Blake, through blurred vision, let herself steady. She'd finally gotten everything off her chest. From her decision to follow Adam, and all the way up to joining Beacon, she had told her mother everything she'd done.

Maybe it was fear, or some flawed sense that she might redeem herself that forced her to lay it all out. Either way Kali had stayed silent throughout the whole thing, and in a way that scared the girl. Blake wasn't able to tell if her mother was upset or not, and it was that tense silence of doubt that had her shaking.

Despite the sour parting she had with them Blake still loved her family immensely, and to know they might have lost hope in her somewhere along the line... she didn't know if she could take it.

"M-mom?" Blake stuttered out, waiting desperately for an answer. "Are you still th-there?"

"Yes dear, I'm still here."

Blakes eyes widened the tiniest amount. The tone sounded nothing short of comforting; so soft and relaxed, a complete reverse of what she expected. It left a new feeling to well up inside her.

Guilt.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Her mother responded as Blake fought back the pressure in her throat.

"Why do you sound so... calm? I've done so many terrible things, and hurt so many people. How can you sound like that when talking to someone like me?" The young woman was confused and lost on how her mother could even stand talking to her.

Her father had always been able to take tough news, but her mother was normally kind and soft of heart. She was the type of person to always involve herself with helping those in need when she came across them. Blake couldn't understand why the woman hadn't out right hung up after hearing about what she'd done in the White Fang.

Blake was caught off guard by a slight giggle on the other line.

"Because you're my little kitten, and I love you."

"M-mom..."

"You're such a silly little girl, you know that? Always getting herself in trouble trying to help others; just like her mother. "Blake let her breathing steady as Kali released a content breath. "We've been worried. Since you left we feared that something might have happened to you, but it's a relief to know you've found somewhere safe to be, and people to spend time with. Although I will be having some words with Vermillion the next time I see him."

Kali's voice was stern in that last bit, and Blake wondered just how much her parents knew about the guy. Her mother seemed to relax again and her voice came once more.

"Still, I'm glad he found you, because it led to me talking with you now." Blake leaned a little closer as a moment of silence filled the call, only for it to be broken moments later. "Blake, we love you, and we'll always be there to support you wherever you go."

"But I've hurt so many..."

"You have, but we still love you."

"Why?" It was a plead. Blake needed the answer, and she didn't know what it would do to her.

"Because we do. I know it doesn't sound like much, and it doesn't have any direct reasoning to go off of, but it's the truth. We love you, we always have and always will. Since you were a little girl and up to even now we've loved you. Maybe I'm just crazy, but I could never find it in myself to hate you in the slightest. Sure I've gotten upset or even mad at times when you broke rules or did something dangerous, but I still cared about you."

Blake let out a breath; one she held without knowing. She still couldn't understand, but in a way the girl somehow felt fine with that. Maybe it was something she wasn't supposed to understand. She couldn't fathom her parents undying love, yet it didn't bother her. Instead that seemingly blind love brought a feeling of sanctuary, as if she always had a place to rest.

Blake began to wonder as she sat there in a moment of thought. She was always judging herself so intensely on every decision she made... but was it justified, or had that judgement been formed purely from her own guilt? Had she really been making decisions based on what was best, or had it all been to try and shift away from her mistakes? In those thoughts she came to a conclusion.

Maybe it was time to try something new. Yet she had failed so many times before, and her rational side would argue it a fruitless decision.

Yet this time felt different, and it was that difference that brought out an unbreakable drive. Blake felt like she could truly succeed, whereas she'd only been cautious before. It was a strange feeling, that bite of determination breaking past the skin.

"Blake? Are you okay?" Asked Kali through a worried voice.

"I am." Blake answered with an unseen smile, one that burned with a passion she'd not felt in so long.

She finally believed there was a real chance, one that could change everything, and one she never fully held before. All of it stemmed from one tiny detail; a detail that brought her real confidence in her goal, and one she'd lost as the White Fang fell to chaos. Yet here it was, surrounding her in almost every aspect of Beacon.

She wasn't alone.

.

.

I let out a sigh as I paced along the stalls, haphazardly meandering around, all the while lost on what to do.

Great... another mess to deal with.

To be honest I wasn't really all that upset with Pyrrha, but I could tell my input wasn't exactly what she was looking for. But she seemed almost desperate, and that was what bothered me the most. She looked almost afraid, and even though she tried to hide it I could see sprinkles of it seep out like water through the cracks.

She was scared.

Pyrrha was scared.

The dubbed 'invincible girl' was scared.

I'd seen her skills - heck, I'd been on the receiving end - and I knew just how dangerous she was when fighting. So for something to scare her... it left me in a tight spot. Either something too dangerous for her to handle popped up, or she was dealing with a scenario she couldn't control; perhaps both were true. It would seem like nothing to most, but I had the unfortunate chance of running into someone back at the dance; someone who had me on guard more than ever.

A woman bearing Grimm.

If it weren't for that I may have just brushed Pyrrha's fear off as stress due to the festival, yet now I wondered if there was more to it than that. Had that woman run into Pyrrha at some point? Was there something she wasn't telling? The questions only brought on more of their kind, so much so that I started to wonder what it all meant, and if it was all connected.

"Hey V, what's got you all gloom and doom?"

I looked up to catch sight of Mercury as he strode over, arms crossed and a lazy yet playful look in his eyes.

"It's nothing important." I spoke, having decided to keep the issue to myself as he had no part in it.

"Well then, why not waste some time with me. My team's off doing who knows what, so why not try and branch out while we can?"

I couldn't really deny it. I didn't exactly have a part to play in the tournament, and I had nowhere to be for the rest of the day.

"Fine then, what did you have in mind?" I relented, realizing I had nothing better to do now that I'd essentially pushed Pyrrha away, as well as having unintentionally run out on Ruby; I knew I needed to apologize to her for that later.

"Great! You see there's this killer little spot I happen to know that would be perfect to just laze around in. You'll love it I promise." He wrapped his arm around me as he lead on, all the while I wondered if it was such a good idea.

Passing through some crowds we came upon the docking bay, and I saw several crowds broke apart trying to get to their respective seats. Mercury however led us past all that, breaking from the crowds as he dragged us over to a more abandoned looking place. I saw a small hole in the wall, one that he motioned through as I followed.

"Well, what do you think? Pretty sweet right."

I wouldn't exactly say that, but the area did have a sort of relaxed feel to it. For the most part it looked to be an abandoned room, with nothing but a couch and some chairs placed senselessly around. There was also a table in the center of the room, sporting what looked like more of those comics he'd shown me.

"It seems nice." I commented as he flopped over on the couch, leaning back and letting out a sigh.

"Quiet, hidden, comforting, all the makings of a great hideout. You'll get used to it in a bit." Mercury said as he looked to me with a smirk.

"I guess..." I wasn't exactly confident I'd be spending much time in the 'hideout' but at the moment I had nothing better to do.

I wandered over to the table and grabbed one of the many books, intent to at least sample some of their content, as well as putting my reading lessons to use.

.

.

Wandering through the dark had been just as exciting as the cliffs before, and Ruby was just as tired of it if not more. Cold; empty; damp; all things she hated in one place. Then again it wasn't all bad, at least she was making progress, or she hoped she was anyway, it was hard to tell when everything looked the same.

Despite such lack of action the woman kept her wits about her, knowing just how dangerous new terrain was.

Her observations of the shadow encrusted walls showed that the tunnel was anything but natural. The stone looked to be scraped and beaten out, as if someone were tearing at it with a dull pick. There were bits that looked to have broken off as an effect of the main beatings, not to mention the broken chunks seemingly left behind at random.

Normal spelunkers would have cleared the path as a way to allow easy access, and yet the it was littered with many a tripping hazard. Added on to the fact that the island had no Human or Faunus inhabitants was besides the point, as she had already decided on what to blame for the tunnel.

Oddly enough it too was barren, which was another thing to push the idea that whatever was taking the Grimm was immensely powerful. After all, the Grimm would never leave their villages completely unattended.

Ruby ducked under as she passed into another section, only to sigh as she brought her light forwards and noticed it was another dead end. She pumped a bit more aura into the crystal gripped between her fingers, watching as it glowed more and more. She stopped as the light started to flicker, knowing that too much aura would cause it to explode into a wreath of flame.

Fire dust was always the most difficult to use on it's own, but unfortunately she didn't have any lightning on her at the moment; that was back at the ship, much like the rest of the dust they brought. At least the crew stocked up before they left, but that wasn't much comfort for her as she let her eyes scan the burrow.

Several sets of broken animal bones littered the mangled dirt, painted in bits of still wet fluids. Upon closer inspection she was able to see that the liquid was darker than that of water, and paired with the familiar odor which already filled the room it all but confirmed her suspicions.

Blood.

While uncommon, Grimm did tend to hunt and consume local wildlife, even though their biological makeup gave them no reason to. Most believed it was them mimicking the creatures whos forms they twisted into. However there was no hard evidence to suggest it, just a theory she remembered from back in school, and one that brought memories of better days. Ruby shook her head as she focused back on the bones.

Fresh blood, which meant the kills were more recent than the absence of Grimm would make it seem. Whatever drew the beasts away had to have started in the past day or so, yet it made no sense as she thought about before.

Rumors spoke of the irregular Grimm movements before they even left town, which meant that the source would have been active for some time now. Ruby found herself lost on how such a thing could be. How could the bones be fresh if the Grimm were lured away? The more she thought about it the less sense it made, that was until she decided to take a different angle, one that made her eyes widen.

They weren't lured...

All throughout the trip across the island she assumed it was absent of Grimm because they were all lured to the center. But what if they weren't? Ruby wandered around a bit more, paying closer attention to the markings on the floor, intent on finding any clues as to what happened.

She froze as a loud crack echoed around her, shaking the very walls of the cavern, followed by a loud roar. Ruby dashed away as something crashed behind her, and bringing up the light she was able to see what it was.

The Ursa rushed for her again, this time moving at a speed greater than what she would have expected from it, especially in such a cramped place. Ruby dodged yet again, intent on drawing her weapon, only to stop as she realized she'd get no real use from it with no room to swing it around.

The woman let out a short swear as she backed up, only to feel something clamp down on her arm. Bursting apart her petals flurried through a small burrow, taking form once more in a slightly larger room. As her vision returned she stilled at the sight.

Grimm surrounded her on all sides, and it looked like she'd alerted all of them. They stood one in unison, eyes burning with a hatred stronger than anything she'd seen in years, and released the myriad of corpses they looked to be feasting on.

Right into the storage room huh? Just my luck.

However it was through the slight moment of tension where she was able to see that the Grimm were different than the usual lot. While they held the bodies of other various species, they all lacked heads, instead sporting a long tendril of sorts lined with teeth on the open end.

It reminded her of the Grimm she'd fought back in Vacuo long long ago, only those ones were entirely worms.

With a slight grunt of anger Ruby relented, knowing of only one way to even the odds and pull out a victory. Pouring almost all of her aura into her eyes the world went white for a few moments. Her sight returned and the beasts surrounding her were stone, much like every other time she used the silver light.

Yet she felt the familiar pain flow through her as her weakened body sought only the comfort of sleep on the rocky floor.

When she was young she used to be able to use her silver eyes relentlessly, taking down wave after wave with Glee once she'd gotten the hang of them. Yet it was only some time later when she learned that they - much like everything else in the world - had a cost. As she let the light shine, her vision would take a hit for some time. While it was minor when she was young, age had a way of making such a thing worse.

As Ruby looked around she was able to make out the shapes of the Grimm, yet the details of everything were blurred. It was temporary however, and her vision would return in a few minutes. It was also the lesser of the cost, as each use had a more severe effect on her, and one she only noticed during training years ago.

Her aura capacity was shrinking.

Each use of the silver light seemed to eat at her maximum amount of usable aura. It was an effect that took her far to long to realize, and had left her with half of her usual amount compared to when she was young.

At least back during the initial run.

Turned out that time manipulation had some... after effects. Due to the nature of her jumps she found herself back at full capacity, and since then she'd been more cautious of the use of her silver light.

That didn't stop age from worsening her temporary blindness.

She held her ground for a solid minute before her vision fully returned; a drastic pain in the ass as she realized that she panicked and used too much power. Ruby looked around at the frozen pack, all bearing the appearance of stone, and holding poses mid-leap. Several had shattered upon hitting the ground; spread apart broken into small chunks.

Yet she found it odd that she could see at all. Her fire crystal had been lost back when she panic rushed into the room, yet something cast enough light for her to make out everything around her. Ruby looked up and found the source of the light in the form of a small crack in the ceiling.

Finally, something I can use!

She'd gotten tired of wandering the cave, and knowing there was an easy out put her in brighter spirits. Ruby rested for one last moment before she took to the ceiling, her petals slipping through with ease into the unknown.

The cloaked woman emerged once more on a dusty cliff top, her eyes opening to a sight that killed any good mood she may have still had. All of a sudden it made sense, all of it, from the irregular Grimm movements to the creatures of the cave. Off in the distance she stared at the source of all the strange occurrences.

A colossal.

In several caverns and ruins throughout Remnant carvings could be found, depicting one of four gigantic Grimm. Back in school a certain history teacher told of the carvings, and how scholars debated the existence of such massive Grimm. Yet it would be proven partially true in the short time she was there, with one such Grimm making an appearance during a certain destructive moment during a time of celebration.

Vale had shown the dragon, and it would seem that Menagerie had... something. To be perfectly honest Ruby didn't know what the thing was.

It's body looked skeletal, with spindly limbs sporting long claws similar to that of the Apathy. However it's legs looked more lizard like... all six of them. It's head was similar to those of the cave dwelling Grimm moments before; long, worm like, and lined with teeth around a gaping maw with no eyes in sight. The creature was easily the size of the cliff she stood on, and looked to be wandering around, crushing all in it's path.

That thing stood between Ruby and her destination, and she knew she needed to get rid of it before continuing on. During that moment she had only one thought on her mind.

Oh fuck me!

Author's note

...

If you're reading this then it means I was finally able to post again, meaning you'll be getting another chapter tomorrow as opposed to Friday. (You'll still get one Friday don't worry)

Good news is we can carry on without any more setbacks.

This time we have V dealing with the fallout of his decision... kind of, as well as theorizing about what happened. Merc also makes an appearance once more, and V seems to want to try and test his reading ability.

We also had Blake and her mother, as well as any resolve she may have worked from that conversation. It would seem the local cat girl's got some ideas in her head now.

Future Ruby's back with her adventures in the past, with all the chaos you'd expect, only now in a larger form. Also by this point I have a connection again, meaning I can respond to reviews and comments.

As such I can admit that Future Ruby's sections have a drastically different tone to V's side of the plot at this point. This is intentional, and I can't really say more without spoiling several things. All I can say is pay attention to both and you might start to catch on to things. Not yet though, you don't have enough info for that... or do you?

As for Penny... you'll just have to wait and see.

Anyway that's all for this time so let me know what you think. See you tomorrow.