Four Deadly Secrets

by OneirosTheWriter

An AU in a Remnant that expands and extrapolates off of the Remnant of the series, going beyond the glossy cover. A dangerous and experienced Team RWBY make their way in this more world. Character-driven, this story focuses on exploring the characters by extrapolating their traits and attributes from the show. Action, romance, drama and plenty of intrigue. No grim-derp or OOC!

6. Paint the Town White

A/N: Thanks to everyone for pushing me over 2,500 views! Much appreciated! I've had to split this chapter in two, since it was just growing too large (and its already a bit absurd). Action will be starting to come back into the story steadily from here on out. Thanks again to my proofreaders.

A crowd of students looking forward to spending a Friday night over the strait in Vale City filled the airship terminal, milling around the masonry as they waited their turn to board the 2:45 to Vale City. Some were looking to go home to family, others were just looking to party. Of the students making their way onto the airship, Velvet and Miltiades were a partnership that planned the former. Behind them in line, Blake and Yang were beginning their ascent. A short while later, the two pairs both found themselves in the rear gallery watching Beacon Academy disappear across the bay, brilliantly backlit by the afternoon sun.

It was Velvet who first noticed the other pair, her ears picking up on Yang's bombastic tones and awful puns. "Oh, hey Yang, Blake," she called out, getting the attention of the two girls, even as Miltiades grimaced alongside her.

"Oh, Velvet, you're here?" asked Yang, pleasantly surprised. "Hi Miltiades," she added. Blake and Miltiades echoed the pleasantries and a slightly awkward silence fell upon the students.

"What are you guys up to?" asked Velvet to break the ice.

Yang turned to lean back against the handrail, spreading out as she smiled smokily. "After that week? Going to go let our hair down and party."

"Anywhere in mind?" asked Miltiades.

"Was going to play it by ear," admitted Yang.

"Typical," snorted Blake. "Charge first, think later."

"If you want a tip, I hear the Old Bones on the corner of Fitzroy and Balmain Streets is the place to be at the moment," suggested Miltiades, who knew more than her fair share of the establishments in town.

The blonde brawler gave the girl a speculative look, trying to gauge if she was on the level or not. Deciding that she was being honest, she turned out a brilliant smile. "I appreciate that, I'll let you know how it goes." She gestured to the two MAVM girls. "What about you two? Party time?"

"I've spent more than enough time around that sort of place, so no," replied Miltiades with a shrug. "Somewhere quieter for me, thanks."

"We're going to my folks' cafe," supplied Velvet. "They own a place down in Peppermint Grove." She saw the alarmed looks on the faces of the other girls and threw her hands up in irritation. "Oh come on, I know the place has a reputation, but it's full of crap. People just say it's full of crime because there's a high faunus population, but they never stop to think it over, they just assume," the rabbit faunus protested passionately. She paused, knowing she was getting worked up over it and tried to settle down, saying "Sorry, I don't mean to preach, it just gets under my skin."

Velvet settled back into her seat and sighed, letting some of her frustration go. "You two should come visit it sometime," she said to them both after a moment, although she was looking squarely at Blake when she said it. She paused and then coughed into her hand and admitted, "Weiss may want to give it a miss though; Schnees aren't very popular down that way."

"Yeah, maybe we'll go visit some day," said Yang. "I've been most places in Vale, but not that pocket before."

"How did you guys think the meeting went," asked Blake, deciding to tread on treacherous ground.

Velvet shrugged, her rabbit ears bouncing gently as she did so. "Well, it started okay, and ended okay, but I could have done without Weiss, Melanie, and also you," she said as she sharply nudged Miltiades with her elbow, "Getting into that big hissy fit." Miltiades muttered sullenly back at her, but Velvet ignored her and carried on. "I would have liked to see a bit more friendliness, but Weiss and Melanie just ... don't want to get along."

"Did I really get you guys fired?" asked Yang abruptly. "From Junior's Club, that is."

"Yes, Yang, we really got fired when all that went down," sighed Miltia. "Black-listed, even."

The blonde was stunned. "He black-listed you when both he and his army of goons couldn't drop me? What a jerk." She stood up a bit straighter and folded her arms. "So that's why you took the Beacon entrance exam."

"Yeah, scraped through by the skin of our teeth," admitted Miltiades. "In fact, I think they fudged it a little because they thought we had potential and I guess so far we've delivered on it."

"That must be why Melanie is so aggressive," deduced Blake. "You don't really have anything to fall back on."

The girl in the red dress just nodded. It was a truth they had already come to terms with.

Ruby was pacing back and forth across the docks, waiting for Weiss just as she had promised. Trudging along in her battle dress and cape with Crescent Rose at her back, she looked more suited to facing down a Beowolf than an inner-city restaurant. But Weiss had neglected to specify casual clothes, so Ruby was sticking by her habits, thank you very much. Weiss was late, surprisingly, and the 3:15 airship to Vale was already starting to accepting passengers, though it still had twenty minutes to departure. So Ruby paced aimlessly, completely unable to sit still and wait patiently.

"Come on, Weiss, what's keeping you?" she muttered to herself, anxious to get on the airship already.

To her right was a low wall that leaned out over the seas below, in a drop not far enough to kill someone with a half-way decent aura, but certainly far enough to make sure no one was careless enough to fall over twice. The young scythe wielder's incessant pacing led her by the wall, but she paid it and the people sitting on it little mind until a crystalline blue broadsword crashed down in front of her. Purely on reflex Crescent Rose bloomed into a tail-spike first defensive stance, making the shift in a heartbeat.

"Oh my," came a young woman's voice in the most precise enunciation that she had ever heard. "Please settle down, Ruby, I just wished to get your attention."

Ruby's blinked in shock as she regarded the unfamiliar girl who somehow knew her name. She had to admit, running into strangers who seemed to know her was starting to get very annoying. But when she looked at her carefully, she realised the girl was not unfamiliar at all.

The new student was as genteel as anyone Ruby had ever seen, matching a voice so precisely spoken that even Ozpin and Goodwitch sounded working-class by comparison. Big blue-eyes sat in a gorgeous face that sported a playful smile and high cheeks. Long blonde hair was held back by an innocuous-seeming white head-band. Another combat skirt aficionado, her dress was powder blue, with a snow white cuirass across her chest, and white trim. A vivid red utility belt wound around her waist, marked with little red rabbits and white hearts.

She was sat upon the low wall, with her knees, and tall, lace-up black boots pressed together delicately. A two-handed sword resting across her lap, all crystalline blue with organic lines. The weapon seemed to cinch in at the middle of the five-foot blade, around a metal block along the centre-line. Being a complete weapon junkie, Ruby recognised the intent; a secondary hilt with which the weapon could split into a pair of swords instead of just the one long sword. There was a glassy cylinder that ran through the length of the weapon, as well as a variety of extraneous pieces and dust vials that made Ruby wonder if the sword had other functions as well.

"She's beautiful," gasped Ruby in awe.

"Oh, my! You're too k... oh, wait," said the girl in surprise that lasted until she realised that Ruby was actually looking at her weapon. She sighed with feeling and stood to her feet, raising her weapon so it rose point first in the air. "Her name is Cheshire Silver, if you're interested," she introduced in that perfectly enunciated voice.

"Variant-Wield Sword," catalogued Ruby. When she saw the girl in blue shake her head with a playful smile, she held up a hand to forestall the answer. "Wait, that centre-line, the dust in that v-formation... Oh, it's a pulse rifle transform," she breathed in awe. "Variant-Wield Pulse Sword," she declared proudly.

Those big blue eyes went wide as saucers. "Oh, you are good, Miss Rose, you are very good. My friend, Miltiades, said you were a prodigy with weapons and I can see she was not embellishing." She pulled her sword to one side and extended a hand to Ruby, who was having a hard time not openly preening with the praise. "Alice Sgathan, at your service."

"Yes, I know," replied Ruby just a little cockily. "Heiress of the Sgathan House Weaponworks Consortium. You're also Miltiades' girlfriend, aren't you?"

"Best not to say that around Miltia, she's a bit of a commitment-phobe, I think," noted Alice with her adventurous eyes sparkling. "I guess I'm not quite that exalted yet." She shrugged nonchalantly. "But I like to think I'm close. She has been distant the last few days, though."

"You know, you were a cult figure to many of us at Signal; we were all fans of your family's weapons," gushed Ruby as her cool continued to slip. Being the darling heir apparent of one of the most popular weaponry firms, the girl was a pop star to those in Signal Academy. With Ruby's weapon fascination bordering on the unhealthy, she was far from immune to the mania.

A deep, disgusted sigh announced Weiss's arrival to the airship terminal. "Unbelievable, Ruby," complained her partner as she walked up to the dark-haired girl's side, heels clicking methodically on the stone terminal. "You knew the heir to Sgathan House on sight, but not the Schnee Dust Company? I can't help but be offended."

Ruby looked over her shoulder and gave Weiss a look. "I only use dust as gun propellant, so the dust companies didn't fascinate me. But the weapon houses: Sgathan, Holden, Subiaco, those I knew. Subscribed to newsletters, went to expos, snuck into product launches, everything."

"Oh, Weiss, you're here, too," exclaimed Alice merrily. "Whatever did you do to my poor Miltia, Weiss? She was in such a state when I saw her last. Swearing like I didn't even know she could as I passed her. About you, of course, and your injudicious tongue," she finished, dropping into an imperious, accusing tone, as if she were a judge at court.

"What can I say, I guess things got a little heated and we traded blows," replied Weiss with a shrug, betraying none of the guilt over the incident that she felt within. "Both myself and the Malachites trod onto ground we now wish we hadn't, and so we both showed our claws. Don't expect me to apologise simply because they regret it more."

"You outed Miltia to the whole group," said Ruby pointedly, her anger of that incident returning swiftly at the reminder.

"I see," said Alice, much more coldly as she looked at her peer. "I didn't tell you about us so you could try and use it against her, you know."

Ruby blinked her bright, silver eyes in surprise as she digested that comment. When Melanie had laid the accusation that Weiss had found out that due to gossiping, catty friends, she hadn't expected that Miltia's own maybe-girlfriend had been the one to actually give up the secret.

"I didn't...," began Weiss before she trailed off in a sigh. She looked between the other two girls. "Come on, that wasn't how it happened. And anyway, no one there has a problem with it." Something dark passed behind Weiss' eyes as she returned Alice's look. "Besides, if I was aiming to be cruel, I wouldn't have let slip that she was dating a girl, I'd have let slip that she was dating a society girl. Melanie is going to go ballistic when she realises what you are; you know how she hates girls like us."

"I am optimistic that by the time Melanie figures it out, she'll be too attached to me to try to get Miltiades to break up with me," said Alice nonchalantly. "I have faith in my charms."

Weiss shrugged. "Come on, Ruby, boarding closes in ten minutes."

"Do you mind going on ahead for a moment?" asked Alice. "I really wanted to see if I could take a look at this scythe. Professional interest, you see. We can't really swing it around inside the ship."

Weiss glanced at Ruby, who nodded back. "Fine, just make sure you get on the ship. I'll be in the forward gallery." The young fencer was perfectly aware she was about to become a topic of discussion, but by the same token, there wasn't really any point objecting. If she stopped them now, Alice or Ruby would inevitably find another opportunity to talk, and it would probably happen on a day where she wouldn't have an entire evening to clear up any confusion that arose. So with a long suffering sigh she walked off and waited to see what she would eventually need to repay Alice for.

"You wanted to see Crescent Rose?" asked Ruby.

"That's its name, then? Yes, please," replied Alice. "It's a fascinating looking weapon. You said you were Signal alumni?"

"Alumni?" said Ruby as she held out her sweetheart for inspection.

"Graduate," explained Alice absently as she ran her fingers along the outer chassis and joints. "Your work with the articulation is nothing short of marvellous. All Signal students forge their own, if I recall, so this would be your handiwork?"

"That's the tradition," confirmed Ruby. "I went a little overboard with the design, I'll admit, but it's been worth it. I hand-made the chassis, shaft, blade-mounts, lugs and fixings, plating, spike and a few other components. The blades I get made for me in Vale. I used to forge my own blades as well, but when I started to be able to handle a longer shaft, greater calibres and stronger battle-loads of dust in my shells, the blades would fracture far too easily. I just didn't have the facilities for something that could handle hitting metal at the speed of sound. So I started getting them made for me. I stopped trying to make my own pins and locks after a couple weeks," she admitted with a laugh. "There's just no way to make a pin strong enough without a laboratory."

"I would assume you didn't make the motors, either," checked Alice, as even Signal Academy wasn't that much of a stickler for weapons.

"Not individually," agreed Ruby, "Though I make a point of buying things as low-level as I can, and then assembling it all myself. So the wiring is mine, and the dust conversion generator and all the rest."

The professional continued to expertly inspect the weapon, analysing angles, mechanisms, junctions, getting Ruby to shift the weapon between its forms and natures. With every passing beginner's mistake averted, innovation recognised and potential inferred, Alice's eyes grew wider and wider, even as her voice became quiet with amazement.

"This is astounding work, Miss Ruby, I'm speechless," said Alice in hushed, awe-struck tones. "I've never seen a weapon like this. And I'm good friends with the man who handles scythes at the company. He's a full-time professional, and this would, in all honesty, be beyond him. None of our scythes are its equal. In fact, I think if I were to show this to him, he would probably resign."

"I don't even know what to say," admitted Ruby as she beamed, almost beside herself with pride that someone like Alice had given her work so glowing a review. It seemed too good to be true and she had to give the older girl a suspicious look. "You're teasing me, aren't you?"

Alice looked up and turned concerned and questioning eyes on Ruby. "A more efficient man-killer I have never seen, and I have spent every day of my life in the company of killing instruments. This could cut through humans like butter, and I daresay I have yet to see a Grimm that could withstand its violence." She looked back at the weapon as her voice dropped to a low mutter while she said, "I wonder what it feels like to be the Grim Reaper, or to be a chooser of the slain?" Shaking her head, she looked back at Ruby to ask, "May I inquire who advised you when you were making it?"

"My Uncle Qrow, my scythe teacher," replied Ruby, her pride quickly withering into an uncomfortable self-judgement. She knew she had somewhat overdone it on the weapon, but was it really as bad as that? If you wanted to protect someone you needed a tool of the utmost precision, and for all of its ungainly appearance, she had that in Crescent Rose. By this stage she could reliably drive the scythe's beak into an area the size of a Lien card at full steam. And what it couldn't cut, probably couldn't be pierced without a plasma torch and a lot of patience.

"Ohhh," murmured Alice in a long, drawn out sound. "I know him. That explains much. You fight in his style, then?"

"Yeah, well, I base it on Uncle's, but I go my own way on a few things," explained Ruby, who considered her combat style to be something of a private topic, so tied up in it was she.

"Of course. It's a very dangerous style, but so powerful when you master it." Alice contemplated her words for a while, an anxious silence settling. "You know, people tell me that the eyes are the window to the souls, but I've never been good with eyes," confessed Alice. "But show me a person's weapons, and I can tell you what makes that person tick." She ran her hands slowly down the barrel of Crescent Rose to the rifle action. "I could tell you what I see, if you like."

"Alice... You know, I don't think I want to know," answered Ruby honestly, which got a sly, knowing look from the older student.

"Ha! I don't think I need to tell you, do I? It's plain to see that you've been in battle's crucible," said Alice in a haunting voice. She added in a voice low and slow, "You already know who you are when everything is stripped away; all pretense, all civility, all restraint." She shook her head. "My dear Miltiades claims to know who you really are, but I wonder if she truly understands your essence. If you'd like some advice, don't be afraid to go to Weiss if you ever need to talk to someone about it. She has many secrets of her own, so I am sure she will be sympathetic to you, no matter what you're hiding. What with those faunus bastards, and rival dust companies, Miss Schnee knows the dance more than most."

Alice stopped herself and put a hand over her mouth. "Oh, sorry, I shouldn't say that. 'Faunus bastards', I mean, I shouldn't say that. Force of habit. Don't tell Miltia's partner, will you? Velvet's such a sweetheart, after all, I would never want to hurt her feelings. But the White Fang and others have been nibbling at us lately and it does become so hard to keep your sense of fairness when you are in the dance yourself."

"What do you mean by the dance?" muttered Ruby.

"Signal students would know it as 'the Grind', if I remember correctly," translated the swordswoman. "Do you know the term?"

"Yes," was all Ruby said, face neutral.

"Same concept," said Alice. "When a person is in the dance, they are testing themselves in battle. Us society girls just like to be a touch more flowery in our mannerisms. Our stakes can be surprisingly high, however. Corporate espionage, faunus counter-terrorism, feuds, vendettas, oh so many duels. Of course, it is still considered very poor form to kill a peer!"

Well, that was a term Ruby knew. The Grind was a catch-all term at Signal Academy for all the manifold ways in which a student warrior could put his or her developing skills to use, be it unsanctioned tournament fighting, picking street brawls, foolhardy crime fighting, gang affiliated battle, or any other way a student could frequently come to grips with another in battle, be it fair or foul.

School administrators at Signal, and similarly at Beacon, did not approve of it, but knew well enough that people who were learning abilities and powers would inevitably want to put them into practice in some fashion, and that auras and youthful hesitation provided a strong safety net to premature misadventure. As a result, a blind eye was largely turned to the practice as long as it wasn't done in school uniform. Avoiding this potential issue was a large part of Beacon's insistence that students on leave passes not wear their class uniforms.

"Can I ask you something, Alice?" said Ruby anxiously.

"Yes, Miss Ruby?" she responded in that bell-like voice.

"You were in the same circles as Weiss?" dark-haired girl.

"Well, yes, though I was in less rarefied air; the Schnees are ludicrously wealthy, we Sgathans are merely absurdly wealthy," replied Alice with a self-effacing smile. "But I knew her all the same. Do you have a question about Weiss?" she asked gently. When Ruby nodded, she added, "Something you're afraid to ask her yourself?"

"What's a 'society girl special'?" asked the concerned team leader, hoping it was something innocent, dreading that it wasn't.

Alice's brows shot up as she glanced back at Ruby. "Why do you ask? Did Weiss offer it to you?" she asked in a voice part-concerned and part-bemused. "It's worth trying out, but I'd suggest giving it a wide berth after that. It's quite the expensive habit." She glanced over towards Crescent Rose and amended, "Well, maybe not as pricey as that scythe of yours, but still not for the faint-hearted."

"No, Weiss didn't mention it." Ruby shrugged and forced herself to continue. "Melanie said she should get Weiss to promise to stay away from it while our teams are working together."

Alice nearly laughed herself silly as they passed into the hull of the airship. "She really asked that in front of Weiss' team? And the Mistral tournament girl?" she queried, trying to rein in her laughter. "Naughty, Melanie, very naughty. Well would she have known how much that would have gotten under Weiss' skin."

"Whaddya mean?" asked Ruby with a frown.

"Because, my little belle, she was asking Weiss to refrain from indulging in champagne and cocaine," answered the older girl with a winsome grin.

"Wh-wh-what?" stammered Ruby, coming to a halt. "Why would she...?"

"Exactly!" exclaimed Alice in terrible mirth. "Even if she had never touched them, it would be a terrible sort of, 'have you stopped beating your wife yet,' question. As it is, the moment ... I think her name is Nikoh?"

"You mean Pyrrha Nikos?" supplied Ruby reflexively and woodenly.

"Thank you, Miss Ruby," replied Alice with a dignified nod. "The moment that Pyrrha finds out the special is the same thing as what our counterparts in Mistral call the sparkles, she is going to rain down self-righteous misery on Weiss. To be honest, I suspect it will be a race to be the first to clue her in while keeping what the courtiers call 'plausible deniability'. If I may ask, though, do you know what made good Miss Malachite ask that in front of everyone? Even by that young lady's lofty standards, it's an aggressive move."

Ruby thought back to the meeting and the undertaking Weiss had asked of Miltia. Then she glanced at Cheshire Silver as it hung from Alice's back. 'Yeah, no, I don't think so,' she thought to herself. "It was because of outing Miltiades I believe," she said as innocently as she could. "She made a few comments and then s'more comments and everyone went two plus two equals Miltia likes girls, but that's totally okay. I think she'd look cute with a girl, don't you?" A moment later her mind caught up with her mouth and she realised that her last comment might be taken strangely by Alice, given she was that other girl.

"Of course! Well, I think we look cute together, anyway," agreed Alice, with a playful wink thrown in.

Feeling that she had safely deflected Alice's question without having to tell her about the 'keep your distance' undertaking, Ruby took the moment to try and get her own questions answered. "Uh, wait, sorry, can we please go back to the special thingie," asked Ruby, almost twitching with agitation. She knew she needed answers to this question that she could be sure of before she talked to Weiss about it. "C'mon, Alice, no silliness, just tell me straight, okay?"

"The society girl special, or just the special, is a night out getting absolutely euphoric with the help of a Vale trust fund girl's best friends," answered Alice as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Champagne and cocaine, and be sure to read between the lines whenever one of us starts discussing anything that rhymes with them. Really, it's what we do best, apart from gossip, backstab, seduce and carry on the dance. I suppose we are a boring set, in the end, but it helps us stay thin."

"No way," snapped Ruby in a flat, frustrated voice, silver-eyes flared wide. "That's absurd, Weiss would never...," she tried to say before descending into spluttering protest. "No, I've never seen any sign of use from Weiss and I've known her since the start of school term! If she was into that, I would have seen something by now."

"Never say never, mademoiselle," cut off Alice, trying to hide how much she enjoyed what she was doing to Ruby's impression of Weiss with her revelations, and generally failing in the attempt. "But not lately, I'll grant you. There was a delicious scandal during a festival in Mistral a few months before the start of school term that made her boring." She stopped and turned around again with a faux surprised expression. "Oh, sorry, did I say boring? Not boring, I meant clean. Made her go 'clean'. Anywho, be careful if you ask her about it, the last girl who did ended up in a duel and left the ball in the care of medical professionals."

"No way, that doesn't...," began Ruby, before trailing off despairingly. "Alice, are you lying to me to cause trouble with Weiss?" she asked pleadingly.

"Oh, Ruby," cooed Alice as she opened the door to the front gallery. She looked inside and they saw Weiss standing at the very front, looking out over the sea, alone and brilliant, like a lighthouse against a night sky. "After hearing that Weiss embarrassed poor Miltia like that, I would love nothing more than to drop her in it and share every last scandal and secret that I know with you, just to pay her back. But I won't make any trouble today, and neither will I lie."

"Why?"

Alice leaned over and whispered from behind her hand. "Because, like every other girl in the scene, I am absolutely terrified of Weiss Schnee. You would have to ply me with copious quantities of champagne if you wanted those sorts of answers." A coy look slipped over her face. "I wouldn't mind a pretty thing like you treating me, really, but fair warning, Miss Rose, I am a very pricey drunk." She began to step back from the black-clad girl. Her hand reached up for a silver chain that hung around her neck before disappearing down the front of her dress, and pulled on it to bring free a silver heart pendant that glittered in the harsh artificial light. "Don't worry about the other bit, though, I keep my own supply close."

"You!?" gasped Ruby in disbelief. "But you..."

"Look like such a goody-two-shoes?" asked Alice with a teasing wink. "Of course I do; in fact, we all do, your friend Weiss no less than the rest of us. Looking like trouble is for gangsters and thugs, not girls like us. Do you think we would be able to get away with half as much as we do if we didn't look like saints instead of sinners?" She laughed in a voice that sparkled magically in Ruby's ears. "Why do you look surprised? You're no different, Ruby. Do you think you would have gotten so much benefit of the doubt about your intentions when you struck down Miltiades if you looked like, say, Cardin?"

With that she turned and left. Ruby washed a hand slowly over her face, shaking her head. It had been a troubling conversation. One in which the girl deeply hoped Alice had lied throughout. She walked up to Weiss and joined her at the railing. But when she went to speak, Weiss held up a hand and shook her head.

"She said things that you're upset about, didn't she?" speculated Weiss.

"I'm not upset," said Ruby firmly. "You're my friend. I'm just confused, and I want to hear what you have to say."

"Look, I don't know what Alice said," admitted Weiss without looking directly at her partner. "She may have lied, she may have spilled something embarrassing. Maybe she even said something that makes you think less of me." Now she did turn to face Ruby, and the younger girl could tell that Weiss was bottling herself up tightly.

"Like I said, Weiss, you're my friend and nothing Alice could say would make me think less of you," stated Ruby with a heart-felt conviction, all shimmering silver eyes and earnestness. "Maybe a little concerned about you, and I'd like to make sure you're okay, but I'm not going to think less of you!"

Weiss couldn't help herself, and she giggled, turning around to face Ruby fully. "Well, now you know how I feel when I worry about how you get your hands on your Lien. I'm not looking to judge you, just keep you safe." She dropped into a mutter to add, "From yourself, if need be."

"I guess I see your point," admitted Ruby, not catching the final comment.

"Just one thing, Ruby," said Weiss. "Don't ask me your question on the airship. Think it over, be sure of what you want to ask, and that it's something you want to know the answer to. Then ask me when we get dinner."

Ruby was silent, but then nodded. "Okay, Weiss."

---

The Southern Line of the Vale City Monorail ran silent and smooth as it crossed through the inner city blocks before kicking out to head down south. The carriage was part of a pair of three-car-sets, filled with many people heading back out to the suburbs, the first wave of workers getting off early, as well as various students coming home after the end of classes. Many boys and girls in the predominantly red and grey Signal Academy uniforms were also heading home for the weekend.

Many of the humans had already gotten off the train in some of the more affluent suburbs. With poorer, more dormitory suburbs remaining on the line, tired-looking faunus made up the majority of the patronage. Miltiades had to admit that she was starting to feel a little edgy, even though Velvet seemed completely at ease among the crowd.

A pre-recorded voice chimed in over the PA system, "Now arriving at ... Claremont Station. Next stop ... Peppermint Grove."

"That's our stop up next," said Velvet, breaking a comfortable silence that had fallen.

Miltiades looked up from the game she had been playing on her scroll. "So what sort of place is this?"

"It's a nice neighbourhood, there's actually very little crime. The faunus here have a big sense of community and don't put up with much. It's kind of a commercial district, really, one of the few outside the city centre." She pointed out the window as the monorail left Claremont Station behind. "See, a few taller buildings in the cluster over there? That's the centre of town in the Grove."

"Oh yeah, I see it," said Miltia.

"My family's café is on the near side of those buildings, and we live above the café," explained Velvet.

"So it's just you and your parents?" asked the girl in red.

"Yeah, my folks never had time for more kids, I guess, so I'm an only child," answered Velvet.

Five minutes later, the two girls were walking down the steps of the station and out onto the streets. Despite being reasonably well-kept, it was obvious to Miltiades that the area was quite poor. The buildings were more cramped and more cheaply made than the ones she was used to. The retailers on the main street mostly sold no-name or imitation clothes and goods. The dust store was small and up-armoured like it was the royal vault. Weapon shops were unusually common. So were very discrete facades that Miltia strongly suspected were adult entertainment venues, rather more than she would have expected.

She didn't try to raise the point with Velvet, but she could tell that even if there was a strong community spirit, the place was struggling. There were humans as well, but no wealthier looking than their faunus neighbours. Although Miltiades had never experienced poverty first-hand, she had operated in enough poor, crime-ridden areas to know the signs.

They had to wait to walk past a bar when a rousing fight spilled out from the door, two young men exchanging rib-shaking blows as they screamed about some slight. Much to Miltiades' amusement Velvet stepped protectively across her partner when the fight got near. Wishbearer stayed collapsed, but it was in Velvet's hand as one man knocked the other to the ground and roared in triumph. Miserable in defeat, the young man on the ground groaned and began to crawl back to his knees. The victor, a sheep-faunus with curling ram horns and bright eyes, thumped his chest and made a circuit before the onlookers, stopping as he came to Velvet, grinning goofily when he saw her flipping the bird at him.

"Hey hey, Velvet, back in town, you're looking good," he said lustily with a broad grin. "Fancy a drink with the king of the hill? I'd love to find out what the boys at Beacon have been teaching you."

"Go away, you know I think you're an asshole," snapped Velvet. "And I'm here with my friend, anyway, to go see my folks."

"Your friend, hey?" said the young man, moving closer to Miltiades, whose thumbs were sitting anxiously on the activation studs of her claws. "Well, hey babe."

"Easy there, lover boy," muttered Velvet, looking to avoid publicly embarrassing him and possibly sparking a fight. "She's a Beacon student, too. You can punch out the Ballard's boy, sure, but either of us would take you apart if you made us angry."

"Tch, fine," said the young man, rolling his eyes and turning to leave. "Say hi to your folks for me."

"Yeah, yeah, you too," replied Velvet with a dismissive wave as they walked by. "Jackass," she muttered, earning an arms spread "who, me?" gesture from the young man.

They walked on past the bar. Miltiades felt miserable as they went, the hair sticking up on the back of her neck as she felt like every pair of eyes on the street were focused squarely on her. The timidity she worked so hard to keep in check was rearing its head big time, and she walked closely in Velvet's wake. It embarrassed her to be behaving so timidly, and she suspected it was also a particularly bad idea with the current crowd, but they got through safely.

They walked by an empty lot that exposed the brick sides of a three-story building next door. Miltiades was shocked to hear a guttural snarl escape her friend, and she looked up to see what had attracted her ire. On the side of the building was an enormous piece of graffiti, centred by a great wolf's head in white over a crossed sword and rifle. Above was written 'ONWARD WHITE FANG' in great bold letters, and underneath 'PEPPERMINT MILITIA'. On the right-hand side of the wall was a painting of a young cat-faunus girl waving a red flag bearing the modern wolf's head and three slashes emblem of the White Fang.

"When the fuck did that go up?" swore Velvet softly. She turned and saw Miltiades looking at her questionably. "This is not White Fang territory," she reassured fiercely. "I mean, even as far as the more militant faunus groups go, the locally dominant group is the Jaws of Menagerie, not the White Fang; the mood isn't nearly that extreme. You're perfectly safe here."

"It's okay, I trust you," said Miltiades. But Velvet kept looking up at that mural in alarm until it was out of sight. But now that Miltiades was looking for graffiti, she saw much more of it, a veritable war of ideas being carried out, small pieces of work scattered everywhere advocating peace, advocating war, advocating everything in-between, often with pieces on the same wall in a cut and thrust of answering slogans.

Finally they came upon a small unassuming shop front with a hanging sign bearing the name 'Scarletina's Café'. A poster was in one of the windows with the phrase "Peace Begets Peace", which reassured Miltiades.

"This is it," said Velvet, "Come on in."

Inside was a well-lit café that was half-full, with a dozen faunus and a pair of humans scattered across various tables. A pretty middle-aged woman with red hair and russet rabbit ears was making coffees studiously at an espresso machine, while a girl with fuzzy fox ears who looked to be around Ruby's age bustled to and fro, waiting tables. Miltiades' eyes went wide as the waitress turned around and a big bushy foxtail whipped adorably back and forth below the hem of her skirt.

Velvet noticed and said in a quiet, amused drawl, "Don't bother chasing that one; boy-crazy to a fault." Miltiades just rolled her eyes at her partner.

"Coffee's up," called out the woman behind the counter, setting down a pair of cups on saucers, before looking up and scanning the room. "Ahh! Velvet!" she cried out, immediately starting to scurry out from behind the counter. "Honey, you didn't tell me you were coming home this weekend!"

"Surprise, Mom," said Velvet cheekily as she advanced into a bone crunching hug from her mother. Miltiades could see that Velvet had taken after her mother closely, although the colour on their rabbit ears was different.

"Oh, and you've brought one of your school friends along as well?" said the woman as she spotted Miltiades hanging back a little. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Yes, yes, mother, I'm getting to that," said Velvet gently, gesturing her teammate close. "Come on, Miltia, don't tell me one pub punch up and one mural have made you go into your shell," she said in exasperation as she noticed her friend's distance.

Miltiades blushed red and quickly moved next to her comrade, but Velvet's mother grimaced. "Ah, you've seen the mural then?"

"Kinda hard to miss," scoffed Velvet. "What with being three stories and all." She turned side-on between the other two. "Mom, this is Miltiades Malachite, she's my partner at Beacon. Miltia, this is my Mom, Saffron."

"Lovely to meet you, dear," greeted Velvet's mother. "Feel free to call me Saffron. Welcome to my café. It's so good to see one of Velvet's friends, we didn't know if she was ever going to bring anyone back here," she added with a stern glare at her daughter.

"It's a great looking place," said Miltiades earnestly.

"Thanks, that's sweet of you, dear. Miltia, was it?" checked Saffron.

"Miltiades, but yes, Miltia for short," confirmed the student.

"Oh yes, I remember, one of the twins," said Saffron. "Velvet told me about you. Well, take a seat, you two, I'll bring you some coffee and sweets. Are you staying for dinner? I can get the guest room ready to go if you mean to stay in Vale."

"Yeah, I think we'll be doing that," said Velvet after exchanging a glance with Miltia.

Miltiades went to a table discretely in the corner of the room and sat down facing the room, crossing her legs smoothly as she went. Velvet took a seat along the wall to her side so they could both look over the room. "In hindsight," muttered Miltia to her friend, "A room full of faunus may be a problem for an honest conversation."

"Everyone has their own conversation to follow here," dismissed Velvet. "And there's a certain decorum about not paying attention to other people's conversations among faunus, otherwise we'd never get anything done."

"Among faunus," repeated Miltiades. "So that clearly doesn't get extended to me and Ruby talking."

"You and Ruby are becoming very much our team's business," scoffed Velvet.

"I'll still be a little more comfortable answering questions about that upstairs where I know we aren't being overheard," said Miltiades as quietly as she could.

"Fine, after dinner then," shrugged Velvet. "But for the time being. I've noticed you've been tired in class a lot. Would you like to talk about that?"

"I'm not getting enough sleep," said Miltia with a helpless shrug.

"You're going to bed at the right time, and not waking up too early," noted Velvet. "Are you not sleeping through?"

Miltiades sat there in silence, looking down with haunted eyes. "You know what's odd? It's not necessarily Ruby in the nightmares. But so far it's always that scythe."

"So you are having nightmares then. How often?" asked Velvet, a look of pure sympathy on her face.

"I've had one every night since the incident, so four nights so far," admitted Miltia. "Maybe I'll catch a break tonight, being away from Beacon." The girl looked over at Velvet. "I've never been wounded that bad. I've been hurt, her sister even gave me a date with the ER, but I've never been ... nailed to the ground like that. Have you?"

"No. Well, I had a few injuries, you know, but nothing as gruesome as that," answered Velvet. "What are your nightmares like?"

Miltiades squirmed awkwardly in her seat, not enjoying revisiting the dreams. "Like I'm being fed on. Like Crescent Rose is a big ... parasite. Sinew instead of steel, teeth instead of blade, like it's alive and unholy." She swallowed and shook her head. "And it's draining me."

"And where is Ruby in all of this?" asked Velvet, leaning over the table.

The Malachite girl grimaced. "The first three times she didn't appear. Last night she did, with Crescent Rose ... and it didn't look alive this time. But they were both covered in blood. And then she asked me how I got away, but I woke up before I could answer."

"You make it sound like you're scared of the scythe more than the person who wields it," suggested Velvet in a thoughtful tone as she tried to decipher what her friend was telling her.

"That sounds so silly, being afraid of an inanimate weapon, right?" answered Miltiades. She went to say more, but fell silent and looked up as the adorable waitress came over, big bushy, russet tail sweeping back and forth in her wake.

The fox girl approached the table with a winsome smile and three coffees, which she placed before them, setting the third coffee before the empty seat opposite the two students. When she was done the waitress put her hands on the back of the chair and looked at them with great wide eyes.

"So you're both from Beacon!?" she asked breathlessly. "Ohh, what's it like there?!"

"Don't you start, don't you even start!" warned Velvet, knowing the girl wanted to see if they could set her up with a date. The waitress groaned and walked away morosely, but was immediately replaced by Saffron, who sat down opposite them. "We were trying to have a conversation, mom," she said wryly.

"I know, but you don't come home nearly enough, and I wanted to talk," said Saffron. "And I wanted to see what your partner was like, since you'll probably hide her away again after this."

Velvet groaned theatrically. "Mother..."

---

If Weiss was frank with herself, she had been envisioning Ruby's weaponsmith as some skulking, lurid figure, holed up in a hidden forge the finding of which required a treasure map, a secret handshake and maybe a crystal key with a lock that was only visible at dusk. She was pleasantly surprised, however, when Ruby led her into an office building in the city centre, and they took the elevator several floors up.

"So who is this Ben guy?" asked Weiss.

"He's just my account manager," explained Ruby as she bounced on her heels, watching the numbers slowly ascend on the elevator's display. "This is the front office and sales studio for Subiaco Metallurgy."

"You have an account manager?" echoed Weiss with a giggle. "You high-flyer!"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Weiss. When you buy fifty-thousand Lien blade sets, you get an account manager." A freaked out expression crossed her face. "Uh, don't tell Alice I get my stuff through a competitor. Qrow swore by these guys when he needed swanky stuff made. In fact, try to keep this whole thing quiet, okay?"

Weiss leaned around to look Ruby in the eyes. "Ah, sneaky, don't want anyone to figure out your advantage, I see."

"No, I just don't want people to think I'm trying to be a show-off," said Ruby quietly. "I want to help people, not be a celebrity."

"Oh, come on," dismissed Weiss. "You have a gift, and you have standards in your weapons. If that's showing off, then it's a pity more people aren't like that."

The elevator opened up onto a lobby, with a set of glass doors ahead bearing an oval and cross-hatch shaped emblem. Ruby led her partner onward, up to a reception desk, where they were swiftly put through to a small waiting room, and then ushered into an office.

"Well," began Weiss slyly as they waited. "If you don't want me telling people we were buying your weapon accessories, you'll need to be able to show what we were heading into the city for."

"You want to go back to your boutique, don't you?" sighed Ruby.

"You have two outfits; we haven't begun to fix you up from several years of depressing neglect yet," said Weiss in a slightly haughty tone.

"Just remember I'm a trainee huntress first and foremost," cautioned Ruby, before adding under her breath, "With normal knees."

A middle aged man in a suit entered the office, carrying a pair of slim cases. "Ah, my favourite slightly terrifying student client," he greeted. "Ruby Rose, how are you?"

"Tired, it's been a long week," complained Ruby.

"Par for the course at Beacon, I'm told," replied the salesman. "Well, I'll make this quick for you then." He produced two sheets of paper from a folder on his desk. "This is the final specification sheet for the blade set you ordered on credit, as you'll see, all measurements are to our usual exacting standards. Our test machine whacked this into Deathstalker armour plates at ludicrous speeds and we think you'll find it will perform admirably for you. You already have the paperwork for the other case, which was already paid for and good to pick up."

Weiss looked askance at Ruby over the second case, but the girl just waved the question away and the heiress didn't see a need to dig deeper.

"Here is the invoice for the balance," said the salesman, placing the sheet of paper on the desk before them. "Forty thousand Lien, inclusive of all applicable surcharges and taxes as required in the Kingdom of Vale."

Ruby put a hand on Weiss' wrist. "It is a lot of Lien," she said so only her partner could hear. "Are you sure about this? I can find ways to scrape the money together. Beacon lets students claim Grimm bounties."

The ivory-haired girl turned to the salesman and asked, "How long does it take to forge a replacement blade for Ruby's weapon?"

"Two months," answered the salesman matter-of-factly.

Weiss turned back to Ruby and smiled. "Ruby, it's worth that much Lien to me just to make sure I'm not without Crescent Rose's backup for two months. For my partner? Of course I'm sure." She fished out a Lien card from a carefully concealed pocket on her dress and handed it over. The look that Ruby gave her was everything she had hoped for, an adorable mixture of thrilled, starry-eyed and appreciative, as well as a little embarrassed. "Consider it your birthday and Christmas present."

"Thank you, Weiss, I'll make sure its not wasted," she said eagerly.

---

"Last of the big spenders," quipped Melanie as Pyrrha placed a plate of curry on the table across from her. They were in a self-serve cafe that opened onto the main courtyard at Beacon. "You even got me a drink to go with it."

"Sorry," apologised Pyrrha reflexively. "But, you know, you won't find better food on campus. You'll find more expensive food, sure, but not better."

"I'm just teasing," said Melanie with a broad grin. "I appreciate the gesture, the cafeteria food grates after a while." She stabbed a curry-soaked chunk of meat and popped it into her mouth. "Mmm, that's good, that's really good," she said after taking a moment to savour it. "Okay, you've won me over, what did you want to talk about?"

Pyrrha rolled her eyes. "I'm thrilled my bribe was to your liking," she said dryly. "So you and Weiss seemed to get a bit off your chests in the meeting."

"Oh, yeah, I guess so," said Melanie non-committally. She grimaced. "You should have heard Velvet give it to me after that meeting, she just stood there and tore strips off me. Called me pig-headed, stubborn, all the rest. Quite an experience, actually." She looked up and giggled. "Her ears actually tilted back flat. I didn't know a rabbit faunus could do that."

"Were you happy with your part in the meeting?" asked Pyrrha. "You kind of started things going downhill."

Melanie frowned as she chewed on another piece of curried beef. "Look, I know that I asked Ruby to promise it was an accident, but we're talking about an incident with my sister, I have a right to be careful, okay?"

"Don't you think riling up both sides is risky?" pointed out Pyrrha. "You went after Weiss' partner, so Weiss replied in kind. You may think it was just Weiss being catty, but really, it was Weiss being protective of her younger teammate. And, sorry, but I don't think either Miltiades or Ruby really appreciate it from either of you!"

"Look, when her sister came through the club I was working at, she killed at least one person, and did a lot of harm besides. Me and Miltia weren't the only ones to go to the ER after that. When I'm worried about me and my sister's safety here, I've got very good reasons!"

"One of the bouncers, or one of the henchmen?" asked Pyrrha, who had done her own bit of investigating.

Melanie pressed her lips thinly, unhappy at the question. "Henchmen, if you must make the distinction. Does that mean he had it coming?"

Pyrrha fixed Melanie with a sharp look. "You know I competed in each of the Mistral Tournaments?" Melanie nodded, not sure where the other girl was going with this. "Did you hear about what happened in my second year of the tournament?"

"No, I haven't," answered Melanie, uncertainly.

"In my second year, I had improved hugely over my first year, and I was strong in my first year," explained Pyrrha. "Sorry, I know that sounds like boasting, but, well, you don't get into Beacon without being strong." Melanie gestured for her to continue as she chewed on her dinner. "The match referee in my opening rounds didn't realise how much I had improved. So when he was gauging when to declare a fight over, he didn't leave enough of a margin for my heavy blows."

"Oh!" said Melanie, a sympathetic look on her face. "Oh no, Pyrrha…"

"So when I created an opening and absolutely let my second opponent have it," said Pyrrha, continuing her story. "I broke his aura unexpectedly, and opened his chest up. A shattered piece of rib pierced his heart and no one could stop the bleeding. It happened that quickly, and I never meant for it to happen. I didn't even know until the tournament was over, because they ushered me away the moment the fight was over, even as the medics were rushing out."

She squared Melanie up with a regretful look. "Now, I was devastated when that happened. It was supposed to be a friendly match. No one should go to a junior tournament and then not come home. But these things are out of our control sometimes. When you take up arms, and express your aura, you know the risks. Any one of us can die here, be it fighting Grimm or even on the practice floor."

"Heh," muttered Melanie. She thought over all of the things Aurea had told her about Yang, and considered resisting Pyrrha's suggestions. But in the end, it didn't seem worth the fight. "Okay, you've made your point."

They ate in silence for a while as Melanie mulled over Pyrrha's admission.

---

Seated in a table at the back of the crowded public house, Blake watched the vibrant pandemonium unfolding around her. A wide variety of people had gathered under the sign of The Old Bones to celebrate the end of the working week. Suits and ties mingled with casual wear, cocktail dresses and even combat skirts, and more besides. A live band jammed on a stage at the far end of the bar attracting plenty of people to dance the dust of the week off their heels.

Yang picked her way back through the crowd with a pint of lager in one hand, and gin and tonic in the other. It was her third successful foray to the bar since they had arrived, putting to bed any doubts Blake had held over her ability to get service.

The brawler deposited the glasses with a flourish. Blake noticed a piece of damp paper stuck to the side of the pint glass. When she pulled it off and read it, she laughed. "Yang, you have an admirer," she joked, handing her the paper, which contained the barman's number.

"Oh, really?" she asked, before she noticed what was on the paper. "Pfft, he's ambitious."

"Not hearing wedding bells, then?" asked Blake with a wry smile.

Yang rested an elbow up on the table and smiled back at Blake. "Nope. Not getting the sort of ideas I'd read in that book collection you think we don't know about, either."

Blake nearly spat her drank out, but then turned to give Yang a dark look with narrowed eyes. "You have not been going through my romance books behind my back."

"Nah, just saw the covers and blurbs," teased Yang. "Wouldn't mind having a read though, I enjoy a raunchy tale as much as the next girl. At least, the next girl who is hamstrung by being stuck in a dormitory with her baby sister."

"Oh you poor thing you," teased Blake in turn, rolling her eyes.

"I did notice one thing though," said Yang hesitantly. She had promised herself she wouldn't bring this up, but as she was starting on her third pint, liquid courage was beginning to distort her inhibitions. "Are you … uhh."

"Just spit it out, Yang," ordered Blake.

"Do you have a thing for faunus?" asked Yang quizzically. "There's like a fucking load of faunus characters in your books, I kind of wondered if you're hunting those books specifically. I know there are some people for whom it's kind of a fetish."

Blake choked on her gin, starting a tremendous coughing fit as she put her glass down.

"Ahh, Blake, don't die!" panicked Yang as she thumped her partner on the back.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," muttered the former White Fang member as she continued to cough. "Sorry, no, I just … happen to like that particular author and they write a lot of stuff with at least one faunus character." That Blake also found it important to have a character she could identify with went carefully unsaid. "If you wanted to borrow one, I could give you a loan, as long as you promise to be careful with it," offered Blake.

"Hmm," murmured Yang contemplatively as she took a deep drink of the local lager. "Sounds good to me!"

"Alright, I'll pick one out for you when we get back," decided Blake.

"Cheers, Blake," said Yang brightly. "Say, can I ask you something?"

"It seems to be the night for it, why not," said Blake dryly.

"When Miltiades said there was another girl who, you know, batted for the other side," began Yang, "Did you know who she meant? She said Weiss knew."

"Because Weiss shares so much with me," drawled Blake. "I don't know for sure. I suppose I can work out a good guess, though."

"Oh?" said Yang with interest. "Who was your guess?"

"Well, we can already take Miltia herself out of the picture," noted Blake. "I doubt she'd put any of her team mates under the microscope, so it's not them. She wouldn't have asked if Weiss knew if it was Weiss herself. That leaves five. I know it's not me. Jaune makes Pyrrha so wet I'm surprised she hasn't locked themselves into the dorm yet, so that leaves you, Ruby and Nora."

Yang was silent for several long seconds as she mulled that over. "Well, it's not me," she said, before shrugging and showing a sheepish grin. "Well, not exclusively, and she'd know that if she ever talked to Aurea, who knows a bit of my dating history. I don't think she'll ever forgive me for that."

"Do I even want to know?" asked Blake in alarm.

"Probably not," laughed Yang. "So it's Ruby or Nora. And it's not Ruby."

"Why isn't it Ruby?" queried Blake, not following the reasoning.

"Because she'd have told me, right?" reasoned Yang.

Blake was sceptical. "You think so?"

"Of course, I'm her big sister, she'd have to tell me," affirmed the optimistic older sister. "I mean, if Weiss knows, she'd have to have told me already. Why, you don't think it's Ruby, do you?"

The dark haired girl gave her partner a confident look. "Would you like to bet on it?"

"Grimm and Dust, Blake, I'm not going to start placing bets on my little sister's orientation and five hundred Lien says she's not the girl Miltia was talking about, 'cause you are so on, Blake," said Yang as she crossed her arms.

"Deal," said Blake, before they shook on it. Her eyes widened as movement at the front entrance of the bar caught her eye. "And here comes trouble."

Yang turned and spotted several faunus walking in through the front doors. They were tall, fit, young and cocky, a mix of different types, but all cut from the same cloth. She could tell they were warriors by how they carried themselves, though given she was well accustomed to being surrounded by eminently dangerous people, she did not feel particularly concerned by this. Blake, however, could tell so much more about them. The splashes of grey cloth, the carefully worked grey knots here and there, all spoke silently to her.

These boys and girls had some very naughty friends.

"Mrrow," said Yang, looking at a particularly handsome man with a large cat affinity, whose abs were exposed by scant clothing. Next to him was a wolf-faunus woman with a lusty figure, and a wild attitude to match, whom Yang also liked the look of. "Trouble alright. Careful, I might start to doubt you about not having a taste fur faunus," she teased as she took up her pint glass again.

"Yang, look at me," said Blake urgently. "I mean they're White Fang."

And with that Yang put the glass back on the table top and looked again. "Ohh," she said, taking note of how they seemed to subtly hold a protective perimeter, even as they pushed and shoved their way through people. "They're running coverage," she observed to Blake.

The former agent looked closer towards the entrance, and saw a rabbit faunus girl, a little older than herself, whose eyes were so cold, and so unloved, and so dead, that Blake felt her heart go out to the girl. She knew that look. She knew what drove a person to have eyes like that, to look like hope had been strangled away leaving only a mechanical purpose. Though she had never seen this particular rabbit girl before, did not know her name or what she was like, she knew what she was.

"Okay, we're done," said Blake, standing up. "Side entrance, now."

"What, oh come on, what's a pub brawl worth, anyway," asked Yang with a laugh. "They look handy in a fight, but nothing special."

"They're not what I'm worried about, follow me," said Blake.

Yang groaned and stood, and together they moved towards a hallway that led into the staff areas. A bouncer challenged them, but let them through when Blake mentioned they were looking to go out the side exit to avoid a scene. In a few moments they were at the exit.

"I better get a good explanation as to why I had to leave half a fucking pint back there," said Yang irritably.

"Yang, don't even, we're in danger, shut up," hissed Blake, catching Yang by surprise.

Blake reached behind her back with her right hand as her left pushed open the door, and with one smooth movement she put Gambol Shroud's inner blade to the neck of the man standing outside the door before he even realised she was there. Quick as a whip, the dark girl hauled the man away from the door and ran a quick pirouette to check for any friends he may have had.

"Mother of Grimm!" blurted Yang as she deployed Ember Celica on reflex, then ran after her partner. "Blake, what the..?"

"If you see someone with grey strips of cloth, try not to hurt them too bad," muttered Blake. "But if they don't have that, hold nothing back. They'll be hunter-grade."

"Blake," echoed Yang in confusion, before she shook her head and let her aura suffuse her, burning away the early intoxication, settling over her like a warm embrace. Her light and power flared through the dark alley, illuminating the twilight cast shadows. Startled drunks from further up the alley way jumped in fright, but no foes lurked in the gloom. She turned around to look at Blake, and found her partner whispering to her captive.

"I'm going to ask you once, brother," warned Blake softly so only the White Fang agent could hear. "Do you have any other brothers or sisters in this alley?"

"Brother?" repeated the man in surprise. "God's Horns, then you must be … yes, there are more of us here."

"I didn't ask here, I asked, in this alley," repeated Blake irritably. "Don't toy with me."

"I know what you were, I would never toy with you, sister," replied the man anxiously.

Blake glanced over her shoulder. "Yang, sweep to the mouth of the alley, we're going out that way."

"You got it, Blakey," responded Yang excitedly, cracking her fingers as she began to scout.

"You had a trigger agent in there," said Blake as she pulled the man away from the door. "Are you here for me?"

"I'm a grunt, sister, I don't even know the bunny's name," protested the dog faunus.

Yang came to a halt ten paces from the end of the alley, having found no lurking foes or traps. But just as she was about to drop her guard, she happened to check above her. Recognising all potential attack vectors was a key skill for a would-be-huntress, and Yang's training had just saved her a lot of inconvenience. Two faunus with plain curved swords fell from on high. Yang grinned savagely. She may not understand why she was having to fight, but she appreciated a good rumble none the less.

Deep booms filled the alley in rapid succession as Yang ascended to meet them. Ember Celica's recoil let her jump onto and rebound off the walls and drive bone-rattling blows into the two men as they descended. Only one of her foes came back to his feet when they all hit the ground and she let out a battle cry full of relish as she spun into him, a thunderous volley of blows flattening the bear-man like he was nothing but deadweight.

"Uh, I did say try not to hurt them too badly," grumbled Blake down the alley loudly, throwing her partner a grouchy look.

"I couldn't tell who was who," excused Yang with a shrug.

"Then maybe you should look," interrupted a new voice coldly as the side door opened again. "But then, we aren't all blessed with faunus eyes."

The rabbit faunus from inside the pub stepped out from the shadowy entrance, her eyes emotionless but sharp, seeing all before her. A small but terrible weapon was held between her hands; a variant-ballistic chain scythe, though in a different style to Blake's, that didn't employ the cleaver sheath.

"Hey there," called Yang with a nonchalant wave, before she put her fists together and her semblance sent a shockwave of power that ripped across the brickwork in a torrent of debris, staggering both Blake and the rabbit faunus.

"Impressive," allowed the White Fang agent with a grim smile. "You're hanging out with a Huntress, I see," she guessed, glancing at the blonde girl who was standing out of earshot.

Blake allowed herself a smirk. "Why don't I just rattle off my life's story since skipping out, and leave you a forwarding address while I'm at it?"

"I'm sure Adam would appreciate it," replied the rabbit girl calmly. The former White Fang agent froze perfectly still as she stared at the girl that would once have been a comrade to her, a sister of the White Fang. The mention of her former partner sent chills down her back. "Adam has been instructing everyone of Field Agent or above who finds you to pass on a message. 'Come home, Blake, all is forgiven'."

"No…," whispered Blake fearfully. "I've had my ear to the ground. You guys have been killing people who try to leave."

"Too many splinter groups and factions, we've been trying to clean house," explained the operative. "But really, it's functionaries that we've been bumping off. Those come in packs, you know. But an operator, a real trigger agent, girls like you don't grow on trees."

"I can't go back," refused Blake. "I never really meant to leave; I threw myself off a cliff after my last mission."

"We know," said the agent. "You may not know me, but when someone spotted you in Vale one day, we all got a crash course on who you were. However did you survive the fall?" When Blake didn't reply, the other faunus snorted. "Well, I'm not going to haul you in kicking and screaming. You know our cause is right, and the only way, deep down. When you've given this peaceful approach its full measure, and the humans fail you, as you know they will, the door is open." She snorted a little caustically. "Of course, if you and your human friends try and interfere in our plans, don't expect us to be merciful. But for now, farewell."

Blake backed carefully away down the alley, trusting in Yang to keep her safe from behind. But the rabbit faunus walked back inside the Old Bones bar, so Blake released her hostage and then knocked him out with a solid swing of her elbow. She ran back to Yang and together they put serious distance between themselves and the club. Yang grinned at her as she went by, unable to be unhappy with any situation that let her thump a fool or two.

"Come on, let's get out of the city," complained Blake.

"Back to Beacon?" asked Yang.

"No, no, I'd be watching the airship terminals tonight if I were them," said Blake nervously. "We'll go back tomorrow."

"My dad is out of town, but there's a spare key I can use, so we can crash there," suggested Yang. "Just hop a taxi here, they're not too pricey in Vale."

"Alright, sounds good to me," agreed Blake. Her scroll beeped as she sent her text message to Weiss and Velvet. 'Hey Vv/Ws. Just saw WF trigger agt at Old Bones bar. WF ops tms in city, be v. careful! Avd airship fr now', her message read.

---

Velvet's scroll buzzed in her pocket as she made her way up the stairs after dinner. "Oh, who would be messaging me now?" she said aloud. Her eyebrows rose as she read the message. "What the...?"

"Who is it?" asked Miltiades, following her friend.

"It's Blake," muttered Velvet, looking at her scroll. Consternation crossed her face as she read the message contained within, but she carefully hid that from her friend. "You might want to stay the night, Blake said there may be White Fang trouble brewing in the city tonight."

"They seem to be pretty active at the moment," noted Miltiades hesitantly. "I guess, if your mom doesn't mind me crashing here. I don't think I have the Lien to splurge on a hotel room."

"You don't have a family home to go to?" asked Velvet absently, re-reading the message.

"Melanie and myself moved out of home last year, and rented an apartment, but we left it when we went to Beacon," explained Miltiades. "We haven't been on speaking terms with either of our parents since they broke up, and we aren't looking to change that anytime soon."

"Sounds nasty," said Velvet as she put her scroll away. 'Alright, Blake, you secretive little kitty, how do you know this sort of stuff…,' she wondered to herself.

"It's behind us now," said Miltiades with a shrug, though a small tremor in her voice put the lie to the statement. To her relief, Velvet didn't pursue the point. "So, what sort of explanations were you wanting from me?" she asked as they reached the upper floor landing.

Velvet looked over her shoulder at Miltiades, and pointed at the last door on the right down the hallway. "That's my room at the back." She led the way down with a sigh, running her fingers through her hair. "What explanations … Alright, I want to know why you're protecting Ruby."

"Protecting her?" asked Miltiades in surprise.

"Well, she's confessed to trying to kill you, Melanie would take that and run to Ozpin so fast she'd break the speed of sound," elaborated Velvet. "And if you meant what I think you meant at the meeting, you also stopped short of outing her."

"I'm not going to say anything about that," warned Miltiades. "Nothing, okay?"

Velvet stopped outside of her door and gave her partner a surprised look. She'd clearly inadvertently hit a nerve in her partner, so she nodded and let it be. She opened the door and gestured her teammate inside. The student's room was small and a bit cluttered, but had all the necessaries. It was spotless as a result of not having been used for a few months. There was a comfortable looking bed with burgundy coverlets, a desk decorated around the edges with little figurines, posters around the walls with musicians out of the faunus music scene. Prominently up on the wall over her desk were two crossed staves, both well-worn and looking cruder and cheaper than Wishbearer.

"Your first dust staves?" asked Miltiades, pointing up at the display.

Velvet grinned goofily. "Yep," she said. "It was hard to keep them going at first. They don't like to sell Dust in faunus heavy areas. But I made do, and I learned to be really efficient with my Dust and my Aura, which helped me learn my craft."

Miltiades nodded as she looked over a series of framed class photos. She was surprised to find out that Velvet only became a Signal Academy student for her last two years, and seemed to go to a much more local school previous to that. One with a much greater faunus population, going by the ears visible on the kids. "It's pretty warm in here," she noted.

"We're right over top of the kitchen," explained Velvet. "The heat comes up through the floorboards." A conspiratorial look passed over the faunus girl as she grinned. "Also means they can't hear a thing that happens up here from downstairs, which had its advantages."

"Oh, god, I don't think I want to know," said Miltiades with an eye-roll. "Is there anywhere I can sit where I don't have to worry about how you've taken advantage of that?"

"Oh, don't tease, it wasn't as bad as that," reassured Velvet with a handwave. "It was mostly just being able to play my music loud and make noise with my friends. You may want to sit in the other chair though," she added, just before Miltia began to sit down in the swivel chair in front of the desk." Miltiades froze and shot Velvet a filthy look, earning a nonchalant look in reply. "Just sit on the bed with me, Miltia, better for talking, after all. Everything was washed after I left, anyway."

The girl in red sighed and dropped down on the bed, folding her legs up underneath herself. "I'm not turning in Ruby, because I don't hate Weiss like Melanie does, and I don't hate Yang like Aurea does. And, frankly, I'm scared of what she would do if I actually went out to try and ruin her."

"Can you tell me what she did that-" began Velvet.

"No, drop it," said Miltiades firmly.

Velvet sat there and folded her arms, looking at her partner in frustration. "Okay, that's off-limits. But you have to tell me something, surely, so I can have an idea of how seriously to take this."

The dark haired girl sighed and fell onto her back, legs dangling over the side of the bed. "Alright, fine. The only reason I am currently alive is because I was already in my defensive side-step as Ruby went into her semblance. And the only reason I knew to evade to the left was because I've seen her use that same move before."

"Yes…?" prompted Velvet.

"On a person," continued the former underworld bodyguard.

"Uh…"

"Who didn't survive the experience," said Miltiades flatly.

"I … What!?" said Velvet in shock.

"That's all I'm going to say. Ruby has good reasons for wanting the past to stay buried," explained Miltiades. "I'll bear that secret myself, because I don't know what will happen if Ruby thinks I'm spreading it. So don't you act any different around her."

Velvet shifted uncomfortably on the bed. "I see. So she doesn't want you dead anymore?"

"No, and she apologised. So for now," said Miltia, "I am going to keep her secret. That's my decision, and I'm not changing it. You, my sister and Aurea aren't in danger, and I don't want to play along with Mel's vendetta any more than I have to."

"Alright, I can live with that," said Velvet with a sigh. "Do you like her?"

"Sorry, do I think she's a cool person, or do I like her in a juvenile schoolgirl 'let's go steady' sense?" asked Miltiades dryly, green eyes peering at Velvet from a hooded gaze.

"Latter," asked Velvet.

"Ha, no," retorted Miltia. "She's a brat, who seems to be on an eternal sugar high. Not my cup of tea."

"Okay, well, that's reassuring at least. Have you considered talking to the school psychiatrist?" asked the faunus girl earnestly.

Miltiades glared at her partner. "Now why would I need that?" she asked irritably.

"You're having nightmares after a stressful, scary incident," pointed out Velvet. "It must have been at least a bit traumatising. I don't think you're coping as well after the accident as you think you are."

"Look, I'd want more than just a few nightmares before I consider that route," protested Miltiades. "I'm not crazy, I don't need a shrink."

"Okay, maybe not just yet, but I'd like you to keep it in mind," asked the rabbit girl earnestly. "They can help you a lot, and needing a bit of help is really common in this industry. The mind isn't perfect when it comes to handling shocks and trauma you know, and having the insides of a lung exposed to open air is legitimately terrifying."

"If you're really set on it, I'll keep it in mind and we'll consider it again in a week, okay?" Miltiades looked away in frustration. "Where's your bathroom, I need to go." Velvet sighed and gave her directions.

Miltiades grumpily made her way down the hall to the bathroom. When she returned, feet shuffling silently on the carpet, she heard Velvet and her father talking as she approached the door. At first it was very muffled, but when she reached the door she began to make out what they were saying. She didn't pay it much mind until she heard something that made her freeze.

"So, I was asking around, quietly, about the hidden faunus friend in your class like you asked," came a man's voice.

'Hidden faunus friend?' thought Miltia to herself as she stopped at the edge of the door. 'What!?'

"Showed her picture to an old friend I trust, he didn't recognise her, but he thought she looked familiar, so read into that what you will," said the man's voice. "Do you know much about her fighting style?"

"Other than being a chain scythe?" she heard Velvet reply, causing Miltia's jaw to drop. "No, I don't. I had to go toe to toe with her when our teams had a big fight, but in hindsight, she wasn't really fighting, just trying to tie me up."

"Okay, well, keep an eye out for it, it may be your cue as to if she's a militant," said the man. "My friend reckons there's three solid possibilities. There's a survivalist group that makes that sort of weapon and could teach her how to use it."

"I like that possibility," said Velvet eagerly. "She always said she lived outside of the kingdoms when she was growing up, so that could make sense."

"Well, that's encouraging," said the man. "The other possibilities are the VFLM or the White Fang. I'll send your scroll a rundown on what to look for in the styles."

She heard Velvet sigh deeply. "God, I hope it's not the White Fang, I am sick of them. What was up with that mural just up the road, by the way?"

"They're starting a turf war with the Jaws," the other man replied. "So both sides are putting up a lot of propaganda, and there' s lot of pro-peace stuff as well. It's been … let's call it exciting. Been a lot of White Fang activity in the city in recent weeks, especially as part of a big set of Dust heists. Some of them have been quite bloody."

"Blake sent me a text message," said Velvet quietly. "She says she ran into a White Fang trigger agent at a bar in central. Told me and Weiss to be careful and avoid the airships for tonight."

"So she knows what White Fang trigger teams are, and knows enough to warn her friends despite the danger that it might lead to questions," observed the man.

Miltiades would have listened further, but motion out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. 'Oh, Grimm and Dust, the fox girl,' thought Miltiades, glancing back and seeing the waitress looking at her with a big smirk on her face. Seeing the girl about to open her mouth, Miltia tapped into her semblance and turned around instantly, putting a hand up over the girl's mouth. Vivid green crystals burst around her like an ethereal snowflurry. The waitress' eyes went wide as saucers, and Miltia had to bite down on a giggle as she saw the fox ears twitch madly.

"Shh," whispered Miltiades as she pulled her hand away again from the smaller, more delicate girl. "Not a word. Don't tell her I was listening."

"Well, it's difficult to be quiet when I'm so excited. Maybe if you could promise to hand my number to a nice hunter in training I could be quieter," whispered back the waitress coyly.

The Beacon student rolled her eyes at the attempted blackmail. "You have no idea how bad a choice I am for that," she whispered sarcastically. She looked at the girl's pretty face and then added in a carefully mild tone, "Although if you ever felt a bit curious, I could help."

"I know, that little piece of gossip spread quick. But you'd do better than Velvet would," pointed out the waitress irritably. "I hear her coming," she added urgently. "Too late to hide. Promise to try and hook me up?" Miltiades rolled her eyes but nodded. "Kiss me," she offered.

There was a moment of hesitation from Miltiades until she realised the fox faunus was offering her a cover story. And in her mind she laughed and knew this girl was playing with fire without even knowing it could burn. And Miltiades Malachite could burn. Alice knew it, and why else would she put up with the former underworld girl's commitment-phobia? So the academy student pulled the slighter girl close and closed her eyes, and her lips were sweet to go with the spice of her scent and down, down, down she took her in the kiss until suddenly the world around them had disappeared.

"Miltiades Malachite!" snapped Velvet, breaking the trainee huntress from her hungry reverie.

The dark haired girl blinked. 'When did we end up against the wall?' she thought to herself as she stepped back, before shaking her head to clear the fog. The waitress was in a complete daze, still moving slightly as if in the embrace. "Oh, hey, Velvet," she said huskily.

"Don't 'hey Velvet' me, I called you three times before you heard me," complained Velvet. She looked between Miltia and the fox faunus, who was grinning deliriously. "How did you even get her to...? You know what, I don't want to know."

The younger girl giggled, and said, "I've never been kissed like that before in my life." Miltiades bravely resisted the urge to preen, and just smiled at the girl.

The rabbit faunus ran her hands over her face. "I just told you both 'I don't want to know'," she complained. "Isn't your shift over?"

"That's what I came up here to tell your dad," said the girl. "But I ran into your friend here and…"

"Yeah, alright," cut off Velvet, before she called out to the rabbit faunus man who had appeared in the doorway. "Hey, dad, Sara's done for the day, she was just about to go now. Bye!"

The fox girl rolled her eyes and turned around, but not before throwing Miltiades a wink. "Sure you wanted to stay here for the night? I live just across the road," she asked.

Miltiades said nothing as she didn't know if the girl was making an honest offer or just trying to needle Velvet, whom Miltia had seen be a bit bossy to the girl around the cafe that evening. If it was the latter, then Miltia decided it worked perfectly. She could see Velvet's thumb trembling over the activation stud on Wishbearer as the girl walked away.

"You're unbelievable," Velvet hissed at Miltiades.

Her partner shrugged airily, before smiling wickedly. "Don't get angry with me," she said in a playful tone. "You know I'm good at spotting the curious girls."

"Oh, please, just stop," groaned Velvet. "Me and dad were talking about something secret, did you hear us?"

"A personal secret, or something involving the group?" asked Miltiades guilefully.

"Just admit that you heard us," demanded Velvet in exasperation.

"I was busy chatting up foxy over there," pointed out Miltiades. "By the way, do fox girls have a reputation?"

"You know I despise stereotypes like that," said Velvet heatedly. "And yes, they do, and she's a freaking archetype." She shook her head at Miltia. "Look, if you didn't hear, great, if you did, please for the love of Dust keep what you heard under your hat. It's as sensitive as your Ruby secret." She bit her lip and then fixed her partner with a look that could strip paint off a wall. "And you're staying here tonight where I can keep you away from that girl and out of trouble."

"Keep me out of trouble? Well that's a turn for the books, isn't it?" shot back Miltia in a quiet voice.

"Do you normally have to keep Velvet out of trouble?" asked Mr Scarletina, reminding them of his presence.

The two girls turned to stare at the man and blinked big deer-in-headlight blinks. "You know what, let's finish this conversation later," said Velvet flatly when she turned back to Miltia.

Velvet's father shook his head and walked back downstairs. "I think I need to have a chat with you tomorrow before you go," he said to Miltiades. "I bet I'd learn all sorts of things Velvet plays dumb about." He glanced back at his daughter and snorted. "Not that we're as blind as she thinks we are."

"Come on, dad, you shouldn't ask questions you won't want to know the answers to," objected Velvet, before she fixed her partner with a glare.

"As long as you stay safe, that's all I'm concerned about," replied her father. "But if Miltia says you're being risky, I'm going to get your mother to give you the talk." And with that he disappeared down the stairs.

Velvet groaned wholeheartedly. "Come on, Miltia, let's get you set up in the guest room before you do any more damage to my domestic harmony."

---

With her blades paid for through her partner's patronage, Ruby had, digging in on the matter like she was a faunus with claws, insisted that she pay for the clothes Weiss had wanted her to buy. She had several thousand Lien still sitting in her account from the money she had scraped together with the intention of starting a payment plan on her new blade, after all, and now that she didn't have that massive bill looming over her head, she could afford to use it.

Clearly determined to have her way, and with Weiss too image conscious to allow a row at her favourite boutique, Ruby had carried the day. As a result, they found themselves walking down one of the main avenues in the city centre, towards a restaurant that Weiss had been dying to try, with a much poorer Ruby. Both girls had a weapon's case and a bag from the boutique apiece, one of which carried Ruby's battle dress. In its place on Ruby's fit frame was a short dress in brilliant crimson with a comfortable halter neck. A black panel ran down her right side to break up the solid colour. In a way, it reminded her uncomfortably of the dress worn by the mystery woman whom she had fought before coming to Beacon. But it certainly looked good on her and she was turning heads as she walked next to Weiss.

"Look, Ruby, I know that you want to be independent, and you don't want this to work like I'm your sug… like I'm your rich patron or something," acknowledged Weiss. "You want to get through on your merits, and I completely respect that." She went quiet for a moment, thinking back on her own experiences with her family, and softly added, "Believe me, I understand that more than you might think."

"And I'm glad you understand that," said Ruby amicably. "So we're good?"

"No!" protested Weiss. "I have been abstaining from all sorts of things since I came to Beacon because I know it's rich girl territory. Now, let's be clear. Huntresses get rich if they're any good whatsoever, so this won't be an issue when we graduate, but for now?" She sighed. "Look, Ruby, there are things I want to go do, like eat at this restaurant, and I want to be able to go with the people that I like, by which I mean my team, but I don't want to impoverish you."

"Weiss," complained Ruby in a tone little more than a whine.

"Look, just let me buy you dinner, alright?!" demanded Weiss in exasperation. "I don't do it that often, but come on, I can either go eat with my old society girlfriends, and I promise you, you don't want to be around me after I've spent time with them. I'm self-aware enough to tell you that. Or, I can go with you and have my enjoyment totally ruined by knowing that you'll be skipping scythe maintenance for a month because of it. Or you can just shut up and let me pay for you already!"

Ruby shot her a look, her silver eyes narrowed. "Alright."

Weiss threw her arms up in the air, "Thank you!"

"But on one condition!" declared Ruby, pointing at her partner with theatrical flair.

"Oh god, what?" groaned Weiss.

"Next time we're playing one of my tabletop games, you commit!" demanded the younger girl imperiously. When Weiss laughed, she crossed her arms and added, "I mean it! If we're playing Kingdoms, you win at all costs. If we're playing Grimmhammer, you treat those miniatures like your own life depended on them."

"Is that all, your highness?" asked Weiss in a playful drawl.

Ruby's eyes went wide as moons. "Oh, you do not get to say that to me, not even!" She paused for a moment. "And it's not all, next week I'm picking dinner, and I'm paying."

Just as Weiss started to protest, her scroll played a musical chorus in her pocket. She frowned and pulled the device out and read over the message that had appeared. "Oh, it's Blake," she said, before a complex surge of emotions washed over her, starting with white hot anger. Ruby blinked in surprise as she heard Weiss mutter what was the singularly worst piece of creative cursing her ears had ever heard. Consternation followed shortly thereafter as Weiss asked aloud, "How do you possibly know what that is, Blake?" Finally she could see anxiety in her expression as she looked up and searched piercingly through the surrounding area.

"Uh, there may be a change of plans, Ruby," said Weiss slowly as she stopped to look at a faunus person idling on the opposite street-corner. "Depending on where the Old Bones is."

Sensing the potential for danger in Weiss' body language, Ruby pulled Crescent Rose's holding form from her back and kept it ready for instant deployment.

Weiss tapped away at her scroll and called a contact as Ruby waited in no small confusion. "Weiss here," said the heiress peremptorily on the scroll. "A Beacon teammate of mine just reported seeing a White Fang trigger team outside some place called the Old Bones. How far away is that?" She waited a second, then added, "Corner of Worsfold and Brereton. We were on our way to that new pasta restaurant by the Mistral embassy."

She waited for several seconds, scuffing the ground anxiously as she waited. When she heard a response, her eyes went wide with alarm. "Mother of Grimm, I'm a block away... I'm heading to the Empire right away, make sure the room there is ready." She hung up and started fast walking, looking all around her.

"So no pasta then?" asked Ruby in surprise, trying to make sense of what her partner was doing.

"Nope, nope, change of plans," replied Weiss quickly and anxiously. "Big change of plans. Blake ran into White Fang not far from here, so we're going to head for safety, just in case it's not a coincidence that they have an agent chilling out a block away from me." She swallowed loudly. "Oh, I really hope I'm not being herded here."

"Are the Fang that dangerous?" asked Ruby. "If they attack, I'll fight them with you, you know that, right?"

"I know Ruby, I would trust you with my life in a fight," said Weiss. "But yes, they have some really dangerous types in their numbers. I've fought them for a long time, like the rest of my family, across three generations. And there's one golden rule we have painfully learned."

"What's that?" asked Ruby.

Weiss spared a glance for her partner and explained, "Never, ever fight on ground of the White Fang's choosing." She stopped as she saw something up ahead, then grabbed Ruby with her right hand, and raced down an alleyway, pulling her partner along. Myrtenaster was naked and glowing in her strong left hand. "Hurry, run through!" she ordered.

Ruby took her hand back and expanded Crescent Rose into its scythe form, and raced along behind her partner with the weapon balanced over her shoulder comfortably. They reached the end of the alley unmolested, but as Ruby slowed down upon reaching the sidewalk, she turned back to see where they had come from. Bathed in lamplight, just beyond the mouth of the alley, was a rabbit faunus in tight leather and a chain scythe resting across her shoulders. The woman saw Ruby looking back at her, and so she blew the student a mocking kiss.

For a moment, the young scythe-wielder's instincts roared for her to head back down the alley and meet this threat head-on. It would be an absolutely glorious battle, full of fire, blood, and clashing steel. The sort of wild battle of heroes and villains that she had daydreamed about when reading her books as a younger child. But Weiss' warning still rang in her ears, and she turned away.

"Yeah, we're being followed," declared Ruby as she rejoined Weiss. "Where are we heading?"

"Hurry, across the road!" urged Weiss. General consternation greeted the sudden appearance of two heavily armed teenagers sprinting across the road, but they paid it no heed, making their way down the road and out of sight of the alleyway, until they found themselves at the foot of the great towers that Vale was so well known for.

As Weiss led them up an elaborate set-down drive to the front entrance, a number of security personnel seemed to appear as if from thin air, reacting to the appearance of two armed arrivals with understandable alarm. But a man at the back with a set of very official looking gold stripes on his suit jacket's upper arms immediately called the goons off.

"Hold up, boys and girls, it's the Schnee," he announced while turned towards his crew. He faced and quickly walked up to the heiress and very formally gestured her towards the front entrance. "Miss Weiss Schnee, I presume," he said. "Your head of security just called us and explained. Follow me please. Will this young Miss be accompanying you?"

Weiss nodded at her team leader. "This is Miss Rose, we attend Beacon together, and yes, she's coming with me."

The security office nodded. "Understood, the SDC retained room is available, follow me please."

Weiss walked on ahead with the confident air of someone who had done it all before and already had the t-shirt, thank you very much. But when Ruby followed her friend into the luxurious lobby of the illustrious Empire Hotel, she looked around herself in awe. It was similar to a lot of the architecture back in Beacon, but everywhere it was just that last touch of luxury above. It was intimidating for someone so unused to that style of luxury.

She rushed up ahead alongside Weiss and muttered, "I so don't look like I belong here."

Weiss took her hand reassuringly. "Of course you do."

Ruby snorted. "I have the dress, yes, but the giant scythe, as well as no jewelry? Bit of a give away."

"You'd be surprised," said Weiss as they waited for the security guard to call an elevator with a swipe of his override card. "Most society girls who happen to be in the dance will eschew anything like jewelry. So there's not a society boy or girl here who wouldn't look at you and just assume you're one of them. We may be stylish, but we're not completely impractical." She paused and blushed a little. "I don't suppose you know what that means…"

"Alice told me," said Ruby tersely. "Along with a few other things."

"Oh, right," sighed Weiss, deflating just a little. "That talk. Goody."

"So where are we going?" asked Ruby as the elevator arrived.

"My father's company has a suite retained here as a shelter, available for the family if we need a secure place to go," explained Weiss. "I don't like it because they board up the windows to stop snipers. But as boltholes go, you're not going to find much better."

The elevator carried them through to a floor near the top of the tall building, well into the rarefied, more luxurious rooms. The Empire security chief ushered them along to a room near the elevator, which had a man bearing a simple, but effective looking, rifle-sword combo, whose well-tailored suit bore the SDC snowflake emblem. The man greeted both Weiss and her teammate gravely and politely. Before he let them into the room, he made one final sweep while they waited outside.

"All clear, please enjoy your stay, Miss Schnee, Miss Rose," said the SDC guard.

Ruby quickly rushed in with Weiss and closed the door of the suite, then slumped against the solid oak. "Ahh, Weiss, what on Remnant is happening!?" She turned and looked at Weiss with a grimace. "There was an armed faunus woman in the alley, did you see her? A rabbit woman with a ballistic chain scythe."

"No, I didn't," said Weiss as she walked further into the room and collapsed upon a couch. "But I'm not surprised."

Ruby walked away from the door and towards Weiss. It was a gorgeous suite of rooms, with luxurious carpet, furnishings, and a display screen that covered most of a wall between two doorways that led into the bedrooms. As Weiss had described, the windows were boarded up with armoured plate, which rather spoiled the comforting effect.

"Lifestyles of the rich and the famous," breathed Ruby as she looked around. "Why weren't you surprised?"

"Because I knew I wasn't being paranoid, and I saw a man who was a White Fang agent on the street when I said we needed to go. Bunch of mongrel scum," she finished with an angry mutter. "So much for my dinner plans."

"Were they waiting for you?" asked Ruby.

"I doubt it, but I knew if they were that close," began Weiss, "Someone was going to see me and I'd be too tempting a target of opportunity to pass up."

"We could have fought them," suggested Ruby as she took a seat next to her friend. "Crescent Rose and Myrtenaster, we'd have seen them off."

"Ruby, these aren't sparring matches," pointed out Weiss in a strained voice. "People die when the SDC and those animals tangle. All too often it's my people. You're one of the best combatants I've ever seen, Ruby, but it's a different story, fighting until the red you see isn't their aura gauge, but their life's blood. The White Fang's field agents aren't like their protesters or their labour agitators or their other useful idiots. They're ruthlessly strong. They want me dead, and they'd kill you to do it."

She threw up her hands, fast becoming emotional. "I can't ask you to risk that for me! What would I say to your father, what would I say to Yang?"

Ruby stood up from the couch and put a hand on Weiss' shoulder as she walked by, looping around to face her. "Weiss, have faith in me. I want to protect people; in particular I want to protect my friends. I know what I have to sacrifice to do that." When Weiss opened her mouth to protest, Ruby shook a finger at her. "Nope," she said to forestall her partner. "Just trust your team leader."

Weiss looked up at her friend in wonder. She wanted to protest, to ask if Ruby realised what she was setting herself up for. But those silver eyes were implacable, and she knew that it was right to trust this girl whom she knew so well, who was still so mysterious. Weiss swallowed and nodded. "Alright, next time we take on the White Fang, I'll remember that I can trust you to fight. But let me make the call, I've been dancing with the Fang and other militants since I was fourteen, and I've had a target on my back for even longer. I know when things aren't what they seem."

"Alright, Weiss, a bit of teamwork and we'll be fine," declared the team leader.

The heiress snorted in amusement at that. "Fine, let me call Blake. Better let them know what happened. Go get cleaned up, I'll order room service. I don't feel like making a scene at the hotel restaurant. You can take either of the rooms. The bathroom is just through that door over there.

Ruby walked off to the bathroom, while Weiss walked to a countertop along the side of the room, and pulled open a cabinet, pulling out a wine bottle from within. "Way too long a day," she complained to herself before opening the bottle and leaving it to breathe. On her scroll she found Blake's number with one hand and tapped it while her other hand pulled out a champagne flute.

"Weiss," buzzed the speaker on the scroll. "Did you get my warning?"

"I did, it came almost too late," said Weiss, setting the scroll to speaker mode as she poured her champagne.

A muffled voice could be heard, and some struggling, before Yang's voice came over the line. "Did they attack; is Ruby alright!?"

"Almost and yes, Yang, could you put Blake back on?" asked Weiss with a sigh.

There was more scrabbling, and then the tone of the background white noise changed subtly. "You're on speaker now, Weiss," said Blake.

"Splendid," drawled Weiss as she took a welcome sip of the Atlesian bubbly, a sweeter varietal that suited her.

"What the fuck is 'almost'?" asked Yang angrily, and Weiss could hear a slight slur in the words.

"Cool down, Yang," snapped Weiss, irritated by the protest. "Ruby's fine. Look, once I got the heads up about White Fang, I saw that there were a couple around me. So I got Ruby and we ran for safety."

"You ran away from the White Fang?" asked Blake in surprise. Weiss leaned against the counter and glared at the scroll.

"I'm not crazy, Blake, I never fight the White Fang on any ground I think they've prepared," explained Weiss. "I've known a number of people who paid with their lives for ignoring that advice." She looked in surprise at her champagne flute as she realised it was already empty, and promptly refilled it.

"So were you chased?" asked Yang.

"Ruby says she saw a rabbit faunus behind us, watching us," said Weiss hesitantly.

"About five-six, slim build, dyed purple hair, chain scythe?" asked Blake.

"I … I don't know," admitted Weiss. "I didn't see her, Ruby just told me about it. She did mention a chain scythe."

"That was who we saw at the Old Bones," said Yang excitedly.

Blake hmm'd loudly. "I don't think they were targeting you, she never would have walked into the pub if they knew you were around. Someone must have spotted you right after she arrived."

"I can believe that," agreed Weiss. "It's a bit comforting to know I'm not being tracked," she admitted quietly.

"Where's my sister, Weiss?" asked Yang. "Actually, where are you?"

"Empire Hotel, my family has a suite here on permanent hire as a safehouse of sorts," explained Weiss. "Ruby is off cleaning up after all the running."

"Well, that must be nice," drawled Yang dryly.

"You'll need to get Ruby to show off her new dress for you," said Weiss with a smirk before noting with alarm her glass was almost empty again. 'Does this thing have a leak?' she pondered, glancing around for any spills and finding nothing. "Anyway, where are you guys?"

"In a taxi heading to Yang's home," said Blake. "Yang busted a couple of the Fangs in the face, so we're getting out of the way for a bit."

"Right," replied Weiss. "Yang, you should probably give Ruby a call yourself if you want to talk to her.

"Sure," said Yang. "If you have a picture of her in that new dress, send it to me, okay? Seeya!"

The scroll made a click and the background static changed pitch again. "Blake?" asked Weiss. "Is it just you on the line?"

"Yes, Weiss, what's up?"

Weiss turned, leaning back against the counter with her scroll beside her. She pulled Myrtenaster free and held the hilt up to her gaze. "Blake, how did you know?"

"How did I know what?" asked Blake in bemusement.

"How did you know they were Fang? How did you know they were agents? How did you know what a White Fang kill team is called?" asked Weiss in rapid succession as she ran her thumb over the pommel of her weapon. "Goddammit, Blake, where have you tangled with the Fang and why didn't you tell me?"

"You think the White Fang just have condos in the city?" asked Blake angrily. "They camp out beyond the rural areas, where I used to live. Everyone had to learn."

"Of course," sighed Weiss, sliding index and thumb around the pommel. 'Just how long a day has it been?' she asked herself idly.

"I didn't expect to be tangling with the Fang, Weiss, this isn't something I expected to be relevant," explained Blake further.

"Okay, Blake," said the heiress numbly. "We'll talk about it later. I need to go order food for Ruby now."

"Sure thing, Weiss," said Blake. "Glad you guys are fine, I was a bit worried."

"Thanks for getting us the warning, it helped a lot," admitted Weiss, as she twisted her hand and the top half of the pommel began to slide around a screw cap.

"Talk to you tomorrow," said Blake, and then the line went dead, with a slow recurring beep.

"Great," muttered Weiss. She turned the cap clockwise to slide it back into place. "No, not that long a day." A ring tone in the room caught her attention and she snapped her gaze up and to the side, and she saw Ruby, scroll in hand, watching her from a few feet away. No, she soon realised, staring at the hilt of Myrtenaster.

Ruby glanced at the open champagne bottle and then at the screw cap pommel and swallowed visibly. The scroll buzzed thunderously in the still room. She walked up to Weiss, toe to toe before her, and placed a gentle hand on the older girl's cheek. Her lips moved, mouthing a clear, unmistakable, 'No', as she pressed the button to take the call. Then she walked away to talk to her excitable, anxious sister.

Weiss staggered to the couch and slumped onto it, dropping her dust rapier upon the coffee table. "Dammit," she whispered.