32

Solace and Solitude

Ruby wandered the halls of Atlas despondently, her hood was drawn tight against her head as she sniffled. Her eyes never left the tiled floor as she moved out of the way of those traveling the corridors. She couldn't bring herself to care about where she was going, it didn't matter anymore. Yang hated her and she deserved it. She was a horrible sister, why couldn't she have just ignored her feelings? The last hour was a blur of crying and cyclical thoughts, all leading her to the same terrible conclusion: She was a bad sister. Ruby loved her sister and it hurt to have Yang so angry at her.

"Excuse me!" Ruby kept on walking, oblivious to the person calling out to her until the got right up next to the hooded girl, "Excuse me, are you okay?"

The figure stepped in front of her and Ruby looked at the girls clothes, an Atlas uniform, and started wondering what was going on, but couldn't bring herself to meet the person's eyes. She didn't want to show her crying face to a stranger.

"Oh, pardon me, I haven't introduced myself! Salutations! My name is NIkol Polendina. What is your name?"

Polendina? Ruby's eyes went wide as the shot up the rest of the way to the girls face. There she was, Penny. No, that wasn't right. The person in front of her looked like Penny, almost exactly like her, but there were a few key differences. This girl lacked freckles like her friend and her hair and eyes were different colors. While penny had ginger orange hair, Nikol had platinum blond hair with blue eyes instead of green. But other than that they were identical right down to the hairstyle and the optimistic grin on her face.

"Penny?" No that wasn't right but it slipped out anyways as Ruby's hands covered her mouth. At the mention of the name the girl in question tilted her head questioningly.

"Penny was my sister. As I have already said, my name is Nikol Polendina."

Ruby's mind went blank and then it hit her. Sister she said. That meant? "Does that mean you're… um… beep boop?" The young leader tilted her arms at right angles as she said it and then gave up when it only confused the girl in front of her more, "Are you a robot too?"

At the mention of the word robot Nikol's hands flashed out and clamped over Ruby's mouth, "Shh!" When she thought that the Ruby would no longer say anything she removed her hand, "How did you know?"

"Penny told me back when she was visiting Vale for the Vytal Festival." Her eyes drooped down, remembering her unusual friend.

"She must have trusted you a great deal if she told you that." Nikol's eyes bored into her.

"Of course! We were friends."

"Friends!" Nikol closed her eyes as if savoring the word, providing a similar reacted as Penny once had, "A friend of my sister is a friend of mine. What is your name?"

"Oh right! I'm Ruby Rose!" Ruby puffed out her chest and thumped it with her right hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Nikol. I'm glad we could become friends."

The robot's grin grew as she threw her arms into the air, "Sensational!" She shouted, rushing forward to envelope Ruby in a vice-like hug, "Yup. Definitely Penny's sister." She gasped out with whatever breath she could get.

"What happened to your arm?" It was as blunt as a battering ram but said with the same childlike naivete her sister had. Ruby could help but smile sorrowfully at it.

"I lost it." She put her hand on her stump hidden under her cloak.

"And you couldn't find it?" Came the simple question.

"Nikol." Ruby blinked owlishly, "It was cut off. We can't just put it back on, humans don't work that way. Besides Doctor Polendina made me a cool robot arm."

"Father is very good at robotics." Nikol understated, nodding proudly, "Where is that arm?"

"Eh." Ruby rubbed the socket of her stump. It had begun to get cold again, something she had ignored for the last few hours, but was becoming a nuisance again. The cold metal made her bones ache, "I left it back in the room. The cold makes it hurt."

Nikol's eyes went wide, "Oh no! No no no no! That will not do. You must come see my father at once. He will fix it!" The girl grabbed Ruby's hand and started dragging her down the hallway.

"Wait! Nikol wait!" She stopped and turned but maintained the iron grip on Ruby's hand, "I don't want to bother him. He's a busy scientist right?"

"Don't be silly Ruby." Nikol resumed bringing her back down the halls of Atlas Academy, "He'd be more than happy to see you."

Ruby finally gave up trying to get out of the girl's grip, it was impossible with only one hand. At least she had stopped thinking about Yang, and for that she could afford to go along with her new friend.

"I'm sorry, Qrow." Raven sat down at the bar next to her brother, setting her helmet on top of it and her weapon leaning up next to her, within reach.

"You don't have to lie to my face Ray." Qrow replied, not even glancing at her as he did so.

Raven frowned at her brother, "You think I'm lying?"

"About being concerned for my well being? Yeah." Qrow downed the whiskey in the glass he had been drinking and ordered another from the barkeep. Say what you want about Atlas but they sure knew how to make good booze.

"Well for what it's worth, I'm not."

"Huh, coulda fooled me. You come here to say I told you so?"

"No."

That finally got him to look at her, fixing one baleful, pale red eye on his sister in surprise. Normally she would have jumped at the chance to rub the fact that she was right into his face. He'd gone and trusted Ozpin and now he found out that the enemy they'd been fighting for so long was unkillable. How do you fight something like that? Unlike his sister, he'd found purpose in working with Ozpin. Had thought that maybe he could actually do some good in the world. He felt a crack in the glass he was holding, taking a deep breath and consciously unfurling his fingers from around it.

"I felt vindicated when I found out." She continued, "But it's not like I wanted you to be hurt."

"I guess you've always been like that. You care, just can't show it." He had the satisfaction of seeing her look away from him. As much as she had messed up with Yang and Tai he knew she still cared for them, though she'd never said why she'd done it, "Why'd you do it, Ray?"

"Do what, little brother?" She only broke out that epithet when she was annoyed but he decided to push on.

"Leave." Another sip of his new whisker, savoring the strong flavor.

"This again?" Raven rolled her eyes, "I told you I needed to take over the tribe."

"And I told you that was bullshit, Ray. You didn't give a shit about our father before."

Raven tensed up, this was usually the part where she told him to stuff it if he didn't believe her but she seemed to pause, weighing her words, "Does it really matter?"

It was Qrow's turn to pause and think, "Yeah. I guess it does."

She looked at him from the corner of her eyes, "It was Tai. You remember what happened. I imagine that's why he's not here now. He'd just slow everyone down."

Tai's condition. It wasn't something they talked about and he doubted the girl's knew about what had happened to their father. IT wasn't anything that endangered his life as long as he didn't get in over his head on a mission.

"Shit, don't tell me it's because you think he's weak now!" Qrow accused.

"No!" Raven seemed repulsed by the idea and glared at him, "Never. When our father died, the tribe reached out to me. Said that as the strongest person in the tribe that I needed to lead it. They wouldn't take no for an answer."

The realization dawned on Qrow, "You didn't."

Raven sighed, "I did. Either I go back to the tribe or they keep coming after Tai."

"You could have trashed anyone coming after him."

"I can't watch his back every hour of every day. There would come a time that I couldn't have protected him." Her voice dipped low, "The same as Summer."

"Shit Ray. Why'd you make this decision by yourself?" His drink was forgotten and no matter what had happened between them she was still his sister.

"It doesn't matter." She raised her hand and ordered the same drink as him, downing it in one go when it got there, ordering another, "I burned my bridges Qrow. Doesn't matter why."

"I guess." Qrow relented, "Even if it was a stupid."

"Yang was better off without me, anyways. If Summer was still here, you wouldn't have wanted me to come back."

"Summer would have. She loved the team."

Raven looked at him, "So did I."

He raised his glass, "For Summer."

Without a word she raised hers and tapped their rims together with a light clink, "If you tell Yang I'll kill you."

"Your secret's safe with me." Qrow chuckled.

Yang ducked behind a corner for the uptienth time that day. The reason why was her six foot blonde boyfriend who had just come out of the infirmary. It would be the first chance to really talk to him since the train to Argus. Their conversation in the Nikos household couldn't really count because he hadn't been awake for very long and their conversation had been depressing. She knew she should go talk to him. Say hi and somehow figure out a way to talk to him about Ruby.

Oh gods, Ruby.

Closing her eyes she rested her head against the wall, What a mess that line of thinking was but it was something she had to do. Her sister had feelings for her boyfriend, the thought ran through her head for the millionth time. No longer was she angry, just drained, the eruption she'd had at her mother had taken all of the fire out of her.

A Branwen and a Rose fighting over a blonde, wow.

Well, she wouldn't fight Ruby. As much as she could get angry at her sister her she loved the girl too much to hurt her like that. And therein lay the biggest problem: one of them was going to get hurt.

Logically, Ruby had already made her choice and let her have Jaune. Her sister had known she would hurt and had decided to give up her feelings, or at least try to. Obviously she hadn't been very successful.

All of that and then there was Jaune in the mix as well. She'd resorted to hiding from him, Yang knew this couldn't last either. They'd have to face it eventually but did it make her a coward if she didn't want to yet?

"Yang?"

The blond nearly jumped out of her skin at being addressed, she'd been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn't noticed the person approaching her. She glared limply at her partner as the faunus looked at her with concern. Quickly, Yang straightened herself and feigned nonchalance.

"Hey Blake. What's up?" The faunus crossed her arms, looking unimpressed.

"You've been avoiding us, Yang. Why?"

"What? No, not you." Yang twirled a finger in a lock of her hair and it she didn't think it was possible but her partner looked even less impressed than before.

"Really? So you aren't out here hiding from everyone?"

"Not everyone." That was enough for Blake to put the pieces together, she looked around the corner and spied Jaune in the distance. He was deep in conversation with Ren and Nora about something.

"Okay. Yang, this is for your own good, I'm returning the favor. We need to talk." Before she could ask Blake what she meant, the faunus yanked her down the hallway and drew her into an empty classroom. Atlas was still holding regular classes but they'd arrived on a weekend and had yet to really see any of the students.

The classroom was set up in the same way as Beacon's with an amphitheater style that had the students raised up with terrace style desks overlooking the professors podium and desk. Yang could tell this was familiar, remembering the time she had dragged her partner to an empty classroom. It felt like so long ago that it had happened. It hadn't even been a year ago.

"What's wrong Yang?" Blake asked, a certain gentleness to her voice as she spoke, almost like she was afraid to spook her partner. She looked away, unwilling to speak, and Blake sighed.

Yang watched her as she circled around to the desk, hand trailing across the surface, "I never said I was sorry."

"Huh?"

"For running away. I know I said I was going after the White Fang but that was just an excuse. I'm sorry Yang. Sun and my family helped me to realize something on Menagerie. Running won't solve my problems" Blake smiled bitterly, "Obvious, I know."

"Sometimes things are so obvious you can't see them." Yang supplied.

"But it's still not an excuse." Blake looked her in the eyes and stepped up to her, taking her hands, "I should have been there for you, and for Ruby. This team is like family to me. I love all of you. Even Weiss."

"That's great Blake, but did you need to bring me here to say that?"

"The thing is, when Sun and I got to Menagerie, I didn't want to go see my parents." Her ears flattened and her eyes dipped down, "I was afraid of what they'd say to me. The last time that I'd seen them, I called my father a coward for leaving the White Fang. Then I left and joined Sienna as we took more radical actions."

"But you know what they said?" She took a deep breath, "That they were glad I was safe. They'd heard about Vale and what Adam did, they were worried about me. They said they loved me and were never angry. Disappointed, sure, but never angry."

"That's great and all Blake." Yang said, "But what does all this have to do with me?"

The two cat ears perked up again as Blake fixed her with a stare, "My point, Yang, is that when you love someone you can forgive a lot. And I don't know what happened between you and Jaune but I'm not going to stand by anymore. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to watch you walk on glass? Besides, " Blake smirked, "I drew the short straw."

"You what?!" Yang caught the small sassy smirk on her partner's face and scowled, "You suck."

The faunus girl rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Just tell me what's going on. Please?"

How could Yang refuse when her partner asked her? "When Ruby and Jaune fell off the train, you remember how they ended up in that town?" Blake nodded, "Well apparently when the Grimm were about to attack Ruby kissed him."

Blake waited a few more seconds to see if anything else was forthcoming and when it wasn't she almost looked disappointed, "That's all?" She asked carefully.

"My sister kissed my boyfriend, Blake." Yang answered, a little annoyed.

"Well you. I can see how you'd probably be mad but it's not such a big deal is it? Especially in life threatening situations. I saw it a lot in the Fang. I don't think you have anything to be worried about."

"But that's the thing." Yang crossed her arms under her chest, "Ruby told me she didn't feel that way when she did. I thought it was okay and if I'd known she felt that way…"

"You wouldn't have done anything?" Blake finished and Yang nodded, "Aren't you forgetting something important?" Yang looked up at her, "How does Jaune feel? I mean you keep talking about both you and Ruby's feelings for him but what about his feelings for either of you? He agreed to go out with you so he must have feelings for you, I would think that he wouldn't just change his mind. And if he does then he wouldn't be worth either of your time anyways."

It was a remarkably logical conclusion and Yang was surprised she hadn't seen it before. Why had she been neglecting how he felt? Didn't she trust him? Of course she did but when faced with the idea of being abandoned she just lost all reason. The realization made her want to slap her palm to her face.

"Thanks Blake. I guess it was just one of those cases of not being able to see the forest for the trees type thing."

Blake smirked, "And here I was hoping I would get to smack some sense into you."

"Maybe next time. I can't promise I won't be weird about this still. I mean, my sister is still into my boyfriend. But I think I might be able to figure this out now."

Yang was glad she'd made eye contact with the girl all that time ago, she couldn't imagine having a different partner. It wouldn't be far off to say that they completed each other pretty well, covered each other's weaknesses, in combat and out of it. She pulled her partner into a hug and for once the quiet girl didn't resist and returned it.

"Report." The one word was clipped and sharp as Winter Schnee stepped into the cordoned area. The perimeter was secured by a mix of Atlesian knights and soldiers with Winter being the lead investigator of this particular incident. The manta, and Atlesian aircraft, was set down among a small clearing in the pine forest located on the south-eastern shore of Solitas. The interior looked fine but it was the cockpit that interested her. Both the pilot and co-pilot's seat had punctures at chest level, each was caked in blood that had seeped into the cushioning.

"Two punctures in both seat, one at fifty-three centimeters on the co-pilot's seat and the other at forty-nine centimeters. No bodies found on board but is assumed that the crew is KIA. The pilot seat's damage was caused by a bladed weapon, length cannot be extrapolated. The other was caused by a separate weapon, we are guessing there were two assailants."

Winter hummed her reply as she observed the second hole, it was narrow, like a blade, but had a thicker breadth than the other on, suggesting whatever caused it was thicker than the very thin blade of the other weapon.

"That one actually has a final point in the controls in front of the seat," There was a similar hole in the blood spattered controls for the co-pilot, "Measuring it, we concluded the length was too long for a practical blade that could be drawn in the confined space of the manta. The trajectory supports it being a projectile, most likely a broadhead arrow."

"I see." Winter stood up and surveyed the cockpit, disgust surged up in her. Another Atlesian life lost in the line of duty but one that shouldn't have been. Maria Cordova had signaled that two of her aircraft had gone missing. Bothe were now accounted for. The first had been occupied by none other than her sister and her sister's friends, though Winter personally disapproved of the theft, General Ironwood had waved it off as extenuating circumstances. This one however, had been spotted by a routine patrol, and a brief investigation had shown the previous occupants had most likely met a gruesome end. She vowed to herself to find the ones responsible and bring them to justice.

"There was one more thing, Specialist." The technician brought her to the rear of the aircraft where more evidence had been left. Three red streaks were painted on the wall in blood in a simile of claw marks. The sight of it set her blood boiling as she grit her teeth. She could not show a reaction in front of the others but she wanted so badly to lash out. It was a symbol she'd seen before and had haunted her for years.

It was a calling card.

It was the calling card of one of the most dangerous and wanted people in Atlas, and now Remnant, for their participation at the events at Beacon. Her knuckles turned white as her ice blue eyes glared at the dark red streaks and she gritted out the man's name.

"Taurus."

A/N: I'm back! I mean really back. I'm officially lifting the hiatus. Which is great.

This chapter was really difficult for me to write and I'm still not sure I'm entirely satisfied with the content but it needed to be done regardless.