Throughout the world, there are thousands, millions of people, each with their own wants, needs and desires. This is true for families also, and through the millennia the children of dust have fought for their own ideology; be it rights, freedom or truth.

However… this same fact is the same for the much darker aspects of Dust. People, in their darkest moments may want nothing more than a disillusioned sense of power and wealth, or the destruction of those they despise.

Whatever the case, the children of dust are once again at odds with their kin, for they view each other as entirely different species: Human… and Faunus.

For some humans, the idea of this conflict has brought nothing but strife over the years, and yet still it rages. However that is not the focus of many people's life.

People seem to miss the irony of what dust has done in this modern age: it is what they came from; it is what they use for virtually everything from technology that allows them to flourish to the weapons that destroy them.

In the most poetic way, Dust is both the life and death of the people no matter what part of the world.

And throughout the whole world, there is one family that has gained both its reputation and standing from Dust.

The Schnee Dust Company.

An organisation founded not long before the modern age, mining the substance from the earth to be used for the betterment of everyone. According to them at least.

But whether to not this was true was not a concern of the head of the Schnee family: Jacques Schnee, a powerful and steadfast businessman, who was instead focused on preparing the next heir-

"Focus Weiss!"

A young girl groaned internally as she was shoved back by the back of a blade.

Two females stood opposite each other in a massive and otherwise empty room, the marble structure giving the impression of iciness.

The older of the two –Winter - had white hair that was tied up into a bun, draping down the right side of her face and light-blue eyes that gave off a clear sense of calm collectedness. Her attire was that of an atlas specialist, that gave her the aura of superiority… or that might have been her actual aura.

The younger of the two would be the next heiress of the family, Weiss Schnee. Her own snow-like hair was tied in a long ponytail that fell down to her back and the same blue shade of eyes as her sister. Her own outfit was that of a simple white combat skirt and tall heels.

Winter rushed forward, a sabre in hand as she struck out at Weiss. But the heiress was by no means defenceless, raising her rapier to meet the onslaught.

Sparks flew as steel met clashed. Winter took a step forward, locking the blades and staring down at her struggling sister.

Weiss glared up and gritting her teeth as her arms shook from the effort to hold her sister at bay. In that moment the chamber of her sword shifted to red as fire burst from the point.

Winter jumped back, shielding her eyes from the light and weathering the heat.

Weiss let a smile grace her face as she lunged at the opening, releasing a flurry of precise attacks that cut through the air. She let out a victorious cry as she came close to striking her enemy.

Only to pass through empty space.

She let out an unintelligent grunt as her world was flipped and the breath rushed from her lungs.

In the instant her attack had missed Winter had slipped into her guard; moving behind her, caught her body between her right arm and leg and swept Weiss' feet from under her. She crashed to the ground with a painful thump.

There was a moment of silence before Weiss rolled onto her front and raised herself to all fours. A hand came in to view, her sisters, in an offer to help her up. She took it thankfully and brushed herself of some invisible layer of dust.

"That was an admirable attempt Weiss but your guard needs work, as well as your power."

She rolled her eyes. "It would have been different if you'd let me use my glyphs."

Winter raised an eyebrow. "That would take too long without someone to defend you."

"It would only have taken a few seconds."

Winter hummed thoughtfully. "Yes, a few seconds… the difference between life and death in a real battle.

Weiss' shoulders slumped in defeat and nothing more was said on the subject. Both sisters sheathed their weapons and made their way out to the garden of the Schnee estate; a place they could talk without servants listening in.

When they were a sufficient distance from the home, Winter spun on her heels to face her sister, a stern look on her face that made Weiss take an unconscious step back.

"W-what's wrong Winter, is… is there something on my face?" she tried but Winter just shook her head.

"I was going to ask you the same thing Weiss. What is wrong? You have been distracted for the last few days and that will not do. I was able to take leave of my work to see you off to Beacon tomorrow but for most of my time here I have seen you not paying attention. So I ask you, what is wrong?"

Weiss fidgeted as she seemed to find something interesting on her shoes.

"W-well… it's just that… I'm leaving tomorrow, a-and I'll have to meet new people. People who most likely already know who I am… or at least who my family is and… I'm a little nervous."

Winter's face softened and she rested a hand on Weiss's shoulder comfortingly.

"Listen to me, you will be fine. You're more intelligent than I was at your age and you always try your hardest instead of letting money speak for you. You don't need to worry about making friends, just get to know your team and you'll be fine. Ok snowball?"

She hid the embarrassed flush of her cheeks behind an awkward laugh at her nickname but after a moment sighed, looking off in the distance with an angry look in her eye as she played with the hair hanging over her face.

"I bet father has different views on my departure."

Winter blinked, clearly surprised by the sudden mood change. But it was true, their father hadn't been too pleased when she herself had left to join Atlas but had at least kept it to himself when he heard that General Ironwood himself had requested her to work with him.

Weiss had been a different matter entirely. The title of heiress had moved to her when Winter had left and their father had been none too pleased with all the extra grooming he had to go through to prepare her for the task, he'd been hard on her, more than he should have and it had led to Weiss' rebellious nature being more prominent. Then when she had announced she was going to become a huntress.

"I must say, I'm surprised you were able to convince him, I was sure he would be furious."

Weiss flinched slightly; it was a little thing but Winter noticed all the same. She gave her little sister a sharp look.

"What? What are you hiding Weiss?"

The younger Schnee began shuffling, trying to keep her face hidden and she messed with her hair. Only for Winter to grab her wrist and stare at her face closer.

"Is… that make-up?" she asked, a hint of ice in her voice.

This only made Weiss panic even more. She tried to step back but to no avail, forcing her to look the trained fighter right in the eye.

"R-really Winter, it's nothing! I promise." She didn't even sound convincing to herself as her voice cracked.

Slowly, Carefully, Winter rubbed her thumb against the left side of Weiss' face; from above her eye to the bottom. The dread in the Specialists stomach only grew as with each slow movement, the reason for her sister's awkwardness was revealed.

And that dread turned to fury.

"I'll kill him!" she snarled, teeth bore on instinct, she swore. "I'll kill the man!" turning on her heel to stalk towards the mansion, she was stopped by the desperate hand of the young Schnee.

"Wait, please just…"

Her pleas almost instantly cooled the hot fury within Winter. She let out a breath in an effort to control her temper before turning back to Weiss and inspecting the scar that ran down her eye care.

"Does it hurt at all Weiss?" she asked with concern in her voice.

The heiress shook her head. "Not really. It just itches sometimes, that all. It's fine, really."

Another sigh escaped her sister's lips. "You were keeping this hidden specifically from me." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Winter may have seemed cold and distant at a first glance but if there was one thing she cared about it was her sister, even above her professional life as Ironwoods second.

That meant that no matter who it was that hurt her sister; they would pay one way or another. But she wouldn't do it so long as Weiss was like this. The normally defiant girl looked so small at the mere mention of confronting their father.

Winter held the bridge of her nose as she felt a headache form and sighed. It seemed she had been doing that a lot when she came home.

"What happened?" she whispered.

"I…" Weiss hesitated; the memories flooding back with terrifying clarity: Father forcing her to prove herself by fighting an Arma Gigas… it's cold, dead eyes still stared into her soul. She remembered the paralyzing fear at its presence. How she'd fought, and been injured. Weiss remembered winning by the barest of margins and her father reluctantly conceding. Even though he still regarded it as a fool's errand.

She didn't tell her sister this however. The younger girl's eyes glued to the floor. Winter thumbed the bridge of her nose and let out a long sigh.

"Just… go check on your luggage for tomorrow; I'll… have a talk with mother."

Weiss nodded weakly before turning her back on the older woman and slinking back to the estate. She kept her eyes to the ground and completely ignored the servants that called out to her; robotically she made it to her room and shut the door behind her, not bothering to lock it as she sat on her bed and look off in the distance.

From a simple scan of the room it was evident that Weiss was not the most organized person.

At least not at the moment.

There lay clothes scattered around the floor, along with an assortment of dust vials that she hadn't stored away yet.

Well, now was a good a time as any to fix that problem; Weiss walked over to the pile and kneeled down, thanking the fact that she had a lovely rug underfoot to keep her warm. The marble floor tended to be cold sometimes.

The girl let out a low whistle as she moved her hands over the dust vials, talking to herself all the while.

"Let's see here, fire dust with a red engraving check! Ice dust with a white engraving check!"

The mundaneness of the task left a lot to be desired. Unfortunately Weiss didn't have any hobbies, what, with being part of a family with only business on its mind. And for that matter, she didn't really have any friends… did Klein count?

"And what do we have here? Lighting dust with a yellow sticker on it!"

Truly, a sad state of affairs when it came to people.

But despite this Weiss worked away, the lack of thought required for the task was actually rather soothing. It was relaxing in that it was something she could do in her sleep; being the heiress to the dust company and all, yet it was important enough that arranging vials of but didn't irritate her.

It took about twenty minutes to get every piece of dust packed away, the ones she was taking with her and the ones she was leaving behind. Almost right afterwards there was a knock on her door, a slow, three knuckled rap.

"Miss Schnee?" it was Klein. "I'm here to inform you that your brother wishes to speak with you promptly."

She frowned as she made her way to the door and unlocked it, opening up to face the butler. "Couldn't he have just told me that himself?"

Klein smiled. "It would seem that Master Whitley wanted to arrange it as a private conversation, he is waiting for us in the library."

She sighed, but decided to follow anyway, as to not cause too much of a fuss. It would be too much effort anyway.

Weiss had to admit grudgingly that there weren't many places in her home that were… well, homely. The Library wasn't one of them either. The knowledge on the walls lined up, yet seemed to give off an aura as if to discourage people from reading their pages. Shame, there were all manner of stories in them.

Then there was the fact that even for a library, the silence was practically deafening, only made worse when some did speak and their voice echoed for all to hear.

She found her brother, standing in the middle of the room will inspection an old globe.

Her mouth became a thin line.

"Whitley." She nodded, and he smiled at her… strange.

"Ah! Dear sister, it is good that you decided to see me." He said with unusual enthusiasm.

It didn't put her at ease. She crossed her arms and regarded him carefully. "What do you want?" she asked plainly.

If her brother was fazed by her lack of tact he didn't show it, instead smiling at her even more and opening his arms in a friendly gesture.

"Well, I heard that you had a little… dispute with Father earlier and I came to offer you my opinion." He told her without a hint of venom.

She rolled her eyes and huffed. "Let me guess; are you going to tell me it's a ridiculous idea and just give up?" Honestly, she didn't want to hear this.

Instead he smiled. "Not at all, in fact I wanted to encourage you to become a Huntress."

She blinked, probably would have stumbled too if she didn't have proper decorum drilled into her from a young age. Whitley on – ignorant to her shock – to explain.

"I believe that you should do what you set out to do: become a Huntress, fight for the people, slay Grimm… maybe even travel a little. If only to uphold the word of a Schnee, it would be seen as weakness if you suddenly backed out of this."

Weiss still wasn't convinced. "What's your angle Whitley? You would never disobey Father."

That smile was still on his face… it was starting to irk her.

"Father doesn't see the advantage of allowing you to do this by yourself. It could be a wonderful opportunity to… grow. You would come back after learning so much about the world and that could help this company in many ways. Simply put there is no reason for me to be against your desire to be a Huntress."

That… was a better answer than she had hoped for. Especially from her brother… but there was still one problem; her father's determination to prevent her from going to Beacon. Weiss told Whitley this.

He shrugged. "Why don't you leave father to me? I'm sure I can persuade him to be lenient with you this once. I suppose you will owe me for it won't you?"

She nodded, finding no flaw in his logic.

"I suppose," she conceded. "Thank you Whitley, this means a lot to me."

He paused for just a second, his expression becoming something else for only an instant before he smiled again.

"Of course Weiss, I am just glad to be helping my big sister. Now you best go back to your room and prepare everything. I'm sure it will be very… exciting."

Weiss' shoulders relaxed as she nodded one last time before turning and walking out of the Library, the brief conversation finished. She was going to Beacon to be a Huntress and bring honour to her family.

She really was.

...

Well that's the second chapter fixed up. If you're looking for references on what I used I looked into the RWBY Manga, which does a better job at explaining just what was going on in the White Trailer. Spelling mistakes are fixed as far as I can tell but feel free to call me out on it if you see any.

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Bye!

S.