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Enjoy!


She didn't know what to do anymore!

Ruby tapped her feet nervously as she sat on a cold stone bench in one of Beacon's many small gardens. The flowery area was separated from the engineering building and offered a wide view of the horizon, with most of Vale visible in the afternoon sun. It was also one of her favorite places to be alone, hidden past a quaint door on the first floor lobby. And at that moment, it was a great place to panic.

She had barely made it through her earlier classes in once piece. Cardin's final words had haunted her mind all through Mechanics and History, making her barely able to pay attention to class. To be honest, she was pretty sure that she missed most of both lectures.

Her head had been a whirlwind of fear and doubt, processing just how bad things had become. Cardin now had enough information to do far more than blackmail, and if he was even half the boy she thought he was, he would use it at some point. The release of Blake's past would tear their team apart in every way. The Schnee Dust Corporation, specifically Weiss's father, would come down upon her with fury and likely lock her up in jail for her past loyalties. Weiss herself would likely be pulled from Beacon to protect her, and she would never set foot in beacon again. And then it would just be her and Yang, left with half a team, seen as a failure to the rest of the school and that was if the SDC didn't come after them for not telling anyone…

This was really bad.

Ruby had been desperately trying to find a way out, but every course of action she came up with was a failure. Cardin just had too much information against her. She had become completely helpless in his game, and was just being bounced around for his own enjoyment.

What was he even after?

The question made her pause. She hadn't yet thought about what he stood to gain. From what she knew about him and his earlier treatment of Jaune, he was just a bully that wanted to watch others suffer. And he didn't like anyone with a remote connection to faunus, she thought, recalling his harsh treatment of Velvet that eventually stopped after Coco got involved. So why would he come after team RWBY?

They were ranked better than Cardin's team, she supposed. His team's medieval approach to being huntsman couldn't stack up against their specialized skills and weapons. Swords, halberds and maces were completely outclassed by dust-based rapiers and high-impact sniper scythes, after all. As such, RWBY sat near the top of the ranking for the first year students; maybe high enough to make them jealous.

She didn't understand their approach to being beaten. Her own team would just train more and become better, but Cardin apparently thought that attacking them indirectly would improve his own standing.

"He probably just wants to look better," she mused sadly, leaning back to look up at the cloudy sky. "He thinks he's the best and needs to prove it, and since he can't beat us the normal way, he has to do this."

Figuring out why he was being such a pain could come later though. Right now, he was a very real danger to the future of her team. And she needed a plan to deal with it.

Her mind went straight to her sister, just as it always did. Yang had always been there to help her, just as a sister should. But the last thing Ruby wanted to do now was approach her and spill how much she messed up. She enjoyed the respect she held in her sister's eyes more than ever, and really didn't want to lose it. But what else could she do? She wasn't stupid! Ruby knew that she was digging herself into a very deep hole, and getting out alone was quickly fading away as an option.

She needed help! From someone she could trust, someone not from her own team.

The first name that came to mind was Professor Ozpin. He had brought her to Beacon in the first place, and seemed to be a man who knew a lot more than others. It wouldn't be hard to meet him in his office and explain everything. He could probably deal with Cardin very easily, and everything would go back to normal!

She tilted her head in sudden curiosity. Wait, did Ozpin know about Blake's past?

A minute of thought left her divided on the answer. He was frustratingly aloof sometimes, giving her no clues. His own treatment of her right before Beacon started made her suspect he did know. Floating cameras watching her fight and Goodwitch proximity to the battle were too convenient to be accidental. And yet if he did know, why would he let Blake come to the school? Her story could potentially damage his own standing if it came to light.

"Whyyyy is this so complicated?" Ruby groaned, laying back to rest on the bench, staring at a single bullhead VTOL as it soared above the school.

While she had known of Blake's White Fang involvement, the other information Cardin told her threw her for a loop. Her father the leader of the White Fang? She had shakily pulled her scroll out after Mechanics and researched the Belladonna name, only to confirm everything the older boy had said. Ghira Belladonna was one of the original founders of the organization, but had stepped down years ago and now served as the Chieftain of Menagerie. Even so, that information would look very bad to certain eyes.

Ozpin had too much to lose, she decided. She wasn't sure how much he did know, but reaching up that far could end in many different ways. It was very likely Cardin would let his information slip at some point, damaging her own team and Ozpin's own respect from the public. That might cost him.

She needed help, but not from anyone at Beacon. It would have to come from someone without anything to lose, who wouldn't benefit from the truth becoming public. Someone who might care just enough to act if called upon.

Ruby let a small genuine smile out, the expression absent from her face for too long. She recalled a conversation from her partner several weeks ago, with a brief mention of another name.

Weiss had someone she trusted far away in Atlas, very detached from the problems in Vale – her sister.


Lunch was a quiet affair for Ruby. They four had taken their usual spots at a table, with each partnership on one side facing the others. She had tried to act normal around her team during their shared hour for eating, but her sister had quickly caught on to something off with her. Ruby had quickly thought of an excuse, and came up with a decent story of not being able to touch a new weapon in Mechanics.

The others had bought the story and went back to normal, and Ruby had resumed moving around her meal on the plate before her, appetite nonexistent. She was dimly aware of the lively conversation around her, with Yang and Blake talking about an assignment in their last class. The rest of the cafeteria was a quiet blur around her, almost like when she was using her semblance except lacking the clarity of vision. She had a mission, and no idea how to handle the one simple objective.

Get Weiss's scroll.

Ruby had tried hopefully to locate contact information for Winter Schnee with her scroll, but between SDC sites and the Atlesian military she came up completely empty. It seemed the only way to speak with her would be to use her personal number, and the only one who had it was her partner. And asking was certainly out of the question. She pictured Weiss's downright confusion and then suspicion if she were to ask for Winter's scroll number. No, she had to get her hands on it quickly and quietly, long enough to make a call.

A tap on her arm startled her, the touch pushing down on the bruised area Cardin had left from earlier and making her stifle a yelp of pain as she flinched away. She looked around with alarm, seeing Weiss looking at her with disdain, and Blake furrow her eyebrows from across the table.

"Are you listening Ruby?" Weiss asked again, blue eyes narrowed.

Ruby blinked and made herself focus on the face in front of her. "Wha?"

The heiress sighed and rolled her eyes. "I asked you if I could speak to you after lunch, before you run off to your Leadership class. I'd like to talk about something."

"Su-sure?" she replied hesitantly. That didn't sound good.

Weiss nodded, satisfied. "Good." She turned back to her food, picking at her salad.

Ruby exhaled in relief, grateful that no one had noticed her reaction. She didn't even realize how much Cardin's touch on her arm had hurt until now, a dull throb of pain under her school uniform. Pushing aside worry about her partner's talk, she resumed playing with her food.

She felt someone watching her, and looked up to find amber eyes carefully studying her from next to Yang. They stared at each other in silence for a few moments, with Ruby unsure how to feel. Blake's eyes were hard and her lips twisted in a frown, with her dark brows bent downwards in suspicion. A single meaningful glance to her arm was enough to clue her in.

Ruby tried to control her worry, internally cursing her teammate's perceptiveness. She offered a weak smile in return, shaking her head in dismissal. Blake kept staring, seeming not to buy the answer. While the stalemate continued, Ruby was slowly freaking out behind her smile. If she told the others, Yang would get very involved and that was something that couldn't happen, not now.

Blake bit her lip and looked away, turning back to continue listening to the ongoing conversation between Yang and Weiss. Ruby mentally cheered, avoiding a catastrophe for the moment. She didn't know if the faunus would bring up the injury later, but she would have more time to figure out an excuse.

The rest of lunch was uneventful. The others finished their meals and stood up from the table, Yang stretching her arms above her head with a yawn. "Well, back to suffering. See you later Rubes, Ice Queen."

Weiss gave a halfhearted wave of her hand as the other two dumped their leftovers in the trash and strode out of the hall, Blake calmly following behind her partner. Ruby stood up to join Weiss, who grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back down to the table.

"Sit," she almost growled.

Ruby took her previous seat and drooped her shoulders, knowing that tone. Weiss meant business.

The girl in white sighed quietly, then turned around and sat down with her back to the table, opposite of Ruby. She didn't speak for a while, apparently content to torture Ruby with curiosity. When she finally spoke, it was in a soft, careful tone very unlike anything she had used before. "Where were you yesterday after class?"

The question made Ruby tense her hands, shoving them under the table to keep them out of sight. She almost felt like Cardin was in her partner's place, asking her questions he already knew the answer to. Ruby sensed she was being pulled into another game of lies and truths, and this time with her own partner. What was she supposed to say? If she knew the answer already Ruby would be putting herself in an even worse situation!

"I got an early dinner," she answered truthfully. Before she had gone to the library she had stuffed herself with several plates of food so that she could finish the essay in one go.

Weiss hummed in acknowledgement. "And after that?"

Ruby squirmed in her seat. This was becoming dangerous. She had to get out. An excuse came to mind instantly, a plan working its way through her head in an instant. Maybe she could still make this work.

She pulled out her scroll and looked at the time, then gasped in mock surprise. "Weiss! I have to be early to class, my project is the first up! We can talk later, okay?"

As Weiss frowned and opened her mouth to speak, Ruby leaned over and gripped her in a tight hug, pulling her thin frame as close as possible. "Sorry," she breathed, meaning it in more ways than one as she gently reached down and unclipped Weiss's scroll from her belt, clasping it in her hand to hide it.

Ruby released her and stood up quickly, shooting the interrupted girl a warm smile before rushing out of the room in a storm of red petals.

She shot through the hallway in a blur, dodging through other students and staff alike, before erupting out of a set of double doors onto Beacon's grand entryway. With a glance around to check for anyone she knew, she resumed her sprint for solitude, ending up under a stone archway near the edge of the school's massive landing pad. Separated from the main campus, the section she was in was mostly decorative and rarely had any visitors during school hours, many equally beautiful alternatives being closer and more convenient. Gasping for air from the incredibly quick run, she pulled Weiss's scroll up to her face.

She felt bad for taking it, even for the few minutes it was needed. She wasn't a deceptive person, and would rather run from her partner's questions than deal with them. But she didn't have a choice anymore.

Ruby opened the scroll and stared at the clean display, the home screen well organized in a logical layout, just like she would expect from the girl with the highest grades in school. She quickly found the contacts application and opened it, eyes widening at the surprisingly wide selection of unfamiliar names and titles. Security Chief Reynolds, Klein, Adencia.., none of them looked familiar, and Ruby started to feel as if she was intruding into something very personal.

"Sorry Weiss, but I need to talk to her!" Ruby whispered in apology, the words fading off into the quiet air.

Scrolling down through the alphabetized list, she found what she sought at the very bottom, a single name printed identically to the others. Winter.

Ruby glanced up at the clock displayed on the top of the screen, showing only a few minutes to spare before her next class, far from enough to have a conversation. She debated her options for a few seconds before gasping with inspiration.

Tapping on Winter's name, Ruby began a new direct message and rapidly typed it out, repeatedly going back to reword it until it was clear enough to read.

Winter! This is Ruby Rose, Weiss's partner at Beacon. Something happened and now a student here knows something we tried to keep a secret. If he tells anyone it would be really really really bad for everyone on our team, especially Weiss! The others don't know about this yet and I have no idea what to do! Weiss said you can be trusted and I believe her. My contact details are below, please call me tonight!

She stared at the finished message for a long period of time, debating sending it. Part of her was unsure about the safety of the message and feared it would get into the wrong hands during its long journey through the CCT's on two continents and then to another scroll, but then again Winter was apparently part of the Atlas military, so their communications should be secure. And would the older sister even help? Or would she just go straight to her father and report it?

She thought about her forced meeting with Cardin later that day, and winced. She was in too deep now, chances had to be taken. With a fearful gulp she pressed send.

The message quickly disappeared, a small notification filling the small screen. Sending… Ruby tapped her left foot impatiently, watching the words and hoping for their follow ups she knew from her own scroll.

Delivered. She exhaled in relief, glad that it had gotten through to the other continent. A long moment passed with nothing else happening, and Ruby internally freaked out. Wait, does Atlas have a different time zone? She might be asleep or something! What if she doesn't even have her scr-

Opened. The final notification made her still, and she watched the screen warily for any other change. Minutes passed by without a reply from the distant sister and Ruby eventually relaxed. Winter had read it and judging by her lack of reply had pieced together the need to keep things quiet.

She quickly deleted the message in the scroll and leaned back against the pillar, school uniform scraping against the rough stone. It felt almost good to ask for help, to stop dealing with her situation alone. It was one thing to look stupid in front of her friends and family, but Winter was a step up. She would probably think she was a complete idiot unfit to be near Weiss by the time everything was explained, but Ruby could deal with that. Heck, she probably already thought that if she was anything like Weiss.

As she closed her partner's scroll and stared at it, she debated how to get it back without causing issues. Handing it over directly wasn't an option as it would only make the owner really suspicious. She needed another way of doing it that didn't involve her.

Her eyes found the time reading on the closed scroll, and Ruby squeaked in horror. She had only a minute to get to Professor Goodwitch's class!

Vaulting into action she flew into a rose-strewn ball of speed, retracing her steps back into the school. She passed the cafeteria and then doubled back, quickly zipping into the almost empty room and sliding the scroll under the table she had eaten at. With any luck, a staff member would find it and return it to Weiss, who would assume it had somehow fallen off during lunch. Deceptive, but effective, Ruby mused to herself as she zoomed towards her class.

She had reached for help, and with any luck she would get it tonight. Even so, her gut burned with uncertainty about Winter Schnee. Would she help the ongoing avalanche of blackmail or just make things worse?


Next update on Monday.

Thanks for reading!

- ThunderApple