Hey guys been a while. Life has been happening specifically that since last chapter I hadn't worked on this fanfic until I finished final exams from school just about two weeks ago. With that said i'm hoping that since i'm on vacation right now I will be able to get another chapter done by or before New Years day. With that said this will probably be my Holiday Present to you all. What ever holiday you celebrate during this time of the year I hope you are doing it with those you care about. I also wanted to let everyone know about another Fanfic that i was thinking on starting up. Details at end of this chapters AN.

Thanks go to Spilledmilk17 for editing work.

Please enjoy, review, and maybe follow to show me that I have your support :)


Moving fast, the buildings were a blur as she passed them. Ruby wasn't afraid of Mingan getting angry, but knowing how tough it was for her to get a job in the first place she still had no intentions of letting the one she was able to get go flying out the window. After all, she still owed Roxie and a few other store owners. Not to mention that Maia had literally spent the equivalent of a fortune by her standards taking care of Ruby for the past month. Thus, this only added to Ruby's feeling of wanting to pay her back. Now more than ever since Maia has essentially quit her job as a police officer.

Maia, I will pay you back. Your figure implores me to do so. Ruby thought rather excitedly with a smile.

Faunus all throughout the village all gasped in surprise at the sudden gust of wind that would pass them. Many of them wondering why there were rose petals along the ground after the gust had passed.

When she was about halfway to her destination, a thought occurred to her as she glanced at the many faunus caught in the gust of wind in her wake. I still smell. Hmm… can't get to work like this…

Not that Ruby herself minded the smell, seeing as how it was her favorite aroma. However, going into a restaurant reeking of death was hardly appetizing for most other direction, she began to head for Mark's place using the small scroll he let her borrow as her guide. Luckily, she found that this new place was actually closer to The Greywolf Eatery then their previous abode.

Nearly crashing through the front door of the small house, she began to look through it in search of a specific room. No one responded to the sudden intrusion into the house, signifying that Maia had already left beforehand. Finally, she found the room she was looking for. A small yet stocked shower room.

Looking through her bag, she pulled out a new change of clothes and tossed them onto a countertop beside the showerhead. With only a thin shower curtain to keep it dry, Ruby striped down and got under the showerhead. She washed away all evidence from the previous night within a minute. Redressing herself in brown garments, she nearly flew out the small house the moment she re-dyed her hair and sprayed herself with scent blocking perfume. She never bothered with the contacts since she had not yet taken them off since the night before. A true miracle they were still attached to her pupils in the first place.


It only took a few more minutes after that to arrive at her job. Mingan sat out at the front door, chewing on a tooth pick with one hand and slightly tapping on his cigar letting the ashes fall. Taking notice that Ruby was arriving he greeted her with a stern yet demanding question "Are you here to work?"

"Yes sir!"

"Do you have any idea how late you are?"

Ruby stood up straighter "Yes, I do." Now I do at least, she thought to herself.

"Remind me, at what time are you supposed to arrive?"
"Err…. 10 sir." Seriously? You want to piss me off too?

"What time is it right now then, Rose?" he said flicking away the toothpick to land soundlessly in the snow.

"It's 12:30." You better cut it out. I'm still hungry after all.

"You understand that I already gave you a second chance before, right?"

Ruby lowered her head and shoulders in an expression of shame. "Yeah," she said sullenly. Hmm, well there's already one person murdered out there right? If the police find another they'll probably just think it's gang related or something, right?

Mingan was about to continue along with the impromptu scolding/interrogation before he was interrupted. Ruby recognized the faunus that interrupted him as one of the cooks that worked alongside Cedric. He knelt beside Mingan and whispered something into his ear. Mingan looked to the ground as he listened intently on what he was being told. Inhaling yet another deep breath from his cigar.

"What do you mean he ain't showin' up? This ain't like him!" The middle aged wolf faunus exclaimed suddenly. The cook simply shrugged as he didn't have an answer.

Mingan looked back to Ruby. "Rowan is late today as well, and apparently he isn't showing up today."

Rowan? Why would he be late? He is like the cutest most obedient little fox faunus ever! Last night he was fine. Ruby recalled her brief kiss with the innocent looking fox faunus. Well, maybe a little more than fine.

"Get in there, I'll decide what to do with you later," Mingan said interrupting Ruby's thoughts. With an almost autopilot response, Ruby walked into the Grey Wolf Eatery to begin yet another day of work. Mingan sighed as he pushed the lit cigar into the snow around his legs.

Only a few seconds later Mingan followed the cook back to the kitchen with Ruby and the rest of the kitchen staff, immediately putting on a brown chef's coat. The other cooks asked him why he was coming in to help cook, to which he responded that Cedric seemed to have found better employment opportunities elsewhere. He's gone? Can't be good… I should ask Mark later about this new employment. Maybe it's something I could do… for the benefit of Maia of course. Ruby thought with the slightest of smirks.

Carrying a bus tray, Ruby began to pick up plates and glasses at empty tables, and brought them back to the kitchen to clean. With that thought she began her rather late work day, keeping in relative silence for the remainder of the work day.


Come closing time, Ruby left The Greywolf Eatery after having gotten one more scolding for arriving late from Mingan. Glancing back at the aging wolf faunus she could see his tired eyes, dull and sad as they turned away from her, heading back into the meat eating establishment.

Ruby barely heard the faint beep that came from her solar powered scroll, signifying that a message was just received. Pulling it out from her pockets Ruby read through it. The number was unknown to her.

Rose I was able to find her, my friend; you know the one that will help us out with this little heist of ours. She and I have to discuss what we're going to do so I'm gonna stick around with her for the night. I'll introduce you two later. Just stay safe, and keep an eye on Mark. If he tries anything don't fight just run, and call me or message me back at this scroll ASAP!

Maia

Run?... as if… Ruby thought with a slight smirk, which immediately vanished the moment the message sunk in. This is going to be the first night I haven't spent with Maia since I broke into err… met her. Ruby corrected herself, frowning she made her way slowly through the cold night. Ignoring the Herbivore faunus that kept giving her death stares, the Carnivore faunus that simply nodded in her direction, and even the bakery shop that was letting out the aromas of freshly baked goods into the cold night air. Ok well perhaps not the bakery shop. As Ruby did glance at the baked cookies displayed on the windows. But more importantly at the petite little cat faunus wearing a small white apron stacking a new tray of freshly baked cookies on to the display window. The cat faunus spared Ruby a glance and presented her with a smile that further complimented the small figure, welcoming Ruby to come in and try out the cookies.

Ruby declined the non-verbal invite however as she turned away from the bakery, passing through a group of unknown faunus that Ruby paid no mind to. Just as Ruby was clearing the corner, she spared them a view to find that the last one of them was entering the bakery. I guess they like cookies.


Only taking several more minutes, she finally arrived at Mark's hideout. She noticed the light shining through the window despite it being covered with curtains. Instead of barging into the house like she had done earlier in the day, she knocked and awaited a response.

The door finally creaked open slightly to reveal half of Mark's face.

"Oh, hey Rose," he finally greeted opening the door wider. He motioned for Ruby to enter, immediately closing the door behind her as soon as she did.

Sitting down onto the sofa, Ruby let out a relaxing yawn.

"Tired?" Mark asked.

"Yeah…" Ruby let her shoulders sag into the sofa as she let her legs flow down lazily. "Getting beaten, shot, and impaled while fighting paid off baddies with little sleep will do that to you."

"What!? Mind repeating that?" responded the bewildered snake faunus. "Beaten, shot, and impaled!? Well ok, impaled I get, but I think you failed to mention the extent of the injuries you sustained last night."

Oh crap! "I mean err…" Ruby let out a defeated sigh as she could not think of a response. "Don't tell Maia!" Ruby demanded sitting back up turning her head towards Mark.

The snake only took the demand to mind in silence, moving around the room for a few strides before he responded.

"Listen Rose, I don't know what kind of things you have been getting yourself into since I had that chat with Vincent, but if you're dealing with those kind of injuries again don't hide it." Taking a small pause to allow the response to sink in he continued. "I know you are tough to kill Rose, but even you have to know that you're not invincible."

"Uhh, yeah I guess. But to be fair, I wouldn't have gotten impaled if it wasn't for the random Deathstalker that came outta nowhere!"

"Heh" he chuckled with a smile forming on his face. "Fair enough but still, don't keep these things to yourself" he repeated. "Injuries, no matter how fast they may heal, can still affect how you fight and your ability to defend yourself in the future."

"Fine!" Ruby responded with a slight pout.

"Actually, now that we are on the topic, how can you heal that fast? Aura on its own can't heal that fast, or to the extent of damage you took last night. All the crime reports on you only mentioned your semblance being speed. I meant to ask you after the incident on the ship but… well I can't say I was really expecting to meet up with you so soon, or at all so I kinda kept my curiosity to myself."

I eat flesh… would that be a good enough answer? Ruby thought to herself, not wanting to reply to a question whose answer she didn't really know herself. Having awoken in the middle of her own autopsy was not something that she had much experience in anyways, and as such she didn't get to ask too many questions herself into the exact circumstances to her healing factor.

Come on Ruby gotta think of something! After all Mark was not with her when she succumbed to her hunger on the ship. No point in adding fear to his feelings about me.

"Uhh… well funny thing about that is it's still part of my semblance," Ruby tried unsure.

"How so?" Mark continued his interrogation with a slightly wider eye?

"Uhh, my semblance also speeds up my… metabolism?"

Mark kept staring at her with the same expression.

"And uhh… since I have a faster metabolism all the nutrients in my body get put to use faster to help out my normal healing." Huh… I know I just made all of that up… but actually that would help explain why I feel so hungry after having a tough fight. Ruby thought to herself.

"Huh… ok" Mark responded doubtfully.

He let the issue rest as he went to his room. A few minutes later, Mark came back out carrying several blankets. "Here, the insulation in this place isn't very good" he yawned as he handed Ruby the blankets. "I cleaned off the sheets on the bed in the guest room so it doesn't have any more blood on it. You can take it again for the night.

"Damn, it's freezing in here," Mark commented. He turned on his scroll to look at the time. "When is Maia gonna get here? I was wondering what you girls came up with. You know, I don't mind giving you a helping hand. I am technically a criminal in this village anyways, or at least playing one."

"She said she's gonna stick the night out with a 'reliable' friend." murmured Ruby in a melancholy tone while at the same time sarcastically doing air quotes with her hand.

Mark thought about what she said before speaking again. "Rose, are you sure she can be trusted?"

You too? Thought Rose with a sudden interest in the question.

"Maia? Yeah, I trust her. She wants to kick the bad guys butts in this village too. If she didn't, she might have simply turned me in when I first met her." Not likely though, as I would have just killed her. Although that would have made things harder for me here. "At least while in here I don't have to be bored and alone."

"Alone?"

"Yeah, outside the walls it gets lonely without someone to talk to, Vincent would only come out occasionally to give me something to do, which meant that I have a lot of free time to do absolutely nothing but be bored."

"I saw you with like six or seven beowolves before. Weren't they your pets or something?"

"Um I guess I was like… their alpha."

"Alpha?" he said in disbelief. "Grimm don't take humans as Alpha's, even so called 'domesticated' Boarbatusks must be kept in restraints or within cages at all times. Otherwise they attack. Their handlers aren't safe from them unless special precautions are taken. Beowolves are among the most bloodthirsty of all the Grimm out there! So I guess what I'm asking now is there must be more to it than just causing them some pain right?"

"Well pain helps break them and teaches them not to mess with me, but to get them to follow my lead anywhere. It's all about controlling their basest of desires. Tell me, what do Grimm feed off of?"

"Well negativity attracts them… but as far as food… I think that's flesh."

"Mhm," agreed Ruby. "Yeah, just control their food, kill of their previous alphas and maybe at times make an example of one or two of them to keep 'em in line. After a while you kinda get to like them."

"Huh… I guess I'll keep that in mind in case I ever find myself in Grimm infested territory for long."

Ruby responded with a wide smile. Good luck with that. I don't think you'd have the stomach for it. Speaking of which, I wonder how yours tastes…

"Do you have anything to eat around here Mark?"

"Yeah, there should be something around in the fridge or in the kitchen shelf. Help yourself!"

"Booyah!" Ruby cheered as she arose from her sofa, letting the blankets drop onto the now empty chair. She headed towards the room that Mark had pointed to.

The room consisted of a small stove with a fridge next to it, a table with two chairs being the only furniture within the room. A shelf built into the wall became Ruby's goal. She opened it to find several snacks and candy bags. Within she finds a bag of dry salted beef. "No way! Mark, you have beef jerky!?"

"Yeah, go ahead," he yelled back.

Taking a slice of beef jerky, she savored every salty bite. You would think working in a restaurant would not leave me hungry for meat. Oh right! Ruby moved back into the living room to rejoin Mark. He was busy typing in something into his scroll."Mark, do you know a lil weasel by the name of Cedric?"

He lifted his attention of the scroll and onto Ruby. "Little weasel? Yeah I know him."

"I work with him at a restaurant called the Greywolf Eatery."

"You work?" Mark asked feigning surprise. "I thought Maia just took care of you financially at least, heh."

Ruby's face turned to a stern expression and pout "Hey! I'm no freeloader!" well… "I got the job to help pay her for what she has spent on me! But that's not what I want to ask. I was just wondering if you have any idea why he might have bailed on work today?"

"Hehe, I know. Thing is, he did show up to the meeting I went to, I was gonna give you girls a rundown on what was talked about, but I was hoping to let both you and Maia know at the same time so I wouldn't have to repeat myself, but I guess I'll just have to do that anyway since she isn't showing tonight."

"Basically, they were discussing the same thing the whole damn village was talking about. Who or what killed Emmett. The only bodily injury on Emmett throughout that night was actually just my gun shot. Gotta hand it to the dead bastard, he had a tough aura. He didn't die immediately, and I used hollow point rounds too! They also talked about the last person that he left with. Specifically the newbie 'Rose.'" Mark straightened up, "Keith was telling everybody that you're a monster in the form of a girl, Hari told em about your insane healing factor, which honestly I think is a little freaky Rose. No offense."

"Um, none taken?"

"And of course your buddy, Cedric, was telling everyone that you're not just a monster that you're a devil incarnate that is not to be trusted. That he tried to warn Emmett about you, and that he is sure you killed Emmett, especially after your absence from the scene of the crime."

I wish that was true, thought Ruby as she looked down rather disappointed at her rotten luck.

"Chief Donah sent a clear message to the rest of the gang telling em that if they see you to take you alive to him by any means necessary. Can't be for any good reason I can tell you that much."

"But I heard Cedric left work for good."

"Yeah, probably gonna be dedicating more time to the predators now. They seem to be giving him better protection against this new Herbivore syndicate in any case. More so than if he was on his own. If I had to guess, I would say that his involvement with the predators is really only to keep his own hide safe. The moment things get too tough, I can bet you 50 liens that he'll be among the first to run the hell away." Giving a smirk as he said so he continued, expression then going back to neutral. "I also heard of a less than reputable bounty being put on Maia's head actually. For her, it's actually a dead or alive situation. Everyone in the predators want in on the cash prize. Something over ten thousand Lien! It's a pretty penny for sure in a little village like this."

"Maybe I should send Maia a warning about the bounty? You know so that she's on her guard." Replied the worried Reaper.

"Does she have her scroll on her?"

"No, I have it here in a bag. I'll get it to her later once we meet up with her. But I do have another number I can try."

"Well then i'm sure a warning would be appreciated." The snake finally agreed. "You get on that. For now, I'm sleepy as hell," he said with a rather loud yawn as he stretched his arms wide open. "Imma turn in now, see ya tomorrow." Mark turned away from Ruby and began walking down the short hall into his room. The Door closing behind him in the slightest of clicks.

Ruby looked at Mark's door for a few more seconds before reaching for her own scroll. She looked up her last received message. Pressing on the reply button she began to type up a short message.

Hiya!

First of all there is no need to worry I'm not in any trouble. However, I'm worried for Maia. I just want to let you know that the predators have put out a bounty on her. Watch out for yourselves. Mark can explain the details later when we all get together.

P.S. I got a meeting with V tomorrow morning so I won't be in the village. Maia will know what I mean.

Rose

With that she clicked on the 'send' button, watching the screen until it displayed 'Message Sent'.

Ruby took a rather deep breath as she let herself sink further into the sofa. Looking at the time, it was still a little early, only 9 pm. However, she soon found that Mark's yawn was contagious as she could not help but follow in his example.

It's too early to go to sleep! She protested to herself. There must be something to do… oh wait, there is something!

Ruby reached for the bag of clothing that she had brought with her. Rummaging through the contents until she found what she was looking for. Taking out a tattered red and black cloak, blouse and combat skirt. Among the things she took out was some black thread and a sewing needle. Moving her hands swiftly she attempted to repair the torn fabrics as best as she could.

After about an hour of silently sewing, she looked through her ragged wardrobe. It was still sporting many tears and holes, but at least it would hold together. Long enough perhaps for my visit with Vincent, she thought.

Yawning once more she finally put everything back into her bag. Standing up from her throne of a sofa, she began to walk to the guest room. Upon entering the room, she found that it was also lightly furnished much like the rest of the house. A single cabinet and a bed. Well, beats the futon.

Ruby marched towards the window and left it slightly ajar, letting the cold night air gain access to her room. Yawning for a third time, the exhale left the window foggy. Lifting her finger she began to make doodles. Figures with swords, guns, and scythes. Her face grew grim as she took note of the sources of her subconscious doodles. Using her entire hand she wiped off the figures. Turning to the bed she finally let herself fall. Closing her eyes, she felt the promise of sleep creep up on her eyelids. Until she heard a beep and felt a vibration coming from her scroll.

Ruby pulled her scroll to her face and opened the newly received message.

Greetings!

Thanks for the warning. Right now Maia is sleeping like a log so I'll let her know later, before she gets going anywhere. I hope to meet with you soon Rose! You ladies sure are crazy! Can't believe I'm getting myself involved!

Assarri

Ruby smiled. Her message would be delivered. Well, at least I get a name, now I just need to attach it to a face… and maybe a body. I wonder what animal faunus Assarri is? Maybe she'll also be something pretty! I hope she's furry, maybe a cat like the one I saw earlier in the bakery! Her little brown ears were soo cute! Although bird faunus don't look so bad either I guess. Their arms look delicious! Ruby thought back on Roxie's ravenesque feathered arms.

A fourth yawn interrupted Ruby from her thoughts of adorable faunus possibilities to remind her of the sleep she had yet to get. Closing her eyes once more sleep encroached into Ruby's consciousness until she faded.

The next day, Mark would be sure to complain about the rather strong vibrations and loud snoring coming from the guest room.


LOL I tried my hand at a bit of comedy toward the end and honestly I can just imagine a cute snoring Ruby XD. Yes i know im so wierd laughing at my own attempts at comedy... DEAL WITH IT! Anyways, once more Happy Holidays.

Please Review!

As for the next fan fic i was thinking about its a crossover. A Metro 2033/RWBY story. Reading over the few of em on this sight that exist. I noticed i'm not the only one to start up with this idea but with luck I might be the first to have a finished story. I have already started on a prequel that i'm sure for many of you that played Metro Last light will recall the ending. However with a slight twist that was not shown in either the 'good' or 'bad' ending. i'll explain more about it on its first chapter/ prequel. I think it might also be done before or just a little after New Years day.

Thanks again SpilledMilk17

Happy Holidays!