Hello and welcome to a new story! It's another RWBY AU, and this time it's about everyone's favorite heiress. Except, well, she's a little different.

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, or its characters. If I did then Weiss wouldn't be so shor- I mean, nothing.

A special thanks to Shadow Nightblade, who encouraged me to actually type and put up this story. Cheers!

She had never been afraid of the dark. To her, day and night made no difference; she could see almost as clearly at night as she could in the day. At first, she had believed that everyone else could do the same.

Who am I?

"Daddy, I think I can see in the dark."

Her father, swamped with work, merely grunted. She was not sure if he had really heard what she said, and she never did ask him again. It was not long after that that she found out her ability was unique to something called the 'Faunus'.

What am I?

"Daddy, where's mommy?"

Again, no response. This time, he definitely heard her, but he had simply chosen to ignore her question. She tried asking her sister the same question, but Winter was just as clueless as she was. She had been disappointed, but above all, she had been so scared. Even though she did not have a tail, an extra set of ears or whiskers, she was still absolutely terrified of what she was.

Is it alright for me to exist?

"Sis, I… think I'm a Faunus."

She would never forget the look on her sister's face when she said that. That expression, filled with confusion at her supposedly bad joke, etched itself into her memories as her sister realized she was not kidding around. She knew that Winter was, at that moment, not looking at her own sister anymore.

With eyes drowned in fear and a face transfixed with sheer horror, she was looking at a monster. An animal. An abomination. A freak.

She told her to keep it to herself, and that no matter what happened, she could not let anyone else know. If the world knew the truth, not only would their father lose everything, she would be shunned by the rest of the world for what she was. If the world found out about her secret, she would no longer be able to live a normal life anymore.

From that day onwards, Weiss Schnee never told anyone else about her Faunus nature.

"Are you sure about this?"

Weiss bit her lip, silently thinking through her reply. She had already given this much thought, and she had arrived at the same conclusion each time. However, Winter's one simple question had caused her determination to waver.

"I know you're more gifted in combat than anyone else in our family," Winter began. "But why a Huntress? What if someone there figures out you're… you know."

"I'll be careful," Weiss replied. Even if it was Winter, she could not tell her the real reason she wanted to go to Beacon. That was something which, like her secret, would never be told. "Besides, my physical abilities might not necessarily be because of my Faunus-"

"Don't say it out loud," Winter cautioned. As much as she had accepted it, it still hurt Weiss sharply whenever her Faunus nature was treated like an unspeakable disease. "Well, if it's your decision I won't object, but I want you to be careful, Weiss. If anything happens to you…"

"I'll be alright, sis," Weiss assured her with a small but convincing smile. "I've managed to keep it under wraps all these years, haven't I?"

Winter considered her words for a few moments, and eventually sighed. Sometimes her little sister could be more stubborn than she ever was.

"I understand," she said. "I'll convince Father. But promise me you'll be careful, Weiss; I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I understand," Weiss replied as her sister pulled her into a soft hug.

Even though the warmth was genuine, and her words were no lie, Winter's affection did nothing for Weiss's heart. All it did was remind her vividly of the image that had been emblazoned into her mind – the image of Winter's expression all those years ago. It could not be helped; after all, Winter was a bona fide human unlike Weiss. For her to fear Weiss was only logical, even if they were sisters.

"I promise," she whispered.

Blake Belladonna looked on with mild interest as the two girls argued in the huge crater in front of the school. Why there was a crater in the first place was beyond her, but it was an amusing sight to say the least.

She had no idea who the girl in red and black was, but she knew the white-haired one all too well. Regular folk knew her well enough, but for Blake – someone who had once been a part of the widely feared White Fang – she was notorious. Blake herself had lost many comrades to the weapons developed by that wretched company, but she could not let that show; right now, she was a normal human girl, not a trained Faunus soldier.

Picking up the bottle of Dust that had rolled to her feet, she tried to show as little interest as possible as she spoke to them like how a stranger would. She had gone through great lengths to enroll in Beacon pretending to be human; she was definitely not going to screw up and give herself away over some vendetta against Schnee and her family. Even though she still could not help but make a jab at her company's reputation in the end.

As she walked away, Blake inadvertently turned back and glanced at the white-haired girl one more time. She was the greatest enemy to all Faunus, and she was without an ounce of doubt human. There was no reason for Blake to feel anything but hostility towards her, but the Faunus warrior could not help but be intrigued.

She was sure that from Weiss Schnee, she had smelled something very familiar.

And there you have the intro chapter. Buncha stuff to set up, so it'll take a while, but hope you stay with me.

On a side note, in the early planning stages of this story Weiss was supposed to be secretly the leader of the White Fang, but that got scrapped. Just a little fun fact.

And are Blake and Weiss related here? Uh… *looks at title* Uh… I don't know. Weiss and Winter are born from different mothers in this AU, so make a lucky guess.

Feel free to leave a comment, and I'll see you next chapter!