Right. After a long delay, here is chapter 10 of Thorny Tangle.

This next week, I'll be starting school again, however I don't think my update schedule will slow down from what it currently is. Hopefully, I'll be able to publish chapters more often, now that I'm not wasting all of my free time and sleeping in every day. Such is the life of a student during summer vacation.

In any case, this is unedited, especially the later parts, because I'm going to be busy tomorrow and wanted to get the chapter out before I was delayed any longer. So I apologize for the grammar and spelling errors I'm sure are present, and I home you enjoy.

Into the Breach

Aoi was standing on the corner, casually smoking a cigarette and minding his own business, when the blur of black and grey slammed into the back of his knees and sent him toppling like a rotten tree in a windstorm.

Now, to be fair to Aoi here, he was only a street level thug with bad eyesight that he refused to wear glasses for, who was only on watch because the boss didn't want to spare anyone more competent. And, as a point in his favor, he did notice the green haired girl.

She brained him with a two by four after all.

As the last vestiges of Aoi's consciousness faded away, he could only watch in confusion as a young girl in bread and black did a victory dance on the sidewalk. Then, green hair noticed he was still awake and hit him in the head once more.

…

Meanwhile, in the land of the conscious, Ruby was holding her impromptu victory celebration.

"See!" She whispered (loudly), "I told you it would work!"

Emerald rolled her eyes. "Okay fine, you get points for coming up with a better plan than 'charge in and wing it', there I admitted it." She whispered back. "But seriously, be quiet! We're supposed to be sneaking remember?"

"I am being sneaky!"

"No, you're being loud and dancing around like a kid. If you don't calm down you'll let the whole warehouse know we're here!"

Ruby paused. "Oh… Yeah that's a pretty good point, Emmy. Don't worry, I'll be good now!"

Emerald sighed, not like the damage has already been dealt or anything. "Ugh, fine." She said. "Just… shut up and help me drag this guy around the-"

"Hey! What the hell did you two do to Aoi!?"

Ruby and Emerald spun in surprise.

A second man, dressed much like the first, was staring at them in disbelief and anger from where he'd walked around the corner.

They shared a nervous glance. Ruby panicked.

"Legs!"

"Ruby wait!" Emerald reached out, but Ruby was off in a blur, forcing Emerald to sprint after her even as Ruby slammed into the man's legs.

The thug grunted as he fell forward, but managed to catch himself in time to block Emerald's attack.

Ruby slipped out of sight before he could get a bead on her. But when the man yanked a dust pistol out of his belt, she landed on top of him and brought the pommel of Somber Thorn down on his head.

"Guh!" His gun fired, and Emerald shrieked, sticking her two by four out in front of her. She felt a jolt echo through it, jerking her wrists painfully.

Then Ruby hit him again, her arms blurring slightly with an application of her semblance, and he crumpled to the ground.

Ruby jumped off landing on the ground with a stumble.

When she looked at Emerald her eyes widened. "Oh…" she reached out and poked Emeralds board. "Maybe… we should have got you a real weapon before we came…" She said tentatively.

Emerald opened her eyes and looked at her two by four.

The dust round had blasted a whole in her impromptu weapon at face level, leaving a blackened and shattered mess of wood. She let out an awkward chuckle, before tossing it aside, Yeah. Next time."

That could have been my face!

Ruby quickly checked Emerald over for injuries, breathing out a sigh of relief when the older girl proved to be completely fine. "It looks like it exploded on the wood." She said with a week smile. " 'S what they get for using cheap rounds."

Emerald shrugged at Ruby's attempted humor. "Whatever, let's get these two out of sight before someone else shows up.

It took Ruby a moment, but then she plucked up a grin "Okay!" she chirped.

They moved the man with the gun into a nearby alley, but Ruby's smile faltered when she looked at the second man on the ground, face falling even as she moved to grab his arm.

Emerald frowned. "Hey, what's wrong Red? It's not like he's dead or anything"

Ruby huffed. "I know that! It's just…" She glanced at the man they were dragging. "What if he's… not a bad guy? I mean, it's not like he tried to hurt us or anything."

"Because we didn't give him the chance too." Emerald replied, with a glare. "He's just some gangster, and they're all the same. Worthless pieces of trash."

Ruby froze, "Just like how the White Fang is all the same?"

Emerald blinked. "Ruby-"

"Just-" Ruby let out a quiet sigh. "forget I said anything. Cinder sent us here, so let's just make sure we don't mess up. Okay?"

Emerald watched silently for a moment as Ruby turned back towards the warehouse. "Hey!"

Ruby spun, eyes flashing, "I said-!"

On an impulse, Emerald pulled Ruby into a hug. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that okay? 'M just… still a bit ticked off that the other one tried to put a hole in my head."

Ruby relaxed into the hug. "It's not you…" She murmured. "There just…"

"So much shit to deal with." Emerald finished with a wry smile. "All this… stuff, just one thing after another."

Ruby nodded silently.

"It's." Emerald held back a wince. "Dust I'm no good at this touchy feely shit, okay Red? But it's gonna be okay. Alright?"

Ruby squirmed slightly, looking up at Emerald with watery eyes. "How do you know."

Sometimes, Emerald forgot that Ruby had been abandoned too.

Instead of saying anything she just hugged Ruby tighter, resting her forehead against the younger girl's. At length Ruby returned the hug.

"How do I know?" She asked quietly. "How do I know that things are going to be okay, that you and Cinder won't just leave like…" Her voice drifted off.

"Like your sister?"

Ruby gave a silent nod.

"She wants to just." Ruby said. "Just walk back into my life, like nothing even happened!"

"Then don't let her." Emerald said.

"What?"

Emerald huffed and looked away. "She's the one who actually wants to make up right? Then force her to actually make up for what she did."

Ruby frowned up at Emerald in confusion, as if the thought of holding a grudge had never occurred to her. Knowing Ruby, that was probably the truth.

With a sigh, Ruby disentangled herself from the hug. "No… it's fine." She said. "I'm just pra-pro-projecting."

Emerald pulled a face as Ruby turned back towards the warehouse. "You know, I don't get why you're so scared of it all Red."

"Huh?"

"I'm the one who should be scared." Emerald continued. "I mean, Cinder found you first, and your just… so good at everything she wants from us. You're better at sparing than me, you have your semblance, you can make weapons, dust Red, most days I don't even know why Cinder bothered with me in the first place! And you have her wrapped around your little finger…"

Ruby shook her head. "No I don't…"

"Are you crazy? She-"

"Gave me everything." Ruby said. "And I'm scared that she's going to take it all away." She met Emerald's eyes. "She says she would never do that. And I want to believe her, so, so bad but… I never thought that my family would abandon me either."

Emerald looked away, breaking eye contact with that glowing silver gaze. "… yeah." She murmured. "That's exactly how I feel."

The two descended into silence, and Emerald was just about to suggest just heading into the warehouse and finishing the damn job when Ruby spoke.

"Let's make a promise."

Emerald turned to look at the younger girl. "A promise?"

Ruby nodded. "Let's promise that no matter what happens, we'll never abandon each other."

Emerald blinked once, then she rolled her eyes. "Yeah," She said, voice bitter "because those promises mattered so much the first time around."

"Well…" Ruby plopped down onto the curb. "That's because they didn't understand."

"Understand what?"

Ruby patted the ground next to her. Emerald frowned, glancing towards the warehouse they were supposed to be clearing out. But then, it wasn't as if Cinder had given them a time limit. So with a shrug, Emerald sat down and let Ruby lean against her shoulder.

"They didn't understand." Ruby said again. "They didn't know how much being alone sucks."

"So?" Emerald asked. "How does that make a difference?"

"Cause we do know!" Ruby said. "It's the worst right?" Emerald frowned. "Right?"

"… Yeah. It's the worst."

Ruby nodded. "And that's why this promise matters! Because we know what being left behind is really like! And… and we would never abandon anyone we cared about because we now how bad it is!" She paused, glancing up at Emerald shyly, as if just realizing her rant. "Right…?"

Emerald was looking off into the distance, mouth twisted and red eyes glazed over in thought. After a moment she shook her head and looked back at Ruby. "Right." She agreed.

Ruby smiled, hugging the older girl. "Promise?"

"Yeah. Promise."

"Yay!"

Emerald couldn't help but laugh. "You're so easy to please red."

"Yep!" Ruby chirped as the last of her earlier melancholy evaporated. "Now c'mon, let's go get the warehouse!"

Emerald rolled her eyes and stood, brushing off her shorts. "You better not go off on me halfcocked again!"

"No promises!"

Half an hour later, a sleek black limo pulled up in front of the warehouse. The driver turned off the engine as Cinder stepped out of the back, glass heels clinking against the pavement in the otherwise quiet alley.

Her gaze was immediately drawn to the two girls, her two girls, sitting on the small crate of dust crystals. Ruby was showing Emerald some of the different types, though the bulges in her pockets revealed that Ruby had already picked some of the choice bits for herself. Probably lightning dust.

"All finished up there girls?" She called.

"Yep!" "Yeah."

Cinder smiled. "Very good. There was no trouble I take it?"

Her girls shared a glance, before shaking their heads in unison. Well, that bore looking into. She cocked an eyebrow. "I see. Well, you two have earned a good night's rest haven't you? Martin will take you back to the penthouse." She pulled them both into a hug, feeling a satisfying warmth when both Ruby and Emerald hugged her back without hesitation. "There's a big tub of ice cream on the counter with your names on it."

"Ice cream?" Ruby asked with a grin. Emerald rolled her eyes.

"Oh!" Ruby pulled back. "The guy in the white coat was there too! We decided to knock him out too…"

Cinder smiled. "Perfect. Run along now you two." She patted them both on the head. "I'll be back in a bit."

As her girls climbed into the back of the car, Cinder strode into the warehouse, lighting a sallow flame in her palm to banish the darkness.

Several grown men, unconscious and bound, covered the floor of the warehouse. She picked her way over them and through the scant few shipping crates that filled the dark room, a smirk alighting on her lips as she heard the sound of muted swearing.

She found him near the back of the warehouse.

"Roman, Roman, Roman." She said, "What am I going to do with you. I come back from a business trip on Monday, only to find that my dear, trustworthy, business partner had flew the coup while I was away." She tilted his face up to hers with a finger, pouting. "I thought we had an… understanding."

Roman paled, his struggles intensifying for a moment before he slumped over in the chair he was bound to, breaking eye contact. "I don't suppose you'll accept my I don't suppose you'll accept my sincere apology will you?" He said with a snort. "One more day dammit. That's All I would have needed."

"I know Roman. I'm impressed." Cinder replied. "And that is why you're still drawing breath."

"Really?" He grunted. "And here I thought you were keeping me around for my charming personality." Cinder laughed.

"I'm only debating the merits of your continued employment Roman." She said. "Would you like to contribute anything? Or perhaps you just wish to retire?" She paused, wrapping flame around her wrist. "Leaving my service comes with a rather complete severance package after all."

"Ahaha." Roman put on a weak smirk. "Yes… if it's all the same, I would like to keep my head for the time being."

"Perhaps."

"How about" Roman said. "I double the amount of dust you have, right now, for the all-time low price of not cutting my head of, eh?" He grinned, "Eh? Whatta say?"

Cinder simply smirked and turned around. "You'll be under surveillance from now on Roman." She said as she walked out of the warehouse. "Good night."

"Not very." Roman muttered under his breath. "And… of course she doesn't bother untying me. What a bitch."

Cinder smirked at that, letting the door swing shut behind her with a clang, and began making her way back to the penthouse. She had a few calls to make, and thus decided to take a relaxing walk rather than calling her chauffer.

When she arrive back at her suite, the lights were off and the tub of ice cream emptied, the latter of which causing her to smile.

Cinder paused in surprise at the door of Ruby's room, bed empty. She quickly moved to Emeralds room, mouth thinning as she pushed the door open and drew fire into being over her hand.

The flickering light revealed both girls, curled up in Emerald's bed and sound asleep.

Cinder let out a sigh. "You two…"

Entering the room quietly, she pulled the blankets up and tucked her gems in, before turning off the alarm clock on the bedside table. She would call Ruby in sick for school tomorrow. Besides, she paused to take a picture with her scroll, they just looked too cute like that, Ruby curled up into Emerald's side, the older girl's arm around her protectively.

Cinder smiled as she pulled the door shut. "Sweet dreams, my dears."

Yang sighed. Ruby wasn't at school today.

Blake had said she didn't know where her sister was either. Yang was sure the cat must have some idea, but she'd refused to share it, leaving Yang bored and frustrated. To make matters worse, there was no sparing practice today, just basic conditioning that Yang (due to having unlocked her Aura) could do without breaking a sweat.

Apparently there as a limit on the amount of weightlifting children were supposed to do, even if they were Aura active, to prevent any long term injuries or growth stunting.

Yang thought that was stupid too.

So there she was, in the final period of the day, once again counting the seconds until she was free and able to go to the sparring club. After a long day of not getting the answers she wanted, Yang had more than enough steam to blow off.

Today she was going to kick some serious ass in the sparring club. And if the older students underestimated her because she was a first year, so much the better.

At long last, the bell rang, and Yang made her way back upstairs to the same classroom as yesterday, albeit at a slower pace. This time, Amber and the others were already there.

"Ready to go Yang?" The older girl asked with a cheery grin.

"Yep." Yang cracked her knuckles. "Are we using the gym?"

"We use one of the smaller sparring rooms actually." Coral said. "We're technically the younger portion of the sparing club. The older kids use the gymnasium, and you can only enter that sparing club if you're fourth year, or you beat a current member."

"Huh." Yang shrugged as the group of four exited the classroom. "So how old are you guys?"

"Coral and I are both third years." Hue said. "Amber is a fifth year, she's the junior club's captain and organizer."

"Yep!" The chipper girl said. "I'm technically a member of both clubs, but three days out of five I'm with you kids to make sure everything is running smooth yah know? Tuesday and Thursday I'm usually with the bigger club, but I'm making an exception to introduce you to the rest of the members." Yang nodded.

The halls were mostly empty by the time they made it to the designated classroom. Several other kids, all older than Yang, were already inside.

"Hey!" One of the boys nudged his friend. "It's the new firstie that Amber was talking about." He grinned. "Welcome to sparring club!"

"Thanks." Yang grinned back. "What, are there aren't any other first year kids in the club?"

"Naw, most of them are too nervous to come to tryouts, and pretty much none of them are good enough for us to 'recruit' or anything." The boy replied.

Coral nodded, "The more serious kids start to trickle in second year, or the second semester of your year if they're brave enough. Some actually wait until fourth year and then join the 'varsity' club."

"Though sometimes they're turned down!" Another girl called. "Usually if you haven't dropped out you're good enough to make it in at that point, but some of the lazy kids who coast by don't have any hand to hand skills, which is why this club was founded in the first place."

"Alright, that's enough with the impromptu history lesson." Amber said, pulling a much put upon expression. "I get enough of that in class, am I right?" There were a few chuckles as she pulled Yang to the front of the room. "So everyone, this is our newest member, Yang Xiao Long. My little cousin told me she was pretty good at sparring, so far she's one every match she's had in class, so I thought I'd bring her to the club and see how she did. Any objections?"

A chorus of "no's" filled the room. Amber smiled.

"Cool! Now, after yall get warmed up we'll have our first match. Who wants to put the newbie through her paces?"

"I'll do it." The boy who greeted Yang when she came in said after a moment.

"Alright everybody, clear the floor! It's time for initiation!" Amber said. She turned to Yang with a grin. "Have any warming up you want to do first or are you ready to go?"

Yang smiled. "I'm ready." She said, making her way to the center of the room.

She felt the spongy material of the mat compress under her feet as she moved to face Grey. She twisted her boots against it, getting a feel for the traction. Grey, on the other hand, was shaking out his arms, a serious look on his face.

Yang met it with a grin.

Amber jumped onto the teacher's desk, sitting cross-legged. "Ready? You guys both know the rules then, Go!"

Grey lunged at Yang. She crossed her arms and took the punch head on, skidding back a foot as her aura flared.

His next kick caught her in the side, sending her sprawling "C'mon firstie, gotta do better than that!"

Yang rolled to her feet, grinning as she felt the familiar stinging sensation of her Aura's 'transposed pain'. "Was that supposed to hurt?" She shot back. "My little sister kicks hard than you!"

To be fair, Yang thought as Grey launched into a flurry of blows, Ruby was a bit of a monster like that.

Yang put her guard up and weathered the storm, taking hits she easily could have dodged. She kept her eyes on him, making sure to protect her vitals and face as she caught punch after kick on her crossed arms or raised legs.

"Is that it?!" She shouted, shoving Greys punch to the side. Her wild haymaker missed its mark, but she saw his eyes widen at the rush of air she dragged behind her fist. "Stop playing around and hit me!"

Grey scrambled back, eyeing Yang warily instead of closing distance. Some of the other kids were muttering to themselves, and Yang realized her eyes must have gone red.

"Che, whatever." She charged him.

Grey spun, lashing out with a kick, and Yang plowed right into it.

Unfortunately for him, even though she saw stars, she also plowed right through it, and more or less right through him as well.

Grey let out a groan as he sagged, sliding off her fist. Yang staggered slightly, blinking owlishly before Amber walked up to steady her. "Not bad girl!" She said, "I think we have a winner guys, tough luck Grey."

He coughed weakly. "That was… some punch." He said. "Good match."

"Uh… yeah." Yang nodded as she rubbed her forehead. "Good match…" She looked down at her fist with an unhappy frown. The pain from his blows was already fading out, and with it the more emotional pains, her current falling out with Ruby first and foremost, were fading back in.

She had hoped the fight would take her mind off it for a bit longer. "Anyone else want to go a round?"

Amber laughed. "Easy there little spitfire. Everyone else has to have a turn too, but first off, the most important part, nay dare I say raison d'etre, of sparing club!" Yang saw several kids roll their eyes at this. "Performance critiques!"

"Huh?"

Amber pulled Grey back to his feet. "After each match, the rest of the club has a chance to provide criticism, constructive criticism, of both people's performance. Stuff that they should work on or try to fix or do more of, that sort of thing. The rule is, if it doesn't help them become a better fighter, don't say it." Seeing Yang's still confused look she added. "We'll do Grey first so you can see what I mean. Okay guys, open floor!"

"You're still too quick on the draw." Coral said to start. "I understand the appeal of bulldozing a perceived weaker opponent but, even excluding the final result, you left yourself open several times and had she wanted to, I think Yang could have taken advantage of those openings."

Grey winced, though it seemed to come more from injured pride than body, but nodded.

"You've come along way definitely." A boy said. "Good job taking the initiative and trying to keep it, that's a mindset you want to have. Just be aware that the person you're fighting can have plans of their own."

There were a few more comments in a similar vein, mostly coming from the older kids. Yang noticed that Grey was taking them all seriously, even though some of the more pointed ones made him wince. Then it was her turn.

"Girl, I don't know what you were doing, but I hope you don't intent to win every fight like that." Amber said, patting Yang's short hair.

She huffed and slipped away. "Whaddaya mean?"

"Just standing there and taking hits? That's never a good idea, and sure it worked out, but our goal isn't just to be good enough here. Not to mention that standing there and being a punching She bag isn't usually gonna be good enough."

"But…" Yang paused, frowning. "Yeah, you're right." She hadn't even intended to go at it like that. But after Grey had taken control of the fight it had been so easy to just sit back and let her semblance do the work.

There were more comments for her than for Grey, mostly things like what Amber had said, though there were plenty of compliments on her skill, especially for a first year. At the end, she felt simultaneously like she knew what she was doing and that she still had such a long way to go.

Maybe it was that "knowing enough to know you don't know anything" thing that uncle Qrow sometimes talked about.

Either way though, she didn't get another bout for the rest of the meeting time, and left the club feeling no less restless than she did at the start. With a sigh, Yang started home.

It was one in the afternoon when Ruby finally woke up.

She stretched and yawned before settling back down into Emerald's side, enjoying the warmth. She blinked a few times, glancing out the window into the bright blue sky.

Then she blinked again, and glanced over at the alarm clock.

"Aaaaaahhhh! Emerald, wake up! We're late for school, omigod we're so laaaaaaate!"

Emerald grumbled and rolled over, glancing at the digital display. She groaned. "S'not worth getting up." She mumbled, burying her face back in the pillow. "Go back t' sleep…"

"But we can still make it for the second half of the day if we hurry! C'mon Emmy! Don't just lie there!" She rocked Emerald back and forth, causing the older girl to groan dramatically and mutter unkind things under her breath. "Emmyyyyyyyy!"

Then, Emerald's arms shot out and pulled Ruby back down to the bed locking her in place.

"I'm not getting up." Emerald said, hugging Ruby tighter when the girl started to squirm. "So you can just be quiet and go back to sleep!"

Ruby began forcing herself free of Emeralds grasp. "Nooooo! I have homework due todaaaaaayyy!"

With a growl, Emerald rolled over, attempting to pin Ruby to the bed. They tumbled back and forth for a few seconds until Emerald managed to pin Ruby's hands to the bed. Straddling the younger girl's waist, she grinned triumphantly.

Ruby whined gently, looking up at Emerald with big silver eyes as she began to pout, lower lip trembling.

"Oh come off it!" Emerald said, glancing away, cheeks flushing slightly.

The cuteness. It was unbearable.

"B-b-but Emmy…."

"I said go to sleep!"

*Crack!*

"Ooooowwwwieee…."

Emerald grumbled and rubbed her forehead from where she'd hit Ruby's own. "Stop whining. You probably didn't even feel it, dumb aura shielding…" She muttered.

"It was still mean."

"Yeah, yeah." Emerald waved her hand dismissively. "Just… go back to sleep. I'm tired." She slumped down on top of Ruby, effectively pinning the girl to the bed as Emerald pulled the sheets back up. "It's too early."

"Emerald!" Ruby whined, arms flailing uselessly at her sides. "Let me go!"

"No."

"Get off!"

"No." Emerald shifted some, "Stop struggling. I've decided okay? You're gonna be my teddy bear for now, so shut up."

Ruby huffed, puffing out her cheeks. "Fine…" She snuggled into the blankets and, more immediately, Emerald's continuing and smothering embrace. "You're really bony…"

"Shut up."

Blake sighed as she slipped the book into her bag and set it to the side. "It was just getting to the good part."

"You'll have time to finish it after our patrol."

"Yes Adam." She said with a small frown. "It's not like you even need me with you today though. Arthur just has us making a circuit of the neighborhood."

Adam snorted as he made his way to the edge of the rooftop. "I'd have thought you'd be more eager, your… friend is going to be with us this time after all."

Blake blinked. "Ruby?"

"Apparently Arthur took Tukson's advice." Adam said. "We'll leave as soon as she-" He paused when Ruby landed on the rooftop in a blur of red. "You're late."

Ruby froze at the sight of Adam. With his distinctive red hair and glinting eyes, she clearly remembered him from the night he pinned her against a wall to choke the life out of her. "Ah…" She said after a moment. "Sorry, I thought you were going to be on the street. I checked the rooftops right after."

Adam was silent for a moment, before nodding. He tossed the young girl a small grey cloak. "Wear that when you're with us. Now let's go, we'll drop to street level after we do a circuit of the outside."

Ruby scrambled to get the cloak over her shoulders as Adam resettled his katana and jumped across to the nearby rooftop. Blake quickly helped the younger girl get situated. "You have your dagger right?" She asked.

Ruby nodded as the two took off after Adam. "Both of them!" She admitted proudly. "I have to show you what I did with the other one after patrol."

Blake smiled slightly at that. "I'm actually surprised you're here." She said. "How did Arthur get in contact with you?"

"Tukson told me about it when I was at his shop one day." Ruby said. "You weren't there then, and I didn't want to talk about it at school." She looked down. "A lot of people don't really like Iron Fur much…"

Blake nodded in understanding. "People think it's a paramilitary group." Ruby looked up in askance.

"Half… military?"

Blake shook her head. "More like a civilian run army, like a militia, but with professionally trained troops."

"Okay." Ruby moved ahead for a moment as she used her semblance to clear the gap between two buildings. Blake was forced to do the same by increasing the strength of her limbs, which was much less efficient than using one's semblance according to the professors at Signal.

"They see us as Para-military," Blake continued when she caught up. "and expect us to do things that are illegal. Well… more so than most people do already I guess."

"I'm sorry Blake-"

"You don't have anything to be sorry about." Blake said. "You're doing more than your part just by going on patrol with us. If the wrong people saw you…"

"I don't care." Ruby said, scowling into the middle distance. "They can think whatever they want, I'm gonna do the right thing anyway… Besides" She smirked. "Who's going to think a nine year old student is going to be running around with Iron Fur?"

Blake laughed. "True. Now come on, we don't want to fall behind Adam." She said. "It may not matter to you, but if I'm too slow he'll double my conditioning work out." With that, the two girls stopped talking and focused on keeping up with their leader.

Adam Tarus.

While not formerly part of the command structure of Iron Fur, the para-military/neighborhood-watch offshoot of the White Fang, everyone knew Adam was close to the top of the organization, if only because of his strength.

He was also in charge of training the young adults who were quickly filling out the ranks of Iron Fur, along with instilling within them a sense of discipline, so that they did not ride roughshod over any altercations they found themselves in.

Though, with these two that likely wasn't going to be a problem.

To Adam's annoyance, Ruby easily kept pace with him, more so even than Blake. He was hoping he'd be able to leave the human behind shortly after the patrol started, but she was proving surprisingly adept.

He supposed that was par for the course as far as this one was concerned. With a hidden roll of his eyes, he focused his attention back on the streets below. They were on patrol after all, everything else came second to ensuring his people were safe.

After the patrol, Ruby bit her lip as Adam walked away from them after giving Blake a terse good-bye, and acting as though Ruby didn't exist.

"He… doesn't like me much." She said. "Does he?"

Blake patted her friend on the shoulder. "It's okay Ruby, Adam…" She shrugged helplessly. "Well, he doesn't really like humans as a general rule. But you shouldn't worry about him. After all, most of the other faunus we talked to like you didn't they?"

Ruby smiled. "Yeah… that was fun." She said. "Thanks for letting me come with you guys."

"It was great seeing you again too Ruby."

"Hey don't be like that." Ruby pushed Blake's shoulder gently. "You see me at school all the time."

Blake smiled wryly. "You know what I mean. It's different at school."

With a quick hug the two girls parted ways. Ruby went home, and Blake?

Blake curled up on the same rooftop she had started out on, opened her book, and continued reading.

Some things change, but then again, some things never do.