A/N: I've always wanted to do this one, just never had the right idea.

It's a freezing day, snow striking the windows. Your heater has just given out when you feel a tiny, warm, bundle of something land on your chest. As the warmth spreads over you, you open your eyes to find a small red fox. She looks at you, sniffs, and says "I'll keep you warm."

Ruby sat at the window lazily, watching the individual snowflakes dance in the wind until they joined the white carpet stretching out all over Patch. She curled up into a ball and swathed her red cape around her legs, snuggling up into herself as she felt the warmth radiating from the nearby heater combat the biting cold weather. Feeling drowsiness seep from the warmth into the deepest recesses of her bones, Ruby failed to stifle a yawn, the unending patterns of swirling snow dulling her mind and lulling her into a trance.

The sound of sputtering brought Ruby back to her senses and she pulled back from the window, where the snow had nearly reached up to the bottom of the windowsill. Unfurling her cloak from around her body, Ruby ran over to the heater in the corner, crouching down to inspect it closer. Out of fire Dust. Ruby nearly punched the heater in frustration, hopping up and running over to the door before flinching back from the ice-cold handle. Cautiously, she reached out to poke the metal once more, feeling the bone-chilling cold pierce through her body heat and sending a shiver up her spine. Taiyang and Yang had gone down to the nearby town to restock on fire Dust for the coming winter, and wouldn't return until at least sunrise.

Ruby curled up beside the cooling down heater and enveloped herself within her cape once more, settling in for a long and cold night. Somehow, her eyelids grew heavy despite the cold and Ruby slowly closed her eyes to the frozen world, letting sleep catch her with its welcoming embrace.

She was running from a great big Grimm, a massive Beowolf with spikes of ice protruding from its back and chilling breath visible on the air. Every second it was gaining on her and slowly as she ran the ice began to take over her body, a sheen of frost overtaking her cape as it billowed out behind her. Her movements now sluggish, Ruby reached back for Crescent Rose, the cold steel burning her fingers and forcing her to drop it as she ran. Then out from the fog ahead, another chilled Beowolf came pounding, rushing straight for her while the other still nipped at her heels. Ruby slowed to a stop, falling forward down onto the snow and feeling even more pile up onto her, trapping her in a frozen wasteland.

Ruby's eyes slowly inched open, the ice on her eyelashes breaking as she looked around the room. Her breath was visible in the air, a cloud of white warmth escaping into the cold while she shivered. The dim blue light of the full moon illuminated the room, a faint glow given to everything. The window was half covered with snow, and Ruby could barely see the tops of tree branches scratching the deep blue sky through the gap. Frost had spread outward from the window, leaving a small layer of ice on every surface, and Ruby shook out her cloak to let the ice shatter and fall from her body.

Opening the cape was a mistake.

The heat rushed out of the small air pocket she had been holding close to the chest as she had slept, and Ruby's teeth chattered while her hands shook as she tried to wrap the cloak around herself before she collapsed. Ruby rolled over onto her back as she regarded the ceiling with tired, lidded eyes, following each swirl of the wooden beams above her and tracing shapes that her delirious mind came up with.

Something pressed against her side and she ignored it, instead focusing on the fascinating panels above her. The weight shifted over to her chest and Ruby tried to lift her head off the floorboards to look at it but failed, resigning herself to the mystery as her head smacked back to the ground. Slowly, a pulsating warmth radiated through her body, and Ruby felt feeling return to her chest and spread to the rest of her body. Waves of fire rushed through her veins and the biting cold died down, the amazing feeling of heat returning to her limbs and her mind. Ruby lifted her head up off the floorboards to look down at her chest, and for a moment she wondered if she was still dreaming.

There on her chest, Ruby saw a small, red fox curled up into a small bundle with its shining emerald eyes staring right at her face. The eyes shone with unnatural intelligence and the fox's bright red fur glowed for a moment as another wave of relaxing heat resonated through Ruby. The fox sniffed and turned its nose up at Ruby, opening its mouth and saying, "I'll keep you warm."

Ruby's mind froze as the gears slowly clicked. "What?" Her tongue felt heavy and her word sluggish, but she got it out into the open air as the fox watched her carefully.

"Sleep now," The fox said, resting its snout down onto Ruby's chest and snorting out a breath of warm air into her face that pushed it down to the ground. Ruby felt her eyelids turn gradually to lead as the fox snuggled in closer to her body and more warmth flowed through her in waves. "I'll keep you safe." And Ruby's eyes slid closed.

Ruby dreamed that she was back at Beacon, in her old dorm room, before it had been destroyed in the Fall. She was sitting on Weiss' bed and just looking down at her hands, turning them over to regard both sides. The dorm door clicked open quietly and Ruby glanced over to it, her mind spluttering as her mouth fell open slightly to dangle limply.

It had been nearly a month since Ruby had last dreamed of Pyrrha, and her dad had said that was normal, that slowly over time the people you lost take up less and less of your thoughts. But Ruby had never wanted to stop dreaming of Pyrrha. The one place they could be together again. And she had always awoken with a tear stained face and a sad smile.

Pyrrha gracefully strode over to eliminate the distance between them and sat beside her, reaching out with one hand to gently close her mouth. Tears sprung to Ruby's eyes as she looked into Pyrrha's emerald eyes once more. "How-?"

Pyrrha raised one hand and interrupted her, placing one finger against her lips and shushing her. "It doesn't matter. I'm here now." Ruby fell into Pyrrha's shoulder sobbing and felt warm arms envelop her and hold her tight. "I'm here for you."

Ruby's eyes fluttered open to the sun rays falling onto her face, one arm raising automatically to block the sun from piercing her eyes. Then she bolted upright to look around the room, not a single sign of snow or ice anywhere.

And the small red fox with emerald eyes was nowhere to be found.

Taiyang and Yang returned to find Ruby sitting numbly in a room, staring down at her hands with her back against a wall. After being assured that she was fine, the two left the room to store the food and Dust they had returned with. Ruby simply remained still, looking at nothing and holding her red cloak tight to her chest, breathing in a distinctly foreign scent. A smile spread across her face as a solitary tear rolled down her cheek.

"Thank you."