Yang woke to the tickling sensation of fur under her chin. Her eyes opened wide, and she tried to sit up. She panicked for a second when she realized she was pinned under something, then relaxed when she realized what, or more correctly, who, it was.

Blake was curled up on her chest, effectively holding Yang in place. A slight snore eased from Blake, who was using Yang's bare breasts as pillows. She couldn't help but laugh at the sight. The noise woke Blake, who sat up slowly, stretching. Yang admired the way her body moved, no longer in a hurry to get up.

Her muscles were lean, present but not overly defined, her body smooth and soft, unlike Yang's, which was a bundled cord of tight muscles and sex appeal, as she liked to think of herself.

Blake's hair was frizzy, but not puffy, adding a rather endearing effect to her. Her arms stretched up over her head, not caring to preserve any sort of modesty, her breasts jutting out healthily from her chest. Yang could feel a slight rise in her temperature as she observed this.

Blake's skin had a slight red flush to it, a consequence of being in such close proximity to Yang for too long.
"Hot?" Yang asked, a wide grin cutting across her face.
"My temperature or my looks?"
A smirk this time. "Both."
"You weren't kidding, Yang. I feel like I'm a million degrees."
Yang continued to smile, her hand caressing Blake's skin, feeling the soft smooth perfection. The skin was regaining it's normal color, but still sported a slight reddish glow.
"Yeah, I get that a lot. With how often I catch on fire, you would think it wouldn't surprise people, but it always does."

She let out a slight giggle as she sat up, draping her arm casually over Blake's shoulders.

Blake leaned into her. She felt good. Solid. Familiar. Blake was still trying to convince herself that this was real. That being said, she found a sour note in the moment.

Last night had been amazing, but so far, this hadn't exactly been what she meant when she said 'go out with you'. Of course, the adrenaline rush from the night before was probably to blame. It wasn't the first time such a thing had happened. Yang had drawn her in with that kiss, and had probably been suffering from the same thing. 'No,' she corrected herself. 'she most defiantly was.'

"What time is it?"
Yang looked at her watch, sitting on the bedside table.
"9:30 AM. Huh. I woulda thought we'da been out of it for longer."

Blake snorted, saying "that was good, but don't get full of yourself. It's going to take a lot more than last night to knock me out."
Even as she said that, she tried to stand up. Her body wasn't working the way she wanted it to, ignoring her mental complaints as it tried to straighten. Her muscles were too loose, her legs struggling to hold her up. She leaned heavily on the wall, heading for the lockers. She snarled as she heard Yang stifle a laugh.

She managed to dress in her robe, and grab her toiletry bag, which was woefully under stocked, and stumbled out of the room, dazed. 'Damn it, Yang,' she thought as she tried to get her balance. She could hear Yang laughing through the open bedroom door. She slammed it shut, then pushed open the door across the hall. She managed to catch the counter before she fell.

She had to admit, Yang was phenomenal in bed. It would be better (or worse) if it weren't for her semi-destructive ability to be hotter than necessary. The heat added a sort of fuzziness to the whole situation, making Blake's mind loose it's sharp edge. It relaxed her a little too completely, dulling her senses. The animal inside didn't like that, and she had to force down the resentment that swelled at the interaction.

As she looked into the mirror above the sink, she reflected on her new relationship. It was nothing like her wrecks of the past, or her picture perfect fantasy novels. That being said, Yang was quite a refreshing person to be around. Velvet had always been reserved, shy, but with an even personality. They had broken up over the fact that Blake refused to show her ears in public.

In a moment of uncharacteristic bravery, Velvet had tried to take off her ribbon by surprise. Blake had retaliated purely on reflex, her fist slamming into Velvet's stomach. The resulting fight had broken through 2 walls, doing damage that, if it weren't for professor Goodwitch, would have cost the school hundreds of thousands of Lien in repairs.

As it was, that had proven to be an awkward meeting with Ozpin.

Only a month later, they had made up, but it had driven a wedge in their friendship. Her relationship with Adam, of course, had ended that day on the train. She still wasn't sure why he had let her go, but she tried not to dwell on it.

But Yang had always been different. Even before now, they had had a relationship unlike anything Blake had experience with. It was really Beacon that had brought them all together, but Blake couldn't help believing that some sort of fate had pushed them into this, forming the first real concept of family she had ever experienced.

Yang and Ruby had taken her in without a second thought, and she could still remember blushing when Ruby had squealed about how cute she was without her bow. She had always been very protective of her features, fearing objectasism and isolation. Yet Ruby and Yang hadn't given it a second thought. Weiss, of course, had swallowed her pride and apologized to her, even going a step further and changing her opinion as a whole (for the most part).

Yet the catalyst of the events had been Yang. To be perfectly honest, Blake had feared the fact that they had to form teams. How would she continue to hide her nature? And then in the beginning, when Yang had made the attempt to be friends (as Ruby had explained later, it had been Yang's idea), Blake had attempted to confine herself, although she had been caught off guard by Ruby's questions about her book, as well as her follow up explanation.

In the forest, Blake had been observing Yang, trying to work up the courage to show herself. She had been fascinated by her lack of fear as she strode through the trees, but the real show had started when Yang found the Ursi. Blake had considered jumping in to help, but decided to continue observing, which turned out to be the right choice.

After Yang started raging, Blake was transfixed, sensing the animal inside her partner. Yang was about as close to faunus as humans could get, harboring an inner animal so fierce it took over completely. That was what finally caused her to show herself. Ever since, Yang had proved time and again that they were meant to be together, whether as partners or something more, Blake had never been sure.

Yang was like a flame (forgiving the cliche), beautiful to look at, even better to be around, but constantly shifting, avoiding understanding and reason, and if she was ever let wild, she would destroy anything in her way. Blake wondered if she could somehow temper her... temper. It would be worth while to find out if she could calm Yang.

She shook her head, trying to clear her mind, then showering to rid the smell of sex and battle from her body. As she left, Yang passed her going in, and pinched her behind, closing the door before Blake could do anything in return.

As Blake waited for Yang to get out of the shower, she decided to read one of the few books she managed to fit into her pack. She decided to forgo her usual romance story in exchange for an action fantasy. The last thing she wanted to deal with was some sort of emotional collapse over how different life was from her books.

When Weiss woke the next morning, she was alone. She sat up, yawning as she stretched. Crumpled clothes littered the floor of the room, and she huffed slightly. Sex with Ruby hadn't changed her cleaning habits. She didn't want to remember what they had been doing just yet, so to distract herself, she picked up the clothes, placing them in two different lockers, hoping there would be some way to wash the post-battle gunk that covered them. She sighed as she held up her dress, which was streaked with mud. She had a clean(ish) set of clothes in her own locker, and she opened it to get to them.

She froze, unsure of what to do. Sitting on top of her clothes was what appeared to be the train of her battle dress. But she had just put that away. So how did it get over here? Then she saw that it lacked the designs along the hem. Even more confused now, she pulled the clothe out of the locker, and gasped.

Hanging from her fingers was a cloak of the exact same kind as Ruby's. The only difference was that it was pure white. It looked a bit like a plain of fresh powder snow, almost blinding to look at. From the clasping point below the hood hung 2 crystal snowflake pins.

"Do you like it?"

Weiss jumped as the soft voice whispered behind her. She turned slightly. Ruby had slipped into the room, quieter than she thought possible. She now stood only a few feet away, staring at the gift.

"I made that for you forever ago, but I was too scared to give it to you."

A quiet laugh sighed out of her. A gentle smile was on her face, but she seemed like she was staring off, eyes unfocused, remembering some far off time. It was almost sad. Weiss wasn't sure what she should be doing.

"I figured I'd put it where you would find it. Then I went to get us some lunch."

That was when Weiss noticed the wicker basket she had under her arm. It was also when she realized that Ruby was fully clothed while she was still bare. A blush rose up her neck, and her face burned. Despite the night before, she was beginning to realize that their relationship had not started off the way she had intended.

She had never been in this type of situation before, and there was something unnerving about letting Ruby look at her naked now. Unable to think of anything else, she wrapped herself in the cloak. She was surprised that it hung well below her knees. And that it was so warm.

"What's this made of?"

A mild, minty scent wafted from the fabric. It smelled like... winter (the season, not the sister), was the best word she could use to describe it. She breathed it in deeply. 'How cliche,' she thought.

"It's a Dustskin fabric. I bought it before things started to fall apart, and ended up wasting a lot. I'm not as good as my mom was, but in the end, it worked. It's size, hopefully, will change depending on your need of it. I'm still not sure if I did it right, since I didn't have time to test it before we came here."

Weiss's eyes went wide. Dustskin fabric was highly praised and very expensive. If Ruby had not only gone through the trouble of getting some, but also wasting any of it... She walked forward, the softness of the cloth surrounding her. She stopped just in front of Ruby, gently leaning forward and kissing her. It was sweet, but brief, and she pulled back as she felt Ruby's arms starting to curl around her.

"Wait, hold on."

Ruby's arms froze, and Weiss looked her in the eye. "You know I love you, Ruby, but to be quite honest, last night was only my second time. I know how relationships are supposed to work, and this, well, this isn't quite it. One night, our first night, was a mistake, no matter how amazing it was. It happened for the wrong reasons. For now,' she added, kissing her again,' lets keep it at this. When this is all over, then, well, we'll just have to see."

Ruby was visibly crestfallen, but she nodded, saying "I guess this was kinda thrown on us. I MAY have gotten the slightest bit carried away last night."

'That's a huge understatement' Weiss thought, and for the first time, she began to notice slight pains and twinges throughout her body. She slid out of Ruby's grasp, and said "I'm going to take a shower, see if this place has any hot water left. Why don't you get... did you say lunch? What time is it?"

Ruby smirked and said "it's almost 2 o'clock." Weiss grimaced. She wasn't used to waking up so late. Her hair must be a mess. She gave Ruby one last kiss, then grabbed her shower bag from her locker and rushed across the hall to one of the bathrooms. It wasn't till she got there that she realized she was still wrapped in the cloak... And that she had no other clothes. She slammed her palm against her forehead.

As she took off the simple garment, she looked it over. Despite what Ruby said, the workmanship was fantastic. It would also go perfectly with her battle dress. It was much lighter than the train, and was somehow warmer. It almost felt as if Ruby was wrapped in it with her. That thought brought the blush back, but was in itself a very pleasant feeling. She held the fabric to her chest, her eyes closed, and imagined the feel of Ruby wrapped around her. Suddenly an ugly thought reared it's head, and she shuddered.
'What will you do when she dies?'

The question itself wasn't the most disturbing thing. She had thought similarly many times. It was the wording that threw her. It was not an if, it was a when. When... But she shook her head, clearing the thoughts as she prepared to do the thing she dreaded the most. She turned to the mirror set in the wall, and let out a yelp.

Standing before her was her battered body replica. A large red welt was set on her left shoulder, the skin broken on the bottom of the bite mark. She had a running bruise that spread across one wrist, then connected to the bruise on her opposite wrist, clear signs of fingers, a palm... a similar mark was on the inside of her thigh. Her skin was covered in darkish marks from her lover's hand where she had squeezed too hard. A low whistle escaped her lips as she saw the carnage. It was slightly impressive.

She concentrated hard, activating her aura and focusing it on the damaged areas. The bruises disappeared one by one, but the love bite only faded a bit. Somehow, it was resisting her efforts to heal it. She snarled, but her anger didn't change anything. The angry red welt stared back at her, and she sighed.
'Damn it, Ruby.'

Ruby laid out the food she had pilfered from the mess hall. Technically, it closed at 1:00, but such rules didn't apply when you leave the doors unlocked. She had some cooked rice, a few pieces of fish, and a small salad she had thrown together. And a small bag of cookies she had hidden in her locker. To drink she had found some bottles of water, as well as half a bottle of red wine, which was from one of the Schnee vineyards.

She hid this as well, wanting to save it for a special occasion, but she couldn't wait long. The last thing she needed was to try and give Weiss sour wine from her own vineyard. (While she had been in school, she had been given ownership of three vineyards to prepare her for the responsibility of running her family's company.)

When Weiss returned, she saw Ruby had dragged one of the desks from the walls to use as a table, an appetizing meal spread out over the cheap wooden surface. Suddenly she realized she hadn't eaten in almost 37 hours, and her stomach growled. She and Ruby tore into the food, trying to refill their stomachs. Half way through it, though, Weiss put down her fork, and took a deep breath. The gesture was habitual, and Ruby immediately knew they were about to have a serious talk. She swallowed her food and followed suit (not wanting to upset Weiss by speaking with her mouth full.)

"So, I guess we're dating now."

It was simple, appropriate. It was a statement, which meant Ruby had no immediate obligations to respond, but she nodded, saying "Yeah, we are. And I'm glad, I think. Now that I've had time to think, I agree. While last night was amazing, I... I think it was kind of a mistake. I was so full of adrenaline from that fight. I guess I was having what Yang calls the 'after-battle blues'."

Weiss was slightly confused. "'blues?' As in sad?"

Ruby nodded. "yesterday, during the fight, an older man, probably late 50's, was fighting next to me. He was good, to. He cut through the Grimm the same way we do. Then he slipped. I was distracted, and I didn't see it. Not until it was too late. He was right next to me, then he was gone. It was so sudden, so brutal, I... I thought of my dad."

She trailed off, not sure where she was trying to go. Tears where slowly leaking from her silver eyes, and the look on her face was breaking Weiss's heart. She reached forward, her hand gently caressing Ruby's soft cheek, the palm turning slick from the water on her face. Ruby leaned into it, the small amount of contact enough to put her at ease.

"Are you afraid of death?" Weiss asked.
"Not mine."
"Mine?"
"Yes. And Yang's. And Blake's. And Jaune's and Pyrrha's and Ren's and Nora's. I'd never considered my dad would die. He was always there. Now he's gone. I don't know where my uncle is. I have no idea what I would do if I lost one of you. Especially you."

Her own hand was now holding Weiss's cheek, and Weiss was surprised to find herself crying as well. Her face was smooth, shocked. She tried to speak, but could find nothing to say.

A brittle smile found it's way to Ruby's face, and she said "it might be easier to lose my sister than you. That sounds bad, I know. But the two of us have always been ready to die. We even had plans laid out in case one of us died training at Beacon. But then you and Blake entered the equation. Now, I'm so churned up, if I lost either of you, I might kill myself, or worse."

Weiss was frozen for a second longer, then shouted "NO!" as she threw herself across the table. She tackle-hugged Ruby, who had gone from brooding to shocked in half a second. Food containers and utensils scattered. Ruby found herself flat on her back with Weiss's arms locked around her as her new girlfriend cried into her chest.

After a moment, Weiss sat up, looking at her fiercely, and said "you take that back right now, Ruby Rose! You are not allowed to kill yourself! If you don't take that back right now, I will never speak to you again! Do I make myself clear?"

Ruby was shaken, and stuttered out, "a-alright, fine w-Weiss."
"Say it!"
"I won't kill myself."
"Promise me, or I will leave right now!"
"I promise! I, Ruby Rose, promise never to kill myself."
Weiss sat up straighter, satisfied. Her face was still wet, but she glared down at Ruby with a conviction only she could possess. "I never want to hear you say something like that again."

Ruby smiled, her hand reaching around and wiping the wetness from her face.
"Well, that was interesting."
"What?"
"I never expected you to react that way. Although I was expecting you to hate me."

A sudden slap across the face snapped Ruby out of the last vestiges of whatever mental fumble she had fallen into. She stared at Weiss, confused, shocked, and a little more than slightly aroused. Weiss's face was beat-red, and she looked like she was going to hit her again.

Instead, she bent down and kissed Ruby hard. She sat up, yet again, and said "as long as we are making promises, I promise never to hate you, no matter what idiotic action you take. I love you, Ruby Rose."

Ruby laughed, and said "would you still love me if I took advantage of the fact that your naked and straddling me?"

That was when Weiss realized that when she had lept across the desk, the cloak had caught, pulling free of her shoulders, and that she was currently sitting astride Ruby, completely exposed. she blushed heavily, one arm curling around her chest to preserve some modesty. She managed to stand, rushing over to the lockers and grabbing her last clean set of clothes. She stepped into the side room, leaving behind a laughing Ruby.

When they finished cleaning up, they headed out, trying to find the rest of their team. After almost an hour of looking (if you could call it that. It was mostly wondering around, holding hands and calling out every once in a while), Ruby finally pulled out her scroll and called Yang. They found the other new pair in the look out tower, a wide, open room at the top of the structure. From there they had a perfect view of the surrounding plain.

The military base was in the middle of a small, deserted town. The outlying structers had been demolished by Grimm and the elements, and there was little to be seen of anything beyond the wall. Small groups of soldiers could be observed patrolling, or gathering materials from the surrounding wreckage to try and patch the southern wall, which looked like an insane builder's plaything.

5 miles to the west was a small expanse of forest, where they had been attacked. To the north and the east, the plains spread out into Grimm infested wild lands, while to the south, a small mountain range pushed up from the snow covered ground. Every way they looked, small groups of Grimms could be seen wandering through the badlands.

A group of elephantines were marching single file into the forest, stripping leaves off the trees. A smaller group of Blood Claws ran along the plains, achieving impressive speeds in the process.

"So," Yang said. Nobody responded. "things happened yesterday."
Weiss rolled her eyes, but Blake and Ruby laughed.
"I'd say that's a bit of an understatement, sis."
"No kidding."
"Dolt."
Yang said nothing, just looking out over the landscape. Then her face lit up.
"Oh, hey, we were supposed to be receiving reinforcements today. Another group of hunters.
This caught the others' attention.
"When did you hear this?" Ruby said.

"Jaune caught up with me the day we got here, after you had your meltdown (Ruby let out a indignant grunt, but Yang ignored it). They're called ZWLB, although their individual names weren't mentioned. They're supposed to be here today."
"Are they vets or something?"

Yang shook her head. "No, graduates, Fresh out of Beacon. Ozpin and the others are doing what they can to hold Vale together, but he thought we could use these guys. Jaune didn't tell me the whole story, though, and I don't know much about them."

"Why? Why send fresh students to go fight on the front lines? They'll be killed!" Ruby was furious. Ozpin had made a mistake. No matter what experience they had in school, there was no way they would be ready for fighting. As is, RWBY had almost died just trying to get here. "They shouldn't be here."

Blake shook her head, saying, "not according to Jaune. He says he met them, and they have proved their worth on the battle field. He's the reason they're coming here."

Both Ruby and Weiss were surprised. Jaune more than anyone should know that bringing new graduates into such an environment was lethal, either to them or whoever died trying to protect them.

Before Ruby could think, she turned and jumped off the tower roof. Had it been anyone else, it might have been an attempted suicide, but for Ruby it was just the fastest way to the ground floor. she unsheathed her weapon, unfurling it halfway, and fired it straight down, the high velocity bullets slamming into the ground far below, the recoil reducing her fall.

As she neared the bottom floor, she hurled Crescent Rose, which cut into the ground with it's hilt blade, and landed on the back of the scythe itself, scaring the hell out of a group of privates who, moments before, had been chilling in the sun, enjoying a rare moment of warmth.

Ruby didn't even give them a glance as she raced inside, pushing through the double doors and sprinting across the atrium. She slid to a stop in front of the door to the war room, and kicked it open.

"Just what in the he-" was as far as she got before a pair of naked blades pressed against her throat, and someone yelled "STOP!"

Ruby was frozen in the doorway, a tall male faunus standing in front of her. Behind him were 2 female faunus' and a male human. Behind them were spread the members of team JNPR. And the faunus before her had twin swords pressed against her jugulars.

The faunus snarled, then said in a deep voice, "do you know her, Jaune?"

"Yes, she is a guest here, and I would much appreciate you lowering your weapons."

The man snorted, then, with a flourish, sheathed his swords and stepped back. Ruby was wary. He had a haunted look in his eyes, the kind that only appeared when a person had been utterly and completely broken. She could feel part of his pain in his movements, his speech. The others still looked wary. When she had burst in, all 4 of the newcomers had drawn weapons.

The human had drawn a spear from somewhere, which had a glowing red tip. The 2 faunus had drawn similar(ish) weapons. One had a pair of Elbow Blades, or Tonfas in their native language. The ritual weapons used by the southern tribes of the world, they were built more for defense than offense. The other had a set of unique katars, an interesting wrist weapon that looked like brass knuckles on steroids.

They sheathed there weapons as well, and relaxed as if nothing had happened. Ruby was shaken, her well thought out speech flushed from her mind at the sudden interruption. Jaune had the nerve to look slightly miffed as he asked her, "is there something you need, Ruby? I'm a little busy at the moment."

Ruby suddenly remembered why she had come here, and said, "I heard you called for another hunter team. You should know as well as anyone that bringing fresh graduates to the front is a horrible idea!"

"Ruby-" he tried to say, but she wasn't finished.

"Any inexperienced youths will just be a nuisance here, and I will not have anymore people die because they weren't prepared for this. How could you bring students out into this war? Isn't it bad enough that we have to be here at all?"

Throughout her brief speech, several different emotions flashed across the faces of the 4 newcomers. One seamed to be expressing pity, which just pissed Ruby off. Another, the human, looked indignant, while the female cat faunus (who was disturbingly similar to Blake, except with auburn hair with black stripes) appeared to be bored. The one that really got on her nerves, though, was the male cat faunus, who looked amused by her arguments.

"If you have such a problem with them being here, why don't you tell them to go home, then? They're standing right in front of you." Jaune said it with a rather scary looking smile, made all the worse by his scar.

Ruby was struck with silence as she took another look at the 4 people who moments before had been ready to kill her. They did not have the feel of students. She remembered how she had been right out of school. Even at Beacon, they only taught you so much. What missions they sent you on where generally pretty straight forward and simple, and, while dangerous, they were hardly more than an endurance challenge.

This group had real world experience. Although Ruby would never admit it, their reaction to her intrusion was impressive.

"If your the new team, would you explain why you are here?"

"Because you general asked us to be," the human responded. His cocky air and tone was really pushing Ruby's patience.

The rest of her team entered then, almost as abruptly as she had, and once again, the newcomers drew their weapons. This time, Ruby was able to observe. She was shocked to find that the female feline's weapons were pulled out of thin air.

"Relax, please. They are friends. I'm sure Ozpin has told you all about team RWBY. For you, this is team ZWLB. It seams their particular mix of letters stumped Ozpin."

Yang, Jaune, and the male faunus laughed. The others were either still on alert, or simply remaining silent.

"Hey, I'm Yang, the interrupter here is my little sister, Ruby, the white haired one is Weiss, and this one here is Blake. Nice to meacha!"
Yang's rather overstated greeting seamed to relax the room.
"So, why are they here, Jaune?"
Ruby wasn't as angry anymore, but she was still upset. She could tell that they were talented, and that they had resolve. If not for her ability to stop on a dime, she would have been decapitated coming through the door.
"They are here for two reasons. One, they are as skilled as anyone i have ever met, present company included, and come with a pre-Beacon streak of rather unpleasant nature. And two, because we need all the help we can get. I said yesterday that we had them on the run, but the attack proves quite the opposite. In fact, I think that attack was out of spite. I have a feeling there are spies here, which is why, currently, only the twelve of us are in this room."

"You may be ready to accept help from some fresh meat, but I need something more. I want to see what they can do."
"Ruby, be reasonable-"
Ruby turned to the male faunus, who was obviously the leader, and said "what are your names?"

He smiled, revealing four sharpened fangs along with his other teeth, and said "I will not give that information away freely. You say you don't want us here, because you don't want us hurt, but we don't know you. If there is a possibility of sabotage and spies, then we will keep to ourselves. Even Juane does not know our names, and he is the only one here that I trust."

Ruby went instantly cold. The whole room could feel it. However, before she could act on it, Weiss stepped forward. She placed one arm around Ruby's shoulders, then said, "how about this. Lets have a little contest."
The big faunus's eyes narrowed. "What kind of a contest?"
"We'll spar, wholeheartedly, no half assing. If we win, you tell us your names. If you win, I don't know, what would you want?"

The man seamed to think it over, but in all likely hood he had probably been thinking something similar. "If we win... I want her to explain her animosity towards us."

Weiss felt Ruby stiffen, and indeed, she herself reared at his words. Though they were spoken innocently enough, there was something about the way he said it that made the atmosphere drop another few degrees.
Ruby simply said "fine."
She turned and swept out of the room, Weiss's arm still around her.