It was a crisp, windy day in the forest, and Ruby Rose was trying desperately not to get her ass kicked.

Shit. Shit. Damnit. Fuck.

With each swing from the Ursa Major she could feel her guard slipping more and more. In her defense, she'd been fighting all day, and had been hunting for about a week straight at that point. She hadn't even had milk for the last five days.

"Yang!" The cloaked huntress yelled. "Need some help over here!"

The Ursa made a another swing for her, a long horizontal swipe straight at her head. In a flurry of roses, she slipped underneath its outstretched arm and came to a stop at its back. The blade of her high impact sniper-scythe, Crescent Rose, still rested in front of its torso. Ruby grinned and pulled the trigger. Rotating her body at the same time with practiced ease, the massive, and now massively accelerating, blade cut through the thick hide of the Grimm as if it were nothing. It then proceeded to do the same to the creature's bones, muscles, and internal organs as the Ursa was bisected at the waist.

"Nevermind!" Ruby yelled to her sister, wherever she was.

Ruby gave her surroundings a once over, making sure there were no immediate threats before letting her guard down. Not entirely, mind you. She knew better than that. Just enough to let herself breathe a bit and check her condition.

For one, she was filthy. There wasn't a whole lot of her own blood on her her, but she did notice some red caked in with the smothering of vile black Grimm blood. She pulled out her scroll and checked her aura.

25 percent. She thought. So long as nothing too crazy happens, I should be good. But still…

She was glad she had somewhat dampened her aura protection for today. Sure, she had a few more scratches and developing bruises than she would have liked, but it beat burning through her aura early. Yang wouldn't have let her live that down for weeks.

Where is Yang? She wondered. Before she could think more on where her hot-headed sibling was, her thought process was somewhat interrupted.

A giant two headed snake exploding out of the nearby trees tended to do that.

"Nevermind on the nevermind!"

It was about an hour later that Yang found her there in that clearing, collapsed on her back. As she approached the younger girl, she had a sly grin on her face, but the closer she got the more anxiety crept into her expression

"Ruby?" She said, trying to keep her voice level. "You okay?"

Ruby groaned in response. "Where were you?" She sat up with considerable effort.

"Wrestling"

An eyebrow rose behind red-tipped locks.

"Wrestling a Beringel." She clarified. "You didn't answer my question."

"I'm… fine enough. You don't need to worry."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She checked her scroll and her lilac eyes went wide. "Ruby, you're out of aura!"

"Well, that's why I said-"

"Ruby," Yang plopped down beside her sister and started examining her wounds. "You can't keep doing this." A pause. "We can't keep doing this."

"This?"

Yang sighed. "This. Hunting."

"But-!" Ruby started to protest, but Yang gave her a look that only her big sister could. A look that said shut up and listen.

"I don't mean it like that."

"Well then why'd you say it like that…" Ruby grumbled. Yang gave her the look again.

"What I mean is that we can't keep hunting like this. With just the two of us. We end up spread too thin and then this happens."

"But hunters go solo all the time!" Ruby said. "Just look at Uncle Qrow!"

"Those hunters don't clear out entire sectors, Rubes. They work as bodyguards, or bounty hunters, or… whatever it is Qrow does."

"So what are we gonna do?"

"Either we take easier jobs," Yang said. Ruby pouted at that. "Or we work with more people." Ruby kept pouting.

Yang got off the ground. She offered a hand to Ruby.

"Now come on, we're cutting it close to nightfall as is."

"When did you start caring so much about playing it safe?" Ruby grumbled as she took Yang's hand. She was still a bit put out about the whole situation, but a mischievous grin had snuck onto her regardless. "You gettin old or something sis?"

"Hah!" Yang pulled her to her feet. "I'll be young 'til the day I die!"

Ruby's brow furrowed for a second before she could hide her concern.

Yang put a hand behind her head and chuckled with a tension that wasn't normally there. "Oh, uh… not like that. I just mean I won't get old old, ya know? Like, if I ever become some crazy old cat lady, feel free to literally knock some sense into me, ok?"

Ruby snorted. "Didn't you once say something about dying 'surrounded by pussy'"

Yang rolled her eyes. "Oh please, like I would ever say-" Her eyes narrowed. "Wait, was I drunk?"

"New Years, I think."

"You are not to repeat that. To anyone."

"Alright…" Ruby said. "But you might want to tell that to Dad, too."

"WHAT?!"

Ruby laughed and ran off to the treeline. By the time her sister caught up, she was mostly cooled down. Yang's blush, a rather rare sight, aside.

The walk through the forest was silent for a long period of time. Ruby used the opportunity to do her own visual check up on her sister. Yang was definitely better off than her for the most part, but that didn't mean she didn't have a few particularly painful looking gashes.

"So what do you want to do?" Ruby finally broke the silence. "Find a team, or smaller missions?"

"Honestly?" Yang said, looking up at the darkening sky. "I don't really care. So long as I'm doing something, I'll be fine. I'm always up for meeting new people though!"

Ruby hummed in contemplation. "Do they have to be new people?"

"What do you mean?" Yang looked at her suspiciously.

"You still talk to your team from Beacon, don't you?"

"Yeah…" Yang said. She paused, but cut off the question already forming on Ruby's lips. "They wouldn't be interested Ruby." She shook her head

"Why not? They're hunters, right?!"

"Well, yeah, but they're…" She paused again, for longer this time. Almost a minute passed before she spoke again. "Look, they're good people, good hunters too. But we never really… worked, together. Let's just say we're all a lot closer now that we just talk over the CCT. I'm guessing yours…"

"Hah!" Ruby laughed sardonically. "Even if they would want to tag along, which they wouldn't, they'd probably spend half the time complaining, and the other half screaming for help."

"Weren't you just screaming for help?"

"So you did hear me!"

Yang managed to look sheepish for all of one second. "I was a bit busy going twelve rounds with a giant gorilla. My point stands."

"The difference is we have eachothers' backs. You don't have three."

Yang looked at her little sister with a scrutinizing glare. "You know, I'm sure they were doing their best, Ruby. Not everyone has had years of training from a professional hunter."

"That's the thing Yang! They didn't try! I tried to help them! I was lucky if I got them to step foot into the damn gym, let alone the training room."

"Oh come on, they weren't that bad."

Ruby rolled her eyes.

"They weren't!" Yang protested. "It's not like I never met them, remember? They were at Beacon for a reason, after all."

"Like I said, they wouldn't want to come anyway, so it doesn't matter."

Ruby knew she wasn't being entirely reasonable about her old team. They were… competent enough, she supposed. But though no one had ever said it out loud, it had always been grossly apparent why her team had consistently topped the group combat rankings. It also didn't help that they had parted on a less than pleasant note, and Ruby had had a few years for her memories of her team to properly sour now.

"So what is our plan then?" Ruby asked.

"Depends, wanna meet new people?"

Ruby thought for a moment. "Fine, I guess." So long as I actually get to choose rather than some arbitrary bullshit.

"I might have an idea"

Weiss Schnee stepped off an airship in a way only a Schnee could. Like it was implied that she already owned the ground she walked on. Maybe she didn't in actuality, but there was an understanding; if she wanted to, she could. This, in effect, made everything a theoretical property of the Schnees.

The Schnee Dust Company's President of Interkingdom Negotiation knew this. She knew it well. She also knew that her business partners knew it. Which is why she was not at all surprised when, as she stepped off the airship in that way only a Schnee could, she also stepped off into a throng of the most prominent businessmen and women in Vale. A part of her actually enjoyed watching them scramble to get in her good graces. Most of her hated it though.

It was all fake, of course. As she knew, she could single handedly ruin their business, and by proxy their lives. Or she could turn their company into the most successful in Vale, and the second most in Remnant. Not without a fair amount of work of course, but she could. Why else would they all be treating her as they did; with a mix of fear, hatred, and respect?

Weiss held up a hand before any of them had the chance to speak. "Thank you all for coming, it's great to see you all, truly." She used her best "professional" voice. And it was a damn good one. "And while I am humbled by your considerations, I am not here on behalf of the SDC, and will not be doing any business on this trip."

Some of them remained undeterred, and started forward. No doubt eager to engage in pointless smalltalk they thought would ingratiate them to the scarred woman. They were so wrong.

Some might mistake Weiss's expression at that point for a smile. "Please," She held up her hand again. "While I am not here on SDC business, I am here on business, and it is rather urgent."

It was at this point most of the executives seemed to notice the robotic soldiers at her side. And if they looked closely enough, they may have recognized her attire as that of the Atlesian military specialists. Those that did were quick to vacate the area, and those that didn't seemed to catch on quick enough. Except for one.

"Schnee." Said woman in clearly designer clothes and striking shades, despite the overcast day.

"Adel." Weiss huffed. "Did you want something?"

"You might be able to make those weak-kneed money-grubbers piss their pants at the sight of a couple of tin cans, but I'm onto you."

"What the hell are you on about Coco? And please, don't test me."

Coco smirked. "I happen to know that you're on a bit of a… what did the official report call it again? Extended leave? From the Atlesian military."

Weiss motioned for the robots to stand at the entrance to her vessel and for Coco to join her inside.

"Ooh, so forward Ms. Schnee," Coco said as she stepped aboard. "Going to invite me into your bed next?"

"Do you want me to stab you?"

"Is that what you do to your lovers?" She gasped with painfully fake outrage. "Explains why the tabloids haven't got any dirt on you yet."

"Coco…" Weiss growled.

The older huntress raised her hands in resignation. She knew perfectly well just how to tick Weiss off, and just how much she could get away with. The two had gotten close during Coco's second year at Beacon, when Weiss had come to participate in the Vytal festival.

"So, babe," Coco was really pushing it this time. "Why are you really here? 'Cause it sure as shit ain't for the military."

"It's a… delicate matter, Coco. You're right, I'm not with the military as of right now, strictly speaking, but-"

"Spill, Schnee. I can tell you're trying to talk your way out of an answer, and I'm not biting."

"Fine." Weiss huffed. "General Ironwood and my father both agreed that me working for both of them was negatively affecting my performance. So the General put me on leave, and my father told me to cease handling business deals and 'improve the public face of the company'"

"Wait, they both told you to take time off?"

"I said they agreed, not that they communicated."

"So basically, you got canned. From both of your jobs. At the same time." Coco was barely trying to contain her grin.

"No! I have merely been… reassigned."

"Oh? To what?" Coco's face would be markedly improved by a rapier at that point.

"Merely a less high profile position."

At this, Coco lost it.

"Oh, my bad! You just got demoted! Twice!" Coco was a step away from rolling on the floor.

"Just because I'm on leave does not make me less of a specialist, Adel." Weiss's voice was cold.

"You saying you want a fight?" The gunner leaned forward and grinned.

"I'm saying, I need a job"

The street reeked of piss and alcohol. Your average human would think it rancid, and feel sorry for the poor sods that had to sleep on it. Few would ever consider that most of those poor sods were faunus, a fair amount of them with a sense of smell several times stronger than their own. There was a reason Blake only crashed in this area when she didn't have another choice.

But she had just spent the last of her lien on food, and didn't have any new jobs lined up yet. There were some nicer areas, cleaner streets, but those were much more strictly patrolled than the slums she was crashing in. She'd been living like this for long enough now, she was used to it. Mostly.

"Oi!" A voice rang out from around an alley corner. "Ya mangy fuck!"

Blake's hair stood on end. As well as the fur on her bow-covered ears. The person couldn't possibly be talking to her; he wasn't even in sight. He might not have even been talking to a faunus. Sure, plenty used words like "mangy" as slurs against her kind, but-

"Yeah, you, the one w' the bitch ears!"

Or not. Part of Blake was glad she'd hidden. Even in more gentrified parts of society, not everyone was entirely kind to faunus. She knew that too well. Here in the slums, those feelings took on a whole other type of expression. She knew the statistics. No one was more at risk of muggings and murders than faunus in low income areas.

But that part of Blake was small. Mostly, she was furious. Especially once she heard the telltale sound of a gun being cocked.

"Now," As the voice continued, Blake drew nearer to the alley with her signature silent footsteps. "You know there's only so many ways this can end. So let's just get it over with, hmm?"

Peeking around the alley, Blake was able to get a decent view of the scene. Three hostiles. Two burly men and one woman. A gun, a club, and a knife. Limited training at best, based on their stances. At the far end of the alley was a wolf-eared faunus. Young, likely late teens. No weapon.

"Please." The faunus said. "I-I don't have any money. I'm just-"

"Ya got those clothes, donch ya?" The voice, the man with the gun, said. "Betcha got some food stashed away too."

"Please, please, these are all I have. I don't got any food."

The man grunted and raised his gun. Blake's instincts sent her nearly into autopilot. She drew her chain scythe and sharpened sheath, Gambol Shroud, and stepped around the corner. Despite the dark, she knew the faunus would be able to see her. She nodded at him to go.

As the faunus, seemingly having gotten her message, started to back up the gunman motioned with his gun, which appeared to be a simple pistol, at his legs.

"I wouldn't do that, lil' pup."

Blake, still unseen by the thugs, separated Gambol Shroud and shifted the smaller blade into its gun/kama form. Just as it looked like the man was about to fire, she threw her blade.

Gambol Shroud spun through the air, passing by the side of the gunman. Blake pulled on the ribbon attached to the blade, and it whipped back into the man's arm. The momentum of the blade carried the man's arm across his chest as he pulled the trigger.

Human (and faunus) reaction time is a funny thing. While the gunman clearly knew that his gun was no longer pointed at his target, there was nothing he could do to stop himself. Electrical signals had already been sent from his brain, instructing his finger to squeeze.

His shot went off to his left, straight into the club wielding man standing there. With her superior night vision Blake could see a fine pink mist exit the man's head before he collapsed. She winced at his poor fate and ran into action, intending to make full use of her surprise.

Her sword still stuck in the gunman's arm, she pulled, intending to yank him off balance. When instead it cleanly cut through roughly half his arm she pulled up short.

No aura. She thought. None at all. So they weren't just caught off guard, they actually don't even have unlocked auras.

"Stop." She said, sheathing Gambol Shroud. "I won't fight you if I don't need to. Leave this man in peace, and I will follow suit."

The man only clutched his mangled arm and glared at her. Any intimidating effect it might have had on her was somewhat mitigated by the groans escaping his mouth.

"You bitch!" The woman yelled as she charged Blake.

Blake sighed and easily sidestepped the attack. She stuck a leg in front of her opponent's and used her free hand to guide the woman by the back of the neck into the ground.

"Stop." Blake repeated. "I mean it. And not just now. You won't get another warning."

Blake turned to walk toward the wolf faunus, to make sure he was unharmed. Or if he was, at least attempt first aid. She of course knew what was coming, which is why she did nothing to stop it.

The knife struck her back hard. Not thrown, stabbed. Unfortunately for the woman stabbing her, it was completely negated by Blake's aura, merely bouncing off the cat faunus's skin.

Blake whipped around and grabbed the would be mugger's wrist. "Don't you get it? You get a second chance now. Cherish it." She threw the woman to the ground.

Kneeling down by the wolf faunus, she realized her earlier guess was a bit off. He looked to be closer to fifteen or so.

Just a kid. She thought. Those asses are making a really good case for me not letting them go.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Y-yeah." He said. "They uh, didn't get a chance to do anything."

"Good."

He looked at the thugs laying on the ground. One dead, one wounded, and one looking hopelessly at Blake.

"Are you…?"

Blake grimaced. "I'm nothing. Nothing you should want to be."

The boy looked confused at that. "But you-"

"Look," Blake stared into his azure eyes. "These guys… they're not great examples of humanity. Don't make the same mistakes I did. Most humans…" She drifted off.

"I uh," The wolf faunus said, snapping Blake out of her reverie. "I was gonna ask if you were a faunus, 'cause, like, it's kinda hard to tell... "

"Oh," Blake blushed. "Uh, yeah." She wiggled her ears hidden behind the bow. "But, what I said before, it still…do you have anywhere to go?"

"No, I was telling the truth about that. More or less live here. I, uh, thought you did too, but" He gestured to her weapon.

"I'm kinda in and out. But you, you look young enough that you should at least be in an orphanage if you've got nowhere else, right?"

At this, the boy froze. "I, uh, thanks for your help." And he ran off.

Great job, Blake. She thought. Scare the kid off before you can actually help him. And really, you of all people should know better than to pry.

She glanced back at the alley. The only thug that remained was the one who'd been shot. She supposed that was mostly her fault. Looking at him, she felt… empty. Sure, knowing that they didn't even have aura she could have just walked through them like it was nothing. But she hadn't known that, so she had used the most likely strategy to succeed. It was unfortunate that it led to this man losing his life, but not, Blake figured, all together much of a tragedy. He'd chosen his actions, and he had lived, or rather died, with the consequences. The other two received a mercy, nothing more.

After dealing with the thugs, Blake thought it best to get out of the area. Not that she was terribly worried about attracting attention from police; she knew how to get out of that type of situation, after all. But there was still the chance, and she'd rather avoid it if she could. That, and the adrenaline of the fight meant that she didn't really feel the need to sleep now anyway.

Might as well try to make some use of my time, then. She thought.

The hour may have been late, but the city of Vale never slept. Particularly the part of it that she most commonly dealt with. Blake had a very specific set of skills. One that didn't lend her to too many opportunities for employment, especially without the proper documentation, such as a Hunting license. That said, there were always those that would be willing to pay a bit less for someone without the proper paper trail. Or, depending on the job, someone willing to pay a bit more.

And so Blake found herself in front of Junior's nightclub. Not the worst place in town, not by far. But anyone with an ear to the ground for the sort of thing knew that not all the deals that went down there were entirely legitimate. Certain rumors claimed that the owner himself, Junior, wasn't always entirely on the right side of the law.

Blake walked in and was sensorially pummeled. The pounding music and flashing lights were playing hell on her faunus senses. She could even make out the smell of alcohol and, if she managed to concentrate through the brutal ambience for more than a second, a few substances that she knew were far from legal.

Doing her best to block out the distractions, she made her way to the bar. On her way, she did her best to scope out the other patrons. The vast majority were just there to get wasted or unwind. Nine-to-five office workers, students, and the like. She could pretty easily pick out those that were there to do less than legal business. Those that were just rich enough to game the system, but not powerful enough to do it by the light of day. Mostly offshore money laundering and such. Anything to increase profit margins.

Then there was the darker stuff. Coercion, blackmail, grand larceny. Even murder, in some cases. If Junior got wind of those types of deals, he tended to deal with it personally. So anybody discussing that here would either not be in the main room, or be very discrete about it. There's a thing about discretion though; it's not very discreet if you know it's there. Blake knew what those type of people looked and acted like. They had a certain feel about them, like they were repelling all attention directed at them.

Astronomy wasn't a terribly active field of research on Remnant, due to Dust's tendency to fail outside the atmosphere, but certain techniques were being developed to study the void that surrounds them. Black holes, for instance, could be detected by a complete lack of any light from a place where there should be. That's how you find those that don't want to be found, those that offensively avoid any amount of conspicuity; you look for the black holes.

Her search for such irregularities, however, came up short. Back room, then. Blake thought.

She approached the barkeeper, a tall, thin man with red shades and a fedora, like all the employees here.

"Can I get something for you?" He said.

"Depends." Blake had to resist shouting at the top of her lungs. "Anybody asking around for someone with my… talents?"

Blake imagined the man was glaring at her. The sunglasses somewhat ruined what she figured was supposed to be an intimidating gesture. "And what would those be?"

She flicked the edge of her coat, temporarily revealing Gambol Shroud.

"Hmph. Let me check." The barkeeper said before walking into a room behind the bar.

While she waited, Blake took mental stock of her equipment and supplies.

Enough lien to get at least a meal a day for a week, fifty standard dust rounds for Gambol Shroud, lockpick set, fake IDs. No book, unfortunately, but I can make do with a library next time I get a chance.

When the barkeep reemerged he had an odd look on his face. Blake's best guess put it somewhere between worry and… pity?

Does he know something about a client?

"Well, we don't got anything… official, but it looks like we got a customer asking for someone like you. Someone the boss'd, uh, rather not deal with."

"Yang, what are we doing here?" Ruby asked.

The two were seated in a dark corner booth in Junior's nightclub, about as far away from the dance floor as possible.

"Well," Yang said. "No one was looking to team up with a couple o' badasses like ourselves on the official hunting board…"

"I know. I was there."

"Right… and really, this is the best place to find people if you know how to ask." Yang winked.

"Then why did we check out, like, a hundred other places first?" Ruby smirked. Sometimes Yang regretted going into business with her baby sister. Especially when said sister decided to be a smartass.

"Well, save the best for last, right?"

"Yang, I don't think that applies to job searches. Just cookies."

"Cookies?" Yang quirked a brow.

"Yup. Oh, and strawberries. You don't wanna eat all the good ones first, then the last one is all mushy and gross. And that's the last thing you taste, so you wanna go out on a high note, ya know?"

"Do me a favor?" Yang sighed

"Yeah?"

"If we actually find someone here, just… let me do the talking."

"What?" Ruby pouted. Yang was pretty sure it was fake, but with her sister she could never be sure. "You don't think I can handle the business side? Just keep me around for my amazingly awesome sniper-scythe?"

"Of course not, Ruby." Yang said, making Ruby beam. "Your speed is pretty nice, too."

Ruby punched Yang in the arm. "You suck!"

Yang just laughed. "That the best you can do? I can't decide what was worse, that punch or your 'comeback'. Man, and I thought your Xiao Long genes were finally showing after earlier." She wiped the tears out of her eyes and placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "We really gotta work on that. Both of them, actually. If not, I think I might have to disown you."

Ruby stuck her tongue out at her.

A few minutes of idle chatter later one of the employees approached their table. One of Junior's men, tacky sunglasses and all.

"Got someone who might be interested." He said. "You said you were looking for a huntress?"

"Two, preferably. Hunter or Huntress, doesn't matter. You spot checked them, I'm assuming?"

"Well, she was definitely packing, if that's what you're asking, Blondie. But I ain't gonna try and confiscate it. No way in hell I risk a fight with one of you freaks."

"That's fine, if it gets messy it'll b anyway. She seemed alright to you though?"

"She seemed like a huntress. Who wanted a job. You want me to go ask her for a fuckin immunization report?"

Yang could feel the air heat up a fraction around her. "Fine, fine. Whatever, send her over."

"Real smooth sis." Ruby snickered. "Sure you don't want me to do the talking?"

"Shut up."