Despite his usual attitude towards combat and battle as a whole, Saw wasn't a man who particularly enjoyed killing. In a sense, with this in mind, a man like him shouldn't have even been in the White Fang to begin with, but as he'd told himself time and time again over the years: somebody has to stand up and fight. He hated Humanity, and especially those who'd captured both him and Adam, but even that hadn't been enough for him to relieve the bitterness that killing often sprayed across his tongue.

Snare was the complete opposite.

As his miniscule cackles echoed throughout the darkened room, shadowing corners and allowing ample movement between obstruction after obstruction, Saw was certain his old friend was having a good laugh. He wasn't outright evil in the sense that Humans often saw them as, but he wasn't all that far off either. It wasn't hate, so much as it was an excuse to indulge his curiosity. His dislike of Humanity as a whole, paired with his belief that they were incapable of change, led to him developing a twisted interest in how people die.

"Well would you look at that..." Roman hid a hiss within his little chuckle, staving off the unease with a guise of playfulness. "Say, can't your types see in the dark anyways?"

The first order of business their opponent had, as they'd come to quickly learn, was to vanish into the darkness. All the lights within the room had instantly shut off, with the ones in the hall having been cut as well. Snare created a blackout, and based on how Saw himself could hear the confusion far off down the halls, he knew it wasn't exactly planned. In a way it solved their power issue, but left them with nothing but the broken cracks and small holes in the walls to illuminate everything under the dull outdoor light, which just barely reached inside past all the blockages enclosing the room.

"All of us can, but he's not worried about me." This darkness wasn't for Saw, no, it was to keep Roman and Neo from being able to react quickly. Snare wasn't perfect with his motions, and he must have known he wouldn't be able to take the trio on in a head to head battle. Devising a play that crippled the senses of two thirds was a given, which was enhanced unknowingly with Neo being out of aura for the better part of a few minutes.

Roman hummed, suppressing his twitchy eye.

"Right... he's hoping to pick us off one by one."

"It's his specialty."

"Is there any part of this within our favor?"

"He won't have time to experiment with ways to extend your suffering."

"I've already mentioned how you lot are just a bundle of sunshine, haven't I." Indirectly, yes, but Saw wasn't keeping count. His obsession with pain was one-way though, which meant that he cracked the moment things weren't running perfect. All they needed was a few threats, and supposing he can't see any obvious escape routes, he'd spill everything they wanted.

Both men were snapped to the far end of the room, north-east of where they were facing, as the sounds of a snap ricocheted against and between the machinery. Snare must have realized his mistake, as they were then greeted with a loud clang in the opposite direction. It was very clearly a distraction attempt, as soon after silence reigned again.

All of a sudden, Saw didn't feel so sure that the initial snap was a mistake.

"Was that his way of throwing us off?" Roman piped up, a little bit in disbelief at just how obvious it was.

"Yes, although he's not an idiot. For all we know he's headed towards the noise he made."

"Why?" Roman questioned, shifting his head around to keep an eye on the surrounding blind spots and corners. Being in the center of the room surrounded with machines and servers acting as a maze of sorts left them open to ambush at almost every step, and the ginger gangster wasn't letting up his guard for a second. "Isn't the noise supposed to attract us?"

"Had he been fighting students, I could see him doing that, but he's fighting us. He knows we'll suspect it's a distraction, and he'll act on that knowledge." This made things immensely risky. Snare could head towards the second or first noise under the belief that they'll ignore it in favor of guarding everywhere else, or perhaps he'd move from a different angle as Roman suggested, guessing that they'll be assuming he's doing the very thing Saw was suggesting now, in an attempt to throw them off entirely.

Guessing an enemy's guess, and making moves based on their assumption of his own moves: it was the type of mind twister Snare quite enjoyed.

"So it's fifty-fifty, huh?" Roman followed up the statement with a grumble. "Stupid animals and their trickery." He then twitched for a second. "Not talking about you, of course: just mentioning these new flops of soggy toast."

Saw didn't particularly care either way. Stupidly enough, despite his constant jabs and quick tongue, Roman had been one of the most tolerant people he'd ever met. He himself though was only one person, and Snare was an entirely different breed of man, which was made apparent by the shift above. It was just barely audible to Saw alone, and was seemingly triggered by the insult of Roman's. Thinking fast, he shoved both his partners aside before leaping away himself, giving him a full view of Snare as he left the ceiling and landed in the very space they'd occupied previously.

Using this to his advantage, Saw dashed forward, hoping to tackle their enemy and perhaps disable him. A single touch from the man's hands would render all his muscles immovable, but if he could wrap his arms around Snare before that happened, then it would leave the guy struggling out of the grip and fighting against the weight pinning him to the floor.

Snare twisted back, swinging both legs up and catching him in a brutal kick that carried him up, over, and across. It ended with Saw being flung into a recently recovered Roman, who took the sudden introduction of muscle about as well as anyone could reasonably expect, leaving them both in a heap on the ground.

While the pair attempted to untangle themselves, Neo took the initiative, and from the corner of their eyes both men caught glimpses of the woman laying out her own series of combos on Snare. The killer was a nimble little lass, not only making use of her parasol that she always carried on her in some form, but also putting her legs to work, spinning into a series of poses that would make most men a little feisty, whilst trying to land a solid hit. Snare was just a bit too quick though, and he managed to not only match her speed, but also make some quick grasps as well. He never got a handful of her, but he did manage to force her back a few steps, which is where the sight issue came into play.

Neo, completely unaware of her close proximity to one of the servers, ended up bumping against it, which startled her just enough to give Snare an opening.

Taking it with a hiss, befitting of the serpent of a man, he caught her by the neck. Tragically, Neo's fingers had just been an inch away from deflecting the grab, but that didn't matter now.

"Neo!" Roman's shout came just as they got to their feet, but it did nothing as the dagger slammed against her shoulder. The only benefit to Neo whatsoever was the tiny amount of aura that flared for half a second before breaking to the spinning drill of steel. She'd recovered somewhat before he launched his attack, but all it did was grant her a precious moment of protection before giving way.

Half a second had Saw the chance to make it three-quarters of the way to her with Roman nearly matching his speed, but Snare never made any attempts to flee, moreso he plunged the ripper into her skin, through her clothes and deep into muscle. Saw caught her eyes widening in shock and pain, seeing her mouth rip open in silent cries. Blood and more sprayed from the blade and past the hilt, as the weapon had ridged paths along both flats in shapes similar to drills themselves, shooting out the removed blockages to allow it to tunnel deeper.

Neo went through the process of having a hole dug into her for just an instant, but it was enough to remove a good portion of flesh.

He'd caught Snare at that moment, by the arm, and pulled him from the woman, who dropped and clutched her wound, doing everything to press the hole closed. Roman joined her then, ripping off a chunk of his sleeve and wrapping it around her injury. Saw then felt the hand on his shoulder, prompting his limbs to no longer be his own. His hand, however, was still firmly connected to Snare's own wrist, but his old friend ignored this, focusing more on taunting them.

"I'll give her about a minute to get something in that hole, otherwise she'll bleed through the fabric and die anyways." This was followed up by a few scant chuckles. "Oh, who am I kidding." He then leveled a look towards Saw, smirking, and baring his teeth - a habit he saved for the enemies he killed, as a way to display his power over them. "None of you are making it out of here."

Wrong.

He could feel it, the warmth radiating from Snare's wrist, and the light flow of aura around it. Despite this, nothing would save him now. Had Snare himself known, he would have fled without fuss, but Saw had never, ever, disclosed his semblance to anyone. He chose to do this not out of the desire to keep an ace up his sleeve, but rather out of shame for the ability itself. However, Neo was currently on a countdown if what Snare said was true, meaning Saw himself had no time to be picky.

Using death to defend life... what a strange turn things had taken.

Watching as Snare's eyes faded over, and feeling energy flow back into his limbs left Saw with a shameful bitterness all throughout his body. He'd broken his self inflicted vow, and while it was for a good cause, it still didn't sit right with him. Snare's body went limp in his grip, dropping down and being propped up by his own grip on the man's now lifeless wrist. Saw himself was rejuvenated, while Snare was left empty of the life which previously flowed through him.

"Freeze!"

The shout redirected everyone's eyes towards the hole in the wall, where two armed guards were pointing their guns. One of the men gasped, apparently having finally noticed who Saw was holding onto.

"G-general Snare!" His voice grew gruff, and the boy stepped forward seething. "What have you done to him!?"

Saw merely held up the limb a little higher, before letting it drop to the floor, and then he spoke in a ghastly tone.

"I've done to him what I'll do to you both if you don't lower your weapons."

"Y-you dare-"

"I dare." Interrupting the boy had the small effect of the lad stumbling a little on the spot, and as Saw took one hard step towards him, the pair tensed. "Not only do I dare, but I have a task for you both."

"A-and why should we l-listen to you?" The somewhat forced out accusation was silenced totally when Saw stomped on the downed Snare's wrist, echoing out an all encompassing snap. The boy visibly gulped, and that's what they were: boys. The pair before him were just a couple of young men who got caught up in the hype Snare and his old team no doubt preached aloud. They showed no formal or hardened training whatsoever, even holding their guns wrong, and this had Saw wanting to avoid combat altogether.

"Because it'll get you out of here alive." Saw proceeded to waste no time after, laying out his demands. "First, I want some medical supplies, right this instant."

"M-medical-"

"Do it now."

"Y-yes sir!" The lad who hadn't spoken yet made a short obedient jog towards the back end of the room, coming back with a small kit. Saw nodded faintly with approval.

"Now, go help that young pair over there in dressing up the woman's wound. You have at least some medical training, don't you?"

The kid nodded.

"Right away sir!"

This left the lad from before, who still looked with a minor bit of anger, although it was masked with fear.

"Your task is a little harder, but still, it should be easy enough."

"B-before that." The boy took a straighter stand, and Saw felt himself growing suspicious. The guy then pointed to Snare's corpse. "W-what did you do to him?"

Hmm. The kid had the courage to follow up on his previous question, which was something Saw gave him credit for. Retaining his middling tone, he answered.

"I killed him."

"I can see that, but I'm asking how, and why." The boy looked Saw up and Down. "Y-you've got one of our uniforms, so you're not an intruder, right?"

"Correct. I used my semblance to kill him, and I did it because he double crossed me."

"Double crossed?" Seeing the kid grow less tense revealed to Saw that he didn't know much about the group he'd joined up with. Immediately this gave him an idea, and thus he spun a short tale.

"Yes, double crossed. We were close friends, however he didn't like that I called the shots around here, and so he confronted my allies and I here in the server room as we were doing checks on the machinery. He thought he could kill us and usurp control." Saw then sent one more look to Snare's body, turning back to the armed man. "As you can see, he was wrong."

"Oh... I..." The kid paused for a bit more, and then spoke with an almost casual air. "What does this mean for the rest of us then?"

"Nothing." Saw put out plainly, crossing his arms. "You'll carry on as you usually do. This matter doesn't concern you or the others, so should people bring it up or speak of it in any way, ignore it."

"O... okay." He believed the excuse way too easily, but Saw supposed that was the fear acting up: rationalizing everything in a way that made the safest outlook more believable, and masking the myriad of flaws present in both the story and scenario. The kid wanted to live, and so he deluded himself into believing what was said.

"Now then, as I was saying: I need you to bring something to me."

"What?"

"Recently we robbed some machinery from a few Atlas trucks, you're aware, correct?"

"Yeah... Well, not us exactly, but the others were talking about how they took out some Atlas scum." So the boy wasn't part of the initial raid. Really, it didn't matter. What mattered was if the boy knew where the goods were stashed.

"Yes. Now, what I need is the location where the prizes were stored. Your general here never fully informed me of the location, and seeing as he tried to off me, I doubt he ever planned too. I'll have a burial prepared for him regardless, as the other new recruits wouldn't understand what happened here, so first of all this meeting and fight needs to be kept on the down low, got it." The boy nodded, and Saw continued. "Good. The burial needs to wait however, as I need to get to the haul that was made. I've suspicions that what we stole wasn't exactly safe to take, and I must clarify this immediately."

"Not safe?"

"We've fears that Atlas may have planted a tracker somewhere inside the goods they were transporting, and I don't need to speak of the dangers that presents for us." It was a fairly out there lie, but the boy's sudden stiffness proved its effectiveness anyway.

"S-shit!"

"Indeed." Saw answered grimly, casting a look to see both Roman and Neo up on their feet, albeit with Neo in the man's arms, fighting off a few scarce tears - Saw could relate, as he'd had brutal wounds like that many times before, and they hurt like a motherfucker.

"I-I don't have a map on hand right now, but I can take you there right quick."

"Do so immediately. My allies and I will then take whatever tracking devices we find and leave, getting them as far away from the base as possible to hopefully prevent discovery."

"G-got it."

The boy started off, with all of them in tow. Saw sent one more glance back at Roman and Neo, taking particular note of the way Roman's face neared the edge of caution. The man most likely had questions, and Saw would answer them later. Right now though, they needed to finish up the mission fast.

Neo, despite her injury, looked like she would be fine. Apparently the kid did know first aid, and the way the wound was wrapped tightly with a fresh gause would prevent further bleeding. They'd get out after and get her taken care of… and Saw had the suspicion he knew exactly where that would take place, which left only one question.

Would he need to accompany them in Atlas?

.


.

"Hey... Rubes, you in here?"

Yang's voice was just enough to pierce through her focus, and Ruby looked back down at the page.

"He says it's for the best, but I still don't believe him. Dear brother, if you ever read this, please, don't run off on your own. I don't know what it is your journal holds, but whatever secrets scare you, know that we face them together."

It was a final message to an uncle she never knew.

"Yeah." She called back, which resulted in Yang coming in fully.

After they got Vine - the monk from before - into the infirmary, they were dismissed by the others. Most of the Ace-Ops shared a moment of cautious, silent worry before leaving, all except Marrow who watched over his buddy with an immovable will. Her own teammates chose to stay for a while as well... all except her.

Ruby was feeling... Actually, it was hard to describe how she felt. V had hurt Vine, badly too, and while she was horrified at what he did, she also knew he didn't mean to injure the man so viciously. No matter how frightful and mucky she felt looking at Vine and his occasional twitch back there, she couldn't muster any real hate or even the smallest spark of anger towards V. It wasn't fair at all, and she knew it - who was she to play favorites with?

What did she do in response to these conflicts of the mind? Why, she took off to their room, broke out her mother's journal, and did her best to lose herself in unraveling the mysteries within. It was a task that needed doing, and she needed a distraction. Watching over Vine wouldn't accomplish anything, and getting angry at how stuff turned out would yield equal results: with this in mind she took to something that would matter. When Yang's mother, Raven, had passed it to her, Ruby not only wondered why she had it to begin with, but feared it had something to do with the journal Adam took, and its secrets therein.

Ruby never got to read all the pages on the scroll as her own name put a particular focus on the story containing it. The journal focused on the tale of Thorn Rose, and how he aided Gem Scarlet, who turned out to be Ruby Rose later on, but not before becoming Ruby Scarlet, and at one point the man internally referred to her as Ruby Gem, on the off chance the 'Scarlet' part of the name was a front before assuming all of it was lies until later clarification. Ruby read everything that related to Thorn Rose specifically, reliving tales of heroism and despair which mixed fluidly like a creamy yogurt.

Just as sour as the stuff too.

Her own mother's journal was structured differently though, as it started with and included some personal notes and messages, similar to the other book, but different as it had more… She supposed it would be called 'personality'.

Adam's version held records of Thorn, as well as her uncle's regrets and mistakes. He'd left her mother, his family, in pursuit of the history written by Thorn… and yet, parts of that history had been contradictory to the tales within itself, and nearing the end, the man admitted to having started to slip. Thorn had become senile, and used his writing as a way to remind himself of the important things in life, although he admitted to re-writing parts of it with what he thought was the truth later on when things began to get bad.

This put the legitimacy of the writings up in the air, and even rendered the idea of the journal itself moot. Luckily, her mother's journal somewhat alleviated this.

Her mother's journal followed someone else, and included multiple legends and tales. However, it started with someone distinct, or rather, related to Thorn: Veronica Rose. Her very first writings were of the child she found on their balcony - already contradicting Thorn's claim, which mentioned them finding the baby on their doorstep. As far as she knew, Veronica's story mentioned nothing of tumbling mental states, and so Ruby chose to hope that this meant what was written was true. Vermillion Rose: the name the baby boy came with, and the tale after following his life was told from the adopting mother's point of view. Ruby temporarily skipped parts of the story to discover that major sections focused on differing people throughout all facets of time, up to the past six-hundred years at the earliest.

One thing she did learn in a personal note near the end of the book, however, was that it was her own mother who helped her uncle create his weapon: Wilt and Blush. A sword so similar in design to the one Adam used that she came to the conclusion that it was the same one. At the back of her mother's journal, on the hard back cover, was a symbol: a pair of roses. One was full, and it was the one she herself adopted as her own, and that her mother once held, meaning the other must have belonged to her uncle. The other was wilting, and Ruby immediately recognised it as the one on the back of Adam's jacket. If he did steal her uncle's weapon somehow, then maybe he also stole the symbol… but, seeing as he had the journal, and how he bore the symbol alone unrelated to the Fang: Ruby believed he took it more as an inspiration, like she did her mother's symbol.

And yet, these were just her thoughts on the matter, as with the man now dead, Ruby knew she'd most likely never know the truth. She'd then decided to hold off on reading the rest until she got through Veronica's story, as it was clearly related to what she'd already come to learn, and must have, by proxy, connected to the 'Ruby Rose' she read about somehow. This would all have to wait for later though, as Yang spoke up after a small look.

"He's awake: Vine, that is."

This had Ruby up and at the door, somewhat startling her older sister, who quickly waved her hands.

"Woah woah, take it easy."

"I want to see him."

"And we will, yeesh." With a sigh Yang dropped her arms, tossing on a tiny smile and stepping out into the hall. Ruby followed her, and she chose then to speak up. "Sometimes I forget how easily you worry about people."

"I need to speak to him."

"Regarding V, right?"

"It was an accident!"

"Easy!" Yang shot out again, sticking on an almost playful face. "I said before not to be so dramatic, right?"

"But-"

"Yap." With a finger covering her lips, Yang then rolled her eyes, dropping her hand and keeping up the brisk pace as she faced forward. "Look, he's cool, okay."

"He's... cool?" Ruby had a hard time believing it; no, scratch that, she didn't believe it. Sure, the guy was an Ace-Op, supposedly one of the best Atlas had to offer, but still: you don't just brush off an attack that severe.

"Well, it's kind of complicated, but it's best if he explains it himself."

"He can talk."

"Oh yeah, but..." Yang's face seemed to scrunch. "He's a little quiet now; you've got to strain to hear him, and even then it's hard."

Ruby dwelled in her mind for the rest of the walk, wondering just what V even did. With Vine awake, she could probably ask him, but that all depended on whether he wanted to talk about it at all. Coming upon the infirmary, both were able to see inside the glass, and Vine was sitting up next to Marrow, with Weiss and Blake beside him. Ruby didn't see any of the others around, so she assumed they were still out doing who knows what.

Marrow was the first to notice the pair walk in, and waved to them.

"Welcome back."

Yang just shot off some finger-guns, to which Marrow returned them. Ruby, though, she ignored everyone, heading up to Vine and posing a question.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better, albeit fatigued." Yang wasn't kidding, his voice really was low. Ruby had inadvertently flinched as he spoke, to which Vine smiled and leaned a little closer. "Sorry if I'm quiet, I screamed a little too loud and injured my throat."

"Screamed..." Ruby recalled the motion, but not the noise. "I never heard anything."

"So I'm told. I spent so much time coughing out all the air in my lungs, that I've come to guess that I tried hitting too high a note, and ended up with nothing. I'm not much of a singer."

"What happened?" Ruby really didn't want to ask so abruptly, but she couldn't take it anymore. Back at the arena, his expression looked so... ghastly, as if his skin itself was boiling. The face he made in response was the stuff of nightmares, and would probably haunt her dreams for the next week at least. She needed to know how he could be so jovial after all that. Her question seemed to tick a box, and he bore a more focused look.

"Pain: nothing but pure, unbelievable pain." He paused for a second, looking over himself slightly before carrying on. "I'm told I received no direct physical injuries, and even after that pain, I can't really say the thought scars me. I should, at the very least, flinch every time I recall... but that's just it: I can't remember how it felt, all I'm certain of is that it was pain, and nothing more."

Pain... She couldn't quite understand it: how could you not remember what such a bad pain felt like? Moreover, why did such a pain leave no damage on him whatsoever? Not even mental. It was... ludicrous; the very idea made no sense. And in that absurdity, it felt familiar, reminding her of what their very situation in life was: insanity. Trying to wrap her head around it was hurting much more than the reasoning would probably be worth, and so she moved on to the topic of her mind.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm grateful for your concern, but you needn't worry; I'm doing well."

"Okay... Um, listen: I wanted to talk to you about something." And now came the unnatural attempt to bring up the instigator of his medical stay, all the while trying not to come off as pleading or weird, as if any of this were normal.

"Yes."

"It's... about V."

"You're worried I might resent him, correct?" Ruby nodded meekly at having been sniffed out, to which Vine tossed back on his calmer face. "Don't be. In my, I suppose we'll call it 'dazed' state, I could still hear everyone, even if I was in pain. He said he hadn't meant to hurt me, and I believe him."

"So, you don't hate him?" Ruby was holding on to too much hope, and she knew that - by now she was waiting for the inevitable 'but'.

"No... however-" And there it was. Ruby resigned herself to accepting that, while she didn't fully fault him, V still severely harmed an ally; it was only right that he faced some form of punishment. "I can't say I'll be letting my guard down anytime soon. It was an accident, yes, but in a way that makes things worse. He did this much unintentionally, which speaks to a lack of control. He could be a danger if we aren't careful."

"I..." Ruby sighed, giving up on it as understanding washed over her thoughts. "Yeah... you're right."

"You care for him, don't you?"

"Yes, he's my friend."

"I didn't mean it like that." This drew Ruby's eye, and she saw what amounted to a knowing look spread over his features, but strangely, she knew it wasn't so knowing as it appeared. This had Ruby taking a second to consider things before speaking again, this time in a clear voice.

"It's... weird. I like him, but, not entirely as a friend." She heard Weiss gasp a little, and Yang choke on her spit, but she didn't stop there. "But... I don't like him either. I think... the best way to say it is: I like him similar to Yang, or my Uncle Qrow, or dad."

"You see him as family."

"Is that wrong?"

His response was a soft shake of his head.

"A little odd, but no, it isn't wrong. Perhaps you see something in him that reminds you of all those people, something that feels familiar to family."

"Maybe..."

Ruby wasn't sure what to make of it all, these weird feelings buried deep inside sprouting up like the flowers her family was named after, and just as thorny. Yang wore a weird look, Weiss rolled her eyes at the older sister's over the top reaction, and Blake hid a tiny smile on the corner of her lips. Ruby ignored all of this, too engrossed in trying to now sort out the strange acceptance now puddling around the center of her understanding.

She knew he was family, his story proved it so, but was her attachment to him due exclusively to that, or had she always carried with her those particular emotions?


Author's note

...

Here we are, and pre-emptive apology time: I'm tired as hell, so this chapter might have more grammar issues because of it, plus a structure problem. Now, let's get this out of the way, that moment with the two journals was probably difficult to read, and I couldn't come up with a better place for it in the chapter, so I'll offer a basic brief of what was presented.

Thorn's journal is less reliable due to his senior self mucking with certain unnamed points, so anything he presents has a chance at being false, or at least a little off. In contrast, Veronica's section of Summer's journal follows a similar time frame, so it's possible to cross-reference events to a degree and confirm if something is true or not - more so the beginning and end of things, as she isn't there for certain moments.

The truth will always be present in the past section of the story as it moves along, so this is merely a problem for RWBY and crew. Sorry if that section of the chapter was hard to swallow, but it was either that, or wait another chapter to introduce Summer's journal, and we've all had enough waiting at this point.

Until next time.