Disclaimer: All Characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions

Co-Authored with ToxicExotic

On The Road Again

"I don't know." Weiss said with a shrug, typing on her Scroll as she walked. "It sounds like the perfect childhood to me."

Letting out a small groan and shoving her hands into her pocket, Ruby shook her head. What was she thinking trying to talk about Blake's parents being too lax with their rules with Weiss, a girl who's upbringing had been nothing but rules that ultimately caused her to rebel? Of course the heiress would side with Blake's parents.

"Yes, pretty perfect." She grumbled in Atlesian, her brow falling into a scowl. "Right up till they let you run away with a bunch of terrorists so you can make mistakes that haunt you forever."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her best friend give her a curious look.

"I never thought I would see the day that you became the judgmental one." Weiss said with a hint of interest in her tone. "This is the first time I have ever heard you talk about someone negatively."

Looking at the front of the group where Blake was walking with her parents, Ruby let out a soft sigh. It wasn't like she didn't like them, in fact they seemed really nice; but their parenting methodology was just something she couldn't wrap her head around. She had tried to understand it ever since the meeting, tried to see it from their point of view, yet even with sleep and half a day of travelling, she just couldn't.

"I just don't get why they didn't take her away from it." She breathed. "How they can think it's a lesson you have to learn. All it did was make Blake hate herself."

Returning to her Scroll, Weiss shook her head and continued to type away at whatever Dust reaction she was documenting. It was pretty much all the girl did lately whenever they had a spare moment, but Ruby wasn't going to stop her. Unlike homework and studying, it was something Weiss seemed to genuinely enjoy doing; and something that she herself, and a few others at school, had already benefited from.

"You seem to be forgetting that Blake was angry at them and chose to wear her ribbon to disassociate herself from her family." Weiss said impassively. "Had they actually came for her, it could have simply driven her even further away."

"How do you know that's why she wore it?"

"September 22nd 2010." Weiss recounted absentmindedly. "I'm tired of all the looks, tired of being referred to as the girl whose parents abandoned the cause. I didn't choose it, I wish they hadn't chosen it. But they did. They left us, too scared to do what needs to be done. But I'm not, and my friends need to know that. And if that means hiding my ears, then so be it."

"Oh…" Ruby hummed, surprised that Weiss had memorized it. "I haven't read that far back."

"Well you should." Weiss said pointedly. "They are not the most enjoyable thing to read, but they will help you understand why they chose to give her space."

"I know enough about Blake's past." Ruby pouted, not having the slightest desire to visit a past that was no longer relevant to who Blake was now. "They still could have tried."

"Well, it's not like they can go back in time and change that now." Weiss said with a finality to her tone.

Understanding that the conversation was over, Ruby shook her head and looked towards the Belladonnas again. Just as they'd been the entire time they had been in the camp, Blake's ears were flat against her head as she talked to her parents. She had tried to comfort her a little last night when she had returned from her turn on patrol, but she'd been even more down than usual and insisted that she simply wanted to sleep; though Ruby knew for a fact that the faunus had yet again spent most of the night awake.

Sadly, she knew there was little more she could do for the girl. Blake knew she was willing to listen if she needed to talk, and at every given opportunity would provide comfort; but given that they were no longer at camp and on their way to Securay, she doubted either of those things would be happening for at least a few days. So with a sad sigh to herself, she turned away from her girlfriend and turned to check on the rest of the convoy.

It was always a peculiar feeling to have a summon out. Despite being on the road and mid conversation with her partner, she could feel it out of there. Twenty metres to the east running through the woods was a piece of her soul in the form of a Beowolf. While she couldn't see what it saw or hear what it heard, she could feel each leaf that passed over its fur. She could feel the ground under its paws and wind across its face. With all of that sensory information being processed, it usually made multitasking rather difficult.

As such, whenever she had a summon out and scouting the area, she had taken to adding more information to her pet project. There was something about working out Dust equations and logging the results that made it easier to focus on her surroundings. However, maintaining three things at one was particularly draining, so as Ruby finally fell silent and moved away to check on the rest of the group, Weiss let out a relieved breath.

It wasn't that she didn't understand why Ruby felt the way she did, because she did, but that unlike her partner, the situation was more complicated than simply being something she didn't like. Not only were there cultural differences, but there was also the very strained relationship that Ruby simply couldn't understand. She had been lucky and grew up with a family she had always wanted to be around. They loved each other deeply and very rarely disagreed on anything more than who was at fault for a smashed cup; but that wasn't a luxury that everyone had.

She didn't understand how trying to keep someone close when they didn't want to be could actually push them further away because, though she might not like it, Kali and Ghira were right. Some things just had to be experienced first hand to be understood. And Weiss had been unfortunate enough to experience it all.

Growing up, every attempt to engage her mother had only pushed the woman further towards another bottle. Every attempt to talk to her brother ended in them both saying mean and hurtful words or a door slamming in one of their faces. Even outside of her family, Weiss faced the same problem with the faunus. Due to her name and actions she had taken in the past, there was so much raw pain there that she would never be able to simply tell them that she was different and demand they trust her. If things were that easy then she wouldn't have spent the past two days walking around the camp with her head down trying to avoid bringing any attention to herself.

Not that it helped much, as pretty much every faunus at the camp had taken to giving her a wide berth. In fact, the only one that didn't was a girl that she recognised from a picture in one of Blake's diaries. Instead the girl pretended she wasn't there so much that she refused to move out of the way when they crossed, forcing Weiss to move aside or collide with her.

That pain was not something that vanished with a big speech or a show of force, it took time and many little steps that slowly built trust and respect. Steps that Weiss knew Blake's parents had been taking in the background in hopes that Blake could hear them and understand she was forgiven. Just because they hadn't marched into camp and demanded their daughter return home, that didn't mean they hadn't tried to bring her back back.

And that was what Weiss knew Ruby needed to realise instead of simply passing judgement on them for acting differently to how she would have liked.

I just hope she realises that before she says something stupid, Weiss thought to herself. After all, she knew the kind of anger that ran through Ruby's family, and people who were unfamiliar with that kind of feeling usually never let it out in the healthiest of ways. I should probably talk to Yang about it.

Deciding that was a good idea, she saved her file and shut the program down and opened a reminder for later that night when they were camping. However, before she could finish typing the memo, a new sensation washed over her body and she fell to her knees coughing and spluttering as the taste of ash and fire filled her mouth. It was so strong that she felt her eyes water and bile build at the back of her throat.

No… it wasn't her throat.

"Weiss!" She heard Ruby and saw the girl skid to kneel at her side. "Wha-"

She was cut off as a loud howl echoed through the area.

"Allie?"

"Gri…" Weiss coughed, reaching out for her partner's hand. As she did, she felt a sharp sensation in her back and the connection to her summon faded, the howl ending abruptly. "Grimm are c-coming!"

"You should come and see it this year."

"Huh?" Blake asked, feeling a little guilty for having tuned her mom out.

For the last twenty minutes, she had only been paying partial attention to what the woman had been saying as something else had been garnering her attention. A few feet away Ruby and Weiss were having what seemed to be a heated discussion from the tone of their voices. Unfortunately they were speaking Atlesian so Blake wasn't able to make out most of it, no doubt a purposeful decision as they tended to use it for more private conversations, but there were a few words she could identify. The most prominent of which being her own name.

The other was a word was one she had heard Weiss use regularly in bitter tones which she was pretty sure meant parents. With the few other words she had picked up from living with the pair though, it was pretty obvious that they were talking about Ghira and Kali; and even though she didn't know exactly what was being said about them, she had a pretty good idea. After all, she had definitely noticed Ruby's reaction the night before.

It had actually made her quite happy to hear Ruby talking back to her parents though. Not because she thought they deserved it, but because it was the first time she had ever heard Ruby challenge someone else's authority directly, and she had done it for her. As rough as the day had been, the fact that Ruby cared so much for her that she was willing to talk back to adults had reignited a warmth in her chest.

"The flower festival." Kali repeated with a smile. "It's next month."

That's right, she thought to herself. With it being so long since she'd been home, she'd completely forgotten that the flower festival was coming up. It was a shame since she remembered loving it as a child. With all the flowers and wreaths, the island became a swirl of colour and beauty that it rivaled Ruby's brightest smile.

"Oh…" Blake hummed. "M-Maybe."

"You could bring Ruby, too, if you would like." Kali said with a sly grin. "She seems to really like you."

"I…" Was this really the conversation they were going to have after five years apart? "I really like her too."

"How long have you two been together?"

"Umm… three months. Maybe a little more."

"And she treats you well?"

"Better than I deserve."

"I doubt that is true." Blake felt the hand that was in her grip a little tighter and turned to see her mom smiling at her.

"It is." She grumbled, her eyes dropping to the floor. "She's so good, and I'm…"

"Also good." Her mom cut her off. "You did what you did because you believed it to be helping your people. And when you learned your actions were not, you changed course to correct that mistake. That is a noble quality, one befitting a chiefess."

Blake chose not to reply to that particular comment as it was a conversation she was definitely not ready to have. While it was still a long time off, she knew that one day her dad would decide to pass down the position, just as her grandfather and her great grandmother had before him. Being his only child, the position would naturally fall to her and she was very aware that her dad had wanted her to accept it.

"Well it doesn't feel like it." She sighed.

"It will one day." The woman said with a kind smile. "But until that day, you must let people be there for you. Let them reaffirm what we know to be the truth."

Kali reached out and brushed her fingers gently along the base of her ears, causing a comforting sensation through her body.

"That you are a good person."

Blake didn't know if it was the fact that it had been said almost every hour for the past two days, or if it was the fact that her mom was saying so while soothing her, but she finally wanted to believe her. At the very least, she could agree that she had always tried to do good, even if her actions had been anything but.

"I will." She nodded, giving the woman her best attempt at a reassuring smile.

"Good." Kali said, a hint of relief in her voice. "Now about the flow-"

"Weiss!"

Kali was cut off as Ruby's worried voice reached both of their ears. Turning around and drawing her weapon, she watched her girlfriend rushing to the heiress' side as a familiar howl echoed through the area. At the sound, every guard in the area drew their weapons and began to close ranks around the convoy.

"Mom… Get behind me."

"So if Ingdun was so great, why're you coming to Vale?" Yang chuckled at Prince's story which had involved a girl, her brothers, police, and zero clothes on his part.

"Ahh, ya'know." The man shrugged. "Small town life's great, but it ain't exactly the most safe thing. Even for a port town with Hunters comin' and goin', we could feel the Grimm closin' in. Wanted to get Beans outta there."

"He's also tryna avoid Kobicha." Petily, or Beans as her brother called her, said from her seat on the cart.

The cart was pretty decent considering what had been left of the truck to work with. Though she had definitely not had as much wire as she would have liked due to most of it being melted away by Centinel acid, the brakes and the bed had been in good enough condition for them to work something together. Weiss had also been able to provide some gravity crystals she had picked up in Zelen that had been attached to the bottom and allowed Yang to pull every supply crate and suitcase with a single hand.

"Your ex?"

"Mhm." Prince nodded. "She was…" His eyes flicked back to his sister. "Difficult."

"Been there." Yang chuckled.

"I liked Parchamel." Petily said, pulling an apple from a carate and biting into it. "He was nice."

"He was." Prince said. "Too bad he couldn't stick around. What about you? Anyone waitin' at home?"

"Girlfriends." Yang smiled, digging out her Scroll from her pocket and showing him a picture of Coco and Velvet. "Only been three days and I miss them like crazy."

"No flirtin', got it." He grinned mischievously. "Pretty sure the Fern girl's got her eye on me anyway."

Looking ahead to where the Fern family were walking, she saw their daughter look back at them and give him a soft smile. She couldn't even blame her since Prince was a rather good looking guy. With his bright green eyes, eye-catching ginger hair, and a large amount of confidence that matched his outgoing personality; she knew he was definitely someone who would have caught her eye had they met a year ago. The only thing that she found questionable about him was his fashion sense, as a long orange cloak that was decorated with fabric sword tassels on one side didn't exactly seem comfortable given the warm weather.

"Pretty sure you'd end up with another situation like the girl and her brothers." Yang chuckled, having seen the girl's father giving Prince a disapproving look multiple times.

"You're probably right." He hummed thoughtfully. "'Nuff 'bout my love life though. What's the deal with you lot? Been a lot of talk about your friend's return."

"Basic family reunion." Yang shrugged, not really wanting to tell a story that wasn't hers to tell. "They had a falling out a while ago."

"Gotcha." The man nodded. "She doesn't seem too happy about it though."

"She is." Yang corrected him. "That's just Blake. And like I said, they had a falling out, but I'm sure they'll be fine."

Yang wished she was certain of that. While she was very aware that Blake loved her parents, she couldn't help but notice just how distressed the girl had been since meeting them. Instead of their presence reassuring her that she was a good person, it had only caused her belief that she deserved punishment to deepen. It had been especially painful last night when she had gone out to look for her and found her huddled against a tree talking about how she had done too much to make up for.

Unfortunately, the girl had risen her wall so high that all Yang had been able to do was convince her to go back to camp and go to bed. It hurt a little to know that the only things she could do to help her best friend was to send her to see Ruby, but she supposed it was better than doing nothing.

"I suppose families've all got their own ways of working their stuff out." Prince said with an accepting nod. "Beans here just shouts at me."

"Because ya deserve it." Petily said, throwing the core of the apple at the back of his head.

To Yang's surprise, Princeton's hand shot out with incredible speed and caught it. With the girl being less than a meter away and him not even turning around to see it, it was quite an impressive display of reflexes. With a smirk back at his little sister, he bit off a remaining piece of flesh and threw the core into the treeline.

"Little sisters." He chuckled. "Never appreciate what we do for them, huh?"

"Tell me about it." Yang agreed jokingly. "Blake's family are a little more complicated though. Chief of Menagerie-"

"Weiss!"

Yang heard her sister's voice just ahead of her and immediately pressed the brake lever. Thankfully they worked and the cart came to an immediate halt. Hearing Allie's howl sound through the area and letting go of it, she stepped to the side and watched Weiss being helped up to her feet. Once she was up, she drew her weapon and Yang instantly understood.

"Grimm?" She heard Prince ask, pulling a combat knife from a holster on his leg and handing it to his sister who quickly crawled beneath a tarp in the back of the cart.

Shaking her arms and causing her gauntlets to extend, she gave him a nod.

"Looks like it. Can you fight?"

"I got some tricks up my sleeve."

"Good." Yang nodded and tapped her ear, turning on close range coms and hearing her team's voice. "Me and you will guard the cart."

Raalm's Note

Hello everyone. So just a short chapter today. We mostly wanted to cover how each member is feeling about what happened with what was discussed last chapter, and introduce a little bit of conflict in how they think. I also wanted to personally try my hand at a simultaneously occurring story, so please let me know how that worked out.

Oh, also. Remember I am British and we just entered Daylight Savings Time, so the chapters may go up and hour later than usual for you now. For future reference, I always try to put them up around 8pm UK time :)

Anyway, that's it for me. I hope you enjoyed.

Chapter 58 will be up on the 8th of April :) That one is longer, I promise :)

P.S. Sorry for the title :P