Ruby was antsy, to say the least. It happened a few days after she had met with Cinder.

Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. The Grimm Girl mentally was slamming her face into a brick wall at the fact she had to face.

It also didn't help that she had class in... less than an hour. She let her team wake up by themselves, but shot a meaningful glance at Yang. Unfortunatly, the sleepy brawler didn't seem to care too much. But Blake's gold eyes locked with Ruby's own, and she looked away with her tail stiff in embarrassment. If she had ears instead, they would be flat against her head.

They went to the cafeteria, where the conversation seemed to quiet. Suspicious glances were cast Ruby's way, and the girl heard them whispering slurs and curses her way. Yang shifted closer to her side, red eyes glaring a challenge to all who looked at Ruby wrong.

She couldn't help but lower her head. The hate was tempting her, but she just didn't want to feed off of it. She had more pressing concerns.

"Rubes? What's wrong?" Yang asked after a bit when they all sat down.

Ruby cast an anxious glance around her tablemates, gaze lingering a bit longer on Weiss than she intended. Clearing her throat, she opened a spiral and scribbled out what she needed to say - and flipped it so Yang and Blake could read, before rotating it for Weiss.

Blake gave a small nod of understanding, Yang's eyes widened in realization. Weiss was dead silent, seemingly frozen.

"I'm sorry Rubes. We forgot to get your stuff." Yang coughed into a fist. Blake averted her gaze, more interested in the tuna salad she ate.

"I feel terrible. The whole faunus population of the school can probably smell it. I'm sorry, Blake." Ruby mumbled, the noirette shook her head.

"Its fine. You can't control it." She responded as quietly as she could. Ruby gave a meek nod of thanks.

Weiss finally spoke. "So... You're in heat?"

Ruby stiffened. "Yes."

Weiss pushed some of her breakfast around on her plate. "I see." Was all she said.

Ruby wanted to just vanish at that point.


That night when she went to meet with Cinder, Ozpin was waiting out in the courtyard.

"Ah, Ms. Rose." The professor mumured, "What a beautiful night."

Ruby only nodded. "Indeed it is, sir." She walked so she was next to him. Under her cloak, her tail was bristling and stiff. She always mistrusted the man for some reason. "Could you not sleep, sir?" She asked.

Ozpin sipped from his mug. "No, I guess not. Preperations for the Vytal Festival and all are going very smoothly. Still so much to plan." He mused. Ruby nodded.

"Does Atlas always bring half of their forces when the festival is hosted?" She asked. Ozpin sipped from his mug, and determindly refused to answer.

Silence reigned, and Ruby cleared her throat awkwardly. "I'm just going for a walk. That's all..." she mumbled, shuffling away from the dorms.

Taking out her scroll, she texted Cinder "Can't come tonight. Ozpin was onto me."

There was a short pause before Cinder replied. "We'll meet tomorrow, then."


IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTES!! PLEASE READ!

Ok, so I have bad news and I also have bad news.

The first bad news is that I'm running out of steam for this project. It really pains me, but I think I've lost most creativity for the story. I was planning origonally for the story to last until Volume 5 - but now I know that I'm ending it in Volume 3 instead. I wonder if you can guess how?

Volume 2 is about setting up for Volume 3, and I already know I'm gonna make it short. There will be the dance and definitly the Breach. Afterwards we'll launch into the final act.

What you can expect from Volume 3? The reveal of who Ruby's mother is. (If you can't guess, honestly its somewhat obvious - at least for me. But that's because I knew who it was for a long time.) I'll just say I know the exact end of Red The Beast. It'll be unsatisfying and leave a lot of stuff hanging. But that's what I want for it - It would be that way either way wherever I ended it.

The story's time is coming to an end. I'm sorry if chapters starting from here become a bit half-assed. I want to see it through. Unknown how many will remain, but I'm gonna try and get everything that's important and vital to the plot completed before the series ends.

Ok, now for the other bad news: I'm most likely going on hiatus again for this story. I want to gather my thoughts on the story, to try and get as complete an ending as I can.

I can't express how much I hate telling you all what I have told you, but its the unfortunate truth. Its no use for me to pump out shit and pretend I'm excited.

I've commited myself to this - I will see this story to its bitter end. I swear it.

Thank you all so, so much for reading up to this point. Every review reminds me you guys care and it brightens my day. I hope you all aren't too upset - because I'm upset too. I once loved the story with all my heart.

I hope you all continue reading. Thank you for (hopefully) being understanding about this.

I'll see you all in the next chapter.