Author's Note

What's this? A chaptered story from me that is actually going to have a linear continuous storyline? Shocking, I know. Sorry that it's been like a month since I last posted something.

This story is based off of a series of pictures (links in profile) from my friend Angie on tumblr (weissrabbit) featuring a younger Weiss and Blake. While they are the same age, Weiss is tiny and appears younger than she actually is. Just like tiny little canon Weiss. The story starts off a little darkish, but it gets happier. They're kids, so no romance. It'll be more sisterly than anything else.

The first few chapters are mostly just setting things up so I can get them away from the Schnee family and the White Fang. Not entirely sure how long this story will run for since I haven't actually written a true multi chapter story before. I do have some events I want to hit in the middle and an ending already in mind, plus vague ideas in between. Currently looking at maybe 20ish chapters? It's not a short story, but it's not a terribly long one either. Though with how slow I write, it might take take a while.

Chapter 1 - New Beginnings

The young Weiss Schnee felt rather uncertain and perhaps a tad frightened right now. Never before had the eleven-year-old girl seen her father in such an exceptionally poor mood before. Admittedly he was never much in a good mood, not in recent years anyway, but seeing him lose his composure to such an extent was new.

Weiss and her father were presently residing at one of the many Schnee mansions spread around Vytal. It was not the main family home that Weiss spent the most time at, but it mattered little in the end. She rarely ever got to leave the grounds of wherever she was currently staying at, so at least getting to see the insides of a different building was a little refreshing.

The Schnees had come to this area a week ago for the elder of the two to check in on some matter involving a branch of his company that he had to see to in person. Earlier today though the Schnee patriarch had returned home unexpectedly early from his business. Seething, he had stormed in raging about "Those damned animals", and "Uppity mongrels". For those familiar with his manner of speaking, or some of his views, it wasn't too hard to extrapolate who or what had managed to earn his ire at this time. Without needing instruction, Weiss had retreated to her bedroom. It was best to stay out of her father's way at times like this.

As her father raged, she waited alone in her room. After a few minutes of shouting everything had gone silent after the loud slam of a door. Still though, Weiss remained within her bedroom. There was no particular reason to leave it, it's not as if she had any great reason to be in one part of the manor over another. She did not have any lessons scheduled for today, and playing by herself in her bedroom would be the same as playing by herself elsewhere. Even here in a building she visited perhaps once a year the bedroom of the Schnee heiress was filled with all the material possessions a girl her age could possibly want. And at least here she wouldn't be getting in anyone's way.

The minutes had dragged on and turned into hours. Weiss had been expecting a servant to come and get her at some point, for dinner if nothing else, but none ever had. Looking out the window the sky had turned dark some time ago already. She had only eaten a small lunch, and that was quite a while ago already at this point. Feeling rather hungry at this point the girl finally risked leaving her room on her own.

The first thing she noted was that the halls were dark and empty. That was unusual. Normally servants of some sort around the premises of the Schnee property at nearly all hours. Perhaps they too had decided it was best to stay out of the way of her father. It made the empty building feeling even lonelier than normal. Weiss decided to make her way towards the kitchen. Hopefully one of the kitchen staff was still around to make her a dinner.

As she headed towards her destination Weiss finally caught glimpse of other human presence within the building other than herself, a couple of security guards on patrol. She did not approach them. While most of the mansion's servants were rather distant, they at least responded to her politely and respectfully. The security staff on the other hand took distant to another level entirely.

The guards rarely ever spoke or expressed any emotion. Remaining utmost professional they tended to act more like an automaton than human. Responding solely to the orders of the senior Schnee, the only times they interacted with the heiress were on his instruction. Most often they ended up as almost glorified prison guards, keeping Weiss constantly under watch and penned in. It was understandable that the young girl found them rather intimidating at best.

Upon entering the darkened kitchen Weiss was disappointed to find no trace of any cooks. A quick survey of the room found no prepared meals either. Unfortunately for the hungry girl access to the pantry and refrigerators was restricted and she did not have access. There was a lot of security around the Schnee property, almost bordering on absurd over just how many things were under lock and key. This was owed to Mr. Schnee's controlling tendencies which tended towards excessive.

In this case it was because Mr. Schnee did not want his daughter spoiling her appetite outside of her meals. There was no particular reason for this, Weiss was neither a glutton nor an unhealthy eater, and her father rarely deigned to eat with her at mealtimes so it is not like it particularly mattered when she ate anyway. It was simply another result of his incessant need for control. Something which spread over most other aspects of his daughter's life as well.

Regardless, even if Weiss did have access to the food, it would have done little for her right now. The Schnee did not have any such mundane things as prepackaged or ready to eat foods. Everything was specifically prepared on the spot from scratch by a chef. The only things she would have found were raw ingredients, and the heiress had never been taught to cook. It was after all something considered beneath her station in life.

Right now she was hungry enough to have easily settled for the cooking of any of the other servants aside from the kitchen staff, but they were all equally as scarce. Since the only other people around were the guards who were unlikely to prepare a meal for her without being directly ordered to, that only left one other adult in the building. Her father.

A short while later Weiss found herself outside her father's study looking up at the imposing set of doors. Stationed on either side of the entrance was a pair of guards staring impassively forward, still as statues. For a moment Weiss found herself looking nervously up at them but neither of them even so much as acknowledged her presence. Steeling herself she went up to the door and when neither of them moved to stop her she pushed forward.

"Father...?" Weiss called out softly peeking her head into the room between the doors. The room was darkened with the only light being what little moonlight made it past the closed curtains. She could only just manage to see her father's silhouette behind his desk.

There was a brief pause and then she saw him move followed by the sound of a glass settling back down upon her father's desk. After that another moment of silence followed which only caused Weiss's nervousness to grow.

"Well?" her father demanded angrily. "What is it that you want? Get in here girl and say it properly!" He slammed a hand on his desk in emphasis.

Weiss flinched at the sudden anger and noise, beginning to question if coming here during her father's current mood was really the best idea. Nevertheless she was encouraged that he had at least acknowledged her and hurried to comply. Moving fully into the room, she shut the door behind her.

Now in front of her father she made sure to stand straight. Schnees did not slouch, Schnees did not cower. She took only a moment to take in her father's appearance, noting an unusually dishevelled look. His hair was messy, eyes slightly bloodshot, and the normally pristine suit and tie were partially undone and wrinkled. If Weiss were closer, or had a better sense of smell, the smell of alcohol would have been fairly prominent. Her time spent inspecting before she spoke was short though. It would be best to be prompt.

"I am hungry father."

He scoffed almost immediately, before she had time to elaborate on her statement. "Why are you here bothering me? We have cooks for a reason." The man picked up a nearly empty bottle from his desk and began to pour himself another drink.

"There are no cooks or any other servants present right now father," his daughter explained, a bit of nervousness showing through.

Her father's face twisted into another frown as he began to retort before pausing. It had taken a moment through his mental haze for the master of the household to realize that it was he himself who had dismissed all the servants earlier, and that thus it was technically his own fault the girl was bothering him now about being hungry. That did not mean he had the patience or inclination right now to be fair or reasonable about it though.

"Get out."

"What? But father-!" Weiss began to protest.

"Was I unclear? I have no time for your petty problems. I said get out!" he shouted angrily. To emphasize his point he grabbed the closest object to his person and hurled it at the door next to the girl.

Unfortunately for the both of them, the now empty bottle of liquor was what happened to be the closest thing resting to his hand. Leaving his hand it sailed forward only narrowly missing Weiss's head as she instinctively flinched away. Just because it did not hit Weiss though didn't mean that it would not just strike something else. A split second later it collided loudly with the door and shattered.

Eyes closed from flinching Weiss cried out at the sudden noise of the bottle being smashed. A moment later she felt a sharp pain across her left eye and the girl's cry turned into a scream. Stumbling a few steps to the side she could feel something wet as she clutched at her injured eye with her left hand. Reaching out to the right her fingers brushed against something and she tried to steady herself against it. It was not to be though as her hand slipped off the smooth surface causing Weiss to lose her balance.

With another crash of shattering glass the disoriented girl fell over, smashing through the surface of the small glass table. Gravity not failing to make sure she continued her downward fall it quickly brought Weiss to the inevitable conclusion of her on the ground, lying amidst the broken glass. As she was wearing a sleeveless dress, when she shifted painfully on the ground her bare arms quickly became adorned with a multitude of small cuts, tinging the edges of the glass shards with red.

There was a short moment of stunned silence from the two parties for the shortest instant following the preceding chaos. It was broken by a pained whimper from the floor and the sounds of the doors slamming open as the two guards came in.

"You stupid girl!" snarled Mr. Schnee as he stood in his seat. "I want you out of my sight already you pitiful disgrace. Now pick your worthless self up and get out of this house!"

Weiss wasted no time in following his order. With only the slightest care spent not to place her hands upon glass she pushed herself up with another whimper as the glass now bit into the skin of her legs. A small mercy was that within the expanse Schnee mansion it was practical to have footwear on as opposed to the barefoot policy most people had within their smaller homes. It meant now that when Weiss stood, it was with her sandals upon the glass rather than her bare feet.

"NOW!"

At her father's shout Weiss let out another whimper, this time of fear. The injured girl made haste in reorienting herself once back on her feet turning towards the doorway. Still not letting go of her eye she stumbled towards the open doorway, desperate to get out.

As Weiss exited the room she just barely managed to catch one last sneering comment from her father. "Pathetic. Utterly unworthy of the Schee name."

Hearing the hurtful comment the young girl's pace quickened into a painful run, wanting to just get away as fast as she could without looking back. Back in the room with Mr. Schnee neither of the guards had reacted to the scene they witnessed at all. No movements were made to stop her, nor any questions or protests given to their employer as to his actions.

By the time Weiss had reached the front doors of the building a stinging in her eyes as a result of tears now accompanied the stinging pain from the various cuts she had received all over her body. Once she had cleared the doorway her near sprinting pace slowed down to a walk as tears began to wash down her face.

Weiss was hurting right now. The cuts on her arms and legs stung and every movement made her wince internally. Over her left eye the wound there was worse than any other on her body as blood steadily flowed out. More so though the wounds not so readily apparent on the outside were the ones that perhaps pained the young girl the most.

'Father is just in a bad mood' was what Weiss thought to herself. That had to be it. He wasn't angry at her, not specifically at least. This was not something he would have done under normal circumstances, but rather the events earlier today had helped set him off. She had just come in at a bad time. Once her father had calmed down though she was sure that he'd apologize and make it up to her. He always did.

Even as Weiss's wounds bled and her left hand grew slick with the red of her blood she tried to tell herself that things would be okay. Her body shook and trembled but she continued to rationalize. Quiet sniffles quickly turned into wracking sobs, barely managing to grasp for breath. Yet all she did was make excuses for her father's behaviour.

The pain of her injuries dulled Weiss's senses, and her thoughts took her focus. Even if not for those things though, she still would not likely have noticed what would happen next. Her life may not have been as perfect as most would have thought, but there was no denying that it was sheltered. As a girl who had lived most of her eleven years of life within private Schnee property surrounded by guards and trusted staff, true danger to her personal being was something Weiss was not particularly familiar with.

She never even heard a sound as her world quickly faded to black.

Most young girls would not have been comfortable being alone in this area of town late at night. Most young girls were also not Blake Belladonna. The cat faunus was no stranger to the rougher side of things in life. Years of living on her own had ensured that.

Silently the raven haired girl strode down the dimly illuminated streets, just another shadow amongst the darkness. Only a small crescent the shattered moon gazed down from the sky tonight. Lamps lining the street were sparse at best, and many were either dim or flickering. There wasn't much room in the town's budget for maintenance in the slums. Luckily for Blake her faunus heritage meant that the level of light present was more than enough.

As to why she was out here, well, that would be because this was where the local headquarters of the White Fang was stationed. The term "headquarters" was used rather loosely though, as the protest group was hardly large enough to necessitate such a thing. Really it was just an abandoned warehouse at the edge of town where some of the local members would occasionally meet up.

Blake spent more time there than most as she really didn't have anywhere better to be more often than not. There usually weren't very many people there, if any, but what few did come by this area were of course other faunus. It was nice sometimes to be around others like her, a place where she didn't have to hide what she was for fear of scorn. The reason why Blake was going there right now though was because she had accidentally left something behind when she had left earlier in the day.

She supposed that she could have waited until the morning to go back for it. Most probably would have. Blake rather enjoyed the occasional late night walk though, perhaps it was just in her nature as a cat faunus. The denizens of these areas tended to recognize each other as well and refrain from bothering one another, so it was unlikely she would be accosted. Being visibly armed of course helped with that as well.

The side door to the building creaked, loudly echoing through the empty building as Blake slowly pushed it open. They didn't bother with any locks as there wasn't anything inside worth stealing anyway. It was even darker inside the building than it was outside, but even the minute amounts of light coming through the grimy windows was adequate for the faunus.

"Here it is," Blake murmured quietly to herself.

Right where she had left it on the table in the kitchen was her backpack. Sometimes some of the more fortunate members of the White Fang community would stock up the kitchen a bit with food. Blake had been making herself a bit of a snack earlier in the day and had taken it off for a bit. Evidently she had forgotten to put it back on.

With a small grunt Blake hefted it up with one arm, swinging it onto her back. While not exactly heavy, it wasn't light either. While there were a few places that Blake might return to fairly often, there wasn't a singular location she called home. Anything important or useful to her was typically carried around with her at all times.

As Blake went to leave the building though she frowned as her ears twitched. Pausing in her step she turned her head and listened closer.

"People...?"

There were others coming to the base. More than one. Rather unusual given the time. Just faintly she was able to hear their approach. It was a little odd, the girl hadn't been expecting anyone else to be present. But considering that she herself was there for perfectly innocent reasons it wasn't too strange. It's not like she had any more right to be there than anyone else, there was no reason that other faunus couldn't be there as well.

Blake continued walking. It wasn't really any of her business if others chose to spend their time at night out rather than sleeping as well. It might be nice having some company actually. Unfortunately it would not be pleasant company however as she would soon find out after stepping foot outside.

Immediately upon stepping outside the first thing Blake saw was a man's torso, which she only just managed to stop herself in time from walking into. Looking up she found a rather unpleasant smile looking down at her. Said smile which was really more of a baring of teeth which belonged to a rather rough looking wolf faunus. Shaggy dark grey hair adorned his head with streaks of blood red mixed in, and peeking out the top was a pair of canine ears with one looking rather chewed on.

The most defining features of his face were a set of scars upon his face. Across his left cheek just barely below his eye was a trio of jagged lines, likely from claws. They suited the man rather well. Upon his other cheek was a much neater looking scar, a solid circle with three small triangular marks above it. It's appearance would suggest that it had been deliberately branded into his face at some point.

"Fenris Bloodclaw," Blake said in surprise, naming the other faunus.

"Oh?" He responded curiously. "I see my reputation precedes me." His eyes flicked towards Blake's ears. "What's a little kitten like you doing here this late at night?"

His reputation definitely was something well known to Blake, he was rather infamous after all. Fenris Bloodclaw, a descendant of one of the most vicious and bloodthirsty bloodlines known to Vytal. A bloodline that was rather unfortunately faunus, and Fenris was a descendant that his ancestors likely would have been quite proud of.

Blake hated him.

It was faunus like him that managed to set back human-faunus relations back years seemingly every time he did anything. Hate for hate, blood for blood, he was the type of person that used violence to achieve his ends. As much as it managed to achieve goals in the short term, humans and faunus could never reach true understanding through those kinds of methods. People didn't respect him. They merely feared him.

There was a short pause as Blake had mentally reviewed what she knew about the man in front of her. The smile, if it could be called that, on Fenris faded as he was left waiting for an answer. Blake knew that he was dangerous person, and by all rights she should be careful in what she said to him. Nevertheless, the cat faunus had hardly ever been one to be easily cowed.

"I was getting my pack," Blake replied thumbing one of the straps on her shoulder. "I left it behind in the afternoon." Although she spoke evenly, trying not to let her distaste for him show through, the look on the girl's face could only be described as a glare.

Fenris studied her for a moment with a small frown, noting both the backpack she indicated as well as the look she was sending him. With a short bark of laughter his lips spread into another toothy grin. "You've got spunk kid. I like that," said Fenris reaching out with one hand to muss up Blake's hair. She just glared harder in response. "Why don't you run along home now though? This is hardly the place for someone like you at this time."

At his dismissal Blake quickly scurried off, eager to get away from him. She knew how to pick her battles. Unnecessarily spending time with someone like Fenris and inevitably butting heads was not a smart idea. Running down the street her footsteps were silent with how light she was on her feet. All the way down the road though she felt eyes tracking her every movement as she left.

After moving far enough away down the street and ducking into an alley the feeling of being watched faded from Blake's senses. At this sign she came to an abrupt stop. That encounter had been suspicious. She had heard others talking before bumping into the Bloodclaw outside the door, of that she was certain. Yet Blake had seen neither hide nor hair of them, not while speaking to the wolf faunus, nor while she was leaving. It also felt like they were paying far too much attention to her, as if to make sure she really was going to leave. They had been hiding, but why?

Whatever reasons they had, it probably didn't involve her given how quickly Fenris had gotten rid of her, and how easily he had just let her go. Nevertheless though the situation made her uneasy. Blake was sure that anything involving Fenris could not possibly be good. Her mind made up, the cat faunus immediately turned around and headed back towards the building she had just left.

Small and dressed in darker colours it would be hard enough to spot Blake just because of those reasons given the poor lighting. Even more than that though the girl slunk through the shadows with great skill. With the silent manner in which she moved as well, Blake may as well have been a ghost for all the ability of the average person to find her. The only truly noticeable part of her was the glow of yellow eyes from the small amounts of light reflecting off of them.

Having made her way onto the rooftops Blake arrived a few buildings over from the warehouse just in time to witness something. Several darkened shapes, perhaps three or four people, were now surrounding the headquarters looking rather suspicious in their movements with often and rapid checks of their surroundings. They were acting as lookouts. Blake heard a few hushed whispers between them but couldn't quite make out any actual words.

From what she could see Blake thought she could vaguely recognize a few of them. Members of the White Fang. Not anybody she was particularly close to or familiar with, but rather a face she might have seen at a rally or two or the occasional voice heard around at an event. Seeing this many people at such an odd place and time with Fenris of all people set Blake on edge. Her instincts were proven correct just a moment later as three other figures appeared in her sights.

The two on either side were both adult faunus, just like the others. Walking in the middle though the person there was quite different, a small white haired human girl. Even from this distance Blake was able to tell that something was obviously wrong. She appeared to be in a noticeable amount of distress.

Though she couldn't quite make out the girl's expression from this distance, there were visible tremors in her form and a shake to her steps. Sharp eyes managed to just barely make out what appeared to be bandages covering an eye, and what appeared to be spots of blood on her limbs and clothes. The adults on either side of her were obviously guards given how they seemed to be roughly leading the girl who followed rather reluctantly but without struggle. A prisoner.

Blake barely managed to restrain a hiss. What were they doing? From the looks of it that girl couldn't have been any older than her, perhaps even a couple of years younger. She looked like she was nine, maybe eight. What were members of the White Fang doing with her? This was not how the group was supposed to operate.

She doubted it was any common crime, Fenris wasn't the type that would stoop that low. He might have been a bit of a thug in how he handled things, but he was no petty street criminal. It had to be something more high profile. A kidnapping perhaps? Perhaps the little girl had some important family members.

Frankly speaking it wasn't really any of Blake's business, and if she were smart she would turn back around and leave now. Given who was involved she was likely to get hurt if she stuck her nose into things, but you know what they said about curiosity and the cat. Blake also had an unfortunately active conscience, and this wasn't something she could just leave along after witnessing. This was not the kind of thing the White Fang was meant to stand for. She couldn't just leave that human girl to the tender mercies of a Bloodclaw.

Blake's mind was made up. She would have to sneak in and rescue her.

Author's Note

Mr. Schnee probably won't make many appearances (if any) for the rest of the story. Fenris might show up a couple times as an antagonist, but not very often either. It'll mostly be Weiss and Blake. Any OCs won't be too important. Ruby and Yang are planned to be introduced later on and will get decent screentime, but not as much as Weiss and Blake. Members from Team JNPR might make small cameos, but not much more.

Now, Dear Papa Schnee here actually did not intend to hit Weiss with the bottle. He's an angry drunk with poor impulse control and apparently bad aim. Normally he's either ignoring Weiss or emotionally abusing her rather than physically abusing her (It would be bad for his image if it got out that he hit his daughter). Then he just buys her a new pony or something and has a servant pass on an insincere apology for him like that makes everything better. He wasn't actually trying to disown Weiss or anything here either, or intentionally kicking her out of the house. He's probably gonna regret that a bit in the morning when he can't find her.

No promises on any kind of update schedule, or chapter length. I would advise not to get your hopes up.