Ruby sat on their living room couch, her knees up to her chest as the light from the TV screen flickered in her silver eyes, beside her Yang sat, eating her last bites of the grilled cheese she had made and split with her little sister. Their dad was away for a mission and they had the house to themselves, so they made a joint decision to stay up late and watch a scary movie.

"This is scary?" Yang chuckled, adding her commentary as she had done throughout the entire movie up to that point.

"Heh-heh, yeah I know right, I mean, who would be scared of this?" Ruby sounded anything but convincing as she pushed her back further into the soft cushions behind her, hugging her knees to her chest while she forced herself to stare at the gruesome murder happening on screen.

"If I had to guess, I'd say you." Yang deadpanned, feeling pretty confident that Ruby was going to end up having nightmares all night after this. Well she's the one that suggested it in the first place.

"I'm not scared! I'm going to be a Huntress, this movie isn't going to make me scared!" Ruby declared bravely but Yang could hear the tension of fear in her voice, she could always tell when her little sister was full of it.

"Whatever you say Sis." Yang shrugged as she reached behind her, pulling out a soft, fuzzy blanket that was balled up behind her back. With a caring smile she unfurled the blanket and quickly draped it over Ruby and before her little sister knew what was happening she felt Yang scooch closer, wrapping the blanket around both of them as the horror film played out before them.

As she felt the warmth of the blanket and the presence of her big sister beside her, Ruby could feel her fear ebbing, her heart slowed and her body relaxed and a tentative but content smile formed from her lips. Leaning against her elder sister she felt even more at ease and the movie suddenly seemed so much less scary.

"Thanks…" She whispered softly, pulling the blanket around her so that only her head was poking out.

"Any time." Yang's smile softened with love as she leaned against her small sister, and though she wouldn't admit it, she was feeling a little less afraid now too.

"Um Yang," Ruby murmured nervously as she reached for the remote beside her, pausing the movie. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure What's up? Getting too scared?" Yang guessed, glancing back at the screen, Ruby having paused it right in the middle of a brutal murder.

"No, it's not that. It's about… school and my weapon." Ruby's voice became distant and soft, but even so her words were saturated with sadness and worry as she hugged herself underneath the covers.

"That's right, it's your class' turn to get your weapons, shouldn't you have already turned in your designs by now?" Yang cocked her head to the side and the her sinking suspicion was only confirmed as her little sister curled herself up into a ball and looked away from her.

"I should…" She admitted meekly, squeezing her eyes tight.

"Woah, you need to get on that!" For a moment, she couldn't believe Ruby would procrastinate on something like this… Then again, I can totally see her being indecisive about it.

"I know but I just can't decide!"

I knew it. Yang couldn't help but smile despite the stress in her sister's voice.

"I mean, I really want to do a scythe like Uncle Qrow but I don't know what exactly to do with it. I've got a few ideas that all seem really cool but…" As she trailed off Yang could practically taste the discouragement in her tone. Confidence wasn't Ruby's strongest attribute and she tried to work on it with her but the socially awkward girl had low self esteem that was hard to push her through. Yang had hoped that having a weapon and being a badass would help her get more sure of herself.

"Well, what ideas do you have so far? Maybe I could help you narrow it down?" Yang made herself sound as confident and cheerful as she could, trying to get some of that to rub off on her sister to help pull her out of her dejection.

"Well, there's this scythe that's also a high impact sniper rifle and I really like the design of it and it would probably be the easiest to use for me. Then there's this scythe that uses Dust and energy blades and can turn into a sword… but the school gives us a budget for our weapons and it would be really expensive, besides, it's big and it would be really hard for me to use but it would be the most powerful if I could use it really well. Then there's a little bit smaller scythe that uses fire Dust and the blade well, you know, it catches on fire. I'm tied between those three." Ruby gave a heavy sigh before she fell to her side, still curled up in a ball and pulling the blanket with her.

"Those all sound really cool Ruby, I honestly can't tell you which one you should go with, but I like that second one the best, energy blades sound badass and who knows, maybe we can ask dad for an advance on our allowance or something to help pay for it." Yang smiled brightly, her optimism shining through as she reassuringly rubbed her sister's shoulder underneath the blanket.

"I don't know Yang, energy blades from Dust are really high tech, I don't think our allowance for the next few years would be enough, considering how big the blade would be and how it would work with all sorts of Dust types. I kinda just drew it up out of boredom and stress, it's not really a serious idea if I'm being honest with myself." Even though she was the one saying it, Ruby couldn't help but be disappointed by her own admission.

"I'm sorry Ruby, but hey, those other two sound really good anyway and you know what?" She lightly shook her little sister's shoulder, compelling Ruby to look up at her bright, smiling face. "No matter what weapon you go with, you're going to be an amazing Huntress, one of the best, no doubt!"

"You're just saying that to make me feel better…" She turned her head, half her face pushing into the soft cushion below her.

"No I'm not, I know you have it in you, I swear it and you'll see, someday you'll be kicking ass and taking names and saving the world!" Ruby's head turned, her silver eyes flickered with hope and Yang knew she was getting through to her.

"Hey, remember what happened when I first got my Ember Celica?" She gave a soft giggle, leaning over Ruby who squirmed below her until she was looking directly up at her sister's face with a smile of her own.

"You weren't used to the recoil and you flung yourself into a tree in the backyard, dad was afraid you got a concussion but all you did was hurt the tree, there's still a mark in it from where you hit your head." She barely stifled a snort of laughter as she recalled the incident.

"Yeah well my point is that every Huntress has to start somewhere. You'll get it, just be confident." Yang tussled Ruby's short black hair, messing it up and intentionally getting her bangs in her face.

"Okay okay! I get it!" Ruby pushed Yang's hand away, laughing helplessly as she fixed her hair. "I'll just pick one and do my best with it!"

"That's the spirit!" Yang gave a toothy grin, putting her arm around Ruby's back and forcing her fingers underneath her sister before effortlessly pulling her back into a sitting position, her shoulder resting against her own. "Now, can we get back to the movie? We're at the best part."

"Sure, if you're not too scared." Ruby smirked challengingly at Yang who actually leaned back at her gaze, now wondering if Ruby had known she was actually kinda scared this whole time.

""Eh-he, me? Scared!? Yeah right Sis, in your dreams maybe!" With another unconvincing laugh she reached out over Ruby, grabbing the remote beside her before she reluctantly moved her finger to the 'play' button…

Knock-Knock!

"Eek!" Both girl screamed at once, jumping into each other's arms at the sudden sound that didn't come from the still paused movie.

Knock-Knock-knock!

There was someone knocking at their front door. Ruby could feel her heart racing as she stared into the dark towards the door, hugging Yang tighter as she vividly remembered this exact scene from their movie.

"Say here, I'll go check it out." Yang put on a brave bravado that only had any substance because of her little sister beside her. Steeling herself with a deep breath she pulled away from Ruby and started walking slowly and carefully to the front door.

"That's exactly what they said in the movie." Ruby shuttered, imagining the murderer from their movie at the front door that Yang was about to open. With that image in her head courage swelled in her chest, her eyes narrowed as she got up and followed Yang. The two sisters stopped at the door, exchanging one last weary look before Yang unlocked the top lock… and opened the door.

It was raining out and pitch black as the clouds covered the moon and stars, still, their porch light illuminated the two individuals that stood in front of their door, looking down at them from the other side of the threshold. One was a tall man with gray hair in a suit coat with a green turtleneck underneath, he held a cane in both hands in front of him. Beside him was a woman holding a black umbrella above both of them. She had light blonde hair tied in a bun at the back and a spiraling curl at the side of her face and she wore a white top with high waisted skirt and a flowing dark cape behind her.

"Hello… I'm professor Ozpin and this is Glynda Goodwitch, we're associates of your father." His tone was calm empathetic but as she looked into his eyes, Ruby felt a terrifying premonition, her heart felt tight as she prayed she was wrong, but looking to her sister, Yang seemed fine and that was enough to calm her just a little.

"Why are you here?" Yang's voice wavered with fear and that was the moment Ruby's foreboding turned into outright terror. Her small, trembling hand reached out, grabbing Yang's wrist as she forced herself to look up at the two adults at their door.

"I am truly sorry… but while your father was on his mission…"

No… Ruby felt her throat constrict and her heart pounding in her chest, her mind flashed back to the day her mother… that look in her dad's eyes when he told them… It's the same look they have now.

"We were able to recover his body… but I'm afraid your father is no longer with us. I am truly sorry for your loss." Ozpin closed his eyes and bowed his head, his hands gripped tightly around the top of his cane and as Yang stared blankly at him… she noticed that he was shaking.

"No… no…" Her small voice was choked as she held tight to Yang's wrist. Everything seemed like it was spiraling away from Ruby, her mind was a tempest of terror, denial, anger, emptiness and above everything else; pain, unimaginable, unbearable pain.

"That- that can't be true… Dad said it was an easy mission… he- he said he'd come home in a week… he said that…" Ruby didn't even know when, but she was crying, her vision completely blurred as tears pooled in her eyes and streamed silently down her cheeks. Her body felt at once overwhelmingly hot and frigidly cold as waves of nausea rolled through her body. Ruby's body trembled before giving out as she fell to her knees, the only thing she could feel was the warmth of Yang's hand wrapping around her own, squeezing it tight. Ruby's head slowly rose, looking up at them with the most broken expression they had ever seen, one that looked so unfit for the child and it was all Ozpin could do to keep eye contact with her… she deserved that much.

"Your Uncle Qrow will be taking you in when he returns from his assignment… in the meantime, if there's anything you need, anything at all," Ozpin reached into his overcoat pocket and pulled out a card, holding it out to Yang. "Do not hesitate to call me."

Yang stared blankly at the card, her expression dull and cold. She looked like little more than an animate corpse with how pale her face had become. Lifelessly, her hands slowly raised, her other hand still holding tight to her little sister's.

"Thank you." Yang's voice was little more than a soft whisper as she took his card before her hand immediately fell back to her side.

"I- I need some time alone with my sister…" She said numbly, squeezing Ruby's small hand tighter. Ozpin and Glynda exchanged worried glances before the headmaster gave a soft sigh.

"If that is what you need." With a subtle nod he looked back to the two young girls, Ruby crying on the floor as her big silver eyes stared up at him pleading for something that he knew he was powerless to give her while Yang's soft lilac eyes were dead, as devoid of expression as her voice. The two sister's held each other's hands, their only anchors in a world that was crumbling around them.

"You have my number, we will be back to check on you come morning… try to get some sleep." He knew that may very well be impossible for them, but there was nothing more he could do. With a heavy heart he turned away, Glynda following behind him, giving one last long look at the two children before Yang shut the door behind them.

"Come on Ruby…" She whispered softly, trying to pull her hand from her sister's but Ruby only gripped it tighter, not saying a word as she trembled and cried on the cold floor her eyes fixed forward as her quivering breaths filled the otherwise silent air.

Taking a deep breath Yang squeezed her hand again, showing Ruby that she wouldn't let go. Instead she moved behind the small girl curled up on the floor and reached down, scooping her sister up with one arm, her Semblance giving her the strength she needed to hold her against her chest while keeping her hand held tight as she walked to the couch.

"Try to get some sleep… I promise I won't leave you." She placed the quivering girl down gently on the couch, pulling the blanket up as she carefully squeezed in behind her. As Yang pulled the blanket over them she could hear Ruby's soft sobs as she pulled herself into a ball. Yang bit down, gritting her teeth against her own storm of pain and grief as she did the only thing she could do; she wrapped her arms around Ruby and held her close and tight, tenderly stroking her wrist with her thumb.

"I'm right here… always."