HELLO! Anyone who has read my stuff, small as it is, can say it has been some time...like...five years? I don't wanna check, it will make me sad. Anyway, after College and studies and stuff, I realised I have strayed from my creative path, and this is my return! Will I finish up some other stories? maybe, but I will have to re-think their direction. This is unedited, so please tell me any mistakes, my grandma...I mean, grammar is terrible.

It was a relatively calm night on the docks. There was no wind to disturb the perfect reflection of the shattered moon on the shoreline. The townsfolk were all nowhere to be found, not even the alleyway thugs and criminals that usually occupied the shadows. Then the peace was undone when four teenagers walked down the creaky floorboards that the docks were comprised of, gazing out at the harbour full of ships. "Are you really sure that this is what you want to do, Ruby?" Jaune Arc whispered as the cold night air made his breath visible.

"Certain. Without her, our journey will be incredibly difficult" the black and red haired girl replied from under her red hood, "I mean, she is a major powerhouse and probably being forced to stay".

"Yeah!" Nora piped up excitedly and bouncing, making the dock creak more. "I mean, I know you didn't see it Ruby, but she summoned this huge arm thingy that wielded a massive sword and she took out a Atlesian Paladin-290! She was all like 'Shwing! Shw-'".

"At-t-t-t-shush!" Ruby hissed at Nora, "Nora, what did we say about talking while we are trying to be inconspicuous?!"

"Right! Sorry…" Nora hushed, putting her hand over her mouth, but it didn't hide her smile she always wore.

"You're fine, just…be you but quiet" Ruby said smiling at her. Jaune placed his hand on Rubys shoulder.

"I know, but I mean, are you sure you don't want us all to go with you? I mean…" Jaune began to argue but Ruby cut him off.

"What we are about to do is try break our friend out of her family, one of the richest families in all of Remnant, and that involves going to one of the biggest companies ever founded and breaking into its highly secure facilities. But at the same time, we have a trail that leads to Haven Academy, and we don't know what we will find there or if there are any clues left there. So we can't waste time in going there either," Ruby began rattling off like she had at the meeting they had had before entering the town, "You and Ren need to get to Mistral quickly and begin looking for clues before it goes cold, and Nora and I will go and get Weiss, I think Nora's…'personality' will prove useful for taking on a rich company who probably have the best of the best".

"Yeah, yeah…I know, but just…be careful" Jaune said, coming in to give Ruby a hug.

"Yeah, we will be, thanks Jaune" Ruby said in a less serious voice, brightly smiling as they hugged, "And its ok, we won't be wasting time", she said while smiling, thinking of what she had packed in her bag to read on the journey to Atlas

-FLASHBACK-

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby squealed as he walked in her room as she lay in bed. It had been a little while since she had woke up after the Battle at Beacon, and she saw Qrow frequently, almost as if he was observing her. But, he and her dad still insisted she rest up and feel 100% before doing anything.

"Hey kid, how are you feeling?" Qrow said, smiling as he pulled up a chair and sat next to her.

"Next to useless and antsy that I can't do anything!" Ruby blurted out in frustration as she fell back down onto her pillow in defeat and closed her eyes.

"Heh, hey! Its not everyday a Huntress gets time to actually rest and not be battling" Qrow said, leaning back onto the chair's two legs and balancing perfectly.

"Oh, don't tease, Uncle Qrow! I could absolutely go for some fighting right now!" Ruby said,

opening her eyes with a glimmer of hope in them as she continued on, "Is that what you have come here for? To take me sparring? To go fight Grimm? To go somewhere?!" Ruby sat straight up and started bouncing in her bed in excitment.

"Heheh, listen Ruby," Qrow said, leaning forward and slightly hushing his voice, "That is not why I am here, I know you are feeling useless while you just lie here resting up, so I brought something that might be useful". Qrow dove into the satchel he brought in with him and pulled out a very old looking dark green book. Ruby's eyes widened as he handed it to her. "I just got back from Beacon. The place has absolutely seen better days and I nearly didn't make it back with the number of Grimm occupying the school, but I was looking for clues about Ozpin. Didn't find much, but this was interesting. I never knew he would have kept it".

"What is it?" Ruby said, turning the book over through her hand with delicate care.

"It's something Ozpin once gave to me. It's his book of fairy tales, but there is more to it than that. When he gave it to me, he had all these notes about the facts beyond the legends. He brought up links to actual events and observations of interest. Damn near taught me everything I know about all the strange stuff in the world. Heh, I added some notes myself, I'm sure you are welcome to too. But that's what I want you to do, Ruby. Read up on these fairy tales. That knowledge may help you understand yourself, as well as maybe save your life in the future".

"Uh…ok?" Ruby said, worried by the sudden seriousness of the discussion and opened the book on the page that had a bookmark in it. Her eyes widened when she saw the page title, "You mean…this is the fairy tale with the silver eyed people?"

"That was the closest I could find to any information Ozpin knew about it. It might prove useful, eh?" Qrow said, standing and taking his flask out and swigging from it heavily. "Don't try anything till I am around though. We will talk it through before you go trying to freeze a legendary Grimm again".

"You got it, Uncle Qrow!" Ruby said lying through her teeth, already engrossing herself in the book and trying to learn everything at once. Qrows eyes squinted at her, asking himself if he had made a mistake or not.

"Don't lose yourself in it, Ruby. Just take it slow" Qrow said with caution, as he pocketed his flask, "We don't know what you are completely capable of…"

"Yeah…yeah…" Ruby said, trailing off as she continued to read. Qrow back away to the door, still observing her.

"See you another time, kid…" Qrow said sadly as she continued to read, not even noticing him leaving.

-FLASHBACK OVER-

"You guys be safe too, and if everything goes to plan…" Ruby continued after thinking about what she now knew.

"And how often does that happen?" Ren said, folding his arms and raising a eyebrow.

"Well, I mean, if our part of the plan works, we will meet up with you at North Seaport in Mistral. You guys remember about the safe warehouse my uncle told me about?"

"Yeah, the Crow's Nest company warehouses. You told us how to get in to your uncles one" Jaune said, releasing Ruby from the hug, "But seriously, be careful. I mean, after everything that happened with Penn…"

"I know, and I promise we will both be there in a week" Ruby said, still smiling at Jaune as tears lightly welled in her eyes at their recent losses, "Just keep low and keep an ear out for any potential clues".

"You got it" Jaune said, brightening somewhat after the brief mention of the recently deceased "So we will stow away on the Raindow Raider as it heads to Mistral and we will then head north for the rendezvous"

"Yeah" Ruby said, wiping her eyes, "While Nora and I stow away on the Icy Comet so we can get straight to Atlas quickly"

"Oh, Ren I am gonna miss you, even if it is for a week!" Nora abruptly said, grabbing the young guy and picking him off the ground in a backbreaking hug

"A-and I you, Nora" Ren wheezed as he was brought back down to the ground, grabbing his sides for air, "You behave in Atlas, ok? They are very strict there, so no outbursts of flourishing disruptions right?"

"You got it!" Nora said, placing her hand on her heart, "I promise not to get us in trouble".

"That's my girl" Ren said, giving her a hug back.

"But not your GIRL girl, not your one special girl that you lo…" Nora started before she was cut off.

"Boop!" Ren said, with a small smile as he tapped her nose with his finger, "Come on Jaune, lets sneak aboard while the cloud covers the moon".

"Ri-right!" Jaune said with his usual confidence, following the boy ninja as he walked off towards their ship.

"Good luck!" Ruby yelled in a hushed tone as they walked off, "You ready, Nora?" Nora had a frozen blank look on her face from when Ren booped her "Nora?"

"He booped me!" Nora whispered, her smile returning to her face, "He never boops me! I always boop him! I mean, he never objected to them but, he never ever bo…"

"Alright, alright, come on, Ren was right about the cloud, it will make stowing away so much easier" Ruby said, dragging Nora after her. As the pairs separated towards their separate vessels, Qrow Branwen stood tall on the building behind them.

"Smart kid, Ruby" Qrow muttered to himself, swigging from his flask heavily before pocketing it, "Protecting your partner. You got guts, infiltrating one of the most powerful building on the planet, but I don't think you know the power of the Ice King himself". Qrow stretched his arms over his head and yawned, "You might have gone in too deep, Ruby. Don't worry, I've got your back if it gets rough". With that, he jumped from the rooftop, transforming into a crow and landing on the boats crow nest, settling in for a daylong journey to Atlas.

Schnee Dust Company International Headquarters, Atlas

Weiss Schnee was restless. She had been back in Atlas for a while now, and yet she still hadn't settled back. Sure, the city looked the same as it had before she left, but the atmosphere had changed. Ever since the Battle at Beacon and the last thing people saw being Atlas military striking down humans ferociously, people had been on edge. People were all in a limbo of how to feel. They were scared and untrusting of the military since the Battle, but they couldn't show their negative feelings in the fear of attracting Grimm. Walking through town felt so eerie, not that Weiss was allowed to travel around Atlas like a normal person. Upon her return, her father had paid for some of General Ironwood's best to follow Weiss everywhere, to know she would always be safe in these dangerous and uncertain times. To make matters worse, she had been forced into being the receptionist for the SDC International Headquarters. Every day seemed to be a repeat. Get up, prep for work, work, be escorted home by Winter, sleep and start all over. Weiss sighed, twirling a pen in her fingers as she sat at the reception desk. It was nearly closing time but she had nothing to do, other staff members were preparing to close for the night, while she just sat there with her two bodyguards watching at a distance.

Weiss lowered her head down to rest on the desk and she thought of her time at Beacon. She thought of all she had learned, and all of the people she had met. She thought especially of her team, but mostly of her partner Ruby. The last she had seen of Ruby while she was awake was when Ruby scaled Beacon Tower, the last thing she said to her being 'You can do this' and then a great explosion of white light happened from the top of the tower. From then on, her childishly extraordinary leader had been out cold. Weiss sat by her side the whole time they were flown back to Vales safe zone. She had then had an argument with her father as he forced her to return home, when she wanted to stay with her partner. Her thoughts however still lingered on Ruby. With no way to communicate with Vale, let alone the rest of the world, Weiss had no idea what had become of Ruby. She thought of the good times they had had together. Though both were rarely happy together at the same time, Weiss still thought of her brave partner. She really missed her. Then, Weiss felt something touch her hand. Weiss opened her eyes and was surprised to see a Zwei that could fit in the palm of her hand that was comprised of while glyph energy was nuzzling its head to her hand. Obviously, her happy memories had made her so happy; she had accidentally summoned it up. She smiled and patted the zweis head, imagining it was Ruby and continued to worry if she was ok on not. "Miss Schnee!" one of the bodyguards yelled from across the room. This however surprised Weiss so much, that her little Zwei evaporated.

"Don't go…" Weiss mumbled, before fixing herself up and standing to face the bodyguard, "Yes?" She yelled back with frustration.

"Your sisters car has just pulled up, shall we escort you out?" he said, pointing to the door. Weiss could see the luxurious, yet heavily armoured car that had belonged to her sister had indeed just pulled up outside.

"You shall" Weiss said, getting up and walking to the door. She stopped at the door and turned around. She looked at all the other workers who were working so hard to close the building. "Everyone!" She yelled to gather their attention. Everyone instantly stopped what they were doing and stood to attention and looked at her, a look of terror in their eyes. "I just want to say thank you, you are all doing wonderfully. That is all" Weiss said, smiling and then turning to follow the impatient guards out to her sister's car. Everyone was dumbfounded as she left. No Schnee had ever said a thank you directly from their mouth to any workers.

"And what was all that about, Weiss?" Winter asked formally as Weise got in the car.

"Well…now I see the effort people put in for us, I realize we need to respect them," Weiss said confidently, turning from her sister to watch the city life outside the car "Why do we have to be slave driving?"

"Well then," Winter said, a smile forming away from her sister so she wouldn't see, "Maybe you did learn something in Beacon…"

"What?" Weiss said, turning back to look at her older sister. Winter jumped slightly, not realising that Weiss had heard her.

"Nothing" Winter said quickly, and refocused herself to driving. Weiss looked semi-confused if she had heard her right, but smiled none the less. By the time they arrived home, dinner was already at the table ready to be eaten. A manservant came out to the car as they pulled up to the front door and opened Weiss' car door. "You go on in, ok?" Winter said, as Weiss exited, "I have to be back to work, Ironwood has something he wants to pass by me before anyone else, for some reason".

"Is…is father home?" Weiss asked with a hint of scare over hesitation. Winter smiled.

"As far as I am aware, he stayed at the office and didn't want a ride home. Its just you home alone".

"Thank god" Weiss sighed as she turned and walked with the manservant inside. She sat and ate her meal alone in the massive dining room. She began to feel the loneliness and sadness set in again, so she knew what she needed.

"I'm the loneliest of all" Weiss sang as she played the piano in the piano room of her home. She sighed. She loved that song so much and it usually helped her through the feeling that home brought to her. But not anymore. Not after her time at Beacon. She thought over the matter as she showered and got prepared for bed and just as she hopped in bed, the epiphany struck her. It was no longer just her loneliness that she was feeling, but also yearning for her friends she had made and loved so dearly. It surprised her greatly, but above all others, she missed Ruby. That dolt, that dunce, that childish leader of theirs. As she thought that, she smiled. She wasn't really that much of a dolt. If anything, she was the closest thing Weiss had to a…Her trail of thought ended there as she drifted off to sleep and dream of memories of Ruby and Beacon.

Atop a random roof, Atlas

Qrow stood atop a building in the docks of Atlas. The journey hadn't been too long, but he managed to fly off early and take a look around. Atlas felt different, certainly not like the last time he was here. He could feel the repressed fear everyone had as he watched over the city below. He looked at the boat he had just flown from and saw his niece and friend stealthily leave the ship that had just arrived. "Huh, didn't take you long" Qrow slyly said as he sidestepped at the last possible moment as Winter dashed forward jabbing with her sword. She brought the sword up to bring it down on him, but he was already defending with his sword.

"You've got nerve coming her without saying anything to Atlas military, let alone Ironwood" Winter said coldly as she pushed forward against his sword. Qrow forced her sword to slide down his and hit the ground and Qrow quickly stepped on it, pulling it from her hand to be trapped on the ground under his foot.

"I ain't here to fight, Ice Queen Sr." Qrow said, swiftly stooping down and grabbing her sword, "I need to ask you something". Winter was stunned. She was still trying to get over how quickly he had disarmed her, let alone the fact he just wanted to talk. "You still in there, Ice Queen? Or have you frozen over?" Qrow said, waving his hand in front of her face with a smile.

"What is the catch?" Winter said, quickly batting his hand away and recomposing herself.

"Huh, no catch, just want to talk" Qrow said, walking away to the edge of the roof, "How is your little sister?"

"What?" Winter said, confused about how quick the conversation was moving, "Hold up, what are you asking? More importantly, why are you asking it?"

"Your sister, you know her right?" Qrow said, turning back to face her, "Ice Queen Jr? Weiss? Ring any bells?" Winter glared at him and made a dive for her sword. Qrow easily dodged and moved away again. "Uh uh! Maybe after you talk. I mean, it is a nice sword, maybe I'll keep it…"

"Why are you so curious?" Winter said, appeasing him so far and crossing her arms as she backed off.

"Ruby wants to know, and with no Scrolls and communication, she's worried" Qrow said, putting on his best act of cover up why he was really asking. Winter squinted at him, still not believing him regardless.

"She's fine, is that sufficient?" Winter said carefully, standing to attention.

"Really?" Qrow said, raising a eyebrow, "I mean, as I saw it, she did not want to go back with the Ice King when he turned up in Vale to take her home". Winter advanced to Qrow to stare him squarely in the eye.

"Do NOT bring my father into this!" Winter yelled angrily to Qrow as she fronted up to him. She swiftly kicked him in the knee, forcing him to buckle down. She then made a glyph appear underneath him and it threw him away from her, as she ripped her sword from his grip while he collapsed to the ground away from her, "What do you really want, Qrow?"

"Geez…good move, sorry about touching then nerve, should have seen it coming" Qrow said, stumbling to his feet. Winter turned to leave but Qrow dashed forward and caught her shoulder. To his surprise, she did not slash it of in an instant, so he talked quick, "Listen, I know you really care about your sister and I am guessing you have seen her start to mature and make more adult decisions. I just want to let you know, she probably is starting to figure out where she wants to go and what she wants to do. Just…try and support her in her beliefs, even if you don't agree with them. Someone has to, especially so early on while people still have hope of peace and happiness. Especially so if the Ice King won't give her any hope".

"Why are yo…" Winter began as she shrugged his hand off and turned to question the thin drunk, but he was already running off the roof top and jumping to the streets below, becoming lost in the crowds. "That drunk!" Winter sighed as she too left the buildings roof; contemplating over the cryptic statements Qrow had given her.

Hope you enjoyed! :) Hopefully more to come, I have an idea of the rest of the story :)