(Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, the franchise, IP or series, only this fanfiction (plus Dizzy and any other characters, companies, gun brands, etc, that I made for this book) ((I mean obviously I own Dizzy, he's just a barely-disguised self-insert I put into this book as the main character, and I'm pretty sure I own myself)), RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth, all rights to the original series are reserved to them, yadda yadda yadda, other legal jargon I need to put here as to not get sued to high hell.)
Third Person P.O.V.
Friday, 02:05
It's a quiet night over at Beacon Academy, well, as long as you aren't inside of Team RWBY's dorm currently it is, unfortunately for the focus of this chapter, she is.
Yang Xiao Long has just awoken from the dead of night, interrupted from her well-deserved sleep after a long day of going to her classes and texting with some dude she met in a bar close to a week ago, being roused from her slumber by what sounds like murmuring and thumbtacks being placed on a cork board or something similar.
In order to find out what the hell woke her up this late, 2 in the morning late to be exact, which she found out after checking the time on her Scroll soon after awaking, she gets down from her unstable bunk bed and turns towards the source of all the noise.
The source is none other than Ruby Rose, her sister, currently still in her pajamas (Or pyjamas, whatever) and currently muttering to herself while looking at a large cork board placed on top of her desk, leaning against the wall, Yang can't really see that much of it due to her sister being in front of it and her eyesight still being a little blurry from just waking up, but what she can see is various photos on the board, held up by the thumbtacks she heard being placed earlier, and a bunch of red string connecting photos to one another, alongside some scribbled words under a few photos.
In an attempt to find out what Ruby's doing, Yang quietly walks over to her before speaking up to grab her attention.
Yang: "Hey, Rubes, it's two in the morning...you okay?"
Ruby lets out a small sound of surprise upon hearing her sister, quickly turning her body to face her, her eyes are wide and there appears to be eye bags underneath them, although they aren't that bad as of right now.
Her change of direction gives Yang a chance to see the main photo on the cork board, the center of the whole thing, the photo being a printed image of one of the frames from the report Lisa Lavender did on the SDC train heist two days back, the frame itself being the last part of the leaked recording of the robbers responsible for the whole thing, it seems that the image was cut to only show the man in the White Fang mask aiming his rifle at the camera right before the recording stopped.
She turns her attention towards Ruby, a look of mild worry on her face.
Yang: "Please don't tell me you're still on this little case."
Ruby: "He's working with a crime boss! How could I just give up so easily?! There's gotta be something I can find to see what other information I can get on him so I can-"
Before she can go on with her speech, Yang gently puts her hand on Ruby's shoulder, causing her little sister to stop talking as she gives her a look that says 'calm down'.
Ruby stares at her for a moment before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, opening her eyes and speaking up again right after.
Ruby: "It's just-I let him get away when he was robbing From Dust Till Dawn and then a few days later he's stealing from the government, who knows what else he will end up doing in the future! I've been trying to find anything I can on him but I just. Cant. Figure out who he is!"
Yang's expression softens slightly as she listens to Ruby talk, keeping quiet and waiting a little bit after her sister finishes speaking before responding.
Yang: "Ruby, why are you so fixated on this guy? It's almost like you're obsessed."
Ruby: "I'm not obsessed! I'm just trying to track down a criminal, and once I find him, I can find his boss and coworkers and take down their whole operation! All I need to do is find out what this all means-I mean, look at this!"
She reaches towards her desk and grabs what seems to be one of six spent 10 Gauge shotgun shells, holding it up to her sister's face right after.
Ruby: "I found this in one of the train cars from the robbery that was on the news yesterday."
She turns the shell in order to showcase some writing, written on the shell in orange marker is the words, 'INVADERS MUST DIE' in pure capital letters.
Yang raises an eyebrow at the choice of wording before turning her attention back to Ruby.
Yang: "Is there something else that's making you so obsessed with this guy? It's almost like you're looking for more than just his identity or something..."
Ruby: "Not obsessed! All I am trying to do is find his identity to get him arrested, nothing more, I just need to figure out what this all means, find out who he is, track him down, catch him off-guard and arrest him! Look at this."
She puts the shell back where it was and grabs a brown wrapper, the words 'RATION, TYPE D' are written on it in black lettering, there seems to have been more writing on it, but the words have faded due to the passage of time.
Ruby: "These are authentic rations from World War 2, they don't make these anymore, if I find out where he got these from, as long as he didn't order them online, maybe I can find out what part of Vale he's in and keep a lookout in the area to catch him in the middle of another robbery."
She slowly nods as Ruby talks before responding, her voice sounding a little strained now.
Yang: "You...do know you're starting to sound a teensy-weensy bit obsessive over this criminal, right?"
Ruby: "I'm not obsessed, I'm doing research, all I need is maybe a few more weeks and I can find out who he is and bring him to justice, I just need him to slip up and leave another clue."
She turns back to the cork board on her desk and starts mulling over the photos on it again, causing Yang to let out a sigh.
Yang: "I swear if you keep getting this worked up over the mere thought of tracking down a guy that you have only seen once, but have never seen again, I am taking you to see Professor Oobleck for an evaluation."
Ruby: "Ugh, fine, I'll take a break."
She grabs the cork board and lays it face-down on her desk, putting the shells and wrapper on top of it before getting onto her bunk bed, muttering under her breath before going to bed.
Ruby: "I'm not obsessed..."
Yang overhears her say this, and lets out a tired but amused sigh as she prepares to go back to sleep.
Yang: "Sure you're not, Ruby, sure you're not."