Hello potential readers.

This is the first fanfiction I have ever written so I don't know if it is any good but please do give feedback and criticism as I will take that to heart in order to improve my writing.

I do not own RWBY made by Roosterteeth

I hope you enjoy the read atleast :)

Heritage

Blake lay in her bed reading. She usually did this on the few Saturdays when her team didn't have anything planned or Ruby got some weird, impulsive plan.

For the first time in a while she was not reading something new, instead she was rereading her favourite,"The Man With Two Souls". It would be the second time since the start of the first semester at Beacon she read it.

Her love for the book stemmed from a sense of resemblance to the main characters inner conflict, where the two souls inheriting his body fought with each other to fulfill their own dreams and ambitions. One of the souls always hiding from the public when the other held dominance.

Even though it wasn't a perfect replication of the fact that Blake was hiding her heritage, it still was one of the books she could feel came the closest to reminding herself of who she was. It filled her with a warmth that was hard to describe, knowing that she wasn't alone even though the character mentioned was purely fictional.

After a while an urge made her take a quick glance upwards to confirm that the same yellow socks still dangled from the top bunk. Although she could hear the two sisters talking, it still didn't cause the same warmth that catching a real glance of the yellow tiger that was her partner and closest friend would.

She tried to read once more but found herself unable to do so as her thoughts turned to a dark place. Hearing that unique sweet voice that belonged to her partner talking cheerfully with her sister, hearing her sweet laughter, picking up every slight tonal change with her superior hearing abilities. Although the bow did allow her to hide the most obvious traits revealing her heritage and what she was it didn't lower her normal capacity for hearing.

Hearing it should make her happy, but the only thing she could feel was that same stinging pain that had been with her every time she saw her partner after the first week and it had only grown worse.

It was a longing to be with her partner, to be something more. They were close friends already but she still wanted a closer emotional bond with her partner. In a some ways she found it ridiculous but it also reminded her of how the romantic feelings were described in the few romances she read. Despite liking reading she had a strong distaste for the cliché romance novels that seemed to flood the market, but there were a few that didn't follow the age old cliché and delivered something deeper.

She knew the pain wouldn't go away for a while but as she saw it there was nothing she could do about it. Early on she had decided that she would have to keep a distance to her teammates, even though she had become rather close friends with them, especially her partner. It had been a logical choice in hopes of avoiding getting too close as it would only hurt more if they ever found out what she really was.

Despite being proud of her heritage and always standing up for others sharing her heritage in public and denouncing the acts against her kind, she still had rare moments where she couldn't help but hate what she was. Now was one of those times, her partner the catalyst, although she couldn't be blamed as she had no idea about it.

She had never talked about this fact before with anyone, especially not Adam, whom although she once trusted would have scolded her for even the slight mention of the fact. Hearing her partner laugh with her sister only caused the pain to grow worse. She could potentially tell her partner about her heritage, reveal her 'dark secret', maybe she could even accept me? But the fear was stronger despite everything she knew about her partner. The fear that she would leave her. That she would despise her, throw insults like so many other humans had done throughout her life and be furious over that someone of her "kind" had gotten so close to her.

As long as the bow still sat upon her head, covering her heritage, she was treated like one of them. Treated for whom she was and not what she was, but as quickly as that bow left her head, she knew they would treat her differently. The insults would come, the bullying and worst of all, her teammates reaction. Her team that had become her family, her only family considering that she hadn't seen her parents since she left them, accusing them of cowardice, and losing the right to call herself their daughter. She still regretted yelling at them but the past was the past and they probably didn't want anything to do with her. She would have to face them eventually but now was not the time.

And then there was Adam. The bull faunus she had followed and even for a time been with in what would have been called a romantic relationship despite the fact that she hadn't shared his feelings. The two had known each other for years, both joining the White Fang back during the days when her father was still leader, wishing for a better world for the faunus in equality with the humans. A world where she wouldn't have to hide her ears, where she could show her heritage visibly whilst being judged based on skill and not heritage.

Right now however she couldn't help but hate the ears. They prevented her from ever growing too close to anyone in her new life. She could never be like them, a human, she would always be a faunus and for that she would always be treated worse.

In a culture where human was the norm, despite everything, the deeply entrenched racism in the society of the four kingdoms felt untouchable. At times it felt like true equality was just a dream that was impossible, that she would always be treated differently.

Therefore when her father stepped down from the leadership of the Fang due to getting backslash for not being heavy handed enough she had followed Adam and seen her parents as traitors betraying the cause for equality. After that she had clinged to Adam as he was the last thing she could call a family left, he had served in the fang longer than her and therefore became her mentor and later boyfriend after telling her about his feelings. She had never been thrilled at the prospect but the fear of losing Adam had been too much, now she would have called it an unhealthy relationship but back when it happened it was all she had.

During the last months with the White Fang she had noticed Adam's growing cruelty in his actions, he had adopted a stance where he believed that mankind should be pushed away from Remnant and that social equality was impossible. This fell in line with the new leaders vision for the White Fang. Out of the group that once favored equality grew a group calling for faunus supremacy. Finally her own sense of morale made her abandon Adam during that faithful mission to raid a train filled with dust. Running away from the last of her family and ending up alone.

She had grown used to it and with her sins weighing down on her she applied to Beacon with the hopes of one day being a huntress and actually be able to do something that helped people. At times she found herself thinking that nothing could ever atone her of the sins she carried but she had to at least try.

Then everything had changed. She still remembered that night where she was reading the same book she now held in her arms with a candle next to her giving light. How she had been interrupted by a loud blonde girl who had come towards her dragging her younger sister with her whom Blake had encountered earlier in the day. The blonde had then happily introduced herself as Yang. The optimistic and cheerful outwards appearance of the girl had contrasted her own darkness, she actually found herself sort of frightened by the extroverts approach. Blake had always been an introvert by nature and had always had a hard time just going up to people and talk.

Unsure of what to do and with a book as amazing as the "Man With Two Souls" she had tried to get the girls to leave her alone by ignoring them. However then Ruby, the younger sister had suddenly asked her what the book was about and entering territory about something she burned for made Blake answer. Eventually she had learnt of Ruby's idealistic yet naive reasons for attending Beacon and despite knowing that the world wasn't so simple, she envied the younger girl.

That night she hadn't gotten a lot of reading done as her mind stuck to the sisters, especially Yang for some reason. Blake had quickly gotten the vibe that Yang was someone who cared deeply for her friends and family which she had seen by just looking at Yang's interaction with Ruby. Despite also being the extrovert she was and quite obviously showing her distaste in books, there was something about her that Blake could trust.

During the initiation she had set off to try and find a suitable partner and approach first after evaluating them. Chance held that she would encounter Yang first when she heard the girl yelling her sisters name. Blake had then shadowed Yang until the blonde had encountered a pair of Ursa. At first she thought of intervening as two Ursa was a considerable threat but decided against it to see Yangs capacity in combat. After having easily beaten down one of the Ursa and interestingly enough turned furious over the loss of a single strand of hair she intervened and finished off the second one. Having seen her combat and read her personality the day before she made the choice on impulse to have Yang as her partner. She hadn't fully understood it herself but the importance of Yang as a partner had shown quickly.

Without Yang, Blake would never have developed a closer bond to the rest of her team. Yang's strong extrovert personality became a bridge to her introverted personality and had made her open up a bit more than she had planned to her team.

Then however she had started to realize these feelings. The feelings of wanting something more, to not just be friends with Yang. It wasn't sexual, although she had to admit that she was attracted to her blonde partner. Mainly it was just the wish to have someone that she could talk to, someone that would accept her fully and always love her despite everything. It was naive in her opinion to desire something like that as even relationships could crumble, but it was still something she ached to have.

All of the hiding had left her alone, but Yang had burnt through her outer shell of solitude and dragged her towards the light. Having had no one for years that she trusted made it strange to have someone like Yang as a friend.

Yet she couldn't tell Yang.

She would try to never tell Yang.

It could ruin what had brought light to her life, it could force her back into the isolation that she tried to leave behind. She felt horrible for using Yang in such a way, to bring herself some form of happiness but maybe it would be better if their friendship ended? If so she wouldn't risk being hurt more than she already had. But something within her also told her that it would cause a pain several times worse than the one she was already feeling.

Even if Yang accepted her, she was not sure if she would share her feelings. Yang could potentially not even be interested or hate her for Blake being attracted to women. Her fears and melancholy was renewed as this possibility entered her mind.

Without knowing it she had turned towards the wall and was now lying with her knees upwards. Being consumed in her own thoughts had made her miss the fact that the conversation had stopped and that there was only one other person in the room.

What had brought her back was tears. Fear shook her body as she frantically started to try and remove the tears with her arms when someone touched her shoulder. She didn't want to turn around because whomever it was they would see and she felt that she couldn't deal with anyone, not even her teammates right now.

"Blake" The voice she had heard earlier who sounded so sweet said with concern as the arm that touched her shoulder gently started to pull her around.

Blake couldn't bring herself to resist so eventually her eyes turned and faced her blonde partner whom was sitting on her bed looking back at her with concern.

"Blake, you are crying! What is wrong?" She asked

"Where did Weiss and Ruby go?" Blake replied weakly

"They left about 10 minutes ago, Ruby decided to do something, I can't really remember what but Weiss followed to make sure she didn't destroy anything. Don't avoid the subject, what is wrong Blake?" Yang replied as she gently pulled Blake towards her in an attempt to give her a hug.

Yang had been the first one to give Blake a hug in years and despite being quite reluctant on physical contact she had grown accustomed to Yangs hugs, but now she reeled back trying to stay away from it. She didn't deserve it, she immediately noticed how Yang became even more worried and something akin to sadness flashed in her eyes.

Blake tried to move out of the bed hoping that she could escape and run away but her blonde partner prevented her and suddenly grabbed both of her shoulders gently but still strongly enough to restrict her movement.

"I am your partner Blake, and your friend. I dislike forcing myself upon others and it might be a personal matter so I won't push you too hard but please, talk to me at least.. I can't just let you run off like this, I care about you"

Blake saw the worry in Yangs eyes which only caused her pain to grow stronger, she couldn't run away and maybe it was for the best to tell her, but she couldn't bring herself to talk.

The two girls spent several minutes like this, Yang not letting go and Blake looking to the side to avoid the feelings of guilt that emerged whenever she saw the concern in those beautiful, lilac eyes.

"I care about you too Yang, but there is.. there is something about me... that could potentially ruin our friendship and I haven't told you because I am afraid that it will make you leave me.. and I wouldn't be able to deal with that even though I would understand why.. Blake said with a low voice on the verge of being a whisper.

"Whatever it is I will always be your friend Blake, you know that right? I don't care what it is, its you I care about." Yang replied.

"Yes but..."

"No it doesn't matter..-"

"I am a faunus..." Blake replied and immediately pushed herself out of Yangs grasp and started running for the door. Now she had done it, she had ruined her friendship with Yang and potentially her entire team. There could be no going back now but she was also tired of lying, of hiding what she was but the regret also flooded her with the thoughts of never being able to speak with Yang like this again.

Before reaching the door, something grabbed her leg and she fell, only barely catching herself with her arms. Looking back she saw Yang having a firm grip on her leg having apparently jumped after her as quickly as she lost the grasp on Blake's shoulder and wouldn't let go. Blake tried to drag herself towards the door but to no avail and in the end gave up and let her face fall to the floor. She started sobbing silently again.

To her surprise however Yang pulled her up and embraced her in a tight hug.

"Blake, did you really think anything like that would ruin our friendship? I care about you and that is the only thing that matters. Being human or faunus isn't what defines you, you define you, I will always accept you... but is that the reason for you wearing that bow?" Yang said in a soothing voice as she gently stroked the back of the shorter girls hair.

"Yang.. Thanks... and yes.." Blake replied in a voice even lower than before.

Relief flooded Blake's mind as she kept embracing her blonde partner and suddenly it felt like a huge weight had been lifted. Blake lost track of time as they stood there together in a tight embrace, but eventually they broke away albeit slowly and somewhat reluctantly. She swept away some of the tears still on her cheek with her right arm and looked straight into Yangs eyes.

The lilac eyes that had held such concern earlier now held what looked like relief. Yang gave Blake a small smile without saying anything.

"Yang.. I will have to ask you to not tell Ruby or Weiss though. If I want them to know I will tell them, alright?" Blake asked her partner in a more serious tone.

"Of course Blake, take the time you need" Yang replied as the two girls slowly moved towards each other again for another embrace.

Then the door flew open! The two partners quickly moved apart from each other and stared as Weiss walked in looking quite angry followed by a whimpering Ruby.

"You complete dolt! Whatever made you think that..." Weiss said as she started to scold their team leader over some absurdity she had apparently done, but Blake lost track of what was said. Her lips had turned into a small smile as she stared happily into nothing particular thinking about the incredible, almost unbelievable fact that Yang now knew her heritage...