Original chapter length: 1,648
Revisited chapter length: 2,555

AYangThang: You get two updates again this week. Chapter 4 will be posted within the hour.

Chapter 3

A long and horrible mission had just come to an end. Yang was thrilled to simply be back in civilization, meanwhile Weiss eagerly awaited to be out of the public eye. The mission's final report had been handed in, practically thrown across Ozpin's desk in an attempt to escape as quickly as possible. Now, the two huntresses just had to get back home, and Yang planned to do it in record time.

"Well, I must say, this is thoroughly degrading." Weiss pointed out from her place on Yang's back. It was merely a sprain that did her in, but getting carried through the streets of Vale was not her idea of a good time. "I'd go so far as to say that this a new low. If I did, however, I'm sure that something else would likely go wrong."

"Are you serious? Weiss, we got flung into a tree, fell into a mud pit, our hotel was smashed up by a pissed off Ursa, and this is the part you find degrading…" Yang ranted with a roll of her eyes, lamenting all of the junk she could feel in her hair. "What about all that other stuff, huh? How's all that crap for a bruised ego?"

"I have chosen not to think about it, thank you so much."

Yang snorted, the intake of air reminding her of the fresh hell that they were caked in. "Remind me to decline missions in Vacuo more often. In fact, remind me to double check any mission you come across next time you get a bright idea."

"The mission paid well, and we needed the money. Besides, we could have done without rattling the shipment of aura enhancers, which is something you did, by the way." Weiss complained at length. "I told you the container was volatile the moment you picked it up. Honestly, I'm surprised you weren't injured."

"Oh, it hurt like hell." Yang shot back, looking over her shoulder and regretting it. Another stiff waft of the smell assaulted her senses. Even worse, she could smell the acrid dust, too. "When that stuff combusts, it hits like a truck. I'm just built to take it, unlike you." The smug tone in her voice died out, revealing true concern. "How's your ankle feeling?"

"I'll be just fine after a hot shower and a long rest. However, we are both in a very unsightly state..." Weiss said, crinkling her nose in disgust. "You have dust shards in your hair. You do realize this, correct?"

"Uh, yeah and that's not all that's in there." Yang told her unhappily. "It's going to take hours to sort this rat's nest out."

"It won't be so bad. I'll let you use my products as soon as we get back to the house." Weiss promised, ever so gently plucking a few more leaves that were glued in with mud. "I have some conditioner that should smooth these tangles right out."

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that." Yang rounded the corner, and into the alley. "The hot water will do me some good too, I'll bet that."

"Hmm." Weiss sounded in agreement as they neared the JNPR household.

Pyrrha was outside sweeping the front stoop. Broom pausing mid-stroke to wave at the disheveled women she called friends. "Oh, you're back sooner than I thought you'd be." She said, regarding them with a smile. "I take it that you've had a rough mission?"

"You could certainly say that." Weiss replied, arms crossed as Yang came to a stop. "Not our finest hour, I assure you."

"It frickin' sucked." Yang said, smoothing out her hair and mending her currently tarnished pride.

"Sod's law." Weiss agreed. "How was your mission, I know it was longer than you expected."

"It was alright." Pyrrha replied, glancing back to her home, her voice dropping a little. "Jaune cracked his shield, so he's been kind of down lately. We've sent it in for repairs, but, you know how he is. Do you mind if I ask, what is sod's law, exactly?"

"Anything that can go wrong, will." Weiss explained, and then tapped Yang's shoulder. "Put me down, will you. I'm sure I can hobble home from here."

"Nothin' doing. Ruby would shit a brick if I let you walk in the door like that." She did adjust the woman atop her back though. A little bounce and she hoisted Weiss up slightly. Even that slight adjustment felt like heaven. "Anyway, Pyrrha, I'm glad to see that you're safe. Thing is, I've got a date with a hot shower and a basket of soap. Mind if we catch you later?"

"Indeed." Pyrrha said waving them off. "Have a pleasant day."

"To you as well." Weiss called back as the duo rounded the corner. Yang was fairly eager to hit the front door as soon as possible. In her exuberance, she nearly flung it off the hinges, causing Weiss to roll her eyes. "You're a bull in a china shop."

"Yeah, well we both reek like one, might as well act like it." Yang said as she made a bee-line for the kitchen. Yang pulled a plastic baggy containing two broken scrolls and chucked them onto the table. "Huh, guess they're not home."

"They're probably out shopping. Someone else besides me was clearly uncomfortable with all the mess." Weiss pointed to behind the counter. "Look, the dishes have been washed and the sink is empty."

"Can't remember the last time that happened." Yang chuckled, heading for the back of the house. A single bathroom was shared by the four of them, a setup that they'd long grown used to back in Beacon. They'd even doubled up on shower heads after moving in so that they could conserve the hot water. It was times like these that they were thankful for such renovations.

Seeing themselves in the mirror, Yang offered the only reasonable solution for the amount of disgusting filth caking the both of them. "I'll wash your hair, if you wash mine…"

"Yes, I believe that would be agreeable…" Weiss grimaced, yanking a hunk of god-only-knew-what from the back of her long ponytail. It was squishy, tar colored, and frankly, that was all Weiss cared to know. "Please do."

Far across town, Blake tried to recall the last time she ever got lost in a store. After a run to the corner for soy milk late last night, Blake and Ruby both realized that watching a child was no small undertaking. Now, with several bags in hand, and a full backpack of supplies each, they now had what was deemed by the store clerks as the baby basics.

Somehow, Blake was sure they were getting duped.

Regardless of if they were or not, after the near five hour screaming fit in the middle of midnight, she wouldn't dare be unprepared for when the baby started crying again.

One of the purchases they'd made was a sling, which Ruby had tied onto herself before they'd even exited the store. "Bottles, bottle brushes, two kinds of nipples, three kinds of diapers, wipes, rash cream, binkies, Faunus safe formula, burp cloths, no tears shampoo and conditioner, a pack of short sleeved onesies, a pack of long sleeved onesies, five baby sacks…" Ruby trailed off, scanning the receipt and feeling a little bit queasy. "Baby claw clippers? I didn't put those in the basket."

"I did." Blake said, not even batting an eye.

"Why?" Ruby asked dryly. She doesn't even have claws..."

"Our nails might look the same, but they aren't. My finger nails are thicker than yours, hence claws. My clipper is too big to use on her, I'd be afraid to hurt her." Blake said as she took her own fingers and pushed them back. When she did this, the tips of her nails grew out. "All cat Faunus have claws, Ruby. We just manicure them down so that they don't grow long, sharp, and pointy. She's liable to scratch herself, or us for that matter, if we don't."

"What happens if you let them grow out?" Ruby asked then curiously.

"Well, they're retractable, so if I extended them unclipped, they would curve around the tips of my fingers." Blake replied with a shrug, extending what little of her claws remained. "I keep mine short enough that even extended, they don't curl around, see?"

"I guess I never thought about it like that." Ruby nodded numbly. Her eyes skipped down to the grand total at the end of the long bill. The sticker shock was still bothering her. "We just spent over two-hundred lien. Weiss is going to kill us."

From inside the sling, the small baby started to meow, and chose to do so incessantly.

"Oh god, not this again... Here, Ruby hand her to me." Blake said.

Both women began shuffling the groceries and the baby around. Finally, after a bit of maneuvering, Ruby was carrying the plastic bags, and Blake was now cradling an inquisitive Faunus in her arms. The mewing dulled to a purr when a free hand soothed the tiny twitching ears that swung around like tiny radar atop the girl's head. Blake felt Ruby's gaze on her, silver eyes studying both Faunus in question.

Blake could only clear her throat awkwardly, choosing to ignore the placement of her own hand and the soothing motions of her finger.

Of course a human would find the action so interesting, especially a human like Ruby. She had probably never witnessed such a thing first-hand before. Faunus didn't typically touch each-other's ears in public. The rarity only took place commonly between adults and very young Faunus. Anything else would be construed as demeaning, and with good reason.

Rather than trying to explain any of that to Ruby, Blake fixated on something else entirely. "I really wish that Yang would hurry her ass up." She said hoarsely, a mix of exhaustion and worry weighing it down. Clearing it again didn't help, so she swigged at the half empty canteen she kept affixed to her belt loop. "I wonder what's taking her so long."

"You and me both." Ruby said as they crossed the alleyway in relative silence. "I just…" Ruby's eyes flicked over to the baby. "What if she hates her?"

"Um, Ruby, of the many things we need to be worried about, and I admit, that list grows by the second, I don't think Yang could ever hate an innocent baby."

"I don't know about that…"

"Hmm." If it were anyone else other than Yang, Blake would have jumped directly to the obvious.

That the girl was Faunus, not human. However, knowing Yang like Blake did, that was simply impossible. She had never known Yang to hate a Faunus for simply being one. There were a few choice words that Yang had about particular ones, White Fang members included. It wasn't bigotry though, Yang's views had very little to do with heritage. No, instead it had everything to do with criminal acts and not-so-friendly fire. Shooting at someone was hardly the way to make friends with them, and the White Fang were certainly trigger happy as a group.

The next obvious conclusion might be a misguided sense of jealousy. In thinking on it, Blake also tossed that aside too. Yang had one hell of a bad temper on occasion, but she was one of the most maternal figures Blake had ever known. There was no possible way she would come to hate an infant, at least, none that the Faunus could discern.

"Why do you think that Yang will hate her?" She asked curiously, wondering if Ruby's fear came from a long buried history.

"Because it would be easier to hate her." Ruby explained, gripping the grocery bags tightly as she said it. Even thinking about that felt like complete and total betrayal. "It would be easier to just turn our backs on all this. We could pretend that this didn't happen."

"Yang wouldn't want to do that, Ruby."

"You don't know that for sure... I don't either..." Ruby sighed. "Ignorance is bliss after all, but, so is denial. That way, it can be another family who had a tragedy." Ruby explained, pulling out the house key, not an easy feat with her arms full. "It doesn't have to be us again… This… It always ends up happening to us."

"If she's going to end up feeling hatred for anyone, it'll probably be herself." Blake surmised, the very thought worrying her as well. "She didn't ask for any of this, neither of you did. So, you may be right that it would be easier to pretend it didn't happen... In saying that, though, it's not just you two anymore."

"That doesn't really soften the blow, Blake."

"I know, but this isn't someone else's tragedy, Ruby." Blake told her. "It's ours. We're a team, and we'll figure this out. I promise you that."

They pushed passed the front door and Ruby very nearly tripped as she came to a halt. Her legs frozen stiff. Yang was sitting on the sofa, a beer in hand, and her bare feet up on the coffee table.

"Hey guys!" Yang greeted lazily, waving at Blake who could only swallow hard. "Great to see that ya grabbed some groceries. We're totally out of MRE's, and there was only a small packet of water purification tabs left."

"Y-yeah, groceries…" Ruby trailed off. "I'll… um… I'll just be right back."

"Uh, okay." Yang raised an eyebrow as Ruby left the room in a hurry. "Well, that was weird. Is she on the red or something?"

"No… It's nothing like that." Blake forced out, her voice edgy at best. She didn't dare consider the worst. Instead, she sat down, the Faunus cub still cradled to her chest. To fill the uneasy space, she gave Yang one of the softest looks she could muster. "It's just complicated. We need to have a long talk."

"Uh-huh…" Yang sat upright then, another sip of beer and she set it off to the side. "So, what's with the kitten, kitten?"

"Don't call me that." Blake shot back softly out of reflex. She looked down to the baby Faunus, swallowing back a thick ball of anxiety. "As for the Faunus cub, that's what we've got to talk about. I just don't know how to make this any easier."

"Well, telling it to me straight should be good enough." Yang replied. "I mean, honesty is the best policy and all that, right?"

"It's not like we're going to hide anything. It's just hard to explain, sis." Ruby interrupted as she came back into the room carrying something heavy. Weiss struggled to keep up, hobbling behind her. The exhausted ex-heiress looked as if she'd seen a ghost. Worried and tense in spite of just coming from a long, hot shower. The thing in Ruby's hands explained why. "I don't really know how to start, so I'd though I'd just show you…"

"Ruby, what are you doing with that weapon?" Yang asked, as her hands tightened around the fabric of her jeans. She leaned forward to get a better look at it.

Ruby placed the sword that was in her hand onto the table, and then sat down on the floor in front of it. "This…is Raven's sword…and that baby…that's our little sister…"