Dedication: This chapter was supposed to come out next week, but I'm posting it today, June 22, 2015 because it's a special day for one that now watches all of us from on high. A birthday chapter for a Monty Oum's birthday. :) I hope you all like how this turns out. So without further ado, let the party begin.

Umbra was in his element, planning with him was like playing Remnant: The Game only without the impending strategic element of attacking an opponent. The fact that he had Coco Adel of Team CFVY helping him with the decorating and placement of the essentials made it twice as easy as it would have been. Cypress and Ashe were being watched by Velvet and Penny, who got along quite well in spite of Ruby's worry. Ruby herself was grabbing the less delicate lightweight decorations and handing them off where they needed to go. Yang and Yatsuhashi were making light work of the heavier décor as they placed things where Coco and Umbra instructed. Redwood, Sycamore, and Ivy were helping Blake with hanging streamers and plant placement. Ferrina and Pyrrha had been bringing the food in and had instructed Jaune to stand guard over the food table. In order to keep Nora from wolfing down the buffet, Ferrina had given him a wooden spoon to keep the redhead at bay. Luna was assisting with the drinks, while Ren had decided to take things easy and keep Nora busy so she wouldn't give Jaune any trouble. Fox, Sun, Sage, Scarlet, and Neptune were busy arguing with each other over the cake.

A sudden opening of the ballroom doors followed by the presence of Telephe and her team, "Sorry to barge in like this," the Faunus girl said, "I was told this is where Rowan and Weiss' birthday celebration would be."

"Yup," Ruby said, "and you are?"

"Whoops," Telephe said shyly, "where are my manners? I'm T…" She was cut off.

"Telephe Phoen," Pyrrha said with a look of shock on her face.

Ruby and everyone except Umbra and Coco turned their attention to Telephe and her team, "Oh, hi Pyrrha," the bird Faunus said rather nervously, "it's good to see you again."

"Yes," the warrior girl said with a smile. "And, thank goodness it's not on the combat stage this time."

"Are you going to introduce us, Telephe?" one of her teammates asked.

"Right, this is the rest of Team PHNX," Telephe said, "Hyacinth Lazuli, Nestur Marine, and Hyacinth's twin brother, Xenokles."

"Hiya," Ruby said, "I'm Ruby Rose, that's my older sister Yang Xiao Long, and these are," she cleared her throat as she started rattling off her friends and teammates, "Blake Belladonna, Velvet Scarletina, Penny, Cypress and Ashe Whitemane." The girls and Faunus children waved, "Over there, is Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie."

"Hi~!" Nora sang out as Ren waved.

"The ones over there looking everything over are Coco Adel and Umbra Obsidia." Ruby continued.

"Hey there, dudes and dudettes, welcome to the decorating party," Umbra greeted as Coco coolly shot them a wave of the hand.

"The guys over there fighting near the cake are Sun, Neptune, Sage, and Scarlet…" Ruby said.

"And the one getting annoyed over the subject of the argument is named Fox Alistair." Fox chimed in, "and would you knuckleheads just give it a rest?" He shot at the team of bickering buffoons, "Who cares if the color of the frosting is sky blue instead of ice blue?"

"The one who will have to discuss it with Weiss later, thank you," Scarlet pestered.

"You are such a nerd when it comes to color," Sun teased.

"Says the one who prefers baring his torso to the world," Neptune said.

"Careful where you tread bro," Sage said crossing his arm.

"Would you four just shut up and make yourselves useful," Coco said, "got look and see if we forgot anything."

"Anyway," Ruby said, "the ones helping with the plant work are Rowan's older siblings, Sycamore and Ivy. The man with the red hair help Yang is their father, Mr. Redwood. The ones over girl in the pink and purple is Luna L'Amour. And the big guy in the green armor is Yatsuhashi. And the girl in the black armor is Ferrina Ochre."

Telephe was shocked, "I never expected to see the Atlesean Juggernaut here." She said, "No offense intended, Ferrina. I'm glad to see you here, as well." She smiled.

"Good to see you too, Telephe," Ferrina said, "good to see you when you're not trying to barbecue me in the arena."

"I got a little carried away that time, sorry." Telephe recoiled blushing with embarrassment.

"That seems to happen a lot, Firebird," Xenokles teased.

"Xeno," Hyacinth said, "be nice."

Nestur laughed, "Telephe's never blushed this shade of red before." He snickered.

Ruby looked at them and said, "Would you like to help put the finishing touched on the party while I go look for the guests of honor?"

"Certainly," Telephe replied, "It looks like you're nearly done though. Hurry along, we'll take care of things here."

Ruby zipped away using her semblance and team PHNX set to work with helping with the finishing touches under Umbra and Coco's instruction.

Rowan and Weiss had been sleeping for a good forty-five minutes. The sound of Weiss' scroll ringing woke both of them up. They got up and smiled at each other as Weiss answered the call, "Good timing, Ruby," Weiss said as she stretched herself out, "is it time for our surprise?"

"They're finishing things up, that girl Telephe Phoen is there helping us too." Ruby said, "Where are you guys?"

"Wait for us by the eastern wall," Weiss said, "we'll be there shortly."

"Huh," Ruby questioned, "why are you two…" she was cut off."

"See you in a few minutes, Ruby." Weiss teased as she hung up, "Of course they'd send that dolt," she smiled.

"Her semblance does make her the perfect huntress for the job. You can't blame them for exploiting that." Rowan replied. He stood up as Weiss put on her boots and her bolero jacket. When the heiress had finished redressing the Faunus boy held out his hand and helped her up. When she was on her feet Rowan embraced Weiss and kissed her on the lips getting a squeak of surprise out of her that faded into sigh of passion. They came out of the kiss and walked back to the hole in the eastern wall that led to their hideaway. They spotted Ruby waving them over and made their way to her.

"Nice to see the two of you looking relaxed," the young huntress said, "did you do anything special?"

"Not really," Weiss said with a hint of blush on her face, "We just relaxed a little bit for forty-five minutes or so."

"Any kissing," Ruby asked, "I want to ask because I know Yang is bound to."

"There was kissing, too," Rowan replied when he saw how red Weiss' face had gotten, "but not too much."

"Aww," Ruby swooned, "the two of you are going to love what's coming, follow me, please." She led the young in the direction of the ballroom. All three of them had a smile on their face, eagerly awaiting what was coming to be.

"Alrighty, ladies, lads, 'n' gents," Umbra said clapping his hands, "we're all set. Get in position. Yang hit the lights and wait at the main entrance as planned."

"Aye aye, Cap'n Obsidia," Yang said as she waited for everyone to get in position and turned off the lights. She carefully walked outside and waited for Ruby and the guests of honor. She started getting a little bored after about five minutes or so. "Ugh, come on Ruby, I'm really wanting to try out some of the food, maybe dance a little." She huffed.

After another three minutes of waiting, Ruby, Weiss, and Rowan all walked up to the blonde brawler with Ruby curious, "Hey sis," she said, "were you waiting long?"

"Only eight of the most boring minutes of my time here at Beacon so far," Yang replied gently nudging Ruby's arm, "Why didn't you hurry and get them here? They were probably napping under a tree somewhere. Cuddled up like a couple of young lovebirds."

"I've asked them where they were, like three times now," Ruby came back, "they just said it's a secret rendezvous point."

"Ah, the old romantic rendezvous gift," Yang said, "Good choice, Ice Queen." Yang looked at the envelopes the heiress had clutched in her hand, "And I take it those are Rowan's gift to you?"

"Yes," Weiss swooned holding the letters close to her heart, "without a doubt the best gift I've ever received." She blushed, "Along with a little relaxing under a tree and, as you said… cuddling… and… a kiss… or two…" her blush intensified, "…or several."

"Ooh~," Yang grinned slyly, "Nice work on going that route." The brawler noticed how she'd made the heiress so red it was uncomfortable and figured it was time to ease up. "Well, come on in, there are a lot more great gifts for each of you inside," she added as she and Ruby led the couple into the dark ballroom.

Weiss clutched her letters in anticipation and was completely in awe when Yang turned on the lights. She saw the setup and uttered only one word in a low whisper, "Perfection."

"SURPRISE," Their friends exclaimed as they emerged from their hiding places, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

"And there we have it," Umbra said, "one Obsidian Special, guaranteed to blow the minds of the guests of honor away."

Weiss was indeed blown away at the easy going huntsman's work, she looked around and saw the immaculate ballroom done over in white, light pink, ice blue, with emerald green splashed hither and yon for accent pieces. The young heiress then turned to Rowan, whose face was less agasp at the splendor of the fruits of Umbra and company's labor. How can he be so calm and laid back at something so beautiful? The heiress asked in her head, Then again, Umbra is Rowan's teammate, I'm sure he's seen set ups like this many times in the past.

"I take from your lack of words that you're pleased with our results?" Umbra asked finally breaking the silence.

Rowan was the first to speak, "Umbra, my friend, you've definitely your past performances as a party planner."

"And we helped." Ashe chirped.

Rowan laughed to himself, "You certainly did, little sis." He sauntered in with a grin on his face. "What's first on the agenda though?" He observed the whole room to see what there was. There was a modest DJ system, but he probably no slow dance appropriate music, We can improvise, he thought. He looked at the refreshments table. It was all good, and suitable for both of them. No high amounts of caffeine, no extreme amounts of sugar, plenty of red meat, and a good variety of fresh fruit and vegetables. Rowan looked to Ruby and saw her eyes darting back and forth to the strawberries and cookies, Poor kid's gonna go nuts when we say let's eat. He chortled in his head. He then made a look over to brightly colored bags stuffed with tissue paper of differing colors, neatly wrapped packages, and a small wrapped jar with a pink and purple ribbon and a purple kitten silhouette on the corked lid, Oh, Luna, you should warn the recipient of the contents of this. The Faunus boy thought. "Well, Weiss," He said to the heiress, "is the décor to your liking?"

"I-I don't know what to say." Weiss replied.

"A nice thank you will be a good start," Coco said, "after all we've been putting all of this together the past few days."

"What my leader means to say," Yatsuhashi stepped in hoping to take the sting off the fashionista's seemingly harsh tone, "is that we may want to get things started, right, Miss Velvet?"

"Right, Yatsu," The rabbit Faunus replied, "We should start things off."

"Didn't I hear a certain blonde say that a couple's dance should be the first order of business?" Ferrina asked.

"That's what I heard," Fox chimed in, "right guys?" he asked team SSSN.

"Oh yeah," Sage said.

"Definitely," Sun laughed.

"Yang's words exactly." Scarlet added.

"The majority does not lie." Neptune quipped.

"Nerd," Sun, Sage, and Scarlet exclaimed in unison.

"That's intellectual, thank you." Neptune said.

"Not really helping to disprove them, dude," Fox said observantly. Neptune just shrugged it off with a little scowl on his face.

Penny walked up to the DJ station and selected something Rowan did not expect, a song that the couple could dance to at a reasonable pace, "I believe this is worth of a first dance." She said.

It was a song that Rowan and Weiss had heard many times called Dream Come True, a song that fit Rowan and Weiss' relationship almost perfectly. "May I have this dance, princess?" Rowan bowed as he extended his right hand.

"I would be honored, my wolf." Weiss replied as she accepted his hand. They danced at a moderate pace for four minutes. To the heiress' surprise Rowan's dancing footwork made her feel like she was flying on her feet. She loved feeling weightless on the dance floor. She felt like the wind Rowan twirled her. When Rowan held her close at the end of the twirls Weiss felt time stop. At the end of the dance, Rowan ended the routine with Weiss in a dip, his face inches from hers. Weiss felt her heart beat accelerate and her body go almost numb, she was still getting used to the fact that she was in love with Rowan. Here she was, an heiress whose name alone made her net worth equivalent to one million lien easy, trained in singing with voice of an angel. She could easily dance with the most graceful ballet starlets, duel with the quickest fencers, and was proficient at representing her family's name at social gatherings. The one thing that perplexed her was how a Faunus like Rowan could catch her like this. He wasn't of noble blood. His past had been one of shyness and pushing himself to the limit, and finding places away from the public eye to read and slip the heiress modest tokens of affection. She figured out what quality Rowan possessed that separated him from the other boys that her father had tried to introduce her to over the years. It was that he was only interested in her and making sure she was safe from any kind of harm.

The few seconds the heiress hung in Rowan's arms felt like eternity. The young woman stared deeply into the emerald eyes of her lover and wished for their faces to close the distance and lips to make contact. But these thoughts were dashed by the sound of their friends clapping for their marvelous performance. Weiss simply opened her arms and hugged Rowan tightly, "You dance divinely, Rowan," she whispered into the young Faunus' ear.

"Would you think less of me if I told you I just winged it?" Rowan asked.

The heiress simply gave her dance partner a light peck on his cheek, "No," She chuckled, "That's one of the many reasons why I love you."

"Aww," Ruby and Yang cooed in unison.

"They're such a beautiful couple," Telephe smiled.

"They really are," Coco smirked.

Ivy couldn't stop tears of joy from falling, "They are so precious." She said.

"They are really cut together," Blake agreed.

The rest of Teams RWBY, CFVY, SSSN, JNPR, WULF, and PHNX couldn't help but like what they saw. "I think they look absolutely spectacular together," Penny piped up, "that is why I chose this song; I felt it fit their feelings for each other perfectly."

"That's a very profound reason, Miss…" Redwood said.

"My name is Penny, Sir." The redhead said.

"…Penny," Redwood finished, "and I'm glad that you all are supportive of my son and the lovely Miss Schnee." He motioned to Umbra who nodded to Fox and Team SSSN, "I believe that the ceremonial commencement of these festivities shall best be enjoyed as many have in the past and will for millennia to come, "He paused and picked up knife from the cart where the cake lay and handed it to the birthday couple, "and that is with cake, refreshments of both varieties, and fun and comradery. And as is tradition in the Whitemane family, the first piece or pieces of cake are to be cut by the guests of honor." He smiled to both of them.

Rowan and Weiss blushed a little and carefully carved two well sized pieces of cake for themselves. Rowan looked at his father and asked, "Are we supposed to shove the cake in the face of our fellow receipt? Or is that for weddings only?" The question raised some laughs from the audience.

"That's for weddings only, Rowan," Weiss laughed as she took a dab of frosting on her index finger and blotted it on the wolf Faunus' nose playfully and then kissed the frosting off.

Rowan was the one breathless this time, "That's a nice shade of blush on you, Rowan," Sycamore said.

"Aww, that was so cute~," Ivy added, "Rowan you're shy streak may as well be considered broken."

"You try not blushing when your girlfriend nips frosting off your nose," Rowan said.

"You wook siwwy, big bruvver," Ashe said getting a few giggles from the crowd.

"Enough talking," Yang said, "Penny, put the playlist on shuffle. It's party time!"

With that, Penny saluted Yang and pressed the shuffle button and the partygoers began dancing, eating, and socializing. Velvet watched Ashe while Cypress asked Ruby if she wanted to dance. The young wolf Faunus was hard to say no to when he offered a couple of strawberries and a cookie with a glass of milk to the scythe wielder. At the end of the dance, Cy blushed a little and was rewarded with a hug from the cookie craving huntress.

Nora and Luna were bonding a bit having a conversation in sign language with Ren, smiling and getting Nora used to the second part of her lessons into her routine. The redhead was happy that she was getting close to Ren but even happier that she was being helped by Luna. It warmed her heart knowing that she didn't have to deal with her situation alone. She loved her friends, and she loved a certain cat Faunus for promising to stick with her through this. Ren looked at how happy Nora was with Luna, and felt unspeakably happy that his friend had found someone else to be close to. It became clear that Luna returned Nora's feelings for her when the cat Faunus hugged the redhead berserker tightly.

Yang had started talking with Yatsuhashi. The armored giant was not used to someone like Yang, curved, loud, assertive, and outwardly flirtatious talking to him. He was used to quiet, shy Velvet and quiet yet direct Coco. Yang was an entirely new experience, but as she stayed around him she lightened up and got softer. Less flirting and more willing to slow down and get to know the giant swordsman. They hit it off pretty well and Yang even got asked by him if she wanted to hang out, "Hmm, okay, as friends, I promise to behave myself." She gave her sweetest smile which was returned by Yatsuhashi's best smile.

Telephe and her team hit it off with the rest of the group. The phoenix Faunus actually made a friend of little Ashe, "Don't be scared, little one," she said gently, "my name's Telephe, what's yours?"

"Ashe," the timid wolf Faunus responded quietly.

"That's a beautiful name," Telephe said taking a seat, "how old are you?" the wolf child held up five fingers, "Five years old, you're practically grown up." The young woman smiled warmly. "You know, when I was your age, I was already training to be a huntress." Ashe's ears perked up, "I was scared at first, but I never let my doubt bet the better of me."

Velvet looked at the phoenix girl quizzically, "You seem like you were strong when you were young." She said.

"I was far from strong," Telephe said, "but that didn't stop me from wanting to see how strong I could be." She said with a smile, "And I've shown my strength many times to many people. But strength isn't anything if you don't show restraint or your peaceful side."

Velvet and Ashe warmed up to the phoenix girl after that statement. Ashe even hugged her as tightly as she could, "My you're a tough little angel, aren't you Ashe?" Telephe chuckled.

"Only because she likes you," Ivy replied, "hi, I'm her big sister, Ivy."

"Telephe," the phoenix girl said shaking Ivy's hand, "nice to meet you as well. You're little sister certainly looks like she's got a bright future."

"Thank you, Miss Tewephuh," Ashe said.

"I love it when she gets attached to new people," I vy said.

"And I like making new friends," Telephe said, "Alright, Ashe," the little wolf Faunus' soft green eyes met the phoenix girl's deep blue eyes, "I'm going to hand you back to Miss Velvet, okay sweetie?" The wolf Faunus nodded. Telephe gently handed her over to the rabbit Faunus, "So, what do you think of Weiss, Ashe?"

"She's pwetty," Ashe replied in a soft voice.

"Yes, she is," Ivy said, "and sweet too."

"She used to have a negative opinion of Faunus," Velvet said, "but I think she has changed her mind about us by working with my team. She's done a few things that have helped the Faunus community here in Vale, her team even volunteered to help feed people at a soup kitchen a few weeks ago." This earned a smile on each of the girls' faces, "And now that she's dating the son of a Faunus-Human relations advocate. That should be what she needs to separate herself from the Schnee Dust Company. Is there an ulterior motive to her relationship with Rowan?"

Ivy looked over to Weiss and Rowan and saw them laughing with Coco and Umbra. Ivy paid extra attention to how the couple acted toward each other, "From what I see, and judging how well I know my little brother, there's no ulterior motive, nor is there any desire for personal gain from Weiss' side of the relationship." The other two young women looked at the older wolf girl questioningly, "Trust me, I've asked Rowan if any girl has caught his interest, he said only one girl caught his interest. He described her as white hair, perfect ice blue eyes, elegant and graceful above all others, and the very picture of beauty."

"He called her a pwincess too," Ashe piped up. The girls giggled in agreeance that description of Weiss was fitting for her.

After about an hour, Ruby looked over at the gifts, "When are you going to open your gifts?" the scarlet huntress asked.

"I think now seems like a good a time as any." Rowan said.

"Hmm," Weiss thought, "I don't see why not." She smiled.

Ruby wasted no time. She rocketed down picked her gifts out each of them in red bags with a small silver rose on it. "This is from me." She said.

The couple laughed at this as if to say, "We know," as they accepted the bags. They took out the black tissue paper and pulled out their gifts.

Weiss was almost surprised at what she'd received from her usually childish team leader. It was a silver heart-shaped locket with Rowan's picture inside. "Ruby," Weiss said in shock, "I love it, thank you." She stepped forward and hugged her leader tightly.

Rowan smiled as he pulled out his gift, it was a circular locket with Weiss' picture in it. "Come here you two," he said grabbing the two huntresses in training in a big hug and lifted them into the air. He planted a kiss on Weiss' cheek first and then Ruby's.

Both of the girls, when the wolf Faunus released them, blushed but couldn't help but start laughing, "Payback time," Weiss said as she gave the young wolf a big kiss on the lips. Ruby looked at Weiss who nodded with approval. With the heiress' permission placed a light kiss on the wolf Faunus' cheek. "Consider that a gift from me to you, Ruby." The heiress said earning another quick hug from the scarlet huntress.

"I think we're next," Pyrrha said, "this gift is from the four of us." She motioned Ren and Jaune to bring over a large box and placed it on the ground in front of the couple.

"Rowan, Ice Queen," Jaune said getting an eyebrow raise from the wolf Faunus. The blonde knight could have sworn Rowan's eyes went a piercing mixture of white and steel-blue that shot to his very soul, "m-may I, err… present our gift." He said as he and Ren lifted the gigantic lid from the box revealing a number of repair tools and ammo for the frost wolf couple.

"We spent a little bit of time trying to figure out what to get you," Nora said, "but we made due with a few weapon maintenance thingies courtesy of From Dust 'til Dawn. Complete with a complimentary gift coupon for half-off your next purchase." She grinned from ear-to-ear at the smiles on the recipients' faces.

"That was a very thoughtful gift, guys," Rowan said, "is that a titanium infused platinum stag brand bowstring with peep sight?"

"'Capable of a one hundred pound pull back,' and it deals a lot of punishment when used in an aura bow like yours Rowan." Nora said as Ren signed, "'it should cut down the release-to-loose ratio of your bow quite significantly.' Whew, that was a mouthful, even for you, Ren." The redhead wiped her brow.

"And we got Weiss a couple of speed loaders," Jaune said, "Those were Pyrrha's idea."

"Thank you all so much," Weiss said.

"My gift is next," Coco said handing a brown bag to each of them.

The couple reached into their respective bag and pulled out a new outfit. Rowan's was a charcoal gray suit which went perfectly with his cabby hat, complete with a pair of black dress shoes. Weiss' gift was a beautiful white gown with an ice blue bow on the back and a pair of silver stiletto shoes. "Coco, it's beautiful." Weiss said.

"I have a feeling this is will come in handy for later." Rowan said.

"Consider it collaboration with Yang and Blake's gift." The fashionista lowered her sunglasses and shot the couple a wink and a smirk.

"And here's our gift." Yang said as she and Blake each held out a small box.

The couple each accepted the small festive looking boxes and opened them. Inside each box was a gift card for fifty lien to one of the best restaurants in Vale. "It was Coco's idea." Blake said, "She said that it's not too formal and that it is very accepting of Faunus/human couples. So we thought you two would enjoy a dinner date there soon."

"Just drop my name by the man at the door." Coco said, "I'm in there often enough that my friends can get a good meal without a reservation."

Wow, Rowan thought, she must be pretty incredible to be a regular at this place. I've heard you need to call a month in advance to get on the waiting list. "Thanks, you three really have thought this gift through."

"We figured since you two were a couple it would be a good idea to support you as best we can." Yang said.

The next gift was from Rowan's older siblings. For Weiss, a green earthen picture frame with a photo of Rowan in it. The heiress was so emotional that she hugged it to her chest and smiled, "Thank you," she said.

Rowan's gift was a dust tempered crystal frame with the edges made to look like a snowflake with Weiss' photo in it, "Have I ever said that you two are the best older siblings, ever?" He asked with a goofy smile on his face.

"You may have mentioned that a couple of times over the years," Sycamore said.

"You've told me more than Sycamore though," Ivy giggled.

"What's that supposed to mean," Sycamore growled.

"Children!" Redwood said.

"Sorry, dad." The twins said.

"You've gotta love these family moments," Rowan said feeling glad it wasn't him that his father was setting the disciplinary tone with.

"Um," Velvet said nervously, "I guess it's time for my gift." She held out a small box, "Since I don't know you very well Rowan, I decided to get this gift based on what your brother told me about you. I also got some input from your sister." She started quivering, "I h-hope you like it."

Rowan accepted the rabbit Faunus' gift. In the box with a small copper pendant in the shape of a wolf on a combat-grade micro link chain, "I'd say you were told the right things, Velvet." The wolf Faunus said.

"I took the liberty of making Weiss' gift," Yatsuhashi said, "it's something that took me all of twelve hours of painstaking work to make." He brought forth a carefully wrapped package and presented it to the heiress with a respectful bow.

The package was significantly heavy, "Let me open this on a table." Weiss said.

"I think that would be best," Yatsuhashi said, "considering how heavy the contents are."

The heiress set the package on the table and carefully removed the wrapping paper. Inside was a moonstone wolf sculpture. Weiss inspected the detail of the carving, upon her close observation she saw a collar on the wolf's neck, and on the amulet on was Weiss' family crest, "Yatsuhashi," She said, "Thank you so much, I love it."

"I am glad you like it." The armored giant bowed.

"It reminds me of…" Weiss said looking over her shoulder and blushing slightly, "… a certain someone."

"Our gift is next," Sun said as Neptune, Scarlet, and Sage brought out their large box, "now we're not sure how Rowan's gonna like it, but Scarlet and Neptune wouldn't shut up about how much you'd like it, Ice Queen…" Rowan shot the same steel-blue and white eyes he'd used on Jaune, "…err, I mean Weiss." The monkey Faunus pictured what was really staring at him, a large wolf made of ice with pure white eyes and razor sharp teeth. Sun stumbled a little, but picked himself up and opened the box. "We decided based on what Ruby told us about your last mission, so we pooled some funds and bought these for you."

It was the book series that Ruby had been talking about, the Hemlock Doyle detective series. Weiss looked at the classically hard cover books. She remembered how Rowan and Ruby had spoken so highly of them and decided to take their advice, "Looks like I've got some reading to do before bed for the next few weeks." She sighed hopefully.

"You won't be disappointed with these books, princess." Rowan said, "They'll make you never want to put them down."

"Rowan's right," Blake piped up, "I picked up the first Hemlock Doyle book and was unable to put it down."

"Blake's right," Sun said, "I mean, I'm not much into reading, but those book were impossible to put down."

Neptune looked at Rowan, "So, we had quite a bit of money left over, and we decided to get you this." He held out another box, "We had to ask Umbra about what you were interested in, and I thought this could be something you could put to good use. So, from us to you, here ya go."

Rowan grinned as he accepted the gift. In the small box was a detachable fiber optic sight for his bow. "Yeah, the maximum range for that sight is up to one hundred fifty meters. Pretty effective for that ice shard attack or those explosive ice-fireballs you like to use." Sage said. "And best part is, we made sure it could fold up with your bow when it goes compact."

"You know," Rowan said, "I've been looking for one of these for a couple of years, and never could find one in any weapon and parts shop."

"Well, maybe you didn't look around Vale's archery accessory store, Sherwood Outfitters." Scarlet said, "I know a few people who turned me to that place, when Sun came up with the suggestion."

"That would explain it," Rowan said, "I'll attach it later in the dorm."

"You don't keep your weapon in the lockers?" Blake asked.

"It's small enough that he doesn't need to worry about that," Umbra said.

"Máthair Mac Tíre isn't small, Umbra," Rowan snarled, "She's compact."

"I thought you said she was…" Ferrina said before a freezing chill raced up her spine at how mad Rowan got if anyone had the gall to insult his weapon, "…perfectly sized." She felt like she had just dodged a major storm by finishing the way she did. It's not my place to make Rowan feel embarrassed in front of Weiss. Plus, if he were to get irate now, he'd possibly be too weak to control that thing dwelling inside of him. The Inner Beast was used to push himself over the limit to save Weiss when we faced Ol' Greyback, but it's now dormant and he's open to the consequence of the infusion that saved his life.

"I know what you were about to say Ferrina." Rowan said catching the crimson haired warrior off guard, "but I appreciate your concern." His face curled into a forgiving smile. Ferrina smiled back with relief.

"I think it's my turn," Umbra said, "for my main Faunus bro, I present this little beauty right here." He held out a photo he'd managed to capture on his scroll from the battle against Ol' Greyback. In the photo was Weiss calling her glyph while twirling to dodge a strike. It was the most beautiful photo of the heiress that Rowan had ever seen, second only to Weiss' singing voice.

Weiss examined the photo and was amazed at how graceful she looked. "And you caught this during the battle from a distance?" She asked in a state of awe.

"You know it, Schnee dudette." Umbra smiled, "And speaking of, here's one for you of your snow wolf during a state of morning Zen." He produced a photo of Rowan in a pair of jeans and athletic sandals with a bandana tied around his forehead. The Faunus was in the middle of a martial arts pose that exposed his puckish, muscular frame. His face was a mask of ferocity with eyes that maintained their gentle shade of emerald green. The one factor that sealed it and made the heiress weak in the knees was none of the above, but was instead the fact that Rowan's torso, tanned, scarred, and rippling with muscular splendor.

Seeing this photo made Weiss' face go red, Of all the times for me to be bewitched by Rowan's physique, she thought, this is the last place I'd thought it would occur. Even worse yet, it's in a public gathering. Curse you Umbra Obsidia, with your gift for capturing my beloved in this most breathtaking display of power and restraint.

"Weiss, if you get any redder, I'm gonna get some sticks and marshmallows." Rowan said.

"T-t-t-tha-than-thank y-y-ou, U-U-Umb-buh-buh," Weiss was in a daze from seeing Rowan in his element, powerful yet focused and unleashing all of his energy in one strike. She suddenly felt light-headed and started to fall back only to be caught in Rowan's arms. That only made the heiress feel even more wobbly in the knees, she let out a feverish groan.

"You had to give her a photo like that, Umbra," Rowan said taking out a medicine pill from a jacket pocket and popping it into Weiss' mouth. The heiress instinctively chewed this and was overtaken by a putrid odor of smelling salts and a majorly bitter aftertaste.

Why me? Why today? She asked cursing her innermost desires toward the wolf Faunus whose affections she treasured above all the lien in her inheritance. The pill worked its horrible tasting magic as it woke her out of her hormonal stupor. "Umbra Obsidia," She said calmly, "you could have given me a photograph like that at any other time. Now I'd like to see what the others have to present." Her calmness curved into a gracious smile, "But I will most certainly treasure this photo, thank you." The easy going hunter smiled.

"Now it's time for my gift." Redwood said, "Rowan, I give you this for your bravery in the face of legendary Grimm, Ol' Greyback." He presented his son with a new scroll, "It's something that I know will help you and Miss Schnee. I see you have a message that you might be interested in." He winked.

Rowan powered up the scroll and checked the message. It was for a local event, a game tournament, and the icing on the cake was that Rowan had been asked to both participate in it and speak in the opening ceremony. "This is unbelievable." He said with a smile of excitement appearing on his face, "I applied for this a month ago and they actually replied. That's awesome!"

"I was wondering when you'd get that message, dude." Umbra said pulling out his scroll showing his team leader the message he'd received.

"This message is to inform current reigning champion of Conquerors of Remnant: Shadow of Behemoth, Mister Umbra Andromedus Obsidia, is hereby registered to compete in the upcoming Remnant Gaming Festival to be held in Vale. It's dated two days ago, same as my message." Rowan said.

"You've got yourself a bit of competition," Umbra said, "Jaune, Neptune, Ruby, and Yang are entering the tournament too."

"I applied to enter that same tournament too," Weiss added, "and I intend to win. Don't object, my wolf, I refuse to say concede." She smirked.

"Just no this," Rowan said, "if I do lose, it won't be to my girlfriend," Weiss was surprised by this, "if I'm to lose to anyone, it's that man right there." He pointed to Umbra.

"At least you're an honest man." Umbra laughed.

"Our usual wager of vanilla shakes on the loser's dime?" Rowan asked.

"You know it, dude." Umbra said.

"Ahem," Redwood got the attention of the party, "if you'd be so kind as to let me present part two of my gift." He turned to face the top floor, "Alright Miss Schnee, you can come out now."

Weiss was in shock at who appeared. A young girl around twelve years old with snow white hair, light cerulean eyes, a light blue sundress and white penny loafers ran down the stairs. She looked at Weiss and smiled shyly, "Hey, sis," Weiss could feel tears building, "I missed you." The girl continued.

Weiss ran over and hugged the girl, "I missed you too, Winter," she said. "Is father here?" She asked hesitantly.

"No, daddy didn't come." Winter replied, "Probably for the best though. If he heard you had signed up for a gaming tournament, he'd be through the roof. Who taught you the game anyway?"

"Blame Yang, Ruby, and Pyrrha," Jaune said as the three girls nervously raised their hands, "They've spent a lot of time somewhere on campus teaching Weiss how to play."

"I had to learn, I didn't want to make the same mistake of attacking myself like I did that one time in the library." Weiss said.

"Lucky you we got you past that level of play," Blake said, "remember that I helped you in private too."

"And I thank you for that." Weiss said.

"Rowan ," Redwood said, "there's someone here for you too." He turned to the staircase and whistled. Down the stairs came a lean looking brown wolf hybrid, part wolf and part husky, with golden eyes.

"Baltus," Rowan cried with childlike excitement, "here boy." The hybrid wolf barked and leapt toward the Faunus and was met with a big hug. "I've missed, you big lug." Rowan sighed scratching his childhood companion behind the ears.

"I had a feeling you'd like seeing him again." Redwood said.

"Now it's finally my turn~!" Luna exclaimed with glee. She went over and picked up the wrapped bottle and handed it to Weiss. "This is something that my biological family was famous for. A special…"

"Why are you speaking of your family in the past tense?" Weiss asked.

Luna looked to Ferrina who came forth with an explanation, "Luna's family was taken out for defying a corrupt group from the old White Fang that has since been incarcerated. She was only three years old, traumatized and alone. My family took her in and adopted her as my little sister. Five years later, we managed to track down records of her birth parents, and we found something more about them. Apparently they were known for making some of the most impressive dust potions."

"How old is Luna anyway?" Ruby said putting her finger to her lips.

"I turned 14 a month ago," The kitten Faunus smiled.

"HUH!?" Ruby was shocked, "That's a year younger than me!"

"Wow, you look like you're my age," Luna said, "anyways, this is for you, Weiss."

The kitten Faunus handed the heiress the wrapped bottle. Ruby came in to get a closer look. Blake was a little wary, reminiscing the two's first meeting being over an explosion of dust from the crimson clad huntress sneezing while enveloped by a cloud of dust. "Ruby Rose," Weiss said as she unknowingly swiped the bottle underneath the scarlet huntress' nose and sending small cloud of it into her nostrils, "there will no explo…" She saw Ruby trying hard to hold back a sneeze. Why me? She whimpered. And then Ruby sneezed and enveloped Weiss in a purple, pink, and white fog. There was a sound of coughing could be heard from the cloud as the partygoers waited to see what would emerge from the cloud. It was a rather irate Weiss, "Ruby ROSE!" the heiress growled, she paused upon hearing herself. Her growl was more bestial than normal.

"W-W-Weiss," Ruby said, "I'm so very sorry. It's going to be okay. Don't panic."

"Ruby," the heiress said, "what are you talking about?"

"Oh dear," Luna said, "I didn't think this would happen, I'm so sorry Weiss, I guess that dust combination worked a bit too well."

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked, "And why is everyone looking at me like I've grown a third eye?"

"Not so much a third eye, as a second set of ears and a fox tail, Weiss." Rowan said cautiously.

Weiss' eyes widened, "What!?" she screamed. She looked in a mirror and saw what Rowan said was true. She'd grown two velvety ears and a long, white, bushy fox tail. The shock was enough to cause her to faint. This has to be some kind of fever induced nightmare. She said as she fell back and lost conscious in Rowan's arms.

The last words she heard before blacking out was Ruby apologizing profusely for what had happened. "Luna," Rowan said calmly, "please tell me that this isn't permanent."

A/N: Well, that was the longest chapter I ever wrote. But, I had to cover a lot of bases. Those who are unfamiliar with 'The Snow Fox's Struggle' by my good friend, Shadow Nightblade, my concept on Winter Schnee is going to be based on his, and I am using the concept of the Faunus Weiss from his story. I figured that I may as well give both points of credit where they're due. I hope you all liked it ^_^ I guarantee that in a couple of weeks, unless something special happens between now and then.

Until next time,

~Cluny