"How are your injuries? I must say, it was rather unfair of them not to treat you," Cinder said casually, lying down on the lower bunk of the bed she and Blake shared. The raven-haired faunus had been led into their cell. There was an hour until curfew, and Blake had some questions to ask her cellmate. The guard left after a second-long silence, and she answered.

"I feel a little better...just need to sleep it off."

"I must say, you don't look like much of a winner," Cinder noted.

"I don't feel like one. It's funny how the loser looks a lot better," she responded, leaning against her cell wall, taking in the boring gray metal that encased her.

"Oh, no need to be so sore about it," her cellmate responded. Blake almost chuckled; the pun was actually amusing.

"And now you're making insulting puns. You just don't know how to lose with pride, do you? Although I suppose I don't have to ask you that." Cinder sighed, pretending to sound offended.

"Yes, I know that your team foiled my nefarious plans. No need to rub it in."

"As much as I'd like to do just that, I actually have questions for you," Blake said. Her tone quickly switched from playful to dead serious. Cinder recognized that tone from when the two were first put in the same cell. Blake had warned her to keep her head down, or, as she had said directly, she would take it off. She certainly didn't mess around. Deciding to humor her, the black-haired woman obliged her cellmate.

"Ask away. I think defeating me earns you as much." Blake didn't waste time. As soon as Cinder gave her permission, she asked her first question.

"You said that the Grimm have souls. How does that information pertain to the faunus?"

Cinder hadn't started her war against the world for her own selfish ends, as the media and the citizens of Vale would like to believe. She did ally herself with questionable people, though. She worked with the White Fang and used Roman Torchwick, a idea that hadn't worked as well as she'd hoped. He had attempted to double-cross her twice, his second attempt succeeding. He had first tried to ally with the Schnee Dust Company, and that plan failed when the former Schnee heiress rebelled against her family and exposed their cruelty towards the faunus and shady business dealings. She'd even gone as far as to defeat her father in combat. The second attempt was far more effective. Blake herself defeated Torchwick and had forced him to give her any information on the White Fang that he had. In exchange, he would receive immunity for his crimes. His criminal network was destroyed, but as Blake soon found out, he had no problem building a new one. It was his information that had played a big part in bringing the White Fang to its knees, funnily enough. In the end, he was all about self-preservation, and he figured it would be wiser to take his chances with Blake than with Cinder. That had been a wise choice. However, despite her apparent cruelty and penchant for the heartless destruction of anyone and anything that got in her way, Cinder was fighting for a noble cause.

It had all started when Cinder was just a child. She always had an exceptionally strong Aura. She was able to preform Aura and Semblance-related feats on the level of an adult when she was just twelve. However, there was more to her than just sheer power. She was able to sense something as well. During her time in Signal, she began to notice something odd about the Grimm. She'd always been told that they were humankind's greatest enemy, hell-bent on destroying them and all they had created. That, for the most part, was true. However, she'd also been told that the Grimm had no souls. On top of that, she had been told that there was light and dark in everything. One could not exist without the other. So she was always confused by the assumption that the Grimm had no souls or Aura. If there was truly light and dark in everything, then why did people so casually write the Grimm off as creatures of darkness, born from darkness and returning to it upon their demise? She always suspected that there was more to them, and she was right. One day, at Signal, she strayed from her group during a field trip and met a Beowolf. In that Beowolf, she felt something. It was faint, but it was there. Reaching out to touch the beast, it seemed to sense that she felt its soul. Their Aura's seemed to connect, giving the two an understanding that they would not hurt each other, but the moment was short-lived. A professor had found her and slain the Beowolf with a quick decapitation. Cinder screamed and woke up in the infirmary. But the Cinder who woke up wasn't the same as the one who'd fainted. She knew something the world had forgotten, ignored, or never knew in the first place. Grimm were not soulless creatures of darkness. They were no different from anyone else.

As Cinder grew, she found that her incredible Aura gave her the ability to connect with the Grimm on a deeper level. She still obliged her professors, killing the Grimm on missions, but the more she did so, the angrier she grew. She began to pick fights with other students, sometimes going beyond verbal battles and becoming physical. She quickly gained a reputation as a problem child, and the only reason she had been accepted into Beacon was her unparalleled skill with Aura and Semblance use. That same skill allowed her to learn more about the Grimm than she had ever imagined. They were no mysterious beings of darkness. They had evolved just as humans had. First, there were animals. They were the first living beings on earth that weren't microscopic. From them, humans were born. And as humans fought to survive, they began to damage the animal population. In the olden days, many species were driven to extinction by humans. So, when the Grimm evolved from animals, they inherited a fear of humanity. However, unlike animals, they also inherited the power and will to fight back. With fear came anger, and that anger drove them to protect themselves and their animal ancestors and wipe humanity off the face of the earth. Only Dust saved them from the onslaught that was the Grimm. Eventually, they built societies and drove their enemies to the outskirts, but never to extinction. No Grimm species had ever been completely wiped out.

It wasn't long after society was built that the faunus evolved from humans. They were subject to extreme discrimination, being executed, tortured, and treated like lesser beings. They were put in zoos, enslaved, and the slightest step out of line could end in a faunus being murdered, raped, or both. Cinder hadn't learned this through the Grimm. She had only experienced glimpses of their history through their Aura. They couldn't speak, but they could communicate their experiences through the sharing of Aura. She had learned of this through old records and teachings in schools that would educate students about such history. The young Cinder quickly grew to sympathize with the faunus and her fights were mostly caused by her coming to the defense of a bullied faunus student. She nursed her rage at all of the injustice her entire teenage life. In Beacon, however, things looked up. The school was highly progressive in terms of respecting the faunus' rights and treating them as they deserved to be treated; as equals to the rest of humanity. Cinder also made three very important friends, Glynda Goodwitch being among them. She was placed on a team with the blonde girl and became that team's leader. Emerald and Mercury were also on that team, and were her other two friends throughout her time at the combat school. However, it wasn't long before she couldn't bring herself to harm the Grimm anymore. In fact, she had decided to outright leave Beacon and work in the shadows, waiting to strike at Vale and the world. She would destroy the injustice and bring peace to the Grimm and the faunus. Accompanied by Emerald and Mercury, on the eve of her senior year graduation, she asked Glynda if she would join her. Glynda refused, and after trying to stop them, was beaten half to death. It was only through Cinder's realization of what she'd done and her crippling guilt that she survived; the black-haired girl tried to heal her wounds as best she could before leaving. The rest, from there, was history. Her power grew with her influence, and she recruited the White Fang and Roman Torchwick in her mission. But in the end, she was defeated.

"I told you about my history. You know what I know and how I know it," Cinder said, her usual calm, seductive tone replaced by a unwavering, unamused voice. Blake nodded, indicating with her hand that Cinder should go on. She obliged.

"The faunus, as anyone with half a brain knows, evolved from humans. However, there's more to it than that. The faunus and the Grimm came to be in a very similar manner. The difference is that, while the Grimm evolved from beings with a...less developed intelligence, the faunus evolved from beings with a higher level of thought. As such, they are far more in touch with their Aura and Semblance. Now that doesn't necessarily make them more powerful than humans...just different. There is light and darkness in every being. Humans are in touch with the light, the Grimm are in touch with the darkness, animals have an Aura so strange that they seem to be in touch with both sides, and the faunus are very similar. The light illuminates and protects. It is what allows our Aura to shield us from harm, both physical and mental. The darkness gathers and strikes, granting us power. It is what allows us to use our Aura to fell out foes. The faunus are attuned to both, and unlike animals, have the brainpower to use their abilities to the fullest. That's what Adam did. He sacrificed his protection for destruction. By becoming stronger, he allowed the darkness to slip into his mind. He opened himself to the destructive instinct of the Grimm, and it nearly consumed him." Blake listened patiently to Cinder, her thoughts growing more doubtful as she listened to her cellmate's words.

"Are you saying that all faunus can do this? That, by using their Aura and Semblance in a certain way, they can practically become Grimm?" She asked, her voice rising a little. Cinder smiled at her, trying to reassure the faunus woman.

"No. Most faunus cannot. It's easier to use Aura as a shield than a sword; most don't have that kind of connection with the dark side of their power. But some do. That isn't a bad thing. Look at what Adam was able to do. You and your team could hardly bring him down. But, as I said, that power cost him his sanity. He became unstable." Blake couldn't help but cringe as memories of her fight with Adam came up. She had just barely managed to finish him off; he'd knocked her teammates unconscious after an intense battle, leaving just the two of them. That fight had been one of the most tragic events she ever had to partake in. Just thinking about how unstable Adam was, how out of touch he was with himself and the world around him, made her feel empty inside. It was a feeling she didn't expect to grow out of.

"You're the same, Blake. I can feel it. Torchwick might be able to attest to that," Cinder said, her signature tone coming back into her voice. Blake narrowed her eyes.

"I made that decision all by myself. I was far from unstable when I gutted that man like the pig he is," she responded. Cinder chuckled.

"Maybe. But you don't need to be aware of any kind of instability. It just occurs, and you never know what it is until it's happened. It's like instinct."

"And how would you know?" Blake asked, her eyes narrowed. She had learned what she had wanted, but now she had even more questions.

"The Grimm," Cinder answered. She lay down on her pillow and closed her eyes.

"Nighty night, Blake. Sweet dreams," she said. Cinder was clearly done talking. Blake considered whether she wanted to force her to talk, and even, for a split second, had her mind set on doing it. But she knew it would be useless, and if she started a fight, her day would go from bad to worse. Opting to mull over what she'd learned, she climbed onto her bunk and lay with her back up.

"Good night, Cinder. Thank you for your time," Blake said, muttering an obscenity under her breath afterwards

Blake and the others had been having lunch at Ruby's house, a small cottage on the northern outskirts of Beacon. It was snowy there, so Ruby had prepared a hot meal with a significant amount of help from Weiss and a significant amount of interruption from Yang. The four close friends sat at a small, smooth wooden table. Around them, the bright lights and roaring fire in the room next door helped to make the house feel both literally and figuratively warmer. The house itself had dark brown walls made of wood, and a polished amber floor. As a child, Ruby had always talked about living in a massive mansion with all of the money she would make as a Huntress. However, as she grew and matured, she decided a smaller, more cozy house was what would make her happy. That, plus the fact that Hunters and Huntresses didn't make much money to begin with, influenced her decision to buy the small cottage recommended to her by her sister. Blake was glad she did. It was generally where the former teammates met whenever they wanted to talk together like they had back at Beacon, and it was by far the best place for it. The small rooms covered in Ruby's dirty laundry reminded Blake of their dorm. The younger woman even had a bunk bed, for some strange reason. She was the only one who lived there.

"Pretty good, huh?" Ruby boasted, her hands on her hips as she watched Yang's, Weiss', and Blake's reactions to her meal.

"You have no claim to that pride. I practically made this myself, as you know. If it were up to you, we'd be eating cup noodles or some vulgar dish of that nature," Weiss scolded. Ruby frowned.

"So what? Noodles are cool too," she said.

"Way to burst her bubble, Snow Angel. You're a real ray of sunshine," Yang teased.

"You're even worse. We could have been eating at least fifteen minutes ago had you not been 'taste-testing' the food!" Weiss said, turning to admonish Yang.

"And she still has room for more," Blake chimed in, smiling coyly.

"Hell yeah I do! This stuff is the bomb!" The blonde woman turned to her younger sister and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Now you're just mocking me," Weiss sighed.

"What was that? Sorry, I didn't hear you over the sound of my devouring Ruby's amazing dish."

"I'm done talking to you. Blake, do you have anything intelligent to say?" Blake swallowed her mouthful of food before responding, flashing Yang a quick, knowing look.

"Nothing. I'm just enjoying Ruby's culinary feats. She's certainly come into her own as a cook, wouldn't you agree?" She replied. Yang beamed and Weiss did the exact opposite.

"I shouldn't have expected anything different from you," Weiss sighed. Ruby grinned at Blake from across the table, and her smile was returned.

"So, Blake. I heard that Adam's living with you now. Got anything to say about that?" Yang asked, changing the subject quickly. She had been wondering about Adam for a white now, hoping to mention him to Blake. Granted, she just wanted to tease her about living with an attractive man and maybe ask some questions to throw her friend off-guard, but she was genuinely curious. Adam had once been a part of Blake's life, back when she was among the misguided faunus in the White Fang. She wanted to know if Adam really had changed since The Fall, or if he was just trying to bring Blake back to the life she'd left behind, even after the White Fang was gone.

"Not really. He is looking for work, though," Blake responded. She was a little surprised that Yang was so curious, but decided that it wasn't too strange. He had once tried to kill her, after all. Yang's curiosity and possible concern for her friend was understandable.

"Is it...weird?" Ruby asked bluntly. Blake narrowed her eyes.

"Weird how?" She asked.

"Uh...is there any tension?" Ruby asked again, not being any clearer. Blake grinned. She thought she knew what Ruby was curious about, but decided to have a little fun with her before addressing the actual issue. It wasn't something she was incredibly eager to talk about anyways.

"Ruby Rose, I never thought you'd want to know about something like that! I guess you really are getting older. And no, we aren't having-" Blake was quickly cut off by Weiss, who seemed to know where she was going and didn't like it.

"You know what Ruby means; don't make this weird. No one wants to know about your romantic escapades."

"Maybe we do," Yang responded.

"No, we don't."

"We're all grown women here. We can talk about this kind of stuff, can't we?"

"Those kinds of things are...private," Weiss said forcefully. Ruby, listening to the conversation, had started to blush.

"T-That isn't what I meant!" She said, embarrassed.

"I know, I know. And no, we're fine. Adam may be a figure from my past, but he's just as focused on the present as we are. He's...getting better," Blake said, taking pity on the youngest of the four. Ruby was no child and no stranger to romance, but she wasn't interested in any of her friends' love lives and didn't want them thinking she was.

"Oh...okay. That's good to hear. I was just...worried, I guess. I haven't seen Adam since The Fall," the cloaked young woman replied. Next to her, Weiss frowned.

"Does anyone else hear something?" She asked. Ruby shrugged, and Weiss excused herself. Yang, as soon as the former heiress left, reached over to pick some food off of her plate.

"This stays between us, okay?" She asked, grinning deviously. Ruby and Blake chuckled and nodded. Suddenly, Weiss spoke loudly.

"Ruby, you left the TV on!"

"Sorry..." Ruby said sheepishly. However, Weiss didn't turn it off. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke again. Her voice was quiet and trembling ever so slightly, as if she was afraid of something.

"I...I think you should all come here. There's something you need to see."

"Last night, authorities found a a man savagely beaten to death in an alley. Police suspect that one of the numerous anti-faunus groups was responsible for the crime, as the man found was, in fact, a faunus. On the alley walls, 'death to the animals' was scrawled, presumably in the victim's blood. Also found at the scene were small blood splotches on the ground that did not match the victim's. The victim most likely fought back. The man, later identified as Adam Taurus-" Blake quickly ripped the remote from Weiss' hands and turned the TV off, her grip tightening. Weiss, Yang, and Ruby looked at their teammate with eyes filled with horror as she crushed the remote in her hand. Ruby walked up to her friend and grabbed her hand gently. She quickly pulled away, muttering an apology as she turned around and walked away.

"Blake..."

"I...I need to go."

"Blake, wait. Where are you going?" Weiss asked, worried about what her friend might do. Blake turned around, revealing the tears that had started falling from her eyes.

"I want to see him."

"Then we're coming with you," Yang said. The three women moved towards their friend, and she coughed, holding back a sob. She didn't want to talk much, lest she lost control and burst into tears. She didn't want to be paralyzed by a crying fit. Not now.

"Okay."

Blake awoke, bolting up, and opened her mouth just before a hand clamped over it. She was sweating profusely and her eyes were wide. She turned her head to the side and looked at Cinder. It was her hand that prevented her from screaming.

"What are you doing?" Blake hissed, using one arm to shove Cinder's hand away and turning gracelessly so that the other arm propped her up and she could look directly at her cellmate.

"Keeping you from getting in trouble. You scream and wake up the whole cell block...well, no one's going to be happy with you." The faunus woman sighed, her mind going from frantic and terrified to calm. She realized exactly what Cinder had done.

"Thank you," she said. Despite being in a calmer state of mind, she was still breathing heavily. She wiped sweat from her forehead as it dripped down to her eyes, and Cinder watched calmly.

"That must have been some dream. When I heard creaking from above me and saw the bed moving...well, that was pretty suggestive. Being the curious woman I am, I wanted to see if you really had the audacity to pleasure yourself in a prison, while sharing a cell, in the middle of the night." Blake didn't even react to her joke. She was still thinking about her dream. Her mind wasn't in the present.

"Not even a half-smile? Oh well." Still, Blake gave no response.

"You know, you could at least tell me what you were dreaming about before I go back to bed."

"Adam. I dreamed about his death." Cinder's eyes widened and her smile faltered. It wasn't at what Blake had said, however. It was that she had said in the first place.

"I'll be honest; I didn't expect an honest answer from you."

"Why would I lie?" Blake asked.

"Well, you are very mysterious."

"I'm quiet. There is a difference." Cinder chuckled. Blake finally saw her as a friend. There was no other explanation. She'd been prying answers out of Cinder without offering anything in return the entire time they'd been cellmates, and she had just revealed her fear. She had just told Cinder about something raw and emotional, something that left her vulnerable. True friendship was the only explanation.

"In any event, sleep well and don't wake me up again, if you can help it. Good night," Cinder said, retreating to the bottom bunk. Blake sighed and let her head fall onto her pillow.

"Good night."

Weiss yawned, stretching her arms to the ceiling. Her feet slipped into comfy gray slippers as she sat up and left the coziness of her bed. She walked slowly to the kitchen, hands running absentmindedly through her hair. Reaching into the refrigerator, she dug around for a few seconds before pulling out two eggs and a carton of milk. She put the milk on the counter and reached into one of her numerous cupboards and got a small bowl out. She placed the eggs in it and turned around, prepared to find a pan, when a loud buzzing noise shot through the house. Weiss cringed, and after a second or two, began to walk to the door. She threw it open, prepared to give an angry glare to whoever thought it was a good idea to ring the doorbell so early in the morning and didn't even get the chance to curl her lips downward. Her mouth hung open a little and she blinked in surprise.

"Yang?" The blonde woman nodded, two bags in her hand. She was smiling widely, but the dark circles under her eyes indicated a clear dislike for being up so early. Even early in the morning, however, her hair was as immaculately groomed to look as wild as possible. Why she put so much effort into making her hair look like she put no effort into it at all, Weiss would never know. However, that was far from her thoughts now; the mere fact that Yang had showed up was all-consuming, leaving no room for any other thought.

"Hey there, sleeping beauty. What's with the weird look?" Yang asked, a lopsided grin plastered on her face.

"You...you never come to visit me. Especially not at this hour."

"Well, now I'm here."

"Right...well, it's good to see a friend before my first mission. Please, come in. Or do you just want to drop off whatever is in those bags?" Weiss asked, hoping that Yang would stay. Aside from just wanting to talk to a friend, it had been over a month since she had a real conversation with Yang. She wanted to know what was going on in her friend's life.

"I'm up, so I might as well do something fun. I brought breakfast for us," was the reply, and Weiss smiled warmly before stepping aside, allowing Yang to stroll into her new living quarters.

"Nice place. I thought you'd be living in a hole in the ground," the blonde joked.

"You know how the saying goes: money makes the world go round," Weiss replied.

"So you bought this place. Or did you have to bribe someone?"

"I bought it, of course. This is one of the nicer criminal residences offered by the Trenches." Weiss walked to the kitchen and Yang followed her. She cleared a space on the counter and put the eggs, bowl, and milk back where they came from. Yang pulled a container out of the bag and presented it to the former heiress, who frowned. In it were two cookie sandwiches, Ruby's original dish. She made thin, soft cookies stuffed with chocolate chips and put vanilla icing in the middle.

"I am not eating this," was Weiss' immediate refusal. Yang sighed.

"Look, Ruby spent at least an hour making this just for you! She even put in fruit chunks or whatever gross crap you like in your cookie sandwich!"

"Excuse me? I put that in there for nutrients. I am not going eat that heart attack in physical form unless I can at least get something out of it. Besides, it makes the sandwich taste quite good."

"You just admitted you liked it, Weiss. You have to try some now! I dare you," Yang smiled mischievously.

"I'm not a child. Daring me won't get me to eat it," Weiss retorted, her hands on her hips in a position of defiance.

"Well then. I guess I'll have to tell Ruby that you refused the food she spent an hour making just for you. She was all ready to do something nice for you since she couldn't be here, and now you're just going to toss it aside like-" Weiss listened to Yang and, despite herself, began to feel guilty. Frowning even deeper, she yielded.

"Alright, alright! I'll eat the sandwich. But I still think it's disgustingly unhealthy." Yang beamed and pulled out what was in the other bag.

"Well then...I guess I can give you Ruby's other present!"

Weiss found herself looking at very intricate ammo cartridges with four separate slots. The cartridges themselves were small cylinders with four vials of different-colored Dust. They were red, dark blue, purple and yellow. They were separated by dark gray metal strips, with circles at the top and bottom covered in miniscule but beautiful snowflake designs. Just based on a single glance, Weiss could tell that they would fit into the guns of her ranged units. The former heiress smiled, picking up one of the cartridges and moving them around delicately with her fingers.

"Pretty sexy, huh? Apparently, the red cartridge makes the bullets super powerful. They can cut through the Boarbatusk armor, or so my little sis claims. The dark blue is for crowd control. It knocks enemies back a lot. It doesn't necessarily do the most damage, but it'll give your crew some space. The yellow is for accuracy. It moves faster than a normal shot and makes any bullet fly as close to perfectly straight as can be. It you aim it at something, there's almost no way it'll miss. The purple...I think that's rapid fire. It's kind of like Ren's gun, whatever it's called. Now you probably shouldn't test it out, as there's only one cartridge for each person, so that might be a downside...but it's the best Ruby could do on such short notice," Yang said. By the time she had stopped talking, Weiss was grinning.

"That's more than enough. Trust me, these cartridges are going to be put to very good use," she said.

"I like that look," Yang replied, her smile matching her friend's.

Weiss and Yang sat at stools on the counter in the kitchen, as there was no dining room. Weiss was only halfway through her unique breakfast, while Yang had polished hers off thirty seconds ago. They hadn't talked, but the former heiress could tell her friend was getting antsy. She was tapping her hand on the counter and playing with Ember Celica, switching it between battle and standby form. If Weiss was going to catch up on what was going on in Yang's life, she would have to ask questions quickly.

"So, Yang. I haven't heard much from you, aside from the fact that you're still a Huntress. Is there anything exciting in your life I might like to know?" She asked, swallowing her bite of sandwich a little too quickly. She stifled a cough and then burst out in a hacking fit. Yang got up to help, but she held up her hand to signify that she was fine. After calming down, she spoke.

"So? Do you have an answer?" Yang grinned.

"Exciting, huh? You know everything there is to know."

"Are you referring to Ruby?"

"Yeah I am. It's so awesome! She's really stoked to get started, and she's really grateful for what you did. I am too. You...you really helped her out." Weiss smiled in response, but that wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"Well, as exciting as that is, that's Ruby's life. What's going on with you?" She asked.

"Nothing. I'm still kicking some Grimm ass, as you know. Pyrrha's leading the Second Division and I'm her right-hand woman. Besides that, though...nothing." Weiss frowned a little, earning a strange look from Yang.

"You must have a life beyond your job and your sister, Yang. I know that you met with Sun. How did that go?" At the mention of Sun's name, Yang's expression turned dark.

"Fine."

"That's not what your expression is saying."

"It was fine, okay? I just don't like being up so early."

"You seemed perfectly alright a few seconds ago," Weiss challenged. Yang sighed and got up.

"I think I should go. Be careful, Weiss." She walked away, but the former heiress grabbed her hand and held on tight. She tried pulling away gently, but she was met with no success.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." At this, Weiss got up as well and moved closer to her friend, looking up at her disapprovingly. Yang responded with an angry glare, but Weiss didn't back down.

"Are you really? What's going on with you? You won't see Blake, you won't talk about Sun, you're just leaving without even giving me one of your bone-crushing bear hugs...is Ruby really all you care about these days. Are you just giving up on every aspect of your life that she isn't involved in?" She asked angrily. Her glare seemed to challenge Yang to deny her.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? Ruby needs someone to be there for her...and yeah, I'm not going out much. So what?"

"You have a life, Yang! I understand that you care for your sister more than anything, but you have other friends too. You have other people who want to see you!" Weiss shouted, unable to stay calm anymore. She wondered what Yang was really doing, avoiding the people who cared about her. From what Weiss heard from Ruby, she wasn't even at home all that much, especially at night. It was as if Yang was purposely staying away from her friends, as if she was trying to exclude herself from the world around her.

"I do have a life, and I'm living it!"

"Not even Ruby could attest to that. She told me about your nightly 'walks.' She doesn't see you often. You act as if she's the only person in the world who matters, but it seems that even she's left in the dark when it comes to you," Weiss replied scathingly. The two women glared at each other. They had always been highly intimidating people. Yang's size, stature, and wild demeanor could scare people off if she was really annoyed. While Weiss wasn't as physically intimidating as she was, she made up for it by being sheer sharp-tongued and quick-tempered. She also had very powerful eyes, and could stare down almost anyone. The two looked at each other with narrow, furious glares. They could practically feel each others Aura. It roiled off of them in powerful waves, rising in power as they rose in anger. Yang clenched her fists, as did Weiss, but after a pause the former heiress relinquished her temper. Her eyes lingered on the clock and she knew that she had to get dressed and leave very quickly. Yang noticed and snarled.

"What?" Weiss backed away and looked down.

"This isn't the time. I don't want to leave like this. Can we...just forget this ever happened?" Yang's fists unclenched and she looked intensely at her friend. When Weiss was the one who yielded in an argument, she knew that something wasn't right. Letting her rage leave her body with a long breath, she rushed towards Weiss and embraced her.

"I am so, so sorry. You're leaving and I'm acting like we're in a fight. I...I don't want you to leave like this either. We're friends, and friends don't let each other kill Grimm angry." Weiss, after a second, returned the embrace.

"I was the one who started the whole thing; this is my fault. I apologize as well."

"Stay safe, Weiss. Kick some ass and take some names out there."

"I will." Yang let go of her friend, and the two smiled before the blonde walked past Weiss to get to the door.

"This isn't over. Something isn't right with her," the white-haired woman muttered to herself as the door slammed behind her. For now, however, her concerns for her friend had to be pushed aside. She had to get ready.

And another chapter finished! This one took a long time; I was hesitant in writing it. I feel very strange about introducing my own spin on the RWBYverse, but I did so to suit my own plot. Hopefully, people like it. If not, I'll definitely understand. Adding onto the worlds of others is a difficult thing to do, and you often end up changing things very drastically. That's one of the problems with fanfiction, I think; it's hard to draw the line between what you added to the story and what the canon world of the series you're writing for has in it. Changes that are too drastic can seem out of place, and I hope I didn't make things too strange. However, I must say, the whole 'Grimm have souls' thing is a theory I've had for a long time (and I'm sure that other people have had that idea before me), and the whole 'Adam is Grimm-related theory has been a theory ever since the Black trailer came out. I'm also sure the idea that the Grimm evolved from animals has probably been thought of long before I had the idea. It makes so much sense! I mean, the Grimm display a lot of animal-like behaviors, and their appearance is modeled after that of animals. You've got birds, wolves, scorpions, boars, snakes, bears, and, I assume, many more we don't know about. And then there are the behaviors; the Deathstalker has a light on its tail to lure in prey, the Beowolves and Ursa travel in groups, and the Ursa fighting Yang exchanged looks when she went crazy after they cut off a strand of her hair. That's more of a human behavior, but humans are pretty much animals anyway. So, yeah. It's safe to assume that they've got some connection to animals. I took that a step further and applied it to faunus (as I'm sure others have done before me).

And then there's the 'Grimm have souls' thing. I mean, if everything has light and darkness in it in the RWBYverse (I'm pretty sure Pyrrha said this or something like this) then why do people just assume that the Grimm are creatures of pure darkness? Why do people assume that they have no Aura? And why do fantasy series' love the terms 'light' and 'darkness' so much? Can't there be something more creative, like pancakes and syrup? Maybe even cookies and vegetables! The possibilities are endless!

Note how many dirty jokes there are in this chapter. Why are there so many? Sex is funny. Especially when it's being mentioned by characters in a family-friendly show. Just the word itself is funny. Sex. Also, these chapters constantly drag on longer than I think they will, so Weiss' journey will have to wait until next chapter.

And this is my final note, I promise, but...RWBY VOLUME 2 TRAILER! YES! JULY 24th CAN'T COME SOON ENOUGH!