Chapter 18!

Been busy, sorry.

I don't own RWBY.

Enjoy!

Team DHLA

Revelation

Later that day

Daien was sitting in his seat in his favorite class. The subject wasn't his favorite or his best, but Daien loved the teacher. "This is prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as the Faunus War!" Dr. Oobleck said before zooming behind his desk. "Humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing the Faunus population in Menagerie." He said pointing at the map of Remnant that was covered in papers with his stick. Then Oobleck zoomed off to the side and took a sip of his coffee, before appearing in front of his desk.

"Now! While this must feel like ancient history to many of you, it is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events! Why, the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day!" Oobleck zoomed around the classroom some more, much to the amusement of Daien. Oobleck sipped his coffee again before continuing to zoom and talk. "Now! Have any among you been subjugated or discriminated against because of your Faunus heritage?"

"This is it. Moment of truth." Daien thought. Daien had been thinking about this a lot and finally felt like it was time.

Everyone in the room but Oobleck and Chichi gasped, not at the amount of hands raised, but at whose were raised. Daien had his right hand raised in the air, getting a look of anger and hurt from Dax and Lilac respectively, and a look of disgust from Cardin who had managed to heal his bruises. "Dreadful, simply dreadful! Remember, students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence!" Oobleck stopped to take a sip of his coffee.

"I mean, I mean, I mean just look at what happened to the White Fang! Now, which one of you young scallions can tell me what many theorize to be the turning point in the third year of the War?" Weiss raised her hand. "Yes?" "The battle at Fort Castle." Weiss said smartly."Precisely! And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Lagune's forces?" Oobleck asked the class. "Hey!" Jaune exclaimed as a paper football bounced off his head. Oobleck took it as him volunteering to answer and zoomed over to him.

"Mr. Arc! Finally contributing to class! This is excellent! Excellent! What is the answer?" Oobleck asked Jaune with genuine excitement. Jaune fumbled as Pyrrha tried to help him, but Jaune took it the wrong way and answered binoculars. The class laughed at Jaune's answer, Daien on the other hand facepalmed. Oobleck zoomed behind his desk, "Very funny, Mr. Arc! Cardin! Perhaps you would care to share your thoughts on the subject!" Oobleck said after a sip of coffee, Daien held the belief that it was pure caffeine with brown food dye, but to each his own.

"Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier." Cardin said as he reclined with his feet on his desk and examined his nails. "You'd know, wouldn't you, Cardin." Daien said, struggling to keep calm as his changing body took away his control. "And what does that mean?!" Cardin said as he sat up. "Just that anyone with your level of intelligence couldn't possibly be considered human." Daien replied. "I'm smarter than you, Faunus." Daien cracked his neck to both sides and gained enough control to not kill Cardin.

"You're not the most open minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?" Pyrra said in distaste as Oobleck shook his head. "What? You got a problem?" Cardin asked threateningly. "No, I have the answer! It's night vision. Many Faunus are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark." Pyrra said, demonstrating just how much smarter she was than Cardin. "General Lagune was inexperienced, and made the mistake of trying to ambush the Faunus in their sleep. His massive army was outmatched, and the general was captured." Blake said. "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure." She said to Cardin. Cardin stood up ready to fight, followed quickly by Daien. "Mr. Daien and Mr. Winchester, please take your seats." Oobleck said before zooming over to Jaune who was laughing at Cardin's situation, "Mr. Winchester, you and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings." Oobleck zoomed to the front of the room before sipping his coffee and shouting, "Moving on!"

Class ended and Team DHLA started to pack up. Dax and Lilac turned toward Daien, but only found an empty seat. After all the students had funneled out and Jaune and Cardin had left, Daien came out from under Oobleck's desk and approached the hyperactive teacher, "Dr. Oobleck, I have a question." Daien said with an uncharacteristic apprehensiveness.

"Ah, Mr. Daien, I found your last report to be quite stimulating!" Oobleck said enthusiastically. "Thank you, sir. But... Today when I raised my hand, that was the first time I had let anyone other than my partner know I was a Faunus." Daien said. Oobleck took a sip of coffee, "Yes, yes, I understand that the only identifying mark you possess is a pair of reptilian eyes! I also understand that you've been telling everyone that this is a result of a genetic mutation! Intriguing, you chose today to 'come out of the closet' as it were!" Oobleck said with his hand on his chin. "Yes. What I wanted to ask you was, did I make the right choice?" Daien awaited Oobleck's answer as he took a sip of coffee and thought for a moment. "I don't know, I would have certainly done it in a different setting, but ultimately it is something you must discover for yourself." Daien nodded, "That's what I was afraid of." Oobleck put a hand on Daien's shoulder reassuringly, "No matter what happens, I'm sure your teammates will understand." Daien smiled at Dr. Oobleck's kind and reassuring words.

That night

Daien was standing outside of Team DHLA's dorm, suddenly gaining a deep understanding of the expression 'getting cold feet'.

"Hey Handsome! How's it goin'?" Yang said, making Daien jump a little. "Oh, hey Yang." Daien said halfheartedly. "What's the matter?" Yang asked leaning against the wall next to the door. Daien sighed, "Today in Oobleck's class I let everyone know I was a Faunus." "Yeah, I saw that. It was a bit of a surprise. So?" Daien sank to his knees, "So I've been lying to the people who trust me with their lives, way more than I deserve." Daien said ruefully. "I see your problem." Yang said sitting down next to Daien. Daien was silent for a moment.

"What do I do?" Yang stood up, bringing Daien with her, "You get in there and you tell them the truth!" She said giving Daien a pat on the back. "Thanks Yang." Daien said giving her a smile. Yang gave Daien a pat on the butt like she was 'one of the guys' and said "Go get 'em tiger!", before going back to her room. Daien took a deep breath, braced himself, and opened the door. Dax, Lilac, and Chichi were waiting in the main 'room' of the dorm, Dax leaning on the makeshift wall, Lilac sitting on Dax's bed, and Chichi sitting crisscross on Daien's bedroll.

"""We need to talk.""" Everyone but Chichi said simultaneously.

Daien closed the door and pulled his desk chair in front of the group. Sitting in the chair, Daien opened the conversation by saying, "I'm a Faunus." "How could you not tell us? How could you lie to us!?" Dax started in, coming off the wall and advancing a little. "Do you not trust us?! Are we not good enough?! A-" "Stop!" Daien shouted standing out of his chair, sending it rolling back a little.

"I'm sorry! I should have told you, but I didn't and that was my mistake. Believe me when I tell you that I wanted to." "Then why didn't you?!" Dax shouted, Lilac putting a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him. "I couldn't! Don't you think I wanted to? Do you think I like having to lie to everyone? Do you think I like having to come up with a line every time someone asks about my eyes? I can't go around telling people that I'm a Faunus! I tell people and I get A) people avoiding me, or B) people throwing rocks at me and calling me a freak and an animal!" Daien shouted, counting out on his fingers.

"It's not easy lying to everyone! I don't like it! But after three years of living on the streets I learned that lying is a necessary evil! Because when you don't you get these!" Daien rolled up his sleeves, revealing several scars and marks from breaks. "I've got a few on my back if you wanna see!" Daien shouted as he rolled down his sleeves.

The dorm was dead quiet, even Team RWBY and JNPR's rooms were silent, as well as any other rooms in the vicinity.

After a few minutes Lilac broke the silence, "Does this have anything to do with what happened in Port's class?" Daien sighed and sat back down in his desk chair, "Yes. I'm a dragon Faunus. Usually a dragon Faunus's fangs grow in during puberty, and their horns from then till death." Daien said, recalling what he could of 'the talk'. The girls in the room went a little red at the word 'puberty'.

"However, it's not uncommon for a dragon Faunus to be a late bloomer, having their horns and fangs start to grow in later. I'm a very late bloomer, and right now my fangs are coming in. While my fangs come in I'm going to be basically going through a second puberty, minus the awkward bits." Daien explained. "So... What?" Dax said in confusion.

Daien sighed, trying to explain a very awkward subject, "Here's a little context; Faunus puberty is different from human puberty, dragon Faunus especially. Puberty for us is twofold, dealing with our body changing and emotional stuff and all that, and dealing with our more feral side, our animal side. About eighty five percent of Faunus have them both at the same time, about fourteen percent have them one after the other, and then there's me." Daien said, pointing to himself. "I'm part of the one percent that have one later in life. Until my fangs finish growing in I'm going to be having trouble controlling my temper and I'll be very... Intense when I get pissed. So just make sure I don't hurt anyone and everything should be fine." Daien concluded.

Everyone just sat in silence for a second before breaking off into their respective routines. Daien rolled up to his desk and started disassembling Strife. "Hand me that screwdriver." Dax said doing maintenance on his own weapon. "Sure" Daien handed Dax the screwdriver he had pointed to but didn't let go, "Are we good?" Daien asked Dax, showing vulnerability that was uncommon of the team leader. Dax sighed, "We're cool." He said looking Daien in the eyes. With a nod Daien let go of the screwdriver and went back to work, a small, earnest smile spreading across his face.

Aaaaaand that's chapter 18!

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