The next morning, the team woke up hoping Weiss was back to feeling one-hundred percent again. Naturally, Ruby and Yang were baffled that the heiress was now in almost perfect health. The sisters had never seen someone so sick, so the fact that she was back to normal in less than twenty-four hours was astonishing.

To make sure she wasn't being deceived, Ruby had stuck the thermometer in her partner's mouth. Weiss begrudgingly allowed it to ease her leader's nerves. When Ruby read that she had a perfect temperature, she almost couldn't believe her eyes.

Yang reacted the same way, but with the vampire sisters' reassurances, the team headed to class.

It came as no surprise to Blake that Weiss was back to normal and was eager to go to class. It wasn't just any class, it was combat class with Glynda Goodwitch.

As they made their way to the room, slight anxiety filled their bodies. None of the team members had been in a combat class before. Up until this point, they'd just learned about combat and sparred on their own or with friends. Now their abilities would be put to the test.

"Who would'a thought…" Yang murmured.

"Thought what?" Blake asked.

Yang glanced at the heiress, who kept her eyes forward. "That good ol' fashioned bread 'n soup could be such a good remedy."

"I still can't believe it," Ruby was deep in thought, like she actually couldn't believe it.

The leader knew certain foods could cure illnesses, but she certainly didn't buy that bread and soup fixed a 104-degree fever. A fever that high had the potential to melt her brain. Ruby thought it'd take at least a couple of weeks for her partner to recover from the illness.

To say her teammate baffled her was an understatement. The leader kept staring at Weiss, who was trying to act as normal as possible.

It was obvious to the vampire sisters that their leader was suspicious.

Dangerously suspicious.

To throw her off guard, Weiss made a lame joke in response to Yang. "And I can't believe it's not butter."

"Laaaaaaame," Yang drawled.

Good, at least one of them bought the distraction.

"Better than those stupid puns!" Weiss replied, seemingly very into their conversation to distract herself from her leader.

Ruby finally pried her overbearing silver eyes off her white teammate. It was easy to tell Ruby was deep in thought about the previous situation, unable to let it go.

Yang opened the door for her team to get in the classroom. "You know they're good."

It didn't even take two seconds for team RWBY to be pleasantly greeted by team JNPR. It was clear that the other team wanted them to sit by them, so they walked over and took their seats in the front row.

It wasn't hard to make friends with team JNPR. Each member was friendly in their own way, so the two teams hit it off.

Now that they had a chance to look around, they noticed students of all types of diversity scattered around the room. Each of them would be very different in their fighting styles, no doubt.

In the middle of the room, there was an arena. Where matches would be fought.

"Hey guys!" Nora greeted.

"Hey Nora," Ruby replied. "How are you?"

"Great," Nora chirped and grabbed Ren's arm. "We want to fight someone from a different team."

"She," Ren corrected. "She wants to fight someone from a different team."

"Yeah, Nora," Jaune frowned. "Find someone else to smash Magnhild with."

His whole body shuddered from the memories of their team practices. It was official, he was scarred for life.

Nora gave a salute. "That's the plan, captain!"

After a simple smile at his teammate, Jaune casually slid over next to the heiress. "So, uh… Weiss. You, me-"

"No."

"I didn't even finish-"

"No."

"Aw," he sounded defeated.

He was about to try again, but Weiss had placed a hand under her chin with her eyes forward. She couldn't have been more uninterested. Then, the teacher finally appeared and walked to the center of the arena, her shoes tapped a rhythm.

From that, Jaune went back to his seat next to his partner, Pyrrha.

"Cheer up, vomit boy," Yang slung her arm around Weiss' shoulder. "She may seem like an ice queen, but she's actually not so bad."

"Gee," Weiss' voice dripped with sarcasm. "Thanks."

Before they could say anything else, Glynda's voice boomed throughout the room.

"Hello, I'm Glynda Goodwitch."

The two screens that overlooked the arena shuffled randomly.

"This class is designed to enhance your combat skills. The first match will begin..."

One of the monitors showed a picture of the poker-faced Blake and the other displayed an arrogant Cardin.

"... Now."

Team RWBY glanced amongst each other. There was anxiety from the results, but if Blake was worried, she sure didn't show it.

"The first match will be between Ms. Schnee and Mr. Winchester."

As composed as ever, Blake stood from her seat. Suddenly, there was a cold hand that gripped her own.

A reassuring squeeze.

"You can do this," Weiss encouraged.

The blood-faunus simply nodded, her features softened.

"You got this, Blakey!" Yang cheered. "Take him down!"

"Represent teeeeeaaaam RWBY!" Ruby shouted.

The aristocrat smirked and made her way down to the arena. Instead of using the stairs like her opponent, she elected to use her nimbleness to hop over the arena and landed perfectly in the middle.

Blake knew she couldn't use her vampire ability, zehn, during the fight because she was surrounded by humans. Sometimes, she would teleport if she found herself in a scuffle, but took pride in being able to fight well with her clones her aura instead.

Blake pulled out Gambol Shroud as she stood in the middle of the arena. Cardin met her in the middle and whirled his mace around in boredom. He was acting as if Blake was a mere nuisance, and that served to anger her, but she bit her lip. If his tactic was to set off her nerves, it wasn't going to work.

The opponents took a moment to glare at each other menacingly, then Goodwitch called the match.

"Begin!"

Naturally, Blake waited for her opponent to make the first move. She preferred to react to an enemy's attacks and plan accordingly. When she saw Cardin's finger flinch towards his mace, she wasted no time and danced around him with multiple clones.

Blake didn't like to use a head-on tactics; she was more of a stealthy opponent. Cardin, however, was growing more agitated by the second. He always liked close combat, not people slithering around their opponents.

"Wooooow," Ruby said in absolute awe. She'd never seen her teammate in a match before, so spectating excited her.

Winchester glared at the numerous clones encircling him. He didn't analyze every clone and focused on his instinct. In a second, he struck forward, only to cause a clone to dissipate.

He frowned when he realized he picked a fake and then there was an ominous breeze close behind him. It brushed ominously against his neck. The boy knew that Blake planned to rush him, so he turned around and raised his mace just in time to block the assault.

The two were caught in a standstill and Blake heard him whisper.

"You really think that bow can cover up the fact that you're a half-breed?"

The blood-faunus shook off the comment and tried to push him away with little success. He was just too bulky for her to take head-on.

I've got a message here for you… Blake contentedly thought.

With his mace and sheer strength, he easily sent her flying across the battleground, which elicited a smirk on Winchester's face. However, the arrogant smirk quickly faded when her body dissipated in mid-air.

"Another fake?" Cardin growled. "Stop playing games."

… Time for you to learn...

Now he had no idea where she was, but he was too cocky to glance around.

Blake internally glowered from the comment and kept a clear head. Getting worked up in the middle of a fight wouldn't do any good. Cardin didn't survey his surroundings for his opponent and instead, smashed the marble floor with his mace. This caused the entire arena to crack and shoot up, sending shards flying.

It was like an earthquake had rocked the entire room. Loud thuds from the floor breaking reverberated almost excruciatingly.

Blake was caught off guard from the attack. Unable to find her footing from the spikes shooting up, she was sent soaring in the air. Landing on her feet in such a short time was near impossible and she was too stunned to realize what happened. When she hit the floor, she ended up taking the full brunt of the blow, her aura now in the yellow. All she could do was lay on the ground and groan as she tried to regain her senses.

Thankfully, what sounded like Weiss yelled some encouragement.

"Blake!"

It was only the call of her name, but it meant so much more to the aristocrat. With that, she was pulled back into reality as she sat up and examined her surroundings.

Once Cardin spotted her on the ground in a daze, he rushed her, holding his mace back for a lethal blow.

Just what Blake was hoping for.

… It's my turn!

She found her footing and tumbled to the side in a nanosecond, narrowly dodging the attack. When she gained some distance, she shot a few bullets at Cardin's chest in mid leap. He did not expect her to compose herself so quickly and ended up taking the harsh shots. The impact made him stagger several feet back, but he was still standing.

Her tactics took a complete 180 and she shot her trusty, firm ribbon at Cardin, causing her weapon to anchor on his back. He was left stuck in place, unable to advance or even wiggle out of the delicate, yet lethal fabric's grip. Wasting no time, she launched forward.

As she swung into his comfortable melee range, she activated the fire dust to use on one of her clones. Luckily, she put the dust in her weapon beforehand, courtesy of Weiss.

Cardin whirled his mace into Blake's torso at full force, only to be hit by a destructive blast of fire. This caused the explosion to release smoke and shroud all around them, rendering him temporarily blind.

Gasps sounded from the audience. To any outsider, there was just tons of smoke and Blake looked like she took a direct hit. After that, no one was able to see what was happening inside.

"What the-"

Through the smoke, Blake clashed her weapon into Cardin's gut below his tough plate armor. The blow elicited a satisfying wheeze from her infuriating opponent. Not giving him a moment to recover, she swiped his body with her katana in rapid succession, causing his aura to fall into the yellow area.

Unfortunately, the boy noticed a pattern in her movements. Thankfully for Blake, she realized that he knew and backed off before he could swing his deadly mace directly into her side.

When the smoke cleared, Cardin noticed the blood-faunus' glare.

"Don't give me that look."

Blake ignored his rude remarks, knowing this was just a dirty tactic to get under her skin.

Then, she saw it…

A chance to win.

Not buying into his cheap tricks, she summoned two clones at once. From this, her aura depleted a little again, which caused more fatigue to creep in her body.

She needed to finish this quickly if she was going to be victorious.

The three Blake's dashed around Winchester in a triangle fashion in hopes to confuse him.

Cardin swung full force with his mace when the three went in for a final attack. However, the blood-faunus used her two clones as sacrificial pieces to absorb most of the impact.

Once they dissipated, Blake was there to clash weapons with him again.

This was his chance to taunt her. "I only keep quiet about you being part faunus because I don't want that bitch's pureblood family to come after me."

Blake practically hissed when he insulted her sister. "You can insult me all you want," she summoned the strength to push forward, and she displayed her fangs out of anger. "But you don't make fun of Weiss."

It was true her body was fatigued, but the thought of her sister watching her first real practice match compelled her to move on and push against him with all her might.

Back during the vampire ball, Winchester had insulted both Schnee siblings. It was alright with Blake if he tormented her, but he crossed the line when he taunted Weiss.

This match wasn't just another match. This was about defending her sister's honor.

She gained more friction on the marble floor, and they persisted in the standstill-

When Winchester struck an angry cord within her, there was an opening. He used the momentum to make her trip forwards so he could land a hit directly in Blake's chest. With a gasp, she was sent whizzing into the harsh, concrete wall.

Some people in the audience gasped from the loud impact.

The wall that acted as a shield for spectators was completely dented in. Dust lingered in the air and was so dense that no one could see Blake, which was worrying and stunned everyone into silence. The hard concrete was nothing but little shards that crumbled to the floor.

It was dead silent besides the sounds of concrete cracking.

Cardin smirked at the scene, proud of the results. With that, the match should end. He glanced at her aura bar displayed on the monitors, only to see nothing happen.

"What?!"

Sadly for him, the mass he'd hit turned to stone.

It was an illusion. Just another one of her clones.

The aristocrat slyly used the clone as a distraction, which made him think that was actually her. Now she had an opening. From behind, she used her katana and slashed through Cardin several more times, earning her crucial points in the fight.

Now both of their aura levels were about even and Blake wasn't going to miss her chance.

"I'm done playing games," the pureblood warned.

The blood-faunus slowly backed away, her amber orbs calculating her opponent. His tone was like a warning. Like a harsh foreshadowing of the fight.

That's when something felt off, like something invaded her mind.

High-pitched ringing repeatedly slammed her head. A sudden migraine caused her to feel like her head was being split in half. That's when a weak shriek escaped her trembling lips and her knees buckled harshly in a weak attempt to stay standing.

O-ow! Wh-what's happening?

She clutched her ears to try to stop the torturous pounding. It was like a nail was repeatedly thrashed into her head with a hammer. The pain was getting so intense that the corners of her vision started to rim with blackness.

The colors she did manage to see now swirled together and blurred her vision.

Her breathing came heavily and she found herself tilting to the side.

She hit the cold, marble floor, but didn't feel anything. All she could focus on were her delirious thoughts through the excruciating pain.

How's he...

A thin gasp slipped from her lips, her eyes grew half-lidded.

Is he using his... pureblood power? In front of... humans?

There was another call of her name, but she didn't know who it was this time. Everything was muffled and the ringing had taken over her senses. Before losing consciousness, she saw Cardin advancing toward her with his usual smug grin.

He's willing to... expose the vampire race... for something as small as this…?

Then there was only darkness.

"Hey!" what sounded like Yang announced. "She's waking up!"

Bleary golden eyes slowly escaped fatigued eyelids.

It didn't take long for the aristocrat to realize she was in the infirmary. It was the same one she'd been in once before to get extra blood bags.

That's when she involuntarily flinched, but she didn't know why.

"Guys...?" she rasped.

Weiss wrapped her sister in an awkward hug. Blake was still lying down and Weiss leaned over her, causing her white hair to briefly cover her sister's face.

"We're so glad you're alright," the heiress murmured softly.

She's in the infirmary... for me?

Blake couldn't believe her sister was there. As long as she's known her, she's had a fear of hospitals and infirmaries.

"Why're you here?"

Weiss almost took offense to that comment. "Of course I'm here. You're my sister. I wanted to see if you're okay."

Perhaps Blake had underestimated her sister's adoration and love for her. Of course she'd be there, a simple fear like that wouldn't get in her way when Blake was in danger.

From that, Blake sent her a soft smile and tried to sit up. Yang noticed her efforts and placed a gentle hand on the small of her back to coax her. Blake was able to sit up from the bed she suddenly found herself in.

"What happened?"

"Before we get into that," the heiress grabbed a blacked-out bottle and unscrewed the cap. "Drink up, it's fresh," she winked.

Weiss had managed to fill the bottle with human blood from a spare blood bag when her other teammates had their backs turned. Blake took the hint and was careful not to let the blood stain her face. It only took a few seconds to feel energized again. It was true she didn't use zehn during the fight, but human blood was always a nice treat.

After a few sips, she sighed in relief. She made sure to screw the cap on securely and gave the bottle back in Weiss' trusted grasp.

Fortunately, Ruby and Yang didn't give off signs of suspicion.

"You kicked Cardin's butt!" Ruby exclaimed. "But then you clutched your ears…"

"Like you were in a lot of pain," Yang finished. "What happened to you?"

To any outsider, Blake clutched her ears before passing out cold. Nothing was done to her physically in that moment, so everyone was worried she had a possible sickness or something worse.

Her teammates were extremely concerned. Fainting in the middle of a match wasn't normal at all.

Cardin's taunting footsteps she saw before blacking out flashed through her mind. Her body involuntarily flinched again. That's when Blake recalled what happened.

"I don't remember," she lied.

There was no way she could tell her team the previous events. At least not when the humans were there.

There was a hint of guilt in those amber orbs, and that's when Weiss knew for a fact something was wrong.

Her remaining teammates could only bite their lips in concern.

"Tell us if you need medicine or anything, okay?" Ruby said softly. "I think I speak for everyone when I say we don't want that to happen again."

"It was scary," Yang admitted.

"Thanks for the concern, really," Blake grinned genuinely. "I'm okay now, though. Promise."

Reassuring smiles from her team overwhelmed the room. Blake took the silence as permission to speak her mind.

"I have a request."

"Anything," her partner said.

"Team practice."

Team JNPR seemed close as a team and implied that they practiced combat together. If they started to do so, it would only benefit them. Plus, Blake was interested to see what her teammates were capable of. That, and she also needed to distract the other pair of sisters from the previous situation.

"You want to practice combat as a team?" Ruby asked.

A simple nod.

"Great idea," Ruby chirped. "Do you guys wanna start tomorrow?"

"Sure," Blake replied.

"Why not?" Weiss agreed.

"Heck yeah!" Yang exclaimed. "Team RWBY will be even more badass!"

Blake faintly chuckled from the comment. "Can we get out of here now?" being in there was strange to her.

"Are you okay to walk?" Weiss asked.

Blake threw her legs around the bed and set her feet gently on the floor. "Yes, I'm pretty sure."

"Hold on to me in case," Weiss offered her arm. Watching her sister suddenly drop to the floor frightened her, so she wanted to make sure that wouldn't happen again.

Blake took her arm and the team walked out of the infirmary. The vampire sisters made sure to take it slow, lagging behind the other pair of sisters. Now that they were alone, Weiss could question her about the pureblood and what happened.

"What really happened?" Weiss questioned.

The heiress was shocked when Blake's normal poker face contorted to anger. "That bastard…" she almost seethed in a low whisper. "I'm almost positive he used zehn during the fight?" uncertainty creeped in her tone, which caused Weiss' voice to raise in alarm.

"What?"

When Weiss sounded almost panicked, Yang looked over her shoulder at the pair. "Something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine," Weiss frantically replied. After Yang shrugged and went back to converse with Ruby, Weiss whispered to Blake. "Continue."

"Do you know anything about his semblance?" the blood-faunus asked.

"No, I just know his specific vampire ability gives him extra strength," Weiss informed.

Pureblood power was powered by zehn but a completely different ability. With zehn, Weiss' family could use ice at will. As a separate ability specific to purebloods, the biological Schnee family could summon, but Weiss had yet to do so, so she was interested in what pureblood ability Cardin could harness.

Cardin's vampire ability granted him strength, however, they didn't know his semblance or even pureblood power.

"What he used might have been his semblance and if it was, I've never seen anything like it," Blake recalled all the unique semblances she'd seen in her life. "I doubt it was, so I'm pretty sure he used his pureblood power to beat me."

"What'd he do?"

Blake filled her in on the details- the ringing in her head, and the constant, torturous pounding that was painful enough to cause her to black out.

If Winchester thinks he can get away with this, Weiss internally seethed. He has another thing coming.

The information made Weiss baffled to say the least. All she could do was observe and she didn't even know what was happening during that time. When her sister fainted, complete helplessness overwhelmed her body.

I'm going to get to the bottom of this before it happens again, the heiress vowed. He's probably done this multiple times to innocent people. Maybe in front of even more humans.

"If he used his pureblood power during a practice match in front of dozens of humans…" the heiress thought out loud. "Then he really is more stupid than I thought."

Weiss recalled seeing her beloved sister lying motionless on the cold, unforgiving floor.

He's not getting away with this.

Sibling bonds compel people to do things they never thought they'd ever do. Maybe people who have siblings will understand these feelings.

Which begs the question: what will Weiss do?

As you can see, some of the lyrics from It's My Turn are in here. Thought it fit, so why not?

Stay dandy,

~Toto