Author's Note: A nice, slow, expository chapter, could be a little wordy though. Anyways, there's a poll up asking about ships you don't want to see (Err, I think, this is the first time I've used the feature so I'm not too sure. It should be on my profile :P). As a side note this'll probably be the last chapter for two weeks though the next arc has practically been writing itself in my mind for the last month so I may be able to get Chapter 15 out if I can just scrape together the free time to work on it.

Chapter 14: RWBY Tuesdays - Familial Bonds

The second official day under the Team RWBY banner went better than the first.

Blake did not wake screaming from a nightmare, well she did but it happened at 3:24am but only she awoke as a result and a shower had relaxed her enough to allow her to drift off again. Ruby did not need to watch the slaughter of a creature of Grimm for sport, she would tomorrow though. Weiss did not end up spending another day trying to play peacemaker between her sister and her partner, admittedly there was still time. And Yang did not have to traipse through the Emerald Forest; they hadn't actually seen Jaune today though so that was also a possibility. They indulged themselves and got ice cream on the way back to their dorm where they collapsed in exhaustion, their brains fried from four continuous hours of written work.

Everyone except Yang that was, who suddenly got very nervous upon hearing her teammates voice their desires to relax and watch TV. Blake pointed out to Weiss that they didn't have a TV, Ruby giggled and Weiss swore she would buy one at some point. That was when Weiss noticed Yang's fidgeting.

"Everything alright?" she asked softly, a hint of concern in her voice as she eyed up the least confident member of Team RWBY.

Yang took to being fascinated by the floor, entirely ignoring Weiss's question. The heiress narrowed her eyes while Blake hopped off of her bed and used her index finger to nudge Yang's head up, her gaze meeting Weiss's for a moment before it immediately taking to the ceiling instead. Blake failed to suppress a chuckle at the cute display of shyness. She stepped forward, her voice lowering.

"Don't be afraid to speak your mind around us. Whatever it is I'm sure we can help…" Yang looked down again, her sights settling on the petite heiress.

"Well, umm…" the blonde began uncertainly. "I was actually wondering if we could maybe take today to... look through one another's profiles." Yang straightened herself up and cleared her throat, seemingly more confident now that she'd got the bulk of her idea out-of-the-way. "I figured it'd be a good way to get to know one another's strengths and weaknesses." Several seconds passed and Ruby could swear she heard a bird tweet. The uneasiness returned to Yang whom shuffled slightly on the spot. "Well?" she asked hesitantly.

Another tense moment passed before Weiss finally raised a single eyebrow. "What is it?" Yang asked hesitantly, worry seeping into her voice.

Weiss's reply was immediate, and doubled Yang's confusion. "That's it?" she questioned in return.

"Umm… yes?"

Blake answered Yang's self-questioning by hitting her chest gently, pushing Yang back a step. "You idiot, you had us worried it was something about you!" she reprimanded with a small undertone of affection that Weiss immediately picked up on.

Yang's face reddened as it quickly dawned on her how silly the rest of her team thought she was being. She cast a glance to Ruby who was smug, having already known of Yang's plan to create "RWBY Tuesdays" since yesterday. "I'm going to kill you" she mouthed to the grin-baring fifteen year old. The scythe-wielder giggled back earning a chiding look from Weiss pressuring her to apologise.

"Sorry Yang, I shouldn't have convinced you that Weiss and Blake would hate RWBY Tuesdays." the redhead apologised, earning a smile from Weiss and absolute ignorance from Blake whom was still quietly seething at Yang for having worried her. Again Weiss took note of it before turning to Yang, Ruby's words finally having registered.

"Wait, RWBY Tuesdays?" Yang nodded shyly "As in more than one?" Another timid nod came from her leader. "Curse you Xiao Long!" Yang didn't recoil at Weiss's words; the tone of her voice was warm and light-hearted after all. "Seriously though Yang, you need to voice your ideas, concerns and anything else that may come up. We're your teammates, more importantly we're your friends. Don't be afraid to just say what's on your mind." A brief pause followed as Weiss glanced at Blake. "This is a good idea by the way."

"So when do we start?" Yang asked. The question was left unanswered as Ruby spoke up.

"More importantly: Who do we start with?"

Forty minutes later Weiss was sighing. Blake's file hadn't been anywhere near as insightful as she had hoped. It went a long way into explaining why she was as good as she was: she graduated top of her class at Pharos Academy. Located in Vacuo, Pharos was essentially the Beacon Academy of that level of education. However it did nothing to explain Blake's nightmare, her absence of trust or her attempted stoicism. According to Pharos, Blake was a relatively normal girl in all things but her work, in which she was a born huntress.

Weiss couldn't exactly complain however. Her own profile was up next and, if it was anything like Ruby's, and she assumed it would be, then it would be as useless to Blake and Yang as Blake's was to the rest of them. Sure enough she saw Blake roll her eyes. Weiss's father went out of his way to protect Schnee information and all the public profile showed was that Ruby and Weiss had each passed a trial by combat. That was literally it. There wasn't even an academic report despite being home schooled.

"Dammit… another dead-end." murmured Yang under her breath, Weiss's expression was apologetic as she looked towards the blonde. She gave a lopsided smile and shrugged nonchalantly.

"Sorry Yang, I guess father didn't want to risk anyone getting their hands on the information. Ruby did end up fighting a prototype security mech after all. And the less they know about just how dangerous the area around White Castle is the better. I promise I'll tell you about my trial by combat later. For now-" Weiss cut herself off with a yawn. "I'm never usually this tired, this early; the last two days must have really beaten the hell out of me."

"How eloquently put…"

Weiss ignored Blake's left field jab and continued addressing Yang. "Can we finish with the profiles quickly? We still have that assignment due for tomorrow and the moon's already in the sky."

Yang nodded and the three other girls each drew up the information on the socially bashful brawler. An access gateway popped up and Yang gave them the password, a simple four digit combination more for the sake of privacy than security. She tensed as the girls read, Weiss's eyes flickering across her screen quicker than the others'. Finally the alabaster girl reached the first interesting piece of information of the entire night, her eyes widening. "Wait, you have no academic history?" Yang gave a reticent nod. "Then how did you, you know…"

Blake and Ruby were already skimming to the part about Yang's education, or lack thereof. Taking no notice of the other two, Yang addressed Weiss. "Umm… yeah, I never went to school, couldn't afford it. My uncle was a teacher and he'd sort of home school me..."

"And why wouldn't you attend that school then?"

"Because it, like all other huntress schools, was too expensive; his teaching job doesn't pay a lot, and he quit his job as a huntsman to take care of me when… when…" Yang breathing hitched and she shivered, tears began welling in her eyes and Ruby was quick to Yang's side, a shower of rose petals littering the redhead's top bunk as she joined Yang on the floor.

Ruby hugged her tight and the blonde quickly dried her eyes on her partner's combat skirt before taking another second to recompose herself. Weiss and Blake were looking at her with a mixture of worry, curiosity and expectation. She quickly pushed on. "A-anyways, as I was saying. My Uncle Qrow took me in, quit his job as a huntsman and took to teaching at Signal, it was just enough to put food on the table and pay the bills and just little enough that he could be a near full-time father figure. Everything I know I learned from him."

"You're a quick study." Blake off-handedly complimented. She'd seen Yang's work back in the ballroom and it was top quality, far above what you'd expect from a girl with no official academic background.

"Hold up a sec: Qrow from Signal Academy?" questioned Ruby, her own nature surrendering to a more shy and unnerved demeanour. It was closer to the more on-edge version of Ruby that Yang had witnessed whenever Ruby did something wrong, like when they recently met and she accidentally ruined most of Weiss's soon-to-be-restocked dust supply.

"How do you know this guy, sis?"

Yang laughed nervously, clearly unaccustomed to being praised for her achievements. She began fiddling with her hair. "It's nothing, really." She followed up the response by throwing her hair back over her shoulder. "Oh and uh: yeah Qrow; scythe-wielder, well-respected hunter, probably taught Ruby everything she knows."

"Huh… Well give him my thanks when you next see him. Ruby never would tell us who was training her, but it's reassuring to know that it was someone as supposedly good and trustworthy as your uncle."

Blake chose now to intersect, making sure to get everyone back on. "Back on topic..." She folded her arms, leaning against what constituted as a bed post. "You said you couldn't afford an education, so how did you end up in Beacon Academy?"

"I'm assuming she passed a trial by combat like Ruby and I."

"Not quite." Yang corrected before scratching her ear and glancing momentarily at the floor. "I mean it's true I didn't get accepted based on academic merits but uh… Wait, actually: You two know who Roman Torchwick is, don't you?" She enquired nervously, directing the question at the Schnee sisters. "Qrow told me he was one of your lead, err, distributors? I believe?"

Vicarious recognition appeared to shine in Weiss's eyes at the mere mention of Mr. Torchwick's name. She stepped forward, amusement and curiosity etched on her face. "You were the teenager that helped Roman fend of that Faunus gang at "From Dust 'til Dawn"?" Yang sucked in both her lips before smacking them and nodding her head. "Damn. I heard those goons got messed up pretty bad. You were clearly impressive if Ozpin took notice." Weiss cocked her head contemplatively. "You know I always thought Roman was a bit of an oddball…"

Ruby agreed immediately, bolting on the end that father never did fully trust him enjoy being around him. Yang couldn't help but suppress a laugh leaving Blake completely in the dark. She figured that, if all three jumped to the same conclusion, then Roman likely was a shady fellow. "I suppose it was a little intimidating when he first approached me in the shop and asked me to leave. But he seemed to genuinely care when he spooked me enough that I readied Ember Celica."

"More than likely his instincts of self-preservation kicked in. Honestly he'd sell his shares in the SDC to the Black Tooth if he believed he was safer that way."

"RUBY ROSE!" Weiss shouted, scalding the younger redhead whom appeared to shrink slightly. "The Black Tooth is a changed organisation! They realise their mistakes and have begun atoning for their sins. They are a beacon of good as far as humanity is concerned and deserve a second chance!"

Blake stepped in again, she found herself taking a strange interest in Yang's life. She wanted to hear more and she'd heard enough discrimination and hate directed towards humans and the Black Tooth to last her several lifetimes. Still, she couldn't let the conversation die without inputting her own thoughts. "I don't know Weiss. I wouldn't trust the Black Tooth either. They earned more respect back when they were a group of freedom fighters-"

"Terrorists" Ruby offered earning a glare from Blake.

"Freedom fighters." The taller woman repeated through gritted teeth. "Then they ever have since embracing more peaceful methods. The Black Tooth went from being revered as the voice of humanity and feared by Faunus to being the laughing-stock of the underworld. They KNEELED at the feet of the Faunus and, right now, they have nothing but the fact that they have proven that the Faunus don't care about human equality to show for it."

Weiss was now narrow-eyed, studiously scrutinising her partner. "What are you saying Blake?" She asked, not entirely sure if she sounded curious, accusatory or completely apathetic.

Blake's voice was even, the snake Faunus unfazed by Weiss's tone. "I'm just saying that being peaceful hasn't exactly worked out too well for them. Cardin is still being bullied by Garnet and his crew, children are still starving because their parents' are being refused jobs, and more than a few contracts have went unanswered in the last year, resulting in several deaths, simply because the contractor refused to hire a human hunter." Weiss jaw hung slack.

"Doesn't it make sense that, after half a decade of failed diplomacy, the Black Tooth may conclude that what they had done all along was the only thing that worked?" Silence followed. Ruby gave Blake a knowing, agreeing and appreciative nod that Blake despised. "So anyways" Blake segued, cutting the silence and the tension "Tell us more about your path to Beacon, Yang."

"Well umm, there's not much else to tell I'm afraid. My uncle trained me, I helped Roman clean up some pesky thieves and that got me an offer here, which I accepted because I admired Qrow and he always told me to become the best person I could be in this world and I don't know of a higher calling."

"Yang?"

"Yes Blake?"

"You're rambling."

Yang blushed. "Oh..." she said softly earning an encouraging smile and a nod to continue. "Roman paid my first year off and now Qrow, no longer feeling obligated to stay home, has come out of retirement. Thanks to him I'll have the money for the second, third and fourth years too."

As heart-warming as the story was-the notion that an uncle would sacrifice his dream to care for his niece and then turn that dream into a chore so that said niece could seek her own happiness-Blake couldn't help but frown. An odd feeling broke her stoic demeanour, one she rarely ever let seep through: sorrow. Weiss's gaze, whatever it held before, now only contained concern and the beginnings of sympathy and pity.

"Don't give me that look Weiss. I'm fine, really." Weiss raised an eyebrow, she didn't mean to push the situation but Blake snapped at her nonetheless. "Look, my parents died long ago and their money's the reason I can afford this. Happy?"

Weiss frowned. "No... I'm not. My father may have kicked my mother out of the house when he found out that she was pregnant with Ruby." The girl in question visibly flinched and Yang kept a protective eye trained on her. "But I still have someone Blake, a family that loves me and a sister that would die for me yet never let me die for her... You don't talk about your past, your family or anything for that matter. I can't imagine what your history must have been like to make you lock it away and place as much distance between us and you as you have done and-"

"And you promised you wouldn't pry."

"I have everything intention of keeping that promise Blake. But just because I'm waiting until you're ready to tell me, doesn't mean that I'm going to stop wanting to know. I didn't mean to push you…" Weiss took a step forward placing a comforting hand on Blake's shoulder.

Blake's initial reaction was to pull away but Weiss wouldn't let her and she felt practised fingers dig into her shoulder, finding all the right spots to relax her. "I've said this before but you're not alone anymore. We're here to listen and to help. Whenever you're ready that is." She flashed a dazzling smile, a simple flexing of her right jaw, pulling the right corner of her mouth upwards, but dazzling nonetheless.

Blake closed her eyes and rolled her shoulder, succumbing to her partner's administrations. "Why learn how to massage, Weiss?"

A simple shrug was her first answer, the short answer. Weiss still gave her the long one. Always so trusting, so forward; Blake truly couldn't begin to fathom where that faith came from. "Ruby and I tended to get pretty worked up and stressed over the constant attacks on the Schnee Dust Company. We heard it was an effective way to relieve stress."

The two sisters shared a smile, nothing short of absolute adoration shared between them. "It was just one of many ways two sisters bonded and eventually it got to the point where we were both competent at it. Ever the perfectionist I decided to take it a step further and actually take classes."

Blake bit her lip. Weiss caught her contemplative stare and decided to call her on it, not expecting the answer she received. "Maybe they were wrong about your father…"

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing, just a few less-than-adulatory whispers about the SDC that I can't help but question right about now; Mr. Schnee sounds like a kind man after all."

At this point Ruby stepped in. "He was a monster until I turned ten." Lilac and amber eyes were now upon her. Weiss had also half-turned her head to show that she was listening. "Sure I probably owe my life to him, or at the very least the life I have right now, for taking me in at age two." Blake made a mental note of that, stowing it away for a better time and place to press for answers.

"He was merciless. If he hadn't been then Black Tooth and organisations like Echidna Corp would've broken him down long ago and we may not have been here." Ruby sounded grateful there, elated even that her adoptive father was willing to go that far to defend the Schnee family. "When the attacks began dwindling he softened, letting what I'm assuming was the man my mother fell in love with surface once more. He's been a doting father for over five years now, when he's there at least."

When Yang had recommended looking over one another's profiles she hadn't been expecting these kinds of developments. None of them were. Weiss spoke up.

"Whilst I wouldn't call our lives easy, mine, at least since the Black Tooth's regime change, has certainly been easier than all of yours." Weiss glanced between Blake and Yang, taking the pause to organise her thoughts. "I won't pretend to understand what you guys went through, but I'll be there if you ever want to share. And you"

Weiss spun on the spot, her gazing meeting Ruby's. "No matter what happens, regardless of what you do and irrespective of what you think, you will always have me by your side." Weiss began taking strides, quickly closing the distance between herself and the youthful redhead. "You've devoted your life to ensuring that I'm never alone." She was now inches away from her sister, she cupped her cheeks before continuing. "Just remember that that also means your big sister's always there for you too, okay?"

Ruby nodded and Weiss kissed both wolf ears and the top of her head just between them before pulling away.

After a pleasant silence, Blake decided to speak up, asking the question undoubtedly on everybody's mind after the last ten minutes. "How the bloody hell did that happen?"