It had been quite some time since Ozpin was last in the palace's throne room. It seemed too large, for no good reason. Though for royalty, that was just par for the course, wasn't it? The ceiling was so tall it just might've been able to fit a Leviathan, if it crouched low enough. It was so wide that it could very well fit most of Beacon's student population in it with a little bit of squeezing. The emerald green drapes and carpet were quintessentially Valean. All of it leading to a single elegant, elevated seat towards the back.

Ozpin had worked quite closely with the queen in his time as Beacon's headmaster and Vale's Minister of Education. He wasn't quite on a first name basis with her, but it wasn't as if they couldn't laugh over a few drinks with friends. Glynda stood at his side a little ways away from the throne itself. Standing right by the queen was her younger sister, Princess Meghan. She stood tall, a fierce scowl on her face. Her hair, just as brown as her sister's, was neatly groomed and held back into a tight bun. She wore a pristine, pressed Valean military uniform in all of its glorious whites and greens. Her steely gray eyes only added to her domineering presence.

Two lines of armed guard stood by the grand doors at the throne room's entrance. They all saluted with their weapons as the door opened. At the head of the party that entered were a man and a boy. The man was clearly a soldier, given his uniform. It was white, like Meghan's, but trimmed with black, red, and gray. He was walking beside a young boy, dressed much like himself. The boy's hands glittered with rings adorned with gems, and he wore a red velvet cape clasped with ornaments reminiscent of a Grimm's bones. Walking behind them were a group of six, wearing black military uniforms adorned with white and red. One of them had a head of white hair, which caught Ozpin's attention. Looking at her face a bit more, she reminded him of Miss Weiss Schnee. He had heard that her sister was in the Atlesian military, but he wasn't aware she was of such a high rank to work directly for the Ironwoods. Once the party of eight was before the queen's throne, they all took a knee and bowed their heads.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, your Majesty," said the boy, "Thank you ever so much for welcoming us into your home."

"I'm relieved to see that you've arrived in Vale in one piece. However…" The queen stood from her throne. "You know there's no need to be so formal. Please, stand." She walked down the steps leading to her throne and towards the party from Atlas, who stood at her command. She wrapped her arms around the boy, picked him up, and spun him around. "It's so good to see you again, Neil!" Setting him down she said, "I haven't seen you since the last Vytal, have I? You were what, nine then?"

"Ten," said the man with him, "though just barely. I can't blame you for misremembering."

"James, as handsome as ever!" The queen hugged him as well. "I still can't help but wonder how you aren't married yet."

"That's because uncle continues to insist he's married to Atlas and his duties."

"Which is quite right, I'd like to add!"

"These must be the Ace Operatives." The queen walked around the Ironwoods to assess the six soldiers who had accompanied them. She inspected them all, who stood at attention at her approach. "The cream of the crop as far as Atlesian Huntsmen go, right?"

"It's a title we proudly hold, Your Majesty." The tallest among them, a man with brown hair cut short, spoke. He was notable among them because he was the only one to wear a badge on his uniform's lapel; a four leaf clover.

"I see. Well, it's never a bad thing to take pride in your talents. And you are…?"

"Captain Clover Ebi of the Atlesian Army, and leader of the Ace Operatives, Your Majesty."

"Ah, the leader." She lightly patted his shoulder. "The cream of the crop's cream! Then you're definitely in the running for Atlas's number one huntsman! It might not be my place to comment, being Valean and all, but I'm sure Atlas and her people are in good hands."

"I'm undeserving of your praise, Your Majesty."

"And humble, too! Make sure this one doesn't steal the ladies from you, James!"

"Well, the ladies would need to approach me in the first place for Clover to steal them."

The queen then turned on the white haired woman and said, "I wasn't expecting to see you here, Winter. I see your military career is going great."

"Thank you, Queen Catherine."

"You know, I met your sister a few months ago. She was out in the city with her friends. It must've been nice having her home for the summer."

"I wasn't home very often, but it was nice seeing her, when I was."

"Do you plan on visiting, now that you're in Vale?"

"At some point, I'd like to have her show me Beacon campus. It would be nice to meet these… friends of her as well. She spoke highly of them, when she was home."

"Excuse me, everyone." Ozpin took a few steps forward. "I do hate to interrupt, but if Your Highnesses are alright with it, I'd like to discuss some things privately."

"I don't have a problem with it," said the queen.

Catherine walked towards a door behind her throne. It led to her personal office, that she did most of her work in. James dismissed most of his associates, though Winter and Clover followed him. Glynda and Meghan also followed the group into the office. When they were all inside, Meghan closed the door.

"It's nice to see you, Oz, but if you called us in here, I'm guessing it isn't just to catch up," James said.

"And you'd be correct. I'm curious as to why you needed the fleet."

"Well, it's a security mea-"

"With all due respect, James, I disagree." Everyone turned to Meghan. "I'll be one of the first to admit that, regarding raw military might, Atlas has no equal on all Remnant. Yet Vale's military would be more than enough to handle security for the Vytal Festival."

"I simply thought that it would be best for you to have backup, if you ever needed it," James said.

"You expect your Atlesian men to lay down their lives for Valeans simply because you tell them?"

"That was already accounted for, Your Highness, before we left," Winter said.

"With Atlas Academy students here, there are already a number of Atlas's citizens they'd be due to protect," Neil said, "along with any tourists that happened to have decided to come and visit. I'd like to believe our soldiers are decent people, but if it's a matter of loyalty, they know it's in their best interest to provide aid here if it's needed."

"It isn't exactly like things are entirely peaceful in Vale, either, isn't that correct? You've lost sight of the White Fang since their little stunt at the docks. They could be anywhere. Knowing that they could strike at any time, it's best to have as much manpower on hand to handle a crisis. We could even help you find them!" James said.

"I don't think having foreign intelligence agents poking around Vale would be the best move, James," Glynda said, "Don't get me wrong, it makes sense on paper, but it doesn't seem practical."

"I'm simply concerned about how the people will interpret this," Ozpin said, "A foreign army among them. The anxiety will breed Grimm, if it grows intense enough."

"Then if the city is breached while the fleet is here, I'll send them home."

"At that point, we'd need them!" The queen shrugged. "It's too late now. They're here. I say they stay. Just make sure your men behave themselves. If I hear any news about an Atlesian starting a fist fight, I'll have to ask you to send them back north."

"Thank you, Catherine. I'll make sure that my soldiers behave."

"Now then, I would love to catch up more, and talk about Vytal, but you just got off a very long flight. I'll have you shown to your quarters, and we can pick it up at dinner after you've had a few hours to chill and unwind, okay?"

"That sounds splendid!" Neil stretched and yawned. "I think a nap could do me some good."

Catherine dismissed them all. The four Atlesians were the first ones out.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Catherine?" Meghan asked.

"It isn't like this is a military occupation, Meg. The entire point of Vytal is to show the world that we've grown past that. James has a point, too. The White Fang's disappearance is concerning, and the fact that they were here in the first place is too. We still don't know what they wanted."

Blake Belladonna crossed Ozpin's mind. He made sure to investigate all of Beacon's prospective students when they were accepted, to get an idea of what sort of people wanted to count themselves among his school's students. Her name made her connection to the White Fang obvious enough, but Ozpin's investigations revealed that she had stayed with them for a few years after the father stepped down as high leader. Her application to Beacon, and apparent departure from them, had occurred before their string of robberies in Vale. Her actively opposing them at the docks was just more proof of her innocence, in his eyes. Even then, she might have some sort of idea as to their objectives. Perhaps he'd have to talk to her when he returned.

Ruby and the others had only just started practicing, so it wasn't very surprising that they were terribly amateurish, but it still hurt Ruby a bit to see just how much they'd have to improve to put on anything even remotely resembling a satisfactory performance. She couldn't lose hope. It was obvious that they could only improve from here. She knew they'd have to put in a lot of work, so the fact that they were terrible at the start couldn't discourage her. They weren't going to be amazing right from the get go.

"Great work today, guys!" Ruby said. "We'll keep working tomorrow. Weiss?"

"I know, I know."

The others put away their instruments and said goodbye, leaving the rec room and going their separate ways. Now that Ruby and Weiss were alone, it was time for a singing lesson. Ruby couldn't quite put into words how grateful she was to Weiss for putting in extra work like this for her.

"Where's Glynda, by the way?" Weiss asked.

"I talked with her a bit, and we decided that it would be fine if she skipped a few of our practice sessions, at the start. If we're still too bad to play the music she's supposed to sing along to, I don't think she should waste her time here with us."

"Then I hope she's at least trying to commit your lyrics to memory."

"Come on, Weiss. This is Glynda we're talking about! I don't have any doubt that she is!"

"So, you've been doing your vocal exercises, right?"

"Whenever I have some time!"

"Okay!" Weiss, who had remained sitting at the piano, stood up. "Then we'll pick up where we left off."

Just like with the instruments, Ruby couldn't help but feel pain at her singing. She normally only sang in the shower, and the intense feeling of anxiety she felt as Weiss watched her definitely didn't help her feel anymore confident. It was still early, though. She couldn't hate her singing forever. She really couldn't, when she was going to have to sing in front of an entire crowd in a few months' time. Ruby's lesson with Weiss was shorter than the main session. A little bit of progress each day. It would add up over time, and Weiss had her own things to do. Ruby would feel guilty if she kept her for too long.

Weiss was singing for Ruby, towards the end of their lesson, giving her a small demonstration, when the door opened. Three people walked in. People Ruby had never seen before. They weren't wearing Beacon's uniform, either. She recognized it as Haven's, since she'd seen a few people wearing them, both at the end of the spring semester and the beginning of the fall. Ruby could've sworn she saw the young woman with black hair before. Her beauty was breathtaking, and a part of Ruby felt like this wasn't the first time she had seen it.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I hope we didn't interrupt!"

"W-we were just finishing up!" Ruby blurted.

"Just looking around campus?" Weiss asked. "It doesn't look like you're from around here."

"Got that right," said the young man in their group. "Just got in from Mistral a few days ago. Still trying to see the whole place."

"You just got here? I thought visiting students all showed up before the summer." Ruby said.

"Well, we're nontraditional students. Other… obligations kept us busy during the summer. Even now, being able to take off this much time for Vytal was easier said than done."

Nontraditional? Ruby had never thought about that, but huntsmen academies didn't really have a maximum enrollment age. Ruby being at the school also sort of meant that there wasn't a minimum enrollment age either, if exceptions could be made.

"My name is Cinder," said the young woman, "These are some of my teammates, Emerald, and Mercury."

"I'm Ruby! It's nice to meet you!"

"I'm Weiss. I hope Beacon is to your liking so far."

"Well, it's fancy, but it doesn't have anything on Haven!" Emerald said.

"Speak for yourself! The people at Beacon make Haven look like crap. I didn't realize how boring we can be. There's so many faunus, too." Mercury said.

"No way! It isn't like Haven doesn't let faunus go, does it?" Ruby asked.

"The RHA threatened to pull out of Mistral if they did that." Cinder said, "No regulation. Huntsmen just being fancy mercenaries. So faunus are definitely allowed. Our headmaster is a faunus, even. There just aren't a lot of them. Even then, it can be pretty rough for them."

"I haven't thought about that." Weiss crossed her arms. "Though it sounds like something Mistral would do. I wonder if Atlas is any better…"

"Speaking of Atlas, what the hell is a Schnee doing here in Vale?" Mercury asked.

"Going to school, of course. Why I didn't choose to go to Atlas isn't really important here." Weiss took Ruby's hand. "Well, we were just about done anyway. Let's see if we can find Blake and Yang."

"Okay!" Weiss dragged her out of the room. As she passed the Haven trio, Ruby waved back at them. "I'll see you around! Welcome to Beacon!"

When the door closed behind them, Cinder stumbled forward, falling onto the nearest seat she could find.

"Hey, are you okay?" Emerald stepped forward, and paused for a moment when she noticed that she was shaking. It was barely discernible, but Emerald saw it. "Cinder?"

"I'm fine." It was a lie, but she couldn't show weakness to her leader worthy of their station would do that. "I just found that girl interesting."

"What did she do? That Pyrrha is the one I care about. She's the famous one." Mercury said.

"True. Salem just finds silver eyes… interesting."

"Is that why Silver gets all that special treatment?" Emerald asked.

"That's just because he's been with her the longest. I wasn't expecting her to be here. I don't think she'll get in the way of our plans, but we should definitely keep her in mind."

"Could you take her, if she tries anything? If she's anything like Silver, I mean…"

"The concern is appreciated, Mercury, but I'd be fine. She's just a child; a trainee." Cinder stood up. "Let's keep going. There's still more of the school we need to see."

She had heard about Torchwick's 'Little Red'. That must've been her. Cinder wasn't expecting that face; those eyes. She had seen them before, a pair of silver eyes just as large, expressive, and welcoming. It had been so many years, though. Cinder had a sneaking suspicion who this Ruby girl was, and she hated the thought of what the future might hold, if she was right.

Was Pyrrha too strong? Or was Beacon's application review process flawed? Glynda pinning Pyrrha against four other people at once meant one of those things was true, but Pyrrha wasn't quite sure what. She was worried about her opponents; this team CRDL. Even though they had the numbers advantage, they didn't work well together, even after all this time. Rather than coordinate their attacks, they simply took turns coming at her. The only time they didn't seemed more like a coincidence than some sort of strategy. They had a tendency to yell before attacking, so whatever advantage they might have had sneaking up on Pyrrha was negated almost immediately. It was almost like they had tunnel vision, too. They blindly charged at Pyrrha, often without a care for what was going on around them. One of them was almost taken out by their leader flailing his mace around. No awareness of his surroundings to make sure that didn't happen. He, at least, had potential in Pyrrha's opinion. He had the raw strength, but lacked the technique. The four of them all laid on the ground, groaning in pain.

"Alright, that's the match." Glynda walked into the center of the large stage they used as their sparring fields. "Now, I know a four-on-one fight will be a tough act to follow, in the spectacle department, but I think we could squeeze in another fight, if anyone wanted more practice. Any volunteers?" Glynda scanned the faces of all of the students sitting before her. Her eyes fell on Blake Belladonna. She looked distracted. Glynda was aware of the fact that Professor Ozpin had spoken to her about the White Fang not too long ago. It must've been weighing heavily on her mind. "Miss Belladonna? Would you mind another round?"

Her ears perked up at the sudden mention of her name. She definitely wasn't expecting to be singled out, and she didn't look like she was really in the mood for a fight, either. Glynda felt for the young woman, but she couldn't let her fighting skills begin to deteriorate for lack of practice.

"I'll do it."

A young man thrust his hand into the air. Glynda didn't recognize him. He must've been one of the visiting students. She knew they were to be sitting in on their classes until after Vytal. Glynda checked her class roster on her Scroll, searching for his name.

"Mercury, is it? Alright, then. Time to find you an opponent-"

"Actually, I have someone in mind. Nikos, you up for another round?"

"Well, Miss Nikos? Would you be willing to humor him? I know you just had a match."

"It should be fine, I think!" Pyrrha smiled up at Mercury. "I hope I don't disappoint!"

Mercury joined Glynda and Pyrrha on the floor, casually walking opposite his opponent. He got himself into a ready stance, and Pyrrha did the same. They both waited for Glynda to officially start their match. The rest of the class awaited the beginning with bated breath.

"Begin!"

At Glynda's call, Pyrrha jumped back. She shifted her weapon into its rifle form and cradled it in one of the notches on her shield. Mercury weaved through her hail of gunfire as he approached. When he got too close, Pyrrha shifted her weapon into its spear form, swinging wide at Mercury before he got too close.

He vanished.

Pyrrha twisted around as Mercury appeared again. His leg came flying towards Pyrrha's head. She used her semblance to just slightly move his leg as she dodged. Just enough to keep her out of harm, but just enough to seem natural.

Back on his feet, Mercury continued throwing kicks at Pyrrha. Just like the first time, with the help of her Polarity, she made him miss when she wasn't quite sure she could dodge his attacks on her own. He spun and kicked, missing again, then he was gone just as suddenly. Before Pyrrha could react, his leg collided with her back, knocking her off balance and making her drop her weapon.

Mercury continued attacking while his momentum was strong, keeping Pyrrha on the defensive. She learned how to predict his movements, but he was probably beginning to catch on to her, and if he could teleport away at any moment, that only made things more difficult. He went in for another kick, one she normally would have dodged, but she didn't move. She brought her shield up, and his leg collided with it at full force. He reeled for just a moment, and Pyrrha struck. Before he could react, she pivoted and slammed her shield into his side, knocking him to the ground.

Pyrrha dove for her weapon, shifting it into its spear form and aiming it at Mercury so she could throw. Then he threw his hands up.

"I yield!"

"You… yield?" Pyrrha asked.

"You could keep up with my semblance. That doesn't happen often. If me zipping all over the place can't catch you off guard, I don't know what will. Good job, Nikos."

"Well then…" Glynda said, "Miss Nikos is the victor. Again. Congratulations. You're all dismissed! And Mister Black? I would recommend thinking a bit harder about who you'd like to fight, the next time."

"Got it, teach."

After her singing lesson with Weiss, Ruby had wanted to get together with Yang and Blake for dinner. She and Weiss found Yang, but Blake wasn't anywhere to be found. They didn't see Blake again until they were about to go to sleep. She slipped into the room, trying to be sneaky. If they were asleep, maybe it would've worked, but she got caught red handed.

"Look who's finally home!" Yang called from her bunk. "Enjoy your little field trip?"

"Uh, yeah." Blake walked over to her bed and collapsed onto it. "Pretty tiring, though."

"Well, in that case." Yang hung her head over the side of the bunk to look at Blake. Seeing her upside down made Blake a little bit happier. "Sweet dreams! Maybe dreaming about your favorite food or something will help with the whole tired thing!"

"I don't think that's how it works, Yang," Weiss said.

"Well, have you tried it, Weiss?" Ruby asked.

"No, but-"

"Enough talk!" Yang leapt down and ran to the light switch. "It's bedtime, girls! Especially you, Blake! I see any sort of light from down here, and you're grounded!"

"Okay, mom," Blake rolled her eyes, but was grinning nonetheless.

Over the next few days, Blake continued returning late. She appeared more and more tired with each passing day. Her performance during their practices and during class was slipping, too. It was beginning to worry the team. One night, before Blake was due to return soon, the three got to talking.

"Do either of you have any idea what's up with Blake?" Weiss asked.

"No, not really… She's staying out a lot, but…"

"I think it's a guy!" Yang exclaimed.

"A guy? Why?"

"Well, sweet sister, let me enlighten you! We're young, we're dumb, and we're full of c-" Yang cleared her throat. "Sorry, force of habit. What I was going to say is that we're at a point in our lives where we yearn for someone's sweet embrace! Blake has her eye on someone, so she's sneaking out with them because she can't be as free with them around us!"

"Why would that be a problem? If Blake brought someone over, I'd love to meet them!"

"Ruby, I've seen the sorts of fanfiction you read. You know exactly what I'm trying to get at."

"No, I don't think I-" Ruby's face went red. "Oh… Yang, I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing to- Hey!" Yang was starting to go red herself.

"I don't get what's up with you two." Weiss shrugged. "I can see that it would be embarrassing for Blake to bring some paramour around when we're liable to just be here. Any idea who it might be? If we know them, we could just ask them what might be wrong."

"How about that faunus guy she was with? You know, at the docks?" Yang's face was still red, trying to force down the thoughts Ruby's comment conjured up.

"Sun, I think was his name?" Ruby said. "He should be around campus, since he's here for Vytal. We can probably just find him walking around!"

"Then that's what I'm doing during lunch!" Yang announced. "If she's going to go off with her little boytoy after class, that's our only time to strike!"

"I'm going with you!" Ruby said.

"So am I." Weiss added. "Blake's a friend to all of us, so I think it's only right that all of us are there."

"Just try not to scare him off, okay, Weiss?" Yang walked to the lightswitch again. At least this one time, she wanted Blake's little attempts at sneaking in to work.

"I'm not that scary, you know!"

Once lunch started, the group went their separate ways. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang made their excuses for why they couldn't attend, but they all met up outside and started searching for Sun. Ruby and Yang had only met him the one time, and Weiss had only met him twice, but they thought he would be easy enough to recognize. To their surprise, they were right. There was a large statue in the middle of the campus, and they found him just laying on it, basking in the sun.

"Hey! Sun!" Ruby called.

"What's up? I think I remember you!" He jumped off the statue. "You were at the docks, and you were with Blake in Cyanwood!" He pointed at Yang and just looked at her.

"Yang. Guess I'm the only one of the team you haven't really met yet, huh? You're friends with Blake, right?"

"I'd like to think so," he said.

"Well, Sun, have you seen her lately?" Weiss asked.

"No, not really. Why? I mean, you're all in the same room, aren't you?"

"You haven't?" Ruby crossed her arms. "That's weird…"

"I've tried saying hey every once in a while, but she just ignores me. Must be really busy, huh?"

"That's what we want to know!" Weiss exclaimed. "We thought she was with you!"

"With little old me? I'm flattered! To think you ladies thought I was the one Blake was hanging out with. I must've left a good first impression!"

"Sorry, Yang." Ruby whispered.

"Will you stop?!"

"Where has she been going, then?" Weiss mused.

"Ever think to just ask her?" Sun asked.

"If she wasn't with you, I guess we don't really have a choice," Ruby sighed, "I hope it isn't anything too serious. Thanks anyway, Sun. Have fun with your sunbathing."

"I'll be around if you need me!" He said, climbing back up the statue.

That night, the three of them sat on their beds in silence. They were just waiting for Blake to come back. Until that happened, there was no way for them to get to the bottom of what had been going on with her. It bothered Ruby a bit that she hadn't talked to them about whatever it was. They were a team; they were supposed to help each other through their problems, not shoulder things alone. When Blake came in, she was surprised to see them awake. Finding them asleep yesterday must've lulled her into a false sense of security.

"Hey guys… Is something the matter? You all look serious."

"We're worried, Blake." Ruby climbed down from her bed. "You've been coming back so late this entire week, with no explanation, and you seem so tired. We thought you were seeing someone, but… it looks like we were wrong. We just want to know what's bothering you. That's all. You can talk to us, Blake."

Blake walked over to her bed, and Ruby followed her.

"Ever since that night on the docks, the White Fang has been radio silent. That just isn't normal! It must mean that something's coming. Something big."

"Well, I can't blame you," Weiss said, "It is pretty worrying. It'll be fine, though! The police know, the military knows, the RHA knows. All the people that need to know know, so they'll be able to handle it."

"That isn't enough, Weiss," Blake said, "If the Fang strikes, they won't care about who they have to go through. Not anymore… It doesn't matter if 'the professionals' are out there, watching. If we're in their way, they'll cut us down. We have to do what we can to help; to be prepared for the worst. It isn't like they've been on the news, either. You would think we'd hear something, anything, if they were found. It's almost like their trail has just run cold, and that's terrifying."

"Blake…" What does Ruby say to this? Was there anything she could say that could actually comfort her? She had to try, at least. "We're here for you. Just remember that. I can see what you mean, about us needing to be prepared, but we're students. That means we need to focus on studying, and practicing. If you're too tired to practice your fighting, you can't put up a good fight if you have to, right?" Silence. "Try to get some good sleep, okay? And if you're still tired, I can run into the city and see if I can find some good tea for sleeping, or something."

Ruby hugged Blake. Weiss walked over, and Yang hopped down from her bed. Blake couldn't bring herself to return the hug, but there was something oddly nice about being held by her team like that. She felt bad, deep down. They wanted her to slow down, but she couldn't. Not just like that. Knowing that the White Fang was out there, that Adam was out there, with their hatred of humanity as intense as it was, wouldn't let her rest easy just because of a few nice words from her friend.

Ahead of the Vytal Festival, Beacon was going to be hosting a dance. As the host school, it fell on the students to organize it and try to impress their international visitors. Beacon wasn't going to spare any expense, if failing meant making themselves the laughingstocks of Remnants for years. The school organized an entire committee to plan and prepare for the dance. Weiss and Yang were on it. Weiss was specifically invited because her experience in Atlas meant she had some experience with formal parties. Yang volunteered when Weiss joined. On the weekends, the group had their band practices in the morning. After they were done one Saturday, Weiss and Yang attended to their duties, and Ruby went with them. She didn't have anything to do, of course, so she just sat and watched them.

"I need you to pick a tablecloth." Weiss slapped two squares onto the table in front of Ruby. She had to squint at them to see the difference. Even then, she still didn't.

"These are the same color, chief."

"No, they aren't! This is pure white! And this is eggshell white! Can't you see the difference?!" Ruby continued squinting. "I don't even know why I asked…"

As Weiss trudged away, Yang moved a speaker into place, taking a few steps back to see if she liked how it looked.

"So, have a dress all picked out for the dance?"

"I do, but… I thought Blake would've joined us by now…"

"She still isn't here? I thought she went off and read somewhere because it was too loud." Yang looked around, but couldn't see Blake anyway. She rubbed her temples. "Yeah, she isn't… I'll handle her. Weiss, I'll be back!"

"You're leaving now?!"

"This is important!" She mimed Blake's ear's at Weiss, to avoid putting their teammate on blast in front of the other committee members.

As long as Blake was on campus, where could she have gone? If she was worried about the White Fang, and wanted to know where they were, where would she go? The library, maybe? That was the place you went if you wanted to learn things, be it math or the movements of a borderline terrorist organization. Yang didn't go into the library very often, so she got lost for a little while, but she found her eventually, just on the internet.

"Come on." Yang turned the computer off and yanked Blake to her feet. Despite her protests, Yang dragged her out of the library and towards an empty classroom. With it being Saturday, it actually wasn't that hard to find.

"Alright, Yang," Blake asked, "what was the point of bringing me here?"

"Privacy. I'd have thought that was obvious." Yang leaned against the podium by the blackboard and patted it, urging Blake to join her. "Ruby said it last week, but it looks like you need to hear it again. You need to slow down, Blake. This isn't good for you. You aren't going to do yourself any good, if you just collapse from exhaustion."

"I told you, I can't!" Blake stood up straight, glowering at Yang, the dark circles below her eyes more pronounced than ever. "If the government does nothing, and we do nothing, do you know what that'll mean? Innocent humans, hurt or worse. Innocent faunus, judged and blamed for the actions of a handful of radicals! The suffering they'll have to face just for being! This has kept me up for days now. You can't possibly understand what I'm going through! For something to consume you like this; to be at the forefront of your thoughts all day, every day! To make it damn near impossible to just live a regular life!"

"Oh, I can't understand, can I? How do you know that? What do you know about me that you get off telling me I don't understand? You, Blake Belladonna, daughter of one of the most famous faunus in the world. Bona fide princess of Menagerie! You sent us pictures of your place over summer vacation. Your house makes mine look like a fucking shack!

"Until you ran away with the White Fang a few years ago, you had everything handed to you on a silver platter. Parents who love each other, a bunch of servants at your beck and call. You didn't have a care in the world. I was so busy comforting Ruby I barely had a chance to process my own mom's death! At nine years old, it was up to me to help dad raise her! What were you doing at nine? Drinking tea and playing games with friends? I was teaching Ruby things I barely understood myself because the adults in our life were busy with work. I was slaving away in a kitchen to make sure our family could eat when I should've been outside goofing off.

"The hell did I do to deserve any of that, Blake?" Yang had started crying as she ranted. She wiped the tears away, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. Guess I just lost myself there."

"No, Yang, I-" Blake and her big mouth. She had seen them, the scars Yang and Ruby bore. How could she think that hadn't eaten away at Yang the way the White Fang was eating away at her now? No one deserved that to happen to them, just like no faunus deserved to be derided for no other reason than how they were born.

"Just sit down." Blake did as she was told. "I didn't bring you here to bitch at you. I brought you here to try and talk some sense into you. I understand you, Blake. I really do." Yang picked up a piece of chalk and started drawing. "When I was… yelling… I told you that I couldn't process losing my mom. The thing is, that wasn't my first time losing a mom. My mom - Summer Rose - she was Ruby's birth mother. She was my stepmother. I loved her as much as someone could love a mother. At first, though, there was always something eating away at me. My birth mom. I barely knew anything about her. Still barely know anything, really. Her name is Raven. She was on a team with my dad, uncle, and Summer here at Beacon. After I was born, she just up and disappeared, and that was about it.

"I don't think I have to say it, but that screwed me up. I wondered what I had done wrong, that the woman who gave birth to me didn't want anything to do with me. I looked, and looked, and looked. I was just a kid, and I could only go around Patch, so there wasn't much I could do, but I kept on looking. Then I finally found a lead. Someone said they saw someone who looked like her heading out into the woods. I knew that my dad wouldn't let me go out and search. The thing, though, was that he was an adult. He had responsibilities and shit. Same with my uncle, and my mom. So I waited until they were all gone. I took Ruby - I couldn't leave my baby sister alone at home, could I? - loaded her up into a wagon, and hit the trail.

"I walked, and I walked, and I walked some more. I don't know how long I walked, but I came across a shed. I was tired as all hell. I could barely stand. Ruby had fallen asleep. I didn't see or hear a thing. Then it happened. A Beowolf came out of the shed, saw us as easy prey, and it wasn't alone, either. The head of their little pack must've seen that Ruby was smaller, and more vulnerable, since she was asleep. It ran us over, knocked her out of the wagon, and attacked. That spray of blood, my baby sister's cries of agony… they still haunt my dreams, even if it was a lot worse back then. I shielded Ruby with my body, before it attacked again. Something clicked. My heartbeat started going wild, and I swung back at it. The Grimm got knocked back, but I only pissed it off. I didn't quite know it at the time, but that was my semblance activating for the first time. I thought it was just all the adrenaline. I was ready to die there, if it meant protecting Ruby. If I'm being honest, I really should've died. Then Summer and Uncle Qrow swooped in to save the day. I don't know if I'd ever seen them so angry, the way they tore through those Grimm.

"All because I couldn't get over one person who I barely knew a thing about, I almost died. I almost got Ruby killed. That was when I decided I wouldn't let it shackle me anymore. That I wouldn't obsess over my mo- over Raven anymore. It took time, but now? I don't really care about whether or not I ever find out where she is or why she left. If I ever do, I don't know what I'll do, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

"Do you get it now, Blake? I understand what you're going through right now. And I can speak from personal experience about how dangerous it is. If you keep barrelling ahead, letting this thing about the White Fang control your life, and you go in, as sleep deprived and tired as you are now? You probably will die. You need to stop. At least slow down." Yang firmly gripped Blake's shoulders. "Slow down. Lean on me. Lean on us. We're here to carry the burden with you. Me, Ruby, Weiss. Even Nora and the others. You're not in this alone. So just… take a load off and let us handle things for you, okay?"

"I…" Blake clenched her first. "I don't want to lie to you, Yang."

"Then don't."

"I can't. Not just like that."

"And I get that. Just try, okay? It'll take time, learning to let go and just be calm again. Like I said, personal experience." Yang pulled Blake into a tight embrace. "For now, all you can do is try, and that's all I'm asking you to do. For the people you care about, just as much as for yourself." Yang finally let go of Blake and started heading towards the classroom door. "Your grades are going to shit, you can barely hold your own in a fight, your guitar playing is god awful, and you look like you're on death's door. Even a little nap will work wonders."

Yang left Blake alone with her thoughts. All she had to do was try? Was that it? It wasn't like she didn't have a point. If Blake didn't try, she'd never learn to let go, as Yang had put it. Ruby had bought some teas that were supposed to induce sleep, but Blake had been ignoring them the entire week. Maybe she'd head back to their room early today, and drink a few cups. She wasn't sure how much sleep she'd get, but if she had people looking out for her like this, it should be fine if she just slept a little bit, right?