Act 2
The Vytal Festival

The sun steadily set on a clear day, turning the sky a breathtaking orange. From a cliff overlooking the sea, the sun could be viewed at such an angle that it seemed to halo around a stone tablet. Upon the stone tablet was an inscription, Thus Kindly I Scatter. This marked the memorial for Summer Rose.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Footsteps crushed the leaves underneath heavy black boots. A cape billowed in the breeze as the tall hooded figure approached the memorial marker. Once at the foot of the slab, the figure lowered her hood and opened silver eyes, staring down the stone.

You sure you're up for this?

Reaper hesitated as she read the name on the headpiece. Shut up, Ember, Reaper mentally scolded her forced life-long mental companion. Another sigh of hesitation before the scythe master opened her real mouth.

"Hey, mo-… umm… hey, Summer…" Reaper shifted her weight, visibly uncomfortable. "This is more Ruby's thing… I just… I don't even know what I'm doing here…."

The black clad huntress turned to walk away, and managed to take a step away before stopping. "I thought this would turn into something. Like I would find some resolution. But all I get is a feeling that I don't belong here…" Silver eyes settled on another headstone nearby, this one reading Yang Xiao Long. "I don't belong… I'm sure if you were still here, you wouldn't even recognize me as your daughter. But you're not here anymore, are you? And that's the whole point…"

Reaper turned back around, more confident in her presence here. "I don't think I'll be coming back here again. Any time soon, at least. Ruby never got her chance to say a final goodbye… So I'll pass it along for her. Goodbye… mom…"

Reaper felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked back at the hand's owner, Weiss Schnee, her chaperone for this trip. "It's okay. I'm sure there is still a piece of Ruby, somewhere deep inside."

Reaper smiled and shook her head, taking Weiss's hand off her shoulder. "I know what you're trying to say, and I appreciate what you're trying to do, but… I don't think so. I'm not sure I would even want that to be true."

"Why not?" Weiss asked.

"Why do you think I am the way I am in the first place?" Reaper looked down at her hands. She could imagine all the blood on them. "Ruby couldn't handle what she was doing. Do you think she could hold the weight of her sins? My past would crush her, and you know it."

Weiss's face fell. "You really think there's no chance?"

Reaper laughed softly. "No Weiss, I don't think there is. Though I do appreciate you finally being open with those thoughts."

"I… I'm sorry." The heiress tried to recover.

"It's fine." Reaper assured. "I understand."

Another hand attempted to comfort Reaper, this time lower on her arm. Considering it was Neopolitan's hand this time, that may have been as far as she could reach. Reaper smiled and tossed her arm around her small lover and pulled her in. Weiss couldn't help but smile, seeing a rare moment of seeming innocence and purity between the two rambunctious ex-criminals.

Until Neo jumped in place a little, and Reaper smirked. Weiss sighed, recognizing the signs of Reaper pinching a choice location on her lover's lower body. "Like this is the appropriate place for that?" Weiss scolded.

"For what?" Reaper tried to play innocent, but soon was pinched herself. Neo made it a lot more obvious to boot.

"That." Was Weiss's response. "Can you two at least try to tone it down? We have another reason to be here today, remember?"

"Right…" Reaper nodded. Neo nodded as well.

Bark!

The sound got Neo's attention immediately, and she turned to see one of the most adorable creatures she had ever had hope to lay eyes on. She broke away from Reaper to see the little dog that had bounded up to them. She picked the dog up in her arms and gave her lover a look that said, can I keep it!?

Reaper giggled, (Actually giggled, Weiss thought in amazement). "I already do." Reaper told Neo. "That's Zwei!"

Neo looked as though all her dreams had come true in an instant. She looked over Zwei with newfound admiration. She could feel Zwei scanning her, judging her, almost as if deciding if she was good enough to be with his master. A happy bark and a nuzzle told her he seemed to agree.

Weiss watched, slightly jealous, while Zwei and Neo hit it off. "Reaper, if Zwei is here, he can't be far behind."

Reaper's face steeled over. "I know."

"Are you ready for this?" Weiss asked, genuinely concerned.

"As ready as I will ever be. Let's get this over with."

Weiss nodded and the two watched the tree line. Soon enough, out of the brush, a newcomer strode. The man looked around and his eyes quickly feel on Reaper's. The two locked their vision, and the silence was palpable.

"Hello, Taiyang." Reaper greeted.

Taiyang smirked. "Hello, Ruby."

The scythe master sighed. "That's still not my name. It's even legal now."

"And I'm still your father. No matter what your name is." Taiyang pointed out.

"Right… Sorry, Taiy-" Reaper caught herself. "I mean… sorry, dad."

Taiyang smiled and approached his daughter, taking her into an embrace. "Long time no see, kiddo."

Reaper hugged back tentatively. "I don't think we've seen each other since Ruby started her second year at Beacon, after the festival and the-… the funeral."

Taiyang broke away and looked his daughter in the eye. "You mean since you started your second year."

"Dad." Reaper warned.

Taiyang raised his hands in surrender. "All right, all right. Hey, not even Reaper can blame an old man for trying, right?"

"I suppose not." Reaper admitted, feeling less and less anxious as the meeting drew on.

Taiynag looked around and found Neo, still holding Zwei. The energy in the air changed as he rounded on the small ex-criminal. "So, you're the one? Neopolitan, right?"

Neo nodded.

Taiyang looked between her and Zwei. "Given everything that's happen, and your current relationship with my daughter, I really want to hate you…" he admitted.

"But…?" Reaper encouraged hopefully.

Sigh "But…" Taiyang relented. "Zwei is a pretty good judge of character, and he seems to be just fine with you… So, how about I keep it to a… polite dislike, let's say."

'Polite dislike?' Neo slowly signed with one hand.

"With cautiously considered… promotions, so to speak." Taiyang finished.

Neo nodded, understanding. When it came to Reaper's father, she would take what she could get.

"Do you have a place to stay after the festival?" Taiyang asked her. She shook her head no, and the aged huntsmen looked between all three girls, thinking. "Fine. Weiss, I'll be taking Neo over the break as well."

Weiss breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Thank you, Mr. Xiao Long."

"If only to keep an eye on her." The paternal figure quickly covered.

"Of course." Reaper smiled, smelling the bullshit all over that statement.

"So, when does the tournament start again?" Taiyang asked Weiss.

"In a few days. We'll be heading back to Beacon in a few hours, then a day of rest, a day of training, and another day of rest, before the tournament begins." Weiss answered.

"A few hours?"

"Well, I figured you may want to have a dinner with your daughter." Weiss smiled knowingly.

Taiyang smiled about a mile wide, before pointing to Neo. "Does she have to come too?"

"Dad!" Reaper scolded.

"Hey! Baby steps, all right? I already accepted her… a little…" Taiyang shrugged.

"And yes, she does. She is under my supervision still, same as Reaper." Weiss told him.

"Alright." Taiyang turned to his daughter. "Reaper… let's go home."

Dawn broke on the day of the tournament. The rising sun lit up WBRN dorm, and a feline faunus was quietly rousted by the change in lighting. She sat up carefully as to not disturb the heiress that slept next to her, and swung her leg out of bed. She frowned as she laid eyes on the metal cap on her stump.

"Are you okay, honey?"

Blake turned and smiled, seeing her girlfriend sitting up. The bedhead was an adorable contrast to the normal standards Weiss kept up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just… missing simpler times I suppose." Blake replied.

Weiss reached out slowly, ready to pull away if Blake seemed hesitant. She wasn't, and Weiss's fingers made contact with the metal plate. "Creature and Roman are still locked up, and apparently, Mimic is making excellent progress. We are in simpler times. We made it Blake. Maybe not intact, but it's finally all over."

Blake smiled. "Be careful what you say."

"Oh, cheer up, would you?" Weiss scolded.

"Fine, fine. We have things to do today, after all." Blake kissed Weiss's cheek.

The heiress looked over her girlfriend, and her eyes strayed from her stump to the sleek black prosthetic nearby. "Can… I help you?"

"Weiss, I don't need help putting it on." Blake reminded her. The faunus didn't enjoy feeling crippled.

"I know, and I don't mean to say you can't… I just…" Weiss stumbled over her words.

Blake sighed and found her smile again. "All right…"

Weiss picked the piece up carefully and slowly aligned all the connectors while Blake held up her stump. The heiress was taking longer than Blake could put it on herself, but she didn't say anything. Weiss clamped on the final latches and twisted the last bit into place, connecting it to her girlfriend's aura. "It's on right?"

"Yes. Thank you, Weiss." Blake noticed Weiss's hands lingering high on her leg, past where metal ended and skin began. The faunus's breath hitched. Is she…?

When Weiss looked back to her hands and noticed where they were, she quickly flustered and pulled them away. Face burning red, she muttered a quick apology before rushing into the bathroom. Blake sighed. Damn it… It's been over a year… her shyness on the matter is cute, but sometimes I wish she would take a que from one of my books…

It was true Blake had started to feel pent-up for a while now. At first, 'taking her time in the shower' had been enough, as she noted Weiss's discomfort. The heiress was pure in more ways than one, and exceedingly nervous and hesitant on anything 'dirty'. Even some heavy flirting was beyond Weiss's comfort zone. But it was getting harder and harder, and she wished her girlfriend would just surprise her one night with lingerie and toys. And maybe a whip. And maybe I should consider different reading material, Blake realized suddenly.

"One might say you do it to yourself, 'not-so-ninja-of-love'." Reaper teased.

Blake whipped around and stared at the dark dressed woman, who was sitting at the desk and enjoying her drink. "How… long have you been awake?"

"Longer than you and Weiss. You guys are so blind when you get all lovey dovey." Reaper replied, and took another sip.

"Is it really that obvious…?" Blake asked.

"To me, but you've seen me and Neo." Reaper answered.

"Unfortunately…" Blake's mind bombarded her with unwanted images of when she and Weiss walked in on the two ex-criminals making a sweaty mess of their bed a few nights ago.

"Besides, Weiss doesn't think about you that way." Reaper told her.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked, nervously.

"This is going to sound weird, but she loves you too much." Reaper explained. "She doesn't want to ruin things with senseless sex."

"But it wouldn't be senseless, and it would do the exact opposite of 'ruin things'." Blake argued.

"And I absolutely agree." Reaper told her. "But the only reference she has to sex is my and Neo's admittedly rough nights. It certainly doesn't look like love-making from the outside, I'm sure."

"More like hate-fucking." Blake responded not-so-subtley, her mind playing host to the disturbing images once more.

"That's only when Ember's in control." Reaper confessed.

"Wait, Neo does it with both of you?" Blake asked, surprised.

"Are you really surprised?" The scythe master raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, yeah…" The faunus confessed. "I keep forgetting that with you, Neo basically is dating two people in the same person."

"It certainly keeps things interesting." Reaper smiled. "Listen, Blake, the last thing you want to do with Weiss is press this issue. Let her come around, or she'll just get nervous and put it off even longer."

"How long do I have to wait?" Blake asked, not thinking she would get an answer.

"Well… her showers are getting longer as well." Reaper pointed out. "It's really becoming an inconvenience, hence my early wake up. I had to shower before you two."

Blake looked to the bathroom door and realized her friend was right. She kept her smile hidden.

"Well, I'm going to get to breakfast." Reaper killed the last of her glass and stood up. "Neo should be ready to go soon. She woke late and decided to steal JNPR's shower."

"See you soon." Blake waved her off as she left.

Across the hall, she was about to knock when the door opened, revealing her multi-colored lover. "Well, just who I came to see. It's almost like unwrapping a gift early…"

Neo smirked. 'I'm even colorful like wrapping, eh?'

The opening was too wide for Reaper not to take it. "So, when do I get to unwrap you?"

"At least close the door before you do… stuff!" Jaune shouted from inside the room.

Reaper's mind fired an immediate idea and she strode past Neo and into the room. "Hey, can I steal Nora?"

"What? Why?" Jaune asked.

"Stuff." Reaper told him. "Pretty please?"

"Hey, he's not the boss of me!" Nora interjected, jumping up from her bed.

"As team leader I am, and I will restrict you if this is another prank idea!" Jaune shouted. Pyrrha shuddered, images of cheese wheels in her mind.

"It's not another prank, I promise!" The ex-criminal insisted.

Pyrrha and Ren watched nervously. Jaune sighed. "Fine. Take her."

"Wooo!" Nora shouted, bounding out of the room. Once they were out of earshot of JNPR dorm, she asked, "So, what's the prank?"

"Just… bear with me on this…"

By the time they reached the festival grounds, Nora was filled in on Reaper's plan and one hundred percent on board. "Thanks, Nora. Now, I gotta meet with my team mates in at the stadium… Never know when we'll be on! Ready Neo?"

Always. Neo nodded vigorously, and the pair took off for the arena.

It's here! Welcome back, and i hope this will be worth the wait! The holidays kind of slowed down my writing (as i played through all the Mass Effects for the first time, and hung out with family, of course) but i've been powering through and finished Act two! six chapters over the next six weeks of tournament goodness! And other kinds of goodness... Don't forget to Review, Follow, and Favorite!