A/N: Hey everybody! Everybody who's still alive after those cliffhangers, anyway. I can't believe you survived that. There was literally nowhere to put a chapter break without a cliffhanger. (If it makes you feel better I had to deal with Defenestrator and her Yang-turning-into-a-Grimm-dragon-out-of-nowhere ideas too, except I only got a couple of paragraphs before she had to go back and work for, like, days.)

Right, so let me give you a quick run-down of this epilogue deal: Defenestrator and I, after all the craziness of the dreamscape arc, realized there were a few things we needed to tie up story-wise. Namely:

1) the rest of the fallout from Blake snapping Weiss's scroll in half.

2) that 'talk' Yang was going to have with Weiss.

and 3) Ruby's cape, which has been missing all the way since the beginning of Grimm Rats.

Hence the epilogues. They wound up longer than we'd initially planned... there was laughter, there were tears, Weiss was... well... Weiss ... so we've divided things into a couple of chapters (both because of length annnnnnnnd because we need some time to get our next story finished up).

Anyway, Saturday is still super-magic update day, so stay tuned and stay awesome. (And leave a review if you've enjoyed the ride so far.)

- Fiercesomest

Days passed. None of the members of Team RWBY or JNPR showed any signs of serious medical complications. In fact, they recovered from their injuries with remarkable celerity. Ruby was dashing across the cafeteria and back within the week, much to a certain heiress's chagrin.

Rose petals showered across the table into peoples' food as the dark haired girl reappeared at the bench. "I got you some napkins, Weiss."

"I don't need napkins," the fencer ignored both the offering and the way the others at the table surreptitiously turned their attention to the two. Well, Nora wasn't great at doing anything surreptitiously, but Weiss still ignored her.

"But it's french fry day," Ruby persisted, sliding a couple over to her partner's plate.

"Oh, please," Weiss slid her plate farther away and picked up her fork.

"You are not eating french fries with a fork."

"Excuse me? I can eat my lunch however I want. Ruby, stop it! I don't want any napkins, why are you giving me more?!"

"I'm not! I'm just making one pile so we can share if you change your mind. Geez, chill out, they're just napkins," Ruby evened the stack out a little bit and sat back in her place, giving Weiss an incredulous look, "You're seriously using a fork?"

"You're seriously still talking about this?" Weiss shot back, using her fork to cut the fries into more bite-sized lengths. Her cuts were decisive. Businesslike. Her face straight as she speared up a piece. "Stop laughing, Ruby."

"I'm not laughing."

"Well, stop smirking. It's not funny."

Sitting across the table, Pyrrha smiled behind her fork of noodles – ever a fan of team RWBY's antics – one eyebrow raised in anticipation as Yang reached over to steal one of Ruby's fries.

"What's the matter, Weiss?" Yang grabbed the floppiest, greasiest fry she could find and wiggled it in the heiress's face. "Afraid to get a little dirty?"

Blake tried to focus on her book - she had been reading almost nonstop since the doctors had given her the OK the day before - but in the corner of her eye she could see Weiss edging closer and closer to exploding in fury, so she smacked Yang's arm with a bit more force than usual, inadvertently sending the offending fry sailing through the air, where it landed with a light plop right into Ren's soup. She sent him a quick apology with her eyes, to which he responded with a light shrug as he fished the fry out of his soup and placed it on Nora's plate.

"Heh, I guess you could say that- oW." Yang rubbed her arm where Blake had smacked her again, effectively interrupting her obvious attempt to make a pun. "You know if you're going to keep hitting me could you at least aim for different spots?"

Blake ignored her partner's whining as she grabbed an errant rose petal to use as a place holder and shut her book. With a quick glance at Weiss, her gaze settled on her still-smirking team leader. "Ruby. Would you mind coming with me into town today?"

Ruby scooted forward on the bench a little, "Huh? Sure," she looked around the table, "Does anybody else need anything? We could make a group trip."

"Do we have syrup?" Nora ate the soup-drenched fry and dipped another into Ren's bowl.

"Please don't get the purple kind," Jaune put in from his edge of the table, grimacing, "That took forever to get out of my sheets."

"I replenished our syrup reserves just yesterday - with the regular kind." Pyrrha answered with a wink at Jaune as she twirled more noodles onto her fork.

Blake felt Yang shift beside her and turned to catch her partner looking her way. They held a quick conversation with their eyes.

"Eh, I'm not really feeling a trip into town right now," Yang finally said with a nonchalant shrug, turning to smile at Ruby. "All those days I spent laying around in a medicated haze have got me feeling way rusty. I was thinking of getting some training in - like maybe some sparring!" Her smile widened into a grin, aimed directly at the white haired girl currently collecting another fry on the end of her fork. "How about it Weiss? You wanna have a go? Or are you still too afraid to get dirty~?"

"Oh, I'm simply petrified," Weiss rolled her eyes, "What sort of sparring do you have in mind?"

"Man, I could go for anything at this point," Yang cracked her knuckles, letting out a brief sigh of content at the familiar feeling. "Whatever you pick is fine with me."

"I guess it's just us for the town trip then," Ruby nudged Blake with her shoulder and popped another couple of fries into her mouth. She stood up, dusting her hands on her skirt, "Want to go now?"

Blake eyed her teammates, genuinely interested in the potential duel between fighters who essentially embodied fire and ice, but she pushed her metaphoric thoughts to the side for the time being, shifting her focus back to Ruby.

"Sure." she picked up her book and stood as well, casting one final glance at Yang. The brawler had been trying to catch Weiss alone for a couple of days now, and Blake knew exactly why. Her gaze flicked back to Ruby. The younger girl was still smiling up at her, waiting. Blake smiled back. "Let's go then." She offered a quick parting nod to the rest of the table, heading out with Ruby in tow, quietly hoping that neither of their partners would murder the other while they were out.

Weiss tossed her hair over her shoulder, still addressing Yang. "What I'm saying is I'm a fencer, and you're a... a..." she searched for the right word.

"Think of it as mixed martial arts," Yang offered with a smile.

The heiress waved her free hand in the air, "whatever. Our styles aren't exactly conducive to not killing each other."

"Hmm, I guess you do have a… point," the brawler snickered at her own joke.

"You could do a no-weapons match?" Jaune suggested, only to be met with a withering glare from Weiss. Going hand-to-hand with Yang? For someone who knew their martial arts, that was only slightly suicidal. For a non-brawler... well... Jaune sank down at his place, "... or you could not."

"Unarmed combat can be an important facet of training," Pyrrha chimed in. "On the off chance that you find yourself disarmed in battle."

"It's tough to be disarmed when your fists are your weapons," Yang winked at Pyrrha, "but it's true though." She looked back to her scowling teammate, pausing for a moment before crossing her arms with a smile. "You know, I could give you a few pointers if you want, Weiss."

The heiress glanced at Yang sidewise, assessing her taller, stronger-built frame. Weiss very seldom met an opponent she had much of a raw, physical advantage over, and in the past her training with Myrtenaster and her glyphs left little room for much else anyway. She speared another fry, "I suppose that could be... interesting. Just don't ask for fencing tips in return."

"No problem. So, I'm gonna take that 'interesting' as a yes then," Yang declared happily, scooping up Blake and Ruby's abandoned plates and placing them atop her own before setting her face in both of her hands and fixing Weiss with an eager stare. She waited impatiently as another fry met its end, mercilessly skewered on the tines of Weiss's fork. "...Eat faster."

"Stop staring. It's rude," Weiss continued to eat one fry at a time, chewing and swallowing before stabbing the next one.

On the other side of the heavy oak table, Jaune glanced between Yang and Weiss and looked at Pyrrha with a silent question: is Weiss going to die?

Pyrrha smiled and shrugged.

The transport ride down to the city of Vale was fairly uneventful. Ruby explored the ship she'd explored a dozen times, people watched, dodged anyone being sick, and stared out the window at the city below.

It was strange being out and about without her cloak. She rubbed her shoulder, missing the familiar weight. There was no way they'd be allowed to go to Forever Fall and hunt for it till they'd fully recovered, if at all. Glynda had stared at her as if she were asking for a trip to candy-cane mountain or something and had suggested finding a new cloak, but it wouldn't be the same.

As the shuttle touched down, she turned to Blake, "So where are we going first? I vote ice cream at some point before we leave- there's a new place close to the Dust shop on Main," she added, fidgeting, "but we don't have to."

"Ice cream..." Blake stared down the busy city streets with a distant smile. "I haven't had that in a very long time. I second this vote." She started to head towards the center of town, motioning for Ruby to follow. "So long as we hit the electronics shop at some point, we can go wherever you want."

"Wait, come this way," Ruby caught Blake's arm and dragged her down a side street, "This way we can hit a couple of Dust-and-Weapons stores, the electronics place, and finish with at the frozen yogurt place. Well, it advertises frozen yogurt, but they have super good regular ice cream too, you know? I mean, frozen yogurt is good too, though."

The sun was high, the pavement was hot. Brick and mortar buildings stood firm along the streets, windows flying colors and banners advertising everything from cheap meals and groceries to jewelry and equipment repair. Vale was busy with the usual coming and going of its citizens- people lingered in open air cafes or stood on the steps at corner stores, shooting the breeze or discussing news.

Ruby found herself trying to watch everything at once. She swung her arms to get out some pent up energy, "It's good to be back in action, huh? Last week felt like years."

Blake matched the girl's cheerful grin with one of her own, following close by as Ruby confidently headed around another twist, another turn, another corner, silver eyes bright. Ruby seemed to know these back roads exceptionally well, and Blake was silently grateful for the unexpected path as she wasn't particularly fond of the crowds that tended to gather on more heavily trafficked streets.

Part of her wondered if Ruby had taken them this way on purpose. That would be just like her. Blake quickened her pace a bit to keep up. It was deeply pleasing to see the younger girl back in high spirits, and the positive energy radiating from her was contagious as always.

Lost as she was in thought, it took Blake a moment to realize she was staring, and that Ruby was now staring back, apparently still waiting for a response. "Oh - yes. We were all pretty out of it on that ridiculous medication." Amber eyes dimmed for only a second before lighting up with mischief. "Do you remember anything at all?"

"It's all kind of mixed up," Ruby ran a hand over her hair, "Was Yang on fire one time? I think I had a dream that her bunk got blown up."

"That... wasn't a dream." A tinge of worry darkened Blake's smile at the memory. She had never seen Yang so panicked, and if there was anything she could do to help prevent it, she never wanted to see it again.

Not wanting to drag Ruby's mood down, Blake changed the subject, rounding on the younger girl with a raised eyebrow. "Does this mean you don't remember tackling Weiss to the floor?"

"Uh..." the spring went out of Ruby's step as she remembered pushing her partner to the ground to throttle her. Sure, she hadn't been in control of her body at the time- not even a little- but the guilt weighed heavy in her chest. She scuffed at the sidewalk, "I, uh..."

"Hey," Blake's voice faltered along with her smile. She cursed herself for apparently picking the wrong subject. "It wasn't that bad. We all did some… unfortunate things while on that medication."

The street wasn't busy, and the way the sun hit the buildings cast half of it in shadow. Ruby shook her head a little, "... remember when we tried that aura healing thing?"

Pipes. Lava. Oily darkness. Soulless evil in the form black flames and serpentine bones hell bent on destruction. Blake frowned at the unbidden memories. She and Yang had spoken at length about the experience. She wondered if Ruby and Weiss had done the same. Her feet subconsciously shifted as she thought, bringing her to stand in the shadows with Ruby. "I do."

The younger girl leaned against a stretch of blank brick wall, rubbing her arm, "I hurt Weiss in there."

Blake hesitated, distressed by the very distress she saw in Ruby. Part of her felt it should really be Yang here right now, maybe even Weiss, but right now it was just her, and she would do her best in their absence. In an effort to emulate the comforting things she'd seen Yang do for others, Blake moved to stand beside Ruby, carefully placing an arm around her shoulders. "...What happened?"

Ruby hadn't really meant to go into a lot of detail but once she started the words all just tumbled out. The dark scythe, the chase through the twisted streets, and the fight in the grove of lamps. By the time she got to the part about biting Weiss and choking her on the ground she'd slid down the wall to sit with her knees drawn up, a sniveling, crying mess.

"She says it wasn't my fault, but I still feel really, really bad, and I don't know what to do."

Blake had slid down the wall alongside her, rubbing slow calming circles across the younger girl's back. The account had stunned her into silence - it was no wonder they had stayed so tight-lipped about the experience - it was worse than she could have imagined. Seeing Yang turn into a dragon had been horrifying, but there was still a sense of otherness about the beast she'd become. She could rationalize that it wasn't her, that the creature trying to kill her had just captured her partner somehow. She couldn't imagine fighting Yang herself, let alone being the one forced into attacking.

Forced. That was the key. Weiss was completely right in saying none of those actions were Ruby's fault, and yet Blake knew all too well that knowledge of your own resistance to actions that ultimately ended up harming others seldom if ever accounted for the crushing guilt that followed.

Gentle arms pulled Ruby into a warm embrace, one hand cradling the back of her head.

"Of course you feel bad... your free will was stripped from you, you were forced to hurt someone you care for and - it's ok to feel bad about that." Blake pulled back, lightly brushing the tear-dampened hair from Ruby's face. "What's not ok is refusing to forgive yourself. Weiss has already forgiven you, hasn't she?"

"I... I dunno," Ruby gave a half-shrug, dropping her gaze. She missed her cloak. If she had it, she could pull the hood up or something instead of just crying in the middle of the street. Blake didn't seem to care, though, so Ruby sat with her and let the older girl brush her hair out of her face. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and trailed her fingertips on the sidewalk, "I keep trying to do stuff to make it up to her, but she doesn't let me. You can't really make up for something like that, I guess. Just she… I mean, I just..." Ruby trailed off miserably.

"You want to repay her somehow," Blake offered quietly. Her brows furrowed as she tried to contemplate Weiss's continued refusal of Ruby's goodwill - many instances she'd witnessed personally, come to think of it. She'd never had an easy time understanding the heiress's thoughts and motivations, and it certainly didn't help that talking to her sometimes made things even more confusing, with how prone she was to denial. Blake reached down to still the hand tracing patterns on the concrete. "Ruby. Have you… spoken to Weiss about any of this?"

The young team leader responded with guilty silence.

"I see..." Blake pulled back, placing her hands in her lap. "Then... that's what you should do. When we get back, go find her, don't let her run." She ducked down slightly, amber eyes searching to meet downcast silver. "If you're going to move past this, you and Weiss are going to have to do it together."

"Yeah…. yeah, you're right," Ruby sniffed wetly. She tried to look away, but Blake caught her eyes. She wiped her face with her sleeve, "Sorry for crying all over you in the middle of town." she sat back, brushing her hands on her combat skirt, "It seemed like you guys were all doing okay, and I just didn't really want to talk about it, you know?" she sighed a frustrated sigh, sitting with crossed legs, hands braced on her ankles. "I guess I'd better figure out what to say to Weiss."

Blake covered one of Ruby's hands with her own. "The best thing you can do is be honest." The distant jingle of door bells caught her ears, bringing curious eyes up to scan the street. She smiled at the source - a colorful, quaint little florist. "Of course, you could always bring her flowers."

Ruby brightened at the idea momentarily, then slipped back into doubt, "I dunno. You saw what happened today when I tried to bring her napkins."

"You can say a lot more with flowers than you can with napkins," Blake replied matter-of-factly. She stood and pulled Ruby to her feet, motioning to the florist with a slight tilt of her head. "It can't hurt to take a look, right?"

"Well..." Ruby glanced at the flower shop. She really wasn't an expert at this sort of thing. "Maybe just a look."

Blake smiled and tugged Ruby towards the small shop by the hand, ready and willing to share her vast expertise in the language of flowers learned from her numerous forays into romantic literature. If there was a flower that could help break the ice, so to speak, she was sure they could find it.

The bell over the door jingled as the two entered the sunny little place and the old man behind the counter called out a greeting.

Ruby waved with her free hand and breathed deep. The air was sweet with flowers; colors burst from every table and shelf in the shop. Nothing drew her eye in particular, though she did tend to gravitate towards the roses. Still, she just wasn't sure.

Ruby's predilection for her namesake didn't go unnoticed. Blake nudged the hesitant girl towards the corner bursting with roses arranged in a vibrant rainbow of just about every shade known to man. "They suit you," she said softly.

"Must be a family thing," Ruby grinned, cupping a white bloom and inhaling. The delicate scent stirred memories she tried not to dwell on too often. She traced the petals with her thumb and looked around at the other flowers. There just... wasn't anything right for Weiss. Her smile faded a little, "I don't know, Blake. This was a good idea and all, but I'm not really feeling it right now. Maybe we could just make that stop at the electronics store instead?"

Blake eyed the room of flowers one last time, briefly considering bringing something back to Weiss herself. "...I don't think I'm feeling flowers either," she eventually agreed. "The electronic store sounds great," she waved apologetically to the man behind the counter as they turned to head out the door. "I was hoping you could help me pick out a new scroll."

"A new scroll?" Ruby followed Blake out the door, back into the open sidewalk, "What happened to your old one?"

"Oh, my scroll is fine." Blake shrugged. "It's for Weiss, actually."

"Oh." then with realization, "Oh..." Ruby balanced on the curb as they walked, placing one foot directly in front of the other, like she was walking on a tightrope, "Because you broke hers in half?" she glanced at Blake, "That was pretty bad. Why do you need my help? Don't they all do kind of the same thing?"

Blake grinned. "Yes, they do, more or less..." she let her sentence trail off as they neared their destination. A small chime sounded as she opened the door and held it for Ruby. "...but we are going to customize this one," she finished with a wink.

Beacon was fitted with a plethora of gyms and practice rooms. Almost any style fighter could find appropriate equipment and space for their training- even those who used more unusual weapons, such as Ruby's scythe, could be accommodated quite easily, should they know where to look.

Weiss naturally hadn't made it a point to visit the same gym as Yang in the past. Not often, anyway. The open floor and the first seven feet or so up the walls were padded with synthetic rubber/foam matting to help break falls without breaking heads. Light angled in through the high, wide windows. A couple of fans turned lazily overhead, stirring the thick smell of sweat and practice that clung to the mats and equipment.

The heiress smoothed the front of her seldom-worn cotton t-shirt. If they were going to be in close quarters, she preferred not getting her fencing gear scorched. Still, short sleeves and pants were hardly her usual attire. She crossed her arms, feeling somewhat indecent while she waited for Yang to finish wrapping her knuckles. "Are you done yet?"

Yang looked up with a neutral expression, flexing her hands and fingers in a practiced pattern. She didn't bother to hide the intensity of her gaze as she appraised the girl standing before her, carefully examining Weiss's every feature, her eye for detail rivaled only by the finest jewelers.

Slight build, excellent posture, sharp eyes, beautiful face. A smile started to creep its way into the brawler's eyes. She couldn't say much for Weiss's personality - she was a blast to tease if nothing else - but she could certainly see why Ruby would be smitten with her by sheer looks alone.

And that was exactly why she needed to speak to Weiss.

Every relationship needed ground rules, and she was going to help lay them out.

A grin lit up Yang's face, the cheerful expression conflicting with the audible cracking of knuckles. Of course, she also had every intention of actually helping Weiss learn unarmed combat as well - anything that could help keep Ruby safe - but there was no reason she couldn't do both at once.

"Yeah, I'm done," she said at long last, her feet sliding across the floor as she spoke. She dropped into a basic fighting stance, glancing around the empty gym before setting her sights back on Weiss. There was no sense trying to teach moves and techniques that the heiress might have already learned. She needed... a small placement test. "Show me what you know!"

Yang launched forward with her final word, throwing a straight right aimed at Weiss's face.

The heiress, already tense and apprehensive following the blonde's scrutiny and slow approach, leapt sideways, "What are you doing, you maniac?! Aren't you supposed to teach me what to do first?"

Her balance was flawless, her fencing stance impeccable, drilled into her over the years; her empty hands were useless, however, open and only partly raised in defense.

"Arms up!" came the split-second reply as Yang twisted, followed closely by a high kick.

Weiss ducked away, retreating across the mat, "How is raising my arms supposed to help me?"

Yang simply smiled, never losing momentum for a second as she sprang forward in a full bodied tackle.

Weiss knew Yang's style. She had watched her before, trained alongside her. Punches and kicks were a given. Weiss knew her reach, even knew how many rounds Ember Celica could fire before needing a reload. A full body tackle, though?

Yang hit Weiss like a ton of bricks, taking her to the floor where the heiress instantly transformed into a small, white-haired personification of the word 'furious'. She tried to yank an arm free, shrieking, "Yang Xiao Long what is wrong with you?!"

Weiss's livid words went in one ear and out the other as Yang calmly shifted backwards to sit straddled on the smaller girl's hips, freeing Weiss's arms, but pinning her to the floor with her full body weight. Weiss twisted and shoved at Yang's legs, trying to wriggle free, but to no avail.

"OK, so I think I've learned everything I need to start." Amethyst eyes stared off into space with a thoughtful expression as the hefty brawler spoke, arms crossed. "Fantastic speed, top notch reaction time, excellent form… for fencing, not as much for hand-to-hand. Definitely not much in the way of weight to throw around," at this, Weiss bucked extra hard, snarling, "but that should be no problem if you can translate your accuracy with a rapier into accuracy with your fists..."

Golden hair slipped from Yang's shoulders in loose tangles as she leaned forward slightly, staring down at her very very unhappy teammate. "You don't seem to take directions very well though, which is unfortunate since I'm supposed to be teaching you."

Weiss sat up as much as she could, attempting to punch the brawler in the stomach. Her position didn't allow her to get a lot of force behind it. "You're supposed to be giving me pointers, not sitting on me in the middle of the gym."

"Woah, hey," Yang caught the fist headed for her torso. "You can stop now-" she grabbed the other fist aimed at her leg. "Weiss, relax. I'm not going to hurt you, jeeze. In fact, I plan on teaching you to avoid injury altogether, but you're going to hurt yourself if you keep squirming like that. Besides," she winked, giving Weiss's hands a quick squeeze before releasing them, "Ruby would punch me right in the face if I harmed a single hair on your head."

When Yang let her go, Weiss propped herself back on the mat, scowling, breathing hard. Somewhat red in the face, she demanded, "And what exactly do you mean by that?

"Oh come on Weiss, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's not like it's some huge secret my baby sis is completely smitten with you – you know she compared you to cookies? Cookies, Weiss!" Yang threw her arms in the air for emphasis. "The only other thing she's ever compared to cookies is Crescent Rose."

"Oh, wow, so I'm on the level of baked goods and inanimate objects? Things must be serious," Weiss rolled her eyes and renewed her struggle to get out from under the brawler.

"It is serious! Ruby can be very enthusiastic about people she likes and - Weiss, for the love of, stop, you're doing it all wrong." Yang reached back to grasp the legs flailing around behind her. "Knees up - plant your feet firmly on the floor," she gently hooked one of Weiss's feet around her own, "make sure you have one of my legs trapped..." The brawler leaned forward suddenly, bringing their faces inches apart to better study the blue eyes glaring daggers up at her. "There's no need to hide things from me you know - you two have my blessing."

The heiress flushed crimson and shoved Yang with all her strength, utilizing her new-found leverage.

The brawler pitched forward, rolling away and up into a crouch. "That's the spirit, Weiss!" She whirled around to smile at her escaped opponent. "You learn quick." Her eyes narrowed in an expression somewhere between playful and intimidating. "I taught that same technique to Ruby. Not that she'll ever have to use it, I trust."

Weiss regained her feet and backed away, her right hand readying a glyph. She intended to stay very far out of the brawler's reach from now on. "Yang, stop for a second. Do you honestly believe that I have romantic intentions towards your fifteen year old sister?"

"Uh, yes? I'm not blind, Weiss. Don't think I miss the way you look at her. You may think you're being discreet, but even Jaune can see how happy she makes you." Yang paused, looking thoughtful. "Which... is probably why he's stopped coming after you, actually."

"The way I look at her?" Weiss recoiled, dropping her glyph entirely. "I do not 'look' at Ruby. And what does that blond idiot have to do with anything? Maybe he just finally got the message that I'm not interested. Did you think of that?"

Yang rose to her feet, brushing herself off as she laughed off the heiress's denial. "Jeez, don't get all defensive. It's ok, I understand, my little sis is the pretty much the cutest in the world, after all. Irresistibly cute!" She settled back into a light footed boxing stance, slowly advancing as she continued, "Which is why we need to set some ground rules, Weiss."

"What? No. Are you even listening to me?" Weiss felt her heart pick up its pace as Yang continued her approach. She gave ground, keeping distance between them and snapping, "I don't need ground rules. I don't even know why we're talking about this. Just because you have some deluded notion that I'm infatuated with your sister-"

"Rule number one," Yang cut her off, picking up the pace of her approach. "Everything past first base is strictly off limits."

"First base?" This was ridiculous. She couldn't just keep running—there had to be a way to make Yang listen. Weiss stopped on the mat, bristling more and more as the brawler closed the gap between them. She took a breath, bracing to face her larger, stronger teammate, "Yang, stop so we can get this figured out. You're completely mistaken."

Yang came to a stop right inside Weiss's guard, amethyst eyes boring into defiant blue, impressed that her naturally evasive teammate was holding her ground. "All right then Weiss." She held her stance, allowing the heiress to decide her own fate with whatever her next response was. "What am I mistaken about?"

Weiss hesitated, sensing that she should choose her words with care. "Ruby is my partner here at Beacon. We're teammates. Nothing else."

A clear internal war danced behind Yang's eyes even as they narrowed in suspicion. She held Weiss's icy blue gaze in silence, broken at last by a soft sigh from the brawler as she stood straight, dropping her stance entirely. She stared a moment longer, mulling over each word before she spoke.

"Just make absolutely sure you keep rule number two." Heavy hands gripped the heiress's shoulders. "Never make Ruby cry. Promise me that much, Weiss."

Weiss's gaze wavered. She kept her shoulders square even as she looked away. Her voice lost its edge, "We're not dating, Yang."

"...Wrong answer." In the blink of an eye, Yang's arms moved, snaking around Weiss and yanking her down into an ironclad headlock.

"Hey-!" Weiss tried to jerk out of Yang's grip only to find herself spun backwards and trapped with the brawler's arm around her throat. She dug her nails into Yang's skin, squirming and thrashing to escape the hold, "Let go. Let go, you-"

"Denial won't get you anywhere, Weiss~" Yang held fast, smiling through the sharp pricks of pain in her arm as she leaned down to speak into Weiss's ear. "Rule number two is non-negotiable."

The heiress twisted, swinging one arm back to try to hit Yang in the stomach or the face or anything really, all the while spitting threats and insults. "You're insane. You're out of your mind. There's nothing between me and Ruby, and she's such a child how could anyone even attempt to promise not to make her cry? She probably cries in her sleep for no reason. Now get off of me, you psychotic moron!"

Yang's smile wavered for only a second, when she took a wild elbow to the eye - Weiss was accurate even when she wasn't trying. She blinked a few times, took a deep breath, and loosened her hold ever so slightly, just enough to keep her unruly captive from strangling herself if she struggled too much.

"You're lucky I like you, Weiss," the brawler's voice came out strained, her attempt at a lighthearted tone failing miserably as flames began to spark and swirl around them. "But we're going to have problems if you keep insulting Ruby like that."

"Problems? Oh, that would be just horrible because clearly we aren't having any problems right now," Weiss struggled to right herself in Yang's hold, "I swear, Yang Xiao Long, if you don't let me go..."

"If I don't let you go..." Yang suddenly shifted her hold, dropping her arms from Weiss's neck to wrap around her middle in a steely bearhug, pinning the heiress's own dangerously accurate flailing arms to her sides. "...then you can't run." The words carried no malice - spoken gently as simple fact rather than as a threat - despite the small flickering flames that continued to dance around the arms encircling Weiss.

The fire was getting to be somewhat alarming. The heiress's voice rose as she fought to get away from the heat, "Yang. Yang, stop. Stop."

Her right hand formed the shape of one of her glyphs.

The slight edge of panic in Weiss's voice caught Yang off guard, snuffing out her flames in an instant. She stepped back, releasing the smaller girl from her arms, but grabbing the wrist of the hand forming a glyph. "Sorry Weiss," she rubbed the back of her head, looking around at the empty gym to avoid the icy glare aimed in her direction, "I can get a bit carried away when it comes to my little sister."

"I meant what I said earlier though-" she added quickly, finally locking eyes with the small bundle of fury trying to stare her down, "I'm not out to hurt you or anything." She smiled as she spoke, pausing to wipe a stray trickle of blood from a cut on the eyelid that suffered the blow from Weiss's elbow.

"That would be a lot easier to believe if you weren't constantly manhandling me," The heiress shot, holding her glyph just in case, though it would be hard to use with her wrist trapped in Yang's vice of a grip.

"Technically it's womanhandling," Yang shot back with a wink. "Seriously though, I'm trying to show you hand-to-hand combat, of course I'm going to be up close and personal. What did you expect?"

"Instructions maybe?" Weiss hauled at Yang's grip, trying to break free, "Look, either way, I'm done. I need to go to go take a shower."

"Instructions? I gave you instructions but you didn't listen! You just questioned them - who even does that in the middle of a fight?"

"Well excuse me if I question someone who tells me to deal with a kick likely to send me across the room by putting my arms up," the heiress switched tactics, prying at the hand around her wrist with her free one.

"Weiss, you wound me," Yang put a hand to her heart - the other holding fast against prying fingers. "I wasn't going full force! Did you really think I was going to kick you across the room? What do you think I am, some kind of barbarian? ...Actually, don't answer that one."

Weiss didn't. Instead, she snarled, "Let. Go."

Yang frowned. "But I've only taught you one move. And you haven't agreed to any of the Rules. There are - well there's really just the two. Easier to remember."

"Oh for Dust's sake," the fencer jerked her hand again, then paused, hitting upon sudden inspiration, "If I refuse to agree to your 'rules', will you forbid me to go out with your sister?"

The brawler's frown darkened into a glower. "Straight up refusing the ground rules would make me… unhappy, to put it lightly. But, that's not the point. I'm not my sister's lord and master," the glower melted into a wink and smile, "even I can't keep Ruby from what she wants."

Yang brushed a few strands of gold from her face, dropping a pensive gaze to the padded floor as she continued, "The point is, those rules are in place because I want to make sure Ruby doesn't get hurt, plain and simple," her eyes traveled up to the pale hand currently in her grasp, "and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one here who wants that."

Finally, piercing amethyst locked with blue, "You know, Weiss, everyone might call you an ice queen, and you might act the part very well, but the thing about ice is... you can see right through it."

"No you can't. That's glass," another futile jerk of her arm, another scathing glare that lost its intensity and slid to the floor, "She's my teammate. It's not like I would try to hurt her."

Yang arched an eyebrow. "That's... as good as I'm going to get from you isn't it?" She searched the heiress with hard eyes, spacing out entirely as she slipped into thought.

After a moment, she blinked back to reality. "Well, all right then, close enough." Wordlessly, she pulled Weiss in for one last hug before releasing her with a smile. "I can still teach you a few moves if you want. I'll even give you instructions," she added with a sly wink.

Weiss fixed the brawler with an icy glare, brushing her messed-up white hair back over her shoulder. "You're incorrigible."

The heiress turned on her heel without another word, leaving the mat and collect her school uniform on her way to the showers.

Yang stood with her arms crossed, watching the perfectly clean and not sweaty heiress storm off. She recognized this maneuver - one of Weiss's many classic avoidance techniques – the patented "just walk away".

In a show of good will, Yang resisted any further teasing and went to grab her own pile of discarded school clothes. She smiled when she saw her scroll blinking. There was a new message.

Yang,

Don't be jealous, but Ruby and I are eating ice cream. Custom decals were a go – mission success. Ruby's design came out beautifully.

We will head back soon.

- Blake

PS. Give Ruby a big hug when she gets back. She's had a tough time. I'll tell you about it later.

A grin spread across Yang's face, only to be quickly replaced with a frown once she reached the postscript. If her little sister needed hugs, she would make sure she was right there and ready to give them immediately. School uniform securely in hand, Yang shot one last stealthy glance at Weiss before leaving to head back to the dorm to wait for the other half of her team to return.