It was a great morning. Weiss had woken up feeling refreshed; something she had been sorely missing for the past month. With a dainty yawn, she made her way to the bathroom, barely registering the empty bed that hung above her and began preparing for the day.
After she brushed her teeth, washed her face and opened her makeup kit, her roommates began to stir.
"Blakey, it's time to wakey!"
There was a groan. "Please don't call me Blakey."
"I won't if you get up!"
"Mm, ok."
"You're not getting up."
"Mn."
"Don't make me splash you with cold water."
"...you wouldn't dare."
"You know I would."
There was some shufflings sounds, then Yang and Blake entered the small space.
"Mornin'," Yang yawned, reaching over Weiss's shoulder for her toothbrush. Blake looked ready to murder but that's how she usually looked during mornings. She grabbed her own toothbrush, squeezed some paste and quickly left the cramped bathroom.
"Good morning," Weiss greeted, even gracing the statement with a rare smile.
"Ooh, someone's in a good mood today." Yang grinned as she squeezed some toothpaste onto her own brush.
"It's a beautiful morning." Weiss leaned over to the mirror as she applied her mascara. "Not to mention Ruby didn't wake me up with her incessant yelling today."
"Haha, her energy in the morning never ceases to amaze me," Yang said with a chuckle. She stuck her head out the door to see Blake had sat down on the bed and was slowly brushing her teeth while staring at the beds across with vacant eyes.
"Where is Ruby by the way?" She brought back her head and started brushing her teeth.
"No idea." Weiss closed her kit with a sharp snap and gave herself an approving once over. "My guess is she's running around with that endless energy somewhere."
"Hm." Yang frowned. Weiss left the bathroom to her wardrobe and threw the doors open. Bringing out her regular battle outfit, she proceeded to get dressed.
There were the sounds of rinses and spits from the bathroom before Yang emerged and headed to her own wardrobe.
"Kinda weird of her to head out so early though," she said, pulling off her pajamas.
"Yes but Ruby is weird. I see nothing wrong your statement," Weiss smiled, buttoning her shirt.
"Ha, you know you love her."
"I tolerate her," Weiss replied with an airy wave of her hand.
"Sure, sure," Yang rolled her eyes.
Weiss's smile slowly faded as she lightly tapped her chin.
"Joking aside, it is a bit strange for Ruby to disappear on us in the morning. She'd usually leave a note at least." Weiss took look around the bed or desks but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Except Ruby's scroll which lay charging on bedside table.
"And she forgot her scroll," Weiss sighed. "How many times have I told her to carry it with her at all times?"
"She went out last night."
They both turned to Blake who had just finished brushing and dressing; the drowsy look in her eyes were replaced with a serious one. Her arms were crossed.
"No, that can't be right." Weiss bit her bottom lip, staring at the empty bed of her teammate.
"Woah, woah, woah!" Yang said, holding out her hands as if to protest. "Are you telling me that she's been gone since last night?"
"It's possible. It's also possible that she came back when I fell asleep." Blake shrugged. "But I think we should think in worse case scenarios and assume something happened and she didn't." Her amber eyes turned to Weiss who flinched a bit under the hard gaze.
"It doesn't make any sense. Why would she leave in the middle of the night?" Yang asked.
Weiss sighed, drawing her teammate's attention. "She might have been following me."
"That makes even less sense," Yang said, eyes widened. "Why did you leave in the middle of the night?"
Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, it doesn't matter. What matters is that I didn't see Ruby at all last night when I was out."
"Ruby's not too bad at stealth though," Yang said. "You might have not noticed her."
"Yes, I know her level of skill," Weiss said. "And I also know I would have been able to detect her last night if she was following me."
There was visible irritation in Yang's facial features now.
"So what does that mean? Did she follow you or not?" Yang growled.
"I… don't think she did," Weiss said, her brows furrowed.
"You don't sound very sure."
"Well, excuse me for not being sure if your sister was stalking me last night!"
"Guys, let's not start fighting!" Blake stepped in between them. "The important thing is that Ruby may be missing. Yang, go find a professor and tell them what happened. Weiss and I will go retrace her steps last night."
Weiss opened her mouth as if to object, before closing it and clenching her fist.
Yang gave a curt nod before running out the door, completely ignoring the indignant cries of the people she barreled through.
Through the open door, Jaune stuck his head. "Something happen, guys? Yang looked pretty serious."
"Ruby's missing," Weiss said stepping out, Blake following right behind her, closing the door behind them.
"What?" Jaune's eyes widened. "Is there anything we can do to help?" He glanced at his teammates stepping out of their room.
"There's nothing," Weiss said, her tone clipped. "We may be overreacting."
"In case we aren't, we'll give you a call if we need to execute a full search party. Till then, this is Team RWBY's problem," Blake said, placing her hand on his shoulder.
With that, Blake turned and nodded to Weiss and the both of them left, sweeping through the hall.
"What's going on?" Pyrrha asked, watching them leave. Ren and Nora appeared behind her, curiously watching the retreating figures as well.
Her leader gripped the hilt at his side, rubbing his thumb on the pommel. An anxious expression controlled his features.
"Ruby might be in trouble guys."
"You can just ask me you know. I can see you're dying with curiosity."
Emerald held down the urge to show any signs of the surprise she felt and instead chose to bring a piece of toast to her mouth. "If you thought we needed to know the reason, you'd tell us." She took a bite.
"Well if Emerald's not going to ask, I am," Mercury said, smirking. "Last night was pretty unlike you. Why'd you do it?
Cinder only smiled, taking a graceful and painfully slow sip from her teacup.
"Plans changed I suppose, and I've never been one to take the easy path to things."
Mercury rolled his eyes. "Should've known better than to expect a straight answer out of you."
"Don't worry," Cinder smiled. "Answers will come."
"Well, now we have to deal with increased security."
"That won't be a problem. Their definition of… security is laughable."
"Fair enough," Mercury chuckled. Doors to the mess hall slammed open and the group's
eyes fell upon the blond girl who entered. They watched her approach a professor with green hair and glasses whisper something into his ear. Together, they left the hall.
"Do you want me to follow them?" Mercury asked.
Cinder nodded and he stood up from the table, casually leaving the hall.
Her gaze turned to Emerald, dutifully eating her toast.
"And how was your night Emerald?" she asked.
"Successful."
Cinder smiled, clasping her hands together as she leaned onto the table. "Wonderful."
"Are you sure that's it?"
"Yes, I'm sure!"
Blake's eyes scanned the corridors, scouring every detail for any clues. Silence passed as she followed.
"Nothing," she said. "Everything looks normal."
Weiss sighed. "We need to think this through a bit more. So you're sure that Ruby went after me last night?"
"Yeah, I saw her leave just seconds after you did."
"Why were you up so late anyway?"
"Reading."
"Of course."
Some more silence passed as they walked before Weiss spoke again. "Are you always up so late?"
"Sometimes," Blake said.
"Have you…" Weiss looked away. "Never mind."
"Have I ever seen you sneak out before?" Blake finished for her.
Weiss scowled.
"The answer is yes," Blake said. More silence. Weiss licked her lips.
"...why haven't you ever ask me what I was doing?" Weiss finally asked.
"Because," Blake stopped. "It was none of my business."
Weiss didn't respond. She just stared back, her expression unreadable.
"Until now," Blake continued. "Did whatever you were doing have something to do with Ruby's disappearance?"
"No!" Weiss said, visibly horrified. "I don't know what you're trying to suggest Blake but I really had no idea she was following me last night."
"I'm sorry," Blake said, lowering her eyes. "I didn't mean accuse you."
"No, it's fine. I can see why I look so suspicious," Weiss sighed. "I just didn't expect my little night wanderings to become such a big deal." There was hesitance, but Weiss continued. "Sometimes… I can't sleep. So I go out to this hall and I practice till I can." A noticeably visible red hue creeped into her cheeks.
"That's… surprisingly normal," Blake answered, a brow cocked and the tension she didn't know had built up, loosened up in her shoulders.
"Did you expect I was murdering people and hiding their bodies?" Weiss glared.
"No, no, nothing like that," Blake said, shaking her head. "Just… I thought it was something that would explain why you're acting all embarrassed about it."
"I'm not embarrassed!" Weiss quickly yelled. Teams passing by gave them an odd look. With an 'ugh!', Weiss dragged Blake to an isolated corner. "Look, don't you think it's a bit selfish of me to be sneaking out by myself just because I can't sleep?" she whispered harshly.
Blake thought for a bit. "No, not really."
"Even though the whole team would be punished if I got caught?"
"If I cared about that, I would have stopped you before you left."
With a humph, Weiss turned around. "You're impossible. I for one, would be extremely miffed if my teammates were skulking around and risk the team to detentions simply because they couldn't sleep."
"Well good thing I'm not you then," Blake replied. Two beeps, identically timed caught their attentions and they brought out their scrolls.
YANG: COME TO OZPINS OFFICE ASAP
They looked at each and nodded.
Darkness. That's what greeted her as she opened her eyes. There was a dull ache in her head, beating to the tune of her heart and making her want to throw up. The ground was cold and hard, sucking the warmth out of her and making her shiver. She tried to move but found her arms tightly bound behind her, and her legs were bound together at the ankles. The light sounds of metal clinks greeted her ears with every limited move she made and she squirmed around viciously, trying to get a hold of her bearings. As her eyes adjusted, she saw the small pinpricks of light shining down from the ceiling, high above her.
"Hello?"
Her voice echoed in the cavernous building. There was no response. But there was a sound, faint but constant. The girl concentrated on it, her brows knitted endearingly as she strained her ears.
"Is- is that the ocean?"
Author's Note: If you see any errors, please point them out. Oh, and anyone wants to be a proofreader for this story, just PM me or something.
Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!