Chapter 7

His Secret

The white-haired heiress strolled down the halls, heading to her dorm, the rest of her team behind her. "That sparring match was awesome!" Ruby exclaimed. "That kitty sure can pack a punch when he wants to," Yang replied. The only member of RWBY that wasn't present was Blake, who had decided to stick around with HIJX.

Jake had been bothering Weiss a lot lately. He wasn't being particularly annoying, but there was something about him that almost makes her want to tear her hair out. Every day, she felt the nagging suspicion that the Faunus was hiding something from them.

She kept silent about so far, but she couldn't help it. As soon as they reached their dorm, she went right out and told them what was bugging her. "That Jake boy is keeping something from us!" Weiss blurted out. "You mean other than his undying love for our own little kitty?" Yang replied, making Ruby chuckle.

"I'm not kidding, Yang, that shady Faunus is hiding something and I'm going to find out just what it is."

This was nothing particularly new. As you might have figured out, Weiss's family has been at war with the White Fang, an organization built on nothing but Faunus members. Originally, they were a peaceful group; just you're average banner-waving rebellion. That was until it went under new management and it became more than just signs and protests. Soon the White Fang had gone into more violent methods of gaining their equality. They've been stealing dust shipments from the Schnee Dust Company for quite a while.

"Weiss, come on. We're all entitled to our own secrets, right?" Ruby mentioned this once before as well, when Jaune had been hiding his present to her last Christmas until the right time. "Yeah, come on, Weiss, you've got to respect Jake's privacy."

Weiss stormed out of her dorm, angry that her team wouldn't side with her. She walked every single anger-filled step to the Team HIJX dorm room. When she got there, she found the door open barely a crack and she could hear Jake humming to himself.

She burst into the room and found Jake pulling his shirt off, his back turned. That's when she saw it. Dozens of scars from dozens of cuts and bruises from the past, but what stuck out was the most shocking of all. Roughly seared onto his back was the White Fang insignia. "I heard you coming, Weiss. You don't exactly have the lightest footfalls. See it? That's my secret. My dad did this to me. Ever since my mother divorced him, he's beaten me down and eventually, he did this to me!" He pointed at the insignia.

Weiss was shocked by how he knew what she came here for. Guess those heightened Faunus senses really come in handy. She stared at the scar. "Now are you done being nosey?" He asked as he slipped a new shirt on.

She was at a loss for words. "But why-?" she began. "What, why? Why would he do this? Why would a father do something this heartless to his own child? Is that what you're wondering? Well, I don't even know the answer to that myself, so how's about you get out and leave me alone." He approached Weiss, put his hands on her shoulders, turned her around, and walked her out of the door.

Weiss didn't know what to do next except to head back to her own room. That's Blake and the rest of HIJX arrived. "What's up, Weiss?" Inari exclaimed, but stopped herself when she got a close look at the sad expression on her face.

"What's wrong, Weiss? A sad face is definitely not like you," she asked. Weiss didn't answer, but instead walked back to her room. When she entered her dorm, she noticed that Ruby and Yang were already gone. She walked to her bed and recalled the scars strewn across Jake's back and, in that, saw her own childhood.