One thing Yang was quickly coming to realize was just how much backtracking sucks. She wasn't even retracing her own steps, but Ruby's, and still the experience was a drag. It was all a matter of following a line back through all the places her sister had passed by last, comparing the reports from Beacon and what the locals had to say, and in the end leaving without having learned anything new at all.

Maybe that was why she was so frustrated. If the backtracking had actually produced any results, Yang knew she wouldn't be complaining about it. But as it was, that was the only thing she could latch onto to vent her feelings. Without that, all that was left for her was to sit quiet, feeling helpless and hopeless… And the more time passed, the closer she was getting to that.

Kicking herself mentally, Yang raised her head and turned her attention back to her uncle, who was exchanging words with a waitress who had served Ruby a few days before she went missing. Yang knew the last thing Ruby would want was for her to be sulky, even if things looked bleak. Yang was her big sister, her ever-present ray of sunlight, so that was how she would stay until they were reunited.

"She said she was just passing through, that she was staying the night here then leaving early in the morning," the waitress recalled, a concerned expression on her face. "I didn't really think much about it, except that she looked a little young to be travelling on her own. A lot of people pass by our town. I figured she was just another one."

"Well, she wasn't lying, so don't feel guilty about it. And as for her being young, that's true, but Ruby's more capable taking care of herself than she looks," Qrow said. "But we are thinking she might have pushed herself a little too hard, skipped a few too many hours of sleep… Right, Yang?"

"Huh?" Yang looked at him confusedly. That was the first time she was hearing about that. "Yeah, that's a, uh, theory. For sure."

"Yes! So, did she look tired?" Qrow turned to face the waitress again, cracking a roguish smile. "Or did she look as full of youthful energy as you right now?"

The waitress blushed a little and looked away coyly. "N-no, she didn't look tired at all… In fact, she was almost too chipper for someone traveling around like that."

"Ah, that certainly puts a hole in our theory," Qrow sighed dramatically. "Gosh, and I really thought we were getting close to solving this case. Poor Ruby…"

"I'm so sorry," the waitress lowered her head solemnly. "I wish I could help more."

"Maybe you can!" Qrow exclaimed, just a tad too loud. "Let me give you my phone number, so if you remember anything important, you can call and tell me!"

Yang's jaw dropped at the sheer absurdity of what she had just heard. It couldn't be true. Surely she was misjudging things and Qrow was actually trying to further the investigation.

"Oh," the waitress' blush turned a shade darker, and her lips parted in a little smile. "That would make me very happy, if I could help just a little more…"

"Yes!" Qrow grabbed a napkin and took a pen from his pocket. "And you should give me your number too! Just in case I have any more questions."

"That sounds sensible." The waitress giggled.

"Well, thank you," Qrow winked. "Girls call me lots of things, but sensible is rarely ever-"

Yang got up and grabbed him by the ear, dragging him out of his seat and towards the door. "That won't be necessary!" She shouted back to the waitress. "Thanks for your time, you were very helpful! Bye bye!"

Yang kicked open the door and shoved her uncle outside. Qrow hopped forward a little, holding his ear and pouting like a reprimanded child. Yang put her hands on her hips and just stared at him.

"What?" He asked. "I was just having fun back there. Or, to be more precise, planning to have some fun."

"Uncle! Eeew!" Yang grimaced. "Don't say that! She was half your age!"

"Hey, I'm not that old!" Qrow said. "And what's with the grossed-out act? You're an adult, you know how things are."

"Yeah, but that doesn't make you flirting in front of me any less disgusting," Yang groaned. "We're supposed to be looking for Ruby. Can we get back to that?"

"You're right. Let's focus on Ruby." Qrow nodded seriously and turned away, starting to walk towards where he had parked his airship.

Yang sighed in relief and followed him. As frustrating as secret agent Qrow could be, she much preferred him to pervert uncle Qrow.

"Did you get anything new from this stop? Because I didn't," Yang said. "It seems very everywhere Ruby went, she just stayed for a couple days then left, and always her bubbly self."

"I got nothing," Qrow said. "I have to admit I might be getting a little frustrated myself, which is a good sign we should change tactics."

Yang couldn't help but get a little excited by the suggestion. "Change tactics? What do you have in mind?"

"Less backtracking… more fronttracking," Qrow blinked. "Wait, that's not a word."

He cleared his throat awkwardly. Yang had a feeling he had been making a conscious effort of appearing serious on the job ever since she had joined him. She could only imagine how terribly he acted when she wasn't around.

"Explain?" Yang asked helpfully.

"Yes, I will," Qrow raised a finger sagely. "We've had no luck tracing your sister's trajectory backwards. It's unlikely we'll find anything relevant going even further back. If there is anything to be discovered in her mission routine, it will be found after the night of her disappearance."

"So what you mean is we're gonna check on what she was supposed to do after her last mission?" Yang asked. "I don't see how that will help. Still, it's better than nothing…"

"Indeed. We just might stumble upon something. Remember, this is not one of those silly procedurals you'll find on television," Qrow said. "Things are rarely that neat in the real world."

Yang frowned. That didn't sound encouraging at all. But she supposed Qrow's goal never had been to sugarcoat the reality of their mission. She could appreciate that, somewhat.

"Hey, what was the name of that diner again?" Qrow asked, looking back over his shoulder.

"I don't know," Yang said. "Why do you ask?"

"For the purpose of research," Qrow shrugged. "And I might pay that place a visit once the mission's over. I liked their… pancakes."

"Oh my God!" Yang punched him in the shoulder. "I'm not speaking to you ever again."

Getting info on Ruby's schedule was an easier task than Yang had imagined. With Beacon being such a secretive organization, especially when it came to Grimm, she figured they would fight tooth and nail to keep their agents' activities under wraps. But one phone call with sub-director Goodwitch was all Qrow needed to get what they wanted. Maybe that was because Glynda really wanted Ruby to be found, as she had told Yang, or maybe Qrow had more influence than he let on. The reason was most likely a mixture of both.

Sitting at the cockpit of his eponymous aircraft, Qrow pulled the information from his Beacon-issue phone onto the Quinjet's system. A screen on the control panel lit up and displayed a map of the northern half of Vale, with several red and black dots littering the landscape. Yang examined at it from up close, trying to appear like she was making some in-depth analysis of the map, while truthfully, she didn't have a clue what she was looking at.

"So, your sister was going to head closer to mountain Glenn up north, taking care of some surges on the way, and when she got there, she was going to circle around the mountain and head back south doing the same thing," Qrow said. "I have to admit that's kinda impressive. Usually it takes a half-dozen agents to handle such a big area, but Ruby was going to do it all by herself."

"And she was going to finish the job, if it weren't for… whatever happened," Yang shook her head. She pointed at the screen, deciding to give up on interpreting the map herself and just ask Qrow to explain. "What are those red dots?"

"Those are Grimm surges. Beacon has the technology to read their energy signatures and predict where they are going to happen. That's how their agents are able to deal with them before they get out of hand," Qrow said. "The brighter they are, the sooner they are to happening."

"There are some black dots," Yang pointed out. "What about those?"

"Those are Grimm surges that have already been closed. You can see Ruby left a lot of those on her trail," Qrow scratched his chin thoughtfully, then tapped one of the red dots closest to them. "Ruby would be dealing with this one if she weren't missing. That's where we'll head next."

"Wait… Are we going to fight Grimm?" Yang asked, her heartbeat speeding up a little.

"Unless you wanna get eaten, yes," Qrow grinned. "Scared?"

"No way. I've killed Grimm before," Yang paused. "Okay, one Grimm. But it was very easy."

"Let's hope it's just as easy this time, then," Qrow said. "It'll take a couple hours to get there. You should get some sleep."

Yang wanted to dismiss his suggestion, but she couldn't pretend she wasn't feeling just a bit exhausted. Although she had spent most of the last few days comfortable inside the Crow, her mind was always on Ruby, and that was taking a toll on her. Going without sleep would get her nowhere closer to finding her sister, it would only make the search even more difficult.

"Alright," she said, getting up from her seat. "See you later, uncle."

Qrow took out his trusty flask and shook it in her direction. "Sleep well, don't let the bedbugs bite, yadda yadda yadda."

Yang rolled her eyes and walked to the back of the ship, where a retractable bed from the wall awaited her use. She laid down and closed her eyes, slowly tuning out the noise of the Quinjet flying.

Before she even had the time to dream, two things woke her up.

First, a deafening noise from outside the Quinjet, like an explosion had gone off. Second, her falling right off the bed and onto the ground, which didn't hurt at all, but certainly alarmed her.

Shaking off her drowsiness, Yang sat up and looked around, expecting to find a huge hole somewhere along the walls, but there was nothing. "Uncle Qrow?" She yelled. "What's going on?"

He came running from the cockpit, stumbling a little, which was the only indication he was drunk. The expression on his face was unlike any Yang had seen him wear before. It was like he was brimming with rage, but hidden somewhere within that was an even bigger fear.

"Stay there." He said, then took a hallway to left between the cockpit and the back of the Quinjet, which she imagined followed the left wing.

Yang obeyed him without question, continuing glued to the floor like a child waiting for a parent to come back and tell her everything was okay again. It would have been embarrassing, if she weren't so aware of how serious the situation was. For all she knew, the plane could be under attack by some bad guys or flying Grimm, or a wing had caught fire or fallen right off. She'd rather stay put and entrust her uncle with her safety than risking both their lives for the sake of her pride.

After what felt like ages, Qrow finally came back, leaning against the walls of the Quinjet as if he were about to collapse. There was sweat dripping down his forehead, and his face was deathly pale.

"It's alright now," he muttered, his words slurring together. "Isalright…"

"Uncle!" Yang got up and grabbed him by the shoulders, then put him sitting down on the bed. "What happened?"

"Nothing. Just a minor malfunction," Qrow waved her off. "Took care of it."

"What do you mean a minor malfunction? Could we have gone down?" Yang asked, eyes wide.

"Whaat?" He looked away. "No."

Yang looked at him in disbelief, taking in the way he was wavering a little. She wanted nothing more than to punch him then and there, but she held back her rage and instead pushed him so he was laying down.

"You're gonna sleep that off," she stated firmly, trying to invoke her father's strict tone she was so used to being on the receiving end of. "I can't believe you. Ruby's missing, and you're… ugh."

She threw her arms up and stomped her way to the cockpit, leaving him behind. Right as she went to sit down on her seat, her foot hit something. She looked down and saw Qrow's flask lying on the floor. Grunting angrily, she bent down and picked it up, only to be surprised by how heavy it felt. She raised it up to her ear and shook it.

It was full.

For the next hour, Yang just sat in silence and let the plane fly on autopilot, trusting that Qrow had programmed their destination correctly. She didn't have the energy to get up and ask him to make sure that was the case, and, if she was being honest with herself, she was too confused to face him again any time soon.

This was just what she needed. On top of a missing sister, she now also had an uncle who was either a hopeless drunk or pretended to be a hopeless drunk, for some mysterious reason. Add in the dead adoptive mother and the missing biological mother, and she nearly had the recipe for the perfect family. All that she needed now was for her father to tell her about some terminal disease of his, or something like that, and then she was set.

"Stop," she rubbed her forehead tiredly. "Sunshine. Happy thoughts. For Ruby."

Some time later, the Quinjet came to a gentle halt and started to descend. Qrow arrived from the back and sat down to take control properly. Yang kept her gaze away from him. Only when they landed did he speak.

"Well, this is it," he said casually. "It's seven o'clock. Surge should be after eleven. Lots of downtime until then."

"Yeah…" Yang got up. "I'm going into town. Maybe I'll find out something about Ruby there."

"Doesn't sound likely. But go ahead, if that's what you need."

Once more, Yang had to hold back from hitting him. One minute he was incoherent, the other he was dismissing her like she was a child. It was insufferable.

"I didn't ask for your approval!" Yang exclaimed. She paused, and the heavy silence that followed made her realize how petty she had just sounded. "So, yeah, bye!"

She pressed a button on the control panel to open the hangar, then walked away, holding her head high. She left the plane, and the fresh night air washed over her face, blowing a few strands of hair in front of her eyes. Yang swept them away and sighed.

Qrow had a point, as always. It was unlikely she would come across something in a town Ruby hadn't even visited. But she did need something to occupy her mind, or else she was going to blow up from stress.

She turned to look at the town, not far away from where they had landed. It was a bigger settlement than the others they had visited, having more than a few multi-storied buildings sprinkled throughout it. Dozens of windows shone in the dark. There was a nightlife here, it seemed.

Maybe she could find something useful to do here tonight, after all.

The bar was more lively than usual, Junior realized. Even for summer standards, when all the young people who studied in the city came back home to part and spend time with family, tonight was exceptional. Maybe it was the peak of the season, he theorized, or maybe it was because this year was bringing a record number of travelers. Either way, his wallet was very happy about it… which only made it more important for him to make sure everything went perfectly from opening until closing.

"You!" He grabbed a waiter by the collar of his shirt and shook him about roughly. "Get that icebox refilled before it runs out! And cut up some more lemon slices!"

"Yes sir!" The waiter nodded fervently. "Cut horizontally, vertically, or in circles?"

"I don't care! Do I look like a lemon expert to you?!" Junior shouted. When the waiter started to open his mouth, he yelled again and shoved him away. "Don't answer that, just do as you're told!"

"Yes sir, yes sir!"

As his underling scurried away, Junior turned back to the counter, a thin line of sweat running down the back of his neck as he realized how small his team was in relation to the number of costumers asking for drinks. At this point, he was beginning to fear he might have to call the Malachite sisters to help out, but he knew how aggravating they could get when they were put to work on something they didn't like. Stressful as it might be, he preferred doing the deed himself than resorting to that.

Bracing himself, he stepped up to the counter and began to take in orders. He was a little rusty, having gone months without making a drink for anyone other than himself, but he did more than fine enough, by his own measures. It was more than he could say for most of his employees.

A few minutes after his stepping into the job, there came a lull in the orders. The crowd in front of the counter spread to the rest of the bar, where they danced and sang and did whatever else young people liked to do these days. Only a few remained, all of them sitting in the stools, forming pairs or groups, except for one.

Junior walked a little close to the girl, just enough to be in ear range. He didn't recognize her, so she was probably visiting or passing by. She looked to be the age to be making road trips. And she looked just too chipper as she chatted with one of the bartenders, who looked more than a little content to hear every word that left her mouth.

"-so he's just weird like that. He pretends, except he does drink a lot actually, but sometimes he doesn't," she was saying. "Maybe he's just messing with me. We joke around a lot like that, except this time… well, he really shouldn't be doing that kind of thing."

She leaned on the counter and looked up at the bartender. A couple seconds passed before he realized she expected a response. Junior held back a laugh at his expense.

"Sounds like he may be, I don't know, depressed or something?" The bartender suggested. "We get some people like that. You can tell they don't like to drink, but they have to do it, for some reason. And it sounds like you two are going through some tough times."

"Yeah…" She ran a hand down through her hair with a faraway look in her eyes. "I guess. He likes Ruby a lot too. It's easy to forget that sometimes. He wants to find her as much as I do."

Junior frowned. What the hell was she talking about? He didn't like the sounds of it, not at all.

"Well, uh, I wish I could say you'll find her eventually," the bartender's voice dropped a little. "But that would feel wrong. Truth is, this isn't the first time I hear of people going missing around here. It happens more frequently than you would think."

The girl's head snapped up. "It does?" She pushed her drink away. "Tell me about it."

"Well, it's usually…" The man's voice trailed off as he turned his head and noticed Junior staring right at him. He stuttered a few times, then turned away. "S-sorry. I, uh, forgot I was supposed to do something in the back."

He almost sprinted away, leaving the girl is disbelief where she sat. Junior adjusted his bowtie and walked over to her. He stopped directly in front of her and put his hands down on the counter, conjuring a practice smile.

"Hi, Blondie. Where's your ID?"

"I'm old enough," she said, her voice too steady for someone sitting at the counter. He glanced at her glass and saw it was practically untouched. "If you don't trust me, just ask your employee. The one you scared off just now."

"He had something to do in the back." Junior said, keeping up his smile.

"Oh, okay," she picked up her glass and raised it to her lips, but stopped just short of drinking from it. "So, lots of people go missing around these parts, huh? Sounds sinister."

Despite his best efforts, his smile crumbled away. The way her eyes lit up at that confirmed that she wasn't just here to enjoy some leisure time.

"Yeah. Very sinister," he leaned towards her, making his voice very low. "And that's just how it's supposed to be. It's an urban legend. We like to use them to keep our kids from wandering around at night."

"I doubt you have kids…" She looked at the name etched on his uniform. "Junior," she grinned. "But don't urban legends always born from something real? I mean, there's gotta be something about this area that would make people think there's kid snatchers lurking around, right?"

"Maybe. I wouldn't know about that," he said through gritted teeth. "And I don't like to think or talk about it. It's not pleasant, don't you agree?"

She shrugged and sipped her drink. Junior sighed, glad she was finally letting go of the matter.

Then suddenly, his forehead was slammed against the counter, and he heard the noise of glass shattering on the floor. He brought his head back up, but was only able to go so far with hands closed around his collar in an iron grip. The people around them gasped and backed away.

"What the hell is the matter with you?!" He shouted. "Let me go, you psycho!"

"Cut the act, Junior! I know you know something!" She exclaimed. "You're going to tell me now, or I'm going to force you to!"

"No! You can go-"

She slammed him down again, even stronger this time. She did it one more time, then dragged him through the counter onto the other side, then shoved him away from her. He stumbled back, blood dripping from his nose. The music stopped, and everyone fell silent.

"Are you going to talk now?" She asked. "You better. This is your last chance before I start doing some real damage, not only to you, but to your whole business."

"You're crazy," Junior said, wiping his face with the back of his hand. "Who do you think you are to threaten me like that? Do you realize where you're standing?"

He heard two clicks behind him, then saw the Malachite twins stepped beside him, one to his right, the other on his left. They were dressed to party, but the guns on their hands told another story. More security stepped up, coming from the corners of the bar, but they stayed further away.

The girl looked around at every barrel pointed at her. Her expression was neutral, not a single muscle moving. Her violet eyes seemed to be… shimmering?

"Heh."

Junior blinked. "What?" He curled his fists and held them at his sides. "What's so funny?"

"Sorry. It's just that… you don't know how lucky you are. If I had actually drank tonight, well…" She paused. "Like I said, you're lucky. I'm going to leave you standing, for now. You'll have enough time to prepare for when I come back. And trust me, you're gonna need that."

And with that, she turned and walked away, not minding that every gun inside the bar was still aimed at her. She opened the front door and stepped outside, whistling softly all the while.

Slowly, the music came back on. A bunch of his clients started to leave, and the ones that remained where more focused on talking about what had just happened than anything else. Junior slammed a hand on the bar, then grabbed a napkin and pressed it to his nose.

He couldn't believe it. A brat like that, sniffing around his business and threatening him like that. She could be laying on the floor right now, riddled with bullets, but she hadn't batted an eye. She had the gall to say he was the lucky one.

"Goddamnit," he grunted. "Goddamnit!"

And, sure as hell, he believed her.

"Uncle!"

Yang marched inside the Quinjet and went straight into the cockpit. Qrow jumped on his seat and nearly fell on the floor. "Holy- what are you yelling for, you maniac child?!"

"First off, I am not a child!" Yang stated. "Second, I think I discovered a clue. A real clue!"

"The fact that you're calling it a 'clue' makes me very skeptical of it already, but sure, go ahead and tell me," Qrow said. "Wait. We should get going. The surge is happening soon, and we should get there ahead of time ideally. You can tell me on the way."

They exited the Quinjet, and Qrow activated its camouflage, just to ensure nothing bad happened to it. He then began to walk away from town, and Yang followed him.

He seemed more stable now, but there was still something weird about him. Whatever he was wrestling with, he had managed to push down and hide a little, but not enough for her not to notice. She wanted to ask him about it, but there were other things on her mind, and she didn't want to make the day any worse for them.

"So, what did you find?" He asked. "Did you discover a witch's lair and struck a deal with her to cast a locating spell using a lock of Ruby's hair?"

"No! Come on, uncle, witches don't exist," Yang rolled her eyes. "…Right?"

"Of course they don't. Our world is crazy enough already with just Grimm and Semblances," Qrow chuckled. "But, for real now, what's this clue?"

"Well, I went to a bar, which I am sure you approve of," Yang said. "And I talked to some of the bartenders. Turns out there are a lot of cases of people going missing around here. Like, in every town around mountain Glenn. The owner of the place seemed to not like people talking about that, so I got suspicious and beat him up a little to make him talk."

"You did what?!" Qrow turned to stare at her. "Yang, you can't just beat people up like that!"

Yang raised an eyebrow at him. "Uh, why not?"

"Because… power! Responsibility! And, and…" Qrow looked up at the sky and scoffed. "Eh, who am I kidding? I would have done the same. Good instincts, kid."

"Thanks, I guess," Yang said. "He refused to say something. I could have forced him, but I didn't want to make a mess, so I left. I thought we can go back together, you might be able to get something out of him better than me."

"Maybe. For now, let's focus on the Grimm."

They walked off the main road and into fields dense with trees and bushes. The closer to Glenn, the greener the terrain got, and right now they were starting to get very close. The ground was soft, almost muddy. Yang twisted her nose, wishing the Grimm would have chosen a less dirty place to invade from.

"We're lucky this is the place," Qrow said. "We're late, but the Grimm won't be able to get far with so much standing in their way. Get ready to…"

He stopped walking suddenly, and Yang almost crashed into him. She was about to ask him why, but he pointed to the right. Between the trees, she could see a beaten trail, and around it, stretch marks, like those a truck would make on soil like that.

Yang looked at her uncle, and he nodded. Quietly, carefully, they went on. Finally, they reached the edge of a clearing. Qrow hid behind a tree, while Yang crouched behind a bush, keeping her eyes above it so she could still look.

In the middle of the clearing, seven wolf-like Grimm roamed about, their heads low and eyes shining faintly red. They didn't look like the creatures of nightmare Yang had imagined, but much rather like docile animals.

Two trucks were parked at the opposite end of the clearing, their backs opened to reveal a stack of cages big enough to contain gorillas, except inside them were Grimm. And standing beside them, herding the creatures along, were a group of humans.

"Well, then. Looks like we stumbled upon something," Qrow whispered. "How neat."

Sorry for the long wait between chapters, folks! I had a bit of a block with writing absolutely anything these past few weeks. I'm better now, though.

For everyone who reviewed last chapter and commented about that 'retaining people' thing I touched upon, thank you very much for the kind words. I didn't mean to sound like I'm afraid of losing people or anything like that, it's just something that I know is a factor when doing a project as extensive as this one. But I also know that what I should really concern myself with is with the quality of the stories, so that's what I focus on, always. As long as I write good stuff, there will be a group of people who will like and follow it (and even if that wasn't the case, I would still write the RSU, because I believe it's a story worth telling and that's what really matters in the very, very end for me). But still, thank you all very much! It's always so amazing to receive support like that!

Sorry for the block of text. I'm bad at Author's Notes sometimes.

Anyways, I don't wanna talk about the chapter. It's one of those times where I'm afraid if I comment on anything, it'll spoil what's coming up. Having a mystery as the main storyline certainly contributes to that, too!

Until next time! (also Homecoming is really freaking good go watch it now even if you've watched it seven times already thanks bye)

-Zeroan