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Weiss chittered as she woke up. Chittered in annoyance that is. Ruby had woken her early yet again. Didn’t she know she was not to be woken before dusk?

She flung her wings out to their full length complete with shaking claws in a show of dominance that would cow any lesser bat. Ruby however had only ever found her ‘cool’, and had begun grooming her wings for her. How was she to react to that? 

By declaring them mates of course. 

“Weiss, Weiss, Weiss!” Ruby chittered as she moved between Weiss’s mighty wings to nuzzle at her face. 

“Watch it!” Weiss warned in her fast high pitched chitter, as expected of a fruit bat with such a high pedigree as her own. 

“But Weiss!” 

“What is it?” Weiss snapped, fighting the urge to return to sleep. Very few things were worth her being awoken so early for in her humble opinion. 

“Mango!” Ruby screeched as Weiss’s eye flew open. A mango was well worth an early awakening, especially at this time of year. 

“Show it to me,” she demanded with a chitter as Ruby flew off with Weiss close on her heels. 

They flew doing their best to keep out of the direct sunlight before she spied it. There it was. A glorious mango all by itself on a branch clearly wanting, needing to be plucked, and eaten. 

“Watch me!” Ruby ordered before she flew straight into the mango on the branch with all her might. Once, twice, three times before it was loosed from its perch, and tumbled to the ground! 

Ruby let out a war cry her own wings outstretched, and almost vibrating in victory. 

Feeling benevolent, Weiss quickly groomed Ruby’s forehead in celebration for her ‘hunt’, and Ruby chittered happily as she gestured for Weiss to take the first piece. 

Weiss did so, purposefully being a bit more messy than needed, knowing Ruby would relish the chance to groom, and clean her afterward. 

Maybe they could talk more about that strange pair of humans that refused to mate. The blonde, and dark haired one that had nests close by. 

That was for later though, for now there was only mango! And Ruby.

RXL

“YANG!” Weiss screeched as she felt the water hit her face full force. 

“Stop watching the front door like a demented gremlin. Seriously no one is even going out yet!” Yang said even as laughter bubbled up from her throat. She narrowly avoided the pillow that was thrown at her in return. 

Minutes later she sat at the table idly eating an apple. She used her claws to slice, taking care to make sure Summer, and Ruby both had plenty of fruit as well, it was important after all. 

…Yang could manage on her own she was sure. 

“Have an orange Ruby,” Weiss all but demanded as she narrowed her eyes toward the backdoor, and the snow. 

It had taken quite some time, but while she wasn’t over her instinctive fear of snow, a byproduct of being abandoned at birth in a snowdrift, and then being abandoned again by the one who’d watched over there during the winter, she still didn’t like the people she cared about being outside when they didn’t have to be. 

So she made sure they had plenty of energy…even if she tended to get…bitey sometimes. A holdover of her being a dragon Faunus, or so Summer had stated. 

The important thing was she had to go with them to make sure they’d come back. She didn’t think she could handle it if they didn’t. 

Overall it was different here, learning to walk on two legs instead of four was strange. The language had taken some time to even start to master, but she did love them. Fiercely. 

She didn’t know why they stopped her from eating dirt though. It was so good!

HS

“Miss Rose, do you know why I’ve asked you to my office?” Glynda Goodwitch asked as she looked over her star student. 

Few would take skipping ahead several grades as well, or gracefully, but Ruby Rose had managed to skip from Freshman to Junior upon taking the placement testing. 

Glynda had kept watch on her to make sure she managed to get along well enough, and was pleasantly surprised to see that aside from initial social floundering she’d thrived. 

She could admit to having misjudged her, at least in the comfort of her own mind. Miss Rose’s kind, and gregarious nature had won her the approval of a vast majority of her classmates her year, and beyond. 

When her elder sister, Miss Xiao Long, had jokingly submitted her for student council president, Glynda had let it go, only to be blown away when she was elected in a near landslide. 

It was clear seeing Miss Rose’s face that she’d been just as shocked, and blown away, but she’d handled ‘victory’ with considerable grace, and a minor panic attack or two. 

Glynda kindly made sure she didn’t see her retaliatory prank against her sister in payback. Miss Xiao Long had more than earned that one, and it wouldn’t be a good start for the president to end up in detention. 

“No ma’am.”

“Are you aware of one Miss Schnee?” Glynda asked, and watched as her star pupil frowned thoughtfully. She let her have a few moments to think it over. 

Ruby rubbed her arm awkwardly as she fidgeted for a moment. She’s…ugh cookie clusters,” she mumbled. “Look, I don’t know her that well. Mostly from when I have to hand out those detention slips, and try to get her to go to class, and stop sleeping in the garden. I think she hates me.”

“Correct,” Glynda stated as she took a folder from her side drawer, and dropped it on the desk with an audible thunk, which made Ruby’s eyebrows rise in alarm. “Not about the hating you part, but the rest was largely correct.”

“Is that?” Ruby asked as she nodded toward the folder.

“Her record for just this year,” Glynda finished the question as she tapped on it. “Every instance of skipping class, being disruptive, or even getting into altercations with other students, physical or otherwise from all the teachers, faculty, and other students with the power to assign her such.”

Ruby blinked as if just putting together something. “Oh, she was the one who punched Cardin earlier for picking on Velvet. I should have known that.”

“Correct,” Glynda stated as she tapped on the folder once more. Left unsaid, was that Glynda had barely given her any punishment for that. Merely made her write lines for ten minutes before excusing her. 

Violence was generally frowned upon, but well…sometimes it could be a powerful motivator, and Mister Winchester’s attitude had become remarkably more tolerant afterward once his jaw was no longer broken. 

She had needed to confiscate the brass knuckles from Miss Schnee, but was kind enough to pretend to not hear her say she had ‘others anyway’. 

“I mean…what do you want me to do?” Ruby asked warily. 

“Truthfully?” Glynda asked, leaning back in her chair, and crossing her arms. “Her grades are high.”

“That’s a good thing,” Ruby pointed out. 

“Normally, you would be correct, and I believe it’s a product of her own worth ethic, but…”

“But?” Ruby asked, clearly confused as she shifted from one foot to another, and waited on the answer. 

Glynda pursed her lips. Saying that she thought Miss Schnee was lonely, and could use a friend, and that Miss Rose would be an exceptionally good influence on her was likely not proper, but she also didn’t want to intimate that she thought Miss Schnee was cheating as she knew she wasn’t. 

Her test answers showed clear thought, and logical ways of working out the problems. Far too much for it to merely be cheating, or a copy, and far too different from other students' own work. 

“I believe it will become evident in time. For now I’d like you to consider mentoring her. You’re free to decline of course, but-”

“Oh wow, you have no idea,” Ruby blurted out before her face went red, and she covered her traitorous mouth. 

Glynda felt a minor amount of embarrassment at realizing Miss Rose had seen through her facade, but her reaction was so amusing it was vastly outweighed. 

“Did you realize I could hold you back for insub-”

“Gotta go make friends bye!” the younger student stated nearly tripping over herself to escape the situation as Glynda let out a small laugh at seeing her go. 

Not that she’d dream of holding Miss Rose back of course, but now she was most interested in seeing how the two interacted. 

And maybe…

Demon au

Weiss stared at the summoning circle. She’d felt Ruby’s pull, and looked toward it. It was atrocious. There was no way she would have known she was trying to call her if she hadn’t already known, and been bound to her before. 

Out of curiosity, she looked at the circle, and tried to figure it out. Was that…she hadn’t even walked widershins when she drew it. 

And well, the blueberries were nice, but that wasn’t even drawn with pure chalk, or spring water. Was that a fake gemstone?

This would have summoned…someone named Susan. Wait, just Susan? Susan who? How could she have failed in such a way? 

She never should have let her try this. At least she’d already accepted the contract so no one else, or Susan showed up, but she’d still let Ruby sweat it for a few more minutes for messing it up so badly. 

“Weiss, hi!” Ruby greeted her friend, personal summon, or however she said it. To Ruby, she was just a friend she thought was super neat. Kinda her best friend really. 

Should she have messed around with her family's old books? Probably not, but boredom for Ruby was a fate worse than death. 

And hey! She’d gotten a super awesome friend out of it. Even if she talked all fancy sometimes. 

“Your soul is mine,” Weiss greeted her as was her standard. 

Ruby just assumed it was a thing from where she was from, and agreed. She let Weiss look around her room at all the occult symbols on display, and tried to guess what she was thinking. 

“How are you incapable of drawing a proper summoning circle?” Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow, highly unamused. 

Well dang, she’d guessed she was thinking about puppies. 

“I mean it got you right?” Ruby asked with a wry grin that Weiss glared at. 

“It would have summoned Susan the Terrible.”

“That’s awful!” 

“Terrible,” Weiss corrected, not realizing she was being toyed with. “You are lucky I saw the blueberries, and deigned to come.”

“You know you can just say you missed me right?” 

“I do not.”

“Aren’t you in the circle of truth?” Ruby asked with a toothy grin as she pointed downward toward the terribly drawn pentagram, and ritual circle.

“Only because I want to be, and have to manifest in some way. I could leave if I wished.”

Ruby gestured for her to do so, and Weiss crossed her arms. 

“I don’t wish to do so. The blueberries,” Weiss demanded, her demonic wings flapping in agitation as Ruby giggled, and brought over the box of frozen blueberries from the market to share with her. 

Weiss eagerly consumed the treat, not used to them as they were native to the realm of mortals. It was only after her first handful that her senses sharpened, and she narrowed her eyes at her ‘summoner’. 

The way Ruby was moving was an act to cover something up. A discreet snuff, and a growl later she had the young woman by the shirt. 

“You were injured?” 

“Oh, yeah there was a Grimm attack at the market,” Ruby explained, seemingly not minding being held up in the air as she offered a blueberry to Weiss who mindlessly took it in her mouth. 

“The Grimm are nuisances at best. Why did you not smite them? Why did you allow them to harm you?” 

“Uh, I’m just a normal person?” Ruby offered. “I mean I could throw a rock at them I guess, but I don’t think that would help much. A few of the town guards with that semblance stuff were there so they took care of it.”

“YOU SUMMONED A DEMON WITHOUT A SEMBLANCE, OR AN ACTIVE AURA?” Weiss all but roared at the idiot in her grasp, the force of the yell ruffling Ruby's hair. 

“Yeah huh. I wanted a friend to talk to!”

Weiss dropped her, and then dropped to the ground herself as she spied the half empty box of blueberries, and her mind went to work instantly. 

“What do you know about demonic contracts?” Weiss asked slyly. 

“That I shouldn’t do them,” Ruby offered. 

“You summoned a demon on a lark because you were bored,” Weiss countered, remembering the excuse Ruby had used last time. 

“Oh yeah. I knew that. I just said I shouldn’t, not that I wasn’t going to.”

Weiss had to concede the point, much as she didn’t want to. Ruby was unique amongst mortals, but even so she was her summoner, her current link to this world she wanted to explore. 

Perhaps there was a way to stay here for longer, and to keep Ruby safe when she wasn’t around…

“Ruby…would you like to make a deal?” 

Monster au

My name is Weiss Schnee, and I’m a monster. 

You might think that a very strange way of writing down in what is ostensibly supposed to be a journal to aid in my recovery, but to myself it is merely a statement of facts. 

On the off chance this is read in the future where a cure or solution has been found I shall elaborate in brief. 

In our world negative emotions are normal, but overly indulging in them can cause one to transform, and change into a monster. There are different types, and varieties, but rest assured the very possibility that at any moment a friend, loved one, neighbor, could suddenly become a monster that might try to kill you is…well you can imagine it doesn’t help ‘reintegration’. 

My doctor has informed me that it’s different for each person, but suffice to say I am also one of these monsters. 

What I am is less important than the distinction that I am one. When I was younger my grandfather meant everything to me. I loved my parents dearly, but my grandfather was my idol, who I aspired to be. 

Then he died. 

That was nearly the catalyst for my own transformation, only my young age, and inability to entirely understand death, and what had happened kept me from undergoing the change then. 

My actual transformation happened only recently at seventeen. You see my father was…well to say he wasn’t a kind man would be an understatement, but even I was surprised when in his haste to make an appointment he didn’t finish locking his safe. 

Being the curious child I was, or young adult rather, I looked inside. My father had my grandfather killed. 

It wasn’t written out quite so plainly, but I’ve always been clever, or so Winter has said, and so when I found out that the light of my life was torn away from me because of the…utter jackass that was my father?

I don’t recall what happened later, but I do know that when he returned I apparently captured him, and he starved to death as I tormented him. 

I’m told it was a highly agonizing death. Honestly? It was too good for him. 

Of course while no one truly liked my father there were still to be consequences for my actions. 

My mother took her head out of the bottle long enough to get me sent to Vale for rehabilitation. Out of all the kingdoms they’re the most…kind about those of us who shed some of our humanity. 

Penny, my only real friend, who is also an advanced Atlas android was sent to accompany me on account of her being ‘not real’ and thus not likely to be harmed should I lose control again. 

Normally I might argue the case that she was as real as anyone, and certainly more human than my father, but since I wanted a friendly face in my corner I let it go. 

“Friend Weiss! We shall be late for your first mandatory meeting if you do not hurry!” Penny’s voiced called out startling Weiss whose pen jerked, and made an unseemly line in her journal. She sighed, and let it go knowing Penny was correct, and closed it for now. 

She could simply rewrite it later. She fiddled with the limiter on her wrist, and sighed. An ugly thing, and a reminder of what she now was. She pulled the long sleeve shirt over it for the time being. 

She needed to meet with a few others, and speak with Goodwitch, and Ozpin about her parole such as it was. Hopefully the partner she’d be assigned would be the mature, collected, and calm type. 

As she lay on the sidewalk having been bowled over, very literally by her future partner she realized fate really hated her.

The Derg Au

“Oh she’s such a darling,” Willow declared with a bright grin. One Weiss was happy to see on her face. 

Ever since her mother had lost her mate she’d never quite recovered, but this was as close to it as she’d seen. 

Then again, Ruby did have that effect on people. 

“Hi!” Ruby greeted Willow back, the giant dragon, now in a more human form as she picked up Weiss’s paramour, and spun her around in a circle, which produced giggles from the young woman. 

“Well I can see you’re a strong one,” Willow decided. “Tell me,” her voice lowered, and became more conspiratorial. “Does Weiss still hoard duckies?” 

“Mother!” Weiss hissed. Sure Ruby knew, but she didn’t want to draw attention to it. 

“Tons!” Ruby assured her with an expansive gesture of her arms as if to try and indicate just how many they had. “We’ve expanded her collection a whole lot. She also takes hoodies too!” 

“Does she now?” Willow asked as Weiss huffed, and turned away in annoyance. Traitors. 

“I’m sure I don’t.”

“Aren’t you wearing one of hers now?” Willow asked her daughter in amusement. 

“It was cold,” Weiss defended herself. “I’d never go out of my way for them if I didn’t need them.”

“Okie dokie,” Ruby agreed as she winked at Willow, and then took off her current hoodie. 

Weiss narrowed her eyes as Ruby tossed it her way, and then deliberately turned her back on Weiss, and the hoodie. 

Willow watched as Ruby began talking to her asking about her own treasure hoard, and her daughter’s hand began to twitch. 

She raised an eyebrow as Weiss purposefully turned away, and sniffed the air indignantly. 

Ruby’s grin grew wider as she listened intently to Weiss’s mom, who was super cool, explain how she kept her cave nice, and cozy. 

“BWHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahaha-” Weiss’s laughter trailed off as she began running in circles. 

“Hey Weiss, have you seen my hoodies?” Ruby asked. 

“I’m sure I haven’t. You need to keep watching them more closely,” Weiss answered sedately from inside her now double layered hoodie. 

“Ok!” 

Willow’s grin nearly split her face. She would do her utmost to look through her father’s books. She was sure there was a way to make sure Ruby was around for her daughter for a good long while, and as a mother she would do everything in her power to ensure her daughter’s happiness. 

“Ruby!” Weiss screeched as her daughter’s paramour dastardly launched a ‘tickle attack’ at her daughter. 

Willow sighed happily. This was all she’d ever wanted for her children. She really needed to set Whitley up on a date now that Weiss had found someone. 

After she found the solution to the current problem for Ruby perhaps. 

Wereweiss (thereweiss) 

Weiss wasn’t sure when she first noticed it, not really. She’d always noticed she was a bit different from her family, but it hadn’t exactly registered how different just yet. 

As she grew older, and started being reprimanded for laughing too loudly, rolling in the dirt like a peasant, and the like she started to understand something was different with her, but she didn’t exactly grasp what it was. 

Sure she had ears, and a tail, that were so very fluffy, but otherwise she was confused. Why didn’t Winter want to go outside, and play in the sun with her?

The older she got, the more distant they all became. Even Whitley stopped playing with, or hugging her, and her sister allowed it only rarely. Outside of her birthday, her parents never paid much attention to her save for her father to scold her for some problem she’d caused somehow, and trying to get any straight answer from her mother was…essentially impossible. 

She was only ten, but even she had noticed that she was the only one to ever eat any food at the dinner table. The rest merely drank some red punch. 

She wanted to fit in, and so tried it. She threw up almost as soon as she forced the punch down, and sure her father yelled at her, but she’d seen it. 

They’d paid attention to her when she reached for it. When she’d tried it there had been raised eyebrows. It wasn’t much, not really anything, but it was something. And for ten year old Weiss? It meant she was on the right track. 

Maybe she just needed to be more like them? Maybe then they’d love her!

That began a week of her trying to figure out how exactly to fit in. She’d tried to do the weird gliding thing they all did, but had only managed to fall down the staircase, cutting her eye in the process. 

Thankfully Winter had agreed not to mention anything of it, and aside from the scar, which she doubted they noticed, or cared about, nothing more was said about that. 

The easiest to spot in terms of looks was she had ears, and a tail, and they clearly did not. Finding a suitable hairband had solved the ear problem at least for a bit, and the tail had to be tied down. 

It wasn’t pleasant, but seeing her father’s face not instantly turn into a scowl when he saw her was worth it. The look was more akin to looking at a puzzle piece that didn’t exactly fit in right, but it was better than the disdain she was used to. 

Another clue she was on the right track! She took to taking small sips of the red liquid when no one was around to try, and get used to the taste. She was sick after drinking it. But slowly it became…not good, but she didn’t instantly vomit afterward. 

The next thing to go had to be her nails. That was…moderately painful. She had to file them into sharp points, and there was some bleeding, but it was another step closer to fitting in with them. 

When she’d managed to ignore her stomach's desire for food, and keep down a glass of the punch she’d gotten a half nod of approval from her father, and was elated. So elated that she’d missed the look of concern on Winter’s face. 

It only made Weiss desire to do more, to be more like them. She could fit in, she knew it!

It was why she was in the bathroom looking at herself, scissors in hand, and shaking as they neared her ears. 

They didn’t have ears, and she did. The hairband wasn’t perfect, but maybe…maybe this would be?

A snip, and she collapsed onto the sink, barely managing to stand up as she let out a low whimper. She tried to hiss like she’d heard their family do, but only a growl came out instead. 

She cursed herself for failing, but it hurt so much!

“Weiss, what are…” Winter's voice cut off as she beheld her sister clutching the sink, ear with a cut in it bleeding freely as she looked at her. 

“W…do you love me now?” Weiss asked in a low voice. One so full of hope that Winter was rocked back a step metaphorically. 

The sight of her sister, her precious younger sibling in pain, having tortured herself, tried to mutilate herself to fit in, to gain something she never should have been without, had her perfect memory show her every instance of Weiss harming herself to fit in. 

This all happened in but a handful of moments, and the spell was broken. Her father was dead to her. Her mother the same. She’d been complicit with her inaction, but now no longer. 

Protective instincts she’d tampered down on, had regulated to the background of her mind came exploding forward in full force. 

She grabbed Weiss into a hug, ignoring the blood as she bundled her up. The first thing was a doctor. She needed one that would be discreet, and she knew the perfect group for the job. 

Thankfully, the ear was savable, and there wasn’t even hearing loss. It was however slightly damaged at the base, and wouldn’t ever stand at full attention on its own again, and would have a slight droop. 

Considering the alternatives it was a small mercy, but Winter counted it as a personal failure anyway. The fact that it had escalated that far was by, and large something she laid squarely at her own feet. Weiss was a child, her precious younger sibling, and yet…

That stopped now. 

Her instincts wanted revenge. They wanted to remove Weiss from the area almost at once. Her mind however, her tactical mind said a plan was better, and so she waited, but she did her utmost to make sure Weiss never saw, or interacted with their parents again. 

If they noticed her absence they said nothing. She suspected they didn’t care as long as she was out of sight. There had been plenty of rumors, and speculation, scandal even, when a were had been born to a family of purebred vampires. 

Never mind the fact that her father had ordered, demanded a test, and it was determined she was his, likely the only reason Weiss had survived being a babe because he had a duty to perform, and was a recessive gene. People had been ironically out for blood. 

Weiss being so public had caused a large amount of embarrassment for the family, and Winter had caught onto it, and projected too much of it herself. 

No more. 

When the time came, she’d imagined many things. An epic screaming match, a fight, or any number of scenarios. 

The mundane happened instead. She left a letter in her room on her desk, and packed with every extra lien she could take before she removed herself, and her siblings from the manor. Even Whitley was grabbed. 

Her sister would not survive Schnee Manor, but she would survive Vale. She was sure of it. She would make sure of it. 

A nice modest home, the locals would likely still consider it a mansion was purchased with plenty to spare. 

Whitley had a harder time adjusting, but soon reverted to his more gentlemanly self, which was a relief to Winter who had never thought herself good with children. 

Explaining the differences to Weiss, and Whitley about Werewolves, and Vampires had the children rekindle their friendship, but in a different way. 

Without their father to rebuke them, they were free to play inside without fear of the sun, and they ate meals together like a family. Laughter, and conversation was never in short supply. 

Winter struggled at first, but managed to be up most of the day, although adjusting was incredibly difficult for her. Weiss also helped, and tried to make sure her bedtimes were more…well they were easier for Winter, and Whitley to deal with. 

Weiss gained an interest in magic, and runes. A strange branch of magic that was both rare, and lucrative. 

As a proper sister, the one she always should have been, she instantly made sure Weiss had all the supplies, and books needed to get started on it. 

The investment was not insignificant, but Weiss was worth it, and proved to have a talent at it that rivaled any she’d heard of. 

It didn’t escape her that ironically had her father known of her incredible talents and skills with the arcane arts he’d have likely doted on her as a favorite. Showed off her prowess, boasted how the Schnee genes shined brightly that even as a non vampire Weiss was the stuff of legends. 

Thankfully he never would now, the bastard. She hoped he got staked and left in the sun.

While they now had a stable source of income from her work she still enjoyed going to the nearby market to make small talk, and sell to the other local creatures, and townsfolk. 

She’d gone along, hung back really, the first few times just to make sure she’d be alright, but unlike Atlas, the people, and creatures of Vale appeared to just generally be decent folk. 

It was strange when Whitley apparently gained the affections of a near legendary monster hunter, but she supposed stranger things had happened. Perhaps this would cut down on the rate of Weiss setting him on fire. 

She hoped so at least. There was something eerie about walking into a home, and stepping in a pile of your younger sibling, and having to dump them into a coffin to regenerate their form. 

She was actually on her first trip away from her siblings in years. One she’d only taken at their insistence. They’d claimed she deserved it, and needed to get out for once. So she’d obliged. 

Now here she was waiting on a local tour guide she’d hired, making sure to stress that she was looking for sights a vampire might find interesting. 

The latest letter from her sister was rather different from her usual. Normally she asked about Winter, the latest she’d seen, or perhaps a fun market customer. This letter was…almost entirely full of information about someone she’d met. 

Had Weiss ever taken an interest in someone like this? She certainly didn’t think so. Miss Rose, was it? A  vampire? The irony wasn’t lost on her, but the way she described her was…interesting. 

She looked back in her mind over the information she’d read, and absorbed so she could help raise Weiss in a better household more suited to her. Only one word came to mind. Imprint. 

Well well well. How to tease her best, and also convey her happiness at such an act occurring? 

“You the Schnee?” a woman’s voice asked as she sat down without asking. 

Winter’s eyes narrowed as she looked up at her guide for interrupting her before the words died on her lip. 

“Yes,” she muttered instead as golden eyes latched onto her own. 

“Ok…great. I’m Cinder Fall. I…I’m your guide,” Cinder managed to say, slightly stumbling over her words. 

Despite her perfect recall she couldn’t think of anything to say…strange. 

She put Weiss’s letter out of her mind for now. She was on vacation, and she could always tease her later. Plus she was a smart one, she likely already knew.

Her eyes wandered over the woman across from her as she raised her hands to summon a waiter. She hadn’t planned on it, but now? Maybe a meal was in order. Just so she could get more of a measure on her guide?

Yes, yes it was in order. Very required. She was sure of it.

BF Au

Weiss had joined the Atlas ground division of the Grimm Hunting division. Much like her elder sister she wanted to make a difference, and do more than hide behind the walls like a coward.

That wasn’t fair. Fighting wasn’t for everyone, but she was certain she could make a difference. 

She made it through the intense training, and suffered much to graduate near the top of her class. 

Of course because fate hated her she’d lost an eye on her first deployment, and been summarily discharged, and transferred. Essentially because she’d lost it in service of her country she got the polite version of being fired, and would receive a pension. 

To Weiss, the shame was eternal however, and she decided that she wouldn’t let it stand. To that end she’d managed to use her sister’s connections to transfer to the Vale armed forces, which took some time with all the red tape that had to be jumped through. 

Ultimately it was deemed that any secrets she knew were so inconsequential they hadn’t bothered to do more than wish her good luck. That stung more than anything. 

She was walking around the military barracks, and ground trying to get used to her new home, and bemoaning how lax they seemed here compared to Atlas when she bumped into someone

Her already fraying temper snapped as she proceeded to tear into the offender. “Watch where you’re going!”

“Excuse me, princess? Why don’t you watch where you’re going?” the offender countered with a huff as Weiss got her first look at them. Shorter than even she with dark hair. A child. 

“What was that?” Weiss growled dangerously as she drew herself to her full height, and poked them in the chest 

“You heard me,” the woman said as she gave Weiss a half shove out of her personal space. “You had an entire left half of the sidewalk to move to, and you didn’t even bother. What are you blind?” 

Weiss bristled in suppressed rage. “If anyone is blind it’s you! I’m half blind!” Weiss screeched as she gestured to her eye. 

“So am I,” the woman yelled back pointing to her eyepatch. “You’re not special!”

Indignation welled up within her. Despite how much she despised it, the fact that not even her injury was anything special, or meriting note poked at her wounded pride far too much. “OH SCREW YOU!” 

“H-hey guys,” a blond man with a medics patch said running up to the two of them. “No need to fight righ-”

“STAY OUT OF THIS!” “Back off Jaune!” 

The man, Jaune she assumed, meekly laughed, and took a few steps back from the two feuding women, rightly making the smarter call of staying out of it. 

She turned her attention back to the supreme annoyance, and began to trade barbs once more. 

At least until Jaune came back with Commander Goodwitch. 

Because Fate, and the Commander hated her, Weiss was assigned as a ‘combat buddy’ with the annoyance named Ruby Rose. 

And because nothing in life was fair they even had the same rank. To make up for it she’d thrown a brick at her during training when she was running an obstacle course. 

She’d still managed with the best time somehow, and had then made up for it by literally body slamming Weiss from the side when time came for personal sparring. 

She, and Rose had been called, and admonished by Goodwitch no less than a half dozen times in the last month alone. 

“I don’t understand,” Goodwitch remarked as she pulled up their mission profiles. “You both perform flawlessly on missions. You get minor injuries at most ,and yet you constantly put one another in the medical wing. Would either of you care to explain?” 

“She’s stuck up, and annoying,” Rose said instantly, silver eye steady as she looked at her superior. 

“Excuse you? What’s that supposed to mean?” Weiss snapped. 

Before either could continue onward Goodwitch’s hands slammed into the desk bringing them to heel. 

“Enough. This is the military, not middle school. Lives are in your hands, and while some bickering is expected this is not. You’re both off deployment for the next month.”

Both of them argued fiercely at that before they quailed at her glare, and settled down. 

“As I was saying, I can’t risk anything happening on missions, even if it hasn’t yet. To that end you will both be staying in the married quarters, together.”

“With this child?” Weiss all but yelled before she settled back down once again. 

“In order to get over whatever is between you two you will live together for a month on a trial period. Should your attitude toward one another improve then we’ll see about reassignment. You will not go on deployment, but your training is not to fall behind.”

“And what if she’s still a buttface?” Rose asked pointedly as Weiss growled, and grit her teeth, eager to throttle the nuisance. 

“The Grimm grow stronger when faced with negative emotions. If you’re both a liability, and unable, or willing to change, then you’ll both be discharged, dishonorably.”

For once she, and Rose both looked like they were on the same page regarding how they felt about something…unfortunately. 

Stars Au

Ruby shivered as she closed the door to the observatory behind her, cutting off the icy howl, and chill of the wind with it. 

She knocked her boots on the mat to dislodge the snow, and set them to the side, swapping them out for a pair of slippers she had waiting with a grin. 

She had precious few things she spent money on besides the observatory, but splurging for the silly fuzzy fur lined slippers with a dog's head on them were definitely worth it. They helped keep her feet nice, and warm in the winter no matter how cold it got. 

Work had been especially long, and brutal that day. A double shift when her coworker hadn’t shown up, and the boss refusing to send anyone to relieve her because ‘it’s not their shift’ even knowing that had she left she’d have been on the chopping block next. 

At least they’d agreed Ruby didn’t have to go in the next day, not out of any sense of kindness, or compassion, but it would put her over hours, and she’d have to give her overtime. 

Ruby was taking it as a win at this point. 

She trudged up the stairs of the old observatory, not for the first, nor the last time lamenting at how much it took to keep it running, and wishing she’d been born rich. 

She put a hand on the stone wall when she noticed a small chip in the brick, and frowned. Another day, another small imperfection. 

She gave the wall a pat anyway. “Thanks for doing your best.”

She reached the top of the stairs, and went about making herself some hot chocolate to combat the chill that still always seemed to reside in the place this time of year. 

It wasn’t cold enough that she could justify starting a fire, at least not yet, and the small plate of crackers, and cheese with the sound of the radio, and hot chocolate would do wonders to help warm her up…hopefully. 

She lightly tapped out a random beat with her spoon as she waited on the microwave to work its magic. Should she do something? 

In theory, there was a lot she could do, but would she? It was cold so working outside repairing whatever she might be able to was out of the question. She didn’t really know how to fix the bricks, although she could find out. 

Her work was done, she had nothing overly pressing, aside from the crushing possibility of the observatory of her mother’s being foreclosed on, and losing the last link to said mother that she had. 

…other than that though, totally no stress. 

She was so screwed. 

Ruby sat down heavily on the chair, and sighed. Maybe she’d stargaze? Just for the night, just to feel closer to her mother. Summer had always made time to show her the stars, indulge her in every whim she had when she said she wanted to find a new star, and name it, to basically meet it for the first time. 

She looked at the minute, and a half left on the microwave, and swiftly crossed the room to move the telescope. Time to check out her favorite constellation! 

She blinked, and relooked. She cleaned the lens, and looked again. She made sure it wasn’t a prank of someone applying marker, or something on the lens, although how they’d managed to do so she had no idea, and looked a third time. 

Nothing. The sky was utterly dark. Stars to either side twinkled, and shined like normal, but it was as if someone had cut the stars in that part of the sky out, like letters from a magazine, but where had they gone? 

Surely someone would have, should have noticed if they’d all died out unexpectedly. And surely someone would have mentioned, or she’d have heard mention if they were expected to die. Even out here she’d have expected a few patrons to pay to see them if that was the case, but no, there had been nothing. 

She’d had no bookings for the last three weeks, and the only one in the last month had been a couple who wanted to have a picnic under the stars before the weather turned. 

In theory she should have said no, but in practice she’d just made herself scarce, and taken the money. The young man's generosity had filled her stomach an extra week alone with his tip. 

She was just about to bring up her phone, or go to the small older computer she had, and hope it had a connection when she felt herself be jostled, and nearly fall over. 

Something big had just landed near the observatory. She debated calling the police, and waiting the near hour for them to show up, or going to check it out herself for about ten seconds. 

Maybe it would be a cool meteorite, and she could sell it to the museum to keep the observatory open? It was probably nothing anywhere near as cool, but the thought was enticing, and so she hurriedly put on her coat, and absentmindedly hit the warming feature on her mug in the microwave as she took the stairs two or three at a time to see what had landed. 

She hurriedly swapped out her slippers for boots, and forwent the scarf as she went outside.

Whatever had hit had been close. Really close. In fact she could actually still see a bit of debris slowly drifting down nearby, and so made her way over ignoring the displaced snow as she looked over the lip of the crater. 

Had someone somehow beaten her to it? 

She squinted at the woman there. She was…different. Was she glowing slightly? Why? She gently lifted her leg over the edge, and started to descend into the small crater making plenty of noise so she didn’t startle whoever it was. 

“Hey, you alright?” Ruby called out as they turned and she blanked. 

The woman in front of her was…stunning. She seemed to exude a sense of calmness that made things not exactly be forgotten, but moved to the background, not be quite so SHE WAS NAKED!

“Gah,” Ruby exclaimed, covering her face reflexively. “Why are you naked?” 

“What is…naked?” the woman asked, her voice almost haunting in its beauty. 

Ruby struggled, and with more mental effort than she’d ever put into anything in her life ripped her coat off to throw toward the woman. “Put this on, and we can go have hot chocolate or something.”

“Fascinating. This garment is quite nice,” the woman said as she sniffed. “It smells wonderful.”

Ruby blushed as red as her namesake as she finally opened her eyes, and saw that she was thankfully dressed. 

At least until she noticed the woman was still glowing…and floating about a foot off the ground. 

She fell backwards as she fainted barely hearing the worried noises of the other woman before something caught her. 

Eldritch Au

“Forty two, eighty,” a young man repeated with a yawn as he gave an unimpressed look at the woman standing in the doorway. 

“Forty two…” the white haired woman said through clenched teeth. 

“And eighty, yep. You want it or not?” 

“You have made a powerful enemy this day, Pizza Custodian,” she seethed. She was a being of incomprehensible power. With but a flick of her wrist a universe could cease to exist if she willed it.

She had more power in a fingernail even in this limiting form than their entire race could collectively imagine. 

And yet…

And yet…

“We just gonna keep staring, or can I just go, and tell them you’re a nopay?” the young man asked, clearly unable to bring himself to care about the weirdo customer. 

The only reason he even took the call was because she wasn’t the only tenant. Three women lived there. Two had silver eyes. You got either one of those? The tip was always at least a week's pay. If you got the one he had? And the other two weren’t there? You usually ended up with a nopay, and sometimes the pizza was ‘lost’ despite never handing it over. 

Management’s response was predictably unhelpful. His only real option was to stall, and hope one of the others showed up. 

“That pizza will leave your hand, and be put into mine,” the woman requested, although it sounded more like an order than anything. 

“Sure,” he agreed as she blinked. That had worked? 

“As soon as you pay me the-”

“Forty two,” she interrupted with a growl. 

“And eighty. Look, you got two large stuffed crusts, extra cheeze-e-sticks, several wings, and drinks with a large, death by chocolate brownie. The total ain’t going down.”

After a few more seconds he sighed internally, and got ready to leave when he heard the sound of footsteps coming to the door. 

“Weiss, we talked about this,” one of the other women, the good tippers, said as she appeared. “We let you get the pizza didn’t we?” 

“You did,” ‘Weiss’ agreed as she pointed at him. 

He considered being annoyed, but the potential massive tip meant he didn’t care. At all. 

“He keeps our ‘za’ from us. Along with other comestibles!”

“You have to give him money. Did you?” the woman asked before she turned to him. “Did she?” 

He just shook his head. No use delaying things anymore than they already had been. 

“He is a worm,” Weiss stated, and he raised an eyebrow, paid far too little to care about such an insult. “No, he is the microscopic dirt on a worm’s tail. Utterly insignificant. The fact that he can even behold my form, or either of yours, and have the chance to provide service in some way to us should be enough payment for any being.”

“She’s from Atlas,” the other woman explained with a strained smile as an envelope made its way to his hands, and suddenly the food boxes, and bags were gone from his hand. 

He shrugged, already considering what to spend his extra pay on as he gave her a tip of his hat, and left to get back to work. 

“She didn’t even try to give him the money,” Maria said in knowing amusement as she set the place settings on the table in the living room. 

“I think she was about a half second from trying to turn him into a worm,” Ruby admitted as they both ignored Weiss’s complaints about how he’d be more useful that way. 

She’d come a long way since when they’d first met her after Ruby’s failed summoning ritual, but she still slid back into a more…well Maria called it Cosmic Horror mindset. Ruby assumed that was as good as it was getting on describing it. 

“Why do you hate the pizza delivery drivers in particular?” Maria asked. “There’s tons of other people you’d think you hated more. What with how often do you put Yang in ‘time out’ after all.” 

“Idiot sister disrupted our ‘game and bonding’ night. Her punishment was just,” Weiss said in defense of her actions, her voice sure of herself. 

The other two didn’t bother arguing, not the least of which because they didn’t entirely disagree. Yang was family, likely one of the only things that Weiss could intrinsically understand the same way they could, or close to it, which is why when they were assured Yang was ‘more or less’ fine after her timeouts they just…went with it. 

Being with Weiss, a cosmic being who demanded you become its consort body and soul eternal, meant picking and choosing your battles, and Maria’s opening salvo when they’d first met had helped set the stage for a much more fair relationship. 

Letting Weiss set the pace, and run roughshod over them was not going to work long term. Treating her more like an equal, and her them in return was the work of years to get to this point. 

Weiss, to her credit, had put in a large amount of work to get there as well, to the point that she often forgot that they weren’t beings of near incomprehensible power like she was. 

Weiss might not understand love exactly as they did, but they were pretty sure she loved them the best way she knew how. 

They’d asked her to marry them earlier, and while she had only nodded her head as if it was expected, as soon as they’d gone outside they’d heard her scream the word yes. 

She’d done it so loudly almost every animal with a mile had been spooked. Sometimes when Weiss was excited she ‘forgot’ her capabilities. It was honestly highly endearing. 

This was to be their celebratory engagement meal just for them. Their families might want to do something more formal, but for the god-like creature? Pizza was what she desired. 

“I see how he looks at you, his mind barely holds his desires at bay.”

“Look Weiss, we’re in love with you, and each other. We’re not going to-”

Weiss cut in with a wave of her hand which spun in a perfect circle over, and over until Ruby gently held up a finger to stop it. “That was never in doubt. Your fidelity to me, and I you, was as certain as the meager bauble in the sky’s light continuing to exist for at least another of your days.”

“He coveted the za. To declare it a ‘nopay’! “Weiss spoke as extra fingers sprouted from the back of her hands to make air quotes as she talked. “So he could take it for his own.”

“I thought it was because we tip better,” Maria joked as Weiss hissed, and narrowed her eyes at one of her ‘consorts’ for her ‘betrayal'.

“He asked us out once before he knew about Weiss,” Ruby explained as Weiss continued to hiss, and actually pink in embarrassment. 

“HE HAD NO RIGHT TO DO SO! UNTIL THE STARS DIE, AND BEYOND YOU ARE BOUND TO ME!” Weiss all but screamed without opening her mouth. 

She’d admitted once it was the sort of thing that would drive normal mortals mad, and seemed proud of that fact. She, and Maria merely traded looks, grabbed a spray bottle each, and sprayed at the irritated eldritch being who hissed like a cat in return. 

“Betrayed…by my consorts!” Weiss cried dramatically like the ham, and pineapple she insisted be put on her pizza. 

“Well if you’re dead I guess we can eat your-” Maria said casually before Weiss hissed once more, and grabbed the box. 

Ruby couldn’t hold in her laughter anymore, and began giggling so hard her stomach hurt. Maria’s cackle joined her a moment later as even Weiss began her ‘human laugh’. 

“Was I not an excellent actress?” Weiss asked, preened really, clearly eager for praise. 

“The best,” Maria assured her, knowing that soothing her ego was the right play here, and truly compared to her early attempts, ie there were none, it was miles apart. 

“Yes, we have learned much,” Weiss said, pleased with herself. 

“Radical Apple, or Grubby Grape?” Ruby asked with a blink. Those were weird flavors. 

“We also have Blackest of all Cherries,” Maria said, reading a label before looking at another. “And Original Orange.”

“The Blackest of all Cherries,” Weiss requested, and when Maria raised an eyebrow tacked on a please as Maria poured some into a cup. 

“This feast is a worthy one to celebrate our upcoming eternal union,” Weiss stated grandly, almost humming in pleasure as she floated a few inches above the chair instead of actually sitting in it. 

Ruby shared a grin with Maria. It was super cute how actually excited she was despite pretending not to be. 

“Aye, we’re glad to be your eternal consorts, and worship you as you deserve,” Maria teased, referencing the first time they’d met when Ruby had summoned Weiss on accident, and then Weiss had come to Maria in a dream to tell her they were now hers. 

“Yes…yes you are,” Weiss said as if such a thing was preordained. She then forcibly made herself go still, and continued speaking. “And I shall worship the two of you as well as you deserve.”

Maria gave Ruby a winning smile at that. That coming from a being who thought themselves at the top of the cosmic food chain? It was one of the most powerful statements about Weiss’s actual feelings they could manage. 

They both took one of Weiss’s hands, she enjoyed holding one of theirs each as she ate, and simply sprouted two more to eat for her, and ate their ‘feast’. 

This was the start of something truly great. 

Cheese Au

Weiss hummed as she observed her handiwork. Her family had never cared for her, and she for them. To that end after decades of abuse, mostly mental, with some bouts of physical abuse from her father she decided it was time to cut ties with them. 

She gave some thought to how best to do so, and decided the best way was with a light going away party. 

Her entire life was lived without a compliment freely given, or care, and so she’d return the favor, and show them what she’d learned living from them. 

Her father’s drink was spiked, or rather his normal medicine replaced with a very similar looking one that would react poorly with his favored drink. It was a shame he’d be unable to escape the fires.She made sure to sever his arteries in his wrists, and legs meaning he couldn’t even support himself. 

She’d let fate decide if her mother made it out or not, but since Winter was ‘sadly’ locked in the basement, truly a bad time to come down with a bad case of frying pan to the back of the head, and her brother had taken to playing with knives, and happened to be pinned to a wall as the flames consumed him?. 

She wasn’t worth concerning herself with, but her alibi was already in place, that being her mother as having snapped, and setting fire to the place, she left with plenty of time to avoid tying herself to the crime. 

She’d learned acting as a way to survive, and was suitably distraught learning her father had died, and her mother had lived. She was truly upset upon learning the latter so it was easy to fake. 

She claimed a need to get away, and despite knowing that would be seen as suspicious she did so anyway. 

She had her way paid for essentially anything she wanted to do . She was hardly going to waste time thinking of her family now that she was shot of them. 

She selected Mistral as her new home. A large one because the weather was more tolerable, but the law was also a bit…lax around the area she planned to move to. Plenty of missing persons cases that were never solved, horrible crime, and easily bribable politicians. 

It was perfect.

A small shop was available for rent, and so she bought it instead. It came with a basement for products, a shop, and a small area to live in above it. 

To Weiss it was perfect for her needs. It took some doing, but eventually her Cheese shop was ready, and open for business. 

Some might question her choice, especially knowing of her background, but Weiss had merely smiled, and played it off. “I just like cheese.”

Based on how much she knew about such a large variety of cheeses it was soon accepted as just an ‘eccentric’ wealthy former heiress with a passion. 

Weiss was content with this…mostly. A few excursions from time to time aside she was a mostly normal member of society. It suited her just fine. 

Ruby had been having the worst luck. Her family was gone, any payments she would have gotten swindled by loopholes, and never making it to her. She barely had enough to afford a ticket to Mistral, and a bit of food. Her clothes were barely held together, and she just needed a fresh start. 

It was beyond late when the boat finally arrived, and she stumbled into town. 

She had no idea what to do, or even how. 

If she’d been paying more attention she might have avoided going down a particularly well known alley. During the day it was full of foot traffic, but at night it was known by the more affectionate nickname of ‘Cutthroat Alley’. 

To Ruby, who didn’t know that, she wasn’t prepared to be accosted by a large looking man who demanded her money, and became more angry when the woman had nothing to give him . 

At least until he raised his fist to strike her. Ruby curled up, and held up her hands to protect her face only to open her eyes after a few moments when she felt a small spattering of liquid hit her face, and a thud of something heavy hitting the ground. 

A young woman with white hair was standing in front of her, a small bag of groceries by her feet she moved out of the way of an expanding pool of blood. She leaned down, and precisely stabbed into the man thrice around the abdomen. Ruby wasn’t exactly sure of the why she was doing so, or the exact names for the locations the knife sliced into, but they definitely seemed well practiced, and deliberate, as if the woman had done them so often it was a habit by this point.

The woman stood up, and looked at Ruby as if unsure what to do with her. Ruby however, knew only one thing. 

“Wow, you saved me!” Ruby said excitedly as she wiped away the blood, clearly uncaring save for the fact that it was keeping her from seeing her savior more clearly.

A raised eyebrow was her only response to that as she handed over a handkerchief Ruby took on instinct. “Indeed.”

“You were so cool. I was frozen in shock, but you were like pow, stab stab,” Ruby said until the woman glared, Ruby eeped, and started cleaning the blood on her face, and hands. 

“Keep your voice down,” they hissed before they picked up their grocery bag. “But you are welcome.”

“Seriously, you were so cool,” Ruby assured her, keeping her voice low. “Won’t you get in trouble for helping me?” 

“Hardly,” the woman stated. “There’s several well known gangs in the area. The tattoo on his arm says he’s one of the White Fang. They’re in a turf war with the Spiders. They kill with a series of bladed cuts. It’s supposed to be symbolic, but the last one I ‘asked’ about it wouldn’t tell me why,” the white haired woman explained as she stepped over the corpse as if it was no more than refuse left on the road. 

“That’s so smart. You’re smart, like really smart. I was good at math in school, and stuff like that, but you’re good at like well that stuff.”

Weiss felt the strangest bit of amusement take hold of her as a potential victim walked home, and showered her in compliments. Having never actually had anyone compliment her who had seen her act in such a matter was…strangely pleasing. 

She nodded her head as she listened to the story from the woman. No family, no one knew where she was? Well, well. She had quite a lot to think about over dinner. She’d invite the woman, and see what her read on her was after that. 

If she felt she could be trusted as her instincts said she could, and she’d not been wrong yet, then she’d be free to go. If not? Well she had new blood cheese she wanted to experiment with. 

Based on the way the blood, and murder hadn’t phased her? Weiss was oddly optimistic about things, not something she was used to.

Weiss shook her head as she watched Ruby follow her instructions precisely, lavishing praise, and compliments on Weiss the entire time as she helped strap the next ‘volunteer’ onto the table in the soundproofed basement.

That had taken a lot of time, effort, and testing to get right, and many many tries to get right before she felt safe using it without worry.  

Ruby however, was entirely sincere, and made an exceptional assistant being dutiful in helping her in any way she could, and showing her in genuine praise all the while. 

The public facing customers loved her, and while Weiss was an exceptional liar she couldn’t come close to faking the enthusiasm, and warmth that Ruby did. 

They even thought of them as an adorable couple. They were a couple strangely enough, but if they saw what they got up to after hours she assumed there would be more screaming. 

Thankfully, they didn’t. Choosing victims was the hard part, but there were plenty of malcontents who ‘deserved it’ that no one cared vanished. Perhaps one day they’d be caught, but Weiss didn’t care, and doubted it. 

All she knew was that Ruby shadowed her step, and showered her in affection, and compliments. Things she’d never had before growing up, but mattered more to her because she knew Ruby knew all about her, and didn’t care. 

Her deepest, darkest secrets were laid bare, and she hadn’t faltered for even an instant. No judgment, no hatred, or wariness. 

Weiss decided then, and there that if there was one person she would never kill it would be Ruby. She didn’t know if it was love, didn’t know if she was capable of such a thing, but Ruby was precious to her in a way beyond anyone else. 

She stabbed the woman who was currently in the basement in the shoulder. She’d heard her disparage Ruby just then, and that wasn’t allowed. She’d need to learn before they were done, but that was ok. 

They all learned eventually. 

Happy holidays, and a grand new year to Amelia-yap one of the best artists I know!