Ruby reached up to her room's doorknob and tried opening it again.

It was still locked.

She sighed and tapped her empty mug against her leg. It had been awhile since her last cup of coffee and the inevitable sugar crash was going to hit her soon. Moving around to warm up would also be a good idea, the hallway floor was too cold for just pajamas.

She stood up with a yawn and looked both ways down the hallway. No one was there and she couldn't hear anyone walking. There should be enough time to grab more coffee.

With a quick burst of her Semblance, she was at the machine. It wasn't anything special, just an automated caffeine dispenser with generic coffee. Unfortunately, she couldn't make it go any faster by glaring at it.

While it brewed, she dashed to the hallway, made sure no one was there, and dashed back to the kitchen. The machine was still working. Ruby drummed her fingers on the counter, resisting the urge to run back again and make sure she caught Blake.

Blake had been napping in the afternoon, so she could stay out later at night every day since Nora's RWBY vs JNRP thing. Ruby didn't worry about it first two times, since Blake had done something like that about one a week. But now they were on the third night in a row and it was becoming too much.

So, she overloaded on caffeine to stay up later, but didn't expect how much later it would need to be. When she stepped outside for her first refill, it was just past midnight. She'd had two more cups since then. Because she forgot her keys and scroll in her room, she didn't know what time it was.

Ruby could knock on the door until she woke up Yang or Weiss. But Blake had to come back eventually, so there wasn't a point to disturbing them. She just needed more coffee to stay awake and to be in the hallway at the right time… Unless Blake came back in through the window, but that would be silly.

She heard footsteps coming down the hallway. A couple of seconds later, Ruby tried to skid to a stop as she rounded the corner. Instead, she clotheslined herself on Pyrrha's arm. Ruby flipped heels-over-head and landed on her back.

"I'm sorry." The other girl gasped and ran over to help her up. "Are you alright?"

Ruby coughed a couple of times and gave her a thumbs up. "I'm good. Sorry about running into you."

"It's not a problem. Though, you should be a little more careful." Pyrrha backed up once Ruby was on her feet again. "What are you doing up so late?"

"Waiting for Blake to get back." Ruby looked down the hall again, then back to Pyrrha when she found it empty.

"Oh…"

"What about you? It's really late and…" Ruby paused, trying to find the right words. Pyrrha had all of her combat gear with her and was glistening from a light sheen of sweat. "... and you've got all of your stuff."

"I couldn't sleep and..." She looked down and paused.

Ruby focused and pushed hard. You can trust me.

After a moment, Pyrrha continued, "Things have been a little tense lately. There are have been some… disagreements between Jaune, Ren, Nora, and myself." Ruby nodded while Pyrrha spoke. "Because I couldn't sleep, I went outside to do some drills while the weather's still nice. Being by myself like that is more calming than almost anything else I can think of. No one watching or judging, just me and Miló."

She laughed softly. "It sounds sort of silly to say it out loud."

"It's not silly. I do the same kinda thing." Ruby walked over to a window and pressed her hand against it. She looked into the night sky, but didn't listen enough to hear the music. "Looking at the stars and just listening to everything. Sometimes I do that for hours on end."

"I see." Pyrrha stepped next to her and looked up as well.

They stood there for a little while, watching the movements of the night sky. Each star had its own pattern, as did the rotation of the moon. It was most of the way to a full shatter, where the moon was seen on the smallest side and most of the body was fragmented.

Ruby listened deeper. The constellations each had their own style and melody, but it was the moon that changed the tone. Its influence slowly changed with its phase when it passed over the stars. Tonight it was partially obscuring the Gauntlet, shifting the song to an intense and dissonant sound.

The constellation was lined up so its fingers would move right into the full shatter in a couple of days. That would be something incredible to hear, she'd need to stay up for it.

"Ruby," Pyrrha said softly, "Do you believe in Destiny?"

"Like, destiny with a capital D? Big important stuff that's going to happen to you no matter what you do?" Ruby waited for a nod from Pyrrha. "Nope."

Pyrrha leaned back, eyes briefly going wide. She pointed to Ruby, then glanced to the stars, then back to Ruby. "But you… Given the way you described the stars, I was certain you would've."

"Why's that?"

"There is an old, not commonly known, sect whose priests look to the stars for guidance. It's said that the wisest among them can see the movements of the world in the sky and make predictions about the future. Though, because of how ridiculous that sounds and the lack of any verifiable predictions, few give much stock to such beliefs."

She pointed to one of the constellations, it was just barely visible through the clouds. "According to them, I was born under the sign of the Ascending Spear." Her voice brightened. "It's supposed to represent those who would be great warriors, who would be honorable and disciplined in their fights."

"I trained since I was young, in part because of this, and my first sponsor came to me because of my birth sign. He thought that it would make for a great story about my abilities and talent. Pyrrha, the Invincible Girl, who was Blessed by the Stars." She laughed softly. "It seemed so silly at the time, but I really got into it."

She paused and closed her eyes. "This has been on my mind more and more often since our initiation. How much of my success was me and how much was Destiny? Is there a divine plan or was it just good marketing?"

"I've wanted to ask everyone in Team RWBY about their own signs because of your skills as well. However, I couldn't find a way to without it sounding strange."

Ruby gulped and nodded. Pyrrha had been there when she did that splitting thing and had so many hard questions afterward. She was also really hard to stop once she got going. But, this seemed like it was really important to her.

"I don't really know too much about it." Ruby shrugged. "But, Mom always said that we could do anything, be whoever we wanted to be. Yang and I took that to heart."

She raised a spread hand to the stars and closed it. "If you see something that you want, you grab it and pull as hard as you can. Though, I don't think she wanted both of us to follow in her footsteps and become Huntresses. She kept pointing us at other options whenever we asked."

They stood in silence for a few more minutes. Ruby listened to the Spear as much as she could. It was a little tricky because of how faint the music was. It was part of the red grouping and really was very similar to Pyrrha's aura.

"Hey Pyrrha. What's the constellation for Hunters?"

"The strongest association would be the Banner, for glory in battle. Though they do align each of the symbols of Mars."

"Mars?"

"One of the Holy Maidens who preside over Destiny. They're worshiped both in mainstream practices and lesser known ones."

"Gotcha, there was just the one main god worshiped in our town in Patch. According to the priest, he was like a super Huntsman. Someone who people should emulate and follow on the path to greatness. But neither mom nor dad placed much faith in him since they also said to not bother him by asking for stuff."

"Each of our gods have their own associations, though the Maidens are considered the most important. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn: each controls different parts of the world."

Ruby took a deep breath. If this was going where she thought it was going, she was pretty sure she knew what the answer to her question was. But she asked anyway. "What are the other things that Mars has?"

"Well…" Pyrrha paused. "She is associated with six constellations: the Banner, the Gauntlet, the Lightning Bolt, the Quiver, the Shield, and the Spear."

Ruby held her breath. If she listened to those six at the same time, it was very similar to her own Aura. She really didn't know how to feel about that. It wasn't too bad though, all things considered.

"She rules over all forms of conflict and strife, both large and small. Forging weapons and armor are also within her domains. As are strategic games." Pyrrha looked at her, a little worried. "Red is her color and summer her season."

Ruby gasped. "S-Summer…" She couldn't help stuttering while she tried, and failed, to keep her new anxiety from showing. "S-so, you could call her the Maiden of Summer? Like in that old fairy tale?"

Pyrrha blinked a couple of times. "I suppose so, but I don't think the four maidens from 'The Story of Seasons' have any connection with the five Holy Maidens."

"But they're..." Ruby coughed. Nothing made any sense! Well maybe one thing she'd been wondering about did now. But nothing else made any sense!

Ruby thought back to the forest with the beowolves, where all of this started. Gods don't actually- but if they do, or did, and the maidens are also gods… But that would mean that she was a- And she said I would be- And that means Yang… No. no, no, no, no, no. That's impossible!

"Ruby!" Pyrrha grabbed her arms and made her lose her train of thought. "Ruby are you ok?"

"Maybe? Sort of? I don't know." Ruby cringed and looked away from Pyrrha. "I just, umm… There's a bunch of stuff that is making some sense, but not other sense and..."

"What you're saying doesn't make any sense."

"I know. I know. I… Umm…" Ruby grit her teeth and closed her eyes. One, two, three: she took deep breaths and counted to herself. After a moment, she looked right at Pyrrha, who had her hands clasped in front of her chest. "Ok. One last question. Does Mars have any particular symbols?"

Pyrrha gulped. "Well… There is a different one for each of her aspects, but also one which is universal. The spear and shield... It looks identical to the symbol that appeared on your forehead during our initiation."

"Oh, I see." Ruby said flatly. She was rubbing the part of her back where Crescent Rose normally sat.

That confirmed it. There was undoubtedly some connection, too many things were the same for it to be a coincidence.

"Is that what has you so worried? Having your Aura shine with the symbol of Mars would be considered a great blessing." Pyrrha laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

"I… Umm, thank you, but..." Ruby didn't know how to describe her worry without it sounding really bad. She'd have to explain about all of the other stuff she'd figured out how to do that she shouldn't be able to.

"But?" Pyrrha furrowed her brow briefly. "But you're worried about… About the attention that it might bring?"

Sure, she could go with that. "Yeah."

Pyrrha let go and stepped back. "That's understandable."

"I don't think I'd be able to do something like that." Ruby awkwardly grinned. "Being someone that people might associate with a god. It sounds… Really stressful."

"It may give people more hope than you'd expect." Pyrrha smiled at her, then continued with a strained voice. "But, being in the spotlight all of the time and maintaining your mask can be… Trying."

"I wanted to be a Huntress to fight evil and give people hope but… I never wanted to be anyone special." Ruby paused and looked at Pyrrha. Her smile was mostly real, but Ruby could see her cheeks twitching as she held it. "There's no audience here Pyrrha. There's no one you need to impress."

Pyrrha dropped the forced smile and looked down. She partially crossed her arms, letting one dangle while the other held on. "I wish it was that easy. Once you've built particular habits, it's hard to break yourself from them."

After a moment of hesitation, Ruby stepped up and hugged her. Pyrrha froze, then leaned into it. "That's fine, we can wait. What else are friends for?"

"Thank you." Pyrrha mumbled and joined the hug after a moment's hesitation. They held it for a while before she spoke again. "If you want to read more about astronomy… I have a good book."

Soon after Pyrrha left, Ruby was close to nodding off again, even with another coffee refill. The astrology book didn't help with staying awake much since it was a lot closer to a textbook than a story book. Studying was hard enough at the best of times.

She was looking at the star charts, and comparing them to the song of the sky, when she heard the sound of heels scraping against the carpet. She snapped her head up and turned to the side just as her teammate rounded the corner. Blake was shrouded in darkness, standing just outside of the moonlight falling through the window. Ruby met her surprised gaze.

"Hi Blake."

"Ruby? What're you doing out here?"

"Waiting for you to get back." Ruby smiled and fiddled with the knob. "I also locked myself out."

"You didn't need to wait for me."

"Sure I did." Ruby stood up and walked over to her. Blake was dressed just like Pyrrha had been, wearing her combat gear. She was way less sweaty though. "I'm your team leader and your friend. So, if something's wrong, we should be able to just talk about it. But..."

Blake looked out the window. "Nothing's wrong, I just wanted to get some air."

Ruby grabbed Blake's shoulders and turned her so their eyes met again. "You keep going out like this without telling anyone. I'm- We're worried Blake."

"You don't need to be worried." Blake raised her voice just enough to make it echo through the hall. "I just needed to get some air."

"Blake I-"

"It's nothing you need to worry about!" She shook Ruby off and stomped over to their room.

Ruby skipped to the side with her Semblance and stood in front of the door. "You wouldn't have reacted like that if there wasn't something I should worry about!"

"It's-it's not…" Blake hesitated and Ruby felt the pressure build. She pushed on the world as Blake drove past her again. You can talk to me.

Ruby waited while Blake fumbled with her keys. She opened the door partially and turned back to Ruby. Blake took a deep breath and said. "Professor Goodwitch asked me to meet with her this weekend."

Both Weiss and Yang suddenly took quick breaths. Ruby moved to the side of the door so she could look in. Yang was sprawled out like she normally slept, her eyes were closed, and her mouth was hanging open.

Blake raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

"Sorry I thought I heard something." Ruby laughed awkwardly. Both of them were breathing normally again. It must've been a coincidence. "Anyway, isn't that a good thing? She might have some cool project for you."

"I don't think so…" Blake grit her teeth. "She asked me to bring my weapons with me for it."

"That… It could…" Ruby stumbled over her words.

Professor Goodwitch was their combat teacher, so maybe it had something to do with the next class. She might be asking Blake to do a weapons demo since they were finished with martial arts. That would make sense, right?

Ruby couldn't delude herself like that.

Blake had been very confused when Weiss, Yang, and Pyrrha talked about being investigated before. Since those three still wouldn't tell her or Ruby what it entailed, they had to assume it would be bad.

Blake wouldn't have any problems though, Ruby was sure of it. She hadn't done anything terrible like take over a town and make kids kill their parents. She didn't glow or have any weird symbols and her Aura was… Her Aura was black. Just like Ruby's was red, Weiss's was white, and Yang's was yellow. Sure, they each had other colors mixed in thanks to various techniques, like Professor Goodwitch had blue and purple, but there was nothing bad.

"There's no problem, you'll be fine." Ruby laid a hand on her shoulder. Blake's eyes narrowed briefly. "You're a good person. And… and if anything bad happens, we'll be here for you."

The corner of Blake's mouth twitched before she responded. She looked down and to the side. "Thanks. That… That makes me feel a lot better."

Blake pulled away and stepped into the room. Ruby let her go, arm falling to her side.

I was just trying to make her feel better. What did I do wrong?