A/N: Sorry for the wait! Here's the next chapter.

–

The bonded students were taking missions.

"Welcome. You have all been fortunate enough to meet your soulmate, or in some cases, soulmates." The glance toward Coco, Velvet, and Fox didn't go unnoticed by Ruby. Ozpin continued. "There are moments in life where you will be separated. But all of the bonds in here were meant to be. Thousands of years ago, according the the Story of the Souls, the goddess Fayt sought to bind souls together, so that in the scheme of life only those who truly were destined for despair would get it. So she bound the souls by hand, and the bond was always marked by what we now call a soulmark.

"But it is now time for these bonds to be tested in battle. Each of you will be facing great trials and tribulations along the way, and before you go and choose your mission, a word of warning. Everyone here fights the Grimm. They seek nothing more than to hurt you, and if one person dies, then whoever is left...will not have any sort of way to survive. I hope that all of you can be mindful not to take on a job that's too much for you. Good luck."

At the end of the short speech, Cinder immediately grabbed Ruby and pointed to a board. "This one's in Patch. Aren't you from there?"

With a nod, Ruby followed Cinder to the board. It was simple, an Escort mission. The job was to ensure that some Dust got to where it needed to go safely. To Signal, where it was probably to be used in training, or to power something.

The two young women looked at each other in agreement and nodded. Ruby tapped the board and typed in her name before stepping aside and letting Cinder put hers in.

The two grinned at each other.

"This will be fun," Cinder said gleefully.

–

It was boring right until they reached Signal.

Apparently Ruby's dad was the one waiting for the Dust, and he had a conflicted look on his face when he saw the pair.

"Hey Ruby! How are you?" he asked excitedly. Then his face fell on Cinder, and his expression darkened. But he didn't saw anything.

Ruby gave him a hug, and her dad took it. He was still staring at Cinder though.

"I've seen you before," he decided eventually.

With a shake of her head, Cinder dissuaded him. "This is the first time we've spoken, so it was probably just seeing me somewhere else. I'm from Haven."

Dad nodded with a slight frown. He turned to Ruby again. "How's Yang?"

Ruby smiled. "Oh..."

–

"Are you kidding? It was awesome!" Yang practically screamed.

"It really wasn't. We almost got killed," Blake reasoned.

"Oh, come on, it was fine," Yang tossed back at her.

The two girls had had a Search and Destroy mission with Professor Ooblek, and they had gone to the Southeast. They had almost died on a train, but Ruby, Cinder, and Coco's team had helped Vale with the following Grimm infestation.

Weiss muttered from a few feet away as she sighed at Jaune and Pyrrha. "Really, I don't know what she sees in him."

–

Her dad chuckled. "Typical Yang."

Ruby nodded and laughed. Cinder butted Ruby with her elbow. "Ruby, I have just received a message. Now that we're done, we need to get back to Beacon."

Ruby's dad was disappointed, but he waved them good-bye, and they parted ways...for now.

–

A/N: I just had to put in a part about Cinder meeting Taiyang. It seems reasonable to me that since Taiyang was in on 'the truth', Qrow would tell him a bit about Amber and what happened to her, and by extension, Taiyang would have a general description of Cinder, and she might ring bells.

So yeah. See you next time!