Hey Everyone a few things before you get started, I know I said I was going to do White Rose week and I was, I had everything planned out and I even had all days done but I had them done about a week or so early and when I looked back on them I wasn't happy so I erased them and started over, I was only able to get day one finished so if you want to see it let me know. Elegance of a Black Rose is coming I'll explain why I didn't post when I said I was when I post the new chapter soon.

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"And stay lost!" Diane roars as four young men scramble away from the angry squirrel Faunus. Shaking her head as she chuckles, she looks down at Amy. "You ok?"

"Yeah. Nothing I'm not used to." She admits quietly as she stands up and brushes herself off. "Thanks."

"Hey, no big deal Amy. I'm a bitch, but not a heartless one." Diane replies as she smiles. "Especially when I see somebody picking on another faunus."

Amy raises an eyebrow. "No offense, but I thought you guys hated us? Yang isn't exactly nice to any of you."

Aqua shakes her head as she joins them, the last bit of a roll in her hand. "Why? We don't hate you or Shion. And Yang isn't worth the time to even consider her." She adds. "Her beef's with Ruby, not us anyway."

Diane nods as she pulls an apple out of her coat. "So chill out. Hell, stick with us. I dare another one of those racist assholes to lay a hand on you."

"If Squirrelly doesn't kick the shit outta them, I will." Ruby declares as she walks up with Weiss and Blake, the former on her arm. "And before you say a word, I don't hold Yang being your friend against you. Everyone has that one embarrassing friend."

"Oh really Wolfie?" Aqua looks at her. "And who's yours?"

Ruby's eyes twinkle as her grin widens. "Squirrelly." She replies without hesitation. "But she's going to regret grabbing my breasts again."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" The brutal tank asks with a grin. One that vanishes when the tip of Ruby's knife appears and touches the tip of her nose.

"I'll stab you. And I won't lose a second's sleep over it." The Reaper informs her with a wicked grin.

Diane nods nervously as she holds up her hands. "You win." She acknowledges as she backs up several steps. "No more groping the mammaries."

"That's what I thought." Ruby replies as she sheathes the blade. "Anywho, what's next?"

Amy points to the ballroom. "We all have to gather in there for the night.

"Sleeping bagging it, huh?" Diane murmurs. "Inside?"

Weiss sighs. "I didn't know about all this. My sister said Haven Academy already accepted her team makeup from Atlas. She was waiting for her teammate Kylie to arrive."

Blake smirks. "What's wrong, Schnee? Can't handle a sleeping bag?"

Weiss smirks back. "My sisters and I are accomplished campers. We earned our top marks in basic survival class. I simply like my sleeping bag and wish I had brought it from my things."

Ruby nods. "Saaaaaaame! I wonder if they'll let us grab 'em real quick?"

Diane grins. "I got it. Where's your stuff, Weiss?"

"Look for the servant droid. His name is Cogsworth." She informs the faunus girl. "Tell him…" She pauses as she grimaces. "Tell him Princess White needs her field pack."

There is mass silence for a long moment, Ruby breaking it as she squeals in delight. "He calls you Princess White?! That's adorable!"

Weiss facepalms while muttering darkly, while Blake shakes her head. "And that's one against you."

Diane chuckles. "Sorry, Blake. She's earning mine slowly. You may be stuck hating her by yourself." She declares, her tail wiggling gently. "Want yours too, Wolfy? Bubbles?"

Aqua nods. "Yeah, I'm not sleeping in somebody else's sweat."

"I gotta agree with Bubbles on this one." Ruby adds. "Meet you in the ballroom."

"You got it boss!" She calls back as she takes off at a steady walk, her tail wiggling more in anticipation.

"I take it the three of you simply prefer the comforts of your own gear?" Weiss asks as she looks up at Ruby, who smiles.

"Something like that." She replies calmly. "More like we don't trust too many people."

Aqua nods. "Blame some hard-headed idiots from Pharos. They decided to sabotage the tents during a joint training mission. Any faunus who grabbed one of the tents they were handing out got soaked."

Amy nods as she shudders. "It took me days to feel dry again."

Blake shakes her head. "As always." She mutters darkly.

Ruby nods while ignoring the panther faunus. "We were lucky, Diane always brings a tent cause she's so damned huge already. But boy was Uncle Qrow pissed!"

Aqua grins. "Yeah, they accidentally gave him one of the rigged tents. He was furious along with that white haired woman who tagged along."

Weiss blinks as she realizes she knows exactly what they were talking about. She remembers Winter coming home, beyond furious at having been given a faulty tent that collapsed during the heavy rains the night before. She and her then boyfriend both…

"Are you talking about Qrow Branwen?" She asks while looking between the two faunus women.

"Yeah, he's my godfather, but I just call him Uncle." Ruby admits. "Used to be Drunkle, but he cleaned himself up a few years ago. How do you know him?"

Weiss begins to giggle as she takes Ruby's arm and starts guiding her towards the ballroom doors. "Because it's a smaller world than I thought." She replies. "Your Uncle is my sister's fiance. And she's the one who sobered him up."

Ruby stops and looks at her closer, a sudden look of recognition appearing on her face. "Page 52."

"Page what? What are you talking about?"

"Page 52 of the latest issue of Guns Against Grimm. You're holding the latest sniper rifle from the SDC!" She declares in her excitement, her tail wagging a mile a minute.

"Don't buy it. It's a hunk of junk." Weiss replies almost instantly before groaning. "I thought I told them not to run that ad!"

Blake raises an eyebrow. "Why? Afraid you would get in trouble with your slaver father?"

Weiss looks at her coldly, her arms folding across her chest. "No. I told them not to run it because that particular rifle was built using substandard parts, cannot handle it's own recoil, and WILL get someone killed. Yes, my father ordered me to take the pictures, but I did so under protest. I will not have my own name sullied by a substandard weapon that I personally stopped from reaching full mass production." Her glare turns glacial as she looks at Blake. "Contrary to popular belief, and despite the fact that until recently I have been a spoiled brat, even I have lines I will not cross."

"Ummm, Weiss?" Ruby begins as she taps her forefingers together. "The weapon's available now actually. My dad and soon to be stepmom offered to buy me one, but I said no way. I was honestly staring more at you than the article."

"What?!" She shrieks angrily as she pats her pockets for her scroll. "Dammit, Diane must still have it!"

"Let me guess, you 'didn't know'?" Blake asks as she makes air quotes, a self satisfied smirk on her face. A smirk that vanishes a moment later as the heiress looks at her in pure fury.

"I need to make a phone call." She declares through gritted teeth. "Please bring my things with you." She asks before storming off.

"Hey Blake?" Aqua calls out calmly as she looks out from behind Ruby.

"Yes?" She replies as she stands still in shock.

"Can you do us all a favor AND NOT PISS HER OFF ANYMORE?!" The meerkat woman screams at her.

Ruby nods as she looks around sniffing. "Come on, I think Amy climbed a tree to hide in." She then looks at Blake. "And lay off of Weiss. She was genuinely pissed that she was disobeyed. And she seemed really upset about that rifle too."

"Didn't you already test fire one?" Aqua asks as she begins to sniff the air as well, trying to catch Amy's scent.

"Yeah, it's why I was in Vale the night I stopped the robbery. Daddy took me to check it out."

Blake starts looking up in the trees. "What stopped you from buying it?"

Ruby grins as she spots a familiar tail. "Stupid thing literally broke apart in my hands after one shot. Even the gun shop owner was pissed." She replies. "She's gone Amy, you can come down now."

"I'm fine. I like it up here." She calls back.

Blake joins Ruby, staring at just how far up the wolf faunus girl made it up the tree. "How on Remnant did she do that?"

Aqua giggles as she joins them. "She's part cat faunus. And she can climb better than even Squirrelly or another cat faunus we know."

Ruby nods. "Amy? Don't make us send Diane up to get you."

"She can't reach me. She's too big."

"Uh huh." Ruby stops and looks around before taking a black object out from under her cloak.

"Ruby, this is a bad idea." Aqua informs her as she and Blake watch the second scythe extend in Ruby's hand.

"Nah, I got this." Ruby replies as she pulls back on a lever, bringing the scythe back to lock into a war scythe configuration. "Retribution can cut through this, no problem."

"You're still that heavily armed?!" Blake adds in surprise as she takes a step back in alarm.

"Look at who her dad is! He walks around his own home with a pistol on him!" Aqua yells as Ruby raises the weapon to strike. "Fuck, run!"

"Who's her dad again?!" Blake yells at the fleeing meerkat as she turns and follows her.

"The Mountain of Vale!" Aqua yells over her shoulder. "Ruby's the Mountain's Rose!"

"Oh shit!" Blake exclaims as she begins to push herself even faster.

"Last chance!" The Reaper calls out as she raises the scythe, the darksteel blade seeming to absorb light as well as the aura Ruby begins to channel into it.

"No! I don't wanna! She's scary!" Amy yells back. "Wait, why do you have a second scythe?!"

"Ruby! For the love of the Goddesses Three don't do a stupid!" Aqua yells as she slides to a stop by the doors to the auditorium.

"This isn't a stupid!" Ruby yells back as she draws the scythe as far back as she possibly can.

"This is a stupid! I don't want to die cause you did a stupid!" Amy shrieks.

Stopping beside Aqua, Blake herself can only stare as Ruby swings the scythe only once, cutting so cleanly through the tree it actually slides a bit before coming down with a crashing sound.

But everyone hears Amy's scream of terror, Ruby's extremely loud "OH FUCK!" and the sound of the tree crashing down almost on top of her and the ballroom both...

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"Of all the stupid, hard-headed, short sighted things you could have done, you had to cut down a whole tree?! And with Summer's Retribution?!" Salem stops her pacing to yell at a wincing Ruby, who is covered in leaves, tree sap, and claw marks from Amy landing directly on top of her.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time?" She offers weakly as she pokes her fingers together. "And it's my scythe now." She adds weakly, wincing as Salem turns back to glare at her.

"It's not the point and you know it!" Salem glare could melt metal from its intensity. "I will be hanging onto Retribution until after initiation. Ah!" She stops Ruby with a single finger. "What did we discuss last night before I left?"

"When you're on the job clock, you're definitely the boss." Ruby replies in a defeated tone.

"And I am most certainly on the clock." She declares as she hefts the weapon with a grunt. "How did Summer ever carry this?!"

"Can I-"

"Hush Ruby. Between you acting like a female Paul Bunyan, and Diane breaking into the storage room to get all your field packs, the two of you are already on thin ice with me." She informs the wolf faunus, who sinks even lower in embarrassment. "I expect you to behave like you have the manners I have been struggling to beat into your thick head the last few years. Otherwise, despite my pride in you, I will send you, Diane and Aqua right back to Signal. Am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am, Professor Salem." She mumbles as her tail tucks firmly between her legs.

"Good. Now go back to your friends. Relax, make a few more new ones. You're certainly more than capable of it." Salem sighs as she finally gets the heavy weapon onto her own magnetic holder on her back. "And trust in me, no one else but me, to keep you safe tonight, ok?"

Ruby nods as she looks at the older woman and smiles sadly. "Sorry. I didn't think that through, did I?" The Reaper asks quietly, her tail still tucked firmly between her legs as her ears fold back.

Salem chuckles as she shakes her head. "Just like your mother. She did the same thing during our initiation eve. But she actually hit the building."

"She did?" Ruby asks as her smile brightens, her tail slowly emerging and wagging gently.

"She did. You may be Alex's daughter, but there is plenty of Summer in you as well." Salem reminds her. "And I've enjoyed helping you become the young woman you've grown up to be. But right now, you need to be more like me and Saffron then Summer and Alex, ok?"

Ruby nods as her tail keeps wagging gently. "Yes ma'am, I'll be on my best behavior the rest of the night."

"Good. Now shoo fly. And no more shenanigans."

Ruby nods as she suddenly pulls the older woman into a hug, one she returns. "Thanks Mum to be." She whispers.

"You have no idea how proud I am of you, Ruby. You really don't." The professor replies. "And stop trying to steal Retribution."

"Fiiiiiiiine." Ruby replies with a giggle. "Worth a try."

"Oh it was." Salem agrees as she looks at her stepdaughter to be. "Now go. I believe there's a cute girl with a bow in her hair looking at us strangely."

"That's a panther faunus." Ruby informs her quietly. "Her belt's her tail, but shhh."

"My lips are sealed." She nods as she releases Ruby. "Go, be with your friends. Ozpin bent a lot of rules so you could be comfortable here."

"Uh huh, sure he did." Ruby teases as she starts walking towards the waiting faunus girl. "Bet it had nothing to do with the fact that if I'm not there, Headmaster Elvorite would kick them out in a week." Ruby reminds the older woman of the numerous times that her and her team got on the Headmaster of Signal's bad side.

"Oh they're banned, Ruby. All three of you!" Salem calls back as she walks off in a different direction.

Ruby chuckles as she joins Blake, who is looking at Salem oddly. "Who is she?"

"Professor Salem soon to be Garibaldi and my already favorite stepmom." The Reaper replies as they walk back to the others. "Why?"

Before Blake can answer, of all people Pyrrha Nikos herself walks up to her smiling. "Excuse me, but did I understand correctly that your father is the Mountain of Vale?" She asks excitedly.

Ruby nods as Aqua glares jealously at her. "Yeah? So?"

Pyrrha grins. "Your father is my inspiration! I even chose to attend Beacon because he too once studied here!"

"Same here!" A ginger haired girl declares excitedly. "I told Rennie I won't come to any other school!"

"He's a living legend, even in Menagerie." Blake admits quietly. "My dad hates his guts though."

"Pfft! You guys think my dad's a legend?" Ruby laughs as she looks at them all one by one. "My dad, who's a beer swilling, sports fanatical, history obsessed, genuinely nice guy is some kind of legend?"

Pyrrha nods without hesitation. "Your father is a living legend. My father still remembers him fondly from the various missions they took together. I grew up listening to stories of those hunts."

"Yeah!" The short ginger haired girl declares in her excitement. "Everyone wants to be the Mountain of Vale! He can even wrestle ursas barehanded!"

"Nora, are you certain that he can indeed do so?" A tall, raven haired young man informs her. "And who are you even speaking of?"

"But it's the Mountain!" The girl named Nora protests. "And how haven't you heard of him Renny?!"

"Guys, he doesn't wrestle ursas." Ruby groans as she holds up her hands. "Or Beowolves, or sabers, and he never once indian wrestled a Goliath."

"He indian wrestled a Goliath?!" Nora declares excitedly.

"She just said it didn't happen Nora." Ren groans.

Pyrrha blinks in confusion at Ruby's declaration. "Wait, your dad doesn't hunt barehanded while only wearing nothing but war paint? My father said he did that once to prove his manliness!"

"He better not be doing that!" Salem roars from a different part of the ballroom. "I'll flay him myself!"

"He isn't, Salem!" Ruby calls out reassuringly. "He's too busy trying to suck your face off when I'm not looking!"

"Shut up!"

Aqua snorts. "Ruby does have everything right. Her dad may be awesome, but he's not perfect."

"But he can make some amazing ribs!" Diane declares as she begins to visibly drool. "His grilling is definitely legendary."

"Count on Squirrelly to be thinking with her stomach." Ruby smirks.

"Oi! Low blow Wolfy!"

Pyrrha nods as she mulls over the information. "Thank you for satisfying my curiosity." She smiles at them all. "Let me rejoin my friends. If I don't help Ren keep Nora calm, she's going to pester you all night."

Ruby giggles. "So even the Invincible Girl has regular old friends, huh?"

Pyrrha nods as she looks at Ren and Nora fondly, the former currently holding the latter as they lay together in a sleeping bag made for two. "They were accepted at the last minute, and I'm grateful for that and for them." She waves a hand at the small group gathered around the Reaper. "I see you're also blessed with good friends you too can rely on."

The wolf faunus nods as her tail wags. "Sure am! And hey, look out for us tomorrow! There's always strength in numbers, right?"

"Yes there is. Perhaps the Goddesses will guide our paths." Pyrrha replies before bowing and walking back to her friends.

"You suck!" Aqua blows a raspberry as Ruby shakes her head. "But seriously, how do you not know her if your dad and her's have a history?"

"Dad never took me to Mistral." Ruby informs the meerkat girl as she turns back to face them, Weiss having an odd look on her face as she busies herself with her things. "I was still pretty young, and Mum and Auntie Saffron both have good jobs here."

"Makes sense." Blake admits as she settles down by a nearby wall with only a blanket. "But why do you keep mentioning that he's only interested in 'sucking face' as you put it?"

Ruby sighs as she takes her hat off her head and rolls it around in her hands. "My Daddy's getting older and he's not taking as many hunts." She pauses as she chews on her lower lip. "Come to think of it, the only hunts he takes lately are with me and Mum. And I've been doing all the work as part of my training." She admits.

Amy's head pops out of her sleeping bag, the tiny wolf faunus still glaring at Ruby despite her curiosity. "So he really isn't as active as he used to be?" She asks quietly.

"Hell no! Our last hunt, he made me do all the actual hunting while he stayed at camp and sucked face with Salem!" Ruby declares in amusement before kneeling down. "Sorry about what I did. You aren't hurt are you?"

"Believe it or not, I'm used to it. Shion and Yang never climb up to get me either. At least you just cut down the tree." She replies with a shy smile. "Have you seen them?"

"Sorry, haven't seen them." She admits quietly. "But I did just get done getting yelled at by my dad's favorite face sucking victim!" She adds the last loud enough for Salem to hear.

"Hey!" Salem screams out as she blushes. "Stop saying that!"

"Come and make me!" Ruby taunts her, before squealing and ducking from a well thrown pillow. "Ok, ok! I'll stop! Jeez future mum!"

Blake looks thoughtful as she looks from Ruby to Salem, then back to Ruby. "You're fine with having a human stepmother?" She asks quietly.

Ruby nods. "We're all the same in the end, Blake. We're all born the same, we breath the same air, eat the same food, and in the end, go back into the same ground. The only real difference between us and humans is we have extra abilities they don't have. But it doesn't make us better than them." She lectures the cat faunus. "If anything it makes our jobs to protect the world from the Grimm easier, and that's the only enemy that really matters to me."

Diane grins as she puts her hand on Ruby's head and starts to roughly tussle it. "That's right! Wolfy is all about treating others as equals even if they're human. And she especially likes kids. She started helping out at a local kindergarten class that only had human kids while we were at Signal. The best part was she couldn't deal with kids for shit for a while after!" Diane began to laugh as Aqua snickered at the memories.

"AHHHH! Squirrelly stop!" Ruby pushes herself away from Diane blushing. "And I can deal with kids just fine thanks!"

"Yea now, but when you first started you couldn't handle them as much as Squirrelly can't wait in line." Aqua deadpans as she tosses the wolf faunus her field pack, which she catches easily.

Weiss looks oddly at the Reaper, her white and blue sleeping bag already unrolled and ready to use. "So I take it then that none of you support the White Fang?"

Ruby, Diane, Aqua and even Amy all shake their heads, some more vigorously than others.

"They only see things in black and white." Ruby replies first as she moves to an empty space between Amy and Weiss, setting her pack down gently next to the heiress's. "They don't realize that all the so called fighting for equality they're doing is only making things worse on all of us, faunus and human both." She elaborates while setting up her own red and black sleeping bag.

Diane nods. "They keep trying to recruit me and my dad, cause I'll be honest we both hate humans." She admits as she sits cross-legged on her own bronze and brown sleeping bag, a small dust powered clock radio next to her pillow. "But not to where we want to kill every last one we see. That doesn't solve anything either, and makes us look bad."

"I don't really care one way or another." Aqua admits. "People have always gone out of their way to kill people since the beginning of time. Humans and Faunus killing each other is just the latest excuse. That and religion." She adds as she settles down on her own green and blue gear. "And there hasn't been a holy war in a couple of centuries now though."

Amy just mutters something about she's bullied by everyone, earning a look from all the gathered women that makes her squeak and vanish back under her golden yellow cover. "But Yang and Shion look out for me so it's not as bad as it used to be."

This makes Ruby smile slightly, she may not get along with the blonde hot head but one thing she can admit that she likes about her is that she does care for others.

Weiss turns to look at Blake. "What are your feelings on this?" She asks politely as she begins to brush her hair.

"I don't really have much to say. Both sides have reasons to hate each other, but it did start with humans treating us faunus like nothing but animals." The panther faunus replies as she opens a book. "That being said, I don't believe what the White Fang is currently doing is right."

Weiss nods as she looks thoughtful. "I have no qualms with the White Fang. To be honest, I can understand how they feel justified in their actions." She begins as she stares at the floor, her brush moving to her lap. "It took Willow showing me the real reports from the mines to make me open my own eyes. To see that my father is indeed enslaving living, breathing, free thinking people. And yes, I said people. Because I do agree with Ruby. There are only physical differences between us. In the end, we really are all the same. We live, we love, and we die."

"Weiss, you're really making it hard for me to hate you." The panther faunus admits grudgingly.

"I don't want to be hated, Blake. Especially not for something I knew nothing about until recently, and that I as well as Willow are fighting our father to change." She replies sadly. "I'm quickly realizing that I have been wrong about so many things all my life, and I can only hope to change those things, thus better myself as a person."

"I can respect that." Blake admits quietly as she looks away from the white haired girl.

"Me too, Schnee. Especially since I've been gossiping with your sister for the past hour." Diane informs her with a grin.

"What?!"

"Oh yeah! She said you're in deep shit for the dust explosion! Said to be ready for her next visit!" The squirrel faunus adds as she hands the heiress her scroll.

"Ladies, it has been a distinct pleasure to have met you all." Weiss sighs as she takes the object back and slides it under her pillow. "Unfortunately, I am now living on borrowed time."

"Speaking of borrowed time, it's light's out ladies." Salem declares as she appears around them. "Including you, Miss Belladonna."

"Yes ma'am." Blake replies as she blows out a nearby candelabra, while the others settle down into their own sleeping bags. One by one, they begin to drift off save for Ruby, who's taken it upon herself to guard their sleep throughout the night, despite Salem's reassurances. Not out of lack of trust, but because two in particular may have more enemies at Beacon then they think. Enemies Ruby's already decided to protect them from.

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"Shion have you found her yet?" Yang asked with concern evident in her voice.

"No I haven't and I'm getting worried, we shouldn't be up either." Despite what she said Shion was also rather worried for the small wolf Faunus.

"I know but Amy is more important than a stupid curfew." As Yang said this she could vaguely make the outline of someone coming towards them.

"What are the two of you doing up?" Professor Peach asks, making both girls jump.

"Sorry Professor, we were looking for our friend, we lost track of her and we heard that some people were being less than pleasant to her, so we're really worried about her." Shion tells her.

"What does she look like?" She asks.

"She's a wolf Faunus with white hair and red eyes." Yang describes her.

"Oh her, she's over that way with some others, both faunus and humans." Peach informs them. "She seemed fine so you both need to head to your sleeping bags and get some rest. Tomorrow will not be a walk in the park."

"Alright we'll head back but can you tell us who she was with please?" Yang asks, desperately wanting to know who Amy was with.

"There were a few of them though there were three who stood out: Pyrrha Nikos, Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose. Those three couldn't keep a low profile if they tried." Peach declares as she walks off shaking her head.

Yang sighed with relief as her and Shion went back to their spots.

"You're unusually calm right now.' Shion pointed out. "Normally with anything Ruby related you're fuming and irritated."

"Yea but despite that I also know Ruby won't harm or do anything wrong to Amy. So long as she's alright then I don't care if it is Ruby that she's with."

"Well how very mature of you Yang." Shion smirked. "You're growing right before my eyes."

"Oh can it. We should do as Professor Peach says and get some rest, night." Yang says as she and Shion lie down and cover up, the two of them soon in a snoring competition.