I do not own RWBY

"I-I'm Blake. Blake Belladonna."

Ruby paused for a minute to let the girl's name sink in before she smiled and replied, "I like that name. I think it fits you very well." If Blake was going to be Ruby's only option for company until they reached their destination, she wanted to at least be on friendly terms with the girl. 'I don't really "need" to talk to her, I mean I've been alone in a forest for two years, but it might help with the boredom' Ruby thought to herself, suppressing her true desires. She secretly wanted to break the rope binding her, and run over to Blake to stroke her soft-looking kitty ears, but Ruby wasn't going to let that slip anytime... ever. Especially in front of Blake.

While wrapped up in her delusions of kitty ears, Ruby didn't notice Blake's face flush in embarrassment. For Blake, she felt her embarrassment was natural. After all, it was the first nice thing any human had ever said to her, and because Blake misunderstood Ruby's innocent praise as flirtations, the effect was doubled.

It wasn't until Blake got a hold of her emotions and stifled her embarrassment that Ruby snapped out of her daze. 'I didn't think it was possible to get that messy in a dream, but after all that milk … I'm only glad that me and Blake survived that.' Ruby thought to herself.

She gave her head one last good shake to make sure that the dream was gone before once again turning her attention to Blake... who had been unconsciously staring at Ruby since she started daydreaming. Shrugging off the stare, Ruby thought she might as well try to talk to Blake.

"So…" Ruby began. She didn't know where the truck was going to take them, but since it still hadn't departed there was still plenty of time to escape. Hoping Blake might know a bit more than Ruby did, she continued, "do you know where they plan on taking us?"

Blake was surprised by Ruby's sudden question, 'How could she not know? The White Fang are notorious, and even those three men had White Fang symbols on them.' Then, it all clicked into place for Blake. The reason Ruby wasn't scared of the situation they were in... was because she had no idea who had kidnapped them.

Blake mentally cursed herself for believing Ruby could get them out of there. Nobody could fight back against the White Fang, especially not a little girl like Ruby. It was hopeless and she knew it, so she did the only thing she could. She began to cry.

"H-Hey are you okay Blake?" Ruby hesitantly asked. She didn't know why her question had caused Blake to start crying, but if the people that had taken them were that bad, they were in a worse situation than Ruby had thought.

"... less." Ruby heard Blake mutter.

"Um Blake, could you repeat that? I didn't hear what you said."

"It's … less." Blake sobbed out. Once again Ruby couldn't hear what Blake had said and tried her best to calmly ask Blake to repeat it one more time. Hopefully this time, Blake would have calmed down enough that she'd be understandable.

"I said it's hopeless, Ruby!" Blake near screamed at her only company. Well, there goes that whole "calm" idea. Seeing Ruby's shock at her outburst, Blade quietly added, "...Sorry."

"It's alright Blake, but who are these guys? For them to make you so scared like that, they must be terrible." Ruby tried to ask with a steady voice. Blake could tell she had made Ruby scared though, and she hated herself for it.

Blake did her best to calm herself down before she answered Ruby's question. She didn't know why Ruby didn't know about the White Fang, but Blake couldn't blame her for that. Somehow she just knew that Ruby was a bit separated from the world.

Taking one last deep breath, Blake steadied her nerves and began to tell her tale of the White Fang.

"Well," Blake began, "do you know why the town was all the way out here?"

"No." Ruby replied, "but now that I think about it, it is strange."

'It's official, she's an idiot.' Blake thought to herself before clearing her throat and beginning again, feeling a little bit better already, "The reason there's a town all the way out here is because humans, like you Ruby, don't like faunus, like me."

"What?! I don't hate you Blake!" Ruby loudly interrupted.

"No Ruby, not you. I just meant humans in general… and for the record ... too" Although the last part came out as an inaudible whisper, Blake was glad Ruby didn't seem to care and had settled down enough to listen to the rest of her story.

"So, as I was saying, the reason there's a town out here is because humans and faunus aren't that friendly with each other. The faunus wanted a place away from humans that they could live in peace, and that's where Overwatch comes in. It's a place that you can only find out about if you're a faunus, so honestly I'm a bit surprised you found this place." Blake said, and then thinking about her last sentence she added, "How did you find this place?"

"Ah," Ruby started nervously, "I was just taking a walk in the woods and found the road leading in." Seeing Blake's disbelieving look, Ruby continued, "It's true! I was just so happy to find a town out here that although I thought everyone would be cautious of me just being there, I couldn't help myself. That's the only reason I'm here. I promise."

"Well I suppose it really doesn't matter much anymore honestly," Blake sighed. "Nothing we can do about it now."

Blake adjusted herself before she continued her story, "Anyway, as I was saying, Overwatch was a community of faunus that tried to live away from humans and away from the insults. However, while this town was the popular opinion of the faunus where I'm from, there was another group that thought we, the faunus, should fight for our freedoms."

Blake took a breath, and looked at Ruby before continuing the story, "These faunus, the ones that we're most likely being sent to, are called the White Fang. Like I said earlier, they wanted to fight against the humans and earn our freedoms instead of hiding away and secluding ourselves. However, even though they originally started out peacefully protesting and arguing against the humans, they were ignored and beaten. Over time that caused the White Fang to change, and now they're nothing better than terrorists."

Ruby waited for Blake to calm down from her obvious anger at the White Fang. She didn't know why Blake felt so strongly towards the White Fang, but she had a feeling she was going to find out.

Berating herself for losing her cool, especially in front of Ruby, Blake collected herself and began the story of her experience with the White Fang…

- 2 years earlier - Blake's Point of View -

I wonder why Mom and Dad wanted me to stay inside today. I don't think today is a special day, but that's okay. I'll just curl up with a good book I suppose.

While thinking that, I got up from my comfy spot on the couch (even though I really didn't want to), and walked to my room where all the stories and adventures I owned were stored.

Ah yeah, I like books by the way. They're like separate worlds that people can go to just through reading them. It's much better than this world at least. In this world, everyone is mean to people like me, and I don't understand why. It's not like we're that different from everyone else. We just happen to have things like animal ears. Are these ears so strange that everyone has to be mean to us?

.. I don't know, and it's not like I can do anything about it. Even those people who appear on TV, who Mom calls "bad guys" tried to talk with the humans, but they failed. I overhear Mom and Dad talking about them sometimes, and it seems they're doing terrible things to get people to do what they want now. Don't they realize that nothing is going to get done that way though?

Maybe when I'm older I'll study hard and get smart enough to try and reason with the humans. Well, for now though, I think I'll read a good book.

BOOM

What was that!? It sounded like a terrifying monster roared in town, but there are guards at the walls, and those walls are supposed to be big enough that nothing can get in. I hear shouting and screaming in the town though, so d-did a monster get in?

I quickly put down my book and rush to throw on some better clothes. I know Mom and Dad told me not to go outside, but since there's a monster in town I need to be ready to go if Mom and Dad burst in and tell me we have to leave.

After making sure I'm happy with the clothes I put on, I run to the living room where we had a big window facing the town. Maybe I'll be able to see the monster from the window.

Before I could make it to the window though, Mom and Dad burst through the doors in a panic. I've never seen them look so scared. I guess a really big monster is in the town, but the guards are all big and strong. They should be able to take care of it.

Mom and Dad told me to pack a few things up though. I guess we're going to be leaving town for a little while? Oh well, I just need to pack up some things and not worry about it too much. That monster can't be too bad right?

We left only a few minutes after Mom and Dad showed up. It seems things were more serious than I thought. There were lots of people on the streets, and many people like my family had a bunch of things packed up and were leaving.

I asked Mom where we were going, but she only told me to be as quiet as possible, and that we were going somewhere safe. I was starting to get a bit scared, but Mom said we were going somewhere safe, so I tried to focus on that.

We took the back alleys and side streets as much as we could while we were heading to the gates. I think we were lucky we lived near the edges of the town though. It was much easier to escape like this than if we had been living in the center.

It wasn't until we were about to pass the gates that I realized that the "roar" I heard while I was reading my book, wasn't a roar, but something much worse. It was at the gates where there was a line of guards blocking the exit. The terrible thing was that there were many broken faunus lying at the feet of the guards. They were so badly injured and beaten it made me want to throw up.

We were still protected by the massive amount of people at the gates, but for some reason I knew that it wouldn't last long. Mom seemed to know this as well, and she crouched down next to me. She told me that there was a village in the forest where no humans lived, and that it would be safe. She even handed me a map to the village, and told me to be careful.

I was starting to get scared, but Mom and Dad just looked at me lovingly and told me that they loved me with all their heart before they started running with me being dragged behind them. It didn't take us very long to reach the line of guards, and before I knew it they had thrown me over the line of guards and told me to run. Run as fast as I could go, and not to look back.

Although I was scared, I knew that I had to listen to my parents, so I ran. I didn't stop running until I was unable to run anymore, and I collapsed exhausted in the nearby forest. It wasn't the forest that I had to go to, but it was close enough that I could get to it in a day.

I was scared, and alone though, and the forest was a dark place. The darkness wasn't too bad since all faunus have natural night vision, but just because I had night vision didn't mean I wasn't afraid of the dark. I had to keep going though, had to keep going to that village Mom told me about, and hope that Mom and Dad made it out as well. I hope I'll find them waiting for me when I get there.

I didn't have any problems until I got to the gates of the village. Although it took me two days to get there, I managed to avoid the monsters that were on the way. At the gate however, was the largest grimm I had ever seen.

It had to have been well over 6 meters tall, and it had plates all over its body. I thought I was going to die, and that this would be it, this would be the end of Blake Belladonna's story.

Before it noticed me though, a group of faunus jumped out from the town walls, and surrounded the beast. I thought for sure they were going to die, but instead they easily beat down the grimm. It was like I was watching a dance, and every time the huge grimm threw out a fist, the person at the other end of the attack would move like water and gracefully avoid the blow. It was amazing to me.

It didn't take them long to finish up with the grimm, and it looked like the only trouble they had with it, was figuring out where to hit it. However, once they found the right spot, it went down almost too quickly. I was too happy to think about their strength though, and rushed over to the group to thank them. If it wasn't for them I probably would have died after all.

I think they were a bit startled after I came running out of the woods, but I obviously didn't pose much of a threat to them, so they relaxed a bit and waited for me to reach them. After I reached them, and before any of them could say anything, I blurted out a heartfelt thank you and did what my Mom showed me once, bowing my head in gratitude.

I think they were a bit startled at my thanks, but quickly recovered and laughed it off. Then they asked me a couple questions like, "Where are you from?" and "Where are your parents?". I answered them honestly since they didn't seem like bad people, and although I cried a little when I talked about my parents, they didn't mind. Actually, one of the female members of the group crouched down and hugged me.

After that, we all walked into the town and I started living with the female that had hugged me when I was crying about my parents.

- Present time -

"She, along with the other five, taught me how to take care of myself and survive in the forest. I guess they didn't expect other faunus would kidnap me though." Blake concluded with a sigh. She felt better after telling her story to Ruby, but she couldn't help but be a little nervous about Ruby's reaction to the story.

Blake glanced up at Ruby from the corner of her eyes, and saw Ruby with a confused expression on her face. Sighing to herself once again (a bad habit she would pick up whenever she was with Ruby in the future), Blake could guess what Ruby was wondering about.

"If you're wondering what all this has to do with the White Fang, I found out a year after I entered this town that it was the White Fang who had attacked my town and caused that roaring noise I mentioned. Because of what they did, the humans of the town had started hunting the faunus living there, even though we were living peacefully!" Blake yells in exasperation before continuing, "Oh, and in case you're wondering, no. I never did meet with my parents again." Blake finished before Ruby could say anything.

Blake waited a few minutes before she heard Ruby's response. She did feel better now that she had gotten everything off of her chest, but at the same time, she wasn't sure it was such a good idea to do that to someone she had just met. Even if Ruby did somehow give off the feeling of a long time friend.

"Tch, how stupid."

Blake wasn't entirely sure she had heard Ruby say anything and she hoped she hadn't heard what she thought she did. She didn't want to think that after telling Ruby her life story, she would be shot down so ruthlessly. So, mustering up as much courage as she could, she hesitantly asked Ruby, "D-did you say something?"

Ruby, jumped out of whatever trance she had been in due to Blake's words, and hastily replied, "Ah, no no. I'm sorry Blake, I wasn't calling your story stupid." Ruby, getting angrier by the second, continued, "I meant that the White Fang were stupid. How could they endanger so many innocent people!? On top of all that, you still haven't met back up with your parents! How awful!"

Blake could tell that Ruby was angry, far angrier than she had ever seen anyone actually, and although she wouldn't admit it, at that moment, she was afraid of Ruby. However, what she didn't fully understand was why Ruby was so angry. Sure, the past made Blake angry as well, but she had accepted it and moved on. She still didn't like the White Fang, but she wasn't too upset about the loss of her parents. It wasn't like she had been alone these past two years.

With those thoughts in mind, she gave voice to her curiosity. "Ruby, why are you so angry? Sure, it wasn't nice of the White Fang to do that, but that was two years ago. I'm alright now." First, she had to make sure what Ruby's anger was focused on. She didn't believe it was the fact that the White Fang had driven her out of her home, but she also couldn't believe that Ruby would be angry about her parents either.

"No," Ruby began, "it's not the attack. Although it does make me angry, I'm more angry about the fact that you haven't seen your parents in two years because of them!"

There it was. Blake had succeeded in finding out what Ruby was angry about, but she still didn't understand the "why" behind it. Once again, she gave voice to her thoughts, "Why are you mad about that though, Ruby? I admit, I miss my parents deeply, but I've been alright. The one I told you about earlier, the female member of that group who took down the grimm when I first got here, I've been living with her this whole time." At this point, Blake's curiosity had won over her fear.

Ruby couldn't blame Blake for being curious. After all, it's not like she could have known that Ruby had been living by herself in a grimm-infested forest for the past two years. However, it still brought up bad memories and brought an edge to her voice. She didn't want to ruin her first friendship like this, but she couldn't help it. The memories were too powerful. Ruby began, "Like you, I also lost my parents. However, I didn't have a village or someone friendly to help me survive. I've been all by myself for these past two years, while you've been living in peace!"

Blake couldn't help the surprise that showed on her face. She never would have thought that Ruby was even worse off than she was. Although the edge that was in Ruby's voice stung, Blake knew it was only because Ruby was hurt. However, before she could begin to comfort the girl, Ruby began to cry.

In all fairness, it was a bit much to expect Blake to react properly in this situation. She was still a young girl, and didn't have much contact with humans anyway. In the end though, Blake managed to resolve herself, and scoot over to Ruby, wrapping her in as gentle an embrace as Blake could manage. Luckily, the chain keeping them in the truck was long enough to cover the distance.

Blake was content to let Ruby sob into her shoulder for a while. For some reason, Ruby seemed to perfectly fit, and Blake was comfortable. On top of that, Ruby was warm. If the two weren't in such a bad situation, Blake might have even fallen asleep. However, it seemed fate didn't intend to keep the two together, because after a few minutes of "comforting" Blake heard the telltale signs of people approaching.

Hastily, Blake separated herself from Ruby, and quickly scooted back to the other side of the truck. Ruby's questioning and lonely gaze stung a bit, and honestly, Blake didn't know why she had done that either. Was she embarrassed because she had been hugging a human and didn't want the White Fang to know about it? She didn't have time to think about it, because not long after she settled back down, the men who had kidnapped both her and Ruby had returned. This time however, they were empty handed.

"Ah, so Little Red is awake." One of the men said as he got within eyesight of the two captured girls.

"Awake and secure." another of the men responded.

"Doesn't matter. Seems there's no other children here though. What a shame, seems we won't be making too much off of this trip, boys." the leader added on. He continued, "Now, let's get out of here. We haven't been spotted yet, and I'd like to keep it that way."

Ruby and Blake both watched as the men walked away from the back of the truck, and towards the front. One watched in fear, and the other in preparation for when she would make her move. Although Ruby hadn't expected to suddenly start crying in front of Blake, she had more important things to worry about now.

However, before the men could enter the cab of the truck and begin their journey, and before Ruby could free herself and Blake from the chains binding them, a voice sounded out. "Oh? And where exactly do you think you're taking those two?"

Four people jolted in shock at the voice, and one person adopted a smile. Ruby, one of the four who had been shocked by that voice, looked across the truck at Blake, who was smiling. 'It seems this voice is a friend,' Ruby thought to herself. She couldn't detect the owner of the voice, but she blamed that on the poison likely still coursing through her system. She didn't get the time to think about it though.

"Show yourself!" the leader roared. How could they have been discovered? He had been doing this job for a while now, and they had never been caught before. Sure, there were a few times a mistake was made, and their guard was lowered, but they still never alerted anyone. Or, at least that's what he had thought.

Interrupting his thoughts, a woman walked into view, laughing. Ruby didn't recognize the woman, but upon seeing her, Blake shouted out, "Rea!"

Still laughing, the woman, "Rea", lightly waved to Blake, glanced at Ruby, and then returned her attention to the three men. Her expression as she looked at them wasn't nearly as kind. "It seems I've got a few rats who tried kidnapping our children. I wonder what I should do with you three." Rea said menacingly.

At this point, the two other men were shaking in their boots. This woman in front of them scared them, but they didn't know why. The boss was only barely hanging on himself. However, he still managed to maintain his cover, and prepare himself. Roaring at the other two to get over their fear, the leader rushes towards Rea, intent on getting this over with so he could get paid.

Both Ruby and Blake were wondering how Rea was going to deal with this situation. Blake wondered how she was going to be able to defeat three White Fang members all by herself, and Ruby was thinking about whether or not she'd be able to defeat the three of them if she were in Rea's position.

However, unexpectedly, right as the leader neared her, and was about to go in for a punch to the face, Rea casually steps to the side and delivers a punch to the man's abdomen. Even from where Blake and Ruby were, a sickening crunch could be heard. The man was blown away by the attack, and didn't seem to be standing up anytime soon.

Blake, as could be expected, was surprised by this display of power, and didn't know what to make of it. She knew that Rea was strong, but she didn't know that she was this strong. Ruby, on the other hand, had already unlocked her aura, and knew that aura is what this Rea had used to coat her fist. Ruby hadn't expected aura to be so powerful against people without aura though.

'If that's the case,' Ruby thinks to herself, 'then can't I do the same?'

With such thoughts floating around in her head, Ruby decides to look at the chains for the first time. They weren't too rusted, but they weren't new either, Ruby observed. If she tried (and added a little aura) she should be able to cut through the chains with her scythe. Ruby, not one for hesitation, immediately drew her scythe from the hidden area under her hoodie and quickly cut through the chain binding her. She also went ahead and cut Blake's chain since it didn't make sense not to.

"W-what?" Blake stuttered. It seems that after seeing Rea's display of power, Ruby's display had broken her mind. She managed to continue, "H-how did you do that? I didn't think you could cut through chains like that!?"

Ruby, smirking at the fact she had managed to surprise Blake, replied, "Hehe, I told you I could get us out of here."

While still smirking, Ruby jumps down from the truck, looking back at Blake and holding out her hand. Embarrassed, Blake still takes Ruby's hand and jumps off of the truck herself. Just in time for her to feel the wisps of heat from Ruby's hand before the girl in red dashes off towards Rea and the remaining men.

Before Blake could process what Ruby was doing, and call out to her, Ruby had reached the closest man. Coating her own fist in aura, Ruby sent a punch towards the man who still had yet to notice her.

Although there was no sickening crunch this time, the blow did still end up dropping the man. While he was in the process of falling, Rea finished off the last man with a quick jab of her own.

Impressed by the fact the girl had been able to use aura (and effectively enough to drop a grown man at that), Rea began to head over to Ruby, intent on asking her a few questions. However, there was someone else who was impressed by Ruby, and Rea had to hold back a chuckle as Blake tackled the girl off her feet, causing the two of them to fall onto the ground.

Blushing a bit, Ruby poked Blake's shoulder. The girl was currently burying her face into Ruby's chest, and squeezing her tightly. "Um, Blake?" Ruby questioned. She wasn't sure why her friend was acting like this, but she was relieved they were both safe at least.

"..." Blake muttered into Ruby's chest. It tickled Ruby a little, but since Ruby hadn't heard what Blake said, she decided to be a little naughty. Very, very slowly, almost imperceptibly, Ruby's fingers started making their way to Blake's sides. Then, like a lion pouncing upon its prey, Ruby's fingers struck!

Surprised at the sudden assault, and unable to hold back her natural reflex, Blake jumped up and hastily retreated. All the while, Rea was laughing at the two who seemingly had forgotten she was there.

Embarrassed, both with slight blushes on their faces, get up and face Rea. It seemed her laughter had finally broken the spell between the two.

Rea, for the most part, tried not to laugh anymore, but still let out a chuckle or two when she thought back to a few seconds before. Finally, when she thought she had let the girls suffer enough, she spoke. "Glad you're alright Blake. When you disappeared, I got so worried." Turning to Ruby, she continued, "Haven't seen you before little one, I would definitely have remembered a human who can use aura. Thank you for protecting Blake though."

Blake, being the one most comfortable with Rea, responds first, "Thanks Rea! I don't know what would have happened if you or Ruby weren't there. I might have been sent to the White Fang!" she adds with a bit of venom.

Ruby, still not entirely sure about Rea, smiles towards Blake before nodding in response to Rea's earlier words.

Seeing Ruby's nod, Rea responds to Blake, "Actually Blake, these guys aren't White Fang. They're just some thugs who thought they could make a quick bit of lien by kidnapping you and Red there."

"E-eh, b-but they had the patches and everything!" Blake stutters. 'They weren't White Fang!? They had the insignias though! How could they not be White Fang!'

"A-actually Blake, I've been meaning to tell you for a while now, but …" Rea hesitates. That wasn't like her, causing Blake to start worrying. Ruby, on the other hand, had an idea of what Rea was going to say, so she stepped back, letting the two have their space. Rea, too focused on straightening out her thoughts to notice the two's reactions, continues, "You see, Blake, I … I-I'm White Fang. I didn't want to tell you since you hated us so much, but I don't want you to keep thinking we're a bunch of villains either."

Blake, as mentally strong as she was, seemingly shut down at this news. The two girls decided to give her a minute to process the information. However, before they could ask if she was alright, a sudden "How could you!" burst from Blake's mouth as tears started to form in her eyes and she began running in the direction of the village.

'At least she's running towards safety,' Ruby sighed to herself. Glancing at Rea, she spoke "You knew she was going to react like this. She told me what happened."

Rea, glancing at Ruby, sighed before replying, "Yeah, I knew… but I couldn't let her misunderstanding continue. I kept putting it off since I couldn't bring myself to hurt her like that, but after this, if I had let her keep thinking the White Fang was terrible, when she eventually finds out who I am, she'd be scarred far worse than this. I didn't want to hurt her."

Ruby, taking this calmly, asked Rea the most important question, "Then, answer me this, was it your White Fang who bombed her home, causing her to be separated from her parents and scared of even the name?" a bit more venom than Ruby intended was put into the question.

Rea, a bit stung by Ruby's concern for Blake (and a bit curious as to why a human girl was so concerned about the ravenette), looked directly at Ruby before speaking. She didn't know why, but she wanted to make sure that the girl in front of her understood the truth. "No. The White Fang was not the one who bombed her town. It was blamed on us, but we would never harm innocents to achieve our goals. However, there are those, like these three tonight," Rea says as she gestures to the men around them before continuing, "who go around pretending to be White Fang and causing our reputation to become what it is. Their actions are inexcusable. Violence will not achieve our goals" Rea concludes with a fire in her eyes.

Rea had spoken the truth, and Ruby's concern had been satisfied. Content, Ruby nods before speaking, "Then that's alright. I hope you're able to convince Blake."

Rea, happy that Ruby believed her, nodded as well, before remembering something and put on a guilty expression.

Ruby, curious as to why Rea began acting so strange, voiced her concerns, "Rea? Why do you look like you forgot something?"

"Because … I did." Rea starts. She didn't want to have to do this to the one who had become friends with Blake, and especially not the one who had helped saved her, but Rea couldn't help it. The town rules were the rules. Even someone like her had to obey them. Rea, with a regretful tone, spoke, "I'm sorry, but we can't let you back into the town. The rules state that humans aren't allowed in, and as much as I want to let you in, to let you stay here with us, I can't."

Ruby was shocked, but had expected this. She knew from Blake's story that this was meant to be a "safe haven" for faunus. At the very least, she had made a new friend, and once again experienced the tranquility of a shower. Although she was sad, she wasn't too heartbroken by the news.

Rea, on the other hand, saw that Ruby understood, and the guilt crashed into her like waves. She had nothing against this child and yet here she was, being forced to kick her out the village. However, a thought struck Rea, and she ran over to Ruby before deeply bowing and once again shouting out, "I'm so sorry!" She wasn't done yet though, and continued, "if there's anything I can do for you, please tell me. I can't let you just walk away like this. My heart wouldn't be able to take it."

Thinking about it for a second, Ruby finally responds, "T-then, can you get a message to my uncle? Let him know where I am?" She could guess why Rea was acting the way she was, but it was such a stark contrast that Ruby didn't know how to react.

"Of course!" Rea beamed at Ruby. Something like delivering a message was simple. She was a bit curious as to why Ruby wasn't able to send the message herself, but since this was Ruby's request, she didn't think about it too hard.

"His name is Qrow. Qrow Branwen. I-I think he lives in a place called Patch. I'm not too sure." Ruby took a deep breath before continuing, "Please tell him I'm in a cave a few miles over there." Ruby says as she points in a certain direction.

'A cave!? What kind of life is this girl living!?' Rea was panicked at Ruby's words but quickly calmed herself. It wasn't her place to ask. 'However,' she thought, 'maybe Blake knows. I guess I'll need to ask her about it after I calm her down.' Realizing that Ruby was looking at her expectantly, Rea coughs before saying, "Alright. Qrow Branwen, right? Two miles over there. Got it." she nods, "Don't worry, I'll get the message to him as quickly as I can. I promise."

Relieved, and finally starting to realize how tired she was, Ruby thanked Rea and glanced towards the village one last time. Wishing she could have told Blake goodbye, Ruby sadly begins her trek into the forest, eventually disappearing even from Rea's sight.

She was heading home.

Author's Note: Hello everyone. It's been quite some time, and I honestly can't apologize enough. I never meant for this story to sit in purgatory like it has, and I'm sorry that it did. However, at the very least, I am not gone. I'm just a terrible person. Thank you for sticking with me this long, and for sticking around with this foolish me. Thank you.

Now, regarding this chapter. It's been quite some time since I last wrote anything for this story, so if the tone has changed any, please forgive me.

Once again, thank you for sticking with me for so long