Apologies on the long hiatus. Work has been keeping me busy as of late and getting the next chapter done hasn't been any easier.

But for now, here is chapter 2. Once more, read and comment


Ruby sat down on the bed, finally able to take her boots off. She rubbed the soles of her feet, relieved to find there were no blisters forming.

She still couldn't believe it. They had encountered an alumnus of Beacon academy, and a member of team WNDR, one of the most powerful graduates of Beacon back in the day. Ruby wondered exactly how loaded Diana was that she could afford a few rooms in the Keynes inn for a couple of nights. There was definitely more to the lizard Faunus than met the eye.

"You guys have met Wesley and Nicole?" Was the Faunus's response the minute Ruby recognised her old team.

"Yeah." Ruby nodded. "My team helped them out with a case in Vale before. They were quite, eccentric…"

Diana scoffed. "Nicole maybe, but not Wesley. Wes is nothing but a pervert. You know how many times he tried to hit on me during our first year?" At that point, Ruby remembered Wesley Snide's tendencies to flirt with pretty much any woman he could lay his eyes on. She remembered how he tried early on to seduce all of team RWBY. Only the intervention of his partner Nicole Tamias was enough to stop his advances, but only temporarily.

"I remember them." Ruby sniggered. "I swear, Wesley would have had fun with my uncle Qrow."

"Qrow?" Diana perked up again. "As in Qrow Branwen? He was one of our seniors!"

Ruby now remembered the surprise she had registered when she found out how team WNDR was close friends with her uncle's team, which registered even more surprise when Ruby mentioned her connection with the majority of team STRQ. What a small world. She thought to herself as she walked out of a very well needed shower.

Ruby now slipped on the normal shirt and pants the staff was kind enough to supply while her clothes were being put through the wash. Ruby fell back down onto the bed, relieved to be able to sleep on a soft mattress again, even if only temporarily. Months of fighting and living on the road made her realise how tough the life of a Huntress could be.

Ruby instead got up and walked to the door, opening it and continuing downstairs to the lounge area of the inn where Diana sat. The sun had already begun to set, casting an orange-red glow in the skies. The inn was filled with more people now, those who had clocked off after a hard day's work and chose to enjoy their spare time drinking beer and making banter with fellow townsfolk of Keynes.

Diana was at the centre of it all, chugging down glasses of freshly brewed beer, which Ruby had heard was one of Keynes's most impressive exports. The audience cheered as she finished what had to be her fourth pint, slamming the empty mug down on the table and cheering loudly.

"ALRIGHT!" Diana yelled. All around her, men were laughing while others were groaning as they placed coins into the hands of others. No doubt they had bet the Faunus wouldn't be able to handle the liquor. Ruby giggled slightly as she noticed Diana clap the hands of other patrons before spotting her and making her way over.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Diana frowned.

"Couldn't sleep." Ruby shrugged. "I think I may still have some adrenaline left in me."

"Well, a rough life can be like that, especially if it is way before you are ready for it." Diana nodded.

"I always thought how awesome it would be to be a Huntress." Ruby said as she and Diana walked over to a quieter area. "Just like the heroes in story books, to fight with everything they have and gain nothing in return except gratitude. Now, it all seems just like stories…"

Diana frowned as she absorbed the information. "I know this sounds very personal, and you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. But tell me what happened back at Beacon. Ren told me the gist of it all, the White Fang, this Cinder Fall, that Grimm dragon and Ozpin going missing. But I want to know what you saw at the time."

Ruby swallowed for a bit, not sure how to start. For so long had it been gnawing at her mind, but she had forgotten it enough to not let it affect her. At least, not when she was awake. But upon closing her eyes, almost every night was filled with memories of the many horrible things she had seen from the Vytal festival.

"I know it isn't my place to say." Diana spoke up again, gaining her full attention. "But sometimes, the only way to move forward is to get these off your chest."

Ruby mulled it over for a little while, now oblivious to the cheers and cajoles that filled the background. It all seemed like a muffle to her as she plucked up the courage and began.

"It was since my sister's fight with a guy named Mercury Black." Ruby began. "She got disqualified for hurting him only she didn't. He faked it all with his partner, a woman named Emerald Sustrai. It wasn't long before I learned they were with Cinder pulling the strings behind it all. After that, two people I knew got matched in a fight. Pyrrha Nikos; Jaune, Ren and Nora's teammate and my friend Penny. During that time, Pyrrha must've been tricked or something, as she destroyed Penny…"

"Destroyed?" Diana arched an eyebrow.

"Penny was a robot." Ruby answered, gaining a shocked blink from Diana. "A prototype synthetic user of Aura made by Atlas. Nobody knew but me, though I think Cinder found out. Metal versus a polarity Semblance and, well…" At this, Ruby teared up. "She got torn apart, right before my eyes Diana. And that's when everything went wrong. Grimm attacked, the White Fang invaded and Atlas machines got taken over."

"I tried to stop them. Everyone did, but it cost us so much." Ruby was sobbing now, but only slightly. "Pyrrha tried to stop Cinder, and I tried to help her, but I was too late. I watched as Cinder put an arrow through her and she died. My sister, Yang, tried to save Blake from the White Fang but, she lost her arm in the process. And then Blake left, which just crushed Yang completely. I would ask Weiss, but her father took her home to Atlas because he felt it was safer there. With my team fallen apart, I decided to team with Jaune and the rest to find answers. But honestly Diana, it's been hard. I can't sleep easily anymore and neither can they. And we haven't gotten leads anywhere in our search…"

Ruby now blinked her eyes, causing tears to stream down her face. "I… I don't know what to do Diana…"

Diana stared back without saying a word. After a minute or so of contemplation, the Faunus stood up, but not before instructing Ruby to wait for her. Ruby nodded, trying to calm herself down before she felt Diana return, hearing two loud plonk's. She looked up to see that Diana had returned, with two full mugs of Keynes beer.

"You are eighteen now right?" Diana asked.

"Uh, fifteen." Ruby answered awkwardly. "Actually, sixteen now. Ozpin let me in early by two years."

"Did he now?" Diana frowned as she pushed the mug to Ruby. "Well then, better now than later."

"Uh…" Ruby frowned as she stared at the beer mug. "Am I supposed to drink that?"

"Look, sometimes the best way to drown your sorrows is to drink it up." Diana said. "Worked for me and Wesley any day of the week. And in all honestly, you really could use it."

Ruby frowned as she eyed the alcoholic beverage, the yellow liquid bubbling upwards into a white foam. She heard many stories about what too much alcohol would do and her father even told her that she could only drink when she was over sixteen. She was quite apprehensive about drinking it. Still, she wondered how well it would work.

Reaching for the mug, she brought it up to her mouth and took a big gulp. Ruby sputtered upon tasting the astringent taste of the cold beer. "Wow… That was something."

"It takes getting used to." Diana nodded as she took three gulps. "For your first time, you ought to take it slow though. I assume you've already seen what happens to Wesley when he goes waaaay over?"

"Oh yeah." Ruby nodded as she took another swig. "His whole office was a shambles."

"So anyways…" Diana started speaking again. "Feeling better?"

Ruby stared at the beer, watching as the foam collected again. "A little, I think? It's just, I have a bad feeling that it takes more than just this drink…"

"Well, the drink just helps you relax." Diana said. "But to the root of the matter, I want to show you something." Diana now pulled out the old photo of team WNDR, pointing to the last member. "This here is my partner for four years, Reigel Panthera. He's a rare kind of Faunus, a white tiger, hence the teeth and claws."

"He looks tough." Ruby nodded as she took another swig. She felt her neck start to heat up, but paid it no mind.

"He is." Diana nodded as her eyes sparkled, no doubt remembering many fond times. "He was always trying to keep the group together as best he could, since Wesley couldn't do jack about that. Pretty much he alone made up the sense of our whole team."

"Huh." Ruby blinked as she took another sip. "Kinda like how Weiss is for me."

"Everyone has that at some point." Diana nodded. "But during our third year, when we were on a mission, things just went wrong. We were meant to escort a bunch of people to a nearby village. When the Grimm attacked, we fended them off. But you know what some people are like. They didn't take too kindly that we were Faunus. And that hostility ended up drawing more Grimm. A really big Ursa nearly got to the caravan. That's when Reigel made the choice to throw himself between a kid and the Ursa's paw."

"Long story short, he was crippled." Diana said as her eyes clouded over slightly. "His left arm was broken in three places and his right shin was crushed. He was bed-ridden for three whole months."

Ruby now thought about Yang, who was also crippled in her own way. "So, what did he do?"

"Well, for about two months he just sat around and did nothing. He requested for no visitors, no letters. Not a lot we could do about that." Diana recalled. "I was sure he just wanted some quiet to himself, just trying to figure a way forward. Then one day, we got told a doctor showed up and asked if he wanted to get prosthetics fastened to him. It wasn't going to be the same and it would take getting used to, but he could be a Huntsman again, like he wanted. Reigel didn't hesitate for a second." Diana now pulled out a second picture, and Ruby could see Reigel, standing alone in a hallway with his metallic limbs in full view.

Ruby studied the picture, wondering if there was something like that for Yang. "Doesn't he find it weird? Like he lost something?"

"At first it was." Diana nodded. "But he said that it didn't matter. Even if they weren't real, they could still do what he wanted them to. He could run, he could lift things, he could fight. In the end, as long as he accepted them for what they were, there wasn't any difference."

Diana now closed the scroll. "The point I'm saying is that people need ways to deal with such big things. It sure as hell isn't easy to do it, but once you find the strength to accept what has happened, how to change it, and continue on, you'll definitely be able to move forward. And I'm sure someone with a big heart like you can do so much more than that. And that goes for your team too."

Ruby smiled slightly. "Thanks Diana. That means a lot."

"Hey! No problem! Just helping a junior out!" Diana smiled as she gulped down the remainder of her drink.

Ruby did the same, and as she stood up, she suddenly felt woozy. "Whoa… That is weird…"

"Well, that's what I call new blood." Diana smirked. "You'll get the hang of it, trust me."

"Uh… huh…" Ruby droned, getting a weird look from Diana. "I think I'm going to go to bed now…" She turned, swaying on her feet slightly. "I feel like I'm floating…"

"Oh boy…" Diana sighed as she moved to steady the young girl. Slowly, she walked Ruby back up to her room, laying her down on the bed as the girl's eyes fluttered close. Ruby finally drifted off to sleep, and for once in a long, long time, her mind was empty of all her burdens.


Diana went out just as night fell, covering Keynes in darkness. She felt slightly hot thanks to the alcohol, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. For now, she wanted to keep her mind off the clamour of partying and focus on what she just found out.

She still couldn't believe that Beacon had fallen. It was a second home to her, with hundreds of fond memories. She hadn't been back in a long time and she had planned on returning. Now it seemed she wouldn't be doing so for a while till things got sorted.

Something snapped in the darkness behind her. She didn't go into battle mode immediately. She already had a feeling who it was.

"Hello Qrow." Diana greeted. "I see you're still the same as ever. Always very elusive."

From the shadows, the older Huntsman walked out, a wry look upon his face. "You were always the sharper one among team WNDR. Glad to know that hasn't changed."

Diana now turned to face the man, a frown crossing her features. "How is Glynda doing?"

"Goodwitch is fine." Qrow answered. "Maybe a little more stressed considering the added workload in restoring parts of Vale and how she's going to care for the many students that now are unable to study or train. But you know what she's like, that ain't getting her down."

"I doubt it." Diana nodded. "I see you haven't exactly come clean with your niece about following her. You know, if anyone didn't know better, they'd make you out to be a paedophile."

"You've got one hell of an imagination there Diana." Qrow smirked.

"Still, didn't think you'd all settle down like that." Diana replied as she looked to the second floor, where Ruby's room was. "She's Summer's kid isn't she? She's got her mom's eyes."

"Yeah." Qrow nodded. "Kid has got a lot of fight in her. Though sometimes, it needs to be re-kindled."

"Everyone needs that once in a while." Diana stated. "Everyone has got a breaking point. Me, Reigel, you…"

"Ozpin?" Qrow asked as he arched an eyebrow.

"He's the only one I'm still trying to figure out." Diana glared back. "But enough idle chatter. Why are you here Qrow? Wherever you show up, problems get real really fast, so out with it."

"Not one for small talk eh?" Qrow took out his flask and took a swig. "I'm sure you are aware of the perpetrators of the Vytal festival fiasco?"

"You want me to look for them huh?" Diana frowned. "Well, I suppose I'm up for the challenge."

"And one more thing." Qrow spoke once more. "Dig up anything you can about the White Fang. Positions, camps, storage sites."

"Intending to cause some trouble?" Diana asked him.

"Just crippling them as much as we can." Qrow nodded. "We can't go after their recruitment centres, it's too sensitive for such operations and we'll only make them the victims. It'll only worsen things in the long run."

"And how will I contact you about any of this?" Diana frowned as she waved her Scroll. "The CCT being down isn't exactly very helpful."

"I'll find a way." Qrow smirked. "Like I always do."

"Sure thing." Diana nodded. "And maybe when this is over, you treat me to a couple pints. And don't even think about getting that cheap crap. I'll know if you do."

Qrow sheepishly threw his hands up. "Hey, I wouldn't dare."

As Qrow turned to walk away, Diana hefted her polearm and threw it into his path, the weapon landing smoothly upright. Qrow now stopped, staring at the circular end of the staff.

"Answer me a few things first Qrow." Diana asked, and Qrow could now feel the glare boring into his back. "Number one, what are you planning?"

"I can't say much more." Qrow answered. "I'm more than certain that our every move is being watched. Even with all the careful planning that Ozpin had, we got one-upped, hard. They got the drop on us, and we can't afford that again.

Diana now walked over to the weapon, wrenching it out of the ground. "Number two, if our moves are so predictable, why me?"

"You get around a lot." Qrow answered. "You hear things, you get things done. And first and foremost, you are hard to find, just ask that old rich family you were born into. When you want to disappear, it happens. I doubt most of our enemies will even know where you will be at any given time, so you'll be amongst the best I know at this job."

"Fair point." Diana nodded as she fastened the weapon to her back. "Number three, got word to the rest of us yet?"

"I'm tracking Wesley and Nicole." Qrow nodded. "I intend for them to get their own stuff together. As for Reigel, I've got something else he might be able to help with."

Diana, appearing satisfied with the answers, walked back to the inn. As she made it halfway, she turned and spoke again. "And lastly, number four. What about the kids?"

"I'm sure they'll be tagging along with you." Qrow nodded. "At least till the next town they are making for. Till then, I'm counting on you to look after them."

"I'm harder to find when I'm alone you know?" Diana said. "Can't have people yapping about me."

"I'll make sure they don't talk about you." Qrow nodded. "Just take care of them."

"Alright then. Remember the pints." Diana sniggered as she walked back into the inn. Qrow waited till the door closed before he made his way back into the shadows, disappearing into the night. Seconds later, a crow flew out of the brush, cawing as it took to the skies.