Night Wings

No one realizes that even when you sleep, even if you don't snore, or even if you're quiet your body and the world around you still makes noise.

Which is what Weiss's current problem was. Never mind that her trait led her to be more nocturnally inclined, but it also didn't help that it also came with echolocation.

Which meant that when she closed her eyes she could see the room in her mind with the simple sounds of her roommates.

From Yang's snoring to the steady heartbeats of everyone in the room. She could see the room through echoes of shapes.

It seemed to work like ripples in water. The sound would break up the silence like a drop of water on the surface of a still lake, casting ripples across the surface all the way back to her and filling in the shape of the object.

Weiss sat up with a sigh reaching a hand out to her desk, her fingers barely touching the bottom drawer. Where she knew a pair of earbuds were hidden under her pencil case.

She sighed again and pulled her hand back, the earbuds helped but not enough. While they did muffle everything they didn't silence it, so everything just came back distorted and fuzzy. Which often resulted in having a headache and still no sleep.

She glanced around the room at her teammates. Blake was curled up on her bunk, occasionally her bow twitched, and The Heiress wondered if she could hear everything too, probably without the echolocation.

Yang was sprawled all over the place, her blanket nearly off her bed. Due to her leader's privacy blanket, she couldn't visually see her but her heartbeat allowed her to see the shape of her in her bed. She was curled up much like Blake was except clutching a pillow and muttering about cookies.

As silently as the heiress could manage she slipped from the bed pausing long enough to make sure to grab her robe and check that her wings were covered.

Taking one last glance she crept from the room. She didn't have a destination in mind at first. Just wandered the empty halls at a slow pace.

She wondered about what Penny said in the hall, she hadn't mentioned their meeting to the rest of her team, mind still wrapped up with everything that happened. She pulled out her scroll thinking about searching for "bat faunus diets?"...but 'he' would know.

She huffed and stuffed it back into her robe pocket, she stopped at a turn that would take her down to the classrooms and library.

That's it! He wouldn't know if she used the school library computers! It was a public space where anyone could use the computer.

She started in that direction at a fast-paced walk. Weiss's goal was to get to the library and use computer access to get information on bat Faunus. The heiress felt a little anxious. This was an answer to all the questions she had growing up.

On the other hand, this would also confirm in many ways she is a faunus in the likes of which her father has ranted about. In his terms an animal. For a moment her brow furrowed at the thought.

She felt dirty for even thinking about the slur. Her thoughts turned to Blake and Velvet briefly going over all of her encounters with the Faunus. They were nothing like the slurs her father would spit.

Weiss clasped her arms around herself in an attempt to replicate the winged hug from before, It was a poor imitation. She came to a stop in front of the library with a sigh.

The heiress straightened her posture and held her head up high. She was going to get answers and nothing in Remnant was going to stop her this time. Not her fears, not her family, and most certainly not her father.

…

The Bat Faunus yawned for maybe the Third time that morning, she'd barely slept after her late-night research.

It turned out that just typing "Bat Faunus" wasn't going to narrow it down, there was more Bat Faunus than she was expecting, very few with Wing traits though, and don't even get her started on the search with the word diet in it.

"Didn't sleep well last night, princess?" her blonde teammate said as she sat down with a plate of what looked like an outrageous amount of bacon and eggs, but mostly bacon.

The heiress frowned at Yang's plate before speaking. "Well, it didn't help that someone snores in our dorm." Weiss gave a pointed look at Yang.

"Hey, my Snoring is not nearly as bad as Nora's," Yang said, taking a big bite of her eggs.

"You do look tired," Blake comments before turning to her own breakfast.

Weiss sighed, rubbing at her temple trying to ward off the incoming headache forming from the lack of sleep. "I'm just stressed," she muttered, pushing her food around her plate. "The Vytal festival is fast approaching and I still have no clue about any of our opponents."

"That's what you're worried about?" Blake said her gaze snapping up to blink at her, her bow twitched.

"yes?" Weiss said, stressing it as she felt her mind immediately answered no. While it was at the forefront of her mind it was something that was adding to the stress. If they failed the Vytal festival she was sure her father would have a stroke. Before she could delve further down that mind set her blonde teammate's question broke her from her brief lapse.

"Are you talking about what happened at the docks?" Yang asked Blake Glancing between the Heiress and her partner.

"We never did find out what happened to Penny…." Ruby spoke up from her seat next to Weiss. "And I've been looking around for her here but haven't seen her."

The bat faunus' body went stiff at the mention of the redhead Atlas student. Weiss felt like her nerves were a live wire. She was so on edge, body stiff, wings giving brief anxious flexes, and following anxious instinct to avoid and therefore find the redhead she closed her eyes and tried to use echolocation to seek out Penny.

Which Weiss regretted immediately after. The crowded cafeteria was not the best place to try echolocation. The normal ripples that made up her vision with her eyes closed seemed to turn to static followed by a high-pitched ringing.

She hissed at the sudden ringing, one hand coming up to rub at her left ear.

"Weiss, are you OK?" The ringing was so loud she didn't even hear Ruby's question.

A hand gently gripped her shoulder lightly. The heiress flinched hard away from the touch and felt her wings jerk in their straps.

She squinted her eyes open to rid herself of the noise.

Only to see all of her teammates were now staring at her. She froze for only a moment before moving her hand to rub the side of her head. "I-I'm fine…just a headache."

By the looks her team is giving her she knew her lie fell flat, and as the bat faunus began to scramble for a new one the warning bell rang out.

She felt herself begin to relax marginally at not having to figure out a new lie before fixing her teammates with a look. "get to class and don't be late!" pointedly looking at Ruby and Yang.

With that, Weiss turned away from her team and headed for class.

That was too close for comfort.

…

"Weissy, Weissycle, come on, you know you want to ice queen!"

"No, I'm quite sure I do not," Weiss said. "I'm trying to focus on the essay due next Tuesday."

"That's like a whole week away!" Yang's shocked exclamation was almost amusing to watch. " Come on Princess, all work and no play is not healthy. Come chill with us and play a game or two."

"And I'll bet you haven't even started on yours?" The Heiress said leaving out that it was a six-page essay and that's why the extra time was needed, not including the cover page and the reference sheet.

"Hey, I'm like two pages in ice queen!" The blonde huffed and crossed her arms.

"..it's still no Yang," Weiss said, not looking up from her work. Her blonde teammate shook her head before turning to Blake.

"You won't leave me hanging right, Blakey?" Yang shuffled the deck, tapping them to line them back up. "So what do you say Blake, want to play?" she spread the cards out in her hand before leaning closer. "Plus it's a strategy game. I bet that's why Weissy doesn't want to play. she's afraid that she can't take us all on."

Blake hadn't been paying attention, seemingly lost in her thoughts but her attention snapped back to the team at the sound of her name. "huh?"

Weiss froze in her work, eyes shifting to the side narrowing into a glare at the blond.

She knew it was bait but she really couldn't resist a challenge, even if she didn't know how to play she could figure it out.

"Very well Xiao Long, if Blake plays then I will." Weiss finished the paragraph she was on as she spoke before moving it to the side.

"deal, so what about it Blake, you want to play?"

"...Sure." Blake said with a shrug.

"Yes! Now all we're missing is rubes and we can have a full game. "

And not long after they decided to play did Ruby finally show up a small tower of cookies carefully balanced in her hands as she sat at the table.

"Phew, sorry for taking so long, thanks for waiting for me." she said already starting on her cookie tower taking one to munch on.

"I thought that food and drink wasn't allowed in the Library?" Weiss glared at Ruby with Disapproval.

Rub paused mid-bite looking at her lap with a sheepish smile absolutely refusing to look at the heiress.

"S-So who's playing?" She instead asked looking up at Yang.

Weiss just sighed if they got kicked out because of their team leader she wouldn't let Ruby live it down.

"we're all playing rubes." Yang says with a grin as she shuffles the cards one last time.

"Yes!"Ruby cheered, giving a small fist pump, nearly hitting her cookie tower.

She wasn't sure how long they'd been in the library, long enough to go through 3 different games and to Weiss's surprise and annoyance she hasn't won a game yet. Yang proved to be a formidable opponent winning 2 out of the 3. Now if only her blonde brute of a teammate applied this to her actual fighting.

With the sudden appearance of Sun and what he came to introduce as one of his teammates Neptune. Sun’s teammate was cool, with a natural charm, and with a touch of prestige. He was exactly someone her father would put her in close circles with.

Which might've been why she didn't reject his use of ‘Snow Angel’ immediately. Though the conversation soured when Blake ran off seemingly distant and out of it.

She was so focused on Blake's retreating form that she completely missed the worried whispered conversation between her other two teammates.

Weiss worried her lip briefly as her mind drifted back to the last time she'd seen Blake like this.

The last time Blake ran was when they'd found out she was faunus, and they didn't find her till the next night. And it had been after a big fight with the White Fang. Though the circumstances are different from then, the bat faunus was concerned that history was about to repeat itself.

Weiss turned and tried to meet eyes with her partner in hopes to move the group along after Blake left.

Ruby hadn't noticed her at first, snickering at Nora and Rens antics. When silver eyes finally did find her she blinked in confusion as Weiss tried to subtlety motion with her eyes in Blake's direction.

When all she received was more confused looks and then got offered a cookie. The heiress sighed before turning to Yang in a last ditch effort to get some help on following Blake. Only to narrow her gaze at her blonde teammate's antics with Nora.

“Ruby, I believe we all have a team assignment that needs completing in our dorm!” Weiss said as she stood with a huff. Completely fed up with her team and their lack of communication.

Weiss dusted the non-existent dirt from her skirt as she stood from the table and stormed out the library. Not giving a backward glance towards her team. The bats wings shuffled and twitched within their confines.

The heiress’ shoulders stiffened, scowl deepening at the feeling. Her nerves were still rattled from this morning's incident, and with the added stress of Blake's distant behavior Weiss was feeling more than a little flighty.

Yang would probably think the use of ‘flighty’ was punny and ironic if she knew what Weiss was, but Weiss couldn't linger on that thought for long.

“Weiss!”

“Weiss, come on wait.”

She stopped and looked over her shoulder at her two teammates as they caught up with her.

“Weiss, we're worried too….we just wanted to give her a little space before we ask her what's up.” Ruby said, a hand reaching to touch Weiss just over her shoulder blade.

Well she would have had Weiss not jumped and stepped away before she could, eyes wide. If she had let her, Ruby might have figured out what she was hiding.

The heiress felt a stress headache forming, adding that to the cramps her wings had developed with all the flexing, jerking, and tensing. Weiss felt a barbed comment on the tip of her tongue but froze at the hurt eyes of teammate.

“I-Im…” Weiss took a breath and forced the words out she always struggled with. “I'm sorry, I'm just stressed and worrying about Blake isn't helping.”

Weiss crossed her arms, it was the closest she could do to hug herself, without letting on that's what she was doing. She watched her teammates from the corner of her eye too worried about what she would find there if she met their gaze directly.

The sisters seemed to hesitate and some silent conversation passed between them before they both turned back to the dorm. “hey don't sweat it, ice queen, we all are stressed.” Yang seemed to shrug it off as she passed Weiss towards the dorm. “Plus no harm no foul.”

“Yeah, we're a team…we can handle this…let's go talk to Blake together.” Ruby said, approaching Weiss with a gentle smile.

She had a hand reaching to touch Weiss's elbow but seemed to think better of it at the last minute and let it drop back to her side.

The bat faunus felt a squeeze to her chest at the halted gesture, but it was probably for the best to let the physical space go between them. The heiress took a deep breath to compose herself before turning and following her team into the dorm.

She watched Blake as soon as they made it in while the sisters were talking about the earlier game trying to silently sneak off, she let her get to the door before she spoke up.

“Stop.”

Blake froze, hand still on the doorknob.

“Lately you've been quiet, moody and antisocial…” Weiss said, not to mention her own antisocial behavior as of late.

“Uuh, have you met Blake?” Yang Joked trying to lighten the mood.

“Which I get is kind of your thing…but you made a promise to us, to me, that you'd tell us if something was wrong?” Weiss tried to ignore the pit of guilt in her stomach from how much she herself was hiding and moved past it.

She briefly thought about grabbing a chair for a more dramatic effect but her heart wasn't in it.

“So, What's wrong Blake?” Ruby asked softly, before the words could leave Weiss's own mouth.

“Are you still worried about that Torchwick guy?” Yang asked after a moment had passed and no one had said anything.

“Torchwick, the White Fang, all of it! Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it.” Blake said her bow Twitched and Blake reached up to take it off, wiggling her cat ears a bit once they were freed.

She'd gotten to the point that once in the dorms she would take the bow off to relax. Weiss couldn't help the small spike of jealousy she felt at not being able to free her wings, she considered telling them after Blake but ….she feared it would still reach her father, she really wanted to, but now wasn't the time for that.

“Ozpin told us not to worry.” Her blonde teammate pointed out. “ between the police and the huntsman I'm sure they can handle it.”

“Well I'm not!” Blake replied cat ears folding back.“They don't know the White Fang like I do!”

“Ok between blowing up night clubs, stopping thieves, and fighting for freedom. I'm sure you three think you're all ready to go out and Apprehend these ne'er do wells.” Weiss said.

“Uh, who?” Ruby mumbled.

“But let me once again be the voice of reason.” Weiss ignored Ruby's slight confusion at her words and continued. “We are students. We are not ready to handle this situation. “

“Well yeah but-” Ruby started to say.

“We're not ready” Weiss cut her off, she didn't want to tell the team no but she wanted them to be sure they all wanted to do this.

“ and we may never be ready!” Blake replied.“our enemies are not just gonna sit around and wait for graduation day”

“They are out there somewhere planning their next move and none of us know what it is, but it's coming whether we're ready or not!”

Ruby looked around at the whole team for a moment.

“Ok all those in favor of becoming the youngest huntress’ to single handedly bring down a corrupt organization Conspiring against the kingdom of Vale say aye” Ruby said talking the fastest Weiss has ever heard her speak, other than when she was gushing about her weapon, or weapons in general.

“Yes!” Yang cheered, giving a fist pump before pointing at Blake. “I love it when you're feisty”

“Well I suppose it could be fun” Weiss was sure that they were going to get in a lot of trouble for this, but at the same time she was secretly excited for this, what if they did stop this corrupt organization as Ruby had put it.

“None of you said aye” Ruby replied looking a little down that no one had.

“Alright then we're in this together” Blake said with a small smile finally appearing on her face.

“Let's hatch a plan” Ruby cheered.

“Yeah” Yang joined in.

“I forgot my board game in the library” Ruby suddenly gasped.

“We're doomed,” Weiss sighed as Ruby raced off to go get it with a simple shout of.

“I'll be right back!”

…

“We totally got this.” Yang said, crossing her arms with a grin, while they all waited patiently for their team leader to return.