-Chapter 2: Tea Time-

"Is this the Belladonna residence?" Weiss asked.

"Yes, it is. I am Ghira Belladonna. It is a pleasure to see my daughter's friend, but I must ask, what brings the Schnee family to Menagerie?" Ghira asked. He was easily twice her size. Her father is scrawny and still intimidates her, so Ghira doesn't have to do much.

"N-not the family, sir. Yesterday, I was… frankly disowned in a way. My actions caused my father to see me as unfit for…"

"Weiss… what? How?" Blake Belladonna stood at the far end of the hall. Shock and happiness have an odd mix in facial expressions.

"Hello, Blake. It's a pleasure to see a friend… family again, and I haven't seen your ears in so long. It must be great for you to be at home again." Blake walked over to give a quick hug. She nodded.

Ghira continued, "Please, come in. Whatever brings you here can be had over tea."

As they walked in, Weiss turned to Blake. "Do you have any coffee?"

"Haha… no. Sorry."

"He-hey, it's the ice queen!" Weiss rolled her eyes at the familiar line and familiar face.

"Hello, Sun." Weiss shot a confused look at Blake. Quietly, she said, "Did he… follow you home, or…?" He really did act with a monkey's antics.

Blake rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Yes, that's… basically it."

Ghira hurried to a door and told someone to bring tea and several cups.

Sun Wukong attempted more words, but Weiss interrupted "Save it. I'll have to explain a lot soon. I'll get around to it before you even ask. Blake, I love your home."

"Really? You must live in a mansion, how could you-"

Sun interrupted Blake, "And is this not a mansion?"

Blake pursed her lips and shrugged. "Good point."

Weiss continued, "No, the wood, the warm colors. Truly. I'm tired of white marble and blue rugs. It's all I ever saw until I was a teenager. This is refreshing."

They got to the dining room, a circular room with nothing more than a low sitting table and sitting mats.

"Please, sit." Blake said.

Weiss, Blake, and Sun sat across from each other. A door opened, and Ghira walked in followed by the woman Blake got her ears from. After seeing Weiss, the woman hurried to the table to set tea placements down.

"Oh, hello! Miss-" the cat faunus stumbled through her words at the unexpected guest.

"Weiss Schnee, please. Weiss is fine- perfect really. And your name, miss?"

"Thank you, dear. I'm Kali Belladonna. What brings you here?" The five were now seated at the table. Blake's parents sat directly across from Weiss. Even though this was the same way her father sat with her at dinner, the long table back home made it seem more daunting, as if a king sat directly addressing her at all times. Blake and Sun flanked Weiss' sides.

"It's… it's a long story. Thank you for your hospitality." Weiss folded her hands as she spoke.

"No, no, it's nothing," Kali said. "Where does the story begin?"

"I suppose," Weiss slowed for her thoughts. "As I was telling Mr.-"

"Please, call me Ghira."

"Honestly, sir, I'm so used to formalities, I'm sure by your status you are too. Should we drop them altogether or…?" Ghira nodded.

"I suppose this isn't a business meeting, so thank you." Weiss got back to her point, "As I was telling Ghira, a few weeks ago I was grossly chastised by my father for prior actions. We held a charity event to help restore Vale at my home. Before we auctioned, I pointed out to everyone that they were more or less clueless people who complained about their small problems while pretending to care for people in Vale with much bigger problems." The room sat in shock. "You don't- you don't know Atlas. I grew up surrounded by wealth. They needed to hear it, and at least General Ironwood agreed with me."

"Anyway, for doing that, my father revoked my status as heiress to his fortune and gave it to my younger brother, who is basically of the same mindset on everything as he is. I immediately knew it would take a lot more to save the company and that I could not do it in Atlas." Sun motioned as if to speak, but Blake denied him so, not wanting to interrupt a sort of meeting between her parents and Weiss.

Ghira inquired, "Would you describe your father as… everything my citizens would have said of him?"

Weiss thought, "As far as being Faunus, I would say that and more. I haven't seen any numbers, but as far as equal pay for Faunus labor, he claims so, but I highly doubt it. And the working conditions have not really ever been favorable in mines, but I would not be too surprised if they were treated worse. So anything your people have said of him is likely true, but as far as what I said about 'and more,' that is… my family situation." Kali's face filled with sorrow. Weiss continued, "But you, this is beautiful. This house."

"Oh no," Kali interrupted. "Please, dear, it's not so much."

"No, I'm being serious. This house, you both. It's so much more welcoming than giant marble pillars and spotless chandeliers. As much as the colors blue and white are tied to the family business, they don't look good lining every wall, floor, and ceiling. The long halls, giant rooms no one has been in for months… it's not so welcoming. But both of you on the other hand. You couldn't have given me tea any faster."

"Yet you haven't drank any yet," Sun butted in. The two RWBY girls darted their eyes at him.

Kali was about to ask why, but Weiss deflected it as nothing.

Kali looked at Blake, who smirked at Weiss' comment. Kali asked of Blake.

"She prefers coffee actually," Blake revealed.

Kali was shocked, thinking of her disrespect. "Oh, really? We don't have any but I will fetch some from the market tomorrow. It's only-"

"No, please." Weiss charged. "It's fine. Tea is fine, lovely actually. Sure, given the choice, I'd have coffee, but it's not-"

Blake couldn't help but laugh a little. "Weiss, you're not going to win this one. You may as well give up." She couldn't refrain from laughter as she spoke. "My mother is not going to back down from making guests feel welcomed."

Weiss blushed, her face with more color now than her hair. "Thank you, Mrs. Belladonna- … Kali. But you have no idea how wonderful you've already been to me. After the charity event, my father verbally abused me. He said, and I mean this, 'I don't give a damn about what you want.' My entire life, I've been nothing more than an asset to him, someone who will carry on his name as he glorifies himself. As soon as he knew that wouldn't be the case, he locked me away. Once I knew I was capable of a solid fight against him, I left on the first airship I could find. And the next day, I'm here. Sitting at a table, graciously provided a beverage, after Ghira would not let me stay at the door for more than ten seconds. You're already more of a family to me than he was."

Kali blinked away a tear at what she heard, and expressed, "Surely you have someone there for you."

Weiss took a breath and calmed. "Yes, Klein. He is the family's butler. He-" Ghira to put an arm around her. "He always does what he can. He knows my father is overbearing. He got me through it."

"Don't you have an older sister, though? Wi- what is her name?" Kali scrapped for decent parts of Weiss' life.

"Winter, yes. She found herself in my situation much earlier. She was why I was the heiress in the first place. She understood, so she took a rank under General Ironwood after she graduated Atlas Academy around seven years ago. I love her, but she's never around. I would have gone to her yesterday, but then Ironwood wouldn't tell me where she is. I think she must be off somewhere on some highly classified mission, then."

"You just have access to the General?" Ghira pressed.

"I suppose, but it's not me. My father is always at him to make sure Ironwood does what he can to help the business. So yes, I found Ironwood, and he neglected that he couldn't tell me. He's on my side, but there must be something big Winter is working on if he cannot even tell me." Weiss looked to the side, in defeat from Ironwood's comments.

Blake and Sun looked to Ghira, as if they knew of a possible situation.

"That is why you are here instead of with your sister," Ghira concluded.

"Yes, sir."

"Very well. Now that you are here, how will you proceed?"

"Well," Weiss turned to Blake, "Blake told me she was a member of the White Fang at one point. I've known of their conflict with my family for so long, and I know she left. And I know this family's status in Menagerie, so I felt you would know how to help with my family's problem. I thought maybe doing something about the White Fang problem would fix it."

"Way ahead of you on that." Sun butted again.

Weiss was surprised. "What do you mean by that?"

"When I got back to Menagerie," Blake answered, "the White Fang caught up with me. We managed to retrieve a scroll from them, and… Adam… who I believe I've mentioned to you before, plans to gain control of the White Fang and use it to attack Mistral. He's the one responsible for what the White Fang has done in Vale, but elsewhere, the White Fang is different, less extreme… for now."

"I understand," Weiss said, "and how will you fix the problem? You don't have power in the White Fang anymore," she said as she looked at Ghira.

Ghira sighed, "As High Leader of the White Fang, I was ineffective. No matter what I could do, the will of the people here is violent. I had no choice but to step down. I lead the island now. It is much easier to keep peace among Faunus rather than the peace between Faunus and humans."

"And now that all of this is developing…?" Weiss asked.

"And now that this is developing," Blake said, "we are going to take it back."

Soon followed lighthearted conversations about childhood. Weiss got to see the rest of the house, but Blake managed to distract from any embarrassing childhood memorabilia despite Sun's efforts. Later than Blake's parents would stay up, she and Weiss sat in Blake's bedroom where they would share the night.

"So, why is Sun bandaged?" Weiss asked.

Blake tilted her head at the thought of friends being hurt from her sake. "A couple nights ago while he and I were on the balcony, arguing because… that's all we seem to do… a spy visited. That's when we got the scroll. We chased her, and she was… someone from my past. An old friend. We chased and fought, and he was wounded. Again."

"Again?" Weiss thought, "How much happened while I was gone?"

"Not," Blake teared up, "not him again." Weiss wrapped an arm around her. "A friend of mine was hurt, again. By the White Fang, again. When they came after me, again."

"You're saying then," Weiss ran through her thoughts, "well, Blake… This isn't on you."

"I know. I know. He made sure I knew. It's not about that anymore. It's just a little hard to get over."

"The White Fang is plaguing you, huh?" Weiss backed off of Blake and sat in front of her.

"I knew what they did to rogues when I left two years ago. I just thought that window passed for me. And I'm lucky I haven't been killed yet."

"That's where we come in then," Weiss assured.

"Huh? Weiss, why are you getting involved? This isn't your-"

"I'm a victim, remember?"

Blake remembered, but she didn't think so quickly. She was used to having problems nobody could relate to. "Yes. But that was your father, wasn't it? You were his victim."

"We are both victims of the White Fang, Blake. We both have had people around us lost in some way at their hands. You're a Faunus, and I'm a human. That's why this will work."

"The CCT is down though. People still think you're the heiress."

"Yes," Weiss considered, "but… it also means my father hasn't publicly destroyed my reputation yet. At least not outside of Atlas at this rate. I can create my own image, and my father's PR team can't shame me all the way out in Menagerie."

"It's not like your reputation was good here when you were an heiress either. I do see something now though," Blake said.

"See what?"

"My father didn't fail as a leader. The people failed him. I've known that, but… things are different now. Eighty years ago, when the war ended, people were more racist. The way I saw it in Vale, the people were for social equality, but they had no route for it. Nobody wanted to lead. They had the White Fang before, but they turned violent. If we take it back, we're giving people the route to come together." Blake smiled at her newfound wisdom, revealing the catlike shape to her lips.

"Exactly," Weiss said. "That's why I'm here. It's like this: I'm the white, and you're the fang."

"Together."

"Together."

They smiled, as family, feeling reaffirmed they would get this right.

"I also had a different thought," Weiss said.

"Yeah?"

"How much do people here use the desert?"

"We can't because of the wildlife. Some people hunt the animals for food, but they're highly specialized and have heavy equipment. It's also used for a few farms and ranches though. Why do you ask?" Blake said.

"What if we started a new Dust company?"

"Weiss…" Blake felt it impossible.

"I'm being serious. The SDC never touched Menagerie for resources, not even when my grandfather owned it. If we find Dust here, it's all ours. Even though many of the mines are starting to lose their profit, my father would never come to this island."

"But… how would we fund that?" Blake wondered.

"My grandfather didn't have much when he started. I'm certainly out of money though, so I can't do much."

"It's something to think about. I admire it. I hope we can, but that's something for later," Blake said.

"For now, Uuuuuhhhhhhaaaa," Weiss interrupted herself with a yawn.

"For now, uuuwwwhhhaaat?" Blake joked.

"For now, we go to bed. Clearly, I need it," Weiss said as she went in for a hug. "Thank you," she said as she hugged tighter. "You really are family."

"Don't say that…" Blake worried.

"Why not?" As bad as that made Weiss feel, an explanation was more important to her.

"I... agree, and... I do thank you for saying that," Blake said as she pulled out of the hug. "But even though the White Fang is mostly in Mistral right now setting up, they had to have left some people behind. They still hate you, you know. Even though it's mostly your name, they can't get solid proof from your father that you aren't the heiress. And even if you weren't, it wouldn't stop everyone from wanting to kill you by your name. I don't want to lose any friends, and I know it will come to that. They're already plotting against me. And Sun and Yang..."

Blake began to tear up. Weiss hugged her again, and this time rubbed her back. "We'll choose to be there for each other. At some point, we can be there for Yang too. I guess we have Sun to look out for us as well, but sometimes he's just hot and useless. We can make it work."

"So, how are we going to make this work?" Blake calmed herself and repeated Weiss as she gestured to the one bed in the room, queen sized.

Weiss smirked, "We keep our boundaries, unless I don't think either of us will volunteer for the floor."

"If Sun weren't here, you could take the guest room," Blake suggested.

"What, are you suggesting I kick him out?"

"Well, that would be funny, no? He could manage outside," Blake considered. They laughed in agreement.

"Yes, he could," Weiss tried to calm her laughter down, "but I'm fine with this."

"We can make this work," Blake agreed. The two climbed into bed. "Tomorrow, we're off to Haven. Goodnight, Weiss."

"Goodnight, Blake."


"You need to control yourself," General Ironwood said in the father Schnee's office.

"You're talking to me about control? Do you even hear what you're saying?"

"I am basing everything on my report from your daughter."

"A daughter you stole!" Jacques only had his son left at home.

"Oh, we are not getting into that again."

"Oh, yes, we have far more pressing to discuss, starting with your apparent lunacy!"

"Jacques! Winter is one of my best. If she's telling me there's a threat in Mistral, then I am not going to take that news lightly. She's been there for weeks. People are mobilizing, sudden spikes in weapons and Dust trades. Someone is about to make a play and I do not trust Leo to stop them."

"You've never trusted anyone other than yourself."

"And for GOOD REASON," Jacques earned a hole in his desk. "If Oz had just listened to me from the start…"

"You need… to get a grip."

"That's exactly what I'm doing. Our people need protection. By this time next week, the Kingdom of Atlas will be officially closing its borders. No one in, no one out, without the council's permission."

"No," Jacques said, deadpanned.

"What? What do you mean no?"

"I mean you are going to give me free range of motion."

Ironwood stood up straight and said, "I am not obligated to do anything for you. You seem to be forgetting that."

"As a trusted friend and ally to this family, you will. You will let me fetch my daughter," Jacques played.

"What could you possibly need with Winter?"

"Nothing of her. The other one recently broke out of her room."

"You're kidding," Ironwood thought Weiss would never do that.

"James, she did, and she went to Menagerie."

"Stop lying to me and tell me what this is about, Jacques."

The two made their way across corridors to Weiss' bedroom.

"What is going on in this house these days…?" Ironwood asked himself as he saw the scene. If his right side could tense in disgust, it would have. "Does Klein know anything about this?"

"He said he was with Whitley when she left. He said he saw her summon the armor, and I have proof he checked to be sure she was still there a few times after. Whitley confirmed that he called for Klein, and Weiss left right then. This is all her." Ironwood noted the animosity building.

"Why did she go to Menagerie, Jacques?"

"Her teammate is in league with the White Fang. She's most likely on her period and sought revenge when she was out of her damn mind." Jacques knew how to sound almost too posh to handle his own problem, even though he did care for his sake to return Weiss home. Ironwood could have sworn Ozpin interrogated Blake and got opposite results out of the Faunus.

"What, does Weiss want to kill herself?" Ironwood muttered to himself. With sarcasm, he said, "She's the only thing ever hurting the Schnee family name and its business."

"Exactly!" Jacques boasted, missing Ironwood's intent. "As a trusted friend and ally to this family, you will not bar me from leaving to fix the damage she'll do." Jacques tested.

"As the leader of the kingdom of Atlas, I will not influence one business' success over another."

"She isn't heiress anymore, General. These are strictly family matters."

"Is that what you said five seconds ago? Goodbye, Jacques."