I do not own RWBY

Animosity filled the air like one of Blake's cinnamon-scented candles as Winter and her father glared at one another. Part of her thought they were about to leap across the table in an effort to tear each other apart. Sipping her tea as if nothing was wrong, she eyed the other members of her family wishing that Yang could be here but she wasn't about to expose her to this horror show. If nothing else Klein had an amazing ability to make brilliant food. Whitley had taken to staring at the table as if doing so was going to help him hide, honestly, she had no idea what he thought of the situation given he'd been hiding in his room for the last few days. Her mother was sulking which she was a little proud of. Burning the woman's liquor and ordering all the servants against getting her any more had been well worth it.

"This tea is good," she said breaking the silence around them. If this was even a year ago all she'd be able to do was sit and tremble. Offering Whitley a smile when he glanced up, she wondered what her little brother wanted to do with his life. Without their father controlling him, Whitley had the freedom to be whatever he wanted. All he had to do was tell her and if possible she'd support him.

"Wine would be better," her mother mumbled.

"Of course it would," Winter hissed.

Neither of them had touched their food. Klein was going to be so disappointed but her classmates would tear into the leftovers. Taking a bite from her salad, she hummed softly. Winter might think she was helping but she wasn't. Their mother was bitter over losing what little control she'd had over her life, antagonizing her only made the situation worse. The only reason that Willow no longer had her liquor was simply so she could have a real conversation with her mother. Although given the amount of anger the woman felt that might be a mistake.

"This scheme of yours has gone a little too far," her father snapped. The fact he finally managed to utter the words almost made her laugh. It had taken him long enough.

"Scheme?"

"What else could this be?"

"I agree with your father."

"That's not going to get your alcohol back," Whitley whispered only being heard by himself. Glancing at his silent sister who watched the chaos he couldn't help but wonder if this had been part of her plan from the very beginning. There was part of him that hated her for turning their world upside down, but he had no desire to voice that option. Not when this was his chance to get away from the shackles their father had so carefully wrapped him in.

"Weiss has more than earned her place!"

"She stole her place!"

"You agreed to the trial!"

"Because you were supposed to win!"

Watching them shout at each other drove home how fractured their family was. They had no love for one another or any reason to work together. Laying down her fork, she took another sip of her tea. This wasn't really a family meeting but a place for them to shout at one another. Of course, she wasn't much better since she was only using this chance to tell them her plans for the future. Plans that they had no say in. She was going to end the bloodshed that haunted their family with or without their approval.

"I'm going to make peace with the White Fang," she announced causing them to fall silent. Waiting for her words to sink in she didn't flinch at the hostile disbelief in both their eyes, if there was one thing her father and sister agreed on it was their hatred of the White Fang. Impressive how quickly the two changed their tune once they realized they had a common enemy.

"The General-"

"Will be happy not to have any more terrorist attacks," she stated cutting off her sister's argument. Raising an eyebrow she waited for them to speak only for her father to snarl. The way his hands slammed down on the table caused her to internally flinch although no emotion showed on her face.

"I refuse to let you ruin this family!"

His words did nothing except bring a cold smile to her face. Eyeing the man who still stood so tall as if he ruled the world, she pushed away from the table. Standing slowly, it was easy to see him flinch back no doubt he remembered that she held the most power in the room. The only reason she didn't choose to deal with him permanently was that he shared her blood. If he continued to raise a fuss, then her opinion might change pretty quick.

"None of you have a say in how I run this family," she stated. The cold tone caused Winter to stiffen. Eyeing the man who'd raised her to be just as cold as he was, she waited for him to snap at her. Giving up definitely wasn't something he would ever do nor did he care about anyone's opinion but his own. When he opened his mouth to argue again Whitley caught her attention. Staring down at the table his shoulders were almost shaking at her announcement. This needed to end now before he was affected by her words any more than he already had been. Meeting her eyes with his own he seemed to think over the options before slumping in defeat.

"Weiss knows the situation with the White Fang far better than we do," he said gaining all their attention. Shifting nervously in his seat he refused to look over at his father who stared at him in shock. Obviously, the man never thought his son would dare to speak against him.

"You can't possibly agree with this," he snapped as if talking loudly might make the boy stand down.

"What I don't agree with is allowing anyone else to die in a war that we can stop."

Letting the words hang in the air for a moment, the boy sighed before standing. The complete control he had over his movements as he stepped away from the table with a nod in her direction. He hadn't eaten anything. Biting back the part of her that wanted to call him out she made a mental reminder to send a plate of food to his room. It was a bit priceless that their father was frozen stiff at Whitley's actions.

(Ruby)

She needed Qrow or Cardin. Either one would be a welcome addition to her life right now at least they were people she could talk about this newest issue with. Adam Taurus, the man Blake despised, wanted a relationship with her or she'd hallucinated their entire conversation. In truth that the second option might actually be possible given her lack of sleep lately. She had no idea what to do right now at all. He'd be wanting an answer right? This wasn't just one of those things that she could hide from or joke at until it left her alone. Well, she could try but she doubted it'd work.

Back to the point: what in the seven hells was she supposed to do now?

Flirting was something she could do and casual sex was also on the table but a relationship…was not a thing she'd ever thought about. Given that her last real relationship leads to her death her fear of them was understandable. There was also the fact she couldn't have kids. No matter how slim it was possible the man might want children. The best thing to do was reject him outright no matter how much he interested her. However, there was an issue with that idea.

No matter how scared she was of trusting someone outside of Cardin with her emotions, that didn't change who she was. At her core, she was a greedy woman without much care for the consequences of her actions. For years she'd wanted the world until she learned how cold Atlas was; that kingdom could stay far away from her. In truth, she had no idea what she wanted much less how much of herself she was willing to give to someone else. That made her a coward, didn't it? Despite being the youngest huntress in history, she was terrified of letting someone closer than surface level.

What if Adam turned out to be exactly the same as Dante? What if her heart was torn apart again? Only a fool fell for the same trick twice. The safe option was to reject him but she didn't want to. He didn't seem the type to bluntly state his intentions only to trick her but he was a terrorist. There was no way she could trust him; the fact she barely trusted anyone other than Cardin was one she wanted to ignore. Being insane wasn't the same as being stupid, she knew more than anyone how cruel people could be. This could simply be some kind of game to him. Did she actually think he'd play a game like that; no she didn't but that was part of the problem.

Adam Taurus was a high-ranking member of the White Fang who'd fought for years without faltering all for his people. She wasn't a faunus, worse she was a huntress. To the White Fang, all any such relationship would symbolize was that their hero was falling from grace. As she was there was nothing about her that offered any advantages to the White Fang or even Adam himself. The only thing she'd do was drag him down.

"Moping?"

Right she wasn't alone right now. Glancing over at Vernal who'd claimed the spot across from her at the fire she raised an eyebrow at the older girl. Part of her wanted to ask what the girl wanted but from the discomfort all over her face, she thought Vernal was being genuine. From that expression, she also saw that the brunet was horrible at emotions probably why there was so much tension between her and Dakota. Not that the tension didn't make for great blackmail material.

"Vernal," Dakota scolded. Turning to him immediately the brunet didn't notice Adam stiffen but Ruby did.

Raising an eyebrow at the man who she knew was staring back at her, it was easy to forget that the other two existed. For once her lips didn't twist into a smirk nor did she flirt with him. The mask she wore to trick not only others but herself wasn't one she wanted to depend on when considering starting a relationship with someone. There was also the fact that he might reject her if he learned who she really was.

"What, usually she's bouncing around like a juiced-up rabbit," Vernal snapped. Turning her attention back to Vernal who was standing, she hummed softly at the sudden trap of arguing the two fell into so easily. Neither one truly wanted to hurt the other however which was something she could understand.

"Should I resent that," she wondered. Idly she noted that Adam hid a smirk behind his hand.

"I like rabbits."

"Seriously did you hit your head or something?"

(Oscar)

Staring down at his hands, it was hard to see anything past the lines on his skin. For once the voice in his head was completely silent; all it took was death for his mind to finally be quiet. His aunt was dead that was bad enough to make it hard to breathe even without the bruises on his chest. Given there was no evidence that a grimm had killed her, guess who the blame fell on? Him. Everyone thought he'd been the one to kill her, so all he could do was sit in this dingy cell waiting for someone to throw him out the main gate.

At least the voice was going to get what it wanted. Now that he had nowhere to go there was no point in refusing to travel to Haven. Then again there was no point in the voice trying to convince him anyway when it could take over his body. Glancing up at the cell door as the mayor of the town arrived he didn't feel anything. This was a man too afraid to consider that grimm was coming out of the forest leading to him locking up a child. He didn't care. Looking back down at his hands as the door was pushed open, the light thud of a bag hitting the floor echoed around him.

"Let's go."

Standing he picked up the bag idly noting that it was far too light to hold much. So they wanted him to die once he left; right now, that wasn't an idea that he minded. Eyeing the tan-colored bag for a moment he sighed before plucking off the hunting knife that had been strapped to the front. Hooking it to his belt, he dropped the bag. He didn't really care what they put in the bag, mostly since they couldn't be trusted not to poison his food. Ignoring the glares and judgmental stares, he trailed after the mayor who he knew only wanted him dead.

If there was one grimm then more were on the way. Too bad all these people wanted to do was bury their heads in the sand and forget that the world was dangerous. Hiding from reality never worked out for anyone. He didn't care. They could all die and he wouldn't lift a finger to help them much less save their lives.

"Well, what do we have here?"

Dark red eyes met his own from the village gate causing him to freeze as memories rushed through his mind. So this was one of the voice's people. Qrow Branwen the spy who got drunk all the time. The father of a girl that the voice was afraid of. Maybe it was the recognition but by just meeting his eyes the man stiffened. Knowing that it wasn't he that Qrow saw he shrugged before starting to walk again. Even if this man was someone the voice cared about, he didn't care. Qrow was nothing to him.

"Qrow! Thank the gods. Hurry and save us!"

Shut up. He didn't need someone to save him or rather he didn't want someone to save him. All he wanted was to keep walking until he forgot everything. Stilling when Qrow's hand landed on his shoulder, he wanted to jerk away.

"Oh this is one of those villages huh," Qrow stated with disdain in his tone. Angry. This man was angry, but the situation had nothing to do with him.

The grip on his shoulder tightened as if sensing his thoughts. Gritting his teeth, it wasn't hard to realize that the touch was comforting. That wasn't his emotions it belonged to the ghost in his head. He didn't care.

"Don't bud into our business."

"Why not? You look like you're having fun," Qrow taunted. His other hand rested on the hilt of his weapon begging them to start a fight.

"Move outsider!"

"Sure," he conceded. Flinching, Oscar wanted to snap at him like a wounded dog as the man threw an arm over his shoulder. Not even the whispers that they could trust this man were able to calm the pure anger that burned through his blood. Catching the grin that sparked across the Huntsmen's face, he frowned. What was worth smiling about? Staring at the man he noticed the victory that flashed through his eyes when he said, "but I'm taking the kid."

"Either way he'd be gone."

Walking away the villagers didn't even glance back but Oscar couldn't breathe. This wasn't supposed to happen. None of this was what he wanted. All he'd meant to do was walk into the forest and die if only so he'd get some peace. Now the voice was bouncing in excitement as if seeing his old ally was enough to shift the tides. Stiffening when Qrow turned all his attention to him, he hated the longing that he felt. The voice cared about this man; that was enough reason to push him away. He wasn't going to be just another skin suit for the voice.

"Hey Oz," the man said brightly. That grin almost caused something in him to soften.

"I'm not him."

Despite the words, he wanted to embrace the man who seemed hurt by the blatant rejection. Shoving him away, it was harder than he'd wanted to start walking. Knowing that Qrow would follow, he turned his back on everything he'd ever known.

Hi guys isn't it a lovely day?

So what did you think of Oscar this chapter? I'm trying something new with his character.

stay safe and have a good day

- shyla