She was silent throughout the rest of the trip back, much like the rest of the squad. Her mother and grandfather, a man she knew next to nothing about, both served in Spec Ops... presumably died on a mission in it, too. It explained enough for her, the mysterious lack of any detail surrounding her mother's death, and the fact that no body or personal effects were ever recovered... but now she was only left with more questions than she'd come in with. How did Summer Rose die? How did her grandfather? What were the missions that ended them, what was the objective? Questions she just couldn't shake, not that she couldn't have the answers she wanted anymore, now that she was in this organization.

However that's not to say she hadn't tried to learn about her parents on her mother's side before. Several years after she learned that her mom wouldn't be coming home she'd attempted to find out who'd come before her, but aside from a grandmother she never met, one "Olivia Rose," a civilian with the only interesting thing about her being that she birthed her mom, that was it. In public records Crimson Rose just didn't exist, case closed. However, according to her father, the mother and father of her own mom were in fact married... unfortunately, that too was the extent of his knowledge. Apparently Summer just didn't like to talk about her family much, so even Uncle Qrow and her own Father were mostly in the dark on her family lineage.

If the majority of his existence was within the bounds of Spec Ops, it explained why so little was known about him, although it didn't entirely explain why his whole existence was seemingly scrubbed from public records... she had some questions for Ozpin, now. His soul had been alive for perhaps millions of years, so he was definitely around during that time... not to mention, he was the Founder of Spec Ops. If anyone could know, it was him...

"Something on your mind, Ruby?" Glynda asked while nudging her arm with her elbow. Ruby just shook her head a few times before sitting back and letting her eyes wander with no specific item to settle on.

"What was she like?" Ruby queried idly, checking over her rifle a few times and flicking some dirt out. Glynda paused for a moment, before sighing and leaning forward, resting her forearms on her knees.

"Best damn 4 I've ever served with. In close quarters, she could take the whole squad on at once, and win... good friend, too, but harsh, had a bit of an ego." She said with a somber laugh, before shaking her head and looking around the cabin. "She, her father and myself were the last of my first squad, and after Crimson made the ultimate sacrifice to save us, she and I were the last of our original squad left."

"I never got to know my own mom much... I was only five when she left... how did she die?"

"Heroically. Just like Crimson paid the ultimate price for us, so too did she for us..." She lamented, before wiping her face a few times and releasing a heavy sigh. "We were cut off from each other. Each of us had our tasks, each of us acting independently on a squad mission. 1 ancient facility, 5 square kilometers 5 objectives, 5 operators, 5 minutes. Intel was good, but the enemy had a greater understanding of the facility than we initially thought. They primed to reactor to go critical... the explosion would've been small, but the radiation leak would've been catastrophic. By the time we realized what was going on, it was already too late, we would've all died from lethal levels of Gamma radiation."

"But you're still here." Ruby mused, scratching her chin.

"Yes. Because your mother used her semblance to reach the reactor before any of us could, barreling through three kilometers of radiation-flooded halls to reach the reactor while we ran. We knew our fates were in her hands, so we ran, placing our faith in her abilities... She made it, killed the bad guys and picked up the codes to seal off the chamber and stop the meltdown... She would've sealed the door from outside the chamber, but they'd destroyed the exterior controls for good measure. She had to seal the chamber while she was still inside to contain the radiation, then stopped the meltdown... the radiation killed her." Glynda explained, a faraway look in her eyes as she explained it all. "She saved all of us that day, our squad at the time... it was Artyom's first mission, he remembers it with greater clarity than I do, could probably write a whole book about it in that foreign language of his. A team was sent in one month later after it was deemed that the rads had subsided enough to send in a cleanup crew. Breached the chamber, retrieved Summer's preserved body... two days later, all of the organization gathered for the funeral pyre."

There was once again silence afterwards, before finally being breached again by the curious girl. "Funeral Pyre? That normal?"

"Yeah... yeah it is. Whenever a member of the organization pays the ultimate price, we hold one to honor them, send them onto the other side with dignity. We mourn our own, our family. In this organization, we are all family. Every member of every squad, they're all your brothers and sisters. When one dies, no matter what squad, we're all devastated, and we all weep for our loss. This is the Spec Ops way." Alison cut in, her voice extremely serious. "You will attend many a pyre in your lifetime if you last long enough, and eventually each one will be like another hole in your heart that will remain forever hollow. Don't deny the emotions you feel then, they're what make us human, after all."

"Da... You understand soon enough. If survive this year, will share our collective pain." Artyom this time described, setting his weapons on the floor while lounging back a bit. "Reminds me, Rylanor of Sigma's pyre tonight, da?"

"Yah... gods with 'im, died a damn hero. Shame only we will eva know that side uv 'im." Jason sighed, cleaning some dirt out of his weapon before looking up at Ruby. "Sorry luv, you may be part uv Spec Ops, but ya ain't initiated yet, that'll be ya first mission with the squad... but the uninitiated don't attend the pyres. Matter of provin' your werth."

"Don't take it personally, Ruby, tradition dictates that it's disrespectful for the uninitiated to attend one of our pyres." Glynda summed it up to her, the girl giving a short nod of understanding in response.

"I understand." Was all she could say, before the light turned green in the cabin from it's previous pale white, and with it, the doors swung open, revealing the hangar they'd departed from not too long ago. It didn't take any further words for all of Metal to step off and head for the workshops. Equipment needed to be cleaned and repaired on everyone's end, not to mention every single one of them wouldn't mind a shower. For Ruby's case, there was a bunch of mud caked on her face and in her hair, and though she usually kept her hair short, it was dense, fluffy, and she'd been growing it out. It took a considerable amount of effort to keep crap from getting stuck down at the roots, but she had a feeling today's activity would be particularly difficult to get out...

She'd just finished taking all of her gear save for her combat shirt, pants and boots off when she received a small ping from her scroll. Pulling it up from her pocket and sweeping the dirt off, she checked who it was from, and sighed when she saw it was from her team's group chat. This part of Beacon automatically turned off her locator, and it would remain off for a few minutes after she left, but it seemed that her team didn't like that, not that she necessarily cared what her team liked or disliked now. Not a moment too soon, she received a call request from her dear sister...

"What?" She asked simply as soon as she accepted the call, her curt demeanor easily caught with her tone of voice.

"Ruby, where are you? We've checked everywhere in Beacon now!" Yang demanded to know, to which Ruby just rolled her eyes. Of course she wanted to know where she was, only took getting her ass handed to her to remember she was still here.

"Ozpin and Glynda have me tasked out, and my location is none of your business. Now did you have anything actually important to say, or did you just call to waste my time?"

"What the... Ruby, is something wrong? This curtness of yours, it isn't... I dunno, but it isn't you..?"

"No. Since you have nothing important to say, bye." Ruby hung up the call, before returning to scrubbing her gear down...

It took a few hours, but she'd cleaned all the dirt and shit out of her weapons, plate carrier and helmet, repaired the damaged helmet and and fabrics, and discarded the compromised front plate, putting in an order for another of the same dimensions afterwards. Once that was done, she took the uncompromised plates and soft armor out of her carrier, and tossed it, her combat shirt and pants, and her helmet cover all in the washer, before hopping in one of the showers offered in the facility.

She was thankful that they had such heavy-duty products here, because it cut right through the stench and grime, rinsed the dirt and crap right out of her hair with little issue, leaving her scalp less itchy than even before departing for the mission. It was nice, she'd admit, and after changing into more simple clothes upon exiting the shower, she got to work scrubbing her boots, too. Normally black, they were instead browned, caked with mud and grime. That was a shorter procedure than cleaning her other gear, but she couldn't help but feel that some of the scuff marks would never go away.

She'd changed into a simple white T-shirt, a black leather bomber jacket, a grey miniskirt, and a pear of sneakers. Comfortable clothes, more than sufficient enough to suit her needs of just heading out to town and browsing some goods. As she was aware, Spec Ops did get paid, even for just training. A look at her balance confirmed it, though she was surprised at just how considerable the payout was. 1,000 lien transferred to her balance, just for an hour of training.

It was as much incentive to do well as it was hush money, but she didn't mind in either case. Was she gonna blow it on frivolous things? Perhaps, but at the end of the day it was expendable, non-taxed income that didn't factored in come tax season, meaning it wouldn't affect her tax bracket. And she would be training like this with Glynda 5 days a week, so she wasn't exactly concerned about going into the red...

"Going somewhere, Ruby?" Glynda called, similarly redressed in civilian clothes, alongside Jason, Alison, and Artyom all similarly dressed...

"Yeah, going down to town. Thought I'd treat myself a bit. Thinking cookies or a milkshake."

"That sounds nice, mind if we tag along? Pyre isn't until midnight so us four got time." She continued with a friendly smirk, surprising Ruby a bit. She wasn't expecting Glynda to want to spend time with her, especially since the woman was well over twice her age.

"It's certainly unexpected, but no, I don't really mind. You looking to blow some cash as well?"

"That's the plan. There's this really great pizza place we always go to after missions or tough training sessions, we'll have to introduce you to it afterwards." She offered in a friendly tone, before sauntering up to her and looking her up and down... "ah, you're concealing your PDW in your jacket?"

"What gave it away?" Ruby asked, perplexed as she was fairly sure she'd concealed it almost perfectly.

"Slight bulge in the side that isn't as prominent on the opposite side, which I'm assuming is holding your scroll and wallet. It's fine, after all, no sane Spec Ops member goes anywhere unarmed." She pat her hip, implying that she had a handgun on her person that she was concealing. Given Ruby couldn't even tell, she'd have to pick her mind about weapon concealment some time.

Looking on each of her squadmates, she noted that this was her first time seeing any of their faces, and decided it best to take them in and try to commit them to memory. Alison had a jaw-droppingly gorgeous face with a button nose, big blue eyes, and ash blonde hair that ran down to her shoulder blades, and her kit seemingly concealed strikingly feminine form. Her outfit was pretty much the same as her own, except she wore a black vest, her shirt was sleeveless, booty jorts, and a white baseball cap with a pink brim. Finally, she had a pink and white handbag slung over her left shoulder and resting on her right hip.

Jason had a similar build to Ren if anything, which made sense given he was apparently the squad's infiltration expert. He had a slight 5 o'clock shadow, sharper features with high cheekbones, a somewhat squared jawline and a somewhat roman nose. His eyes were concealed by black shades, and he seemed to favor a slouch hat. Aside from those, he wore a red collared long sleeve shirt with the sleeves folded up to the base of his forearms, an unzipped black ranger vest, dark gray slacks and brown leather boots.

Finally, there was Artyom... he was a behemoth even out of armor, although she noted that it really shouldn't have been unexpected. He was at the very least 8'6", making him both the tallest person she'd ever met, and the most stacked. He was built up like some statuesque hero of legend, and all his clothes were clearly custom tailored to fit his size. In complete honesty, he looked like he could move a mountain, and given how easily he'd thrown that IFV, she wouldn't be surprised to see him do so. Aside from that, he sported a short and choppy haircut for his blonde hair, a full beard and imperial mustache under a chiseled nose. His jawline was chiseled, squared, his cheekbones high, and his blue, sharp eyes finished off his look appropriately. As far as what he was wearing went, a simple white T-shirt, worn jeans, a brown leather jacket, and a pair of black sneakers.

Glynda's outfit was simple, consisting of a vanilla knit turtleneck, dark red slacks and black shoes. Her hair was let down, pulled back so it wouldn't be in the way. Nobody had anything on them that could be noted as a clear way to standout, just the way they'd like it for such an outing. After all, last thing anyone wanted while they were out was to bring attention to themselves.

"Well, what are you guys carrying?" Ruby asked, looking to Artyom, Alison and Jason.

"I got a .44 magnum in my handbag." Alison said, before looking to Jason who just pulled a .45 caliber handgun from his jacket. Artyom's was a sawed off 12 gauge shotgun with a short barrel that was surprisingly no longer than his thigh, and the weapon actually concealed against it in its concealed carry holster fairly well. Finally, Glynda pulled out two of the same handguns that Jason had, one from each hip. "What about yours, Ruby? Whaddya got?"

"Me? 9mm PDW, nothing too fancy." Ruby answered, pulling the weapon out and extending the stock. They just nodded in response, and she put it back. She gave a simple overhead wave of her arm and began walking, her new squad falling in behind her as she did so...

They ended up going for pizza first, with the gang pulling up at a place simply called "The Altyn." Both outside and in, it looked like a fine establishment. Grapevines and warm coloration, a wine bar, outdoor dining, the works. However, when Glynda showed a coin bearing Spec Ops' logo, they were led to an upstairs section...

"The Altyn was created by one of our own a few decades back. Family run. They don't know who we are or what we do, but if bear our mark you eat here free of charge in the VIP section." Glynda explained, gesturing to the area around them. The second floor was much finer than the one below it, which they could look down on since the VIP suite was more or less a floating platform held up by a few pillars and walls, with railings at the edges and some more "romantic" lighting.

"Food here is absolutely sublime, especially the VIP menu items. Founder was Nikolai Altyn, squad leader for Zeta Squad a few decades back. His granddaughter, Anna Altyn, is currently in Bravo." Alison explained, before pulling out a seat for Ruby, which she gladly took.

"Huh. Is it normal for members of the organization to have a family history in it?" Ruby asked as she took her seat, receiving a nod from each of them.

"Da. Most can trace legacy back few hundred or thousand years." Artyom answered, before skimming over the menu a little.

"Rose is a more recent one, dating back about 200 years at most... but your legacy is a more confusing one. Summer was the first Rose to ever be declassified, first born outside Spec Ops." Glynda continued, drawing a somewhat confused look from Ruby. With an exasperated sigh, she continued. "For a period of about 500 years, silver eyed warriors had went totally extinct. Salem had successfully killed the last of them. Project Rose was a successful attempt at artificially recreating Silver Eyed Warriors. Aurelius Rose, commonly referred to as "The Phoenix" within our ranks, was born in a vat, in a lab, and was designed to be a living weapon, the Ultimate Weapon. In terms of what he could do, he could easily be described as non-human. Faster, stronger, smarter and tougher than any human ever could be." She described, making Ruby's eyes widen in shock.

"Yeah, but that ain't been seen since. Genes got diluted ova generations. Last Rose with overtly clear deviations from the norm was Crimson." Jason added, crossing his arms and kicking back after settling on what he wanted. "Now your genes have been diluted enough to where ya almost human. Last bit of genetic augmentation left is ya stamina."

"Yes... although it is surprising that you have a hereditary semblance. Rose was not know for that, and your sister didn't inherit her father's or mother's, so it would imply it was so in Summer despite neither her father or mother having one." Glynda finished her thoughts, before halting the conversation as their waiter came around. They all made their order, and continued as soon as the man was on his way.

"Uh... I'm sorry, but my semblance isn't inherited, per say..." Ruby started, drawing a quizzical look from everyone present, implying she continue. "My semblance is pretty fitting for being a jack of all trades. Copy-Cat... but there's a lot of drawbacks. I can't copy more than one semblance at a time, and if I copy someone else's semblance, I lose my previous, alongside all progress towards strengthening it I once had, and all evolutions upon it I might've developed... not only that, I have to know what the semblance is, and be within 10 meters of them, living."

"Oh... well, that explains a lot. You never seemed like the sort to have a speed semblance, or whatever it is you have... but why stick with your mother's? Clearly you've seen stronger ones with more potential." Alison questioned, leaning in to learn a bit about the girl.

"It's the semblance I copied unknowingly at first, prompting my family to think it was just that. Then I copied Yang's on accident, but kept it to myself, copying different people's semblances as it was convenient... then I copied mom's before she left, and never returned... didn't feel right to copy anyone else's, always felt like if I did, I'd be losing my mom a bit, I dunno." Ruby explained to the best of her ability and drawing understanding nods from her new team. Had she handicapped herself by doing this? Perhaps, but she didn't regret it. If nerfing herself was what was needed to keep a little bit of her mother with her, by god she was gonna do it.

"Well never mind all that. Has everyone found something to eat?"

They'd tracked Ruby's scroll tracker to The Altyn, a restaurant that none of them were familiar with. They had some reservations at first, but were set at ease when they walked inside and saw what kind of place it was. They'd ordered some food and drinks, and just idly scanned the room for Ruby from their booth.

It was somewhat odd that as they looked around, they couldn't see the girl anywhere even though her locator clearly stated her to be within here. It was infuriating, to say the least. Where exactly in the restaurant she was, they had no idea, and it was starting to get really old really fast...

"Where the heck is she?" Yang growled impatiently, her foot tapping against the ground rapidly and with force enough to make notable sound.

"Be patient, Yang. Maybe she left her scroll on a table as she left for the restroom or something." Blake chided lightly, though she was only masking her own impatience better.

"Hey, guys? I think I found her." Weiss called out, drawing their attention to herself. She was pointing up at the second floor, and wouldn't you know it, sitting at a table in the VIP section by the railing overlooking them, was Ruby Rose and four others... people they didn't recognize.

"What the- who are they?! Doesn't she have any idea how dangerous hanging out with complete strangers is?!." Yang blurt out, before standing up and practically dragging the other two over to the stairs. Whether Ruby had managed to beat her in battle or not didn't matter, she'd be damned if she let her do something so irresponsible.

However, as if all the fates were conspiring against her, the stairwell up to the second floor was blocked off by two of the staff in black tuxedos, who seemed completely unconcerned despite the hostile blonde marching towards them.

"VIPs only, clear out." The one on the right ordered to no avail, as he only got Yang's finger in his face.

"MY sister is up there, let us up!" She demanded, though only got a scoff in return.

"Do you have the mark?"

"What mark?" She asked, confused as she didn't know about any such mark or whatever it was needed to go up.

"If you don't know then it's none of your business. Clear out." The left side sorta bouncer laughed, before raising a brow at the buxom blonde cocking her gauntlets, chambering rounds. "I wouldn't recommend hostilities. We might not be able to stop you, but the people upstairs are all more than capable, and will respond if they're alerted." While he stalled, the other stepped back and pressed a finger to his ear, hoping to get the attention of those upstairs before they got their asses kicked...

*Ding ding ding ding di-*

Alison flicked something at the wall alarm, hitting and shutting off the alert, before rising up with a sigh. However, she was halted by Artyom who was already rising as she was tossing the item.

"I handle it. Who think is?" He asked, drawing a low groan from their newest squad mate.

"Scroll says my team is here, so it's probably them. Nine to one odds say it's my sister causing trouble, so I should handle this." Ruby announced, rising from her seat and walking towards the stairwell. The rest of the squad just nodded, before falling in behind her.

"E're a squad, luv. We gotcha back if things goes south." Jason announced, cracking his neck back and forth as he stood upright.

"Count us in too, eh?" Another voice cut through the quiet, drawing their attention to the other five sitting up there at a different table. "Echo Squad atcha service, newbie. Always a pleasure to welcome the new blood."

"Nice to meet some more veterans of the trade. C'mon, let's see if I can't calm my... 'team.'" Ruby welcomed them to join with a friendly expression, before turning again and making way for the stairwell with a whole second squad in tow...

"-Don't care! Let me through, before I-"

"Before you what, Yang?" Ruby cut her sister off, stepping out around the turn of the stairs. She crossed her arms with a very unamused glare sent her sister's way, and the nine others backing her up must've provided something of a heavy impact upon her sister's morale as upon seeing just how severely she'd be outnumbered, and with her own sister seemingly against her, outmatched.

"Ruby, what the heck are you thinking? You didn't tell us where you were going, and you didn't tell us who you were with, either!" Weiss began, making Ruby roll her eyes.

"My personal life is my own business, not yours. You three never tell me where you're going, when or who you're with, so don't even start on that." She countered, before turning to Blake to hear whatever was the next complaint.

"Ruby, going out like this, with complete strangers, is incredibly reckless, you must know that!" She started, crossing her arms and easing off her glare as she saw the nine behind Ruby narrow in on her hostility. "What if they had ill intentions?"

"I'll have you know that none of these people here are strangers to me. Rather, I trust them all implicitly, though the nature of my relationship with them is as much your business as my personal life is."

"But they're strangers to us!" Yang roared, drawing all eyes to herself. "We don't know these people, and you don't know people like we do! You're not old enough-"

"Don't you fucking dare pull the age card." Ruby warned with a dangerous look to her eyes. It instantly silenced her half-sister, making her take a step back as the intensity of her gaze felt as if she was trying to burn her to ash on the spot. "I was moved ahead in recognition of my actions and have done nothing but continue to prove myself and demonstrate that my presence at Beacon isn't a god damn mistake. I undergo all the same and more trials and challenges than you do both scholastically, in battle and as your leader so don't you dare, don't you fucking dare try to say I'm not old enough for anything that doesn't have a legal age requirement."

They were struck silent by Ruby's calm, admittedly menacing declaration momentarily, but recovered quickly enough resume the argument within a reasonable time frame.

"Ruby... you don't understand. It's not like that, what Yang means to say is that you're not mature enough or ready for some of these things yet-" Weiss attempted to reason, though that only managed to redirect Ruby's ire.

"Maturity? No no, don't even start on that shit. I wasn't the one who threw a tantrum over leader selection, so don't you go bringing maturity into this. If I'm mature enough to be trained to fight and kill, then I'm mature enough to go out on my own and make friends without all of your knowledge or approval..." Ruby turned to Blake, and just shook her head angrily.

"W-what did I do? I-I haven't even said anything you haven't already rebuked!"

"Nothing. It's just hilariously hypocritical that you value your personal time so damn much but suddenly it isn't okay for me to have my own." The statement immediately had Blake's expression turn downward, a look of shame plastered across her face. "Now... I know you three all each have your individual problems with me, and I'll address them all at a later date. Don't think any of you can pull the rug over my eyes, I know, and I got a few things to say about all THAT when the time is right."

Her declaration of knowledge paled all of their expressions, although Ruby continued before they could say anything more. "Now, did you have any actual problems that require my attention, or are you done badgering me with nonsense for now?"

"...no... no we uh... we don't need anything else..." Weiss settled while awkwardly scratching the back of her neck. "You uh... you have a good night out, alright?"

"Yeah." And with that, her team took their leave, their will to fight over the topic dashed. Evidently enough the fact that Ruby knew how they felt was devastating enough to them, if their downtrodden expressions were anything to go by. She was at least glad she hadn't blown up on any of them, at least to the degree that was so tempting.

By all means, Ruby wanted to yell at them, vent her anger straight into their faces... but it wouldn't solve anything, only verify what they already thought about her. If she screamed bloody murder straight into their faces over their personal opinions on her, it would only come off as childish and immature. It would only come off like a tantrum, and while it might feel good for her in the moment, it would be regression. The whole reason she began effecting change was to progress as a huntress and leave her state of stagnation behind, and she'd be damned if she let her emotions on the opinions of people she didn't even consider her friends anymore get in the way of moving forward.

"That went better than expected... thanks for backing me up, all, even if none of you had to say anything in it." Ruby thanked as she turned around, her expression softening as she was greeted by warm, friendly smiled and nods of approval.

"C'mon, ain't every day we get some new blood!" One of the Echo members, a man who looked to be in his early twenties at most, announced while throwing an arm over her shoulders. "Let's celebrate! Come midnight we mourn, but until then, let's welcome the newbie to the team!"

She didn't know why, but she didn't expect such a warm reception. When she was made leader, the only positive reception was from Yang, positivity she knew now had to have been fake. Weiss had acted like a total bitch, not that much had changed, and Blake was quiet as ever... this team was different. Every member of both Metal and Echo seemed ecstatic to have her there, every one raised a glass to her, offered advice to improve, and traded numbers so she could call and train or just hang out...

Ninety minutes. It took ninety minutes to forge five more friendships and fortify four others established mere hours earlier, all already stronger than the ones she'd previously had with her own team and JNPR. Both squads taught her something new, both insisted on getting to know her by a first-name basis... they all expressed a desire to know her as more than Metal 5. How was it, she wondered, that these people she hadn't known for longer than an hour and a half or twelve hours were already better friends than the ones she'd thought she'd had for several months now? How was it they all appreciated her more? It didn't make sense, but then again that's just how it was, wasn't it?

As she kicked back in the park with her squad, merely lounging back in one of their benches, she thought back to her encounter with her team not so long ago. The cat was out of the bag now, and she knew that odds were in favor of them wanting to offer her an apology when she got back. Her team may not have known her very well, and seemingly enough neither had her own sister, but that didn't mean she didn't know them well. Their apologies would, of course, be disingenuous. Weiss was firm in her beliefs and cared little about how she felt, so any apology coming from her lips likely would've been forced by her sister or just stand as a blatant lie in attempt to save face or keep combat cohesion intact, perhaps a combination of both. Yang she knew now was little more than a two-faced liar, so any apology following her learning that she knew would no doubt be just as fake as the words she'd used to encourage and uplift her spirits when they'd arrived at Beacon. Then there was Blake, who was little more than a self-absorbed coward who'd do or say anything to get herself out of hot water or run away from conflict, just like she'd run from her ex, Adam Taurus.

Oh, how Blake would panic if she heard her say that name. She was far more perceptive than they gave her credit for, and she had paid attention when Blake muttered under her breath, read the notes compiled in journals laid open and scattered when the cat had passed out writing them. The name wasn't there explicitly, but it wasn't difficult to put two and two together. The man's existence was no secret, and neither was the fact that he was one of the top dogs of the White Fang. Blake was running from something, someone, or both, that much was obvious. Compile that with what she knew from her own research, she managed to fill in the blank name that Blake always left out. Running from the past and a vengeful, obsessive ex-boyfriend instead of confronting the issue and nipping it in the bud or handling things in a less emotional manner. And now her cowardice had let problems they face today fester.

"So, Ruby, we were thinking of hitting up the market before heading back, down to clown with us?" Alison offered, to which the girl nodded in confirmation after snapping out of her inner thoughts.

"Yeah, that sounds good. What were you thinking of getting?"

"Batteries, ammo, more stuff to modify my weapons, the usual." She replied, not jumping in the slightest as Jason rested an elbow on her shoulder and tipped his hat to her.

"You'll find we ain't much ta buy stuff not related to work first. Focus your hard-earned payout on replacing expended gear and gettin' sum shiny new shit, luv." He told with a cheeky smile, before Glynda stepped up.

"Nah, just focus on what works, replacing expended gear, and if you've found a deficiency in your gear, focus on remedying that. Otherwise, it's YOUR non-taxable income, so however you spend it is at YOUR discretion." She added, giving her a warm smile as she waved an arm overhead signaling for them to roll out. Ruby chanced a look at Artyom, see if he had anything to say, but the big bruiser just walked silently with a content smile settled upon his face. She had realized fairly early on that he wasn't much one for talking too much, so it wasn't all too surprising...

"She knows... how does she know?!." Weiss screeched inside their room, pacing back and forth as she tried to trace events back to the source. The signs had been subtle, but had grown more and more obvious and they were completely oblivious to it all until just now. Ruby's standoffishness, her curtness, confidence in classes today, how she disappeared during meals lately and punched Blake in the face today... not to mention the near-total change in combat style and application. Ruby had almost entirely foregone raw skill with her weapons and semblance in favor of more streamlined tactics and strategies that revolved around utilizing more standardized equipment to exploit weaknesses and not just defeat but outright slaughter enemies. She wasn't fighting like a Hunter, wasn't fighting like Ruby, and she couldn't say why, but that terrified her. Right now, the last thing she wanted was to see just what exactly Ruby would have in store to counter her...

"This is bad, how did it come to this? What the hell went wrong!?" Yang roared in turn, falling back in her bed and screaming into her pillow. She knew something was seriously wrong when she made such a radical change in combat style and defeat the three strongest warriors of their year back to back, but this? "God DAMNIT!... If she knows... oh no... then in her eyes, I-"

"Guys, calm down. It isn't any big deal, really. So what if Ruby knows what we think about her? She's just some naïve kid, tell her we're sorry and she'll forgive us, that's just how she is. Knowing her, she's probably just annoyed that we've... admittedly been neglecting her of late." Blake offered, making Weiss calm down as she just sat back down in her bed after leveling out her breathing. Yang, however, wasn't so easily appeased.

"You don't get it! She probably thinks I'm some sort of liar now, but I'd never lie to her! I'm her big sister, she-"

"Forgives and forgets too easily for her own good, and you know that. We have nothing to worry about. Sure, she may be a little pissed off right now, but just give her a few days and she'll cool off, and we'll be right back with our old happy-go-luck, over-energetic and annoying child of a leader." Blake drawled on, smiling as Yang noticeably calmed down at that...

A few hours had passed, drawing out to about 2100 when Ruby finally sauntered back through the door to their room, covered in sweat and in some more simple gym attire with a duffle bag thrown over her shoulder, scroll in one hand and a protein recovery shake in the other. All three of WBY stood as she entered the room, hoping to get a bit of her attention. Yang had stepped forward first, opening her mouth to begin but immediately getting cut off by her little sister as she shoved her aside.

"Move." She commanded simply as she passed, dropping the duffle bag, setting her scroll down on the bedside table, taking a sip then setting the protein shake next to her scroll and sifting through the drawers. She pulled out her usual bedtime clothes, then pushed past Weiss and took a towel from the closet, before making way for the bathroom. However, before she could make it to the door, the last of her teammates cut her off. "Get out of my way, Blake."

"Ruby, just please stop for a second, alright?" She pleaded with an almost genuine sounding voice. Ruby rolled her eyes and just shoved Blake aside with her free hand after setting her towel over her shoulder. Two months ago, she would've been almost hopeless of moving Jaune out of the way, never mind Blake... she was thankful that she knew how to pinpoint her aura to heal sore muscles, maximize and amplify results of intense physical training. Now she was no obstacle, evident by how easily she was seemingly shoved out of the way.

And without a second word, the door to the bathroom shut, and the sound of running water filled the room, dulled by the wall and door. They all stood anxious and uncertain, now. They did not expect Ruby to act so... they weren't sure how to describe it, but it was definitely a helluva lot more aggressive than how she usually acted. Words like "please" and "can you" were totally absent, which they didn't quite think were removable from the girl's vocabulary.

"Guys, let's uh..." Weiss began, scratching the back of her neck nervously as she began. "Let's leave her be for now. She said she'd address the elephant in the room when the time is right, so I say we wait it out. Trying to make her tell us what's wrong when she's only halfcocked will probably only blow up in our faces."

Her declaration was met with a duo of reluctant nods, now unsure of the sureness of their solution. The Ruby they knew didn't act like this, not even when upset. She'd changed, drastically, probably started weeks ago and only reached the breaking point with them a few nights ago. All they knew for certain was that the situation they thought would be simple and straightforward enough to fix was going to be much more complicated than originally thought.

Little did they know, there would be no forgiveness when the time came...

A/N:
Hello everyone! Apologies for taking so long to publish this one, haven't quite had a good enough break in the day-to-day of late to make much, but the next chapter should be out relatively sooner than this one was.