Hey, and we're back! A couple of days back, we had the first bit of snow where I live. Two separate cars crashed into the trees in front of my house as well. What I wanna know is why the hell would you take a blind curve at sixty-five miles per hour? Even if there wasn't ice on the road, that doesn't seem like the smartest of ideas.

Chapter 4

Ruby settled into the leather seat of the booth she and Qrow had been assigned. True to his word, he had brought them to a quaint little burger joint in town. Before the bakery, it had been a favorite haunt of hers; she and Yang would hang out after school and pretend to do homework while draining the place of its milkshake stock. Nowadays, they both had their responsibilities to mind and thus couldn't spend as much time goofing off like that.

It was that very thought that caused Ruby to flinch.

Oh gods, her eyes widened, I'm starting to think like an adult!

Horrifying as that concept was, it wasn't nearly as bad as the lecherous way Qrow's eyes followed their waitress as she walked away to fetch their drinks. It made her want to vomit just thinking about it, but he really needed a girlfriend. If only to curb some of his more sinful habits.

She had to fight the urge to gag as he turned his attention back to her. "So," she said as he placed his palms down on the table. "What're we gonna talk about?"

"Whatever, kiddo," he shrugged. "I just figured from the way you looked that you needed a break and someone to vent to."

Ruby's raised brow conveyed just how convincing of a lie that was. "Yes. It's a Tuesday night, I'm suddenly swamped with an order for a party that's happening tomorrow, and a break is exactly what I need."

"See? That's what I'm talking about." Qrow stuck his finger towards her. "You're not usually this stressed about work. Something's eating you."

"Well, maybe if Yang had given me some warning, I wouldn't have to get this stressed." She folded her arms in a pout. "I mean, I'm happy she's here and all, but a little head's up would've been appreciated." Seriously, could Yang and Weiss not have called a few more days in advance? Ruby knew for a fact that they both had scrolls. Even if they were in positions where they couldn't talk, a quick message would have been just fine.

"They just pop in, after that weird guy leaves, drop Blake's birthday bomb on me, and-"

"Whoa, whoa, hold up a sec," Qrow waved a hand, silencing her. "What weird guy?"

Ruby flinched. "Ah, well, there was some big guy that came into the store earlier' right before Yang and Weiss got there. He acted kinda strange - didn't say much, just bought some bread and left." On any other day, that sort of thing wouldn't have fazed her. She got quiet customers all the time. Frankly, they were something of a blessing, a reprieve from the torrents of squealing kids she customarily hosted. "Yang said he was probably a huntsman, said that you were all a little weird because of your work. I believed her."

Qrow's face went deathly cold for a split second. He tapped his chin for a moment like he was pondering something. Then, with a shrug, he said, "Meh, she's probably right. Not all huntsmen can maintain a cool and charming personality like yours truly." Qrow winked at a passing server, prompting little more than an eye-roll in response from her. "Some of us pretty much become brooding edgelords. Case and point, mister creepy bread guy. But, that being said, it's good you've got enough sense to be wary of strangers. Even if it was most likely nothing."

Just like Yang had said. Ruby couldn't help the small sigh of relief that escaped her. Maybe she really was freaking out over nothing. Everyone around her seemed to think so. And really though, what kind of person would have the guts to try and attack her in the middle of the day, with two fully trained huntresses in the room? Why would he even be after her, anyway? It wasn't like she was all that interesting, and she wasn't the heir to some trillion-lien company. She was just plain old, normal-kneed, Ruby Rose.

She chuckled at that thought. Who would ever want to target her of all people?

/-/

Someone was targeting Ruby.

Yang scowled at the thought. She'd always wanted to keep her little sister out of this life. She was too innocent, too good to be forced into a secret war that was older than recorded history.

So, Yang had kept her life as a huntress hidden from the girl. She never lied to her. No huge lies, anyway. Really, all she did was give the bare minimum when it came to details and let her fill in the blanks on her own. Why had it been so long since she had called home? Her team was out where they couldn't make any scroll calls. Nevermind the fact that they could, they just weren't allowed to, because they would be tracked. What were they doing out there? An increase in Grimm activity - precise Grimm activity, that was.

Salem was making a play. What that was, none of them knew. The only sure thing was that people were disappearing in the middle of the night. Entire towns were being razed to the ground by the Grimm. Huntsmen were being killed in droves all across Remnant. There had even been sightings - more rumors than actual proof - of the witch's personal agents in the cities.

The most recent, and the most troubling to Yang, came from Patch. Tyrian Callows, world infamous serial killer and maniac, had been seen on the ferry from Vale to the small island. Even the mention of his name was enough to send shivers up her spine. A few months back, on a mission in Forever Fall, team YWBR had run across him. Well, it was really more of a case of him jumping out of the bushes and attacking them, singing about how he would please his goddess with their deaths. The fight that ensued had been one of the hardest any of them had ever faced, and Yang had very nearly lost her life to that poisoned tail of his.

When Ozpin told them of him possibly being on Patch, Yang had dropped everything to go. If he was there, he had to have a reason. Insane, Callows may have been, random he was not.

As such, she Weiss were stuck watching Ruby's building from a cheap apartment across the street. Her team taking a vacation was yet another of Yang's little white lies to her sis. There wasn't really any other reason she could have given to make her visit not seem suspicious. "Oh yeah, Ruby, by the way, you may or may not be being hunted by a crazed serial murderer who's working for an immortal Grimm monster lady." Sure, that would go over perfectly.

Yang glanced over to Weiss, who was busying herself by fiddling with Myrtenaster's dust chambers. "Well, this sucks ass," she said with a huff.

The Ice Queen didn't even look up, but Yang could still feel her eyes rolling in her skull. "Must you be so crude? And could you be more specific?"

Yang flopped around on the couch so that she was laying down, with her feet dangling over the back. She held her arms up. "This," she said. "The waiting. The watching. The not knowing jack-shit about what's gonna happen."

Still engrossed in her work, Weiss' response and her tone were rather monotonous. "You'd rather we left Ruby to her fate? Even with Callows on the loose?"

Yang scowled. "No, you know that's not what I mean." She folded her arms across her chest. With that maniac skulking around town, there was no way she was leaving Ruby on her own. Hence, why Qrow was with her now. "It's just, normally, something would have happened by now. You know?" When her teammate didn't answer, she continued.

"We know Tyrian's in town. So, why hasn't he moved yet? He doesn't strike me as the stalky type. More of a jump you and cut you to a bloody pulp kind of guy."

Weiss sighed as she put down her tools and leaned back in her chair. "Well, think of who he works for. Salem is nothing, if not subtle, according to Ozpin. Perhaps he's waiting for Ruby to be at her most vulnerable?"

"That's just it," Yang groused, rolling over onto her stomach. "Ruby is never not vulnerable. She can hardly handle smooshing a spider with a tissue. Other than the little bit of aura training dad and me gave her, she's completely helpless."

Growing tired of the couch, the blond brawler stood and stalked over to the window for the millionth time that evening. The streets were dark and quiet. Patch wasn't a lively town even in the middle of the day, let alone after the sunset. Yang looked over at the front of Ruby's bakery; all was calm. Up above, in her tiny apartment, all was still and dark.

"And that raises the obvious question," she said. The question that had been burning in her mind for a week now. "Why? Why target Ruby?"

Weiss shook her head and stepped over to join her at the window. "I really don't know. Tyrian knows you work for Ozpin. Maybe he's doing all this to draw us out."

I mean, it makes sense, Yang thought to herself. Killing team YWBR would undoubtedly be a blow to the old man's whole operation. Take them out, and he'd need to find some other group of Beacon students to rope into his conspiracy. In fact, Ruby was the perfect target if Salem wanted to hurt Ozpin. Not only was she Yang's sister, but she was also Qrow's niece. And Taiyang was once one of the wizard's agents too.

Yang's fists clenched. Well, in that case, they'd have to be even more ready. Ruby was too important to let die.

Her scroll pinged. A short message from Qrow stated that he and Ruby were on their way back. Good. That was phase one of the Operation Protect Little Sister from Evil Grimm Bitch and Her Minions. Step two would be drunkle Qrow getting Ruby to let him crash on her couch for the night. As much as she hated it, Yang knew that were something to happen, she and Weiss simply weren't close enough to help. They were the surveillance team, making damn sure everything happening outside the building was on the up and up.

"Qrow's en route," Yang told Weiss, who nodded back dutifully. "Blake says she should be here tomorrow, so we'll have one more set of night-vision equipped, kitty-kat eyes to put on watch. Hopefully, nothing happens before then."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "The saddest part about that is that you probably just jinxed us."

"Oh, come on, princess." Yang dismissed her with a wave of her hand. "If the weirdo hasn't made his move yet, he probably won't toni-" She was cut off by a sudden knock on the door. It was late. Too late for anyone to be coming to say hello…

Yang deployed Ember Celica and steadied herself in a preemptive stance. Weiss did the same, spinning Myrtenaster's cylinder and pointing the tip toward the entrance to the little apartment.

The door exploded two seconds later.

Yang groaned. "Me and my big, fucking mouth."

Chapter's a little shorter this time, but I tried to fit in a bit more, and it just didn't feel right. Anyway, shit's really picking up next time. The original plan was to hold off for two more chapters before starting in on the real action. But, I decided this was a better kickoff at the last minute.