Morning

The Faunus District

Ruby and Blake move swiftly through the Faunus district, having left Weiss and Ilia behind to continue to do research on the White Fang's activities at the SDC-V. No one's heard from Willow yet, and Ruby is doubly concerned now. She and Blake both agree that Weiss's twin is determined to beat them all to Adam Taurus, and she cannot allow that to happen.

Willow has enough blood on her hands.

Everyone in the district pointedly ignore the two of them, even though they both hear the whispers, sense the pointing fingers, and especially feel the stares. Everyone knows who Ruby is, who Blake is, and no one is willing to stand in their way.

Sometimes it pays to have a nickname, and the Red Reaper of Vale and the Darkest Shadow of Menagerie have well earned ones.

"Here it is." Ruby declares quietly as they come to stand outside a small clinic, a pair of obvious guards standing outside and wearing the symbols of a particular mercenary group.

"Why is everyone wondering where Yang is, Ruby?" Blake asks curiously as they stand outside.

"They know me here, and know Yang usually isn't too far away." The wolf faunus admits quietly as she points to a nearby building. "I spent the first two years of my life in that building. I was actually born right here in this very clinic, back when it was run by a sympathizer named Ara Ebony."

"And your siblings?" She asks quietly, even as she notices several more mercenaries quietly gathering around them, the panther trying not to reach for Gambol's handle.

"Born in Mistral." She replies as she looks at the door. "Eve, I promise I'm not here to cause trouble. I just need to talk to Automne, and not to get even for the other day." She calls out as she lowers her hood. "I'll even leave Crescent Rose outside, if it makes you feel better."

"It would." A woman declares quietly as the door opens. She is short, but thin, with long straight raven black hair and wearing glasses. She is wearing an all white medic's uniform, and matching white gloves.

Ruby nods as she takes her scythe off her back and hands it to one of the guards, who hands her a slip in return before placing the weapon in a safe behind him. "You too, Blake. Eve doesn't allow any weapons in her clinic. Even her own husband and wife have to leave them outside."

The panther nods as she does so, taking her own slip in return. She watches as the woman steps to one side, Ruby walking in surprisingly calmly. Following her, her sensitive nose wrinkles at the smell of antiseptic and medical supplies. Looking around, she's impressed by how clean and orderly the clinic is, as well as how efficiently the small group of Faunus nurses bustle about.

"Automne is on his way, Ruby." Eve informs them, getting her attention. "He knew you would want to meet here."

"Thanks Eve. I'm sorry for the trouble." The Reaper apologizes.

"Just no fighting, and no profanity please. This is a place of healing." She informs them both firmly. "You can wait in my office."

Ruby nods as she leads the way, moving surprisingly quietly for a change. Blake follows her, while still examining the clinic with a critical eye. "I have to admit, this place is well supplied and well stocked."

"I keep it that way." A man's voice declares as he appears in front of them, leaning against the wall next to an open door. "Evie's a saint to put up with me, Tara, Tyra, Petunia, and Sienna's bullshit."

"No cursing!"

"Yeah yeah." He grumbles as he motions for them to enter the office. Once the three of them enter, he closes the door and grins wickedly. "Sup, Red? Heard you almost cut yourself a steak last week."

"He fucked with Weiss." Is her only response as she sits down in a chair. Blake notices the change in Ruby's demeanor, in her speech patterns, and blinks as she realizes that this isn't Ruby. Not the one she's gotten to know and respect. "Where can I find him?"

"Word is out that the Fang has a recruitment drive going on tonight. Dunno if he'll be there though, you fucked him up pretty good." He informs her. "Some of his little bitch boys showed up here and tried to steal some supplies. Tunia and Tara sent them packing."

"I need to finish what I started." The Reaper declares as her eyes glow angrily. "For him, I'll deal with the nightmares some more."

"Meeting's tonight, at the old SDC-V hospital old Jack Ass shut down after Lady Adaliz's death." He informs them, a tone of anger in his voice. "Sienna and Tara are planning on crashing it too, and me and the boys are gonna be waiting to back them up when they go after Adam's head."

The Reaper nods as she stands. "This won't be a problem will it?"

He shakes his head. "Already told them both, you show up, they back the fuck off. You get first dibs on bull boy's skull."

"Why are you doing this?" Blake suddenly asks, having stayed quiet.

"Me? I'm married to a Faunus, so's Petunia and Tyra. When old man Ozzy kicked us out of Beacon, it was the Faunus who took a pack of losers in and helped us find our way in the world." He informs her with a cocky smirk. "The district's under my protection, and I don't put up with anybody's shit around here."

Ruby nods as she looks at Blake. "Told you. He's an asshole, but a good one."

"Get going. I'll let Sienna know you're coming." He declares as he opens the door, motioning for them to leave ahead of him. "I'll be there later, I gotta find a sitter for Rust and Garrett."

Ruby and Blake both nod as they walk out, the Reaper pausing as they pass Eve. "Two fucks, a bitch, and an ass."

"Automne!" She shrieks as she grabs at a naginata hanging behind the counter.

"Ruby you little bitch!" He screams as he takes off running down the hall.

"Now we're even for the last time I was here!" She calls back with a smirk as she pushes Blake out the front door.

"What was that for?!" The panther yells as her weapon gets tossed to her by the now nervous looking guard.

"Last time I was here for my medicine refills, he caught me and Weiss with a paint bomb." She informs the panther. "It took us hours to get all the paint out of her hair."

"So that's why you two were purple when you got back from Vale?!"

"Yup." She suddenly blushes a bright red. "She saw me naked and didn't run away screaming."

Blake pauses to look at her. "Ruby." The panther sighs as she takes both of the younger girl's hands. "We all know, you know."

"Qweh?!"

"And we all support you." She adds as she smiles brilliantly at the Reaper, who is red-faced. "And don't think for two seconds we didn't hear all the noises coming out of the bathroom."

"Kill me now." She groans.

"No, Ruby Rose. Because we are all firmly behind you and Weiss both." She smiles down at her, getting a blink in response. "Even we're cheering you both on."

"I…" Ruby looks at the ground, sniffling as she digs the toe of her boot into the pavement behind her.

"Come on, Tukson's isn't too far from here. Mom would have stopped by to see him by now." The panther lifts the Reaper's chin gently with one finger. "Let's go."

Ruby nods as she adjusts her cloak. "Yeah. Let's hurry, we're already running out of time, and I need to stop and pick something up."

"What's that?" Blake calls out as the two young women get on the move, blinking in surprise when the younger woman takes a white mask out from under her cloak. One she puts on her face, giving her the appearance of wearing a beowolf's face.

"Another mask for Weiss." She replies firmly. "Mum said the clan accepted her as my mate."

"I keep forgetting you're a Branwen."

"Yup. And now, so is Weiss." Blake shakes her head at that declaration, even as she begins to hear the talking and whispers as they rush past. Ruby's appearance in the district, and the fact that she has donned a mask even the Fang respects is getting the effect Ozpin predicted.

More and more of them want nothing to do with tonight's meeting, for fear that they may run afoul of the Red Reaper of Vale...

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Late Morning

The SDC-V

Weiss looks up from her mother's desk, a curious look on her face at the fact that Raven Branwen hasn't moved from the picture she has been staring at for over an hour now. Removing her glasses, which she only uses to read with, she walks over and joins the older woman, offering her a tissue which she takes with a sad smile.

"Thanks." She wipes her eyes with a tissue as she keeps looking at the picture of Summer Rose standing next to Adaliz Schnee, the two of them laughing at something not caught in the picture itself. "Your mom loved her."

"Excuse me?" The white wolf asks in surprise, her eyes widening at the nod.

"Your mom loved Sum. But Sum only had eyes for my brother, and it broke her heart." The older huntress continues quietly. "She was ready to even throw the company away at one point, just to try to win Summer's heart. She was willing to be a full time huntress just to be with her, to stay by her side."

"None of us knew." Weiss admits quietly. "We knew Mama died with regrets. We knew she hid the truth of her homosexuality her entire life, but we never once thought this."

"Ada was a damned good woman, and she would have treated Sum like a goddess. And I think that's why she never considered it." Raven informs her as she shakes her head. "Summer wanted an equal. Someone who saw her as a person, and not as a leader of a dying clan, or a Silver Eyed Warrior. She saw Ada as someone who let her wealth control her and her brother both."

"So she never stood a chance?"

Raven chuckles as she finally moves away from the picture, moving towards the small kitchen. "More like Sum fucked it up herself. She sucked at reading people, and fucked herself out of what could have been a hell of a relationship for herself." She declares with a smirk as she sits down in a chair. "Don't get me wrong, my brother adored her, adored the kids, and died willingly at her side, but the kind of love you and Ruby have? I still think it's the same kind of love they would have had. But like I said, she fucked it up herself, cause Ada hid her real self again by our third year, and was with that asshat."

"So, because she misread my mother…"

"Sum left me a message. One just for me, cause I was her partner and one of her best friends." Raven admits as she looks at the white wolf. "Ada was her greatest regret too, kiddo. She died with one hell of a what if."

"I… this explains so much." The white wolf admits quietly as she fixes a fresh pot of coffee, sitting across from the older human woman while they wait. "She had a broken heart for most of her life."

"Weiss, your mom avoided Summer for six years. It took Summer begging her to come see Ruby to get her to even come back to Vale, and she never completely left after that." Raven explains to her. "She loved Vale, she loved Summer, and she died willingly beside her in the end."

"I… what?!"

Reaching over, Raven takes both of Weiss's hands in her own. "Weiss, your mother was one of the strongest, most independent, most stubborn women I ever met. She fought Jacques tooth and nail to keep the company moving in the direction old Nic and Snowy wanted it to go, and I know for a fact that she was quietly divorcing him when she died."

"She was?"

"She was. Vale was going to be your family's fresh start, and she was going to throw the might of the entire SDC's legal department behind the fight for equality." The older woman informs her. "She wanted the best for you four, and her fury over what happened to all of you would be biblical."

"I think she had her revenge through Uncle Alex and Winter." Weiss comments dryly.

"Nope! Ada would have done far worse to him. She definitely got her mother's temper and not her father's." Raven chuckles as she stands and fixes them both a cup of coffee. "She wouldn't have stopped at gelding him, she would have cut it all off and forced his balls down his throat and his cock up his ass!" Handing one to the white wolf, she sits back down with a wide smile. "Ask me anything, kiddo. It's been way too long, and I'm tired of staying quiet to spare people's feelings." Pausing, she sighs. "I'm tired of not being able to talk about two of my best damned friends."

Standing, Weiss moves to sit next to Raven and sits down. Folding her legs underneath her, she leans against her girlfriend's mother figure and smiles, laughs, and cries along with her as they share memories of the long deceased, never forgotten, and still deeply loved and missed Adaliz Schnee...

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Early Afternoon

Tukson's Books

The walk to Tukson's hadn't taken long at all, the panther and the wolf faunus having chatted quietly the entire way there. They both were expecting at least a token of resistance from Blake's uncle. Instead, he welcomed them both warmly, ushered them in, and made them tea and offered Blake a new book to read, while Ruby drooled over his personal weapons, a pair of bladed tonfa.

"Are they guns?!" The Reaper asks in her excitement as she examines them closely.

"When I attended Beacon, oh almost thirty years ago now, mechashift was still a growing craze, and not the norm." The older panther informs her with a smile. "Like many others, I simply chose to carry a firearm instead of giving into the craze like Summer Rose and Qrow Branwen did."

"You knew my parents?" She asks quietly as she gently sets the razor sharp weapon down.

"I did. Team STRQ began their rise to fame during my own fourth year, and I followed their exploits with great personal interest." He replies as he motions for the wolf faunus girl to join him at the kotetsu, Ruby sitting with surprising grace. "Many are the stories I can tell you of their first year, and many more are the ones my sister can regale you with after I graduated."

"Please?" He blinks in surprise at the request, and feels his heart ache a bit for her tears. "No one ever really talks about them. No one wants to talk about them, because it hurts them to."

"Miss Rose, you have to understand, Summer never met a stranger. She was open, honest, and loyal to a fault to her friends and especially her growing family. Yet, she was not without her own faults, chief of which is that she turned someone away. Someone who loved her as deeply as I have heard you love Weiss Schnee." Pausing, he sighs. "Yet, perhaps it was meant to be as well."

"Who?"

The panther faunus sighs. "I cannot and will not say. It is not my place, as I was told in the strictest of confidences. But, what I can say is that she did not allow the pain to define her, but fuel her to stand even taller, and become the woman who the entire world respected." Clapping his hands together, he smiles brightly at her. "Now, let me go awaken the Black Snow and her beloved ballerina, and I will be more than happy to share stories of your parents while we make a late lunch."

Blake looks up from her book curiously. "Did they manage to stop Mom?"

Tukson laughs heartily. "Of course not! Kali helped me bring them in after they fell asleep at the Apollo's Café across the street!"

Ruby and Blake both begin to laugh at that bit of news, even as they helped prepare lunch, speak of Summer and Qrow fondly, and prepare for the confrontation between themselves, Kali Belladonna, and Adam Taurus...