Okay, we're back to the normal chapters for a while now. Next up, Ruby spends a bit of time thinking, Professor Port's first class of the semester starts, a bit of bonding, and Ruby considers her options on the translation.

Also, I may have forgotten to point out one thing in the last chapter: it's technically possible for someone to gain the semblance of another, but the only methods to do so are considered inexcusable and if attempted, the individual usually finds that the downsides are far more extreme since their body and mind aren't adapted for the semblance. Somewhat minor detail now, but a bit useful to remember later.

StrumWeiss- Honestly, as long as someone is enjoying my story, I'm happy. It doesn't matter if it's one or one thousand, I'd still keep writing it as long as someone wanted more.

Chapter 9: What Was Lost and Found Again

"I have gazed through the veil and seen what will come. Our work will be for naught, our prayers for forgiveness unheard as we wander the world. Just as the moon was ruined, we too will watch the lights fade as darkness creeps over the world, all hope gone for thousands of years. And yet… I have seen the world in peril beyond the dark ages that will come. I have seen a child of our family, underestimated and dismissed as an inconvenience by our foes, finding the key to our secrets. When I die, you must tell nobody of our secrets, but you must ensure that future generations can find it. Build enduring monuments to our legacy, for there will be a day when our history is forgotten. Carve our legends into stone, so that on that day, in a land of eternal summer to the southeast, so that what was lost may one day be found. Only then, may we see the end of this eternal war… Only then, may our family be reborn." -Last words of Aurelius to the Rose family, detailing a prophesy that continues on to the present day

Beacon Academy, Gym Locker Room

Ruby let out a sigh as she stepped into the shower after a sparring match. It was still only her first day of classes at Beacon but she still had a great deal on her mind. At the forefront, there was the recording she had taken at the temple. "I've already translated enough to have a vague idea of what it's about, but if I'm right… There's so much mom wasn't able to put on the recordings Uncle Qrow gave me, and I finally feel like I'm learning some of it. The question is, why would my ancestors spend 2000 years hiding this from the world? I-is there something buried deep down in it that they didn't want anyone to know about? Or is it just paranoia left over from the glory days defending Sanctuary?" She shuddered as another thought crossed her mind. "M-maybe the problem is that there's something they knew that led to the collapse of Sanctuary, something they don't want anyone to know about…" She stopped washing and slid down the shower wall with a sigh. "Nox… Maybe it's best that I don't share it with Bisman… But what if I need to know something that isn't in this? He probably has a library filled with stuff from my family…"

She let out a sigh as another thought entered her mind. She might have publicly dismissed Bisman's antics, but the implications still weighed heavily on her. "I know it was just a joke, a way to teach us an important lesson, but still… What if there is truth to it? I could ask to look at the maps from previous years' initiations, but I'd have no way to know if it was only one team where the partners fell in love… I guess it doesn't matter. Weiss and I are lucky enough to be friends. Sure, she might be pretty, but I know she hates my obsession with her music and probably just barely tolerates me. And she's always so cold and serious, like she doesn't know what fun is…" Ruby was dragged out of her thoughts by a pounding on the shower door.

"Dolt, hurry up! We're going to be late to class!" Weiss called out, frustration clear in her voice, causing Ruby to sigh internally.

"I'll be out in a minute!" she said before getting off the floor and turning off the water, drying off as quickly as she could. She started putting her uniform on before sighing. "I'm halfway done with the translation, I guess I can finish it off before deciding if I should give it to Bisman." She stepped out of the stall to find Weiss waiting impatiently for her before turning and heading out of the locker room, Ruby behind her. "Sorry about that…"

"I swear, if we're late we're going to have a problem, Ruby." The faunus let out a sigh and continued along quietly. Weiss had been giving her the cold shoulder since they finished the Initiation test for some reason and it was started to tire Ruby out. She quietly put her headphones on and selected a song to help calm herself down. There was one good thing about their partnership: as long as Ruby kept her excitement at the thought of working with Weiss to a minimum, the heiress and vocalist didn't mind the faunus listening to her music. Deep down, Ruby knew that her partner only really tolerated her because of her skill and the deal they made.

"That, or she's even worse with talking to people than I am…" Ruby thought, letting out a quiet sigh as they walked in to Professor Port's classroom before taking a seat near the front. Ruby watched as a large man wearing all red and the largest moustache she had ever seen walked into the classroom, standing at the front of room.

"Good morning students! I am Professor Port and this is Grimm studies! Now then, as you all know, the creatures of Grimm…" Ruby let out a sigh as she watched the professor drone on, whatever lesson he meant to teach quickly being forgotten by a story from his youth.

"I'm still dealing with the time-dilation and he's droning on about something that doesn't benefit anyone…" Ruby quickly pulled out her scroll, a pencil, and the binder she had been writing in for the last day, getting a brief look from Port before he continued, seemingly unaffected. Ruby quickly opened up the video and went to the next part of the wall, pausing as she started working. "Okay, so if I have this right, the next part is means…" Next to Ruby, Weiss was glaring at the girl.

"I know she has that semblance of hers to help her out, but does she really not care about the class to the point she can't even pretend to pay attention?!" She continued watching the girl as Port droned on about the values of a proper Huntsman or Huntress. "Honorable… Maybe, she does seem to hold her word and the word of others in high regard. Dependable… All it takes is someone touching her cloak and she goes into a panic, but she still knows what she's doing even then… Strategic, I mean she did come up with the plan to kill the Nevermore before we all died, and I don't think I'd have come up with it… Maybe I've been too hard on her…" Weiss let out a sigh and raised her hand at Port's request for a volunteer, unaware of what exactly was asked. "I'll do it Professor!" "At least I can clear my head with this."

Before Weiss could leave her desk, she felt someone grab her wrist, causing her to turn around to yell at them before finding Ruby looking at her curiously. "You do know you just volunteered to fight a Boarbatusk, right?"

"Oh, so you were actually paying attention then? What does it matter to you?" Weiss growled out, slightly jealous of her partner's secondary semblance.

"Do you know if Myrtenaster can even pierce through its armor?" Weiss hesitated, suddenly realizing she wasn't sure. "Look, there's no armor on the stomach and a few small patches on the sides. If you're not sure, try to either get it on its side or let it charge you and stab it as it goes by," The faunus whispered before letting go of her partner. Weiss sighed and went to collect her combat gear before returning to the classroom.

"Are you ready Ms. Schnee?" Port asked, breaking open the lock on the cage as he received a nod and stepping back as the Grimm inside knocked the door loose. "Then fight!" Weiss watched the monster carefully as it charged at her, dodging to the side and trying to stab below the eye, only for her rapier to slide off as the Boarbatusk threw its head to the side, flinging her across the room. She got up weakly and glanced at it as it charged at her. She took a deep breath and sidestepped it again, this time aiming for halfway down its body, stabbing deep into the beast as it roared out. Weiss quickly spun the cylinder and channeled Burn Dust into the blade, pushing it deeper into the Grimm before it finally stopped moving.

As Port congratulated her, she pulled the rapier out, panting a bit before glancing around the room to see Ruby smiling at her. Weiss wouldn't admit it to anyone, but the thought of Bisman's prank being anything other than a joke had left her too mortified to even be civil around her partner. "It's just some joke he made up, I can't keep this up or I'm going to end up destroying our team…" Weiss sighed and left the room to get changed, leaving Ruby to frown.

"I-I guess she's mad at me…" As soon as Port dismissed them, Ruby got up and left the room, intent on continuing her trek back to her room before she saw Professor Ozpin walking her way. "P-professor Ozpin? Is there something wrong?"

"Maybe you can tell me Ruby. You seem as though you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, something I've seen in only two other people."

Ruby sighed, unaware as Weiss walked back around the corner on her way to grab her books before deciding to duck back behind it. "Why is Ruby talking to Professor Ozpin? Nothing's wrong, right?"

"I-it's just… Ever since Initiation Weiss has been distant and it just feels like she doesn't think I'm good enough sometimes, or she expects me to fall apart without warning. On top of that, I've been translating the writing from the temple and i-it's just that most of what I've read… I-I'm just not sure I can live up to what my family was like a long time ago, let alone be a good leader if I can't even convince half my team that I'm not some lunatic that won't tell them things…"

Weiss put her head against the wall, feeling slightly guilty. "Weiss, you idiot… How could you forget how insecure she is about being grouped together with the rest of her family, even if the assumption is wrong… Now she thinks I hate her…" Weiss slipped away quietly, needing time to think about how to fix this before she heard the rest of the discussion.

"Ruby, I've made many mistakes in my long life, more than any man or woman on this planet, but I've also learned to trust the Rose family. I know that, no matter what the future brings, you will do everything in your power to protect the people around you and that you'll make them trust and respect you just as much as your mother made people respect her. It's true that you carry a heavy responsibility, as has your family for longer than anyone remembers, but that doesn't mean you have to follow in their footsteps. Perhaps along the way, you might be able to change the world's opinion on your family and learn to trust others instead of going alone like those who came before you." Ruby looked up at Ozpin with a weak smile.

"You really think so?"

"I know you can do it Ruby, you just need to remember not to give in no matter what."

Ruby hummed for a moment before nodding. "That you, Professor Ozpin. I think that's exactly what I needed to hear. I know what I need to do now." Ozpin nodded to Ruby before walking off, taking a sip from his cup as he did so. Ruby turned toward the dorm. "There's things I can't tell Yang, Blake, or Weiss yet, but Ozpin's right. Whatever it is my family's been fighting against all these years, whatever this thing they've kept up this vigil against… I don't think I can handle it on my own, and I doubt it's in the writings from the temple. I need to learn more about this, which means I need to talk to Professor Bisman to see if there's anything he can share… I'm going to have to translate the entire thing and give it to him, even if it's a bad idea and my family wouldn't approve. If I don't, I might be dead too." With that, she started walking back to the dorm. She had a lot of work ahead of her.

Team RWBY's Dorm Room, Later that night

Weiss let out a sigh as she opened the door, looking around the room to see if her partner and team leader was still awake. Instead, she found the girl sound asleep, her scroll, binder, and papers scattered around on her bed messily. Weiss glanced over it, noticing that the video had ended. "Did she really get the entire thing done in two days?" Weiss shook her head in surprise before gently shaking Ruby's shoulder. "Ruby, wake up."

The girl woke with a start, looking around the room wildly. "W-Weiss! I-I'm sorry! I-is something wrong?" Weiss glanced at the cup on the bed.

"How do you take your coffee?"

Ruby glanced away. "W-what? I-I don't drink-"

"Answer the question."

"Um, cream and five sugars!"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Don't move" She walked out of the room and quickly made the coffee, staring at it in disgust. "How can she drink this? It looks like syrup!" Once it was ready, she walked back into the room and handed the cup to the half-asleep faunus, waiting for her to take a sip.

"T-thanks Weiss."

The heiress let out a sigh before starting. "Ruby… I know you think I don't trust you… Or think you'd make a good leader because of your family's reputation…" Weiss held up a hand to stop the girl from speaking. "Let me finish. I'm only going to say this once. I know you think that's how I feel, but you've made me rethink how I look at not just your family, but faunus in general. I thought every Rose was insane and every faunus was an uneducated, bloodthirsty brute, but if there's someone like you… Maybe I was wrong and there's more who are as kind hearted as you…" She took a deep breath as Ruby watched her with wide-eyes. "I know I've been distant and… cold lately and that's made you feel like you don't deserve to be leader, so I'd like to make it up to you."

Weiss offered the confused girl an envelope. Ruby looked at it hesitantly before taking it. "W-what is it?"

Weiss looked down at the binder in front of her before closing it. "I-I have a concert coming up and I know listening to me sing cheers you up, so I pulled some strings and got you a front-row seat." Ruby looked like she was going to tackle Weiss before the heiress held up a hand. "However, you have to promise that you'll keep it a secret and that you'll behave yourself there, okay?"

Ruby gave Weiss a wide smile. "Right, I can do that." She hesitated before holding her hand out. "So, we're friends now?"

Weiss sighed and rolled her eyes before shaking Ruby's hand. "Yes, we're friends you dolt, now get to sleep."

Ruby glanced at the binder. "Actually, I have to do something first." Weiss nodded and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed, leaving Ruby to her thoughts. "I guess she's not so cold after all…" After a moment, Ruby hopped off the bed and walked out of the room, binder in hand.

Professor Bisman's Office

Ruby knocked on the door, unsure of where the eccentric professor would be but deciding to try his office first. "Knowing him, he'll probably be either here or in the archives… Unless he's pulling a prank somewhere." Before she could think further, the door opened up to reveal the man she was looking for.

Bisman looked at the faunus girl in front of him in confusion, seemingly surprised to find an actual person knocking on his door. "Ruby? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

"Professor Bisman, I needed to talk to you," she said quickly before he opened the door with a sigh. As she walked in she looked around the room, noticing every wall covered in a bookcase or board. As she glanced around at some books laying out, it became clear that many of them were in Draconian. "He's probably spent at least a year trying to figure them out…" As she turned to face desk, she saw a familiar mace sitting on it. "Um, Professor Bisman, why do you have Cardin's mace?"

Bisman looked at her with a shrug. "He's been causing problems around campus, tormenting students and harassing the faunus members of the student body in particular. He won't learn humility from Ozpin, Goodwitch, or his targets, so I thought it was time for him to learn it from me." Ruby shuddered at the thought, unsure what Bisman had planned before she turned to face him.

"I know you can't translate anything out of Ancient Draconian," she started, catching the professor's attention. "I have a translated copy of the writings in the temple with what every word means, but no knowledge of my family's history beyond that. You have all these works written in Draconian, probably by members of my family, that you can't translate… I was wondering if you'd consider working together on this; if I help you translate these, will you promise to keep the most important parts secret and let me view everything you've collected?"

The professor looked at her for a moment before sighing. "Ozpin expects me to find out as much as I can about Draconys and Sanctuary. I don't know why it is, but that's part of the reason I'm here. Whatever we find, I'll have to share with him, but if it seems too important, I'll make sure to leave it out of my classes and keep it secret from everyone else. That's the best I can offer." He held out his hand and, after a moment, Ruby shook it before handing him the binder. "I'll let you take a few books and scrolls with you, just remember to keep them in good condition."

Ruby nodded before collecting a few interesting texts and scurrying out of the room. Finally, for the first time in her life, she would be able to learn about her family. Even if it meant a small betrayal of their values. "Then again, it might have been their secrecy that got most of my family killed…"

And now the story gets moving. The first piece of the puzzle is found and it's only a matter of time before everything else falls into place. The question is, will the secrets of the Rose family make a difference for Remnant?

This is, more or less, where things will start getting more interesting as Ruby and Bisman move through thousands of years of texts to piece together the history of Sanctuary, the Rose family, and the writings of Aurelius… The question is, will they come out whole on the other side or will they slip into madness looking through the Blue Rose's writings? Expect the name to show up more often from now on as the story progresses. Even in death, the Blue Rose casts a long shadow over Remnant and if you've looked into the various meanings of that color rose, you may have an idea of what Ruby and Bisman are diving into. If not, well… You'll just have to wait and see.

I hope everyone enjoyed this. Leave a review if you have questions or input, as usual.