Act 4
Fall

Nighttime, on the rooftops of Vale, a chase ensued. Two ex-criminals turned huntresses in training were chasing a valued target. Reaper Rose, formerly known as Ruby Rose, as well as Neopolitan were hot on the heels of Roman Torchwick.

Finally, spoke the voice inside Reaper's head, Ember.

This moment was months in the making. After being told to lay off by Winter, of course they didn't leave it alone. But that didn't matter. None of it did, not even the events leading here. Because this was the end. She had him now. And Torchwick must have known this by now as well, he seemed to be panicking.

The pair managed to run the man up against a wall. His choices were to try and jump down 20 stories and likely break something vital, or try to run through the huntresses. Or give himself up, of course. Reaper's smile couldn't be killed as she stopped up in front of him.

"I have you now, asshole." The announced proudly.

Roman turned around, unable to keep a smug grin off his face. "Do you now?"

"What are you smiling for?" Reaper asked him. "You're finished!"

Roman only continued to smirk and nodded behind Reaper. Before she could turn around to investigate, she felt a sharp pain to the back of her knee, and then a petite foot struck her across the head, taking her to the ground. Her vision blurred, and by the time it refocused, she saw Neo standing behind Torchwick. "Wha… Neo?"

"Sorry, Reaper. Looks like you're not catching me today." Torchwick teased. "Or ever."

"Neo…" Reaper ignored the criminal, looking to her dark lover. "What are you doing? What about us? Keeping me in line?"

Neo silently giggled and looked to Reaper like the fallen huntress was stupid. You really think I wanted your pathetic life?

"You don't really think she would betray me so easily?" Torchwick shook his head. "She's been in your life for what? Two years? We have an entire criminal life together."

'To be fair, it was fun while it lasted.' Neo signed. 'But now that Roman is out, why wouldn't I return to the life I truly love?'

"Neo…" Reaper felt a different kind of pain. One she wasn't sure she was still capable of experiencing. "Don't… please… I need you…"

Another silent giggle. 'Need me? You are pathetic.' Neo placed her heel on Reaper's neck. 'You were a toy to me, nothing more. And now I've outgrown you.' She concluded her sentence with a sharp twist of her heel…

… and Reaper woke up in a cold sweat. "A nightmare… just a nightmare…" She shakily spoke to herself. Reaper took a look at her surroundings, re-orienting herself with reality. She was safe in her father's home on Patch, with a sleeping, and very naked, Neopolitan in bed next to her. It was only a few weeks since they left Vale, and they hadn't been chasing Roman at all.

Reaper stood and dressed lightly, just enough to walk through the house to the bathroom. She washed her face off in the sink, still trying to forget the nightmare. "What the hell was with that, anyway?"

…

"Ember?"

…

"Humph." Reaper scoffed. "Not like Neo would do that anyway. She wants this. She promised."

She did spend how long with Torchwick? Why wouldn't a survivalist play the winning side until the time was right?

"She speaks!" Reaper proclaimed. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

…

"Fine. Be that way." Reaper scoffed and turned away from the mirror. Ember had been surprisingly quiet lately, barely speaking a word since before Reaper was discharged from the hospital in Vale. What little she did say usually did little to comfort Reaper's thoughts. It's not really possible… is it?

Not trusting sleep, Reaper went into the living room and turned on the TV, keeping herself awake by making fun of early morning infomercials. The sun rose sooner than she thought, and a barely dressed Neo was soon waking past her on the way to the kitchen, a look of concern on her face. It wasn't the first time this week she found Reaper dodging sleep for whatever reason.

Reaper sat there, thinking and biting her lip. She decided on a course of action and made her way into the kitchen, waiting for a break in Neo's cooking.

"Hey…" She nervously asked, "can I ask you a stupid question?"

Neo raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"You… want to be here, right? You want to be with me?" Reaper asked her. "You wouldn't return to… y'know?"

The look of return returned to Neo's face. 'Does this have to do with why you're not sleeping?' She signed.

"Just… please answer…" Reaper was visibly nervous.

'Of course I want to be here.' Neo signed leaning across the counter to kiss Reaper. 'Do you really think I would be doing any of this if I didn't want to?'

Reaper returned the kiss, and Neo could feel her relief. "I'm sorry." Reaper told her. "Bad dreams is all. I don't know what's up with me… Breakfast smells good."

Neo smirked and flipped her hair on the way back to the stove. Of course it does!

Reaper smiled. I don't know why we were worried.

…

Ember? Come on, admit it! You were just paranoid.

…

Ember?

…

Whatever…

Weiss was sitting on the porch of Blake's home in Menagerie. The size of the place surprised Weiss. She never expected Blake to belong to the wealthiest faunus family on the island. While she was enjoying herself, she was surprised by a form draping themselves across her back and nuzzling her neck.

"I thought you were still asleep?" Weiss smiled, resting her head on Blake's.

"I think you've lost track of time." Blake told her. "I've been up for a while now. Mom made breakfast."

"Then I suggest we not keep her waiting." Weiss kissed Blake's cheek. "Let's go, love."

The pair made it down to the table where Kali was waiting with a smile on her face. "Hello Weiss, dear!"

"Good morning, Kali." Weiss smiled. She had gotten on first name basis with Blake's mother very quickly. Blake's father took a little longer, but she had gotten there by now. "Where is Ghira?"

"He's in discussion with the elders, about your ideas." Kali told the white swordswoman.

"I see." Weiss was nervous about this. Her entire future and whether she could bring a fight to her father rested on this meeting then. It seemed the entire island was covered in Dust veins just below the surface. To mine them would require the already crowded living spaces to shrink further, or a mass relocation to another area. But Ghira believed Weiss now, thanks mostly to Blake, and Weiss's interaction with her father. He was confident he could use her in his arguments, an ace in the hole.

"Don't worry, Dear." Kali smiled. "I'm sure it will all work out. Now for breakfast!"

The trio enjoyed their meal, and near the end Ghira had come back. He stepped the door with a serious look on his face, but Weiss had come to realize that's pretty much normal. "How did it go?" She asked.

Ghira looked to Weiss. "You're still a student, so you can't begin a business." He answered.

"Well, yeah…" Weiss's face fell.

"However," Ghira continued. "This actually works in our favor. The council plans to petition Mistral for a portion of Anima to create a new kingdom on. Best of all, we plan to do it in a way that keeps our plans for mining Menagerie quiet from Atlas. And they cannot deny the business acumen of a Schnee. By the time you graduate, they will be able to approve your command of the Menagerie mining efforts."

Weiss couldn't believe her ears. Blake spoke her thoughts, "I'm surprised they're risking a Schnee in control of the mine."

"They know my opinion of Schnee's, and trust I would not make such a decision lightly." Ghira told them. "Just focus on your schooling for now. By the time you graduate, the faunus should have their own kingdom, and the island will be free to mine. Besides, the council agrees we need to take some kind of risk, or the faunus will always be socially stagnant. We need to earn true respect."

"That makes sense." Weiss nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Belladonna."

"I told you, you can call me Ghira." The man smiled. "You are helping the faunus in ways most people are afraid to, not to mention you're a Schnee. As long as you don't make me regret trusting you, I will owe you a great debt."

"It's really no bother." Weiss smiled, though she knew one way she might use such a debt. Something involving rings and a certain cat-eared cutie.

"Speaking of school, isn't it back in session in just a week now?" Kali asked.

"Yup. One week, and it's back to the dorm." Weiss answered.

"Back to Reaper and Neo" Blake reminded her, making her girlfriend groan.

"At least it's almost over for them." Weiss admitted. "They've come a long way…"

The day arrived, and Taiyang waved Reaper and Neo off at the airship station. The pair enjoyed the journey well enough, but Neo noticed something was off about Reaper the whole time. She tried to determine what was wrong, but Reaper wasn't acting out of place. At least, not until they landed on Beacon campus.

"Reaper! Neo!" Blake greeted them both.

"Welcome back! You two stay out of trouble?" Weiss teased.

"Can't really get into trouble on Patch, Weiss." Reaper answered.

Neo raised an eyebrow. 'She means to say we simply enjoyed ourselves.' Neo quickly signed with a smile, and Reaper's face made it look as though she just realized Weiss was only joking.

"Right!" Reaper tried to recover. "And each other." She suggested.

Weiss and Blake shrugged it off, but Neo noticed the small irregularity in the event. She pulled back a little, taking Reaper with her. 'Are you all right?'

"Of course I am!" Reaper answered, a little too quickly. "Why do you ask?"

Neo only raised her eyebrow in response. Something was definitely off. But it seemed Reaper either wasn't willing to tell, or didn't even notice it herself. Neo deeply hoped it was the latter.

"Teaaaam WBRN!" Shouted an excited voice, cutting Neo's thoughts off. Team JNPR had arrived, and went to greet their friends, Nora being the loudest of course. She ran right up to Reaper. "Hey! Hey! How's Ember!? Can we fight!?"

"Nora? Nora!? Calm down!" Reaper had to push the hyper woman off her. "Ember… is fine. How about we save it for Goodwitch's class, huh?"

"Oh, fiiine." Nora kicked the ground, the rest of her team finally catching up.

"Speaking of fighting, how's your hand doing?" Weiss asked.

Reaper flexed her left hand. Underneath her glove was a criss-cross of surgery scars, with one visible on her exposed index finger. She kept her discomfort to herself. "It's fine! I'm ready to fight!"

"Really?" Weiss doubted.

"Yeah!"

Weiss crossed her arms. "Prove it."

"What?" Reaper stalled.

"Prove it. Go ahead, punch me." Weiss called Reaper's bluff.

Reaper hesitated, thinking over her answer. "Are you sure you want me to punch you?"

"I'm one year of schooling away from being a fully graduated huntress. My aura can handle one punch, even from you."

Reaper flexed her left fist again, psyching herself up. You just gotta punch her, and not react to the pain. How much can there be, anyway? "Alright. Don't say I didn't warn you!"

The scythe woman wound up and threw her left fist towards Weiss, who flared her aura up at the area of impact to avoid bruising. A few things happened when that fist connected. One, Weiss nearly fell to the ground by the force of it. And two, a red-eyed Reaper nearly fell to her knees as well, gripping her left hand close. It turned out there was a lot more pain than Reaper anticipated.

And for the second time in recent memory, Neo slapped Reaper across the head. Her disappointment was twofold, due to the fact Reaper's hand would take even longer to heal properly now, and the fact that slapping her dark lover was becoming a regular occurrence.

Reaper rubbed her check where Neo hit with a frown. "Not sure I deserved that one…" She pouted.

"So these are the friends that push you forward?" A familiar voice spoke up from behind the group. Reaper turned to face Matthew Hope. "You punch one and get slapped by the other? Those are weird team dynamics…"

"It was a one time thing." Weiss assured.

"Speak for yourself…" Reaper continued to pout.

"And you are?" Blake asked.

"My name is Matthew Hope." He introduced with a short bow.

"Hope?" Weiss asked. "As in Valerie Hope?"

"My sister." He nodded. He turned to smile at Reaper. "I made it!"

"You did." She smiled back. "Now just keep it going."

"You two met before?" Weiss asked, putting the pieces together.

"A few days after my surgery." Reaper answered. "He's here under the Rehabilitative Custody program."

"Is that right?" Weiss smiled. "Good luck to you. You seem like a good kid at heart. Can't be more difficult than these two."

"Hey!" Reaper retorted, followed by Neo flipping Weiss off.

"My point exactly." Weiss continued to smile. "Welcome to Beacon."

The girls eventually made it to the dorm and decided to settle in. There was one topic burning a hole in Reaper's head, however. One she made bluntly clear the second WBRN was alone in their room.

"So, what are we going to do about Torchwick?" Reaper asked the group.

Weiss appeared uneasy. "There's been no sign of him forever. Winter hasn't seemed to make any progress."

"She has a tracker." Reaper pointed out. "Is she even trying?"

"That… I don't know." Weiss admitted.

Neo clapped her hands to get everybody's attention, and signed, 'I think we should leave it alone for now.'

Remember the nightmare…

Reaper shrugged off Ember's comment, not liking the implications. "What do you mean? Why?"

'We have broken the rules of our Custody so many times now,' Neo pointed out, 'and it's always been overlooked because of the results and Ozpin's help covering us.'

"Winter has a bone to pick with you especially." Blake agreed. "If she learns we're investigating on our own, after she told us explicitly not to, I don't know what even Ozpin could do to help."

It makes sense Ember.

Of course it does. She would plan it that way.

Now you're just being paranoid.

Aren't you?

"Well, has that really stopped us before?" Reaper asked them.

"I'm letting it stop us now." Weiss told her. "I'm really putting my foot down this time. You two have one school year left before you're free women. I won't let you jeopardize what you have worked so hard to obtain, so close to the end."

Reaper took a deep breath. "Fine. I guess that makes sense. But if he ends up coming after us-"

"We'll discuss it when, and if, it happens." Weiss interjected.

The scythe master nodded and went to the hidden fridge to make her drink. "You want one Neo?"

Neo nodded, and the two sat down with drinks in hand. Reaper raised her. "To finally having one year where we don't get into trouble."

Neo nodded and smiled, looking forward to finally having a peaceful year as a school girl.