The sound of light snoring filled the room of team RWBY. It was already late into the night and earlier that day combat training was even more difficult than usual to help prepare for the tournament.

Ozpin and the teaching staff were well aware of how gifted their students were, but that didn't mean they were going to go easy on them. Overconfidence was an sure-fire way to ensure their school's name plummeted as they would likely lose the tournament as a result.

"Blake?"

Weiss spoke the name softly, though she shouldn't have bothered. Ruby and Yang were hard enough to wake on normal nights. After the beating everyone received today, waking them up would be near impossible.

"Hmm?"

Weiss shifted onto her side to get a better view of the dark haired girl. Blake had been reading as she usually did a while before bed.

It still amazed her how Blake didn't need any light besides that which shone through the window in order to read comfortably. "How're you feeling?"

Blake's ears twitched. She hardly wore the bow in the room now that her secret was out. It was still something Weiss had to adjust to, being around a faunus constantly, but she couldn't deny that the ears suited her teammate.

"Probably no better than you. I hope our instructors realize that if we are beaten and bruised during the tournament then it's going to hinder our performance."

Weiss smiled, she and Blake had been having a lot of nights like these recently. Nights where they would just stay up and talk, while their usually louder and more hyperactive teammates would be fast asleep.

It was nice. New, but nice. They only started this ritual recently, ever since they settled things after the battle with Torchwick.

It was actually that night that they first opened up to each other.

"You know, of all the reactions I expected from you, I never considered 'I don't care' to be one of them."

Weiss, who was undoing her hair to get ready to sleep turned her attention towards the faunus girl, "Well I guess that means we're both full of surprises then." She glanced up towards Blake's exposed ears.

Blake noted Weiss staring and couldn't help when her ears turned down a bit, a natural reaction after years of torment because of them.

That bow had spared Blake a lot of pain, and even with recent events, she never regretted wearing it.

"Do they bother you?"

Weiss was aghast. "No you dunce! I already explained that what you are didn't matter to me. You're my teammate and that's all that matters."

Blake felt torn. On one hand, that was the first time Weiss dared to refer to her as a "dunce." That title seemed to be reserved for Ruby. On the other hand, Weiss did seem to be at least trying to accept that Blake was a faunus. That was something. Still…

"You're staring."

Weiss bit her lip, annoyed that she was caught. "It still takes some getting used to I suppose."

"I can keep wearing the b-"

"No!…I mean, you shouldn't have to hide them. Not from us."

She was really trying. Blake relaxed, deciding she would try too. Maybe this whole ordeal had been a good thing. It would give them a chance to start over, to really get to know one another.

"I bet. I saw how hard you hit the floor after getting struck by one of Glynda's strikes."

Today it was the actual staff who was sparring against them, though it wasn't really sparring. The training was focused on evasion. That meant while the teachers bombarded them with attacks of all kinds, they were forced to only dodge or utilize they weapons as some kind of shield.

Fighting wasn't only about offense, and many of the students were learning that the hard way.

Blake let out a breath of air as she put her book aside and got comfortable. "Please, don't remind me. How about yourself? I remember you were struck in the side pretty harshly by a couple blasts."

Oh, she saw that? Weiss, huffed, she was certain nobody had been looking. "Those were nothing, they barely grazed me."

Blake was now a little concerned. Why was Weiss trying to hide it from her? Those attacks had to have left a mark. They were being honest with each other now, right? So why…

Rather than dwell on her thoughts, Blake decided it was best to take action. She strode over to the heiress's side of the room, leaving Weiss to scoot as far away as she could without falling to the floor."What is it?"

Her voice was shaky, now Blake knew she was right. She took a seat at the side of Weiss' bed knowing reached over to touch her side lightly.

The resulting cringe was the last bit of proof she needed. "Why didn't you tell anybody? Why didn't you tell us?"

"It isn't that bad."

"Unless you plan to lift your nightgown to prove that to me, I will continue to assume it is that bad."

Weiss was taken aback. Blake was this worried? They only recently started getting closer. Could the dark haired girl really care this much already? "I assure you, it'll heal fast enough."

"You should've told us." The seriousness in Blake's eyes was so intense. Weiss found she couldn't look away. "I already promised I would come to my teammates if something big comes up, now you need to do the same."

"Blake it really isn't-"

"Okay, fine, even if it isn't, you're still hurt, right?"

Relenting, Weiss nodded.

"Then that's enough. Be open with us Weiss, and in return I'll do the same."

Weiss felt warm, comforted. A few days ago she would have never thought that Blake was telling her to be more open about her problems. How the tables had turned.

Blake deserved to be trusted though. Well, the whole team did.

The two teammates had learned a lot about each other in the past few nights. It had them reevaluating their opinions of one another.

The truth was the "ignorant little brat" was more thoughtful than anyone Blake had ever met. She just needed hold back her judgments long enough to prove it.

And Blake was far more human than most of the people Weiss dealt with in her life.

Faunus? Humans? Weiss was starting to realize how little the titles mattered.

Blake was always just trying to do what she believed was right, much like Weiss, and now the latter saw how idiotic her earlier actions had been. Insulting someone who fought for what they thought was right was like insulting herself. It wasn't fair.

The girls chatted long into the night, not caring about their lost sleep. They never slept well anyways, what with their impending doom always overhead.

Blake convinced Weiss to go see a doctor the next day. She'd come along and get her own wounds checked as well, just to be safe.

Displeased, Weiss still understood. If it would put Blake's mind at ease then she'd go.

Looking back, Blake realized that Weiss was the one to bring up the topic of injuries. Whether the heiress realized it or not, she may have already been asking for help. The thought gave Blake relief. Even so, she was determined to make her more upfront about her issues. Team RWBY was just that, a team. They would be the best team, and to do that they would need to become closer. Walls were already being broken so it was clear they were already well on their way to achieving that goal.

Author's Notes

So this story was done kind of differently. Usually I plan and outline my stories for a few days before I write, but with this I just started writing with no direction in mind.

Err, it turned out okay I think?

I'd love to know what you guys think as always. It'd help me know if it's okay to write like this once in a while or if I should go back to preplanning.

When I started I had no idea what this would turn out as. To be honest it was kind of exciting, but if it's not good quality it's not really worth publishing.

Don't hold me to this, but I might eventually write the training chapter (completely separate from this though as it will likely be inconsistent). Also half tempted to have an alternate ending where Weiss lifts up her nightgown and have this turn into random smut. You guys should be lucky I can't write smut. XD You'd never get anything serious from me.

Anyways, please let me know what you think! I'm always eager for feedback. Hope you enjoyed the story!