Ruby awoke to the sound of her early morning alarm going off. She quickly dressed and grabbed Crescent Rose from its place of rest. She rushed down the stairs two at a time, eager to be on her way. She made her way to the landing platforms and caught the first ship to the city.

She quickly made her way to the site of the battle the day before, finding it roped off and with crews beginning to clean up. She saw some men carrying away two bodies. She caught up with them and asked, "What happened to these two?"

A crew member, having been warned to help this girl however possible, answered, "They were found outside the police perimeter. It looks like they were run through with a sword."

"Show me where." Ruby said curtly.

The man pointed over to where another man was standing. "Right over by him. I think he's a policeman or detective or something."

Ruby thanked the man and walked over to the police officer. It seems this man also heard about the girl coming down from Beacon. As soon as Ruby reached him, he said, "There seems to be a blood trail heading towards the main highway out of the city. You need anything, miss?"

Ruby shook her head and thanked the man. She was shocked at how much help she was getting just because Ozpin gave the police a heads up. She decided to go to the highway. As she arrived, she noticed sporadic drops of blood down the road in front of her.

She followed these drops for about a mile before they stopped. Ruby looked around. She was basically in the middle of nowhere. There was highway in front of her, behind her, and woods on either side. She considered that Weiss may have air stepped away, but couldn't think of a good reason why she would. As she looked to her right, something in the woods caught her eye. She hopped over the rail and made her way to the treeline.

She came upon a small scrap of a white dress that seemed to have been caught on a branch. She also noticed that the branches of the smaller trees in one direction were all bent and snapped. She decided to follow the small path that had been made.

She walked for about an hour, thinking about how she would convince Weiss to return. She still did not know why she left, and resolved first to figure that out. Was it because of her family? Did she feel too pressured by their success? No, that couldn't be it. She had talked about revenge. For what though?

Ruby shook her head, deciding she was getting nowhere along that train of thought. She continued walking until the sun was high in the sky, finally coming to a small clearing. She cast her gaze around the area and happened to notice a spot that was packed down. This is where she must've slept last night. Ruby thought.

She looked around some more and got no closer to find the direction that Weiss may have gone. Growing frustrated, she kicked some leaves on the ground. A small sparkle caught her eye. Something was beneath those leaves. She took to her knees and grabbed it, finding a small pendant there. As she stood back up, she thought to herself, Weiss would never leave this behind.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, she heard the leaves rustling behind her. Ruby jumped almost into a tree out of fright. She backed up and got to the opposite side of the clearing before a very disgruntled Weiss came out from the woods.

Weiss' head shot up to meet Ruby's eyes, "Ruby." She said, her voice void of emotion.

"Weiss." Ruby replied. The two girls stood for a moment, seeing what action the other would take. Ruby decided to try to talk, "Why did you do it, Weiss? Why'd you leave?"

"Hmph," The older girl said. "You could never understand."

"Weiss," Ruby continued, seeing that Weiss clearly wasn't in the position to fight right now, "Let me understand. Tell me why and I can help you."

"You think I need your help?" Weiss countered, "I left that horrid school for the strength to face my past. That is something I must do alone."

"Tell me your story Weiss. I don't want to fight." Ruby said.

"If it means maybe getting you off my back, fine." Weiss took a seat in the spot she had slept the night before. "You may want to sit, this will take a while."

Ruby nodded, still clutching Weiss' necklace. She found a suitable spot up against a tree and sat down, resting her folded up scythe next to her, propped against the tree.

Weiss sighed, put Myrtenaster down next to her, and began, "Back when I was a tiny child, only eight, I think, is when this happened. Also, something you need to understand beforehand, I'm... adopted."

Ruby was quite honestly shocked at this news, but was careful not to show it as Weiss carried on with her story.

"Before I was adopted, I lived in a small village in the north of Vale. So, it was a cold winter day, and our preparatory school had just gotten out for winter break. I was on my way home. I returned to the house to find my parents suiting up in armour, with swords and muskets on their backs. Being eight, I was very confused. They told me they had to go help the village. They sent me to stay with our neighbor, an older woman who was watching the children that day. My parents never...never came home."

At this point, Ruby saw a single tear fall from Weiss' cheek.

"I found out when I got older that they had been defending the village from bandits. What I didn't know, that is, until recently, is that those bandits were lead by none other than Professor Ozpin." A scowl crossed Weiss' face, "That rat bastard was sent by the King himself to wipe out our village."

Ruby's eyes got wide. Surely their headmaster was not that cruel. Could she be sure? She had no idea where to go from here.

"Anyway, the old woman I was staying with sent out ads for adoption, and the Schnee family took me in as their own. They tried to cut me off from my old life, even got rid of any record of my true last name."

"Weiss…" Ruby said. "I understand." She took a deep breath and said, "My mother was killed when I was a child too. I know what you have been through."

It was then that the tears started. Weiss couldn't keep herself together any longer. The sobs were deep and wracked her body. There was nothing she could do to keep them back. Years of repressed anger, regret, and sorrow came flooding out of her in that one moment.

Ruby slowly got up and made her way over to Weiss, taking a seat next to her. Tentatively, she put her arm around the sobbing girl. Then, slowly, Ruby pulled her into a comforting embrace. Weiss did nothing to resist, sobbing uncontrollably.

For a while, they sat there just like that. Weiss' sobs eventually subsided. "Ruby," She said, pulling herself away from Ruby's arms, "Thank you. Thank you for not giving up on me."

Ruby had made up her mind. "Let's go have a chat with Professor Ozpin and see if he can explain."

"Ruby," Weiss retorted. "I can't go back there."

"Weiss," Ruby said, looking deep into Weiss' eyes, "You have to face this. You can't just run from this forever. And violence will just make things worse."

Weiss looked at her for a short moment, then replied, "...Fine." And got up from the forest floor.