I want to take a brief moment to inform you all that I officially have a Beta Reader: Fazadragonhart. They've been a big help even before they became my Beta Reader, and their advice in this chapter really helped me polish it up. Sorry that it's a bit shorter than usual, but that'll be elaborated on more in the author's note at the end. For now, I hope you all enjoy the newest chapter of Silver Spectre:


"Sorry miss. Can't say I've seen anyone who matches that kind of description 'round these parts."

Weiss nodded, giving the round-bellied innkeeper her silent thanks. She drew her cloak around her, exiting the dingy establishment. squinting slightly as she stepped out into the bright afternoon sun, she slipped into the crowd and headed toward Beacon Castle.

"That's the third one," The ex-heiress mumbled to herself. Her spectral companion gave her a curious look, but thankfully didn't mention it. Instead, the girl merely looked around the crowded street before letting out a sigh.

"It looks like spring will be on us in a few weeks," Ruby absentmindedly mused.

"Yes. And with spring, the ice around Atlas will begin to thaw. It'll be easier for my father to send his men after me," Weiss hissed under her breath.

Ruby glanced at her in concern before speaking."He won't actually be able to force you to return to Atlas, can he?" She asked with an inquisitive look.

She observed the crowds with caution as she spoke, but the loud din they created masked her conversation. No one was giving her any strange looks, either at her talking to the air or her ornate armor. However, as a precaution, she shifted her cloak to cover up her crest.

The noblewoman shook her head. Her ponytail swayed side to side, and she turned her icy blue eyes to Ruby."It's complicated." He can't legally do so, as I am officially apprenticed to a scholar in service of the crown. But if I were to be taken, Vale would not risk a rescue attempt. And any attempt to remove me from the castle would result in serious political repercussions for Atlas."

Ruby gave her a beaming smile, pumping her fist. "Then that means he can't get you as long as you're in the castle, right?" She exclaimed, but Weiss replied by shaking her head. Ruby's enthusiasm was appreciated, but it didn't change anything.

"No. Because I can't stay in the castle; we need to find that book, as well as more samples of the ancient language so we can decipher it," The blue-eyed woman explained. "I can't hide away in Beacon Castle if I want to help you, so I have to leave it. And Father will take advantage of that. He'll likely have men ready to follow me out of the city the instant I step out of its safety."

The ghost's eyes widened in understanding. "So that's why you were so upset about losing the book. You're losing your headstart on him," She reasoned, receiving a nod in understanding.

"Indeed. But no one in this entire city knows someone who matches the description I give. This is the third day in a row that we've found nothing," Weiss vented, before letting out a sigh and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Sorry. It's not fair to complain to you of all people. But between the lack of results and your ignoramus of a sister I can't help but feel... frustrated."

Ruby's expression became somewhat solemn at the mention of her sister. "Speaking of, why don't you try reconciling with Yang?" She asked cautiously. Over the past several days, her blonde sister had become somewhat of a sore subject for Weiss, who scowled at the mention of the lilac-eyed woman's name.

"Why should I?" Weiss questioned with narrowed eyes. "She's acting childishly, and I see no reason I need to try and befriend her after seeing such pathetic behavior," The armored woman spat out as she stepped onto the lift leading up Beacon's cliff. The platform shook slightly, but Ruby didn't need to worry about balance, and Weiss was far too well trained to let such a thing make her stumble.

"How is she acting childishly?"

"I know she's your sister, but surely you can see it too? She completely refused to accept that she messed up and allowed that girl to get away. She refused to accept that any of us had messed up, and instead threw a temper tantrum," Weiss hissed.

Ruby shook her head."I don't think it's like that. Yang isn't stupid, or a child," The lost soul said with a nostalgic smile on her face. "She knows what it's like to lose, and is mature enough to admit when she has. I think she got upset at how angry you were with her friends, so she leapt to their defense. She just thought you were being too harsh, so she got pretty overprotective."

"Perhaps," Weiss said, her temple furrowed deeper. However, I'd very much rather not focus on that right now. I have to speak with Doctor Oobleck."

Ruby gave Weiss a concerned look as her eyes flicked to the sky. "Weiss, it's going to be sunset soon. You should probably get something to eat first," She encouraged gently, but Weiss brushed her off with a scoff.

"I can eat later. For now, I need to talk to Oobleck." Ruby frowned at her words, but said nothing.

Over the past several days, Weiss had been missing more and more meals, instead devoting her time to trying to track down her mysterious assailant. Simply put, Ruby was getting pretty worried about her white-haired friend, but she didn't want to say anything.

The last thing Weiss needed right now was another friend who was arguing with her. As it stood, Yang hated her guts, Blake thought she was just another racist Atlesian, and Jaune was too tired to put up with any of them. "I'll talk to her as soon as all of this drama about the book calms down," Ruby thought to herself.

The pair of them made their way through the winding hallways of Beacon Castle toward Doctor Oobleck's room, where they found the door already cracked open slightly. Hearing voices from inside, Weiss rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. Steeling herself, she put on her best neutral face and knocked on the door.

"Come in," A voice beckoned from within the room. Recognizing the jovial tone of Doctor Oobleck, she stepped into the room and shut the door firmly behind her. Oobleck sat at his desk, with several charts and maps of Vale out in front of him. Before him sat Yang, who scoffed loudly at her entrance. Oobleck cleared his throat awkwardly, before turning his attention to Weiss.

"Have you had any luck, Ms. Schnee?" The green-haired scholar asked, receiving a solemn headshake in response. "I see. It seems that our mysterious attacker will remain safe for now. Both Ms. Xiao-Long and Mr. Arc had similar reports, with Ms. Belladonna communicating through her friend," He explained with a gesture to Yang, who sighed loudly.

"Maybe if we actually asked the right people we'd find her," Yang snarked. The two other living occupants of the room glanced at her in confusion. The lilac-eyed woman sighed loudly once more.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked.

"It means that we shouldn't be asking innkeepers and soldiers if they've seen her," Yang spat out. "If we want to catch a criminal, we need to talk to a criminal."

Weiss opened her mouth to argue, but closed it when she realized that Yang's words made sense.

"And you know of such an unscrupulous individual who might help us with our search?" Oobleck asked.

Yang turned to him and gave him a cocky nod, briefly shooting Weiss a smug grin."Yeah. I know an information broker who lives down in the Industrial District. If that girl who attacked us has any connection to the Valean crime syndicate, he'd know," The blonde woman boasted.

"Who is it?" Weiss asked the knight-in-training, who whirled around to give her an incredulous look. Ruby likewise was looking at her in shock, and even Oobleck quirked an eyebrow.

"Didn't you just come back from searching for answers?" Yang asked.

"Yes. But I'm still willing to go back out there and find out where that girl went with the translator book," Weiss answered firmly.

"Yeah, it's not going to work like that," Yang chuckled at the white-haired girl mockingly. "Junior isn't going to take too kindly to some noble's brat coming into his bar and demanding he help her. Luckily for us, he knows better than to mess with me after the last time we met."

Weiss just rolled her eyes and gestured to Yang."Then let's get going," she said, but Yang just cocked a hand on her hip. The blonde shot her a deadpan look, making Weiss ball her hands up into fists as she hissed venomously at the woman in front of her. "What is it, Xiao-Long? Do you want me to beg?"

Yang just rolled her eyes and scoffed. "No. I'm tired, and I don't want to go back out tonight. We'll go in the morning," She quipped, stepping past Weiss and opening the heavy oak door.

"Excuse me?" Weiss screeched out in an offended tone. "We need to find that girl as soon as possible. We don't have time for your laziness!" She grasped Yang's shoulder to stop her, but the blonde jerked her arm and knocked Weiss's hand off. "No. We don't need to find the book. You want to find the book. And as much as you may think otherwise, we aren't your slaves."Yang gave her a vicious glare as her crimson eyes peered at her.

"You aren't your father, and this isn't Atlas," Yang sneered before slamming the door shut in Weiss's face.

The ex-heiress clenched her fists and breathed heavily, seething in anger. It was only after she heard a small cough behind her that she remembered she wasn't alone in the room."S-Sorry. I shouldn't hav-"

Oobleck raised up one hand to interrupt her and gestured to the seat across from him."It's fine. I should have realized that there was tension between you and Ms. Xiao-Long, but I was preoccupied with the loss of the book. Just remember to be professional while dealing with her," The green-haired man advised, to which Weiss nodded. "Coffee?" He offered, raising up the large kettle sitting on his desk. At her curious look, he elaborated. "It's a Vacuan drink. Quite bitter, but also very addictive. I'm quite fond of it."

"No thank you," Weiss declined. Oobleck nodded and poured himself a new cup of the steaming beverage. It was a rich brown color, and had a very strong smell. The scholar raised his mug to his lips and took a long drink before setting it down and looking her right in the eyes.

"I understand your frustration with the loss of the book, but perhaps you are being too harsh on both yourself and the others," He stated after a moment of silence. Weiss just scoffed, making him quirk an eyebrow. "Ms. Belladonna explained to me exactly what transpired. And while she, as well as the rest of you, made mistakes, your failure was ultimately due to the girl's quick wit."

Weiss snorted. "With all due respect, sir, that isn't quite true. If we had been more aware, more cautious, then we wouldn't be in this situation," The noblewoman argued, but the green-haired man only shrugged his shoulders.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. It doesn't matter. There is merit to learning from our failures, but clinging to them does us no good."

Weiss ignored his words and stood up from her chair."If that is all, Doctor, I will be leaving. I shall be in the training halls should you need me." She gritted her teeth under a tight smile and made her way to the door.

Oobleck stood up from his chair and cleared his throat. "That is not all I have to say, Weiss," He spoke softly. "I understand your frustration, and I am more than familiar with how you're surely feeling after this setback. But you have to remember that's all this is. A setback. There is no need to forsake your own health for this. You are far more important than that book."

Weiss just shook her head. "I don't have time for that. I made a decision when I left Atlas to work toward something greater than myself, and I intend to see it through to the end, even if it is mine as well," She declared resolutely. Oobleck gave her a concerned look, but it paled in comparison to the worry that was etched across Ruby's face.

But Weiss ignored both of them as she stepped out into the hallway. She made a promise to Ruby what felt like a lifetime ago, and she needed to fulfill it. She didn't have the time to care about herself; not with every passing day bringing her closer to Father.

Her loss against the girl at Mountain Glenn had taught her a valuable lesson; she needed to be stronger if she wanted any chance of bringing Ruby back. Because things were only going to get harder from here.


Sorry for the wait with this chapter. In case you missed the note I replaced with this chapter, I took a brief break to clean up some of my older chapters. Doing so took longer than I expected, however, and between that and other obligations I didn't have a lot of time to write a new chapter. That is partially why this chapter was rather short, but that's also due to this being a mostly character based chapter.

Hopefully I'll get back into my rhythm of releasing a new chapter every few days. There are going to be a few new updates tomorrow, but that will just be me updating the older chapters. At the earliest, the next chapter will be out by Saturday. I'm not quite done with all of the edits I want to make yet, so I'm going to post them tomorrow.

I would once again like to apologize for being late with this chapter. I initially promised it would be out yesterday at the latest, but I underestimated how much work I had left. But I don't intend to break any more promises I make to my readers, so please bear with me.

If you have any constructive criticism, feel free to leave a review. Just because I have a new Beta Reader doesn't mean I still don't appreciate the advice I receive from any of my other reviewers.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you all have a nice day!