Author's Notes:

-Hey everyone! I finished my finals earlier than I thought I would. As a result, you get an early Christmas gift. Enjoy!

Yang sat on her bed in the confines of her new room. Even though Ruby was long gone, she still isolated herself here. Despite the fact that she had been attacked, tortured and brutally interrogated, Taiyang was still trying to get her to move on. Or was it to move forward? Yang wasn't sure. With Mrs. Khloris arriving to take arm measurement data and on route back to Atlas, she wondered if this was a forced response as a result of the scorpion-man's attack.

Or is it really forced? She breathed in and exhaled a sad sigh. Or was he planning this before the scorpion's attack? She internally sighed. I know dad's trying to help, but... what if he can't? What if I'm just a lost cause? Lost my mother long ago, and more recently an arm, my sister, my best friend, my hopes and dreams, my confidence, everything but my life... She threw her back to the bed. I'm stuck between a state of not wanting to live, but not willing to take my life. Alive, but not living.

As she laid there, she noticed the picture frame on her next stand. She reached for it and examined the picture- an image of Ruby and Yang in their younger years. Yang was six, and Ruby was four. The thought of Tyrian finding her invaded her mind. She dropped the picture frame, shattering into pieces as a terrifying vision of him finding Ruby and running away with her bound and gagged over his shoulder manifested in her mind.

And my dear baby sister... Her heart pounded with fear. What if Qrow can't find her? What if she perishes at the scorpion's hands? She breathed in several times, trying to calm herself, but as her fear slowly vanished, sorrow took it's place. She began to sob in silence. Ruby... Wherever you are, I'm hope that you're okay...

Meanwhile in Aquarin, Ren, Ruby and Nora were gathering the supplies needed to continue their journey. As they walked away from Edom's cottage through the old part of the city, Ren looked at the list of needed supplies.

"We should probably start with the simplest task first; acquiring Rouge's weapon."

Ruby looked confused for a moment, before realizing. "Oh right."

"Now then, to the nearest hunter's supply store!" Nora declared.

As they made their way from the older part of the city to the newer part, Ruby looked around in awe, smiling. The three stood on a cobblestone street, and about a thousand feet in front of them was a paved road in an area with skyscrapers, sidewalks, shopping centers and modern apartment buildings. Over by the border between the new and old part of the city was a sign that said, No automobiles beyond this point.

"I have to admit, aside from the city's hostility towards Pyrrha, this is a really nice place." Ruby spoke to her friends.

"Aquarin is a very interesting city." Ren responded. "It pays homage to both the simple old times of villages and the modern city society of bustling activity."

Silence reigned as the three continued their journey. Nora noticed a bunch of wanted posters of Pyrrha Nikos taped to brick walls, lampposts and other surfaces. "Are you sure we're doing the right thing?"

Ren raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well... Garnet's acting like a dictator!" Nora exclaimed.

"Not so loud, Nora!" Ruby whispered.

"You may be right, but there's little we can do about it. Lest we wish to stir up a hornet's nest." Ren answered.

"I don't get it. How did Garnet even beat Eric? It makes no sense."

Ruby scratched her head, horribly confused. "Huh?"

"She's talking about when we were here before." Ren clarified.

"You have been here before?"

"You have to remember- me and Nora have been a lot of places. We were here three years ago and we stayed here for a year and a half. About six months after we first arrived here, Garnet Scarlatti started her campaign to run for mayor of Aquarian, challenging the previous mayor Eric Green, who had been holding the office for twenty years. It appears that sometime in 76 AGW, well after we left, she won and took Green's place as mayor."

Ruby nervously smiled. "Shouldn't that mean her term is about to expire and she could be replaced by someone who... doesn't hate Pyrrha?"

"Under normal and ideal circumstances yes, but with Scarlatti expanding her authoritarian power, I don't think anyone's going to dare challenge her. Also, we should really keep quiet about that."

Ruby softly sighed so that she wasn't heard. This really stinks. She thought. We're supposed to be heroes, doing the right thing, but we're powerless to do anything. Unless we want to disturb the peace, which would be a really bad idea. Still, maybe it's for the better...

She tried to smile, even though it was hard. As she continued forward, something caught her eye; every few feet she saw a horse emblem on the walls. She stopped and looked at the emblem in curiosity.

Her friends noticed, with Nora asking, "Ruby? What's wrong?"

"I saw that emblem on the gate... and I'm seeing it here. What is it?"

"It's the emblem of the Trojan Alliance." a man answered. "Any town who has the symbol plastered throughout the town has a mayor or ruler who is allied with the alliance."

"So, you're a member?" Nora asked, trying not to show disdain in her face.

"Oh no, I'm just a simple man, but I do support their cause."

"How do we identity their members?" Ren asked.

"Members have the emblem in the form of a pin on their outfit. Some even tattoo it onto the knuckle of their hand." He looked at the three heroes curiously. "You're not from here, are you?"

"Not really."

"Do you know what the Trojan Alliance is or what their goal is?"

"We know that much." Ruby stated calmly.

"Alright, good. Just treat the Trojan Alliance members with respect and you visitors should be alright. I'd stay and chat, but I gonna run. Have a good day!"

The man dashed off before they could say another word. The three went onward, with Ruby sadly and softly sighing as they did. It took Ruby and the other two members of team JNPR a while to find the hunter's supply store, but they did eventually find it in the newer, more modern part of the city.

Ruby looked up at the sign above her, which read; Hunter's Goods

There was another sign in the window that read, 30% off on rations! 50% off on dust!

"Well, looks like we'll be able to knock out several birds with one stone."

The three smiled at each other before entering the store. They saw packets of dust in various different forms, MREs and ingredients, canteens, tents and travel bags. Behind a counter was weapons and ammunition. They even had a convenient water bottle refilling station. The three went up to the counter, encountering a shopkeeper in his early thirties.

"You look a little bit young to be wielding weapons, kiddos." he said to them.

"It's not for us." Ren began. "It's for our teacher... Rouge Gorlois."

"We already have weapons." Ruby told him. "We're former huntsman academy students."

"Really?" He looked at them skeptically. "Then show me your weapons."

Ren got out his weapons. "StormFlower."

Nora got out her hammer and held it in the air with her right hand. "Magnhild."

Ruby retrieved her scythe and held it as if she was about to fight. "Crescent Rose."

"Wow, such fine weaponry! Did you design them yourselves?!"

The youngest semi-pro huntress smiled and answered for all of them, "We did."

"I see now that you're legitimate trainees and not crooks." He smiled. "I have however, noticed that you two are members of team JNPR. Where are the other two?"

Nora began to stammer, but Ren quickly stepped in. "Pyrrha went missing and we never found her after the fall of Beacon, whereas our leader is resting after a long journey."

The shopkeeper raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off. "So, what does your friend Rouge need?"

"She has requested an ice dust filled sword that can convert into a gun."

"That can be arranged. Luckily, I already have a controvertible sword capable of holding dust. And since this for a bonafide huntress, I'll even insert the dust for free."

Ruby beamed. "Wow, thank you!"

"You're welcome."

The shopkeeper took a sword off the wall and got out a packet of powdered ice dust. Unscrewing the hilt from the blade, he carefully poured the dust into the weapon. Once he was done, he put the hilt back on. "Is that all you're here for?"

"There's a few more things we'd like to get."

"Alright. Just bring everything up here."

A brief montage began with Ruby looking at packets of powdered ice dust, then Ren looking at rations and Nora looking closely at various hammers on the wall while musing to herself. The montage ended after they walked out of the store with items in bags.

"Alright, what's left on the list?" Nora asked.

"I think we got almost everything." Ren answered, before realizing... "Everything but a map of Anima and Sanus."

As Ruby looked at a library they were passing by, Nora asked, "And where are we going to find that?"

"Hey, Ren, Nora. Do you mind going on without me?" Ruby asked. "There's something I'd like to look for at the library."

"No problem. Let's meet back here in about forty-five minutes."

"Sure thing."

"Good luck searching."

Nora responded, "See you later!"

After waving her friends goodbye, Ruby made her way to the library. As her friends walked out of sight, she turned around and looked really sad as she went forward.

Qrow once told me that silver eyed people were destined to live the life of a warrior. But there has to be more to the story. She sighed sadly. I wish mom was here. But even if she was alive, would she have all the answers that I seek? Hopefully the library should have some answers.

Her thoughts soon came to a halt as she found herself in front of a big rectangular building with large wooden doors. Overheard was a wooden sign reading, Old Aquarian Public Library. Opening the doors, she stepped into a long hall with bare purple walls, the paint slowly beginning to fade away.

As she exited the hall, she went through the motion detector and found herself in a lobby with a circular help desk in the center. At the desk was a tired librarian who was sleeping like a baby. There signs overhead indicating where each section was. To Ruby's immediate right was the children's center. Behind her and to her left was a teen section. In front of her was a sign on the ground reading, Archives and adult fiction on the second floor and a wooden door that said 'Stairs' on it.

She went to the help desk, but did not find a bell to sound to wake up the librarian. This middle aged man in his fifties had pale skin, brown hair slowly falling out and an attire consisting of standard business suit and a green necktie. He looked so peaceful. She hated having to wake him up, but if there was any chance of finding something, she had no choice.

The simple soul gently nudged at his shoulder. "Um, sir?"

"Uh?" He looked around and his eyes opened up, revealing them to be green. Upon seeing her, he stammered, "Oh sorry. Didn't realize people were actually here." He yawned and stretched his arms. "Apologies. How may I help you?"

"I'm looking for books on silver eyes, or silver eyed warrior legends. You think you could help me?"

"Sure. Follow me."

Getting up from the desk, he went and made his way to the wooden door. Following his lead, she followed him into the stairway and up the stairs to the second floor. Upon reaching the second floor, the two entered a large room with multiple tall bookshelves and filing cabinets. As they walked through the room, Ruby saw several bookshelves with hundreds, if not thousands of books. To Ruby, this place seemed like a maze. They reached an intersection of wooden desks, couches and chairs in the library labyrinth and turned right. They continued walking down the corridor until the librarian eventually stopped.

"If a book on silver eyes is anywhere, it should be here." He looked at the shelf, examining the names on the book's spine. "Oh boy. Seems I may have been mistaken. Oh, now it hits me. That book was checked out months ago and never returned! Dang, I'm stupid."

Ruby touched his shoulder. "No, you're not. Maybe there's a book about old legends and fairy tales?"

"I know we have one of those books, but I don't know if it mentions silver-eyed warriors."

The two went back the way they came, only instead of turning left to go back to the door, they went straight. They passed three bookshelves and turned right, and stopped about half-way through the row.

"Hmm. There we are." He grabbed two different books and handed them to her. "Hopefully one or both of these books will have something about Silver Eyes."

"Thank you, good sir."

The simple soul examined the table of contents for each book as he responded, "Please, just call me Green."

Ruby looked up at him curiously. "Green? As in, Eric Green?"

He smiled and nodded. "That's the one."

"So this is what you did after losing to Scarlatti?"

"It is." The two walked over to a desk to check out the books. "The previous librarian fell ill and died and had no one to run the library, so I stepped up and took the reigns. Unfortunately, within the last three months, the library's become deserted." He walked behind the desk as Ruby set down the books. "Hardly anyone comes here anymore."

As he scanned the books, Ruby was saddened. "That's really sad to hear."

"Indeed it is." He grimaced as he printed out the receipts and stuck them in the books. "It's a sad, sad state of affairs. Both for me, this city, and everyone here. With this, and with what Scarlatti has done over the last three months, this city no longer feels like home to me." He paused. "And I've lived here my entire life."

She took the books and looked at him, a faint spark of hope in her eyes. "So, you don't hate Pyrrha Nikos?"

"Of course not. I saw the footage myself, and I know she's innocent. Sadly, I'm all alone. I fear I may be the only person in this whole city who secretly supports her."

"Actually, you're not."

"I'm not? Who else is there?"

"A man named Edom, and his daughter Gliss. They live in the older part of the city. If you find them, I'm sure they might be able to aid you."

"Thanks for letting me know. Your books are due back February 21st. Hope you have a nice day."

"You're welcome. Thanks for helping me find those books. And a good day to you as well!"

Ruby left the library in high hopes, feeling her soul lifted. She smiled genuinely for the first time since coming to this grim, forbidden city. Upon finding her friends, she saw that Ren was wearing some new clothes. He now had a longer, sleeveless green tailcoat with black and silver trimming. Under it, he wore a black, sleeveless turtleneck with red, tasseled ropes over his hips, pants that were tighter below the knees and calf-high open-toed sandals. From his middle finger to his biceps ran gradient pink-to-black detached sleeves ending in metal armbands. He had his hair loose, blowing around in the slight breeze.

"Hey guys. Nice look Ren."

"Thank you." Ren responded. "I figured it was time for something new." He looked at Ruby curiously. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. In fact," She looked around to make sure no one else was actively listening to them "I think I even found a new friend for Edom and Gliss."

"Who might that be?"

"Eric Green, the previous mayor. After his final term expired, he took over the Old Aquarian public library. While helping me to find books, he confided to me that he doesn't hate Pyrrha at all and believes she is innocent."

"Really?" Nora asked. "Well, we'll be returning with good news then. Maybe there's still some light left in this dark, desolate town."

"Oh come on, it's not that bad." Nora glared at him. "Okay, it's bad, but it could be worse."

She shrugged. "I guess that's true."

The three smiled politely as they made their way back Edom's cottage, supplies in hand (or on their back). As Ruby saw the Trojan Alliance emblem and all the wanted posters of Pyrrha, she looked away and tried to ignore it. Things were bad, but they could have been worse.

Maybe things are starting to change for the better. Ruby thought. Pyrrha's decision to disguise herself is paying off, we were able to get their supplies without any problems, I found books that could help me find answers to silver eyed warriors, and maybe even the maidens, which I didn't think about, and there's a few safe places for us. Maybe things aren't so bad after all.