Yang looked at her new baby sister, Ruby. Being only two, Yang didn't understand a lot, but that didn't mean she couldn't notice things. Turning to her daddy, she put her hands on top of her head, pointing upwards. "Ears."

"That's right Yang, Ruby has ears just like her mommy. You on the other hand have daddy ears." and with that Taiyang flicked his daughters ears, causing her to giggle.

Yang looked back at the wagon she was pulling, Ruby curled up and sleeping inside. It made sense now, why Ruby had those ears and Yang didn't. At age five she was old enough to know what a faunus was, and also old enough to realize she wasn't one. Summer Rose, Ruby's mommy, was not Yang's mommy. Yang's mommy had left her with Daddy shortly after she was born, and Yang was determined to find her. She wanted a normal family, and that meant she needed a mommy and a daddy who were both human. Not a faunus mommy. The other kids in class said the faunus were weird, and Yang didn't want to be weird.

She didn't want Ruby to be weird either, and stop chewing on things and running around in circles all the time. And getting sick if she had chocolate so they couldn't have any in the house until she was old enough to know better. And Yang wanted her to stop sniffing things all the time. Yang was sure if they found her real mommy, she would help Ruby be normal and stop being a faunus. Ruby wouldn't want to be weird and get picked on all the time for being weird after all.

Yang was thrilled to spot the old house from the photo. That joy quickly turned to fear though, as glowing red eyes appeared from within...

Taiyang had just sat reading the morning paper, drinking his coffee, when the yelling started upstairs.

"Ruby! You chewed on my new shirt! Tomorrow is the first day of school and it's already ruined!"

"I'm sorry Yang! It was just so stretchy and fun!"

"Oh my god Ruby, why can't you just be normal instead of a faunus? I know you're an animal but can't you at least act human?"

Taiyang almost choked on his drink at that last part. He knew he'd put off explaining things about Ruby to Yang for a while now, figuring she was too young to understand. Now, hearing just what his seven year old daughter was already saying, he wondered if he had waited too long. Hopefully having the talk now wouldn't be too late, and he could repair any damage done to Yang's perceptions of faunus. How the hell had his little girl been tainted so much already?

"She beat up how many kids?" Taiyang asked, looking out the door of the principal's office where Yang sat on one of those uncomfortable chairs awaiting her fate.

"Six. And the weird thing is, Yang used to get along with them very well. Especially young Cardin, the two were practically best friends." Mrs. Mellon said, rubbing her eyes as she felt a migraine coming on. She clearly hadn't expected to have to deal with this sort of thing on the first day of school. "This is her first offense, but we do have a no fighting policy, and Yang admitted to throwing the first punch. In light of that I have no choice but to suspend her for the week. Her class work will be available for pickup after school until seven in the afternoon, and she will be required to finish all her class work."

"I understand. I'll talk to her about this, see what brought it on." he said, getting up, but then hesitated. "Um, about my other daughter, Ruby. Has there been any sort of problems or..."

"Not that I've heard of. I'm sure she's doing just fine. Stop worrying about her and see to Yang. I think she needs the attention more right now."

Nodding, Taiyang motioned for his namesake to follow, unsure of how to broach the topic. Finally, half way home, he decided on a very simple "Why?"

"I told them what you said about faunus not being animals, but just people who were different. They said you were lying. And then at recess they started calling Ruby names, so I punched them. A lot. Cardin cried like a baby." Yang said in a rather proud tone of voice for somebody in so much trouble.

"For future reference, you are supposed to get a teacher for this stuff. They're trained in how to handle it." Taiyang said with a stern face, before breaking out into a grin. "But on the other hand, I'm proud of you for sticking up for your sister."

"Well, we're family. You said so, right Dad?"

"Right."

"Yang, do you know where Dad is? He was supposed to be home yesterday." Ruby asked, ears flattened against her head showing she was sad, but not pulled back so she wasn't too upset. Yang had to admit, those ears made it very easy to tell what Ruby was feeling. An especially handy trick for playing old maid with the twelve year old girl.

"Eh, I'm sure he's just busy again." was Yang's reply as she walked out and got the mail. "Oh hey, he sent us a letter! And a package!" She held up the small tube, though knowing their dad the size meant nothing.

"Oooh! Something form dad!" In a burst of rose petals, Ruby was clinging to her sisters back, trying to grab the tube for herself. Ever sense she had discovered her speed semblance, Yang had been finding it harder and harder to keep Ruby from snatching things from her, especially food when Yang wasn't paying attention.

Rolling her eyes a little, Yang gave the tube a good shake. Out popped a little ball of black fuzz that rolled around a small bit. As Yang and Ruby leaned in close, it suddenly poofed out into a small black and white dog that yipped at them.

Ruby's reaction was immediate. "Puppy!" Getting down on all fours, she and the dog started sniffing each other and batting lightly at each other, looking as happy as can be.

Opening the letter, Yang began to read out loud. "Dear girls, I'm sorry that I can't come home right now, but work has been more involved than expected. Again I am sorry that I wasn't able to attend your twelfth birthday Ruby, but I figured my birthday present would make up for it. Don't read the rest until you open the gift...Surprise! It's that puppy you always wanted! His name is Zwei. Enclosed with him is all the stuff you need to take care of him. Feed him half a can twice a day, he's not big enough for a full can each meal yet." Giving the tube another shake, out came a small fuzzy dog bed, a food dish and water bowl, a couple dozen cans of dog food, a new can opener, and several dog toys including a

"Ball!" Ruby shouted as she and Zwei chased after it. "Ball ball ball ball ball ball ball ball ball ball ball ball aww Zwei got it."

Yang couldn't help but laugh. It had been a while since she'd last played fetch with Ruby. Well, now she'd have a new friend to do it with.

"Ruby, you're here! You're going to love Signal, trust me!" Yang said, smiling. "What's with the hood though? You can't see your"

"Shhh!" Ruby pleaded, slapping a hand over Yang's mouth.

Yang understood then, and really wished she didn't. Signal was a fresh start for Ruby. As far as they knew nobody else from her old school would be joining her here. It was a clean slate.

Nobody had to know she was a faunus.

"What do you mean she was arrested?" Taiyang asked, pounding his fist on the secretary's desk.

"I'm sorry sir, but White Fang paraphernalia was found inside your daughter's locker during a random search. The police think she might have been involved in a recent attack in the area."

"Involved in a? She's turning fifteen in two weeks. She's not even fifteen years old and they think she's a terrorist? That's it, I'm going down there right now to sort this out."

The drive home was in very awkward silence. He'd managed to work things out with the police, provide an alibi, and walk out with Ruby. He hadn't even tried to get her things back, except for Crescent Rose. That, at least, wasn't White Fang related. Still, there was one thing weighing on his mind. The fact that the alibi was a lie. Ruby hadn't been home eating dinner with the family that night. She had been out late, saying she was looking at CDs with her friends. Now, however, he had to really wonder. He hated doing it, but he knew he had to ask. "Ruby, are you"

He didn't get to finish. "No Dad, I'm not a White Fang." she said angrily, silence resuming. Subdued, she continued after a minute. "I wanted to be for a bit, I admit. On really bad days. But that bomb, I mean there were kids there. And the other stuff I've been hearing. They just hate humans so much." Ruby slumped back, clearly disappointed. "They aren't the good guys anymore." There were tears in her eyes. "Why can't there be faunus good guys?"

Thinking back to several years ago when the White Fang had been peaceful protestors and defenders of faunus, Taiyang could sympathize. This more extremist behavior had only been around for a couple of years, but it was escalating badly. Still, he could understand why Ruby might cling to the idea of the old Fang, and feel like the new stuff was being exaggerated, or that maybe the humans deserved it for how they treated faunus. But indiscriminate stuff like bombing a shopping center..."Ruby, there are faunus heroes. Your mom was one, and you're going to be one too right?"

"Tell that to the TV." The rest of the ride home was in painful silence.

Ruby was feeling a little sad. Yang would be leaving for Beacon tomorrow. Wanting to take her mind off of the fact that she wouldn't see Yang for a long while, Ruby walked into her favorite dust shop. The old man smiled and waved at her. The owner of Dust Til Dawn was very faunus friendly, one of the reasons Ruby frequented his shop. Smiling and waving back, she went to the back to check out the newest issues of Weapon Monthly, and The Hunter Review. Last months issue promised an in depth look at various scope options for primary and secondary rifles in WM, and THR had apparently managed to get an interview with THE Professor Ozpin. Putting on a pair of headphones and listening to some dubstep, Ruby began reading up on professional opinions on her preferred model of scope, not hearing the door chime ring as a certain orange haired criminal and his crew sauntered in...