The Rose Has Thorns


Mountain Glenn's sunset was a pathetic sight. Rather than provide the last glowing light of day, the golden rays of the dying sun were instead strangled and dirty by the time they reached the gnarled streets below. Adam stepped out of his final building of the day to find the wasteland tinted a grungy, dull orange just strong enough to light the main roads, yet left every shadow long, blurred and dark. Entire alleyways became corridors to darkness, and the structures surrounding them were little more than silhouettes against the dark skies.

"Ah, Mister Belladonna, nice of you to join us at last!" Doctor Oobleck called from across the street, his other teammates already gathered up ahead. "Have you found anything of note?"

"There were no signs of the White Fang." Something that still bothered Adam to no end. They were far from the main encampment, but certainly close enough that they would begin to see signs of patrol routes, potential signs of conflict between White Fang and Grimm, specialized marking and symbols, anything.

"I assume that Grimm were the only things the rest of us found, as well?"

His teammates nodded their heads or shrugged.

"No matter!" Oobleck chucked their supplies down. "We have plenty of days ahead of us but it is clear that we will gain nothing more from this one! I was just telling the rest of your partners the same. Locate and prepare a suitable campsite, for your leader and I will be securing the perimeter! Come along!"

From Ruby's brief look of surprise and glances to the rest of her team, it sounded like that was just as much news to her as it was to them. With Oobleck already speed-walking away, she was left with no choice but to follow.

When Adam approached Weiss and Yang, he could much better make out their downcast eyes and the barely hidden irritation marring their faces. He could guess it was not just from their lack of findings, especially since he shared their frustrations, as well.

"I would suggest we get started." Adam kept his tone stoic: he refused to show that Oobleck's words had affected him as much as it had them. "After all, I suspect we will have to show Miss Prim And Proper how to do..." He pretended to think it over. "Everything related to camping."

Weiss snorted and threw a halfhearted glare to Adam. Well, it was a start to normalcy.


Though Oobleck had said that they were securing the perimeter, he strolled along the rubble-strewn streets without even throwing a glance around his surroundings. As Ruby followed behind with her Crescent Rose in rifle form, she wondered if this was more of an excuse than anything else. After almost five minutes of silent, awkward walking, Oobleck finally stopped at an intersection. One of the buildings had been toppled over entirely, only parts of it even able to be made out amidst the piles of rock and steel. Ruby could just barely make out craters in the road crossing theirs.

"So... is this where you ask me why I want to become a Huntress?"

"I think I can glean the answer to that question, Miss Rose," he said with amusement and turned to face her. "No, I think I have a different question in mind, but I can assume you are quite curious as to why I am asking them in the first place."

Ruby stepped up beside Oobleck. "You don't think we're ready?" she guessed.

"Close, but I'm afraid that is not the case. Ruby, what does it mean to be a Huntress?"

Though Ruby let her gaze wander towards the ruins ahead, she scarcely needed more than a second to think on it. "Being a Huntress means you'll protect people and make the world a better place. Even if everything's dark and gloomy, a Huntress is meant to light the path and make the whole world as good as possible, just like the heroes and heroines of old!"

Expecting the same disappointment or brushing off Yang had received and Weiss had grumbled about in their travels here, Ruby was surprised to see Oobleck smile.

"Very good, Ruby! When I look across your teammates, however, I do not see a single one who would truly say that they will be a Huntress or Huntsman when they leave Beacon Academy. They have their own plans and I am willing to place money on the fact that none of those plans have anything to do with bounty boards and slaying Grimm. They see their training here as not becoming a Huntress or a Huntsman, but to become paragons of honor, adventure, and righteousness."

Frowning, Oobleck peered down over his glasses at Ruby. "Would you say, then, that they would still hold the title? Would a corporate heiress seeking honor or an traveler just seeking adventure still be a Huntress?"

A frown tugged at Ruby's lips: she could understand at least questioning them all on why they wanted to come to Beacon; but to her, it sounded an awful lot like he was trying to say her friends weren't destined for being Huntresses or Huntsmen just because they didn't have the most pure motivations.

She steeled her gaze and met Oobleck's stare. "Of course! They still want to change the world for the better, they're just doing it differently!" Ruby insisted.

Oobleck's smile returned. "Precisely, Miss Rose: no matter what path they choose, they will still always be Huntresses and Huntsmen. Beacon is the most prestigious of the four academies due in no small part to how our headmaster recognizes this! Our teachings do not just apply to those who hunt Grimm outside the city walls, but to all those who graduate. It is a responsibility that cannot be ignored, nor can these teachings, no matter how unimportant they may seem at first glance. The sooner your teammates realize this, the better."

Ruby found herself relieved that it was not the beginnings of an argument, but that relief was quickly replaced by confusion. "I... think I understand, Doctor, but if you already know why I want to be a Huntress, what does this have to do with me?"

"While I see that your teammates know the ramifications of walking this path, yet know not why they must walk down it, I see the opposite in you, young Ruby. I dare not claim that being a Huntress is not fitting of you, but you must ask yourself: are you prepared to make the sacrifices necessary to save the world? Physically? Socially? Emotionally? The world can be quite dark, Ruby. Darker than any fairy tale or glorious recollection of good deeds."

Ruby winced and briefly wondered if Oobleck had seen her earlier hesitation.

She gulped down her fears and, instead, smiled. "That's why we're here, right?"

He must have deemed that answer satisfactory, for with a soft smile and nod, he left the conversation to die. However, curiosity had begun to prick at Ruby.

"Doctor Oobleck, can I ask you something, too? Why did you become a Huntsmen?"

With a chuckle, Oobleck waved Ruby along and began the trek back to their camp as dusk faded, leaving their entire world in shadows. "Come along, Miss Rose, and I'll tell you."


The raging campfire was both a blessing and a curse: though the bright light and warmth was welcome in the cold apartment living room the rest of RWAY had chosen to serve as their camp for the night, it was also the only source in the entirety of the dead city. The shadows that had been clawing at Mountain Glenn since dusk had finally claimed it. Come nightfall, there was only an inky black outside of their window that the moonlight struggled to pierce. It was clear that 'taking watch' for Yang and Weiss would primarily consist of just listening and trying not to doze off.

In the time that Ruby and Oobleck were gone, however, they'd at least managed to make the apartment more manageable: while Yang—much to Weiss' dismay—was fine with lounging on a ratty sofa, the rest of the furniture had been pushed around to serve as barricades near the door or, more often than not, shoved in front of holes in the walls and floors. Weiss practically covered half of the room in old sheets she'd found and blankets, refusing to touch the old carpets for any longer than necessary. The rest were used to hang in door frames as loose dividers in case anyone needed privacy.

As Adam sat beside the flames, he decided privacy was what he desired most. They might've tried not to make it obvious, but Adam could see Yang and Weiss constantly turning glares upon him when they believed he was not paying attention. Frustration from Oobleck's interrogations had begun to bubble over and, desperate for something to turn that agitation upon, old tensions were the only targets left for the two. Adam grit his teeth: it was only a matter of time before—

"What were you telling Ruby, earlier?" Yang finally brought herself to ask, her gaze laser-focused on Adam. And there it was.

Adam sighed and rose to his feet. "What we spoke of is none of your concern."

"It is absolutely our concern!" Weiss interjected. "We are a team: if one of us has a problem, we all do. None of us should be hiding anything from each other."

"That changes nothing. I will tell you both again that this is none of your concern."

"Yeah, sure, okay, Ruby's chatting it up only with the person that murdered someone right in front of her and it's 'none of my concern'?" Yang shot back.

Adam grimaced and, seeing that as a sign of weakness, Yang jumped to her feet with eyes steadily turning red.

"Get real! You're the one who screwed her up in the first place, so I need to know what you've been doing. Now."

"I had thought you were unconscious during that," Adam said.

"I was. Weiss wasn't."

A cold silence lingered as Adam took that in. Suddenly, their anger made far more sense, yet... they still did not know everything. They could not.

"It is not my place to tell you anything."

Yang advanced. "She's my sister!"

"All the more reason why I won't tell you!" Adam snapped. Slowly, he began to pace around Yang. "Petty jealousy is not good enough reason for me to speak a word of it towards you. Take my advice: let it die." The room's temperature steadily began to rise, and not from the campfire.

"We are trying to be civil about this," Weiss called as a warning to them both. "But let me be clear, that civility is why we are asking you first. If you won't answer, we'll be going to Ruby next. Make no mistake, Adam, we will get to the bottom of this. If it's something you'd rather not have us know, it would be better for it to come from your lips and not hers."

Weiss' words and condescending tone only earned a snort and scowl from Adam. He spun on his heels to glare down at the heiress. "You will not ask her anything. You will not mention anything to her about this," he growled. "This is not your place."

She narrowed her eyes, but did not flinch. "We warned you."

"And I am warning you: neither of you know of what you are treading on." Adam hissed at them both. The emerald in his eyes steadily burned away to red, and the glow of his hair began to make itself visible in the light of the flames. "Do not be foolish. The time for you to know will come, but that is not now. Back away from this issue immediately before you cause grave consequences."

Yang rolled her shoulders. "Oooh, is that a threat, big guy?" she asked with a vicious smirk.

The orange flames and crimson glow both flared, casting the entire room in their wrathful light.

"Maybe he's right, Yang." Weiss stood and moved in front of Yang, ready to try and defuse this before it turned into an actual fight. But Adam could read her eyes. Read her sickly-sweet tone as she looked back. Weiss was far more prepared to simply placate him and just go around him later. But from Yang's crimson stare boring down into her mixed with equal parts fury and shock, it seemed she was much too angry to understand.

"Ooooh, I think I can see the fire from here!" Ruby calling from just outside cut off the three's words and put an end to their escalation before it could even begin. Though the three traded glares full of unspoken warnings and threats, the temperature and light both in the room steadily began to fade to normal.

"We should let this matter rest," Adam said without emotion.

Slowly, Weiss stepped back from Yang and nodded, an unspoken 'for now' in her eyes. Yang looked like she was about to try and get the last word but, hearing the creaking of the stairs below, just spat in anger and plopped back down on the ratty couch. Groans of the aging building alongside the light murmurs of Ruby's voice were the only things heard in the still room. The three made no attempt to even look like they were busy doing anything else by the time Ruby poked her head into the room, too busy in their own thoughts.

"A~ah, it's so much warmer in here!" Once more blissfully unaware or purposefully disregarding the aura of tension, Ruby zipped over to the flames fast enough to leave rose petals fluttering behind her and lifted her hands to the warmth. Doctor Oobleck arrived next without saying a word. He looked over their new camp, nodded in both approval and understanding of the situation, and left the four to their silence.

Glances were traded: emerald to lavender, lavender to ice-blue, ice-blue to silver, flaring crimson to ice-blue, hardened ice-blue and lavender back at crimson.

Ruby looked up from the flames, and her teammates' gazes all fell elsewhere.

"So~o," she began, "who's got first watch?" Ruby grinned. She was already pointing at herself.

"Considering Adam's faunus nature, I believe that he would be a wonderful first watch!" Weiss offered, leaving Ruby to look over at her with puppy eyes. "The highest chance for us to be spotted, of course, would be while our campfire is at its brightest. Therefore, it would be best to get our eyes on any potential approaching patrol before they can see us."

Adam saw through it immediately for what it was: an attempt to get the three girls alone so that they could interrogate Ruby.

"Yeah, that's pretty smart," Yang agreed.

Ruby threw her hands up in silent frustration at her obvious claim being ignored.

"I'll take watch after him so I can get some solid rest after that," Yang followed up. More like try to wait him out so she could potentially try again while he was asleep.

Adam snorted. "Then Ruby's scope should prove adequate enough for identifying targets further out. Besides, she clearly has more than enough energy to last another few hours, wouldn't you say?"

Ruby nodded excitedly.

"My eyes would be best in the middle of the night, when none of you could see a thing," Adam continued.

Yang gripped the couch hard enough for her fingers to tear the weak fabric. He looked up to her with a smirk just wide enough for only her to see.

"Then, first shift goes to me!" Ruby bounced up from near the flames, already looking for a nice spot to aim from.

"We've fashioned the room above into a nice vantage point. Try to avoid the holes," Adam said before the others could try and stop him. It would be difficult enough to change her mind now without looking suspicious. It then became impossible as Ruby was gone in a rush of rose petals leading to the stairs to the next floor. Without Ruby there, Adam grinned almost wide enough to bare his gums; a vicious, victorious grin. Oh, how he enjoyed the collective seething of the two girls in front of him.

"I think I'll take my shift after one of yours. Am I not kind, to let one of you have a full, uninterrupted rest once you are done?"

Carpet ripped as Yang threw herself to her feet hard enough to shove the couch back. Before she could stomp closer, hair already aflame, Weiss stood and held out an arm in front of her. The two looked between each other and, with a huff that left the room briefly hotter, Yang turned her head up in disgust, stood tall, and let Weiss talk.

"Do not get overconfident, Adam," Weiss warned as Adam strolled deeper into the room. "We have got a long time to ask Ruby. You can't be around her forever,"

He crossed his arms and slid down the wall to sit just in front of the stairs. "I don't intend to, but I'll think of something, by then..." Without a way to get to Ruby that didn't cross Adam and risk confrontation, Weiss nodded for Yang to back down. They could wait.

They had all the time in the world to get to the bottom of this.


The darkness surrounding the streets must've been supernatural. It didn't matter how Ruby adjusted her scope, she only got a clear line of sight only about thirty yards in any direction before the shadows came clawing back. By sixty, she could scarcely see a thing and at ninety her top-of-the-line night vision scope could only make out darkened blurs. Ruby huffed: this was a lot more boring than she thought, especially since she couldn't even look around and see if there was anything interesting. Every so often, she could hear a Beowolf howl, or the dull rumble of something far larger off in the distance, but even the Grimm were nowhere to be seen.

No faunus. Not like she could see any if they were walking around. With this lighting, White Fang could be walking down the block and she probably wouldn't see them until they started shooting! Maybe she could start patrolling rather than staying in one place. It'd help her get the better drop on any sneaky villains! She scanned across the street a last time. Villains who wouldn't just be stealing or scheming, but watching for any intruders. Villains who probably wouldn't be fighting just to get her out of their hair, since they knew where their hideout was.

Ruby sighed as she focused on the ruined sidewalks. A Grimm finally made itself known: a simple Beowolf, crawling out from rubble and shaking dust off of itself. Try as she might, she hated the idea of having to fight the White Fang soldiers to the death. She might've been innocent, but she wasn't stupid: she knew that it'd be different to fight people on their home turf rather than just stopping petty crime. Ruby knew that, as a Huntress, killing might happen. That didn't make her like the idea.

Briefly, she tried to imagine that, rather than the mask of the Grimm, the one in her sights wore the mask of the White Fang. Could she? Her finger traced over the trigger. If she needed to, could she really just...

Another rumble echoing through the city removed her from her thoughts. Ruby shuddered and pulled her sight away from her scope.

"Okay, maybe I really do need a walk," she mumbled to herself. A quick jump and burst of rose petals later, and Ruby stood atop the opposite building, watching their small campfire flicker from afar. She wouldn't be able to see it from too far away, but a tiny patrol route was better than no patrol route. More places to keep an eye on, and more time to think. Maybe this was that emotional sacrifice Doctor Oobleck was talking about.

"Need to clear your head?"

Ruby spun around with a gasp to face the source, and found Adam standing only a few feet away.

She let out a sigh of relief. "How did you know?"

Adam tapped his ear.

"Oh. Right. Faunus hearing. Guess I should really stop thinking out loud..."

"Besides, I did the same thing, when I was in your situation." Adam walked past her to the edge of the building and looked across at the campfire. He could just make out Yang and Weiss within, even if only as shadows at times.

He cut straight to the point. "They're starting to ask questions."

"About Oobleck?" Ruby asked with a strained smile. Adam's silence crushed any false hope she had, and with a loud sigh, she let her shoulders slump. "I don't want to talk about it, yet..."

"To them or to me?"

Ruby's silence answered his question.

Adam nodded and turned to her. "That is fair. I'll join you on your patrol: sitting around with those two pouting gets tiresome."

"They mean well!" she protested as she hopped across to the next building.

"Not enough to understand."


Their patrol was deathly quiet, broken up only by the constant rumble which, over time, felt like the city itself still had a heartbeat somewhere deep in its core. To be honest, Ruby thought, it was kind of creeping her out. The worst part was that this wasn't doing a very good job at clearing her mind at all, but that might've had to do with the fact that Adam was following a few paces behind. He meant well, but that didn't exactly stop making him a reminder of the attack on Beacon.

As if detecting that his silent presence was on her mind, Adam walked up beside her after they'd hopped over to the next building. "I'm curious about something, Ruby: did Doctor Oobleck even bother asking you why you became a Huntress?"

Ruby sighed. "Nope, not really. He asked me if..." She tried to think of a simpler way to put what he'd said, but her thoughts failed her. "If I was ready to make the 'sacrifices' of a Huntress." Ruby looked off across the empty streets as she spoke, looking for any signs of trouble. Nothing. Did Torchwick leave that Scroll as a trap? They were getting awfully close not to see anything...

"It sounds like something you are already well-acquainted with."

Ruby winced a bit at Adam's words. More than he knew.

"And if he had asked you?" he continued. "What would you have told him?"

"That I was going to be just like the heroes in the storybooks!" She turned to face him with a bright, determined smile. "Even if it's just for one person, I'm gonna light the way and save the world! The world's too dark and gloomy to just watch and do nothing."

Adam watched over her for a moment with an unreadable expression. Then, with the slightest twitch of his lips upwards, he turned and started walking to the other side of the building.

"That sounds about right," he mumbled under his breath. Unfortunately, it was too quiet in the dead city for that to escape unnoticed.

"Hey, what do you mean by that!" Ruby huffed and followed behind, cheeks puffed out in a pout.

Adam merely shrugged, amused, yet still refusing to fold even under the full weight of her pouting.

After a last grumble about how that was a completely legitimate reason, she brought her rifle up and peered over the edge through her scope. From here, they could see the main street of Mountain Glenn and the river of rusting cars leading off into the distance until they were swallowed up by the night. Traveling down that road the entire way was deemed too dangerous: easy to spot from too many buildings, too open, too many Grimm, the reasons went on. It probably wouldn't stop any White Fang from patrolling, though, so it was on her list of things to check out anyway.

After a few seconds of quiet, however, Ruby started becoming curious. She glanced over at Adam once, then returned to her scanning. Once turned to twice, twice to a few more. Finally, she lowered Crescent Rose, and when she looked at Adam this time, he was already curiously staring back. He was already expecting her to ask something.

"I know Oobleck probably asked you why you came to Beacon, but... Adam, why did you join the White Fang?"