Ballroom (Day)

"I need you to pick a tablecloth." Weiss told her partner as she slipped two square pieces of fabric to Ruby.

"Aren't they both the same?" the Rose asked, not seeing a difference in color.

"Weiss, stop torturing Ruby and help me with the balloons!" Welter said from across the room, trying (and failing) to inflate the decorations.

"Fine. This isn't over." the heiress said to Ruby as she walked to her brother.

Meanwhile, Russo and Sapphire were hanging up streamers. The older of the two was dozing off, though. "Uh, are you okay? You look like you haven't slept in days." Sapphire asked.

"I'm fine!" the blonde snapped, making Sapphire's eyes flash blue out of shock. Seeing his brother's face, Russo looked down. "Sorry. I'm just not used to staying up this long." he said, yawning a bit. "I might not be able to attend the dance."

"Wait, what? I thought you loved to sing." Sapphire said.

"Yes, sing. Not dance. You know I can't dance at all. The last time I tried, I broke my leg in three places!" Russo clarified, recalling the unfortunate incident. "Besides, what would I even wear?"

"You could rent a suit. I think a few other students are doing that too." his brother suggested.

That statement confused the blonde. "What's wrong with purple?" he asked. Looking around, he noted the absence of a certain Faunus. "Hey, do you know where Blake is?"

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen her since Combat Class." Russo said, placing a hand to his chin. He was torn from his thoughts by his sister, who was yelling at Weiss about decorations.

"I thought we agreed on no doilies!" Yang said angrily.

"If I don't get doilies, you don't get fog machines!" Weiss shot back, just as outraged. Hearing the door open, she and the blonde turned their heads to see Neptune and Sun.

"Your dance is gonna have fog machines?" Neptune asked, quickly gaining the attention of Welter.

"Nothing's been decided yet." the male Schnee said, his eyes glowing a faint green as he eyed the bluenette.

"Still, it's pretty cool." Neptune said, unaware of the death glare he was receiving.

"So, you ladies all excited for dress-up?" Sun asked as Russo walked over to the group.

"Yeah right." Ruby said dejectedly, not wanting to wear a dress.

"Laugh all you want, I'll be turning heads tomorrow night." Yang proudly declared.

"In which direction?" Russo asked with a grin before being punched in the face by his twin. "I deserved that." he weakly said from the floor, struggling to get back up.

"What are you two wearing?" Weiss asked Sun and Neptune.

However, the blonde faunus didn't seem to understand the question. "Uhh, this." he answered.

"Ignore him, for he knows not what he says." Neptune said, trying to save his partner's dignity.

"Hey, I may have moved to Mistral, but I grew up in Vacuo! It's not exactly a shirt-and-tie kinda place." Sun explained.

"Yeah, we've noticed." Yang deadpanned.

"So, what does Blake think of all this?" the monkey faunus asked. "Is she still being all... Blake-y?"

"Obviously." Weiss said.

"I still can't think of a way to change her mind." Ruby said, turning to Russo. "Can you convince her to come?"

"What!? Why me?" the blonde asked.

"Because you have a knack for getting through people's heads." Yang told her brother. "If anyone can talk to her, it's you."

The boy's eye turned red for a few seconds as he thought about what to do. After a while, his eye returned to its normal hue. "Okay. I'll see what I can do."

Classroom (Evening)

After a bit of persuasion, Russo managed to get Blake to agree to a meeting in Port's Classroom. "If you're going to try and tell me to stop, you may as well save your breath."

"Trust me, I know you won't. I just wanted you to try and relax for a while." the blonde said, sitting on the floor.

"We don't have the luxury to relax." Blake said, pacing back and forth.

"Really? Last I checked, animals require sleep to operate correctly." Russo said.

"What we require is stopping Torchwick." the Faunus retorted.

"That will happen. Eventually." Russo told Blake. "Come take a seat and listen to me. I have a story for you." Not seeing a way out of this, the Faunus sat down next to him.

"Ruby, Yang, Sapphire, and I grew up on Patch. It's a little island off the coast of Vale. Our parents were huntsmen. Our dad taught us at Signal Academy alongside our Uncle Qrow, and Mom would take us with her on missions around the Kingdom. Remind me to give you one of her cookies." Russo's eye flashed red for a moment before his face turned to a somber expression. "One day, ten years ago, I made a mistake and ended up nearly killing myself."

That got Blake's attention.

"I don't really remember much of it. All I know for sure is that I followed Mom on a mission, a dangerous one. I stowed away on a Bullhead and stayed quiet. When we landed, she sped out like a bullet. That woman could outrun sound itself if it meant she'd be able to help someone. It's just, she has a habit of acting without thinking. Something I think I picked up from her. I gave chase for what felt like miles until I found her face-down in a crater, with a man standing over her. The only thing I remember about him was the fact that he was a Faunus, a scorpion one. He poisoned Mom's leg with his tail and intended to leave her there to die."

Blake's eyes went wide at that. 'Kind of surprising that he defended me even after that.' she thought to herself.

"I don't remember what happened next. I think I blacked out or something. When I woke up, I was in the hospital with a bandage over my face. The doctors said Mom's leg had to be removed so the poison wouldn't spread. As for what happened to me, let's just say I became half myself." Russo knocked the right side of his face with a forced smile, a metallic sheen covering his right eye.

"Did you...?" Blake asked with a gasp, unable to finish her question.

"Yeah. It's a good thing I was friends with Welter. If I didn't have the right medical equipment from Atlas, I might not have been able to come to Beacon at all." the blonde said, remembering the painful installment of his prosthetic.

"Russo, I'm sorry that happened to you. I understand what you're trying to say, but this is different." the faunus said. "I'm not a child without fighting experience. I can't just-"

"I already said you don't need to stop. You just need to relax." the one-eyed blonde said. "We'll find the answers you want. But if you end up dying along the way, what's the point?"

"You don't get it! I'm the only one who can-" Blake's rant was cut off when Russo punched her in the stomach. Looking up at him, she noticed that his left eye was burning red.

"If you can't even beat me, what makes you think Torchwick will fall to you?" he asked. Taking a deep breath, his eye's hue returned to normal. "Please... At least rest for tonight. You deserve to have fun." Russo made his way to the exit before stopping. "Besides, there are people here who want you to live." he said before leaving.

Rock-a-bye baby, please don't you cry.

it's not youR fault you have that stRange eye.

stay safe with mommy, you'll neveR fall.

and we'll always love you, daRk secRets and all.

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