It was just me and Weiss in the dining room eating pancakes. I sat across from the heiress and we just made small talk. It was funny, in the show Weiss is always so... cold but now that I got to know her, she has to be one of the nicest people I ever met. Sure she cares about her friends, but she only shows it in dire circumstances. I have seen Weiss loosen up a bit through the time I've been here and she still tends to be a bit cold. However, unless she's in a bad mood or is mad at someone (which seems to happen a lot), Weiss is really relaxed when it's just the two of us. Call me and idiot, but I don't really understand why.

When we were finished eating we thought about sparing but figured we got enough practice in. So, we ended up going to the sitting room where Yang, Blake, Winter, Nora and Ren were just relaxing.

Yang looked towards us and tilted her head slightly, "Are you two OK?"

"Yeah," I answered, "Thanks."

Yang smiled and I could see Weiss mouthing the words 'thank you' to Yang out of the corner of my eye.

"So," Yang started, "How would you guys feel if our team went to patch for the rest of the vacation?"

"What about team JNPR?" I asked.

"We're going back to Beacon early." Ren said, "Ozpin needs some help setting up for the new students."

"Sure." I said.

"It could be fun." Weiss said.

"Don't hurt yourself." I snickered at Weiss.

Weiss smacked me in the head, "Don't say things like that you dolt."

The others laughed as I rubbed my head, "It's not funny" I grumbled.

"It is a little funny." Winter smirked.

At first I was surprised at Winter's comment, then I just laughed too.

When that was over, Yang told us to pack to leave the next day.

I couldn't believe we had been at the Schnee's for over a month. I was happy I came though, it's much better than the summer vacation back home. It was always uneventful.

While I was packing I remembered that I was almost out of bullets from the fight. I figured I could get Ruby and go into town after I packed. So, I shoved my stuff in my suitcase then I headed to Ruby's room and knocked on the door. When she opened the door she was covered wearing a red tank top and shorts, he face covered with grime.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Cleaning Crescent Rose." she said, "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go pick up some ammunition." I asked.

"Sure," she said, "Let me go clean off a bit."

"Good idea." I laughed and she closed the door.

I headed down the hall and asked the butler to get us a ride into town. When the car pulled up, I waited for Ruby then we headed out. The drive into the city was long but Ruby and I goofed of the entire ride.

The car pulled in front of and ammunition store. We went in and picked up ammo for everyone, then decided we would wander around town for a bit. It was a nice day too so we thought it appropriate to grab some icecream.

"So," Ruby said as we sat on the bench, "You almost killed my sister."

I hung my head, "It was an accident."

"I know," She said, "Only you and Yang reacted like that."

"Can we not talk about this?" I pleaded.

"Sorry," she said, "But she does care about you like a brother."

"I know." I thought for a minute then grinned, "Then your like my little sister."

She laughed, "I guess you're onto something."

"Awww," I joked while giving Ruby a nuggy, "I have a baby sister."

"Alex!" She squirmed, "Stop."

When I let her go we laughed, "Let's get back." I smiled.

"Sure." Then we walked over to walked over to where the car was parked and we headed back to the house.

When we got out of the car Ruby had a sly grin on her face.

"Race you to the family room." she challenged.

I smiled, "You're on!" I got in a ready stance, "Three...two...go!" then we bolted down the hall.

Even with me being to run faster since discovering I was a Faunus, Ruby was was only a millisecond faster than me with her semblance. Suddenly, I got and idea.

As we approached the family room, I made Ruby run through one of my portals and popping out of one right behind me, sending me flying into the room. One thing I forgot about being in thin air, was that I couldn't stop.

Just as I was going to crash into Jaune, Pyrrha got a hold of my armor, stopping me in mid air and falling on the floor. Ruby burst into the room and looked at me sprawled on the floor.

"Uh Alex," She said, "What are you doing on the floor?"

"Oh you know, just hanging out." I said sarcastically.

I got to my feet and readjusted my leg guards.

"Smart move by the way." Ruby complimented me.

"I beg to differ." Jaune complained.

"Maybe we should go for lunch." Winter suggested.

"Agreed." We said together.

Lunch consisted of soup and sandwiches. Ruby ended up explaining to Jaune and Pyrrha why I flew into the room unannounced.

Afterwards, Ruby and I gave everyone their ammunition and we filled our mags and belts. Other than that not much really happened until we all had dinner and went to sleep.

Again I had the dream, but I found I could move a little, it was just small, but I noticed. In the part of my dream where i lashed out, I swiped my claws at the other me once then stopped myself and clenched my fists so tight, my claws pierced the skin on my hands and woke me up.

When I opened my eyes, Yang was getting up off the ground.

"Wow," she said, "If I keep waking you up I'll be as fast as Ruby."

I sat up in my bed, "Sorry again.

"No problem." she said, now get ready, "We leave in a couple hours."

After she left, I got out of bed and got dressed. I finished packing my suitcase and equipped my gun. I wheeled my suitcase to the front door where the others had theirs, then joined everyone for breakfast. Weiss mostly talked to her sister, mostly because they didn't know when they'd see each other again. I mostly talked to Jaune and Ren anyway because I was going to be completely surrounded by girls, unless I meet Ruby and Yang's dad.

After we finished eating, we all gathered at the front doors of the mansion. I stood with team RWBY as Weiss got the big sister lecture from Winter and we all snickered. Weiss gave us and irritated look before hugging her sister and getting in the car. As I turned to leave Winter grabbed my arm and waited for everyone to get in the car.

"What is it?" I asked.

Winter gave me a cold hard stare, "You are aware that I am in the military yes?"

"Uh yeah." I said.

"And you realize Weiss is my sister?" she said.

She was kind of scaring me, "Yeah."

"Good." She said, "With that said, if you hurt my sister in any way, I will end you."

I looked into Winter's cold, blue, overprotective eyes and nodded, trying to keep my cool. "Why are you telling this to me?"

"My sister is right," she pinched her forehead, "You are an idiot. Just don't do anything you're going to regret."

"Don't worry," I said as I walked to the car, "She'll be fine. I promise."

I got into the car and shut the door, then we drove down the road.

"What was that about?" Jaune asked from behind me.

"She just told me to keep practicing my swordsmanship." I lied.

"Ah." then he looked out the window.

I looked across from me to see Blake who whispered, "Well that's a lie." Just loud enough for only me to hear, indicating that her faunus ears heard everything.

I glared at her and just stared out the window. When we got to the landing pads, four airships were loading passengers, so we all grabbed our bags and boarded our separate flights.

It was a quiet ride to patch, everyone ended up falling asleep, but I remained awake for the safety of the poor soul who tried to wake me up.

When we landed I shook everyone awake and ushered them off the ship to grab our bags. Everyone was kind of sluggish until yang spotted her motorcycle.

"Bumble Bee!" she yelled as she hugged the bike. On either side of Bumble Bee was a motorcyle, one black, one red.

Ruby hopped on the red one and everyone but Yang seemed a little surprised

"You can drive that thing?" Weiss asked Ruby.

"Yeah," she said, "Yang taught me when we were here."

"She had to wait until she was sixteen to drive one." Yang explained, "Dad got her the bike."

"Cool." Blake complimented.

"Alex," Yang said, "The other one is for you."

"Huh?" I said dumbfounded, "Why me?"

"Call it a late birthday present." Yang smiled, "Do you know how to ride it."

"Yeah," I said, "My uncle taught me."

"Well I refuse to ride with someone who's only been driving a few weeks." Weiss crossed her arms.

"Yeah I'm with you there." Blake agreed, "No offence Ruby."

"None taken." Ruby nodded.

"Blake can ride with me." Yang said, "Weiss can ride with Alex."

"Wait what?!" Weiss and I protested.

The other three girls gave us wide grins then Weiss reluctantly got on the bike with me. We I hooked my weapon in the slot on the side of the bike. Weiss wrapped her arms around my chest causing my heart to skip a beat. We started the bikes and drove out of the parking lot.

We sped through the streets of the town into the forest. Patch was really nice, the trees lined the road and the leave made a ceiling above us, letting the light partially shine through. As we sped down the dirt road, I felt Weiss rest her head on my back. My face felt hot but I collected myself and focused on the road.

Soon, we pulled into Yang and Ruby's front yard. It was a moderately sized house made of thick pieces of wood and brick.

We parked the bikes in the garage attached to the house then went inside. Soon after a truck arrived with our stuff.

"Wow," I said, "You have a really nice house."

"Thanks!" Yang said.

"Oh!" Ruby remembered, "Dad left a surprise in our room!"

"Oh yeah!." Yang said as the sisters ran down the hall.

The three of us followed them into one of the rooms where Yang and Ruby had disappeared.

In the room was two sets of bunk beds on one corner connected to a square book shelf, creating a V-shape with the beds. Yang and Ruby had already claimed the top bunks.

"Your father built these?" Blake asked.

"Yeah," Ruby said, "He's really good at building things."

"Looks more stable than at Beacon." Weiss said.

"Alex!" Ruby yelled, she had somehow gotten behind me. "You're in the guest room across the hall."

Ruby opened the door to reveal something that just shocked me. Other than the color of the desk, the room looked almost exactly like my room back home. The bed was centered on the wall closest to the door, the closet was next to the door and the window was near the back of the wall by my bed. The desk was darker than the one at home but it was still set in the far right corner.

"Are you alright Alex?" Ruby asked.

"I..It's just.." I stuttered, "It looks exactly like my room back home."

I never really felt all that homesick until now. Man, I just can't catch a break, can I.

"oook." Yang said, "Let's go into town to get some food!"

I snapped out of my train of thought, "Yeah! I'm starving!"

The others nodded so we all went to the bikes.

As we were driving down the road a huge Beowolf jumped in front of us. There wasn't enough time to stop so I grabbed my gun and quickly put it in sword mode and extended my arm slicing it in half.

"Sorry," Yang yelled over the bikes, "That happens a lot."

"You could have given us a little warning!" Weiss called.

"You know now." Ruby said.

We pulled into town and parked in front of a little bistro. We walked in and a waiter immediately recognized Ruby and Yang.

"Girls!" He greeted "I heard you had left for your friend place in Atlas."

"We got bored." Ruby said.

"These are our friends," Yang said, "Weiss, Blake, and the tower over there is Alex."

We waved to the man and he pushed two tables together then seated us.

"He was rather nice." Weiss said.

"Yeah." Ruby replied, "That's dad's friend Andrew."

After we talked for a few minutes Andrew came back with some menus and water. Yang and Ruby told us about how good the food was, which didn't make my decision very easy. When we all finally got our food Ruby and Yang's table manners went out the window.

Weiss looked like she was about to completely lose it.

"Weiss?" I questioned as she got out of her chair.

She walked over to Ruby and Yang and pulled their elbows off the table. Then she put a knife in their least dominant hands then went back to eating.

Blake and I had to suppress a laugh as the sisters ate with proper manors. After we ate Yang and Ruby took us on a tour of town, finishing at the beach. We went back to the house and found that their dad was home.

"Hi," He greeted us, "I'm Taiyang."

"Dad!" Yang Yelled and the girls tackled him in a hug.

He was only a couple inches taller than Yang. You could clearly tell Yang took after her father. He had short blonde hair with that one strand sicking up like Yang's. They both had the same lilac eyes and color scheme for their clothes. They have similar style in clothes too, resembling the huntsmen in fairytales.

Taiyang greeted us all individually, accurately guessing who's who. After the pleasantries were done he turned to the his daughters and played catch up. When Yang mentions Ruby's latest injury, Taiyang begins to lecture her about her recklessness and compares her to Qrow. During the lecture Ruby started to look annoyed and yells at her father.

"I'm sixteen dad," she says, "I can look after myself!"

"Ruby..." He tries.

"No!" Ruby yelled out of character, "I don't need you lecturing me! I already get that from Weiss!"

"Don't be reckless!" Taiyang yelled, "I already lost your mother, I don't need to lose you too!"

That struck a nerve in Ruby, Yang knew it too. Yang's face turned to shock as Ruby ran out of the house.

"Ruby!" Blake called.

"Dad why did you bring that up?" Yang asked calmly.

The grown man hung his head, "I'm a terrible father." he said, "I'll go find her."

"No," Yang said, "I'll go. Alex, can help."

Yang grabbed me as she was leaving.

"That was intense." I said, "I've never seen her get that angry before."

"Yeah." Yang agreed, "Dad's been hard on her ever since she started training to become a huntress. They always fight."

"Is it because of her mom?" I asked.

Yang nodded, "Ruby has an uncanny resemblance to Summer. So dad get's really protective of her."

I smirked, "Like father like daughter."

Yang just looked at me.

"You are a lot like your dad," I explained, "You just a little less overbearing."

Yang smiled and shrugged, "She's my baby sister, it's in the job description."

Yang and I laughed, "I can smell her, she's somewhere around here."

Yang looked around for a moment then frowned, "I know where she is."

Yang and I walked until we came to a small dirt path that lead to a clearing at the edge of a cliff. I could see Ruby had her hood up and was sitting in front of a slanted stone which I figured was her mom's grave. As we got closer it was clear she'd been crying, her legs were pulled close to her chest, her head rested against her knees.

Yang and I sat on either side of Ruby, Yang put her arm around her sister's shoulders, causing Ruby to uncurl herself and lean into it. Ruby wiped the tears from her eyes and hugged her sister.

Yang patted Ruby's head, running her fingers through the younger's hair. I smiled at the bond the two of them had. Ruby was like an open book to her sister, while Yang was a little more sheltered but she still depended on Ruby for solace, weather she admits it or not. Quite frankly I was kind of jealous.

"Your dad loves you Ruby," I said, "He just doesn't want to go through that kind of loss again. Cut him some slack."

"All he does is lecture and yell at me." winned Ruby.

"When was the last time you talked to him about it?" I asked, Ruby was silent, "You need to talk to him, without running away."

Ruby wiped at her eyes then smiled, "OK."

We all got up and Ruby tackled me with a hug. Yang smiled at Ruby then we all headed back to the house.

When we reached the house the sun had completely set. Half way back Ruby and Yang kept tripping over everything because they couldn't see. I ended up grabbing their wrists and guiding them back, warning them about any obstacles. Once we got to the house, the front lights were on with Weiss and Blake sitting on a couple chairs, waiting for us to get back. When they spotted us, they looked relieved but were afraid to say anything that might upset Ruby further.

Taiyang was sitting at the dining room table sipping his coffee. When he spotted Ruby, he stood up and seemed disappointed when she walked right past him with her team in tail.

"She just needs her team right now." I tried.

"I'm a bad father." he said, resting his head in his hands.

"You're not a bad dad." I told him, "You're just too overbearing with her."

"I know," He said, "I just can't help it."

"I don't mean to overstep my bounds," I started, "But it seems to me that your daughters can handle themselves. Sure they're going to get hurt but they're just going to come back even stronger."

"But Summ..."

"I know about Raven and Summer," I interrupted, "And I know Ruby's the baby of the family but Yang only has two years on her. Heck, she's leading her own team! You can't keep treating her like a child! Even Weiss, the queen of nagging, is starting to lay off of her! You are allowed to worry about her, but you can't control her!"

When I finished, the older man lowered his hands, "You sound like Yang."

I took a deep breath and spoke softly, "I don't mean to step on your toes but she's sixteen, it's time to let her grow up."

Taiyang smiled, "I see why they see you as a brother."

His comment made me freeze but I smiled warmly, "I think Yang's pretty much adopted me." Then I left the room.

I knocked on the girl's bedroom door and Blake let me in and Weiss signaled for me to speak quietly and pointed one of the top bunks.

On one of the bunks, Ruby had fallen asleep cuddled up to Yang, who was awake but didn't move. Yang was perched on her side against the wall, resting her head in her in her right hand while Ruby was too on her side, taking possession of her other hand.

"It's not the first time this happened is it?" Weiss asked. She was obviously concerned for Ruby.

Yang shook her head, "It doesn't happen very often but it usually ends like this. Sorry for making you worry guys."

"It's fine Yang." Blake said.

"Yeah," Weiss added, "All families have their issues."

Yang smiled then turned her attention to me, "Did you seriously yell at my dad?"

"I couldn't let him do this to Ruby." I said.

"Well I think it was out of line." Weiss said sternly.

"Layoff Weiss," Yang told her, "He's just being a good brother." She smiled mischievously.

"That's basically what your dad said." I said to Yang.

Everyone snickered quietly then we decided to get some sleep.