Chapter One: Hunger Pains

When I decided to go to Beacon Academy, my father was the opposite of happy. In fact, I could make the argument that the decision has forever tainted my relationship with my father. Instead of looking at me with eyes that while cold and detached as any respectable businessman should have, did have a hint of pride. I in my youth had proven to be an up-and-coming asset to the Schnee Dust Company, to the family, and most importantly to him. Where Winter had failed in his eyes I had succeeded. Where my younger brother Whitley was not old enough to take on the challenges that come with being the heir to one of the largest companies in the world, I could shoulder that burden.

I did everything that was asked of me. Extra schooling with the best tutors money could buy, attending meetings, making appearances at important social events, even going as far as to make friends with children of important executives in other companies to help ease mergers. I did it all.

Yet, all that goodwill was squandered the moment I told my father I wished to attend Beacon Academy. It was a hard sell, my father wanted me to remain in Atlas, remain in a place where he could continue to carefully guide me and my growth. I however for the first time in my life wanted something counter to my father. I would not take no for an answer. I wanted to be a Huntress. I knew that if I gained a reputation outside of Atlas I could repair so much damage to the company's image.

When presented with the obstacle that I need to surpass I took it with grace. I was nearly perfect. Nearly. Now graced with a sliver of a scar across my left eye, my once pristine presentation marred with a scratch to my porcelain skin. In a lot of ways, the scar represented what I lost that day. My father's favor. I would forever be damaged goods to him. It didn't bother me as much as it should, but I would be remiss to say I was not affected by the strain of our relationship.

The last thing Father told me before I boarded the private airship that was headed to Vale was that Schnee's were not meant to be outside of Atlas. It was our home, it was where we belonged. He told me that soon I would understand why a Schnee can not make it without the help of the family.

His words were ominous, yet I simply brushed them off as Father trying to shake my confidence. He was bitter like that.

The trip to Vale was long, and I found trouble sleeping through the nights, always waking at any slight jostle. I had done nothing and yet I felt exhausted just from the time difference and lack of sleep alone. It all led to an awful mood I couldn't quite shake. Once I landed in Vale and then was brought up to Beacon with the rest of the commoners I felt ready to bite someone's head off at the slightest provocation.

Luck would have it that at the very moment, I thought I was going to be able to go about my day without any nagging issues, some dolt slammed into my luggage sending suitcases filled with my clothes and my Dust everywhere. Slightest provocation achieved.

"What are you doing?" I hiss swiping up my spilled vials and crystals.

"Uh, Sorry!" The girl whined.

I rolled my eyes at the apology. "You're sorry? Do you have any idea the kind of damage you could have caused?"

The girl swipes up a case of Dust I hadn't yet picked up off the ground and held it out to me, her movements quick and jittery, the sound of clanking glass grating my ears. "Ugh, give me that!" I snarl swiping the case away from her.

I went to say something but the girl proceeded to sneeze, the Dust in the air activating as an explosion of fire, ice, and lightning consumed us both. Once the Dust settled I growled at her. I swear I could rip her throat out!

Instead of committing first-degree murder on my very first day at Beacon I instead storm off and keep to myself for the rest of the day. I do my best to ignore everyone, even a gross obnoxious blonde boy who called me a disgusting nickname.

I just wanted to sleep, but like I was starting to learn, I was not getting what I wanted today. The girl and her bimbo sister were yammering away with some stupid girl who besmirched my family's name. Even when they all went to bed I couldn't sleep, it was so frustrating. By four in the morning, I gave up on trying to sleep. I instead got up and headed to the showers, allowing myself some privacy as none of the other students were up yet. Seeing myself in the mirror made me flinch, I was pale, or at least paler than usual. I needed to sleep sometime soon. I would have to make do for the day though, If I powered through the exam I would be able to make it to the end of the day and then sleep then.

The exam went horribly, sure I passed but Headmaster Ozpin made a mistake in making that sniveling red-cloaked clutz Team Leader. Now after an exhausting day, made even more exhausting by the mistakes made by the powers that be at Beacon. Yet, I couldn't sleep. I lay awake in my bed, staring at the ceiling practically begging to be able to sleep and yet sleep would not come.

The logical part of me knew that more than likely my sleeping issues were linked with the change of timezones, as well as stress, however, the emotional part of me that just wanted to sleep didn't care about those facts. I would just have to deal with the problem for now, and it would get better as I settled into my new day-to-day life. This problem couldn't last, I just had to weather the storm.


I groan as I press my head onto the cold tabletop, my little nest of textbooks and homework surrounding me within the Beacon Library. I couldn't get this stupid headache to go away. It was persistent, and so ungodly painful. It had been over a month since I had come to Beacon and in that time I hadn't slept a single minute. Now every day I felt like I was almost asleep but unable to pass the threshold and actually slip unconscious, not to mention the major headaches that assaulted me daily.

I had taken to constantly wearing earplugs to stifle some of the obnoxious auditory noise that had been overwhelming me the past month. They didn't really help.

I close my book as silently as possible before flinching at the sound of my scroll vibrating. I pulled it out to see it was my father calling me. I accept the call immediately, my father's cold face appearing on my scroll.

"Weiss," Father spoke with a grunt.

"Father," I greeted back automatically.

"How has Beacon been for you?" Father asked slowly, almost like it wasn't the exact question he wanted to ask, but chose to ask it instead of what he really wanted to know.

"It is treating me fine, my studies while challenging have proved to be most enlightening. I am amongst the top of my class and am well respected amongst my peers." I rifle off the report as I had been trained to do.

"Really? It was brought to my attention that you were not named the leader of your team. Is this not the case?" Father spoke, confusion lacing his voice.

I hesitated before simply spitting out the truth. "N-no that's correct, I was not named team leader."

Father's eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. "Then how could you be well respected if you are just a lackey for what I have been told is a fifteen-year-old girl?"

"Father, Ruby is a talented huntress, she deserved that spot just as much as me. Also, she will be turning sixteen in October." I defended my team leader, though I don't really understand why.

Father scoffed, going silent for a moment. "Tell me, Weiss. How have you been feeling? Have you been sick?"

My blood runs cold at the comment. Did he know what was going on with me? "N-No Father. My sleep has been pretty poor, but beyond that, I have felt fine." I lie with ease.

He didn't look like he believed me, Father let out a sigh, his hand coming into the frame as he rubbed his brow. "Weiss, you need to come home. You are not cut out for Beacon. Stop with this nonsense and come home. I can have a private airship to you in a few hours."

"No!" I shout before flinching at the sound of my own voice. "I mean no, Father," I say softer this time. "I am having a wonderful time at Beacon and I believe that I can do this. This is what I want to do, and I'm not going to quit just because I can't sleep sometimes."

Father stared at me for a moment, he looked beyond frustrated. "Very well. Make sure to take care of yourself and do not embarrass the family any more than you already have."

"I wil-" and before I could even finish the call ended, my father's face disappearing from the screen of my scroll. I groaned with frustration.

I didn't need saving. I didn't need to return to Atlas. I could do this. I didn't need my father's help. It was just a minor case of homesickness and probably some Vale virus I had been exposed to. It would go away with time.

Please let it go away with time.


"Weiss, you aren't looking so good," Ruby spoke.

"I feel fine," I grumble as I apply my concealer for the day, though I was trying to ignore how much extra I have to pack on under my eyes to cover the slowly growing darker and darker circles that had been growing over the past few months.

"Yeah, I'm with Rubes on this one, you look like you got hit by a car," Yang spoke from her bed. I tossed the blonde a glare before going back to my makeup.

"I will not repeat myself. I am fine. There is no need for concern. I just haven't been getting enough sleep. With all the garbage that has been thrown our way lately is it so surprising that I haven't been getting my full eight hours?" I ask as I closed my compact with a snap and stuffed it into the dorm vanity.

"Now, don't we have classes to go to?" I ask as my three teammates share looks with one another.

"We think you should stay in for the day. We can take notes for you and let the teachers know that you are sick." Ruby spoke.

"I am not skipping out on my classes just because I'm a little tired."

Blake sighed as she closed her book and shoved it in her book bag. "Weiss, you need to take a day off. You are running yourself ragged."

"Not you too." I groaned.

"Look," Blake started as she came up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. It felt hot to the touch. "We aren't asking we are telling you, you need a day off. One single day. Get some food in you and get some sleep. You are no good to us if you are dead on your feet."

I push her hand off of my shoulder but the moment I do a dizzy spell hits, the room spinning as I stumbled backward into the wall, shouts of concern and surprise sounding way too loud for comfort echoing around me as my vision turned into a pin-point.

I struggle to stay upright but don't fight as I feel strong hands lift me up and place me in my bed, the only hint that it was yang was the blond locks of hair I was able to make out. "Ok… Maybe I do need a day off." I slurred out, feeling more and more tired by the second.

I heard someone snort as I had my covers pulled up, the warmth from the night before returning, not yet extinguished from the cold of the day.

"Just get some sleep Ice Queen. We will come and get you for lunch in a few hours." Yang spoke half mirth, half concern.

I humm in acknowledgment, turning onto my side, my hands gripping handfuls of sheets as I curled into a ball, my head swimming as I fell asleep for the first time since arriving at Beacon three months ago.

My head pounded as I woke, and my throat was so dry, my mouth aching for… For something. I felt beyond weak, so freaking weak. Lifting my head felt like lifting an airbus. So I just lay there in my bed, my breathing slow and shallow. It sent a surge of panic through me as I realized just how slow my heartbeat was, yet I could hear it so loudly in my ears. My eyes peaked open, blurred, and crusted over from sleep I was able to spot my alarm clock. I waited for the minute to turn over and began to count.

One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six… And on and on, I kept counting waiting for the minute to be over. If I had any energy left in my body I would have flinched at the staggeringly low number of my heartbeat. Twenty-three times, my heart only beat twenty-three times in a minute. The little tidbit entering my mind that a heart rate under forty was normally considered fatal and non-life supporting. Was I dying?

Everything hurt, and there was such an intense ache in my jaw. I slowly swiped my tongue around my mouth before a sharp pain had me recoiling. I had just bit my tongue on one of my teeth. This time I gently prod with my now bleeding tongue to find that the canines on the top of my mouth were extended much farther than normal. Pressing on the side of them sent a wine out of me as the pressure in my mouth just increased, all as my own blood leaked into the back of my throat, a sick trickle of pleasure shooting up my spine as I swallowed my own blood.

What was happening?

The door to the dorm opens, I can't even turn over to see who had entered, but to my surprise, I was able to pick up a single heartbeat, one way stronger and way faster than my own.

"Weiss?" Ruby whispered, yet to me it felt like she was shouting in my ear.

I tried to make a sound, yet the only thing I could get was a strangle breath out.

"Weiss?" Ruby asked once more though this time there was a hint of concern in her voice. She came to the side of my bed and bent over, her face right in front of me. Her silver eyes twinkled with concern. "Weiss, are you ok? Did you get some sleep?"

I barely hear Ruby's question, can't even really comprehend it because the only thing I can do is stare at her neck. The sound of her heartbeat was so strong in my ears and I swear that I could see the blood pumping through her neck.

Bite Her!

I wanted to tell her to get away from me, that my mind was thinking awful things but I couldn't. I just wanted her to go away, but as my eyes stared back at her own I knew she wouldn't leave.

"Weiss, you don't look so good. I think you need to go to the nurse." Ruby whispered as she placed a hand on my arm. The moment she did my body reacted on its own. Like a snake striking, both of my hands grabbed her and pulled her to me, my aching jaw slamming shut around her neck as Ruby let out a strangled yelp as fangs pierced her flesh. The first wave of blood sent ripping a moan out of my throat as I took mouthfuls of blood.

"W-Weiss… ngh… Stop… Please…" Ruby whimpered as she pushed against me.

I ignored her pleas as I took more blood, each swallow spreading warmth through my body, all the pain and exhaustion that I had been suffering through only moments ago fading away with every drop of blood.

"W-Weiss…Please."Ruby struggled and tried to push away from me before she grew slack in my arms a soft moan escaping her lips, I purred as I held her close. I noticed her heartbeat start to slow, and her blood pressure lower as drawing blood became harder and harder. I eventually tore my mouth away from her neck, licking the wounds closed as my body went on autopilot to take care of her and make sure she didn't die.

My mind was a haze as I tried to make sense of what I had just done, but new thoughts that surely didn't come from me sprang up. Strong. Mate. Mate? What did that mean?

I pull Ruby to my chest and pull the covers down enough to slip them over the both of us. My eyes stared at the spot on Ruby's neck that should have sported two holes to find nothing, the wound I had inflicted completely closed over.

It was a question that would need to be answered later, for now, I just pulled Ruby my mate as close to me as possible and closed my eyes, sleep coming to me easily and without pain for the first time in months.