AN: Hello and welcome everyone to the AU I talked about in the epilogue of The Brave and the Bold. This one will not have the bad stuff that happened in canon like the breach or the invasion and fall of Beacon. Some things will happen though from The Brave and the Bold. But mostly, things are gonna be different. New characters will show up and things will be more calm.

Also, this one is rated M because I really don't know if the T rating of The Brave and the Bold was right with everything that happened. I gave it this so I can have a bit more leeway in certain things. And there will be some sexual content from an inexperienced writer for it (me) but I'm gonna try it. It won't go into too high of detail, though. And it won't happen often.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy A Second Chance.

XxXxX

Act One: Welcome

Chapter One

A Tearful Goodbye

Shade Academy: Team SHRA's (Sahara) dorm

Four students sat in their dorm room, all silent as they prepared for their classes to start back for the semester. Well, they were preparing for something else entirely. The departure of a friend.

"I-I'm sorry guys… We just don't feel safe in Vacuo anymore with my father out there…" Alyss told her team as she sat on her bed with two full duffle bags, her ears of black and blonde fur drooping against her skull. Her ash-blonde hair was neatly brushed and the black parts of her hair shined a bit in the light. She wore a pair of loose blue jeans and a loose purple button up shirt, open with a black crop top under it.

"We told you to stop calling him your father, Aly. He gave that right up when he hurt you and mom." Her teammate, Heath Jerran told her, laying her hand on her shoulder and sitting next to her. The girl was five feet and six inches in height when she stood up straight, and she was scrawny. She wore a tank top that hugged her form tightly and a pair of black calf-length pants. Her hair was burnt-orange in color and tied into two long and wavy pigtails, each hanging in down the sides of her head and over her chest. Her jade colored eyes shined with unshed tears of her friend moving away.

Alyss sighed and looked down. "I know... but-"

"It doesn't matter if the piece of crap is your blood. He isn't anything but a bast-"

"Heath!" Their leader, Sapphire Dahlia, interrupted. She wore a loose-fitting green blouse and a pair of thigh-length shorts. She stood at six feet tall. Her light-brown hair was completely straight, unlike Heath's usual wavy hair and it reached the middle of her back. At the ends it was dyed white, matching her Faunus heritage. Her eyes were a deep blue color and they were both cast down in sadness.

"No cussing. You know I hate that..." She said and gripped her boyfriend's hand tighter, their last teammate. Zack Ross.

"I know, I'm sorry… I just don't like it when Alyss calls that guy her father."

"None of us do, but this isn't about him." Zack told her. He was five feet and nine inches in height. He wore a blue bandanna over his head, cut to allow his dog ears to stick out and flop down to the sides of his head. His medium length black hair was parted evenly under the bandanna. He wore a black muscle shirt and gray knee-length shorts.

"Right…" Heath sighed as she looked back to Alyss, "If it'll make you and your mom safer, then you don't have to feel bad, Aly."

"I just feel like I'm abandoning you guys right before the start of the second semester…" Alyss said with tears in her emerald and sapphire eyes.

"You're not abandoning anyone," Sapphire assured her, "We'll manage. We'll be getting a new teammate, sure, but whoever it is is never gonna replace you."

"I'm gonna miss you guys so much."

"We'll miss you too, Alyss," Zack said, "I wish you could stay. Your playful nature really brightened everything up around here with the pounces and the fact that you actually let us scritch your ears. You know we all still love you, right?"

Alyss gave a teary smile as she looked through her team. "Yeah, I love you guys too. Remember when professor Blaine almost blew a gasket when she came in after I pounced on Heath, thinking something else was going on?"

Everyone laughed at the memory from two months prior. "She probably went to get a drink after that. You all just stared at each other like deer caught in spotlights." Zack chuckled and got a slap on the arm.

"Hey! Deer Faunus, remember?" Sapphire said and pointed to the ears on the side of her head above her normal ears.

"Sorry babe," Zack chuckled, "But that was what they looked like."

"...I know." Sapphire said with a grin.

"Maybe it'll be a human guy that'll be in my place?" Alyss said with a small grin, "Y'know… even things out."

"Maybe he'll be a cutie too!" Heath said excitedly.

Everyone rolled their eyes. "We all know what you'll try to do." Alyss said in good nature.

"I can't deny it." Heath admitted with a toothy grin.

Alyss gave a short sigh. "It's hard to believe we all got so close in just a few months."

"I'm glad we did, though," Zack smiled, "We had pretty fun times already… I hope we can hang out soon after you leave."

Alyss' scroll buzzed and she received two messages. One from Headmaster Ozpin from Beacon, and one from her mother. She read Ozpin's first considering it had details of her new teammates.

"There's gonna be two other Faunus in my new team… kinda like us." She told her friends.

"Really?" Zack asked, "I'm not gonna lie, that's weird."

"What kind?" Sapphire asked.

"One's a red fox Faunus with ears. She's from Beacon already. Then there's a cat Faunus like me. He's from Atlas..." Alyss tilted her head at the details of the boy, "He has… both cat ears and a tail? That sounds so cool!"

"Ooh… Exotic. Maybe he's got a nature like yours. Hmm?" Heath wiggled her eyebrows, making Alyss blush.

"Zip it, Heath." Alyss told her, but couldn't suppress a small grin.

"Think about it, Alyss! Scritching sessions!"

"Maybe if he likes his ears to be touched..." Alyss said quietly.

"What about the last person?" Zack asked her.

"He's from Mistral. Doesn't say anything else, really."

"Hopefully he won't mind three other Faunus on his team." Sapphire remarked.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Alyss assured her, "I doubt they'd put a racist on a team with three Faunus."

"Makes sense."

Alyss took a deep breath and checked the message from her mother. 'Aly, I'm waiting in the headmistress' office. We're gonna go meet with the airship captain after. It's time to go, sweetheart.'

That made tears form in her eyes once more as she closed her scroll up and clutched it tightly. "I-I have to go now, guys…"

She stood up and Heath was the first to wrap her in a tight hug. "We'll miss you, Alyss."

Alyss hugged back just as tight. "Thank you all for never minding my nature."

Sapphire was next, wrapping them both in a hug. "It's just who you are. I hope your new team can understand that."

"And I hope you make lots more new friends." Zack said, joining in the hug.

"I'm gonna miss you guys so much." Alyss told them all.

"Goodbye scritches?" Heath suggested.

Alyss nodded and gave a smile. "That would be nice."

They each spent a few moments scritching Alyss' ears, all of them teary-eyed. "I really hope they don't mind this…" She said through light purrs.

"You have another cat Faunus on your new team, I'm sure he won't mind," Sapphire assured her, giving her a few final scritches, "The other two might need a little convincing, but don't worry about it."

"Right… Bye guys."

They all separated and Alyss grabbed her bags after she set her glaive, Soul Leaf, into the hoop on her small harness. She left the room and walked slowly through the first floor hall, trying and failing to hold back her tears. She stepped out the doors and was hit with the heat of the sun, along with the brightness. She took a moment to let her eyes adjust and she made her way to the headmistress' office. Most of the other students knew she was leaving and few had heard the rumors of why, and some had stopped her and wished her luck with her new school, bidding her farewell and safe travels. She smiled and told them goodbye, hoping she could see them again someday.

She soon stood in front of the door to Blaine's office, a look of sadness on her face as she greeted her assistant. She knocked on the door and professor Blaine's deep but soft voice told her to enter.

"Hello miss Wystar. Are you done saying your goodbyes?" Blaine asked her.

"Y-yes ma'am." Alyss answered her.

"I wish you could've stayed with us. But, the circumstances are just… too dangerous for you both."

"I'm sorry we're putting you and headmaster Ozpin through so much trouble." Lilith said to her. Her long, graying black hair was wrapped in a loose ponytail, bound toward the middle. It all reached down to the middle of her back. She had an apologetic look in her deep-hazel eyes.

"Don't apologize, Lilith. This is going to ensure both of you are safe. We're both glad to help you with that."

"Right. Thank you for understanding everything, professor." Lilith stood and bowed to her.

Blaine stood and bowed a bit as well. "I hope you are both happy in your new home. Best of luck in your future endeavors, Alyss."

"Thank you ma'am," Alyss bowed to her, "Goodbye."

"And please," Blaine grinned at her, "Don't give Oz a heart attack like you almost did to me."

"I promise I'll try not too," Alyss let out a short giggle, "Have a good day, ma'am."

The two cat Faunus left the office and walked into Shade's courtyard. Alyss held her head low as she carried her bags. Lilith placed her hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. Alyss looked up to her and she gave a reassuring smile.

"Here, let me carry your bags for you." Lilith offered.

"No, it's okay. I can carry them."

"You've been through a lot today already. Let me do something for you."

Alyss sighed and relented. She handed off her two bags and wrapped her arms over her stomach as she walked. "Thanks, mom."

"It's the least I could do for you right now," Lilith replied and looked to her daughter, "It'll be okay, little cub. Ozpin called me and assured that your new team will be great."

"I'm not worried about that…" Alyss said quietly, "I just… I-I'm abandoning them…"

"Oh?" Lilith tilted her head, looking at her daughter in confusion.

"The second semester is about to start and I'm just… leaving because-"

"Are you still on about that 'abandoning us' crap?"

Alyss jumped a bit when Heath interrupted her. The two women turned around and saw Alyss' former team behind them. "We told you… you're not abandoning us."

"You know we can handle it… We know you can handle it," Zack said with a smile, "Just be strong like you have been. When you always dealt with him."

"Guys… I-I really wish I didn't have to go." Alyss told them all.

Sapphire stepped forward and gave her one more hug. "Me too, Aly. It's gonna be okay, though. We'll all somehow manage without our Kitty Cat."

"Bye Saph… I'll text you all when we get to Vale."

"You'd better. I don't wanna have to worry," Sapphire turned to Lilith, still keeping hold of Alyss, "You guys should get there in the morning, right mom?"

"Yes, we do… Thank you all for being so understanding about this." Lilith said to them all.

"You don't have to thank us. We know it's for the best." Zack replied.

The team shared one more hug, then Alyss and Lilith left the academy.

"Alyss," Lilith nudged Alyss' shoulder, waking her up from her nap, "We're here."

Alyss sat up and stretched with a mewl escaping her. "I'm supposed to see Ozpin, right?"

"Mhmm," Lilith nodded, "You take the smaller airbus after we land. I'll be heading to our new house to get everything set up right."

Alyss took a deep breath as she felt the airship touch down. The two stood and stepped off, then Lilith gave Alyss' ears a scritch. "Be good, sweetie."

Alyss purred a small bit at the touch. "I will… See you later, mom. Love you."

"I love you too, cub."

They separated and Alyss walked toward the airbus waiting to take her to Beacon. She turned and waved to her mother, who waved back slowly. Alyss continued walking toward the airbus and caught sight of two people standing outside. One wore red and black and one wore black and white.

"Hey! Are you Alyss?" The shorter one, the one in the black and red, called to her.

"Y-yeah!" Alyss called back nervously. They met up with each other and greeted each other.

"Alyss Wystar." Alyss introduced herself.

"I'm Ruby Rose."

"Blake Belladonna."

"Nice to meet you, Alyss," Ruby smiled at her, "Ozpin asked us to lead you to his office."

"Thank you. I don't think it would be good for me to get lost." Alyss said with a small smile.

"Definitely not," Blake gave a grin, "Let's go ahead and get going." She said and the three stepped onto the airbus.

They found a place to sit and Alyss set her bags down. "Do you know if anyone else in my new team are here yet?"

"Nope. Ozpin said you're the first besides Raine." Ruby answered.

"Oh… I hope it's not long until they get here."

"We can help you to your room after you talk with Ozpin if you want." Blake offered.

"Yeah… Thanks."

"Did... you come from a bad team?" Ruby asked quietly.

Alyss quickly shook her head. "N-no. My team was amazing for the short time I was with them… Always understanding and nice and we got so close… It's… I-I really don't wanna talk about it…" Her ears pressed against her skull as she looked down.

"That's alright! You don't have to say anything if you don't want to." Ruby assured her.

They rode the rest of the way in silence until the airbus touched down and the three stepped off from it. "Welcome to Beacon, Alyss!" Ruby said excitedly and skipped ahead, "C'mon! Let's get you to Ozpin!"

Alyss couldn't help but grin at the bubbly attitude. She turned to Blake and whispered very quietly. "Umm… She seems younger. How old is she?"

"She's fifteen, actually," Blake answered in the same whisper, "She was accepted early for stopping a robbery in the commercial district."

"Really? Wow… That's impressive."

"You'd never know it just by looking at her, but she's in the top five fighters in combat class."

"That's really impressive. Maybe I can get in the top ten at least," Alyss grinned a bit, "It's good to see another cat Faunus here. I like the bow."

Blake sighed. "Thank you."

"I understand why some Faunus want to hide their traits. I don't blame you for that."

"Thank you, Alyss."

"You know, one of my new teammates is a cat Faunus too," Alyss told her, "He's got both the ears and tail."

"Really? I've never heard of-"

"C'mon guys! Don't fall behind!" Ruby called back to them both.

"Coming, Ruby!" Blake called back.

Alyss gave a smile. "Already… I met two friendly people. I might like it here." She thought to herself.

"Ah, miss Wystar," Ozpin greeted Alyss as he stood from his seat, "Allow me to be the third to welcome you to Beacon."

"Thank you for understanding and accepting me, sir." Alyss bowed to him.

"Please, think nothing of it," Ozpin motioned for her to have a seat and she did, "I trust miss Rose and miss Belladonna led you here without incident?" He asked and sat back down.

"Yes sir. Thank you for having them show me here."

"They were happy to help. You received the message concerning your new team, correct?"

"Yes sir. Jace Reznor, Raine Daturas, and Auron Karmine. I know Raine was already here but her team all transferred out, right?"

"Yes, sadly. The other two arrive within the next week. I believe the earliest is actually today."

"Really? Do you know who?"

Ozpin shook his head. "I do not. I'm afraid it will be a surprise. But Raine is already in your room. She will be expecting you."

"Okay. I'm glad I won't be alone."

"I believe you may want to rest after your flight," Ozpin said and Alyss nodded, "You are dismissed. Your room is on the third floor at the very end of the hall on the left. Have a good day, my dear."

"Since you'll be going past our room, you can meet our team!" Ruby told Alyss with a grin.

"Who are they?" Alyss asked.

"My big sister is one of them. Yang Xiao Long. She's meeting with someone sharing a storage garage for her motorcycle, so she's not there right now. She should be back soon, but she might be mad or annoyed. Watch out for that."

"The other is Weiss Schnee." Blake finished.

"Wait… Weiss Schnee?" Alyss echoed in shock and they both nodded, "How is she to deal with? I mean… I know how people say her family is…"

"She's really nothing like her family," Blake assured her, "She was rough to deal with at first, but she's friendly around most Faunus now unless they give a bad first impression like anyone could."

"That's good. I guess it was a huge shock when she found out… well, you know." Alyss said quietly.

"It was for all of us," Ruby said, "But, everything's fine. We all got everything straightened out."

They stopped in from of RWBY's room and Ruby unlocked the door, then she opened it wide. "Hey Weiss! We're back!"

Weiss nearly fell out of her chair from Ruby's entrance. "Ruby! Do you not know how to keep your voice down!?" Weiss admonished her and straightened herself in the chair.

"Sorry Weiss… but we want to introduce you to someone!"

"Who would you-" Weiss stopped when she noticed Alyss standing just behind her, "Oh! One of the new transfer students!" She said and stood from her seat. She walked over and greeted Alyss, "Hello. I am Weiss Schnee. Pleasure to meet you."

"Alyss Wystar. Nice to meet you too." Alyss greeted back.

Weiss gave a small smile. "No admonishments to my name or family? That's honestly very surprising."

"Don't worry, I don't hold anything against you," Alyss assured her, "Even if you were like that, I wouldn't say anything. I tune those types of people out. Or I just joke around about it to their face and watch them get bothered."

"That's not the way any Faunus reacted when they first met me." Weiss said with a small grin.

"Yo!" The golden-haired girl of the team called from down the hallway. She ran up to them an stopped in front of the doorway, "Hey there! I'm Yang Xiao Long. I take it you're Alyss?"

"Yeah, I am." Alyss answered.

"Good to meetcha' ."

"You too."

"How'd that meeting go?" Blake asked her partner.

"It was actually really good. No stupid questions, he made sure his motorcycle wouldn't fall over and hit Bumblebee, and he didn't make it last longer than it needed to be. He was actually pretty early too," Yang answered, them she turned to her sister, "Hey Rubes, get this… He's got an artillery claymore."

"An artillery claymore? I've never heard of those! It sounds so cool!" Ruby said excitedly.

"I get the feelin' he ain't just here as a tourist, so you might get to talk to him about it."

"Awesome! Ooh I really wanna see it!"

Yang rolled her eyes at the over-excited attitude. "I'm actually pretty surprised he wasn't a jerk, to be honest. Oh! And he's a Faunus too. Cat Faunus. Umm, that's not why I was surprised. Most of the people I've met that ride motorcycles turned out to be jerks."

"A cat Faunus? Did he have a tail and ears?" Alyss asked.

"Nope, just ears. Why?"

"One of my new teammates has ears and a tail. I was hoping to get to know him sooner."

"Ah, that makes sense. Because you're both cat Faunus?" Yang asked and she nodded a bit sheepishly, "I haven't seen him around, though. Do you think details might've got mixed up?"

"I don't know, really. I was looking forward to meeting someone with ears and a tail.

"I'm sure he'll still be cool." Ruby assured her.

Alyss nodded and smiled. "It's nice to meet friendly faces first thing."

"That's always a good thing," Yang grinned, "Can't be meetin' a group of A-holes right when you step on campus. That'd look bad for the school."

"Definitely," Alyss laughed, "I'm gonna go ahead and get to my room. It's been a long trip here."

"Alright, see you later." Ruby said and she walked down the hall.

Alyss smiled to herself. "I'm glad they're friendly. Really surprising to see a Schnee the same team as another Faunus, but she was nice."

After a few moments, she arrived outside the room that was supposed to be her new team's. She took a deep breath and held her scroll up to the handle, then the look disengaged. She stopped herself from opening it, deciding on knocking first.

"Come on in!" A feminine voice called from the inside.

Alyss grabbed and turned the handle, then opened the door. She was met with a short fox Faunus standing near the window, looking at her with a smile. She wore a pair of green cargo pants and a black t-shirt. She had medium length, dark-red hair and light red eyes to match. Her fox ears were the same color as her hair and had tufts of black fur at the tips.

"Hey, I'm Raine Daturas. I guess you're Alyss?" The girl greeted.

"Yeah. Nice to meet you."

"You too. Go ahead and set your stuff down!" Raine said and showed her into the room, "You can pick a bed, except for that one," She pointed to the middle-left bed, "That's mine."

"Okay," Alyss said and set her bags down on the opposite bed, "This room seems bigger than what I saw of team RWBY's."

"That's because it's at the end of the hall," Raine explained, "Since they had no room for two more rooms, they had to have this one and the one across from it be bigger than most. Same with the other floors. It's why we get a table."

"Well this is off to a good start," Alyss gave a grin, "A bigger room than almost everyone else? I'm sure that would make some people jealous."

"It did to a few people," Raine laughed, "I hope I'm not being rude or anything, but is your hair dyed? If it's not, then that's a cool color for it."

"It's natural. A lot of people's asked me that." Alyss said, then her stomach started growling loudly, causing her to blush in embarrassment.

"Hungry?" Raine asked with a grin.

"Very."

"Me too. Wanna go grab something to eat?"

Alyss gave a smile. "Yeah, let's go."

They exited the room and walked down the hall, walking faster to get food in them sooner. "What made your team wanna transfer?" Alyss asked.

"They all had different reasons. Nika changed her mind a bit late and wanted to be closer to her home, Hunter wanted to go where his dad went, and Kenn just wanted to live in Mistral. What about you?"

"It's a really personal reason… I'm not comfortable talking about it yet."

"That's okay, I won't push for details."

"Thanks. I'll tell you all sometime… Hopefully soon."

They soon arrived at the doors leading out and they were opened by a larger boy coming inside with a huge sword on his back and with two duffle bags and a sack over his shoulder. He was joined by Jaune Arc, the black hoodie and blue jeans unmistakeable by Raine.

The dark-brown haired one held the door open for them and both he and Alyss looked at each other for a moment, each eventually looking toward each other's cat ears. His was dark red in color and his eyes were a ruby red.

"Thank you." Alyss and Raine told him and walked out.

Alyss cast another glance back to the boy and saw him looking back. The boy waved and she waved back slowly. She blushed and looked forward and she and Raine walked on to the cafeteria.

"I wonder who that was with Jaune…" Raine said.

"I dunno…" Alyss said as she tilted her head, "He was polite, though."

"Yeah, he was. Who knows? Maybe he's our teammate?"

XxXxX

AN: And there was the first chapter where Zack's girlfriend and Heath were introduced. In this, everyone actually start out in teams but transfer out for different reasons, Alyss' being her that her father is somewhere free in Vacuo. But with this story, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Don't know if I'm using that right, but it kinda makes sense to me.

See you next chapter, and have a nice day!