Hi guys! Sorry for the wait, this chapter was quite difficult to write. Hopefully, the next chapters are already partially written, so you shouldn't have to wait too long. Hope you'll enjoy, guest answers at the bottom!

Blake stretched even before waking up, gathering the sheets around her in a kind of semi-sleep. Her slight nightgown wasn't designed for such a cold climate, and she shivered while finally slowly opening her eyes. And then, in less than a second, she found herself fully awoken with her back pressed on the wall as far from the door as she could, her eyes fixed on the intruder. The lion Faunus – no, she has a name: Yang – was standing at the door, staring back. Black and white maid outfit, a slight of orange, red lace on the chest, lavender amused eyes… She was the same as yesterday. No word was spoken for a moment, both looking at each other in an awkward silence when suddenly Blake found the strength to speak.

"Were you spying on me?"

Her own lack of anger surprised her. It was just a question, not an indignation.

"No Miss Belladonna, I was ordered to stay here until your awakening, so I could lead you to the dining room."

A small glimpse in her eyes was all Blake needed to doubt, but for now she decided to focus on another problem.

"Stop calling me miss," she sighed. "I'm not an aristocrat or anything! I'm just me, Blake"

"With all my respects, no one is 'just himself'. But that aside, would you denounce me if I spoke freely?"

"Of course not! I just told you that I wasn't an aristocrat! Speak as freely as you want!"

She saw the woman in front of her sigh, collapse slightly and then laugh.

"Great cuz' I'm fucking tired of this weird language."

WOW. That was unexpected. Well… when you think about it, it's logic. Still, first sentence and already swearing? Her shock was probably visible, since Yang was laughing even more.

"What? I'm not a princess! Ah gosh I missed this. So, I can call you just Blake huh? Great." She sighed once again. "I can't believe I will have to speak with so much caution in less than ten minutes because of this goddamn Ice Princess!"

They shared a look, then the now furious lion looked away and started to walk in circles, visibly both worried and angry. She muttered a bit, then looked at her once again.

"I trust you on this one right? Don't tattle on me. Now follow me, and please be careful around the heiress. Don't act like we're equal"

Blake was about to stand up when she realized something.

"Uh… I'm not properly dressed… could you please wait outside?"

She gathered more of the sheets around her, blushing slightly while realizing that someone she didn't know had watched her sleep. That particular someone face palmed herself before speaking between her fingers.

"I'm such an incompetent! Of course I'll wait outside. Sorry for prying, and don't worry you're pretty when asleep by the way."

Not daring to look at her once again, Yang got out quickly while Blake tried to re-start her brain. What did she just tell?

"Okay, now isn't the time, get dressed and stop thinking."

And she did so, replacing yesterday's outfit by a plain purple long-sleeved shirt and a black slim pant, before getting out of her room to find a placid lion butler that was waiting for her. They made their way through the corridors, and she noticed the ice-blue door of Weiss' bedroom, fully different of the other white planches. They pursued a little, just enough for Blake to be lost, and then arrived to another simple door that was exactly the same, which her guide opened without getting in the way – as a butler would do in fact.

"After you, miss Belladonna."

She was about to lecture her when she noticed the white ponytail in the doorframe, suddenly understanding Yang's overwhelming of politeness. She thanked the blondie with a nod - which was answered by a wink – before entering the room, taking in the surroundings. It was a classy living-room, quite big though ridiculously small in such house, with a white table and chairs. Weiss was seated at the closest edge, back turned to the door, but there was someone else in the room. Red and black outfit – dress maybe? – same hair color, rather small, really deep in thoughts and dipping a donut in her coffee. Blake coughed politely, so Weiss turned to welcome her.

"Good morning Blake! May I introduce –"

She never finished her sentence, as a distinct "PLOTCH!" stopped it. All eyes turned to the second guest that was staring in disbelief at the new intruders, her hand hovering her coffee without holding anything. Of course, her donut was now floating in the coffee, designed guilty for the disturbing.

"Oh I'm so sorry Weiss! I didn't know you invited someone else, and now I'm being such impolite!"

That came from the little girl in red, who was now standing and walking toward Blake, arm stretched in a handshake proposal.

"Please forgive me, I'm not used to aristocracy. I'm Ruby Rose, nice to meet you."

Blake shook her hand, feeling a smile urging on her lips, but she retained it for a few seconds.

"Blake Belladonna, it's a pleasure. May I tell you a secret?" She paused, waiting a nod from the girl to pursue: "I'm not used to this neither. I'm nothing less than aristocracy!"

She let out a soft chuckle, and she saw Weiss refraining hers while Yang faked a cough. Ruby blushed and finally gave up in a smile. They both went to sit, and Weiss took a sip of coffee before starting the discussion.

"Sorry for not warning you, I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Don't worry Weiss! My honor is probably lost somewhere, but at least I have a new friend, right… may I call you Blake?"

"Of course!" Blake shot a sight at the door, but Yang was long gone now. "So, how did you meet each other?"

"I was in Vale for a charity concert. I was supposed to sing there but – Do you want a new coffee Ruby?"

"Yes please"

A bell rang, another Faunus showed with twitching lynx ears, but she disappeared before Blake could see more, or even wonder how many Faunus were slaved in here.

"So, I was supposed to sing but I lost my way – don't even ask how, I don't know myself – and I ended in the middle of nowhere without anyone to help, except Ruby"

"Come on Weiss, it's not nowhere! It's Patch! It's a small town, I know, but I live there! Plus there would have been plenty of people to help if you weren't carrying that Shnee suitcase everywhere."

Blake upped an eyebrow, watching the tiny arguing between the heiress and the guest with slight amusement. Vale wasn't known for liking powerful heir nor racism. No wonder why no one would approach a Shnee Dust Company heiress.

"I couldn't leave it! Anyway, she came to me and we started to talk." Weiss awkward tone should have warned Blake.

"And it went on and on, we went to a café to be more comfortable. When she realized where she was, it was way too late to take another flight so she slept over in my apartment!"

Ruby's fun was obvious, as obvious as Weiss' embarrassment. They kept chatting, Blake told how she had found the heiress – skipping the most annoying moment much to Weiss' sake – and suddenly another door opened. How could there be all these door in a single house? A man entered, wearing a white tuxedo and for a second, Blake thought she was finally meeting mister Shnee. The next, she noticed the black and grey short hair, the deer horns and most of all, the dog collar. Dog collar wasn't just an expression since it was a thick, black leather collar with spikes and a chain. This guy might be well dressed, his condition was probably the worst. On the other side of the chain were a tall woman in heels. White bun, blue eyes, older version of Weiss, it was probably Winter. She was in a white combat uniform, almost like the soldiers guarding Mistral but slightly different. More… classy.

"Weiss Shnee, your presence is required in your father's office immediately. Some slaves will take care of your guests"

"This man is Ironwood. He was general in the Faunus war, now he is just my sister's slave. Sorry I've got to go" Weiss muttered as quietly as she could. She then spoke normally: "I'm coming"

The door slammed behind them, and both Blake and Ruby stared at each other not knowing what to do.

"What a shame, such a great leader being chained AND walked around like a puppy…" Ruby sighed.

"I'm glad you think that too! I was starting to feel like I was an alien in here."

"Me too!"

They both chuckled, sealing their newborn friendship by doing so.

"So," Ruby started again. "You didn't tell me where you're from."

"I'm from a small village, maybe even smaller than Patch." Blake's thoughts drifted to her home. "It stands in the middle of a Grimm-less forest, in the North-East of Vale. Not too far from here actually, if you can pass the cliffs and the sea."

"That seems lovely! And exactly the size of my native village, since I wasn't exactly born in Patch."

For the second time in less than an hour, Blake upped and eyebrow and Ruby seemed to notice.

"Yeah, my father lives in a small house pretty isolated from anywhere else…"

A shadow passed in her eyes, and Blake knew there was a pretty touchy subject underneath. Before she could add anything, a door opened quietly and Yang entered, followed by another slaved Faunus. Blake took a second to detail the second Faunus: a guy, butler outfit, tall, thin, purples eyes, black and purple hair and wolf tail. An awkward silence started to install, so Blake decided she will speak first.

"Hello! I don't think that I've met you. What's your name?"

Ruby was staring at her, slightly shocked by her lack of precautions, but that was nothing compared to the guy's dumbfounded face. He didn't answer, so instead Yang spoke.

"Please excuse him. His not totally trusting you, and we aren't in the safest place to speak right now." She was staring right at Ruby.

"Oh don't worry, Ruby shares my opinion on Faunus, right Ruby?" Blake turned to her brand new friend.

"Oh um, yeah of course!" She seemed snapped out of her thoughts.

"The name's Matt by the way." Once again, Yang spoke for the wolf.

The awkward silence came back. They were all staring at each other, quite unsure about what to say – except Matt who wouldn't say anything.

"Awkward uh? I would be lion if I'd say otherwise…" Yang winked

I took about half a second for everyone to realize.

"Was that…" Blake never finished her sentence

"Yeah a pun. A bad one, though usually they're purrfect. I cat help myself you know!"

The puns were so bad they could probably kill someone, but Yang's proud smirk was enough for everyone to laugh, even the quiet and reserved Matt muffled his laughter. But the fun didn't last long, as another door slammed open, revealing a young man with white hair: Weiss' brother. Ruby mumbled something like "does anyone knock before entering in this house?" while both Faunus went quiet. Wheatley glared at them with a colossal amount of haughtiness and despise, before spitting his hating words.

"Who brought you, peasants, in there?"

Blake felt his hate crawl on her skin, knowing that it was already reciprocated, and couldn't help but answered with dignity and calm.

"We're Weiss guests, and you being her brother doesn't give you the right to insult us." One good thing with being friend with an heiress is that you quickly learn how to act like royalty.

"Well since you're laughing casually with those disgusting errors…" His furious glare lasted only a second on both Faunus. "You're obviously peasants. Not to mention your… outfit."

"For what I see, the peasant here is you, since you don't seem to know that the highest debates are all centered on Faunus' freedom. Vacuo already forbid slaving, it's nearly the same in Vale and it's frowned upon in most Mistral. Atlas is the only kingdom that doesn't consider Faunus as humans, and since we're both from Vale…" Blake's anger was boiling under her calm and disdainful demeanor.

She leaned back in her seat, taking a sip of what remained of her tea while everyone else glared at her with their eyes wide open. They were some differences between the glares though: Yang was surprised but also amused and kind of ironic, Matt seemed to trust and respect her a little more, Ruby was nearly chuckling and Wheatley was about to explode.

"How dare you! The nerve of!" Weiss' little brother was at loss for words. "Ugh, I'm wasting my time talking to you peasant."

And with that, he took off. For a second or two, the silence remained full but suddenly Ruby let go of her laughter, soon followed by everyone in the room, Matt included. They talked a little more, and then the two Faunus showed them the rest of the house, a shy but promising friendship raising between the four of them.

Guest answers !

YNI1 : Thanks a lot, I'm really glad you like the story so far! And I guess your first question about Ruby is answered, since she appeared in this chapter… For Velvet, Sun & the other Faunus… well I wasn't planning to put them in the story at first, but I've thought of something where they could fit, so yeah, they'll appear eventually.

Once again, sorry for being late… I'll try to upload once a week but I can't be sure about it since I'm lazy and for now my Internet is quite capricious… I plan on making about 20 chapters, maybe more or maybe less, it will depend on my ideas. Also if you have an idea of what could happen, don't hesitate to comment it, and I'll see if it can fit. Anyway, thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed!