AYangThang: …This has become a thing…and it will become a much larger thing if I have anything to say about it…and I'm not the only one, either. So, onward fandom, and write plenty more of the joyous pairing that is Elder-Cat-Burn...and yes, for those of you who don't know that is Winter/Kali/Yang in a triad…you can thank my screwed up little head later…and you can thank Dongyrn for the pairing name…

This is why we shouldn't be left alone on VOIP for any length of time…

Between You, Me, and the Scratching Posts
Chapter 1

Menagerie was an island nestled among deadly seas and Grimm infested forests. The citizens were nighty-five percent Faunus. Human outsiders were treated with distain. Among the other great powers, this island was frowned upon as one of the weakest, and though Menagerie was home to many great warriors, the Grimm were great too…both in numbers and in strength.

The chieftain of Menagerie was a large man who spent more time in his life hunched over his desk than anything else. He was a goal driven soul, and his wife had learned to accept that he would never be around nearly as much as she wanted him to be there. There were several reasons for that, many of them going on unaddressed to the public. She was well aware of his homosexual disposition, something that many Faunus were not yet able to accept, and though they worked hard to conceive a child and raise an heir, the two of them hadn't slept together since.

Instead, they shared a happy co-existence and even refused to end their marriage. It had been well over a decade and a half since the two of them had shared more than a kiss or passing caress, but that was a truth the couple kept to themselves. Even though the passionate flame was arguably never there in the first place for Ghira Belladonna, Kali never doubted the fact that he loved her, or that she would simply never be enough to fulfill his needs.

Kali always woke up in her own room, on the far side of their too large home. Sometimes, she had a bedfellow, and others, she did not...no matter what though, she was content with her lot in life.

She yawned, finding the queen sized bed empty. She smiled to herself when she reached out her palm. There was a faint warmth from beneath the sheets where her bedmate had once resided. She was not surprised that the woman who had fallen asleep there the night before was such an early riser. Her ears picked up distant bickering from elsewhere in the house, and with a smooth laugh she made her way to the kitchen.

Both house guests were already in the middle of their dispute about destruction of property, and some measure of drunken recklessness.

"My, my, you two are making quite the rucks this morning." Kali chided with an easy going smile. She passed by the man holding an ice pack to his head and eyed him with concern. "Qrow, if I've told you once, I've told you a million times not to pick fights in the bars around here..."

"She hit me." He grumbled, his thumb jutting out towards Winter.

"I would discipline my officers for less." Winter shot back from across the table. "Honestly, Qrow, if you could just keep a polite tongue in your mouth for one second, I wouldn't have the urge to maim you."

"See what I put up with?" Qrow asked, gesturing to Winter. "She's always busting my balls."

"Likely to her greatest dismay." Kali replied, examining the huge bruise located over the brow of Qrow's right eye. The swelling had gone down, and his aura had already entirely healed away the gashes that had likely resulted from a sword fight. "I'm not even going to ask. I suppose I should just be thankful the two of you didn't destroy my kitchen."

"I don't even know why he's here in the first place." Winter grumbled. "We agreed to keep our visits to the island as separate as possible."

"Screw off, I'm here on work." Qrow gulped down whatever hangover cure was in that mug of his before refilling it was more of the red slurry from the blender. "Dunno what your excuse is."

"I'm here to see my family during the summer break. As I understand it, Blake and Ruby chose to spend their holiday here, and you know Yang won't be far behind. Yang has no reason to go back Patch given the circumstances, and Weiss…" Winter sighed to herself. "Well, let's not make this breakfast any more unpleasant with that topic…"

"You're going to tell them, aren't you?" Qrow pressed.

"For the last time, no." Winter groused.

"Is this why the two of you are bickering?" Kali asked as she came to sit down with and empty teacup, pouring herself something to drink from the kettle. "I thought we agreed, we'd settle everything properly once the girls have graduated from Haven."

"That was the plan." Winter said stiffly. "Qrow has other plans."

The lone male in the room rolled his eyes. "Look, I don't have much room to go around telling Yang what to do. She's a grown ass woman, and can handle herself just fine. Only problem is, since the two of you are screwin' her, I think it might be best to clear the air…dump it all out in the open...rip off the Band-Aid, so-to-speak."

Kali thought on this. "Doing that would force you and Ghira to do the same. Are you prepared for that? Better yet, is he?"

Qrow scoffed as he downed another glass that reeked of vodka, tomato juice, and who knew what else. "I'm man enough to take that."

"Yang's terrified of how everyone will react." Kali said, flicking her ears back. "There are some things that require delicacy, and some people involved who do not adjust well to sudden changes. This was not a topic to be discussed over a phone call."

"Aren't going to need a phone call soon." He pointed out. "They'll be here, just sit them down and tell them."

"Our relationship is tenuous at best." Winter shot back. "Furthermore, it isn't your concern. You have your own romantic life to lead, we have ours."

"That's why Yang's choosing to spend the summer here, so that we can decide if what the three of us have between us is worth the pursuit." Kali said, allowing her hand to fall atop Winter's to settle her. "Qrow, I agree that Blake and the others have a right to know. The problem is, what do we tell them? How do we go about doing so? These are questions that need a proper answer, and we simply don't have one to offer just yet. Until we do, it's best that we don't say a word."

"Damn you all have to be complicated." He sighed.

"There you have it." Winter voiced in her no-nonsense tone. "Once Kali, Yang, and I have decided how best to define our relationship, then we will do something about it."

Winter sat on the single balcony, looking out to the dirt road far ahead in the distance. Menagerie was so different from her home in Atlas. Her apartment was far from the major city, and secluded from her family's mansion. She liked to escape from the base for a little peace and quiet. There was nothing wrong with the solitude, even as lonely as the snowy north could be. It made her immensely more grateful for the small joys she took in life, rare as they were.

Still, there were times that crushing loneliness lingered, looming above her head like a dark cloud. Darker memories would surface, doubt would creep into her heart, and that hurt. Licking her lips, she leaned back on the hammock, and that dredged up some older memories too. Fond ones.

It was Yang's favorite place to lay around, and left forgotten were a few of her trinkets that she fidgeted with. If Winter closed her eyes, even she could smell the lingering remains of oil and sports deodorant. She opened her eyes again, half expecting, half hoping she would see that infernal yellow contraption that Yang called a bike speeding down the dirt path.

Obviously, that was too much to ask for...

Winter gazed out to the clothes line, half expecting to see Kali's own set of dark riding leathers airing out from last year's storage, or neatly folded on one of the bedside dressers, waiting for the first time to be used since last year's fateful summer break when their entire dalliance began. Winter could only gaze sadly at her own attire, wondering if she would ever wear the supple leathers again. She missed riding along the coastline at break-neck speed, eyes closed as she trusted implicitly in Yang's abilities.

She couldn't recall the last time she allowed herself to have such blind trust in anyone before Yang and Kali entered into her life.

"How is it possible to miss a single person so much?" Winter asked to the open air, not expecting a response.

Footfalls padded across the bedroom until Kali peered out from beyond the sliding door. "Uncanny, isn't it? She's gone for just long enough that her scent begins to fade, and then the next thing I know, it's time for another break, and the girls come back home…in a small way, I'd call it torture."

"I suppose it is, in its own way." Winter nodded, spinning one of the little gadgets that had absolutely no reason to be sitting around. It was strange, watching it spin and spin without end. Stopping the metal toy, she set it aside and closed her eyes. "Yang was here during the spring break as well, correct?"

"Yes, but that only lasts for two weeks, It's hardly enough time, considering the time it takes for them to travel." Kali said as she came outside fully, curling up beside Winter in the overly large hammock. They began to rock gently. "I didn't say this to Qrow, but last time Yang was here, she confided that she was considering dropping out of school. When I asked why she would even think about doing that, she said that it wasn't the same, and left it at that."

"I see."

"On top of that, her arm still bothers her. I caught her biting down on the inside of her cheek whenever it rained. I could tell she was in agony…she denied it, of course."

"That's to be expected." Winter assessed. "The stub of her arm will be prone to aching."

"She still has nightmares too."

Winter cracked one eye open, and then slowly followed with the other, giving the Faunus woman a sideways glance that was half adoration, and half vexation. "I know."

"Well, there has to be something we can do." Kali said, as she scanned the treetops as the birds flew by, catching her attention.

"Yang's fine." Winter remarked. "You're the one who worries over nothing."

Kali nodded half-heartedly as she leaned into Winter, curling into the slender but powerful woman's embrace. She didn't fully believe that, because she never fully believed that Winter and Yang were entirely unscathed given their predisposition for danger. "So, I'm a worrier then. Someone has to worry about the two of you, goodness knows you don't worry enough about yourselves."

"Then we will simply have to try harder not to give you a reason to worry." Winter said simply.

"Now that's impossible." Kali said, flicking the sword Winter kept at her side.

The voyage to Menagerie was a long one filled with peril. Even the safest routes had Grimm that passed by on occasion, and although the ships could take down hordes of smaller Grimm, the large ones proved difficult to deal with. The waters were unusually calm though, and the members of team RWBY enjoyed the warm sun and salty sea breeze since there was nothing better to do. Even Weiss found an excuse to slather herself with sunblock and put on a hat, basking in the warmth.

She didn't waste any time finding a chair to recline in and watch the landscape.

Blake tried to be calm, but going home always skyrocketed her anxiety tenfold. It was just awkward being around such a warm and loving family when she felt as though she would never be worthy of such acceptance. It was going to be even worse this time around, and Blake fought the urge to fling herself off of the boat and unto the blue depths below.

She was good at running. Her semblance allowed her to run. To hide…to forsake everything she thought she felt, and slip away into nothingness. If it saved her even one moment of awkward tension, then it would be worth it. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option, not this time. She swallowed hard as she felt Ruby grip her hand shyly, the younger woman as innocent in her affection as could possibly be.

Then again, it was that selfsame tender spirit that worried Blake so much. "Ruby, are you sure about this? We don't have to tell them."

"I don't see why not, Blake." Ruby shrugged. "I mean, you do want to tell them, right?"

"Yes…" Blake said before looking around for some sort of distraction, and finding none. "It's just that Faunus aren't as accepting about some practices as humans are…and let's face it, not even all humans would be accepting of us."

Ruby didn't seem to care one way or the other, but she cocked her head to the side, her question simple and soft. "Do you want to hide it?"

"No!" Blake said far too loudly for her own liking before her ears flattened back and she crouched further into her chair in the corner of the boat. She had chosen this one particularly. It was well away from prying eyes. "No…no, it's not like that, I just…" She bit her lip. "My father is very traditional. The idea of two women together, a Faunus and human woman…well..." She sighed again. "I just don't know how he will react."

"Your mom will be fine with it though, won't she? She can talk him into being okay with pretty much anything." Ruby noted. "Just like the time we might have accidentally knocked down a few too many trees while training."

"Ruby…why do you do that?" Blake said.

"Do what?"

"Find a bright side to everything. You see the good in everything, everywhere…" Blake rolled her eyes then. "Some things just ask for trouble."

"I guess I just feel like I've got to. Like it's the right thing to do." Ruby said with a shrug. "Why do you push yourself so hard...and push people away while doing it?"

"I have to." Blake murmured.

Ruby continued to let Blake go on thinking that she hadn't been overheard. Choosing not to fight that battle for the umpteenth time, the youngest among them shook her head with a small laugh. "Blakey, your dad is way cool. He'll be okay with us being together. I'll bet he likes me way more than Sun."

"He likes everyone more than he likes Sun…" Blake groused.

Ruby frowned, squeezing just a little harder, hoping that might help Blake more, but then Yang came to the rescue.

"Maybe so, Blake. You might be right. I really think Ruby's right on the money, though." Yang interjected. "I don't think he'll give two shits."

"Yang, you don't think anyone can be phased by anything." Weiss shot back. "I, for one, think Blake should be at least a little concerned. If her father doesn't approve, he could disown her, or worse."

"Shut-up, Weiss." Yang sighed, before giving Blake a glance. "Not gonna happen, kitten. You've got nothing to worry about."

"I'm not saying it to be cruel, believe me. I wish for the best outcome, truly I do. I'm just well aware of how terrible it can be to be proven wrong." Weiss replied as she sat up and removed her sunglasses from the bridge of her nose. "Listen, Blake, prepare yourself for the worst. In the event that it does happen, at least you won't be completely devastated. That's all I'm trying to say."

"Don't start freaking out for no good reason." Yang said again. "You want a reason to freak out, I've got a better one for you. Uncle Qrow and Winter are going to be there for the summer too."

The other three team members gave Yang a glare, thinking it was a joke, but there was no sign of humor lighting up her eyes. She wasn't joking, not the slightest bit.

Finally, Ruby found the courage to speak the question they were all thinking. "Is the house still in one piece?"

"Probably…" Yang shrugged.

Blake stood up from her chair, prying her hand gently out of Ruby's. "I need a moment." She told her, grabbing the keys to their room and excusing herself.

With her heart feeling as though it was lodged in her throat, she made it back to the room and into the terribly small bathroom where she splashed water on her face. She needed time to think, time to reflect, and time to do it in her own way. Without prying eyes, or heartfelt encouragement, no matter how well-meaning it might be.