Ruby took the stairs two at a time, pelting up the smooth, polished wood of the winding stairway. Finally, she saw another door that would likely lead to the main club. She braced, lowered her shoulder, and slammed into it. Her aura was still weak, but it had recovered enough that the door snapped open, the deadbolt ripping through the doorframe.

There was a startled grunt as one of Junior's men saw her. He jerked back, reaching for his gun, but Ruby slammed into him, bringing him to the ground. A quick smack to the temple and he was down. He'd wake with a hell of a headache, but he would be okay.

She looked up to see another black-clad man, holding a doughnut a few inches from his mouth, a bite already taken from the sweet treat. He looked at her, at his co-worker's still body, then back at her. Feeling a rush of energy, Ruby pushed off her legs, her semblance throwing her forward as she snapped a kick into his chest. His hand had had made it only halfway to the gun before his head smacked into the wall behind him. Ruby winced at the sickening crunch, but his pulse was steady.

She had wanted to keep one awake to ask how to get to Junior, but she had missed that opportunity. She looked around, trying to get her bearings. She was in a storage room, large kegs of beer and massive bottles of a variety of liquor lining shelves. A few crates were tucked into the corners, and Ruby decided she didn't want to know what was in those. Junior was a supplier, both of information and of all the nasty things that those who frequented the underworld seemed to enjoy so much. It could very well have been from one of those crates that Yang had received the pills that had so nearly taken her life.

There was only one door, no doubt with more guards on the other side. It was solid metal, and as Ruby approached, she realized there was no handle on the inside. She frowned and returned to the sleeping men. They didn't have any radios. Ruby was briefly worried that there was no way out, but realized Junior wouldn't just lock men in the cellar to starve. She walked up to the metal door once more and, hesitantly, knocked.

There was a heavy sigh.

"C'mon man, you just left to get your doughnut."

"Let 'im out." Another voice said. "He's probably been throwing back ale again. Don't want it to smell like piss in there on my next round."

"Why couldn't he just go when he got his doughnut? Is it really that hard to-"

Ruby cut him off with another sharp rap on the door, trying to sound urgent.

"Fine, fine." There was some grumbling, and Ruby hid next to the wall opposite the hinges. The door swung open a little, and a silhouette fell into the dark chamber alongside a patch of flashing lights. "Oi! Where you at?" He yelled into the darkness. "I swear if you're taking a leak in the corner I'm gonna-" With the door open enough, Ruby jumped out and slammed the man into the door. This time, his head didn't hit, and Ruby was thankful as she tossed him into the cellar, a slight yelp accompanying him.

The second guard already had his gun drawn and pointed at her. Risking the bullets against her aura, Ruby reached for his arm. The dust rounds rebounded against her soul-shield as Ruby grabbed his wrist, twisted his arm, and popped his shoulder out of its socket. He tried to grunt in pain, but Ruby muffled him as she tripped him over her foot, making him fall inside the cellar. The other man stood, firing rounds, and Ruby shut the door quickly. The heavy metal dulled their angered shouts, but the pounding on the door let out a sharp ring.

Ruby looked around. The club had not noticed the intrusion at the least. The thumping bass and loud music had kept the club's occupants happy. Ruby curled her nose as she did her best to keep herself from shaking as she walked through the sickly-sweet scent of the club. Sweat and less savoury bodily fluids were masked by perfumes and colognes. A few patrons leered at her as Ruby did her best not to brush against their sticky skin, thoughts of Yang clouding her thoughts and making her stomach drop into a pit.

She found the same staircase she had followed Junior's men up earlier to the upper loft. Each step she took, her worry for her sister and the twisting sensation in her gut abated as anger boiled over and took hold. Junior had used her as a tool to fulfill a murder. He had lied about helping her, had tried to gain her trust, and deceived her. Locked her up, no doubt to test her until he could figure out how she had returned from the dead.

As she crested the top of the staircase, she didn't find Junior surrounded by an entourage of high and drunk patrons seeking his praise. He was alone, a few bodyguards around him. They all drew weapons. Fury shot through Ruby, her heart racing and making her skin feel feverishly hot.

And then a cool chill swept over her. The burst of rage receded, forming a pit of ice in her heart. Not unpleasant, but it burned the way ice melting on one's skin did.

As the guards reached for their weapons, the fell to their hands and knees, dark, spinning glyphs capturing them and binding them down. She saw a few start to struggle against the augmented gravity, and she knew her time was short.

She strode up to Junior, his eyes watching her warily, fear evident in them.

"Where is she?" Ruby commanded, a sternness to her voice that she had not known before. She could picture Weiss so clearly now, her gentle snow-white skin, the red brush of her lips. Ruby's heart tugged, the ice and a yearning pulling it in opposite directions, making her feel like it might sunder itself.

"I don't know." Ruby tensed, a new sigil coming to life in front of his chest. It was red, and Ruby instinctively knew that if she unleashed it, it would fire him back into the chair with such force it might kill him. He seemed to recognize the same thing, raising his hands in surrender. "I don't, I swear." Ruby looked into his eyes and saw no lie. She let the glyph fade, but didn't release his men.

"Talk."

"I never had much contact with her. She came to me, asking about a man. I'd only ever heard talk of him, the sort of talk that makes you disbelieve it on sight. They said that no one saw his face and lived. Stuff like that. I didn't believe it for a second. But when a Schnee comes in and threatens to bring everything you know crashing down around you… You listen.

"I kept my ear to the ground, and a few months later, I heard some chatter about him at a nearby strip joint. I think you know the place. I sent her there, and that's the last time I saw her."

"What else?" Ruby demanded, her heart constricting. She felt like the walls were closing around her. This couldn't be it. There had to be more. It couldn't just be a dead end, leading her back to where she had already gone.

Junior shook his head. "Never heard anything of him before or since. My entire network hasn't heard of him in any of the four kingdoms before or since."

Ruby's heart broke.

She slumped to her knees, a numbness eating away inside her. Her heart felt hollow, as if all the hope and joy in her life had just… Vanished. In an instant. Junior's men leapt to their feet, a dozen firearms pointed at Ruby's skull. If Junior gave the order, within a few seconds her aura would fail and there'd be nothing left of her except a corse peppered with holes leaving a scarlet stain on the floor.

Ruby didn't care.

She would never see Weiss again.

But the bullets didn't come. There was just an endless moment of silence as Ruby sat, too numb and too hurt to move. It was an odd sensation. She felt as if her insides were tearing themselves apart, like every cell her heart ruptured at once and a swarm of spiders were eating at her insides. But she couldn't bring herself to care. To scream or shout or rail against the agony. She just submitted herself to it.

"You don't know, do you? How you came back." It was Junior. Ruby just shook her head, devoid of the ability to speak. He snapped his fingers and there were a few murmurs. A moment later there was a dull thud. Crescent Rose and her scroll sat on the table in front of Junior. Ruby stood and collected them, simply going through the motions.

Was this what Yang felt like? As if the world offered nothing. As though she couldn't feel anything. Ruby wondered if she would have felt the dust rounds if they had been fired at her. The numbness was horrifying. She did not know if it would ever abate. She wondered if it could.

They would follow her, expecting her to find the man Junior spoke of, but Ruby couldn't. He was a whisper on the wind. She might search, every day of every year until she wasted away and her heart finally stilled, but in that moment she knew there was no hope.

She walked back through the club, feeling a few hands trail over her body. Ruby didn't bother to push them away or avoid them. They could wander as they liked. She didn't care. She didn't care at all.

The fresh air outside did little for her. She felt it snake into her lungs, a different texture than inside. It cleared her of the sweaty aroma she hadn't noticed had filled her senses, but her body didn't feel like part of her anymore.

"Ruby," A raspy, familiar voice spoke. She looked to the side. To her surprise, a tall man in a grey suit and red cape with messy, spiky hair was leaning against the club. "Thought I was going to have to knock that entire building down to get you out."

"Why do you follow us?" She asked Qrow. Normally, she would have been elated to see him, but she felt too tired, too cold, to be cheerful.

A dark expression crossed his face. He reached into his pocket, withdrawing his flask. An expert flick removed the cap, and a moment later he took a deep swig. The dark look was gone, and he offered her the flask. Ruby reached out and took it, taking a swig. She had tried alcohol a few times before, and every time she had squeezed her face shut against the taste. It used to burn her nose and throat and stomach. This time, Ruby found her face perfectly relaxed.

"I don't. Not really. Just keep an eye on you two from time to time. Yang, because Raven won't, and you because…" He trailed off and smothered another shadow crossing his face with a deep drink. "Because you're all I have left of her."

Ruby didn't need to ask. She could see it in his eyes.

"I haven't been able to see her since I got back." Ruby spoke in a monotone voice. The words she had left guarded, close to her, leaking out. "Mom. I remember when I was a kid and whenever I was scared, I would wrap her cloak around me and picture her smiling. I had every detail of her face memorized. Now I can't remember anything of her." Qrow studied her face, then motioned to the sidewalk. The two took a seat on the curb, Qrow passing her the flask again.

Ruby drank deep, feeling it slide down her throat as easily as water. She was not thirst. She did not enjoy the taste. There was no appeal to it. Suddenly, she realized she was drinking because she had no reason not to. Because the shadow of the girl she was knew there was something wrong with it. Because drinking here, now, the way she was, would hurt her. She knew it would. She kept drinking.

"Hey kid, go easy." Qrow said with a laugh. She had never realized how hollow his laughs were. Like he didn't mean them. They filled space, the sound people expected to hear. But it was a mockery of the real thing. He was a joker. In that instant, Ruby understood him. She could see the man he had once been, but now she saw him for what he was. A broken man, stagnant, nothing but the memory of those he had loved left to guide him. That was all that was holding him back from wasting away.

He handed her something else, and Ruby took it, passing the flask back. Ruby looked down, and her breath left her.

It was a picture of Summer. Her face, similar to the one Ruby saw in the mirror, except her mother's eyes were still silver. She was beautiful, to be sure, but it was her smile that betrayed her true virtue. It was a kind smile, one full of hope and care.

When she looked up at Qrow, she saw the pain deep in his eyes, fresh and clear. He looked alive again, but only in his agony. She passed it back to him. He kept the flask.

"I look at it sometimes." He murmured, tucking it away. "It reminds me who she was. Reminds me that she'd hate who I've become. It's what stops me from just ending it all." Ruby was surprised at the ache in his voice. This was a side of her uncle she had never seen.

There was a heavy silence, the two taking turns drinking until the flask was gone. A few minutes later, Ruby began to feel the effects. She was surprised at how controlled she felt. Her hands didn't shake, her vision didn't spin, but she felt like she was swimming. Like her mind was clouded. It dulled things, if only a little.

"Y'know," He said, fishing out a second flask, equally as large as the first. Ruby chuckled at it, finding no humour in the action. "She told me once that she thought that everyone had a partner in life. Someone they shared their soul with. Not lovers, nothing like that. Just someone that you understood, and that understood you. Someone you never had to hide anything from, because they'd always get it… I don't think she'd understand this." He shook the flask before sipping again. "I wonder what would have happened if she had been the one to live."

Ruby was quiet for a minute, truly beginning to understand the depth of his loss.

"Why are you here? Just to tell me how bad it gets?" She asked.

"I'm here to tell you that you're like her. This life doesn't belong to you." He murmured. "You're a thief. You're trying to steal this life, but it isn't yours. You're not capable of hating the world and hating yourself. As bad as it gets, as many times as you want to spend your whole life drinking in the gutters, you won't. You'll always move on."

Ruby didn't bother answering. She took another drink, answer enough in its own right.

Qrow chuckled.

"I think that's what Weiss was to me. I… I loved her too. But she was also someone who was always there. I've always trusted dad and Yang, but it's different. And then… She left." Ruby felt an ache tugging at her heart, threatening to shatter the numb facade shielding it.

"I did the same thing." Qrow almost growled. "It was one lie. One mission I didn't tell her about. I had been sworn to secrecy, from family and friends, but… She didn't count. She couldn't have counted. We were tied together. But I didn't say anything, I told her nothing of what I was doing. I sent her away. Next time I saw her, she was dead."

It was simple. Abrupt. Venomous and self loathing. He drank. She sat.

"I'm sorry, Ruby. Sometimes I see so much of her in you that it's hard not to talk to you like you're her. You didn't need to hear that." Ruby shook her head.

"Thank you." She murmured. He offered the flask. She didn't take it, thinking.

The two sat there for a long time, the dark street devoid of anything save a spot of light cast by a lamp a few paces away.

"I found something." Qrow said, his words slurring slightly. "But you're not going to like it."

There was no excitement in Ruby's answer.

"What is it?"

"The man Weiss was talking with… He's not from the kingdoms. I don't know anything about him, other than I think he's dangerous. Hardly anyone who's seen him is alive. They all agree on one thing: they never saw his face. Dark gloves, dark cloak, and never, ever, did they see his face. But they also agree, wherever he is, Grimm follow."

"How does this help?"

"The people I talked to, they were all from villages. Villages in the forests around Vale. Ruby… It wasn't just Grimm. It was always Deathstalkers. After marking down the attack locations, they formed a circle of sorts. There was only one Deathstalker nest that was equally close to all of them."

Ruby began to feel the pit in her stomach again. Of course it would be there. Where it had all ended… and began.

"Where I died."

a/n:

I'm realizing now that this fic might actually hit 100k words. Huh. Thanks all for the support. I know it's been a few years since I've started, so those who are still reading, I owe you a lot.

As I said, I promised I would finish this.

I don't know if I'll keep writing fics after this. Certainly nothing long anymore. It's just a realization I've hit. I love building up stories and character arcs and telling a full story... But I think I want to move on to telling my own stories. We'll see how I feel as we come to the end of the story.

Anyhow, this chapter had a few things going on. Possibly a few hints that are just too overt. A lot of people think they have it figured out. I don't know if they do. I can't wait until I publish the last chapter to see what people think and how the theories evolved throughout the story.

Those of you enjoying Blake and Yang, those chapters are coming up next. I'm really excited for it. Really scared too. Hitting the final arc is always terrifying.

Cheers,

-Unjax