Chapter 6

Seeing Double

*CLOMP, CLOMP*

Heavy boots echoed throughout the halls and Blake with her sensitive hearing could detect even the sharpest of breaths masked under stomps that were undoubtedly being heard in the dorm rooms above. As the panting turned the corner, she caught Yang just in time to see her scroll close with the words 'message sent' flicker on screen.

The partners' eyes caught momentarily but the raven haired girl slowly turned her attention back to Ruby, who despite being entranced by the silver brooch was cautiously taking each step as if her feet could fall off at any moment. Both she and Weiss were hovering on either side of their leader but if the younger girl noticed their presence she didn't acknowledge them. Her more observant teammates on the other hand were keenly aware of how the once perky girl had started her journey smiling ear to ear, but was now struggling to keep her face impassive, something normally effortless for her during battle.

Yang couldn't help but smile however as a sense of peace swelled within her chest assured that her friends were looking after her baby sister and unknowingly attempting to wear the massive shoes that she herself were still trying to fill. Her warm aura instinctively flared at the comforting scene and attentive pair, but she quickly forced the embers to fade as the paintings of Forever Fall that decorated the walls began to tremble as she passed, and the last thing she wanted was to be sent to the office for setting something else on fire.

With deep breaths her long strides shortened as she fell in line between her sister and Weiss whose compassionate eyes became piercing.

"Care to explain what that was about?" she asked, glancing up at the unusually pale face.

"Not really," Yang answered, putting her hands atop her head in an attempt to satisfy her starving lungs. "I just wanted to warn Glynda about Ruby's cookie jars possibly being rigged to explode, and also not to snoop around my scroll or side of the closet unless she wanted to be scarred for life."

Weiss, noticing the sweat on her brow and fearing her new favorite jacket being tarnished, began distancing herself from the perspiring girl as well as her unsavory device that they'd all been warned to stay away from for their own well being.

"Then why are you out of breath?" Blake asked coolly.

Yang shrugged and followed her sister's gaze. "Guess I need to exercise more," she replied.

Weiss rolled her eyes and gave the girl in black a sideways glance but Blake shook her head. Her partner having learned from her past mistakes had been sure to close the door so she and the professors weren't overheard, but it didn't take faunus senses to detect the violent aura from her waning semblance, the gleam in her darkened eyes, or the unmistakable smell of burning hair as heat radiated off her body.

"Sweet souvenir, sis!" Yang slapped the back of Ruby's hand causing the emblem to soar through the air.

"Hey!?"

The leader stood up on her toes but as usual her towering sister's catch went completely uncontested.

"Give it back!" Ruby ordered as she clung to the thick arm attempting to drag it down using her entire body weight.

Yang having picked up the pace didn't seem to notice as black boots with red frills dangled nearly a foot off the ground, and opening her mouth it seemed as though she wanted to find out if the emblem was real silver or not with her teeth, but with a deft motion Blake plucked it away and handed it back to the smallest member of the team.

With her tongue sticking out, Ruby relinquished the hold and much to her surprise glimpsed the brass elevator doors down the hall, something she hadn't been expecting for several more agonizing minutes.

"The huntsmen of old weren't that amazing anyway," Yang stifled a yawn.

Down below, her sister acted as though she'd been shot from the way she held her chest, and by the sly grin tugging on her lips Blake knew that had been her partner's desired reaction.

"How can you say that!?" Ruby cried. "They were the original huntsmen before the academies were built! They didn't have textbooks or combat instructors to learn from! Everything they knew had been passed down or they learned for themselves!"

"Precisely," Weiss said raising her chin. "Which is exactly why we're so much better equipped for fighting Grimm than they ever dreamed of being."

Yang chuckled obviously pleased with the turn in conversation.

"I'm going to side with Ruby," Blake replied eyeing the always contentious blonde.

"Big surprise," she winked. "It's because of all your romance novels where every foxy huntress gets a happy ending isn't it?" She wagged her eyebrows at the faunus whose expression mirrored that of the Ice Queen's. "Sometimes more than one..."

"They were just so cool!" Ruby gushed as her sister received a slap to the back of the head which only seemed to encourage her.

"Even if most of their weapons didn't transform they were still superheroes back then!"

"And legends today," Blake grumbled as she massaged her throbbing and possibly broken hand.

The unconvinced heiress shook her head. "The huntsmen of old still weren't half as well-trained or educated as we are about using aura or semblances. They also didn't have anything near the quality of dust that we do, courtesy of my family's company of course, and I highly doubt any of them imagined an idiot as insane as you would ever combine a sniper rifle with a scythe and be somewhat competent with it."

She glanced at the deathtrap attached to her partner's belt, there instead of her weapons locker in case she suddenly needed of a crutch or place to sit and rest. This was somewhat of a convenient excuse however as Ruby normally carried Crescent Rose everywhere she went, even occasionally sleeping with it and once or twice having been caught bathing together, which Ruby swore had only been to save time on cleanup despite the rubber duck attachment and bubbles shooting out the barrel.

"And a flaming rapier that can create icebergs and shoot lightning isn't insane?" Yang smirked.

"Humph!" Weiss raised her still bandaged dueling arm and gracefully cut through the air as if she were wielding her cold and merciless Myrtenaster.

"I will have you know that Multi Action Dust Rapiers have been used for centuries, long before the academies were founded and going back to the golden age when Mantel's queens sat on ivory throne in the City of Atlas," she said, accentuating her courtly accent it sounded as though she were sculpting her words out of ice like a masterful artist.

"They are the definition of functionality, practicality, and elegance, and their wielders unrivaled in skill, which is why no one but Atlesians have ever won the world fencing tournament." The junior champion closed her eyes visualizing the snow topped mountains and skyscrapers of her former home before bowing to an unseen audience which earned curious looks from her teammates, particularly from the resident weapons expert.

"MADRs aren't practical for front line combat, Weiss, you know that." Ruby furrowed her brow. "They're slow to reload, burn through dust in minutes, and if you don't keep their cylinders perfectly clean they'll jam in the middle of battle."

"Every weapon has its limitations even if they're as trivial as you say." She waved her hand as if brushing the criticisms aside. "But that didn't stop Atlas from ruling the world, and it won't stop me."

Ruby turned her head puzzled as either her mouth or brain began speeding ahead with the other barely keeping up. "But then don't you have the huntsmen of old to thank for making them?! They're the biggest reasons why Mantle and later Atlas were able keep the kingdoms from separating for so long, besides using Grimm of course, but that was before everyone else started using guns!"

As she gasped for breath, her absently minded hand grazed her beloved sniper rifle, which in ages past had been the favored weapon for dealing with northern nobility who had seen the destructive power of firearms as cowardly and barbaric even to the end of their reign. "And isn't the world fencing trophy named after one of Atlas' greatest huntress?"

Although her chatter throughout had been warm and friendly, albeit also perplexed, Yang and Blake's faces were beaming as the heiress' own carefully sculpted words had been used against her by a girlwhose mouth and brain often acted as bitter enemies.

"Yes..." Weiss said dropping her gaze. "She was also a princess..."

The girls patted their leader on the back which seemed to only further her confusion, as well as Weiss' irritation to their amusement.

"Not bad for someone who can barely pay attention in class," Yang praised. "I knew buying all those weapon magazines to keep you from blowing up the house was worth every lien."

With an embarrassed shrug Ruby took one final look at the emblem that had once been given to her heroes before pocketing it, earning her an arm's embrace from her sister as they continued walking with her aching feet barely skimming the floor the further she leaned in.

Blake glanced over to the girl in white after noticing her footsteps sounded as though she were walking on snow and saw a faraway look about her.

"To be fair to Atlas," she said nearly choking on the foreign words, "they may have conquered everyone by letting Grimm do the job for them so they could pick up the pieces, but it's not like the other kingdoms and territories were innocent either, and that includes the faunus. Maybe some things don't change..."

Blake nearly looked away as the sound of her own morose tone had the opposite effect she'd intended even on herself, but with expensive heels now echoing with purpose the pair caught eyes.

"Or maybe they have," Weiss replied with an air of optimism.

The teammates matched sympathetic smiles but Blake found herself avoiding the left eye of the heiress before clearing her throat.

"I guess Variant Ballistic Chain Scythes like Gambol Shroud don't exactly have innocent beginnings either, especially katanas from Menagerie," she admitted. "While everyone else was too busy fighting each other instead of monsters, we were wearing Grimm masks long before the White Fang and actually thought the faunus and Grimm could co-exist together."

Weiss slowly nodded as she knew some about the archaic days of the southernmost territory when followers of Grimm wishing to harness their malevolence still existed, and was all too familiar with the curved blades created in Mistral before becoming favored outside the kingdoms, particularly among faunus and eventually the White Fang. Out of fear she had never asked how exactly such an exotic weapon fell into her friend's hands, and her life having been saved countless times by the black blade made it easy for her to ignore its past.

As if by nervous habit Blake tugged on her bow making sure it was still in place. "Gambol Shroud's even less practical for front lines, goes through bullets in seconds, used to jam all the time, and-" Her eyes twinkled as a genuine smile appeared.

"-and if it wasn't for our neurotic engineer's meddling, we'd both be dead right now," Weiss finished once again mirroring her expression.

Together their eyes followed the small girl who didn't seem to be paying attention to anyone else but the blonde who was subtly carrying her, and with her long strides leading the way they soon arrived at the brass doors where Yang waved a hand for her sister to do the honors.

With a deep breath, Ruby walked on her own and after some reluctance pressed the down arrow.

"Uh, Rubes?" Yang pointed above. "The room's upstairs."

The leader was silent as she glanced between concerned faces with a lopsided smile that seemed almost painful to wear.

"If it's okay with y'all," she paused looking up at her sister, "I wanna go downstairs to the machine shop and work on Crescent Rose. She's chipped everywhere including her blade, and I need to take her completely apart to make sure she's not hurt. Then I'll need to repaint her..."

Ruby lightly brushed her hand across the claw marks that covered the six foot sniper-scythe that she so often treated as a small child, but despite the tender touch and fondness in her voice, they could hear the weariness as her slight accent returned. From the faint shadows under her eyes they could also tell she hadn't slept in days. While sleepless nights weren't uncommon for her, they were never seen affecting the young girl who sometimes spent multiple nights a week quietly working on Crescent Rose in the bathroom so she didn't wake her slumbering roommates with her insomnia.

"It's just down the hall from the training rooms and our prep room. I wouldn't be far and since it's in the underground I wouldn't even technically be leaving the dorm." She looked up at her friends with pleading eyes, but no more so than her sister whose face was as stone.

'Please...'

Weiss and Blake shared nervous glances but respectfully turned to Yang who after a long silence finally nodded and rolled up her sleeves.

"While you're at it, would you mind tinkering with Ember Celica for me, sis?" she asked, removing the golden bracelets. "Pyrrha straightened the barrels but they still need a lot of work and could use a fresh coat of paint."

Silver eyes brightened seemingly for the first time in days as Yang passed her beloved weapons over to Ruby who slipped them on effortlessly. With the slightest motion the gauntlets activated and nearly fell off her much less muscular arms causing them both to chuckle.

"She'll be as good as new," Ruby promised, raising her fists as warm and comforting aura spread throughout her body.

The elevator doors opened beckoning her but before she could take off Yang pulled her into an embrace.

"Rubes," she whispered in her ear, "don't be ashamed if you need to call me. I'll come get you, and everyone already knows how you fall asleep at your station."

'No one will know the difference, sis...' Her aura continued.

Ruby nodded as she didn't trust herself to speak, and after cleaning something out of her eye she waved goodbye as the doors began to close.

"You'll be alright," Yang promised. "Just don't do anything stupid, because that's my job."

Their leader disappeared but not before they heard the soft laughter and giggles that always made the blonde's heart flutter, and now did the same to her friends.

"You'll be alright..." she repeated.

After seemingly an eternity of staring at their disfigured selves in the reflective brass, an impatient foot began tapping the tile floor.

"So..." Weiss drawled. "We're just letting Ruby wander off to the most likely place to lose a limb when she can't even get in and out of her own bunk without someone's help?"

Blake glanced at her partner unsure herself if this had been a wise decision. Yang's hand hovered over the button her sister had pressed as she read the three worried faces reflected back at her, but finally she pushed the opposite arrow with a loose fist that tightened upon seeing lilac.

"Ruby's going to the one place where she always feels at home and where she'll feel the most useful right now," she murmured as if to herself.

Weiss shifted her weight uncomfortably. "But is it really a good idea to leave her alone right now?"

"She's not alone," Yang corrected as she grabbed them by the shoulders. "Ruby has Crescent Rose and Ember Celica, and to her they're family, just like-."

*bing*

With a sigh and her arms still around the pair, Yang stepped aboard and immediately engulfed the elevator in sunlight. Both girls grimaced before shielding their eyes and suddenly received flashbacks from the time their leader had held them hostage until she was guaranteed rightful dibs on all button pressings along with a list of other senseless demands, all the while they were late for their first day of school.

When the doors mercifully opened they were given no other choice but to follow her back to the room as the alternative was being dragged indignantly.

"And just like that Ruby will gone for the rest of the day..." Yang stated mischievously with an extra bounce to her step.

Blake raised a brow at Weiss who would've done the same if she wasn't struggling to keep up with their much longer legs.

Finally they arrived at the familiar stain at front of their door, but before it could fly open Blake hastily hid behind her teammates so the rabid corgi would devour them instead.

"So what's your plan?" Weiss asked as Yang tackled Zwei onto her unkempt bunk. "My binders don't exactly have 'Best Day Ever Activities' written on the cover in crayon."

"Actually..." Yang sat up with a suggestive grin covering her face, as well as dog drool which caused Blake to shudder. "One of us has a date tonight on the bad side of town."

Both girls' mouths fell open and they blinked several times to make sure they'd heard right while the girl went right back to rubbing a certain corgi's neglected tummy.

"A friend told me about him over drinks the other day, and if he's telling the truth then Ruby-"

"What if she calls you for help!?" Weiss shouted. "You just hugged your sister and told her that you'd be here for her! Are we supposed to cover for you again and tell her 'Sorry, but your so-called 'loving' sister went out for school stuff again' even though we all know that's a lie!?"

Yang shook her head. "Ruby asking me or anyone else for help right now is about as likely as her passing out from low blood sugar. And she's spent entire days working in the machine shop on our weapons when they weren't half as damaged so she probably won't be done until around midnight, if not later. By then she'll hopefully be comatose at her station so she doesn't crawl back on her hands and knees."

She chuckled, and stretched out on her bed while flying Zwei like a bullhead. "Someone's gonna sleep good tonight but it's not gonna be me!"

Weiss stomped her foot and glared at the larger girl who seemed to find humor in the situation.

"I wish I could say I can't believe you but I can!" she cried, finding her unapologetic smile sickening. "Have fun tonight and try not to wake us when you stumble back in the morning smelling like a brewery and God knows what else in front of your sister!" Yang's jaw set and she seemed about to speak but she wasn't finished. "She can barely walk right now! How can you say Ruby's the most important thing in your life when you're using her for free labor while you and some stranger-"

She was cut off by Yang suddenly rolling off her bunk, and Blake quickly moved between the two while Zwei covered his eyes. She could see a flicker of hurt on her partner's otherwise stone-like face, as well as a sliver of fear on Weiss', but to the smaller girl's credit she didn't blink as icy blue eyes bore into the lilac orbs of the blonde who doted over her little sister like a mother hen with the temperament of a grizzly.

Slowly, Yang reached underneath her mattress and both girls' aura shields instinctively activated as even in her current condition neither doubted that Yang Xiao Long could fight through an entire army if she or her fiery semblance were pushed too far, and they knew from experience just how effortless it'd be for her to break the heiress' jaw if not her entire skull even while holding back.

"Yang," her partner soothed. "Let's calm down and-"

Without warning, crimson streaked across the room and even with her superior reflexes, Blake barely ducked in time meaning Weiss wasn't as fortunate.

"EEEEEPPPP!"

After a moment of watching her flail about in panic, the wide girl in black turned. "But you said it wasn't ready?"

"I lied," Yang laughed, thoroughly enjoying the carnage as the trashcan nearly flew out the window by a well placed kick.

When Weiss finally realized she wasn't having her skull caved in she stopped thrashing and noticed she was wrapped in something oddly familiar and warm.

"Ruby's cape!?" she exclaimed as her head poked out. "But you said it was still being fixed!"

"I've had a lot of practice over the years," Yang admitted as she retrieved two cross shaped silver pendants from her pocket.

The sunlight seemed to fade the longer she stared at her open hand, but finally she glanced at her friends who winced as she blinked back moistness from her darkened eyes.

"Before my tenth birthday I was baking Ruby's cookies, making her peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, getting her ready for school, putting band-aids on her skinned knees, ordering her to brush her teeth, telling her that I love her before kissing her goodnight, and crawling into bed with her every night because of her nightmares from when she watched the woman she loved more than anything die to protect her. And I'll never be half the mom that she was."

Blake and Weiss looked away ashamed and feeling unworthy to even look at the slightly older girl who at times filled the void of someone they never truly had that was greater than just a friend or teammate.

"Dad was there but most of the time he really wasn't, and our uncle wasn't much better those first few months when things were miserable." Her fist tightened as well as her voice. "And I don't care if anyone thinks I'm a lousy big sister, a terrible role model, or even a poor excuse for a mom! I have given it everything I have even when I didn't have anything left to give, and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat for her!"

Yang swallowed as if the words were stuck on the back of her throat. "I wasn't there for the worst day of Ruby's life when she needed me the most, but I was there the day after and the day after that when no one else was, and I will protect that little girl until it kills me."

She stooped down and Weiss held her breath as the cape was straightened and fastened to her collar by the expert.

"I'm sorry..." she choked, unable to look her friend in the eye.

"Me too..." Blake murmured with her eyes still on the floor.

A cold knife had been twisted in the girls' chests but they knew it was nothing compared to the ice they'd stabbed into her's.

"I'm sorry," Weiss repeated. "I really am and I didn't mean it, but why-"

Yang pulled the hood down over her contrite face leaving her almost completely blind.

Shaking slightly, Weiss raised her head and saw lilac beaming back at her as she made minor adjustments to the cape and pendants.

"Because I'm not the one with a date," she grinned as all eyes were drawn to the comforting rays of sunshine filling the room.

"You are, sis..."

(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Once again I must apologize for the infrequency of updates as of late which have been due to internet issues and some other things going on, and thank you all for being so incredibly patient with me. A lot of love goes into writing this story and it's always been my wish for this narrative to feel as close to an official RWBY novel as possible, and it makes me so happy being able to share this story with you. Thank you for all of the support on the rough days where I look at the computer and the last thing I want to do is start editing, because when I see someone's kind words I feel the Lord's blessings on me and I find myself smiling even several hours into an editing session. Thank you.

As for this chapter, I had a blast as I really enjoy showing off the sisterly relationship of team RWBY, and this one especially because of Yang and Weiss' personalities clashing over Ruby. Anytime I can temporarily remove the "party girl" image of Yang or the "coldness" from Weiss I have a lot of fun seeing who they are underneath and wondering for myself just how much is an act. Also, it looks like Yang heard about someone over drinks a few of days ago and it's related to Ruby, sounds interesting as I doubt it's a simple date. Also just as a side note, I generally think of Yang as being about 5'9 or 5'10 in this story with Blake about an inch shorter than her but a lot skinnier. This doesn't really add anything but it's something I wanted to point out as it's similar to Weiss' scar being more pronounced, characters' accents, or how I've written Blake wearing mostly black in the past. With any story though the interpretations are up to you and your incredible imagination, and I honestly really enjoy hearing your interpretations on these characters and their personalities.

Once again thank you for all of the support, followers, favorites, reviews, shout outs, PMs, and humble readers. All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who has blessed me with you and made this story possible. God bless)