Chapter 1

Weiss Schnee was annoyed.

The heiress, now CEO, had somewhat mellowed out since her days at Beacon Academy, something that had come with growing up. Seldom did she lose her temper over the small things that she had in the past, and gone were the tantrums that had pervaded her everyday life. That said, there were only a few people on Remnant who could dare to cross the woman in this state, and even fewer who would willingly do so.

Standing up, the white-haired woman paced her office, letting out small huffs all the while. Her office was comfortable, if conservative. White carpet, white walls, wooden shelves, and a line of windows that ran the length of the office formed the foundation. A television laid across from the desk which housed several holographic screens. Speaking of which, the cause of her frustrations could be traced to the pile of documents currently on her desk; all of which depicted blurry photos of a figure cloaked in black and red.

Ruby. Fucking. Rose.

The leader of her four years at Beacon had wedged herself into the icy woman's heart with her insufferable cheerfulness and impossibly endearing honesty. Four years of sleeping in the same room and fighting life and death battles had left a trust in the red and white partners that few could ever replicate. It was also for this reason that Weiss was currently so irate.

Ruby was, in short, missing. Missing for the past 2 years now. As soon as their team of 4 had graduated from Beacon, the youngest and ironically, most skilled, member of their team had left on a long-term mission with her uncle. Now, this had all been well and good, with the two keeping in constant contact, if sometimes looking slightly worse for wear. The problem came when Qrow had returned after 2 months, and his niece was still nowhere to be found.

The only reason that the WBY portion of team RWBY hadn't immediately upended the world in an attempt to find their leader was the word of the only person who had seen Ruby before her sudden disappearance, her uncle Qrow. And as much as they were worried that their all too trusting leader was in over her pretty little head, Qrow had, for quite awhile now, been assuring them otherwise.

Of course, there was no way that the team had given up that easily. Yang and Blake had been on a lookout for their leader wherever they took a mission. To Vale, Atlas, Mistral, and Vacuo, they had gone around the globe; and though you would think a girl with a giant scythe, black-red hair, and a red cloak would be rather memorable, there was no trace of the younger crimsonette. Their consolation at least, was that they were at least out there looking, searching for any sign of Ruby.

Weiss on the other hand, was denied even that, stuck in her own office and saddled with the running of the Schnee Dust Company. While the CEO position was something that she had been expected to do, it had been on no uncertain terms that it would be the product of her father's wishes. Though it had involved several compromises, namely Weiss' agreement to deal with the suitors that her father wished her to meet, the then young heiress had managed to have her father pass control of the company to her. Of course, no small amount of support from Winter had played a large part in their father's decision. No matter how powerful the SDC was economically, even the gargantuan dust monopoly had to pay some heed to the Atlesian military. Thusly, Weiss now held authority over the largest economic power on Remnant.

This, in turn, led to the young woman's current situation. Had it not been for her position, Weiss would have long since been out the proverbial door searching for her missing partner. Running a hand through her hair as she slumped into the admittedly comfortable chair that adorned her office, Weiss once again ran through the reports that sat on her desk. Most of them were false leads or cold trails, information that had already been looked through and deemed useless, weeks or even months old images that came in by mail. It was an arduous process, one that Weiss nevertheless continued.

Scouring the papers for any possible source of reliable information concerning Ruby, Weiss almost didn't notice the quiet knock that signaled someone's presence on the other side of the door.

At this time? It could only be one person.

"The door isn't locked, come in." she called out. The door slowly opened to reveal another young woman, slightly older than Weiss, that seemed to be a mirror image in all but the strict military discipline that had been instilled in her.

Giving a faint smile, Weiss greeted the visitor with nary a second thought. "Specialist Winter Schnee, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Though there was no need to be so formal with her sister, Weiss always found it comforting to find something so small to indulge the older woman with the formality that the latter was always so fond of.

"Well Miss Schnee, I didn't realize that I needed an excuse to visit my own sister." Responding in kind with her own slight smirk, Winter caught on quickly.

"Oh of course, I'm only too happy to see you here." She gestured to the chair across from her. "Why not take a seat? There's coffee or tea if you wouldn't mind waiting a few minutes." Weiss needed a break from her endless search that only seemed to bring up more questions instead of answers.

Unfortunately, it seemed as if Winter had other plans. Though she did take a seat, the previously amicable expression turned into one that she wore when in meetings, something that had Weiss adopt a similar attitude.

"Unfortunately, our time for formalities is at an end Weiss." Though it was a minute detail, Weiss gave a small cheer inside of her at the sound of her sister addressing her by name. For years it had simply been, "sister." There was little time to dwell on this however.

"What happened? An attack? White Fang activity is at an all time low Winter." Assumptions make a fool out of you and me. Weiss knew this well enough; but when Winter Schnee came to you with what she clearly regarded as a serious issue, it was best to be safe rather than sorry.

"Luckily no, there hasn't been any trouble for a month now, best that it stays that way." Winter produced a single folded up sheet of paper from her breast pocket and handed it to Weiss. "What I have is, fortunately, of a much more positive subject, though just as serious."

Unfolding the sheet slowly, Weiss stared at the sheet in front of her, eyes scanning for anything that might have brought her sister rushing to her office. For all intents and purposes, it seemed to be…

"Though I'm not saying it's unimportant Winter, why do you need me to read the reports of a Grimm attack in Atlas?" The paper in her hand depicted a recent altercation between a pack of Beowolves and a small squad of hunters-in-training. Though the squad showed some signs of potential in being able to handle the situation, it was at most, something for the proper academy to look into. All in all, Weiss gave her sister a confused look.

Winter's response was a short as it was clear as she rotated her finger in a small circle. "The backside Weiss." She supplied.

"A-Ah…" A small splash of color reaching her otherwise pale face, Weiss turned the paper over. Another attack encountered by the same squad. This time however, it was by a much more lethal horde of Grimm. The attack seemed to include several Ursa making an appearance. Hell, the report even mentioned sightings of several Death Stalkers and a King Tajitsu.

Weiss' blood ran cold. That sort of conflict wasn't something that students could handle, no matter how talented they were. It would have taken, at the very least, a pair, or even a trio, of trained hunters and huntresses to subdue the horde safely.

"Keep reading Weiss. It isn't what you think." Winter, already aware of her sister's personality, spoke in advance. While she was cold, Weiss was always aware of the value of lives; otherwise, she wouldn't have spent so much of her time and energy trying to better the lives of the Faunus. Though, part of that may have had to do with Blake Belladonna pushing the motions for peaceful protest in concert with her teammate.

Not speaking, Weiss continued on with reading. The Grimm had gotten exceedingly close to the town at which the students were staying at before another individual, presumably hunter, had gotten involved. The next portion had Weiss standing up while she read out loud.

"The Grimm had gotten within 100 yards of the town entrance before a person came to our aid. Though they did not identify themselves, this person, whom I can only assume to be a hunter, swept in at an exceedingly fast pace before tearing into the line of Grimm."

At this point, Weiss could only appreciate the fact that she wasn't yelling the words as her mind read faster than her mouth could speak.

"The, 'red blur' if I may name the individual as such, had quickly wiped out the small fry by the time we had regrouped and headed out to check the situation from a closer distance. Even then, the combatant was already in the process of beheading the King Tajitsu with a large scythe before we finally made it."

A scythe, an honest to god scythe in battle. There were only two people in Remnant that used a scythe with that much skill, and one of them was perfectly comfortable at home in Patch.

"Whoever they were, this combatant was exceedingly quick in a fight; even from our vantage point above the battlefield, we could only catch glimpses of them flitting towards each of the Grimm. The Death Stalkers, which were the only Grimm left, proceeded to seemingly explode as the figure approached each of them. Though we attempted to make contact with the individual as the combat ended, they immediately departed the scene, though not without, strangely enough, giving us a signal that we learned was for, 'all clear.' As much as we could make out, they were wearing a thick black cloak that obscured our view of their face, though there were reddish-black folds of cloth from what seemed to be a skirt that came from their feet. Otherwise, their appearance was concealed. -Team CRKL, Leader: Crest Luke"

Weiss' eyes were wide as she spoke the final words. The silence that followed was deafening; no words were needed to address the elephant in the room. Eventually though, Winter broke the silence.

"Weiss, we have no confirmation of whether or not it truly is Ruby Rose. For all we know it could be another individual. The knowledge we hold is not the end all be all of the world. You could be going on a wild goose chase."

Weiss gave her a hard look. "It doesn't matter Winter. If it's possible that Ruby is out there, I have to go." It was just another thing that had changed since her school years. Weiss was no longer the unconfident individual that was all bravado without any substance.

"Why not just ask her sister and Miss Belladonna to investigate?" Winter tried to reason with Weiss.

"They're in Vacuo for another week. By the time they return, Ruby could be long gone; that's a risk that I'm not going to take." It had been two years damn it, and Weiss would sooner return the company to her father than give up the chance to find Ruby.

Winter however, clearly saw differently, shaking her head as she spoke. "Weiss… sister, I can go. Can't you trust me?"

Up until now, nothing had swayed Weiss' resolve as much as this. Trust. Something that was hard to come by from the frosty young woman. Winter was one of the first who had ever earned it, even before her team at Beacon. Her elder sister had been one of Weiss' only confidantes in the entire Schnee household, with the rest of her relatives being some of the more poisonous snakes in the industry already.

Still, Weiss shook her head in refusal. "I can't Winter. You know that I trust you… but I can't give up on this." Looking down at her feet, the younger woman spoke in a remorseful tone. She didn't know why, it just… felt like Ruby wouldn't be there if anybody went besides herself.

"I have to go Winter… because it's Ruby." She thought for a moment before adding on. "Because she's my partner."

Winter stared at her sister. In the many years that she had known her sister, Winter had rarely seen Weiss so adamant about a decision.

"You don't understand Weiss, the terrain out there is harsh and the amount of Grimm high. The only reason we had a team of students out there in the first place was for that very reason. You… you haven't…"

Winter's reluctance to continue was noted by Weiss; it was something that she had expected. Running the SDC left little time for combat practice; indeed, it left little time for anything that wasn't handing out orders or reviewing the numerous reports that made their way to her desk every day. While Weiss may have been talented, talent could only take you so far after months of not actually using it.

"I am a trained huntress. There is no reason that I shouldn't be able to venture out on my own." A steely glint flashed in bright blue eyes as Weiss spoke; the sign of no compromise was clear to Winter.

"If you must, then so be it." Winter relented. "But keep in contact. You don't know what might be out there." Her formal facade slipping at the thought of Weiss encountering mortal danger, Winter finally let some of her concern as an elder sister show.

"I know Winter." Weiss gave a weak smile. "Could you tell Blake and Yang about this? They aren't scheduled to get in contact until tomorrow evening and by then…"

Winter waved away Weiss' concerns. "I'll receive them personally and explain the situation." She left the rest unsaid. What happens after the pair heard that their other teammate had gone to find their leader without them… that was out of her hands.

"Thank you." Stepping forward, Weiss met Winter in an embrace, the two taking comfort in family. Separating a few moments later, Weiss shut down the displays on her desk, gathering up the documents and placing them in a locked drawer.

The SDC building went dark as the sisters exited into the parking lot; Winter entering a small black convertible while Weiss climbed into the driver's seat of an admittedly gaudy looking white sports sedan. A brief wave goodbye later, and the two were gone.

The drive back to her apartment was tortuous for Weiss despite driving usually being a sort of solace for the young woman. A feeling of freedom and speed, something that let her finally relate to her leader that moved much too quickly for her own good.

The lights of Atlas winked at her through the windshield, something that on any other night, she would have admired. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as she went over the speed limit, something she rarely did. And yet, it felt as if she couldn't get back fast enough despite knowing that she wouldn't be leaving until tomorrow morning.

Almost robotic in her actions, all Weiss could think about as she took the elevator to her apartment and opened the door was the sheet of paper that Winter had handed her. A small town on the fringes of Atlas, it was a wonder that the town still stood given all the factors that ran against it.

Weiss opened up her closet, pulling out a small pack that she had been using for the small amount of missions that she had taken over the years. She quickly filled it with the essentials: food, water, and the like. Laying out a pair of clothes for tomorrow, Weiss proceeded to the bathroom.

A pristine sight greeted her as always. The room was spacious, but not overly so, with tan tiles lining the floor and one sink with a mirror over it. A shower was placed in the corner of the room, lined with textured glass to obscure the view of the person inside. Of course, the largest feature that took the predominant amount of space was a large bathtub that was set along the wall; seldom however, did Weiss utilize the piece.

Weiss stripped off her business suit and stepped into the shower, letting out a sigh of relief as the hot water descended on her. Weiss both loved and hated taking showers. For one, they allowed her to relax, to forget the stresses of the day and revel in the simple comfort that was afforded to her. On the other hand, it also led to times like this, where she would be left completely alone with her thoughts.

Dare she hope? That after two years without a peep, that they finally had a solid lead? That Ruby may just be around the corner? The thought was almost too good to be true and yet… Weiss' heartbeat sped up just at the thought. Her imagination drew up images of Ruby Rose in her trademark red cloak, Crescent Rose in one hand and the other waving at her like a… dolt. Despite the impossibility of it all, Weiss… wanted to believe.

As she laid in bed, dressed in her nightgown, these thoughts and more swept through Weiss' thoughts.

'Ruby… wait for me.'