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Blake was going to do something drastic. She tried to get along with Weiss, she really did, but Weiss made it exceedingly difficult. It wasn't anything big, it was the little things that never stopped. She always had to add her snide commentary, or share her intolerant opinions, or flaunt her family's bloated name like it was some kind of cure-all. Worst of all, she never ran out of disparaging things to say about faunus. Just little jabs that she probably thought were harmless. Things she had heard her whole life. But Blake new all too well how a hundred little jabs could bring down the mighty beast.
Weiss had just about had enough. She did her best to be friendly with Blake, honest, but she just wouldn't cooperate. She wasn't openly antagonistic, but her campaign of passive aggression was unrelenting. Her dismissive conversation, and her need to overanalyze every little thing people said, and especially her obsession with playing devil's advocate on every subject. It was enough to drive her up the wall. It was like you couldn't say anything about anyone without it being a personal attack. And all the while, she blatantly criticizes the Schnee corporation, and indeed family as a whole, for things she doesn't even begin to understand. A Weiss knew too well how ignorant passion could ruin lives.
Tensions were at their boiling point and they both knew it. It had reached to point where the two of them wouldn't even be in a room with the other. The issue became obvious not only to the two of them, but the rest of the team as well. The whole team suffered due to their refusal to cooperate, both in academics and combat. Ruby, although the leader, couldn't manage to reconcile the issue. Any time she brought it up to either of them, they denied any problem at all, shutting down the conversation before Ruby could begin it. It wouldn't be long before someone blew, but to everyone's surprise, it was neither of the two. It was Yang.
"Alright!" Yang shouted, bursting into the dorm room and scaring Ruby off her bunk. "I've had enough of this happy horse shit!"
Her eyes were glowing bright red and were fixed squarely on Weiss, who became quiet nervous.
"What on earth are you yelling about you brute!" Weiss said, somewhat indignant.
"You and me are having a little talk with our friend Blake."
Weiss's face went sour. "Speak for yourself. I want nothing to do with her."
"Oh no missy. Not this time."
Yang stomped over to Weiss and hoisted her over her shoulder, ignoring her futile struggles and protests as she hauled out of the room and down the hall.
"Umm... Okay, you guys have a... team meeting, I guess." Ruby called weakly from the floor. "I'll just wait here. Team leader. This is fine."
Blake could be found in her usual spot. Reading on the roof of the dining building. She was alerted to Yang and Weiss's approach by the shrieking of obscenities long before they came into view.
Blake gave a sigh. "Looks like it's time to find a new quiet spot."
Yang burst through the stairwell door, Weiss slung over her shoulder and eyes nearly as red as Weiss's face. She stomped over to where Blake was sitting.
"Alright, listen up! This has gone on long enough!" Yang yelled as she plopped Weiss onto the ground, now fully indignant. "I'm tired of you two making things difficult! Either kill each other already or work things out!"
Their eyes both narrowed as the sized each other up, hands sliding slowly towards their weapons. Yang gave an exasperated scoff.
"You know what, I changed my mind!" She yelled as she snatched their weapons away from them. "Act like goddamned grown ups and work your problems out! I'm coming back in five minutes, and if I don't see progress, I'm kicking both of your asses!"
Yang stomped back towards the stairs, fuming and muttering.
Her captor gone, Weiss turned to face Blake, immediately turning away with a forceful "Hmph!"
"She means it you know." Blake said.
"Oh please. She may be irritable, but Yang's not stupid." Weiss said, arms crossed in a practiced gesture of defiance.
"No. Shes not."
Weiss gave a sigh. "And I guess by that token she's kind of right. The team can't go on like this, so we need to figure something out."
"Agreed. The question is if we even can."
"What's your problem in the first place! It's like you're always out to get me! Just waiting for me to say something you can turn into an issue!"
"I don't have to wait long. Your selfishness and closed mindedness make you a goldmine of ignorant commentary."
"Oh! You want to talk to me about ignorant commentary! At least I'm not rubbing it in your face! You never stop belittling my family! My own family! You take things that you don't even know the half of, and you use them to demonize the people I love."
"Well I'm sorry that you love people who are monsters. The things the Schnee's have done are nothing short of monstrous, and you can believe I know the full story."
"I find that very hard to believe."
"Just your labor practices alone are enough to make you evil, and that's public knowledge! Your mistreatment of innocent faunus workers is completely unacceptable."
"Well that shows what you know. The vast majority of the faunus we employ are convicted criminals. And if they're not, odd's are they're going to be. As a matter of fact, we're giving them opportu..."
Weiss was cut short by a sudden a powerful slap. She nearly lost her footing, tottering to avoid falling. She grabbed her stinging cheek and looked up at Blake with shock. Blake was fuming, almost feral with anger. She looked more terrifying than Yang ever had.
"What's that supposed to mean! Just what is that supposed to mean!" Blake yelled, voice barely in control.
"What!" Weiss said, voice full of shock.
"If their not criminals, they're going to be! What does that mean!"
Weiss tried to gather her thoughts, having difficulty choosing between carrying the conversation are attempting murder. "I only mean that they're faunus. Odds are if they're going to get in trouble one way or another. That's just the way it is."
Blake's face contorted into rage once more, her arms winding back for another assault. This time Weiss was prepared. Blake's wild swings were inaccurate, and completely devoid of form. Weiss could deflect them literally all day, but Blake didn't seem to notice.
"What!" She cried. "What! What! What! What! What! What's wrong with us!"
Then she stopped. Her face went blank.
"What?" Weiss questioned. "What are you even saying!"
Blake dropped to her knees, faint from the rush of adrenaline.
"What's wrong with us? Why do you all hate us so much?"
"Us? What's that supposed to mean?!"
Blake closed her eyes, fighting back the tears that accompanied her surging, shifting emotions. She reached to the bow atop her head, unfastening it. She let the black band drop to her side, revealing a pair of cat ears it had concealed. Weiss's eyes widened in dawning realization.
She tried to think what she could say, but could only manage "Oh..."
Blake buried her face in her hands, to compromised to know what else to do. She could only hope that Yang would come back soon and kill them both. That would probably be the ideal solution. She heard movement beside her, looking back up to see Weiss taking a seat on the ground at her side. Weiss sat with her elbows propped up on her knees, looking at the floor with a serious expression.
"I know about the things my family has done. I've always known."
Her voice bore a gravity that surprised Blake. Every sign of the self righteous heiress was absent, replaced by a pensive and quiet girl.
"I mean, I'm not stupid. I've spent my whole life with my family. Don't you think I've seen how they do things. Don't you think I've experienced it first..." She trailed off, letting the rest of the thought drift away.
She shook her head and continued. "The fact is yes, my family has done bad things. But that doesn't necessarily make them all bad people, and that doesn't mean we deserve the things that are happening to us."
Blake looked in her eyes, wondering if she could hear herself. Weiss gave a scoff and continued.
"Yes, yes. I know. It's so hypocritical in the end. You could say the exact same thing about the faunus and I wouldn't believe you. Is that right? No. No it's not. But in all fairness, you don't believe what I'm saying about the Schnees, do you."
"I don't know..." Blake answered, but the truth was, she did know. She had already made her mind up about the Schnees. She had a long time ago.
"But that's not true, is it?" Weiss said. "You do know. You hate our guts and that’s that."
Blake was surprised, and a little ashamed, to hear her own thoughts spoken back to her so directly. All she could do was nod.
Weiss sighed. "It can hardly be helped considering our pasts. You've obviously experienced the worst my family has to offer, and I've seen the worst of the faunus."
"There's a big difference in hating a family and hating an entire species."
Weiss started to protest, but stopped herself. "Maybe. But the fact of the matter is, I don't hate the faunus. I don't trust them, and I know that's not much better, but I don't hate them."
"You're right. That's not much better."
"Well if you lived the life I have, I think even you would feel the same. As long as I can remember, my family has been at war. A war with the White Fang."
Blake felt a surge of fear rush through her body at the sound of her old cause's name. For everything she said about the Schnees' cruelty, the White Fang had atrocities to match. And she had been part of that,
"People have been disappearing around me my whole life. Dying, because these monsters decided they don't deserve to live. My whole life I've been scared. I knew not every faunus was bad, but I knew it could be any of them. I hated being scared all the time, so instead of being scared, I got mad. And I've been mad ever since."
There was a long silence between them, neither able to look at the other.
At last Blake broke through. "I guess that didn't really help much in the end."
Weiss gave a cynical laugh. "It did what I needed it to. There were certainly better solutions, but father was never the best example for emotional well being."
The silence fell again. Blake had never imagined what had made Weiss the way she was. She had only thought as far as a child poisoned and brainwashed by hereditary doctrine, but she had misunderstood the trauma. Was wasn't trained against the faunus by her family, but by the White Fang and the fear they gave her. Blake had been party to that fear's creation. Then her family taught her to turn that fear into hate. She had been assailed on all sides, within and without. And yet still, here was someone who was confronting their mistakes. Someone who recognized the shortcomings of their legacy. Despite all the damage that had been done and all the odds that had been stacked against her, she was still willing to try and set things right. Blake couldn't hate that.
"I'm sorry, Weiss."
Weiss turned to face her, surprised.
"I should have given you the benefit of the doubt. I should have tried to understand you. Instead I thought I had you pegged from day one. Another bad apple from a bad tree."
"I'm sorry too. The truth is, I didn't give you much reason to do otherwise. If I want to be able to say I'm not like the rest of family, I should act like it."
"Well, I think a fresh start will help us both. As long as we're trying to understand each other, I think we can work things out."
Weiss rose to her feet, extending a hand down to Blake.
"Agreed." she said, helping Blake to her feet.
They started back towards the stairwell, side by side.
"But don't think I'm not going to keep that mouth of yours in line." said Blake.
"Oh, please." Weiss scoffed. "And just because we're being friendly, don't think I'll let you talk down on family. They are still my family, warts and all."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"We should go get some coffee."
"So we're that friendly already?"
"Of course. Why would you say such a thing?"
"You want to mess with Yang's head, don't you?"
"Oh, dearly."
"Alright. Let's go."
"Oh! Blake!" Weiss exclaimed, using her index fingers to mime Bleak's cat ears on her own head.
After a moment, Blake interpreted Weiss's meaning, a resecured her bow over her ears,
"Don't worry." Weiss said with a smile. "I can keep a secret."