It is time.

Weiss stared up at the underside of the bed hanging above her. The question of what the tattoo was gnawed at her brain. Weiss believed it was just a simple tattoo but the reaction Ruby gave told Weiss otherwise. It had to be something of vast importance to Ruby otherwise she wouldn't be so Ruby about it. Using a name as a description left an odd feeling in Weiss but brushed it aside with a shake of her head. Her mind raced through the possibilities of the tattoo's meaning as she drifted off to sleep.

Weiss woke up to the sound of singing birds. A smile graced her lips as she pulled the blankets tighter around herself and happily sighed. The warmth of the blankets wrapped her in a haven of comfort until Ruby bounded through the door, smiling at her.

"Good morning Weiss!" Ruby happily waved at her.

"Uh hi?" She looked at Ruby from head to toe, trying to pinpoint anything unusual to match Ruby's new attitude. Ruby grew concerned with how long Weiss was staring at her. The young reaper half turned her body and hugged her cloak to shield herself.

"Weiss, you there?" Ruby waved her hand in front of Weiss's face.

The heiress pushed the hand out of her face and slowly reached her hand out to Ruby's face, the cool touch felt welcomed on Ruby's flushed face. She pressed her cheek into the touch until Weiss coughed to get her attention. A faint blush dusted Weiss's cheeks at the contact.

"Weiss, what is it? Did I do something wrong?" Weiss remained silent, her hand still stroking Ruby's cheek. The heiress mentally shooed away the feeling of the contact and refocused on Ruby.

"Where is she?" Weiss' statement drew confusion on Ruby's face.

"What do you mean?" Ruby turned her head away from the cold hand resting on her cheek.

"What have you done with Ruby?" Ruby's expression grew more confused.

"I'm right here, Weiss."

"No you're not Ruby, Ruby doesn't act like that." Weiss shook her head. "She acts less sassy and more cold towards people." The younger girl did not have a chance to respond, Weiss whirled Ruby around and looked behind her ear. Sure enough, the tattoo was gone. Weiss spun Ruby back. "Your tattoo is missing, where is she?"

Ruby's emotions bounced between confused, hurt, and angry.

"Weiss please, I'm the normal Ruby. Why are you acting like this?"

"I've tried being friends with you and you've done nothing to help."

Ruby's brow furrowed in thought until her eyes lit with realization. "Oh you mean my reality self."

A grim smile formed on Ruby's lips. "I've been like that since I was born."

Before Weiss could ask any more questions, tears began to form at the corners of the Reaper's eyes. She buried her face in her hands as she ran out the door.

Weiss slowly sat up, her face contorted in anger, until she realized her hand was touching something. She looked over with blurry eyes to see Ruby standing, hands to her sides and staring at Weiss.

"Ruby, is there something I can..." Weiss realized why Ruby was standing next to her.

Weiss' hand was brushing her cheek and she stared in horror as her hand rubbed the cheek. The tense atmosphere hung in the air for a brief time before Ruby spoke up.

"Would you like to stop touching my cheek?" Ruby's monotone voice said.

"I- uh - yes?" Weiss stuttered over her words as she eased her hand away from Ruby's face and returned the offending appendage to her lap.

The two girls sat silently. Weiss tried to look at anything that wasn't Ruby while the latter blankly stared at Weiss. Weiss coughed into her hand to break the silence.

"So where are Yang and Blake?"

"Out to enjoy the weekend." Ruby turned away from Weiss, who released a sigh of relief.

"Why are you staying here in the dorm?"

Ruby pulled her cloak to cover the front of her body and wiggled back into the wall in an attempt to meld with the wall to escape from talking to Weiss.

"I asked, neither of them wanted to go with me."

Weiss looked towards Ruby's still form. Ruby's own sister didn't want to go with her? Weiss curled her hands into fists and leapt up from the bed, grabbed Ruby's hand and marched out the door.

"Come along then, you and I are going out."

Ruby pulled herself away from Weiss, causing the girl to slow to a crawl. Weiss flexed her muscles and felt herself slowly die inside at the result. She was almost certain that her skin had some flab at the bottom. She considering talking to Yang about workout routines but immediately shook that idea from her mind. The last person she wanted to ask for any help was Yang. Weiss was certain that she would be unable to move for at least a week if Yang were to train her and she refused to miss any classes.

Weiss tuned back into reality to notice she was falling forward onto Ruby's back. She closed her eyes and fell face-first onto the carpet of the dorm room. All was silent while Ruby stared at Weiss. She had hoped Ruby would have caught her fall and grew increasingly embarrassed the longer she stayed plastered to the floor.

"Weiss are you getting up or not?" said Ruby.

Weiss peeled her face off the floor. "Why didn't you catch me?"

Ruby shrugged. "Wanted to see what would happen."

Weiss grit her teeth, one day she was going to snap at this girl. She took a deep breath and stood up, dusting herself off. Weiss frowned at her jacket, the dirt was not coming off. She would worry about that later.

"Would you like to go out into Vale with me?"

"Go without me." Ruby turned away and went back to bed.

Weiss stood, watching the steady rising and falling of Ruby's form, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Was she better off with a different team or even a different partner? Weiss wiped away her tears. A Schnee mustn't show emotion. Weiss repeated the mantra even as tears spilled down her face and she ran out the door.

Everything was a blur as Weiss wandered through the halls, she didn't care that people were looking at her. The feeling of those judgemental eyes telling her she was weak. Pushing past the gathering crowd, the heiress raced across the cafeteria and into the courtyard. The gentle air did little to soothe her pain. Sitting on a nearby bench to calm herself down, Weiss looked towards the horizon.

After several shaky breaths and moments of sniffling, the heiress wiped away her tears. She looked up to see the statue in the Beacon courtyard. The immortal memories of heroes reigning victorious over the forces of Grimm. Weiss lowered her head and clenched her fists.

I just wanted to be able to prove father wrong, to show that I could be useful to someone other than him. Coming here was a mistake.

Her father said the only useful thing she would be able to do with her life was take over the company. He always tried to keep her under control by threatening places she was interested in. The abuse for every small mistake she made.

The heiress pushed herself off the statue and looked up towards the headmasters' clock tower.

Weiss slowly stalked to the office. Each footfall feeling heavier than the last. Before moving past the statue, she heard a voice call out to her. Midway through her turn, the small woman felt Yang's arms wrap around her.

"What's wrong?" Weiss stood silent before burying her head into Yang's warmth.

"Your sister hates me."

Yang pulled Weiss away from her, the blonde's hands resting on the shoulders of the younger woman. "She doesn't hate you."

"How can you say that? Do you see how she acts towards me?"

"Yes I do, but I'm telling you she doesn't hate you."

Weiss was beginning to get agitated. Tapping her pointer finger and foot against her arm and the ground respectively in a matching tempo. A cold glare directed towards Yang sent a shiver up her spine.

"And how are you so sure of that?"

Yang stared at Weiss, the blonde looked like she was debating whether or not to tell Weiss something important.

Yang sighed and looked away from Weiss.

"I'll let you in on a secret. Something Ruby would want to tell you herself." The heiress rolled her eyes at the brawler's back, waiting for her to continue..

"Ruby acts that way towards everyone, including my dad and me. She didn't trust anyone, but since my dad and I were around for so long, she is more trusting of us"

The heiress stared slack-jawed at Yang.

"You're joking right? There's no way she acts like that towards her family."

The brawler shook her head. "As far as we can remember, she's been like that. She thinks everyone that tries to approach her will just leave, so she pushes everyone away."

Yang turned back to face Weiss. "She wants to be friends with people, but what happened in the past won't let her trust people so easily. I know this from experience as her sister."

"I - thank you, Yang."

Weiss left for the dorms and Yang smiled as she watched the Heiress leave. Looking down to her scroll, she read the message from Ruby

Check on Weiss.

"Ruby my dear sister, you are too easy."

Yang pocketed the scroll and turned to Blake who had been hiding nearby.

"So, what do you think?" Yang grinned at the girl in question.

"I think Weiss is trying a little too hard to be her friend. Something else is going on."

"You think so Blakey?"

"Yes I do." Blake glared at Yang.

Yang stretched her arms out behind her head. "Only one way to find out, let's observe them."

Yang left to follow in the trails of Weiss. Blake scoffing and followed behind with a smile on her face. After a short, silent walk into the halls of Beacon. Blake turned to her sunny partner.

"Yang, why do you try so much to help Ruby with how she's been?"

Yang let her arms fall to her sides."No matter what she does or she is, she's still family. I have to be there for her when no one else will."

"Didn't she ask to go with us to Vale and you told her no because you wanted partner time?"

Yang gawked at Blake. "That's not fair and you know it."

Blake held her hands up in defeat. "Your words not mine."

Yangs eyes flickered between red and lilac. Blake thought it best to leave the conversation at that and not anger her any further.

Blake let the words Yang had said turn in her head. Had she done the right thing with her family? Shaking her head clear of these thoughts, the ninja quietly trailed behind Yang, curious to see how this situation between Ruby and Weiss would turn out.