Hello again everyone and welcome back! This chapter is pretty BRNY heavy because I wanted to draw both teams into the story properly, improving on one of the failings of 'The Sword and Spear', so without any further ado I present to you all the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

All hell had broken loose, the entire campus shook violently under the unrestrained rage of Yang. Her eyes glowed red, and her treasured blonde hair flickered and shimmered with small pockets of flame. The moment she had noticed the absence of her partner and leader a pit of worry had formed in her stomach. At first she had played it down to Blake most likely having stepped out for some fresh air but as time wore on her concern grew. When, by the end of the night, the stoical girl hadn't returned concern turned into blind worry. The blonde brawler had gone around the remaining guests and interrogated them fiercely as to her partner's whereabouts but no-one could recall having seen her.

In the end it was Ozpin that had been the one to let them know. He had pulled the vivacious blonde over to one side and told her in hushed tones of her partner's fate. That was it, the moment that everything had kicked off. Yang's anger had taken over and judging by the look in her eyes she wanted little more than to find the one whom had harmed her partner and indeed, hospitalised her. It had taken all of team JSPR as well as Nora and Ren to hold her in place and prevent her from completely going off the rails. Even the enigmatic headmaster seemed taken aback by the extent and ferocity of her anger and to those paying close enough attention, his stance changed and his grip on his cane tightened. In an instant he had composed himself and returned to his regular impassive state. The huntsman offered his sincere condolences and taken his leave.

Yang had led the charge to the infirmary, her long golden locks billowing behind her as she ran. Team JSPR and the remainder of BRNY were left to follow in her wake. The infirmary was the most modern looking wing of the combat school due to the need to continually update the facility to provide the very best care to injured students. It looked entirely out of place among the rustic setting of its surroundings, an alien in plain sight and yet it held its own unique charms. The brawler barrelled into the reception and with determination burning in her eyes demanded the room number of her partner. The receptionist on duty took one look at the formidable blonde before handing over the details.

Barging into the small hospital room, despite the various protestations of several nurses, although one look at Yang told them that it wasn't worth trying to stop her. There they found Blake, asleep in the hospital bed dressed in the traditional gown. Bruises covered her face in varying shades from purple through to a putrid yellow, her aura seemingly already at work. The blonde hurried her way over to the seat at the bedside of her partner and seized the hand of her wounded partner with tears forming in her eyes. The blonde caressed it with all the tenderness that a mother would show a newborn child. At least she did before she noticed something that gave her pause. She froze in place, eyes wide with shock and staring in confusion. Not long after, the rest of the gang caught up. They entered the room to find a sedated Blake and a totally zoned-out Yang, completely unresponsive and zoned out. Gradually each of the teenagers followed her dead stare and one by one they too came to realise what The stoical girl was missing her usual bow and in its place was a set of... cat ears?

"A...faunus?" Yang finally said, having processed the fact at last. She let drop the hand of the newly-discovered faunus and sat back in her chair, still coming to terms with what must have been Blake's biggest secret for her to hide the fact so well for so long. It seemed so incomprehensible and strange that the girl she had considered to be her best friend would keep such a massive secret from her yet she must have had her reasons, everyone had secrets after all. Tearing her eyes from the injured faunus she looked around to the faces of each of her friends individually.

"No-one is to breathe a word of this..." She uttered in a low voice, so quietly that the gathered teens could barely hear her. Ruby knew that what such a tone meant from her sister, it meant that she was deadly serious and that anyone fool enough to defy her wishes would be putting themselves at risk of retribution from the blonde. It was a tone she had heard many times in her youth and one that she had rightly learned to fear as Yang had brought her up. Looking around she saw four of the five others nod their assent, after all Blake was their friend regardless of whether she was human or not. Only Weiss remained impassive although her eyes betrayed her true emotions Ruby could see a sea of seething resentment angled at the unconscious faunus, though why remained a mystery.

"Why?" That single word fell from the heiress' mouth like a leaden weight. It was filled with an animosity that Ruby had never once expected to hear from her partner. The gathered teens turned to face her with mixed reactions, expecting an explanation from her. When one was not forthcoming Yang climbed to her feet and stepped up to the diminutive Schnee and squared off, her red eyes flaring dangerously. It was an intimidating sight to be sure yet Weiss didn't waiver. She stood resolute, eyes locked on those of the taller girl, staring what seemed to be an unstoppable force right in the face without any sign of intimidation nor backing down. It was admirable to say the least.

"What did you just did you just say?" she asked, her voice filled with venom.

"I said why? Why should we keep her secret? Who knows what kind of things she did before coming here, what if she is a member of the white Fang?!"

Ruby caught the slight twitch of Yang's hand and had to dart forward to intervene. She shot over to her in a cloud of rose petals and grabbed her sister's hand. Ruby had learned in her sparring sessions with the blonde bombshell that such a twitch usually signalled when she was about to take a swing and that was the last thing that they needed. Yang looked down at her sister and straight into her bright eyes. Ruby gave her a pleading look, a look which spoke volumes without the need for audible words. The blonde's eyes faded back to lilac although they lost none of their intensity, nor the contempt that they held for the duellist.

"Whatever, she's not worth it." Yang grunted before returning to her vigil at Blake's bedside. Weiss was seemingly less contented by such a resolution. Her hands balled up into tiny fists at her sides and trembling violently with barely suppressed rage. She simply couldn't understand how they were all taking such a revelation so calmly.

"How can you all be so calm?! She lied to us! All of us." She shrieked.

"Yes Weiss, she did. But right now none of that matters. What does matter is that we are all here when she wakes up. Having animalistic appendages does not change anything. She is still the girl that we are all friends with. So she chose to conceal her true nature, Blake will have had her reasons and we shouldn't be so hasty to jump to conclusions without knowing the truth behind her reasoning." To the surprise of all it was Ren who spoke up, providing the voice of reason for them all, much to Weiss' chagrin. She shot daggers at them all before turning on her heel and stomping out of the room.

"You'll see her for who she really is when she wakes up!" She shouted back over her shoulder as she stormed out. Ruby made to follow but was held back by a gentle pressure on her arm. Turning back in confusion she found that it was Jaune holding her back, she looked at him with a questioning glance and curiosity etched onto her face.

"Let her go Rubes. She needs some time to blow off steam and come to terms with this." He explained. The rose nodded and took her place among the others as they gathered round the faunus' bed with concerned and grave expressions, collectively willing her to recover quicker. In truth they all saw her secret in different ways.

Ren viewed it analytically in many ways and understood why she might want to keep such a secret given the human attitude to the faunus and the manner in which they are persecuted. It seemed logical that she might wish to conceal her heritage and thus avoid confrontation with the various members of the combat academy.

Nora and Ruby didn't care much for the implications of it all. Rather they simply saw her as the same Blake that they always had only now with the addition of cat ears which both thought to be extraordinarily cute and both girls were already planning their requests for ear touching rights.

Jaune viewed it with a relaxed ease, growing up he had been an outcast among the human children in his village due to his lack of combat prowess. His childhood had proven a sad and lonely existence until one day he was sat alone, under a tree reading his favourite book. The other human children saw him and made their way over, taking his book and grinding it into the mud. He had thrown himself at the other boys and immediately been outmatched, tears streaming down his cheeks at their bullying. Fortunately a nearby group of faunus children heard his cries of distress and rushed to his aid. The bullies had seen them approach and scattered leaving the young Jaune on his hands and knees looking in anguish over the ruined and torn pages of his book. The faunus children helped him up and took him home. After seeing the manner in which the other human children had discriminated against him, they had gradually accepted him as one of their own and invited him to join in on their games. Over time they had developed into his closest friends and had grown up with him, they had stood resolute time and time again with him against his bullies even as he had against theirs. The truth of the matter was that Jaune owed a great deal to the faunus, they had given him a sense of purpose. The fact that Blake was a faunus didn't bother him in the slightest, rather he saw her with a sense of pity at having had to conceal her true nature from all of her friends.

Pyrrha viewed it as a simple affair. As far as she saw it, the young faunus was still the same old grumpy stoic that she had always been and was still just as lovable regardless of whether she had human or cat ears. In fact, though she would never admit it, the cat ears were incredibly cute and just like both Ruby and Nora she had a strong desire to touch them since they looked so very soft.

Yang simply didn't care at all. Blake being a faunus didn't matter to her. All that did matter was helping her get better and back onto her feet before their upcoming mission. She was their leader, they needed her just as much as Blake needed her team and regardless of her background the brawler would be there for her partner.

The heiress thundered straight out of the room and down the hall, shooting her icy glare at any of the medical staff that got too close to her. She just couldn't understand how her friends could prove so calm when it turned out that Blake, a girl they had all trusted had been deceiving them. She was a faunus! Weiss internally chastised herself on such a lapse in her composure, she knew that had her father seen such an outburst it would have resulted in several hours of corrective lessons...

In truth she was unsure of how to react to such a discovery so she allowed her mind to wander just as she did with her feet. In her head she tussled with the dilemma, on the one hand she liked Blake, the girl was pleasant enough to talk to when you could pry her from her books and it was clear that she was intelligent enough and cared for her studies. Yet on the other she was a faunus and that word was one which Weiss had always associated with trouble. Ever since she had been very little she had seen family friends disappear and board members murdered. That had, of course, made for a rather... uncomfortable childhood.

Perhaps it was from these negative life experiences that her contempt for the faunus stemmed. Perhaps it was due to groups like the White Fang and their actions that she had come to fear and resent the faunus, labelling them as rapscallions and degenerates. Was it really so hard to understand her trepidation and fears then, when a person whom had presented themselves as human had emerged to be faunus?

Yet she couldn't help but wonder whether it was wrong to tar them all with the same brush due to the actions of a select few. The majority of the faunus labour had never presented a threat to her nor her family. It was only a handful of radicals whom had taken it upon themselves to strike at those in power, the rich tycoons and bigots. A few rotten apple spoils the bunch it would seem. Yet it was undeniable that those few stood out far more than those of the peaceful majority, it was those few that she was under constant threat from.

She struggled with her mental Rubik's cube of emotions, thoughts and feelings. It all broiled together in her mind in a raging tempest which, the more she tried to navigate her way through, the more violent the thought storm would grow until her head ached. She couldn't help but wonder if she might ever untangle the mess of thoughts and feelings that her brain had become. She hauled herself out of her musings and cast a glance at her surroundings.

She was of course surprised to find herself atop the same hill she had been all those months ago when Jaune had been made their leader. Although on this night it lacked the warmth and pleasant breeze that it had that afternoon, rather instead, it was cold, dark and lonely.

'Ironic. It more or less sums up the way I feel.' She thought with a wry smile

She took a seat on the bench carved from the tree itself, the selfsame bench that Ozpin had convinced her to give Jaune a fair chance to prove himself a leader. Weiss shivered slightly as once again she turned inwards for a solution to her dilemma. Over and over Ozpin's words played in her head and while the words themselves didn't really apply to her current situation, the thought and overall moral message behind them did. Perhaps she was a little too quick to jump to conclusions. Maybe it would prove a better idea if she did listen to Blake's story before passing her judgement, it was simply that she was scared of what the faunus might say. She would have to face her fears once she woke up and that wasn't a time that she was looking forward to.

Blake's awakening had hardly been a gracious one, her whole body felt as though a train had hit it with aches and pains in places she hadn't known existed. No sooner had she opened her eyes than Yang had enveloped her into a tight hug that sent lances of pain stabbing through her. The blonde had only released her after several hisses and groans of pain. Golden eyes scanned round the room to find all of her friends, still dressed in the formal attire of the school's dance. It was shortly after that she realised that she was missing her signature black bow and that her ears were on full display. At that moment she had felt like running, running as long an hard as she could, to escape what she was sure would be inevitable judgemental stares from her friends, yet her damaged body kept her where she was. It proved a pleasant surprise then, when such stares weren't forthcoming. Rather they all seemed to look at her with something akin to expectancy. Though what they expected she couldn't work out.

"What?" She asked after a long while of blankly returning their stares. The silence was maddening, making for an unusual change for her.

"Why?" Yang replied bluntly, though her eyes were soft and filled with sympathy.

"You all want to know why I kept it a secret?" She asked, it was a mere formality. In the depths of her heart she knew this moment would always come. She just wished that it might not have come so soon, she didn't want to lose her friends so soon after making them. Still, they didn't seem angry so perhaps it would all be okay after all?

"I'm sorry I kept such a secret from you all. I guess I didn't want to just be seen as another good for nothing faunus, someone to be mocked, jeered at and discriminated against. When I make a name for myself I want it to be because of my deeds rather than because I was one faunus that did good things. I wanted people to appreciate me for who I am and not what I am. I knew that a lot of humans here wouldn't be willing to accept me as a faunus and would try to alienate me from everyone else. I didn't want to place that strain on whoever I ended up in a team with. A-also because I wanted to make up for everything I did with the white fang..."

Every face in the room dropped in shock at her final statement.

"I-I'm not with them anymore!" She protested, tears forming in her eyes at the recollection of so many memories. "I was with them when I was much, much younger. Back when they were a peaceful organisation and all working for the equality between the humans and faunus. I turned my back on them when I saw what they were becoming, I refused to use my skills to aid them in a violent campaign of retaliatory hatred. So here I am... A criminal hiding in plain sight, all with the help of a little. Black. Bow."

She finished and sighed slightly, it felt strangely good to finally share her burden after so many months of carrying it, permanently afraid of being caught out and exiled. With a nervous expression she watched the faces of her friends, some were more impassive and difficult to read whilst others proved like an open book to her. The silence lasted for a couple of minutes as they each digested and processed what she had just said though to Blake it felt like an eternity. Jaune was the first to speak.

"I don't think the part about the White Fang matters... You say that you left them because they got too radical and in my books that means that you don't agree with hurting innocents and that means you're okay. Being faunus doesn't make you any different from us humans, it just means you have cuter ears and can see in the dark and that's awesome." He said with a grin.

"He's right." Yang agreed, waving it all off in her traditional style. "You're one of us, a little thing like this isn't gonna change anything, you're still our friend."

Visible tears began to fill the faunus' eyes as she listened to her friends' words. Never had she dared hope that they might prove to be so accepting of her. It filled her with Joy then, to hear them react so positively. She turned to face both Nora and Ruby who walked toward her bed side, their hands clasped together in front of their chests. They both looked far more nervous than usual.

"Blakey~" Nora began.

"Nora and I have been talking and well... we were wondering..." Ruby continued

"Can we touch your ears!?" Nora burst out, seemingly unable to contain her excitement. Blake looked at them in shock for a few moments as she considered their request. An amused smile crossed her features, of course Ruby and Nora would ask that. With a brief chuckle she shrugged, her ears twitching at the idea of having someone make actual physical contact with them.

"Sure, I don't see why not. Just please... be gentle. They are sensitive."

For a moment it looked as though both of the girls might die from excitement as they jolted forward. Blake expected a rough touch and braced herself for impact when they stopped dead and reached out with only a finger each. Both girls gasped at how soft these extra appendages were.

"Its so soft..." Ruby cooed.

"Alright... I'll give. Let me get in on this." Yang said reaching in and gently brushing her thumb against Blake's ears. She paused and her eyes widened in surprise, they were warm and velvety to the touch in a way she certainly hadn't expected. Blake blushed as one by one, her friends stepped up to her bedside to touch her ears and live the hype for themselves. Their collective moment was brought to an end however by a soft 'humph' sound from the doorway. Seven pairs of eyes all shot over to the source of the sound to find Weiss stood in the doorway looking rather sheepish for once. Yang shot her a glare, if looks could kill one might have expected the Ice Queen to melt and boil instantaneously.

"What do you want?" the blonde demanded with a clear air of hostility.

"I admit I might have been a little too... hasty earlier. I took some time to clear my head and come to terms with it... I guess I came back to hear her side of the story..."

Blake paused for a long while, thinking how best to respond. Weiss was of course, a Schnee. Perhaps the most infamous family to the faunus rights movement and undoubtedly she would have been influenced against the faunus. Patting Yang on the hand reassuringly Blake hauled herself painfully into the sitting position and made herself comfortable. She repeated her story to the heiress, holding back little and placing emphasis on her reasoning both for joining the White Fang and why she left them. The whole while Weiss listened impassively, her expression inscrutable although she did noticeably tense up when Blake revealed her former connections to the faunus rights movement turned terrorist organisation.

The faunus finished recounting her tale. Silence settled over the room as all eyes turned to the diminutive heiress as they awaited her reaction. You could have cut the tension with a knife. It was a full, nerve-racking five minutes before anyone said anything. It was Weiss whom spoke first, the cogs of her mind finally falling silent.

"You... promise you aren't a member of the White Fang anymore?" She asked slowly as though she was still contemplating her words.

"I promise, I haven't been one of them for many years now." Blake answered.

"T-then I suppose I am willing to go out on a limb and... give you the benefit of the doubt but only because you are a friend." the heiress continued. As she finished the whole room breathed a collective sigh of relief, glad than any potential feud between them had been avoided. There was no telling just how violent that might have gotten.

"Why? Why the sudden change of heart? I mean only a little while ago you were acting like this was the worst thing that could possibly have happened. What changed your mind?" Yang demanded suspiciously, not being one to take things lying down.

"I... remembered the words that a wise old man said to me a couple of months ago... He told me that I should give Jaune a chance as the leader of my team and that proved to be good advice. So I figured that if it worked once it might work a second time." She sighed.

"Thank you Weiss... I-" Blake began

"Just don't prove me wrong..." The Schnee interrupted. After such a reconciliation between the two girls, the atmosphere within the hospital room became much more bearable for them. Not long after, Jaune rounded up his team, somehow managing to pull Ruby away from the faunus' cat ears and led them out of the room to give Blake some time alone with their team. Ren and Nora followed suit shortly after, electing to give the two partners some time alone with one another once they had ensured Blake's health. Once they were alone the room settled into silence, the blonde looking at her partner with soft lilac eyes.

"You had me worried there Blakey..." she said at last. When you went missing I was getting ready to tear Beacon apart looking for you." The brawler spoke in a hushed and trembling voice, the depths of her concern clear for all to see as tears welled up in her eyes. "A-and when Ozpin told us that you were in the infirmary, I-I was so scared. I don't know what I would've done if you'd..." Blake cut her off by placing a long slender finger to her lips. It was a simple gesture yet powerful all the same.

"Yang, don't worry yourself about what might have happened and instead worry about what did. I'm still around aren't I? It'll take a lot more than this for me to be out for the count." Blake said reassuringly. The blonde leant in and gently wrapped her arms around the stoic and buried herself into Blake's shoulder, tears rolling down her cheeks and staining the faunus' hospital gown. Blake smiled and could do little more than rock them back and forth comfortingly, rubbing her back to sooth her. Though she didn't let on to the fact, the blonde had the biggest heart of them all, and she wore it on her sleeve.

JSPR walked back through the night at a relaxed pace. Their conversations were idle and without any real substance given how long their day had been. Though they all agreed that they had had quite enough excitement for one day. Pyrrha carried Ruby on her back in piggy-back fashion, the strains and pressures of the night having finally taken their toll and tired the little reaper out. Ruby snored adorably as she dozed on the champion's back. Pyrrha didn't mind, despite her suspicions that Ruby might be out for the same prize as she was, they were still teammates after all and the camaraderie would still be there regardless.

"I'm proud of you Weiss." Jaune said in a low voice as he walked up alongside the heiress. He spoke just loud enough for her to be the only one that might hear him.

"What do you mean?" she replied sounding far more harsh than she intended.

"I mean I'm proud of you. I know it can't have been easy to accept something like that. You've come a long way since initiation." He smiled.

"T-thank you Jaune..." She replied a slight blush on her cheeks. She threw her arms around the knight in a brief hug as they walked, knowing that their team would be all the more close to one another hereafter. They continued walking to their dorm and turned in for the night with a brighter outlook and greater hope for the future. Unaware that far to the south east, events were being set irreversibly in motion by those same people that Blake had once called 'friend'.

So there we are. I tried to address the issue of Blake's heritage and how her team might have reacted to it. I apologise for the way that Weiss was written for this chapter, I struggle to write her in this sort of situations but I am trying my best with her. If you liked the chapter let me know in the reviews. As always please do favourite and follow for updates when each subsequent chapter is published.

I would also like to apologise for the relative lack of Pyrrha, Jaune and Ruby in this chapter. I wanted to focus it more on Blake and Yang, as well as their relationship as partners. I might write some bumblebee into this one if you all think that might be a good idea. Let me know if you would like to see that happen.

Thank you all so much for helping this story reach 200 followers. It is a truly incredible feeling to see that this is almost as popular as The Sword and Spear when it isn't even half way towards being finished. You really do make everything worthwhile when I write this, your feedback is truly appreciated.

Next time; Missions!

Thank you all for reading and I'll see you all in the next chapter.