Chapter 5: Thoughts and Revelations

Blake had gone back to sleep. The waiting game just wasn't working for her. All night long, she had troubled herself with the thoughts of Weiss in pain and Ruby possibly going missing trying to find her, and the stress sapped her of whatever energy she had remaining late at night. So she fell back asleep, hoping she could at least drown out her fears with rest, if that was possible. So far, she really wasn't thinking about her teammates, which calmed her down a bit, and she was sleeping in peace.

The door creaked open. A sullen, teary-eyed Ruby shuffled in, being careful not to wake anyone, but secretly hoping that someone did hear her. Neither Blake nor Yang did hear her, as both continued to sleep. Ruby felt like waking them to go find Weiss, or to at least figure out an approach to find her. But they were out cold, and there could be a repercussion waking them up. Ruby pondered it for a minute or two, heavily weighing both options in her mind. She didn't have time. Ruby eventually went with her gut instinct: wake them up.

"Blake. Blake? Hey, wake up" Ruby whispered into Blake's ear while softly nudging her. Blake slowly opened her amber eyes, reddened by the emotions of the night.

"R…Ru...by? Is that you?" she slowly asked. Ruby nodded. "Yes, yes it's me. Are you-uff!" Blake quickly embraced Ruby. "I was really worried about you" said the Faunus in a muffled tone as she buried her head into Ruby's collar. Ruby tried to assuage Blake from her fear, but she was still thinking about Weiss. Ruby's worry just made her break down and cry as she was holding Blake. The Faunus definitely noticed and remembered her missing teammate as she let go of a crying Ruby, who promptly collapsed on the floor.

"Did you know Weiss could sing?" were the first words out of Ruby's mouth, sobbing the whole way through. "So you… did find Weiss?" Blake asked in what she felt was the only way she could. The question couldn't be dodged. Ruby nodded her head as she composed herself. "She sang something about being lonely or something and…it was just beautiful and sad at the same time. More sad, actually."

"Well, what else happened? Why isn't she here?" "I…she didn't give me a reason. She took off and I didn't do anything. I didn't…" Ruby fell quiet for a moment and stared at the ground. Blake had remembered her train of thought prior to her falling asleep. Weiss' past was behind this. "What happened exactly? Did she say anything to you? You at least talked to her, right?" Ruby looked up. "I yelled at her, and I shouldn't have. But after that, she said she was jealous of me. Jealous of my life or something, but she said she was jealous of me." The room fell silent for some time. The Faunus was the first to speak.

"I see. It makes sense now. Actually, I should've seen this coming."

Ruby looked at Blake with a puzzled look? "Um. What?"

"You know Weiss is the heiress of Schnee Dust, right? Well, based on what I've always known about them, they're a meticulous and perfectionistic bunch, all tightly wound and based their actions on status, money, and power. Weiss fit those pretty well when we all first met." Blake turned her head from Ruby to the window, the broken moon being the only visible object in the sky. "Looks more like a façade now. She said she was jealous of you, Ruby. That's because she couldn't have what you had. Hell, I think I may have gotten more of what she never had."

Ruby got up and walked to the window. She looked out at the open and empty expanse of snow that blanketed the ground. "So what do we have that she doesn't? She has everything…doesn't she?" the young leader implied, turning back to Blake. Blake's next words delivered with a calm and directed approach, as if Blake knew all along, but Ruby was shocked by what was said:

"Weiss doesn't have people who care about her. She's never been able to develop any sort of kinship with anyone. Her family would've been the first good start, but they all must've shut her off. Since she couldn't win them over with affection or care, Weiss figured it must've been for everyone's best interests to emulate her family and their ideals, so she can win favor from them and everyone else. She tried to be perfect to her family so she could be loved. And I will admit that I nor my brethren didn't help that matter, what with all the White Fang did to her family and company, the only things that Weiss could even try to latch onto. So she must've built that wall, that façade of Schnee pride, around her heart so she wouldn't be shut off again." Blake sighed. "Seventeen years of damage really took its toll on her." Ruby had no clue what to say. She couldn't imagine anyone not being loved as a child, particularly someone of Weiss' family status. "So she's not stuck-up, then?" she asked Blake. "Well…she still is, but I really don't blame her." Ruby again looked out the window, and suddenly the tone of her voice changed.

"I'm finding her now."

Blake's eyes went wide. "Oh come on, not again! What's with you and your sudden impulses?" Ruby shot her an angry glance. "Not by myself! Wake up Yang, we're all going. We need to find her and show her that we care about her." 'Fine, but good luck with that' Blake muttered.

Weiss was still walking somewhere within Forever Fall and had made her way into an open clearing in the forest. 'Probably a good place to think.' She sat on a nearby tree stump and her mind went racing with what to do. How was she going to approach her teammates about her problems? "They're not exactly the listening type. Well, two of them, anyway." Weiss said out loud, her words only heard by the expanse of night.

Suddenly, Weiss had a thought. She stood up, head bowed, with an angry glare in her eyes. "Stupid Weiss, there's only one thing you can do: get over your stupid pride and say something. They all probably think I'm crazy. Ugh, I don't blame them, but wow…this whole thing is just so stupid. Why cry over the past, why even live in it?!...what the hell am I saying? Damn, this'll be a lot harder than I thought…stupid pride…" And with that, Weiss swung Myrtenaster and chopped down a tree in a fit of anger. The sound of the felled tree was followed by howling, and from multiple locations. Weiss turned around into the clearing and saw what looked to be a pack of Beowolves, no less than fifteen of them, approaching her and snarling ravenously at the person who woke them from their slumber.

"Damnit…"

A/N: Finally done. Sheesh, this chapter was a doozy to write, only because I just came back to school and now have to readjust to new classes, different schedule, and sports starting back up (so outta shape). Currently in the works for new one-shots and action pieces (they sound good in my head, at least).

And hey, RWBY won the Best Animated Seires award from the IAWTV Awards! Pretty schweet. As always, feedback appreciated and thanks for reading! See you all next time!