Happy Friday, everyone! Today's chapter shows our favorite humans and werewolves in the aftermath of Cinder's attack. Enjoy!

Yang's body felt heavy as she pushed open the door of her favorite tavern and stepped in, flask open and ready to be filled. Weiss and Jaune had given everyone the news that Ruby, Blake, and Pyrrha would have to leave the area permanently. The sheer feeling of sadness that had followed was so intense, Yang had practically been driven toward the smell of whiskey.

She wouldn't get drunk. She knew that Ruby wouldn't like that. Still, she definitely needed a few swigs to calm her nerves.

Her uncle was already there, staring into a deep mug and blinking blearily at her when she approached. "Hey, kiddo," he slurred. "Haven't seen you here for a while. Thought you were doing better."

"I guess not," Yang replied, feeling a stab of guilt as she looked at Qrow. During the past few weeks, between the elation of seeing Ruby again and the rescue of Blake, she had hardly been home. It was easy to forget that Qrow and Taiyang were still mourning Ruby's supposed death. "How're you holding up?"

"Eh." Qrow shrugged. "Having a buzz helps. Still, I keep seeing her face everywhere, ya know?" He hiccupped loudly. "When the moon comes out, when someone's baking cookies, when I see the Huntsmen trainees running around." He shook his head. "To hell with God and the Maidens. They always take the best of us." He slammed his fist on the bar.

A few people were glaring at Qrow. Yang shot them looks that caused them to quickly return to their own business.

"Come on, Qrow," Yang murmured, placing a hand on her uncle's shoulder. "Ruby wouldn't want you doing this to yourself. Why don't you come home with me? Sit with Dad for a bit."

"Hmph. The way we've been feeling, we'd probably end up throttling each other," Qrow said with a snort. "So, you getting a drink, or what?"

Yang looked at the deep circles under her uncle's eyes and closed her flask. "Actually, I'm good."

Qrow smiled weakly. "Heh. You're a stronger person than me. Always was." He took another long drink from his mug. "Why don't you go home and see your dad, huh? I'll be fine."

"Okay. Try to go easy on those. Don't get sick." Yang patted her uncle's shoulder and left the tavern, waving to Junior as she closed the door.

When she got back to her house, she found her dad preparing breakfast alone at the stove. "Hey, Dad," she called. "Got room for one more?"

Taiyang looked over his shoulder, and a smile immediately came to his tired face. "Of course, sweetie. Pull up a chair."

Yang sat down, watching as her dad cracked a few eggs over the pan. Another one held frying slices of bread in butter. Her mouth watered at the aroma. "How're you holding up?" she asked, wincing even as the words came out. Weiss always said tact was never my strong point. Of course he's not holding up well, dummy!

Taiyang let out a long, heavy sigh. "As well as one can expect, I suppose." He looked over his shoulder, and the light from the window highlighted the bags under his eyes. "It's not natural for a parent to outlive his children. Something like that… It's impossible to get over." He took the pans from the stove and started preparing plates. "What about you? I noticed that your tavern visits have been declining."

"Yeah," Yang muttered, glancing guiltily at the table. "I…I figured Ruby wouldn't want me to drink myself to death. Blake would probably hit me."

"Probably," Taiyang chuckled softly. He placed the plates on the table and sat down. "I'm glad that you've been coping," he continued. "But, if you ever need to talk to me, you know I'm right here."

"I know, Dad." What she wanted to say was: "Ruby's in the woods! She's alive, but will be leaving forever soon. Come say goodbye!" But, she held her tongue and started on her breakfast, feeling more comforted by the warm eggs and toast than she ever did by a shot of whiskey.

…..

Weiss was not prepared to see her father waiting for her when she stepped into the house. When she saw him, however, she knew that she was in for a long, tedious conversation that she certainly wasn't in the mood for.

"You were out late," Jacques Schnee commented without preamble.

"I was on a hunt with Jaune, Father," Weiss replied primly. "We chased away some werewolves." She tried saying something she knew would please him. Her father had always hated werewolves, ever since her mother's death during a hunt.

Jacques's expression did lighten slightly. "Pity you didn't kill any. Still, you did the town a service." He gestured toward his study. "Follow me."

Weiss bowed her head slightly, her brows furrowing as she followed. Her father had only called her to his study twice: once when he tried to talk her out of becoming a Huntress, once when Winter joined the Church and Weiss became the new heiress to the Schnee name.

Jacques's study was a tidy room. Every book was straight on its shelf. All scrolls and writing instruments were perfectly clean and arranged. The floor was lined with werewolf pelts of various colors.

With what she knew now, Weiss felt a sick sensation in her stomach as her feet sank into the thick fur. She couldn't help but imagine Ruby's brown and red pelt under her feet. She barely suppressed a shudder.

Her father sat down at his desk and gestured toward another chair, which Weiss sat down in. "I wanted to talk to you about this sooner, but, in the light of the recent raid, I elected to give you a few days to mourn."

"Thank you," Weiss replied, as she knew she was supposed to. What could he possibly want to tell me?

"I understand the loss one can feel under these circumstances, believe me," Schnee sighed. "When your mother died, it was all I could do to keep functioning each day. But, I had duties, both as an Elder and as a father. I know that you understand the value of duty, which is why you have continued with your hunts without fail. For that, I am proud."

"Thank you," Weiss said, though her voice carried a hint of surprise. True praise from her father was rare. She couldn't help but be suspicious, as if he was getting ready to tell her something she really wouldn't like.

She was right, of course.

"Weiss, you know that you are the sole heir to the Schnee name, now that your sister has taken an oath of chastity." Jacques folded his hands. "For the past while, I have been searching for a suitable husband for you."

Weiss felt as if a bolt of lightning had just hit her. Of course, she had expected her father to arrange something like this, but not so soon! Before the raid, she had planned on admitting her feelings for Ruby, facing the repercussions of her father, and ultimately moving out if those feelings were reciprocated. Taiyang would have accepted her into his home without question, and she would have been able to save up in the meantime to buy a house for her and Ruby to live in.

Now, with Ruby leaving, what options did she have besides simply leaving and risking being on her own?

"There is a man in Atlas, north of the mountains," Schnee continued. "He comes from a good family, and would take good care of you."

"Atlas?!" Weiss gasped. She knew that, due to tradition, a wife was supposed to move in with her husband and his family. If her father was serious, she would have to leave Vale for good.

"I understand your hesitation," Jacques said. "But, Atlas is a good place with many more people, and a wonderful church. You will make new friends there easily, I'm sure."

"Father, I…I'm not ready! I can't just-"

"We are traveling to Atlas at the beginning of the next month," her father cut in, his voice like steel. "You will meet him and we will make the necessary arrangements. If we're lucky, you can be wedded by summer." He looked sternly at her. "Remember what I said about duty, Weiss. Carrying on the Schnee name is first and foremost."

"But-!"

"That is all." Jacques turned away and unrolled a scroll on his desk, effectively ending the conversation.

Weiss composed herself, just barely resisting the urge to angrily protest. It would do no good. Instead, she just stood up and left the study.

Be calm, she told herself. You are of age. He cannot actually force you to marry. You can say no. You will be disowned, but you can say no.

Her hand went to her cheek, where Ruby had kissed her mere hours before. For a moment, she entertained the fantasy of running away with her, of roughing it in the wild with a pack of werewolves, riding on Pyrrha's back into battle.

She chuckled, despite her current mood. I'm starting to think like Jaune. Lately, her friend had been talking more and more about the idea of an alliance between the humans, Faunus, and werewolves. It was completely ludicrous, of course.

That didn't mean it wasn't a nice idea.

No, she thought reluctantly. Even if I refuse my duty to the Schnee name, I cannot abandon Vale. It needs Huntsmen to protect it. I need to let Ruby go.

No matter how many times she repeated that fact in her head, she didn't feel any better about it.

…

"Hey, Pyrrha?" Ruby asked as she chewed on some dandelion heads she had found. They were really bitter, but they would fill her stomach until they could hunt something.

"Yes, Ruby?"

"Why exactly to werewolves have the powers we have?" She was thinking back to their fight with Cinder. Multiple times, she had nearly been overpowered by the alpha stares directed at her. The betas had been responsible for tracking them down, surely. And, after the humans had left, Perry had soothed everyone's emotions with his powers. While the powers were certainly useful, Ruby couldn't help but wonder why they were present. Weren't wolves supposed to be wholly bestial? Also, Grimm didn't have powers like this, not even Beowolves.

Pyrrha sat up, folding her hands. "No one is quite sure. Werewolves have a story about how we were made originally. When our friends come back, I'll tell it. It might be nice for them to hear it. As for the powers, it is believed that they were given to aid the dynamic of the pack. Alphas are the leaders. Their stare can stop fights before they start, sparing the species of unneeded bloodshed. Betas are the hunters and patrollers. They make sure that the pack is protected and fed. Omegas are the heart. By soothing emotions, they are able to gently control our wild side and keep the alphas in check if they use the stare out of anger."

"Is that how it always works?" Ruby asked, frowning. "From what Blake told us, Adam used the stare all the time and all the wolves submitted to it."

Pyrrha sighed, closing her eyes. "That's not how it's supposed to be. I can promise this: Adam will suffer for what he's doing. A werewolf cannot use its powers constantly, or for too long. If they do, they begin rapidly losing their strength and sanity. Between that, and the fact that there are no other alphas, Adam's pack is basically doomed."

"Can't a beta or omega lead?" Ruby asked.

"It's very rare," Pyrrha said. "There have been beta leaders, but usually only in small packs consisting only of betas and omegas. Omegas hardly ever lead. Few werewolves would follow one." Pyrrha looked intently at Ruby. "You need to understand something: You haven't experienced a werewolf pack in the way one normally would. Since you were trained by me, you started off as more of a loner. When you reach the inner circles of a pack, however, there are regular power struggles, alliances between different groups, and ongoing speculation on who will become what."

Ruby nodded slowly. "Is that why Cinder was so threatened by you, even though you never wanted to lead?"

"Yes," Pyrrha murmured. "Though, I had hoped that she would be above such things. She never got along with my parents, which makes it a bit worse."

"Why didn't they get along?"

Pyrrha smiled. "Believe it or not, I had a soft spot for humans before meeting Jaune. You see, my parents were adamantly against raids on towns."

"How come?" Ruby wondered. "I mean, unless they were raised differently or were whelps at one point…"

"Actually," Pyrrha said, thinking back to a long-ago conversation with her mother. "It's because a human Huntsman let my mother go once."

Ruby gaped. "A Vale Huntsman let a werewolf go?"

"Yes." Pyrrha nodded. "It's possible that this was the woman's first hunt, and she froze up. Still, she lowered her weapon and let my mother go. I wouldn't be here if she hadn't done that."

"Wow." Ruby shook her head slowly, a look of wonder on her face. "Did your mother ever see her again?"

"No," Pyrrha said. "But she said she'd know her if she saw her. Even though she was a young woman, he had pure white hair."

"White hair?!" Ruby let out a short laugh. "That can't be right. The only family that has white hair from birth is the Schnee family, and they're famous for hating werewolves. Her mother was killed during a hunt when she was little."

Pyrrha's brows creased. "That's awful. Does she have any other relatives?"

"Just her father and sister, but I don't think Winter's old enough to have been the one to let your mother go." Ruby thought back. "I guess her mother dying is one reason why we became friends. We both knew what it was like."

"Losing family is never easy," Pyrrha sighed. "I still think of my parents often, even though it's been a few years." She stared into the trees. "I know that Ren and Nora are orphans. What about everyone else?" She was mainly curious about her human, but wanted to know about the others as well.

"Well," Ruby began. "Blake's also an orphan. Her father was killed in a brawl with some humans in town, and her mother was bitten and killed." She looked at the ground, thinking for the thousandth time about what could have changed if Vale had known then what she and her friends knew now. "Yang and I have Dad and Uncle Qrow." She paused. "Well…Yang still has them, anyway."

Pyrrha placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. You don't have to talk about it."

"No, it's fine," Ruby insisted. "Dad and Uncle Qrow are both Huntsmen, though they mostly help train younger recruits nowadays. They're both pretty great. Weiss gets along well with her sister, but not so much with her father. As for Jaune, he's got the biggest family. Seven sisters."

"Seven?" Pyrrha's eyes widened. "His family is practically its own pack!"

"I know," Ruby laughed. "He always talks about how he never gets any privacy. His oldest sister is a Huntress. You'd like her, I think. She basically raised Jaune while their parents were on hunts."

"Yes." Pyrrha nodded with a sad smile. "I think I would like them."

Ruby noticed Pyrrha's expression. "Still thinking of your dream of us all being friends?"

"Yes. Do you think it's possible?"

"No," Flynt cut in before Ruby could answer. He walked over, sitting down near them. "It would be suicide for us. Only a handful of the humans are open to being friends with us, and we are the only werewolves who favor the idea. You saw how Cinder reacted when she saw you with Jaune." He shook his head. "No. We have to leave this place and hope that the humans we befriended can show our kin mercy and maybe save a few lives."

Ruby brought her knees up, hugging them to her chest. "That just doesn't feel like enough." She thought of Weiss, feeling a lance of guilt in her heart. Why did I kiss her like that? she wondered. I'm just making things harder. I'll never see her again once I leave, after all. Tears trickled down her cheeks.

Perry, noticing Ruby's quiet sobs, started to walk over, only to be waved away by Pyrrha. He tilted his head before nodding in understanding. Ruby didn't need her emotions manipulated at that moment. She just needed to feel them.

So, the small pack sat silently around Ruby, watching as her tears fell and she mentally prepared for the inevitable moment when she would have to say goodbye to her friends.

We're getting close to the next arc of this story. Are you clinging to the edges of your seats? I know you are. ^_^

My P/atreon is Solora Goldsun. Patrons can get early releases of chapters, fic requests, and even commission discounts! If you can, please consider pledging.

Peace out!