Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Wolf and Reaper. Enjoy the 900-word chapter. I don't own RWBY, Monty Oum, and Rooster Teeth do.

(Vale.)

Ruby looked out the window. They had driven off Cinder, defeated her forces, kept the CCTS tower intact…

They had managed all of that and possibly more… and yet Ruby didn't feel like they had accomplished anything.

"Rubes, you've been quiet for 5 days. You need to tell us what's going on." Yang stated.

"I'm fine, Yang." Yang could tell her sister was far from fine, but she knew that her sister needed her space at the moment. she left the room and closed the door behind her

Ruby sighed and rubbed at her temples with annoyance. she tapped on the cracked window.

"I'm not fine, Azul isn't fine. I don't think ANYBODY is fine." Ruby sat down on her bed and swung her pajama-clad legs around.

Azul had refused to come out of his dorm to do anything more than eat. It was confirmed by both Vale police and Atlas soldiers that team AMET had been slain in combat after their Bullhead crashed.

Azul had taken this to mean that, along with all the civilians and defenders who had died in combat? He had failed as a Huntsmen. Ruby did also feel the weight of every life that ended when Beacon almost fell.

She also hadn't seen Professor Ozpin, and he was listed as presumed dead. Cinder might have been driven off, but she had left scars on Vale that might not recover.

Ruby had decided on something, she had to go after Cinder. She knew the magic-using warrior girl would come back and cause more havoc. She had an agenda, attacking the CCTS tower and then coming to lay waste to Vale during the tournament?

This was just one stop on a very long road trip for the girl… And Ruby planned on putting an end to it.

Next week, she'd check in on Azul. She had gone to him for a few questions to see if he was ok and had said very little. Ruby had given him space as they both needed some time to cool down and recover from what had happened.

"I… no, I'm going to see him now," Ruby stated. she walked out of the room and towards Azul's dorm.

She passed by JNPR's room. She heard Pyrrha had been knocked out and then JNPR had been going to Mistral.

"Hmm." She passed by construction workers. She had forgotten how much Beacon had been damaged. There had been Huntsmen and Police clearing out Grimm and remaining White Fang insurgents still.

Ruby couldn't stay in Vale. She wanted to graduate and become a Huntress, but it felt like it was simply a hollow title at the moment.

Being a Huntress and Huntsmen was what yesterday was. She finally arrived at Azul's door. She knocked on the door and sighed.

"Azul… I know you're in there, you can come out now." Ruby waited a moment before she leaned on the door.

"Azul. We have to talk." Ruby stated. Azul hummed before Ruby heard slow footsteps towards the door.

Ruby backed away from the door. She frowned.

Azul's hair was matted down, a sign of bed head. He had the dry spots of tears running down his face which was flushed red, a very clear sign of crying.

His usual cheeky smile and bravado were replaced with a very clear frown. His legs wobbled as if he would collapse at the slightest push.

"You, ok?" Ruby asked. she knew very well he wasn't.

"How many bodies did they find today?" He sounded bitter, not at her. Ruby never heard Azul mad at her, he was always mad at himself.

"Azul, we saved Beacon." Ruby sounded more like she was trying to convince herself more than him.

Azul sighed again. Ruby could see his side of the room had scattered wrappers, there were clear signs of the bed being unmade for days.

"I know." Ruby leaned on the doorway. Azul hummed and tapped the door with uneven claws. He needed the file them.

"Azul…" Ruby muttered as the Faunus lowered his gaze from her sliver eyes, unable to meet them. Ruby sighed.

There was very little she could say to convince the Faunus to talk with her. she reached out towards him; Azul hummed.

She cupped his chin and despite his hurt state, he still managed a broken smile.

"I'm going after her. I'm going to find out what she's doing in Vale and what her next move is… And I was hoping my boyfriend could help me." Azul heard from Ruby.

He shrugged; Ruby leaned backward.

"I know AMET is gone… Can we talk after the funeral?" Ruby asked. Azul nodded before he walked back inside.

He couldn't close the door on Ruby. She wasn't at fault for what happened in Vale.

He should have stayed with his team. he could have saved them if he had been with them.

But was Cinder worth more than his team? he couldn't answer that.

Author Notes

Phew, another chapter is done! I want to point out that Azul is going to have character development after this arc. The next arc is going to also have longer chapters. The next chapter will be on next Sunday and will start season 4 and such. until then, Lighting Wolf out!

Ps: Yang is next Saturday. Penny is on Tuesday, Winter is still Sunday, Raven is Thursday and Glynda is Friday.