AWOO, MUTHAFUCKAS! Another Werewolf Friday is upon us. I have a little secret for you guys: I started typing a certain scene that will happen later on. A scene that people have been wanting for a good while now. A scene that will provide a definite, ahem, climax to the emotional and physical tension felt by a certain pair of characters. I will say nothing else about it except that it's gonna be spicy!

For the record, I never say spicy. Ever. Unless I'm referring to salsa or something that, you know, has actual spices in it. So, that should tell you something about the scene that is being typed. For a later chapter. Which you will all see. Eventually.

Anyway, enjoy! ^_^

Winter arrived at Taiyang's house promptly at sunset. Her face was as unreadable as it had been during the day as she sat down on the armchair to wait for the Arcs. Her expression softened when Zwei trotted over and rested his head on her lap. She scratched delicately behind his ear while staring at the door.

Taiyang sat at the table, unsure of what to say. When Winter didn't speak, he just decided to remain silent.

It was less than an hour later when Johann Arc knocked on the door. Taiyang let him in without a word. The whole family was there, the younger kids bundled up and looking nervously at each other.

"Where's Jaune?" Jenny asked.

"Ssh," Taiyang whispered. "He's in the woods. We just need to wait to be taken there."

"By who, exactly?" Johann asked, caution warring with his desire to see his son.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the back door. Taiyang hurried to open it, letting in Qrow and Blake.

Winter stood up and Joan let out a gasp when they saw Blake standing there.

Jenny's eyes widened. "Blake! Daddy said you went to Heaven."

Blake smiled gently. "Not yet, Jenny."

Johann stepped in front of his family, reaching for his sword. "How did you survive the attack?" he growled.

Taiyang put a hand on the hilt of his sword. "There won't be any fighting in this house," he warned.

Blake looked steadily at Johann. "I'm a werewolf."

In one motion, Johann, Mary, Sapphire, Autumn, and June drew their weapons. Joan herded her younger daughters toward the door, only for Winter to call out. "Wait!"

The Arcs froze as the priestess took a step toward Blake. Her hand shook as she reached up and touched the Faunus girl's cheek. She stared into her eyes, then stepped back again. "Do the Maidens still light your path?" she asked, her voice wavering a little.

"The Maidens light my path, and God keeps me in his sight always," Blake replied promptly.

Winter nodded her head slowly, looked toward the ceiling for a moment, saying a silent prayer, then let out a breath. "Weiss?"

"She's waiting for you."

Sapphire slowly lowered her sword. "The people in Burgundy really weren't crazy," she murmured, her eyes wide.

"Does this mean my son is a werewolf?" Johann asked, not lowering his blade.

"Not yet," Blake replied.

"Yet?!"

"Look, we'll explain on the way," Taiyang said impatiently. "We're losing time!" He turned to Qrow. "There's going to be an all-man hunt after the full moon."

Qrow groaned. "Well, son of a bitch! Uh, sorry," he added when Joan hurriedly covered Silvia's ears and gave him an angry look.

"We need to hurry," Blake urged. "The others are waiting."

Though there was some muttering, and Johann and Mary refused to sheath their weapons, the three families left Taiyang's house and followed Blake into the woods. They made a wider circle, so that the loud steps of the children wouldn't alert the Huntsmen on the path. By the time they got to the campsite, Silvia was on the verge of tears. She was quickly shocked out of them, however, when she saw the huge, red werewolf waiting for them.

Pyrrha stood tall beside Jaune, her ears perked forward, her eyes keen. It had been decided that the quickest route would be to just show the families a transformed, harmless wolf. When she saw Jaune's family, a shiver went through her. Please don't be afraid, she silently begged. Please accept me.

Jaune's face lit up. "Mom! Dad!" He rushed forward to hug them, though paused when Johann didn't lower his sword. "Dad, it's me," he said, a hint of nervousness entering his voice.

"Is it really?" Johann muttered. He took a step forward, eying Jaune carefully before fixing his gaze on the red werewolf. "What is this?"

"Your best chance of surviving the winter," Qrow snapped. "Unless you want to die fighting a group of wolves that doesn't want to fight either, and then starve to death."

Winter spotted Weiss immediately. Her gaze fixed on her little sister's one remaining eye. When she saw the tears welling up, she was unable to hold still and found herself striding across the campsite and embracing Weiss.

"Winter!" Weiss sobbed, nuzzling her sister's shoulder. "I'm home."

"I know," Winter breathed, her mind blank for once of any scripture verses. "I know."

Of course, seeing Winter and Weiss hugging prompted an impatient Jenny to dart around her parents, followed closely by Katie, and run right into her big brother's arms. "Jaune!" she laughed as he picked her up. "I knew you'd come back! I told everyone!"

Jaune hugged Jenny tightly, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I'm sure you did." He bent down to ruffle Katie's hair. "Look at how tall you are! Have you started combat training yet?"

Katie nodded, hugging Jaune around the middle while staring wide-eyed at the werewolf.

Jenny also stared at Pyrrha. "Is the wolf gonna eat us?" she whispered.

"No," Jaune replied. "Pyrrha would never eat you."

"She has a name?" Jenny gasped.

"Yeah. Werewolves have names, just like us," Jaune said, turning so that Jenny could get a better look.

Pyrrha took a step closer, but stopped when Johann brandished his sword. She flattened her ears and whined, trying to look as non-threatening as possible.

"Dad, it's fine," Jaune promised. "Pyrrha's here to help us, and so is her pack. They're going to talk to the werewolves, while we talk to the Elders. We're going to make peace for everyone."

Sapphire touched her father's shoulder. "Remember what they were saying in Burgundy? Maybe we should listen."

Mary began to lower her blade, her expression troubled. "If this is… Then Burgundy… The guards…" She put a hand on her brow. "Maidens, I'm so hungry."

"We have food!" Ruby piped up. She walked over with one of the bags of dried meat, placing it on the ground when her approach caused Johann to point his sword in her direction. She backed away slowly, her hands in the air.

Katie, meanwhile, took a deep breath before quickly walking past Jaune and over to Pyrrha. She held out her hand, tilting her head curiously.

"Katie!" Johann hissed, taking a step forward, only to be stopped by Jaune.

Pyrrha slowly got down on all fours and delicately sniffed Katie's hand. So brave, she thought. Just like your brother. She bowed her head and smiled when the girl started stroking her brow.

Slowly, a smile came to Katie's face. "Good wolf," she murmured.

Jenny immediately started wriggling in Jaune's arms. "I wanna see too!"

Johann's sword dropped to the ground as he watched his daughter petting a beast that was supposed to be no more than a Grimm that could take a human shape. Sweet Maidens, he thought. What is happening?

Jaune let Jenny approach Pyrrha, smiling as his sister oohed and ahed over the many scars covering the werewolf.

"What happened to its back?" she asked, looking at the scarred, furless mass of flesh.

"She was protecting her pack from a Dust explosion," Jaune explained. "They were in a cave, and she blocked the fire with her body."

"Wow!" Jenny gasped. "That's super brave!"

Mary sheathed her sword, staring at the gathered group. Everyone who had been exiled from Vale was back, along with other Huntsmen and what was clearly a pack of tame werewolves. "I think it's time for an explanation."

Telling the story of their journey took most of the night, and the group had to stop frequently to answer questions, many of which came from Katie and Jenny. ("Kissing makes you change? Does that mean Weiss swallowed spit?! EW!" This prompted some laughter, relieving a bit of the tension, though Weiss elected to hide her face against Ruby's shoulder for several minutes.)

At one point, Silvia got out of her mother's lap and climbed onto Pyrrha's back. Johann stayed close, but had finally put sword away and was listening intently. It had already been decided that Jaune and Pyrrha's love wouldn't be mentioned. Jaune would tell his family that part personally, once he was sure they were okay with Pyrrha.

Taiyang and Qrow talked about what had happened in secret in Vale, and ended the story with what Taiyang had found about the hunt.

"If we don't make peace before that hunt," Taiyang said. "Vale and the werewolves will be doomed."

"Why?" Johann asked. "Why shouldn't we have the hunt?" When Jaune gave him a shocked look, he held up his hand. "Hear me out. You say these werewolves gathered here are good, and I'm willing to believe it. They haven't gone savage and attacked us, after all, and there is the news from Burgundy to consider." He ran a finger along the hilt of his blade. "But the werewolves here are killing all the food. They kill us without mercy. Why not wipe them out and let this new pack settle in? That'll give us time to come up with a way to negotiate something with the Elders."

Pyrrha growled while Jaune spoke up. "No way! We have no right to do that. We're just as guilty as the werewolves of murdering innocent people, after all. If we wipe them all out just because it's easy, we'll be the monsters."

"They want peace," Taiyang insisted. "Mercury and Emerald are tired, and I'm willing to bet the others feel the same. It's this alpha wolf Cinder who's the problem."

"We may have to kill her," Jaune allowed. "But we shouldn't hurt the wolves who are just defending their territory and obeying their leader. The Huntsmen of Vale are doing the exact same thing. If the werewolves deserve to die, then so does everyone in Vale. Peace and forgiveness on both sides is the only option if we want to survive."

Johann gave his son a long look, then smiled for the first time that night. "When did you become smarter than your father?"

Jaune ducked his head bashfully. "Pyrrha's the smart one, honestly."

"How do we do this, though?" Joan asked. "How can we convince the Elders? You know that Jacques, Hawk, and James won't be convinced."

"We go to Oz and Glynda first," Qrow said. "They might be able to bring Jimmy around if we can convince them. We only need three votes, after all."

"And Pyrrha's going to talk to Cinder tomorrow," Ruby added.

"Or fight her for leadership," Neptune said.

Pyrrha's ears flicked and she let out a nervous rumble.

Jaune reached over, gently stroking her cheek. "Hey. You can do this," he murmured.

Johann looked sharply at his son as he caught the softness in Jaune's tone and noticed the gentleness of his touch to the werewolf's face, but didn't say anything about it.

"I'll look for Mercury and Emerald tonight," Taiyang said. "From what I understand, they're closest to Cinder. Maybe they can help convince her."

"And I'll talk to Oz first thing in the morning," Qrow decided. He turned to Ruby, Yang, and Blake. "And you three are going with me."

"I'm in!" Yang said immediately.

"What will the rest of us do in the meantime?" Weiss asked. "Pyrrha, won't you need backup when you go talk to Cinder?"

Pyrrha considered it, then shook her head. Cinder was too unstable. If she thought that Pyrrha was threatening her in any way, she wouldn't hesitate to kill. Bringing wolves with her could cause Cinder to think that Pyrrha was making a challenge, which she still didn't want to do unless it was absolutely necessary.

"What should the rest of us do?" Autumn asked. "I mean, can we start trying to convince people?"

"No," Jaune said reluctantly. "We can't risk alerting people who would go to Schnee or Winchester. Just be ready to stand up for us when the time comes."

Johann looked at the sky. "We should probably head back."

The families stood up, Winter hugging Weiss one more time. "May the Maidens light your path," Weiss whispered.

"And yours, my sister," Winter murmured. "I'm sorry."

Silvia patted Pyrrha's head. "Bye-bye, nice wolf!" she said before running over to her mother.

Johann hesitated, then held out his hand, which Pyrrha shook. He barely suppressed a shudder when the rough pads touched his palm.

After Blake led the humans away, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. "That could've gone way worse," Dew said with a shaky laugh.

Jaune hurried to hug Pyrrha. "See?" he whispered. "My sisters loved you."

Pyrrha whined, her ears flattening.

"Don't worry about my dad! He's still adjusting. If he thought you were a threat, he would have tried attacking," Jaune assured her. "Once this is over, he'll love you. You'll see."

Pyrrha nuzzled his chest, hoping that he was right.

…..

Taiyang was careful to not be seen as he entered the part of the forest that housed Cinder's pack. "Hey," he whispered, hoping that Emerald or Mercury were listening with their beta powers. "I need to see you."

He wandered around for a little while longer before he was suddenly stopped by a familiar, dark gray form. "Mercury!" he breathed. "We need to talk."

They went to the wastelands, where Mercury shapeshifted back into his human form. "This had better be good. If Cinder finds us, we're both dead. She's been getting more watchful lately." His nose twitched as he detected dry meat in Taiyang's bag. His mouth watered, and he swallowed loudly.

"It is good, or it can be," Taiyang promised. "Pyrrha's back."

Mercury paled. "Wait, you've talked to-? Never mind! Look, that's not good! That's actually the complete opposite of good. Why would Pyrrha come back here?!"

"She wants to make peace between your people and mine."

"Well, she can't!" Mercury snapped. "I'd rip your throat out if it wasn't for the fact that you saved my life."

"Do you really want this?" Taiyang asked. "Do you want to keep fighting a needless war, when everyone's likely going to starve this winter anyway?"

Mercury shook his head. "There's no choice. Cinder-"

"Cinder is as sentient as you or Emerald. That means she can be reasoned with," Taiyang said gently. "Pyrrha wants to talk to her. Can you make it so that she's in less danger."

"No!" Mercury said. "I can't do that! Cinder will think I talked to Pyrrha, and then I'll be a traitor, and then your fancy leg-healing skills will all have been for nothing."

"You're scared of her," Taiyang noted. "Does someone like that really deserve to be followed?"

"She saved me!" Mercury snarled.

"She's killing you now!" Taiyang retaliated. "Look, Pyrrha will be coming to talk to her during the day. You and Emerald need to get Cinder to hear her out. You don't have to let on that you knew ahead of time. Please, Mercury. Both of our homes depend on this."

Mercury put his face in his hands, taking a shuddering breath. He thought of the fresh scratches, cuts, and bruises that decorated Emerald's body. He thought of the ever-present emptiness in his belly, and of the rotting pile of food that had been buried only a week ago. He thought of the increase in the number of Grimm that managed to find their denning area, of all the fighting he'd had to do lately. He thought of the coming winter, and realized that he truly didn't expect to survive it.

"Fine," he found himself saying. "I can't promise anything, but I'll try to make sure Pyrrha at least gets out of the territory alive." He hesitated, knowing what he was going to say next would make him a traitor no matter what. "If it doesn't work, though…you should leave before the sun sets."

Taiyang's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Mercury glanced around nervously, half expecting Cinder to leap out of the bushes at him. "We know about the hunt your people are planning," he muttered. "Cinder's been having the betas listen in during the day. We know the Huntsmen are coming for us in two nights, on the night after the full moon. The whole pack will attack the town on the night of the full moon and wipe everyone out before we can get wiped out. So, if Pyrrha can't talk to Cinder, just run away from here. I really don't want to kill you."

You have got to be kidding me! We literally have one day now?! Taiyang put his face in his hands, feeling tears wetting his palms. "Maidens help us," he murmured.

"If they do," Mercury snorted. "Tell them to talk to the Moon for us. We haven't exactly been getting any blessings from her lately either."

"Well, here's something from me." Taiyang reached into his bag, withdrawing a paper-wrapped share of dried meat. He had fed a good amount to Zwei and put some into a pot of water for himself.

Mercury stared at the meat. For a second, he felt his eyes stinging, and hurriedly wiped them. He's giving me food…even though it's our fault everyone's starving… "Thanks," he managed, his voice coming out hoarse as he accepted the meat. He took a bite, groaning happily at the taste. There was smokiness, and an unfamiliar spiciness that he guessed was from a human ingredient.

"Try to share that with the others, if you can," Taiyang encouraged. "I'll see you soon."

"I hope not," Mercury said honestly. "I mean it: Run!"

Taiyang shook his head. "I can't."

The two parted ways, both with fuller stomachs and heavy hearts, anticipating either a miracle during the day or a bloodbath with the coming of night.

If you're wondering why I posted this earlier in the evening…my laptop died, and I didn't want to wait in case it died again. It is living on borrowed time with a spare battery and being constantly plugged in. I ordered a new one, but it won't be here till after Thanksgiving, and I don't know if my baby will last that long. If I suddenly go dark, it's because my laptop died for good. Sorry for the trouble.

If you like what you see and want to show extra support in exchange for rewards, my P/atreon is Solora Goldsun. (I had to pay over 700 for this new laptop, so any support would be lovely…)

Peace out.