Chapter Four

"My Aura? What? Why?" Weiss inquired. The topic made her visibly uncomfortable, Ruby could tell immediately. "My Aura is fine, Ruby, why is it so important?"

"Well" Ruby paused for a moment to collect herself "You have three Aura's Weiss" Ruby paused again. "Ok that was a little abrupt, let's go a little slower. Weiss I'm sure you've felt it but the dust you laced yourself with has an Aura, correct?"

"Uh, yeah, I noticed it the first time I trained with my new body" Weiss narrowed her eyes "How did you…"

"I felt it when I watched you train the first time." Ruby gave a smug smile "You didn't think anyone could tell didn't you?"

"Well, no, I didn't. The dust in my body gives off less Aura than Jaune when he first came to Beacon" Weiss paused for Ruby's snort, she allowed a smile before she continued "It's almost imperceptible at the worst of times, and that's only when it starts to rampage."

"Nope" Ruby replied simply.

"What?"

"The aura isn't imperceptible. It's a strange case, because most people aren't used to sensing two different Auras emanating from one being, so they don't pay attention to it, but it is absolutely there. I'd say when you train about twenty-five percent of the aura you emit is dust." Weiss did not seem to be grasping Ruby's explanation, so she continued "The Aura from the dust is strange. It does not have much Aura on it's own, from what I can tell it's basically feeding off your Aura and converting it, which is why it feels almost imperceptible. If I were to make a color comparison, your Aura would be a pale blue-white, while the dust's Aura seems to be more of a grey-white."

"Ok, so essentially, the dust is converting my Aura into it's own? Then why would it be so similar to my own Aura if that were the case?" Weiss inquired.

"Well, what it boils down to is that basically this dust that you found doesn't have an Aura of it's own."

"But it does, Ruby, I was there when they were testing it. It's alive"

"Yes, it's alive, but no it doesn't have it's own Aura." Weiss seemed about ready to interrupt again so Ruby quickly finished "It's a parasite Weiss. When you explained it to me you compared it to "not quite a symbiosis" but I think it's more of a symbiosis that you think"

"Alright, on one hand I'm impressed that you know this much, but on the other, how can you be so sure? How can you be so certain about it? It's not even your Aura"

"I've seen it, Weiss. I was watching it while you trained."

"You were watching my aura? What else did you do? Were you chatting it up with Blake as well?" Ruby's face darkened "Ok, that was in poor taste but my point remains; it's impossible to watch Aura, they taught us that at Beacon"

"We will find Blake, Weiss" Ruby glared in Weiss direction "And no it isn't impossible. I've gotten much stronger while I was traveling. Stronger than even I care to realize. I was watching your Aura, just like I watch the teams Aura during our travel. I need to make sure we're all in balance."

"You're giving me more questions than answers right now Ruby. You can watch Aura, alright, I'll give you that, but what does 'balance' mean? Why are you telling me this specifically rather than the team as a whole? Ruby, answer me plainly; what's going on?"

"Ok" Ruby took a deep breath "Basically I need to make sure that the teams Aura stays positive, because the Grimm are attracted to negative emotions, hate, jealousy, fear etcetera"

Weiss nodded "Alright yeah I get that they taught us as much in school, but what's this about balance? balance implies more than one condition has to be met."

"Right." Ruby nodded in agreement "I mentioned before that you had three types of Aura" Weiss nodded "Well, I covered your natural Aura and your dust's Aura" Weiss nodded tentatively "Well, the third type of Aura is one that I learned about on my travels, it's called Grimm Aura. It's an Aura that manifests itself around negative emotions, and it's the type of Aura that attracts Grimm"

"So the reason the Grimm flock towards negative emotions is because they can sense Aura?" Weiss held her head in her hands "Then, if they can sense Aura, does that mean…"

"Right, the Grimm have a soul too." Ruby paused to allow the information to sink in "Grimm Aura is a strange Aura. It doesn't react as a normal Aura would, and it's difficult to perceive when you don't know what to look for."

"But if the Grimm have a soul then how come no one has noticed until you?" Weiss asked through gritted teeth.

"Well, I didn't discover this alone, I had help" Ruby shifted uncomfortably "But I'll talk about that later. The most important thing to remember is, What's the number one law of physics?"

Weiss looked up, both surprised and offended "Every action must have an equal and opposite reaction, but why is that important? Why bring this up now? This has nothing to… Oh." Weiss' eye's widened "Oh. My. God"

"Yeah, I think you just guessed what I'm getting at. Since our natural Aura is a source of Energy, then what would the opposite be?"

"Destruction." Weiss began to shake slightly "So Grimm destroy Aura? How? Why do aura attacks work on them then?"

"Well, this is the thing, Grimm Aura doesn't so much destroy as it… Absorbs. It's like a void. A void Aura, defined more or less as an absence of something that should exist. The Grimm have a void soul, and because of this, the void is filled with Grimm Aura, creating a Grimm. For the Grimm to exist, these two things must be present, a soul to act as a host, and void Aura to consume it."

"What are you getting at Ruby, this better be relevant to me somewhere down the road, otherwise I'll never forgive you for telling me this" Weiss had dropped her head back into her hands, her falling haphazardly around her face, obscuring it from view.

"I know Weiss. I know this is tough to know but you have to understand this for what I'm about to tell you. So by now we've covered that Grimm have souls, and we, as humans and faunus generate some Grimm Aura" Weiss didn't bother to respond "So, the point that I'm getting at is, what happens when a human creates an excess of Grimm Aura?"

There was a long silence. Ruby waited patiently for Weiss to answer. She knew that Weiss knew the answer, but voicing it would give it weight, and she wanted to avoid that for as long as possible. Weiss began to shake, dust crystals began to form along her back, just like in training, but this was different. The energy that Ruby felt seemed different. Inhuman. Weiss stopped shaking, and peeked out at Ruby from the shroud of hair that had since fallen loose.

"People can turn into Grimm. You're telling me that people turn into Grimm? You're telling me that I might turn into a FUCKING GRIMM!? You're telling me that I've been killing people that had once been FUCKING ALIVE!?" Frost began creeping out from where Weiss was touching the ground. Ruby needed to step in, and fast.

"Weiss. I need you to be calm about this"

"HOW CAN I BE CALM ABOUT THIS RUBY!? HOW!?" Weiss was shaking with a mixture of anger, sadness, guilt, and fear "HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM ABOUT THIS!?"

"I've had a lot of time to think this over, but time is a luxury we can't afford, and if this carries on any further, than you will lose yourself. So please, Weiss, calm down. For me? Please?"

Weiss glared at her friend with a fury the likes of which Ruby had never seen Yet she sat down nonetheless, and the ice on the ground quickly began to melt away. But Ruby could still feel the emotion roiling beneath the surface, like a porcelain doll containing a thunderstorm. "Alright. Finish what you were getting at. Please. I need this conversation to be over."

Ruby nodded "The point that I'm making is that everyone is at risk of turning into a Grimm. But it's a low chance, the odds at any moment are incredibly slim, and the circumstances where the possibility even arises even more so."

"So why then…."

"Let me finish Weiss. The thing is, you're not 'everyone' anymore, are you?" Weiss paused before shaking her head "You're unique. No one in this world exists as you do, and most likely no one ever will again. For someone to turn into a Grimm, their Grimm Aura would have to hold sway over their system for weeks. But that is only for someone who has to balance two Aura's. You need to balance three, which raises the odds if either one taking over exponentially." Ruby's eyes began to water "I can't lose you too, Weiss. I need you to let me help. I don't ever want to see one of my friends lose themselves, and least of all you. I need to know that you will stay you, I need to help you make sure that you stay you."

Weiss sat in silence for a moment and watched Ruby quietly shake while trying to hide her tears. Even now, Ruby was trying to be strong, make sure that no one knew how afraid she was. Weiss calmed herself, she had no right to act in this way when all Ruby was trying to do was help. "Ok." Ruby wiped her eyes and peeked out at Weiss "You teach me how to keep my Aura in check" Ruby nodded "But, in return, you need to spar with me in the mornings. If you need to know I'll be safe, I'm sure that'll help reassure you."

Ruby nodded. The two sat in silence for a long time afterwards. Over time the ice Weiss had created melted away, and the air around her calmed down. Not long after, Ruby motioned to make their way back to camp and the two of them departed. Not a word was spoken on the trip back, neither one felt much like breaking the silence. The walk seemed like an eternity on the return, like time slowed down just for the two women to sink further into themselves. Once the two of them returned to the camp they split immediately, Ruby going to Pyrrha to help with dinner, and Weiss sinking away in the opposite side of the camp. Weiss had been attempting to eat with the team, if only a little every day, but today when Jaune asked she just politely shook her head and turned away. Pyrrha seemed concerned, but not enough to ask what was going on. Jaune was convinced that she would snap back soon; Ruby hoped he was right.

Ever since the trip Ruby and Weiss took into the woods, they had been avoiding each other. Even Sun noticed, which meant it was incredibly obvious. Yang hated to see her baby sister suffer, but didn't feel like it was quite her place to step in. There was clearly something personal going on between the two, and she didn't want to interrupt if they were in the middle of any serious personal growth. Aside from them training together in the mornings and evenings, the two avoided each other as much as possible. To Yang, it looked like Ruby had told Weiss something and Weiss was still struggling to process it. Being on the same team gave Yang quite a bit of insight into her teammates, and her training on the Islands made her more perceptive of changes in a person's temperament. There was clearly something going on and no matter how much Yang wanted to know what it was, she would allow them another few days to work it out before she stepped in, both as a sister, a friend, and most importantly, a teammate.

However, the answer Yang had been looking for came far sooner than she'd expected. When the group stopped for the night, as Weiss and Ruby were off to go train, Ruby gave Yang a signal. It was a signal the two of them had used as children when they were trying to play a prank on their father. It meant 'follow my lead'.

Five minutes after the two of them left, Yang excused herself from the game of 'catch the flaming log' she was playing with Sun, and went after her sister into the woods. With her heightened senses it was very simple to follow them through the woods, Weiss constantly smelt like a explosion, and Ruby never ceased to smell at least slightly of roses. Yang never could quite figure out how she did it, but as far back as she could remember, Ruby always had that signature flowery aroma surrounding her.

Yang heard the two of them talking, long before she spotted them. They would speak for a couple moments, before going silent, and then repeating their previous conversation, which usually went along the lines of "Ruby, it's impossible, I just can't feel it" followed by Ruby saying "That's the point. You're not supposed to feel it, that's what being void means, just try again" followed by an exasperated grunt then silence again.

"Come on over Yang. Don't just hover where you think I can't see you" Ruby called into the trees. Yang was mildly surprised Ruby had found her, although not too put off. There was definitely something different about Ruby now. Something more aware.

"Hey guys. What's up, am I interrupting?" Yang flopped down against a tree opposite her teammates.

"Actually yes. You are" Weiss shot Yang a nasty look "If you would kindly leave, I would much appreciate it"

"No can do, sister, my sister asked me to come" Yang slumped further into the ground, in a defiant state of relaxation.

"Bullshit. I haven't seen Ruby talk to you since last night, and I heard what you were talking about, and it wasn't this" Weiss growled.

"Damn. I didn't even know you could swear like that, I thought you'd melt" Yang laughed "No but seriously, Ruby asked me to come, so I came. Still don't know why though" Yang sat up and looked at Ruby "Why did you ask me to come? it doesn't seem like you're doing much out here."

Ruby nodded "Well, right now, we're not" Weiss gave a disgruntled 'Humph' before Ruby could continue. "I was hoping you could change that"

"Yang? she had the worst control out of everyone on the team, how's she going to help?" Weiss stated indignantly.

"Because right now it's not about control, it's about understanding. And if I'm not mistaken, Yang understands."

"Uhhh" Yang seemed kind of lost "What do I understand? I mean if you think I do, I'm sure I do, I would just like to know what exactly are we talking about?"

"SEE" Weiss exclaimed. "I told you, she doesn't even understand what's going on"

"Shh Weiss, Yang can help, I'm sure of it, now Yang, did the Dragons teach you anything about Grimm Aura?"

"Uhh, let me think" Yang sat in silence for a while, occasionally punctured by Weiss whispering 'this is stupid' before continuing "I don't know about Grimm Aura, but it's weird because the Dragons don't refer to it as Aura, so it's tough to draw parallels. Can you give me a rundown on what Grimm Aura is?"

"It's basically like negative Aura, a type of void, or dark Aura" Ruby replied.

"Hmmmm… Yeah, i think I know what you're talking about" Weiss sat up, shock and disbelief written across her face.

"How do you know?" Weiss exclaimed.

"Well, The Dragons are all about the betterment of the self" Yang began.

"Well you must've fit right in" Weiss mumbled, clearly upset that Yang knew something she didn't.

"Well, rude, but yeah I did." Yang laughed "They spend a lot of time on internal journeys through their Aura, or Chakra as they called it. They said that a person has Eight different types of Chakra, although I only mastered three." Ruby perked up upon hearing this, but withheld her interjection. Yang raised an eyebrow at her before continuing. "From what I learned while I was over there was that only the perfect being can use all 8 types of Chakra, or Aura, even the elder shaman could only use 7, most people could only use the first level, just like us in Remnant. I wanted to learn about it, but unlocking the levels of Chakra take a lot of sitting still, so I only did three before I gave up. The first level is the Root, which basically connects us to the universal energy source and allows us to use Aura. Your semblance is an extension of which type of energy your soul is predisposed to reacting to." Weiss was dead silent now, leaning one every word. "The second level of Chakra is an opposite energy, which is what I presume you're trying to teach Weiss" Ruby nodded "So basically what I found to be the most…"

"Wait" Weiss interrupted "What's the rest of the levels of Aura, or Chakra or whatever it was?"

"Well, the third one, which is as far as I got, allows control over the concentration of Chakra in different parts of the body, basically like Ren's Aura attacks. Even though he probably didn't know he was doing it, he subconsciously activated the third level of Chakra without unlocking the second." Weiss nodded "As for the rest, I'd rather not get into it now, I'll explain later, in front of everyone, so I don't have to repeat myself." Weiss nodded again, crestfallen "Anyways, as I was saying, unlocking the second level is different for everyone. For me it just meant coming to terms with my semblance, since my Root has a natural affinity to dark Chakra it was simple to master the second stage. I'm sure Ruby had a harder time than I did, but she picks up on things pretty quick so she probably didn't have much trouble either" Ruby shook her head slightly, but allowed Yang to continue.

"Then what about me? Why is this so difficult for me?" Weiss asked, clearly feeling worse now that she knew how easy this had been for Yang.

"Well my best guess, is that you're too controlling. When finding Dark Chakra for the first time, it's very difficult if you aren't willing to give up control. You need someone with you to keep your Chakra in check while you basically give in to the dark Chakra. It's honestly pretty terrifying" Yang slid back onto the ground, as is to purposefully oppose the statement she'd just made "I had the monks there to help, they sat in a circle and linked their Chakra with mine to make sure I didn't lose control. But still. Losing control like that is something I'd never like to do again, which I guess is the reason why they made me do it." Yang sighed "Rubes if you mastered Grimm Chakra or whatever it is, that means you did the same thing right?"

"Yeah" Ruby shivered at the thought of Ravn helping her during her Grimm episode "Although I didn't start that way, that was the last thing I did"

Yang sat up again. "Then how did you unlock the second level?"

"Well, I just kind of... felt it" Ruby explained "When I was told about Grimm Aura and what it was, it was like putting a name to something you've seen your whole life but never could quite put a finger on it." Yang raised her eyebrows, Weiss rolled her eyes as if to say 'not this again'.

"For real? As far as I know the only way to become consciously aware of dark Chakra is to lose control completely, and I would remember if you had, we've lived our whole lives together." Yang was a mixture of impressed and concerned. She didn't like it when something was going on with Ruby and she didn't know.

"Yeah, it was like when you were a kid and learning colors and the teacher would point to the sky and say 'the sky is blue' and all the sudden things would click into place. It's like I'd known about it all along and when someone told me what it was I just kind of knew."

"That explains why Weiss couldn't quite grasp it huh" Yang shrugged "I guess you were trying to get her to just click it into place like you did" Ruby nodded sheepishly "Alright, I guess we have to do this Ruby. If it's really necessary to teach Weiss about this Aura, then we need to help her lose control" Yang rubbed her hands together "Oh, this is gonna be fun"

"Pyrrha, you felt that, right?" Jaune opened his eyes and looked into the sky. Pyrrha seemed lost in thought, but nodded nonetheless. "Feels like that time" Jaune shuddered "I hope we don't have to pick up camp tonight, i really need to sleep" Once again Pyrrha nodded, still lost in thought. Jaune smiled and let his head rest back into his array of blankets, even if something were to happen, Pyrrha would protect him, or at least carry him to safety.

"Ruby. What the fuck is that?" Yang whispered to her sister. Weiss lay, unconscious across from her teammates, dust crystals black and jagged protruding from her back, shoulders and arms. She looked like some sort of demon, her pale white frame supported by monstrous crystals, twisted and grotesque.

Ruby sighed "I was really hoping this wouldn't happen" Yang looked inquisitively towards her sister.

"So you knew? What about Jaune and Pyrrha?"

"Yeah. I think almost everyone in Remnant knows to be honest. The only reason you didn't was because you were on the Islands. I figured Weiss would want to tell you on her own terms so I didn't mention it when you came back, but I guess the cat's out of the bag now."

Yang nodded "The cat is absolutely out of the fucking bag Ruby. What the fuck happened to Weiss" Gone was Yang's signature flippant speech and casual mannerisms, she was dead serious; and afraid. "Ruby. Why does she look like a Grimm? Are those dust crystals? Did she grow them herself? Is Weiss even fucking human anymore?" Yang shuddered "I knew there was something different about her. She wouldn't sleep and she barely ate. Plus her Chakra seemed off, kind of, dirty." Yang placed her head in her hands and took a few deep breaths. "Ruby, what do we do?"

Ruby patted her sister on the back "Well, first off let's break the crystals off before she wakes up, and hopefully she will be able to explain to you what's going on then" Yang shuddered, but nodded nonetheless. The two girls hoisted their friend up and began to snap the crystals off at the root. Once the blood began to flow, Yang began to calm down, the red plasma somehow made Weiss seem more human, less… Something else. After a the crystals had been broken, and her wounds wrapped with bandages Ruby pulled out of her cloak, the sister's propped Weiss' body up against a tree and waited, silent, for their friend to regain consciousness. As the silence stretched longer and longer, it became more and more difficult to break, until Weiss' groans broke the eerie quiet.

"W-what happened" Weiss rubbed her head and opened her eyes. "I feel awful, like back when I was training for the first time with the…" Weiss trailed off as she remembered who she was speaking to.

"Training with what, Weiss" Yang demanded "What the fuck is going on with you?"

"Yang, calm down" Ruby interjected "This topic is kind of personal to Weiss, we can let her go at her own pace." Ruby rubbed her sister's back, in an effort to calm her down, but Yang brushed her hand away.

"Weiss, we were a team for four years at Beacon and you didn't deem me worthy to tell your secret? Even if the rest of Remnant knows, you could even tell me!?" Yang really bore into Weiss, but instead of tears, fire sprang into Weiss' eyes.

"Four years?" Weiss hissed "If I'm not mistaken I was the only one who lasted that long? Or did you forget you fucking abandoned me when your sister got expelled? Clearly you cared less about the team than you do your sister, so why should I care about you?" The words coming out of Weiss mouth were so hostile, it almost seemed like a different person was speaking. Like she'd reverted back to the person she had been when she had just arrived at Beacon.

"How fucking DARE you. You turned yourself into some kind of freak and then didn't even tell me about it?" Yang was getting angry. Her hair was getting weightless, and her eyes were starting to flash red. "I didn't fucking abandon you. Our team was dead, Ruby was the only thing that could hold a group like us together, and she was fucking gone because of us, so don't you tell me I fucking abandoned you."

"Ladies, can we please calm down" Ruby implored, but her teammates weren't listening, the amount of dark Aura released by Weiss was beginning to effect their way of thinking, heightening their negative emotions. Ruby needed to act, and quickly

With frightening speed Ruby swung her scythe in between Weiss and Yang, impaling the ground between them. Immediately the two stopped bickering, either out of shock or fear, but Ruby did not care which, as long as they were silent. "Will the two of you shut up and listen to me?" Ruby spoke quietly and clearly. She remembered her father using this tone of voice when he was beyond angry, even know the memories chilled Ruby's heart. "Both of you need to calm down. Yang. Focus on the Grimm Aura and get rid of it. I know you can do it" Yang nodded. She clearly remembered the tone of voice Ruby was using. "Now Weiss. I do not know if you can control Grimm Aura yet, so focus on my Aura and I'll calm you down" Weiss seemed petrified "Weiss? Are you listening?" Weiss gave a slight nod and closed her eyes. Ruby sighed, drew Crescent Rose back and sat down again.

To calm Weiss down, all Ruby had to do was allow her own Aura to radiate outwards slightly. If Weiss was watching, the waves of Ruby's Aura would wash over her, pushing away the Grimm Aura and allowing Weiss to relax. As long as Weiss didn't shut her out, then after a few minutes she would be back to normal.

"Damn, Rubes" Yang had already finished cleansing her Grimm Aura "I've never seen you like that before, I didn't even know you could sound that… Scary"

Ruby allowed herself the time to finish calming Weiss before replying. "To be honest, neither did I, but you two were acting like such idiots I had to do something."

"Please, never use that tone of voice again" Weiss spoke softly, almost inaudible amongst the wind "Please. Never again" Ruby's tone of voice clearly meant significantly more to Weiss than it did to Ruby and Yang.

"I'm sorry, but I needed you two to focus" Ruby replied.

"I understand, but... Please." Weiss shivered.

"Alright. I won't do it again. But in return, you have to tell Yang everything. She deserves to know." Weiss was still reeling from whatever shock Ruby caused her, but managed to nod once again. After taking several minutes to compose herself, she launched into the exact same speech she gave Ruby almost a week prior, albeit shakier in her execution.

Yang sat through the briefing, silent and respectful, very different from how she was in Beacon. Whether or not this was because of her training with the Dragons, or simply because she could feel the weight on Weiss' words Ruby couldn't tell. She had a feeling it was the former, the weight of a situation had never really affected Yang's attitude.

Once Weiss finished Yang began to move around, running her hand through her hair and tapping her foot. Ruby could feel how uncomfortable this made her. To Yang, family was the most important thing in the world. "So you just… Left? Just like that?" Yang finally broke the silence.

Weiss nodded "They couldn't have a traitor with access to their research."

"You're not a traitor Weiss. You're a Schnee."

"Not anymore." Weiss responded simply.

"Don't give me that bullshit Weiss. Family is more than a name, Ruby is no less my sister because of her name, and you're no less a Schnee because you gave up your title." Yang stood up and paced around. "I mean, the whole human dust hybrid is a little out there, but you never say that you have no family anymore. Not to me, not to Ruby, not ever"

Weiss managed to squeeze out a laugh, which brought Yang to a sudden halt "I can't believe you two. When I told Ruby she couldn't care less that I was a dust hybrid, she was more concerned with how I felt about it" She smiled slightly, while Ruby blushed "And now, when I tell you, you're less concerned about me being only half human than my family situation" Yang rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, but smiled nonetheless.

"Well. You're Weiss. You're not simply a human being, or a hybrid, or anything like that, you're more than that, to me, to Ruby, to everyone who's met you." Yang crouched down in front of Weiss "Even if you have no family to go home to, you can always come home to us. Me and Ruby will always be here for you. Blake too would be the same, if she wasn't held hostage by her own followers."

Weiss pulled Yang in and embraced her. Ruby watched, slightly uncomfortable from the sidelines, after a few moments she had to step in.

"Ok, so I'm all for this whole team bonding moment, but, uhhh, we just nuked this whole area with Grimm Aura about half an hour ago, and by my estimate, there's a small pack of Grimm that will show up, in about fifteen minutes" Ruby's words hung in the air for a moment before the two other women fully understood their meaning.

"Ummm, Ruby?" Weiss raised her hand, like she was back in Beacon. "How many is a 'small' group?"

"Around one hundred small to medium level Grimm"

"And how are we supposed to outrun them?"

"We probably can't"

"So why do you sound so calm?"

"Oh." Ruby forgot she never explained the rest of her Grimm Aura lesson. "Right, well, when we blitzed you with Grimm Aura you infected the environment, but since we've all cleansed out Aura of Grimm Aura for the time being, we should be able to leave without them being able to trace us. We just have to get moving and we'll be fine." Ruby shrugged at Yang who grinned. Weiss still seemed unsure.

"Might have to sleep in the trees though."

Yang chuckled.