Everything was warm and soft when Ruby woke up.
Her head was throbbed in sync with her heartbeat, but it was uncomfortable, not painful. Blake had rolled up into a ball over the course of the night, though her fingers still rested on Ruby's hip and her pillow was still nice and cool.
She grabbed the pillow a little more tightly and snuggled into it. Her pillow moved, which was decidedly weird, but Ruby was too tired to worry.
Then her pillow cleared its throat, which was definitely un-pillow-like behaviour and enough for Ruby to blink her eyes open.
It turned out her pillow was Weiss. Who would've thought, right?
"Oh," Ruby said, slowly relinquishing her grip on her teammate. "Hi Weiss… And sorry."
"What are you doing?"
Weiss looked pissed. Crap, crap, crap.
"Uhm. Moving away? Maybe hiding."
Crystalline blue eyes were rolled at her.
"Come back here."
Ruby blinked.
"What?"
"Come back here. Lay down. Relax. We should all be beyond squeamishness at this point."
Ruby carefully crept back under the covers and lay her cheek back on Weiss' shoulder.
"I guess so."
There was a low, throaty groan and the frazzled mass of blonde curls that was Yang shifted and then sat up. The covers dropped down off her body, but she didn't seem to care.
She yawned, stretched and lay her cheek back down on Weiss' chest.
"Morning sleepyheads," she murmured. "Last night was fun."
Weiss looked from Yang, to Ruby and then back to Yang, her earlier confidence visibly fading as a familiar flush crept up pale skin.
"Y-yes," Weiss stuttered. "Yang… What're you doing?"
"What?" Yang asked. "Do you gotta get up?"
"No," Weiss said. "But I was thinking that it might be time to get dressed and there's professor Goodwitch's assignment and-"
"Nope," Yang said firmly, bodily wrestling Weiss down onto the bedspread and pulling the covers up over her again. "Boring. More snuggling, then coffee and breakfast, and then maybe, maybe we do the homework that's due Friday."
"Fine," Weiss said. "Later."
"Yeah," Ruby agreed, resuming her use of Weiss as a pillow. "Later's always better."
"You are all hopeless," Weiss said.
"Hopelessly cute," Ruby corrected her, earning herself a high-five from Yang.
Weiss probably would've complained more if Yang leaning over hadn't left her with a faceful of boobs.
"You're such a brute," she finally muttered.
Yang just waggled her eyebrows.
"And you love it."
"Keep - Oh - dreaming."
Yang's hands had gone suspiciously out of sight and there was an excited glint in her eyes. Ruby was in a very good position to note when her partner's breathing was picking up, with her cheek resting by her chest.
"What was that?"
Yang chuckled, giving the heiress a sultry look. She groped blindly behind her among the shelves for a moment and grabbed herself a bottle of water she'd apparently stashed there. She downed half of it in quick, greedy gulps and then draped herself over Weiss again, pressing the bottle's push-pull cap to the other girl's lips.
A little shiver ran down Weiss' body and she opened her mouth enough for Yang to begin to gently feed her the water. She did so slowly, patiently, staring down at Weiss all the while and the moment the bottle was empty she bent down and kissed the wet lips.
Ruby could feel heat spreading down her body, pooling low in her belly. At the same time, she felt like a voyeur peering in through the window, witnessing something she shouldn't and made to move back a little.
Weiss hand caught her by the shoulder before she could get anywhere.
"Stay. Please." There was something raw and unrestrained about the need in her voice and it made the heat trickle farther south. "That is, if you would like to and if Blake permits it and…"
Ruby glanced over her shoulder to spot Blake watching them with bleary amber eyes, one hand pressed to her temple. She made a pained sound, scooted a bit closer to Ruby to make up for the distance put between them earlier, then lay her head back on the pillow.
"Go ahead. I'll just watch for now."
Yang produced a second sport's bottle of water and gave it to Ruby, who drank before handing it over to Blake. The faunus girl savoured it slowly, draining the entire thing before groaning and closing her eyes again.
Weiss' fingers still rested on Ruby's arm and her eyes were intent. Well, up until Yang began to drop kisses along her throat, at which point they fluttered shut.
Heart pounding, Ruby leaned in and pressed her lips to Weiss' and found an immediate response. The fingers on her shoulder tightened their grip and soon Ruby also found herself on top of Weiss, with the heiress' body arching up against hers, one leg slipping in between Ruby's thighs.
Ruby mewled, pressing down, and then something buzzed on the bookshelf by their side.
"I think your vibrator's acting up, Weiss," Yang said, chortling.
"No, I left that - that is to say - I mean-" She made a sound of pure frustration, pushing at Yang. The larger girl didn't budge. "It's my scroll. Hand it over."
There seemed to be a potential argument imminent. Ruby kissed Weiss thoroughly. It proved a very effective deterrent and by the time the scroll was delivered, she didn't even muster an annoyed look in the blonde's direction.
She covered her scroll with one hand and typed the lengthy password out with the other, opalescent fingernails tapping the screen. One look at the message was enough for her facial expression to slip into perfect neutrality.
"My father," she said, scanning the message a second time before putting the scroll back onto the shelf. "Nothing of particular importance."
She held the covers up to her chest with one hand and then caught Ruby and the others looking at her. She let go and the sheets pooled in her lap.
Ruby found herself openly staring at the way the few wan shafts of sunlight poking through the curtains to the fort caressed the Weiss' alabaster skin, the way the cold winter air made the tips of her modest breasts tighten.
Weiss smirked, knowing they were all watching and clearly enjoying the attention.. Ruby was just about to pounce when Yang cleared her throat.
"Uh - as much as it blows to say this, I think Weiss might have a point. It's already past 10 and if we're gonna get any coffee before lunch, we'll need to get moving. Weiss, Blake. Do you mind showering first? I just want a quick word with Ruby."
"But-" Weiss grimaced. "Very well. Come on, Blake."
Ruby watched them go - because hey, pretty - though she didn't go as far as Yang did and give Weiss' bottom a smack. The bathroom door closed and a few moments later, the showers started up.
"Sorry," Yang said, looping an arm about Ruby's shoulders and pulling her in close. "I just thought… You know… A lot of stuff happened yesterday and you seemed okay with it, but I just wanted to make sure you were really, really okay with it."
Ruby tried to keep the annoyance off her face. She knew Yang meant well, that she only wanted to be a good sister and take care of her, but sometimes she needed to trust, too. She'd never been very good at that one.
"I am," she said. "Totally okay with it. It's… weird, you know, but it feels right somehow. It makes total sense."
She grinned a little sheepishly and Yang chortled.
"Yeah… Never really been a fan of chicks, you know, but Weiss is just too fun to get riled up."
"And she's pretty," Ruby added, giving her sister a significant look.
"And she's pretty," Yang agreed, sighing wistfully.
"We should go surprise them in the showers."
Yang's teeth glinted white in a wide grin.
"Aw yeah."
"You're such a party-pooper, Weiss," Ruby complained, pulling her boots on. "You're pooping all over the party. The party is officially dead."
Weiss straightened her dress and cast a thoroughly unimpressed look back at Ruby, clearly unconcerned about the shower she'd cut short.
"I always knew you'd be trying my patience, Ruby Rose, but I never expected it to be like… This." She checked her scroll. "Fifteen minutes before they close the cafeteria. Let's go."
"Fine," Ruby grumbled, "but I'm gonna getcha later and you'll be way sorry then."
Their eyes met in a moment of flashing heat.
"Later," Weiss promised.
They left their dorm behind. Beacon's corridors were quiet and empty, even more so than what was usual for a weekend morning. Ruby spotted Velvet hurrying along somewhere, ears drooping, but she vanished before she could say hi.
It wasn't until they made their way to the cafeteria that they knew something was wrong. The place was packed with students and even Professor Port was present, talking to Coco Adel, but very few of them were actually eating.
"So, what's-" Yang had barely opened her mouth before the tranquil morning silence was shattered by the distant sound of mortar fire.
Ruby flinched and felt Yang draw closer, her wary eyes scanning the room.
"Something is seriously wrong here," Ruby said, keeping her voice quiet enough that only her team could hear.
She caught Professor Port's eye and he finished his conversation with Coco and then walked over, his battle-axe slung over one shoulder.
"Girls!" He boomed, his tone jovial. "I see you are the last to join the party."
Ruby frowned at him.
"Party?"
He laughed again but it sounded a little bit hollow.
"There is a spot of bother at the walls, I'm afraid. Grimm attacks. It happens every other decade and it's nothing to worry about, but Ozpin is there taking charge of things and so we're keeping the cafeteria open. Help yourself to anything you'd like. It's tradional - why I remember in my youth we ran into a situation just like this-"
Yang cleared her throat and Port cut off.
"Sorry professor, but we're really, really hungry."
He smiled down at her.
"Not to worry, not to worry. You must keep your strength up in these troubled times, after all."
Still chuckling, he walked over towards team CRDL.
"It seems like a lot of effort to gather everybody here if there is no need for concern," Weiss noted, keeping her voice low.
"True," Blake said. "Especially if they're keeping us here."
They grabbed coffee and breakfast and settled at the edge of one of the tables, where they could had a couple of seats between them and a team of third years.
"We should go see what's going on," Ruby said, dumping two packets of sugar into her coffee.
Weiss' pale blue eyes fixed on her.
"No. You heard what he said. We are to stay put."
"We're huntresses, Weiss," Ruby said, speaking quietly. "We're supposed to be out there helping people."
"We're also supposed to follow orders."
Weiss looked down at her food and remained silent for several long moments.
"You're right," she said, sounding subdued. "And besides, you're the leader. We're supposed to follow your orders, too."
Yang's eyes glinted with mischief. She was in. Blake shrugged and slowly sipped at her coffee.
"Sounds like the right thing to do," she agreed. "We might need to steal a ship, though."
"Easy peasy," Ruby said, spearing a whole egg on her fork and shovelling it into her mouth.
Weiss cast her a mildly disgusted look.
"I cannot believe I considered sleeping with you."
"Youhe shtill conhidehing," Ruby countered, grinning broadly.
"I most definitely am not!"
Ruby swallowed her food. Blake was hiding a smile behind her hand. Yang wasn't bothering and most of the tension in the room seemed to be slipping off her team, which was good, because Ruby worried what they might encounter in Vale.
Once they'd eaten, they slipped out of the dining hall and headed straight through the deserted halls out onto the courtyard.
They found a lone bullhead standing at the docks and they had to run the last few yards to make it before the doors closed on them. The pilot looked back at them, eyes wide in near panic.
"You're not supposed to be here. Ozpin said-"
Blake disappeared in a cloud of inky shadows and reappeared a moment later in the empty co-pilots chair, her sword naked and laid across her lap. She smiled sweetly at him.
"We just need a ride."
The pilot swallowed and nodded, his face going pale.
"Uh - Yeah, sure. No problem, ma'am."
They spent most of the remainder of the flight in silence. Blake was beginning to look kinda greenish and Ruby settled for gently rubbing the back of her neck to distract her. She wasn't sure it did the trick or not but at least Blake refrained from any Jaune impressions.
They landed in central Vale and the moment they stepped foot on the landing pad, Ruby realized things were bad. Like, really bad. Worse than she'd ever seen for herself. She knew enough from history classes in school that the Grimm presence fluctuated.
Every so often, they would approach the walls en masse and on very rare occasions, some would get through, but this was different. The air was acrid with smoke and Ruby could see a few fires still raging. A firetruck stood abandoned, its tyres and hoses slashed. Store windows had been shattered and there was blood on the cobblestone streets but no bodies and no people.
"The Grimm didn't do this," Blake said softly. "People did."
Yang stepped up close to Ruby.
"Yeah... And this isn't the part of town they showed on the news yesterday."
"No, it isn't," Weiss agreed, nervously scanning the deserted streets. "What do we do?"
Ruby took a couple of long strides, by hers standards anyways, and turned to face them with her back straight.
"We go see if there's anybody who needs our help and kick the butt of anyone or anything getting in our way."
Yang made a whooping sound that Weiss seemed too ladylike to join in on. Blake did give her the thumbs up. It was something.
They set off down the streets with Ruby and Yang taking the lead. Weiss stayed at the center of the formation, with Blake bringing up the rear. The streets didn't remain deserted and within a few minutes they found a small crowd. Angry but not violent. Not yet, anyways.
They put away their weapons, moved closer to one another, and walked into the crowd. The causes were eclectic and there were calls for everything from justice for the faunus to a ban on violent video games. Ruby wasn't even to whom they were calling out and exchanged uneasy glances with her team.
"Look," Blake said, pointing ahead.
Ruby tracked the length of her gloved finger and spotted what she meant almost immediately. On the fringes of the crowd, huddled along the wall of a building, was a little girl. Eight, maybe nine years old. Her clothes were torn and shabby, her cheeks gaunt, and her eyes flitted back and forth like a frightened bunny.
Ruby weaved through the crowd and settled down next to her on the ground, moving carefully and slowly, keeping her voice soft.
"Hi there. Is everything okay?"
The girl shook her head. There were tears on her cheeks. Poor thing. Ruby remembered a time when she'd been about that age, scared and alone, up until someone had come and taken care of her.
"Don't worry. We're team RWBY and we're huntresses from Beacon." Ruby smiled up at Yang a little and put an arm around the young girl's shoulder. "We'll getcha back to your mom and dad."
Yang tried for a grin and hunkered down.
"Yeah," she confirmed, winking. "Might even get ya a burger on the way. Come on."
For the first time the girl smiled. It should've comforted Ruby to see it... but it didn't. Instead, a slow, cold shiver slithered down her spine.
She ignored the uneasy feeling and leaned over and enveloped the girl a hug. It always cheered her up so it should work for her too, right?
There was a gleam of silver at the corner of Ruby eye and then the girl spoke. Her voice was calm and smooth, the words strangely inflected, as though she wasn't quite used to the concept of a tongue, and entirely devoid of any emotion.
"My parents are dead and soon you will be, too."
"Ruby!"
Ruby jerked back but not before something jabbed into her ribs - hard. There was a smacking sound and the girl flew several feet back when Yang back-handed across the face. She turned to Ruby, looking down with wide scarlet eyes.
Ruby didn't dare look.
"Is it bad? I can't feel anything. Does that mean it's bad?"
Yang bent down, looking carefully and then burst out laughing, the sound high and almost hysterical. She pulled the knife clear of Ruby's clothes and showed her the unblemished blade.
"Your aura caught it, dumbass," she said, grabbing Ruby's hand and yanking her to her feet. "Now about that little shit-"
It wasn't until Yang looked over her shoulder that Ruby realized that the kid had scampered and that the crowd had gone eerily still. People were staring at them, their angry whispers buzzing like insects. One took a step forward. Then another. Uh-oh.
"Murderers!"
"Whores!"
Weiss edged a step backwards and closer to Blake, who turned and went back to back with her. Their swords chimed in unison as they were drawn from their sheaths.
From somewhere at the back of the crowd, a flask was lobbed. It hurtled through the air and Ruby was about to call out in warning until Weiss batted it aside with a contemptuous flick of Myrtenaster. The heiress' lips turned up into a mocking smile and she raised the weapon to guard.
They were surrounded and the crowd pressed in, spitting and snarling in an almost animalistic rage, pushing Ruby and Yang in closer to their team mates as they retreated.
"Guys," Ruby, holding her hands up. "Move back, okay? We don't wanna fight."
"Monsters!" An old woman shrieked.
Ruby only narrowly avoided the swing of the broken bottle the little old lady held in her hand
"Get back!" Yang warned sharply, gauntlets raised and pointed into the crowd.
"What do we do?" Blake asked, voice low and tense.
She kicked at one of the encroaching protesters who had gotten too close. Weiss beat a young man down with the pommel of her sword, the motion viciously practical.
"Ruby? What do we do?" The question came out sharper the second time around, almost panicked, and it wasn't until her name was thrown into it that Ruby realized she was the one supposed to make the call.
Something was clearly up with these people. Hysteria from the grimm attacks or drugs. It didn't matter. They needed to do something. She needed to do something before they hurt themselves or her teammates.
Ruby grit her teeth together and put Crescent Rose back in its holder, curling her hands into fists.
"We fight! Yang, you go front. Weiss, cover our backs. Blake, you take the left flank. I go right."
Yang darted forward on light feet, bobbed to the left out of the way of a swung cudgel and grabbed the large young man responsible by the shirt, bodily throwing him into two of his friends who'd come in from the side.
Blake appeared and disappeared in flashes of dark smoke, following Yang's advance smoothly and dissuading any who dared approach.
Ruby dashed out of the path of a length of pipe and it cracked the pavement where she'd stood only a second later. She dodged and weaved, moving back and forth to make sure nobody got past. Another knife flashed and Ruby's combat boots skidded on the paving stones, taking her just under the swiping motion of her attacker, and straight into the trajectory of a heavy work-boot.
It slammed into her in the stomach and for a moment, the world dimmed. That didn't stop Ruby from moving, though. She rolled lithely, out of the following stomping motion, and pushed herself up to her feet with her back and legs in a rising handspring.
Her breaths came in wheezing, painful gasps and everything was still spinning, but not so much that she couldn't dodge the man's lunge, kicking at his leg where his weight rested with enough force that it bent inwards with a vicious snap.
Someone grabbed her from behind and Ruby panicked, slamming her elbow back as hard as she could, again and again, until the fingers on her forearm slackened.
A young girl - no more than a few years older than Ruby herself - screamed as she tore at her face with her bare hands, nails flashing. Ruby lashed out on pure instinct, the way Yang had taught her, the way she'd honed in hundreds of hours of training and the girl's nose cracked beneath her knuckles.
She froze for a moment, horrified, staring at the moan on the ground, moaning in pain and clutching his broken leg, to the young woman with the smashed nose and blood covering her face. Ruby stared at her right hand. Blood dripped down her fingers and had spattered several inches up her wrist.
"Move, you idiot!" Weiss snarled, grabbing Ruby by the arm and yanking her along.
The Heiress had caught up and was moving ahead, Yang had broken through, leaving them to deal with the majority of the angry, roughed up but mostly whole mob. Ruby darted up to Yang and Weiss was only a few seconds behind.
A particular large man swinging a metal post with a piece of concrete still stuck to its end was the last to go down and behind him, the coast was clear.
"Go!" Ruby shouted, suiting actions to words and leading the way.
They ran for minutes, through alleys and parking lots, staying away from the main streets and crowds until they finally made their way into a little park. They took shelter there behind an old newspaper stand, breaths steaming in the cold air.
Blake's face had gotten paler and paler the longer they ran and she barely made it over to a couple of bushes in time before she toppled down on hands and knees to throw up.
Yang winced and made to move over, but Ruby forestalled her with a raised hand. Blake was her girlfriend, sorta, so holding back her hair was Ruby's job. She did just that, while Yang hovered nervously and Weiss fiddled around with her scroll.
By the time she was finished, Blake lay curled up into a ball on grass.
"You okay, Blakey?" She asked quietly, brushing sweaty dark bangs off Blake's forehead, carefully using her left hand..
She nodded but kept her lips firmly shut, as if she feared more throwing up would be the result if she spoke. Ruby sympathized. The blood on the fingers of her right hand made her own stomach twist and writhe.
"Here." Weiss hunkered down, offering Blake a handkerchief and a tin of breath mints.
Blake accepted both, smiling feebly, and clambered to her feet. She spat into the bushes several times and popped a mint into her mouth. They exchanged a look that was more than enough for the Blake to convey her gratitude and her thanks, even without the actual words.
There was a little store half a block away and they snuck inside, using the bathroom to wash up. Weiss was still on her scroll and went last, washing blood off her trembling hands. Yang was taking care of Blake, buying her a soda by the looks of things. Ruby snuck up behind Weiss, as much as one could do that in a small bathroom with a mirror, in any case, and embraced her.
It wasn't just Weiss' hands trembling, but all of her, and Ruby held on tighter, leaning over a shoulder to press her cheek against the older girl's.
"There there, Weissy," she said quietly.
She could see Weiss roll her eyes in the mirror.
"I'm fine, silly," she said.
That didn't stop her from turning around and returning the hug, though. They held on to one another for a while and Ruby was ready to let go when Weiss began to pull back. The Heiress had gotten a lot better about accepting physical affection, but she still did so on her own terms, and did not take kindly to Ruby being too clingy.
Blake stood with her hip leaned against the counter, watching herself in a mirror. Yang was browsing those utterly mystifying fashion-magazines. Outside, a young man was run down by the police through excessive use of their truncheons.
For a few, long silent seconds, they watched the unconscious man being carried off.
"What do we do now?" Ruby finally asked.
"I have spoken to my father," Weiss announced. "He should have the information we will need."
Blake frowned and reached into a pocket, coming out with a length of black silk.
"Maybe it'd be best if I-"
Weiss' fingers closed on her wrist.
"You don't have to. You shouldn't-"
Blake smiled almost tenderly at her and reached out as if to cup her cheek before glancing over to Ruby, blushing and catching herself. Her hand hovered a few inches away from Weiss' cheek for a few seconds before dropping.
It wasn't until she did so that Ruby realized she'd been holding her breath in anticipation and that the tiny gesture had her heart racing. Was it weird to ship her girlfriend with her teammate? Probably, right?
"It's fine," Blake said. "In case we run into some racist-flavor of crazy out there."
Weiss mouth formed into a line but she conceded the point with nod.
"Very well. Let's go."
The headquarters of the Schnee Dust Company was located right in the middle of downtown, a chrome-coloured looming skyscraper, that stood out even among the other large buildings at the heart of Vale.
Two men in dark suits stood at the entrance and kindly held open the door for them, even as they carefully observed all four of them. Ruby noted tension gathering in the set of their shoulders at the sight of all the hardware she and her team were toting. She saw one hand glide inside a suit jacket until the man's eyes settled on Weiss and widened in recognition.
He relaxed and stepped back again, once more looking unremarkable and vigilant at his post by the door.
The interior was as cold and sterile as a hospital room, muted white and gray colours, steel and stone being the most prominent features in the furniture. Everything gleamed with cleanliness and reeked of extravagant elegance. It was definitely where Ruby would have envisaged Weiss working. Probably with an office of her own, a nice desk, maybe a business suit and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses. Rawr.
She realized she'd gotten lost in thought only when she walked straight into a stationary Yang. They'd made it up to the reception-desk. A woman in early middle-age, with her hair in an elegant bun, was taking Weiss' instructions with a look of rapt attention, speaking to someone on the other side of her scroll. Judging by her expression, it was difficult to guess which of the two people had her more terrified.
After a brief conversation, which included a lot of "Yes sir" and nodding from the secretary, they were directed towards an elevator. They filed into it and the doors closed, sending them on their way without the need to press the button for any of the floors.
"Be polite," Weiss instructed them once the doors had closed on them. "Be careful. Don't speak if you're not spoken to. If you can avoid it, don't speak at all. I'll handle things."
There was fear in her voice. More than Ruby could easily remember hearing.
"It's just your dad," Yang said, laughing and punching Weiss' arm. "Pretty sure he's not gonna try to devour our souls or anything."
"I imagine he'll leave that to his lawyers," Blake filled in.
Weiss stomped her foot hard onto the floor.
"Do not joke. This is serious."
"We know that," Yang said. "We are taking this seriously. Seriously."
"We've dealt with dangerous men before, Weiss," Blake said.
"No," Weiss said, her voice hushed. "No you haven't. You've never dealt with a man like him before."
The elevator went silent and stayed that way until a soft 'Ding' announced their arrival and the doors opened up on a receiving area. It looked marginally more comfortable than the ground floor. There was a sofa in one corner along with an expensive-looking coffee machine. Magazines lay neatly piled on one of the tables.
Ahead, a pair of doors that Ruby felt certain would withstand the blast of a large bomb, and that still somehow managed to look elegant, blocked their path.
"I have a favour to ask of you," Weiss said, turning towards Blake.
The faunus girl blinked, then nodded.
"Ask."
Weiss blushed. She actually blushed. It was adorable. She hesitated for a few moments, then cleared her throat, and said:
"At some point during our conversation with Father, I would like for you to touch my shoulder. Just for a moment or two, but so that he notices."
Blake frowned. Her thinky-face. It was adorable, too.
"To imply a relationship between the two of us… Why?"
"To distract him. Unbalance him. Every little bit counts. Trust me."
"Alright," Blake said. "I'll do it."
Weiss nodded and smiled.
"Thank you."
Blake flashed her a rare smile in return.
The door opened slowly, stone grinding on stone, to reveal the office of Arctis Schnee, CEO of the Schnee Dust Company.
The office was was spartan. A large mahogany desk was the central feature of the room, set straight ahead of the doors, over by wall-to-ceiling windows that offered a fantastic view of the central business district of Vale.
Between the two large windows, directly behind the desk, an ornate broadsword hung on the wall, its design similar to Myrtenaster.
Other than art, all of it in varying styles, but all of it just as obviously priceless, the room only had a bookshelf and a filing cabinet in one corner with a couple of chairs next to it. Over by the other wall, a well-stocked liquor cabinet was the only piece of furniture. Everything was old but well maintained, polished to a sheen.
In the middle of that office, behind its desk, sat Arctis Schnee.
He was a man of early middle age, though it was difficult to say with his pure white hair. He was of average height and unremarkable build.
At the sight of them, he smiled and put down his scroll, rising.
"Weiss," he said, and his daughter walked up to him and into his embrace with an air of duty.
When they stepped apart, Weiss' dad turned his attention to the rest of them.
"A pleasure to meet you at last. Your reputations precede you."
Ruby decided to speak up before Yang did. Her sister never did very well with grown-ups and authority figures. Best not tempt fate.
"Hi, sir!" She said, stepping forward and offering out her hand. "I'm Ruby Rose, team leader of RWBY and Weiss' partner. Well, you know, like in the team and stuff. Not anywhere else. Except when we do pictionary because Yang and Weiss always start bickering and-"
Yeah… Maybe she should've let Yang talk.
Mr Schnee seemed to take it all in a stride, though. He reached out and shook Ruby's hand. His palm wasn't all silky smooth like she'd expected from a businessman. There were callouses, like the ones Weiss had from her swordplay, and his grip was firm.
"Miss Rose."
He gave her a nod and moved on to Yang, exchanging some basic pleasantries before finally coming to a halt in front of Blake.
"And Miss Belladonna…" He said. "The timing of your arrival is quite fortunate. The mayor of Vale sent me a bill he hopes to pass in a month's time. He wanted my opinion on it and I thought I would ask you for yours."
"Meaning you're actually the one writing it, huh?" Yang interjected.
Mr Schnee gave her a look that was disturbingly alike the one their father would give Ruby's sister whenever she made an inappropriate comment or crude pun, but didn't otherwise comment.
Blake frowned.
"I'm not sure I understand... Sir."
Mr Schnee gave her a warm, understanding smile. Again, it was almost fatherly.
"Of course. Come. I will show you."
He stepped back to his desk and opened one of the drawers, coming out with a thin stack of papers that had been clipped together.
"Please," he said, holding out his chair and offering it to Blake.
The faunus flushed and glanced towards Weiss, who gave her the slightest of nods, though her expression remained stony.
Blake sat down and began to scan the lines of text, eyebrows climbing with each second and each word read.
"This… Is a Faunus rights bill."
"Indeed. I thought an insider's perspective might be useful."
Blake's shoulders tensed.
"Perspective?" She said, hands clenched on the armrests of the Mr Schnee's leather chair.
"Because of your heritage…. And your history."
The door opened and Blake flinched, but the only one to come through was a butler in a dark suit. He carried a tray in both hands, heavily laden with beverages and a plate of the most gloriously chocolatey chocolate-chip cookies Ruby had ever seen in her life.
"Thank you, Frederick," Mr Schnee said.
The butler nodded, settled the tray on the desk, and departed without speaking.
"You know…?" Blake asked, voice trembling.
"I make it my business to know whom my daughter associates with, yes," Mr Schnee said, shrugging. "What do you think?"
Blake blinked and looked back down at the bill, then up to Mr Schnee.
"I - uh."
"You needn't worry," he assured her. "I know you're no threat."
A cold shiver went down Ruby's spine as the man let his facade slip for a moment. She picked up on a few details she'd missed earlier. His hands had scars at the knuckles. Layers of them. His intelligent blue eyes, the same eyes he'd passed onto his daughter, kept trace of them all, at all times.
And… The sword hanging behind his desk had dents and burrs in the steel from seeing actual use.
The way he spoke, Ruby was convinced that if he had deemed their faunus teammate a threat, they would've been short one member.
Blake lowered her head and kept on reading.
"Please help yourselves," Mr Schnee said, issuing at the plate that had been brought in.
Ruby stared at the cookies, mouth watering, contemplating the value of showing solidarity towards her girlfriend versus chocolatey goodness.
"The proposed minimum wage seems a bit low," Blake remarked.
"A first step in the right direction," Mr Schnee interjected smoothly. "We hope for more, of course, but the first step is crucial and more."
Blake kept on frowning, finger trailing along the paper before coming to a stop once more.
"The phrasing in the part about maximum working hours, especially when it comes to how many in a single day, seems to leave some loopholes."
Mr Schnee smiled at her.
"An oversight by the mayor, I am sure. Please mark it and I shall point it out to him."
Blake got out of the chair and walked back to them, settling next to Weiss and brushing the back of her hand along Weiss' shoulder. Mr Schnee cleared his throat.
"Onto business, then. You told me you had something specific in mind, Weiss."
Weiss nodded, stepping forward.
"We're investigating the civil unrest and I wondered if you knew anything about what was going on that could help us."
Mr Schnee settled into his chair and watched Weiss with a deepening frown.
"The civil unrest is a job for the police," he noted. "And as far as I am aware, no other Beacon students are patrolling the streets."
Weiss didn't miss a beat.
"We are investigating it… Independently."
"I see." Mr Schnee considered them for a few moments. "It is no great mystery. The grimm are like the stock market. If enough people believe it will fall, it does. If enough people believe the grimm will come, the ensuing panic will assure they do."
Weiss expression settled into a scowl.
"That is not exactly helpful."
Mr Schnee smiled slightly.
"I know."
"We need information, father. The sooner we stop this madness, the sooner the grimm attacks will cease and the sooner business returns to normal."
The last bit made Mr Schnee smile with something like pride.
"You make a good case," he admitted. "I had hoped to keep you out of this, but if you insist, then there is something you need to know..."
He brought out his scroll, fingers tapping rapidly. There was a flicker of light and a screen was projected onto the barren wall to the right of the door.
It showed Vale, represented in white against the background of blue oceans, black mountains and green for… Everything else, Ruby supposed. The walls were clearly marked out and outside of them, the area was littered with red dots, shining like little drops of blood.
Mr Schnee pressed a button and the display zoomed out, showing more of the areas around the city, like Mountain Glenn and its abandoned settlement. The farther out they got, the denser the red dots got.
Grimm, Ruby realized. They were looking at the local grimm population.
"This was a week ago, with the grimm levels at normal. This is six days ago."
Another press of a button and the display shifted. The red dots multiplied.
"Five days ago. Four."
He kept counting down and the grimm kept closing.
"And this was taken four hours ago."
Ruby stared and felt her stomach flip. The levels of grimm presence just beyond Mountain Glenn looked like that of the Wastelands that covered most of Remnant. If all those grimm were headed towards them…
"How long until they reach us?" Ruby asked, her voice came out shakier than she would've liked.
Mr Schnee shrugged.
"By the current rate of escalation, forty to sixty hours."
"But the city has defences," Yang argued. "They've dealt with this stuff before, right?"
"Yes. The Vale military and the Hunters will no doubt keep them at bay for some time, but against such numbers… The grimm are infinite, Miss Xiao Long. We are not. Nor are our supplies."
"You said you didn't want me involved," Weiss said. "Involved in what, specifically?"
"I have operatives working the problem. I am confident in their eventual success but…" His eyes drifted to Blake. "There are areas where they will find it difficult to gain the cooperation of the local population."
Blake chuckled darkly.
"I take it the faunus community isn't greeting your stormtroopers with open arms?"
Mr Schnee's smile sent a shiver of dread down Ruby's spine.
"Not yet."
With a flick of his fingers, the screen centered on Vale again. A few jabs marked spots, most of them around the industrial district, some of it bleeding into neighbouring areas.
"These are all the reported locations for the civil unrest. We do not know the cause but we are investigating any possible angle. Chemical and biological weapons, some sort of technology or, most likely, human foolishness."
Weiss nodded.
"We will go."
Mr Schnee nodded. "Good. Make me proud."
Weiss hesitated a moment. "I shall, father."
Ruby followed her team out through the doors to the office, her entire body numb. Two days. Maybe a little bit more if they were lucky.
She gripped Yang's elbow just to keep her footing.
If they didn't solve whatever it was - if anything at all - then Vale would be overrun. Everything and everyone she loved would die.
The elevator 'Dinged' as its doors opened and they all filed inside, beginning their slow descent. Ruby stared at her own blurry reflection in the steel walls.
What was she to do?
Oh God. What was she to do?