A/N: I'm sorry it took so long. I was not feeling okay for the past weeks. I hope you like this one. :)


It had been another night of exhaustion, brought about by boundless rage. This was the third night that this has happened and Weiss Schnee couldn't help it.

She had come to Vale expecting a brand new start, a good one, a clean slate that offered fresh opportunities, but in the last four days since she arrived, there was nothing but old enemies and half-forgotten ghosts.

She had been hounding the Beacon University administration, demanding that the president, no less, to see her and explain why they would allow these Faunus to run free among the rest of the student body. It also shocked her how it didn't bother the other humans. Was it complacence? Did the administration threaten them with expulsion if they ever argued about the animals' presence?

This was getting out of hand. The line between decent folk and these beasts was erased and, of course, a Schnee was going to have to put order back into the mess that this President Ozpin had created.

But that would have to wait. She had other powerful men to deal with.

Most of her classes were scheduled in the afternoon, so her mornings were free to facilitate the SDC-V as closely as she could. Weiss could always get her other employees to do most of the managing for her. That was how it usually went. SDC did not hire incompetent people. They hired the best of the best, the cream of the crop and they would even go so far as to poach their topnotch employees from their competitors.

But Weiss Schnee aimed to be the best Schnee in the family. She was tired of being second and she had to prove to her entire family that she was more than capable of managing the corporate empire her grandfather had raised from the ground.

Corporate success did not come without its fair share of naysayers and opposition. There are those who did not approve of Nicholas Schnee's decision to pass down his entire legacy to his granddaughters. It was no secret that Grandfather Schnee did not approve of the man that his daughter married. Jacques was ambitious… a dangerous kind of ambitious.

Sitting in the boardroom of their temporary headquarters, Weiss Schnee could feel the condescension of her colleagues bubbling beneath the surface of their cordial responses and backhand praises. She had barely gotten an idea across when she had been cut off with a "Great idea, Ms. Schnee, but…"

Was it like this for Winter?

The vast majority of these men were three times her age and have been in the business for over two decades, but they were talking to a Schnee. Weiss was practically born into this, raised to run an empire even before she could speak The Schnee Dust Company was not just in her name, it was in her blood. This was her birthright.

That never stopped the whispers though.

And the whispers she heard on her way to the restroom after the meeting echoed in her mind. Weiss knew that Winter was not a favorite of the SDC employees. She didn't even like her own sister very much. Winter was bossy, demanding and brutal.

"Winter was glamorous though." She recalled one of them whisper, "She was also a bitch."

The other one snickered, "Must run in the family."

Weiss was used to these comments. She had heard them all throughout her early teens, had heard it from people who had claimed to be her friends. Nobody had ever been brave enough to say it to her face though, but the next whispers had made her blood boil.

"Only this time," a third voice had said, "we're being bossed around by an inexperienced bitch. How long until she runs SDC to the ground?"

It was at this moment that Weiss had calmly presented herself to them, jaw-squared and fists clenched behind her thighs. She reveled in the panic in their eyes and the fear in their voices. Useless apologies were thrown in quick succession. How these slackers can afford to speak so critically about her is a mystery considering they might not be able to afford unemployment at the end of the week.

"You should all be working," Weiss kept her voice even, "not gossiping. This behavior is what's going to put the company out of business, not that I would let that happen."

They scrambled out of her sight, disbelief and a little bit of relief in their apologies and excuses.

Yes, Weiss Schnee was used to it as much as she was used to staring at her own reflection in bathroom mirrors, her mind going over the face that she had taken great care of. Flawless, except for the scar over her left eye. She traced the horrid line with her finger and scowled.

Everyone had said it was just an accident. Weiss had even said so herself, but deep in her mind, she knew that the accident was fueled by a small intent to harm her.

She was also a bitch.

Winter Schnee, the first-born daughter of the Schnee family, perfect in every way, with her words and her cunning as sharp as the blade that had almost cost Weiss her left eye. Winter must have felt threatened that her younger sister was almost as good as she was, probably even better. But almost is what Weiss should always be and the scar was a symbol of that.

"Accidents happen all the time." Winter had said that day, cold blue eyes devoid of sympathy at the sight of blood trickling down her younger sister's face.

That was not an accident.

Winter Schnee was the best fencer in the family, the most disciplined among the Schnee children. She should have had more control. She should have stopped.

Weiss held her breath and stared at her own reflection, at the scar that ruined her perfect face. She felt her shoulders relax when she let out her breath and brushed her hair back in place, to slightly cover up the mess that her sister had done.

She wasn't ashamed of her scar, nor was she proud of it, but it was Winter's parting gift to her. Well, the scar and the right to the Schnee Dust Company with all its properties and fortune. Who would have known that almost losing an eye would lead to gaining so much more?

She reached for the door handle, readying herself before she walked back to the lion's den. That was when she heard it: the sound of glass shattering, people rushing, shouting and panicking from the other side of the door.

She stood still, listening, waiting for the right moment to make her move. The panic had died down, but there was still shouting, men barking instructions to chase down whoever had done this and for someone to clean up this mess. She never heard anyone ask where she was.

Regaining her composure, she twisted the knob, held her head high and beheld the chaos that all of her employees had seen and, possibly, everyone else outside could see. The big glass window that had the Schnee logo etched into it had been reduced to shards, scattered all over the lobby. Right in the middle of the mess was a brick and a threat written in black marker.

Go back to Atlas

"Ms. Schnee," Klein rushed to her side, "are you—"

"I want that window replaced by the end of the day." Weiss demanded, raising a gentle hand to calm Klein and demand the attention of the rest of the people present. "This must not get out to the press."

"But Ms. Schnee—" someone had dared to interrupt her, a slightly older woman who served as the receptionist of their little office, hands shaking and lips quivering.

"SDC-V will go on as scheduled." Weiss kicked a piece of glass away from her foot, "Did anyone see who did this?"

The murmurs began. Nobody felt like saying it directly and Weiss Schnee was losing her patience with their collective deflection. It would seem that everyone had an inkling of who the perpetrator was or were, but none had the courage to say it with an open mouth.

"…the same Faunus…"

"…here two weeks ago…"

"…filthy scum…"

"…disgusting tails…"

"They got away." One man ran back into the office, sweat dripping down his chin, his tie halfway undone and his brown hair a mess. He must have been the one who thought he could catch one of them. What a stupid idea. The Faunus were part beasts.

Weiss could only hope that whoever they were, the security cameras had gotten a good look at them.

She had instructed for everybody to return to work while someone cleaned up the mess and another was going to file a report to the Vale police department. She would have to let the shaken receptionist handle the glass replacement to give her something else to do. Calm and stern. There was no room for panic.

She left the office soon after, sitting in the backseat of the car as Klein silently drove her to Beacon University— where there were more Faunus walking free.

It was only then that she had allowed herself to take a breath, to draw out the panic that she had pushed back. She stared at her hands, long fingers trembling; her knees twitched underneath her white dress. She was proud of the way she had carried herself the entire time.

If it had been Winter in her position, she would have made things worse: shouting, demanding that those vandals be brought before her, terrorizing the rest of the staff when they would return with news that they had escaped. That would have looked bad and it would have attracted unnecessary negative press that would further taint the Schnee name.

Her thoughts lingered on this morning's events. The words of her professors barely audible over the memory of the murmurs and breaking glass, the writings on the board morphed into those four words written in black marker.

Go back to Atlas.

"Damn those Faunus." She cursed under her breath, walking out of the last lecture of the day.

Weiss was exhausted and all she wanted to do was to crawl into her large bed and sleep off the drama of today, to forget that such vile creatures existed in Remnant for an hour or two. She had hoped to hear good news the next day, that the police had caught the lowlifes that vandalized the SDC-V office.

She passed by Johnson Hall on the way to the parking area where she was sure Klein would be waiting for her. She stared at the pink walls, cold blue eyes read the bronze engraving and then she stopped. A wave of nostalgia had held her in place.

Did it always look like this when the sun sets?

She could feel it in her bones. Today was going to be the day and there was nothing in all of Remnant that would get in her way. Not that she would let that happen again. She needed it today. Weiss Schnee was tired and all she wanted was a little bit of happiness, even just a miniscule fraction of it, even for just a second.

She heard footsteps coming from inside the building. Someone was rushing to go outside, towards her, to meet her, to love her and from now on, her life would be brimming with roses. Only a few more steps, a few more moments. Weiss held her breath, her soul begging her body to move forward.

She hadn't expected to see a pair of feline ears perk up at the sight of her, yellow eyes wide with surprise that mirrored Weiss' expression. Her eyes were wider, tears wishing to escape from their golden restraint.

Weiss stared at her, black hair falling in soft curls just above her waist. She looked small in the red jacket that she had lazily draped over her shoulders.

She was pretty. For a Faunus.

"Blake!" a voice had called after her followed by a bulky young man, white shirt almost properly buttoned, blond hair poking out in all directions. He had been walking a little too fast, afraid that he might not be able to catch up to the cat Faunus that he had been chasing, that he pushed past her and crashed into Weiss.

"Sorry!" he said, holding Weiss by the shoulders to keep them both from toppling over, a tail circled around his leg.

He was a Faunus too and he was touching her.

"Get off me!" Weiss pushed his hands away. She took a step back and brushed what contamination that he had left on her shoulders off of her.

"Are you okay?" the tailed Faunus asked.

"Why this second-rate university allowed you animals here is beyond me." Weiss continued fussing with her outfit, eyes refusing to acknowledge the Faunus before her.

"Excuse me?" the cat Faunus scoffed, voice as sharp as a blade.

"You heard me." Weiss finally looked up at them, her eyes narrowed and displayed the contempt and disgust she felt. What little pity she had for this girl vanished and the only thing she could think of was the threat from this morning.

Go back to Atlas.

"You ungrateful beasts were given an entire island and yet you're still here." She folded her arms over her chest and stood tall. Maybe they wouldn't notice that wasn't as tall as they were.

"An entire island completely cut off from the rest of Remnant?" the cat Faunus raised her voice, the red jacket falling off of her shoulders as she pointed a threatening finger at Weiss, crumpling to the ground around her boots.

"That's not my problem now, is it?" Weiss could feel the panic rising to her throat. She was challenging two Faunus while she stood by herself. It could be that these were the same vandals that had threw that brick through the glass window. It could be that she had put herself in danger.

Her tailed companion moved away from Weiss and stood beside her, "Blake, what's—"

"Weiss!"

Of course, she'd be here.

All three of them had turned to see Penny Polendina herself, half-running to help diffuse the situation. Weiss felt a little bit of relief to see another human, felt fearless the moment she had seen an uncomfortable smaller girl trailing behind her. Ruby.

"Penny, I'm glad you could make it." Weiss lied.

"Please forgive Weiss," Penny ignored her and addressed the two Faunus, standing a little bit too close to them, "She's new here."

Does she know these dregs?

The cat Faunus tightened her lips and stood at her full height, her yellow eyes burning into Penny's. She opened her mouth, ready to lash out and bare her teeth, to threaten them like the animal that she was, but Ruby had moved closer and placed her small hand on Penny's shoulder. That had been enough to tame the wild beast before Weiss.

"We're sorry, Blake." Ruby's voice was tiny and cracked, as if she was scared to speak to her. Her silver eyes never left her battered shoes.

Weiss watched as a torrent of emotions battled inside the Faunus' mind. She cast a threatening gaze in Weiss' direction, but she wasn't scared. She stood her ground. The animal looked as if she was trying to piece a retort together in her mind, but words had failed her.

The cat Faunus quickly shut her mouth and turned the opposite direction, grabbing the fallen jacket on the ground before she had dragged the tailed Faunus away from them. She never spared another word, another glance. She simply left and that made Weiss happy.

She looked at her saviors, at Penny and Ruby and marveled at how their presence had driven those animals off. Mostly, at how compliant they were to the tiny voice of this small girl scratching her wrist behind Penny.

Weiss pushed her feelings aside, a rare occurrence indeed, but a Schnee knows how to be a gracious human being to those who had helped her. It was only fair. She dusted her shoulders off for good measure. There was no telling how rapidly these Faunus diseases spread. She would have to dispose of her outfit to be sure.

"Thank you, Penny." Halfway through the smile she had forced to make, Weiss saw the anger in Penny's bright green eyes and frowned instead.

"Nothing's changed with you." Penny's voice was even, but heavy against Weiss' chest, "All these years and you're still the same Weiss, the same Schnee."

"And you're as whiny as you always were." Weiss shot back, quite undignified, but it was the best she could come up with. Penny might have just saved her from a potential Faunus attack, but she was being very difficult at the moment.

Weiss glared at the other girl. After all these years, she had not only retained her whiny nature, but turned into a Faunus-loving idiot who thought she could talk to Weiss like some common girl. No, she was Weiss Schnee, heir to the Schnee Dust Company and she— she was a crybaby, the lonely girl of a broken family.

Penny squared her jaw, her green eyes still piercing through the coldness in Weiss' blue ones. Without a word, she inched forward and reached for Weiss' wrist. It wasn't at all painful, but it wasn't too gentle either. The first thing that popped into Weiss' head was that Penny was going to hurt her, but her actions were weak. Pathetic.

She never thought that Penny would drag her away from the building, would grab Ruby and drag her as well. Penny was surprisingly strong at that instant and Weiss' body still hadn't recovered fully from this morning's shock. She was a puppet and Penny was the puppeteer.

There was nothing she could do but watch as the ribbon on Penny's head bounce as they walked. She kept her pace so that she wouldn't trip on her own useless legs. Weiss tried to understand what exactly was happening, had tried to find an ally in her fellow captive, Ruby, but her silver eyes were as cold as metal and refused to look at her.

Weiss did nothing wrong. She was only defending herself, but Penny had made her seem the villain and now Ruby thought of her as so. It shouldn't matter what the small girl thought.

But it did.