes had started, engaging in her usual routine of lounging around and enjoying her free time as much as she could before Ruby or Weiss herded them all off to another round of obnoxious stories from Professor Port. She was staring up at the ceiling, humming to herself, while Weiss explained something about Grimm to Ruby over by their beds. About the only study topic other than weapon care and combat training that Ruby had any interest in. Same for her as a matter of fact.

The bathroom door then opened and Yang engaged in another part of her morning routine—discreetly glancing out of the corner of her eyes at Blake as she emerged from the bathroom while toweling her wet hair and cute cat ears.

No! Wait! Don’t do that, Yang! Don’t look at your teammate like that, it’s weird! What are you doing? How weirded out would Blake be if she knew you did this every morning? Ugh! That’s your partner, and she’s a girl, why are you looking at her like that?

This was getting to be a bit of a problem.

“What?”

“Huh?” Yang blinked.

“You’ve been staring at me this whole time. Is there something on my face? Is there a fish bone stuck in my teeth after lunch?” Blake asked her from behind her book, her eyes slightly narrowed in confusion.

Oops.

They were in the library, classes were over and done with, Ruby was practicing some kind of combat maneuver with Weiss and coming up with one for Yang and Blake. Meanwhile, Blake had come here to get some reading in where it was quiet. Yang had naturally tagged along. And had apparently been spending the entire time sitting across from her Faunus partner staring at her.

“No, there’s nothing on your face, sorry. I guess I was just spacing out,” Yang said.

Blake raised an eyebrow. “I’m confused as to why you’ve decided to come to the library if you’re just going to sit there and not read or study.” A frown passed over her face right after speaking. “S-Sorry, I really appreciate the company, I don’t want you to think I don’t want you around.”

“It’s okay,” Yang shook her head at Blake’s apology. “I guess I just didn’t want to be alone, you know? Rather hang out with my partner than do nothing.”

“But you are doing nothing.”

“Well it’s still more fun to do nothing with someone than by yourself,” Yang shrugged.

Blake smirked. “I don’t know if you were intentionally trying to be funny there but fine, sit away while I read.”

Oh, Yang gladly would. Although now she was a little worried that she was creeping Blake out. And why did she get so lost in Blake’s eyes anyways that she hadn’t realized she had been staring at her for so long in the first place? Yang had sat down across from her and before she knew it was apparently just ogling her. And that little smirk she just made. Yang couldn’t even count all the butterflies she had in her stomach now.

“Hey, since when did they allow pets in here?”

Yang and Blake both frowned and turned to the source of the voice they sadly recognized.

Cardin Winchester. And the rest of the cronies that made up his team. Classes had only been going on for a week but already Yang and Blake were familiar with him and how he felt about the Faunus. Every chance he took he would make a comment about Blake’s ears, or the White Fang, or just some hateful remark in general. It didn’t matter what the teachers said, Cardin was firm in his desires to make his feelings about the first Faunus at Beacon Academy known.

Yang stood up from her seat as Team CRDL approached. “They don’t. Good thing I don’t see any pets here, just a bunch of tools.”

“Yang.”

The blonde looked down to see Blake frowning at her and shaking her head. The silent plea to not make a scene was obvious. Yang just really, really, didn’t agree with that.

“Why don’t you let the cat speak for herself,” Cardin smirked and stood by the side of the table, glaring at Blake. “She speaks our language right? She wasn’t too dumb to pick it up?”

Yang was about to explode again when Blake cleared her throat.

Smiling pleasantly, Blake closed her book and looked at the boy and his teammates. “Actually, it’s a common misconception, but the Faunus of Menagerie speak the same language as the rest of the world. We did have our own language like most Kingdoms did at one point in the past, but we adopted Valean long ago. If you’d like to learn about our old tongue I’d be more than happy to teach you, I’m here to help relations between our two peoples, and education is the key to that.”

Cardin though, if we was annoyed by her lack of anger, didn’t show it just yet. Instead he only smirked wider. “Helping relations? Sorry, I’m not into bestiality.”

Yang’s eyes turned red-

Blake reached over, without looking, and clamped her hand down on Yang’s wrist. She never broke her smile with Cardin. “Good one, Cardin. All my friends back home will get a laugh out of that joke.”

Cardin narrowed his eyes. “Threatening me with your Faunus buddies?”

“Nothing of the sort. I really thought it was funny. I’m sorry, I understand how it could be misconstrued,” Blake apologized and that honestly just made Yang even angrier.

“Right, sure. Although I guess if you wanted to threaten me you wouldn’t talk to any old friends in Menagerie, you’d just call in the White Fang,” Cardin grinned.

For the first time, Blake’s smile faltered for a moment.

“That’s way over the line, Cardin! Blake isn’t with the White Fang! She hates those monsters!” Yang yelled at him.

“Pff, every dumb, dirty, Faunus is just a step away from the White Fang. They all really support them no matter what they might say,” Cardin pointed at Blake. “She’s acting all nice but every Faunus is nothing more than a criminal in waiting. They’re all scum.”

"I’m sorry you feel that way, Cardin. But I hope we can get along at some point in the future. I’ll show you you’re wrong about us. We’re good people just like you and the rest of your team,” Blake calmly said, back to smiling.

“Whatever,” Cardin snorted and walked away. “I’m done talking to dumb animals and dumb animal lovers.”

Yang grit her teeth, hands balled into fists as her rage nearly overtook her.

“Yang. Don’t,” Blake sharply said.

“How...” Yang trembled, sitting back down, still shaking with anger. “How can you just let him get away with that. With saying those horrible things?”

“Do you know what would happen if I punched him?” Blake raised an eyebrow.

“I—he deserves it!”

“That doesn’t matter, Yang. Everyone would hear about the Faunus who attacked a human student. Nothing else would be important. No one would care. I’m here to fix things, I’m here to make things better for my people, if I have to deal with Cardin being a jerk every now and then, fine. I can handle that. Besides, it was true what I said about helping to educate him. If he or anyone else genuinely wanted to learn about the Faunus I’d teach them. I knew what I was getting into when I came here, Yang,” Blake sighed and sunk down a little in her chair. “And I’m really, really, happy that most students aren’t anything like him.”

“But smiling. He called you an animal, he basically called you a terrorist too, and you just smiled the whole time,” Yang bit her lip and stared down at the table, angry for Blake’s sake. Sad for Blake’s sake. “It’s just wrong to let him do that. You shouldn’t have to take that.”

“I need to be better than that, Yang. That’s why I’ll always take the high road. I won’t give him or anyone else ammunition to use against me or the Faunus,” Blake shook her head.

Yang was still staring at the table, so she only noticed it right before it happened as Blake reached across the table and comfortingly placed her hand atop Yang’s. The touch sent fire of a different sort through Yang’s veins and the blonde had to do everything she could to fight off a blush as she looked up at her partner.

Blake was smiling warmly. “It means a lot to me, to have you say that, and to be by my side.”

“Y-Yeah, hehe...” Yang awkwardly chuckled and reached her free hand back behind her head. “No problem, I’ve always got your back when it comes to jerks like that.”

“You, Ruby, Weiss… I guess I was really lucky. You’ve all made me feel so welcomed… even though I’m a Faunus you treat me like anyone else,” Blake blushed. “A-And it’s not even in that forced way that so many Vale officials did before I actually enrolled here, where they had to treat me special because of this whole… experiment. And because they wanted to get on Ozpin and my father’s good side. You three are just… nice.”

This time Yang was not fully able to keep the blush from her face. “It’s just the right thing to do. And you’ve been nice to us from day one. Hell, we’re partners, teammates, friends, whatever you want to call it. And we’re here to become Huntresses. You deserve this…”

“Well thank you regardless,” Blake giggled a bit and pulled her hand back, once more opening up her book and getting back to reading. “At least it’s the weekend tomorrow and I won’t have to deal with Cardin in class.”

“Yeah… the weekend...” Yang mumbled. She was thinking about that too, they had some time to themselves, no classes or nothing going on. And Yang was a Vale native. And Blake wasn’t. And Yang wanted to hang out with her. And she hoped Blake would enjoy the same. “Er… Blake? Can I ask you something about Vale?”

Blake looked up from her book, another raised eyebrow. “Go on?”

“When you first came here from Menagerie did you really see it, or visit it at all?” Yang asked.

“Oh. Not really? It was pretty much me being whisked right off to Beacon to meet with Ozpin and some other important councilors. I saw the city when we flew over but for the most part I barely stepped foot in it at all. Why?” Blake tilted her head.

“Well I was wondering if this weekend you’d like to, you know, check it out. With me,” Yang again fought back any trace of a blush. Trying to sound as natural as possible. After all this was totally normal. Friends do stuff like this all the time, so why get weird about it? “I’ve lived in Vale with Ruby and my mom for years, I can show you around. If all you’ve really seen so far is Beacon it might be fun to have a change of scenery.”

Blake blinked a couple of times as Yang made her suggestion. “I… suppose that’s alright. I never really planned to actually see Vale that much now that I think about it.”

“Just going to hole yourself up at Beacon for the next four years?”

“Not really, but… I guess I wanted to focus more on what I’m doing here than take time for myself,” Blake sighed. “Although it probably would be a good thing to be seen in Vale, just being an ordinary Faunus. I guess it could help too even if we meet more people like Cardin out there.”

“Don’t worry, I’d keep any jerks like that off your back,” Yang grinned.

“Really? You wouldn’t be embarrassed or ashamed to be seen walking around the streets of Vale with a Faunus?”

“Wha—no! Of course not! I…” Yang paused as she saw the barely restrained laughter coming from Blake. “You’re messing with me again.”

“You’re just too easy sometimes,” Blake giggled and shrugged. “But going to Vale probably is a good idea. If for nothing else than I’ll probably end up seeing a lot of it over the next four years no matter what.” Her face got more serious as she looked away for a moment. “And I’m expecting to receive some packages from my dad every now and then, I’ll have to go to the Vale post center to pick those up… so I guess knowing the city better beforehand helps.”

Yang’s entire face brightened up. “So tomorrow! You and me, straight out to Vale! I know a cafe we can eat at and I dunno… we’ll just walk around and see the sights!”

Blake smiled at Yang’s enthusiasm. “I feel like you’re a lot more excited about this than me.”

“Uh… no… just… well it’s exciting to show a new friend around your home!” Yang defended herself.

“Sure,” Blake chuckled again before suddenly frowning—a thought coming to her mind. “Actually though, I’m worried about something else if we go into Vale.”

“What?” Yang asked.

Blake looked uncomfortable with what she was about to say, something clearly eating at her. “The White Fang. I don’t… I really don’t expect anything, even after that message Adam Taurus made right after my speech, but the streets of Vale aren’t as safe as Beacon. And if they try something I don’t want you dragged into it.”

“Hey,” Yang stood up, slamming her palms on the table enough to loudly startle the other students in the library. “If they try anything, I’ll be there right alongside you stomping those creeps into the dirt.”

A wry smirk appeared on Blake’s face. “I admire your confidence.”

“We’re teammates now. I’ve got your back,” Yang didn’t smirk, she continued to gaze seriously down at Blake.

After a moment, a more genuine smile appeared on Blake’s face. “Thank you. I guess that settles it then. Time to explore Vale tomorrow.”

“That’s right,” Yang stood up straight, smiling once more. “We’re gonna have a blast.”

Yang and Blake walked together down the streets of Vale early the next day. It was going to be a bit of a trip so they woke up early to get out there because Yang wanted to show off as much as possible. The city was way too big for Blake to see everything in one day but Yang was going to cram in as much as she could. What would Blake really like to see besides the major stuff? The library? A bookstore? She should’ve actually planned this better but it had been kind of a spur of the moment thing. Next time she’d take her by the docks or something. Either way, even if it just ended up with them mostly wandering around and doing nothing, Yang still counted that as mission accomplished. Blake got to see Vale, Yang got to spend time with Blake.

Wait, no, she didn’t have an ulterior motive!”

“It’s so different,” Blake said as they walked down the streets, shops and other buildings taking up every bit of space. “I mean, I already knew that from the news, and reading about it, and seeing it on my trip but… actually walking through the streets it really is just so different from Menagerie. It’s like a different world.”

“Only other place I’ve been to is Patch and it’s pretty different from here too,” Yang nodded.

“Patch?” Blake looked at her. “That’s the island east of Vale, right?”

“Yep. Used to live there with mom and dad before… well, you know,” Yang sighed and slumped a bit.

“Right, sorry. And then your mom took you in and you moved to Vale with her?” Blake asked.

“Don’t apologize, it was a long time ago. And yeah,” Yang snorted, having a brief chuckle. “Mom and mom, sorry if that ever gets confusing but they’re both mom to me.”

Blake smiled. “I think that’s fine. It’s sweet.”

Yang blushed slightly as they continued on.

They were in their more casual (i.e. Huntress) outfits for the day, carrying their weapons with them as well. Just in case. Although they really hoped they didn’t have to use them. They didn’t even expect to use them, but they were prepared for the worst case scenario in case some dumb jerk or some White Fang terrorist decided to try something. Besides, Yang just felt plain nice wearing Ember Celica.

They had arrived at one of the main transportation stations of Vale after leaving Beacon, an airship ride ready to take them back whenever they felt they had seen enough here. Yang had already pointed out the main government office, and the post office that Blake said she’d be using when she got stuff from Menagerie. But mostly they had just been walking along, taking in everything about the city and its paved streets that according to Blake were also quite different from Menagerie.

And of course, they received quite a few looks.

Yang was no stranger to receiving looks on the street. But that was usually different. There were hushed whispers, glances of confusion, narrowed eyes, all sent towards the pair from Beacon. Yang frowned. They had to recognize Blake, were the average citizens really this against it? Or did they not recognize her and they just didn’t like seeing a Faunus around. No, that didn’t make sense. There were tons of Faunus in Vale, there was no way this was normal.

Or maybe it was. And she just never realized what Faunus had to go through here because she had never walked alongside one.

And Blake was just smiling all the same, even though she definitely noticed too.

“I’m really sorry about this...” Yang mumbled.

“It’s fine, Yang,” Blake shook her head.

“It’s really not...”

At least no one was saying anything to them directly but it seemed that practically every other person they passed by sent them a dirty look. Yang probably would’ve said something if she hadn’t been consistently held back by Blake multiple times already. Since seeing the sights in Vale wasn’t exactly going as planned, Yang decided they might as well get lunch now, there was an outdoor cafe she knew where they could at least sit and eat in peace.

While walking down the street to it they also passed by a big restaurant that Yang knew, it was a place that belonged to the family of an old classmate at Pharos.

“That’s a good place to eat at but it’s kind of too formal for us,” Yang smiled as she pointed it out. “Maybe if we were wearing something a little less...” she looked down at her own clothes. “Flashy.”

“Yeah...” Blake’s ears wilted as she looked at the restaurant.

Yang looked at her, seeing a sad expression had come over her face. “What is it?”

Blake’s mouth twisted up a little and she glanced at a sign next to the main door of the restaurant.

Yang looked and her eyes widened: No Faunus Allowed

“I… I...” Yang’s hands clenched into fists. “T-That’s new… I didn’t… I wouldn’t go to a place that did something like that...”

Blake rested a hand on her shoulder and put on a smile again, as forced as it seemed. “I know you wouldn’t.”

“They’re not supposed to put up signs like that...” Yang glumly looked down at the ground, too ashamed to meet Blake’s gaze.

“I’m aware of Vale’s laws. Technically illegal but not enforced,” Blake sighed. “It’s okay. You don’t need to apologize for anything. I’m still happy to be here, thank you for showing me around.”

Yang’s shoulders slumped. “Not exactly as fun of a weekend as I wanted to show you...”

Blake squeezed Yang’s shoulder. “Stop moping about things you can’t control. You wanted me to have fun in Vale, so don’t get discouraged so easily. I haven’t known you for that long but I thought it would take way more than this to bring you down. You always seem so fiery and full of energy.”

“Ruby’s more full of energy… I’m just passionate I guess,” Yang sighed but a blush also came to her cheeks from Blake’s supportive words and the hand on her shoulder. “I like doing fun stuff like dancing, and fighting… and fighting.”

“Heh,” Blake giggled. “Well, I don’t know about dancing but we can at least do combat training at Beacon soon.”

“Don’t like to dance?” Yang asked.

“Well… I’m not against trying but I’ve never really done anything like that,” Blake shrugged.

“Okay, hold on, if you’ve never been dancing then I already know what we’re doing the next time we come out to Vale. We’ll hit this club I know late at night and I’ll show you how to dance,” Yang grinned.

“Sure,” Blake managed a more genuine smile again. “I wasn’t planning on doing any dancing at Beacon but I suppose that sounds fun. I doubt Weiss would normally go to a club but I bet us and Ruby can convince her. Next time we’re out in the city that is.”

“Oh,” Yang blinked. Weiss and Ruby. Yeah. Of course Blake would assume if they were actually planning something ahead of time, that they’d invite Weiss and Ruby too. It wouldn’t be just the two of them going to a dance club late at night. “Yeah, that’s right, all four of us would have a great time together...”

Blake tilted her head. “Yang? Something the matter?”

“N-No, I was just-”

Yang was saved by a car zooming past the two of them that caught Blake’s attention. The Faunus watched it go, her ears twitching all the while.

“You don’t really see cars in Menagerie...” Blake said before frowning. “Ugh, I’m making it sound like some kind of uncivilized jungle island! Kuo Kuana’s a real city just like Vale, it’s just different, I promise!”

Yang laughed and patted her shoulder. “Relax, I’m not making any judgments. Come on, let’s actually get something to eat.”

They walked for a little while longer until they reached the outdoor cafe that Yang was leading them to. There were plenty of tables with umbrellas for them to sit at and chat while eating, or just take a moment of silence and people watch. The cafe was well situated in a busy area between two streets, you could see out into a park a little ways away and there was a plaza right below where the cafe was. And of course, there was certainly no sign anywhere on or around the cafe that said Faunus weren’t allowed. Together they went inside, and while some people still gave them weird looks, the ones behind the counter did not, and Yang and Blake ended up with a pair of drinks and sandwiches, heading back out to one of the tables.

“Iced coffee, huh? Ruby can’t stand iced coffee, only regular, and she takes hers with so much sugar,” Yang shook her head. “You wouldn’t believe it. And I would’ve expected you for a tea person...”

Blake smirked. “Tea is certainly good but sometimes it’s coffee you need. I can’t say I’m surprised by your choice of drink...”

Yang held up her high-calorie ultra energy aura infused strawberry smoothie. “Yeah.”

“Pff,” Blake snorted. “I’ll eat a feast of fish if you put it before me but a simple tea or coffee is all I’d like to drink on an occasion like this.”

“And… about that occasion. You are enjoying it, right?” Yang asked, hesitantly.

“Yes, Yang, I’m enjoying it. In large part just because the company is so good,” Blake smiled.

Yang had to do all she could to stop from becoming a blushing, stammering, mess. She knew Blake didn’t mean it that way. And Yang didn’t want her to mean it that way anyways. She was still… confused… over why Blake made her feel so strange sometimes. She didn’t understand why just a smile, just a look, from her could make Yang blush when no one, boy or girl, had been able to do that to her before.

So instead, with not much to talk about anyways, the two drank and ate in peace. Vale continued to pass by around them, the day growing later, Blake seemingly attuned to every little thing that happened around them. Whether it was more vehicles, kids out running around, or people walking to and from work, Blake took it all in.

“Are you thinking about something?” Yang finally asked after the silence had gone on a little longer than she liked.

“I’m just… watching. This is the world I’m trying to make a bridge with. These are the people I’m trying to connect with,” Blake said, momentarily resting her face in her palm as she gazed across the streets. “There’s so much more I’m doing besides just training to kill Grimm. When you asked me to come here I almost rejected it just because I wasn’t sure if it was right to “waste time” when I’ve got so much I need to do with my life. And even then I only came after justifying that it would be helpful to my mission...” she sighed. “I still feel a little guilty about taking time to myself.”

“You shouldn’t though. I mean, you’ve got four years of this, and you’re doing something that’s crazy stressful and tough. You need to relax sometimes, live a little, let me and Ruby and Weiss help you out sometimes too. Forget about all that stuff for today! Just try and have a little fun,” Yang cheered.

“We’ll see. I know all of this is going to be a long, slow, process. And…” she grimaced, another guilty look spreading across her face. “I kind of wish the people of Vale were all like you and Ruby. It would make this easier. I don’t want to feel any negative thoughts when I look out here at these people walking by but… sometimes I can’t help it.”

“You have a right to-”

“No, I don’t. I don’t have that right, Yang,” Blake shook her head. “I have to be the good one. I have to be perfect. I can’t let myself get that way or let up at all because what I’m doing here is too important.” She scowled for a moment before putting a smile back on her face. “That’s why I’ll keep smiling, and be the perfect Huntress at Beacon Academy too.”

Yang sadly looked back at Blake. Every time today when it seemed like things were going good, and that Blake was happy, it seemed like it just got turned around again. And the worst part was it’s not like Yang could say “I understand” or had anything to say besides the standard platitudes. She had no idea what Blake’s life was like or how she was feeling now. It was totally foreign to her.

But she wouldn’t let that get her down completely or let it totally ruin how this day was supposed to be for fun. That wasn’t the type of person Yang was.

Yang clapped her hands together and stood up, almost startling Blake. “Come on, I think we’ve sat around enough, there’s still more of Vale to see—and I’m not letting us go back to Beacon until I know you’ve had a fun day out here for real.”

Blake’s forced smile slipped a little as she looked up at Yang before a more amused, and genuine, smirk replaced it. “Fine, fine, if you say so.”

Chapter Text

Evening was approaching in Vale, the sun going down enough to cast an orange glow across the streets.

Just as promised, Yang had done everything she could to make Blake have a good time since leaving the cafe. No more talking about heavy topics, no more letting the stares and glares of jerks get to them, just two teammates, two friends, hanging out and having a good time. As expected, Blake had indeed enjoyed the used bookstore Yang had taken her to. Yang was really, really, glad she remembered it existed thanks to the couple of times her mom went to buy something from it.

“I guess we oughta go back soon. I know Beacon has transport for students going 24/7 if they really need it but you probably want to be back at the Academy before too late?” Yang asked Blake as they walked together.

Blake nodded. “Yes. It’s been fun but we should get back soon if we want to get enough sleep tonight. I know Ruby wanted to practice combat training and team attacks tomorrow...”

“She’s gotten really enthusiastic ever since being made leader,” Yang smiled. “I always knew she was amazing, but she was pretty awkward when it came to making friends and talking to people. Coming to Beacon has really helped her out.”

“You really love her, huh?” Blake smiled.

“Of course! Ruby’s like—a ball of sunshine. She’s always been so perfect when it comes to becoming a Huntress, she’s always super positive, and dependable. She’s so optimistic even with everything we’ve been through, you can always count on her to keep your hopes up,” Yang positively beamed about her little sister.

Blake watched her as she talked, saw the genuine love on Yang’s face and heard the honesty in her words. But she couldn’t help but feel that maybe Yang had a bit of a warped view of her sister. From what she had seen of Ruby during that first exam and a few other times, Blake wasn’t really sure if she’d agree with Yang’s assessment. Not entirely. Ruby was amazing and she did a really good job of keeping everyone happy now that they were a team. But she doubted Ruby was always that “ball of sunshine” that Yang had described her as. Of course she wasn’t about to tell Yang this, that would be like opening a can of worms right now, and she didn’t have a sister herself to really know what sibling relationships were like. Yang’s admiration was just clouding her judgment a little, it wasn’t a bad thing.

“She’s doing a great job as leader,” Blake nodded, still smiling. “You know the Vytal Festival is this year, I honestly think we can be the best team from Beacon.”

Yang’s grin widened and she punched her fists together. “Hell yeah we can be. I’m looking forward to that already.”

Because of how all over the place they went today, they took a different path to get back to the airship station. That took them down a street where they passed by a large two-story building that looked like some kind of lounge or public meeting space. When they passed by its front doors, Blake came to a stop.

Yang nearly bumped into her arm before stopping as well. “Huh? What’s up?”

Blake was staring at a sign, a temporary poster, posted on the door of the building. Yang was worried at first, until she took a look at it and realized it was the exact opposite of what she was expecting.

Tonight! Meeting of the Vale Human/Faunus Alliance!

Drinks and Refreshments Free!

Come and learn more about our Faunus brothers and sisters! NO ROOM FOR HATE IN VALE!

“Huh. Never even heard of this group,” Yang said.

“It must just be a small club… they probably rented this space for the night,” Blake said, her face neutral.

“Well that’s pretty nice after everything else we’ve seen...” Yang said, wanting to move past this topic quickly. They had done a good job avoiding anything serious for a while.

“I want to go in.”

Yang winced. “Well, if you want… I thought we were going to be forgetting about this kind of stuff for the rest of the day.”

“I know,” Blake sighed. “And I know it’s probably going to be really awkward in there. And I’m definitely going to be recognized but… this is still the kind of thing I’m here to do.”

“Are you sure? You don’t have to always be “on” for stuff like this. I really wanted you to relax and have fun,” Yang said.

“And I have been,” Blake smiled at her. “Going in here, it’s business again, but it’s at least business that should be good. I’m sorry, Yang, but I can’t really just ignore something like this after walking by. It’s too important, even if it’s just some small club. I kind of do have to always be on.”

Yang scratched the back of her head, her hand almost getting lost in her mane of hair. “I guess I can’t complain about that. Like you said though, you’re probably about to become the center of attention when you go in there. If anybody gets a little too personal I’ll fight em off.”

“I already know it’s going to be embarrassing. I’ve gotten used to these kinds of things ever since my father chose me for the role,” Blake said and grasped the door handle. “Let’s just hope everyone’s an adult about it.”

The two of them entered into the building and took a look around. The area to their right was actually a small library with a number of bookshelves for browsing while to their left was a lounge area with a number of chairs and tables either for sitting at and reading or just relaxing at. There were a pair of staircases at the far right and left corners of the building that went up to whatever the second floor was, but most important to Blake and Yang was what was directly ahead of them. In the middle and against the back of the first floor was a large conference table that a number of people were gathered at, mingling with one another, the table with an assortment of drinks and snacks on it. And a sign held up on a display behind the table with a picture of two people holding hands. That made Yang cringe just a bit but she appreciated the sentiment at least.

And Blake was right that it was likely just a small club. Yang saw twelve people in total, nine humans and three Faunus. Not exactly a great look for equality and relations in Vale but it was a start.

The group hadn’t noticed them enter yet either, so Yang and Blake strode forward, a plastic smile on Blake’s face and an awkward grimace on Yang’s. Maybe Blake wasn’t feeling as up for it as she said, because even Yang was able to tell that that smile was pretty forced. But she wasn’t going to say anything if Blake didn’t want her to. Together the two of them walked up to the group, stopping pretty much right in front of the table, and stood there as the pro-Faunus group finally noticed their arrival.

And as expected, they all clearly recognized Blake.

It was easy to see on their faces and how their eyes all zeroed in on her and basically ignored Yang. Not something she was used to. The humans and Faunus alike were completely bewildered, they looked shocked, amazed, excited, to see Blake Belladonna here. At their meeting. It must’ve been like a dream come true for them.

Once the initial shock had passed, the dozen people had quickly rounded around the table and began crowding Blake.

“A-Are you really Miss Blake Belladonna?”

“Do you know of our group?”

“I can’t believe it’s really you!”

“You’re an inspiration to Faunus everywhere!”

“How did you know about our meeting tonight?”

They were really invading Blake’s personal space and not letting her get a single word in so Yang interceded and pushed herself between Blake and her rabid fans. “Okay, okay! Give her some room to breathe, geez!”

Blake seemed a little grateful for the intrusion, shooting Yang a wink, as the overly enthusiastic group stepped back and started to quiet down.

“S-Sorry about that, we’re just so surprised,” a platinum-blonde woman in her thirties apologized. “My name is Opal Lemondrop. I’m the founder of the Vale Human/Faunus Alliance. M-Miss Blake Belladonna, I’m so happy to see you here, you’ve been a huge inspiration to us. Thank you for coming, truly.”

“You’re welcome,” Blake smiled but held up her hands defensively at the same time. “But to be honest, we were just walking through Vale when we happened to see the sign about your meeting here. It was just chance that we came. But I’m really happy a group like yours exists. I really respect what you’re doing.”

“I just wish there were more Faunus who would join us,” a dog Faunus of some sort said. “There are a lot of others in Vale who would like to join a group like this but don’t have the courage to. Hopefully with you here more people will change their minds.”

“That’s part of what I’m aiming for. I probably should’ve done some research into groups like yours to see if there were more Faunus and humans in Vale who might really help with our people’s relationship,” Blake said.

“We wanted to organize an event, like a fundraiser, or march, but we didn’t have the numbers for it...” another human glumly stated.

“There’s another group that’s trying to set up a charity for Faunus victims of discrimination in Vale though. But… no group really gets very far or accomplishes much,” Opal said, clearly not liking having to admit that to Blake.

“It’s… going to be a slow change. Even with me here. The point is that there are people trying to make things better,” Blake smiled.

Opal reached forward to gently grasp Blake’s hands. “Thank you, just you being here at all means the world to us. For so long no one paid people like us any attention at all.”

“You’ve really made the Faunus in Vale feel more hopeful. It’s like we can actually look forward to something,” another Faunus, a young twenty-something girl with furry arms and claws for hands said.

“Thank you,” Blake blushed. “But I haven’t done much yet. If, um, I wasn’t planning this when we first walked in here, but if you could give me your contact information and tell me about these other groups in Vale? Maybe we can get in touch together and organize something big for the Faunus. Just as much as training to become a true Huntress, I’m here to do stuff like that. I think even Headmaster Ozpin and most of the Vale council might be able to get on board with it and help out.”

“That would be amazing!” Opal cheered. “I think we can finally accomplish some real change in Vale thanks to you, Miss Belladonna!”

Behind them, while they all continued to talk, Yang heard the front door to the building open and she looked to see a young smiling girl striding inside. Black hair, green eyes, she carried a cane or walking stick of some sort with her as well. And most notable was her skin, patches of it covered in green scales that reminded Yang of a chameleon. Yang raised an eyebrow. Another Faunus that was part of the group? Or perhaps one that saw the sign and was curious and might even want to join.

When she was about halfway to the group, the others in the building noticed her for the first time as well.

Opal’s face lit up with joy as she spied the new Faunus girl. “Hello! Did you see our sign as well? Would you care to join us for the evening?”

Huh, new Faunus I guess. Yang shrugged as Opal stepped past Blake to politely greet the new girl.

However, there was something disconcerting about the smile on the girl’s face that made Yang uncomfortable.

“We’re the Vale Human/Faunus Alliance, my name is Opal and-”

Opal was cut off as the Faunus girl lifted up her cane, a blade extending out of the bottom of it, and then stabbed her through the chest. There was a meaty thunk sound and Opal’s eyes went wide as she coughed up blood onto her chin before the assailant removed the blade and Opal fell backwards, dead before she hit the floor. The Faunus girl sadistically grinned at her handiwork while blood quickly started to pool on the carpet.

“OPAL!”

“AAAAAAHHHH!”

Yang didn’t know or cared who the ones were that screamed, she was already running towards the chameleon Faunus, Ember Celica extending on her forearms, one arm pulled back and ready to punch. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Blake—shocked and eyes wide—but still reaching for Gambol Shroud on her back as well. Yang got to the murderer faster though, aiming to take the girl out with a single strong punch.

But the Faunus girl was quick, she showed absolutely no fear or hesitation as Yang came flying at her, merely turning to the side, spinning, and delivering a kick to Yang’s stomach that sent Yang flying back into a table in the lounge area of the floor.

As Yang demolished the table and came to a rough stop, Blake took the opportunity to leap at the chameleon. She pulled out Gambol Shroud and swung at the other Faunus, but a quick flick of the Faunus’s cane blocked her blade. For a moment, there was a look of surprise on the chameleon’s face as she seemed to realize just who it was that was attacking her, her brow furrowed as she jumped back, seeming to think about something. Blake held Gambol Shroud at the ready, glaring at the other Faunus. The chameleon finally just smirked and silently chuckled, shrugging before running at Blake. They traded several blows, the chameleon pushing Blake back with several pinpoint thrusts until Blake pulled the sheath from her back and swung it at her head. The chameleon though simply jumped in the air, her light body twisting as she kicked Blake in the back of the head and sent her sprawling.

Yang got up, but not before the chameleon landed in front of one of the other people in the group. With a vicious smirk she stabbed her blade right through his heart as well. The others screamed and tried to run away, the chameleon withdrawing her blade and looking for her next victim.

“Stop!” Yang roared and came in swinging, punching wildly at the short girl.

The girl though was so swift and smooth, she casually held her cane behind her and effortlessly dodged every punch Yang tried throwing at her. When one fist went by her head she brought her cane around and slammed down on Yang’s forearm, making Yang dip, and then cracked the cane across Yang’s face. Yang flipped onto her back, groaning as she felt her aura flicker.

Blake then came back, pressuring the girl with sword and sheath, but the chameleon still turned away every single strike and danced around Blake, who was already quite nimble and skilled with a blade herself. The chameleon hit Blake’s wrist and made her drop her sheath, then pivoted around her and went to strike Blake’s back. However, her weapon hit nothing as that Blake dissolved into shadow.

Blinking in surprise, the chameleon turned just in time to avoid a slash of Gambol Shroud coming at her head. She jumped atop the large conference table and Blake converted her weapon into its gun form. There was no one behind the chameleon she had to worry about accidentally hitting, so Blake unloaded on the short girl.

She fired her entire clip but the girl jumped behind the table and blocked any other bullet coming for her body with her cane.

“Everyone, get out of here!” Blake shouted at the civilians while they had the chance.

It only took a second for her attention to waver though, the chameleon dashed past the table and Blake quickly converted Gambol Shroud back into its sword form, slashing at the girls head. But the chameleon pirouetted around Blake, hooking a foot around Blake’s leg, placing her cane on the back of Blake’s neck, and flipping Blake over so she landed hard on the floor. Blake grunted as she hit the floor and before she could get up, received a solid kick to the side of the face that sent her rolling further away.

One of the other human civilians in the group was trying to run for the door but a moment later found herself stabbed in the back. Collapsing while gasping for air and swiftly bleeding out.

“I said stop!” Yang roared as she saw the third person killed. She jumped up, eyes red and hair blazing. This time there was an explosion behind her as she fired off with Ember Celica to make herself even faster. She blasted herself at the short girl with wild abandon—seeing nothing but red.

Right as she was about to collide full force with the other girl, the Faunus threw her cane down, the blade sticking into the floor, and jumped. Her hands landed on Yang’s shoulders and she twisted in midair, flipping Yang around, wrapping her legs around Yang’s head at the same time, and throwing her into one of the bookshelves. Yang smashed through it just like the table from earlier, sending burning and demolished books and pieces of wood flying everywhere. Yang just couldn’t touch her at all, she could see through everything Yang tried, and she was just so dang fast and slippery. Yang had brawled and sparred with a lot of people, but she had never fought someone like this. Someone who she just couldn’t even hit.

“Hurk!”

Yang looked up just in time to see another person, a girl who might not have even been twenty-five, get her throat slashed by the attacker. She fruitlessly held her hands to her throat as blood cascaded between her fingers and down her front, tears in her eyes as she comprehended that she was about to die. The girl fell to her knees and then collapsed forward onto the floor.

“Damn you!” Yang yelled and pushed herself up, not caring what her aura was like. She cocked her fists back and fired several blasts from Ember Celica at the Faunus.

Her shotgun gauntlets were for short range, and inside a building like this it was pretty much perfect. That said, she was still fighting someone much better than her who was very good at evading attacks. Yang’s first few shots went wide as the chameleon simply twisted or ducked out of the way of them, so Yang ran at her, trying to get in close enough where the girl wouldn’t be able to dodge quick enough. Or at least where Yang could use her size to just tackle the girl if she could.

Yang was shooting and punching all at the same time while the shortie bobbed and weaved around every haymaker Yang threw at her. Smirking that awful little smile all the time. After one dodged left hook, the girl lightly whacked her cane between Yang’s eyes. Just to taunt her. She was so acrobatic, so light on her feet like she genuinely was dancing around Yang and not even taking the fight seriously at all. Yang hadn’t even seen her use a semblance or anything.

“Stop smirking! How can you do that after killing these people!” Yang yelled and threw a straight jab at the girl’s face.

She bent over backwards, flexible like a gymnast, and kicked Yang in the chin as she flipped over and landed daintily on top of one of the tables. Sitting on it and faking a yawn while Yang stumbled backwards, her chin bruised red.

Yang shot at her with Ember Celica but she blocked it with her cane—just in time too as Blake had gotten up and came slashing at her once more. The chameleon hopped down from her seat and intercepted the first few strikes of Gambol Shroud, but on one swing from Blake, the chameleon was surprised as the sword and girl holding it puffed into black smoke and a brand new Blake—the real Blake—came at her from the side.

Blake’s semblance was tricky and against most people Yang had to imagine she’d be able to get a hit in. But this other Faunus was simply too good. Her eyes flickered to the side, seeing Blake coming and leaned back enough to let Gambol Shroud pass by her head without a scratch. She stuck out her foot and used Blake’s own momentum against her, making the cat Faunus trip and then grabbing her arm and throwing her over her shoulder to the floor. She was making Blake look as wild and uncoordinated as a novice.

Yang came swinging at her again but this time the chameleon hopped up on her knee and used it to jump over Yang, kicking her in the back of the head and sending Yang to the floor. Finally, Yang felt her aura shatter around her as she winced in pain. Her arms were trembling as she tried to push herself up but the tiny menace had really done a number on her over the course of this fight. Speaking of, the chameleon Faunus still had that same awful smirk on her face, still hadn’t said a word, as she now walked over to Yang on the ground, dragging the blade of her cane sword along the floor. Yang wasn’t about to just let herself get stabbed, she still had ammunition and if she was going down she’d be going down fighting.

The sight of her struggling on the ground seemed to bring joy to the murderer as she let out another silent little laugh and raised her cane.

The ribbon of Gambol Shroud wrapped around her ankle and pulled—the chameleon looking momentarily surprised as she almost lost her footing.

It was the opening Yang needed, two cartridges popped into Ember Celica’s barrels and Yang fired the explosive dust rounds right at the chameleon Faunus’s face while on her knees. A small explosion erupted in the building, the heat and pressure washing over Yang’s defenseless body thanks to being only a few feet away from it. But she held on, that was nothing.

Yang instead watched, arms up, getting to her feet, as a shimmering pink light appeared behind the smoke and flames before they were blown away and the Faunus was visible again.

Only—to Yang’s surprise and confusion—it wasn’t the same girl anymore.

Blake seemed equally surprised as the girl they were fighting kicked off Gambol Shroud’s ribbon from around her ankle, twirling around an open pink umbrella that seemingly blocked the shots from Yang just now. She tilted the umbrella up and rested it on her shoulder, looking completely different. Gone were the Faunus features, gone were the green eyes, replaced by a mismatched pink and brown pair. The black hair replaced by a longer mane that matched the color of the girl’s eyes. The only thing that was the same was her height and the smile she wore. That awful smile was enough to tell Yang that she had been wrong—it was the same girl.

“Who… who the hell are you?” Yang asked.

“An illusion semblance?” Blake wondered aloud. “You’re a human… not a Faunus at all.”

The girl smirked at Yang before looking over at Blake with an amused glint in her eyes. She gave a mock salute and jumped backwards—shattering into glass and vanishing without a trace.

Yang and Blake were left alone, huffing and panting in exhaustion. The two of them shared a worried look about what had just happened when crying caught their attention. The noise brought them back to reality, brought them back to where they were, as they looked around at the four dead bodies and the remaining horrified members of the Faunus rights group. Some of them were comforting each other, some were crying over the dead bodies of their friends, shaking and speaking to them in the hopes that they might actually be alive. And in the middle of it all were Yang and Blake, who couldn’t do anything to help.

Yang’s fists shook, a mixture of anger and utter revulsion filling her. Blake put Gambol Shroud away and walked up to her, placing an arm around her in an awkward hug. Yang was too angry to return it. In the distance they could hear the sound of sirens approaching.

“They’re all human,” Blake said.

“What?” Yang’s face shot up at Blake’s, her expression and voice angrier towards her partner than she wanted it to be. She forced herself to calm down a little. “I mean—what do you mean?”

Blake was looking at the dead bodies on the ground. “She only attacked the humans of the group. She didn’t try to kill any of the Faunus at all.”

“Why?” Yang asked, realizing Blake was right as she looked around.

Blake’s gaze lowered, her expression darkening. “It’s the White Fang.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes. I told you. Some short chick with an umbrella and eyes that were two different colors,” Yang repeated, frustrated and angry. She grit her teeth and slammed her fists onto the table. “And we let her get away! She—she killed all those people and we couldn’t do anything!”

Glynda Goodwitch frowned, “interrogating” Yang and Blake at the local Vale police station about what had transpired earlier this night. She had come straight from Beacon when the news of the incident reached. Likely because Blake Belladonna was involved. “That indeed matches the description your sister gave us of the girl said to accompany Roman Torchwick. “Neo” or “Neopolitan” if we’ve heard right. It seems he must be connected to this crime in some way as well.”

“So that means it was the White Fang. Or they had something to do with it,” Blake said, staring at the floor with a cold and sad expression on her face. “They’re working together...”

“Most likely,” Glynda nodded, upset with the implications as well. She more or less already knew Roman Torchwick was working with the White Fang but it wasn’t entirely known how deep the relationship was. Nor was it common knowledge among most.

“But… why?” Yang asked, still confused. “Why would the White Fang do this? They were just a small club of normal people. And why are they working with human criminals? I thought they’d be against that.”

“They should be. But I guess Adam Taurus is making another excuse for himself when it comes to getting what he wants,” Blake ground her teeth in frustration. “He was like that when he was working under my father too, nothing was off the table for him when it came to “Faunus Ascendancy” and making humanity pay. He doesn’t care that he’s compromising his values and being a hypocrite… he obviously thinks Roman Torchwick can be a useful tool for some reason.”

She bit her lip, a few tears welling up. “And for why they did this? They just want to cause chaos. They’re terrorists, Yang. They killed a bunch of good humans who wanted to help the Faunus in Vale. You know what that does? It makes everyone despise and mistrust the Faunus even more. Especially if we hadn’t been there to prove that the White Fang were behind it. This is going to make humans who support the Faunus more afraid to speak up, it’s going to make humans who already hate the Faunus angrier, it’s going to make the Faunus in Vale targets as people try to pay them back for what happened tonight. It’s going to make everyone think twice about joining or starting a group like this to try and fix our problems peacefully. It’ll push more Faunus towards the White Fang because more humans are going to start pushing them first.”

As Blake finished she shut her eyes and took a deep, shuddering, breath to calm herself down.

Yang placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m… I’m sorry. About what this might cause… and that you had to watch all of it. Let’s just get back to Beacon...”

“At least we were there to save some of them,” Blake shook her head. “I’m not sorry. This is why I’m here, Yang.”

“I’ll be taking you both back now. Your teammates have been informed, loosely, about what’s happened. They’ll be waiting for you,” Glynda said.

Yang rolled her eyes. “Great… gonna have a hell of a time telling them what happened today.”

Blake reached up to her shoulder and squeezed Yang’s hand, causing the blond to blush. “Thank you for helping me.”

“N-No problem. Whenever something goes wrong, you’ve got me there for you. A-And Ruby and Weiss too. We’re a team now after all. We’re all here to help you with stuff like this,” Yang reassured her and tried to keep herself composed. This really wasn’t the time for that.

Blake smiled up at her. “Thanks, I just hope all of this can start getting better sooner rather than later. For the innocent Faunus and humans here.”

Chapter Text

“Okay! We’ve had enough of classes and boring studying, it’s time to do what we really came to Beacon for!” Ruby announced with her fist raised to the ceiling of their room.

Weiss, somewhat unimpressed, tapped for foot repeatedly. “There is nothing wrong with class and nothing boring about studying. These things are very important and handy.”

“Oh come on, Weiss. You can’t tell me you actually enjoy listening to Professor Port more than combat training?” Ruby flatly stared at her.

“That… is not the point,” Weiss looked away.

“Hey, I’m with Ruby on this one, I could go for some real fighting,” Yang smirked.

“Truthfully I think studying and learning is more important for why I’m here but… I’ll admit I’d rather just fight sometimes too. We need to work on our teamwork for sure,” Blake said.

A frown came to Weiss’s face, but it was one of concern as she looked over at Yang and Blake. “And you two… are you really okay after everything that just happened? To be there and see those people killed...”

“It’s just… it’s what we signed up for,” Yang shrugged with a heavy sigh. “I’m pissed we couldn’t save them all, and couldn’t even beat on that monster who killed them. But I knew we’d end up dealing with stuff like this when I decided to become a Huntress. I’d rather be fighting Grimm but sometimes there are monsters at home too…”

Blake also frowned, staring at the floor. “As for me, that wasn’t the first time I’ve seen something like that. I’m used to it.”

Weiss glanced aside, uncomfortable and not sure what else to say. Ruby, however, walked forward and put her arms around both Yang and Blake.

“You did the best you could. You did what Huntresses would do. We just have to be better so in the future no one dies,” Ruby smiled for them. “That’s what we’re at Beacon for. Things might not have been even close to perfect, but you still saved lives. And now you’re back here, trying to become even better. The only thing that would be wrong is if we froze up and stopped trying. So instead, let’s move on and try to have some fun today while we can.”

“Right,” Yang smiled and gave her sister a little hug back. “So what do you actually have planned for today?”

“Combination attacks? Special moves? I know you’ve been working on those,” Blake asked.

“Actually while you were out yesterday, me and Weiss got to know our neighbors!” Ruby ecstatically exclaimed, letting her two teammates go.

“Our neighbors?” Yang asked.

“Team JNPR from across the hall. We met them yesterday, formally at least,” Weiss explained.

“Right, that’s the team with Pyrrha Nikos,” Blake nodded.

“Are we fighting her? I’d be up for that,” Yang smirked. “I could use the fun after that shortie yesterday.”

“Well… not really, we’re kind of just going to be using the training room together,” Ruby said. “Team JNPR are probably already there. Jaune’s been trying to get them to work on their teamwork a lot too, and Pyrrha’s been helping him.”

“I think Nora would be up for a fight with you, Yang, if that’s what you want,” Weiss said.

“Right, the redhead with the hammer?” Yang raised an eyebrow.

“More orange than red, but yes.”

“I’m still surprised it wasn’t Pyrrha who was made the leader of their team. That Jaune guy must be something special...” Blake mused.

Ruby and Weiss shared an amused look.

“Oh he’s… he’s something alright,” Ruby giggled.

“Am I missing something?” Blake frowned.

“No, no, Jaune’s a good guy, just...” Ruby rubbed the back of her head, smiling.

“You’ll see,” Weiss chuckled.

“Right...” Blake sighed, giving up on getting a straight answer.

Ruby clapped her hands together. “Anyways! We can use this time to see how another team fights and works together, because so far that’s something we haven’t really gotten to do, and it’s why I want us to come up with more combos and team attacks! And before you ask, Yang, I’ll see if they want to have an exhibition match the next time we do this.”

“Cool.”

“Ruby, you know I support your team building exercises, but do we need to have silly names for every attack and maneuver we come up with too?” Weiss asked.

“Yes,” Ruby seriously nodded. “And I’m not just saying that. Having specific names for our attack patterns means I can just call out for one in the middle of a fight and we all immediately already know what to do. And more importantly—who we’re fighting isn’t going to be tipped off or know what’s coming either. Names are important.”

“But do they have to be so embarrassing?” Weiss sighed.

“They’re not embarrassing, they’re awesome!”

“Ladies, please agree to disagree and let’s just hurry on out of here?” Yang said, patting both of them on the shoulder.

“Fine, but I’m still the one who decides the names in the end, it was my idea,” Ruby said, pouting and crossing her arms over her chest.

“Abusing your power as leader...” Weiss huffed.

Blake sarcastically smirked as she walked past them all, already heading out the door. “I think we’ve already got Team JNPR beat when it comes to how well we work together.”

The circular training room had a lot of floor space for moving around in since it was also often used as a place where two teams could fight each other, an entire second level or the room taken up by galleries where other students could sit and watch on those days. As Team RWBY arrived, they saw that Team JNPR was indeed already there, they had split up into pairs having practice matches against each other. Nora Valkyrie vs Lie Ren and Jaune Arc vs Pyrrha Nikos.

“Oh… oh wow,” Yang blinked.

“I think I understand what the two of you meant earlier,” Blake said.

They watched as Jaune made wide and slow swings of his sword at Pyrrha, who seemed to be encouraging him and giving him advice while in the middle of their fight, until she decided to teach him a new lesson and sweep his legs out from under him. Jaune landed on his back with a heavy thud, before being helped back up by Pyrrha so it could all begin again. He went for her again, his sword clumsy, his feet shuffling and dragging, Pyrrha had her spear and shield at the ready but she didn’t really need to use them. Jaune fought and moved like someone who hadn’t been training to become a Huntsman for years. The two girls are perplexed as they watch it.

“He’s so bad,” Yang almost smirked in disbelief.

“He’s working hard to get better, Jaune’s a fun guy, and he’s better when it comes to strategy and stuff other than fighting,” Ruby shook her head. “Pyrrha’s having a fun time teaching him like this.”

“She’s going to be teaching him for a while at this rate...” Blake mumbled.

The other fight was completely different as both combatants were closer in skill but also had radically different fighting styles and weapons. Nora practically pulverized the ground and destroyed everything around her while Ren jumped and swung around with Stormflower, only ever going for precise attacks that Nora either powered through or used the grenade-launcher aspect of Magnhild to shoot herself out of the way of. Yang was getting excited for a potential future spar with Nora while Blake was already seeing that Ren would be a taxing opponent for her and her style of fighting as well. If they ever fought each other.

“This is how we should be practicing, swapping partners in and out too so we can all get a feel for each other. Learn how to make up for each other’s weaknesses and learn how we can best support one another,” Weiss said, nodding along as the spars continued.

Blake scowled. “If we had that kind of teamwork already Yang and I might’ve been able to actually fight together and-”

Yang reached over to squeeze her hand in reassurance. “And that’s why we’re here now. Ruby’s right.”

The four of them heard a girly yelp and looked to see Jaune on his back once more, his aura in the red. Nora and Ren’s fight came to a close as well once Nora managed to smack Ren into the floor with one well placed hit.

Yang whistled. “Woo! Nice job!”

Team JNPR, as Pyrrha helped up Jaune and Ren stumbled to his feet, looked over to see Team RWBY watching them.

“Hey, Ruby, Weiss,” Jaune waved, slumped over a little as he winced.

“Hello! I’m sorry we weren’t finished before you got here!” Pyrrha apologized.

“Pff! That’s better, they got to see me in action!” Nora laughed and lifted up her hammer, resting it over her shoulders with a big grin on her face.

“Hello,” Ren simply nodded in greeting.

Ruby stepped forward, smiling, and the rest of her team followed. “Heya! It’s no problem, we wanted to see what you guys fighting looked like anyways. If you want to rest up a little the four of us can work on our team attacks first, and then we can try using them on you. I think it’ll be a good experience, we’ll all have experience with something different if we use our moves against each other.” She then gestured to Yang and Blake. “You already met Weiss, but here’s my big sister Yang and our other teammate, Blake. Er, you probably already know Blake though.”

“Hey,” Yang smiled and waved to the four while Blake politely nodded.

“Jaune Arc,” Jaune reached his hand forward to shake with Yang and Blake, who both accepted.

Pyrrha, smiling apologetically already, stepped towards Blake. “I-I want you to know that I really admire and respect what you’re doing. I’m actually from Mistral originally and things over there are… they’ve always been worse for the Faunus than here in Vale.” She looked like she realized how awkward she was being as she moved back from Blake’s personal space. “S-Sorry! I just need to say that I’m on your side, because I know not every student here is the same.”

“It’s okay,” Blake chuckled disarmingly. “You don’t need to say anything, but I’m glad.”

“Nora and I are actually originally from Mistral as well, well one of the smaller villages in Anima. Our experience is somewhat different but suffice to say that Pyrrha is not incorrect,” Ren told her.

“Oh! And we’re both super pumped for you being here too!” Nora took Blake’s hand and shook her enough to almost make Blake’s arm pop out of the socket. “I tell ya, it’s making this school year waaaaay more awesome than I thought it would be! If you ever need a buddy, don’t hesitate to call on Nora!”

“And if you ever want to fight someone you can’t out muscle, call on Yang,” Yang smirked as she grabbed Nora’s arm to keep her from shaking Blake further.

Nora’s grin turned downright carnivorous (in a friendly way) as she stared at Yang and let Blake go. “Oh? Is that a challenge?”

“Anytime. Anyplace,” Yang’s eyes flashed red.

“Please, this is not quite the time for that, Nora,” Ren said and put a calming hand on his partner’s shoulder. “Besides, you just fought me.”

“As if I don’t have the energy for ten fights! Shoot me up with some Lightning Dust and let’s get the battle rolling!” Nora yelled.

“Later, Nora,” Pyrrha sighed but chuckled in good humor. She then nodded at Yang. “And hello to you as well.”

“Hey, Invincible Girl,” Yang waved, her eyes back to normal.

“Stop picking fights, Yang,” Ruby rolled her eyes.

“They’re gonna be friendly spars. Not fights,” Yang placed her hands on her hips.

“I’d be happy to have a spar, eventually,” Pyrrha smiled. “But I think Nora would like hers to be first, and I don’t think either are happening today.”

Jaune nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think I’m up for another serious fight right now either. But we’ll help you out if you need to practice your attacks and stuff. Uh… that doesn’t mean you’ll be shooting at me though, right?”

Ruby thought for a moment. “Well, not for all of the combo moves I’ve been thinking of...”

“Oh… fantastic...” Jaune slumped over.

“I was saying to my team earlier but we’d like to practice with all of you, switching in and out, so we can see how different people react with their unique fighting styles and weapons. So don’t worry, Jaune, we won’t only be shooting at you,” Weiss smiled.

Ruby grinned at her partner and pulled out Crescent Rose, swinging it hand over head and pointing it forward in a needlessly superfluous but cool way. “So let’s get these moves down! I’ve already got a bunch we can practice right now. Checkmate, Freezerburn, Ladybug, Bumblebee, Whiterose, and this other one I’ve been working on called Enabler, but that one isn’t coming together too well.”

Weiss opened her mouth-

Ruby pointed at her with her other hand. “No complaining about the names or I’ll have you drop and give me fifty!”

“So I’m actually from a small town just east of Vale, and I come from a long line of warriors and, well, I always wanted to be a Huntsman. So that’s how I ended up at Beacon,” Jaune explained to Team RWBY as the two teams sat and ate lunch together.

They had worked up a real sweat and an even bigger appetite after their training session, the eight students now in the cafeteria and getting to know each other better. Nora was positively scarfing down food while Ren watched in exasperation.

“If you’re local does that mean you went to Pharos? You would’ve been in my year but I can’t remember seeing you around...” Yang wondered between bites of her own food.

Jaune and Pyrrha shared a glance, an awkward smile forced onto their faces.

“Sure. Let’s go with that,” Jaune said.

Yang raised an eyebrow but before she could say anything Pyrrha cleared her throat.

“Well, I had spoken to Jaune on the first day of Beacon already, and then I saw him again during the second exam,” Pyrrha smiled. “And… I just felt like I had to help him out. We crossed the finish line together and then it turns out we got paired up in the third exam too.”

“Weren’t we not supposed to help each other in the second exam?” Weiss questioned.

Pyrrha blushed. “Well, yes, but… I mean. I just couldn’t let him be...”

“And I am eternally thankful for that,” Jaune nodded with an oblivious smile.

Nora gulped down the last of her food and slammed her plate down. “And Ren and I got paired up because we’re fated to be together. I mean, not together together, just normal together. Nothing weird!” Nora clarified. “But anyways, during the third exam we heard Jaune screaming and found the two of them! Ren and I went all crazy whirlwind on the Grimm and together we obliterated twenty Ursa like it was nothing!”

“It wasn’t that many,” Ren shook his head.

“And I wasn’t screaming that loudly,” Jaune muttered, an embarrassed tint on his cheeks.

“So you two said you grew up in Anima as well, right?” Blake asked the other pair. “What brought you here if I may ask?”

“Oh, that’s because we’re orphans. Our town was destroyed by this ultra-evil Grimm and it was just the two of us together for years wandering across Anima and doing whatever we could to live and sometimes almost dying and we learned about Beacon and heard it was the best and Vale was nicer than Mistral. And since we didn’t want to get killed by Grimm or track all the way back across Anima to Haven we came here!” Nora explained, far too cheerfully.

"Nora, you don’t need to tell them so much traumatic information so quickly. It’s overwhelming,” Ren sighed.

At the word “orphan”, Ruby had momentarily perked up before trying to hide that she had reacted at all.

“I guess that makes sense… I came to Beacon for the obvious reason even though Haven is physically closer,” Blake wryly smirked.

“I actually chose Beacon instead of Haven for a reason too,” Pyrrha said. “Despite most of my classmates and teachers at Sanctum wanting me to go to Haven, I… well, I wanted a fresh start. Somewhere where people maybe didn’t know me so well.”

“That’s something I can certainly understand...” Weiss said under her breath.

“That’s why I’m glad I met Jaune here. It was nice having someone recognize me from the cereal box instead of as a tournament champion. That never would’ve happened at Haven,” Pyrrha smiled at her partner.

Jaune coughed. “After learning a little more about you I still feel kind of dumb about that...”

“I couldn’t believe that happened. I was right there when you started talking to her,” Weiss sighed and shook her head.

“Ehehe… yeah...” Jaune winced at his past misstep.

“That actually made my whole evening,” Pyrrha admitted with another smile at her partner.

“What about you four? How’d your third exam go? Already becoming a super awesome team?” Nora asked before looking at Ruby specifically. “Also what’s it like having your team name just be your first name?”

Ruby groaned and slumped over onto the table. “It’s noooot. Weiss’s name doesn’t start with U, it’s not the same.”

Weiss grinned at her leader. “And you should be very grateful to me for that. How embarrassing would it be if it was exactly the same?”

“Please… dying...” Ruby whined.

“Maybe I should change my name. That’d make it just perfect wouldn’t it?” Weiss continued to tease. “Or maybe I won’t do that and you instead just let me come up with some of the names for our team attacks? Hm?”

“Monster...” Ruby glared at her.

"I think RWBY is a cool team name,” Jaune shrugged.

“It is! Because Ruby is a cool name, and rubies are awesome and pretty!” Ruby sat up and pouted. “But not when that’s literally your first name! What am I, the most egotistical Huntress in history or something? How much of a narcissist are people going to think I am?”

“In that regard, I do think JNPR is a nice team name,” Ren added in.

Ruby let out a final sigh and roll of her eyes before looking back at Pyrrha. “Anyways, our third exam was a little… crazy. We probably took a lot longer to get out than most teams. But we took down this giant Geist too!”

“You didn’t even know what a Geist was before then,” Yang smirked at her.

“Shh!” Ruby glared at her. “We still took it down, and a bunch of other Grimm, and then I—Ruby Rose—led us out of the Labyrinth!”

“You got lucky,” Weiss huffed.

“Jealous,” Ruby grinned at her.

“It was a tough fight down there, but I think our team has come together nicely since,” Blake interrupted them with a smile. “As you now know, we’re pretty good with team attacks and special moves too.”

Jaune winced. “Oh yeah… I’m pretty aware of that now.”

“Speaking of teams,” Yang eagerly interjected. “Fight next week? Come on, we’ve got to have a big brawl or something. It’ll be awesome.”

“I’m down!” Nora accepted immediately.

“It would be good for us both I think,” Ren nodded.

“Agreed. I think we’ll be well prepared for that by then,” Pyrrha said.

“Speak for yourself...” Jaune looked away.

Pyrrha rested a hand on his shoulder. “You’re improving everyday. You’ve already gotten much better.”

Ruby looked over at Weiss and Blake. “Well we know what Yang wants, do you want to fight next week too?”

“It’s necessary,” Blake nodded.

“I would like to see how much we’ve improved,” Weiss folded her arms.

“Okay then,” Ruby smiled and reached across the table towards Jaune. “Get ready to get your butt kicked.”

Jaune took her hand and shook it. “I’ve been ready for that since I got here.” He seemed to reconsider and frowned to himself. “Or… pretend I didn’t just say something that lame.”

“And the last thing we’ll do today for our team building exercises today is this!” Ruby exclaimed as she slammed a board game down onto the floor of their dorm room.

“Hey, nice pick,” Yang grinned as she saw what game it was.

“Remnant: The Game?” Blake raised an eyebrow.

“A game?” Weiss raised a far less interested eyebrow.

“Yes!” Ruby pointed at the ceiling. “This is not for training, or studying, this is for fun bonding time! Come on, Weiss, I know you just want to act serious. It’s just us four now though, live a little!”

Weiss sighed, a small blush tinting her cheeks. “You are not entirely wrong.” She examined the box. “I’ve never played a game like this before though. Or really any game.”

“Never?” Ruby frowned.

Weiss raised an eyebrow at her. “Who was I going to play with?”

“Depressing childhoods and families aside...” Yang grimaced and rubbed the back of her head.

“Actually—I’ve never played games like this either,” Blake said. “I’ve had a pretty busy life and my whole childhood was either taken up by my activism or being trained by my father and the warriors of Menagerie. I don’t regret it, but it wasn’t exactly a normal childhood either. What’s more important? Playing a board game or joining my father at a protest?”

“And this is why we should be playing this now more than ever! Not even just for team building, but just so the two of you can have some fun!” Ruby smiled.

“Yeah… you know, Ruby. Remnant: The Game is really fun but I don’t know if it’s the best for team building. I’m pretty sure someone here is going to get frustrated,” Yang sent a side-eye to Weiss.

“I could’ve gotten Monopoly instead,” Ruby shrugged.

“Okay, good point.”

“Monopoly?” That word seemed to catch Weiss’s interest.

Blake snorted in amusement. “Why am I not surprised you’d be interested in a game called that?”

“I’m not! I just—there’s a game called Monopoly? Is it about business?” Weiss couldn’t keep the curiosity out of her voice.

“Yes there is a game called Monopoly, and no it’s not really about business. And we’re definitely not playing it because we want to remain friends,” Yang explained.

“I… see...” Weiss tilted her head. She clearly did not.

“Forget about Monopoly for now,” Ruby said. “This is a game where you pick one of the Kingdoms and try to conquer the other Kingdoms on Remnant and take over the whole world. Each Kingdom has its own unique strengths and weaknesses. It’s got strategy, and alliances, and awesome trap effects and armies, I picked it out because I think it’s got something for all of us to enjoy. Yang and I have played it plenty of times too, we know how fun it can be.”

“Very well. We pick a Kingdom then? Well, I’ll play any Kingdom but Atlas. I’d rather take my anger out on Atlas,” Weiss said.

“I’ll play Atlas, that way even if I lose I’m happy,” Blake smirked.

“Okay, guess we’ll roll a dice for turn order,” Yang said as she opened the box and started setting the actual board up.

“Just let me go first,” Weiss said.

“Why?” Ruby raised an eyebrow at her.

“Well for one I’m new to the game, and two, I have schizophrenia so I should get the biggest handicap. It’s only fair for you to go easy on me,” Weiss shrugged.

Ruby gawked at her. “There is no way you’re actually-”

“Well hold on-” Blake held up a hand. “I’m a Faunus so I think I should get a pity handicap in that case too.”

“Does being a Faunus affect your mental facilities though?” Weiss asked before smirking at Blake. “Or would you like to argue that it in fact does?”

Blake narrowed her eyes at Weiss—before her face lit up and she broke out in laughter. “You… you are impossible. Fine, you win, I’m not about to argue that Faunus are mentally inferior to get an advantage at a board game. I guess unlike you I have some standards.”

“What do you mean? I’m certainly not using my schizophrenia as a weapon to get my way,” Weiss held her hand over her chest in mock indignation.

“Weiiiisss… you said you didn’t want us to treat you different,” Ruby groaned, collapsing on her back, her brain fried.

“I am merely joking, Ruby,” Weiss said, smiling. After a moment her look suddenly became more bashful and she looked down into her lap. “I… I don’t mean to take it so far. I was just trying to be… normal. Friends make fun of each other for stuff like this, don’t they? I’m not being serious or anything, I just want you to know the topic of my schizophrenia shouldn’t be something any of you feel nervous about bringing up.”

“Just like me being a Faunus,” Blake reached over and held Weiss’s shoulder. “I get it, Weiss.”

Yang also grinned and patted Weiss on her other shoulder while pulling Ruby up. “Nah, you’ve got it pretty much right, Weiss. Ruby’s just also not really used to what friends do.”

“Pff,” Ruby blew a raspberry at Yang before looking at Weiss. “I guess we’re still a little awkward but… if we can joke about that kind of stuff with each other it means we’re getting along pretty well I suppose.”

“Okay, I think we’ve gotten side-tracked enough by sad stuff. You said this was supposed to be for us to have fun so let’s actually try to have some fun,” Blake smiled and started looking over the board and rules. “Hmmm… you might need to walk me and Weiss through some of this stuff though, it’s pretty complicated looking...”

“I’m sure I’ll get a handle on it quickly enough,” Weiss shrugged and together the four sat around the board. “Let me be… Vacuo.”

“Vale!” Ruby cheered.

Yang rolled her eyes. “Fine, take Vale, I’ll be Mistral and still win.”

“Do you rack up Faunus abuse points if you’re Mistral?” Blake teased her.

“No, only Atlas gets that,” Yang shook her head.

Blake’s face fell. “Oh.” She frowned at the box. “Who made this game?”

“I mean… it’s supposed to be like that to make you not like Atlas,” Yang grimaced, looking away from her partner.

“I guess it’d be hypocritical of me to get bothered by anything now. Let’s just play,” Blake sighed and went to grab the dice to roll for first.

Ruby smiled as all four of them got settled in and started to just relax and enjoy themselves. This was what she wanted with her team. And she even got to say that she let Weiss and Blake play a board game for the very first time. She knew Beacon and becoming a Huntress was going to be tough in a variety of different ways, and it would likely get tougher from here on out, but the one thing that she was worried about most at the beginning was now gone. She had a team and friends that she liked and got along with. She truly felt that as long as Team RWBY was together like this they could tackle anything. They had already started out on good footing and had gotten even closer recently. Some things would get tougher, but they all had each other.

Chapter Text

“As you girls know, there’s a monthly sap harvest conducted in the Forever Fall by the Vale Botanics Corporation,” Glynda explained to Team RWBY as she stood in the doorway of their room.

“I actually didn’t know that,” Blake said.

“Neither did I,” Weiss raised an eyebrow at the teacher.

Glynda blinked, nonplussed, and turned to focus her gaze entirely on Ruby and Yang. “As you girls from Vale know, there’s a monthly sap harvest conducted in the Forever Fall by the Vale Botanics Corporation.”

“Yep!” Ruby and Yang answered together.

“Right, however—there has been an increase in Grimm activity in the Forever Fall as of late. Not to any severe degree but it’s still out of the norm and still enough where the workers meant to harvest the sap might be in danger. Headmaster Ozpin saw this as a good opportunity for students to get some experience with facing Grimm outside of a controlled environment. You and another team will be working to clear out the area of any Grimm. Of course, I will also be there if needed, but this is supposed to be a mission for you,” Glynda explained.

“Awesome! Finally get to whale on some Grimm. That’s what I came here for,” Yang stretched. “Just take us to Forever Fall and drop us in the middle of the whole swarm.”

“We should be taking this more seriously—in a way this is our first real mission as a team. I’m highly confident in our abilities but there’s no reason to be reckless,” Weiss said.

“We shouldn’t have a problem taking care of a few Grimm. It might still be a good exercise for us though, maybe we can actually try out some of those team attacks we’ve been working on,” Blake said. She tapped her chin and looked up, thinking. “Having another team around, but just one, means the Grimm numbers probably aren’t very high.”

Ruby’s eyebrows shot up and she turned to Glynda with a smile. “Oh yeah! Who’s going to be coming with us? Is it JNPR?”

“No, it’s-”

“Hello, Cardin.”

“Hey, pipsqueak.”

The redhead leader of Team CRDL towered over Ruby. But then again so did pretty much everyone else who wasn’t named Weiss Schnee. The back of the airship was cramped with all eight of them shoved in there and it certainly wasn’t helping the mood any. Ruby could safely say she didn’t care for a single one of Team CRDL, and the feeling was likely mutual.

Unless it came to how some of them leered at her sister. Gross.

Cardin, just because he was tall and built like an ox, liked to tease and bully anyone he could. And the others, Dove, Russel, Sky, they just went along with it all. Which in some way made them almost worse in Ruby’s eyes. She was sick of hearing him in class, and what Yang and Blake had told her only made her distaste grow. It really tied her stomach in knots that he was training to become a Huntsman, that they were going after the same dream and he was a team leader too. That was just so wrong. What would her mom think of people like them trying to become Huntsmen? She really hoped that they weren’t reflective of more students at Beacon, and after getting to know Team JNPR she was at least pretty sure they weren’t.

“Can we please be professional about this? We’re here to get rid of Grimm, nothing else. That’s really all that should matter,” Weiss huffed, arms crossed over her chest as she glared at the other team.

“Hey, don’t worry about us,” Dove smirked with his narrowed eyes. “We know what our job is.”

“Yeah-” Russel, Mr. Mohawk to Team RWBY, said. He winked to his teammates. “As Huntsmen it’s our duty to protect Vale and all the innocent people in it from threats.”

Sky followed along, getting the unspoken line of thought from his teammates. “Yep. All threats.”

All four of them turned to glare at Blake, who returned their hateful visages with a pleasant smile.

“That’s right. It’s not just the Grimm a Huntsman has to look out for. There are all sorts of wild beasts out there. It’s our job to put em down,” Cardin said, laughing to himself.

“You better shut the hell up right now!” Yang yelled and slammed her fist against the bullhead’s wall, almost causing the whole cabin to shake.

“That’s our teammate you’re talking about,” Ruby icily said, her eyes narrowing at Cardin.

Both Ruby and Yang felt a hand on their shoulders, turning to see Blake standing between them. “You guys, thank you, but stop.”

“Blake-” Yang argued.

“Yang. I’ve already been over this with you,” Blake’s voice was cold and authoritative and Yang clearly wanted to say something but she managed to bite her lip and stop.

“Listen to your team pet, wouldn’t want to get in a big fight up in here right before we’re supposed to drop in and take care of some Grimm,” Cardin laughed, an obnoxious and nasally sound.

“Do you really not have any shame?”

Weiss’s voice cut through and silenced the others, causing all heads to turn to her. Blake frowned in dismay and went to talk to her, but Weiss held up a hand—cutting her off. “I mean really. You all talk about what it means to become a Huntsman, and yet you say such petty, disgusting, despicable things. Do you truly lack any shame? Do you truly not feel embarrassed when such drivel leaks from your mouths? Our own Headmaster and Miss Goodwitch would be utterly ashamed to hear what you’ve said and done since this year started. Being a Huntsman or Huntress also means being an adult. And all four of you clearly lack the maturity for that.”

Ruby and Yang smiled over at their teammate while even Blake looked appreciative, a small blush on her face.

While some members of Team CRDL looked annoyed with what Weiss had said, Cardin himself merely harrumphed and folded his arms over his chest.

“You know those are some surprising words coming from a Schnee,” he looked between Weiss and Blake. “Shouldn’t the two of you be at each other’s throats?”

“No, because we’re not stereotypes as you seem to think,” Weiss scoffed.

“Weiss and I have already spoken about these things. She’s not responsible for anything the SDC has done just as I’m not responsible for anything the White Fang has done. And if the two of us can be friends then what does it say about how you’re acting now, Cardin? Doesn’t it seem like the world isn’t how you think?” Blake said. It was the most combative she had ever been to Cardin.

Cardin frowned for a moment before his grin returned. “So you’re telling me you’re really okay with the heiress being here, flaunting her wealth, when the SDC had Faunus slaves working for them up until only a few short years ago?”

Weiss immediately stiffened. “That’s not…”

“Wait,” Yang frowned. “But Faunus slavery has been illegal everywhere for almost a hundred years now.”

“Yeah, what are you talking about?” Ruby asked him.

Blake though seemed to already know where Cardin was going, her expression darkened and she had to close her eyes to try and calm herself down.

“So what? You think the SDC cared? And whatever they wanted, Atlas let them do because of how much they relied on them. The SDC had been keeping Faunus as slaves, in their Dust mines, for years after it was made illegal. And no one cared. The SDC had the right of it anyways, keeping those animals where they belonged,” Cardin said.

“Indentured servants,” Weiss whispered. “They were indentured servants. Not slaves. It was different.”

“Sure. You keep telling yourself that,” Cardin rolled his eyes.

Blake took a deep breath and opened her eyes, walking over to Weiss and tightly grasping one of Weiss’s hands for reassurance. “I already knew about that too. It’s not really a secret, otherwise you wouldn’t have heard about it either, Cardin.”

“Why do you even know about that stuff anyways?” Yang asked. “Your grades are terrible, do you only read up on awful crap like this?”

“Hey—I’m just learning about how to put Faunus in their place. Might as well learn from the masters,” Cardin shrugged. “When I heard that the animal would be coming to Beacon the same year as me, you can bet I was burning up inside. I’ve been training to go to Beacon for years, and then I hear that this Faunus is going to be here? It’s disgusting. We’ve kept them out of the Academies for a reason.”

Though his words were more than enough to be classified as fighting words, that’s exactly what Blake wanted to avoid. She could see how angry Yang and Ruby were while Weiss was merely mortified after that particular piece of information came to light. So Blake let Weiss’s hand go and stepped between her two other teammates and Team CRDL again.

“You’re actually very well educated on these matters. I commend you. But as you can see—we’re all still friends. Do you know why? Because it’s the start of a new age, where humans and Faunus can move past these terrible things. Because holding onto those grievances is just going to bring more suffering to everyone.”

Cardin seemed frustrated that he still couldn’t get a rise, or a physical altercation, out of her, so he just angrily waved at her in dismissal and stepped back to lean against the opposite wall of the bullhead. “Whatever, you talk like a book.”

His team joined him, crowding around their side, while Team RWBY made sure to keep as far away from them as possible. Yang was simmering with rage, Ruby was confused and uncertain about how to handle things with a team so radically different form their own, and Weiss and Blake were both simply morose. Ruby took a seat, Weiss sat down next to Ruby, Blake next to her, and after pacing for a little while longer, Yang sat next to Blake.

Ruby frowned, looking over at her friend. “Weiss… what Cardin said…?”

“It’s true,” Weiss blinked, her expression freezing into something unreadable. Ruby had seen that look on her face a few times, when she simply got caught up in her own head as the stress made her illness worsen. Ruby comfortingly laid her hand atop Weiss’s to let her know that she wasn’t angry or upset, something that seemed to help as Weiss managed to smile slightly before she continued:

“Officially they were called indentured servants, but that just meant slaves in all but name. And they were always given the worst and most unsafe jobs and conditions because, and I quote my father here, “Who cares?”. Faunus criminals, no matter what the crime it was they committed, were also typically handed over to the SDC and made to work off their sentences,” she spitefully laughed. “Those sentences however all seemed to be life sentences. Even the normal Faunus workers, the legal employees, were only paid in company scrip to make them totally reliant on the SDC. It was finally put to a stop for real five years ago. General Ironwood made it a point of business to reform most of the laws and working conditions for the Faunus. My father has hated him ever since.”

“I never knew about all that...” Ruby sadly looked away.

“Of course not. And I don’t blame you for that, Ruby,” Blake said. “Or you, Yang. Most people don’t go out of their way to learn about how the Faunus are still being oppressed in other Kingdoms. Why make yourself feel worse?”

“Blake, I’m sorry, about my father and the company and just-” Weiss was silenced as Blake shook her head.

“I already told you it’s fine. I don’t hate you for it, you’re not responsible.”

“But I’ve still done nothing but benefit from it. Live off it,” Weiss’s face was torn up, almost too ashamed to look Blake in the eyes.

“It doesn’t matter. All of that is what we need to move past. We can’t hold onto these things. It’s not just a talking point like Cardin might think. It’s the truth and it’s what I believe,” Blake held Weiss’s other hand for a moment before letting go. “Don’t worry about it.”

Yang leaned back in her seat, grumbling, placing her hands behind her head. “This all sucks so much.”

Blake sighed. “It’s a little disheartening when I have to talk to and work with people like that.” She glanced at Team CRDL.

Yang winced, not having wanted to upset Blake. “Just don’t lose hope. Jerks like those four are still the minority. Vale… Vale’s really not like them.”

“I wouldn’t want you to think it’s not worth doing what you’re doing either just because there are people like Cardin,” Ruby groaned and stuck out her tongue.

“Don’t worry,” Blake tittered. “I certainly don’t think that.”

“There’s another thing,” Weiss suddenly said, the others turning to look at her.

She reached up to her left eye, fingers trailing over the light scar there. Her lips trembled and she sucked in a short breath. “Obviously, the three of you know who Adam Taurus is?”

Blake immediately froze up, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks. Yang saw this and put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

“Hey, that guy can’t hurt you. Forget about what he said in that broadcast,” Yang tried to reassure her partner.

“Y-Yeah,” Blake gulped and nodded, hands gripping her pants tightly.

Ruby nodded to Weiss. “Yeah… we know him. He’s the leader of the White Fang. I’d say everyone in Vale, maybe all of Remnant, knows him.”

“And of course you’ve seen his face,” Weiss grit her teeth. “You’ve seen the SDC brand over his eye. He wears it proudly, doesn’t he?” Weiss let out a short, bitter laugh. “He wants everyone to know how cruel humans can be, what they’ve done to him and Faunus like him. That sort of branding… i-it usually wasn’t done in such an extreme way, but it happened to a lot of Faunus that worked for the SDC. Or were enslaved by the SDC.”

“Adam Taurus was one of those indentured servants you talked about?” Yang asked.

Weiss nodded. “Yes. He was one of the many Faunus apprehended by the Atlas authorities for some random crime when he was young, and brought to the SDC to work in our Dust mines. I don’t know the full story, but he escaped at some point. But not before being branded.” She again rubbed over her scar. “It’s strange. I see that face of his and it makes me think we have some sort of connection… but we really don’t. It’s so much worse for him, and he’d probably be disgusted if I ever said anything of the sort. But you know what? I still feel guilt every time I see his face. It kept me up at nights growing up. I know he’s done terrible things but at the same time… I wonder what he’d be like if it wasn’t for that brand.”

“Don’t,” Blake almost growled, startling the others before she calmed herself back down. “Don’t think that way. Don’t give him the benefit of the doubt. Adam… he’s made his choices. He made them years ago. Don’t feel bad for him.”

“Blake?” Ruby reached over to the Faunus.

Blake let Ruby take her hand in hers and took a few more deep breaths before she continued. “I used to feel that way. Adam doesn’t care. That’s the type of person he is. I knew him, you know? He was like a son to my father. They worked together, we worked together, for years back when I was just a kid. Before the White Fang… were changed into what they are today.” Blake tilted her head back to look up at the ceiling of the bullhead. “You were right, Weiss, Adam was enslaved by the SDC. He was actually an orphan in Mantle but even I don’t know what happened to his family. He never spoke about it. Honestly even he might not have known. He told my father about how he was branded when he was just a child, and eventually he escaped during some big riot started by the Faunus slaves in the Dust mines he worked in. He found his way to Menagerie and the rest… that’s history.”

She massaged her forehead, rubbing her fingers in. “I’m sorry I snapped at you, Weiss. I just have strong feelings on Adam Taurus.”

“I can understand that,” Weiss nodded, accepting the apology easily.

The four of them became quieter, although the bullhead was still filled with crude laughter and jokes drifting from Team CRDL on the other side. The trip to Forever Fall was probably close to ending, its not like it was far from Beacon at all—though the strange forest was quite big and they might be traveling to a part of it decently far away. What was supposed to be a simple mission, and what would probably have been a fun time if they were paired with JNPR, had now turned into a rather depressing affair for all of them. They hadn’t even started and all four girls were emotionally spent.

Ruby looked at the girl next to her, a question forming in her mind after what Weiss had said earlier.

“Weiss?” Ruby asked, a little hesitant. “If it’s… if it’s not too personal… how did you get your scar?”

Weiss looked over at her, a calm surprise on her face as she unconsciously reached up to her face once more. “Oh… well, it’s not that personal after everything I’ve already told you, but it’s not much of a story either.” Her fingertips glided over the faint scar. “I was… having a bad day. This was rather recent as well. I was quite stressed and I merely… saw something in the mirror that wasn’t really there. I reacted poorly and was obviously not thinking clearly.”

She sighed. “My butler, Klein, luckily found me rather quickly. My father tried using that little incident as a reason to keep me from coming to Beacon, however I was still able to dissuade him from that.” She coughed and a blush rose to her cheeks. “By threatening to say that he was the one who cut me when I told the media about my schizophrenia.”

“Nice,” Yang grinned.

“Yang...” Ruby frowned.

“Hey, that’s called making the best of a bad situation. And Weiss’s jerk dad definitely deserves it,” Yang defended.

“Essentially my line of thinking,” Weiss giggled. “And it’s also why I’m somewhat fond of this scar. It’s a symbol of how I was able to get my freedom.”

“I can understand that,” Blake smiled at her.

“And the three of you shouldn’t worry about me… harming myself. That is a rarity even when I’m at my worst. And I’ve felt much, much, better since coming to Beacon in the first place,” Weiss smiled.

Ruby leaned in, her shoulder pressing against Weiss’s. “Glad we could help.”

Quiet between the four of them returned as Team RWBY sat with each other, waiting out the rest of the trip. Ruby would’ve been fine listening to the steady hum of the bullhead’s engine if it wasn’t for how Team CRDL were still talking. Instead she turned her attention to them, not directly, she didn’t want them to catch her looking at them and start something, but she made to discreetly glance over. They were still working together for this mission, and they’d need to fight together at some point most likely.

And being Ruby Rose, she really wanted to get a closer look at their weapons. Of course, they were jerks, so she didn’t want to go up and ask. And they were jerks, so they probably would’ve refused or said something mean in the first place. And they were just jerks.

So instead she just looked over their weapons from here, seeing and learning what she could. And unfortunately she was not very impressed. She was hoping if one of them maybe had something cool or unique it could even be point of conversation and something their teams could bond over—but they didn’t have anything like that! A big mace, a pair of daggers, a sword, and an axe, sure there was nothing wrong with the classics, but this was a whole team of nothing but the classics! Where was the creativity? Where was the mechashift capabilities? At least Dove’s sword was also a gun but that was about it. Just going by the looks of them, their team fought exactly as one would expect after talking to them—up front and personal. And probably with not much finesse. Ruby had no qualms with that either, Yang mostly fought the same way and Ruby could get like that too at times, but Blake and Weiss were different and they had other ways to fight with their weapons.

Ruby might have been being a bit unfair, but she didn’t have high expectations for Team CRDL.

Simple, boring, pigheaded, straightforward. She was trying to not be cynical but it sure was difficult. Every word out of their mouths and everything she picked up about their weapons told her that that was all she could expect from them. Maybe they were at least good in a fight—Ruby had never seen them actually fight yet or anything—but she wasn’t going to raise her hopes up just to have them dashed.

She sighed, weapons were her thing. Even with that disastrous first meeting with Weiss, her eyes had noticed Myrtenaster and just what it was. She had been totally honest when she told Weiss how cool her sword was. But now she could hardly think of anything to say or bring up about CRDL’s weapons to try and strike up a conversation or fix the busted relationship between the two teams. And if she couldn’t rely on weapons for that she highly doubted she could do anything else about it. They were all students, all training to become Huntsmen and Huntresses, why was this so difficult?

It took only about fifteen more minutes before the bullhead landed in the reaches of Forever Fall. The door to the cargo bay opened up, letting the two teams out, while Glynda Goodwitch joined them after riding copilot in the cockpit the whole time. Ruby wondered if Cardin had the guts to repeat anything he said to them in front of her. Probably not.

The forest around them though, it was the first time Ruby had ever actually been here even after living in Vale for near ten years. It was huge, beautiful in its own way, but it just wasn’t the sort of place that people went to for no reason. Just endless trees with the leaves all a mix of autumn colors, swaying in the breeze. Everyone knew about it and what it provided for Vale and yet Grimm were still a constant in the area. Never able to be fully rooted out. They were hardly able to be rooted out anywhere.

That was just how the Grimm were.

Glynda cleared her throat as she stood in front of the assembled teams. “It’s this area of the Forever Fall where the increase has been detected the sharpest. The eight of you will fan out and destroy any Grimm you come across. Do not worry, for I will be here, but this is primarily a learning experience for you. You will be the ones expected to deal with the Grimm. I will not do anything unless necessary. And because of that, I will not tell you how to deal with the Grimm either. Whether you want to stay as a single large group, divide into your normal teams, or pairs, it’s all up to you. Merely destroy all the Grimm you find today in this part of the forest. That’s all you need to be concerned with.”

Ruby shared a look with her teammates just as Cardin did with his.

They were pretty sure they knew how they were going to divide things up.

Glynda watched as the two teams, without speaking a word to each other, walked off in opposite directions to begin the Grimm hunt. She merely raised an eyebrow as they left.

“I suppose Ozpin and I need to do something about getting all the teams to work together better in the future.”

“I can’t stand those obnoxious girls. They act so high and mighty and special. A Schnee, some kid let in early, that bimbo, and a Faunus? But they act like they’re so damn good,” Russel Thrush said as Team CRDL traversed through the autumn forest.

“Pyrrha Nikos was bad enough, but she’s nothing compared to that team. They’re the worst of the worst at Beacon,” Sky Lark snorted.

“I could take the others being here, but the Faunus is too much.” Dove Bronzewing shook his head. “My dad was right about them—there’s just something wrong with them. The way they look, the way they act, those ears are creepy. He had so many run-ins with Faunus criminals, you just start to notice.”

“Relax, guys, it’s all good,” Cardin said, walking between them with his mace—The Executioner—held tightly in his hands. “I’ve been thinking about things… that Faunus was right about Miss Goodwitch and the Headmaster being on her side. They want her here.”

The others shared a confused look before Dove raised an eyebrow at him. “So what? Are you saying we should stop?”

A dark grin came to Cardin’s face. “Nope. I’m saying that if we can’t count on the ones in charge to fix this mistake, then maybe we need to do it ourselves.”

“Uhh...” Russel looked a little worried as Cardin spoke, the look in his eyes somewhat unsettling. “What do you mean, Cardin?”

“Well look around you, boys. What do you see? A forest full of Grimm, right? A bunch of novice students out on a mission,” he chuckled to himself. “It would be terrible if there was an accident out here… just downright tragic, right?”

He started to laugh as the tree leaves fell around him, Russel, Sky, and Dove now looking like they were a little worried about more than just the Grimm.

Chapter Text

Team RWBY kept their eyes and ears open as they traversed through the Forever Fall, the forest so dense with trees it was difficult to see anything far away. Even the so called area they were hunting in was a huge mass of the forest, acres and acres of trees, and so far they hadn’t come across any Grimm.

Yang was already bored, casually walking while holding her arms up, hands interlocked behind her head. “Come oooon, where are the Grimm?”

“I would say you shouldn’t ask for Grimm to come, but considering that’s literally what we’re here for I’m forced to agree with you,” Weiss said, looking around.

“Doesn’t exactly seem like a place with higher than normal Grimm activity,” Ruby said.

Blake merely walked on silently, not engaging in the conversation with the others.

Ruby of course noticed. “Blake? Are you okay?”

The cat Faunus’s ears twitched and she looked over at her leader, an apologetic look on her face. “I’m… sorry. I’ve just been thinking about a lot of things since we landed. Cardin and those idiots and everything we’ve talked about. I know I should focus but it’s just kind of a lot.”

Yang walked over and bumped her hip against hers. “Don’t worry about it. So long as you don’t get distracted when the Grimm are actually here.”

“Hm… speaking of distractions,” Weiss said as she stared at the trees. “This is actually a rather nice looking place. There isn’t anything like this in Atlas. It’s just snow and mountains and a few evergreen forests. Nothing with color like this. There are greenhouses, and botanical gardens in Atlas of course—the Schnee mansion even has a few—but they aren’t real. It’s all transplanted, unnatural.”

“You’d enjoy seeing Menagerie too then,” Blake smiled to her.

“If only I’d be welcome there,” Weiss snorted.

“I’d vouch for you.”

Weiss turned to her with a smile. “And I’d vouch for you in Atlas. Although I still wouldn’t recommend visiting.”

“Thank you,” Blake chuckled. “Although maybe all of you shouldn’t be so concerned for me and helpful. If you let me keep being negative I’ll draw the Grimm to us and make things easy.”

“Or—I can go find Cardin and break one of his legs. That’ll draw the Grimm out too, won’t it?” Yang grinned.

“Let’s try and hope for things getting better with them one day instead of engaging in violence,” Blake playfully rolled her eyes.

The breeze continued to blow through the eternally autumn trees of the forest as Team RWBY searched for the Grimm. Ruby had Crescent Rose out and at the ready and made sure the rest of her team had their weapons drawn as well just in case. They weren’t going to be caught unawares, despite not having stumbled upon the Grimm yet they knew the reports weren’t going to be lying. There were a lot of Grimm here somewhere. But the forest was indeed huge, maybe they just weren’t covering enough ground. Ruby bit her lip as she thought things over.

“I don’t want anyone to call me out on how stupid of a decision this might be—but maybe we should split up,” Ruby suggested.

“Actually I think that’s fine,” Weiss shrugged.

“Me too,” Blake said.

“I’m down,” Yang agreed.

“Oh,” Ruby blinked. “Well okay then.”

“We are on a mission and we only have one day. It’s going far too slow,” was Weiss’s simple explanation.

“The Grimm that would be out here for something like this aren’t going to be that big or dangerous either. There might be a lot but even if we’re starting to get overwhelmed we should be able to easily run or hold them off long enough for help,” Blake said. “It’s probably only a large pack of Ursa or Beowolves. We all know how to deal with them.”

“And I just plain trust ya, sis!” Yang flashed her a grin and gave Ruby a thumbs up.

Weiss smirked. “Congratulations on being a leader that your team respects.”

Ruby blushed, letting the words go right to her head. “Awww, come on, I’m not that great.”

“Anyways-” Blake couldn’t stop a small chuckle. “The splitting up? The Grimm?”

“R-Right! Ehehe...” Ruby composed herself. “Partners?”

Yang threw an arm over Blake’s shoulders. “Partners!”

Ruby nodded. “Alright, Weiss and I’ll go north, Blake and Yang, you head south. We’ll clear up any Grimm we can find. Don’t go too far though cause just in case one of us needs help we oughta be close enough for it.”

“You got it!” Yang winked and turned Blake around, making the other girl walk with her while Weiss walked over to Ruby’s side. Yang held up her other hand and looked over her shoulder at her sister and Weiss. “Good luck out there but I bet me and Blake’ll take out way more Grimm than the two of you!”

“It’s not a competition, it’s a job,” Weiss sighed in annoyance.

“And if you make it a competition it makes you put way more effort in!” Yang laughed as she walked away with Blake, arm still over her shoulders. The Faunus didn’t seem to mind though, just giggling along with her partner.

Weiss rolled her eyes. “What does it say when the little sister is far more serious than the big sister?”

“You think I’m serious?” Ruby looked at her.

Weiss blushed, a little embarrassed and clearly trying to back-pedal. “I think you take your career as a Huntress serious. And you are remarkably mature for your age. I will certainly not be someone too petty to not give praise that’s deserved. Now let us please focus on this mission.”

Ruby patted her back. “It’s okay, Weiss, I say embarrassing things all the time too.”

“Do not throw away all my good-will so easily! Ugh!” Weiss huffed and started stomping off.

Ruby followed her, catching up quickly and walking alongside her partner as they searched the northern area of this part of Forever Fall. For some reason, perhaps a little subconscious tug, Weiss looked over her shoulder once Ruby was by her side, looking back at the quickly disappearing figures of Yang and Blake. Yang no longer had her arm around Blake’s shoulders, but she was staring at the other girl with a deep look in her eyes.

Weiss couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the way Yang was looking at Blake. “Ruby… about Yang, but do you know if she’s-” she glanced over at Ruby, seeing her team leader looking at her with a completely oblivious expression.

“What? What about Yang?” Ruby asked.

“Oh, never mind, I was just thinking about something. But it’s not important,” Weiss shrugged and together the two of them kept walking.

Splitting up turned out to be a decent idea for finding Grimm because about five minutes after Yang and Blake started heading south-

“Eat this!” Yang yelled as she stuck her fist into the Ursa’s mouth and blasted it right down the gullet with Ember Celica. The force of the gunshot knocked the Ursa onto its back and sent it rolling into a tree, where it promptly started to disintegrate.

“Hell yeah!” Yang cheered as she looked around at the rest of the Ursa pack coming after her and Blake. “This is what I needed!”

One of the Ursa running at Yang was hit in the shoulder by a certain grappling hook, Blake swinging towards it and decapitating it with Gambol Shroud’s sheath in one quick motion. A tug pulled her weapon back into her hand, still in gun/hook form, and she used it to shoot at the nearest few Ursa to slow them down. Yang, with more space now, ran towards each of the injured Ursa and blew them away with a few strong punches and shots from her gauntlets.

“You set em up and I knock em down! This is what we were missing!” Yang shouted over to Blake, flashing a grin to the Faunus.

“Don’t get too pleased with yourself, they’re just some mindless Grimm,” Blake said but she couldn’t stop the smile on her face either.

“ROOOOOAAARRRR!” Ursa from behind Blake roared and came running at her.

“Yang!” Blake called out, throwing Gambol Shroud to the blonde, shooting it for that extra momentum while holding onto the ribbon.

“Go it!” Yang said and grabbed the thrown weapon out of the air.

Blake pulled with all her might, Yang shooting behind her body with Ember Celica to boost herself at the same time, and swung her partner into the first Ursa barreling towards her. Yang crashed into the Grimm’s side and the force carried them into the next Ursa and then the next one. Three Ursa were thrown into a pile while Yang rolled to a controlled stop, tossing Gambol Shroud back to Blake and then running forward towards the downed Ursa to finish them off.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

That was all it took for those three, Yang sweating a bit but enjoying the adrenaline rush a whole lot more. She hadn’t even pulled out her semblance yet and she doubted she needed to just for these losers.

A cracking sound came from behind her as an Ursa stepped out from behind a large tree, its paw snapping one of the branches like it was a toothpick. The Ursa came charging at her and Yang put up her hands to get ready for a fight when a black blur sped past her. Blake rushed the Ursa, bringing up her sheath to block the heavy swipe from the bear monster’s paw while slicing at its other arm with Gambol Shroud now in its sword from. The Ursa was tough though and it only roared at Blake’s attacks, leaning down to bite her in two. But all it bit was a shadow that Blake had already pushed off of—using the opportunity to go behind the Grimm and slice into its back with her sword, felling the great beast. With a pitiful whine it disintegrated into black smoke.

Blake looked over her shoulder at Yang and winked. “I can take them down too.”

Yang’s heart nearly exploded out of her chest.

She didn’t have time to sort those strange feelings out either as the sound of hulking creatures stampeding over dry leaves filled both their ears. Another pack of Ursa was coming for them, that report about elevated Grimm activity seemed to finally be showing off its authenticity.

“At least I was right about it just being Grimm like Ursa. I’m more worried about running out of ammo than I am about getting hurt,” Blake said and converted Gambol Shroud to its gun mode again.

“Right there with ya,” Yang said as she walked up beside Blake. “Course if I run out of ammo it just means I have even more of an excuse to get up close and personal.”

“Not surprising. Now let’s soften them up first,” Blake said and started shooting.

Yang joined her, the two of them standing side by side as they peppered the incoming Ursa with bullets. None of them were enough to outright kill any of the Grimm from a distance, they’d need Ruby’s Crescent Rose or something else for that, but the Grimm that got hit weren’t able to just shrug everything off either. A few stumbled and slid across the autumn leaves before picking themselves back up and running for the two young Huntresses. That was the thing with Grimm, they didn’t care about stuff like that, or how many of their number died. They’d keep coming.

When one of the lead Ursa got close enough, Yang shot herself forward and punched it right in the skull, shattering the white mask over its head and knocking it away. Another Ursa right behind it reared up but found the blade of Gambol Shroud thrown into its chest, Blake then pulling herself forward using the Grimm’s greater weight as an anchor and kicking it into the Grimm still behind it. A whole group of them were bowled over while Yang and Blake casually stood together. The work was hardly done but the Grimm weren’t quite so numerous that they felt they had to worry.

Yang cracked her knuckles and stretched her back. “How do you think Leader and the Ice Princess are doing?”

“Hm, who knows, they might have a higher score than you.”

“Guess I better make sure that’s not the case...”

Ruby and Weiss were in fact doing quite alright. They had their own pack of Ursa to deal with in the north and the training they had been doing together as a team was already paying off. Weiss made a number of glyphs around the forest, between the trees and the rampaging Ursa, and Ruby was bouncing and accelerating off of them with her semblance—becoming a blur of red that sliced through everything with her beloved Crescent Rose.

She called this attack “Pink Pinball”.

Weiss wasn’t fond of the name. But she couldn’t deny the results were effective against common Grimm like this. Most of the Ursa were cut to ribbons, and the ones not killed outright had large gashes in them or limbs removed.

There was one downside to this attack though…

Weiss deactivated her glyphs and Ruby came out of her semblance, leaving a trail of rose petals as she came spinning to a stop next to Weiss. The leader was wobbly, tilting back and forth, her eyes spinning around in their sockets.

“I feel sick...” Ruby groaned.

It was a little too fast and erratic.

“That’s why I said we didn’t need to use this attack!” Weiss rolled her eyes. “Get yourself together, Ruby! There are still more Ursa here.”

There were indeed more Ursa. A huge pack of them still roamed this part of the Forever Fall and were converging on the red and white duo. Shaking her head—Ruby got back into gear while Weiss held Myrtenaster before her eyes and dashed forward towards the nearest Grimm. As opposed to Ruby, Weiss’s attacks were all precision, stabbing the Ursa in their necks, their eyes, to kill and disable them while dancing around their claws and jaws like it was second nature. Weiss jumped over one Ursa that threw itself at her, landing on its back and stabbing the blade of her rapier straight through the back of its neck, flipping off it as it disintegrated into nothing. She flipped right into the middle of the pack, but she had a plan for that, a trail of glyphs appearing beneath her feet that catapulted her away from them at high speed, right as Ruby came in for the clean up.

Crescent Rose was made for this. The wide, powerful, swings Ruby could make with it, the huge blade designed for carving apart large Grimm, it was exactly what was needed for a horde of Ursa. Ruby didn’t even need her semblance to get the speed for a big enough swing to cut the nearest Ursa in half at its belly. That was all her. Following through—she pulled Crescent Rose’s trigger and spun herself even further and faster around, the scythe blade cleaving off the head of another Ursa before she landed back on the fallen leaves and skidded to a halt in the midst of the Ursa pack.

The Ursa, still just mindless Grimm, not old or experienced enough when it came to actually dealing with humans, saw her as easy prey now that she was in the middle of them. All their attention turned to her—not realizing she was just bait now after finishing her attack.

Weiss, outside of their circle, raised Myrtenaster and a series of glyphs appeared over the Grimm—quickly raining down shards of ice into them. It was a perfect ring, one that had been practiced many times, Ruby remaining totally safe in the middle of it. Most of the Grimm weren’t killed by the ice shards, merely injured or pinned in place, but it allowed Ruby all the time she needed to blitz through their numbers with Crescent Rose and finish the job. Soon the fallen leaves were joined with rose petals and Grimm ash drifting to the ground.

Weiss refused to let Ruby use the word “Donut” in any way shape or form for this attack name.

“Nice!” Ruby cheerfully grinned as she ran back over to Weiss. “You knew what was best even without me having to call for it!”

“That means we don’t have to shout silly names all the time in the middle of fights,” Weiss smiled.

“Is… is that why you’ve been working extra hard on our duo attacks? So you just know on instinct what we need to do?” Ruby asked.

“It’s one of the reasons.”

“But I like calling out the attack names...” Ruby whined.

“Come up with better names and I won’t mind. No food. No snacks. Nothing silly,” Weiss frowned. “Imagine us in the middle of a match at the Vytal Festival and you yell “Pink Pinball” for the entire crowd to hear. I’ll be dying of embarrassment so badly I won’t be able to do anything.”

“Well if it was for a whole team fight I’d call for Rainbow Pinball...” Ruby looked aside.

“Ugh!”

“ROOOOOOOAAAARRRRR!”

Ruby and Weiss’s attention snapped back to the trees, where more Ursa were emerging from. This was certainly an abnormal amount of Grimm for the Forever Fall. But the two girls weren’t worried at all. Ruby leveled Crescent Rose at the charging Ursa and Weiss did the same with Myrtenaster.

“Okay! Whiterose!” Ruby shouted and burst forward.

“Hey, Cardin? Are you sure this is alright? T-This seems kind of… extreme,” Russel said as he followed his team leader through the trees, their boots crunching against the carpet of leaves as they ran at full speed.

“Do you want that filthy Faunus to be with us at Beacon for the next four years or not?” Cardin glared back at him but a happy grin quickly returned to his face. “It’s no big deal, accidents happen all the time. This is gonna be great.”

“Right...” Russel gulped and looked behind him at the horde or Ursa chasing the two of them. They had agitated the pack and stayed just close enough to make sure the Grimm never lost sight of them, leading them through the autumn forest. They didn’t stop to fight or anything, only to bait the Grimm further. Something Russel was very concerned about.

“Everything’ll be fine for us as long as you have your anchor in place. If anything else happens, there’s still our stuck-up teacher to handle the Grimm,” Cardin said.

Russel looked down at the one dagger he was holding, its twin left planted in the ground far away. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Just gotta leave it up to Sky and Dove now. Once Sky finds the Faunus, Dove can send us their location and then voila, we lead the Grimm in and skedaddle. Easy,” Cardin laughed.

Russel gulped, a bit of guilt seeping in. This was not why he came to Beacon, but he quickly realized he didn’t have the courage to speak up.

Yang and Blake were just finishing up with their group of Grimm, Yang punching the last one repeatedly in its stomach until it fell over, upon which Blake came down and decapitated it. They stood, panting and a bit sweaty, but only surrounded by falling leaves now instead of anymore Ursa. Yang checked Ember Celica, noting she was out of anymore Dust bullets, before shrinking her gauntlets up on her wrists and going over to clap Blake on the back.

“That’s right, we’re awesome!” Yang grinned at her partner.

“As far as duos go at Beacon I doubt many could beat us,” Blake allowed.

Yang nodded. “Think Ruby and Weiss are done? If they even ran into any.”

“I don’t know but we might as well go look for them. Nothing else to do around here.”

Just as they were about to start heading north to meet up with Ruby and Weiss, the two of them heard panicked shouting coming from the east. Blake’s ears flicked up as she listened in harder, a frown passing over her face.

“That’s Team CRDL… and I think I can hear Grimm too,” Blake said.

“Tch,” Yang clicked her tongue. “Guess they bit off more than they could chew. Oh well, let’s go rescue some jerks!”

“Think they’ll be grateful to the Faunus coming to help them?” Blake raised an eyebrow, a humorless grin on her face.

“Doubtful,” Yang shook her head.

The two ran towards the source of the screams, first seeing the pair of Dove Bronzewing and Sky Lark running through the trees. A little further behind them were Cardin and Russel Thrush—and a big horde of Ursa right on their heels. Yang scowled immediately, knowing they were in for a tough fight after pretty much giving it her all just a bit earlier. Blake on the other hand… her eyes narrowed on the faces of Dove and Sky, they didn’t look nearly as winded as Cardin and Russel did. And they didn’t actually seem as scared as that yelling from earlier made them seem. She had a bad feeling about this.

“H-Help us!” Dove called out to the pair. “There are too many of them!”

Yang rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I can see that, thanks! The four of you just gather up with us and we’ll take em together, Ruby and Weiss should be close by too.”

Dove and Sky shared a look that went unnoticed by Yang but not by Blake when they heard Ruby and Weiss weren’t here.

“Sure thing,” Sky said and the two of them ran behind their saviors, Cardin and Russel on the way.

“Ursa, coming through!” Cardin yelled as he ran past Yang and Blake with his partner. “Can you two give us a moment to catch our breath? We’ll back you up.”

Blake was hesitant to have them behind her but she couldn’t really take her focus off of the Grimm horde coming towards them. Besides, there was no way they’d actually attack her. She was out of ammo so she kept Gambol Shroud in its sword form and got ready. Yang had the same idea, Ember Celica extending down her forearms again as she got ready for round two with the Ursa.

“Just don’t take too long, okay? We’ve already been fighting for a while,” Yang said.

There was no answer.

“You guys?” Yang looked over her shoulder along with Blake, but Team CRDL had vanished. She blinked a couple of times, just empty air and some crushed leaves where they had been standing. “Uhhh...”

Blake stared in open mouth shock. “I… they...”

“ROOOOOAAAARRRR!”

Blake and Yang turned back around as the Ursa were nearly upon them.

Far away in the Forever Fall, one of Russel Thrush’s daggers was planted upright in the dirt in a place where no Grimm or anything else was around. In the next second, the four members of Team CRDL popped into existence right next to it. Everyone except Russel immediately doubling over and holding back the urge to vomit.

“I seriously hate traveling with your semblance, Russ,” Dove said as he groaned.

“I’ve told you it’s worse the more people I bring,” Russel grumbled.

“But hey, did you hear that back there? It was just the two of them alone,” Sky grinned as the sickness wore off. “Their teammates weren’t around.”

“Yeah, and that makes it even better. Those two are done for. No more Faunus and no more obnoxious blonde. Had a bone to pick with her too anyways,” Cardin snickered. “And nobody’s gonna know we had anything to do with it.”

The others chuckled a bit uneasily—they knew what they were doing but for Cardin to just talk about it so casually really made the reality of the situation settle over them. He seemed to notice too so he just rolled his eyes and smiled at his team.

“Relax you guys, all we’re doing today is cleaning up some of the trash at Beacon.”

“Shit! Where the hell did they go?!” Yang yelled as she punched an Ursa into a tree—but without the backup shotgun blast she didn’t have enough power to kill it so easily.

Blake didn’t respond, her teeth clenched together so hard she felt like she might almost break her own jaw. She had both sword and sheath in her hands, cutting and chopping at any Ursa that came her way. She was fighting with a rage burning in her chest, no longer so nimble and controlled, she was savage. She was… animalistic. The thought just making her even angrier as she carved through the Grimm. This wasn’t how she should be, she had to control this…

Especially since they were currently fighting for their lives and being careless was kind of a bad idea. The forest around them was full of Grimm all over again, the colorful leaves still on the branches and the ones on the ground almost being blotted out by the swarm of black, white, and red.

“Bastards!” Yang shouted the moment she had a second to herself. “Cardin! Where are you!”

“Forget it, Yang! We just have to fight and hope Ruby and Weiss get here soon!” Blake growled and brought her sword and sheath together in a scissor motion to cut off the head of an Ursa. “Let’s try and run north to meet up with them!”

“Yeah...” Yang grunted as an Ursa smacked her into a tree with its meaty paw. “Ugh… after all this fighting my aura’s getting low.”

“Mine too, but we can’t exactly stop,” Blake panted, the swings from the sword not having quite enough strength behind them anymore to deal grievous wounds to the Grimm.

“Can’t stop...” Yang narrowed her eyes at the Grimm around the two of them. “Alright. Then let me make an opening and we can run for it.”

“What are you-” Blake looked over right as Yang’s aura practically exploded and the blonde’s golden hair caught fire while her eyes turned red. Blake knew how Yang’s semblance worked and knew the risk Yang was taking. Going all out like this, when she was already low, was going to leave her exhausted and vulnerable very quickly. There was a big fire centered on Yang now but that meant an even bigger burn out.

Yang knew this too but didn’t care, they needed to do something about these Ursa. With a mighty roar she charged full force at the ones to the north of them, trying to break through their number so she and Blake could flee towards Ruby and Weiss. Her semblance gave her all the extra strength she needed for the moment, burning Ursa sent flying while Blake followed right behind her. The Ursa roared as well and still came in pursuit, but Yang was at least able to knock away the ones in their way. One directly in front of Yang tried to crush her with its heavy paws but Blake at the last second used the last bit of strength she had left to vault off a shadow and cut its arms off.

The moment they were through the wall of black, Yang’s semblance cut out and her aura shattered, leaving her a sweating and panting mess that stumbled over the leaves.

“Come on!” Blake called out and grabbed Yang by the arm to keep her steady and help her run.

The Ursa that were left gave swift chase after them. And Yang and Blake were both too exhausted to run any faster—Blake’s aura about to break just as Yang’s already had. There were still maybe a dozen Ursa and nothing around for them to deal with them, no tree big or strong enough to jump in, no ravine to swing over, just endless leaves crunching beneath their feet as they ran. Yang tripped. She had been running on empty too hard, not paying attention to the ground enough. And Blake fell down with her because she had been helping her along. The both of them sprawled across the leaves and landed at the roots of one of the trees.

They tried to get up but a shadow fell across them as the nearest Ursa was already there, rearing up on its hind legs and letting out a vicious roar as it swatted down at them.

It was blocked by a white glyph appearing right in front of it. The pointed white star spinning and turning the entire glyph black before the Ursa was blasted away and knocked back into its fellows.

Weiss and Ruby landed right in front of Yang and Blake, weapons at the ready.

“Things get a little out of hand here?” Weiss glanced over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

“No! It was-” Yang started but felt Blake grip her bicep.

“It’s nothing, thanks for getting here,” Blake said and released a deep breath. “That was a close one.”

“Ruby Rose is never letting down her team!” Ruby shouted and popped another Dust bullet into Crescent Rose’s chamber, shooting herself towards the Grimm and getting to work along with Weiss.

Blake stood up along with Yang, sheathing Gambol Shroud and placing it on her back, watching as their leader and other teammate took care of the remaining Ursa.

“We can tell them about what happened when the danger’s over,” Blake said to Yang, her own fists now trembling as she tried to control her emotions. She hadn’t been displaying it as outwardly as Yang but she was very much not happy.

The scythe and rapier worked well in tandem, with Ruby’s huge slashes and bursts of speed through the Grimm disorienting them while Weiss came in after and finished off any that weren’t killed by the large scythe. There were only a couple of Ursa left so Weiss motioned Ruby to get behind her, Ruby fluttering over in a burst of petals, and Weiss summoned a wall of white glyphs in front of the both of them that fired shards of ice into the last of the pack. It was more than enough. The final Ursa fell with chunks of ice spearing through their bodies and heads.

“Team RWBY prevails!” Ruby cheered and went for a high-five with Weiss, which the heiress actually accepted. Despite the roll of her eyes she was smiling as she met Ruby’s hand with hers.

Their attitude changed though as they started walking back to the other pair and saw the look on Yang’s face.

“I… assume there’s more to the story than you just trying to fight too many Grimm?” Weiss asked, a frown on her face.

Blake was silently stewing, her face not betraying anything at the moment, no one noticing exactly how upset she was.

However, Yang was still more than willing to speak up enough and explain things for the both of them.

“It was Cardin and his cronies! We heard them shouting and being chased by Grimm so we went to help them out, but then when we met up with them and they had led this whole pack of Ursa to us they disappeared! They just ran off or something and let us fight them alone!” Yang angrily recounted. “I can’t believe them! They seriously could’ve gotten us killed!”

“They were trying to get us killed,” Blake whispered.

Yang and the others looked at her, seeing the dark look in her eyes.

“Or me at least. They were trying to kill me.”

Ruby grimaced, feeling sick. “They really… they’d really go that far?”

“I almost don’t believe it myself. I knew how they felt but to go so far just because...” Weiss trailed off.

“We’ll do something about them. Don’t worry, Blake,” Yang said and reached over to place a comforting hand on Blake’s shoulder.

As soon as Yang’s hand made contact, Blake pulled away with a snarl and shot Yang a nasty glare. “DON’T TOUCH ME!”

Ruby and Weiss jolted in surprise at the sheer anger in Blake’s voice while Yang flinched back. The shocked and fearful look on Yang’s face quickly morphed into sorrow as her hands trembled and she looked down at the ground.

Blake, seeing the look in Yang’s eyes, immediately realized what she had done. Her ears wilted, flattening to her head. “I-I’m sorry. Yang… I-I didn’t mean to do that. I shouldn’t have done that to you. I was just…” she shook her head. “I should be better than that.”

“I-It’s okay… I understand,” Yang held her arm as she tried to look anywhere but at Blake.

“No, Yang, please...” Blake trembled as she took Yang’s hands in hers. “Please. I’m sorry. Thank you, for trying to help me. I was just stressed. Please...”

At the honest pleading in Blake’s voice, Yang managed to slowly look up, eyes meeting with her partner. She could see that Blake was afraid now, upset, and guilty over what she had done. How she had snapped at her partner. Yang knew it wasn’t really directed at her, but it had still hurt just the same. However, she was a very forgiving person. A very positive person. And Blake was hurting and needed some of that positivity right now.

Yang pulled Blake into a hug, squeezing her tight for just a moment before letting her go. “It’s alright.”

Ruby and Weiss shared a still uncomfortable look with each other while the two were hugging. They had never seen Blake look like that before.

“S-So what do we do about Cardin and his team then?” Ruby asked so they could move on.

“Nothing,” Blake said before anyone else. “Just… we leave it. I can’t afford to start anything and it’s not like we have proof. I just want things to be normal. I don’t want to start conflicts with other students at Beacon, me being here is supposed to be a good thing, it’s supposed to be a sign that humans and Faunus can be above things like this. I don’t want to give Cardin an excuse or prove him right. Anything we do is just fuel for the fire. If we ignore it, he can’t make a big deal out of it either.”

Weiss frowned at that but sighed. “If that’s how you feel then I’m willing to respect your wishes.”

Ruby did not fully agree with any of this but she didn’t want Blake to be caught up in something she didn’t want to be. Not when she was already dealing with enough. “Okay...”

“I hate that guy, and I feel like something will need to be done about him one day if this is how far he’s willing to go, but okay,” Yang grumbled, holding Blake’s hand and squeezing it tight. “I trust you—and I want this to work.”

“Thank you, all of you,” Blake forced a smile onto her face. “Let’s just get back to Goodwitch and the ship now.”

Glynda Goodwitch had a stern look on her face and a single raised eyebrow as she looked at the two teams of new students. Ruby Rose seemed upset, not meeting anyone’s gaze. Weiss Schnee was annoyed, impatiently tapping her foot on the ground. Russel Thrush had an unusually guilty look about him. Dove Bronzewing and Sky Lark were both sweating bullets. And Yang Xiao Long and Cardin Winchester were glaring at each other hard enough that it looked like they might come to blows at any second.

And strangest of all, Blake Belladonna was smiling as if everything was okay and none of this was going on around her.

“Well, good working dealing with the Grimm. The monthly harvest can certainly proceed as scheduled. We can all fly back to Beacon now,” her eyes narrowed. “And I’m sure it will be a quiet and uneventful flight?”

“Incredibly,” Ruby muttered.

“Mr. Winchester?” Glynda looked to him for his confirmation.

“Yeah,” the tall boy frowned. “Quiet.”

“Good. Hurry aboard then,” Glynda said as she went to the cockpit while the students went into the back. She hopped up into the cockpit and strapped herself into the copilot’s seat, gazing out at Forever Fall.

We really need to work on inter-team bonding...

Chapter Text

Blake was not looking forward to today. Things had been going alright at Beacon so far. But not perfectly. And not as well as they should’ve been. And unfortunately that’s what she needed—to be perfect.

Things have just been very stressful lately and now it was decided that she was going to give a live televised interview that would be broadcast all across Vale on how things have been going for the first Faunus at Beacon so far.

Great.

She had been in front of cameras and given interviews plenty of times before. And she was practically raised in politics and how to handle this sort of thing thanks to her father. But right now just was not a good time. As much as she acted to the contrary, she wasn’t feeling so hot. She wasn’t quite so positive as when she had started here, not prepared for the stress and every little problem that would arise. She knew some things were going to be tough, but it still blindsided her in some ways. But this was the life she chose and she certainly couldn’t refuse now. She had made her choice long ago.

The interview must go on.

That was why she had taken an extra long shower this morning and was currently spending more time cleaning up and making sure she looked perfect than Weiss or Yang ever did. Splashing some cold water on her face as she stared into the mirror, she meticulously went over her eyebrows, her eyelashes, applied makeup that she would normally never care about, and even lipstick. Appearances mattered.

Her eyes flicked up to her cat ears.

They mattered a lot.

She wasn’t going to be wearing her preferred outfit, though she wanted to because it made her look serious, she was going to be going in the Beacon uniform as a show of her embracing the Academy. At least that’s what the interviewer and Ozpin said. Blake couldn’t help the sneaking suspicion that the more accurate term was “Going Native”. Or if she wanted to be even more cynical: Becoming civilized. Though she knew that was certainly unfair to Ozpin, he definitely didn’t feel that way, Blake had known him long enough to know where his heart lied.

If only everyone was like him then maybe none of this would have ever been needed in the first place. Oh well. She wasn’t about to stop what she was doing anyways. It was too important. It was just so heavy.

I feel like I’m losing it the longer I’m here. Blake sighed to herself as she breathed in and out over the sink. She shook her head and proceeded to comb her hair. Forget about it, just be professional and do what you’ve always done. That’s it. Be the example. Be perfect. And you can do this.

She exited the bathroom of their dorm room wrapped in just a towel, heading over to the closet to remove her uniform and put it on. It was almost the weekend and no one had class or anything for now and her teammates were currently gathered around in the room, passing time doing nothing. Waiting for her interview which they already promised her they would be watching. Definitely didn’t make her even more nervous or embarrassed.

As she got ready to change she saw Yang out of the corner of her eye, sitting on her bed, not so discreetly glancing over at her a couple of times.

I wonder if she’s still upset about how I snapped at her the other day? Blake frowned internally. She didn’t think Yang was still bothered though. Her partner seemed easygoing, quick to forgive and forget, so it was probably water under the bridge already. Weiss also wore her heart on her sleeve and didn’t seem to be upset either, probably because she was used to moments like that herself. She likely empathized with the stress Blake was under. Ruby’s feelings were a little harder to pin down. Their leader liked to act pretty happy go lucky, and optimistic, but Blake remembered watching her during the first exam. She couldn’t help but feel the girl was just putting on a front in some ways. And Blake had plenty of experience with things like that. Too much experience. Blake wasn’t sure if Yang was as intuitive about her little sister as she believed.

That made her kind of like Ruby more though, their leader sure was putting in a lot of effort to be the best she could be. And she was still shocked just how easy it was to get along with Weiss. Of all the things that she needed to do here at Beacon and things that could have been a problem—the Schnee heiress turned out to be one of the best parts. What a world.

Yang was just fun.

Her team seemed a little high-energy for sure but she was pretty lucky to get teammates like this. Even if it made her heart ache but… no sense thinking about that right now.

Blake finished getting ready and checked herself over one last time in the mirror on the inside of the closet door. Satisfied, she gave herself a quick nod and turned to her teammates.

“Alright, I’m heading off to the main building for the interview. It doesn’t start for a while but we need to go over a lot beforehand.”

“Wait,” Weiss held up a hand and got up from her bed, walking in front of Blake and looking her up and down with an appraising eye. “Hm. Acceptable.”

Blake chuckled and grinned. “I’m glad I can match up to your standards.”

“Yeah, Weiss, Blake always looks good,” Yang said from her bed before coughing and trying to hide a blush.

Weiss sent her blonde teammate an odd glance but Blake merely smiled at her partner. “Thanks, Yang.”

“Don’t mention it...” Yang mumbled and turned away.

Ruby took the moment to hop down from her bed with a big smile on her face. “Need us to help you with anything or are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Ruby, but thanks. I’ve done stuff like this a lot,” Blake reassured her. “Just enjoy the interview.”

“Alright,” Ruby went in to give her a hug but was held back by Weiss at the last second so as not to mess up her clothes. “Knock em dead!”

“I will, should be a pretty easy interview. Yang, I’ll be talking about something that I hope makes you feel a little better about that… incident in Vale,” Blake said to her.

Yang grimaced but pushed herself off her bed to come walking over. “Yeah… I figured you’d end up having to talk about that in some way.”

“I’m going to do the best I can with a bad situation. And hope I can do right by Opal and the others that assassin killed,” Blake sighed. She would’ve hugged each of her teammates before she left, but Weiss had the right of it that it was a bad idea to get her clothes or hair or anything else messed up right before the interview after she had spent all that time getting ready. She instead walked over to the door and offered them a small bow of her head. “Bye, be back soon.”

“Bye!” Ruby and the others waved as Blake stepped out the door.

They weren’t in Ozpin’s office, or an empty classroom, for the interview. Instead a meeting room with a window that overlooked the rest of Beacon and Vale beyond was chosen. Blake had her seat and sitting right to her left would be Lisa Lavender, the woman from Vale News Network who would be interviewing her. Blake already knew this was going to be a softball interview and the friendly face of Lisa Lavender proved that even more so. Blake and Ozpin had already gone over numerous points and things to bring up, and she was certain he had discussed some matters with Lisa privately as well. This interview wasn’t anything special, just something to ease the hearts and minds of the people of Vale. And also, Ozpin hoped, to not be immediately followed up by another hijacked broadcast by Adam Taurus.

Still, Blake was still stressed. She couldn’t afford any slip-ups.

The camera and the rest of the television crew behind it were ready, the interview would only be of Blake but Ozpin was of course standing by right out of view. Since it was getting close to them going live, Blake and Lisa sat down and got comfortable, the backdrop of sunny Beacon and Vale behind them showing a delightful atmosphere. That was the message.

Lisa cleared her throat, hummed to herself for a bit, while Blake calmly sat back and went over every little thing in her head.

First introductions. Then a question about what it’s been like at Beacon. Then a question on how she’s been treated. She knew the “script”.

She saw the cameraman holding up his hand, counting down on his fingers, three… two… one…

"Hello, Vale! This is Lisa Lavender with the Vale News Network here for a very special interview with Miss Blake Belladonna,” Lisa smiled and gestured over to Blake, who warmly smiled back at the camera. “It’s been a few weeks since the year at Beacon Academy began and I know you’re all wondering what life has been like for the first Faunus to be trained as a true Huntress. How has she handled the job? What does she think of Vale? How has she gotten along with her human classmates, teammates, and teachers? That’s what I’m here to find out and more!”

Blake tried not to cringe. She just had to repeat to herself that Lisa, like most people, didn’t mean anything by it when they said something unintentionally upsetting or awkward.

“So, Miss Belladonna, how would you say your time at Beacon has gone so far? Are people treating you well?”

“Beacon has been amazing,” Blake smiled at Lisa but it was for the camera. “The opportunity I’ve been given, that I hope can soon be given to many others, has been eye-opening. Training to become a Huntress is difficult, but it gives you perspective on all those who are already out there defending our Kingdoms. The staff have been doing a wonderful job and I know you’ll see that yourselves when the Vytal Festival comes along later this year. And yes—people are treating me very well. Not just Headmaster Ozpin and his staff, but my teammates, my classmates, they’ve all made me feel welcome, like I’m just another fellow student.”

“That’s wonderful to hear. There haven’t been any problems?”

“None,” Blake shook her head. “I know not everyone might love the fact that I’m here, but Beacon has given me its full support, and the people around me are there for me.”

“And so you are also reportedly getting along with the Weiss Schnee?”

Blake knew that was coming, her face didn’t falter one bit. It probably wasn’t right for this interview to bring up Weiss considering who her father was, but Blake couldn’t just brush it off. She hoped it didn’t cause problems for Weiss. “Yes. And if Weiss was here too for this interview she’d say the same thing. We happen to be teammates, and friends at that. And if we can become friends then so can any Faunus and human.”

“If that’s truly the case then you can both be an inspiration to not just your fellow Faunus but also humans everywhere.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do,” Blake laughed.

“Now then, you’ve still lived on Menagerie most of your life, but you’ve been here for long enough now that I wanted to ask you what you really think of Vale and its people.”

“Vale is different for sure,” Blake nodded, having to be careful with this question. “I would say that’s the best way to describe it. The paved streets, the tall buildings, the amenities and the current day technology, Menagerie doesn’t really have those things. Not as much at least.” She hated saying that. It just made Menagerie sound like some savage island, but she was doing this to butter up Vale and she knew her parents and those living in Menagerie wouldn’t be offended anyways. “The people in Vale have been charming too, although admittedly I haven’t been into the actual city much. I haven’t had a problem with anyone, and I know the people want things to be better for the Faunus too or this sort of reform would’ve never gotten anywhere in the first place.”

“I think you’re right about that. Surveys taken by the Vale News Network shows a majority supports not just letting Faunus into Beacon Academy, but also desegregating general schools, and removing the last of the discriminatory business laws against the Faunus. Although there are quite a few measures still firmly unpopular with the general public.”

“Things have come a long way but they’re not perfect. We just have to keep trying our best.”

Lisa Lavender nodded a few times before a more serious look passed over her face. “And on that note—speaking of Vale and your experience with the city, I’m afraid we have to touch on something that happened recently that not all of our viewers may be aware of. But it’s something serious that happened in our city.”

Blake nodded, knowing this was coming. It was going to be the most serious topic they discussed and she had to make sure her face didn’t crack.

“There was an attack carried out on a pro-Faunus rights group in Vale. Several people in the group were killed, and from what we know the attack was connected to the White Fang. This pro-Faunus group was made up of humans and Faunus of Vale, but only humans were targeted and killed by the attacker. And furthermore, by some twist of fate, you and your partner from Beacon happened to be there at the same time.”

Lisa didn’t continue the insinuation, probably at the request of Ozpin not even wanting to give it anymore thought than it deserved, but Blake still knew what that meant. That some people not quite fond of Faunus thought it was suspicious. Nothing she could really do about that though, it was just a total coincidence.

“Were you engaged with the meeting and the leaders of the group when the attack commenced? Did you have a prior relationship with them? And what can you tell us about the attack?”

“Actually it was pure chance. As you said, I was out with my teammate, we were seeing the sights in Vale, and I noticed their meeting taking place. I thought it would be a good way to engage them, with people who would support what I was doing, that I could network with them and maybe set something up later for charity or bringing more visibility to Faunus rights,” Blake’s expression saddened as she continued. “The person who committed the attack was indeed associated with the White Fang. We don’t know why they did it, and I’m sorry to the friends and families of those who died that I couldn’t do anything to help. Let me put this clearly—the White Fang are scum. They do not represent the Faunus, all they are doing is trying to make people suffer. They’re trying to undo the great things my father has worked towards for his entire life and they’re trying to undo what I’m doing here now.”

Blake took a deep breath as she looked into the camera, her face strong. She could see Ozpin smiling at her to the side—giving her a nod.

“Which is why I would like to announce something special. Headmaster Ozpin and I have discussed this, but at the end of my first year of Beacon Academy, we will hold a parade or festival in Vale. It’s still just in the planning stages at the moment. But it’s going to be a way for all of the various pro-Faunus groups, and any individuals who feel the same way, to come together and celebrate. And it is going to be done in memory of the four who were killed by the White Fang. I am already planning on reaching out to the others in the Vale Human/Faunus Alliance and to the groups like them. This is going to be a charity event showing how far we have all come in such a short amount of time.”

“That sounds like a truly wonderful thing.”

“It will be. I’ll make sure of it,” Blake smiled.

“Well then, we can be looking forward to that soon. For now there are a few more questions I have for you and you can then please tell everyone watching anything else you feel the need to speak on.”

Blake was proud that she managed to keep her smile up through the entire interview as it continued on.

Ruby, Weiss and Yang were gathered around Ruby’s scroll as the team leader held it up so all three of them could watch the interview together like this. Weiss and Yang were having a good time, Weiss not bothered by any potential fallout that could happen if her father was watching this or saw it later, while Yang was just happy to see Blake on tv. Ruby though, as the interview continued, couldn’t entirely put some other thoughts out of her head. Especially after what had recently happened in the Forever Fall.

“Have you guys ever noticed that Blake really smiles a lot?” Ruby asked them.

Weiss and Yang both seemed a little surprised by Ruby’s question/observation. Weiss raising a confused eyebrow while Yang scratched her head.

“Well yeah… she smiles a lot, but that’s kind of a good thing isn’t it? You kind of want someone to smile, Ruby,” Yang said.

“But all the time? Even when they shouldn’t?” Ruby frowned.

“Is this about what happened in the Forever Fall?” Weiss asked.

“Yes but not entirely. Blake has so much going on, so much stress she’s under, but she always tries to smile and sweep things under the rug,” Ruby sighed. “In some ways that’s a good thing, but not if you do it for everything. Not if you bottle up too much. She’s smiling but I don’t think she really feels that smile. And I just… I just can’t help but feel she’s not really being honest with us. Like she won’t let us in because she cares too much about what she’s doing here at Beacon as the first Faunus Huntress...”

“I can’t exactly blame her for feeling that that’s more important,” Weiss said, folding her arms over her chest. “But it is upsetting when you put it that way.”

“I don’t blame her either I just think she’s going to break if she keeps this up. There’s no way she’s okay so soon after what’s happened. Forever Fall, that attack in Vale, just… everything. She’s putting her goal front and center and biting back what she really thinks about people like Cardin and she didn’t even mention that restaurant that wouldn’t serve Faunus in Vale either. She’s… lying. She’s lying to try and make things seem better than they are. Make herself seem better too.”

Yang frowned. “I don’t think that’s true. Blake’s just selfless like that, she kept me from getting in a fight with Cardin a bunch of times already. She’s just… strong. She got over what happened each time and stayed positive through it. She’d have to be the type of person that could do that because of everything riding on her.”

Ruby rolled her eyes, making sure Yang didn’t actually see her do that. “Yang, no offense but you tend to only see the best in someone. I really don’t think Blake is actually like that.”

“Well-” Weiss said before Yang could retort. “Now that you mention it, she certainly seems a little stiff during this interview. Although that might be because it’s an interview.”

“She just has a lot of expectations on her,” Yang grumbled.

“If she keeps trying to be this perfect all the time, with a fake smile, unnaturally forgiving attitude, and not even letting up around us it’s not going to end well,” Ruby sighed. “I don’t think we even know the real Blake at all. I think the Blake that snapped at you, Yang, was the closest we’ve seen to the real Blake.”

“H-Hey!” Yang stood up, a frustrated look on her face. “That’s not… that’s not true! She’s my partner, and you’re saying something like that about her?!”

“I’m not insulting her! I’m not angry at her! I just want to get to know her better. I’m… I’m the leader of Team RWBY. I want to do what I can for my team. But Blake so far hasn’t let me,” Ruby saw the interview was over and closed up her scroll. “And this… putting on this mask for the public, I don’t like it.”

“What exactly do you think Blake should be doing instead?” Weiss asked.

“I don’t know, I just feel like it’s more meaningful if she wins people over by being the real Blake. Not this perfect person she’s trying to act as,” Ruby shrugged. “It’s just… more honest. Nobody’s perfect, other Faunus that might come to Beacon aren’t going to be perfect. Blake should just be herself and let people come to know and love the real her. People respect that sort of honesty and sincerity. And the more she keeps trying to act perfect and put on this fake persona, it’s just going to be more stressful for her, and might cause problems for what she’s doing if it ever breaks at the wrong time. Or people just start not being able to trust her words or smile.”

Yang still looked upset and she went to sit down on her bed, stewing in her thoughts. It wasn’t just that anyone had said that about Blake but that Ruby had. Yang wasn’t used to hearing such cynical things from her little sister and she really didn’t like it. Although Ruby would’ve said it wasn’t cynical at all.

Weiss, being able to pretty much physically feel the heavy atmosphere in the room, coughed into her fist. “Well then obviously as teammates we should probably do something for Blake first. If she’s not going to be the one to reach out—we need to do it for her.”

“I...” Ruby nodded after a second of consideration, a smile coming to her face. “I think you’re right. No more just letting her get away with being secretly miserable. Even if she’s the one who tries to make us leave it be.”

Yang breathed out a deep sigh and hopped off her bed. “I think Blake’s fine but if she’s not then yeah, we should help out. As teammates,” she added with a slight blush. “What should we actually do to… I dunno, bring her out of her shell?”

“Well the last time didn’t end so well, and Vale’s a big city, and it’s Friday, how about all four of us take a trip into Vale tomorrow?” Ruby shrugged. “It can be like trying to make up for last time and give her a normal visit. We can show Blake around, and Weiss this time too, and take the opportunity to talk to Blake about these things. Don’t just let her brush it off, or act like everything’s fine. We’ll get Blake to be honest with us at the very least.” She pumped her fist into the air. “Team building!”

Weiss giggled. “I think that sounds fine. And I suppose I’d enjoy seeing more of Vale too.”

“If it actually makes us closer...” Yang coughed. “A-As teammates.”

“Hands in!” Ruby said and threw her hand forward. Weiss rolled her eyes but put hers atop Ruby’s, and Yang managed to find her grin again and join them. “Let’s go!”

In a certain office in a certain “abandoned” warehouse, a certain man was reclining in his chair, boots up on his desk, sleeping and snoring the evening away.

Roman Torchwick’s beloved slumber was interrupted by the buzzing of his scroll, his green eyes snapping open in immediate frustration. How much he wanted to pull that dumb thing out and just throw it out the window. Unfortunately he couldn’t.

Instead he grumbled a bunch as he tried to fish the scroll out of his pocket, his reclined position making the act a little awkward.

“She better be calling me for a good reason...” Roman said as he finally pulled out his scroll. Seeing who was calling him, he clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. “Oh great, somehow it’s someone even more annoying.”

He clicked accept.

“Answer your scroll faster next time,” Adam Taurus’s voice came through.

“Sorry, fearless leader, I was busy. But I’m here for you now, what do you need? More death and destruction? More dog food for the men? More-”

“Dust, Torchwick. We need to acquire more Dust. Faster. I don’t care about the risks you need to take to do it. Just get it. We’re not getting enough for the time we need.”

“I’ve been hitting Dust stores all over Vale already, and even absconding with some less than legal stockpiles my fellow criminals may have had sitting around. Where else do you expect me to get this much Dust?” Roman asked, annoyed at his work being criticized. And by a cow.

“There’s a huge SDC shipment coming in at Vale’s docks tomorrow night. An insider sympathetic to the cause has informed me. Be there, take it, and shut up.”

The call ended and Roman snorted, shaking his head.

“I guess no one says goodbye anymore.”