Chapter 3

Why hello there stranger. Come here often? O-Oh…you don't? Well then…Anyways hey guys. I'm doing my best to put these out in a timely fashion. I'm not sure how I feel about this one yet, but hopefully it's not terrible. I appreciate all the reviews. I hope you enjoy chapter 3!

Weiss narrowed her eyes at Nix, glancing back and forth between Alear and her.

Blake had to say something. "Weiss please-"

"Shut up, Blake," Weiss said as she pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "When were you planning on enlightening the rest of us Alear?"

He shrugged. "To be honest, I thought knowing that I knew Blake would be good enough. Doesn't look that way anymore now, does it?"

"No it doesn't," answered Weiss with obvious irritation. "If you expect us to trust you, especially me, you need to start talking."

Alear glanced at Blake and she shrugged, unsure of what he should do herself. "What do you want to know?" He said after a moment of thought. He immediately regretted it.

"Everything," demanded the Schnee heiress. "Start from the beginning and make your way forward."

"Now hold on a minute!" exclaimed Blake. "It's a bit much to make him tell us his life story don't you think?"

Weiss glared at her. "Under normal circumstances, yes. But he was part of an organization that's currently waging a full-blown war on my family, so I think it's appropriate in this situation."

Blake was about to argue further when Alear cut her off. "It's alright Blake. If this is what she needs in order to trust me, then so be it." He took a seat on Blake's bed. Blake sat next to him while the team JNPR and the rest of RWBY sat on the floor in front of them. Nix sat with the others as well, eager to hear how he will tell his tale.

Alear sighed and averted his gaze as he let his wolf ears unfold, no longer being hidden by his hair. They now pointed straight up. He was, like Blake at first, afraid of how everyone would react. He couldn't meet anyone's gaze. Blake placed her hand over his in an attempt to comfort him.

There was collective gasp from the room, something he figured would happen. Alear didn't really expect them to hate him for being a Faunus, but being ashamed of his heritage was ingrained into him at the labor camp.

Ruby and Nora suddenly beamed at him. "Oh my god... their… so… CUTE!" they yelled in unison. Nora proceeded to try and touch them while Ren held her back.

"Calm down, Nora," stated the usually quiet teenager. "It's rude to touch something without permission." Alear nodded his thanks.

Nix noticed Ruby sneaking up behind Alear while all this was happening, but decided not to say anything. The little red head was about to amuse her greatly after all.

Ruby threw herself against Alear's back and starting playing vigorously with his wolf ears. "They're so FLUFFY!" she exclaimed, clearly a little too excited. Much like Blake, he couldn't control the sounds he made when someone rubbed his ears. He closed his eyes and starting lightly groaning as the red-hooded teen scratched his ears.

"Aw! No fair! No fair!" yelled Nora.

Blake did her best to get Ruby off of him, but Yang quickly attacked her, removing her bow and starting to scratch her own animal ears. Now Blake too was immobilized. Both of the Faunus rolled on their stomachs next to each other on Blake's bed, while the two sisters continued their diabolical attack.

"Ruby, stop acting like a child!" scolded Weiss. "He needs to be able to talk."

Ruby pouted a little and then lightened up her rubbing enough for Alear to speak clearly. She refused to entirely stop though.

"Anyway…" started Alear. "as you can see, I'm a wolf Faunus."

"A wolf? I don't see very many of your kind," said Jaune's partner, speaking up for the first time.

"That's because there aren't any others," said Alear flatly.

Pyrrha was confused. "What do you mean there aren't any others? What about your parents?"

Alear sighed. "I haven't seen my mother since I was six, and the last place I saw her…well let's just say it's a less than pleasant location. I can only assume she's dead."

"But you don't know for sure," cut in Ruby. "She could still be out there."

Alear smiled grimly up at her. "If you saw the kind of place we were at, you wouldn't be so optimistic."

Weiss lost her patience. "Then why don't you tell us."

"I was getting there," replied Alear. "I was born into a Faunus labor camp. Hundreds of Faunus slaves were forced to mine dust, all day and night. The guards worked us until we either dropped dead from exhaustion or were sold to another camp. Food was scarce and fights were common." Everyone looked at him with sad eyes. "I'll let you guys figure out whose family ran these camps." Alear looked at Weiss as he said this. She looked like she was ready to tear someone's throat out. She knew her father was a terrible person, but she never wanted to accept he was capable of brutality on such a scale.

She took a deep breath and calmed down. "You said you were separated when you were six." Alear nodded. "What happened?"

Alear's eye became distant. "To answer that, you'll need to know about dear old dad." He bit his lip absent-mindedly. "Being the last of my kind…was supposed to be my mother's burden. She was adamant about not placing that kind of grief on her child. Unfortunately, the overseer at our particular camp had different plans."

Pyrrha gasped. Ruby was about to cry. Even Ren, who was usually emotionless, looked depressed. Nora was hugging him, teary-eyed.

"The overseer…" started Jaune. "He…"

"Yes," answered Alear. "He forced himself on my mother and thus I was conceived." He grinned weakly and switched to sitting cross-legged. "After I was born, my mother did whatever he asked, just to make sure I was safe from his grasp." Blake had never heard this part of Alear's life. It broke her heart to hear about everything he's been through. She could somewhat relate and couldn't help but wrap her arms around him from behind, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Oh?" thought Nix. "When did those two get so close?"

Yang was now coddling Ruby in the corner of the bed.

Alear resumed speaking. "When I turned six, he decided my presence was an annoyance and sent me off to another camp. That was the last time I ever saw her."

"What then?" asked Weiss, starting to become emotionally invested in the story. It was definitely a first for the normally cold and secluded heiress.

"I was a slave for another six years, until one day the White Fang came and liberated the camp. All the Faunus there were given a choice. They were free to leave if they wanted, but we were also offered the chance to join them and make a difference for our people. Most of us joined. After experiencing the oppression for so long, I think most just wanted revenge."

"Did you want revenge?" Weiss asked calmly.

"Honestly?" Alear asked. Weiss nodded. "At first, hell yeah. I wanted to march back to the camp where my mother was and rip that overseer's heart out in front him. I wanted to storm the Schnee estate and burn it to the ground for what your father put us through." Weiss's expression become like that of a sad puppy, while everyone else was shocked at the savage picture he had painted. "Hey, look at me, Ice Queen." After a moment's hesitation she complied. "I'm not like how the White Fang is today. I would never hurt innocents to satisfy my own desires. Sure I hate your father, but I don't blame you or any other member of the Schnee family."

Weiss sniffled, trying to hold in her emotions. "If my father did all that, what would you do if you met him?"

"I would bring him to justice; bring to light all the terrible deeds he's committed. I'm not going to lie, I do have an urge to kill your father. It's only natural after all I've suffered at his hands, but I'd rather see him disgraced. I know this is hard for you to hear, and I'm sorry."

Nix was shocked at his words to say the least. Here was a former Faunus slave apologizing to a member of the family that enslaved him. "Alear, you're a strange one."

A single tear ran down the heiress's face. Alear untangled himself from Blake and wiped it gently away.

She realized what she was doing and quickly recomposed herself. "I know my father does terrible things to Faunus, but hearing it like this is just…it's a bit overwhelming."

Alear nodded in understanding. He looked Weiss and in the eyes, crystal blue meeting jade green. "Learn from him. Realize what he's done and most importantly, never become him."

"That's why I'm here," explained Weiss. "My father was not the beginning of our family and I refuse to let him be the end of it."

A glimmer of hope sparked inside Alear. "Maybe she will be able to change how her family operates. Maybe the future treatment of our people can change." His face lit up with a warm smile as he set back down on Blake's bed.

Ruby poked Alear's arm. "What happened next?" she asked innocently.

He looked to Blake and his smile widened. "Then I met Kitty Cat over here and we became such great friends." Blake rolled her eyes. "My life started looking up after that. My friend Adam trained me to fight, Blake and I started hanging out more, and hell I even got a girlfriend." He gestured to Nix. "Her sister in fact."

Nix bounced excitedly at the attention. "That's right! My big sister, Neo."

Yang stared at Nix, her eyes turning red as she made the connection. "Your sister…is Neo?!" she yelled.

"Yang, calm down!" pleaded Ruby.

Alear and Nix looked at each other with confused expressions. "You know Neo?" asked Alear.

"I HATE THAT LITTLE-"

Yang was cut off by Ruby. "Not so loud!"

"Calm her down while I explain," cut in Blake.

Ruby quickly led the angry blonde out of the room. Shortly after, Yang poked her head back in the room. "YOUR EX IS A BITCH!" Ruby promptly yanked her back in the hallway.

Everyone was silent for what seemed like an eternity, until Alear's laughter broke the silence.

Nix put on a pouty face. "That's not funny. Don't you care about her?" Blake's heart jumped at the question and she wasn't sure why, but she really wanted him to say no.

Alear laughed harder. "Are you serious?" She nodded. His expression turned blank. "I did, but now? All I feel is contempt."

Nix frowned. "How can you say that? You guys were together for 2 years!"

Alear huffed. "It's kind of hard to care for someone once they leave you for dead."

"But you don't know she did that. She cares about you!"

"Yes, I do. You weren't there. Don't talk like you were." He removed his jacket and shirt, exposing the scar. Nix hadn't seen it yet. She grew a horrified expression. "Your sister sat and watched as Adam carved me up like I was a Grimm. She didn't say, or do, anything as he burned my insides with his aura." He returned his clothes to his chest and walked over to Nix, moving his face inches from hers. "So don't you dare tell me she cares about me."

"So that's it? You hate her?" Nix called after him as he sat back down.

He sighed. "I don't know. We didn't exactly get a lot of closure." Nix nodded in understanding. "A part of me will always care for her, that's just natural after being with someone for so long." Blake's heart sank. She couldn't control these bubbling emotions. "But I can say with absolute certainty that I will never be with her again. So I'm sorry, Nix. I won't end up being your big brother like you wanted."

Blake smiled to herself, while Nix's face grew hot with embarrassment. "I told you that in confidence. You're not supposed to tell people!"

"Awwww that's adorable!" exclaimed Nora, proceeding to hug Nix. Nix scowled and gave Alear a death glare. He smiled sweetly in response.

"Alright, all girl drama aside, I believe Blake was about to explain the whole Yang-Neo situation," reminded Alear.

Blake rolled on her side. "Well to put it simply, my team has had run-ins with her before. She's bested us twice now. The first time, she helped a criminal named Roman Torchwick escape. The second time, she beat Yang in a fight and then disappeared while Yang was unconscious. She still isn't sure what happened. The only thing she remembers is fighting and then seeing a woman in red walking into some sort of portal after she woke up."

Alear rubbed his chin. "That would explain why she got so worked up, but what really interests me is this woman. If she's able to create portals, she could prove to be a dangerous foe…or a potent ally." He was lost in thought until Blake gently prodded at his face. "Sorry. Anyway, I hope that suffices?" He directed this at Weiss.

She nodded. "I'm sorry I made you share your personal memories. I just…had to be sure you weren't a bad person."

He winked at her. "No problem, Ms. Schnee." His voice was laced with humor.

"Don't mock me, dog boy."

"Heh, but it's so fun." She gave him an icy stare. "Well, it's getting late. I'm going to head back to my room and catch some shut eye."

Jaune looked at his watch. His eyeballs almost shot out of his head. "He's right we've been here for hours!"

Alear stretched, and then walked to the door. "Blake, come to my room when you have a minute. I'd like to talk to you, in private."

Butterflies flew in her stomach as he finished speaking. "Y-Yea."

Alear left the room, leaving Blake with her friends.

"Oh Ren, they're gonna make babies!" Nora gasped. "I wonder if they're gonna be puppies or kitties."

"Nora, I don't think that's how that works," stated Ren in his usual calm manner. Blake decided to get out before her embarrassment became too much to handle, taking care to replace her bow. She walked to his door and started fixing her hair, using her scroll as a mirror. Once she was satisfied with her appearance, she opened the door to find the lights were off. She proceeded slowly into his room.

"Alear…?" The door closed behind her. She felt her bow being removed from behind and she quickly pounced forward, onto one of the beds. Her bow fell to the floor in the process.

"Relax, Kitty Cat," said Alear.

"Why were you hiding in the dark?" Blake asked with suspicion.

He shrugged. "I just thought you'd be up for round two of our little wrestling match. I figured getting the jump on you would be the best strategy, but then I saw you had your bow on and I just had to take it off."

She took her bow from the floor and started raising her hand to re-put it on. Alear gently held her hand with the bow in it. "Don't. You look so much better without it. You don't need to hide who you are with me."

She raised a curious eyebrow. "Since when do you care about my appearance?"

"Since we became friends if you want to be literal about it. I wouldn't be a good one if I didn't make sure you were at your best, including your appearance," he said matter-of-factly.

"Just a friend?" Blake quickly shook her head, trying to dismiss such thoughts. "So you just wanted to continue the match?"

He shrugged. "Maybe discuss some things."

"Like what?"

He moved his body close to hers and whispered in her ear. "Like this tension between us all of a sudden."

Blake quickly recoiled back, her heart racing. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

He chuckled. "If that's how you want to play it, Blake. I can be patient"

"What did you really want to talk about?" Her amber eyes were pointed at the ground. She was trying to hide the redness of her face.

"I just wanted to confirm a suspicion I've had for a little while." He laid down on one of the beds and placed his arms behind his head.

"He knows about my feelings doesn't he?! Now he's just messing with me, how cruel." Blake bit her lip and sat at the edge of the same bed. "If you know then why are you toying with me?"

"I rarely get to see you emote, so I was milking it for as long as possible. I mean, it's not every day that I get to see that cute blush of yours."

The blush in discussion was currently showing itself, much to Blake's displeasure.

"Besides," started Alear. "I want to hear you say it out loud, instead of bottling it up inside."

"But-"

"No buts," interrupted the wolf Faunus.

"How did you even find out for sure?"

"You just confirmed it for one," stated Alear. "And two, it was kind of obvious when you were wrapping your arms around me back there. I could feel your heart beating faster as you did." He grinned at her. "You're unaccustomed to having another Faunus around. I can hear just as well as you can." He beckoned her over. She slowly made her way to him, laying her head next to his on the pillow.

He turned on his side to face her. "Blake, how long have we been friends now?"

"Five years," she answered without hesitation. "Why?"

Without warning he gently pressed his lips against hers. She recoiled at first, mostly out of shock, but quickly leaned into it. He pulled away after a few seconds.

"I was just wondering how long you've been waiting for me to do that," he said with a smile Blake found adorable. Any doubt she had with her feelings about him were now erased.

She huffed. "You sure are confident in yourself aren't you, puppy dog?"

"Oh? Well if I'm wrong then I guess you don't want to be my girlfriend" Alear started to walk around but was stopped when she grabbed his wrist. Her face was hidden by her hair.

She looked up, her amber eyes piercing him. "Was that your lame way of asking me out, Wolf Boy?"

Alear feigned shock. "Miss Belladonna, I am offended you would even suggest such a thing!" He paused a moment before continuing. "My attempt was not lame, fair kitty cat."

She pulled him back into the bed. "Shut up and kiss me," she muttered before firmly planting her lips on Alear's.

-Meanwhile, somewhere just outside of Vale-

A familiar bull Faunus walked through the halls of a bustling, underground base. White fang grunts were transporting cargo onto airships. Several of the ships were flying away through metal hatches in the ceiling.

"Sir," said a grunt approaching him. "All of the supplies are on their way. The camp will be fully operational by the end of the week."

Adam grunted his approval. "See to it personally. I want no mistakes. Oh, and take our guest with you. He has experience with this kind of operation."

"Yes sir." The grunt scurried off, presumably to retrieve this guest Adam spoke of.

Adam walked to the cell block of their makeshift cavern and stared into one in particular. A lone woman with brown hair and jade eyes lay crumpled in the corner. Her face was slightly wrinkled from age and hard-living.

Adam leaned against the bars. "What's the matter, dear? You should be happy. You're going back, with your lover. That's good news"

She remained silent, staring blanking into the wall.

He smirked to himself and walk away, leaving the woman. A single tear fell from her emotionless face, as two wolf ears limply emerged from her unkempt hair.