Chapter 9: Runaround

To the few students who had yet to meet the leader of Team RWBY, the sight of hundreds of rose petals scattered throughout the halls of Beacon was a baffling one. Everyone who did know her, however…

...was wondering what the heck was wrong with her.

After the third time she'd passed the cafeteria, Ruby was slowly moving from worried to frustrated. She felt like she'd ran a dozen laps in and around the school, and for all she knew, she had.

Finally stopping to take a breath, Ruby found herself, of all places, on the roof. The sky was quickly darkening as the sun sank beneath the horizon, stars just starting to dot the sky. Beacon was slowly starting to glow as lit windows took the place of the fleeing sunshine, the white surface of its wall being swallowed by the dark of night.

Ruby took no notice of any of this, however. For there was only one loud, frustrated thought running through her head that she was about ready to just scream towards the sky:

Yang, where the heck are you?!

Ruby sat on the roof, exhaustion winning out as she fell on her back. What should have been a quick jog had turned into a twenty-minute marathon as she searched in vain for her Big Sis. She'd checked the library, the cafeteria, every classroom, every dorm room that opened when she knocked, anywhere she could think that Yang could be hiding out.

And yet, here she was, still Big Sis-less… and now her legs hurt.

Ruby let out a groan.

I gotta find Yang. If she stews on this too long… Ruby shivered.

To Ruby, there four kinds of Yang. First was Big Sis Yang, who was around to most and was exactly what she sounded like: Ruby's best big sister she could ever have, ready to kick butt and take names of any and all who dared to threaten those she cared about.

Then there was Angry Yang, the often seen but rarely long-lasting Yang who tended to hit first and ask… well, usually never. Asking was usually up to whoever was with her at the time as Angry Yang tried to calm down from whatever was ticking her off at the moment. Luckily, Angry Yang tended to burn herself out rather quickly.

Next… next was a Yang that Ruby loved very dearly, yet at the same time wished never had to exist. The Yang who was there whenever times got too rough. The Yang who held her after a nightmare, who sang her to sleep right after. The Yang who did her best to make the perfect cookies from memory. The Yang who tried her hardest to fill the void. The Yang who a young Ruby had thought of as… Mama Yang.

Ruby smiled sadly up at the stars. As they'd gotten older and Ruby had come to terms with reality, Mama Yang had slowly started to fade away. Still, she knew, if need be, Mama Yang would make a reappearance.

But then…

Ruby frowned.

The fourth Yang… the most seldom seen, and the one that Ruby had never been able to give a name. She could count on one hand the number of times this Yang had appeared, and none of them were good. This Yang… this Yang was unpredictable… she tried to act like Big Sis Yang, but couldn't do it quite right. She was always a step or two behind where Big Sis Yang would usually be, and would sometimes burst into what was almost a harsher version of Angry Yang. But mostly she was just… empty.

Ruby closed her eyes. She didn't hate this Yang… how could she? Good or bad, she was still part of her Big Sis. But every time she showed up, she stuck around, sometimes for a few weeks, sometimes for months. She would eventually go away, and Big Sis Yang would come back, but that either took a long time, or for her to do something really stupid or dangerous.

The image of a little red wagon popped into Ruby's head.

She shook the image away. Yang wasn't nearly that bad this time. But that look in her eye… if Yang stewed too long, then Ruby would once again be stuck with… Troubled Yang?

Ruby frowned, shaking her head. Troubled was accurate, but at the same time didn't quite capture everything that made that Yang who she was.

Ruby sighed. The answer was simple: talk to Yang, listen to her vent (which she most likely wanted to do), then talk some more about the whole Mates thing.

However, that still left one major problem:

Where the heck is she?

Ruby groaned. I got nothing. I've been all over the school, most of the grounds, the roof, the basement, the pool… funny, no one told us Beacon had a pool… but no Yang. It's almost like…

With a blink, Ruby pulled herself up. She turned her head towards the twinkling lights of Vale.

Oh… maybe she went into the city. Ruby grimaced. Oh, I hope not. The last ship left for the day. I mean, I could run, but... She lifted one of her legs, wincing at the soreness. Yeah, I really hope she's still a Beacon. But where?

She let out a sigh. She thought about calling Yang on her scroll, but decided that this was a conversation that should be in person. Although…

Ruby sat up, pulling out her scroll. With a few finger taps, she pulled up her contacts and clicked on Yang's info. She scrolled until she found the correct command: Show Location.

Ruby clicked it and watched as a progress icon popped up, spinning and spinning. A message popped up:

User Offline.

Ruby let out a frustrated groan, closing her eyes as she brought a hand to her face. Well, at least she felt less stupid for not thinking of that earlier. Still, it would have been nice to just look up Yang's info and know exactly where she was.

Ruby's eyes slowly opened

Oh.

She looked back across the school grounds at the few people walking about in the moonlight. Would that work? I mean, it did with Blake, but she's the Faunus, and the one who made the Mark… but she gave Yang one, too. It makes sense… I think…

Ruby thought for a minute, then gave a sharp nod. Like Blake said, there's no harm in trying. Okay, close my eyes… block everything out… focus on my aura… and… push!

Again, Ruby found herself in a blank void, nothing but darkness in all directions. Doing as she had with Blake earlier, Ruby pushed her aura outwards, and waited. After a few seconds, she felt a small tug downwards. Turning her head towards it, she could see the same violet-clad cloud of black that she knew was Blake's aura. She felt her own aura start to reach out towards it, but quickly pulled it back.

No need to bother Blake while she's thinking… wait, would it bother her? Can you tell if your Mate is feeling your emotions? ...eh, questions for later. At least I know I'm doing it right. Now... where's Yang?

Ruby pushed her aura a little harder, feeling a slight strain as she did so.

Whew… Blake didn't mention this would make you tired… C'mon Yang, where the heck... Wait… is that…?

All of a sudden, Ruby's aura tugged in a different direction, downwards again, but also in the opposite direction of where Blake was. Looking that way, Ruby saw another wispy cloud of aura. This one was white… and seemed to be glowing.

Is that… Weiss? Ruby reached out with her aura, a wispy string of red stopping right near the cloud of white. Ruby hesitated for a second, then closed the gap between their aura, barely brushing Weiss'.

Ruby's whole body flinched back like she'd been burned, her eyes snapping open. She was dimly aware that the building she was looking towards was the Combat Room.

That… that was… Ruby couldn't put it into words. Weiss' emotions… Anger, frustration, so, so much confusion, but above all else… hurt.

She didn't even know if hurt counted as an emotion, but there was no mistaking that feeling. Weiss was hurting… badly.

Ruby thought back. She'd passed the Combat Room in her mad marathon across the campus, and had seen the heiress utterly decimate a number of practice robots with blast after blast of Dust. Ruby hadn't thought much of it, figuring Weiss was just venting her emotions the same way she'd seen Yang dozens of times before. But now…

She felt torn. She wanted to talk to her sister, but now she wanted to help her partner just as badly.

Help my Big Sis, or help my best friend? Big Sis, best friend, Big Sis, best friend… Uhh, being team leader really sucks sometimes.

She let out a long breath through her nose. I can't talk to Weiss until she calms down anyway. At least I know where she is. Yang first, Weiss right after. Now… where are you Yang?

Ruby closed her eyes and pushed. She ignored the tugging sensation towards Blake and Weiss, and pushed her aura as far as she could. Her head started pounding as she hit her limit.

C'mon, I gotta be close, where… there!

The small, weak tug forwards nearly made Ruby yell in triumph. Instead, she stretched out her aura, just as she had with Weiss. Sure enough, way off in the distance, there was a cloud of yellow aura, though it seemed kind of… dim. Ruby cracked open one of her eyes to find out which direction she was looking.

...the airfield? Gonna have to ask her about that. After the experience with Weiss' aura, Ruby was hesitant to touch Yang's, but did so all the same. And what she found was… surprising.

Nervousness. Confusion. A bit of anger. Those made sense, Ruby supposed. But sadness? Anxiety? Insecurity?

Yang, insecure? That was like saying Grimm were cute and cuddly.

Ruby frowned. I need to talk to her. Now.

She got to her feet… and immediately sat back down. With a hiss of pain, Ruby was suddenly aware that, in addition to her already sore legs, she'd also managed to deplete her aura.

Maybe I'll take the elevator.

It was a limping and rather sore Ruby who slowly made her way down the path to Beacon's airfield. A decent sized crowd of students were making their way towards the school, likely having just gotten off the last transport of the day. Ruby ignored them as they passed. She was so focused on the path in front of her, she accidentally bumped someone's shoulder as she walked.

"Oh, sorry!" she said quickly as the other person stumbled slightly.

"It's alright- Ruby?" Huh, that soft voice was familiar.

Ruby turned towards the person and immediately recognized the two large rabbit ears sticking out of her hair.

"Oh, sorry Velvet," she apologized more politely. "I'm a bit out of it."

The rabbit Faunus gave her a soft smile. "It's okay, Ruby." Then she frowned in concern. "Are you feeling alright? You look kind of tired."

Ruby just grinned, waving her off. "Oh, I just got done with a run. Oh, hey, have you seen my sister Yang?"

To her delighted surprise, Velvet nodded. "Yes, actually. Last I saw, she was sitting on a bench at the airfield, right near the cliffs."

Ruby beamed. "Perfect! Thank you, Velvet! See you around!" Ruby continued down the path, a bit more pep in her step.

Velvet smiled. "No problem. You're welcome, Ruby!" she called after the younger girl. Velvet turned to head towards Beacon, then stopped. Very slowly, she turned back towards the young sniper. She tilted her head a bit, her nose wiggling as she sniffed the air. She shook her head, laughing softly. "Must be my imagination," she said to herself, before jogging to catch up with her team.

Betaed By Covert Weapon

Old A/n: If this seems kind of short… that's because it is. This chapter started running long, so I made this bit it's own chapter. Next one shouldn't take to long after this though. A week at the most. See ya then!