Small Issues

AN: And we're back for another instalment of this series. I had hoped to get it done sooner but had a bit of a bad combination of lack of time and some writers block. Almost kind of odd given how much I have written for the Issues series overall. Anyway, on with the show!

Illuminating Family

Blake didn't have any plans for what she'd do after abandoning Adam on the train. The best she could do was ride until it got near Vale and snuck off using the general confusion of the station to slip away. More attention was drawn away from her by the fact that nearly half of the cars were missing.

But what she did need most were supplies- food, water, clothes, and ammunition to start.

It was a good thing that she knew of a few people she believed she could trust as they were friends of her parents.

"Hello?" An older man answered his door when he heard knocking.

"Mr. Basil?" A young woman asks from his doorstep.

"Yes, that's me. What do you need…" Basil trailed off as he took in the details of the girl. "Blake?"

Hearing him say her name brought a smile to her lips, something that hasn't happened for quite some time. "It's been a long time."

"Ha! Come on in!" Basil insists, stepping aside. "Oh, you are looking so much like your mother at that age. How old are you now?"

"I'm seventeen."

"Ah, but not for long if my memory serves me right." Basil laughs as he walks over to his small kitchen and prepares some tea.

"Mhm."

"Would you like something to eat?"

"I haven't eaten all day."

"Well then, let's see if you still enjoy my cooking!"

A short time later, they were eating a chicken stir-fry and enjoying their freshly brewed tea.

"So… what brings you around here?" Basil asks politely.

Blake glanced away, not sure how to put her words.

"Hmm… What is it? You've obviously come to me for help." Basil leans back in his chair. "You were fighting again, that much I can see." He gestured to her dirtied clothes. Thankfully, he didn't mention anything about how she smelled since it had been a while since she bathed, at least since the day before she and Adam attacked the train.

Blake sat silently for a few minutes, Basil simply waited patiently.

"Can… Can you keep this quiet?"

"Hmm? Depends on what happened." Basil had always been known as a good man and dependable friend for her parents and herself. So she took a leap to trust him further.

"Basil… I left the White Fang."

An eyebrow raised at that. "They have been getting more violent and straying from the original path that was set. I had left with your parents but settled down here."

"I… took part in some of that violence." Her voice was low and quiet, yet it was hard to miss the heavy regret in her tone.

"You don't sound too proud about that." He acknowledged, prompting Blake to tell him more.

"But… I still see the need for some of it. I've seen the conditions that our people have been forced into, how the rights on paper don't carry over to actions, the blind eyes given when one of us is beaten and robbed… or worse…" She needed a moment to take a calming breath.

"And now you've seen why the White Fang had stuck to a position of nonviolence before? Violence only begets more violence until either the horrors of that violence become too much to bear to support, one side is crushed completely, or a third party moves in to take advantage of their weakened state." Basil began to lecture; having a job as a school teacher had its benefits and quirks. "Yet it can be that a single person who can see that as it has happened all throughout history and will stand against the violence. Others will see their defiance as a shining light of integrity and gather to support them.

Of course, everyone has different views of how things should be done, including moderation of counter violence done not just in the name of defending the group but to send a message that things could get worse but that they refuse to go further unless pushed."

"And do you think that they have gone too far?" Blake asks in a low voice.

"I may have left being an activist to others and instead turned my efforts in a new direction, guiding young minds to think freely and ensure that they are aware of the mistakes of the past… as well as the successes.

To teach them that even if a group has gone about things in the wrong way, often their goal is something to be commended. It's how they turned out in the end that many tend to focus on, not how the situation began, forgetting that many of those groups had exhausted peaceful options and had become desperate for their own survival and for those they had initially intended to protect.

History is full of such examples… and I believe that the White Fang is following in that path. They are not beyond redemption yet, so there is hope in that regard."

That small speech left his guest silent, the two of them finishing their meal quietly. Basil seemed pleased that she was taking her time to think over what he said.

"Would you like to get cleaned up? The shower is free to use." Basil offers.

"Hmm? But I don't have anything…"

"I can find something while your clothes are being washed." Blake blinked in surprise at how quick he was to remedy her situation. "Maybe later we could go shopping so that you do have a few things of your own."

"I-I don't know what to say."

Basil smirked, loving this part of dealing with teens. "How about a thank you? Though how about a little action? You're stinking up my house."

That had the two of them laughing before sharing a hug. "Thank you, Basil."

—-

"You know, Beacon Academy is taking enrollment and entrance exams will be done soon." Basil says as they watch the television. They had spent the afternoon, after Blake got cleaned up and clothes washed, getting her some extra clothes and other supplies.

"So?"

"So… perhaps you could use the skills that you used to destroy the defenses of that train for something else more productive."

Her eyes went wide at the mention of a train. "What train?"

"Please, do you really think that just because I've left the Fang that I don't pay attention to what it does? Or have ears inside?"

Blake shrunk in on herself under his scrutiny.

"But I see that the attack was the last straw for you… that is a good thing." Basil reassured her, patting her shoulder.

"Y-you're not mad?"

Basil shrugs. "A little disappointed that it took you until that point to find the line that you wouldn't cross." He watched as she hung her head and hugged herself. "But I'm also proud that you didn't stay any longer or embrace the mindset to give into violence." That made her look up to him with wide eyes.

"What?"

"You heard me, nothing escapes those ears." He laughs before standing and stretching his arms and back. "Ugh, time for bed."

"Umm… good night."

"Same to you. But seriously, think about what I said about being a Huntress." With those final words, Basil climbs the stairs to his room.

Blake lay on the couch, finding it much better than the cot she had back at the camp. Sleep didn't come easy as her friend's recommendation echoed in her mind.

—-

"Woohoo!"

"Really Yang?"

"Oh come on! I know I passed my finals at Signal and the entrance exams for Beacon are next!" The boisterous blonde bounced by her sister who was sitting at their shared desk in their room.

"You really think you're going to get into Beacon?" Ruby asks with a straight face… for all of five seconds. "Because I know you are!"

"Oh yeah! Getting in is gonna be easy!"

Their father was leaning against the doorframe watching his daughters celebrate the eldests success. "Hey! You might want to simmer down a little. Yeah, our tests at Signal are tough and put you through the ringer-"

"Ha! C'mon, you saw me take down anyone and everyone in the ring with me!" Yang puffs out her already sizable chest with pride as she flexes her arms to show the bare limbs and the muscles that gave them such strength.

"As much as you did do that." Taiyang continued, far too used to his daughter being hot headed, even if she could back up most of her words. "Getting into Beacon is no walk in the park and entrance exams are different for everyone… and then you still have initiation…" He trailed off as memories of his own time at the school came to the front of his mind, becoming part of Team STRQ as a result.

Yang calmed down but her confident smirk remained, her sister smiling beside her. "We've heard you and Uncle Qrow talk about that often enough." The blonde dismisses his worries while still taking his advice.

"Haha, yeah, you two always did love those stories." The father laughs. "But I figured that we would go celebrate with a meal at Hestia's. What do you think?"

"Hestia's!?" Both girls jumped in excitement. "Let's go!"

Taiyang knew that he'd have his work cut out for himself by the time they returned. Since Hestia's is a buffet, they could eat as much as they wanted… and his girls being teens and very active ones at that, they would eat a lot. It was easier on his wallet in the long run to go there than another place with set portion sizes and dealing with hungry girls by the time they left. The hard part would be dealing with them after they stuffed themselves into food comas and carrying them up to their room.

A few hours later…

"Ugh… how much did you eat?" Tai groans as he sets Ruby in her bed, removing her boots before tucking her into her bed as he did with Yang a few minutes earlier. As much as he would joke that they could eat half their weight in a single sitting, it wasn't too far off to say that they didn't give it a good try to do just that.

—-

"Wow, this is our entrance exam?" Nora asks nobody in particular. She and a few other students who had applied for Beacon had gotten a single assignment that would serve as their test, under the supervision of one of their Huntsman teachers.

"It is odd, I would have expected individual tests." Ren comments.

"Eh, if we have to do this as a team, we got this thing in the bag." One of their male classmates boasts. The guy was big and had the strength to match his size, being the only one in the class who could rival Nora in terms of raw strength.

"Let's see about that!" Nora knocks fists with him with a grin.

The next day…

The team of Huntsman hopefuls carried a log together over their shoulders. Though given the extraordinary size of the one boy and Nora's rather diminutive stature, one end was much higher than the other.

They had been tasked with helping to build a cabin in the woods, one meant to allow travelers a safer place to rest. It was to have a well fed by the nearby spring, the small cliffside offered some protection from above as the cabin was being partly built into the rock. A log wall would offer a measure of security around the shelter and the chimney, hearth, and floor was being made from the excavated stone.

A team from Haven was helping them, two of the men being huge. One is a bull Faunus who would cut down the trees with ease for them to carry back while the other had no trouble breaking his way through the stone. The pair of girls on their team were in charge of setting up the communication equipment, the antennae being set up at the top of the cliff and cables run down to the cabin.

So far the cabin was really taking shape as the outside walls were being built up and currently shoulder high for most of the team members. The group of carpenters were ensuring that everything was being carved out for snug fitting, even without the logs needing to be fastened together. The outer protective wall was half built, logs were stood on end and dropped into holes before they were lashed together to keep the logs from shifting. But that wall had a large gap right in front of the cabin.

That gap allowed for the fresh logs to be brought in for the cabin. More logs would be used to build a short wall just inside of the gap and a longer stretch just outside, forcing anything and anyone to wind their way around the walls. That would offer a fair amount of protection and that didn't count that they were going to put in doors at the four entrances/exits.

While the building efforts were going steadily, they did have to deal with the occasional Grimm. Who got to fight it often depended on who was closest but when possible, they were left to the younger students undergoing this test with the older team making sure that they didn't get overwhelmed and the veteran Huntsman evaluating their abilities.

It took the combined teams less than a week to finish and officially broke it in with a small celebration that night. The next day they returned to their respective schools and another team would bring in furniture and long lasting supplies later.

—-

Ruby and Yang were a short distance from their home, a small clearing that the family would use for combat training so they didn't have to worry about being too close to the house. Over the years, it had been used enough that there were little more than a few weeds or tufts of grass that would spring up in the middle. The outer edges of small growth mark the boundaries of the sparring area as well as the habitable zone for plants, though many of the trees bore scars of their own from small cuts and bullets.

And today seemed to be the end of the short lives of some of those weeds as Ruby and Yang were having some practice time today while the weather was nice and the air surprisingly warm for the season being late winter. At least there wasn't any snow.

"Oof!" Ruby gasped as she hit the dirt hard.

Standing over her, Yang simply laughed as she offered a hand to help her sister to her feet. "Oh come on, I didn't hit you that hard."

Ruby was pulled upright and immediately pouted, complete with crossing her arms and looking away with a huff. "But Yang! You know I'm bad with hand to hand stuff!"

"All the more reason to help you now when I can. I'll be going to Beacon soon and I want to make sure you can take care of yourself while I'm gone." The blonde let her excitement give way to her concern for her family. Sure, this was a bit of tough love but this was what training was all about- developing their skills before they needed them out in the real world as their lives and the lives of others would depend on them.

"But you wouldn't even let me bring Crescent Rose!"

"Kinda the point." Yang shifts to put a hand on her hip. "You're great with your scythe and all but without it… you suck."

"Really?!" As much as she was used to her sister being blunt at times, her words could hit like a punch to the gut. And she had taken a few today already. She was just glad that Yang was holding back when she did that or their training session would've been over a while ago.

"Really really." The blonde grins, making her sister relax and begins to get herself ready for the next round.

Ruby heard footsteps and that was her only warning as Yang had charged back in with her fist already moving. The younger girl leaned back to dodge, though it was done erratically and instinctively rather than smoothly and controlled.

A couple more punches resulted in the same movements, Yang becoming more disappointed as it happened.

Then she came to a sudden stop and turned away. "Come on, you'll never beat anyone if all you do is flail around and run. Sometimes you gotta stand your ground and fight back."

As much as she was lecturing her sister in the same way their father taught his combat classes, it was the teasing tone that got to Ruby. That combined with the latest adrenaline rush and her own frustration of not being able to fight unarmed led to her not spotting the obvious set up.

Yang smirked as she heard her sister growl and close the distance between them, smoothly sidestepping the punch aimed at the back of her head.

The lack of contact surprised Ruby and made her rotate in the air so she had a good view of her sister swinging at her from above as she fell.

But Yang wasn't particularly surprised when her sister burst into rose petals that zipped away into the forest underbrush just as she was going to make contact.

"Ha! Not bad sis!" The elder sibling praised. "But you'll have to do more than just run away."

She waited a few seconds and listened for a response or to hear the girl walking back to the clearing. But hearing none, she grew worried. "Ruby?"

A short distance away, Ruby lay dazed against a tree. Having shot herself away from her sister's fist without even looking where she was going had been a bad idea… though it would have been a bad idea if any thinking had been involved. But by the time she had gotten her wits together and deactivated her Petal Burst, she was well into the woods and her momentum carried her straight into a tree.

That just left her with the problem of finding her way back to the training field… once her head stopped spinning.

It took a minute, making her glad that her aura didn't break but while it did help to take the brunt of impacts it still meant that the user felt every hit. And running full speed into a large tree hurt. Yet just as she rose to her feet to look over the lower foliage, she found a Grimm not far from her.

An Ursa Major to be specific; - large bear-like Grimm that had large bone spikes on their backs and would gain more of them as they aged as well as bony plates down their limbs. They were slower and less agile than Beowolves but had much greater raw strength and durability.

And it heard her gasp of surprise, stalking her way immediately. The girl reached back for her weapon only to grasp at air, her panic making her forget that the scythe was left at home momentarily.

"Yang!"

The blonde perked up hearing her sisters cry, glad that she was close since she was looking for the girl already, and she burst into a run through the undergrowth. A few panicked seconds later she found Ruby as they nearly collided… with a Grimm in hot pursuit.

"Ruby?!"

"Yang?!"

"GGRRAAAWWWLL!"

"Oh." Yang shouldn't have been surprised by the sight but Ursa Major are a rare sight on the island of Patch. At the same time, her adrenaline was already pumping so she kept her momentum going right at the Grimm.

Ruby stopped and took cover behind a tree to watch her sister fight.

As she ran, Yang snapped her arms down and twisted her wrists slightly, causing her golden bracelets to activate. Metal plates slid out to cover the backs of her forearms while a thicker plate extended from the front to cover the back of her hands stopping just short of her knuckles. Interestingly, those same plates have a barrel that is aligned with her index fingers. A few more plates shifted, rotating around her wrist to reveal several shotgun shells held in place.

With her gauntlets now ready for battle, her right arm pulled back and punched just as the Grimm swung a paw the size of her torso at her.

The punch unloaded a shell full of buckshot laced with Fire Dust right into the beast's shoulder, the claws passing over her head as she dropped to slide under and between its legs.

The much larger fighter needed much more time to stop and turn around than Yang did, the girl slamming her arms down to push herself back upright, turning as she did so that she was facing the way she had come. And she wasted no time firing more shells into the Grimm's hide as it turned.

The shots did little more than irritate the beast as it jumped at the source, forcing her to back up and weave around its attempts to claw her, each claw on its paws longer than her own hands.

"Woah!" Yang shouts as one swing came rather uncomfortably close, close enough that even backing away left the claws to pass just under her prominent chest.

Unfortunately, that small shock distracted her so that she missed the other paw until it was too late. The limb hit her like a small truck, throwing the blonde away several paces until she slammed into a tree.

"Yang! No!" Ruby was petrified by the sight of her sister slumped against the bark. Even worse, her yell caught the attention of the Ursa again and it began to stalk her way.

The slow stalk transitioned into a run, the beast letting out a roar that scared the young girl so much that she remained rooted in place.

It leapt up and raised its paws with the full intent to crush her where she stood.

Ruby was hit hard and a cloud of dirt and leaves were kicked up from the blow… but when she opened her eyes she saw the Grimm from the side and that it was Yang that had hit her.

And Yang took the hit for her. And another. And another.

The Ursa lifted its paw once more to ensure the persistent blonde stayed down forever and slammed it down with a burst of flames upon impact.

Yet it seemed that it was the Grimm that was surprised and for good reason- Yang had risen to her knees and caught the paw over her shoulder and her left arm gripped the black fur tightly to ensure that the limb wouldn't leave unless she wanted it to. And the fire- the long golden locks had caught aflame on their own and her eyes had turned a bright red.

Her semblance is Burn, turning all of the damage that she had taken from the fight thus far and converting that into strength and doubling it, granting her a massive boost in her damage output.

"Yang!" The sight of her sister like this brought back her hope and confidence, sure that this fight would end soon now.

"RrrrrrRAAAWWW!" Yang yelled as she squeezed tighter on the trapped limb until the bones inside cracked and broke, eliciting a squeal of pain from the Grimm.

From there, she used her free hand to fire off the last few shells she had remaining in that gauntlet right into the Ursa's gut, causing it to roar, before she wrenched on the trapped limb with both arms.

As a result, the Grimm lifted its arm and dragged Yang up with it and the massive jaws clamped down over her waist. It was the girl's turn to scream as she was shaken before being thrown away.

Dropping back down to all fours, though keeping the injured forelimb held off the ground, the Ursa turned back on Ruby to finish what it started.

"Grraaa!" Yang had rolled out of her landing and hopped onto the trunk of a tree, using it as a firm foothold to launch herself back at the Grimm. Before it could fully look at her, a left hook with fiery buckshot impacted its mask. The bony plate was ripped apart, leaving the beast half blinded and stumbling away.

The blonde once more rolled out her momentum to land on her feet, immediately seizing the opportunity granted to her. A right uppercut snapped the Ursa's head up so that it stood on its rear legs, leaving it open for her to put her semblance enhanced strength to good work punching in its rib cage, every punch from her left accompanied by a shell being fired until she ran out.

Though by the time she did, she had pushed the beast backwards several paces.

Yet the Ursa stood tall but unmoving.

"Nobody messes with my sister if I have anything to say about it!" Yang scoffs as her Burn fades, the flames dancing from her hair vanishing and her eyes returning to lilac.

That said, she walks over to Ruby, ignoring the Grimm falling behind her where it began to fade to smoke and ash.

"Yang! I'm so sorry!" The younger sibling rushed over to catch the blonde in an embrace. "I-I-I couldn't do anything because I can't fight without my-"

She was cut off by the comforting hug wrapped around her. "I'll always be here for you sis, no matter what."

They stayed like that for a few moments before Ruby spoke again. "Does this mean… training is done for today?"

That simple question set them both off laughing for a short time before they headed home. They had a new story for their dad and he was likely going to use that to stress to his youngest the importance of being ready for any situation.

—-

Pyrrha found that she had received an immediate letter of acceptance to Beacon. While it was known that the entrance exams could vary wildly from one hopeful student to another, it seemed that her fame as a tournament champion preceded her. Though if they were looking for her combat records, they weren't hard to find thanks to those matches over the years. Her test scores from Sanctum were easy to get ahold of as well for Beacon, certainly nothing to be ashamed with in those records.

"Maybe it's for the best." She sighs as she lay on her bed with the letter in hand. She didn't want to gain more attention than she already had… it was bad enough when she had to leave her neighborhood.

Her mother also wanted to frame the letter to add to the wall that held her awards.

—-

Blake found herself undergoing a rather grueling written exam followed by fighting a small group of Beowolves.

Fighting the Grimm was the easy part, if what she did on that train a few days prior was anything to go by. As for the written test… her schooling had been spotty at the best of times for most of her life. Sure, she was a bookworm on her own but her favored subjects didn't lend themselves to assist in this matter. Thankfully, much of what she needed to know was history and tactics to use against Grimm, both of which were subjects she was rather confident in.

—-

Jaune got his acceptance letter in the mail, much to his shock. In truth, as much as he had hoped to be accepted he had expected to be rejected. He really didn't expect that his father would have found out and put in a good word for him, nor was Mirage known as a fighter. Not that his father couldn't fight when he had to; Mirage having stepped in with any tool nearby and quickly dispatching whatever Grimm would attack his property, employees, or family before that fighter would seem to vanish as if it never existed, leaving behind a businessman who'd occasionally make time to be personally invested in his family.

Still, being accepted into Beacon Academy… he almost couldn't believe it.

And now he'd have to tell his family that he'd be leaving.

—-

Weiss found that her entrance exam would be taking place within Atlas Academy, their top of the line facilities being able to provide a fairly safe but difficult arena to show what she can do. Part of it had been from her insistence that she'd NOT be accepted into Beacon just because of her family name. Her father, while having grudgingly allowed her to go through with pursuing the life of a Huntress, was sure to have tried making some calls to the Headmaster of Beacon to secure the best accommodations and assistance possible for his daughter, more than likely adding a few 'bribes' in the form of shipments of Dust and/or high end technology without any sort of markup. Thus why she had slipped into her application letter a small note to not take any special favors.

Needless to say, while she did enjoy the perks of having more wealth than a significant portion of Remnant's population combined, she also enjoyed denying her father control over her life when she could.

Having to fight a few waves of robotic Knights on constantly shifting terrain proved to be an adequate test for her acceptance into Beacon, her letter confirming her entry arriving a few days later.

—-

Yang found her exam to be rather straightforward… fighting a trio of Ursa.

To say that the Grimm she fought didn't appreciate their captivity would be putting it lightly but they could only attack her one at a time and she could use their size against them using one as a shield so another would hit its brethren. Even if she wasn't going all out and going for the quickest kills possible, she did display tactics that were sure to earn her good marks. Even adaptability as a Boarbatusk was loosed on her by the Huntsman overseeing her exam, an elderly and heavyset but short man with an impressive mustache.

The pig-like Grimm with large tusks, thick plates along its back and sides and four eyes had a particular habit of curling into balls and rolling themselves at high speeds at their targets. Their normal running speeds were faster than what most humans were capable of and rolling made them even faster. That attack also concealed their weak spot- their unprotected underbellies.

A well timed punch to the side of the spinning Grimm sent it crashing into a wall, forcing it to unfurl itself to gain its bearings and turn around. Yang peppered it with buckshot as she closed the distance, doing little damage to the tough back plates but keeping it off balance enough for her to close the distance. It tried to gore her with its tusks but she planned for that, grabbing them in her hands and with a mighty yell, lifted the beast, spun, and hurled it into the wall. With it stunned she gave its stomach a powerful punch and unloaded a shotgun shell from her gauntlet, killing it quickly.

—

Weiss stared out across the skyline of Atlas as the sun set, striking vibrant hues across everything she could see. Windows and polished metals reflected and refracted the light, making the buildings seem to glitter and glow, illuminating parts that were already in shadow. Beyond the city, the fields and mountains were covered in snow and the nearby lake was frozen over.

This was likely going to be the last time she'd see this sight for a long time, months at the very least. She had visited Vale before and she wouldn't mind that it is warmer there, though if she wanted heat she could have tried for Shade Academy. At the same time, she wasn't exactly thrilled by their lack of decorum. Haven would have been if that was what she truly wanted… but her father had a strong influence there.

Simply put, going to Beacon Academy in Vale was her best option all around, even if the Headmaster of Atlas had extended an offer for enrollment based on her performance at the entrance exams.

"Having one last look?" The sound of heeled footsteps behind her approached until they stopped next to her on the balcony. "We're expecting unfavorable weather for the next few days."

"Hello Winter."

"That's it?"

"Sorry… It's just… it's finally happening." Weiss hung her head as she hugged herself in her robe. Though one might say that standing on an open balcony at night at this altitude in late winter wearing little more than a silk nightgown, and a fuzzy robe with matching slippers being a little underdressed for the season.

Winter looked to be almost exactly as one would expect of Weiss in a few years with how similar they appeared, their biggest difference being that the elder sister having shorter hair, the lack of a scar on her face, and slightly curvier frame. She too was dressed in silk pajamas covered by a robe.

"Hmm, yes, you'll soon be getting out from under Father's thumb." The elder woman smiles. "Are you sure that you are ready for such a change?"

"I know that it is what I want to do." Weiss states resolutely, still staring out to watch the sun set.

A sly smile came to Winter's face. "And you are certainly stubborn enough to push through until you need help."

"Hey!"

"Hmph! One would think that you would have learned by now that Schnee women are persistent once they set their minds to something."

"Just following your lead, sister." An arm snaked around Winter's waist.

"And I'm proud that you are going your own way." Winter wraps an arm around her sisters shoulders, completing the side hug as they watched to final rays of the sun illuminate the top of the tallest of the buildings

"I still intend to take over the company someday."

"And I can't wait for that day. Please make sure that I can be here to witness that event." With that mental image in their minds, the sisters giggled.

They stood there for a few more minutes, using the other to help keep themselves warm and enjoying their time together. Afterall, it was rare for the sisters to meet like this over the last few years since Winter joined the Atlas military. To be quite honest, Winter didn't want to be home but her love for her sister overrode that desire to stay away… their father and her didn't have the best relationship.

"Ahem." A man's voice came from behind the women, revealing an older man in a suit; the family butler Klein Sebin. "Would you care for some hot chocolate now that you have gotten your share of fresh air?"

The girls glanced at each other and giggled again, taking the cups of the offered drinks. "Thank you Klein." They say together.

"Ah, how it warms my heart to hear your laughter after all of this time." He chuckles as he closes the balcony doors behind the girls after they entered the much warmer indoors. "I certainly do miss that."

"And you still know how to make the perfect hot chocolate." Winter smiles after having taken a sip.

"Anything for my little Snowflakes." The butler grins under his mustache. "Though it may be best to get to bed after you've finished, you have an early flight tomorrow to go to the southern vacation house."

"Thank you, Klein. I will." Weiss could never not smile to the man who had been around for her entire life. Leaving him here would possibly be her biggest regret but she would always know where to find him.

—-

He looked over the wide ocean as the airship carried him west. Never before had he seen so much water before, it was as if the sands he had known for his entire life had been turned liquid and multiplied several times over. Too bad the water couldn't be drunk.

But he was looking forward to seeing the lush forests that he was sure to be able to explore during his time at Haven.

Wanderlust.

That was what the old man of the caravan had told him of his desires to see and experience more of the world. He had gone from being a simple member of a caravan after his parents vanished, to a defender of that caravan, to moving to the biggest settlement in the desert where he had received some of the best Huntsman training that could be offered. And now, he was crossing the ocean to go where droughts were rare.

"I wonder what rain is like?" He quietly asks himself before settling down in his seat, beginning to meditate to pass the time. In the darkness of his mind, a massive, majestic tree came to the forefront. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, so much that the sight had been burned deep into his being even if nobody else from the caravan had said that they had seen such a thing. For him, it was calming to picture and would help to center himself in just about any situation.

And he kept getting the feeling that he was meant to have seen it, like it would be important later.

—-

"Mom, how could he say that?" Jaune asks as he helped to clean up after dinner.

The woman paused in her tasks, recalling that despite the acceptance letter that her son had received from Beacon, her husband ensured that it was official before telling the boy, "Don't worry if you have to come home.".

It wasn't exactly a sentiment that she could argue against but she always did try to be supportive of her children. One had already moved out and gotten married- moving to Argus, her eldest daughter having settled in a home of her own on the family land. Yet Jaune was her only son and that meant a fair bit to her.

"I know he sounded harsh but he does care. He just… I think he doesn't want you to have your hopes set too high just in case they don't work out. Being a Huntsman isn't an easy job or a safe one. Neither of us want to lose you."

"Do you think I'll fail?"

"Jaune, fail or succeed our doors will always be open to you and any friends you make while you are there. All I can ask is that you try your best at Beacon to succeed while keeping in mind that if things get out of hand, you can come home before the worst happens." The blonde woman looked him in the eyes as she spoke.

It was easy to see where he and his sisters got their looks from, all of them being blonde with blue eyes- it was the same combination that their father has. Their mother has a darker shade of blonde, almost looking brown at times, and green eyes. Yet the women of the family were essentially like looking at stages of growth of a single person- nearly identical aside from how they styled their hair and one sister wearing glasses. Jaune is tall and wiry in build but his time helping with the family business had made sure that his muscles were much stronger than they seemed.

"I love you Mom." He embraced the shorter woman who readily returned the hug.

"And I love you too. Now, let's finish this quickly so we can get an early start tomorrow."

AN: Now... for those of you who have read Big Issues, you may possibly remember those two guys helping with Ren and Nora's entrance exam. For those who haven't, no spoilers from me as I'll let you read through it yourselves. Otherwise, we get a little taste of the varied entrance exams for the aspiring Beacon students, even a good fight that wasn't part of that. Some may recognize it from how it began though I did tweak it a fair bit. But the overarching theme was family, I hope you all enjoyed that.

And for that philosophical bit from Basil, as much as it applies to what has happened in the series here, it also applies for many other conflicts- one taking place in the Middle East comes to mind, unintentionally. Nothing is as black and white as many want to make things out to be, it's often shades of grey with many layers of truth and lies and mistakes.

Off of that topic, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'll be jumping back to Larger Issues for the next update. Reviews are welcome.