"You two cats are looking pretty intimate in that box." The teasing voice started to raise Weiss from her slumber. She thought it came from Nora but wasn't completely sure. Slowly she opened her eyes and was confused at first to see pools of the yellow looking back at her. When she was a little more awake she realized that she was indeed very intimate looking with her teammate Blake, Weiss's left hand was in her right, her other hand was stroking her cat ear and Blake's was on her tail.
"Why are we in a box?" Weiss muttered.
"Ruby thought would be funny." Blake answered "do you remember? Or did you have too much sake last night?"
"I remember, I'm just not sure I want to believe," Weiss responded she looked to re-verify that her new extra feature was still there. "I have a tail, good that's the same."
"And your father got thrown in the slammer for trying to attack you," Nora spoke up from the couch. Then they started to hear kissing noises. "Good morning honey bunny."
"Morning already." there was a pause before "Crikey. Must've had more drinks than I thought. My head is killing me."
"Jaune you with us?" Weiss asked the lump in the center of the room.
"Weiss get out of my sexy dream," Jaune responded still half asleep.
"My how times have changed," Weiss said with a playful smile "Who is welcome in your sexy dream?"
"Pyrrha." He answered before falling back asleep.
Weiss's response was interrupted by Ruby saying "Looks like Yang and Coco are missing in action." The heiress got up and looked around, sure enough, the two of them were nowhere to be found. Ren and Jaune were still sleeping or trying to, as the girls were all starting to awaken.
"What happened to Yang?" Blake said as he rose from the box. Still holding hands with Weiss. "More importantly are baby bunnies in our future?" She teased the couple on the couch.
"As much as I love Nora I don't think anybody's ready for her offspring" Velvet responded.
"Nora pregnant!" Ren woke up with a jump.
"Relax Ren I might have failed health class but I'm pretty sure girls don't work that way." Ruby giggled.
Without warning, Klein burst in the room panting "Miss Schnee, sorry to bother you, especially when you might be hungover, but you need to get downstairs and see the news immediately."
"Calm down Klein." Weiss responded, "what's the matter?"
"You're going to need to see this for yourself, actually this might concern Miss Belladonna as well, she is the Princess of Menagerie."
"Effectively but that is not my title," Blake responded.
"No time to argue just get downstairs." Klein urged the two.
"Okay, Blake let's go check this out," Weiss said as she made her way Blake soon followed her.
"Right, we will make breakfast," Nora said as she and Velvet went out the door.
"I guess that puts me and Ren on finding Yang duty," Ruby added picking up her sister's discarded prosthetic.
Downstairs Weiss had a hard time believing what she was hearing on the news "after Weiss Schnee revealed at a party held at the Schnee family manor that she and her father Jaques Schnee were both Faunus, many of the workers of the Schnee Dust Company have gone on strike. Due to several nuances with the law, only a successor that is a known faunus may take his place right now. Weiss Schnee will be forced to take over during these troubling times for her family and company we wish her the best of luck. Jacques' other children will have to go under strict examinations to see if they too have amputated animal characteristics like Weiss did before she found a way to regrow her tail. We just received reports that several Faunus protesters are making their way to Schnee manner as we speak."
"Crikey!" Weiss muttered and she could swear she heard an aggravated groan in the distance.
"Couldn't have said it any better myself," Blake responded.
"Klein, let them know I intend to see them but, not before breakfast," Weiss ordered.
"Of course Miss Schnee," He said before leaving the room to get out front.
"Probably going to see Ilia." Weiss sighed.
After a plate of Nora's special cinnamon bun pancakes, a lot of tea and some ham, she was hungry, Weiss and Blake marched down to the front courtyard and saw Ilia and a few others angrily shouting from behind the gate.
"Wow, it's true." Ilia remarked as they walked out "She really does have a tail now."
"What is she?" A younger boy with dog ears asked.
"I think a snow leopard." Ilia answered "seems pretty fitting to me."
"Kept us waiting long enough." A girl with antlers said. There were at least five more in the crowd but they didn't seem to have anything in particular to say.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." Weiss addressed the group "I can understand that you're all upset."
Ilia responded to her "we all lost family in the mines. Thanks to your father. I'm disgusted to find out he's one of us."
"I think it's safe to say he's not really one of us." Weiss responded, "I don't think we are that different in this regard, we're all scared and confused faunus that in some way were hurt by my father and the company he was running." She pointed to her scar.
"So your father cut it off?" Ilia asked rhetorically "that's not right."
"How did you regrow it?" Somebody else asked.
"A very good friend regrew it for me with his semblance," Weiss answered. "And I'm not sure where to begin but I will do my best to help make up for the damages caused. I'll get better wages and safer conditions for everyone under my employ."
"We want something else." The girl with antlers spoke up. "We want to hear him say it."
"Say that he his a faunus?" Weiss answered, "that might be difficult."
"You talk a good PR, but we want more than just talk," Ilia spoke up again.
"Ilia you trust me don't you?" Blake said "and I trust Weiss to try to make things right. But she's not magic."
"Well I guess you're right," Illia said. "Good luck.
"I have a feeling I'm about to need all the help I can get thank you." Weiss smiled and said. "Thank you for coming out here. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to start trying to give you all that you want." The crowd dispersed.
Yang and Coco turned out to be in the hall closet. How they got there is anybody's guess, but they weren't exactly completely decent when they tumbled out. Fortunately there discarded tops were in there with them.
"You two went off to make out?" Wess asked. "and then passed out?"
"I don't think so, we're not compatible girlfriends were too stubborn individually," Coco answered.
"I'm pretty sure we were just comparing," Yang responded with a chuckle.
The two girls laughed and started to fumble into their shirts.
Weiss took a break from her friends to go over business reports and personal files that were now technically in her name. What she found sent shivers down her spine and through her tail. "This can't be..."
Blake just happened to come in with a fresh cup of tea. "What's wrong?"
"He was just days away from buying the entire continent of Menagerie," Weiss responded with dread.
"That can't be right..." Blake head over to see "He would need an insane amount of money. And he has five times what he needs."
"And that's just one of his accounts. I don't think we want to know why he has this much extra." Weiss felt like her stomach was freezing. She took her tea and downed it.
"We should tell the others," Blake said. "This is big."
"and bad," Weiss said as she rose up. "I need air."
In the back courtyard, Weiss was gathered around her team, JNR, and Velvet, Coco however left. She reported her findings to the rest of them Nora was looking a Velvet as if the answers to the universe were somehow in her eyes. Yang was attempting to punch down a statue of Jacques. Ren was drinking another cup of tea. Jaune and Ruby just sat down in disbelief.
"Your father was trying to buy Menagerie," Ruby said again trying to force herself to not believe it. "Why?"
"To kick us out of it I'd wager," Velvet responded.
"Let's not go jumping to conclusions, though it is the most likely scenario," Weiss answered.
"Why does it need so much extra?" Nora spoke up.
"Probably to keep it as quiet as possible, maybe even get it done in one night," Ren answered.
"And probably to start whatever the cover story is," Yang added.
"LOOK OUT!" Ruby yelled bringing the conversion to a halt. She pointed at the sky at a strange object falling toward them at an alarming speed. The teens all scrambled in different directions and took cover. The thing landed with a loud impact.
"Are we dead?" Blake asked.
"I don't think so, Pyrrha's not here" Jaune answered.
"Somebody fired a missile at us!" Ruby yelled. "Who would do that?"
"Well it didn't explode but it might still go off," Weiss answered.
The ground was smoldering but they could hear something coming from it. Like something moving.
"It's an alien!" Nora shouted.
"Sal-u-tations!" a voice came from the crater.