Bright stars, the cracked moon, and beautiful green lights at the top of the tallest of Beacon's towers illuminated the academy grounds in dim light. It was a testament to the peace between the Four Kingdoms established nearly a century ago.

Yet Weiss was wide awake as she remained supine on her bed. Her mind was stuck in a feedback loop focused on how tomorrow would go. She simply stared up at the bottom side of Ruby's bed. She recalled the strain of getting such dangerously put-together bunkbeds fashioned out of their assigned beds.

Seriously, why are we balancing them on books? Weiss wondered silently. What if one of us wants to read those?

But she couldn't fault Ruby for the idea. Truthfully, she always wondered what sleeping in a bunk bed would be like. She eventually brought it up with her mother, but the idea was shot down. "You already have a bed," Willow had told her. "And what's wrong with sleeping in your own room? You have plenty of space to yourself. You should appreciate it while you still have it."

Weiss remembered feeling disappointed as her mom poured herself another generous glass of red wine. She hadn't thought about that moment in a long time and hadn't considered the significance of her mother's day drinking-not until now, on a school night, of all days.

It was just more fuel to Weiss's fire, which burned with a desire to succeed.

She didn't even want to know how late it was. She shoved the covers off and got out of bed. Looking around, she saw that Blake and Yang were sound asleep. But when she turned to check on Ruby, she noticed she wasn't there.

"I suppose she couldn't sleep either, " Weiss observed. With nothing else grabbing her attention, she left her dorm room and went downstairs to the communal kitchen.

Weiss was on autopilot during the walk. She moved straight to the sink with little regard for her surroundings. She got a cup, filled it halfway with water, and drank a gulp. Feeling momentarily refreshed, Weiss idly looked around the kitchen area and finally noticed Ruby passed out on the dining table.

Sheets of paper and an opened textbook were haphazardly placed around the table. Meanwhile, Ruby used her forearms as pillows as her pencil lay limply in her left hand.

Weiss went to the table, set her glass down, and examined the papers. She was mildly impressed to see Ruby actually pay attention in class.

Huh. She only got one of these wrong, Weiss observed. She then glanced up at Ruby. While she felt Ruby deserved some rest after staying up to cram, Weiss knew that sleeping over a table was terrible for one's posture as opposed to a warm bed.

"Ruby." Weiss reached over and grabbed Ruby's shoulder. "Ruby, wake up."

Ruby twitched and lifted her head. "Mm..?" She was groggy as she looked up at Weiss. "Oh... Hey. You couldn't sleep either, could you?"

"Not really," Weiss answered. "What's on your mind?"

"Um..." Ruby set her pencil down as her right hand rubbed one of her eyes. "Well, I started thinking about how much responsibility I had as team leader, which meant doing my homework and studying as soon as possible."

Weiss smiled, able to relate to Ruby's thought process. "And that meant staying up to cram?"

"Yeah..." Ruby sighed. "I know it's not smart, but-"

"Don't worry about it," Weiss told her as she placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Tomorrow, we can block time to do homework together." Weiss barely registered the presence of the coffee machine when she arrived, but the idea of using it eventually crossed her mind. "Want me to brew you some coffee?"

Ruby finally smiled back. "That'd be great, thanks. Uh, to both of those."

Weiss got up and went to the cabinets to find the necessary components for a cup of coffee. The first one she opened made her recoil in surprise. Nothing about what she found was particularly alarming, but it was ridiculous: bags upon bags of coffee grinds. There was enough to last the entire school year! At least the stockpile of coffee Weiss had in the kitchen back home was enough to account for a family of five, plus the help, but this...!

"Just how many coffee drinkers live in this building?" Weiss wondered in disbelief.

"There's you, me, Yang, Coco..." Ruby tried to think of other names but failed. "And that's it, as far as I know."

Weiss stared at the motherload crammed into not one but (as she quickly discovered) two cabinets. Gift horse, mouth, Weiss reminded herself as she returned her attention to the task at hand. "How do you want your coffee?"

"Cream and five sugars," Ruby answered nonchalantly. She looked up and saw Weiss looking at her with skepticism. Or was Ruby seeing the same contempt she came to know and "love"? "I hate bitter things. I know black coffee is supposed to be better, but I can't stand the taste."

Weiss paused, then gave a quiet, brief giggle. "You're the team leader," she conceded. After setting up and activating the coffee machine, Weiss paused. She inadvertently reminded herself of what happened earlier in the day. "Do you mind discussing what happened at Professor Port's class?"

Ruby covered her forehead with her hand out of embarrassment. "Oh, right. I'm sorry for acting weird. And for being such a ditz..."

"Ruby, that's not it," Weiss interjected. She moved closer to the table and sat down next to Ruby. "If anything, I should be the one to apologize for reacting the way I did and treating you like a child. Plus... I envy you."

Surprised, Ruby wondered, "You do?"

Weiss took a moment to gather her thoughts and determine how to express them. "I spent years studying and training for Beacon. I had to strong-arm my father into letting me be here instead of Atlas. But I barely have a grasp on my Semblance, and honestly, I've been nursing the chip on my shoulder since I set my mind to be a Huntress. So of course I wouldn't be made team leader."

Ruby politely nodded. She wanted to point out that Weiss's attitude also led to Ruby's face punch, but she didn't want to interrupt her teammate.

"Then there's you," Weiss continued with an objective (rather than scornful) tone. "You've gone toe-to-toe with a notorious criminal for over a year, you already have a full grasp of your Semblance, and you were raised by a family of Beacon alumni!"

That last part tipped Ruby off to her sister talking about her. "Yang told you about all that, huh?" she asked with a soft smile. "Did she tell you about my mom?"

"She did," Weiss answered while frowning. "While I don't exactly know what it's like to grow up without a mom, I can still imagine how terrible that must feel."

"Yeah..." Summer's absence left Ruby with questions and a naive hope that she was somehow alive, somewhere. Ruby let out a soft laugh. "I remember Dad and Yang always referred to her as a super-mom. When she wasn't slaying giant monsters, she baked as well as she fought."

Weiss smiled. "Sounds like she was pretty awesome."

"I like to think so," Ruby commented. "But I was still a toddler when she left. And all we have of her are old photos from when she was in Team STRQ." Realizing she had been rambling about herself, she wanted to focus on Weiss. "What's your family like?"

"My family?" Weiss echoed. "It's... complicated."

Translation: Weiss's family life sucked.

While Weiss grew up with her mom, Willow was almost always in a distant haze. She coped with the dysfunctional family dynamic with drinking and covered it up through hustling. The Schnee Dust Company made more than enough money to cover their lavish lifestyle with her husband at the helm, so it was never about that. Willow only wanted to keep herself busy because if she sat down and thought about where her life had gone and who she married, she'd have to acknowledge her downward spiral. Even if confronting her problems might benefit her in the long run. That's what Weiss did.

"You're leaving for Beacon?"

Weiss found herself thinking back to that day. She stood in the main lobby of Schnee Manor, her belongings already being transported behind her to a car waiting to pick her up and take her to the nearest airship depot. She had already broken the news to her sister (she had to send a video message via her Scroll since Winter's military career left her without time to talk in person) and her brother (who she knew would eventually pass the news on to her father).

The only person she had left to tell was her mom.

"You sound surprised," Weiss commented.

"Wouldn't Atlas be closer? You could spend time with Winter while you're there." Willow didn't have a problem with Weiss's decision. Despite her personal issues with depression and alcoholism, she still had it in her to be a mom and make suggestions that might be better for her daughter.

"Yeah, I know..." Weiss already took that into account. "But Beacon is where the best of the best train to become Huntsmen. Plus, I'll always have a chance to talk to Winter between semesters."

"And what about your father?" Willow wondered. "He won't be happy you went to a different academy. He might even cut your allowance."

Weiss heard Willow's tone. Her bitterness toward her husband rivaled Weiss's disdain toward him. "You mean that credit card he pays off because it makes him feel good about himself?"

"Why not?" Willow asked as she shrugged. "His money is the only thing he's good for. You may as well take it while you still can."

"He doesn't have his own money!" Weiss exclaimed. "That narcissist only says he does when he's able to make money off your business. But when things don't go how he wants them to, he pretends we're a 'family unit' that must work together!"

Willow didn't outwardly react to Weiss raising her voice, but she was preaching to the choir, even if she mistook Willow's silence for disapproval.

"Ugh, forget it. We've had this conversation a hundred times already, and I'll be late if we start talking in circles like we always do!" Weiss marched toward the door. Just before leaving and closing it behind her, she turned to Willow and added, "And one more thing! I'm not taking that piece of plastic with me, so as far as I'm concerned, he can choke on it!"

That was the last time she saw her family before leaving for Beacon. True to Weiss's word, she took a generous amount of Lien with her instead of her credit card. Even so, given a choice, Weiss would rather be broke and free than rich and have to thank her father for it every day.

"Hey, Weiss?"

"Huh?" Weiss was back to reality. She then noticed the coffee machine had stopped. "Oh, right!" She quickly stood up and prepared the rest of Ruby's coffee.

Meanwhile, Weiss's response wasn't lost on Ruby; she could intuit that it wasn't great. She also remembered what Blake had said when they first met. Tactfully, she waited until Weiss set down her coffee (and gave a gentle "thanks" in response) before inquiring about the SDC.

"If you don't mind me asking..." Ruby watched as Weiss sat back down and looked at her team leader curiously, almost expectantly. "Was what Blake said true? About how shady the SDC is?"

Weiss glanced away as she thought about the question. She appeared calm on the surface. But Ruby's instincts, being too late to stop her from bringing it up, told her to run away, for she was incurring the Wrath of the Schnee.

"I-it's just that I heard rumors, and-"

"No-no." Weiss held her finger up. "You don't have to make any excuses. This was bound to come up eventually. Do you really want to know?"

Ruby hesitantly nodded her head.

Weiss seemed to pause for dramatic effect before answering, "The Company uses convict labor. A lot of them happen to be White Fang. And, of course, people are going to point and say it uses slaves."

Ruby found Weiss's word choice when describing the SDC peculiar. Was Weiss intentionally distancing herself from it? "You don't seem to like being associated with the SDC..."

"Oh, I don't have an issue with how the company is run," Weiss clarified. "It's with who's running it." She let out a sigh, then continued. "My father is a cold and despicable person. I have no love for him, nor does the rest of my family. The only people who do are scumbags like him and my brother."

"But don't you have any say in it?" Ruby wondered. "If he's such a bad guy, then can't you... kick him out and take over?"

"I wish it were that simple, Ruby," Weiss answered. "Setting aside how my mom signed off on him taking control of the business, how he has a team of lawyers at the ready, and that he's earned the respect of the company chairmen, I'm just an Heiress." And I doubt I'll be one any longer after leaving Atlas.

Meanwhile, Ruby thought, So I don't have a mom, and Weiss has an abusive, controlling dad. Go figure.

"Even so," Weiss continued, "convict labor is a wise choice from an economic standpoint. They're given cheap wages, and you don't have to worry about giving them benefits since they're supposed to serve their sentence and nothing more. And in the case of the White Fang? They had it coming."

Ruby took an uncomfortable sip of her coffee as Weiss stood up from her seat. Ruby was left to process what her teammate just said. On the one hand, she knew the White Fang was now a terror group instead of a faction of peace, so being scornful toward them was to be expected. On the other hand, how many of the Faunus working in those mines were regular people instead of terrorists? Who was there to know the difference? Did Weiss?

Weiss stopped at the door before she left for their dorm room. She realized she was about to walk away bitter and angry, just like she had done with her mom. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"I forgot to mention something," Weiss began as she turned to Ruby. "I believe you have what it takes to be a good leader. And... you made a good call to make bunk beds. I always wanted them as a kid."

Ruby smiled. "Thanks, Weiss. I'm sure you'll be a good teammate."

"The best you'll ever have!" Weiss grinned as she left the room. "Good luck studying!"

"Thanks! You have a good night!" With renewed energy to get her homework done (and a damn fine cup of coffee to boot), Ruby went back to studying. While it was nice that she and Weiss were getting along after such a tough start, Ruby realized she would have to keep Blake's secret for a while longer. At least until she knew Weiss wouldn't accuse Blake of being a White Fang spy or something equally ridiculous.

But the truth was stranger than she and her team could imagine.