Disclaimer;

I do not in any way own RWBY or any of the characters, this is a random AU I came up with while listening to Of Monsters And Men's Dirty Paws, please leave a review and there will be more world building as the story goes on, sorry I can't give you much right now but spoilers!


Jumping up and down the floor,
My head is an animal.

It had been an age-old war, between the beasts and the bees, the birds and their prey. To begin with, the insect's cause had been just, had been righteous, had been correct.

I am not prey, I am just as important as you, I am a creature of the sun and the earth, of the wind and the water.

Then, it became a mantra of

I am not prey, I should be predator, I am more important than you, I am a creature of the sun, air, water and earth, I deserve all of these things, you deserve none.

They words had changed with the ascension of the current Queen, the young woman known simply as Winter, wearing a cloak of the old queen, striped and fuzzed, grizzled and frayed around the edges, showing its age, the Queen sat upon her honeyed throne, legs crossed oh so delicately, fingers steepled and sky blue eyes narrowed at her subjects who bowed and begged.

The older sister had fled in the face of this, taken on the pelt of a brilliant swan, cloaked in feathers of the purest white, holding her face, hissing with pain as she felt the blood pulse through her fingers, the parting gift from her sister, her dearest sister who now sat upon a poisoned throne, the swan shook her head slightly, the gilded laugh of her toxic sibling still ringing in her ears.

The swan, in her blind panic, stumbled into a small camp, just two women sitting around a low fire, both of them beasts, a wolf and a lion, the lion with a mighty mane and pristine pelt, the wolf with perked ears and russet red fur. The swan glanced between the two pelted women, who glanced to each other, the lion tilted her head, her golden hair falling into her eyes, the mane around her neck clasped at her throat, the thick pelt falling across her toned form, the paws knotted between her breasts.

The wolf sister looked up, the head of the pelt resting on her own head, peering through the empty sockets with shining silver eyes, the swan couldn't help but balk as the lion stood, the great lions pelt wrapped around the golden-haired woman's form, her teeth pointed, mighty, strong and predatory. Her eyes a light, gentle purple. The swan glanced to the wolf, who had also stood, the pelt swaddled around her own form.

"We are… friend." The wolf spoke in a low, guttural tone, her partner licked her lips slowly, grumbling something in a language the swan did not understand, the language of beasts, she supposed. The wolf snarled in return and the lion huffed, her head hanging a tough lower, but her eyes still gentle, but forever watching.

The swan glanced between the two again, taking in a hard breath and a mighty swallow. "Please help." She gasped out, a shiver running down her bare back. The swan pelt did nothing to keep her warm, she would need furs, something warm, and something heavy and mighty. The wolf looked to the lion, who shrugged lightly, and the wolf waved her over, closer to the fire. "Come." She grumbled, and the swan followed.

The wolf pressed a dirty paw against her own chest, leaf litter stuck in the claws, her palms caked with mud. "Ruby." The russet wolf grumbled, her vocal chords not used to the language, the swan nodded slowly in understanding. The wolf – Ruby – waved over to the lion. "Yang." She grumbled, the lion nodded, shaking out her mighty mane. "Sisters." The wolf grinned, her chest puffing out lightly in pride as the lion chuckled deep in her chest, ever so softly. The wolf then waved expectantly to the swan, her head nodding a she did so.

The swan pointed delicately to her own chest, clearing her throat slightly, a soft, trilling note echoing from her throat. "Weiss." She spoke gently, simply, and both the sisters looked to each other, then the swan before them, who gave a gentle shiver.

"Cold?" The wolf asked, and Weiss nodded, then squawked in fright as she was lifted in powerful arms, moved closer to the fire and placed on the floor as she gave indignant sounds of disagreement. She silenced herself when both of the sisters sat either side of her, the larger lion moving to sit behind her, her warm torso pressing against the swan's cold back and the wolf laying across her legs. "Warm?" Ruby grinned, and Weiss simply nodded slowly, staring at the fire in silence.

A branch snapped, and the wolf sprung upright, and the lion slowly lumbered to her feet, the wolf's head flicking back and forth, and the swan slowly stood, being herded behind the two sisters as they glanced nervously. Weiss' head snapped to the right as a shadowy figured stumbled from the depths of the shadows, clutching what appeared to be its stomach with a loud hiss before collapsing.

The wolf moved first, in great, loping strides that Weiss didn't think was possible, moving at an amazing speed, the wolf was beside the figure, on her knees in moments, rolling the figure on to what seemed to be their back, now that Weiss noticed that it was in a vaguely mortal form. Weiss blinked slowly, the lion still standing protectively before her, low snarls rumbling through her mighty chest.

Ruby eventually nodded, nodding to Yang for aid, who moved to Ruby's side, lifting the creature easily and moving them to the fire. Weiss blinked slowly as the light fell upon the dark pelt of the black panther. Their dark, scarred skin bared against the cold, dusky air. Weiss flinched and looked away as she saw the wound across the panther's stomach.

"Yang." Ruby whined and the lion, who shrugged lightly, growling something in their own language before the wolf visibly relaxed. The lion knelt down slowly, poking and prodding at the wound before the cat cried out in pain. The lion grumbled lowly, and the cat hissed darkly in return. Yang seemed to flinch at whatever was said, beginning to dig through the pack that had been let by the fire, grumbling softly to herself in what seemed to be frustration.

"Is she alright?" Weiss asked softly, stepping closer, the cat's golden eyes flicking to her and a sneer appearing on the panther's lips.

"They are hurt." Ruby spoke pointedly, intense emphasis on the first word startling the swan, she blinked slowly then nodded. Slowly, Weiss approached, her feathers rustling in the chilled winds, she felt goosebumps rise on her flesh and her teeth chattered, a shudder running through her lithe form. The wolf swung her head up to the swan, silver eyes glinting in the shadows. She turned to her sister and grunted something, in that deep, guttural language. Yang growled something in return before handing her sister the threat and needle and basic bandages, just strips of soft deer pelt in order to keep the wound as clean as they could, and the lioness sauntered towards the swan, grumbling what Weiss assumed to be comforting words as the thick warmth, intermingling with the heady mixture of scents, wood smoke, sweat and dirt as far as Weiss could tell. A scent that she was in no way used to.

Weiss found herself leaning into the broad form of the lion, burying her face in the thick mane as the lion lifted her, as easily and delicately as if she was handling a sparrow with a broken wing, sitting herself beside the fire, the swan curled into her body, clinging to her heat source as the sun began to set and the panther continued to hiss in protest and pain as Ruby stitched them up.

Morning rolled around and Weiss jerked awake, suddenly aware of the cold ground beneath her and the warm arms surrounding her, along with her face being pressed into a thick mane and the body heat of a certain wolf behind her, with the pointed ears tickling her neck. The lion gumbled lowly, pulling away, blinking tired violet eyes and taking in a large ruck of air in order to give off a mighty yawn, a little less than a roar as she shook out her mane, both the one on her head and the one around her neck. Weiss felt much colder due to her absence. She felt the wolf behind her stir, arms squeezing the exiled royal around her waist for a few short moments before pulling away, building a fire and checking on the panther that had been laying the opposite side of her.

Weiss supposed it must have been a Beast custom to sleep in a large pile, to conserve heat and all-

"You are a Schnee." Weiss snapped her head up, being shocked out of her thoughts, the golden eyes of the panther watching her with intensity, their breathing steady, only juddering when Ruby happened to press on a sore spot, at which the wolf profusely apologized. Weiss nodded. The panther grumbled. "Your family did this." They snarled, waving a hand slowly to their injuries. Weiss winced.

"I'm not a part of my family any longer-"

"But you still carry their pelt."

They had a point. Weiss grit her teeth, her own eyes narrowing. "Do you suggest I hunt for a new one?" She snapped, painfully aware of how cold she was, now that she was no longer intertwined with the two sisters in her sleep.

"There is Daran, the Arctic Fox roaming these woods. Happy hunting." The panther chuckled low in their chest, obviously being sarcastic as they snapped something at the wolf, their brow furrowing in pain at a particularly hard press. Ruby whined in apology, being much softer in her pressed, at which the panther replied with a gentle grumble of their own apology.

Weiss could scarcely believe she was picking up on the language. She also couldn't believe she was standing and beginning to work through a plan on how to hunt an Ancient Spirit in order to claim their pelt.