ConstantRed: I'll do my best to improve on what you pointed out. Though for your last point I struggle with giving scenes and characters more depth. It's something I'm not too sure on how to improve on yet.

"*Munch* *Munch* Damn these Atlast's cookies are hella good!" Leo joyously threw cookie after cookie inside his mouth while also taking some sips of milk so he wouldn't choke.

"She's a Faunus, huh...," Ruby, on the other hand, was lost in thought, still looking at the picture Nora had given her as if there was something she had missed.

"*Munch* *Gulp* Ah! Those were some bomb-ass cookies! Damn those Atlesians know how to bake!" Leo had just finished his third plate of cookies, which wasn't surprising since Leo had a black hole of a stomach for anything that tasted delicious. What was surprising was that Ruby hadn't touched a single cookie on her plate, which shouldn't be possible for her. Everyone who knew Ruby knows she has in insatiable sugar addiction. So her not eating any cookies could only mean one thing. She was dead. The perfect idea popped in his head on how to check if she was alive. He leaned over the counter and...Flick!

"OW! Leo, that hurt!" Ruby growled at him, rubbing her forehead where he had flicked.

"She's alive! Thank goodness I thought you had died!" Ruby rolled her eyes at him, "Haha, very funny, unfortunately for you, I'm still breathing," Ruby reached down and picked up her first cookie, but it never made it to her mouth as the photo took her attention once more.

"Hey, Ruby penny for your thoughts?"

"Hm? I'm just remembering what Nora said."

"The girl with the nice rack?" Ruby put down the photo and glared at Leo. "Really? Out of all the things you could have remembered about her like I don't know her unique orange hair or that massive hammer she had strapped to her back, you chose to remember her large rack?"

"Whoa whoa I only said she had a nice rack, not a large rack," he countered thought it didn't help.

"That doesn't make it any better!" she voiced sharply, smacking one of her hands on the restaurant table.

"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help pressing your buttons a bit," Ruby huffed, annoyed. Leo had this stupid pleasure to press her buttons by making dumb comments just to make her angry, sometimes even making her snap at him. For what reason, you may ask?

"Because I like to see you angry," were his exact words, which succeeded in pissing her off even more.

"Hmph!" Ruby looked away and gave him the cold shoulder, though not for pressing her buttons. He did that all the time she was used to it. She was angry at him for gawking at another girl's assets. Yeah, Nora had a nice rack but, so did she! Albeit a couple of sizes smaller, but still a nice chest nonetheless! There was no reason for him to stare at other girls!

Was there?

"!" Leo's hand appeared, coupling her cheek, pulling her back till she faced him who swooped in stealing another kiss. Leo had a goofy smile as he watched an angry/blushing Ruby glaring at him.

"I hate you," she mumbled.

"I love you too," his goofy smile growing wider as her blush intensified from his reply.

The ill feelings she felt earlier all but forgotten.

"So what did Nora say?" after letting Ruby cool down a bit, Leo continued there conversation.

"She said Blake was a Faunus."

"Okay? And that's important why?"

"Well, if she's a Faunus, then there's a good chance Blake is from Menagerie!" Ruby said it with such confidence that Leo almost didn't doubt she was wrong.

Almost

"Ruby Menagerie may be the home to all Faunus in all of Remnant. However, that doesn't mean they're all from there."

"I know, but look at this!" Ruby turned the photo around, revealing the list of names of everyone in the picture all neatly scribbled on the back.

"Blake Belladonna, huh. I'm still not sure how knowing her last name makes you think she lives in Menagerie."

"I did quick *oogle search on her last name, and this person popped up," Ruby fiddled with her scroll a bit then turned it to show what she had found. It was a Wikipedia entry about someone named Ghira Belladonna. Leo skimmed the entry seeing that he was also a Faunus with a family consisting of a wife and daughter. Both remained anonymous on the website. He was also the current Chieftain of Menagerie.

"I'm guessing you think this is her dad?"

"I don't think I know," Ruby pulled her phone back and continued fiddling with it.

"Well let's say your right how do you even plan to reach out to them. The communication relay was destroyed when Beacon fell, leaving us disconnected from the other kingdoms," Ruby smiled at him already having that covered.

"Easy, we go to them!" Ruby flipped her scroll, showing him a boat that was sailing out to Menagerie tomorrow.

"Ruby, that's a crazy idea!" he stated

"How is it crazy? This is definitely Blake's dad look at the resemblance!" Ruby held the wiki picture along with the picture Nora gave her side by side to prove her point. Leo curse internally on how they did show some traits they shared like eye color, skin tone; they were also both cat typed Faunus as well.

"Okay, fine, that's her dad, but how do we even know she's home in Menagerie and now have gone somewhere else?"

"She has to have gone home!"

"Really, how do you know?"

"Because that's where I would go if Grimm destroyed my school," Leo sighed. She wasn't wrong usually when bad things happen most people run home to there parents at least those that have parents.

"Ruby, your dad, would never let you go to Menagerie," Leo hopped this would deter her.

"I know he'd never let me go..." Ruby looked up at Leo, giving him a look he knew all too well. The look of someone that was ready to ask for forgiveness instead of permission.

"Ruby... I know you're doing this for your sister, but your dad is going to be pissed even worse when he finds out I was with you..." Ruby reached out and grabbed his hand with her own. "Don't worry about my dad. I know he told you to stay away from me, but he hasn't seen how much you've changed since he last saw you. I'm sure if you talk to him again, he'll accept you, and we won't have to hide our relationship from him," Ruby gently squeezed his hand and beamed a sunny smile that always filled Leo with confidence.

"...You're right. I do need to talk to your dad again, but not now, maybe when your sister gets back on her feet, I'll try talking to him."

"Annnnnnnd?" Leo rolled his eyes. "And I'll also introduce myself to your sister as well though if she's as protective as your dad, she might try to fight me like he did," Ruby giggled, recalling the fight between her dad and Leo when they first met. Her dad had assumed Leo was mugging her though she couldn't blame her dad since Leo had a more threatening appearance back when they were younger. The fight ended as quickly as it started when Ruby intervened and stated that Leo was her friend from school, not some thug.

"Ruby, I think we might have a problem."

"What?" Leo had borrowed Ruby's scroll to browse the ticket prices, and what he found wasn't really in their budget.

"How is the cheapest ticket, 2000 Lien!" Ruby exclaimed. She understood that the boat sailed the next day, but for the tickets to be this high, something wasn't adding up.

"It's probably to dissuade people from going to Menagerie."

"Why? Don't Faunus want people to visit and waste money buying there stuff and whatnot?

"No, I don't think it's the Faunus. Look who's sponsoring the sailing company," Ruby looked at the bottom of the website where sponsors were usually listed.

"The Schnee Dust Company, of course, why am I not surprised," The infamous dust company had a well know reputation for hating all of Faunus kind. As for there reason? No one knows, but this hatred runs deep on both sides.

"How much do we have all together?" Leo asked.

"Let's see... we have about 900 liens."

"Damn, not even enough for one ticket."

"Let's go to the hunting lodge; maybe we can find a quest that pays well," Ruby was about to jump out of her seat when Leo stopped her.

"The hunting lodge is closed Ruby it's already. Past 5," Ruby's spirit dampened a bit, hearing that but perked back up when another idea hit her.

"Then what about if we came really early in the morning and snagged a bunch of quests!"

"The boat leaves early in the morning Ruby we'd never make it," Ruby took another hit but wasn't down for the count just yet.

"Then, let's wait for the next boat!" Ruby started at Leo with hopeful eyes, which made it painful to dash her hopes.

"...6 Months," he said grimly after a small pause. He hated giving Ruby bad news. To see his bubbly companion's smile look strained, always felt so vexing to him.

"Sorry, Ruby," Even though it wasn't his fault, he still felt like he should apologize.

"No, no, no, it's not your Leo! Don't worry, we'll think of something else!" Leo admired Ruby's positivity; she was always quick to bounce back though that won't do her any good here. The only way to reach Menagerie from Patch is by boat, and that very same boat won't be available for another six months if they choose to pass on tomorrow's trip. Going to Vale would have been the next idea, but with the fall of Beacon, Vale was under constant attack by Grimm. Supplies were regularly needed, which meant only essential trips where allowed. Two students who wanted to see a friend on an island was definitely not on that list. Leo glanced at Ruby, who was going through pages and pages of websites looking for a method to get them to Menagerie. She wasn't giving up, which made him sigh because there is one way to get on that boat tomorrow. He opened the website on his scroll and scrolled to the side where there was a tab that said Huntsman/Huntresses. Clicking it opened another tab where it said in bold words Huntsman/Huntressess travel for free as long as a proper hunting license is presented at the time of boarding.

It was fairly common for small sailing companies to allow Huntsman/Huntresses on for free as they lacked the funds to have a dedicated group of hunters. Even if they didn't have a hunter present, the ship is equipped with a means to defend its self. Though having a hunter or two on board who specialize in killing Grimm was more comforting than people who aren't. The only issue with this method is the license with Beacon down for the count; there isn't any way to get a hunting license. At least not legally. Leo knows a person that can get him and Ruby a fake hunting license for cheap too. The only real problem was if Ruby would even go along with this plan. Ruby prided herself on being an upstanding and honest person. If she ever did something wrong, she'd admit to the misdeed on the spot. Now, this isn't a bad trait; just in this situation, it's an awful characteristic. Getting caught with a fake hunting license is a federal crime that could land them in the slammer for two years. Though Leo doubts the ticket collector would even bother scanning the permit to make sure they're legit. Having two hunters on board made everyone feel safer. The issue is if Ruby confessed they had fake licenses, this would land them in some serious shit.

They could always run away, but Ruby would eventually turn herself in because it would eat at her. Then he'd also have to turn himself in since Ruby would somehow convince him to do the right thing.

"Damn it," he scratched his head, conflicted that if this idea was even worth bringing up.

"Leo," he jumped and dropped his scroll from suddenly being called out.

"H-hey Ruby, what's up, didja come up with something?"

"No," she said sadly. "But you did," she picked up Leo's scroll that he dropped studying the page he was reading. She then looked back up at Leo, waiting intently for his response.

Leo hesitated for second before explaining Ruby his method. It didn't surprise him to see her frown at his idea, though she didn't reject it, which was both a good and a bad thing.

"..."

"..."

"...If they catch us with these fake hunting licenses, were in big trouble, right?" Ruby already knew the answer; she'd just wanted to hear Leo confirm it.

"Yea, we'd get in big trouble if they catch us," he said big with a heavier tone so she'd understand that weight of what they were going to do if they did go along with his plan.

"...How fast can you get these fake licenses?" Leo was taken aback; he'd expected Ruby to reject his plan at this point, not go along with it.

"Ruby, I know your doing this for your sister, but are you sure?" she looked down at her hands for second before turning back to Leo.

"Yeah. We don't have any other ideas, and...I'm sure that if I were in the same state, Yang would have done the same for me," Leo couldn't help but feel jealous at Yang and Ruby's bond to help each other. If it were his brother in that situation, he wouldn't even bat an eye. Neither would he, for that matter.

"Alright lemme get in contact with an old friend I should be able to get them tonight," Leo stood up and was about to walk towards the door when Ruby reached out grabbing his arm. He turned to see a worried expression on Ruby's face.

"Don't worry," he said softly. "It's no one connected to my brother I'll be fine," He sighed when she didn't let go.

"Then let's go together," her smile returned, hearing him say that. She let go of his arm but grasped his hand with her own. Her grip wasn't firm, yet Leo felt no matter what he did, he'd never be able to shake her off.

"Let's go see Vicky," and with that, they both left the bakery hand in hand.