Chapter 6: The Wanderer

Ruby was walking down the sidewalk, still wondering what she was going to do about the teammates. She had asked around the town, seeing if she could find anyone with details about her potential teammates, to no avail. She found a flower shop, Schnee's Florist Company, and got excited. She was looking for Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, and most importantly right at that moment, Weiss Schnee. She saw a young woman tending to flowers inside. She seemed Ruby's age, if not having a few more years. Figuring it had to be Weiss, she walked into the flower shop to meet her new friend.

Yang walked up to the nightclub, the doors opening wide in front of her. She walked towards the bar and asked for a drink. While she waited, she looked around. The nightclub was a fair size compared to any other, not too big or too small. She looked up, and at a unique location, at the top of the room, hung a balcony with a D.J. who was keeping the beat. She noticed many guards standing around bored, but yet not many people around. Doesn't anyone come to these nightclubs anymore? Where is everybody? The bartender gave her a drink, Yang thanking her. She sat there, drinking. Suddenly, the beat from the D.J. stopped. Looking upward, she saw that he had disappeared. What? It's only just begun. What's going on around here? She heard a sound fly past her right ear. Whoosh. Swirling, she found a dart impaled in the wall. Eyes wide, she faced back and did a cartwheel to dodge the next incoming dart. She ducked behind a column as cover from her attackers. With adrenaline surging through her, she loaded Ember Celica, her shotgun gauntlets. Loaded with six shells on each wrist, she was prepared to face whoever dared to attack her. She came out from behind the column facing the right side and fired off two shots toward the other side. She saw movement to the left and quickly returned to her column to switch sides. Looking this way, she saw nothing once again. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around in an instant, fire burning in her eyes. Standing there was a girl, smaller than Yang, who wore a red dress with red heels as well. Yang studied her. How can this girl possibly be my assailant? She is wearing heels and a dress. No way she could have moved so fast without me noticing. Before she could ask who the girl was, she was punched in the stomach and flew across the room. The last thing she saw as she looked up was the girl loading another blow-dart and shooting it across the room into Yang's shoulder. Despite the fear and adrenaline that continued to flow through Yang, she soon began to see black and could no longer keep consciousness.

Alex looks at her. She has long, wavy black hair, and her eyes are amber, complemented by light-purple eye shadow flaring backwards. She is also wearing a black ribbon tied in the form of a bow. As always, he thinks, if only she could take off that bow once and for all. He continued to look her up and down as he always did, from the black buttoned vest to the black low-heeled boots. "Hello Alex", she says quietly. "Blake", he replies, not at all surprised that she would happen by him at midnight. She was a wanderer. What she was doing at that particular moment that she once again stumbled by the courtyard he was standing in? Well, anyone's guess was as good as his. "I am so tired of running, of being hunted." She says it with distaste. There were those words again. She is only a girl who wants a normal life, he thought. However, the way she was born would always keep that from happening. She was a Faunus, a species despised by many and unfairly treated. "Blake, I could have a solution. Maybe you could finally have a chance!" He is referring of course to Beacon. She could apply, join Ruby, what better way to make a win-win of this situation. "Why don't you join us at Beacon?" He suggests. She looks away, standing there in the cold chill of the night. She considers it while Alex stands there wondering as always what goes through her mysterious mind. "Who would even accept me? They would eventually learn, turn against me", she says. "No", he replies quickly, "I met this girl today named Ruby. She is an exceptional fighter. She claims she will be entering Beacon two years early due to her skills, but needs a team in order to prove herself." Blake continues to listen eagerly, while Alex happily spills the details onward, knowing he has her attention. "You and her", he says, "are not too entirely different. You both have special situations. She seems like a nice girl and I bet she would accept you even if she were to find out your secret." Blake turns around and says, "Where is this girl now? I need to speak to her, learn of her true intent." Alex sighs, knowing that Blake is on her guard at all times. "She should be somewhere down in Vale. Her house is in the inner circle of the city and you should find her pretty easily. She walks around a lot during the day." Blake looks at Alex suspiciously. "How do you know all of this? I thought you just met her?" "Uriah knows Yang, who just so happens to be her sister", he offers. "He asked her about Ruby, how we might contact her if things were to show some opportunity for her. You just so happen to be in the market." "Sounds like it has potential", Blake whispers facing the other way, then looks back at Alex, "I'll see you around. I have some things to attend to." Without another word, she is a black silhouette disappearing in the shadows. I'm doing just fine too, thanks for asking, he thinks. After all, someone who is perfectly fine just walks out in the middle of the night to think. She might not know his troubles, but he wasn't entirely too sure if anybody should know them anyhow. He sat there, continuing once again to stare into the night, with his troubling thoughts.