I want to apologize for taking a month or so to get this chapter out. Some personal problems reared their head as they always do when I'm enjoying myself. But it's died down quite a bit and I really didn't wanted to delay this chapter even longer than it already had been.

Enjoy

Thank you to all of those that have left reviews, favorites/follows, or even read the story so far. I appreciate it very much.

I don't own RWBY. RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and was created by Monty Oum. I only own my OCs.

Two White Fang soldiers could be seen walking around an abandoned city. They walked side by side. It would be safe to assume that they were a patrol. Outside of the crickets that chirped all around them, it was completely silent. The left soldier seemed to be tense as they walked along the city's roads. The other was relaxed, without a care in the world.

"Why are we even here, man?" The left most one asked, finally bothered with the silence.

"It's one of life's great mysteries, isn't it. Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence or, is there really a God, watching everything? You know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don't know man, but it keeps me up at night."

"...What? I meant why are we out here, in this stupid abandoned city?"

"Oh, uh... yeah."

"What was all that stuff about God?"

"Uhm...? Nothing."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No"

"You sure?"

"Yep."

The left one sighed as he faced forward yet again. Still put off by the feel of the city, he shrugged his shoulders to release some of the tension. "I swear, a Grimm could be watching us right now and we wouldn't even notice it."

"No, we would. Have you even seen their red eyes? Those stand out more than a human in a Schnee mine. Besides, who said we were looking for Grimm?" The right one replied to that statement.

"Oh shut up! I wasn't the one that got ambushed by a huntsman acting drunk. If you're fooled by that, then you're an idiot and you certainly wouldn't notice a Grimm's red eyes in these shadows. Also, seriously? You know I hate this place and, unlike Grimm as you claim, anyone could hide in these buildings and we would never know."

"Please, you would've fell for it too. What with the way he was shouting slurs at me. And that's our job, by the way. Suck it up already and do it."

The left one growled as he continued walking along the route that was picked out for them.

Meanwhile, in a nearby building, a head of pure white hair and a head of black and red hair could be seen. Maroon was sitting in a window in the third story of an abandoned building with binoculars as he spied on the two grunts patrolling around the abandoned city. Maroon found their antics funny. It wasn't everyday you got to see something like them. Winter sat further back in the building, eating a MRE. She looked at Maroon every so often for the past few hours. Maroon simply thought she was waiting for him to say something.

Maroon sighed as he put the binoculars down. "If you're gonna stare at me, you can at least make it more subtle."

Winter grunted as she looked back to her food and continued to eat. Maroon looked back to her for a few seconds before bringing the binoculars back up to his face and continuing to learn the guard routes. "Welp, I've got a feel for their routes now and that'll help us move around and find their base of operations. However, we still don't have a solid plan for when we do find it. That was your job, by the way."

Winter let out an exasperated sigh at that accusation. "I told you, I would come up with a plan when we find it. No sooner and no later."

"Still, we should have an outline at least. Call me old fashioned or whatever, but I don't like making it up as we go."

"Neither do I."

"Doesn't seem like it."

Winter looked away from him as she let out a growl. "We have plenty of time to do what we came here to do. We should take it slow."

Maroon scoffed at that. "Sorry, but every second we take it slow is another second not only wasted, but also another second closer to being discovered."

"Just trust me. It'll work out."

"...Fine. But I want it known that I don't like this."

"You're too much like your uncle, you know that?"

"And how many times do I have to tell you, he isn't my uncle. Not anymore. Hell, my dad isn't even my dad."

Both of them went silent after Maroon finished that sentence. It was known to Winter that the only person Maroon was truly blood related to was his youngest sister, Ruby. Having found this out recently, Maroon started going alone. Before that, Maroon only went alone if it was a very simple commission like slaying a few Beowolves that had been troubling a village. If it was a big one, he usually called Qrow, his supposed uncle, to help. After, he would take every mission on alone.

It was stupid. Both he and Winter knew that. But Maroon didn't care. He still hadn't forgave Qrow for not telling him. Not entirely, anyway. He was back on talking terms with him and even took job recommendations from Qrow.

"How long have you known!?"

Qrow looked down as a twenty-one year old Maroon yelled at him. "Ever since you were born."

"And you didn't think it important to tell me!?"

Qrow stood up and got in Maroon's face tired of getting yelled at. "Yes, I did! Your biological father and mother are gone. One fucked off as soon as he found out you were his child, the other died!"

Maroon turned away harshly and crossed his arms as he looked put a window. A harsh expression was painted on Maroon's face as he watched the rain fall outside the window. Qrow sighed as he sat back down and opened his flask up to take a drink out of it. "How did you find out?"

"From the hospital. They noticed a abnormality in my blood compared to my mom and Tai. They were able to determine that I wasn't actually Taiyang Xiao Long's child."

The room fell into silence as Maroon let his thoughts roam about the situation. When they finally gathered into semi-coherent process, Maroon made it known. "I hate you for hiding it, but I don't blame you. I... might forgive you, someday. But until then, I do not want anything to do with you. Now, get the hell out of my sight."

Qrow could only manage a monotone face as he walked away, for if he had any other, he might not've been able to hold back his tears.

Back in the present, Maroon watched as the White Fang grunts slid down what seemed to be a ladder. Maroon smirked as he lowered the binoculars. "There it is. The White Fang base."

"Well done. Now we prepare to get in."

"Speaking of, have you got any ideas on how to do that?"

Winter grunted as she started to break camp. "Just a few."

Maroon stood up from his perch as he set down the binoculars he had held to his face for hours. Rubbing his eyes from all of the strain on them, he walked backward and picked up his backpack.

"Leave that." Only for Winter to cut in.

"What? Why?"

"You won't need it, that's why."

Maroon looked at Winter, a confused expression painted onto his face. His eyes darted to the backpack before they fell on Winter again. Maroon's eyebrows lifted as he sat the backpack back down and took a seat on a piece of rubble. "Okay, lost me. How am I, and by extension, we supposed to be able to survive out here without our supplies?"

Winter smirked as she looked out into the direction of the White Fang base. "Simple. We infiltrate the White Fang base."

Maroon sputtered and stood up. "Are you crazy?! You'll be recognized almost instantly!"

"Not that type of infiltration. I mean we go in and set up camp in their base of operations. We observe how they operate directly and also gather intelligence from the source."

"That's still incredibly stupid, if you don't mind me saying. What if one of them notices us snooping around? Or, what if they discover our camp? There's many risks with this."

Winter stood firmer. "I am aware of them and besides, that's not the only trick we have up our sleeve."

Maroon got closer. "And what do you happen to be referring too."

"Well, there's more than one reason we studied the patrol routes."

An hour later, a pair of White Fang grunts walked into the not-so-secret entrance to their base, considering that it was just an entrance into the underground portion of the city. They walked down the stairs for a few floors, finally coming to a massive open cavern of such. The only reason it appeared as such was due to the deterioration of Mt. Glenn. The underground city looked just as bad as water dripped from the ceiling and some loose debris fell to the ground.

The right most one, a male by the silhouette, scoffed as they continued walked towards the checkpoint. You could just barely make out his hair color as black from underneath his hood. The left one appeared to be female. She had a few strands of light blue hair floating around. The buzz of machinery and conversations echoed around them as they walked. But to them, their footsteps were the only thing that they could hear.

The soldier guard on the checkpoint noticed them approaching and quickly adjusted his posture in his chair to better greet them. "Mays! And Azul! Or, should I call you Mrs. Mays now? You were out there for quite a while, you know."

The female one, now identified as Azul, simply blushed, huffed, and quickly turned away. "We didn't do anything of the sort. How dare you assume that?"

The guard simply held his hands up and leaned back. "Okay, okay. I'm just saying, especially with a reaction like that, I don't know about that."

Mays groaned at their antics. "We didn't do anything. Even if we need stress relief, the Grimm can provide that."

"Ooo, freaky~."

"Not like that!"

"Anyway, I am going to need an explanation on why you were out longer than normal."

Mays and Azul looked to each other before looking back to the guard. "We thought we saw something, so we investigated. It only turned out to be Grimm though."

The guard hummed as he wrote that down. "The Grimm are still a problem. I assume that you took it out?"

"Yes, we did."

"Good. Alright! You're off for the day. You may report to the barracks or go to a set up a living space for yourselves. And Mays? Don't forget, we have a poker night set up for Saturday and you promised you would be there."

Mays turned around and looked at the guard, looked forward again and looked back to the guard before nodding. "Yeah... Yeah, I'll be there. Just don't be surprised when I wipe the floor with your sorry ass."

"Hah! You said that every other time too. Just don't lose first this time, okay?"

Mays rolled his eyes before walking forward. The two walked before finally reaching an abandoned building. They went up to the about the third story and set up a camp of some kind. Mays took of his mask and hood, revealing shining silver eyes and red tipped hair. The other, Azul, did the same, revealing the classic Schnee look of snow white hair with icy blue eyes.

Maroon sighed as he rubbed his face. The stress of potentially being caught finally leaving his body. He looked out the hole in the side of the wall to the White Fang encampment. He summarized all the information he'd learned so far. When they ambushed the two soldiers, they managed to get their names, scrolls, and uniforms. They also managed to get the passwords to said scrolls as a just in case. His undercover identity was Verdant Mays. A young dog faunus whose trait was canine teeth. He had black hair and green eyes. He wasn't sure if anyone else knew that, but Maroon wasn't gonna risk it by walking around with the mask off. He only had guard duty and wasn't allowed to access some of the more important stuff. Oh, and he also sucked at poker.

As for Winter... well, it was Azul and only Azul. Maroon had no idea what was going on there. Maybe she, the original Azul, had been disowned or something. The only reason Winter was able to come along was the fact Azul had white hair as well. Speculation was all they could do, however, as they hadn't gotten any details about their personal life. Just about their identity, position in the WF, and a few personality traits. That meant they couldn't stay long. A week, and in the very unlikely and extreme case, two weeks at most. Small timeframe, objective that is hard to achieve, and the threat of getting discovered at anytime... yeah, that sounded like Maroon's type of job.

Maroon sighed as he leaned back and relaxed a little. Winter looked at him in the corner of her vision with squinted eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Relaxing. We just managed to successfully sneak our way into a massive operation. I feel as though we deserve that at least."

Winter scoffed as she sat down. "Only you and that drunkard could do that in times like this."

Maroon returned the scoff as put his cheek in has palm and let the weight of his head settle on the support. "Please, like you weren't- aren't stressed. If I get caught here, the worst that'll happen to me is death. You, on the other hand..."

"I'm very aware of the situation I'm facing."

"I'm not sure you are," Maroon said. "They won't just torture you, Winter. They'll-"

"I said I'm aware! Why are you making a big problem out of it anyway? Are you telling me you actually care for someone besides yourself?"

"And if I was?"

"Then I would call you a liar."

Maroon turned to Winter. His eyes drifted to her eyes. Words were not exchanged, but the look they both had was tense, teeming with conflicting emotions like a war. He took a deep breath before answering. "I'm only making sure you don't get reckless and blow my cover too."

"... Of course you would say that."

Maroon let it go. He knew she was trying to continue the conflict, no matter how much she would deny it in favor of showing maturity, and superiority, over him. But, as she implied, this was neither the time nor the place for that. Besides, he got to look like the mature one by letting it go and he knew that pissed her off. Even more so because she couldn't comment on it without being immature herself.

Maroon stood up and went about setting up his sleeping bag and stuff. Of course they picked a place high up for the view. Both would take turns sleeping and taking watch until they had to their duties as the fake White Fang grunts they were. The main reason for this was as a just in case something happened and White Fang soldiers had to gather. It was likely a message would be sent to both of their scrolls instead, but it was better to be prepared. And besides, they couldn't sleep in the barracks anyway for obvious reasons.

Maroon moved to the easternmost side of the room where a chunk of building happened to be perfectly placed for observation of the outside world. Maroon took a seat on it as he looked out of the building.

"What are you doing?" The question was once again asked.

"It's pretty late and you need sleep. I'll take first watch while you get some," Maroon looked back to her. "You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

Winter paused as her gaze froze in his direction. A second or two passed for she shook her head. "No, I do not."

Maroon simply looked back outside. He wondered what went through her head in those few moments. Was she concerned? Did she think that he was pushing himself too hard? And if so, then did she think that because it came with the risk of getting themselves discovered or out of actual genuine concern? Was she angry? Maroon didn't know. He simply shuffled it into the back of his mind. There was really no time to worry about that now. But still, even if personal thoughts didn't really matter now, images of his sisters flooded his mind as his face dropped. A shaky breath came out of his mouth as he wiped his eyes

"Yang, Ruby... If I truly do come back to you, would you forgive me?" Maroon whispered to no one.

Meanwhile a pair icy blue eyes stared at the red reaper with a slight hint of pity.

Ruby whined as she struggled with a history essay. Weiss berated her in the background by saying the sooner she got it done, the better. Sure! It made sense, but that doesn't mean she had to take her games! Ruby was going to do it... eventually. But she would have still got it done! Ruby continued to write words down as Weiss was reading through one Blake's books she'd lent Weiss. Speaking of the bookworm, she said she had something she needed to do. Blake probably just wanted distance between her and Weiss for now. Team RWBY had all gone out into Vale today and roamed around, looking at all the Vytal festival decorations and, uh... "welcoming" students to Beacon. Weiss' words, not hers. While they were out, they ran into a couple of cops talking about the White Fang and the Reaper. Some harmful words were exchanged between Weiss and Blake because of that, but, thankfully, they didn't get into a massive fight. However, Ruby thought there was enough of a dislike there for the two of them to need some space.

And as for their fourth and final member, she was taking forever in the shower, like she always does. Ruby swears, if it wasn't for the fact that they came up with the system of 'whoever wakes up first gets the shower first unless all of us wake up within two minutes of each other, then we go by team name' that Ruby came up with. They went by team name in the evening, so Yang always got to shower last at night leading to Yang waking up in the early morning, beating even Weiss, so she could get first shower.

Ruby wrote down the final word and shot up out of her chair. "Weiss! I'm done! Can I have my games back, please?"

"Let me take a look, Ruby." Weiss said as she got off her bed and came over to Ruby's desk and looked at the essay she wrote. Weiss was still impressed that Ruby could write as well as she could. She barely made any mistakes of the sort and, unlike what she had first expected, her penmanship was very neat to the point that anyone would be able to read it.

That being said, Ruby was still human and very much capable of making mistakes. Weiss' eyes narrowed as she noticed a few mistakes in her spelling. "Fix that, that, and that. Then you can play your games."

Ruby let put a small whine as slumped back down in her chair. "Okay." Ruby said, dejected as she straightened up and started fixed them.

Weiss watched with an amused expression as she looked at Ruby. 'I swear, if it wasn't for her laziness, she could probably have the best marks in Beacon.'

The bathroom door opened as Yang walked out of it, still drying her hair. She let out a content sigh as she sat on the edge of her bed and brushed her hair, towel set aside. Weiss scoffed at her before returning to the book for the few treasured moments she would be able to before Ruby called out to her again.

"What Weiss-cream? Jealous?" Yang challenged as she continued to brush.

"Please, as if I'd want your hair. It would be to much of a hassle for me," Weiss replied as she set down the book. "Besides, I don't want to spend the ungodly amount of time that you do in the shower."

"Please you're so high maintenance, you already do take up that amount of time." Yang shot back as she grinned brightly.

"Hmph!" Weiss turned away with her eyes closed. A light smile spread across her face, despite the talk going between them. It felt nice just to banter sometimes.

"Weiss..."

"Ugh... Yes, Ruby. You can play now."

Ruby shook her head as she stood up. "No, not that. I... I still wanna make sure, are you absolutely sure that it was my brother you ran into?"

Weiss let a deep breath out as she put her head in her hand, already feeling a headache at the reoccurring topic. "Ruby, It has to be him. Unless, there's another huntsman out there with dark red to red hair and silver eyes that I don't know about?"

Ruby had corrected her on their hair. It wasn't black fading into red, but rather red all the way through. Just, the closer the hair was to the roots, the darker the very their hair got. That was a surprise to learn, considering it looked black until about halfway down, but Weiss would admit she was wrong then.

"I know, I know. It's just that, well, it's a bit hard to believe."

"Rubes," Yang spoke up. "Whatever reason he had, he still abandoned us. That's unforgivable, no matter who you are."

"But don't you wanna know why? Why he left and why didn't come back?"

"Of course I do! But I'm not gonna suffocate myself to find out and you shouldn't either."

"What if he wants to talk to us again? Don't you want our brother back?"

"Ruby-" Yang called out.

"What if he's coming back to say sorry?"

"Ruby-"

"What if he-"

"RUBY!" Yang snapped as her eyes turned red and hair lit on fire. Ruby jumped back in fear as her eyes widened, not expecting that response from Yang.

Yang's remained red for a few seconds even as her hair fire died down. The air was tense enough to touch as Yang glared into Ruby's eyes. Yang closed her eyes for a second. When they opened, they were her usual lilac color. "Face it, Ruby. He wanted nothing to do with us and left. If he really wanted to come back into our lives, he'd have done so already. Stop lying to yourself."

Ruby shrunk as she stood in place, contemplating Yang's words. Weiss looked between them as Yang sat back down on her bed and continued to brush her hair. Weiss turned to Ruby to see a genuine look of sadness on her face, something Weiss thought impossible. Sure, she'd whine and get a frown, but it was never like this. Weiss approached slowly as she wanted to cheer her up. She laid a hand on Ruby's shoulder, who had no reaction to it.

"Ruby? You can play your games, you know." No reaction was displayed to those words.

"I'll learn how to play them with you like you wanted me to." Weiss tried.

Ruby shrugged Weiss' hand off and got up on her bunk bed. "Maybe later, Weiss."

Weiss' heart broke hearing her voice, but she didn't know what to do in this situation. So, she sat down on her bed and continued to read the book that was temporarily forgotten. That was until Blake walked through the door. Weiss stood up and moved to talk to her.

She wanted to apologize for what happened down in the city anyway.

Obviously, we all know how that ends. That being, not well. As much as I love writing these, I still feel anxious when writing them. Every time I write character interaction, I always think 'am I portraying this character correctly? Would that be how they react to this character and their decisions?'

And yet, despite that, writing the section with Yang and Ruby was by far the easiest one I've ever written. I just felt as if though those words are what Yang would have said if this was actually the show. She had always had abandonment issues and Maroon wouldn't have helped, especially with the story surrounding how he abandoned them. Ruby, being naive, would think that he wanted to come back to them, leading to that disconnect between the two otherwise inseparable sisters.

Probably my favorite scene I've written for this story so far.

Love y'all and see ya later!