Maderfole- Thank you for the helpful review. It is good to find that a reader identifies and appreciates what I am trying to do. You have identified many of the challenges which I have set myself and will have to deal with.

Yang had not got much sleep that night. The adrenaline rush from the last few hours had not yet died down and she was still worried about Ruby. Seeing dad carrying her had made her think back to mum's death. Also, even if Ruby was alive she worried about what the blast of silver light had done to her body. Had it burnt off all her aura or weakened it permanently?

One of the few occasions she had seen her classmate Lydia unhappy and reflective had been on the anniversary of the fall of Mountain Glenn. She had talked about how her brother had both been a hero but had never been the same again afterwards. Apparently besides taking severe wounds he had overdrawn on his aura.

In addition, while Jacques Schnee had promised to send her and Weiss to reunite with Ruby and dad, it was not yet certain where and when that would be. Glynda had sent a message to her and Weiss saying that Ozpin was flying out to Mistral with a view of bringing Ruby back to Beacon. This of course depended on Ruby being able to be moved and perhaps the doctors would prefer to treat her in Kulsa, Ansel or at Haven.

They both hoped that Beacon was the choice as apparently there were still difficulties with them travelling to Mistral. The ruling coalition in Mistral was in the process of rearranging itself and whether those on the out were refusing to go quietly or others were taking revenge for past injuries, there were reports of gunfire in the streets and the Atlas foreign office was advising against anyone from Atlas travelling to anywhere in Mistral other than Argus. Weiss had said that she suspected that they would not know where they would be heading and whether they could go there until lunchtime at the earliest.

Anyway, she had left Weiss to sort this out with Cuddles or rather Klein. Weiss had explained that while he clearly took it as a compliment, this was a joke between the three of them and not one to be repeated in front of others, particularly Whitley or the other servants. Yang got that – there were things which uncle Qrow could say to her when Ruby and dad were around which were gentle teasing but that if someone like Dove used would have been an invitation to violence.

It had been interesting to see how the rich and powerful Schnee family operated. In retrospect. It was amusing that Blake had taken it upon herself to give Yang pointers in not unnecessarily upsetting Weiss. On Yang challenging Blake as to on what occasions it was necessary to upset Weiss, she changed the phrase to inadvertently upsetting. Yang had spent one afternoon reading back issues of the Remnant Enquirer according to which Willow was a drunken ditz and Jacques a violent bully who cared only for money.

No doubt at breakfast they were trying to be on their best behaviour, but it was clear that Jacques had a potentially vicious tongue and was finding it difficult to hold it back. Yang reluctantly realised that Weiss had to a certain extent inherited that aspect of his personality. Still, Weiss had mellowed over the term and now occasionally half-apologised if she went too far or combined some praise with the sarcasm. She had also started to accept affectionate teasing.

Last night Yang had watched the family under stress, and they had surprised her. Jacques had clearly been worried about Winter during the fighting and could hardly bring himself to watch the coverage while Willow had watched it intently and had sought to reassure her children.

As soon as it was clear that Winter Schnee had survived the man reverted to being the CEO of the SDC and thought about how to turn his daughter's bravery into a publicity blitz and how to minimise the fallout of the Raddock girl being in receipt of a bursary from the SDC. He had almost fist pumped the air when General Ironwood announced that earlier that night Professor Lionheart had successfully dealt with an attempted assassination attempt by his deputy head, Professor Aqua. She had heard the name earlier that night and made a note to herself to ask Weiss about it.

Willow Schnee who had been impressively calm and focused on comforting her two children throughout the fight had as soon as it was over had asked the dog Faunus for a large glass of wine.

The Ace-Ops had clearly been as frustrated as she and Weiss at not being able to be part of the fight. All had agreed that during the charge of the goliaths that the dog Faunus would have been invaluable as he could have set them up for Ruby to shoot and Amber, Nora, and Winter to decapitate.

The dog Faunus and Clover Ebi had been the first to congratulate her and Weiss on the performance of Ruby and had used the Atlas academy communications system to contact Winter's pilot and Beacon to bring them news of Ruby as quickly as possible,

The scientist Scarlatina had also shyly introduced himself as Velvet's father. While not a Faunus himself, Velvet had clearly inherited her shyness and geek credentials from him. Weiss had asked if he knew how Coco and Velvet were. He had indicated that they were fine, but that they had faced a battle of their own which they were lucky to have survived. He was clearly proud of his daughter. Yang mentioned that she and Ruby had been trying out Velvet's new ammunition and he smiled at that.

Willow Schnee had after an hour gathered Weiss, Whitley and Yang and Ironwood had arranged for a car to take them back to the mansion. Jacques had stayed behind in conference with Ironwood. On their return Willow had sought out Klein and told him that Winter was fine and that Kulsa, although damaged, had not been overrun.

Yang gave up trying to sleep at five forty-five. General ironwood had said that there was a news embargo until six in the morning. She contacted Weiss on her scroll and they both went down to watch the coverage. While they had seen the raw footage last night, they were both curious as to what would be shown and how it would be presented.

The first shock was hearing Lisa Lavender's voice over the footage. Weiss commented that the woman must have cut a version for Atlas consumption as Winter got a huge amount of coverage. Amber Arc was referred to as the opponent who had most tested Winter at the Vytal festivals she had won but the shots of her and Nora double teaming Alpha Grimm were too exciting not to cover. Ruby and Pyrrha were also shown in action or rather the aftermath of Ruby's charges was.

Lavender must have been recording her immediate reactions while filming or else was a better actress than Yang had given her credit for. Certainly, when they showed the silver light over the battlefield and then the clear ground apart from some few petrified Goliaths and Beringel, it was hard to believe that the commentary could have been done other than at the time.

They then showed interviews with the victors. Understandably they focused on Pyrrha who had had media training and it showed as she stressed the efforts of everyone involved including Fox, Ren and Jaune. Besides which the fact that Pyrrha was holding Jaune tightly after having helped lift a wall off him made her and him the human-interest story of the night. Jaune was looking happy but stunned.

Jaune's mother was shown inside the local headquarters of the LGDF giving a short speech to the volunteers congratulating them on their efforts and saying that the next task was to rebuild the city's defences.

Nora and Ren might have rivalled the jaune/Pyrrha romance apart from the fact that Nora was in "let's break his legs" mode and Ren was not a man to express enthusiasm. Knowing them, Yang found it rather sweet, but she suspected that it might be a little confusing for most people. Certainly, Nora dragging Ren by the hand and maniacally finally despatching a petrified or frozen Nuckelvee had a rather odd vibe.

There were other shots designed to be heart-warming. A hall full of mothers and children cheered on the Monkey Faunus who had joined Ruby and Blake in the fight against the White Fang at the club and a blue haired teammate. The two had apparently evacuated them from the Faunus quarter into the human quarter at a time when the outcome had been in doubt.

What was surprising was to hear that Winter Schnee had left Kulsa around dawn and was on her way to Beacon. Weiss had looked a little disappointed but then perked up when she thought about it. It made sense for Winter to leave promptly and to allow the coverage to focus on the Mistral defenders.

This also suggested that it was more likely that Ruby would be evacuated to Beacon especially as the talking heads started talking about the purges in the Mistral government and the fact that a state of emergency had been declared in Mistral City. Professor Lionheart appeared with the head of state in Mistral to announce that a plan to destabilise Mistral by killing the Faunus in Kulsa and assassinating Professor Lionheart had been thwarted and that most of the ringleaders had been killed resisting arrest.

Clearly they had spoken with Ironwood and Jacques Schnee as one of the damning bits of evidence cited against professor Aqua had been his failure to act on the warning sent him by the SDC and a specific acknowledgement by Lionheart that the SDC had acted properly. The head of state then announced that the government would be delegating most of its legal powers in relation to Haven to Professor Lionheart.

Apparently Professor Aqua and his supporters in the government and faculty had been blocking the attempts by Lionheart to improve the college and increase its attractiveness to students from a poor and/or a Faunus background. The head of state spelt it out when he said that it was a source of shame that five of the students who had come to the aid of the city of Kulsa were patriotic Mistralians who had for reasons of their own chosen not to attend Haven.

Yang actually dropped off to sleep during some more speculation about what the events of last night meant for the future of Mistral/Atlas relations. She was shaken awake by Weiss a few hours later and found that a duvet had been placed over her. Weiss told her that it had been announced that Professor Ozpin had arrived in Kulsa to take Ruby, dad, and Team CFVY back to Beacon with him. Professor Port was staying behind to study the LGDF tapes of the battle to look for underlying lessons in dealing with Grimm attacks and then to assist Professor Lionheart at Haven.

"So, when are we off to Beacon?"

"About an hour. I am afraid that we will have to do our publicity duty so perhaps a shower would be a good idea. I am having one as well."

An hour later a helicopter landed in the garden and took her, Weiss, Whitley, and Willow to the airport. Willow volunteered to do the main press announcements and suggested that Yang and Weiss restrict themselves to expressing that they looked forward to seeing Ruby again and expressing their appreciation of their fellow students. Yang was happy enough to do so although she caught Weiss looking intently at her mother before nodding her agreement.

There was an army of press at the airport and clearly they had been tipped off that the family Schnee were on their way. Yang expressed her pride in her little sister and wished that she could have been there with her. Weiss said much the same thing but with longer words and more formality.

A pointed question was asked about why Mistralians and Faunus should trust the SDC. Willow paused and then said, "Whatever has happened in the past, the SDC and the Schnee family is capable of learning. We do not expect you to accept any assurance from me and my husband but to judge the family and the company by its actions in the last year. The SDC warned Haven academy of the disturbing behaviour of its student. I would ask you to consider whether the actions of my daughters are those of people who hate Faunus. Weiss here trusted her teammate to be a friend even when she learned that she had been a member of the White Fang and the daughter of its ex-leaders. Winter went to the defence of the Faunus quarter of Kulsa and fought more bravely than I as a mother felt comfortable with. I and my husband are humbled by the example that they have set us and this morning it has been agreed with general ironwood that the SDC winter ball will be moved to the Atlas Academy, more tickets will be made available and that the proceeds will be contributed to the rebuilding of the walls of the Kulsa Faunus quarter. The theme of the ball will be Stronger Together. Further details will be announced later today."

Weiss to Yang's surprise said, "I confirm that I will be singing at the ball." Willow ushered them away from the microphones and towards the airship.

They were soon in the airship after having said their goodbyes to Willow and Whitley. Yang had given willow a hug and shaken Whitley's hand firmly. Being herself, she could not resist winking at him and giving his hand a squeeze. She had decided that it would be going too far to hug Whitley especially as the respective heights risked the photographs looking suggestive.

Yang asked Weiss, "Did you know that was coming?"

"I knew she was up to something, but not exactly what. I have no doubt she spent the morning negotiating with father and Ironwood. It is not as though I object to improving the image of the SDC."

"Why did she announce it and not your father?"

"Mother is responsible for the charitable and good works side of the SDC."

Yang nodded and said "Weiss, your sister is a real badass."

"Weiss blushed slightly, "I try to model myself on her."

Yang asked something which she had been mulling over since the morning. "Why are you the heiress and not her?"

Weiss hesitated and replied, "Father says that there is a conflict of interest between being in the Atlas military and being the heiress to the SDC. Winter says she understand his concern but thinks she can do more good for Remnant in the Atlas military than as an heiress without any power."

"Do you agree?"

"There was an incident in vacuo a few years ago which showed that they were both probably right about it. Winter uncovered a scandal involving all the multi-kingdoms including the SDC and did not hesitate to uncover it."

Yang detected the note of pride in Weiss's voice. A little later they tuned into the Mistral coverage of the events of last night. There was less coverage of Winter and more coverage of Teams JNPR, ABRN and VBES as well as the Arc family.

Pyrrha and Claire Arc got the bulk of the coverage. Pyrrha because she was the happiest at giving interviews and because of her joy at having caught Jaune, Claire because more or less the only coverage the local Mistral networks had been able to film last night came from the LGDF headquarters. Curiously, Port also got plenty of coverage. Weiss explained that he was a Remnant wide celebrity because of his position as the colour commentator for the Vytal festival.

There was some coverage of Ozpin collecting his students. It was odd that the only shots of Ruby did not include dad and how they loved having shots of Yatsuhashi and Velvet next to each other.

They then both dozed off for a few hours before arriving in Vale in the early evening. The Schnee executive airship was allowed to land at Beacon. Waiting for them was Uncle Qrow, Zwei and Velvet. Velvet was armed with her camera and Yang happily and Weiss dutifully posed for photographs. Yang then made a fuss of Zwei and introduced him to auntie Weiss. To her slight surprise after an initial reluctance, Weiss made almost as much of a fuss of the family corgi as Yang had.

Uncle Qrow greeted them with the normal greeting of "How's it going firecracker and good to see you, Weiss."

Velvet said, "Coco would like to meet you in the bar later after you have seen Ruby and if you feel like it. We are celebrating still being alive. That goes for you too Mr Branwen" She then scurried off.

Qrow looked after her, "I will join them. I want to hear their story and buy them a round or four."

He then looked at them, "I'm the butler, postman and kennel hand tonight. Port is still in Kulsa saying he wants to revise his notes on fighting Grimm and is studying the LGDF tapes. Glynda is at Winchester Towers and for some reason the Ice Queen has gone with her. Ozpin must be desperate for a donation to replace the coffee machines."

He handed Weiss a letter, "The Ice Queen asked Glynda to order me to deliver this to you."

He then said, "Ruby wants to see both of you ASAP. She is fine even if Taiyang won't accept the fact. Both Ozpin and Taiyang are with her but tell them to give you some time alone with her. She is in bed but that is merely to allow her to rest." He paused, "Weiss, could you give me a minute with Yang. I won't be long."

Weiss agreed and gave them some room. She opened the letter from Winter and seemed glad to have an excuse to read it.

Qrow whispered to Yang, "Firecracker, she has inherited something from Summer, but she has already used it in a way Summer did not know or believe she could. She needs her teammates to keep her grounded and to have fun with as well as being there for her when she wants to be serious. For Remnant's sake, don't treat her as something to worship or fear."

Qrow then raised his voice, "To the infirmary." They were quickly there. They found that Ruby was dressed in her pyjamas but was sitting on the bed reading a book. Taiyang and Ozpin were in the room and after Taiyang had hugged Yang and greeted Weiss, Ozpin and Qrow persuaded him to leave the teammates alone.

A group hug immediately happened. Yang decided simply to say, "I'm so proud of you and so glad that you are OK. You are OK?"

"Yes, my aura is back to normal, and all the tests say that I am AOK. I am very tired, and I will have an early night. Ozpin suggested that I might want to keep the journalists as a distance and so I am under observation as far as the outside world is concerned although expected to make a full recovery."

Weiss said, "You don't do things by halves, dolt."

"I didn't mean to do it. It just came out of nowhere. The anger and fear just welled up inside me. We had all fought so hard and I could not bear the thought that all it had been for was to delay the destruction by three hours and perhaps reduce the deaths by a small percentage."

"What did you do?"

"I'm not certain. Ozpin says it's to do with the silver eyes and Uncle Qrow says that it is something I have in common with mum."

They asked more about Kulsa, but Ruby preferred to talk about the other defenders. She raved about Winter and Amber Arc in particular. After thirty minutes Ruby began to look tired and she said, "I will need to have some more rest soon. Can I just have a word with both of you in private."

Weiss went first and after five minutes came out and smiled at Yang saying, "She wants to talk to you now."

Yang looked at the sleepy Ruby, and said, "What's up, Rubes."

"Me and dad saw Uncle Qrow's sister last night."

"What did the egg donor want?"

"She came to warn me and dad about a threat. The threat was real. Coco and Velvet can tell you all about it."

Ruby hesitated and then decided to go on. "Fox said something curious. He recognised her aura from the first day at Beacon. Perhaps she turned up to watch you enrol."

"So, she abandons me at birth, never speaks to me, never sends presents and spies on me. She assuages her conscience without doing anything for me. Why should I care?"

"Yang, it's not as though you aren't curious about her. You nearly got expelled before you started trying to find out more about her."

"I learnt my lesson and forgot about her again for the rest of term. Now I can't escape from the woman. Apparently she is not just a bandit, but actually rules one-quarter of Mistral and is an ally of the White Fang. Everyone is scared of her, no one wants to do anything about her and have decided that she someone they can do business with. I bet I will have to write essays for Oobleck about her next term."

Yang paused, "Why did she warn you two?"

Ruby looked a little scared but said, "She claimed that she owed mum and had no ill will to dad."

She then hesitated, "She told us that she had not been able to save mum but had returned her body to dad."

"She was there when mum died?"

"She claims so and Uncle Qrow and dad say that she did return mum's body. Uncle Qrow says that if you want to talk things over with him then do so. He knew Raven as a child and claims that he has a better understanding of her. I don't think dad feels comfortable about speaking about when mum died."

Another hesitation, "Raven can turn into a raven. I don't understand how and apparently it is not her semblance."

Yang laughed, "No wonder dad taught me to throw stones at them because they were pests."

Ruby then said, "In a couple of days-time, I will be leaving with Professor Ozpin and dad for training about how to use my eyes properly. I will be back for Port's Grimm hunt but would be grateful if you could go back to Atlas with Weiss and look after each other."

"Why can't you stay here with us?"

"Professor Ozpin said that would not be wise and dad agreed." Ruby suddenly gave a huge yawn and yang decided that it was time to allow her to rest. The sisters hugged again and Yang re-joined Weiss.

Yang and Weiss made their way to the college bar. Team CFVY and Uncle Qrow were happily drinking. To her mild shock Coco had her arm draped over Velvet's shoulder.

Fox looked at her and she then heard his voice inside her head, "Yang, Ruby suggested that you might want a word about last night."

"Yes, she told me that you recognised the aura."

"Yes, I had encountered it before when your year arrived at Beacon and there are some similarities with your aura and that of your uncle."

"You can tell auras apart."

"Yes, it must have a link to my semblance. By the way we will be using it when we go Grimm hunting with Port."

"You did not mention it before."

"Goodwitch ordered us not to. It is not as though I knew you then."

"Fair enough, I suppose."

"One thing I should mention is that her aura appeared out of nowhere. I do not know whether she masked it or can teleport, but one moment it was not there and the next it was up close to ruby and her dad."

Yang then listened to Coco describe how velvet had saved her life the night before by cutting off the stinger on the scorpion Faunus's tail and how effective the bullets had been against his aura. While it was clear that coco was getting back to normal, she had clearly been shaken by having her aura shattered by one blow.

Velvet teased Yatsuhashi about two timing her with Arslan Altan. He took it in good part and said that the woman was also as ferocious as Velvet.

Team CFVY headed to their dorm. They had had even less sleep than her and Weiss.

Weiss mentioned that she was having lunch with Winter tomorrow and Yang used that as an excuse to arrange a lunch with Uncle Qrow. He agreed and said that they would go to Vale. He joked that it was best that he and winter Schnee kept a good mile from each other at all times.

/-/

After a proper night's sleep Yang and Weiss spent most of the morning with Ruby and Velvet playing Remnant. Yang then left for lunch with her uncle Qrow and Ruby and Velvet prepared to discuss weapons and bullets. Apparently Coco was in charge of the negotiations for licensing the production of the Scarlatina bullets with Travers Industries in Vale and one of the main military manufacturers in Mantle. The Adel corporation were already putting the Bunny vision glasses into production.

Weiss then went to meet Winter. The lunch was in a private dining room at Beacon which apparently was normally used by Glynda and Ozpin when meeting with potential donors.

When Weiss started gushing about how brilliant Winter had been at Kulsa, Winter reacted slightly angrily. "It's bad enough that I had had to listen to people praising me for doing my duty, my own sister insists on embarrassing both me and her."

She then calmed down, "Sorry Weiss. It is just that it has been a difficult forty-eight hours and I have been on show for most of them."

"I am sorry, sister, but it did make me proud to be a Schnee and that has been a rare event recently."

Winter relaxed, "I can forgive that Weiss. Perhaps for future reference a handshake and a less effusive appreciation will be more welcome. I am too used to people trying to ingratiate themselves with me to take praise at face value and the last forty hours have tested me."

Weiss said, "It was in part because we were at the Academy watching it in real time not knowing if you would all survive. Also, me and Yang were wishing that we were there with you and our classmates."

Winter nodded at that and then started discussing whether Weiss had been able to summon yet. Weiss was rather ashamed to admit that she had not. Winter then tried to instruct her. Weiss became flustered by this and the old worry that she had not inherited the family ability to summon even though she could do glyphs resurfaced. Unsurprisingly she failed to summon anything.

Winter then moved on to discuss the family. "Weiss, I trust that a period of absence has allowed to t be on better terms with father. It is part of your duty to the family and to Atlas to be civil to him."

"He seemed pleased to see me yesterday and his sarcasm was mainly directed at you and mother."

Winter sipped her tea, "Actually I have been pleased to hear that you have been performing your duty more than adequately. I gather that you and father spoke regularly on the CCT this term and that you take an interest in the family business."

"I have listened to you and Klein. I only fight father hard on things which are particularly important to me and try and work out an acceptable compromise in advance. He in turn has learnt to ask rather than demand and know that there are areas where father is prepared to compromise for the time being."

"Weiss do leave open the option of taking over the SDC. You are stronger than Whitley, at least at the moment. While profit is important, the SDC is so powerful that it needs to bear in mind its footprint on the world and its impact on the reputation of Atlas."

Weiss nodded and said, "I have been wondering if I should follow Coco Adel's route. She has in effect become both a brand and a goodwill ambassador for the Adel family business. From what father has said, he welcomes my friendship with Blake Belladonna as allowing him to reposition the SDC's reputation amongst Faunus. Even mother seems to be stirring herself."

Winter hesitated and then said, "You are less like father than I am. Both me and him tend to approach opposition as a problem and flatten it rather than work out if an indirect approach might work better. You have his drive, but you also have some of our mother's better qualities."

"Klein says that father is trying to avoid making the same mistakes with me as he made with you."

"And no doubt Klein is teaching you not to directly challenge father in the same way I did."

"Winter, so far it has been fairly easy to find compromises. Two years ago, I was arguing with him all the time. I then realised that was getting me nowhere. I now discuss things bearing in mind his point of view. It suits him for the time being for me to be interested in the SDC but not demanding a significant role in its running. "

"Still, you did well to get him to agree to you going to Beacon."

"Sending me to Beacon was the obvious answer for him especially as Brede Campion was also going there. The law in Atlas requires someone with a strong semblance to be trained for four years. From father's point of view better outside Atlas as there would be no obligation to serve an extra two years after qualifying and no risk of Ironwood suborning me. Shade was clearly out of the question and Haven is too close to the city of Mistral. Beacon is physically remote from Vale; the Vale authorities allow the Atlas diplomatic protection squad to discretely protect me and Brede. In addition, Ozpin and ironwood are known to have their differences and father prefers Ozpin's comparative non-intervention policy."

"I think that proves my earlier point. You made your problem his problem and devised a solution which worked for both of you."

"Winter, is there any chance you and him could reconcile slightly? He does care for you, and he was worried for you last night."

"I gather from this ball announcement that I am going to be one of the star attractions as I am now useful to him and the SDC. It will be my duty to attend for the good of Atlas. No doubt he thinks he loves both of us, but it is a love which would wrap me and you in cotton wool and expect us to be decorative – to be seen and not heard. You do know that he was furious with me and Ironwood for not objecting to you and the Belladonna girl being teammates."

"I gathered that."

"He has accused the General of stealing me from him and of replacing him as a father figure."

Weiss did not know how to respond to that as she felt that father was not altogether wrong in that complaint. Luckily, Winter provided her own answer, "The general is a mentor not a father. He allows me to be the best person and fighter I can be but lets me know when I have got things wrong."

"I think the general was worried about you last night as well as father. He told father that he had been calling your pilot."

"I was the person on the ground, and I considered that there was still a chance of defeating the Grimm even before your team leader unleashed her secret weapon. Besides which it was best for the reputation of Atlas that I stayed until the last possible minute as even ten minutes more might have allowed hundreds more Faunus to escape into the human sector. Besides which I am in part responsible for that young woman's despair. I was one of the people responsible for revealing what her uncle had done."

"You were not responsible for killing him. That is down to the White Fang. You are not responsible for what he did in Vacuo. that was down to him and to father for not overseeing him properly. You are not responsible for the fact no one has ever been named as the organiser of his kidnap. That is down to the Mistral authorities. Just because some people are stupid enough to believe that the Atlas government arrange for him to be kidnapped by the White Fang does not require you to risk losing your life in a lost cause."

"In the end it was not a lost cause. Weiss, believe me when I say that unlike virtually every other hunter or student there, I had a chance to escape. It may not have looked that way to you watching the TV coverage, but I did."

She then paused, "In the end we all have to take calculated risks and be honest with ourselves about our limitations. I also do understand why you worried about me and your friends. I am concerned for you. I believe that your skill and agility can make up for your low aura level. You do however have less room for error than most of your contemporaries and if you could summon defeated enemies it would assist you."

Weiss said, "At Beacon my aura has got a little stronger now that I do not permanently have her aura burning at a low level."

"Mother did the right thing by releasing your aura during that kidnap attempt. Only you her and Klein survived from the vehicle. I cannot blame you and her for being prone to worry after the incident."

Neither of them mentioned that mother's drinking had only become a real problem after that day and that father's over-protectiveness had got significantly more annoying from then on.

"I have forgiven her for that long ago. I also understand why other mothers did not want their daughters playing with a seven-year-old child with a released aura and a reputation for being strong willed."

Winter then moved to discussing some technical aspects of glyphs she thought Weiss might find useful. She said that her use of them in the fight against the Nevermore had been commendable under the circumstances which was high praise by Winter's standards.

Winter then left for a meeting with Ozpin before she flew to Vacuo. She had been posted there a few years before and was close to the current colonel in command and the Atlesian ambassador whom she had worked with then.

Weiss wandered thoughtfully back to the dorm where she was met by a seething Yang. "Not only is my egg donor a murdering thief and bandit; she came to Beacon with the express intention of learning how to kill hunters and huntresses. Apparently she is exceptionally good at it. Anyway, I now have a name to take vengeance on. Apparently Tyrian Callows was there when mother died. Apparently Velvet and Coco are the only people who have defeated him in twenty years."

Weiss to her extreme embarrassment realised that the only possible response was a hug. She asked, "What else did your uncle say?"

"Uncle Qrow says her departure came out of the blue to him. The egg donor had been buying baby clothes and to my surprise the egg donor bought the books which mum read to me and Ruby. She even practised reading them with different voices for each main character like mum did."

Weiss hugged a little harder. Yang continued, "There must be something which they are not telling me. Perhaps the egg donor only explained herself to mum. Mum said in her letter that the egg donor had told her that unless she left after she gave birth to me she would never go. Uncle Qrow said that the Branwen tribe were in desperate straits coming up to my birth, but he thought that she agreed with him that Mistral would be better off with one less bandit tribe."

Yang sobbed, "Uncle Qrow told me that he had ruled out lots of things. He said that mum and dad were not fooling around while the egg donor was pregnant and that while dad loved mum he was obsessed with the egg donor and that mum would never have betrayed her teammate. Dad, mum and Qrow all tell me that whatever it was that happened, the egg donor did not take one look at me and decide I was not worth loving."

Weiss increased the strength of the hug. Yang continued, "Both dad and Uncle Qrow have asked me not to speak to Ruby about this for the next couple of weeks. I get that she is having to get used to be the ultimate Grimm killer, but I miss speaking to her."

Weiss said, "I am here for you. You are a member of my team, and we kick butt together. Remnant, we actually have never argued in the same way as I have with Ruby and Blake. Let us head back to Atlas together in a couple of days' time. Next week a lot of our friends from Beacon will be joining us in Atlas and I would love to show you around Atlas and watch you wind up Whitley."

My plan now is for there to be a week's gap in the story and then have the wider cast joining Yang and Weiss in Atlas. I know that I have changed the family dynamic here, but a Weiss who realises that if she wants to change the SDC she has to work within the system and not totally break with Jacques does not seem too much of a stretch especially with Klein as a sort of life coach. Similarly, a Jacques who is trying to learn from mistakes he made with Winter and not repeat them with Weiss seems a more interesting character. There is some back story about Weiss and Willow here which I thought I had mentioned before and which if I did not I have had in mind for a year or so. I have not been able to find where I mentioned this previously and so if I did apologies for any inconsistencies.