Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.
Chapter 2: New Beginnings
As the years wore on, the little cabin on Patch grew bigger, to accommodate the newest members of the family. Blake and Weiss were well taken care of; each of their days there was filled with love and warmth, quickly replacing the despair that felt on that stormy night. Yang and Ruby were more than happy to be having two new friends to play with every day, when they finally opened up.
And they did open up, accepting their saviors as their new family. It was only a year after the incident that the four girls started to refer to themselves as sisters and soon after that Blake and Weiss began referring to Summer and Taiyang as their mother and father.
It seemed like the girls' childhoods would be perfect, but life can be very cruel at times. 5 years after taking Weiss and Blake in, Summer Rose took on a mission outside of Vale and never returned.
To say this was heart-breaking was an understatement; Summer was very much the heart and soul of the family. For Weiss and Blake, they had lost a mother for the second time and Taiyang lost a lover once again. A very dark and pain-filled time descended onto the Xiao Long house.
But Taiyang still had his four daughters to care for and the Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Blake had each other to lean on. Eventually, the family pulled itself from that dark pit and smiles were once again the norm.
So, it may seem strange that, in a house usually filled with happiness and the good-natured actions of a loving family, that 15-year old Ruby Xiao Long-Rose was all alone in her room, with the lights turned off and crying her eyes out.
This wasn't something she wanted to do or feel. Just a few weeks ago, she had been right beside her dad, cheering as loud as she could as her older sisters walked across the stage and graduated from Signal Academy. She was so proud of all three of them, graduating at the top of their class and with many of the teachers commenting on how they may be some of the best to ever come from the Academy.
But as they days wore on her happiness for her sisters began to wane and to her shame it was due to entirely selfish reasons. Yang, Blake and Weiss had all applied to Beacon Academy and she knew they were practically guaranteed to get accepted; they had been trained by the best. But Beacon was in Vale and Ruby was going to be staying in Patch. Both were in the same Kingdom, but it didn't change the fact that her sisters were going to be someplace where she wasn't.
Ruby knew she was being childish; this was her sisters' dream and she had no right to complain. Beacon wasn't that far and she could easily visit whenever she had the free time.
But those three girls had been with her for the last 12 years; she could barely remember a time when the four of them hadn't been together. Every day she woke up and spent her days with her sisters by her side and now, with them leaving, that wouldn't be the case anymore.
And that scared her.
She had been taught that more than any building, it was family that made a place home; as long as she was with her family, she would always be home. But with her sisters leaving, she was effectively losing her home.
That seemed silly; the house she was in right now wasn't going anywhere and her father was still here, but her sisters were everything. They did everything together, from cooking, cleaning, studying and getting into all kinds of trouble. To go from that to being just by herself was terrifying. She could feel the darkness, the one she had first felt when her mother had died and that her sisters had help keep away, slowly creeping back in.
She didn't want to be like this; she wanted to be a big girl who didn't need to rely on her big sisters but she could help it. She loved them so much and the thought of losing them, even in this limited sort of way was just…
"Ruby, are you in there?" Yang's voice was accompanied by a loud knock on her door. Ruby gripped her pillow tighter and curled up more on her bed instead of answering. As much as she didn't want her sisters to leave, they were the last people she wanted to see right now.
A series of louder, more insistent knocked followed.
"Ruby, open the door! You've been in there for hours and we're worried." A different voice came from behind the door this time and, despite it being a bit muffled, it was clearly Weiss's. Ruby said nothing, pulling her headphones over her ears.
The door knob rattled as someone on the other side tried to open the door, only to find it locked. That alone would let Ruby's sisters know that something was wrong. There were no locked doors in the Xiao Long house; the four sisters shared everything and never closed their doors to each other. That Ruby had locked her door and refused to come out meant that something was very wrong.
Ruby could just make out her sisters talking in low voices behind the door before the doorknob started to move again, much slower and deliberate this time. Ruby quickly realized what it was in spite of her frayed mental state; Blake was picking the lock on the door.
The lock on Ruby's door would prove little challenge to Patch's resident cat-burglar. She had first practiced on every lock in the house multiple times before she started any of her little 'heists', so this proved no trouble for her.
Ruby realized that she should have put a chair in front of the door if she really didn't want anyone to disturb her. That would have been pointless though, as Yang would have simply busted the door down. If she had tried to really fortify the door by moving her dresser in front of it, Weiss would have probably rigged up some kind of Dust bomb to blow open the door; it wouldn't be the first time she had done so. It would be excessive, but Ruby's older sisters' protectiveness of her could sometime cloud their judgement.
But large explosions were not needed today as the door clicked open and the older girls entered the room.
"Ruby…Ruby what's wrong?" the only answer Yang got was Ruby curling up more on her bed. Her hood was up; obscuring her face but it was obvious that she had been crying.
Yang shared a look with Weiss and Blake, the three nodding to each other before they slowly walked towards the bed. Sitting down beside her, Yang gently placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder. Weiss and Blake took a seat at the end of the bed.
The silence of in the room was broken only by Ruby's sobbing. After several minutes, Ruby couldn't contain it anymore and latched out towards Yang, wrapping her arms around her sister's waist.
With the upmost care and gentleness, Yang lifted Ruby up and shifted around, resting her back headrest and placing Ruby on her lap. Ruby buried her face in Yang's chest, quickly soaking her top with her tears. Weiss and Blake quickly moved up, sitting on either side and gently started rubbing her back. Yang gently took Ruby's headphones off and ran her hands trough her hair comfortingly.
Ruby started to talk, but it all came out as an incoherent babble. The only things that could be heard were 'leaving me' and 'all alone'.
"It's okay, it's okay. We're not going to leave you; not now, not ever." Yang's voice was soft and soothing, comforting Ruby in a way she had done many times before. "We're your sisters and we will always be there for you."
Ruby's sobbing subsided for a moment, though her grip on Yang tightened.
"…promise?" Ruby's voice was barely a whisper, but was still audible.
Yang sighed, "Ruby, you know-"
"PROMISE!" Ruby lifted her head up as she yelled, her hood falling back and her red, tear-stained face became visible. Yang and her sisters were taken aback by this sudden outburst, but they quickly realized what it was all about.
Promises were very important to Ruby; after all, the first and greatest pain she had ever felt had come from a promise not kept.
"I promise. We promise. We will never abandon you." Yang's words were still soft, but held a strong conviction; she was not lying. Leaning forward, she gently kissed Ruby's forehead.
Yang's kiss was warm and comforting, and Ruby was able to begin calming down.
She felt another kiss on her left temple, this one cool and refreshing.
"We're your sisters Ruby, your family." Weiss said, embracing her from the side.
A kiss on her right temple, this one was soft and left a lingering sensation.
"And family never abandons each other." Blake finished, hugging her as well and completing the embrace.
Surrounded by her sisters and their love, Ruby felt her fears and anxiety begin to drift away. Wiping her eyes, she again buried her face into Yang's soft chest. They had done this little ritual many times in the past and it always made things better.
It didn't change the fact that they were going to be separated for a significant period of time, but now she felt like she could deal with it a little better now.
Tomorrow, Yang, Weiss and Blake would be leaving for Vale to complete their application to Beacon. She had already planned to go with them, even if there wasn't anything for her to do and it would probably last well into the night. She guessed that she could find some store and spend her night reading weapon magazines and listening to her music.
She should try and get used to being alone; come morning her sisters would be on their way to Beacon and she would be going back to Patch. She just wished that things could be different.
While Fate could be cruel sometimes, it could also bless people as well, albeit in strange ways. It was due to such a strange twist of fortune that Ruby once again found her head between Yang's large, soft breasts, but now in a somewhat less pleasant circumstance.
"I can't believe our baby sister is coming to Beacon with us! This is the best day ever!" Yang's voice was loud and excited, but Ruby wasn't able to share in with her elation over going to Beacon. This was mainly due to it being quite difficult to breathe with her face pushed so far into Yang's deep cleavage.
"Please…stop…" Ruby begged, but her plea was muffled by soft flesh and her attempts to escape were thwarted by her sister's strong embrace.
After a few moments of useless flailing, she was finally rescued from Yang's clutches by Weiss and Blake. They chastised their elder sister, reminding her that she needed to remember her own strength and be to more gentle with Ruby.
Ruby was able to just catch her breath and was about to thank Weiss and Blake, and tell them she didn't need to be coddled, when the two wrapped her in a tight hug from either side of her. While individually they weren't as strong as Yang, together their hug was just as bone-crushing as the blonde brawler.
"We're so proud of you!" Weiss said, nuzzling her cheek against Ruby's. Blake mirrored her actions on the other side.
The girls' grip loosened after a moment, but before Ruby could say anything, both of her sisters started to pinch her cheeks painfully.
"But that was totally irresponsible of you! What were you thinking, chasing after a dangerous criminal like that?" Weiss's tone had shifted alongside her actions, being quite angry and reprimanding now.
Just as quickly, the two stopped pulling on her cheeks and gently kissed them instead, their embrace becoming more gentle and comforting.
"But I'm so happy you're not hurt or anything." Now Weiss seemed to be on the verge of crying, overcome with worry and relief.
When it came to Ruby, the sisters' emotions could go on quite rollercoaster ride at times; a rollercoaster that looped back around, as demonstrated by the two once again hugging Ruby with all their might.
"Getting into Beacon two years early is amazing!" Blake said, brimming with pride. That pride turned to anger as she and Weiss again pinched Ruby's cheeks. "But that was still reckless of you. Did you even think about what could happen?"
Yang watched this spectacle, not even trying to hide her smile. For the next few minutes, Weiss and Blake alternated between being angry, relieved and proud of Ruby, before looping back to the beginning. They were trying to express all of their feelings about what Ruby had done all at once, creating a very humorous mess.
Eventually, Ruby was able to escape her sisters' grasp and back away a few steps from them. The irony that just yesterday she was upset over her sisters leaving and now she was trying to get away from them was not lost on her.
"Really guys, it was nothing. No reason to get all worked up and everything."
"What do you mean? It was incredible! Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees." Yang stepped forward, taking the space in-between Weiss and Blake. She was honestly confused as to why Ruby wasn't more excited about all this.
"I don't want to be the "bee's knees", okay? I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees."
The three older sisters shared a look, not understanding what Ruby meant. Of course, they couldn't really get that being a 'normal girl with normal knees' was pretty much impossible when you had sisters like them.
It was hard to be normal and seen for who you are when you were with such brilliant and talented siblings. It was difficult to be confident in her own appearance when you were constantly surrounded by three girls who were, in Ruby's completely unbiased opinion, the most beautiful and attractive in the world.
If Ruby had been sad to see them leave Patch, so too were all the teenage boys on the island. Pretty much every young male on Patch had a crush on at least one of the Xiao Long sisters and it was easy to see why.
Each was visually stunning and physically attractive in their own unique way. Years of undergoing their father and uncle's intense physical regime had done wonders for their figures. Each had a strong, toned and athletic build that was coupled with fine curves and an ample chest. This had created a large amount of desire among the male population at Signal Academy, alongside a near-equal amount of jealousy from the female half.
First was Yang, the eldest sister. She was the tallest of the four and also the strongest physically. She had taken to her training with gusto, finding that the straight forward approach of punching her opponents senseless suited her well. Lifting hundreds of pounds of weights and crushing boulders with her bare hands, great feats for normal people, were everyday exercises for Yang.
The other reason she trained so hard was, of course, to protect her sisters. After a certain incident several years ago, in which Yang nearly got all four of them killed, she vowed to never again be too weak defend them. She practically threw herself into her training, with very noticeable results.
While not obvious given her curvaceous figure, Yang possessed an impressive amount of muscle. This was most noticeable on her flat stomach, which had a set of well-defined abs that she loved to show off. Her arms and legs were also well developed, but more compacted and appeared quite slim. This could change during a fight as her Semblance activated, taking hits and converting into energy; which was then directed into her muscles.
More than one opponent had surrendered during a match with her, seeing her eyes turn red, her hair set on fire and her muscles started bulging larger. It was an incredibly intimating sight.
Yang was quite a sight in more than one way. She possessed one of, if not the, biggest pair of breasts on all of Patch and she loved to flaunt them. Most of her outfits, including her current attire, featured low-cuts that exposed a lot of cleavage. Yang loved showing off a lot of skin, to the delight of all the boys and the consternation of her father. She loved to flirt, tease and party all night long.
But that didn't mean Yang was some kind of dumb blonde; she graduated top of Signal for a reason. She absolutely dominated all of the physical tests and fights and not just because of her insane strength. Yang had incredible endurance and could take almost anything and keep standing, often time outlasting her opponents until they had little strength left. She was almost undefeated at Signal, with only Blake and Weiss having a few wins over her and then only because they knew her fighting style so well.
While not having the best grades in the class, Yang still got high-marks on most of her assignments; usually this was when her sisters were able to kick her butt into gear. She did have a sharp mind and was very intelligent, but she preferred to live in the moment and have as much fun as possible.
To Ruby, Yang was the sister who made even the simplest of things fun and exciting. She was the one she could go to if she needed to be comforted and knew that Yang wouldn't leave her until she was better.
She could coddle Ruby too much at times, a trait all her family had, and her over-protectiveness could get really annoying, but she knew that Yang only wanted her to be safe and happy. She was playful, cheery and always ready to stand up for her; and Ruby loved her with all her heart
Weiss was a very different person. She acted, and wanted to be viewed as, the mature one of the group. She held herself to a high-standard in everything, from her grades to her clothes. She was a perfectionist who planned out everything in minute detail, from her daily plans to her own future career. To those who didn't know her well, she often came off a cold and distant person, as someone who only thought of herself.
That couldn't be further from the truth; inside Weiss was a warm and caring person who's wanted the best for her family. She was an incredibly gifted person, being not only extremely intelligent but also talented in a variety of disciplines. This ranged from dancing, singing, playing musical instruments and dress-making to being skilled in mathematics, business theory and chemistry.
The diversity of her interests was shown in her clothing choices, most of which she had made herself. This included a white thigh-length strapless dress with black trim and a fairly low cut, which could have easily come out of a high-end clothing boutique. This was countered by the large white coat she wore over top of it. It trailed down passed her knees and featured numerous pockets on the inside. It was ruffled at the collar, trimmed in black and feature her personal symbol on the back; a black, stylized snowflake.
While well made, the coat looked like, and was in fact, a fancy-looking lab-coat. Weiss was obsessed with Dust manipulation and had been called a mad scientist by more than one person. Completing this image was the pair of goggles she wore around her neck, in case she was struck with inspiration to try a new Dust mixture or needed to use one of her 'special' Dust formulas.
The fact she still radiated class and sophistication spoke volumes of her personal grace and poise.
Her skin was sharply pale and her hair a pure white colour; rare traits for Vale, but common up in Atlas. Her hair was long and held up in an off-centered pony-tail, kept in place with a tiara-type hairpin that was a gift from their late mother.
The only thing that marred her appearance was a crooked scar running down her left eye, a constant reminder of that night 12 years ago. She had been made fun of it as a kid by other children, though Yang had forcefully put an end to that. Weiss chose not to let it bother her and now it enhanced rather than detracted from her beauty.
While mature in mind and action, Weiss had lagged behind her two sisters in her physical development. Her short height had led her to wear a set of platform boots to add an extra few inches.
But it was her chest that had been the cause of much insecurity; while Blake and especially Yang started to bloom and blossom as young women, Weiss was stuck being small and flat-chested. While she never said as much, it had bothered her immensely and she had felt like she was being left behind. For a while there, she had been quite brooding and had begun to drift away from her sisters.
Thankfully, she did eventually hit her own growth spurt. She had screamed for joy that morning over a year ago, when she awoke to find that she had grown enough to finally fill out a bra. She woke the entire house so they could see, proudly proclaiming that her 'Xiao Long' genes had finally kicked in.
While not appreciating being woken up so early, the others were happy for her and no-one brought up the obvious fault in her statement.
While still being the smallest out of the three elder sisters, Weiss's chest was still quite large compared to her short stature and slim build; she had many admirers back in Patch.
And while her fighting style was based more on graceful movements and precision, Weiss did not lack for physical strength. She had gone through the same training as Yang and could hold her own in a contest of strength and endurance very well.
To Ruby, Weiss was the sister who seemed to know everything and she could go to her if she had any questions on just about anything. If she was having trouble with her homework or there was a concept she couldn't wrap her head around, Weiss would help her until she got it. She had a seemingly infinite amount of patience, when it came to her sisters at least, and could explain complicate ideas in an easy to understand way.
Weiss could be overly critical of any and all mistakes Ruby made and could be very overbearing at times. But that was only because she knew that Ruby could do better and that she just wanted the best for her. She was kind, caring and supportive in all the things Ruby did; and Ruby loved her with all her heart.
Last was Blake, Weiss's 'twin', and the trickster of the group. As a Faunus, Blake easily stood out on Patch; even more then the Weiss and her white hair. There were very few Faunus on Patch and she was the only one among the children on the island.
She got bullied and picked on quite a bit at elementary school; lots of kids didn't understand what a Faunus was and were mean to her as a result.
It hadn't gone on for very long; having two parents and an uncle who were famed Huntsmen and an older sister like Yang who would beat up anyone saying bad things about her, stopped the overt attempts to bully her.
But that simply meant that more subtle means were used against her. She was excluded from most of the other kids' activities and it wasn't until she was into her first year at Signal that she was able to start making friends of her own.
Blake had her family, so she was never really alone, but it had hurt a lot at the time and made her wonder if something was just wrong with her. Her mother had reassured her that she was perfect just the way she was and this period of self-doubt passed, but it had still left its mark on her.
She had thought about hiding her ears under a ribbon or something, but that would be admitting defeat. She wasn't going to roll over and let them win; she was and always would be a Faunus.
So she learned to hide in plain sight, to disappear into the shadows; one couldn't pick on someone they couldn't see. She learned to move around silently and follow someone without them noticing them.
It was no surprise then that, while Yang had been the best on fighting and Weiss on written tests, it was Blake who got the best scores on stealth and tracking at Signal. She proved herself many times and eventually earned the respect of her peers, with her sharp wit, keen scents and clever fighting style.
Blake's body had developed very well, though she was still more surprised than she should have been when she realized she had male admirers. Her chest had grown to quite a large size, smaller then Yang's but bigger then Weiss. Her butt also got a lot of attention and was universally regarded as the finest rear-end on Patch and perhaps all of Vale. This was coupled with a pair of long legs and a toned, fit figure.
Her long black hair was tied into a braid that went down her back. She had purple eye-liner around her yellow ears, highlighting their cat-like appearance even more. Her cat-ears were displayed openly; while she was fine with hiding when she wanted to, she wouldn't run from who she was anymore.
She wore a white coat with black inner lining with a black-cropped top underneath. It had a diamond cut in the middle, showing off some of her cleavage, but less then what her sisters preferred to show. A good amount of her stomach was exposed between her shirt and the dark pair of tight, low-riding pants she wore.
The jacket was specially made for her by Weiss and contained a great many hidden pockets both inside and outside. This proved very useful, as while developing her stealth skills, Blake had performed numerous burglaries across Patch and Vale. It was only against either rich people who could afford to lose a few valuables or people that she knew were bad apples, but during it all Blake had developed a 'mild' case of kleptomania. She had a bad habit of 'borrowing' things from others without asking for permission first. It was never anything major and she would always give it back if asked, but it could still get very annoying at times.
To Ruby, Blake was the sister who she could go to if she was having a problem and together they could work out a solution. She encouraged Ruby to be as creative as possible and Ruby could trust her to keep a secret from the rest of the family, for a while at least. She was cool, empathic and always encouraged Ruby to stand up against injustice; and Ruby loved her with all her heart.
A very unique trio to have as older sisters and ones who always made sure that Ruby's life would never be quite as 'normal' as other girls.
"What's with you? Aren't you excited?" Yang asked, looking both confused and worried
"Of course I'm excited... I just... I got moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything." Ruby clasped her hands together and looked down.
This concerned the Sisters. They knew Ruby had trouble making friends; she was just really shy and awkward.
As one the three moved forward and surrounded Ruby on three sides. Blake and Weiss reached out and touched Ruby's shoulders while Yang gently cupped her cheek.
"But you are special…"
To Blake, Yang and Weiss, that was nothing less than the truth. To them, Ruby was their precious little sister. In the darkness moments of their life, she was the light that pulled them back out.
This young, short, red-cloak-wearing, cookie-loving weapon nut was the perhaps the most precious thing in their lives. Ruby gave them drive, a purpose to always strive for; to love, protect, care for and overall be the best big sister they could be for her. That alone had helped them get up when they had fallen down, when the darkness that life seemed to throw at them seemed too much.
Ruby was the light of their life, the thing that kept them moving forwards. Her smile and words of love made everything worthwhile. Being her big sister was the greatest purpose and duty they had in their lives. Seeing her laugh and smile caused their hearts to swell, and seeing her sad broke those same hearts.
Leaving her behind while they went off to study at Beacon had been a difficult decision. They had honestly discussed and considered waiting 2 years until Ruby was done at Signal and could go to Beacon too. They were willing to put their futures on hold for her, but it was clear that Ruby would never have been okay with that and would have certainly have hated herself for seemingly holding her sisters back.
Having her coming with them to Beacon truly made this the best day ever; because they loved Ruby with all their hearts and more.
Blake and Weiss leaned forward and softly kissed Ruby on the cheek before Yang gave her a gentle, tender kiss on her forehead. The girls took a half-step back, still keeping close to Ruby. The little red reaper's expression had brightened considerably, with her eyes no longer downcast and a smile was now on her face.
Like the night before, these gestures never failed in making Ruby feel better, to make all her insecurities fade away.
"Love you…" Ruby's voice was very soft, almost inaudible to her sisters despite their close proximity. She was looking at Yang, but it was directed at all three.
They still heard her all the same. "Love you too" was their shared response, an answer that they never failed to give.
This tender family moment was broken by the TV monitors along the wall of the airship coming to life, broadcasting the latest news from Vale. The sisters broke their little circle and stood next to each other to see the screen.
It was a police mug-shot of a red-hair man in a white jacket with a smug grin on his face.
"The robbery was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department." The male newscaster said, giving the identity and details of the man shown.
Yang leaned in close to Ruby.
"So this is the guy that you fought last night?" Yang asked.
"The guy that shot at you?" Weiss added.
"The guy that almost blew you up with a Burn crystal?" Blake's question was punctured by a low growl in her voice.
"Yeah, it was pretty crazy. He was actually pretty skilled for just some crook and was really fast too. I took my eyes off him for a second and he was already climbing up a building and…" Ruby stopped mid-sentence as she realized her sisters weren't listening to her. Their attention was firmly on the image of Roman Torchwick.
Looking closer, Ruby could see that Yang's eyes had turned bright red, like two burning coals. Weiss's eyes were hard and cold as ice and Blake's had an angry, feral look to them. This was because they were thinking of the exact same thing; that Roman Torchwick was going to die.
This man had tried to kill Ruby, their precious little sister. He had tried to take away the light of their lives, the single most important thing to them. So there was no if, ands or buts; if they even crossed paths with Torchwick, they were going to kill him in the most painful way possible.
The wraith of a trio of protective sisters was terrible indeed.
The image on the screen changed as the male reporter passed the news back to networks main anchor. The fire and intense rage within the Xiao Long sisters passed without a word, though the vow was not forgotten.
On the TV now was a face that they and all of Vale had seen many times over the years; Lisa Lavender.
The purple-haired reporter had become the face of news in the entire Kingdom, having made her big break 12 years ago covering the collision between the two passengers ships off the coast of Vale. It was quite the opportunity for a young, rookie reporter like her, but she handled herself well and used that to become synonymous with the latest news and reports in the Kingdom in the years since.
"Thank you, Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. Violence from members of the officially peaceful organization has grown in recent years. This incident comes on the heels of a recent attempt to hijack a Schnee Dust Company-owned train by known White Fang member, Adam Taurus. The attack was ultimately repealed and both the train's cargo and passengers safely secured, but only after most of the train's automated security was destroyed."
"The leader of the White Fang, Ghira Belladonna, could not be reach for questions on either incident, but his office has reiterated that the White Fang is committed to non-violence and explained that Adam Taurus was expelled some time ago for his extremist views. No answer was given on the rumours of a possible leadership struggle going on between Ghira Belladonna and his second-in-commander, Sienna Khan, who has publicly advocated for more 'aggressive' actions be taken to secure Faunus rights".
"Vale News Network will keep up to date as more information becomes available. After the break, our panel of experts will discuss the current direction the White Fang is taking and if they are, in fact, becoming a terrorist organization. But first, the weather…"
The news feed was abruptly cut off and replaced by a hologram of a woman with blonde hair that was held in bun and glasses.
"Who's that?" Yang asked.
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch." The hologram said, answering Yang's question. The image of Beacon's Deputy Headmistress continued one, speaking how it was a privilege for them to be attending Beacon and how it was their duty to do their best to uphold the peace the world was currently enjoying.
"So…" Yang turned towards Ruby, "this is that strict Huntress that saved you from Torchwick?"
"Yeah…I mean, I was doing okay before she showed up and all, but she did block that Dust explosion. It was actually really cool watching her fight, with her making ice rain from the sky and she even made a giant spear out of some rubble and…"
Ruby's excited narration of her encounter with Goodwitch was cut off by Weiss walking up behind her, grabbing her shoulders and spinning her around to look at her.
"That woman is the Deputy Headmistress of Beacon, second only to Headmaster Ozpin himself and widely regarded as one of the greatest Huntresses alive." Weiss' face was one of intense focus as she leaned in closer to Ruby.
"Please tell me you got her autograph?"
Ruby looked down. "I…I asked her, but she turned me down flat…"
"Shi-Drat!" Weiss's voice was angry as she barely bit back a curse; the autograph of such an illustrious Huntress would have been amazing to own, let alone what it could be worth to the right buyer.
"I'm sorry…" Ruby said sadly. She hated disappointing her sisters.
Weiss looked back at Ruby in surprise. "I'm not mad at you. I know you did your best." To emphasis this, she kissed Ruby's forehead, bring a smile back to her younger sister's face.
While this going on, Blake stood off to the side, lost in her own thoughts. The reports of the White Fang's violence had been going on for a long time now, but had increased greatly over the past year. It was went beyond a few misguided or overly zealously members and was now clearly the work of an organized faction within the White Fang; a faction dedicated to violence against humans.
As a child, Blake had often though about joining the White Fang, the group of people fighting to make society better for helpless and the marginalized Faunus. If there had been a branch of the White Fang on Patch, Blake didn't doubt she would have become a member and would have enthusiastically taken in all of their protests and boycotts.
But Patch was too small and had too few Faunus to make it worth it for the White Fang to maintain a presence, instead focusing on Vale itself and a few of the other coastal cities. It would have been difficult and expensive to constantly make the trip over to Vale every week, so the closest Blake got to the White Fang was the occasional broadcasts of speeches made by Ghira Belladonna.
In those days, when Blake would often come home crying from elementary school after some kids pulled on her ears or something else like that, the words of Ghira Belladonna were uplifting. There was something in the man's words, in himself that just seemed to resonate with Blake. It tugged at something in the back of her mind, something from her forgotten past.
Blake concluded that she must have seen him before when she was younger; she was certain that she had originally come from Menagerie and Ghira Belladonna lived and spent most of his time there, alongside his wife Kali, who was the Chieftain of Menagerie. It was very possible that she had seen them growing up and that she was almost remembering them.
In a way, they were a link back to her past and her lost family.
But time does not sit around her one girl to daydream. Blake had to focus on her schooling, her training and most of all, her family. After Summer died, Blake decided she couldn't spend her time dreaming about some great moral crusade; she needed to focus on the present. She would have loved to meet Ghira Belladonna in person, but he hadn't make an appearance in Vale in over a decade.
Her family, on the other hand, was beside her every day. They were the ones she had to care about, not the plea of people she didn't know living far away. She had a loving family who didn't care that she had cat-ears, who saw her for who she was. With the White Fang, she often wondered if they would see her, or just her ears.
While it was true that she had faced some discrimination as a child for her Faunus ears, it did eventually come to an end. The people of Patch were good people and after the matter was brought to their attention, the parents of the offending children did take action.
It didn't end all the bullying right away, but as time went on and they all grew up, the harassment she faced stopped. Most of the kids who had picked on her apologized and some of them even became good friends to her. They all just outgrew it all and moved on with their lives.
So to Blake, the violent actions of the White Fang just seemed so childish to her; the response of people who couldn't grow up and see there was a better way of doing things. She had pranked and stole from kids who had bullied her, but she was a child reacting impulsively, wanting to hurt those who had hurt her. She was above that now and it seemed such a shame that the White Fang couldn't do the same.
And if Ghira Belladonna couldn't stop those under his authority from committing violent acts, couldn't convince them that a peaceful solution was possible, maybe he wasn't as great of a leader as she once thought.
"Blake…hey Blake, you in there?" the voice of Yang brought Blake back to the present.
"Yeah, what is it?" Blake's question was answered by Yang simply pointing to the window. Blake saw that both Ruby and Weiss were gazing out, the younger girl having a look of wonder on her face. Walking forward, Blake quickly saw why.
The whole City of Vale was sprawled out before them. The sisters had visited the city many times, but they never got to see if from this view before. Coming from such a small area, it was almost mind-boggling to think of all the people that lived down there. Buildings in every shape and size stretched as far as the eye could see, bordered by the mountains and coastline that protected the Kingdom.
"Look! You can actually see Signal from here!" Ruby said excitedly, pointing to a spot out in the horizon.
It was true; you could just barely make out Signal's tower from Vale. Long ago, that tower had been just that, a signal tower. It was used by the first settlers to signal Vale if there was a large Grimm or sea-raiders attack. After the Great War, the base of the tower was expanded and transformed into Signal Academy.
"Guess Dad and the old house aren't very far after all" Ruby's voice had a wistful tone to it. Yang wrapped an arm around her.
"Beacon's our home now."
Ruby turned and smiled at Yang's words despite completely disagreeing with her. It was right here, having Yang, Blake and Weiss next to her, that was her home.
And it always would be.
The airship reached its assigned docking station, sliding in gently before opening its doors.
One blonde haired boy rushed out of the airship as quickly as possible, heading immediately to the nearest trash-can. The flight to Beacon hadn't been gentle enough for him it seemed, as he proceeded to empty his stomach of everything he had eaten in the last 24 hours into the trash-can.
The sisters quickly moved passed him. He had almost threw up on their shoes back on the airship, but Blake had been quick enough to see what was going to happen and moved them to another part of the ship.
When they reached the end of the path from the airship, they stopped and gasped in awe at the sight of Beacon Academy.
They had seen pictures and videos of Vale's Huntsmen Academy before and seen if from a distant from the city, but it paled before standing before the real thing. Even when they were doing their applications, it was all done in an office in the city, so this was their first time see in school with their own eyes.
Beacon Tower absolutely dwarfed Signal in size and grandeur. It reached high into the sky, connecting the Vale with the rest of the world through the CCT system. The rest of the school spread out from the tower, huge white and gray buildings that contained everything that the young Huntsmen and Huntresses-in-training needed to have to live, learn and train effectively.
Other potential students moved past the girls, many of them carrying their weapons in the open.
"Look, Look! That kid's got a collapsible staff! And she's got a fire sword!" Ruby squealed in delight, the display of Huntsmen-grade weapon causing her weapon-obsession to come out in full force.
Ruby was about to reach out and start groping those weapons when Yang grabbed her by her hood, hauling her back.
"Easy there, little sister. They're just weapons!"
"Just weapons?" Ruby said, incredulously. "They're an extension of ourselves! They're a part of us! Oh, they're so cool!""
"Well, why can't you swoon over your own weapon? Aren't you happy with it?" Blake asked. She and the others knew just how much of her heart and soul she had put into forging her scythe.
In the blink of an eye, Ruby had her weapon out and fully extended.
"Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose!" she said defensively, cradle her weapon has if it was a baby. "I just really like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people, but better..."
Weiss stepped forward and placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder.
"Ruby, come on, why don't you go try and make some friends of your own?" Weiss said, somewhat forcefully. She knew Ruby could make friends if she just opened up more.
Ruby looked at Weiss and her other sisters. "Why do I need friends when I have you?"
The Xiao Long Sisters had to bite their lips to stop themselves from squealing in joy as their hearts swelled with warm emotions. At that moment all they wanted to do was hug and kiss Ruby with all their might. It was amazing that Ruby could make them feel this way with only a few words.
But they had discussed this beforehand and agreed that they would have to be more forceful in getting Ruby to break out of her shell.
"Well…" Yang looked at Weiss and Blake, seeing the nod before taking a big breath. "Actually-we-were-going-hang-with-some-of-our-friends-so-we'll-catch-you-later-bye."
With those words, spoken so fast Ruby could barely catch them; the three older sisters dashed off and were soon lost in the crowd heading into the main building.
"W-wait…what do I do now? Do we head to our dorms? Do we have dorms? Guys…" Ruby could only stare at the crowd, her words getting quieter. She couldn't believe that her beloved sisters had just ditched her in a strange new place filled with strange new people.
Overwhelmed, Ruby simply fell over backwards and lay on the ground for a few minutes.
Deep breathes helped to calm her sudden panic at being alone, though her anger against her sister began to rise sharply. She knew what they were trying to do. They were always doing things like this, trying to force her to be more open and confidence before she was ready.
Her combined mopping and planning revenge was cut short as someone walked up to her.
"Need a hand there?" the person asked.
Ruby didn't know what say, so she just accepted the offer hand and got back to her feet. She had no choice now; she would try and make a friend like her sisters wanted her to.
30 minutes had passed since they had left Ruby alone and Weiss was getting very worried. She and her sisters were in the school's auditorium with all the other students, waiting for the Headmaster to address them.
At first, she was okay with the plan to leave Ruby behind. Ruby's skills at fighting had only emerged after her uncle took over her training and really forced her to push her boundaries to become strong. She was, in a way, the kind of person who learned to swim by being pushed into the deep end. So, the three of them decided that Ruby would need a similar push if she was to finally open up to others and start making friends on her own.
It was fine when this was all talk and planning, but as the minutes wore on, Weiss couldn't help but start to worry about her little sister. It had been pretty cruel of them, just leaving like that with such a petty explanation; it could have been seen like they didn't want her around.
"This was a bad idea" Weiss said, pacing back and forth. "She should have been here by now. I'm going to go look for her." Weiss was about to walk towards the auditorium doors when Yang grabbed her by the shoulder.
"Easy there sis; there's no reason for you to get so worked up. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"
Weiss whipped around, looking her sister dead in the eye. "What's the worst that could happen? How about Ruby accidentally falling over some rich, snobby girl's luggage and getting yelled at. Then the rich brat will take out some Dust containers that she had in her luggage and yell at Ruby some more. But the Dust will be improperly sealed and a cloud of it will be released and Ruby will sneeze, causing an explosion and she will be yelled at even more. That is what could be happening!"
Weiss took a step back, taking deep breathes. Yang and Blake exchanged looks with each other. Weiss could go overboard with her worrying, but even this was a bit much and surprisingly detailed. It was, however, completely in character that Weiss was more worried about Ruby being yelled at, and thus having her feelings hurt, then she was about Ruby getting blown up.
"I don't think that will happen. If it did, I probably would have heard an explosion or something similar" Blake said, her cat ears twitching for emphasis.
"What is more likely is that Ruby is busy talking to people, making friends; you know, what we wanted to happen." Yang's words did little to calm Weiss, who simply crossed her arms and pouted.
Yang sighed and was just about to say more when she caught sight of a familiar red hood at the entrance-way.
"Look, Ruby right there, so there was nothing to worry…" Yang's voice trailed off as she got a better view of Ruby, her open hanging open as a look of pure horror appeared on her face. Confused and worried, Weiss and Blake moved up to see, their own faces quickly matching Yang's.
The reason for the sisters' reaction was very clear; walking right beside Ruby, talking with her, was a monster.
This monster was different from the creatures of Grimm. This one walked on two legs and had bright blue eyes and blond hair, but it was a monster none the less. The thing that was beside their precious little sister was a…boy.
And while the Grimm would kill and destroy all that humanity held dear, it was boys that had intentions. And what kind of intentions could this boy have towards their baby sister?
The Xiao Long sisters' minds raced with all the possibilities, each one worst then the last.
Now, the three had realistically known that Ruby could have met and befriended a boy; they did make up half the population after all. The sisters had several male friends back at Signal and they had gotten along alright with Ruby, but seeing a boy that they didn't know, hadn't vetted, walking and talking beside Ruby just turned their overprotectiveness to the max.
Both Yang and Blake had both dated a few guys while at Signal; Weiss was completely uninterested is such things. None had lasted long or got really serious, but they still had to deal with their father getting all paranoid and protective of them. It had been really annoying at the time and they had told him as such, so one would think that they would realize the hypocrisy of their immediate thoughts towards Ruby being with a boy.
But the difference was that this was Ruby; their sweet, innocent, precious little sister. Their emotions towards her were so strong that they often canceled out any and all rational thinking and the connection between this scenario and their own interactions with boys was just not made.
A small part of them realize how much of an overreaction this was, but the bigger part fueled by their intense love for Ruby, could only go to the worst possibility.
Thinking quickly, Yang raised her arm and waved at Ruby. "Ruby, over here; we, um, saved you a spot!"
Ruby said something to the boy before walking towards her sisters. Ruby's sisters didn't miss the look of disappointment on the boy's face; disappointed that his prey had escaped him, perhaps?
Ruby walked over to join her sisters. Meeting Jaune and the others had been nice, but that didn't excuse them for just leaving her behind. She was just about to get them a piece of her mind when the three suddenly wrapped her in a hug.
Ruby was surprised by this sudden display of affection, but realized that they must be apologizing to her. They knew how mean it was to just ditch her and were trying to make it up.
Ruby hugged them back, thankful that she had such loving and caring sisters.
Jaune Arc on the other hand, would quickly come to hate that Ruby had such loving and overprotective sisters, as Yang, Blake and Weiss vowed to protect Ruby from all the dangers in the world, real or imagined.
Things were already shaping up to be quite interesting at Beacon this year.
That's it for Chapter 2. I wanted to get right into the action and start off with the girls at Beacon. Flashbacks to the girls growing up will appear as the story progresses. Yang and Ruby have the same appearance, Yang having some more muscle and Ruby's headphones being around her neck all the time. Weiss has a lab-coat and googles, along with a bigger chest. Blake's is basically the same as her Volume 4 outfit; just the inside of the jacket is black and her hair is in a braid.
In regards to pairings, the reason I had initially thought of making this a Pollination story was because I was going to have Ruby, Blake, Weiss and Yang already be very close and in many ways intimate with each other. As time went on, they would start to realize how much they loved each other and move onto being romantic with each other.
As an alternative, I've now been considering having the members of Team RWBY be paired with Team JNPR. I was already planning on having them be more prominently featured then they were in the show (Helping in the fight against Roman, joining them on the mission to Mountain Glenn , etc.), so this would reinforce that even more. I am thinking about having it as RubyxJaune, WeissxPyrrha, YangxNora and BlakexRen. For Ruby and Jaune, things probably won't get romantic until after the time-skip.
For Weiss and Blake's personalities, they will still be broadly the same, but will generally be more open, kind and with a few new quirks. I don't want them to become completely different characters, but I think adding a few new things will keep things interesting.
I will be giving an explanation as to why Summer, Taiyang and Qrow were never able to find Weiss and Blake real parents', who are still alive, and why it wasn't obvious that Weiss was a Schnee.
I'm also changing the timeline a bit here, having Summer leave for her final mission several years later then in canon. This was so that she was around long enough so that Weiss and Blake would completely identify her as being their mother. This means that Yang's search for Raven, and the incident with the Grimm, also happened much later.
That's all for now, I will be focusing on Dark Valkyrie for the next while before returning to Sisterhood, so leave review or a PM to tell me what you think and of any ideas you may have for this story.
Thanks again.
Edit:April 5th, 2019- After several more reviews and a poll, I decided to go with Pollination over RWBYxJNPR from Ch.5 onward. You can disregard the authors notes on the next two chapter on this subject.
