Yo! Back for chapter 2 of Familiar! Not a ton to say at the moment, so let's just get into it!

Start Chapter 2

To say that Weiss was coping well with current happenings would've been a rather egregious lie.

She was a wreck, and had been for days, perhaps weeks, now. It was hard to keep track of time in the Ever After, but she felt she could barely remember a time she'd last been happy, when she'd last been contented.

How easy it was for the human mind to forget such things, when faced with naught but sorrow and the cruelty of reality.

…Jaune was dead.

It… had he simply been her friend, she'd have been devastated. But it was more than that. They'd become more than that. Somehow, someway. It was a hard thing for Weiss to describe, and honestly, not something she particularly wanted to describe.

But somewhere along the way during their time in Atlas, as she and Jaune had gone out and enjoyed themselves, gone on missions together, struggled and fought and bled together…

Well, she'd come to quite enjoy having him beside her.

And she had felt the feeling to be mutual.

And then… just when it had felt like for once, something in Weiss' life might go right…

She took a breath, then; tried to hold herself together. She couldn't cry again. Not when they had so very many questions hanging over their heads. They needed to be discussing their options, weighing potential choices against one another, not comforting Weiss as she spiraled for the third time that day.

It was just…

She looked up at the boy who'd, just a few minutes prior, wiped the tears from off of her face.

Familiar, he'd decided his name was.

And wasn't the name so very appropriate indeed…

They'd begun to make their way back towards the Red Woods, hoping to dig up some sort of information about leaving the Ever After.

Weiss looked up towards her team, her eyes scanning the different faces of RWBY.

Blake and Yang were doing the best out of all of them, albeit the latter was clearly rather concerned about Familiar. Yang's 'mom side' as Ruby sometimes put it, was on display. Blake was acting as a sort of mediating presence, and yet, Weiss could also tell from having spent enough time with her that Blake was wary of their newfound party member.

She glanced back out of the corner of her eye every so often, and seemed to study him.

Weiss wished she didn't feel so damned defensive over that. It made no sense. Blake was her friend, one of her closest friends, to be precise, and this boy had arrived but half an hour ago.

Yet…

He looked so much like Jaune.

Surely, antlers grew from out of his head, and his face was far more boyish than Jaune's, but…

It would've been hard to deny the fact that they were at the very least related were this a normal circumstance. Back on Remnant, Weiss would've pegged him as Jaune's little brother instantly.

But they weren't back on Remnant.

They were in the Ever After, where those who went to the tree, like Jaune did, ascended, and were made anew.

And Weiss knew what that meant. Knew who the boy beside her truly was.

It didn't make things easier. If anything, it made them far more difficult.

It was clear they weren't making very much ground as the hour gradually waned on, and ultimately Blake decided that they'd make camp for the evening. As much as some part of Weiss wanted to protest, the moment she actually sat down, it was like her legs collapsed out from under her entirely.

She was… rather exhausted indeed, it seemed.

Dealing with as much as they all had the last few weeks would do that. Especially with her ignoring such exhaustion in favor of reaching Jaune's place of residence, the village of the Paper Pleasers – or Genial Gems now, it seemed – as quickly as possible.

Weiss didn't entirely remember falling asleep, but she woke up when the sky was dark. Yang was there, nursing a fire, and the others were all out.

Notably, however, Familiar was awake, and he was speaking with Yang.

"I don't know why."

"You're sure?" Yang asked him. "You went right over to her, used your shirt to dry her tears… you don't know why you did it?"

Weiss' heart skipped a beat, and instantly, she went from preparing to sit up to pretending to be asleep once more.

It was bad to eavesdrop. She knew that.

…She just knew she wanted answers more than she cared about that right now.

"It's just…" Familiar paused. "It just felt right, I guess. Like it was what I was supposed to do."

Yang hummed under her breath. "Well… you have my thanks, at least. It seemed to shock Weiss enough for her to actually calm down. I didn't think she'd be able to sleep with how bad things were."

"Hm. So I… helped her?"

"Yeah, you did." Yang's voice was warm as she continued, "Why?"

"I guess… it makes me feel good to have helped her."

Weiss bit down on her bottom lip as she tried to hold back her tears. This… she couldn't deal with this. Not right now. She needed… she needed some sort of distraction. Anything to get her focus away from the fact that he was just like him, so very much like him, that idiot who'd been such a fool, who'd poured his heart out, and–

"Weiss?" Yang's voice suddenly addressed her. "You okay?"

"Wha–" She sputtered, sitting up in place and wondering just what it was that gave her awake. "I'm… I'm completely fine, I merely–"

"Weiss." Yang cut her off, not giving her a chance to spew some pointless excuse. "I heard you sniffling over there by yourself."

Oh.

"Come on over. Sit with us." Yang offered, "Please?"

Weiss very much wanted to do anything else in that moment, and yet, her legs stood – and the pain in them was far worse than she'd assumed it might be – and they made their way over towards the fire without much input from the rest of her.

Honestly, she likely owed them thanks, despite it all.

She sat down around a meter from the flames, on the opposite side of the fire to Yang and Familiar.

"How are you feeling? Any better now that you've slept?" Yang asked.

"Perhaps a small amount." Weiss commented absently. "Honestly, I likely needed to sleep more."

"Mm. I think we all do." Yang yawned. "Shit, I feel like an idiot, having called you over here to chat now, but… if you wouldn't mind, Weiss, I was only staying up to guard the camp. I'm kind of exhausted…"

Weiss found some humor in that. "Go ahead and rest, Yang. I'll keep watch."

"Are you sure?"

"I am. Go."

"I'll watch with her." Familiar spoke, his voice oddly confident. "Don't worry."

"Hah, will do, little guy." Yang smiled.

"I thought my name was Familiar?"

Yang chuckled under her breath. "You're right. My mistake."

"You are forgiven."

Yang snorted, and made off towards where the others were sleeping just a few meters away. Weiss could hear her shuffling about a bit as she got comfortable, but soon enough, the only sounds were the crackling of the fire, and the gentle breathing of her teammates.

"You were sad." Familiar suddenly spoke, looking over at Weiss from his spot across the fire.

"I… yes, I was." Weiss admitted, seeing no real reason to lie.

"Why were you sad?"

Ah. A fair question.

Not one Weiss wanted to answer even remotely.

"It's not important." Weiss told him, giving her best smile in the hopes that she could fool the young boy. "Why don't we talk about something else?"

Familiar watched her for a moment, his expression inscrutable. Finally, he shook his head, and said, "No. You're sad. And when you're sad, you're supposed to talk about why you're sad. That's how you feel better."

It was odd, but Weiss was almost annoyed at the simplistic way that Familiar broke that down. She glared at him across the fire – which probably wasn't fair, but then, she wasn't in the best mood.

"What would you know, exactly?"

It came out far more rudely than Weiss had really meant for it to; yet another thing for her to add to the self-deprecating pile that was currently her brain. She just… it felt like she couldn't do a single thing right these days.

"I guess I probably don't know a lot," Familiar said, putting a finger on his chin and humming out under his breath. "I am pretty new, but… I don't know. Whenever I look over at you, and I see you sad, it makes me sad."

Weiss' eyes widened. "That…"

Gods, but there was so much to unpack there. Far more than Weiss really wanted to. This… she didn't want to…

"Was it about that sword and shield from earlier?"

Weiss nearly gasped, barely able to fully contain her emotions.

"What… would give you that idea?"

"It was what you were crying against." Familiar explained. "You were leaning against it, with your forehead resting against the metal. It seemed to hold some significance to you."

"That…" Weiss tried to breathe, but her throat was tight. She didn't want to cry anymore. She was so tired of it. So tired of feeling at the end of her rope. "…Those weapons belonged to a friend of mine. A friend of mine who… who isn't here anymore."

"Oh." Familiar looked down at the fire for a while, and Weiss initially thought he had finished, was done speaking.

Would that she was so lucky.

"Will you get to see them again?"

She wished that Familiar would stop talking. She wished that she could be alone, and cry for as long as she wanted, instead of surrounded by friends that were counting on her to keep it together. She wished she could just… just exist out of time for a while.

That wasn't possible, though.

The world was not so kind.

"I don't think I will. And that hurts more than I thought was possible."

"Oh."

It was funny, but that was the word that ultimately did her in. Familiar's quiet realization. Suddenly, the tears were flowing freely down her face, and though her eyes were still raw and inflamed from all the crying she'd done that day, it did not stop her breath from hitching.

She leant down, and put her head in her hands, trying to… she wasn't sure. Perhaps to hide the shame? She knew her friends would've told her that there was no such shame in mourning, but…

Well, they'd have told her that regardless if such was true or not.

She did not want to wake them. They'd all slept so fitfully, and it wasn't just Weiss whom this journey had been hard on. She'd been able to see how hard Ruby was taking things as well, albeit she'd not been in a state to offer her partner any assistance.

But in that moment, all she could think about were her own failures. How she hadn't been able to prevent Penny's death, how she'd been unable to turn her sister over to their cause faster, how she'd been unable to stop Cinder, or Neo, or anyone from hurting so many people.

How she'd been unable to save Jaune…

She was sobbing silently – or as silently as she could, covering her mouth and breathing purely out of her stuffy nose. She was growing more and more lightheaded, and almost welcomed the fact that soon, she'd pass out, and could at least not think about all of this.

And yet, before that could happen…

A pair of hands took her own, and pulled them away from her lips. She looked up, and saw Familiar standing there, just in front of her. He had a frown on his face, and his ocean blue eyes were shining bright and clear.

Familiar sat beside her, and leant his head against Weiss' shoulder.

"What are you…"

"You don't have to be sad all alone." Familiar said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. "Sometimes, you need someone to lean on. Sometimes the world's too hard for someone on their own."

"That… how do you…" She could barely process sentences in that moment. "How do you know that?

"I don't really know." Familiar admitted. "But just like I said before… when I saw you were sad… it made me sad. And I don't want to be sad."

Maybe Weiss was just feeling vindictive towards Familiar. What he represented, after all, was the absence of someone she'd come to love.

But her lips peeled back, and before she knew it, she was spewing venom.

"So, you only came over for your own sake?"

Familiar looked over at her not with hurt, but with genuine intrigue. He seemed to think about what it was that Weiss had said before answering her words.

"I did." Familiar nodded his head, and Weiss was taken aback. "But then, empathy could be considered an inherently selfish emotion."

Weiss was flabbergasted at how suddenly adult he sounded. He looked like a ten-year-old boy, but then… she supposed that the Genial Gems, despite having the ability to communicate and reason, looked like starfish made of crystals. They'd encountered more than a few living nutcracker-men as well, or bird people, so perhaps the Ever After didn't adhere to Remnant's laws quite so much when it came to age begetting wisdom.

"You're sad about your friend being gone because you won't get to see them again, for example." Familiar continued. "But that is ultimately a base interpretation. In truth, you are not just sad because of what's happened to you due to that loss, you are sad because you feel for someone else. You wish that the person you loved had survived not for yourself, but for them. In the same way that I have come over to talk with you. Not just because I wish to not be sad, but because I wish that you will not be sad. The fact that an emotion is partly selfish doesn't mean that it is entirely so. Nor does it diminish it."

"I… I suppose that's accurate."

Familiar hummed in agreement.

And no more words were said.

/

The next day, Team RWBY – and their new tagalong – made their way back out of the land that the Genial Gems resided within, heading back towards the Red Woods. Once they arrived, one thing immediately took precedence over any other.

For while there was water in the land of the Paper Pleasers, there'd not exactly been plentiful food.

At least none that they'd seen.

So, once they were back within the crimson forest, they took to foraging about for berries, and other similar things.

Initially, they'd set out with gusto, finding quite a few berries of various shapes and sizes. However, it hadn't taken very long for Blake to point out something that they'd somehow skimmed over.

"So… how do we know these aren't poisonous?"

That… was a good question, indeed.

The answer was that they didn't have any way of knowing that. It was their first time ever seeing any of those fruits.

Luckily for them, however, Familiar stepped up, and, with a careful eye, began setting the berries they'd collected – some hundred or so – into two distinct piles.

"These," He motioned towards some smaller dark-colored berries, "are safe to eat. These," He gestured this time towards the larger, almost pear-like fruits they'd spent a while gathering, "are not. Well, you can eat them, they just make you laugh uncontrollably at anything even mildly funny for a full day. And uh… if more than one of you eats one, you're going to get yourselves into a rather…"

"Hilarious cycle?" Yang postulated.

"Something like that." Familiar said, giggling. "So, I wouldn't recommend it."

"These ones?" Ruby pointed this time to what looked like a full bushel of bananas.

"Oh, those ones just give you really bad diarrhea."

Yang snorted. "And how do you know that, exactly?"

Familiar went oddly red, seemingly remembering something – despite having been born yesterday. "I… don't actually remember, but… I feel weirdly embarrassed about it."

Weiss couldn't help smiling at that.

"Alright, then." Blake stepped in, having been the one pushing them all forward recently given Ruby's… mental absence. "We'll split up and collect these… darker berries, then. Unless there are any other fruits that grow around here we could actually eat?"

Familiar shrugged. "There are a couple, but not in this area. You'd have to venture a bit farther."

Blake nodded. "Alright, then. Let's get to searching."

They split up into rather simple – and expected – teams. Blake and Yang went off on their lonesome – who they thought they were fooling, Weiss wasn't sure – while Weiss, Ruby, and Familiar went together to search in the opposite direction.

That very quickly became just Weiss and Familiar when Ruby gave a quiet excuse about thinking she'd be able to find more berries if she didn't have to worry about them, and then booked it.

Weiss just sighed, wishing that Ruby would just talk to her about everything bothering her. She… perhaps she should've just asked her, but the truth was, she'd genuinely believed that Ruby would've come forward with what was bothering her by now.

It was obvious to all of Team RWBY how their leader was feeling.

"Ruby seems to be hurting." Familiar suddenly spoke.

Scratch that, it was obvious to all of their little number.

"Yes. She does."

"She should talk to someone about how she feels. That would help her."

Weiss couldn't help smiling at how… simple Familiar's logic was. It was, of course, also entirely correct, but it was the logic of a child.

How odd, that Familiar could go from giving entirely relevant advice about the nature of emotions, and selfishness, and then say something like that right after.

"Well… I think Ruby's scared that we'd judge her for how she's feeling. That we'd think less of her."

Familiar's face scrunched up. "But you wouldn't do that."

Weiss let loose a laugh, then. Something freer than she'd felt in an awfully long time.

"No, we wouldn't do that. You're right."

"So, what does she have to be afraid of?"

"Well, the human mind is not always logical. Perhaps she truly doesn't believe we'd be able to forgive her, or understand her… or perhaps she knows we would do those things, and that's precisely why she doesn't want to approach us. She's scared of having herself forgiven. Thinks she deserves to feel how she feels now."

Familiar seemed entirely shocked by that. "But… that's dumb!"

Weiss couldn't help it; she snorted rather unflatteringly. It was just… it was the basest thought that existed in the back of Weiss' head, given voice.

"I agree with you." Weiss wiped an amused tear from her eye. "But unfortunately, things aren't that simple."

It was clear that explanation didn't satisfy Familiar, who went about picking berries with an obvious annoyance hanging about their frame. Weiss wondered if she could somehow cheer him up – given that he'd done the same for her the previous night – but before she even began to come up with a plan, the boy was smiling once again, and even laughing below his breath.

"What's got you giggling?"

"Oh, it's just that I can remember going to somewhere just like this and picking berries with my…" The boys voice trailed off, and Weiss felt a pang of emotion strike her heart like a needle. "My… that's… odd. I shouldn't have any memories, but…"

Weiss stepped over towards Familiar, who was right up against the bark of one of the trees they were checking, and kneeled down beside him.

"What were you remembering?"

"I don't really know…" Familiar stated, but he sounded sad. "It's just… I can remember… laughing…. smiling faces… there were… seven of them, I think. I don't… I don't have any memories to remember. I don't really know why I can remember that."

Weiss did. She could remember Jaune's stories about his sisters, about how they'd gone on vacation in Mistral, seeing all sorts of places. How his younger sisters and him played hide and seek, and he'd gotten lost and had to be found by Saphron. How he'd been annoyed by them, and frustrated by them, and pretended to hate them, but in the end, could only ever love them.

…

"Y'know… I never did these sorts of things with my siblings."

Familiar turned towards her with wide, surprised eyes. Even still, Weiss just smiled over at him, before continuing from where she'd left off.

"We lived in a great big… house I suppose you would say. It was myself, my older sister – her name was Winter – and my younger brother – his name was Whitley. Then my parents, but… well, neither of them was much good for anything. My mother… she's tried to make things up to me as of late… and I think she's doing her best to change. But my father truly… Well, I'll avoid talking about him for now."

Familiar nodded along slowly, evidently wondering where Weiss was going with this.

"The only time I truly got to spend time with any of my siblings was when Winter and I would practice fencing together. She was always so much more graceful than I, always with such poise and elegance. I faltered, and floundered behind her in terms of skill. She was always my greater."

"I don't think that's true." Familiar commented, and Weiss was flattered he'd come to her defense.

"Well thank you," She chuckled. "But as I was saying, those were the only true times that I got to spend time with her. Eventually… she left. And I was left alone in that giant house, in which I could occasionally go days without seeing another member of my family. The only real company I had were the many wonderful maids and butlers who served the Schnee family."

"So, you… do you like your family?"

That…

"I do." Weiss admitted, almost surprised to find it was the truth. "There are many things about my family that I wish were different… but then, who does not wish their life was better on occasion? I confess that I have many things that others do not. I do not have to worry about having a roof over my head, or food in my stomach. I have never had to worry about surviving."

"But even so… I would not call my life easy, necessarily. I grew up without any real feeling of love or affection from any of my family members. It was the workers in our manse, ultimately, whom I was the closest with. And many of them were let go, or ultimately departed themselves. Some of my most precious figures from childhood I've never seen again."

It was odd… she'd all but forgotten about some of them until that moment. She thought of the woman in the kitchens who, even against her father's orders, had always made the muffins just a bit sweeter for Weiss' benefit. She thought of the man who'd guarded Weiss during one of the White Fang's major attacks on the manor itself, who'd shielded her and safeguarded her with his life. He'd not had to act to protect her – the attack had ended up hitting the opposite end of the mansion than they'd been hiding within – but… such had meant a great deal to her.

The comfort he'd provided had been enough.

Then there'd been her singing coach, who'd been strict, and firm, and seemingly unfeeling, and yet whom had openly bawled at Weiss' first recital. She could still remember that, how much it had made her smile, and then cry herself.

…It was funny. She knew they weren't of the Schnee family by technicality, but…

She'd always thought of them all as her family.

So yes… despite it all…

She loved her family, even with all the hangups.

"Uhm… Weiss?"

She looked over at Familiar, who was reaching out towards her cheek with his shirt again. She hadn't even realized that tears had filled her vision, so caught up in her thoughts.

Familiar wiped them away, and then smiled widely.

"There."

"Hah… thank you, Familiar."

"I uhm… I wanted to ask you something, if you don't mind?"

"Sure." Weiss nodded her head. "What is it you wanted to ask?"

"Well… you told me so many things about your life, your family… I was just wondering… why?"

"Hm?"

"Why tell me?" Familiar began to rock back and forth on the balls of his feet. "I just… you only just met me. And I only just met you. I–"

He stopped speaking a moment, and his vision seemed to fill with something that Weiss could not see; could not fathom.

"…Familiar…" His voice was a quiet, hushed whisper. "I… I just realized that… Ruby said I was familiar, but… you're all familiar, too. I don't really know how, though?"

Weiss smiled, but it was a watery thing. Paper thin and fraying at the edges.

"That's okay." Weiss told him, and she reached forward and offered out her hands to him. Familiar put his own in hers, and she squeezed his. "But… if you want to know why I told you all of that… it's because… well… you said you didn't have any memories. So… I wanted to share some of mine with you."

Familiar's breath caught, and his lip wobbled as his eyes clouded with tears. Weiss was going to say something, wondering if she'd hurt him, but before she could make to speak, the boy had catapulted forwards, and wrapped his arms around her.

It was a warm hug. Something that had Weiss' heart beating strongly in her chest, her soul feeling…

Not cleansed, but somewhat lighter all the same.

And she couldn't help asking…

"What's this for?"

"Huh?"

"The hug." She clarified. "What's the hug for?"

Familiar giggled, even as he pressed his face against Weiss' shoulder; the tears in his eyes staining her outfit, but she couldn't at all care about such a thing.

"When we met yesterday… you were so unhappy. And just now… just now you made me happy. So…"

Familiar pulled away from her, and smiled so wide it made her heart hurt.

"I wanted to share some of mine with you."

"Ahaha…" Weiss sniffled, trying to keep it together, and failing rather miserably.

…She didn't care very much about that, either.

"Thank you so very much."

And Familiar just beamed.

"You're so very welcome!"

End Chapter 2

Alright! That's chapter 2!

Reminder that this is a comissioned story, so this doesn't have the normal weekly schedule that others would. Chapters of this come out when they come out! Hoping to keep that around biweekly though! Alright, for now, I'll leave you all to it! Have a good night everyone!

I am no longer taking longer writing commissions. This story is one of three that will be coming out within the coming weeks. I am still available for commission via oneshot, or for art if you'd like!

If you want to support me, consider checking out my Patron! There's an e in there after the r and before the o. I assume you know what I'm talking about, but FF and AO3 don't like me typing that. It's just website dot com /Deferonz!

Want to support me without signing up for a monthly payment? Check out my Kofi! just website dot com /Deferonz