Significant Changes: Added scenes and a bit of extra content to older ones.
Revisited chapter length: 4,158
"Regular dialogue" [Faunus speech only]

Chapter 36

Yang sighed as she carried her little sister on her hip, heading to the kitchen to get her a small snack bar. She set her down on the floor in front of the television before turning on a children's show. Seeking out her other household companions, Yang found them right where she expected she would, in their room packing for a short camping trip.

"Blake, I could use your help across the hall." Yang said as she leaned heavily on the doorframe of Blake and Ruby's room. "Weiss is acting like a Schnee again."

"What?" Blake asked leaving her camping supplies on the floor forgotten, several changes of children's socks sitting at her side along with two pairs of pajamas and a few outfits just in case Ace continued to get dirty out in the wilds. "Why?"

"You know why." Yang said, leaning heavily on the door frame. "I got through to her a little, I think, but we both know that won't last if she gets stuck in her own head for too long."

"I thought things were going well…" Blake said, ears flattening down on her head unhappily. "She hasn't had a breakdown in..." Blake trailed off biting her lip. "I honestly can't recall the last time it happened."

"It's been a long time. A few years ago was the last time it really got bad." Ruby told them, still folding her own pajamas before placing them away and looking up at Yang. "Unless things have been going on that she hasn't told me."

"No, in thinking about it, that sounds right…" Yang told her sister. "It probably has been about that long."

"I was hoping she was better now." Ruby said softly, hands turning into fists in her lap as her thumbs ran along her knuckles thoughtfully. When that failed to be a comfort Ruby visibly deflated, her shoulders sagging. "I thought she was over all of that stuff…"

"Technically, she is better. A whole lot better." Blake said, reaching it to push some of Ruby's hair behind her ear in an attempt to soothe the worry in her eyes. "But, you need to remember, Weiss spent a lot of time in a really unhealthy environment. The things she's grown up with don't just leave because she wants them to. If it were that easy, no one would ever have any emotional baggage. She's just more susceptible to hers than we are to ours."

"I mean, up until now, she hasn't had anything really spark any of her old anxieties. For her it's all been out of sight out of mind." Yang said, her nail absently running along the chipping paint on the wall. "But, she's got this thing going on with Pyrrha now, and everything is kind of flooding back, I guess."

"Should we call Winter?" Blake wondered, half tempted to reach for her scroll right then and there. "I know they don't talk much, but she's always been there when we need her to be."

"That's why they don't talk as much as they should…" Yang said thoughtfully. "Winter's busy, and if we call her she's going to drop everything and fly out here like she always does. I don't want to make Weiss feel guilty. Besides, it's not that bad. Not that I want it to get to that point, but I don't think it will if we can nip it in the ass now."

"I'll finish up packing." Ruby said as she finally unearthed the cooking skillet they took on camping trips. "You should go talk to her, Blake. You're the only one she really listens to…"

"Alright." Blake said, getting up and stretching at length. "Hopefully this won't take too long."

Blake's words were similar to Yang's. She tried to offer comfort, but the damage of the Schnee family had already been done. Weiss was unlike her older sister. Winter had found peace with her personal demons, Weiss hadn't yet. Then again, Weiss had endured her father's malice for a longer stretch of time. She had been cast out from the family, while Winter chose to distance herself of her own volition. The two siblings were vastly different in that regard. Ultimately, it made things harder for Weiss in the long run.

She and tried to toe a line too many times. Holding her own choices above that of her father's whims. She had defied him over and over again, until he realized she would never be his puppet, and cast her aside like a broken object that couldn't be repaired. Deep down, Weiss had always known the risks of her decisions, and the weight of them. Her father had dangled her dreams on a stick, taunting Weiss for years with the things she wanted most. He did it for control, until even that thin thread snapped and fell away entirely.

Weiss had never completely forgiven herself for letting the company fall from her hands. She had never gotten over the fact that she had been removed from the things that had given her so much power and respect. As used to a commoner's life as she was, it wasn't the way Weiss had planned her life to go, and that was a letdown.

Blake did her best, but, she knew that alone would never be enough to make up for years of treatment that was nothing sort of abuse. Harsh words, backhanded compliments, and physically slapping her when Weiss didn't see his logic for what it was. Her defiance had cost her, but, she wasn't the only one to pay the price, and Blake knew that Weiss blamed herself for that selfishness.

At the end of the day, Blake knew that team RWBY and the echoes of that identity, wouldn't ever be enough for Weiss. She needed to be more than that. It was a desire so deep that even Weiss herself couldn't fathom its magnitude. In truth, Blake was sure that a small part of Weiss didn't want to.

It was a feeling that Blake knew all too well. Thinking on it, even slightly, brought a whole lot of guilty feelings to the surface. After all, she had turned her back on her own cause too. Choosing a life among humans, despite the atrocities that continued outside of the safe bubble she had built for herself.

But, she had a new calling now. One of instinct to help guide her, when logic itself proved painful. That was why she readily grabbed her backpack and exited the home a few hours later. With Ace and Ruby at her side, the three of them headed out into the forests to enjoy the life that they were beginning to carve for themselves. The little moments all the more significant for the sake of that future.

Yang stayed behind and waited until Pyrrha came to the door late that evening. The redhead was ready to take Weiss on her date, but it was Yang who opened the door. "Hey, Pyr." Yang smirked, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Weiss is in our room."

"Oh, is she still getting ready?" Pyrrha asked, but then Yang shook her head.

"Afraid not." Yang grabbed her jacket throwing it over her shoulders. "It's probably better if you and Weiss stay here. There was an episode earlier, and I don't think she's really in the right mindset for an outing."

"Oh…" Pyrrha sighed at length. "Does she want to cancel?"

"No, it's not that." Yang said quietly. "More like, she doesn't know what to really do…"

"About me, or…" Pyrrha trailed off, unsure what else to ask. Unable to fathom what she could even say to make it all better.

Yang wasn't entirely sure what Weiss wanted, but she knew that being alone wasn't it. "Honestly, it's about a whole lot of garbage. Look, Weiss has a lot of self-hatred going on. She never thought she should be allowed to be happy, and now, there's someone else telling her she can be besides just us. The fact you really care about her blows her mind." As Yang said that, something clicked. She nodded more to herself than to Pyrrha. Sliding a hand into her pocket, she smirked a little. "She knows you really care, and she can't just cram a reason onto a box for why that is. The people who should have given a shit about her never did, and the rest of us fit into some easy category. Winter's her sister. We're her teammates… She can't just fit you into a logical little box like that, and honestly that freaks the crap out of her."

"I didn't realize…"

"It's a good thing, but she's not used to it." Yang laughed softly, finding it easy to find the good qualities in the problem when Pyrrha stayed. She could have turned around and walked away disheartened, but she hadn't. "Weiss is always going to be slow on the uptake of this kind of thing. Personally, I think what she really needs right now is some take out and a quite night inside. That's fine though. You guys have the house to yourselves."

"Wait, Yang, you don't have to do that." Pyrrha said, cringing when Yang picked up her backpack. "It would be wrong of me to ask you to leave. This is your home."

"I've got my own plans. Family bonding and all of that, I'm sure you get it." The blonde laughed. "Ruby and I are going to take Ace on a little camping trip, and Blake decided to come along. They've already gone on ahead, so I should catch up." Patting Pyrrha on the shoulder as if to fortify her. "Don't sweat it. Just stay… I think that's all Weiss really wants."

Yang headed out, closing the door behind her.

It wasn't the first time she had been left alone in this household, having acted as an emergency babysitter for Ace in the past. It was strange stepping through the house when it was so eerily silent though. She made her way to the room Weiss stayed in with Yang. The woman sat on her bed, looking lost and forlorn as she looked up to see Pyrrha standing there.

"I realized, I don't have anything nice to wear." It was a weak attempt at a joke, and perhaps a partial excuse, but it all fell to pieces as she said it.

"You could have worn a burlap sack, and I would still think you to be entirely beautiful." Pyrrha said, and she completely meant it too. That's what made seeing Weiss so upset, so unbearably difficult. Even like this, she was beautiful, impossible as it was. She took a few steps forward, tentatively sitting beside Weiss. Trying her best to figure out what Weiss might be comfortable with.

With nothing to go on, she settled with taking the woman's hands in her own.

Pyrrha wanted to do more, but it was hard to justify doing that when it was obvious that her affections for Weiss were not the platonic sort. With the two of them sitting upon a bed, even a simple thing such as embracing her could be misconstrued. In fact, in this moment of weakness, it would be. She couldn't take advantage of Weiss, didn't dare to even let such a thought enter into her head. It was obvious that the demons plaguing her were not the sort that Pyrrha could simply chase away.

Dearly, she wanted to. The hopelessly romantic part of her heart constricting painfully at the thought that there was nothing she could do. Her mind at war with it, coming up with all sorts of plans to ward away the evils that could possibly shatter this woman in front of her. All of it seemed futile though. Most plans too bold, others simply not good enough.

What was she to do?

Pyrrha forced a small smile, one hand lifting up to cup a cheek that was colored pink by a blush. The reasons for it negative, and therefore, terrible by nature. Gently, she smoothed away a tear, the wetness clinging to her thumb in a powerful way. It felt incredibly heavy, far too taxing, and Pyrrha felt lost in it. Worst still, the pools of blue eyes threatened to overflow with even more of them.

It was painful to see, so she closed her eyes and sighed.

"I would do everything in my power to help you. I would protect you from whatever it is that terrifies you so greatly. However, I can only do that if I know the foe I am to face." Pyrrha knew nothing. "Tell me what I should do. I will do it." She would probably never know the sorts of twisted shadows that had crept into her love's mind over the years. The murmurs, self-doubt, history itself making for a sludge that was easy to drown in. Such a cesspool was a damaging thing.

The idea that Weiss had waded through such a thing on her own, was not something that Pyrrha was willing to consider. A more pragmatic part of her soul reminded Pyrrha rather urgently that Weiss had her own team, her own family. It was best not to forget that.

When she opened her eyes, she fully expected to have gained the blue eyed woman's attention. Perhaps even soothed away some measure of the discomfort that lingered there when she had first walked in. However, Weiss merely looked smaller for all of Pyrrha's efforts. Confused and fragile, as though she didn't know what could be done to save her from the repetitious thoughts swirling in her mind.

Weiss, however, could only think of one thing. One gesture that didn't sound or seem ludicrous. Something that Yang would do any time one of the members of team RWBY crumpled in on themselves…an act that though none of them admitted, happened more often than not. "Hold me." It was a simple act, one that among her team was as common a request as a person could get.

There was no stipulation, no added meaning. Just comfort, and Weiss craved it so badly that it physically hurt.

The expected warmth of a hug didn't come, and when she looked up at Pyrrha, she found the woman hesitating.

"Are you sure that will help?" Pyrrha asked, unsure, because it was one of the things she wanted to do in the first place. One of thing things, that, given the setting, she refrained from doing. She didn't want to harm Weiss further. "Are you positive you wish for me to do that?"

Weiss sighed then, realizing the depth of her request. What it might mean for Pyrrha, who had a team consisting of a two males, and therefore an entirely different team dynamic. The idea of personal space -a boundary line that Yang and Ruby had thoroughly trampled on upon her first day at Beacon, and continually thereafter- was something Pyrrha personally held in high regard.

Pyrrha Nikos was prim, proper, and kept dignity clutched tightly in the palms of her hands when and where she could.

In spite of all of that, and the complicated emotions that such thoughts inspired, Weiss nodded. "Yes." She said softly as if she was unsure of the pure magnitude of it all. Yang made the action a simple thing, but when Pyrrha held her, Weiss realized it would never be simple. There was more to Pyrrha's desires than merely to comfort her. On some level, even if she voiced it or not, Pyrrha wanted to hold Weiss in her arms.

She wanted this…whatever this was…between them.

It did nothing to silence the doubts, but, at the very least, they seemed much less terrifying when cocooned in Pyrrha's embrace.

As huntresses it was a common hobby for the team to camp outside. The wilderness did them all some good. In some part, it was to maintain their most basic training. Another part was that it helped to remind them of the luxuries they often took for granted back in the cities. Hunting for food was different than hunting Grimm, and maintaining a secure camp was the cornerstone of any successful mission.

While it was true that there weren't any Grimm in this particular area of woods, they still did the usual routine perimeter checks every few hours just to be in the safe side. Ruby poked at the fire they had going, watching as Ace got herself covered in the sticky marshmallow that was just cool enough for her to eat as she sat in Yang's lap.

The young Faunus gobbled down the sticky treats one right after the other, Yang couldn't seem to roast them fast enough.

"We've really done it this time." She said, doing her best not to overcook the white glob on the stick. "I thought you were bad with the cookies, but this is a whole new level of sugar. Blake's going to kill us."

"You should know all about that." Ruby said, setting her own marshmallow completely on fire before blowing it out and eating it. "Saving grace, she can't roast her own marshmallows with body heat."

"I only did that once."

"The ceiling has scorch marks to prove it, too." Ruby shot back with a smirk. "Just think, what if she had a semblance like yours?"

"Not likely, but I do think about it. I wonder what her semblance is, what it's like." Yang trailed off with a frown. "I know mine is actually pretty dangerous, all things considered, but I wonder what my mom's was like."

"Maybe ask dad, or Qrow..."

"I'd rather not bring that up. It'll just put them in a bad mood, and I don't think I'll actually get any answers...never did before, anyway." Yang explained.

"But, it is bothering you, right?"

"It's just, sometimes I wonder if Ace got a shitty luck of the draw. Ozpin said I was the weird one, but I kind of don't want to believe him…it just separates me more from the whole family thing. I don't like thinking that might be one of the reasons Raven abandoned me too."

"Does anyone really have a bad semblance though?" Ruby asked.

"I just don't know, Ruby." Yang sighed, catching a sticky little hand before it could get itself tangled in her long hair. Instead, she offered Ace yet another marshmallow that was just the lightest bit toasted. "I'd like to think not, but who can really tell?"

"And I'd like to think we have better judgement than that, Yang." Ruby bristled, before poking the fire again. "I mean, yeah, some are probably way more useful than others, but, I don't like classifying them as something good or bad. is just another way to separate people into groups." Ruby set fire to another marshmallow, this time plunking it between two cholate chip cookies before eating it. "I don't like thinking a dangerous semblance can be treated the same as a dangerous person."

"Even if they can't control their semblance?"

"Yang..."

"No, really, Ruby. What if the good person is dangerous just because their semblance is?" Yang posed thoughtfully. "We don't get to choose the lot in life we're born with. It's not fair. With all of the Grimm that Ace keeps attracting, I keep worrying that maybe her semblance is a bad thing. That Ozpin's right when he tells us not to unlock her aura."

"Sis, you're thinking too hard." Even as she said it, she was inclined to agree, even if she didn't like it. "Okay, so she gathers a few Grimm here and there, I thought that's why we agreed to bring her with us when we went camping. To get her used to being in places where Grimm tend to be, if anything it'll probably be a good thing in the future if she wants to be a huntress. Think about it, instant Grimm homing device, especially if Grimm seem to like her. They're a whole lot easier to kill if they aren't trying to eat you."

"I don't think I want her being a huntress. In fact, anything but a huntress is okay in my book." Yang pointed out. "I'm going along with this to prove myself wrong, and that's the extent of it…"

"Camping's fun too, don't forget." Ruby laughed. "People don't know what they're missing."

A black shadow came soundlessly from behind the bushes. "I agree, camping is fun." Blake said smirking as Yang almost jumped up from her surprise.

"Damn it, Blake!" Yang groused. "Don't do that. You freak me out when you don't make any noise."

"And you freak me out when you walk around the forest as a fireball." Blake returned casually. "You know I try not to make any sounds when I'm on patrol." Setting down her weapon in a locked position, Blake sat down beside Ruby to see the cookie carnage that had gone on while she was away. They'd brought four bags of marshmallows, but two had already been demolished, and so had the potato chips. She didn't mind, she had brought back a snack of her own. A fresh fish from the nearby river that she had already cleaned, gutted, and skewered before returning.

Reclining back on the nearby bolder, she set to cooking her prize over the open flame. Ace was immediately enamored with Blake's prize, marshmallows forgotten as she scampered her way over towards the fish only to be intercepted when she got too close to the roaring fire.

[Down.] She mewed unhappily.

Blake ignored that request, setting Ace on her lap instead. [Not yours.} her body language demanded.

"I'm all for fresh fish, but that's a little too fresh." Ruby murmured, seeing the fish look up into nothingness, part of the stick poking out of its mouth.

"And that's what you get for going on solo missions all the time." Yang said with a laugh. "If you camp out with Blakey as much as I do, you have to get used to seeing her go hunting."

"Weiss would have a heart attack." Ruby said with a shake of her head. She had to catch fish before too while out in the field, but she hated doing it. She had a preference for foraging, and meals ready to eat.

"Which is why I don't cook my fish like this in front of her." Blake said with a smirk, far too pleased with her meal to worry about anything else. "As a person, I do my best to downplay my heritage as much as possible so I don't scare humans. Weiss is very tolerant of my quirks, and I'm happy for that. In return, I try not to torture her with my heritage too much, if it can be avoided. If I thought this would bother you, I would have refrained from cooking it in front of you."

"Yeah, no... No eating it raw." Yang grumbled. "That's the shit that grosses me out."

"You do that?" Ruby asked.

"Sometimes..." Blake shrugged. "Does that bother you?"

"It's not that it bothers me if you do it. All the same, I don't tend to hunt if I can avoid it. I'd rather eat food that can't stare back at me." Ruby said with a somewhat self-deprecating smirk. "If you want to eat it, that's up to you. I do sort of feel bad for the little guy though."

Blake sighed at this, partially relieved, and partially guilty for what she knew she would have to say next. "I have to admit that I take some level of joy in feline habits. For example, hunting for my own food. I don't get that same sense of accomplishment from pulling a meal out of a freezer and cooking it. I just don't feel as if I've done anything to really deserve it."

The sisters said nothing to this, not that Blake expected them to. Yang always tiptoed around such issues carefully, and Ruby always took the time to slowly consider them before asking any sort of questions. It helped that they were all huntresses in every aspect of the word. As keen trackers, and they all hunted down their own food and Grimm alike while on missions. Even Weiss had caught her own meals when the threat of starvation loomed over her. She just didn't discuss it. Preserved food only went so far, and they had to be in top form to defend against Grimm. The laws of nature defined them so heavily, it shouldn't have been a surprise that they had nothing to add.

Blake would be lying to herself if she didn't admit that she felt the need to clarify, though.

"It's not a big deal, or anything. All Faunus have mannerisms that just come naturally to us, and, in some ways I like it better out here than I do in the city." At that, Blake looked over to Ace. "I'm not saying I want to live in the wilds, or anything, but coming out here every so often feels good to me. It's relaxing in a different way, and I personally feel like it's important that Ace has a connection to that…"

"We get it, Blake, it's fine." Yang said with a smirk.

"Do you though?"

"On some level, actually, I think this is one thing that I do." Ruby said, looking up to the stars. "I feel the same way after a Grimm hunt." Ruby said softly. "The more I take down, the fewer there are to cause damage someplace else. It's like I can sleep easier at night knowing I did the best I could to protect people. That comforts me more than sitting around in the house all day...every time I'm out here, it reminds me why I wanted to be a huntress, and I think no matter what, it's important to remember that..."