Blake won. As it turns out, her semblance is that she can create shadow-copies of herself that she leaves behind. It makes it really hard to keep track of her. Your eyes follow the shadows, and by the time they fade away, the real Blake is behind or on top of you, and there's nothing you can do but go on the defense. I tried to attack her a couple times, but my scythe found one of her shadows every time, throwing me off balance and leaving my back open. About halfway through, she looked at me and gasped, hesitating, and i nearly got her, but she did a back handspring out of the way. Eventually I stopped attacking and switched to defense, but it was no use. She defeated me quickly. At first I was frustrated, but then I realized why she was so skilled. I wouldn't live through her past for any amount of skill. Not that my past had been easy. Losing my mother at an age so young, but Blake had realized that everything she fought for, everything she had ever believed in, had become corrupt. That must have hurt her. I had always wondered why she didn't smile much. Now I knew.

"Hey Blake, good fight. You were impossible to keep track of."

"Yes, it was fun. I had a hard time avoiding your large weapon. You seem to swing it naturally, like it's a part of your body."

"It is." I said simply. Somehow, she seemed to understand.

All too soon, It was four thirty. Dad usually came home around five.

"Ruby! Blake!" Weiss called, stopping our rematch. Now that I knew her fighting style a little bit, I was doing better, but she was still beating me.

"Yea?" I shouted up to her. "What is it?"

"It's time to go! Come on!" I quickly put my weapon away in its rightful spot on my belt. Blake handed me hers, and I tucked it under my cape. The sparring had calmed me, but my nerves were returning. As we began heading towards the exit, Weiss joined us.

"Hey Blake," Weiss said slowly. "Why don't you leave your weapon in my room? I promise I'll take care of it, and if anyone finds it, I can claim I'm holding onto it for a friend. If it was found in your room, you would be in big trouble." Blake hesitated.

"I... I know it's unreasonable, but I like to have free access to my weapon."

"Then keep it in my room." I cut in. "You know I leave the closet doorway unlocked, you can come in at any time." She gave me a hint of a smile, though there was something else in her expression too.

"Thanks Ruby. That sounds okay. You've done so much for me... Why?"

I looked at her, and replied
"Because you're family. I'd do the same for Weiss." She looked away.

"Thanks Ruby."

"Come on! We have to get back and change before Dad gets home! You know how he is about us being there when he returns, and if there's evidence that Blake was fighting..."

We began to run down the hallway to our rooms. I hid Gambol Shroud in my little safe of personal belongings. By the time I had showered and changed, there were about 15 minutes before five. Dad was all about punctuality, so he always arrived right at five. I had to catch him right as he walked in the door.

I watched through the window as his sleek black car pulled up in front of the doorway. As he got out, he brushed off his white suit, pushing his sunglasses up over his gelled-over white hair to reveal sky-blue eyes. The resemblance between him and Weiss was remarkable. I took after our mother, Summer. I took a deep breath, clutching the edge of my cape. Mom, I thought. I hope what we're doing for Blake is right. More than anything. As the door opened, my father walked in. He was tall, in contrast to my sister, who, despite being two years older, was nearly the same height as me. I fell into step beside him.

"Hey Dad?"

"Yes Ruby? Something happened to one of our shipments today, and I have to fix it. Make it quick."

"You know my pet? Blake?"

"What about it?" I bristled internally. Blake wasn't an it.

"Well, since me and Weiss have guards... Can she have one? You know how much I love her, and if something happened to her, I... I don't know what I'd do. I can't lose anyone else." I said, tears starting to form in my eyes. That was my trump card. Losing mom had crushed me beyond belief. It was all true though, even the tears. Losing anyone ever again... It was unthinkable. He sighed.

"Oh, all right. Who can we spare? Let's see..." I cut in. This was what Blake had been afraid of.

"Why not just hire someone new? That way we won't deplete our usual staff." He nodded.

"I'll get right to it, after this project. I'll have your little pet protected, Ruby, don't worry." I wiped away my tears.

"Thanks, Dad!" He walked briskly toward his office, and I sighed in relief, glad that was over with. I hated that, pretending to be the cute, dumb little bouncy girl I used to be. I had to put on a show for Dad though. If I couldn't be his cute little girl the way I had been Summer's, it would probably destroy him. I sprinted back to my room as fast as I could, nearly tripping. I closed the door behind me, ran into my closet and slipped through to Blake's room, where she and Weiss were waiting.

"So," Weiss asked. "How'd it go?"

"Good." I replied, panting. Once I recovered I sat on the bed next to Blake. "Hear that, Blake? He said yes." She didn't respond, her eyes scanning across the pages of the book she was reading. I flicked her ear and she flattened them, tensing for a second. "Hello? Remnant to Blake, are you there?" I waited a few seconds, and just before I was about to flick her ear again, she closed her book, her finger stuck between the pages.

"I was finishing the page. What is it?"

"I asked my father. He said yes. Now you don't have to be afraid of Adam." I smiled, and her ears twitched. She didn't look happy. "What is it?" I asked, putting my hand on her shoulder. She looked uncomfortable.

" I... Thank you, Ruby. I mean it. But..." She looked away from me and Weiss, down at the ground.

"Blake." Weiss folded her arms. She really didn't like it when people hid things from her. "What is it?"

"I don't deserve it. Your kindness, your help, any of it."

"Blake, that's dumb." I said, standing up. "You belong here. We want to help you."

"You don't understand. I don't deserve it. Any of it. It's my fault your mother is dead." And so, for the second time in as many days, she leaped out the window. But she didn't fall. Instead, we saw Gambol Shroud, attached to a ribbon that was presumably held by Blake, shoot up and attach to the edge of the roof. It was soon followed by Blake herself. I poked my head out the window just in time to see her dark hair disappear over the edge of the roof. I would have called her name, but I was too shocked. Our mother? What did she mean? I pulled my head in just as it hit me: anger, sadness, confusion. I grabbed my scythe, and stormed out of the room. Well, I tried to, anyways. Weiss caught my arm.

"Ruby, stop it. I've never seen you so angry, you're scaring me." She looked into my eyes, in that way only a sister can, and I calmed down slightly. But only slightly. "You're scaring me." She repeated in a whisper.

Okay, sorry I totally forgot to update last night, which was the plan. but yeah, here you go. I'm not 100% happy with this part, it feels like the arcs are too short. YANG WILL BE HERE SOON I PROMISE. Anyways, Reviews are appreciated, and since I'm new to this and I keep forgetting:

Review Responses-

Shadow Nightblade: Thanks for all your input. At this point its pretty likely that ill use the name you suggested, since I haven't come up with anything better. :) Anyone else reading this, Check out Shadow's story: Snow Fox's Struggle. It's actually what inspired me to finally publish one of my stories.

Cavetroll001: I'm glad you like it so far. Shoutout to their story: Steamed Petals, for touching on how the White Fang Lieutenant beat Weiss. never seen that done before.