Family Discussions

Winter led her sister through the halls of Beacon to the room the general had convinced Ozpin to set aside for their conversation.

She hadn't believed the early reports she had heard that, for some reason, there were Grimm inside the school being treated as students.

To discover the reports were true, and that her sister was on a team with a Grimm...

It was like something from a nightmare.

That her sister was spending time playing a game with her other teammates, clearly completely unconcerned about her... unusual teammate (or the expectations upon her as Schnee heiress) was not something she had expected.

The very thought that someone could become so accustomed to Grimm!

Granted, the... Beowolf wasn't it? Wasn't actually in the library with them (and wasn't that something, that Weiss wasn't just playing games but playing them in a public space), so it could just be that she was relaxed in the absence of the teammate, but then again, Winter knew her sister.

Or at least she thought she did, she certainly hadn't expected Weiss to leave Atlas...

No, Winter decided, there was clearly something she missed that led Weiss to head to another continent, it wasn't that her sister had changed that much.

And if Weiss hadn't changed that much without her noticing then it meant she was right about Weiss being no less relaxed than she would be around the Grimm.

It was clear that the general was right to be worried about Ozpins recent decisions.

As soon as they reached the room and the door closed behind them Winter turned to speak to her sister only for Weiss to speak first.

"Winter it's so good to see you," she began, showing much more emotion than either of them had ever been permitted in public.

"Weiss," she interrupted, her voice maybe sllightly sterner than normal, "What is this I hear about a Grimm on your team?"

"Ah, yo heard about that. Sister, have you heard about how teams are formed in Beacon?"

"I hardly see how that matters-"

"To begin with we are partnered with the first person we meet during initiation."

Winter couldn't help wincing at hearing this. Weiss... wasn't exactly known for getting along with people easily and such a random assignment, quite apart from ruining whatever plans Weiss made to partner with someone she could work well with, could ensure Weiss would be stuck with someone she was incapable of working with.

"So you met the Grimm," Winter began, but Weiss shook her head.

"No, first I met our team leader," something Winter could tell she wasn't happy about. "The way our pairs were partnered to make a team is how I ended up with Drei."

Winter blinked. "Drei?"

Weiss flushed slightly. "The Grimm weren't given names so its partner gave it one. Anyway, all indications are the first pair your pair met up with became your team. That or the team was formed by the pairs managing to stick and work together."

"And how did that lead to you getting a Grimm on your team?"

"My partners sister partnered with the Grimm."

Winter paused. If she and Weiss had ended up in the same year at one of the academies they would have stopped at notthing to end up on the same team.

"Our team leader... isn't exactly shy about getting her way," and coming from a Schnee wasn't that telling "So we had no real choice except to form a team. I heard later that Drei helped out against a few normal Grimm when she landed."

"And Grimm are hardly known to act innocent to lure a victim into a false sense of security," Winter noted. "I guess your teammates are twins then, if they're sisters in the same year."

"No, the team leader got into Beacon early, she's been putting in a lot of effort to catch up on what she missed by jumping ahead. I could've sworn I mentioned it in a message..."

Winter desperately tried thinking back through the messages she had received from her sister. The whole military had been busy investigating behavioural changes in the Grimm, which hadn't left her as much time for her sister as she normally would.

"I'm sorry, I've been particularly busy recently, I must have missed what you said," she admitted. "But in any case, once you realised you were going to be placed on a team with a Grimm you could have transferred, whether back to Atlas Academy or to Shade or Haven."

"And leave my team a Huntress short? When has a Schnee ever abandoned their responsibilities?"

Winter winced. She had become aware lately of how she should have stayed with her siblings, to shield them from their father, given how their mother... wasn't entirely present. Weiss hadn't meant the remark to hit home about Winter or their mother though, she could tell it was meant as reference to the lessons their father had given them about their duty to the family.

Which Winter had grown to view as ironic, given that he had married into the family rather than being a Schnee from birth.

"There must have been unsuccessful applicants who could have replaced you," Winter suggested weakly.

"Except they all failed for a reason. To have me replaced with someone like that..."

Winter relented. "I guess I can understand your reasons." She hesitated. "How did you discover the White Fangs intention to attack the docks?"

"The teams with Grimm have ended up getting to know each other well. One of them has Pyrrha Nikos, who I had hoped to get as my partner."

Winter nodded. She was right that Weiss had picked out her ideal team ahead of time.

"One of her teammates has... a thing about the White Fang, wanting them brought to justice." She hesitated before continuing. "It was Blake Belladonna."

Winter made a move toward the door before forcing herself to stop. "/the daughter of the Menagerie chieftan?" Weiss nodded in confirmation. "We had heard that she left, joining the White Fang. We had reports that she was close to Adam Taurus."

Weiss couldn't keep herself from shivering at the name. Reports of what he'd done to SDC employees weren't anything she wanted to think about.

"She left the White Fang, apparently she came to disagree with what they were doing. She was one of the group that went to the docks to protect the shipment. In fact she was the only reason they didn't get away with all the Dust."

"Surely the authorities would have-"

"From what those who were there said there was no sign of them until the attackers would have got away."

"Corruption in the police force? But why would they help terrorists, it puts them at risk as well..."

"I heard that they working with a local thief, apparently he was forced into it by someone and defected to Beacon to get free."

"Torchwick," Winter muttered, remembering what the general had told her. "So he convinced his contacts in the police department to stand down, without telling them about the White Fangs involvement..."

Winter hadn't expected to hear anything relating to why the general had brought a more significant military presence to the festival than normal, but she wasn't going to turn down any source of information. And this way she could spend time with her sister while still helping the general!

She did her best to suppress the vague sense of guilt from working while with Weiss rather than making the time about them.

[]

There was a knock at team RWBYs door, sending Drei and Zwei both barking.

"Could be Weiss," Ruby suggested, heading over to open the door.

"Weiss wouldn't need to knock," Yang pointed out.

"Who else is it likely to be?" The question was answered as she opened the door. "Uncle Qrow!"

It was indeed their uncle, a 'semi-retired' Huntsman, who had supposedly stopped to serve as a teacher in Signal.

Given his tendency to vanish on occasion, including sometimes in the middle of term, it was clear that he hadn't given the lifestyle up completely.

"That's me," he agreed, stepping inside. "Heard you managed to get on the same team, but haven't been able to get away until now."

"Clearly you heard about Drei at least," Yang commented, noting how relaxed he seemed despite the obvious Grimm in the room.

"Yep, couldn't say I was too enthused about the idea to start with, but as I said I didn't have a chance to visit. And given how long he's been on the team, seems safe enough to leave him be. I'm more surprised at how well Zweis getting on with him, to be honest."

"You heard about dad sending him over I take it. But there hasn't been any real problem between Zwei and Drei."

He gave Yang a look. "You named the Beowolf 'Drei'?"

She shrugged unrepentantly. "It was my turn, and it is our tradition."

He sighed. "I should have argued harder against letting Raven name the dog, or maybe against them getting a dog in the first place."

"Hey, Ein wasn't that bad!"

"Are you going to be around for long?"

Trust Ruby to change the subject.

"I shouldn't have anything to call me away, at least not until after the festival is over," he told them. "There is something Oz wants me to keep an eye out for, but that shouldn't stop me from catching up with my nieces."

"Hearing all about how our classes have been going I presume," Yang noted. "Making sure Ruby hasn't been falling further behind..."

"Hey, I've been studying the material for the years I skipped," Ruby protested.

"I haven't seen you putting in any extra work..."

Ruby hesitated. "I've been studying at night," she finally admitted.

"So that's why you've been so tired in the mornings," Yang responded, a slight smirk the only hint that she'd known all along and was merely getting Ruby to out herself.

"It isn't good to miss out on sleep," Qrow commented, somewhat hypocritically he acknowledged.

"But how else am I going to find the time to study?"

"I dunno, cut down on your time playing games, stop snacking on cookies so much. You'd have a lot more time if you weren't spending so much baking them."

"But they help me get straight to sleep after!"

Qrow sighed. He hadn't expected to need to explain to his niece why a deliberate sugar crash was such a bad idea...


AN: I was running somewhat late on this chapter, otherwise it would have been a bit longer. I will be getting back to proper plot events soon (hopefully) but the family meetings seemed quite necessary to happen at some point.

And if you pay attention to the actual episodes you do see Ruby studying at night. Something I'm not sure how many fanfiction authors notice, she does put in the effort to learn what she skipped off her own back.