Chapter 3: Shadows


She was packed up and ready to go. She knew she should just leave, slip away in silence into the night, just like she planned. But something kept her. Something tugged at her. Defied reason and logic. Something she didn't understand at the time.

Blake looked over the room once more, specifically at her still teammates. NVBR now had two empty beds, including hers. Ruby and Velvet still slept peacefully.

They wouldn't have any idea whe was gone until the morning. She knew Velvet would likely be the first to notice, Ruby liking to sleep in as far as she could push it.

She slowly pushed the window open, not a noise being made. Blake figured she didn't have to be cautious. She was the stealthiest member of the team. Maybe even in all of Beacon. Every movement was elegant and soundless. Natural. She may have given Ruby and Velvet some tips, but they still would never be a match for her.

At least, she thought so until she heard Ruby stir.

Blake froze. She watched as the redhead slowly sat up in her bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Silver eyes slowly opened before scanning the room. They eventually settled on Blake.

She still couldn't move, but Ruby did not either. Nor did she speak. She just looked at her and she looked back. Ruby didn't have night vision like Blake did so she likely couldn't make out the sheer terror in Blake's expression. She seemed to understand anyways. Blake could make out the resulting sadness, confusion, and pain that racked Ruby. How could she not see her best friend was betraying her?

"I'm sorry," she mouthed before jumping out the window.


Blake didn't want to run then, but she certainly did now. She tilted her head slightly to look past the redhead towards the door. She weighed her options. She could just make a run for it, but who could outrun Ruby? A well-placed shadow clone and overturned table could give her an opening, but that would make even more of a scene.

An "I, uh..." from Ruby pulled Blake out of her thoughts. She sported a nervous smile. Ruby scratched the back of her head. She opened and closed her mouth several times, seemingly as much at a loss for words as Blake was.

Blake did her best to smile herself. She gave an equally uncertain chuckle.

"So," Ruby tried again, "what will your order is has been?"

What? Did she just hear that jumble of words correctly?

Ruby's smile grew a little more anxious. "Hi Blake," she murmured.

"H-hi Ruby," Blake returned.

In the ensuing awkward silence, Blake knew there was no getting out of this now. It was either confess and have Ruby potentially hate her forever. Or say nothing and definitely have Ruby hate her forever. There was no fixing their friendship, four years later or not.

Stop, she thought. This is Ruby. She'll understand. But maybe a shadow clone would -

"I'm sorry!" Ruby said suddenly.

Blake blinked. "Huh?"

"I didn't mean to chase you away. I mean, I know we were best friends and everything, but I knew it was wrong to try and replace Nyla as leader. Well, you see, I wasn't trying to replace her. How could we replace a friend, right? I didn't want to and I didn't want to be leader either. I was just trying to be me and support the team. She would've wanted us to continue to train and become huntresses. I just thought it was the right thing to be there for you and Velvet and make sure we were all doing our best and - " she suddenly stopped, though probably not for the breath she decided to take. "You're not saying anything."

Blake found herself laughing. She couldn't help it. This was Ruby Rose. "You haven't changed a bit."

Soon, Ruby was as well. "Well, maybe a little."

"I'm glad."

"Me too."

Silence again. Blake was again counting the seconds it would be before Ruby undoubtedly would ask the question.

So she decided to just skip to the answer instead. She took a breath and looked the redhead right in the eye.

"You didn't drive me away. I just...there was something I had to do. I can't tell you and I don't know that you'll understand - " she started.

"I do, Blake," she said. "Believe me, I do." There was a knowing in the way she said it. Of course Ruby would understand. Nobody ever really understood Blake like she did.

"I'm so sorry, Ruby. You were my best friend and I betrayed you."

That same knowing in her expression appeared. "You were doing what you thought you had to do. What you thought was right. I'm not mad, Blake. I'm just...glad to see you again."

"Thank you," Blake said, a small but genuine smile forming on her lips now.

This was Ruby Rose. She was the strongest soul that Blake had ever met. During their time at Beacon, Blake had slowly come to realize that something had been eating away at Ruby. Between Nyla disappearing, and Blake imagined even after she herself ran away, Ruby had never faltered. She always tried to be positive. She still put others before herself, always the first to help and ask nothing in return. She put everything she had into the team - her friends - because they needed her.

Blake had been proud to call Ruby her best friend. It only made it hurt more when she ran. Even so, she had to wonder if there was any way to fix their friendship. Now, however, was not a good time.

"So," Blake began, "you're not a cop."

There a flicker across Ruby's expression. "Yeah, it wasn't quite working out so...yeah, I quit." Her gaze wandered for a moment before her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh! Your order!"

Right, they were in a restaurant. Any thoughts of ordering something had fled her mind when Ruby came up to her a few minutes ago. At the very least, she knew what she wanted for a drink. "I'll have a tea, a - "

The tea appeared in front of her, somehow spared from the swirl of rose petals. "Here you go!" Ruby said cheerfully.

Blake regarded the tea for a moment before cautiously taking a sip. Black tea, her favourite. Ruby had remembered.

"So you're not a huntress either, huh?" Ruby said. "I guess neither of us are doing what we thought we'd do."

"No, I guess not," Blake agreed. "I'm still trying to do some good though. I'm a columnist for the Vale Times. I mainly write about Faunus rights, protests, and the like. It's not much, and I know I can't speak for all Faunus, but I'm doing what I can to help them."

"I remember you were passionate about that, probably enough to get front page a lot!"

"You don't read the paper, do you?" Blake said sadly. "No, the only piece I've gotten on the front page was one I had to do about the Red Reaper. It's a shame that urban legend was more popular than the important matters. It was a garbage piece."

There was another flicker across Ruby's expression. Again, Blake couldn't tell what it was. She wondered if maybe she should have made a break for the door. After all these years, it turned out Ruby wasn't mad at all. But was she saying the wrong things to Ruby now?

"So I should probably take your order for food now," Ruby said, bringing Blake out of her thoughts again. "I know you like tuna, but unfortunately, we don't have any on the menu. We do have a killer salmon though."

Tuna was her favourite, but Blake did enjoy a good salmon too. "That sounds lovely." Blake smiled.

"Awesome! Coming right up!" Ruby smiled back. She turned to leave. After a few steps, she turned back. "I've REALLY got to get working now, but maybe I'll run into you again?"

She didn't gave Blake a moment to answer, not that Blake had one. Things were...complicated.


"You know, whatever you think you're doing is not gonna work. I'm surprised you haven't even asked for your lawyer yet," Yang said.

She was bored and frustrated. 'Reginald,' as she had taken to calling him, had yet to say a word. In fact, that had been the case for all of the thugs she brought in earlier that insults. No demands for lawyers or some shady get-me-out-of-jail guys. Not a peep.

She sighed. Normally, they'd be more than happy to talk. They could screw over their friends for a deal, have a good lawyer get them out, then have said lawyer do the same for the friends they just screwed over. At least there was some honour among thieves. In some twisted disgusting way, that is.

So for these guys to not say ANYTHING raised some alarms. Either they didn't have good lawyers or their employers were much less than forgiving.

"You know this'll be a lot easier if you say SOMETHING, right?" she said.

Silence again, but at least she got a dirty look this time.

Yang sighed. "Okay, you want to play hardball? Fine. Let's see what you're afraid of." She turned slightly in her seat to the door of the interrogation room. "HEY SCARLATINA!"

Within seconds, the door swung open and the rabbit Faunus appeared in the room. "Yes, Detective?" The brunette smiled.

"We have this guy's scroll, right?" Yang asked.

"Sure do."

"Cool. Can you get that for me?"

As Velvet disappeared, 'Reginald' began to look rather worried. "W-w-wait! What are you doing?"

"Finally!" Yang briefly threw up her arms in celebration. "I was wondering what it would take. Jeez, you guys are something, you know that?"

"What are you going to do?" He shifted nervously in his seat. He couldn't do much else since he was handcuffed to the table.

Yang was pleased that her smirk was making even more nervous. "I'm just gonna look through your contacts. Chill, dude."

Velvet reappeared in the room. "Here we are," she said as she gave Yang the thug's scroll.

"Sweet!" The blonde promptly began looking through his list of contacts. She raised an eyebrow. "Who's 'Boss'?"

"Like I'd tell you!" The sweat on the man's brow shattered any vision of toughness he was trying to mantain. He was scared.

"Okay, how 'bout I call him and find out?" Yang tapped 'Boss' on the scroll and was brought to a list of options. Her thumb hovered over 'Call'.

"W-wait! Don't!"

"Just tell me who it is. How bad can it be?"

"If he finds out that I ratted on 'im..." 'Reginald' shuddered.

Yang's eyes flickered red briefly. "Trust me. He's the least of your worries, but if you insist..."

She tapped the call button.

Ring...

"Y-you're bluffing!" He was squirming now.

Ring...

Yang kept on smirking.

Ring...

"N-no way, right?" 'Reginald' was now visibly sweating.

Ring...

Her smirk twitched. What if this didn't work?

Ring...

"OKAY OKAY! Junior! It's Junior!"

She hung up and leaned forward. "What's he doing in the Dust-robbing business?"

"He's not. It's that guy in the white suit," he said.

"Who is he?"

He shrugged. "Don't know, don't care to know. Word is he's got a lot of influence and he paid really well for our service."

"And look how that turned out," Yang said. He glared at her. She asked, "Your boss still run that club downtown?" 'Reginald' nodded. "Then I'm going to pay him a visit. Scarlatina?"

"Yes, Detective?" the Faunus spoke up.

"Take him down to lock up for me?" Velvet nodded in response. "Thanks, Officer."

"W-wait a minute! You can't just throw me in there now! What if somebody finds out I ratted 'em?" Again, he was nervous.

"Don't worry, Reggy," Yang said, "your secret's safe with me. Can't promise you a reduced sentence though!"

She could hear him cursing at her all the way down to his jail cell.


Ruby took a seat on the edge of a building by the docks. Her cape flapped slightly in the wind behind her. It was late now, but she still saw some boats coming in, dropping off their passengers. One of the things she loved about the Vytal Festival was all the people that came to visit from across Remnant, warriors and citizens alike. Naturally, she preferred seeing the warriors for their unique weapons. If she was really lucky, she would catch a semblance or two.

Jaune had suggested it, actually. He knew how Ruby was about huntsmen and huntresses. In fact, he knew a lot of things about Ruby. They had grown up together. She knew he was sad to see her go to Signal and then Beacon, but he understood and they kept in touch. He was overjoyed when she graduated and came back and when being a cop didn't work out, he got her the job at the Seven Swords.

She made a mental note to make it up to him later. For tonight AND the job.

But now, her mind slipped back to Blake. Jaune had been her closest friend, but Blake had been her best friend. She was surprised herself when she saw Blake earlier that day. She was more than happy to see her, sure, but she was uncertain about what would happen next. A lot of time had passed. They had both been through a lot in the past four years.

The only thing she knew for sure was that she wanted to see Blake again.

Sirens sounded in the distance. Her scroll vibrated in her pocket, prompting the earpiece she had to buzz to life. "Attention units," she heard. She smiled. She may not be a cop anymore, but she still knew how to access to police channels. "We have a developing situation on Sigil and 8th. We have reports of armed men converging on the Vale Times office building. All nearby units please respond and exercise caution."

It continued on, but Ruby was no longer listening. Tapping into as much Aura as she could muster, she pushed her semblance as far as she could take it and bolted across the rooftops.

She might see Blake sooner than she thought.