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Chapter 3: Cold

Blake pressed herself against the door, gasping in steam-filled air as her heart pounded in her chest. Part of it was from the fear that Yang looked so pissed, she might actually kill her.

But most of it was from the crushing reality of what she'd just done.

I kissed Ruby. I just kissed- oh, Dust, I just kissed her, right in front of Weiss! And Yang saw…

As her breathing quickened, she ran a hand through her hair, right over her ear-

My ears.

Her hands flew to the top of her head, clamping over the damning appendages.

My bow. That's right, Ruby… No, I made Ruby… that means Weiss… Yang, too… they saw…

Blake slid down the door, the truth sinking in. Tears trailed down her face.

I… I lost it. I lost control. They… Blake's eyes scoured the bathroom. No windows or other doors, no vents she could squeeze through.

A small, humorless laugh passed her lips. I can't run this time. There's nowhere to go. I-I have to tell them. They're going to know. They're going to look at me like…

She sobbed.

Like I'm an animal.

It was still there. Even now, the fire, the heat, the pain; it surged through her. Except now, it wasn't a fantasy that fed the flames, it was a single, very real moment that replayed in her mind.

The moment Ruby's hand touched her skin, it was all over. After one hour (Dust damn it, just one hour) of holding everything in, Ruby's touch was like a wrecking ball to her psyche. Her mind had gone blank, instinct taking over. All she could think about was Ruby's cool hand on her skin, the feeling of her fingers brushing through her hair. And when Ruby scratched her ears…

I purred.

Blake buried her face in her hands.

She hadn't purred since she was a child, back when the White Fang actually stood for something. She couldn't have been older than… Dust, seven, eight? Young enough that a Faunus could get away with acting on their more instinctual feelings. That had stopped once life forced her to grow up.

Yet in her pent-up state, all it took Ruby was a brush of the hand and a few scratches to turn her into… into…

A damn house cat.

She could have lived with that. If it had just stopped at the ears and the purring, Blake might have been able to salvage the situation, pass it off as some whim that had struck her. But no, oh no, that wasn't good enough for the cat. She had a taste for affection, and the greedy little feline had wanted more.

I kissed Ruby, just blitzed her, right there in the dorm. I didn't ask, I didn't warn her, I just… went for it. Why… why'd I do that?... And why…

Why did she kiss me back?

Blake smiled, despite herself. For a brief moment, she had felt it, the slight pressure as Ruby had leaned into the kiss. And for just a second, so sudden she thought she'd imagined it, the inferno had died down, faded to a comfortable warmth. She'd felt… content.

And then Yang tried to take her head off.

Blake's heart beat faster as she recalled that moment, the confusion, the horror, and then the pure, unadulterated fear as Yang marched towards her, eyes ablaze. Those eyes, so furious, boring into her soul as her form shook with rage, her wet hair glowing, her clothes hugging her damp form, showing off every curve-

Blake slammed her fists to her head.

DAMN IT!

Even terrified, that damn warmth screwed with her head.

It was getting unbearable. She was burning, aching, begging for it to stop, only for her body to heat further. A whimper escaped her lips, her breathing growing ragged.

Can't… can't lose it again… have to… explain… Need to… focus…

Her eyes drifted across the bathroom, finally resting on the shower.

Need to… cool off…

Weiss had given up.

What had been a surprisingly nice evening with her team had devolved into utter chaos in under an hour.

Things had been so quiet, peaceful even, as she had simply focused on her schoolwork, even getting Ruby to do the same for once. Blake was reading a book, Yang was in the shower, unable to annoy her for the time being. It was nearly perfect.

Then Blake slammed her book shut.

Weiss felt a wave of guilt wash over her. Had Blake looked like that the whole night? Ruby was right, she looked sick, downright feverish. Weiss had actually pulled out her scroll, ready to call the infirmary for help (even with the lockdown, someone could have done something).

But then things took a turn for the crazy. The moment Ruby touched Blake's forehead, it was like she'd become a different person. Or rather… a different creature.

Weiss had been around cats before. Her sister Winter had owned one for a number of years before it had passed away. So she recognized what Blake was doing, the gentle rubbing against Ruby's hand, the not-so-subtle request for affection. Well, actually, she hadn't recognized it at first. Not until she saw the ears.

That had been a shocker. Weiss knew they were there, but actually seeing them, two large, fur-covered cat ears poking out of Blake's hair; it suddenly made things seem a bit more real.

Her father's voice echoed in her mind, and she tried desperately to quash down the many memories of his rants and venting.

She very nearly said something, a biting retort on the situation which, in hindsight, would have been rather rude and insensitive. It was a knee-jerk reaction, a byproduct of living in the Schnee household, to belittle anything beyond the status quo. She still had to work on that, as the sight of Ruby scratching Blake's cat ears almost made her say something she knew she would have regretted. And she would have said it, too.

If Blake hadn't started purring.

Weiss couldn't help but stare as Blake rumbled, a smile gracing her lips. Weiss felt her lips quirk upwards a bit at the sight. Between the purring, her smile, and the almost kitten-like way she was acting, Blake actually looked kind of… cute.

Weiss felt her cheeks warm at the thought. She's probably older than me, she chided herself. I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate such a comment… or would she be offended if I didn't find such actions completely normal?

She pushed her thoughts aside. Working out her confusing feelings about Faunus could wait another day. They still needed to figure out why Blake was acting this way. She was feverish, if Ruby's exclamation was to be believed, and was most definitely acting out of character, even if her actions seemed rather harmless…

…

She's kissing Ruby.

…

SHE'S KISSING RUBY!

Weiss felt her mouth fall open, her mind grinding to a halt as she watched the impossible happen. Her cheeks reddened as Blake eagerly pressed her lips against the smaller girl. Ruby seemed just as stunned as Weiss, just standing there frozen. Just as the thought crossed Weiss' mind that she should help her partner, to stop Blake from doing what Ruby clearly wanted no part of…

Is she kissing back?!

Weiss' jaw fell further and her face grew redder as Ruby leaned forward, her jaw working slowly as she pressed closer to the Faunus. When Blake let out a small hum that sounded suspiciously like a moan, Weiss' brain finally shut down.

What little faculties she had left screamed at Weiss to turn away, if for nothing else than to give her teammates privacy, but she couldn't look away. She watched them kiss for what felt like an eternity, her heart rate increasing by the minute.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Well, that snapped her out of it.

Weiss jumped nearly a foot at Yang's sudden yell, and found herself floundering backward once she caught sight of the crimson rage in Yang's eyes.

With the spell broken, Weiss took in the room with a clear head. Ruby seemed more confused than anything, a deep blush on her face as she looked at her sister. Blake, on the other hand, looked both terrified and horrified. She glanced quickly at Ruby, then at Yang, and then strangely, at Weiss. When their eyes met, Weiss' heart skipped a beat.

That look in her eye. That's the same look she had last month. Like she'd been found out. Like she was scared.

Weiss barely registered the gust of wind that blew past her, only catching the slightest glimpse of black as the bathroom door slammed shut.

They all stared at the door for a second before Yang let out a growl.

"Oh, no you don't! Not this time, Belladonna! You get your ass out here right now!" Yang started towards the door.

Ruby rushed in front of her, rose petals floating around her. "Yang, wait!"

Yang paused for a second, frowning down at her sister, before glaring back at the door. "Outta my way, Ruby."

"Yang, just wait for-"

"Did you ask?"

Ruby blinked at the question. "Wha-?"

"Did you… ask her… to kiss you?" Yang's red eyes stared into Ruby's, her face unsettlingly calm.

Ruby blushed, stammering. "W-well, um… n-not… not exactly…"

Yang nodded. "Yep, I'm gonna break her." She pushed past Ruby, only to be blocked again.

"Yang, just-"

"'Just' what, Ruby?!" Yang's sudden yell made both Ruby and Weiss jump. The blonde stared down at Ruby, face flushed in anger. "I get out of the shower and the first thing I see is my partner mackin' on my little sister! I mean, what the hell got into her to think that was in any way okay? Give me one reason I shouldn't bust down that door and beat her into-"

"I think Blake's sick!"

Yang paused mid-word, her arms still up from flailing in her rant. "'Scuze me?"

Seeing that Yang stopped, Ruby rushed ahead. "See, after the movie, I saw that Blake was acting kinda funny, so I watched her for a while before she threw her book down and I saw that she was all red and sweaty and was really tense, so I went over to her and I felt her forehead and she was really, really warm, so I asked if she was okay, and then she started acting kinda weird and rubbing on me, and then her cat ears popped out, so I scratched them and she started purring, which was really cute, but then she looked at me and her eyes got all slanty, and then she kissed me and it felt really nice, andthenIkissedbackthencameoutandImmabequietnow…" She trailed off, her eyes on the ground, her cheeks red.

Weiss and Yang just stared at her for a moment, before Yang tilted her head to the side in confusion, red eyes dimming back down to lavender. "Uh… what?"

Weiss shook her head at the two before elaborating. "Ruby noticed that Blake was acting odd and went to check on her. Blake kind of… froze when Ruby touched her and then started acting like…" She paused, unsure what to say.

"Like…" Yang asked.

Weiss shifted uncomfortably. "Well… for lack of a better word… she was acting like a cat."

Yang's eyes widened, before narrowing dangerously. "You wanna rephrase that, Princess?"

Weiss let out a frustrated sigh, anticipating that kind of reaction to her words. "Believe me, I would if I could, but that's truly how she was acting! When Ruby checked her for a fever, Blake started rubbing against her like a cat begging for attention. And when Ruby scratched her ears…"

"Huh?" Yang turned back to Ruby, who shrugged. "It was all I could think of…"

"...she started purring."

"Wait, what?" Yang snapped back to Weiss. "Purring? As in… actually purring?"

Weiss nodded. "Just like a cat would, yes. Exact same sound. And the, well… you saw…"

Yang looked between the two, before staring at the bathroom door. "So… there's actually something wrong with Blake? She just didn't suddenly get the hots for Ruby?"

Weiss and Ruby blushed at her bluntness. "As far as we can tell."

"Oh," Yang said, the last remaining bits of her anger fading away. Then she looked concerned. "So, what's wrong with her?"

"We don't know. We didn't get that far."

"I don't think she knows what she was doing."

Weiss and Yang turned to the leader, still staring at the ground.

"What do you mean, Rubes?" Yang asked.

"Well," Ruby started awkwardly. "When you… broke us up… she looked… kinda confused… like she didn't know where she was."

Weiss frowned. "Like she was in a trance or something?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah. Her eyes went back to normal, and then she looked… scared."

"Well, I was kinda pissed." Yang rubbed her neck with a sheepish smile on her face.

To their surprise, Ruby shook her head, frowning. "No, it was before she saw you. I think… I think she was scared of me." She looked up to meet their stunned faces. "Of what she'd done with me."

They fell silent as that sunk in. Then Weiss had a thought, pulling out her scroll.

"What are you doing, Princess?" Yang asked.

Ignoring the nickname, Weiss started typing. "I'm pulling up a medical database my family owns."

"You have a medical database?" Ruby asked.

Weiss paused, then continued typing. "Long story. I'm thinking that maybe if I type in Blake's symptoms, at least the ones we know about, it could give us an idea of what's going on with her."

"Oh…" Yang and Ruby droned, then rushed to Weiss' side to watch her progress. Weiss blushed at feeling the sisters lean against her before she finished typing.

...fever, sweating, animalistic tendencies, need for affection, loss of memory… that should do it. Search.

They watched as a little progress bar at the top of the screen fill up, followed by red text taking up the screen.

0 results found

"What?!" Weiss practically screamed. "This is the most advanced, up-to-date medical server in the Kingdoms! It has every illness known to man, from natural to drug induced! How can there be nothing?!"

Just as Weiss was about to call up the company and complain to whatever idiot was in charge, Yang spoke. "Hey, you said your family owns this database, right?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow, confused by her question. "Yes, why?"

"Would they have anything on Faunus specific illnesses?"

Weiss opened her mouth to berate her (of course they would!), but stopped when she realized… her family owned the database.

Weiss' head dipped down at the realization. A cold feeling grew inside her, one she had begun feeling increasingly often in the last month: shame.

"No... " she said softly. "They wouldn't." Without another word, she copied the symptoms she had typed into the database and opened the seldom-used internet browser on her scroll. She pasted them into the search bar and hit enter.

At the top of the page, a link to a medical site said: Faunus Estrous Cycle.

Weiss clicked on it. After reading a few paragraphs, all three were blushing.

"Well… that explains it." Yang said after a moment.

Ruby tilted her head to the side. "So… Blake wants to have our babies?"

"RUBY!" Weiss screeched, aghast, as Yang howled with laughter.

Ruby blushed deeper, looking back at the ground. "Well, that's what it sounds like…"

Weiss cleared her throat, her cheeks still tinted. "Yes, well… um…" She trailed off, staring towards the bathroom door.

Yang, having finally calmed down, followed her gaze. "Yeah, that about sums it up. So… what now?"

Weiss shrugged awkwardly. "Talk to her, I suppose?"

Yang rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah, no duh. I mean, what do we say to her?"

"Well, make sure our suspicions are correct, of course," Weiss said, attempting to be mature. "Then, we'll… um… try and help her?"

Yang gave Weiss a weird look. "Uh, help her as in…?"

It took Weiss a moment before she understood Yang's implication. "Wha- no! No nononono, that's not what I… I-I mean, I… I-I didn't mean to imply… I wasn't suggesting…"

Despite the situation, Yang struggled not to bust up as Weiss blushed and stuttered through her denial of any 'suggestive activities'. She was just about to lose it when Ruby spoke.

"Hey, guys?" They both turned to her. "Hasn't she been in there for a while?"

Yang blinked. Actually… yeah, Blake had been locked in the bathroom for quite some time.

Well, Princess does have a point. We should at least talk to her.

Yang walked up to the door and knocked softly. "Hey, Blake?" When she didn't get an answer, she continued. "Hey, I'm sorry for freaking out on you. I'm calmer now. Can you come out?"

When no answer came, she looked back at the others. Ruby and Weiss stared back, concerned. Yang knocked again, harder. "Blake? You okay in there?" Yang put her ear to the door. She could hear the shower running, but that was it. Strangely, the door felt cool to the touch. "Blake?"

Still no response.

Getting worried, Yang tried the handle. Still locked. She stared at the door, before sighing.

"Guess I'm paying for a new door," she mumbled under her breath. Then she raised her voice. "Blake! I'm coming in!" With all her strength, she threw her shoulder into the door, easily breaking the frame. Finally inside, she said, "Blake, are you…?"

Yang's voice caught in her throat as she looked towards the shower.

Blake was curled in on herself in the corner of the shower, fully clothed. The water beat down on her flushed skin relentlessly, soaking her sleeping robe. Her arms were thrown over her head, her whole body tense. She was shivering.

"Blake!" Yang yelled as she ran across the room, nearly slipping on the wet tiles. She reached for the shower knobs, flinching as the ice cold water hit her. Once the water stopped, she knelt beside Blake, putting her hands on her shoulders. She's freezing! "Blake?"

Blake looked up through her arms, and Yang was stunned at the wet, slitted eyes staring back at her. The amber orbs widened when she saw the blonde.

"Y-Yang?" Her voice was so quiet. Yang frowned at her stutter. The Faunus was shivering so bad, Yang could hear her teeth chattering.

She snapped her head towards the doorway, where Weiss and Ruby stared in shock. "Ruby!" Yang barked, snapping the sniper back to attention. "Get some towels!"

Ruby took one more look at Blake, before nodding. "Right!" she yelled, before dashing over to the closet.

Yang turned back to Blake, who was staring at her through the gap in her arms. When Yang tried to touch her arms, she flinched away. "No! Y-Yang you can't… I-I'm not…"

"Blake, you're freezing. You gotta get out of here." Yang tried to pull the girl up, but Blake wouldn't budge.

"I-I can't… Y-you… you don't understand…"

"I think I do." Blake's head snapped up, terror in her eyes. Yang felt her heart twist at the sight. "And I ain't gonna let you turn yourself into a popsicle if I can help it." Before Blake could respond, Yang yelled behind her. "Ruby, where are those-"

"Right here!" Ruby materialized in front of her, holding a stack of white towels. Yang grabbed the one on top and was about to use it before she noticed a problem. "Uh… okay. Blake, I'm really sorry, and please don't hate me for this."

"W-wha…?" Blake stuttered out, before Yang gripped her arms.

With one motion, Yang pulled Blake's arms apart, leaving Blake exposed. Moving quickly, Yang then grabbed the front of blakes robe and pulled. A wet RIP! echoed through the room.

Blake blinked, suddenly finding herself clad only in her wet bra and panties, sitting in the shredded remains of her robe.

From the doorway, Weiss let out a squawk of indignation. "Yang, you do not just do that!"

Before Blake could fully react, she felt softness envelope her as Yang wrapped the towel around her torso, then doing the same with her legs.

Blake looked down in confusion at the towel, before staring back up at Yang.

"Better?" Yang asked, a nervous smile on her lips.

Blake tried to say something, but her voice caught in her throat. Yes, this felt so much better than the ice shower she'd subjected herself to, but without the cold water beating down on her, she could feel the warmth coming back, not helped by the fact that Yang was so close.

"Y-Yang, I-" she tried, but Yang pressed her index finger to her lips.

"Shh," she shushed with a stern expression. "Let's get out of here before we talk."

Blake jumped as Yang suddenly put her arms under her and lifted. Blake shuddered as she was suddenly wrapped in Yang's very warm embrace, the blonde carrying her across and out of the room, past a very concerned looking Weiss and Ruby.

Inside her, the fire roared.