Ruby kept her eyes glued to her feet as Ozpin sat in his chair, back turned to her so she couldn't see his expression, but she knew it was bad.
Not just at her, but the… recent development.
Goodwitch, Penny and Ironwood were also in the room. And it was the general tasked with explaining himself.
"Oz you have to listen to me," he said. "This isn't a conspiracy against you."
"Isn't it?" the headmaster of beacon hummed. He still didn't look their way. "From what I can tell you designed a machine as a little girl, trained it to be a huntress and told me nothing of it. It begs the question, what were you planning exactly?"
His fellow headmaster straightened. "Penny in an operative, the first of her kind, a machine with aura and its own thought process."
"Oh I know what it is," Ozpin dismissed with a wave. "I can see that from the hole in its chest. What I can't understand is why you haven't gotten rid of it yet.
Penny froze, beginning to shake even if she didn't look up from the floor. Ruby clenched her fists.
"Ozpin please, there's no need for this. Penny is a valued-"
"A secret you kept from me!" the man suddenly snapped, spinning around to face them. His eyes were like thunder. "There is no need to deceive the Grimm, not with this thing so that only leaves the reason for its creation was to deceive me."
"It's not like that sir." Penny interjected frantically.
The wizard's eyes snapped to the machine-girl and narrowed. She continued.
"I was created my General Ironwood and my father to save the world. The Grimm may not be able to tell the difference but its human allies can. I… was a test to see if aura could be implanted in machines, and it can, with something else." She looked down at her hands. "I have a soul."
Ozpin didn't look impressed. "Be that as you say, it does not make it true. To trust a machine with-"
"Penny isn't a machine."
Again, the headmaster was interrupted, but this time by Ruby. He frowned.
"Do not involve yourself in this Miss Rose."
She met his gaze defiantly; silver piecing what she hoped was through him. She went on.
"Penny is just as much a huntress-in-training as the rest of us. She has aura, she's not just some robot she's an android." She glanced at the girl next to her and nodded. "She's my friend."
Penny jumped at that, and stared at the girl in red with shock.
In gave Ironwood the opportunity to step in.
"You must see that if Miss Rose trusts her then I have made the right choice here Ozpin. You know I would not work against you. Please believe me on this."
The Beacon Headmaster didn't look away from Ruby, and she didn't back down. All she needed was one more word.
"Pinocchio."
It was enough. The wizard looked away.
"Very well," he relented after a moment. "I will forgive it for now, but do not keep secrets from me again James. Is that understood?"
"Of course Oz."
He nodded. "Very well then. Now, on to the next matter… the attack on the CCT. Glynda, what is the damage?"
"The terminals in the centre of the room are destroyed, but the majority were left undamaged. We know the infiltrator was there to do something with the network, but so far we have been unable to find out just what it was."
"My men will look into it." Ironwood promised. "Whatever they were planning to do is no doubt dangerous, we cannot let it succeed."
Ozpin nodded. "Instead… which bring us to our next point… Mountain Glenn." He turned to Ruby.
"You said that the infiltrator mentioned something about growing activity in the abandoned city. How exactly did you manage to get that information?"
Ruby bit her lip. "She told me."
"Oh she told you," the headmaster hummed. "Well isn't that a relief, but could it be that, maybe, she lied?"
"She wouldn't do that."
"And how would you know?"
She glared. "Because Cinder wouldn't lie to me."
Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "Cinder? You know this… criminal."
She didn't look away. "I do."
"And I am just to believe that just because you know her, she'd tell you the truth about something like this?"
"Eh, I would." A new voice said.
At once they all turned to the new figure who had appeared from the window, his messy black hair falling into place as he stepped out of the wind.
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby brightened.
He grinned, and embraced his niece in a hug. "Hey there pipsqueak, did ya miss me?"
She shot him a pout that had him recoiling. "You haven't called me in months. I was so worried about you when we split up!"
He laughed. "What? Worried about me? I'm the best huntsman there is kiddo, I ain't have to be afraid of anybody. You got here alright then, with Amber?"
"She did." Ozpin said, standing up. "Qrow, you are back sooner than I expected. Is there a reason for that?"
He shrugged. "There was nothing left to do. I gave my hunters the slip and cost them enough time that I thought it would be safe to come back. Looks like it was the right time though," he looked down at his fellow reaper. "You said it was Cinder?"
She nodded.
"He sighed, pulling out his flask and taking a swig. "Damn. That's not something I wanted to here."
"You know of this girl then Qrow?" the general questioned.
He rolled his eyes. "Sure do Jimmy. She travelled with us for about, what, four years? I taught her how to fight myself, she's tough."
Ozpins eyes narrowed. "And you didn't think it important to tell me of this?"
"Not really no," he answered truthfully. "Cinder was someone we picked up from a Grimm Massacre as it was happening in front of her. She was scared and wanted to come with us, and after a little bit of time she got wrapped up in all of our crazy. She helped protect Ruby from quite a few baddies."
"He leaned in close, so that only Ozpin could hear. "The kid was crazy about Ruby, might even have been a healthy dose of obsession since she saved her life. She had a big case of the hero worship last time I saw her." He pulled away and spoke in a louder voice.
"So I don't really think she's the type to go against Ruby. Whatever this is, whatever she wants, I think she's telling the truth, at least about there being something going on in Mountain Glenn, I flew over there on my way here… it's empty Oz, more empty than I'm used to. No animals or birds went near it, only Grimm, and there were a lot more of them than there should be for an abandoned city. Someone's there."
There was a pause, a full minute of silence.
"Miss Rose," he said eventually. "Leave us for a moment, I… will send for you shortly."
She hesitated for a second, sending a look to Penny, then her Uncle before nodding reluctantly.
The elevator opened for her and she stepped in.
She didn't look back as it closed behind her.
As she felt the floor move, Ruby closed her eyes and sighed. What a night this had been. It had been… so nice in the beginning, but now she just felt drained and Cinder…
She sighed. Whatever they were planning up there, it was without her, and that was an uneasy feeling. She trusted Qrow would vouch for Cinder but with everything they were dealing with right now with Amber and the festival she knew they couldn't afford to just let it go.
What was she supposed to do?
The door made a noise as it opened and Ruby walked out.
Only to freeze when she saw her team waiting for her at the bottom. The say her instantly and rushed over.
Weiss was the first one to her.
"Ruby are you alright?" she asked in a worried tone. "We heard that Ozpin wanted to speak to you about the attack."
She faked a smile. "I'm fine Weiss, really."
"Are you sure?" Blake cut in, sending her a concerned look of her own. It was sweet, really it was, she just wished they weren't doing it now of all times."
"I promise I'm-"
"What is this?!" Yang snapped, hand latching onto Ruby's cheek, where Cinder had cut her with an arrow. Her sister's eyes flashed red and she growled. "You were involved."
Ruby grit her teeth.
And just like that, her mood took a dive over the edge.
…
…
Weiss swallowed as she stood hunched again the wall outside her room on the left side of the door. Blake stood on the right side, looking as much, if not more uncomfortable than her. Team JNPR's door was open, as the four members of their team peered out, sending them sympathetic – and nervous – looks.
How had it all gone so bad so fast?
Ruby had come out of the tower looking ragged and worse for wear, and Weiss had rightly been concerned about her partner, her sister even more rightly so had been worried, and leapt to interrogate her on what had happened.
Ruby could have answered, it wasn't like it could be that big of a deal.
Instead she'd refused to answer, and Yang had gotten angry. They'd argued, all the way back to their room, and when they got in they argued some more. Weiss had sat on her bed while Blake had sat on hers, trying to look as small as possible as it got progressively worse.
And it did get worse
Yang got madder and madder as Ruby refused to answer,. She got angrier because their night had suddenly been interrupted by alarms and Atlesian soldiers and a Ruby with a bloodied cheek.
Yang started yelling.
It was to be expected. Weiss hadn't seen where Yang and Blake had gotten off to, she didn't know what they'd been doing but it had been cut short by the worry over her sister, who wasn't helping the situation with her stubbornness.
Yang was angry and it was expected, she had a temper, and for as much as she tried to keep it in control she was loud with it. it was honestly something Weiss could deal with. A bit of shouting and she'd let off steam and it would be over.
Her sister had always told her those kinds of people were the ones you needn't be afraid of. For as angry as they got they would not harm you, not on purpose.
Winter had always warned her that it was the ones that didn't get angry that she should fear, because when they did it would be something she'd never experienced.
Weiss experienced that with Ruby.
It had been an eruption.
When Ruby finally snapped it was with screaming and rage and vitriol unlike Weiss had ever seen from someone, and it coming from a fifteen-year-old girl did not lessen that.
Ruby had screamed and raged as Yang shouted and raged. It got so bad, so loud and scary that Weiss and Blake had fled the room. Now they were sitting outside waiting for it to be over.
That had been ten minutes ago, and they were getting worse.
It reminded Weiss of how her mother and father had argued, except neither had been trained fighters capable of killing someone. These two sisters were, and that scared her.
But the similarities with her own parents was scarier.
The monochrome pair flinched as a shattering sound could be heard and the screaming and shouting got louder. No actual violence yet but things were being broken.
Neither of them was brave enough to go in and stop them.
Weiss wondered how it would end. She couldn't even hear what they were saying. That was perhaps the most frustrating part of it all. For their voices were so loud and raging that their words were indistinguishable from this side of the door. It could be heard alright, but whatever it was they were saying was lost on her.
She groaned into her hands. It had been such a nice night too. She'd been laughing and smiling and dancing with Ruby and her partner had been opening up, enjoying herself and showing Weiss what her real self looked like. The kind, happy, giggling girl.
What scared her the most was that Weiss knew this was honest too.
This furious, screaming Ruby was the honest one too. This was her without a care for what her teammates or anyone else thought of her and it was terrifying, for Weiss to know that this was her teammate. This was her partner. This was-
She cut her own thoughts off with a sigh as she palmed her forehead.
"Are you alright Blake?" she called from her side of the door, not bothering to turn to the Faunus.
Said girl sighed herself. "Managing," she said. "Even with my hearing I can't tell what they're saying. Honestly it's just a little painful."
"Maybe we should move away?" Weiss suggested.
Blake shot her a look.
Yeah, she felt the same way. Even if they wanted to move, there was a feeling in their stomachs that something bad would happen if they did.
It was still going.
Weiss let out a breath in a low growl. "What happened for this to even get this bad?"
Blake shrugged, showing that she'd heard her.
"Build up maybe?" she said. "It's… we both know they've been at odds since the first day."
"Yes but this?!" she hissed. "This is ridiculous. My sister and I would never be like this!"
"Did your sister ever disappear for nearly ten years?" Blake responded reasonably, or maybe not, the fact that 'nearly ten years' was a reason to begin with was bad enough.
She groaned again.
There was a sudden noise and the two of them jumped. Inside there was a beat of silence too.
The speakers rang out.
"Could team RWBY report to the headmaster's office. Team RWBY to the Headmaster's office."
Weiss and Blake shared a look. What was this about now?
They jumped when the door suddenly opened and Ruby stormed out. She stopped only for a second to look at them, and if she thought anything about them sitting on the floor she didn't comment as she spoke curtly.
"Get dressed, I'll meet you guys there."
Weiss opened her mouth to say something but cut off as a thump from inside the room could be heard. Their combat outfits were tossed out and into team JNPR's room. Looks like Yang didn't want them in right now.
Ruby huffed and turned away, marching down the corridor angrily.
They shared another look. If anything, at least the screaming had stopped.
Still, it would take another five minutes before they were ready and Yang stepped out of their room. She didn't say anything to them, even if Blake leaned against her as some show of support. Yang didn't shake it off so it must have worked a little.
Again, with a sympathetic look from team JNPR they made their way to the Headmasters office. Ruby hadn't been there waiting for them and the elevator ride was tense for Weiss in particular.
Mercifully t was short and as they entered they saw Ruby standing to attention. Yang sent her a heated glare but looked away a second later, eyes front and centre.
Or, they would have, if they hadn't fallen to the stranger in the room.
Weiss didn't know who he was; dark black hair, dull red eyes and a lax stance it was certainly nobody she'd ever met before, but from the way Yang froze stiff it was someone she knew.
Before she could say anything however Ozpin spoke.
"Thank you for coming." He said, taking a sip of his coffee. "I hope you've all enjoyed your night so far, barring the interruption of the alarms of course. Miss Goodwitch and the general are off to manage the situation with the rest of the teachers."
None of them answered, unsure what to say.
The headmaster took that as an invitation to keep speaking.
"I'm sure you are all wondering why you're here tonight, and I suppose there's no need for formalities so I'll cut to the chase. Earlier tonight, we received intelligence on a potential White Fang operation outside of the city."
Blake tensed beside Yang, suddenly alert. Ozpin caught it in the side of his vision. "I am well aware the four of you have had… experience dealing with the organisation, more than any other group of students. Which is why I have decided to come to you four on the matter."
He turned to them.
"The missions begin tomorrow, a week before the end of the semester, but considering the importance and time sensitivity of this, I have decided that it would be best to start now, tonight, instead of waiting for morning." He stood up, gazing out the window.
"Of course you can decline this mission, there is no shame in that if you feel it too much for you all."
Weiss glanced at her teammates. Obviously with Blake and their own experience they had at least some sort of personal reason to take this mission, but even more than that the Headmaster had spoken to them. If he put his trust in them like that, Weiss didn't see a way they could refuse."
He took their silence as an answer and nodded.
"Very good. The information we received put the location somewhere in Mountain Glenn, an area filled with Grimm. This will be a high-level mission, which is why I am sending Qrow her with you, he will be the head of this operation, you are to follow his commands."
The man in question grinned and sent them a little wave.
"Hey there kids. I've heard a lot of things about you four. I'll be looking forward to seeing what you got."
Yang's hands clenched into tight fists.
"With that out of the way," Ozpin said. "Head to the cliff for bullhead transport."
They nodded stiffly, but before they could leave.
"Oh and could Miss Rose stay behind for a moment? I need to have a word with her." The three other members of team RWBY shared a look, Yang didn't look happy, but there wasn't anything to do, no they continued on their way out, and let the elevator doors close behind them.
Now, three people were left in the room.
"Yes sir?" Ruby asked, Qrow getting ready to leave himself.
The headmaster sat back down in his chair.
"While you are on your mission, there is a secondary objective for you and Qrow to complete: You must find and eliminate Dr Merlot."
The Reaper blinked. She'd heard that name before, from Cinder, years ago.
"I thought he was dead." She said.
"We assumed so too, but if his facilities are being used then it could only be with his aid."
She nodded. "Right, I guess we'll-"
"There is another thing," he interrupted. "Merlot is an Avatar. He is Mr Hyde."
She sucked in a breath. "More of them? Why didn't you tell me about this one?!"
"As I said, we assumed him dead. Clearly he was not. Your mission to kill him must be kept secret from the rest of your team of course."
Ruby shot a nervous look at her uncle. He caught it. "Don't worry kiddo, when we find him, I'll do the deed."
"R-right, okay." She looked away. "So should we get going?"
"Indeed." Ozpin nodded. "Good luck on your mission Miss Rose."
…
…
Blake held onto the railings above as the bullhead rose into the sky.
She looked over the edge as they left Beacon behind them and the wind whipped at her hair. So this would be their second official mission. Even if it was a little earlier than she'd expected and the circumstances around it weren't the best she couldn't help the twinge of excitement that bounced around in her.
She took one last look at the city before they left its borders and slide the door shut, blocking out the wind and noise of the propellers.
"So, how long until we get there?" she asked the Huntsman in charge.
Blake wasn't too sure what to make of him.
He was Ruby's and Yang's Uncle, she remembered his name from the few mentions Yang gave her. He wasn't what she expected in all honesty, in that he really didn't look anything like them, maybe the eyes could be compared to Yang's when she got angry but apart from that…
He was tall, as in really tall, and his state of dress didn't leave much to be desired with how untidy he kept himself. He was a huntsman though, Blake could feel it. It wasn't just his weapon – which was a pretty big sword hanging off his waist – but the way he watched them all. It wasn't hostile of suspicious, but it was ready.
"Could be anywhere between ten or thirty minutes," he shrugged as he sat down on one side of the Bullhead. With the five of them in the metal carrier there two sides were filled; Weiss, Yang and her on one side with him and Ruby on the other. Whatever that meant…
"It depends if we get any interference, we want to keep our entrance quiet, no flash. Attracted Grimm while looking for terrorists in a bad idea."
Despite herself, and her mood, Yang smirked, knocking her fists together. "If there's Grimm we can take em. We've taken on a ton already."
The Huntsman didn't look impressed. "At initiation right? If that's your bar for Grimm you're gonna get torn apart in your first fight."
"Huh?" she blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He rolled his eyes. "You were fighting Grimm in the Emerald Forest; they're right next to the school which means their young, stupid and weak. The further you get out from civilisation the stronger they get, and I don't just mean their types. Even regular beowolves are as strong as Alphas out here, and the Alpha's are worse."
"Surely it can't be that bad," Weiss argued. "We know how strong Grimm can be, we fought an Ouroboros."
"Yeah, and how did that go for ya? I'm being honest here Ice Queen, the Grimm in Mountain Glenn are going to be a big deal. They've been there for years, decades getting older and stronger and most have some kind of experience killing people. They'll be smart." He glared at the three of them. "Let me make this clear. You don't engage any Grimm here by yourself, at all."
Yang scowled and looked away, but Blake and Weiss nodded.
The Faunus' hand fell to her weapon.
She'd fought Grimm before Beacon, but in the White Fang that usually meant cleaning up after a raid. Young Grimm close to civilisation. Those things were still dangerous enough to kill ten men by themselves.
If these were more dangerous than that then…
She glanced at her team leader.
Ruby had been quiet since they'd left, and it was almost like she was looking off in a daze. What was more telling thought was that Qrow hadn't seen fit to try and impress the same thing onto her. She already knew.
Their fifteen-year-old leader already knew how dangerous these Grimm would be.
How come that filled her with more dread than confidence?
They must have reached their destination a few minutes later because whoever was piloting the Bullhead opened the side doors and as the wind whipped around Blake she could just make out the shapes of Buildings.
"Alright," the Huntsman said. "We're dropping off right on the outskirts of this place. Keep things quiet and move slowly. Follow my lead and be ready."
They nodded as the aircraft came to a stop to hover a few meters above the ground. The light blinked inside and they leapt out.
Blake landed softly, crouching low as the others did the same. Even Yang, managed to keep the noise to a minimum as they disembarked. There was a whir of engines and the bullhead pulled away.
Qrow nodded in its direction. "It'll come back once we signal it, depending on how long we're here though it could take a while for them to respond, so be ready for that too."
"Gee," Yang groused. "Sounds like everything's about 'being ready' doesn't it?"
His eyes narrowed at her. "That's because it is firecracker, the second you slip up is the second you die out here, take it seriously."
She looked away at that, grumbling something under her breath.
Qrow ignored it, turning to them in full.
"Okay, here's the deal. We're here to find info on the White Fangs operations here. We might even find them at work but with the Grimm here we need to be careful. We don't know much else, so we need to be wary we're not running into a trap." He glanced at Blake.
"Yo, Emo, you can see better than the rest of us in the dark right? You're going to be our eyes fro now." She felt her ears twitch at the name a little, but nodded all the same.
"Good, the first thing we need to do is set up a camp somewhere."
Weiss frowned. "Shouldn't we start our search for the White Fang? We can use the element of surprise now, if we say here longer we could lose it."
"That would work if we were working with regular criminals," he complimented. "But we're not, it's the White Fang, which means Faunus, and at least fifty percent as a low estimate are going to have night vision like Emo here. That puts us at a disadvantage at night if they ambush us." He looked around.
"Not to mention the Grimm tend to blend in at night far better than during the day. No, we need to find a safe place to set up camp and go from there."
Weiss nodded along, seeing his logic, whatever she thought about who he was to herself privately, even she could see that h was a professional huntsman.
Or, well, not professional considering Atlas consisted of far different sorts of Huntsmen like her sister, but perhaps experienced was the right word.
"Alright Emo," he said again. "You're going to be our eyes and ears while we move, think you can stay sharp?"
"I can," she said. "But it's not perfect." She looked up at the sky. Clouds had rolled in and covered the moonlight. It was really dark. "If I'm going to be any use then we need to get somewhere higher with more light."
He hummed. "Makes sense, but we can't go to the very top of these buildings. We dunno how safe these things are to be around without collapsing. If we find something it needs to be somewhere around the middle of the pack in terms of height, and no ceiling. Got it?"
They replied with a chorus of understanding and he nodded again. Without another word he turned and started moving. They followed as quietly as they could.
Qrow led the formation, Ruby on his left and Blake on his right. Weiss and Yang followed behind.
They looked around at the ruins of the city. Even in the light they had it wasn't easy to miss the utter devastation this place had been through.
The place was the definition of a ghost town. The concrete jungle was overgrown, perhaps becoming an actual jungle. Vines, moss and shrubbery covered the ground and buildings, if they could even be called that. There was smashed glass, broken rubble and skeleton frames were buildings should be.
Blake knew the history of Mountain Glenn, or at least the stuff she'd read in textbooks. It was supposed to have been an expansion for citizens, to help the population grow and give people new opportunities.
It had been a disaster, one of the biggest massacres in recent history.
The White Fang had used it as reasoning to distrust the council, and how they couldn't be trusted thanks to this failure.
Now, Blake was in the centre of it, and she couldn't help but agree.
It was a failure.
And it had been a costly one.
No, now wasn't the time to think about that, stay focused!
Blake looked around, scoping out the area as they moved. Her eyes glowed in the minuscule light they had to work with.
Qrow stopped suddenly, and Blake almost tripped as she did the same.
He looked up and pointed to a half-finished skyscraper. "We can hold up in there for a while," he said. "Go on in, find the highest floor with a sturdy structure and light a fire, I'll scope out the surrounding area."
"Right." Ruby whispered, and hurried on ahead. The rest of the team shared a look and followed.
It took about two minutes to make it up, climbing the broken and often patchy stairwell the whole way up. It would be difficult and noisy for land Grimm to approach them at least. They stopped climbing at perhaps the sixtieth floor or so and pulled out supplies they'd brought with them.
After that, it was a simple case of stacking up burnable material they'd prepared and Weiss setting it alight with a small amount of Dust. Qrow arrived as they finished and nodded when he saw the fire.
"Good," he said. "It's late already, so get so sleep and we'll discuss the plan tomorrow morning."
Blake opened her mouth to say something but the Huntsman had already turned away. Was this what missions were supposed to be like? The Huntsman leading them barely taking part?
…
…
The Faunus woke up to the sound of scratching.
Not the sound of claws, but fingernails, so even as her eyes fluttered open and she sat up she didn't feel any alarm in what she was doing.
Eyes still sleepy she looked left and right. They... team RWBY was still asleep. Not that she could blame them. The sun was only rising in the distance. Blake didn't have to look at her scroll to know it was still pretty early, and she at least hadn't gotten much sleep last night.
The Faunus may have been a former terrorist, but even she'd slept in places safer than a Grimm infested ruin.
She looked up through the hole in the ceiling. The skies were a bleak grew, and the mild weather just left everything feeling… muted. Was that the right way to put it?
The scratching stopped.
"You're up then?" a gruff voice came. "Good, get the others and we'll get started."
She nodded slowly and crawled over to her partner. The blonde was sprawled out in her bedroll, and she slept with an open mouth.
Bake poked her cheek gently, and even that proved enough for her to stir.
The blonde's eyes fluttered open and met her own. She smiled.
"Hey kitten," she said "What are you doin' up so early?"
"The Huntsman told me to wake you up," Blake shrugged.
A frown grew on Yang's face for a moment as she pushed herself up out of her bedroll.
"Qrow…"
Suddenly Ruby stirred in her own bed. The noise the two of them made had apparently been enough.
Where Yang and Ruby both light sleepers? That didn't seem right.
Silver eyes opened tiredly and met theirs. They ran over them – specifically Yang – for a moment before looking away.
So that was still an issue was it?
It took them a few more minutes to wake Weiss properly.
Apparently sleeping in a dangerous abandoned city wasn't enough to prevent the heiress from getting her full quote of beauty sleep.
After that, they followed Qrow to the edge of the building on their floor, looking over a great deal of the city.
"Alright, so I guess there's' a few things we need to get out of the way first, since everything was kinda hectic last night," he nodded towards them. "The names Qrow Branwen, And I know who all of you are, at least by name, Ozpin gave me a little list. I don't have anything on your capabilities though, so coordination will be up to you."
He gave each of them a one over.
"Also, since we're in enemy territory I'll state this one more time; you follow my lead, do what I say without question and we won't have a problem. If I think you're going to jeopardise this then I'll call the bullhead and you'll be out of here to deal with any crap Oz sticks you with as punishment. Any questions?"
None of them spoke and after a moment he grunted.
"Good, now here's how we're going to do it: Me, Ruby and the Ice queen will scout out the area first, check-up north of the city. Meanwhile you, Firecracker, and Emo stay here and guard the camp."
Blake felt her partner bristle. "Seriously? You want us to say here instead of being out there?"
He regarded her with a bored stare. "That's what I said."
She grit her teeth, but huffed angrily instead of speaking as she turned and walked back to the dead campfire.
Blake glanced at as her partner stalked away and when she turned back, Qrow was already on his way out.
Great, just great.
…
…
"So we'll be scouting out the northern part of the city?"
"That's right pipsqueak. It's the biggest part of the city, so I think we should clear it off our list first. That being said I'll be the one to move in first, got it? If I think it's safe enough I'll give you a signal or something."
The huntsman glanced to the side. "You got that Ice Queen?"
The heiress scowled. "I heard it. I still don't see the reason for leaving Yang and Bake behind."
He rolled his eyes. "We need to make sure the camp was safe for when we get back. I thought I explained this already."
"Oh I heard, I just think we could have taken the more practical course of action and gone together. It's a temporary camp isn't it? We don't have anything too valuable there and we could use the extra members if we run into the White Fang."
Qrow let out a breath "Gee Ice Queen, relax a little will ya? Let the professional huntsman take things from here okay?"
She looked away
Ruby looked back at Weiss and frowned a little. Was there something wrong with her? She'd been frosty ever since she woke up this morning, and she didn't even mean that as a joke.
She could understand if her partner was anxious about being in Grimm territory, but it felt as if it was a more personal thing, something either directed towards her or Qrow. For the life of her she couldn't figure out what was wrong.
"Alright," the Huntsman said. "let's get started."
With that he set off, leaving the two huntresses-in-training to wait in the open plaza. Weiss sighed and walked over to lean against a wall.
Suddenly a piece of the ruin broke off, and the heiress jumped as it landed n3ext to her.
Her cry made Ruby looked like her uncle's semblance was in effect.
Weiss shot her a glare and grumbled something under her breath. Ruby stopped, realising that laughing at her partner wouldn't be the best idea in her current mood. She cleared her throat.
Uncle Qrow shouldn't be too long," she said. "he'll probably just try and get a view of the place from somewhere up high before coming to get us."
Weiss hummed, but didn't reply.
Ruby coughed.
"And uh… that 's probably what we're going to be doing the whole day. Hopefully we can find some action soon."
"I see."
Ruby bit her lip. "Are you okay Weiss?"
"Yes Ruby, I'm Fine."
Her brow furrowed. "You don't sound fine, what's wrong with you?"
Weiss stopped in her tracks immediately and when she turned Ruby was taken aback by the snarl on her face.
"What's wrong with me? That's rich coming from you, I'd think you see the hypocrisy in that and how you're acting but apparently not."
"What are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm talking about Ruby," Weiss growled, stepping closer and pushing a finger against the reapers chest. "You're issues with Yang are getting out of hand"
Ruby scowled. "What's the big deal? Can't I have privacy without her interrogating me on everything I do? Is that too much to ask?"
"With you? Yes!"
Ruby gaped, but the heiress didn't care.
"You are well aware that disappearing from your family has an effect on her, you're just too blind to see the extent. Every time she tries to get the truth out of you, something she deserves you push her away and she's left feeling worst about herself. You're secretive, argumentative and to be quiet honest after the debacle that was last night I don't even know if I should trust a word you say?"
"W-what-"
"You came down from the CCT with blood on your face, your own and there were alarms going off just minutes before. Yang, like any good sister was concerned and worried about you and no matter how she chose to show it you should have at least eased her fears. Instead you two screamed at each other. If you can't see a problem in all of that then I question your sanity."
The red-hooded huntress glared, clenching her fists. "You don't understand. You can't know what I've gone through. What, do you want me to tell you things I've kept secret for a very important reason?"
"No!" Weiss snapped. "Regardless of the reasons behind your secrets, which I can't imagine for the life of me could be that bad, you don't need to tell me anything. But you need to tell Yang, your sister deserves to know why she was left alone for years."
"But she wasn't alone!" Ruby argued. "She had dad!"
"Does she feel that way?" Weiss bit back. "I know all too well that sometimes someone's parents can be… inadequate in staving off loneliness, they can sometimes be the cause of it. My sister… she was the only one I could rely on for years. Yang didn't even have that. She deserves to know Ruby, even if she's the only one you tell. And if you still refuse to tell her, if you don't do anything as a leader to fix this team," she sighed. "Then I'll withdraw."
Ruby's eyes widened. "What? You can't!"
"I can and I will!" she glared. "If this is our lives where you two can't interact like people for the next four years then yes, I'll transfer to a different team or… or a different school. I have goals of becoming a huntress and if you prevent that…"
There was a flutter of wings that Weiss didn't hear and a tread of footsteps she did. Qrow was on his way back.
She glanced back in his direction before sighing and sending one last look at Ruby.
"I don't want to," she said in a softer tone. "But I will. Fix it, please, for your own good if nothing else."
The reaper made to say something when her uncle rounded the corner.
"It's clear," he grunted. "We'll check the buildings for any sign of activity but it should be safe. Let's get going."
Weiss turned away and nodded, following Qrow as he started leading him the way he came.
Ruby stood there frozen for a moment. This couldn't be happening! Was… was Weiss really serious? No, of course she was, it wasn't even a question. Ruby gripped her head. She'd been given an ultimatum; tell Yang the truth, about the horrible wold and the things she'd been through, possible shattering… everything, or lose her partner, her best friend. It wouldn't just be that. What would happen to the team if the heiress left? Blake might go with her, the two of them had a join goal now, for the betterment of the SDC and Faunus. They'd go together, and… and Yang might leave too. Where would that leave Ruby?
What was she going to do?
Apparently the world was about to decide that for her, because as she took a step to follow, the ground suddenly cracked. The ground splintered and gave way beneath her feet in an unnatural way.
Ruby only had time to cry out before she fell into the depths.
….
…
Blake poked at the ash of the fire from last night with one of the half-charred sticks.
They'd been here for about… an hour, no, two, she'd forgotten to change the clock on her scroll. Blake was bored. More than that, she was nervous. They were in a ruinous city that Vale textbooks only spoke about in cautionary tales. The modern world's biggest mass grave and a failure of the council.
Grimm were said to infest the place and if the headmaster's information was truly right then White Fang too. She might run into Ilia again.
She gripped at the stick hard enough for it to splinter – although it was just a stick – and she sighed. She couldn't freeze up again. Not like she had last time. If it came to facing her here of all places she'd give it her all.
But if Blake was honest, that wasn't what she was nervous about.
Her gaze roamed to her right, where Yang stood near the edge overlooking the streets. Her back was to her, but she knew the blonde definitely wasn't smiling.
There lay a problem all on its own.
Blake scratched the top of her head as it began to itch and palmed her forehead with the other hand.
Last night after the dance had been… it had been a mistake.
She didn't want to think of it as one, but it was the truth. After Blake spouting off about moving too fast and what she'd gone through with… with Adam, she'd almost immediately hopped into bed with her second partner.
What was wrong with her?!
She sighed. This whole thing was an issue she didn't want to deal with right now.
But she needed to talk with her partner about something. It shouldn't be Blake's problems. Right now, even if she was uncertain, Yang was Blake's… girlfriend.
That's what they were now, and it was a part of the job that if something was bothering Yang, both as that and as her partner she should talk to her about it.
Taking another breath Blake got to her feet and strode over to Yang, stopping beside her to overlook the city.
"Are you alright Yang?"
There was no answer.
Blake turned to look at her, Yang didn't look like she'd noticed her yet, and her eyes were red.
"Yang?"
"W- huh?" she blinked, looking around suddenly and noticing her Faunus partner. "Oh, hey Blake, sorry, I was…" She trailed off.
Blake rested her arms behind her back and rocked a little on her heels. "You were what?"
Yang sighed. "it's nothing, really. I was just… seeing things again. My mind playing tricks on me."
"What did you see?"
The blonde looked at her sharply as if surprised, but when Blake didn't back down she shrugged.
"People," she answered matter-of-factly. "I see regular people going about their daily lives as if the place isn't rubble around them. Like, I dunno, ghosts are something."
Blake shivered at the idea. Yang noticed.
"Yeah, like I said, don't worry about it, it's nothing." There was a pause. Actually, there was something bothering Blake about what they'd said to each other last night.
"Hey… Yang?"
"Yeah?"
"After the dance, when we were… in bed together…"
Yang grinned and her cheeks turned a light shade of red. "Yeah, I don't think I'd be able to forget any of that, especially the… wait, this is basically the morning after isn't it? Should we be cuddling?"
Blake ignored the question in favour of her own.
"You told me that it had been your first time when I asked but… I remember the twins talked about… well… that it wasn't."
"Oh, that." Yang mumbled before shrugging one shoulder. "What are you asking?"
Blake gave her a puzzled look. "Well, last night with me couldn't have been your first time could it? Not when you'd already been with them."
"Yeah," the brawler agreed. "But it's not like it meant anything."
Blake just looked even more confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I dunno," Yang said in the same tone of voice, like she was talking about the weather. "It's just like, with the twins it was when I was… in a kinda different place. I was looking for some fun and so were they and after a few drinks one thing led to another. We just, fell in together. It wasn't a personal thing or anything."
She looked at Blake properly now, leaning against the stone pillar to her right and crossing her arms beneath her chest. "I think it was different last night. Or, like, at least it was for me. It was actually something… I dunno, it's not like I have anything to compare it to, and I'm not really good at explaining what I mean."
"I think I get it." Blake nodded slowly. It was a strange and twisted way of looking at it, callous and underneath it all it should some kind of… carelessness, either for what she'd done with them or her own body. She didn't know how that made her feel. "I mean I understand what you're talking about."
"Do you feel the same way?"
The Faunus looked away. Yang noticed.
"Blake?"
She flinched at the sudden shift in Yang tone; worried. Afraid. Scared.
"I… I'm not sure," she answered honestly. "When I was in the White Fang there was someone else I cherished. He was," she swallowed. "He was my partner. His name was Adam. We'd know each other for years. We'd trained together, fought together and got… close. Very close. I looked up to him for his strength and commitment to the cause and I thought I'd– no, I did fall in love with him."
She closed her eyes as the memory played out in her mind.
"Sooner or later, I can't remember exactly when, things got intimate. There was this feeling every time I talked to him, every time we spoke. It was there all the way up until something tipped the scale."
She didn't dare look at the blonde.
"A while ago, you said you trusted me because you didn't believe I could be as bad as some people in the White Fang. You're wrong."
"What do you-"
"When, I… took part in a raid, we hit a Schnee compound. A place dealing with miners and filled with those atlas droids that look like furnaces on legs. You know the ones right? Well, we hit it, and during the Chaos Adam and I made our way into the buildings. We came across people. Office workers who were so, so afraid for their lives and Adam… he told me to kill them."
Yang didn't interrupt, and Blake was thankful as she took a breath to steady herself.
"I was a coward. I could have refused but I… I pulled the trigger. I killed them because I didn't want to stand up to him." She slammed her arm into the wall angrily. "And that's not even the worst part. I still followed him after that. Then we attacked a train and Adam wanted to blow it up and I didn't stop him! I let him and went along with it and more people died."
She sat down, shoulders slumped as her legs hung over the side. "It didn't stop until I heard people were deserting. So, instead of facing him a convinced a friend to smuggle me out, I hid, travelled to the city and joined Beacon just like that. I ran instead of doing something about it." Blake looked down at her hands and clenched them into fists.
"I had something with Adam, something where I didn't question him until it was too late." She looked at Yang with an agonised expression. "It's not the same feeling, not here with you and I don't know if that's good or bad and…" she trailed off.
"I don't know."
"…Well," Yang said after a minute. "That's not really what I was expecting from a ' do you think I'm awesome'. That was heavy."
Blake didn't say anything, closing her eyes to begin her own pathetic self-loathing. She froze when an arm wrapped around her shoulder.
"You know, you don't have to worry about me being like that. About us being like that." She grinned. "I mean, yeah I get angry a bunch but I' never do that to people, not turn into the type of person he sounds like."
Blake didn't meet her eyes.
"Do you promise?"
"Huh?"
"Do you promise?" she asked again, looking at her head on again. "Do you promise not to be like Adam?"
Yang grinned, tapping her shoulder lightly. "Yeah, call it the Yang Xiao-Long guarantee. I promise not to be so bad that I remind you of your terrorist ex-boyfriend."
Blake choked out a laugh at that and glared at her but didn't resist when she was pulled in for a one-armed hug.
"I'm keeping the puns though, if you can't love those I don't know what hope we have."
"Oh for shame," She drawled with a smile. "All of our bright futures together are gone because Yang likes bad jokes."
"Hey!"
Blake laughed, but after a moment she paused.
"Yang?"
"Yeah?"
"You're… not angry about anything are you?"
"Um, no why?"
"Your eyes are still red."
Yang blinked. "They are? Huh, weird. I'm not angry anymore, hang on and gimme a second."
Then just that that her eyes flickered back to a familiar lilac colour.
"Is that better?" she asked, looking at her partner who nodded In return.
"Yes, it's fine now."
"Okay, cool."
There was a pause as the brawler's eyes lingered on her. Blake gave a puzzled smile. "What is it? What's with that look?"
Yang blushed a little. "Sorry, I was just lookin' at your ears. There's like… fur growing out of them."
She blinked, hands rising to her ears. True to her words there was the touch of feline fur bushing against her fingertips it was a wild tuft of hair.
"Huh," she said. "I was wondering when that would happen."
"Is that normal?" her partner asked.
Blake chuckled. "Yes Yang, it's normal for Faunus to grow hair."
"O-oh, sorry, I didn't mean it like-"
"I'm joking Yang." she said as she rolled her eyes good-naturedly. She could ignore it if Yang made a few mistakes or said a few things if they were simply out of ignorance rather than malice.
It wasn't like there were any schools or universities studying Faunus' in that effect anyway.
"To be honest though I thought it would take longer for it to grow back… guess I know for next time."
"What, was it your first time cutting it or something? When was that?"
"About a year ago," she answered, still running her hands over it. "When I started venturing into towns while still in the Fang I would wear the bow. That didn't really work great when the fur in my ears would peak through or bulge so I cut it."
"That makes sense." Yang nodded. "But then, why does it look like their… bigger? Your ears themselves I mean."
She smirked. "Because they are. Faunus parts are just like any other part of the body; they grow as we mature, its just that with things like ears they don't stop growing until we hut full adulthood, sometimes still after that."
"So they'll get bigger." Her partner concluded.
She chuckled. "They'll get bigger. My moms are a lot bigger than mine are now, and my dad's a panther Faunus so there's some dominant growth genes there."
"Parents huh?"
Yang trailed off, and Blake saw where the conversation was about to turn to. Hurriedly she changed the subject.
"So what about your hair?"
Yang looked confused, a hand pulling her hair over her shoulder to look at it. she frowned at what she saw and ran her hands through it as if to fix it.
"What about it?" she asked sceptically.
"I… don't know. It looks… nice?"
Yang scoffed." Yeah, sure. I didn't get to brush it because we left so fast last night, and with all the things that wen ton it's a mess right now."
"I wouldn't call it a mess," Blake argued. "It's just… wild. I like it."
The blonde's eyes widened and she looked way red-faced.
"Th-thanks." She stuttered. She didn't try to fix her hair anymore. Suddenly she froze and her eyes widened.
"Ah shit!"
Blake shot up. "What is it? Grimm?"
"No," she groaned, hands gripping her head. "You mentioned your parents and I just realised, I haven't told dad about Ruby."
Blake stared. "Are… you serious?"
"I forgot!" she cried out. "The last time we talked we had an argument, like a really big one. I haven't even called him since I joined up at Beacon. Things have been too crazy for that. He doesn't even know Ruby's come back or that she's okay!"
She groaned louder. "I'm an idiot!"
Blake continued to stare for a moment. "Yang, can I be brutally honest with you?"
"What?"
"Between your dad and you not talking, your mother disappearing, your second mother passing away, your sister disappearing and then reappearing and your uncle suddenly showing up into the mix. Your family is fucked up."
Yang choked, which quickly devolved into a strangled laugh.
"Damn Blake, since when did you start cursing like that?"
She rolled her eyes. "I've done it before, but you're definitely a bad influence."
They shared a laugh, when suddenly there was the sound of something sprinting up the stairwell behind them. They turned, weapons suddenly at the ready when Qrow and Weiss burst in with ragged breath.
Yang noticed the missing member.
"What happened?"
…
…
Ruby groaned as consciousness came to her, and made her fully aware of the splitting headache she had. Where… was she?
She tried to stand only to realise she couldn't move. Her eyes snapped open to see tow men carrying her by the arms, her feet dragging on the ground. She swallowed. They were wearing White Fang masks. She'd been captured!
Dam Qrow and his bad luck.
They noticed she was awake and growled at her, a dog and deer Faunus glared down with hateful eyes. Their grips tightened and she winced.
"Don't try anything human," the canine snarled. "If you do we'll kill you and feed your body to the grim."
Yikes, that was kinda threatening. The look on her face must have said it all because he grunted. The deer Faunus on her other side seemed to have a problem with it too however.
"Dude, what the hel?"
"What?
"She's a kid? You can't threaten to kill a kid."
"She's a human!" the dog growled.
"She looks younger than my girls." The other frowned. "We're not killing her, we're giving her to the boss."
"You think he won't do exactly that?"
"…"
He scoffed. "That's what I thought. Don't go soft on me Michel, you know just as well as I do that this is the last phase."
"Yeah, and I'm the one piloting the paladins."
"Whatever, let's hurry this up."
Ruby tuned out as they continued, her eyes turning up to the sky.
Or, at least what should have been the sky. Instead all she saw was a stone ceiling above her. She was in a cave. No, not… not exactly. There were buildings here, it was an underground city!
Up ahead, she could see train tracks, and trains being loaded with boxes by dozens, no, hundreds of White Fang members. There were so many, more that there'd been at the docks or and the rally combined. What was going on here? What had Cinder been warning her about?
They stopped at an open door at one of the trains and the deer Faunus knocked it with his knuckles.
"Boss, we've got someone here for you. A girl."
"No…" a familiar voice came back, filled with dread. "Please tell me it's not who I think it is."
"Sir?"
"Is she wearing red?"
The Faunus looked down at her in confusion. "Um… yes?"
The figure of a man in white with a bowler cap and ever-present cigar popped out of the train, seeing her, and turning white.
"You cannot be serious right now Red!"
"Um…" she tried. "Hi?"
His hand slapped against his face and he let out a loud, weary sigh.
"Neo, get the rope. She's back."
He glared back into the train.
"Stop looking so excited!"
...
Here we go, into the big leagues, things are about to kick off and the girls are right in the middle of it. get ready for some action, some Grimm and some death!
I hope you're excited for it as I am, but right now I want to keep it tight-lipped so I don't spoil anything. So I'll just leave you with the reminder to follow, favourite and review if you want to see more.
I hope you enjoyed.
Bye!
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