"You're kidding, right?!" Eliana screamed as she covered her mouth and shook with glee. "RWBY versus JNPR?! Here!? In the flesh?!"

"Eliana, let's calm down a bit," Neela told her as she reached across the buffet table in the lunchroom and grabbed some chicken nuggets. "It comes with homework, for one, and two, you've been hanging out around both of those teams for almost a decade now because you know me, it can't still be 'that cool'."

"But they've never fought each other!" Eliana exclaimed out of breath. "Not that I've seen live and in person!" Eliana grabbed a handful of fries and threw them onto her platter as she ran to the table and proceeded to inhale her food. Neela shook her head, finishing up before moving to her friend and sitting beside her. "Do Ruby's eyes really only work on Grimm and if they don't, will she get to use them? Is that a legal move? That would wipe them all out no sweat, right? Do you think that Weiss will summon something crazy? Like a Queen Lancer? How are they going to keep Pyrrha from stopping them? They have to use their weapons, right? I mean, they don't have to, but what are the odds that they won't? How am I ever going to get to sleep tonight?!"

"I'm sure you'll manage," Neela laughed. "I can't believe the fourth quarter is coming up so soon." Eliana slammed her milk to swallow the mass of food in her mouth and gasped.

"And I can't believe that we haven't found you a man yet," Eliana replied.

"I feel like that's all we talk about," Neela sighed eating a nugget. She rubbed her face. She still hadn't told Eliana yet and the year was coming close to ending. Would she ever work up the courage, or be left wondering what Eliana would have said for the rest of her life?

"We talk about other things," Eliana insisted. "But what is life away from home while we're in school if not parties, boys, and booze?"

"We have no experience with any of those three things," Neela reminded her.

"We went to a party!" Eliana exclaimed.

"We passed through a party to get to your secret cave," Neela said. Eliana reached across the table and placed a finger on Neela's lips.

"Hey, that's secret!" Eliana scolded. "And you don't know, maybe I do have experience with boys."

"Do you?" Neela asked with an eye roll. Eliana folded her arms.

"I'm waiting for you to find somebody," Eliana humphed. Neela bit her lip. "I'm serious, if girls are your thing I think we could talk to Ivory, assuming she can take her eyes off of Ilia long enough." Neela covered her face.

"Elli, stop," Neela mumbled through her hands. Eliana smiled.

"I'm getting closer, aren't I?" Eliana questioned smugly. "If you're nervous, we can mess around first…"

"Elli! Gods! Please! Stop!" Neela shouted. She was convinced her face was bright red and she brought her platter up to the kitchen window.

"I'm just trying to be helpful," Eliana told her. "I've read a lot in those books and I wouldn't want you to be inexperienced with someone on Ivory's level." Eliana returned her own tray and they made their way out to the airships. "We could experiment in the cave…"

"Elli…" Neela begged.

"Yes?" Eliana asked. Neela flashed a smile before sighing.

"I appreciate the thought, but no," Neela told her. Eliana thought it over.

"Not your type?" Eliana inquired. Neela looked at her quickly.

"What?" Neela pried, making sure she'd heard right the first time.

"Am I not your type?" Eliana repeated.

"That's not it," Neela gasped lighting up again.

"So I am your type?" Eliana flipped the question.

"If I had a type!" Neela blurted before she could take it back. Her heart was racing. Would Eliana take the hint?

"Well then Ivory is never gonna do," Eliana laughed with a large smile on her face. The air deflated from Neela as the wind was knocked out of her sails and her mind fizzled back down towards normal activity levels. "She'd eat you alive if I'm the kind of girl that you'd be interested in. Have you seen the way that she looks at Ilia, countless books could probably be written about the things that girl has done to our teammate in her head. No, you need someone who is happy go lucky. Cute, but not too cute. Knows how to make you smile. I'm going to have to put more thought into this than I had originally, it's a pretty specific typeset."

"Elli," Neela exhaled.

"Yeah?" Eliana pondered, looking at her with wide wondering eyes. Neela offered a smile and shook her head.

"Never change," Neela requested.

"Of course not," Eliana assured her. As they stepped onto the airship, Titus and Ilia entered immediately after them.

"How are you two today?" Ilia asked them politely.

"We happened to notice the two of you all alone and we thought, 'we could use some stuff from the city too'," Titus added.

"You two really have nothing better to do than to spy on me, do you?" Neela spat. Titus folded his arms and rubbed the bridge of his nose as Ilia shrugged.

"That's not what this is," Ilia insisted. "Is it?"

"No," Titus agreed.

"We would never," Ilia continued.

"Never crossed our minds," Titus denied.

"And if it had," Ilia offered.

"We would have been way more covert about it," Titus informed her. Eliana looked at them confused for a moment before taking a deep breath and collecting her thoughts.

"Hey, maybe you guys can help us out with something," Eliana began. Neela immediately flushed once again.

"What's up?" Titus asked as he took a seat.

"Trying to find a girl that would be right for Neela," Eliana explained. Ilia and Titus both glanced at Neela who was hiding her face.

"Go on," Ilia said.

"She wants someone who's funny, kind of busty, perpetually optimistic, and maybe as cute as me," Eliana listed. Ilia and Titus glanced at each other before Titus had to conceal his smile and Ilia rubbed her face.

"I'm not sure where we're going to find anyone like that," Ilia told her.

"I'm not sure either," Eliana parroted.

"What's going on down there?" Titus asked looking out the window towards the port. Neela and Ilia joined him with Eliana behind, desperately trying to peer over their shoulders.

"What is it?" Eliana requested unable to see anything. Neela recognized the garbs, the White Fang lined the hill along the main street through Vale, filling the park as the police stood close by to make sure that things didn't get out of hand.

"Can't they arrest them all now?" Ilia asked. Neela shook her head as she took a deep breath to calm her nerves as they began flaring.

"No, that's what Athena wants," Neela told them. "They have the right to protest peacefully."

"Are they protesting?" Eliana asked pointing. The members in the park had signs that Neela could make out reading "Sign Up Today!" and other similar verbiage.

"They're making their move soon," Neela mumbled.

"How can you be sure?" Titus asked.

"They always bulk up their numbers before they expect to see action, I remember that much," Neela explained to them. They arrived at the pier to shouting and complaining as the police force were lined up and down the dock as far as they could see until the Faunus formed a sort of mass that was impossible to circumnavigate.

"Yatsu!" Eliana called out as she chased down the Beacon alumni. "What's going on here?"

"A lot of them just showed up this morning. Said that they have a rally planned tonight to go over their plans for the future. They're trying to get people to sign up," Yatsu explained. "We can't do anything to them unless they get violent first and we can't provoke them because the media is crawling all over the place." Neela brushed past them and Eliana watched her for a moment before returning to Yatsu.

"That might be true, but it is illegal for them to be blocking the road like that," Eliana told him.

"The situation is delicate," Yatsu replied. Eliana glanced at the crowd and groaned.

"You got a way around for us?" Eliana asked Titus. "Neela's going to need me." Titus nodded and looked for one but came up empty. "Well?!"

"I'll have to throw you," Titus told her.

"Fine, whatever, do it!" Eliana instructed him. He grabbed her, launching her with the help of his blades over the crowd and watching her sail as a large boar Faunus came chest to chest with him.

"What's the big idea?!" The boar asked.

"I'm sorry," Titus apologize sarcastically. "Did I ruin your blockade?" The boar swung around before Ebony caught his wrist just short of Titus. She smiled at the Atlesian for a moment, dropping the Faunus's arm before scolding him.

"Now now," Ebony told him. "There's no need to exchange blows. We're only here to recruit members to our cause. We want equal rights and the only way that we can achieve those rights is peacefully. We can be reasonable, right?" The tusked man snorted before walking away. "Forgive him, he has a short temper."

"Whatever you're planning, it isn't going to work," Titus informed her.

"I already told you," Ebony said. "Peaceful protest. You've seen our numbers here today." Her smile turned to an evil sneer. "We can't lose." Titus turned away and Ilia looked at him.

"Now what?" Ilia asked. Titus thought it over before shaking his head and grumbling.

"I guess we wait for Neela to get back," Titus told her.

"There she is!" Someone exclaimed.

"She's the one!" Another added.

"Athena said that she would come back!" A third chimed in.

She looks much older.

How far gone is she?

Will she come back for good?

Who is that with her? The last comment brought Neela to and she glanced back to see Eliana racing towards her.

"Hey, are you okay?" Eliana asked her. Neela looked at her for a long moment until her center of balance returned and she nodded slowly. So many masks, the uniforms… if she'd been in the woods she might have lost it completely, but the setting wasn't quite right so she managed to hold on to the present. She wasn't sure what had possessed her to come into the crowd, but it all felt familiar in the worst way, anxiety filled what parts of her mind weren't able to focus on Eliana, and she slowly became overwhelmed.

"Neela," Crimson bit off the words like an angry child as she approached the two of them. She placed a hand on Neela's shoulder and Eliana promptly removed it. Crimson glanced at her hand before staring up angrily at Eliana. "You can't…"

"I don't care if I start the next Faunus War, you will not lay a hand on Neela," Eliana snarled, her own eyes lighting up in a crazed look. "Are you willing to bet your life on my abilities?" Ebony grabbed Crimson by the shoulder and the girl wrenched away, swinging for Ebony who caught her attack and stared at her sternly.

"Remember what Athena said," Ebony reminded her.

"As soon as this is all over, I will kill you," Crimson growled. Ebony released her.

"I look forward to seeing you try," Ebony chuckled. Crimson slumped away leaving Ebony with the girls and she brought a pamphlet over to Neela. "I think that it would greatly benefit you if you came to the rally tonight. Athena would be most pleased to see you there."

"Do you really think that you're fooling anyone?" Neela asked her. Ebony looked around and spread her arms.

"Do we need to?" Ebony asked her. "At this point, it's all just a ruse and as long as we don't say anything publicly and wait long enough, history will show that we were being oppressed and the humans were trying to keep us down." Ebony folded her arms before rubbing her forehead. "You could be on the winning side of history, Neela."

"She doesn't want anything to do with you people," Eliana interjected.

"Us people?" Ebony asked cocking her head.

"The White Fang," Neela corrected stepping between the two of them. "But she's right. You're the reason that I've been watching my back recently, and the reason that my mother can't sleep at night. What could possibly persuade me to join you? And if I remember correctly, you used to be part of the Branwen Clan if I'm not mistaken. Raven taught you, didn't she?"

"I'm not particularly fond of that woman, she was a coward," Ebony snarled. "Athena on the other hand… She knows exactly what she wants and isn't afraid to make it happen. You could join us, you could fight at Athena's side, you could eventually rule all of Remnant once she succumbs to death." Neela balled her fists, wondering if the panther Faunus had ignored everything that she had said.

"Tell Athena she can go fuck herself," Neela stated through gritted teeth. Ebony and Eliana both looked at her with shock as Eliana closed her jaw.

"You're going to regret that," Ebony said with a frown before walking away.

"Neela," Eliana stammered as Neela turned back towards the crowd with the paper. Eliana glanced at it before wrenching it away. "This is a blank sheet of paper." Neela glanced at her confused.

"No, it's not, it says that it's at one of the warehouses tonight," Neela told her showing her.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Eliana asked her as they headed back to the pier. "It doesn't say anything." Neela looked at it again and stared intently. Was it some kind of ink that was only visible to Faunus? Neela sighed.

"I'm fine, just feeling a little overwhelmed," Neela told her. Eliana took her hand and held it, the two of them glancing at each other for a moment before Neela pulled her through the group. Someone grappled Eliana before they could reach the other side and Neela swung around quickly, unsheathing her blade. The crowd parted swiftly and Titus spotted Neela, darting it to restrain her.

"Let her go or I'll do it!" Neela shouted. "There aren't any repercussions if the Faunus are fighting each other!"

"She's just going to betray you someday!" Crimson stated with a blade to Eliana's neck. "They always do. Then you'll be ready to come back."

"That's not true," Neela replied. "They aren't all like that. They've grown more accepting than any of you will ever know, because you're all too afraid to test if that's true." Crimson smirked.

"That risk hardly sounds worth the reward," Crimson jested. She tossed Eliana at Neela who caught her friend before she fell. "Just heed my warning and when you're ready to return, you know where to find us." Neela sheathed her sword, grabbing Eliana by the arm this time and escorting her out of the group.

"Here," she stated handing the flyer to Yatsuhashi.

"It's blank," Yatsu replied.

"No it's not," Neela told him. She borrowed a pen and wrote down what it said for him to read. "Now you can find out what they're really up to." She and Eliana left for the airship leaving Titus behind to look the text over with Yatsu.

"Is she okay?" Yatsu asked.

"It's been a rough few weeks for her," Titus said. "I wouldn't go there." Yatsu glanced at it before looking back up at Titus. "They let Neela in on purpose in the hopes that she'd bring this back to you and tell you what it said, Athena had to know that there was no way Neela was going to change sides. It's going to be a trap." Titus motioned for Ilia to follow with his head and they left, getting back onto the airship with Neela and Eliana. Neela sat, rubbing her face as Eliana rubbed her back. "Neela…"

"I'm fine, really," Neela blurted out. Ilia and Titus looked at each other for a moment before Ilia moved to Neela and knelt in front of her.

"Hey, don't listen to the White Fang, you know that you're right and that's what matters and if you're worried about them hurting you, we'll help you face that too. Hell, your moms weren't much older than we are now when they took down the Fang before, right?" Ilia asked. Neela smiled at her for a moment and nodded.

"Yeah, I know all that. Thanks," Neela replied before staring at the floor again. The rest of the flight was taken in silence and when they touched down Neela and Eliana lingered for a moment after Titus and Ilia made their exit. Eliana gently grabbed Neela's face and looked her in the eyes.

"Hey, chin up little hawk," Eliana told her placing her forehead on Neela's. Neela looked into Eliana's eyes for a long couple of seconds. If she'd stayed with those monsters, she never would have met Eliana, and she wasn't sure that she would have survived this long without her best friend. She felt slightly more at ease despite her body feeling achy from anxiety. She stood slowly, looking at Eliana again as the words that were uttered to her rang through her head loudly.

She's just going to betray you someday!

Neela shook it off, it wasn't true, it couldn't be. Eliana always knew how to read her, placing a hand on Neela's cheek. It was a warmth that Neela always welcomed, and it was a method that Eliana knew would always calm her down. She nuzzled against it, holding Eliana's hand against her cheek, wishing that she would never let go of her.

"Eliana," Neela exhaled. "I'm glad you're here." Eliana brushed her thumb against Neela's skin before grabbing her hand again and pulling her off of the airship.

"I think you need some time away," Eliana told her as she dragged her along the cliffside and towards their secret cavern. Neela almost never called her by her full name. It worried her even though it was somehow comforting at the same time. She dragged Neela in, setting her on the floor before plopping down next to her and shining her scroll's flashlight onto the Dust crystals above them. It scattered about, creating a miraculous scene that looked like the night sky and Eliana rested her head on Neela's shoulder.

"Thanks, Elli," Neela told her.

"I think sometimes that maybe dad was part of something bigger like your parents were," Eliana told Neela as she sighed. "We're worried about Grimm and the White Fang and they fought Maidens and Salem, who was for lack of a better word, a goddess. Not to downplay your fear, Neela! I would never mean it that way!"

"I know," Neela said. Eliana snuggled in closer.

"How do you think that we fit into this whole thing?" Eliana asked her. "Do you think we could maybe end up like RWBY, or the maidens? Everyone will talk about us and tell our stories to their kids and grandkids. Maybe we'll come into some kind of power like that too! We could keep all of Remnant safe then like your Aunt Ruby! Or maybe we'd set things in motion silently like Ozpin!"

"Maybe we should focus on the small things for now," Neela chuckled. Eliana hushed her.

"Shhh, I'm trying to put you at ease," Eliana laughed. "Or maybe if that all fails we can just run away together." Neela shifted and looked at her.

"Is that an idea you've had?" Neela asked her genuinely.

"I mean, I can't run away without you, Neela. I have a thousand scenarios that have sprinted through my head, you know?" Eliana noted as she stood up and paced the small opening in front of Neela. "Running away would be the best, you know? Maybe we just wander the countryside, we could still help people that way and we wouldn't be restricted by the government or academies. We do that for a few years, or maybe a decade or so, and then we settle down and find ourselves spouses. Get married, houses right next to each other."

"What if we just married each other?" Neela replied blushing as she looked away.

"Huh," Eliana stated blankly staring at the ceiling. "I'd never thought of that as an option… our kids would be cute. Imagine if we had a little girl! She'd be a badass just like you and whimsical like me! She'd be perfect!"

"We could name her Alexandria," Neela offered with a smile. Eliana looked at Neela for a long moment with a tear in her eye.

"You might be a little too good at this 'what if' game," Eliana laughed wiping her eyes.

"I try," Neela laughed. Yeah, just a crazy surreal game of what if - ELLI, COULD YOU BE ANY MORE DENSE?

"Maybe you should call your mom and tell Blake not to head into Vale today," Eliana suggested. Neela nodded, it was probably a good idea since she knew that her mother was already struggling with leaving the house at this point since they'd received the news, and after her and Yang had gotten into a fight with the Fang in Vale, she hardly went anywhere but directly to work or Tai's. Neela pulled out her scroll and Eliana lay on the ground beside her, staring up at the ceiling of the subterranean getaway. Yang picked up after one ring, sounding a bit more cheerful than Neela had heard her in a while.

"Hey, little bird! What's going on? I was wanting to call you and make sure that everything has been okay since you had the run-in with the Fang out in the woods the other day, but I know that you're pretty tough and the last thing that I want to do is turn into Blake, one of her is more than enough," Yang joked. Neela heard a tussle on the end followed by Yang yipping in momentary pain.

"I heard that," Blake shouted in the background.

"See what I mean?" Yang asked Neela quietly. Neela chuckled slightly before remembering why she'd called.

"Can you step into the other room?" Neela inquired. Yang glanced back at Blake who was reading a book on the couch and she got up and stretched, glancing around for Shadow.

"I'm going to check on Shadow," Yang told Blake covering the microphone on her scroll. Blake looked up for a brief passing and nodded before returning to her book and Yang moved to the master bedroom, closing the door slowly behind her so that Blake hadn't noticed. "I'm in the other room now, Neela, but you know that you and Blake have that supernatural hearing that nothing gets past. Is something wrong?"

"Kind of?" Neela stumbled over the words as they poured out.

"Are you in jail? Do I need to bail you out? Did you kick their ass real good? I always knew that this day would come, you are a Xiao Long after all, though we should do this as discreetly as possible, if Blake finds out then both of our asses are grass," Yang trailed on. "Maybe it's something worse? Are you pregnant? Wait, no, that can't be it, you like girls."

"Mom!" Neela interrupted.

"Yes?" Yang replied.

"The White Fang have made their next move," Neela told her. Yang's mind stopped racing and focused as she nodded and stared at the door in front of her. So that was it.

"Do you know something that we should be made aware of?" Yang pried.

"I told Yatsuhashi where they were going to meet tonight," Neela informed her. "You should let Coco know to contact him and she'll know how to deal with it from there." Yang laughed.

"Sometimes I wonder if maybe you're the adult around here," Yang chuckled. "Anything else?"

"I wasn't sure if you were planning on going to town today or not, but I would keep Blake from going if you are," Neela instructed. "The White Fang have a city-wide protest underway and it seems that they're numbers are greater than we thought."

"Who is 'we'?" Yang asked suddenly concerned. She'd heard this kind of talk before from a young cat Faunus who thought that it was her job to make sure the White Fang never hurt anyone ever again.

"Raven and I," Neela replied sheepishly.

"Neela…" Yang began, her free hand twitching as she tried to remain calm.

"We've only talked about it while training, mom," Neela reassured her. "Don't be angry at her, I brought it up. She would never suggest that I go in alone and try to do anything about the Fang, that would be suicide." Yang thought back on her own time at Beacon and let out a deep breath laughing exasperatedly.

"Did she say that, or did you come to that conclusion yourself?" Yang asked.

"Mom, I'm not stupid," Neela said flatly.

"It's not about being smart or stupid," Yang explained. "I knew a young Faunus like you that was once a part of the Fang and just because she'd been with them for a short while she felt regret over the entire matter. An obligation to fix the thing that she'd help create."

"I know you're talking about Blake," Neela replied. Yang chuckled.

"Nothing gets past you, Neela," Yang said. She nodded her head as she glanced back at Ember Celica which rested on the nightstand. "Alright, I'll keep Blake out of Vale for now, but I can't make any promises that she won't watch the news at some point today."

"Better than nothing," Neela shrugged on her end. She glanced over at Eliana whose eyes were glossed over. Was she falling asleep? "I'm gonna get going, I have somethings that I need to take care of before your big fight tomorrow. You're a celebrity, don't you know?" Yang laughed hard.

"Hardly!" Yang denied. "Tell Eliana I said hi."

"Hi!" Eliana shouted drowsily.

"Love you, mom," Neela told her. Yang smiled softly.

"I love you too, Neela."

The Fang is really giving Neela hell. Next week, Chapter 104 - Yang vs Ebony!

A big thank you to Helihi, Cadhla182, Carlomontie, Nliast, Y8ay8a, Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.

Until next week, stay classy!