Chapter 38 – Kommittal

The dog's death was sad, sure enough, but Adam hadn't realized just how bad it had been for Ruby's mental health. Up until the funeral they held for it, he was under the impression that Ruby was just being kiddish, and everyone was humoring her. The loss of a pet wasn't something he'd experienced firsthand, but a brief period of minor sorrow was the level of emotion investment he would've imagined appropriate. Similar to the loss of a career, being forced to move and abandon all your friends, or the trauma of surviving through a natural disaster with no losses – nothing like the death of a person. He thought Ruby and Yang had been overdramatic when they said they needed to hold a formal funeral.

The day of the event, he finally learned how wrong he was.

Zwei had been her only companion for all those years when she was alone. During her eulogy, she recalled how she'd been ready to curl up and surrender so many times, but she hadn't, because who would've fed Zwei if she was gone? He had been Ruby's steadfast partner for her entire childhood. They'd had their aura unlocked on the same day. Ruby had only retained her ability to use the English language because she'd spoken to the dog as though it were a friend.

Qrow kicked his foot into the dirt as his youngest niece spoke. It must've torn him up inside and out to hear that a canine had done more for Ruby's state of mind than her own flesh and blood. Still, he seemed suitably anguished over Zwei's death, and his presence was a comfort to Ruby, so K allowed it.

Now, he understood. Everyone had been alive the day he'd left the SDC work camp he'd grown up in, but he'd cried harder than when he'd discovered his mother's body. It wasn't mourning the loss or grieving their death, but dismay that such an important part of his life, something that had been a constant in his complete childhood, was now gone and never returning. Ruby was experiencing the same depth of loss. Every day from now on, she was going to have to wake up in a world where she would never even be able to see Zwei again. Soon, the memories would blur, and all she'd be left with was a lingering sense of longing for what once was, and what would never return, no matter how hard she prayed, wept, or begged.

Ruby was holding a funeral for her innocence.

They laid Zwei to rest in a small patch of land just outside Beacon. He'd died fighting the terrors that endangered the world of man, so the girls wanted him to be buried where he could watch over future generations of heroes. Adam couldn't find it in himself to disagree.

I pretty much owe my life to that damn mutt. If it hadn't bitten through the disappearing girl's illusions, Ilia would have been killed, and Ruby too. All of our lives, saved by something so small.

He recognized much of himself in the way Ruby grieved, and he wasn't sure he liked what he saw. Adam had had James to guide him through the worst of himself, but Ruby had no such relationship. Sure, she had her uncle (who'd abandoned her), her sister (who was also grieving for Zwei and had also abandoned her), and her other human friends (who'd never experienced such a fundamental loss), but they couldn't help. To them, it was just sadness, or at worst depression. To those who'd felt it, it was far, far worse. When something you based your entire reality around was suddenly and viciously ripped away from you at such a young age, you didn't just feel sorrow. You felt a tumultuous and confusing mixture of fear, dread, guilt, uncertainty, regret, bitterness, and rage. There was rage, oh so much rage. Adam had it within him, but Ruby was a candidate to surpass him. She already had a lot of repressed anger that she didn't know what to do with, if her outburst against Cardin and dismemberment of the Mountain Glenn crew's corpses had been any indication. Now, with all those other emotions to sort out, she probably couldn't understand what she was feeling, and she had no one to tell her.

She could not become the next Fall maiden.

And it wasn't just because Atlas wanted that power. Ruby's emotional instability and pent up aggression wouldn't mix well with abstruse magical energies that apparently even the most disciplined could barely contain. Not only would it endanger the world, but it would endanger Ruby.

In the end, he stepped in, because no one else could. It was an uncomfortable and all-around unnatural maneuver for him, but Adam grabbed Ruby into a hug after the funeral was finished. He didn't think much of the touchy-feely bullshit, but he was at least aware enough of its effectiveness on others to not discount it or avoid it in the name of his own embarrassment.

"I'm sorry about Zwei."

Ruby sniffled. "It's okay. He's in the great dog park in the sky now. P-Probably getting up to all sorts of mischief 'n' whatnot, bothering the cats next door, who all go straight to heck. Mom'll look after him and give him cloud walkies."

"And we'll look after you. You'll be with us, no matter what."

"Thanks. Adam, you always know how to butter my–"

"Ruby. Listen closely. You will. Always. Be with us. You may not understand what I'm telling you now, but you will one day. This is not something I say lightly."

"Got it," said Ruby, dabbing at her teary eyes with her knuckles. "Geez, Yang's the one with abandonment issues, not me. She's not taking it well either. Her team had been hosting Zwei since we started in Beacon, and they lost him and Jaune in the same week. At least Pyrrha's back up and at 'em again. Yang says she fell in love with Zwei, too."

"Why don't you tell me about him?" asked Adam. "It can be harmful to bottle up emotions, especially the kind most likely to attract Grimm. I've found that focusing on the best parts of our life is one way to overcome such feelings." It had certainly helped him.

"Oh, Zwei was just the best dog a girl could ask for. He always knew what to do to cheer me up when I was down. We used to roughhouse around for hours on end, just the two of us. On rainy days, we used to heat up popcorn and watch movies on my scroll. Zwei absolutely loved with a capital L his romantic comedies. He was quite the charmer, and rambunctious too. I've got a lot of fond memories of playing 'hide the sausage' with him, to burn off his excess energy."

"Hide the w-what?"

"It was a fun little game I invented where it'd cut up a Vacuoan smoked pork sausage all around the house, then Zwei would have to sniff out ever little bit. His reward was getting to eat them all at the end of the game." Her voice quavered, and she looked up at Adam with a mixture between a smile and a frown. "I'm gonna miss him so much."

"It's gonna be okay," Adam said, pulling her in for another hug.

"You're right. It did help. T-Thank you, Adam."

"Buttered biscuits?" he asked.

"You know it."

Adam hugged her even tighter.

The tournament helped cheer Ruby up, at least a little bit. She and Blake shared their concessions and held hands as they watched the other boys and girls beat one another to a pulp. Not a traditionally romantic atmosphere, but Ruby had really gotten into the spirit of it after their first match, and she was now quite excited when someone she knew came into the arena. She kept jumping up a down, pointing animatedly and reminding everyone within earshot that she was friends with whoever was in the ring. Blake reminded her that she'd been in that same ring just two days ago, and Ruby nearly popped.

Qrow sat with them. Apparently, he was going to be staying at Beacon for the entire duration of the tournament a̶s̶ ̶O̶z̶p̶i̶n̶'̶s̶ ̶l̶a̶p̶d̶o̶g̶, and he'd agreed to spend as much time with his family as he could. At least he wasn't bunking with them or anything.

I shouldn't think things like that, or Ruby will invite him in. It's only tempting fate to screw us over.

The current match up was the elimination of Team Sword. Rather, it was the full-team round between the Swords and the Yellowjacket-P's. Even down a member, it was clear that the three-person team had a distinct advantage. Sky was down to the yellow in terms of aura, but he was still significantly ahead of both of Weiss' buffoons and Russel. Yang was holding Weiss off to a standstill, and Pyrrha had yet to take a single solid strike that hadn't been intentionally accepted as a ruse to lure one of the dummy duo in closer. Cardin didn't seem to realize that the English language contained the word feint, and his dented armors was reflecting that vocabulary dysfunction.

Blake had previous wondered if Pyrrha was truly 'all that,' given how she'd nearly fallen to pieces over a boy – not to suggest that Jaune's sudden departure shouldn't have affected her, but, like, come on. It was just Jaune. Now, however, it was clear that the title of Invincible Girl was well earned. Not true, as Adam and Ilia had beaten her before, and Blake would soon beat her again when they met up in the finals, but well earned.

Cardin was using his mace like Pyrrha was a mindless creature of Grimm, telegraphing every swing with a wide pull back, but Dove's controlled movements with his sword seemed to counter that, and Russel's speed was nearly enough to match Ruby herself, albeit without her semblance. Still, Pyrrha was still at 95% aura, and Blake figured that at least 4 of those missing percentage points were due to auric exhaustion by semblance.

She was like a dancer, practicing moves as Dove, Cardin, and Russel produced the music to which she performed. Step, duck, step back, duck, lean out, counter, parry. Honestly, Blake was kind of regretting not tuning in to watch when she'd been part of the Fang – she must've been quite the little athlete back when Mom and Dad had scouted her as their mascot.

Dove tried to bisect Pyrrha, but she simply sidestepped out of the way, placed Miló between his arms, and spun it on its axis. His sword dropped to the ground, but Nikos caught it with her foot before it hit. Russel tried to rush her as she performed the complex maneuver, but she kicked the blade into the air, spun around, bashed his head by throwing Akoúo̱ as he missed her ribcage with his daggers, and knocked in to the ground, all while Hallshott was still airborne. Catching Dove's sword with her free hand, she flung it to Cardin, holding on at the last second to give it a spin. Cardin was knocked to his floor, and Pyrrha somersaulted past Dove's clumsy hook to recollect her shield.

It was both cathartic and pitiable to watch. Cardin actually swung his mace into Dove's head when charging it up at one point, and he didn't even land the subsequent hit on Pyrrha. They were dead meat.

Then, the most curious thing happened. Russel's lips started moving, and Pyrrha paused. Blake couldn't make out what they were saying from the distance, but she could tell that whatever Russel had to say was clearly interesting enough to make Pyrrha ignore Cardin sneaking up on her from behind.

Or not. Miló shifted into a javelin, and the butt prodded Cardin in his stomach. Pyrrha was so practiced with her weapon, so comfortable in its exact precision and length, that she didn't even turn around, her attention still fixated on whatever Russel was saying. She tilted the tip forward, and the staff swung up behind her, catching Cardin's chin. Dazed, he tripped backwards and tumbled out of the arena.

Pyrrha smiled and said something back to Russel. Again, Blake couldn't hear, but she imagined it was probably quite meaningful based on the soulful look on the redhead's face. With a nod, Miló raised up, and the fight resumed.

Russel blocked a few hits, but it was only a matter of time before Nikos took the upper hand and shot her javelin's tip straight at Russel's stomach.

And then straight past it.

The grotesque crunch could be heard throughout the entire arena. Blake wasn't sure if it was the sound of Russel's spine being pierced, or the crack of Miló's metal tip against the rocky terrain beneath him as the javelin passed right on through his stomach, but she heard it all the same. The picosecond of alarm she felt evaporated upon remembering his semblance, as well as Ilia's guidance.

"Cut the feeds! Cut the–"

Oh, wouldn't it just be the greatest thing if Russel actually managed to turn it around? We wouldn't have to fight Pyrrha at all, only Weiss.

The audience began to scream, and Pyrrha recoiled in fright, letting go of her spear entirely. In less than a second, Russel plucked it out of his torso, blood spurting out as he did, then hurled it outside the arena. Pyrrha could probably have caught it with her own semblance, but she was too busy overcoming the stupefaction of having (not) actually killed someone. Russel didn't know her semblance, though, so he probably thought he'd done something amazing.

Truth be told, it was a decent play that took advantage of his strengths as best he could, but he'd only managed to disarm her. Not half bad for a Sword, though Ilia had done most of the heavy thinking.

The audience's terror turned to confusion, as did Pyrrha's. Russel and Dove took the opportunity to tackle her simultaneously, and they all fell to the ground in a frenzy of punching and kicking. For a second, Pyrrha was in jeopardy.

It didn't last, though. She never openly used her semblance, but she often relied upon it for support. Dove wore bronze armor, and Russel's spaulder was clearly metal of some sort. They wouldn't be able to analyze why in the heat of the fight, but their punches probably weren't connecting as hard as they wanted. A simple push back would be enough to offset their momentum and disorient the pair. Pyrrha managed to recover and push Dove and Russel off of her, at which point Sky made his way to join her. Sky's efforts probably were needless, as Pyrrha's initial shock had worn off, and she was the master of the battlefield again. Her spear may have been thrown out of bounds, but tossing her shield like a discus made it just as viable a weapon. Perhaps Sky had only joined to be polite and spare the enemy boys the indignity of losing to an outnumbered, unarmed foe.

Both eventually fell due to aura loss not long after Russel's gambit. Weiss, all on her own against two exceptional huntresses and a half-decent huntsman, joined them not long after. She fought well despite being outnumbered, but without someone for her support Glyphs to support, a large portion of her usefulness fled her.

It was a resounding win for Team Yellowjacket-P, who high fived and hugged and shook hands and all that jazz. Blake rolled her eyes at their nerdiness but smiled nonetheless. Looking to the defeated team, she actually made eye contact with Russel Thrush of all people. Confused, she looked to her right and saw Ilia give him the briefest of nods.

Ah, that made more sense; he was looking at his teacher for approval, and she was giving it. Well, good for him. He'd done well enough against impossible odds to warrant some positive reinforcement.

Then, Cardin shouted something and spoiled it all. Blake definitely caught the words 'loser' and 'kicked out.' Pyrrha's smile vanished, and Yang's hair lit on fire, but the two referees of the match reminded her that the fight was over from their booth. Cardin, emboldened by his lack of consequences, shouted an insult that definitely included Jaune's name. For a moment, Yang looked like she was about to risk disqualification just to run over there and kick his ass a second time.

BZZZZT!

Cardin's aura broke, and the buzzer was still technically reading it, so it went off. Russel had hit him on the back of the head with his own mace. The small boy was about the same size as the weapon, and he had needed to swing his entire body to wield it. Paramedics, on call to treat any injuries sustained during the match, were likely surprised to have one after it and rushed over to check him. Weiss and Dove looked scandalized, then began to shout at their teammate. Russel threw the mace to the floor and exploded on them, shouting loud enough for even Blake to hear. His crude language was probably enough to make Time's Up Tock blush, if she hadn't been poisoned to death by Ilia and also cut up into tiny pieces by Ruby.

Their argument got so heated that tournament officials actually needed to break up the three teammates. Russel stormed away as Dove screamed abuse and Weiss promised retaliatory action in the courtroom. She must have forgotten that she didn't have the money for lawyers anymore, because threatening to unleash one's world class team of lawyers to sue someone for everything they own didn't carry as much weight when the threatener was probably as rich as the average Vacuoan.

Russel shoved two fingers in the air as he walked away, one on each hand, then glanced at Ilia, as did Blake. If Ilia's approval at his performance in the tournament had been an airship, then the look on her face right now was the entire Atlesian fleet.

The old man who served Ilia her lunch was a spy. She would have staked her life on it. He'd been everywhere, lying in wait, watching her eat each and every turn. After all, there was no way an ordinary man could operate a booth at the Vytal Festival, run a Dust shop named From Dust Till Dawn, manage a noodle restaurant in downtown Vale named A Simple Wok, and not have it all be a cover for something.

I'll have to keep an eye on him, though Ilia as she ate. He's quite the crafty bugger…

"We never had any fast food like this on Patch," said Ruby to the old shopkeep. "This is SHHOOOO GUUUD!" She inhaled a large portion of ramen as she spoke the last two words.

"It's not bad," said Adam. "But the calories from fat are–"

"Oh, live a little," said Ilia. "We're all skinny as twigs, and we probably burn a metric fuckton of calories every day as hunters in training."

"Calories already are a unit; a metric ton of calories make absolutely zero sense."

"Fish," said Blake. "Fish fish fish tuna fish tuna tuna herring tuna." She nodded and dove face-first into her meal. A single muffled word escaped her lips. "Mackerel."

The bowl that the aged undercover mastermind had served Blake seemed comically large. Ilia was unsure how she was even going to finish all that.

"I'm not gonna lie – this has to be the best thing I've ever eaten in fifteen years," said Ruby. "Thanks for buying, you guys."

"No worries," Ilia said back. "Thanks for not being a dick about the doubles."

"It's all good. I was originally kind of upset because I wanted to keep going, but then I thought about it, and Adam probably would be even more upset if I kicked him out. I mean, he's been psyching himself up for a lot longer, and all the decorations are probably hyping him up. If I joined the doubles round, all I'd do for the entire match is stress about being a jerkface who stole the spot on a passing whim from someone who wanted it for a lot longer than me."

Blake's face exploded out of her bowl, gasping for air. "So many goddamn fucking fish…I think I just came…"

"Why, Blake, why are you like this?" scolded Adam. "Why can't you just fight Faunus stereotypes for one day? Everyone else here is."

Keep telling yourself that as you dig into those fucking greens. You're literally the closest to grazing a Faunus can get without standing in a field. Keep telling yourself, and maybe one day it'll come true.

Ilia herself had gone for a crispy pork meal. The restaurant had only taken a slim selection of the most popular items and brought them to the Vytal Festival. Like many businesses, the real money here wasn't to be made on sales, but on advertising. Vytal held a captive consumerist audience in one place who, between rounds, had nothing to do but peruse the merchandise and pick up a new favorite brand.

"So, what did you eat when you were two years old, Ruby?" asked Blake.

Ruby looked at Blake with confusion, but Blake was already back in the fishbowl and unavailable to offer clarification.

"Uhhhhh…mushed peas and carrots? Or…maybe applesauce? I dunno, I'm not really sure." Ruby's cheeks reddened, and she buried her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry."

"What the heck, Blake? Why ask her weird shit like that?" asked Ilia. Putting her girl on the spot like that was a real dick move.

"She said she had something really good at two, and I wondered what." Blake shrugged. "Not gonna lie, mushed peas do sound good to a cat Faunus like me."

"For fuck's sake," said Adam, throwing down his chopsticks in disgust at Blake's stereotypical ways. "We can't take you anywhere."

"No, I didn't," said Ruby, sounding mildly accused. "I never said I ate something when I was two."

"You did. You said you hadn't eaten anything this good in fifteen years."

Blake didn't seem at all perturbed by the miscommunication, but Ruby and Ilia's brains were about to start smoking from how hard the gears were grinding. What does fifteen years have to do with what Ruby ate at age two?

Ding Ding Ding!

"You don't know?!" Ilia screamed.

Blake pulled her nose out of the pescatarian dish and looked at Ilia in confusion. "Know what?"

"You didn't see her file, but I thought you knew…Adam, you know, right?"

"About Ruby being fifteen? Of course, I do."

"Fifteen?" said Blake. "She can't be. You don't even get to apply to Beacon unless you're seventeen or older. Try harder with the pranks, girl."

"It's true," said Ruby and looked at Old Man Shopkeep. "I fought master criminal Roman Torchguy at…um…at this guy's shop, From Dust Till Dawn. Ozpin was so amazed that he let me into Beacon two years early."

Old Man Shopkeep nodded in agreement.

"I thought I told you, Blake." Ruby scratched at her head. "Wait a second, 'see her file'? What–"

"YOU'RE FIFTEEN?!" Blake's hands flew to her head. "WHAT?"

Ruby fell backwards off her stool at the sudden commotion. "Y-Y-Yeah," she stuttered, picking herself up. "How did you not know all this time? I'm, like, a half a head shorter than you. I can barely even see Adam from down here."

"I thought you were just a shorty midget!"

"H-Hey! I'm not–"

"Yes, you fucking are!" screamed Blake. "And I'm…oh, Dust…I'm a pedophile…"

"Blake, calm–"

"She's just a child…I kissed her…oh Dust, I touched her butt…"

"TMI," groaned Ilia. "We don't need to–"

Blake vomited up her fish. They were already as smelly as a decaying Grimm corpse just from being gross marine life, but combined with her stomach's acid, bile, and other contents, it was quite the nauseating discharge. Ilia plugged her nose and pushed away her food.

"I'm a monster. I belong in jail."

Ruby frowned. "Jeez, Blake. I'm not that gross or anything." She patted a hand against Blake's shoulder to show that she was joking, but Blake pulled back in disgust.

"We can't – we need to stop."

"Stop? Wait, you wanna break up?"

"Ruby, you're just a child."

"Just? Blake's I'm fifteen, not five. You're only seventeen."

"You're underage. I'm abusing you." Blake looked to the ground, then her eyes shot up. "I need to turn myself in. We need to get you help, Ruby."

Adam swiveled in his seat. "Now, hold on just a second, Belladonna. Let's not go–"

"Shut it, Taurus!"

"Blake, please. We're a couple. Let's just talk about–"

"No. We're not a couple. We're nothing." Blake stood up and walked off in a random direction, leaving the rest of them behind. In less than a second, she was gone.

Ruby's lip began to waver, and Ilia looked at Adam in panic. Blake was overreacting and would probably cool down when she realized that she was also underage (by Valean standards, unlike the Menagerian ones Blake was used to), but the damage had already been done.

"I'll go talk some sense into her. You two stay here." Adam chased off after Blake, leaving Ilia and a now hiccupping Ruby.

"S-She didn't mean it, kiddo. She's just surprised, that's all."

Ruby looked down at her knees. "Blake doesn't–"

"She does. She loves you. I mean, would you really do a move like the Catapult of Love with someone you don't love? It's in the name." Ilia was stretching it here, but it was very difficult to navigate the minefield of honest emotions about love without accidentally revealing her own past attraction to Blake. Doing that would be more harmful to their team than the God of Darkness emerging from the depths of Remnant and dragging them all to eternal damnation.

"Blake doesn't–"

Ruby froze. Her mouth closed, and her eyes glazed over. Then, she turned back and started eating her meal.

Shit. What do I do?

"R-Ruby? Hello?" Ilia waved a hand in front of her shell-shocked team leader. "Remnant to Rubes? P-Pipsqueak?"

Ilia nervously laughed, but there was no response. Ruby was entirely silent. It was like someone had powered down her brain, and her body was just moving on muscle memory to put the spoon to her mouth.

"There you guys are! I've been lookin' all over for ya."

Qrow Branwen pushed past some other festivalgoers and placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. She looked up at him without saying a word, her eyes blank.

"Kiddo, there's something I gotta talk to you about. Why don'tcha follow me?"

"Sorry, Mister Branwen, but Ruby's a bit busy with team stuff right now," cut in Ilia.

"She doesn't look busy. Let's go, Rubes. Ozpin's gotta see you."

Alarm bells went off in Ilia's head. Ozpin and Qrow wanted to see Ruby in person, privately. That could possibly mean…

"We're very busy, sir."

Qrow looked at the four half-finished meals with doubt. "I can see. Here, why don't you stick around and watch the table, and I'll take Ruby for a bit, then bring her right back."

"Actually!" Ilia stood up ramrod straight. "If she's going, I'll go with her. Rabies stick together."

"Rabi–? Oh, right, your shitty team name. Um, Iliana, it's kind of a private talk. Family only."

"We are family. Besides, you said Ozpin was gonna be there."

"I don't – hey, what's up with you, pipsqueak?" Qrow shook Ruby. She didn't say a word, and her eyes passed right over her uncle like she couldn't even see him. She went back to her meal.

"This is important. Look, I don't got all day, kids."

"Then I'm sure I can come with you. Ruby, feel free to object if you don't want me to come."

Ruby didn't object. Checkmate.

"There you have it," said Ilia. "Ruby wants me to come with her, if we're going."

"I – you – that's not – fine." Qrow plunged his hands into his pants pockets. "We'll talk about this later. When you're not, euh, 'busy.'"

Ilia exhaled in relief as he left. If Ozpin wanted Ruby to be the maiden, that meant they needed to step up their game on Blake…or start taking drastic action. It wouldn't be the end of the world if Ruby got chosen for maidenhood, but they would have a hard time convincing her to join K if she already had the powers. Anyone with a brain and two functioning neurons would assume (wrongly) they only wanted her for her powers, in such a scenario, even if she'd already been marked for induction.

"Whew, that was a close one." Ilia looked into Ruby's silver eyes, but there was no recognition in there. There was no anything. It was like peering at a noodle-eating mannequin.

Ilia's scroll dinged.

Adam: Come quick. Need your help. 150 yards northeast of main gate. Urgent.

The message came at the worst time. Qrow may have been fended off for now, but Ilia couldn't just leave Ruby alone and unattended.

Glancing back and forth at her scroll and her leader, Ilia bit her lip. Adam's situation couldn't be that urgent if he didn't use their emergency number codes like she had with Blake at the docks, but Ilia couldn't just hang him out to dry either. The longer it took for her to make a choice, the more time she wasted.

She could only choose one, but both needed her…

In the end, she had to go to Adam. He was a member of K, and he was her family. So was Ruby, but she had to make a choice, even if both options seemed impossible. Still, she quickly texted Yang telling her to come to the vendor stand she'd left Ruby at, just so the human wouldn't be left all alone. Ruby sat quietly at her table, eating noodles one by one, as Ilia departed.

Ruby's stable right now. She's just mildly catatonic, and help is on the way. Adam could be worse off for all I know.

Ilia looked back as frequently as she could, until she had to turn the corner around a T-shirt tent and lost sight of Ruby. It felt like abandoning Ruby in a time of crisis, but staying with her would be doing the same to Adam.

I hope I made the right call.

As Ilia jogged past the main gate and exited the array of booths, she began to feel less worry about it. Ruby wasn't a quitter; she'd pull through. When she did, it would be better if Blake was at her side to cheer her up. Yes, Ilia had definitely made the right choice.

Hey, though – why had Adam asked her to meet so far away? She'd already gone pretty deep into the trees surrounding the festival, and there wasn't any sign of him or Blake. Did Blake run off and go missing? If that was it, Adam would have to find her on his own. Ilia wasn't going to help.

They got themselves into this, and it's up to them to get out of it. I shouldn't have to go around picking up everyone else's mess. I already just saved Ruby from accidentally getting chosen for maidenhood. I deserve a breather.

Why was Blake making such a big deal out of nothing? Why was Ruby…why had she caused such a fuss with the whole thing that she did? Why couldn't Adam have just met her near the gate, rather than making her trek this deep into some crappy woods? Why couldn't everyone just chill out?

We all need to just relax.

I need to relax.

Ilia fell to her knees. She nearly collapsed onto the leaf-covered floor, but she managed to catch herself with her hands before she did. This tournament, this whole mission – it was far too stressful. She could just curl up here and take a quick nap.

Adam. Urgent. No…

Her face touched the dirt, and it felt soooooo good. The soft, muddy floor was calming, like the cool underside of a pillow. Ilia forced herself to tear her cheek off of the ground, but she couldn't stand up. She was too tired. She needed to relax.

It took every ounce of effort she had left to raise her eyes and look at the emerging shadowy figure as it approached her.

"I'm so glad you could join us…Sister Amitola."

Corsac Albain folded his hands behind his back and smiled.

Omake

Qrow: Ruby, we've decided you're the one we want to offer this awesome burden of responsibility to. If you consent, you shall become the defender of all of Vale, nay, all of Remnant. What is your choice?

Ruby: skidaddle skidoodle I'm going to eat this noodle ~~~~~

Author's Notes

A blast from the past. I can't write a White Fang story without having at least one White Fang villain show up. Now that Tock is dead, someone needs to give K the old one-two.

Yeah, not gonna lie, we're fucked. Ruby is fucked, Ilia is fucked, Blake and Adam are fucked, Ladybug is fucked…we're just SO fucked. There's no way around how fucked we are. Next chapter: we're fucKed

It's funny, because committal can has two meanings - a funeral, or the act of sending someone to a psychiatric hospital. Well, Zwei was laid to rest, as was Ruby's last shred of sanity, so both technically apply.

Remember to fill out the Marrow Murder Mystery poll, if you haven't already! Here's the link: (forms dot gle /3EGGEfhxs1cgYrZE7).

Results so far:

QUESTION ONE: WHO KILLED MARROW AMIN?

Ruby Rose – 12 (+1)

Marrow Amin – 10

Weiss Schnee – 6 (+3, doubled since last time)

Ozpin – 3

Blake Belladonna – 2

Ilia Amitola – 1

Dove Bronzewing – 1

Pyrrha Nikos – 1

Glynda Goodwitch - 1

QUESTION TWO: WHO IS THE GOOSE?

Weiss Schnee – 13 (+3)

Happy rats, and don't do crime!