Another day, another view explosion. Still, happy to say that the day I release this is my birthday, sooo... happy birthday me I guess. In any case, took a little longer just because studying for university is a thing I gotta do, and I had a bit of writer's block. Still, happy to release chapter 5 and finally call this a story!

Enjoy!

*Update* Version 1.2 of this chapter, did a bit of grammar/spelling combing as I said in Chapter 8's A/N. Hopefully I got it all.

Blake pushed away her plate, which had been practically full of rice, different kinds of fish and a salad. She leant back in her armchair, satisfied, and looking back at her equally satisfied partner, who'd finished a while ago, but was now watching her, an almost contented smile on her face.

"Glad you knew this place." Yang commented. "It's just purr-fect. Maybe we should take Ruby and Weiss here sometime."

"Sure." Blake replied, ignoring the pun typical of Yang's every second sentence.

The truth was, she hadn't known it until just recently.

She cast her mind back to when she'd found out this morning.

"Blaaake! He's only playing!"

Blake was running through Vale, hard, that yapping hellhound right on her tail. She'd had enough of this game of chase. They'd been 'playing' it all morning, if the word 'play' was a substitute for 'torture'.

She dashed around a corner, leaving a shadow clone that the dog leaped at, distracting it for a moment.

She started to run forward, not noticing the hand that came out from the entrance to an alleyway.

Blake was grabbed by the scruff of the neck before she could react, and pulled into the alleyway by an almost impossible strength. A hand was around her waist the next moment, and she was held very close to a male body, before she and the man holding her leapt up in the air, stopping around about twenty feet in the air. A glance around showed Blake two black trousered legs with smart boots were holding them up.

"Quiet. I'm helping you." a male voice hissed closer to her ear. He was helping her? How? "If you want to escape the dog, stay quiet and still."

Blake didn't have any time to react to this before the little dog came flying through the alley, stopping directly underneath them. His grip was tight. Whoever this stranger was, she could tell he wouldn't drop her.

Unless she struggled.

"Zwei? You can't find her?" Yang called after the dog, entering the alley. Blake felt the hand leave her mouth moments before she heard the sound of a rock smashing against the way she'd come in. Yang spun around. "Zwei! This way!"

She ran out of the alley, the impulsive little thing following her, yapping all the while.

Blake felt her racing heart finally calm down as they left. The one that held her dropped down to the ground, landing and releasing Blake, who got a chance to finally turn around and see her rescuer. He was half a head taller than her, dark blond hair, black formal shirt and trousers. Dark red eyes, a somewhat handsome, if almost ethereal face, nothing out of the ordinary. No obvious weapons.

"You're welcome." the stranger said, then rolled up his long sleeve to glance at a golden band around his right wrist that Blake guessed, by appearance, was a watch of some kind. "Cutting it close for time." He turned his gaze back on Blake. "Still, glad I was passing by."

Blake said nothing in response, not sure what to make of the man. He gave a quiet chuckle in response, one that caused the very hairs on the back of Blake's neck to stand up.

"Listen, you're not one for talking. and I don't have a lot of time. In two minutes, your friend will be back, ready to apologize and with that dog under control." he said, talking quite fast, his hands clasped together. Blake focused on his every word. "She'll leave and come back with the suggestion to go to a seafood restaurant near the docks. What I need you to do is suggest a place called "Tyson's Tycoon", but only after she suggests seafood. It's located in the heart of Vale. Your friend will agree with you and you'll go there, instead. Is that all clear?"

"Why should I agree to this?" Blake asked him. It was a strange proposition. Was he a salesman for this place?

"Your teammates are gradually developing feelings for each other. Soon," he checked the gold watch again, "they'll fall for each other. The more time they have alone, the better. But if you go with your friend's suggestion," his gaze grew harsh and his voice almost felt... darker now, "things are going to go badly for all of you. Things'll happen, and none to do with me. I'm trying to stop that before it happens."

"Why should I trust you?" Blake asked. Before the stranger could reply, he turned his head and quickly glanced behind him.

"My time's up." the stranger announced. "Trust me, don't trust me, well..." he paused. "I'll let you decide. But in my opinion, Tyson's is better. The tuna there is something to die for."

He winked, his right eye flashing a bright, glowing red, before he vanished from the spot.

What was with that guy?

Ruby laid in Weiss' bed, alongside its owner, her limbs intertwined with Weiss' own. Their fingers were interlinked, the heiress holding Ruby close as she dozed. Ruby, for her part, held her lover tightly. She hoped that Weiss could feel her love for her through her touch. Her soft head was on Ruby's chest, and Ruby unhooked one of her hands to stroke the heiress' hair, watching as the 'o' of Weiss' mouth changed to a sweet smile at the attention, and she tightened her arms around Ruby.

Here, beside her love, Ruby was in heaven.

She couldn't believe it had gone so smoothly. And being with Weiss felt... right, somehow. Like it had meant to be.

Was Weiss perfect? No, no way.

But she was perfect for Ruby.

She felt her scroll buzz, and stopped the stroking of Weiss' hair as she checked her scroll. An app was flashing; the Duel app.

Ruby knew what it was. One of the teachers here had developed it, though Ruby didn't know which one. Sometimes, various students or authorized people would put up a challenge on the app. They would offer something to sweeten the deal, if someone that challenged them beat them, or bet something and request that the challenger bet something in return. Most of the higher ups didn't bother, but it was there, in case she needed some practice. Still, her own rank was high, meaning this would be someone like Pyrrha or Yang or someone good.

She tapped the app, and checked her note. It was a challenge directed at her, though the name was strange. The name of the account challenging her was named Vade. The picture featured a tall man who looked about twenty to Ruby. His blonde hair and blue eyes shone in the light, maybe in the light of the desert behind him. Underneath this, a single line of text.

'Interested in your fighting style. Meet at Beacon's arena in half an hour. 200 lien if you beat me. No loss on defeat. Best of 1, see you there.'

200 lien was quite a bit. Maybe she should take this guy on? How hard could he be?

Ruby checked his profile. The first thing she looked at was his rank, knowing she was at 34 at Beacon. She stared at the screen as it showed his rank to be a red '?'. A question mark? That was all she could get from it?

She checked the help option on the side of the level indicator.

'Ranks indicate the candidate's level of combat strength in relation to yours. They range from between 1 and 200, with lower numbers indicating higher strength. The color of the Rank indicates the difficulty of the fight when comparing your level to your opponent's, with Blue indicating an easy fight, while Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red indicate rising levels of difficulty. If you cannot see the battle opponent's Rank, check your connection. If a question mark is displayed, the Rank has been purposefully hidden by an administrator, though you may still use the colour of the question mark for comparisons.'

Red, huh?

It was a while since she'd seen a red Rank against her.

Maybe this would be fun.

She started to slide, slowly but surely, out of the comfort of Weiss' grip, leaving the bed, before turning back and looking at the heiress, who was now splayed out, an empty indent in the mattress of the bed the only remains of her presence. Ruby rolled her eyes, before smiling to herself and grabbing the cover of her bed.

With an almost tender grasp, she draped it over the heiress, before reaching over and shifting the pillow she was lying on so that it better supported her head, then brushed an errant strand of alabaster hair out of Weiss' face. Job done, she bent over and gave Weiss a peck on the cheek, before she crept out of the room, sliding the door shut behind her, leaving a contented Weiss behind.

Ruby stepped into the training arena at Beacon. She felt the familiar hum as it powered up. She'd done this before.

This place was very familiar to Ruby. It was like a coliseum gone sci-fi, seats where students would watch a demonstration or a match. There were two screens that would display the aura indicators. This place was the practice area in class, and sparring would often take place here. She looked all the way up the checkered floor, until she saw him.

His dark trousers and smart black shirt accentuated his features well. A lock of blond hair was brushed out of the man's face, almost like he could see with his eyes closed. Then, they opened, showing Ruby two crimson eyes that stared right into the depths of her skull, and a smile that, while friendly, combined with the eyes, seemed creepy. Yeeaahh. Very creepy.

"Ah." he said, as if noticing Ruby for the first time, his right shoulder to her. "Ruby Rose. A pleasure to meet you."

"You're Vade, right?" Ruby asked him. He nodded. "Why are your eyes red? I thought they were blue on your photo."

They didn't look so darn... scary in that photo.

"Well, I was wearing blue contacts on the day I took it." Vade responded. "Didn't realize until after, but it was a nice shot. Still..." he paused, looking Ruby up and down, tilting his head, which didn't do anything to alleviate Ruby's feeling of... just plain creeped out. "I'll warn you now, my Semblance is Knowledge, so I might... learn some things you don't want me to know. It's unavoidable."

Things? Like her and Weiss?

"Oookkkaaay then." Ruby said, unfurling Crescent Rose, gripping the familiar hilt as her aura came into view on the screen. "You might wanna think about how much lien you put up there." she grinned, her cocky battle state coming on in full force, the confidence her beloved gave her flowing like a drug through her blood. "Sometimes it doesn't matter how much you know." Vade's grin widened, and he crossed his legs, hovering up until he was a full meter above the ground.

Ruby watched as he slowly closed his eyes, his own aura appearing on the aura indicator. He stretched his arms out to the side, and from behind him, appeared... were those books?

They were too. Two books, spinning like throwing stars, ran across the back of his arms, coming to rest just a couple of inches from the palms of his pale hands, still spinning, just hanging there. Then, he opened his eyes.

His right eye was glowing.

As in actually glowing.

His smile became a smirk.

"Ruby, you made a grave error there." Vade intoned, his voice somehow deeper, more echoey (was that even a word?), darker. "Knowledge is power, and I know a lot..."

He swung his arms forwards, the two books soaring towards Ruby, whirling like tops.

Ruby dashed forwards.

Scythe met book in mid air, and a white flash engulfed the room.

Weiss stirred in her sleep, her hand clenching Ruby's. She could feel her warmth beside her even as she started to stir into wakefulness. Today had been a good day.

Just in the morning alone, she'd managed to confess her feelings to Ruby, and be accepted by her even though how much of a friend Weiss'd been had been... questionable in the past. To say she was shocked when Ruby returned her feelings really showed how much a lover like this was worth.

She smiled and rubbed the hand she was grasping, expecting to feel the soft skin from before.

Except her hand found nothing but paper.

Weiss' eyes shot open immediately. Sure enough, Ruby wasn't there, the thing she was leaning on now was a pillow, the body heat she'd felt merely her own.

She looked at the thing in her hand, which turned out to be a curled up note. She unfurled it slowly, the blood only just now reaching her fingers.

"I'm at the training arena. Got a challenge. I'll be back soon!" was written on it, alongside a smiley face. Weiss couldn't help but quietly laugh at it. Ruby did have her little quirks, it had to be said.

She stretched, and got up out of bed. If she were to hurry, she might be able to see some of this.

Ruby span her scythe in front of her, deflecting the infernal books for one of so many times. They were whirling around her, both of them, and every time one of them struck, Ruby knew the other one would also come at her from an awkward behind angle. She'd deflect it (having already tried to slice them in half and failing) and the one behind her, and the cycle would repeat. There were a couple of sore areas from where the two had connected with her and knocked her down. Her aura was at about half.

Vade stood in the center of the arena, his smirk still there, eye still glowing red. Man, Ruby had never known a fight to be so annoying. He hadn't taken a hit just because of these stupid books, she hadn't had a chance to get near him!

"Enjoying my little game?" he asked, as Ruby tried once again to break out of his lock, but everywhere she tried, one of the books was right there to meet her and block her.

"No! These books suck!" Ruby yelled back as she saw them close in again for another attack. Taking the chance, she rolled out of the way, causing the books to collide with each other, before triggering her semblance and flying towards Vade with all the speed that she could muster, homing in on his glowing eye, slashing across, only to meet... nothing?

Ruby stopped and looked around, before spotting him in the exact same place she'd been in before, the books now circling around him.

He'd teleported?

Was that even possible?

He held his hands out as if saying 'I don't know', but his grin uprooted that definition of his action. Two more books had appeared from his back, and were now hovering alongside the first two, all four of them black with pure white pages, spinning until they looked like black circles more than rectangles.

How many of them did he have?

"You know, you've impressed me, Ruby." Vade said, and Ruby caught her breath as her opponent took a couple of steps back. His gaze quickly went to the empty stands before focusing on Ruby again, and the hardness in his voice seemed to lessen. "With how hard you fight... I definitely wouldn't have taken you for a student."

Ruby recognized the compliment and blushed a little with pride. But she knew it wasn't just herself she was fighting for.

It was the girl she left back in bed. Weiss had been all she was thinking about throughout this fight, every single time she blocked a book, it brought her one step closer to going back and seeing her. It didn't matter that Vade hadn't taken a hit. Soon, he would, and it would be a milestone in this fight. Vade tilted his head, his gaze suddenly growing a little stronger.

"Ah. So that's your secret." he intoned. Ruby's breath caught in her throat. Did he mean Weiss? He reached up and tapped his nose. "That's cute. Very cute. Don't worry, I won't tell." Ruby blushed now. Had he found out just by her thinking about it? "Welp," he cracked his knuckles, "it's time for this song and dance to end. Even if you're unusually strong for a student, what you face is beyond you."

Ruby raised her scythe immediately, ready for the four books to be on her again. Vade however, did not move to strike her.

"You know, there's a reason why my rank is a question mark." Vade continued. "Rank means nothing to me. I transcended that system long ago. They recognized that." He jumped up, hovering about ten feet off the ground, his legs crossed once again. "Don't believe me?" His smile widened. "Then how about I show you?"

He pointed at Ruby, then before she could react, he snapped his fingers.

An explosion so intense Ruby felt her aura shatter at the first impact.

Flying through the air, hitting the ground with a painful thump.

She barely heard the AI declaring Vade the winner of the match.

Ruby blacked out, the last thing on her mind flashing fleetingly.

Weiss... please help...