Chapter 3

Shadows of the Past

Ruby and Blake made camp in the fourth story of an abandoned apartment building, specifically an apartment that had been empty when the city fell. While Blake wasn't very particular about where she squatted, Ruby didn't like sleeping atop the wreckage left behind in a family's panic to get out of a city alive.

The apartment they'd chosen overlooked the two main thoroughfares in the industrial district. It was also a fairly secure building and hadn't taken much time to clear. An abandoned factory or warehouse would've taken considerably longer, especially if they had to be watchful of both Grimm and faunus, and neither huntress wanted to exert any more aura than they already had to.

Blake was particularly thankful due to her back and knees screaming in agony after carrying most of their supplies all day, but chose not to say anything on account of Ruby's own knees bothering her. It was her first time wearing her combat cybernetics since her last mission several months prior, and despite or perhaps due to all of Ruby's numerous upgrades, apparently they weren't quite as comfortable as her civilian models.

She settled down onto her sleeping bag and fished out a bag of chocolate chip cookies from her utility belt. Keeping morale high was one of a huntsman's priorities during a mission due to Grimm being attracted to negative emotions, and although they'd both been trained to keep their auras from broadcasting their emotions, Grimm would naturally gravitate toward them if their spirits fell too low.

"Reminds me of our first mission together," Ruby said, loosening the connection between her knees and cybernetics. "Remember? Mt. Glenn and the lost city."

Blake dragged a chair over to one of the windows, deciding to start her watch early. "How could I forget..."

Ruby smiled, looking thoughtful as she took a bite, narrowly missing her fingers. "We were looking for the White Fang back then too, and I remember you being pretty mopey the whole mission. I guess the more things change the more they stay the same!"

"Hopefully this time has a happier ending." As usual Blake didn't feel much like small talk, and also wasn't exactly the type to reminisce. Their respective childhoods had shaped them into becoming the huntresses they were, but Blake had never quite learned to let go of the past like Ruby had after her mother's death. It was lucky then that Grimm weren't as easily attracted to faunus as they were humans.

"We stopped the White Fang last time," Ruby said, "and we'll stop them again!"

"They all died last time," Blake reminded her. "Hundreds of civilians died too. We nearly died, and a month later the fall of Beacon happened, led by Adam. History might not repeat itself, but it does rhyme. The faunus have learned that the hard way."

"Okay, so it's not just like last time. Oobleck was a great teacher, but he wasn't half the huntsman either of us are. It's not the same White Fang, Eve isn't Adam, and we're not the same Ruby or Blake either."

She wiggled her feet as proof, and carefully removed her boots and leggings. They weren't necessary to wear of course, but the aura-saturated clothing provided her cybernetics an extra layer of protection and also helped keep the internal components from rattling, and heavy boots weren't particularly comfortable to sleep in. Blake hadn't told her yet, but tomorrow she'd be going in alone while Ruby provided sniper support from afar on account of all the noise she made sneaking around.

"Our first mission might not have gone the way we would've liked," Ruby continued, "but we saved a lot of people that day. If there's one thing I've learned since then, it's that saving the world doesn't make you feel all that much better about yourself. I've saved more lives than just about any huntsman around, but it'll never be enough, which is why I can't stay away from this job. Not for very long anyway, and it's why you founded Oasis Academy and dragged us to this Grimm infested city in the first place. It'll never be enough for you either. Am I right?"

Blake didn't answer, her eyes trained on the fading light outside but not seeing anything but shadows.

"We might not be partners," Ruby said, raising her voice, "but we are teammates, and a part of your soul dwells inside of me just like a part of mine dwells inside of yours. Yang's my sister, and even thousands of miles away, I can still sense what kind of mood Weiss is in. The two of you were always close even if you didn't always see eye to eye."

"What's your point?"

Ruby sighed, a bit of her sister's and partner's infamous tempers flaring within her. "My point is that I've known since I was a little girl that I can't change the world. You're still trying to. I think the work you've done in Menagerie is incredible, Blake, but you're taking this mission personally, and that never ends well. Not for you anyway. Despite all the good you've done, you're still trying to make up for all the bad, and you think that if you can save Eve from following Adam's footsteps, from following your footsteps, that you can save a little of yourself as well. Tell me that I'm wrong."

A bit of Yang's temper rose in Blake as well, not to mention her own indignation at someone articulating so easily what she struggled to understand herself. "We might not be partners," she said at last, "but you've never had trouble reading my mind, Ruby."

Ruby shook her head and chuckled. "Yeah I have, and I still do. It's taken me this long to get this far. I didn't really know how to talk to you back then, and I still don't, so I try to leave these kinds of talks to Yang and Weiss."

Blake almost smiled. "Thanks for that. Being constantly interrogated by Yang Xiao Long and Weiss Schnee is so helpful."

"Yeah, well, try having Yang as an older sister and Weiss as a partner."

"Thanks but no thanks." This time Blake did smile, and even giggled a little. She loved her teammates dearly, more than she ever thought possible to love anybody, but being the only sane member of the team despite being a former terrorist was more than a little exhausting sometimes.

The two sat in silence for some time, with Ruby making her coffee and offering a leftover sandwich. Blake would move to the rooftops for a better view once the sun fully went down. They didn't know what kind of Grimm might be lurking around, and also didn't want to chance the White Fang having an even better vantage point and seeing either of their silhouettes.

Blake didn't have too much to worry about, but despite the night vision and thermal scopes on Crescent Rose, Ruby was at a distinct disadvantage at night. Although her time as a Maiden had been brief, the usage of the demigod-like powers had affected her eyesight just like they did for all Maidens, and Blake wasn't sure to what extent since Ruby had always been excellent at hiding her shortcomings.

Ruby settled in for the first shift of rest, lying atop the sleeping bag with her cloak wrapped around her and a small arsenal of weapons within arm's reach. She wasn't particularly sleepy, but she knew it'd be a while before Blake unwound enough to allow herself to rest.

"So..." Ruby drawled, the silence burning her ears. "Eve's fifteen years old, huh? That's about the time you left the White Fang, isn't it?"

"Eve was born almost two years after I left."

"Then you're sure she isn't yours?"

Blake turned and glared at her. "I'm sure," she seethed.

"Are you though? Because you and Adam were, well, you know..."

"I'm pretty sure I'd remember having a child, Ruby."

"Oh, right, 'cause you would've been the one pregnant. Not Adam. Duh. I knew that."

Blake snorted, trying desperately to remain annoyed but finding it impossible. Ruby was as crazy as she was brilliant, and also spent much of her life blissfully unaware of the obvious. Or so she pretended anyway.

"Eve's mother was a member of the White Fang around the same time I was, but I didn't know her very well, and Eve knew her even less. She died during the Maiden War. Probably on a raid gone bad. There's always been lots of orphans in the White Fang. Usually our own fault, but they usually make better soldiers."

'OUR own fault,' Ruby noted. Even after half her life spent away from the White Fang, Blake still thought of herself a part of it. 'Probably always will...'

"How long have you known that she's Adam's daughter?"

"A while," she answered unhelpfully.

Ruby sighed inwardly. "You told me that Eve's a sweet girl," she said, hoping to drag a little more out of her. "Why'd she want to join the White Fang?"

"Probably the same reason a lot of us do. Comradery. Feeling like you're making a difference in the world. It's not that different from training to be a huntsman in all honesty."

Ruby ignored the not-so-gentle nudging Weiss' soul was giving her, and instead followed her own line of questioning. "Wasn't that what she was already training for?"

Blake shook her head. "Menagerie's still a dangerous place, almost as dangerous than Anima, and a lot of the students attending Oasis are only taking combat courses. Instead of a separate school like Signal or Pharos, Oasis provides both basic combat and huntsmen training."

"And let me guess, Eve shows a lot of promise?"

She nodded, still gazing out the window not seeing anything. "She's not as refined as you were at her age, but even if she's not interested in becoming a huntress, Eve has the talent, and she takes after her father. In more ways than one..."

The various souls within Ruby shuddered, especially Weiss'. "And her semblance?"

"I don't know. Last time I was in her class or read a report, she was still trying to figure it out." Blake smiled faintly. "She's a quick learner, but not everyone masters their semblance at fifteen."

Ruby didn't need Weiss' social skills to sense Blake wasn't telling the whole truth, but then again, she rarely did. Although she'd never fought Adam personally like her teammates, Ruby was willing to make a guess at his daughter's semblance, her skill with a sword, and how her emotions were directly linked to her overwhelming aura.

Skilled with a blade or not, Eve was dangerous, not just to her enemies and those around her, but herself perhaps more than anyone.

Ruby lied in the growing darkness quietly contemplating all that Blake had said and more importantly not said, her mind racing several hundred miles an hour. "What about other members of the White Fang? Can you tell me anything about them?"

"I know some of them by name and what they're capable of, but nothing that would be of much use to you. Most of them are just kids believing the same dogma that I did."

"I think that just about covers it then," Ruby said, sitting up. "One more thing though. Two things really. Why did Eve really run away, and what exactly is she to you?"

Blake remained silent, and the silence continued for so long that Ruby had given up on the conversation and begun working on the scripts for her next twelve videos when Blake finally spoke up again, her voice barely audible.

"Adam was a good person once," she whispered. "We were orphans living on the streets of Menagerie. The day we met, he saved my life and taught me how to fight, and I taught him how to steal food without getting caught. Adam's dream was to join an academy and become a huntsman, but I wanted to join the White Fang and be a revolutionary. He didn't start out as a monster. I turned him into one."

Ruby sighed, having heard this version of the story countless times over the years. "It doesn't matter whose fault it is. You both made your choices in the end, and you both faced the consequences. You chose to leave, and Adam chose to stay. That's all there is to it."

"No it isn't..."

"You left the White Fang seventeen years ago," Ruby practically shouted. "and you've been trying to make up for it every day since. This obsession is going to get you killed, and it's only because of us you aren't dead already. Or is that what you want? I can feel it in your aura, you know. You think saving Eve will somehow make things right, but it won't, and neither will letting Eve get revenge for killing her father."

She paused, waiting for Blake to tell her that she was wrong, hoping she would, but when she didn't, Ruby continued. "Let me guess, Eve found out who killed her father, and now she's angry and looking for revenge. If you give that to her, Blake, you'll ruin Eve's life worse than you think you ruined Adam's, and everyone else's life he affected."

Her venomous words hung in the air, and just as Ruby began to think she'd gone too far and should apologize, Blake's lip twitched. "I can't decide if you sounded like Yang there, or Weiss."

Ruby smiled back at her. "Personally I thought I sounded like you. You're a good person, Blake. Really, you are. One of the best I've ever met. You just refuse to admit it or listen when anybody tells you, is all."

Blake remained silent for several long minutes as she considered Ruby's words and wrestled her own guilty conscience, neither side coming close to a resolution. "Eve isn't my daughter, but she should've been," she said, close to tears. "I can see it clear as day, Ruby. Clearer than I've ever seen anything my entire life. I loved Adam, and if I had stayed with him, maybe I could've saved him, or at the very least, maybe Eve would've been my daughter, and maybe she wouldn't have to grow up on the streets like I did. From the moment I first saw her, I knew..."

'That's a whole lot of maybes.'

Ruby didn't say anything, nor did she get up to try and comfort her. She knew how much Yang adored her children. Loved them more than life itself, and would sometimes call Ruby crying on the phone just at the thought of them getting hurt. Ruby had never been interested in having any other life than being a huntress, and until that very moment, she had always assumed the same about Blake.

"We'll save her," Ruby said. "I don't know how exactly, but we'll save Eve from following her father's footsteps, and her godmother's for that matter."

Blake smiled despite herself and wiped her eyes. "That's why I wanted you to come with me, Ruby. You made me a better person back then, and you still are all these years later. If there's anyone that can save Eve from herself, it's you. I know it isn't my place, and I know Eve isn't really my daughter, but I love her like she's my own. I don't expect her to want much to do with me once this is over, but if we're able to convince her to come with us, will you look after her for me? Please?"

"If you didn't already know the answer to that, you wouldn't have asked me for help in the first place," she said, grinning ear to ear. "This isn't all about you, Blake, and it's not just because she's Adam's daughter. I'm doing this because of Eve, and because it's my job and what I was born to do."

'Save people from the monsters out there and the monsters within.'

Blake sighed and relaxed for the first time since she didn't know when. Probably since the morning Eve didn't report for class. "Thank you, Ruby. I know I keep saying it, but I honestly can't ever repay you enough."

"Subscribe to me on GunTube and like all my videos and we'll call it even."

Blake chuckled. "I guess it's a start."

(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Although Ruby and Blake don't interact a lot in canon or my other fanfics, I always enjoy writing their interactions due to how different Ruby and Blake are. I view every pairing of Team RWBY as being opposites of one another and also complementing one another, with Ruby being both an optimist and realist while Blake is a pessimist and idealist. Ruby easily forgives others and herself, but Blake still hasn't forgiven herself for her actions while a part of the White Fang or her role in Adam's death, which as we'll learn is similar to but not exactly the same as canon in this story. Ruby is driven by the need to do good and help others, but Blake is driven by self-guilt and searching for redemption.

Those who've read some of my other fics will know that Silver Eyed Warriors don't exist in my stories, and longtime readers will also probably catch a few references to other stories, such as Ruby being a former Maiden. While many of my fanfics borrow heavily from each other, only a handful are specifically stated to take place in the same universe, and it's entirely up to the reader to decide if or how they connect to one another. I just wanted to clarify that here since Silver Eyes are kinda OP in a story like this, and I didn't want there to be any confusion.

The plot will be picking up from here and I'm looking forward to the coming chapters, and I hope you are as well.

All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has blessed me with this story and all of you wonderful readers. God bless)