At first I was scared I wouldn't really get to continue this tale. Now I'm scared it wont live up to your expectations. Seriously, I was going to count myself lucky if i got 20 follows after a week, but in two days i had that plus several reviews, a few of them extremely positive, which i greatly appreciate. You think Yang is always the 'sacrificial lion' because of that great mane of hers? Eh? No? Tough crowd.

I don't know if 20 followers in a few days is really that impressive, but after the early performance of my first story, it is to me. Plus, I'm really excited to test my creative and writing skills, and explore where I want this tale to go. I hope you continue to enjoy it.

That's right, you can consider this the official announcement of Act 2: Secrets and Lies!

I think I'm going to do it much the same way as Act 1, where I write out all the chapters and upload the entire Act when I'm finished. That way I have that much more time to make sure everything flows smoothly. As of right now, I'm still kind of fine tuning the plot and my process for Act 2. Without any more information to revisit in the past, Act 2 won't have flashbacks at the beginning of each chapter. I want to find a way to have the 2500 word-per-chapter minimum I set for myself without ending with only 3 or 4 chapters in Act 2, so the pace may suffer. But I am going to try my best, and i hope Act 2 will be just as enjoyable as Act 1.

One last thing. To (hopefully) tide you over at least a little bit until Act 2 releases, and as a thank you for the support, I'm attaching a Bonus mini-chapter to this announcement, set the morning of Ruby's vanishing act back at Beacon...


The second Blake woke up that morning, she knew something was off. It was much colder than usual in the dorm room. The drape is flapping… the window is open! Years in the White Fang ingrained the response of an intruder in the private space. Practically leaping into a sitting position, she scanned the room. No intruders, just her and Weiss. Wait, where's Ruby?

Blake got out of her bed and stepped quietly to Weiss and Ruby's bunk, trying not to wake the heiress. Peering carefully into the top bunk, she could see it was indeed empty. Scanning the room once more revealed a few other things out of place. The faunus began to search the room in a panic. Weiss woke as Blake was tearing through the drawers of the desk.

"Blake, what are you doing?" She asked.

"Looking for a note. There has to be a note." Blake's voice was shaky.

"Why does there have to be a note? And where's… Blake, where's Ruby." The heiress started to notice the room and put the pieces together.

"She wasn't here when I woke up. Some of her clothes, one of your bags, and Crescent Rose are gone. But she would leave a note right? Let us know where she is, when she's coming back?" Blake more though out loud than actually stated, now searching under the beds. Maybe it got swept under. It has to be here.

"Blake, calm down." Weiss got out of her bunk and held the faunus by her shoulders. "How long have you been searching?"

"I don't know, but it has to be here somewhere, there has to be a note." Blake struggled against the heiress's grip.

But she held on strong. "Blake!"

The cat girl froze. "But if there's no note… how are we supposed to know when she's coming back?"

"Blake… Let's get Velvet, start looking. Hell, maybe she's spending a few nights with her girlfriend. Let's not jump to conclusions…" Weiss could feel the contradiction in her throat. She already had a good idea what this meant, and she highly doubted a day of searching would prove otherwise.

They approached the breakfast table a few minutes later. Team CFVY was already there. Velvet didn't miss the lack of red in the coming group. "Where's Ruby?"

"So you don't know?" Weiss answered with a question of her own. "Are you busy today?"

Velvet looked to her team leader. "Go, bring her back. And when you do, bring her to me, so I can tear into her for making you worry so much." Coco told her.

"Coco…" Yatsuhashi warned.

"Hey, I don't care if she goes crazy!" Coco shot at him. "At this point, someone needs to lay into that girl. I'm not scared of her."

Weiss, Blake and Velvet didn't hear any more, already setting off to search the school grounds. It only took them a few hours to comb the campus, then a few more to do it twice. After the third time, the girls decided to split up and try to search the Emerald Forest. As night fell, they returned to their dorms. She shot Coco a text to tell her she wouldn't be back tonight before curling up in Ruby's bunk. Weiss fell asleep quickly, but Velvet could hear Blake crying for a few hours before succumbing to sleep. The rabbit faunus's own tears kept her up much longer.


By the end of the week, they had searched Beacon another five times, the Emerald Forest three, and even the Forever Fall. A portion of Vale was also searched, and questions asked at Junior's Club. Team JNPR started to help, and the rest of team CFVY occasionally joined. All they found was nothing, nothing, and more nothing. At the end, the only two still searching were Nora and Velvet, though the former was only there to stay with the latter and keep her company.

Eventually Velvet, too, gave up searching. She spent the next few days out of classes, trying to deal with her sorrow. "Where did you go…" Velvet pined to the display interface of her weapon, currently showing her last copy of Crescent Rose. "Why did you go…"

Blake wasn't doing much better. Although she was attending classes, she spent most of her free time curled onto her bed. Weiss did her best to comfort the girl.

"Why did she run…" Blake finally spoke.

"I don't know… maybe it has something to do with Yang's semblance." Weiss answered.

"Which she wouldn't have if Adam didn't kill Yang." Blake lamented.

"Which is not your fault." The heiress insisted. Blake wasn't convinced. She could have stopped Adam a long time ago, before all of this…

"Everyone is disappearing…" Blake thought out loud unintentionally.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.

Blake looked up at the heiress, thinking she had read her mind before she decided that was foolish and it must have been a slip of the tongue. "I'm usually the one to disappear… I ran from the Fang… I almost ran from you when you discovered I was a faunus… and now that I choose to stay, everyone else disappears instead…"

"I'm still here." The heiress stated proudly.

"For how long?" Blake questioned.

"For as long as it takes. Forever even. I'm not going to abandon you, Blake." Weiss promised.

"How can you promise that?"

Weiss took Blake's face in her hands. "I won't leave you." she told her friend again, looking her in the eye.

"Weiss… what are you…" Blake was confused by the emotions she saw in Weiss's eyes.

"Blake I won't… I… dammit!" the heiress brought their lips together in place of saying the words she just couldn't figure out right now. For a second, Blake lost herself in the kiss. It felt safe. It felt right. And then it was over and she was staring into blue eyes once more. "I won't leave you, Blake…"

The faunus gripped Weiss's shirt and buried her head into her chest to cry, her emotional control lost again. Everyone's gone… don't leave too Weiss… you better keep your promise… Weiss accepted the girl into her arms and held her there until Blake cried herself to sleep. And after, even up to and through Weiss's own slumber, the heiress refused to move. It may not be the happiest or most glamorous start, but she had proved her point. She wasn't going to leave Blake now.


I hope you enjoyed, stay tuned, and if it's not too selfish of me to ask, spread the word a little? Since this won't be high in the 'recently updated' list after today for a while? I'm not actually expecting anyone to, I just like knowing people enjoy my tales and some of those possible fans might not find this otherwise. If you do, thanks! If you don't, no harm done. Now that I'm done being shameless for a while, it seems I have work to do...