Blake was more confused than she might have ever been in her life, and feeling so very lucky because of it. This rich girl from Atlas, her own teammate, that grew up with private tutors and maids, living in some mansion on top of the floating city high above the rest of the common folk beneath, was unlike anyone she imagined someone from there would be. There had been the time in the ballroom before initiation, where Violet had given her total privacy despite lying only five feet from her, and even managed to tip her off about Yang being a capable partner. 'Even if there's no way she could have known I was cautious of her at first.'
Then they had ended up on the same team, and in the first morning, the girl had stared at her three teammates as they slept. Blake had woken up easily at the first sounds of Violet getting out of bed. She felt more than saw the girl watching them, but waited to see what Violet was going to do before she herself got up. The girl had just sighed longingly, and hid the fact she was staring at them when Blake herself started to move.
And that single comment by the racist had set Violet off, causing her to rant out details that had been left out of the history books about the faunus 'victory' over the humans. There'd been no doubt in Violet's voice, and no edge of regret that the humans had lost. She had sounded proud of the faunus, and threw that fact in Cardin's face, outright condemning him for his beliefs. 'And then backing it up with her actions, when she kicked his ass in Goodwitch's class later.'
But most baffling of all, was how the girl had so easily subverted the Schnee's attitude, and even gotten her to agree to have an actual heart to heart with a faunus. 'A Schnee!' Violet had quickly and concisely pointed out the issue at the center of the White Fang's increased aggression, better than Blake herself could have worded it.
It was just all so confusing. Blake had never met a human that would go so far to protect the faunus. If it wasn't outright racism at their expense, then it was the cold shoulder, the refusal to help no matter how a faunus was beat or berated.
Blake's three teammates were all in the room currently, going about their own business. Violet was sitting at the desk nearest the door, head slumped on her hand while she slowly filled out her history homework. She hadn't even bothered to open up her textbook, and was just filling in answers to the questions on the sheet. Despite her bored expression, she laughed every now and then as she filled in some detail, sounding like she had more insight to share with Oobleck that would make the man's eyebrows reach his hairline.
Violet had also reigned in Ruby when they arrived back at the dorm. Ruby had been wanting to play games on her Scroll, but Violet told the child in no uncertain terms that she needed to do her homework first. Ruby had grumbled initially, but eventually sat down at another one of the desks and started pouring over the information in the textbook. Yang sat next to her, both of them working together through the questions that the younger girl was struggling with. Every now and then, one of them would shoot a question off to Violet, and she'd just mutter the answer back. Never giving them the entire explanation, but just enough that it seemed like they were able to find what they were looking for in the textbook more easily.
Violet finished with her work first and pulled out her Scroll, connecting to some website and idly reading through the text there. Yang and Ruby finally finished fifteen minutes later, both of them sharing a yawn and calling it a night. They changed into their pajamas and crawled into bed, each spending a few last minutes on their Scrolls before truly falling asleep.
Blake sat up in her top bunk, reading one of the books she had bought before coming into Beacon. Blake wasn't exactly the best off financially, but as long as she could afford food, then the extra lien in her account could be spent however she chose, and she chose books, every single time. There was a scrape of Violet's chair being pushed back, and Blake thought she might be heading to bed as well, but instead she leaned against the wall next to the door, her right arm twisted back behind her in a way that Blake doubted was very comfortable. Even so, the girl stayed that way for half an hour.
Blake glanced at her every now and then from over the top of her book, keeping a curious eye on her. Blake couldn't fail to notice the delicate grin that slowly worked its way on to Violet's face. 'Was she reading something funny on her Scroll?' The small snores of Yang continued, and with her hearing, Blake could tell Ruby was fast asleep as well. Blake kept reading. She was starting to get tired, but until the enigma at the door went to sleep, Blake was content to stay up.
As time passed, Blake's vision started to grow a little fuzzier. 'I must be more tired than I thought.' As long as Violet was up, though, Blake would be to. There was something that felt off, though. Some imperceptible change in the air that she couldn't quite put her finger on. 'I need to sleep soon,' she said to herself, and glanced at Violet again. Her gaze stopped dead on Violet's eyes, as the girl was grinning at her maliciously.
Violet stepped away from the wall, where her right hand had slowly been lowering the light level in the room for the last thirty minutes until the light had gone out completely. Violet had given it another five minutes before finally smiling up at Blake, who stopped mid-glance the next time she looked up from her book.
"Oh my, Blake. You know it's bad for your eyes to read in the dark," Violet laughed lightly. It was too dark to see Blake's face, but she was dimly aware of the girl's body freezing up. Step one of her mission, 'Reveal Blake's Secret' was a success.
'What? Reading in the dark? But the light was...' Blake froze as she got a good look around the room and realized what had felt wrong. The room's light was out. Her night vision had kicked in over time, and she had been so wrapped up in her thoughts and her book that she'd failed to notice the telltale signs before it was too late. Violet grinned up at her in the dark, likely incapable of actually seeing Blake's expression with her human eyes. If Violet could, she would have seen Blake's eyes narrow.
"How did you know?" she whispered suspiciously, not wanting to wake up Yang or Ruby and include them in the secret. There was a dangerous edge to her voice. A warning to Violet that she better have an acceptable answer, or else. Blake's body tensed where she sat, ready to move if need be.
Violet waved her hand offhandedly, "I had a few faunus maids growing up, Blake. There were a few hints, here and there. This was just the final test."
'Hints?' Blake had been so careful. She had been trained by the White Fang to disguise herself well, blending in with humans, perfecting their mannerisms, all the better to go by undetected. "Like what?" she finally asked, giving Violet a cold stare that the girl still couldn't see.
"Oh, just the little things. Changing into your sleepwear but refusing to ever take your bow off was the first sign. Aren't your ears uncomfortable under that thing all day?" Violet replied nonchalantly, leaning against Blake and Yang's bed post.
'They were aching.' Blake had hoped to get used to the bow holding her ears in place, but it was always uncomfortable if left on for too long. She reached up with a trembling hand and pulled the bow off, feeling immediate relief after the tension that had been there all day.
"Better?" Violet grinned, tilting her head questioningly.
"Better," Blake admitted quietly, laying the bow down on her bedside, "So what now?"
"I just wanted you to be more comfortable. You can relax around us, ya know?" Violet said, giving her a soft smile, "I'll let you tell them on your own time if you want, but Yang and Ruby are both nice girls. Trust me when I say, their opinion of you won't change in the slightest when they find out."
Blake looked thoughtfully over at Ruby, and bent over her bed to spare an eye down at Yang. Both of the girls were still apparently asleep, none the wiser to the quiet conversation taking place. They were nice girls. Blake had noticed them both getting annoyed with Cardin's attitude, and both had cheered more than was necessary when he'd been so soundly defeated in the arena. 'Could it be?' Had she lucked out completely, getting a team of humans that really wouldn't treat her differently because of her faunus heritage? A soft smile of her own played across her lips.
"Well, it's up to you. You can trust me not to share your secret with anyone before you do," Violet said, giving Blake's leg a tentative, but soothing touch. Blake felt the tension flood out of her. She believed Violet. How could she not after her fierce displays in defense of the faunus? The girl left, lying down in her own bed across the room and turning away to face the wall. Blake's acute hearing was the only reason she could hear Violet's last words before the girl's head sunk into her pillow.
"Just give it some thought, okay? You can trust all of us to have your back."
Blake stayed up for a while longer, mind going over all the events of the last couple days with a fine toothed comb. None of her teammates actions or words would suggest a secret dislike for the faunus. Could she really trust them, just like that? So soon after initiation, before they'd gotten to know her as a person? Blake smiled longingly despite herself. She really did believe she could trust Violet, and if Violet had faith in Yang and Ruby…
Blake rolled over on to her side. She quietly tucked her bow away and relaxed into her bed, a great calm forcefully smothering her anxiety. She would trust a human... for the first time... in a long time. Sleep came within moments as a gentle purr escaped her chest.
Yang cracked her eyes open at the sound of the shower turning on through the wall next to her. She stifled a yawn, arching her back and raising her arms above her head where she lay before sitting up a little and looking around the room. Violet was already up, leaning back in one of the chairs with her feet up on the desk, rocking back and forth while she played with her Scroll. She was humming a song that Yang didn't recognize, but every now and then she'd part her lips and half-sing, "I buurrnn!"
Ruby was still sleeping, her body sprawled out across her bed hanging from the ceiling, one leg threatening to dangle off. Yang slipped out of bed and stretched again, this time managing to pop her back in all the right places. Violet glanced her way and gave a hearty, "Good morning, sunshine!" before she turned back to her Scroll and resumed her humming.
"What, no pleasant kick to wake me up in the morning? Don't you love me anymore?" Yang joked breathlessly, throwing a hand up towards her chest while she pretended to be offended.
"You can thank your bunk for that," Violet joked along, shaking her head at the great loss.
Yang placed a hand on Blake's bed above her own and nodded her head solemnly, mouthing an appreciative 'Thank you' before walking over and pushing Ruby's leg back up on to her bed. The girl awoke with a start, silver eyes glancing Yang's way from underneath black and red bangs. She groaned and flipped over, "Not yet, Yang! I was just about to rescue the princess!"
"Don't you mean prince?" Yang laughed, "I didn't know my sister swung that way."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ruby grumbled into her pillow, "The hero always saves the maiden."
"And what does the fair maiden do in return?"
"Gives the hero a favor or something, I don't know," Ruby sighed and turned back over, looking up at the ceiling, eyes vacant as she tried to recall the dream that had so easily slipped from memory.
"While she's down on both knees-" Violet started but was interrupted as a pillow smacked into the back of her head.
"Don't listen to her, Ruby. The guys are the ones that go down on one knee, to ask for the woman's hand in marriage before they do anything else," Yang flared, eyes flickering red.
"Like kissing?" Ruby asked in horror, eyes going wide.
"Like kissing," Yang agreed. Violet just laughed and resumed rocking back and forth on her chair.
They were interrupted by the door to the bathroom opening. Blake stepped out, clothed in only some shorts and a tank top that showed off her belly. Her hand froze on top of her head, where she had still been toweling off her hair, eyes going wide. Blake looked nervously between the three of them, before her eyes finally settled on Violet. Violet's face was unreadable, but it seemed like some message passed between the two. Blake stepped further out of the bathroom, catching the eye of both Ruby and Yang, expression both serious and determined.
All eyes were on Blake as she stepped within five feet of Yang, eyes glancing off to the side in unease for a final second, before she slowly pulled the towel down off her head, and two cat ears popped up out.
Yang let out an impressed, "Cool," that made Blake's ears seem to perk up, before they flattened as Ruby's shrill young voice rang out from behind Yang, "Ohmygodthey'resocuuuuuuute!"
"Ruby! Calm down a little, okay?" Violet chastised from where she was sitting. Yang noticed that the girl had a small smile on her face, and looked at Blake with… pride? Admiration? Yang couldn't quite place it, but something had passed between the two right before this.
"I mean they are," Ruby said in her own defense, eyes still staring at Blake's head. Her fingers slowly twitched forward, despite Blake being well out of her reach.
The uncertainty that had been on Blake's face vanished, replaced with a genuine smile that started small and crept outwards, eventually reaching her eyes, as just the tiniest hint of wetness appeared in them but was dashed away when she blinked.
"Alright, Yang. Your turn," Violet said, drawing Yang's attention to her.
"What do you mean, my turn?" Yang asked uncertainly.
"Your deepest, darkest secret. Blake was brave enough to share hers just now, and you're next. Then Ruby, then Blake again, then you again," Violet spun her chair to face away from the three but then straddled it to keep looking their direction.
Yang's eyes narrowed in suspicion, "I can't help but notice your name missing from that list, Ms. Purple Fire Eyes."
"Eh, no secret there. Must have been a trick of the light," Violet dodged the question as she nodded sagely and looked back to her, "Your turn."
"I don't have any deep, dark secrets," Yang replied with a growl. 'I am still looking for my mother," but that was less a secret and more just something she... didn't tell anybody.
"Really? That's a boring backstory," Violet leaned her chin on her hands, using the backrest of the chair for support, "What about you, Ruby?"
"No-o… I'm pretty normal," Ruby half stuttered, eyes still locked on to Blake's ears. Blake noticed that Ruby was still staring and narrowed her eyes at her, earning her a small 'eep!' as her hand fell back to her lap.
"Looks like it's just you and me, Blake," Violet sighed, turning to face her, "We'll have to carry the team in the mystery department."
"Ms. Purple fire eyes?" Blake asked, latching on to what Yang had said.
Violet tried to wave it off, "Yang is under the impression that I can blow up Grimm with my mind or something. She just watched too many cartoons growing up."
"I know what I saw," Yang said fiercely, then recounted the important parts of the story to Blake.
Blake stared at Violet's eyes with newfound interest, who's eyes in turn went wide, "Uhh, curiosity killed the cat, Blake."
"But satisfaction brought it back," Blake finished the line, grinning widely.
The girls presented a united front against Violet, attempting to bore the answer out of her very soul, if they needed to. Violet laughed hesitantly and stood up, "Right, time for a shower."
Ruby blurred across the room and slammed the bathroom door shut.
"How about breakfast?"
Blake appeared in front of the door to the hall, her clone vanishing from where she had stood a second earlier as she locked the door behind her.
"A walk in the gardens, then."
Yang closed the window.
'Damn, I should have started with the window,' Violet sighed. She sat back down, in clear view of all three other girls. They visibly relaxed, but did not move from their positions. 'Okay, forcing my hand, here. I need to come up with an excuse. Gotta give myself time to think.'
"Spill it," Yang demanded.
Violet hesitated, trying to come up with something that would distract them while she could think, and sighed, "It was actually my identical twin?"
"Then how did you recognize us on the first day?" Yang scoffed.
"She told me everything she could before dying from a terminal illness."
"And you have the same name," Ruby inserted.
"I took her name to honor her memory as the older twin."
Blake rolled her eyes in disbelief.
Violet sighed and muttered under her breath, "I bet it wasn't this bad for Jinn." Violet cursed herself immediately after, realizing she'd made a mistake the moment it slipped from her lips, as Blake asked in pure self-satisfaction, "Who's Jinn?"
Violet was annoyed that she had given up such a dangerous name, and shouted out "My dead sister!". She was still trying to by time, but the anger at herself seemed to seep through, causing the girls to believe it was directed at them. The mood grew somber in the room as the trio looked uncertainly between one another.
"Is… was that stuff actually true?" Yang asked quietly, a slight tremble to her words.
Violet stayed silent, thinking it over. 'Could this work to get them off my back?' She hardly believed the girls would press further if she told them it was the truth. Add a little conviction, a little sadness around the eyes, and end it all sounding heartbroken. She could pull it off. The drawbacks? Violet tried to think of ways that it could go wrong by making the girls believe it, but… she couldn't see a way that it would backfire. If it got them to stop asking, to go back to thinking she was just another normal girl, then it would be worth letting them believe a little white lie...
Violet used the extended silence to her advantage, and made sure to not look any of them in the eye as she spoke, "Y… yes. What you saw was my sister's semblance… she... died, a long time ago." Violet put the weight of countless losses from previous lives into her voice. The real deaths that had left her a broken mess for days afterwards, and stood up to walk to the bathroom. She refused to bite back the sadness, and with a few tears welling in her eyes, pushed past the shocked form of Ruby, "I'll be taking that shower now… I'll meet you guys in class."
Violet sighed as the door closed, leaning back against it as she heard the other girls get changed and eventually shuffle out. Her plan had worked out well enough. There were gaps in logic. How would her sister's name be Jinn if Violet said she'd taken her name? After a performance like that though, she doubted they would bring it up with her again.
But, if it had worked out so well… then why was she still crying?...
Weiss sat at the cafeteria table in between her teammates, her left dominant hand tasked with scraping food off her plate, and her right hand idly flipping through her history textbook. 'It really doesn't have any specifics on how General Lagoon was captured in here.' Weiss's team was enjoying a comfortable silence as they ate, a rarity when you had Nora on your team. The girl in question was busy vacuuming down a plate full of pancakes, though, and Weiss was loathe to interrupt the peaceful atmosphere.
Movement near the door caught her eye, as three quarters of team Vibrant slumped into the hall, in a silent mood that looked anything but comfortable. They went through the lunch line, and headed in Siren's direction, giving a half-hearted greeting and sitting in their usual spots.
None of them ate. Blake didn't bother touching her tray, Yang absentmindedly pushed around some peas, and Ruby held one cookie in front of her for a minute before shoving it back away from her.
"Alright, what's wrong?" Weiss was forced to ask, as Pyrrha nudged her, getting Weiss to speak for the group. 'Why me?'
"We did something awful," Ruby replied quietly, giving her cookie a death glare.
"It still doesn't make sen-" Yang began but was firmly cut off by Ruby..
"Stop."
"But-" Yang tried to speak up.
"No, Yang! You didn't see her face. She was crying. Like, really crying," Ruby said furiously, cutting Yang off again. The older sister drooped, setting down her fork and leaning against her fist, propped up by the table.
"Are you talking about Violet? What did you guys do?" Weiss asked cautiously.
"We… forced her to talk about something she didn't want to," Blake replied sadly, one hand subconsciously messing with the bow atop her head.
"And you made her cry?" Weiss asked vehemently, staring across the group from one person to the other.
"We didn't think it would go down like that!" Yang said angrily, defending herself, "She's always so happy or playful. I didn't even think Violet could be sad."
"The saddest people are often the best at hiding it, even from themselves," Ren said to no one in particular. He gave a small smile to Nora as her hand reached up and gripped his shoulder, the two sharing a look that Weiss couldn't hope to understand.
"We... don't exactly feel great about it," Yang admitted.
'You don't say,' Weiss thought. As if their entire demeanor didn't shout 'regret!'
Her next words were cut off as a startled gasp echoed through the dining hall, followed by the clattering of a tray laden with food that was sent skittering across the floor, its contents flying off every which way.
"Watch where you're going!" Cardin shouted down at the rabbit faunus on the ground in front of him. For good measure, his foot drew back and he kicked what was left of the girl's drink into her, splattering milk across her uniform and face before turning to walk off.
"CARDIN WINCHESTER!" Weiss shouted, standing up from the bench, face flushed with indignation as she stormed directly up to him, staring up into his sneering face.
"Why does a Schnee care if I put a stupid faunus in its place?" he taunted angrily.
Weiss's hand twitched towards her hip. She desperately wanted to stab him right then, but she didn't have Myrtenaster, so instead, Weiss calmed herself down enough to speak coherently and with as much acidity as she could possibly muster. "I'm only going to warn you, once. Do you see the group at the table behind me?" Weiss waited for him to glance that direction before continuing, "Every. Single. One of us, is stronger than you. If you do something like this again, we will make the next four years of your time at this school hell. There are seven of us. We could challenge you in combat class, every day, and never get in trouble for the pain we would cause you."
Cardin's face paled as he looked between Weiss and the group at the table. He hesitated, starting to open his mouth and let out some false bravado, but cut off as Nora, Ren, Ruby, Blake, Yang, and Pyrrha stood up at once, each directing their deadliest glare in his direction.
He turned fearful eyes to Weiss, shakily nodded once, and left the dining hall.
Weiss waited until he was gone before turning her attention down to the faunus that was still lying on the ground, dumbstruck by the entire event. Weiss reached a hand down, offering it to the girl, and she took it, letting Weiss help pull her to her feet. Weiss pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and gave it to the girl, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Let me escort you back to your dorm," Weiss said calmly, using the hand on the girl's shoulder to guide her past the mess and towards the dining hall doors. The girl let Weiss walk her away, and then took the lead slightly as Weiss had no idea where her dorm room actually was.
"I'm sorry that happened," Weiss said sadly, breaking the silence a minute after they left the cafeteria.
"It wasn't your fault," the girl giggled. Her ears raised off her head a little at the comment, though.
"My name is Weiss," she went on, "May I ask your name?"
"Velvet. Velvet Scarlatina."
"It's nice to meet you, Velvet. If Cardin ever gives you trouble again, even the smallest comment at your expense, I want you to come tell me," Weiss's voice burned with a newly discovered ferocity that she hadn't known she was capable of.
"I'm… surprised that a Schnee would help me," Velvet admitted timidly.
Weiss's breath caught in her throat, "I'm… more than just a name."
"I can see that now," Velvet agreed, directing them down another hallway.
"Do you… have to go through that a lot?" Weiss asked, now the one with timidity in her voice.
Velvet just nodded, but at Weiss's expression, clarified it for her, "Not many people are as outright racist as Cardin, but there are... enough. And I can't hide my faunus trait as easily as a lot of others. I've been forced to deal with people like Cardin my whole life." It was the way she said it so casually, making the abuse sound like such a common occurrence, that tore at Weiss's heart strings. They were getting to the end of the hallway. Velvet's steps picked up, likely not wanting to waste time getting out of the wet uniform.
Weiss let her arm go as Velvet used her Scroll to unlock the door at the end of the hall. She opened it, but paused, one foot already inside, and looked back at Weiss.
"Thank you, Weiss. I don't think I said that yet."
Weiss felt a warmth spread through her, and nodded, "You're welcome, Velvet." The door clicked shut as Velvet stepped inside, leaving Weiss to stand outside and reflect on what had transpired. Weiss Schnee had helped a faunus, and, frankly speaking… it felt good.
Weiss left, her footsteps feeling lighter than they had in a long time.
"I don't like how we left things with Violet," Blake sighed at the table, looking between the other two girls that had a hand in their current depression.
"Well, we still have fifteen minutes before class… Should we go apologize?" Yang asked the group.
The other two nodded in wordless agreement. They set off back to their room, arriving with plenty of time to spare before classes would have a chance to begin. Ruby knocked, and when she didn't hear a reply, unlocked the door and opened it slowly. The three stepped inside, ready to beg for forgiveness.
Violet wasn't there.