"Need help with an outfit for tomorrow?"

Ruby groaned, arms wrapping slightly tighter against Yang's back as they pulled to a red stoplight. She was thankful for the helmet hiding her rosy cheeks—mostly since if her sister saw them, she'd see it as a green card to tease her about it for the next six months. Even though she'd blush at even the implication she had a crush on someone—true or not.

"I don't have a crush on her, Yang. We're barely even friends—seriously, we just met! How long do you think it takes for me to get a crush on someone?"

Yang gave her a sly smirk. "If you're like me? One look's all it takes~."

Ruby glared from behind the helmet, only to meet her with a smirk of her own. "Is that what happened with the 'old girl' you went there with last time? What was that about, huh?"

Yang's face went bright red as she turned around, suddenly praying for the light to turn green. "Beats me—people there start all kinds of rumors."

"Who was she? Huh? Huh? Who—"

The light turned green, and Yang gunned it forward.

Ruby yelped as Bumblebee shot off, unable to get a proper grip as she fell back, stumbling into a run. "Yang! Wai—"

CLANG!

Ruby stumbled back, teeth rattling as she ran head-first into a street light. She pulled the helmet off, brushing her hair off as she saw Yang—by now a dot in the distance—disappear around the corner. Wow…sore subject.

She looked at the street lamp before turning back to the helmet.

"Glad I was wearing you."

She tucked the helmet under her arm, walking toward the area she knew the Beacon airships were. It wasn't all that far—she could get there before Yang if she used her semblance—but even then it wasn't more than a fifteen-minute walk.

She grabbed her scroll in her other hand, placing the helmet in her hood so she could use both hands. Her first thought? Check if anyone she knew was in Vale.

Not for the first time, she thanked Weiss's proposal to get the 'Huntsman 360' app for their scrolls after Blake disappeared. Made keeping track of her team easier. She of course saw herself and Yang in Vale, along with Weiss's little 'W' icon—she'd refused to change it to a picture like the rest of them—still at Beacon.

Oddly, Blake was in Vale.

Only a few blocks away, actually.

Curious, Ruby altered her course, taking a left instead of going straight. She caught sight of the girl's signature black bow through the people walking around, only for it to vanish into a nearby building.

On approach, she noticed it was Vale's Public Library.

In hindsight, I probably should've seen that coming.

Ruby slipped her way through the small, yet crowded, sidewalk, making her way up the large, concrete steps toward the building she'd never even seen—much less been inside.

Upon entry, she was greeted with two large, beowolf statues near the entrance, made of a light-green material she wasn't familiar with. Shelves upon shelves of books filled her vision, with towering windows on either side letting in so much natural light the dust-powered lamps above were rendered redundant.

Yep. Definitely her kinda place.

Ruby caught sight of the faunus once more, walking through rows of tables and people either reading, studying, sleeping, or sobbing in a few of their cases. It was pretty close to finals, she supposed. Wonder if she's here to study? Or look for some weird book? Did she even tell anyone?

Ruby followed behind her, not heeding the warning about curiosity killing the very creature she was following. Her eyes were fixed on her back, watching as Blake took a few books from nearby without even looking.

Despite Ruby not really trying to stay hidden, other than keeping a distance so as not to disturb her teammate, Blake didn't notice her. The faint, wistful smile and sparkle in her eye may have had something to do with it—or perhaps she did see her and just didn't care. Ruby wasn't sure.

She followed Blake through the library, watching her gather a frankly absurd stack of books that towered well over her head. Yet despite this, Blake moved like it was nothing, expertly slinking through the library despite staring at the spines of several books. Wait, is she walking through this place from memory? How often does she do this?

It dawned on Ruby as she followed that she didn't actually know that much about her teammate. What she did know, she began to count on one hand:

Her name was Blake Belladonna.

She was Yang's partner, and didn't seem to mind her/find her annoying.

She was a faunus, and a former member of the white fang (Wait, is that two things? That might be two things)

She was really good at fighting.

She liked books.

Ruby stared at her open palm. Five things—or maybe six, if she counted three as two—that she knew about her elusive teammate. She didn't know where she was when they weren't in class, didn't know how she was when she was relaxing any time before bed—she didn't even know her favorite color for crying out loud!

She looked up and froze as Blake set the books down, pressing her hands against the small of her back before yawning. She ducked behind a nearby shelf as Blake looked in either direction as if sensing she was being watched. What is she doing?

When she looked around the corner, Blake and the books had vanished.

"Huh?"

A confused Ruby walked forward, sidestepping a few desks and working people before making her way to the spot Blake was a moment before. It was at the edge of the library, a shelf leading nearly up to the ceiling. No way she could've gotten to either side of it—or even climbed it for that matter. Unless Blake had a secret 'turn self invisible while clones are active' part of her semblance, she still had to be nearby somewhere.

Ruby, in this moment of mystery, fell back on one of the oldest tropes she knew: Start pulling on books and hope one opens a secret passageway. She pulled six of them nearly out of their places before stepping back, realizing it wasn't working.

At least, she thought it wasn't working.

When she looked closer she noticed that, while the books weren't levers for trap doors, there was something behind them. Removing the six books she'd picked out, those right before where Blake was standing, she found a place where the shelving was busted—revealing a hollow spot behind.

Ruby looked in either direction and, seeing no one watching her, decided to crawl in and replace the books behind her.

To say it was 'cramped' was an understatement.

Even with her short stature, Ruby couldn't stand up. She was stuck crawling on her hands and knees, the boards oddly solid beneath her arms and legs. She looked around, eyes wide as she saw the crawlspace continue—leading to the edges of the bookshelf. Woah…secret tunnel!

Seeing no way to go left, Ruby went right, pulling Yang's helmet from her hoodie and laying it next to where she came in—as a sort of marker. Then, she started making her way through the dimly lit tunnel, careful to keep quiet. If Blake had made such a big deal of it, she guessed the girl wanted privacy.

Her eyes adjusted slowly, making the going harder than for her faunus teammate. Though, after a few seconds, she finally reached the end of a bookshelf, eyes widening when she felt a somewhat large, circular hole above her.

She reached forward, frowning as she felt cool metal rungs in her palms, extending upward. A ladder? Why would there be a ladder between the books? This doesn't feel like it's part of the shelves, either.

Ruby, despite a few warning bells going off in her head, climbed up the mysterious ladder, feeling it tremble slightly at her weight. Clearly not part of the shelves, then. Maybe one of those ladders to get to the books at the very top? But then how did someone get it between the shelves? Why did this between the shelves even exist, come to think of it?

Those questions and more kept circling through her mind as she climbed, finally coming to a stop maybe thirty feet up. From there she slowly rose, smiling as she found herself able to stand. She looked around, eyes widening at what she saw.

She was standing on what looked to be a concrete platform, just behind the tall bookshelf. She seemed to be near the top level of it, as moving the books slightly revealed a view of much of the library. The ceiling was just a dozen feet above her.

When she turned back, she saw Blake mere inches from her.

"AY! BLAKE!"

Ruby fell back, crashing to the ground as she gripped her chest, heart slamming from the shock. She saw the older girl staring down at her, her expression unreadable. Ruby's face went red as she looked around, seeing the stack of books nowhere to be found. "Umm…fancy meeting you here?"

Blake held a finger up to her lips. "Keep your voice down."

Ruby nodded, covering her mouth with her hands.

Blake reached forward, helping Ruby off the ground before guiding her back. To Blake, the space was simple to navigate—as she could see like it was broad daylight. Though, to Ruby, it was a mystery how the woman holding her wrist could move so quickly, avoiding pitfalls and places to trip with the grace of a—ooooh see now it makes more sense.

Blake stopped whenever the two reached what looked like a hollowed-out hole in the wall, Ruby's eyes widening as she found herself able to see much easier.

On the other side of the hole was what she guessed to be an abandoned room. It was easily 20x20ft, with a beanbag chair and two sleeping bags on the other side. In the center of the room was an outlet, with what looked like a power strip, a lamp, a hotplate, and various cooking supplies plugged in—far away from the nearby stash of books.

"Woah…how did…what did…whaaa?"

Blake chuckled, sitting in the nearby bean bag chair and gesturing to the sleeping bag. Ruby complied, laying down as the older girl grabbed a nearby book. "I said the same thing when Sun showed me this place. That other sleeping bag is his."

"Wait, so…is this where you were when you disappeared?"

"Yep. We hid out here. He doesn't come here much, so…well,"

She gestured around her, particularly at the large stash of books nearby. "I made it my own. He only stops by to sleep if he's in the city or if he knows I'm here."

Ruby nodded a few times, looking around the space in awe. "What exactly is this place, anyway? Some kinda old room, abandoned building, a secret passageway that Sun somehow discovered?"

Blake shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Blake opened one of the many books nearby, flicking to the first page. She spoke without looking up from it. "So, how'd you find this place?"

Ruby's face tinted pink, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "I may or may not have followed you."

Blake looked up, brows furrowing. "How…" she sighed as it dawned on her. "You saw me on the huntsman 360 app Weiss had us download, didn't you?"

"Yep."

"Then where's Yang?"

"She ditched me."

Blake looked up again, setting her book aside. Confusion overtook her expression once again. "I thought you two were going to get passports? How'd she ditch you?"

Ruby rubbed the back of her head, a faint smile on her face. "Well…I was kinda teasing her about something while we were at a red light. When it turned green I wasn't ready for Yang to gun the gas, so I uh…y'know, fell off."

Blake's eyes widened a bit as she stood, walking over to her. "You fell off of Yang's bike? You're not hurt, are you?"

Ruby shook her head. "Nah, I was wearing a helmet!"

Blake slowly nodded, letting herself settle back into her bean bag chair. The two were silent for a moment, Ruby laying on her arms on the sleeping bag as Blake stared at her. Eventually, Blake broke the silence. "Do you plan on heading back any time soon?"

Ruby tapped her chin for a second before shaking her head. "Nah, I haven't got anything important to do anyway."

Ruby's eyes lit up a bit, smiling at Blake. "Besides, you and I never get to spend time together without Yang or Weiss!"

Blake blinked a few times, confusion returning as she opened her book once more. "Well, I mean…when I come here all I tend to do is read."

"That's great! What're you reading?"

Blake looked down at her book, gesturing the front to Ruby. The title read 'Kuriki: The Frozen God'. The image on the front was that of a tall statue, depicting a man sitting in meditation with a sword over his back.

Ruby smiled. "Oooh…what's it about?"

"I…I just picked up this book, Ruby. I haven't even read the table of contents."

Ruby's face tinted pink as she nodded, rubbing behind her head. "Ehehe…right, right. Well, no better way to find out than reading it!"

Ruby stood, crouching over Blake's shoulder and staring down at the book. Blake stared back up at her. "What're you doing?"

"Reading! What's it look like?"

Blake rolled her eyes, a faint smile on her face as she moved over. "If you're going to read this with me, sit down. You'll strain your neck reading like that."

Ruby nodded, reaching behind her and setting Crescent Rose aside before hopping over the beanbag, landing next to Blake. The older girl adjusted herself slightly, the two sitting side-by-side as Blake tried to hold the book so both could read it. Though, she quickly found doing so was cramping her arm. "There has to be a better way to do this."

Ruby's eyes widened. "I have an idea!"

"Okay, shoot."

Ruby didn't say a word, rather pulling Blake's arm around her shoulders, shifting herself down so her head was against Blake's chest. She smiled up at her. "There! Now we can both read it!"

Blake's face tinted red slightly as she nodded, turning to look back at the book. The smaller girl beneath her had a point—it was far easier for her to read like this. Even so, having Ruby lean against her breast was more than a little distracting. The feeling of her smaller leader laying against her was…nice, she'd admit. Especially given the cold chill of her concrete chamber.

She turned back to read, quickly reading the first page before turning it.

"Wha—hey! I wasn't finished!"

"Sorry."

Blake turned the page back, staring at the words she'd already read as Ruby read over them as well. After about a minute, Blake cleared her throat. "How far are you?"

"Just a few more paragraphs, give me a second!"

Blake groaned, a faint smile on her face as she rolled her eyes. "How did you get into Beacon if you only have a third-grade reading level?"

"There's a lot of big words in this! And I have a fifth-grade reading level, thank you very much!"

Blake sighed, pulling the book a bit closer to her. "Either you need to learn to read faster, or I need to get you your own copy of this."

Ruby nodded, eyes widening as an idea hit her. "Or you could read it to me if it bothers you that much."

Blake blinked a few times, giving Ruby an incredulous look.

Ruby's brows furrowed. "What? Yang used to do it all the time when we were little! Plus you can read way faster than I can, apparently."

Blake sighed, pulling the book (and, somewhat unintentionally, Ruby) closer. "Where were you?"

Ruby pointed to a spot in the middle of the page.

Blake began reading, Ruby turning her eyes from the book to her. The way the older girl's eyes sparkled in the dim light, a faint smile on her face as she became lost in the words—seemingly forgetting she was there. It may have been her imagination, but she swore she saw Blake's cat ears flitting from behind her bow.

"The story of Kuriki begins in a time long forgotten. In a place now called Amora—"

"Hey, isn't that the place we're going?"

"Why do you think I picked this book?"

Ruby nodded, smiling up at her. "Okay. Keep going!"

"Deep beneath the crust of Amora, there lies a cavern. Within this cavern sits a stone statue, frozen forever in a visage of contemplative meditation. This is Kuriki: A God Turned to Stone centuries ago. Before the magic of Remnant was stripped from humanity."

Ruby moved up slightly, almost unconsciously moving into Blake's lap as she read further, either not noticing or not caring. Ruby pulled her arms into her sleeves, wrapping them around her torso as she stared up at Blake in the dim light. Her ear against her chest, she could feel her voice just as well as hear it, the faint rumbling from within her.

After a while, Blake came to an abrupt stop, face tinting pink.

Ruby pouted. "What? You were just about to reveal who Kuriki's daughter was! Don't stop now!"

"Ruby, someone's calling you."

Ruby looked down and, sure enough, felt the vibration near her thigh. She grabbed her scroll from within, seeing a missed call from Yang. "How did you know?"

"Look where your leg is."

Ruby looked down, face going bright red as she realized where her scroll would've been compared to Blake's body, given the girl's long legs. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Blake! I didn't know—"

"It's…fine. Just, answer her."

Ruby nodded, fumbling slightly for her scroll as she dialed Yang back. While the number was dialing, she wisely decided to turn down her scroll's volume before holding it up to her ear. The line clicked after a second. "Hello?"

"Ruby! Where are you? Are you okay?"

Predictably, Yang communicated her concern via shouting.

Ruby nodded, despite Yang not being able to see her. "I'm fine, I was wearing your helmet."

"Ruby I am so sorry—I thought you were still on the bike!"

Ruby frowned. "How? I wasn't even holding on."

"My senses don't work right when my semblance kicks in—you know that!"

Ruby blinked a few times, frowning. "Wait wait wait, your semblance kicked in? That only happens if you're…" a giant smirk formed on Ruby's face. "You must've really liked whoever that was, huh?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm at the library with Blake."

On the other end of the line, Yang requested to switch them to a video call. Ruby looked up at Blake, eyes asking a silent question. A question Blake answered with a nod.

Ruby accepted, seeing the familiar face of her sister—along with the familiar beowolf sculptures in the background. "I'm at the library! I'd have called out for you but these stupid librarians keep shushing me."

Blake frowned. "It's a library, Yang."

"Where are you guys? Huntsman 360 says you're here but I can't find you."

The two shared a look, Blake leaning down toward Ruby's ear. "If Yang finds this place, we'll be found in minutes."

Ruby nodded. "I gotcha."

She turned back to her sister, shrugging as she tightened her camera's field of view as much as she could. "Wait, are you at the public library? Cause, uh…me and Blake aren't there."

"What? Hold on—"

Yang's face froze as she switched apps.

Blake, thinking quickly, opened her scroll and rapidly tapped a few things. Ruby, curious, switched hers to huntsman 360, seeing Blake's icon suddenly jump to Beacon's library.

Yang's voice came back over. "Wait, are you two at Beacon?"

Blake lied like she was breathing. "Yeah. Ruby and I are studying—we'll meet you back at our dorm, alright?"

Yang simply raised an eyebrow. "Why is only yours at Beacon? Ruby, is your scroll updated?"

Ruby, seeing her perfect excuse, shook her head. "No—I know, I know, I'm supposed to keep it updated—but there's just so much we have to do. I haven't had the chance to sit down and let it update in a while."

Yang let out a sigh of relief. "Okay…keep an eye on her, alright kitty-cat?"

Blake rolled her eyes. "Sure."

Yang ended the call after a second, Ruby setting her scroll back in her pocket before staring at Blake. "What did you do just now? Did you hack the app or something? Were you leading a second nefarious double life as a world-famous hacker while also being a white fang agent?"

Blake blinked twice. "I just changed the 'show location' feature."

Ruby slowly nodded, eyes narrowing slightly. "A likely story."

Blake sighed, pulling the book in front of them. Ruby moved back into her previous position, this time taking her scroll and setting it on the nearby sleeping bag. "Okay, come on! I wanna know who the daughter is!"

Blake smiled, opening her book and continuing to read.