Elm sat on the edge of the bed, with the girl she rescued curled up under the sheets. The woman ran her fingers through her dark locks as she slept. They had arrived back at base not even an hour ago and the child hadn't awoken. She must have been exhausted, Elm figured.
Clover was holed up in the communications room, searching through Vale's records for who this girl might be. In the meantime, the girl was under Elm's watchful eye. Tortuga had volunteered to pull together some dinner for the girl and the team, with Harriet tagging along to help despite her rather below-average cooking skills. Vine had opted to go to bed.
Under the sheets, the small child held the red and black hunk of metal like a stuffed animal, pressing close to it and wrapping her tiny arms around it. Ever since they had found her, she had never lost her grip on it. It must have been important to her.
All the while, Elm puzzled over the mystery of the sudden disappearance of the population on Patch. It just didn't make sense, no, it was impossible that the entirety of the island's inhabitants disappeared overnight with only this girl as a survivor. No matter how Elm tried to rationalize it, she couldn't come up with a logical explanation. It was as if the entire population just vanished into thin air.
All save for one.
A knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see Clover in the doorway, pensively frowning.
"Well? Did you find anything?" Elm inquired immediately.
Clover nodded. "Yeah. Her name is Ruby Rose." He stepped into the room before sitting on the bed next to his teammate. "Her father is Taiyang Xiao Long, and she and her sister, Yang, lived together on the island. She's twelve and Yang is fourteen."
"Xiao Long…" Elm mumbled. "The name strikes me as familiar. I believe he's a huntsman."
"You'd be right. He graduated Beacon with his team, STRQ. Xiao Long married both of the women on his team. Raven Branwen, his first wife, disappeared not long after the first daughter was born. Then, he married Summer Rose, and she died when Ruby was about four. And we have no clue where Qrow Branwen is."
"So…as of right now…"
"Since we can't locate her father, her sister, her aunt, or her uncle, we have no next of kin. I'm gonna have some people get to work on locating Qrow Branwen, see if maybe he's hanging around Vale somewhere. Until then, we need to decide what we're gonna do with the kid."
Elm broke eye contact with Clover to look back down at the slumbering girl, who they now knew was named Ruby.
"What a fitting name…" Elm thought as she observed the small red cape on her back and the red highlights in the girl's hair. She wondered if it was her natural color.
Another knock interrupted the conversation, revealing Tortuga with a tray of food and Harriet trailing in behind her.
"Is she awake yet?" Tortuga whispered. Harriet was peaking her head over Tortuga's shoulder to look at the sleeping Ruby.
"Not yet. Though, it would be best if we woke her and got some food in her. She's probably starving." Elm murmured.
The muscular woman reached down and gently brushed her fingers against the girl's cheek.
"Ruby? You need to wake up, dear…"
Almost instantly, Ruby groaned and shifted before sitting up. She rubbed at her eyes with the heels of her palms.
Elm had to resist the urge to squeal.
The girl opened her eyes, bleary with sleep. She blinked a few times before focusing on the woman sitting on her bed.
"Where am I?" Ruby groggily asked.
Tortuga stepped forward with the tray. "Before we get into that, you should eat some, okay?" She said gently, placing the tray in Ruby's lap.
Ruby silently looked down at the food before a very conspicuous growl broke the silence. She blushed before digging into the food, eating as if she indeed had not done so in days.
Harriet raised an eyebrow, scoffing a bit in amusement at how quickly the tiny girl consumed her meal.
For her part, Tortuga was rather pleased that Ruby seemed to be enjoying her food so much. Harriet liked to tease that her cooking wasn't as great as she said it was, but Tortuga knew better.
Once she finished inhaling the food, Ruby let out a tiny burp before looking at Tortuga.
"Thank you for the food, miss!" She chirped.
Tortuga swore her heart grew three sizes that day. "Of course, hon. I'm glad you liked it."
"Um…not to be rude, or anything, but where am I?" She asked again.
Everyone in the room looked at Clover, who sighed and gestured for Elm to stand up from the bed. She did and he replaced her before placing a hesitant hand on top of the girl's knee.
This was going to be a lot of information for her to absorb, and he needed to tread carefully, especially where the girl's family was concerned. Sure, they didn't know for certain of her father and sister's fate. That was either a blessing or a curse.
"Well, to start, you're in Atlas."
The girl's silver eyes blew wide. "Atlas?! Like, the super-rich fancy place that Uncle Qrow doesn't like?"
Clover huffed with a smile. "Yeah, that place."
"Wooow! That's so cool! I've never been out of Patch before! Uncle Qrow told me all about Atlas. It's all clean and white and future-y and stuff! Are my dad and sister here, too?"
The atmosphere in the room seemed to cool a few degrees at the question. Elm shared a glance at Harriet, who bit her lip and winced at the girl's words. They really hadn't wanted to have to answer it so soon. Of course, they had expected her to ask, but it didn't make their answer any easier.
Tortuga seemed to sense Clover's anxiety as he pondered how to respond, so she stepped forward and crouched next to Ruby's bed. She sensed this needed a more…womanly touch.
"Ruby, hon, I'm going to need you to listen to me, okay?"
Ruby nodded.
"Do you remember what happened to you last night?"
Ruby tilted her head to the side. "Well, dad and Yang went out to the market to get some food for dinner. It was getting really late and they still weren't back yet. Then, I heard all these growls and noises outside, and I knew they were Grimm right away. So I hid in the small room that dad told me to go into if Grimm got into the house when he wasn't there." Ruby's fists curled around the sheets. "Then, I heard the Grimm come inside, and all of a sudden, the room started to shake and I felt something hit me in the head. I went to sleep, and when I woke up it was dark."
"Okay, that was great, Ruby. So…about your dad and your sister." Tortuga reached up and placed a hand over Ruby's. "Your home was attacked by Grimm, Ruby, and…we're not sure where your dad and your sister are."
Tortuga's explanation hung in the air. They could all see the wheels in Ruby's head begin to turn as she processed the information. Tortuga's fear shot through the roof when she began to see tears start to dot the corners of Ruby's eyes.
"D-Do you mean…that they're…?"
Tortuga immediately understood what she was asking. "No! No, we don't mean that, Ruby. We're just…not sure right now. But I promise you, we're going to do everything we can to find them, okay?" Tortuga moved her hands to cup Ruby's cheeks, quickly brushing away the falling tears with her thumbs.
Ruby nodded, but she was still crying. Tortuga's expression became pained, and she exhaled to keep her nerves steady. Immediately, Elm stepped forward, gently pushing Tortuga to the side. She curled her arms around the girl and pulled her close as Ruby quietly cried.
"Shh…you're okay, little Ruby." She murmured.
Harriet uncomfortably shifted, rubbing the back of her neck. She barely knew how to handle kids when they were happy, so a crying child was way out of left field for her. The whole situation was making her uncomfortable.
She made eye contact for a moment with Clover, who stood and left Elm and Tortuga handle comforting Ruby. His expression was hard and his brows were furrowed as he stiffly walked out of the room. Harriet followed after, and she quietly shut the door behind them.
"So…what now?" She asked.
Clover sighed. "I don't know. Under any normal circumstances, I would say put her in an adoption center, but…"
"But…?"
"Atlas doesn't have a great reputation when it comes to things like that. I hate to say it, but people here don't exactly have the best track record with raising good kids."
Harriet immediately thought of the Schnees and their emotionally repressed children. She guessed Clover did have a point in that regard.
"Any other ideas?"
Clover nodded. "Just one. I'll need to run it by the general."
"Mind cluing me in."
Clover chuckled a bit and flashed a small smile.
"We might have to go shopping for some kid's clothes."