"So… how exactly did we get stuck with this job again?" Weiss asked as she and Ruby walked through the remains of a small town on the northern edge of Vale.
"Well, we were late to class-" Ruby started.
"Because you slept in." Weiss interjected.
"And… you got the same mark as Blake on the test that was handed back yesterday." Ruby said with a glance at her teammate.
"And I would have gotten a better mark if someone didn't decide to accept two missions in a row on either side of the test." Ruby blushed a little but shrugged the comment off.
"Also scissors cuts paper." She finished as if that justified their current situation.
"Do you ever consider that this is why I wanted to be team leader back in the first year?" Weiss asked. "So things like this wouldn't happen?"
"So you're saying that if I didn't have all this responsibility to look after a team and had more free time on my hands that I'd be easier to deal with?" Ruby asked innocently.
Weiss opened her mouth to answer but knew Ruby had a valid point. Already, it was difficult to wake her up in time for class. Add the fact that it wouldn't be her reputation on the line if she came late, and Weiss could imagine a very, very difficult existence.
"You win." Weiss said, dismissing the topic of conversation. "Let's just get this finished and get back to Beacon."
"You read my mind." Ruby smiled and gave her teammate a half-hug.
The two went from building to destroyed building, looking for anything useful and making note of any potential for Grimm nests. It was a routine patrol to ensure there were no incentives for Grimm to create their homes so close to the Vale walls. Ruby and Weiss had been on at least a hundred trips to various points of the Vale perimeter during their time at Beacon, and they never had any difficulty. Weiss thought back and corrected herself. They'd never had difficulty with anything to do with the actual mission. Ruby had forgotten their rations on one occasion, meaning they were both starving by the time they got back to the school.
Weiss found a building that seemed mostly intact and inspected the structure. It seemed to have been a small convenience store before the town had been obliterated. But the wood supports, though covered with mold, held strong.
"Got one demo over here. Could be a siren." Weiss called back to Ruby before continuing on. There were only a hundred yards left to the street before the massive forest rose out of the ground creating a wall of damp green growth.
"My side's clear. We'll do that last if there's nothing else." Ruby called in response, somewhere over a wall that separated the town's two blocks from each other.
Weiss continued, finding little of value. Old mass produced school books, scrolls that were long since broken from Grimm attacking or just the elements weathering the wreckage she couldn't tell, and overturned vehicles with spots of black still dotting the broken glass where the blood of the victims within had sprayed. Weiss came up to what had been the last building in the block. Nothing remained of the structure but a pile of rock no taller than Weiss's waist. Strewn around the rubble were random shreds of fabric that seemed no more out of place than the town itself.
Weiss looked over the wreckage for a few moments as she tried to identify anything that wasn't broken or destroyed. A small corner of wood caught her attention near the middle of the pile. At first glance it was no different than the other splinters of wood scattered around the pile. But that one piece was different. It wasn't broken as the others were. Instead it was straight and turned down into the pile at a perfect ninety degrees.
Weiss summoned a pair of small glyphs and used them under her feet as she walked over the rubble to keep her balance. She reached the piece of wood to find it was varnished with something that was obviously weather resistant. An ever so slight sheen was visible from the much closer vantage point and Weiss carefully started removing the rock that covered the box.
It was approximately the size of Ruby's folded scythe minus an inch or two in length, making Weiss wonder just what had had the privilege of being contained in such a container.
She opened it to find a small assortment of things. A pair of silver rings, a photo of a family of four, a small stuffed animal, and identification cards for those in the photo. Along with these small items, an ancient looking revolver stood out ominously from the others. It seemed almost alive as the gold inlay glistened in the dying light of the wintry sun. Even the cold of the day seemed to bring it into a sharper focus as if it was staring at the person who disturbed its slumber with an intent to kill. To make matters worse, the contents of the entire box appeared to be flecked and stained with what had once been blood.
Weiss closed the box tightly and looked around. The sun had just been covered with a thick cloud and the entire area sent a shiver down Weiss's spine that had nothing to do with the chilly weather.
"Ruby? I'm done!" She called into the silence, wincing as the wood of the box brought back the ill feelings from the weapon within.
"Kay! I found something awesome!" Ruby called back before a slight whoosh announced her departure down the street. Weiss waited a few seconds and Ruby stopped in front of her holding a utensil. Weiss lost her train of thought for a moment as she took in Ruby's triumphant smile and the proudly presented the piece of stainless steel.
"I don't get it." Weiss said, looking from the metal scrap to Ruby and back again.
"It's the most rare thing we could ever find!" Ruby announced with glee. "It's not just a spoon, but it's not a fork either! We've found the legendary spork!"
Weiss still couldn't quite wrap her head around Ruby's reason for picking up the piece of garbage. "You do realize we can get one of those at literally any kitchenware store in Remnant, right?"
"You're no fun." Ruby pouted then she noticed the wooden box in Weiss's arms. "What did you find?"
"See for yourself." Weiss answered holding the box so Ruby could open the lid.
Ruby's eyes went wide and then narrowed sadly as she took in the contents. After a moment, she pulled out her scroll and took a picture of the contents. She closed the lid of the box, giving Weiss a nod before returning to her scroll. She spent several minutes waiting as was normal while Weiss placed the box inside the standing store and poured burn dust on it. Ruby came in and stood beside her, holding out her scroll for her to see.
"He was listed missing in action." Ruby said. "He had a wife and two kids, also missing."
"There's nothing we can do now." Weiss said. Even though she'd gotten used to those words as she'd completed these patrols with Ruby, it still didn't make saying them easier. It didn't hide the hollowness and reality of the sentiment from her voice.
"From ashes to ashes." Ruby spoke quietly and chambered a round in her weapon. She aimed it at the box before them, waiting on Weiss.
"Dust to dust." Weiss recited, pulling the trigger on her rapier as Ruby fired the round from her rifle.
The box evaporated seconds later, leaving no evidence of it ever having existed. The two shared a moment of silence before exchanging a glance.
"Let's get this place down." Ruby turned to one corner, pulling her backpack off. From it she pulled out a dust charge large enough to level the entire small building. "We'll only need this, so I doubt we'll get company afterwards."
"Alright. I'll be outside." Weiss replied, leaving the way she'd come.
She walked back up the street, away from the rubble where she'd found the hunter's weapon. She knew it would take Ruby a few minutes to set the charge and there was nothing to do except keep watch for potentially wandering Grimm.
She sat down on a partially broken stone bench and looked out across the wasteland of a town. It was no wonder that both Ruby and her hated these missions. The ground was dead, and though the smell of death had gone, the very atmosphere seemed to cry in anguish at the horrors that had taken place there.
As with every mission, Weiss had read the entire dossier. Three hundred people had lived here no more than two years ago. Officially, all three hundred are listed by Vale authorities as missing. The truth was much darker. It always seemed to be. The only proof they'd found in the homes and shops was that single hunter's weapon. Without proof, there could be no changing those listed as missing, but it was an unspoken rule that nobody ever looked for them. There would never be anything to find save something among their possessions that proved they had never left the buildings that turned to their graves.
But more than the atmosphere, Weiss hated how Ruby seemed to be in a constant state of depression while on the missions. She was nothing but business, when on a normal mission she would joke around, however slightly. Weiss had told her that once, hoping to just acknowledge the tendency and move forward. But ever since then, Ruby tended to force herself to joke. And Weiss hated to admit it, Ruby's recent flirtations seemed to have been growing on her as she felt slightly forlorn each time Ruby would speak to her briefly and then continue on with the mission without so much as a second glance.
On one hand, it made things much easier to concentrate. But on the other, Ruby had become her best friend over the past few years and it hurt her to see her bottling up her emotions and putting on a mask just to avoid Weiss's concerned looks. All that did was make Weiss lose her concentration because she was worried about what would happen when the dam Ruby had created within herself would eventually break. Weiss knew it would since she herself had a feeling she could last little longer if she kept blocking others out.
"It's done." Ruby announced, standing in front of Weiss. A large thump sounded and a massive cloud of dirt exploded into the air from the street behind Ruby. "Let's go home."
Weiss watched for a moment as she walked away, not once looking back at the cloud of dirt that hung in the sky like a fog as it slowly settled back to the ground. Weiss couldn't help but feel that some part of Ruby had changed. It scared her to think that the joyful young girl that was the leader of her team may have been lost to the calculating huntress that had seen far too much sorrow to truly smile again.
"Wait up." Weiss called out, realizing she'd been sinking back into her thoughts as Ruby walked away. She pushed the thoughts out of her head and rejoined her leader as they traveled back through the skeleton town.
"We should set up camp for the night. It's getting dark and we're still about fifty miles from the wall." Ruby announced, breaking the long lasting silence that had stretched the past four hours. The sun had long since disappeared and they'd been traveling by the gray-scale landscape of the shadows cast by the sparsely populated forest. Between Ruby and Weiss, they'd killed at least a den of beowolves apiece while they'd been traveling. But not once did either one of them say a word to address the events that had occurred back in the town.
"I'll set the tent." Weiss replied, pulling a small foldable tent out of her backpack and untying the string that kept it bound.
She took metal spikes from the backpack and pinned the four corners into the ground and sighed, looking up to find Ruby resting on a low tree branch with her weapon in it's fully extended rifle form.
"I've got first watch. You get some rest." Weiss said, leaving no room for argument in her voice while she pointed to the tent.
Ruby stared at her for a moment before closing her eyes with a sigh and nodding. She replaced her weapon at her belt as she hopped down and walked past the heiress.
"Thanks. Wake me up when you get tired." She said as she entered the tent. She left the flap open as was routine since the last thing she wanted was to deal with a zipper when she might have to get out quickly.
Weiss sat down against the corner of the tent, closing her eyes and instead listening to the sounds around her as she kept her mind from wandering away from the task at hand.
The gentle breeze made barely any noise as it rustled the large pine trees around them, the snow long since blown from their branches. She listened for any noise like the crunch of snow or the breaking of a stick that would alert her to any intruders. Even the slight hissing of the odd snake wasn't able to avoid her detection as Weiss continued listening and mapping the sounds and their trajectories.
She didn't know how long she'd been listening for when she heard movement from the tent. She ignored it until She heard Ruby pull back the flap and sit down beside her.
"How's it going?" Ruby asked. Weiss knew her answer didn't matter. Ruby knew if something was up, Weiss would have woken her.
"All quiet." She replied anyway, hoping to maybe talk to Ruby about her behavior earlier that day.
"That's good." Ruby fell silent and after a while leaned up against Weiss's shoulder. "Do you mind? I couldn't get comfortable in there."
"I guess not." Weiss replied, somewhat happy to have Ruby at least partially returning to normal.
"You're so warm." Ruby mumbled as she drifted to sleep.
Weiss didn't respond, knowing she'd have more than enough time to talk to her teammate on the trek back to the wall. She closed her eyes, returning to her auditory watch, now ignoring the sound of Ruby's steady breaths and ever so slight snoring.
When Weiss's eyes were starting to get heavy, she nudged Ruby gently. Ruby's eyes snapped open and did a quick survey of the surrounding forest before she realized why she'd been woken.
"Okay, my watch." Ruby said while stretching. She went to get up but Weiss placed a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Just stay here, okay?" Weiss asked sleepily, not in the mood to move from her spot.
Ruby nodded and Weiss switched positions, leaning against Ruby as she closed her eyes. Ruby wrapped an arm around Weiss and she felt herself drifting to sleep.
But right when she thought she'd be entering dreamland, she wasn't. She actually felt more awake than she had for the last three hours, and she had barely closed her eyes. Ruby seemed to think she was either sleeping or falling asleep, so she was gently rubbing her hand up and down her arm in a way that made Weiss feel worse than ever for turning Ruby's advances down time and time again over the past few days.
"Ruby?" She asked quietly, hoping to keep the quiet atmosphere so she might actually fall asleep eventually.
"It's fine, Weiss. I've got it. Go back to sleep." Ruby said soothingly as she stopped her rubbing.
Weiss waited for a while, hoping the now still contact from Ruby would help her give in to her fatigue. It didn't.
"Ruby?" Weiss asked again. "Can I ask you a question?"
"You just did, but I'll answer another on the house." Ruby joked playfully. Weiss could imagine the smile spreading across her face.
"Why do you always get so… sullen when we go on these missions?" Weiss always knew there was something behind the excuses Ruby used, and was hoping that she might be in a sharing mood.
"It's… a long story…" Ruby replied before turning the tables. "What about you? Today you seemed sort of… I don't know… out of it, I guess."
"If I tell you, will you tell me that story?" Weiss asked in response. She'd bargained for Ruby to make some sort of trade for the information that Weiss would normally refuse. But this time Weiss knew that whatever Ruby had to say was much more important than keeping her concern for her leader hidden. Sure, it might lead to Ruby flirting even more, but she could deal with that. She knew how to deal with that. What she didn't know how deal with was Ruby's grim attitude during these missions. And it wasn't getting any better as time went on.
"Sure. Why not?" Ruby asked while taking a deep breath. The two fell to silence for a while before Weiss started answering Ruby's question.
"I was thinking about some stuff." Weiss started. Ruby remained silent to allow her to take her time voicing her thoughts. "You know, the last few days have been somewhat difficult for me to adjust to. At first it felt like I'd taken someone else's life. I've never really been a drinker, but I took Yang up on her challenge. I've never once been in a position where I would willingly pay for a room to spend a night with someone. I've never really even thought of offering to help anyone do anything at all. Yet not only did I beat Yang at her own game, pay for the room we spent that night in, and offer to help you dye your hair, here I am spouting all this to you because you were seriously worrying me earlier."
Ruby seemed to be holding her breath as she listened, afraid to miss even a single word. Weiss kept her eyes closed, afraid of what expression she might see on Ruby's face when she opened her eyes.
"I could tell you were forcing the joke about the spork earlier. I've spent more than enough time with you to know the difference between when you're joking because you want to and because you feel you need to." Weiss continued. "On top of that, you used to love how the dirt flew into the air from any explosion. You didn't even glance back today. I could count on one hand how many times you've flirted with me today, and that has all been within the past few hours. I don't want you to force yourself to do anything for my benefit. I don't need you to. I just…"
Weiss trailed off, not knowing how to finish explaining her sentiments. She opened her eyes and turned to look Ruby in the eyes. Her silver orbs were saddened but seemed to dance with a life that suggested she wasn't ready to reveal the source of her pain. Weiss leaned her head back down onto Ruby's shoulder.
"I'm just afraid, Ruby." Weiss admitted. "I'm afraid of what this job is doing to you. I care about you, Ruby. I just want you to be happy. I don't want this job to turn you into a machine. I've seen something similar happen to almost everyone in my family. Even I was almost at that point by the time I started at Beacon. I still am, for whatever that's worth. But at least I know my story. It has an ending. Yours doesn't. And I just want you to depend on us. If not the whole team, then depend on me. I'm your partner."
Weiss didn't know what else to say. She'd sort of started on a tangent part way through and hadn't realized it till she finished, but at the same time, she felt a small weight lift from her shoulders now that she'd confided her problem to Ruby. The two remained silent for what felt like hours before Ruby finally replied.
"I don't understand you, Weiss." She said. "You tell me you want me to be happy, yet every time I flirt with you or ask you out on a date, you tell me no. You say you want me to be happy but you didn't even realize I was in love with you until that night at the bar. And at that point I'd already given up on you. Please just… explain to me why we can't both be happy together?"
"I…" Weiss felt like she'd been shot in the gut. Her voice was nothing more but a whisper as she answered. "It's as I've said. I know my story. It's all written in various contracts. They've all been signed and dated. I'll fulfill my duties and then I'll do the one thing that nobody can dictate for me…. On the other hand, you're free. You can do whatever you want and nobody will say anything about it. You don't know what will happen after we graduate. You just hope that you'll get work as a huntress. You'll go on hunts and meet people all over Remnant. You'll save towns from Grimm attacks, foil terrorist plots, and help the police arrest criminals. You'll fall in love and get married, a couple of cute little kids will be running around your house and you'll have a happily ever after, but you won't know when that story ends or how it goes along the way. You're free, Ruby. I'm not. I don't get to choose what would make me happy. I get to choose what would help the business more. I'm just a tool to serve the Schnee line. That's it."
Weiss once again fell silent, forcing her surfacing emotions deeper within her. A Schnee never cries, never lets a single tear be shed for anything but a camera during an 'emotional event'. Ruby's hand started rubbing again, comforting her more than she realized.
"You're not some tool, Weiss." Ruby whispered into her hair. "You are as unique as a snowflake. All you need is a little help to stand out. Would you give me access to the Schnee business database when we get back?"
Weiss nodded without question. She was exhausted at this point from venting her feelings for the first time in as long as she could remember. She felt sleep pull at her and she sunk deeper into Ruby's shoulder as she let herself drift into the empty blackness that called to her.
Weiss slowly awoke from Ruby's chest, sitting up and looking at the sky. It was already at least an hour past sunrise and Ruby was sleeping calmly while leaning up against the tent. Weiss listened briefly to find nothing out of the ordinary. They seemed to be very lucky that a Grimm hadn't happened across them while they were both asleep.
"Ruby, time to get going." Weiss said, shaking her awake. Ruby jumped up and dusted herself off as she realized she'd fallen asleep while it was her watch.
"Sorry, I didn't even realize I fell asleep." Ruby said as she helped fold the tent back into a square to tie it, and replaced it in Weiss's backpack.
"It's fine. There don't seem to be many Grimm here anyway." Weiss stated, giving the scenery a quick scan. "So…"
"So…" Ruby echoed. Both were obviously remembering the conversation of the previous night. "Want to get going?"
"Not so fast." Weiss placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "You said you'd tell me your story if I told you why I was out of it yesterday."
"I did didn't I?" Ruby rubbed the back of her neck nervously. Weiss sighed, knowing that Ruby really hadn't expected her to accept the deal in the first place.
"It's fine if you'd rather not tell me." Weiss said. She knew Ruby would tell her if it was something important, but at the same time wasn't quite confident that she'd share truthfully if it was a deeply personal matter.
"No… it's okay…. I just…" Ruby searched for the right words. "This isn't the right place."
Ruby pulled out her scroll and looked at the map of their current position in relation to the wall. She seemed to tense as she found what she was looking for and let out a long breath.
"Actually we're about sixty miles from… the place where…." She trailed off as she closed her scroll and replaced it at her waist. "If it's okay with you, mind if we take a detour?"
Weiss couldn't believe that Ruby was actually willing to open up when she'd played off the question and similar ones from all of their friends over the past few years and only now seemed to be willing to share. Weiss figured Ruby's serious manner of asking the question showed just how much this meant to her. Weiss felt a mixed sense of privilege and unease at being the first one outside Ruby's family to get a glimpse at her secret. Nevertheless, she nodded, her mind set at being there for Ruby just as she'd been there for her the previous night.
"Then lets go. We'll be cutting it close getting back to the wall before nightfall." Ruby said as she turned and lead Weiss perpendicular to their previous path. "And whatever you do, ignore the shadows until I give the order. Otherwise getting back to the wall will be the least of our worries."