It had been quite a long time since team RWBY had been together, but it seemed, by tomorrow they would be reunited.

Ruby and Yang chatted while braiding Sombra's blond and black hair. Roman was asleep, a book over his face with Narzisse draped over his middle and snoring loudly, Roman's bowler hat sitting ascue on the little blond faunus's head.

Blake sat with Lila and Soleil, playing a children's card game with the four and six year olds. Her remaining son, Sorin was fast asleep in her lap.

Even by airship a trip to Atlus was not a quick one and so the last few days had gone much like this.

Sombra moved up to the bench between her mother and aunt, whispering that the floor was turning into lava.

Ruby just chuckled and hugged the girl.

About that time Narzisse sneezed and sent Roman's hat tumbling to the floor.

"OH NO!" Sambra shouted. "THE FLOOR IS LAVA, UNCLE RORO'S HAT IS GONNA BURN!"

That brought Narzisse fully awake and she scrambled to grab the beloved hat from its 'fiery fate' but only managed to fall to the floor for her efforts.

"I'm gonna die!" She cried from the floor, flailing helplessly in the pretend lava.

"I'll save you! Lava doesn't hurt dragons!" Soleil proclaimed then rushed over to his sister's aid, a silly grin filling his face and his little wings bouncing excitedly.

The younger boy grabbed his sister and pulled her towards the bench where the now very awake Roman pulled her back up. He then tossed Roman's hat back up with them and ran back to his spot to retrieve his cards.

"I'm on fire!" Narzisse cried.

"Oh no! Put out the fire!" Roman played along, patting her shoulders and head to put out the make believe fire. "There! All safe now."

Narzisse squealed happily and Roman threw his arms wide for a hug which she did not hesitate to grant.

Blake smiled over at them, it had taken her a long time to see Roman's good side but she was glad she had, she could not picture a better uncle for her children. Besides, she of all people should know that those with dark pasts were not necessarily bad.

It was some time later she realized she had dozed off, she woke to the scene of all five of her children standing shoulder to shoulder with toy weapons in their hands, Roman down on all fours and roaring at them like a vicious Grimm.

Narzisse stood as lead, her sisters flanking her and her brothers flanking them. The boys where small for their age, with Soleil it made sense, being winged but not so much for Sorin, which worried her. She also noted that Sorin had once again abandoned his shirt, the patches of baby fur on his chest and back revealed.

Roman roared again and charged, causing the kids to scatter. He pinned down Lila and started tickling her. The other four rushed in, bopping him with the little toy weapons. Narzisse ran around in front of him and hit him in the chest. Roman let out a howl, grabbing the weapon and falling over.

"Alas, I am defeated." He gave a dramatic show of 'dying' then remained still, holding the toy weapon in place.

The kits all ran over to strike a victorious pose while Yang took a photo with her scroll. After that Narzisse ran over to Ruby to retrieve Roman's hat and put it on.

Lila and the boys ran over to Blake to tell her all about the dearing battle.

Sombra pulled on Roman's coat. "Get up!"

"Dead monsters don't get up." He mumbled up to her.

"You're not dead, not really!" She laughed, tugging harder. "You're just playing!"

Roman chuckled and sat up, pulling the girl into a hug.

The next day they arrived in Atlus, met by a chauffeur with a limo they were taken to the Schnee estate. The kids were quite amazed by the long car.

The gates of the estate stood tall as the vehicle pulled through, stopping in front of the mansion. It was easily as big if not bigger than Roman's own.

Weiss was waiting for them at the door, a warm, genuine smile on her face. Once everyone was in the foryar and hugs had been traded Yang introduced the children to Weiss. The children were instantly entranced by Weiss with her white hair and crystal blue eyes. They followed her like baby ducks as she showed everyone around.

Finally they settled into one of the sitting rooms with much to catch up on.

Though, this quickly led to very bored bumblekits.

"Can we play in the snow?" Sombra begged, she'd never seen so much in her life and she was dying to go play.

Blake nodded. "Watch after your brothers."

Soon the bumblekits were bundled and out in the snow, building snowmen and throwing snowballs. The courtyard was huge, with frozen fountains and statues, winter blooming flowers and evergreen trees.

It was by a group of these trees that Sorin soon noticed a small girl, easily the age of his sisters. She wore a long white coat adorned with blue snowflakes, like Weiss she had long white hair but her eyes were closed as she sobbed softly into her mits.

He frowned and ran over to her, not sure why she was upset. When he got close she turned and ran into the trees, vanishing behind a tall snowdrift near the wall. Sorin followed, ignoring his siblings calling for him. Around the snowdrift and a tree was a small hole in the wall near the ground, just big enough for the girl to have crawled through so again he followed. This time his siblings were close on his tail and followed him under the wall.

Now they all saw the girl, standing at the edge of the forest, covering her eyes just a few yards away.

"No one plays with me." She sobbed.

"We will play with you!" Sorin called.

The girl pulled the mits from her face and smiled, though she still didn't open her eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah!"

"Sorin… I'm not so sure of this… Who is she?" Narzisse asked.

"Someone who needs a friend."

"I have a bad feeling…" Soleil whispered quietly.

"I'm it! Come and catch me!" The girl called and ran into the woods.

Giggling Sorin followed, quickly followed by his siblings who soon started giggling too. They didn't mind the cold bite of the wind, not realizing the danger as the strange girl led them deeper and deeper into the woods.

Blake glanced up and realized the time. "We should get the kids inside, it's been too long already…"

Weiss nodded and walked with Blake to the door that opened up onto the patio and the courtyard beyond it…

Was deserted, no children, only silent tracks quickly being filled by falling snow.

"Weiss… Where are my children…" Blake said, far too calm as she was on the edge of panic.

"M-maybe the servants brought them in already…" Weiss offered, already panicking at the sinking feeling of something very wrong in her gut.

"There is only one set of tracks… leading away from the patio…" Blake pointed out, her worry deepening.

Without another word Weiss grabbed her coat and rushed out the door, following the tracks in the snow round and round until they led to the wall, Blake and the others now bundled against the cold joined her at the hole in the wall where the tracks led.

"Bloody hell…" Weiss grumbled under her breath.

"It's unlike them to just run off!" Yang wailed.

"We'll find them." Roman assured before grabbing a tree branch and hauling himself up the grab the lip of the eight foot wall then vaulted over.

The others quickly followed his lead as Roman followed the even faster dissipating tracks into the forest.

The Blizzard grew more intense as they searched, soon hiding the five sets of footprints.

The girl darted into the ruins of an old, big house that looked like it had been abandoned years ago, long forgotten to the world.

"Do you live here?" Sorin asked.

"It's lonely." The girl replied, her voice coming from everywhere.

All the bumblekits saw her in a different place, causing them to split up without realizing.

As the other four got lost in the house Sorin followed the girl out the back door. She led him through the long overgrown garden that was blanketed in snow.

"Where is your family?" Sorin asked.

"Gone…"

"They left you here?"

"Yes, but that is alright, because I have you now." She giggled, stopping suddenly, allowing Sorin to get close, the next step the snow was deeper, like there was a stair or something and his next was accompanied by a cracking sound.

The girl turned to face him, finally opening her eyes revealing two glowing blue orbs that were far from natural. "You're going to stay with me forever and ever."

Now the fear and wrongness set into the young boy and he screamed in terror as the hidden ice under him gave way, plummeting him into the frozen and long forgotten pound.

His scream alerted the others and they ran out after him, all seeing the girl with her glowing blue eyes holding something, someone beneath the surface of the water.

"Sorin!" Soleil cried, diving into the water and grabbing his brother, somehow pushing the ghost away and allowing his brother up for air.

The girls rushed over and tried to pull the boys out but it was like something was holding them in the water.

"On three!" Narzisse demanded and on that mark they pulled as hard as they could all together.

Their efforts worked against them though as suddenly they were all pulled into the dark, cold water, watching in horror as Ice started to form again.

Sombra got her head above water one more time, screaming her loudest before being shoved under by the ghost girl once again and the ice sealed.

Roman had been running blind through the blizzard for what felt like forever when suddenly he heard a creepy giggle and the storm died. An instant later he heard Sorin scream in terror.

Roman turned and ran that way, as fast as he could, he could just barely hear shouts then another, ear-splitting scream from Sombra.

Then. Silence.

Roman did not give up, he charged in the direction of the screams, calling out for the lost children. He came upon a ruined house and garden but he was sure the screams had not come from the house, it was too far to his right.

He scanned the snowy clearing for any sign of the kits and that is when he noticed a hole in the ground and he rushed for it, once closer he could see it was a frozen over pond, and under the surface was a small hand slapping futilely at the ice.

Roman charged and jumped, shattering the ice with his own body then grabbing kits from the drink and tossing them out in the snow, once he had all five he gathered them up and started running back the way he'd come. The girls were coughing and sobbing in his arms.

"Sorin!" Soleil coughed. "Sorin, breathe…"

It was then Roman realized the boy was far too limp in his arms. He stopped, setting the kids down and laying Sorin flat on his back. The kits huddled together in fear as much as out of cold as Roman gave the smallest child cpr.

"Common Sorin… You are stronger than this!" Roman said between breaths.

There was no response.

Tears started to roll down Roman's face, freezing before they could fall and still he refused to give up. Just as all hope seemed lost Sorin coughed, spitting water everywhere.

Roman let out a relieved sigh, hugging the boy before scooping the others up again and resuming his run. They were all shivering hard, pale with blue lips, Roman included, his lungs burned and his legs ached from the cold but he kept running.

"I FOUND THEM!" He cried when he heard the others nearby but did not stop, knowing he had to get the children inside.

They fell into step behind him in the mad dash for the mansion. Once through the door they were met by servants already prepared. Before Roman could argue the children were pulled from his arms and their clothes pulled off, replaced by warm blankets. Someone was pulling at his clothes too, Ruby he realized. He was far too exhausted and worried to argue, letting her do what was needed to keep him alive. His eyes never left the children, his nieces and nephews as the servants, along with Blake and Yang tried to warm the children up.

Soleil already looked like he'd be fine, not surprising with his naturally high body temperature.

The girls were all still shivering but their color was returning.

Sorin however, the smallest of the five, did not look well. His eyes rolled back in his head and he was near limp in Blake's hands. His color was not returning and his breaths were shallow. Slow and far apart.

Blake was trying desperately to get the boy warm again, to get a response. "Stay with Mommy, Sorin, I'm here, look at me baby."

Sorin let out one more ragged, shallow breath then did not draw in another.

"Sorin!" Blake's distress was clear, drawing all eyes to her and the motionless child in her arms.

"Sorin!" Soleil cried.

"No…" Roman whispered.

"That's not funny!" Sombra cried, rushing over to grab her brothers hand.

"He's gone." Someone said but Roman was not sure who.

"No! He's just playing! he's not dead, not really!" Tears rolled openly down the little girls face. "He's just playing!"

Blake was trembling with sobs as she held the motionless boy tight. Yang had her mouth covered with her hand, tears rolling down her face as she sank to the floor.

"SORIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN" Soleil wailed with all his voice could manage then fell into silent sobs.

Blake and Yang followed with wails of their own.

Roman sat still and cold, tears rolling down his face, he'd failed.

He barely noticed Ruby crying into his shoulder. Only one thought playing through his mind.

He'd failed.

"This is all my fault…" Weiss stated sadly hours later. "If I hadn't invited you.."

"You couldn't have known… None of us could." Ruby offered, having dealt with grief most her life. She'd finally gotten Yang to go to sleep, her, Blake and the remaining children all bundled together in one bed.

Ruby, Weiss and Roman sat together in Weiss's kitchen, steaming cups of coffee in hand, though Roman seemed not to notice anything around him, just staring into the depths of the dark liquid in his cup but not seeing it.

"I should have known! I shouldn't have let them play in the yard alone…" Weiss argued.

"What do you mean?" Ruby shook her head. "There was no way you could have known."

"BUT I SHOULD HAVE!" Weiss snapped, slamming her fists on the table. "I should have… Because I should have remembered the girl in white."

"Girl in white?" Ruby asked in confusion.

"They all saw her, she led them out of the yard… Because she wanted someone to play with. Forever."

"You're saying." Roman spoke for the first time in hours, his voice saturated with dark misery. "That a ghost took my nephew?"

Weiss nodded. "I know, because she tried to kill me too… Lead me away, but when I told my parents they didn't believe me so… eventually, neither did I. I guessed what I saw was all just a dream. But now, now after what has happened, considering what I've been told about what's in those woods and that girl…"

"What?" Ruby pressed.

"That mansion was built by my great grandparents' grandparents. The reason it was left to rot is because… Rumor goes the daughter was set to inherit the company, like I was, but her brother was jealous, so he drowned her in the pond behind the house." Weiss sighed. "I never connected the dots because I convinced myself she wasn't real. This is my fault."

"No." Roman said, standing. "The fact remains that I could not get him back in time. I couldn't run fast enough to save him. They've never seen snow like this, it could have happened, ghost or no ghost."

With that he left for his and Ruby's assigned room.

Ruby sighed down into her now empty coffee mug and set it down. "Don't blame yourself Weiss. This was impossible to predict, blaming ourselves will not bring him back."

"I… I will pay for everything… for his burial." Weiss offered, staring glumly down at the table.

Ruby only nodded before following Roman.

Weiss sat alone for a long time but when she did get up and head for the bedrooms she found Soleil sitting in the floor, staring at the wall.

"Can't sleep?" She asked gently, still feeling to blame for his twin's death.

He only looked at her silently.

"Okay…" She said, a little weirded out but she stepped into her study and grabbed a paper and pencil. "Here."

He took it from her and to her surprise did not start drawing but writing. She read over his shoulder.

I can never sleep.

Weiss swallowed hard. "Because of your brother? Or the girl?"

He just turned back to the wall, staring silently.

Thoroughly disturbed Weiss slipped past the boy and headed to her room, locking the door behind her.

The next day arrangements were made for Sorin's funeral and everyone's return to Vale.

The trip back was silent and somber. The pain everyone shared ringing clear in the silence. At least one of the children would be crying, quietly, sad sobs of someone who just can't stop crying.

It tore Roman's heart to see them this way, he wondered if Soleil would ever even speak again, he had become so quiet.

He guessed only time would provide that answer.

AN: Well... this escalated didn't it? I've been waiting so long to post this chapter.

Again I wanted more stuff between chapter three and this chapter but that just wasn't happening, sorry.

As I've said before, I don't bite, so feel free to review this or PM me.

I'm going to get yelled at aren't I?