Look Not with the Eyes

by thrillerartist

Sight. It's one of our first senses that we become aware of. The eyes are the first parts of our bodies to develop when we're in the womb. From the first moment we open our eyes, we see things. The sky. The sun. The faces of our parents, our friends. Of our enemies. Whether we realize it or not, we rely on our eyes for everything...That is, until we no longer can.

12. Chapter 12

NOTE: I DO NOT OWN RWBY! ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO ROOSTERTEETH!

Look Not with the Eyes

By thrillerartist

Chapter 12: Off the Rails

"We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it."

-Rick Warren

Five days after the Haven Academy Attack…

Mistral Central Station…

-Ruby-

The station smelled like a mixture of dirty feet, engine exhaust, and lemon cleanser. Then there was the overwhelming scent of stale baked goods and coffees, which Ruby didn't completely mind. In one part of the station, however, Ruby could smell the product of a person's motion-sickness, and based on how hard Weiss grabbed her arm to pull her away, Ruby was very close to stepping in it.

"Again, why did we need to go to the giftshop?" Weiss asked, looping her arm around Ruby's, probably more for her sake than Ruby's.

"Because I wanted to get a present for Yang!" Ruby cheered. They were walking slowly, contrary to Ruby's urge to run at full speed in order to make it back in time to surprise Yang. "And since I'm lacking in the vision department these days," Ruby continued, "you, as my partner, have to help me get to and from the shop...not to mention help me get a feel for the right gift!"

"Right." Ruby felt Weiss grip her arm tighter. "Sorry."

Ruby immediately felt a flash of regret at her choice in words. Just because she was getting used to being blind didn't mean the rest of her friends and teammates were.

Well...mostly blind. She thought. Like, 99.98% blind.

Out of the corner of her right eye-in that one blurry spot, Ruby could see a blob of light, partially obscured by something grey-ish.

Weiss was silent for a little while, and Ruby could only imagine what must have bene going through her partner's head at that moment.

Please, Weiss, Ruby thought. Don't be pitying me. Please, don't be feeling like what happened to me is somehow your fault.

"C'mon, Weiss." Ruby tugged on her partner's arm. "The train's getting ready to board soon. Mush!"

"I am not a sled dog, you Dolt." Weiss grumbled, though she still picked up their pace. Ruby appreciated that Weiss was trying to keep things as normal as she possibly could. Yang was still walking on egg-shells around her, and Uncle Qrow just sounded so full of regret every time she talked to him. Jaune, for his part, did a pretty good job of keeping her feeling normal (or as normal as she could feel), but he had his own things to worry about with his own team.

Ruby thought that she was holding up well, all things considering. She'd gotten very good ever since Beacon in shelving her issues. Whatever she was feeling in the moment, Ruby would ball up all of those emotions, and store them away to deal with later.

She would never break down in front of an enemy again. She would never fall to her knees in the face of adversity like she had done with Mercury when Penny was killed at the Vytal tournament. She would never lose control of herself again like she did with Pyrrah's murder.

She would not let her fear define her life. She could not let fear stand in the way of what needed to be done.

But ever since Tyrian, ever since she lost her sight, Ruby was finding it harder and harder to shelve her emotions. She didn't tell her friends and family this, but she rarely slept through the night anymore. Thoughts would circle her head, her final images of the world playing on repeat like a scratched horror movie disc. Only it was worse, because it was real, and it actually happened.

Thankfully, she had friends that would stop the movie and bring her back to reality, and being with them that Ruby was able to ground herself. That, and doing things for them.

That is what she was doing now in buying her sister an It's-Been-So-Long-I've-Missed-You-So-Much present.

Which, of course, ended up being a novelty Mitrali bottle-cap opener because Ruby thought it was a brass-knuckle when she felt it.

But, knowing Yang, she'll probably find a way to use it as a brass knuckle, Ruby thought.

Weiss was in a rush to get back the train. Ruby heard their train number announced as ready to board in ten minutes. No matter how many times Ruby told Weiss they had plenty of time, they didn't have to rush, Weiss was still insistent on briskly walking and leading Ruby back to their friends.

And Ruby didn't really mind. She'd missed Weiss's quirk of being overly punctual.

"Ruby! Weiss!" Yang's voice called excitedly. "What'd you get me."

Ruby clutched the gift-shop bag tighter to her chest. She'd insisted on carrying it herself, even though Weiss had tried to take it bag at the store after Ruby literally ripped the first bag in half, not seeing that the clerk was still holding on to the bag

"You'll have to wait and see-ee!" Ruby mocked her sister in a sing-songy voice.

"No fair!" Yang snapped, voice feigning hurt. Ruby felt her sister throw an arm around her shoulder, and Ruby couldn't help but flinch away.

"Heh, sorry, Sis." Ruby said, rubbing the back of her head. "Didn't see ya coming."

And then a bag was plucked from her hands.

"No worries, Rubbles." Yang said, though it was forced-sounding. "I got my present!"

"Hey!" Ruby snapped, dissolving into laughter, before sticking out her tongue in the direction of Yang's voice.

"I can't wait to get to Argus!" Nora called excitedly. "Sun, sands, nice weather! Do you think we'll have time to go to the beach?!" She chartered happily.

"I doubt that." Ren said. "But at least we'll be one step closer to Atlas."

Ruby could hear the tension in Weiss's voice."Well, at least you guys are happy to get to Atlas," She said. "I'm not very much looking forward to getting back to the place I spent so much effort running away from."

Ruby bumped Weiss with her shoulder. "Don't worry, Weiss." She said. "Team RWBY won't leave your side for a minute when we get there." Ruby turned up the corners of her mouth into a smile. "I promise."

Weiss let out a soft sigh beside her. "Thanks, Ruby."

A foreign voice spoke up, "No-one's gotta be worried with us around!"

"Aaannnddd, you are?" Nora asked sarcastically.

"Why, Dee and Dudley, or course!" The voice said. "The Argus Limited's very own huntsman. We'll be keeping everyone safe as we pass through Grimm territory."

"Buuuut, for a generous tip," A newer, stupider voice chipped in, "we can make sure your passenger car gets extra special attention. Ya know, should things get dangerous."

"Ummm…." Ruby whispered to her sister. "Yang, do these two look as stupid as they sound?"

"Yes, unfortunately." Yang said in a not-so-subtle tone.

"Here's a tip for you two geniuses," Uncle Qrow's gravely voice said. "Buzz off."

"Hey!" one of the dumb ones-probably Dee-said. "You're talking to a pair of-"

"A professional huntsman." Qrow said. "And one of you experts had left the staff door to the train car wide open. So I would suggest you go close if before one of your bosses finds out and gives you the boot. It would be a shame for that to happen on your first day."

"Uh...I didn't do it!" The other dumb one said.

"C'mon, Douglass, let's get out of here." The first, yet somehow less dumb-sounding voice said.

Ruby tugged on Yang's sleeve. "So...what did Uncle Qrow do to get them to leave, other than criticize their skills?"

"Oh." Yang said. "Uncle Qrow just showed them his Huntsman License, and gave them the 'buzz-off' look."

"Oh." Ruby said. "Makes sense."

Suddenly, a voice over the intercom said, "NOW BOARDING: ARGUS LIMITED. DEPARTURE TIME: 20 MINUTES. NOW BOARDING: ARGUS LIMITED. DEPARTURE TIME: 20 MINUTES."

"Well, kiddos, that's our cue." Uncle Qrow said. "Ruby, train's to the right of you."

"Got it!" Ruby said, turning to her right, her nose picking up a strong scent of gas and metal-a train smell.

"Here's your bag, Crater-Face." Jaune said, setting her duffel bag on the ground with a thud!

"Thanks, Vomit-Boy." Ruby said, picking up her bag with her left hand. "Uh...how many steps to the train?"

"Um...I-I don't know." Jaune said. "You want me to just lead you?"

"Heh, yeah, I think that might be best for now."

"I got you." Jaune said softly. Ruby could hear his footsteps in front of her. "Okay, Ruby, I'm in front of you."

"Thanks." Ruby held her hand out, placing it onto Jaune's back. He gently grabbed her hand, and moved it to his left shoulder. Ruby felt a tingle of energy race up her arm at his touch, making her feel warm inside.

Man, sense of touch has gotten really sensitive, Ruby thought.

Or at least, she hoped it was just her sense of touch.

"Here we go." Jaune said, and they both started walking forward slowly towards the platform of the train. Jaune guided her up the steps, and into the cars of the train.

"I'll take it from here, Jaune." Yang said from behind Ruby. "You're in a different car than us, anyway."

"Thanks, Jaune." Ruby said, squeezing his shoulder before removing her hand.

"No problem, Ruby." Jaune said. "Anytime."

Ruby felt someone maneuvering in front of her, and deduced it was Yang. Holding out her hand, a metallic one grabbed hers gently, and placed it onto her shoulder.

"This is a nice setup!" Yang said. "Two bunk beds, on the left and right side of the room, just like our room at Beacon. Except this time, Blake and I's beds aren't supported by a ridiculous amount of books. You want the top left bunk again, Ruby?"

Ruby slowly removed her hand from Yang's shoulder. "I...don't think that's the best idea right now, Yang." She said calmly.

"Oh...R-right." Yang stuttered. "Sorry, Rubes."

"It's okay." Ruby said. She honestly really wanted to sleep on the top bunk, to just have some sense of normalcy. To pretend, just for a moment, that she was back at Beacon. That the school wasn't destroyed, that all her friends were safe and happy.

That she wasn't blind.

That she was just closing her eyes for a very, very long time.

But things were never going to be like they once were, and Ruby knew they would never be the same, no matter how much they wished they were.

She would never be the same. Even if her sight did-somehow-return fully, she would always have the scars, always have the memories of being scared and vulnerable and at the mercy of a psychotic scorpion faunus hellbent on destroying her for the sake of his queen.

Ruby forced a smile, if only for her team's sake than her own. Like old times, she joked, "Weiss is just gonna have to get over her fear of heights and take the top bunk from now on."

"I am not afraid of heights!" Weiss chirped.

The team laughed together, and for a moment, Ruby could pretend it was all as it once was.

-Blake-

A book sat in her lap, waiting to be read, but Blake didn't feel like reading, for once. She was purely entranced looking out the window, watching the world go by in the flinch of an eye. However, the glass window reflected her reflection, which was still something that Blake was trying to face.

I'm done running away, Blake thought as she looked away from the window. Though, right now, I'm starting to understand why running was so much easier than staying. I never had to face up to the result of my mistakes when I was in hiding.

To her right, Weiss was reading a magazine on the top bunk bed, while Ruby was resting on the bottom bed. Above her, Yang was playing video games (Blake could hear the clicking of buttons of Yang's scroll). Blake was leaning against the window to their small train car, mentally swapping between staring out the window and wondering how she could make it up to her team how sorry she was for disappearing for almost a year.

Ruby let out a sigh, and asked, "Who's up for some team RWBY bonding time?"

"Aw, heck yeah!" Yang cheered. "Who's up for video ga-uh..."

Video games, Blake thought. That's right...Yang and Ruby used to play video games all the time…

"Videos!" Yang corrected herself. I'm pretty sure we can rent a movie or something! And get the audio descriptives up so that Ruby can listen."

"I'll look for a film," Weiss said, getting her scroll out.

Yang got up to put her video game away in her bag

Blake saw Yang's arm, and winces at the sight before she got up to pull the bag down for her.

"Blake," Yang sighed, "you didn't have to do that."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Blake said, turning away, feeling her ears turn downwards.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Yang said as she shouldered the bag in her mechanical arm. "I'm okay, really. And we're going to be okay, too. It's just going to take some getting used to, is all. But…" Yang smiled at her. "It's really good to have everyone back together again."

Blake folded her ears, and nodded. "Yeah. Okay."

Weiss finds a movie "It's a cartoon movie, but it's the only one that had an audio description, somehow."

"Fine by me!" Ruby smiled. "You already know I'm a child at heart."

"You're still, technically, a child." Weiss retorted, pulling the movie onto the train car's holomonitor.

"So are you, Ice Queen!"

"Dolt!"

There was a knock on the door, and Qrow appeared in the doorway, a fancy cocktail in his hand. "What're you Rugrats up to?" He asked.

Ruby smiled in her uncle's general direction. "Hey, Uncle Qrow. Wanna watch with us? You won't even have to see it to know what's going on!"

"Sure, why not." Qrow said. Before he could take a step into the car, the train rattled, and the drink fell out of his hand.

"What was that?"

"Exactly what it sounds like."

"Just my luck." Blake grumbled.

"It's not yours." Qrow growled. "Grab your weapons.

Blake grabbed Gambol Shroud from her bed, and raced out the door after Qrow and Yang. Behind her, Weiss was leading Ruby as she followed.

On top of the train cars, a Grimm warzone had already broken out.

One of the huntsmen working the train was taken by a flying grimm. His partner, holding a rifle, shouted, "Dee!"

The cars shuttered as they reared a corner, and Ruby almost fell off the train car. Weiss was able to catch Ruby's hood before she could tumble off the car.

Blake notices Ruby keeps trying to turn her head to the left.

What's up with that? Blake thought.

"Did someone just get carried off?" Ruby shouted.

"That huntsman from the train station!" Yang replied. "We have a gaggle of Manticores coming at us from the sky!" Yang gripped Ruby's shoulder. "So what's the plan, Ruby?"

Ruby again turned her head to the left, saying finally, "Don't let anyone else die!"

Weiss made a point of sticking by Ruby's side, keeping her within arms reach.

Blake quickly focused her attention on attacking the Manticore in front of her, throwing Gambol Shroud in its kusarigama form, hooking its horn, and swinging up onto its back. She grabs the other end of the chain in her left hand, and yanks it upwards. The Manticore reared up onto its hind legs, exposing it's fragile underbelly.

"Incoming!" Blake shouted below.

Yang ran up to the monster, and blasted it with Ember Cecelia, crippling the beast before the final blow caused it to melt into ashes.

"Good to see you're not rusty." Yang smirked as Blake landed back on the train car.

"Hm." Blake felt the corner of her mouth smirking up.

It's good to see at least our fighting style hasn't changed, she thought.

There was a crash, and they both ran towards the next train car, Blake heard Nora shout something along the lines of "ALWAYS SOMETHING?!"

There was a cacophony of metal hitting bony plates, the blasting of guns, explosions from a grenade-launcher. Not to mention the panting and grunting from effort. Blake felt her blood heating up from the strain of the battle, warming her from the inside out despite the biting cold. The only sign of the weather Blake could notice was the scratch of the cold, dry air against her throat, as well as the snow falling around her.

"Keep it towards the back!" Ruby shouted.

Blake and Yang worked in sync, Blake leading the grimm's attention away from her partner, while Yang hit them where they were the weakest.

For the first time in a long time, it was just her, her team, and a gang of Grimm trying to break through to innocent people.

Just like old times, she thought.

And then the fight shifted into a complication when Oscar shouted, "TUNNELL!"

-Weiss-

She started running towards the front of the train after she heard Oscar shout, "TUNNELL!"

Ruby was fighting right by her side, barely out of arm's reach. Weiss was impressed how well Ruby was holding her own surprisingly well despite her newly acquired blindness. It was almost as if she could sense where the Grimm were, allowing them to get close to her before she sliced them in half with Crescent-Rose.

At the sound of Oscar's call, Ruby shouted "RUN!", and Weiss grabbed her hand to lead her towards the front cars. Even though she was certain Ruby could hold her own in a close-combat fight, Weiss wasn't going to take the chance that her best friend would fall off the roof of a train.

However, Weiss was nearly hit by a fireball shot from a Manticore, and in avoiding the blast, she put herself dangerously close to the train's edge. Just as she was starting to lose her balance, a hand grabbed her and pulled her back onto the roof.

"Thank me later!" Ruby said, getting onto her feet. "And tell me where to stop!"

Weiss, knowing what her partner was planning, shouted "Wha-"

Weiss was suddenly enveloped in a cyclone of cold wind and the smell of flowers. Weiss could see the train cars passing by at warp-speed. Just as they were approaching a break between the cars, Weiss shouted, "STOP!" loud enough Ruby could hear above the roar of the wind. Immediately, the two stopped moving, and Weiss grabbed Ruby by the hood of her cloak to keep her from falling onto the tracks.

Weiss grabbed Ruby by the hand, and led her into the train car. As she shut the door behind them, Weiss heard the sound of Qrow fighting with the dolty-man who was the huntsman of the train car.

"-told you to shut those things off!" Qrow shouted.

"Those things are keeping us alive!"

Ruby shrugged her hand out of Weiss's grip, and used it to rub her forehead. It reminded Weiss of herself on a stress headache. "Are they still coming?" Ruby groaned.

"Hang on." Weiss said, going to look out the window. She saw regular-sized Manticores running after the train. "Yeah." Weiss said, turning back to Ruby. "And there's bound to be more once we come out of this tunnel."

Ruby nodded, her milky eyes staring straight through Weiss. Weiss couldn't help but force herself to look away, and immediately felt a twinge of guilt at the act.

I should at least be able to look at my own partner, Weiss thought. No matter what's happened to her.

Darker thoughts began plaguing Weiss, as they have ever since she was a little girl.

You should have been there, the Voice said. You are her partner, you are supposed to protect each other.

Shut up! Weiss argued with the Voice. How could I have known this would happen to her?!

You are a failure, the Voice retorted.

Just shut up! Weiss thought. I don't have the time for you right now.

The sound of the Voice was silenced only by the events happening outside of Weiss's mind.

"Please." Ruby said calmly. Weiss noticed that while she was arguing with her own mind, Ruby had walked right up to the Dolty-Huntsman, pleading with him.

"Just turn the turrets off so that we can keep everyone aboard calm." Ruby said calmly.

Jaune came to Ruby's side. "Trust us." he said, resting his hand over the huntsman's arm, healing it. "We know what we're doing."

The huntsman sighed, relieved at the fact of Jaune's semblance working. "Alright." The Dolt-Man sighed.

"Good." Ruby said.

"With the guns off, Ren, couldn't you mask the emotions of the passengers?" Nora asked.

"I've never done that before with so many people." Ren said, looking unsure of himself.

"You didn't have Jaune's semblance helping you before." Weiss said. "He can boost your aura enough so that you can use your semblance on the train cars."

"Not a bad idea." Qrow said.

"There's another problem." Oscar said. Weiss could tell by the way he spoke and carried himself, that Ozpin was the one in control now. "The Grimm are attracted to this." He motioned to the lamp attached to his belt.

"What?!" Yang snapped. "Why wouldn't you tell us that before-"

"None of that matters right now!" Ruby interrupted before her sister could add more fuel to the Dust fire they were currently in.

Weiss leveled a disapproving look at Ozpin. She knew him to be an overly-logical man, but what he just did was plain idiodic in Weiss's book. We deserved to know we were literally carrying a Grimm magnet before we got on a train FULL OF PEOPLE! She thought.

"There's a train full of innocent people," Ruby continued, mirroring Weiss's own thought, "and every second we're here, we put them in danger. Ren, Nora, Jaune, get the passengers to the front cars. You can still mask the emotions, and kill the turrets. The rest of us will stay behind and lure the Grimm away. We'll take care of the relic, and deal with the Grimm. Just make sure the train makes it to Argus."

Weiss was both impressed and a little disheartened at her partner. Back at Beacon, Weiss couldn't wait for the day that Ruby grew up into a serious huntress. Now, though…

Weiss would give anything to have the old, carefree Ruby back.

Weiss saw Jaune walk up to Ruby. "We'll only do that if you promise to meet us there."

"Promise." Ruby said, though it sounded a little forced to Weiss. And, as much as Weiss hated that her partner was thinking that way, it made sense.

There are never any guarantees. Weiss thought as she joined her partner, guiding Ruby through the train and back to the roof of the cars.

What happened at Beacon us that.

-Yang-

Once Blake gave the signal that she'd disengaged the train cars, Ruby ordered Ren and Jaune to start suppressing emotions of the lead train cars. Quickly, the lead cars started gaining distance from them, though the speed they were going was not enough to slow them down, especially since they were now on a slight descent.

Just as the last car cleared the exit of the tunnel, more Manticore swarmed out of it like bees from a busted hive.

A large Manticore-the Alpha, it looked like-landed on one of the last train cars, and it let out an angry bellow that stirred up its brethren Grimm into a frenzy. It's as if it were saying, "Kill everyone within 30 feet of that shiny blue lamp on the little boy's belt buckle!"

Weiss was behind Yang, using her Glyphs as shields against the Grimm. Ruby was over beside Blake on top of another car, though Yang couldn't see exactly what was going on on their end. A large Manitocore landed in front of Yang, gaining her attention, and Yang didn't pull any punches when she attacked it. Yang it by the horns, twisting her body around, forcing it to bend to her will. Then she landed a buckshot-fueled upper-cut to its massive jaw, and the beast reared back before it dissipated into a black fog.

"Big one up ahead!" Yang shouted. "And it's got wings!"

"We need to ground it!" Ruby yelled.

Answering the call was Weiss, who used her gravity glyphs to pull the Alpha Manticore to the roof of the train.

Qrow chose then to start facing off with the Alpha, trying to wear it down for the final assault. But Yang could tell that the beast was too massive and strong for just one many to handle, no matter how experienced he may be.

Alpha's didn't get so big for being stupid, she remembered a Beacon professor saying in a class. They learn as they age, and the bigger a Grimm is, the older and wiser it is. Age makes any creature more calculating hunter-even humans and faunus.

Yang saw the evidence of that again today. For every blow Qrow landed, the Alpha would send two more his way-plus a fireball. When Qrow was pushed back by the Alpha, Yang and the rest of the team ran towards him, ready to back him up. Yang saw Weiss grab Ruby as she ran.

Yang saw Ruby grab the side of her head, like she was in pain, and saw her turn to the left. "We need to ground it!" She shouted again.

"On it!" Replied Blake. "Yang!" Her partner shouted as she put Gambol in its kusarigama mode.

Yang immediately knew what the plan was.

Yang lunged toward a smaller-but still really huge-manticore, and landed a few blows before jumping back and running towards the Alpha, sliding on her butt in between its legs, and standing once she cleared the other side. A crescent-shaped blade attached to a black ribbon flew over the back of the Grimm, and Yang punched it, sending the blade flying around the Alpha's torso. Once the weapon came flying back down over its back again, Yang sent a punch that landed it into the roof of the train car before grabbing the ribbon and pulling it taught with all her might.

Weiss used her anti-gravity glyphs to float in front of Alpha's head, creating two more over its back that froze the creature's wings. Weiss let out a cry, and shattered the frozen wings.

With the creature grounded, Qrow flew in between it, cutting it in half. Ruby ran up in front of the grimm, turning her head to the left, and slashing Crescent Rose across the line Uncle Qrow created.

The Alpha began to dissolve, but in its final moments, it released a massive ball of fire from its throat, as if it were saying, "If I'm going down, you're coming with me!"

The fireball landed on the tracks, creating a giant hole in the middle of it that they were heading straight towards at full speed and the remaining train cars were still moving full-speed.

Weiss stabbed the blade of Myrnaster through the train car, and summoned gravity glyphs in an effort to slow them down. The lurching and jerking of the suddenly-slowing train cars led them to fall off the tracks and into the ice and snow.

Yang's vision quickly became a blur of white and cold, and her last thought for a few moments being, "snow isn't as soft as they make it look on TV…."

After a few moments of darkness, Yang found herself sprawled out on the snowy ground, her mouth tasting like dirt and ice. Ruby was beside her, looking disoriented and confused.

"You okay?" Yang groaned as she sat up, her back cracking like a bag of broken chips.

"Yeah…" Ruby said, feeling the ground around her as she sat upright. "I take it we crashed and landed into the snow-drift?" She asked, though it sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Yeah." Yang said. She stood to her feet. "You feel okay enough to stand?" Yang asked her little sister.

"Uh-huh." Ruby answered, leaning to the side in order to push herself up into a standing position. Suddenly, Ruby stopped, and began digging through the pile of snow she landed on.

"What?" Yang asked. "You land on something? Crescent Rose?"

"Not Crescent Rose." Ruby said, having stopped digging but didn't remove her hands from the snow. "Feels like a rock."

Yang didn't really think anything of it, and began looking around, surveying just how bad their damage was.

"You feel okay enough to stand?" Yang asked, holding her hand out for Ruby.

"Give me a minute." Ruby breathed. "The crash was pretty disorienting, and I'm kinda dizzy."

"Sure." Yang said. "I need to check on the others, Rubes, but I'll only be a few feet to your left. Sound okay?"

"Sure." Ruby breathed out.

Half the remaining train cars had collided head-first into the snow. The other half had toppled off the tracks sideways, so there were some cars upended, some laying on their sides, and some were remarkably-rightside up. Luggage and cargo was spilled all throughout the snow, as well as Dust cartridges and ammunition for semi-automatic weapons. It was like walking through a winter warzone.

Yang looked behind her, and saw Ruby was still sitting where she left her. Though Yang was maybe less than fifteen feet from her sister, she still felt like she was too far away to help in case something happened.

Ever since Haven, Yang had been plagued with nightmares of Ruby being ripped away from her, tortured with the loss of more than just her eyes. In those dreams, Yang stood still, frozen in place, unable to help Ruby no matter how much her sister called for her.

"Is everyone okay?" Uncle Qrow had asked, and when Yang turned to the sound of his voice, she saw him brushing off his clothes and rubbing his head.

"Yang, I'm fine." Ruby said, gripping Yang's arm like a lifeline. "Just…don't know which way's which, and it's a little disorienting."

"I'm fine," Weiss called.

"Yeah." Blake wheezed.

After hearing her uncle and team were okay, Yang walked back towards her sister.

"Feelin' better, Rubes?" Yang asked.

"Yeah." Ruby said. "A little less disoriented." Then Ruby held out both hands. "Mind helping me up? I'm not sure how steady I'll be walking through snow."

"Of course." Yang said, and grabbed her sister's hands to pull her upright.

A foreign voice almost made her drop her sister, however.

"I'm still alive, too!" An old lady's voice chirped. Yang flinched, and turned to look away from Ruby- who was now clutching onto Yang's jacket-and saw an old lady, less than half of Yang's size, walking out of a train car with the help of a cane with a skull-head carving. A pair of odd looking goggles took up half of the woman's face, but Yang could have sworn she saw mischief in them.

"That was a close one!" The old lady called.

All Yang could think was, Who in the hell is this?!