For the hundredth time this day, Yang attempted to wipe away at the thick layer of sweat which covered her forehead, only succeeding in making her face more dirty. Growling slightly, she questioned why she ever thought of doing it in the first place. The long hard trek was beginning to take a toll on Yang and the others. Despite her extraordinary strength and endurance, the heavy bag pack and equipment was digging deeply into her shoulder blades, and her legs were straining under the added weight and the cross country run the group did to evade the persistent slavers. Though it was unlikely that they would find them, Yang wasn't one for taking chances.

Yang looked around at the group, only growing more disheartened. Blake soldiered on, but her gritted teeth and bags under her eyes were showing that the march was just as hard on Blake as it was on everyone else. Ruby limped heavily, but refused to stop at all, using Crescent Rose as a makeshift walking stick. The one who was taking it the worst was Weiss. While it was the other's lifestyle to travel almost everyday of their lives, Weiss was currently leaning on Ruby for support, barely hopping along. Though she was physically fit, she looked as though she was on the verge of passing out. Stopping to allow the rest of the group to catch up, she dragged herself on Weiss' unoccupied side and slid her arm onto her shoulders, crouching slightly to accommodate the white haired girl.

"Please…I don't need help, Yang,"

Yang looked at the girl. She looked truly miserable. Her hair was matted with dust and dirt. Her trousers were scratched up and bloodied from constantly falling over, and her eyelids could barely stay open. Yet still, she was trying to stay modest and keep on enduring.

"Weiss, you can barely stand, let alone walk, and am I hell leaving anyone behind."

Weiss huffed in protest, but didn't argue her point further, focusing her energy on taking excruciatingly small footsteps. Blake turned around, and held her hand up out flat in a stop signal, which the group obeyed. Before Yang or Ruby could ask what she was doing, Blake slipped Weiss off the two girls, and took off Weiss' bag pack. Adjusting it with a heavy grunt, Weiss' bag sat on her front, and her own was on her back. The two sisters picked the girl back up with a bit more ease as Blake leaned her chin on the top of Weiss' bag and walked ahead, but slow enough to be at the same pace as the rest as the group. And so this continued, until Blake finally spoke up.

"Something is up ahead,"

Yang looked up and saw a small spike jutting out from the smooth horizon. She signalled for the group to take a break. Ruby carried Weiss off a little bit, and sat her down, taking a bottle of water from her own bag pack and tipping it gently into the other girl's mouth so she could drink gently. Meanwhile, Yang and Blake dropped their bag packs, and Blake took up her sniper rifle, and looked through the scope of it. Smiling, she passed the rifle to Yang, who beamed as well. There was a large building with a thick fence surrounding it. She also saw a small group of men patrolling the building. All of the men wore beige coloured armour, with a black symbol on it: two arrows forming an x with a sword cutting in between them. The same symbol was painted on the building but in white. Yang and Blake recognised the symbol almost immediately.

The symbol of the Wukong mercenary group.

Blake slung her pack onto her shoulders and carried her rifle over her shoulder. Yang adjusted her own sack with some slight difficult and turned around to rouse Ruby and Weiss, but the red head came with Weiss in her arms. The smaller girl was carrying her companion in her arms bridal style as she breathed gently, her head rolling side to side with each stride Ruby took.

"She's exhausted, I didn't want to wake her," Ruby whispered intentionally, hoping not to wake the white haired girl. Yang nodded once, and walked alongside Ruby, a comforting hand on her sister's upper back and a new found hope in her mind.

oo0oo

"Yo, boss! You are going to want to see this!"

Sun looked up in the direction of where the voice came from. It came from his right hand man and best friend, Neptune Vasilias. He didn't wear the traditional armour the rest of his men did, but had a leather overcoat with the symbol of the Wukong Mercenary group stitched on the back of the coat. He currently stood on a balcony looking through a pair of binoculars, gazing out into the distance. Sun jogged up the gangway to where his friend stood guard. Without turning around, Neptune handed the binoculars to Sun, who looked out into the distance. Four figures were trudging towards them in the distance. Sun laughed slightly to himself as he instantly recognized the shades of red, ebony and blonde hair. He didn't recognize the fourth, which Ruby carried, but Sun handed his binos back to Neptune and vaulted over the balcony, sprinting towards the group.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" He heard Neptune shout behind him.

"GET SOME OF OUR ROOMS READY, AND BRING SOME FOOD AND WATER OUT! WE HAVE GUESTS!"

oo0oo

Ruby tucked Weiss into a single bed Sun had laid out for her, besides three identical ones. Ruby smirked smugly as she saw two of the beds were pushed together to form a double bed: clearly for Yang and Blake, which gave the small redhead an idea. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, Ruby pushed her single bed next to Weiss' own one, gently and careful not to cause enough noise to wake her. When they were finally joined, Ruby crawled into her own bed, and wrapped her arms around Weiss' waist, deciding she would catch up with Yang and Blake later.

oo0oo

Across the corridor, while all this was happening, Sun took a healthy swig of whiskey, wincing slightly as the amber liquid burned its way down his throat. Smiling finally, he looked at Yang, tilting the bottle towards her and Blake.

"This is pretty good stuff, Yang. You got any m-?"

Before he could finish, Yang fished a bottle of her bag pack and slid it across the metal table to Sun, who caught expertly. Nodding his head in thanks, he stood it up and put it beside him, out of the way. Blake and Yang felt slightly confused and worried: the last time they saw their friend, he had a hatred for alcohol, but they quickly put that thought to the back of their heads when Sun looked up and spoke to them.

"So, what brings you to this corner of the woods? Don't get me wrong, it is nice to see you guys" said Sun, aiming the statement more at Blake, who seemed unfazed by the comment "but somehow, I don't think you are here just to share whiskey and old stories,"

Yang smirked slightly. If Sun was anything, he was perceptive, as much as it pained her.

"We were almost attacked by a group of slavers few days past. We need a place to lay low for a while…and maybe even trade," Yang beckoned to all their bag packs lined against the wall, still filled with all manner of random goods. Standing up, Sun walked towards Yang and clapped her firmly on the shoulder, a firm smile drawn on his face.

"You guys know you are more than welcome here. As for trading, we are high on caps, and low on goods. So it seems like you were a god send, heh." Smiling one final time, he strode towards the door, not giving the girls a look back. As ecstatic as he was to see his old friends, he had a company to run.

"You two should get some rest. You have travelled a long way,"

oo0oo

Weiss awoke gently, but not peacefully. The soft squeaking sounds and slight leg jerks from the person next to her had stirred her from her sleep. She turned around to find Ruby twisting and turning in her sleep. The squeaking coming from her throat would have sounded cute if it weren't for the tear streaks running down Ruby's cheeks and the terrified expression on her face. She instantly placed her hands on Ruby's shoulders and shook her gently, and spoke to her in a soft, almost motherly voice.

"Wake up, Ruby, wake up,"

Ruby jerked out of her nightmare suddenly with terrified panting and eyes darting around the dimly lit room. Without hesitation, Weiss embraced the thin form of Ruby as the girl broke down and started crying softly into Weiss' shoulder. Never losing her composure, Weiss kissed the top of Ruby's head regularly, and hushed her with soft, kind words.

"Shhh, it's ok…I'm here…it's over,"

Soon, Ruby quietened down, and Weiss looked down upon Ruby, instantly regretting it. The usual happy, cheerful girl had puffy red eyes and the most heartbreaking look of sadness on her face. Stroking away a tear with her thumb, Weiss finally whispered to Ruby.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Could you just…hold me right now?"

Nodding once, Weiss took Ruby in her arms, protecting the girl from whatever demons haunted, almost taunting them to dare come back with her. After a few minutes of silence, Ruby broke the silence.

"I remember their faces just like it was yesterday. My family, Blake and others settled not far from a town called Broken hills. It was a normal night. Tai had just come home from trading and we were settling down for the evening. Then some raiders came during the night…" Ruby bit back the tears that threatened to come out before she could finish her story. She wanted to tell Weiss everything.

"…there were so many….my mom woke me and Yang up, and Tai told us just to run, run and don't look back. Don't look back he said…but I did. And…and…" Ruby almost broke down again, but Weiss' lips on her forehead soothed her again.

"Some of us ran to Broken hills. Pyrhha, Jaune, Ren, Nora, Yang, Blake, Sun, and I were the only ones who made it there. I never saw anyone else again. My uncle Qrow helped raise all of us, and even gave his trading caravan name to us when he decided to retire." Ruby smiled finally and gave a single laugh at the happy memory, then felt guilty when she remembered about the death her parents had suffered at the hands of the raiders. Weiss listened in silent shock, her heart splitting as Ruby told her story.

"I had no idea…I'm truly sorry,"

Ruby shook her head, and nestled deeper into Weiss, craving the warmth that emitted from her body.

"Can I ask you one thing, Weiss?"

"Yes, Ruby?"

"Please…don't leave me,"

Weiss nodded her head once and wrapped her arms tightly around the small girl. Finding out about the girl's harsh past gave Weiss a new found respect for her. She knew she was a talented fighter, and a clever trader, but to witness whatever happened that fateful night at a young age and remain mostly normal at her age now was remarkable. Kissing the girl once on the head, she closed her eyes and held the redhead close, taunting to the haunting memories of her past to dare come back again.

For the rest of the night, they left Ruby alone.

(Notes: I haven't really touched much on this story, so I really wanted to write something. I know it is a short chapter, but I have been so busy with university stuff and I felt bad leaving you guys without anything. So quick announcement, I am going to be putting my writing on hold, at least for a while. I need to get my programming and design coursework out the way before I do anything else, so I'm sorry, you are gonna have to wait to see more of this story. With that being said, I am going to post one more chapter on "Growing Up" and some of you may be happy to know I have other ideas for other RWBY stories coming up, but you'll only be seeing them once I get uni shit done. Anyways, I am truly sorry, I know this chapter is short, but I wanted to leave you guys with something. I hope you enjoy it, and Adios!)