Hey, remember when this story updated daily? Because I don't. In all honestly I want to take a brief moment to apologize to all the readers who had been reading this story and had to deal with that almost three month long hiatus. It always used annoyed me when author's did that after being consistent, but now I see just how easy it is to slip up like that, so I'm more sympathetic.

I'm going to be completely honest with you all. I could lie and say I had writer's block, or that my computer got a virus, or even that I got ick, but that would be a lie. In truth, I was busy IRL, but not busy enough to warrant not being able to write for months. I had enough free time to type up a chapter, or even just a brief update, but I didn't. Because I was lazy. There is no excuse. I didn't want to drop this story, but I just never took the time to sit down an write.

I'm honestly a little dissappointed with myself for this, but there's no point wasting time worrying about that right now when I could be typing. I'm going to try a be more consitent in the future, but I'm telling you here and now that those daily updates I used to have aren't really likely anymore. Hopefully I can start writing a chapter a week, but that's not necessarily a promise. THat being said, don't be afraid to PM me if I go to long without updating. I want to thank everyone who took the time to do so during this hiatus, as it really encouraged me when I started writing again.

Unfortuantely, I have some more bad news. Thanks to my unintended hiatus, I have been unable to contact my Beta reader. I tried to PM them, but I don't know if they saw it. I don't know if they're mad at me for dissapearing like that, and I know I would be if I were in their position. As such, this chapter was written without a Beta Reader, meaning some mistakes might've slipped past my attention.

Regardless of all that, here's the long overdue twentieth chapter of Silver Spectre:


Ruby could hardly contain her excitement as she followed Weiss and Yang through the streets of Vale's Industrial District. Her silver eyes darted around, observing every minute detail and committing it to her memory. She'd never been allowed to visit this district while she was alive, as her dad and Uncle Qrow both were well aware of how dangerous it was.

So now that she finally had a chance to see it, albeit not under normal circumstances, she couldn't help but squeal in excitement. She felt like she was in one of Uncle Qrow's stories, watching as her friends and family roamed around a dangerous area and interacted with the seedy criminal underbelly. The silver-eyed girl only wished that Weiss and Yang were having as much fun as she was.

Yang clearly wasn't happy about having to escort Weiss to her informant, and even less enthused about having to do so just as the sun rose. Her older sibling was sending hateful looks toward Weiss, who ignored them with cold indifference, instead choosing to focus her attention on the road ahead of her. Ruby frowned at the sight, but there was nothing she could do right now to fix their... strained relationship.

Rather, the spectre chose to drift slightly behind them and explore the unknown section of the city. Massive warehouses took up much of the space along the sides of the streets, but there were several lumber mills and blacksmiths taking up the space. Other than that, much of the area was filled with large, squarish buildings that Ruby recognized as apartments. She knew that closer to the docks there would likely be shipyards and fisheries, but their destination was further inland.

Eventually, Yang came to a stop and grunted at Weiss, jerking her head toward a nearby alleyway. Weiss scoffed at her behavior and walked into it, following Yang as she turned through several narrow passages before exiting into an empty street. Most of the buildings seemed to be abandoned, but a large stone structure that seemed in decent shape drew their attention. As she looked at the building, Ruby failed to notice two familiar shapes approaching them until Yang called out.

"Blake! Over here!" Her sister boisterously shouted. The feline faunus smiled at Yang as she hurried over to them, shooting Weiss a glance equal parts cautious and spiteful. Jaune just gave an exasperated sigh, jogging to meet up with the others and likely bracing himself for an inevitable argument.

"Good morning, Yang," Blake said with a small smile. "You said you needed our help with something?" she asked, causing Weiss to shoot her a curious look and Yang to laugh awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head.

"Yeah. I needed someone to help me babysit the princess over there," Yang chuckled, gesturing over her shoulder at Weiss, who scowled in return. Blake just rolled her eyes at Yang, whose face became more serious. "Please. I can't stand to be alone with her for another minute. I need someone to run interference," She explained.

"You really shouldn't have asked her to come then," Jaune pointed out. "Not to point any fingers, but this whole thing was started by Blake, be directly or indirectly. Bringing her here only adds more fuel to the fire," The blonde-haired knight in training reasoned, but Yang dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

"It'll be fine, Vomit Boy," She teased. "We're just going to go ask Junior some questions. We're all well-trained fighters, and his goons are just a bunch of thugs. We shouldn't need to expect any trouble. Blake's just here to keep from losing my mind."

Jaune just scowled. "I don't think you understand the issue, Yang. Blake might cause more trouble then she'll prevent."

"I appreciate your attempts to play mediator, but it might be best to simply drop the issue for now," Weiss reasoned, and Jaune just sighed.

"Yeah. Sure. Let's just get this over with," He mumbled defeatedly. The four of them, plus Ruby, approached the building with their hands on the hilts of their weapons. When two large-looking goons stepped out to try and intimidate them, Yang and Jaune just shifted their cloaks slightly to reveal the crest of the Kingdom of Vale on their breastplates. The two thugs wisely choose not to attempt to stop them; rather, they stumbled over themselves trying to get out of the way, causing Ruby to giggle.

As they stepped into the building, Ruby strained her eyes to see in the dim interior. Many tables were haphazardly spaced throughout the room, forming a vague ring around the center, where a slightly raised stage stood. Atop the stage, several men and women wearing... exotic outfits danced, much to the delight of the many drunken patrons who had likely been here all night.

Seemingly without a care in the world, Yang strode up onto the stage and walked across, shoving her way past any dancers that happened to get in her way. Similarly, Weiss followed after her, though most of the dancers wisely stepped out of her way. Blake slunk off into the dimly lit corners of the room and followed from the shadows, leaving Jaune standing near the entrance, speechless.

Mumbling a brief "Sorry," to the dancers Yang had knocked over, Jaune walked around the stage, ducking his head in embarrassment at his companions' behavior. Unbeknownst to him, Ruby was following along, doing the exact same thing despite everyone's inability to hear her apologies or even see her shame.

As the duo approached the back of the room, they found Yang and Weiss standing at a bar with their hands clutching their weapons as they faced two short women with jet-black hair. The one on the left wore a dress that was a deep red, almost the color of blood, while the one on the right wore a dress as white as snow. Both girls twirled razor-sharp daggers as they scowled at Yang and Weiss. Their eyes briefly widened in surprise when they noticed Jaune and Blake heading toward them as well, and quickly scurried off into the back of the building.

"What was that about?" Blake asked with a curious glance towards the fleeing women. Yang just scoffed and took a seat at the bar, gesturing for the others to follow suit.

"Those were the Malachite twins, Militia and Melanie. They're Junior's best spies. Let's just say they're... not exactly fond of me," She explained as she adjusted her weapon so she could sit more comfortably in her seat.

"Why not?" Jaune asked with a hint of concern in his voice. Yang just shrugged.

"Don't really know. Sure, I may have kicked their asses the last time I came here, but they started it," She said, rolling her shoulder as she did so. Weiss rolled her eyes as Ruby gave her sister a concerned glance.

"I thought you said you were on good terms with this 'informant'?" She hissed at Yang, who gave her an exasperated look.

"I said I knew him. Didn't say I was on good terms with him. Besides, they still agreed to let us talk to him, so don't act like it's the end of the world. Though after seeing how you reacted to losing that book, that might be too much to ask of you," She spat out venomously. Weiss just scoffed and clenched her fists.

"Weiss... don't let her rile you up. Be the bigger woman," Ruby urged her friend quietly. Her white-haired companion briefly flicked her gaze over to her, softening her eyes slightly when she saw the pleading look on the ghost's face. Thankfully, Weiss chose not to continue to argue with Yang and instead focused on waiting for the 'informant' to arrive.

They didn't have to wait long, as only a few minutes after the Malachite twins had disappeared into the back of the building they reappeared with a man Ruby assumed was Yang's criminal contact, Junior. Despite his childish-sounding name, he cut quite the imposing figure. Nearly seven feet tall, and with piercing grey eyes and hair as black as midnight, he was the textbook definition of what Ruby thought a crime lord would look like.

Despite his ominous appearance, he visibly deflated upon seeing Yang. "Damn it. It really is you, Blondie," He cursed under his breath. Sighing deeply, the man approached the four of them and sat down.

"Junior! How've you been? How's business?" Yang asked sarcastically, and the large man seemingly flinched slightly. "Nevermind, don't answer that; I don't care," The lilac-eyed woman exclaimed. Junior just let out a long sigh and gave Yang a pleading expression.

"Blondie... what do you want? I forgave your debts a long time ago, and I haven't been stupid enough to hire any hits on you in months. Please don't wreck my place again," He practically begged. Ruby's eyes widened at his words. Yang's... debts? And what had she done to warrant him hiring hitmen to attack her?

"It's not what I want. It's what my acquaintance here wants. I'm just here to get her out of my hair," The blonde firebrand explained, jerking her head towards Weiss as she did so. Junior turned toward her and let out a strangled noise, causing him to begin to have a coughing fit as he recovered from the shock.

"I assume from that reaction you know who I am?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow, to which Junior nodded.

"I'd have to be a pretty poor information broker to not recognize when Weiss Schnee walks into my establishment," He exclaimed sarcastically. Several drunken patrons and thugs gave them curious glances, but quickly averted their gaze when Blake and Jaune shifted their cloaks to reveal their sheathed weapons and glimmering armor.

"How? How did you recognize me? I thought no one knew I was in Vale," Weiss queried, but Junior just laughed deeply, leaning against the bar to support himself as he did so.

"Girlie, we both know that's wrong. After all, I know for a fact you had a run-in with a... mutual acquaintance of ours when you first came to Vale," He explained with a cocky smirk. Weiss's eyes widened, and Ruby gasped loudly. He must have been talking about Torchwick.

"So it was you who told Torchwick about my arrival in Vale?" Weiss interrogated, drawing her rapier slightly. Several nearby thugs drew daggers out of their sheathes, and the Malachite twins turned to the four of them, ready to intervene at a moment's notice. Junior waved them all down and gestured for Weiss to sheath her sword.

"Yeah. No use denying that. But it's best to just forget about that. Neither of us wants a fight here," He said, trying to persuade her to calm down. "After my spy in Patch told me about you, I decided to sell that information to who I knew would pay the most. It was nothing personal; just business," The Black-haired man explained.

"Fine. I'm willing to put that behind us if you can give us the information we want," Weiss declared. Junior raised an eyebrow and laughed arrogantly.

"I'm the best information broker in all of Vale. I have connections that reach all the way out into Vacuo, and I'm on good terms with some of the Mistralian crime families. Odds are, if you've got a question, I've got the answer you want!" The grey-eyed man boasted.

"Alright then. We're looking for a thief. A small girl, probably anywhere between thirteen and twenty-one years old," Jaune stated. Junior gave him a deadpan look and scoffed.

"Look, I'm good, but I'll need more than what she did and how old she is to tell you anything. 'Sides, that large of an age range doesn't exactly tell me anything. What'd she steal? What'd she look like? Did she fight, or just run away?" Junior asked, stroking his chin as he posed questions to the four of them.

"She stole a book from us while we were in Mountain Glenn. She didn't say a word, and was decently skilled with a blade for a thief. But the most recognizable thing about her was her appearance. She had pink and brown hair and multicolored eyes, so she sticks out like a sore thumb," Blake stated, not noticing Junior's face growing paler with each word she spoke. Several thugs nearby shot each other glances and whispered, piquing Ruby's curiosity.

"Sorry, I can't tell you anything," Junior stated suddenly, standing up from his seat behind the bar and heading toward the back. Weiss let out a scoff and rolled her eyes as Jaune and Blake both gaped at him. Yang, however, had a frown on her face and a contemplative look.

"So much for all of your empty boasting," Weiss spat out at Junior as he walked away. Blake and Jaune both nodded in agreement.

"It seems this was a waste of time. Sorry Weiss," Jaune stated, rising from his seat and beginning to walk away. Blake began to sit up as well, but Yang's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist before she could walk off.

"Wait. That wasn't a normal answer, Junior," The trainee knight called out to the man, who stopped in his tracks. "Normally, you'd at least try to bullshit your way to an answer if you didn't know. But you didn't even put in that effort. You didn't say you keep an eye out for the girl, you didn't say you tell us if the book was being auctioned, and you didn't try and find any other clues you could use to track her down."

Blake and Jaune whirled around to face the man, who awkwardly shuffled on his feet. "Yang's right. You call yourself an information broker, but you give up at the first sign of a challenge?" Blake asked with a mocking tone.

"Shut up, you filthy faunus!" He growled, whirling around to face them. Yang and Blake both gave him a withering glare, and he backed down slightly. "You don't understand shit about what I'm doing," The tall man spat out.

Weiss opened her mouth to speak, but Yang silenced her with a hand on her shoulder. "You do have a point. They don't know you. Or rather, they don't know about your 'rules'," She explained. "But I do. I know exactly why you won't tell us about that girl."

"Why not?" Weiss asked her, and Yang just rolled her eyes sarcastically.

"I'm getting to that, princess," Ruby's sister spat out. "Junior here prides himself on his connections. Plenty of people, from Valean crime lords to Valean knights make use of his services. But no matter the customer, he has three rules that he will always follow," Yang explained.

"The first is that he'll never sell information about King Ozpin. It's too risky to do so, and the last thing he needs is for the Valean army to bust down his door and put him in shackles," Yang explained. Junior let out a sigh and began to speak.

"The second rule is that I'll never sell information about foreign ambassadors or powerful nobles. Doesn't benefit me if war breaks out, and the people who want to buy that kind of information tend to not have Vale's best intentions in mind."

Yang nodded. "And the final rule is that Junior doesn't sell any information about Roman Torchwick. I doubt that thief was King Ozpin in disguise, and she certainly didn't seem to be an ambassador, which means she has to be closely related to Torchwick somehow," Yang rationalized.

"Of course it all ties back to him," Ruby heard Weiss murmur under her breath. "Is she correct in her assumption?" She asked the heavyset man behind the bar, who shrugged his shoulders.

"I can't say. But you didn't hear anything from me," Junior stated, all but confirming their suspicions.

Blake clenched her fists and folded her cat ears flat atop her head. "I just don't understand how Torchwick hasn't been arrested. Ever since I arrived in Vale, it seems like he's the second-biggest source of problems, with only the Grimm above him," She pondered aloud.

Jaune nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Ever since he rose to power several years ago Vale has been way more dangerous. It seems like everyone but the knights are too scared to do anything about him," He mused. At his words, Junior let out a short, barking laugh.

"You've got it all backward. Torchwick has stayed in power because everyone's scared of what will happen without him here," He said mysteriously. Ruby glanced at him curiously. She vaguely remembered hearing about Torchwick years before her 'death', but no one had ever spoken of him in a positive way.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked. "From the impression I got of him, he's an egotistical megalomaniac whose greed is matched only by his paranoia. Everyone I've spoken to seems to have the same idea."

Junior just shook his head. "None of you would get it. You've all had pretty cushy lives, with one exception," He said, his gaze flicking to Blake. "But even then you spent your time around a different kind of scum. The heir to an Atlesian noble house, the scion of a failing Valean duchy, the first child of two war heroes. None of you have any idea how badly the other kingdoms have it when it comes to crime."

"I doubt they have it worse than here. Despite its many flaws, I can't say that organized crime was one of Atlas's," Weiss declared haughtily, but Junior just laughed in her face.

"Says the noble brat. You may not have seen it, but Atlas is pretty infamous for its numerous arms dealers, gangs, and rebels. That's without even mentioning the White Fang, or the slave trade, or any of its numerous other problems. You may have had a comfortable life up on that mountain, but how safe do you think the people of Mantle felt?"

"T-That's... I-I," Weiss stammered, but Junior continued.

"Gang wars up there have practically destroyed the cities. And that pales in comparison to the situation in Mistral. Over there, each crime family either owns or is owned by at least one noble family. In the lower levels of the capital, you've got an opium den on every street corner, and a brothel every within walking distance of every gate. And gods forbid you live outside a major city. There's always at least one bandit camp within ten miles of you in Mistral," Junior said with a pointed look toward Yang.

Ruby looked at her sister in concern, knowing exactly why Junior had said that to her. Yang knew as well, given by the way her face paled. "And I don't even need to say anything about Vacuo. You step outside the capital and you're more likely than not to end up with at least seven stab wounds. Compared to all that, Vale looks like paradise."

"But wouldn't getting rid of Torchwick make Vale an even better place to live?" Jaune reasoned. "Why should we settle for being less corrupt than the other kingdoms?"

Junior gave him a dry laugh. "You're all pretty young. Look back ten years and you'll find that Vale wasn't that much better than the other kingdoms. Crime was everywhere, and if you weren't connected to a noble family you were connected to a crime family. But that changed when Torchwick came into power," The black-haired man explained, taking a seat on his stool and letting out a deep sigh, gesturing for them to all sit down as well.

Once they had complied, he began to speak in a soft, almost nostalgic tone. "About twelve years ago, Torchwick moved to Vale from some farm out in Mistral. He had big dreams of becoming a successful merchant. Thought his natural charisma would make him popular. Problem is, he couldn't have picked a more cutthroat business to enter. Without the backing of some rich benefactor or the connections required to get started, he found himself up a creek without a paddle."

"Like many merchants just starting out, he was inexperienced. Inexperience meant he was easy prey for thieves. Soon, he found himself penniless on the streets of a foreign city. When that happens, you tend to have two options; steal, or starve. He clearly chose the latter, which is how he got set down his path of crime.

"I don't care about why he does the things he does. What he's doing is wrong, and the reasons don't justify the actions," Jaune stated boldly. Yang shot Blake a look, but Ruby failed to notice because she was too busy staring at Weiss, who had frozen up. Jaune was the closest thing she had to a friend outside of Ruby, and hearing such a thing likely stung given her hidden nature as a necromancer.

"Heh, that's one point of view. Try thinking that way when your stomach starts to collapse in on itself and it hurts to breathe. Ideals are nice and all, but they don't keep you warm at night and they don't feed you. Torchwick followed his human instinct and did what everyone is trying to do; survive," Junior explained.

"Eventually, Torchwick got desperate like so many people before him. Stealing enough to get by just wasn't cutting it. At this point, most people go to a crime family and beg for help, with only a few trying to stay on their own. Of those few, even fewer actually succeed at gaining the stability they're looking for."

"In a desperate bid for survival, Torchwick robbed a rich-looking merchant. But instead of stealing a pouch full of coins, he wound up grabbing an enchanted scroll. He pawned that off, which gave him enough money to survive for a little while without needing to worry. But eventually, that money ran out, and he had to try again."

"But since he'd seen how much he could get for a magic artifact, he began specifically trying to nab one of those. At first, he was only succeeding thanks to luck, but as time went on he started to get more skilled than lucky. Eventually managed to garner quite the reputation as a 'Master Thief', which he used to gain connections in the criminal underworld."

Weiss scoffed. "What, so just because he managed to grab some magical toys he wound up ruling all crime in Vale? That's hard to believe," She said sarcastically. Junior gave her an exasperated look.

"Mages tend to have pretty stable jobs, so it's rare to find one in the criminal underbelly. Even rarer for one to be skilled at enchanting magic. If a crime lord wants magical artifacts, they have to pay for someone to steal them. Torchwick was just about the only person who could do so consistently, which led to him becoming quite powerful despite being a lone wolf."

"For years, he continued to steal and pawn off whatever magic trinkets he could steal, though he made sure to keep plenty for himself. With each passing heist, his reputation grew and grew. Eventually, even the big crime families of Vale were specifically requesting for him to steal them certain objects. After a while, it seemed like everyone had used Torchwick's services at least once, and everyone owed him a favor or two. For the time, he seemed content with his lot in life," Junior explained.

"What changed?" Blake asked, amber eyes shining with curiosity. Ruby was completely enamored by this story. While not as good as one of Uncle Qrow's, Junior was certainly no slouch when it came to telling an entertaining story.

"No one really knows, but I've got a few guesses. After a particular heist went pretty wrong, Torchwick disappeared for a little while. Everyone thought he was just lying low while he waited for the authorities to lose his scent, but he was actually spending his time plotting. Something... happened during that heist that made him become disillusioned with the way the Valean crime families were running the ship."

"He started calling in favors. Small ones at first. No one was suspicious; at least, not suspicious enough. So he started pulling some strings, caused a few minor gang wars, paid off a few guards to bust into a few places. Minor stuff. Everyone thought he was going to establish himself as one of the great crime lords of Vale, but no one suspected he'd do so by toppling all others."

"And how did he accomplish that?" Yang asked, lilac eyes focused directly on Junior. Ruby chuckled softly. It seemed she wasn't the only one who was interested in this story.

"He started appealing to the lowest of the low. Talking about how in the current system, you had to sell your soul to the crime families for a chance for one of your grandchildren to wind up making enough money to get by. He said that outside of sheer luck, the only way to place yourself on top was to tear down the system and rebuild it. His words struck a chord with most people who heard them," Junior explained.

"Did they work? Or was he just making empty promises?" Jaune questioned, causing Junior to chuckle darkly.

"You're talking to someone who went from a lowly hitman to one of the most powerful men in Vale," The grey-eyed man explained. "People flocked to his cause. It was around this point that several high ranking members of the criminal families began to... disappear. Torchwick claimed he had nothing to do with it, and the blind idiots believed him. In their mind they were untouchable, and it was unthinkable that a lowly thief would try and usurp them."

"Eventually, Torchwick managed to cause enough friction between the crime families that they had no choice but to enter a massive gang war, only to find that most of their resources had wound up in Torchwick's hands. Thugs and hitmen followed Torchwick, not their old bosses. Smugglers sold their goods to Torchwick, not them. The desperate souls begging for a chance at survival sought salvation at the hands of Roman Torchwick, not the dynasties of crime."

Junior let out a big sigh. "By the time they realized what he'd done, it was too late. He'd amassed enough power that it was child's play to get rid of them. Then he started to change things up. He cleaned up the brothels and abolished the drug trade. The hitmen and assassins were kept on a tight leash, but he made sure they were paid enough. But most of all, he went on a crusade against the slavers. Any slave ship that docked in Vale was torched, and the slavers were brutally executed."

Weiss furrowed her brow. "Why would everyone go along with this? I'd imagine those would be lucrative... businesses," Weiss said, ignoring the comments from Yang about how of course she would say that. Junior scowled.

"Just 'cus someone's a criminal doesn't mean they don't have morals. It's one thing to take a purse full of money, or to squeeze every penny from an idiot, or even to end someone's life. But to force someone to become nothing but a toy for sick bastards? To watch them slowly decay into a waste thanks to the substances you give them? Or to sell someone off as if they were property and not a living, breathing person? Those require a far more... absent moral compass."

"It's quite said when a criminal has better morals than the most powerful man in Atlas," Blake murmured to herself. Weiss scowled at her words, but otherwise seemed to be focused on Junior.

"Well, the Torchwick from your story seems far different from the one I met when I arrived in Vale. Either He's changed, or he's been lying to you this whole time," The ex-heiress stated with a hand on her hip.

"Yeah. I've been wondering about that myself," Junior mumbled softly.

"And even if you're right and Torchwick really is making Vale a better place, there's no guarantee that whoever he's working with wants the same thing as him," Blake reasoned, causing Juniors eyebrows to shoot up.

"Who he's... working with? What'dya mean?" He asked with genuine curiosity. Ruby and the others all turned to face Blake in surprise as well, making the raven-haired woman slightly uncomfortable.

"Well, I decided to do some investigating a while back when I was first... settling into Vale. I found that many of Torchwicks thefts have been involving military supplies, which are then smuggled out of Vale. It could be to be sold elsewhere, but if he's selling to one specific buyer then there aren't many groups that could afford to be constantly purchasing from him, and even fewer that would need to."

Junior furrowed his brow. "That's... a good point. I'll need to do some digging. I'm sure some of my boys can find out who he's been selling to," He said aloud.

"I thought you didn't sell information about Roman Torchwick?" Jaune asked angrily, annoyed at the perceived hypocrisy.

Junior scoffed. "Just because I don't sell the info doesn't mean I don't make sure to get it. I don't want to end up like the last batch of crime lords, blindly following Torchwick's plans and failing to see the bigger picture," He explained to them. He put his hand on his chin in deep thought as he pondered what to do for a moment before a smirk crossed his face.

"You all said you wanted to find that girl who works with Torchwick, right?" He asked them, to which they all gave him a cautious nod. "Perfect. I may not be allowed to tell you anything about him, but that doesn't mean my spies can't 'leak' some information to you," He explained with an almost feral look in his eyes. "Militia! Melanie! Tell them everything they'll need to know about Torchwick and Neo!" He barked over his shoulder before walking off.

The two red and white twins looked at him curiously before shrugging and walking up to the four of them. "Are you serious? It's that easy?" Yang asked in disbelief, but the twins just shrugged once more.

"I don't have a clue what the boss is thinking, but I'm not paid to try and decipher his thoughts. What I am paid to do is tell you the info he told me to tell you, so make sure you listen up!" Melanie said, twirling her dagger as she spoke.

"The girl you're looking for is called Neopolitan, or Neo for short. She's Torchwick's personal attack dog, his best assassin, and his adopted daughter," Militia explained, causing all of them to gasp in shock before she continued on. "She's a skilled enough fighter to kill any guard who gives her trouble, and can probably hold her own against a knight long enough for help to arrive."

"But her real strength lies in her connection to Torchwick," Melanie continued on. "He lets her play with all sorts of magic toys, which she often uses to get the jump on more skilled opponents. She'll use anything she has to gain the upper hand, so be ready for anything."

"Her main weakness is probably her stamina," Militia stated. "She's used to ending fights as quickly as possible, so if you can draw the fight out for long enough she'll start to get desperate."

"At that point, she'll likely try and run," Melanie informed them. "She's a coward at heart, and no matter how many magical tools she has at her disposal she can't change that. She'll only stay behind if Torchwick is as well, meaning you can use him as bait to draw her out."

"But be careful. Her devotion to Torchwick surpasses her own value of her life," Militia calmly stated. "If she believes that doing so will save him, she'll gladly sacrifice her own life. If she's desperate, she's more likely to do something risky."

"While it may sound like a smart idea to try and bait her into doing something stupid, you're better off just trying to subdue her normally," Melanie reasoned. "Blondie, you'd probably be the best at doing that. You're fast enough to block her attacks, but you also have the stamina to tire her out and still have energy to spare."

"Once you have her, make sure you keep a close eye on her," Militia stated. "She'll likely try to escape by whatever means necessary."

Yang held up a hand before Melanie could start speaking again to interrupt. "That's great and all, but we have no idea where she is. That'd be some helpful information," She practically screamed to get the twins to stop speaking.

"Oh, we didn't mention that? Sorry," Melanie said unenthusiastically. "A few days ago we spotted her and Torchwick heading into a shop in the COmmercial District. Tukson's Book Trade, I believe. We didn't see them leave for several hours, and they've been going to and fro ever since. If you go now, they'll likely be there. They usually stay from sunset to about midday."

"But be careful. They aren't the only people we've seen entering that store this past week," Militia cautioned. "There've been at least a dozen cloaked individuals who've entered the store and didn't leave for hours, and people have exited when we never saw them enter. All of them had no discernable gang markings, meaning they likely aren't tied to the Valean underworld."

"I see. Thank you for your help," Weiss said with a respectful nod. "We'll be on our way now," The white haired-noble declared as she quickly stood up, with her companions shooting her incredulous looks.

"You mean we're heading there right now? Just the four of us?" Yang asked with her jaw practically hitting the floor. "Sure, we're all well trained, but I don't think rushing there right now is going to get us anything but killed!"

Weiss just shook her head. "I'm not saying we need to go and attack the place right this instant, I'm just saying we should probably go investigate," She explained. "We have no way of confirming if they're telling the truth aside from seeing this store with our own eyes. We'll go check it out and decide what to do from there."

Yang just rolled her eyes. "Unbelievable. All of this for a stupid book," She muttered. Blake stood up and hurried after Weiss, causing Yang's eyes to practically bulge out of her head. When Jaune followed along, she just grumbled. "No way I'm sitting back here like while Vomit Boy and Princess get Blake killed."

Ruby gave her sister a soft grin when she saw the familiar, cocky smirk grace her features as she stood up to pursue her friends. Her sister froze when a voice from behind addressed her.

"You seem... different from how you were a year ago. Happier," Militia acknowledged, causing Yang to turn around and give a curious look. Melanie nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, what happened to that drunk girl who sat in that bar stool and beat the shit out of any girl who came close to her?" The twin dressed in white asked mockingly. Yang just gave a sad headshake.

"I guess you could say I got a hobby," She said with a wistful smile towards the raven-haired faunus running out of the building. "I was sick of feeling sorry for myself when I wasn't the one who had suffered. Nothing's going to bring her back, least of all drowning myself in alcohol. And besides; if she could see me now, I know she'd want me to keep moving forward with my life. " Yang said softly, blinking the tears out of her eyes.

"Ruby... if you're out there... I promise I 'll make you proud," Yang promised softly as she sprinted out after her companions, unknowingly leaving just as Ruby felt her heart was being ripped apart by guilt.


Not my best work, but I think it serves its intended purpose as an exposition chapter. The next few chapters are going to be more action packed, so hopefully I can get those out soon. This probably wasn't the three months it took to get published, but I hope you're able to enjoy them regardless. As always, please feel free to give constructive criticism in the reviews, as I really appreciate it. If you feel like you want to leave a bunch of reviews yelling at me for screwing up and messing up my update schedule, feel free to do so as well. I probably deserve it.

Despite all that, I'll probably continue to write this story. I understand if people are upset about my story just dissapearing for no reason, and I fully expect to lose some favorites and follows on this story. But as long as at least one person is entertained by my story, I try to continue to be motivated to continue this story.

I'm not going to say when I think the next chapter is going to be out by, but I do intend to start working on it soon after this one goes up. Thank you all for reading my story, and I'm sorry for messing up.