Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ruby’s scythe was swaying, right and left, left and right.

In front of her was Pyrrha, who looked distinctly bored.

If anything, that was pissing Ruby off even more. Of course Pyrrha looked bored, she never took a fight seriously in her life and won them all anyway. It was just a training bout, but she still wouldn’t go all out.

Of course that meant that the day she fought someone on her level, she died. She went to fight Cinder Fall with all the arrogance of an invincible champion and died for nothing. Less than nothing, she made Cinder much more powerful.

Ruby had been angry to a lot of people since she reincarnated, but Pyrrha? Pyrrha pissed her off more than anything.

“You know, I always wondered,” she said, all smile. “Who picked the title ‘invincible girl’ for you?”
“Why do you ask?” Pyrrha was always so very polite. It was very, very annoying.
“Because it’s a stupid title? The day you’ll lose, you’ll be what, Pyrrha the not-so-invincible girl? The invincible-girl-except-for-that-one-time?”
Pyrrha’s smile looked a lot more strained suddenly. Good.

When the signal rang, Ruby didn’t so much sprint at her as she disappeared, her semblance boosting her speed. Original, fifteen-years-old Ruby would never have had enough control on her aura to do any of this, but Aura is the soul. And her soul? It made it back from the Ever After with her.

Her scythe was intercepted by a slightly surprised Pyrrha, who wasted no time with her own counterattack. Ruby went backward with another burst of her semblance and fired a few shots with Crescent Rose, all blocked by that annoying shield. Pyrrha evidently didn’t like her shield a lot since she threw it at Ruby a second later.
‘She wants me to dodge so she can bring it back from behind me.’ Instead of doing that, she hit the shield with her scythe so it went right back to Pyrrha’s waiting hand.

“Come on, tin can!” Ruby yelled above the sound of Pyrrha’s gun. “Is that all you got? Want to lose your title yet?!”

She took a bit of dust in her hand, used her semblance to get close and threw it a Pyrrha’s face. She just twisted around, letting the dust pass near her face without connecting, and delivered a vicious jab at Ruby’s stomach with her spear. Ruby took it gladly, her own weapon catching Pyrrha in the head.

The both flew at opposite sides of the arena. Catching her breath, Ruby could still feel her anger coursing through her, old, molten lava making trying to get out through her skin, her stomach, her mouth. “Hey, tin can, did you expect to die once you’ll lose your title? Is that why you picked it?!” She ran at Pyrrha, a tornado of steel and rose petals. “The invincible girl! Once she’ll lose, she’ll just die and vanish in the pages of history!” She caught Pyrrha’s shield with her blade and sent it flying. “The invincible girl, mankind’s champion!” She managed to hit her in the arm before a kick to the stomach sent her backward. Before she could find her footing again, Pyrrha was on her, her sword almost finding her throat before a burst of semblance allowed her to put some distance.
“The invincible girl, who can’t even be bothered to fight me!”

Pyrrha’s shoulders relaxed. “I didn’t take you for a trash talker, Ruby.”
‘And I didn’t take you for a martyr.’ Ruby almost fired back. Instead she just said “You’re annoying me.”
“Oh, but that’s not why you’re acting like that isn’t it?” Pyrrha’s smile took an edge, her eyes full of steel. “You’re angry at me, or angry at everyone and everything. But you don’t have a reason to be, so you’re looking for one. If you push us far enough, maybe we’ll snap at you and give you an excuse to lash out, but so far no one took the bait, did they?”
Ruby gritted her teeth. She opened her mouth to answer before she felt an impact at the back of her head. Her fucking shield! She twisted to the side to avoid Pyrrha’s next few bullets.
“I get it Ruby, I really do. It’s annoying when the world just doesn’t want to dance with you, isn’t it? So just this once, I’m going to indulge you.”

Pyrrha’s aura expanded.

No, it wasn’t so much that it was expanding, more like it was stretching after being cooped up too long. She was already imposing before, but her presence was dwarfing anyone else in the room at that moment. Her eyes shone, and her smile grew.

Ruby tried to swing crescent rose, but the blade stopped moving in mid-air. She was only distracted for a fraction of a second, but Pyrrha took advantage of it and fired a few shots at her knees, making them buckle. The moment she did, Pyrrha was in her face, sword in hand, slicing at her aura with much more strength than before.
Ruby took a few step back before the metal cross around her neck tightened, strangling her. She gripped at it, trying to get it off, but Pyrrha’s spear found her in the eye.

Or at least it would have, if Ruby didn’t disappear in a cloud of petals. When she got out, the cross wasn’t around her neck anymore. In fact, all the metal she had on her had fallen to the ground. A neat trick of Petal Burst.
She jumped at Pyrrha with a wordless roar, channeling her semblance. Pyrrha and her both disappeared in a cloud of petals, Pyrrha’s semblance tried to pull her away but Ruby didn’t give her the time before throwing her outside of the arena. A ring out was still a win.

Then Pyrrha stopped in mid air, held by her own armor. Without missing a bit, Ruby put Crescent Rose in a sniping form and fired at her, but Pyrrha’s hand rose and the bullets stopped mid air, as if impacting an invisible wall. She then moved her hand to the side, and Crescent Rose made a horrible jamming sound.
Ruby felt her gut clench as she looked at her baby, now useless. The internal mechanisms were all thrown out of order, and she could feel some of the gears falling inside the weapon.

Pyrrha once again took advantage of the distraction shooting her in the hand and eye, taking away chunks of her aura.
“What’s wrong, Ruby? Is there a problem with your weapon?”
Pyrrha had her eternal polite smile on her face.
Ruby didn’t bother answering. She had felt angry for a few weeks now, but it was simmering lava. Now, Pyrrha would die. It was simple, really. She broke Crescent Rose, so she would die. If Ruby didn’t kill her now, Cinder would later but really who had time to wait for that?
She’ll break her neck today.

Her hand shot up to her purse and she fished out some rock dust. Pyrrha kept shooting at her of course, but Ruby just dodged using her semblance and idly shaped the dust into a rocky spear.
Then she jumped at Pyrrha, her spear impacting her shield. It wasn’t strong enough to break it, far from it, but the impact was violent enough that Pyrrha fell back into the ring.

Ruby let go of her spear and punched Pyrrha in the face, using her semblance to enhance her speed. Pyrrha tried to buy herself some space with her sword and shield for a moment, but whenever she rose her shield Ruby just used her semblance to got to an undefended side and hit her again.
It took only a few seconds of that song and dance for Pyrrha to let go of her own weapons and intercept Ruby’s hands with her own, grabbing her arm and throwing her away. Ruby just used her semblance to cancel the momentum and go back at it.

Fifteen years old Ruby Rose would have lost against Pyrrha in a heartbeat. She did train with Yang and her dad, but she wasn’t strong enough to really use their fighting style. However, she wasn’t a fifteen years old anymore. She had trained with Ozpin for years to compensate for that weakness.
Pyrrha was good, of course she was. She was good at everything. But Ozpin had been alive for hundreds of years, and he trained her.
She was winning, simple as that. She was weaker, but faster, and her technique was so old that Pyrrha didn’t know how to react.

She used her semblance to get around Pyrrha once more but got pulled back, something was holding her arm. She looked at it, but there was absolutely nothing. For that distraction, she took a punch to the face. She tried to put some distance, but something was still holding her arm.
It took her a few seconds, during which her aura took dangerous amount of damages, before she figured it out. Pyrrha was expanding her aura to hold her arm in place.
Seeing the grimace on her face, she wasn’t that used to the technique, but it was still impressive. Even the Ace Ops had troubles with it.
The thing was, the problem with Pyrrha had never been that she wasn’t impressive. She was, she always had been, even in death. The problem was that she waited until that point to go all out when she could have used it to break free of Ruby’s semblance, she could have used it to throw her out of the arena, she could have used it as soon as Ruby was getting too close with hand to hand. She waited until she almost lost to go all out.

With a roar, Ruby wrenched her arm free of Pyrrha’s aura, making her stumble. She used that stumble to go behind her and grab her in a choke hold. Pyrrha had seen this coming and managed to use one of her arm to protect herself, so the position wasn’t perfect, but she was still chocking her. Pyrrha tried to move her other arm to use her semblance, but Ruby used her legs to hold it too. “No this time!” She was holding her full weight against Pyrrha’s back.

Pyrrha chose not to resist against her weight and fell backward, slamming Ruby against the ground. She then went back to a sitting position and slammed her again, and again, and again. Ruby was seeing stars, but nothing was more important than holding on. Pyrrha’s core strength was, as anything about her, impressive, which was pissing her off even more, so she tightened her hold.
Ruby lost track of time. All that mattered was holding on. At some point she begin to feel her aura splinter and crack under the strain, but she held on. At some point she began to feel something trying to separate Pyrrha and her, but she held on.

“Enough!”
Then she blinked, and she was mid-air, held in a purple glow. She could feel liquid - blood, her brain told her - sliding down her neck.
In front of her, also held by the purple glow, was Pyrrha. She looked a bit out of it, barely awake.
Ruby trashed against the her bonds. “I almost had her!”
“Miss Rose, you lost the fight a while ago.”
Ruby looked at the aura meter. Her aura… Was empty. Meanwhile, Pyrrha’s was still in the lower yellow.
“What you will do is go to the infirmary, then we’ll decide of a suitable punishment for fighting despite my signal.”

Chapter Text

Ruby did not come back to the dorms that night. Her team would ask for explanations, and apart from “Pyrrha is going to doom us all one day because she can’t keep her ego in check” she didn’t really have one. They were already at the end of their rope with her, and not only could she not blame them, she was moments away from snapping too.

Instead she went to the workshop and disassembled Crescent Rose. It was late, which meant the workshop would be empty, which meant peace and quiet.
She liked Crescent Rose. Once upon a time she had let Pietro ‘upgrade’ her baby, but this was the original. Good ol’ Scythe 3.0, the one that never let her down. Sure her hands were shaking a bit whenever she had to use it, but that was fine. She didn’t plan on fighting Salem again, so she didn’t need to be a war machine anymore. Just Ruby Rose and Crescent Rose, a normal huntress with normal knees and a normal weapons ready to kill normal Grimms.

Pyrrha had done a number on her, many pieces were lose and the mechashift was busted, no way to put it back in rifle form. She would need to disassemble it all and put it back together from scratch.

She was looking at the tools Beacon had - a quite frankly spectacular array, she could still remember spending hours on end inside this very workshop tinkering the day away - when she realized something.
She didn’t know how which one to use.
Her breath quickened. No way. She’d been making weapons with her Uncle since she was a kid, she just needed to find the right screwdrivers and wrenches and she’d be set. She just needed to start, and when she did it would come back naturally. Maybe she couldn’t fight as well as she used to, but this was her baby. She could tell what was wrong with it by sound alone.
She took as many tools as she could and laid them out in front of her. She had options. She had the means. She could do this.
She took a deep breath and got to work.
She just needed time.

Taking it apart took time indeed, so much longer than what she used to, but after a few hours of trial and error she had managed to fully disassemble Crescent Rose. She took notes so she’d be sure to remember what she did and in what order, but now she had a fully dismantled weapon and… No clue on how to repair it.

She couldn’t recognize half the pieces. Some of them were more recent, she had a vague memory of changing them a few days before coming to Beacon, but the oldest ones? She didn’t have a clue. She couldn’t tell why they were there, couldn’t recall what the process was, why she chose them. They were just… There. Looking up from the workbench they were laid on, useless.

How much time had it been since she worked on her baby? After Beacon fell, she took special care of it so it never broke, she only had to changed the blade, a fairly straightforward process. By the time she made it to Atlas the gun was starting to act up, but Pietro fixed it for her while doing his upgrades and then he took care of it whenever she had a problem, she just never had the time. Then Atlas fell, then there was the Ever After…

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, tracing the edge of the blade with her finger. It remained silent, cold. She chuckled weakly. “I don’t even know where to start. It’s been too long...”
She took a bent spring in her hand. “I… I don’t think I can fix you.”

Her hand tightened. She could feel the sprint bend even more around under her fingers. She wished she could feel it dig into her skin, but of course it wouldn’t, her aura was taking care of that. She grit her teeth and crushed it in her hands. She had many spares, not a problem. She just needed to take this step by step and it would be fine, she was being dramatic. She shoved her anxiety down and turned toward the table, biting her lips.

She could start from the blade. It was the most straightforward part, just slice Grimm up and call it a day. But of course the blade didn’t simply kill, it had to be more complicated than that. It had to bend, shift, fit in with the rest, and serve as a support for the rifle and well, it couldn’t exactly do that anymore could it?
The rifle itself? Ignoring the busted mechanisms, it too had to move around. She had to aim with it so it must expose the scope if needed, and if not it should give momentum while she moved in scythe form with a second trigger that was, of course, inactive in rifle form! It would be too easy otherwise!
She took the scope in her hands, her arms shaking. Every. Single. Piece. Every single one had to fit in with the others, support the others. If one of them failed, they all did. She had designed it that way. Crescent Rose was supposed to be perfect, and now it couldn’t even do it’s own basic! Fucking! Task!
She didn’t realize she had thrown away the scope until she heard it break against the wall.
“No! No no no no no!”

She ran toward it and cradled it against her. Bent tube. Some of the lenses had cracked under pressure, useless now. Unfixable, at this point better to buy a new one from the store and call it a day.

But she couldn’t buy one from the store. That was the only one she had. No other would have been a gift from her dad to congratulate her on going at Signal, no other would have that scratch mark on the side from the first time she installed it. It was unique, it was hers, and she destroyed it.

——

She carefully wrapped up the individual pieces and put them in their individual boxes. She really couldn’t do this. Not that night, maybe not ever. She felt too numb, too tired for it.
As she was left the once familiar workshop, all she could think about was tea.

Chapter Text

She needed spare parts. That’s the excuse Ruby would give if anyone asked why she was taking a trip to Vale in the late evening instead of doing the sensible thing and wait for the following day.

She walked on the outskirt of Beacon, smiling as she remembered when they needed Bullheads to carry them from places to places. Yang always managed to rope someone into playing a card game or another on the way, and Weiss would always bicker about the rules at one point or another. Blake would smile, pretending to read but actually just looking at the group having fun. The trip always seemed to take a few minutes instead of an hour.

Of course, if Ruby had learned one thing in her years of working with Ozpin, it was that she was faster than a Bullhead. So instead of taking one, she simply ran to the cliffs and jumped in the forest. She didn’t even need a landing strategy anymore, she simply aimed for the trees and let them slow her fall enough to convert it into a roll and take off running.

She ran, focused only on the path in front of her and the ground beneath her feet. A few young Grimms tried to intercept her, too inexperienced to know this was Huntsman territory, and died for their trouble.

Running was another thing she missed. In the wild, there was always the risk of finding some old Grimms, or they didn’t have enough food so she had to conserve energy. At Beacon, she could let loose and sprint if she damn wanted to, just for the fun of it.

She laughed as she sped up more and more until she was out of breath, and then she pushed herself even more before collapsing near a river, still laughing. She had forgotten how much she loved the feeling of her muscles burning when it wasn’t a life or death situation. The birds were chirping above her and she could feel the humidity of the evening air, the sound of the water against the rocks. And above that she could hear the sounds of the city - Bullheads and cars moving about. Once upon a time it would have ruined the experience, but now it brought her peace. Vale was still standing; she was still safe. She could turn around and spend the next two days sleeping if she wanted to. She could keep going, find a nice restaurant and eat until she couldn’t stand up anymore. She could find a library and read the night away, she could do whatever she damned please with herself. No world ending threat, no Salem, everything was still fine.

Of course, it wouldn’t be forever, but nothing would last forever. One day Beacon would fall, one day she’ll die, and these two days would probably even end up being the same. But while it lasted, she could enjoy this.

She got up, patted her cloak to dislodge the dirt and leaves stuck to it, and walked the rest of the way, enjoying the sights and sounds as she did. Taking big breath of the cold night air, she couldn’t help but think that really, she was lucky.

—

She eventually arrived in Vale. She explored the outskirts, Walked the streets and dodged a few people along the way. She didn’t had an address in mind, but she was confident she would find something eventually.

And find one she did. It didn’t look like much, a shop lost amongst many others in the dimly lit street, but it would have to do.

She opened the door, the warm air and the sound of a soft piano washing over her. The shop was almost empty, Ruby could only see two customers and the shopkeeper, who looked both too young and tired to manage to place, but hey, who was she to judge? Technically she was still fifteen and she carried a weapon bigger than herself.

She walked through the aisles. Huntsmen shops were usually separated in three areas: Dust, spare parts, and whole weapons. Some of the weapons were new, others not so much. It was always sad to see an elaborate weapon with the sticker “used once” and the faintest trace of blood, but it was also a common sight.

So she browsed. She didn’t really know what she was looking for ; she still didn’t want to even think about fixing her baby, so spare parts were a no go. Sure, in the meantime she could manage with hand to hands, but having a temporary weapon wouldn’t hurt. She always wanted to use a shortsword or a dagger, but that was ill advised. Even now she ignored them; sure, they would be useful enough against the Grimms, but Tyrian or Mercury would get close and break her guard too easily, so she had to pass. Same thing with the more elaborate ones; a longsword that turns into a rocket launcher and a minigun was cool and would allow her to take pressure off her team, but it was too slow to shift and would take too much time to maintain in the wild.

Ruby blinked and facepalmed. She wasn’t in the wilds; Tyrian had no idea she existed yet and Mercury was too busy looking like a normal student to ambush her in the streets of Atlas. She was just looking for something to slaughter a few Grimms in combat class and call it a day.

She was seriously considering a spear-gun - the tip of the spear could open up and fire ridiculously large calibers - when she felt an arm around her neck, a black glove holding a scroll thrust in front of her.

Guess who?

Ruby disappeared in a cloud of petals and reappeared a few steps behind, her hands already reaching for Crescent Rose- dammit!

Neo looked at her with a big smile, her hands raised in mock surrender.

She… Looked better. The last time she’d seen Neo, she was barely holding together. She had deep, dark circles under her eyes, her clothes were dirty, and her hairs looked more like straw than anything else. Now, she looked well rested and like she took the time to take care of her appearance.

And looked happy. Scratch that, she looked like she had found enlightenment. She was smiling, a full on smile, and swaying slowly to a rhythm only she could hear.

She waved the scroll again and pointed behind her.

Without really meaning to, Ruby followed her finger and saw Roman Torchwick, looking distinctly peeved and muttering at the same longsword-rocket-launcher-minigun she had been looking at minutes prior.

He tisk’d and raised his voice. “Neo, I don’t think we’ll find anything good here. This place doesn’t have any style.” He then turned toward her, and his jaw dropped.

“Little Red?”

“Torchwick?!”

He bolted to the door, but Neo was faster, tackling him in a full-on hug that sent him sprawling to the floor. “Not this again! Neo! Stop it!” She didn’t give a sign that she heard him and instead rubbed her head against his coat, seemingly at peace with the world. “Dammit Neo! Let me go!”

Ruby just looked at them, puzzled. Roman Torchwick was not here, he was in an Atlas airship, supposedly in the most secure cell they had. She hadn’t heard any news he escaped, but here he was.

Ruby would suspect that Neo was just using her semblance again, but she had never acted so… affectionate with her own illusions. So this was probably the real deal. Probably.

Ruby stood there for a good minute while Roman fruitlessly tried to get out of the hug before groaning, giving up and lying on the floor, accepting his fate. The he looked at Ruby, his eyes unreadable. “Red, I swear on all of remnant that if a word of this gets out I will personally break your legs.”

Ruby just sat on the floor, taking her chin in her hand. “I don’t want to be rude, but you’re not that threatening right now.”

His eyes narrowed. “I. Know.” He plastered a smile on his face. “Anyway, what’s up Little Red? What’s a kid like you doing in this part of town?”

“I’m just… shopping.”

“Funny that, so am I! And I am going to continue shopping far away from here if you don’t mind!”

Neo pointedly did not move. Neither did Roman. Neither did Ruby.

The piano was still playing in the background. Beneath that, Ruby could hear the soft snore of the clerk.

A moment passed.

Ruby got up. “Right, I guess I should probably…” call Beacon? She pondered that for a second and threw the idea away. Salem was not her problem anymore, which meant that neither was Torchwick.

Or Neo, who still looked nauseatingly happy. Which was disturbing.

She felt a hand tap her shoulder and found a second - fake - Neo looking at her, holding a scroll.

If I knew killing you would bring him back, I would have tried harder. Thanks Little Red!

Ruby’s mouth hanged open, then she punched the illusion, smashing it into pieces. “Well fuck you too!”

“Woah Red, who taught you that kind of language?”

Ruby turned toward him, seething. During her little freak out Roman had apparently managed to get to a sitting position and was petting Neo’s hairs. Neo sighed contently. Roman paused and looked at Neo.

“And what was that about killing her?”

—

It took some time, first to pry Neo off Roman - she looked like a kicked puppy - then to pry Ruby off Neo - who had a new bruise from Ruby kicking her - but they could now finally talk like adults.

Ruby really should have called the Beacon, but Roman had yelled - a bit panicked - that he knew a nice café and the drinks were on him, so why not. How a wanted criminal could just go to a small café with two kids in tow and not arouse suspicion, Ruby would never know. It was probably a confidence thing, as the real Roman Torchwick would never just go out for a drink in town.

That would be insane, and he was not insane, at least the general population did not think he was.

Given his expression, he was not extending the same courtesy toward Ruby, but that was okay. She didn’t really care about him past the nightmares of his last screams and the vendetta Neo had against her.

“You know, I would like to say that this is not the craziest thing I’ve ever heard, but that would be a lie.”

Ruby shrugged. So did Neo. The café was nice, quiet except for the radio, empty, and with a good selection of drinks.

“Red, if you really wanted me to believe something this stupid the least you could do is bring me some proof.”

Ruby just drank her cocoa. Nice, warm cocoa. She loved cocoa and cocoa loved her. Cocoa did not ask her question. Cocoa did not try to kill her one day, succeed the next and hug her because she somehow solved more problems dead than alive.

“Come on Red!” Roman had taken coffee - the inferior choice - and it was obviously making him jittery. “Can’t answer me? What, cat got your tongue?”

Cocoa was her friend but Cocoa’s mug could not resist the grip strength of a huntress. Cocoa spilled on her clothes.

Ruby just looked at the growing stain dimly, vaguely aware that she should really fix it, but she felt distant, as if she was watching herself from the outside. ‘Why yes, this is Ruby Rose. As you can see, the mention of an animal shattered her ability to do the simplest of tasks. If you look more closely, you can see that she’s even having troubles breathing and her arms are shaking.’

She felt a pang of pain in her chest, her eyes darting around for an escape, anything. A hand fell on her shoulder. Neo was there, looking at her with a curiously neutral expression. She was breathing deeply, matching the tempo of her breath with her fingers; sliding them up her shoulder when inspiring, down when expiring. It was a simple rhythm, so even Ruby managed to follow it eventually. Once her body was under control, she sighed, took a bunch of paper towels from the table and cleaned herself up.

Roman looked a bit taken aback. “You okay there Red?”

Ruby shrugged again. She felt tired, the happy memories of the evening seemed so distant. “I’ll manage.” She looked at Neo. “Thanks?”

Neo nodded just once, a frown on her face. She typed something on her scroll and turned it around.

I hate that thing too.

Ruby nodded. Maybe the only thing they could agree on, and it was hatred. A few years back it would have disgusted her, but her moral high ground had kind of crashed with Atlas.

Neo sat back, Ruby got a refill and an employee to clean up the glass shards - Roman would pay for the mug too, of course - before resuming the conversation.

“I could tell you that you work with Adam Taurus and Cinder Fall to bring down Beacon, but I guess Neo could have told me that too.” At the end of the day, it was a matter of him trusting Neo over his own common sense.

He laid back in his chair, his eyes drifting to Neo. “Well. I guess that explains why you’ve been so clingy.”

Neo nodded emphatically.

“And that also explain why you ignored the plan and got me out of the airship early.”

Neo nodded again.

“It just doesn’t explain why you aren’t doing anything about this.” Roman pointed a Ruby with his coffee mug. “Red, you’re the kind of girl who couldn’t even let a humble thief do his job in peace. I’m not buying you doing nothing when you know the end of Vale is going to happen. If I were you, I’d go straight to Ozpin, tell him everything you told me and stop this whole thing.”

Ruby sipped at her new mug. “First, Ozpin wouldn’t believe me. You only do because you would believe Neo even if she told you the sky is pink.”

“Wouldn’t be the strangest thing.”

“Second!” She cut him off, "I’ve already tried to help. Out of the three academies I’ve been to, the only one that survived was the one where I didn’t do anything. So now…” She looked at Neo. “I’m just doing nothing. I’ve always did more harm than good, so it’s not my problem anymore.”

Neo nodded once more.

Roman raised an eyebrow. “I hate to break it to you Red, but that’s your problem too. Me? I’m leaving this hellhole the moment it goes to shit, but I don’t think you have the money to live the rest of your life in luxury in any of the four Kingdoms.”

Ruby kicked her feet under the table. “That’s what I’m doing already. I’m sleeping in, I’m eating everything I can, I’m already living in luxury. I’m just a bit more ahead in the program.” She took a sip and left the end of her sentence hang in the air. What would she do when Vale fell? Probably nothing. And after that? Probably not her problem anymore. She kind of hoped she would loop back to Beacon, but It really didn’t matter.

The conversation hit a lull after that, and Ruby was content to let it be. She still didn’t really know why she was there, It seemed to be more for Neo’s sake than anything, but at least it was nice. Roman was surprisingly pleasant when he wasn’t shooting at her, and Neo still looked at her with a content smile, like she was doing something right.

Ruby realized with a start that she was more comfortable with two of the people responsible for the end of the world than with her own team. It should have made her anxious, or maybe mad, but she was too tired to be angry - or was it relaxed? Was there even if a difference?”

She yawned.

Roman stretched “Yeah, it’s time for us to hit the road too. Got plenty of people to see.”

She really should have reported him to the police. Too bad she’d just somehow make the situation worse. “I’m just going to sleep for a bit then I’ll head back too.”

She laid back in her chair and closed her eyes. She could hear movement, then Roman’s voice, almost a whisper. “Are you serious?! These things are not cheap, they’re even bigger thieves than us!”

A pause.

“Fine, fine, I’ll do it.” He raised his voice. “Red. Hey, Red! Don’t sleep here.”

She opened her eyes. She was really tired. “Why not?”

“Listen, Neo wants to buy you a hotel room. So, take this,” he took a few hundred liens from his jacket, “And go spend the night somewhere nice. Preferably where you won’t get kidnapped, robbed and all that fun stuff you’re too young for.”

She opened her mouth to argue but found a glove in front of it. And of course, Neo’s scroll.

See ya next time Red!

By the time she turned around, shattering the illusion, the twos were already gone.

—

Eventually, after Roman paid and left, she managed to find a hotel in Vale. Turns out Roman gave her enough for a very nice room, with a very nice, very large, comfy bed.

Without really thinking about it, she took her scroll out of her pocket. She had a lot of messages from Yang - it was still not midnight, so she was still thinking Ruby was sulking somewhere and was not really panicking yet, but she was still worried.

Ruby furrowed her brows. She was still angry at Yang. Everytime she looked at her, she only wanted to scream at her.

But, this was still her sister. So, reluctantly, she sent a picture of the hotel room with a message.

I ’m fine. Found a hotel in Vale, I’ll be back tomorrow.

The worst part was, she really meant it.

Chapter Text

The night before, when Ruby went to sleep, she really intended to wake up bright and early the following morning and go back to Beacon. She was ready. She had set an alarm.

She woke up at seven am, killed the alarm, killed the following two alarms and went right back to sleep, lulled by the sound of a rainstorm.

She woke up groggily at ten, still in that large, comfy bed that was almost swallowing her. After a quick call to the hotel to book one more night, she laid back into bed and stared at the ceiling for a while. Outside, the rain had only intensified.

This… Was nice.

Since she drank the tea and went back in time, she was always around people, around her team. She spent her days and nights with them when all she wanted was to scream, yell, make them pay for what they did to her. They all betrayed her one way or another, all left her to rot when she needed them the most. They deserved every single bit of vitriol she could throw at them, she could lit them on fire and it still wouldn’t be enough to calm her down.

Except they were not them. In a very real way, she’d lost her big sister when she drank the tea. Weiss, Blake, Jaune, Nora, Ren, all of them were gone for good. Either she left them behind or they - as usual - left her behind with the rewind, but these people were dead for all intent and purpose. But the young versions? They didn’t deserve her anger. Pyrrha did, because her ego was going to kill her, but apart from that? Yang was still the best big sister in the world, Weiss was still her old cold but caring self, Blake was still passionate, full of drive and fire that just refused to be extinguished. They were still good people. For all intent and purpose, they didn’t change.

She did.

She was the one who let the world end. She was the one who lead her team when Atlas fell. She was the one who saw them all buckle and break under pressure, one by one. She was the one who didn’t stop it, couldn’t prevent it. She was the one who replaced Ruby Rose with a bitter mess who couldn’t even get out of bed to go to classes. She was the one that found one place without her team and just couldn’t leave it. The simple thought of going back to Beacon, back to them, awake the old anger, but it just made her tired. So, so tired.

She snuggled back into the covers. She was almost asleep again when she thought of something.

“Oh yeah, Yang…”

She opened her scroll, ignored the missed calls, scrolled right past the unread messages and sent a quick text.

Won’t be back today. Maybe tomorrow.

She turned off her scroll and turned around until she found a comfortable position. Now, she could get back to bed. A few more hours of sleep, then she’ll see if she could eat something, then she’d soak in the enormous bathtub and then she would see. Today, she was resting.

—

“Are you kidding me!”

Team RWBY’s dorm were, for the first time ever, missing their leader.

Yang was not particularly enjoying the news.

“I’m going to strangle her. Then I’m going to ship her straight to dad so he can strangle her too.” She was pacing back and forth, back and forth, in a scene that had become increasingly common whenever Ruby wasn’t around.

She was, coincidentally, following Blake who was also pacing around.

“Well, at least we know it’s not the white fang…” she muttered.

“Don’t even joke about that.” Weiss was at her desk, doing her best to appear calm, her textbook opened at the same page for the past day.

“Right, right, sorry.”

She kept pacing. So did Yang.

“I just don’t get it! First she’s moody, then she snaps at Pyrrha, and now what? She just goes to Vale? Alone?!”

“You do realize that Ruby is mature enough to handle herself in the city?”

“Yeah, sure.” Yang threw her arms in the air. “But spending the night out without inviting us?!”

Blake was still pacing. “If we go over the facts, we know she’s not been kidnapped, and we know no one at school is messing with her.”

Weiss, ever the voice of reason, interrupted them. “After her little display with Pyrrha, I don’t think anyone would dare.”

“And what was up with that?!” Yang was still yelling. Weiss sighed. “She’s not that good at close combat, and that wasn’t something dad taught us.”

“She was also furious…” Blake, ever the intellectual, stopped pacing and finally sat on a bed. “I got that she was mad at us for something, but she really went hard on her.”

Weiss winced. Pyrrha had been… Quieter than usual following her fight. Like anyone else in their little group, she was worried about Ruby, but there was something else lurking under there. At least if there was one team able to

“Oh yeah, Ruby’s always been like that. When we were kids, she would just be all smile and one day she’d snap and throw the biggest tantrum. One time she was mad at me for a month, and she only told me when I did something even worst.”

Weiss paused. “That seems childish.”

“She’s a child.”

“We’re all children.” Blake interrupted. Yang and Weiss glared at her. “Or at least we’re not adults yet.” She amended.

Weiss took her chin between her fingers. “What I don’t understand is what we did to make her this angry. In initiation, I was… A bit unpleasant, but she acted out on her anger immediately” That tree she cut nearly gave her a heart attack.

"I don’t have a clue…” Yang groaned. “If we weren’t on the same team, I could see her lashing out because I’m not here for her, but that can’t be it.”

“Maybe we should just give her some space?” Blake ventured. “If she really wants to talk to us, she’ll come back.”

“The last time left someone mope we gave the docks a surprise remodeling session.” Yang sat on a bed - her bed, Weiss noticed with a frown. She continued, unperturbed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I mean, she’s not fighting terrorists. She’s just… In Vale. In a hotel. Alone.” At each of Blake’s word, Yang turned paler and paler. “It’s okay!” she added quickly. “All I’m saying is that she’s not picking a fight with terrorists.”

Weiss… didn’t find anything to add to the conversation. It was a familiar one that she’d been hearing for the past weeks.

Two weeks ago, in a day like any other, Ruby had woken up pale and nauseous. She spent the day sick and didn’t get out of the room.

Ever since that day, she’d been quiet. Sometimes she was happy, like when they went to the cafeteria the second day - she ate so much sugar she, again, spent the afternoon being sick. At other times she would laugh, look at them and her smile would just wither and die.

Of course, the first thing they did was confront her, but she assured them everything was fine.

Yang laid down on her back and sighed. So did Weiss.

“It wouldn’t be so difficult if Ruby was more open with her feelings…”

“Really Weiss? Really?”

“What?”

Yang just looked at her from the bed.

Weiss hmphed and crossed her arms “Yes, yes, I’m not one to talk. However, as the leader, she should be open about these things. This is jeopardizing the entire team.”

Yang sighed again. That too, had been a common sight these past days.

Sensing the end of the conversation, Blake went to her desk and sat down. “Well, either we go look after her or we work, and seeing this rain I don’t think we would make much progress outside. Weiss, can you quizz me on something?”

Weiss looked down at her desk, frowning. “In a bit. I just need to figure out the conclusion to this essay.”

“Don’t you write that first?”

“Well yes, but then I need to update it to take into account what I’ve actually written in the main body, so-“

“You guys do all that, I’m going to call dad.” Yang went to the door. “If Ruby calls, tell her to come back already.”

“Of course we will.”

Blake smiled. “Have a nice call.”

Yang nodded and closed the door. Blake seemed a bit out of it, so Weiss poked her. “Maybe that essay can wait. What chapter are you on?”

For a while, they could pretend everything was normal.

Chapter Text

If there was one thing that Taiyang hated when he was a teen, it was running. The ground was hard, his legs would hurt for days afterward and, more than anything, he hated the smug satisfaction his teachers had when they made him do it.

Now, as one of said teachers, he loved making the kids run.

“Come on! You still got half an hour to go!”

“This… Is… Bullshit…” one of his students passed near him, almost out of breath.

“If you have the energy to complain you have the energy to run! Come on!”

If it was a normal sports class he would have told them to take a break, but this was a punishment, so no dice. Ah, running. So versatile. Makes them stronger and makes them suffer.

His scroll rang. In a fluid movement he put it out of his pocket and opened it to the face of his daughter.

“Okay kids! I’m going to take that call, if I see one of you stop I’ll add ten minutes to everyone’s time!” I weathered the groans with a - very satisfied - smile.

He walked to a bench nearby and sat down, then answered the call.

“You are on the scroll of Dad Xiao Long! The man, the legend, the myth. What can I do for you?”
Usually that would get a laugh out of Yang, maybe some joke of her own, or she would pretend to be embarrassed or annoyed. It was a flawless opening he developed after years of being the most embarrassing father he could be to two teenage girls.

It didn’t even get a smile out of her.

“Hey dad. You busy?”

“Nah, never for you.” He looked and saw a kid lagging behind, half-heartedly trotting instead of running. “Hey you! Pick up the pace, now!” The kid swore, but accelerated. “I’d save that breath for running if I were you!”

“Rough class?”

“Nah, detention. They had the bright idea of setting off the fire alarm in Flamingo’s class.”

“Ouch.”

Normally this would be where Yang would say something like ‘Flamingo’s class? And they’re still alive?!’ and they could both reminisce about her - younger - teenage years, but her heart was clearly not in it.

Taiyang looked closer. That was a cloudy day, which meant that the glare of the sun couldn’t ruin the image on his scroll, which meant he couldn’t miss the signs. Yang was stressed, she had the beginning of dark circles under her eyes, and she was biting her lips, something she only did when worrying.

“So, what’s up? I guess you didn’t call me just to talk about Signal.”

Yang sighed. “I guess you’re right. I’m calling because… Urgh.”

Taiyang raised an eyebrow. “Urgh? Is that one of your classmates?”

That got a smile out of her. “No, no! It’s just hard to say.”

“Well, you can take your time.”

Yang picked up the scroll and walked - he could see the background behind her, she was outside the dorms. That brought back memories, but he shoved them back. Not the time.

After a while, she talked again. “Ruby is mad at me, and I don’t get why.”

Now that was surprising. If there was one thing his daughters got from him, it was memory. Whenever Ruby would fester on something that happened weeks or months priors, Yang was always quick to remember and apologize.

“You sure she’s just mad at you?”

“Not really? I think it’s all of us. Like, she avoids everyone and she kind of blew up at Pyrrha the other day.”

Back to familiar territory. “So, she’s mad about something. And I guess she did a Ruby and refused to tell you?”

Yang rolled her eyes. “She said nothing was wrong.”

“Of course. So,” Taiyang rolled his shoulders. “She’s mad at you, she ignores everyone and she blew up at one of your classmates. What else?”

Yang winced. “Promise you won’t be mad at her?”

“Of course.”

“She kind of spent the night in Vale without telling anyone.”

He promised. He promised so he would not get mad. “In a bar?”

Yang’s eyes widened in fear. “No! Absolutely not!” She paused. “Well, she just sent me a picture of a hotel room, so maybe.” Then she shook her head. “Wait, no, that’s Ruby we’re talking about. Anything more social than a restaurant is too much for her..”

While Yang was talking to herself, Taiyang looked at his students - good, they were still running. “So she went to Vale and spent the night in an hotel room. Did she meet someone recently?”

Yang laughed. “Ruby? Meeting someone? Nah.” Then her face went white with fear. “She’s too young to get a boyfriend anyway.” Then red. “Wait, if someone tries anything with her I’m going to-“

“Calm down.”

“But she could be-“

“Yang, Ruby is her own person. I understand you want to strangle anyone who gets close to her, but that wouldn’t help.” I did not help when Yang got her first boyfriend either, if anything it made her more determined to hide it. “Also, if she was meeting with someone, she wouldn’t be mad, she’d be happy.” He paused. “And she wouldn’t hide it. You would be the first one to know.”

Yang opened her mouth. Closed it. Raised a finger. Lowered it. Then she looked down. “You’re right I guess.”

“See? Nothing to worry about.” He got up. Staying still for too long just didn’t sit right with him. “Usually when she mopes like this it’s because she fought with you, but if you didn’t do anything…”

Yan’s eyes flared. “I didn’t!”

“You didn’t, so it’s something else. Did something big happened recently?”

Yang mused on it for a moment. “Well, there was Mountain Glenn, but it was weeks ago. And she was fine for a long time.”

Well, that was complicated. Taiyang’s theory up to this point had been a bad breakup, or just Ruby wanting some space - he knew better than anyone that Beacon’s dorms were great, but they could also drive anyone mad if given enough time. But if it was linked to their first mission…

“Did she tell you anything? Like, did she snap?”

“Not at me.” Yang frowned. “She did yell at Pyrrha, but I didn’t catch it all. Something about her dying if she lost her title or something.”

Taiyang stretched. “Well, if I were you, I’d go ask Pyrrha what Ruby told her, and try to guess what she’s thinking about. Also, I’d try to see if you can get in contact with the Huntsman that shadowed you.”

“It was doctor Oobleck.”

“Well, ask him to talk to Ruby. Maybe she saw something, or maybe she got scared and only realized it later. Trust me, it can happen.” It happened to him at least, and he was 17 years old at the time.

Sometimes knowing that his kid was at Beacon so young made his blood boil with anger and worry, but it was all part of being a parent. He had to let his kids fly and be ready to pick them up if they fell. That was all he could do.

“I’ll go do that. I need to check on Pyrrha anyway.” She smiled. Now that was better! “Thanks dad!”

“Anytime. Oh, and Yang?”

“What?”

“I love you.”

She looked around before whispering, blushing a bit “I love you too.”

“Now go kick some ass.” He ended the call.

He trusted her. Yang had always been there for Ruby, and Ruby always came back. They’d manage to get past this, and if they didn’t, they would call him and he’d solve it.
They were good girls.

He looked back at his students. “We still have ten minutes left! Come on, move it!”

He really loved his job.

Chapter Text

Who picked the “Invincible Girl” title?

Pyrrha had asked that question herself many times, and now, as she was looking out the window, she still could not find a definitive answer.

Of course, the basic answer was ‘her manager’. She’d won her first tournament without taking a single hit, and he suggested it the evening after the festivities. Even as a child, she had found it presumptuous, but her parents agreed, so it was official. If one would look back at that moment, they would know that her manager had picked said title from a journal, and the journalist who wrote it picked it from one of the commentators. In that way, someone, somewhere in that chain was responsible for the title “Invincible Girl”.

Of course, years later, Pyrrha knew better. She had won her first tournament, then her second, then her third. It would have been a source of pride for anyone else, but for her? All she saw was the tears whenever someone was matched against her, the crushed dreams, the frustration of being eliminated in the first round because they were unlucky enough to be put against her.

And worst of all, it was easy.

People moved slowly. Their attacks were predictable, their reflexes poor, their auras weak. She had hoped her opponents would get better as she grew up, and they did, but slower than her. So slowly, that she handicapped herself in small ways, just because she wanted to feel the thrill of the fight again.

What if she didn’t aim for the eyes and joints, could she win then? What if she didn’t switch her weapon? What if she didn’t use her semblance on her own weapons? What if she didn’t use advanced aura techniques? What if she only moved their weapons a little, could she still win?

Yes she could. She could win again, and again, and again. She could have just used her left hand and her shield, and she still could have won, in some fights she won without taking a single hit. She could win without switching form, without aiming for the eyes, without her semblance. All she could do was win.

Who was responsible for the title? In a way, it was her. It was her destiny to be invincible, there was no other possible explanation. She could win against anyone, kill anything, and she made it look easy.

But the true responsible was the world around her. A world full of people whose dream she stopped, full of people so weak she had to hold back to not crush them effortlessly. She was the Invincible Girl not because she was skilled, but because the rest of the world was not. Because whenever someone asked her to fight, she’d win. Whenever she played at any sport, she’d win. If it was a team game, she’d win alone. There was no challenge, no question, nothing.

It was that bitter truth that made her join Beacon. Grimms were so strong that people had to fight them as a team, just like her, so maybe they would be a challenge. She didn’t expect it to work, but it was fine. She was used to it.

Pyrrha grabbed Miló, knuckles going white under pressure. She needed a break.

—

‘Dodge.’ She threw her shield at Nora, who took it straight to the face. It distracted her long enough for Pyrrha to disarm her. She left herself open for a counterattack, but Nora was too busy trying to grab her hammer again to take advantage of it. Pyrrha just hit her in the side of the head for her troubles, then backed away to let Nora catch her breath, despite the fire in her telling her to go and finish her off.

The moment Nora nodded to confirm she was ready, Pyrrha activated her semblance. Her shield flew to her hand, cracking against the back of Nora’s head on the way. Nora stumbled forward, and after two shots to the knees she was on the ground again, and Pyrrha had to wait - again, why did she always have to wait - before resuming the fight again.

A few more rounds of this, and the signal rang. She looked at the aura meters. Red. Nora couldn’t fight anymore. She ran toward her and helped the panting girl up.

“Good fight!” Nora was all smiles. Pyrrha managed to return it somehow.

“It was, yes. But you really need to be more aware of your surroundings.”

Nora waved the comments away. “I know, I know. So, you’re feeling better?”

‘No.’ “Yes.”

“You don’t look like it.”

Pyrrha felt a fresh wave of shame crash against her. Nora did her best, even asking for a training session despite knowing she’d get pummeled to the ground easily, and it didn’t even work. She looked at the ground. “I’m sorry. I’m just… Restless.”

‘The invincible girl! Once she’ll lose, she’ll just die and vanish in the pages of history!’
‘Is that all you got? Want to lose your title yet?!‘

“You wanna talk about it?”

“I don’t want to bother you.”

“Oh please.” Nora rolled her eyes, her smile still on her face. “Don’t be a Ren about this! If you’re grumpy, then I’m grumpy, and when I’m grumpy I want to fight, eat, and talk! Fighting didn’t work, so I think we should just do step two. What do you think about ice cream?”

Pyrrha chuckled. “I don’t think now is a good time for ice cream, but I would enjoy some tea.”

“See? Now you’re speaking my language!” her eyes narrowed. “A bastardized, rejected dialect of my language that doesn’t want ice cream, but still! Lead the way!”

Pyrrha cleared her throat. “You don’t want to take a shower first?”

“Nah. I’m going outside later.” As if on cue, the thunder rumbled outside. “I don’t want to miss too much of the storm.”

“Right. Shall we then?”

—

They managed to find a quiet place in the library to drink their tea. Because of the storm, most students were inside, but even then, the library was so big they could still talk without anyone else interrupting. As long as they didn’t brink their drinks too close to the books of course.

“So, what’s the problem? Is it Ruby?”

Pyrrha frowned. “I… I think so. Maybe. She said a few things during our fight and they… Worry me? I’m not sure.”

“Hm…” Nora balanced herself on her chair. “She was mad because you’re always holding back, right?”

“Yes.” Ren - and a few seconds after, Nora - had found out a few weeks after initiation. His aura sight was one of the best on campus, and she wasn’t perfect at controlling hers, but it still stung at the time. “But it’s not just that. I’m used to the trash talking, even if I didn’t expect it from her.”

“Is it because you almost lost?”

Pyrrha blinked. “I didn’t almost lose.”

Nora blinked too, mirroring her. “Yes you did? You were almost out like a light.”

“Her aura was in the red before that.”

“Sure, in an arena fight that means you win, but in a real fight? Ruby almost won.”

“Or I would have crushed her.” Pyrrha grit her teeth. “Her aura was broken. One more hit and she would have died.”

“But could you have done it?” Nora drank a bit of her own drink “Not killing her. But you had to sit down for a few minutes before you could walk, so I don’t know if you could have hit her that hard.”

She slammed her hands on the table, her tea wobbling. “I did not lose!”

She heard the chorus of ‘shh’ before she even finished talking - yelling, really. She lowered her head, blushing.

“Wait, no way.” Nora’s smile went hyper, her eyes shining. “I can’t believe this! You’re a sore loser!”

Pyrrha blushed. “I’m not-“

“You are! That’s so cute! Is it the first time you steal a win?” Pyrrha said nothing, her blush becoming more luminescent. She wanted to crawl in a hole and never get out. “Oh, that’s so cute!”

“You’re seeing things that aren’t here.” She mumbled.

“Really? Look at me in the eyes and tell me I’m wrong, and I’ll stop.”

Pyrrha raised her heads and looked her straight in the eyes. Nora was positively vibrating in her chair, as if she found the funniest thing in the world.

Pyrrha thought back at the fight. Each move, each time Ruby dodged when she wasn’t supposed to, each time she forced her to pull a trick she was so used to not use, each time she’d felt nothing more than excitement. Sure, there was also a part of anger - Ruby did provoke her after all - but more than anything it was excitement.

Then Ruby lost her weapon, and everything went wrong. She did something to her own aura, so it was jagged like a saw, full of spikes. Her punches hurt more, and whenever Pyrrha tried to counterattack the aura was in her way, making any grapple or punch risky. Out of desperation, she’d used her own aura to entangle her, but Ruby used that same technique to shred it after a few seconds.

Then Ruby used that sleep hold, and it became a simple contest of will, of who would let go first. And before she could find out, the fight had ended.

Pyrrha paused, her mouth open.

Out of desperation.

For the first time in years, she’d been afraid to lose. She didn’t know who won.

Nora’s eyes shone like supernovas. “See? You can’t say it! I knew it!”

Pyrrha closed her mouth. “I… Guess you’re right.”

“You know, it happens a lot more often that you’d think. Like, last night Ren-“

A new voice cut her off interrupted her. “Hey guys! Sorry to interrupt, but I need to steal Pyrrha real quick.”

Yang was looking at her, fidgeting, her scroll in her hands.

Pyrrha looked at Nora, who just shrugged and made a ‘go on’ gesture.

“Of course, Yang. What can I do for you?”

Chapter Text

What Pyrrha told her just… didn’t make any sense.

Yang knew her sister. Sometimes, she knew Ruby better than she knew herself. She knew what would make her smile, what would make her frown. She knew exactly what to do and when to do it to make her happy.

Ruby getting mad at them? It was possible. Ruby getting mad at Pyrrha? She still couldn’t wrap her head around it.

Why would Ruby ask Pyrrha if she wanted to die with her title? It was just so… Random. Out of the blue. Ruby never cared about titles, she never cared about ego or anything like that. Yang was the proud one. It just didn’t fit.

She had to follow her dad’s advice and find professor Oobleck.

She, luckily, found him in his office, where he was supposed to be.

“Come and sit down miss Xiao Long.”

Straight and to the point. His desk was covered with so many books and sheets of paper it was a miracle it even managed to hold under the pressure. The professor himself was working on various sheet of papers at seemingly impossible speed.

Yang took a seat, wincing when it creaked under her weight. Everything in the office looked old, so old she was afraid the chair alone would cost more than her weapon.

“What seems to be the matter?” She was really thankful she was used to his speed by now, the man was still a motormouth. “As you can see I’m quite busy.”

Yang cleared her throat. “Right! I’m sorry to bother you. I just had a question about Mountain Glenn.”

“The place or the mission?” If the conversation was keeping him from grading papers he didn’t show it, grading two in the time it took him to say one sentences.

“The mission. I mean, not exactly. To be honest I’m kind of here because I don’t have anyone else to ask, so…”

“Get to the point please. Time is precious and always ticking.”

“Right! I’m sorry. It’s just… Did something happen to Ruby? Like, when she was alone with you?”

That gave him pause. For the first time in the conversation, he looked at Yang straight in the eyes.

“What is the source of that inquiry?”

“It’s just…” Yang pinched her leg to stop herself from fidgeting. “She’s been acting weirdly hostile with us, and she yelled at Pyrrha on how she’ll die the day she’ll lose a fight the other day, and I have no idea why. My dad said it could be because of Mountain Glenn, so… Here I am.”

To be honest, Yang didn’t expect much from Oobleck. He was smart, sure, but if something happened to Ruby, she would have noticed.

“I see…” He drank from his eternally full thermos. “So what you’re saying is, after a close brush with death miss Rose has been angrier than usual?”

Yang blinked. “I… Guess? I mean, Ruby has been fighting Grimms since Signal. She knows it’s risky.”

“Ah yes.” Oobleck nodded his head so fast she was afraid he’d break his neck. “Of course. Tell me, did it hurt when you first got hit while training?”

She frowned. “Listen, I don’t have time for this kind of lessons, just tell me what is going on with Ruby.”

“Your sister will not run away and vanish if you spend a few seconds answering my questions.” Yang winced. “Now please, answer.”

“Yes, it did hurt. Getting hit means getting hurt. It’s obvious.”

“And were you aware of that fact at the time?”

“Of course.” She bounced her feet up and down. “Is there a point or-“

“Which means.” Oobleck cut her off. “You knew it would hurt yet you felt pain. Given your logic, that was ridiculous.”

Yang just looked at him. That didn’t make any sense.

Oobleck continued. “You just told me your sister was aware that being a Huntress is risking death. However this was possibly the first time she got hit by it. In fact, if what you told me is correct, she may have realized that this applies to you too.”

Yang blinked again. “But… We didn’t die? Everything was fine, the breach got closed, we’re all good.”

Oobleck took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “The mind is easily convinced, but the heart has its own logic. Maybe she knew, but maybe she just realized what it means to risk your death for every mission.” He typed something on his scroll. After a few seconds, Yang felt her own buzz. “I just transferred you the details on how to book a counseling session with a member of the staff. Please make miss Rose aware that it’s mandatory for her to take one, just as you had to do in your final year at Signal.” He closed his scroll. “Was that all?”

“Yeah, I… I guess.” Yang paused and looked down. “You really think she’s mad at us because of that?”

“I think it’s a distinct possibility that should not be ruled out.” He finally slowed down. “Miss Xiao Long, in my career as a Huntsman and as a teacher I’ve seen all kinds of fear.” He put his hands on his desk. “Some are rational, and some are not, but none of them are easy to overcome. Our minds will try to disguise fear with anger, and sadly we are deceptive creatures, able to lie to ourselves as easily as we lie to others.”

“Which means…?”

For a second, he looked at her like miss Flamingo did back in Signal after she did something particularly dumb, a mix of fondness and exasperation. Or, as Uncle Qrow would put it, the “Sometimes I miss being young and stupid” look.

“It means that whether your sister is angry because she’s afraid or not is not easy to tell, as even she could not tell the difference.”

“Right. So I should just act as if she was both?”

“I think it would be wise, yes. Try talking to her, see what is wrong, and be there for her.”

“If she’s afraid it’ll help her and if she’s angry it will make her snap at me so at least we’ll know what’s what,” Yang summarized. “Basically it’s a win-win.”

“Exactly.” Oobleck nodded again. “You should go back to your team now.”

Yang got up from her chair. “I’ll just… Go do that. Thanks teach.”

“You are welcome.” He was already back at grading copies. “Oh, and miss Xiao Long?”

Yang stopped and turned back, already halfway through the door. “Yes?”

“Please remember that these sessions are opened for any member of your team, including yourself. While taking care of others is commendable, you cannot do so if you ignore your own well-being.”

“…Right. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Yang closed the door and took a deep breath. That’s why she didn’t like to talk to Oobleck, the man always seemed to see right through her.

But she was fine. Sure, she was anxious now, but it was nothing really new. Once Ruby was back safe and sound in their dorms, she’d be able to sleep again. The problem would solve itself, no councelling required.

She was fine and she would be fine. If she wasn’t, who would ?

Chapter Text

When Ruby closed her eyes, all she saw was a familiar world.

Remnant.

My name is Ruby Rose, I'm a huntress.
And if we've done everything right then... I'm talking to all of Remnant right now.

A Remnant that had been, or that would have been, or that was and she left behind. That’s all it was, all it could be, all it ever would be.

A wasteland.

Doctor Polendina can explain more later, but right now you all need to know that the kingdom of Atlas is under attack.
Things are dire and we need help. But please try not to panic, this isn't some new enemy or invading kingdom.

Atlas, crashed over Mantle, both cities destroyed and flooded. Forests on fire overlooking deserts, mountains reduced to rubbles under the strikes of meteors. Creation turned against itself.

This is a force we've faced before, for centuries. Salem.

She turned her eyes to Vale and saw Grimms devouring panicked peoples. Beacon - or what was left of it - held out, until the civilians turned against the Huntsmen to flee from the safety of the walls. The school held for a time, but fell to the panic of the very people it tried to protect.

The White Fang, Atlesian drones, even the Grimm themselves have all been controlled and manipulated by her. In order to tear down the Huntsman Academies.

Mistral became a city of ghosts. People flew to the forests and got slaughtered, first by bandits seeing them as easy preys, then by the Grimms. The bandits did not survive for long, too distracted killing themselves for loot and gorging themselves on everything they stole.

I know the idea of the maidens and relics seems, well, crazy. But I promise professor Goodwitch of Beacon and headmaster Theodore of Shade can verify all of this.
They might even be able to help organize a way to fight back!
But... sadly, general Ironwood can no longer be trusted.

Vacuo was the last kingdom to fall. Hunstmen and citizens fought and bled side by side and somehow managed to hold out. She liked to think the headmaster managed to get them inside the Vault somehow, to survive, but even then, it could only hold out for so long. After weeks had passed, the hope for rescue turned into despair as the survivors ate everything, themselves included. The last Maiden opened the doors willingly after killing the last crazed survivor, choosing to die fighting instead of starving alone.

We didn't have time to prepare for Salem, but now you do.
Just because she can't be destroyed doesn't mean she can't be beaten. If she really was unstoppable, she wouldn't have acted with such caution until now.
She knows we're a threat! So even if we... even if Atlas falls, you can't give up!

Menagerie’s divisions were solved for a time, and the faunuses even hoped for a while that they could be safe. That their prison could be their ark.
The Grimm came from the sea. Giant serpents and behemoths ravaged it from the shores and the air until not one remained alive. They fought bitterly, managing to send out a fleet of refugees. But refugees without a destination were just moving targets, and they drowned in the uncaring depth of the sea.

I hope Amity Tower will help bring us all together, because in the end that's how we'll win!

And over all the kingdoms, one broadcast echoing forever in an empty world, the one that doomed them all.

My name is Ruby Rose, I'm a huntress.
And if we've done everything right then... I'm talking to all of Remnant right now.

She didn’t have any proof that it was what happened. She didn’t know if the world really ended. Maybe she did rewind time after drinking the tea. Maybe she didn’t. Maybe she’d left the broken shell of her team alone in a place none of them understood. Maybe she’d left them in the only safe place in the world while the rest of humanity died.

Because of your plan, that didn’t! Work!

Maybe she didn’t cause a mass panic when she revealed to the world that Salem was real in a desperate gamble for support. Maybe Vale held, maybe Mistral survived, maybe Vacuo didn’t starve, maybe Menagerie never broke. Maybe the world still had hope.

And maybe she destroyed it. She lied to Ironwood and pushed him ever so closer to the edge of insanity. She didn’t manage to keep the loyalty of her team and they went behind her back, making the situation even worst. After all her plans, all her fights, all she managed to do was lose the relics, lose Ozpin, lose Atlas, lose Mantle and lose Penny.

And now, all she could do was wallow in her bath. She moved her arms lazily, feeling the water pass right through her fingers.

Anyone of her old friends would have killed all the others just to get this chance. Go back in time and make things right, tell Ozpin so they could prepare and prevent the fall of Beacon. Yang would have done it, Weiss would have done it, even Jaune or Nora would have done it. She was the only one who couldn’t, and she was the one who got the chance. Just like the Gods punished Salem’s wish to reverse death by making her an immortal fated to fight her husband for eternity, they punished Ruby Rose for her hubris. She who wanted to be a hero was the one to make the world fall twice, first by ignorance, then by inaction.

It was not that she gave up on her dreams. She still wanted to help people, that old fire was still there. She just knew it wasn’t what she was good at. Anything bigger than herself was just that; too big. She would fight and she would lose and drag down everyone with her. Her best bid to save the world was to wait.

All she could do was enjoy the time she had left, but she failed at even that.

She went underwater and held her breath. She could just let go. She drank the tea once, she could do it again. She just needed to let go of that last breath. Just needed to let go of a Weiss that never lost her spirit, a Blake that was still fighting for her convictions and a sister that still believed in her; Of Ren, Nora, Jaune and Pyrrha who were still all so innocent.

She just needed to let.
Go.

…

Ruby emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, dressed in clothes that had been cleaned by the hotel staff. From her window, she could barely see the sun, hidden behind a wall of clouds.

Spending the day inside just lost all its appeal, and she still needed to pick up a new weapon. With a defeated sigh, she opened the door and went outside.

—

The storm raged, but she didn’t mind rain against her face. Once upon a time she would have, but not anymore.

On the way back, she swung by the weapon shop and finally bought the weird spear she’d seen. It was simple, efficient. Long and short range options, easy to maintain, simple and deadly. It would do until she could fix Crescent Rose.

She took a bullhead this time, enjoying another of the luxuries she once took for granted. The ride was bumpy, with the winds and thunder, but the vehicle held on. At one point she hoped it would crash and burn, but it of course held on. She landed and made it home safely.

She didn’t feel like going to her room, but at the same time she still had - pointless - homework to do, so there she went.

It was pure coincidence that she saw Ozpin near one of the windows, looking outside. She made to move past him, but he cleared his throat.

“If I may have a moment of your time, miss Rose?”

No, this is different. He's gone. It-- It's like he's locked himself deep inside my head. Our head? I hate this! I want it to stop!

She shrugged and faked a smile. “Sure! What’s the problem?”

He had a small laugh. “There is no problem to speak off. I just wanted to chat with you about something that came up recently.”

You… Have silver eyes.
What’s your favorite fairy tale?

She quelled the anger inside her and pushed through the fear. She wasn’t going back to this. If he asked her, she’d just refuse and move on. “Something came up?”

“Well, I was recently reminded that as someone who skipped two years, you did not get your psych evaluation.”

Ruby tilted her head. “Psych evaluation?” She didn’t remember this being a thing in the past.

Ozpin merely nodded. “Yes. Normally, you would fight and kill your first Grimm at Signal, and we would start to follow you with a psychiatrist to make sure you are comfortable with your role as a future Huntress.”

She frowned. That seemed too altruistic. “And to make sure they won’t abuse their strength, right?”

He had a small smile. “If I could remake the world, I would make it so it wasn’t necessary. Sadly, power is not something anyone can wield, and Aura is one of the strongest we can wield. The likes of Roman Torchwick are proof enough of what happens when it’s left unchecked.” His shoulders relaxed. “However, I do not think we need to worry about this from you. No, for you the evaluation would be to handle one particular problem.”

“Which is?”

Ozpin turned back toward the window, watching the rain. Ruby did the same. She’d always liked rain; it was a comfortable sound filled with happy memory.

“Fear.” He delivered the word like a finality. “It is our greatest strength and our greatest weakness, especially for one as young as you.”

Don't think about them. Think about the people who love you. Focus on the thought of them, the way they make you feel. Focus!

Of course he would want her to be fearless. Her eyes were not so useful when she was too afraid to think about the good times.

At one point, Yang had told her about Raven, when they were all complaining around a fire and cursing Ozpin’s name. One reason Raven had given for leaving was that she could not trust Ozpin, and now, Ruby understood her perfectly well despite having the opposite problem.

She could trust Ozpin. She could trust him to fight against Salem with everything he had. She could trust him to disguise his own cold logic with kindness because it was the only way he could stay sane. She could trust him to do whatever necessary to protect humanity. In this world, she knew him better than anyone, and so she could trust him to be untrustworthy.

She took a deep breath and let it go. She wasn’t here to sympathize or to be angry. She just had to put an end to this conversation and leave him to wage his war alone. “I’m not sure I need it. I’m not afraid.”

“Are you not?” He raised an eyebrow. “If what you say is the true, then you need it more than anything else. The goal of a Huntress is not to not being afraid, it is to manage fear, understand it. The monsters in our heads have a way to become dangerous if we let them feast in the darkness of our thoughts. The goal of the meetings are to shine a light on them, so we can understand them.”

Ruby frowned and took a step back. “I know my fears, sir.” The word felt alien on her tongue. Once upon a time, they were friends. “And even if I didn’t, I don’t think I would like to share them with you.”

He raised a placating hand. “Of course. You are free to choose anyone in the faculty, me included, or even a certified specialist from outside the school. The details of how to do so should have been sent to your scroll.”

Ruby didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, Ozpin looked at his watch. “Right. Thank you for your time miss Rose, but I must be off. Do feel free to call on me or any member of the staff if you need anything.”

“I will.” She wouldn’t. “Goodbye, sir.”

She turned around and left, her head swarmed by thoughts she’d rather keep locked up all the while. Of course Ozpin would want to poke around her head. Of course. Nothing could ever be easy.

She pushed away any doubts she had. Yes, Ozpin was capable of genuine kindness and had a strong sense of duty, she knew that.

It just didn’t apply to her.

—

Yang was moping and Blake was acting like everything was normal, so Weiss, as the only smart person on the team, decided to be proactive.

She was at the library, doing research.

Ruby had changed, yes. She’d been ruder, angrier, skittish. She was like Wheatley after getting scolded by her Father. Maybe Yang would figure out the how and why eventually, but Weiss had noticed something else.

Ruby’s aura had grown, and not by a small margin. In one night, she went from a strong fighter to possibly the best in the school. She’d trained with Ruby, and she did not have the dexterity to pull some of the moves she used against Pyrrha. Making a spear of rock while dodging bullets? Please, Ruby could barely manage to use dust in a good day, when she had all her focus on it.

Yang hadn’t seen it, because she didn’t really use Aura as anything else than a physical boost and didn’t pay attention to it. But Weiss did.

So, she was researching. Because if there was one thing that could explain this, it was Aura, and Aura science was more of a collection of myths rather than anything concrete.

Looking at the books in front of her, she understood why. Anything too complex regarding Aura theory was just… Gone. She had a pile of books on her table, and all of them were the same content repeated endlessly with different words.

‘One can train their aura to increase their capacity. It takes months to see real improvements.’
‘One can expand Aura to their weapons to reinforce them.’
‘One can use their aura to grab objects far away from them.’
‘One’s semblance can evolve under the right circumstances.’

Over and over, Ad Nauseam. No words about someone’s aura changing one day along with their personality, or someone suddenly gaining new powers. Either this was completely unheard of - a strong possibility - or someone had done their best to erase the information from the library.

She was putting the books back to their shelves and was ready to give up the search when an innocuous book caught her eyes. It was a big tome, just like any others in the library. ‘The life of the Emerald King’, and underneath ‘A compilation of accounts from his birth to his death, his life as seen by the people.’

She vaguely remembered what her history teachers said about the King. Young and incompetent, he did nothing to stop the war of Colors despite being one of the most influential figures in the world. In the middle of the war, he somehow managed to turn everything around and change Vale into a formidable force, soon winning the war. Seeing how any conflict could lead to the extinction of every living being to Grimms, he disbanded the concept of an army for the four kingdoms.
Something about the book was nagging her, so she took it with her when she left. It was probably nothing, but at worst she’d gain some insight on the past. Besides, some light reading might do her good before going to sleep; the past few weeks had been tense, and she needed to unwind.

Chapter Text

“I’m back.” Blake’s ears twitched. Ruby has become stealthier these past weeks; she barely even heard her footsteps before she opened the door. A dull sound - a heavy object impacting a mattress - made her look away from her book and down from her bunkbed. Ruby had thrown what seemed to be a spear on her bed, not caring that the object was drenched in water. But then again, she did not care that her own hairs were matted with rain, so that checked out.

Blake turned her eyes back to her book. “How was your trip?”

“Fine.” Said Ruby, her voice clipped. Blake heard some more noises, first of Ruby rummaging under her bed, then her pulling out a metal case.

She turned a page from her book. “How was the hotel? Yang showed us the picture, it looked nice.”

“It was nice.” A bit of energy returned to Ruby’s voice. “It was the comfiest bed I’ve ever slept in, honestly.”

“That good?”

“I laid down,” Ruby demonstrated, falling on her bed, “And the mattress almost swallowed me.” She chuckled. “That’s kinda why I didn’t come back this morning. The bed kept me prisoner.”

“Just the bed?” Blake turned another page of her book, then pushed it back a second later. Her eyes did go to the words, but she wasn’t really reading them. Still, she needed to keep up the appearances, so she marked the page she was on and then flipped to the next one.

There. Now her image was safe.

“’Just the bed’? I mean yeah, what else could it be?” Ruby’s voice was fully confused now.

Blake had a small smile. “The one you spent the night with?”

She heard Ruby choke on air. “What?!”

“Well,” Blake drawled, most of her face still hidden by her book, “You’ve been on edge for days, then suddenly you disappear and spend a night out in Vale, and you come back with a gift?”

“I- I didn’t-”

“I mean, they certainly seem nice.” She pointed at Ruby’s bed, still not looking up from her book. “They got your tastes right at least.”

“I-I bought it myself!” Ruby always made those adorable sounds when she was embarrassed. “I just went out in Vale to buy it! That’s it!”

Blake raised an eyebrow, fighting to keep her smirk down. She didn’t deny it? Maybe she was onto something? “So you did meet with someone then?”

“Yes- I mean, no! It was an accident!”

Blake turned toward Ruby. As expected, she was hiding her face in her hands, the tip of her ears red as tomatoes. Now, for the finishing touch. “Ah, so you got swept off your feat by a beautiful stranger, huh?” Ruby sputtered something that may have been denial. “Did you use protection at least?”

Ruby raised her head so fast Blake thought her neck would snap. She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a tiny, drawn-out squeak.
Blake allowed herself to chuckle, amused. “Calm down, I’m just messing with you.”

Ruby raised her eyes toward her, fuming. “I knew it!” She paused. “It’s because I left without saying anything, isn’t it?”

“Yup.” Blake popped the p, just as Ruby did. “Yang and Weiss were pacing for so long I think they left a mark on the floor.”

Ruby sighed. “I guess I deserved it.”

“Oh yes.” Blake hummed. “Well, at least you have a few minutes until Yang comes back and try to get the name of whoever you spent the night with.”

Ruby turned look at her, panicked. “I told you I didn’t sleep with anyone!”

“Yes,” Blake turned another page of her book, feigning disinterest. “But now you need to convince Yang.”

Ruby sputtered for a few seconds before she narrowed her eyes. “You’re messing with me.”

“Am I?” Blake looked at her straight in the eyes, barely suppressing a smile. This? This was how it was supposed to be. Just all of them having fun, bantering, messing with each other.

Then the moment passed. Blake could see it instantly. Ruby froze, and her smile died an ugly death. The anger in her eyes went from playful to serious, and she turned her head away, dejected. “Yes. You’re lying.”

Blake winced. “Yes, I was. I was just messing with you.”

“I can see that.” Ruby went back to the metal case. It contained her cleaning tools and product for Crescent Rose, the stuff she used when she just wanted to pass time and keep her weapon spotless.

Blake turned to her book again, her own good mood soured. “You know, we’ll never be able to apologize if you don’t tell us what we did wrong.” Ruby didn’t answer. “I know we did something to upset you, but shutting us away won’t solve it.”

“You didn’t do anything.” Ruby’s voice was strained. “You never did anything, Blake.” Then she muttered, too low for anyone but a faunus to hear, “That’s the problem.”

Blake gritted her teeth, trying to calm down her indignation. “You’re not a good liar, Ruby.”

Ruby laughed, the kind of full on, mirthless laugh she’d hear a thousand time before whenever she told faunuses that they would change the world back at the White Fang. “Oh, that’s hilarious.” Ruby wiped a tear from her eyes. “You would - heh - you’d be surprised.”

“Oh really?” She looked away from her book and down at Ruby. “Care to give me an example?”

“You wouldn’t get it, she said, still smiling with dead eyes. “You weren’t there.”

Blake rolled her eyes. “Just admin you’re bluffing.”

“Am I? Are you sure? Would you bet your life on it?” Again, a mirthless amusement danced in her eyes. “Because I wouldn’t.”

“You wouldn’t bet on yourself?”

“Oh no.” She worked on that weird spear again, cleaning it up. “I mean, I wouldn’t bet on any of us.”

“Really? Why?” When Ruby didn’t elaborate, Blake continued. “I think we’re a pretty solid team. We’ve had our hiccups, but we always win at the end.” Ruby was still cleaning her weapons, her movements stiff. She was clearly upset about something.

It felt weird giving a pep talk to Ruby of all people. Blake frowned and dug deeper; what would she have wanted to hear when she was Ruby’s age? “I’m not going to say we did everything right, but we always did something. Isn’t that what’s important?”

It was the wrong thing to say, Blake realized it instantly in the way Ruby’s shoulders tensed. “No, it’s not just what’s important. What’s important is being smart. What we’ve done is being lucky.” She looked up from her weapon and stared a Blake. She felt a pang of fear for an instant - with the black and red hairs and that stare, it was like looking at a younger Adam. The worst part was the body language, closed off and hurt, just like he was in the past. “Blake, when you went to the docks, you could have died. If we’d been a little slower, they would have killed you before we could do anything!”

“Ruby-“

“No! When we were at mountain Glenn, they could have killed me too! And then in the train, Yang only survived because of Raven!” What? “And then when the train crashed, if Weiss had been slower, we would have all died again!” Ruby took harsh breathes, fury etched on her face. “We’ve been lucky! Not smart, not strong!”

“Is there a point somewhere, or are you just venting?” Blake jumped in surprise - she was so focused on Ruby she didn’t even hear the door open. Weiss entered the room and closed the door behind her, a book in her hand. “And could you be quiet? Some people are trying to study.”

Ruby glared at her with a look that could kill, these usually innocent silver eyes turned into bullets. “You stay out of this!”

“Why would I? You’re clearly throwing a tantrum.”

“Because I’m tired of Blake always hiding behind other people!” Ruby turned toward Blake. Weiss tried to say something, but she just raised her voice even louder. “So, Blake, would you still bet on any of us?”

Blake closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened them again and looked straight at Ruby.

She liked her, she really did, but now she could feel some empathy for Ilia. Back then, she was just as bad whenever she talked about Adam. She would just yell above everyone, so sure she was right. The next time she’d see her, she would apologize.

But now it was time to give to Ruby the reality check she never received.

“First of all, I don’t hide behind people.” Ruby snorted, making her fury burn even brighter. Weiss tried to intervene again, but gave up when Blake raised her voice. “I don’t!”

“Really? When you ran away, you hid behind Sun! And when you couldn’t even eat and sleep right, you had to hide behind Yang!” Ruby slammed her cleaning box close, almost breaking it. “Face it, you can’t do anything without someone holding your leash!”

Blake gripped her book tighter, her knuckles growing white as her nails dug into the cover. “Apologize.”

“Or what?” Ruby opened her arms wide. “Who are you going to run off to? Weiss is right there, and Yang will be back soon, so you have options! Maybe you’d like to use her as a shield? Poor little you!”

“Or.” Blake jumped off from her bed, leaving her book behind. She wasn’t thinking straight - hell, she wasn’t thinking at all. She was just going to make Ruby pay. “I’m going to shove your head through a wall.”

Ruby got up from her bed, her weapon forgotten. “Really? You? That would be a first.” She closed the gap, standing bare inches away from Blake. “Come on then, do it. Have some spine.”

Blake was about to activate her semblance when she was suddenly pinned to the opposite wall, a black glyph holding her in place.

“Both of you, calm down.” Weiss was shaking, barely able to look at them. “If you really want to fight, just- do it elsewhere. Some of us-“ her voice broke, and she took a trembling breath before continuing. “Some of us want to read.”

“Weiss-“

“No.” She closed her eyes off. “Get out. I don’t want to see you both before-“ she waved her hand “whatever this is solved.”

Ruby lowered her head. “You know what? You’re right. I’ll go.” The glyph flickered and died. She picked up her new spear and went walked away. She opened the door then hesitated, turned toward Weiss and opened her mouth before shaking her head and leaving.

Blake could feel her anger leave her, shame taking its place. “I’m sorry Weiss.”

She had her back turned, so Blake couldn’t see her face. “Don’t be. I just- it’s nothing. Just go.”

“…Right. I’ll leave you alone.”

“And kick her teeth in. You wouldn’t have taken this from me, so don’t take it from her, you hear me?”

Blake blinked. She felt the glyph flicker and die behind her. She landed - gracefully - on her feet.

She should leave. Weiss just asked her too, and she felt too ashamed to do anything else. She took a step toward the door.

Come on then, do it. Have some spine.

She pushed her shame down and turned back. She walked toward Weiss, who still hadn’t moved, and hugged her from behind.

She could feel her shake against her, small tremors, small cracks in her perfect composure. She hugged her tighter. “It’s okay. We’re just having a fight. It happens.”

“I know.” Her voice was perfectly controlled.

Blake put her head on her shoulder and rubbed soothing circles on her arms. “We’re not going anywhere, alright? We’ll be back in an hour or two, just the time for us to talk.” And fight.

Weiss relaxed a bit and laid back into the hug. “You better.”

They stayed like that for a minute before Blake let go.

When she left the room, she was still furious toward Ruby – and herself – but she was also determined. Ruby was in the wrong, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind, but she was supposed to be older, wiser, than that. Even if Ruby’s words had someone struck an old wound, she was better than that. Better than him.

She would kick Ruby’s ass, then she’d apologize. Because that was the right thing to do, and she’d never run away from it.

Chapter Text

Ruby was waiting for her outside the room. She wasn’t gripping her spear so tightly anymore, and seemed to have calmed down.

Blake, too, felt calmer now. A part of her wanted to avoid the fight, to try and talk it out instead of acting like an animal. She buried it.

Ruby obviously didn’t respect her, and that wouldn’t change unless she did something about it. If she weaseled out after throwing the gauntlet, the next fight would be even more painful. She knew from experience.

“Shall we?”

Ruby nodded, her eyes uncertain, and took the lead.

They walked in a silence only broken by the occasional sound of thunder. Outside, the storm had picked up, and most of the students were in their own rooms, enjoying the weekend.

On the way to the training room, they passed by Ren and Nora, who were both drenched. Blake was tempted to ask them to monitor the fight, if only to avoid another situation like the day before, but she held back.

She had to do this alone.

They found an empty training room and set up everything before taking position on opposite sides of the arena.

—

Ruby… Felt bad. Guilt was chewing through her stomach, and she didn’t really know where to look. At the same time, she felt nothing but contempt for the woman in front of her.

Blake? Fighting her? Please. They’d trained together in Atlas, and whenever she was alone her aura was so weak she could barely take a few hits before going down. She was too shy to attack, too focused on the defensive. Put her with Yang and she was alright, but she couldn’t do anything alone.

It was time to prove it to her.

Ruby gripped her spear and activated the mechashift, the tip separated into two parts with the barrel of the gun emerging from the middle, making it into a sort of trident. The annoying part was the ammo consumption; once the magazine was empty, there was no way to swap it with a fresh one.

Blake nodded toward the weapon. “You’re not using Crescent Rose?”

Ruby felt a pang of tired anger. “No. I’m trying something new.”

“What did you name it?”

She shrugged. “It’s just a spear. It doesn’t need a name.”

Blake frowned at that, her ears flattening on her head. She muttered something too low for Ruby to hear, before speaking up. “You still won’t tell me what’s going on?”

Ruby sighed. She was tired, even anger didn’t give her the energy she wanted. “I told you already. You did nothing wrong.” Nothing at all.

“Then apologize. If you just said things you didn’t mean just to hurt me, it’s the least you could do.”

Ruby didn’t answer. She should, she knew she should, it was wrong, but the anger kept churning. Why would she apologize for telling the truth?

Blake got the message and put herself in a combat stance.

Ruby did too. She wasn’t really familiar with spears, but she’d make do. It was just Blake anyway.

The countdown ended, and she sprang into action, shooting a few projectiles at Blake. The bullets were as high of a caliber as Crescent Rose, which meant they packed a punch. Blake darted around, dodging every single one of them. She disappeared behind a wall of clones. Ruby simply used her spear as it was intended and pierced through every single one of them.

She felt something tug at her leg and activated her semblance to let it fall through her. As she reappeared, she got hit in the neck by a blade. Without turning around, she used the butt of the spear to hit behind her only to feel nothing, then her spear got encased in ice. That single moment cost her dearly, as Blake was on her again, this time from the side. Ruby let go of her spear and grabbed Gambol Shroud before delivering a strong punch to Blake’s head. She tried a second one, but Blake dodged it, grabbed her by the arm and threw her away.

Ruby landed on her feet and stole a quick glance at the aura meter. She was still in a comfortable green, while Blake… Was there too.

That didn’t make any sense. Her aura should already be halfway down.

Blake had an identical look of confusion on her face. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ruby flew back to her spear and freed it of the ice instantly. She spun it around to free it from the last of the ice.
Blake still hadn’t moved. Ruby knew something was wrong instantly, and turned around, too late to dodge the bullets coming from behind her, little stings that only made her more furious. She dodged in a flurry of petals and reappeared mid-air, aiming toward a swarm of Blake’s clones. Following her instinct, she shot where they weren’t and saw Blake’s camouflage break as she stumbled, clutching her shoulder in pain.

She shot a few more bullet as she fell, but Blake wasn’t there anymore, only clones who vanished in smoke.

The clones themselves swarmed her, fake blades passed harmlessly through her. She spun her spear around, the tip whistling through the air, but where Crescent Rose would have sliced the clone in two, she caught more than one with the blunt end of the spear, doing far less damages. Black took advantage of the opportunity and wrenched the spear away from her once again with Gambol Shroud before attacking her with the blade. Ruby blocked a hit with her arm, but the clone went up in a blast of electricity, knocking her back.

She heard a the blade whistle behind her and turned around, catching Blake by the neck before she could land her it. If that troubled her, she didn’t show it as she used her legs to grab Ruby’s arm and pulled, her whole weight resting on the arm. Ruby winced but kept going through the pain, sharpening her aura to make it like a saw cutting through Blake. A second after, she was just holding a statue of ice. She tried to defend herself with her other arm, but Blake went below it and hit her in the stomach, then the nose. Ruby put some distance with her semblance, finally freeing herself from the ice statue, but Blake was on her again.

This time however, she was ready, and managed to defend herself - barely. She had forgotten how good Blake was in close quarters between her semblance and Gambol Shroud. She backed away slowly, her aura taking dangerous amount of damages in the process. After a few seconds of fighting, she managed to kick Blake in the stomach, sending her away long enough to grab her spear, finally putting some distance between them.

Ruby glanced at the aura meter again. They were both close to yellow, the end of the match.

She glared at Blake, who was holding her stomach and wincing. That didn’t make any sense. Blake was better than she’d been at Atlas, after months of training. Yes, she had access to more dust, but it still didn’t add up. There was no way for Blake to beat her.

And her own aura was smaller than she remembered. She had larger reserves than this, so why!

Blake seemed to know what was happening, because she smiled. “You don’t really want to fight, do you?”

“You started it.”

“I think we both know you did.” Blake stood up straighter. “But you’re right, I was angry, and I said things I shouldn’t have. For that, I apologize.”

Ruby opened her mouth to answer but was knocked forward by another explosion - Blake had left a clone behind her at some point and she’d missed it. She activated her semblance to cancel her momentum and attack, but Blake danced around her spear - she was too inexperienced with the weapon to deal with her. She tried to fire to put some distance between them, but the magazine ran empty. She thought about dropping the spear to finish this with her fists, but it wouldn’t work, Blake was just too dangerous at close quarter.

It only took a few more moments of the fight - glancing hits, her mistaking clones for the real deal and vice versa – for the chip damages to add up. Her aura was in the yellow.

The buzzer rang, and Blake jumped away, panting. They were both sweating heavily, their heart still pumping with adrenaline. Ruby’s arms were trembling, holding the cold steel of her spear so tight she was almost denting it.

They took their breaths for a moment. After a while, Blake spoke.

“You should have used Crescent Rose. It doesn’t really feel like a victory when you’ve never used that weapon before.” Blake stretched. “So, that apology?”

Ruby gritted her teeth in annoyance. Blake was right, without Crescent Rose she was half the fighter she was. That wasn’t a real victory.

But… Blake did also do a lot better than she remembered. More dust, more aggressivity… was that really what she was before the Fall?

Before she killed Adam?

She spit a bit of blood on the arena, dejected. “You said it. You won. Congratulations.”

“That’s not what I want to hear.” Blake walked toward Ruby and put a hand on her shoulder. “Ruby, I don’t understand why you’re angry and you won’t tell us.”

“I already told you!”

“Maybe. Maybe you told me and…” She hesitated. “And I didn’t understand. But I won’t let you use that as an excuse.” Her grip tightened. “It doesn’t make it okay for you to insult me.”

Ruby opened her mouth to argue, then closed it. The truth was, Blake was all of those things she said. She was a coward, she was unable to act unless someone was there with her.

But clearly, she was also not. And she just proved it.

Ruby lowered her head and sighed. She was tired of this. So, so tired. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it.”

“Thank y-“ Blake interrupted herself, then took a deep breath. “Do you believe what you said?”

“I…” She should lie. If she just lied, they could all return to their perfect little team dynamics and that would be it. She just had to look at Blake straight in the eyes and betray her trust. She could do it. Blake had done it before, she could too! It was only fair, wasn’t it?

Loyalty always matters!

“Yeah.” She admitted. “I did.”

“I see.” Blake looked troubled, and a shadow passed through her eyes. “Ruby, there is a difference between relying on people and hiding behind them. You know that, right?”

“I know.” Ruby wrenched herself free of Blake’s hand and took a step back. “But you’re not asking for help. People are pestering you until you accept, and then you let them decide everything.”

“I don’t.” Blake took a step forward. “And even if I did, it’s their choice to help, and mine to accept it. There is nothing wrong with that.”

“Isn’t there? You’re just burdening them, day in, day out.” Ruby felt her throat tighten. “One day, they’ll see it and leave you behind.”

Blake made to grab her, and Ruby took another step back. They looked at each other for a few seconds, before she averted her eyes.

“Ruby, do you know why I would really bet on us?” Ruby said nothing. She didn’t trust herself to speak. “Yes, we were lucky. You’re right, we could have died at any point. But we learned.”

“Not enough.”

“Yes.” Blake nodded. “We never learn enough. But we still tried. We can fail, but we’ll persevere, and that’s what matter.” She took another step forward and grabbed Ruby’s hand. “I’m not saying we’re perfect, but we did more good than harm.”

“What if we didn’t?” Ruby whispered. Atlas, Argus, Mistral… They took so many risks, and got so little as a reward.

“Then at least we tried.” Blake’s grip became fiercer. “You know, someone very smart once told me that the world isn’t a fairy tale, but that we’re here to make it better.” Ruby blinked in surprise. “Maybe you should try to remember that, hm?”

Ruby scratched her head in embarrassment. “Maybe.” Maybe she’d believed that once.

Too bad she made the world worst.

“Well, enough about that.” Blake let go of her hand. “We still need to apologize to Weiss.”

Ruby winced. “Is she… Okay?”

Blake shrugged. “She wasn’t very happy.”

Ruby bit her lips. “Right…” Seeing them fight must have brough back some bad memories.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” Blake walked away. “Let’s just take a shower, then we’ll go make it better, alright?”

“Right…” Ruby took a deep breath, the feeling of the cool air in her lungs grounding hear. “Right. Let’s do this.”

But first, shower.

Chapter Text

Ren was, by all accounts, not a people person.

He did not desire to be one. He always had Nora, and Nora was social enough for the both of them. People were complicated, emotional and loud. He preferred the quiet solitude of his mind to the lies and unpredictability of others.

He had been training for the past hours. Since he was going to have to take a shower anyway - thanks to Nora’s hobby - he figured he might as well burn some energy. He was practicing a few movements of martial arts, moving his aura in time with his body.

He was one with the world, and the world was one with him. A perfect harmony.

Then the door opened and shattered it. The person who walked in had heavy steps but did not run, which ruled out Nora, and was alone, which ruled out Jaune and Pyrrha.

He opened his eyes and looked at the source of his disturbance. Yang.

Ren was not a people person, and even he could see that she was troubled. She had stopped near a bench and was staring at the weights. He couldn’t see much from where he was, but she didn’t look focused, just empty.

Willing to break her out of her stupor, he hit the mannequin he was against extra hard. Predictably, Yang tensed at the noise and turned toward him, surprised.

“Hey Ren. Sorry, didn’t see you there.”

She was definitely distracted. “It’s alright,” he said, his voice even. He smiled a little. “The room is big enough for the two of us.”

“Right! Right.” Yang turned toward the weights again and picked one up. “Say, did Nora…?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re still not sick?”

“We have a strong constitution.”

Ren let the silence fall over them and attacked the mannequin again, practicing the same move over and over, to perfection.

He heard Yang put the weights back down as she joined him at the dummies. They were in one of the team training rooms, smaller, made for groups between four and eight people. The area was separated between what Ren had been told was normal gym equipment and the training dummies.

For a while, they just trained. Yang was hitting her dummy more like a punching bag than what was meant to represent a human being. After a few minutes of this, Ren sighed.

There was no way for him to concentrate at this rate.

“How are you doing, Yang?” He asked.

“I’m fine.” She was grunting, still hitting the dummy. “Why do you ask?”

“No particular reason.” He moved to the gym area. “If you are fine, then what is on your mind?”

“Nothing much. What’s on yours?”

Ren smiled. “Well, I am wondering why you looked so lost when you came her. Would you enlighten me as to why?”

Yang punched her dummy a final time - it was almost broken and would need to be replaced before they left - and joined him to the treadmills. She jumped on one and turned it to a setting that seemed too high for him, so he turned his a little lower and began to run too.

Exercise had a way to free his mind. It had been the truth when he’d been a child, and it was the truth today. The burn in his muscles had a way to let his worries seep through his skin and float away.

After a while of running, Yang spoke. “Hey, you’ve known Nora for a while, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you like Pyrrha and Jaune, right?”

“Of course.”

“Right.”

They ran for a few more minutes. “Why do you ask?”

“Nothing.” Yang kept running, seemingly focused on an invisible point in front of her. “It’s just… Aren’t you scared for them?”

Ren pondered the question. Was he scared for them? “Maybe for Jaune. He still has a lot of progress to make.”

“I meant more like…” Yang waved her hands in the air. “In general, when you go on a mission.”

“Ah.” Ren nodded. “Are you afraid some of your teammates will not return?”

“No?” Yang hesitated. “Maybe. I don’t know, it’s stupid.”

“Thinking is rarely a sign of stupidity. One might even say it’s the opposite.”

She snorted. “Yeah yeah. Keep that kind of talks for Nora.”

Ren frowned, perplexed. He meant it, why didn’t she accept or deny his words? He mentally shrugged. “Whatever the reason,” he finally elected to say, “I wouldn’t let your worries fester.”

“But what if they’re not my worries?”

“Well then, I would ask whoever is in your head to leave.”

She laughed and lost her footing for a moment. “Yeah, I’m not doing that. I’d look like a crazy person.”

Ren nodded, smiling. “Indeed you would.” Maybe Nora was right. Throwing a few jabs at their friends was kind of fun in its own way. “However, as crazy as it may sound, why are someone else’s worries occupying your mind?”

“Oh, you know how it is.” Yang accelerated. “Little sister goes into combat school two years early; big sister is pretty happy with the whole thing. They get put into a team, they do crazy fun stuff together, and then a mission doesn’t go exactly as planned. She accelerated even more. It was quite impressive she was still able to talk while running so fast. “Little sister sees her big sister almost die and realizes her whole team can die whenever they go to a mission, and suddenly she’s rude toward everyone.” Yang finally slowed down, struggling to breathe. “That’s pretty much it.”

“I see. Is that why Ruby was so rude toward Pyrrha?”

“Maybe?” Yang shrugged. “We’re kind of trying to figure that out.”

“I see.”

They ran in silence for the next few minutes while Ren gathered his thoughts.

“Is Ruby really the one worrying?”

Yang looked at him, eyebrow raised. “What?”

Ren cursed inwardly. He missed Nora. Not only was she simpler to understand, but she was also good at figuring people out.

“I am asking if you are worried about the risks for your team.”

Yang frowned and opened her mouth when the door opened again.

“Hey guys! Sorry to interrupt, but I really need a place to hide right now!” Jaune bolted through the door and behind one of the training dummies. “I’m not here!”

Yang looked at him, missed a step and fell headfirst on the handles of the training mill. “Fuck!”

“Crap, are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” she hissed through gritted teeth. “Don’t worry about it.”

“You sure? Because it kind of looks like it hurt-“

“I said I’m fine!”

Jaune jumped. “Alright, sorry.”

Ren, still focused, kept running. “And what brings you here Jaune?”

He looked at the door before answering, sweating bullets. “Pyrrha’s been crazy! She keeps trying to make me play chess with her - I hate chess - and she wants me to beat her! But I can’t, so she gives me pointers and the whole time she’s getting more and more frustrated!”

“And you managed to escape from her?”

“I just gave her my scroll and put her against a chess bot on expert.”

“That’s it?” Yang got up. “So problem solved no? She’s going to play, she’s going to lose and that’s that.”

Jaune looked at her, his eyes wide with fear. “You don’t get it, I’ve never seen her lose! At anything! I don’t want to find out if she’s a sore loser or not, I’m out of here!”

“Nora said she is a sore loser.” Ren mused. “And if she did manage to beat one of the bots, her frustration could be… Excessive.”

“See?! I’m staying clear of that thank you very much!”

The door slammed open again, making Jaune dive behind the dummies. Weiss walked toward one of them, rapier in hand, and skewered it.

And she skewered it again.

And again.

“You know Weiss,” Yang tried, “These are supposed to be for hand to hand combat-“

Weiss skewered the dummy.

“I know you are very skilled with the rapier, however-“

Weiss skewered the dummy.

“Listen Weiss, I don’t want to be that guy, but I think you’ve killed it-“

Weiss hit the dummy in the side of the head with the pommel of her rapier.

“Well, at least she changed tactics.”

Weiss skewered the dummy again.

“Do you think hitting it like that was proper form?”

Weiss punched the dummy.

“I do not believe so. At least she took your advice to heart.”

Weiss punched the dummy again.

“Maybe, but her form is… Urgh.” Yang raised her voice. “Weiss! You need to aim inside the target, not at the target.

Weiss punched the dummy again. It jiggled a lot more.

“Wait, really?” Jaune got up from where he was hiding and tried to punch the dummy. It barely moved. “Oh come on, why?!”

“You are doing it incorrectly.” Ren turned off his treadmill and went behind Jaune. “For that kind of heavy hits you want to do, you need to use your whole body.” Ren demonstrated, punching the dummy hard enough to make it slide backward. “You must use your core strength as well as your arms.”

“Right.” Jaune took position, then turned toward Weiss. Ren did the same.

She was still skewering the dummy.

“Here goes…” he muttered. He punched, and to his credit managed to do a lot better than his first few attempts. “Huh.”

Ren nodded approvingly. “That is a lot better. What do you say, Yang?”

Yang did not look at him. Instead, she was stacking weights on a barbell, ready to do some other exercises.

“Erm, Yang, shouldn’t you need someone to help you with that?” Jaune tried tentatively.

“Aura, Jaune, aura.” Yang rolled her eyes. “What’s the point of having superpowers if we can’t use them for fun, profit and training?”

“To… Protect people?”

“Yes, that too.”

Ren opened his mouth to intervene when the door opened again, this time with three people, who all looked as if they just got out of the shower. Ruby, Blake and Nora.

“See? I told you Renny was there!” She jumped near him. “Hi Ren!”

“Hello, Nora.” He smiled. “How was your shower?”

“It was nice. I ran on the two moodcases over there on the way, so I brought them with me.”

“We’re looking for Weiss.” Added Blake.

“I… Think we found her.”

Weiss was skewering another dummy.

“Erm, Weiss?” Tried Ruby.

Weiss skewered the dummy at tad more violently.

“Weiss, can we-“

Weiss punched the dummy.

“She’s been at it for the last ten minutes, forget her.” Yang groaned, bench pressing. “What’s up?”

“The barbell!”

“I do not think she’s talking to us, Nora.”

“Aww…”

Blake smiled at this. “Nothing, we just need to apologize to Weiss.”

“What did you do?” Jaune stopped punching his dummy and turned toward the two girls. “Also hi.”

“Hey Jaune.”

“Hey.” Ruby avoided his gaze and walked away toward the treadmills. 

“You know,” Jaune mused, “Even Weiss wasn’t that bad when I was trying to flirt with her.”

Blake sighed. “She’s been tense these last few days. She’ll get over it.”

“Right. I hope so.”

“Don’t worry, she’s just grumpy. She’ll get better!” Nora jumped toward him. “So, why were you throwing haymaker left and right?”

“A what now?”

“The punch?”

“Oh, that. Weiss was doing it, so I thought I could do it too.”

Ren looked toward Weiss.

She was burning the dummy with fire dust.

“What happened to her?”

Blake winced. “Well, Ruby and I had a bit of a fight, and we were… Rude.”

Ren nodded. “I see.” He did not see.

“We may have ignored her until I almost punched Ruby.”

Ren blinked. “Ah.”

Nora apparently got bored of talking to Jaune and had jumped on a treadmill - despite having already taken a shower, of course - and was trying to talk to a Ruby who did not answer one bit.

If Ren knew something from experience, it was that Nora’s determination could break through the thickest of silence.

He hesitated, then went to Weiss. She at least needed to switch the dummy; she was stabbing a pile of electrocuted, frozen ash. He was about to put his hand on her shoulder when the door slammed open again.

“Jaune! I finally won!”

Yang dropped the barbell and cursed loudly; Ruby turned toward her sister in worry before missing a step and falling off the treadmill, thankfully Nora saw that coming and tackled her out of the machine into the weights next to them, one of them flying so fast it whizzed right past Weiss’ head, startling her badly enough that she activated her fire dust chamber and burned the dummy even more.

Pyrrha looked at the mayhem, red creeping over her neck and cheeks. “Ah. Erm, hello?”

Chapter Text

‘Dear Mauve,

I fear that the war has taken its toll on my husband. At first it was nothing, but now he investigates the air for minutes at a time, and sometimes speaks out loud in empty rooms, seemingly to no one.

At the same time, he changed. I have heard him in court, he berates his old friends and appoints new ones at positions of power. The way things are going, it seems like an improvement, but I fear for his life. One does not simply rebuke Lord Amaranth and not pay the consequences.

He assured me everything is going to be fine, but he did not look me in the eyes while saying so. I am embarrassed, but he also won’t lay with me anymore. I fear he does not care about me or what I have to say.

Please, advise.
Your friend,
Queen Jade of Emerald’

Weiss added the page number to her notebook and went to the next message.

What had started as a simple curiosity was quickly turning into a growing obsession.

The book she’d picked up was a collection of letters and newspaper articles from the time, all talking about the Emerald King. Most of it was boring, opinions about taxes or the schemes of some noble or another to get his favor. However, hidden in the pile were true nuggets of knowledge.

The Emerald King changed one day. He became more skilled, more decisive. He slowly distanced himself from his old friends and picked new ones. He did not look at his wife the same way - the number of pages that were just correspondence between Jade and Mauve on how to impress the King in bed was staggering - but one thing was for sure, it hadn’t worked.

No words on his aura, but Weiss had a growing suspicion. If she had to bet… It suddenly grew one day.

Her working theory was some kind of Grimm parasite. It would stick on the host and somehow transform negative thought into aura. The host would then one day fall to the corruption and attack other people, thus generating even more negativity and strengthening the host even more.

It was her theory and even she could see it was wrong. Not only would she presumably see a Grimm growing on someone, but it didn’t explain how Ruby – and the Emerald King – got so skilled one day. Also, if a Grimm could generate aura, some obscure monk in Mistral would have already used it to wage war on some other obscure monk.

She groaned and looked at her scroll. Two AM, she really was tired if she was blurring the line between reality and movies.

She couldn’t sleep. She knew she technically had classes in the morning, but her work was too important. She could return to her room, to sleep, but she’d need to abandon her research and put all the books back in place, which seemed like a pain. As long as she was here, she could keep going a few more minutes, then she would put everything back into place and-

“There you are.”

Weiss jumped - she hadn’t heard anyone walk in. She turned around to see Ruby, who looked at her with that same anger she’d been sporting for weeks.

A day had passed since her fight with Blake. They had both apologized to each other and Weiss, and were now on more cordial terms - Blake was now the only one who could calm Ruby down when she got into one of her moods, which was as frustrating as it was helpful.

“Ruby? What are you doing here?” Weiss finally asked.

“I woke up and saw you weren’t in your bed.” She crossed her arms. “You know it’s dangerous to be alone. If you want to read that bad, wake one of us up.”

Weiss raised an eyebrow. “Dangerous? I think I can survive in Beacon alone, thank you very much.”

Ruby scoffed. “You know that’s not-“ then she blinked and sighed. “Nevermind. What are you doing?”

“Research.” Weiss put herself between the table and Ruby. Ironically, Ruby might have been right. If she was infected with some sort of parasite, it wouldn’t take her suspicions lying down, and being alone with her might be risky. “But I’m not letting you change the subject. What was that about me not going out alone?”

Ruby shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “It’s nothing, I just- I didn’t think.”

Weiss scoffed. “Well, I can see that.”

“Hey!” Ruby stomped her feet. “What was that for?”

“Oh please. You’re the one who sneaked up on me in the middle of the night.” She raised an eyebrow. “Could it be that is the reason why I shouldn’t wander alone? The big bad Ruby Rose is hunting between these walls?”

“I mean- No, but like-“

“You are not very threatening, you know. At least do try to look scarier than, well… You.”

Ruby frowned, indignant. “I can be scary!”

“The only thing scary about you are those dark circles under your eyes.” Weiss packed up her things. If Ruby was here, she wasn’t going to get much more research done before going to bed.

“Excuse me? I could kick your ass!”

“Like you kicked Pyrrha’s? Or maybe Blake? Please. I’ve heard you snore, do you really think you can impress me?”

Ruby opened and closed her mouth like a fish for a few seconds, before her face broke into a huge smile.

Then she laughed.

It started quiet, then evolved into a loud belly laugh that soon heightened in pitch until it was so strident it hurt her ears. Weiss was both grateful she was alone in the library, and a bit spooked. Ruby just… Kept laughing for what seemed to be an eternity. At one point she had to grab a table to stay upright, the laughed some more.

She finally stopped and wiped away a tear from her eyes. “Oh, I missed that. Thanks Weiss.”

“Missed… What exactly?” Weiss hid her panic. Surely Ruby didn’t see her notes somehow? She looked at the table, but no, they were all in their respective – closed -binders.

“Just… You.” Weiss opened her mouth to argue, but Ruby cut her off. “You wouldn’t get it, it’s just… You’re fun to be around, Weiss.” She was still smiling, her eyes shining as if she found something precious. “Please don’t change.”

She turned around. Weiss made to grab her, but she vanished in a cloud of rose petals, leaving her alone in the quiet, dark library.

She looked back at her binder. Suddenly, her hypothesis seemed even flimsier.

What was even going on with Ruby Rose?

—

Ruby had forgotten what it was like to argue with Weiss.

Weiss had always been painfully, lovingly honest. There was no need to pretend with her, no need to chase social cues; she would just tell you what she thought without any other meaning behind her words. It made her so refreshing to be around, so fun, so easy to mess with.

Then she took a spear to the stomach.

Ruby didn’t know if it happened then or later, but Weiss did her best to become… Nicer. She wouldn’t banter, wouldn’t tell them what was wrong. She always put on a facade of happiness under everything, she focused on superficial things. There was no way to really talk to her when she would just make a snide remark then hide behind niceties, or she’d just focus on the more minute things in life instead of the important ones.

Ruby had lost her best friend, and she didn’t even notice until she disappeared.

So, seeing Weiss like that again? Who didn’t care about spared feelings? She had missed it.

She had her best friend back. She could just act dumb, and Weiss would be here to pick her up and scold her. Just knowing that made her giddy, it was almost enough to forget the terror she felt when she woke up and couldn’t hear her soft snore beneath her bed. Her mind was swirling with ideas of stupid things to do, just to get a raise out of Weiss. She had forgotten how fun that was.

She was running in the hallways leading to the dorms when she heard a booming voice. “Miss Rose! What are you doing up at this grandiose hour?” Professor Port was in the hallway, his weapon in one hand and a cage in the other, a snarling Grimm inside. “The last day of the weekend was yesterday, as I’m sure you’re aware!”

Ruby stopped, but her good mood could not be soured. “I’m thinking on how to mess with my partner sir!”

Peter Port laughed, jovial as always. “Ah, to be young! Carry on then, but don’t forget to sleep! You wouldn’t want to miss tomorrow’s lesson!”

“I won’t! Good night!” She zipped past him, his infectious laugh echoing all around her.

Come to think of it, she still hadn’t booked the stupid psych exam. While she was still up, might as well do it. Goodwitch was too strict, Ozpin was out of the question, and she couldn’t really lie to Oobleck. Might as well be him.

She took her scroll and filled out the form manipulation on her way to the dorms. When she was in front of it, she pushed the door open slowly and closed it as quietly as possible - Blake had sensitive ears.

She used her semblance to go back under her cover and snuggled deep in her bed. As she went to sleep with a smile on her face, she only hoped one thing; That she would wake up as happy as she fell asleep.

—

As usual for the last few months, Ruby woke up tired and moody. She heard Weiss groan at the alarm - her fault for staying up so late, she thought bitterly. Didn’t she realize how scary it would be for them to wake up and not see her, not even a note? No, of course not, she probably didn’t even care.

Weiss – slowly – got out of bed and walked toward the bathroom door. She must have felt Ruby’s scowl, because she turned around and looked at her with bloodshot eyes and bed hairs. For a moment, time sat still.

Then Weiss shook her head. “Not a word. You look even worse than me.” She turned around and went to the bathroom.

Ruby stared at her, dumbstruck. Where did that come from?

Then her smile of the evening returned, tentatively, to her lips.

“Yang…” She heard Blake groan. “Ruby is planning something stupid. Stop her.”

“Nah…” Yang was still not up. “Wake me up if she blows up the school.”

“I’m not going to blow up the school!” She protested.

She was just going to war with Weiss. A delicious, silly war.

She’d missed those.

Chapter Text

A week had gone past since her meeting with Weiss, and to Ruby’s own surprise, it had been… A good one.

Sure, she didn’t sleep enough. That had been the case for months at this point, even before they arrived in Atlas, so she was used to it now. But every time she’d wake up in a bad mood, angry at everything around her, she would hear Weiss make one of her snide remarks, and she would focus entirely on teasing her. She’d swap her bottles of shampoo, arrange her notes to make childish acronyms, or steal food from her plate without asking. Little things that would get her scolded.

She didn’t really get why it felt so fun to have this back and forth again with Weiss, but it didn’t matter. She liked being teased, and she liked teasing back; that was all that mattered.

She liked it even more when Weiss caught on that she hadn’t done her homework in weeks. Again, she didn’t understand why, but when Weiss made her sit down and study with her without having any say in the matter, something settled in her chest. She’d felt at peace the entire afternoon, just following orders and teasing all the while.

Of course, everything was not sunshine and rainbows. She still couldn’t look Yang in the eyes. Each time her sister tried to spend time with her, Ruby just had to leave. If she didn’t, she’d snap, which happened exactly once - and Blake had to take her aside to calm her down.

Once upon a time, she would have fled to JNPR’s dormitory to put some distance between them, but that way led Jaune, who was arguably worse than Yang. Yang made her feel angry, but Jaune? He just made her feel guilty, shameful. Even after he went half mad as the Rusted Knight, he still would have jumped at the opportunity she had now, and he would already have a plan in motion.

What would he say if he were here now? He’d scold her, probably. Yell at her that she was stupid to even rest while the enemy was prowling outside, ready to kill her the moment they found an opening.

Ruby curled underneath her blankets. She’d had one good week, but the moment had passed. She had woken up this morning and felt tired. Not even angry, just empty. She didn’t get why. She didn’t get most of what she felt these days. Sure, that was the case before, but it had only been worse since returning to Beacon. Why was she angry? Why was she happy? Why was she sad? She shouldn’t be any of those things, yet here she was.

She was in her dorm room at Beacon. Weiss was working, Blake was reading and Yang was doing her best pretending she wasn’t worried. Everything was the same as any other day, she should be fine. But she wasn’t. She turned to face the wall.

It didn’t make sense. She wanted out of her head, out of her damned body that betrayed her no matter what she did. She wanted to sleep. She wanted to run. She wanted to care.

She wished she could feel that fire that drove her once.

Ruby heard Yang get up from her bed and felt her hand against her back through the cover.

“Ruby, are you okay?”

She didn’t answer and curled up even more. Her hand burned. She would have preferred that she’d just ignored her, that she was just so focused on Blake she didn’t see her anymore. It would be so much simpler, so much better to be back with the familiar longing from afar instead of this false primise.

“Right.” She heard Yang sigh. “I’m going to train.” She took a soft voice. “If you need me, you can just call, alright?”

Ruby didn’t answer, didn’t even move until the door was closed.

—

Weiss watched Yang go with a heavy heart. “That was painful to watch.”

She looked at Blake, who had a pained expression on her face. “Maybe we should check on her? Make sure she’s okay.”

Weiss thought about that for a second. “No. She left so we could talk to Miss morose over here.” She pointed at Ruby’s bed. She was definitely awake, moping.

Blake frowned. “Ruby,” she said, raising her voice. “I understand that you’re angry, but that doesn’t excuse hurting Yang that way. At least explain whatever this is to her, if not us.”

Weiss heard a mumbling coming from under the covers. “So she can speak!” She exclaimed. She turned her chair toward the bed. “Louder for those of us with normal ears, please. Let’s hear your excuses.”

Ruby raised her head from under the covers, the deep, dark bags underneath her eyes as visible as ever. Her voice was raspy, tired. “I said that it was rich coming from you.” She lowered her head again and closed her eyes. “I’m tired. Can’t we do this later?”

“No, I think we’ve pushed back that conversation for long enough.” Weiss pointed at the door. “Why do you keep ignoring Yang?”

Ruby opened one tired eye, her old spite back in her glare. “Why don’t you call Winter?”

“What-“ Weiss felt a pang of anxiety. Her family was public knowledge, but how did she know about her relationship with Winter specifically? Why not her father or Whitley? Why Winter?

“Exactly. Sometimes it’s complicated, and people can’t understand. So leave me alone.”

Blake shook her head. “We can’t do that. If you don’t want to speak to Yang, fine. But at least make it clear for her. She keeps beating herself up over you, you can’t leave her in the dark.”

“That’s right.” Weiss cleared her head. Ruby was just deflecting, that was it. She just said Winter’s name because she was Weiss’ big sister. There was nothing suspicious about it. “She obviously cares about you. The least you could do is recognize that.”

“It’s not fair to her if you keep avoiding her.” Finished Blake.

Ruby sat up. Even that was slow and sluggish. She had a bad look on her face, like she’d just swallowed a lemon.

“If I tell you I’ll talk with her, will you leave me alone?”

Weiss nodded. “For now, yes.”

“Okay.” She shrugged. “But I have a condition.”

“Are you serious?” Weiss scoffed. “This is not a negotiation. This is your sister we’re talking about, not some business exchange.”

Blake raised her hand. “Let’s hear it. At worst we’ll just say no and keep bugging her.”

Ruby had a small, victorious smile. “If you say no, you’ll leave me alone. I can promise you that.” She looked at them straight in the eyes. She pointed at Weiss. “Since it’s so easy to do, you will call your little brother and explain why you left him alone.”

Weiss’ brain froze. “That’s not-“

“And you.” She pointed at Blake. “Call your parents and tell them you’re alive.”

“I can’t-“

“I know. It’s hard to practice what we preach.” She went back under her covers. “So leave me alone now.

Weiss did not know how to answer that. Calling Whitley? That was ridiculous. The little monster was always too happy to suck up to their father, always trying to undermine her, to prove how good he was compared to her. Why call him? Why even acknowledge him in the first place?

Blake had a haunted look on her face. She got up quickly. “I… I’ll be back.”

“Blake-“

“I just need to think of what I’m going to say.”

Weiss blinked. Ruby rose from her bed. “What?”

“You heard me.” She still looked afraid, but there was a grim determination underneath the fear. “You’re right. We can’t tell you to talk to Yang if we can’t do the same thing. So, I’m going to call them.”

Before any of them could react, Blake left.

Ruby had a befuddled look. “I… didn’t expect that.”

Weiss nodded. “Well, she’s right, isn’t she? I’ll do as you ask myself.” She shot a murderous glare at Ruby. “We’ll talk about how you know about our family later.”

Ruby fell back on her bed and whined. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?” Weiss could hear the almost tears in her voice, the weariness in her voice.

“If you must ask that kind of question, I’m afraid your bed is draining your brain as we speak.” Really, what did she expect? That they would just leave the team fractured like this? That they would ignore Yang being batted aside like a bug? Please.

She had been on the other side of that once, and Ruby didn’t even have the lousy excuse of being perpetually drunk. She was fully in control of herself.

“Sometimes, Weiss, I really hate you.” She said with no energy.

“The feeling is mutual. But, as the better person, I’m ready to help you.”

Once upon a time, she wouldn’t have. She’d have seen Ruby as a lost cause, someone who didn’t deserve half of what she had. But now?

Weiss had been awful once, and she had received a second, third, and fourth chance. She couldn’t exactly look Ruby in the eyes and deny her what she had so casually given.

Chapter Text

Blake walked through the corridors, her mind full of fog.

It was one thing to say she’d do it, call her parents and tell them how much of a disappointment she was, tell them they were right and she was still, at her core, a child. It was another to actually do it.

She didn’t really care where her feet were taking her, she just needed to move. 

It was luck that saw her pass near an open workshop door, and luck again that she noticed Yang inside, working on her gauntlets. Black almost walked past it, but thought better of it and went inside. At least she could tell Yang the good news.

When she passed the door, Yang’s head snapped toward it before she relaxed. She was wearing a pair of safety goggles, which hid her eyes. Yang being Yang, she hadn’t tied her hairs of course.

“Hey. You good?”

Blake unsheathed Gambol Shroud and put it near one of the nearby workbench. The blade was a bit bent due to a training exercise and she still couldn’t figure out what made her gun fire slightly to the side, so she might as well do something productive with her late morning.

The workshop itself was empty except for her and Yang; most students cared little about working in the public areas outside of study times. Beacon gave to each student their own weapon maintenance kit, so most people worked in the privacy of their dorms. Ironically, it meant that, on weekends, the workshop was one of the calmest places on campus.

“We managed to get something out of Ruby.” 

“Oh?” Yang’s voice was light, but the grips on her screwdriver tightened.

“We got her to talk to you.”

“Really?!” Yang dropped everything she was holding and took Blake in a bone-crushing hug. “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Blake stiffened under the hug, in part because she still wasn’t as touchy as either of the sisters and in part because she could feel her aura bend and crack under the strain. Yang got the message and let her go, a bit sheepish. “So! Should I go see her right now, or is it a later kind of thing?”

Blake rubbed her shoulder. “Later. I still need to keep my part of the bargain before.”

“Bargain?”

“That was Ruby’s condition. I need to call my parents and Weiss needs to call her little brother.” 

Yang tilted her head. “Weiss has a brother?” 

“Yes.” Whitley Shnee. She knew very little about the boy. In the Fang, Winter took the spotlight as the dangerous soldier and Weiss as Jacque Shnee’s successor and masterclass in PR. Whitley, in comparison, was almost a non factor.

“Weird.” Yang went back to her workbench. She had disassembled her gauntlets, something that seemed more pointless than practical. She was probably taking her mind off things as much as she could. “Weiss never talks about him.”

“Well, she must have told Ruby.” Or Ruby learned about him in some other way. Blake was still not sure how she knew about her parents. Sure, if Ruby had done a little digging she might have learned of their existence, but how could she know she hadn’t talked to them in years? Was it a lucky guess? Her brain told her yes, but her instincts told her no. There was something strange about her, something that she was doing a poor job of hiding.

“So what’s the big deal?”

Blake made a face. “It’s been a while since I talked to them.”

“So? One more reason to do it. Call them, ask how they’re doing, that kind of stuff.” Yang was busy painting one of the metal plates of her gauntlets, the sound of the spray hitting the metal was their only company apart from their voice.

“It’s kind of been… five years.”

Yang stopped. She put the spray paint can down and looked at Blake. It was easier to meet her eyes when they were hidden by the safety goggles.

“Five years? So you were what, twelve?”

Blake winced. “And a half.”

“That’s…” Yang shook her head. “Why? Did they beat you or something?”

“What?! No!”

“Oh good.” Yang relaxed. “It’s just… You know.”

“Yes.” Blake hid her face in her hands. “No. They didn’t do anything wrong, that’s kind of the problem.” 

“You sound like Ruby now.”

Blake winced again. Yes, those were Ruby’s words, weren’t they? She wasn’t mad at them for they had done nothing wrong.

“Really, it’s not their fault.” Blake decided to focus on her weapon to occupy her hands. She stole a screwdriver from Yang’s workbench and went to work. “That’s even more annoying.”

“Is it because of the White Fang?”

“…Yes.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

“I don’t want to bother you.”

She heard Yang move and, a second later, felt a hand on her shoulder. “Blake.” She looked at Yang, who was still wearing those ridiculous goggles. “Outside of the friend thing, I really want to think about something else than Ruby right now. So please, tell me about your normal problems that I can actually understand.”

Blake chuckled. “Subtle as always.”

Yang grinned and went back to her workbench. “I aim to please! So, what’s the problem then?”

That was a good question. “Well, when the White Fang leadership went to Sienna, I followed and they… Didn’t.”

“Wait, they just let you go when you were twelve?”

“No…” Blake’s ears flattened. “I kind off… Ran away?”

Yang looked at her, mouth agape. “You didn’t.”

Blake refused to meet her gaze and worked on Gambol Shroud, which was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world. “I kind of just left one night with a bunch of friends.” Ilia and Adam. 

“Okay, I get it now.”

“Do you?” Blake had finally managed to remove her blade. She moved toward the forge; straightening it would a be a long process. 

Yang raised her voice to cover the sound of the starting forge. “I mean, you’re scared they’re going to yell at you right? It’s kind of like when you break a cup and you hide it. The more time you wait the worse it’s going to get.”

Blake returned to her workbench and looked for the gloves. Aura or not, fire hurts, and the forge would take a while to heat up anyway. “I mean, I’m pretty sure they would just be happy to know I’m alive.” 

“Yep" She popped the p. "Also, why are you doing all this? If I were you, I’d just replace the blade.”

“Because I want to.” She had gone through countless blades in her time in the Fang. She had managed to keep this one in perfect form ever since she came to Beacon and she was not about to break that personal best now. It was a matter of pride.

“…Right. So, I guess there’s more to the parent thing than that.” Yang had moved to other pieces of her gauntlets. She was first rubbing all the paint off with a solvent and then she applied a new paint job with what seemed to be the same color. It was one of the most advanced forms of procrastination Blake had ever seen. 

Blake herself fetched the rest of what she’d need; the tongs, the straightening block - thankfully, on wheels - and a bucket of oil for the quenching.

Blake finally broke the silence. “I guess I’m still mad at them.”

“Why’s that?”

“I don’t know, it’s just…” Blake put her blade in the forge. It would take a few minutes to heat up. “I know Weiss doesn’t think so, but the White Fang did a lot of good even after my dad left. We’ve worked with charities, we donated food, we helped people. I mean, I was the one who organized some of those things.” She sighed. “Mom told me the Fang would radicalize. She told me we were going to lose ourselves.”

“Ah. You’re mad they were right, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” She focused on the fire. “They gave up. They left us to fend for ourselves, and they predicted exactly how we’d end up. I mean, I knew the risks, I saw the signs, but I couldn’t admit they were right.”

“Yeah, that must have hurt.” She couldn’t see Yang with her back turned. “I mean, you helped build something but you lost it because you were too stubborn. I can relate.”

When she almost lost Ruby. Blake remembered that story.

“I mean, it’s childish. If I call them, I’m just admitting they were right and I’m still a child.” She scoffed. She had trained, stolen for hundreds of thousands of liens and almost killed people. She had seen towns in ruins in the wake of Grimm attacks. She was training to be a huntress in one of the best schools in the world.

Yet she was still a child who needed mommy and daddy. It was pathetic.

She took the blade out of the fire using thongs. The blade was evenly heated, she had done a correct job. It was much harder to do than she had thought at first, but thankfully that had been a lesson Beacon taught them fairly early in the year and now she could do it reliably.

She put the blade on the straightening block and tapped it lightly with a hammer. She focused on small, precise hits, never letting her control falter.

Yang was focused on her own weapons. She drank from her bottle of water then spoke. “You known, I think I remember someone telling us we’re all still children.”

Blake winced. “It’s not the same thing. We’re teenagers, not toddlers.” 

Yang laughed. “Maybe we think that, but I don’t think our parents will ever see us as anything else than their kids. I mean, it took years for my uncle to accept I can drive.”

Blake didn’t answer. Now that the blade was straight, she needed to normalize it, so back to the fire it went.

“I think you’re complicating things too much. Sure, you were wrong, but it happens. And like you said, you also did a lot of things right and you left when it was too much for you. I think they’d be proud.”

“Or angry.” She muttered.

“Oh, yeah. They’re probably furious, but it’s because they love you.” Yang was reassembling her gauntlets now.

“It doesn’t make it easy.”

“Nah. But if you want some pressure, at some point they’re going to die. If you keep hesitating, maybe it’ll be too late.”

Blake froze. She… hadn’t thought about that.

How old were her parents again? 

“Blake, the sword.”

She snapped out of her thoughts. “Right.” She took it out of the forge and winced. It seemed a little too hot to her, the red was a too bright. She hoped it wasn’t damaged and let it cool in the air.

“See? You need to be on top of these kinds of things.” Yang went to her, Ember Cecilia now fully reassembled and with a fresh coat of paint. She was sweating, which meant hairs were stuck on her face. If she had relented and tied them up she wouldn’t have that problem, but she was too stubborn, Blake thought fondly.

They stayed silent for a while. The blade cooled off, and Blake had to reheat it one final time at critical temperature before quenching it in the oil. Fire went up and licked her gloved fingers, but she ignored it. 

And for the final process, she had to temper it. She went to the tempering furnace and set it to medium for an hour and a half, then put the blade inside.

Now she just had to wait.

“Tell you what.” Yang tapped her shoulder. “Instead of overthinking this, how about you take your scroll and call them right now?”

Blake froze. “Right now?”

“Yeah. I’ll be here, if you need to leave the conversation you have an excuse and you don’t have to spend the next week worrying about it.”

Blake tried to find an objection, she really did, but nothing came up.

“It’ll be fine.” Yang stretched while Blake looked at the furnace. “Just tell them whatever. And hey, if they’re dicks about it, they don’t deserve you anyway.”

“They’re not.” Blake whispered. “They’re good people.” 

“See? Even you know it’s a good idea. Now shoo!” Blake tried to protest, but Yang shoved her through the door. “Come back once you’re done, alright?”

“But-“ 

“See ya!” She closed the door.

Blake took her scroll out of her pocket and looked at it for a while.

Well.

She had an hour left. Better make it count.

Chapter Text

Ruby woke up groggily. She squinted at the window; the sun was way up in the sky and way too bright for her. At least she was feeling marginally better.

She rose from her bed and looked at the room.

Nobody.

The familiar spike of panic woke her up just fine. She looked around, but no notes, nothing under any of the pillows and nobody was in the bathroom. She was breathing too heavily, sweat pouring on her forehead. Where were they? Weiss had been there a moment ago just before she got to sleep! And Yang? Where was Yang? She had gone to train but she should be back! Where the hell were the notes!

She took out her scroll and activated the tracker function, but of course it was locked behind a password and nobody in the team had given her access, fuck!

She barely took the time to put her cloak on before leaving the room. She couldn’t find Crescent Rose either, someone had to have taken it somewhere, she’d strangle them when she’d find them.

She activated her Semblance. Where the hell could they all be? Wait, she was back at Beacon and Yang went to train. So, logically, she went to train to kill Grimm which meant her idiotic, hotheaded sister went to the forest to kill real life Grimm because it’s the best method to train.

She was running, disappearing sporadically in a cloud of rose petals. Why why why why why would she leave her again, Yang should know better than to go in the stupid forest alone did she not remember what happened the last time she fought alone did she forget why!

Ruby felt her lungs burning but she couldn’t stop, if she was fast enough she could catch her, she could absolutely find her, she couldn’t have another Pyrrha, couldn’t arrive barely too late, she had to be faster faster faster than that faster than anything else!

She was feeling dizzy, lightheaded, a part of her wanted to stop and puke until nothing was left in her stomach, but she was too busy running to give it any heed whatsoever. Where was she? She’d been in her room a few minutes ago, she was out of Beacon now so logically she knew the place, why was she lost she didn’t have time for that she didn’t have time for anything!

She was running, she didn’t remember why but it must have been important, she needed to keep running, run always, why was she running where was she running? She coughed and almost fell but caught her step again and ran again. Blurs passed by her, what could have been people or grimm or walls or trees kept going in her field of vision, she could barely see them, barely hear anything else than her heart beating in her ears, louder than anything. Why was she running? Why wouldn’t she be, Salem was coming and she could do nothing to stop her, Blake was cornered by a Grimm and Weiss by bandits, her team had left her, she had the Cat whispers running after her, the world was opening beneath her feet, the earth was ready to swallow her under Moutain Glenn!

The blurs changed, became taller, greener, some darker, meaner, she paid them no mind and kept running, activating her semblance on and off, why couldn’t she breathe, who was strangling her, what-

She missed a step and fell down, she barely managed to protect her head with her arms. She curled up in a ball and whined, a high pitched sound that resonated in her skull. She barely managed to bring trembling arms to her cheeks and fond them wet with tears. She tried to force her legs to move, but she couldn’t, they were stuck, blocked and burned. She hadn’t broken them had she? Why would they have broken they were working just a few minutes ago! Were they? She looked around. Where was she? Was she still in the tree? It looked like the tree, like branches and leaves, but it wasn’t, she was outside, except it could be an illusion, was it the cat was it Neo was it Emerald who was toying with her mind!

She curled up even tighter and put her hands over her head, covering her ears, she wanted out, out, out, why couldn’t she breathe what was wrong what was she doing what-

Yang. The thought pierced the fog in her mind. She needed to call Yang, Yang would know what to do, she was the best, Dad was still stuck in bed and mom hadn’t come home for years, Yang was the one she could rely on, she’d tell her what to do!

She struggled through the fog, she barely managed to take one hand off her head when she heard a growl and put it back again. There was a monster, who was it what was it what- Yang! She needed Yang. Bit by bit, she managed to grab her scroll and fumbled it open. Where was Yang, why was she calling Yang, she was still busy with Blake, they were dancing in Atlas, wait no she was in detention at Signal, of course she was she skipped one of Goodwitch’s lectures, and nobody skips one of her lectures. 

She barely recognized the contact when she picked it, the letters were blurry and she was shaking so violently she almost dropped her scroll. What was she doing? She needed to be quiet to hide! She almost threw the scroll to the ground before seeing it as if for the first time. Yang! She needed to call Yang. 

With trembling fingers, she managed to hit the ‘call’ button.

—

Yang was bored. 

Sure, telling Blake to go and face her parents now instead of pushing it back to an elusive ‘later’ had been a fine idea. Great, even. The thing is, it meant she’d been stuck waiting in the workshop for the past hour with nothing to do but twiddle her thumbs.

So when her scroll rang, she might have picked it up rather quickly, not even bothering to look who called. At this point, she’d take a scam call.

“Hello?”

“Y-Yang?” The voice was small and jittery, so strangled she could barely understand it. She frowned. 

“Yes, tis’ I, Yang Xiao Long. Who’s this?”

She heard someone cough over the line, the sound loud enough to worry her. “Hey, are you okay? Who’s this?”

That didn’t help, if anything it made it worse, the breath growing shorter. She frowned. Okay, this was getting creepy. She took her scroll from her ear for a second to see the number and-

“Ruby!” She heard some short, sharp sounds. “Shit, I’m coming!”

She left the workshop and ran toward their room, any thought of Blake forgotten, trying to get Ruby’s attention over the line. She opened the door - faster, damn it, faster - and went inside.

It looked like a tornado had gone through it. Pillows and covers were thrown to the side, every door and drawer open, some of them more violently than others - she could spot a few broken ones, thrown down to the ground. Someone had ransacked the room to find… Something, she didn’t know, but more importantly Ruby wasn’t inside.

The short, sharp breaths hadn’t stopped. Yang took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. Ruby needed her help. She couldn’t panic. “Ruby, I need you to breathe, alright?”

“C—c-can’t.” Came the voice over the phone, trembling. It sounded more like a cough than a real word.

Why?! She wanted to yell, but that wouldn’t help. “Yes you can. Focus on my voice, okay? Inhale…” She took a loud, deep, drawn out inhalation. “Exhale.” She exhaled as loud as she could. “With me, okay?”

She heard sobs on the other side of the line, her own anxiety spiked in the result. “Come on Rubes, you need to try!” She couldn’t help her if she couldn’t tell her what was wrong! “With me! Again!”

She repeated the exercise over and over and over. After a minute she heard Ruby's breathing beginning to stabilize.

“Ruby, I need you to tell me where you are, right now.” She was pacing over the room, trying to find any sign of intrusion. The window was still intact, the door had been locked when she entered the room and nothing looked stolen. If someone broke in, they did it without leaving a trace.

“I don’t- I don’t know.” Ruby’s voice was raspy and still trembling. Yang had to focus all her intention to make out the words.

“Can you see anything?”

“....Grass.”

Outside. Yang left the room without looking back. Grass, grass, that meant she wasn’t in Beacon. She felt her blood turn to ice. “Ruby, are you safe?”

She heard a whimper. Wrong question. “Forget that.” Grass, grass, she wracked her brain for anything to help her. “Beacon! Ruby, can you see Beacon?”

It took a few agonizing seconds to get and answer. It was more the sound of shuffling followed by an affirmative noise than a word, but she’d take it. “Where is it? North? East?”

“Wes-“ The word was interrupted by a cough. “West.”

“Okay. I’m moving toward your location. Stay where you are, okay?” West, west, she needed to go to the forest. Of course Ruby was in the forest, why wouldn’t she be in the forest. 

Yang ran, for once wishing she had her sister’s semblance or at least her bike. Just getting out of Beacon and on the path to the forest took her precious minutes, minutes that didn’t seem to improve Ruby’s situation. Yang couldn’t keep her focused, one moment she could say a few words, the next she could barely breathe and she had to coax her again, which was pretty damn hard to do when she was also running.

She jumped from the cliffs into the forest, caring little for the Grimms she could see below - between the teachers and the students, the Grimms around Beacon were generally young and inexperienced outside of a few specific areas.

She ran some more until her panicked brain came to a realization. She couldn’t just run in a straight line until she found Ruby, that wouldn’t work. She needed a new plan.

Inspiration struck. “Ruby, can you look at the sky?” 

“Y-Yang?” 

“I’m here Rubes.” She forced the panic out of her voice and took a soothing tone. “Can you look at the sky for me? Please?”

She heard the sounds of someone and the scroll moving, dry leaves snapping and pebbles moving in the dirt.

“Okay, Ruby, can you see this?” She shot a few rounds of explosive dust in a random direction. If the teachers found out they’d give her hell, but who cared at this point.

It took her a few tries before she heard a word. “Red.”

Good, she was near.

“Okay, I’ll keep shooting these. Tell me when you see one, alright?” 

She didn’t get an answer, her breathing had gotten worse again. “Ruby, breathe, remember?”

It took her more than an hour to actually hear her own shots from Ruby’s scroll. The sun began to dip, but the few Grimms left in the forest wisely left her alone. The forest went by, forgettable tree by forgettable tree, until she could hear the sharp cough with her own two ears. 

She didn’t lose anytime and ran toward the sound. There were a lot more Grimm around, circling a small hole in the ground, barely big enough for a human but too small for them. A few beowolves were trying to dig without success, and they had even less once she pulverized them. Taking care of the other Grimms only took her a few moments.

She looked down at the hole. It was surprisingly deep, a space between two roots. And inside, trembling, curled on herself with her scroll on her ear, was Ruby.

Chapter Text

Okay, this was fine, she could see her now, it was fine, great even! She just needed to grab her and-

The moment her hand shot toward Ruby she screamed and retreated further in the hole, pressing herself against the ground hard enough she feared she’d break something. “Stay away!” Her voice was still more of a shrill rasp than anything intelligible.

Shit, shit, shit, this wasn’t good. She could barely see her in the dark like that but she didn’t look good. She pushed away the part of her that wanted to scream and spoke in the calmest voice she could muster. “Ruby. It’s me, Yang. You are safe. The grimms are dead.”

She heard some babbling in return, she could barely pick up some words like ‘impossible’. Yang frowned. “Rubes, I am going to come get you alright?” She took a careful step - that damn hole was a lot deeper than it seemed at first glance.

That was the wrong move. The moment her feet touched the ground, she saw something fly toward her face and barely managed to catch it - Ruby’s scroll. “Will you stop-“ she caught herself. “Alright, how about this. I’m going to take a step back.” She did so, carefully. She felt as if someone had shot her when she saw how Ruby looked at her. She wasn’t just frightened, she was absolutely terrified. Her eyes kept going to her right arm for some reason. At first she thought a Grimm had sneaked up behind her, but no, apparently her arm was evil now. Fine. If Ruby didn’t want to see it, she’d hide it. She tucked her arm behind her back and waited.

The effect wasn’t as immediate as she hoped, Ruby still looked scared out of her mind but at least she wasn’t looking at her like she was going to kill her. Yang didn’t risk another step. Instead, she sat down, trying desperately to find something - anything - that would calm her sister down. 

She heard a sound behind her and Rubys breathing got worse. She turned around and barely managed to block the Grimm from eating her throat, his weight sending her on her back. She felt the aura of her left arm spark and bend as the beowolf tried desperately to eat her arm before she could retaliate. With a yell, she punched it in the neck - right at the weak spot Port had shown them a few months ago - and it disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

She sat back up. Port. Port. Port! In one of his lectures, he talked about a civilian he had to rescue. She wracked her brain for the details, but nothing came up. Damn it, for once she needed the old bastard’s lessons!

She - carefully - unlocked her scroll, doing slow, telegraphed movements. Ruby was still not moving out of her hole. She could hear her breathe better, but if she’d learned anything in the past hours, it was that absolutely anything could set her off.

She opened her pictures and scrolled up. Before every single one of Port’s exams she always took a picture of Weiss’ notes on his lesson on her scroll, just in case she needed them to cheat. With a bit of luck, she’d find them.

It took her an agonizingly long time - light was really beginning to be a problem - but she found what she was looking for. 

Okay, so first step…

“Ruby, can you hear me?”

She got an affirmative noise in return. So, communication was established. She could talk semi reliably now, as long as she didn’t do anything rash or no Grimm came by to say hello. Thankfully, they seemed to have gotten the memo on that.

“So, I need you to tell me five things you can see. Can you do that?”

It took her a few tries, but she managed to say a few words. “You… Earth. Tree. Cat. Mom.”

Yang ignored the fear these words caused. There was no cat here and certainly no Summer Rose. She was hallucinating, not good, not good at all. Was it a good idea to tell her that? Yes? No? Damn it all to hell and back, why didn’t she listen to Port when she needed to!

“Okay, so now four things you can touch.”

Ruby grasped the earth. “Dirt.” 

“Yes, what else?” She tried to keep her tone calm, even, to not let her nerves into her voice.

“My gloves.” Yang could barely see her frown as she moved - slowly - her arm and touched a root. “Root.” She touched her temple, her hand coming out wet. “Tears.”

“You’re doing good, Ruby.” That wasn’t tears. Aura should have protected her from falling and hitting her head, why didn’t it protect her? She pushed that back and kept going. “Now three things you can hear.”

“You.” Ruby shook her head, as if dizzy. “Jaune. Me.”

“Okay, can you smell anything?”

“Two things?” 

“Yes!” She was getting out of her head, finally! “Two things you can smell.”

“I smell… Dirt? And blood?”

“Good.” She could see her coming back, bit by bit. She wasn’t shaking so much now. “We’re almost done. Can you taste anything?”

She could see her blink in surprise. She raised her hand toward her face and licked it, then her face scrunched up. “Dirt.”

Yang winced. “You shouldn’t eat dirt.”

“Yeah, mom’s gonna be mad at me…” She muttered. Then she shook her head again. “Yang?”

“I’m here.” She felt her shoulders relax. Should she risk approaching? Would that set her off again? “What is it?”

“The portal…” She lost some words in the mumbling. “Vacuo?”

“Ruby, where do you think you are?” Vacuo? Portal? What?

“You... Tell me.” She tried to stand up and fell back. Yang had to tense every muscle in her body to prevent herself from jumping in the damned hole and help her. “Ouch… What happened? I don’t remember…”

“Ruby, can I come over?”

Ruby blinked at her rapidly, as if she were trying to clear her eyes. “…Sure…” Yang took a single step forward and was interrupted by a scream. “Who are you!”

“Ruby-“

“You’re not Yang! What do you want! What!” She was yelling and her breathing was getting worse again.

“Ruby!” Yang took a step back. “I’m not coming closer, okay?” Seriously, what was - shit, her arm. She tucked it behind her back again. “See? Everything’s fine.”

But Ruby couldn’t hear her anymore. 
—

It took half an hour for her to calm Ruby down enough to get to her, repeating the grounding technique on Weiss' notes. At first she tried to get her to her feet, but she had screamed in pain, so she stopped. It took her some time to find out a position she could take, but they settled on a piggyback ride, just like when they were little. Now, she just needed to walk to Beacon's cliffs. After only a minute she felt Ruby fall asleep, finally. She could only hope her dreams were more pleasant than whatever… That… Was. 

While she walked, she finally answered all the missed texts from her friends. Blake had also called and left what she could only assume to be a pissed off voice mail, but she also had a few messages from Weiss and Jaune.

She decided to call Weiss. Not that it mattered, whoever she called would repeat everything she’d say to the group, so might as well be the one with a good memory.

Weiss picked up her scroll almost immediately. “Yang?”

“Hey Weiss.” She was speaking quietly to not wake Ruby up and not alert the Grimm. Half of her was expecting giant, angry wolves to jump at her from the shadows of the night.

“Where are you?” 

“I’m…” She looked around. “I’m in the forest. I should be back soon… Ish.”

“I see.” She heard her take the scroll away from her and speak with someone else over the line. “Is Ruby with you?”

“Yeah. But… We might need a nurse.” She did her best to keep her tone even. At least Weiss could not see her shaking.

She heard a scuffle over the line, and the comforting voice of Weiss was replaced by the cold tone of Professor Goodwitch. “Miss Xiao Long, I need the details on Ruby’s injuries.”

“I…” Yang gulped. This was going to suck, a lot. “I don’t know. I found her in a hole and she kept screaming and hallucinating-“

“Yang.” Goodwitch’s voice cut through her. “Focus. Did you see her get injured?”

“No, I-”

“Is she bleeding?” The professor had a calm, even tone.

“A little. She has a cut on her head.” At least she thought it was a little cut. She couldn’t see it clearly at the time and she was more concerned with going back to Beacon ASAP.

“I see.” She heard her whisper to someone else. “Is she awake right now?”

“No, she fell asleep a moment ago.” She paused. “Hey, she’s going to be fine, right?”

“If you answer, yes. Could she talk to you clearly?”

“She had troubles breathing, but she could talk.” Answering questions was fine. Answering questions was easy. She could do this. She felt her shaking subsides.

“Was she behaving normally?” 

“No.” Yang almost tripped on a root - damn forests and their damn darkness. “She told me she was seeing and hearing things that weren’t there.”

“I see. I assumed you’ve moved her?”

“Yes?” Yang felt a spike of fear. “Wait, I wasn’t supposed to? But she was moving by herself!”

“Calm down.” Goodwitch’s voice had steel in it. “You have done well. Now, you will broadcast your position to your team, and I’ll come get you. Keep moving, I’ll meet you halfway.” She cut the call.

Yang’s shoulders slumped, and she looked behind her. “Ruby, I swear, if I get detention because of this…” It was better to think about her possible gruesome fate at Goodwitch's hands than to think about the dead weight on her back, on how she had yelled at her, how she had looked like a dirty, bloody, cornered animal.

Yang heard growls around her and picked up the pace. Young Grimms or not, the sooner she was out of this damn forest, the better.

Chapter Text

Yang sat on the floor of the hallway, exhausted.

Technically she should be going back to her dorm - Goodwitch had promised her she’d handle everything and had told her she needed to sleep.

Goodwitch needed to take her wand and shove it up her ass far enough she could swallow it back down. Yang would not leave that damned hallway until Ruby was awake, safe and sound.

Her brain was at the point where it registered she wasn’t going to sleep and thus flooded her with enough nervous energy to keep going. All she needed to do was wait.

She heard small, discreet footsteps in the hallway. She raised her head and saw Blake heading her way. 

They didn’t say anything for a while; Blake just sat down next to her and waited.

Yang yawned, and it spread to Blake.

“I know I’m not the best to say this, but you should get some sleep.”

“And let her wake up alone? Not way.” 

Blake sighed and let her head rest against the wall. Yang did the same. They could barely hear the sounds of the nurse and Goodwitch speaking through the wall. 

Yang was confident Beacon could heal her sister. They called it an infirmary, but really, it was basically a small hospital where they could treat a lot of things by themselves. Any injuries a Huntress could get could be treated, from burns to broken bones. Ruby would be fine.

She had to be.

Blake broke the silence. “I called my parents.”

“Hm?”

“Yeah. It went… fine.”

“Just fine?”

“I mean…” Blake frowned. “It feels weird. I mean, I haven’t seen them in years. I changed, but they didn’t.”

“Eh.” Of course it felt weird for her. It had felt weird for Yang when her dad got back in her life for good, and he had only been gone for a year or two. “You gonna call them again?”

Blake’s hand gripped her scroll. “Next week. We scheduled a call.” She had a smile at Yang’s raised eyebrow. “Your little trick worked, but Menagerie is far away from here. For them, it was about ten in the evening.”

“Ouch.”

“It’s a miracle they picked up in the first place.”

Silence fell on them again. Yang frowned. Wasn’t that the part where Weiss was supposed to say something?

She looked around. 

“Hey, where’s Weiss?”

“Don’t know.” Blake shrugged. “She left while you were calling Goodwitch. Said something about research.”

“Urgh.” Yang tapped her head against the wall behind her. “Why does everyone in this school just do stuff on their own? Did Weiss forget about the docks?” Yang pointed at Blake. “Because that’s how we get the docks.”

Blake shook her head, amused. “I don’t think she’s going out to find the White Fang, Yang.”

“She's going to the library to find books.” Yang groaned. “It’s worst. Knowing our luck, it’s going to be a haunted book. Or a book of ancient conspiracies. Or a haunted book of ancient conspiracies.”

That got a laugh out of Blake. 

“Come on Yang, I’m positive that if there’s one place in Vale with a conspiracy of some sort, it’s not the school.”

—

Glynda Goodwitch was quite peeved with Ozpin and his conspiracy. 

Let a repented White Fang member and Weiss Shnee be on the same team? No problem. Sure, he’d deny it and say assignments were random, but she could smell the lies.

Let a student with questionable qualifications in because he had potential? Highly irresponsible, but she could trust him on that.

Let a fifteen-year-old child in Beacon so she could get traumatized after her first mission? She was questioning the wisdom.

She drank from her cup of tea in the infirmary waiting room. Technically, she did not need to be here, but she needed to hear the report for her own peace of mind. 

She heard the door open and the nurse walk out. She was a small, timid woman who always looked like she’d rather hide somewhere than talk to her. When she saw her, she jumped and almost went back through the door. Glynda held it open with her semblance.

“Come now. Just tell me what’s wrong with her, and I’ll be out of your hair.”

She nodded timidly. “Alright.” She sat down in front of her, fidgeting. Her eyes kept going to her cup.

Glynda rubbed the bridge of her nose. “What is it?”

“It’s just… Should you be drinking this before going to sleep?” She made herself smaller. “Not that I’m judging, of course!”

“Sleep?” Glynda scoffed. “After this little show, I’ll have to do so much paperwork that I might as well pay my printer the overtime.” And that was not taking into account Yang Xiao Long who was outside this door, waiting for any news about her sister.

The frowned and began to speak, but Glynda waved her concerns away. “Enough about me. How is she?”

The nurse shot her a glare that would have trouble intimidating a mouse before answering. “She’s sleep deprived, which can include a lot of symptoms, including but not limited to memory issues, reduced attention span, poor decision making…” she emphasized the last one. Glynda ignored her. “It also doesn’t help with anxiety and depression, can increase stress level - just like too much caffeine, by the way, but it can also-“

“I get it.” Glynda put the cup down. “I’ll go to rest once we’re done. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes.” The nurse’s glare faded for her usual shy smile. “I’m sorry, it’s just-“

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s your job. Anything else?”

“Well, her aura burned out, and she teared the quadriceps on her left leg. Once her aura is back up, it should take her a few days until she’s ready for combat.”

“And the head injury?”

She shook her head. “It’s hard to say as long as she’s asleep, but I don’t think it’s anything more than a mild concussion at worst, and that’s only because of the reported hallucinations.”

Glynda nodded. At least it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. “So, nothing life-threatening? She'll be fine with a few days of rest?”

The nurse nodded. “Yes. Aura should take care of everything and she’ll be able to leave in three days tops, but right now she needs to rest.” The nurse narrowed her eyes. “Just like someone else I know.”

She rolled her eyes and got up. “Yes, yes, I’m going.” She picked up her wand and froze, thoughtful.

“Something on your mind?”

“Well, yes…” She replayed the evening’s call in her head. “Could some sleep deprivation and a concussion explain auditory and visual hallucinations? She was hearing and seeing people that weren’t there.”

The nurse shook her head. “It’s… Possible. Not likely, but technically possible. As long as she’s not awake, we have no ideas on external factors. Maybe she was under the effect of a Grimm or a semblance, or she took some narcotics. I’m not sure.”

Glynda winced. Aura had a way to heal the body faster than its normal rhythm, and that included drugs. Qrow had to drink constantly to stay buzzed, and hangover tended to last an hour tops amongst Hunters. That, sadly, included the elimination of the usual residues found in blood to determine if someone had taken a drug or another.

She pushed past that thought. She just had to wait for the girl to wake up and get the full story.

“Well.” She nodded toward the nurse. “Thank you for your work.”

“Not a problem, I’m always happy to help. Have a good night, Miss Goodwitch.”

She nodded and opened the door. She immediately looked to the side to see Yang and Blake. Blake was asleep on Yang’s shoulder, who was asleep on her teammate’s head. Glynda felt a spark of fondness that she squashed immediately. She used her semblance to shake them, and they woke up groggily. 

“Miss Xiao Long. I believe I told you to go back to your dorm.”

“Huh-what?” She was blinking wildly, chasing the sleep from her eyes.

“If you insist on staying in the hallways at night, perhaps you will like cleaning them?”

That got a reaction. She shot to her feet and swayed. “No ma’m! I’m going!” She tugged her teammate along. “Come on Blake! We got to leave!” Blake got up, still half asleep, and practically fell on her teammates’ shoulder. Yang tugged her along.

Glynda watched them leave until they were out of sight, then sighed. She had a lot of work to do, and very little time to do it. Maybe she could…

She heard the door the infirmary open and felt a chill up her spine. Maybe that work could wait for tomorrow. She needed the sleep after all.

Chapter Text

Why couldn’t she fix Crescent Rose?

Ruby was in a black, endless void. In front of her were the broken pieces of her weapon, all laid down. The blade was there, still sharp. She grabbed it, and it nicked her finger. 

It was sharp, but a liability. It would harm the user as much as it would harm the Grimm, if not more.

She kicked it into the void. A blade that couldn’t be used was useless. She absentmindedly rubbed her right arm and moved on.

The scope. The sight of the weapon, the foresight. Without the scope, was a rifle really that useful? She took it between her fingers. It was bent, broken, the lenses fractured. Useless.

She threw it into the void. A scope that couldn’t see was useless. She rubbed her eyes and moved on.

The rifle, of course. The scope was there to plan, the rifle was to execute. But really, after all it went through, the rifle should be replaced. It jammed too often, needed too much maintenance to just function.

She sighed and picked it up, then let it fall into the void. Really, nobody needed a rifle that would jam whenever it was needed or that needed hours of maintenance just to function. She tapped her foot against the ground and moved on.

The mechashift. The ability to tie it all together and, in many ways, the skeleton of the weapon. It was busted, couldn’t link with the other pieces properly. And what good was a mechashift that couldn’t link with others?

She took it into her hands, thinking. She should really throw it away. Nobody would miss it, least of all herself. But still, some part of her told her it wasn’t a good idea.

Why shouldn’t she discard it? 

It was a tug in her mind. It was important. It was something that wasn’t hers to throw away. She did it anyway.

She sat alone, in the void. Once upon a time, it would have bored her. Alone, waiting. But any part of her that might care was gone. It wasn’t her problem anymore. She could wait here until the void claimed her like it claimed everything else. It wouldn’t hurt. Nothing would hurt.

'Red, you’re the kind of girl who couldn’t even let a humble thief do his job in peace. I’m not buying you doing nothing when you know the end of Vale is going to happen. If I were you, I’d go straight to Ozpin, tell him everything you told me and stop this whole thing.'

She frowned. There was nothing to tell. The void was coming, fighting against the tide was useless. At best she’d just hope for a bit before being squashed down. She just wanted the world to stop trying to fight it. Just let go.

She felt something nudge her hand. The frame, the mechashift, was back. She tried to shake it off, but it stuck to her skin, it refused to come off. Somehow, that was comforting. She did some half-hearted shakes, but it was more out of principle than anything else.

The void was still there. It would always be there, encroaching, but at least she was content to let it be.

Then the frame tried to crawl back inside, to fight it, and she felt her heart seize with fear. No! Not you! If you stay with me, you don’t need to fight it!

But it left anyway. She tried to follow, but stopped after a few steps - there was the void. Could she really face it? This inevitability of wasted efforts? Could she not?

She curled up on herself. She didn’t want anything to do with it. She wanted her frame back. She wanted to leave it to rot so she wouldn’t have to care anymore.

She wanted…

She wanted…

—

Weiss woke up with a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, Weiss. Remnant to Weiss, can you hear me? Remnant to Weiss, I need answers and I’m not sure you can give them!”

She blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the - what she assumed to be - morning light. She was… Right. She was at the library. She was resting her eyes for a second or two, and…

She groaned. “Yang. Is it morning already?”

“Yep. It’s a beautiful morning, the birds are singing and you are not in our room. Why are you sleeping in the library?” Yang went in front of Weiss and put her hands on her shoulders, her smile somehow brighter than the sun. “Do I need to do a Blake intervention? Because I’m out of dances to offer, and I don’t have that many options left.”

Weiss tried to bat her hand aside, but Yang’s grip was stronger than she’d thought. Weiss shook her head. “I know my limits perfectly well, thank you.” She yawned. “I mean, I still slept, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did.” Yang poked her on the cheek. “And you have the marks to prove it too.”

“And if I have to take a guess, the back pain too.” Blake was lounging on a chair next to Weiss, a book in hands.

Weiss groaned. “Alright, I should have been more careful. Don’t go all Ruby on me over this.”

Yang raised an eyebrow. “Ruby?”

“She… caught me the other day.” Weiss felt a twinge of embarrassment that she squashed with righteous indignation. “She said something about how I shouldn’t leave the room alone.” She honestly didn’t remember all that much. She was almost dead on her feet at that point, and she couldn’t even remember going back to the dorms.

“Well, that’s…”

“Dumb?” Yang offered with a shrug.

“I was going to say 'strange’. That’s typically the kind of policies we used to travel in Grimm infested territory.”

“And as I pointed out, Beacon is a remarkably safe environment.” Well, she thought she had pointed that out. 

Yang finally let go of her and stretched. “Yeah, Beacon is pretty cool like that.”

Weiss looked down. At least her notes had been saved. “Ah, right. I need to return these.” She got up from her chair. Once she had cleaned up after herself, she would take a scalding hot shower and not get out for as long as humanly possible. 

“Where to?” Yang picked up a few of the large books - more like photo albums, really.

“The record section.”

“Record?” They began to walk, leaving Blake behind. “What were you doing with those?”

Weiss shrugged. “I was researching someone Ruby mentioned. The name was familiar, so I tried to look for it here.”

“And?”

“No match.” She sighed. “Beacon’s records are not as well maintained as I would like. I mean, it was a long shot anyway, but…” She arrived at the section and put the books back in place. “It’s just weird. I could have swore she was part of a team.”

“You got a name? My dad was in Beacon, so maybe he told me about her.” Yang was putting away the albums she was holding, using her unfair height to her advantage.

Weiss shrugged. It couldn’t hurt her endeavors, so really, where was the harm? “Have you ever heard of someone called Raven?”

Chapter Text

“Alright!” Yang slammed her desk on the table and weathered the shush of the other people in the library. “I declare this first brainstorming session open. Weiss, you’re up. Make me proud.”

Weiss made a face at that, but cleared her throat and spoke. “Right. Last week, Ruby and Blake had a fight.”

Blake nodded. That was true.

“I was outside, but they were screaming loud enough for me to hear. Ruby said something interesting, that you!” She pointed at Yang. “Did not share with us.”

Yang shook her head. “It wasn’t important.”

“It kind of is.” Interjected Blake. Really, not telling them she almost got killed? At least she could have warned them, so they could avoid Neo in the future.

“Hey, listen.” Yang kicked back in her chair and put her feet on the table - Weiss used a small glyph to shove them off. “We all almost died on that train. Even Oobleck! Who cares if I got a little closer than you?”

“I do!” Snapped Weiss. “We can’t develop a strategy if you don’t tell us these kinds of things!”

Blake nodded. “She’s right. Next time, you’ll tell us.”

Yang winced. “Okay. I’m sorry.”

Blake felt a wave of relief. Yang looked genuinely apologetic, so at least she wouldn’t have to find this kind of information from Ruby…

“Wait, I didn’t really think about it at the time, but… How does Ruby know?”

Weiss smiled. “Exactly. I didn’t think of it either, but while we were waiting for you, I overheard Miss Goodwitch talk about how you two ‘make her miss Raven and Qrow.’”

Yang balked. “Hey! We’re not nearly as bad as them!”

“The point is,” said Weiss, ignoring her, “that reminded me of the name.”

Weiss looked proud of herself, so Blake indulged her. “And how did you know where to look?”

“Well, that is…” she put her hands behind her back. “After our little, let’s say, ‘incident’ at the docks, I ran a little background check on the rest of the team. To avoid future troubles.”

Yang facepalmed. “And we turned Weiss into a stalker. That’s great.”

“What-“ 

“Come on, Yang, she’s clearly not a stalker. It’s not like she’s taking pictures of us when we’re not looking.”

Yang laughed. Blake laughed. Weiss forced a smile.

Yang stopped. “Weiss. Don’t tell me.”

Weiss laughed. Blake could tell it was strained. “Of course I’m not doing that. That would be ridiculous.”

Yang nodded. “Yup. Especially since you told me your password, and I can check that whenever I want.”

While Weiss was distracted, Blake went behind her and took her scroll, letting her clone vanish in a puff of smoke. “So, what’s the password on that thing?”

“Hey!” Weiss turned around and tried to take the scroll back, but Blake dodged out of reach.

“C’mon Weiss, fess up, or I’ll say it.”

Weiss stopped, horrified. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, I would. Each and every one of the fourteen letters, four symbols and three numbers.” Yang paused. “By the way, that’s a stupidly long password.”

“It’s also secure.” Weiss sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “In the spirit of getting back on track, Yang, I do take pictures of us sometimes. These are just normal pictures, so I can put them in an album one day. Happy?”

Yang nodded with a big smile. “Very. See, it’s not that hard to- hey!”

Blake put Yang’s scroll in her pocket. “Keep teasing Weiss, and I’ll give it to her. With the password. All eight numbers.”

“Just eight?! What, do you want to get hacked?!”

Yang raised her hands. “Back on topic! Ruby! What’s up with her!”

The mood instantly went sour. Weiss sat down again and sighed. “That’s… Pretty much it for yesterday. I tried to look up Raven in Beacon’s archive but couldn’t find her.”

Yang rubbed her chin. “That's not surprising. Team STRQ was pretty secretive back in the day. They always did shady covert ops stuff.”

Blake raised an eyebrow. “Shady covert ops ‘stuff’?”

“Yeah you know. Spy on people, protect them from the shadow, that kind of stuff, or at least that's what my dad told me.” Yang shrugged. “Guess they scrubbed the archives just to be sure no one could find them anymore.”

Blake paused. “So they have access to Beacon’s systems then.”

“Or maybe they just infiltrated the school.” Weiss typed something on her scroll. “If they were really the equivalent to Atlas Specialists, they could have someone in charge of breaking into systems.” Weiss pointed at Yang. “Speaking of, you will change your scroll password later.”

Yang rolled her eyes. “Fine. Whatever. So Ruby knows - somehow - that I got my ass kicked.”

Blake frowned. “She could have seen it from outside.”

“Nah, she would have jumped in. It’s Ruby we’re talking about.” Yang sighed. “So we’re not any further than we started. Anything else, Weiss?”

Weiss smirked and opened her bag, taking out a huge book from it and a binder full of paper sheets neatly organized. “I do, actually.”

“That’s great!” Said a new voice. Blake turned around to see Jaune and Pyrrha walk toward them. Jaune looked worn down. “Because if I get the cold shoulder from her one more time, I think my self-esteem is going to crash and never return.”

Pyrrha patted his back awkwardly. It didn’t seem to make him feel better.

Yang frowned. “Isn’t it your shift at the infirmary?”

“Ren and Nora volunteered. Also,” he rubbed his head, “I was going a little crazy in there.”

“Well-“

“Let’s just hear what Weiss has to say.” Blake interrupted. If Yang was in an overprotective mood they would be stuck there grilling Jaune all afternoon. 

“Thank you Blake. Pull up a chair you two.”

Pyrrha and Jaune did and sat down around the table. 

“Pyrrha, I’m glad you’re here. When you fought Ruby, did you notice anything strange?”

Pyrrha smiled sheepishly. “Well, she used aura techniques I’ve never seen before. Not to brag, but I have been trained by the best coaches Mistral has to offer.”

“For what it’s worth, that’s not something I know either.” Yang added.

Blake shook her head. “Me neither. It’s not from Menagerie, that’s for certain.”

“I’ve never seen it either.” Added Jaune.

Everyone turned to look at him and he flushed. “Right. Not helping.”

Weiss mercifully kept going. “Outside of that, I have noticed that her Aura has grown and her dust manipulation has improved significantly. She went from struggling in class to passing it effortlessly.”

Yang nodded. “Yeah, I noticed that too. Speaking off, did you see how eager she was to study with you?”

Weiss’ eye twitched. “Study. Right.”

Blake smiled. “The glitter was funny.”

“It was not funny to clean, that’s for sure.”

“Well you made Ruby do it, so I don’t see the problem.”

“Really Yang? Really?! An hour of precious time lost because of a childish prank-“

“Ahem.” Pyrrha cut them off with what could have been a polite cough or a warning. Blake chose to take it as both and stayed silent. “Back on topic, she has been acting weird with us too.”

Jaune nodded. “I mean, she won’t talk to me. At all.”

“And Yang.” Added Blake. “And she wouldn’t really talk to me or Weiss before our fight.”

“She doesn’t talk, she haunts my life.”

“But you two get along.” Interjected Yang. “Meanwhile she looks like she wants to punch me half the time I see her.”

Jaune sighed. “Man. I miss when the worst thing I had to worry about was you guys going against Torchwick without us.” 

Blake’s ears dropped.

“Moving on.” Said Weiss, sparing everyone the awkwardness. “To summarize, her aura has grown, her fighting style is new and she doesn’t seem to like her old friends. I couldn’t find something specific, but I found this.” Weiss pointed at the book.

Yang took it and opened it at a random page. “’Dear Jade. Have you tried wearing the lingerie I sent you? Surely, even a man as dense as him must understand-‘ Wow Weiss, didn’t expect you to read this kind of thing.”

Blake went behind Yang to read from above her shoulder, ignoring Weiss’ indignant sputter. “And it’s an epistolary too. Nice tastes.”

Jaune turned toward Pyrrha. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, don’t worry,” she said, blushing. “Just… Thinking.”

“This isn’t fiction!” Weiss finally managed to say. “This book is a record of letters about the Emerald King. If you remember your history classes, you know that he managed to turn the war around at the last moment, suddenly.”

“Indeed.” Pyrrha nodded. “It’s also him that introduced the Huntsman system and disbanded the concept of an army.”

But not of a military. Blake was more than familiar with the concept and how both Atlas and Menagerie managed to get around his treaty. The Emerald King was shortsighted, and his definition of an army only included a fighting force filled with Aura users. On paper, it was smart - no one would try and send civilians without auras against people who could kill a hundred of them without breaking a sweat. In practice, it led to the bloodshed of the Faunus War, where people camouflaged their professional army with auraless soldiers to save face. It led to hundreds, thousands even, more casualties than if everyone had been honest with their use of aura.

She was still mad when she thought about it.

“Well, reading this, there was a clear change at some point.” Weiss looked at her notes. “The King shunned his old advisors and friends and took new ones. He reorganized the leadership of the country, became an adept strategist overnight and did not look at his wife the same way ever again.”

“So basically he became better at his job, and didn’t like his friends anymore.” Jaune winced. “Yep, that’s… I get it.”

“So, your theory?” Interrupted Yang. She was fidgeting now, nervous. Blake threw a small bit of paper at her to distract her, which worked for all of ten seconds before she got distracted herself, her ear twitching at people running in the hallway. Yang took that opportunity to return fire. Before she could retaliate, Weiss slammed the book on the table and glared at them until they stopped. Once she was sure they were both paying attention, she continued.

“I… Don’t really have one.” Weiss shuffled her notes around. “I can tell the situations are similar, but not much else.”

“You don’t seem very convinced.” Added Pyrrha.

“Well, Ruby doesn’t talk alone by herself. She’s also rude toward us, but she’s not going to see other people either. It doesn’t really fit.”

“Also, the panic attack.” Yang rubbed her arm. Jaune shot her a questioning look, so Yang explained. “Long story short, yesterday she kept talking about things that weren’t there. But what was weird was, she was afraid of my arm.”

“No you?” Pyrrha tilted her head, perplexed.

“Nah. If I hid my arm like this,” Yang put her arm behind her back, “all good. But the moment she could see it she just blew up all over again.”

“Did something happen to your arm? Like, when you were kids?” Jaune was frowning, and Blake could see he was deep in thought. “One of my sisters still doesn’t like dogs because one bit her when she was little.”

“Nah. I have a good memory about these things, trust me.” Yang shook her head. “I still don’t get why she went to the forest.”

“What I don’t get,” said Blake, “Is why she ransacked the room. Miss Goodwitch told us nobody entered it after Weiss left, so it can only have been her.” She had looked at the cameras with a frightening ease, in fact. She would think twice before doing anything illegal on campus, that was for sure.

Weiss’ eyes widened. “Oh no.”

“What?”

“Well, remember when she ambushed me in the library?”

Pyrrha tilted her head. “She did… what?”

Weiss waved her hand. “Not important, I will tell you later. But she said something about me leaving without letting her know.” Weiss paused. “Technically, letting the team know.”

Blake frowned. “So what set her off was… Not knowing where you were? But she stayed at the hotel just fine the other night.”

“And before that.” Yang shrugged. “Me and dad-“

“Father and I.” Interrupted Weiss.

“I’m not calling my dad Father.”

“Well, at least-“

“Guys!” Interrupted Jaune. He got shushed, but he could not weather it as well as Yang and shrank on himself. Sheepishly, he added, “You were saying?”

“Right.” Yang cleared her throat. “The long and short of it is that she stayed at home alone for days before. No big deal.”

Blake dug through her memory. That seemed familiar, when had she… Oh.

“I… Kind of had this happen to someone in my…” Blake’s eyes darted around. She couldn’t exactly say it out loud. “Previous workplace.”

Weiss groaned and hit her head on the table. She tried to do it a second time, but Yang put her hand in the way. “Go on.”

“Well, some time, a group of… employees, would work together. And if they, for example, erm…” Blake looked around and saw a sign. “Go to the bathroom? And came back and the others weren’t where they should be, it would make them very, very jittery.” 

Jaune looked at her like she had just put on clown makeup and dancing shoes. Weiss looked at her with bloodshot eyes - usually, she got her coffee an hour before this, and the delay was taking its toll. “Blake, I’ll teach you how to improvise tomorrow. After I make Yang change her password.”

“What’s wrong with Yang’s password?” Said Jaune.

“Confidential!” Said Yang, quickly. “So you’re saying she could have panicked because Weiss left her alone?”

Weiss hit her head against the table again and groaned, her voice muffled. “She was sleeping when I left. I offered to bring her a drink and she didn’t answer. I forgot about it.”

“There you go.” Said Pyrrha. “If I had to guess, she was looking for something to explain why you vanished when she woke up.”

“I went to fetch a drink.” Said Weiss, her voice still muffled. “Then I ran into you and we talked.”

Yang stretched. “Yeah, but maybe for her it was worst, like she thought you got kidnapped or something. You guys wouldn’t believe how panicked she was.”

“From what I’ve overheard, she burned out her aura just to run to the forest.” Added Blake.

They didn't talk for a while, and Blake felt her mood drop. Since when was Ruby so… Fragile wasn’t the word. Brittle? Like anything could break her, and they had to be careful to not piss her off or make her panic.

And why did that remind her of Adam?

“Well, that means there’s only one thing to do!” Yang slammed her hand on the table, again, and got shushed, again. “We don’t leave her sight, or if we do, we leave a note. Can’t be that hard.”

Jaune groaned. “That still doesn’t explain why she-“ his scroll beeped. He opened it rapidly and turned it toward Yang. “Well. Speak of the beowolf... She woke up.”

Yang bolted. Blake looked at Weiss, who looked ready to murder someone, and made her decision. “Weiss, you’re not going to see Ruby before you eat something and take a shower.” She turned toward the others. “Can you help me with the books?” They acquiesced and ignored Weiss' protests.

Yang could handle Ruby. Scratch that, Yang needed to handle Ruby.

For their sakes.

Chapter Text

Ruby woke up to someone talking to her, which was not in her top ten of worst ways to wake up but was pretty damn close.

“Hi? Can you hear me? Can you tell me your name?”

Ruby squinted to see through the white light. That was the nurse. Funny, she could have swore Ren and Nora were the ones talking a minute ago. “I’m Ruby.” Her voice felt weak. “How did I get here?”

She heard the scrap of pen on paper. “Do you remember what happened?”

Ruby frowned. She had been… running? Her legs hurt like hell, that was for sure. Wait, no, she had just made a deal with Blake and Weiss, and she wanted to sleep after that. Then… Well, then there was the running, but that was all. “Not really.” She coughed; her throat was parched. “Can I have water?”

“In a moment. Do you know what day it is?” How could she be so loud and so quiet at the same time? On one hand, her voice pierced her ears, on the other, she could barely make out what she was saying.

“Saturday?” 

“Sunday, actually. Can you follow my fingers? Don’t move your head.” She put two fingers in front of Ruby’s eyes and moved them, up and down, right and left.

Then she ran a bunch of tests, asked her to push or pull her arm, checked if she could hear properly - lots of things that were pissing her off more and more. At least she got her damn glass of water.

After an eternity of pointless exercises had passed, the nurse finally let her go. “You had a mild concussion yesterday, which might make things a bit confusing right now.”

“I’m not confused,” groaned Ruby. “I get it, I ran into a tree or something, can I go now?” She really didn’t have the patience to deal with this. 

“No.” The nurse’s tone was as close as severe as she could manage, which was a .3 on the Goodwitch scale. “You need to rest until tomorrow at least.”

“Ruby let her head fall on the pillow. “So I get to just do nothing today?”

“…More or less, yes.” The nurse didn’t seem sure, but Ruby didn’t have the energy to pursue it. 

“Great.” She closed her eyes. She didn’t hear the nurse leave after a few seconds, so she opened them again. “What is it?”

“Some of your friends want to see you. Do you want me to tell them to go away?” She seemed almost terrified at the prospect, and Ruby felt a spark of - well, not care exactly, but maybe pity. She sighed.

“Sure, why not. They’ll just break in anyway.” Somehow, she didn’t think they would do something like respect her boundaries. Not that they should worry that much; Yang was probably crying in Blake’s arms, as she does, and Weiss was probably too busy looking at an alcohol bottle like it insulted her but was also the hottest guy at the party.

She shook her head, trying to clear the fog in her mind. She was back at Beacon, her team was worried, she wasn’t in Atlas anymore.

While she was lost in thoughts, the nurse had finally left. Bored, Ruby patted her pockets and looked around but couldn’t find her scroll. She was on a standard bed in the infirmary. It wasn’t an individual room per se, but the place was separated by thick curtains, and she couldn’t see what was outside her cage - she could barely even hear it.

She was about to call the nurse to ask for her scroll when she saw a hand open the curtains.

Yang stepped through. She looked nervous, like she hadn’t slept, nothing like the carefree student she was supposed to be. Ruby felt a fresh wave of shame drown her anger. She had a perfect chance to make things right, and here she was, tormenting her sister like she had before. What was wrong with her?

What wasn’t?

“Hey Rubes.” Yang had a strained smile and was holding her right arm behind her back for some reason. “You feeling better?”

Ruby wanted to nod, but that would have required taking her head off her pillow, so she shrugged instead. “Dunno. I just woke up.”

“You remember anything?” Ruby felt the annoyance come again, but she squashed it down like the bug it was. She wasn’t fast enough, because Yang noticed it. “I’m sorry. I guess everyone asked you that already.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Yep. It’s all ‘please look at the light Ruby’ and ‘can you feel it when I poke you Ruby’.” Quite frankly, it wasn’t as annoying as she made it be, but she felt like being dramatic. She looked at Yang and raised a questioning eyebrow. “What are you doing with your arm behind your back? You got me a present?”

Yang winced, but she suppressed it a second later. “So you really don’t remember anything then.” It wasn’t a question. “Can I sit down?”

Ruby motioned toward a chair, but Yang sat on the bed instead, carefully avoiding her legs. Ruby wanted to kick her, but a fresh spike of pain made her reconsider it.

Yang saw all that and patted her head with her right hand, which meant she had to turn around at a weird angle and now Ruby really wanted to push her off the bed just to mess with her.

But sadly, no aura. Damn it.

“You kinda went crazy yesterday.”

“Crazy? Like depressive crazy, suicidal crazy, angry crazy?” She had been all three at some point, so Yang really needed to be more specific.

That was not the message Yang got. Ruby didn't know what message she got, but it wasn’t a good one because her eyes looked wide as saucers and her face went paler than she’d ever been. “What do you mean depressive and suicidal?”

Ruby sighed. “I meant it as a joke. I just woke up, I’m not funny yet.”

“No, you’re not. Please don’t joke about that.” She looked really spooked. Ruby kind of felt bad for her. She took her hand in hers. 

“Yang, I’m not going anywhere,” yet, “don’t worry. I’m not that far gone.” She had been, but for some reason it hadn't worked, and, well… No point rushing it. Death would come eventually. She wondered if it would be Adam or Cinder. Eh, she'll see it for herself in a couple of months, no rush. The Fall wasn't that far away. 

Yang didn’t look convinced. “Ruby, really. You won’t tell me why you're mad, but can you at least tell me if you feel sad?”

Ruby closed her eyes. There was no way out of this conversation now, was there? “I’m not sad, Yang. That’s not how depression works anyway.” It’s funny, she would learn that while fighting the Apathy. At the time she had been the one holding on, hadn’t she?

“How does it work then?” Yang laid down next to her. It was a tight fit, the bed was too small for two people, so she ended up half hugging her. This felt nice. She had missed Yang’s hugs. 

Wait, wasn’t there a reason why she missed those? She was pretty sure there had been something, but she was too tired to register it. A mix of aura exhaustion and the concussion, probably. 

“It’s empty, I guess. You feel tired all the time, you feel bored but you don’t want to do anything, whenever you laugh you feel sad because it’s over right away… These kind of things.” Thinking back, Yang also experienced that when she lost her arm. “Hey, why are you keeping your arm behind your back like this?” She was even lying on it.

“Well, it’s just that yesterday, you…” Yang sighed, and told her everything.

—

Ruby was… She didn’t know how to feel. When Yang was speaking, she’d get the occasional flashes, anxiety coursing through her veins, the tree, the absolute certainty that something was out to get her. Snapshots of a day her mind stole from her.

Was she really that bad? She hugged Yang tighter. 

Could she just break like this? She… What had set her off? Why had she talked about the portals? That didn’t make sense. So what, she could lose herself just like that? What would have happened if she hadn’t called Yang? She felt her arms shake. 

Yang ran her fingers through her hairs, saying something she couldn’t hear in a soothing tone. It helped. It helped a lot. She felt like crying and laughing at the same time. That was it, wasn’t it? She had lost everything, got it all back and since she couldn’t be bothered to keep it, it was slipping through her fingers again! First her weapon, now her mind, then her team, all over again!

She felt Yang’s hold tighten. “Ruby, you’re fine, okay? You’re going to be fine.” She could tell Yang wasn’t as confident as she tried to look. That helped Ruby calm down, marginally. She had a duty to reassure Yang. She had to be in control.

It took her a few seconds, but she managed it. “You’re right. It’s… It must have been something I ate. Not enough sugar.” She managed a small laugh. “It won’t happen again.”

Yang nodded, and almost headbutted her in the process. “Well, we’re going to help anyway. We think you panicked because you didn’t know where we were, so now we’re going to leave you notes when we leave.”

Ruby hid her head in the crook of Yang’s neck. That was what she was reduced to. A huntress who had to be coddled by her team just to function. 

“Also…” Yang hesitated. “You’re going to have to see a teacher. They didn’t tell me who, but they’re going to talk to you tomorrow.”

Ruby sighed. Of course they would, the stupid psych exam. There was no chance Ozpin would throw her out, she was too important with her silver eyes, but still, she would have to think of a lie to explain whatever that was.

Lies sucked, but they were versatile.

'Lie, steal, cheat, and survive!'

They stayed in silence for a minute or two, just holding each other. Ruby kind of never wanted to let go.

“Rubes, I need to now, okay? I kinda have to give the gist of the situation to everyone before we take you out.”

“What?”

“I asked the nurse, and as long as we keep an eye on you,” there was an unspoken ‘which we will, every single minute of every single hour’, “you can go back to the dorm and sleep in your bed.” Yang paused. “Technically, Blake’s bed, because there’s no way you’re climbing the ladder with your legs, but close enough.”

Ruby nuzzled herself closer in Yang’s arms. “But I don’t want you to go…” she whined. A primal part of her was sure the moment she’d be out of sight, she would be mad at her again. She wanted to enjoy the hug for as long as she could before that. 

Yang chuckled. “I know, me neither.” She patted her head. “But hey, I’ll hug you whenever you want, alright? It’s just a short break, and you can call me if you feel lonely, okay?” 

Ruby sighed, but slackened her grip. “Okay…”

Yang got up and stretched - she had been lying in an uncomfortable position for more than an hour by now. Even with aura, it couldn’t have been easy. Ruby felt a new, fresh wave of shame go through her. She was burdening her.

“Oh, also, here.” Yang took something out of her pocket. “In case you actually want to call me, here’s your scroll.” Oh, right. The one she threw at Yang. No wonder she couldn’t find it. Yang threw it, and she managed to catch it. 

Yang turned around to leave, hesitated, then went back and kissed her forehead. “I love you Rubes, okay? Don’t scare me like that.”

Ruby nodded. “Hm.”

“I’ll be back later.”

Yang smiled and went past the heaby curtain, leaving Ruby alone.

She looked around her part of the room. Four curtains. A small chair. An hospital bed. A useless Huntress.

“What is wrong with me…”

Chapter Text

Ruby woke up to warmth, and decided she’d rather be asleep. She did the only thing she could think of and hugged the warmth tighter. 

She liked the warmth and the warmth liked her. She hummed and kept her eyes closed.

Then the warmth tried to leave, so she tightened her grip even more. She could hear people whisper, but she didn’t care about them. All she cared about was comfort and sleeping more. She wanted to feel that comfort all around her, comfier than a blanket, the soothing rhythm of a heartbeat… She was in heaven.

“Don’t worry Yang, this is just karma.”

“Come on, don’t make me wake her…”

“Then stop struggling, it’s just a few pictures.”

The warmth began to leave, and Ruby let out a whine. “Stay…”

There was silence, but no more movement.

“Weiss, I swear…”

She heard Blake’s voice. “This is cute. Kind of makes me want to have a little sister.”

“Yeah…” She felt something pat her head and snuggled happily. “She’s great.”

She was. She was really, really great right now. She was in a cozy heaven she’d never leave.

‘Why do I always have to be the one to pick people up? What about me? No time, right?!’

There’s time right now… Shut up…

‘Gotta stay positive right! Smiles all around!’

She was smiling right now, wasn’t that enough? What was the problem?

‘Maybe even finally get our feelings sorted out! Good for you by the way we're all so happy for you’ 

Oh, right. That was why.

She’d never leave, but Yang would, wouldn’t she? She was really her mother’s daughter.

But still, what was wrong with just… Enjoying this? Yang would leave, but so would she.

In fact, she already did leave her. She’d left her behind. Oh, she could still remember her face, the shock, but more importantly, how she didn’t rush to stop her.

She must have been glad to see her go. That was the only explanation. 

“Hey, Rubes?” She felt a hand on her back rub soothing circles. “I know you’re awake. You want to have breakfast?”

And let her go? Not a chance. She rubbed her head against her sister, looking for any amount of touch. She wanted to disappear between her arms, to just vanish and be safe.

“Aw, that’s cute.”

“It’s childish. She should get up already.”

“Weiss, she can’t.”

She could hear Weiss scoff. “The nurse told us three days, but her aura is already active. As long as she takes it slow, she can do it. We’ll bring her crutches if necessary.”

“Why do you want her to move around so much?” She could hear the vibration of Yang’s voice. It felt nice.

“Well, how else is she going to eat?”

“Weiss? We can just bring them breakfast.”

“Them?! What, is Yang hurt now too?”

“Ruby’s not exactly letting me go there.” 

“Hmpf! Fine!" She could hear movement. "I’ll freshen up then we’ll go get you food. Think about what you want before I’m back.” She heard footsteps, then the door to the bathroom open and close.

There was a second of silence, then the water turned on. Yang chuckled. “You know, one day she’ll admit she cares. And that day, I’ll tease her like she’s never been teased before. It’s going to be legendary, a story for the ages.”

“Wouldn’t that just discourage her to do it again?”

“She’s basically already doing it. She was fighting to keep that smile down.”

“I know.”

“Bet she’s squeeing right now?”

“What’s squeeing?” She heard Blake’s bed make squicky sounds as she turned around. 

“Well, you know, it’s that sound you make when you see something cute. Kind of like babbling?”

Blake didn’t answer.

“Don’t judge me.”

“I’m not judging you.”

“That sounds like the silence of someone who’s judging me.”

“Or maybe I’m just being respectful of Ruby’s sleep?”

“Ruby’s been awake for a while, and if I can hear it, you can hear it.”

“My hearing isn’t that good.” She paused. “Also, hello Ruby.”

Ruby did not answer. Talking required thinking, thinking would make her remember, and she was more comfortable forgetting. She’d be stressed out and angry later, at breakfast, like a responsible adult.

But right now she was very much not that. She could almost picture herself back in her old room in Patch. She had a nightmare the night before and climbed in Yang’s bed, and now Yang didn’t want to wake her up but was still bored so she was talking to a friend on her scroll.

Yes… that was the life. What should she do later? Talk to dad? Did she have homework left to do? Probably not. She’d play with Zwei. She nodded to herself. Yes, Zwei was great. He was a good dog and he liked it when she ran after him, and she could pet him for hours and he wouldn’t care. 

She hummed and clinged to Yang. She was still speaking, but the conversation was far away. 

“Weiss is taking a long time in that shower.”

“She’s going to take all the hot water again, isn’t she?”

“As long as she put everything back as it was, I don’t mind. She always keeps the pressure so high.”

“And the temperature too. I almost burned myself last time I went after her.”

“That's because you take yours way too cold.”

“It helps me wake up! Also, I’m a furnace, I don’t mind the cold.” That she was. The coziest furnace of a sister that ever existed. Maybe Weiss needed a hug too. Wait, no, who was Weiss? She was back in patch. Probably one of Yang’s friends or something. She focused on the heartbeat of her best sister in the whole world. 

What was their room like again? Wait, their room, didn’t Yang move in her own room at some point? She frowned. But she was in Yang’s bed, no? She must have left her own room to get inside her sister’s, but she didn’t remember that…

She felt Yang’s hand against her back, and her troubles melted away. Of course she did. She must have been too asleep to remember, that was all. What was Yang’s room like again? A bookcase, a lot of posters from bands she didn’t know, a big, comfy bed, a mattress on the ground next to the bed in case one of her friends came to sleepover, a small dog bed for Zwei… Zwei never used the dog bed, of course, but Yang had to pretend she was trying to make him respect the rules of not climbing on the bed.

She could almost hear him sniff the covers, almost feel him lick her hand to wake her up. 

Some time must have passed, because she heard the door to the bathroom open and a woman’s voice come out. “I’m ready to go. Blake, do you need the bathroom?”

“No, thanks. I took my shower before you woke up.”

That was weird, the second voice was coming from above her, but Yang didn’t have a bunkbed. What was…

Oh. Right. She tightened her hold. She wasn’t in Patch, was she? She felt nauseous, like the world changed its axis suddenly. She had been sure for a moment, hadn’t she?

How pathetic was she, really? The moment Yang gave her a few crumbs of affection, she came crawling back? The moment she was safe, she tried to escape? To forget?

‘I'm sorry. I don't want to be me anymore.’

Damn right she didn’t want to be herself, she was running away from it, but the truth was there, plain and simple.

She was losing her mind.

“Hey, Ruby? Rubes? Ruby Rubes?” Yang was shaking her. “Do you want to eat something?”

Did she want to- Yes. Yes she really wanted to. The hunger sweeped away her train of thought until there wasn’t a crumb left. What was she thinking about again? Right, breakfast! She was starving!

“Orange juice and enough bread and jam to feed a starving Nora.” She mumbled. The nurse’s food had been nice, but not that feeling. She was a growing huntress damn it, she needed her sugar.

Thinking of eating, she vaguely remembered hearing something about Nora wanting to hang out while she was waking up. She should probably go say hi at some point once she could walk again. Or, more likely, once Nora would declare this room as her next target of invasion and come say hi herself.

“Really, that much food?”

“Trust me on this Weiss, when your aura breaks and heals you like this, you need a lot of energy.” Yang chuckled. “You should have seen me when I broke my arm last year. Dad’s grocery bill almost doubled.”

“Also, it’s good to enjoy this while we can,” added Blake. “I don’t know for you, but I don’t really like the rations while we’re on missions.” Yup. They weren’t that bad, but once you got used to Beacon’s food, you couldn’t really go back. She’d heard a rumor once that it was voluntary works done by people who wanted to thank them all and Huntsmen who made food for them to pass time and have a hobby outside killing monsters.

Not that it would last since the academy would fall soon, but hey, even more reason to stuff herself into a food coma. “Can you add some milk? Cold milk. And cocoa. And fire dust so I can make hot cocoa.” She snuggled closer to Yang. “Thanks Weiss.”

“I- I didn’t even say yes!”

“Say ‘you’re welcome’ Weiss.”

“Yeah Weiss.” She could hear Yang chuckle. “Thanks. By the way, can you bring me some whatever pastries they have? Oh, and some orange juice for me too.”

“I-“

“Sure thing, we’ll be right back. Come on Weiss.”

“But-“

“I need your help to carry everything.”

Ruby heard them bicker as they left the room and closed the door.

Then, there was silence. Nothing to distract her now. She had dreaded that moment, but it was inevitable. Time for the old anger to-

“So.” Yang kissed her cheek. “Feeling better?”

“Hm…” 

“You’re hanging on here? Need me to do something?”

Ruby sighed. “Not really.”

“Ah, I see.” She could almost hear Yang’s smile. “So you’re saying I can just…” She felt Yang’s hand leave her back, but before she could complain it poked her ribs. “Do this?”

“Eep! Yang!” She tried to catch her hands, but Yang deftly avoided her and tickled her again. “I’m serious!” She could barely hold her laugh.

“Are you? You don’t sound very serious. Is it because of me?” She tickled her again. Ruby squirmed, but she couldn’t leave. “Little old me? Am I bothering you?” She blew a raspberry in her neck.

Ruby couldn’t hold it anymore. She laughed, hard. Yang was apparently not satisfied, because she used that occasion to tickle her even more. She squirmed until she finally managed to catch her arm. “Aha! Victory! Surrender, oh sister of mine, for I have-“

Yang tickled her with her other arm. For some reason, that surprised her, she forgot she had two. “What do you have? Sorry, I couldn’t hear you properly.”

“I- I h- h- h-ave!” She tried to grasp the other arm, but Yang was almost freeing the one she already caught, so she had to hold it even tighter. “S-top please!”

“Hm… Should I?” 

“Y-yes!”

“Alright!” Yang grinned and let her go. Ruby almost rolled out of the bed, but she caught her. “Careful. Don’t want to hurt your legs.”

Ruby pouted. “You’re the one who tickled me!”

“Yes, and I did it in the safe, responsible way.” Yang poked her nose. “By making sure you couldn’t escape."

Ruby laughed and hugged her again. They didn’t talk for a while, giving Ruby time to catch her breath and calm her beating heart.

“Hey, Yang?”

“Yes?”

“I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Chapter Text

“Ah, good timing! Come in miss Rose, I was waiting for you!”

Ruby groaned and opened the door - that was harder to do with her crutches. She did not want to be here. She wanted to be back in her bed and sleep the day away, preferably while cuddling with her sister - her anger toward Yang was at manageable levels these days and she intended to enjoy that for as long as she could.

But she had signed up for the psych evaluation with Professor Port. At the time she did so because he was the least complicated of the teachers to talk to, and that reasoning could still stand. With any luck, a few minutes into the conversation she’d ask him a question and he would go on with his ramblings for the next hour, then send her on her way. If the conversation did take off before that, she’d simply give a few non-answers and forcefully change the subject until he inevitably rambled.

She entered the room. The inside of the office was much like his classroom: full of diagrams and pictures. Some were on whiteboards, others on paper, there were even a few blueprints of cages made to capture Grimms, with the initials of P. Port at the bottom. The man was busy.

Other than that, his office felt more like a home than anything else, with what she could only assume was a fake chimney in the corner with a desk stuck to it, a small grandfather clock, a few bookcases, and two plush chairs that looked comfortable enough to sleep on seated on a thick rug. Between the chairs were a chess set, a small table, and, only enough, a mini-fridge with glasses on top.

Professor Port was drinking from one of said glasses and waved her over. “My apologies, if I knew you had crutches I would have opened the door for you. Come, sit, sit. Do you want something to drink? I’m afraid I only have cold beverages, my microwave is no longer running properly.” She heard him mutter, almost too low for her to hear, “Poor bastard gave me a good chase.”

She did the responsible thing and ignored that, then sat down and put her crutches near her feet. “It’s fine. Can I have some water?”

“Of course!” He opened the mini-fridge. Inside was everything from soda to fruit juice and, at the very back, a bottle of cold water. He poured her a glass and handed it to her.

The clock ticked in the background for a moment before the professor talked. “Miss Rose, before we begin, I must confess something.”

“Which is?” Ruby drank from her glass. Maybe getting him to talk would be even easier than she’d thought. He poured himself a new glass.

“You are not the first student to choose me for this. Ozpin is too distant, Glynda too intimidating, and Bartholomew too perceptive.”

That… Had been her reasoning, yes, but that she wasn’t the first to think that caught her off guard. Of course she wasn’t, what was she thinking? Her grip tightened around her glass. 

The professor drank from his own glass. “Now, you might be wondering where I’m going with this. You see, I took it as a challenge. Why, my colleagues, more intimidating than me? Preposterous!” He laughed. “I am very stubborn, you see. Which is why I got my own doctorate.”

That gave Ruby a pause. A doctorate? Him? “In what?”

“Why, psychology, of course! Granted, the science is still in its infancy, but it’s a fascinating domain indeed!”

Oh.

Oh shit.

He looked her straight in the eyes. “I see you got my point. Now, there is no doubt you assumed I would just let you go easily, but that is not the case, not at all! Therefore, from one Huntsman to a young, promising Huntress, I’m giving you this one chance.”

His posture did not change, but his aura did. He was dead serious.

“Reconsider.”

Ruby’s shoulders tensed. Was that really the same bumbling old man she was so used to? For a moment there, she thought she saw something else in his eyes, something sharper than his usual affable gaze. 

He relaxed, and the air around him with him, as if the last few seconds were nothing more than a bad dream. “It is not too late to either talk to another psychologist or to select another member of the staff. We can say that you did not feel comfortable sharing with me, no harm, no foul.” He laughed with his usual booming voice. “I suspect this might be a mighty awkward conversation to have with a teacher, so no one would blame you!”

Ruby almost said yes, instinctively. Some part of her was seeing this old, rambling man as a threat. 

Then she squashed it down. Goodwitch was more than intimidating, she was close to Ozpin. Anything said to her was said to him, and if she let anything slip then she’d have to participate in the war again instead of peacefully waiting for her end. That couldn’t happen. Oobleck would read her in an instant just like he read them all at Mountain Glenn. And another psychologist? A non huntsman? Please, as if she wanted to waste even more of her time with civilians who would only see her as a fifteen-year-old throwing a tantrum.

She narrowed her eyes. She lied to Ironwood and drove him mad. Did this old, retired man with delusions of grandeur actually think he could read her? This man, who couldn't prevent the Fall? Him?

No. She had a small smile. “I don’t know why that would be a problem, I’m fine.”

He laughed. “Good! Rising in the face of adversity is an important quality for anyone! Now then, you are teammate with Weiss Schnee. Did she ever tell you about the Atlesian School of conversation?”

‘Since we’re going to deal with the Atlas upper class, it’s important you learn about this.’

‘But why?’

‘You are our leader. Whether you like it or not, that means you are in a position of power. I’ll try to cover for you as much as I can, but they’re shrewd. They need to understand what you want, if you’re going to use them or if they can use you. If you’re not prepared, you’ll slip up and reveal much more than you want.’

Like a lot of things with Atlas, that so-called school was actually just a tool to visualize social competence. 

Basically, they saw conversations as a duel. Someone wants something, the other party wants something else. The first one to get what they want wins. Once the conversation starts, one has to be very careful with their word. The goal is to trap the opponent in a web of their own logic. 

Weiss had given her an example. Let’s say she wanted to know where Ruby was from. She’d approach her and talk to her in a socially acceptable manner, a conversation you couldn’t say no to without being rude. Then, she’ll ask a few innocuous questions. Any crumbs of information Ruby gave in answer would be used against her, to force her to develop even more. Once again, she could always cut the conversation and resign, but that would be weakness, basically admitting to the world at large she was easy to manipulate.

Yang had remarked that it was the reverse of improvisation theater. Inside of saying “yes, and” the goal was to make the opponent do it while keeping your cards as close to the chest as possible.

“She did, why?”

“Good!” The professor tapped his chest. “I don’t think you want to talk to me, Miss Rose, therefore I am warning you. This is going to be nothing like that dreadful school.”

Ruby looked at him, flabbergasted. Why even bring it up then?

“It’s important to be on equal footing here. My goal is not to somehow extract information from you by playing on your pride. My goal is to make sure you are able to do your work as a Huntress, without fail.” He rubbed his mustache. “This is neither a test nor a duel. This is a conversation. Can we agree on that?”

She frowned. “Maybe.” Of course this was a duel. She wanted to make sure he’d leave her alone, he wanted to know what was wrong with her. 

Atlesian School indeed. This was no different than when she was talking with their military’s upper ranks. 

An annoying thought popped into her mind. Did he just… Force her to pretend everything was fine? He just told her this was not an attempt on her pride, but just now, she basically admitted she had something to hide because she was too prideful.

That was the equivalent of walking into a trap, wasn’t it? She looked at the blueprints from the corner of her eyes. It was easy to forget that this old man was a Huntsman, good enough to reliably capture Grimms and to work directly for Ozpin.

She turned her gaze back on him. He was still rubbing his stupid mustache. No, no way. She was going to run circles around him.

He relaxed in his chair. “So, do you wish to beat around the bush or to address the matter at hand?”

“The matter at hand?”

“Why, what happened yesterday of course!” This didn’t feel like what a psychologist should be like. Wasn’t he supposed to talk about banalities before, make her feel comfortable? That’s what her research on her scroll had told her at least. 

Wait, she needed to deflect. “Yesterday?”

“Why, yes! You assured me everything is fine, so then I assume there is no problem? Unless of course you do not wish to talk about it. In that case, we can talk about something else.”

That stung, using her own words against her. He even gave her an out, the old fool. But no, she couldn’t take it, if she did it was the same as admitting she had a problem. She tilted her head. “I don’t see what’s there to talk about? I went for a jog and hit my head while running.”

He nodded. “Indeed, that is what I heard. You ran quite far, didn’t you? That’s very impressive, you can be proud of yourself!” There it was. She could almost hear him say ‘Why, at your age’ and begin one of his endless stories. Instead, he pointed at her crutches. “Of course, that does not explain a few things. You ran hard enough to tear a muscle. That is quite the jog if you ask me!” His eyes twinkled with amusement. He saw the opening and struck, the old asshole.

She ticked and instinctively gripped her leg. Yes, it still hurt, but not that much. Hell, she managed to walk to the office alone. “A very enthusiastic jog? I really, really love running. It’s not the first time,” she faked a chuckle, “you should have seen me when I got my semblance.”

“That must have been quite the sight!” He laughed with her. “Speaking of sight, you also ransacked your room if I remember correctly. Quite the warm-up, don’t you think?” He just wouldn’t let go, would he? “Would you allow me to have a hypothesis on why?”

Huh? “You don’t want me to explain?”

“Explain? What is there to explain? You are free to tell me whatever you want to, Miss Rose.” His had a gentle, almost fatherly smile. “Whether you tell a lie or a truth is irrelevant to this conversation. As I said, we’re not using the Atlesian school here.”

She frowned and looked around. What could be his goal? What was the trap? “But why do you want to guess now?”

“So you can tell me if I’m wrong or right, nothing more. Of course, if you don’t want me to, if you want to tell me yourself or if you want to change the subject, you just have to say the word! Let it not be known that Peter Port was insensitive!” He slammed his hand on his leg to punctuate his little speech.

Ruby smiled, triumphant. The situation was going back under her control. He’d guess, be wrong, and that would be it. “I mean, if you want to, you can guess.”

“Right!” He nodded. “Could it be that your little jog was not just for the pleasure of jogging? Why, I would say you were furious toward someone, lost control of your temper, lost control, destroyed your room and when that didn’t work, went for a jog to clear your head.” Ruby felt… something. Not quite dread, but close.

He took a sip of his drink. “So, how did I do?”

How did he do? What the hell did that even mean? She could barely remember what happened in that room, but she knew for sure she hadn't been angry, she’d been terrified. Why was that again...?

She took her head in her hand. No, she didn't want to think about it, what was she doing? Wait, what was he doing? How was he doing it? “I don’t get it,” she finally said. “I read you’re supposed to ask open ended questions and let me talk. This doesn’t make sense.”

“Ah, Miss Rose.” He sighed as he crossed his legs. “If you are uncomfortable, just say so and the conversation is over.”

She raised her head and glared at him. “Tell me!” How was he making her think?

He raised his hands to pacify her. “Of course. I just wanted to make sure you know there is an out. This is not a trap.” He lowered his arms. “The truth is, I suspected you would have read on the usual methodology. You are quite the talented team leader, so of course you would have the foresight to scout what you saw as a potential problem. Am I wrong?”

She nodded, troubled. Did he really read her from the beginning?

“Of course, you do not want to talk, which is, once again, perfectly understandable and an option that is still open to you. But I suspect you prepared a few answers in case I tried to be vague and beat around the bush, so to speak. Therefore, I chose to throw away the usual methods and to have a more honest conversation.” He thumped his chest. “Huntsman to Huntress!”

Ruby looked at him, mouth hanging open. Was this really the same droning teacher who couldn’t manage to keep them awake while telling them how to kill literal monsters? 

More importantly, did she really want to talk with him?

Her doubt must have shown on her face, because he talked once more. “I can see this is troubling you. How about we steer away from yesterday and go to lighter subjects? For examples, how are your classes going?”

Ruby shook her head, still troubled. She felt like every time she saw where the conversation was going, he was steering it in another direction. “Just like that?” 

He nodded. “Just like that.”

—

After that, they talked some more. He stayed away from any painful topic, from her team to the future. Instead, they talked about more banal subjects, like food and training.

At the end of the hour, she was tired, but felt marginally better. He helped her get up and escorted her to the door. 

“Remember, miss Rose, my door is always open.”

“Thanks.” She’d never take him up on that. “Wait, what about my psych exam?”

“Exam?” He said, surprised. “As I said before, this is not an evaluation.”

She turned toward him. “Ozpin told me I had to do it since I missed the one done at Signal.”

“Ah, I see.” He rubbed his chin. “I’m afraid this is still too soon to tell. Please remember that the goal of our little meetings here is to make sure your mind is as healthy as your body. As long as you can perform your duties without risk for yourself or others, there should be no problem.”

Ruby felt a pang of anxiety. Could she? If she panicked that easily, could she stay as a huntress? Even without that, she had ruined the world before, so she was definitely a risk for the people around her.

For once, she managed to hide her feelings, or Port just didn’t notice them. “I will see you next week, or sooner if you so wish. Is that all?”

She nodded. “Yes. Thanks again.”

“It was no trouble!" He opened the door for her. “Now, have a good day while I drown in paperwork!”

His jovial laugh carried her all the way to the dorms. 

A week, huh? She needed to be better at lying.

Now, where could she learn that?

Chapter Text

Screw thinking. No, fuck thinking! Ruby was not going to do that anymore, she was going cold turkey. Thoughts? No sir, no madam, she was not doing any of that. She was running - well, she was hobbling on her crutches - in the hallways and no one could stop her.

While walking, her head tried to convince her to just do that, think, think hard about what Port said, think on how she wasn’t prepared for that meeting, think of what caused her to go insane alone in her dorm, but she refused! She shook her head violently and almost crushed the foot of another student. She’d find a way to feel bad later, once she had  a nice, quiet corner to-

Wait, where was she going? She frowned and looked around at the identical windows lining the hallway. Well, no matter, she’d just keep going forward. Better to leave everything behind her.

—

After a few minutes of half walking, half jumping, she arrived at the cafeteria, that was technically still open, no that anyone really used it at this hour. Beacon technically allowed students full access to the place at all hours, but few were the souls brave enough to walk in the huge, empty room and take some food. 

Ruby was, to her own surprise, one of those. She opened the door and went inside, eyeing the food. Now technically holding a plate up with using her crutches was close to impossible, but she could do with one. She went to a table, left one of her crutches there, and put all her weight on the second one to go to the buffet. A part of her wanted to smash her foot on the ground just to see how much it would hurt, but she suppressed it. Even if she technically deserved the pain, she wasn’t in the mood.

She was in front of the vast array of food and immediately went to the desserts. She had missed sugar, a lot. When food was scarce after the Fall, sugar had been one of the first things to go, only found in the rare fruits. And up in Atlas? Forget it.

She helped herself to a generous serving of strawberries, pear and apple slices with an even more generous dose of whipped cream. Then she took a few cakes, a few other pastries - that Weiss had assured her weren’t cakes, oddly enough - and sat down.

That was a lot of food for someone who wasn’t hungry. She wasn’t, right? But as she was staring at the food, her hand mechanically made her take a bite. Then another. Then one more. It was good, sugar exploding in her mouth, juice flowing from the fruits, sweet, soft texture for her tongue. It was good, but she shouldn’t eat that, it clearly wasn’t the time to eat!

She tried to make herself stop, but she couldn’t. She ate the strawberries, the apples, the pears, the cakes, she went and took some chocolate milk and water and drank that too, and even as she was feeling quite full she couldn't see herself stop and ate some more. 

She just really liked the taste, that was it. So what if she wanted to puke when she took a spoonful of whipped cream and ate it? What if the act of chewing, the texture of the food inside her mouth was grossing her out? What if she drank water until she felt she couldn’t drank more and then did it again, savoring the cold liquid? She loved it and hated it. But then again, wasn’t that a fitting punishment? She wanted to indulge, didn’t she? So the least she could do was eat until she burst and then eat some more!

She was done, her plate was clean and she was ready to burst, but the simple thought of stopping was now worse than continuing, so she got up and went for another plate. She filled it with whatever she saw that seemed good, if she couldn’t control her hunger she’d at least control what she was eating. When her plate was on her table again, she took a spoon in a trembling hand and-

“Aaaaand mine!”

Another spoon went past her and stole her food.

Ruby turned around and, unsurprisingly, saw Nora. 

“Hey Rubes! Sorry there, couldn’t help but notice that fine plate of Vacuan Date balls here, and I just had to take a plate.” Nora took the plate. “Aw, thanks for sharing Ruby!”

Ruby half heartedly tried to take it back, but Nora deftly kept it out of her range. “Hey, that’s mine!”

“Nah, you looked at that thing like it was going to eat you! I can’t let that happens, you know? Wouldn’t be fair!” She put her spoon away - thinking back, why did she try to eat these things with a spoon? She could just use her hands - and threw some of the balls in the air before eating them. “Nom! Food is great, don’t you think?”

She was thinking precisely the opposite. It was disgusting, and she needed more. She reached for her plate. “It is, so could you - hey!” Nora pushed her hand away. “It’s mine! You can get some for yourself!”

Nora laughed. “Alright, alright, let’s make a deal. If you talk to Jaune, I’ll give it back, okay?”

Ruby froze. “No deal.” 

Nora grinned from ear to ear. “So I can keep it? Great!” She wolfed it down in a few seconds. Then she set the plate down and rubbed her stomach. “Wow, that’s the stuff. Filling, too.”

Ruby’s eyebrow twitched. “Yes, it was. Then someone stole it from me.”

“Now that’s funny, I could have swore there’s no one else but us here.” She put a hand on her heat. “Gasp! Ruby! Are you accusing me of stealing from you? Me?”

“Yes!” She slammed her hand on the table and winced - Right, her aura wasn’t active yet.

“Now that would be silly! Of course I’m not stealing from you!” She took out her scroll. “From what Yang told me, you’re back at the dorms right now.” She paused. “Ah, sorry, that’s not it. You’re ‘supposed to be’ back at the dorms right now. Woops.” She put her scroll back in her pocket. “So I did steal from you. Huh.”

Rubby groaned. All that moving around and she was feeling it now - she definitely ate too much. She really wanted to puke, but the simple act of moving and taking her damned crutches again seemed impossible. 

Nora caught that, because she gently went to her and aligned her legs - carefully - so they were on the bench, the lowered Ruby until her head was on her tights. Ruby tried to protest at first, but quickly found she didn’t have the energy nor the strength.

Once she was on her back, the feeling of her stomach’s punishment got easier to bear. 

“There there. It’s going to get better, just wait an hour or two.” She paused. “Also, don’t eat anything heavier than a vegetable broth. Trust me, you’re not ready for more.”

Ruby groaned again - she had a feeling she would do a lot of that in her near future. “Speaking from experience?”

“Oh yeah!” Nora flayed her arms about as she told the story. “Like, when we got into Beacon, I spent like, two days just eating until I couldn’t stand up. And before that with Ren, food was like, the one thing outside of him that I could count on to relax, you know?”

Ruby closed her eyes. “Yeah…” That was one thing that hadn’t changed with Nora. Food. 

She kind of understood how Weiss looked at alcohol bottles now. 

While Ruby was lost in thought, Nora had taken her scroll out again. “Yeah, she’s with me. We’re in the cafeteria actually. No- tell Yang she’ll come back in an hour or two. No I didn’t forget, jeez! Alright, see ya!”

She closed her scroll. “So Jaune told me Yang told him she was neither mad nor disappointed.” She twirled her hairs. “That doesn’t leave a lot of range for hostility, so I think you’re in the clear!”

Oh yeah, that’s right, she promised Yang she’d come back right away once she was done with Port. Another sin to add to the list.

“Speaking of Jaune, we’re going to do some shopping for the next dance tomorrow and you are coming with us.”

Ruby used her elbows to prop herself up. “I’m not talking to Jaune, Nora. Drop it.”

“I’m not saying you’ll need to talk to Jaune, silly.” She booped Ruby on the nose and pushed her back down. “I said you’re going to take a walk in Vale with us. You’ve been avoiding all of us for days now, we miss you!” She could tell Nora’s grin was real. It got sharper. “Of course, if you end up trapped in a small elevator for hours with Jaune, then, well, it’s just bad luck.”

Ruby sighed and closed her eyes again. Nora was surprisingly comfortable and it distracted her from the consequences of her own stupidity. “Whatever.”

An excuse to go to Vale? She’d just need to find a way to leave them alone and she was positive someone would contact her. After all, she hadn’t thought about it at the time, but wasn’t that a grand coincidence that Neo and Roman were shopping for weapons in the exact shop she’d been for the last ten minutes? If she had to bet, either Neo was following her - wouldn’t be the first time - or they had informants keeping an eye out for her.

Either way, meeting them shouldn’t be that hard.

Chapter Text

Pyrrha found Ruby lacking.

This wasn’t what she expected to feel when she met them near the Beacon airport. All of JNPR were already there and Ruby joined them, half walking, half skipping a step. She had told them her injuries would have healed by now, but a cursory glance at her aura told her she was still recovering - it was as thin as a sheet of paper. That, and she was avoiding putting weight on her left leg. 

She also looked tired, with deep bags under her eyes and a slouch. Simply put, she was a far cry from the opponent who managed to challenge her in the arena.

She glanced at Jaune and saw him wince. If it was hard for Ruby’s team to see their leader like this, it was just as hard for Jaune. For the last few weeks he had lost his best friend and saw her become that shadow of herself without being able to do anything. He was hurting, and Pyrrha felt a tad… Overprotective.

Really, Ruby had done a fantastic job of antagonizing her. If she wasn’t so injured, she would have found an excuse to take her to the arena right then and there.

However, that wouldn’t do, so she put on a smile and waved her over.

—

The trip to Vale would take some time, and so it was the moment for the tried and true tradition of any Beacon team stuck in a Bullhead for more than ten minutes: playing a card game.

Nora wanted to play poker, a suggestion Pyrrha gently shot down - they didn’t really have the space to play the game on the table between their seats, especially if the ship needed to make any sharp maneuver. 

Jaune, who was the most comfortable of them in these kinds of situations, had actually brought a Uno game, so they settled on that.

“Okay, so everyone knows the basic rules?”

“Yup!” Nora cheered. “It’s really easy! We can stack draw four, draw two, do-“

“Alright, I’m going to list the rules.”

Pyrrha had no idea what the specifics were, so she let it slide.

Jaune distributed the cards. “Since not everyone has the same rules for the game, we’re going to keep it simple. You can’t jump in, can’t stack draw four, the change colors are jokers and cancel everything, if you use a zero everyone swap with the person next to them, if you use a seven you can swap with someone-“

“Oh, oh, if we stack multiple sevens can we swap other people?!”

“No, if you stack multiple sevens, it does nothing.” Ren opened his mouth and Jaune cut him off quickly. “For this game! I know not everyone does that!”

Ren nodded with a small smile. “That was not what I was going to ask, but thank you. I wondered if we could do it in teams? I haven’t played with Nora in a while.”

“Teams?” Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. “How does that work?”

“It’s quite simple. If one member of the team wins, the team wins.”

Ruby frowned, Pyrrha could see she didn’t like it, so she intervened. “Good idea.”

Ruby looked at her, betrayed. “But we’re five people, so we can't do that.”

“Oh,” Pyrrha shrugged. “You can just play with Jaune, I don’t mind being alone.” At the wink Ren shot her, she suspected it was his plan from the beginning. 

Besides, it may make it a bit of a challenge.

Ruby was seated in the far corner in the seat next to Nora - who was, as always, next to Ren. In front of her was Pyrrha, who was next to Jaune.

In terms of the turn order, Pyrrha would go first, followed by Ruby, then Nora, Ren, and finally Jaune before the turn looped back to her.

Everyone had the seven cards and was ready to go. After a small round of rock paper scissors, Nora won and placed the first card, laughing menacingly. “Take this, Ren!”

Ren sighed fondly. “Nora, we’re allies in this.” He placed another draw two on top of Nora’s. “However, I thank you for the opportunity.”

“Come on guys…” Jaune groaned and picked up four cards. “And blue, really Ren?”

“There is no problem with blue.” He smirked. “I happen to quite like the color.”

Pyrrha chuckled and placed a red draw two on top. “I’m more fond of Red myself.”

Ruby wordlessly picked up two cards. Annoying.

Nora drew a card, then froze. “Wait. We didn’t define that, do we draw until we can place something or do we only take one.” She looked desperate. “Please say one.”

Jaune rubbed his hands. “I don’t know, you did make me draw four cards…”

“That was Ren!”

“You’re in a team, it’s both of you.”

Ruby piped up. “You stole my food. You know my vote.”

Nora opened her mouth and closed it without a sound before turning pleasing eyes to Pyrrha, who simply chuckled. “Far from me to help you when you’re already at an advantage. You’re on your own.”

Nora’s shoulders slumped and she drew a card.

And another one.

And another one.

The stack in her hand was quickly growing, before she drew a card, looked even more defeated, and put a draw four on the table. “Sorry Renny.”

“It’s quite alright.” Ren drew his four cards. “We’ll get them back eventually.”

Jaune put a simple number card down. “You know Ruby, I think we have that in the bag.”

Ruby quickly averted her eyes. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife, so Pyrrha did just that.

“Draw four.” She had a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Good luck.”

Ruby narrowed her eyes. “Liar.”

“Liar?” Nora questioned. “I don’t know that one.”

“Oh, it’s how they call the challenge rule in Vale.” Jaune smiled sheepishly at Pyrrha’s questioning gaze and scratched the back of his head. “Listen, I used to play that game a lot with my sisters and if we could find a rule to give us an advantage, we’d use it. Anyway, that one is, if you put down a draw four and get called a liar, either you could have placed something else and you draw four cards, or you didn’t lie and the accuser draws six.”

Oh, right. She forgot about that.

“So, Pyrrha?” Ruby didn’t even smile, she just looked bored.

Pyrrha sighed and drew four cards. “Green.”

“Bad choice.” Ruby placed a reverse. Well, that would make things difficult.

“Great.” Jaune put his head in his hands. “Now I’m the target.”

“Don’t worry Jaune!” Nora was making a small card castle with the other card game she’d brought. “Now I can destroy Ruby, so your team is going down either way.”

Despite being supposed teams, the game was actually quite fair even for her. Ruby and Jaune had virtually no advantages while Ren and Nora had to do some friendly fire if they wanted to actually win the game. 

A few more rounds went by without much happening - except that Ruby and Jaune’s stack of cards grew while Pyrrha’s stayed mercifully light.

“So, Ruby, how are you doing?” It was Ren who breached the awkward silence, as usual.

“I’m fine.” Ruby’s tone was carefully flat.

“Oh, that’s great!” Jaune smiled as he put down a card. “Because I don’t know how your team organized the last dance, but we’re gonna need your help.”

Ruby shrugged without looking at him. “Yang and Weiss did all the work. You’ll figure it out.”

The turns had reversed again by that point, so Pyrrha sent her a draw two. “Still, we’re glad you’re here. We barely got to spend time together since our fight.”

Change color. Blue. “You know how it is.” Ruby looked her dead in the eye, her voice still flat. “I had a little leg problem.”

Nora used a skip turn on Ren, who sighed fondly. She poked him in the ribs as revenge.

Jaune still tried to make conversation. “How is it by the way?”

“Fine. Shouldn’t you worry about the dance?”

Nora put her hand on Ruby’s shoulder and leaned on her. “Eh, the way I see it all we have to do is plagiarize what you guys did.” Ren pulled her back into her seat. “Just don’t throw us in court, I don’t have the money.”

“I… Don’t think any of us have the money for that, Nora.” Jaune laughed nervously.

“Pyrrha does!” Nora took her hands between hers. “Pyrrha, you would buy me the best lawyer ever right?” She had fake tears in her eyes. “I’m too young to go to jail! They don’t have Renny there!”

Pyrrha laughed and gently pried Nora off her. “I’d think about it. Making a deal and buying the rights would be easier for everyone.”

Ruby mumbled something, too low for Pyrrha to hear. Before she could question her, she was distracted by Jaune sending her a draw two, which she simply cumulated.

Ruby sighed and drew the four cards. “Guess I deserved that.”

Jaune paled. “Wait, I didn’t mean to-“

“Maybe you didn’t, but I did.” Pyrrha smiled, satisfied. She couldn’t exactly confront Ruby without making a scene, but at least she could beat her at cards. It was far from being as satisfying as beating her in the arena, but she’d make do.

There was a lull in the conversation while they played, and a few hands were swapped - notably, Jaune swapped his hand with Nora's -, before Ren broke the silence. “While we are on the way, it might do us some good to actually make plans on what to get.”

Ruby looked up from her cards and frowned. “Wait, just now? You didn’t plan anything?”

Jaune shrugged. “If there’s one thing I learned while managing this team, it’s that we’re more of a spontaneous kind of people.”

“We fly by the seats of our pants!” Nora paused. “That’s a really weird expression.”

“Yang and Weiss had the right idea last time,” added Pyrrha. “From what I’ve heard, separating the party in two halves made it so everyone was happy.” 

“Yup!” Nora put down a numbered card. Now that she looked at her hand more closely, she could see Nora was on the path to victory. That wouldn’t do. “We put the snacks with the classical dance stuff for the hoity toity and then we do the fun stuff once everyone ate! It’s genius!”

Pyrrha patiently waited for her turn before putting down a seven and swapping her moderately big stack with Nora’s. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Nora had a fixed smile on her face. “I won’t forget this.”

Jaune looked something up on his phone. “From what I can see, Beacon’s budget is insane, so the question is just what to get for the food.”

“And decorations.” Added Ren. “While inspiring ourselves with team RWBY’s planning may be wise, we cannot just copy everything.”

Ruby shrugged and put down a pass turn on Nora. “Weiss called a caterer for the food. Might spare us the trip.”

“Oh, that’s smart! Thanks Ruby!” Jaune jotted down some things on his notepad, but Pyrrha didn’t miss Ruby's reaction. Her eyes widened a bit, and she opened her mouth to say something before she changed her mind and simply muttered “You’re welcome.”

That was weird. She thought Ruby was just mad at Jaune - after all, she was mad at her for no reason - but now, she didn’t know what to think. That hadn’t been anger, she would have recognized it. If she had to guess, it was something along the lines of surprise?

She glanced at Ren, who had his own discrete frown. At least she wasn’t the only one who noticed. 

“Pyrrha, any chance you know someone good in Vale for this kind of stuff?”

She nodded. “No, sorry. I only know the most famous ones in Mistral.”

“Bummer.” He didn’t even bother to ask Ren and Nora. “You know anyone we can ask?”

Nora put down a change turn. “Victory! Now I won’t have to suffer Ruby’s malicious moves and mischief!” She looked up. “Also, can’t we just ask the teachers? Like, Ozpin must know something.”

Jaune nodded. “Yeah, makes sense. Seems like he knows everything sometimes.” He shuddered. 

Well that was another awkward reaction, probably linked to another one of Jaune’s problems. Still, he was a peer, not a child, so she wouldn't dig. She had learned the hard way it would just close him off more.

Ruby, on the other hand, looked like she made a joke at a funeral. 

“Something the matter Ruby?” she asked. It was also her turn, so as long as Ruby didn’t play, the game was frozen.

“No, it’s just… If he was really that omniscient, there’s zero chance our teams would be what they are.” She spoke carefully, like she was thinking about each word.

“Oh, you think he would have swapped us?” Jaune smiled. Pyrrha couldn’t exactly fault him, it was the first time in almost an hour that Ruby actually engaged in conversation.

“Yep. But still, it seems like a good idea. You should do it.” She looked at him directly in the eyes as she put a card down. “By the way, Uno and good game.”

“Good game? You still have to place your card.” Ren had a small smile.

“Yeah, don’t count us out just yet!”

Well, anyone saying Uno with that confidence probable only had a change color or a draw four in her hands, something she could place no matter what.

However, it was Pyrrha’s turn and she had a zero, so she placed it down. “Indeed, good game Ruby. Everyone swap.”

There were various groans and complaints as everyone swapped their cards. From everyone except Ruby.

“Uno.” She looked at the card she just received. A single blue zero sat in her hand.

Oh. If she played it, everyone would swap, which meant that Jaune would end up with the win. But wait, her old hand had a-

Jaune put down three change turns, the last one being a blue. Which meant she had no choice but to play.

Which meant she lost.

“Sorry Pyr.” Jaune smiled sheepishly. “Kind of baited you there.”

“Maybe you are, but I’m not,” parroted Ruby. She had a vicious smile. “Come on, play.”

Pyrrha felt a surge of anger. Sure, she lost, but did Ruby have to rub it in? Really?

She sighed and forced herself to relax her shoulders. It was fine, just a bit of trashtalk. She was used to it. “Good teamwork. How did you do it?”

Jaune shrugged. “We weren’t really talking about Ozpin.”

“Yup.”

“Honestly it was luck. Like, I swapped our hands so I knew more or less what you had, you never used a change turn because Ruby wasn’t a threat and you planned to use your zero, so…”

Pyrrha blinked, then felt a surge of fondness. Sometimes she forgot why he was the leader. Sure, they always ‘flew by the seats of their pants’ as Nora would put it, but he really had a keen mind for improvisation. And even after beating her - technically, beating all of them - he still maintained it was luck. 

“Congratulations Jaune.” 

“Eh, it was mostly Ruby.” He put his hand toward his temporary teammate. “Well played.”

Pyrrha couldn’t help but notice how his words affected her. Ruby looked shocked, maybe even spooked. It took her off guard enough for her to shake his hand before retreating back into her seat.

Nora piped up. “So… Anyone want to explain whatever’s going on to us? I didn’t want to ruin the big reveal but we’re still in the game!”

Pyrrha was halfway through placing the zero when the announcer’s voice rang out. “Arriving to Vale in two minutes. All passengers must stay in their seats.”

Her card was snatched from her hand. “Well-that-sucks-we-couldn’t-see-who-win-but-hey-that’s-the-game-too-late!” In the blink of an eye Nora had put away all the cards. 

They all just looked at her for a minute. 

Jaune sighed. “And you call Pyrrha a sore loser…”

Chapter Text

After berating Nora for her blatant cheating, they all left the plane and went to Vale proper.

The city was both beautiful and noisy. Since the Vytal vestival was coming soon enough, all of the construction and roadworks were almost done, so for once they could walk around without the constant sound of construction. 

While her teammates - and Ruby - could normally walk around as they were, they all opted to wear more civilian clothes so Pyrrha’s fans wouldn’t bother her. She had argued that she should be the only one to walk around disguised, but Ren had justly pointed out that her team was public knowledge, so it wouldn’t help one bit.

Ruby was the only one to keep her usual outfit, as she wasn’t part of Pyrrha’s team. Beside, while she once looked too young to be a huntress, she now walked around with a body language that screamed ‘leave me alone or I’ll punch you’ so most people ignored her.

Pyrrha herself wore her usual combo of letting her hair down, a sleeveless shirt, and an old pair of boots she borrowed from Yang. Ren had a simple jeans and shirt, while Jaune for once looked like he belonged with an outfit that was so banal Pyrrha feared she would lost him in the crowd.

Nora, meanwhile, still wore a skirt. For some reason. And often ended up in front of Ren. For some reason.

If she tied her shoelaces one more time Pyrrha was going to glue them together.

“You know,” said Jaune, “I’m really happy this is going to be Beacon only. I don’t mind the other schools, but they’re… Kinda intense.”

Pyrrha nodded. Yes, they were. “I forgot how tense it was to dine with competitors.” A lot of them looked at her in a rather unsubtle fashion. Some of them were simply curious, but a lot went from inquisitive to downright hostile.

“Then again, not everyone went to the dance.” Added Jaune, thoughtful. “Maybe there was something wrong with the last one?”

Rubby shrugged. She had seemed out of it since their card game, and she still seemed distracted while she answered. She kept looking around, and her hand was suspiciously close to her new weapon - some sort of spear - at all times. “I think Ne- I mean, some students thought it would be all the calmer dancing part instead of it just being the opening act.” As soon as she realized she had spoken, she recoiled inward, shrinking into herself. “I mean, maybe.”

Nora skipped along, narrowly avoiding a streetlight in the process. “That, and no alcohol!”

Jaune nodded. “Yeah, probably. Then again, I think it’s the right choice. Outside of what Goodwitch would do to us if we got drunk at a Beacon-funded party, I don’t want to see what would happen if Yang got drunk.” He paused and rubbed his head. “Or you. Or Weiss. Or Pyrrha. Or-“

“Yes Jaune,” she chuckled. “I think we understand.”

“Right!” He blushed. “So, our first stop is to buy the usual stuff. Balloons, paint, paint guns-“

“Paint guns?” Ren raised an eyebrow.

“Yep. Yang gave me a survey of what people most wanted at the last dance, and paint guns were at the top of the list.”

Pyrrha frowned. “That seems… questionable." She wasn’t sure Goodwitch had forgiven them for their last food fight yet.

The moment she voiced her doubts, Ruby spoke. “Better safe than sorry. If we have them and they’re useless, too bad, but if they are needed…”

Pyrrha grit her teeth. “And if we get in trouble, we won’t be able to organize anything like this ever again.”

Ruby scoffed. 

“Okay!” Jaune raised his voice and moved between them. “I’m going to send an email to Miss Goodwitch to check if she approves of the paint guns, and if she says no, we won’t buy any.”

“Fine.” Ruby grumbled, and Pyrrha smiled inwardly. Victory.

“So we need to buy at least the usual party stuff, the drinks, and find a caterer for the food. So what I’m thinking is-“

Ruby interrupted him. Her tone was flat, but a lifetime in the arena had taught her how to read even subtle body language. She was afraid. “I just saw someone, I’ll be back. Don’t wait for me.” She hadn’t finished speaking that she had already left, disappearing through the crowd of Vale’s streets.

“Wait- hey!” Jaune groaned. “Great. Yang’s gonna kill me.”

Pyrrha frowned. On one hand, she was happy to see her go so she could spend some time with her team without her snide remarks. On the other… she was worried.

She made up her mind, her eyes sharp. “Can you do the shopping while I go after her?”

“But-“

“Of course.” Ren smiled, his tone as calm as ever. “Good luck. You will need it.”

Pyrrha nodded and took off after. Ruby wasn’t as fast as she used to, and she had the disadvantage of being easily recognizable with her clothes, so she caught up pretty quickly.

Pyrrha kept her distances through the streets of Vale. Ruby either just wanted to go as far as possible or knew exactly where she was going, because she didn’t hesitate to take various turns until even Pyrrha didn’t exactly know where she was. At least she still had the CCT as a landmark. 

They ended up in some of the poorer parts of the cities, the kind that was avoided by tourists but very much used by the locals, where the big shops gave place to small florists and touristic restaurants were replaced by small, family-owned ones. Pyrrha usually quite liked these streets, as they would allow her to just be herself for a few hours and blend in, but this one gave her a bad feeling.

Maybe because she was tailing her friend and not going there just to buy food.

At some point, Ruby stopped and looked at a sign. It was a bar, quite a big one at that, that seemed to double as a restaurant. She sighed and went in. The bouncer took one look at her and her weapon and let her pass.

Pyrrha waited for a few minutes, thinking. Maybe she could get inside without being seen. She shrugged to herself and put on her championship face, serious and out for blood. 

It did the trick, as the man at the entrance didn’t stop her.

Inside, the lights were low and some music Pyrrha didn’t really liked blasted through a bad quality speaker. The place was clean, at least, but definitely not where she would like to spend her free time.

Ruby was hunched at the counter and looked like she was trying to burn a hole through the menu while nursing a glass of water. Pyrrha used that distraction to quietly sneak away to one of the tables that were out of the way, at the back, where she could see but not easily be seen.

She kind of wished she had brought a jacket so she could be even more inconspicuous, but it was too late.

She then began to wait. It was both exciting and boring, she was on edge, ready for anything to happen, but nothing was really going on. At one point someone sat at the bar and took a mug of beer, and Ruby kept sneaking glances at it.

Time passed, the man drank his beer, paid, and left. Meanwhile, Pyrrha herself asked for a non-alcoholic cocktail and texted Jaune to inform him of where they were, and that it would take some more time before they came back. Jaune sent her a picture of Nora jumping and pointing at some disco ball. She chuckled and felt warmth spread through her.

While she was distracted, Ruby apparently made up her mind and had ordered a glass of… something, she couldn’t exactly see what. She was looking at it like it offended her.

Then, a girl with black pigtails went behind her, took the glass and downed it.

Chapter Text

Ruby had not left because she wanted to talk to someone. One might say it was the opposite.

Of course, Vale was a big city. So big in fact that meeting someone you know while walking around was close to impossible, a statistical anomaly. People, however, had a way of turning statistical anomalies into reality.

For example, what if someone was a robot, able to track her scroll? What if someone had a network of informants with the order of tracking her down?

She was actually betting on that last one. It was a hunch more than anything, but while she fled in the streets of Vale, she saw someone take a picture of her. She wasn’t exactly the most well-known huntress in the area, so that meant someone was after her.

She had been sitting at the bar for at least thirty minutes by now without anyone coming to see her. Maybe she had been too hopeful, or someone just wanted to take a picture of the weird huntress, or the people looking for her had better things to do. Whatever the case, she was bored, and when she was bored, she thought.

And she thought of familiar orange hairs passing by her in the street, of those same hairs on the ground after being cut in half. 

Thankfully, the answer to all her problems came in the form of a random guy sitting down, having a drink then leaving. Alcohol.

Her uncle had used alcohol to cope, and while it had made him a wreck - especially toward the end - it also just had… Worked. For most of her life, he had been an alcoholic and yet managed to be one of Ozpin’s top huntsmen. 

Beside, she thought as she ordered, it wasn’t like she wasn’t a wreck already. Her mind was frayed, she couldn’t control her moods, couldn’t repair her weapon and could barely fight. At this point, why not add alcohol to the list.

The bartender didn’t make a fuss and made her drink quickly. She smelled it experimentally - it smelled good, kind of like her uncle. She had ordered a cocktail of some sort, and she could smell the fruits and sugar, with the scent of alcohol lingering behind. 

She almost took a sip when a hand shot from behind her and took her glass.

She turned around just in time to see a girl with pigtails and green eyes wink at her as she drank the glass in one go. She sighed and put her head between her arms on the bar.

Just because she was looking for Neo didn’t mean she had to appreciate someone stealing her food. Again.

She heard someone huff and stomp her feet behind her, but she ignored it. She didn’t want to think, didn’t want to talk, didn’t want to do anything.

Neo took offense to that, because she draped herself over her shoulders and gently caressed her wounded leg.

Ruby didn't even flinch, she didn't have the energy to. Instead, she closed her eyes, her mind swirling with thoughts she didn't want to have. A part of her almost wanted Neo to do something, to attack her or whatever, just to force her to react. 

But Neo didn’t. She just pressed herself against her back. And in a way… That was infuriating. She could almost feel her triumphant smirk against her shoulder, almost hear the tension in Neo’s muscles as she restrained herself to slam her head against the counter until it broke.

They could both pretend they could have a civil conversation now that Roman was alive, but old habits died hard. Deep inside, they were both killers out for blood.

Maybe Neo’s hand was a bit too adventurous, maybe it was the sound of a chair scraping against the ground in the restaurant or maybe she just had enough, but Ruby straightened her back sharply, fast enough to slam her shoulder under Neo’s chin. She was actually surprised when she didn’t hear the sound of glass shattering and instead felt the very real impact of her unprotected shoulder against a chin covered by aura.

Neo jumped backward and nursed her chin, her smile a tad more murderous than before. Ruby massed her shoulder, wincing at the pain. That had hurt. Good.

She took a good look at Neo. She looked the same as she did back at the weapon shop, except her eyes were slightly glazed and she had a light flush. Was she… drunk?

“Can’t you just say hi like a normal person?” She sighed.

Neo pointed at her mouth and raised a mocking eyebrow.

Ruby rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. You have a scroll, use it.”

Neo pouted - an actual full on pout - and mimicked a hug again.

“No thanks.”

She sighed and took out her scroll. She typed a message and turned it toward her.

Roman wants to see you. 

PS: Can I have your number?

Ruby looked at the message for a second before looking back at Neo, who was doing her best to look like a bashful teenager instead of a bloodthirsty psychopath.

“No.” She deadpanned. “Also, since you drank my glass, you can pay for it.”

Neo turned her scroll around and typed more characters.

Won’t you buy a drink for a young lady?

Ruby sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. The day just kept getting better. “You heard me. Pay for your drink and we’ll leave.”

Neo put her hand against her heart and gasped, as if offended. Then she had an exaggerated sighed and slowly, sullenly, drew a few liens from her pocket and put them on the bar.

Now that she thought about it, the bartender had put a respectable distance between him and her. Either he was smart, or he knew her.

Once Neo had paid, Ruby carefully made her way toward the exit before feeling something jab against her good leg. She grimaced and turned around to see Neo with her hands behind her back, the picture of innocence.

“What.” She said through gritted teeth. 

Neo pointed behind her, deeper inside the bar.

“Are you kidding? Why is Roman here?”

She shook her head as if disappointed and simply tugged her sleeve toward the back. Ruby, with little other choice, followed.

In another time, willingly meeting with Neo with a low aura would have been a death wish. Now, it still was, but she didn’t care that much about it.

Neo actually took her through the back door. Once they were outside, she sped up, and Ruby had to half walk, half hop on one leg to catch up. If Neo’s smirk was any indication, that was on purpose.

They walked through some streets, some back alleys where people were less common. She kind of expected Neo would take her to some of the dirtier back alleys, but thankfully Roman was a man of taste and wouldn’t be caught dead in there outside of a job.

Well, as much taste as it took to end the world for some petty liens and his own survival. She was doing nothing, and she was still doing more to stop it than him! Granted, that was by stopping one of the main people responsible - herself - from acting, but still.

She had a feeling Neo made her walk more than was strictly necessary before they arrived at a house like any other in the neighborhood; it looked old, but not like it needed repairs. Neo let Ruby go, took out a small key from her pocket and opened the door before turning around, half bowed, and pointed inside.

“I know you’re going with me, stop it.”

Neo rolled her eyes and dropped her shoulders. She could almost hear the ‘no fun’.

“Come on, let’s go.”

The inside of the house was surprisingly clean, though it was empty of anything that wasn’t purely functional. No family photos, portraits, toys, or anything that would give the impression someone lived here. The furniture looked as old as the house, but apart from that, nothing.

She hoped Neo would take her to the living room, but instead she pointed at the stairs.

Great. Ruby sighed and made to walk up. Neo offered her a hand but she batted it aside, she didn’t need her help. She leaned on the stair railing and half hopped for a few steps before she felt a sharp impact on her ass from something hard. She gritted her teeth. She wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.

She was about halfway there before she heard the air move behind her. She didn’t even think and threw herself backward, hitting Neo on the way. She had a brief moment where time froze, and she thought, with certainty, that she was going to die. She would break her neck in a house she didn’t know just to get back at Neo.

She pulled from deep inside her and managed a small hit of her semblance, just enough to allow herself to find her footing. She turned around in time to see Neo land gracefully on her hand, then do a pirouette to put herself back on her feet. Her parasol - that she was about to use to hit her - lied discarded at the bottom of the stairs.

“If you hit me again, I’m going to make you eat it.”

Neo shrugged, her grin looked even more… feral. She didn’t know if it was the faint flush on her cheeks or because she herslef didn’t have much of an aura, but Neo seemed even more dangerous than usual. Ruby felt like a prey.

She didn’t like it.

Neo took her parasol back and used it to hit the stairs, the sound of the impact louder than when she landed after falling. The message was clear.

‘Try me.’

The sound had another benefit. She heard someone curse before Roman’s voice rang through the house. “Children, behave! I swear, kids these days.”

She heard him walk, then Roman peered at them from atop the stairs.

“Hello Red.” He smiled mockingly. “Didn’t know Neo invited friends. Don’t be so noisy, you’ll make the neighbors worry.” 

She frowned. “I need to ask you something.”

He laughed. “Funny that, so do I! Come upstairs, we’ll have a chat like civilized people.” He left and came back a second later. “And no fighting! Behave!”

Ruby sighed. The day just got more annoying.

—

“Come on, sit,” Roman said, settling into an admittedly very comfortable-looking chair. “I’m afraid my hospitality is not what it used to be, but what can I say. Work has been a killer lately.”

Ruby grimaced and sat down. She did manage to climb down the stairs at the end, but her leg was still sore. 

Atop the stairs was another room, which Roman had apparently decided to use as his living room. Why he wouldn’t use something downstairs for that, she had no idea.

There were a few sofas, a low table with some snacks and drinks, and that was pretty much it. She had the feeling the place had been cleaned up before she came in; the room just looked empty, even more than the rest of the house.

Neo took a few sweets from the table and, infuriatingly, went behind Ruby’s chair, let her head rest on her shoulder and half hugged her from behind while her hand pointed a sweet to Ruby’s mouth. A few seconds and an inefficient death glare later, Ruby sighed and accepted it, feeling Neo’s fingers against her lips all the while. So she bit her.

Fair was fair.

Roman sighed. “Neo, can you stop messing around for a few minutes?”

She heard the telltale sound of glass shattering. A few seconds later, Roman laughed. “I don’t think it will work on Red, Neo.”

Some more glass.

“Now now, don’t fight me on this. Just don’t be too distracting.”

No more glass, and Neo dropped her hands. She was still half hugging her from behind, but at least she stopped putting things in her mouth. 

If her aura wasn’t shot, by now she would have punched Neo hard enough to make her see stars.

“Alright Red, I’ll go right to the point. Since we ran into you, Neo and I have been thinking.”

“Dangerous stuff.”

“Quite.” His smile stiffened. “But what matters is, this town is going down. Cinder doesn’t really need me for her plan, she can use one of her little henchmen to do whatever I was supposed to do, so everything is still on schedule for the big moment.”

That checked out. Roman had been on the ship, but all she needed was someone strong enough to take the guards inside, and if Neo could do it, Mercury probably could.

Roman took a sip from his glass. “So we are leaving this place before it goes boom. That’s the plan.”

Ruby frowned. What did that have to do with- “We?”

“Yes Little Red, we. As in you,” he pointed at her, “Neo,” he pointed upward, “And the genius that I am.” 

Ruby shook her head. “I don't get it.”

He shrugged. “Ask Neo. She’s the one who came up with the idea. Me, I don’t mind. You obviously don’t care about this place, so I don’t think you’d mind ditching it for Vacuo.” He crossed his legs. “Think about it. Me, Neo and you, all having a grand old time in a villa. No need to work or worry for the rest of our days.”

“Or until the Grimms kill us all.”

Roman smiled. “Ah, but you told us last time that you were the one who ruined it all. Without us in the equation, this whole thing has a good chance to solve itself.”

Ruby paused and felt Neo smile against her shoulder. That… That made a surprising amount of sense.

She thought about it. No need to worry about her team. No need to worry about that stupid psych exam. No need to worry about Cinder burning her alive or Adam cutting her down limb by limb. She could forget about Port, Ozpin and Beacon itself. 

She could almost see it now, a new life. Sleeping for however long she could, eating whatever she wanted, just enjoying her days until the day she died. Hell, if she missed the thrills, she could still kill some Grimms on the side, and if her moral compass broke at some point, she was sure Roman had a few plans she could help with.

‘Lie, steal, cheat, and survive!’

She felt her heart sink. Of course, that couldn’t be so easy. “What’s in it for you?”

Roman sighed. “Nothing, I’m afraid. Neo insisted, and I can’t exactly say no to her.”

Noe put her scroll in front of her.

You always did more harm than good. Why risk it?

Ruby felt a pang of pain in her chest. That was true, that was the whole point of not doing anything this time. And it was working! She was doing some good!

Well, she worried her sister. And her team in general. She hurt Blake, Weiss, Pyrrha and Jaune.

She shook her head. It didn’t matter. She wouldn’t do anything, and that was final. The point was, could she even consider their offer?

No. She narrowed her eyes and stared at Roman. He looked nonchalant, casually eating and drinking as if this was a done deal. He looked confident. 

The exact same expression as when he got arrested. 

“You’re hiding something. No deal.”

She felt Neo tighten her grip once more, to the point it was painful. “Oh, Red Red Red, why do you think you have a choice?”

Ruby laughed. “You won’t kidnap me.”

“Really?” He put a hand on his chest, feigning shock. She could see where Neo got it from - or was it the reverse?

“Ozpin wants me here and against Salem. If I went with you, we could leave easily, but kidnapped? If you mess up even once, your whole plan goes up in smoke.” She smirked. Roman didn’t look so sure anymore - in fact, he looked a bit pissed. Good. “You know magic exists now. If Ozpin wants to find you, he will. The only way I can leave Vale without him going after me is if I do it of my own will.” Neo was still resting her head on her shoulder, she could feel her gritting her teeth.

Roman sighed, dejected, and looked at her thoughtfully. After a few seconds of silence, he said, “You’re sharper than you look, Red.”

“I’m not a kid anymore.” At these words, Neo bit her shoulder. She turned around and tried to punch her, but she darted out of reach in a flash. “Stop it!”

Roman groaned. “Neo, I told you to cut it out.”

Neo crossed her arm and pouted. 

“Just tell me why you want me to go with you.” Ruby spit the words like they were poison. If the reasoning was good enough, maybe she’d really consider it. She didn’t know if she hoped it was just a whim so she could refuse, or something actually convincing so she had no choice but to accept. 

Neo raised her eyes to meet hers, and all playfulness disappeared. In front of her appeared a simple diagram.

First was Roman’s hat crossed out, then Atlas, then the relic of Creation, then tunnels, then a cup of tea, then Roman’s hat.

Ruby blinked. What-

Roman put his glass down, the sound cutting through the air like a blade. “You see, Neo has a small theory.” Neo nodded. “Last time I died, she killed you, and you both ended up here.”

Ruby shook her head. “Neo didn’t kill me. I drank the tea.”

“No, she pushed you to drink the tea,” corrected Roman. “The point is, you two managed to go to the Ever After, you took your medicine like a good girl, and here we are.” He pointed at her. “You are our free ticket to go back in time and fix it all if it goes south. Happy?”

He looked serious now. Ruby couldn’t see any lies there. Then again, he was a good at it, but then even Neo looked serious. She had almost never seen this side of her.

So that’s what she was brought to. A second chance for a criminal, who would keep her around in case she could be the third.

She sighed. “That’s a long shot. The gods wouldn’t let whatever this is happen a second time.”

Roman shrugged. “The way I see it, if it works, good. If it doesn’t, I’ll already be dead.”

“And I would-“

“Oh please.” He waved her off. “You already told me you don’t care if you die. It’s not like you’re using your life anyway.”

Ruby felt stunned. It was one thing to think it, but it was another to have it said out loud.

Roman got up. “Well, I have other things to do. Listen Red, you’re right, we can't force you to come. But think about it.” He raised his right hand. “Live a life of luxury in Vacuo until the end.” He raised his left hand. “Die here. Me, I made my choice.”

Neo skipped toward him, not without ruffling Ruby’s hairs. 

Roman put on his hat. “We’re not leaving before a few weeks anyway. Neo has to be at your school for the Vytal festival - Cinder’s orders. If you make up your mind, tell her.” He shrugged. “As you say, it’s not like we can kidnap you anyway.”

Before she could answer, she heard the telltale sound of glass breaking, and there she was alone in the room, with only an empty chair and the quiet for company.

Shit.

Chapter Text

Ruby didn’t know how much time she spent just sitting there.

Roman had a point. Despite how much she wanted to hate him and just reject his words and be done with it, he wasn’t exactly wrong.

Each second she spent hesitating made her mad at herself, which just made her hesitate more. She wasn’t the kind of girl who would leave the world behind to rot, right? But didn’t she need to do it to save it? Could she even make a difference?

She got up warily. A part of her wanted to search the house, but Roman was the one who chose it as their meeting point, so there was probably nothing inside.

Beside, she was tired.

She sighed and went down the stairs. As long as she was here, might as well check the fridge to see if there was something to drink. Or some booze. She really hoped there would be booze.

She tried every room on the ground floor, but couldn’t find any kitchen. She did see that Roman locked her inside, the bastard, but she’d find a way out. The locks on the doors looked complicated, but she could always sleep through a window.

Since the kitchen was, of course, on the first floor, she had to take the stairs again, putting all her weight on her good leg and creaking the stairs even more. Back on the first floor, she tried every door. A small room. Another, slightly bigger room with a bigger bed. An office devoid of any furniture or paper. Finally, she found the kitchen. There was a small table, enough furniture to cook a meal, an open window, a few cupboards and a side-by-side refrigerator. 

A bit of rummaging through cupboards later and she found a half empty bottle of whisky and some glasses. No ice, but then again Uncle Qrow never put ice in his either, so she didn’t really mind. She poured herself a glass and half-heartedly toasted at the open window.

Wait. Open window? Roman wasn’t stupid enough to leave a window open, was he? Even on the first floor, that was weird. She left her glass on the table and walked toward the window. It wasn’t particularly small - in fact, it was big enough to let someone squeeze through and could only open from the inside. She frowned and turned the handle a few times - busted. It’d been forced through.

Roman’s work? No, that didn’t make sense, Neo had the key. Beside, if someone could enter the house like this, it meant they could attack him while he was unaware, or-

Or listen.

She felt a shiver of fear down her spine, the first in a long time that she could call truly hers. If someone had overheard their conversation and reported her to Ozpin, what would happen? She would be arrested and questioned for sure. Then she’d have no choice but to escape, contact Roman and flee from Vale.

She shook the thought away. That wasn’t his style. Beside, she hadn’t agreed to anything, she just talked to him. She wasn’t familiar with Vale’s laws, but she was certain she could justify their conversation without too much trouble.

She went back to her glass. The moment her fingers touched it, her scroll rang, making her jump. She swore and looked at the name. Jaune.

She frowned. She didn’t really want to talk to him, but then again, he wouldn’t call her for nothing. She calmed her beating heart and accepted the call.

“Yes?”

“Wait guys, she picked up- Hey Ruby!” He sounded a bit surprised.

“What is it?” 

“Oh, nothing. I’m just wondering when you and Pyrrha are coming back. We’re almost done with the shopping on our end.” 

Ruby tilted her head and took a sip of her glass. She hadn’t expected it to burn that much, but she forced it down with a cough. “Pyrrha?”

“She isn’t with you?”

Ruby felt a shiver down her spine. Something wasn’t right. “No, why?” 

“That’s weird.” Jaune sounded a bit surprised, but not worried. “She told us she was going after you.”

Her stomach turned to ice. Now that she thought about it, didn’t a girl with red hair enter the bar at some point? She only caught a glimpse of her and couldn't see her face, but…

And now a busted lock. 

“I’ll call you back.”

“Wait, Ruby-“

She closed her scroll. Maybe she was being paranoid. Maybe Pyrrha had tried to follow her but couldn’t. 

But she could have busted the lock with her semblance, then jumped to the window - hell, just held a piece of metal strong enough to support her weight and used it to levitate herself. She had done it with her armor.

And if Pyrrha had heard overheard her conversation, then it wouldn’t be long before she told the others. Then would come the questions.

She twirled a lock of her hair and pulled it to concentrate. If she were Pyrrha, would she have left immediately? No. This was Roman Torchwick’s house. She would have tried to find something, anything he might have left behind. That would mean avoiding her, but with her wounded leg she wasn’t exactly fast. 

She left the slightly empty glass and walked out of the kitchen, then closed the door. She couldn’t lock it, but… She had seen her dad replace a door once. She groaned and carefully unhinged it - it was an old door, all she had to do was lift it up - and let it rest diagonally in the doorframe. There. Now to get inside would take a minute and, with a bit of bad luck, make a lot of noise. She rubbed her gloved hands and began to walk.

Pyrrha could be anywhere in the house, but she wasn’t an expert in stealth. She would have taken the logical approach of always leaving the stairs between them, as Ruby couldn’t go up and down easily or without making some noise. Ruby hissed as she accidentally put some weight on her bad leg while going down the stairs. Right, avoiding that. 

Once she was downstairs, she looked at the hallway critically. Pyrrha would need to hide once she heard her, then wait until Ruby left the hallway to go in herself. 

So Ruby did just that. She walked slowly to one of the doors, opened it and went inside. She then hid behind it and stepped on the same spot on the ground to make noise and mimic her going deeper in the room.

A few seconds later, she went back through the door. Sure enough, someone was carefully climbing up the stairs, careful not to make any noise.

She wasn’t as kind. “Pyrrha!” She yelled, making her jump. Except instead of turning toward her, she ran up the stairs. She heard the sound of wood breaking, then nothing. She had jumped through the window.

Well. Ruby went back to the kitchen, carefully stepping over what remained of the door. Someone had emptied her glass in the sink on the way. Bitch.

She went back to the bottle and took a swing directly from it. She managed to drink a little and spit back the rest, that was foul. How the hell did her Uncle manage to stomach it?

Still, she felt warmth spread through her. Right. There was no point worrying now, all she could do was go back to the group. Somehow, with the alcohol coursing through her, she felt a tad better. If Pyrrha talked, she’d handle it, or maybe it would give her the push needed to finally run away. If she didn’t talk, then no problem.

Really, life was simpler when she didn’t think. She took one more swing.

—

Pyrrha’s life was simpler when she didn’t think. But now, as she was running in shame, she could only see the patterns.

Ruby had talked to Roman Torchwick. Hell, she had held hands with Neopolitan - a known criminal - through the streets of Vale, and let her hug and touch her in a rather inappropriate manner. She went to drink alcohol, not once, but twice!

She couldn’t help but remember Weiss’ words. 

“She’s also rude toward us, but she’s not going to see other people either. It doesn’t really fit.”

Well, now what? Apparently Ruby had new friends, a new weapon, was rude toward them… And she was thinking of running away.

She only caught the tail end of the conversation, as it took her some time to get inside the house without being seen. But what she heard was chilling. 

“You already told me you don’t care if you die. It’s not like you’re using your life anyway.”

The only explanation that made sense was that Ruby was possessed. The same thing that happened to the Emerald King was happening to her, and the thing in her head didn't really care about its host. 

There was also another explanation, but it was even crazier. Ruby Rose wasn’t suicidal, she couldn't be, the Grimm would have got to her far earlier. Besides, they had been friends for months, she would have seen it. She wasn't sad or depressed, she was lively and full of energy.

Pyrrha shook her head. Ruby also knew things that she shouldn’t know if she wasn’t herself. She knew her, she knew her friends. Maybe the possession absorbed her memories somehow? But if so, why get mad at them? The easiest way to not be found out would be to act the same as Ruby always did.

As she came to livelier streets, she stopped running and slowed down to a brisk walk. Nothing made sense. Every single time she had a theory, something else would contradict it. But if she didn't focus on trying to understand Ruby, she would have to think of something else, namely, what to do?

The authorities had to know. Ruby somehow could get in contact with a renowned criminal that was supposedly behind bars, right there in the streets of Vale. They needed to use that to capture him again.

As always, she was grateful for her disguise. While some people gave her a surprised look, none of them stopped to talk to her, so she could simmer in thoughts alone.

Could she really betray Ruby? She already followed her without her permission and spied on her. Could she condemn her to a jail sentence when she was so young?

She barely dodged a passerby. She simply couldn’t make a decision now, she needed more information. She needed to talk to Ruby and get everything out of her, by force if necessary.

She would be ready to fight again in a few days, right? She would make her use Crescent Rose, put her in the arena where it was just the two of them, and not only would she win, she would force her to talk. This little game of cat and mouse and secrets was getting on her nerves.

She felt cold certainty rest in her. Yes, that was the thing to do to fix all of this. A rematch.

Chapter Text

Ruby sat down on the chair, woozy. Wow. Woooow. Okay, so that hit her like a truck. She eyed the bottle wearily. She really, really didn’t expect it to feel that strong, hell, her uncle could drink this stuff all day and still fight. She groaned. The room was spinning all around her.

Then again, she also felt surprisingly warm. And relaxed. So relaxed in fact that for once she wasn’t really worried about anything. 

She looked at the open window longingly. Sure, she could go downstairs and use a window there, but, well, there was an option right in front of her, so why not?

She climbed on the countertop and then jumped out of the window, landing on both her feet. Immediately she felt lancing pain through her left leg, but her aura managed to protect her enough so she could grit her teeth and bear it. She took a minute, got up and walked toward… wait, where were they supposed to meet up again?

She opened and scroll and saw that Jaune, ever the smart one, had sent her a location. She used the navigation feature of her scroll and followed it, not really caring where she was going. And hey, if the world seemed a bit off, well, it wasn’t her problem as long as she avoided people and the road, which she did.

It took her some time, but she finally managed to reach the group. Ren and Nora were carrying bags full of things she was sure were necessary to have a party, while Jaune was trying to talk to a Pyrrha that seemed very lost in thoughts.

“I’m back!” Ruby waved at them. “Thanks for waiting for me guys.” She paused. “Especially you, Pyrrha.”

Pyrrha winced and Jaune had an awkward smile. He walked toward her. “Well, here we are now. You managed to catch your friend?”

“Eh.” Ruby shrugged. She went to grab one of Nora’s bags, but she batted her hand aside  and said something about her leg. “They just led the conversation and didn’t let me say a word.” Actually, that kind of sucked. She wanted to ask Roman how to tell good lies, but all he gave her was another crisis on top of the pile. That sucked. Roman sucked.

Jaune rubbed the back of his head. “Well, at least you’re back. We’re basically done here, we just need to buy some drinks.” 

“Mama’s buying alcohol!” Shouted Nora with a smile that showed too many teeth.

Ren put a hand on her shoulder. “Nora, no.” He turned toward Ruby. “Are you alright, Ruby? You seem off.”

Ruby waved his concerns away. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” She giggled. This felt pretty nice actually. 

“…Right.” Ren narrowed his eyes. What was he looking at her for? When she was all broody it was a problem, and now that she wasn’t it was also a problem? What was wrong with JNPR? 

Ruby huffed and crossed her arms. “So, where are we going?”

“Well-“

Ren put his hand on Nora’s shoulder. “Nora, no.”

Nora turned around and pressed her forehead against his. Her grin was bright enough to illuminate the whole city. “Nora yes!”

Then the moment passed, and Nora took a step back and looked at the ground, missing the fond smile Ren suppressed a second later.

Okay, that was it. Ruby was pissed now. “Ren, can I talk to you for a minute?” She paused. “Alone. Where you can’t escape the conversation.” Woops, she didn’t mean to say that. Alcohol was doing a number on her.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Jaune. “I mean we still need him to-“

“I won’t be long, I promise. I’m just going to put an end to this before they drive us all mad.” Hey, she didn’t want to say that either! Well, she did, but she wasn’t going to say it. 

Wait a second, she wasn’t embarrassed for saying it. Huh, imagine that. Was that what being confident feels like? She could really have used a shot or two before making her speech about Salem. Well, she shouldn’t have made the speech in the first place, but still! At least it would have been funny.

She blinked and focused. Right, she was lost in thought again. The others had moved on, despite a little grumbling of Nora, who was pacified when they told her she could go pick the drinks and sweets. Go Nora! 

Ren looked at her expectantly. “So, what did you want to talk about, Ruby?”

Ruby blinked. Right. “Let’s find somewhere we can talk first. Like a dark alley.”

He had a small smile. “I feel like a coffee shop would be more appropriate.”

She pointed at the shops around them. “They’re all full, Ren. Every single coffee shop in Vale is full of tourists, Ren! You know this, Ren!”

He took a step back. “Alright. I’ll follow your lead.”

Ruby took a step back and went back to the less occupied streets, before finding a mostly desert alley. That was good. It was clean, mostly empty, and they could talk without being bothered.

“So.” She turned around. “You and Nora. What’s the hold up?” Technically, once upon a time it was a problem of the world ending. She wasn’t exactly sure of what happened between the two, but they had a good relationship, then had a fallout in Atlas, then they reconciled, then they had another fallout because Nora had an existential crisis, and then she went back in time.

But right here and now, there was no good reason for them to dance around each other. It wasn’t like the world would end in a few weeks - oh wait, it would! The least they could do was to hook up for good so they would stop driving them all up the wall with their not flirting.

“I do not see what you are talking about,” he said in a calm voice. “There is no problem between Nora and me.”

“Yes! Exactly!” She pointed at him, feeling a bit dramatic. “There is no problem! So why do you keep avoiding the subject?”

He darted his eyes around. It was one of the rare times Ruby saw him nervous. “What subject?”

“What subject- Are you blind?” Ruby narrowed her eyes. “Are you really saying you didn’t notice how she kept bending over in front of you all day, how she stole your food, how she keeps hugging you, just how she looks at you?!”

Ren had a sad smile. “It’s just how Nora is. She’s my friend, nothing more.”

“Just how Nora-“ Ruby stomped her foot - wrong foot! She hissed through her teeth.

“Are you alright?” 

“Don’t change the subject!” She held her leg, seething. “Nora doesn’t act like that with Jaune or Pyrrha! Stop hiding from the truth!”

Ren sighed. “As I said, there is nothing going on.”

Ruby felt a wave of anger rise inside her. “Nobody believes it when I say this, do you really think it works on me?” Ren tried to speak, but she cut him off. “No! If you really don’t care, then tell it to her straight instead of leading her on.” She scoffed. 

Ren’s hand tightened into a fist. Apart from that, he still looked as calm as always. “Do you not think it’s hypocritical?”

“What?”

“How you act with Jaune. You are not the only one leading people on.” Ruby grit her teeth. “If you do not care about him, you should tell him so he stops trying to be your friend.” 

“I don’t hate Jaune, Jaune should hate me.” She spat. “This has nothing to do with it. I’m telling you to stop hurting yourself.” She pushed a finger into his chest. “What if she dies on a mission? Could you live with yourself with no regrets then?”

Ren’s voice was more forceful than usual. “I won’t let her die.”

Ruby laughed. “Hey, guess what? That’s what my dad said about my mom! Turns out she did!” She stifled her laugh. Really, it wasn’t that funny. Well, it was, in a dark way. “But at least they knew they loved each-other.”

“I told you there is nothing between us.” Ren batted her hand away. “Things are fine as they are. If they weren’t, Nora would tell me something.”

Ruby blinked. “Wow, you really believe that.” That was so weird! Where was the Ren who was so aware of how others felt, who was conscious of his weaknesses - oh right, she left him in the past. 

"Yes, I do.” 

Ruby took a deep breath. She needed to calm down. Ren did the same.

“Alright. If there is nothing, tell her.” 

“What is there to tell?” He shrugged. “We are friends. Nora doesn’t want anything more, and neither do I.”

Ruby grit her teeth. “Who are you going to the party with?”

“Nora, but-“

“You see?!”

Ren shrugged. “Jaune and Pyrrha always go together. That doesn’t mean anything.”

Ruby raised an eyebrow. Ren winced. “Bad example.” Oh, so he wasn’t totally blind.

“Okay, Ren? You and Nora are just as bad as Jaune and Pyrrha. Between your two groups, I don’t know how your room hasn't blown up yet. One of these days Yang is going to shove you into a closet until you figure it out.” She turned around. “You can stay blind if you want, but Nora is not.”

Ren sighed and followed her. “My life is my choice, Ruby.”

She scoffed. “When people tell me to talk to Jaune or Yang, they don’t really care it’s my life.” Probably because it’s also the life of other people. “Figure it out. If you don’t, either Nora will give up on you or someone else will come along and sweep her off her feet.”

She dodged a passerby. Ren gently gripped her shoulder and steered her out of the road. “Nora will not attach herself easily to anyone else.”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Wonder why.” 

They finally caught up with the rest of the group in front of a mall. When they were in sight, Ruby poked Ren in the ribs. “I mean it. Talk to her.”

Ren sighed. “And I mean it. There is nothing to talk about.”

Their conversation was interrupted by Nora sliding in front of them, deftly avoiding the other people in the street. “So, what were you talking about? You took so long I had the time to buy a lot of stuff! We got fruit juice, barley juice, a few sodas, everything we could need!”

Ruby smiled. “We talked about you.”

“Oh?” Nora perked up. “What about me? Should I be worried?” She gasped and put her hand on her chest. Ren’s eyes followed it. “Is my evil twin here?! I knew it!”

Ren sighed. “You don’t have an evil twin, Nora.”

“You don’t know that!”

While they were bickering, Ruby walked toward Jaune. She was getting the hang of walking despite the world spinning. She tripped on nothing and almost fell. Well, not that much. “So, everything's going to plan?”

“Yep!” He smiled. “We even got the authorization for those paint gun things.”

Ruby stopped and tilted her head, confused. “Wait, I didn’t catch it first, but don’t you mean paintball guns?”

“Nope.” He fished around his bad and took something out. It kind of looked like a water pistol. “These things fire paint. And let me tell you, it’s expensive.”

Ruby shook her head. “Who allowed this?” 

Jaune shrugged. “I dunno. Miss Goodwitch seemed pissed in the mail, so I don’t think it’s her.”

—

Somewhere, Ozpin sneezed.

—

Ruby looked at Pyrrha, who seemed more in control now. “Ruby, while you’re here, can I ask you a question?”

“Don’t you want to spy on me a little more before? Maybe you’ll learn the answer like that.” Ruby put her hand to her mouth, shocked. Damn it, she shouldn’t have said that! What was it with her and speaking today!

“Erm, spying?”

“Don’t worry Jaune, I’ll tell you later.” Said Pyrrha. 

“You better not.”

“I have a condition then.”

“Name it.”

They both glared at the other, the tension thick enough to be cut with a knife.

“I want a rematch. Just the two of us, in the arena. And you will use Crescent Rose.”

Ruby felt a pang of cold fear cut through the whisky’s warmth. “No deal.”

“No?” Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Hey, come to think of it, what happened to Crescent Rose?” Intervened Jaune. “I mean, you haven’t used it since your fight with Pyrrha, right? I thought you couldn’t leave her in her locker for more than a day before feeling anxious.”

Ruby shook her head. “It’s… I’m trying to do something new.”

“Oh, I get that.” Nora put her arm on Ruby’s back. “It always sucks when I can’t use my Magnhild.”

Ruby extricated herself from Nora’s grasp. “I can use her! I just don’t want to!”

Pyrrha shrugged. “Then there is no problem. You have my conditions. If you don’t, then…” She hesitated and looked down guiltily. “I’ll have to tell the rest of your team what happened.”

“Wait, what happened with Ruby?” Nora’s smile wavered. “There’s a problem?”

“Not now, Nora.” Pyrrha didn’t even look at her, still focused on Ruby. “I don’t want to tarnish the mood for the party, so you have until after it’s done to give me an answer.”

There was a silence as everyone waited for Ruby’s answer. Ruby scrambled her brain to find an answer or an excuse, anything to avoid the subject, but couldn’t find anything. 

After a few seconds, Jaune sighed. “Alright, let’s stop here. We have everything we need, let’s go back to Beacon.”

Pyrrha winced. “Sorry. I didn’t want to ruin the mood.”

Nora jumped. “The mood isn’t ruined! We can still play cards on the way back!”

Ren nodded with a smile. “Indeed we can. Just because we have a little fight doesn’t mean the trip is ruined.”

Ruby sighed and rolled her shoulders, trying to relax. They were right. She could still enjoy her time with them, the day wasn’t ruined because of this. 

Despite everything, each second with them would always be precious.

Chapter Text

Yang, Weiss and Blake were doing what had quickly become one of their favorite team activity: hair styling. To be more precise, Yang was styling Weiss’ and Weiss was styling Blake’s. It was fun to do, pretty relaxing and allowed them to talk - or, if Blake didn’t want to, read.

Weiss was a delight to work with. Yang was used to her own hairs, which were a dense, voluminous mass that took a lot of work to just wash. Weiss meanwhile had silky, soft hairs, fragile strands that had to be handled with care to avoid breaking them. It was fun!

Of course, Yang’s scroll rang, interrupting the moment. Weiss groaned. “Who is it?”

Yang looked at her scroll. “Huh, it’s Pyrrha. Think they need help planning for the party?”

“I don’t think their team likes to plan.” Mumbled Blake, half asleep. 

“Then it was their downfall, proving us to be the superior organi- ack!”

Yang stopped poking Weiss long enough to take the call. “Yellow? Yang Xiao Long here.”

“Hey Yang.” Yang’s smile dropped. Pyrrha’s tone was hesitant, and not her “I am too polite to have a normal conversation” kind of hesitant. “Are you busy?”

“Not really. What’s up?”

“It’s Ruby.”

Weiss groaned. “We left her with them for two hours. Two! Hours!”

Yang ignored her. “What’s the problem?”

“You see…”

—

Yang had long given up on doing anything with Weiss’ hair, dumbstruck.

So that was a thing. Yang shook her head and focused. “Right! So she talks to Torchwick now. No big deal.” And she was awfully close with Neo too. That made her blood boil for more reasons than one. “Did you call the police?”

“No.”

“Good.” Blake was fully awake now. They were all on Yang’s bed, the scroll on speaker, so they could hear everything. “If Roman really offered her to jump ship, it could spook her into saying yes.”

“That’s what I thought.” Pyrrha looked to the site hesitantly. “I think… We need answers.”

Weiss scoffed and crossed her arms. “We’ve been trying to get answers, but little Miss Quiet won’t talk to us.”

Blake nodded. “She opened up to me a bit after our fight, but she said nothing about Torchwick.” 

“Obviously!” Said Nora from the other side. “You would have told us, right?”

“Exactly.”

Yang sighed and ran a hand across her face. “So what do we do now? This is way more than just brooding, we can’t ignore this.”

“Well, I had an idea.” Pyrrha had a look so intense, even Yang shivered. “She yelled at me when we were fighting. Then she opened up to Blake. The way I see it, our best bet is to make her fight someone again.”

Weiss frowned. “She’s been avoiding combat as much as she could since her fight with you.” She barely even went to combat class, despite it being one of her old favorites.

“Speaking of,” said Jaune, “has anyone seen Crescent Rose recently?”

Yang shook her head. “She bought a new spear gun thing. She told us she wants to get better at using it.” She didn’t really believe it, but what else could she do? It was hard enough to just talk to her most days, let alone interrogate her on anything serious.

“The way I see it,” continued Pyrrha, “is that we need to challenge her. I’m going to push for a duel with her, just the two of us, and use that to get some information.”

“And if she says no?”

“I’ll threaten her.” Pyrrha looked down, avoiding Yang’s stare.

“What.”

“I mean, it’s kind of bigger than Ruby right now,” intervened Nora. “I don’t like this, but Torchwick kind of let Grimm lose in the middle of Vale.” She looked serious too.

Blake nudged Yang aside. “As I said, if we push her, she’s going to run straight to him.”

“Not really…” Mused Weiss.

Yang turned toward her. “You got an idea?”

“It’s more of a thought, really…” She muttered. “What if we offered her an exit?”

Yang blinked. “I don’t follow.”

“Well, Pyrrha is going to pressure her. Ruby will want to avoid that pressure. If we give her a way to do so, then she’ll go for it.”

“Do you have something in mind?” Said Pyrrha.

Weiss simply shook her head with a sigh. 

“This sucks. If I could, I’d just invite her to see my family back at Ansel. That would distract her.” Said Jaune, dejected. 

“Wait, you can’t?”

“She doesn’t want to talk to me, Nora.”

“But can you invite us?! That would be awesome!”

“Err… My family is kind of busy, actually…” He said, rubbing the back of his head.

Yang blinked, an idea coming to her. “Wait, I have something. We could just visit my dad.”

Weiss raised an eyebrow. “Your father? How would that help?”

Yang frowned. What did she mean- Oh, right, Weiss problems. “Dad can get her to spill, trust me. And if we spend a few days at home with him, there’s no way she could feel down for long.” Now that she thought about it, maybe she should have done that at the start. Then again, Ruby wouldn’t have said yes.

“I think I see them,” said Jaune. “Nora, can you intercept?”

“On it!”

“Alright, so.” He summarized. “Pyrrha puts pressure with the fight. If it works, they fight and hopefully Ruby opens up. If Ruby tries to escape, Yang comes in and offers to spend a few days with the family. That’s all?”

“Yep, pretty much.”

“Okay good. We need to go, catch you later.”

The scroll went dark. Yang sighed and let herself fall on the bed. “Well, now I need to tell dad we’re coming back for the weekend.”

Blake poked Yang’s shoulders. She had a small smile. “Tell you what. Instead of overthinking this, how about you take your scroll and call him right now?”

Yang turned her head toward her. “Using my own words against me, Blake? That’s low.” She sighed. “It’ll be weird not spending time with you two. Teams are supposed to stick together.”

Weiss huffed. “I’m sure we’ll manage.” She didn’t look Yang in the eye as she talked. Aww, softy.

Wait. Idea. “Hey, wanna come with?”

Chapter Text

Getting Ruby to agree was as easy as they thought. She could avoid Pyrrha and she would be able to skip her meeting with Port? She was on board immediately.

She was actually the first one out of the dorms the day in question, and, again, the first one in the plane.

That excitement had quickly worn off as she was now sleeping, tucked against Yang. The sister in question evidently didn’t mind as she was smiling contently all the while.

“You know,” she said, her tone low, “when we came to Beacon I kind of wanted her to learn some independence. But now?” She sighed contently. “I’m so happy she’s being clingy.”

Blake nodded with her own smile. Yang had been the one most affected by all of this, and the last news hit her particularly hard. Once her call with JNPR had finished, she had paced around in her room, almost tearing out her hair with worry. Blake had taken the situation in hand and invited her to a spar, which helped her calm down enough to at least pretend everything was fine with Ruby.

Ruby herself, however, had spent the next day skittish and closed off, lost in thoughts. Once they made the plans to go to Patch, her mood had improved, and she even played the first boardgame with the team since she woke up angry. 

She still would erratically go from warm to cold in the blink of an eye, but she wouldn’t snap at them for no reason and would actually talk to them. That, and whenever Yang was in range, she would hug her. All the time. It was as cute as it was funny; one moment she was talking with Weiss, the next she was throwing herself into Yang’s arms.

That of course infuriated her, but an angry Weiss was an easily teasable Weiss, so everything worked out.

The soft sound of the plane were a nice background noise for her reading, but Blake couldn’t focus on her book. There wasn’t some big reason or distraction, it just happened.

Weiss spoke with a frown. “It’s strange to see her like this.” Ruby mumbled in her sleep, as if to answer. Sleep was another thing that had gotten weirder for Ruby. The team had been used to hyperactive Ruby, sleepy Ruby, and more recently insomniac Ruby. But now, she could sleep like a baby as long as she was hugging someone. The first day it had been Yang, to no one’s surprise, but the second day she actually fell asleep on Weiss’ shoulder during one of their study sessions. Blake had only found out when she came back to the room an hour later, with a very uncomfortable-looking Weiss frozen stiff.

They teased Weiss all day after Ruby woke up.

Yang had a soft smile. “She’s always like this when she’s stressed.” 

Weiss clicked her tongue. Blake could see her fist tightening. “It would be nice if she avoided doing this while we work.”

Yang shrugged. “Hey, she’s making good progress.”

Weiss’ eye twitched. “She would make more if she focused instead of using our time to get on my nerves.”

Blake, sensing the tension, poked Weiss between her ribs, making her yelp in surprise. “Calm down. We’re here to relax.” She turned toward Yang. “So, what’s your father like?”

Yang grinned. “Oh, he’s great. Fair warning, he’s either going to try and impress you or he’s going to try and embarrass us. Probably both.”

Weiss frowned at that, her expression cloudy. “Is that the best place to go then?”

Yang shook her head, her smile still on. “Nah, it’s all in good fun, trust me. He’s a total softie, especially for us. He can’t exactly say no to Ruby.”

That made sense. From what Yang had told her, Ruby looked a lot like her mother. If her father had shut down after Summer’s death, then he probably wanted to make it up to them somehow. Blake thought of her own father, who had seemed so happy to hear from her. She hadn’t realized how much she missed him until she saw him again.

“I guess…” Weiss squirmed in her seat. “And what is Patch like?”

“Eh.” Yang’s smile dipped. “It’s very Huntsman-focused. Almost everyone on the island is a retired Huntsman or their family, so you have a lot of combat schools, a lot of bars and not much else. Our house is deep in the woods, but the village isn’t that modern either.”

That Blake could handle. In fact, it sounded a lot better than she hopped. “So no Grimms?”

Yang laughed. “Nah, there are some Grimms roaming outside the palisades, but nothing a Signal student can’t handle, kind of like Beacon’s forest.

Blake nodded. That made sense, Huntsman communities were always both very careful and very lax about the Grimms. They would keep their town safe, but instead of carefully expanding it until there were no Grimms left, like Argus, they would rather just cull the Grimms once a week. The White Fang used to help doing these in Mistral and Menagerie sometimes.

“So yeah, that’s pretty much it. If dad offers you pictures of when we were kids, say yes, Ruby was adorable.”

“Oh?” Blake smirked. “Only Ruby? What did teen Yang look like?”

Yang avoided her gaze. “You’re looking at her.”

Weiss huffed, unimpressed. “Family pictures are always such a hassle, I don’t see what’s cute about them.”

“You’ll see. Dad will wipe them out the moment he can.”

Ruby mumbled and got off Yang’s shoulders. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. “Are we there yet?”

Blake felt her heart seize. It was just so cute. “Not yet,” she said warmly. “We have an hour left. You can go back to sleep.”

“M’kay.” She snuggled against Yang and closed her eyes.

Ruby was their teammates, Blake had to remind herself, and not a cute animal to be coddled. But after seeing this, she promised herself she would do everything in her power to make it so she was next to her on the return trip.

Then she turned around and looked at Weiss, who was fidgeting in her seat, pointedly avoiding looking at the sisters, and she changed her mind. Making sure Weiss was next to Ruby would be even funnier.

Chapter Text

“Zwei!” 

The dog ran out the door and jumped right into Ruby’s arm, panting happily. Ruby giggled - for once, Weiss noted, a normal giggle and not a desperate laugh, as if she was trying to force it out before the moment passed - and petted him. 

“You missed me, boy?” She had a smile big enough to eat the sun. “Aww, I missed you too.” The dog licked her cheek.

Weiss went next to Ruby and petted the dog. “Good boy.” 

She heard a man laugh. “Zwei is still popular with the ladies, it seems. No no, go ahead, pretend I’m not here.”

Yang whipped her head right and left. “Dad? Dad?! Where are you!”

“You're looking at me, Yang.” Said the man at the entrance.

Yang clutched her head between her hands. “Impossible! I can still hear his voice, but he’s not here!”

Ruby, emerging from her snuggles with Zwei, brightened up even more. She dumped the dog between Weiss’ arm and threw herself toward him. “Dad!”

He caught her as if she wasn’t running at full speed toward him. “Hey, there’s my little Huntress.” He kissed the top of her head. “And look at you! Seems like Beacon did you some good!”

She raised her head proudly. “I grew ten centimeters!”

He ruffled her hair. “Ten? Did you measure yourself in heels?”

“Daaad!”

Weiss was stuck between looking at them - it felt good to see Ruby smile like this - and petting Zwei, who looked like he wanted to say hi to everyone. With a heavy heart, she let him down and he ran toward Yang and Blake. Well, he tried to catch Blake, but the moment he approached, she vanished behind a clone. Undeterred, the dog ignored the clone and went to the tree Blake ran to.

Weiss turned around to see Ruby’s dad gently peel her off his chest. She felt a pang of longing and buried it. 

The man walked toward her with a warm smile. “Hello! I’m Taiyang, the father of these two little terrors there.” He pointed at Ruby, who was still more or less attached to his arm, and Yang, who was trying to coax Blake down the tree. “I’m guessing you’re Weiss?”

“Yes, I am.” She shook his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” His grip was firm, and his hands were hard as stone. 

“Likewise.” His smile didn’t waver. “Do you mind if I let Ruby show you around? I need to say hi to Yang.”

She blinked, a bit surprised. From what she was used to, the host would give the tour to all the guests at the same time, but then again, his house, his rules. “No, that won’t be a problem.” 

“Great. Ruby?”

She pouted but let go of his arm. “Fine… Follow me.”

They walked into the house. 

Weiss had been used to a lot of things growing up. One of them was to never ask of others what she couldn’t verify they did correctly, and as a practical exercise, she had to check on the housekeepers’ work. She had learned to spot dust and uncleanliness as an automatism, something she would do without thinking.

Of course, she had also learned later that this was just the beginning of another lesson: learning from people. If someone’s house was dirty, then their housekeepers didn’t do their job, and worse, the inhabitants weren’t aware of it. What was inside each room could tell a lot about the inhabitants of the house, and she had to learn as much as she could, while knowing the people around her were aware of her gaze and would try to obscure it.

It was tiring and stressful, but like everything else she attempted, she excelled at. 

This house had been lived in once.

At first glance, it was homely enough. Pictures on the walls, a few plants here and there, the sofas in the living room were comfortable and showed their age - a hole here and there, a stain, and the traces of someone who tried to clean it up but did more damage in the process - and everything else that would show a house that was hosting a family.

However, the dining tables had traces of dust here and there, dust that was absent from the kitchen’s countertop and the coffee table in front of the couch. The pictures were what one would expect, except there was nothing else than Yang, Ruby, a man she assumed to be family of some sort and their father. No picture of friends, or extended family - just them, surrounded by empty walls. Taiyang was a Huntsman, but there were no photos of him with trophies, or his team, or even people he helped.

They explored more of the house. On the first floor were the living room, kitchen, stairs to a basement of some sort, and a door to the workshop that doubled as a garage. Then they went on the first floor, which had an outrageous amount of rooms for a house with only one occupant. 

“Oh yeah,” said Ruby when she asked. “It’s because dad’s team used to live here, and they made the house bigger when we came in.”

“Made the house bigger?”

“Yup.” Rubby nodded. “Dad actually built the house with mom and my uncle. I mean, they had help from other people, but still.” She chuckled.

Weiss frowned. “So the rooms are for his team?”

“Well, no. The first room here is Yang’s now. It used to be a spare room, but since nobody really comes over…” She shrugged. “I’ll let Yang show you. The second room here is mine.” She could see the space between the doors was smaller than the first one - this one was definitely smaller. “And next to that is the new spare room for when Uncle Qrow comes over. And finally, at the end, there's dad’s room. It’s actually above the workshop, so he can hear us when we work without permission.”

“I see.” Weiss put her hand behind her back to occupy them out of sight. There was something strange about this house, something familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Unbothered by her silence, Ruby went ahead. “Alright, here’s my room. Haven’t cleaned it in a bit, so it’s prooobably a bit dusty.” Ruby opened the door, and inside was… A room.

Weiss didn’t know what she expected, really. She was used to Atlesian rooms full of things meant to impress but go unused - a wall that doubled as one huge bookshelf full of unread books, or secret passages opening on a massive dresser room.

Then she went to Beacon, and her definition of ‘room’ changed to ‘a place where one sleeps and sometimes puts their clothes in, preferably near a bathroom.’

Ruby’s room neatly fell in that second category. There was a bed, a closet, and what looked like a drawing table full of paper, pens, rulers and other measuring tools, and that was pretty much it. Under the bed, she could see drawers that, presumably, had toys inside.

There were a few other things she could see - a nightstand full of comic books, an empty bottle of water, an actual old cassette player - but what stood out prominently was the blueprint on the wall. Or rather, blueprints.

Ruby evidently wasn’t a fan of just putting up pictures of her family. Rather, she had pictures of projects. A picture of a sword was next to a sheet of paper describing the alloy used and how to improve it, what she could only assume was Crescent Rose’s skeleton being built next to the blueprints, with corrections in a different handwriting and a note saying, ‘Well done, but we can do better.’ The more she looked, the more she could spot.

This room was full of hobbies. It wasn’t warm, and as Ruby said, it was full of dust and the air was stale, as if the door hadn’t even been opened since she left. But it was, unmistakably, Ruby’s room.

Ruby took a moment to look around, then walked toward one of the oldest blueprints of her weapon. She touched it lightly, as if she was afraid to break it. 

Weiss walked beside her. “This is a nice room.”

“Thanks.” Her voice was quiet, subdued, the same tone one would use in a cemetery. “I almost forgot how it looked like.” 

She raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Ruby chuckled softly. “It’s been a while, that’s all. I can’t even remember what’s in those drawers.” She waved toward the ones beneath the bed.

Weiss had a small smile. “Want to take a look?”

Ruby shrugged and walked toward one of them. “You know, the bed didn’t have those at first. I added them with uncle Qrow because we were bored one week-end.”

That was so alien to her, yet so Ruby she couldn’t help but laugh, that she quickly hid in a cough. “Of course you would.”

“Yep.” She bent and pulled on the drawer. It didn’t budge. “Huh.” She pulled harder, and it finally came loose, almost hitting her in the knee. “Well, at least that stayed the same.”

Inside the drawer were so many things it made Weiss’ skin crawl. She wanted to organize them all in neat little boxes instead of… Whatever this was. There were bedsheets next to boardgames next to music cds and schoolbooks, all thrown around aimlessly. She could spot what looked to be broken pens and crumpled sheet of papers in there.

“Well, agent Weiss,” said Ruby with a gruff voice. “What does this tell us about the perp?”

Weiss shook her head at her antics. “That she was disorganized.”

“Or she was a genius, whose system of organization boggles the mind.”

“Or that.” Weiss nodded. “Except I have it from a solid source that she herself forgot whatever was in there.”

Ruby scoffed. “Can we trust them?”

“I would bet my life on it, officer Rose.” She stood up straighter. “Us private-owned businesses have to be reliable, or else we fall. We cannot rely on the Vale Council to pull us out of trouble whenever we act on faulty intel.”

Ruby turned a sharp eye toward her. “I don’t like your tone, detective Schnee.”

Weiss raised an imperious eyebrow. “And I don’t like depending on you to investigate a crime scene. Now, would you kindly open up that last drawer so we can be done with this? I’m sure you have a report to write in triplicate that will demand your attention shortly.”

“Right you are, Miss Schnee,” came a sudden voice from behind her.

Weiss jumped, turning sharply to find Yang and Blake standing in the doorway, barely holding back their laughter.

The color drained from Weiss’s face before rushing back in full force as she straightened up, glaring at them. “What-”

“Now then, officer Schnee,” said Yang, her smug grin big enough to eat the sun. “Would you mind interrupting your investigation to come join us downstairs?”

Weiss hid her face in her hands, groaning.

“Aww, don’t pout, that was cute.”

“Don’t you ‘aww’ me, Xiao Long! You could have knocked!” She almost yelled through her hands.

“The door was open, what was I supposed to? Avoid coming upstairs and not see you two be all cute?” She put a hand on her chest and mocked despair. “In my own home? While I have guests? Where are your manners?”

Blake finally managed to take a hold of herself and put her hand on Yang’s shoulder. “Yang, stop teasing her.”

“Thank you!”

“They can roleplay if they want to.”

Weiss had a wordless scream muffled by her hands. Then she raised her head sharply. “We weren’t- I mean, it’s not-“ Stammered Weiss, trying to find a way out. Damn it, she could feel herself blushing! She slapped her hands on her cheeks to find a semblance of calm, but all it did was make her look even sillier.

“Sure you weren’t.” Yang smiled and turned around, quickly followed by Blake. “Anyway, dad is getting the snacks out. If you’re not down there soon I will eat them all!”

“Oh!” Came Ruby’s voice from behind her. “Did he get the good cheese?”

“Yup, so hurry up!” Echoed Yang’s voice from the stairs.

“Coming!” Yelled Ruby. She pushed Weiss outside the room. “Come on come on, we’ll check it out later!”

“But-“

“No buts! Snacks!”

Chapter Text

Ruby didn’t sleep much that night.

Technically, she went to bed - or rather, a mattress on the ground. She insisted that Weiss should have her bed, and she didn't have to fight for long as they were both too busy petting Zwei to argue.

That same dog forced them to move the mattress instead of Ruby simply taking the guest room or the couch. He just kept going to Ruby, then Weiss, then coming back to Ruby, then going back to Weiss. Whenever one of the girls got comfortable with him on her lap, he would hop down and go to the other.

Yang, quite annoyed at being ignored whenever the dog passed by her chair, finally suggested that Ruby and Weiss should sit together, and they did. It had been fun, petting Zwei who could be between the two of them. It was almost enough to forget about the little girl she murdered.

They ate, played and talked until the evening, and then was the time to sleep. With Zwei’s help - she had the nagging suspicion he could just tell when she was nervous - she managed to fall asleep.

She woke up a few hours later, anxious. The moon was shining bright in the sky, and she couldn’t hear anything suspicious under the wind ruffling the leaves, but still, something was off.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up, half expecting a soothing, quiet voice telling her to go back to sleep. A few seconds later, reality asserted itself as she remembered no one was on guard duty and she wasn't camping in the woods. She blinked to accommodate her eyes to the dark and, somewhat blindly, grabbed her clothes and put them on, careful to make as little noise as possible. Zwei raised his head, but a few gentle strokes calmed him back to sleep.

She opened the door and winced at the noise, before closing it - slowly - behind her. She was lucky Blake was sleeping in Yang’s room down the hallway, or she would have heard.

She went down the stairs in the dark, her feet as close as possible to the stair railing to avoid any creaking. Then, finally, she reached the ground floor and had a sigh of relief - no more noise here. She went to the entrance and took her weapon. Normally she would have used Crescent Rose, but she only had the spear available for now. She frowned at that - if her fight with Blake had proved one thing, it was that she was far from skilled with the weapon. Then again, if push came to shove, she could always run away. Her leg was good enough for that.

She went back to the kitchen and left a note on the table, telling her team she was outside. No need to worry them.

Finally, she put on her shoes, opened the door and went out. The wind was strong, flapping her cloak around her, but thankfully, it was nothing compared to the cold in Atlas’ tundra. If anything, it was lukewarm.

She moved around the house, her spear held high. Even if the Huntsmen around here liked to cull the Grimms, one could never be too careful. Besides, it wasn’t as if the Grimms were the only things under Salem’s control. She narrowed her eyes and looked at the trees. Tyrian, Mercury, Hazel and whoever else was in Salem’s command, any one of them could attack them under the cover of the night.

After a few minutes of pacing back and forth without finding anything, her anxiety didn’t go down. Rather, it got even worst - something was out there, she was certain of it. Something was watching them, watching her, through the forest, ready to attack them the moment their guard was down. She went further from the house, the forest, so familiar, looked a lot more menacing shrouded in darkness. She kept her eyes peeled and up, watching the treetops for any strange movements, but nothing. She saw many shapeless shadows move, images of Tyrian’s manic grin, but it was always just a branch bending to the wind, or the rare animal running away from her.

There was nothing. No monster, no enemy, no teammate. Just her, the quiet of the forest, and the hammering of her own heart.

“Focus,” she whispered to herself. There was something there, she was certain - why would her instincts betray her?

When Yang was speaking, she’d get the occasional flashes, anxiety coursing through her veins, the tree, the absolute certainty that something was out to get her. Snapshots of a day her mind stole from her.

She shook her head. No! It wasn’t the same, she was in control, she wasn’t running! She took a deep breath, in, and out. Everything was fine. She was just on patrol, just in case something was out there, ready to kill them all. She was fine.

In, and out.

She was fine.

She walked through the woods, careful not to stray too far from the house, ready to bolt at the slightest danger. She knew she couldn’t go back to sleep, not like this. If she went back to bed, she’d just stay awake all night, trying to catch the tiniest noise. No, she would do this correctly, by the book, and keep watch.

A branch snapped under her foot, and her breath hitched. For a moment, the world seemed to freeze. She listened for any sign of movement, but there was only the wind brushing the leaves - that didn’t stop her from tensing even more, her eyes darting between the trees just in case she alerted of her presence whatever was in the forest.

A moment passed, and nothing happened. She let out a breath.

Maybe this was stupid. Maybe there was nothing out there, and she was just losing even more of her mind. Her mind scanned the treetops once more, but all she saw was darkness and the occasional ray of moonlight. But maybe, just maybe, if she went back to sleep, she wouldn’t wake up, or she’d wake up too late and one of them would be dead. She couldn’t stop looking, couldn’t stop walking, scanning the same treetops over and over again. She could have been looking for minutes or hours, time was only measured by the moon’s position in the sky.

But even as time passed, she didn’t lower her guard, which is why she heard it.

A step.

She ran to a tree and hid behind it, her heart pounding in her chest. She wasn’t crazy! There was someone out there!

A step.

Another one.

Whoever it was, they were careful to not make too much noise, but they weren’t careful enough.

A step.

Too heavy to be Tyrian’s. Too small to be Hazel’s- but then again, she only fought him once.

A step.

Stop.

No more steps. She waited, her ears strained for any noise, but there was nothing more.

Then, after a few more seconds, the steps quieted, as if the person had turned around and walked away, toward…

Ruby’s blood ran cold.

Toward the house.

Without thinking, she got out of her hiding spot, an ammo already in her spear, and fired toward the noise. The sound of her spear was deafening in the quiet of the night, but her aim was true. The bullet flew toward the man, toward his neck-

He turned around and caught it with his hand, the fire dust harmlessly licking his skin.

“Woah there, careful with that, you’re gonna wake them up.”

Ruby dropped her spear, a wave of shame flowing through her. “Dad?!”

Taiyang smiled, his tired eyes shining in the night. “Hey there Rubes. What are you doing up?”

Chapter Text

“So, care to tell me what you’re doing up in the middle of the night?”

They walked slowly through the forest, enjoying the moment. Well, Taiyang probably was.

Ruby avoided his gaze, her head hidden in her hood. “I couldn’t sleep.”

He nodded with a smile. “Yeah, I get that. Same here.” His breath formed small clouds in the cold of the night. “Still, you shouldn’t shoot at people like that. Someone could get hurt.”

Ruby didn’t look at him, shame polling inside her. She had been so sure for a moment… “Right. Sorry.”

Taiyand laughed softly. “It’s alright. At least you’re taking our safety seriously, that’s good!” He patted her on the head. “Just be more careful next time, okay?”

They kept walking through the forest. Since Ruby didn’t talk, Taiyang took it upon himself to continue the conversation. “So, what happened to Crescent Rose?”

She flinched. “Nothing. I just want to try to get better with the spear.”

Taiyang shook his head. “Ruby, do you remember when Yang had an accident with Bumblebee?”

She had a small smile. One day, Yang returned home a bit bruised, with her top torn. She told them she fought a Grimm, but everything was fine, and they believed her.

But then, for some reason, she didn’t use her bike. At all. At first, she told them she was lending it to a friend, then that she was loaning it, then that she was redoing the paint in the woods, the excuses just piled up. One day, dad left to town for the afternoon and spent all dinner making Yang squirm until he told her he knew.

She bumped into him playfully. “I remember. I’m not that old.”

He ruffled her hair. “I may be old, but I can still kick your ass.”

She chuckled.

“So, you know there isn’t really a point in hiding it, right? What happened to it?”

She surprised herself by saying the truth. Maybe it was her good mood or the late hour, or maybe it was just her dad. “Pyrrha broke it. We had a fight, she used her semblance on it, and all the internal stuff is shot.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. And…” She winced. “I kinda broke the scope when trying to fix it.” Well, she threw it against the wall, but still. Technical truth and all that.

“I see.”

They passed by an old tree - one of the oldest in the woods. She used to play near it with Yang all the time, climbing up and down its thick branches, hiding in the leaves or jumping from one tree to the other.

Taiyang coughed. “Do you need a hand? I mean, I’m no Qrow, but I did help you build the thing. I’m sure we have the old blueprints somewhere.”

“It’s alright.” She sighed. “I don’t want to bother you.”

“Bother me? You?” He stopped and pulled her into a fierce hug. “I’m afraid you can’t do that, Rubes. Sorry about that.”

“Dad!” She flayed her arms uselessly. “Let me go!”

“Hm…” He put his elbow on her head and rubbed his beard. “I don’t know… What were you saying again?”

“Dad!”

“Yes, that’s me.”

Ruby tried to use her semblance to get away, but he did something with his aura and disrupted it. “Mh… My youngest daughter is trying to run away from me, what should I do…”

Ruby switched tactics. She hugged him back and looked up with pleading eyes. “Let me go? Pleaaase?”

“Hm….”

“Pretty please? My very young dad that I love and would never ever tease about his age?”

He laughed and released his grip. “Alright, alright. No need to butter me up that much.”

Ruby jumped back and flattened her cape. Despite herself, she was smiling.

“But seriously, if we get started tomorrow, we can be done before you all leave.”

“I don’t have the pieces here, dad.”

“So?” He raised an eyebrow. “Just ask Beacon to deliver it. If they talk about money, I’ll cover the cost.”

“You sure?”

He rolled his eyes. “Ruby, I could support two growing girls on my salary before. Now that you’re gone, the only thing I’m spending money on is Zwei, and he doesn’t have expensive tastes.”

She nodded, unsure. “Alright.” She took out her scroll and filled in the paperwork to get her locker delivered.

It took her enough time for her good mood to go down.

“Dad?”

“What is it?”

“Even if we rebuild her, she won’t really be Crescent Rose again, will she?” She sighed. “She’ll always be different.”

A broken piece here, a replaced piece there, how much time until she wouldn’t be recognizable anymore?

“Let’s turn back. It’s getting early.”

Ruby nodded, forlorn.

They walked under the moonlight, the sounds of the forest surrounding them. This was nice ; she really missed her dad.

“Ruby, you ever heard of the ship of Theseus?”

She raised an eyebrow. “The what?”

“Good. So basically, there’s this ship, alright?” He made a gesture with his arms. “Great ship, he went to sea thousands of times. And every travels, they changed a piece. Some wood here, a new mast there, a new coat of paint because some idiot lit the ship on fire…” He chuckled. “But the thing is, after fifty years, they changed every single piece of the ship.”

“So?”

“So, was it still the same ship?”

Ruby frowned. “No? They changed everything, right?”

“Yep.” He nodded. “But if it’s not the same ship, what was the same ship? The pieces they left behind? Was it still the same ship the moment one piece changed? Half of them?”

Ruby narrowed her eyes. Sure, if you looked at it like that, it made sense… Wait.

“If we look at the ship now and compare it to when it was made, it changed, right? So it’s not the same ship.”

Taiyang shrugged. “Just because you changed a tiny piece?”

“Well, no… There isn’t really an answer, is there?”

“Not really, no. But I like this ending of the story: While two sailors talk about it, a taxman passes near them. They ask him his opinion, and he says, ‘The tax on a new ship is 2000 liens. Is this ship a new one?’ The two sailors say that no, of course not, and the taxman continues on his path.”

She chuckled. “When you put it like that…”

“Yep. Or to put it another way, it’s still your weapon. You’ll always love her, even if you replace some things.” He put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

He was right, wasn’t he? She didn’t remember much of the first version of Crescent Rose, but she used to love her. And when she made the second version, she didn’t discard the first, she just improved it. It was still hers.

She nudged him. “Thanks dad.”

“You’re welcome.” They arrived in view of the house. Even with all the lights off, it looked so warm. “Care for a hot cocoa before we go to bed?”

“Sure.”

“Cool. I’ll go ahead.”

He picked up the pace and slipped inside. The moment he opened the door, however, a small blur of fur and cuteness shot outside toward her. She lowered herself and caught him in her arms. “Hey Zwei,” she said, keeping her tone low - the walls weren’t that thick. “You’re the one who ratted me out, didn’t you, you little ass?”

Zwei panted happily, notably not denying the allegations.

“Tsk. You’re lucky you’re cute.” She kissed him on the top of the head and got up, still carrying him.

They went to the porch and sat on the stairs together. Ruby stretched her legs, wincing as a small burst of pain went through her leg. It was almost completely healed - almost being the key word.

“You know what, Zwei, I missed this.”

She had missed her home. It had been what, a year since she went there? So many things happened.

She wondered if her dad caught she wasn’t ‘his’ daughter anymore.

As if he read her mind, he opened the door again, two steaming mugs in his hand. He lowered it toward her. “Here’s your drink, milady Rose.”

“Thanks dad.” She took one of them with a smile. “For everything.”

“You’re welcomed.” He sat next to her and put his mug down. “It feels nice to give you advice. Makes me feel all old and wise.” He took a higher, trembling voice. “Youngsters don’t get how lucky they are! In my times, if the Grimm ate one of us, we thanked them for the kindness!”

She snorted and put a hand to her mouth. “Dad! That’s awful!”

“Awful?! Youngster these days!” He put his hand around her shoulders and hugged her close. “No respect!”

She pocked him in the ribs and he recoiled with a yelp. “We youngsters have a few tricks in our bags. We don’t need adults to-“

She froze, and her smile dipped.

Oz hasn't been here to tell us what to do, but we still managed to get this far anyway. We've been in bad situations before, and we don't need an adult to come save us or tell us what to do!

Yeah, right.

“Ruby?” Her dad was concerned now. “Are you alright?”

Zwei, sensing her discomfort, licked her hand.

She sighed and nestled herself closer to him, her other hand petting Zwei. “I’m fine.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Alright, if you say so.”

They stayed like that for a moment, watching the stars. It was soothing, she thought. The stars were the same, no matter if she went back in time or not, and they would stay the same for years to come.

“…I’m sorry.” She said after a while.

“What for?”

“For being… All this.” She waved to herself. “I know Yang talked about you, and I know she worries.” She sighed. “I’m sorry I’m not the old Ruby.” I’m sorry I killed her.

“Oh!” Taiyang stood straighter. “I thought this was going somewhere else, like ‘I got pregnant’ or ‘I killed someone in the forest and I need to bury the body.’”

“What?! Dad!” She hid her face in her hands in embarrassment. What was it with everyone always assuming she had a boyfriend?!

“I mean, you’re the one being all dramatic about this.” He shrugged with a smile. “Well, if we’re exchanging useless apologies like that, I’m sorry I’m not the old Taiyang. You should have seen me when I was younger…” He sighed wistfully. “I was so much cooler than I am now, let me tell you.”

She shook her head. “That’s not-“

“I mean, I guess we should also ask Yang to apologize for growing up. She was adorable when she was younger.”

Her shoulders dropped. “You’re making fun of me.”

“A bit.” He admitted. “Listen, I’m not going to lie, I’d prefer if you were happy and smiling, but that’s because I love you. I would feel awful if you forced yourself to act all peppy when you’re feeling sad.” He ruffled her hair, weathering her scowl like a parent who had seen hundreds.

“You’re not mad?”

“No?” He raised an eyebrow. “You’re my daughter, and I love you. Even if you’re sad or angry, and even if there’s no reason.”

She sighed, trying to stifle the warmth these words made her feel. He didn’t know, she told herself. That’s why he was so nice, because he didn’t know she was a parasite in his daughter’s corpse.

But even as she told herself that, she couldn’t help but hug him tighter. She could weakly tell herself she didn’t deserve it, but a part of herself also knew he wouldn’t care anyway.

She couldn’t tell him - he’d never believe her, anyway, - but she could enjoy this.

Taiyang yawned. “Come on, let’s finish these and go to bed. Tomorrow, we fix Crescent Rose, and after that, the world!”

He meant it as a joke. But deep inside Ruby, a long-forgotten fire rekindled itself.

And after that, the world.

Chapter Text

“No- No, I don’t care if you lost it, I said I want the house cleaned up! I’m not asking a miracle, am I?”

Roman puffed on his cigar, his scroll in his other hand. Behind him, Neo was happily nodding along with some noise.

“There are complications-“

“Listen, I don’t care how many people you need to get. I asked you to keep this place clean of pests, right? One might even say I paid you.”

“Yes, but-“

Roman looked behind him. “Neo! Neo! Would you turn it down, please?! I’m trying to talk!”

Neo rolled her eyes but complied. Roman looked back at the scroll. “Alright, good. Now listen here, if you can’t clean up a bunch of stragglers, at least arrange the supplies where I paid you to put them. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes-“

“Good. I need enough for three people to last the month. Can you do that?”

“Wait, three? But you told me-“

“Yes, yes.” Roman rolled his eyes. People these days. “I know, but trust me on this one, we’ll need enough for three.” He looked back at Neo, who seemed very focused on what she was watching.

“Are you sure? It’ll cost you extra.”

“I just told you, didn’t I?” He smirked at Neo, who gave him a thumbs up. “Don’t worry. It’s as done as Vacuo’s dry.”

Red would come along. And the best part was, they didn’t even need to do anything.

As they said, with friends like these…

—

Weiss woke up groggily to an empty room. It was the first time since she joined Beacon, and she felt a pang of longing at the sight; she already missed the dorms.

Well, she woke up alone except for a little, adorable ball of fur snuggled right up in her arms. She raised an eyebrow.

“Hello.”

The dog wagged his tail.

“You know,” she said, her voice dry, “I’m pretty sure your owner told me you weren’t allowed in the beds.”

Zwei just looked at her, his eyes piercing into her soul.

“And,” she continued, “I’m also sure you weren’t in my bed when I fell asleep.”

He licked her hand.

“Fine. I won’t tell if you won’t.” She petted his head to seal the deal.

Normally, this is where Weiss would enjoy her morning in peace, petting Zwei until someone came to fetch her for breakfast. However, there was a slight problem.

One might say, a song.

Weiss’ eye twitched. “Okay, no.” She got up and hastily put on some decent clothes before leaving the room and going straight down the stairs. They creaked in a way that made her wince - old wood. She wondered how anyone would do anything quietly in there. However, she couldn’t focus on it too long as she suddenly smelled the wonderful aroma of toasted bread, which proved to be a suitable distraction.

She went to the kitchen, barely keeping herself from running along. Gone were the days where she could eat little, now she had to eat twice her weight each meal or feel hungry. The wonders of aura.

Unsurprisingly, neither Yang nor Blake was in the kitchen, unlike Taiyang.

“Hey Weiss.” He greeted her with a smile and slightly tired eyes.

“Hello.” She had learned through the evening that the best way to not get corrected about how she called the man was to just not say his name at all. He would always rebuke her for ‘Mr Xiao Long’, but it just felt too strange to call her teammates’ father anything else.

“It’s not the same as Beacon, but I got bread, a toaster, and anything you could put on bread.”

Weiss’ stomach growled at that, but she had more pressing matters. “I’ll eat later, thank you.” She shifted her weight, wondering how to approach the subject.

Taiyang tilted his head. “Something wrong?”

“No. Well, somewhat. Are you a fan of my music by any chance?”

He widened his eyes. “Your mus- oh, no, sorry. I’m into faster stuff.”

Weiss waved his concerns off. “So, where is it coming from?”

He smiled. “The workshop. Since we’re working on Ruby’s weapon, she’s the one who gets to put on the music.”

“I see.” Weiss put on a plastic smile, barely hiding the fury within. “Thank you, I’ll be right back.” She turned on her heels toward the workshop.

“Sure…?” He said tentatively behind her, but she was long gone.

—

Man, Ruby was having a great time. She skipped along with the music, going from one table to the next, holding up plans and pieces to repair her baby.

It was a work in progress, but she could say with confidence that, with her dad’s help, she could repair Crescent Rose before they had to go back to Beacon.

She could also say with confidence that the song she was listening to did not contain Weiss yelling her name, but it did contain a lot of Weiss yelling, so she let it go as the hallucination it was and went back to work. It felt good to finally make progress.

If she just had to repair the weapon, she was almost sure she could do it in a day, but she also wanted to understand it again, see what made it tick and why. A lot of things had been lost in translation with herself since she went back in time, but now she would finally take the time to reopen the dialogue.

The fact that she could finally hold it without shaking helped, and that was probably more because of her dad than he would take credit for.

A hand shot up and grabbed her arm. “Ruby Rose!”

She turned around with a smile. “Hey Weiss!”

Weiss was not smiling. She was, in fact, fuming so much she could heat up Mantle with her rage alone. “What is this?” She seethed.

“I’m working on Crescent Rose. It got busted, so-“

“You know what I’m talking about. What. Is this.”

Ruby shrugged. “Well, you’re at my dad’s house, and this is the workshop-“

“The music!” Weiss yelled. “Cut it off!”

“Why? Is it bothering you?”

“Yes!”

“That beautiful music here?” She sauntered over to her scroll. “The one with you singing it? With a beautiful voice?”

Weiss’ eye twitched, and her hand went toward her waist, where her rapier would be if she hadn’t forgotten it in her room. “Yes, Ruby. That music.”

“You sure?” Ruby took a step backward, her smile wavering. It was fun to tease Weiss, but it was also kind of like juggling chainsaws. Exhilarating until you lose a hand. “Really sure? Is it because it’s opera?”

“Ruby…”

“Because I think I got a techno remix somewhere.”

Weiss took a step forward with gritted teeth.

“I mean, I guess if you don’t like this song, I can pick another, look!” She skipped forward, and another of her songs played. “See?”

A low growl came out of Weiss’ throat.

“You know, I’m getting a lot of mixed messages here.”

Weiss’ hand shot like a snake and barely missed the scroll. Ruby held it to her chest with a sheepish smile. “Sorry, but Yang says I need to make people work for my scroll.” She frowned. “Whatever that means.”

Weiss lunged at her with a wordless roar. Ruby tried to dodge, but realized she was trapped between her workshop and Bumblebee.

With an inner sigh, she accepted her fate and got tackled to the ground by Weiss, who tried - unsuccessfully - to take her scroll.

“Wait, Weiss- Oof!” It looked unintentional, but she was almost sure the elbow she took in the stomach wasn’t. Or maybe it was because of Weiss’ smile of triumph. “Seriously, if you don’t like this album I can switch!” She managed to immobilize one of her arms. “So is that a no on the album thing?” Weiss yelled - roared, really, and tried to grab the scroll even harder.

This was, Ruby thought, her dumbest way to die yet. Poking the enraged Grimm.

She couldn’t resist the thrill, really. With a grin, she managed to push the volume button even higher, Weiss’ opera singing blasting them both to the point their ears hurt.

On the bright side, she didn’t get to hear whatever threat Weiss made. On the downside, Weiss looked ready to murder her, and she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t let her just to have the last laugh.

Then another hand took the scroll from her hand. “Hey!”

The volume dimmed to a more manageable level. “Alright, Weiss? Get off my sister please.”

“Sure, let me just tear out her ears first-“

“No, Weiss.” Yang had a long sigh and pulled Weiss away by the shoulders. “She needs her ears to listen to your lecture later.”

“But-“

“Come on, I’ll handle the music, alright?”

Weiss stood up and crossed her arms with a huff. “Fine.”

Yang patted her back and worked on the scroll.

Then put on another one of her songs.

“XIAO LONG-“

—

“I think we all learned something today.” Said Taiyang with a grave face.

Yang was nursing her eyes and Weiss her wrist, while Ruby was wincing and rubbing her stomach. That, and her limp was back.

"Trust me," Blake said, the only one at the table still unscathed. "They don't. They never do."

“I mean, I did change the song.” Yang winced. “Eventually.”

Ruby nodded. It took Yang a long time, first to stop Weiss from killing her, then, once Ruby managed to divert her attention, to scroll through her music to find something she liked.

Seriously, half an hour. To find one song. Even for Yang, that was extra.

“What I meant was, if you want to fight, you do it outside the workshop.” Taiyang sighed. “Seriously, this place is already a mess enough when Ruby uses it-“

Ruby nodded. Touché.

“So I don’t need three huntresses making it worse. If you want to spar, do it in the garden.”

Ruby raised her head. “Weiss attacked me. I’m innocent.”

“Oh don’t you start-“

“Weiss.” Taiyang’s voice cut her off, his tone warm but firm. “Even if Ruby asked for it, you shouldn’t let her rile you up like that.” He pointed at her. “That’s exactly what she wants.”

Ruby nodded with a bright smile. It was true! Weiss just had the best reactions, it wasn’t fair! Really, she was the victim here.

“And you.” Taiyang pointed at Ruby, and suddenly her smile vanished as she sheepishly looked at the table. “If you can’t behave, you won’t get any dessert.”

Ruby was dumbstruck for a moment, then pulled herself together. “What?! Dad, I’m a grown Huntress, you can’t-“

His eyes bored into her soul. “I bought a pie just for you. You don’t want us to eat it in front of you because you couldn’t act like an adult.” He paused. “Or a slightly more responsible teenager.

“But-“ That wasn’t fair! She couldn’t choose between that and Weiss! Come on, she waged war! She trucked through continents to fight an evil goddess! He dad couldn’t just-

In a few seconds, she lowered her gaze. “Yes, dad…” She grumbled as she shot a betrayed look at Yang. She helped too!

Yang pointedly did not return it. “And don’t think I forgot you, Yang.” She straightened up instantly. “Since you have so much energy, you’re doing the dishes until you leave.”

Yang sighed. “Guess I deserved that.”

“You do. You should know better than to start these kinds of things in the workshop.”

Taiyang went to the kitchen and came back with milk and glasses. “Just to be clear, I don’t mind if you’re getting rowdy.” He chuckled. “We were worst at your age. But don’t do it where there’s fragile stuff, alright?”

They all relaxed, even if Blake looked like she was focusing on anything but the conversation, and Weiss still seemed like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Now!” Taiyang smiled, and the tension vanished. “Who wants breakfast?”

—

Breakfast at the Xiao Long household was strange, Weiss found.

It wasn’t bad per see - it was hard to mess up toasted bread and store-bought jam. It wasn’t excessively good either, as her time living in Atlas made her used to haute cuisine, made by chefs who spent their life working on their art and ready to surprise them whenever the occasion arose.

No, it was the good cheer.

After their fight - a scuffle really, more playing than anything else - she expected the mood to be frosty, with Taiyang judging all of them while they ate until they excused themselves and left. At least, she expected Yang and Ruby to avoid his look and to eat in silence.

She found out that this little talk was only enough to stop them for a minute or two before they went back to their usual antics with their father smiling along. It was strange, alien. She didn’t know where to put herself, or if butting in with one of her remarks would be rude and break the comfort of the conversation.

Infuriatingly, unlike the day before, Blake seemed much more comfortable joining in the banter. It was as if all of them had read the notes before her while she was forced to improvise.

It wasn’t fair.

While she was lost in thought, she felt a bunch of fur rub against her legs. She looked down to see a ball of fur looking at her with bright, hopeful eyes.

“Is Zwei under there?” Yang asked, looking down. “I could have sworn I saw him- there he is! Zwei, you shouldn’t be here!”

Blake recoiled in her chair. “He’s what?!”

“Yeah, he does that.” Ruby smiled. “Come here boy! I’m much nicer than Yang!”

“Hey!”

“Girls.” Taiyang rolled his eyes. “Since he just misses you he can stay, but don’t feed him, alright?”

“Yeah Weiss.” Said Ruby, breaking down a piece of bread and dropping it almost discreetly under the table. Zwei instantly shot down toward it and gobbled it up. “Don’t do that.”

Weiss raised an eyebrow, careful to keep her face neutral. It was so… Dirty. So strange. But then again…

When she was sure no one was looking, she cautiously dropped a piece of her own. Zwei instantly went back under her chair, and she shot a triumphant look at Ruby, who was pretending very hard to not stick out her tongue in retaliation.

“So,” said Blake, oblivious to the secret war of Zwei going on under her nose, “What were you doing this morning, Ruby?”

“Oh!” She raised her head quickly. “Well, Crescent Rose came earlier, so dad and I are fixing it.”

Blake nodded. “That’s nice. What’s wrong with it?”

Ruby froze. “Well, erm…”

“A lot, actually.” Taiyang joined the conversation smoothly. “We asked for a rush order, and those lockers are not meant for flying. Lots of things are bent and broken.”

“Damn.” Yang hissed through her teeth, obvious to the lie. “That suck.”

“Yep!” Ruby said. “We just wanted to look at the scope first, because it was acting a little weird, but it’s busted now.”

Taiyang nodded. “It’s going to take us a while to get through everything, so don’t expect to see much of us outside the meals.”

The conversation continued, and Weiss was just as lost as when it started. Not because of Ruby’s lie, of course. In fact, she was almost sure everyone caught it.

She wondered when she had last seen someone defend someone else at a meal like this. It was Winter, she remembered. When she wanted to learn fencing, Winter came up with the excuse that it was good for coordination, which would help her learn to dance.

It had been years since then. Ever since Winter left, she was all alone, fighting her own battles against her father. And if she was alone, then…

“Excuse me,” she said as she got up. “I just remembered I have a call to make.”

Taiyang nodded along and said something, but she didn’t hear it. All she could think of was of Winter’s voice rising up against her father, and eyes full of hope turning to anger years later as she didn’t do the same.

Chapter Text

Whitley’s life was defined by three things. Being on time, being the best, being in control.

Being on time was the easiest part. He’d wake up at precisely 6:30 after going to bed precisely at 22:30 to ensure a full night of sleep. His schedule was meticulously organized so that not one minute was wasted, with tailored break periods to let his brain rest long enough so he would always function as efficiently as possible.

Being the best had always been an impossible challenge. How could one be the best when Weiss Schnee was one’s sister? She was not a mountain, as one could be at the top of a mountain. She was not a cloud, as one could fly above the clouds. She was a star, one that excelled at anything she put her mind to. She took up fencing and mastered it in record time, understood business like it was second nature, and was able to use dust to an almost magical level. But, like all stars, she was incapable of understanding those below her, and that was where he excelled.

Of course, being the best had also become surprisingly easier once the star came crashing down, or flew and left the atmosphere. Once Weiss Schnee was out of the picture, he reminded his father that being second to the brightest didn’t diminish the fact that he was still among the best.

But this is where Whitley’s life took a turn. While he could be in control of his schedule, he couldn’t be in control of being the best - that was entirely dependent on Weiss. And, as it would soon become apparent, being the best did not mean being in control of his destiny, quite the opposite. He took back control where he could, of course, but as long as his father lived, he would never truly be there.

He was stretching before going to bed when his scroll rang, shattering his carefully built routine. His scroll shouldn’t be able to ring at this hour, as it was supposed to block all calls from the outside world. He picked it up to hang up, but saw his sister’s picture.

He blinked a few times to check if the picture hadn’t changed, but no. He pinched himself to check if he wasn’t dreaming, then realized the exercise was superfluous as he wouldn’t know if he was, and now he was just in pain for no reason.

His first instinct was to ignore it. Nothing good ever came from disrupting his regimen, especially at this hour. But, as he reluctantly admitted to himself, this wasn’t just a stray variable, this was Weiss. He hesitated, his thumb hovering over the answer button. It wasn’t that he particularly cared about his sister, he reminded himself, he was just curious.

She had left. She had escaped the pressure of their home, the constant drive to be the best, the urge to impress. She had escaped the endless social parties, the mind games, the politics, the judging eyes of their father and his expectations. By sheer coincidence, this also ensured that she upheld the longstanding tradition of the women in the family abandoning him, as had been their custom.

He could still remember the day he saw her leave from the second-floor window, suitcase rolling behind her as she climbed in the company car.

“Penrose?”

“Yes sir?”

“I wasn’t aware my sister had a meeting. Where is she going?”

“She’s leaving for Beacon Academy, sir.”

His hand tightened on the window still. “…I see.”

So why would she ever call him, especially at this late hour?

He chastised himself. It wouldn’t be proper to ignore her call, especially after all these years. Yes, that is why he answered.

“…Hello?” The voice on the other side of the scroll wasn’t particularly confident. It made him uneasy.

“Sister.” He simply said.

“Whitley.”

They didn’t say anything for a while. Whitley pinched the bridge of his nose - one of the few ways he allowed himself to express his frustration. “…Father is very cross with you.”

“I see.” Weiss’ tone didn’t betray any emotion. “Is he angry?”

“Of course.” Whitley scoffed. “He allowed you the same freedom he allowed Winter, gave you enough allowance to get by and the only thing he asks in return is one meager call to be sure you are doing fine.” If he were more honest with himself, he’d say he was jealous.

Since no answer was forthcoming, he decided to sit down at his desk, his fingers drumming on the surface to still his nerves. He wasn’t even sure she was aware of it, but Weiss always exuded a certain pressure when talking to people, and he had never been good at dealing with it.

The silence stretched long enough to become uncomfortable, yet he didn’t dare hang up. Hearing Weiss’ voice after so long made him feel… Off balance. He couldn’t let her feel it.

After a long pause, Weiss responded. “Father’s anger is nothing new.”

“True.” His tone was clipped, sharp. “But first insulting him by leaving to become a Huntress, then insulting Atlas by refusing their offer, then insulting him again by cutting off all contact, after he opened every door and opportunity for you…”

Weiss sounded tired, and not just in the way someone sounds after a long day. “I didn’t leave just to spite him.”

Whitley felt the familiar tension he’d feel at every meal with his sister creep back into his spine. “It’s the same thing in the end.” Whitley’s tone was more accusatory than he intended. He quickly adjusted his posture, sitting up straighter. Control, he reminded himself. Always control. “You can call it whatever you want, but you left without looking back.”

There was another long pause. Weiss’s voice was unsure when she spoke again. “That’s why I’m calling.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Why now?”

“I…” Weiss hesitated, and Whitley could almost picture her on the other end, biting her lip like she used to when they were younger, and she was trying to figure something out. “I need to know how things are at home.”

“Why would you care?” He leaned back in his chair, his hand gripping the armrest tightly. “You walked away from all of it, remember? It doesn’t concern you anymore.”

“I-“

“Please spare me your sentimentalities. We both know you wouldn’t call if you didn’t want something.”

There was silence again, only broken by the ‘tap-tap’ of his fingers.

“…Is it so hard to believe I just wanted to talk to you?”

He almost dropped the scroll in surprise. Then he scoffed. “Yes. If you really want to play the caring sister, I’m sure Winter would be more than happy to oblige.” Or mother, if she was sober enough for it. “I’m afraid Father and I are too busy making sure the world doesn’t collapse under the Grimm.”

There was some heat in Weiss’ words. “So am I!”

“Yes, yes.” He rolled his eyes. “One Grimm at a time, I know. We all have our parts to play. Yours is to call father so he doesn’t sanction you, mine is to train so I can be the heir he always wanted.”

“What- I am the heiress!” He could almost see her, fury in her eyes, sword drawn like a war goddess. A part of him - a childish part - was happy he was in another kingdom, far from her wrath. He ignored it.

“If you are, then you should act like it instead of gallivanting in the woods killing monsters while ignoring the current CEO.” He almost lost control of his tone. She didn’t even see her foolishness, did she? If she kept ignoring father, all she would do is incur his wrath. He didn’t care - whatever happened, he won. If she ignored him, he would finally best her, and if she followed his advice, then-

He stopped that line of thought. They didn’t care about each other. She had made that clear.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down. On the other side of the scroll, he heard her do the same.

Despite their outburst, neither of them hanged up.

“Listen, I know this is hard to believe, but I really just want to talk to you.”

“Really? Well, I am happy to hear that,” he said, sarcasm barely kept from his voice. “Truly, you are making me oh so happy. I wanted to talk to you for a while too, but by then you had already left.”

There was silence on the scroll.

“Did you know I learned of your departure from a servant? You didn’t even say goodbye, didn’t bother to tell me you wanted to go to Beacon - I even learned you had a scar on your face from the tabloids.”

Still no answer, but by that point, he would have cut her off anyway.

“So no, dear sister, I do not believe you want to talk to me. You had every opportunity, and you didn’t take them. Whatever it is that you want, you should get it from Father.”

“Whitley-“

“Good night, Weiss!” He hanged up.

He looked at the time. 22:42. He clenched his jaw.

Sleep didn’t find him for a long time.

Chapter Text

Ruby watched Weiss go up the stairs with a frown, Zwei following a few seconds later. She didn’t think they said anything to put her off, did they? Ruby shifted her weight and glanced sideways at Yang, who just shrugged. Blake had a small smile, which meant she knew, but getting information out of Blake was as possible as flying because you closed your eyes and wished really really hard you could do it.

They joked around some more until the meal was done and Yang was left to clean the table, while Ruby went to the garden. She didn’t really want to go outside, but she needed to check for some things where nobody could see her. She opened her scroll and went to the notes.

When she woke up back in time and once she had been done panicking, she quickly took some notes to compare her new reality with her old one. She noted things that had changed, things that would happen, hypotheses on the future and random observations, anything she could to get her mind to distract herself. At the end of the day, there wasn’t much in there.

Yang is more protective

Weiss still can’t summon

Can’t make the festival not happen

M&E are still there

Pyrrha already fought

Neo is the only mute student at the festival (Fox and Yatsu can talk, they just chose not to most of the time I think). Since Fox is the only blind one, there should also be a deaf one (not found yet)

Port’s stories seem to be real (investigate further, possibly at mountain Glenn)

Ozpin doesn’t know yet (pretends?)

Where does Beacon’s food come from??? Who cooks it???

Goodwitch knows something is up, might as well prove her right

And so on and so forth. Some were inane, some were fun, some not so much. Since it was her second go around, she might as well figure out the little things they talked about around the campfire.

A few details, like Fox’s condition, she actually got from Ozpin while they were talking late at night. The man was a mountain of secrets, and even he couldn’t keep everything to himself.

She jotted down a few short notes about Weiss’ call and closed her scroll with a sigh. There wasn’t anything about Weiss needing to call someone, but it still nagged at her, as if she had forgotten something.

She took a deep breath and let it go. She still had work to do, and if Weiss had any troubles, she could always speak to one of them, or more likely, Yang would get her answers one way or another.

A gust of wind made her shiver, so she tightened her cloak around her and turned around toward the workshop.

She had work to do.

—

Jaune and Ren looked at the house, a bit bemused.

“So, this is Torchwick’s hideout.” Jaune said, his hand fidgeting on the pommel of his sword.

He expected a lot more to be honest. Either a sewer full of traps, or a dirty warehouse full of goons. Instead, it was an old, empty, normal house with an open window on the first floor, the kind of house Jaune saw all the time in Ansel.

Somehow, that freaked him out even more. Shouldn’t bad guys be more overt? Like, couldn’t he have a huge manor with suited up bodyguards at the entrance or something?

He looked at Ren, who seemed as relaxed as ever, except for a little twitch of his hand. Go figure, even he was nervous, and he could stare down Grimms taller than this house!

“…So.”

“So.”

They looked at each other, a bit lost.

“How do we do this?”

Ren frowned. “I do not know. I know Pyrrha said this is the right house, but…” He waved toward the perfectly normal, perfectly mundane, absolutely terrifying house.

…Yep.

Jaune sighed. “I guess we’ll just ring the bell and see if there’s anyone inside.” Hey, with a bit of luck, it was in fact the wrong house, they’ll apologize and go on their way!

As he walked toward the door, he quickly thought of an excuse - they’d pretend they’re looking for the house of a friend, then whoops they have the wrong house, haha sorry about that - and that would be it. The conversation was ready in his head, the excuse perfect. With a decisive gesture, he rang the bell.

Nothing happened.

Ren shifted his stance and Jaune wiped some sweat from his brow, then tried again.

Nothing.

“…Well, at least the house is empty!”

Ren tried the handle, to no avail. The door was locked.

“It seems we do not have much choice.”

Jaune’s shoulders dropped. “The window?”

“The window.”

—

It had been awkward, waiting for the street to be empty before jumping through an open window, but they made it work! Well, Ren made it work, then he helped Jaune who most certainly didn’t. In fact, without his aura, he would have a bruise on his chin where he hit the windowsill. But he was a Hunstman now! A little wall was nothing to him!

He rubbed his chin and winced. “I think I broke something.”

Ren rolled his eyes. “You are fine.”

They looked around. They were in a sparse kitchen that hadn’t seen use in some time - there was dust everywhere. The only indication they were in the right house and not just a random abandoned one was a glass in the sink. Without really thinking, Jaune put it in the empty dishwasher.

Apart from that, nothing. No food or plates on the counters, no bottles. Ren opened the fridge, and from what Jaune could see from above his shoulder, there wasn’t any fresh food in there.

“The food here won’t spoil for a while.”

Ren nodded. “Indeed.” Eggs, butter, hard cheese, cured meats, an unopened bottle of wine… They could come back here in weeks, and nothing would spoil.

Jaune turned around and opened the cupboards. In there was what you’d expect - a sack of potatoes, some onions, a lot of canned food - whole meals or simply fruits and vegetables - the work. None of it would spoil, even if the potatoes had begun to sprout.

He turned around, unsure. “I know this is what Pyrrha said, but this really just seems like a random house.”

Ren nodded. “I suppose any kitchen would look the same, no matter who uses it.”

“…Yeah. Probably.”

He looked at the broken door wearily. Really, this whole house creeped him out. It’s like someone was watching him from the shadows. Without thinking, he put his hand on his sword.

Ren didn’t look that enthusiastic either. He was inspecting each and every cupboard with an intensity more appropriate for a forensic investigator than for what they were doing.

“Huh. I found alcohol.”

“We’re not taking it with us.”

“I know.” Ren rolled his eyes. “I am not Nora.”

Jaune took a deep breath and released it. Alright. “Okay, I’m going to check the other rooms.”

He stepped outside. He ignored the weird living room - seriously, who had a living room on the first floor?! - And opened the first closest door he came across.

It was an office. A very empty office, with empty bookshelves, an empty desk, in fact the only thing that wasn’t empty was the flowerpot - and even then, there was just dirt, no flower.

Jaune got to work, opening and closing the drawers in the desk, trying to move the shelves to find a hidden door or something, but nothing.

“Say, Jaune?”

He jumped in surprise - Ren was outside the door, inspecting the weird living room. Now that he thought about it, Ren had always been quiet, but he’d been downright silent since they left the kitchen.

“Y-Yeah?”

“…What do you think of Nora?”

Jaune sat down on the desk. Did Ren seriously just ask him that? Maybe there was some weird poison gas in there? Now that he thought about it, there was a weird smell in the room. Probably just the stall air, but could also be their doom! He jumped down from the desk and opened a window. There! No gas! No stale air!

Wait, he wanted an answer. “Well, she’s Nora.”

He could almost feel Ren judging him.

“I mean, she’s a great teammate? I don’t know what you want me to say. She’s scary sometimes, but she’s really fun to be around?”

Ren didn’t answer, and Jaune didn’t press him. They weren’t the closest, but Ren was still his friend. Getting him to open up was an exercise in patience, in knowing just when to push and prod and when to let him do the work himself.

“…This was a meeting room.”

“Huh?”

Ren passed his head through the door.

“The sofas are placed so they are the furthest from the outside, so it would be hard to attack from the outside. I believe there are some plates for food and drinks, and one could leave through the kitchen or office if needed.”

Jaune frowned and knocked on the desk. It was sturdy - maybe too sturdy. He knocked a bit harder, and it didn’t budge or creak. He grabbed it with one hand and lifted it - sure enough, it would easily fall and make a barrier toward the room’s entrance. “I guess you could retreat here if needed and use the desk as a barricade.”

Ren frowned. “I think it makes sense, yes. I do not think we will find anything else here. Shall we move on?”

Jaune nodded. “Lead the way.”

They left the office and went to what seemed to be two bedrooms. All the while, where Ren should have made observations, he was quiet, thinking. Jaune kept glancing around, almost sure to see someone emerge from the shadows to attack him. It was probably just his imagination, he told himself - it was an abandoned, empty house, of course it was creepy.

But no matter what he told himself, he felt like he wasn’t alone. He still flared his aura, just in case.

“So!” He said a bit too loud, just to break the silence. “What was that about Nora?”

“…Nothing.”

They opened the door to the first bedroom. It was sparsely furnished, with only an empty wardrobe and, weirdly enough, a cane stand. Still, they began their search.

“Can’t be nothing if you talk about her. Out with it.”

Ren sighed. “You are the second person to ask me about her this week alone.”

Jaune raised an eyebrow and the mattress. “Well, you brought it up. You can’t blame me for being curious.”

“I very much can.”

Jaune winced. “Alright, forget I asked.” Desperate to change the subject, he looked around. “I don’t think we’ll find anything here.”

Ren was inspecting the wardrobe. “Do you think the girls are having better luck than us?”

“Eh.” Jaune shrugged. “I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes, that’s for sure. A lot of guys think it would be great, but it’s nothing special.”

Ren nodded, and Jaune knew he had a kindred spirit - someone who had lived with the opposite sex for so long the wonder was replaced with annoyance. “So we only have one real information.”

“Yep, but it’s a big one. They really won’t be able to escape with that.”

“True.” Ren straightened up and stretched. “Do you want to inspect the next room?”

No. Jaune wanted to leave. But still, he put on a smile and waved toward the door. “After you.”

Sadly, the other bedroom was a perfect copy of the first - a bed, an empty wardrobe and a cane stand. They quickly went downstairs, wincing at every creak they made. Well, he did - Ren seemed to know exactly where to put his feet to avoid making noise.

There wasn’t much on the ground floor. They quickly explored it and there was just a bathroom - some of the towels had permanent reddish stains that Jaune really hoped were tomato sauce - a dining room and a bigger living room.

“Seriously,” Jaune groaned, “who puts the kitchen and the dining room on different floors? Carrying the food must be hell!”

Ren nodded with a frown. “Indeed.”

Jaune closed the blinds and quickly began his search of the room. Even then, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. He didn’t know if it was because the room was reminding him of home, where his mom would judge him silently whenever he did something bad, but guilt was gnawing at his stomach.

“…Hey, Ren?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think we’re doing the right thing?” He waved around. “All of this. Sneaking around behind her back and stuff.”

Ren paused for a moment. “…I do not know. She is our friend, but she is also working with terrorists. Mass murderers.” He sighed. “I wish it would not come to this, but I believe we need to.” He went to Jaune and put a hand on his shoulder. “I think you made the right decision.”

Jaune looked down. “…Right.”

Ren squeezed his shoulder with a small smile. “Besides, if she really gets mad at us, we’ll bear it all together.”

“And for once, she’ll have a good reason to.”

“That too.”

They went their separate ways again. After a while, Ren spoke up. “You know, she told me something strange when we talked.”

“Really? What kind of strange?”

“She told me you should be hating her.”

Jaune paused. “That doesn’t make sense.”

Ren nodded. “I think the same.”

Ruby was just so strange. Too strange for them to understand.

It wasn’t that they didn’t trust her, really, but she was seeing a therapist for crying out loud! She wasn’t fully in control, so they had to help her, especially if she was somehow feeling guilty about something!

…That sounded fake, even to him.

He sighed. “Let’s just get this over with.”

Ren silently nodded.

Chapter Text

Yang quite liked washing the dishes, even if she’d never really admit it to her dad. There was something about the methodical, quiet moment that always put her at peace.

It was always the same - you begin with a pile of dirty dishes, a pile of problems, and you scrub them. You destroy every bit of the problem until all you have left is the shiny proof of your accomplishment - rinse, and repeat. Sure, it took some time - she had started more than half an hour ago, - but it was soothing.

“…You’re sure you don’t want any help?” Blake was sitting on the counter, and Yang had to admit to herself, a part of her was super weirded out. She had friends, sure, but that was when she was a kid. After a few months out of home, seeing Blake and Weiss just stay in her home felt…

Weird.

Not bad. Just weird.

She laughed the question off. “Nah, don’t worry. I can handle it.”

Blake tilted her head, her hand letting go of the counter, then grabbing it again. “…If you’re sure…”

Yang nodded. “Yeah, it’s cool. I’m kind of used to it anyway, and besides, dad said it was a punishment. If you help me, he might make me do something else.” She growled. “Like the windows.”

Blake’s expression became somber. “Speaking of, did you-“

She was interrupted by the sound of steps coming from upstairs. A moment later, Weiss came in, her face carefully neutral, her hands tightened into fists.

Yang waved at her from the sink. “Hey Ice Queen. Everything good?”

Weiss walked past her without a word. A few seconds later, they heard the front door open and close.

Yang rinsed a plate and put it on the drying rack with a frown. “That was weird.”

Blake nodded, troubled. “She looked sad.”

“Nah, she looks angry.” Yang frowned. What kind of phone call did she make to get a reaction like that? If Weiss had a problem, she wouldn’t shut up about it. She would yell, stomp her foot and demand it to be resolved, not whatever that was. She felt a pang of anxiety run down her neck. Something was definitely wrong here.

Before Blake could answer, they heard heavy steps - too heavy to be anyone in the house - coming from the garage. In the blink of an eye, Blake jumped down from the counter and crouched behind the kitchen island. Without missing a beat, Yang grabbed two knives from the knife block and tossed one to Blake. The other she put in the sink and pretended to wash the glasses, her hand always nearby.

She was the bait, Blake was the trap, and if she had to, she could help. It was something Blake insisted they train for at some point, along with the finer point of surviving in the wild, how to check if they were followed, all kinds of stuff.

The steps came closer and closer. Whoever made them took great care to try and be quiet, but they were way too heavy for the wooden house. They also had to sneak past her dad and Ruby. Her grip on the knife tightened. If anything happened to them…

Closer, closer… Yang did her best to appear unaware, whistling a jolly tune and washing away.

The steps stopped near the kitchen. Yang’s hand tensed on the knife. Blake moved in a crouching position, reading to jump on whatever came out of the door.

“Hey, Yang,” whispered Taiyang as he entered the kitchen, his steps creaking on the wooden floor. “Is Weiss done with her call?”

Yang turned her head so fast her hairs slapped her in the face. She spit them out. “Dad?!”

“Shh!” He moved his head toward what he was carrying, and it was…

It was absolutely adorable.

“Aww…” Yang almost melted here and there. Ruby was tucked away in her father’s arm, soundly sleeping. She looked peaceful, the permanent tiredness in her eyes finally absent. Just seeing her like that made Yang want to hug her and never let go.

Wait. Her eyes went to Blake, who was hiding her head between her arms. Did they just almost attack her dad with a knife? She felt the tip of her ears heat up. Huh. Imagine that.

She cleared her throat, trying to divert attention. If he saw Blake like this, she’d never hear the end of it.

‘Hey girls, remember that time Yang almost jumped me with a knife?’

She wanted to bury herself in a small hole and never get out just thinking about it. She cleared throat, doing her best to keep her voice even. “Erm, yeah, she’s out now.”

Taiyang nodded and thankfully didn’t take a single step into the kitchen. “Okay. I’m going to tuck her in, then-“ He yawned. “I’m going to take a nap. See you girls later.”

He left, his all-too-heavy footsteps being the only sound they heard for a while.

Yang glanced down at Blake.

Blake glanced down at her knife.

Yang glanced at her own knife.

After a second, Blake straightened from her crouched position, her expression unreadable.

Yang tried to break the tension. “Well… that was a perfectly reasonable reaction to dad walking in while I wash the dishes.”

“Of course!” Said Blake quickly.

“I mean, which family doesn’t have a little knife fight after a good meal?”

Blake nodded. “Exactly! It’s a... a huntsman tradition!” She was looking everywhere but at Yang.

“Exactly!” Yang paused. “What was the proverb again? ‘First to throw the knife gets the just dessert?’” Her mouth twitched.

Wordlessly, her face emotionless, Blake raised her arm and threw the knife in the sink.

It made a little 'splosh’.

That did it. Yang burst out laughing, the tension flooding out of her. She gripped the counter to steady herself as the absurdity of the situation hit her full force. “Holy shit!” She wheezed. “I almost stabbed my dad!”

Blake put her face in her hands. “Don’t remind me!”

Yang chuckled, wiping her eyes with her drenched hands, thus doing nothing to help the situation. “I mean, we were just doing our sacred duty of protecting the dishes!”

Blake made a high-pitched whine. “Why did we do this!”

“I don’t know!”

Suddenly, they heard a knocking sound from above. Yang winced. “Sorry dad!”

After that, they washed the dishes in silence - well, Yang washed. Despite her insistence, Blake took a rag and dried them before putting them away.

As always, they made a good team.

Yang looked at the window and frowned, worry churning in her gut.

“Everything okay?”

Yang’s hand tightened on a plate, just for a moment, before she let it go with a shrug. “When was the last time something was even remotely okay us?”

Blake smiled. “Alright. From ‘I didn’t study and Oobleck just asked me a question’ to ‘we’re the only ones who can stop Roman Torchwick’, how are you?”

Yang giggled. “Wait, Torchwick’s at the top of your list?”

Blake raised an eyebrow. “I mean, it’s not at the top of yours?”

“Hell no!” Yang added dish soap on her sponge. “Torchwick’s a bastard, but he’s fun!”

“So, what’s at the top? Outside of…” Blake waved around.

“Yeah yeah. I think it’s, hm….” Yang frowned. “I guess it’s ‘You have to put together a student party with the ice queen.’”

“Oh.” Blake winced.

Working with Weiss was both a blessing and a curse, both because she had high standards. For the project, herself and the people she worked with. She was also remarkably headstrong. You could change her mind, sure, but you better be prepared to argue every point to death.

It had been fun, but exhausting.

“Speaking of, she looked off, didn’t she?”

Blake nodded. “I agree.”

Weiss was many things, but not quiet.

Blake put away the cutlery - including the knives they almost used on her dad - in silence.

After a moment, she spoke again. “You sure you can handle all of this alone?”

Yang raised an eyebrow. “I mean, we’re almost done, so yeah.”

“Okay.” Blake put away the rag. “I’ll go check on her.”

“You sure you don’t want me to go with you?”

Blake smiled and rolled her eyes. She had a pretty smile; it made her look younger than the jaded woman she really was. More carefree. “Don’t worry, I’m sure I can handle her.”

“If you’re sure…”

Blake nodded and left without another word. Moments later, the front door opened and closed.

As soon as she was gone, Yang felt a hollow quiet settle over the room. She rinsed one of the pans, the familiar rhythm of the work soothing the thoughts in her mind, but not enough to make them go away.

Since when was everything so… complicated?

She smiled at herself, thought it felt hollow. All she ever had to deal with was ‘complicated’, she wouldn’t even recognize ‘simple’. She had to halfway raise Ruby when they were kids, and even once her dad managed to step in again, she was too mature for the girls of her age. Too adult. Sure, she had some friends, but they were more passing time together than forming strong bonds, and they all had problems of their own.

She scrubbed at a stubborn stain. Even once she joined Beacon, Ruby had to follow her. She loved her sister, she truly did, but that meant she had to watch over her. She had to worry over Weiss, who liked to deal with her issues by being angry at herself and burrowing them deep. She had to worry about Blake, who was both headstrong and oh so lost.

They had peace at some point, before Mountain Glenn. And in the quiet of the kitchen, she wondered if they would ever find it again.

Chapter Text

Weiss did not keep track of where she was walking. Well, striding. Stomping her feet. Tightening her fist.

One day, when she was young, she had read a paper with the headline ‘A Schnee is an angry animal.’ It was about some nonsense that happened with Winter in her training days. Her Father politely but firmly bought the journal and fired the writer the following day, to show them how much he agreed with the sentiment. 

No one hurts a Schnee, but a Schnee.

It was a rule enforced by their Father and proved by their mother a few years later. It was a rule he followed to the letter even after Winter left home and never looked back. It was a rule she herself followed when she put her little brother down again and again for daring to reach for her heights. It was a rule her brother learned and followed when he hung up on her.

She kicked a pebble as she walked. She had first taken the road to the little town of Patch, but thought otherwise and took another, longer, branching path. Fortunately for her, the way was highlighted with little signs with varying shapes and colors to show which to follow. She took a detour, but her endpoint would still be the same.

Nature had never been relaxing to Weiss. If she wanted quiet, she could always get it in her home. If she wanted to exercise, she had a private gym at her disposal. 

She learned at Beacon that nature was not quiet. Nature was peaceful. Nature was the sound of the wind going through the leaves, of water flowing on rocks, of the little steps of animals walking around. Even some Grimm could be peaceful - the image of a herd of giant, slow, majestic Grimm simply walking from one place to the next without a single aggressive movement would be forever graved in her memory.

Nature was peaceful, and she could not be. She had never really been. ‘A Schnee is an angry animal’ indeed, and she was the most Schnee of all of them. Anger was always inside her, trapped inside a cage of her own making, ready to pounce on anyone walking near. 

Whitley had been her victim of choice. Poor little Whitley who didn’t get he was at the bottom of the totem poll. She could put him down again and again, he would always try to rise and challenge her. She had thought he didn’t respect her, that he wanted her place. But now…

Now she thought she had never even tried to understand her brother. 

She grit her teeth and picked up the pace. So what? He was a little snake who cozied up with her Father, the man who took Winter from them, the man who took her Mother from them - why should she feel bad? And now that she tried to make amends, he dared to throw it back to her face?!

No one hurts a Schnee, but a Schnee.

Her hand went to the hilt of her rapier. Even now, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by no one, she couldn’t let herself feel weak. She couldn’t just be mad at the world, yell, and destroy things until they went her way, no, she had to keep control. Keep the beast caged.

She arrived at another branching path. She looked at the trees to find the signs, taking a deep breath as she did so. The wind blew around her, but she didn’t feel it, protected by her clothes and aura.

In a moment, she was back to walking, her hand drumming on her rapier.

Well, she had been hurt now. She lowered her guard, and Whitley used that to stab her. They were even. 

The beast clawed at her for even daring to hide and lick her wounds. She couldn’t accept it. She wanted to hurt him back.

As she walked, she spotted a young Beowolf walking through the woods. He was sniffing the air, his head turned toward her. Without missing a beat, she drew Myrtenaster and fired a bolt of ice toward it, impaling him against a nearby tree. She rushed, sword poised, and stabbed it through the eye.

It took less than two seconds. She looked around, her knuckles white around the handle, her eyes wild, trying to find another Grimm, anything else to kill, but saw nothing.

Just the peace of the forest, unaffected by her outburst, the trees looming over her, trapping her in their shadow.

She took a deep breath to calm herself down, calm her beating heart, and sheathed Myrtenaster. Turning around, she rejoined the dirt path.

Nothing left to do but walk.

Chapter Text

The mood was sullen in the JNPR dorm, a sight as common as Nora actually cleaning the room because it’s her turn to do it rather than because she ‘accidentally’ dropped a dummy grenade full of paint inside.

It had been some time since they’d all come back from their respective missions. Jaune and Ren were anxious, looking out the window and at their scrolls every so often. Meanwhile, Pyrrha and Nora had a guilty look, even if they tried to put on a brave face for the rest of the team.

Pyrrha looked out the window, toward the setting sun. In a day or so, team RWBY would come back, and if their hunch was correct, Neo would try to contact Ruby. They would capture her, bring her to custody, convince Ruby to play along and reveal everything to the teachers, saying Ruby tricked the criminals into revealing themselves.

They had thought the dorms might have clues that might help them figure out more about the situation, but no dice. From what the boys reported, it was the same on their end; nothing. The house she had seen Roman in was desert, without any clue. He and Neo were like ghosts in a horror movie, taunting them from afar, only appearing whenever someone was vulnerable to slit their throat.

She suppressed a shiver. Maybe she wouldn’t let Ren choose the movie next time, even if it made Jaune surprisingly clingy.

So here they were, in the dorms. Normally, this kind of quiet would be broken by Nora’s chipper voice and Ren’s monotonous answer, or Jaune offering to play a board game, but no one was in the mood to break the silence.

The sun was almost insulting, shining on them in orange hues. In a day where they betrayed their friend’s trust, it should have been raining, and yet, not a cloud in the sky. If only she had the power to control storms, Pyrrha would have hidden the light with a wall of clouds. She had a bitter smile. Sadly, her semblance wasn’t so useful - all it was good for was fighting humans, in a world where monsters prowled and killed for pleasure. Wasn’t it darkly funny, in a way, that the Invincible Girl shared her prey with the monsters humanity struggled to defeat?

She’d been lost in dark thoughts for a while when a scroll rang followed by the dull sound of a scroll impacting flesh. She turned her head only to see Ren, lying down in his bed on his back, his arms held above him and his scroll sitting on his flesh, vibrating.

Nora noticed too. “Renny? You got something on your face.”

Ren picked up the scroll and avoided their eyes. “Yes. It… Surprised me.” Before they could speak any further, he picked up the call. “Hello, Weiss.”

What litle amusement Pyrrha felt at the situation vanished.

“Ren.” Weiss’ voice was clipped, carefully cold. It was a different kind of PR voice than the one Pyrrha did - she was on the friendlier side - but she could still recognize it for what it was. “I hope you have good news.”

Ren sighed. “We do not. The house was empty.”

From where she was, she could see Weiss grit her teeth through the scroll. “And the others?”

Nora got down from her creaking bed and stole the scroll from Ren. “Nope. Sorry Weiss, she didn’t hide anything.”

Weiss sighed. “So all we have is Yang’s clue.”

“Yep.”

“Damn it.”

There was a lull in the conversation.

“Are you… Alright?” asked Pyrrha. “You seem tense.”

“It’s nothing.” Weiss spat each word as if they insulted her. “I just had a good reminder of why I don’t speak to some people.”

Jaune sat up. “Woah, everything’s good with the others?”

Weiss rolled her eyes. “Yes, they’re fine, as insufferable as ever. They’re… thriving.” Her words dripped with annoyance. Even to Pyrrha, it was clear Weiss wanted nothing more than to change the subject.

However, Jaune couldn’t pick up when a girl was - or wasn’t - interested, and to her dismay, he was not about to show better social graces now. “Oh, so who did you fight with?”

“Well, can’t be the dad!” Offered Nora. “She said, ‘a reminder’ and unless she already talked to the guy, I don’t think that’s it.”

Privately, Pyrrha thought the same thing. Weiss had a sharp tongue, but she had seen her talk and negotiate with professors. If she had a good reason to, she could manipulate any social interaction to her advantage, even with people who disliked her, or the opposite.

“I can hear you, you know.”

“Hm…” Said Jaune, obvious to her annoyance. “So can’t be the dad, isn’t the team, so I’m guessing a phone call.” His expression lit up. “Oh, I get it! You called your family, right?!”

Pyrrha was about to butt in, but saw Weiss, an incredulous expression on her face. “How did you-“

Jaune waved his hand. “I got seven sisters, and you got the same exact same face they have when they fight.”

Seven sisters, and he still couldn’t get that Weiss didn’t want to talk about it.

Meanwhile, Nora joined Ren on the bed, almost knocking out his scroll from his hands. “Oh! Oh! Was it your dad? ‘Cause I heard he’s not the kind of guy to send birthday presents.”

Weiss shook her head. “No, that’s not-“

“Nah,” Jaune shook his head too. “That’s not a ‘I fought with my parents’ face. She’s angry, see?”

Nora raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t you be angry at your parents?”

“Oh, you absolutely can.” He nodded like someone who didn’t run away from his parents and faked his transcripts to get into Beacon, something none of them had been happy to learn. “But it’s more… sullen? You can’t really be mad-mad at your parents, because they can ruin your life. Nah, that’s a sibling fight.”

Weiss looked just as astonished as before, but didn’t deny it.

“I assume Jaune is correct in his assumption?” asked Ren cautiously.

“He… He is. I don’t know how, but he is.”

“I guess it’s experience?” Offered Pyrrha. “I’m an only child, so I don’t know much about this.” Besides, her relationship with her parents was as staged as anything else about her public persona.

“So Weiss!” Nora grabbed the scroll out of Ren’s hand and laid perpendicularly on top of him while Ren balled his hands into fists and carefully set them behind his head. “Wanna talk about it? Might make you feel better!”

Weiss bit her lips and avoided the scroll. “It’s nothing.”

“Then you won’t mind telling us, right?” Said Pyrrha with a small smile.

Weiss couldn’t see her through the scroll - the camera only showed Nora, even if the projection was see-through enough they all could see Weiss - but she shot her a glare nonetheless. “…”

“Come on Weiss, if you didn’t want to tell us you’d have hanged up already.” Said Jaune. Pyrrha gave him a questioning look, but he just shrugged from his bed.

“…Fine. It’s stupid, really.” She had a condescending tone, as if she was talking about a particularly dumb child. “If you remember, Ruby asked me to call my brother the other day.”

They all nodded.

“Well, I did, and he reminded me in no uncertain terms that he didn’t want anything to do with me. That’s it.”

Nora and Ren winced, while Jaune just had a relieved smile. “Oh, that’s it?”

“What.”

Jaune went a few shades paler with fear. “Erm, no, I meant, well-“

“Deep breathes, Jaune.” Pyrrha walked to his bed and rubbed his back.

“Right!” Pyrrha felt a burst of pride when he calmed down immediately at her touch, and another emotion she didn’t dare name. “Sorry, I’m not making fun of you. It’s just that one of my sisters always do this.”

Weiss rolled her eyes. “Of course she does.”

“It’s not that deep, really.” Jaune had a small smile and looked through the window. In Pyrrha’s unbiased opinion, the setting sun made him look rather good. “For example, one time I broke her scroll. I apologized, and she told me she never wanted to speak to me again. Then I asked my other sister about it-"

“Come on Jaune! The suspense is killing me over here!” Said Nora, dangling from the bed.

“Right! So basically, all I had to do was try again. And again. And help her with her homework. And do the dishes for her. As soon as I showed her I was really, really sorry, she was back to being the adorable little devil she really was.”

“…How old was that sister of yours?” Asked Ren.

“Amber? She’s like, twelve I think?” He frowned. “Actually, I think her birthday’s in a few weeks.”

“Oh! Oh! We should pick her a present!”

Weiss cut them off. “My brother is a little older than twelve, Jaune.”  She said, scorn in her voice.

“I mean-“

“And our problems are bigger than just breaking a scroll.” She looked away, lost in thoughts.

Uncaring of Weiss’ tone, Nora shrugged, which made Ren very still. “Eh, any big problem is just a bunch of small problems bunched together.”

“…I agree.” He said, his voice carefully neutral. “All it means is that you have more work to do.”

“So it’s just that easy?”  Said Weiss, her tone mocking. “Just beg and the problem goes away?”

Pyrrha frowned. “There’s a difference between apologizing because you feel sorry and begging.”

Jaune nodded. “Yeah! Besides, family’s important. You only got the one, you know?”

Weiss scoffed, but before she could answer, Nora fell from the bed with a shriek “What?! Ren, we’re screwed!”

“What are you talking about?”

The room devolved into the usual bickering while Weiss stood on the other side of the call, silent.

Her voice cut the chatter. She still looked uncertain, but at least she seemed less angry “…I see.” Then, as if the words had been painful to say, “Thanks for the advice.”

“Anytime! That’s what friends are for, right?”

They kept talking for a while after that - mostly, Jaune telling stories about his family. It was almost funny in a way, Pyrrha thought. Weiss was one of the most powerful people on Remnant, and Pyrrha herself was one of the most famous. Both Ren and Nora were fearsome fighters, who had a small reputation as freelance huntsmen, killing Grimms outside the kingdoms since they were little.

Yet, they were all hanging on Jaune’s words - a "nobody" in the grand scheme of things. He wasn’t powerful, or smart, or famous. But, in a way, his past made him richer than all of them combined.

Chapter Text

“Ruby. Hey.” Hands shook her lightly and Ruby grumbled, burying her head deeper into her pillow. “Wake up.”

She shook her head. “No…” Her voice came out muffled.

Taiyang chuckled. “C’mon, if you don’t get out of bed now you won’t sleep tonight.”

Ruby sighed and grabbed his arm. Then she pulled it toward her and hugged it.

“Aww, don’t do this to me. I feel bad enough getting you out of bed already.” Ruby held him tighter. It was her arm now, her dad could deal with it later.

With a sigh, Taiyang lifted her up, tearing her out of the warm covers and exposing her to the cold, stinging air. In response, Ruby grabbed him tighter, and he had to bring his other arm to support her.

He lifted her to eye level and raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

Ruby nodded without opening her eyes. Taiyang sighed fondly. “Fine. I’ll just bring you downstairs with me then.”

She just gripped his arm tightly. Surely he wouldn’t-

He did. Without breaking a sweat, he turned around, making her fully leave the bed, Ruby still stuck around his arm. Stubbornly, she refused to let him go and only gripped him tighter. That, and she was still half asleep and couldn’t promise she’d actually land on her feet. She winced as she felt the weak sunlight land on her eyes as they left her room, every ray a reminder that she should really fix her sleep schedule.

But hey, that one wasn’t on her! It took her a long, long time to get used to sleeping in the wild and get through a watch duty, waking up three hours before sunrise and having to sleep for one hour after, when she was awake and alert! She had to get tough, or they could die!

Well, more like Ren and Nora would have to do it by themselves - as they were used to - but still!

She gripped her dad’s arm tighter as he went down the stairs. Now, she was just used to sleeping whenever she could and waking up randomly, especially since the nightmares started.

What little energy the sun gave her vanished with it as she yawned, still half asleep. She was tired. She was safe, she could sleep, she wanted to sleep. Her mind was stuffed with cotton, every thought a battle.

They reached downstairs, where she could hear the sound of the tv, a narrator with a deep voice saying something about trees. Her dad let her fall to the ground, and she found her footing instinctively, half leaning on him.

“Come on Rubes, I need to go grocery shopping, and I can’t carry you there with me.” He chuckled. “You should get some energy back into you. Grab a snack or something.”

She nodded distractedly and half opened her eyes, looking at the empty kitchen. Yang had cleaned up, so there was no warmth to find there. She turned her gaze toward the living room.

On the armchair was Blake, reading a book. She seemed relaxed, happy even, with the fireplace giving her enough light to read even as the sun set on the horizon. Through the haze of her mind, Ruby thought she looked weirdly… content. Also, she grew her hair, which was good, Ruby always liked the look better.

Then she looked at the sofa and found Weiss sitting at the end closest to the door, prim and proper. She looked focused as she typed on her scroll, a frown on her face. Despite that, she seemed peaceful.

And finally, the light. Ruby didn’t walk so much as she slowly stumbled toward Yang, her eyes still half closed. Yang seemed absolutely into whatever nature documentary she was watching, but more importantly she was waaarm.

They all noticed her as she entered the room, all recognizing her presence in their own way. Blake’s ears twitched, Yang gave her a lazy thumb up, and Weiss nodded. Ruby barely caught all of that as she collapsed on her sister with a huff.

“Hey Rubes.” Yang ruffled her hair, and Ruby melted into her. “Dad got you out of bed?”

“Hm-hm.” Ruby tried to hug Yang, but there was something in the way, a furry, tail waggling, hand-licking something- hey! She eyed Zwei with betrayal, the corgi looking absolutely at home on her spot.

“Sorry Rubes, he was here first.” Yang pushed her away and turned her toward Blake. “How about you go bother the bookworm?”

Ruby nodded distractedly, still reeling from Zwei’s treachery, but her sleep-addled mind did not really care for her feelings and quenched them as soon as they came. Blake was near the fire. Fire was warm, and smelled good, and had a relaxing sound. She wanted Blake’s seat.

But she still had that book. There was only one thing to do.

She walked toward the armchair and fell right on the armrest - and Blake’s arms, pushing the book down.

Blake’s clothes weren’t usually the soft kind, but at the moment she wore one of Yang’s old sweatshirts - she vaguely remembered something about Blake not packing warm enough clothes for Patch’s colder climate - and it was comfy. Besides, all of Yang’s friends liked to hug her, so Ruby decided right here and there that Blake wouldn’t be an exception.

Ignoring her protests, Ruby wiggled until she was sitting in a ball on Blake’s lap.

Blake wheezed. “Ruby, you’re kind of- urgh” she grunted as Ruby repositioned herself.

“Are you calling my sister fat?” Yang’s voice rang from the sofa as she whistled and pumped her fist in the air, her eyes never leaving the television. “Go Blake.”

Hey, she wasn’t fat. Ruby threw her arms around Blake’s waist - hard to do with the sofa, but she managed - and squeezed extra hard. Half as punishment, and half because she was comfy. Yang always knew how to pick the comfiest friends.

Blake didn’t like that, her golden eyes narrowing dangerously. “Ruby, if you don’t stop right now, I’m throwing you off.” She huffed as Ruby tightened her grip. “I’m serious!” She tried to pry her off without much success. “Seriously, what’s up with her?”

“Dunno, but it’s adorable. It’s like I’m getting little Ruby all over again.” She could hear the smile in Yang’s voice, and wasn’t that the best feeling in the world? Making Yang smile. She nestled against Blake. This was nice. A nice fire nearby, something to hold, Yang near… Bliss.

Then she held nothing but air and felt strong arms hold her from behind. “Fine, if you really want to bother someone…” Her feet left the ground as she was carried somewhere. “Bother Weiss!” Ruby opened her eyes just in time to see Weiss looking right at her, her expression the epitome of surprise.

“What-“ She barely had the time to speak before she got dropped unceremoniously on Weiss, who immediately tried to push her off. “Ruby, get off me!”

Ruby didn’t really care. Warmth had left and now she was cold again, so she pushed back against Weiss and wormed her way into a hug. Weiss was weird to hug; she was so used to being the smaller one that actually being the same size as the one she hugged took some adjustments over her usual method of just throwing her arm around the tummy and holding tight. With Weiss, she had to throw her arms above her shoulders, wasn’t that strange?

Also, she had to work for it; Weiss never liked hugs in the first place, even when-

Sorry, I- I don't know what I'm saying, I'm just really tired and I really, really hate this place.

When absolutely nothing happened. Ever. Ruby tightened her grip and realized the others had been speaking, or rather, two others.

“Let! Go! Of! Me!” Weiss punctuated each word with a rather weak attempt to push her off. Halfhearted.

“Just let it happen Weiss.” Yang nodded. “Besides, you’re going to be next to her on the return trip tomorrow, so best you get used to it now.”

“What?!” Weiss shrieked as if they had just announced her own murder. “But- but! Can’t you sit next to her?” Her tone turned pleading. “Please don’t let her near me! She was like a, a, a leech when she was with you!”

Hey! Ruby tightened her grip, making Weiss grunt. In her attempt to shove her off, her arms had managed to somewhat hug her back. Imagine that. “M’not a leech.” She mumbled. “You’re just warm.”

“I’m not!” Weiss tried to pry her arm off her. “Seriously, what is wrong with you?!”

What? She was just making the most of her time befo

We're never going to sleep again, I just know it.

Ruby shook her head. She was enjoying the moment with Yang’s friends, that was all. If Weiss really didn’t like it, she could put some strength into it and push her off. In the meantime, she was going to use her shoulder as a pillow and that was that.

Some time passed, time that Ruby didn’t really keep track off - she was too busy half sleeping on Weiss’ shoulder. What she did keep track of was Weiss’ hands leaving her back for a second before returning, ice cold cold cold cold-

She jumped off the couch - and Weiss - and landed on the ground, fully awake. “Hey! What was that for?!”

Weiss smirked, her tone light and her hand covered in ice. “Well, since you wouldn’t let me go, I just had to find a way to wake you up.” She thawed some of the ice and threw it at her. “Am I still, how did you put it, ‘comfy’?”

Was she? Her eyes narrowed, and in a flash she ran to the kitchen and opened the freezer. She took some ice from the ice cube tray in her hand, put it back - her Dad was very peculiar about where they kept the ice, as the way it moved was one of the few ways to know if Uncle Qrow was back from a mission - closed the freezer and ran back to the living room, ready to pelt Weiss with- her feet got caught in something and she fell down, barely managing to catch herself with her hands, dull pain going up her arms. She raised her head to see Blake look at her from above, her face neutral. “Didn’t you father say to not fight in the house?”

“But-“ Before Ruby could finish her sentence, Blake nudged her with her foot.

“I don’t care who started it. This is just-“ And before Blake could finish her sentence, strong arms gripped her from behind.

“Who dares attack my sister? Have at you!” Yang lifted Blake and threw her behind her. The last thing Ruby saw of Blake were her panicked eyes and a “Yang no wait-“ before she crashed into the sofa ass up.

Right on Weiss.

“Alright…” The heiress fumed. “This means war!”

——

Taiyang came home to a disaster. Pillows were laid about everywhere he could see, damp with water. A tornado had struck the living room, the sofas and the armchair were thrown out of place and the rug had moved through half of the room before ending stuck, half pushed into the hallway’s door.

He looked at the kitchen and saw that it was, at least, intact, until he looked down and noticed even more water on the ground.

The only, and he meant only thing that kept him from yelling at his daughters to come downstairs and explain themselves this instant, was the sound of the vacuum cleaner upstairs, and the telltale shuffling of people going about, closing drawers and putting away whatever had been thrown on the ground before. Basically, cleaning up their mess.

He shook his head with a fond smile. If they were any smarter, they’d have started with the ground floor, so he would be none the wiser, but he let it slide. He didn’t have much time before they left for Beacon, so best make the most of it instead of berating them for having fun.

With a shrug, he set the bag down and went to get the mop. Best get started now, so he could cook something in time for dinner.

Chapter Text

“What do you mean you can't get the rats out?!”

“I mean I can't get the rats out! They’re not the usual suspects!”

Roman groaned and slapped his hand against his face, his fingers dragging downward as if trying to scrape away the frustration.

“Then just hire some huntsmen with the money I gave you and deal with it.” The burdens of a gifted mind, these simpletons couldn’t understand logic if it hit them in the face.

“I! Can’t! There’s not a single competent huntsman left to take care of these things! Most of Shade left for the Vytal Festival and all the others are busy killing Grimms! This isn’t Vale, we have to-“

“Shut up.” Roman cut him off, his tone cold. This had gone long enough.

The man wisely did not say a word.

“Since you can’t even take care of some squatters, then I’ll do it myself.” It had been some time since he kicked a punk’s ass. Ah, but then again Red might not like it.

Then again, if she followed him, she wouldn’t have anywhere else to go, and Neo could distract her, so… Yes. Yes! He’d just see it as free entertainment instead of the nuisance it really was. Maybe even an opportunity to show Vacuo’s criminals who’s boss. He let his smile return to his face. It was a setback, but a minor one. The major would burn half of Vale just for a chance to hit him in the crossfire the moment Red’s little friends revealed he was out of jail to the world at large.

He couldn’t wait to run away from that soon-to-be-blasted city.

“I’ll, however, expect you to fix whatever these idiots have broken.”

The man sighed, relieved. “Sure thing boss.”

“Good.”

Roman didn’t bother with a goodbye and hung up. World of idiots.

The plane was good to go, the destination was set, everyone important bribed, they just needed to see if they would take one more passenger.

Life was good.

——

Life was definitely not good for Ruby as she looked back at her home, shivering from the cold, her backpack full and Crescent Rose back in her locker.

Yang slapped her back. “C’mon chin up! We’ll be back before long!”

“I know…” she muttered while lowering her head. Taiyang was a few hours away from Vale by plane, much easier than the weeks it would take by foot. Plus, he was more than happy to pay for their ticket whenever, so it was fine! It just… Reminded her of bad times.

You told me once that bad things just happen. You were angry when you said it, and I didn't want to listen. But you were right. Bad things do happen, all the time, every day.

The door opened and Taiyang stepped out, holding Zwei on a leash. “Alright, we’re good to go!” He paused when he looked at Ruby. “Something wrong?”

She plastered a smile on her face. “Nah, don’t worry, I’m fine!” She went to her knees and pet Zwei. “I’m just gonna miss the little guy.”

“No love for your father.” Taiyang sniffed. “I get it. But it hurts.”

Yang jumped on his back and patted his head. “Aww, my poor little dad! Don't worry, I wuv you!” He shook her off and she fell straight on her ass. She sniffed in disdain and looked to the side. “Well, not anymore.”

“I don’t want to interrupt, but we’re going to miss our flight.” Weiss looked agitated. “We should really-“

“We still have a…” Blake took off her scroll, struggling to do so through her oversized mittens, courtesy of Yang. If that was how she was in late fall, Ruby wondered how she’d survive a full winter on Patch. “Damn it!” She said under her breath, then finally managed to turn it on. “A solid hour and a half. We’re fine.”

“Then we should have been there an hour and a half ago!”

Taiyang chuckled. Lucky for him, he hadn’t been there for the ten last repetitions of this exact conversation. “Weiss, that’s for inter-kingdom flights. For this one, one hour is more than enough.”

The conversation continued as they began to walk, Zwei soon following his master while Ruby stayed behind.

They all didn’t seem that bothered by the cold. Ruby was covered in as many layers as she could manage without looking silly, but still felt winter creep in.

She looked at the door longingly. Maybe she could just convince her dad to let her stay? He’d be worried of course, and then ask for an explanation, and then he would worry some more, and then

This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians but are in reality nothing more than men.

With a sigh, she got up, patted her pants, and walked away. She wouldn’t get involved, wouldn’t make the situation worse, but she couldn’t just run away from her friends. She loved them, for all their faults, and in this time, they’d never betray her. How could she reject that loyalty?

——

Mid-flight, Yang had done her trusty routine of falling asleep in whatever transport they were. Ruby would have loved to do that too, but Weiss had been very clear - and graphic - on what she would do to her if she even thought of using her as a pillow or teddy bear.

Blake had looked somewhat disappointed when Ruby had listened and stayed put. Hey, she wasn’t a monster! Besides, the more they approached Beacon, the more restless she felt.

Her legs bounced restlessly. Each second, she was closer and closer to Cinder. Worse, she was closer and closer to

Pyrrha! She's going after that woman at the top of the tower! She doesn't stand a chance!

She shook her head. She hadn’t missed that part of being away from her dad. Memories kept leaping in front of her eyes, her thoughts playing in a loop. It had been that way since they boarded the plane.

Just to do something, she went through the notes on her scroll. Schematics, plans, all about Crescent Rose.

Blake peeked from her book. “What are you doing?”

“Hm?” Ruby looked back. “Trying to find what I need to do to fix my baby.” She turned the scroll around. “See here?” She pointed at the mecha shift, specifically around the gun. “We managed to fix the gun and the gun and the shift for the blade, but I don’t have all the pieces I need to make it fold again.”

Blake hummed. “Huh. Can I see?”

“Sure!” Blake turned the scroll toward her fully. Ruby was somewhat curious about her opinion; she knew Blake was no slouch in weapon maintenance.

Blake studied the schematics for a minute before the scroll went dark. “Oh, shoot.” Blake turned the scroll toward her. “Can you unlock it for me?”

“Of course.” Ruby took it back and typed her password, making sure neither Blake nor Weiss could see. For as long as she had a scroll, she just followed Yang’s method of using her birthday as password. Two years working with Weiss had made her somewhat reconsider her position, to the point where she almost locked herself out of her scroll when she went back. She changed the password really quickly afterward.

While she was typing, Yang yawned and stretched. “Hi. We there yet?” She blinked a few times to chase the sleep out of her eyes and looked at the girls in front of her. “Seriously? Blake, look at that!” She grabbed Blake by the shoulders. “Kids these days! They can’t even appreciate the great outdoors, they’re always on their scrolls!”

Blake chuckled and removed Yang’s hand. “Ruby’s working, and Weiss… I don’t know.”

Ruby turned to look at Weiss. She had been typing on her scroll for a while now, her eyes narrowed. She kept making faces toward the thing, as if that would help.

She poked her on the shoulder. “Weiss? What are you doing?”

Weiss didn’t turn toward her. “I’m writing a letter.”

“Oh-ho? Answering fan mail?” Yang leaned forward. “Any good ones?”

“What- no.” She lowered her scroll with a sigh. “I have an agent for that. No, I’m writing to Whi-nter!” She caught herself quickly. “Every day. I’m trying to reconnect.”

“Aww, look at you!” Yang tried to pat her head, but Weiss batted her hand away with a snarl. “Got infected by the Xiao Long household? Full of affection? Full of lo-“ Before she could finish her sentence, Blake had put her hand on her mouth. Despite that, Yang still looked as smug as the cat who caught the canary.

Blake sighed. “Yang. No teasing, especially not in the plane.” She turned toward Weiss. “It’s good you’re doing this, Weiss. I know it’s hard.”

Weiss nodded quickly and avoided her gaze. “Right. Thanks.”

Ruby mentally rolled her eyes. Weiss had never learned how to take a compliment.

The announcer’s voice rang, and Yang collapsed on herself. “An hour left?! Give me a break…”

“It’s a good thing, no?” Ruby said, distracted by her scroll. “You have time to nap before the party.”

Yang looked crestfallen at that. “Yeah, right… The party. The party that is tonight.”

Noticing the mood shift, Weiss chimed in - she was always good at that. “Speaking of, are you going with someone?”

Blake shrugged. “I’m thinking of going as a team. You?”

Weiss nodded. “Same thing. I believe JNPR is doing the same, and the less I think about CRDL the better.”

“What about CVFY?” Yang piped up. “Coco’s cool.”

“I’m asking Pyrrha, give me a second…” A few moments later, Blake had her answer. “Yes. Apparently, the second they heard Nora was in charge, they said yes.”

Weiss tilted her head. “Isn’t all of JNPR in charge?”

Yang shrugged. “So Nora, with Ren there to keep her in line.” There was a silence. “What?! It’s true! Jaune has all the spine of a jellyfish and Pyrrha's allergic to conflict.” Her eyes drifted toward Ruby, who scoffed.

Pyrrha was not allergic to conflict, she just didn’t want to win them.

“Speaking of people, Ruby, did you have someone in mind?” Weiss asked, focused on her scroll.

Wait. Was that a trap question? She looked at Yang, who raised an eyebrow. “Well…” She said hesitantly, “Yang said we’re going as a team, right?”

“So, nobody from another school will show up?” Weiss still looked calm, but Ruby felt like she was missing something from that conversation.

“…No?” Didn’t she hear the whole conversation from before? “I mean, unless someone’s plus one is from another school, I don’t think so?” Wait. Following the trend, there was actually someone who might show up just to mess with her. “…I think.” She amended lamely.

Weiss’ composure didn’t change. She didn’t look happy or relieved or tense, she just stayed exactly the same.

…What?

Chapter Text

Before coming to Beacon, Ruby knew of three types of party.

The first kind were the college parties in movies. Teens hanging out in pools, drinking alcohol, fucking in bathrooms and puking in flowerpots. The type that could only happen in a rich friend’s house and that would always end up with the house half destroyed and either someone pregnant, dead, or killed by their parents when they went home.

They looked almost nightmarish, to be honest. Too many people crammed together, the music too loud to speak, nobody really knowing each other... Besides, if the protagonist was a nerdy kid, they always ended up making fools of themselves - or pregnant, that was a theme - and Ruby always felt the secondhand embarrassment through the screen.

The second kind was another from movies. The gala, with classical music, rich people in gorgeous clothes dancing together, eating food that was either delicious or bland and in way too small portions, the work. There was almost always a suave gentleman and a wild guy going about while the teenage protagonist wondered which one to choose - or how to crash the party. It looked dull and stressful, having to keep up etiquette all the time.

Then there were Yang’s parties. Well, the parties Yang did at home. She’d bring a few friends, they would watch TV, play board games, and eat food. Sometimes they would make pizzas together, sometimes they would do something else, but it always looked… Fun. Ruby even joined in once or twice, but she usually tried to be out of the way. She didn’t want to bother her sister.

Beacon’s parties were all three.

Looking at the auditorium converted into a party room, a lot of the students were dressed all classy-like. They wore suits, long dresses, or both for the ones who lost a bet. They walked around with wine glasses filled with what Ruby really hoped was only grape juice and not full-on wine, else Goodwitch would kill them all. The speaker played classical music, so a few students even danced together, hands in hands, goofing off or looking deep into each other’s eyes.

But at the same time, the long tables were filled with chips, soda, bowls of punch, - once again, Ruby really, really hoped they were nonalcoholic - and even the occasional beer people managed to sneak in. There were smoke machines ready to be used and light beams on the ceiling, all controlled from a table that seemed more suited for an airship than a student party. People were in casual shorts or pants, jumped and yelled, had fun. She had a look at the playlist before the party officially started - perks of being friends with the organizers - and she knew the music could switch from classical ballroom to bass-heavy to rock in a matter of seconds.

And there she was, against the wall, a glass of juice in her hand, in her red dress. It felt… weird, to wear it again. It was comfortable, true, and it did fit her, but it was just… Weird. A reminder that the body she stole was younger than her own.

Last time she wore it, she had to fight. She looked down at herself with a frown. It didn’t seem normal to think of a piece of cloth as a bad omen, but she couldn’t help it. Maybe Cinder would attack again? Wait, no, she already had what she wanted, her plan was already in motion.

Besides, even if she did, she wouldn’t try to stop it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by someone sliding next to her.

“So, waddya think?” asked Nora in a chipper, breathless voice. Her pink dress made her look light like a ghost.

“It’s… fine.” Ruby took a sip of her glass. “There’s less people than last time.”

Nora nodded, excited. “Yeah! But it’s still weird to see so many people when it’s just Beacon, right?”

Ruby acquiesced, distracted. “Hm. The music is nice.”

“…Let’s go with that.” Well, Nora evidently wasn’t as much of a fan as she was. “So, Ruby!” She changed her tone quickly. “Waiting for someone?”

She shrugged. “Technically, team RWBY.”

“Oh? You’re going as a team, or with someone… special?” She elbowed her.

Ruby chuckled despite herself. “Yang, I guess.” Then she realized what Nora meant. “Wait- Not like that.”

“Awww, that’s cute!” As if her name had summoned her, Yang appeared from out of the crowd, her white dress shining in the night. “Hey Nora, instead of grilling my sister, how about you go dance with your Ren charming?”

Nora’s smile became a tad more artificial. “Renny’s… Talking with someone else.” Ruby looked through the crowd, but couldn’t spot him.

“Really?” Yang raised an eyebrow. “But Weiss is talking with Blake and Jaune’s with Pyrrha.” They were dancing together rather nicely, in fact. Ruby quickly averted her eyes, shame and anger mixed into a pool of acid in her chest.

“He’s talking to the big guy from Coco’s team.”

“Yatsu?” Yang nodded. “Yeah, makes sense.” She paused. “Say, are you the one who brought the beers?”

Nora looked sheepish. “Barley juice.”

“What?”

“That’s what I told Ren. That I bought barley juice.”

Yang gaped at that then laughed. “Yeah, okay, he’s going to kill you. That’s why you’re avoiding him?”

Nora’s eyes darted everywhere, looking for an escape. “Nope! Hey, speaking of I’m going to check if the music needs water be right back!” She jumped toward the crowd, never to be seen again.

Maybe Ruby was being a tad melodramatic. She just darted through people, almost killing a game of hopefully-not-beer pong by hitting their table.

“…So.” Yang nudged her with her shoulder. “Why are you hanging out all alone here?”

Ruby shrugged without saying a word. The party… It looked fun. People were playing games, laughing, it wasn’t too noisy so they could hear themselves talk, it was nice. It made her want to lower her guard like she did at the house.

But the house was safe. She could trust them all to have her back, she could trust her dad to protect her. But if she felt safe at Beacon, she lowered her guard. If her guard was low, she wasn’t safe, and if she wasn’t safe then she had to put her guard up.

She was watching every student for any hint of betrayal, any glimmer of Emerald’s illusion, any sign that someone was carrying more weapons than was allowed - which was stupid, everyone could bring their weapon, she had Crescent Rose in rifle form on her back, but still.

“Hello? Remnant to Ruby?”

She blinked. “Sorry. What did you say?”

Yang frowned. “I asked if you’re good. You look… Jumpy.”

Ruby sighed. “I don’t know.”

Yang hesitated, looked around then shrugged with a smile. “C’m’here.” Before Ruby could do anything, she was scooped in a big, tight hug. Immediately, she hugged back and buried her head in her sister’s arms. Yang rubbed her head and whispered loud enough for her to hear. “Everything’s gonna be alright, okay?”

“Mm.”

“You’re safe. Whatever happens, I’ll protect you.”

Ruby closed her eyes and breathed. Yang smelled of sweat, smoke and perfume. She smelled like her sister, like trust and safety, like the one who always got her back. No matter what.

She didn’t smell like cold leather, metal and ashes.

Ruby blinked back tears. Just for that, it was all worth it. She got her sister back. She hugged her tighter as it really, truly hit her. She got her sister back!

She didn’t cry much. She had done plenty of crying before, and she was still conscious of the crowd around her. Still, it took her a while to calm down and feel like her heart didn’t want to pour out of her eyes. Yang stayed there, uncaring of the world around her.

After a while, Ruby let go and took a step back. “Th-thanks.” She sniffed. “I needed that.”

“Anytime.” Yang had a soft smile. “You… Might need to go wash your face.”

Ruby blinked and looked at her sister, the spot the black stain where she’d been crying. “Your dress! I’m so so-“

“It’s fine!” Yang laughed it off. “You’re fine, don’t worry. I mean, it was never going to stay clean in here anyway.”

“But-“

“No buts! Go wash now.” Yang pushed her away from her. “I’m going to check if I can use these paint guns.” Yang walked away to a nearby table, the stain seemingly forgotten.

——

It took some time for Ruby to clean up, but she was fine now. Well, the make-up Weiss did to her in a rush was gone and she’d probably get an earful later, but still! She didn’t look like a wreck at least, even if she was still… brittle.

Besides, the cold water did wonders for her head.

She didn’t feel like being around people. Yang’s hug was still fresh on her mind, filling her brain to the brim. She didn’t know why this one in particular made her feel like this, she had hugged her sister a lot this past week, but still, it didn’t want to let her go. Instead of going back to the room, she took a turn and went to get some fresh air on the roof.

She climbed the stairs quietly, feeling almost more isolated than if the school was empty, the vague echoes of conversation and of more energetic music seeping through the walls. She saw a few people in the hallways, two she didn’t recognize making out and others just going about their night, before arriving at the roof.

She took a gulp of the cold, autumn air and suppressed a shiver. Compared to the warmth of the party itself, the wind was even colder than it was the morning she left her dad’s house - and she was wearing less too! But still, it did her some good. Washed away thoughts of Yang and allowed her to think. She leaned on the railing and sighed, noticing the small cloud of white vapor coming from her mouth. Almost as an afterthought, she removed Crescent Rose from her back and set her next to her, then rolled her stiff shoulders.

“Needed to cool off?”

She almost jumped at the voice and turned her head toward it in a flash. She hadn’t noticed her, too lost in her thoughts, but Pyrrha was next to her, sitting against the railing. She was shivering too, looking as good as ever in her red dress. They almost matched.

She shook her head to focus. “A bit.” She looked at the failed champion up and down. “What are you doing?”

“Me?” Pyrrha held her cup with a tired smile. “Trying some liquid courage.” She drank a bit and made a face. “It’s weird. I don’t like it, but it’s… good, in a way.”

“Are you drinking?”

“Yeah…” She chuckled. “Funny, huh? I never would have before. And I certainly wouldn’t have said it.”

Ruby didn’t answer that. Alcohol was a great temptress; it didn’t need her voice to add to her charm.

“Hey Ruby, you’re lucky, you know that?”

Ruby turned away from her and looked at the sky instead. The stars were pretty, much prettier than the fallen one next to her. “…Not that much.”

“Oh, but you are.” Pyrrha chuckled softly. “You got your sister, and Weiss, and Blake, and Jaune, even Nora. You treated them all like crap and they’re still around. You’re lucky.”

Ruby winced at that. She was, wasn’t she? She had Yang back, and Weiss, and her dad, and everyone else. Maybe calling herself unlucky was… Less than the truth.

“I wanted to try talking to Jaune tonight, but…” She sighed and lowered her head. “For once, I’m not the big talk of the party. I thought I’d love it, but now I miss it.”

Ruby looked back at her. “Can’t you talk to him anytime?” Seriously, what was wrong with her? She narrowed her eyes at the full cup Pyrrha was carrying and the two empty bottles next to her. “Wait, how much did you have?”

Pyrrha giggled. “I don’t know. Some here, some before the dance.” She leaned back, her back and head pressed against the railing. She, too, looked up at the stars. “Hey, Ruby?”

Ruby groaned. Great, Pyrrha was drunk. Then again, for once she didn’t have her mask of forced kindness. She didn’t look like the Invincible Girl, she looked like… Pyrrha. Her friend. “What?”

“Why d’you hate me? Wait, I shouldn’t say that.” She lifted her cup and looked at it. “Alcohol’s broken.”

Not really trying to decipher that sentence, Ruby answered. “I told you, didn’t I?”

It was easy, really. Ruby hated Pyrrha because an arrow was sticking out of her chest and she was reduced to ashes, because Jaune was crying alone in the night looking at the video of a girl who left him behind after sealing his heart in a coffin, because Cinder was still alive and kicking.

Because the Invincible Girl bought her own legend until she couldn’t keep up.

Ruby rubbed her eyes, thankful for the lack of makeup. “You never take anything seriously. Even this.”

Pyrrha turned her head toward her. “Really? It’s not because I’m better than you?”

“Yang is better than me,” Ruby scoffed. Or at least, she was. Would be. “I don’t mind if you’re the best, but you think you’re perfect. One day you won’t be, and people will die.”

“I… don’t think that.” Pyrrha looked down, her eyes empty.

“Then why are you here instead of down there?” Ruby pointed at the ground. “We’re fighting Grimm, criminals and terrorists. You don’t have the time to just… Hang out on a rooftop, drunk.”

Just like she didn’t have the time to stay and wallow in bed. Just like she didn’t have the time to not hug Yang before her sister lost an arm. Just like she didn’t have the time to waste trying to stop the inevitable and instead enjoy her life as much as she could.

Pyrrha sighed. “But we’re young, right? Isn’t that when our lives are… adventures? Her voice took on a dreamlike, airy tone. “When we fall in love, make mistakes…” She chuckled. “Prank each other?”

She shrugged. “Dunno. I spent mine building weapons and training to be like-“ Her mother, her father, her uncle. “Yang.” Then she spent her life trying to stop an immortal monster from destroying the world and failed.

Huh. Maybe it was still Yang’s hug, or maybe she was used to it, but she didn’t feel much at that thought. Just empty. Resigned.

She didn’t want to feel sad, not really. She didn’t want to wallow in self-pity. In a flash, she took Pyrrha’s cup from her hands. “Alright, ‘champ’, I’m cutting you off.”

Pyrrha didn’t seem to mind or react all that much. Ruby rolled her eyes. “You can stand, right?”

Pyrrha blinked and got on her feet. She didn’t look like she had troubles walking or standing upright, so she was probably more lost in thoughts than anything. Ruby pushed the taller girl from behind, her hands on her shoulder. “Come on. You’re going to go down there and do whatever icky stuff you want to do with Jaune.”

“What-“

“Come on!” Ruby pushed her through the staircase’s door. “It’s not a Grimm, it’s No-Landing-Strategy-Jaune! Vomit Boy! It’s not an old huntsman who spent years alone in the wilderness!”

Pyrrha pushed back half-heartedly. “But what if-“

“Then he won’t notice! It’s Jaune, not Ren!”

Pyrrha finally stopped for good, forcing Ruby to a halt. She tried to push for a few fruitless seconds, then stopped. “What now?”

“I just…” Pyrrha hesitated. “Thank you, Ruby.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t thank me until you’re down there. Now go-“ She pushed, but Pyrrha still wouldn’t budge.

She shook her head, her red hairs swaying behind her. “Not for that. Thank you for…” She chuckled. “Being angry, I think.”

“What?” Wait, was she really drunk?

“I’m used to other people hating me from afar.” Pyrrha turned around and took Ruby’s hand in her own. “They don’t know me; they know what I do. It’s… refreshing, to have someone be angry at me because of me.”

Ruby stopped, her brain trying and failing to process this. “You like that I’m angry at you?”

“No, no!” Pyrrha laughed. “It’s not that. I’d much prefer if you didn’t murder me with your eyes.” She squeezed her hand. “It’s just… Thank you for being honest. For caring.”

Ruby opened her mouth and closed it, trying and failing to come up with something to say. Pyrrha didn’t take the silence well and blushed, then turned around awkwardly. “Well, I’m going to see Jaune now. See you.”

She had been gone for a minute before Ruby could muster a reply.

——

She didn’t care. She didn’t care. She didn’t care.

She paced on the rooftop, ignoring the cold. She didn’t care about Pyrrha. She would die, it was inevitable. Ozpin would ask her to become the maiden, she didn’t care. She hated her for causing all of this, she didn’t-

Jaune... I... I... I want you to know that I am happy to be a part of your life. I'll always be here for you, Jaune.

No! She refused! Pyrrha would die and there was nothing she could do to avoid it, it was pointless, it was-

You know, someone very smart once told me that the world isn’t a fairy tale, but that we’re here to make it better.

And she! Couldn’t! Do it!

She sat down hard against the railing and looked at the stars. Out there in the cold, if she closed her eyes, it almost felt like she was back in Atlas.

“What would you do, Jaune?” She whispered to the night. It didn’t answer, of course. Jaune Arc had died the moment he fell in the Ever After, just like Ruby Rose died when she came back from it.

But still, what would he do?

Run and live! That is an idea I can get behind!

She chuckled at the memory. Yes, maybe he would make them run away. Or consider the idea, maybe. They had been so young and stupid at initiation…

Ruby. We lost... We lost Pyrrha. You lost her, too. And Penny, and your team, and in a way... your sister. But you're still here, despite everything you've lost, everything you could still lose, you chose to come out here, because you felt like you could make a difference. You didn't drag us along, you gave us the courage to follow you.

She gritted her teeth at the memory and stabbed the nascent hope. She led them to death. She had learned from her mistakes. She learned that there was a difference between blind optimism and the dark, cold reality.

Thinking back, it was this that set them apart until Ironwood went mad. He knew the difference between a sacrifice, a calculated loss and defeat. Ruby didn’t. For her, they were all the same, synonyms for failure. And fail, she did.

Didn’t she owe it to the dead to not repeat the mistakes that made them? She thought back to Yang, who looked at her dispassionately as she drank the tea. Thought back of Blake, who looked broken since she killed Adam. Thought of Jaune, alone and mad, his face breaking down as he watched his friends drown.

Didn’t she owe it to them to hate herself, now that they couldn’t?

But doing nothing, wasn’t it betraying them too? Wasn’t the Yang of today more important than the Yang of a future that never really came to be? How would she feel if-

How would she feel.

She opened her eyes and looked at the stars.

If Yang had died and went back, would she want her to hate herself…? A small part of her whispered yes. She would want her to feel bad, to regret it, to grieve the sister she lost, if only to prove that she cared. If only to prove that Ruby wasn’t all alone since birth, with a mother that abandoned her and a father who didn’t love her enough to get out of bed.

But… Just a bit. She wouldn’t want Yang to spend her second chance wallowing in misery. She loved her. Especially this one.

She could almost picture it; all her friends hanging around as the party kept going below. Yang with her metal hand clasped over the railing, her other arm around Blake’s shoulders. Weiss giving her a mug of coffee while Ren, Jaune and Nora had a lively conversation to the side.

Yang, turning toward her, sad at seeing what she once was, shame painted in her eyes as she realized what she had done, the love and trust she broke. Well, maybe not; maybe she looked sad at seeing the sister she loved down on herself.

She’d walk away from Blake and give her a hand to raise her on her feet, then a pat on the shoulder. She’d say, “Let us go, Ruby. We love you.”

Weiss would take her hand and squeeze it in silent agreement, while Blake would do the same with warmth in her eyes. Nora would jump to her and crush her between her scarred arms. Ren would roll his eyes fondly and nod while Jaune would give her a cheeky thumbs up.

Even the Rusted Knight would be there, giving her back Crescent Rose with steel in his eyes. “I didn’t give up in decades, because I knew you wouldn’t.”

It wasn’t just Jaune either. Penny gave her a salute and a smile, and Oscar would rub his head and not bashfully. Ozpin would cheer with his mug and Ironwood would nod curtly, believing in her. Qrow, next to them, would roll his eyes with a smile and take a sip of his canteen.

She blinked through blurry eyes and had a small smile. Maybe. Just maybe, they were looking at her, and… They still believed.

She raised the plastic, red cup full of beer she took from Pyrrha and gave one last toast toward her fallen friends, then took a shaky sip of the beer.

It was as Pyrrha said. It tasted bad, but good.

——

Ruby stayed on the roof a bit longer. She didn’t take more of the beer, but now that her thoughts had sorted themselves out, she felt… lighter. She was still angry at her sister, furious even, but despite that… she knew they would have forgiven her for her failures. Hate or not, they were still sisters.

The emotions washed out of her slowly, in time with the beats and the cold air. At one point, she sat back down, her back to the railing. In that time, the music from below had changed to party music, the kind full of bass that leaves everyone jumping and screaming, then rock songs that they could all sing together, and now it was back to classical music. Someone had put in one of Weiss’ songs. Good tastes.

Speaking of tastes… She looked at the beer in her hand. The truth was, she kind of liked it, and it made her feel lighter than before. Maybe she could do like Pyrrha, finish it and go back down. She didn’t have enough energy to be around her team anymore, she still felt shaky at the realization that she could care. She did care.

With a crooked smile, she went to down the rest of her beer.

Then a black glove took the drink from her hands. In a blink, the girl with dark pigtails drank it, wiped her lips with the back of her hand and threw the cup to the side.

“Again, Neo?” Ruby sighed. “It’s the second one you owe me.”

Neo made a three with her hand, then shrugged and laid back against the railing next to her.

“What do you want?”

Neo looked at her with a sidelong glance, her ever-present grin sharp against the sky. She put her hand to her ear, then made a thumbs up.

“Right.” Ruby said, sarcasm thick in her voice. “Because you can’t listen to the music from down there. You absolutely have to be on the roof, with me.”

Neo nodded excitedly, then took a step forward. She turned around with a flourish, then bowed down, her hand extended forward.

“What are you doing?”

Neo waved her hand again, her smile mocking. It had always been that way, taunting her with defeat and death. When Ruby didn’t take the hint, she took her wrist in her hand and pulled with strength that was often used to throw people around before slitting their throats.

“Hey-!” Ruby stumbled but caught herself instinctively as her free hand went to shove Neo off. But Neo was already moving, spinning them around in a wide arc, her eyes gleaming.

The arc ended with Neo in front of her. Ruby eyed her scornfully. Seeing the shift in mood, Neo returned her glare in kind, her taunting smile barely hiding her snarl.

Fine, if she wanted to play it that way…

With a scowl, Ruby put her hand on her shoulder, and Neo put hers on her side. Both of their grips were too tight, aura flaring with each second, the red waring with the pink. Ruby tensed her muscles, feeling the burn of adrenaline, the pumping of her blood and heartbeat. The friends who betrayed her were all cheering along, screaming death to the monster, death to the killer.

Death to themselves, thought Ruby. Death to the ones who gave up on her, who betrayed her, who used her. They took a step - a simple one, one she learned with Weiss. Death to the monsters who turned their back on her.

A step. Death to Yang, who went behind her back.

A step. Death to Blake, who followed her.

A step. Death to Jaune, who held her responsible.

They danced, Ruby’s heels clacking against the rooftop, the cold wind blowing through their hair, their fingers digging into the others until their nails drew blood.

Neo threw her and jumped to follow her, both of them landing on the rail guard, barely keeping their footing. Death to Ruby Rose, killer of Roman Torchwick.

Ruby grabbed her and pushed her in a burst of her semblance, using her superior speed to make her slip and fall. Death to Roman Torchwick, the criminal without a heart.

Neo gripped the railing with one hand and threw herself back up, her move smoothly changing into a kick to the side of Ruby’s head, throwing her back to the rooftop. She only had the time to use her semblance to regain her footing, and by the time she did, they were back in front of each other. They breathed heavily, blood pumping in their veins, their eyes wild. Then, in perfect synchronization, took position again.

A swirl. Death to Qrow, who ran to his bottle instead of helping her.

A step. Death to Ozpin, who failed to protect them.

A step and a twirl, as Weiss’ voice rose higher. Death to Ruby Rose, who did the same.

They moved in the dark, only illuminated by the broken moon. They weren’t fully dancing, but they weren’t fully fighting either. It was a more honest conversation than they ever had, their full hatred clashing against the other.

It wasn’t mere hatred for the other, even if it was part of it. Ruby hated Neo, and Neo hated her. They both played a part in stealing each other’s life.

It was the tears they couldn’t shed when a loved one died. It was the blood on their hands, blood they poured for a cause they didn’t believe in, a fight that would end in their inevitable loss.

A bend, their eyes never leaving the other. It was the screams against a world that robbed them of everything they had, again and again, until they had no air left. It was the spite against the world that sent them back as a reminder of everything they had lost and would lose again.

A step that ended in a kick that was gracefully evaded. And yet, Ruby didn’t know Neo. Not truly. They shared a past that never happened, and that was all. Yet, as they moved, she felt as if they perfectly understood the other, each step followed by the other seamlessly. That one experience was enough to give them a connection nobody else would ever have.

A step. They saw the other at their ugliest, they both tried to kill the other, they both robbed the other of everything - A step, and Neo stabbed her sister and threw her in the void. A step, and Roman died fighting her - and yet, they came out on the other side, the survivors who never wanted to survive.

Ruby realized her hands were shaking, or maybe it was Neo’s, or maybe it was both. Weiss’ voice lowered, the wind carrying the last echoes of her mournful song to them.

Her fingers were holding Neo’s shoulders like a vice, painfully so. It took her a minute to relax them. At some point, their aura had stopped recognizing the other as a threat, and she could see the marks where her nails broke skin, small pearls of red blood decorating them, the wounds already closing before her eyes.

Ruby took a trembling breath and finally, fully, relaxed her hands. Yet, she didn’t let go.

“I’m… sorry, Neo.”

Neo looked back, her face carefully neutral but her eyes misty. She was a killer. A monster.

Neo nodded mutedly, then drew letters in Ruby’s hand, her touch feather-like through the glove. Ruby didn’t catch all of it, but still understood the message.

“Me too.”

The kicker to this life’s great farce, she supposed. They held one another, too far apart for a hug, too close for their dance. The monster was she and she was the monster.

Maybe this was why the tree sent them back. To make them understand they weren’t that different, in the end. That even monsters had souls.

And yet, there was one difference, one irreconcilable truth. Ruby cooled the pain with the night’s air, before taking a step back.

“I’m sorry. I can’t come with you.” Neo growled, her hand reaching for her weapon, but Ruby grabbed her wrist. “I won’t stop you. It’s not that. It’s just…”

She had realized it at home, or maybe even before that. These weren’t the friends she hated. These weren’t the family she hated. They were still hers, still perfect. Maybe she couldn’t stop Salem, but she could at least try to save them.

Neo looked down. She seemed to understand, and for a moment, she seemed even sadder. Then, it passed, and she relaxed. Back was the usual smile and swagger, as if what they did was just an illusion.

Text began to form in the air - blurry glass letters, not real enough to make out the words just yet - then shattered as the door to the rooftop slammed open.

“They’re here!” In the blink of an eye, all her friends fanned around them, weapons drawn.

Yang pointed at them. “Hands off my sister, bitch!”

Chapter Text

Time ground to a halt.

The moment Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, and the rest of team RWBY came out from the door, she had instinctively moved in front of Neo. In a heartbeat, she also grabbed Crescent Rose, still discarded on the ground, even before she realized who it was who was pointing their gun at them.

At her.

Her mind sputtered trying to process it. What was happening? Why were they here?

“Ruby, get away from her,” said Yang through gritted teeth.

“What?”

“Get away from Neo, now!”

Her shout was loud enough Ruby feared the rest of the students partying down below might have heard it.

She shot a quick glance at Neo, who was playing the perfect role of the surprised student.

It would be easy, wouldn’t it? Just take a step forward, turn around, and arrest her. Make it so she rots in jail, far away from Roman. It would be easy. So easy.

So wrong.

Neo was a monster, Ruby knew that deep in her heart, knew it was factually correct. She killed people without a thought, almost killed Yang multiple times, she saw her at her most vulnerable and pushed her down, gave her both the motivation and weapon to kill herself. She deserved to be locked up, if not for her Ruby herself, then for the countless people she killed before all of this even started.

Except… Somewhere deep within, she couldn’t find it in herself to do it. Maybe it was the Ever After. Maybe it was the understanding they had of the other. Maybe it was because she knew Neo and Roman were planning on leaving Vale to never come back. Maybe it was because it wouldn’t be fair for Neo to be punished while she would get away scot-free.

Time slowed down. In a brief second, Ruby’s thoughts ran a mile a minute. Why. Why didn’t she want to arrest that little psychopath, that bitch who worked with Cinder to kill them all? Why couldn’t she return the favor to the one who kicked her when she was down?

It didn’t make sense. Why did she care whether Neopolitan, accomplice of Roman Torchwick, would get punished? Just because they shared a moment, because she cared?

Ruby mentally shook herself. She was ready to betray her. It would hurt, sure, but they both deserved it. So why couldn’t she?

With a startle, she realized that it wasn’t about Neo. It was Yang.

She felt like she had been back in Atlas, when they had fought. Yang had that same hard stare, and they were both on separate sides of the divide. The same cold, biting air.

Maybe just talking to her would solve the issue. Yes, that was it. Ruby would talk to Yang, she’d remember she wasn’t the same Yang who betrayed her, and everything would be fine.

She took a deep breath and turned toward her sister. All that hadn’t taken more than a second. “Yang, she’s not Neo!”

“Ruby,” interrupted Pyrrha, her face grim. At least she sobered up. “I saw her lead you to Roman.”

“When you stalked me!”

“I-“

“Guys, it’s not important!” Jaune looked at her with a disarming smile. “Listen, we’re just worried about you. We know you’re not a bad person, right? We’re just going to give her to the authorities, and it will be fine.”

“But she’s not Neo!” Ruby didn’t even know why she was arguing. Some part of her, the part that knew Yang was going behind her back before she even did it, was screaming at her. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. “Neo looked like her, true, but it’s not her!”

Weiss raised an eyebrow, her sword poised for a strike. “Then why isn’t she the one speaking?”

“She’s also mute, we were talking about that before you came up here! That’s why Neo takes her appearance, she’s just another student from-“

“Enough!”

Yang stomped her foot as a gust of heat momentarily chased the cold of the rooftop, her eyes burning crimson.

She took a deep breath, and the fire left her eyes.

“Look, Ruby. I don’t know why you think you have to defend her.”

“Because-“

“Stop!” Yang cut her off again. “I don’t really care either. Just don’t lie to us.”

That hurt. But still, Yang was angry, and when she got angry, she made mistakes. Her paranoia urged her on. Almost there. “I’m not-“

“Yes you are!” The anger returned, brighter than before. “You know Neo’s the only mute student at Beacon, Ruby! Don’t lie to us!” Weiss and Ren nodded in affirmation, their faces closed off, emotionless.

Yang was burning, chasing away the cold, and yet Ruby felt all warmth leave her body at these words, a faint ringing in her ears as she processed the words.

No. No way.

Adrenaline made her heart pump louder than before, louder than in her fight, louder than her panic attack in the forest. The world was spinning and her throat tightened as she realized-

No! Yang didn’t betray her! It was all wrong!

“What do you mean, I know?” She whispered.

The others tried to speak, but her eyes didn’t leave her sister’s. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Blake begin to move and without thinking, she raised Crescent Rose. Not toward Blake, or Yang, or Neo.

She pointed her directly at her own head.

Everybody froze, panic and disbelief fighting in her eyes. And still, Ruby only looked at Yang.

“Ruby, stop.” Yang looked scared. “Drop it.”

“Answer.” Her throat was locked tight like a vice. She could barely feel Neo trying to free herself from her hand, an illusion ready, but Ruby barely controlled her body anymore, her muscles refused to obey her.

“I-, look, it was just obvious, alright? We asked Ozpin, and he confirmed it. There’s only one mute student at Beacon, and-“ Yang kept looking to the others, asking for help.

Asking for help to lie.

“That’s not true.”

Ruby warred against her own thoughts, trying to stem the tide, to redirect it anyway she could. Maybe that was just it, and Yang-

No. She wouldn’t have said ‘you know’. She’d have said ‘We know.’

It didn’t mean anything, it was just a slip of the tongue-

Weiss and Ren nodded. They knew too.

She wasn’t so lost in thought she didn’t catch Pyrrha’s hand rising slowly as she pretended to rub her arms to chase the cold, Milo in her other hand. In a blink of Petal Burst, she lowered her aura, Crescent Rose, and shot herself in the arm.

She stifled a stream that still came out strangled as the bullet shred through her arm and barely missed Blake even as her blood and torn flesh painted her face and arms. She let her aura up again, but the damage was done. She didn’t drop it entirely, or she’d have lost an arm, but she still had a hole the size of a golf ball from where red blood drip, drip, dripped on her red dress. Neo didn’t manage to tear her hand away even as her arm absorbed the shock and bent.

Fifteen years old Ruby would have screamed, fallen to the ground and cried. Her? She just angled her gun toward her head, as a warning.

“Don’t ever try that shit again, Pyrrha,” she seethed through the pain. “Or Blake. I’m faster than you, and next time I won’t-“ A fresh tremor went up her arm and cut off her breath, strangling her. “I won’t shoot my arm.”

They looked horrified. Blake returned next to Yang, white as a sheet. Weiss almost dropped her sword. Even Nora and Ren seemed spooked.

Good. It gave her a wicked satisfaction to see them like this, scared, nauseous, in pain because of her. Just dessert.

“You lied to me, Yang. Guess we’re one for-“ She gritted her teeth as a fresh wave of pain hit her again. “One.”

“Rubes, just-“

“Shut up.” She couldn’t keep the hatred out of her voice.

So much for her loving sister.

“You know I know. There’s only one way for you to know that, it’s my scroll.” She was more thinking aloud than really asking her. She didn’t want the answer, still trying to delay it any way she could, but it was inevitable.

Maybe Yang got the info when she was passed out? They chose their password together, after all-

No. When she came back, the first thing she did was change it, the habit from her previous life shining through.

Then maybe one of them knew a hacker!

She was too careful with her scroll, too afraid that someone would steal it. She was still paranoid from Atlas, she was almost hugging it in her sleep. She’d feel it if someone took it from her.

Yes, but there was that time she passed out! They could have-

She almost heard her uncle scoff in her ears. ‘Sure, they somehow got a hacker we’ve never heard of and gave them the scroll and took it back, job done, in less than twelve hours.’

There was a much simpler solution. One moment when Yang had access to her scroll, unlocked. One moment she lowered her guard because she was safe.

It took Yang a long time, first to stop Weiss from killing her, then, once Ruby managed to divert her attention, to scroll through her music to find something she liked.

Seriously, half an hour. To find one song. Even for Yang, that was extra.

“You weren’t looking for music.” She whispered, empty. She felt a void in her stomach where warmth once was. Her blood kept going, drip, drip, drip, but her mind was clear, adrenaline numbing the pain. Her thoughts only took her a few seconds when none of them spoke, all trying to find a solution without startling her.

Funny, they didn’t need to. She was already terrified.

“Ruby-“

“You spied on me. In dad’s house.” Her voice was faint, the slightest tremor going through. She wanted to cry, but no tears showed up. “I trusted you.”

Yang didn’t deny it. She looked to the side, guilty.

A step back. Death to Yang, who betrayed her.

She looked at her friends, all of them scared, all of them here. Aware. Scheming behind her back. They spoke, but their words were drowned by the ringing in her mind, the cackling of paranoia proved right.

A burst of her semblance, taking Neo with her.

She didn’t look back as petals tainted by blood fell on the rooftop, carried by the wind.

Death to her friends, who betrayed her trust.

Death to herself, for trusting them.

Chapter Text

“Yang, wait!”

She didn’t even have the time to finish her sentence that Yang already flew off the roof, Ember Cecilia roaring behind her. Weiss turned her eyes toward Blake, expecting her to follow suit, but she was just standing there, white as a sheet, drenched in Ruby’s blood. She shook herself, regained her composure and got ready to take off before Ren grabbed her by the arms.

Weiss breathed a sigh of relief. That was taken care of.

“Let me go!” Blake was thrashing in his grip, but Ren didn’t falter.

“No.” Weiss’ voice rang through the rooftop. “We can’t catch Ruby in her semblance, even if she’s… wounded.” Weiss blocked out the memory. She didn’t have the luxury to feel fear, even if she could taste it in the back of her throat. “Yang will realize that and come back. We don’t need you running around-“

“She’s in danger!”

“I know!” Weiss shouted. “But we can’t just-“

Before the argument could go any further, the door to the rooftop slammed open and General Ironwood stepped out, each step calm and measured.

Quickly, he scanned the rooftop for any threat, stopping briefly on Blake to assess the damage, then addressed them.

“What is going on here? I heard gunshots.”

“We-“

“Ruby-“

“We were-“

“Team leaders only.” His voice cut through the cacophony like a scalpel. “But before that, I want two of you to escort your friend here to the infirmary to check her wounds.”

Blake bristled. “I’m fine. The blood isn’t mine.”

He turned fully toward her, his eyes stern but kind. “Maybe, but it doesn’t hurt to check. Besides, even blood can cause infection.”

“It doesn’t matter! I-“

“Your survival matters, whether you like it or not.” Ironwood’s tone hardened. “Helping others can only be done if you are not in danger yourself.”

After a tense second, Blake lowered her eyes, defeated.

No one said anything for a moment, then Ironwood turned his eyes toward Jaune. “Team leader, you have the responsibility of giving the orders.”

“Oh! Right!” Jaune straightened up, startled. “Ren, Nora, can you…?”

“No problem Fearless Leader!” Nora sauntered over to Blake, her smile so artificial it could have been a prosthetic. “Come on Blakey, let’s go get you checked out.”

They gently pushed Blake along until they got swallowed by the staircase, Weiss’ eyes still bored into their back.

Ironwood’s voice rang, breaking the silence. “I do not see miss Rose, so I’ll presume Arc is the senior acting officer?”

Jaune took a second to process the sentence, then his eyes widened. “Technically, yes?”

Ironwood turned a merciless glare upon him. Jaune swallowed loudly. “I mean, yes sir?”

If he noticed Jaune’s nervousness, he didn’t react. “Give me your full report.”

“Right, well…” Jaune hesitated. “As you said, Ruby isn’t here. That’s because she left.”

Ironwood waited for a follow up explanation, but Jaune stayed silent. He didn’t meet his glare, but didn’t answer either.

“…I see. So, where did the blood come from? And the gunshots?”

Jaune winced and Weiss couldn’t help but groan internally. That idiot was making them look more suspicious by the second.

She cleared her throat. “Permission to speak, General?”

He turned toward her, and the moment their eyes met, she perfectly understood why Jaune faltered. There was a silent, quiet pressure emanating from him.

“Go ahead, Miss Schnee.”

Thankfully, she was used to acting under pressure. She once performed a concert after receiving a cut finger in a box disguised as a birthday gift. She could do this.

She met his glare with one of her own, ice cold and composed.

“For the past month, our team leader, Ruby Rose, has been acting strange. When investigating said behavior, Pyrrha Nikos,” She nodded toward Pyrrha, as if she needed introduction, “followed her to an empty house. There, Ruby met with Roman Torchwick and his associate, Neopolitan.”

If the General was surprised at the news of his incompetence, he didn’t show it. Yet, it was a weak point, and Weiss would be damned if she didn’t attack those. Careful not to let much slip, she continued. “Roman evidently had some kind of hold over our teammate and blackmailed her into leaving Vale with him during the Vytal Festival. Knowing this, we investigated our friend, and learned of the way she managed to pierce through Neopolitan’s illusions. Using that same method, we used this party here as a trap to lure Neopolitan, capture her before she could harm our leader, and give her to the authorities.”

She replayed the events of the evening. Everything had gone so well, until Ruby put herself between them and her.

She had lied to them to defend the criminal, but Weiss could understand. Evidently, they had some kind of leverage, something she couldn’t afford to lose.

Then she shot herself.

“Miss Schnee?” The General urged her on, his tone soft. “What happened after?”

But Weiss didn’t know which words to use. What happened after? Nothing. Everything. Ruby shot herself and threatened to kill herself, she spat on them, she ran away with the criminal, she looked like a cornered animal, her eyes so full of hatred and fear she would put the White Fang to shame.

While she was lost in thought, Pyrrha spoke for her. “Ruby… Didn’t react well. She threatened to shoot herself if we approached, so I…” She looked down, guilt engraved on her face.

Jaune jumped to her defense. “Pyrrha tried to protect Ruby, but she’s just too fast with her semblance. She shot herself in the arm and flew with Neo before we could react!” His eyes met the general’s. “It wasn’t her fault!”

Ironwood frowned and nodded. “I believe you, and I would not hold it over anyone to fail when trying to help.” His tone was kind, but Weiss heard the death knell in his words. Maybe the general hadn’t realized it, but acceptance of failure, as if it was the only expected result, hurt more than any admonishment.

Before she could pull herself back together, he continued. “What of the last member of your teams?”

Weiss raised her head, her words automatic. “Yang is Ruby Rose’s sister. Before we could react, she went after her, but…” she hesitated. “There is no catching up Ruby. She’s simply too fast.”

She had been too fast for them when she couldn’t even hold a candle to Pyrrha. With the newfound mastery over her semblance? There was no way they could follow her. Yang would realize that and come back. She had to.

They stood there in the chill of the night as the General mulled over the information, and all of them over their failure. What could they have done differently? Confront her without her weapon? Without Neo?

“Very well.” He spoke up, and so he had their attention. “I think I understand now. You will come with me and repeat everything to professor Goodwitch. We’ll organize a search for your teammate.”

“Thank you, General.” Jaune’s shoulders slumped in relief.

“However, not a word of this to any of your schoolmates.” He looked at each of them in turn. “Roman’s status is kept secret for a reason. If the people of Vale knew he was out, they would panic.”

They all nodded, except for Pyrrha. “With all due respect, sir, how did he manage to leave in the first place? I’ve heard your vessel are fortresses.” Her tone was respectful, but her eyes had a hint of steel.

Ironwood’s face was sculpted in stone. “That is not important. The security breach was, unfortunately, out of our control and will stay as such until our treaties permit it. Any other question?”

They all shook their heads.

“Good.” His posture softened. “You all have been through stressful evening, but rest assured we will do everything in our power to return your teammate to you.”

Weiss felt a wave of relief at his words, and mercilessly killed it.

"Weiss," her father began, swirling the contents of his glass before taking a measured sip. "Words, no matter how eloquently spoken or by whom, remain just that - words. It is action that carries true weight, and today, those beasts have shown us precisely what they believe in."

——

Junior’s had known better days.

Well, it had also known worst days, but today was booring. Miltia and Melanie had spent the better part of a year training just in case Blondie came back for a rematch, but what did they have to show for it?

Routine. Bloody, fucking routine.

She sighed. They did get some interesting clients the other day, but all she had now were drunks who were way too poor to afford her, or drunks who were too drunk to hold a conversation.

That and the music quality had dropped. Junior found out how to get better, richer clients and it meant shitty music. It also meant the soundproofing in the VIP rooms was better now, which meant eavesdropping on the guests just got more difficult.

And besides that, they had to paint the walls purple of all color-

Melanie raised her head sharply. “We’ve got company at the back.”

“Oh?” Miltia perked up. Company~. Oh, how she missed company. Maybe clients for Junior? Maybe clients for them? Who knew! Exciting!

They power-walked - as running ruined their image and made them sweaty - to the back. They passed through empty hallways, less empty hallways and goons, annoying music booming through the walls all the while. At least there weren’t any drunks back there.

It didn’t take them long to arrive, and the moment they saw who it was, they regretted not taking a detour.

It was fucking Neo. Of fucking course. Miltia wanted to scream.

Neo meant “I want to pay you to kick your ass” or “I want to kick your ass and maybe pay you” or “I want to pay you, so you go kick someone’s ass”, but that one happened exactly once, and they were almost sure Roman deserved it, AND he also kicked their asses!

In short, she was fucking bad news!

She was also carrying a cutie with a good choice in color for her outfit bleeding out on the ground.

“Neo.” Melanie crossed her arms. “What do you want?”

Neo rolled her eyes and shook the girl she was carrying. It was almost comical, except she was still bleeding on the carpet.

“Neo,” Miltia drawled. “Your girl is bleeding on our carpet.”

A glass image of bandages and liens appeared in front of her. She tilted her head. “You want us to fix her?” She looked her up and down. The girl was white as a sheet and shaking like a leaf, her eyes glazed over, faint traces of tears on her cheeks. A real picture of health. “Sure, I guess.”

Melanie turned toward her and sighed, dejected. “Well, our night just got less interesting.”

“Eh.” Miltia shrugged and grabbed the girl by the other arm. “Speak for yourself. Patching people up is fun.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Her sister walked in front of her, keeping the doors open. “You’re getting blood on your dress.”

“And that’s why red is best.” The girl in her arms groaned as her bleeding arm hit the doorframe, leaving a large, red stain. “See? She agrees.”

Melanie didn’t bother with a response. “Neo, you want a VIP room?”

“Is the sky blue?”

“Shut up.”

Neo still nodded, as if there ever was a doubt.

They avoided the areas with people, because normal people didn’t get that suggestions like ‘call an ambulance!’ were the kind of things they already thought of and ruled out. Besides, they weren’t sure if Neo was in the mood to murder the witnesses. She hadn’t done it yet, but one day she might!

Okay, Melanie was just doing it because she liked to follow the rules, but Miltia was still the badass rebel her sister could never be, so fuck that.

They opened the door to a VIP room, realized it was occupied, closed the door, reopened it, realized the guy inside OD’d, put a word out for the goons to come take a look, then picked another room for Sleeping Red.

The VIP rooms were all furnished with the standard stuff to get fucked up and fuck. A queen-sized bed, a few sofas around a small table, a full minifridge, a bathroom, and the theme was, of course, purple. Because Junior knew decoration like she knew Mistralian politics.

They were about to put her on the bed when Melanie rushed to the bathroom.

“Melanie, she’s heavy, hurry up!”

“No she’s not!”

“Oh yeah? Why don’t you carry her then?”

“Because of this!”

Melanie came back holding a stack of white towels that she used to cover the bed. “See? If we put blood on the cover-“

“Junior’s going to give us hell, I know.” Miltia rolled her eyes. “Stuck up bitch.”

Ignoring the insults, Neo set down the Bleeding Jane Doe on the bed. Alright, time for fun!

Miltia danced to the bathroom and picked up the medic kit. Junior didn’t skimp on these, and besides, Miltia never went anywhere without her gloves ever since she learned infections were a thing.

She went back to the room, kit in hands. “Alright!” She looked around and found no traces of Neo. “Where’s the midget?”

“Paying downstairs.”

“Okay!” She put on her gloves while giggling.

Melanie rolled her eyes. “You’re having too much fun.”

“Oh, I’m sorry I’m the one with all the brains.”

“All the brains and none of the charm.”

Miltia ignored her. Okay, so patient was unresponsive, but conscious. She also had her aura up, and it was doing weird spiky things. No problem, she had just the thing for that!

She took out a gas mask from under the bed, hooked it up to the small bottle of definitely-not-chloroform and then hooked the girl up to it.

She didn’t even react. Huh. Knowing it would take a few minutes to make her sleep, and confident that her aura would keep her safe in case she missed the dosage, she looked at the wound.

“How bad is it?” Melanie had elected to sit on a chair and read a book.

“Pretty bad.”

“I meant ‘how long will it takes.’” Miltia didn’t look at her sister, but she heard her eyes roll.

“Dunno!”

Alright, so the stuffy manual said to clear the area. She was pretty confident the girl’s red dress didn’t have any sleeves, so that was good. The top half of the arm itself wasn’t pretty, a mess of red and pink, smeared blood that was still seeping slowly. At least the bullet had gone straight through, so no fragments to hunt down.

“Melanie, I need towels!” she proclaimed.

“You already got some.” Melanie turned a page.

“And I’m about to ruin them all! Move it!”

Melanie grumbled but went to get them, because despite her best efforts she was still cool like that.

She took a package of gauze and teared it open with her teeth - wholly unnecessary, but it was part of the fun - then applied it against the entrance and exit wounds. The girl’s aura was flaring weakly, but the chloroform was working its magic. And draining the aura, so she overshot a bit. Woops. She took the mask of her head and cut off the gas, and check – yep, the girl was sleeping like a log.

Meanwhile, Melanie came back with more towels. “Huh. That’s pretty bad.”

“Right?” Melanie raised the arm. “See that clean shot? Isn’t it nice?”

“Eh, I’d prefer a stab wound.”

“Amateur.” Melanie sniffed. “Everybody knows gunshots are the superior wounds to treat.”

Now that the girl was properly bleeding against bandages instead of on the bed, she needed to clean the arm, so she took out a water spray and spritz spritz spritz! The water mixed with the red blood and tainted the towels.

“Sounds like Neo’s gonna have to pay those back.” Militia said, hovering above her sister.

“Good luck to Junior, because I’m not hunting that bitch for money.” She muttered while cleaning.

“Yup. Say, why the hell would the midget bring us a girl to patch up?”

Miltia shrugged while cleaning. “Foreplay gone wrong?”

“That’s not foreplay.” Melanie drawled. “She looks too young for that too.”

“Neo’s not that old either. Shoot out maybe?”

“In that outfit?”

“Please, like you can talk.” Miltia scoffed.

“No, but there are like, no other wounds, right? Besides, Bad Taste here was clearly in shock.”

Miltia rolled her eyes. “Psychology isn’t real science.”

“Oh? Then why did it predict you’d want to fuck me?”

Mitlia groaned. “I didn’t know it was you!” Before her sister could react, she threw the bloodstained towel to her face. “Fresh towels! Now!”

“Urgh, fine.” Melanie went to the bathroom and got her fresh towels. “This is so stupid. You already bandaged her, right? Why are you cleaning?”

Miltia opened her mouth to answer, then closed it. Fuck. She mixed it up. She took out the gauze, cleaned the wound properly, washed the inside of it with sterile saline and put another, clean set of gauze inside and out.

Voila.

Melanie looked a bit green, but Miltia didn’t care. If her sister didn’t see the appeal of poking inside open wounds, more fun for her!

“She’s stable for now,” She declared, pulling off her gloves with a dramatic snap. “But if she wakes up screaming, that’s your problem.”

There was the sound of a parasol hitting the ground nearby that almost made her jump out of her skin.

“Right, our problem.” Why the hell did she accept a job from Neo of all people?! She turned around to look at her. “Sleeping Red is fine. She was in shock, now she’s sleeping, she won’t bleed out. I’ll just have to stitch her up tomorrow, and with aura she’ll be good as new in a few days.”

Oh, she couldn’t wait to do the sutures. She loved that! Wait, Neo didn’t seem to approve of her look. “What, you want to do it yourself?” fucking sadist.

Neo shook her head and went to sit on one of the luxurious couches, then took a drink from the minifridge, seemingly done for the night.

Miltia looked at her sister, who was too deep in her book to care. Urgh. She raised her voice. “So, Neo, guess we’ll see you tomorrow?”

Her only answer was a knife hitting the door.

“Right, thought so.” Great, she was going to have to watch miss Good Taste all night. Fucking hell.

At least it wasn’t boring.

Chapter Text

Ruby remembered the first day she cried for help.

No one came running, of course. Nobody really could. Yang was there, but she was crying too. Her father looked devastated. Uncle Qrow wasn’t there. The house was empty, except for them, and it would never be full again.

The man who came to tell them the news looked wise and old. She went to him, asked him what it meant, why her mom wouldn’t come back.

There was no answer he could give.

She went to her sister and asked her the same question. She shook her shoulders and wept, but hugged her tight. 

She blinked, and she was in front of her sister again, on the rooftop. It was hazy, indistinct. The only thing she could see was Yang, her metal arm cocked in her direction, her other scarred. Behind her, her friends, hazy silhouettes and indistinct faces.

“Do you love me?” Ruby asked. The words didn’t come out of her mouth, but from all around her. “Can I trust you?”

The Cat purred around her ankles, its purple and blue fur shimmering under the moonlight. “Oh, Ruby, don’t even bother. We both know the answer.”

The roof collapsed, and she fell.

She was in front of her mother’s grave. It was silent, except for the wind and snow. She didn’t feel cold.

“Why did you leave me?” 

There was no answer. The grave stayed quiet.

She turned around and went to her home. She was little, so small she could barely reach the doorknob. She knocked at her father’s door, desperate for something, an answer, a hug, anything to prove she wasn’t alone. 

She pounded at the door until her fists were raw, until she broke her voice crying, but he didn’t answer. 

She ran downstairs to find her uncle, but he was passed out on the couch, the stench of alcohol permeating the room like a thick weight that made her suffocate. She shook him and cried, but he didn’t get up, didn’t wake up.

When she had no tears left to shed, she went to her empty room and closed the door behind her.

She entered the Ever After, and Little was there, looking at her with his so kind eyes, and so was the Cat.

“Tell me, Ruby Rose, what do you have?”

Ruby looked down. She had Crescent Rose, a broken weapon made for killing. Then she looked around her.

She was alone.

Little climbed on her shoulders. “You still have your friends, right?”

“Oh, please, rodent. You know that’s not true.” The Cat pounced and swatted Little away, taking their place. “See, Ruby? Isn’t that better? You have me. You’ll always have me.”

Ruby shoved him away, but the Cat only laughed as it landed on the ground. “Oh, that’s hilarious! You do get it, right?” 

It got up on its feet and rose on two legs until it was taller than her. A bowler hat on its head and a cigar in his mouth, Roman grinned.

“Face it, little Red! We’re the monsters, and we’re all you’ve got.”

——

Ozpin sat at his desk, the clock ticking in the background.

In times like these, he was thankful for his centuries of experience in leadership. Weiss Schnee, Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos told them what they believed was true; that Roman Torchwick had leverage on their friend, that it was the only possible explanation. He had been alive long enough to see through their assumptions.

He did not confront them, not tonight when their temper was so high. He would talk to them in the morning, once they were rested and ready to understand the truth.

James and Glynda shared his view, thankfully, even if they did not understand it yet. All they had was instinct, tempered by mere decades. They would learn, in time.

Gynda was the first to breach the silence, acid in her voice. “It looks like your little project backfired, Ozpin.”

Her tone was harsh, accusing. Opzin took a sip from his mug. “Miss Rose is simply stumbling on her path. Meanwhile, Roman Torchwick is planning to flee Her influence as soon as he can and thus will not help Her with Her plans. I would say that the situation is going as well as it can.”

Ironwood turned his cold glare on him. “Not having her pass the slightest psychiatric evaluation was foolish. Even the best of us can act out in fear, and it seems Miss Rose was not up to the task.” Ironwood opened his scroll. “Paranoia. Panic attacks. Absolute refusal to engage with any help whatsoever. Sees her problems as something to be avoided.”

Glynda seethed. “This file is supposed to be private.”

“Not if it’s a matter of Kingdom security.” Countered Ironwood. “Miss Rose is working with a known agent of the Queen. They could be using whatever is in this file to manipulate her.” His eyes softened, and James spoke. “Believe me, I would not do this if it was not necessary.”

Glynda didn’t seem happy, but nodded. Everyone in the room knew he wasn’t the kind of person to dig up this information for his own enjoyment.

James turned his gaze on Ozpin. “Admitting a fifteen years old into Beacon was short sighted, Ozpin. Unless all of this is part of your plans?”

He shook his head sadly. “My plans for her could not have been further from this. Miss Rose was supposed to grow up into the leader she’s sure to become and become a potent Guardian afterwards.”

Ironwood opened his mouth, his disapproval clear, but Glynda cut him off. “We could argue all day about this.  The important part is how to find her and bring her back.”

Ironwood made a face, but nodded. “Agreed. However, we cannot alert the citizens of Torchwick’s unexpected freedom. We’ll have to be covert.”

Of course, they couldn’t simply put in wanted posters. Even if they did, looking for Roman had never been easy. The enigmatic Neopolitan was no better, with a semblance they could now confirm as some kind of illusion, able to disguise her appearance at will.

She could have been such a potent asset for humanity… Ozpin often lamented the loss of so many bright young men and women seduced to crime, and she was no exception.

Looking for Ruby Rose would prove no simpler, as this kind of hunt would push her even further into the arms of criminals.

“If Torchwick wants to escape, he’ll have to do it by air.” Said Ironwood. “And we will spot him.”

“Are you sure your ships are reliable?” 

“Nothing is. But if he can escape, then that would prove She has somehow infiltrated our security.” He scowled. “It’s not impossible, but at least we would know where we stand.”

James’ teams had spent days looking for any security breach in their and Amity’s systems, and while Ozpin didn’t understand much about it, the main point was that there was no breach found. It didn’t mean much - it could be that the enemy simply added something they could use later. 

Technology, like any weapon, came with flaws for Her to exploit.

“We also know Ruby is wounded,” added Glynda, barely hiding her concern. “If she shot herself with that weapon of hers, she’ll need a doctor and two to three days to fully recuperate.

Ozpin nodded. That weapon of hers was a marvel of engineering, especially for someone so young. “I will send the word to all hospitals and clinics to report a wound similar to hers.” Of course, they all knew there were countless back alley doctors in Vale, which was quite the somber term for real doctors making money on the side.

That lead was almost useless.

Their debate continued for a while - plans, counter plans, all of them shut down. They were on the back foot. All they could do was wait for her to show up, and call her father.

It wasn’t so much that they couldn’t capture her. It was one of their numerous options. However, Ruby Rose was a danger to herself first and foremost. Any hostile action, even minute, would put her life on the line.

They sat in a pondering silence. For Ozpin, the problem was not simply that Ruby Rose left - it was her choice. It wasn’t even that she left with someone working for Her, or that said agent was about to defect.

Silver eyes. Ozpin frowned. Silver eyes were a previous but scarce resource. The last warrior of their kind he knew of was Summer, and she died with only one daughter behind. Ideally, he would have wanted Ruby Rose to have a happy, long life, where she could have many children who then would try to walk in their mother’s footsteps. Then, they could reproduce themselves, and Humanity’s most potent weapon against the Grimm would be back.

All he had to do to accomplish that admittedly cold goal was to keep track of them and make sure Silver Eyes lived happy and long lives. It was an easy solution that didn’t weigh on his mind. 

Glynda’s voice shook him off his thoughts. “And her teammates? How are they taking it?”

Ironwood averted his gaze. “This is the first time they lost one of their own. It always hurts.”

“Ruby Rose isn’t dead.” Ozpin cut him off. “And there is a good chance she’ll come back. Let’s give them the day off tomorrow, so they can recuperate.”

Hopefully, they would be reunited before it was too late.

——

Blake couldn’t get the blood off.

It was so easy to do. Pick up soap. Rub a washcloth over herself. Wash it all away, repeat.

And yet, it wouldn’t come off. She still felt it as if it was on her skin, sticking to her like glue. Red blood splashed over her, the sound of a gunshot, and angry silver eyes, snarling, furious.

“You didn’t do anything.” Ruby’s voice was strained. “You never did anything, Blake.”

What was she doing here? Cleaning herself in their shower, like she’d just step out and everything would be as it was? As if she’d open that door and Ruby would be back, sulking in her bed?

If she closed her eyes, she could almost believe it. Except the blood kept sticking to her, the thicker bit of flesh splashed against her skin as the bullet whizzed past her ear, almost close enough to tear it off.

She rinsed herself in the boiling hot water once more, trying to get the feeling to leave her, but nothing worked.

She shouldn’t be here. She should be out there, looking for her, turning Vale upside down for answers. She could maybe even ask Sun for help, she was sure he’d do it. 

But then it might be the Docks again. What if she stumbled on something too big for her? Too big for even her team? Neopolitan almost killed Yang, and from what she told them, she did it effortlessly. What if there were two like her? Four? 

What if they beat them only for Ruby to shoot herself in the head?

Blake knew. She knew that feeling of being stuck, of not being able to do anything but watch a friend destroy themselves. And she knew she couldn’t do anything to stop it.

So she rubbed her skin until it bled and her Aura fixed it, the water mingling with her tears, hiding away the growls escaping through her gritted teeth, and then she did it again, over and over, until she could be clean.

——

Whitley did not receive a letter from his sister.

Routine was as important to her as it was to him. Every evening, at the exact same hour for the past week, she would send him a letter - well, an email, technically.

At first he didn’t read it. But when he received the second, then the third, curiosity got the better of him. 

They were surprisingly mundane, but not boring to read. His sister always had a sharp pen, and she had not let it dull despite prioritizing the sword. She wrote about her team, her classes, small details of her day. Things that did not matter, wastes of time.

He set aside time in his schedule for them.

So when the letter did not arrive, he was worried. Because his sister was stubborn. His sister would not relent when she had something in mind, even if that thing was reconnecting with him.

He called her. She did not answer.

Chapter Text

Glynda liked her office for multiple reasons.

First, because it was one of the few places on campus that was constantly peaceful. Few were the students foolish enough to bother her without a good reason, and fewer still were those that didn’t prefer to talk with Ozpin or any other teacher instead of her.

Second, the place itself was built to be both practical and intimidating. Where James relied on might and Opzin on mystery, she had a far more pleasing aesthetic. Pure competence. Her desk wasn’t big, nor was it overly complicated, but it was sober. The room was empty of any frivolity, any sign that she was a living, breathing human being, and she kept it that way.

But the most important, final reason was that it was entirely camera-free, except for the one that was on a close circuit under her control. Nobody knew what was going on except her.

Which is why she pulled James inside a few hours after their little talk with Ozpin.

She closed and locked the door behind her, then used her semblance to move the big shelf next to the door in front of it. Big shelves filled with books had a way of making sure even the nosiest student couldn’t eavesdrop.

“I think we both agree Ozpin is hiding something from us.”

James nodded curtly. It was one of the things she both liked and disliked about him - he never let feelings get in the way. James would have jailed his own mother if she broke the law. “I agree. Our old friend seems… obsessed with Ruby Rose’s safety.”

Neither of the two were fools. Ozpin had been fighting Her for centuries now, he was not going to reveal all his cards to them. What would happen if they were captured and interrogated for information? Anyone would eventually break under torture.

However, he wasn’t infallible, and he was aware of that fact. If he simply needed followers and yes-men, he wouldn’t have recruited James or herself. No, it was almost expected for them to go behind his back when they felt the situation was dire enough.

James began to pace around. “Whatever the reason, he feels any risk to her safety, even minute, is too much to bear. She seems aware of it too. If that weren’t the case, Rose wouldn’t be a target.”

Glynda nodded. “While I do have something on that front, there are some other information we need to discuss.”

“Which are?”

Glynda took out her scroll. “Since you pulled Miss Rose’s file, are you aware of why she had to take the psychiatric evaluation?”

James raised an eyebrow. “I assumed it was because you pestered Ozpin.”

She shook her head. “No, he didn’t listen to me. He had to change his mind because she had some sort of panic attack.”

She listed everything that happened. How Ruby Rose woke up, turned her room upside down before running in the forest in a panic to the point of exhausting her aura and tearing the muscles of her leg.

“That…” James hesitated. “It lines up with what some of our soldiers experienced. If she had her first mission in the field and took it badly, it could explain-“

“That’s not all.” She switched to her notes. “After our little talk with Ozpin, I took the time to talk to her teammates. I crossed what they told me with her records in combat class and found something interesting.”

She gave her scroll to him. James didn’t look like he followed, but he soon frowned.

“Aura capacity improved, aura instability on the rise…” He muttered. “Observed increased ingenuity with dust, attendance in class and work quality on projects dropping…” He gave her back her scroll. “She’s almost an entirely different student.”

“With the exact same semblance, yes.” Glynda nodded. “Her teammates confirmed it; one day, she suddenly woke up and became emotionally unstable around them. She still recognized them but seemed to hold some kind of grudge. When pressed, she always said they did nothing wrong.”

James tightened his hand into a fist. “I’ll assume she didn’t vanish for an extended period of time before that?”

“Of course not.”

“Then she wasn’t kidnapped or brainwashed by the enemy.” He raised his eyes to look at the ceiling. “Since she helped foil their plans at Mountain Glenn, she wasn’t working for them at that point in time.”

They both had a full report from Bartholomew after the attack. Ruby Rose didn’t simply follow her team to the breach; without her, they wouldn’t have found the trains in the first place. While it was technically possible it was all part of an elaborate scheme, the attack would have had the exact same outcome except a vastly increased number of casualties without their interference.

The situation didn’t add up.

James muttered for a while before sighing. “Of course, there is always the possibility Choice was used, but…”

“It would imply she used it in her original timeline as a fifteen-year-old girl, yes.” Glynda rubbed the bridge of her nose. “And while it could explain her increase in skill and altered mental state…” They didn’t know exactly what Choice did. Ozpin had been vague, only saying it should be used as an absolute last resort. It was the most unreliable relic, and only one person could use it exactly once. Then, it could doom them all or do nothing, no in-between.

They pieced together it was something akin to time travel, rewriting history between the birth of the user and the moment they used the relic, but without ever seeing it in person, they had nothing more to work with. If Ruby Rose had used Choice, it would mean she somehow accessed the relic when she was fifteen. Highly unlikely.

Glynda blinked and continued. “It would also explain her sudden loyalty to people she should hate, yes. However, that’s not all.”

James smiled. “Good news, I hope.”

Glynda sniffed and adjusted her glasses. “I thought you were tough enough to take anything She could throw at you, bad news included.”

He chuckled, wary. “I believe I am, yes. However, Ozpin is proving to be more than Her match in ruining my peace of mind.”

They shared a clipped smile, then Glynda cleared her throat. “Right. It appears there is something special about Miss Rose’s lineage. I don’t have all the details yet, but Ozpin has been interested in her family for at least three generations. Maybe four.”

James’s face darkened. “Of course. Something like the Schnee’s semblance?”

“It appears to be, yes. Be that as it may, this is the source of his paranoia. If she dies, her bloodline dies with her.” While Glynda herself did not relish the thought of putting a student in danger, she also knew Ruby Rose wasn’t the first suicidal promising young woman on the run. Between the Atlas Military and Vale’s specialized Huntsmen, they had a lot of options with only marginal risks. 

Ozpin thought the risk of losing her was too great for Humanity, and she believed him. Doing nothing, however, could prove the same as his worst-case scenario. One doesn’t hand a suicidal teenager a gun and hope for the best.

James took out his own scroll. “It's a good thing I was thinking of informing my best agents of the situation then. Namely, specialist Schnee and the Ace Ops.”

Glynda thought for a while, then shook her head. “Not the Schnee. It would put undue pressure on her sister.”

“Alright.” He acquiesced without a complaint. This was why he told her the information in the first place, so that she could weed out the bad ideas. “The Ace Ops are tied up in Atlas at the moment. They should be available to come look for her next week.”

Glynda wouldn’t admit it, but she relaxed at the news. She knew of the Ace Ops. They were almost uniquely suited for this kind of operation; Marrow could immobilize Ruby, while Harriet was fast enough to stop her if she used her semblance. Vine could then capture her while Elm would provide covering fire in case there was any resistance, and finally Clover and his luck would tip the scale even more in their favor.

Speaking of luck… She sighed. “Should we tell Qrow?”

“Qrow?” James crossed his arms, doubt clear in his voice. “What does he have to do with any of this?”

“Right, Ozpin didn’t tell you. Ruby is his niece.”

It took him a few seconds to process that. “Niece? Qrow has a niece?” There was an unspoken ‘and he never told us?’. The two of them were friends, as far as Glynda knew, even if they always fought about everything.

James groaned. “Well, the situation just became worse. I think we should warn him, at least, so he knows to steer clear.”

Glynda knew he wouldn’t, but she complied.

If it had been her family, she would have wanted to know too.

——

Ruby woke up slowly.

Miltia found that boring, so she yelled. “She’s awake!”

Then Good Tastes immediately shot her arm to find her weapon, realized her arm had been shot and thus was shot, and made a pinched, pained face that was both adorable and pretty funny. Miltia giggled.

Then she was hit by something very hard on the top of her head and she stopped laughing. “Argh! What the hell Neo?!”

Melanie raised her eyes from her book. “Oh, Sleeping Ugly’s awake?”

She then received a plastic cup straight in her face too. “Ow.” She deadpanned. “Alright, not saying the truth about the-“ Neo threw the whole table at her, which Melanie barely managed to catch. “Okay jeez! Don’t break this stuff, Junior’s gonna be on our asses about it!”

While her sister was getting the beating she absolutely deserved, Miltia turned toward Good Tastes - or Ruby, which was how Neo called her when, bored out of her mind, Miltia did the unthinkable and actually tried to speak to the midget. Who, somehow, managed to be more of a wall when she used words than when she didn’t. Go figure.

Well, Good Tastes wasn’t as enigmatic since she looked alarmed, saw Neo, looked a strange mix of afraid - the normal reaction - and relieved - the messed up, this-girl-is-crazy reaction - then looked down and saw she was not wearing much.

“Gah!” She pulled the cover over herself. “What did you do to me?!”

Mitlia scoffed. “Relax Good Tastes, Neo didn’t pay us nearly enough to do anything like that.”

“Then again…” Melanie approached the bed slowly. “You kinda look like us, right? Swap the red for some white and maybe you could get Miltia to-“

“Shut up!” Miltia threw the first thing nearby - which turned out to be some of the towels covered in Good Tastes’ blood - right at her sister’s face.

She let them fall and gasped. “You bitch! I’m wearing fucking white!”

Miltia rolled her eyes. “Relax, it’s dry.” Ignoring her sister, she turned back toward Good Tastes. “Anyway, we kind of had to take off the top of your dress to inspect you for wounds.” Because she had been bored and the chance of finding something, anything to do was too tempting to pass. “You had a few scraps, then I realized you bled on your dress, so I wanted to wash it, and honestly it all went downhill from there.”

Getting blood out of red. A good experience, but it’s so fucking hard to see when you actually got the blood out and when you’re just washing out the colors.

Good Taste’s eyes shot toward Neo. “You brought me here?!”

Oh boy. She was dead. Neo didn’t like being questioned.

…Except Neo just looked at her up and down - despite the girl hiding behind the covers - then shrugged. Alright, so Good Taste was reaaal good in bed. That or Neo was less crazy than they thought, and she could in fact see other people as human beings.

As if sensing her thoughts, Neo lazily smashed her weapon on the sofa. Miltia gulped. Message received.

“So what, your first thought was to bring to… to…” Red actually blushed! So cute! “A… whorehouse?”

And she wasn’t so cute anymore. Miltia whistled. “Wow. You’re lucky Junior didn’t hear you, or he would have clobbered you.”

“And you’re lucky Neo likes you, because I want to clobber you too. Seriously, do I look like a skank?” She pointed at her outfit. “That’s fucking insulting.”

“Don’t worry, you look like a very high-class skank.” Added Miltia with a smile. To help.

Melanie scoffed. “My rates are too high for you.”

“Stop saying I want to fuck you! Just because we play the incest thing doesn’t mean-“

“Wait, are you two sisters?!” Good Tastes looked a bit green now. “Ew.”

“See Miltia?” Melanie smirked. “She agrees with me.”

“And I agree with her too!” Panicked, she looked for a source of support, anyone, and found Neo. Well, in for a penny… “Neo, back me up on this!”

Neo raised an eyebrow, opened her bottle of water, and threw it at them.

She notably managed to avoid Good Tastes while spraying the both of them. While they were busy screaming, Red ignored them and their protests to look directly at Neo. “Where did you bring me? And… who are they?”

Neo rolled her eyes, and if that was the most arduous and boring thing she ever did, picked up her scroll and typed a few words.

‘We’re at Junior’s. They’re escorts.’

Anti-incest tilted her head. “So, like, fighters?”

Instead of writing on her scroll, Neo placed a hand in front of her mouth, formed a circle with her fingers, and pushed her cheek out with her tongue.

“We don’t suck dicks, Neo.” Groaned Melanie.

“Yeah, unless he’s very cute and pays a lot.”

“Yep. But that happened like, once.”

“And it wasn’t even that worth it in the end.”

The girl looked lost, so Miltia took it upon herself to really explain it. “We’re not just escorts, even if that’s what we do - and no girl, escorts and whores aren’t the same thing. People pay an escort to hang out with them. They pay a whore to fuck them.”

Melanie spoke from behind a fresh towel, still drying herself from Neo’s water and sadly missing out on Good Taste's sacandalized face. “We do basically anything people pay us to. Example, Miltia patched you up. You should say thanks.”

“And you should pay us-“ Miltia barely finished her sentence when she received a pillow to the back of her head. A pillow that had been, somehow, laced with a brick. She fell on her ass, dizzy. Thanks Aura, or she’d be dead. “Okay, I’ll admit it.” She groaned. “Neo paid. Happy?”

“I… Guess? Neo, can you stop hitting them?” Good Tastes looked funny, huddled beneath her covers like she had anything to flaunt, but since she was cute and was trying to spare them from Neo’s wrath, Miltia gave her a pass.

Neo shrugged, made a mimic of holding a gun and shooting her harm, then pointed at her and raised an eyebrow.

“It was-“ Red began to speak, then stopped and lowered her eyes. “It was to keep them away." she mumbled.

Neo scoffed - silently - then pointed a finger at her head and made small circles. Well, it was the pot calling the kettle black, but Miltia liked her spine unbroken, so she wasn’t going to comment.

“Like you can talk.” Said Red, sarcasm thick in her voice.

…Okay, she was dead. They had been waiting for hours for her to wake up, Neo was probably itching for a reason to kill someone, and Suicide Girl just gave her one. Well, since Neo wanted her alive, maybe she’d get off with just a broken arm. And hopefully, wouldn’t get off from it. Masochists were always weird like that.

Instead, Neo just smirked and used her semblance to look like Good Tastes. Then she fell on her knees, then on her back and dramatically put her hand on her forehead, woe-is-me like.

Miltia looked at Melanie, who looked just as weirded out as her. Good. She wasn’t the only crazy in the room.

“If there’s two sane and two crazies in a room, who are the crazies?” She blurted out without thinking.

Melanie facepalmed.

Miltia smiled sheepishly. Alright, maybe three crazies.

——

Whitley did not like feeling helpless.

He was factually one of the most powerful men on the planet, right behind his father. He was poised to inherit the Schnee Dust Company, the richest company on Remnant, which had a quasi-monopoly on Dust and thus, the world.

He worked hard to attain that position. He worked hard to become better at managing said position, so his power could grow even further.

Despite that, he was still a child. His real power was limited. If his sister suddenly cut off all communication, there was nothing more he could do.

Except one.

"Whitley," Father began, his voice carrying the weight of authority as he adjusted the cufflinks on his tailored sleeve, "power is not in the doing, but in ensuring it is done. If a task somehow eludes your grasp, then seek out the hands capable of completing it and ensure, by whatever means necessary, that they bend to your will."

His Father was many things, but a fool was not one of them. He looked to emulate him for a good reason.

He had some time before his next appointment. He took out his scroll and went to a contact he hadn’t used in years. Steeling his nerves, he made the call.

“Hello, Winter.”

Chapter Text

Eventually, Neo had left, pantomiming something Miltia was way too lazy to understand. The moment she did, Melanie did too, calling first dibs on the jacuzzi, which was bullshit, but whatever.

Which left only Good Tastes and her in the room.

Now Miltia kind of wanted to leave too because Good Tastes was as lively as a clown’s funeral, but she knew Neo would not agree with the sentiment and break her leg as punishment, so no. She made that mistake once, and limping for three days - the time it took for her aura to heal her - was not fun. That, and the pain.

She had exhausted her patience in about ten minutes.

“Sooo, Good Tastes!” She said with a smile.

“Ruby.” Good Tastes looked down on herself, her hair dry and dirty on her face, her eyes downcast. Miltia, ever the perfect woman she was, even gave her a bathrobe so she wasn’t showing to the world what flatness looked like, but even that didn’t cheer her up.

“Good Tastes!” Miltia continued without missing a beat. “We’re two beautiful young women with beautiful tastes in color, right?”

Ruby narrowed her eyes at her. “I guess…”

“So it’s time to gossip! But first, drinks.” She jumped down from the sofa, her feet landing with a muffled thud on the expensive carpet, and went to the minifridge. There was a lot of stuff in here, but she was pretty sure Neo threatened to choke her with her own stomach - or intestine, she wasn’t that good at interpreting her gestures - if she offered alcohol to their guest, so fruit juice it was! She took a bottle and poured two glasses, drank one, filled it again, and brought the plate to Good Taste’s bed. “Alright! Now it’s a party!”

Good Tastes didn’t seem impressed, but whatever. She moved the plush seat near the bed and sat on it, making herself comfortable. “Nice. So, wanna talk about something?”

She didn’t answer, but did take a sip from her glass.

“Cool. So I’ll ask the questions then.” She put a hand to her chin. “Alright, most important one. Do you and the midget fuck?”

Red choked on her drink, barely managing to put it down. “W-what?!”

Miltia shrugged. “You heard me. Like, she doesn’t kill you for talking shit, so you must be doing something for her.”

“No!” She wiped her mouth, faintly blushing. “Why do you keep talking about sex?!”

Miltia raised an eyebrow. “Hello? Escort here? Half my job is teasing guys and gals with it so they come back.”

“But do you have to be so… so… vulgar about it?” Red groaned, mortified. “Oh, now it’s in my head!”

“Good. Now picture this, okay?” Miltia grinned wickedly. “You come home, Neo’s in your room, lounging on your bed nake-“

“Shut up!” Good Tastes threw a cushion at her, red as a tomato. “Just- stop talking!”

“’Kay.” Miltia put the pillow away and downed her glass again. Nice, fresh apple juice. She should have brought the bottle with her, now she had to get up if she wanted another glass. Bummer. But then again, might have spared her from breaking it if Red threw another pillow at her.

Speaking of, maybe she should change the subject to avoid that. “So, next question then. Who did you run away from?”

“Huh?” Red didn’t seem to have the time to process the change in subject. “What do you mean-“

“You kind of told Neo you shot yourself to keep people off you. Mad respect, by the way. That took balls.” Miltia smirked. “But like, kind of extreme?” She didn’t run away from cops as there was no news report on it, so what was it? That was the thing Miltia wanted to know.

Red took a second to compose herself, her eyes looking everywhere but at Miltia. “Isn’t it my turn to ask questions?”

“Sure, I guess.” They would be alone for long enough anyway.

“Why are you so weird with your sister?”

Miltia felt a pang of anger, but suppressed it with a laugh. “Oh, that’s just a joke. I don’t really want to fuck her but like, we play the part so often to get clients that-“

“No!” Good Tastes cut her off, frustrated. “I’m not talking about that! Why are you so mean to each other?”

“Mean?” Miltia scoffed. “The hell are you talking about?”

“You keep insulting each other! And hitting the other!” She looked lost. “Shouldn’t you be nicer?”

Miltia got up and stretched. “Pfft, you only children always think that. That’s not what having a sister is like.”

“I have a sister!” She growled.

Miltia paused, puzzled. “Really?”

“Really!”

“You have a sister, and you don’t get why we talk shit?”

“Yes!”

She blinked. “Alright, give me a sec.” She took her glass and went to the freezer, poured herself some pineapple juice, added a sprinkle of vodka from a nearby bottle, then went back to her seat.

“Okay, so. You like, never fight with your sister?”

Red looked away, hesitating. “No. Not really.”

“At all?” Red lowered her head, and Miltia pressed more. “Recently?”

Good Tastes’ hands tightened over the sheet. “We fought before, for stupid stuff. But recently… She betrayed me and went behind my back.”

Miltia couldn’t help but laugh at that, amusement bubbling in her voice. “Oh, that’s so cute!”

Red glared at her. “Shut up!”

“Alright, calm down bitch.” Red looked shocked at the word and opened her mouth to protest, but she cut her off. “Okay, so lessons about sisters! They’re bitches!”

“That’s not-“

“Yes it is.” Miltia scoffed. “Melanie’s a bitch. Like, a total bitch. She insult me, I insult her, she kicks when my aura is down when we train, she always leaves empty shit in the fridge and she never tells me when we run out of stuff.”

Red looked gobsmacked. “But why?”

“Beats me. But she’s still my sister, right? Just because she’s a bitch and we fight doesn’t mean she’s not the only girl I can count on.” The words flowed naturally before she realized she really said them. Oh well. They were true, so fuck it, nobody would believe Good Tastes anyway.

“But… Yang’s not like that…”

“Yang?” Miltia froze. That name couldn’t be… no, she wasn’t that unlucky.

“Yes, my sister, Yang. She’s not-“

“Yang Xiao Long? Blond hairs, bad temper?” The one who trashed the club? The one they made extensive research on to make sure she wasn’t part of something bigger? The one who kicked their ass so hard they trained for a year in case she came back?

Ruby hesitated. “…Yes. You know her?”

Miltia resisted the urge to kick a wall until it crumbled. Fuck! Her! Life!

“Yeah, we met.” She mumbled, old wounds on her pride making themselves known. “She’s your sister?”

Red nodded mutely.

“And you ran away from her, right? That’s who you fought with?”

“…Yeah.” She looked downcast. “She betrayed me. She always does.”

Now Miltia was a lot of things, but dumb wasn’t one of them. If Bad Omens over there told the truth, then she shot herself and ran away from her sister.

“She’s looking for you isn’t she.” Her tone was flat with the weight of acceptance.

“Probably? But Neo’s good at hiding, so I don’t think she’s going to-“

Miltia didn’t listen to the rest. She immediately rushed to her scroll, throwing whatever was in the way to the side, and called her sister.

“Melanie! Get out of that fucking bath!”

Chapter Text

Humans are persistent predators.

Yang learned that from her uncle one day when she asked him how humans used to kill their prey without aura. After all, they were too fast, so how could they catch it?

The answer was simple. The prey ran, the hunter walked. The prey stopped, the hunter walked. The prey ate, the hunter walked. The prey drank, the hunter walked. Each time the prey caught a whiff of the hunter, it ran again, but soon, it had no energy left. Wounded and tired, it would collapse.

The hunter walked to it and slit its throat.

Ruby was simply too fast to catch. She could run for miles without breaking a sweat and keep up with Yang’s bike on foot. To catch Ruby, she would have to exploit every advantage she had. The problem was, the hunting ground was too big. What to do when you can’t find traces of your prey?

“Firecracker, you go where it drinks.”

—

Jaune always found the aftermath of parties to be bittersweet.

The end always happened in waves. First, everyone would gradually get tired, slumping down on sofas in silence, enjoying the quiet contentment of just spending time together. Later, someone would yawn, and the guests would lazily put on their coats and shoes because it was late, but of course, as soon as that happened, they all suddenly had so much to say or do. They’d make plans, talk about what they’d do next week and all the pointless things to push back the moment when the house would be empty.

Then, silence.

The hustle was replaced with quiet. The joy with empty sadness, melancholy for a time that was only seconds away. 

His sisters would always do their own thing, clean up, shut themselves in their room for some alone time, read a book or get a warm drink. Jaune, himself, stayed in the empty hallway, hoping the guests would come back.

Ruby had left, and Beacon was that hallway.

Sure, his friends did their best to pretend everything was fine. At breakfast in the empty cafeteria, Nora smiled as she stuffed herself. Later in their room, Ren meditated on his bed and Pyrrha sat at her desk to do her schoolwork as if nothing happened.

Except Nora ate until she got sick. Ren kept frowning, never finding the right position. Pyrrha didn’t turn the pages of her book, didn’t write anything down.

Jaune knew it was his job, as the leader, to cheer them up. Make a speech about the virtues of perseverance, about hope, about failure being a small step toward success. Tell them Ruby would definitely come back, that they all did everything they could. All he had to do was puff his chest and tell them meaningless words with confidence.

He took a deep breath to do just that, but the words got stuck in his throat. Claw as he might, he couldn’t get them out. His shoulders slumped.

Nora was agonizing on her bed, her smile nowhere in sight. Ren was holding her hand, his eyes closed. Pyrrha was holding her pen tight enough to break it, hunched over her desk.

Jaune couldn’t bear to be in the same room as them. So, he did what he always ended up doing whenever the guests left.

He opened the door, and went for a walk.

Outside, the hallway was empty. He didn’t bother knocking at team RWBY’s door – or was it _WBY now? He knew there would be no answer, just as there had been no answer on their scroll. With a sigh, he walked away, uncaring of where he was going.

The worst part was, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. In a situation like this, he wanted to talk to Ruby, explain the problem to her so she could have a good laugh and play down the whole thing. She always had this gift of making the worst situations seem like a breeze; it was the reason she was the better leader of the two. He would put his life in her hands without hesitation, follow her to the end of Remnant and beyond if she ever asked. She was his friend, his best friend, but more than that, she was a beacon of hope in his sea of doubt.

Was being the key word.

He passed by the few students in the hallway without thinking. What was he doing? The question swirled in his head over and over again. Ruby was gone. She was in deep troubles, she was hurting, and he was… walking in the hallways. Wondering how the girl who needed his help would help him, too dumb to really figure it out.

So much for the legendary Arc bloodline.

It was purely by luck that he stumbled on Weiss. Just like him, she didn’t take the time to change from the party, and just like him, she had deep bags under her eyes.

A part of him wanted to talk to her, but even he wasn’t stupid enough to ignore the warning signs. Her body language screamed, ‘Bother me and get stabbed’; instead, he just nodded at her and kept going. What could they say anyway? ‘Hey, remember the party? Was fun right? Especially when Ruby jumped from the roof, that was great!’

As the missing girl herself would say, yep.

To his own surprise, he ended up in front of a training room for four to eight people. He remembered it very well; he hid from Pyrrha inside it weeks before, when they all thought things were looking up.

He went inside. Empty, of course. Everyone else had classes or was training for the tournament. Even if that wasn’t the case, he knew this one wasn’t used much outside of team JNPR and RWBY, and even then, only occasionally. One could still see the ruins of the mannequin Weiss burned down stashed in a corner with the other ruined ones, covered in dust.

He closed the door behind him, feeling true isolation at last, then took out Crocea Mors from its sheath and looked down at it, the metal gleaming under the light.

Ruby herself said once that his sword was nothing much. She had a mecha-shift scythe with a sniper rifle, he had some sharp steel to hit things and some blunt steel to take blows. It was simple and honest, just like his ancestors were. Arcs were not complicated. They were steadfast defenders of humanity, heroes against the Grimm, who wore their pride on their sleeves. You could always count on an Arc to do the right things.

Crocea Mors wasn’t his sword, it was his family’s sword, the sword who helped countless people. He looked at it every evening when eating and he could swear his ancestors were looking back at him, urging him to take it. When he killed his first Ursa to protect Cardin, it was them who guided the blow. When he trained with Pyrrha, they sang with the blade, they cheered with each impact. When he fell on his knees, they helped him back up on his feet to try again.

 “Why did you bring me here?” He whispered to the blade. Beacon was huge and he walked randomly; he could easily have ended up in any other room. Crocea Mors didn’t answer. All he could see was his own reflection. Dark circles under his eyes, dirty hair, weak, defeated. He didn’t look like Jaune Arc. He looked like Jaune.

His grip tightened on his sword. An Arc never gives up, an Arc drops his sword with his last breath and never before. What would his father say if he saw him like this? Would he be disappointed, shake his head and say, “I was right?”

He grits his teeth, the familiar wounded pride rearing its ugly head. No. He was weak? Fine. Fine! With a roar, he swung his sword at the mannequin, steel bursting through wood until it got stuck halfway through. Compared to Nora, his blow lacked strength. Compared to Ren, his aura lacked control. Compared to Pyrrha, he lacked experience.

So he wrenched his sword out of the wood and hit it again.

And again.

With each blow, the blade sang. With each blow, his blood roared. With each blow, he cut away his doubts.

And with each blow, he understood what his father would tell him. You can always depend on an Arc, and he wasn’t strong enough to be one. Therefore, he had to train.

—

Yang must have looked ridiculous, prowling through the streets of Vale, a girl in a party dress with shotguns on her wrists.

The criminals she beat up didn’t laugh.

Her semblance heated up the air around her in the desert street. Early morning downtown was quiet, everyone leaving for the city center. Her contacts were not as reliable as she hoped, but they, at least, didn’t stay quiet for long. Always a new name, a new lead, nothing ever bringing her to her prey.

She passed by a trashcan and kicked it, her leg going right through the metal as if it was paper. She was running on fumes, rage and coffee, her nerves alight, ready to jump on anything suspicious.

She’d gone through every shady joint she knew since Ruby vanished, every contact she had, every single person who might have the slightest clue about Roman Torchwick. She couldn’t catch the deer, so she had to track it. See where it drinks. See where it eats. Poison the well so she could put her hands around his neck and squeeze until his damned eyeballs popped off-

Yang breathed.

Ruby might be too fast, but Torchwick was not.

—

Ruby wasn’t too fast. Pyrrha was too slow.

This truth burned through her like poison, her textbook invisible in front of her. Try as she might, she couldn’t think of anything else.

She had her, on that rooftop. Ruby’s only weapon was metal, and her semblance could control it. Her semblance was the perfect tool, the only tool they could use, and the moment she raised her hand-

Ruby lowered the gun to her arm and pressed the trigger, the bullet shredding her arm and going through the wall, a hair away from Blake’s head. Angry silver eyes turned toward Pyrrha, rooting her on the spot. “Don’t ever try that shit again. I’m faster than you.”

Pyrrha was too slow. She was so used to the world standing still she couldn’t handle it when it moved, so stuck in her handicaps she stopped improving.

The Invincible Girl should have been faster, or more precise, or used her semblance without being so overt, or any other thing that could have stopped her. If she did, Ruby would still be with them and not hiding away with criminals.

But she didn’t.

Because Pyrrha was too slow.

Chapter Text

The rain started slow - just a few drops in the morning sun - but by late afternoon, it had turned into a steady drizzle, soaking Yang to the bone as she walked the streets.

Yang hated the rain. It plastered her hair to her face, tangling in her eyes. But as a huntress, it gave her a few advantages.

Like scaring the shit out of people when literal steam rose from her skin.

“I told you everything! Let me go!”

This was just a kid, Yang mused. Seventeen at best, who made a quick buck selling drugs on the streets. The chances he knew anything of value were low, but Yang wasn’t above doing some community service.

She lifted him with her right arm and looked at the kid with bloodshot eyes. “If I see you with that shit again, you’ll have to sell it in the hospital.”

The kid didn’t say anything.

“Do. You. Understand.” She hissed through gritted teeth.

He nodded so fast his glasses almost fell off.

“Good.” She let him go. Without missing a second, he ran away.

Yang sighed, her shoulders dropping. All night and all day, and she didn’t find anything. Every single one of her plausible contacts was crossed out, which left only a handful of places she left for last.

She winced and rubbed her temple. Too much coffee and not enough sleep, she had a headache. Damn it, and her eyes hurt too.

“Yang?”

She jumped and turned around, hope blooming in her chest before it died an ugly death. It wasn’t her sister, just…

She tried to smile. “Hey, Penny.” Penny didn’t look that bothered by the rain either. She wasn’t holding an umbrella, and her hair was surprisingly bouncy. “You don’t have an umbrella?”

Penny smiled. “No, I do not. It wasn’t needed to find you.”

“Find me?” Yang scoffed. “Did Weiss ask you to do it?”

“Yes!” Penny hiccupped. “Miss Schnee asked me to find you. You’ve been missing for more than a day now and are worrying your teammates!” It was the first time Yang saw Penny try to look reproachful. It didn’t exactly fit her. “Are you alright? Have you slept? This is a nice jacket!”

Yang blinked, taken aback by the onslaught of questions. That, and ‘Miss Schnee’? Sounded like Weiss intimidated her. “I didn’t find Ruby, so no, I conked out for an hour in a shop, and thanks, my dad gave it to me.” She was obsessed, but not to the point of wearing a white dress in the rain, so, earlier, she called her locker and changed in a restaurant bathroom.

She shook her head. Now wasn’t the time for that. “Listen Penny, I’m glad to see you and all, but I’ve got to look for Ruby.” She turned around.

“But I’ve been told we have to leave her alone?”

Yang froze. “Who told you that?” Who was stupid enough to tell Penny not to help her sister?

She froze for a moment, then spoke carefully. “I’ve been told Ruby is not well. That she might harm herself if she saw us, and that we should leave her alone.”

The air turned to steam.

“Bullshit.” Said Yang, calmly. “I know Ruby. She’s not-“ Yang scoffed. “Never mind. You can leave if you want.”

“Yang, wait!”

She didn’t.

A second later, she heard heavy footsteps behind her. “Let me come with you!”

“I’m going to see criminals to beat them up,” said Yang flatly. She power-walked, uncaring of the people around her or the puddles she stepped in. “You don’t want to be here.”

“I believe I should be here.” Penny caught up without missing a beat. “Where are we going? Do you know where Ruby is?”

Yang gritted her teeth. “No, we’re gonna find Torchwick.”

“I see! You believe he will lead us to Ruby!” No surprise at hearing the criminal was out. Yang noted that somewhere in her head. Penny kept going, oblivious to her suspicion. “But how can you find him?”

I can’t, Yang almost said, before she caught herself. “I tried everywhere except two places. Junior’s, and the Crow Bar.” Junior, because she was sure he beefed up the security since last time and wouldn’t be cooperative, and Crow Bar, because she knew her uncle liked it and there was no shot it was frequented by criminals. Information dealers, maybe, but they wouldn’t tell her anything.

“We’re going to Junior’s.” She said without any more explanation.

Penny tilted her head. “The shortest path to the Club ‘Junior’ needs us to turn around and take the first exit on our left.”

Yang blinked. “You know it?”

Penny hesitated. “I know its location relative to ours.”

Yang allowed herself to smile. “Alright, lead the way.”

—

They walked in relative silence for half an hour. Penny suggested taking public transport, but Yang didn’t want to stop moving.

If she sat down, even the five coffees she drank wouldn’t keep her awake.

The Club didn’t look much different from the last time she’d been there. The heavy clouds and rain dimmed the sunset enough to mimic nighttime, leaving the building as dark as she remembered. As far as she could see, it was still the same place, a nice building with a long queue of people waiting to enter, some slightly dancing with the music coming through the walls.

What did change were the bouncers. Where there was just a normal guy before now stood the girls from last time, looking both pissed off and anxious.

Yang had a good idea as to why.

Before she could do anything, she felt a surprisingly firm hand on her arm. “What.” She hissed.

“Yang, your semblance is active. By the Vale Code, this might be considered a threat of physical violence and allow them to open fire on us.” Said Penny, her voice slightly alarmed. “There are multiple gunmen hidden around.”

Yang stopped. “How many?”

“Eleven-“

“Then I can take them.” She tried to wrench herself free, but Penny held on.

“Yang! They will call the police, and we will be at fault! Please!”

“I don’t care!” She said through gritted teeth. “They’re waiting for us, so they know something!”

Penny pulled her back with so much strength Yang almost stumbled. She put her hands on her shoulders, her eyes pleading. “Please. We cannot help Ruby if we get arrested.” She hiccupped.

Yang took a second to cool herself down - it was easier, with the rain. She took a deep breath, and slowly, her semblance pulled back.

When she looked back at the entrance, she could see the girls relax slightly.

“Alright. Let’s do this.” She straightened her jacket and walked to the entrance, ignoring the protests of the others waiting in line. Someone even tried to grab her on the way, but a simple glare was enough to quiet any protest.

Penny herself wasn’t looking so good, shrinking down on herself as they passed, her eyes darting around. Clearly, she wasn’t used to the attention.

Yang didn’t care much. She stopped in front of the girls. Before she could say anything, the white one spoke. “No weapon.”

“We both know that’s not gonna happen.”

The red one tried to say something, but the click of Ember Celica cut her off. “I’m only going to say this once,” she said, her tone barely controlled. “We’re going to walk in here. We’re going to sit down and have a chat. If I don’t like what I hear, what I did last time will look like a warm-up.” She leaned forward, looming over the girls. “Good enough?”

They exchanged a fearful look, then the white one took a step back and opened the door. “Alright.” She stepped inside and called a few people - one she recognized, the bouncer from the other night - then motioned for her to enter. “We’ll escort you to the VIP area.”

“Good.” She looked behind her briefly and nodded at Penny. She looked scared. Scared of her.

Yang ignored how that made her feel and stepped inside.

Junior’s was as nice as she remembered. The club was the kind of place where teens with more money than brains came to spend time, but not just that. Sure, Junior sold sex and drugs, but his main domain was information. Who did what and where.

If you wanted something illegal done in Vale, the first guy to talk to was Junior, and everyone, from the smallest crook to the biggest corporation, knew that. She wouldn’t be surprised if it was one of the few places where you could find Schnee agents and Fangs terrorists drinking together while planning their respective murders.

Mercifully, the girl in white escorted them on another path than the one she used last time, passing by two other bouncers without a word. There, the floor was cleaner, in softer purple hues rather than the aggressive white, and the walls were thick enough to stop most of the music. The few people they passed by were either drunk or frowning.

Yang kept her head high. Even drenched in rain, she knew she was intimidating. She knew all too well that confidence was key for these kinds of places. Once upon a time, she used that to go to nightclubs when she clearly shouldn’t have been allowed. Now, she’d use it to save her sister.

Behind her, Penny clearly didn’t know what to do herself. She nodded nervously at everyone they passed by, and her usual smile was nowhere to be found.

Seeing how the red and white one acted, it was safe to say nobody but Yang wanted to be here.

Finally, they opened a door to a lounge looking down on the dance floor. The room was empty of people and contained only a well-stocked bar, a few stools, and two sofas next to a small table. Everything was both clean, purple, and smelled like perfume. Strangely enough, the music was quieter, somehow, despite being only a few meters higher than the crowds.

“Light dust soundproofing,” whispered Penny. “It will stop any sound in and out.”

“Correct, Carrot Hair.” Said the red one as she fell in a chair. Meanwhile, the white one went behind the counter.

Yang crossed her arms. “Where’s Junior?”

“Downstairs.” The white one met her gaze, barely. “You’ll talk to us tonight.”

Yang’s hand tightened on her arm. “See, I don’t think you heard me before,” she said slowly. “If you don’t do as I say, I’ll blow up this place sky high.”

“Yeah, well we have our own orders.” The red one rolled her eyes. “Besides, Junior doesn’t know shit about this. We’re the ones with the info, so we’re the ones holding all the cards.”

Yang stepped forward, slamming her foot into the ground. It held on, barely. “Alright, so you need a demonstration.”

“Yang!” Penny grabbed her arm, again. She looked a mix of scandalized and determined. “Please calm down! We have nothing to lose by hearing them out.”

“Nothing to lose?! They’re just buying time so Torchwick can run away!”

“Yeah, as if.” Scoffed the red one.

“Miltia, shut up.” Said the white one.

Yang and Penny ignored them. Penny met her gaze head-on, fire against steel. “If you attack unprovoked, you will give them what they want. The fastest course of action is to hear what they have to say, and if they don’t know anything, try downstairs.”

Yang gritted her teeth. Penny didn’t get it, did she? They needed to pay for making her lose previous fucking time- She rubbed the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. Right. Penny was right. She was just tired. Too much coffee, not enough sleep, and the perfume wasn’t doing any favors to her headache.

“Alright.”

The other girls relaxed.

“You want anything, Blondie? A coffee? You look tired as hell.” Said the white one.

“Oh, we didn’t introduce ourselves!” Said Penny, finally back to a mood Yang recognized: excited. “I’m Penny, and this is Yang. You’re Miltia and Melanie Malachite, right?”

Miltia nodded with a grin. “In the flesh! Charmed, I’m sure.”

“How can you be in the flesh if you are your flesh?”

“That’s because your brain is in your head but it’s not made of flesh, Carrot Hair.” Said Miltia while leaning over. “What do you drink? It’s on the house.”

Penny paused, her smile seemingly more artificial. “Nothing, thank you for asking.”

“Suit yourself. Blondie?”

“Yang.” She could feel her semblance come back up and see the girl tense. “A coffee. Strong.”

“Give me a minute.” Melanie went to the coffee machine and began to work. While she did that, Yang finally sat down, or rather, she let herself fall on the barstool, water running down her back and into the ground.

“Oof, that was heavy.” Miltia propped her elbow on the table and turned to face Yang, her head in her palm. “So, what got you all riled up?”

Yang glared at her. “You don’t need to know. Just tell me where to find Torchwick.” Now that she was close, she could smell Miltia, and more importantly, the blood. It was disguised beneath cheap perfume and alcohol, but it was still there, unmistakable.

It did little to endear the criminal to her.

“Torchwick? Well, I dunno about that, Blondie…”

Yang’s fist came down hard on the counter, the thud echoing through the room. A bottle toppled and shattered, amber liquid bleeding across the surface as everyone froze. Despite that, her tone was calm. “I’m not here to play games.”

Miltia looked a few shades paler. “Me neither! Just let me finish, jeez!” She looked behind Yang. “Can’t you hold her back?”

Penny put her hand on her shoulder. “Yang, please.”

Yang ignored her. “Keep talking.”

“Before that.” Said Melanie, putting down a steaming cup on the counter next to her. “Your coffee.”

Without looking at it, staring straight into Miltia’s eyes, Yang took and downed her drink. It tasted okay, for coffee, and the energy would keep her going for a few more hours.

Melanie looked spooked. “That… That was boiling hot.”

“I don’t care,” said Yang. One of the perks of her own semblance, it took a lot of heat to burn her. “Talk.”

Miltia put her hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. Look, honestly, it’s too late to catch him anyway. Torchwick’s is ditching Vale, so-“

Yang grabbed Miltia by the throat and growled, feeling the soft flesh and aura breaking under her fingers. “And where is he, right now?”

If Torchwick left, Neo would go with him. If she found Neo, she’d break her bones until she told her what she did to Ruby.

The others were yelling at her, but she ignored them. Instead, she tightened her grip.

“Fucking hell, let me go alright?!” Miltia managed to say through her grip as she uselessly tried to pry her fingers open. “I’ll tell you!”

“I’ll let you go once-“ Suddenly, before she could react, she felt something incredibly strong grab her by the shoulders and pull her away. She let go of Miltia’s neck to elbow behind her, but it felt like hitting pure metal. Before she could keep going, she got thrown in the air, back toward the entrance. She easily dropped and rolled back on her feet, ready to-

Penny looked at her, worried. “Yang? You need to calm down now.”

“Penny.” She said calmly, her semblance evaporating the last of the water. “Out of the way.”

“No.” She didn’t move. “I’m going to talk to them now, and you’re going to stay here. You are clearly-“

“Penny, now!” She yelled. All she could hear was the sound of her heartbeat pumping in her head, one rapid thump after the other. “Out of the fucking way!”

Penny stood still for a moment, her eyes glazed over, before she answered. “I will, if you can name five things you can see.”

“What the fuck are you-“

“You are losing time, Yang.” She said, not blinking, her voice emotionless. “If you don’t answer, we’ll lose some more.”

Yang gritted her teeth hard enough to break them. “Fine! I see you, the red bitch, the blue bitch, the chair and the counter, happy?!” They looked scared.

“Can you touch four things?”

Yang almost tore her hair out in frustration. “Fucking- Yes! Me, my clothes, my hair and you in five seconds if you don’t-“

“Three you can hear?” Penny seemed calmer, taking deep breaths whenever she spoke.

Without really thinking, Yang did the same. “You, me, the music.”

“Two you can smell now. We’ll be done soon.” Penny’s voice was calm, even.

Yang blinked, confused. “The perfume, I guess. And the coffee.” She looked at Melanie, shame overpowering anger in her stomach. “Thanks for that, by the way.”

The girl didn’t answer.

Why was she so angry? What was she thinking, hitting Penny like that? Hitting Miltia? Sure, they were criminals, but she wasn’t the same, right? She could control herself. She was better than them! She should be!

She sat down on the ground. “Right, I’ll just… Thanks, Penny. And…” She hesitated, but despite feeling like she was tearing out her own fingernails, she spoke. “Sorry for… grabbing you.”

“Eh, it’s okay.” The red one winced as she rubbed the red, angry marks on her throat. “I get it.”

Penny turned around to look at the sisters. “So, can you tell us where they are?”

Melanie nodded. “Yes.”

“But!” Said Miltia, turning around toward Yang. “Blondie. I get you want to run after her, but you’re ready to blow up. You really want to talk to your sister like that?”

Her anger was back. She knew where Ruby was! “What are you-“

“Yang!” Penny cut her off. She seemed as weirded out by hearing herself shouting as Yang was. She turned back to Miltia. “I’m sorry. We’re aware Ruby is not feeling well, and we will do our best to not make her feel afraid.” She smiled. “Thank you for worrying about her.”

Miltia scoffed. “I’m not fucking worried about Good Tastes.”

“Oh, aren’t you?” drawled Melanie as she lounged on the counter. “But you looked like you were having so much fun with-“

“No one asked you! Don’t you have a scroll to get?!”

“I have it right here.” Melanie took something from behind her back and held it out for Penny to grab. “Here. This was expensive, so don’t lose it.”

“Why are you giving us this?” Penny took the scroll from Melanie.

“That’s not important,” said Miltia.

“I think it’s pretty important.” Yang rose to her feet. “What’s the catch?”

Melanie sighed, then grabbed a beer from behind the counter. With a flick of her fingers, she opened it and took a long gulp, then wiped her mouth. “Cards on the table? Neo’s a bitch and we’re getting back to her.”

“True cards on the table?” Continued Miltia. “Good Tastes’ gonna regret not doing this.” She looked directly at Yang. For the first time since they met, her eyes were steady. “Blondie, I don’t know how you fucked this up, but she feels like shit and like it or not, it’s your fault. So you-“ she pointed at Yang “Are going to take this scroll. It got the number for the new one we gave to her.”

“Oh, so that’s why you’re giving to us!” Penny said.

“But before calling,” Miltia ranted while ignoring Penny, “You’re going to sit down,nap, and, figure out where you fucked up.”

“Of course, that’s option one.” Melanie took over from her sister. “Option two is, you’d like to make me happy and tell Neo’s position to the cops.” She grinned. “You have her location on this puppy. It won’t work once you’re out of Vale, but you can track her down until they leave.”

Yang gaped, her tired mind struggling to keep up with the flow of information. “How- what-“

“I believe I understand the situation!” Said Penny, brightly. “None of these courses of actions are optimal, however. Yang is too tired to talk to Ruby, but we cannot let her leave. Besides, whatever we do, you win and either get rid of us or of Neo.”

The twins and Yang nodded. “I can still go. I just need a minute for the caffeine to kick in, and I’ll be good.”

“Blondie, you just strangled me for fun.” Miltia took her sister’s beer and took her own gulp. “Usually I wouldn’t mind, but that’s your sister you’re talking about. You sure you want to see her with that kind of fuse?”

There was a pause, then Melanie sighed. “You’re making it too easy, Miltia.”

“You’re too easy!”

“You wish.”

“I don’t-“

While they were bickering, Penny walked back to Yang and gave her the scroll. Yang took it with trembling hands.

What was she supposed to do?

“Don’t worry.” Penny gave her an encouraging smile. “We will do both. We shall rest, and someone will intercept Roman Torchwick.”

Yang frowned. “We’re telling the headmaster?”

Penny hesitated. “…No. Students are under formal order not to interfere with either Roman Torchwick, Neopolitan, or try to contact Ruby Rose. Telling the headmaster would reveal we have been doing an unsanctioned investigation and talked with known criminals.” Penny suddenly looked worried, but her tone stayed light. “We are in a lot of troubles.”

“Then who?” Damn it, her head was hurting too much to think. She knew the cops were of-limits; no offense to them but they didn’t have aura, so it would end up to the headmaster again.

“I have already contacted Miss Schnee,” said Penny, seemingly reading her thought with a grin. “She should arrive in Vale in less than an hour!”

“Weiss? But she’s-“ Yang paused. Something clicked. “Miss Schnee isn’t Weiss, isn’t she?”

Penny gave her a sheepish grin, then nodded.

Yang sighed and rubbed her temple. "We'll talk about this later." She looked back at the two sisters, still fighting. "What if they lied?"

"I believe you scared them enough," said Penny. "If they did lie, you will come back and make good on your threat. They know that."

Yang nodded, distracted. That made sense. She yawned.

Penny giggled. "It's time for us to go, I assume?"

"Yeah." Yang got up, not bothering to say goodbye. "I need to go to bed."

—

After they left, Miltia let out a big sigh.

"Daaamn. That was too close. Waaay too fucking close." She took another gulp from the beer. "What the hell was Junior thinking?"

"Can't criticize him if it worked." Melanie shrugged. "Blondie took the scroll, so with any luck our Neo troubles are going to solve themselves."

Miltia snorted. "Yeah, as if. Neo can take her."

"And if she does, no more Blondie. Win-win." She shot her sister a look. "By the way, I don't remember adding Ruby's new number to that thing."

Miltia shrugged back without saying a word, and took another gulp. She wasn't one for making plans, that was the job of other people who liked making win-win situations. She was the impulsive one who got shit done.

Good Tastes had, well, good tastes in clothes, and it was her first real fight with her sister. With only Neo in her corner, the poor thing was doomed, so she gave her a helping hand.

It didn't mean much more than that, and if Junior's perfect plan got fucked up in the process, too bad.

Melanie raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. Instead she took out another beer.

Miltia cheered with her, her heart light. Life was good.

Chapter Text

No matter how much she kept herself beneath the eaves of the streets, Ruby couldn’t avoid the rain as it fell, and fell, and fell some more, drenching her. Her bloody, tattered party dress didn’t provide much cover, and she’d been soaked to the bones for a while now.

Meanwhile, Neo was prancing along, safe under her umbrella. Ruby had asked if they could share, but Neo refused with that infuriating smile of hers. They would have fought over it if they didn’t have more pressing matters.

Namely, Yang was hunting for her.

When Miltia told her Yang knew of the bar - stupid, she didn’t recognize the name, she saw Yang leave the building forever ago -, it took everything Ruby had to not bolt there and then. Instead, she waited for Miltia to call Neo, changed and left once she had her mute escort.

The plan was simple. Roman had a long-distance bullhead ready to go. They would join him and leave for Vacuo the moment they could. Luckily, the tempest was there to provide cover.

It was simple. It was efficient. It wasn’t nearly fast enough for Ruby’s tastes.

She swept her hair out of her eyes, her hand trembling slightly. Damn that rain and damn the cold. If only she had her usual cape, it wouldn’t even matter, but no, she had to be in a slim party dress that couldn’t keep away a gust of wind let alone torrents of water.

Neo stepped in a puddle, throwing water right at Ruby with a smirk. Ruby did the same, but Neo simply jumped back, effortlessly avoiding the rain once more. It was the fourth time they did that song and dance, and if she wasn’t so cold, Ruby might have found it amusing or annoying, but she was too busy shivering to care. Besides, the more they walked, the more Neo’s smile dimmed; the weather was getting to her too.

They advanced for what could have been an eternity, empty streets giving way to empty streets, all blurred under the rain. After a while, the buildings changed from shops to apartments, then to warehouses surrounded by tall iron fences. They arrived in front of one that Ruby, despite having good eyesight, couldn’t have picked out from any other. Neo nodded to herself, satisfied, and unlocked the huge swing gate.

Even then, they had more distance to walk, the perimeter going on for seemingly miles, until Ruby could hear it. The faint hum of a motor. They pressed on and finally, they could see the bullhead.

It was a lean model, the kind that Huntsmen took when going on faraway missions. How Roman managed to get one of those, she didn’t know. All she cared about was getting inside, where it was dry and warm.

The door opened and Roman passed his head through it. “Ladies!” He yelled above the rain. “Happy to see you join me! Would you hurry up?!”

Neo rolled her eyes and skipped along moderately faster, Ruby following suit.

They opened the door with a click and jumped inside. Instead of being divided into two parts - one for the pilot, one for the huntsmen - the plane had one space for cargo and one for people. The pilot wasn’t even isolated from the rest of the passengers, but then again, there was only room for about seven people, counting the pilot and the copilot. Ruby had read something about how the pilots were just there for the takeoff and landing, with an autopilot taking care of the rest.

At the moment, she didn’t care much. She collapsed on one of the back seats and rubbed her arms together for warmth, enjoying a reprieve from the rain.

Someone threw a towel at her head. “Careful with the seats.” Said Roman without looking at her, another towel in his hand for Neo. “So, Red. Happy to see you join us. How does it feel to be on team bad guys?”

“C-cold.” Said Ruby through clacking teeth.

“Agreed, and I’m fixing that real soon.” He pressed a few buttons, and the bullhead started with a rumble. At the same time, some warm air trickled through the plane, finally chasing the cold. “By the way, Neo went through your room and got some of your things in the back, so if you want to change, do it there.”

Ruby shot a betrayed glare at Neo, who weathered it with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

“Alright, ladies, some ground rules!” Roman said while spinning in his chair. “Number one, no fighting in the plane. I don’t care why, Cinder could be there asking for tea and you don’t fight.” Seeing Neo’s smirk, Roman narrowed his eyes. “Neo, that goes for you too.”

Neo crossed her arms with a sneer.

“It’s that or we crash, and this puppy doesn’t have a lifeboat.”

She sighed but nodded.

Ruby managed to get a few words out while drying her hair. “But all Huntsmen standard vehicles have lifeboats.” It was built in, just like the survival kit.

“Well as you can see, not this one. Besides, I’d rather die quickly in here than wait for days for some Grimm to thank me for the free meal.” Roman paused. “Any other questions?”

Ruby nodded. “What’s rule two?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Rule two?”

She gave him a flat look. “You said, ‘number one’ and ‘ground rules’.”

“Oh, right!” Roman snapped his fingers. “I got nothing.”

Neo stomped her feet and pointed at Roman, then at the back, and mimicked taking something out of her pocket and into her mouth.

Roman grinned. “Yes, there are snacks at the back.” Neo kicked his chair. It spun. “Ow! Alright, alright, no need to kick!”

Ruby tilted her head. “What did she say?”

“No smoking in the bathroom.” Roman growled. “And I’m not an addict, I can control myself.”

Neo nodded with a smile then jumped on the copilot seat, already resting her feet on the console. Ruby thought Roman would say something, but instead, he did the same.

“Feet off the console.”

“Nah.” Roman put his hands behind his head. “Autopilot is ready, all it’s waiting for is for you to sit.”

Ruby bit back a remark and sat down. She wasn’t exactly in a position to make demands.

And the seat wasn’t even that comfortable. Great.

“Alright!” With glee, Roman pushed a big red button - that Ruby was sure wasn’t on the original blueprints - and the rumbling intensified. “Let’s get this party started!” He took off a scroll from his pocket. “And, let’s give Atlas something to worry about.” A few taps later, he began to laugh.

“What are you doing?”

“I-,” he said theatrically, “Am throwing a little wrench into Cindie’s plans. That, and giving a headache to a lot of people.”

Ruby frowned, her hand already going toward Crescent Rose - shot arm or not, she wasn’t going to let him kill people just so she could get away. “You’re no hurting anyone, right?”

“Of course not, what do you take me for?” He pushed a few more buttons all over the cockpit, and the Bullhead began to rise, slowly. With the wonders of gravity dust, Ruby barely felt anything to the point she doubted they were even moving.

Unperturbed, Roman continued. “All these little toys above us are currently monitoring the skies for us - or anyone like us. I’m scrambling their radars and sending a lot of warnings.” He closed his scroll. “As I said, giving a headache to a lot of people.”

Ruby didn’t know if that made sense or not, but it didn’t sound like Roman was lying. Besides, they were working together, so she had to somewhat trust him.

What a strange life she was living.

While they were speaking, the Bullhead picked up speed, flying at an altitude too low for the Atlesians to see them under the storm and too high for civilians to be suspicious.

Neo went for snacks and came back with three blankets, including one she unceremoniously threw at Ruby. Roman took his without complaints and sat on it, using it as a makeshift cushion.

“This is the life. In about ten minutes, bye bye Vale and welcome the sunny skies of Vacuo.” He sighed wistfully. “There’s nothing quite like this city, you know? Sure, it’s hot as hell in summer, but that’s better than-“

He was cut off by an oddly familiar voice coming from the radio. “Unidentified Bullhead, please respond.”

Roman paused and looked at the radio. “Huh. Guess the virus isn’t working all that great.”

“Unidentified Bullhead, please respond.”

Instead of answering, Roman took out his scroll again and worked on whatever allowed him to mess with Atlesian tech.

For a minute, everything was quiet, and Ruby let herself relax.

Then the radio crackled back to life. “Unidentified Bullhead, you are carrying a wanted fugitive. Turn back and land, or prepare to be shot down.”

Ruby’s heart jumped in her chest. She looked at Roman, who seemed as lost as her. Neo didn’t seem to care, but her hand went ever so close to her weapon.

“I- Well! This is new!” Roman laughed. “Guess we’re not doing the quiet thing.” He took the radio and spoke. “Greetings, my friend! Fugitives? Unidentified? What are you talking about? We’re just humble travelers going on our way.”

Ruby almost facepalmed. He wasn’t talking to her and she still wanted to punch him.

The voice didn’t miss a beat. “Roman Torchwick, this is Atlesian Specialist Winter Schnee. You are currently flying an unidentified vehicle for an unauthorized flight. Turn back now, or I will be forced to open fire.”

Chapter Text

“Roman Torchwick,” Winter said calmly. “This is Atlesian Specialist Winter Schnee. You are currently flying an unidentified vehicle for an unauthorized flight. Turn back now, or I will be forced to open fire.”

She silently flipped the switches, activating her weapons. Her plane wasn’t the standard Atlas transport she was scheduled to board in two weeks. Instead, she flew a sleeker, deadlier model—an Atlesian Specialist stealth-class hunter, designed to eliminate large flying Grimm with gunfire and explosives.

The ship was silent, discreet, and, more importantly, deadly. She had the unidentified aircraft well in sight, the ship’s computer already targeting its two thrusters.

The radio crackled to life. “Miss Schnee, I wasn’t aware I had an Atlesian stalker, and a Schnee at that! I am flattered, truly!”. Winter didn’t react. If there was one thing she learned from working with Qrow, it was patience. “However, I do have a pretty little prize onboard-“

There was some noise on the other side of the line.

“Don’t ruin the mood, Red, I’m talking.”

Winter nodded to herself. So, the information Penny sent her was true - Ruby Rose was cooperating with Roman Torchwick. This confirmed the orders she pulled while traveling toward Vale: Do not engage. Offer calm reassurance, nothing more. Ruby Rose was described as both a flight and suicide risk.

A bit more digging told her Ruby Rose was Weiss’s team leader. Her profile described her as something of a loose cannon, but nothing to indicate suicidal tendencies. Putting two and two together, the girl was important to Weiss, important enough that she stopped responding to both Whitley - that was a new development she didn’t know what to think of - and herself.

“I am aware you are harboring another fugitive. This doesn’t change my ultimatum: turn back and land, or you’ll be shot down.” Her voice was hard, easily covering the sound of the machines.

Another voice crackled over the radio. “Winter, this is Ruby Rose. I know many things both Ironwood and Ozpin are interested in.”

“That’s Specialist Schnee and General Ironwood to you, Miss Rose.” Her hand drew closer to the missile command. “Last warning. Your bluff doesn’t work on me.”

“Please, Winter! I don’t want to fight you! Weiss would be-“

“Weiss is none of your concern anymore.” She cut her off, gritting her teeth. “The moment you ran away with criminals, you showed your true loyalty was to yourself.”

“She betrayed me first!”

“As I was told, you were conspiring with Roman Torchwick first.” Her tone softened, years of training to handle delicate situations finally overwhelming her protective instincts. “You can still come back willingly. Penny misses you.” The gynoid had been distraught when she talked about her first friend, something Winter empathetically was not thinking about.

No answer came. The silence was only broken by the faint rumble of her vehicle and the sound of the rainstorm they were slowly leaving behind. She had to end this soon.

“Very well.” Without another word, Winter engaged the first missiles. Instantly, the unknown ship veered off course to shake them away, but they simply couldn’t escape Atlesian technology. Winter herself sent a message to the main fleet - she’d need an escort and rescue force to take in the fugitives once they were down to their lifeboat. As was the case for the last fifteen minutes, there was no answer. She changed her radio frequency, but there were still no orders for her. She was on her own.

Meanwhile, her missiles were still giving chase. In a blink, a soft cloud of particles deployed behind the hostile aircraft and solidified into rocks, intercepting the missile. Despite the automatic light shielding on her screens, Winter winced reflectively, but her eyes never strained. She pushed her own ship forward, matching the speed of the hostile.

“Wow there! Don’t shoot missiles while we’re talking!” Roman laughed through the radio. “Side note, looks like you broke Red! She’s crying and we can’t get her to respond, so thanks for that!”

“Surrender, and I’ll make sure the proper authorities handle whatever physical problems she has.” She pushed forward, but Torchwick’s plane turned upwards and flew into the storm.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen, I have an appointment with my dentist I’d hate to miss- What? No, how the hell would I know? Just dump some ice on her head or something!”

Winter mostly tuned out the inane chatter, instead following the tracker from beneath the clouds. Torchwick’s plan was simple to the point of stupidity - he would bait her into the storm, use the electromagnetic disturbance to hide the tracker, then leave. By the time she’d have realized she’d been fooled, he would be long gone.

Winter was no fool, which is why she stuck beneath the clouds. She didn’t need to catch him now, even if it would be preferable. No, she only needed to follow him to wherever he touched ground, then call a team to retrieve him.

A few minutes later, the signal vanished.

Winter tightened her grip on her handle, angling her ship upward. Fine. The hard way then.

——

With a twist of her screwdriver, Ruby tore off the little chip from her new scroll’s motherboard. There went the warranty.

She was, incidentally, livid. Neo kept looking at her while she worked, and Winter said- Nothing important at all. She didn’t even remember why she- spaced out. She wiped tears from her cheeks with shaky, stiff movements.

“You know, you could just ditch the scroll.” Said Roman, spinning in his chair.

“This is one of the latest models. You know how hard it is to get a new one?” This idiot didn’t get they would all be gone in less than a month. “Besides, they’re expensive.”

“No, they’re not.” Roman scoffed. And spun in his chair.

She ignored him and tensely screwed the lid back on. “My scroll, my rules.”

“That’s fair.” He shrugged.

Then he fell off his chair as an explosion rocked their ship, the-

The robot swung its giant arm, the cannon pointed directly at her, and for a second Ruby knew she was going to-

She felt cold water run along her neck and stumbled backward. Neo did not look sorry, ice dust slowly melting in her hand. She, in fact, looked surprisingly proud of herself for the second time in less than ten minutes.

That’s it!” Ruby snapped. She stormed over, shoved Roman out of her way and dropped into his seat, ignoring his protests.

Maria didn’t teach her much, but she did teach her how to pilot – and she knew the manuals by heart. Whatever ‘upgrade’ Roman’s team did, they left the control panel mostly alone. For example, she knew just what buttons to press to get a damage report on the main ship. No hull breach; she didn’t need to know anything else.

The nearby explosions told her Winter was tailing them, but the clouds blocked any vision she could have. The radio crackled to life. “Surrender.”

Ruby disconnected the radio. Fine. Fine! Winter wanted to play, she’d play. Her hands trembled with what could generously be called anger and adrenaline.

She angled the ship downward and weaved through the air, dodging the gunfire coming from Winter. The modifications meant the ship was faster than normal, but Winter had an authentic Atlesian hunter and easily kept pace with them. Good. That was the plan. More speed meant more inertia, she knew that better than anyone.

She broke the cover of the cloud, now floating closer to the sea, evening the playing field. Then, she abruptly slowed, as much as she could.

Whatever tech Winter had, it didn’t allow her to match that, and she was suddenly the one being chased. With a vicious snarl, Ruby launched her own missiles. Winter dodged and swirled through the air, deftly dodging until they blew up in mid-air.

Not one to be deterred, Ruby used the appropriate tool to kill pesky flies: a minigun. The hail of bullets should have shredded the plane, but Winter kept weaving through the air, deftly keeping herself out of her crosshairs. Ruby accelerated to match her movements, in vain.

They flew through the air for minutes, no one getting an advantage over the other. Winter slowly but surely picked up speed, enough to do maneuvers that could have put Ruby at a disadvantage, but she was relentless, following her trail like a starved hound. Piloting by herself was proving to be challenging, but nothing her semblance couldn’t handle. Her arm was hurting, and she was pretty sure she was almost out of ammo, but it didn’t matter. Anything to get her prey, to make her stop reminding her of-

She almost punched Roman when he put his hand on her shoulder. His hat was missing and his hair disheveled, but he had a mad glint in his eyes. “I knew I liked you! But sadly, it’s time to slow down.” He sat on the copilot seat and pressed a few of his own buttons. Immediately, the ship went dark, every single electronic light inside vanishing. “Neo, if you would.”

Ruby turned her head just in time to see Neo curtsy with that infuriating smile of hers, then put her hand on the wall and closed her eyes. Slowly, her semblance covered the whole ship. She didn’t know what the illusion was, but Roman was satisfied enough to go back to the clouds. The plane creaked, and Ruby realized numbly it didn’t handle the punishment of the chase as well as she thought it would.

“There we go, nice and easy. Want to have a parting taunt with Ice Queen senior?” Roman waved at the radio.

Ruby turned it on without a word.

“Winter, this is Ruby. Don’t come after us. P-“ She stopped herself and shook her head. What was she going to say? Right. “Weiss would miss you.”

She cut the power before she could hear her answer.

Somewhere, she knew her old friends didn’t know what to say.

Chapter Text

While growing up, Ruby cured herself of some bad habits. Eating sugar before bed? She stopped that years ago. Coffee after eleven in the morning? She liked her night of sleep, thank you very much. Not checking if her weapon is loaded before showing off? That happened once.

One habit she never quite cured was moving around while wounded. Adrenaline was a wonderful drug, and aura helped, but the consequences were her hissing in pain as her bandages soaked up blood.

“Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away!”

Roman didn’t care, obviously.

“If you can use some exotic booze, there's a bar in far Bombay!”

Between the pain of her arm gently reminding her she shot a bullet into it and it would like to stop moving around thank you very much, and the astonishment of seeing Roman and Neo of all people clapping and singing, she was too stunned to move from her chair.

All that because Roman had gotten bored at some point, with the autopilot taking care of their trip and all, and had decided the only professional thing to do was to put on music.

“Come on and fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away!”

Annoyingly enough, they kept grinning and looking at her while they sang. They thought they were funny. Ruby tried to get in a normal sitting position but only curled up on herself tighter as a fresh lance of pain shot through her arm, accompanied by the wet stain of blood growing bigger on her bandages.

Right. Right.

“Come fly with me, let's float down to Peru!”

The worst thing was, Roman had a surprisingly good singing voice, and Neo was doing everything she could to accompany him. She was clapping, clicking her tongue, stomping her foot in the rhythm, her eyes sparkling with joy. If Ruby didn’t know better, she’d say they both looked like normal friends on a road trip. Which was insane, because they were master criminals who should drink wine while plotting their next big hit whenever they had downtime, not act like people.

The song stopped. In a flash, Neo was next to her, tugging on her good shoulder, the scroll in her other hand, the music app open.

Ruby sighed and took it. She did her best to ignore Neo peering over her shoulder while she looked up a song.

The more time passed, the more she considered the possibility she was still in the Ever After and this was just one big hallucination.

—

The bitter taste of defeat did not leave Winter, even as she landed under the rain. It did not leave her as she filled her paperwork for her stay and aircraft. It did not leave her as she finally walked through the halls of Beacon to look for her little sister.

It certainly did not leave her when her sister opened the door to her dorm room, her eyes downcast.

Weiss looked like she hadn’t slept much. Her rapier was not at her side - a grievous oversight - and while her physical appearance was impeccable, her clothes showed the wrinkles of one who didn’t bother to change after a long day spent at the desk.

But worst of all, the barely contained joy her sister always expressed when she looked at her, the undeserved praise that only churned the guilt in her stomach, only flickered for an instant before being swallowed back in.

“Oh, Winter!” Weiss obviously tried to smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Despite everything, her social training still had a stronghold on her behavior. “I’m sorry, I… wasn’t expecting you.”

“Hello, Weiss.” Said Winter, her tone clipped. She had a whole conversation prepared, but as always, once in front of her sister, she didn’t quite know what to say. She relied on her usual observations. “Your room is darker than I expected.” The heavy curtains blocked out any ray of light that could have passed through the storm. Outside, the thunder rumbled.

Weiss hurriedly left the room and closed the door behind her. “My apologies, my teammate didn’t sleep last night, so I had to-“ Weiss cut herself off. “It’s not important. Why are you here?”

Shame locked her throat. “I am here for a mission. You don’t need to know more than that.”

“Oh.” Weiss deflated, but straightened quickly, her smile even more strained than before. “So… Can I help you?”

Winter hesitated. Weiss couldn’t, in the strictest sense. Her target escaped, and she even lost the tracker in the process. She was the one supposed to help her sister; not the opposite. All she had to do now was report to the general and accept whatever punishment he saw fit.

But looking at her sister… It was clear Weiss was miserable. Miserable enough that even Winter may be able to help her. She pushed through her own doubts and nodded, the words coming out with great difficulty. “Yes. Are you busy?”

Weiss looked over her shoulder briefly, then sighed. “No, I’m afraid.”

“Then pick up your weapon and come with me, so I can assess your progress.”

Weiss’ stare turned distant as she spoke with a small voice. “Alright.” She turned around, opened the door, and stepped into the dark room, careful not to make any noise, barely revealing her two sleeping teammates.

Winter cursed at herself. She'd been looking forward to this moment, to learn how her sister adapted to a normal life after she abandoned ran away left her, but now the few topics she brainstormed over many late nights were just more salt on the wounds. Did Weiss make any friends? Judging by her state, yes. And said friend left her.

At least, training would allow her to see if her sister was taking care of herself, a trait that was as absent from their family tree as the capacity to admit it.

A trait that, despite herself, she was never enough to compensate.

—

“Again.”

Ren and Jaune fired simultaneously, and Pyrrha twirled around, her arm raised, to intercept the bullet.

She missed one, hitting her shoulder. She hissed. “Again.”

“Pyrrha,” said Ren slowly, “I do not think this will work.”

“Again!”

With a sigh, he complied.

Pyrrha focused, her eyes narrowed. She needed to be faster. More precise.

Her semblance warped around the trigger, stopping Ren’s finger before he could fire. She was halfway through turning around toward Jaune when the bullet hit her. She barely registered the pain, overshadowed by the frustration. She put her arms in a resting position, then nodded.

“Again.”

She raised her arm, stopped Jaune from firing, turned around, her hand so close to the right position to-

She winced as Ren’s bullet hit her on the cheek.

Nora yawned from atop a pile of dummies. “That’s two hundred and forty-five for team guys, zero for Pyrrha.”

Ren lowered his weapon. “Pyrrha-“

She shook her head. “I almost had it!”

“No offense, but you told us that…” Jaune looked at the clock. “Half an hour ago. Let’s take a break.”

“But-“

“Team leader order.” Jaune smiled in his goofy, charming way. “Please? Come on, I’ve just been shooting and I’m already tired, you must be beat.”

Pyrrha bit back something mean. She wasn’t. She could keep going for ten more hours if needed, they were just too soft and weak for that kind of regimen. The simple fact she even thought like that made her stop and breathe.

“Alright. A small break, then.” She smiled awkwardly. “Sorry, I’ve been pushy.”

“Hey, it’s alright.” Jaune patted her shoulder as he handed back his weapon to Ren. “Gave me an excuse to try with guns.”

“Sooo, what did you think about Ren’s?” Nora jumped down from her new kingdom.

“Eh, they’re a little…” Jaune frowned. “I don’t know, I think I just prefer the sword.”

“Yeah, I get ya. It’s too delicate for the kind of heavy lifting I like to do.”

Run had a small smile. “They are precise.”

“Jaune and I are too meatheaded for that.” Nora passed her arm above Jaune’s shoulder and squeezed him against her side. Something popped. “We’ll leave the fancy smart precision to you guys.”

Pyrrha decided to help her not-crush before he passed out. “Jaune does the plans, right? That’s smart.”

“He does?!” Nora gasped. “Betrayal!” She pushed him away as Jaune did his best impression of a flying fish: Going up, then down with a crash.

“Ouch,” he said helpfully.

They all chuckled at his misery. They were good at pretending everything was fine.

“Anyway,” he groaned as he got up, “What do you wanna do?”

Nora raised her hand. “I’m going outside!”

Jaune nodded. “Figured as much.”

“You guys are joining me!”

Jaune opened his mouth - hopefully to disagree - then seemed to change his mind. “You know what? Why not. Might do us some good.”

Nora jumped, her eyes sparkling. “Really?!”

“Yes-“

“Meetyououtsidekaybye!” She ran before anyone could stop her. Well, Pyrrha could have, but she was too busy not thinking of who Nora reminded her of. Or rather, pretending Nora didn’t remind her of someone. Looking at her teammates, she could see they were all doing the same.

They were good at that.

An older man with blond hair passed his head through the door. “Hey, kids! Sorry to bother you, but do you know where I can find team RWBY?”

Chapter Text

“Ladies, welcome to Vacuo!”

Ruby startled awake and looked out the window. Outside, the sky was soft red, a far cry from the dark clouds she left behind in Vale. But, more importantly, where Vale had plains of lush grass, Mistral had dense forests and Atlas had snow, Vacuo had only sand. Sand as far as the eye could see, colored orange by the setting sun.

She forgot herself for a moment and basked in the view. The desert was huge, majestic in a way she’d never seen. The sand looked like an infinite sea, undulating but frozen mid-movement, as if it willed itself still to conserve its own beauty.

It was magnificent.

Surprisingly, she wasn’t the only one enthralled by the sight. On the other side of the plane, Neo was also looking through the window with a content smile.

Roman yawned. “Okay, not to put a damper on things, but I need to explain a few things.”

Ruby wrenched her eyes away from the desert to the less impressive sight of Roman. “You didn’t sleep?”

He scoffed. “It’s called fighting the jet lag, Red. Trust me, do the Vacuan escape two or three times and you’ll come to understand how it works.” Roman rolled his neck. “Anyway, do you know how Vacuo works?”

Ruby thought back to her own Vacuan escape. “Not really.”

“Well, here’s the gist.” Roman spread his arm wide open. “In Atlas, the Huntsmans are part of the government. In Vale, they’re subservient. In Vacuo, they are the only thing that can remotely look like one without the locals taking it down.”

Ruby blinked. “…What?”

“Vacuan are the rowdy sort.” Neo nodded appreciatively. Ruby didn’t like it. “See, they didn’t really like what happened in the Great War, and like any responsible adult, they blamed the people above them for their problem. So, they took down their government. Thing was, they didn’t exactly know what to do next.”

Roman counted on his finger. “They had a democracy - overthrown -, then a military dictatorship - overthrown - and after that I fell asleep in history class.”

Ruby had to give him credit; he apparently lasted longer than her. “So, what are they doing now?”

“Well, Vacuo has an official government that doesn’t do anything. The real power in town is whoever hires the most Huntsmen. Usually, that’s me.” Roman tipped his hat. “Sadly, I don’t want to make too many waves.”

Ruby frowned. “So why are you telling me this?”

“Red.” Roman got up and put his hands on her shoulders. She shoved him off. He continued, unperturbed. “There are no criminals here. The criminals are as legitimate as the ‘normal’ people, and the only reason said people exist is because it’s better business than robbing them blind.” He paused. “If you get in their way, they’ll hire all available Huntsmen to kill you. Which means, no second chance for me.”

“What about Headmaster Theodore?” She didn’t know much about the man, but he was one of Ozpin’s allies. She couldn’t really see Opzin be friends with someone so lax about justice.

Roman rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, Theo does his best and technically he’s the biggest player in town. The thing is, Huntsmen aren’t in to arrest criminals, they train to kill Grimm and have fun. So, despite what I’m sure are his best wishes, our dear headmaster doesn’t have an all-powerful reach.” Roman looked outside. “Besides, this is the Vytal Festival. Most Vacuan students and important people are in Vale right now, so, like every year, there’s a bit of a power vacuum. So, Red, I can’t stress this enough.” He punctuated each word by tapping his fingers to his temple. “Don’t. Get. In. Troubles.”

Ruby sighed. “Fine. I won’t go alone to beat up criminals.” These days were behind her anyway.

Wait a minute… She wasn’t fighting Salem anymore. In fact, these days might be closer than she thought!

Roman shot her a Look, and she sheepishly nodded. Alright, maybe the warning was a little deserved.

Still, what Roman told her painted a grim picture of her attempt to use Vacuo as a safe haven for the Atlesian refugees. She’d thought it would be… like Mistral, or Atlas. Sure, maybe not as advanced as Vale, but still somewhere a group of people could arrive unannounced and get food and shelter from the authorities. Now, it seemed like said authority would have robbed them just like Raven’s bandits.

Neo tapped against the window, then made a motion of drinking water.

“Beats me.” Roman shrugged. “All I know about that is, there once was an oasis, now there isn’t.”

“What are you two talking about?”

“Look outside. See the city?” Ruby joined Neo, careful not to jolt her own wounded arm, and sure enough, from the other side of the plane she barely could see the city of Vacuo proper. After Roman’s explanation, she expected some shacks and caravans ready to move out at a moment’s notice, more a collection of tribes than anything else, but instead the city looked solid, with real buildings. There was one odd thing, however.

“Where’s the water?” Ruby frowned. She wasn’t an expert on Vacuan cities, but she was almost sure a water source was necessary for them to, well, exist.

“That’s what I was telling Neo. See the Huntsman academy at the center?” She could, barely. It was a building much taller than the rest of the city, surrounded by - in comparison - short walls. It was also some kind of square pile, but she couldn’t see the details. “Once upon a time, there was an oasis there, then the war happened, and now there’s not.”

That she remembered. Her teacher talked about it like it was a big tragedy, and, at the time, it didn’t seem that important - so what, a lake of some kind vanished? Big deal. But now, she understood. “So how do they get water?”

Roman sighed. “I don’t have all the details, but there’s some kind of huge rivers a few hundred kilometers south. They’ve diverted a lot of them to go through the old mineshafts, so most of the water is underground. Look it up if you’re curious.”

While they were talking, the plane kept going on its way. Ruby noted that while they were relatively close to the city, they were still at least three hours away on foot at Huntsman speed.

Roman went back to the cockpit and used the radio. Ruby didn’t pay much attention to what was said, her mind too busy thinking about the water system. Without really thinking about it, she opened her scroll and looked it up.

She was so lost in the articles, she didn’t notice when Neo sat beside her and tapped her shoulder, an eyebrow raised. “Hm? What?”

Neo pointed at her scroll. Ruby looked back at it, distracted. “I’m just looking at the plans. Moving water is hard, you know? Water is heavy, like, very heavy, so instead of using pumps all the way, they made the water trickle down the mineshafts.” Ruby turned the scroll toward Neo, excited. “It’s super smart! They had to demolish a few tunnels to make sure the Grimms couldn’t get through, and then they just had to pump the water up from the mines to Vacuo.”

Neo seemed a bit taken aback. Ruby bashfully rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry. It’s just… I like seeing how things work.”

Neo nodded with… it wasn’t exactly a genuine smile, but it wasn’t far from one. At least she wasn’t weirded out, so Ruby took it as a win. Neo pointed at a schematic and drew a question mark with her finger.

“That’s one of the pumps,” Ruby said. Before long, she was back to pointing things out herself. “They couldn’t just put the river directly in the plumbing, so they made a lot of water towers alongside the road and in the city itself. Then, they had to make the river loop upon itself and-“  The plane began to point down.

“Neo, Red, pack your things.”

“What’s going on?” Instinctively, Ruby’s hand went to Crescent Rose, but Neo took her wrist in her hand and shook her head.

“Nothing to worry about.” Roman didn’t turn around to speak to her, so she assumed he was busy landing. “We’re just dropping off the plane to a few associates, and we’ll do the rest of the way on foot.”

She opened her mouth to ask a question, but before she could speak, Neo made an illusion in front of her.

It was a simple diagram, as she liked to do. A crude drawing of the world and the plane. She saw it go from Vale to Vacuo, then from Vacuo to the edges of Vale, then to Mistral.

“What?”

“Vacuo might be lax, but if Vale has solid enough ground to come knocking, they’ll fold. So, we need to get rid of the plane, and I found us a nice buyer in Anima.” Roman laughed. “Mountain of a man if I ever saw one, but at least he paid upfront.”

Mountain of a man? It couldn’t be… No, no, Ruby wasn’t fighting Salem anymore. Even if it was Hazel, it wasn’t her job to get involved.

She stilled her trembling hand. Not. Her. Problem.

“Also, Red, while I’m at it, are you a happy drunk or a crying drunk?”

She paused. Roman had a gift for whiplash, she’d give him that. “What?!”

“Well, moving around in the desert isn’t that hard, we can use our scrolls for direction. The problem is, you’re an angsty teen.” She could almost hear his smile. “And angsty teens are Grimm magnets. I’d rather not have a tour of the local fauna, so if we can get you to happy land before we land, I’ll take it.

Ruby was about to protest, quite half-heartedly, that she didn’t want to be drunk, but Neo of all people went ahead of her. She walked to Roman’s seat and tapped his shoulder before shaking her head.

“Neo, it’s either that or knocking her out.”

Neo clicked her tongue.

“So what, you’d rather take the risk she kills us all?”

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. Ruby could almost hear the ‘drama queen.’.

“Fine,” Roman grumbled. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

—

After taking their bags and weapons out of the plane and giving said plane to someone Ruby resolved herself to not even look at, they had to walk on foot to their destination. Any wonder she’d felt for the desert vanished the moment she realized how miserable it was to hike on. It was, at its core, just like walking on a beach: her feet sunk in the warm sand, and the wind kept blowing some of it in her eyes, whistling and whispering around her. The air carried not the scent of salt, but cool stone. It was both serene and intimidating.

It was also, strangely enough, cold. She expected scorching heat, but in the early evening, it was dropping to comfortably warm and soon enough as cold as Mistral’s nights.

The problem was the sand at her feet. Walking was painful because she sunk in the sand, and anytime she had to walk upward, she had to use walking sticks to even get a foothold. She found out the hard way that her arm did not like said walking sticks.

If there was any small solace, it was that Roman had to carry most of the luggage. Neo could have helped, but she seemed to like walking in the sand even less than Ruby.

However, for all her dislike of the terrain, whenever they were somewhere stable, like the top of a dune, Ruby felt… free. The sky was magnificent, with so many stars she’d never seen before, so bright and visible, as if a painter spent decades lovingly coloring each and every one. Without her baby on her back - and she dreaded seeing what the sand would do to it - and with a pair of goggles for the sand, she could see herself spending a lot of time walking around at night.

Then, a sound broke the monotony. Shifting sand.

“Stop.” She thrust her good arm to her side, stopping Neo in her tracks. “Don’t move.”

“What is it?” Groaned Roman. He was carrying the luggage on some sort of self-floating platform powered by wind dust, but his lack of sleep was taking its toll. Besides that, he still had to fight the wind.

“Don’t move.” Ruby looked around. “There’s a Grimm under the sand.”

“What?” Roman froze. “Where?”

“I’m looking.” She took out her baby and put it in sniper mode. She listened carefully for any more sound and… there. At the foot of the dune they were standing on, a small movement that she could barely see in the darkness. Behind her, Neo drew her parasol.

Minute shift in the sand. She brought her gun down and fired, the sound breaking the silence of the desert. Her bullet pierced the sand and a moment later, a Grimm erupted with a roar and geysers of sand. At its top were two mandibles protecting a small, already pierced head. The main body itself looked like a sinuous centipede, as big as a bus and twice as long, already climbing the dune at a brisk pace.

Ruby changed her ammo for explosive dust and shot it in the small, moving head, blowing up everything that was left. The Grimm fell, its momentum carrying it forward for a moment before dissolving in smoke.

She put back Crescent Rose in her portable form. “It’s dead. We’re in the clear.” For the first time in a while, she was calm after firing. There was a Grimm, she dealt with it, end of story. That was how things were supposed to be.

As she walked, a question mark appeared in front of her.

“It was a Pitfang.” She kept her voice low. It felt wrong to interrupt the quiet of this place more than she already had. “They make the sand collapse toward them, then they grab people and smash them on the ground or just cut them in two. Their head isn’t armored, but it’s small.” That, she remembered from one of Professor Port’s more improbable stories. “Grimm are really bad at sitting still, so they still need to move around sometimes. That’s how I heard it.”

Sometimes, a big size wasn’t the best advantage.

“Well,” Roman said flippantly, “at least it was weak.”

“Usually, other Grimm use them as anvil to their hammer,” Ruby said without stopping. “Most Huntsmen casualties in Vacuo are to them.”

They may be fragile, but their mandibles could cut an unaware Huntsman in two, aura or not. Even without that advantage, a Grimm burrowing you under mountains of sand was hard to deal with while fighting other threats.

“Vicious little buggers.”

“Yep.”

They walked in silence after that, trying their best to hear every single sound. It was just as well; Ruby liked the quiet night.

For a moment, she idly wondered how Yang would react to this place. She’d be in her comfort zone, no doubt. Heat had never been a problem for her, and she was more than strong enough to hike through the desert with no problem. Blake would probably feel right at home too - while she’d heard Menagerie’s deserts were more rocky than sandy, she couldn’t imagine Blake having problems with warmth.

No, the real one who would pest and complain would be Weiss. Between the sand in her hair, the harsh sun and the cold nights, she would be miserable. The only time she might be happy would be when looking at the night sky.

She missed them. That thought almost startled her. She missed her friends.

Did she make a mistake? She looked behind her. Roman looked tired, yes, but alive. Neo wasn’t moving with her usual confident stroll, instead, she was looking around her in wonder.

No. Ruby shook herself, trying to reignite the old anger. They were the ones who betrayed her, not once, but twice. She’d be a fool to trust them again, and besides, they would die soon. She just had to close her eyes, and the snow of Atlas came to view, Yang’s eyes as she accused her of leading them astray…

Between the fire of anger and the numbness of inevitability, she managed to ignore her doubts.

Then again… She looked around at the vast emptiness. Despite herself, she smiled.

Sand was much better than snow.

Chapter Text

Roman’s place, as it turned out, was not a scary hideout nor was it a bunker in the middle of nowhere. It was, in fact, a mansion about an hour on foot away from Vacuo.

From where Ruby stood, she could see the mansion had two to three stories, with a flat roof that doubled as a balcony on top. There also were what she assumed to be turrets at every corner of said rooftop. Then, as if it wasn’t enough, the mansion and its surrounding gardens were themselves surrounded by a large, tall metal fence. She suspected anything smaller than an adult Gheist would either be blown away by the turrets or simply fail to bypass the fence, and anything coming from above or below would face additional security measures she couldn’t yet see.

From the light coming from the window, she also guessed the place wasn’t empty. Roman didn’t look surprised.

“Roman?”

“Red?” Roman had seemed more and more exasperated as time passed, to the point where Neo took pity on him and handled the luggage herself. Now they both looked tired and annoyed.

“Do you really have a place, or are we stealing one? Because I’m not helping.”

Roman laughed. “No, no, we’re doing the opposite, truly!” Roman pointed at the mansion. “The place is mine, I bought it. The thing is, we’ve got a group of squatters. So, we are in fact retrieving stolen goods from the hands of petty thieves!”

“Really?” Ruby raised an unimpressed eyebrow. For some reason, she couldn’t quite believe Roman ‘buying’ something when he could just muscle his way in.

Roman didn’t answer. Neo yawned. She had a way to make it very theatrically loud despite her muteness. Ruby was almost impressed.

“Fine.” She’d figure it out quickly anyway.

Roman clapped. “Great! Let’s get a move on.”

They walked silently to the mansion. Either the clearly visible cameras weren’t linked to the turrets, or someone decided the three obviously armed strangers approaching weren’t threats, because none of the defenses even turned to aim at them.

Another point Ruby quickly came to appreciate about coming closer to the city was that the ground became more and more solid. It was probably the added humidity from the water, or just that the city itself had been built on more solid ground for obvious reasons, but either way, she really liked not sinking with each step. From Neo’s prancing and Roman’s accelerating cadence, she guessed they were taking it as well as she was.

Soon enough, they were at the metal fence, which was not only open, but the lock was also busted. Huh.

Roman shook his head. “Amateurs. Really, they could have just jumped it, it’s not that hard.”

Ruby thought about her uncle. “It is when you’re drunk.”

Roman nodded, as if to say, ‘That’s fair.’

They proceeded through the garden. It could have been a nice garden, Ruby thought, but time took its toll. What was not dead was overgrown with small, brown desert plants and despite the lack of light, Ruby saw two garden ponds full of a greenish muck.

The worst thing, however, was the noise. Loud music and people yelling blasted through the walls, poisoning the quiet she grew accustomed to in the desert. Worse, it was the sound of a party, which made her want to crawl back in her room and hide in her bed.

Instead, Roman did the civil thing and knocked on the front door, which was, too, busted.

Since no one answered, he then fired a warning shot made of explosive dust straight into the night sky. That did the trick and at least stopped the music.

Moments later, someone opened the door. Judging from his appearance and aura, a first-year at best, self-taught at worst. The boy was scruffy, with a stained shirt and annoyed glare that spoke volumes of his intelligence. Ruby might have been a little judgmental, but she was tired and full of sand, so she felt like she could allow herself this small pleasure.

“What?!” He barked.

“Good evening!” Roman put on his most charming smile, which Ruby now knew meant he was really annoyed and not at all amused. Seeing as the boy looked ticked off, it meant she wasn’t the only one who took said smile as a ‘kick me!’ sign.

As Roman spoke, Neo tugged on Ruby’s hand and stepped back, Ruby following suit. “I’m coming here because of noise complaints! I’m going to need you and your friends to turn down the music.”

The guy scoffed. “Piss off, man. There’s literally nobody around.”

“And yet here we are!” Roman really looked extra punchable.

“Look.” The guy’s tone turned condescending. “Let me give you some advice. There’s four of us, and we’re all second years, so how about you take you and your pals out of here before I call mine and we kick your ass good and proper.”

Roman’s smile didn’t waver. “A fine offer! However, counter-offer.” In a swift motion, he pointed his cane at the huntsman in training. “Boom!”

The bullet flew, and this guy really couldn’t have been the brightest because he didn’t even manage to dodge it. Instead, it hit him straight in his gut before blowing up, sending him flying back inside in a trail of smoke.

“Good.” Roman leaned on his cane and tipped his hat. “Well, ladies, our host clearly invited us inside. Let’s not make him wait.”

Ruby suppressed a smile a his antics, a prideful act Neo didn’t bother mirroring. Instead, she stepped in front of Roman and curtsied as if to thank him for keeping the door open before going inside. Ruby shook her head fondly, then she heard something impact a wall with a yelp of pain, and she remembered she just let Neo with what was possibly the worst second-year huntsman to ever walk the sands of Vacuo. She hurried inside.

Neo was not, in fact, fighting the same slowpoke Roman and Ruby saw - the guy in question being too busy loudly talking to another guy who looked a little more put together. No, she was simply dodging the two other members of the team, two girls who moved with agonizing sloppiness as they tried to hit Neo only to miss and hit each other. Ruby imagined what Professor Goodwitch would say to that, then banished the image from her mind. Some horrors were better left unseen. One of the girls was unsuccessfully using a curved, single-edged sword - a saif -, her slashing attacks hitting nowhere near the target. A small cannon mounted at the spine peppered Neo with small caliber - well, it would have, if they had hit.

Meanwhile, the other girl was doing her best with a battle axe of some kind, though it looked wholly uninspired. At least she could respect Professor Port’s double axe - the weapon looked simple but was deceptively complicated - meanwhile this one was really just a battle axe with nothing more to show for itself, as if it had been taken from a random armory somewhere.

With one last twirl, Neo deflected the axe and tripped the wielder while kicking Saif girl in the stomach, then somersaulted back to the entrance.

She looked at Ruby with a smug smile. She didn’t know how to interpret that one.

What she assumed was the team leader walked forward, ignoring his downed teammates. His aura looked marginally more controlled, which was not saying much. He spoke with a voice that tried to be gravely but only ended up sounding more childish. “What’s this all about?”

“Why hello!” Roman stepped forward. “You see, it seems like you took over my property while I wasn’t looking. I’m here to take it back, and because I like Red, I’m even willing to overlook this slight and only give you a good spanking before sending you to bed.” He turned toward her and smiled. “See Red? I can be nice.”

She didn’t dignify that with a response.

The leader rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes. Very scary. How about you let your bodyguards do the threats, weakling?”

Roman laughed. “Oh, cutting! Poor Neo, reduced to a bodyguard…” He shook his head. “Do you seriously think you have the slightest chance, kid?”

Ruby looked him up and down. The guy was tall and muscled, but she doubted he could hold a candle to Yang or Blake, which Roman very much did. That, and his weapon - two gauntlets with blades on the front - weren’t that impressive.

“Look, city boy. How about I cut you a deal?” Gauntlets smiled and put his hands on his sides. “If you can kick my ass in single combat, we’ll leave, no fuss. If you don’t, you get out and let us do our thing. How about that?” He looked behind him, toward his team. “See guys?” He mocked. “I can be nice!”

They laughed weakly, their eyes still on Neo. Frankly, they had no reason to look like that; Neo didn’t even hit them that hard.

“You know what kid?” Roman leaned on hush. “Congrats, you just earned yourself a free lesson in how to keep your mouth shut. Normally your dad should have taught you this, but I guess that’s the problem with sons of whores.”

“Just for that, I’m gonna break your legs.” Gauntlets put himself into a fighting stance. Ruby could see an opening she’d exploit, but it was the first sign he was actually a huntsman in training.

“Terrifying.” Roman didn’t move. “Go on then.”

Gauntlets lunged, his fist only hitting air as Roman leaned out of the way. Before he could recover, Roman hit him in the knee with his cane, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Roman stepped away and let him get up. “Well, well, well, a Vacuan dog biting the dust. Or is it the sand here? I can never keep track of your idioms.”

Gauntlets groaned and launched himself at Roman in what he probably hoped was a tackle, but Roman simply sidestepped him. Gauntlets landed, turned around, and immediately received a cane to the face for his trouble. Ruby winced. Yeah, that would hurt.

“Lesson one, kid. You see this thing in your face?” Roman hit him on the forehead. “See, here? That’s your eyes. You should use them.”

Gauntlets evidently didn’t listen because he tried to grab Roman’s cane. Roman let him do it, then shoot, the explosive dust bullet detonating straight against Gauntlets’s chest, sending him backward in a hail of smoke.

Gauntlets recovered mid-air and used the wall as support for another jump toward Roman, who rolled his eyes and sidestepped again.

Warier, Gauntlets approached in a boxing stance more similar to what Yang would use. He jabbed a few times toward Roman, bullets coming out of the space between the two narrow blades at the front of his hands. Roman parried them, but a few simply missed him, impacting the walls and stairs behind him. Apparently tired of this game, Roman went on the offensive.

It was a one-sided massacre, to the point Ruby wondered if Gauntlets had even passed the entrance exam. She was a first year and even she would kick his ass!

Roman didn’t even let Gauntlets defend himself, mercilessly exploiting every hole in his guard. Then, Gauntlets would overcorrect, making another hole, and Roman would exploit it again. It looked less like a fight and more like a beatdown. Meanwhile, Roman was still smiling and taunting, utterly in control. His friends moved to help, but a glance toward Neo was enough to dissuade them.

Privately, Ruby thought it was almost offensive how much his fighting style tried to look like Yang’s without any of its qualities.

Gauntlet’s aura broke and the boy fell on his knees, battered and bruised. Roman raised his cane for one last blow. “Class dismissed, kid!”

Before the blow could reach, Ruby moved. Petal burst flowed around her as she grabbed the boy, carrying him away from Roman and to his friends.

Roman stopped his blow before it connected with the tiles. “Really, Red?”

“He’s down already.” She let him down in front of his team and turned toward Roman. “You won.”

“Yes, but you see, he did damage my floor. And my walls. And my front door.” Roman cracked his neck. “Plus, he insulted me, and in this business we don’t let that fly.”

“He’s a kid!” Ruby pointed at Gauntlet. He was still breathing heavily and on his knees, while the first boy was fussing over his wounds.

“He’s an adult.” Roman leaned on his cane, not a hair out of place. “He’s also a Vacuan huntsman. He knew the risks.”

“That doesn’t make it okay to-“

“He’s the reason the house is trashed. Are you volunteering to clean everything up?”

Ruby felt something cold run along her back.

It was not dread at the idea of cleaning the house. It was a knife, accompanied by an arm around her throat.

“Really.” She looked behind her. Apparently, Axe girl also had a knife. She looked very angry, and very scared. A dangerous combination.

Now, were she a civilian, Ruby might understand the urge. She was small, her arm was heavily bandaged, and her guard was down. Seeing Roman’s ‘I told you so’ face and Neo’s overt amusement, she’d been the only one unaware of the threat behind her.

But still, she was carrying a really big gun, and arguing in their favor, and she had aura. At some point, would they get a clue?

She felt the old, simmering anger resurface. What was it with the people she wanted to help? Why would they be so stupid? She just saved their leader from a beatdown!

“What are you trying to do?” She said in an even voice. She wouldn’t let anger get the better of her. She wasn’t that kind of girl.

“You tell your friend to get the hell out, or I’ll stab you!”

“You know I have aura, right?” Sure, the knife was against her skin because she let her guard down, but she’d heal from the stab wound in a minute, and Axe girl wouldn’t be able to connect any following blow.

“My blade is coated with Acokanthera,” the girl seethed. “It’ll stop your heart in a minute. If you want to live, you’ll tell them to get the hell out!”

Oh, so smarter than she expected. Despite that, Neo and Roman kept a perfect poker face.

Ruby could technically just use Petal Burst to get away, but it was risky. She took a second to think, but her thought kept returning to why. Why. Why did she help these guys. Why did she help anyone, really? Atlesians were scum, Mistralians were traitors, Valeans were ungrateful and apparently Vacuan were snakes, so why did she keep putting her life on the line for them?!

Without realizing it, her anger reflected in her aura, letting her usually restrained reserves fill out to their full potential. Her aura, usually smooth, broke out in jagged spikes all around her. She felt the knife tremble even more against her skin, and had she looked at her, she would have seen Axe girl go white with fear. She gritted her teeth, the urge to turn around and smash her head against the ground growing with each passing moment, her fists tightened until her nails bit into her skin, and-

She took a deep breath, feeling the knife slide against her back. Then she closed her eyes and counted to ten.

“See Rubes? It’s not that bad. Now with me, in, and out. You’ll calm down in a minute.”

Once she was done, she opened her eyes, calm spreading through her like cold water on a summer day. She was fine. These were just kids in over their head, people were complicated like that. She didn’t need to take out her anger on them. She was better than that. She was fine.

Before she could react, something yanked Axe Girl’s knife from her back. Instinct kicked in; she wrenched herself away and spun around. Neo stood there, twirling the blade in her fingers, her usual self-assured smile firmly in place.

Axe Girl, meanwhile, had crumpled to the ground, clutching her wrist tight against her stomach.

Ruby winced. Aura or not, it seemed like Neo had broken her wrist. She felt both grateful and a little guilty.

She looked at her rescuer. “Neo, give her the knife.”

Neo raised a questioning eyebrow, then shrugged let it fall on the ground next to her.

“Alright kids, my patience is running thin.” Roman stepped forward, his cane tapping against the tiles. Despite his swagger, he was holding it rather tightly. “Take your wounded and leave, or Red unwilling, you’ll all end up in a ditch.”

The last two able-bodied nodded hurriedly and carried their friends outside, said friends groaning and crying in pain. The moment they passed the metal fence, Roman turned toward the girls.

“All in favor of cleaning this up tomorrow?”

Neo and Ruby nodded in unison.

Chapter Text

During their duel, Weiss didn’t summon.

Winter telegraphed a strike, wishing for her sister to parry it, but it broke through her weak guard and hit her shoulder instead. Winter ended her move with a shoulder check to push Weiss away, giving her more distance to reposition.

Weiss didn’t wince nor complain as she regained her footing, even if her grip tightened. She was poised, composed despite her labored breathing, and that focus on appearance cost her as Winter attacked. Once again, she telegraphed her move, and once again, Weiss missed it. This time, the blow hit her directly on the side of the head, dizzying her. Winter stepped back with a sigh and sheathed her sword.

They stood, silent, opposite to one another until Weiss got to her feet and her breathing under control. The silence stretched, uncomfortable, only years of training keeping Winter from shifting her weight.

What did her sister need to hear? Her mind drew blank. She didn’t know. Weiss was obviously distracted, but Winter could not help her with such problems.

Well, she could always start with a constructive review of her training.

“Your stamina needs work,” she said, her voice ringing through the empty training room. “The best way to remedy that is consistent practice and a steady diet. Are you still following the dietary plan I sent you last year?”

Weiss shook her head. “I did at first, but-“

“This is unacceptable.” No wonder she looked so thin. “You need to eat properly, otherwise-“

“I know, Winter!” Weiss spat through gritted teeth, scorn breaking through the calm. “It was detailed in the plan you sent me two years ago.”

Two years? But… She kept her expression carefully neutral in front of her sister’s hostility. It wasn’t uncharacteristic of her to lose track of time, but she knew she sent it before Weiss’ birthday, which should have happened three months ago.

Realization dawned on her. With all of her own troubles, she forgot her sister’s birthday. She did not call her, did not give her a gift, didn’t even send her a letter.

Should she apologize? No, Weiss would have demanded it by now if she cared. The most probable case was that she didn’t care for her blunder.

“…Be that as it may,” Winter finally said, “you are still distracted. No matter what happens, you should stay focused on the opponent in front of you. In battle, a single distraction can cause your death, aura or not.”

It was the sixth time she’d imparted this lesson to her today, and yet it didn’t stick. Round after round of combat, Weiss was still too distracted to fight properly. A Grimm wouldn’t have waited for her to recover, a White Fang member even less. Still, she was under emotional distress, so Winter did her best to put her frustration aside. Besides, the physical exercise should at least help her burn some of the stress associated with her teammate’s departure.

Winter put herself in position again. “Let’s try it once more.”

Weiss sighed almost imperceptibly and moved in her own fighting stance.

The door to the training arena opened. Winter immediately assessed the new threat.

The man in the entryway looked to be in his thirties, or something close. His blond, somewhat messy hair and ill-shaved beard spoke of little care of his physical appearance, a conclusion confirmed by his uncoordinated outfit. While his physical form and apparent aura indicated a Huntsman, or at least someone Huntsman trained, his posture was far too relaxed for a fighter.

He was, for all intents and purposes, a bum, and Winter sincerely dreaded he was one of the fabled teachers of this school. Whoever he was, she fully intended to spend time alone with her sister, and he was not part of the equation. She stared at him with cold eyes.

He appeared unbothered as he waved. “Hey Weiss. How are things?”

Her glare turned murderous. A stranger did not get to address her sister that way.

To her surprise, instead of rebuking his familiarity, Weiss turned around with a surprised smile. “Hello Mister Xiao Long!” That smile became strained. “My apologies, I wasn’t expecting you.”

“It’s alright.” He waved her off. “Wasn’t planning on taking the trip myself, but it seems Ruby is taking after my side of the family after all.”

Weiss didn’t seem to know what to say to that, so Winter took the lead. “I’m afraid we weren’t introduced, mister…?”

Taiyang smiled and walked to Winter, offering his hand for her to shake. “I’m Taiyang Xiao Long, the father of two of Weiss’ teammates.”

Winter’s opinion of said teammates lowered. She shook his hand. “I am Specialist Winter Schnee.”

The name seemed to mean something to him, because his grin widened. “I see. By any chance, wouldn’t you know a man by the name of Qrow? Short black hair, unshaved, stinks of alcohol?”

Embarrassing memories she’d rather bury flashed through her mind, some pleasant, some very much less so. Her grip on his hand tightened. “I know him, yes. Why do you ask?”

“Just to confirm my hunch. He was my teammate back in my Beacon days.” This man could not have given her a worse impression if he tried.

Weiss, sensing the tension, cleared her throat. “If I may ask, were you looking for something?”

Taiyang turned toward Weiss, his easygoing smile still present. The fact Weiss returned it made Winter hate him even more. “Well, I was looking for Yang, but I gathered she was sleeping?”

“You’re right, but..." Weiss tilted her head. "Who told you?”

Taiyang laughed. “Nobody, sorry. I’m just not hearing anything blowing up and she’s not answering when I knock on her room, so that doesn't leave a lot of options.”

Opinion of Yang Xiao Long decreasing further.

“Well, it wasn't urgent anyway.” He nodded toward the training area. “I saw you were practicing. Mind if I join you?”

“It would be impractical to practice in a group of three people.” Winter did not want to entertain this man for any second longer than necessary.

“How about I spar with Weiss first, then with you?” Once again, he ignored her hints of wanting him to leave them alone. “Qrow said you’re pretty good, so I’m curious to see what you can do.”

That flattery made a lot of conflicting feelings rise, and that moment cost her. Before she could ready her rebuttal, Weiss beat her to the punch. “I don’t think it would be very fair, you know? You’re retired, and Winter’s an Atlesian Specialist.”

“Then it will be a lesson in humility.” He rolled his shoulders. “Besides, old or not, I can still kick ass. Winter fought Qrow, she can back me up.”

Weiss looked at her, curiosity bleeding through her carefully constructed facade.

Winter hesitated, then nodded. At the end of the day, she had never been good at saying no to those eyes. “Fine.”

Besides, she was here to distract Weiss, and whether she liked it or not, even she wasn’t so dense she couldn’t see Xiao Long doing a much better job than she was.

“Weiss, can you walk me through the stretches they do here nowadays?” Taiyang removed his vest and tossed it onto a nearby bench. It landed on the edge, then fell to the ground. “I’m curious to see what changed.”

“Of course.” Weiss nodded and did just that.

It soon appeared that Taiyang, for all his bluster, was doing an admirable job pretending to be older than he was. While Weiss demonstrated the stretches, he often pained to match her in flexibility, grunting all the while.

“Lower.” Weiss was currently demonstrating one of the more common stretches, consisting of touching the toes of one foot with the opposite hand.

Taiyang grunted. “I’m trying.”

“More to the left.”

After a few seconds of efforts, he managed to hold the position, then stood up straight. “Damn. They didn’t have this one in my days.” He nodded at Weiss. “You’re really flexible, good job. Heavens knows how you managed to master those with Yang on your team.”

Winter wanted to bite back a retort - her sister had been adequate at best, and they both cared little for fake compliments - but before she could, she saw a brief smile flicker before her sister could suppress it. “Thank you. How about we start the match?”

Taiyang nodded, and before long, they were face to face, Winter on the sideline, ready to intervene at a moment’s notice. Weiss was frail and tired, obviously not ready for any real sparring match. Taiyang, on the other hand, had at least years of experience on her. He was also on the same team as Qrow, and as loath as she was to admit it, it did mean something.

Taiyang put his arms up. He wasn’t carrying any weapon Winter could see. “Alright, when you’re ready.”

Weiss immediately summoned a glyph behind him, too slow for it to take effect before he could run away… Or at least Winter assumed. Instead, Taiyang looked briefly behind him, too fast for Weiss to notice, and didn’t move out of the way.

The glyph went into action, gravity pulling him toward it, briefly disrupting his stance. Weiss wasted no time, a second glyph behind her propelling her forward in a single thrust. Once again, Winter knew what would happen, as Weiss grossly overextended. Taiyang had all the time he needed to get out of the way, use his own concealed weapon, or grab her mid-flight.

Instead, once again, he did nothing, and Weiss’ blow landed, Myrtenaster scraping against his aura, her momentum carrying them both through the glyph and to the outermost limits of the arena. Before Taiyang could fall, he caught himself and pushed Weiss back with enough force to make her at risk of falling out of bound.

“Nice one!” He grinned, his eyes sparkling. “It won’t work twice, but nice one!”

Weiss didn’t let any emotion show, but she stood a little straighter. “What do you mean, it won’t work twice?”

“You have a tell. I didn’t know what to make of it, but…” He tapped against his head. “You looked behind me and froze for a moment there. Best way to make that trick work is to have something else to distract your enemy.”

Weiss blinked in recognition. “Oh, I see. Something like…”

Taiyang shrugged with a smile. “If you happen to have a blond terror who loves punching things in your back pocket, it would do wonders.”

Weiss nodded, her expression serious. “I see. Thank you.”

She attacked again.

Over and over, instead of simply dodging so she could see her mistakes, he instead let the attack hit and countered only after Weiss fully finished her blow. More infuriating, he never took full advantage of her openings or the evident difference in physical speed, instead opting to use slow boxing moves Weiss seemed to already know well enough to see coming.

As far as self-improvement went, it was a terrible training session. Winter wasn’t impressed.

However, one thing that did impress her was the sheer variety of glyphs Weiss used, glyphs that she'd never tried against her. Fire and ice to make steam so she could send projectiles unseen, rock to build makeshift platforms or to grab her opponent, even a particularly nasty combination involving ice, fire and electricity which seemed to take Taiyang by real surprise. She used everything in her arsenal.

Why didn’t she do that against her? Why didn’t she show her how far she’d come?

Looking at this fight, it was clear Weiss was having a much better time against him than she had against Winter. It shouldn’t matter; fighting was not a hobby nor a sport, it was a way to keep herself alive, and yet, Winter couldn’t help but feel like he succeeded where he failed.

By the time they were done, Weiss having exhausted every bit of dust and aura in her arsenal, Winter was both infuriated and confused.

Weiss stepped off the arena floor, breathing heavily. Taiyang patted her shoulder. “Good match.”

Weiss nodded numbly. Before she could do anything else, Winter walked to her and gave her a bottle of water. “Drink.”

Weiss smiled gratefully, looking more at ease now than she ever did since Winter arrived. She quickly caught herself and schooled her expression to detached neutrality.

It stung.

“So, Winter.” Taiyang stretched his arms. He was sweating a little, but nothing major. “Ready to go?”

“Ready to go, or you’d rather I leave you to drown in that bottle, Ice Queen?”

Without saying a word, she stepped on the arena floor.

Chapter Text

Yang woke up as she fell asleep: tired. It was, as usual, her body telling her she pushed herself too far.

She opened her eyes slowly. The room was almost dark, with only faint sunlight peering through the thick curtains of the dorm room. Beneath her, she heard Blake, still asleep.

She felt dirty, which was a given, as she didn’t shower before bed, too exhausted to do anything but drag herself under the covers. She’d been so tired, she couldn’t even remember how she got back, or what happened to Penny, or if she had talked to anyone when she got back.

She groaned and sat up, the bed creaking beneath her. Urgh. Her hair was a mess, and she didn’t even want to know what her eyes looked like. But still, despite her heavy muscles begging her to stay in bed a while longer, she had things to do. Namely, shower and change clothes, then talk to the others.

She left her bed, careful to make just enough noise so Blake wouldn’t think someone was sneaking up on her, but not so much she’d wake her up. It was a delicate balance, but one she’d mastered quickly. Stepping down from the ladder, she found her way through the room, thankful for what little light the curtains allowed. She deftly dodged any stray clothes on the ground and entered the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

She winced the moment the artificial light hit her eyes. Yup, she was definitely behind on sleep. Blinking the pain away, she removed her clothes and stepped into the shower. What little energy she had left was almost drowned immediately by the hot water. Between the warm steam and the relaxing sound of water hitting the floor, she almost fell asleep again right here and there, and it was only by a monumental show of willpower that she managed to change the temperature from warm to cold.

If Yang liked hot shower, she absolutely loved a cold one, and this one was no exception. The water chased everything, the grime, the dust, the sweat and sleep, leaving nothing behind but the feeling of pure life cascading on her skin.

She was not one to waste that energy, so while she gave much-needed care to her body, she took a moment to slow down and think.

Taking stock of her options, things were looking better than they had when Ruby left. She wasn’t close to understanding her sister’s actions, but she now had a direct line of communication with her. She wouldn’t use it, not yet, but she at least had a way to contact her if needed. Just this little safety, this tiny anchor of hope in her chest, was enough to satisfy her. She did everything she could for Ruby, now she had to think about the others.

Blake was sleeping, and even though Yang had forgotten her scroll in her room, she could tell they were in the middle of the afternoon. That was not like her, so it meant she needed someone to get her out of her head, something Yang was more than used to.

Weiss, on the other hand, was another story, Yang pondered as she rinsed her hair. Weiss had always been the hardest to figure out emotionally for anyone whose name didn’t begin with an R and ended with Uby Rose. Usually, anything negative happening to Weiss was met with anger, with the only variant being its intensity, something Yang was more than familiar with. However, she was awfully close to Ruby, so there was no telling how she’d act to something truly hurtful.

Yang turned off the faucet. Well, one thing after the other. First, she’d wake up Blake, and then she’d handle the Ice Queen.

—

“Why is my dad fighting Weiss’s older clone?”

Waking up Blake? Easy, she was rather good at acting as if everything was fine, and unlike Yang, she wasn’t sleep-deprived. Finding Weiss? A bit harder, but a text on her scroll quickly gave her the information she needed.

Finding her dad? That wasn’t part of the plan.

Yang quickly pulled Blake inside the training room and closed the door behind her. Sat on a bench, Weiss was following the fight with eager eyes while drinking water from a small bottle.

“Scratch that. When did Weiss even get an older clone?”

Blake leaned against the door. “I think that’s her sister.”

“That’s Winter Schnee?!” Yang did a double take. Thankfully, her dad and Winter would sometimes stop moving long enough for her to get a good look at her. She looked tall, tired, and frustrated. It was as if someone had taken Weiss and said, ‘No, the stick up her ass is too small,’ then proceeded to extend it by a solid thirty centimeters.

Oblivious to her consternation, Blake walked toward Weiss. “Hey.”

“Hello.” Weiss briefly glanced at her. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll manage.” Blake sat next to her. “What’s going on here?”

Not one to be left alone, Yang joined them. “Hey. That’s my dad, right?”

Weiss turned her head toward Blake, ignoring Yang. “My sister is visiting, and so is Mr. Xiao Long. They are… training.”

In the background, a glyph of pure fire formed in front of Winter, scorching the entire arena. Whatever training they were doing, it had devolved into a real fight some time ago.

“And seeing as you’re not jumping with joy, I guess she didn’t find Ruby. Bummer.” Truthfully, Yang hadn’t hoped for much - Roman Torchwick had escaped from the authorities for years now, one lone huntress wasn’t going to make much of a difference.

That, however, caught Weiss’s attention. “What do you mean, she’s involved with Ruby?”

Before she could answer, another explosion rocked the arena, followed by the bell announcing the end of the match.

Taiyang, evidently, had lost.

—

“Ahh, that hits the spot!” Taiyang rubbed his stomach and sighed contently. “Nothing like eating after a good workout.”

In front of him were four girls - well, women - each sporting varying degrees of guilt and tiredness.

Strangely enough, it was far from the first time he was in this almost exact situation. Beacon’s cafeteria, eating after a solid session of training while his teammates did their best to avoid his gaze.

He looked around him. The place hadn’t changed that much. Apparently, they replaced the chairs with wooden benches, a choice he would have hated as a student and wholeheartedly approved as a teacher, both for the same reasons. Namely, it’s so much harder to use them as weapons compared to plain old chairs.

The few students eating in the cafeteria gave them a wide berth, due to, he was sure, the glare Winter gave to anyone trying to approach them. That, too, felt eerily familiar.

They sat in silence for a while, but Taiyang was patient. Weiss and Winter bore it quite well, and Yang was used to his stern gaze by now. Surprisingly, Blake broke first.

“We’re sorry about Ruby.” She said quickly.

He raised an eyebrow. “Sorry?”

She cringed back to her chair. She still wouldn’t look him in the eyes. “Yes.”

“What have you got to be sorry for?”

The question took her off guard. “For… Driving her away? Making her run?”

Yang continued with a whisper, her eyes downcast. “For not telling you?”

Taiyang nodded, then turned to Weiss. “What about you?”

Weiss, to her credit, looked him straight in the eyes. “We’re the reason she’s missing. I apologize.”

Clear, succinct. Clearly, someone who thought about the matter before speaking.

Finally, Winter. More as a joke than anything, he smiled at her. “What about you? Any deep regret?”

To his surprise, Winter briefly looked away before focusing on him. “I let Ruby Rose escape. I have no excuse.”

Yang slammed her hands on the table hard enough to shake it as she jumped from the bench. “You what?!”

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” Weiss sounded more surprised than angry.

“Yang. Weiss. Calm down.”

“But-“

“No buts.”

She balled her hands into fists and sat down.

Taiyang sighed and shook his head. “Well, I have good news for you all. First of all, I’m not mad.”

That didn’t seem to quell their worry one bit.

“Yes, you haven’t managed to stop Ruby from running away - one way or another.” He looked at Winter. “However, her actions are her own. You are not responsible for them.”

“But- She’s fifteen!” Blake sputtered, unsure. “Of course we’re responsible, we’re older than her!”

“No, you are not.” Before they could interrupt him, he raised his hand. “Ruby is, before anything else, your teammate and team leader. She’s your peer, not a child.”

“Bullshit. She’s my little sister.”

Fire met calm, Taiyang holding his daughter’s glare without blinking. “Yes, she is. She is also a huntress in training, just like you.”

“Are you saying we should just accept it?” Weiss spoke carefully. “That we shouldn’t feel bad?”

“So what, we should just let it go? He’s an asshole, Tai!”

He chuckled. “Sorry, it’s not you.” Good times. Oh, how many times did he have to stop Qrow from making mistakes he’d regret later. “You can’t control what you feel, so no. I’m saying you shouldn’t blame yourselves for the sake of it. You miss Ruby and you want to see her, focus on that.”

“But-“

“Weiss.” Winter interrupted her. “You cannot change the past. Blaming yourself for mistakes you made will not unmake them.” Her words sounded rehearsed, something she repeated time and time again.

He was too polite to ask questions, even if he knew the look well enough. Some demons were best left buried with the bodies of those they lost.

Weiss visibly bit back a retort and turned her head away. “Fine. So what do we do now?”

“Well, Winter only blew up half our lead.”

“Yang.”

“I know, I know. Sorry.” She took a deep breath, then smiled. “I have Ruby’s new scroll number. We can give her a call if we want to.”

“And we can track it,” Weiss continued, her arms crossed.

“That’s a great way to make her run away again. Trust me, I know.” Blake was still closed off. The teacher in him took a note to bring it up to Ozpin when he could, while the parent worried.

“Before any of that,” he said, “we need to figure out the problem. Obviously, she’s angry at us.”

“We already tried that.” Yang shook her head, her hair almost slapping Weiss. “We found nothing. The only time we messed up was when I went through her scroll.”

He raised an eyebrow.

She squirmed in her seat. “It was to find out what she was doing with Torchwick!”

“Alright, I believe you.” Her shoulders slumped with relief. “However, you will apologize the first chance you get.”

“Yes dad.”

Yang visibly noticed everyone was looking at her and quickly changed the subject. “What about you, Winter? Did she say anything?”

Winter hesitated. “She threatened to shoot me down and refused to comply, even under threat of force.”

“Under what?!” Team WBY was in sync. Taiyang almost shed a tear of pride.

“She had aura and a rescue team less than an hour away, there was no real risk.”

“Enough. We’ll get nowhere like this.” Taiyang spoke with his teacher’s voice, which had the intended effect of cutting off the fight before it could begin. “Girls, what do you think anger is?”

They exchanged confused looks, before Weiss hesitantly spoke. “An… emotion?”

“Well, you got me there.” Taiyang chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. “I meant more in the sense of, why anger? Why not sadness or joy? What is anger, deep down?”

“That’s easy.” Yang shrugged. “Anger is what pushes us to fight back. When we’re down, we get up because we’re angry, and we win.”

Blake visibly flinched away from her. Yang looked at her with a worried frown. “What’s wrong?”

“That’s not what anger is, Yang. That’s… That’s determination.” She took a deep breath. “Anger is when you want to hurt people. That’s it.”

“What? No!”

“Girls.” Taiyang cut them off. “One at a time.” He turned toward Weiss. “What do you think?”

Weiss hesitated and glanced at her sister before answering. “I… I think anger is something to control before it makes us hurt the people we love.”

Taiyang nodded. “I understand. Winter?”

“Why am I included?”

“Like it or not, you were the moment you ran after Ruby.”

“…Then I agree with Weiss. Anger is an enemy like any other.”

“I see.” He rubbed his beard for a while. “I think this might be the problem.”

They were young - well, except for Winter - and all suffered hardships. It made sense they all had this way of looking at themselves, especially as Huntresses, who could very well kill a civilian in a flicker of their wrist.

“I believe you’re all right, to some extent.” He looked at Yang. “Anger is what drive us to fight back.” She preened.

He looked at Blake. “It also makes us hurt others, including the people we love.” She barely hid a flinch.

He looked at the Schnee sisters. “Therefore, it must be controlled.” They both nodded.

“However,” he continued, “that’s not anger. That’s just what it makes us do.”

“You’re seriously going to let him get away with this? You’re weaker than I thought.”

“It was just some trash talk, I’ll be fine.”

“Fine?! By insulting you, he insults all of us!”

Raven never learned that lesson in the end. Then again, her worst enemy had never been anger; it had always been hope.

He shook the memory out of his head, then grinned triumphantly. “Anger is an emotional pain.”

They all glared at his joke without making a sound.

“To be more precise,” he said hurriedly, “when you get cut, you feel pain and you bleed. You feel pain because your body is telling you to move away from the pain. Well, that can be likened to fear.” He knew that from running away from his very daughters. “The urge to destroy the source of your pain - like smashing a bug biting you - is anger.”

“Where are you getting at?” Winter spoke, her voice cold.

Taiyang felt himself sweat. Damn, she could really put on pressure when she wanted to. “Anger can’t exist without pain, just like fear. When we can’t run away, we turn to anger to fight back.” He turned toward Yang. “That’s why you get up when you’re angry. It’s because you can’t - or won’t - run away, so there’s only one solution.”

She shrugged. They both knew she’d always been like this.

“What I’m getting at is, Ruby was hurt. Maybe it’s not even by any of you, maybe you were just reminders of this pain, but she was hurt. And since she couldn’t run away, she defaulted to anger.”

“This seems like baseless conjecture.” Weiss glared at him. She was doing her best to be polite, but his words clearly struck a chord. “Unless you have information we don’t, how does this help us?”

“It helps us because we cannot talk to her if we don’t understand her. If we do, we’ll just drive her away again.” He turned to Yang. “By the way, I won’t ask how you got her number, but great job.”

Amusingly, she seemed struck between pride in the compliment and the realization she’d been caught. “Oh, err… You know me, just working the old Xiao Long charm?”

“That’s my girl.” He turned back to Weiss. “As for your first point, Weiss, it’s because I did the same as Ruby once.”

“What?” Blake blinked. “You too? But you seem so…”

“Calm?” He chuckled. “I’m just naturally patient. It doesn’t mean I don’t hurt when things don’t go my way, or when I get stuck mediating between three hotheads for a year straight.”

He loved his team, he always did. His time with them would always be some of the happiest in his life.

But sky above, the dormitories almost pushed him to kill them in their sleep.

“You never told me this.” Yang looked offended. “You ran away from school when you were a teen and you never told me the story?!”

“Hey, calm down. You never needed encouragement to do stupid stuff and I wasn't going to put ideas in your head. Besides, it’s boring.”

“Boring?! How could it be boring?!”

“It is.” He nodded with a smile. “The long and short of it is, I didn’t feel appreciated or listened to. I felt like the members of my team didn’t care about me as a person, that all that mattered were my grades and taking their side in whatever argument of the week. So one day, I was so pissed off I took my things and left.”

A wave of unease spread to the table, especially toward the Schnee sisters. Well, this only confirmed what he guessed in the training room.

“…What happened next?” Yang, ever the impatient one, spoke. Years may pass, but she’d always been the little girl who loved his stories.

“As you can guess, my team went to look for me. My teammate found me, we fought insulted each other, fought some more, and only when we were both bleeding in the forest like idiots did we really talk.”

Ah, Raven. Looking back, this was when he fell in love. When she sneered at him for making her worry.

She’d never been the caring type, outside and inside, but that day, he realized it didn’t make her cold. She was just as human as anyone else, she just didn’t know how to show it.

“…So how does that help us?”

Ah, youth. “Well, when you’re wounded, what do you do?”

“We… Go to the infirmary?”

“I study.”

“Only you, Weiss. Only you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?!”

“Do not berate my sister for her academic pursuits. You should follow her example.”

“And you should have followed Ruby, but hey, guess we’re all-“

“Children.”

A cold voice interrupted them. A voice that did not come from Taiyang, who was about to speak.

He turned around to see an old friend. “Glynda!”

“Hello, Tai.” She briefly nodded.

Yang paled with the universal horrified expression of 'My dad and my teacher know eachother.'

“Miss Goodwitch.” Winter rose and shook her hand.

“Winter. A pleasure to see you so soon.”

Weiss paled as well, an impressive feat considering her skin tone. Her expression mirrored Yang's.

Like any predator, Glynda sensed weakness and turned toward it. “From what I gathered, you all have classes in ten minutes.” Her tone was as strict as he remembered. “While I am willing to make an exception due to your circumstances, you seem energized enough to go to said classes. Am I wrong?”

“No!”

“Yes!”

They all spoke at the same time.

“Figure this out in your dorm while we talk.” She turned around. “Winter, Tai, how about we catch up?”

Taiyang glanced at Winter and raised an eyebrow. She imperceptibly shrugged and followed Glynda.

“Well, kids, duty calls-“ By the time he turned around, they were already gone.

He chuckled. Smart kids.

Well, this wasn’t so bad. After all, all they had to do was wait for the wound – whatever it was – to heal.

And hopefully, it wasn’t infected.

Chapter Text

Ruby would like to say that she went to bed and fell asleep immediately, tired of the journey. Well, ‘bed’ wasn’t exactly the word she’d use, since she just balled up some of her clothes in a hopefully clean corner and slept on that. She did have a bed in the room Roman gave her, but, well, it was stained.

She wasn’t about to sleep in a stained bed in a room where four teenagers slept. Ew.

Then again, the problem wasn’t the bed. It also wasn’t the usual paranoia, even if there was plenty of that. No, it was simply that she wasn’t tired.

She tossed and turned, her eyes stubbornly closed. She wanted to sleep, it was the middle of the night, and yet she was full of energy.

Roman’s comment about not sleeping was proving itself to be annoyingly accurate. She tried counting sheep. Then she tried counting Grimm. She counted too many, so that didn’t help much.

With a sigh, she stood up. If she wasn’t going to sleep, might as well explore the house. It’s not that she didn’t like her room, it was big and spacious, but it was also full of dust, webs, and empty food packages. Besides, she was restless.

She walked downstairs. The hallway, just like the house, was made out of stone that was strangely cold to the touch. She’d read that houses in Vacuo were built with the purpose of absorbing the cold during the night and redistributing it during the day, and it seemed accurate.

Getting used to said cold was another matter entirely, but she’d manage.

She wasn’t surprised to see light coming from what was once a well-furnished kitchen. Neo was sitting on one of the few intact chairs, absorbed in her scroll.

“Hey.” Ruby waved at her. It felt weird to see Neo in her downtime, just sitting in a shared living space. In fact, what did Neo even do in her downtime? She knew she had a sadistic streak and was a criminal, but surely she had hobbies? Friends? Then again, who could really like spending time around someone like her? Outside of the fact that she would hurt you just because it was fun and that she was a professional criminal, Neo was just infuriating on purpose.

Uncaring about her musings, Neo distractedly waved at her, eyes still focused on her scroll. Ruby walked behind her to see, and surprisingly, Neo didn’t use that opportunity to attack. She was playing a chess game of all things.

Ruby was a little familiar with chess. Once upon a time, she had asked Ozpin to teach her so she could beat Weiss. It hadn’t worked because Weiss was a demon at that game, but she had the basics, and could clearly see Neo was pretty much at her level.

Uncomfortable with the silence, she spoke. “You can’t sleep either?”

Neo made a ‘so-so’ sign with her hand.

Ruby sighed. “Say, you can make your illusions speak, right?”

Neo made a thumbs-up.

“And you can write on your scroll or whatever?”

Another thumbs up.

“So why don’t you do that instead of using your hands?”

Neo finally looked at her and tilted her head with an infuriating smile, blinking fast, before looking at her scroll again. Besides making Ruby feel like an idiot, she hadn’t done much to answer the question.

She suppressed her frustration. “If I beat you at chess, will you tell me?”

Neo tilted her head at that, as if thinking about it… Then shook her head. She still waved her arms and made an illusion of a chessboard in front of her, complete with normal pieces. She was white, of course, and moved a pawn first.

Ruby sighed again, but walked around the table, found another chair that wasn’t structurally compromised, and sat down. She had blurted that out without thinking, and now it was time to put her money where her mouth was. Tentatively, she held up a pawn; Neo’s illusions were weird to the touch, like picking up pieces of smooth glass. Still, they were real enough for the game. She moved it forward.

A moment later, Neo played her own move, and the game was on. Ruby let her elbows rest on the table, focused on the board. True, it had been a while since she’d played, but she should still remember the basics. The first step was to control the center, the second was to think about every enemy piece before moving her own. Easy.

Neither of them were great players, they were barely decent. Ruby was overly cautious, refusing any bait or trade not to her immediate advantage, while Neo herself moved carelessly, so focused on the offensive she neglected a few holes in her defense Ruby was quick to try and exploit.

Fortunately for them, chess games must always move forward, and so Ruby took her first pawn. Neo didn’t emote at that, purely focused on the board.

They traded pawns like that until Ruby noticed a pattern. The first pawn Neo used to capture was a knight, and ever since, she had been doing everything she could to keep it out of harm’s way. Ruby even proposed an equivalent exchange, leaving one of her pieces ripe for the taking if only Neo sacrificed her knight, but that was the one line Neo refused to cross.

The midgame drew to a close with Ruby having a slight advantage due to Neo effectively fighting with one less knight.

Sensing an opportunity, she sent her rook forward to check Neo’s king. With a dramatic move of her arm, Neo moved her king, revealing the queen behind it, ready to put Ruby’s own king in check. Her only option was to sacrifice a bishop to stop the rampaging queen. Neo smugly took it, pride radiating from her like a beacon.

“Okay, what is it with criminals and chess?” Ruby muttered. “You’re all so dramatic.”

An illusion of a single red petal fell on Ruby’s king.

“Seriously?”

Neo looked to the side nervously and produced a cup of tea she held out to Ruby as an 'apology'.

“That’s not even funny.”

Seeing as she didn’t take the cup, Neo sipped from it with exaggerated smugness, even lifting her little finger as she did. A second later, she gripped her throat in shock and fell from her chair before draping an arm over her head and slumping down.

Despite herself, Ruby giggled. “You’re horrible.”

Neo opened her eyes and grinned, then jumped on her chair again. Apparently done with the illusions, she was back to focusing on the game.

A few moves later, Ruby had a fork, which meant she could either take Neo’s queen, or the knight she had been protecting since the beginning of the game. With a tear in her eye, Neo moved her queen away. Triumphantly, Ruby advanced her second rook and took Neo’s last knight.

Neo put her hand against her chest and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. Ruby was almost sure she didn’t have a moment before.

“Seriously?” Ruby looked at the board, lost. “What was up with this knight anyway?”

Neo gasped and stood on her chair, pointing at Ruby accusingly, as if she had done some great fault.

“…I’m sorry?” She bashfully rubbed the back of her head.

Neo nodded firmly and sat on her chair again. On the wall behind her, a picture frame with a picture of a white knight piece covered in blood and black fragments. Underneath it was a small metal plate with the words ‘Sir Knightly the First, Great Slayer of Pawns, Dead in service of his Queen, will be remembered.’

Ruby blinked. Read the plate again. Looked back at Neo who was now wearing a funeral gown. Read the plate again.

…She was having way too much fun with this.

The game slowly drew to a close, with both Ruby and Neo left with only a bishop and a king. After two minutes of back and forth, they concluded the game wasn’t winnable after all.

“Draw?” Ruby thrust her hand forward.

Neo nodded and shook it. Then, with a wave of her arm, the board reformed, this time with Ruby playing the white pieces.

Ruby nodded without thinking. “Okay, round two. I’ll get you this time.”

—

An hour later and one singular win under her belt, Ruby was getting tired of chess. Especially since Neo had won twice, and if her smile got any more smug Ruby was going to do something she’d regret.

On the wall, Sir Knightly had been joined by Sir Pawn-y the Phony - remembered for promoting into a queen and getting taken immediately afterward, a blunder that ensured Ruby’s defeat in their second game - and the remnants of a chair she threw after Neo made a joke that was in particularly bad taste. At least she made clear the topic was off-limits.

Ruby stretched. “I’m hungry. Do we have something to eat here?”

Instead of answering, Neo opened the map on her scroll and a few taps later, turned it around. Turns out they were only two hours away from Vacuo itself on foot. Well, two hours at civilian speed; with her semblance, Ruby could easily arrive in ten minutes.

“I mean, I can get there quickly, but what about you?” Wait, what did she mean, what about Neo? Shouldn’t she be glad to get rid of her?

Neo pointed at Ruby, then mimicked someone running with two fingers, then acted as if she was holding cutlery to eat.

“You want me to bring us food?”

Neo nodded with a grin.

“No.”

Neo pouted without a grin.

Ruby rolled her eyes. “If you want, I can bring you with me.” It wouldn't slow them down by that much.

For the first time in a while, Ruby felt like she actually surprised Neo. She raised an eyebrow and pointed at her arm.

“It’s fine, I won’t be running. Or carrying you.” Petal Burst had two main uses: physical speed, which Ruby often relied on when she fought, especially since she went back in time, and the weird no-mass thing that she could apply to multiple people. But, as she was too lazy to explain, she relied on the simpler explanation. “Just trust me on this. Besides, it’ll be safer in case a Grimm wants to have a snack.”

Neo made a stabbing gesture.

“If I don’t shoot it first, sure.”

She nodded with a grin.

Chapter Text

If one was awake in the middle of the night in Vacuo - which was more common than one might think, as Vacuans tended to sleep during the middle of the day and be active late into the night -, one could have seen a red blur zooming through the desert dunes at speed usually best reserved for vehicles and not red blurs.

Ruby didn’t really think about that, too busy savoring the thrill of speed while doing her best to keep Neo safely inside Petal Burst, a task harder than it seemed at first glance. When traveling with other people, the main problem was that any stray thought could steer the whole cloud of petals in any direction, which mostly meant that Ruby had to wrestle with every stray thought Neo had to keep them on track. For most people she’d travelled with so far, it had been as easy as just applying a steady flow of aura and will. However, Neo was a different beast: she would think nothing of their surroundings yet suddenly feel an urge to go see what was behind that dune, to take a dive in an oasis they could barely see on the horizon, or go kill a Grimm that could just as easily have been a trick of the light. Then, a moment later, back to nothing.

But at last, some time later, they were in view of the city and Ruby could finally let go of her semblance. She stumbled for a few steps, her body readjusting to having legs again, while Neo seemed unbothered, landing softly next to her, Hush in its parasol form. After dusting themselves, they walked inside the city proper.

To Ruby’s surprise, it was more animated than she’d thought. People were walking around, and some stores and restaurants were still open. The streets were nicely illuminated, soft lights reflected on the hard sandstone pavement. The citizens themselves looked wary, tough and dirty. The majority had a weapon visible on their person, and no one was foolish enough to openly carry anything easy to steal like a handheld bag.

While they were walking down the streets to find a place to eat - a somewhat difficult task as Vacuan cuisine was an experience best shared with many people and Ruby very much wanted to eat alone – she heard air moving above her.

Before she could react, Neo was already moving, Hush protectively deployed above their heads. There was a thud, then a yelp, then a second thud as a small body fell on the pavement.

“Ow…”

While Ruby was somewhat stunned, Neo walked toward the person on the ground and lifted them by the scruff of their shirt, tilting her head inquisitively, her index on her bottom lip.

“Hey, lemme go!”

The person in question was a child, apparently a girl about, what, ten years old? Eleven? Ruby wasn’t really sure, but the main thing was, she seemed way too young and aura-less to jump off buildings. She was wearing a torn-up shirt and trousers that may have been clean one day, the ensemble completed with shoes bulging under the strain, obviously too tight for the feet inside.

She reminded her of Blake, with her dark scruffy hair and sharp eyes, and the Faunus ears on her head that Ruby assumed were of a feline of some sort.

While she was still recovering from the fact that it was now raining children, Neo pinched the dirty cheek of the girl she was still holding up. The girl turned her head around and bit her finger, sharp teeth scraping uselessly against aura. Neo raised an eyebrow, a small smile on her lips, before taking her finger out of the girl’s mouth mouth and flicking her on the forehead.

The girl yelped. “Owch! Lemme go already!”

She was speaking with a weird accent too. Ruby finally shook herself and walked next to Neo. “Hey there. Are you okay?”

Her eyes turned to Ruby, and her face morphed into one of sadness and hurt. “N-no…” She sniffed. She pointed at Neo. “She hurt me!”

Neo raised an unimpressed eyebrow and flicked the girl on the forehead again. Immediately, the tears were gone. “Ouch! Stahppit!”

“Neo!” Ruby took the kid out of Neo’s hands and put her down. “Stop hitting her!”

Neo sighed, but did not flick her a third time.

“Better.” Ruby turned toward the girl with a smile. “Are you okay - what are you doing?”

Using the momentary distraction, the girl was rummaging through Ruby’s cloak. Caught in the act, she froze. “Er- I’m not doing anything!” She pointed at Neo. “She started it!”

Ruby flicked the girl on the forehead, careful not to use any aura.

“Ouch! Why?!”

“For lying, that’s why. Didn’t your parents tell you that lying is bad?”

“Pfft.” The girl crossed her arms. “They taught me to be big and tough!”

“…Right.” Before Ruby could continue, Neo tugged on her shoulder and pointed at her stomach. “We’ll go find something to eat later, Neo,” she said, not taking her eyes off the little terror. “I want to make sure she’s alright first.”

Neo rolled her eyes, but waited.

“What’s your name?”

“What’s it to ya, huh?!”

“I’m worried.” She really was. Aura-less children shouldn’t jump off buildings, they could seriously get hurt. “Do your legs hurt? Where are your parents?”

The girl blinked, tears welling up in her eyes again. Neo walked behind her and imitated her, crying crocodile tears too.

Ruby blinked, then chose to ignore her. The girl caught on, however, and turned around. “Are you making fun of me?!”

Neo paused, then nodded. The girl moved to kick her in the chin, but before she could, Ruby grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back. “Neo, stop antagonizing her.” The girl smirked, and before she could say anything, Ruby spun her around so they were face to face. “And you, stop being difficult. You just fell off a building.”

“Pfft.” She blew a strand of hair out of her face. “It’s nuthing.”

“Okay.” Ruby tucked the girl’s hair behind her ear. “We’re still going to make sure you’re alright and bring you to your parents, alright?”

A glimmer passed through the girl’s eye, too quick for Ruby to catch. “Fine! You follow me?”

Ruby nodded. Neo grabbed her shoulder again, but Ruby shook her off. “We’re just taking a detour. Besides, maybe we’ll find a place to eat on the way.”

Neo paused, raised her eyes to the sky, then finally shrugged and followed suit.

They were just returning a kid home, what was she worried about?

—

“What the fuck Daliah?!”

The child - Daliah, apparently - had taken them through the maze of Vacuo’s streets for what felt like an eternity, absolutely confident that she knew the way. Ruby suspected she didn’t, but she didn’t want to burst her bubble, so she followed.

After quite some time, she brought them all to a rundown building that made Roman’s run-down manor look positively well-maintained. And in front of that building, wearing hoods too big for them, were three people armed with bats and chains.

Ruby didn’t like how they were talking, so she grabbed Daliah and pulled her behind her. “Hey, language. She’s a kid.”

The guys looked at her as if she was an alien. “Yeah? And?”

“And you shouldn’t swear around kids?” She looked at Neo for support, but Neo ignored her, twirling her parasol around. Figures.

“You know what, just- just scram.” The bigger one, a woman so covered in scars she looked like she used her knife to do her makeup, walked forward. “Daliah, you know you’re not supposed to bring people here.”

Daliah stuck her head out from behind Ruby’s back. “But they’re loaded, look!” She opened her hand revealing a handful of crumpled liens inside. “See?!”

Ruby quickly took the liens and shoved them back in her pocket, outraged. “Did you just steal from me?!” She twisted her head to look down at the girl who couldn’t quite meet her eyes.

“I mean, yeah?” She twisted her hands together.

“That’s bad, Daliah! You shouldn’t steal from people!”

The scarred lady tried to use the opportunity to take her bat and hit Ruby with it. Ruby saw it from the corner of her eye, but didn’t move. She had to make a point.

The woman swung with all her might, and the bat broke against Ruby’s head, splinters of wood flying all around as the top broke and twirled through the air before falling somewhere next to her.

Not breaking eye contact with Daliah, Ruby spoke. “This conversation isn’t over.”

“Shit, it’s a huntress!”

Before the situation escalated, Ruby turned around and gently punched the woman in the stomach, careful not to do any serious damage. She didn’t want to hurt someone without aura too badly.

The woman coughed and fell to her knees. “You shouldn’t try to hit people like this, you know? That’s bad.” She heard someone running off. Well, time to do her best Yang impression. “Daliah, you stay right here.”

Turning around, she saw the universal tone of ‘you’re in big trouble now’ had worked wonders on the little fugitive.

Now, to deal with the criminals – whom Neo had already taken care of. She was, in fact, kicking them while they were down.

“Neo, stop kicking them.”

Neo pointed at Ruby, then at her leg, then made a swinging motion.

“No I don’t want to kick them, what’s wrong with you?!”

Neo made a big circle with her arms.

Ruby pinched the bridge of her nose. “Right.” She raised her voice. “Daliah, come here.”

Before long, the girl was back in front of her. “What?”

“Daliah, that’s not your home, is it?”

“Is too!” She crossed her arms. “That’s where I sleep!”

Concerning. “And where are your parents?”

Daliah hesitated. “In…side?”

“Are you lying?” More Yang in her voice.

She lowered her head. “…yes.”

No one said anything for a while.

“So?”

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” The woman on the floor had recovered enough of her wits to speak. “She doesn’t have any! She works for us!” She spat on the ground. “Used to work for us I mean. Don’t show your fucking face here again.”

“What?! Why?!” Daliah stomped her foot on the ground. “I didn’t do nuthing!”

“Because you bought a huntress here you bloody idiot!”

Ruby noted the hypocrisy of a normal woman who just tried to attack a huntress with a normal bat, but chose to stay silent. No need to be all Neo and kick her while she was down.

“But- but!” Daliah stomped her foot again. “That’s not fair!”

“Too bad!” The woman scoffed and got on her feet, wincing. “Hey, huntress, how about it? We give you the girl and we say nothing happened, deal?”

Ruby blinked. “You’re not talking to the right gal.” A scream echoed from the building. “Neo’s already inside.”

—

A moment later, Neo emerged from the rundown door, looking like the cat who killed the canary and got to eat it in a three-course meal.

Ruby was waiting for her, her back against a nearby wall. Ever since Daliah had been ‘fired’, she hadn’t left her side. Ruby expected her to be quiet or sad, but instead she kept talking to her. Ranting, even. Ruby had tuned her out after the third insult because she was both horrified and somewhat ashamed that a ten years old knew more swears than she did.

Daliah had insulted her, the building, the woman - everyone called her ‘Scar’, apparently, which Ruby thought was pretty rude -, Ruby again, Neo, her mom, her dad, her ears, her luck, the moon, and on and on.

Thankfully, Neo was back. Ruby met her eyes. “You didn’t kill anyone, right?”

Ruby had a feeling she wouldn’t, which is why she hadn’t intervened, but in insight... Neo nodded, seemingly very proud of herself.

Relief flooded through her, tainted by a smidge of doubt. “…What did you do?”

She made a kicking motion.

“You just kicked them?”

Neo nodded. Then pointed at her pelvis.

“Oh.” Ouch. That would hurt like hell.

Well, they were using kids to pickpocket, so Ruby felt safe in putting them in the ‘evil’ category of people. Like the White Fang at Beacon.

Neo pointed at Daliah and wrote a question mark in the air.

“Well, we can’t just leave her there.”

Neo shook her head in a way that said ‘yes, we can.’

“No, we can’t.”

“You can’t? I mean, yeah, you can’t!" Daliah crossed her arms. “It’s your fault I’m in trouble!”

Neo nodded, apparently satisfied. Ruby didn’t get why the literal child logic worked on her where basic human decency failed, but she’d take it.

“Alright Daliah.” She smiled at her. “How about we go eat something?”

Chapter Text

Cinder Fall was not angry. As she paced around in her room, she was livid.

Roman had used her virus, and now the whole tournament was delayed by three days for ‘security reasons’. Cinder was no fool, she knew what that meant: one of the most important parts of her plan was compromised.

This was not supposed to happen because it could not have happened. No one, including Emerald and Mercury, knew about the virus. Cinder had kept it to herself, conscious that their loyalty, especially Mercury’s, wasn’t assured; yet, Neo stole her scroll before vanishing, Roman’s bullhead was gone from the warehouse distric and Atlesian technicians were working around the clock in the CCT to destroy her best weapon.

She bit her thumb, allowing herself a rare moment of vulnerability in the privacy of her room. This was bad. Really, really bad. She still had a strong grip on the tournament system, which meant she could fix the matches and do her speech, but the Atlesian military would not turn against itself during the attack, removing one of the key parts of the chaos. 

A stray, traitorous thought suggested she contact Watts, but she stomped it out. He’d only helped her because of Salem’s orders, and there was no guarantee he was even able to reproduce his trick a second time. No. She was alone.

At least, three days gave her more time to prepare.

—

“That’s good, right?” said Daliah with her mouth full.

“No speaking with your mouth full.” Ruby bit in her own Flammenkuche. When looking for a place to eat, Daliah had excitedly said she ‘knew a place’ and guided them through the labyrinth of Vacuo once more. This time, the destination was not a criminal hideout, but a small Valean place almost deserted at this time of the night. The wooden tables and flowerpots strewn about gave it a homely feeling Ruby didn’t expect to find in the stone building.

But now that they were eating, a problem was presenting itself. What to do with Daliah?

Of course, Ruby couldn’t abandon her. It was unthinkable, impossible. She was not leaving a child - even one who tried to rob her - alone in Vacuo. She'd rejected that option the moment she thought of it.

However, she also couldn’t let a child around her. She would be a fool to not see the signs: Ruby was bad news, a weapon destroying everything around her. Neo and Roman were fine, they could take care of themselves and, if Ruby was honest with herself, they had a sufficient amount of sin on their back she wouldn’t feel that bad about taking them to the grave with her. But Daliah? She was a somewhat innocent child. She didn’t deserve to be there when Ruby would inevitably fail her.

Ignorant of her thoughts, Neo was munching on her own slice with an appreciative smile.

“Enjoying your meal, sweetie?” The old lady who took their order sat at a table next to them, a cup of warm coffee in hand. It looked like even in Vacuo, there weren’t many clients at this hour. She was thin, with curly gray hair and a warm smile. 

“Yup! It’s the best!” Daliah devoured another slice. 

Ruby took a bite, savoring the cream and onions. “I’ve never eaten something like this, that’s for sure.” It looked like a pizza, but with extremely thin crust, covered in mushrooms, onions and very short and thin bacon slices. It was, in short, very good.

“I’ll be sure to tell the chef.” The old lady winked. “Enjoying Vacuo so far?”

Seeing as Neo couldn’t answer, Ruby took it upon herself to continue the conversation. “It’s a nice place, I think. A bit hostile though.”

The lady chuckled, her wrinkly hand covering her mouth. “Oh, you’d be surprised. As long as you can take care of yourself, there will be no place as welcoming as this one.”

Neo nodded. 

“Say,” said the old lady, “what is a Valean huntress like you doing here at this time of the year? Not too fond of the festival?”

Ruby almost chocked on her slice. “How did you-“

“Words travel fast. Roman coming back was not surprising, but you are new.”

Ruby looked at the old woman. She didn’t look like a fighter, her aura wasn’t even unlocked. Neo kicked her shin under the table and made a zip movement over her lips.

Ruby ignored her. “I’m just seeing the sights.”

The old lady nodded. “Really, you’re not moving in? A shame. Still, I meant what I said. As long as you’re capable, you’ll find a home here.”

“Guess I won’t stay long then.” She might be many things, but capable was not one of them.

“Are you kidding?!” Daliah made a wide gesture with her arms. “You kicked Scar’s ass like it was nothing!”

“She was a civilian, that’s why.” Ruby shook her head and drank some water. “As far as Huntsman skills go, I’m below average.” The only reason she could keep up was by relying excessively on Petal Burst to help her speed, which meant against someone actually competent like her uncle or Winter, she was fighting without a semblance - and that was without taking into account the problems like the excessive momentum brought by her semblance. It was almost as if her semblance was made for running instead of fighting, but what did she know? It wasn’t like it was a reflection of her soul or anything.

Whatever the case, her body lacked two years of physical conditioning and a lot of muscle memory. She could overcome it by experience, but it still wasn’t good enough.

The old lady near them sipped from her coffee. “Now now, don’t put yourself down. Since it’s the Vytal Festival, all of the competent huntsmen are either in Vale or fighting the Grimm. Right now, anyone with aura is more than good enough to be in our little city.”

Okay, that was weird. No one had any interest in lying to her like that for no reason. Ruby looked at the unassuming old lady, her eyes narrowing. “What do you want?”

“Well,” the lady chuckled. “Everyone knows Torchwick lays low for the first few months, but you, my dear, are an unknown quantity and I happen to be recruiting.”

Ruby guessed she wasn’t talking about a job in the restaurant. 

Before she could answer, the sharp sound of a ceramic breaking rang through the room. Neo put a hand in front of her mouth, looking unconvincingly shocked at her plate, and the knife she used to break it. Her eyes were sharp, murderous.

“…I see.” The old woman stood up, her smile now gone, looking less like a friendly grandmother and more like a wax statue. “This will be added to your bill.”

She rose from her seat and walked away slowly.

Ruby sighed. “Really, Neo?”

Neo nodded firmly.

“That was a pretty good deal y’know.” Uncaring about the tension, Daliah kept eating. “It’s safer to be part of a gang.”

“Swallow before talking, Daliah.” Ruby bit into her own slice. It felt awkward to eat after spurning the owner, but that was food she paid for, so she was going to eat it. “I’m not joining any gang.”

“Oh, so you’re making your own?” Daliah frowned. “Wait, am I the first member?”

The idea of leadership alone made Ruby shiver with anxiety. “No. We’re no making any gang either, we’re laying low. For now, Roman’s the boss.” 

Neo nodded, once more, firmly. For as much as they were talking and spending time together, Ruby had to remind herself she was only here to rewind in case Roman died. For Neo, she was an expendable tool she wasn’t willing to share and that was it.

Speaking of sharing. “Say, Daliah.”

“Yeah?” She had some cream on her cheek. Ruby resisted the urge to wipe it, but just barely. 

“Did you know this lady was a gang leader?”

“I mean, yeah? Everyone is either a gang leader or member.” She swallowed. “It’s the best way to be safe. Even I know that.”

“I see.” Ruby rubbed the bridge of her nose. Today was becoming such a long day. “And you didn’t think to warn me?”

“You can take it, and you owe me food.” Daliah kicked her feet under the table. “I haven’t eaten here since forever!”

Patience, Ruby. Patience. “Speaking of, anywhere we can drop you at? Any friends or family?” 

Daliah looked at her, shocked, and her eyes began to water. “You- You’re getting rid of me?”

Ruby winced. “No, no, it’s just-“

“Great!” Gone were the tears, back to eating.

Ruby looked at Neo for support, but she was too busy silently laughing to care.

“Don’t laugh, Neo.” Ruby grumbled, going back to her plate. “She’s borrowing your clothes.”

Neo, indeed, stopped laughing.

Chapter Text

Ruby soon found out something.

Using her semblance for long-distance travel while transporting one person? Sure. Handling Neo’s impulses was annoying, but manageable.

Two people, including a child? It was going to drive her mad. Not just because Daliah was like Neo’s curiosity on steroids, no, that would be too easy. It was because they somehow managed to bicker.

Neo wanted to go see that Grimm? Well now Daliah was pulling in the other direction and crossing her arms. Daliah saw a cool tree? Neo suddenly had an urge to go through a dune just to amuse herself.

At the fifth fight in two minutes, Ruby suddenly canceled her semblance. Neo stumbled but quickly caught herself while Daliah flew into the air with a yell. Ruby used more of her semblance to run toward her, sand flying beneath her feet. She quickly leaped and caught Daliah in her arms, then lowered her down to the ground.

“Wazwhat that for?!” Daliah sputtered. 

“Girls.” Ruby looked at her scroll. “It’s… six in the morning, and I’m tired.” She put her hands on her hips. “You need to behave.”

Neo made her best “I’m innocent” face, which was about as believable as Neo being, well, innocent. Ruby raised an unimpressed eyebrow, to which Neo answered by doing puppy dog eyes, if the dog was still bloody from the rat it killed inside the house.

Daliah was kicking sand around and ignoring her. Ruby rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Daliah.”

“What?!” She turned around and looked down petulantly. “I didn’t do nothing!”

“Look at me when you speak.” Ruby was so thankful she could pull from her memories of her dad scolding Yang. She didn’t know how she’d handle that bundle of terror otherwise.

To her credit, Daliah did obey.

“I need you to behave while we’re in my semblance, okay?” She did her best to soften her voice. “It’s hard to go where we need to when you want to pull me everywhere, and it’s even harder when you do it just to fight with Neo.” 

“She started it-“

“And she’s going to stop now.”

Neo pointed at herself with a shocked expression. 

“Yes, Neo. If you don’t, you’ll have to go back on foot.”

Any false shock vanished from her body, replaced by careful neutrality.

“Any objection?”

Neo theatrically rolled her eyes, but nodded.

“Good.” Ruby put a hand on each of their shoulders. “I’m tired, so no fighting.”

——

Daliah really wasn’t impressed by the manor; it was half-ruined and in the middle of nowhere. Still, she’d rather have that than her own empty home, so she’d take it.

Also, she wasn’t dumb enough to disobey the red huntress. Despite her age, Daliah was used to Huntresses, and the prickles on her skin when their aura flaired. When the huntress used her semblance, it felt as if a thousand ants crawled under her skin, the same as when she woke up after sleeping on her arm and it was all numb and tingly. She was so, so strong. And the best part was, Daliah could twist her around just by crying. 

They passed through a garden, and as they opened the door, she saw a man dressed in white waiting for them. He looked smart, and the moment his eyes passed over her, she knew she didn’t like him, a deep instinct telling her none of her usual bullshit would fly with him.

“Well, well, well.” He grinned, lounging in the entrance. “Red, I let you spend the night out in Vacuo once, and you don’t just end up pregnant, but a teen mom!” He wiped a false tear from his eye. “So irresponsible! I’m so proud of you.”

“Hey, Roman.” The red huntress - Red? - removed her shoes and set her weapon on the side while she unfastened her cloak. “We haven’t slept yet, so goodnight.”

“Sure, sure, no problem.” He pointed at Daliah with his cane. “But, we don’t let stray animals in here. She sleeps outside.”

A stray?! “What the fuck are you saying you-“

“Language.” Immediately, Red wrapped her cape around Daliah and pulled her to her side. The cape was thick, warm and soft. It smelled of sweat and dust, but also other fresher scents Daliah couldn’t place. Tucked against Red, she could hear her heartbeat. Pump-pump. Pump-pump. It felt like a cocoon. “And Roman, she stays. Also, stop insulting her.”

She heard him sigh. “Really? I’m trying to help you here. Do you really think you can help all the orphans of Vacuo by yourself?”

Red flinched. “No, but she doesn’t have anywhere else to go.”

“If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have survived this long, would she?” It was Daliah’s turn to suppress a flinch. “Let’s face it, even if she doesn’t, we’re not becoming a daycare for poor little Vacuans. She stays outside. There’s a garden shed where her fleas won’t infest our mattresses.”

The silence stretched, thick and heavy. Daliah’s first instinct was to shout she didn’t have fleas, but she’d spent long enough dealing with other kids to know he just wanted to rile her up.

Red shrugged. “If you want her to sleep outside, then stop me. I’m going to bed.”

“Neo, stop her.”

Daliah peeked outside the cape. She really, really didn’t like that Neo lady. She’d flicked Daliah in the head and she was scary. The red huntress was scary because she was strong and fast, but Daliah knew she wouldn’t hurt her. The pink one was scary because she would hurt her just for fun.

The pink one was also sleeping while standing upright.

Roman sighed. “Fine, I see Neo’s on board too. But this is not over.”

“It is.”

“No, I don’t believe it is.” He grinned. “Or do you believe you’re the best person to take care of her? Responsible enough? Safe enough?” He tipped his hat. “Sleep on that.”

It was scary, Daliah thought, pressing herself tighter against the red Huntress. Because the red huntress was shaking. Because the red huntress was scary and the man was scaring her, and he could order the pink one around, and he didn’t like her. Because she was in his home and he was the scariest thing inside.

Keeping Daliah pressed against her, the huntress moved up the stairs. “Good night, Roman.”

“Nighty night Red!” He laughed as they ascended. They could still hear it as they walked through the hallway.

It was stopped by a faraway gasp of pain. “Ow! Bloody hell Neo!”

She felt the huntress relax. “Sorry about this Daliah. Roman is…”

“He’s a dick!” Yelled Daliah. “And an asshole and-“

“Language.” The huntress chuckled. “But yes. A bit. He’s also right.” She opened a door, and the room inside looked as ruined as Daliah’s old one. “You shouldn’t sleep on the bed,” the huntress said. “I don’t think it’s clean.”

“I’m not clean either.” Daliah jumped on the mattress, then jumped again. “It’s bouncy!”

The huntress sighed. “Don’t make too much noise.” She removed her cloak and set it behind her head like a pillow.

Huh. Daliah had thought the huntress was like, old, but without her cloak she didn’t look like an adult. A bit more dirt on her skin and less shiny hair and she wouldn’t look that out of place in the streets.

She kept that to herself as she settled down in her bed.

——

Ruby woke up tired, as she usually did. She couldn’t remember the details, but she knew she had woken up multiple times in the night because of dreams she chose to forgot. 

Her first instinct was to check on Daliah, and there she was, in the bed, unharmed. An irrational part of her had thought that she would have vanished by now, but she was still safe. Careful not to make any noise, Ruby stood up and walked out of the room. She knew she wouldn’t get back to sleep, her mind too used to insomnia to even pretend there was a chance. Instead, she decided to go downstairs, to the kitchen, and fix herself breakfast.

Sure enough, Roman was also there, working on a laptop. 

“Red.” He greeted her. “Five hours? I see someone is letting herself go.”

She sat down heavily in front of him. “I’m used to it.”

“I gathered as much. Enjoying the heat?”

She was not. Ruby put her elbow on the table and propped her head on her hand. “What are you doing?”

“Contacting people.” Roman didn’t look up from his computer. “Vacuo is very much a ‘welcome the new boss, same as the old boss’ kind of place, so I need to see who owns what since I’ve been gone.”

“But…” Ruby frowned. “I thought you said things always change here since there’s no laws.”

“Yes, Red, they do,” he said, annoyed. “But the infrastructure stays the same.”

“What do you mean?”

He sighed and laid back in his chair. “Take Cinder. Sure, she could have killed me, or tortured me to get my Lien then kill me, but she didn’t, because she needed me to steal dust. If you take over a gang, what you want is to take control of what’s already there, not make something new.”

Ruby thought for a moment. “I guess I can see that. Kind of like a corporate takeover.”

“Yes and no. You can buy a business to sell it for parts before building something new with the money. You can’t really ‘sell’ a gang, since most of the value is the people inside the gang.” He shook his head. “But I guess you’re not here to talk about this. What do I need to tell you so you leave me alone?”

Ruby hesitated. She actually didn’t have anything she particularly wanted to talk about, but now that he asked… “Actually, I do have one question.”

“Cut to the chase, Red.” He rolled his eyes.

“Right.” She took a deep breath. “Why do you hate Daliah?”

“The Faunus kid?”

“Yes.” Ruby rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “You were an asshole yesterday.”

He shrugged. “I don’t like children. They make a mess, they’re noisy, and they dirty my house.”

“That can’t be it.” Ruby pressed on. “You told her to sleep in the shed like an animal, you said she was an animal- wait.” Ruby slammed her hand on the table. “Are you seriously just that racist?!”

Roman blinked. Then laughed loudly, clutching his chest. “Ah! That’s your big deduction? And here I thought you were smart.” He shook his head, still smiling. “Red, I’m afraid I can’t agree with that. You see, I am not, in fact, racist.”

She frowned. “You called Faunus animals, said Daliah was a stray and full of fleas. Seems pretty racist to me.”

“Yes, the words are. I am not.”

“Are you serious?” Ruby really hoped not, because it seemed really dumb. That, or she didn’t get enough coffee to understand yet.

“Red, Red, Red, you’re always so sure of yourself aren’t you?” He chuckled. “Makes sense, you’re still a child.”

A familiar surge of anger rose in her chest. “I am not-“

“Yes, you are very factually fifteen. Or I guess, seventeen if we take your time travel thing into account.” 

She had no reply.

“See that?” He pointed at her. “That’s what I do. I like to insult people, it’s fun, but it only works if my remarks are one of two things: Funny, or true. Most of the time, both.”

She took a deep breath and let the anger flow out of her. “…I don’t get it. What’s so fun about insulting people?”

“The fun part is when they realize they have no counterargument.” He smiled smugly. “Take our friends the Faunus. They don’t like it, but they are part animals the same way I’m part criminal.”

“They’re not, Roman.” Ruby sighed.

“Really?” He leaned forward. “Are you really going to look at me and tell me your friend Blake never acted like a cat? That her favorite food isn’t fish?” 

She had no answer.

He leaned back into his chair. “Now the best part is, it might be true, it might be false, but it’s not important. The important part is, they think it’s true, so when I remind them of that, they feel attacked. Notice that your new kid didn’t care about the ‘animal’ part, so I’m not going to use it again, because it doesn’t work.” He paused. “I’ll try with her heritage next time. It looks like she’s a fox of some sort, probably a Fennec.”

Ruby was once again reminded of how alien Roman was to her. It didn’t look like he was lying, he was really brainstorming ways to insult a child he just met, just because he could.

“You’re messed up.”

“And yet you’re here, with me.” He winked. “Don’t worry Red, we’ll turn you into a scoundrel in no time.”

“Fat chance.” She shook her head. “Anyway, she’s not a fox, she’s a cat.”

“No no, she’s definitely a fox.” He pointed at his head and made a space with his fingers. “Her ears are too wide at the base to be feline and the flap is too thin.”

She blinked. “You know a lot of things about Faunus traits.”

“Did you just miss what I said before? The point is to be smarter. If I made cat jokes with that kid, she wouldn’t feel it, and I would look like an idiot. For it to land, I need to be accurate.” He was still disarmingly serious about this.

Ruby shook her head. “Roman, you’re talking about insulting a kid. You’ll look like an idiot no matter what you do.”

He looked her dead in the eyes. “Don’t underestimate Vacuan children, Red.” His voice lost its levity. “You’ve lived on the road for two years. Chances are, that kid lived in the streets for more than half her life.”

“And she’s still a child and should be protected as such.” She returned his stare with one of her own. “She stays until I find somewhere to put her, and you won’t antagonize her.”

“You seem very confident about this for someone living in my home.” His voice was flat. “I hold all the cards, Red. You’d do well to remember that.”

“You don’t.” Steel hardened her voice, tempered in two years of spilled blood. “And you know why?”

“Enlighten me.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes.

She finally let some anger out. “Because Roman Torchwick has a sore little spot in his cold heart,” she said with a grim smile. “Because if Neo so much as pouts, you cave.”

He frowned, but said nothing.

“And here’s more. I don’t think you’re as heartless as you’d like to be.” It made so much sense, didn’t it? Roman could have killed her multiple times, but he never did, and that was before her time travel. After that, he was too mellow with her, too quick to follow Neo’s demands. “I think you don’t like the idea of hurting people.”

He scoffed. “Now that’s rich, Red. I see your lack of sleep isn’t doing you any favors. What’s next, I’m secretly your uncle?”

She ignored him. “Prove it then.”

 He was clearly caught off-guard by her words. “Are you serious?” He closed his laptop. “I’m no lawyer, but I’m pretty sure the one making a claim has the burden of proof.”

“Not in Vacuo.” She didn’t break eye contact. “Besides, I don’t think you’re mature enough to acknowledge it,” she goaded him. “You’re too busy living as Roman Torchwick, the heartless criminal mastermind.”

He was a lot like Ozpin, in a way. He liked the idea of not caring too much for it to be true. The problem was, Ruby spent years fighting against the real monsters, she could recognize them in a heartbeat. And the more time she spent with Roman, the more she realized… he wasn’t one. And if she saw that, he had to acknowledge her as a human too. She wasn’t just Red the nuisance, she was Red the person, the one living with him. In fact, Ruby thought, that was probably the reason he didn’t like Daliah, because he knew just as she did that taking a kid in would hurt her in the long run.

He sighed. “Very well then, let’s indulge you.” Hook, line and sinker. “Let’s suppose I care. How would I ever disprove your delusions?” He made a grandiose gesture with his hand, like a magician before doing a trick.

He couldn’t, not really, and she had one easy way to prove it. “Punch me.” She lowered her aura and leaned forward. All he had to do was hurt her for no reason. 

He blinked. “Wow kid, you’re messed up. What is it with you and hurting yourself?” He pointed at her bandaged arm. “Isn’t that enough? I thought a bullet would calm your masochism.”

“And here you are, looking for excuses.” She grinned. “Point made. You won’t hurt me just because you can. You’re human, you care about people, just like everyone-“

She resisted her instinct to flinch as the fist flew toward her face. It was at an awkward angle, as Roman had to bend to reach her across the table, but still, Ruby braced herself for the pain-

The hit never came. A pink parasol interrupted it.

Ruby blinked, surprised. “Neo?”

Neo was sitting on the table, her back to both of them, her parasol between Roman and Ruby. Ruby didn’t see her coming in the room, let alone get on the table, too distracted by Roman. 

Neo turned toward Ruby, her face perfectly neutral. No one said anything for some long, long seconds.

Ruby cleared her throat. “Neo-“

A flash of something Ruby couldn’t recognize went through Neo’s eyes, and she punched Ruby.

——

Roman saw Red fly backward and impact the wall before her chair clattered to the floor. She wasn’t prepared, and clearly, Neo hadn’t held back either.

That was a shame, he’d really looked forward to punching Red after her little comments. She didn’t get it, of course. Roman wasn’t someone who cared about killing. He didn’t like it, the same way he didn’t like breaking someone’s finger until they talked, but he’d do it if necessary. Red believed that lack of enthusiasm made him a good person, the poor kid. She was naive in the way only a teenager with no real life experience could be.

He sighed. “Good morning, Neo.”

But Neo wasn’t looking at him. She was looking down at her own hand with a conflicted expression, one Roman had seen many times before; the face of an addict realizing no fix will ever be as good as their first.

Neo turned her head toward him, half anger, half confusion, then made to get up and move toward Red, then stopped herself, lost.

He sighed inwardly. Neo was very much like him, except she liked inflicting pain, and she didn’t care for people - well, except him. Her beginning to show interest toward Red was… concerning. In many ways, she was mentally still a child. An extremely dangerous child, but one who never had to grow up, especially when it came to giving a shit about others. 

Scratch concerning, it was downright upsetting that the Neo he knew spent two years without him and changed compared to how his old friend was. If she really was attached to Red, there was no telling how they might hurt each other, especially since they were both as stable as a baby in front of a Beowolf.

Well, he still had to salvage the situation. “Neo, how about you go check if Red hasn’t broken her neck?”

Neo raised an eyebrow, making a show of looking unconcerned. He pretended to buy it. “Yes, yes, it doesn’t matter, but if she dies now how will you resurrect me if Cinder comes to play?”

Neo pretended to think, then nodded and sauntered off toward Red, who was still dazed, lying on her back.

Roman frowned. He didn’t like this. Not one bit.

Chapter Text

Red, fortunately, was fine, which made it easy for Roman to convince her to come with him to a little meeting.

Roman really liked two things in life: not having problems, and having fun. If he had enough fun, he could reliably ignore his problems. If he had too many problems, he couldn’t have fun. Easy. Simple.

Which is why he brought Red and Neo with him, walking through the streets of Vacuo under the blistering midday sun. As expected, Red didn’t want to come but caved to peer pressure, especially when Roman placated her by leaving some money on the table for the kid who, with a bit of luck, would take it and bolt.

Unexpectedly, however, both Red and Roman were too busy being grilled medium rare to bicker about it.

“Are we there yet?” Red finally said, winded. “I’m going to melt.”

“Soon, Red. Soon.” Roman didn’t even bother looking at Neo, who he knew was using her semblance to appear perfectly fine, as usual. She always had a gift for theatrics, and neither heat nor cold would change that anytime soon.

“Why didn’t Vacuans build their capitals somewhere with shade,” Red grumbled. “I get they’re in a desert, but still.”

If Roman remembered his history lessons correctly, there once was a lush forest there, but then the Great War happened. “There are jungles in Vacuo,” he opted to say. “Nasty bugs live there. Spiders bigger than a hand, these kinds of things.” Very useful venom in these horrible bugs.

“I’d take them over this heat.” Red was still wearing her cloak, which certainly didn’t help. All around them the streets were almost empty, most Vacuans smartly using the hottest time of day to sleep.

“On the bright side,” Roman said while swiping sweat from his brow, “It’s only getting colder from now on.”

“Too hot, then too cold,” Red sighed. “I hate this place.”

“Careful, that’s how it starts. First you hate it, then you love to hate it, then you love it.” He weakly shook his head. “Never quite got the hang of that last one, to be honest.”

Soon after, they finally arrived at their destination, a big sandstone building with a neon nameplate depicting palm trees and coconuts. In the doorway stood a big man in loose, wavy clothes, his arms crossed. He was evidently Vacuan, as he didn’t seem to mind the scorching heat.

Roman made to step inside, but the man raised an arm to stop him. “Sorry sir, the bar’s closed.”

Roman tipped his hat. “Ah, but I’m sure I have a reservation.”

The man rolled his eyes. “Name?”

“Roman Torchwick.”

He nodded and stepped aside. “Ah, yes, you’re expected.” Roman tipped his hat again and walked past him, followed by Neo, but when Red tried to enter, the bouncer stepped back in her way. “Sorry kid, too young.”

Roman couldn’t help but chuckle, both at the notion of a Vacuan bar refusing minors and at the twitch Red made when called a kid. He tapped the bouncer on the shoulder. “She’s with me, big guy.”

“Boss’s orders. No kids, no exceptions.”

Red’s eye twitched again. “I’m not a kid,” she said, which made her look even more like one. “And I didn’t walk all the way here to wait outside.”

The man had the good sense to smile at that, which helped endear him to Roman and upset Red even more. “Not my problem, squirt.”

Before he could finish his sentence, Red was already inside, only rose petals and the now-opened door showing where she went. Roman shrugged and followed suit, ignoring the sputtering of the confused bouncer.

Inside, the bar hadn’t changed that much from the last time he was there. The building was dark, only illuminated by soft-colored lamps made to look like torches on the walls. The bar itself doubled as an arcade, with pool tables and electronic game machines strewn about. The only new thing Roman could see was the portraits, which were all removed and replaced with paintings of Vacuan fauna.

As he looked around, he noticed that despite being ‘closed’, the place was very much occupied by about a dozen people, all drinking and playing around the wooden tables scattered about. It was also blessedly colder than outside, and Roman once more thanked Ice Dust for its wonders.

Neo skipped toward Red, who was already sitting at one of the barstools, reading the menu. Roman joined her and poked her shoulder. “Anything good?”

“Dunno.” She didn’t take her eyes off the menu. Ever since their talk earlier she’d been closed off, and evidently the heat hadn’t helped to cool her down. “You’re the addict here, figure it out.”

He scoffed. “Addict? To this filth? Please, it’s barely good enough to get drunk.”

Before they could continue their bickering, the barman came into view. A younger man, he looked at them with a haughty stare far above his station. “Your order?”

Roman shrugged. “Give me your coldest ginger beer.”

Red looked up from the menu. “Same for me.”

The barman scoffed. “We don’t serve kids, period. You want something, ask your daddy to-”

Roman heard the twinge of Red’s patience breaking, at the same time he heard her draw her weapon from her back and deploy it until the edge was under the barman’s throat.

It was a thing of beauty that Roman had already seen up close, and it was just as impressive as the first time. The scythe was huge, taller than its wielder or Roman himself. It gleamed under the soft lights, reflecting them from its sharp edge.

All sound petered off as the customers turned to look at the scene, then wisely turned their heads away to resume their conversation in hushed tones.  

Red spoke through gritted teeth. “I want a beer. Do I need to go get it myself?”

The man slowly shook his head, careful of the edge.

Red collapsed the scythe in one fluid movement and stowed it on her back. “And some ice cream while you’re at it.”

The man nodded and hurried left to grab some glasses.

Neo nudged Red and gave her a thumbs up with a bright grin, which only seemed to annoy Red further. “Don’t even start.”

“Ah, Red.” Roman patted her shoulder. “We’re just proud, that’s all. Little Red is all grown-“

She batted his hand aside and jumped off her seat to walk toward the arcade machines. Well, more beer for him. And ice cream! Finders keepers.

Minutes passed in which nothing happened, so Neo hopped off to go watch a card game at one of the nearby tables. Roman sipped at his beer - he always loved ginger, even if it wasn’t the most quenching - and ate some chocolate ice cream before someone else sat next to him.

“Roman.”

“Palm.” Roman nodded with a grin. “You’ve moved up in the world.”

“So did you.” Palm scoffed. “Heard you’re a terrorist these days.”

Palm was a man in his late forties, which qualified him as pretty damned old for a Vacuan, and he looked the part with a gray beard and short salt-and-pepper hair. He was burly, the kind of muscles one develops when they spend their life lifting heavy weights instead of doing something productive. He was also wearing the same loose, wavy clothes as the bouncer did.

He was, incidentally, the new boss of the place.

Roman sipped from his drink. “These days are in the past, my friend. As you can see, I’m free as a bird.”

“Free.” The man scoffed. “As long as you’ve got that demon, you’ll never be.”

Neo was currently preening under the attention of the men at the table she was sitting at. Roman pitied them, truly.

“Come now, at least I’m not married. How’s the kid, by the way?”

Palm smiled. It didn’t go to his eyes. “His leg is better.”

“Glad to hear it! It would have broken my heart if I, well, broke his leg.” The little shit tried to backstab him at the time, and Roman engraved in him the fear of failure. “Speaking of, where’s the little guy?”

Palm looked around, his eyes settling on the arcade machines. “Trying to hit on your new kid.”

Red was playing on one of the machines, and, indeed, next to her was a Vacuan boy who couldn’t be older than seventeen trying to strike up a conversation with her. Red, evidently, wasn’t having any of it.

“Ah, youth.” Roman wiped an imaginary tear from his eye.

“Youth.” Palm nodded gravely.

They let the silence stretch between them for several comfortable minutes, during which Palm took the beer Red had ordered for herself. Finally, he spoke. “So, what do you want?”

“It’s more a case of something I don’t want.” Roman took out several pictures from his inside pocket. “Any of these people ring a bell?”

Palm frowned and spread them out in front of him. He pointed at the first one. “That’s Tyrian Callows, no? The killer?”

“The very one.”

“What the hell did you do to piss him off?”

Roman chuckled. “Let’s just say I stole from the wrong person.” He couldn’t exactly admit to having been coerced into working for a terrorist, as it would ruin a lot of his reputation and credibility. At the same time, ego or not, he wasn’t taking risks. If one of Cinder’s ‘friends’ - as Neo had put it – was  around, Roman would need to leave fast.

“Well, I don’t think anyone saw him, no.” Palm shook his head, clearly not buying his story. “I’ll try to get the word out, but you know how these crazies are.”

“Better than most.” He shot a glance at Neo, who was still savoring the attention at her table.

Palm took the pictures. “Anything else?”

What followed was conversations Roman found boring but necessary, namely, who was doing what in Vacuo right now. The Festival was always an uncertain time as the academy wasn’t keeping order for a few weeks, which meant everything moved faster than usual. Most of what he learned he couldn’t care less about, but he did get an idea of the current big players he wanted to avoid.

“Speaking of,” said Palm, “apparently you already stepped on some toes. Sounds like you took out one of the Scarred gangs, and they’re not too pleased about that.”

“Neo told me as much.” Roman shrugged. “They’re still just a bunch of idiots with maces, right?”

“Not anymore.” Palm tapped his fingers against the counter. “They’re working with a lot of trainee huntsmen these days. They can be a real thorn in the side if you’re not careful.”

Well, it looked like Red couldn’t even last a day without beating up someone important. Oh well, it made things a lot more interesting, and he always loved a challenge.

Speaking of Red, Palm’s boy looked absolutely smitten as he kept talking to her, even as she shot him more and more bewildered looks.

“Poor boy.” Roman took a final bite of his ice cream.

Palm shook his head. “He can’t even see when a girl isn’t interested. Too used to his groupies.”

“I mean, he never had a shot.” Red’s self-esteem was so down in the dumps, the more the boy tried to talk to her, the more suspicious she was becoming. He could almost see the gears turning in her head, dismissing any of his words as a manipulation, trying to divine the meaning behind every sentence, the lie under every compliment. “Watch this,” Roman said, “she’s going to leave in three… Two…”

Red abruptly turned around and power walked away, leaving the boy with his mouth hanging open in surprise.

Palm sighed. “That was inevitable.”

Roman nodded. “Poor lad. He shot his shot, but the target wasn’t there.” He raised his glass. “To the women of the world and their esoteric moods.”

Palm nodded somberly and raised his in answer. “To the men of the world and our stupidity. Better to shoot and miss than to never try at all.”

They both took a big gulp at the same time.

Meanwhile, Red walked straight to Neo’s table, where only two other men were left, their cards in front of them, their eyes narrowed as they tried to read the other.

One of them scooted closer to Neo but before he could do anything else, Red sat between them, bringing her own chair and giving the man a glare that could boil metal. He returned it with one of his own, and if Neo looked smug before, now she was downright triumphant. Palm’s son tried to walk toward the table too, but Neo briefly looked at him, and he chose wisdom over death. Smart kid.

Roman dusted his coat. “Well, this has been entertaining, but I better go fetch the kids before they make a mess.”

Palm frowned. “The money first.”

Roman took out a wad of Liens from one of his pockets and put it on the table. It was a lot of cash, buying both the drinks, the info, and Palm’s continued goodwill.

Palm grabbed it and gave it to the barman, who put it away. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

“Likewise!” Roman grinned as he stood up. “Keep me informed.”

“Will do.”

Turning his back to the man, Roman walked to the table where Red was now playing cards alongside Neo, who looked like the only one having a good time. He tapped her on the shoulder. “Neo, time to go.”

Neo nodded, then turned to tap Red on the shoulder, who blinked and looked at Roman. “Already?”

“We’ve been here for an hour, Red. Yes, already.”

“Huh.” She put her cards on the table and, with a face that looked like she sucked a lemon, put some money down for the two other men. “Gotta go.”

They both nodded and muttered words Roman pretended not to hear as Red and Neo stood up. Neo bowed with a wink, silencing them, giving them a nice view and letting Roman pocket all the money Red just put there with interest. It was soon replaced with Neo’s illusions, and all was well.

Red bumped into Neo as they walked to the exit. “Show off.”

Neo bumped her back with a smile.

The final sound they heard from the bar was two people coming to blows, but by the time it happened, they were already well on their way, suffering under the desert sun. And life, as Roman preferred it, was good.

Chapter Text

Roman and Neo were whispering - well, Roman was whispering and Neo was gesticulating, but it was basically the same thing. Ruby stole a glance at them before focusing on their surroundings.

The trip had ended up fairly useless at anything other than making her angry. Seriously, what was it with people calling her a kid? She was a huntress! Between that and the Vacuan heat, the less people talked to her, the better.

She kicked a pebble. This whole place sucked. She missed the Beacon dorms.

Finally, they arrived at the manor, which looked just as rundown as when they had left, only somehow even worse under the light of the late afternoon sun.

She stopped until Roman unlocked the door, which opened with the now usual screeching of metal rusted by sand, and entered.

The moment Ruby put a foot inside, she heard the tap-tap-tap of footsteps coming from the first floor. Roman groaned, and Neo clapped.

“Don’t celebrate just yet,” he groused. “Maybe it’s just one of the huntsmen who-“

“Hey Red! Hey Neo!” Daliah ran down the stairs. “You’re back!”

Neo slapped Roman on the back. He sighed and wordlessly took a few Liens out of his pocket and put them in her waiting hand.

Ruby observed it all from the corner of her eye while she removed her cloak and shoes. “Hey Daliah. You’ve been good?”

“I’m not good! I’m-“ Daliah’s eyes widened. “I mean, I was?”

“Cool.” Ruby nodded, too tired from the heat to investigate the truth of that statement. She put her cloak on a rack and stretched, feeling the muscles of her back loosen under her tight shirt. “Who’s taking the first shower?”

She turned around, only to notice Neo looking very intently at the wall next to her. The blank wall. With nothing on it.

“…Oookay?” Ruby raised an eyebrow, but was once again way too hot to bother with whatever that was. “Roman, you-“

Roman had already stepped to the living room, not hearing a word she was saying. Ruby also noticed someone apparently cleaned the place - gone was the broken glass, the broken chair and the floor stains. Someone had been busy.

Roman was inspecting the table - which was weird, as there was nothing on it - and muttering to himself. Ruby elected to ignore whatever that was.

“Fine.” Ruby raised her voice. “Daliah, you took a shower yet?”

“Nope!” Came a voice from upstairs. “I’m not taking no shower!”

Ruby almost expected to hear Weiss say something about the double negative, but of course, she wasn’t there. She buried the familiar pang of longing.

With slumped shoulders, she turned toward Neo. “Hey, can you make sure she showers after I’m done?” Neo looked unconvinced, so Ruby sweetened the pot. “I’m pretty sure she’ll hate it.”

Neo nodded with a grin.

——

Yang was, for once, doing her homework. In fact, the whole team was doing their homework, which was an event that could only happen once the stars aligned and an old prophecy came to life. Or, as it was, the realization her dad knew Goodwitch, and Winter knew Goodwitch, and with their luck Blake’s parents knew Goodwitch too and to be honest they were all too afraid to find out.

So they were working, not distracted at all. Yang was at her desk, Weiss was at her desk, and Blake was on top of the bunk beds, focused as can be.

Then Yang’s scroll rang.

This description might be a bit lackluster, as Weiss would later say Yang’s scroll began to make noises not too dissimilar to a digital cry for help or, as Blake would put it, the wordless equivalent of asking for a painful death.

The noise, however, was not the reason for the sudden tension in the room. Rather, it was what it meant.

Ruby was calling.

“Guys, you remember the plan, right?” Yang said, sudden beads of sweat running along her back. A nervous mess of hope and dread churned in her stomach, threatening to make her puke.

“Of course we do!” Snapped Weiss. “Will you take the call already?!”

The ‘plan’ was simple necessity: In case of a conversation with Ruby, what would they do? What could they say? This had been talked about for long hours during the day and night, both by themselves and with the occasional help of Taiyang whenever their ideas needed adult supervision.

Yang gulped, and, fingers trembling, accepted the call.

A second later, a video appeared on the scroll, and Yang realized with another startle it was a video call. For once, she was presentable despite spending the day inside - mostly to avoid nagging from Winter who looked like she was going to pass out when she first visited the dorm - but still, she wasn’t ready! Should she look scared? Like nothing was happening? Happy? Damn it damn it damn it!

“Hey Yang.” Ruby was sitting on what looked like a couch, her hair damp and wearing only her swimsuit, which was also drenched. She wasn’t looking particularly emotional, her eyes boring in the scroll as if it was a particularly uninteresting bug. It looked so out of place on her usually cheerful sister it made her heart ache.

“Hey Ruby!” Yang said, forcing a smile. “How are you doing?” She couldn’t see the wound on her arm, just the hint of a scar, which at least quelled some of her worries.

“Fine. I need a hand.” She pointed the camera behind her, showing another girl - a faunus kid? - perched on top of a high-up cabinet, baring her teeth. She was missing her shirt and looked half drenched, which didn’t seem to deter her at all. Beneath her, wearing only a towel and brandishing a parasol, trying to dislodge the kid, was Neo.

Yang felt her brain halt at the sight, reboot, then crash again. “I- what? Ruby, what’s going on?”

“We’re trying to wash her,” said Ruby matter-of-fact as she reoriented the scroll to her. “At first it was just Neo, then I thought it might be a two-person job, and now we can’t get her down.”

“What?” Yang desperately tried to grasp the threads of the conversation. Her first instinct was to try to change the subject to Ruby, ask if she was alright, where she was and why the hell she was comfortable enough to be in the same room as Neo wearing only a swimsuit instead of body armor, but a stray kick from under the desk - a heel, so Weiss - reminded her of the plan.

Focus on what Ruby wants. Listen to her. Let her lead the conversation. Never say no to her, don’t brusque her.

Yang closed her eyes. Nothing was wrong. Ruby was just calling her because she needed help for something stupid while she was at… A friend’s house. There was no problem here.

She let a grin - natural, finally, - show itself, then opened her eyes. Ruby was looking at her with apprehension, like Blake used to. “How did she even get up here with two huntresses on her?” Yang giggled. “She got her aura too?”

Ruby briefly looked to the side, then shrugged, her eyes not on the camera. “I don’t know how she got away from Neo the first time, but she’s way more slippery than she looks.”

Neo stomped her foot. Yang heard someone hiss.

Ruby looked at them before going back to the scroll. “We can’t go up there without hurting her, and we can’t reach her from down here.”

“You tried to stand on a chair?” Yang asked while looking at her own entourage. Blake looked a mix of puzzled and relieved, while Weiss couldn’t quite hide a smile.

“Either she pushes me, or Neo does.” Ruby rubbed the bridge of her nose. “And Neo doesn’t want to walk up as long as she’s not dressed or something.”

“Has she tried actually getting dressed?” Said Yang.

“She doesn’t want to.” Yang opened her mouth, but Ruby beat her to the punch. “No, I don’t get why, and yes, it’s embarrassing.”

“She doesn’t want to explain?”

“Yang, she doesn’t use words. At all.” Ruby huffed. “You’d think she would, but nooo, she’s too good for that.” She looked to the side again, Neo looking right back at her from the border of the frame. “Yeah, I’m talking about you!”

Neo flipped her off. Ruby did the same, then turned back to the scroll. “Anyway, that’s where we are. Any advice?”

Weiss finally spoke. “What’s her name?”

“Hey Weiss.” Ruby frowned at the screen. “Yang, can you-“

Yang helpfully gave the scroll to Weiss.

“Hello, Ruby.” Weiss scrunched her nose. “Wearing a swimsuit inside, really?”

“Hey, it’s boiling hot out here, okay?” Ruby pouted. “I’d like to see you try. Besides, it’s just long enough to wash Daliah.”

“Yes, I gathered.” Weiss raised an eyebrow. “You look like you already lost the battle.”

“I’m calling backup, aren’t I?” Ruby sounded defensive now. Yang threw a pencil at Weiss, who shot her a glare in return but didn’t say anything, biting her lips instead. At least she looked like she remembered the plan again.

“Yes, well.” Weiss looked back at the scroll and cleared her throat. “What’s her full name?”

“I…” Ruby blinked, then arched her neck at the still perched kid. “Daliah, what’s your full name?”

“Fuck you!”

Ruby shrugged. “You heard her.”

Yang bit back the question of how the hell Ruby ended up with a kid she didn’t know the name of. Barely.

“Alright, let me try.” Weiss closed her eyes, took a deep breath then opened them again, radiating authority. “Daliah Hawthorne!” She shouted. “Get down here this instant!”

For a brief moment, Yang felt a familiar shiver of dread run along her back, the one that said ‘Dad saw the mess you didn’t clean up’. Judging from how Blake had halfway jumped down from her bed and how even Ruby’s eyes darted around in panic for a moment, she wasn’t alone.

Even Neo, who Yang could barely see, briefly stopped what she was doing - gathering something from out of frame? - before shrugging and going back at it.

Daliah herself just pulled her tongue and yelled, “Nu-uh!”

Weiss rolled her eyes and gave the scroll back to Yang. “All yours.”

“I- Thanks for trying, Weiss.” Said Ruby, still dumbstruck. “But why Hawthorne of all names?”

“I’m curious too.” Said Blake, still halfway down the bunk bed and not pulling herself up, one arm and leg dangling outside, the rest of her body on the precarious edge.

Weiss crossed her arms. “It’s just the first name that came to mind, that’s all.”

“Well, points for effort I guess.” Yang shared a glance with Blake and they made a tacit pact to never, ever give their full name to Weiss.

Still, as Yang angled the scroll toward herself again, Ruby looked marginally happier, even sporting a small smile, so Yang took the win. “Why doesn’t she want to shower?”

“Beats me.” Ruby shrugged.

They heard faint yelling through the scroll, and Ruby rolled her eyes. “Roman’s saying it’s because she’s a faunus, but that’s stupid.”

“Wait, she’s a what?” Blake - gracefully, this time - jumped down the bed and walked behind Yang. “Hey Ruby.”

“Hey Blake.” Ruby smiled. “She’s a Faunus. Fennec fox, I think?” Ruby moved the scroll so Daliah was in the center frame.

Blake narrowed her eyes and bowed down to look closer at the scroll, her hair tickling the nape of Yang’s neck. Yang didn’t mind, really, it’s not like it itched or something.

“Hm…” Blake tilted her head. “Can you ask her?”

Ruby shrugged and raised her voice. “Daliah, what kind of Faunus are you?”

“Shove her tail up your ass!”

Before Yang or Blake could say anything, a flash of rage passed through Ruby’s eyes. “Daliah.” She said slowly. If Weiss’s tone had been authoritative, Ruby's voice was a threat. “Language.”

The kid shrunk into herself. From the scroll came a faint “Sorry.”

Blake tilted her head at the kid. “She’s a foul-mouthed one, isn’t she?”

“I’m working on it. She’s going to be polite if it kills me.” No one spoke. Blake tensed above Yang, who remembered a roof at night.

Ruby blinked. “Metaphorically.”

“Of course.” Blake shook her head. “I can’t see anything from here, but she doesn’t seem allergic to the water or something like that, so I don’t know. Does she have any bruises?”

Ruby scoffed. “She almost gave me one when she pushed me and jumped out of the bath, but no. Entirely bruise-free.”

“Bath?”

“It’s a shower bath.” Ruby shrugged. “We also have a jacuzzi, but it’s broken.”

Yang chose to focus on the important part. “Wait a moment, so you got her in the bath? And she got out?”

Ruby nodded again and averted her eyes while scratching the back of her head. In the background, Neo was throwing what appeared to be ice cubes at Daliah, who was snatching them up and eating them with loud crunches. “Yep. Since she already escaped Neo once, I went and helped.”

“How did she get away?” It was Weiss’s turn to chime in. “Don’t tell me she was faster than you.”

“I-“ Ruby smiled nervously. “It’s not important, really.”

The kid snickered and yelled, happy as can be. “Red and Neo, sitting in a tree-“ Before she could finish, a box of ice cubes landed square on her face. “Yowch!”

Yang felt all the blood drain from her face. “What-“

“She’s just messing around!” Said Ruby quickly, the faintest blush on the tips of her ears. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I am worried about it!” Blake pinched her shoulder, but Yang barely felt it. “Are you seriously saying you and that psycho-“

“No!” Ruby hid her face in her hand. “Of course not!”

Neo, with no more ice cubes in her hand and hearing someone talk about her, sashayed toward the couch with a shit-eating grin. Looking straight at the camera, she draped herself over Ruby, pressing her chest against her neck. With a wink, she kissed her cheek, her eyes never leaving the camera.

Before Yang could yell anything - which was going to be a threat that she would end the world to make good on - Ruby grabbed Neo’s arms and threw her away in a flash of semblance, her surprised face visible for less than a frame. Soon after, there was the sound of something crashing and of wood breaking. “See what you did?!” Ruby groaned, looking back at the scroll. If there was only a hint of a blush before, it was in full force now. “She’s going to be insufferable!”

“I- Sorry, it’s just-“ Yang sighed. “I worry, okay?”

She was also finally feeling the dull pain radiating from her leg, and now that she wasn’t tunnel visioning on someone touching her little sister, she could finally see the signs Weiss and Blake were doing with their hands, which were variations of “stop” and strangling motions.

Unaware of this, Ruby broke the silence. “It’s fine, it’s- don’t worry, nothing’s happening. Neo just likes to be difficult.” From the side of the frame came a thumbs-up.

Yang forced herself to relax. “Okay. Look, as a way to apologize, how about you give the scroll to that little terror over there so I get her down for you.”

“You… Are you sure?” Ruby raised an eyebrow. “She’s not exactly cooperative.”

“I’m not!” Said a very proud little girl perched atop a very high shelf.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Yang winked. “If I can get Qrow to listen to me, I can get her.”

“Oh yeah?” Ruby grinned. “You bet?”

Yang grinned back. “You’re on.”

They never said exactly what they were betting whenever they did these silly things. Usually, it was a favor like washing the dishes, but mostly it was just an excuse to act like their uncle and dad whenever they were being dumb.

“Alright.” Ruby got up, scroll raised in her hand. “Daliah! I have someone who wants to talk to you!”

“Oh yeah?” Daliah crossed her arms - quite a feat for someone on all fours. “And why should I listen?”

Alright, showtime. Yang winked. “Hey, Daliah? I’m Ruby’s sister. How about if you talk to me, I’ll tell you embarrassing stories of when she was young?”

“You wouldn’t!” Said Ruby, offended.

“Oh yeah?” The kid’s ears perked up. “You got stories?”

“Daliah.” Yang put her hand on her chest. “I have tons of stories. I’m her big sister, see?”

“Hm…” Daliah tried very hard to look like she was hesitating, but she couldn’t quite keep the smile off her face. “Fine!” She said after a moment’s silence. “Gimme!”

Ruby threw the scroll - Yang averted her eyes to avoid the nausea - and Daliah caught it. She brought the scroll near her. “Hi.” Now that she could see Blake, Weiss and her, she looked somewhat shy.

“Hello, Daliah.” Yang said with a smile. “You’re doing good?”

Daliah grinned back. “Yeah, I am! I’m invincible!”

Yang giggled, and even Blake cracked a smile. “That’s what I like to hear. How did you manage to get up here anyway?”

“I jumped!” She puffed her chest with pride. “I can jump super high!”

Blake mumbled something about stereotypes. Yang ignored her. “So what are you doing up here apart from driving my sister insane?” Daliah immediately looked wary. “Good job with that, by the way. It’s good to see someone’s keeping her on her toes.”

Now safe from being admonished, Daliah looked confident again. “I just don’t want to take a shower!” She rolled her eyes. “It’s always ‘let's take a shower, Daliah’ and then I get scrubbed and it stings super bad! I’m fine like this!”

Yang blinked. “What? Why would it sting?”

“…When you rub?” Daliah made a, well, rubbing motion. “You know, up and down? Do you even take showers?” She grinned. “I bet you stink!”

Blake and Weiss snickered. They were all somewhat big on cleanliness, but if there was one person who almost owned the shower, it was Yang. “Not at all,” Yang said, weathering the inferior being’s mockery. “You know, it’s just that taking a shower is like… like food.”

“Huh? You eat when you wash?”

“No, no.” Yang laughed. “It’s more like, if you eat expired food, then it’s not as good as fresh food, right? Or if it’s too salty?”

Daliah’s eyes widened. “Or when I burn it!”

“…Right.” She shouldn’t be cooking at her age. Yang filled that for a later talk. “Well, a shower is the same. If you do it wrong and scrub too hard, then it hurts, but if you do it right, then it’s relaxing and it doesn’t hurt.”

Daliah narrowed her eyes. “You sure? Cuz I’ve had good food, but never a good shower.”

Yang nodded, dead serious. “I’m sure.”

She still didn’t look convinced. Yang hid a frown - how was she going to convince that?

To her surprise, Weiss rescued her. “Daliah, how about a deal?”

“A deal?”

“Yes. We make a promise.” Weiss looked just as serious as Yang. “Try to take a shower with Ruby. If you don’t like it, then…”

“Then we’ll tell her to give you all the sweets she can.” Continued Blake.

Weiss nodded. “Exactly. But if you like it, you’ll take showers without complaints in the future. Deal?”

Daliah frowned. “I dunno…”

“And if you don’t like it,” said Yang, “we’ll tell her to never ever bother you about this again.”

“Never ever?” She said, hopeful. “Like ever ever?”

“Ever ever.” Nodded Yang. “And remember, you’ll have to call me back anyway so I can tell you the stories, right? I’ll talk to her.”

Daliah blinked, then smiled. “Right! The stories! Okay!” She made to jump off the shelf.

“Wait-“ Before Yang - or Blake - could say anything, she was already down, looking not any worse for wear. “Huh. You’re really agile.”

“Yep!”

They saw a looming figure above the scroll. Neo was looking down at Daliah, towel loose, hair disheveled, her face unreadable.

With a hand, she patted Daliah’s head once. Then flicked her forehead.

“Yeowch!”

Someone picked up the scroll. “Neo, stop bothering her.” Neo huffed, but walked away.

Ruby turned the scroll so they were finally face-to-face again. “Okay, that was-“ She shook her head with a smile. “You know I tried that, and she didn’t even listen to me?”

“I have about fifteen years of experience handling my own little terror.” Yang winked.

“Fine, fine.” Ruby rolled her eyes, still smiling. “Well, I guess I owe you one.”

“You do.” Yang smiled. “How about you tell me what it’s like in Vacuo?”

Ruby hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “It’s fine. I’ve got pictures.”

“Alright, we’re listening.” Weiss and Blake huddled behind her, half shoving each eachother to see the scroll. Ruby rolled her eyes but smiled.

“Well, the hardest thing to get used to is the sand…”

---

An hour later, Ruby emerged from the bathroom, a clean and sleepy little girl curled up in her arms. And as she brushed said girl's hair, she was certain she'd never get another complaint about showers. 

Even later, when she went to sleep in a bed with new, clean sheets - courtesy of Roman - Daliah bouncing on her own bed to the side, she thought, with a smile, that today had been a good day after all.

Chapter Text

The next few days, for Daliah, were kind of like a vacation where she had to clean up.

When Ruby - because she liked to be called Ruby instead of Red, but she also let The Boss call her Red, which was weird - took her off the street, Daliah had thought her life wouldn’t change much. She would work for her until she made a nuisance of herself and then she’d find work elsewhere. She wasn’t as experienced as all the other kids, but hey, she knew how Vacuan life worked!

She rubbed a wet rag over the window as she thought, leaving behind trails of soapy water. She was, to her surprise, not back to pickpocketing, begging, or any other usual street-rat thing. She was back to cleaning.

Again.

She wrung the rag and rinsed it in the bucket of water on the ground. At least this was different from back home. Red- no, Ruby was here, and she didn’t spend most of her time outside the house. Neo was here too, and Daliah had quickly learned how to navigate her mood. If Neo was bored, she liked to hurt people. So, the best thing to do was hide behind Ruby and let her handle it. Neo was nicer when she was around anyway.

She wiped the sweat off her brow and stretched. The house was soooo big. She was cleaning the second bathroom and there was sand everywhere, as if someone hadn’t closed the windows forever. There was sand under the sink, sand in the sink, a lot of weird transparent empty deflated balloons Ruby didn’t want her to touch and so much more stuff!

At least they threw away the towels. She couldn’t exactly remove all the sand easily since they were bigger than her.

Speaking of, she wasn’t technically supposed to clean. Nobody had asked her to, but she also knew that The Boss didn’t want her around, and she wasn’t going to try his patience, especially since she stole the money he left on the table. But if she had to be more precise, she would say that Ruby wanted her to try new clothes, and she really, really, really didn’t want to. So she was hiding where nobody could find her, doing something nobody could reproach her for, and-

Someone knocked. “Daliah? Can I come in?”

Daliah stood perfectly still, her ears perked up for any sound. If she pretended hard enough, maybe…

“I know you’re in there.” Ruby sounded slightly more cheerful than usual, which wasn’t much. On her best days, she was tired and moody and dragged her feet everywhere. “I’m going to open the door in three… Two…”

“Fine, fine, fucking hell!” Her shoulders slumped as she walked to the door and opened it. “Happy?”

Red was on the other side, wearing her usual cloak despite the desert heat. She was, predictably, dragging sand everywhere, and Daliah had to bite her lip to not snap at her. She was trying to clean, damn it!

“Hey.” Ruby was also carrying a big bag in her hand. “You hungry?”

Daliah was, in fact, always hungry. “Yes!” Her annoyance forgotten, she made to grab the bag with a smile. “What is it?”

“Woah there.” Ruby moved her arm - and the bag - and then Daliah, who followed - away. “What did I tell you yesterday?”

Daliah’s eyes didn’t leave the bag. “Please? I’ve been good? Roman’s a dick? Nine times nine is eighty-one?”

Ruby chuckled, which meant Daliah was off to a good start. “Yes, well, I only needed the first one. Here.” She grabbed a pastry from her bag. “It’s a Valean éclair. I like them, so-“

Daliah snatched it from her hand and climbed to the top of the door before biting down. “Itch good!” She grinned. It was creamy inside and sugary and she couldn’t swallow fast enough to take another bite. “Shuper duper good!”

Ruby chuckled. “I’m glad you like it.”

Daliah finished it in a few seconds, then licked the crumbs off her hands. “Thanks Ruby!”

“This wasn’t a gift, Daliah,” Ruby said with a sweet smile. “It was a bribe.”

Daliah hissed. “What?! But-“

“And now that you’ve been bribed,” she continued, “Then you will try these on.” From the same bag, she took out a smaller bag full of- full of-

Clothes…

She hissed again. “That’s not fair! You have to tell me before you do that!”

Ruby nodded. “Yes, but you’d have said no. And now if you want more bribes in the future, you have to listen. So come down here so we can get started.”

See, this was why Daliah didn’t like Ruby. Because Ruby was so easy to manipulate, but she somehow always knew what Daliah was thinking! And right now, Daliah was thinking she really, really wanted to be bribed again with an aicla-whatever it was!

So, with a groan to make it clear she really, really didn’t want to do it, she let herself fall from the door. “Fiiiiine. But just this once! And if I don’t like it I’ll tear these fucking things apart!”

“Don’t worry.” Ruby patted her head. She was always very affectionate, which was very confusing for Daliah and made her want to bite off her hand and grab it all for herself. “It’s just because I don’t like seeing you walking around with clothes too small for you. You’re a growing girl, you need ones that fit. Besides.” She lowered her head and whispered. “Neo bet me I couldn’t make you do it. Want to prove her wrong?”

Daliah smiled, showing her teeth. “Oh yeah.” Fuck the weird illusionist who made her think there was a scorpion in her bed.

After Daliah washed her hands and put away the cleaning stuff, they moved to their shared room.

“Do I need to take a shower?” She asked, sauntering down the stairs. “In case I dirty the clothes?”

“No, no.” Ruby shook her head. “They’re new, so we need to wash them first. Unless you want to take one?” She glanced down.

Daliah turned her head away. “No! It’s just that you’re so annoying about those!” Pfft, who needed a shower and her hair done? Not her! She was strong and tough!

Ruby smiled and winked. “Okay. Well, since we’re sweaty anyway, we might as well take one after, right?”

Daliah grumbled something, but she knew it would be pointless to say anything. Ruby just never listened when it came to this kind of things.

Once in their room - which was now, to Dariah’s pride, clean! - Ruby opened the bag. “So I bought some things. I got these…” She frowned. “I guess it’s basically a shirt and pants? I don’t really get Vacuan clothes.”

Daliah wasn’t listening or looking. She knew perfectly well what was coming: the stifling clothes, the dresses, the pink, and the cute things that wanted to make her go bleurgh.

“I asked Yang and Neo for advice, so I think you’ll like at least one of these.” Red tapped her shoulder. “Daliah? At least try to look.”

Daliah sighed, ready to say the most scathing words she could think of, and turned around to look at… The Clothes.

There weren’t that many clothes on the bed. None of them were pink, or bright green, or frilly, or any other cutesy weird stuff. They were gray and black and dark beige, and there were pants! Loose pants! She hadn’t worn some in- in- she didn’t remember!

She looked at the last thing on the bed, a weird ensemble with a dress and a small sand-colored cloak. “What’s this?”

“Oh, that.” Ruby rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “It’s just that, well, when I was your age I loved this kind of stuff, so I thought I’d let you try.”

“I hate dresses.” Daliah answered. She picked the skirt between two fingers and lifted it, keeping it as far away from her as possible. “I only like pants.” She frowned. Now that she was holding it, there was something weird when she looked inside. “Hey, what’s that?”

“Oh, it’s not a dress.” Ruby grinned proudly and put her hand out to the side. “It’s a combat skirt!”

Then her eyes darkened, and Ruby wasn’t here anymore.

Daliah slowly lowered the skirt, acutely aware of the sudden silence. That was another thing she’d learned. Sometimes, Ruby was Ruby. She smiled, was nice to Daliah and always moved around. But sometimes, Ruby wasn’t there. She was Red.

She just stood there, motionless. She breathed a little fast, Daliah supposed, and maybe she was sweating a bit more. But she wasn’t smiling anymore, and she wasn’t looking at her. Daliah could pretty much do whatever she wanted, and Red wouldn’t budge.

After a few minutes, Red’s eyes focused back on her, and their color returned - literally. Daliah had pretty good eyes, and Red’s eyes actually changed colors; it would be sick if it wasn’t a bad thing. “Sorry, I spaced out," Ruby said. "What were you saying?”

Daliah relaxed. If Ruby was back, then she didn’t even remember what happened. One time, she froze when they were eating, and she asked them, confused, why everyone was done an hour later. She wasn’t sure what to do, but not talking about it seemed to work most of the time if she didn't remain Red.

Daliah grabbed one of the pants. “I said I’m trying this one first.”

——

Another thing Daliah had to get used to was seeing Ruby and Neo be, well, Ruby and Neo.

First of all, because Daliah wasn’t used to living in a house with adults around - Scar’s gang didn’t count, there were so many kids she could do whatever she wanted, and no one would ever find out. Still, this was a big change from just living with her mom.

Ruby and Neo were playing a game on the big TV - The Boss had hired some guys to replace all the furniture in the house, including the TV. They hadn’t cleaned the ground before putting them down, though, so Daliah was left biting the couch in frustration, thinking of all the work she had to do. Dust moved, and now she would have to push the new furniture to clean the ground under it, and it was about to be a pain.

However, that was a problem for future her since she wasn’t actually cleaning yet; she was playing with one of Ruby’s weird cartridges. At her mom’s place, no one ever let her do that, so she was enjoying throwing it around and catching it, and she would soon move to the best part: the knife test!

She was, incidentally, wearing the new clothes Ruby bought. She liked the loose pants and the long-sleeved shirt; they were light, and wavy, and felt nice, and she didn’t want to go back to her too-tight clothes. Screw washing them!

The sound of an explosion sprang from the speaker, and Ruby sighed. “Again? Why?!”

Neo didn’t answer, but Daliah could see her laugh silently.

“It’s not that complicated! Just follow the instructions!” Ruby groaned. “Why are you making this so difficult?”

Neo shrugged and grinned. Ruby rolled her eyes and without missing a beat, Neo used the distraction to kick her off the couch.

And this is when they became too quick for Daliah to follow. All she knew was that sometimes they were laughing, but most of the time they were grunting and throwing things around. As long as Ruby didn’t use her weapon, - banned inside the house, The Boss’s orders - then Daliah knew for sure they wouldn’t hurt each other too badly.

As the couch flew through the room and broke a window, Daliah wasn’t so sure anymore.

It was really hard to get them, Daliah thought as she crawled under the kitchen table. One moment they were all chummy, and the next they tried to kill the other, and they never seemed to actually care all that much about which was which. It was cool! But also, really scary.

Seriously, she managed to slip by them when they tried to wash her because Ruby was too busy stammering at Neo to do it properly, and Neo was too busy showing off! But then, Ruby said something, and Neo got offended and kicked her, and at that point she’d been out of the bathroom. All she knew was that they had to patch up a new hole in the wall, and both Ruby and Neo had been pissed when they came back a minute later.

Daliah refocused. Safe for the moment under her trusty wooden roof, she brought her knife to the bullet. If she remembered the book she really wasn’t supposed to read, Huntress bullets could remove the cover liiike- this! With a small ting, she removed the top of the bullet or whatever it was. She heard the bits of metal she broke scattered around, but no matter! This was just so cool!

She looked inside the bullet, mesmerized. Inside, there was a lot of red powder, shimmering under the weak light. It smelled faintly of sand and fire. Daliah wasn’t stupid enough to put it in her hand, but she also really wanted to.

Then something heavy hit the table.

“Fuck!” Daliah yelled in surprise as she threw her bullet at whatever-that-was. It missed and hit the wall with a thundering boom!

Everything froze.

Ruby, who was in her semblance, who was the one who hit the table, stopped abruptly, her eyes looking first at the bullet, then at Daliah. Her eyes were dull, almost black, as she made to take her scythe, but of course, it wasn’t there. Her eyes widened in fear and in a flash, she moved under the table in a cloud of petals. For a second, Daliah couldn’t see anything except red, she was both everywhere and nowhere, upside down and right side up, and just as suddenly she was Daliah again. Red’s arms were around her, shaking, holding her close against her chest. Daliah couldn’t see anything, she could only hear Red’s panicked breathing.

“R-Ruby.” Daliah said, herself trembling. Shame and fear warred as she tried to make sense of where she was. “I’m sorry.”

But Red didn’t hear her. She was muttering things that didn’t make sense, words Daliah didn’t understand. Carefully, she managed to extricate herself from Red’s vice-like grip and leave, straightening her shirt once she did so. Looking around, they were in the hallway next to the kitchen - there was nothing there, and Daliah knew it wasn't visible from any window.

Neo was also here, holding an ice tray she always kept full just for this. She was ignoring Daliah, entirely focused on Red. If there was one advantage of Red being Red, it was that Neo didn’t see anyone else except for The Boss.

She looked conflicted. Daliah could almost smell lies, and Neo stank all the time. She lied when she smiled, she lied when she was offended, she lied, lied, lied. The Boss could see through them easily, probably because he lied all the time too. But when she was around Red, she didn’t lie. She looked conflicted, angry, happy, afraid. She looked like she both wanted to see Red in pain, but she also didn’t like it.

Daliah didn’t get it, of course, and she could only wait as Neo dragged her fingers along Red’s arm and breathed deeply, in, and out, until Red calmed down.

Red spoke, her voice hoarse. “I’m sorry, Neo It’s- It doesn’t matter.” She looked around with empty, dull eyes. “Where’s Daliah?”

Daliah waved with a tense smile. “I’m here. Hug me again and I’ll stab you!” She said, her voice wavering. She wanted to see Ruby smile, but she didn’t. Red looked at her and simply nodded before standing up. Without looking at them, she slowly walked away from them toward the stairs, her shoulders slumped. Despite herself, Daliah felt bad. She just wanted to see, it wasn’t her fault! They were the ones fighting!

Still, she needed to book it. Neo was still distracted, so she silently backed off as fast as she could and ran downstairs to the basement, where she could hide in the many little corners. Whenever Ruby became Red, Neo was always keen to ‘play’ with Daliah, and even if it wasn’t as bad as she’d first feared, she couldn’t quite find it in herself to run back to Red for protection, guilt still churning in her stomach. It was the first time Red came twice in one day, and she didn’t want to think it was her fault.

Instead, she wondered why Ruby was Red. And a small, afraid part of her wondered who was the real one and who was the intruder.

Chapter Text

Ruby was fighting.

She didn’t know what it was, a mass of fangs and muscles. Running didn’t work. Fighting didn’t work. Any cut she did, it healed, any hole was filled by a black oily substance. It roared with hatred as she fired behind her, trying to buy herself some time.

She kept running. She was barely aware of the beast, of the ground, of anything else other than the primal fear eating at her guts. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to be killed by that thing. She didn’t want to turn around and see silver eyes and black hair staring right back at her.

——

“Ruby! Wake up!”

Ruby awoke with a startle, her hands immediately flying next to her for Crescent Rose, but only grasping air. She then tried to roll out of her cot, only to belatedly realize she wasn’t sleeping on the ground but in a bed. Unluckily, her feet tangled in the covers and she fell face-first into the ground.

“I want you outside in ten minutes,” rasped a man’s voice.

She could only muster a weak groan in response.

——

Roman was quietly drinking his coffee in the kitchen when he saw - and heard - Red walking downstairs with bed hair and wearing only her right slipper. She immediately made for the door and loudly began to put on her shoes.

It was about three hours before she was normally up and about. “What are you doing?” He asked with an eyebrow raised.

Red growled something and opened the door in one jerky movement, almost tearing it off its hinges. It sounded suspiciously like “A crow told me to get out”.

Before he could ask for clarification, she’d already slammed the door shut.

He paused and tilted his head. “She talks to birds now?”

Kids these days.

——

It was weird to see her uncle, Ruby thought, still recovering from her nightmare.

When she went back in time, there was a clear frontier between before and after. Yang was barely the same, so were Weiss and Blake. Nora, Jaune, Ren, they all looked very different.

Qrow didn’t. He was still with his familiar flask at his hip, the same weapon, the same tattered cloak. Being barely shaved and looking at her with half vacant eyes wasn’t a sign Salem was killing everyone; it was just a normal Tuesday. It nagged her in a way she wasn’t sure she understood, as if she was seeing two realities superposed over one another, neither giving her the full picture, giving the world the hazy tint of a dream.

He smirked. Now that she’d spent more time around the man and after two years of life-or-death situations, she noticed the small things. How his eyes were darting around, how his hand was both close to his flask and to his weapon.

“Hey pipsqueak.” He winked at her. “Not happy to see me?”

She crossed her arms and sighed. “You dragged me out of bed.”

“Damn right I did.” He looked around him. “You ran off with the bad guys, and that’s where you ended up? Not even a luxury suit or something, bodyguards in costume and sunglasses?”

She kicked a pebble. It landed in one of the empty garden ponds. Instead of telling him she did try that until Yang scared her off, she opted to stay silent.

“Right. Rebellious teenager phase. I can roll with that.” Qrow took a drink from his flask, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “You have a garden shed around here?”

Ruby pointed at a small, dilapidated building to the far side of the garden.

“Follow me.” Qrow walked toward it.

Ruby didn’t. “What are you doing here, Uncle Qrow?”

The man stopped and turned around. “What, I can’t visit you?”

She bit a retort. No, he couldn’t. That was the whole point of going away. Instead of saying that, she asked, “How did you find me?”

He smirked. Had his smile always been this fake, or was this one so thin because she ran off? “I heard words from a few people that you might be in Vacuo. Since I was here anyway, I thought I’d drop by, see how you’re holding up.”

“But why here?”

“I followed rumors, mostly.” He avoided the subject with another shrug. “Now are you coming, or are you getting a tan?”

She sighed, but walked toward the shed.

“That’s better.” Qrow walked on. “The way I see things, if you’re planning to stay here, you need to do something about that garden.”

“I don’t want to do anything.”

“Yeah? Too bad.” He opened the door, and it broke and fell to the floor. “Shit. We’ll need to fix that too.”

“Language!” Came another, smaller voice, from a window above them.

Daliah was leaning out of their room’s window, peering down at them. She looked like she usually did, but she was staring wearily at Qrow. Ruby knew that look; she was trying to gauge whether he was friend or foe.

“Who’s the tyke?” asked her uncle.

“Uncle Qrow, this is Daliah. Daliah, this is my uncle.” Another thing she didn’t want to explain. Thankfully, by the time she was done with the introduction, Daliah had already left the window.

“You keep weird company.”

“You’re one to talk,” muttered Ruby.

Instead of an answer, her uncle threw a shovel at her. “Here, smartass. We’re clearing the swamp.”

“You mean the ponds?”

“What else? You want a garden here, the first thing we need to do is clean those.”

Ruby had the nagging suspicion it was more because it was the only gardening work her uncle had a clear plan to do, but she kept her mouth shut. The less she talked, the less time she’d have to spend in the sun.

They jumped in the pond and began to work. The ground wasn’t as filled with sludge as she’d first thought, but it didn’t make the work any easier. Yes, she wasn’t sinking in the dirt, but it was also harder for her shovel to pass through the mix of dry dirt, sand, plastic bags and metal cans.

Thankfully, a liberal application of her aura made it so her shovel could cut through any of the metal bits instead of letting them slow her down.

“Careful with that,” rasped Qrow. “You don’t want to go through the ground and cut a pipe.”

“They’ll need to be replaced anyway.”

“They’ll need to be cleaned, yes. Replaced? These things are durable.”

They worked in a silence only broken by the sound of shovels sinking in the dirt. If it weren’t for the heat, Ruby wouldn’t have minded. It wasn’t even that tiring, since she was used to huntress training.

After a while, Qrow spoke. “So. Care to tell me what you’re doing here instead of living the dream at Beacon?”

Ruby didn’t meet his gaze, focused on the ground.

“I heard you fought with Yang. That’s part of the problem?”

She still didn’t answer.

“Or is it the girl?”

This time, she spoke. “Daliah has nothing to do with this.”

“Oh, really?” Uncle Qrow stopped working, opting to rest on the shovel instead. “Then who is she?”

Ruby sighed. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because your sister and Tai are worried.” He shrugged. “The way I see it, I should kick your ass and drag you back home by the ear, but I’ve been strongly advised against it. So, since I can’t do that, I’m trying to figure out how to do it the nice way.”

She scoffed. “Fat chance of that happening.”

“Don’t be so sure. With a bit of bad luck, it just might.”

She ignored him. Uncle Qrow had always been cagey about his semblance, and now wasn’t the time to show him she knew. With that information might come questions, questions that she couldn’t answer without more questions.

Then again, not answering him might provoke the same kind of reaction. If she didn’t, he’d assume something like her staying because Roman had a hostage or something of the sort.

Her shovel struck the dirt with more force than necessary. “She’s just a kid. We found her in Vacuo, she didn’t have a place to stay, we brought her here. As long as she doesn’t bother him too much, Roman is letting her stay.”

“Imagine that. What about his pet psycho, she’s taking it well?”

Ruby’s hands tightened over her shovel. “Don’t call her that.”

“So I heard right.” He frowned. “You’re really attached to that woman.”

“Neo is… It’s complicated.”

She truly was. Spending time with Neo was just as effortless as fighting her. Sometimes they were friends, sometimes enemies. Whatever it was, she knew she could let her guard down around her, and she hoped the opposite was true. Maybe she really was that messed up.

She was always the best of us. Bit of a brat, though. But hey, I like brats.

Ruby smiled. “Do you remember what you told me about Mom, back in Atlas?”

“Oh, so now you speak?” Qrow huffed. “We’ve never been in Atlas, kid. You hurt your head or something? Didn’t drink enough water?”

Ruby blinked and shook her head. Right. She hadn’t been in Atlas with him yet. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She heard the thunk of a shovel breaking. “Shi-oot.” He rubbed his hand behind his head. “Well, it’s as good a time as any to take a break anyway.”

“Already?” Ruby frowned. That wasn’t like him, slacking off.

“We’ve been outside for an hour.” She saw through that lie; it couldn’t have been longer than half an hour. “In this heat? Best thing to do is to take regular breaks in the shade.”

Ruby let her shovel fall on the ground. “Fine by me.”

“Don’t- You know what, never mind. Let’s grab a glass of water and relax.” Qrow put his hands in his pockets and walked toward the house.

Her uncle in the same house as Roman and, worse, Neo, was not the kind of thing Ruby needed. She vanished in a blur and came back seconds later with two bottles of water. “Here.”

Qrow raised an eyebrow but took a bottle and uncapped it without saying anything.

It was so awkward, Ruby thought, and she was solely responsible. The problem was simple; she didn’t know what to say to him. What did he know? What did she? He let her slip-up go when she talked about Atlas, but she was sure he took a note in his head. Qrow was always observant.

In fact, was he judging her right now? She fidgeted, shifting her weight from one leg to the other, her shoe sinking slightly in the warm sand. What would he look for? Her eyes? Where she herself was looking? Scars? Did she even have any he could see? What would he say if he saw the one on her arm? Did he already?

So many questions swirling in her mind, with no answer in sight.

He slowly drank from his bottle, not saying a word. The silence was so tense she could cut it with a knife.

“Okay, the slow approach isn’t working for either of us.”

Ruby hunched her shoulders upward. She felt like she did something wrong but couldn’t find what.

“So, since you won’t talk to me, how about we spar for a bit? Get that energy out?”

Sparring with him- wait. Wait. That might actually do it.

She couldn’t beat him as she was now. To be fair, she couldn’t beat him back in Atlas, with a trained body and her baby at peak capacity. But if she could show him she was tough enough to hold her own, maybe he’d let her do his thing?

“Why are you picking a fight with a little girl?”

Ruby startled. So lost in thought she was, she hadn’t heard Daliah approach, her arms crossed with a scowl.

Qrow chuckled. “I just want to spar with my niece, that’s all.” He ruffled her hair. Ruby closed her eyes and let him do it; she’d missed that. “Besides, she’s not that small.”

“It’s fine, Daliah.” Added Ruby.

Daliah shook her head. “No, it’s not.”

Where was that coming from? “What’s the problem?”

“Him,” Daliah pointed at her uncle. “He’s super strong. You’re going to lose.”

Ruby blinked. Daliah didn’t have any aura, any semblance, so she couldn’t judge her uncle by aura volume. Was that just because he was taller?

“We know that.” Qrow grinned. It was the kind of grin that made kids trust him, because he looked like he was about to break a rule. “I’m just going to kick her ass a bit so she gets she’s not as strong as she thinks.”

“As if.” Ruby scoffed. “You’re just going to sprain your back again.”

Qrow muttered something Ruby couldn’t quite catch. Daliah tugged on her combat skirt. Ruby lowered herself until they were equal in height, and Daliah whispered in her ear.

“Do I need to call Neo?”

Ruby winced. She really, really didn’t need that. “No, it’s fine, I promise.” She brought Daliah in for a quick hug. Daliah protested and kicked her until she let go, Qrow guffawing all the while.

He didn’t realize that Daliah needed this. She needed to protest, to be the big independent girl, the one who could handle everything thrown at her with a grin. But what she truly wanted, deep down, was someone who could take the load off her shoulders, protect her from the world, and let her be a little girl for a bit. Ruby understood this instinctively, the same way she understood that for all Roman pushed, he liked that she pushed back and would allow Daliah to stay as long as she did. It took the responsibility away from him, in a sense.

They weren’t too dissimilar in that regard, she supposed.

She stood up and brushed her legs. “Let me get my baby, and we’ll have a go.”

“Sure. I’ll wait here.”

Ruby walked back to the house, Daliah in tow. The moment she was inside, the girl rushed back up the stairs, stomping her feet for each step.

She’d upset her, somehow. Ruby wanted to make it up to her, but she didn’t know how. She sighed, defeated.

Keeping her around wasn’t a smart choice. Letting her go wasn’t a smart choice. What was she supposed to do?

She walked toward Crescent Rose, and her hand closed over the handle. She let the usual shivers go up her arm, into the crease of her back and vanish in her stomach, where they joined the rest of her icy fear. Little by little, they stopped, and she could put her baby on her back.

She stepped outside, armed.

“All good?” Qrow was already near the fence, giving them a comfortable space to spar.

Ruby grinned. It was a familiar sight, and one she’d missed. She made a clumsy, playful salute. “I’m combat ready!”

Then her smile died.

Chapter Text

Ruby always loved sparring.

“Uncle Qrow!” She yelled excitedly, jumping up and down as she waved a small wooden scythe. “Look, look!”

She’d been nine at the time, spending her afternoon in the garden. The dream of becoming a huntress had already pushed her way past the other kids of her age, and all of her spare time was spent either with her family or by herself, training.

Qrow grinned. He, too, was younger, but already marked by age and loss.

“What’s going on, kid?”

Instead of answering, Ruby began to twirl, the scythe following her movements. It didn’t look like much, but she managed to keep her footing even as she picked up speed and as she mimicked strikes with her weapon. After less than a minute, she stopped and threw a small rock at her uncle, who caught it.

“See? I’m not dizzy anymore!” She grinned brightly. “I can spin!”

Qrow chuckled. “How about that.” He stepped forward and ruffled her hair, Ruby giggling as she leaned into the touch. “Did you train while I was gone?”

“Yes!” She nodded fast. “I ran with Yang, and I helped dad put away the groceries every time!” She puffed her chest and put her tiny fists on her side. “They’re super heavy!”

“Well, well, well.” He stood up straight. “Looks like we’ve got a growing huntress in our midst.”

Ruby tilted her head. “In our what?”

“Good question.” He ruffled her hair one last time before stepping back. “How about you show me what you can do, kid?”

“Can we?!”

“Of course.” He chuckled. “I’ll be home for a few days, so we’ve got time-“ Before he could finish, he had to dodge a clumsy wooden scythe. “Eager.”

“Yes!”

He bent to pick up a random stick. “Alright then.”

——

Ruby was twelve when she tested her first Crescent Rose in a real spar.

“You’re sure I won’t hurt you?” She peered at her uncle worryingly. It was one thing to know he was bulletproof, but another to try and hit him with a really, really sharp scythe.

“Of course you won’t.” Qrow grinned.

“But Yang said you’re getting old, and now we need to take care of you.”

His eye twitched. “I’m going to spar with Yang later. Let’s focus on you first, okay? Look.” He took his weapon and fired it in his hand, then showed it to her. “See? I’m fine. It’s all good.”

“O-okay. If you’re sure.”

Ruby put herself in a combat position. Already, her worry was gone, replaced with that carefree grin that suited her much better.

——

Ruby was fourteen when she collapsed on the dirt of their backyard, sticks in her hair and sweat on her brow. She’d been training against her uncle for what felt like hours.

“Had enough?” Qrow rested his arms on the pommel of his sword. “We can stop here if you want.”

No. The thought was immediate. Ignoring her aching limbs, she picked up her weapon and stood up, ready for more.

Qrow shook his head. “You do know we need to stop and eat at some point, right?”

She smiled. “Later.”

Qrow shrugged. “Your call.”

A few moments later, she was back on the ground.

“I don’t think fighting humans is your thing, kid.” Her uncle sat next to her. “You’re holding back too much.”

She wheezed, trying to catch her breath. “Yeah, but I’ll only fight Grimm, right?”

Qrow nodded, his own smile dimming. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“So It’s-“ She coughed. “It’s alright if I’m bad with people, since I’m just fighting them for fun.”

He ruffled her hair. She didn’t have the energy to complain, so she settled on a groan. “Uncle Qrow! I’m not ten anymore!”

“You aren’t?” He gasped. “But you’re so small!”

“Uncle Qrow…” She whined.

“Sorry, sorry.” He let her go with a smile. “You’ll always be a kid to me.”

——

Ruby was old now. She was in Vacuo, in front of her uncle, doing her best to remove dead green eyes from her mind.

She’d tried to think of excuses to avoid the fight, but in the end, that’s something her previous self would have done. She’d always loved a spar.

She had fought against her uncle going all out back in Atlas, in a courtyard much like this one, covered in snow and surrounded by tall fences. The only problem was, her older body was in much better condition than this one. She could theoretically bridge the speed gap, but it left her too vulnerable to his superior skill and experience.

She angled her scythe back and-

Fired, propelling herself straight at her uncle, who barely parried the strike, caught off-guard by her raw speed. His own blade shimmered under the snow as-

He pushed her back before aiming a kick at her abdomen. She rolled with it, letting herself be pushed away and using the momentum to put her scythe in rifle mode, forcing him to parry each bullet as-

They split on the blade harmlessly, dust being too expensive to waste on a spar.

He shook his blade and it expanded, shredding the ice coating it, before going back into blade form. It was his turn to attack, closing the distance with a speed so blinding she almost couldn't see him move. She hurriedly took a step back and struck-

Her blade left deep gouges in the snow as she aimed for his legs, but he twisted himself out of the way before aiming the barrel of his pommel at her. It was her turn to vanish in a burst of semblance, the gunshot-

No gunshot rang as she used her semblance to dodge an attack that wasn’t there. She could barely catch his frown before she dipped in Petal Burst again and re-emerged on the tall fences. A blade of wind came straight to her, displacing sand, and-

Her hand went to her pouch by reflex only to find it empty of the dust she’d need to block the attack-

The stone wall emerged and was immediately shattered by the wind blade, even as Ruby managed to score a hit with her rifle through the falling debris.

Qrow used that distraction to close the gap once more, his foot crunching the snow-

He stayed exactly where he was, raising an impressed eyebrow. Ruby jumped down from the fence and used her semblance again to deliver a blitz of scythe strikes-

He barely managed to block them all before she scored a hit. He whistled. “Well, well, well. Maria’s training paid off.”

She couldn’t keep the pace for long; meanwhile, he parried her attacks with unnerving ease, as if he could see them coming before she made them. She hadn’t scored a single good hit in this fight, and the reason was simple.

Momentum.

Stupid, stupid momentum. She couldn’t control her speed as much as she could if it was her real body moving instead of her semblance, so she was stuck with the basic movements he could see coming a mile away.

He found a pattern in her movements, or maybe her own footing left her vulnerable, but he abruptly switched his sword to the scythe mode and in one swift movement hit her in the stomach, almost hard enough to make her retch. “Tyrian would have killed you there. Watch your footwork.”

He gently tapped her stomach with the flat of his blade. “Careful there. You’re leaving yourself open.”

She recoiled and threw fire dust at his eyes, which he batted aside. In a blink he was on her, his hand effortlessly catching Crescent Rose.

He wrenched it to the side-

He kept his grip firm but didn’t do anything more. “Talk to me, kid. What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“If you say so. If you need someone to talk to, I-“

“I don’t need your help, Uncle Qrow,” she said through gritted teeth as she fired bullets straight into his torso. The recoil and pain forced him to let go, and she was finally able to put some distance between them.

“I didn’t say anything.” He frowned.

She ignored him and opted to fire at him again, but before she could, a louder bang echoed through the courtyard, followed by a yelp of pain. Ruby almost jumped, her heart beating a mile a minute.

“Daliah!” Ruby ignored the crater of sand made by the explosive bullet a hair away from her uncle and jumped up and to the window Daliah had been peering from.

The girl was on the ground, clutching her shoulder as a high-pitched whine escaped her lips. On the ground next to her was a spear, Ruby’s spear, in gun form.

“Are you okay?” Ruby kneeled next to her.

“It fucking hurts!”

“Don’t worry, I’m here.” Ruby gently pried Daliah’s fingers away from her shoulder.

Heavy footsteps indicated her uncle had joined her. Soon after, he too was inspecting the wound. “I don’t think anything’s broken. You got a first aid kit?”

“Probably?” It would be like Roman to not have a first aid kit, but the opposite would also be true. He was both reckless and smart; it made it hard to get in his head.

“Then go look for it.” Qrow’s voice was firm, but gentle.

Ruby ran to the bathroom, then the second bathroom, then the ground floor, and finally found one. She dashed upstairs in a burst of speed, guilt chewing through her stomach all the while.

She did this. She’d left the spear unattended in its case, believing no one would be stupid enough to open it. She had left a firearm, a huntsman weapon, in the reach of a kid. It was her fault, her stupid fault.

She was rounding the corner, going to her room, when she heard a voice. Daliah’s voice.

Somehow, she didn’t sound that pained anymore.

“-So fucking stop!”

Qrow sighed. “I didn’t think it was that bad. And watch your mouth, twerp. I thought you didn’t like swear words.”

Daliah scoffed.

“I’m just going to make her come to her senses, not kidnap her.”

“She doesn’t want to be with you! Leave us alone!”

“She’s in a bad place, sure, but you-“ He paused, then raised his voice. “Ruby, it’s rude to listen on other people’s conversations.”

Ruby swallowed, suddenly feeling more like a kid with her hand in the cookie jar than the Huntress she really was. She pushed the shame away. “Sorry, I thought you were talking about me behind my back,” she snarked as she entered the room. “Daliah’s okay?”

“We were, and yes, she is.” Qrow laid down the content of the kit until he found some kind of cream he slathered on her clavicle not too gently. “Nothing’s broken, and the pain should teach her not to play with weapons again.” He shot her a warning glance. “Speaking of, you should probably keep that one out of her reach.”

Ruby hid a wince. “Right. I’ll do that.” She turned her back on them, looking for a viable spot high enough Daliah couldn’t reach. Ah, but she had a tendency to climb on things, so-

“What did you name it?”

She turned around, startled. “What?”

“The spear.” Qrow gestured vaguely toward it. “Good choice for a weapon in a pinch, and I think it works well for the desert.”

“Oh. Right.” She avoided his eyes.

She couldn’t tell him she didn’t name it. It was something she wouldn’t have done in the past, another excuse to get him on her case - and judging from what she’d heard, he already was. No, she needed to improvise.

“I named it…” She looked around. Looked at Daliah, hurt.

It was a weapon that hurt everything it touched, like her. It was a spear, so straight and pointy.

The name made sense.

“I named her Thorn.”

Qrow nodded, appreciative. “Good name.”

Ruby shrugged, put Thorn on top of a tall shelf, then knelt down next to the girl. “Daliah, why did you try to shoot my uncle?”

“I…” Daliah’s eyes darted all over the place. “Neo told me to?”

“Not buying it, kid.” Qrow patted her shoulder and, satisfied, put the healing supplies back in their box.

Ruby held her hand. Daliah immediately wrenched it free from her grip. “Look, if you were worried about me, there’s no need.” She smiled softly. “I like Uncle Qrow, okay? He’s a good guy. I didn’t need your help.”

“But you were losing!” Daliah sat up. “He was kicking your ass, and you were distracted like-“ she glanced at Qrow and stopped talking, as if she was about to reveal some secret.

Ruby patted her head. Once again, Daliah batted her hand away immediately. “That’s the point of sparring. It’s so I can get better.”

Daliah looked away in shame. Ruby sighed. “Just don’t do it again, alright? If you want to use Thorn, I can show you how.”

She immediately perked up. “You will?!”

Ruby chuckled. It was kind of like looking at herself at a younger age, all excited whenever her dad or uncle let her touch a weapon. “Of course.”

“Yes!”

Qrow cleared his throat. “Ruby, do you have a moment?”

The use of her name made her tense. “Sure.”

They left Daliah in the room - she was fine, just bruised - and went to the hallway.

Qrow crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “What’s your plan for the kid?”

“What’s the plan, Ruby?”

“We got a plan?”

“Ruby, we need a plan now!”

“Our Fearless Leader told us to leave the planning to you.”

“Ruby!”

“Hey!” Qrow shook her. “Don’t fall asleep on me.”

Ruby blinked fast. “Sorry, I spaced out. What were you saying?”

“What’s your plan to deal with the kid?”

Ah, right, the plan. Ruby hated plans.

“I don’t have any.” She crossed her arms, mimicking his position. “I’m feeding her and I’m taking care of her.”

“Ruby…” Her uncle sighed. “She has a family, right?”

“No.” Ruby shook her head. “She was homeless when we found her.”

“Homeless? But I could swear-“ He frowned, then shook his head. “Never mind. The point is, you can’t take care of a kid at fifteen when you’re still a kid yourself.”

Ruby scoffed. “That didn’t stop Yang.”

Qrow barely twitched, but she knew him enough to know she hit where it hurts. “That’s different. It was a shitty situation, but Yang had us, and she only took care of you for some time.”

“So what?” She looked to the side, avoiding him. “She needs my help, and I can give it to her.”

“And what about you? Your life?” Oh, so now she could think about herself. “What’s the endgame here? Do you want to adopt her?”

“I…”

“Because right now,” he pressed, “there’s only two paths. Either you take care of her permanently, or you give her to the Valean social services as soon as possible.”

She looked at him again. His eyes were dead serious. “What? Why?”

“Because the Vacuan ones suck.”

“No, not that.” She shook her head. “Why do I have to hurry?”

“Because that kid is getting attached to you, believe it or not.” He took a gulp from his flask - the first one since he arrived, Ruby noticed. “The more time she spends around you, the harder the separation. And, kid, you don’t deal with that kind of thing all that well either.”

Ruby blinked. The words made sense, individually, but parsing them into a clear sentence didn’t seem to work. She had an answer ready, but the words were jumbled up in her brain, any answer committing to something she didn’t want to do.

She didn’t want to leave Daliah behind. The poor girl didn’t deserve it, especially if she was an orphan. She needed structure, stability.

She didn’t want to keep Daliah around. The poor girl didn’t deserve it, especially since she suffered so much already. Ruby was going to die, sooner or later, and the record showed she would drag people alongside her.

She shook her head. Vale wouldn’t matter anyway; it would fall soon.

“I’ll take care of her until after the Vytal Festival,” she said, pushing the problem away. “After that I’ll… I’ll see.”

Qrow didn’t break eye contact. “I won’t press you on this, but you need to make a decision sooner than later.” He smirked. “Can’t say I ever thought I’d say that, but you’re doing too good of a job helping her.”

Ruby sighed. “Can’t we talk about something else?”

“Nope, don''t have the time.” Qrow stepped away from the wall. “I'm here to investigate a few things in Vacuo, I just came by to say hi and check if you’re okay, but I need to hurry.” His sharp eyes seemed to vivisect her. “Get some sleep, kid. You need it.”

That stung. “Stop drinking alcohol, old man,” she bit back. “You don’t need it.”

He rolled his eyes. “Fair’s fair, I guess. I’ll come see you in a few days.”

Qrow walked toward a window and opened it, ready to jump. Before he did, he glanced back at her. “You know I love you, right, kid?”

Ruby blinked. She remembered a hand shoving her out of the way before a stinger pierced her uncle’s side. “Yeah.” She smiled, her heart seizing. “I love you too.”

He winked. “Catch ya later.” He jumped and vanished; the air soon filled with the sound of birds flying.

Ruby stretched. Right. Now all she had to do was check up on Daliah. Before she could do anything more, she heard the sound of glass breaking. Neo was there, in the hallway, stone-faced.

“It’s okay, Neo.” Ruby smiled. It didn’t go up to her ears, but it was still there. Then she frowned. “Wait, were you eavesdropping the whole time-“

Neo ran away.

“NEO!”

Chapter Text

“Come back here!” Ruby yelled, in pursuit.

Neo was fast, smart, and able to conjure illusions; the fact she wasn’t using that last one meant she was either very upset or, as Ruby was beginning to suspect, leading her into a trap.

Ruby barely avoided running face first into the wall as Neo took a sharp turn to the left and jumped over the stair railing. Without thinking, she followed, letting her aura take the brunt of the fall before running again. Another turn, another door, and-

“Children,” said Roman, sitting at the kitchen table, apparently not having moved since she’d last seen him.

Neo ran toward him and hid behind his back, only her head peeking over his shoulder, smiling with her usual shit-eating grin.

“Neo…” Ruby growled. 

“Red,” answered Roman, despite not being the one she was talking to. “To what do we owe this sudden burst of enthusiasm?”

“She eavesdropped on me!” Ruby exclaimed, pointing at Neo.

Roman turned to look at Neo, who looked for all intents and purposes as innocent as a white sheep, except the white sheep was covered in blood and chewing on the farmer’s leg. Ruby didn’t buy it, and if she didn’t, Roman wouldn’t.

“Neo.” Roman closed his computer. “Did you learn anything interesting? How he got here, how he found us?”

Neo made a so-so gesture, then used her semblance to show him words too small for Ruby to read. Intent on not letting them talk behind her back while in front of her, Ruby stepped forward, but Neo instantly put another illusion between them. Undeterred, Ruby broke it, but before she could do anything else, Roman raised his hand.

“Alright, alright, how about we all calm down for a moment here?”

“Calm down?!” Ruby almost yelled. “She spied on me!”

Neo reeled back and frowned, her taunting smile forgotten. It lasted for less than a full second before she noticed Ruby’s stare and smiled in return, but it had been there. What was going on with her?

Roman rolled his eyes. “Yes, I know, you’re moved that Neo shadowed you to make sure the strange man none of us know couldn’t hurt you, and because of that you can’t quite restrain yourself from throwing yourself in her arms. I’m aware.”

“What?!“ With just one sentence, Roman cut down all her momentum, the heat in her gut fading into confusion. “What do you mean, she wanted to protect me?”

“I mean that you’re an asset, Red. Try to keep up.” Roman rose from his chair. “Speaking of, since you did your little stunt with the Scars and the punks here, we have to go to another meeting to save face. You’re coming with.”

“I… didn’t do anything to the ‘punks’.” 

“Doesn’t matter. Don’t worry, we’re just going to make sure our faces are seen. In and out, we don’t say anything, we don’t do anything.”

Ruby sighed, her stupid, misplaced anger forgotten.

Did she really have a choice?

——

A bullet flew by and missed her head by a hair. Ruby lifted her glass of blessedly cold water and took a sip, doing her best to ignore the carnage around her despite her mounting heartbeat.

The meeting place was, as was apparently the tradition, a bar. From what she gathered, it was a meeting to make sure one of the new strong players in the city knew their place - at the bottom.

Said new player didn’t like it very much. Ruby knew this because in a few words they managed to ignite the tensions between the gangs there, and now, well…

A man fell and hit Roman on the way down. Without giving a sign he felt anything, Roman pushed him away with his foot. 

“Is this normal?” asked Ruby, doing her best to focus on something else. She had to raise her voice to be heard above the grunting, hits and gunfire. 

“This wasn’t as big and official as I was told,” answered Roman, looking as calm as can be. “Usually, there’s a truce, and anyone breaking it gets beat up by everyone else.” He dropped his lighter on the ground and bent to find it, coincidentally dodging a rock as big as his head. He straightened up and adjusted his hat before continuing. “Since there were just three groups, I guess they didn’t feel a truce was necessary. Amateurs.”

“If they’re so dumb, how can they have so many people?” From the corner of her eye, Ruby noticed the shimmer of aura breaking. Most of the fighters had it, though it was weak.

“Lack of huntsmen, I’d say. That, or the big players are using them as distractions. Can be a lot of things, really.” He shrugged. “Most people can use aura as a passive shield if given a week of prep time.”

While they were talking, Neo was looking all around her like a cat looking at laser pointers. She was doing her best to seem slow deliberate about it, but the bouncing of her leg under the table told an entirely different story. Ruby wondered if she was scared too, or if it was a the thrill of adrenaline thrumming in her veins.

Neo wasn’t the only one raring to go. Somewhere, a man took a hit from a baseball bat to the jaw and fell like a puppet with its strings cut. Ignoring that her opponent was clearly done, the two women fighting him took their turn kicking him while he was down. Elsewhere, two men were fighting with pool cues, the wood already broken. Ruby suspected it was on purpose, as the two men now had much sharper weapons.

Someone needed to stop them before they got hurt, but her orders had been clear; no fighting.

A girl fell straight on their table, so suddenly Ruby almost jumped out of her seat. Before their drinks could even hit the ground, in one fell swoop, Neo grabbed the girl and threw her back where she came from, then sat down again. The girl went through a table, then another, and finally stopped under a third one.

Slowly, the people stopped fighting to look at what was going on, then looked at them, weapons ready.

Neo looked at them, then at Ruby.

Ruby looked at Neo, then at the fighters.

Roman groaned. “And here I hoped we could have one day without making a scene.”

In the same movement, both girls stood from their chairs. 

She rapidly took stock of the situation, her anxiety finally subsiding. Thirteen people fighting, all with weak to medium auras. She could easily take them down individually, but they could possibly swarm her, and the way they were moving, it seemed their rivalry was temporarily forgotten in favor of taking the new threat out. She needed space. In one swift move, she took out Crescent Rose and deployed it, the steel singing through the air.

Pool Cues choose that moment to attack with their sharp sticks. Ruby met them halfway and parried one, two, three hits, redirecting them to her side. She moved Crescent Rose from one hand to the other as she did so, a simple twirl more than enough to intercept a hit and push her opponent back. Lefty overextended and got hit in the wrist for his trouble, forcing him to drop his weapon. Ruby took a step forward and hit him in the leg, and as he stumbled, another good hit to his shoulder ensured he stayed down, his aura broken. Righty tried to attack, seeing an opening where there was none, but Ruby still had twice his range. She sliced his pool cue in half, then once more, until the man was holding little more than a stick. He threw it away and looked to the ground to find another weapon, but the distraction cost him and Ruby hit him in the temple. His aura broke, and he was down.

Eleven to go.

As the one who threw the woman on their table screamed in pain, Ruby mentally adjusted the count. Ten.

Most of the group was trying to attack Neo, who had taken home atop a table, mercilessly hitting anyone foolish enough to get close. She mimed a yawn before sharply thrusting her parasol to the left, hitting empty air… before an invisible assailant appeared, holding their head. Neo hit them in the throat with the blunt end of her parasol before they could recover, and that was that.

Nine. Ruby ran toward the man getting kicked by the two women. If she wanted to save him, she had to be fast. She jumped to one of them, grabbed the back of her head and pushed her down. The woman clearly wasn’t ready, and was even less ready for her nose to break on Ruby’s knee. Eight. The second woman tried to flee, so Ruby grabbed a nearby chair and threw it at her. She fell and didn’t get up. Seven.

She looked at the man on the ground, who didn’t move a muscle. She checked he was still alive and put him in recovery position. Six. 

Neo threw a man who crashed behind a table. Ruby slowly walked toward him, blood thumping in her ears, feeling like a fox in a chicken coop. Dazed, the man pressed a hand to the shattered wood, trying to haul himself to his feet. Before he could straighten, Ruby’s hand clamped onto his wrist.

“What-“

“Hello!” She said with an innocent smile. “How’s your aura?”

“Why-“ It shimmered under her fingers. She yanked his supporting arm from under him and drove his head straight through the table. This time, his aura broke.

“Just checking,” she chirped. “Can’t be too careful, you know?” She made sure he was fine, then looked at the scene again.

In the time it took her to take care of him, Neo had dispatched most of the people around her. Only two were still up, peppering her with small-arm fire with limited success. Ruby put her baby in rifle mode and a few well-placed ice dust shots later, they weren’t able to do much. Zero.

Adrenaline pumped through her veins, the thrill of combat making her smile despite herself. Bad guys dispatched, no casualties, everything was good. She was fine. She turned, surveying the room to ensure everyone was down. 

Then she came to her senses.

People were strewn around, most unconscious or too hurt to move. She only had the time to check on a few of them; what if someone was dead? The old, familiar dread crept back. What if she messed up? Did she kill anyone, lost in the thrill of fighting-

Footsteps from behind her. She turned around and struck, but Neo, wearing her usual grin, dipped under her scythe and struck with Hush, driving her back. 

Adrenaline was back. Ruby giggled and grabbed behind her for the first thing she could find. Her hand gripped the smooth surface of a bottle and she threw it at Neo, who grabbed it mid air. Without breaking the movement, Neo opened the bottle and drank from it, then her smile immediately twisted in disgust. Not her kind of drink, it seemed.

Not waiting for the next counterattack, Ruby ran to find more ammunitions. She jumped behind the bar’s counter just in time to see a bottle soar through the air and break on the wall above her. Taking a page from Neo’s book, she jumped on the counter itself, intent on using her superior reach and the height to fend off her assailant.

She found Neo waiting for her on the other side, smiling madly, slightly disheveled. She grabbed a nearby glass with Hush and threw it at Ruby, who caught it. 

Neo then threw another.

Then another.

Soon enough, Ruby had to use Petal Burst to catch all the glasses; one atop each of her shoulders, some in a pile on her head, some others held in her hand. Each time one threatened to fall, she turned into rose petals and rearranged them in a different position, moving them all through her semblance. 

Spurred on, Neo looked for more and more to throw, even opening a nearby cabinet. Using the distraction, Ruby used Petal Burst again to pile all the glasses in a pyramid behind her and went on the offensive, her feet thundering on the counter. Neo turned around and barely dodged her strike.

Neither of them could get a real advantage as they fought. Ruby couldn’t put her finger on the why, but they both acted as if falling from the counter was defeat, like the old pirate movies where people fought atop masts, the ocean roaring under them. They kicked whatever debris was on their way as they moved, except the glass pyramid; Ruby made a point of using her semblance to move through it and Neo simply used her superior gymnastics to avoid it. 

Ruby had troubles catching her breath, caught between focusing on the fight and giggling at the absurdity of the situation. Neo didn’t seem to fare better, with the way her chest heaved with each breath. 

Neo stumbled, and seeing her chance, Ruby extended forward, almost catching her in the side- and slipped on the remains of a shattered bottle. Neo, her own stumble forgotten, struck before Ruby could use petal burst to regain her footing. Ruby fell on her back, the air knocked out of her lungs, only seeing the dirty ceiling of the bar.

Her vision was soon blocked by a blade under her throat and a foot on her chest. She coughed, then did her best to catch her breath. She was sweaty now; she definitely needed a shower. The blade poked her harder.

“I yield,” she gasped. “Good fight.”

Neo took a step back, then gave her a hand. Ruby gratefully took it to pull herself back on her feet, her smile showing all her teeth. She, too, was struggling to catch her breath.

Someone clapped slowly.

“Congratulations. Wow.” Roman shook his head. “We had one job, and we fucked it up.”

Ruby was too cheery to care. “They attacked first, no?” 

Neo nodded quickly.

Roman rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes. And the ‘low profile’ part? Or did you forget about that part?”

Ruby looked at Neo, her usually perfectly styled hair now disheveled, her eyes shining with mirth.

Neo looked at Ruby.

They both looked at Roman, who didn’t seem impressed.

“Well,” he sighed, “What’s done is done. Just try to not kill each other on the way back.”

“Let’s just make sure they’re all okay first,” Ruby added. “And call an ambulance.”

Roman sighed, but did so. “Unbelievable.”

Neo mockingly bowed, then followed Ruby as they checked on everyone. To Ruby’s relief, there wasn’t much cause for concern; she had pulled her punches, and Neo did as well. The only serious wounds weren’t made by them, but were from before they joined the fray.

The last person taken care of, Ruby straightened up and put her hands on her hips. Neo bumped her shoulder with a smile Ruby couldn’t help but return.

It had been so, so long since she’d properly enjoyed a fight.

Chapter Text

Ruby wasn’t home.

Neo wasn’t home.

The Boss wasn’t home.

Daliah had the house to herself, and the silence was deafening.

She went to the kitchen. The last time they’d all left, there was money on the table. She had thought it was for food, but that was a lot of money, and she was very, very far from the city.

No money this time. A pit opened in her chest.

Was the money a test? Did she fail it by not giving it back? If she didn’t have money, how would she get food? She ran to the fridge and wrenched the door open, but it was, thankfully, full. It didn’t quell the anxiety, if nothing else, it deepened it. It was familiar, all too familiar.

“Fuck!” She swore, more to hear the sound of her own voice than anything else. She did it a second time. Kids didn’t swear, adults did, and she was an adult. Kids were weak, but she wasn’t, she was big and tough!

She ran to the living room. She had the house to herself, so she could do whatever she wanted, and what she wanted was to clean, scrub every surface until it shone, until she didn’t feel that itch on her skin when she looked at the dust on the floor, until the house was all organized.

Nobody liked a dirty house. If Daliah cleaned, she would be good. 

She shook her head, her hair slapping against her cheeks and fox ears. Fuck that, fuck that noise, and fuck being good. She’d been good before, and it didn’t matter. Nothing ever, ever did.

Still, she listened to her gut. It had helped her before, and it would help her now. What to do?

Sound. The quiet echoed over and over in her head, and it was all too similar to before. She needed the noise of people, or at least something to distract her. She turned on the tv, put on a random channel and turned up the volume until it hurt, until she could hear something no matter where she was in the house. She ran to the bathroom on the first floor just to check, and as she did, she cleaned the mirror until it was spotless.

All the house for her. She could clean the living room and the kitchen before they were back, probably. Her and Ruby’s room was always clean, she made sure of that, so that wasn’t a concern. The Boss’s room? No boss likes a rat snooping around, so no. Neo’s room?

She tilted her head as she considered the idea, the voices of two people arguing coming from the TV. Neo wouldn’t be mad, right? No, she wouldn’t. Besides, Ruby would be there to protect her.

If they come back at all, a treacherous voice whispered in her head. She changed the channel on TV until music came on, until the drums and the bass and the guitars drowned every thought in her mind.

Neo’s room. She’d clean it, and maybe Neo would like her more. Besides, if she didn’t, Daliah could say it was a prank or something. Ruby would… If Ruby had to choose between Neo and her, Daliah knew she wouldn’t win, but still! This wouldn’t be that big of a deal.

She swallowed, took her cleaning supplies, and walked to Neo’s room. The door loomed over her, plain but intimidating. Neo’s room. Daliah steeled her nerves, opened the door, and entered it.

She didn’t know what she expected, half a blend of chains and blood, maybe a bed made of nails and skulls to decorate it, but it wasn’t what she saw. Instead, it was… weird.

Neo’s room was huge, with dark blue walls covered with mirrors and a thick, black carpet all over the ground. Daliah could see herself from all angles as she entered; one behind her on the door, many on the walls and even two on the ceiling, reflecting the top of her head. They weren’t all the same mirrors either; some were round, some rectangular, some big and some small. Daliah turned around and saw even more images of herself. She frowned, and all the images frowned in sync. It almost felt as if they were watching her, but that was dumb. She shook her head and looked around.

The room smelled like nothing. It was weirdly clean, to the point that if someone had told Daliah nobody lived there, she would have believed it. There was no magazine strewn about, no books, no toys. There was a big, queen sized bed with plush, perfectly folded sheets and a very, very big mattress, as if it had jumped from a shop and had never been used. There were many, many furnitures too; a nightstand, places to hang clothes, dressers….

She went to the nightstand first, her feet making no sounds on the carpet. The main thing that caught her eye was a picture resting on the wall. It was Neo, holding her scroll with a bright smile. Next to her was The Boss. He looked younger than she’d seen him, and his grin was just as big as Neo’s. They were both holding gold-colored bricks in their hands. Huh. She knew Neo liked The Boss, but not that they were… what, friends? More? Ew.

She opened the nightstand’s drawer. Inside was an open, empty cigar case, old and ornate with velvet inside. Daliah instinctively knew she shouldn’t touch it and closed the drawer.

Underneath it, almost under the nightstand itself, she found a small, dusty whiteboard, the kind she could hold in her hands, with a bunch of markers and pens next to it. Why would Neo keep it? Clearly, it hadn’t been used in some time, unlike the pens. Once again, she chose to leave it alone. Maybe it was a memento of some kind.

A few steps from the nightstand, there was a dresser, topped by a large map of a city she didn’t recognize. A few stick figures were drawn on it; one with a top hat, on the side of the map, with a checkmark next to it. One with fire around her, a very real knife embedded in her head; one with red glasses and a question mark… Daliah quickly lost track. The one that was really interesting to her was the one with the scythe. Ruby. She was surrounded by question marks, and multiple arrows pointing to multiple parts of the city, although a lot converged to one place, near the center. 

Daliah didn’t understand much, and besides, she didn’t care about the map. Still feeling as if her reflections were judging her, she opened the first drawer. Inside were many, many objects, all disorganized. A tooth in a plastic tube here, a picture of an old lady there, a pair of broken handcuffs, a single playing card, what looked like a metal feet… Even weirder was a single, opened box, isolated from the rest. Inside was a plastic cup, washed. On it was written, with a wavy marker, ‘Beacon Party, Adult Drink’ and under it, smaller and in a different color ‘Don’t tell Goodwitch - Nora’.

Weird. All of the other drawers were the same, full of random stuff. An earring, a small dagger, two plastic flowers… Daliah simply let them be. If it was her, she’d throw all of that away, but she had the feeling these were important to Neo in some way. Memories? Trophies? But who would keep a pair of handcuffs as a trophy, and why was the plastic cup treated like it was better than the rest?

No matter. She moved on. 

In the corner of the room was a table with a chess set, the pieces strewn all over the board, as if a game was going on. Next to the table was a single, very comfortable-looking chair. Daliah didn’t know why, but she thought it looked lonely. Wasn’t chess a two player game? How could you even play it alone? She ignored it and went to the biggest closet instead, much taller than her, so large she could easily fit inside lying down. 

She opened the door and found… A few things.

The closet was almost like a room within a room. It was separated into three parts; the leftmost was full of dresses of all kinds and shapes. Weirdly enough, there was also a red cape separated from the rest, next to a white suit jacket. It was way too big for Neo to wear, but it was still in her closet? 

The next part, in the middle, was occupied by a training dummy. Behind it were many knives, weird ones Daliah had never seen in any kitchen. The dummy, however, clearly was well acquainted with them with how many slices it had. It felt almost weird to see it; Neo didn’t seem like the kind of girl who trained and did exercise, but then again, she was strong, so she had to work for it. As if to confirm it, rolled behind the dummy was a gymnastic mat, the kind Daliah’s mom used to own. She felt a pang in her chest and moved on.

And finally, on the right were rows and rows of shelves. There weren’t many things on them; a hairbrush, a box full of makeup Daliah pulled her tongue at, a picture of Ruby in her swimsuit, sitting on the couch, her eyes riveted to her scroll… Ew? That was after Neo and Ruby had tried to bath her, right? Why would Neo take a picture of that?

So Many weird things. Who needed this many pens anyway? The one object that caught her eye, however, was a notebook.

Daliah got on her tippy toes and took it from the shelf, curiosity winning over self preservation once more. Inside were a lot of drawings. Anatomical drawings, the kind she saw in science books, but not just that. Dresses, sketches of people looking like Neo but with different faces and hair, sketches of The Boss. She flipped the pages.

The sketches got messier and messier. A drawing of a woman bleeding out, a sword in her throat, almost unrecognizable. A drawing of Ruby drinking tea, lying on the ground, half the drink spilling from her mouth. A drawing of Roman on his back, half of his head missing, his empty eye staring through the page. A girl Daliah didn’t recognize, her legs and arms looking like those of a doll.

The more she flipped the pages, the more Ruby she found. Ruby’s clothes. Ruby dead. Ruby alive. Ruby’s sister dead, a slash cutting her in two. Ruby’s sister hugging Ruby. Ruby killing Neo. They were harder to make out too; some were precise, with a lot of details, but others were so messy and crude she almost couldn’t tell what was going on. 

She flipped a page, and here she saw a dress - she scrunched her nose by reflex. The dress was pretty, she supposed, and it was also very well drawn. In full color, straight lines, it looked like it came from a book.

Another page, another scene, this time a cat looking at her with mismatched eyes. The drawing was all wobbly, as if the one doing it was sleepy. It didn’t have any colors except for the eyes, and they gave her a creepy vibe.

Another page, and it was so messy she almost couldn’t see what it was. At first she thought it was Ruby, but the woman had an eyepatch and only one arm. The lines were very, very dark, and there was a tear in the page, as if Neo had pressed a pencil so hard it broke through.

It wasn’t the only enraged drawing. A woman with green hair, a man with silver hair, and a monster, tall, with red veins in place of eyes. They all repeated, dying or killing, dead or alive. They were followed by other, more precise yet still messy drawings. Roman and Neo, then Ruby and Neo, then Neo above Ruby’s corpse, her throat open with a blade. That last one was the worst of the three, messy, the faces almost recognizable, multiple expressions drawn at the same time; tears, smile, frown…

A single eye crying rose petals, the lines all wobbly. A torn bowler hat, with so many details it might as well be a picture. A mess of scribbles that made no sense. Whenever she turned a page, it could be anything; Daliah didn’t know if she was more fascinated or weirded out. She was almost relieved when she reached the end without finding a single drawing of herself, and a little bit offended.

She felt like an intruder, looking down at a book she wasn’t meant to see. She put it back exactly as she found it and closed the closet. 

She looked at the room again, seeing her reflection turn around as she did. She briefly considered cleaning the mirrors, but hesitated. Neo wouldn’t like that she went inside. Then again, she had left her room unlocked… No. No, she wouldn’t risk it. She’d knew the woman was dangerous, but she seemed more than that. Mad? Obsessed? Daliah shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She couldn’t imagine enjoying living with so many mirrors in her room, or drawing these things. She felt a shiver go up her spine.

She retreated back to the safety of the hallway, the noise of the TV intensifying enough to drown the oppressive silence of the room. She wouldn’t touch it, and with a bit of luck, no one would know she went inside. She was going to clean the living room, then make herself a good meal. If they weren’t home by then, well… 

She shook the thought out of her head and got to work.

Chapter Text

The house was, at last… Not clean, not even close. In fact, the more Daliah cleaned, the more she felt as if the work would never be truly over. Still, she had persevered, and the results were telling; the kitchen and hallway were finally clean, and so was the living room from which the sound of the TV kept echoing, drowning the silence.

The only problem was, she had to dirty the kitchen again.

She opened the fridge. It was tall, but nothing perching on a chair couldn’t solve. She glanced up and down with a frown.

“…What the hell can I eat?”

The fridge wasn’t exactly empty by any means, but it also wasn’t full. The Boss didn’t cook, as expected, but neither did Neo and Ruby; instead, they much preferred to go fetch whatever takeout they wanted, with only the occasional  fully cooked dish. Daliah did not have that luxury, with her two too-short legs and her lack of aura and semblance. She was stuck. Therefore, she had to do with whatever was available, and the fridge wasn’t it.

She jumped down from the chair and went to the cupboards. Nothing much here. Potatoes, bread, oil… Wait, couldn’t she make fries with those? Yeah… Yeah! She could! She grinned, showing her teeth. She was about to eat fries, and no one could stop her!

So, what she needed was… A pan or something, for the oil. She put a pan on the gas and turned it up, then poured oil in. She had a vague memory of a cooking show saying it needed a lot of oil, so she emptied almost the whole bottle, until the pan was nice and full. Good.

Then she groaned. “I’m going to need the peeler, right?"

She would. With a forlorn sigh, she went to the cutlery drawer and took out the peeler. The instrument of her agony mocked her, gleaming in the light. As to not let it win, she also grabbed a knife, went to take the bag of potatoes from the cupboard, sat down at the kitchen table, and got to peeling. The worst ten minutes of her life later, she had unevenly peeled and cut potatoes. 

She rubbed dirt from one of the future fries. Maybe she should have thrown away the peels before cutting them? Now they were all dirty. Oh well, she’d just wash them before throwing them in the oil. Easy.

She put them all on a plate, walked to the tap, rinsed them, and finally, she was ready to do the easy part: let them cook.

Three things happened in quick succession:

She dumped the potatoes into the pan.

The front door opened. "We're back!" Ruby yelled. 

The pan caught fire.

Daliah shrieked and jumped away as the fire roared, the flame hitting the ceiling in the blink of an eye. Before she could even reach for the sink, she was engulfed in a cloud of petals. A disorienting moment later, she was on the far side of the kitchen, Ruby in front of her. 

“Are you okay?!” Ruby tilted Daliah’s head left and right. “Are you hurt somewhere?!”

“N-no.” Daliah pushed her away and looked at the pan. The fire, so big a second ago, was now just contained to the pan itself. Where the kitchen had been perfectly cleaned before, there was a dark, ugly scorch mark on the wall and ceiling. Daliah felt her skin crawl at the sight.

“Sit down, alright?” Not letting her do anything, Ruby carried her to a nearby chair. “I’ll take care of it.”

“But-“

“No buts.” Ruby frowned. “You’re shaking, you just had a good scare. Sit down, take a deep breath, and we’ll talk about it later.” She hesitated, then rubbed Daliah’s shoulder. “You’re not in trouble, I promise.”

Daliah nodded mutely. She wanted to say she wasn’t scared, but if Ruby wanted to take care of it, then whoop-de-doo, less work for her. She willed her heart to stop beating so fast, but as always, the traitorous thing didn’t listen to her.

Meanwhile, Ruby took care of the fire by dousing a rag with water, wringing it until no drop came out, then draped it over the pan. It sizzled for a while, but after a few seconds, it was back to the quiet. Even the TV had been shut down, probably the work of Neo and The Boss, who thankfully were staying out of the kitchen.

Daliah squirmed in her seat. Ruby was going to scold her, wasn’t she? It was always like this when she made a mess. Mom would open the door, already tired, and she’d look at her and give her that horrible, horrible feeling that she was making things worse.

Ruby’s shoulders dropped. She spoke tiredly, without turning around.

“What did you do?”

“I… was trying to make food?”

“Alone?” Ruby still wouldn’t look at her. Somehow, it made it worse. 

“I mean… yeah?” She looked around for a distraction, but apparently Neo and The Boss were really not interested in the situation. “You weren’t home and there was no food. What was I supposed to do?”

Daliah expected a lot of things from Ruby. She expected her to turn around and lash out, as often happened in the past. She expected Ruby to maybe tell her to go to her room or something.

Instead, Ruby slumped. “I see. I’m sorry, we should have left you some food.”

Daliah blinked, baffled. Every single answer she’d prepared hadn't taken into account a simple apology. “It’s… okay?” 

“No, it’s not.” Ruby exhaled, then went to the cupboards. “What were you trying to make?”

“Fried potatoes?” This was all so weird. Daliah jumped down from her chair. “I thought it would be easy.”

“I don’t know about that.” Ruby glanced at the charred pan. “How about we make you something simple, like burgers?”

Daliah wanted to protest, but she wasn’t about to push her luck. “Sure. What can I do?”

Ruby turned around. She wore a smile that stank of lies, but Daliah let it slide. “How about you sit back and let me do it?” 

“No!” Daliah stomped her foot, more by reflex than anything. “I want to help!” 

Ruby’s smile dimmed. “Daliah… It’s not a good idea. At all. Your shoulder is still shot-“

“It doesn’t even hurt!” It did, a bit, but she wasn’t going to admit that.

Ruby took a deep breath. “And as I was saying, you almost burned yourself. How about you take it easy for a change?”

Daliah tilted her head. “How about I don’t?”

“…Excuse me?”

“I said, how about I don’t?” Daliah walked toward Ruby. Despite being smaller, Ruby was the one who took a step back. “I want to help!” If she didn’t help, what use was she? “Why won’t you let me?”

Ruby glanced at the pan. “It’s dangerous.”

“But you’re here, right?” Daliah tilted her head. “You’re super fast! If I’m in trouble, you’ll just ‘woosh’,” Daliah spread her arms, “and rescue me! So-“

“I said no!”

The shout was so sudden and sharp it felt like a physical blow, making Daliah flinch back. The kitchen fell into a ringing silence, the echo of Ruby’s anger hanging in the air long after the sound faded.

It was the first time Ruby had ever yelled at her. Daliah didn’t know where to look, her vision blurring as her eyes began to sting. She furiously scrubbed her face with the back of her hand, willing them away. Why did she always cry so much?! She wasn’t a baby!

“Crap.” She felt more than saw Ruby’s cloak envelop her, her face pressed against the older girl’s chest. “Deep breathes. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled, I’m sorry.”

“I- I’m not crying!” Daliah hiccuped. Why was she shaking, even?! She didn’t get it! It didn’t matter, but she couldn’t stop!

“Shhh…” Ruby rubbed her back in circles through the cape, speaking in a low, soothing voice, betrayed by tremors. “It’s okay, it’s my fault, just calm down. Everybody cries, olay?”

“I’m- I’m not!” Daliah sniffed.

“Alright, I believe you.” Ruby pulled her tighter. “Just take your time.”

They stayed like that for a long moment, until Daliah’s hiccups subsided into quiet sniffles. She was the first to pull away, angrily wiping her face with her sleeve. Ruby let her go, her own eyes looking slightly red-rimmed. 

“I just want to help,” Daliah said, looking at the ground. “I’m not a baby. I can do it.”

Ruby said nothing for a while, then let out a long, shaky breath.

“…Okay. Fine.” Daliah looked up, almost startled. She didn’t expect… Well, anything. Ruby looked like she was going to eat food she really, really didn’t like. “You can help.”

“Really? You mean it?”

“Yes.” Ruby smiled, a small, sad one. “But if and only if you obey me. No ifs, no buts. Got it?”

Daliah nodded mutely.

“Okay,” Ruby muttered while looking around. “Let’s do this.” 

She moved with the kind of attitude Daliah expected when ripping off a band-aid, with big, large steps and forceful movements. Ruby first put the scorched pan on the windowsill, then went to the fridge and took out the ingredients she then displayed on the clean kitchen table. Cheese, ground meat, a head of lettuce and a few tomatoes. From the cupboard, she took out slices of bread. They weren’t exactly the buns Daliah was used to seeing in restaurants, but she wasn’t about to complain.

She fidgeted, her hand twisting the sleeve of her new shirt. “So… What do I do?” 

Ruby startled, as if she’d forgotten Daliah was there. “Oh, right. You can…” She looked around the kitchen once more, then settled on the lettuce. “How about you wash this one? I don’t like worms in my burgers.”

Daliah took it from the table. “I never tried worms. Are they good?”

“Daliah, no. Don’t eat the worms.”

The order confirmed her instinctual disgust, so she let it slide. While they talked, she did her job, tore off the leaves and washed them under the tap. It took her more time than it should have because she needed to put them perfectly on a plate, ordered by size. A moment later, she nodded, satisfied. She now had a pile of clean lettuce, and it was nice to look at. Mission accomplished.

Meanwhile, Ruby was seasoning the meat, her movements stiff. She seemed troubled, wasn’t even looking at what she was doing. Despite that, the simple fact she was moving meant it wasn’t the usual Ruby/Red situation.

Daliah clapped her hands. “Done! What’s next?”

This time, Ruby had an answer. She picked the smallest knife from the knife block and handed it to her, handle-first. Her hand brushed against Daliah, and she could have sworn Ruby wasn’t letting go of the knife for a second. The moment passed, and Daliah had it firmly in her hand.

Ruby pointed at the table. “You can slice the tomatoes. We’ll need thin slices, I think.”

Daliah nodded. Now that was an adult’s job! She wondered if she could slice them so well the tomato would still look whole, and then she’d give it a small tap and it would fall perfectly! Wait, no, if it fell, then it wouldn’t look good anymore, right?

She sat at the table. Or maybe she could slice it and then use it like a cake? She’d take one slice and the tomato would still look good? No, that was dumb, she knew from experience it wouldn’t hold. How could she cut a tomato cleanly anyway? They always made a mess.

Daliah’s knife had barely touched its target before Ruby was behind her, her hand on her shoulder. 

“Wait,” Ruby said, her voice thin. “Curl your fingers on the other hand, like a claw.” She half closed her hand in front of Daliah. “See? That way you don’t risk cutting them.”

Daliah adjusted her grip, annoyed at being interrupted. The knife bit into the tomato.

“Slowly,” Ruby almost whispered, her fingers biting in Daliah’s shoulder. “Be careful. If you force it and angle it wrong, you could hurt yourself.”

Daliah did so. Slooowly. Agonizingly slowly. Slowly. Slowly. Slooooowly.

She finished the first cut. “See? I can do it.”

Ruby didn’t move.

Every slice after the first one was annoying. Daliah couldn’t go too fast, go too slow, move the knife too much, not move it enough. Every new instruction was another noise grating her ears. Each slice, she was closer to throwing the tomato in Ruby’s stupid face so she could work in peace.

Finally, she was done and they could both move on. The tomato was a mess, too; there was juice all around it, and little bits of pulp, so Daliah was doubly peeved.

Ruby let go of her shoulder. “Okay, let’s move on to the patties. That’s easy.”

That was, in fact, easy. Ruby let her go wild with the meat and make weird shapes, from a smiley face to a middle finger. 

Then it was serious work. Daliah flattened the patty until it was about the size she remembered and lowered her head so she could see it from the side, frowning.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m checking stuff.” She was, in fact, looking to see if it was flat at the top or not. It wasn’t. As precisely as she could, Daliah scrapped meat from the top, careful not to disturb the form itself.

“Careful,” said Ruby. “You don’t want to get it in your eyes.” She paused. “Or your ears, I guess?”

Daliah twitched, her ears flapping in annoyance. “I know.” Her ears were perfectly fine, thank you and goodbye.

When all the patties were done - mostly by Ruby, but hers were ugly, so Daliah still felt like she had won - she moved toward the stove. Before she could even get close, Ruby stepped in front of her. 

“I’ll do this part.” Her voice was flat, the tone used by adults who won’t tolerate any argument. 

Daliah felt a surge of frustration, anger burning in her stomach. “But I want to!”

“No.” Ruby didn’t even look at her as she put on a new, clean pan on the stove. “You can watch from the table.”

“What?!” Daliah slammed her foot on the ground. “That’s bullshit! You told me I could-“

“And I told you,” said Ruby, her voice still flat, “that was on the explicit condition you didn’t say no to me.”

“I didn’t!”

“You just did.” 

“Yeah, because you’re punishing me and I didn’t do nothing this time!” Ruby stilled, so Daliah pushed her advantage. “I was good and I’m fine, see? You told me where I could mess up, I listened, and I didn’t! I can put meat on a fucking pan!”

Ruby rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Language.”

“Fucking no! I don’t have to obey you if you won’t play fair!” She meant it! If Ruby was about to be like her mom, Daliah was out. She’d sleep one more night and she’d leave without coming back, and fuck Ruby. Maybe she’d even take the weird spear with her to sell somewhere.

Ruby turned around and looked at her for a while. Daliah met her stare without blinking. She didn’t know why Ruby was so scared to let her do anything, but she wasn’t about to fucking take it.

Ruby sighed. “Fine. You’re right.”

Daliah frowned. “Really?”

“Really.” Ruby stepped aside the same way Daliah jumped into a pool of cold water. “Keep your hand above the pan and be careful.”

Daliah stepped forward, half expecting Ruby to block her again, but nothing happened. Her second step was more confident, and her third almost a prance. Hell yeah! She was right! Take that, Ruby!

She - carefully, she still couldn’t help but feel as if the fire would come back the moment she dropped the meat - put the patty in the pan. It sizzled, and nothing more happened.

Daliah grinned, giddy. She put in a second one and then a third, and they all sizzled without troubles. She looked at Ruby. She wasn’t matching her smile; Ruby’s eyes were fixed on Daliah’s hands and the pan, her arms half raised to stop her. When their eyes finally met, Ruby averted hers in shame.

What was wrong with her? Daliah tilted her head. Everything was fine, why did Ruby seem to think it would all blow up? 

Before she had an answer, Ruby looked at the meat again. “We need to flip them.”

We. Not I. Daliah decided to spare Ruby’s frayed nerves and stepped aside. “Eh, I don’t care. The fun part’s over anyway.”

Ruby relaxed. “Okay. Think about how you want to build your burgher while it cooks.”

“There’s a how?!”

—

It took a very, very long time for Daliah to be satisfied with her burger. It needed to be perfectly aligned, and it needed to look good. The thing was, many, many combinations looked good, but none looked perfect. It would be frustrating if she couldn’t ask for Ruby’s opinion, who then asked Neo because she couldn’t be bothered.

“How about this one?” Daliah showed Tomato Lettuce Meat Cheese one to Neo, who put a finger against her lower lips before shaking her head. She then took it, cut a quarter with a knife and fork - a knife and a fork to eat a burger! Daliah knew Neo was mad, but this was the best confirmation she’d ever had - and took a bite.

Neo chewed for a while, before nodding. She lifted two fingers on her right hand and four on her left. Two on appearance, four on taste. Damn it. Daliah put that one to the side to eat later and tried again.

It felt good to eat with people.

Chapter Text

Music.

Ruby woke up calmly, already alert, no trace of sleep in her eyes. Outside, the moon hung high in the sky, its shattered remnants mingling with the stars.

Night was a companion Ruby was more than familiar with. Try as she might, she couldn’t shake the habit of waking up and patrolling. If she didn’t, she would only toss and turn for hours before sleep finally claimed her.

Better to be productive. Careful not to make any noise, she sat on her bed, bare feet on the floor. That, too, had taken time to become comfortable with again. Time before she could sleep without her boots, without her traveling clothes. She hadn’t gone back to sleeping in full nightwear like she used to, instead opting for her shirt and underwear, so she could jump into action whenever she needed.

Useless, maybe, but comforting.

No change in Daliah’s breathing; she was still sleeping, despite her unfair Faunus ears.
With only the moon’s light to guide her, she quietly left the room, without closing the door behind her; Daliah didn’t take well to that particular sound, it was the one noise guaranteed to wake her up. Another mystery Ruby left for another time, another problem pushed to the evergrowing ‘later’ pile so she could enjoy ‘today’.

Music.

She went to the bathroom and retrieved her clothes from under the sink. A spare outfit, without her cape - Neo had only brought her the one, and left her spare back in the dorms. It was annoying, but another thing she’d learned to live with, or, rather, without. Dressing in her room, too, was guaranteed to wake up Daliah.

She left the bathroom and climbed down the stairs. No sign of Roman. Either he was napping, or he was at a meeting somewhere. She suspected it was his way to distract himself from Cinder and the end of the world. 

She grabbed Crescent Rose from the entryway, and left to patrol. 

Patrolling in the Vacuan desert by day was a pain, between the heat and the wind full of sand. Patrolling at night, well. It wasn’t so bad. There was still wind ruffling her clothes, but the stars were much prettier from far away. Less deadly on the eyes, too.

She kept Crescent Rose loosely at her side as she walked, her boots sinking into the sand. It wasn’t much, really. Checking for Grimm. Checking for noises. Checking for Cinder, Mercury, Tyrian, or any of the people crazy enough to use the apocalypse for their own gain.

Music.

Ruby strained her ears. She’d almost missed it, a sort of background noise, hiding in the wind, peeking with it, vanishing in its wake. The melody undulated, echoed through the empty desert in a soothing rhythm, waves of sound dancing with sand. 

It was coming from behind her. The mansion? No, Ruby would have heard it while inside. Hadn’t she? Inside, the sound had been muffled by walls, maybe. Outside? Where? The rooftop?

More curious than alarmed, Ruby used her semblance to scale the walls. The rooftop was a nice place - flat, with a helipad in the middle and the two large turrets, now inactive, on both sides.

Sitting on the ledge, her legs dangling in the air, was Neo. She, too, wasn’t in her usual clothes; instead of her usual knee-high boots, dark pants and jacket, she was wearing a simpler shorts and a shirt, both white. The music was coming from her.

There was always a dichotomy, with Neo. She was older than Ruby, yet acted - no, behaved - younger. She was vicious, but playful. She wore everyday clothes like a disguise, a costume made to play a particular role, but despite that was unflinchingly honest. Seeing her out of costume always felt strange in an intimate, almost voyeuristic way. As if she was looking at something that shouldn’t be seen, hidden for a reason.

The melody stopped. Neo turned her head toward Ruby, and motioned for her to sit. Ruby obliged.

They were close, their shoulders almost touching, the cold wind weaving between them. Ruby had never been bothered by weather, but Neo seemed to have a preference for this. The cold.

Ruby glanced at Neo’s hands. In them was a simple pan flute, twice as large as one of Neo’s hands, each of the numerous tubes slightly refracting the light.

“I didn’t know you played,” Ruby said, breaking the silence.

Neo made a ‘so-so’ gesture, and blew into the flute again. A simple note came out, not as clear as a flute's, but wider, covering more range. She moved the flute along her lips, barely brushing the tip, and the note changed. Deeper, almost contemplative. The note was straight, long and held. While she played, her eyes didn’t leave the horizon.

Neo played for a while, trying to follow the wind. Ruby raised her head and looked at the night sky, the innumerable stars returning her gaze. The universe was so big, yet so small. They were but one planet, and despite that, the Brother Gods chose to pay attention to them specifically, to curse one person, to save another. How many worlds were there, outside? What were the odds that somewhere in one of these worlds, at this exact moment, someone else was looking up at the sky, wondering the same thing?

Neo stopped her melody. Wordlessly, slowly, as if she had all the time in the world, she held the flute out to Ruby.

“You want me to try?”

Neo shrugged without looking at her.

Hesitantly, Ruby took it from her hand, their fingers briefly brushing. That, too, was strange; to see Neo without her gloves. She seemed so normal, so frail, without them. 

Ruby brought the flute to her lips, trying to imitate Neo’s movements. She hadn’t blown into it, she had put it in front of her mouth, right?

Her first attempt was a pathetic sound. Neo put her hands over her ears and recoiled in mock horror. Ruby frowned in response, and tried again.

Her second attempt shattered the flute into tiny glass shards the moment air left her lips. Ruby almost leaped back in surprise, barely stopping herself from going into her semblance. Neo herself didn’t look surprised; if anything, with the way her chest heaved and her choked breath, she was enjoying herself.

Ruby shoved her a bit, a smile forming despite herself. “Dick.”

Neo didn’t retaliate, too busy laughing herself to tears. With a shaky hand, she waved and a new flute appeared on Ruby’s lap.

The moment Ruby’s hand brushed it, it collapsed into a cascade of shards.

Ruby rolled her eyes. “It’s not as funny the second time, you know?”

Neo evidently disagreed, laughing even harder. Ruby waited for her to finish, then held her hand out expectantly.

Another flute appeared in her hand. This time, instead of playing, Ruby gave it back to Neo, who was barely catching her breath. 

“Since I’m that bad,” Ruby said, “how about you show me?”

After taking a moment to catch her breath, Neo made another flute, slowly putting it up to her lips. She closed her eyes.

Music.

Ruby peered closer, her eyes temporarily straying from her goal to focus on Neo’s face, the way she was entirely relaxed, the small quirk of her lips. With an effort of will, Ruby looked at the flute, noticing  the way it vibrated, how the air went through it. Neo wasn’t blowing air straight through the flute; rather, she was doing it diagonally, making the air vibrate through it.

Ruby had an instinctive understanding of the mechanism, the same way she had an instinctive understanding of engineering, of where a bullet would land if she shot, of how to regulate her speed. Despite that, she was surprised when Neo moved.

Not just herself. As if in a trance, Neo began to oscillate, moving both the flute and her head. She wasn’t content to go with the wind anymore, she was making music, using the longer pipes of the flute for the low notes and the short ones for the highs. The way she moved herself, the way she moved the flute, everything contributed to the melody.

Objectively, Ruby was sure, it wasn’t anything special; she was half convinced Neo was making it up as she went. Objectively, it might even be horrible. From her point of view, her hair moving in the wind, her eyes focused on Neo, doing her best not to miss a single movement, a single breath, it was… It was. It was, and Ruby didn’t know what to think about it.

The music didn’t last much longer. Soon, Neo stopped with a content smile. She waved her flute at Ruby, who did her best to put her thoughts in order.

Silly. It was all so silly. She put the flute to her mouth and did her best to imitate what she saw.

Neo was a performer at heart, but Ruby wasn’t. Ruby worked best when she could plan, when she could see a clear problem with a clear solution, when she could devise strategies. 

She blew into the flute, moving it as she had seen Neo do, first slowly, to hear and feel the effect, the tremors along the flute. It took some experimenting, but she learned. She adapted.

She began to play, doing her best to imitate the song Neo had played. Long notes, short  notes, tremors, movement. It lacked something, it wasn’t as good.

A particularly long note was drowned out by a shorter staccato. A second flute. Ruby turned to look, but Neo didn’t acknowledge her stare. 

With a frown, Ruby continued to play. Any long note was broken, invaded by the shorter ones, dancing alongside the melody, poking it for a reaction. Shorter notes made the other flute quieter, just outside her reach, accompanying yet denying, redirecting. Whenever Ruby thought she could find a pattern, a rhythm, Neo switched it up, keeping her on her toes. Ruby stumbled, doing her best to improvise, but kept going.

Can you follow? Whispered the melody.

Ruby grinned and used her semblance a little. It made a garbled melody, mock percussion, but the point was made all the same. Of course. I’m faster than you. 

It was silly. She was in Vacuo, atop a mansion where she lived with Roman, Neo and a kid she’d known for less than a week, playing an instrument - badly - she’d never held before in the middle of the night. The world was ending, and she didn’t care. Neo killed her, and she didn’t care. She didn’t care, and she didn’t care.

She giggled through the flute, making another weird sound. Neo snorted into hers, which wasn’t any better. In a few seconds, their melody dissolved in laughter, and it was all they could do to stay upright.

It, like all things, eventually faded, finally letting the wind rule the landscape again. They sat in a comfortable, if tired, silence. 

Shoulder to shoulder, they spent hours watching the night.

Chapter Text

Unfortunately, Ruby’s mind couldn’t stay quiet for long.

Fortunately, it chose something else to focus on. She turned her gaze away from the horizon and toward the four rundown turrets. 

Ruby had seen a lot of technology through her admittedly short life; from the first hunting rifle she ever saw in her house to the behemoths of Atlesian airships, she always took time to admire the craftsmanship that went into designing the beauties around her, and these were no exceptions.

These turrets were big, as tall as Ruby herself. In their default state, they didn’t look like much, a sand-colored trapezoid, almost like a strange vent system. Of course, this was only their offline state, a state that only two of the turrets were still in.

Once deployed, they were of a rugged beauty, the same kind Crescent Rose itself was; dangerous, yet slick. It featured three guns. The one at the top was a high caliber, the kind that could tear through some of the strongest carapace fielded by the Grimm. Beneath it, two small caliber weapons were there to deal with the stragglers, and deployed behind it, almost like a scorpion’s stinger, was a camera. The turret could rotate to cover almost three hundred and sixty degrees around itself, including the aerial targets.

There were four of those, and they all had their quirks. A slightly different weld here, an uneven coat of paint there… Ruby walked around the one closest to her. Unlike mass-produced engines of death like the Atlesians ones, they were custom made, each and every single one. It must have cost a fortune to install those, but with them around, no Grimm would ever get through without a light show that would alert every single huntsman in a ten kilometers radius, and even then, the size of the horde necessary to breach such defenses would give ample warning of its approach, and thus, time to flee.

She didn’t imagine they would fare well against anyone with aura, but then again, Neo was so good at her job that any automated defense was more vanity than necessity.

The girl in question stood and joined Ruby, still in her simple, white shorts and shirt. She poked Ruby in the arm and tilted her head inquisitively.

Ruby waved at the turret. “I’m wondering how to fix these.”

Magnificent engines of destruction though they were, they were stubbornly offline. From the outside, nothing looked wrong besides a bit of wear and tear courtesy of the Vacuan sand, but they ignored any command from Roman’s control system and just stood there, lifeless.

“Say, Neo, any chance you have a manual for these?”

Neo shook her head.

“A plan?”

Shook her head again.

“A diagram?” She asked weakly.

Neo shook her head a third and final time. She looked weirdly dainty under the moon like this, almost like Weiss.

Willing the thoughts out of her head, Ruby turned back to the turret closest to her. Knowing how they worked would be a lot harder, but she’d manage. She trailed her fingers all around it, trying to find a gap or any sign of a door, but no dice. Maybe the turret had been dropped here as a single big block, with the assumption that they would run forever? No, that wouldn’t make sense, it would need a place to swap ammo, somewhere that was out of the way in case of a siege, somewhere… Ruby darted away from the roof and flew through one of the open windows on the floor below. She landed in the hallway and ran until she was directly beneath the turret itself. Sure enough, there was a hatch there. No ladder in sight. 

The ceiling was weirdly high, almost four meters, and now that she had confirmation, there was a big gap between the ceiling and the rooftop itself. Her best guess was, the building used to have one more story, and Roman had demolished it to put in his defense platforms.

Faint footsteps alerted her Neo had followed. Ruby nodded toward the ceiling. “Any chance we have a ladder?”

Neo thought for a while, then waved her hand. Small shards of pink glass fell to the floor, while those that stayed in the air outlined the faint silhouette of a rectangle, the image sharpening over and over until a perfect ladder was in front of her.

“Thanks.” Ruby stepped on the ladder and managed three rungs before it broke under her. She fell flat on her ass and grunted, her aura thankfully protecting her from any injury. Neo hid her mouth with her hand, her mismatched eyes shining with mirth. 

“Again?! Seriously?!” Ruby whisper-shouted at Neo, who was very much not serious. “This is getting old, Neo!”

Neo rolled her eyes and made another ladder. Ruby crossed her arms. “I’m warning you, if this one falls apart under me again…”

Neo crossed her arms and raised an inquisitive eyebrow in a ‘then what?’ gesture, which did interesting things to her silhouette. From her half-amused smirk, Neo was doing it on purpose, and Ruby refused to take the bait. 

Ruby thought for a second, then said, “Then you go up there, you take the dust and sand and bugs on your head while I watch.”

Neo scoffed and rolled her eyes at that, then took a decisive step toward the ladder. Ruby frowned, an ugly emotion in her stomach, and patiently waited for Neo to climb three rungs… before slicing the ladder in half with a swing of Crescent Rose, shattering the illusion. 

Neo fell, but where Ruby had landed flat on her ass, she landed gracefully in a move ending in a kick. Ruby barely blocked it, the clang of the impact echoing through the empty hallway.

Both girls froze, their eyes wide and ears perked for any noise. When nobody came for a while, they relaxed.

“Right.” Ruby whispered. “See? It’s not so funny when it happens to you, is it?”

Neo made a face at that - an angry one, her eyes briefly changing color to match - before relaxing. She pointed at the hatch and drew a question mark with a finger.

Good question. Ruby couldn’t trust Neo to not bring down the ladder around her to fit Neo’s warped view of “turnabout is fair play”, while Neo… was in the exact same predicament. There wasn’t any other ladder they were aware of, and even then, one of them might cut it down if sufficiently provoked.

They were at an impasse. Of course, they could back down and go do something else, but then it would mean the other won. Or lost. Or both.

Ruby leaned against the wall, deep in thought. Neo matched her just to taunt her.

“How about…” Ruby tentatively said, “You climb on my shoulders? That way I can’t let you go without you kicking me, and you can open the door, then I’ll fly in?”

Neo put her finger on her bottom lip, beige against pink, then nodded. 

Ruby took a deep breath and stooped lower, so Neo could stand on her shoulders. She felt a pang of anxiety, being so vulnerable in front of her; Neo could easily kick her in the head and there was nothing she could do against it. 

Neo walked forward slowly, like a cat toying with her prey. A brief flash of anger passed through her expression, vanishing as soon as it came. She jumped on Ruby’s shoulders, her shoes biting into flesh. Ruby held her arms up as handlebars, but Neo didn’t seem to need them. Her legs barely even buckled as Ruby slowly rose, careful not to make any sharp movement. 

It was almost unfair how good Neo’s equilibrium was. 

In a few careful moments, they were both upright. By stretching to her fullest, Neo could barely reach the ceiling itself.

“You see an opening?” Ruby whispered without looking up.

Neo briefly shifted her weight to Ruby’s left shoulder, threatening both of their footing.

“Is it right for yes and left for no?” 

Neo pressed right.

“Okay. I’m going to move forward a bit.”

She took a tentative step forward and Neo rocked, briefly catching Ruby’s arm to steady herself before pulling away as if burnt.

Ha. She wasn’t perfect after all.

Ruby slowly walked. Soon after, she heard a small clicking sound, then a rusty creak as the hatch opened. Without making a sound, Neo jumped from Ruby’s shoulders and landed behind her, straightening her shirt.

“Thanks.” Without waiting for an answer, Ruby entered her semblance and jumped, flying through the air. She entered through the hatch, and-

Too small. There wasn’t enough space to crawl in there, let alone stand. She frowned. The person who installed it really thought it wouldn’t need any maintenance? Or maybe it was a semblance of some kind, and they didn’t need the access?

Either way, Ruby was stuck. She canceled Petal Burst and fell down with a sigh.

Neo drew a question mark.

“There isn’t enough space for me to work, and I can’t stay up there long enough to look.”

Neo made a small ladder in the palm of her hand, but even as Ruby was considering it, she broke it with a slightly damaged nail.

Ruby ignored her. “I’ll have to make a hole to work on it anyway, but I feel like there’s enough space up there to have a general idea of what’s where. Ideally, I’d go see, write down everything in my notebook and match it from outside, so I know where to cut the plating to access what I need.”

Neo nodded as if it made perfect sense. 

“You know how that works?”

She shook her hand from side to side, then took her scroll out of her pocket and showed a picture of a black dress from the front. With a wave of her hand, out of thin air came a mannequin on which soon sprouted an intricate black dress, each second adding more and more details. Only the front had details; the back was completely empty. Neo then frowned and filled in the blanks.

“Wow.” Ruby blinked. That was… Huh. She’d hadn’t even thought about how Neo could use her semblance outside of illusions and making basic tools, but yeah, that could be pretty useful for trying on clothes.

Or… “Hey, Neo, I have an idea.” 

Neo tilted her head, interested.

——

Moments later, they were back on the roof, Neo’s hair a tad more dusty. The moon was slowly lowering down, dawn beginning its long ascent across the sky.

For all that, Neo didn’t look bothered. Instead, she was frowning, deep in thought, her hands in front of her as a large cube, taller than Ruby and twice as long, slowly took form.

Ruby usually tried not to pay attention to Neo’s semblance, in the same way someone who burnt their hand on a stove would be uncomfortable getting close again. It was a tool of misdirection, made to annoy or hurt her. In fact, since the Ever After, Neo could even make up fighters out of thin air, ghosts of her past made specifically to torment her. 

At this moment, however, she felt more comfortable. The more time she passed with Neo, the less personally she took the aches and bruises that came with her. She was a dog playing who had never been taught that her bite could hurt, or rather, who had never cared as as long as she had fun. She couldn’t be sure, but she felt like Neo cared now. The first time they’d met in the past, she hadn’t hesitated to press on her deepest wound; how she’d killed herself with her help, her torn muscles, letting her shiver in the cold rain… Neo had been brutal.

She wasn’t anymore.

Her semblance shimmered under the faint sunlight, small rectangle of glass splintering in a brittle crackle. Most of Neo’s illusion tended to cover space, from point A to B, in a straight line. Here, she was clearly making more efforts, building a rough shape, then filling it with everything she saw above. It was precise enough that her memory must have been impressive, or maybe it was a side effect of her semblance. 

Maybe it was the sleep deprivation talking, but Ruby was almost mesmerized, watching the structure take form, individual shards splintering and assembling like a thousand-piece puzzle. When not used for violence, Neo’s semblance was almost beautiful to look at, an intricate pattern of stained glass building to something greater, orchestrated by a prideful artist who wanted to have every piece just right.

Said prideful artist walked around her creation; a model of the turret, the carapace see-through so what they saw from the small space in the ceiling was clearly visible relative to the turret. She nudged a few pieces aside, which floated gently to where they were needed, and wrote a few lines outside the turret, with arrows pointing at certain spaces.

When she came back in front of Ruby, she bowed, and Ruby couldn’t help but clap. Neo smiled in answer, a small bounce in her step as she went back to Ruby’s side. 

“Okay, wow. I didn’t think- can I move things around?”

As an answer, Neo went to the illusion and pushed one of the pieces. 

Could she have done that before the Ever After? Was this just an extension of the same ability she used to make people- bad thought.

No matter. Ruby walked around the three dimensional diagram, a giddy energy in her steps. Oh, the things she could do with that semblance! She loved Petal Burst, dearly, but still! Greener grass and all that.

She peered at what they saw in the hatch. The hatch was, from what she could see, a reloading bay, with two spaces for the two guns. For the sake of preserving space, the wirings were mostly exposed and visible from the bay, some of them leading deeper in the rooftop, some leading down to the house, and finally others linking the parts of the turrets from each other.

“From what I can see, I don’t think they share anything. I can’t be sure, but I don’t see wires going in the same direction.”

Neo pointed downward.

“Yes, but that’s just to link itself to the house’s power. They just go to the closest source.”

If she had been the one to make these, what would make them stop working? Lack of power, of course, but this would only explain one or two of the turrets breaking; the random chance of the same flaw in the design of all four leading to the same power problem was close to non-existent.

No, if Ruby had to guess, she’d say either a problem with the targeting reticle or with the moving system. Much like a huntress, the worst thing a defensive turret could do would be to harm the ones it was supposed to protect. If the turret couldn’t see its targets properly or couldn’t move without potentially damaging the dust contained in the ammunitions, it would freeze and ignore every command. 

Or it could be the power supply. But still.

She looked back at Neo, who was already looking at her. “You’re getting tired?”

Neo shook her head with a smile.

“Me neither.”

——

By the time the sun was low in the sky, Ruby’s diagnosis was as complete as it could be. She was drenched in sweat, her shirt long since removed to deal with the heat. On a table  they’d brought from the basement, surrounded by drying racks on which they put towels - to protect against the sand and wind - were the four scopes of the four turrets. 

Taking them out had been relatively simple; they were built to last, and to last meant maintenance. The screws keeping them attached to the main body were big, so big that a standard toolbox - the one in the shed - had been more than capable of doing the job. Disconnecting the wiring had been a bit harder, necessitating a trip to a local store to buy rubber gloves and a blowtorch to solder some of the more stubborn and damaged ones, but the job was done.

The hardest part had been to pry open the two turrets in sleep mode, but nothing that a good crowbar couldn’t handle.

Neo, meanwhile, had also removed her top, leaving her in nothing but her short as she sunbathed. Ruby had the vague intuition it was to one up her, but she also gave a lot of her sleep-deprived attention to not think about it. Thinking about Neo could mean two things; bad thoughts and good thoughts, which lead to feeling weird about the good thoughts. Especially when she wasn’t as bothered as she should be, or when-

Coffee helped. 

“Neo, can you come here a minute?”

Neo stretched and rose from her spot on the lounging chair she’d made next to the towels. She looked a bit tired, and it was much easier to focus on her eyes than to think about anything else. The mechanism of her eyes were still a mystery; she switched them around and in color seemingly at random. In a fight, they were hints of what she was doing, whether she was attacking or defending, parrying or dodging; when they were just goofing around and spending time together, they were just there. Ruby frowned and tilted her head, focusing on one then the other. How did they work? Like most eyes, they were pretty from up close, if a bit bloodshot, but they didn’t shimmer like her illusions. Did her semblance include a physical change, like Yang’s hair? But why? What was the point? Yang’s hair were hot, were Neo’s eyes-

The more time Ruby spent peering at her, the more Neo’s expression changed. First, she raised an inquisitive eyebrow and tilted her head, then she smiled, a bit bemused. Her smile grew, stretching her cheeks until she looked like she’d been at the poker table. She stood taller and stretched, barely even blinking. 

At that movement, Ruby finally averted her eyes, more by reflex than anything. She shook her head to put her thoughts back in order. “Can you make tools with your semblance?”

Neo snapped her finger, and a sledgehammer shimmered into existence. She grabbed it with one hand and twirled it, missing the towels by a hair.

Ruby kept the now usual blend of amusement and frustration from showing. “I meant more subtle tools? Like a precision screwdriver?” She took one of the scope from the pile. They looked like a blend of homemade tech and production line pieces. Ruby’s plan, if it could be qualified as one, was to dismantle one, see how it ticked and if there was anything wrong she could repair or replace. As someone living under the roof of a betting man, she would bet the odds were safely in the ballpark of ‘production line piece has a defect’.

She gave the scope to Neo, again, carefully looking above the neck. Now that she was thinking about it, what else could Neo make with her illusions? Could she make wearable clothes? That would save a ton of time; instead of going to the store, she could just open a website and do it at home. Ruby herself had her one cheat code with Petal Burst, but by the time she had thought of it, she was in Atlas. 

Atlas fashion sense wasn’t her fashion sense, especially during Ironwood’s embargo.

Neo grabbed the scope and held it close, studying it. She held her hand out and built a small screwdriver out of glass. She gently prodded the scope with it, then shattered her illusion and tried again.

The process repeated a few times, Neo’s eyes switching color twice, before she managed to unscrew the first screw. She twirled the tool around her fingers, then lazily threw it to Ruby, who caught it without blinking. She wiped the sweat off her brow. It was hot out there in the desert.

She had the vague feeling she was forgetting something important about that. She ignored it.

She grabbed another one of the scope and removed… Two screws. Out of the four she could see.

“Neo? Can you check underneath the- oh.” 

She was already on it. Nice.

It took them a bit of time, working together, using Neo’s illusions to cover their shortages in both tools and the common sense to bring said tools before working on an engine of death taller than them both, but they managed to dismantle the scope. She sat down on a chair - one they’d brought from the kitchen, she wasn’t going to sit on one of Neo’s illusions anytime soon - and began to work.

Everything looked in working order. She wasn’t an expert on scopes, of course, but she knew a fair bit. She turned every piece around, careful not to break it, but nothing. Every mechanical bit, pane of glass, soldering, all was in working order. 

Neo joined her, peering over her shoulder.

Something was pressed against Ruby’s back. She stiffened. 

A small question mark appeared in the air.

Ruby’s cleared her throat. “I’m still trying to figure out if something is broken or not.”

Neo nodded distractedly. Oblivious or uncaring to Ruby’s discomfort, she pressed herself forward and grabbed one of the pieces.

“Neo!” Ruby’s voice came out strangled. “Personal space?”

Neo turned her head and raised an eyebrow, and it wasn’t making it any clearer whether she was doing it on purpose or not.

“Listen, you want to sunbathe, you do you, but keep yourself to yourself, alright?” Ruby floundered, looking at Neo from the corner of her eyes, trying to regain her composure, which was made much harder by Neo’s barely concealed grin. “I can’t concentrate when you’re-“

Idea. She went back to the scope, her embarrassment forgotten. Now where was the… aha!

The techs who made the turrets clearly knew their stuff with guns and mechanics, but like Ruby, didn’t know much about computers. Of course, they would have worked on a cooling system for the guns, but in a particularly bad heat wave, the small electronic bits would have been much more fragile. 

“I got it!” Ruby grinned and help up a small card, barely bigger than her finger. “See, look! This one wasn’t custom made, and they weren’t built to handle the desert! So when the turrets were at rest, some small parts melted, and the scope couldn’t turn on and relay targeting information. No targets, the turret isn’t going to risk a misfire and stays offline!” She paused. “The one who made this really should have put on an alert on the control system or something when it fails to start up, that’s just lazy engineering.”

Neo tapped the table, and a small paper with ‘repair bill’ written on it appeared. Ruby gasped. “Wait, you’re saying they might have done this on purpose just to scam Roman?”

Thumb up.

“That’s… really bad ethics. But still! Now we just need to get a replacement, and we can make these puppies fire at will!” Ruby giggled, kicked her legs and stretched, a bit manic. “Ooh, they’re going to be so loud!”

Neo straightened herself and poked at Ruby’s neck. She angled her head backward to see Neo grin and oh two shadows above her- 

Two fingers rested atop her eyebrows and slowly went down, until they rested on her closed eyes.

“Neo?” 

She didn’t answer. None of them spoke for a while.

Ten second. Twenty.

The more time passed without anything happening, the more Ruby’s mind slowed. Thirty seconds, and she had to stifle a yawn. Thirty five, and it escaped. “Oh. Yeah, I guess we should nap.”

Neo removed her fingers. Ruby stood up and stretched, feeling her back and joints pop as she did. “Can you give me a box so we can carry everything downstairs?” They may be protected from the wind and sand, but it wouldn’t do to let more of the equipment melt in the sun.

Small boxes with velvet cushions appeared, and they put every single piece inside them. They carried them out of the rooftop, through the window, and to Ruby’s room.

A moment later, Ruby passed out on her bed.

Chapter Text

Ruby woke up slowly, dimly aware of the light behind her closed eyelids, just enough to notice she should put something over her head. Her pillow. Yes, it would do nicely, she just had to turn around so she was lying on her back and OW!

“Crap!” Ruby hissed in a strangled voice, pain radiating from her back. “What the hell?!” 

No longer asleep, she got up to inspect her bed and find whatever fresh torture device Neo had managed to put in there. The moment her arm entered her line of sight, she understood why her effort was useless.

Ruby was a pale girl, who, even in the desert, went to great pains to always be covered in a layer of clothing and a layer of sunscreen. Ruby was no longer pale; she was now red, a deep shade that covered her arm, most of her torso and a bit of her legs.

She facepalmed and yelped when it hurt much more than expected. “Idiot! You didn’t use any sunscreen! Oh, that was a bad idea, bad bad bad idea!” 

More and more memories flooded her, each one worse than the last. She paled beneath the sunburn. She had let Neo touch her eyes! Her eyes! A lot of people wanted those gouged! Where was the paranoia when not only she needed it, but it was also perfectly justified?! Also, why did she remove her top to work in the sun when she was wearing armor underneath, and for a good reason?! Stupid, stupid!

"See, Ruby, that’s why you need Weiss for these things! Or Blake! Or even Yang!” She said to no one in particular. Granted, Yang would have heard “topless near a pretty girl” and would have given her a thumbs up, but even that approval would mean she was doing something wrong. Then again, since said girl was Neo, then maybe Yang would have said no, in which case Ruby would have done it anyway… She shook her head. No need to get tangled in what-ifs.

Still, she kind of missed them now. A part of her wanted to send them a picture, then thought better. It wouldn’t… Well, whatever. It wouldn’t.

She rummaged through her suitcase for some clothes, and found out the hard way that no top would work without hurting her shoulders. No dice. She at least swapped her sport bra for her more conservative swimsuit; while it did hurt a bit above the breasts, as long as she didn’t move much, it would be tolerable. Not comfortable by any margin, but as long as Roman and Neo were in the house, there was no way she’d get out of her room wearing less.

Man, she was parched. She distinctly remembered drinking coffee, but maybe water would have been a tad better. 

Outside, the sun still shone with a rather insulting glare, shimmering on the sand like a smug ball of molten heat. Ruby ignored it and hurried to the ground floor, where the kitchen would give her all the food and water she needed. She could hear the TV coming from the living room and the distinct sound of someone eating in the kitchen. 

Ruby headed to the kitchen. Inside, Neo and Roman were eating takeout. More importantly, they were eating each other’s takeout, each eating as much as they could grab in the other’s plate while fending the other with what looked like two pairs of chopsticks. The moment Ruby entered, they turned toward her, and Roman’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “Red! You’re… red.”

“Yes?” Ruby went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

“No, I meant, redder than usual. What’s got into you?”

“The sun.” Ruby nodded toward Neo. “I don’t know how Neo isn’t as burnt as me.”

Neo’s sleeve parted in a sea of breaking glass, showing red skin. 

“Oh. Yeah, of course.” So Neo could use her semblance as clothes, but all Ruby could do was throw rose petals everywhere. That was fair. She wasn’t jealous at all because the stupid swimsuit was irritating.

Ruby pulled up a chair and slumped into it. “Guess I’m not doing much today.” Aura would take care of it in a few hours. A day, tops. She could, technically, put some cream on her sunburns to make the process smoother, but between Daliah, Roman and Neo, there was precisely nobody she trusted to touch her skin ‘delicately’. In fact, since she herself would pinch Neo just to see what happened if she had the chance, she knew for a fact Neo would do it wrong on purpose.

“So, what kept you two busy this morning?” 

Ruby threw her bottle and caught it. “We diagnosed the turrets. There’s a problem with a few of the electronic parts of the scopes. We replace them, they’re good to go.” She threw the bottle again.

“Really?” Roman gave up his food defense and crossed his legs. “You’re sure about that?”

Ruby wished she had Crescent Rose nearby. It was a very useful way to shut up the people who doubted her technical abilities, and besides, she just liked to hold it.

As if she’d read her mind, a pale imitation of her weapon appeared from thin air, floating above the table. Neo pointed at it, her chopsticks deftly grabbing rice from Roman’s bowl.

“Fair point. So, you think you could replace them?”

Ruby frowned. “If the system on the cards isn’t custom-made, I think I can. If it doesn’t come pre-installed, then we might have a problem.”

Roman rolled his neck. “Well, I was looking forward to a little trip in town anyway. What do you say, Neo?”

Neo tilted her head, then nodded. 

“You’re really going out in your semblance?” Ruby was already uncomfortable enough with her swimsuit around people she somewhat knew, she couldn’t even think about going out like… that.

Neo nodded again, her eyes switching colors. 

Ruby decided not to think about it. “I’ll go get the reference for you, see if it helps.”

“It would be rather hard without, wouldn’t it?” He rolled his shoulders. “It’s been a while since I’ve shopped like a normal person, I’m curious to see if it’s as boring as I remember.”

Once more, Ruby decided to ignore him. He was probably just trying to rile her up. Probably.

She left the kitchen and ascended the stairs, and for the first time in a while, she wondered what her friends were doing.

——

Blake was in a strange predicament.

Team RWBY was having a crisis, and she wasn’t in the middle of it.

That wasn’t to say she wasn’t affected. Blake, like any normal person, didn’t like the idea that her friend was in the company of terrorists, especially since said friend showed a reckless lack of concern for her own safety.

Blake was anxious. She was worried. She was also, for the first time in her life, put in the shoes of her parents after she left them for the Fang, and she liked that feeling even less.

“Weiss.” Yang said with a bright smile. “All I’m saying is, you’ve been cooped up in the room for too long. What you need is a bit of fresh air, so-“

“What I need,” said Weiss icily, “is for you to let me write my essay in peace.”

“You’ve been working on that for hours!”

“And you barely started. If you want to distract yourself, do it alone.” She didn’t look up from her sheet. “Some of us don’t want to fail this year.”

“Yeah, well, some of us don’t like sitting still in a boring, stuffy room looking at paper. Some of us would like to actually live our life instead of wasting it on a paper Oobleck won’t even read.” Yang paced around, prowling through the room. “Nobody even cares about Vacuan irrigation. Even Ruby wouldn’t-“ she stopped and turned around. “All I’m saying is, let’s get out, grab a drink and socialize. We can even take Pyrrha with us.”

“If,” said Weiss through her teeth, “you had actually listened to Winter this morning, you would know that Pyrrha is training with her.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Yang put her hands on her hips. “All I heard was ‘academia, academia, subpar, subpar’.”

“Because we are!”

“We are not!”

Blake flattened her ears as she did her best to tune them out. They both had their ways to cope, mostly by pretending everything was fine and dandy until proved otherwise. Yang wanted to distract herself by doing something, Weiss wanted to ignore the problem until it went away.

Blake wanted some peace and quiet. Without saying a word, she silently slipped outside, unnoticed by her two friends.

Beacon at night was enchanting. An old, huge building, illuminated by the moon. So many little spots she could sneak in to read, away from it all. So many little pieces of solitude.

She jumped to the wall, using the gaps between bricks as leverage to propel herself upward, up and up. Once upon a time, her muscles would have burnt, but ever since she had aura, climbing had been child’s play.

Blake finally found one of her numerous little corner. One of her numerous little waterproof bag was there, which meant her spot was still hers. Inside was food, drinks, and a good book she’d already read twice. Most importantly, there was solitude and calm.

She settled in, sent a message, and waited.

Less than half an hour later, Sun joined her, deftly jumping toward her. He looked as he normally did - open shirt and all - but his hair looked slightly damp. “Sup?”

“Hey.” She allowed herself a smile. “You weren’t busy?”

“Nah, it’s all good.” He sat near her, cross legged, his shoulder against the wall. The space was barely wide enough for the both of them to sit without touching. It was nice of him to respect her personal space, even if a small, treacherous part of her resented him for it. “It’s Neptune’s turn to clean up anyway, and he likes his music loud. Better steer clear of that.”

“Oh.” She settled against her own wall. “I didn’t know he was that kind of guy.”

“What, a neat freak?”

“Cleaning with music.”

“Oh, good, cause he’s not. I dunno, I think most people like a good tune while they work. Gets the mind minding.” He stretched, and Blake allowed herself to steal a glance. He didn’t return it, looking at the view in front of him instead. “So! Nice spot.”

“Thanks.” She rubbed her arm. “There aren’t a lot of people up there.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” He gave her a thumbs up. “Good view, not a lot of wind, it just needs a roof and it’d be perfect.”

Blake nodded mutely, not returning his gaze. 

They sat in silence for a moment, until Sun couldn’t tolerate it anymore. “So! Nice spot!”

“You said that already,” she said with a smile.

“And I mean it! It’s just, you know, I’m kinda wondering why you called me up here. Not that I mind, of course! But, you know.”

“I know.” She slowly hugged her legs against her chest, pondering. “I guess I needed someone to talk to.”

“And you went to me?” Sun sounded happy. “Well, I’m always happy to help. Is it a team problem?” He didn’t wait for her to answer and continued. “Because, not that I mind, but usually you go to me only if they can’t help.”

She nodded. “It’s a team problem.”

He frowned. “Ah. I was kind of hoping I was wrong there. You know, throw a shot in the dark, you correct me, get a little mad that I assumed?”

She chuckled. “Well, I am a little mad.”

“Good.” He winked. “Better than moping. So, what can I do for ya? Another giant robot? Please tell me it’s another giant robot, I’ve been itching to get a go at one again.”

“…No. Not unless Ruby’s making one for Torchwick, I guess.”

“Torchwick kidnapped Ruby?!”

——

Ruby watched from the stairs as Neo and Roman put on their shoes. “You got the list?”

He patted his pockets. “For the last time, yes! Here it is!” He took out an ordinary receipt from his pocket, raised an eyebrow and shoved it back. His hand went to another pocket, from which he took out a few liens. Before he could check a third pocket, Neo grabbed his arm, pulled his down and shoved her hand in his front pocket, taking out a small, folded piece of paper.

“See?” Roman stood up and dusted his jacked. “Perfectly fine.” He walked to the door, not even sparing her a glance. “We’re off! Don’t expect us before nighttime! If a stranger comes to the house, bark and call the neighbors!”

Neo turned to Ruby to give a mocking salute before following, gently closing the door behind her.

Ruby looked around. Daliah was busy somewhere in the house, doing whatever little girls did when they weren’t training, and she was alone in the house.

She shrugged and walked to the tv. She had nothing better to do anyway. A small, treacherous part of her wanted to call her friends, but it was swiftly ignored. 

Tv time.

——

“Well, that’s…” Sun frowned. “I don’t know if it’s better or worse than your problem, honestly. Is it better to run off with terrorists or to run off to fight terrorists?”

Blake shot him a glare. He slumped. “Okay, definitely the first one. Damn.”

Blake kept up her glare for a few more seconds, then turned her head away. “Ruby leaving… It’s bad, but it’s not the biggest part of the problem.”

“I think it is.”

“No.” Blake shook her head. “Ruby’s confused, she’s hurt. She might run now, but she’ll calm down and come back. The moment Roman reminds her that he’s a bad person, she’ll come to her senses.”

Sun raised an eyebrow, his arms behind his head. “So if Ruby’s not the problem, who is?”

That’s why she liked Sun, Blake thought with a smile. Most other people would have objected, said she was putting a lot of trust into an angry teen, or that Ruby already knew Roman was a bad guy, or a dozen of other contradiction. Sun, if a bit naive, trusted her without question.

“The problem,” she said, “are the others. They don’t see it like I do.”

“Really?”

“Yes.” Blake looked down, toward the dorm, where she was sure the fight was still ongoing. “Yang tries to hide it, but she doesn’t know what to do with herself, and Weiss…” She shook her head. “Between her sister and Ruby, she’s closed off. We can’t get a thing out of her.”

Sun let himself fall back. “That sucks. I guess we really need a giant robot to help us out.”

Blake rolled her eyes. “How would a giant robot help?”

“That’s what you guys always do, right? You have a problem, you fight someone, kabam wabloom!” he punched the air two times. “And then it’s all better. It worked at the docks, it worked with Torchwick’s giant robot, works all the time!”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Of course not!” He got up. “Fighting giant robots is work! You need to work together, find a weakness, hit the weakness, it’s pretty damn hard!”

“That’s not what I meant.” Blake sighed. “Even if it worked like that, we don’t have a giant robot to fight, or a… a problem to solve.”

“I mean, you have one, right? Yang’s being weird, and Weiss is having problems with her sister and being weird, and even you’re being weird.” She shot him a look. He weathered it with a smile. “You are.”

“So what?” She scoffed. “I’m not a people person. You,” she pointed at sun, “can talk to anyone and make friends with anybody. I don’t know how to do that.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think they’d like it if I tried. I could, if you want.”

“No.”

“See? They don’t need me to come and tell a joke.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “You’re their teammate, I’m not.”

She gently pried his hand away. “That doesn’t help me. I mean, it does, thanks” she said when he opened his mouth, “but…”

“I get it. You don’t need a pep talk.”

She had, actually. She felt a bit better about herself. She’d been right to call him.

They stayed together in silence for a while. 

Sun groaned. “See, that’s why I prefer giant robots. With giant robots, if you have too many of them, you can just play them against each other, let them fight kind of things. But with problems like these, you actually have to be careful.”

“You have to be careful with giant robots too.” They had fought one relatively big robot once. He should really let it go.

“You know what I mean. You can’t exactly smash your problems against one another until they’re solved.”

Blake’s eyes widened. Sun glanced at her, and added, unsure. “You can’t, right?”

“I… I think I have it. Thanks for the talk, Sun.”

“No problem?”

She jumped down without answering. Yang needed a distraction, and Weiss had a problem with her sister.

As long as she wasn’t doing it literally, she could try smashing the two problems together until they became a solution.

Chapter Text

Pyrrha rolled out of the way, the blast ruffling her hair as it crashed against the wall behind her. A flare of her aura, and she caught the general shape of a Grimm charging. Her sword became a spear, and she impaled the Boarbatusk under the neck, killing its momentum. Her spear retracted and became a gun as the Grimm dissolved in white particles.

Winter was too slow to stand, and Pyrrha wasted no time in taking advantage, running toward the woman at full speed. A black glyph appeared behind her, pulling her toward it as she struggled to keep her momentum. When it didn’t work, she let it carry her backward as she shot once, twice, thrice at Winter, each bullet finding its mark despite the woman making herself a smaller target as she ran for her rapier. With a wave of her hand, Pyrrha moved the weapon to hersef and gripped it, nodding appreciatively at the craftsmanship, before stabbing it into the ground.

“Flourish,” Winter panted.

Pyrrha winced. “Sorry.” She was barely winded herself; just as she’d proved over and over, fighting an opponent who couldn’t use their weapon was a lot easier than letting them close and personal.

The older woman took a deep breath and stood, her arms clasped behind her back. She was disheveled, her long white hair sticking out of her strict bun. Despite that, her severe expression didn’t waver.

“Leaving my weapon accessible could have worked if you had a plan in mind, an ambush of some sort. However, you did not need one.” She shook her head. “Throwing my weapon out of the arena and waiting for me to exhaust myself would have been much more efficient, and more importantly, safer.”

Pyrrha nodded, a small blush of shame growing on her cheeks. She hadn’t been admonished by a trainer in a very long time; even Miss Goodwitch was too busy dissecting the less capable students to spare time for her, who was already perfect. In that regard, Winter was the perfect teacher. No flaw escaped her.

Winter nodded. “Again.”

Pyrrha nodded back, levitating Winter’s weapon back to its owner. Winter grabbed it, saluted, and immediately summoned a flock of small Nevermore. Pyrrha, her weapon in rifle form, ignored the birds for the annoyances they were and sniped the summoning circle, each bullet close enough for the fourth one to finally break it. When it did, it released a cloud of green, acrid smoke, pushing out toward her much faster than any natural cloud. Pyrrha jumped back, her left hand pointed toward herself so that her semblance could affect her armor, pulling her upward, far above the cloud.

Not a second later, a blue rune appeared behind her, soon followed by a yellow one. Pyrrha dropped, but not fast enough; a torrent of water erupted from the rune, the roar of the flow blotting out everything else, but not loud enough to mask the follow-up crack of the thunder rune erupting. The current traversed the water and hit her, making her muscles contract and spasm. She fought to keep her mouth closed and used her hand’s twitch to affect her armor once more, pushing herself out of the water before she even hit the ground.

In the air once more, she didn’t give Winter any more chance to play. She grabbed the woman’s rapier with her semblance and pulled up. Winter struggled for a second before letting go.

That second was enough. During that second, Miló changed from a sword to a rifle, and in the following second, she shot Winter in the knees, making her stumble. With her left hand, she moved again, one finger keeping the sword in the air, the others acting on her armor, slowly flying around the arena, careful of any trick. Winter wasn’t idle either; a wall of stone erupted from thin air, the barrier of Rock Dust buying her precious seconds.

Pyrrha used the sword and flicked it away, out of bounds. It wouldn’t do to not follow the advice given to her.

A new rune appeared on the floor, bigger than any of the others so far. From it slowly rose a Grimm, huge, a horse made of white fire, its blue, icy eyes flickering through the storm-

“Flourish. Or distraction.”

Pyrrha suppressed a curse. Shit.

Winter walked away from the wall. “If it was the second, learn to assess a new threat while disrupting it.”

Winter was still standing straight, but a brief glance at the aura meter showed that she was closer to the red than yellow. Pyrrha, meanwhile, was barely close to the yellow.

“It was a bit of both.” She laughed nervously. “Interrupting the opponent when you already have the upper hand is seen as being a poor sport in the usual tournaments.”

Winter didn’t blink. “Yes, I am familiar with arena customs.”

Pyrrha shifted her weight from one foot to the other, the silence stretching for a long, uncomfortable moment. Winter’s eyes didn’t leave hers, her serious expression so still it might as well have been an ice statue. 

Pyrrha was about to do something drastic when, thankfully, the door to the training room opened.

“There she is! The woman of the hour!”

Yang strolled through the room, Blake following behind her. Weiss was absent, but she was seldom seen out of her room ever since the last dance. Pyrrha wondered if she should say something, but as she often concluded, this debate was not one she could solve. Fighting Weiss, she could do, but helping her…

“Winter!” Yang said. Well, yelled.

“Xiao Long.” Winter turned her head to look at her. “What can I do for you?”

“I want you to watch something.” Without waiting for an answer, Yang walked to Pyrrha and put her hands on the slightly sweaty Invincible Girl’s shoulders. “Pyrrha!”

“Yang?” 

“I want you to fight Weiss!”

Pyrrha had the intuition her day would only get longer from here.

——

Waiting for her aura to heal her sunburn was a pain. Ruby had ended up slathering cream on her arms and torso when the itches had become too irritating, the old skin tearing up to give way to the rosy new one, but it didn’t help that much. 

It itched really, really badly. In fact, it might have been worse than a sunburn without her soul to heal it, because damn it all it itched. If not for her aura, she would have scratched herself raw already, but because of the damn thing, all she could do was distract herself with one more inspection of Crescent Rose’s inner workings which confirmed that everything was in working order and the sand hadn’t managed to get in yet. 

And god damn it all it itched. She groaned and stood up from the couch, her skin glistening from all the cream. She was also finally wearing a shirt, a light, almost transparent one made of gauzy fabric. It was barely better than wearing nothing, but she didn’t like wearing just her swimsuit when she wasn’t swimming. 

Someone knocked. Ruby tilted her head and frowned. Who knocked? Roman certainly wouldn’t knock, and neither would Neo. Daliah was still doing whatever in the basement, so that couldn’t be her. A door to door salesman? Who would even walk so far? One of Roman’s associates? 

She took Crescent Rose and walked to the door. “Roman, if it’s one of your old enemies coming back for revenge I am so getting mad at you,” she muttered.

She opened the door a crack. “Hello?”

“We’re here for a noise complaint!” Said a somewhat familiar voice.

“What-“

The door blew up. The bullet flew through it, hit Ruby square in the stomach and threw her against the wall, cracking it. She blinked stars out of her vision. That… who used bullets in a surprise attack? Nobody came to mind, everyone knew it was a poor choice unless your opponent’s aura was down, and even then, bullets were only good to take away aura and distract, not break it. The caliber was big. Mercury? But why? Wasn’t he at Beacon? She hadn’t even seen him at the end of Atlas, and Emerald didn’t talk about him, so-

She stood, unsteady. Deal with the door-breakers first, figure out how they managed to follow her through time and space after. 

She heard voices coming from the entrance.

“She’s not coming back, think we got her?” Came a boy’s voice.

“Let’s give it two more minutes, then we’ll check.” Again, the strangely familiar girl.

“You said that two minutes ago! Just admit you don’t want to go in already.” A different boy, his voice deeper, sounding bored.

“Oh fuck off!”

Automatically, Ruby said, “Language.”

All discussion stopped.

The door was badly damaged, with a hole the size of a fist under the handle. Whatever hit her, it packed a punch. Ruby grabbed the door and threw the door open.

On the other side were eight kids, four familiar. Gauntlet, Saif girl, Axe girl and Slowpoke, the four squatters. 

Now that she was seeing them in the light, they seemed a bit older. Gauntlet was tall, wearing an open jacket and his two gauntlets, while Axe and Saif girl had a matching motif, two snakes, going from one top to the other. Slowpoke was wearing rather light clothes, and his head was strangely shaved, bald except for two stripes of hair at the top. They were all much more tanned than she was, something she was not jealous about.

“You?” Ruby blinked. “I thought Neo broke your wrist.”

“She did…” muttered Axe girl, her face suddenly lacking color.

“And you came back? Willingly?” Maybe they did have guts after all. Her team would have chased Roman to the end of the earth too. 

“We’re not letting that insult pass,” spat Gauntlet.

“Yeah!” One of the four other students took a step forward. “You attack one of us, you attack all of us!”

He looked like a leader. In fact, he really looked like he wanted to - badly - emulate Sun’s look, with the jacked abs, the open shirt and short combo. But where Sun carried himself with ease, as if he had forgot to button up his shirt instead of showing off, this guy had dyed black hair and… Was that a black choker? With an arrow pointing down, toward the abs? Urgh. 

Choker had a six-chamber revolver with a long bayonet in his hand, too, which looked really weird and impractical, but Blake also had a dagger with a pistol and a ribbon and still beat most people she came across, so Ruby wasn’t judging.

Behind Choker was a tall skinny woman with a small scar on her pinky finger, carrying an overly large mace. Ruby immediately noticed the small hints of mechashift, and given the size of the hole in the door, this one was the weapon responsible for her temporary levitation. 

The last two looked tough, two men, one bald, shirtless, with a metal staff doubling as a railgun and the other small, smaller than Weiss even, with an even smaller bow. They both had Faunus ears, but of what kind she had no idea. Roman would, in his peculiar racist way, so she didn’t know if it was more racist to think all faunuses looked the same or to be able to differentiate them based on the shape of the ear. She resolved to ask Blake at a future date.

Ruby looked at them in turn. Choker, Mace, Bow and Rail, accompanying Gauntlet, Axe, Saif and Slowpoke. What a team.

“You know, you’re lucky Neo isn’t here. I don’t think I could stop her from killing you this time.”

The squatters looked between themselves nervously. The new arrivals grinned and laughed.

“See, that’s what you think. I think we’re lucky because you’re alone, so we can make an example out of you, or use you as bait to get the others.” Choker grinned. “Come peacefully, and we won’t hurt you that much. Maybe we’ll just break your wrist to get even.”

Come get her? Ruby smiled and shook her head. What kind of world did they live in where Neo - or Roman! - would save her if she was captured? 

The wind blew, carrying sand through the open doorway. Ruby stepped forward and closed the door behind her. 

The squatters were already in combat stance. The new arrivals were still looking at her and smiling.

“Just a question, before we start.” Ruby deployed Crescent Rose behind her, and the blade sunk in the sand. “You do understand that you could die here. Today.”

More laughter from the ignorant. The embers of the anger she’d felt in their last encounter ignited.

“I’ll ask you later.”

——

“I’m not sure about this.”

“Trust me, it’s a great plan!” Yang grinned, her smile bright as the sun. “And you know it’s not a bad idea because it’s Blake’s.”

Pyrrha pondered as they walked. Yang’s last idea fractured her team. On the other hand, Blake had a poor track record, since her ideas usually involved fighting the White Fang.

“Sun helped.” Blake added begrudgingly. 

“I see.” Pyrrha nodded. “How long should I distract her, then?”

“Wow. Sun is more credible than us.”

Pyrrha smiled awkwardly. “Sorry, I just…”

“We’re very irresponsible,” nodded Yang, speaking with the serene tone of a sage imparting great wisdom. “We get it.”

Blake frowned, her ears flattening against her head, so she didn’t seem to agree. Pyrrha smiled apologetically, and Blake smiled back and rolled her eyes in response. Right. 

Winter spoke, a step behind them. “I don’t understand why you want me to be hidden.”

“Don’t worry, Winty!” Yang didn’t look at her. “Trust in the plan. You know how to follow orders, right?”

Blake elbowed her without putting much strength into it. Yang’s cheerful expression didn’t waver. Pyrrha wasn’t an expert, but she could tell Winter wasn’t well liked by the two, something the older woman seemed to either ignore or be unaware of.

They arrived in front of the dorm’s room, the closed door looming ominously over them. Yang didn’t seem to care, knocked on the door then threw it open. “Weiss! I brought guests!”

Blake hurried and pulled Winter’s shoulder, walking her out of sight before letting go of the woman’s shoulder and wiping her hand on her pants. Pyrrha suppressed a flicker of annoyance; she’d talk to Blake about her behavior later.

On the other side, Weiss was sitting at her desk, her head in her arms. The moment Yang opened the door, she startled and stood straight. “Yang! What did I tell you about-“

“Sorry, sorry, I have great news!” Yang walked through the room as if she owned it and took out Myrtenaster from Weiss’s bed. “I just got training perms from the Invincible Girl herself!”

“I- what?”

“You know, Pyrrha? Red hair? Invincible? Girl? Pyrrha the Invincible Girl?” Yang didn’t even look at Weiss as she busied herself, collecting small dust cartridges strewn across the room. “Since you absolutely want to do schoolwork, I figured hey, let’s have a practical lesson with the best fighter we have. What do you think?”

“Well, that is-“

“Great!” Yang pulled Weiss to her feet and steered her to the door. “Let’s get to it!”

——