Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Ruby - 1

Ruby Rose gave a heartfelt sigh as she glowered at her sister across the tavern table. "Mind telling me what it is that I'm doing here?" she asked, her hand making sure that Crescent Rose was within reach. Her repair kit was on her toolbelt, exactly where it should be, with every piece catalogued carefully and meaningfully. The chance of being robbed was fairly low in any place, and in a tavern like this, even lower. On Patch? Close to zero. And with Yang Xiao Long as her sister, grinning at her as if she was the butt of some darn joke, the chances were lower than even that. She put up her boots on the table, letting them crash down on the solid wooden table.

"You mean what are you doing here, in front of me right now, or what it is that I brought you here, in this bar for?" Yang smirked. Ruby stared at the ceiling for a moment, asking the gods to let her keep her patience. She took a chance to stare at the bartender, a tall black haired man in a formal shirt glaring at her sister.

"I don't think the bartender likes your boots on the table," Ruby noted.

"Eh, Junior knows he can't do anything about it," Yang said, flippantly waving her bloodied hands around. They weren't bloody now, of course, but there was definitely old blood on her hand wraps. "Are you really curious or are you just trying to buy time to figure out a way to get out of here?" she asked.

"Mostly the second," Ruby admitted. "I'm still of the opinion we don't need more hands for this. We got you and me! And they're just small monsters."

"But with monsters come treasures!" Yang grinned, putting her boots on the floor. To the bartender's continued exasperation she slammed her fist down on the table. "And it's not like we have a big cart. More people, the more loot we can carry back!"

"I didn't install those extra holding chambers in Crescent Rose just so you can fill it with loot," Ruby rolled her eyes. "And what're the chances we're going to find someone decent in a tavern of all places?"

"At this point, I'm just looking for someone that won't run off with all our stuff like the last two tried. By the way, you did grab more healing potions right?" Yang asked. Ruby rolled her eyes, quickly palming them out of her pack to show the two small vials, filled to the brim with a glowing green liquid. "And those aren't bombs?" she asked.

"The shopkeeper said they were healing potions. I keep telling you that you should just trust me and the elixirs I make."

"Yeah but that takes time, and that's what we don't have," Yang murmured, staring at the job board towards the front of the bar. A small old man was at it, putting up a new piece of paper. Ruby's eyebrows rose in a confused look. The last she'd heard, their finances weren't...the best...but they had enough to get through the next month or two, if they were frugal.

"Don't tell me we were robbed again while you were out training," Ruby put the pieces together. Yang immediately hopped up and went to see the new paper. "Yang!" Ruby shouted, standing up to make sure her voice carried far before she sat down. "I suppose that's what we get for trying to be well-known..." she murmured.

The blond haired bruiser came back with the paper in tow. "I think we got our next big hit!" Yang was grinning, slamming the paper down on the table. Ruby saw Junior grimace behind the bar, trying to distract himself from the slamming of his tables. "Antlions, down on the farm!"

"And how much does this one pay, now that I quickly found out we have no money?" Ruby asked, putting her elbow on the table, and resting her head on her hand.

"Eh...ten silver?" Yang said, looking down at the paper. Ruby glanced at it, seeing the bad imitation drawing of what she guessed was supposed to be an antlion. Although what those were, she wasn't sure. It looked like just a bigger ant. "Come on, it's the best we're gonna get if we're not going down to the mines."

Ruby shuddered. "Yeah, let's not go down there again..." she murmured. The last time they'd gone down, it hadn't been the kobolds on the top area that had been the trouble. It had been the Grimm on the third floor. Yang still had a massive scar down her sternum because of it, and Ruby had more than a few scars on her torso and legs from the thing.

They hadn't even managed to actually kill it, either. They ended up running at the last second, and it was only because of a lucky rock in the way that they got away. She could still remember the sounds the bony plates made as Crescent Rose scraped against it, unable to actually do anything against it.

"Ten silver though? Seems kind of...low," Ruby commented. "For a job like this I'd be expecting at least double that, for antlions."

"Eh, I know what they are. They're giant lizards, only called antlions because they're like lions on ants. They have giant claws that they can use to rend into the dirt. You'll see," Yang nodded.

"That sounds more like anteaters than anything, but those aren't lizards..." Ruby advised, before she forced herself up with a small groan. "Alright though. It's not that far out of the way. Maybe this way we can get enough money to get off Patch." Her hand tugged on Crescent Rose's strap, hurling it onto her back. Within another minute, her backpack filled with everything else she'd ever need, like soap or a flint and steel.

"Hopefully without having to sell that scythe of yours," Yang grinned. "Thanks Junior!" she yelled out. The bartender gave a heartless growl that sounded ominously like 'get out'. "You'd think some people would know better at this point."

"Didn't you blow up his last place?" Ruby asked as Yang slipped on her own backpack. They were traveling light, as they almost always were. Yang shrugged.

"Not my fault that some loser was trying to fight me next to the fireplace."

"You'd think they'd have learned after Master Sal taught you," Ruby muttered under her breath. "Which farm exactly, did it say?" she asked.

"Paper didn't say, but I'm guessing just on the outskirts. No chance of Grimm this time!" Yang cheered. Ruby followed her, her eyes on the last workshop that she was allowed at. It had almost everything she needed as an inventor, to try to make Crescent Rose better than it was.

The town of Patch was more of an island, if anything. Off the coast of the capital of Vale, the only way in or out was by boat, which only left once each day. If anyone had mail for Vale or anywhere else in the world, it would take much longer to get to and from Patch than anywhere else. It was heavily forested in most areas, with the largest segment hollowed out for the fishermen and the farmers.

It wasn't much, but it was her home. Somewhat. Ruby didn't remember the exact specifics, only that she and Yang had found themselves there when she was young, almost too young to remember anywhere else. She remembered their father, but no mother, and Yang remembered only a bit more. She remembered their dad telling them a specific name; Branwen, although Ruby had no recollection of that. They had no one to care for them, so they jumped around a lot as kids between either the farms, the fishermen, or even the main street of Patch. Most people took pity on them, handing them small pieces of fish or bread, or letting them come in out of the cold.

The farms were spread out far from each other, massive fields that contained anything and everything in between, but it was easy to see which one was affected by the antlions. A field had been left by itself, a single large ant-like creature in the middle of it, chewing on some of the carrots or wheat that had once been planted around it. The field now was basically bare, the only thing between them and it being a shoddy old fence.

"You did remember to keep that paper?" Ruby asked as she stared at the ant. "Because that's farmer Daffy's land."

"Shoot. I didn't think of that," Yang said as she glanced down at it. "Oh yeah, Farmer Daffy's the one who put in for it. Nothing for it?" Yang grinned, the look in her eyes that said she knew she messed up. Ruby took a deep breath, before she nodded.

"Only one thing for it," Ruby said, unfurling Crescent Rose, and pulling it out of its compact form. In her hands the large metal scythe appeared, filled to the brim with bits and levers that only she knew how to operate. If anyone else tried to use it they'd find themselves up a creek without a paddle. She hit one bit on the side, grinning as the weapon started to vibrate ominously.

"Aww yeah!" Yang shouted as she hopped the fence in one smooth movement. Her pack had been slammed into the ground, and Ruby's joined it a moment later. It was harder to climb over than it was for Yang, but she was small enough that she could fit in between the posts. She gripped Crescent Rose tighter, feeling it's hum as it purred into her bones.

As fast as Yang was, the ant seemed to look up and see them, getting ready for its attackers. How it got here, Ruby didn't know, but she knew what they were going to have to do about it. She rushed in first, trying to get the first hit off. Maybe they could end it so fast that they wouldn't need to use those healing potions-

The ant was swift, and ducked under her swing. How something with six or eight legs could move so quick Ruby wasn't sure. Even as she tried to swing again downwards, the ant only moved slightly to the left, before it came in and butted her with its mandibles.

The first one barely missed her cloak, threatening to pull it off, before the second assault came home. The harsh and pointed mandibles bit into her torso, and she let out a groan. Another attack like that and she'd be dead.

"No one messes with my sister!" Yang yelled, coming from the other side. Her fists were on fire, and something in the ants eyes realized that it should be paying more attention to Yang than it should her. It didn't tighten its jaws, instead trying to turn around, only to get one fist to the side of its head and the other right in the eye itself.

Yang moved faster than lightning, two swift strikes in less than half as many seconds. Each one burned with the fury of Yang's anger, and the ant recoiled from the quick strikes. Two more punches missed, hitting the dirt each as she tried to corner the thing.

Ruby spotted her opening. Working through the pain in her torso, she swung Crescent Rose as hard as she could into the final part of it. The thorax, she wasn't sure if that's what it's name was. She winced as the sound of the steel sliding off of the hard carapace filled the air, before she pushed herself that much harder, and swung upwards with it.

The ant didn't get another chance, having been bisected cleanly by the power of her scythe. It left off the ground for just a second, before the two halves fell a moment later.

"Ruby, are you alright?" Yang said as the fires stopped from her fists, immediately rushing over to her younger sister. "I wasn't expecting you to run in from the front!"

What else was she going to do? Yang had already chosen to flank, but flanking only helped if someone was actually there to flank with. Attacking from two sides was simply the most prudent option. She gripped one hand to her stomach, feeling the light liquid as it poured out of her. It wasn't bad, per se, but if she'd taken another hit like that she probably would have been.

"You need help from the front, and Crescent Rose was here to keep me safe, mostly. And my armor," Ruby tried to keep a positive outlook. She didn't want Yang to have to worry about her. There was a twitch from her ribs, and she stifled the gasp that wanted to emanate. She was not in good health.

"Oi! That you adventurer's out here...oh. It's you two," Ruby heard a voice call out from the other side of the farm. A tall man, toned with muscle from use on the farm, with the salt and pepper hair that was common for people his age. He had no laugh lines, instead a harsh face that glowered at everyone. Especially Ruby and Yang.

Farmer Daffy. He gave a low growl as he came up to them. "And what do you two...oh," he said, stopping as he saw the corpse of the giant ant. "So that's what's been plaguing my plants."

"Yeah, job done. Now can we get paid?" Yang asked, making sure that Ruby was stable before she marched up to him.

"I promised to pay, but not to you two. Always asking for handouts-"

"We killed it!"

"And do you have proof of that?" Daffy asked, his voice dark and growling. "All I see is two wanna-be's who don't know when they're outmatched. Come on, who did you steal the credit from? The town guard?"

"No, we killed it ourselves! It almost got Ruby! It's blood is still dripping off her scythe!" Ruby glanced up to see that there was in fact small amounts of blue blood coming from her scythe.

Farmer Daffy scowled as he leaned over to see Ruby, who was still holding her side. She saw him lean over, and realize he was staring at her, before she tried to push her back up to look like she hadn't just had a bite taken out of her. She gave a soft squeak as pain flood her stomach and torso again.

"Eh. Not my problem you two almost got yourselves killed," Daffy said. He reached behind him for a small burlap sack, and slowly counted out eight silver coins. "Fine. Payment. Eight silver."

"The flyer said ten!"

"Then minus two because it was you two!" Daffy answered, roaring back just as loud as Yang was yelling. "Get off my land, and stay off my land!"

Yang rolled her eyes as she accepted the eight silver anyways, putting it in her own burlap sack next to her waist. Ruby had always said that it was a silly place to put a coinpurse. She preferred hers, worn as a necklace that hid it out of view in her clothes.

Much less likely to get it taken by a cut purse.

Ruby's legs were still working, fortunately, and she noticed with gratefulness that Yang was walking deliberately slow. The gates were open, and Ruby noticed that Daffy was slowly looking over the slayed giant ant.

"Can't believe he ripped us off like that! Can you believe that, Ruby!?" Yang was shouting as she walked down the road. Ruby tried to hide her winces.

"Yeah, actually," Ruby admitted. "The last time we were there we did accidentally burn four fields of his. Almost got his house, too," she said.

It had been a pure accident, and it hadn't even technically been their fault either. They had been chasing after a thief that stole some wedding ring, along with a bit of other jewelry. As soon as he hopped the fence onto Farmer Daffy's land, he started creating small sparks, making the rest of the wheat and corn and veggies start to go up in flames.

They had caught the thief, but the reward was a paltry fifteen silver, and it had to go all the way back straight to Farmer Daffy in recompense for getting his fields burned.

He hadn't liked them ever since. When they'd first landed on Patch, he'd actually been one of the kinder ones.

"That wasn't our fault! How were we supposed to know the guy had a spark?"

To be fair, they wouldn't have known. It wasn't secret, truthfully, but everyone who had the spark wanted to learn how to use it.

After all, magic was so much more effective than basic weapons. Neither Ruby nor Yang had the spark in them, and it was only around a one in ten chance of anyone being born with it. "Hey," Yang said after a moment as they got closer to the main drag of town. "Just remember what you always say, yeah?" she asked.

"Whatever comes our way," Ruby answered with a smile, hiding the pain that she felt. Walking sucked, but they needed to keep those health potions safe until they could either make more, which she did know how to do but even that cost money, or simply buy them.

It was one of the only things she remembered from her dad. Yang remembered more of him, a strong blonde haired man who sacrificed himself to get his two daughters to safety. It was a phrase he used, all the time. They walked passed the job board, empty again as it usually was on Patch. "I'm heading to the inn," Ruby said quietly. "I'll get some rest and see if I can't tune up Crescent Rose a bit," she finished.

Yang nodded. "Alright. I'm gonna check the docks, and the other job boards. There's gotta be at least one in the darn town. We're paid up for another two nights."

That was good, in Ruby's mind. It would take her at least that long to heal up, if not more.

The inn was tiny, just a few spare rooms on the second floor of a wooden house. There was no kitchen or food served, it was solely a place to eat. Ruby only had a few rations left, as much as she hated them, but they'd give her the energy that she'd use to heal up.

The instant she walked through the door, she noticed that Yang had started walking at her normal walking speed. Again, she felt a pang run through her. Yang would be better off sometimes if she wasn't there, but at the same time...Yang really did need her help.

"Ruby," the innkeeper said as she walked in. It was a short woman on the other side of a chair. She was reading some kind of book, gently rocking. "Are you hurt?" she asked.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Appleton," Ruby answered, her voice steeled. "I'm just gonna rest for a bit."

"Alright. You're paid up for a few more days. If you need some water pulled up, let me know. A bath is two silver extra," Mrs. Appleton said, her voice kind and congenial, before she turned back to her book.

The stairs were a pain, and Ruby winced with every step. She didn't have to hide it now, and as soon as she got to her and Yang's shared room she peeled off her 'armor'. It was nothing more than a simple leather cloak, dyed red, but it did the job she needed it to most of the time.

Her shirt came next, and she winced as she looked down at it. The ant had got her good. One pincer had almost dug into the muscle on her stomach, and the other had almost snapped it in half. She'd been only six or ten seconds away from certain death if she hadn't cut the ant when she had.

The room had no conjoining washroom, and the only one was down the hall. She forced herself to grab a new clean shirt, as much as she'd bug herself for adding to the laundry before it was ready, as she stumbled out the door to it.

The washroom was a small addition, at the end of the hallway of the three rooms. It was nothing more than a pail of water, mostly clean, and a bench with a hole in it. It was rank, and stank horrendously, but Ruby knew it was the only way to actually wash the wound off.

"This would be so much easier if I had the spark..." Ruby muttered as she cupped the water gently, before she splashed directly on it. She was fortunate that it didn't get her legs, because that would be even more painful. She hissed as the cold water infected it, but after a moment the pain slowly went away.

If she had the spark, or anything related to magic really, they would have it made. Anyone who had the spark was almost always in high demand, and they could charge whatever prices they wanted. She washed her hands through, making sure that the blood was off of her hands and that she wasn't bleeding anymore. It was still sensitive, but she'd be fine after a while.

The walk back to the room seemed even longer now, as sleep threatened to pull her back from the land of the living. In return she looked around for anything but that. There were four statues along the hallway, although only one had any real color or effort put into it. Ruby wasn't a believer in the deities, but she knew that many others did.

The Light, the Dark, Salem, and Ozma. The Light was supposedly all about goodness and justice, and was by far the most worshiped deity on Remnant. That was the one that was colored in on the wall of the hallway, a curving line that formed a circle with an open dragon's mouth focusing upwards.

The Dark was more about the opposite, but not in a bad way. It was about necessary evils, and taking what is theirs by right. Taking justice into their own hands, rather than waiting for it to happen by someone's else's. The totem for that one was a harsh curving line, unlike the Light's soft curves, that ended with an open dragon's mouth pointing downwards.

Ozma was the deity of reincarnation. Doing the same thing, every day, would eventually make it so they did better things. Hard work, essentially.

Salem was the opposite of all of them. Selfishness and want. She was also the god of magic, and of the creatures of Grimm. People prayed to her especially in the hopes of keeping the Grimm away.

Ruby opened the door to their room again, and sighed as she sat down on the bed, staring out the window. Eight silver. Most boat rides to Vale required at least thirty or forty, if not more.

And that was for one ticket. For two of them, as they would need...that would be almost sixty silver, depending on the captain.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted as she came in through the door. "We found it, we got our way out!" she said, her hand holding onto another piece of vellum.

Ruby had heard that before, but she gave Yang her full attention. "Seventy silver for this job!" she said quietly, holding the scrap for her to read.

One of the richest people on Patch wanted someone to go into a mine, not the one with Grimm in it fortunately, and search for the remains of their mining crew, as they hadn't come back in several days. Payment on receipt of verifiable news, such as the helmet or pickaxe of the lead miner.

"Yang..." Ruby said as she looked at the bottom of the scrap. "This also says that the mine they were in was the old prison."

Yang froze. "I...well, zombies means no Grimm right?" she grinned nervously.

Ruby took the moment to sigh. "This is probably going to kill us," she murmured. "But it's the best bet we got. When do we leave?" she asked.

"I took the only one on the job board, but the runner probably posted it in other places. I say we go now. We still have most of the afternoon!" Yang smirked.

Ruby nodded, before she looked down to her pack. She hated that she cleaned the wound before she took the healing vial. But the needs of their purses was strong.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Yang - 2

Yang Xiao Long hated that she had to drag her sister to things like this. She wanted to just leave Ruby behind, safe and content somewhere, where Yang would come back home every night and put dinner on the table. Instead, she was forced to hunt monsters for a living. It was an interesting living, for certain, and she was never bored. Master Sal made sure of that.

"Never let the world see you down," Master Sal had said to her. "Because all it will do is see how low it can take you."

She was old enough, just barely, to understand what had been taken from them. Ruby probably didn't remember their mom, and while she did remember their dad it was unlikely that she'd recall all the life lessons he taught them.

Or rather, that he taught her.

How to punch, how to kick, how to defend herself from the various monsters that roam the world. Not the Grimm though. His only advice when it came to Grimm was simply 'run'.

And run they had, the one time they'd encountered one.

But what Yang really wanted was stability for her sister. And for the knowledge of how they got out to Patch in the first place. She remembered it only vaguely; her dad had been on a job trying to find some kind of relic. He hadn't found it, but had been found by a pair of Grimm, large giant black bear creatures to be specific. They had found their campsite, his current base of operations, and he tossed something towards her and Ruby, yelling at them to run, and be safe.

And for her to take care of Ruby.

So Yang did. She wasn't old enough at the time to really help her. She was only two years older than Ruby was. But those few years under Master Sal had brought a lot of stability to Yang's life.

But the master had been old and frail even when Yang and Ruby had found him. He had taught Yang just enough of the Flaming Fist style to consider her an adept at it, and for her to figure out the rest of the style, before he perished. Right before he did, he gave her one last piece of information. Taiyang, her dad, had been married twice. The first wife he hadn't known her name, but more importantly he knew that she had a brother.

Somewhere out in Vale, out in the world, they still had family.

And Yang would do anything to try and bring that family back together. That's what she did, and what she wanted above all else.

Except in the rare circumstances where she was trying to get Ruby to eat her vegetables. Than it would be for the younger girl to just eat what was in front of her. She couldn't live off of ration bars! Neither could Yang, for that matter. She hated the tasteless things. It was a mix of hard cakes and some kind of nut mixed in, but without any of the taste, as if it had been surgically removed.

"You ready?" Yang asked towards the closed door. She knew that Ruby had gotten hurt against the giant ant, but by all rights she had then swallowed one of their healing potions, she should be fine.

"Almost!" Ruby's voice answered back through the door. "Just need to pack a few more things!"

They hadn't had that much stuff. What kind of things had the girl found that Yang didn't know about? She knew that despite her best efforts, Ruby still wasn't the...most normal of girls.

Most girls her age would be talking about which boys were cute and marriageable, even on an island as small as Patch. Not trying to create devastating weapons of war.

And Yang had a feeling most of that had to do with her chosen path and profession. Master Sal had often said that, 'Perfection is key. Do not punch once and assume it is correct. Punch ten thousand times, and assure yourself that it is.' That chase for perfection, before she knew of her family outside Patch...well, that just made Ruby more likely to chase after her. And chase after her, Ruby had done. She was absolutely incredible, and the worst part is that while Yang knew it, Ruby did not. And of course, like all sisters, whenever it was brought up Ruby just ignored it.

And she'd modeled it after a scythe because they were easy to find on a big farming island. Yang would have suggested a pickaxe or an axe, that way she could cut down trees with it too, versus a scythe which was mostly used only for wheat. But no, Ruby had wanted scythe, so that was what she had made it after. Although it was less of a scythe and more of a collection of knobs, buttons, switches, hinges, and a dozen other things that Yang had no idea about.

Ruby knew what each one did.

The door opened, breaking Yang's thought path. "By the Light I thought you were going to take forever," Yang teased, grinning. Ruby was in her leather armor again, a small patch having been sewed in where the giant ant had got her. That's what she'd been doing then...Yang wasn't any good at repairing stuff. It's why she liked fighting with her fists.

Her body could repair the damage on her hands. But she was no good at using bandages or other first aid tactics. Ruby was...halfway decent at it, but it was mostly luck in Yang's mind. "You did pitch this at me without much warning," Ruby answered, her silver eyes glum as she felt for Crescent Rose's collapsed form on her back.

"The option came. I had to take it. We can't leave all these chances for others to take!" Yang said, smirking as she punched one hand into her other hand. They were far from the only 'mercenaries' out in Patch, but most of the time the big paying jobs were posted over at Vale, and someone came in to take care of it.

Yang would have thought that they'd more grateful for having a pair of adventurer's like them around to have the jobs done quicker, but as most of the farmers and citizens of Patch were...not the most welcoming of people. That was a good way of putting it.

"You know where we're going right?" Ruby asked, deadpan. Yang feigned being offended.

She knew quite well the other times that Ruby was referring to. "Of course I do! You think I'd just take a job without checking?"

"Yep," Ruby said, popping the last sound. "It's a few miles out from what I remember. Even if someone else did find the job notice it'll take them longer to get out there than we will. What are we supposed to pick up?" Ruby asked.

"You saw the job notice," Yang answered, rolling her eyes. "But just so that we both know, it's a pickaxe from the lead miner, or the helmet. Something of his." The innkeeper barely gave them a side eye as they left. Ruby was friends with her. Yang wasn't, if only because her daughter was trying to get into Master Sal's class just as much as Yang had been.

The afternoon sky was a bright blue, the sun hanging high and beating down on them almost instantly. Patch wasn't a tropical island by any stretch of the imagination, it had a surprisingly cold winter that often frosted or snowed over, but the summer's were also very hot. The pathways leading up to the mines were surprisingly still well made for the not quite tropical island. While there were minor things like some grass growing out of areas it shouldn't be, in general the walking path was next to a railway leading to and from the mine.

It was further miles inwards than Yang had made it sound, and by the time they got to the entrance the sun was already starting to set. There was a small clearing not far away from where they were and Yang set up the tent with ease.

There were bears on Patch, and Yang knew that they were in the more forest-y areas than where they were, but she set up a bear bag anyways, throwing most of their food up one of the trees.

The tent was already fairly small, and both Yang and Ruby had to have their bedrolls essentially on top of each other to get any amount of room, but it was the best tent they could get. It would, at least, keep out the rain. It was made of a sturdy leather that could fold up easy, but trying to dry the thing after a rainstorm was difficult at the best of times. Yang had tried to ask Ruby if she could make something to do that, but each time the girl turned away with a huff and went to work more on Crescent Rose.

Yang didn't blame her for that. Crescent Rose was surprisingly light, the few times that Yang had tried to pick it up and use it. She couldn't use it the same way Ruby could, she had no idea the gadgets and gizmos and knobs that the girl had put into it, but it was at least a weapon she could use if the going got tough.

Their dinner that night had been a small bar of seeds and honey. Not quite a ration bar, but close enough in Yang's taste that she was awake for the next couple of hours as Ruby slept silently next to her.

When dawn broke and the sky turned a salmon pink, Yang found it in herself to be grateful that they weren't going to be above ground for the incoming storm. She felt it coming, and knew that most of the day was going to be spent batting down the hatches and making sure the animals were in.

Considering the sky was a bright pink and red, she hoped that no one would think it alright to go out to Vale.

If any of the boats sank, that meant that the easy low cost ride she was hoping for wasn't going to be there. And she needed to go to Vale, she needed to find Qrow Branwen, and she needed to give Ruby a decent life! Which meant not here, not punching zombies. Yang shuddered. She hated the things. Not because of what they could do to her, because they did have claws or were pretty strong, but rather because they were cold and slimy.

And she punched with her bare fists. Ruby thought she should at least get some kind of daggers or something, but really, Master Sal continually reinforced the idea of using her bare fists, and if she had to be honest, he knew more than Ruby did.

Although having hand wraps around her hands did help. Ruby said she'd heard of various runes that could help with that, but Yang hadn't heard anything.

The opening to the mines was a gaping maw, with a long iron railway that went inside. "Who's going to carry the torch?" Ruby asked.

Yang nodded. "I will. You have to use that thing to swing around two handed," she answered. The scythe was massive, nearing nearly as tall as she was, if not more.

It was kind of a miracle that Ruby could hold it at all. Then again, she was strong...surprisingly. Yang could hold it, but she'd have no idea how to wield it effectively. It had been one of the threshers that had taught Ruby how. Scythes were common in farming lands, as it made getting the wheat or harvests much easier. Ruby got the idea from seeing how they used it, and wanting to be the one to 'reap a monster'.

Honestly, there was probably a part of Yang that was worried Ruby was kind of a psychotic nutjob. But admittedly, that was common in the adventuring business.

Yang reached down as soon as the natural light started to leave their sight, grabbing one of the torches from her backpack. It was times like this she wished that someone she knew had the spark of magic, because there was a light spell that was supposedly quite common.

But obviously no one in the Magic Academy had visited Patch for years. Decades, if Yang had to be honest. The island was just too small. "You want to light?" Yang asked.

"Sure," Ruby said, reaching into her own backpack for a flint and steel. The torch caught easily, exactly as they were designed to do, and within an instant Yang's hand was full from the natural light of the fire.

The inside of the mines were cold and damp, and silent except for the small sounds of their boots hitting the iron railway. Long wooden posts held up the ceiling, and Yang could see small parts of the rock carved by pickaxes. The railway went further inwards and downwards, and more than once Yang felt herself almost trip on the iron and now rusted out rails. About halfway down small specks of the red rust started to appear. That could be bad, if they were to land on it.

The first real opening was a large room, lit up by the torch. The ground was a stunning blue, and the ceiling of off gray. Rails went through multiple exits, with their own railway having raised up edges to show that it was at the end of the line.

In the center of the room was a dead body of some kind, it's bulbous mass laying there in surprisingly good condition.

Yang knew better. The mines were considered haunted, and it was one of the reasons why this job was so expensive. Who knew what they'd have to fight?

"I think it's dead already," Ruby muttered as she stared at it from behind Yang. "It has cracked bones, the other undead ones don't," she noted.

"How do you know that?"

"You don't?" Ruby smirked. "Hated enemy and you don't know how to tell if they're dead or no-" Ruby said, interrupted by a loud howl, as the thing that she thought was dead turned to them.

No matter what Ruby will later say, Yang knew she did not jump or give a fright. No, she steeled herself and stepped in front of her younger sister with the intent to punch this thing to oblivion.

The fact that Ruby got to it first and quickly ended the thing's undeath in one, two lucky shots was...definitely not applicable. Yang wasn't scared dang it!

"Good job Rubes!" she said, trying to calm her furiously pounding heart. She wasn't afraid, she wasn't scared, she just didn't like punching things that were so...squishy and...oh Light why was she thinking like this!?

"Yang it was just a shambler. But the fact that it was here points that something else was going on. What makes shamblers?" Ruby asked, poking around the things clothes.

"Why are you looking for answers on it?" Yang asked as she stepped behind her. It was grotesque and hideous, a slight blue from the chill and cold, it's flesh all wrinkled up and prune-like.

"I'm not?" Ruby said, pulling out a few silver coins. "Found three silver on it."

Yang shuddered. She could just imagine the cold clammy coins clamoring against her hands..."Shouldn't you leave two on it?" Yang tried to smirk.

Ruby must not have picked up that she wasn't feeling the best. "Nah. There's already no soul, they passed on. You're the religious nut, you tell me."

She was the religious nut? "Really Ruby? I barely even know the edicts. You're the one that's opened a book or two."

Ruby rolled her eyes as she folded up Crescent Rose. "Come on, scaredy Yang. Which way?" she asked. Scaredy Yang!? Yang wasn't scared! She just...didn't like zombies.

But she was doing this to give Ruby a better life. She better prove to her sister that she wasn't a 'scaredy Yang'.

"This way!" she shouted suddenly, pointing towards a caved in passage way.

A slow clap from Ruby. "Well done. We've completed that one in record time."

"Shut it," Yang murmured, her face heating up. "Let's go...this way," she said after a minute. There were three main passageways that came from this cavern, not including the route they came in. All three had the rails in them, some more gleaming silver than others.

The one she chose started to go downhill, down and down. More than once they had to duck as a large swath of rock had been almost growing in the way. Fungus along the walls retracted from the light as they passed, the mushrooms or something pulling back away. "What're those?" Yang asked as they passed one.

"Don't know. But I wouldn't touch them."

That was probably the best advice Ruby had given. Towards the end of the passageway was another dead end, this time with two cadavers laying against the rock. A pickaxe was between them, along with what looks like a sledgehammer. The rails stopped right before. "They must've been mining and died down here," Yang said.

Ruby headed towards them, Crescent Rose out threateningly if she needed to use it. She poked one with it, only to relax as it didn't move. The second one didn't move on its own, but fell onto its side as she disturbed it.

"Huh, that's weird. Yang, come take a look at this," Ruby said, motioning her over. "I can't find any sign of anything on these guys."

"What, they don't have anything on them?" Yang asked as she moved closer. She noticed it a second later.

They didn't have any marks on them that they should have. No bruising from where the rocks would have gotten them. No claw marks as if they killed by the shambler. No bite marks as if got by an animal. And the small slithering sound behind her...

Master Sal's teachings raised in her mind again. Feet shoulder apart, concentrate on the fire in her soul. Her hands caught fire, and her eyes opened.

It was a small thing, a kind of disembodied hand. They had the wounds of someone who'd been choked to death without the other knowing about it, too weak to do much. Or worse, that this thing drained them of their life. It would be hard to hit, which meant that she had to focus on it. Ruby was good at destruction, but a scythe was not the move maneuverable of weapons. Ruby was working on something else, some part added to it, but Yang didn't think it was quite ready yet.

That meant the only one that could hit it was Yang. It skittered across the ground near silently, and Yang rushed in.

She'd underestimated how small the thing was as her first punch went over the top, the thing freezing up at the perfect time. Her kick was on point though, not as brutal as she'd have liked, and she took a step back just in time.

The hand moved to react with her, and that was when she found out it could float. Not very high, but it was still a thing that was right in front of her now. It made to grab at her arm, its thick fingernails trailing energy of some kind behind it.

She batted it away the first time, just barely avoiding getting scratched. She didn't want to know what kind of diseases this thing was carrying.

Ruby came in, swinging her scythe furiously, and Yang had to dodge both the hand and Ruby quickly. She'd been practicing enough that Ruby she could predict, which also spoke of how much Ruby needed to be better, but the hand at the same time? That wasn't nearly as easy. She took a step to the side, hoping to get the thing between Ruby and her. If Ruby could survive for even a second...

The thing attempted to claw at her sister, it's long fingers heading for Ruby's throat. Yang felt her soul respond to it, and Master Sal's teachings brought it to her fists.

Fire and dead flesh met, and Yang felt it soar into the wall, where she followed up with a second one. "Stay away from my sister!" Yang shouted as she felt it stop moving, falling to floor as it burned into...well, more of a corpse, if she had to be honest.

She glanced at Ruby. "You alright?" Yang asked. Her heart was beating furiously, but it wasn't because she was scared.

"Yeah. Wasn't expecting something that small."

"A crawling hand," Yang identified. "I've heard of them only once, but that was because Cyril's mom talked about it once. You remember that?"

"Vaguely. I was too busy tinkering with Crescent Rose to really pay much attention to the conversation," Ruby shrugged. "You knew what it was weak to?"

"The same thing most undead are. Fire and fists," Yang grinned. She looked down on it, seeing it's fingers shriveling up like a spider did after it died. "Although I doubt this thing has anything on it."

"No, I doubt it too. I did find this on one of them," Ruby said, showing a small vial of red liquid. "It's a minor elixir. Won't save us much, but if we come across any giant rats or anything it could do some good."

Yang nodded. Always good to have more healing stuff. It was one of those times she was glad that Dad had taught her the basics of first aid, but that was basically impossible to use without the actual tools for it. And those tools were rather expensive.

Although Ruby was doing pretty good in the 'making stuff' category. "Keep it," Yang suggested. "You're the one that got hurt earlier."

"You did too," Ruby pointed out, pointing to a small cut on her arm. Yang blinked, staring at it. A thin red line of blood grazed across her bicep. She hadn't even realized.

"Oh. Should be fine, I think."

"I think?" Ruby asked, heading past her. "I don't like that 'I think'."

"I'll head to the Temple of Light after this, see if they can get anything on me," Yang shrugged.

The Temple of Light was one of the four major temples in Patch. Each city generally had all four, as each of the major gods did different things. The Temple of Light worshiped the God of Light, whose entire thing was making sure people were well.

And they were generally arrogant too, but they were worshiping the most popular of the gods, so Yang guessed they had a reason for that.

With nothing on the two corpses, other than the pickaxe and sledgehammer which Yang was deliberately not noticing that Ruby had picked up and put into her backpack, she headed back to the other room. The shambler was still dead when they peeked their head in. Yang was glad that it was still dead, for hopefully good this time, and that her torch was still alight. They'd have a few more hours on it, hopefully.

They'd been down here already for...what, an hour? Maybe two? The passageways had a way of making time disappear.

The second of three paths was chosen at random, and Yang tried to keep a happy tune in her mind as they went. There was a small creak of the rails as Ruby slipped on one of the old and rotted out wooden posts, but in general everything was almost far too silent.

She'd take shamblers over the nothingness here. So far they had no sign of the head miner, but they'd found plenty of things that could be the cause of their death. A single shambler wasn't a big deal, but a crawling hand was.

They weren't natural, obviously. Shamblers weren't, either. Most undead like that were created, and although Patch had their fair share of necromancers, she hadn't heard of any near the mines before.

The encroaching darkness seemed almost thicker than before, as Yang and Ruby continued down into the depths.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Ruby - 3

Ruby knew that Yang was freaked out by the mine. If she had to be honest, she kind of was too. Seeing a shambler inside the first room kind of spoke volumes about what else they'd find.

But Yang had also been so cool! She knew what the crawling hand had been long before Ruby could even see it, and she'd already been prepared, her fists on fire and her hair glowing a sunny yellow light! Ruby wished that Master Sal could have taught her too!

But no, he'd taken one look at her and said she didn't have the drive for it, and that her path was something else. That had almost cost him Yang's apprenticeship, until he made Yang realize that he meant 'Ruby was not meant to punch things'. He could've been nicer about it, Ruby supposed, but by now she'd long since gotten over it. Her hands fell onto the comforting grip of Crescent Rose, the scythe with a problem that she didn't realize she had with it.

It was great when the monsters were bigger than she was, which was to be fair, most of them. But when they were smaller than her, they darted around almost too fast for her to hit. And because even when the weapon itself was helping her, through all of her inventiveness, she couldn't hit the thing!

If only she could get the metal shard to fire appropriately! She could get it to work as it was right now, but her accuracy was...well, if she had to be honest, kind of piss poor. She could hit things, but only if they were bigger than her.

She could hit a house, at least. Yang couldn't throw a fire that could do that! Maybe. Could she do that? She hadn't seen Master Sal do that, but that didn't mean he couldn't. Just means that Yang would have to figure out on her own.

Her foot slipped again on another rotted board. "I'm really starting to hate the wood they used for this," Ruby muttered under her breath. It was as if every time she put her foot down, it fell. That wasn't true, but it certainly felt like it.

"I wish we'd gotten a map of this place," Yang said as they kept going. "And watch your step. You want the torch, make it easier for you?"

"Nah. I'll just make some dark goggles or something," Ruby answered.

"Yes, but that doesn't help you now."

"No, it doesn't," Ruby agreed. "But no, you keep it. You need to actually hit things, I just need to hit the wall."

Yang rolled her eyes. In Ruby's backpack were both a pickaxe and a sledgehammer, two very useful tools that they might need in the future. And worse comes to worse, she might be able to pawn off for a few silver. Yang was all about the coins, right? The passageway kept going downwards, occasionally turning to the left and right seemingly at random. Ruby wasn't too sure why it would do that except to confuse people. There were no hard rocks in the way, and one time it even went around the wall rather than digging straight through.

She might have to look up cavern walls and engineering requirements after this, if only so that way next time they went to a mine she could actually answer.

The passageway opened up to another of the big rooms, similar to above. Unlike the one above, this one wasn't empty.

Three abnormally large rats were in the corner, their eyes and mouths furrowing at the torchlight as it lit them up. Nearly as tall as to Ruby's knee, their fur was gray and mottled in places, their tails bare and naked. "Giant rats, Ruby! We have incoming!" Yang shouted as she took another fighting pose. Ruby agreed, seeing as how quickly those rats moved. Crescent Rose was put into its attack ready stance.

The rats were quick. Almost as fast as Ruby could blink, one was in front of Yang. She remember the healing elixir in her backpack; she wished she didn't have to use it this soon but this was the exact scenario for which it was best used.

The other two raced each other moving forward, and Ruby could only imagine Yang getting between the three of them. That would probably get her killed, and Ruby knew she couldn't do that. Yang was, fortunately, a swift dodger. Whatever she couldn't get, the rats bites and claws bounced off the monk's clothes. She was being lucky, but Ruby knew that could only last so long. That was how they'd dealt with the giant ant, after all.

Yang's fists flashed out, and Ruby's scythe joined her. One of them flinched as her sister's fiery fist landed solidly on the side of one of them, and Ruby stepped around the fight to aim for that one while Yang swapped targets. It had still flinched by the time that Ruby's scythe, still moving with the various gadgets she'd implemented into the thing, dove into it's side, at the same place Yang had hit it.

Between the two of them, it fell to the ground with a hurtful cry, curling up. With only two left, it because a lot less dangerous but not less dangerous enough.

They attempted to bite in unison, and Ruby heard Yang grit her teeth as one of them managed to bite her straight in the thigh. It was kicked away a moment later, followed up with a fire punch that left it near dead. It was still moving and breathing in obvious pain.

The last one saw that it's comrades, or its family Ruby wasn't particularly worried what they were to it, were already down, and gave a harmless squeak as it attempted to run away. Ruby let it, instead reaching down for the healing elixir that she stupidly hadn't left on her belt. That's what the belt pouches were for.

"Ruby, I'm fine. I have a hardy constitution," Yang said without prompting. Ruby ignored her, holding out the vial easily. Yang rolled her eyes, before she unstoppered it and drank it down. It probably wasn't healthy, actually, to drink something that they weren't a hundred percent sure of.

But fortunately, Ruby had been. She'd made dozens of the things, and the recipes were easy to find scattered everywhere. They weren't the best, nor were they amazing at what they did, but for a stopgap measure, they were fantastic.

Yang gave a small sigh of relief as she kept the fabric of her clothes out of the cut, trails of smoke curling up from where she'd been bit. The cuts were closing up just as fast. "I don't think I got infected."

"We'll know in a few hours. So long as you don't get bit again, because it's harder to fight off the more you get bit," Ruby muttered. She was lucky that it hadn't been her. Yang was a hardy girl, and she knew it. She could easily get a few glasses of ale down without a problem, whereas the one time Ruby had tried a glass? Out like a light.

Admittedly, that might've been because Yang had traded out the basic ale from some of the stronger stuff without Ruby knowing, and only fessing up later. That was before Yang had done a completely turnaround on needing and saving money. Ruby still wasn't sure why. She knew her sister wanted to go to Vale, but had never told her why.

The rat that was still alive had stopped breathing, and the first rat had been bisected near cleanly. Ruby doubted they had anything on them, and rat skin wasn't the best for leather working. For that they would need actual cows. Not giant rats.

"Hey they were eating on this thing," Yang said as she walked, nearly stumbling a bit because the elixir still hadn't finished its work, towards the corner where the rats had been.

A small brown burlap sack, with actual fresh food in it. Or, rather, it had fresh food in it. Vegetables and fruit it looked like, with some hardtack. "These look like rations," Ruby said as she looked through what was left. "Like for the army or something."

"Who has an army? I thought all the kingdoms got rid of theirs. Something something history," Yang said while shrugging.

"They did, at the end of the Great War a long time ago. Come on, Master Sal taught you at least that much."

"He was mostly concerned with knowing that I had the forms down and could continue it after he died."

Ruby sighed. That was, in fact, exactly what it was. "The Great War was the battles between Vacuo and Vale against Atlas, Mantle, and Mistral. Atlas got it into their head that they could unify the world. Vale was against that, and then Atlas went and invaded Vacuo for seemingly no reason."

"Seemingly?"

"There always has to be a reason," Ruby shrugged. "After all, why would they throw soldiers and more importantly wizards into the meatgrinder that was the Vacuo desert? They're just throwing people away at that point. Once they got involved, then Vale and Vacuo allied, and that got Mistral involved because the easiest way to get to Atlas is through Mistral and Mantle."

"Huh. Didn't take you for a history buff, sis!"

"That's basic history. I know Dad taught you that much at least!" Ruby sighed. She glanced around the room, towards each of the three exits. Two were further paths that started their own railways, and one was a simple rotten wooden door.

"Door first, then we check the paths," Yang answered. Ruby nodded, following her sister to the wooden door. It was built into the wall, probably a storage closet of some kind, or maybe a pantry. The door was locked, unsurprisingly, but the wood was bad enough that Yang simply punched it in and unlocked it from the other side.

The torchlight seemed to bounce off the walls in a way that made everything seem too bright all of a sudden. Small gems sat on the walls, some of rubies, some of sapphires. "By the Light!" Yang shouted as she looked in it. "We're rich!"

Ruby looked at one of them a bit closer. "These aren't real," she muttered as she looked over one. Her fingernails, dirty and weak as they were, easily scratched off the shiny red paint they were coated with, showing the dull white underneath.

"What?" Yang asked, before she grabbed one and looked at it closer. "Oh come on. I thought for sure that this was our lucky break."

"We aren't that lucky," Ruby answered. "But this room's not useless, either," she said, pointing to the far side. A barrel turned on its side looked like it had been chewed through by rats, the normal kind, with small amounts of grain emptied out. "Someone's been here, and recently."

"Explains the vegetables outside then. Think they're dead?"

"Probably," Ruby muttered. "With the shambler and the crawling hand about, there's something about this place that is attracting things. I just hope nothing worse shows up."

"Please don't mention Grimm," Yang shuddered. Ruby nodded. That was worst case scenario. And it would probably mean that they would die down here. It took entire teams of mercenaries to be able to take down a Grimm, even one of the supposed 'lowly' ones. The last time they'd seen one, they'd tried to fight it 'because there was no way they were that strong'. That had been a wrong decision; they were even stronger.

It was why people even prayed to Salem. The supposed 'Queen of Grimm' was the only thing keeping them from taking out almost every town in the world. With enough prayers or offerings, it was said that she'd keep the Grimm away from people, and allow people to travel safely.

"This place was a bust though," Yang said as she walked back outside. "Left or right?" she asked.

"Left," Ruby said. Her stomach growled a bit, but she ignored it even as Yang gave a hearty chuckle.

"Sure thing. You hungry? We can eat as we go," Yang asked, pulling out a small honey and nut bar. Sweet, but not so sweet as to disguise the taste as anything actually edible. Not quite as bad as hardtack, fortunately, because that would take hours to thaw in her mouth. Not to mention hardtack wasn't filling at all.

But it did make good travel food, she had to admit. Yang munched on one too as they kept going down. "How far down you think these mines go?" she asked, her mouth full. Ruby didn't comment immediately, her own mouth quite stuffed with the bar.

She swallowed after a moment, trying to get more water in. She took a sip from her pouch, before she made another attempt. "Probably a ways. These mines are ancient," Ruby said, pointing to the rusted iron railways. "You have to push these, and iron takes a while to rust."

Yang nodded. "I think these were here when we got here, actually."

"They had to have been. Iron doesn't rust, not this bad, in only a decade."

"Wouldn't that also mean water's around? I thought iron didn't rust unless in the presence of water."

"We're on an island," Ruby said. "Water's surrounding us a lot, and the water vapor is what causes that. The entire island's supply of iron would rust away if it could. Although you'd think that these ones would be protected from the weather."

Yang suddenly held up one hand, the torch filled hand showing the light. "Almost missed that," Yang said as she glanced downwards. Ruby matched her, only to gawk. That could have been bad. A large hole in the middle of the pathway, the railways actually going over it as the ground had fallen away from underneath it. "Jump across?" Yang asked.

"Maybe you can with a run," Ruby admitted. "I don't think I could. But I have an idea," she said, pulling out her backpack and some rope. "Hold onto this," she said, giving one end to Yang and wrapping the other hand around her waist.

"If you fall, I don't think I can catch you."

"That's why I'm not walking across," Ruby said as she carefully stepped onto the railway, checking it for sturdiness. It had rusted out in places above, but this one looked fairly new. Maybe the ground was leaking water into it, causing it to rust faster. With Crescent Rose on her back, she held out her arms as she knelt down, carefully grabbing onto it and checked it for more weight related problems. She was light, but this was also iron held up only by more iron.

She was at the halfway mark when Ruby suddenly realized the problem, and Yang realized it a moment later. "Ruby, you're not going to have enough room on the rope!" Yang shouted.

"I realize this now!" Ruby shouted back as she felt it tug against Yang's end. The blonde was already at the edge of the hole, as far as she could be without jumping across on her own. "Don't jump, I think I can make it," Ruby said as she kept crawling on the railways, hoping that it wouldn't fall on her.

She heard running behind her, and gave a sigh as Yang did jump and managed to land squarely on the other side, Ruby's rope in hand. "Ha! Knew I could do it. And you knew I could do it!"

"I told you not to jump," Ruby murmured as she finished the crawl to the other side, getting up a moment later. It took her a moment to undo the rope knot, but managed to get it undone. Now her front was covered in metal shavings of some kind.

"You did? All I heard was 'Jump Yang, you're amazing and you can totally make it," Yang said in a much higher pitched falsetto that Ruby knew had to be a mockery of her own voice. Ruby rolled her eyes.

"I'm just glad it all worked out," Ruby said. Yang nodded. "Shoot," Ruby said after a moment, realizing that going one way meant that they'd have to go back the other. "We're gonna have to climb back at some point."

"Unless there's another exit around here, yeah," Yang admitted. "We'll be fine. We made it one way, we can make it the other way."

"There's a five foot difference between the two levels," Ruby glanced over. "I don't think you can make that jump again from this side."

"Eh, then I'll climb up the same way you did. With all your gear you're easily heavier than I am," Yang shrugged. Ruby had to admit, she did have a point, and it was normal for Yang to shrug the worries off that Ruby had.

They followed the pathway further, guided by the rails, until the rocks started to seem less mined and more haphazardly picked at. "Huh," Yang said as the torchlight showed off a few more bright splotches. "Bars," she murmured.

Ruby looked around her, made harder by the fact the passageways' railways had gone away, and it had decided to close in on them abruptly. At the far end of the passageway looked like a few small jail cells. Blinking in surprise as to why a jail would be a mine, she moved closer. An undead shambler's hand suddenly reached out the instant she passed within relatively close distance. It moaned pitifully, it's body taut and yet wrinkled. It's clothes were nothing more than rags, and Ruby knew that whatever it was had died a while ago. It was on the inside of the bars.

"Zombie!? Here!? Why!?" Yang shouted as she pulled back. "Why would anyone lock up a zombie!?"

"Shambler again," Ruby identified. "And they probably locked it up because they didn't know what to do with it, or the person it had been was turning in front of their eyes. Who knows how they're made?" she asked. "Hold on, I'll deal with it," she said, hefting up Crescent Rose.

"Ruby, you don't have anything that could reach through."

"Not yet! But I will!" Ruby said, glancing back towards Crescent Rose. It was true she hadn't yet been able to fire the iron blob out of the front like she'd been wanting to. She'd get there, though. She knew the physics behind it, the problem was getting to that point safely. She could fire it now, it'd just be a hassle to repair Crescent Rose. "Besides, there's a lock."

The bars actually did have a small door, boarded not by a lock but the remains of a rotten out chair. They were lucky it was a shambler, because otherwise it would have already busted out and attacked them. "Get ready, it'll attack," Ruby advised as she kicked the rotten boards away from the door.

The door swung open immediately, and Ruby had to duck behind it as the shambler shambled out, moaning to the world as it attempted to slice her with their claws.

Yang came in, her fists on fire, and Ruby could hear her squeal in her head as she punched the thing's head clean off. Immediately it bounced to the ground, once again solid in its undeath. "Oh Light why oh why that was disgusting-" Yang said, shaking off the hand that had hit it.

Despite the fact that her hand had been on fire. "Just wash it off if it bugs you," Ruby said, rolling her eyes as she grabbed the torch from her sister.

The inside of the 'jail cell' was surprisingly well maintained. There was a bed in the corner, its sheets long having rotted or eaten away by moths and rats. In another corner was a desk, slowly falling apart from discontinued use. It was where Ruby had gone to first, the chair missing, and presumably the chair that had been used to bar the doors.

It had a single drawer to it, and Ruby pulled it open to see a few copper coins come out, along with a single midnight black stone. She wasn't sure what it was at first, but put the copper coins in her coinpurse before she glanced at it a bit more. On the other side was a glowing sigil of some kind.

"What, what'd you find?" Yang asked. Ruby heard her shuffling to put away her water, so she must have actually washed off her hand. Why she was such coward in the face of undead Ruby didn't know, but that was fine.

"This," Ruby said, holding up the runestone. "And it's powered!"

"Think it's worth something?"

"Yang this is a powered runestone! Of course it's worth something! Who knows what this could do! It could make our weapons scream out fire or lightning or even make our weapons sharper, it could make our armor disappear into the void only to reappear when we need it!"

"So it's a good thing then?" Yang asked with a smirk.

"It's an amazing thing!" Ruby shouted at her. "How do you not know this!?"

"Never seen one before," Yang said, glancing down at it more. "What do you think this one does?"

"I have no idea," Ruby admitted. "But I've heard Steelheart talking about them. I've never seen one, and I've never worked with one. Maybe it requires the spark to actually put onto something."

"Watch as it's something useless like 'make this shield better'," Yang smirked. "Well, worse comes to worse we can sell it off later. It's bound to be worth a lot of money."

"It mean, it could be," Ruby said. "We'll keep our hands on it. I wonder what it was doing here though. This is obviously a jail of some kind," Ruby suggested. The pathway had caved in, and that was after it had narrowed down to make it nearly impossible for two people to get through. "Think there's two portions to the mines?"

"Has to be. We haven't found the head miner's helmet yet," Yang remembered. "I mean, it's pretty neat we've found some cool stuff. Even if we did have to use the elixir already."

"Do you think it's been the onset period for the rat virus?"

"How long's that?"

"I dunno. Few hours probably," Ruby said. Yang gave an exasperated sigh. "How do you expect me to know everything about them!"

"You've known everything about them so far!" Yang pointed out. "Anyways, come on, let's get out of here. We'll have to cross that gap again," she said, and Ruby froze up. That was right. And they wouldn't get nearly the same easy way across that they did the first time.

Admittedly it had held her up nicely, so it was quite likely they'd make it through without a problem. Ruby nodded, making sure to pocket the runestone carefully. That was probably the most valuable thing in this place, asides from the actual gemstones that might've been found while mining.

Not that they found any of those.

She did give a quick search on the shambler as she went by, not surprised to see that they had nothing in their pockets, but she wanted to be thorough. It's what led to the runestone, after all.

They quickly found their way back to the gap, and started the same thing. Ruby crawled on the railway, while Yang walked across the other one, her arms out for balance. It was slow going, particularly because Yang had almost fallen at one point, but she managed to regain her balance after the halfway point.

"You have to be more careful," Ruby said as she made it to the three quarter mark.

"Uh...Ruby?" Yang asked as she glanced up towards the top. "I think we're in trouble," she said. Ruby glanced up to see a figure in a white cloak and white mask staring at them.

"Yes. You are," their voice rang out, impossible to tell if they were male or female. He raised up a hand, and Ruby started to feel wind blow around them. Yang dropped down to hug onto the rail harder. Ruby held on tighter as the wind started to almost physically hurt them, pushing them to the side as best they could.

"He's knocking us off!" Ruby called out, just as Yang lost her balance. She reached out with one hand to grab onto the rail. Ruby shot over to the other side, grabbing Yang's wrist as the magic, as what could it be but magic, someone with the gift, tried to kill them.

They heard a creak, and Ruby gave a scream as the iron railway fell beneath them, bringing them to the darkness below.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Yang - 4

Yang fell. She knew that Ruby was right behind her, the red cloaked girl trying desperately to figure out what to do. Which made sense, as Yang was doing much the same. Who was that white cloaked man? Or woman, she supposed. The mask and cloak made it impossible to know.

She reached out with one hand to grab onto Ruby, hoping that she could blindly reach out and grab her. She had to stop their fall, right now.

With her other hand, she reached out for where she hoped the supports for the railway would have been. They'd long since rotted out from the top, but down here, she hoped that the miners had built from the bottom up rather than top down.

A rock jutted into her side, and pushed her off. She felt her body struggle to fight. It hadn't been sharp, so at least some of the impact had been stolen by her clothes, but she had only a few seconds-

Her hand reached something, and she reflexively grabbed on. It was a pole, kind of, but the rough texture told her it was just a stalagmite. Still, she could use it.

Ruby had stopped screaming, and Yang hoped that meant that she realized that Yang knew what she was doing, or had an idea of her own that forced her to think logically. Yes, they were falling, but they were also slowing down.

Her hand that gripped the rock started to burn quickly, and once again she regretted not looking into those hand wraps that Ruby kept mentioning. Maybe she would, especially if she could put that runestone that Ruby found on it. Assuming they knew what it did.

Her other hand finally managed to grip Ruby's cloak, holding her close as Yang tried to slow them down. This is the kind of fall that would kill people.

Instead Ruby turned Crescent Rose upside down, and immediately Yang felt pain in her ears. Something slowed them down, and it was a moment later that they landed on the rough hard ground below them. Yang felt her legs hate every movement, but maybe they hadn't snapped. "Ow," she said after a moment. Her voice was quiet, as if something was in her ear and she was trying to talk through water.

"You said it," Ruby whispered, standing up slowly. Yang could tell instantly that whatever injuries she had, Ruby had far worse. She landed on her back and side, where Yang had landed on her feet...relatively.

It was one of the first rules of fighting with her fists; to fall correctly. But Master Sal had never once explained how to fall nearly a hundred feet and survive.

"What was that?" Yang whispered back. There was no torch around, but surprisingly she could see without a problem. The walls seemed to have some kind of glowing green moss that gave off enough light to see.

Ruby ignored her. Yang reached out with one hand to tap her shoulder, only to realize that maybe it wasn't the best time. The top of Crescent Rose was essentially blown off. Or blown up. Maybe that's what the loud sound was.

As if realizing that her hearing was damaged, Yang started to hear the ringing that said it was slowly coming back. She couldn't have even heard the ringing before now.

The walls were full of that glowing green moss, but they weren't alone down here. Instead skeletons of various size people were laying down in the same position that they'd probably died in, not able to slow themselves t he same way that Yang and Ruby had. Small puddles sat in the corner, dripping with droplets that came either from the walls or from the ceiling.

The whole thing had a damp smell to it, and yet the ground was surprisingly dry. It didn't smell like rotting flesh, but it smell like death had hovered over them.

Ruby's hand knocked on her arm, and she turned to see Ruby offering a larger healing potion. The blood red liquid swirled around, the vials still in surprisingly one piece.

"Drink it, now," Ruby commanded. Her voice brook no argument, and Yang wasn't about to try it. She knew exactly how hurt she was, and it was times like this she really wished that she knew someone with the spark. Healing spells weren't common, but they were well known to those that had the favor of the gods. The problem is that neither she nor Ruby had any favor from any god. And judging by acts like this, they were at best unknown. At worst, the gods were trying to kill them.

The potion went down easily, slimy though its consistency was. She hated taking the potions, she really did, although Ruby had at least taken out the modifications that made them taste like slime and mucus at the same time.

She felt her leg muscles start to stretch out and her bones started to creak as they knitted themselves together. That was the big difference between a healing potion and a healing elixir. Elixir's took a while to work, or were better for smaller injuries. Healing potions on the other hand were more useful for the big ones.

And these were big hurts.

After about a minute of her head flaring up in pain, Yang pushed herself off the rock. Her hearing had started to restore itself last, but by the end she could hear the quiet 'drip' sound that permeated the place. "You alright?" Yang asked after a moment.

"No," Ruby answered instantly. "But I didn't think we'd be alive so I guess we're good."

Yang couldn't help it but laugh. "Yeah, I didn't think so either. What was that sound thing you did?"

"Blew up Crescent Rose. You know I've been working on having it spit out that iron rod right? I couldn't figure out the right way to have it not explode."

"Exploding is generally a bad thing."

"Not with this," Ruby retorted. "But the problem is that it never had enough force. This time I just slammed in everything I had and pointed down."

"Hence why your scythe looks more like staff," Yang pointed out. The oversized scythe blade was basically gone, torn into multiple places.

"Yeah, basically," Ruby agreed. "But hey, I can still fight with this," she said, smirking. "Unlike another brawler I know who couldn't use any other weapon if her life depended on it."

"I can use a staff too," Yang glared half-hearted. They were in good spirits because of the leftover effects of the healing potion, but the fact remained they were still down in a hole nearly a hundred under another two hundred feet in the ground.

"Yeah, I know. Any idea on who that was?" Ruby asked, looking up. Yang followed her line of sight, not surprised that it was nearly impossible to see that high. She couldn't even see the small railways that went across the sinkhole gap.

"Not a clue," Yang answered. "But others have been down here before," she said, looking at some of the skeletons. She half expected one of them to start to stand up and fight them.

It would make sense, given the shambler, the crawling hand, and anything else around here.

Ruby nodded, heading towards one of the bones. Yang wasn't paying much attention to her; Master Sal had always taught her that it was better to leave the bodies of the fallen where they lay, and not disturb them. Something about it being against the path of perfection. It also went against her own personal beliefs, too. Let the dead lie. They've earned their rest. Ruby had never seen it that way.

There was a small exit it looked like, given the glowing moss just barely gave it enough light. But then why would most people just be skeletons down here? Unless they died in the fall, which is likely, because that fall almost killed them.

Interested, she walked over to it, her boots slipping more than once on the slimy and slippery earth. It wasn't that big of an exit, but it was definitely something.

What's more, it had the moss inside it, although this moss wasn't giving off the same light that the small hole was. She felt around her back for her bag, finding another torch. She only had one more on her person, but Ruby had planned ahead and had something like three or four more. Torches were fairly cheap to buy.

It took her a minute to find the flint and steel, quietly lighting the torch after a few tries. The pathway weaved around, quickly going out of sight, but it looked big enough that she wouldn't have to crouch. "Hey, Yang. Come look at this," Ruby called out from behind her. The monk glanced over to see a small mining helmet with a dragon design on the top, the mark of the head miner.

"That's what we were looking for! Good job Rubes!"

"That's why it's important to search the bodies," Ruby argued. "Also I found a few more silver and copper pieces. Not enough for a single gold, but every bit helps."

Yang nodded. "Yeah, every bit helps. Anything else?"

"Another pickaxe, well used, and a small gemstone, probably worth something," Ruby said, pointing to a small well worn pickaxe that was on the ground, it's wood having mostly rotted out. Next to it was a small thumbsize red gem, a simple version of Ruby's namesake.

"Well, leave the axe, take the stone. There's an exit this way," Yang said. Ruby nodded, quickly pocketing the gem and attaching the helmet to her backpack. That was something they couldn't afford to lose as well. With the torch held up high, Yang quickly had to revise her opinion on the pathway. It did force her to crouch down, and more than once they both had to squeeze through the particularly tight cracks.

Nearly ten minutes of going up, down, every which way and thoroughly confusing the both of them, even with their shared compass, Yang had to blink the dark out of her eyes. Also the compass decided that it would rather spin in place than give any helpful information.

She knew something was wrong when her boots hit hard stone. And not hard stone as in the rocks that she'd been navigating before, but hard stone that had been carved, hard smooth stone.

She brought her torch hand out, and shuffled out of the small crack in the wall. A hallway now, with smooth stone walls carved to perfection, and massive tiles embedded into the ground itself. "Alright, I'm lost," Yang said as Ruby pulled herself out.

She glanced around too. "I have no idea. Does the compass work here?"

Yang looked at it, seeing it dance happily in one direction before pointing it and seeing it do a small jig in the other. "No, it doesn't."

"Pick a direction then. This feels like a trap."

"How can it be a trap? I've never even seen this place," Yang answered, holding the torch high. There were no paintings, no real sign of anything except the stone tiles.

It wasn't even all that cold. There was no smell here except of stale air, as if it hadn't seen any wind in ages. Quite likely, Yang knew, as carved stone like this would erode quickly in any amount of time in the presence of water. "Think Patch has some kind of burial hall?" Ruby asked as she glanced around. "That's about the only thing I can think of that this would be."

Yang shook her head. "No, I don't think so. For one, there's no coffins or anything to put a body," Yang answered. She picked a random direction, their boots hitting down hard on the stone floor.

"So if it's not a burial hall, what is all this?"

There was a small turn up ahead, and Yang stopped as soon she got to it. A large glowing door, glowing with every color of the rainbow on it, filled to the brim with various sigils and runes that she couldn't have a hope of deciphering stood in her way.

"I think we found whatever it's supposed to be," Yang said. Ruby walked up behind her, and froze. "Although I have no idea what it is."

"I don't know either, but whatever it is someone definitely doesn't want anyone getting close to it. Or coming from it. Or anywhere near it," Ruby answered.

"Got a guess?" Yang asked. She hoped that Ruby did, because Ruby did read a lot and knew a lot more about the arcane that she ever would. She knew how to punch things. And how to survive in a city.

Magically sealed massive doors were nowhere on that list.

"It's a magically sealed door. I can tell you that much. I have no idea which tradition, which god the creators worshiped, or even if they did," Ruby said without an ounce of sarcasm. "This thing is sealed up tight."

"So what happens if we try to open it?"

"We probably die," Ruby answered without hesitation. Yang nodded. She kinda got that part of things.

The circle of sigils changed places and designs, and for a moment Yang thought it was opening, before instead the outer circle of rainbow colors vanished and reappeared in the middle. "All for heading the other way and hoping we forget this?" Yang asked.

"Aye," Ruby said instantly. "It's too bad it's at a dead end. I would have liked to see what's going on further."

"I just want to get out of here. Worse comes to worse we'll have to try it anyways," Yang exclaimed. She tried to the hide the sigh of relief that she felt as they started to back away slowly. She hadn't realized it at the time, but now that she was aware of it, the door had been giving off an immense amount of pressure in the air.

But who had that person been at the top of the railway? Had they been searching for the door? What was this place?

They quickly found the entrance to the mines, the small crack in the wall that they'd come out of. "I'm all for closing this," Ruby said, "if we don't find something."

"I think we close it now. We know where it is, but something about that door just...I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to find it."

"Had there been writing on it? Most magically sealed doors have some kind of writing."

Yang took the pickaxe from Ruby's bag, not even clearing it with the younger girl before she took a swing at the crack. Rather than widening, there was a large smash sound from somewhere.

Rocks fell from the top of the rocky pathway that led to the mines, and the whole thing started to collapse. Yang and Ruby jumped back just as rocks filled the crack.

"I wasn't expecting that," Yang muttered.

"I think you should be more careful when swinging that. Imagine, what if it's a pickaxe of massive stone damage?" Ruby asked with a smirk. Yang was glad her sister was taking this so well, because she could feel her heartbeat start to take off.

That collapse had come awfully close to hitting the both of them. And now they were stuck in the carved stone hallway, with one side leading into darkness that they couldn't see beyond and the other leading to the magically sealed door that probably spelled their doom.

Yang gave a quick sigh, before checking to make sure that Ruby was still alright, and that she still had the head miner's helmet.

The walk on the other side was silent and ominous. "I wonder what time it is," Ruby said quietly. "We've been in here for a while."

"Couldn't be more than a few hours," Yang answered. Ruby was right though, all the adrenaline from the fighting and all the exploring made time hard to concentrate on. They might have to get a watch, assuming they could find one.

Patch generally was small enough that it was a reasonable question. There were no clockmakers as far as Yang knew on the small island.

The pathway back gave more twists and turns, but unlike the other ones, these turns were sudden and obviously planned. Sudden stops in the walls, and sharp angles on their turns. Each wall was carved to perfection, and more than once Yang had to ask herself who could have the ability to do this? She ran her hands down the wall, feeling the cold chill of the earth sap away at the heat in her hands. There was nothing to grip on. No imperfection, no matter how much she tried to find one. It was as if the stone was simply created this way.

"Know of any spells that could make tunnels in the ground?" Yang asked suddenly. These walls had to be magical in some way. That was the only explanation, because there was no carving tool that could create walls this perfect.

Ruby stopped for a moment. "I think there's gotta be at least one, but I don't know of any off the top of my head. Why, you think this entire place was magic?"

"It has to be. Feel the walls. Nothing to grab onto," Yang explained as Ruby did just that.

"You are right," Ruby said, "but it could just be that they had expert carvers. I mean, wasn't there some old civilization that could create stone so perfectly spherical that everyone said the gods did it?"

"What kind of tabloid's have you been reading?" Yang asked with a smirk. Ruby rolled her eyes. Yang didn't know anything of that particular thing, but she didn't doubt it. There were ruins all over Remnant, and only a few of them had actually been explored. She turned another corner, walking swiftly in front of Ruby, when she stilled herself and held out her arm for Ruby to crash into. The torch just barely lit enough to let her see what lay in front of them.

Tall. Black. Red markings, white skull on the head. Teeth sharper than the sharpest of weapons, and muscles bigger than any sailor or farmer would ever have. Black skin that absorbed the light, and glaring red eyes that shone like an angry sun.

It's four claws were silent against the stone, despite everything telling Yang that it was impossible. It was quadripedal, looking like a mix of a wild wolf and some kind of bear. Or some kind of werewolf, if she had to be honest.

It was looking the opposite way.

Yang felt fear jump into her throat. She knew what it was. Ruby knew what it was. There was only one thing it could be. The black, the red, the white skull...corded muscles thicker than any human could ever have. A Grimm.

Why hadn't she prayed to Salem beforehand? Shit, that was probably the god that wanted them dead. Of course she would be, Salem was the goddess of death. And Yang had forgotten to pray to her to keep the Grimm away, and now there was a Grimm right in front of them!

It lifted up onto its hind legs, sniffing the air. It's head turned slowly to face them, and Yang felt the air stick into her throat. It was unwavering power, the infinite death that heralded it. And it was. Looking. Right. At them!

"Yang..." Ruby muttered behind her. Yang couldn't move. She had to move. Ruby was counting on her. She had to protect Ruby.

She had to protect Ruby. Yang's eyes narrowed, and she felt her training come back to play.

Her hands gripped hard. "I think it knows we're here," Ruby muttered. She gripped the hard staff of Crescent Rose, the remains of the device that saved them. Yang didn't know what she was going to do with that. This was a beast that would kill them. And then eat their souls, or something.

Yang nodded. It did know. Her heart was still stuck in her throat, and she felt adrenaline surge through her body. She was afraid, and she knew it. But Master Sal had often said that this would happen in her life. She would be afraid, but she had to keep her mind on the thing that moved her forward.

And that was protecting Ruby. She had to protect Ruby.

It gave a howl, sending a surge of shivers through Yang's spine, before it leapt forward. Almost faster than she could blink, it appeared in front of her, it's long claws longer than even her hair.

She barely had enough time to raise one hand in a futile defensive gesture before she was shoved abruptly into the wall across the way. She felt her shoulder crack, and the torch tumbled out of her hand.

Fire enveloped her hand.

The second strike moved it towards Ruby, but she had enough forewarning that she could block it, albeit barely, with the remaining staff of Crescent Rose.

Her sister was in trouble. Her sister was in danger. And that...that made her angry. She felt that feeling, pushed it to the forefront of her mind. She was Master Sal's sole student. She would carry on his path, while carrying her own.

The path to perfection, he had called it.

Her fist found itself, flaming on its own, in the jaws of the Grimm. She knew she did damage, she felt its jaws snap shut together, before she took a step back, one arm useless from...something. Yang wasn't sure what it was.

Ruby came in while it was still on the backside. She didn't try to attack with the staff, instead she did something that Yang hadn't even thought of. She slammed it into its knees, or where its ankles melded with its shins on a normal wolf.

It came down hard onto the stone ground, and Ruby grabbed Yang's bad arm. "Come on, we need to run!" she shouted, pulling Yang along. Yang felt only pain, and fear again from the Grimm. The anger at the thing had vanished as Ruby grabbed her bad arm. They didn't have another torch out, so they'd be stumbling in the dark.

They didn't get far before there was another howl, the Grimm starting to chase them. Yang stopped, kicking Ruby forward. "Run! I'll hold him off!" Yang shouted, her fist blazing. She may have only had one arm, only one way to do something, to do anything.

But she could. She had to. She had no choice. "Yang, no!" Ruby screamed as she fell to the floor, scrambling up a moment later. "Oh shoot!" she yelled out.

Yang turned for just an instant. Ruby had fallen to the ground, and she'd have to apologize for that after the rainbow bridge, or if the God of Light would accept them into his realm. Or would they be more like Ozma? Forever reincarnating after death?

Then she'd kept falling, past the stone steps. The remaining torchlight showed a small shadow upon the step that Ruby had fell onto.

A trap.

The Grimm closed itself onto Yang, its claws attempting to gouge out her eyes, her throat, her stomach. The small click said otherwise.

The floor where the Grimm stood rose up swiftly. Almost instantly it crashed into the roof with a thundering roar, the shockwave knocking Yang to the ground right behind Ruby.

Her heart was in her throat again, but for a different reason. They had literally been only instants away from death, both of them. And they'd come out of alive, even just a little bit, because of a trap that someone had set for this place.

"By the Light..." Ruby had said quietly. "If we were running through this place normally, that would have got us..."

Yang breathed hard, the feeling slowly returning to her arm. "Got any more of those potions?" she asked quietly. It was hard to speak. It was hard to think, if she had to be honest.

But what she knew was this; if this place was trapped the opposite way then the traps weren't for whatever came out the door. They were for whoever wanted to go in.

And if these were the types of trap that were waiting, then what did that say about who had built this place?

Each chapter cycles to a new character, with the majority of the fic following these two. Whatever Comes Our Way, after all.

Until Next Time.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Ruby - 5

Ruby took a massive breath of fresh air as she felt real sunlight, actual sunlight, on her face again.

It was hard to think after all that they've been through. The Grimm had been right there, so close to killing Yang. A single flip of a coin, a single roll of the dice, had been the factor. Had she been shoved just a little harder, just at a slightly different angle, they would have died.

And where would Ruby be, then?

And the traps, and the magical door...whatever had made that place had known to make it a deathtrap. And the person back in the mines. Who would have done that? Why would they have done that? What were they wearing? They were obviously wearing it to show that they were allied with some nation, but which nation Ruby didn't know.

She doubted it was Vale though. Vale's uniform was mostly green with bits of brown, something that could blend in a bit easier with the forest and mountains around the area. Which means that someone else was here, on Patch. But what was it that they were after? And more importantly, should they be telling anyone?

They would instantly tell people that Grimm were around. That had to get a response from people. Grimm were bad news where ever they appeared. It was why people prayed to Salem to keep them away.

Yang, too, was breathing hard. The last of the healing potions that Ruby had were given to the young woman, and now at least her other arm was fine. One hand had broken while punching the Grimm in the face, and that was a story she couldn't wait to tell at the tavern.

Yang punched a Grimm in the face, and lived.

Now that was a story worth telling.

The stone carvings slowly filed away, nearly as golden as the most golden of suns, as they dipped into steps that crossed into the jungle and forests' ground. Small bits of ivy were weaving around the entrance, built into a cliffside that faced the shoreline.

They were close to a beach, Ruby could hear. Close to a beach, and thus close to the ocean. From there, they could wander around the shoreline until they found the city of Patch proper.

Their clothes were in tatters, and their skin smudged and pinpricked with small bloodstains. More than just the giant rats, the shamblers and the crawling hand. The Grimm, too, had taken its toll on Yang's clothes, a large portion torn out of the center, showing off the red scar on her midriff. Yang probably hadn't even realized she'd been hit in the stomach.

Ruby knew that her own clothes weren't in any good condition either. The fall had snapped more than a few of them, and her pants were torn in places they shouldn't be. Her cloak was shredded. They looked like they'd been through hell and back, and if Ruby had to be honest, they had been.

But at least everything after the Grimm had been easy. It was literally a single walkway, twisting and turning in places but asides from the traps, which all happened behind them so as long as neither one went too ahead of the other they weren't in any real danger.

The wind blew softly through Ruby's hair, and she took another breath of the salty air. "Finally..." she muttered. "We made it out."

"Yeah. Yeah we did," Yang agreed. "Closer to death than we've ever been before."

"We fought a Grimm, Yang. We fought a Grimm, and we lived. You punched it, right in the face."

"If you hadn't triggered the trap-"

"But you pushed me onto it!"

"You chose where to land! I saw that part, don't think I didn't!" Yang teased. There was something behind her eyes, an awful part that made Ruby realize that Yang had been worrying something bad about her during the entire thing.

She had to get stronger.

She had to get stronger, so Yang wouldn't worry. If that meant she had to remake Crescent Rose, which she would, and learn to stay far back...she could do that. She was good at aiming, it's just that aiming with a farm implement was not the most easy of things to do.

Make it lighter. Make it easier. Stay far back. She could do that.

Despite all the pain they were feeling, the soreness, and everything that made Ruby question why she did what she was did, it was two things that reminded her of truly why. She could let the head miner's significant other know what happened, giving them a sense of knowledge, even if that's not what they wanted. And the second, because she wanted to keep Yang safe too.

The jungles around the place ended surprisingly quickly as Ruby started to head down the hills. It wasn't a sudden drop off, but they did go close to the edge, where it was only a few more small jumps before they'd hit the water's edge. "What do you think is up with that door?" Yang asked as she jumped off the last one.

"I don't know. It's gotta be something impressive though," Ruby said. She glanced towards where the sun was, figuring it would be late afternoon by now. The sun hadn't set yet, but was starting the process to set the sky alight with the salmon pink flames of dusk.

"It's some serious firepower, that's for sure," Yang said. "I didn't realize it at first but did you feel the pressure it was giving off?"

"You felt that too? I thought it was just me," Ruby answered. It was hard to forget the sheer pounding force once she realized it was there. It was one of those things that she doubted she'd forget. Maybe they wouldn't find a way through, but for some reason that thought made her frown. She didn't get it.

Her thoughts kept going back to that door.

They followed the beach for a while, and by the time the sun had fully set Ruby thought that she'd figured out where they were. They had passed by Goliath Rock, supposedly a goliath Grimm that had been encased in stone by a powerful wizard, and that meant they were about three hours from town.

"Alright. Think we're safe out here?" Yang asked once they hit a nearby clearing. "Any roads this far out?"

"No, to both," Ruby answered. There were wolves out here, but they were most likely to be afraid of humans especially ones like them, and there were also only a few other predators. Potentially the giant rats, if they followed them this far. "It's safer than it was in the mines, that's for sure."

"Think the door had something to do with the shambler and crawling hand?" Yang asked. "You said it yourself, a shambler means that someone had to revive them."

"Yeah, but I just thought it was that wizard guy. Girl. Person. You know, the one who tossed the wind spell at us."

"Can they do that? I always thought you were limited to one tradition only. You know, nature magic versus arcane."

Ruby shrugged. "I don't know. Revival magic like necromancy I'm pretty sure is considered divine. But the only two gods that would grant it would be God of Darkness and Salem."

"I don't think Dark likes that though," Yang muttered. "But stop here for the night?"

Ruby looked around. It was a decent spot, close to the road. She doubted there would be any ships going to Vale until the morning, just because the chance of Grimm attacks goes much higher at night, when people are naturally afraid of the dark.

"Yeah, let's stay around here. Keep watch or no?"

"I'll stay up, swap out at moon's apex," Yang answered. Ruby nodded, pulling out a flint and steel before lighting a small fire. There was more than enough firewood nearby that they wouldn't have to worry about running out, and Patch was nearly tropical anyways so the fire was more for light than it was for heat.

The tent was just as quick as to put up, and Ruby made sure that the helmet for the head miner was safe and secure inside the tent.

They didn't bother to eat any rations or anything, knowing that Patch the big part of the city was just around the corner. It wasn't the first night they'd skipped a meal, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

Ruby dreamed of the door, finding it from every angle no matter where she looked, with the image of the Grimm's shadow overlooking every bit of it. Every so often she woke up, drenched in sweat, before finally Yang came in and they swapped.

She wasn't sure why Yang was so insistent on Ruby learning some of these things. Some of them, like keeping watch, she got, because that's something that everyone would have to do at some point.

She glanced down at Crescent Rose, pulling out some of her repair kit, and starting some modifications using the firelight. She kept her ears out for any sound, but she knew that didn't mean much. When they said that Grimm were silent, they were silent.

She hadn't even heard a single clack of the claws on stone, and both of their boots were making rather heavy thuds.

The repairs would take a while, which made sense given that Crescent Rose was broken beyond anything. She could get it started, at least. She'd have to wait until they get to Patch to get the rest of the supplies needed to patch it up. But...that would have to wait. Maybe she could get them at Vale. Vale's a lot bigger, so naturally they'd have to have more jobs to pull. And considering they had at least one confirmed Grimm death to their name, maybe they could start to pull some recognition.

It was too bad that the trap did all the work. A Grimm skull would be nice to have, although it would disappear within a day or two at most. Grimm bodies didn't stick around after they were killed, instead turning to black mist.

The moon set surprisingly quickly, and by the time she had woken up Yang, and they'd both had a quick ration bar, something that displeased Yang, they were on the way to Patch.

After about two hours of walking, Ruby could see where Patch was. The tallest building, a combination of church and town hall, was the most recognizable. "Ah, I'm gonna go deliver this," Yang said, grabbing the helmet of the miner. "You go and see if you can't grab tickets to Vale!"

"We need the money first. They aren't gonna let us on without it."

"Pack up our stuff at the inn?" Yang asked. Ruby rolled her eyes, but she nodded. Yeah, she could do that much at least.

The rest of the walk swiftly turned to farmland as the sun started to rise up. They had always been early risers, forced to be by the adventurer's nature of wanting as much sunlight for travel as possible.

At least, that was Yang's explanation. Ruby's explanation was that tea and coffee was at its best early in the morning. They didn't need to drink coffee, but they got up early just for it just in case Patch had gotten a delivery of the coffee beans.

By the time that Ruby got to the inn, the sun was already or nearing it's quarter rise. They'd been further out than they had thought, not that Ruby was all that worried. From here, Yang knew where to go.

"Back?" she heard the innkeeper say before she looked at Ruby. "Oh my gods girl, what happened!?" she shouted, her hands dropping her knitting needles.

"Grimm. Underneath the mines," Ruby answered. "Yang's fine, don't worry. It's dead now."

"A Grimm!? You don't think...you don't think there's more do you?"

Ruby shook her head. "No, no I don't think so. We should have enough money to get out of Patch now. So...thank you, for letting us stay here."

"Oh...that's good," the woman said, sinking back down into her chair. "That's good...yes, that's good. And you're welcome here anytime."

Ruby rolled her eyes now that she wasn't being watched. That was a lie, the woman hated her. Admittedly, that is what happened when an inventor stays in one place for long enough.

Gathering their stuff was quick and near painless. Ruby ran around the room a little bit, trying to find any small knickknacks before she realized they didn't really have any. Most of what they bought was food, or stuff for the repair kit for Crescent Rose. Or for the mortar and pestle for her to make more elixirs or healing potions.

Granted, potions were a lot harder than elixirs. Also elixirs were a lot more watered down.

By the end of the two backpacks, she had just everything they had. Ruby did make sure to grab the map of the world as they had it known, if only so they could find some way of knowing where they were. Patch was easy enough to find, as was Vale, but Vacuo, Atlas, and Mistral were just names over the various continents.

The sky was surprisingly clear and only somewhat blustery as Ruby headed to the docks. Yang was already there, sitting on the corner of one of the piers, holding a small leather bag as close to her chest as she could. Patch was small, and cutpurses were rare here, but that didn't mean they didn't exist.

"Got it all?" Yang asked as she turned to see Ruby was coming up. "We aren't coming back."

"Sure, I got it. What exactly is your plan? You never told me."

"Ah...shoot. I thought I did. So Master Sal heard a rumor, in my last year with him, that there was a Branwen out in Vale."

Ruby blinked. A Branwen? What did that mean? What did that matter? "Okay...? Is that supposed to be some big revelation?"

"Ruby, we're half sisters."

"I'm aware," Ruby blinked. Where was Yang going with this?

"My mother was a Branwen, who dropped off the face of Remnant."

"So you want to find your...what, uncle?"

"Our uncle."

Ruby raised her eyebrow. That was Yang's big plan? Get out of Vale, find someone who didn't know them, who they didn't need, for...actually a family did sound nice, but there was no guarantee that this was a nice person.

"And you think he's just going to take us in?"

Yang looked away, a sure sign that she was going to be lying. Probably to protect her feelings. "I'm hoping for it," she said quietly.

Oh. Not lying, just sad. Ruby looked her sister up and down, how tall she was compared to herself, before she launched herself into a hug. "I don't care if he doesn't. Or if he does. Remember what Dad said. Whatever comes our way."

Yang nodded, and Ruby felt her sister's arms slowly wrap around her. "Yeah. Whatever comes our way, we'll stick together."

It had been their guiding phrase. For years, it had been the phrase that stuck with them. Yang said it was one of the last things their Dad had told them before something teleported them. "Whatever comes your way, stick together, and watch out for each other."

It's one of the reasons Ruby had started to make stuff. At first she just started with the small elixirs, the easy ones, the ones that don't require any particular magic spark. All high level potions or elixirs did. The healing elixir's that she could make were all extremely low level.

Honestly, they were barely worth much even in Patch. It was why instead of reselling them to make money, she mostly just kept them and used them themselves. Only the higher potency ones were really useful.

After their hug, Yang led her down the pier to a small cog, a single sail ship that wasn't all that big. The docks at Patch usually held a few of the ships, mostly useful for shipping small things back and forth.

The Valean ship 'Sun's Rose'. The captain was an older gentleman, who never took passengers on board unless they could pay first. He was rather harsh with what Ruby knew of him, constantly yelling at the various sailors doing their jobs. He sounded rather mean whenever he started to curse them out.

He was also known for being fair to passengers. He wouldn't force them to work as long as they could pay, and in order to get on board as a worker they had to prove they've had some sailing experience.

It was why Yang and Ruby were still on Patch after all this time. If he'd allowed them on board, they would've been able to prove themselves, but he wouldn't allow them on board unless they could pay or get experience.

"Yang, did you tell anyone about the Grimm?" Ruby reminded gently.

"Yeah, I found one of the guard's crewman. He said he'd let the Captain know, but seeing as how we already killed it, he wasn't too worried. They'll add a few shifts and make sure there aren't any more," Yang answered.

Ruby nodded. That sounded about right. Most of the guards had never even seen a Grimm. There was one person though, an arrogant...person...who thought he could impress her by saying he could kill any Grimm he saw. Ruby wasn't exactly sure why he wanted to impress her of all people, she was kind of a street urchin, but he had. In order to win her favor, he took off the instant his shift was over to wander into the forest.

He hadn't come back out.

Yang was off trying to find a solo job she could do, and Ruby had been busy trying to figure out the first version of Crescent Rose at the time. When she heard that the guardsman hadn't come back, she had known that the Grimm were very real creatures. But it was good to know they didn't take kindly to boasts.

The captain waved them on board, eagerly collecting the small leather sack from Yang. "Good on you two to finally make some money," the captain said without an ounce of pity. "The Sun's Rose is one of the fastest ships in Patch. We'll leave once high tide hits and roll out with the tide, in around an hour."

Some of the sailors looked up towards them. There were no growls, no 'how dare you two get a free ride' that Ruby partially expected. Instead they seemed almost...disinterested.

As if they'd seen this a hundred times already, and would see it for a hundred thousand more.

"Any place to put our gear down?" Yang asked. Ruby tried to hide her wince. The cog wasn't that big, only about as big as their room at the inn in width, and about three times that lengthwise.

"Pick a spot and guard it. We're sailors, not escorts," the captain answered. "Not everyone can be in a caravel like those Mistralian ships."

Ruby nodded and went down to a small corner where no one was currently, and it didn't look like anything important could be set down. "How long to Vale?"

"If the winds favor us," the captain said, "then about two hours. If they don't, then up to four or six. The rest of the day," he shrugged. "Raye!" he suddenly shouted, "How're the winds lookin'?"

At the front of the ship a young man with stunningly blonde hair, almost reminding Ruby of Yang's after she'd washed it, leapt up. "Winds be favorable at the moment, but might turn on us in an instant!" he shouted back.

The captain shrugged. "Aye, and there's your answer," he said, heading up to the small wooden wheel that steered the ship. He started barking orders that made no sense to Ruby, but if she had to guess he was telling people to hurry up on the loading. And the sailors were loading giant crates of something from the pier. Generally they were in barrels, but some were in square crates. Yang watched them with interest, but that just left Ruby more bored than ever.

She took out the half-built fixed version of Crescent Rose, knowing she had minimum three hours to Vale. Patch was warned about the Grimm, but there was still that door, and the strange person. What were they after? Who were they?

"Hey, Captain...you've been around for a while, right?" Ruby asked.

The captain turned from the wheel. "Can't say I've been around that long, but I know of a bit."

"Do you know of any country that uses a pure white uniform with a mask?" Ruby asked. Yang paused her watching of the sailors and started to pay attention.

The captain paused, one of his well tanned hands stroking under his chin. "Sounds like Atlas, but those uniforms aren't in use any more since the Great War decades ago. I remember seeing one in a museum over in Mistral."

So the person had either been from Atlas, or been impersonating them. But why use an old outdated uniform? Because it worked? It made it impossible to know if they were a man, woman, faunus or human...

But the big realization was that they could use magic. They had summoned up wind from nothing to knock both her and Yang off the railways. Which meant that they had the spark. Which meant they had gone to one of the Schnee Schools for Magic. Almost everyone who had the spark went to them to learn.

There might be one in Vale, and thus it would have student records. Maybe they could find one who specialized in wind magic and find who was impersonating Atlas, or actually was Atlesian, and figure out what it was they were looking for.

They could also look for information on that door. Ruby remembered it vividly, and took out a small piece of paper to scratch the shapes onto. "What are you thinking?" Yang asked.

"The person that knocked us down," Ruby answered, "was Atlas or impersonating them. But they used magic, so they probably went to the magic schools. They'll have records on him. And we can ask about the door."

Yang nodded. "That's a good idea. I'll see if I can't find some information about Branwen then. Maybe see if we can't pull a few jobs and get our reputation up. Maybe he'll come searching for us!" Yang smirked.

Ruby smirked with her, but she knew that wasn't likely. Vale was a lot bigger than Patch, and Patch had always known them as 'those two kids'. The chance of getting a better reputation though...that wasn't something they could just say no to.

Or at least, she couldn't. And if Yang was going to be off doing jobs and adventuring stuff, then Ruby was going with her. After all, they had to stick together.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Yang - 6

Yang had never been on a boat before. Even with a person as surly as the captain, as many difficulties lay behind them in Patch, like who that person was who tried to kill them or what that magical door meant, all of that was behind them.

Along with the rest of Patch. Finally, she was on her way to finding Branwen, and getting him to help her with Ruby. They'd be a family, and Yang would be the one to give them to Ruby.

It may have been slightly inappropriate, really, given that Ruby was nearly fifteen on her own and Yang had done a fairly decent job of raising her in the brawler's opinion. But all of the other stuff, the being proud of them, Yang couldn't do alone. Vale though...Vale was big. If there was anything there that she could use to help out Ruby and find Qrow Branwen, it would be there.

No one else on Patch had heard of him. But maybe...Yang could find someone in Vale. That was her hope, or she'd find him herself. There was always that possibility, unlikely though it was. The winds on the cog were in their favor, according to the sailor at the front of the boat. It had a specific name, but Yang didn't know what it was. Aft? Must've been it. The aft of the boat.

Wait, aft sounded like ass. So the back? But then what was the front? Which one was port and starboard, and why was it called that?

More questions for later. The wind and sea air coalesced around her, slowly pushing and pulling on her hair. It was probably bad for it to have the sea air be doing that, due to the high salt content. Ruby had told her that bit once, but that didn't stop Yang from washing off in the ocean every once in a while.

"Almost there lass," the captain said, talking to Ruby. Ruby was being far quieter than Yang had thought she could be, deep in thought as she sketched the runes on the magic door. But because she was so quiet, the captain seemed to take a shine to her.

He would tell her some of the stories of creatures that they've seen, of the giant Grimm that he had run away from once. Normal stories were all about facing impossible odds, but Yang knew that even running from Grimm were impossible odds sometimes. The fact that she'd punched one was a story worthy of a re-telling or two. Maybe she could get some cute guy or girl to buy her a pint for it. Or a few pints. Or of a lead to Branwen, or a good job that could pay a while, simultaneously being easy and not as likely to get them killed.

That last one was unlikely. All paying jobs had some risk to them.

Her attention was sent forwards towards the front as some of the sailors started screaming and running towards the back. Thick long lines of red filled with some kind of suction cups came from the bottom of the boat, slowly wrapping themselves over the railing.

"Octopus attack!" The captain shouted, ripping off his jacket and showing off six flintlock pistols arranged on his chest. He grabbed one and immediately fired for the nearest tentacle. "All hands to battle conditions!" he shouted.

Yang grinned, shooting forward as her hands caught fire. She slammed it down into one of the suction cups, and the tentacle waved as the obvious burned part sank beneath the sea again. One of them reached out for her, slapping her against the mast with an ease that belied how easy it was to be hit.

Another tentacle went for another sailor, ripping him off of the ship's deck, and joining forces with another one as it ripped him apart.

Yang's eyes widened. He hadn't stood a chance. That could happen to anyone of them. That could happen to Ruby!

Not that it would, seeing as how she had jumped to the top of the back of the boat, aiming the remains of Crescent Rose towards the thing. She'd managed to get some solid time to repair it, but without more materials it was unlikely to be considered a 'Crescent Rose 2.0'. It definitely held the shape of it though.

Wait. Had she gotten the projectile thing to work now? The thing that saved their lives in the mines, could it-

A loud deafening boom rang out as two of the tentacles, the ones that had just ripped the man apart, were cut in two, falling onto the ship's deck uselessly. In one shot, Ruby had cut two of them off. Without even using blades!

"Alright Ruby!" Yang shouted out, ducking in for another hit. One tentacle, two tentacles, it didn't matter to her because it wasn't trying to dodge anything. It's 'armor' wasn't so much armor as it was just armor plating and even then she could get right through that easily.

As soon as she finished with her blows, the giant octopus rose up from the surface of the sea. The boat dipped as it weighed it down, pushing itself out of the water.

It had a bulbous head, with massive eyes the size of small tree trunks. It's head was orange, and the color shifted to match the green that was the color of the tentacles. Underneath each one was more suction cups, and the giant beak that belonged more to a giant bird that some ocean dwelling creature.

It gave a scream as the captain fired another pistol at the octopus, before he threw that pistol away rather than reloading it, pulling out a second and firing that.

Yang started to expect another shot from Ruby as Yang ducked and dodged another of the tentacles. When she realized that the loud boom wasn't coming, she turned to see that Ruby was starting to fight off a few more that came from behind, on the aft. Crescent Rose didn't have any metal on her at the moment, but on the other hand Ruby was still doing considerable just slamming the pole down on the tentacles as they tried to grab her.

"Alright, let's see what you think of this," Yang grinned as she shot forward, ducking underneath another of the tentacles. It's eye was staring straight at her, and instantly her fire lit fist slammed into it, followed up by a second one in the same moment.

If she thought punching zombies was horrible, and she did, it paled in comparison to the feeling and idea of punching an octopus' eye. Her fists sank into the thing, and was surrounded by the stickiness and the sliminess and the it was covering her hand why did she think this was a good idea?

Oh right, because punching things in the eye was generally a good way to get them to go away. Especially when her fist was on fire.

It gave a shocking howl, before Yang found one of it's tentacles around her boots, and it lifted her up easily by them. She glanced down, seeing bits of her hair aiming for the thing's beak. "Oh no you don't, not yet!" Yang shouted. She could still come out of this, all she had to do was hit it really hard.

Not that it mattered as she was being held out far enough she couldn't make any solid hits, and even the tentacles on her boots were staying out of her range.

Then Ruby came in with another shocking blow. Her shot went through the tentacle holding her, which was great, and through the octopus' other eye, blowing out some of the...brain matter? What did they have in their heads? She knew the basics, but the actual anatomy of an octopus was not one of them. She fell onto the ship's deck hard, feeling her back crack. Her shoulder was hurting from being slapped into the mast, but she was alive, and mostly unharmed.

The octopus itself had stopped moving, the suction cups being the only thing still keeping it chained to the boat.

Yang took a deep breath. "That was fun. Let's do that again!" she called out, trying to get Ruby to at least smile.

She got the smile she wanted. "Yang, that wasn't fun, not for any of us. Someone died."

Oh right, she'd forgotten about that. It hadn't been the first time she'd seen death up close, and she knew it happened a lot, but it was so quick and sudden. She hadn't had time to jump in to try to save him.

"Aye, and it would have been a lot more of us if you two hadn't jumped in," the captain said, patting Yang on the back. "Alright you lot, invader's dead so get going! Pull it on and start your cuttin'!"

Yang blinked. "Cutting? They aren't going to eat this thing are they?" she asked.

"That we probably will. Octopus, even one as gamey as this giant, makes good meals for a while. And our cook onboard knows the best way to serve it. Aye, James will be missed."

Ruby jumped down from the aft, landing loudly on her boots. Some of the sailors started come out of the woodwork, generally the area from down below or the small galley behind them. They had small knives on them, and they quickly got to work getting rid of the tentacles and either throwing the good parts towards the middle or throwing the bad parts out to sea.

"Any place I can...uh...wash off?" Yang asked, pointing to her still covered in eye juices hands. The captain gave a look of disgust, before he nodded and motioned to the small rope ladder that led down to the sea. That was going to suck, Yang knew, but she did it. It washed off surprisingly easy, probably because it's the same thing that kept the eyes from getting water in them.

By the time the sailors got to the stomach of the beast, she was back upside with her arms exposed to the drying sun. "Another hour, you think?" Yang asked.

"Nah, closer to half I'd wager," The captain said, glancing towards the sun. It was clearly past its apex, but hadn't yet started to complete it's journey. They would have plenty of time in Vale.

Another half an hour. She was do with that. "Nothing in the stomach captain! Probably why it wanted to attack so badly!" one of the sailors shouted. The captain nodded.

"Aye, then grab want you want to eat and toss the rest overboard. Let the sharks get to it, as thanks for not killing us!" he shouted back.

The sailors quickly pushed and pulled the rest of it to the side, a considerable weight based on how high the boat jumped the moment most of its weight was thrown overboard.

But by then Yang had seen Vale. The city was just that, an actual city. She could see large structures more than just two stories, seeing one with even four in it! On the edge of a cliffside was a tall tower, a small light starting up on the inside. The lighthouse. Patch had a lighthouse, but it was just a quick two story thing that they'd put up. A tiny thing. This was a proper lighthouse, tall and striking the sky with its light.

Despite the still early hour, Yang could see its light as it shined near them. "They're expecting us, I'd wager," the captain said. "Remember, you and your sister need to register as soon as possible. Vale is a lawful city, and adventurers like you two need to be at least known about.

Yang nodded seriously. It was one major difference between Patch and the bigger cities. On Patch, everyone knew everyone so having someone new start to take jobs meant that it was easy to figure out who it was. In Vale, there was a different system, managed by the Mercenary's Guild.

Master Sal had taught her about it, but only in passing. She'd have to learn to navigate the waters by herself.

The cog docked at the first available dock made for its size, and Yang realized just how different Vale was already. The docks were hundreds of piers in every direction, with one harbor being nearly ten times the size of the one they were docking in. Dockworkers grabbed the ropes thrown by the sailors to prevent the boat from sailing off with the next tide.

Yang didn't bother to wait for the little walkway, whatever it's name was, and instead jumped off the front of the boat to land on the docks. She had to hold out her hands to adjust for the sudden not rocking of the boat that she hadn't realized she'd grown accustomed to. Ruby was a lot less hotheaded about it, instead walking down the plank easy and waving goodbye to the sailors as she walked up to Yang. "Where to now? Welcome to Vale?" Ruby asked.

Yang nodded, her eyes bright as she glanced around the city. There was so much to see. Every which way she looked she saw more people, often seemingly stronger than she was. She could see people walking around in plate armor, and more than a few of them in seemingly no armor at all, the thick books at their side telling her what kind of combat they preferred.

"Where to start?" Ruby asked as Yang paused the moment they got off the wooden docks onto the actual ground of Vale proper. Her sea legs were still with her, and the non rocking of the ground was threatening her stability.

"Right. We should find a place to stay, and I can go look for a job for us to do, to build our reputation and maybe find something about Brawnen."

"I think we should ask about that door," Ruby said. "And about the stranger from supposedly Atlas."

"Ah...right. Yeah, we should probably do that...the captain didn't seem too worried though-"

"We also didn't tell him we came across someone wearing the uniform. And unless you told the guards, they aren't going to know either. Why didn't you tell them?"

"I...forgot?" Yang tried.

Ruby threw her head back. "Kinda figured actually. But...that can mostly wait. The biggest issue is the guy in the uniform. If Atlas is leading some kind of scouting party into Patch, then someone needs to know."

"Feel free to tell the guard here I guess."

Ruby nodded. "Meet at the...there's probably dozens of taverns in this place," Ruby said, looking around. Yang had to agree with her, if anyplace had multiple inns and taverns, it would be Vale. Vale was huge.

It was almost overwhelming actually, just how big it seemed to be. "And we need to sign up with the guild."

"Guild?"

"The mercenary's guild! Vale's big enough that they don't automatically know about jobs being done," Yang grinned. "You didn't know that?'

"No. Why would I? Patch didn't have one, did they?"

"No, they didn't need one. Patch was too small for it. But Vale...Vale needs one," Yang grinned. "Smell that air. The smell of a new destiny!"

"Destiny smells like horse piss then," Ruby said, carefully grabbing Yang's clothes and pulling her off of the cobblestone street. A moment later a horse passed by, right where Yang had been standing, a small brown thing marking its passing. "And poop. Destiny smells like fresh horse manure."

"Yeah, yeah, just try to ignore my enthusiasm!"

"It's very easy," Ruby answered. "I just need to pop your ego a bit," she grinned. "We'll meet...how about at that one," she said, pointing to a small building a bit off the main drag from the docks.

A small sign showing a donkey with small bubbles surrounding it said it was definitely a type of tavern. The drunken donkey maybe? Yang nodded. "Sounds good! Oh, and Ruby...be safe, yeah?"

"It's the middle of a city. I'm sure that I'm the one that's supposed to be telling you that," Ruby said as she rolled her eyes, her boots clacking against the stone as she probably went to go find a guard.

It was unlikely that they'd actually do anything, but now that Yang thought about it, that was something she should have done something about. That was kind of a serious thing. But really, her mind had been on the Grimm. She had punched a Grimm. In the jaws! And then she punched out an octopus in the eye. Granted that was disgusting and gross and she'd never do it again if she could help it but still, she had done it!

Of course, now she had to remember what it was she was supposed to be doing. She shouldn't be having memory problems, she was only seventeen.

Find a tavern, check. Check it for jobs, and sign up with the guild. She could absolutely do that, without too many issues. And hey, she knew the one that Ruby was going to go to afterwards, so maybe she could hit two birds with one stone!

She took the steps leading to the door easy enough, and the doors opened wide. Four large long tables sat evenly spaced out, sometimes filled with people and others with not. Faunus, human, pretty much evenly spaced everywhere throughout. There was lots of shouting going on, but most of it seemed easy talk, the kind of talk that people had when drink was flowing and things were good. Barmaids and barmans danced easily throughout the tables, depositing mugs of a golden amber liquid to the various patrons.

On the far side was the bartender and the bar, a long line of stools, only some of which were filled, as the surprisingly young man was washing the various glasses. Next to him was the job board, with...and her breath was stolen as she realized it, dozens of pages of various jobs posted to it. It would be right there, all she had to do was go and take it...she headed over to it, and the bartender must have seen her coming.

"You looking for a job?" he asked, his voice surprisingly light and airy. The bartenders on Patch were like Junior, fully grown men who glared with every look. This one here was different, a much younger man, almost a boy it seemed, without any facial hair and a small build.

"Yeah. Just pulled into town not long ago, from Patch!" Yang said, holding up her fist. She was glad she'd washed it off in the ocean, because otherwise it'd be extremely bloody and covered with octopus eye goop. And that was a phrase she didn't think she'd ever get used to saying. The bartender nodded, before his eyes widened and he kind of sunk back down.

Yang was confused for just a moment, before she looked behind her. A tall girl, probably not much older than Yang was, standing there in dark leather armor. Dyed like that, Yang was mostly sure, because she wasn't sure if she wanted to know how much blood would have to be spilled to get it that dark naturally. A few daggers and knives stood at the girl's waist, her purse tied close to her chest. Two small cat-like ears popped out of her just as dark hair, making her yellow eyes stand out even more.

"You said you were looking for a job?" the girl asked. Her voice was dark, and almost sultry in a way. For a moment, Yang almost thought she was being hit on. Then the words percolated through her head.

She grinned. "Yeah I am! Know any good places to start?"

The girl nodded. "I do. Actually, I'm in the business of trying to get more people for a specific job of mine. Come over here, we'll talk more," she said, turning and waving Yang over to some of the smaller tables far off in the back. She went back to one that had a few chairs surrounding it, and two empty glasses around her. "I'm Blake," she introduced herself succinctly.

"I'm Yang! Good at hitting stuff," Yang grinned as she sat down. "You said you needed help with a job?"

Blake nodded. Her eyes went off to the side of Yang's head a bit. "One of the posters is for Koby Jacobs, he lives in the main residential district," she started, pulling out a small piece of paper. "He wants someone to go down and check out some odd sounds coming from his basement."

Yang glanced down at it, grabbing at it quickly. It seemed normal, just like the ones from Patch. It had the job requirements, which were simple. Basically it was 'don't steal anything from the basement'. The actual description, which was just as Blake had said. The potential warnings were a bit new, saying some amount of fights, but that was it, basically.

"Potential fights?"

"Mr. Jacobs isn't quite sure what's down there, but it's making some odd sounds. I went to take a look earlier, but I work best with one other."

"Oh, I already have my sister," Yang said quietly. Blake's eyes punctured straight through her. "That's not a problem is it? Where I go, she goes. No questions."

"No, it's always better to have another person," Blake nodded quietly. She looked down at the table for a moment. "What can she do? Always better if we might face something we combat," Blake asked.

Yang nodded. "Yeah. She's an inventor. She made this ridiculously over the top scythe she called Crescent Rose. I don't know how it works, but she can use it a lot better than anyone else ever could. She's also really good with making elixirs and potions, assuming she has the ingredients."

"She's not an alchemist or apprenticed to one?"

"Nope. She's just as talented in the crafting area but she's better when she's in a workshop. You give her a hunk of metal and she can make you a weapon. Give her a hunk of metal and a few days and you'll have a bow that'll have you scratching your head and going 'huh' as she shoots the wings off a fly from a block away!"

"I'm guessing then that you punch? Classically trained or just figured something out?" Blake asked, her head tilted lightly. One of her ears faced down a bit, the other as high as it could be.

Yang grinned again. She was always up for talking up Master Sal. It was one of the reasons why Ruby stopped asking about her training, because Yang wouldn't stop talking about him for hours afterwards. "Classically. On Patch there was a Master Sal, head monk of the Way of Perfection branch. He taught me most of what he knew, and then told me to discover the rest on my own."

Blake nodded. "I've heard that those create the best methods. Teach them the basics, and ask them to learn the rest through experience. But most ways take years. You can't be that much older than I am. You must be some kind of prodigy."

"I'm not, no. Master Sal only ever took me as his one apprentice, but he became sick about a year ago. Since then I've been struggling around Patch to get enough money to leave to here," Yang said. Blake blinked, suddenly looking away for a moment, before she nodded.

"Between you and your sister, and my own abilities, I think we'll be fine. You are licensed for Vale, right?" Blake asked. Yang tilted her head. Did she mean licensed with the Mercenary's Guild? Because if so...she was not. "Ah. I see, not an issue. Only one person needs to be licensed anyways. I'll take you there when your sister gets here. She...is coming here right?"

"Yeah, she promised she would after she had to do a few things. This tavern specifically. You know any good inns?"

"There's a few good ones further in. You want to avoid the aristocrats quarters, almost all of the inns there are ridiculously expensive," Blake answered easily. "I'll show you them, after your sister gets here and we get you both licensed. Or just one." Yang grinned. How lucky she was to have found someone so helpful so early on!

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Blake - 7

Blake almost couldn't remember having a mark this easy before.

There had been one, ages ago when she'd first started out trying to collect money, where the old man had trusted her with everything, but he'd also known, somehow, who she was and why she was doing what she was doing. That was the only one.

This girl was far, far too trusting. Yang, her name was. A brawler, obviously, based on the way her knuckles were callused and wrapped up. Her backpack had only the basics, Blake had noticed, which meant she was probably 'adventuring' as people liked to call it, for a while now.

At first Blake was just going to write her off. After all, new to Vale, without much money or reputation to go off on, there was no reason for the cat faunus to go after her.

But then that job showed up. Koby Jacobson's house was a treasure trove of...well, not rare and unique artifacts because that would be far too difficult to pawn, but at least somewhat expensive ones. Which meant that she could make a lot of money for that.

Of course Adam's last missive had essentially been 'no using our fall guys or girls for two months' because the guards of Vale had actually been, surprisingly, doing their job.

Which naturally meant that Blake's job was much, much harder. Without someone to take the blame, even getting access to Jacobson's house was going to be difficult. And with only forty silver as the reward price, which was numbingly low, it was almost not worth it.

Almost.

But then her knight in plainclothes showed up. Seriously, no armor at all. Blake knew that any normally trained brawler, and she hesitated to call Yang an actual 'monk' because the way she was guzzling down ale now meant she absolutely was not, valued the ability of free movement far more than basic protection.

There was a reason actual monk masters were rare. They all got killed off by people who actually knew what they were doing. Like her. Although really, Adam was the one who was the best at killing. She was a thief, not a killer. She could leave someone strung up for days without any belongings, but actually killing them? No, she couldn't do that. If they were deliberately trying to kill her, she absolutely could. Had, multiple times, but no one really cared for the fates of road bandits.

Although the news of Yang's 'sister', put Blake on guard. Any new person who came in could be a threat. And that she was an inventor, who built her own weapon...yes, this 'Ruby' was a threat.

It meant she was smart. But just because she was smart doesn't mean that she was wise. Didn't mean she was perceptive. And best of all, it meant that that Blake could lie to her just as well as to her sister. She didn't need to, though. Yang had taken the circular talk easy. The girl wanted someone to talk to, to just talk her ears off for days. One of the easiest marks she'd ever had.

And if they actually did have those potions and elixirs, then Blake could probably get away with stealing a few of those. Sell those back to the White Fang for the full amount, might shave a few coins off.

Soon enough, after Blake had bought another of the cheapest ale they had on tap in this place for Yang, saw another black-haired girl with red tips walk through the door. Sensible leather armor at least, and...something on her back. It wasn't just the backpack, although there was that too and Blake could tell it was laden down with stuff, but something else.

Her silver eyes lit up as soon as she saw Yang, but Blake saw the look of confusion when the girl looked at her. "Ruby!" Yang shouted from next to Blake, causing the faunus to wince. She was too loud sometimes. Especially when she wasn't realizing it.

"Yang!" she said, walking up steadily. "Who's this?" she asked, staring at Blake.

"This is Blake! She's super helpful, she already found a good job for us to start out with to get our name out there. And she'll take us to the Mercenary's Guild to be licensed!" Yang explained, the slight blush on her cheeks evident of how much drink she'd had.

Blake nodded. In order for the job to be considered 'a missive', at least the leader had to be licensed. It was also the leader who would be the one to take the blame for any of the others should any of the rules be broken.

Blake's plan was to get Yang licensed as the leader, and then treat her as the fall girl when most Koby Jacobson's array of stuff happens to be...procured? Procured. By a third party.

Namely her.

"She will? That's great!" Ruby cheered, before she sat down. Blake smirked, hiding it as a smile. This was too easy. If she didn't know better, she'd say that these two were plants. But she did know better, because she saw them come in on the ship.

Ships to and from Vale were fairly common, and it was she staked out near the docks. People coming in almost always wanted something, whether it was a search party, or an escort party, or similar. And they usually had rare or expensive things, oftentimes because they weren't expecting someone to blatantly try to steal things.

Especially because she wasn't blatant. A quick snap, a quick bump, and she had their coinpurse, a fancy watch, or one time she managed to grab an entire dozen of rings. Why that person was walking around with twelve rings in his pocket, she didn't know.

"How hard is it to get licensed?" Ruby asked.

Blake shook her head. "It's not hard," she answered honestly. "It's mostly just a few questions, and they'll make your file for you. It's just so that way if the guards need something, they can go there first."

"Oh. Where is it from here?"

"Down the block. I'll show you," Blake answered as she pushed herself up. Yang got up with her unsteadily. In Blake's mind, the girl hadn't been drinking that much. How much of a lightweight was she?

Or was she being played right now? Blake's eyes narrowed. As good as she was, she knew she wasn't the best. She was no Roman Torchwick, who once came into a shop, and convinced everyone that he was the reincarnation of Ozma, and walked out with the entire shop's contents. The fact it was a jewelry shop only made it worse. But the fact remained, Blake had only seen him once, and he was a piece of work. Damned good at what he did though.

"Yang, you started drinking early," Ruby muttered. "Come on, I'll put you to the inn and then meet you back here. Can you wait a minute or two?" Ruby asked.

Blake nodded. "You're not staying at the Dusty Den, right?" she asked. She made a quick glance around, hopefully unseen by her marks. If the White Fang knew that she was deliberately telling people to avoid it, she was going to be in so much trouble. But she wouldn't be the only one to be in it...

"No, we're staying at Raven's Rook," Ruby shook her head. "Kind of on the low key area of town."

Blake knew the place. It was where she stayed, too. And while they weren't with the White Fang, despite the name, the fact that a faunus ran it would make them look bad if they went after it. There was a reason she stayed there.

After all, the White Fang prided themselves on never stealing from fellow faunus.

"I know a shortcut," Blake said quietly. Ruby blinked, before she smiled and helped hold Yang steady as the two followed her out. Blake gave a quick sign to the bartender in the White Fang code, telling him she was with marks. He gave another quick sign, telling her she wouldn't be followed.

The streets of Vale were near empty, as they would be at this time of day. The duo had come in right after the sun had hit its third quarter, and was starting to set in the far off distance across the ocean. In another hour or so, runners would be sent to light the torches to start the nightlife of Vale.

"This place is so big..." Yang muttered as she glanced around. She wasn't stumbling now, but she was definitely still quite buzzed or drunk. Blake wasn't sure which.

The shortcut, and it was an actual shortcut because there is no thief who couldn't be honest about certain things, didn't take long to get to. She climbed over the fences easy enough, glancing back to see that Ruby was clearing them just as easily as she was, and Yang was...

Yang was jumping over them.

Alright. They had some kind of experience, then. It meant that if they actually had to fight in Jacobson's basement, then Blake wouldn't have to use them as meat shields.

The Raven's Rook was tucked away off of any close to main drag. Blake went in through the front entrance for once, seeing the proprietor, a raven faunus quickly raise her hand in greeting.

"Evening Blake. You're back early," she said quietly. "Everything alright?"

"Yes, Ms. Corv. Just showing someone here. They need a room," Blake answered honestly as Ruby came right behind her, with Yang still slightly unsteady on her feet. She had jumped over fences but wasn't actually not drunk now? Either she was drunker than Blake thought she was, or she was particularly strong.

Both of those were bad signs.

"Ah, Ms. Rose. This must be your sister," Ms. Corv said, smiling gently. She pointed with one hand, the large black feathers draping from her arm like some kind of cloak. "Your room is ready."

"Thanks! I'll just...leave her here for now," Ruby said, heading down the small hallway. Blake could hear slowly moving up the steps, with Yang holding onto the stairs and Ruby.

"Blake," Ms. Corv started to say as Ruby and Yang walked up to their room. "Please don't do this to them," she said earnestly, her brown eyes staring into Blake's.

"I have to. You know that."

"They're so innocent," Ms. Corv whispered. "They...they may not be able to make it."

"I was too," Blake whispered back. "And I made it just fine."

"All they have is each other."

"And all I ever had was taken away from me," she answered. "If it means so much, Ms. Corv...I'll leave what I can. But I have to."

"I just worry for your sake. And for theirs. They've seen a lot in their small lives. Did you know they fought a Grimm?"

Blake stared. "They what!?" she asked, glancing towards where she could still hear Ruby messing with the door. "That's...they would definitely have said something about that."

"A wolf like one. Six feet tall, black with a white skull mask over it, muscles thicker than some trees. And that young lady...she punched it. Right in the jaw, according to Ms. Rose."

Yang had punched a Grimm. Yang had punched a Grimm. And she had lived. What kind of monsters was she dealing with!? Even the strongest of the White Fang, Sienna and Adam, ran when in the presence of Grimm. It could take the strongest of guards and adventurer's to take one down.

And Yang had punched one. And together, she and Ruby had killed one. Or...no, Ms. Corv had used fought. That made much more sense. They had fought it, and due to luck, managed to get out of there without being torn apart.

That was much more likely, and Blake felt herself relax just as Ruby came down the stairs. "Alright, she'll be asleep for a while. She always does when she drinks. What'd you spike it with?" she asked, her head tilted questioningly.

If she was any other person, Blake might have been offended. But there were several associates of hers that did use poison, so it was a legitimate question. "I...didn't."

Ruby nodded. "Thanks for watching over her Ms. Corv. Blake and I will be back!" she cheered, heading out the door. Blake gave a small and quiet eye roll to the raven faunus before she followed the inventor.

The sun was just starting its journey past the horizon, Blake noticed. Ruby stopped long enough for Blake to pass her, before she resumed walking. The Mercenary's Guild wasn't too far from the Raven's Rook. It wouldn't give them enough time to make conversation, which was exactly what Blake wanted. She didn't want to know more about Ruby. All she needed to know, she had.

"Thief?" Ruby asked suddenly as they passed by the city hall. It was a large white building made of stone, intended to look like it was better than it actually was. Blake stopped, and turned.

"What?"

"I'm trying to figure out what you are. I can't tell between liar or thief," Ruby said without a care. "You know, one of those people that like to lie without a care in the world."

"Most people are like that. You think I'm lying?" Blake asked. She contorted her face, as if she was hurt by Ruby's dead-accurate statements.

"I know you're lying. Yang doesn't realize it, but she's not the brightest when it comes to people. She probably thinks that you are doing this to help us, and not just rob us somehow."

"I wouldn't do that," Blake lied easily. Maybe Ruby and Yang as marks were a bit too easy. She'd gotten sloppy, had messed up somehow, given herself away...

"I'm sure," Ruby answered after a moment. "This the place?" she asked, looking up. Blake glanced up, nodding.

The Mercenary's Guild was just as big as the city hall, but whereas that was painted white with stone, this was pure wood and almost closer to a lodge than anything. Two stories, with a small deck hanging off the top one. Blake opened the door, glad that they were still around this late. Otherwise she'd have to file the paperwork manually, and that was going to be a pain.

A small boy, not much older than ten or eleven, was sitting at the front. "Hi! Welcome to the guild!" he answered amicably. "Need something?"

"Signing someone up," Blake answered. Ruby nodded behind her.

"Ah, sure thing," he said, heading behind another desk. "It's gotta be here somewhere," he said quietly, shuffling a few things around. "Oh, here..."

He pulled out a small stack of paper, one that to Blake looked very familiar. She was one of the 'mercenary's in here too, wasn't she?

"What does the guild actually do?" Ruby asked after a moment. "And do all people have to sign up?" She glanced down through the paperwork, starting to fill things out. Blake hoped that Ruby wasn't the one signing up to be leader, but that wouldn't make sense.

"It enacts payment, we have a whole host of archaeological expeditions, we act as an information hub for known Grimm sightings, and generally because we go so far outside the walls we're a lot stronger than most of the guards," the boy explained.

It sounded as if he had said such things a lot. "When you grab a job off of the board, a duplicate of it appears here, and generally all we need is a signature and it gets filed away under your name," the boy continued to explain. "That way, when the job gets done the person can pay you directly, or they'll pay us and we'll hold onto the money for you."

Blake knew that option was taken very rarely. And most adventurer's didn't like to have their pay not on hand.

"Also we keep track of the various ruins around each of the major cities. But we know that civilization's gone a long way, so there's always more we don't know about. We'll pay for those too, including any artifacts found, histories of the areas, and all that."

"A history guild."

"Yeah, kinda, except we do more!" the boy agreed. "See, the first few people who started up the guild, this was long before the Schnee School of Magic, wanted somewhere that could be used to act as a hub for information. Nowadays we compete with the SSM about it. But if you want Grimm information, we got it!"

"Magic can't get it?"

"They're anti-magic," the boy answered instantly. "Basically, any divination magic or something like that can't see the Grimm, even if you're scrying or such. Even the gods' power, Salem excepted, can't really affect the Grimm. No one knows why."

"We also work closely with the healer's guild, or the alchemists. Or most of the other guilds, and if someone has a complaint about you, they'll bring it to us to sanction you or something like that. It's rare though, although the police are constantly asking for us to sanction Roman Torchwick."

"Who's he?" Ruby asked. "Never heard of him."

"Torchwick? He's a master thief and oration expert. Some say he's so good he could confuse anyone who listens to him for longer than a few minutes."

"He's a mercenary?"

The boy shook his head. "No, he's not. We can't do anything about him. We would in a heartbeat if we could. The police know that, but there's a standing order for him to be apprehended."

Ruby turned the papers over one last time, making sure that each thing was filled out. "I think this is it."

"One last thing," the boy said as he checked it over. It was odd to see a boy as young as he was doing something like this, but Blake supposed that they all had to make their lives one way or another. "Do you already have a job picked out?"

Blake nodded, pulling the sheet of paper out of her pocket and showing it to him. He nodded, "Right, the Koby Jacobson one. It's not the first time someone wanted to come to us rather than the guards. Cheaper, too."

"Why would it be cheaper?" Ruby asked, her eyebrows lifted. "Aren't mercenaries a lot more expensive than the guards?"

The boy shrugged. Blake shook her head. "No, not really. They only really start to move for five or ten gold pieces at a time. The smaller units don't really move it for them, and even then they'll hesitate for something as vague as 'a weird sound in my basement.'"

"Yep, she's got it," the boy said. "So even though the guards are supposed to be there for everyone, it's really just 'can you pay'."

"Wasn't like that on Patch..."

"Patch?" Blake asked. That was...one of the islands, wasn't it? Vale had a few dozen of them less than a day's shipping journey away. She was trying to recall what she knew about the island, but came up blank.

"Yeah, it's where Yang and I are from. There, the guards did help everyone, although they really took their time with Grimm."

The boy shuddered. "Yeah, Grimm aren't fun for them. Usually after every attack there's always a few more dead. The guards do what they can, but they simply aren't strong enough. Compare that to say, Ms. Goodwitch, who has a kill count in the tens!"

Blake's eyes widened. A kill count of the Grimm in the singles was impressive, but the tens? How strong was she!? She had known who Goodwitch was, but she hadn't known that small bit of information!

Ruby whistled. "That's impressive. Yang and I only managed to kill one because we accidentally triggered a trap that crushed it," she said innocently. Both the boy and Blake stared at her.

Yes, they had fought it and won. What Ms. Corv hadn't said is that they managed to kill one. That was...no, she could still do this. If they could kill a Grimm, then they had to have something good on them. And even if they didn't, t hey would act as good fall girls for the White Fang.

Blake steeled her heart. "That's...wow. You told the guards then?" she asked.

Ruby nodded. "Yeah. They didn't seem too concerned. Patch doesn't have many Grimm. There was a slight shambler problem, but I think they already had that covered."

The boy gave a sigh of relief. "Yeah, shambler's are easy. Just poke at them until they stop moving."

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, my sister doesn't like them though. She's a brawler."

"Has she tried hand wraps?" the boy suggested.

Blake smirked. She could guess Ruby's answer as the girl laughed. "I've tried it, but she doesn't want to hear it. I've been looking for something else to help her. Something that gives a bit of range too."

"Bows are always a good choice," the boy said. "Or crossbows, if she knows how to point and shoot. Like her," he said, pointing to Blake. "She knows how."

Ruby turned, and Blake rolled her eyes before pointing to the small crossbow on her belt. "Easy to reload, easy to fire. May not be as fast as a regular bow, but it kills things just as dead," Blake said.

"Yep, and you may need it down in Jacobson's basement," the boy said.

"Why?" Ruby asked, and this time Blake stared at him too. Was there more to Koby Jacobson's than just the basement and weird sounds? She thought she'd done a good job of really looking through the guy. Followed up on every rumor, and did the best she could to case the place.

It was why she knew she could at least pawn off some of the things worth half of her amount owed. If she could do that, and steal some of the potions and elixirs from Ruby and Yang, then maybe she could complete this month's quota before Adam came for her.

"Just some rumors we've been hearing. The last two people who took a similar job never came back. No one's sure why. They weren't the best though, so maybe they ran into something else. It's why he upped the reward price from twenty silver to forty."

"That's still not a lot."

"Most people don't earn a fraction of that amount," the boy pointed out. "The nobles and aristocrats don't even think of that much as pocket change, but it takes people weeks to get that much for us with normal jobs. We can't all be fighters like you all."

"Sometimes we're not fighters, just people in the right spot at the right time," Ruby answered. "We'll keep our eyes and ears open though," she said. The boy nodded.

If people hadn't come back, then maybe they still were down there. And in Blake's mind, that meant there was loot down there, loot that she could take.

"Is that everything? Are we done?" Ruby asked after a moment. The boy nodded.

"Yep, you're all set...ah...Ruby Rose," he said, reading up from the first page. "We'll probably never see you again," he grinned.

"Or maybe you will, who knows?" Ruby asked as she started to walk outside. Blake followed her quietly. "We'll meet you outside Koby Jacobson's place early tomorrow? I don't think Yang will be awake by the time we get back."

She nodded. "Yes. I have a few other things I want to do first. If there is something down there, I want to be ready. If you have any elixirs or potions, I suggest you get them ready too," Blake suggested. Ruby nodded. She watched as Ruby headed towards the Raven's Rook.

Once Ruby was out of sight, her hands went to her side, where her endless bag was. It wasn't technically endless, but it could hold a lot. It was one of the few things that most White Fang agents had, and she was no exception.

She could have pickpocketed her, and a part of her wanted to try, but Blake also had no doubt that Ruby would go back and count out her coinage right now. No, she and Yang were off limits for now.

She'd have to head to the Dusty Den. Get a missive over to Adam. Hopefully he wouldn't show up in person, considering how "well" that went last time. And then...

Well. Time to do her job, she guessed.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Ruby - 8

Ruby's eyes slowly opened as the sun pelted down on her. She'd been up late last night, trying to make some last minute elixirs just in case. The boy at the Mercenary's Guild had some some worrying things.

Yang was on the bed next to her, the girl still out of it. One hand was hanging off of the bed, hitting the floor solidly. Her backpack was on the floor next to her hand, and her hair was just...everywhere else. Ruby had taken the floor with one of the small bed mats that they'd gotten long, long ago. She wasn't sure how it compared to the actual bed, and Yang wasn't in any position to answer at the moment.

She wasn't yet sold on the idea of working with "Blake", if that was her real name. Yang seemed taken in by her, which Ruby...well, she could understand. On Patch, no one was really mean for no reason. Even Farmer Daffy had a reason for how he acted. But in Vale, with a lot more people, she wasn't sure about anyone. And with so many more people around, she needed to be more wary. And that wariness was doing wonders for her ability to try to understand people.

Mostly because when working from nothing, any amount was 'doing wonders'. And in Patch, although no one was really mean to them, no one helped them out for no reason. It was usually what they could get out of it, such as Master Sal and Yang's apprenticeship.

And in that time, Ruby had known that Master Sal, while a good person, was much the same as many others. He would do nothing if it didn't benefit him in some way. Rare was the person that would. And Ruby knew that was just human nature. It happened in animals all the time. So while Yang may not have judged Blake well, Ruby was much less open-minded about it. She wasn't sure what Blake was yet, or if she was someone that she needed to be on the lookout for. Who knows, maybe Blake was a good person and she was just overthinking it.

Maybe she alienated a possible teammate last night by asking if she was a liar or a thief. But based on the way she didn't immediately get offended by asking if she poisoned Yang meant that she knew others did use poison.

"Yang, come on. We gotta go," Ruby muttered as she capped the last vial. Four elixirs. That's really all she could do in the time that she had. Even then, she had to pay for the ingredients. Cheaper than buying them all flat out, that was for sure.

"Just a little longer...Master Sal can wait..." Yang's arm flailed uselessly against the floor as she mumbled into the pillow. She must have been comfortable, Ruby noticed, as her hand accidentally her backpack and sent it crashing to the floor. "What!?" she shouted as she launched herself upwards. "What was that, are we under attack!?"

Ruby had to stifle her giggle. "No, we're not under attack. But we might be soon. Come on, we need to head out soon."

Yang stopped breathing so hard. "Oh, right. Sorry. Got...tired. Sorry about last night Rubes! Got everything in order?" she asked, yawning.

Ruby nodded. "Yep. Here, take these," she said, handing two of the blood red vials to Yang. "Not breakfast, don't try it."

"I wasn't gonna try. What's the plan? We need to get the guild thing ready?" She asked as she stood up.

"We meet Blake close to Koby Jacobson's place. After that, we find what's creating that loud noise in his cellar," Ruby shrugged. "This was your plan Yang."

"Yeah but I didn't have much of one besides get a job and start building up reputation. That way maybe Qrow will hear of us!" Yang grinned.

"I doubt he'd hear of us from one job. Especially as lowly as this one is," Ruby commented. "But I suppose a start's a start. Forty silver for the reward."

"That's not too bad. For those of us starting out at the bottom."

"People have apparently died on this one," Ruby said. "Hence the elixirs. We don't have much, but I kind of hope we won't need it."

Yang nodded. She shrugged her clothes on fast enough, while Ruby was packing up all of her alchemical supplies. The elixirs didn't require much, and she'd already repaired most of Crescent Rose. Now there was a blade again.

"Where is this place, exactly?"

"Tradesman district," Ruby answered. "After Blake and I took care of the guild stuff last night, I went to scout it out to make sure I knew where we were going. I put myself down as leader, because apparently that's a thing we need to do."

"I'm surprised Blake didn't put herself down."

"Yang, I don't think we can trust Blake."

"Of course we can't!" Yang answered instantly. Ruby stared at her for a long moment. Her surprise must have been evident, as Yang continued. "What kind of person comes up to another, and starts telling them of all their dreams coming true? I'm not stupid."

"I..."

"You thought I was taken in didn't you," Yang asked, and Ruby nodded her head slowly. "Eh, can't fault you for that. She is hot, I'll give you that." Ruby rolled her eyes and let out a low growl. "Come on, you have to admit I'm right on that," Yang argued.

"Yes, she's hot but that doesn't mean anything!" Ruby finally admitted.

"No, I know it doesn't. Seems too good to be true. I think that if someone didn't have the experience we do, they might've been taken in," Yang said. Ruby nodded.

"But now, of course, that means we don't know what her plan is."

"Probably to rob us blind," Yang shrugged. "We should leave most of our big belongings here, except for our weapons. This shouldn't be an all day affair."

"Right," Ruby said, making sure to keep her alchemical stuff organized as she put it away. She pulled out the runestone from her pocket, the one with the unknown rune on it, before she pushed it deep into the repair kit on her belt. She'd notice if anyone tried to find it there.

"You're bringing the runestone?"

"It's on my belt," Ruby said, pointing to where it sat on her hips. "Even in the middle of combat, I'd be able to tell."

Yang shrugged. "Alright. I've emptied out my pockets. Just the elixirs, a torch, my flint and steel, and me. That's all I need," she said.

Ruby nodded, putting most of everything else into her 'area'. "We're paid up through the end of the week. No one should be getting in here besides us," Ruby said as she pulled out a small key. Yang nodded, and they went out the door, Ruby taking extra care to lock it.

The small area downstairs where Ruby had talked with Ms. Corv was the same as it had been, except that now there were people here. Blake in the corner, eating a small bowl of something. She gave a blank stare for a moment, before she gave a chuckle and waved.

Yang expertly put on the mask of someone being taken in by something that she shouldn't have been, and wandered closer. Ruby followed her, dancing over and around the chairs and stools. It was actually an expert performance, if Ruby had to admit.

"Hey. I was wondering if I'd have to ask Ms. Corv to go wake you up," Blake admitted as Yang sat down. "I forgot to mention I was staying here too."

"Really? That's cool!" Yang admitted easily. "Means that it's a lot easier to meet up in the mornings!"

She nodded, her ears rotating on her head as if to try to hear every sound. "You rest well?" she asked. She blew a bit on the bowl, and Ruby could smell fresh made oatmeal. Blake was eating good this morning.

"Smells like rations," Yang said after a moment. "And yeah, we slept great! Or at least I did. Ruby, how did you sleep?"

"I slept on a bedroll," Ruby admitted.

Blake chuckled. "Probably better than the bed. Don't tell Ms. Corv I said that," she grinned.

"I can hear you Blake!" Ms. Corv shouted from somewhere else, probably the kitchen. "And I heard that comment! Just for that, I'll make sure yours is extra hard tonight!"

"Thanks Ms. Corv, you're the best!" Blake shouted back. One of the other patrons gave a slight giggle too into his own oatmeal.

Ruby turned as the raven faunus came sauntering out of the back, with two more bowls of steaming oatmeal balanced in one hand. "And for you two. Blake, remember what we talked about," Ms. Corv said ominously as she wandered into the back.

Part of Ruby really wanted to know what that was all about, but at the same time there was a bowl of warm food in front of her.

"Yay. Oatmeal," Yang deadpanned. Ruby quickly swapped their bowls. "Ruby, you have oatmeal too."

"It's fine Yang. I'll just eat yours then too," Ruby grinned, before Yang's eyes widened, and she immediately went digging in. Ruby glanced over at Blake, and gave her a quiet wink before eating her own.

It was a quiet affair, with Blake surprisingly finishing last although she started long before either Ruby or Yang. "You don't like oats?" Blake asked after a moment. "That's a normal breakfast around here, unless you can afford the big ones."

"Not my favorite," Yang admitted. "See, Ruby and I lived off of those for about...what, two, three years?"

"Three," Ruby agreed. They'd been young at the time, Ruby herself only having been maybe seven. It was after they'd come to Patch.

"Yeah, three years it was all we could get for breakfast and dinner," Yang said. "Fortunately we got enough fruits and meat to not grow too hungry, but those were rare times. It wasn't until Master Sal took me in that we started being able to eat better."

Ruby nodded, but she wanted to mention that they only could eat better not because Master Sal was providing for them, but because she, Ruby, had started making stuff and repairing the small farm implements. Elixirs at the time were hard for her to pull off, and not many people would buy from a kid, but there were a few daring adventurers who had.

Blake pushed herself up, and Ruby and Yang followed her. "So Blake, since you're the one who actually knows what your doing, why don't you start and we follow you?" Yang suggested.

The cat faunus shrugged. "Sure, I don't see why not," she said. Ruby hoped that didn't mean that Yang was trying to get Blake to take the leader spot. It would be best for them if she did, but Ruby doubted that she would, and she'd probably fight them to make sure she didn't.

Blake took the same path Ruby had last night, and now that it was morning the spring chill was thick in the air. Small vapors of mist came from each of their breaths, and the city of Vale was still quite sleepy and stagnant. The oil lights were still burning, but they'd probably go out soon, especially now that the sun was slowly coming up out of the mountains.

Twists and turns abounded before Ruby found herself at the same place as she had last night. A relatively nice house, big for what she knew. In Patch this would have been called a mansion, but far off in the distance Ruby could see actual mansions.

She knew that because they were bigger than anything else she'd ever seen before, and that included the mines. All of them, put together.

But no, this house was much smaller than theirs. A small little box had "Jacobson" written on the outside, probably for the courier service. Had a white trim to it, but most of the color was the natural wood look. The foundation looked brick based, which meant that the basement was going to be cold and chilly. Ruby knew she should have brought a bigger cloak.

Blake walked up without hesitation and knocked loudly on the door. She pulled out the small paper that said what the job was. "I don't now how you did it in Patch, but in most places you're expected to know why you're there. Most people aren't going to want to guess," she explained.

"Yeah, that's kinda how we did it in Patch too-" Yang started before the door opened.

If there was such a thing as 'traditional grumpy old man' then Koby Jacobson would fit it. He was hunched over, with thick gray eyebrows and thinning gray hair. His face was more wrinkles than skin, and it didn't look like he'd smiled in nearly twenty or thirty years. "Who'd you think you are!?" he called out, his voice old and gravelly.

"Here for the job. Checking the basement," Blake pronounced easily. She simply showed him the paper, rather than handing to him. Was that normal?

The inside was far, far more exquisite and expensive. Rugs and carpets lay everywhere, hiding the cold wooden floorboards beneath them. Carved wooden tables lay around, each of them housed with delicate and flowery vases. Next to a large table was the hearth, with a few decorative swords crossing each other.

"I see. Well get going then! Basement's around the back," Koby howled angrily. He pointed off to the side and slammed the door shut.

"I thought you said this guy wasn't well off," Yang answered. Blake turned around, her eyes showing evidence of her own surprise.

"I was casing it around earlier and by all rights, he's not," Blake answered. "But that was definitely Jacobson."

"So either he got richer in the last few hours, or something about our information was off," Ruby said. She hopped off the side, trying to keep to a small dirt path that looked closer to a game trail than a walking path. There were some small brick gardens with a few vegetables that hadn't yet sprouted around the sides.

It was obvious where the basement was, as there was a barn door buried into the ground at an angle. Ruby unlatched it easily, pulling it open. It didn't give at first, but with a little more pulling, and Yang's help, it eventually swung wide with a rusted yelp.

The inside was dark, and nearly impossible to see into. "Yang, light your torch?" Ruby asked. Yang nodded, kneeling down as tried to get out her flint and steel.

"No need," Blake said, pulling out her own flint and a dagger that looked like it had seen better days. In an instant the torch was lit, although it would take a minute or two for it to light at full strength. "I won't need one," Blake said.

"How?"

"Faunus can see better in the dark than humans can," Blake shrugged as she dove on in. Ruby stared after her.

"This was a bad idea..." she murmured as she climbed on in after her. As soon as Yang came behind her, the torch barely lighting things, the door swung itself shut, and Ruby could hear it latch.

Blake swung around instantly. "Why would you close it!?" she asked, whispering.

"We didn't!" Yang retorted. "It closed on its own! I don't think we're alone down here."

Blake froze, pulling out her daggers instantly. Ruby followed her eyes, glancing around. The basement was surprisingly warm, considering it was brick most of the way around. The torchlight barely lit things up, but what did make Ruby realize that maybe, just maybe, they were out of their depth. There were piles of stuff and junk just everywhere, but it was the kind of junk that not even Ruby could think about having a use somewhere. Stuff like broken dolls, rotting wood, books that looked mostly burned just laying around.

There was a small staircase off to the side that looked like it led upstairs, which Ruby supposed they'd have to go through if they couldn't go back out the way they came.

The most horrifying part though was the small cage carved into one side of the room. Large iron wrought bars kept something in, and Ruby could tell there was a large and ornate lock on the door. "Who...who's there!?" a voice shouted, old but not particularly angrily from the other side of the bars.

"I'm Ruby Rose, with my sister and a friend. We're mercenaries with the mercenary's guild," Ruby summarized.

"Um...Ruby...?" Yang asked quietly. Ruby looked at her, to see her pointing at somewhere in front of them. A large table held a small doll, exquisite in its craftsmanship. Every detail was near perfect, looking like a perfect rendition of a tiny human.

It was also floating four hands high in the air. "Oh," Ruby said simply, folding out Crescent Rose.

"You who dare enter where you do not belong-" a voice came out, engraving itself into Ruby's mind. She wasn't the only one to flinch, both Blake and Yang did too. "Die for your hubris, die for your trespass!"

"We don't want to fight!" Ruby shouted. The doll didn't seem to listen to her, or want to listen to her. It soared down faster than Ruby thought it could, appearing almost instantly in front of her face as it attempted to claw at her.

She was sprawled out onto the ground a second later. The thing had really sharp claws, and was surprisingly strong. It was also ridiculously fast.

"Yang, get in front of it!" Blake shouted as she tried to dive past it. The brawler took only a second to realize what Blake was setting up, and stepped up into the doll's area before she let loose with a wild array of punches and kicks. Each of them were set ablaze, and it made Ruby what else she could do to actually help.

Blake came in from behind, almost as if appearing from the shadows as she swung her two daggers. It wasn't the most versatile of methods, and there was something off about how she did it, as if she was trained with some other weapon. The punches all missed. The kicks went off wide as the thing dodged almost impossibly quick. Even the daggers at its back, if that could be a thing, barely did anything assuming they even connected.

"That's...Aunt Sol's doll...and her voice..." the old man said from behind the bars. Ruby raced over.

"Who are you?" she asked, as she kept glancing back towards the doll. It seemed to take even more joy from embarrassing the both of them. Ruby felt Crescent Rose's weight in her hands, and knew that she should...but there was something here. Something she could know.

"Koby Jacobson. Owner of the house," Jacobson said instantly. "I was thrown in here last night when that rapscallion blindsided me in my own bed!"

Rapscallion? "Who?" Ruby pushed. "And what is that thing!?"

"Roman Torchwick!" Koby answered. "And that was my Aunt Sol's favorite doll. She disappeared nearly twenty years ago."

"It's a possessed doll!" Blake yelled out, her ears rotating rapidly. Ruby realized she must have heard everything. Sometimes it pays to have hearing like that, especially in her line of work.

"How can you tell? Is it the voices in our head, the screaming, or the fact it just blasted Ruby off to the side!?" Yang shouted back. "Stop moving you blasted thing!"

A lucky punch finally connected, and the doll was shoved backwards, right into Blake's knife. It was a small doll, and yet all of Blake's dagger, far larger than the doll, seemed to sink into it without appearing on the other side. There was a caustic scream, before it turned and laid a person-esque hand on Blake's arm.

Ruby wasn't sure what happened as suddenly she let out a shrill scream, falling to the ground. She was trying to shrivel up, curl into a ball, made impossible by something. The doll let out a cruel laugh, before Yang landed another punch onto it, shoving it back onto the table of which it came.

"She...she was always so much trouble...none of us cared where she disappeared to," Koby started to stammer. "She loved flowers though, and she especially loved-" Ruby had heard enough, and darted in faster than she thought she ever could.

Crescent Rose swung, and the doll was pushed into the wall as her weapon bit into the fleshy edge. "You can never stop. Will never stop. Always want, always wanting!" the doll screamed into her head.

"When I say to shut up..." Yang muttered, her fist alight again. "You should just..." she charged forward, jumping on the table for a little extra momentum. "Shut! Up!" she finished shouting, her fist connecting solidly with the fleshy doll. It let out a hurtful cry, the sound getting louder and louder.

In another moment, the doll fell to the ground. The fire in Yang's hands had caught it, and the fire slowly curdled into it, the charred smell of flesh coming into the air.

Blake was pushing herself up, breathing hard. "Didn't think it could do that. Didn't know it could do that..." she murmured. Ruby paused as they watched the possessed doll burn.

"Want to tell us more?" Ruby asked.

"There's not much. Each one is unique, and each one is based on the original soul's personality, boiled down to a single setting," Blake said. Despite it being a rough minute, her breath was still caught up. Ruby unplugged one of the elixirs on her belt, and she held it out for the cat faunus.

Blake took it and chugged it a moment later. "You know what that was? That she did to you?"

She nodded. "Harm," she said solidly. "A spell that drains life force and vitality."

"That sounds like my Aunt Sol's favorite spell," Koby muttered from the back. "She had the spark, but she liked to pretend she didn't except when someone needed punishing. Then she brought it out and used without remorse," Koby said.

"Sounds like a darling lady," Yang said. "You need one of those too Ruby?" she asked. Ruby blinked at her, before she lifted one hand to her face, coming away with a small amount of blood.

"No, I should be fine. Think it's minor," Ruby answered. At the very least her hand wasn't coated in blood so she'd be fine. And she didn't have many of those elixirs, and wanted to save every bit of it she could.

Blake nodded, before she knelt down next to the lock. Her tongue stuck out a little bit, as she pulled out a few tools from her belt. "You any good at lockpicking?" Yang asked.

"Better than you, I think," Blake answered with a small smirk.

"That's not hard," Ruby retorted. "I'm better than her, and I had to discover how to do it myself," she said.

Blake's ears were focused forward as she gave another subtle nod. Ruby glanced at the lock some more. It was a decent lock, that was for sure. Three, maybe four tumblers. That's what Blake was trying to go for each time, holding the tumblers open to get the lock undone.

Another minute passed before the lock finally clicked open with a solid thump. "Got it," Blake muttered as she grabbed the lock.

Ruby noticed that it didn't fall onto the ground.

The door opened a moment later as Koby Jacobson, the real one, started to stammer out of the prison room. "Thank you..." he said quietly.

"Don't thank us yet," Yang said, glancing at the various doorways, lit up by the torch. "There's no way out of here."

Ruby looked in the prison cell. It was barebones at the most basic, with only a small wooden bed in one corner and a metal bucket for anything else. In the corner there were two bumps covered by a sheet.

Blake only barely beat her to it, pulling the sheets out as Koby flinched. Two dead mercenaries lay in the corner, still in their armor.

"Koby," Ruby said quietly. "Why do you have the prison cell in your basement in the first place?" she asked. He froze up.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Yang - 9

Yang had to admit that her sister had a point. There was no good reason, no literal good reason as far as she knew, that Koby should have had anything similar to this.

"I..." he started, before Yang lit her fist on fire again, getting into the correct stance to light him on fire. "Wait, wait wait wait!" he started to shout, holding up his hands. "It's...It wasn't me! It was the previous owner of the house!"

"Uh huh," Yang answered in disbelief. "And who was that? Your 'Aunt Sol'?" she asked. That one did sound like a name that someone would have, but a name like that didn't exactly inspire cruelty.

"No, no, it was someone else! Please, I didn't know it was down here!"

"Ruby, Blake, I know you both probably cased this place out long before," Yang said quietly. "How truthful is that statement?"

"I didn't look up records," Ruby shrugged. "But I can believe it. This place was built with it," she said, pointing to the tops and bottoms of the bars. "See how the stone is built around it? This was here long before the basement was."

"I did look up the records," Blake said, "But buying and selling records, or building records? Jacobson's been here for a long time at least."

"No, please, don't hurt me..."

Annoyed, Yang let the fire on her hand go out. "Any other way out of here?" Yang asked, one hand still holding the torch. "And what'd you two find?"

"Two dead bodies," Blake answered.

"We're already going through them," Ruby suggested, getting an odd look from Blake as they both went through the corpses pockets. Yang rolled her eyes.

"No, it's just the two entrances! That monster, Roman Torchwick, kidnapped me in my sleep last night! I remember waking up, to see that...monster of his next to him. She changed into a visage of myself, and shoved me in here!"

"Neo," Blake murmured. "A doppelganger that works with Torchwick. She's mute in her base form, but can talk when in anyone else's."

"She dangerous?"

"She's a doppelganger. Yes?" Blake answered as if that was everything. She must have seen the confusion on Yang's face. "You don't know what a doppelganger is, do you?"

"Patch didn't have them," Ruby supplied. "They're some kind of...what, flesh beast?"

"Not wrong," Blake said quietly. "They're masters of disguise. They're generally very patient, but Neo is a unique case. She's rambunctious, closer to an eight year old child than anything. She does anything Roman asks of her, and often times she'll do it without bothering to check why," Blake answered.

Ruby leaned back against the wall of the prison. "But...then why? And no offense Koby, why keep him alive?" she asked, before she stumbled back a bit.

Yang heard a small click, and ran into the small prison cell. The wall where Ruby was standing opened up a bit, to reveal another room.

Then the cell doors slammed shut, as Koby Jacobson let out a demonic laugh. "Ha! You think you'll find my secrets, you'll never get out of there!" he started to laugh maniacally, looking almost as if he was twenty years younger than he was.

Yang wished she could be truly surprised as Koby Jacobson gave a minute little chitter, and he danced, danced up the stairs.

"So that wasn't Koby," Ruby said obviously. Blake chuckled, and even Yang couldn't help but give a soft smile. It was obvious, but sometimes the obvious needed to be said.

"No, I think that was Neo or Torchwick. Again," Blake answered. "What did you find?"

"Something that's not Neo's," Ruby said as she looked around. "Yang, take a look at this," she said, motioning the brawler to take a look.

Curious, Yang moved forward. It was a room, a small room that was barely as tall as she was. Red carpeted floors, with shelves made of redwood on the side. Each one had a small candle, currently unlit. There was a scent of blood to the entire thing.

In the middle stood a small podium, with a recessed divet, as if something was supposed to go there. Yang took a step in, and realized that the ground was hard. That wasn't carpet.

"Blake? Any ideas?" Ruby asked.

"Just one. That somehow this entire trap is Neo's and she's going to try to kill us," the cat faunus shrugged.

"I hate going down without a fight," Yang murmured. Blake's eyes burned into hers, as if she had more to lose than Yang did. Yang disagreed. She still had to protect Ruby. She went back to the door to the jail, not surprised when nothing she did would rattle it, as if the entire thing was magically locked and sealed. "Isn't this the kind of thing the mercenary's guild is supposed to protect from happening?" Yang asked.

"Not...really?" Blake answered. "It's more like protection from mercenaries more than anything. It gives people a place to complain about others."

"Oh. So kinda useless then," Yang offered. Blake nodded. Wonderful. It was a lot better out in Patch where there was no guild to watch over things, and if anyone had a problem they could just go up to them directly.

Then again, it wasn't as if they were the strongest. Neo had literally just walked out of there. "Wait, if that was Neo, then who was Koby Jacobson up top?" Yang asked.

"Could be Neo again, and she just beat us down here, or it could have been some kind of illusion. Or Torchwick too, if she's here," Ruby guessed. "We both know that we have no magical spark or sense between us. Do you Blake?"

She shook her head. "No, I've tried but the Schnee School of Magic said I wasn't gifted enough. That's where my knowledge of spirits and such came from; I was trying to get through with knowledge if I couldn't do it through the spark."

"What stopped you? Seems like you can just keep doing it."

"Couldn't pay the entrance fees," Blake shrugged. Yang narrowed her eyes. There was something that was a lie about that statement, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

Ruby was somehow immune to the scent of death out of the small room, and was checking each of the walls. "Finding anything? How can you even stand to be in there?" Yang asked. "I've always wondered that."

"Because once you start messing around with gunpowder and explosives, it tends to ruin your nose for things like blood. I can still smell just fine, I'm just used to it," Ruby answered. "And...got it!" she said, pushing in a few candles before a small shaking started.

Blake got up, her shock evident. "What, how did you know that was there!?"

"Heh, I'm just good at finding these secret passage things," Ruby said. She folded up Crescent Rose and pointed to the small staircase. The lack of the color red was the one thing that really helped Yang realize that it was something new. The stairs were tiny, and she'd have to squeeze tight to make sure that she could sidle along them. But it was something new.

Ruby went first, and with Crescent Rose out to her side she was proving adept at moving through it. Blake was next, and wasn't quite as quick, surprisingly, but just as dexterous. Yang was third, and she knew she'd take the longest. "So what was that thing? Some kind of temple or shrine?" She had an idea, but she just didn't want to be right.

"To Salem," Blake answered easily. "Most Salem temples are gloried in blood or the color red. Koby Jacobson made his fortune, what there is of it, by trading on the roads to Mistral and Vacuo. He'd had to have prayed to Salem to keep the Grimm away." Yep, she'd been right.

"Why would anyone do that!?"

"Because by praying more, they think they can also sic the Grimm on their enemies. A good chunk of the nobility often have these shrines set up in hidden chambers specifically for that. Salem never listens, as far as I can tell, but I actively don't pray so I wouldn't know," Blake answered.

"How many people do they have to kill for that..."

"A lot," Ruby guessed. "I hear something up ahead."

"Running water," Blake clarified. "It's just up ahead."

Ruby came out first, taking a breath. "It stinks, but not as bad as you think. I think there's an entrance way in here to the house upstairs," Ruby said.

Yang had to admit she had a point. The place reeked, and it was only once the torch made its light in there that she realized they were in the sewers. Or rather, the bricked up place with running water that probably acted like sewers. Fortunately, they didn't have to trudge through water, as the bricks on the side went just high enough to go over the water.

Surprisingly enough it was rather clear, actually, even through it reeked. They didn't have to walk far, barely a few strides, before Blake pointed to a small ladder. "There, that probably leads to another place close by the house."

She climbed up first, and started to gently push on the top. It didn't want to give at first. "Yang, think you can punch this out of the way?" she asked.

Yang held the torchlight to it. Solid metal, probably with a lock on it. She gave Blake a look that she hoped said 'are you okay in the head?', because there was no way she was getting through that. "No. No I don't," she answered simply.

"That's fine, I have an idea," Ruby said as she climbed up the ladder, sharing the last few rungs with Blake. The faunus seemed taken aback by it, but the young inventor had her hands busy on something. They all heard a small 'click' a few moments later. "Alright, try it now."

The lid was still obviously heavy, but Blake could push it out of the way. It was still seemingly dark, until she moved a long thick rug out of the way. "By the Dark...I think we found how Roman Torchwick gets around," she muttered as she climbed up.

"What, he goes through the sewers? I don't know, he wouldn't be a master if he had other ways through," Yang said. "Also he'd reek if he did that constantly," she muttered.

Sure enough, Yang was the last one up, right in the middle of Koby Jacobson's storeroom. Dozens of boxes of various foods. Blake was putting a few of the smaller items in a cloth bag. "Are we really stealing this stuff?" Yang asked after a moment. "I'm barely okay with taking things off dead bodies. If there's a chance Koby's still alive I don't want to be found taking his stuff."

"The job posting also did specifically say we weren't to steal anything," Ruby commented.

"He tried to kill us, or if he didn't, someone did. Either way, I take my money back especially because he probably wasn't going to be paying us anyways," Blake muttered.

Yang narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, I'm not gonna believe that," she said, holding onto Blake's arm as she tried to pull in a...potato? She looked at it, and Blake was indeed pulling out a potato from the storehouse to put into a cloth bag. "I suppose if you're just taking some food and leave enough for him..." she said quietly. Blake looked at the potato in her hands, as if wondering where that came from.

"I'm still not sure on it though," Ruby said, before she sighed. "And as you forced me on as leader..." she said, narrowing her eyes at Blake. The cat faunus sighed before she let go of the potato, letting it crash into the ground with a solid thud. A thud? Yang looked at it. It should be in a dozen pieces. Potato's weren't that stable. They blew up if she threw them hard enough.

"Fine. I won't steal anything else," Blake deadpanned. The way she said that and just...gave up made Yang think she was lying. Blake seemed a bit too...almost eager to give up.

She was up to something. The problem is that Yang didn't know what. Ruby stepped out into the hallway, whispering back, "Alright, it's clear. I don't know where anything is in this place."

"I do," Blake answered. "That should be the main hallway, down to the right should be the bedroom, over there is the bathroom, the foyer and main study are over there, along with the kitchen."

"Odd that the pantry isn't connected to the kitchen," Yang muttered. Ruby tilted her head before her eyes widened.

"You're right! This place has a weird layout. Not at all like any other place we've been," Ruby said.

Blake shrugged. "Jacobson has always been seen as a bit of a weird person. If he's been praying to Salem, I can get it. We don't know what kind of traps he's set in this house."

Yang looked throughout the hallway. With the sun up it was actually quite bright and forthcoming. Large extravagant paintings hung up on the walls of various people, only some of which she could read the names of. None of them she recognized. And certainly no Branwen.

Expensive vases and rare flowers were in various pots and end tables scattered throughout the hallway. "At this point I just want to get out of here," Yang said. It was all too bright. There was something wrong with this place, but what it was she didn't know. Something was niggling at her brain, telling her that it was wrong, but she couldn't quite tell what.

"I'm the stealthiest, probably. I'll go first," Blake said, trying to hide behind the end tables as she headed down the hallway. Yang kept her eyes on her, not trusting for a moment to keep to her word to not steal anything.

A few moments later she motioned for Ruby and Yang to follow her. Yang's boots kept to the rugs, if only to help with her stealthiness, but it was Ruby that probably gave them away as she tripped on one of the rugs and crashed into the end table, sending the vase tumbling to the ground. It broke into shards, but almost before Yang's eyes she could see it reform.

Definitely something wrong with this place.

"That was lucky," Blake whispered. "Be more careful, we can't trust the rugs to catch everything you trip up otherwise."

Yang stared at her. Ruby wasn't defending herself, or saying that it was an accident. She also wasn't saying that the vase had broken. But Yang knew it did, she had watched it happen. It shattered into dozens of pieces, before each one flickered and reformed itself. "Ruby..." she whispered. "Is there a rune for unbreaking things? If something breaks and then comes back together?"

"Not that I've heard," Blake answered, while Ruby shook her head.

Ruby's eyebrows were raised. "No. The closest would be some kind of rune you'd put on shields. Why?"

"Then something is very, very wrong. That vase shattered. I saw it happen, but then it just...reformed."

Blake stared at it, before she suddenly lashed out with a dagger, not caring about the noise. It shattered into dozens of pieces, and in another instant the same vase stood there, as if the faunus had done nothing. "She's right. Something's wrong," she said.

A slow clap interrupted them. Yang looked towards the end of the hallway to see a tiny little girl, smaller than even Ruby, with pink and white armor. In her hands was a parasol, as if she was a dainty lady. Her eyes were an astonishing shade, one pink and one brown.

"Now, now, Neo. Don't let them think they know what's going on," a low rumbling voice said from behind her. A man in simple clothes, dyed white, with a hat that covered most of his extremely orange hair. In his hands was a long cane, and Yang could see the small sigils engraved into it. Runes.

This was another mercenary of some kind. "Torchwick and Neo..." Blake whispered quietly as her ears folded back. "We didn't want anything to do with you. We promise not to tell anyone you were here!" she started to plead immediately.

Torchwick laughed. "Ah, my dear Belladonna. I don't seem to care. Please, feel free to tell! You can go back through the sewer if you'd like. No one would believe you," he said, his cane slamming into the ground as iron bars came up from the ground, sealing them into the hallway. "But you two..." he said, staring at Ruby and Yang, "why are you two here? Here for another sucker for Belladonna?"

"Is that your actual name?" Ruby asked blatantly. "We were told it was just a common job. Just like any other."

The man laughed again, and even the girl gave a small giggle. "Thinking that any job is common. That's worth a hoot. Unfortunately, you thought correct. It was a common job. Until I decided to make it...not! It's always fun to mock you young mercenaries, thinking that you own the world, and that it owes you something. Yes, even you Belladonna."

"That's not my name," Blake said quietly, as if defending herself from something that she knew was true.

"Oh, isn't it, Blake Belladonna?" Torchwick said, leaning forward. "The thief with a heart of gold, I'd heard they call you. A notorious member of the White Fang."

"The White Fang?" Yang asked. She glanced over at Ruby, who shrugged.

Torchwick stared at them, as if expecting them to blow up at her. "You...don't know what the White Fang is, do you?" he asked after a long moment. He looked at Blake, "Where did you find these yokels?"

"They're from Patch," Blake answered, her hands reaching in for her daggers.

The man sighed. "Wow. You really come from them backwoods. What's the worst thing you've fought out there, some kind of anthill?" he guessed.

"We fought Grimm, and won!" Ruby called out.

Yang had to give it to him though, asides from the Grimm he was fairly close. Some kobolds and the giant ant were pretty much the worst thing that Patch had. Maybe there was a giant anthill somewhere, but she thought there probably wasn't. If there was, then Patch would have been overrun by the things by now.

"Ooh, a Grimm," Torchwick whistled. "So scary," he rolled his eyes, the sarcasm dripping from his voice. "If a Grimm's the worst thing you've fought, then let me assure you..." he said, walking through the iron wrought bars. "Then you have not fought the worst. The worst? People like us."

And then he moved. Yang wasn't sure how he could do that, but he moved faster than she could almost blink. In a single movement after passing through sheer iron, something that Yang was certain was impossible, he was in front of Blake, and with two swings of that cane of his she was crunched up against the wall.

Yang could hear the crunch of her back as she slammed into the wall. She fell to the ground, still breathing but obviously not getting up anytime soon. "What the hell, we don't want to fight you!" Yang shouted.

"That's too bad sunshine, I don't care!" Torchwick laughed as he darted towards Ruby, who was just now starting up Crescent Rose's blade. "Neat thing you have there! It would suck if someone were to...grab it!" he said, his hand on the shaft of the scythe.

Yang went in just as Ruby smirked. He must have realized that something was going wrong, as Ruby pressed another button on the scythe. That large iron shard that she'd been perfecting over the trip here, so useful against the octopus, slammed out towards Torchwick just as Yang stepped up behind him. He managed to dodge just out of the way enough to get a Yang fist of fire into his back. "Whoa, little red and sunshine!" he smirked. "Now that's teamwork! Neo, you could use a bit of a hint from these two!" he called out.

The girl, Neo, rolled her eyes and gave him a small pout. "Fine, fine, I'll deal with these two," Torchwick said as he slammed the cane into Ruby's leg, tripping her just enough for him to kick her into Blake's body.

"Don't! Hurt! My! Sister!" Yang shouted as she burned everything she had to get him to stop. The first fist missed, but the second of her flurry managed to knock him in the chest. The third, the fourth, the fifth all followed up into the same spot.

"Sunshine's got some anger issues!" Torchwick smirked as he started to dodge. Turning left, turning right, he was playing with her. That thought only made her angrier, before she realized that was what he wanted. And completely went against Master Sal's teachings.

She was to keep her calm. Keep her cool. Focus on her footwork, focus on the fact that Ruby needed her, right now, to do what she did best.

Torchwick must have noticed something was off, as he straightened up a bit. "Oh? Someone's learned the flaming dragon style. And I hear I thought old Salmon wasn't going to pick any apprentices," he said conversationally.

At least until Yang's fist went at his head, followed by her second fist at his torso. Her third went for his groin, and the fourth went straight for his heart. Only the second one hit, and he gave a soft wheeze. "Whoo, that's definitely Salmon's work," he said out of breath.

Neo knocked on the iron bars, dragging a small porcelain cup around them. There was a look of extreme boredom on her face, and the cup was clinking against the iron as if she was a prisoner. "Come on, Neo! I'm just having a bit of fun," Torchwick answered. "Well, I was. But you having Salmon's teachings. Obviously he didn't get far," he said rolling his eyes at Neo's antics. He raised up his cane and Yang prepared to dodge.

It didn't work. First her stomach was pushed to the side, the hit coming far harder than she would have expected. Then her legs got tripped out from under her, exactly the same as he did to Ruby. And by the time her head landed on the soft carpet, the top of the cane was already heading for her head, and she was out like a light.

She woke up with a massive headache, almost exactly similar in style to the one she had when she drank too much and found out that no, she could not chug six glasses of ale in under an hour and not feel a thing. The floor was beneath her, hard and cold. Was she in a prison somewhere? "What happened...?" she managed to get out.

"We got arrested," Ruby answered from somewhere else. Yang's eyes opened. It was definitely a prison cell, but a far colder one than the one in Patch that she'd seen the inside of only twice. The floor was stone, and there were iron wrought bars with a little bit of rust at the top and bottom.

Ruby was in the same room as her, on the small metal cot that was provided. She looked okay, but Yang noticed that she had a large black eye and her arms were just as bruised. "Where's Blake?" Yang forced herself to ask as she pushed herself up. She was surprised, at first, that there was little to no pain in her stomach and head, only to find out a moment later that it just took her body a second to realize that yes, it should be in pain.

"She wasn't there when the guards came in," Ruby said quietly. There was a sense of defeat around the girl. "She took everything. She woke up first. The keys to the room, all of our extra elixirs, everything we had. Gone."

Yang took a moment to think. "And whatever she didn't take..."

"The guards didn't actually frisk us," Ruby said. "They saw that we were beaten down, but when suddenly the illusion over Jacobson's house collapsed, and they found the dead body in the foyer, they had to arrest someone for it. I was forced to give up Crescent Rose, but that's it. The stuff we had in our bags? We still have...half. Maybe."

Yang took a deep breath. "Alright, what other bad news you got?"

Ruby stared at her, her younger sister's silver eyes piercing into her. "That's not enough? What more is there!? We have nothing! Everything we put into this, it's all gone and we're here, stuck behind bars, and there's nothing we can do!" Ruby shouted.

A loud voice echoed from the hallway down the ways. "Oi, shut up down there! We'll get to you soon!"

Ruby looked downwards again. "Sorry," she apologized halfheartedly. "I just...don't know how we're gonna get out of this."

Yang rested her back against the wall. It felt better than trying to stand up on her own power at least. "I have a few ideas. Hey, guards! I got a lead on Roman Torchwick and Blake Belladonna!" she called out.

"I already tried name dropping them. The guards didn't seem to care," Ruby shrugged.

"They don't," a very quick and lighthearted voice said as they walked down the hall. A man with a white shirt, relatively lithe, and short green hair suddenly appeared in front of them. "But I do. Please tell me more, Miss Yang Xiao Long," he smirked. "I am Detective Bartholomew Oobleck, the lead detective against Roman Torchwick."

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Blake - 10

Blake wasn't sure if she should feel bad for the way she left Ruby and Yang. Part of her did, but then again, she also had reasons for doing as she did.

For one, she was wanted for a lot more things than just thievery, although it was what she was more well known for. That and conning people. The guards would have had a field day, and criminals generally didn't have much of an audience to refuse anything.

Ms. Corv just gave her a glare as she walked through the door, stinking of sewer, with Ruby and Yang's room key. She said nothing as Blake guessed she would have. The two didn't have much in their room. Coins, which were always nice, but it didn't begin to cover the hundred gold she'd need by the end of the month.

A hundred gold. Each month. Each month it bought her just a little bit more time. But she had to focus on making it. It's why she'd chosen Jacobson, seeing as how he wasn't new to the area, relatively affluent, and kind of an asshole. The perfect target.

She wasn't the only one to have thought so. Roman Torchwick saw that opportunity too. But what Blake wanted to know was why he would have wasted such a powerful gem as an illusory scene gem? That was a powerful, powerful spell. Why waste it on something only a little bit more than novices?

And they were novices. She'd seen Torchwick coming for her first, thinking correctly that she was the most dangerous of the lot, but only with two strikes to take her out? That would grate on her ability to gauge herself in the future.

She had woken up first though. Ruby was next to her, and Blake knew easily that she'd be able to tell something was wrong if anything on her repair kit was missing. It was a lot like her own lock picking set. She did, however, find the key to their room on her. She'd have to leave the repair kit alone, unpleasant as that thought was.

Yang had...barely anything. It was as if they expected her to try something like this. Which meant, considering Ruby's own words the previous night at the Mercenary's Guild, they most definitely expected her to try it. And they would be right. She was fortunate she was able to wake up in time and find the gem. It was in the middle of the largest room, the foyer, projecting a kind of illusion over the entire place, able to be controlled almost entirely by Neo and Torchwick.

There had been a rotting body in the corner, too. The real Koby Jacobson.

Torchwick even had the audacity to leave most of the other 'valuable' stuff hidden in the storeroom, where they thought were potatoes and various foods. How Yang had seen through it, even partially, Blake didn't know.

She'd been fooled completely.

But now she had something more to speak about regarding her reputation. She had fought Torchwick. Hadn't lasted long, sure, but she didn't have to say that part. And best part was that before Ruby and Yang woke up to a completely demolished house with only the storeroom still standing, Blake had called for the guards, saying there's been a murder.

And they were far more interested in the murder than they were in a potential small time thief. And she got away, completely free of any ideas of her own complicitness.

But that hadn't answered all of the questions. The possessed doll. Why had it been there? It had definitely used the harm spell, she knew that. It was the work of spirit magic, but...why would Neo and Torchwick have kept a possessed doll around? The fake Jacobson had said it was doll that belonged to his aunt Sol, but Blake could probably discard all that.

With all of the things she'd managed to steal from the storeroom, she was nearly sixty gold up. And she still had another twenty seven from various other break ins that she'd done, and only needed another thirteen to buy another month.

Thirteen gold. She could do that one even if she did legitimate work. She wouldn't, because she wanted to make as much as she could to head off next month's payment.

After pawning off the various small artsy things that her bag could hold, and relieving Yang and Ruby of their own belongings while leaving them the small basics, it hadn't yet been night yet. Another perfect opportunity to head to the Drunken Donkey, and hope that the bruises from Torchwick's brutal assault on her wouldn't show too much.

The bartender gave her a quiet look, before using a White Fang sign to ask if she was okay. Which meant that yes, the assault most definitely did show. But it was the call of all mercenaries to have scars and bruises, and it would be of no surprise to anyone who knew of the occupation. She signed back she was fine.

There weren't that many people in the bar tonight. Whether that was because it was in the middle of the week, or because the boat from Patch hadn't landed yet, Blake wasn't sure. There was a large man with an even larger mustache laughing at the bar. Peter Port, a known mercenary who specialized in hunting Grimm. He could very well be why it was so quiet in the bar tonight.

There was also a white haired girl in the corner, sipping gently from a small porcelain cup. Blake's eyes scouted her over. A white hood, which did nothing to keep the white hair from showing up around the corners. White leather armor, like that of Atlas.

The sword on her hip, the small book on the other side...had to be someone from the Schnee School of Magic. The white hair alone suggested someone related to the Schnee's themselves. Blake took to the table beside her, keeping care to keep her ears hidden underneath her own hood. Port's voice was loud, and taking up most of the attention of the tavern.

Why would someone related to the Schnees be at a tavern? At a tavern in Vale no less. They were from Atlas and Mantle. She knew that much all too well. It wasn't until the barmaid came around to give Blake's drink that the girl spoke up. "Can you do something about that blubbering buffoon's boisterousness?" she asked, her voice uptight and stressed.

"You mean Peter Port, miss?" the barmaid asked kindly back. Blake knew the tone. It meant that she was about to send some scathing remark back to whomever provoked her. The white haired girl nodded. "Feel free to tell him yourself dear, he's only one of the most famous Grimm hunters in Vale. I'm sure he'll quiet down if you ask him nicely," she said without an ounce of venom in her voice.

Unsurprisingly to Blake, the white haired girl didn't seem to like that all that much, but her opinion had only shifted gently towards better of the man. Why he was in this tavern, Blake didn't know.

He usually was over on the eastern side of Vale, closest to the wilds. "How can anyone think with all of that noise?" the girl asked to no one.

"I can show you a quieter place. Better drinks, too," Blake offered from the side. If she accepted, then Blake had an in. Decent armor, without too many scratches. The rapier was brand new, without any of the worn marks that showed recent use. If she was a mercenary, she was a new one with a lot of money.

The perfect mark.

"Drinks and quiet? Please lead on," the girl said, motioning forward to the door. Blake nodded, knowing just the perfect place. Another of the White Fang enterprises down the street. She got up, stopping only enough time to let the white haired girl follow her onto the streets of Vale. "I'll warn you though, any funny business and you'll know the rough side of Myrtenaster," the girl's eyes were narrowed.

She named her weapon. Oh glorious, she named her weapon. That meant she had an attachment, and that meant she had yet another way for Blake to get money out of her. Seriously, the girl needed a way to know that she was just digging her own hole for any good thief to walk into and out of.

"Don't worry, I'm good for my word," Blake lied. Well, that wasn't the lie. The lie was that Blake wasn't intending on not taking advantage of the girl, but probably not in the way she was thinking.

She walked onwards in front down to another tavern, this one tucked away in a small corner off the main streets. A swinging sign, barely able to be seen within the rapidly oncoming night sky, showed a barrel of some brown liquid. Blake knew it was supposed to represent ale but really, aside from the tea there was a reason this place was so small and quiet. "What is this place?" the girl behind her asked.

"The Shaking Barrel," Blake answered, opening the door. Whereas the Drunken Donkey was large and open to the world, the Barrel was much the opposite. Almost no windows, except for the large single pane off to the side. Three short circular tables were all that decorated the place, and there was no bar for anyone to sit at.

The girl made a show of looking around. "This place does not look like it serves good food."

"If you wanted food, stick to the Donkey," Blake said quietly. "But for tea, the Barrel's known for it. It's more active in the mornings than in the evenings for that reason."

"Hm?" a curious voice said from the backroom. A small antlered head poked their eyes out, his eyes quickly finding both Blake and the girl. "Ah, customers! Welcome, sit wherever. What can I get started?" he asked.

"Perry," Blake identified. "A kettle of tea. Just bring it out," she asked. The faunus nodded and went to the back, quickly grabbing the things he would need.

"You know him?"

"How do you think I know this place?" Blake asked, smirking gently. It wasn't the actual reason she knew it. This was one of the places where she had to pay the monthly stipend. She hated every second she was here, but if she was going to get money off a mark, then this would be a good place to do it. It was either here or the Dusty Den, and she avoided that place at all costs if she could help it.

"I see. Thank you for showing me then," the girl said. "I am Weiss," she said, her voice far more uptight now as if she was used to introducing herself to people just as good as, if not better than Blake was.

"I'm Blake," the faunus answered. Weiss...Weiss Schnee. Blake had hit the mother load was this one, and was careful to keep her face schooled. She wasn't just from Atlas, she was basically Atlas' princess! By Ozma, she'd have to not mess this one up. This one could set her good for months on end, and potentially be the one to even help her solve it completely!

"I see my name rings a bell for you," Weiss said quietly. Blake gave a soft sad smile, as if to apologize for it. "No worries, I came this way to not be recognized, but sometimes it's just inevitable. Yes, I am Weiss Schnee, of the Schnee School of Magic."

"You're a wizard then?" Blake asked just as quietly. If Weiss did have the spark, then maybe...maybe she could break out. Maybe Blake could break out of the loop. Cut ties with the White Fang completely. But she'd have to that spell, the one that only Sienna Khan had access to, years and years ago.

Weiss shook her head. "No, not a wizard. As my sister Winter before me, I took up the blade too early for my spark to be shown any other way. The proper term is 'Magus'."

Blake tried desperately to hide the fact the word meant nothing to her, except a crushing despair. If she wasn't a wizard, then there was no way she could ever learn the spell. Only wizards could learn the spell, she knew.

"I see. So you weren't joking when you said that you'd point Myrtemaster at me," Blake tried to joke. Weiss glared at her.

"It's Myrtenaster. With an 'n'," Weiss clarified as Perry came out from the back, one hand on a small cloth pad, and the other hand on the handle of the kettle. He placed it in the center of the table, grabbing a few cups that he had on his belt.

"Please enjoy, ladies," Perry said, giving a soft bow before he wandered to the back. Blake noticed he signed at her, asking if Weiss was to be her next mark. Blake nodded smoothly, trying to ignore him.

"What brings you then to Vale? If you came all this way to not be recognized, then it's obviously not to go to the Schnee School of Magic here," Blake asked.

"No, the Schnee Schools are doing well all over. However, for my graduation in Atlas we are required to travel to at least four major regions, and talk with each of the professors of our chosen class. I have already spoken to Glynda Goodwitch, I assume you know of her, but for her trial she requires me to 'do a mercenary job worth at least two stars'."

Blake winced. That was an archaic way of saying something worth at least ten gold, or a hundred silver or more. Only the Schnee School of Magic actually bothered with the star system anymore, as everyone just knew that the higher the reward, the more dangerous it would be. "You aren't required to do it solo, are you?"

"I am not. However, I am not from here, so I was hoping to find someone to come with me. So far though, the only two people I'd come to agree to seeing come with me is Peter Port, who would never agree, or you, assuming you're a mercenary."

"I am."

"Well then, that's part of that problem solved. Would you come with me so I can complete my trial? I'll pay you half of whatever the job is worth, even if we accept more people. Whatever the difference is will come from my own pay," Weiss tried to ask.

Blake blinked. Was this girl really that bad at haggling? Generally, when haggling, it was seen as a better idea to go low first and then go high. But if she wanted to start high, then Blake could do that too. "Hmm..." she started to say.

"Three quarters?" Weiss asked, leaning forward slightly.

Alright. If she stuck around with Weiss the first thing she was teaching her was how to haggle properly. This was almost too sad to think about doing otherwise. "Fine, fine," Blake agreed. "Three quarters."

Just because she was a thief didn't mean she had some standards. She could see Perry in the back giving her a look of 'what are you doing' in exasperation. Blake had to admit he was right on that account. By all rights she should have charged the entire thing. Weiss was certainly desperate enough.

"Excellent," Weiss said, leaning back. "So therefore, I think that we should exchange information on our skills. I, naturally, will be the leader and tactician," she finished.

Blake had to withhold the urge to just go along with it. Weiss was a very, very easy mark. "Of course," she agreed. "I'm mostly skilled in things like lock picking, and fighting with daggers. I'm good at finding weak points in most things."

"Most things?"

"Some things don't have them. Just this morning I was fighting a possessed doll," Blake started to say. Weiss looked at her oddly, as if not realizing that she, Blake, was a mercenary too. "And well, it's a doll. Dolls don't have weak points."

"The head?"

"Does just as much damage as anywhere else on its body."

"How did you defeat it then?" Weiss asked, looking a lot more interested in the story. She was leaning forward on the table, and it kept hiding the door from Blake's view. But she doubted that would become necessary.

Blake started to understand. Weiss was one of those who lived for the stories, for the glory of being a mercenary even if she didn't understand the life of it herself. "Ah, one of the people I was with was a brawler, and she could light her hands on fire. A lucky shot managed to burn it, and from there we were able to win."

"Oh, you know others as well!?" Weiss grinned. "Perfect, we can invite them to come along. Same deal as you, naturally. Three quarters of the original reward."

"Ah, I think she's busy," Blake lied. That wasn't a technical lie, though, she was just...in jail. So, very much so busy by most standards. "I can try to reach out to her though, depending on how long you're willing to have this take." Please say not long, please say not long.

"Hm, probably not then. I do wish to be in Vacuo for the trial of that school by the end of the week. Do you think most jobs would take that long?"

"It depends on the job," Blake said truthfully. "Some can take upwards of a week, others about a day. The one I took last night was only a single morning."

"Is that what led to the bruises on your legs and neck?"

She had bruises on her neck too? Oh for crying out loud, if she had her hands on Torchwick anytime soon she didn't care how strong he was. "Ah, yes. It was slightly more dangerous than we'd assumed based on the reward."

"You didn't just leave and tell the schools?" Weiss asked, looking inherently shocked as if she didn't realize anybody could just lie on those job notices. The guild did what it could sometimes, but the right person had to be told first and that was often more complicated than it sounded.

"The schools? Why would they care?" Blake retorted. "Most of the time the people that have the spark leave the rest of us to pick up the dregs."

"That's not true at all! I've seen the wizards around here, and they are all-"

"Nobles," Blake interrupted. "The word your looking for is 'noble', or rich. Having the spark at all grants you the ability to get ahead. The rest of us? Beg, borrow, and steal."

"That is most assuredly a rogue line of thought."

"A...what?" Blake asked. She'd never heard that particular phrase.

"A rogue? Rogue from the law? You've never heard that?" Weiss asked. "Odd. It's a common turn of phrase over in Atlas. I assume you pick up jobs the same way here that one would over there?"

"How do they do it over there?" Blake tilted her head. The hood was making it difficult to hear things from behind her, but Perry was trying to sign her something, but Weiss' hair kept getting in the way.

"It's quite simple. You grab a slip of the magically infused paper, and it appears over in the Guild's office. From there, the guild checks to make sure the reward on the paper has been taken from the registry's account, so as to ensure the reward is always given at successful completion. We sign our form, it appears in the Guild, and we go and complete it."

"Similar. The Guild here doesn't have such a close tie with the banks," Blake explained. Perry was a lot more animated all of a sudden, and Weiss kept turning her head in just the perfect way to block him. Blake sighed, doubting it was anything important.

"Ah. How do you ensure you get the proper reward then?"

"Take it up by trust," Blake shrugged. And generally, for her, by stealing everything that wasn't nailed down. And somethings that were. And sometimes whole tables. And potentially floors, if she was feeling malicious enough.

"That seems like an awful way to do business. No wonder most of the spark-inclined citizens eventually make their way over to Atlas. At least there we could ensure that the mercenaries get paid the proper amount."

Blake shrugged. "Most places aren't nearly as controlled as Atlas is. Especially as there aren't many Grimm sightings over in those colder areas."

"That's true, I suppose," Weiss agreed. Perry eventually signed her, after having apparently given up, that 'she was on her own'. What did that mean? She was on her own for what? Was there something that she ought to have been aware of? This hood was messing with her hearing, she's usually capable of hearing things much better without it-

The door bust open just as Perry launched himself into the back, disappearing. A tall man with a white shirt and green hair. "Everyone stop! I am detective Bartholomew Oobleck, here to find Roman Torchwick, Neopolitan Vanille, or Blake Belladonna!" he shouted, his voice almost too fast for Blake to comprehend.

Wait, what was that last name he said? Had he said her name!? She was just about to get up and find somewhere else when the two people she wanted to see the absolute least of walk through the door, both of their eyes glaring at her instantly. The black haired with red tips girl with a far too large scythe compressed onto her back, and the blonde brawler.

Both of their eyes were staring at her. "I'm sorry, are you wanted!?" Weiss screamed as she stood up, holding Myrtenaster towards her. The sword was pointed at her rather improperly, which Blake kind of hoped was just nerves. Because otherwise, then she pitied whoever it was that would get her for partner on whatever job she was going to get.

Actually if she picked up Ruby and Yang, then she didn't pity them at all. "You there, hold and freeze!" Oobleck shouted as he pulled out a small scroll of some kind. Blake's eyes widened. She doubted that Oobleck had the spark natively which meant he had a very powerful friend somewhere. And that meant the scroll had to go.

She apologized to Perry in her mind as she kicked the table towards Oobleck, trying to use the distraction it caused to head out the secret exit out front. If a detective of the guards was with them, then all escape routes were to be utilized. And she was the front earner of the White Fang, even if she didn't want to be.

She mostly apologized for the breaking of the tea kettle. Perry made some good tea.

Almost before she could blink the table was punched out of the way, and Ruby was behind her with that overgrown farm implement in her hands. Blake pulled out her daggers, realizing there was no getting out of this easily.

Then she felt Weiss' rapier at her back. Right. She'd forgotten the magus. Whatever those actually were. She'd never heard the term, but if they were unique to Atlas that kind of made sense. "You aren't going anywhere, criminal," Weiss' voice was laced with a dark tone.

"Ah, she isn't actually a criminal I'm afraid!" Oobleck interrupted. "She's actually just wanted for questioning on what she knows of Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan Vanille, and any information would be quite helpful!" Blake had to really pay attention based on how fast he was talking.

"But, wait, detective, this is her! The girl who stole all our stuff!" Yang pointed out.

She was right, but that didn't mean that Blake had to admit it. Rule one of being caught; deny everything. "What, no I didn't!" she shouted back. "Torchwick stole it!"

Handy having a much more well known criminal who would, assuming he was ever be caught in this situation, take the blame for anything and everything. And Blake assumed that probably included death and taxes.

"Unfortunately, Ms. Xaio Long, Belladonna is correct, and we have no proof of anything! Other than the fact that she lied to you, clearly ready to steal things from a relatively wealthy old man-"

"Who prayed to Salem!" Blake retorted.

"-who prayed to Salem so most definitively not innocent in any way shape or form, but it is still illegal Belladonna to steal from anyone, including other criminals! Two wrongs do not make a right!"

"Wait, is this that possessed doll job you mentioned earlier?" Weiss asked, before she narrowed her eyes and kept her rapier pointed at her.

"Who's this, your next mark?" Ruby asked. The silver eyed girl looked her over, before the scythe dropped to the ground. "Yang...Yang do you know who that is!?" she started to get more excited.

"Um...no? Should I?"

"It's Winter Schnee!"

Weiss dropped her rapier to the ground in shock. Blake took the opportunity to kick it out of Weiss' hands, throw one dagger at Oobleck who was the most dangerous person there by far, and try to run for the secret exit. Almost before she could reach it, a small marble was flung at the wall, ricocheting off. Blake thought nothing of it for a moment before it crashed into her, and she was knocked out again. Twice, in the span of a single day.

These easy marks were going to kill her at this rate...

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Weiss - 11

"I'm not Winter!" Weiss shouted at the three strangers. The odd deer faunus that had brought out their tea had suddenly disappeared, not that Weiss blamed him. If she'd seen the detective coming, she'd probably bail too if this was an obvious money laundering site. She wasn't dumb. She could tell just fine. The problem was that she wasn't very good at reading people and she knew it.

But really, how dumb did she have to be to take a rogue at face value? If there was one thing that rogues were, scoundrels and lawbreakers were it. Almost everyone who proclaimed to be good at picking locks or some such was such a thing, and Weiss hadn't met a good one yet.

"You're not? You look just like her. What are you, a fan?" the silver eyed girl asked. By the Dark she was annoying.

"No, I'm not," Weiss growled out. How dare this person, this heathen, claim that she was Winter! For one, Winter was much taller, and much older. "My name is Weiss."

"Oh...you're the sister!" the girl said, her eyes widened in surprise.

"How do you know her, Ruby?" the blonde girl asked, seemingly thoroughly confused. One girl knew her, the other didn't? What kind of backwoods people were these two!?

"Oh yeah you were with Master Sal at the time...there were a few sailors from Vale that came through that spoke of Winter Schnee, one of the prodigies of the Schnee School of Magic, and how she'd come through and took on a really dangerous job by herself! They were saying that she managed to kill like five Grimm by herself!"

Weiss knew exactly what the girl was talking about. Not who Master Sal was, obviously, but the job in particular was one that Winter had written to her about. It hadn't been five, it had been two, and they were the small ones. The tree monster, however, was not small and Winter had spent a good paragraph of the letter complaining about the now watermelon sized bruise on her leg from not seeing it in time.

That had been several years ago though, and to hear that she was going through the same steps that Winter did...well, she was no Winter. She knew that. But anything her sister can do, then Weiss could do just as well.

Also the fact that the girl had heard it through hearsay made suddenly much more sense. That was how most rumors started, and it would explain why the girl knew of Winter but not of her. She probably didn't have the spark to her, which meant that the Schnee's weren't exactly the most favored in the world to them.

"I'm not sure if that bit was true or not, but it impressed the sailors enough to remember her, and to describe her when I asked what all the hubbub was about," the girl finished.

"It was true," Weiss clarified, dutifully leaving out the fact that Winter had not killed five Grimm, but trying to leave it as impressive as possible. "And that only means that I have to be just as good as her."

"Ah yes sibling rivalries!" the investigator said as he looked over the unconscious Blake. "It makes fools of the best of us and betters us all for the good fight against all the things that would greatly like to hurt the rest of us!"

How he managed to say that all in one breath, Weiss didn't know, but she wondered if there was a spell for that. She tried to recall the exact machinations for the cantrip to detect the spark of magic, but she hadn't studied up on that one this morning. She'd have to do that before she could ever cast it.

"This girl is not connected to Roman Torchwick nearly as much as I thought she was," the investigator said loudly as he stood up. "However, she has still stolen most of your items and I found your room key on her," he said just as fast, throwing a copper key towards the girl in the red outfit. "I suggest you keep close watch on her and see if you can't find the rest of your items and money!"

"Thanks for springing us out of jail at least Oobleck," the blonde smirked. "Would have been up a creek without you."

"Yes, of course! Now then, I am needed to keep continue to investigate Roman Torchwick and Neo!" He took a small sip of tea, although when he'd grabbed the cup Weiss didn't know. It wasn't Blake's cup and it wasn't hers. In another instant he was gone, disappearing out the door faster than Weiss could have thought.

"Who are you two?" Weiss asked after a long moment. She sheathed Myrtenaster and went over to keep an eye on Blake, if only so she wouldn't wake up.

"I'm Yang, and that's Ruby. We're from Patch," the blonde introduced herself. "You have the spark?" she asked, glancing down at Weiss' waist.

A small book was chained to her hip. Weiss nodded, glad that at least someone knew what that meant. It wasn't very full at the moment, but with a few of the smaller spells, although Weiss could hit quite hard when she wanted to. She brought the book up in her hands.

"Can I see it!? I've always wanted to see what an actual spellbook looked like? Please please can I can I!?" Ruby hovered excitedly over her shoulder. Weiss flinched, not knowing the girl had suddenly appeared right next to her.

"No!" Weiss said after a short moment. For one, spellbooks were incredibly private, often having the spells with some small notes that denoted anything that the caster had found out about them, often with private thoughts.

Yang walked next to Blake, casually trying to push her over with her foot. "Hey, I know that marble didn't knock you out nearly as hard as you want us to think you did," Yang said.

Blake's yellow eyes were glaring up at all three of them. "Leave me alone," she said without preamble.

"Not without our stuff," Ruby said, hovering over her. "We want it back. All of it."

"Sold it," Blake's response was instant. Weiss' opinion of the girl dropped even faster. She was that fast at fencing stolen goods? Either she was a prodigy at selling illegal things, or Vale had a ridiculously fast network for that.

"Yeah, I'm calling it there," Yang said. "I don't think you did. No one can move stolen stuff that fast."

"I can. And did."

"And yet you're scrounging for more money instantly," Weiss intervened. "That's pathetic."

"There was nearly ten gold of materials in there," Ruby said quietly. "Not including the potions that you stole too. If you did sell them, you have more than enough, and you wouldn't have to take any more jobs for nearly four or five months, and I know Vale's not so bad off that it would only last a few hours."

Weiss blinked. That was...a good point. "Yeah, they're right," she muttered, "especially as you were trying to fleece me for more cash. So either you need money badly for some reason, or you have a very poor choice of hobbies."

"The latter," Blake admitted instantly, only for Ruby to shake her head.

"No, you don't have any hobbies. I remember Yang asking you that one specifically when she was drunk," Ruby said. "Which means you needed the money to pay off something. But then..."

"Ruby, we can't."

"Whatever comes our way," Ruby said, staring into Yang's eyes. It had a common-like phrase to it, as if it was something that they said often. Especially as Yang immediately took a deep breath, before she let it out.

"Fine. Fine, we'll pick up the damn stray," Yang said, reaching down and pulling Blake up. "But this is your final warning, alright? Any funny business, any at all, and you're out and in prison faster than you can say 'Where's Qrow'."

Weiss wasn't sure what was going on. Why had they just...forgiven her? No, Ruby was glaring at her, not forgiven. Just...helping? Why were they helping? The girl had stolen from them. That made no sense. All thieves couldn't be trusted!

"I...already had a job lined up," Blake admitted, looking over to Weiss.

The back of her hair raised like hackles. "If you think I'm going to let a thief get anywhere near me, you're dead wrong!" Weiss shouted. "I was hesitant at first anyways, and if you think I'm...wait, you're Yang," she said after a moment. "You're the brawler that killed a Grimm," her mind pieced together. It was just a small piece of hearsay she'd heard at the tavern, about a strong blonde brawler or monk that killed a Grimm on the island of Patch. Far too specific to not be her!

"Fought," Yang corrected. Ruby shook her head. "I fought a Grimm."

"No, she killed it," Ruby grinned. "By throwing me onto a trapped tile and forcing the Grimm onto the trap itself."

"That was luck Ruby."

"Still worked in the end didn't it?" Ruby asked, her smile lighting the place up. "And besides, we'll be with you. How much did you promise the thief?" she asked, motioning to Blake.

"Three quarters of the amount of the posted job, assuming it's two star or higher," Weiss answered. "With her compatriots getting the same amount."

"Um...that's not how math works," Yang answered slowly. "That would leave you at a loss, which isn't the point of doing the job in the first place."

"She needs it to get a writ from Glynda Goodwitch," Blake tattled out for her.

"Hey, just don't tell them!"

"Oh you're from the School!" Ruby put together. "I didn't know they had that. You look more like you're from Atlas than you are from Vale." She paused for a moment, before she turned to her sister in a confused tone, "Yang...she looks from Atlas."

"New uniform style though," Yang said gently. Weiss bristled at being dismissed as easily as she was being. She could probably knock all three of these people out, probably without even trying!

"Excuse me!? I am from Atlas!"

"We can tell," Ruby answered. "But then why do you need a writ from Vale?" she asked. "And...what's two star?"

"It means ten gold reward or higher," Blake answered again.

"Why do you not know of the star system but you know of my sister!?" Weiss shouted. The knowledge on these backwoods fools was presenting itself to be quite difficult! And she was hoping to find something worth an odd amount of gold, like thirteen or something, and then use her overwhelming wits to pay them less than what they should be. But then knowing her luck, based on what Yang said, they could actually do math!

"Because Ruby's as sharp as a nail, but we didn't have the school for magic out in Patch," Yang answered. "So you'll have to explain it."

Weiss sneered a bit. "Fine, I will. Stars a based on difficulty, and the higher the star the higher the reward. One stars are the lowest. and are anything lower than ten gold. Two stars are the ones I have to finish, and that's between ten and thirty. Three stars are thirty and fifty. Four stars fifty to a hundred. Five above a hundred."

"A hundred gold!?" Ruby said, taken aback. "But that's so much already!?"

It really wasn't. Weiss knew just how much a hundred gold can get you, and it wasn't nearly as much as Ruby thought it was. Maybe it could out in Patch, where they probably measured things with copper or some other derivative of silver. Think of the horror, paying for something with copper!

"It's not," Blake said quietly. "It's a tiny amount, in the scheme of things."

That was a thing Weiss would have to file away. Whatever it was that Blake needed money for, it was a lot more than a hundred gold. "Anything higher than that is near impossible. Six star is above five hundred, seven is above a thousand, and eight is above ten thousand. Eight's the highest," she finished explaining.

"Ten thousand gold..." Yang, Ruby, and Blake said quietly. Weiss couldn't fault them that one. That was a near obscene amount of money. "Have there been any of those ever done?"

"There's record of one existing, but all the records for that age were sealed. It would have to be something like 'kill a god' or some insane requirement," Weiss admitted. "It's one of the first things taught to all who have the spark. Don't take above what you can achieve."

"And hey, we have a full party," Yang said, her hand gripping Blake's hard, and Weiss could see the wince in the cat faunus' face. Yang was holding her far too tight for her liking. Good on her, if they were telling the truth than Yang and Ruby had reason to want to hurt her.

And Weiss was okay with that. This thief, this rapscallion, this rogue, this criminal had almost duped her. She'd come close to almost losing everything, and she'd already lost most everything once before. There was a reason her spellbook was chained to her waist. "You think we can take a three?" Weiss asked. She was almost wondering where most of this bravado was.

"Nah, two's good," Ruby interrupted. "That's still ten gold Yang. More than enough to start our search."

"You're searching for something?" Weiss asked. She made to follow the duo, and the unwilling third, as they started to move to the door.

"Yeah. A lost uncle, or something like that," Yang said. "His name's Qrow Branwen. He's supposedly been seen around Vale."

Weiss blinked. "Qrow Branwen?" she repeated, the phrase percolating through her head. There was something in her head that remembered the name. It was faint, a passing mention, and not something she would have recalled, but the letter...

That's right. It was a letter from Winter, as she'd been passing through Mistral. "I think I remember the name," Weiss started. "In a letter from Winter, when she was passing by Mistral. She's one of the recruiters for the Schnee School of Magic now, but back then she was still going through her trials. She met a boy with black hair who had uncommonly bad luck. He had the spark, but couldn't use it the same way the rest of us could, so the Schnee School of Magic sent him out to the Mistral branch. They specialize in odd cases like his."

"He might be back in Mistral then. That's across the ocean," Yang muttered. "We'll check around here, and then head to Mistral."

"Or he might have gone around, gone to Vacuo. That was a while ago Yang," Ruby reminded.

"I was trying to avoid the desert..." Yang muttered under her breath. Weiss took a deep breath as she headed for the door.

The streets of Vale had started to wake up, and Weiss was now able to see much more of the people that walked by. Most of them were busy thinking to themselves, and only a few them seemed relatively armed. Guards, or at least people like them in silver armor, sat on the some of the busiest corners, some of them having partners and some being alone.

Most of the shops were starting to open now, and Weiss got a whiff of the smells as the various bakeries started to open up. The smell of fresh fruits and vegetables as the stalls started to open. She hadn't realized that the Drunken Donkey was on the main road of Vale, but she supposed it only made sense. She glanced over to Ruby and Yang, both of them had their stomachs growling at them audibly loud. Blake's, too, was surprisingly loud. "Did none of you have breakfast?" Weiss asked, vaguely surprised.

She shouldn't have been. Yang had mentioned they were in jail right before this, for something that they didn't do. And Blake was...busy pawning their items off. Right, no food for the faunus. "When would we have?" Yang asked with a smirk on her mouth. "We kind of ran to follow detective Oobleck as he went on the warpath to find Torchwick and Belladonna."

Weiss bristled a bit at her tone. "I don't know, I would have figured you could have gotten food at any time."

"Nope. We stayed the night in jail and now here we are now," Yang offered. "Granted, it wasn't our fault. And I don't remember much of it."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "It's because she was knocked out for it," Ruby clarified. "I woke up in the jail, but that was early this morning. Like, way early this morning."

She should get them all breakfast. Breakfasts in Atlas were near required if someone had the spark. The amount of energy often was taken from the world around them, and the caster themselves, so they needed as much energy as they could get. The spells that Weiss had studied up on more of the cold variety, and so didn't take much. She'd only a light salad for breakfast that morning for that reason.

The doors to the Drunken Donkey were opened, and Weiss found the same scene that she had left so long ago. Port was missing, at least, his seat relatively cold, so he'd taken off not long after she had.

Weiss immediately headed for the job board, hoping that she'd find something there that she could prove to Goodwitch she knew what she was doing, and deserved the right to the trial. The papers weren't in the same scattering that she'd seen earlier. Some were missing, but more had simply been added in. A small kid, the same one from the local Adventurer's Guild if she had it right, was putting new papers up.

She'd never met the kid, but the people she'd talked with in the Schnee School of Magic knew of him as a fairly hard worker, and if anyone needed anything done, they should talk with him.

Weiss steeled herself and schooled her face, making sure that it displayed no emotion, exactly how her father had taught her to hold herself. She was a daughter of the Schnee, the ones who had the same bloodline as the original spark wielders, those who ascended far beyond the normal. She came up to him. "Anything good?" she asked.

"Nah, not too many. What reward size you looking for?" the boy asked, not paying her one whit of attention. At first the thought made her angry, her eyes wide before she controlled herself. Not everyone was so demanding of their time. She could be tame.

"Two star."

The boy finally looked at her. He glanced her up and down appraisingly, before his eyes widened as they glanced at the spellbook on her hip. "Oh, wait here, I think I got one," he said, looking through his thin stack of new notices. His fingers were dark with ink. "Here, try this one and see if it fits what you were looking for," he said, handing her a small sheet.

She glanced at it. A ruins expedition. Reward was twenty gold, a bit higher than she liked considering she promised so much of it to Blake, although she was going to renege on that deal. She would have to check with Yang and Ruby, if they were planning on assisting. Twenty gold was a not-inconsiderable sum, and although she had a few hundred on her person, locked away of course, it would be quite difficult to recoup that loss. Especially as she wasn't made of money.

Average danger levels, if she had to be honest. Something that she could freely admit would probably impress Ms. Goodwitch enough to give her the trial, or even count this as the trial. "Yes, I think this will do," Weiss answered.

"Good," the boy said, going back to the board. "You know how to sign up, I know you Atlas smarty types," he answered, glancing for any place to pin a new one. The board was almost overflowing at this point, most of them with simple rewards of small amounts of silver.

"Why so many? Usually it never gets this crowded up in Atlas," Weiss asked.

"A good part of it is that the big job takers, the famous mercenaries and the like, took a leave. Pyrrha freaking Nikos took a leave of absence too, and you know she took like ten of these at a time and could complete them in a week," the boy complained. "And the Arc Family left recently to head back to Ansel, and they were a big part of it."

"So it's just that supply has recently outed demand?"

"Yeah, if you use big words," The boy complained again. "Stop using big words, otherwise the White Fang will get ya. Thieves, the lot of them, but they're good at it. You want a good thief, search for them."

"They aren't mercenaries, though?"

"Some of 'em are. Some of 'em aren't. It's the ones that aren't that you gotta be on the lookout for. Those are the really good ones," the boy answered. He looked for another spot, his list of papers seemingly growing ever smaller, before he narrowed his eyes on the vaguest of spots on one of the corners, and grinned as he stuck it on, hanging by the smallest amount he could. "And done! Gotta go," he said, grinning at Weiss and sending a quick wave to Ruby before he almost ran out of the tavern.

"Why so many?" Ruby asked as she came over. Yang was holding onto Blake tight at the bar, and the bartender was obviously making jokes about their relationship by the way that Yang and Blake were so red in the face. Weiss didn't think that Yang was such a quick drinker.

"Ah...they recently had a large amount of the smaller ones take a lot less," Weiss said. "Many of their mercenaries recently left."

"Oh. Well that's good news for us. Unless that Qrow Branwen was one of them," Ruby said with a small scowl. "You think he was?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask. Who is this Qrow to you? I know you said lost uncle."

"Oh, he was apparently a teammate of my dad's, according to the info that Yang found out. And apparently his brother, or something? I'm not actually too sure of what the relation there is. But anyways, she wants us to try to find him, as family should stick together, you know?"

She did know. She also knew that no matter what people said, family almost never stuck together. That was why Jacques was in Atlas, Winter was in Atlas, Whitley was in the Schnee School of Magic in Atlas but separated from the other two, and Willow was...somewhere in the world. Honestly, Weiss was thinking Menagerie but she kind of doubted it. The pale complexion her mother had would not work with the sun down there.

"A noble goal," she said instead. Ruby brightened a bit, before she saw the one that Weiss had grabbed, or rather been handed. Her hands were faster than Weiss had thought they'd be, as in another blink of an eye the red cloaked girl had it in her hands. "Hey!"

Ruby ignored her, another thing that notched Weiss' opinion of her. Her eyes read down it surprisingly quickly. The fact she could read so quickly did override that though. "Huh. Not bad. Never done ruins expeditions before, there weren't any on Patch that Yang would ever let us."

"There aren't any ruins on Patch?"

"No, there are," Ruby said, suddenly looking far off into the distance. "But there was only the one as I far as I know. Nearly seventy gold to look through the old ruin, but everyone who'd taken it had quickly died."

"You think it was trapped?"

"I know it was trapped," Ruby answered. "And at the end, we know what they were searching for too."

There was a sense of urgency in Ruby's voice that made Weiss want to grab her arms and scream at her, "Well, just tell me then!?" but that wouldn't have been proper. "Oh? What were they searching for?" she asked, her breath and heart leaping into her throat for some reason.

Despite the large amount of sound around, it seemed to be almost deafeningly silent.

"A sealed door," Ruby explained, "sealed with the most powerful magic I've ever seen."

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Ruby - 12

Ruby had to admit that she was not a fan of Blake. Apparently last name Belladonna. The girl had stolen everything from them, and had admitted to trying to sell it, or succeeding at selling it. But there was more to the story, Ruby knew, than what the girl was telling them. But it wasn't because of what Blake did, but rather because of what that other person did. Another faunus, a deer one with small horns, had been at the tea house, or other tavern.

Ruby wasn't familiar enough with taverns to be able to tell if something was or wasn't a tavern yet. She suspected that by the time they found Qrow Branwen, assuming that Yang succeeded, she'd be able to tell easily enough.

Ruby had kept one eye on him as they 'interrogated' Blake. He was trying to make no noise, but she managed to tell easily enough that he was trying to hide something. Some kind of code, although what it said she didn't know. The fact the code was sent in different tones when Blake was talking meant that it was probably about her. And if there was a code involved that meant...well, Patch didn't exactly have a criminal gang.

In fact Patch didn't have much in the way of criminals. But she'd overheard the sailors from Vale enough to know that there were criminals over here, and if they went to Patch they'd have a field day.

Especially as the prison on Patch was just around four cells, separated by thin walls. Vale's prison, from even just what she saw on the way around, was closer to eighty or ninety. Which still seemed kinda small, considering how many people were in Vale, but she supposed there was probably more than one.

It was easy enough to get Yang to go along with her. The amount of trust that her sister had in her was kind of astonishing, but Ruby would do her absolute best to live up to it. She was taking a chance, Ruby knew, but she felt that everyone deserved a second chance.

She was unsure what to think of their 'leader', Weiss Schnee. She'd only heard of Winter a bit, but the stories she'd heard had stuck in her head a lot.

Winter had seemed like this amazing person who could do no wrong. Slaughtering Grimm with one hand and saving damsels in distress with the other. She knew real life didn't work like that, but it was fun to think about. And then, almost here to life, was a version of Winter who looked exactly how Ruby had pictured her.

Only to find that no, it wasn't Winter. It was her sister.

Still, Weiss had the spark too. And that meant she could do so many amazing things! Ruby had always wanted to see magic being cast, even though she couldn't do it herself. Instead she had to make do with her scythe, which was...well, mostly repaired. She might have time to repair it more on the way to whatever the ruin was they were going to.

According to the paper, the village of 'Mountain Glenn' had already long since picked over, but there were thoughts that maybe something had been missed, or there were monsters that had started to nest there.

Which explained why it was worth a whopping twenty gold. Any job which involved the killing of nested monsters was a lot higher risk than anything else. Most jobs that didn't were generally lower risk, and thus didn't need to be done as much. From what she saw though, it was just a survey of the area, making sure that there weren't nested monsters around.

"Alright, if we're going to do this we need to do it right," Weiss said, smacking a fist into her other hand. She was leading the...Ruby didn't want to call it a party. It wasn't a party. A party would have people that actually liked being around each other.

"So then!" Weiss continued. "Ruby, find some horses for us! Yang, your job is to buy supplies. Blake, find us some maps."

Ruby stared at her, and she knew from the feeling on the back of her head that Yang and even Blake had the same feeling. "I'm not leaving Blake. I don't trust her to not run the first chance she gets," Yang shrugged.

"At this point you might have to buy handcuffs before the first night," Blake smirked.

"Don't tempt us, we will," Ruby muttered darkly. She actually could probably figure out a way to make them better, so it's both a combination and a key, or it's a key that's tied to them...eh, might be a bit of work, that. And besides, Blake had stolen her alchemist kit.

Right. Actually, she had to check that, because what she'd actually done is steal their room key. But knowing their luck, she did manage to get through it and steal everything, and maybe resell some of it. Alchemist's kits weren't exactly the hardest to come by though, or to sell. The worst part was that she'd lose progress on the elixirs currently in progress. "Oh, right," Weiss said, sheepish that she'd forgotten she couldn't trust on of their members. Ruby knew the feeling, she didn't trust either of them. Only Yang.

"Better idea. I'll get supplies, Yang and Blake will gather transportation, considering that Mountain Glenn is...probably several days away, and-" Ruby started.

"Wait, we're going to Mountain Glenn?" Blake interrupted. Her ears folded down. "That's...no, that's a bad place. Bad place, very bad place."

Ruby scrutinized her, trying to see if she was telling the truth or not. She'd gotten better, since Patch a bit. But it wasn't as if she was the best, and Blake was almost ridiculously good at lying sometimes. When she could get away with it. Which so far had been zero for six, so maybe she wasn't actually that good at it.

"What is it?" Yang asked. "It was on the job notice, right?" Ruby nodded, handing her the small sheet. She glanced over it, and Ruby noticed that Blake's eyes, too, were following it. "Seems simple enough."

"As long as we avoid the north end," Blake muttered quietly.

Ruby noted that in her head. Check out the north end immediately. "Fine, we'll avoid the north end, but we have to trust you to help us, and not stab us in the back again."

Blake stared at her for a moment, before she looked away, her ears folded inwards. "Fine. I won't."

"She would the moment she can," Yang identified a second later. "We'll keep an eye on you, and maybe at some point we'll let you fight. Until then, we'll just fight with the three of us. Maybe two, if we can do just that," she said. "You still owe us our gear."

"And then I'll get the maps," Weiss interrupted. "Fine, I can do that. Just remember, I'm the leader."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Sure thing," she said, tossing her hand around. She doubted that being leader was a real thing that anybody ever actually did.

As soon as she was gone, as she huffed off in a fit of rage, Ruby turned to Blake. "Why the north end?"

"There are rumors that's where the White Fang stays," Blake said after a long moment. Ruby and Yang matched eyes for a second.

That would explain why she'd be hesitant to go up there. Ruby would have to take a look once they actually got there though. She doubted the bounty on the White Fang was actually anything more than a guards salary for a month.

Not much in it for getting into a whole lot of trouble. And Yang seemed to agree with her on that, as she nodded. "Alright, we'll stay clear of the north side," Yang said, "except for if the job puts us there."

Ruby nodded. That was the best that Blake was going to get from them. They'd walked too many places to know that sometimes jobs weren't tied up in neat little bows.

Honestly, their last two were good examples of normal jobs. The mines, in which they got dropped a few hundred feet, found a magically sealed door which again pounded itself into Ruby's head, before managing to escape. And then there was the house and the doll, and Roman Torchwick and Neo...whatever her last name was. A doppelganger, but Ruby doubted it.

Most likely she was just a very good illusionist with the spark. That was much more likely than her being part monster.

Yang wrenched Blake's hand down again and forced her to walk towards the front of Vale. A few of the people around gave them odd looks, as if they weren't used to seeing two people fight on the streets.

Really, that was their problem. Ruby knew it happened on Patch all the time.

Her own quest for supplies was going to be difficult. She didn't have much money, but...she did have one thing that should cover everything. She found the blacksmith's place easy enough, a small wooden sign of a sword and shield placed over each other.

He was right on the main street too, so either he was new or he was good. He wouldn't have lasted long if he was neither.

The inside of the shop looked like many other weaponsmith's shop she'd been in. A few displays, but most of the sharp stuff was behind the counter. A tall muscular man was behind the counter, his hair frizzled and wiry, as if it was far too used to sweat. His bare arms had lizard scales going up and down them, perfect for taking in the heat.

"Come on in," he said gruffly. He was leaning over the counter, and Ruby noted that it was starting to bend at places. "What can I do you for. Looking for something?"

"Looking to sell and buy," Ruby answered. "Mostly just basic supplies. My sister and I got all of ours stolen."

The man nodded grimly. "That does tend to happen. The White Fang has Vale in a tightlock, even if the guards don't like to admit it. And then you have Roman Torchwick running around, and I hope they catch the bastard soon."

"You and me both. I don't have much in the way of money."

"That's probably going to be an issue," the man furrowed his brows. "And I don't take credit. Sorry, store policy."

"No, no, I'm not worried. No, I was wondering if I could sell this," Ruby said, pulling out the runestone from her backpack.

The blacksmith's eyes widened. "That's...that's a potency rune," he identified instantly. "Are...are you sure you want to sell it?"

"I don't want to but I don't have a choice," Ruby admitted. "Everything we had was stolen."

The blacksmith's eyes hadn't peeled from it, and Ruby put it on the counter, making sure to keep one hand on it, ready to grab it if she needed to.

"That's a potency rune alright but...there's something else in there," he murmured. "May I get a closer look?" he asked. When he noticed her hesitancy, he didn't seem offended, "Blacksmith's honor." That was a pretty high word to give, back on Patch. In Vale it might not have meant much, but it was time she did as the locals did, and she took her hand off of it.

The blacksmith narrowed his eyes on it, making sure to give her a clear view of the runestone. "A potency rune definitely, and a powerful one at that. I don't think anything but a good mercenary could ever use this..." he murmured. He leapt up, running to the large ledger sheets on the corner.

He was murmuring to himself even quieter, and Ruby noted that it was obvious he was doing math in his head. "Can't buy full price, obvious reasons, but...where ever you found that, try to see if they had another on it," the blacksmith said. "Or if they had any property runes for it, that would be great too. Those are the expensive ones."

"How much are you offering?"

"Four hundred," the blacksmith said instantly. Ruby's mind snapped to her haggling mindset. Also holy shit four hundred gold!? That was more money than she'd seen in her entire life!

"Seven hundred."

"I can't afford that," the blacksmith shook his head, "Four hundred fifty."

"Five hundred."

"Four hundred seventy five."

"Lower than I'd like, but I don't have a choice," Ruby muttered. "Deal," she nodded. Four hundred and seventy five gold. More money than she'd ever had. And Blake was right there, ready to steal everything again.

Not this time, Ruby steeled herself. Blake wouldn't get anything more out of them. And as long as Ruby played this right...the Blacksmith got out the money first, large sacks that contained a hundred gold each. "I count these out every day in the morning, but you're welcome to check," the blacksmith answered the unasked question.

Ruby shook her head. It was one thing when the runestone was right there, but she'd trust him. He'd done nothing to earn her ire or concern, after all, asides from simply being in Vale. "You said it was a strong rune?"

"A potency rune, a fairly strong too," the man nodded. "These things aren't cheap. Obviously," the man pointed to the runestone. "They have the magical property to help in how a person attacks, so they're more likely to get the solid hits in."

"Are there any that help...anything else?"

The blacksmith laughed. "Lass, you are new to this whole mercenary thing aren't you? Alright, let's talk about runes. I could talk about this all day, but I'll try not to make too much of your time. I'm Night."

"Ruby."

"Come on, sit down for a moment. Runes come in two main flavors, fundamental and property. Property runes change how things work. For example, I have a fire rune around here that when you apply it to a weapon, every strike it deals adds a bit of fire and heat to it."

"And fundamental runes don't?"

"Fundamental runes simply 'add' more to the weapon. It makes a weapon more weaponlike, so to speak. You add this puppy," he noted to the potency rune on the counter, "to anything, and it's gonna make it easier to hit things. You add what's called a striking rune to anything, and it's gonna amplify the weapon when it hits. Basically it folds the weapon multidimensionally, so each strike is equivalent to two, or even three of the same weapon hitting at the same time."

"That's a thing that can happen?" Ruby asked. She knew about some runes, but whenever she'd asked someone had always told her to leave before they could explain it. So she'd never gotten the full explanation, but now she was, and nearly five hundred gold richer.

Holy shit she was practically a millionaire.

She wasn't but she certainly felt like one.

"Runes can make almost anything happen. The key though, is that you need the fundamental runes to make room for the property ones. This one has the space for two property, but that's extremely rare. The highest that I've ever seen is three property runes, and that was at a blacksmith convention four years ago in Mistral."

"Wow..."

"And more than just weapons can have their runes. Shields, armor, even familiars and eidolons if you know what those are. Runes are sort of a way to make the spark available for everyone, because the spark is so rare."

"How...how do you make them?"

"Well that is a trade secret," the blacksmith grinned. "It does take the spark though, I guarantee you that. However, it doesn't require one to be able to transfer it to a runestone. That's what makes this one so rare. It's already on a runestone, so now all someone has to do is pay for the rune. Or if you'd paid me ten gold or something, I'd be able to transfer it directly from the runestone to a weapon."

Ruby was finding it hard to not get ridiculously excited. "And anyone can do that!? Anyone can transfer runes?"

Night nodded. "It's not that hard, just time consuming. The magic's in the rune, not the design or the stone. It requires both to be able to function properly. It's been a long time since someone's been so inquisitive about runes. Most of the time they just ask me 'give me the best one you got'" he said, making his voice much higher pitched as he imitated someone.

"No one on Patch would explain them to me," Ruby explained. "So wait, can they be applied to any weapon? Like hand wraps or something?"

Night smirked. "Absolutely. That's the glorious thing about runes and the runestones, even if the item is in shreds, the most total piece will still contain the runes power. It's not in the design. The design simply allows it to function and transition into a runestone. The magic itself is always in the item. Looking for something for a brawler?"

"My sister. She likes to fight with her fists, but she always bloodies her knuckles."

Night nodded. "I know the type, my own brother was a lot like that. Owns a bookshop not far from here, actually. 'Every book under the sun', or so he says. He doesn't, but he has quite a few. I recommend you check him out, it's 'Tukson's Book Trade'."

Ruby grinned. He sounded like Tukson was someone who he was proud of, and yet had that usual sibling rivalry with. The fact that both had shops on the main street of Vale said a lot. "I've...actually been thinking," Ruby said, as she glanced towards the wall.

Maybe hand wraps weren't the way to go for Yang. "Oh, what were you thinking then?" Night asked, his head tilted.

Ruby stood up. She could see it, but it was going to be hard to describe. "Do you have a piece of paper? I have an idea," she asked. Night raised an eyebrow, but got a small piece out.

On the wall were two bracelets, without any runes on them. They had small slots for shooting darts, but Ruby could change those out, and she could...

"You an inventor or something?" Night asked as Ruby pulled them off. "Those're simple bracelets. I can stud 'em if you'd like, that way they're more like gauntlets or something. Perfect for battering things."

"Something like that," Ruby admitted. "I made Crescent Rose myself," she said, "but I think I have an idea for these."

"Oh. Alright, two gold."

"That's it?"

"Weapons are cheap...relatively," Night shrugged. "And you are planning on changing and repairing these yourself. You admitted as such. You said you created your own?" he asked.

Ruby nodded, and took a few steps back as she unfurled Crescent Rose. Night's eyes widened for a second, before she could see the fire in them start up.

"A scythe!? That's an unusual weapon...some kind of light iron alloy, not quite steel but just as tough," Night murmured as he looked over the weapon from afar, "and the blade, she's been sharpened a fair few times. Hollow hole at the top, some kind of ranged? Not a dart or bolt...slug?"

Ruby grinned. He was good. "Close! I've been trying to get it to work for a while, right now it just shoots some kind of lump iron. I only have one shot before I have to reload, but it's strong enough to break a fall from a hundred feet, and to break into the brain barrier of a giant octopus!"

"An inventor you are!" Night clapped quietly. "I almost wish you could keep the runestone, because I want to see what that beauty can do."

"Do you sell the basics? Or would that be down the road?"

"Nah, I'm just the weapons, armor, and shields guy," Night shook his head. "I can get everything, but then I'd have to upcharge you."

"I'm surprised you can afford to let go of that much gold all at once..."

"Most people don't think it, but runesmithing is a dangerous and lucrative business. And well..." he smirked and winked at her, "I can carve some of them myself. That helps a lot too," he said.

"I bet it would," Ruby said, sheathing Crescent Rose and grabbing the five sacks. Only one had to be counted out, but it was more taking coins out than putting them in.

The five bags weighed a ton, Ruby noticed first, and she was glad the general store was within a block or two. She saw Tukson's Book Trade right there, but she had to do something about these five bags first. And she made sure that she kept a good grip on all of them.

The general store looked like every other general store. A few aisles of basic supplies, and sacks of flour and the more basics. Had a little bit of everything, but didn't really have anything specific. The young girl was at the counter, looking a bit bored until Ruby walked in with five sacks of coins. "Holy shit! You must be a mercenary of some kind," the girl said instantly. "What can I do to get those sacks from you-I mean what I can get you?"

"First, do you have anything that can store all of these, where I don't need to worry about someone grabbing them all?" Ruby asked. Five sacks of coins weighed nearly thirty or forty pounds. How Night could just...grab them, really said a lot to his strength. And Ruby was strong, yeah, but she couldn't just lug around nearly five hundred gold coins!

"Oh, you're looking at a spacious pouch," the girl said instantly. "Here, I have a basic one, only seventy five gold."

Only, she said. That's still more than Ruby had ever had before.

The girl must have noticed it. "Oh...you don't want to part with it because it's so valuable. I get it," she said. "I won't push you. What are you searching for?"

"Basic supplies. My sister and I got everything stolen from us, except for the one thing I just sold over at Night's."

"That must've been some runestone," the girl said honestly. Ruby tried hard to school her face, but must have failed as the girl continued, "Don't be surprised, runestones are about the most valuable thing there is asides from fully enchanted items. But those are the relics of the gods. Even if you put together all the gold in Vale you couldn't buy one."

What.

Ruby stared at her. "I...what? Where my sister and I were from, seven gold was a lot! Seventy silver!"

"For normal living, yeah it is," the girl admitted. "It's why all the magic stuff is back here, behind this twice locked safe. Vale isn't safe what with Torchwick hanging around. To be fair," the girl kept going, "I only get paid around six silver a day, and I get paid pretty well. The only reason for that is so that way I don't go trying to take some off the top. Night doesn't have to because he, you know, actually owns the store. I just work here."

"You know what, I'll take the bag..." Ruby said, holding out one of the sacks, the lightest of the bunch. The girl took it and without counting it handed the specialized bag over. It was the same leather as most of the other bags, but this one had a special drawstring to keep it closed. Ruby pried it open, and didn't see anything different about it.

She put her hand in, expecting to feel the bottom. The bag was only about a foot or so, but she knew she hadn't just been scammed as her hand went all the way to the shoulder, and still hadn't touched bottom. The girl smirked. "Pretty freaky isn't it? It's some kind of trick the crafters used, but it can hold a lot. And barely weighs more than a regular bag."

Ruby blinked, and opened it wide enough to put the four bags in. Almost as if the girl knew what she was talking about, the bag was ridiculously light.

It also took a lot of weight off her shoulders. "Wow, that's a lot better..."

"Magic, making things easy for all those who have the spark," the girl said, smiling and yet with a tone that said she disagreed with what she was saying.

"What do you mean?"

"Eh...I'm not going to go into it. Basic stuff right, bedrolls, waterskins?" she asked. Ruby nodded. "Alright, so I'll get the usual set out for you..." she murmured as she started to go around the store, grabbing a few things. "I'll leave the backpack out because you have the pouch now, that's always more helpful than you think it is..."

"How do I get stuff out of it?"

"Just think it. It'll pop into your hands," the girl answered. "And...here we go," she said, piling a pile of stuff that only vague pieces Ruby recognized. "Anything else before I total all this up?"

"Healing potions or their ingredients?"

The girl blinked for a moment. "I have some potions, but for the ingredients your better off going down to the apothecary's. Not far from here."

"Toss in four of those. I have a feeling we'll need them," Ruby asked. The girl nodded, and gave a brilliant smile.

Ruby left the store with still more gold than she'd ever had before, all tied up in a neat little pouch hanging between her shirt and her neck. No one was going to get to it if she had any say to it. A second one was tied to her waist, just in case.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Yang - 13

Yang was surprisingly enough more fond of Blake than she was of Weiss. That was an odd thing to even think about, because by all rights, Blake had robbed them blind.

It wasn't because Blake was cute. She was, Yang had to admit that, but rather because something about Weiss made the brawler think she was hiding something. Blake at least was upfront about the fact she was hiding something, and both Ruby and her knew it going in. Weiss is trying to hide it, but the problem was that she was actually good at it.

Despite Blake deceit, and Weiss' lack thereof, Blake at least had helped them in the past, even if she'd taken it back a moment later. But Ruby and Yang had been prepared for treachery, and actually thought they had most of their bases covered. Considering where the key had been hidden, in one of Ruby's pockets in a place no one would dare touch, they had figured they'd be safe. And, to be fair, they probably would have been if it wasn't for the psychotic nutjob called Neo and Torchwick.

And the worst part was Torchwick was playing with her. She had no chance to beat him, and she knew it. She'd managed to get a bunch of blows in, but he just seemed to be able to take them in stride.

"You going to let go of my arm anytime soon?" Blake asked, almost exasperated at being dragged out of Vale. "I'm not going to run."

"I don't believe you, and you know why," Yang commented. They were supposed to be getting transportation to Mountain Glenn, a place that Yang had never heard of. Weiss hadn't either, which made sense then as to why Blake had. She was the only Vale native.

Blake attempted to shrug, but Yang held on tight, getting another eye roll from the cat faunus. "I suppose that's fair. No guarantee. I wouldn't trust me either."

"And you know that's sad."

"I doubt many people trust themselves," Blake retorted. "Because they know all of the deep dark secrets that they don't want to rest of the world to know they have. Sometimes it's shame. Other times it's ethics."

"And what ethics do you have?" Yang asked, only halfheartedly glaring at her. She wasn't entirely wrong, Yang knew, but that didn't mean she trusted her.

Blake looked away for a long moment. "More than you think."

"Well right now, I think you have zero, so any amount is more than that," Yang responded coldly. She hoped that her hostility showed through her voice, and based on the way Blake flinched a little bit, maybe she'd overdone it. But this person had almost destroyed everything she and Ruby had worked for.

Everything they had, almost taken away from them. If it wasn't for Weiss and her money, and wasn't that sad thought because Yang didn't like taking charity for nothing, then they'd up a creek without a paddle during a monsoon with a large mudslide coming down the river and somewhere along the lines it's filled with piranhas and sharks.

Maybe a bit extreme, but Yang enjoyed making the metaphors last sometimes.

The walls of Vale weren't nearly as high as Yang had thought they'd be. She imagined something like Patch's, a large stretch of ocean being the best fence possible, but instead it was barely chest height on her. A large wooden tavern and stable was on the inside of the walls, a small wooden sign hanging down with a simple glass of ale showing on it, the paint long having peeled off. Large windows were on the front, but that was the only place that had them.

The stables seemed solidly built, and Yang glanced around for the horses. Some were stables, their heads in a small bag of oats or grain. Some were in a field off to the side, grazing cautiously. Some of them were staring at her, their faces pointed away. "They don't seem to like me..." Yang muttered.

"Most animals are cautious of humans," Blake said. "Here," she said, reaching down into her bag with her available hand, pulling out a small half eaten apple already. "Leftovers from earlier," she said, showing it to the nearest brown tall horse, who took a moment to sniff the air before they walked a bit closer. "See?" Blake said as the horse came up, a half dozen hundred pounds of muscle next to her as if it was the most normal of things. "Just don't be afraid, but be wary. They are stronger than you."

"You act like it's a normal thing."

"It is," she said, watching as the horse ate the rest of the apple. "And apples are some of their favorite snacks. It's why there aren't any apple trees around here."

A man came out of the tavern. "Ho there!" he called out, stumbling his way off the porch deck. "Don't be feeding my horsies anythin' weird now!" he was yelling, his voice somewhat slurred. He ran his way to them, taking a moment to try not to trip on nothing.

"Just an apple," Blake said. She took the moment to pet the horse's neck gently, moving slowly. Yang figured it was to not spook the horse, because as Blake had just said, these horses were strong enough to do some serious damage, or flat out kill them.

"They don't need no blood apples!" the man shouted. The horse gave him an obvious side eye, before backing up slowly. Yang could see the same motions that she did when she was getting ready to strike somebody, and knew that if the guy kept coming and yelling, then well...he'd end up as a bloody smear on the ground.

And it wouldn't be from her, surprisingly enough.

"It's not a blood apple," Blake answered. "Just a regular one."

"Oh," the man said simply. "Well they don't need 'em. They for workin' horses, lest you want to buy one. You want to buy one? I might make it a discount..." he said, looking at Yang lecherously. She raised an eyebrow, and punched her first into her other hand. He seemed to get the hint, as he immediately bowed down.

"How much for renting?" Blake asked. "We're heading to Mountain Glenn."

Yang gave her a side glance. Did she really just tell him exactly where they were going? Was that a thing that happened in Vale, or was Blake just messing with her? She would think there would be more competition for the jobs, people constantly vying for the same one. But the job board did have a lot more opportunities...

"To Mountain Glenn huh?" the old man said. "My perdy little horsies can't make that climb, but there's a stable not far from there, towards Burtle. You agree to stable 'em there, and I'll rent a few horsies out to you."

Yang was about to accept, as Blake shook her head. "That's still twenty miles. It's easier to walk from here than from Burtle. And besides, you can't rent horses out you don't own," she said.

Yang stared at her. Wait, this old man didn't actually own them? What was he then, just a caretaker? Yang looked towards the old man, only for him to glower at her and grumble meaninglessly as he meandered back into the tavern. "How did you know that?" she asked.

"Vale as a kingdom is pretty mountainous, and there aren't too many fertile valleys around here. Mountain Glenn was an attempt to make another one using magic. It didn't take, and it got swarmed by Grimm," Blake explained. "But the nearest valleys that are good for growing, Ansel and Burtle, are still nearly two full mountains away. Ansel's on the entire other side of the Great Range. It's why they weren't hit when the Grimm descended on Glenn."

"How?"

"Oh right, you weren't taught that," Blake murmured. "It's pretty famous around here. Most Vale citizens over ten know the stories. The town crier wouldn't shut up for weeks about it."

That was only seven years ago?

Blake nodded. "It wasn't that long ago, honestly. It's not like the ruins aren't well known. Mercenaries came by and picked the place clean. But it's what Weiss wants, and what the money gets."

"I would say that sounds mercenary, but then I'd be a hypocrite. Whatever gets the job done."

"Exactly," Blake agreed. "As for how I knew, that man's a famous drunkard around the gates. People kept calling him the 'Vale Welcoming' committee to any who come through the gates."

"Speaking of, the fence doesn't seem that high," Yang said, pointing out the barely chest high walls.

"Vale doesn't have high walls, because it doesn't need them. Look around," Blake said, pointing off into the distance, "See those mountains? Vale is covered in them. Hundreds of them, in the entire kingdom. Grimm and monsters get lost in them, and there's a regular decent pay job that gets posted for mercenaries to come in and clear off the mountains one by one. And there are others too, smaller villages that regularly employ one or two mercenaries to keep their town safe. Rest is infamous for it, hence its' name."

"Nothing like Patch..."

"No, I don't think anything would be," Blake answered. "Patch seemed fairly unique. Come on," she said, pulling Yang towards the tavern. Immediately Yang started to pull back, before she started to walk with her. The inside of the tavern was fairly light and airy. The angry old man was in the corner, two glasses of some empty liquid around him, and he was very much on his third. The barkeeper was washing down one of the tables with a small cloth.

Yang noticed that there wasn't a job board here, which explained why the center was the busiest portion of Vale. Otherwise mercenaries would slam this area hard.

She was trying to think of the reasons why that would be. Why would Vale not allow a job board out here? Or maybe it was the tavern owner not allowing one. This was definitely the first stop past the gates, so most people when they come in would see this place first. They couldn't have gotten many visitors.

Blake went straight up to the barkeep. "How much to rent a cart or a couple of the horses for a few days?" she asked without breaking stride.

"Those horses out there? Three silver per day. If you'd like to buy though, it's four gold per horse, depending on breed and which one. Some go down to two, but I don't think we have any of those right now," the barkeep answered. "Where you thinking of going?"

"They're going to the cursed city!" the drunken man from earlier shouted. "That's where they fine ones are goin'! To the city of the cursed and damned!"

"And that's you cut off again," The barkeep shook his head sullenly. "You'd think by now he'd learn that if he wants to drink, to keep his head down low..." he said, turning back to Blake and Yang. "But you're heading to Mountain Glenn?"

Yang nodded. "Ah. Well, horses won't do well out that way," the bartender shrugged. "Too mountainous. If you do go that way, I'd suggest you get some climbing gear. First major hop's only three miles into Shade Valley."

"I...where's that?" Yang asked, hesitating for a moment. She didn't want to show off just how much she didn't know about Vale's geography. She'd have to get that changed, especially if Qrow Branwen was somewhere out in the wilds. She could navigate the wilds, sure, but knowing the specific names of places? Not her cup of tea, no matter the tea involved. She was a coffee girl, herself.

"Shade valley? Just follow the roads. Vale's tried to send a few of the wizards or casters out that way to flatten it out, but whenever they go they always complain about the one area that no magic goes near."

Yang perked up a bit. "Magic doesn't affect anything out there?" she asked. She'd never heard of these non-magic places, but she didn't doubt they were possible. Magic was impossible to think of all the things that could be done with it. To find a spell that could undo other spells...maybe it could undo that door.

"Well, it's more like a curse throughout the area. The wizards always just cast their fancy spells and float over the top of the cliff. It's a twenty foot climb. There is a horse lift, but the bandits out there rob anyone who tries to use it. Unless you have famous mercs with ya, they're gonna go after you," the barkeep explained.

"Ah," Blake said gently. "Well, that's...good to know," she said quietly. "Not quite the answer I was expecting."

"It's the answer no one really knows unless you're not from Vale and don't come in by boat. Most of Valean immigrants come in by boat, seeing as how Mistral's across the sea, along with Vacuo, Atlas, and Menagerie."

Blake winced a bit at the last name, and the thought caught Yang's attention. Menagerie? Why would Blake flinch at the name? It was just the name of an island, off the coast of Anima. A lot bigger than Patch ever would be. Supposedly the birthplace of all of the faunus.

She doubted that was the case though. Remnant was simply too big for that to happen, otherwise faunus would be much smaller in population than they would be now. No, that's probably what some of them say, similar to their own creation myths.

"We should head back to Weiss, tell her to get her hiking boots on," Yang said, pulling on Blake a bit. The cat faunus seemed to get the idea, and went back outside. Yang took a deep breath instantly, the fresh air filling her lungs.

Blake was staring at her. "You can let go, now. You're not going to drag me all the way there."

"Not until we leave and you don't have any reason to leave."

"I already don't have any reason to leave," Blake said, staring at Yang with those gold eyes of hers. There was a surprising fire behind them.

But Yang knew better. Blake of course had reason to leave. She was basically being kidnapped from her own home. But it was true she wasn't fighting it as much. Maybe there was a reason for it... The walk back to the city center was silent except for the crunch of boots on the rock and cobblestone. Occasionally people would shout things out, not necessarily to them, but just to get their attention. Fresh bread, new ration bars that tasted good, all things that Yang didn't believe.

It was the poor that had her eyes most of the time. Beggars on the ground, each of them with their hands held out, cupping their palms. Most of them had dirty shoes, if they had shoes at all, and their clothing was falling off in rags.

Yang saw Ruby first, handing a small silver coin to one of them. "Ruby!" she shouted, heading towards her. Blake was again dragged along, and idly Yang wondered if Ruby had actually bought some handcuffs for her. They had to sell them somewhere in Vale.

Ruby looked almost identical, except that instead of the giant backpack that Yang was so used to seeing, there was only air. The scythe named Crescent Rose was still on her back, but she seemed much happier despite the loss of everything. She did have a repair kit on her torso again, at least, so that was something.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted. She looked back towards the beggar, before tossing them another silver and heading to meet the two.

Ruby never did anything without questioning things. So what exactly did the beggar do that made her deserving of a silver coin? An entire silver!? They almost didn't have any money as it is, and here was Ruby just giving it out!? No, she had a reason. Ruby would have a reason. Ruby would always have a reason.

"What was that all about? Not like you," Yang asked, looking at the beggar. She was barefoot, not much older than Ruby was, and staring at the silver coin as if it was a godsend. "We are strapped for cash, after all."

"River," Blake said after a moment. Both Yang and Ruby turned to stare at her. "That was her name. The beggar. She comes by the Drunken Donkey every so often to find simple jobs that anyone can do, such as cleaning."

"That makes sense," Ruby responded, "but no, I think...yeah, so remember that runestone?"

Alarm bells flung in Yang's mind. They most definitely should not mention the runestone in front of Blake. She'd take off in an instant with the thing. Not that Yang would blame her, any runestone was valuable. "Yeah...?" Yang whispered as her answer.

"Sold it," Ruby said. "We're set for a long time," she said, "and...I got something for you. I'll work on more when we're on our way, but for now just be assured that it's coming," she grinned.

Now Yang was more confused than ever. How much was a single runestone worth? It couldn't be that much. Probably like what, five gold? Ten gold at most. It was just a stone with a fancy etching on it.

"How much did you get for it? Had to be a sucker..."

Ruby shook her head. "I'll tell you later. Where's Weiss? Did you manage to get any transport or anything?" She shot a glance towards Blake, and Yang understood. Not saying the amount of money next to the thief.

Blake shook her head, her ears perked so as to let them know that she was obviously listening in. "No. Horses can't make the journey. We'll have to go on foot," she said.

"They did recommend we get climbing kits though. I'm pretty sure I can climb anything, so we're good, but I don't know about the other two," Yang interrupted.

"It's a good thing I have a few climbing kits anyways. I figured it would be a good idea to have," Ruby grinned. Yang blinked, looking around for them. They weren't exactly the smallest of items, and Ruby had said plural.

"Er...where? I don't see anything," Yang answered. Was her sister...losing her mind? Had all those fumes from repairing and forging Crescent Rose starting to get to her?

She knew she should have started to enforce some kind of forging deadline on the girl! Now Yang was losing her sister because she didn't want to be sad when she was a lot younger! "Oh, I'll show you," Ruby said, looking around for a moment. Yang wondered who exactly they were hiding from, and in that case they should probably do it away from the middle of the road. But whatever it was, it was exciting to Ruby.

She reached into her neckline, pulling out a small bag on a necklace. "I got this at the general store," she said, holding it out.

"I have no idea what that is," Yang said, glancing at it. An empty sack. That's what her sister was holding out for her.

"That's called a spacious pouch," Blake answered from River's side. "It holds more items than it should, or has any right to. Most mercenaries have at least one. Useful tool that is, although not cheap."

"How do you know!? And more importantly why are you looking!?" Yang shouted at her. She looked down at her hand, wondering when exactly she'd let Blake go. And more importantly, why Blake wasn't running away. She certainly had the opportunity at this point.

"Because. My employer utilizes them," Blake said, folding up her leather armor a bit, showing a small empty sack that looked near identical to the one Ruby was showing her. "As for why, I can't help it if I can overhear you," she said. "Thanks for the info," Blake said to River next to her, flipping her a small silver.

"I was wondering how you managed to get so much of our stuff," Yang muttered. It explained it now. She probably just passed on the sack and called it quits. "Ruby-" she turned, trying to warn her to keep it away from unsightly eyes.

The girl was quicker than Yang had thought, and the empty sack was already between her chest and her clothes. "Don't worry Yang, no one's getting this," Ruby grinned. "But we don't need to worry about a lot of things, now."

On the other side of the road, a sudden yell jarred Yang out of her thoughts. "That sounded like Weiss," Yang muttered darkly.

"I think it was," Blake agreed. "Sounded angry though."

"I'm gonna make a bet that it was because she was being a fancy pants again," Ruby agreed with a soft smile. "Come on, let's go save her from whatever it was."

The streets of Vale weren't complicated, and it took only a few moments more to cross the street where the shout had come from. Sure enough, it was a stall that looked like they were selling maps of some kind. Weiss stood in front of it, her white leather extremely eye catching as she shouted at the vendor.

"I doubt that any of these are worth anything close to that amount!? If we were in Atlas you'd be fined for even trying that with anyone, let alone me-!" Weiss was shouting, before she stilled as Blake put her hands on her shoulder.

The vendor, a small cat faunus girl, was staring with wide eyes as she clutched a small tube close to her. "Hello Viri," Blake said quietly. "What's all this about?"

"Oh of course you know her! You know all the scoundrels and scallywags of Vale, don't you!?" Weiss started to turn on Blake.

Yang turned to the girl. "Sorry about all this. Maps, huh?" she said, checking for a moment to make sure that Ruby was starting to break them apart. The young girl was starting to get in the middle of Weiss and Blake, making sure that despite her low height, which was surprisingly taller than Weiss although not by much, she was in the way and starting to prevent them from yelling.

"Yeah. Just maps. Maps are we," the girl answered. "I'm Viri. Are you friends with her?" she asked quietly.

Yang made a show of thinking about it, before she held out her hand and danced it around a little, the universal sign for 'a little bit of this, a little bit of that'. "Yes and no. Not particularly close. She's closer to a...supporter, I guess. Investor?"

"Oh. Okay," Viri exclaimed. "The maps of Vale are three gold, and the maps from the surrounding areas are all five. If you want other area maps it's closer to ten or fifteen, depending on distance."

Yang nodded. Those were expensive maps. No wonder Weiss was furious. And the stall, despite being a literal wooden stall, had dozens of maps folded up and cared for. Some were in scroll form, put into several small tubes to be unfurled when they needed it. Some were flattened, and folded down into tiny squares. "Well, I certainly don't have that much money, and recently we-" Yang started, before she felt a small pressure in her hand.

Gold coins. She recognized it immediately because by all rights she had almost never felt them before, so made sure to be able to recognize them should they ever come across them on the road. She looked into her hand in surprise, seeing three small gold coins, each with the image of a crown on it.

She looked back towards Weiss and Blake, who were now off to the side and talking quietly, although no less angry at each other than they'd been before. Yang was really not looking forward to having to go with them, but Weiss had wanted to, Ruby had wanted to, and they did need the money. Although according to Ruby, they really didn't now...now they were mostly trying to get reputation to talk to someone about Qrow Branwen.

Ruby stood off to the side, a small leather sack in her hands. "Three for Vale, five for outskirts, right?" she asked kindly. Viri nodded. Ruby took the sack in her hands, and opened it up, before coming out with five more of the golden crowns.

"Ruby...?" Yang asked, her eyes wide. "Don't tell me you've gotten mixed up in something..." she asked. Ruby grinned at her, which only made it worse.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Blake - 14

Blake wasn't quite sure where Ruby had gotten so much money, but she most definitely had. A runestone, she had heard, but what kind of a runestone was worth so much that Ruby wouldn't have just put on her weapon?

Unless she just didn't understand runes. That was a possibility, but then why wouldn't she just go to Night? Night loved talking runes, often to the point that Blake wished he wouldn't. But he was Tukson's brother, and that meant whenever Blake was around the bookshop Night would come in and want to talk shop.

The curse of having four ears, she often claimed it was.

"I still don't understand why we had to pay those outrageous prices! Price gouging, the lot of them!" Weiss was still upset about the map prices, it appeared.

Blake agreed with her, honestly. The maps were a price gouge. Viri was another front, after all. The White Fang had their claws and hands in almost every legitimate business in some way. It was one of the reasons she'd never tried to run away. The only way to go was towards Mistral, or Atlas. But Atlas would probably make things worse, as Atlas often did, and Mistral was across the ocean.

Not to mention that was where Sienna Khan was, and Blake had long since promised herself that she would stay as far away from that woman as possible. And with Adam hanging the sword over her neck, mostly figuratively, she really didn't have any chance or plans to be able to run.

It also didn't help that Viri often skimmed some off of the top of what she owed the White Fang for more supplies, and for basic living. She was a skilled merchant, despite her young age. "Just don't worry about it! We got the maps, and we know where to go. All we need to do now is get there!" Yang grinned at the white haired girl. Blake withheld a groan. Three others was already a full party, and Blake didn't like full parties. Especially where they were going.

The fact she'd had to make the trek out to Mountain Glenn four times in the last year alone was troublesome. She wasn't going to give that fact out though. Knowing her luck, it would just end with another interrogation. And she was really tired of being interrogated by these people.

It was also associated with bad memories, which didn't exactly sit well with her. Having to give up four hundred gold to Adam Taurus of all people was...she had to withhold her shudder. He was an intense man, and not in a good way.

It was why she had always tried to make her payments through Perry. He was at least more likely to give it straight to him than to sneak some off the top as others would. Viri, for example.

The gates of Vale popped up in front of them like some kind of sick pop up book. Yang and Ruby paused in front of it, as if it was some big obstacle despite the fact the gates were open. Weiss hadn't stopped, and neither would Blake.

Her ears perked to hear their conversation anyways. "Alright. Furthest away from Patch we've ever been in recent memory," Yang was saying softly.

"Each step is a new record. Soon there won't be one," Ruby commented. "It'll be okay, Yang."

"I just worry. About you, about finding Qrow, about whether or not we should be doing any of this."

"You love the fight too much. That's one of the other reasons Master Sal took you in. Besides, I have a surprise. I just need some time. By the time we get there I should have it ready."

There was a pause, but Blake didn't look back to see what the hold up was. "Thanks Ruby," Yang's voice said quietly. "Just having more doubts."

'More' doubts? Did Yang not want to come on this trip? Ruby supposedly had sold a runestone, and if it was a rare enough one than not only was Blake disappointed to have missed it, but they were set for a long time. It's why most mercenaries didn't actually last long enough to become well known. Most of them were in it only for the money, and so once they made their fortune they made sure to spend thrifty enough that they could live off of it for the rest of their lives.

"What are they talking about now?" Weiss stopped in the middle of the road, turning around with a disappointed look. "Come on, we need to hurry!" she shouted at the duo.

Blake gave a disappointed chuckle. "There's no time limit," she reminded, "the only reason to want to hurry is for your own pride. This is important to them."

"Important!? I'm the one paying them! Eventually."

Blake had a distinctive feeling that Weiss wasn't going to pay them, and that was only going to cause more problems. It's why Blake stole small things from her when the white haired girl wasn't looking. Right now it was just silver coins, because really, Weiss didn't care for silver. She just saw gold.

She didn't. She knew the power of silver very well, and having small currency denominations was only a good thing. As it was she had over three hundred silver stacked away in her own spacious pouch. Thirty gold, or three hundred favors from the beggar community.

Considering each of those favors was worth their weight in gold, Blake knew the power of silver and small denominations.

Such as River. Who told her that Tukson was going to be having a sale on her favorite series in a week that lasted for two weeks, so she'd be able to make it back for that. That was worth every silver, and the worst part is that the beggar knew it.

Although she hadn't actually finished the latest one, had she? She'd been a bit too busy with all the stuff going on, having to make a payment and all, it all usually meant that she'd not be able to afford books again. But Tukson sometimes gave her a discount.

Sometimes. On a good day.

The path out of Vale was almost the same as the road in Vale, just a bit more rocky. She could see small game trails in the grasses around them, from small rabbits or even some of the more primal monsters. Not all monsters were bad, either. Some were more animalistic, and she could, at least somewhat, empathize with them. She was no druid though, and she greatly preferred the city to the wilds.

They had left early enough that Blake knew they'd get to the first cliffside by the end of the day without a problem. Despite it seemingly like it took ages, they'd left at barely post meridian. Early in the afternoon. And they were making pretty decent pace, based on the way that Weiss was trying to make them hustle.

It was kind of funny, actually, because Weiss had by far the lowest ability to actually hustle. She got fatigued far too easy. Both Ruby and Yang were showing that they were relatively at ease in the wilds, and the walking pace. The one having the hardest time was the one trying to push them to go faster.

Ironic, Blake thought. But she supposed it was warmer here than in Atlas, where Weiss was from definitely. The white coat only made it more obvious, looking like an altered uniform more than anything. Her eyes went to the small spellbook at Weiss' hips, chained to its owner. The power of any caster, of any wizard or anyone who had the spark, was contained in that book. Blake had tried out for it, way back when, but she didn't have the capability. The tester had said as much multiple times, to most people.

The spark was seemingly random. Blake didn't understand why that was, when faunus were at least relatively well understood. If someone had parents that were faunus, then they'd be a faunus. If someone's parents were wizards, it was seemingly random if the kid would have the spark too.

And then there were the different ways that the spark could manifest. As Weiss had said, she was a 'magus' which Blake had never heard of before, but that could just be a Schnee School of Magic thing. Most wizards required those spellbooks, and to memorize them every day. Blake didn't know why.

Then there were the clerics. Vale had a small sect of them dedicated to the God of Light, mostly for healing and such. A few worshiped Ozma instead, but they were more around 'health' rather than healing. If she was sick, she'd go to Ozma's crew. If she was injured, she'd need the God of Light's.

The druids took magic from the world and nature. There weren't a lot of them in Vale, so Blake didn't know what they could actually do, but she'd heard stories of lightning strikes and massive pillars of fire. Unrivaled growth, and massive earthquakes. And there were bards, too, of which Vale had a surprisingly high amount of. Not as high as Mistral, which practically took its name from the traveling minstrels, but Vale had more than its fair few. Their magic was more about song, or occasionally spirits.

There were others, too, probably. But those were the most commonly seen in Vale, except for the druids. The only thing more rare were the witches and the sorcerers. Probably because sorcerers were kept under strict lock and key, and witches were impossible to find out that's what they were unless they started to cast at someone.

The walk was continuing to be rather plain, and in Blake's opinion one of the worst ones she'd ever had. Only Ruby and Yang talked, and even then they mostly said nothing, letting the silence carry them. The mark of an experienced traveler, in Blake's mind.

She'd love to be able to take a book out and start reading, using her hearing to make sure she wouldn't crash into a wall, but the last time she did that she ended up tripping on a rock. Hearing can only do so much, and she wasn't a bat or a dolphin.

So instead she could do nothing but enjoy the scenery. And at least that was nice. She had to give one thing to Vale, and that was it was green.

Green valleys and forests led into the yellowed mountains, long and tall grasses having been burnt by the power of the sun. At the top of the hills lay a small cap of snow, some of them having much more snow and ice than others. The colors bounced off of each other, and Blake knew that eventually there'd be a soft warm wind that would keep the valley somewhat warm in the night.

But right now the sun was beating down on her, and she wished she'd packed some other type of armor than black leather. Yes, it was suitable for a thief. Yes, she was quite good at stealth. But the sun did not like stealth, and it didn't care she was a thief. It treated them all equally; horribly.

After nearly a few hours of her sweating like crazy, she took another sip of her water pouch. She had an additional five gallons, because she knew exactly where the rivers were on this path, and knew how long she took between each one.

"Cliffside should be just ahead," Yang pointed out, staring at one of the maps bought from Viri. Despite the high charge, Blake knew those maps were good. She just charged so high because most mercenaries would barely notice it, and they'd be the only ones buying the maps.

"Oh good, maybe then we can take a break and I can go back to not burning," Weiss complained from the back. "Just up ahead. How far? A mile? Two miles? Fifteen!?"

Ruby glanced over Yang's shoulder. "I have no idea how you can read this," she said after a long moment. "I think this means two miles?"

"Nah, that's a half a mile. I have to say, the maps are surprisingly worth it. Never thought I'd say that," Yang said. "About a mile."

Weiss groaned loudly. "Why is everything in this place so far away!?"

"I'm guessing Atlas isn't like that?" Blake asked from the front. She'd never actually been there, just as she'd promised herself to stay away from Mistral, and her memories of Menagerie were were dull at best, and tainted with longing.

Weiss shook her head. "No, it's not at all. In Atlas, everything is connected, because the city can only afford so much heating magic. Mantle, the city right next to Atlas, is also in the same boat, so essentially they're the same city, but just slightly apart. They have to share the heat, with the industrial aspects on the outside."

"Wouldn't that just mean that every time you get attacked by monsters or some such that it attacks the beginning of the supply chain?" Yang asked. "That seems like something to be worried about," she said, frowning slightly. Blake thought it was likely about how Patch didn't have defenses of their own either.

But the difference was Patch was an island, and the ocean is a defense all its own. While there were aquatic Grimm, and many of them were particularly large, most of the big landmass Grimm couldn't make that crossing.

"It would be, but both Atlas and Mantle share armies, and there's a roving platoon that guards the walls in every direction. Since they instigated it, not a single attack has so much as touched the city," Weiss explained proudly. "So with the majority of the heat on the outside, going inwards, we have heating elements in the middle designed to warm up the entire area. But what that means is that even for ruins and things like that, it's usually closer than this!" she started to shout the last bit.

Blake winced. Weiss' voice was surprisingly high pitched, and when she yelled like that it really hit that 'painful high' note that she hated. The same kind with dog whistles, or whistles that were so high pitched that only dogs could hear them. And her.

There was a wizard that she knew, named Velvet. A rabbit faunus with the ears to denote it, and she, too, had trouble with those notes. It might've just been a faunus with ears thing. She'd have to ask Viri if that was three for three.

"Vale is a major kingdom, and while Atlas is too," Ruby started, staring at Weiss as the white haired girl turned to start to yell how Atlas was too, "the majority of land in Vale is spread out, because the mountains give a natural protection. Atlas has the snow, which means that either everything is very condensed or very, very spread out. Like space!"

"Space isn't that far. Just get a powerful enough wizard for teleport," Weiss shrugged.

"No!" Both Ruby and Yang shouted at the same time, and Blake tried hard to not wince and go run scrambling. That had certainly changed their tune on a dime. Wonder why they had such a compulsion against teleport?

The spell was well known, but the people who actually knew it kept themselves very, very secluded. The spell was one of those things that most wizards ascribed to be known for.

What that all meant was that there were hundreds of 'teleport' scrolls on the market, and almost none of them did what the spell should be doing. And of course, anytime that someone tried to get the spell off the scroll, a ward of protection or something would go off, making the entire thing useless.

Except grenades. Blake had known Adam to use them as grenades at one point. That had been fun to realize.

"Oh," Weiss whispered, seemingly taken aback just as much. "Well then, never mind..." she said quietly. "But space isn't that far."

"No, but the things in it are. Yang, you remember the astronomer? Mr. Drogen?" Ruby asked.

Yang blinked at her sister for a moment, before the fire of recognition lit in her eyes. "Oh yeah! Barely. I'm surprised you remember him, you were young when he passed. Wait, he taught you?"

"He gave me his telescope and told me that all of those stars can take years, decades, or even millennia to show up in Remnant's skies."

"Huh. I don't think anyone's tried it yet, but I suppose it couldn't hurt," Weiss shrugged. "We'd know if teleport couldn't reach space."

"No, no teleports," Ruby shook her head. "Sorry, it's an us thing. No teleportation for us." Yang nodded her head in agreement.

Blake shrugged. That was up to them. She hadn't had any bad experiences with teleport yet, but admittedly she'd only been teleported once. And it hadn't been the spell that had been the bad thing, it'd been the backstabbing son of a bitch that did it.

The actual spell she'd kind of enjoyed, although she'd only been five when it'd happened.

Weiss rolled her eyes, but it seemed the small break to talk had given her more energy, as she promptly headed down the road at a rapid pace. Blake raised an eyebrow, before trying to share a knowing glance with Ruby and Yang. The blonde shared it with her, the redhead had merely rolled her eyes.

Well so much for trying to buddy up. The only reason she was out here and not in a cell somewhere. Or maybe she wouldn't have been, Oobleck had seemed rather invested in his target of Torchwick.

That would be another thing she'd have to report in on. Torchwick knew her name. Full name, first and last. That probably wasn't a good sign, but she couldn't do anything about it. She'd been knocked out, not ridiculously painfully, within about six seconds.

Yeah that had been fun.

They made it to the first cliffside in the late afternoon, with the sun starting its descent past the western horizon. It gave ominous shades of red all over the place, and Blake could imagine the same scene from Vale would have the water turning an angry orange or beautiful salmon pink.

It rose from the road, nearly twenty or thirty feet straight up. She could see all the same handholds that she'd used last time, and in fact they seemed rather dug in, as if other people had been using them, making them more useful and more noticeable to others on the road.

"This is the cliffside," Weiss summarized, sweat leaking off her brow. "This is the cliffside. I can't climb this!"

"It's either that or the horse lift," Yang pointed to another small sign, a game trail leading off of it. It had the picture of a horse on top of a weird cabin thing, probably the horse lift itself.

"We're going that way," Weiss said instantly, heading towards the lift. Alarm bells flung out instantly in Blake's mind. The horse lift was dangerous, but only because a small bandit clan had taken it over around three months ago.

She knew that because it was one of the few things the White Fang hadn't been doing. They didn't actually make any money off no trade, so they freely tried to keep the trade routes clear. Blake had asked if they wanted her to get rid of them, but Adam had mentioned that he'd do it as soon as he got around to it.

Which meant they'd probably all be dead. And wasn't that a fun thought?

"I don't think that's a good idea," Yang said. "Supposedly there's a bandit den over there."

"One bandit den? Who are you, Yang, to not trust me? I am your investor, your employer so that means-" Weiss was starting to say, as Blake's ears started to perk. The small crunch of rocks against boots.

A small shadow came from behind Weiss as she was far too busy explaining why Ruby and Yang should stop questioning her every chance they had. Both Ruby and Yang must have seen it, as Yang got into a combat position, and Ruby unsheathed her massive scythe.

Blake drew out her daggers, ready for her own chance. Weiss stopped as she must have noticed the combat positions. "What? Why did you get all of your weapons out?" she asked. She blinked, before her brow furrowed, "Oh, you are not causing a coup-" she started to yell before she gave an unsightly scream, rolling onto the ground in front of them.

The back of her uniform was slowly staining with blood, but she rolled herself up a moment later, breathing hard.

It was three people, two women, both human, and one man, a faunus with a large fluffy tail behind him. They gripped their daggers easily, in much the same way she did. "Oh, look who it is?" the man said aloud.

"It's the bitch queen herself," one of the women said, leaning forward a bit. "The one who threatened us all last time. Well guess what, Winter bitch, this time we don't care how many people you have with you. We're gonna kill you all dead this time," she sneered.

"I'm not Winter!"

"Sure thing, ya bitch," the last woman said, before she started to charge at Weiss, her boots stomping noiselessly against the ground.

Both Ruby and Blake exploded into motion. The cat faunus shoved herself in between Weiss and the woman, clashing dagger against knife. She was good, Blake could tell, but she was better.

It also didn't help that her backup was probably much more competent than the bandits were, as Ruby came in from behind, and suddenly Crescent Rose started to do something.

It was a mix of chainsaw and pure blade. Whatever it was, Blake didn't know, but she really, really didn't want to think about it. The woman blinked, before she gave another sneer and seemingly tried to ripple out from Ruby's scythe.

The other two started to run forward, each with blood in their eyes. Weiss jumped backwards from Blake, allowing her full movement, thankfully, as she pulled Myrtenaster and the spellbook.

The faunus bandit changed direction to head for Yang, only to find out real quick that was a bad idea. Blake parried another blow from the woman in front of her, before she saw her chance. The woman dodged out of the way of Ruby's strike, just in time for Blake to see it, and she grinned as the dagger found its way into the woman's stomach and torso.

One strike gave way to two, and two gave way to four. Blake knew exactly how effective each strike would be, and she pulled out both daggers from her enemies body, letting it fall to the ground in a blood smear. "One down," Blake reported to the ground.

"Holy shit!" Yang shouted as she punched the bandit's head. "You can't just go around and kill people!" she shouted.

Ruby ducked behind her, and Blake could watch art in motion as the two synchronized their movements, each one lending their strengths to each other, covering their weaknesses, and in another moment the bandit was knocked out on the ground.

"In the wilds, it's die or kill!" Blake narrowed her eyes. Were Ruby and Yang really that naive? Or was she just a giant mess? Probably a bit of both, really...

Weiss was doing pretty well on her own, but Myrtenaster's range wasn't the best, and Weiss was obviously not quite an expert in sword wielding. In fact, Blake wasn't quite sure what she was an expert in, because she was being outmatched by a bandit whose den or clan she didn't even know.

She tried to parry another of the dagger blows, before the woman seemed to notice that her two teammates had been taken down already. "No, Alvara!" she shouted as she promptly shoved Weiss towards the ground.

"She wouldn't have died if you hadn't attacked," Blake tried, but the woman was already focused on her. Each strike was parried or dodged, but only just barely. "Leave us alone!" Blake tried one more time.

She wasn't sure what exactly it was that they were trying to do, but Blake had an idea. And it was unlikely to pan out. But it was just a matter of time at this point, seeing as how both Ruby and Yang were right there.

Then again, maybe they wouldn't help her. She had just killed someone after all...

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Weiss - 15

Weiss held her posture as the last bandit attacked her...current party member. Current acquaintance. That was the proper word for it, wasn't it? They weren't particularly close, and she had more than enough problems just with Yang and Ruby, but it wasn't like she was actually going to pay for Blake on this one. She doubted she'd get much feedback from her, really. But she was able to hold her own, better than Weiss herself had. Their daggers clashed against each other as Ruby and Yang circled around, waiting for their own point to join in.

She knew what she could do, though. Mytrenaster was ready for it, and with a steady hand she reached down to her spellbook. The spark always showed itself in strange ways, but some ways were more obvious than others. One of the ways that anyone could recognize a caster, as they were sometimes called, was because of the spellbook.

For wizards or magus, like herself, she had to not only remember the exact flow of the magic, but each and every variable in regards to it. An incantation, like she was focusing herself on doing, was more about putting herself into the right state of mind, and was different each caster. Sometimes for each cast, as well.

Like this one. The spark could only hold so much power in it, and Weiss' was, to her shame, rather small and not very strong. She wouldn't need much power for this one, or as the stronger sparks often called them, a cantrip. Something basic, simple. Only around ten pages worth of sigils for the variables.

"Force my foe to recall the blustery blizzard," Weiss intoned softly, the words leaping from the page into her mind. The spark forced them into reality, but she wasn't quite done.

The words weren't on the page anymore. She'd have to remember them, and put them back down in the morning along with part of her spark's power. Only then could she recall it in the midst of a fight.

The cold magic warped its way through her heart, and it was prepared enough for her to start the cast. Ruby and Yang hadn't joined in yet, and Blake's ears were paying more attention to her than they were to the bandit fight.

She took its icy grip, and forced it down into her left hand. From there, she knew that the metal of Myrtenaster would rebound and refractalize it, crystalizing the spell along the blade's edge. The bandit seemed to realize something was wrong only after Blake did something, flashed out with her daggers in a feint, and probably tossing her enemy off guard. Weiss knew that was her sign.

She took the spell and took a step forward, feeling Myrtenaster sink into the bandits flesh. It fit in with a squelch, the first time that Weiss had ever heard it or felt it.

The bandit froze for a moment, before freezing literal. The spell flew into them from Myrtenaster, and Weiss took a deep breath. Small chunks of blue ice floated on her skin for a moment, before Weiss pulled Mytrenaster out. There was no blood anymore, only ice. That...that wasn't supposed to happen. That wasn't. That wasn't!

The woman stayed standing for a moment, the frozen tears on her face, before she fell to the side, and Weiss watched, her face hopefully impassive, as the woman shattered.

"By the Light..." Yang muttered. "You...you killed her too!" she said.

"That's not a pretty way to go," Ruby agreed as she looked at both of the dead bandits, before she took a very obvious deep breath.

Weiss forced herself to take a deep breath. She had done that, hadn't she? She'd taken a life. She'd taken a human life. A sapient life. It'd been easy. A single stab, a single spell.

"You're crying," Blake said softly. "Is this your first time killing someone?" she asked.

Yes, it had been. It had been her first time in combat, too. She could still feel the adrenaline surging through her as she took to the side, her stomach suddenly very upset with her. Her mind flash backed to the blue ice that threatened the bandits arm, again and again. The disgusting shade that was the cause of...her foot crashed down onto one of the bits, hearing it snap as if it was nothing more than a stick.

"Woah, hey, you alright? Shit, did they get her with something?" Yang asked. "Ruby, please tell me you got like a healing elixir?" she shouted out.

An elixir wouldn't help, Weiss knew. Some far off part of her brain thought that it would, but she knew it wouldn't. She had taken a life. She had taken a life.

She had taken a life. She'd known that mercenaries did that, Winter had always told her that but then she knew that, why did she think she didn't, why didn't her body know that!? She should be stronger than this, but she had taken a life!

The bushes were filled with the leftovers over whatever she had in her stomach. Was she crying? She raised a hand to her eyes. She was. Why was she crying!?

"I think that's the first life she's taken," Blake said quietly. Weiss felt a hand on her back, slowly rubbing it gently, and surprisingly kindly. "I knew that some Atlesians were sheltered, but it almost looked as if she wasn't prepared for real combat."

She hadn't been. But she had been! She'd been training for years for this exact scenario! She was Weiss Schnee, she was supposed to be the best, overtake even Winter!

"I don't think she was. But hey...it's okay. I remember when I was first about to die," Ruby's voice was much closer now, much quieter and softer. "It's not an experience I enjoy much."

"Was that before, or after the bear?" Yang's voice sounded like she was smirking.

"That was after the bear. You know, the bear that almost killed you."

"You almost got killed by a bear?" Blake asked slightly hesitant. The hand at her back was slowing down. She had taken a life. She could see the life draining from the world, the soul leaving to the River to be heralded by the God of Darkness or of Ozma.

"Yeah, it's a bit of a story. Maybe I'll tell it sometime," Yang was saying. "Feeling better there?"

"A little bit, yes," Weiss tried to answer, before she felt she needed to take a deep breath. All three of her compatriots were staring at her, but not out of pity or hatred or anger. Just concern. She wasn't. But she wasn't about to tell them that. She looked down again, hoping to not see the accusatory eyes of the damned look up at her.

Blake moved her hand away from Weiss' back. "I'll take a look down the road, see if I can't find their den," she said quietly. Ruby nodded.

"Okay. I'll go with. Yang, Weiss, stay here and make sure you're okay. If you feel like it, try and ascend the cliffside. After checking the bodies," Ruby said. Almost instantly Blake disappeared out of view, hiding behind a bush and then simply gone. Ruby was much less stealthy, but even then Weiss could barely see her as she moved through the brush onto the game trail on the side, the way the sign to the horse lift was pointing.

"Check the bodies," Yang quoted, rolling her eyes. "I've never checked the bodies before, and I'm not starting now. Hate touching bodies."

"That one's still alive," Weiss said, choking on the last word as she pointed at the man. "We..."

"Should tie him up, yeah," Yang agreed. She reached onto her back to try and find her backpack, only to realize that it wasn't there. "Dammit, Ruby took my gear with her."

"If it's also...your first time killing then how..." Weiss started to say.

Yang interrupted her. "Why are we more okay than you? We've already been through a lot. We aren't a stranger to death, or pain. Heck, when we were on Patch we ended up falling nearly a hundred, two hundred feet down a mine shaft."

Weiss tilted her head. How were they alive then? They didn't have the spark for a slow fall spell. And that was another one that Weiss herself didn't have either.

"Which...reminds me. Do you know if Atlas has anything going on in Patch? Like any agents or anything like that?" Yang asked quietly.

That was an odd question, but it certainly took her mind off the fact -She had taken a life!- of that, yes. "Not...that I'm aware of," she said quietly. The frozen body of the broken woman was slowly thawing, and the smell was starting to get to her. "Not that I'm aware of. Patch should be a long ways away from any Atlas operations," Weiss said. "But I'm not privy to a lot of it, for obvious reasons."

"Kinda figured. Someone in similar armor to yours was trying to kill us. Do you know anybody that uses wind spells?"

Wind? There was Galeblast, certainly. "How strong of wind?" Weiss asked. "How did it act? Was it cold, hot? Coming from one direction or multiple?"

Yang took a step back. "Uh, there are that many variables? It's just wind..." she said quietly.

"Wind is one of the more primal elements, along with fire and lightning. Every bit you can tell me can help me narrow it down to what spell it was. And wait, someone attacked you?"

"Why do you think we fell down the mine shaft? We aren't stupid," Yang smirked. Weiss wanted to disagree. She glanced up towards the sky. "So let's see...it was all one, maybe two directions. It sped up. It wasn't actually hurting us, just kind of pushing us around, and that's when we let go. We both lost our grip."

"How long did it last?"

"Not long. I think just long enough for us to be forced to let go."

"Hmm...could be Gale Blast. Potentially Air Burst, too, but anything stronger than that would definitely hurt. You said it didn't hurt, or it didn't hurt much."

"No, it really didn't. It just kind of shook us around a lot."

"Probably Gale Blast. Did you hear an incantation, or were there any unique signs? Did they do a small dance or something?" Weiss asked. It was an odd question, she knew, but there were only so many spells it could have been.

Gale Blast was only a cantrip. Almost any spell caster could have learned it, which didn't help narrow it down at all. Most casters learned a variety of cantrips, because as their spark got used to using more energy, even the power of cantrips started to increase.

"Not that I heard. No gestures, asides from a simple raise of the hand."

"Hmm..." Weiss hummed. Probably a high level spark then, to be able to use a spell without an incantation. With such a simple gesture too. Even her base spells, the cantrips, often required at least one or the other. Her light spell, colloquially known simply as 'Light', a simple gesture. A small flick of the hand, like striking a match or igniting a torch.

Unless it was far beyond her. "I'll have to look into it," Weiss answered simply. That was a curious one. Could bluster and move, but didn't hurt. Even Gale Blast did at least something. "I'll prepare it in the morning and cast it for you, see if it's right."

"You have it?"

"Yes, but not prepared," Weiss answered. Yang tilted her head, before she shook her head and pointed to the top of the cliff.

"I have no idea what that means. Think you can get up there by yourself?"

"Probably not," Weiss admitted. She was fairly strong, sure, but not strong enough to climb up the wall. She glanced back at the body that she had killed, before steeling her heart. Yang and Ruby were almost unaffected. Blake had taken a life extremely easily, and wasn't shaken up by it. So why was she?

"It'll be fine. It looks pretty simple," Yang said, climbing up easily. Her hands fit the handholds and her feet found the footholds, and within barely a minute she was already up. "Here, grab on this!" she yelled down, throwing a small rope.

Weiss grabbed it. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Tie it around your waist!"

"I don't think you can hold me."

"I'm stronger than I look," Yang grinned. "Look, just try it, so if you fail I can catch you and you won't get hurt. Especially as we need to dress your back too."

Oh right, she'd almost forgotten she'd gotten hurt back there. No wonder Blake's hand was so gentle. Her back must be a giant mess, and of course they didn't have a healer. What kind of party composition was this? In Atlas they'd call her insane for trying to lead this.

A brawler, a magus, a rogue, and a...whatever it was that Ruby was. Definitely not a fighter or a gladiator.

She did tie the rope around her waist, and tried to mimic the same thing that Yang did. It took nearly five whole minutes, and Weiss only vaguely felt that Yang was holding her up, but eventually she did find herself at the top next to the blonde brawler. "So, preparing?" Yang asked with a grin.

"You're not going to let this go?"

"Honestly, no. We're still waiting on Ruby and Blake, and it's something to distract you. It's working too, isn't it? How does the spark work?"

Weiss rolled her eyes, but had to give her credit. It was working, it was keeping her mind off of what had just happened. And her mind was gently starting to compartmentalize it, making it more of the 'just training' excuse. That was the first time the spell had ever done that though. It was a cantrip. Frostbite, it was called. It shouldn't have done that, it didn't do that much. It shouldn't do that much. She wasn't charging it.

"Weiss?" Yang interrupted her thoughts.

"Oh, sorry," Weiss muttered. "Every spell caster is different. For magus like myself, or wizards, we use a spellbook to prepare our magic. Our sparks can only hold so much energy, and it regenerates whenever we sleep. For most casters, we have to memorize the spells, and we store some of that magic into the book itself."

"So the book's magical."

"It can be. Mine is," Weiss said. "But...using the spark is fairly simple. We have to draw it out of the pages, or whatever we're using as our spellbook, and channeling the power in accordance to the spell shape."

"Spells have shapes?"

Weiss nodded. "All of them. Some are more elemental leaning, some of them aren't, and some of them are more esoteric and arcane. Like the spell shape for Light," Weiss said, propping open her spellbook to a spell she knew very, very well. It was one of the first cantrips actually taught, and such was deemed of such low value that everyone learned it.

And yet it was such a game-changer that Atlas had almost wanted to require it at one point. "Bring forth the dawn," Weiss intoned softly, focusing on the power of the stars and sun towards a small rock off to the side.

It started to glow in her hands, a soft white glow that wouldn't hurt someone even if they stared straight at it. "Oh, neat! It's like a little candle you can hold," Yang summarized.

"Gives off nearly the same amount of light as a torch," Weiss advised. "Which means that most people, if they pair with a caster, never have to carry a torch with them. Most casters learn it. It's a requirement in the Schnee School of Magic, incidentally."

"Really? That spell? It's that common? I thought you wizardly types were all about hiding your spells."

"Some are," Weiss shrugged, before she winced. That pulled uncomfortably tight on her back, and it started to burn for a moment. Why?

Oh right, the knife in her back, right. She'd almost forgotten. Maybe Yang had done more about helping than she'd thought. "Here," Yang said, pulling out a small roll of bandages. "Turn over, while we're waiting for them I'll help heal you up."

"You know how to?"

"I know basic first aid," Yang clarified. "I'm not a healer. Ruby and I tried, ages ago, but all I could keep in was basics. Ruby...don't ask her. At all. If you do, she will make it worse."

"That's possible?"

"Oh yeah," Yang nodded. "There was a story once on Patch, not sure if it came from the continents or what, but there was an unlicensed doctor who was practicing surgery. But his skills were so subpar that most of his patients ending up dying."

"What happened to him?"

"Depends on the story. If it's Ruby telling you it, he became a necromancer and is buried deep within the island," Yang shrugged. "If it's me telling it, he just got shoved off a cliff."

A necromancer, really? And this was from the younger sister? "Why a necromancer? That seems like an odd choice. Or oddly specific."

Yang gave a quiet sigh. "Lose the jacket for a moment, I'm going to tie it around your waist."

Weiss nodded, and started to gently shed the heavy thick winter jacket she had on. It wasn't set for Vale, but it had been cold out on the ocean. And any bit of warmth she could keep she would. Even if it meant dying in the Valean heat.

It felt weird, and off, to be so close to being unclothed in front of another person. Yes, it was just Yang, but it felt like it made her weak for needing to accept help. But she knew she couldn't do it. The Arcane tradition that she followed had no capability for healing. Interestingly it was the only one that didn't.

"I don't like zombies," Yang admitted as Weiss tensed up. Yang's hands were surprisingly soft, despite the tough and rough calluses that guarded them. "That's the reason why Ruby likes to make it a necromancer. 'It's a scary story, so obviously I have to do something to make it scary!'" Yang said, changing her voice to imitate Ruby's higher pitch.

"Really? They're not that bad," Weiss said, taking a deep breath as the bandages stung once Yang tossed them over the wound.

"It's not obviously bad, but they're just so...cold. And dead. And cold," Yang shuddered. "Nah, I don't honestly know why I find them so creepy. I punched an octopus in the eye and didn't find it nearly as bad as punching a zombie."

"Shambler!" Ruby's voice shouted from down below. "It wasn't a zombie, it was a shambler!"

Weiss looked down as Yang made a small cut, ripping the bandages off the roll. "Right, don't do anything too strenuous. It's not as big as it could be, but it'll scar. Do you have lighter clothes?" Yang asked. She turned down below too. "And yes, I know that's what it was, but I'm still going to call it zombies!"

Ruby made a show of rolling her eyes. Blake was next to her, a small smirk as she watched the byplay. "Ten gold coins for each of us. They were guarding the horse lift, and once Blake snuck in we took out the other two easy enough," Ruby called up.

Ten wasn't much. But then she supposed that for Ruby and Yang, or even Blake, that had to be a lot. "I don't have anything lighter," she answer to Yang.

"Ah," Yang nodded. She turned to Ruby, "Hey, can you toss up one of your cloaks? Making sure Weiss-cream up here doesn't get sunburned and infected!"

"Don't call me that!" Weiss shouted to her. Weiss-cream? What the...why was that the nickname of choice!? What had she done to deserve a nickname from these lowly people!? And why that of all things!? Better than Whitley's 'Sister' at least...

"Sure thing!" Ruby grinned. "Grab the rope?"

Yang rolled her eyes. Weiss wanted to roll back and grab her, yelling at her for giving her such a stupid nickname, before she remembered that right now, Yang was the only one with any first aid experience. Unless Blake had some.

But she wouldn't trust Blake any farther than she could toss her, so Yang would have to be. And unfortunately, the core foundation of all party activities rolled in her brain; do not offend the healer. Weiss sighed. They needed a fifth. Hopefully this would be a quick job, if only so that way she could lose all three of these nightmares.

Almost as if she'd blinked, Blake had scurried up, and Ruby was surprisingly impressive up the cliff too. And she was carrying the most obvious weight, what with that giant farm tool on her back. "It might not be a bad idea to leave the area, and find a place," Blake mentioned. "It'll get dark soon."

Oh crapbaskets. That was another thing that Weiss hadn't thought of. She had meant to tell one of them to start to buy food, because she doubted any of them knew how to cook any survival food, what it was called for the food gathered in the wild.

"Yeah, probably not a bad idea," Ruby agreed. "Alright, one more mile and then we'll stop and keep watch. Except Blake."

"What!? Why!?"

"Because you would run off first chance you get," Ruby and Yang answered simultaneously. Weiss had to admit, they were right. Blake had done almost nothing trustworthy except defending Weiss so far, or sticking with Ruby down to the thieves den.

"What all was at the den," Weiss asked. "Any others?"

"Two," Blake answered as Ruby was about to talk. "You claim I'm going to run away, but I haven't done anything else to you yet. There's a difference between justifiable paranoia and thinking everyone's out to get you!"

Weiss blinked. No there wasn't. They were literally the same word. "Isn't that what paranoia means?" she asked.

Blake groaned. "No that's...fine. Whatever. I know a spot," she said, leading the way.

Weiss pushed herself up, only to be forced up faster than she thought she should be by Ruby and Yang. Instantly a black and red cloak was in her hands, thin as a blanket, as her own heavy winter cloak was shoved into Ruby's spacious pouch.

"I'm not going to wear this!" Weiss called out. Her uniform was the colors of Atlas, not this hodgepodge of tar!

"Hey, I think it looks good," Ruby clarified. "Put it on, don't complain, and let's follow Blake before she actually wants to run."

Blake had turned a corner, and Weiss didn't need sharper hearing to hear the loud groan that came from her throat. "Is this going to be the normal for you people!?" she asked.

"Probably," Yang admitted. "We don't like it when people steal from us. And besides, once you tell us where all that money is, we'll stop badgering you."

"I kinda doubt it," Blake muttered her breath, although Weiss knew that she was still talking loud enough to be heard on purpose. Ruby's cloak was surprisingly light and comfortable. Despite it being black, and the opposite of Weiss' normal light colors, it fluttered around her neck and shoulder, giving her bandages plenty of air to breathe. She did have the Mending spell, so once they rested she could probably prepare it for the next day.

It made the last mile much easier to bear, seeing as how the sun was starting to set off the horizon, the bottom of it's sphere starting to just touchdown on the ocean.

Blake led them to a small divot in the trail path, a cave off to the side that it would be hard for anyone to notice if they didn't already know where it was. It was big enough easily for four people, or even for eight or twelve. On the sides were some shelves, having nailed into the stone. There was nothing on them, but Weiss had to admit if they had plenty to get rid of that would be a place for it.

"Ooh, nice find Blakey!" Yang said as she slid into it. "How'd you know this was here?" she asked.

Weiss blinked. That was a good question. She couldn't have seen it from the outside, because she said she already knew of a spot. And Weiss couldn't have found it unless she stumbled into it. "This isn't my first time heading to Mountain Glenn," Blake answered quietly.

"It's not where you're from, is it?" Ruby asked, a surprising kindness in her voice. "Because if so, it's probably a bad idea for you to go back."

"No, it's not where I'm from. Menagerie," Blake finally said.

Weiss nodded. "Most faunus claim to be from there. But you actually grew up there?" The Schnee School of Magic had a branch there, so she'd end up going there anyways at some point. Maybe Blake could give her some points. But only if she actually trusted her. Hearing that Blake had been trying to scam her...

She'd prefer to take her chances. Just like she was with this entire group.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Ruby - 16

Ruby stared at the top of the cavern, sleep not coming well to her. The tent that she had bought earlier was still in the pouch, seeing as how they didn't need it in here. It wasn't her turn for watch. That was Yang, who was whistling quietly out in the mouth of the cave, uncaring about who heard her.

Ruby wasn't sure about any of what was going on. The den of thieves yesterday had shown more sides of Blake than she'd thought, and it made her wonder that maybe, just maybe, Blake wasn't nearly as bad of a person as she was saying she was.

The game trail had led to a small waterfall, and the campsite of the thieves was obvious. Tents had been set up, set for an easy dismantling if they needed it. Logs had been pushed around to make it seem as if they had fallen naturally. Blake had given her a small signal to wait, as she charged at the two men who were smoking some kind of jerky.

She'd grabbed it later and used that for their dinner. Ruby was not averse to using whatever it was that came around.

Blake had taken out the first one easily enough, but by the time she'd knocked him out, and Ruby knew enough to know that she had tried to hold back enough just to knock him out, that the other one had stood up.

"Ha! You think you're going to find any gold here Belladonna? Your parents are-" were the only words he got out, before the hilt of one of her daggers found his neck. He stumbled, just long enough for Ruby to get around behind him and knock him out with her own pommel.

Blake had rolled her eyes as soon as Ruby started to stare. "Ignore him," she had said. She wasn't so sure that she should, but she didn't miss how Blake was fully intending to go through their pockets.

Ruby had checked the tent, to see a small wooden locked chest, the lock an ugly rusted color of a lock that spent far too much time out of doors. "Hey Blake," she had called out, "Lock pick the chest, I'll rifle through their pockets."

Blake's head had peeked in, and Ruby saw the smirk as it came up. Their pockets weren't empty, mostly just more daggers that Ruby stowed away, along with a few more pieces. "Jackpot," Blake's voice called out. "Forty gold in here."

"That's ten each."

"Exactly," Blake had answered without missing a beat. Ruby knew she should have stayed in there to make sure it was split evenly, but that comment didn't leave her mind. If Blake was stealing things for a reason...

Besides the obvious, that was. Some people did just steal to steal things, like Torchwick and Neo. Or whatever it was her last name was.

Still, she wasn't one to gossip, and so left it alone. Whether or not Blake realized that she would, Ruby didn't know. She made sure to tease her just as much as she had before after joining, although some of her words may have been a bit harsher than she'd thought.

"Can't sleep?" Yang asked quietly from the front. Ruby pushed herself up. "I've been living with you for years, I can tell when you're asleep."

Ruby rolled her eyes. She should get at least a cloak on, it was cold enough for it, but maybe she just wanted to let her bare arms breathe a bit. "So what did you and Weiss talk about?" Ruby asked quietly, sitting down across from her sister.

Yang gave a quiet sigh. "Just spellcasting in general. The spark for her is... I kinda wish we had one, if only so we could see what it's like."

It would give the added benefit that anyone with the spark would be taken care of. And that, Ruby knew, was what Yang was really hoping for. For her, at least. "How did she say it?" Ruby asked.

"Her spellbook contains the spells, but she has to put them there," Yang answered, staring up at the stars. "Each morning, her spark is full, and she has to dump the energy into the spellbook in the form of writing the spells down. When she uses them, it blanks them out as she draws the energy back in."

"Huh," Ruby said quietly. That was different than how every other wizard had said it. Then again, it wasn't as if she knew many. Or any, actually. The closest was back on Patch, and she wasn't a wizard at all, but she had the spark. Hadn't trained it though. "That's different than I was expecting."

"Right? It doesn't make any sense. Why doesn't she leave the book until she needs the spell, and just casts it instantly?"

"It could be that it's dangerous to keep locked up. Remember the really powerful wizards are all about their spellbook," Ruby reminded. Yang groaned softly.

"It's always about the darn book. Makes me wonder what's actually in there. Did you realize that Weiss has it chained to her hip?"

Ruby had. She'd originally just thought she was paranoid, but seeing as how she'd instantly been the target of the bandits solely because she had it...she had no doubt that others would see it and go after her because of it.

Yang sighed. "Such a hassle, though. How was the bandit camp? I know you said you found some money."

Ruby nodded. "We did. Blake picked the lock on the chest, faster than I could have done," Ruby admitted. "And...I think she's hiding something."

"She's Blake, trying to find something that she isn't hiding is near impossible."

"I know what you mean," Ruby giggled, "But no, I mean something more important. One of the bandits said something earlier, when they recognized Blake."

Yang's eyes widened. "They recognized her? Ruby this is bad-"

"I think someone's holding someone close to her hostage," Ruby said succinctly. Yang blinked, before she relaxed a bit, letting her back rest against the wall.

She tilted her head. "Alright...explain?"

Ruby nodded. "So it was just two of them. Easy pickings, really. Blake wasn't trying to kill them, and neither was I. One of them saw her, and knew her. His words were 'Is that you Belladonna? You're not going to find any gold here, your parents are-', and that's when she lodged a knife in his throat."

"So you think someone's holding her parents hostage against her? Why?"

"That I don't know. But it ties things together well. Think about it, she was mentioning that she needs a lot of money. What if she's been owing ransom money to keep them alive?"

"It would explain her panic," Yang nodded. "But then why wouldn't she just say so? She couldn't have been raised into it."

"Unless she was," Ruby nodded. "Think about it, when Weiss brought up that spell," and she shuddered to think its name, "Blake knew what it was too. So what if she, too, has experience with it?"

"It's common knowledge that it exists. It's just uncommon knowledge on how to do it," Yang pointed out. "Generally only high level spark users can use it reliably though. And they try their absolute damnedest to not show it or teach it around."

"That's the part I can't figure out. But...I think we can use this ruin expedition to really pry into it. If we can help her..."

"We can't even help ourselves, Ruby," Yang said with a soft, sad smile. "We still need to look for Qrow Branwen ourselves. We can't take care of a stray."

"But Yang," Ruby started, only to be halted as Yang held up a hand.

"We'll help her out, if she's trustworthy and you're right, while we're in Vale. But we need information ourselves."

"How do we even know Qrow exists!?" Ruby shot back. The echo of the cave hit them, and reminded her to try to keep her voice down. "We don't even know if he's still alive."

"Master Sal vouched for him."

"And where's Sal now!?" Ruby dug deep. "Just because he vouched for him then, doesn't mean that he's still alive."

"And what would you have me do!? I need to take care of you, Ruby!"

"We're mercenaries Yang! We fight! And I want to help people, like Dad always taught us to," Ruby quietened down. "You remember that, right?"

"Whatever comes our way," Yang said quietly, as if using it as a reason to help only themselves.

"Not just our way. Whatever comes to any of us. Our means all of us. Whatever comes our way," Ruby fired back.

Yang stared at her for a moment. "I don't think that's okay. You shouldn't be forced for this. I hate the fact that you're even here to begin with."

"I know," Ruby answered softly. "But sometimes things are the way they are for a reason. Isn't that one of the God of Light's teachings? That things happen for a reason?"

"Oh don't bring the gods into this, I know you don't believe," Yang smirked at her. "I know you better than that."

Ruby grinned. "The point still stands. We're here now. And Weiss needs our help. And Blake may need our help too. I can't just leave them."

"It's a job, Ruby. Just like any other."

"See, I don't think it is," Ruby muttered. "How many other mercenaries did you work with on Patch?"

"A fair few."

"And how many of them did you work with again."

Yang stared at her. "Not many."

"And how many twice in a row?"

"And here I thought you didn't believe the God of Light's teachings," Yang pointed out. "That's a very Light thing to think."

"I don't believe in them," Ruby said quietly. "Because they allow a world like this to exist. But if we keep pushing forward, sticking together...then maybe we can make it a world worth."

Yang stared at her for a moment, before she sighed. "Go to sleep, Ruby. Or maintain Crescent Rose or something."

"You're dodging the question."

"I am," Yang freely admitted. "But not the reasons that you think I am."

"Then why?" the inventor asked. "Why avoid it?"

Yang threw her head back against the cave wall, and Ruby felt a small snicker come to her lips as the blonde brawler recoiled, one hand automatically going to the back of her head. "Because sometimes I don't think I can say what I want to without it blowing up in my face."

"Go to sleep you two," Blake's voice called out. She was in the corner, her strange golden eyes glowing a bit in the dark. "I'll take watch. I'm surprised you both went to watch. I thought Ruby's time wasn't until after mine."

"I couldn't sleep," Ruby answered honestly. "Thought we'd just talk, since we haven't been able to do that in a while."

The eyes went down and up again, a sure sign that Blake had simply nodded. "Well, I'll take over then."

"Perfect timing," Yang said, pushing herself up and heading deeper into the cave, on her own bedroll. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" she gave a quiet grin to Ruby.

Ruby picked up a small rock and threw it at her sister. "Yang, seriously," Ruby answered deadpan, before she shook her head. "I'll watch with you," she said facing towards Blake.

She walked out to the entrance of the cave, sitting across from Ruby, "You don't have to. I'm not going to run."

"Is this for your parents?"

The eyes froze, and Ruby watched as she slowly walked forward, sitting down in nearly the same position that Yang had been in. "What do you know," she said simply. There was no question there, and Blake's eyes were hard.

"More than you want me to."

"Any amount is that. How much. Do you know."

Ruby grinned internally. She had hit the nail on the head with that. Which meant that her instincts had been right, at first. Blake wasn't entirely a bad person. Which means she needed help.

And help was what Ruby, the inventor, could do.

"I know you need a certain amount of gold, probably a lot of it. I know you're doing it to protect someone, probably your parents, and you owe someone ransom money for them."

Blake gave a quiet sigh. "Dirty bandits...if they had just kept their mouth shut..."

"That's not a bad thing," Ruby pointed out. "We all need help now and then-"

"One hundred gold."

The amount shut Ruby up. "Per...year?" she asked hopefully. Blake shook her head, giving her an unimpressed look.

"Per month."

Ruby felt her mouth suddenly have the inability to swallow. To have to pay a ransom fee of a hundred gold per month..."For how many years...?"

"All of them," Blake answered with no tone difference. "I don't know how you found about it. I figure that since most of that's already known, the game's up."

"Why didn't you just tell someone about it?"

"I couldn't," Blake said. "It's another of their stipulations. The fact you figured it out is the only reason, but I'm not allowed to tell."

"Who's?"

Blake stared at her for a moment. "You never did figure it out. You're just blindly guessing and hoping I tell you the answers," Blake guessed. Ruby felt the back of her head start to sweat. That was very true, but at this point what did Blake have to lose? Asides from, well... everything.

She gave a sigh and tossed her head back. "Never thought I'd be found out like this...the White Fang has my parents," Blake eventually said quietly. "They tried to ransom them back to me for a price that no one could afford. But they decided to make a deal. A mortgage."

Death debt, Ruby knew. A debt so great that it was often seen as impossible to pay off. Most houses and properties were considered mortgage's, but even then they were never seen as impossible, otherwise no one would bother paying. "How much?"

"Sixty five thousand gold," Blake answered easily. Ruby's eyes widened. That was a purely obscene number. Did Vale even have that much gold in it!? The rune she found, which was a really strong rune, was only worth at most a thousand! To have...holy crap, no wonder Blake took the 'pay by month' challenge instead.

"You can see where my troubles began. They would pay it for me, so they say, but in return I would work for them for years on end. One hundred gold each month. A high sum, but nothing impossible, not in Vale."

"When did you start!? That's crazy!"

"When I was seven. Around ten years ago," Blake had to think about the answer some, her cat ears dancing on her head as she thought about it. "I'm surprised you're believing me about all this. You didn't seem the type to earlier."

"I recently had some eye opening thoughts," Ruby answered. "The bandit finally cleared some things up. That's why you need the money, isn't it? That tea place we were in, that's your dropoff point?"

"Why would you think that?"

"There's no White Fang on Patch," Ruby started, "we're too far out of the way. But we, mostly I, talked with the sailors a lot. The White Fang, a bandit clan that has only faunus in its group. Most of them decent people, but then you have the commanders."

"The sailors shouldn't have been talking," Blake started to speak, before Ruby shook her head.

"They probably shouldn't have. But they did. They told of Sienna Khan, the mistress of Menagerie. Adam Taurus, the Villain of Vale."

"He'd like that one," Blake chuckled without mirth. "The villain of Vale. And it's not Menagerie. Khan's in Mistral. The group operates peacefully on Menagerie."

"How does that work? Aren't they a bandit clan?"

Blake shook her head a bit, and Ruby wondered what exactly that meant. "They are and they aren't. Menagerie is...you know where it is, right?"

"It's an island off the coast of Anima," Ruby answered. "Some of the sailors mentioned it, and the girl back in Vale that sold the maps had a decent one of Remnant."

"You mean Viri?" Blake asked. Ruby nodded. "I'm not surprised. She does good work."

"Wait, she made these maps herself!?" Ruby said as she hurriedly went through the bag on her chest. That was incredible, they were surprisingly detailed with the kinds of landmarks that only someone who actively went to someplace would actually know!

"Most of the time, yeah," Blake chuckled. "Granted, she's also a front for the White Fang, so sometimes she does get maps from other members, but in general no, she just sells maps and draws her own."

"She's a front too? What about Night? Is every faunus in Vale connected to them!?"

"No!" Blake couldn't help but almost stand up shouting, before she realized that Weiss was starting to growl low in her sleep. "No, not every faunus. Most of them aren't. Perry is, I am, Viri is, but Tukson and Night...no."

"The bookstore guy. Night's brother?" Ruby asked. Blake nodded. "Okay. Night seemed friendly, at least. When he was explaining runes to me."

"I'm surprised you managed to get as much out of him as you did. He's notoriously difficult to price runes out of."

"I think he was impressed with which one it was," Ruby admitted. "And I don't think most people understands runes the way he does."

"No, most people don't. I don't. He tried to explain it to me once when I was buying a few more daggers. But...they're too expendable for me to put effort into recovering them."

"Then why don't you use a strap?" Ruby asked, leaning forward. She could think of a few dozen different ways to get a dagger back after having thrown it. "Or use a rune, if you can afford it. Throw it, and then you can have little spikes on the strap itself so it does damage too, like a whip-sword or something."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "And you just came up with that? Off the top of your head?"

"I made Crescent Rose. Don't expect me to not make weapons for you and Weiss. Weiss probably doesn't need it, because she's using a rapier."

"You haven't made one for Yang...yet, have you. That's a yet."

Ruby grinned. Blake was definitely starting to understand her. "That's a definite yet. Her birthday's coming up in a month or two, and I want to have a birthday present ready. But I figure this one could also help her in a fight, so I want to give it to her early."

Ruby brought it out of the sack, slowly handing it over to the faunus. Blake looked at them oddly, before turning them over in her hands. "They're just bracelets."

"For now," Ruby grinned. "See, I found a way to install some small amounts of gunpowder into these."

"Won't that just blow off her arm?"

"Not if she's using the proper stance for it. And she was taught by Master Sal, she's never not in the proper stance. She knows what these can do, and I can't wait to see them in action."

"Explain to me how they work?"

"Little holes filled with gunpowder and other small explosives. Put small pellets of lead in these, and they can act to help her fists."

"Guns. Attached on her wrists."

"I'm surprised you even know what guns are. We didn't see any in Vale, and no one even knew what gunpowder was," Ruby grinned.

Blake flinched. "Adam uses it. He's not a gun guy, he's...something else. Close to Weiss, I think. But his scabbard uses some when he needs to draw Wilt."

Ruby nodded. "Kind of an explosive draw then," Ruby muttered. "But yeah, think like that. But on a bigger scale. For the shots in the bracelet."

"Can you even make that?"

"You act like that's the hard part," Ruby grinned. "That's the easy part. The hard part is putting it back together again," she said.

"I'll have to take your word for it."

"Let me know if you want me to modify your daggers or something."

"No thanks," Blake answered instantly. "It's not that I don't think you'd do a good job, but I don't want...I can't pay you. And I don't feel right being tied down to one person, when you know I'm just going to steal from you at some point."

"What if we rescue them?" Ruby asked quietly. "Yang has a plan to meet Qrow Branwen somewhere, but we have no idea where he could be. We've heard Mistral, we've heard Vale...I think we heard a rumor that he's in Menagerie."

"You have?"

"Of course we haven't," Ruby said, rolling her eyes. "But I'm saying we can tell Yang that, and get her onboard to go to Menagerie."

"...Why?"

"To rescue them," Ruby answered instantly. That part wasn't hard to figure out in her mind. Was it just because Blake had legitimately never had anyone to help her out? "We break through. Whatever comes our way."

"You keep mentioning that phrase."

"It's something Dad taught Yang and me. It's that we should always stick together, no matter what happens. That's why it's 'whatever comes our way'."

Blake nodded slowly. "I...don't think we can leave Weiss out. And it can't be too long. I...I want to say yes, but..."

"You've had no one to help you for a long time, haven't you?" Ruby asked. "No one helped me and Yang, either. But that's why I want to. So you don't have to live the same way you have been, thieving on the people of Vale."

"I...we should focus on the ruins, first."

"That wasn't a yes."

"I can't just decide that on a whim!" Blake said, and Ruby heard a small slight stuttering in there. Was she...was she crying? She knew that Ruby couldn't lie worth a damn, right? Or maybe she did, and that's why she realized Ruby was telling the truth.

"How dangerous are the ruins?"

"Honestly? Very," Blake answered. "Don't go to the north side, there's a White Fang encampment in there. It's where Adam stays half of the time. The other time he's in headquarters in Vale, or in Mistral."

"How dangerous is he?"

"Torchwick would have a very hard time dealing with him."

"Oh. Yeah that'd be bad," Ruby admitted. Torchwick had taken her out in...one hit? Two hits at most, but either way it hadn't taken him long. Yang had lasted the longest, and Ruby had been knocked out for most of it.

Blake stared out across the endless night. "It'd be very bad," she said quietly. "That's why I can't run. I can't escape, even if I wanted to go back."

"How were you taken, as a kid?" Ruby asked, but Blake shook her head.

"Maybe another time," she said, pulling out a small book. "We'll be together for a long time, if you keep this up. I think spilling my guts is enough for one night, and don't think I didn't notice you didn't tell me any of your secrets."

Secrets? Ruby didn't have much in the way of secrets. But she could tell that Blake was tired of talking for so long, not that Ruby had blamed her. That was a lot for one night. Maybe though...maybe she'd been too harsh on her. Now if only she could convince Yang and Weiss. Yang had known the basics, but now Ruby had to tell her the actualities.

She glanced down at the bracelets in her hand, and started to grab the necessary parts for what she had in mind. She'd seen Yang do the stance before, so she obviously knew it. She just hadn't had the right ability to make use of it.

But now, with this, she would. And she'd get the chance to do something greater. She grabbed the screwdrivers and mallets that she'd need from her repair kit, and started the crafting process. It would take a while, and really she should be making more elixirs and potions.

But she had time for that. As Blake said, this was only one night. She could afford to work on what she wanted to.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Yang - 17

Yang kept a very close eye on Blake Belladonna when she woke up that morning. Ruby was acting odd, much kinder to the cat faunus, and it was driving Yang crazy trying to figure out what it was. She knew they talked last night. And knowing Ruby as she did, the inventor probably interrogated Blake mercilessly, and then decided that she would go with them. Ruby was that kind of person.

But Yang wasn't. No, she was much more suspicious of Ruby's change of thoughts. Did Blake have the spark somehow? The spark was capable of changing people's minds on a whim, wasn't it?

The morning process was fairly smooth, all told, really. Blake and Ruby were already mostly up, although Ruby looked a bit tired. Yang had woken up when Ruby curled up next to her, and she saw that it was almost dawn.

She got up that morning, and ignoring the fact that Blake was reading a book, she started to get out the ration bars that they'd eat for the day. Three servings each per bar, one person needs one bar. Clean, easy energy, but it didn't make it easy to actually eat down on it.

Seriously, who reads a book at night?

"I do," Blake answered. Yang hadn't even realized she'd asked the question out loud. "You did," Blake said, her eyes lighting with amusement.

"Stop reading my mind."

"I'm not. You're just easy to read," Blake answered.

"You'd say that even if you had the spark to do so," Yang tried. Blake's eyebrow rose up.

"Are there spells that can help with that?" she asked, her eyes peering over Yang's shoulder. She glanced, seeing Weiss starting to wake up, her chained book in one hand as she was writing down something.

"That can do what?" the white haired girl asked. "Spells can do a lot of things. You have to be more specific."

"Read minds," Blake said.

"Not...exactly? The closest would be the higher level ones, the one's that require a more mature spark," Weiss answered. "The closest I can think of would be Suggestion or something similar, but to actually read minds directly? No, I don't think that's possible. Certainly not in the Arcane tradition."

"Sparks can mature? I thought they were always the same," Yang said as she tossed a ration bar to Ruby off to the side. It made a small thunk sound as it hit the side of her head, snapping of her out of her impromptu nap.

"Of course sparks can mature!" Weiss raised her voice a bit, getting a low growl from Ruby. "You think that sparks just stay the same? The more we use them, the stronger they get. Cantrips though do almost nothing for strengthening a spark, it has to be a leveled spell. But those are quite difficult."

"Unless you're a sorcerer," Blake shot back.

Yang felt the word go down her spine. "Well, yes...I suppose. Unless you're a sorcerer," Weiss hesitated to answer. "But none of us are, and none of us can be, will be, or have been. Sorcerers are rare for a good reason."

"You know any?" Yang asked the cat faunus. "Or do you?" she asked Weiss.

"I know of one," Blake answered, "But she's all the way out in Menagerie. And unlikely to come to the continent anytime soon."

"I've never met any in Atlas, for good reason. Never met a good sorcerer," Weiss lifted up her nose.

Ruby chuckled from the spot at the cave mouth. "You just said you never met any, so how could you say you've never met a good one? How strong was the one in Menagerie?" she asked.

Blake shrugged. "She was of decent caliber, somewhat. Mostly Kuo Kuana used her to help defend against the Grimm that attacked the village."

"Magic doesn't work against the Grimm," Weiss pointed out.

"Sorcerer magic does, apparently," Ruby disagreed. "I wonder why. Could be it's of a different...what'd you call it, tradition?"

Blake nodded. "Yes, she was more nature oriented. Good at devastation spells, but anything that requires finesse was something she couldn't do."

"Oh, like a druid," Weiss said, her shoulders sagging a bit. "That's different. Sorcerers like that aren't the bad ones. It's the ones that have finesse and strength that are worried about. The same tradition as what I specialize in, the arcane."

"There are others though, right?" Ruby asked. "I wasn't there when you gave that rundown to Yang."

The blonde brawler rolled her eyes. Good on Ruby to note that she hadn't really specified that part. "Fine, if this is a test, I see how it is," she teased. "Four traditions. Arcane, divine, primal, and occult. Arcane is the one that most wizards practice, and is the most common. Divine is the cleric one, or champions I suppose."

"Champions don't have divine magic," Weiss countered, "not the way I'd use it. Just clerics. Or sorcerers, I suppose."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Fine, just clerics. Primal is the nature one, like druids. Occult is the weird one, involving spirits and things like that. Used by bards."

"Bards are weird," Blake nodded. "It makes no sense half the time, and the other half the time it's impossible to understand."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Ruby asked.

She shook her head. "No, one's about making sense and the other is about not making sense."

Weiss groaned. "It's too early for this nonsense," she muttered, prompting a laugh out of Blake and Ruby. Yang gave her a quick thumbs up, earning a scowl from the magus, before she handed her a small ration bar. "What's this?'

"Ration bar. Each bar has three pieces, you eat one piece for breakfast, lunch, dinner. Easy to make, but they taste terrible."

"You only say that because they're full of oats," Ruby teased. Yang started at her. "I mean, you're not wrong that they taste terrible, but it's not because of the oats."

"You don't like oats?" Blake asked, her head tilted. "I would've figured you would have loved them, coming from a small island."

Yang rolled her eyes, before she went back to roll up her bedroll. "No, I don't, and it's because I had way too many on the island. Do you know how many times I had to tell people 'no more oats'?"

"As many times as it needed?" Ruby asked with a smirk. "It's fine, Yang. And Weiss, give it a try."

Yang watched as the white haired girl slowly nibbled on one, before her eyes lit up and she started to devour the small bar. "Woah hey, that's supposed to fill you up until lunch, then we'll have the second part," Yang said. "You act like you've never eaten a ration bar before."

"I haven't," Weiss answered honestly. "Most meals at the Schnee School of Magic are handmade each morning. And we go through a lot. Is this something you all eat every day?"

Blake shook her head, "No, ration bars aren't cheap."

"Unless you're me, then they are, because I can make them easy," Ruby bragged, her chest puffed out slightly.

"Except you're not making them, because I know what it was like the last time you tried to cook something. You had to make them alchemically," Yang accused, her eyes narrowed.

"Hey, hey, you promised you wouldn't bring that up again," Ruby commented. Yang stared at her sister, as if daring her to renege on that.

Ruby couldn't cook. Or bake. Or anything of the sort. Yang thought it was rather understating things actually when she mentioned that Ruby should never be let near a stove or an oven. Ever. She was more likely to accidentally set herself on fire than bake something edible. On the other hand, for some reason, she was okay with alchemy. For things like elixirs, healing potions or just potions in general, Ruby was actually not too bad. Which was odd because that required a stove or an oven half the time, and Yang couldn't tell anyone why Ruby was okay with alchemy but couldn't bake a thing.

On the other hand, Yang could cook with some amount of skill, but it was never what many people would call a 'high quality' meal. It was enough to sate them on the long weeks they spent out in the wilderness, but as something more appetizing? Hardtack on its own was better.

Weiss took a small bite out of it. "These aren't too bad," she said quietly, nibbling down on the rest.

Yang shook her head. "That one bar is supposed to basically last all day. We'll stop at noon for the middle part, and then for dinner we'll have the rest."

"Or we can forage on the way," Blake brought up. "Either way, we'll have things to eat and drink. I know a river near here that's usually clean."

"Usually?"

How could a river be usually clean? Blake stared at her. "Because sometimes animals like to defecate in it. It's rare, but it happens."

Oh. Well that made sense. "Should we head out then?" Yang asked, packing up the last of her bedroll. Blake and Ruby had already packed up theirs. Weiss was, for some reason, moving quite slow.

It took a few long minutes for Weiss to pack everything up, and for her spellbook to become an actual spellbook. It was hard for Yang to really tell what was going on as Weiss wrote in it feverishly towards the end of their preparations. Ruby was trying to not bug her as she peered over her shoulder, which only made Weiss stop as she circled around to make it harder for Ruby to peek.

Yang took the moment to exit the cave and go out onto the road, getting a few of her stretches in. Master Sal had instilled in her the need of stretching and being loose long before any combat ever began.

Blake joined her a moment later, her own set of stretches. They were much more conservative of momentum and motion in general, but Yang could tell they were meant for the same thing. "Stretching early?" Yang asked as she stretched out her legs.

"We're about to walk nearly a full day. Who knows what's all out here, in terms of monsters or more bandits," Blake answered.

Yang fell into silence for a moment. "Ruby's starting to think you're not so bad," she brought up quietly. "But she's only half of our team. You have yet to earn my forgiveness."

"She hasn't told you yet?" Blake asked.

"Let me guess, she promised you some plan that fixes everything and now you have to hold onto hope that she's telling the truth?" Yang guessed, just knowing how her sister worked.

"...That's very close, actually."

"Yeah, that's Ruby for you. She's a good kid," Yang said, throwing a punch into the air. The edge of her fist caught fire just long enough to start to smoke. "But...she has to convince me, too. And so do you. Even if she does, I don't want to be part of a team with someone I don't trust."

"And you trust Weiss?" Blake asked. As if to stick to her point, there was a sudden chill coming from the cave.

"Ruby! Not when I'm in the middle of preparations!" Weiss' voice shouted out. Ruby's voice was laughing as she danced out of the cave, a small trail of cold air coming from her clothes.

"No. I don't trust her either," Yang answered deadpan. "The only person here I do trust is Ruby, actually."

"That's fair," Blake answered simply. "I'm too used to dealing with untrustworthy others. It'll be a change to be dealing with people I do trust."

Weiss came out of the cave a moment later, her spellbook chained onto her hip. "Alright, now that's over with, and now that Ruby made me use one of my spells for the day, we should get going."

"Hey, I thought it was an awesome spell!" Ruby called out. "It was so cool!"

Weiss groaned. "No puns either!"

Why would cool be a pun? Yang thought about it for a moment, before she grinned. "You're just so coldhearted sometimes, Weiss. You need to chill out," she grinned. Blake seemed to understand it too, as she joined Weiss is groaning to the world.

The sun had just started to rise when they really started out again. The road curled around the mountainside as small wisps of mist came from Yang's breath. It was cold out, but it wasn't so cold as to be impossible to move. Weiss took the lead, or as much as the magus could take the lead. The white haired girl was at least a few steps ahead, with Ruby trailing behind her, the inventor constantly looking around them.

The cliffsides soared down, ending in the long and ancient forests that guarded around Vale's ground. The sun bounced off of the mountains around them, and Yang realized why this place was probably called "Mountain Glenn."

The mountains around them were thick and tall, the snow capped tops bouncing the white off of them. Even in the early fall and late summer as they were, the mountains around Vale still seemed to retain their snow. Beneath the caps were lines of green from the trees and forests that dotted each one.

"It's so odd to be seeing so much green around," Weiss commented idly as she jumped down one of the rocks. There were dozens of the rocks just in the middle of the pathway. Blake didn't seem too surprised, so Yang guessed that this was the normal way for people to go.

"You're from Atlas right? How is it there?" Ruby asked as she slid down the same one. "Yang and I never went off Patch, asides from one time when we were young."

"Somewhere in Anima, if I had to guess," Yang said. She remembered the scene perfectly, actually, if only because it was engraved into her mind. The large clearing in the middle of a jungle, Grimm on all sides slowly closing in, and Dad powering up a teleport spell, pushing them in and making sure they got somewhere safe.

"Solitas is...not like this," Weiss answered softly. "It's much more expansive, long fields that stretch for miles and miles. All coated with a thick snow base. Even in Mantle, the city closest to Atlas by a few miles, the pathways are well worn but still covered by snow. The cities have to use warming spells to make sure that people don't freeze on the streets."

"They have to use magic?" Blake asked. "That seems like kind of a waste."

Yang had to admit it kind of did, but at the same time if that was where they'd decided to try and carve out a life, that was up to them.

Weiss shrugged. "We have enough runestones and warming items that it's not that big of a problem, anymore. It's one of the reasons why certain runestones are as highly priced as they are. Atlas and Mantle will pay as much as they can for the high quality ones."

"Not to mention that also means they get to stretch out their spark and use more fire spells. But why in such a hostile environment then? That's what seems weird to me," Ruby noted.

"Less Grimm," Weiss explained instantly, and the rest of them simply nodded. If that was true, and there were less Grimm in Solitas because it was so cold, then it made sense that people would move there. The Grimm were extremely powerful enemies, and not the kind that were easily subdued.

Yang's eyes looked to the side of the cliff next to her, heading upwards and spiking towards the sun, as she looked to the top. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to a dark shape at the top. It looked like a bird, but she'd never seen one that kind before. Bigger than any she'd ever seen.

"Either a raven, a crow, or something worse," Ruby muttered. Her eyes narrowed a bit, "Weiss, Blake, Yang, we need to hurry," she said as she started to panic. Yang didn't question her sister, instead pushing Blake to start to run down the path. Weiss took only a moment behind.

"Why!? What was it, I don't see it!" Weiss was complaining as Ruby slowed down just enough to grab her hand.

"Ruby has this reaction against only one kind of thing," Yang explained, pulling Blake to go faster. "Ruby, break to the cliffside!" Yang commanded as the Grimm descended. Ruby had recognized it only slightly faster than Yang had. A dark raven shape, nearly as big as a tree itself, with a large bony mask and wings the size of a house. On each side. A Grimm. A Grimm bird.

Weiss froze. "Yang, take Weiss! I'll lead Blake out!" Ruby commanded, grabbing Blake's hand and heading straight for the forest down below.

"We can't, I don't know the path from there!" Blake started to say, as Yang gave her a solid push. From the way she'd frozen, it was obvious that she'd never actually seen a Grimm before, but she knew the signs. And the signs were here.

Yang's powerful grip grabbed onto Weiss' hands. "We don't have time for you to freeze," Yang said as she pulled the magus onto her back just as the Grimm landed in front of them, solidly hitting the path.

Yang had originally envisioned it the size of a tree, but she was thinking she'd have to revise that. It was as big as a freaking mountain top on its own. It carved over the path, it's black feathers absorbing more light that Yang thought it could ever take. It's bony mask hid its black beady eyes, filled with hatred so full that Yang could feel it completely. She didn't have time to make sure that Weiss was comfortable.

Surprisingly the magus was still mostly there, but she'd obviously frozen up in fear. Yang felt it too, the fear that dug deep into her bones, deep into her soul, pulverizing the ability to move, the ability to think.

"Hostile ice aid us!" Weiss screamed out, straight into Yang's ear. She didn't have time to reprimand the girl as she raised her hand, and ice came out.

It hit the bird Grimm dead on, and Yang was about to celebrate for a moment as the ice froze over its feathers, before it raised its wings once and the ice broke off instantly.

Yang took that as her cue to book it. "Don't suppose you needed your rapier to be more effective!?"

"It's...no it can happen with out a weapon, but...it just shrugged it off..the most powerful spell I have..." Weiss started to stutter as Yang headed straight for the cliff. Ruby and Blake had already jumped, it looked like.

The Grimm gave another loud caw, or a roar, or a howl, it was nearly impossible to tell with only one set of ears in Yang's mind, as the wings simply crushed against each other. Hundreds of thousands of feathers screamed out at them, each one black as night as sharp as the sharpest sword that Yang had ever seen. She could dodge and duck them on her own, maybe, but with Weiss...she had no choice but to grit her teeth and bear the wounds as her arms and legs were slice and cut.

One hit her torso, and it was all Yang could do to not cry out. That one had hurt, and it forced her to roll backwards a bit, which only made Weiss shout more in pain. She must have gotten hit too.

Yang stood tall as the bird gave one awkward step forward, and then another. It could just do another of those feather moves if she gave it time. And there was no trap this time to give her the extra edge. Which meant there was really only one way out. "Look, an eagle!" Yang cried out, pointing behind the thing's shoulder. "A big, black, female eagle!"

There was no big black eagle there, of course, but Yang could hope that the bird would take the bait. It actually seemed to for a moment, as it turned its head completely around like an owl could.

Yang took the moment to jump off the cliff, before the bird gave another loud angry caw, angered at being fooled by the most common trick in the book.

The cliff wasn't shallow, but it wasn't the worst cliff she'd ever jumped off either. She jumped off one of set of the rocks, landing with a grunt on the forest floor.

They'd made it. "By the Light that was a Grimm..." Weiss muttered under her breath.

"Not out of the fire yet!" Yang warned as she started to sprint towards the forest's interior. The bird Grimm landed solidly right where they'd just been, dozens of trees being worked up by the Grimm's arrival. Yang took the dust given up by the trees as another attempt to simply run away. She could find Blake and Ruby in a moment, but now she had to get Weiss to safety. "Please tell me you have some spells to help with this!" Yang commented.

"I do, but it's one person only!" Weiss cried out. She looked behind her at the giant bird. "I can run on my own now!" Weiss tried. Yang didn't bother trying to let her down, instead simply dropping her where she was.

Fortunately Weiss had to have known that she'd be trying something like that, because immediately the girl just disappeared and appeared shortly ahead of even Yang. "Wish the rest of us could do that..." Yang muttered under her breath. The bird Grimm gave out another angry roar, before it took to the skies. Yang could almost feel its beady eyes on her, glaring at her with the irrational hatred that all of the Grimm seemed to possess.

She kept her eyes on Weiss, who only did the disappearing trick twice more before she stopped, heading to the interior of the forest. Yang followed her, hoping that she had some kind of magic that would help them find Blake and Ruby. Particularly Ruby. But no one would blame being attacked by a Grimm for getting separated. That was an act of nature, similar to a rockslide or an earthquake. It was going to happen. And it had shrugged off Weiss' best magic spell.

Although really, 'best' magic spell wasn't really saying much. It was a blast of ice. Effective, sure, because Yang had felt the cold as it hit the creature. She could see the ice buildup on its feathers before it had simply opened its wings once, shattering it all. The Grimm soared overhead, giving another angry caw. Yang hid underneath a tree, knowing that they couldn't fight such a thing just yet. Or ever, really, if she was to make that known too.

She took a breath with relief as the bird Grimm seemed to disappear over another mountain. She looked around for a moment, expecting to see someone, anyone there, but instead all she saw was more forest.

It was the type of forest untouched by people though, faunus or human. Ferns and sticks abounded everywhere, and Yang almost felt as if she was back on Patch. She dared not call out though, knowing that to do would only risk the Grimm coming back for them.

A small growl came from behind her, and Yang smirked as she saw the boar. It was a tiny small thing, probably just barely out of its momma's sights. Yang was about to teach it a lesson.

A few moments later it was sent running, Yang giving it a quick kick in the butt to send it on its way a bit faster.

She glanced around, seeing no change at all since the Grimm. "Next time, Yang," she muttered to herself, "it might be best if you both have those seemingly empty bags. Then at least I could have one of those ration bars. Maybe steal from Blake's. That would teach her," she muttered to herself, punching her knuckles together, heading towards in the direction that she knew the path generally lead.

From what she remembered of the maps, the path would cross over a river close to where they'd been. Which meant there was a river in here. A river meant someplace to get water, and food. From there, she could find Ruby, Blake, and Weiss.

Honestly, though...if she had to be honest, she was just looking for Ruby.

I'm trying to really bring up more of Yang's 'mother instincts' in this fic. Think I'm doing okay at it.

Posting this late due to a migraine. First ever for me, actually, so 0/10 do not recommend. I'll answer everyone's comments when my head decides to stop using a sledgehammer against itself.

Until Next Time!

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Blake - 18

The forest was much larger than Blake was expecting it to be. The trees were taller than any she'd ever seen before, and although she'd traveled this pathway many times, particularly in the last year, this was the first time she'd ever seen a nevermore attack.

Hopefully it would also be the last one, because that was terrifying.

It had to be bigger than any inn she'd ever seen before. And that was just its body, with its wingspan it had to be triple, or maybe even quadruple that size! Each feather was as long as a fence post, and probably thicker and harder than! Ruby had dragged her into the forest down the cliff, practically pushing her off herself as Ruby dived down. Blake wasn't afraid of heights, she'd always had the preternatural ability to 'slow down' in midair.

The less particularly able people always blamed it on her being a cat faunus, but really it mostly was because she just...knew how to fall. And when Ruby disengaged and pushed her towards the cliff, mostly because a lot of the thicker and sturdier looking trees were closer to the cliff side than far from it, Blake immediately took control of herself in the air, and landed softly on some of the branches.

Before Ruby plowed into the branches next to her, and Blake winced as she heard the small 'ow' come from the girl.

That was when the nevermore, the giant raven Grimm, decided to roar and howl, and that was when Blake and Ruby thought it would be an excellent idea to run really, really fast.

She did look up to see Yang and Weiss following them using the same method, but it was the nevermore itself that worried her the most. It was chasing right after them.

"Ruby, we need to help Yang and Weiss!" Blake shouted to get the girl's attention. She must have already been plotting something, as she turned around, and...did something that caused a very, very loud boom. It echoed and howled and roared and dipped and dived and bombed into Blake's ears, all four of them, and sent Ruby herself backwards by a good few feet.

The thing itself, whatever it was, didn't seem to have much effect on the nevermore. It did give a hilarious quiet squawk as it fired more feathers downwards into the treeline, far from Blake and Ruby, and hopefully far from Yang and Weiss too.

"What was that?" Blake asked quietly. At least, it was quiet to her.

"What!?" Ruby shouted back at her. At least, Ruby looked as if she was shouting. To Blake, at least, it was far quieter, almost like a whisper. She could read lips, at least.

"I asked, what was that!" Blake shouted back, but this also came out at not much volume higher than a whisper.

"What!?"

"For the...never mind," Blake muttered, barely even hearing herself.

"What!?"

The ringing in her own ears took a while to die down, and the nevermore had, in that time, flown off to the top of the nearby mountains. It was dwarfed by said mountain, but still easily able to seen at the top, a small black dot amongst the white snow.

"What was that?" Blake asked, now in much more usual volume. Ruby was rubbing her own ears, trying to probably get her own hearing back.

"Something I've been trying," she said. "Crescent Rose has the ability to fire a pure iron slug. It takes me a long time to make the right kind of slug, but I've been getting better. I have to reload each time I fire it though."

"Did you actually hit?"

"Did you not see that? That was a quick turn fire! Of course I bloody hit it!" Ruby cried out. "It was also big enough that I couldn't miss even if I wanted to!"

"I've never seen a nevermore that size."

"A nev...Grimm have names!?"

Blake blinked in surprise. Did Ruby not know this? She thought it was common knowledge. Even in Menagerie, where they had more fanciful names like 'Death Stalker' and 'Sand Storm Worm', they had names. "Did you...not know that?"

"I thought Grimm were just called Grimm."

So she didn't know. That was fine. "Oh. Yeah, Grimm have names depending on what they look like. The big bird ones are called nevermores, after some ancient Mistralian poem. The bug ones are called lancers, and they're around here too."

"The wolf ones?" Ruby asked, looking a bit more excited at that one.

Blake raised an eyebrow. "A beowulf," she answered honestly. She'd only seen them once or twice, large pack beasts that resembled wolves crossed with humans or faunus. There were also bigger ones, but she'd never seen one before, and honestly if they ever did run across one, they would probably be dying from it.

"So that's what it was," Ruby said softly, looking away. "The one in Patch was a beowulf."

"You killed a beowulf?" Blake knew they had, but she wanted to hear the full story. Were they just lucky, as they seemed to have thought they were, or were they actually, legitimately, really good? Admittedly if the girl could turn around while running, fire an iron slug out of a weapon that was most definitely not designed to be firing that kind of thing, and still hit a nevermore, she was probably really good. But was Yang?

Speaking of, the trees were silent now. The wind had passed by gently, which meant birds and other bugs should be doing their song. They weren't.

They weren't alone.

"Yeah. Well, not quite. There was a temple, there, filled with traps. We went a back way into it, because we didn't know that's where we were at first. After...we went the wrong way at first," Ruby started, stopping and changing what she was about to say. Blake had done it enough to know what that sounded like.

"But on the our way back, we saw it. We thought it was hopeless. Grimm are tough, and we'd fought one before, one of those small pig ones. Ran from it."

"Boarbatusks, the Valeans call them. Menagerie always called them Skeleton Boars."

"That sounds ominous. Anyways, yeah we ran from it. The beowulf however, was between us and the exit. No way of getting around, and the way we came in was collapsed. So...we fought. In an attempt to run. Yang punched it in the face, I got a few hits in on the side of its legs, but it didn't matter."

Blake's ears, all four of them, were going crazy now. She kept listening to Ruby's story, just because so far it seemed as if the girl was telling the truth.

But the trees around her seemed much quieter. There were others around, she could tell, but she couldn't quite know which ones. The trees all started to look the same, except for a single one that had a mark, her eyes zooming in on it.

Three claw marks over a wolf head.

The symbol of the White Fang. But was the symbol new or was it old? Blake tried to steer Ruby gently over to it, keeping an eye out to try to get a read from it.

"The beowulf charged onto Yang again, and she pushed me out of the way. I landed on a trap, you know the kind that moves floors? It made the floor the beowulf had just stood on raise to the ceiling. Repeatedly. As fast as it could."

Blake winced. The mark was new, which meant that now the White Fang would probably be trying to lead them either out of the forest or to their death. Well...she'd paid up this month, so unless they wanted their cash cat to give up the canary, they'd probably save her. But she knew the White Fang; they'd be watching. No chance of saving Ruby.

Or Weiss, or Yang.

Ruby glanced at the mark. "Fairly new," she said instantly, "which means that someone else is out here. You know the mark?" she asked.

Oh thank goodness a way to warn her without warning her. It would seem more suspicious of her, both to Ruby and to the White Fang, for her to not answer the question. "It's the mark of the White Fang. They're out here."

"Which means that we could be accosted by them at any time," Ruby muttered. "Wonderful. Think they know where Qrow Branwen is?" she asked.

The sound of mocking laughter filled the trees around them. "That answers that question," Ruby muttered. Blake stared at her in surprise. Had she known that the White Fang was around? How had she even come up with that kind of manipulation? She was obviously smart enough to put two and two together to get four, but to put two and sixteen together and come out with thirty two?

"And little flower and kitty are coming to try and hunt us down," one of the mocking voices said. "I don't think they can," another one answered.

"We're not hunting you," Ruby said, and Blake caught the very little 'yet' she added onto the end, "but right now we're just heading to Mountain Glenn."

"That's unfair of you," the first voice called out. "Thinking you can just walk out of here."

"Are...you robbing us?" Blake asked hesitatingly. "Because..."

"We know who you are, Blake Belladonna," the second voice answered, "And yes, we are," he finished, before the owners of the two voices showed up next to a tree.

Faunus, the both of them, one with a raccoon tail and one with raccoon ears. "Money or your lives," the one with the ears said. His voice was the first one. Blake had also never met these two, because otherwise they would know that she was so far out of their league it wasn't even funny. Their legs were shaking. Their weapons were some kind of whip or fabric sword, and what looked like a mild cleaver.

The only thing unique about it to separate it from a meat cleaver was that it was painted black. "So, what's it going to be?" Tail asked, his mouth smirking even as Blake could tell he was scared shitless.

Someone was forcing these two to do this. She reached for her daggers, as Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose into an offensive stance. "Remember, no killing," she muttered.

Blake nodded. From here, maybe she could ask these two where Weiss and Yang had gone off to. Mountain Glenn wasn't too far from here, only a few days travel at best. It hadn't been designed to be too far. Tail, the one with the cleaver, gave a shout as he ran towards them. He ran towards Ruby, Blake noticed, as Ears decided that she would make a good target. With his whip...sword...ribbon...thing...she wasn't sure what to call it.

He charged at her with it just as his...she was certain they were brothers, just based on general facial shapes. They had the same brown hair, slightly disheveled. The same nose, same general height...they looked close to twins.

It reminded her strongly of the Albains, from back in Menagerie, but she'd only known them for a short time before she was taken.

The first attack she pushed extra energy in her legs to dodge, letting his now regular sword, as that's what it turned into when he got close enough for her to be able to tell, slam into the tree next to her. She punched him in the nose with the base of her dagger, before she practically danced behind him, slamming the base of her other hand's dagger into where his kidneys were.

If Tail were the one fighting her, she'd probably pull his tail too. That was always a painful way to make sure a faunus couldn't fight back.

Ears growled as he wrested the sword away from the tree. "Let's shift!" he yelled to his brother, only to pause as his brother was pushed against a tree, with the base of Ruby's scythe against his neck. "Or...let's not," he said after a moment.

"Good plan," Ruby suggested. Blake hadn't seen her fight, but these guys were weak even compared to the bandits that they'd fought earlier, but she'd obviously handled it herself.

The cleaver was on the ground, and Ruby reached down to pick it up, handing it to Blake gently. "Here, keep it. We should keep them disarmed. You two know the forest well?" Ruby asked.

"Do we? We're the best at this forest!"

"Yeah, we've lived here all of our lives! No one knows this forest better than we do."

Tail, and then Ears. Blake tilted her head quietly. "And you two work for the White Fang?" she asked. There was something about them, besides a lot, that spoke that they didn't know much about the bandit clan. For one, the White Fang usually stole from travelers on the roads, not in a random forest. Two, they also wore masks when doing it so they can easily blend in when going back to a major town.

These two didn't have the masks, or the training, or the right location. These two probably weren't White Fang, and were just...using the name.

Blake made sure to never mention this to Adam when or if she met up with him at Mountain Glenn. He'd take the insult personally.

"No, no, not at all!" Tail called out, seemingly more scared by the name drop. "We just...use their name around here! No one drops into the forest much, except for old ruin travelers and they're kinda useless!"

"So you're still bandits," Ruby summarized. "That's nice. Disarm then," she said, staring at Ears. Ears instantly dropped the blade, and Blake picked it up.

It was a nice sword, she had to give it that much. It connected to the cleaver as if it was a sheath, and the ribbon would work well with it acting as a throwing dagger. Now if she could find a Returning rune to add to it, she'd be set.

She only knew of it because Perry had one on his weapon, a type of four sided dagger thing. A starknife, he called it, that was attuned to him so he could recall it at any time. Instantly helpful, but Perry himself was rather cowardly, so it didn't see much use.

"Please don't kill us," Tail said quietly as he pushed himself further against the tree. Ruby pretended to think about it. The longer she took, the more scared the both of them got.

"You said you know this forest well," Blake commented. "We have two others lost here. Find them," she commanded, getting both Tail and Ears to pin up, before they ran. Ruby took down Crescent Rose a second later.

She waited until they were gone. "That was easy. I didn't even get hit, did you?" she asked.

Blake shook her head. "No, but it was a near thing at the beginning. Had to use a trick to make sure I made it out unscathed. Think they'll find Weiss or Yang?"

"If they find Yang, they're probably getting punched. Weiss...I'd give them fifty fifty. She doesn't seem quite to have the same talent as we do."

"She's just less experienced. Anyone with a spark, no matter how small, is still a dangerous threat."

"Oh trust me, I know," Ruby answered. "You're gonna use that?" she asked, pointing to the sword and cleaver.

Blake shrugged, before she sheathed the sword into the cleaver. It was light, and fairly easy to carry, and the ribbon added an easy way to put it on her shoulder. "Might not be a bad thing. Worse comes to worse I still have my daggers to fall back on."

"It's a sword. Swords are easy," Ruby shrugged. "See them, slash them," she said, making slashing motions with the staff of Crescent Rose. "Which way to Mountain Glenn from here?"

"It's north from here, but we'd have to go through the forest. From there we'll meet back up the road at the river," Blake explained.

Ruby nodded. "Right. We should head there then, as that's where Yang will probably be. It'll be easier to meet up with her there than to try to find them in the forest."

"Will they know which way to go?"

"Yang would."

"That's also assuming they stick together," Blake pointed out, and Ruby froze for a moment. "You didn't think of that, did you?" she asked.

"No I didn't," Ruby muttered. "Alright. Old fashioned way then?" she asked, as Blake nodded. She thought that meant simply yelling for Weiss and Yang.

She wasn't. She fired the iron slug of Crescent Rose, and Blake wasn't sure when she'd reloaded it but she obviously had, straight up.

The echoing roar forced Blake to wince as she held all four of her ears. "I really wish you'd have warned me!" she called out.

"What!?"

Oh gods they were back to this, Blake thought. Well, it couldn't have been much worse. There could be Grimm around, or Ears and Tail could have come back and then they'd all be doing the same thing. She waved her hand around as if to say to ignore it.

After the ringing went away, Blake confronted her again about it. "Warn me before you fire that thing, in the future. It's very loud," she said, narrowing her eyes into a glare and hoping that Ruby got it.

The girl didn't seem to. "What?" Ruby asked, cupping her hand over her ear. Before Blake could do much more than groan Ruby grinned and waved her hand. "Sure thing. If I have the choice to, in the future, I'll warn you. Or I'll figure out someway to not make this so loud that it wakes everything up."

Blake blinked, taking a moment to take in her surroundings. While they were in the middle of a forest, and it looked almost identical no matter which direction she looked in, now that she was trying to focus on it there was sound again. Small birds chirped in the air, the sound of bugs buzzing around.

"It's back," she noted. Ruby turned, slightly visibly confused, "The songs. The buzzing. They all went away when the nevermore flew over head. Animals don't get hunted by Grimm though, but that doesn't mean they aren't wary of them."

"Does that mean there's more Grimm in the forest?"

Blake shrugged. "Probably. It wouldn't surprise me if there was. Do you think they heard Crescent Rose go off?"

"Yang and Weiss or the Grimm?"

"Both. Hopefully only the former but I've long since learned to live with cynicism."

Ruby grinned. "They heard. Crescent Rose isn't quiet, as we both know. I wouldn't be surprised if Yang was running this way with Weiss right now."

Blake nodded, before standing around for a few minutes. When it seemed like Ruby was going to fire again, she covered her ears this time and waited for the inevitable roar. With her ears covered, it wasn't nearly so bad this time around, and she could hear almost immediately, including when the sounds of the forest simply stopped.

Right, animals and loud sounds were not two things that went together. She pulled out the sword and cleaver, deciding to use this time relatively appropriately. It would take her a long time to go from two daggers hand to hand to using whatever this was.

"What are you going to name it?" Ruby asked after watching for another few minutes. Blake gave a quick glance to the sun. If Weiss and Yang didn't come soon, they'd have to spend the night under the moon out in the forest. It wasn't as if it was the worst place in the world, but there were Grimm around.

"Name?"

"You don't name your items?" Ruby asked. "Like Crescent Rose here," she pointed out, pointing to the scythe.

"Most of the time, no," Blake admitted. "I mean, I use daggers. They're easy to replace, fairly cheap, and decent throwing knives if you have nothing else," she shrugged.

"Yeah, but now you have something new!" Ruby grinned, pointing to the sword and cleaver combo. "I'm trying to come up with a name for Yang's new thing, but nothing's quite stuck yet. I'm waiting for her to name it once I give it to her."

"Hmm...maybe. Are you going to fire again?" Blake asked. Ruby nodded, and she carefully covered her ears, waiting for the loud roar. "How many slugs do you have for that thing?" she asked, watching as Ruby reloaded it.

It was a delicate procedure, it seemed. The first part was making sure that the powder that she used went in first, and then the iron slug. Although, calling it a slug was rather an insult to the creatures. It was rather just a misshapen hunk of metal, barely fitting within the scythe. It was no bolt, no arrow that she'd ever seen before.

"I have a fair few," Ruby commented. "I can actually probably take some time to make some elixirs too, we'll need those," she said softly, "especially if Yang or Weiss are hurt."

"I don't think there's much that can hurt those two, at least if they're doing things right," Blake admitted. "Never seen an alchemist at work, either."

"It's not hard," Ruby muttered as she put folded Crescent Rose to its small form. She pulled out the bag from right next to her bodice, which is a place that Blake would absolutely not have stolen from if they'd had that the first time around. There are some things that even she wouldn't do. A small book came out, along with a few other pieces of equipment.

Most of them were minor, and not quite a full alchemist's kit. Blake had gotten actually a pretty amount of coin for it, if she had to honest. She supposed she should feel bad, and to be fair she kinda did, but mostly because she just...didn't get away with it. But Ruby, especially Ruby, was offering something new. "Do you think those two knew Qrow Branwen?" Blake asked.

Ruby shook her head as she mixed together some strange chemicals that Blake had no idea what they were. "I don't think so. They might have just laughed it off to try to mess with us. Or maybe he did come through here. Yang knows almost nothing about him, except that he was a friend of Dad's."

Blake felt a pang in her heart for her own parents, locked away on the island of Menagerie. She had been young when she was taken, but not so young she couldn't recall their faces and their names, their scents and their voices. She was careful to not to try anything to show for it, although it must have not worked. "Did you ever know your parents?" Ruby asked quietly. "I'm too young to have met Mom, although Yang says she was the greatest."

"I...did."

"What happened?" Ruby asked. Blake winced a bit, and Ruby immediately backtracked. "I, I mean if you want to tell me."

She weighed the pros and cons in her head. She should probably get this out sooner and later, and if not to Ruby than to whom? Ruby had already said she'd help her...best get the full story out at some point. She took a deep breath, when they were interrupted by a loud shout not too far off.

"Weiss, it was this way!" that was Yang's voice.

"I think I know which way a loud sound would be, Yang!" Weiss called out. "And it came from over there!"

Blake covered her ears again as Ruby fired another shot into the air. "Ow," Yang's voice shouted. "That definitely came over there."

"Yes, yes, fine I agree. It came from over there," Weiss' voice finalized before the two showed up in the treeline. Yang looked a bit bloodied, but was mostly okay. Weiss, on the other hand, looked like she'd been through a few dozen bramble bushes and then dived in for a second round.

"There you two are," Blake muttered as Ruby shot forward to give her sister a hug.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Weiss - 19

Weiss wandered around the forest, wondering when her life had gotten this strange. And it was strange, certainly. She would have loved to be back in Atlas, in front of a warm, cozy fire with a good book on her lap as she practiced her singing.

But instead, she'd just been attacked by the biggest bird of existence. It reminded her a lot of Atlas' mythical rocs, large birds that were nearly a mile in wingspan. The Grimm, of course, was nowhere near that size but it certainly didn't seem like it from close up! And it's power! It hadn't dodged her magical spell at all. It just...had no effect. She knew she had hit it dead on, and with her most powerful spell she could cast.

Chilling Spray it was called. So called as it sent dozens of icicles straight into a small area in front of the caster. It could be dodged, of course. Blake probably wouldn't have too much trouble dodging it.

But it hadn't dodged. It hadn't even tried to dodge, it just stood there and shook it off, despite not being a spell that should have been able to have been shrugged off! Like it hadn't mattered! Her strongest spell, and one of only two she could reliably cast of that strength, gone.

True, she hadn't used an actual spellstrike with it, but that shouldn't matter. Spells cast from her blade were just as effective as those cast from the hand!

And then, like an idiot, she'd used most of her charges of Warp Step. Admittedly, she was also using it to run away from the giant black pigeon of doom, so she'd succeeded on at least that front. But now she couldn't see Yang. And that meant she was...now alone.

By herself. Which was what alone meant. But no, she was by herself. In this forest. By herself.

Maybe she needed to be alone more if this how her mind thought the third time she was effectively alone. It's not like their group was permanent, after all, and the next job after this, wherever it may be, she'd probably have to do alone. She could do that.

She was Weiss Schnee! Granddaughter of Nicholas Schnee, the man who founded the Schnee School of Magic. She was no princess, no lord or noble. She was a magus!

As if to answer her, the tree in front of her started to move, and then she realized it was no tree. Long stringy white webs came from its...well, not its branches, but it's legs.

A spider. Wonderful. She took our Myrtenaster, recalling everything she knew about giant spiders of Vale. Most of what she knew was giant spiders of Atlas, because they were not quite a perfectly common foe, but they were certainly not uncommon. Avoid it's fangs, obviously. Mostly a constitution poison, if she did get bit. She wouldn't have the best at that, having a simple constitution and weariness against poisons and such. It was one of the reason why Father would never let her have a drink at dinner.

Winter had mentioned something of giant spiders. Their legs, if big enough, could be used to act as a shockwave, but this one was tiny compared to the ones that Winter had said could do that. So no shockwave, avoid the poison.

Its eight eyes stared at her, and she watched her own reflection in them. Mytrenaster at the ready, she jumped back just as the spider lunged at her, fangs glazing with a green liquid. Fortunately, she was more than capable of handling something so trivial as a giant spider. The moment she landed, she lunged forward, not at all surprised as the spiders thick carapace blocked her blow. Within another moment she pulled out her spellbook, already knowing the exact spell she wanted.

She didn't have many spells left in her spark though. Maybe this one and...maybe one, two more, even in the cantrip level. The weakest of the spells, but each one had its uses too. This one, ignition, was useful because it could be channeled into her sword, and then if she hit it just right could light the target on fire.

And spider's on fire also meant 'webs on fire' which weren't a bad thing because she hated spider webs.

It could also mean forest on fire too but the spell wasn't actually that destructive, unlike say, the most common of all powerful spells, fireball. Everyone knew fireball. Everyone knew a variation on fireball. It was so ubiquitous that at one point the Schnee School of Magic had tried to do something about it, and when asked how many people knew fireball, almost every single wizard and witch had raised their hands.

Naturally, nothing was done about it, because it was also very, very useful. Ignition, though, was its cantrip counterpart, and not at all useful, even for a magus.

Mytrenaster glowed with a red light as she swung it towards what she hoped was a vital point, a joint on its legs. It had a solid connection, and she felt it, but almost instantly she was pushed away by the other legs.

She felt her side start to bruise up, but fortunately she maintained her hold on Myrtenaster. It would difficult to do much without her sword.

The spider didn't howl, it didn't roar, but it did give off a strange scuttling noise as it covered the distance between her and it within moments.

It's fangs lunged in for her, and as she tried to jump away once more the spider's legs happened to block her, tripping her up just enough that her leather armor was ripped up by the fangs, narrowly missing her skin. She could almost hear the hiss of the acid and poison as it ate away at the armor.

Her spellstrike wasn't ready anymore, and she'd have to spend at least a second or two to bring it back up to charged. Every time she hit with it, she needed to recalibrate Myrtenaster to accept whatever spell she pushed into it.

It was very annoying, considering how many others things she needed to keep in mind, but that was being a magus. Being a wizard, too, had its own ups and downs. Supposedly clerics did too, but she'd only met a few capable healers. Most of them thought they were the gods gifts to humans. In Weiss' mind, the God of Light would never stoop so low as to bestow healing powers to anyone who did not truly deserve it, but she could do without their attitude.

All of these thoughts flashes through her mind, just as the spider was suddenly pummeled from the backside. Weiss stumbled back as the spider turned, and she could see a large black mark, where a large bludgeoning force had hit it with fire.

"Come on you big thing! You think you're ready!?" Yang's voice shouted on the opposite side. Weiss forced herself up, readying herself for the next opening of the spider.

Yang was here. Maybe not the best person to be lost in the forest with, but at least Yang was pragmatic enough to know when her employer was on the ground about to be eaten by a giant spider. Could she really say the same about Ruby and Blake? Blake was more likely to laugh at her and steal her stuff, as all thieves like her did, and Ruby...well, she was a wildcard.

And Weiss has never liked wildcards.

"Aim for the same spot I hit!" Yang advised from the other side. "It'll probably have weaker armor there!"

She gave a mocking laugh as the spider lunged at her, making sure to hit the legs away away before she could be hit by them. Weiss nodded, even though Yang couldn't see her, and readied another spellstrike.

Yang continued to punch and dodge, basically doing nothing against the hard carapace armor of the spider. It's blows weren't just glancing off either, slowly Weiss could see bruise after bruise as the hairy legs of the things struck home again and again.

No, she knew what to do. She wished she had prepared more actual attack spells, but her only other spell she'd prepared for the day was Endure. She wasn't like a sorcerer, who had powerful spells at their beck and call whenever they wanted, just less of them. She channeled frostbite into Myrtenaster again, and waited just a bit longer for the spider to jump onto Yang. And it literally jumped, its fangs sinking deep right into her right arm. Yang didn't scream, to her credit, and instead her entire aura screamed 'fire'.

Weiss took the moment that it was partially distracted to strike the thing right in its rear, in the same spot where Yang had punched it. True to her word, the thorax had been badly damaged by the force, and Myrtenaster was a precise weapon, that dealt a lot of force to a single area. The blade sunk into its flesh just as her spell went off.

The spider flinched badly, a good half of its thorax frozen over as the spell went through its course. If Ruby and Blake had been here, they'd have taken advantage of the attack for certain, practically blowing it to giblets. But they weren't, and so Weiss would have to pick up their slack. What were they even doing at this point? Why hadn't they found Weiss and Yang yet?

The brawler took a deep breath as she jumped back, her head starting to sweat profusely as she panted. She looked a bit pale. The spider's poison had obviously affected her at least a little bit. "That hurt..." Yang muttered. "But alright, if you want to die, I'm more than happy to lend you a few coins!" she said, her fist encased with fire.

One of the spider's back legs turned around and swiped at Weiss, hitting her arm with a solid thwack. She could feel the bruising start instantly, even through her leather armor. She'd have to get better armor at this rate. Or maybe something that could actually protect her.

Especially if she couldn't fight a giant spider by herself! They were common! Winter could've breathed in this one's direction and had it fall down, and even Whitley, the witch that he was, would have an easier time with this thing.

Admittedly, he was also a nature witch, which meant most of his spells were of the destructive nature, compared to her own...well, she had mostly supportive spells. She'd have to look up some way to find more destructive ones.

She grit her teeth as she raised Myrtenaster one more time. No, she could do this. She was Weiss Schnee, a magus of the Schnee School of Magic. She had a powerful spark, just as every other magus and wizard ever would.

"This thing hits hard..." Yang muttered from the other side. Weiss could barely see her, trying to dodge each strike as it came her way, the fangs just barely missing her arm or legs. Already she was pale, her breath shallow.

After Yang had saved her from the Grimm. The nightmare personified, she was going to die to a giant spider.

Weiss narrowed her eyes. Not if she could help it. She prepared Myrtenaster one final time, and this time gave everything she could and more into the final cantrip spellstrike. Maybe she could do another one, if she got some rest, but she needed something more right now.

Her dashes were hoped as the rapier missed the vital spot, instead collapsing upon one of its legs rather than its thorax. The spider reflexively moved its back legs to try to hit her.

She'd missed. She put everything into that, and she'd missed. She let out a yell of pain and despair as she just waved her sword around, not caring that it was in front of someone, not caring that it was probably going to be the last thing she was going to do before she died, one last yell and scream of frustration.

"You can uh...stop cutting it up now. It's dead. You killed it," Yang muttered from the side. She was sweating ruthlessly. "Seriously, Weiss. Schnee, stop."

Weiss took a moment to take a few deep breaths. "Oh," she said, looking at the dead spider. She'd managed to hit a few vital spots when she was rampaging, and somehow that had done just enough damage to its brain to kill it. "So it is."

"You uh...you alright there?" Yang asked, attempting to look cool as she leaned up against the spider's carcass. Weiss could tell that despite her lackadaisical nature, she was leaning on it because she was tired more than anything.

"Yes. I will be alright. Thank you for your assistance," Weiss said, giving a small curtsy. Did she have anything to help with poison? She wracked her head for remedies to poison, but all she got was 'don't be poisoned'.

"That's nothing. It's why you're paying for us. Is there a 'get the boss out of a bad fight' fee?" Yang grinned, although Weiss could tell it was pained. Her usual lustrous blonde hair was slowly wilting, losing its near infinite shimmer.

Weiss blinked, before she shook her head. Her hands felt for her bag. If nothing else, Yang looked like she could use some kind of healing potion. "Here," she said, holding out a small red vial. "I have a bit of an emergency stash."

Yang stared at it in unhidden disgust, before she took it. "You know, most of the time I'd say I'm fine, but I'm...really hurting right now," she said, showing one hand that was resting on her hip. It was covered in blood. She popped the top and drank it all down instantly, and gave a small sigh. The smell of flesh weaving together permeated the small clearing. "Most giant spiders like this have a territory out in the forest only because they're guarding something," Yang said after a moment. "Thanks for the potion. Check around, see if there's some kind of box."

"Chests can't be that common," Weiss said. "It's usually the result of bandits taking a caravan's chest and then getting eaten by the spider."

"They aren't, not really, but things like boxes and such? Oh yeah," Yang said as she looked around.

Weiss glanced upwards, seeing one of the larger webs crossing each other, darkening at a certain point. "Could that be it?" she asked, pointing upwards. Yang took a glance up, wincing as she did, before she nodded.

"Yeah, that's it. Not sure how we can get it down though," Yang said, a bit of color coming back to her face. She was breathing a bit easier now.

Had she beaten the poison after it had affected her? That took a strength of will and body that Weiss wasn't certain Yang had, but then again, it was only a giant spider. 'Only', she reminded herself.

Only a giant spider that had almost killed her.

And would have, if it wasn't for Yang. Weiss nodded, before she sheathed Myrtenaster, and reached for her spellbook again. The thing about spellcasters, as she was absolutely certain everyone had forgotten, is that there is one thing that they are very, very good at. And that's their versatility.

"Guide my way," She incanted softly, as a small breeze picked up near her. It was a gentle breeze, and wouldn't be capable of much, even pushing anything more than maybe a feather. But it did have something more; it acted as a lightweight sword.

Yang froze as she felt the wind around her. "Gale Blast!" Weiss shouted, the final trust of the arm sending the wind towards the webs. The swords of air did their job, and slowly cut open the webs, swinging the dark spot lower.

"That's Gale Blast, huh?" Yang asked. Weiss nodded. "Seems close," she said darkly.

"Gale Blast is a cantrip," Weiss said softly, "and for it to do nothing but push you around is something that the spell's not capable of."

"Do you have to say the name?"

"No," Weiss shrugged. "I sometimes do, if only to ensure that my mind is on the right spell. Some magus do, some don't. Same with wizards, or druids. My brother uses a small dove for his spells."

"A dove? What does he do, kill it every time he needs a spell?" Yang smirked. Weiss gave a scoff, before she concentrated again on Gale Blast. One more, really, is all that should be needed before the 'chest' dropped onto the floor.

"No. He's a witch," Weiss commented before she winced as the last of the webs were cut from her spell, and the dark spot clattered to the ground. It was a chest, a dark brown box that was mostly crashed in from the hard drop to the forest floor.

"A witch? How does that work? I thought witches were all women," Yang said as she grabbed a small knife, cutting the last of the webs off of it. Weiss looked over her shoulder as Yang threw it open. "Well now..." she muttered.

A large echoing thud of sound roared through the forest. Yang looked up immediately. "That was Ruby," she said with a knowing glance.

"How can you be so sure?"

"She's the only one that has anything similar to what can make that sound," Yang explained. She was looking much better now that it had been a few minutes after the spider. The color had mostly come back to her face, and even the wounds had stopped bleeding. The healing potion had helped a lot, Weiss was feeling.

"What was that?"

"She's not sure what to call it yet," Yang shrugged. "Also, here," Yang said, throwing a small orange vial towards Weiss. "As repayment for the healing potion."

She glanced down at the orange vial. It wasn't a healing potion, so they weren't even in that sense. Definitely of some kind of use though. She'd have to spend some time trying to identify it later. "What all was in there?"

"That, a few red vials, and this," Yang said, holding up a small chain. At the end was a wolf fang wrapped in leather. "I can't use it, but maybe Blake could."

"What is it?" Weiss asked again, looking at it closer. It definitely had some kind of magic to it, but what it was she couldn't tell. It might have been out of the reach of the arcane. Considering a wolf tooth, it was likely that it was the more nature type than anything.

Winter could have identified it with ease.

"A wolf fang. You put it on some armor, crush it and try to trip someone. You end up strengthening your legs to really put the hurt on 'em," Yang explained. "Ruby explained them to me, and well, I use these," Yang said, poking fun at her own clothes. "So naturally, I can't use these."

"Why not? It's counted right?"

"Eh, yes and no. It's weird. Some magics are very specific when it says armor."

"I doubt that one is," Weiss shrugged. "It's a wolf tooth on some leather. I say put it on, and if anyone asks, just say that I said it should work."

"I don't think that's how magic works there Princess," Yang smirked but she put it on her clothes anyways.

"Who's the magus here?" Weiss felt attacked, but she knew she shouldn't be. Just because she knew the most about magic here didn't mean that she knew everything, but darn it she should've guessed that it was a talisman. It was blatantly obvious about it too.

And the fact that Yang had taken the other healing potions that were in the chest, too. She was feeling a bit envious about that. And all she got was this potion, whatever it was.

"Where do you think Ruby is, if she's using that...how is she doing that?" Weiss asked.

Yang shrugged. "I have no idea where. But it's fairly close by, so she couldn't have gone too far. And it was pretty loud, so she's close...relatively...by."

"How is she doing that? You didn't explain that part."

"That's because I'm not sure how it works. She knows how it works. Basically it's launching a small spear point or something of pure iron out of the shaft of Crescent Rose."

"...So it's a gun?"

"Is that what it's called?" Yang asked. Another loud boom went off, almost shaking the forest. "Okay, I think I know where that one came from," she said after a moment.

Weiss was holding her ears. "That's so loud...how can she handle that?" she asked. Yang started to head through the forest, and Weiss took the opportunity to follow closely.

"She doesn't, not really. It deafens her each time she tries it," Yang explained. "Also, it can be really effective when it hits, and she's getting better about it, but she needs help aiming still."

"How large is this iron point? You said it was the size of spear point. I'm surprised she's making anything with gunpowder."

"It does take her a while to reload," Yang said. "And most of the time she has to make them alchemically."

"She's an alchemist too?" Weiss said, her opinions of the red hooded girl quickly being thrown under the carriage. If Ruby was an inventor, and an alchemist, and as most Atlesians would call them, a gunslinger...then she had to be particularly strong.

"No, she just uses it to make the iron rounds," Yang explained. "But if you ask her to make bombs or something, she'd just look at your like she has no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh. Good," Weiss nodded. The last time she'd come across an alchemist, it had been a mad potioneer who almost burned down a quarter of Mantle. His bombs had been particularly vicious, and had gone off accidentally. The fire that came from them had been difficult to put out to say the least. It had taken James Ironwood himself to put out the fires.

Another loud round echoed out, and Weiss grit her teeth. That was closer. "Weiss, it was coming from this way!" Yang shouted as she rounded a pair of trees. Weiss blinked. She'd been going the wrong way again.

"I think I know from which way a loud sound came from!" Weiss shouted back. She was prepared to stand her ground and keep going when the loud sound echoed again.

"Ow," Yang said quietly. "Okay, this time it came from over there," she said, pointing the same direction she'd been going.

Weiss sighed. Her ears were starting to ring. "Yes, yes, fine, I agree. It came from over there," she said, following Yang to a smallish clearing out in the middle of the woods.

In the middle was Ruby and Blake, looking as if they'd been having a nice little picnic in the middle of the forest. Behind them was a small creek that ran through the forest, heading towards...actually Weiss wasn't sure.

"There you two are," Blake smirked. "Good to see you," the leather clad rogue said simply. "I wasn't sure if that Grimm got either of you."

"I knew it hadn't," Ruby said honestly. "You okay, Yang?"

"I'm fine, just a giant spider bite," Yang shrugged, and Weiss blinked before Ruby was suddenly right there looking over the puncture wounds. "Hey, I'm fine. Weiss gave me a healing potion."

"Doesn't mean you're still not poisoned Yang! Why didn't you take any of the elixirs!"

"You didn't give me any," Yang answered back. "It's fine though. I fought it back. It didn't get me that good. And you know I'm hardy."

"Hardier than most, certainly," Ruby grumbled. She turned to Weiss. "Thank you for taking care of her," she said simply.

"If anything I should be thanking her for taking care of me," Weiss answered honestly. "That giant spider would have killed me if she hadn't been there."

Blake nodded. "These woods are notorious for it," she answered simply. "We should head out of here as soon as possible."

Weiss agreed. "Yes, let's head out. I think the way to Mountain Glenn is...that way!" she said, pointing towards the creek.

Ruby giggled. "Wow, you're actually right," she said. "We still have a full few days of travel left. Hopefully we don't run into anything else," she said.

Weiss was certain that just because Ruby had said that, it meant that things were going to get a lot worse now. And still a few days of travel? Now she knew what she was going to ask when it came to what spell to get for her graduation ceremony. Teleport.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Ruby - 20

Ruby took a deep breath of the fresh cold air as the sun started to rise on the far side of the mountains surrounding Mountain Glenn. Despite Weiss' insistence that they were going to run into more Grimm, or more bandits, or just...more anything, really, the last few days had been relatively stable. There were a few scenarios where they had to do a few things more than just walking, but the way was fairly clear.

Except the river and the bridge. Weiss had complained about that one a lot until she realized she could just use one of her spells to simply...disappear to the other side. Ruby had to make a rope and get Yang to bring it over, just as they'd done in the mine back on Patch. Blake had just smirked until she'd jumped into the river, and climbed up the other side.

And there was that gremlin that threatened to eat their firstborn if they didn't give up their weapons and all of their money, but when Blake handed it a shell, it strangely...went away? Ruby didn't know what that was all about, but it said something about taking their money and walking away. "It thinks shells are money," Blake had shrugged when asked. "Most people around here just keep a shell with them for luck anyways, there's plenty around."

But that had been yesterday, and Blake had shown them her last spot to stay at for the night before she hit Mountain Glenn proper. It was a small set of bushes off to the side of the road, away from prying eyes, and with the right angle she could even hide the fire and smoke so it looked as if there was no one there. It had been her favorite spot, and if it wasn't for the lack of game trail nearby she'd have probably liked to stay there.

"How're you feeling?" Ruby heard Yang ask behind her. Her sister walked up behind her, putting her arm on Ruby's shoulder. Ruby grinned at her.

"I'm doing fine. You? Manage to like oats yet?" Ruby teased as Yang rolled her eyes. The present for Yang was almost ready. All she needed was a few more hours, probably tomorrow or by the time they first stay the night at Mountain Glenn. Already Ruby could see that Yang was getting suspicious. It wouldn't have been the first time she'd hidden away for a few days to work on a project for her sister.

Of course, the first time she did it, she was working on Crescent Rose. So naturally Yang was really surprised when she came out of the room holding a bag of elixirs for her sister.

"Now I know you're fine," Yang muttered under her breath. "I asked Weiss last night about the door again, after you went back to sleep," she said.

Ruby's mind immediately cut to the image of the magic door, sealed shut by powers unknown. Obvious even to her untrained eyes, she was simultaneously wondering what was behind it and why it had been sealed. She'd managed to ignore it for most of the trip. "And?" Ruby asked.

"She'd have to see it to try to make more sense of it," Yang said. Ruby nodded. That's about what she expected.

"I'm surprised you told her about it, all things considered. I still think Atlas has something to do with trying to kill us," Ruby said quietly.

"I don't think they did."

"Really?" Ruby asked. "Why not? What changed?"

"Weiss did. She said that while Gale Blast, the cantrip, is fairly common, any higher powered wind spell are surprisingly rare for most Atlas wizards," Yang explained. "If anything, it's more of a Mistral thing."

"So a Mistral wizard dressed up like an Atlas one to try to kill two Patch natives," Ruby summarized. "That makes less sense than the Atlas trying to find the door theory we had."

Yang shrugged. "The only thing speaks of something bigger than that to me," she said. Ruby had to give her that. But what she wanted to know, more than anything else, was why was there a Grimm there, and why did were the traps so lethal? Patch wasn't a big island, and yet they'd never seen the temple before.

"Is Weiss awake yet? Or Blake?" Ruby asked as she turned back to the 'safe area'. Blake had explained though that it wasn't exactly truly safe, it was just...safe-ish. Monsters could still find their way in, but they were rare. Grimm could easily find their way in, but fortunately they were much more rare.

"Weiss is doing her studying thing," Yang said, "And Blake's still sleeping. Figured that now would be a good time for a talk," she finished. Ruby nodded. She glanced over the mountains to see the rising sun, the morning clouds a deep orange red. Some of them bounced more white off, giving a white outline on the red, seconded only by the off-orange mountain outlines. "Red morning, sailors take warning," Yang said quietly.

Ruby nodded. "It's gonna rain here soon I think," she agreed.

"What are you two babbling about?" Weiss asked as she came out of the campsite, her spellbook chained to her hip again.

"Going to rain on your parade Snow queen," Yang grinned. Ruby rolled her eyes with a groan. Did she have to try to rile up Weiss?

"Snow queen!? I have a name! And it's not going to rain!"

"No, I agree with those two. It's going to rain soon," Blake's voice said quietly as she came out of the campsite. "I cleaned it up. We should be good to head out anytime after breakfast."

"How is it going to rain!? How can any one of you even tell!? Are you just trying to get on my bad side now!?"

"Weiss, why would we do that? All we have to do is say something to get on your bad side," Yang grinned, flicking out her blonde hair a bit. "We were both raised on Patch. Of course we can tell when rain's going to be coming in. Feel the air pressure. Notice that it's low."

Blake's ears flicked a bit. "These are how I can tell. Same way they can, just more sensitive. We have a few hours before it'll start."

"Fine then. I guess I'll agree with you then," Weiss rolled her eyes haughtily. "Remember who's paying you!"

"You only reminded us fourteen times in the last two days," Ruby smirked. "Trust us, we're not going to be forgetting it anytime soon."

Weiss pulled out one of the ration bars, going at it far more hungrily than Ruby would have guessed. Ruby reached into her own bag for three more, throwing one to Yang who looked at it with a look of disgust at it. She gave the other one to Blake, who took it with a soft smile. Ruby munched on hers, trying to take care to not notice the relative bland taste of it.

For morning entertainment, they had Yang. Ruby smirked as she watched her sister try very hard to get the bar down. Everything from trying to swig water to keeping her tongue deliberately out of the way.

The pathway down into Mountain Glenn was not steep, but wasn't well cared for either. A gentle slope down interrupted by near constant weeds and more than a few thick berry vines. In the summers and autumn, they would probably be thick with various berries, but for now all they were was a thorny mess. The ruins of the city were down below, old wooden structures that were filled to the brim with mold and broken glass. Only some odd portions stayed up just fine, the occasional completed house or shop that managed to stand the test of time.

The ground wasn't cobblestone like it was in Vale either, or the townstead of Patch. It was just plain dirt, with the weeds mostly having been stamped out. More than one of them had come back with a vengeance. Some houses had more sharp berry vines than the entire path did on the way down, the houses consumed by the brambles.

If Ruby had to be honest, it looked haunted, and wasted. "This is Mountain Glenn then..." she summarized as she looked around. Dilapidated shops with broken signs abound nearby, and the remains of an inn were found with one wall completely having broken down, the roof collapsing on it soon enough.

"Right. Our job here is to survey the wreckage and wastes, find if any monsters are around, and if so to kill them and move on," Weiss said as she pulled out the small scroll. "Easy enough."

"Avoid the north end," Blake spoke easily. "The north end is where the White Fang is currently making their base."

"Should you really be telling us that?"

"Probably not," Blake shrugged. "But...it should be fine, I hope," she murmured. Ruby gave her an uplifting smile, giving her a quiet nod. "If they start to come to us, find me."

"Better idea," Yang started to say. "We stay as a group. Don't split up. It'll be slower and take longer, but it's much, much safer."

"No, we don't want this to take too long," Weiss disagreed. "We'll find a place to stay that's safe, and one person to stay at camp at all times. The rest of us will meet there before sundown."

Ruby tried hard not to groan. That inevitably meant that she'd be staying back, as the youngest. Blake's eyes met hers, and she gave a silent nod, before turning to Yang, who also nodded. Good, they were in agreement. At least they'd meet up somewhere and move as a group even outside of the camp.

It was dangerous to move around in an unknown area without allies. It was one of the reasons why Ruby had pushed herself to keep up with Yang. Yang was strong, but she was much, much stronger with Ruby by her side. And their effectiveness was much higher as a team.

"Wouldn't it be much better if all of us were around?" Blake asked. "That way one person wouldn't have to stay with the campsite the entire day."

"Someone has to guard it against other monsters that come for easy food," Weiss said, her head held high. "Which is why that job will be mine."

Ruby blinked. Huh. She'd thought that since she was the youngest, she'd be that, but...well, if Weiss wants this job to be boring, that was up to Weiss. She shared a shrugged glance with Yang and Blake.

Yang disagreed, vehemently. "Ruby's the youngest. If nothing else, she should switch with you, so one day you go out and another day she goes out," Yang said, her red eyes glowing a bit.

Weiss stared her down. "Someone who can see the bigger picture should stay here," Weiss said. "This way I can maintain all data sources equally rather than bias my attention on one section."

Ruby had to stifle her laugh. 'Bias her attention'? Weiss's face was as hard as stone as she turned to look at Ruby, who met her gaze easily.

Yang stared hard, before she sighed. "Fine. I trust Ruby more in a fight anyways," she muttered. The inventor braced herself for the inevitable blowup. Something she'd learned about Weiss is that she hated being underestimated.

"You think I'm worth less in a battle than her!?" Weiss screeched. Ruby hand to hand it to Yang, if she wanted a point made, she was going to make it. She'd give this Weiss blow up a seven out of ten. There was one point where Weiss had actually started using curse words, and so far that was the record to beat. "Fine! I'll show you. I'll show you all. We're going as a group," Weiss commanded. She turned on her heel and started wandering further into the dilapidated city.

"Nice one," Blake commented to Yang with a small shake of the elbow, just enough so that Weiss wouldn't notice.

"Heh. She never stood a chance," Yang grinned. "Now we go as a group and be safer. Win win. Also, Ruby, points?"

"I'd give it a seven. Not quite the 'pushing Weiss into the freezing cold river after sunrise' speech, but close enough," Ruby shared with her.

"Eh, I'll take it. That still brings me to five points higher than the rest of you," she said, before she marched out after the white haired magus.

"Do you ever think that we're being mean to her?" Blake asked quietly after a second. "Trying to get her riled up like this?"

"She has to know by now we do it on purpose," Ruby answered, before she followed her sister. In only moments, they'd caught up to Weiss.

The laughing mood slowly dampened out of the way as they headed further into the city. The shops and inns started to fade out, slowly becoming more of the 'downtown' area, where the mercenaries guild would have been. It had a broken down sign in the front, slowly covered by ivy and bramble vines, that had the same sign as the mercenaries guild in Vale.

Next to it was an obvious grocery area, with dozens of leftover stalls in destroyed conditions. "What did happen to cause all this?" Weiss asked. "This is just...such a waste."

"It's Mountain Glenn," Blake shrugged, as if that explained it all. "About fifteen years ago, Vale tried to expand out. They hired mercenary after mercenary to keep them safe, and slowly they built up to this. People were here, and they were living. The farms were producing. The pathway between Vale and here was easy to get through, and well kept. The pathways between Mountain Glenn and the other cities were much less well taken care of, but no less easy to pass by."

"Sounds like it could have been a paradise," Weiss said. "So what happened?"

"Grimm," Blake said instantly. "The biggest horde of Grimm ever seen. Wizards from the Schnee School of Magic, were brought in to try and fight them. But Grimm are anti-magic, and there was nothing that they could do. The city was barely up for eight years."

"I think I remember hearing about this event," Weiss muttered after a moment. "It was one of the things that led to the founding of the schools in every kingdom, including Menagerie."

"It was," Blake agreed. "Vale...couldn't keep up with the amount of Grimm. Mercenary after mercenary was punted to here, regardless of whether or not they could keep up with the swarm of Grimm. It's why the reward system eventually replaced the star system for everything except the schools. They kept suggesting a lower star count than it actually was."

"And here we are now," Ruby said quietly, her voice echoing off into the distance. "It feels like the Grimm left the buildings."

"They do," Yang agreed. "But that's because the Grimm chase people, not buildings. It's what makes them dangerous. Time did most of the damage to this place."

Ruby nodded, and she glanced at some of the shop outlets. Most of the stalls had fallen apart, but there were a few where some woven baskets could still be found. The dirt in them had long since been emptied out, and Ruby supposed it was probably on the ground by now. "I don't see any monsters around," Weiss said as she looked around. "You'd think that with this much wilderness they'd be easy to find."

Blake shook her head. "This job is done almost on a yearly basis. And for this same reason too. Anything that we find that hasn't already been cleared out is probably too much for most mercenaries, except the most seasoned."

"This job has been done before? The monsters don't come from nowhere," Weiss said. "They don't spawn from the ground. Every one of them comes from somewhere."

"Most of the time. Exception is-" Blake started before she suddenly bowed her head, holding her hands over her ears. It took another moment before Ruby started to feel it, shaking in her bones.

A screech, unlike any that she'd ever heard. It was loud, louder than anything, including Crescent Rose. It burned itself into her ears, and she could feel her body start to compact from it. The volume was beyond simply being called 'volume'.

One of the stalls behind her collapsed onto the ground with a guttural falling thud. Ruby turned, and she hoisted Crescent Rose instantly to her waist height.

Trust Weiss to make a mistake as challenging fate to bring one of these things out.

It wasn't a bear, at least not at first. It had feathers, and its head was the shape of an owl. It's four paws leeched into the ground a bit, before it stood on its back paws, the once brown and iridescent feathers now falling apart, as if they hadn't been preened in years or even decades.

"Owlbear," Weiss took only a second to identify it. It moved around the stall, moving barely faster than a fly, before its head swiveled as if on a pike, its eyes narrowing at them in hatred.

"Not owlbear," Blake answered as she pulled up her new weapon. "A zombie owlbear. It must've been here when the Grimm came through!" she murmured as she jumped back.

The owlbear let out another of those horrifying screeches, and now that Ruby was able to brace herself, she could feel it niggle into her brain, almost forcing her to shake as the thing chittered at her. It wanted to eat her. It wanted to eat her.

Yang charged by her first before she could move. Her fists were aflame, and Ruby could see that Yang was doing damage as she promptly punched the owlbear a few times. Blake appeared as if out of the shadows behind it, using the cleaver that she had as part of her own strikes, almost dancing a bit as the short sword and cleaver worked in tandem.

Each thrust though did almost nothing. Ruby steeled herself, powering through the unnatural fear as it coursed through her.

"No!" Ruby shouted as she swung Crescent Rose onto its arm. The slashing edge of the scythe cut open the dilapidated, dried, and broken skin of the owlbear, and Ruby could tell she'd gotten a good hit in. That was before it moved with simple ease, tossing Yang and Blake aside before thrashed at her, ripping into her armor before it grabbed her.

"What's good against an owlbear!?" Weiss shouted as she ran behind the thing. She was shaking visibly, terrified of the beat, yet still forcing herself to fight.

Ruby felt her armor get squeezed as the bear tried to squeeze the life out of her, slowly crushing her ribs before Weiss tried to attack it, the rapier hitting against the feathers rather than the skin.

The owlbear then slammed Ruby into the ground, the harsh dirt digging into her back through the leather armor. It knocked the wind out of her instantly, and she felt herself freeze up before it tossed her farther away, crashing into one of the stalls. The wood was already broken enough that it didn't do anything more to hurt her, but the most she could do was wheeze a bit.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted as her sister succumbed to her anger problems. The zombie owlbear was hit once, twice, three, four times in succession, each one with Yang's fists on fire as hot as she could make them.

"Quick, like she was doing! Slash, not stab!" Blake yelled out as she did her own slashing. The short sword carved through the zombie's skin without problem, and each strike caused more of the dried husk to rip and tear.

Weiss nodded. She focused on her rapier, before she pulled out her spellbook, the air almost chilling a bit before she didn't stab, but slashed her rapier as hard as she could. The ice emanated from the blade into the zombie, and while one of its legs was frozen, and it was definitely feeling something, the rapier didn't have enough room to actually part the skin.

Ruby pushed herself up, hoisting Crescent Rose strategically. Alright, that was one part down. She was hurt, definitely, she was still kind of out of breath and definitely had seen better days, but she was alive and mostly still in one piece.

She pushed the scythe behind her, pulling the trigger on the iron slug. It burst out towards the dirt behind her, pushing her with far more force than she could give herself just by running. She swung Crescent Rose with all of her strength right as she passed by the zombie owlbear, and she felt her scythe head connect right with the thing's neck.

The head popped off after her, and Ruby grinned with success as the head fell with her, completely decapitated by her strike. She turned to see the owlbear fall to the ground, only to see it still moving.

Right. Zombie. Can't get decapitated because they move by magic. "Good idea Rubes!" Yang shouted before the owlbear slammed her into the ground. It turned around with its headless body and kicked Weiss away. "Ow," Yang deadpanned as she forced herself standing from the ground. "I don't think I'm doing much honestly," she said, giving another few punches onto the body of the thing. Even despite her hands on fire, it really didn't look as if it did much.

"I think you're doing fine," Blake said as she ducked out of the way of one of its claws near her head. Her short sword lashed upwards, cutting the dry skin on its arm. She took it as far as she could, cutting into the things shoulder. "Weiss, slash, not stab!"

"Rapier's weren't built for slashing things!" Weiss countered as she took a step back. She held her stomach with her hand, from where the thing had essentially round house kicked her. She focused on the sword again, before this time a bunch of wind came out from where the sword had pierced into its body. The blades of air did just as much damage as Ruby or Blake had been doing, and the thing fell to the ground.

Ruby walked up to it after it had fallen down. It had stopped moving completely, but none of them had put down their guards yet. She raised Crescent Rose to its body, slowly dragging the scythe blade down its dried skin in the middle. When it didn't react, she finished the cut, but folded up her invented weapon.

She needed to remember, next time, to actually initialize more of the edge. She'd just used the basic edge this time, trying to gauge how tough the thing was. Next time, she'd remember. Go as hard as possible as fast as possible.

"I think that's over," Weiss muttered as she cleaned off the zombie's blood from her blade. "Also, that was a zombie owlbear apparently."

"I've never seen one. Hate undead though, and that thing was definitely undead," Yang shivered a bit.

"Never seen an owlbear in person either," Blake murmured. "Well, that'll be a monster for the report," she said. "Doubt it has anything on it."

Ruby shook her head, "No, I don't think it does," she said. "But if we look at the way it came, maybe it did. Or the people who had it at least. Do people have owlbears as pets?" she asked.

Weiss nodded. "Not as common as say, cats or dogs, but the rich in particular. Then again, some of those idiots also have Grimm as pets, so I can't say much to their intelligence."

"Why would anyone have a Grimm for a pet?" Yang asked, spitting a bit onto the zombie owlbear's corpse. "That's just screaming for a bad time."

Ruby agreed, and it appeared that both Blake and Weiss did too. "I don't know, but it's happened."

"You say there's probably treasure the way it came?" Blake asked Ruby after a moment. The inventor nodded, pointing to the small trail of tracks that led to one of the larger houses on a hill. "Let's go check it out," she murmured.

Yang groaned. "I really don't want anything to do with an undead..."

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Yang - 21

Yang was always unnerved by silence. The silent movements of the undead, the silence of a dead forest. Silence meant death, even somewhere like Patch.

And out here, in Mountain Glenn, there was nothing but silence. Even during the Grimm attack, while there had been nothing but silence during the actual attack, the forest itself had plenty of noise.

Silence. More silence. Weiss was making plenty of noise as her boots crunched against the cobblestone ground, but there were no birds, no bugs, not even the usual groaning or falling down that the undead did like they had on Patch. She hadn't thought that she'd ever fight an owlbear outright. And despite it being an undead, it was still ridiculously strong. Especially based on the way that Ruby was still holding her chest, not that Yang was expecting anyone else except her to realize it.

When it slammed her sister onto the ground, it took everything in Yang to not go charging after the thing, to grab up Ruby's Crescent Rose and go to town on the zombie. She doubted she'd have been able to work the scythe nearly as well as her sister did, but she knew which was the pointy end and which end went into the monster, and they were the same thing.

It also helped that she had practice using regular scythes, if only to thresh wheat and such whenever the people on Patch needed help with it. They were mercenaries, and that meant they had to do the occasional easy jobs too. It wasn't all combat all the time.

"It looks like it came from here," Blake said from the front, pointing to a large iron-wrought gate. Beyond the gate was an even larger two or three story house. Yang glanced up to the top. Three sets of windows, three stories.

It was built in the fashion that Yang was certain had long since ended years ago. Large circular sides, with windows stretching every bit of it as it could. Pointed tops that were to dissuade rain from sticking to it, not that it helped much based on the amount of grass growing from the top.

Ivy vines grew over the majority of the sides, and many of the windows were broken in, and broken out. The cat faunus opened the gate slowly, trying to keep it quiet.

The loud rumbling and wringing sound from the hinges said how badly that failed. She froze as soon as the first sound came out, with only Weiss not truly understanding. "Why are we stopping? It's just a gate, open it up!" she commented.

"Not yet," Yang agreed, as she looked all around. Undead were attracted to sound of all kinds, and it was one of the reasons that most mercenaries who dealt with them ended up learning how to sneak by on force of habit. It was how she could tell that Blake, Ruby, and herself had all dealt far too much with them.

"Why?" Weiss asked, a short tone to her voice. "It's just a gate!" she said, pushing it open the rest of the way. It creaked loudly, before one of the hinges snapped, and Ruby quickly pulled Weiss back as the started to flip. This wrought out a loud groan and snap from the other hinge, and Yang covered her ears as the gate slammed into the ground. "Oh. That was why..." Weiss muttered.

"That's not it," Ruby chided gently before all four froze, a loud howl coming from the mansion. "That's why," she said quietly.

"What...what was that?" Weiss asked.

"Not sure," Blake answered. "Could be another undead, but I don't know of many that make that loud of sound."

"I do," Yang said. She recognized it vaguely. A zombie giant. Not an actual giant, although those existed too, but rather a simply large zombie. Really it was much more of a collective unit rather than a single zombie, multiple zombies pushed and pulled together to create the thing. "A zombie giant."

"Regular or composite?" Ruby asked her, as Blake's cat ears perked up instantly in fear.

"A zombie giant, you sure?" she asked. She looked towards the house, "I didn't think a giant could fit in there."

"I've seen frost giants, they can but they certainly wouldn't like it," Weiss muttered, biting her lower lip softly. Yang had to stop herself from stopping it. Undead, as much as she hated them, were not sharks and could not detect blood by scent alone.

Now if there were zombie hounds in there, they absolutely could, but most people never faced many of those.

"Composite," Yang answered after a moment. Ruby nodded, pulling out Crescent Rose and fiddling with some of the knobs. "You're starting that early," Yang said after a moment.

"I forgot to during the owlbear fight. Probably because it took days to get here, and there weren't any fights in between after the Grimm. Plenty of things went wrong..."

"I don't think anything went wrong," Weiss said haughtily. "And composite? What does that mean?"

Blake relaxed a bit. "A composite giant simply means it's a bunch of zombies pulled together. Still dangerous, but much less so than an actual zombie giant."

"Oh. How do we beat it?"

Ruby shrugged. "Same way we beat the owlbear technically. Beat it up, use long strikes," she said. "Crescent Rose and...you come up with a name for that yet?" she asked Blake.

The rogue shook her head. "Not yet, working on it. Something shroud, at this point, but the first word I don't know yet. I don't want to commit to anything."

"That's fair. Need to get some runes on it first," Ruby smirked. Weiss gave a small scoff, as if she didn't need runes on her weapon.

Yang wanted to disagree. But then again, she didn't have any runes for anything yet.

Blake started to sneak forward after the sound died down, Ruby right behind her. Weiss was third behind them, trying her hardest to sneak, but she wasn't quite capable of the same level of sneakiness that the rest of them could be.

They reached the front door easily, and Yang peered in through some of the windows. There was the obvious rooms to the sides, a large sun room full of artwork that looked like it hadn't been disturbed yet. Some of the windows on the other side were broken, the glass having shattered inwards.

Another window next to it had it's glass shattered outwards, and Yang could only guess as to why. Still, she had no reason or desire to go in through a bunch of broken glass, and waited patiently for Blake to kneel down next to the front door. She'd tried the door first, if only to confirm that it was locked.

"I wonder where the owlbear escaped from," Ruby muttered. "Probably like some kind of basement."

"I want to know how it got zombified. I didn't know that could happen to animals," Weiss muttered. Yang froze as her ears picked up a small howl.

"You're about to find out," Yang muttered as she got into a fighting position. She gave a small sign to Ruby, who quickly picked up where Weiss was, and got in front of the girl. Blake pulled out a lockpick, starting to work on the door.

"Wha...what do you mean? I don't hear anything. Come on, say something!" Weiss shouted. Ruby sighed.

"Well, if they didn't know we were here before, they do now," Ruby muttered as the ugliest things that Yang had seen barreled around the corner. "Blake, keep on the lock!"

"Fine! Just take them out quick!" Blake said, as she kept focusing on the lock, all four of her ears against the door to try to hear the tumbler.

They looked like dogs, and they obviously had been at one point, but these had been dead or dying for so long that it didn't matter. Their jowls were almost to the ground, and their short legs barely kept them from crashing into the dirt. Their skin was loose and putrid, and the scent of the undead wafted into Yang's nose.

This was going to be so gross.

She went into a familiar stance, letting the energies flow through her as her hands started to catch on fire. She didn't wait for Ruby to tell her to go, because she already knew best when to fight these things. The zombie hounds. Strange how she'd been thinking of them earlier, and here they were. There were three of them, at least. "Same as the owlbear!" Yang advised as she jumped over one, slamming her fists into its head from above. The fire and force knocked it into the dirt, where it abruptly started to turn around and bite at her.

The first attack she managed to parry, using her flaming fists to guide its jaws away from her, but then it decided to up the ante and try to trip her, swinging out with one of its undead legs against her own.

She fell to the ground just in time for the second one to try to gnaw on her. It bit down on her arm hard, but she managed to roll away from its jaws every other time.

"Darn it Yang, don't run ahead!" Ruby chided as her sister ran to catch up. Yang grinned. Every moment that she was being attacked was one less attack on Ruby. The third hound was probably going to go after Weiss or her, and Yang knew that they could handle themselves for one zombie hound. They weren't hard, just...annoying.

As Yang could identify, currently being on the ground and rolling around in the cobblestone dirt to avoid getting bit by the things. Even the one that bit down on her arm hadn't done much to actually hurt her, it was just a minor annoyance. Compared to the owlbear earlier, these things were nothing. Even the bruise on her back was barely telling her to avoid rolling around.

Yang lashed out with one hand towards the one that tripped her, the one that Ruby was just heading straight towards. It jumped back exactly as Yang knew it would, and more importantly just like Ruby knew it would. Scythes could do a lot of hurt if put into the right position. Yang knew this, but she still preferred her fists in general, that having been how she was trained. On the other hand, she can definitely appreciate it when someone knows how to use their weapon well.

Such as Ruby, who put Crescent Rose in the perfect spot to completely decapitate the zombie hound, pulling it back with flair and aplomb as she separated its head from its body. It stopped moving instantly, but that didn't stop Ruby from following up on it, slamming her blade down upon its body to make sure it was completely dead.

Or re-dead. Stopped moving, that was a good way of putting it.

The one that ran past them straight to Weiss gave a howling bark, and attempted to bite at Weiss' stomach. The magus took a step back, a step to the side, before realizing that she actually shouldn't, if only because Blake was right there.

"Yang, Ruby!" Weiss shouted as she attempted to flick her rapier at the zombie hound. She thrust into its maw, only partially surprised when the blade went straight through its mouth, but didn't seem to do a lot more.

A dagger was sent straight through the rest of its head as Blake turned back to her work on the lock. "Wrest it out, and use that! Rapiers don't work on these undead!" Blake commented harshly, her ears turning back to the lock. "Almost got it, give me a few more seconds!"

A few more seconds, by rogue time, usually meant about half a minute. At least in Yang's general experience. "You can take care of a single hound Weiss," Yang said as she rolled herself over, picking herself up at the same time. Ruby had moved on towards the other one nearby, which gave Yang exactly two moves to make.

One was to help Ruby with hers, but her sister, much as it hurt to admit, didn't need the assistance. The one on Weiss, however, was still mostly unhurt asides from the dagger in its eye and the rapier in its throat. Yang knew full well that having a rapier in its throat wasn't going to stop the darn thing.

"I'll leave that one to you!" Yang commented as she charged towards the zombie hound on Weiss and Blake. Hopefully Ruby would get it. She had no doubt that Ruby very easily could.

It was times like this she kind of wished she had a ranged option, but while she had no doubt she could use a crossbow, using a crossbow effectively was unlikely to work. Especially against these things. Her fists were doing more fire damage than they were doing actual real damage.

With the hound still stuck on Weiss' rapier, it became easy for Yang to slide in right behind it, putting it between Weiss and herself. Weiss was holding it in place, albeit barely, which meant Yang could take her time to carefully aim, and she slammed her fist right into the hips of the zombie hound.

She tried hard to ignore the squishy cold feeling of punching something already dead. She could handle wood, but not dead bodies. Her hand enclosed itself on its fur, or what remained of its fur looking like it had a bad case of mange, as Yang let her fist's fire do its thing.

She looked behind her to see that Ruby did in fact, mostly have it. Unlike the first strike, she didn't have a distraction to help kill the hound, and she was jumping just barely off to the side, swinging Crescent Rose whenever she had a free opportunity. The first hit cut its torso, but then whenever Ruby went to hit it again in t he same place, or any place rather, it realized that it was fighting a deadly foe.

"Gentle wind, turn yourself into blades of air!" Weiss incanted, and Yang grinned. The rapier was still stuck right on the zombie hounds mouth, which meant that it couldn't avoid the spellstrike. Which was good, and Yang backed away just enough to let the zombie hound fly into the side of the house, falling into the crushed glass, as mysterious cuts appeared right in its body.

It stopped moving, and Yang took a step closer to make absolutely sure of it. She punched downwards once, making sure to avoid the glass, and the dead body was once again a dead body.

Which was good because Ruby had just made a quick misstep. The stone underneath her feet wasn't the most stable, and the zombie hound managed to get a lucky hit in right before she went down. Her boots went up, and Ruby managed to catch herself at least so she didn't hurt her back or wrist, but the fact was she was still on the ground. And in front of a zombie hound, that could be bad.

Another dagger went right past them, burying itself into the hound's eye. Another direct hit from right behind them, and the force behind it was just enough to push the hound over to the side, letting it fall onto the grass. It stopped moving, just as Ruby pushed herself up. Yang was right next to her a second later. "You alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Just made a misstep, that's all," Ruby said, brushing off her front. "Can you make sure I don't have dirt on my back?" she asked, and Yang let her qi flow back into her body. She didn't need fists to be on fire at the moment, and she tried to brush off Ruby's leather armor as gently as she could.

That didn't stop her from wincing as Ruby let out a slight hurt gasp. "Got it," Blake commented a moment later, as Weiss finished preparing her...whatever it was whenever she needed to use another spellstrike. Yang would eventually have to figure that out.

Yang gave a quick look at the other two, before she pulled out a healing potion, one of the two that the spider's treasure had in it. "Here, have this," Yang said quietly.

"I'm good, keep it," Ruby answered, pushing it back gently into her hands. "Although I won't say no to an elixir, because we don't have a fixed amount of those," she muttered. Yang took a step back, a frown more than evident. She didn't like that her sister was just...taking the hits like this, and just keeping on going. She was the big sister. She was supposed to keep Ruby safe.

And yet here she was, dragging her sister down with her. What she wouldn't give to have Ruby back in Vale, safe, or maybe trying to peddle her inventions and gadgets or gizmos. A quiet life. Her sister chugged down the vile thing, before taking a deep breath and putting the vial back into a separate...pocket, or something, within the bag.

"Hey, we're moving on," Weiss barked. Yang rolled her eyes, and she shared a glance with Blake. The rogue was also having a hard time dealing with the magus' bossy nature, and honestly Yang couldn't wait until it boiled over.

But Ruby simply muttered a quick "We're coming," before she patted Yang's hand, sending a quick smile that Yang thought she would assume was reassuring.

It didn't reassure her, at all. If anything it made her feel worse for bringing Ruby along. But Ruby was just as strong as she was, really, and to be fair to the girl, it wasn't her fault that the owlbear had decided to play 'slam the dirt' with Ruby's body.

The inside of the mansion, with Yang the last one inside, was extremely roomy. The first room, the foyer as Weiss called it, was nicely carpeted, although the carpet itself was fairly damp and dreary, and there was a distinct smell of mold and mildew in the air.

There once had been nice chairs and sofas here, with pillows stuffed to the brim. Now they were mostly overturned, with pieces of wood on the bottom having molded or rotted off. The stuffing on the pillows long having been ripped out. In the front of the room was a large ornate table, broken down through time and something heavy having landed on it. A mirror in a silver case was heavily tarnished.

"This place gives me the creeps," Weiss muttered under her breath as she stepped onto cold and wet carpet.

"It's just time and dilapidation," Blake murmured. "Most of Mountain Glenn is like this," she said.

"And those zombie dogs? Those are common here?" Weiss asked. Blake and Yang shook their head. The rogue looked to her, and nodded with a curious look on her face.

"Zombie hounds, first off," Yang corrected. "Secondly, they're fairly uncommon if only because not many people would zombify a dog. It's likely that it may have been some kind of disease that would do it."

Blake nodded. "Thirdly," she continued where Yang had stopped, "Mountain Glenn has seen people around. Mostly the White Fang, sure, and they stick mostly to the areas up on the north side rather than down here in the south end, but they're still here. It's likely that the dogs came in after the people already left, and then got zombified, probably by the same thing that caught the owlbear."

"Diseases can do that?"

"There's a lot of nasty ones out there," Ruby said from the side. She was looking at the ornate silver mirror, and Yang was almost wondering if she was thinking of a way to take it down. If there was anyone that was above looting...it wasn't Ruby.

"We aren't taking things," Weiss commanded. Yang rolled her eyes as both Ruby and Blake shared a look with each other. The monk got the gist easy enough; if Weiss wasn't looking, was it really looting?

Yang couldn't say she was exactly comfortable with it, but it would be far from the only time that she'd done it. Ruby was known for it, having had to scavenge most of her parts for Crescent Rose.

There were two major hallways down into the interior of the manor, with two more doors on each side, probably to the areas where the sunrooms were. Yang tried one door as Weiss tried to argue her point against people that weren't listening, not surprised as it opened easily. No one locked a door on the inside, unless they had something to hide.

Or had kids and were trying to keep the kids out of places they shouldn't be. That was the other reason Yang could think of.

The sunroom was the main painter's area, she could tell. It wasn't quite a gazebo that was attached the house, but she wasn't sure the specific name of the piece. Dozens of canvases lay around, some with paint on them and some without. Most were covered by thick fabric coverings, most of them having been eaten through by various moths. The paintings that she could see were usually portraits, although there were some small scenes painted throughout. There was a single chair in the room, with an easel set up next to it. The chair was in decent condition surprisingly, the flowers on the fabric having been dyed by the sun to a bleached white. The easel was covered by a surprisingly non-moth eaten blanket, and Yang gave it a quick gentle tug.

"By the gods!?" Yang swore without thinking about it. Her shout managed to get everyone to stop their arguing as they bundled into the room, Ruby with Crescent Rose out and preparing to fight.

The painting was a half-finished painting of a woman in a white cloak, with red tips on her hair. She looked like an older Ruby, down to the silver eyes peering eerily out. It wasn't a portrait shot, but rather a shot of the woman in pain, her mouth caught in an everlasting scream. On her head was a gleaming crown of silver and gold.

"It's just a painting," Blake murmured. "Weiss, check for magic?" she asked, as Weiss nodded, slowly chanting to herself. "It's fine, Yang, it's not Ruby."

"It does look a lot like me though," Ruby said as she looked at it closer. Yang's heart was slowly going back down to its normal speed. When she'd first seen it, she'd thought it was Ruby at first. "The hair's the same, the eyes are the same..." Ruby said as she felt her jaw. "I think the jaw's thinner though," she tried to joke.

"It looks near identical," Blake commented after a moment. "Asides from its unfinished nature," she said. "We can actually tell that they were working on it when they got the word of the Grimm attack," she murmured, pointing to a few of the stokes. "See how hurried these are? This was probably the last thing they worked on."

"Whose house was this?" Yang asked after a moment. She was trying to wrack her brain for what Ruby's mom had looked like. She knew that her mom was different, Dad had told her at least that much, but Ruby's mom had stuck around for a bit longer.

If this was Ruby's mom, then why was there a painting of her with a crown in Mountain Glenn? Yang wasn't sure, but part of her wanted to take it, despite her no-looting policy. She wanted to take it to that Qrow Branwen of hers, to see if he knew who it was.

Or worse case scenario, she could take it to her actual mother.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Blake - 22

Looting a manor like this was surprisingly easy in Blake's eyes. For one, the actual people that were using this at one point were no longer here, and thus no longer care what happened to their items. Spirits were real, of course, and she'd fought at least one or two, not including the possessed doll that somehow Ruby or Yang had known exactly what it was upon entrance into the cellar, but it was rare that they would stick around a place without it being of some magical help.

Honestly, most spirits could easily be reclassified as 'magical beings' and call it a day. Whether that be any kind of undead such as a zombie, a zombie dog like they'd fought earlier, or even a full ghost.

She did notice that Weiss and Yang were talking off in the corner, about how the glass on the inside of this particular room was on the outside, meaning that someone broke out of the room, not in. And the painting was still in the center, but she turned a blind eye to Ruby trying to pawn it.

She rolled her eyes and stepped in front of the girl, keeping herself between Weiss and Yang and the painting and Ruby. "There, make it a bit easier," she whispered. Ruby gave her a conspiratorial wink before she pulled open the spacious pouch and put the painting in it. It wasn't the biggest painting in the world, which made it easy to put away.

Although whoever it was, Blake wanted to know. They had made Yang freeze up, and even give a small scream. Blake had never heard Yang scream before, even when faced with a giant nevermore Grimm. And who knows what all they'd faced out in the forest?

The other paintings were of worse paint, and once Ruby was done pocketing the one of...ostensibly Ruby, maybe an older Ruby, Blake went through them. Most of them had paint peeling at various points, some the canvas itself had been torn apart. She did find a few gold coins behind some of the canvases though, and tossed them over to Ruby who pocketed them. Blake normally would have kept them without a second thought, but if Ruby was serious about trying to get her out and to save her parents, then she'd need all the help that she could get, and Blake would not leave anything to chance.

There was a reason she'd still been paying them off even though it had been years and years.

Finding nothing else of actual monetary value, she left the still whispering two to their conspiring, and walked back out to the main foyer. What she couldn't quite understand though was why the White Fang, housed in the northern part of Mountain Glenn, hadn't already been through here. They'd had years to go through it all, and Grimm attacks like what happened here tended to attract a lot of looters.

Instead it was as if all of the looters had simply...walked away. Too close to Vale? Too far from Vale? Those were options too, Blake supposed.

Blake knew all the possible hiding spots for various safes, and made sure to check each one. She didn't bother with under the carpets, because the carpets and rugs were already ruined by moths. If there had been a safe underneath it wouldn't have anything of value.

Maybe behind the mirror? Blake pulled it out gently, not at all surprised at the blank wall. But just because it was blank didn't mean that nothing was there. She knocked gently on parts of it, hoping to listen to the various sounds. If any part of it sounded different, then she'd hit the jackpot. Unfortunately it was all the same, and she knocked on another portion of the wall just to make sure. No safe behind the mirror. Blake wasn't worried though. There was still plenty more of the manor to go through.

The second door was unlocked, the one that led to the second sunroom. By all rights she should wait for Ruby, Yang, and Weiss, but the bruiser and the magus seemed to have fallen into some deep conversation. Ruby, meanwhile, was going around abruptly checking all the available doors quickly, mapping out the place in her head.

Ruby would make for a great thief if she bothered to put in the work for it, Blake knew. She had all the instincts for it. Map out the area, check the doors, know the surroundings, and most importantly keep an eye out.

The second sunroom wasn't a painting room as the first one was, but rather a small study. Not a full on library one, but rather a few desks on the sides, and a large one facing the window. Granted, the window was broken in this time, the glass on the carpeted floor, and Blake made sure to keep away from that area.

Because it had obvious been broken in at some point, there wasn't likely to be much here. The first few desks were locked, not that it would stop her, but she wanted to check the rest. One of them wasn't locked, but there was nothing of value in there. Just old documents, financial records and such, but nothing saying whose house this was.

The big desk in the middle was the one that mostly got her interest. She pulled out her thieves toolkit, carefully unraveling the leather bound toolset until she found the one she needed. Most of the time she had a favorite one, and could bring it out without having to unravel the full set, but this lock in particular was going to be difficult.

And difficult locks required a little bit more...finesse. She kept all four of her ears out, letting her listen to each of the tumblers. Almost four...no, five tumblers. Would be easier with a key, but she wasn't about to make it easy. Especially as she didn't have any of the special material that would make getting a key easy.

What she wouldn't have given for a skeleton key though. A mythical key to lock pickers everywhere, capable of opening any and all doors with itself. Well, all locks. Chests and drawers included.

The first tumbler was easy enough, but as she was getting the second one the first one fell back through. She got the first one back into position, keeping still on the second one as she started to work on the third. The third tumbler was as easy as the first, but just as oiled because the fourth was difficult to try and locate. No wonder she'd thought there were four to begin with, she'd glanced over it completely in her original search of the lock. First, second, and third tumblers were disengaged, and the fourth just...didn't...want...to work...

Something was blocking it, Blake realized. No wonder it didn't want to work. She probably had to undo the fifth and final tumbler before she could undo the fourth. What kind of key would be able to do that at all? It definitely had some specialized key that she wouldn't have been able to recreate.

With a successful snap, she breathed a sigh of relief, the drawer lock coming undone. "Alright, what's so valuable in you..." Blake muttered as she opened it.

Another document, a partially written letter it looked like, and a few gems of relatively high quality. A ruby, a diamond, a black one that Blake wasn't sure of, and...topaz? What kind of family would have topaz locked away? It was yellow and bright, yes, but it wasn't particularly valuable. Most people didn't put much value in the yellow version of the gem. And why was there a shiny black gem? More thoughts for later.

She grabbed the gems and put them in her own spacious pouch. She'd give them to Ruby later. Wouldn't that be fun, giving a ruby to Ruby? Giving Ruby a ruby? Although she'd have to figure out that black gem, because that one didn't make any sense.

It was shiny, and yet black.

The letter called her attention to it, her own natural curiosity, and if anyone says anything about how 'curiosity killed the cat', they'd find themselves abruptly on Blake's kill list. She picked it up, not at all surprised when it was made out of a thick parchment with easy to read writing.

"Dear Ophelia,

There are mentions of a Grimm surge out in the mountains soon. I expect that we will be making our way to Vale, and from there to Mistral, where we will be together again, within a few days. This letter will hopefully bring you joy, and arrive only a few days before I do.

Have there been any other mentions of divination magic within your line? We have done the ritual on our end, but my sister only sees silver eyes and the Crown. No secrets as to where it lays or why it hides as it does. Has the Lamp been found by your family yet?

I suppose it doesn't matter. Once we are together, dear Ophelia, my love, we will pool our knowledge together. Even outsource to the various mercenaries if we have to. Our families, especially together, have the funds.

I must go now, Ophelia. I will see you in hopefully a few days from now.

With all my love,

Hubert"

Blake stared at it for a bit. The first and third paragraphs were fairly standard, for rich family type standing. Either an arranged marriage or a loving one. It didn't matter, Blake supposed, but she had no idea who this Hubert was or Ophelia. Maybe Weiss would know, but she wouldn't.

The second paragraph though...it brought questions to her mind. Divination magic was an unusual branch, and it wasn't one that Blake knew much about. Silver eyes, the Crown, and the Lamp. Why were the Crown and Lamp capitalized? They were very specific on that. "Found anything?" Ruby asked from behind her. Blake turned, realizing that she had been so enthralled in the letter that she'd forgotten to check the rest of the room.

"Yes. I found this letter, and a few gems," Blake said as she handed Ruby the letter, and hid a smirk as she handed Ruby the ruby. She was disappointed though when Ruby barely made more than an acknowledgement.

"What do you suppose they mean, divination magic in the line?" Ruby asked after a long moment. "Hey, Weiss, got a question for you!" Ruby asked as she went out to the main foyer. Yang and Weiss were still talking about...impossibilities, it sounded like? Blake wasn't sure, and even with her hearing better than most, she couldn't quite make it out.

"Ruby, I'm in the middle of something," Weiss answered with her usual snark. Blake rolled her eyes. She was getting more than a little frustrated with the magus at this point. Having someone that had the spark was great, but then why couldn't they have, Blake didn't know, random wizard number one oh two? They'd probably be nicer than Weiss was.

"You're just talking magic secrets with Yang," Ruby interrupted again. "No, what do you think of this?" she asked, holding out the letter again.

Blake stopped watching the runaway horse accident, and went back to working on the remaining desk locks. Maybe they'd have something to explain the letter? It was fully written, so why hadn't it been sent?

"He's talking about a sorcerer. A sorcerer specializing in divination magic," Weiss answered after a moment. "The spark isn't purely genetic, but there's been signs that when two people who have an uncontrolled spark have children together, the possibility of a sorcerer comes up."

"Aren't those things really dangerous? I know out in Patch it was always big news if one even had mention of showing up. Especially big news if they didn't," Yang asked.

"Most of the time, certainly. Sorcerers are known for having extremely powerful sparks," Weiss responded. "That said, they focus so much on the magical side of things that they aren't the best when it comes to martial abilities."

"Easy to hit, easy to blast," Yang summarized.

"Is there a way to track or know who this was? Maybe if we head to Mistral after this, Yang, we can drop it off," Ruby asked.

"Wait, why would we be heading to Mistral?"

"Qrow Branwen's gotta be somewhere, and wasn't there that rumor of bandits out that way, a bit tribe of them?" Ruby asked.

The desk lock clicked as Blake got it open. Nothing of value in this one, except a few coins. No wonder the lock was easy. Moving on to the next one, she could only hope that it was something...

"There was, according to the other rumors I'd heard," Weiss agreed. "It's why I started in Vale rather than Mistral. The Haven Schnee School of Magic is right in the middle of Mistral, so it's likely that they would have me fight the bandit tribe. Or at least a small camp of them. I wanted to be stronger for it, so I went to Vale first."

"But I don't see how a tribe of bandits relates to Qrow Branwen," Yang said, her arms crossing. Her tone brook no argument, and Blake reluctantly had hope for her. She hoped, required actually, that Ruby was to win, but she knew that if she had a sister or a brother she'd do anything for them...including doing what Yang was doing, and flat out arguing with t hem.

The lock clicked open, and a small piece of paper rolled out of the drawer as soon as Blake opened it. It was of different material to the letter she'd already handed to Ruby, a lot lighter and less dense.

There were a few other coins here, mostly of the smaller denominations, not that Blake was surprised. This place had obvious wealthy owners, and why would they hide coins in desk drawers when they most likely held a safe somewhere on the premises? What was here was most likely pocket money.

She grabbed at the scroll, making sure to keep her face away from it as she unfurled it. A series of designs and lines and stars graced her eyes, a series of writing that she'd never seen before.

A magic scroll? She didn't know what type. She should look into learning at least how to identify magic, if nothing else. It was common enough in the world, especially for someone like her. She knew most of the traditions, but not one that used straight lines. She grabbed it anyways, knowing that the magic it contained wouldn't go off until in the hands of someone with the spark used the incantation. It was one of the things that she knew about scrolls.

They were magical items in which a spell was inscribed, similar to that of a spellbook, except the magic was pushed into the scroll itself. Blake was essentially holding a physical form of whatever spell it was, not that she knew what it was. She exited the study sunroom, knowing there would probably be a further study inside. If these desks weren't ransacked and looted, then there was a high probability that neither were those.

But that did pose the question; why hadn't the White Fang raided this place already? That just didn't make sense. Yes, they were on the north side, and the group was currently as far away from the north side as they could get. "Find anything interesting?" Ruby asked as she walked out with the scroll.

"A few coins, not many. I found this," Blake said, holding out a small scroll for Weiss to see. "Think you know what it is?" she asked.

Weiss glanced it over, unfurling it. "I do recognize it. Force Barrage," she identified after a moment. "A fairly weak but still handy spell. It creates bullets of force, guided by the caster. The more time spent on it, the more bullets, to a maximum. The higher power of the spark, the more bullets. The lucky thing about these is that they can't miss."

"You mean it's harder to make them miss? Like they're a homing pigeon or something?" Ruby asked as she started to head towards the third door, heading to the rest of the manor.

"No, they can't miss. They will go up, around, and through everything in their way, but they won't actually hurt anything until they get to the target. They don't do a lot of hurt, but it's useful to have," Weiss said. "I don't have it in my spellbook though."

Blake tilted her head, "Can you cast a spell that's not in your spellbook?" she asked. She'd never heard of that being a requirement, but admittedly she was only ever around wizards, not magus. Who knows what the requirements were for magus, asides from magus themselves? Vale didn't have many of them, from what she could tell.

"I can," Weiss nodded, "but it might be handy for me to copy it in. It'd ruin the scroll though, but my book's more permanent."

"Ah, I get it," Yang nodded. "The book is something you can cast out of multiple times, but that depends on your spark. The scroll is something you can cast once, but it's dependent on their spark."

Weiss blinked, but nodded. "That's exactly it. If I copy it in, I can cast it under my own power, but if not, it'll stay at this power."

Blake thought that she understood it. Kind of complicated, but anything dealing with magic always was complicated. And when she had so many more things to learn, the more complicated certain things were, the less likely she was to be able to actually finish her job. And if she didn't finish her job, her parents were dead.

Ruby opened the third door. "I didn't spot anything in here when I went around the first time, but that doesn't mean there isn't," Ruby said quietly. "There's no light in here. Weiss, Yang, torch or light?" she asked.

Blake didn't need any of it, instead just peering in around her...friend. That was a good way of putting it. Her friend.

By the gods, she had made a friend.

How in the world had that happened!?

This room was obviously some kind of library, based on the sheer amount of books on the wall. There was a dark musty smell to everything, and Blake had the solemn feeling that this had already been poked through. As Weiss grabbed a small coin and handed it to Ruby, the coin glowing with a simple light spell. Ruby held it up as they walked in. "Don't think we aren't going to stop talking about this Mistral thing, Rubes," Yang muttered.

"I still think it's the best idea," Ruby answered with a sly smirk.

The library was set into two stories. The first floor had a few tables, spread across everything, with books on all sides, with no ceiling to the second. The second floor was reached by ladders, and Blake knew it was probably more books up there.

She also knew that libraries were a rogue's best friend. Well, from what she'd seen at least, this one probably wasn't.

Most of the books were simple ones, or copies of ones they already had. They looked through as a group, grabbing a random book and looking through it. She did find a few books that she snagged off the shelves, some of the titles catching her interest. She made sure to take the ones that wouldn't cause her teammates...and friend...to look at her oddly.

She did grab the other ones that would, but promised herself she'd only read them when she was the only one awake. Or the only one capable of reading, if she was helping Ruby keep watch.

"On treatises of Mistral and Atlas," Weiss pronounced as she glanced at another one. "This could be interesting."

"Blake's already taken like ten, take it," Yang shrugged. "My concern is how much mildew is on these."

"Not as much as you'd think," Blake said. "But I smell it too," she finished. She'd carefully checked each one as she put it in her bag, making sure that it wouldn't cause any problems for anything still in her pouch.

Also it was cute that Yang thought she'd only taken ten. The truth was closer to fifteen or twenty. And only eight of which were her...enlightened...reading.

She read them for the plot, and there was no one who would ever prove her otherwise.

After nearly an hour or so of searching, or for Blake another twenty books filling her pouch, she had to finally call it quits. There was a lot of nothing, monetarily. There were two doors asides from the one that they came in, but when Ruby tried either of them, they were both locked. So while the other three kept up the search for anything of value in the library, although they hadn't gone up to the second floor because both times they tried the ladders fell apart, Blake knelt down at one of the doors, unraveling her toolkit and getting to work.

The lock on the doors weren't too difficult, fortunately. She did accidentally re-lock the tumblers more than once, just because door locks were significantly different than drawer locks, but she made it through eventually.

If she was going to be staying and working with Ruby more, she'd probably have to improve her lock picking. She had a feeling that they'd need it.

The door unlocked with a satisfying click though, and Blake gently pushed it open. The scent of rot and stench punished her nose for her curiosity, and instantly she closed it shut. The room here, a kitchen, was in obvious bad shape.

"That reeks! What is that!? Who did that!?" Weiss called out as she went to see what Blake was doing.

"That's not us, ice queen. It's the kitchen. Remember how the painting was hurried?" Blake asked, her voice changing because her nose was plugged. "I have a feeling they didn't get the food out either. We should avoid the pantry too, assuming we find it."

She turned to look at Ruby and Yang, expecting them to be just as difficult, only to find that they'd already tucked their noses into their shirts without any problems. When Blake looked at them questioningly, her head tilted to the side, did Ruby let out a quiet giggle. "We've been around farm animals most of our life. It won't help much, but the scent of sweat is a lot better than the stench of rot."

That was a good idea, Blake thought, and she moved to copy. Most of the time, by the time she went through, the rot had already set in.

She opened the door again, seeing that everyone was ready for it, and Ruby and her peered inside.

It was a traditional kitchen, with large countertops and stove pits. There was a boar or some kind of pig on top of the island, it's carcass fully having rotted away, leaving only mostly bones left.

She hoped they wouldn't be finding some kind of zombie pig. That'd be an annoying fight, although probably an easy one. Blake went in first, not needing the light behind her. There were three doors that went out of the kitchen, and to be honest Blake didn't want to spend any more time in there than necessary.

The first door went to the servants quarters, a small area of around eight beds or so. And in the corner stood a dilapidated wall, a small section of light coming in from the top of the wall. An entire part of the second story had fallen down apparently.

It was after Blake walked in that she motioned for everyone to grab their weapons. She hadn't seen them, off in the corner. The scent of rot was thick in the air, but more importantly the scent of the undead.

The zombie servants gave a howl of anger, as they turned to try and fight.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Weiss - 23

Weiss pulled out Myrtenaster, readying her spellbook and her rapier. She'd known Blake should go first, it was one of the first things that the Schnee School of Magic taught.

Let the rogue or thief go in first. They're the best at stealth, most likely, so let them go in first. If they die, it's only a thief. Nothing worth losing sleep over.

Actually, the Schnee School of Magic had plenty to say on almost every type of mercenary. Except inventors, Weiss had never been told that those even exist, but here was Ruby, with a scythe that was most definitely more than just a scythe. Speaking of Ruby, she was the first one to dart in, quickly followed up by Blake. The zombie servants, or zombified servants, were more in the realm of the God of Darkness or the Goddess of the Grimm than anything, but she knew plenty about them.

Shame that didn't help her when dealing with the zombie hounds, or the zombie owlbear. She at least got the owlbear part. But the zombie part was tricky, and she wished yet again that she had a stronger spark. Imagine if she was a sorcerer. How much she could cast. Spells for days? Spells for days. Instead she was stuck with a minimalist spark, enough that she'd have to stick with martial fighting at the same time.

Most of the other academics in the Schnee School of Magic looked down upon magus in general, seeing them as not true spell casters but rather seeing them as a 'half' caster. The only other half caster was that of a summoner, beings who had ties to beings not of the world. Eidolons, they'd called them.

Weiss had only met one summoner. He'd been friendly, if a bit old. His summon, his eidolon though, had been extremely friendly, and Weiss actually liked her a lot, metal though she may have been. What was her name? Penny. That was it.

Ruby's scythe was going crazy, twirling and spinning like the crazy girl she was. Even Blake's new weapon, which she hadn't named, was spinning properly, slashing through the zombie servants without any issues.

Her mind was starting to flash through the various spells that she had. If she had a fire spell that was bigger than ignition, she'd use it, but she didn't have any of those.

Although the scroll in her bag burned in her minds. She could, if she had enough money, simply buy spells off of other wizards. And because they all shared the same source, she could learn a lot, add spells and spells to her spellbook.

But most other wizards wouldn't bother teaching a magus that wasn't a full member of the Schnee School of Magic. Which meant that her first step was, once again, get to become a full member, which required all of this. And this was only part of the first step.

But...she still had ignition. And she'd use it. She grabbed her spellbook, ignoring the bound chain as she opened it to the right page. Arcane symbols and sigils appeared to her sight as she poured power from her spark into the page, causing the page to come to life.

The formulas, the power, the variables, all of it popped into her mind. At a desk, learning everything she could about how this particular cantrip worked.

Even the smallest of cantrips was something to be proud of, for a magus with a small spark.

"Burn these evil souls!" Weiss incanted, not even channeling it through Myrtenaster. She was staying back this time, letting Ruby and Blake cut through them without any problems.

Then Yang got in the way of her incantation, and if Weiss didn't know better, she was about to think that she was going to be burning Yang. But the spell didn't work like that; it wasn't a true line of sight spell like most others, but rather she had to concentrate on the thing she wanted to burn, add that in as one of the main variables.

She felt the spell go off, and grinned as she heard a roar of anger and pain. "How was that?" she asked, leaning over Yang to see the result of her spell.

The zombie servant was currently on fire, its clothes slowly burning up. "Honestly, you made the smell worse!" Ruby commented from the front. "We need some kind of masks or something!" she shouted.

"The stench isn't that bad!" Blake answered in retort. "Yang, coming towards you!" she warned as one of the servants suddenly bolted towards Weiss and Yang.

"I can see it," Yang said as she took a few steps forward, swinging her fist into its face. "By the Light I hate these things!" she said as its brains, or what was left of them, exploded all over her. "What the hells!?" she said as she started to clean her hand and arm.

"I didn't think they exploded, that's cool!" Ruby said as she came in underneath one of them. "Weiss, got another of those spells in you?" she asked as Crescent Rose chopped the legs off of one. "Because we have another for you~" she singsonged.

"I don't think you should be that happy to be killing these things," Blake said. "Weren't these people at one point?"

"They were," Yang interrupted, "But they'd also been turned ages ago. There's no need to feel pity for them, there's really nothing left of them."

"Could there be?"

Weiss shook her head. "Not as much, no. Unless they had a spark, there's nothing to attach the soul to. It's more just animated puppets that happen to be bodies than animated bodies that are puppeted," she explained.

"What Weiss said," Yang agreed. "Also, I hate zombie brains," she said, wiping down her sleeve a bit. Weiss saw her shudder as some particularly gloopy bits stuck on her.

"Alright, I think that was the last one!" Ruby said as Crescent Rose lopped its head off, only for its head to be impaled by a dagger thrown by Blake. "Yeah, that should be it. We're good," she said, folding her scythe up to be much, much smaller.

What Weiss wouldn't give for that. The scythe was nearly as big as Ruby herself was, and the girl seemed to know how to use it very, very well. But it could fold down to not even a quarter of the size. If Myrtenaster could fold down to a similar size, she could be able to just have it wrap around her hand without any problem. And then push a button or something, and she'd have Myrtenaster, ready for killing whatever was in front of her!

"Check for any belongings left behind," Blake said as she started to work on a small foot chest. The kind that most people had below their beds for the servants.

Weiss nodded. She wasn't entirely comfortable when it came to looting like this, although Ruby and Blake seemed to take to it like a fish to water. Yang was much more like her, the magus found. She was also not too fond of looting. While the danger had seemingly disappeared, asides from the collapsed second floor that dug into the room, there were no other entrances or exits. Yang went to the main kitchen, and after a moment Weiss followed her.

"You don't like what they're doing?" Weiss asked after a moment.

"Not particularly," Yang shrugged. "I've always known we'd have to do it, but this was someone's home. People lived here. I want to give Ruby the best life I can, but...I don't think this is it."

"You think Blake's a bad influence on her."

"I think she's a bad influence on Blake," Yang laughed. It was hard to hear through her shirt, but Weiss appreciated the effort anyways. The kitchen was rank, and the smell of the rotten boar in the center didn't help matters any. Yang went through a few of the cabinets, just idly checking for anything, but it was obvious her heart wasn't in it. Weiss wasn't bothering, instead comparing the kitchen in her mind to her own at home.

It was slightly smaller than her own, if she had to be frank. The layout was all different, too. This one had more stoves, versus magical ovens like what she had. The countertops were more white, probably marble, whereas her countertops were all granite or whatever other expensive material her father had ordered for the week.

There were a few mirrors along the side, and she looked into one, not at all surprised when she saw her reflection back. But behind it, was the main door that led to probably the dining hall.

She glanced back towards the stoves, and realized line of sight. If anyone was working at the stoves, it would take only a quick glance up or back to check on the door to the dining hall. A neat little setup probably made by the staff. No one else would ever come up with such a thing. Weiss certainly wouldn't.

Ruby and Blake came out of the servants quarters a moment later. "Nothing," Ruby shook her head. "At least nothing I found."

"I found a key, but no idea where it goes," Blake shrugged, a small iron wrought key hanging from a small circle. "Could be the door to the house, or somewhere else. I'll keep it and try it on a few doors when we come across the ones that are locked."

Yang nodded. "Good idea. Alright then, Weiss, where to next?" she asked.

"Well, we've already seen that most of Mountain Glenn is dead. And I do want to find out where that zombie owlbear came from," Weiss said as she marked each point off on her fingers. "So I say we go through that door," she said, pointing to the one to the dining hall.

The three others looked at each other, before they glanced at her. "What?" she asked.

"We already came through there," Ruby explained. Weiss blinked. Right, they had. Okay, next plan.

"Then uh...that door!" Weiss said.

Blake nodded, gently opening it to make sure it probably wasn't the overrun pantry. At least Weiss hoped it wasn't. They'd already found that, hadn't they? Instead it was a small hallway, barely able to fit one person through.

"It's the servants hallway," she identified a moment later. When all three of their heads peered at her, she nodded. "It's how the servants are supposed to get around if they aren't to be seen. My family never had them, but some other's in Atlas did."

"Just how affluent is your family?" Ruby asked as she motioned for Blake to go in first. "I mean, I know you own the Schnee School of Magic and all-"

"We don't own it," Weiss interrupted. "We run it. And so we get money flowing all in from all of the major and minor schools. Almost all of which goes back into the schools, but my father does pay himself."

"Ah, skimming a bit off the top?" Yang smirked, before the smirk faded as Weiss glared at her. Her father wasn't like that. Yes, he may be a horrible human who most definitely didn't care about anyone who didn't have the spark, and he was certainly no sorcerer himself, but he wasn't corrupt.

That was the one thing that she was absolutely certain of, beyond nothing else. But if he gave himself a raise every few months, she doubted that anyone would notice or care. He certainly put in the work for it, at least.

The servants hallway was dimly lit, and if it wasn't for the bit of wood that Yang was holding that had her own Light spell cast on it, she wouldn't have been able to see a thing. Small windows with one way glass came from the servants side, allowing them to see each of the various rooms as they went through. There was no way to the second floor version of the same hallway, if it existed, though.

There was a bedroom that Weiss saw out of the corner of her eye, a long with a children's bedroom. Another study, much more lavish than the one out front. An entertainment room.

"There's no way through the wall for any of these," Blake said as she reached the end. "Is there a secret exit or entrance or something?" she asked.

Yang nodded. "There has to be. Hold on, Ruby, check with me. You're the one that found the last few dozen secrets," she said, before she glanced towards the wall. Her sister joined her, each of them trying to feel up the wall to see if something would make it miraculously open. If not, they'd just have to go through the various other rooms to get there. There were probably even other ways to get from the servants quarters to each of them, without...

Weiss blinked. Without needing to come through here. The head bedroom was on one side, with the children's bedroom on the other. There's no way the parents wouldn't just get up if they heard their child crying at night, even if it's just to yell at the servants to deal with it.

Which meant there was probably something here that could collapse the thing. She grabbed her spellbook again, finding the right page in a moment. She knew this one mostly by heart too, but to channel it's stronger form she needed to refresh her memory.

"Lord of the arcane, hear me and allow me to know your greatness," she intoned quietly, before her senses lit up. A pulse of her spark waved off of her, and her mind automatically figured out what was what as soon as it hit it. Ruby and her magical items, Yang and her own. Even Blake and her potions, along with the rune glowing on the sword. Huh. The sword had a rune. She hadn't thought to check that.

There was a slight change as her pulse went over some of the bits of wall, and she realized what it was in the shape of. A generic rune, just saying 'open' but crafted such that only those who could see magic or couldn't but knew that it was there could use it. She walked up and swiftly tapped her hand on it.

The wall swung down, and the children's bedroom was before her. "How'd you figure that out?" Blake asked as she peered in. Yang leaned over the cat faunus, holding the light up above so they could see everything.

It was a small but comfortable looking bed on one side. Dozens of toys, mostly wooden blocks and such, dominated the other. Wooden wagons and other spinning toys were laid out on the floor. The carpet was a deep blue, which told Weiss more than it alone should have. Dyed carpet was a rarity, if only because it took so much dye. For it to still be this deep of blue meant that it was either magical in nature, which it wasn't because her detect magic spell would have picked up on it, or it was dyed very, very well. And carpet like that was not cheap.

"You..." there was a deep voice that spoke as all four of them entered. As soon as Ruby took the last step in, looking around for the source of the voice, the wall suddenly sprang back up, trapping them in the bedroom.

Weiss wasn't hearing it in the air. She was hearing it in her spark, and in her head. The thing was speaking directly to her mind. "You who dare to crawl where none others trawl..." the voice continued, before the bed started to move.

At first Weiss thought it was a child, based on the way that it sat up. It wasn't, though. It was instead a piece of armor, as if someone had taken a statue and abruptly started to animate it. There was something dark behind it, a force that Weiss couldn't quite identify. "Something's there!" Yang yelled as she got into position as the armor tore off the bedsheets, and Weiss felt horror leap into her throat.

It was a Grimm. But not just any Grimm; one of the most dangerous ones that she knew of. A geist. They were known for taking over inanimate objects, much like many other spirits, but unlike those spirits were capable of leaving the object and binding themselves to another.

In other words, the more objects around, the stronger they were. And there was nothing if not objects strewn around the room. "Geist!" Weiss identified.

"Shit!" Blake yelled as the armor stomped towards her. It was only due to her insane reflexes that it missed the first swipe of the long sword down, crashing into the dark blue carpet, before the second one tore up her stomach.

"I got you covered!" Yang shouted as she took a step forward and slammed her fists into the armor. The armor didn't move, and Weiss still heard a loud 'crack' that said Yang had somehow managed to hurt her own hand, despite having punched rock before and not hurting herself.

Weiss struggled to come up with a spell that would work on a geist of all things. She wasn't expecting Grimm to still be in Mountain Glenn! In just one house, that said a lot about the rest of the houses! Between the zombie hounds, the zombie servants, and a Grimm, Mountain Glenn was a far too dangerous place to keep trying to send people to. No wonder this was a two star rank. And next time, she'd have to take a three! Something with spirit, something with spirit...her book held nothing that could hurt a geist. But...there was one spell, wasn't there? One spell that she hadn't had time to copy over yet, but would work wonders.

She reached into her bag. "I have an idea!" she shouted out as Ruby stepped behind the thing, swinging her scythe. Weiss was honestly more surprised that the armor buckled under the strength of the girl, before it lashed out with a kick and drove her into the ground.

"Make it a good one!" Blake commented. She slid underneath the armored geist, carefully trying to take out any possible weak points on its legs. She was only vaguely not surprised when her sword had barely even scratched the iron of the thing. With a quick turnaround, the armor swung its blade towards Ruby, catching the girl right in the shoulder. She gave a harsh cry, but kept her hand on the scythe either way, before the second arm reached out and toppled her to the side. Weiss pushed herself to hurry. They were hurting the armor yes, but not the actual geist.

What they needed was a ghost touch rune, but that was a very specific need and to be honest Weiss hadn't had the money for it. Maybe Ruby did, after she sold whatever rune it was that she had, but considering ghosts, or at least incorporeal ones, were fairly rare, there hadn't been a need.

Despite Yang's hurt hand, she quickly knocked the armored helm off its head. She was about to celebrate, before she realized it was still moving, and in fact turned around as it grabbed her arm, quickly swinging her towards the incoming Blake.

Weiss' hand grabbed at the scroll. Arcane gestures and thoughts appeared into her, and she focused exactly on what she wanted to aim at. Not the armor. The geist itself.

The words appeared in her mind, written from the scroll. "Existence of true fate, converge unto my unwilling foe," Weiss intoned as she grabbed every bit of the magic weaved into the scroll. She was going to have to get more if this worked.

Who knows, maybe she could make up for a weak spark with using scrolls, stored up over time. That would be a viable strategy, and one that might even work.

Three orbs of pure energy forced themselves into existence, and a moment later rushed off towards the armor. It turned as if to laugh, before it realized what the orbs of force were.

The geist instantly de-possessed the armor, letting it hit the ground with a loud crash, as it tried to race towards a group of blocks. The orbs beat it there. One orb piledrove it into the blocks, and the second knocked it upwards. She could hear the cracking of the geists body. It was a Grimm, and geists were considered one of the weaker ones, but she had no doubt that by all rights, this should have been harder. But geists appeared to be weak to true force, unlike other Grimm.

The third one slammed into it against the wall. As soon as it connected, the geist disappeared into black smoke, the foul stench assaulting all of their noses.

"By the Light," Yang muttered as she glanced over. She was breathing hard, and holding her side gently. "Did you just beat a Grimm?" she asked.

"Ow," Ruby said quietly from the floor. "I don't think it was just her, but she definitely got the killing blow."

"That was incredible. Is that what magic's capable of, when it works?" Blake added in. Weiss nodded, her own breath coming hard. It hadn't taken long, only around ten seconds, but in that time Ruby had been utterly dismantled, and Yang wasn't in much better shape. Even Blake had gotten a deep cut in, and she'd only been there for a few seconds.

The room seemed to light up a bit, now that the geist wasn't in it. "We just beat a Grimm," Yang smirked after a second. "We just beat a Grimm!" she shouted in excitement, her lilac eyes starting to light up.

"Yay," Ruby deadpanned quietly as she forced herself up. "And it only took all of us except Weiss almost dying to do it. Next time, let's skip the 'almost dying' part."

"Only if that means we don't actually die," Blake added in. "After that kind of thing, I think we should rest," she muttered.

"I agree," Weiss said. "My spark's basically tapped out, even if I did use that scroll. Also, next time we're in Vale, someone remind me to try and find that spell."

"Sure thing," Ruby muttered as she drank down one of the elixirs that she'd made. "What was its name?"

"Force Barrage," Weiss said. "It hurls orbs of pure energy to a target, and it doesn't care what's in the way, it just hits. No targeting needed, it's part of the variable structure."

"An autohit spell," Ruby muttered. "Really. Why am I not surprised that magic does that?"

"Because it's magic," Blake said as she opened the door to the outside. "Let's...look around the room for a bit. Especially the armor. Are geists known for hoarding?"

"No, they're not...they're not wyverns," Weiss shuddered. There was exactly one known wyvern that had appeared in its existence, and that one Grimm wyvern was enough to tell everyone to stay far, far away from the Dark Continent.

Weiss took a deep breath and walked outside as Ruby suddenly perked up from her elixir. There was a hallway out here, with one side collapsed from the second floor, and a possible way up. The other side was only a few feet long, and it ended up into another door. Weiss tried it as Yang stumbled out of the child's bedroom.

A washroom, but a large one, with a large tiled shower area, and a washtub for laundry. "I think this is a safe...ish place," Weiss muttered as she glanced around.

Yang nodded. "Yeah, it's about the best place that we're going to be able to find here. After that Grimm though...I'm tired. Ruby, Blake, found a washroom," she said.

Both of their heads peered around the corner, the cat faunus' head nodding before they went back to looting through the room.

Weiss nodded as she glanced around the room. It was easily big enough to house all of them for a rest. And after that fight, she knew they needed it.

She'd seen Ruby broken down, Yang thrown around, and Blake...well, Blake had been lucky enough to dodge the first hit. "Take a rest," she said to Yang as she settled into the washtub. It wasn't the most comfortable spot, but it would do.

Almost before she saw it, her eyes were shut.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Ruby - 24

Ruby's body still protested every movement that she made the instant she made it. The Grimm, the geist as Weiss had reminded them, had...well, to put it in simple terms, obliterated them. Oh sure, it hadn't hurt Weiss, nor had it killed any of them, but on the other hand it was solely because of that scroll of force barrage that they'd won.

Didn't get much out of the children's room either, if she had to be honest. All the good stuff was probably locked up in the main study or the master bedroom.

They did find a neat potency rune that looked a little different than the one she found in the mines, and Ruby suspected that it was probably not much of one. She'd have to figure out how runes worked to be able to add it to either Yang's new weapon which was almost done, or to Blake's new weapon, which still didn't have a name.

It was kind of a shame. They were right there, and they were resting. The perfect time to come up with a name.

Admittedly, all Ruby wanted to do was sleep. She had more bruise than body at this point. Between the owlbear and the geist she was more surprised that she wasn't just dropped. Probably a close thing though, because by all rights she should have dropped. She yawned as she started to pull her elixirs together in the hallway outside. She'd rested, and by the time she got back up the sun was starting to set. Weiss was still asleep, even in the middle of the day. Blake was reading of the new books she found, and Ruby rolled her eyes as soon as she saw that.

Yang was...well, she was in the hallway too unfortunately, otherwise Ruby thought she could finish the weapons by now. Although...if she had even just one more hour, she probably could do it, as long as Weiss didn't mind waking up.

"Hey, Yang, think you can keep an eye on this?" Ruby asked as she finished the final stir. "They just need to sit for a few minutes while simmering. Won't take long."

Her sister raised an eyebrow, clutching her stomach a bit. "Sure thing. This is the next elixir batch?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, just need to go bathroom," she lied, heading towards the washroom. Yang must've gotten curious, because she protested a bit but by then Ruby went far enough fast enough that she could reasonably play off not hearing her.

The nighttime in the manor was going to be undoubtedly creepy, Ruby knew. It was nearly a cliche, in everything that Ruby knew. At nighttime, things were creepy. Always.

Weiss was still asleep in the washtub, which Ruby was...well, not okay with, but she wasn't awake yet. A part of her wondered why she was so out of it. She hadn't spent that much of her power, had she? She hadn't even gotten hurt. And even if they did, it's not like she was using healing spells.

Ruby pulled out the remains of the new weapons for Yang, slowly adding the final pieces together. They were gauntlet style, easy to use and easy to grab things with, with spare iron ringlets, similar to what she used when she fired Crescent Rose, firing out of the tops. A complicated weapon, for certain, but Yang could use it. And with this, she could also add the rune onto it! Once she figured out how to use runes.

She'd just added in the final piece, feeling the click of the metal as it fell into place, when there was a small light coming from the washtub.

She glanced over, to see a white version of the geist...no, not the geist, the armor that it had, floating above Weiss. "Weiss!" Ruby shouted, reaching for Crescent Rose and unfurling it. Weiss was already waking up, and saw the floating armor, just as the door broke down and Yang and Blake stood there, ready to throw down. They saw the geist armor floating there, the same size as the one they'd fought earlier. Weiss didn't scream, to her credit. Instead she fell out of the washtub, shouting, "It wasn't a dream!?"

The geist armor fell into the washtub, and stood there, watching her. It wasn't acting like the other one had, full of anger and vitriol and all those wonderful adjectives that described Grimm. Instead it was almost peaceful. Not loving, no, but peaceful. It had a green sigil on its forehead, mirrored by a mark on Weiss' left arm. Something about this reminded Ruby of something that she knew about, but not exactly what. She'd heard...something about this kind of thing in Vale? Certainly not Patch. Unless...she did and just forgot. That was possible too.

"Weiss, move slowly and maybe it won't see you," Blake summarized with her sword out, pointing to the thing.

"You don't need to worry," Weiss said softly, raising her hand and letting the geist's armor put its hand on hers. "It's...an eidolon."

"For those of us with no experience with magic bullshit, explain?" Yang asked from the side. Her eyes were flashing between the geist armor and the wepaons that Ruby held in her hands that were meant for her. It was just pure luck she'd managed to get them finished not even three minutes before this.

"It's not 'magic bullshit', Yang," Weiss admonished. "It's just another facet of my spark, and one that most Schnee's have. My grandfather certainly did, as does my sister, and even my brother has it. The spark of a Summoner."

Blake blinked, slowly bringing down her weapon. "A summoner?" she asked. "I've heard of them, but not much."

"A summoner is someone who has a bond, of some type, with an otherworldly being. For this...I'd say probably the occult, given the phanton armor."

"Huh," Ruby said, looking down at the armor closer. It had some kind of obvious autonomy, as it followed her sight easily, the sigil easily found on its brow. "So you have...what, more spells?"

"In time, most certainly. But for now, it's just him," Weiss nodded. "It might be handy to have another frontline fighter as well."

"Wait, it can fight?" Yang asked from the back. She'd finally put down her fists, and only casually glanced over to what it was that Ruby had been building. Ruby muttered a quick curse, she'd wanted to pack it up beforehand but...well, too late now. Least it was already done, for the most part.

"Eidolons can fight. Often quite strong, too," Weiss said. "Perhaps it's best if we head out, and I can explain more on the way?" she asked. Ruby nodded. Now that they knew it wasn't going to attack, that was probably for the best. They still had a lot more in Mountain Glenn to explore and scout out. Although this did give them a very, very healthy head start.

Outside of the bathroom, the only other exit was through the broken windows, the glass still sharp and far too pointed in Ruby's mind. There was the entrance to the second floor though, the floor having broken through the first floor ceiling, dozens of bits of stone and rubble casing all over the place.

Ruby cautiously took the first few steps up, only to sigh as Blake was already most of the way up. Yang was right behind her, giving a sly smirk to both Ruby and Weiss. The new...summoner?...was still experimenting with what she could do with the geist eidolon.

Ruby had heard of them, but only in the same way that Patch ever mentioned anyone with the spark. She knew there were all kinds of esoteric rules to it. Which meant then that Weiss would probably be spending a bit of time each night trying to go over her memory of what it is a summoner can do.

"Oh, Yang, I know you already saw these, but...well, it's your birthday coming up," Ruby said after a moment, reaching into her bag. She came out with the two gauntlets, throwing them to her sister.

Yang blinked. "So these were for me. Thanks Ruby!" Yang smirked as she strapped them on. It took only a few extra punches into the air to get used to the weight. "Alright, what all can these babies do?" she asked.

"Aren't they just bracelets? They can be enchanted, but once they're already made they can only have runes put on them," Weiss asked.

Ruby shook her head. "Nope! They're a lot more than just bracelets. See the little wrist button right there? It fires a pure stone slug out of the two barrels on the top. It should be iron, it's designed to be iron, but I didn't have any iron to test it."

"So basically..." Yang muttered before she looked to a wall. Ruby and Blake covered their ears, as Yang punched and pushed the button at the same time. A raucous roar came from the gauntlet, and where there once was a wall was now half a wall, with a large circular area in the middle. "Hells yeah!" Yang cheered.

"Ow," Weiss said under her breath. "Warn a girl before you do that next time?" she asked. The armored geist eidolon next to her did nothing, and seemingly didn't have any feeling whatsoever to the loud sound that popped off next to it.

"Yeah, sure. So, how do I reload?" Yang asked. "I've seen you have to do it enough to know that's what I have to do."

"There's four chambers in there, two in each side," Ruby explained as she let her hands off her ears. She really should do something about the sound, but what was she expecting? Of course Yang would test it out on the closest thing, even if they were in an enclosed environment which Yang should know only made the sound worse. "To reload, you grab an iron slug, and just open this back part," Ruby said, grabbing at Yang's wrist and showing her the port. "After that you click it back down," she finished, smashing down on the gauntlet's backside. "And you're done!"

"Sweet. Easy to use, easy to reload, Ruby these are great!"

Ruby grinned. It was always nice to feel appreciated by her sister for non-combat things. She knew that's what Yang wanted for her, to stay in the back and simply tinker away.

But inventing was an expensive hobby. Even Crescent Rose had cost between three and four gold total when she was done, nearly thirty or forty silver pieces. Even Yang's new gauntlets...which reminded her. "Oh, by the way, before I forget; you can light your hands on fire still. The gauntlets are fire resistant, and the powder I used in there ignites only on an impact, not fire."

"So don't get hit in the gauntlets if I don't want to lose my hands?"

"The entire area is pretty well set and protected, so any accidental hits shouldn't be too bad. On the other hand, I would suggest you try and dodge, yeah," Ruby grinned. "But otherwise, feel free to set them on fire and fire at the same time."

"Heh. Sweet. This is going to be so much fun. Ahh yeah I can't wait for the next enemy!"

"Even if it's an undead?" Blake snarked from in front.

Yang's cheerfulness started to drop. "Even then!" She reaffirmed, her smile dropping slightly. Ruby grinned. Even now, with her hands relatively protected, she hated the undead.

The second floor was mostly the same as the first when Ruby finished going up it. There were a few more doors along the side, some of them with more damage than others. There was a hallway that crossed to the other side of the manor. Each room Blake stopped at, trying to pick the locks. There was more than once when Ruby just reached through a broken door and unlocked it, as the door had mostly rotted away and was just there barely to clarify as 'door' now.

There was a much larger study or office room, with a large desk that was on its last legs in the center. A few couches filled to the brim with mildew and mold made sure that Ruby didn't want to spend too much time here. The color had faded from the hole in the ceiling, being eventually a sun bleached white.

Books in the bookcases weren't in any better condition. The pages were folded over at points, but the writing had all faded. Blake seemed especially sad about one with a picture of a two ninjas going at war with each other. Ruby wasn't entirely sure why, she was sure she'd seen that one before in Blake's hands. The desk was missing one of its legs, and while off balance didn't have any major drawers that were locked. The bottom drawer had already been ripped out by another looter at some point, which Ruby wasn't surprised about.

"Why?" Weiss asked when Ruby pointed it out. "It's the only sign of a looter so far. If anything that makes it more suspicious. They left the food, they left the paintings, and you know how much money Blake found in the sunroom study."

Blake knelt down next to the drawer. "I think it was a faunus that did this. Maybe a White Fang member? It was obviously a long time ago, seeing as how the drawer's in obvious bad shape."

"It takes longer than a few years for a wooden drawer like that to get into that condition," Yang said, pointing out the half caved in look. The wood was rotting away and had obvious holes in it. Termites had eaten away at it.

"Either way, that just means that something was in this office that they wanted," Ruby compromised. "We still have the entirety of Mountain Glenn to go through before we can go back. Is there anything there?"

"Just a few silver pieces," Blake said, throwing Ruby a few of the cold coins. She nodded as she caught them, counting them out before she put them into her nearly endless bag.

"At this point I almost have a feeling we should have a bag denoted to only have coins," Weiss said quietly.

"No," Ruby, Yang, and Blake's voice spoke up at the same time. When all three caught each other by surprise, Yang motioned for Ruby or Blake to take the spiel. Ruby took it up. "Never keep all the coins in one place, even in a spacious pouch like these. Way too easy to get pickpocketed."

"As a professional pickpocket, I agree," Blake nodded. Weiss' eyes narrowed at the reminder that Blake was technically an outlaw. "Don't look at me like that, I'm also the one gathering all of the coins."

"She is. If she wasn't trustworthy, I wouldn't be letting her do it," Ruby shrugged. Yang's eyes narrowed on that one, and Ruby rolled her own towards her sister. Yang knew what was going on at this point.

"Nothing else here," Blake murmured. "I did want to keep checking that other locked door."

Most of the other rooms had been empty, sometimes having nothing more than locked closets. Sometimes they had food in them, most of which had already gone bad, and other times they had been additional bedrooms that looked well kept until the fall of Mountain Glenn.

But there was one door left that they could find, on the opposite side of the manor. The door was above the master bedroom one, they knew that from the servants hallway down below, and it was very, very ornate.

Blake had tried to look at the lock, just before Ruby had found this last broken down door. "I think we should be careful," Weiss said as they all went to look at it again. "A door like this could have magic on it."

"A magic door?" Blake asked, her eyebrows raised. "Think you can sense traps?"

"Aren't you the thief?"

"There is something fishy about this one," Ruby said as she glanced over at Yang. The door wasn't the same sealed door that they had found over at Patch, but had similar stonework. It wasn't flashing rainbow colors though, which meant either this door wasn't nearly as well trapped as the other one or this one was subtle.

"Is there?" Blake asked as she glanced it over. "I suppose so," she said, pointing to a few small runes in the corners. "Weiss, any idea what these are?" she asked.

The magus looked up at them, taking care to not actually touch any of the runes. "Glyphs of warding," Weiss identified after a moment. "Not sure what spell is in them though, but it's definitely magical."

"Any idea to disarm?"

"Usually there's a password to them," Weiss shrugged. "Or some kind of event has to happen to set them off."

"It's probably the door opening without the password or key," Yang nodded. "it's what makes the most sense. Think this might be a treasure vault?"

"Those are usually just pure fiction," Blake muttered as she set about trying to figure out how to disarm them.

Ruby stood up next to her as she glanced over them. A glyph of warding? Could she be able to use something like this? Obviously she couldn't cast the magic, but imagine if she could put it on a bullet or something! Blake's ears were tickling her chin as Ruby leaned over her, looking at the top one. Her mind started to follow the lines and spirals of the ward and spell contained within. "I don't think I can do it. We can either go through the wall, which would probably bring it down on us, or get the eidolon to do it," Blake said.

"Doing so would kill me, so no, I'm not going to do that," Weiss said. Yang turned to look at her.

"Wait, what do you mean it'd kill you? It'd just kill the eidolon right, right? Why would it hurt you?" she asked.

Ruby's eyes were following the lines and spirals. There was an almost immaculate beauty to the designs, something unique that she'd never seen before. She could follow each one, see how they interacted and interconnected.

"Eidolons and summoners are connected by their life force. Every thing I get hurt by, so does it. Everything it gets hurt by, so do I."

"That seems..." Yang started to say, before she trailed off. Blake picked up on it.

"Sub-optimal for combat?" she guessed. Yang must have nodded, because the cat faunus went on. "I suppose it could be, but having an additional fighter on the field is always helpful. What I most dream of is having a healer."

"I got it," Ruby said after a short moment. She raised her hand up and slowly dragged her hand down one of the lines, the glowing sigils following her hand.

"Ruby, wait! What are you doing!?" Yang said as the blonde brawler moved to move up to stop her.

She finished a moment later, the sigils and glyphs slowly disappearing. Ruby blinked as she backed away. "Weiss, how dangerous was that?" she asked quietly.

"Well, if the spell is a dangerous one, very. If the spell wasn't dangerous, that's impossible because glyph of warding can only contain dangerous spells."

"So very."

"Very dangerous, yes," Weiss nodded. "But on the other hand, they look disabled."

"What I want to know is how you knew to do that," Blake asked quietly.

"What I want to know is why you decided to try and do that," Yang said. "But I'm glad everything turned out alright."

"It's a lot like alchemy, I noticed. The lines and spirals just started to make sense to me, I guess. I noticed where one glyph ended and another began, and slowly traced the lines out."

"Which would cause a cascade effect within the matrix of the spell..." Weiss muttered under her breath. "That's brilliant but dangerous."

Blake unlocked a moment later. "Got it," she said, holding the door just barely ajar. "Everyone back up, just in case," she said, and Ruby rushed back with everyone as Blake pushed it open. There was no big explosion, there was no big murmuring of lightning or anything like that. The door just opened, and Yang threw a light filled coin into it.

"Wow. They do exist," Blake said softly as she took in the sights. Ruby tilted her head, rushing in after her, followed by Yang and Weiss.

It was an actual gods forsaken treasure vault. Something that Ruby had thought wasn't likely, and just a joke that she shared a lot with Yang when they were younger. It wasn't massive piles of gold though, but rather a small bookshelf with dozens of small items in it. An axe here that Ruby could tell had a few runes on it, a cloak that had was surprisingly nice.

In the corner was another desk, with an unlocked drawer. True to Blake being herself, the cat faunus marched over to it first, instantly grabbing through the various drawers. All of them were unlocked.

The room was in surprisingly good condition, too. Ruby glanced around as she grabbed the axe on the wall. "Huh, these could be useful."

"Found a few things," Blake said as she brought out a few scrolls and coins. "And a letterhead."

"Considering how much information we got from the last one, why was this one put away?" Yang asked. "And if this room is a vault, then why wasn't it looted already?"

"Most people can't get through a warded room like this was," Weiss answered.

Ruby nodded. "And if you look at it, this room was sealed pretty well even from the roof. There's no hole in here, there's no water in here at all, despite the other areas dilapidated nature."

"Just looks like financial documents mostly," Blake murmured under her breath. "Not too much worthwhile, but take a look at this part," she said, showing it to Ruby.

It was a breakdown of various houses nearby, mostly of the more rich peoples within Mountain Glenn. In some of them there was a small note next to them.

'In the wall, behind the painting, combination 4-2-9'. 'Glyphed door, fireball, master assembly'. 'Main study, hidden spacious pouch in drawer, key required, key on master's body'.

"It's a list, of the majority of hidden vaults within Mountain Glenn," Ruby muttered. Weiss glanced at it, her eyes going wide.

"This is worth its weight in mithril..." Weiss said in disbelief. "This is absolutely incredible!"

"I don't think this cloak works on me, what do you all think?" Yang said, pulling on the brightly feathered cloak. She danced around a bit, a smirk playing at her face. "Yeah, it doesn't work for me."

"No, but an obviously magical cloak like that has to be worth something. If we don't find a worthwhile use for it ourselves we can always just sell it," Weiss noted. "What scrolls were those?"

"I have no idea," Blake shrugged. "I can't read any of these."

Ruby took a look at them, but unlike the glyphs outside these ones did not mysteriously start to make sense to her. She shrugged as Weiss took them. No one in the team would use the axe, but she would have to take a few minutes to really try to identify what it was and what runes it contained. She just put it in the bag around her neck anyways, the one with the painting. She would have time later tonight to figure it out.

There were also a few flat stones on the mantle, the one with the axe, and Ruby looked over those. Each one had a unique design on it, and she could faintly feel the magical signatures on it. Runes.

But which ones, she didn't know. She'd have to take some time to identify later.

"These are fantastic," Weiss said, putting the scrolls into her own bag. "I think I can definitely put some of these into my spellbook later. Great find, everyone."

"Thanks to Ruby," Blake said with a tilted smile. "But I think we've covered the majority of this manor. I can't think of anything we haven't already gone through. So I think it's time we head out."

Yang nodded. "Yeah. We still have to survey the rest of the town. No fighting if we don't have to," Yang finished quietly.

Ruby agreed. "That's the best thing we can do. I have a spyglass we can use built into Crescent Rose, but we should make sure that we have more. If we have a few days I can make a few."

"Nah, I still have mine," Yang nodded. Blake nodded her head too, and Weiss had to look through her bag, before she nodded as well. "Guess we still have all of ours. Alright. Let's head out," she finished.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Yang - 25

The rest of the manor, they still haven't found anything else. Yang was walking around with her eyes narrowed, even through her shirt as they walked back through the kitchen. After they had killed the geist, or the armor, or whatever it actually was, the door could be opened. Not that they'd realized that until Blake tried it on their way back out. Otherwise Yang was going to simply try to bust the wall down somewhere.

And with Ruby's new weapons on her hands, she could probably do it too. Seriously, she doubted that Ruby even realized how brutal these things were. And if they could have runes on top of it? Brutal.

Especially if she put on some kind of anti-undead rune on it. And she so wanted to. She wanted to just be able to punch a zombie really hard and see it catch on fire. Unless it was a fire undead zombie. She hadn't heard of any, but that didn't mean much.

The outside of Mountain Glenn was still as soon as they left out the front door. The air was still, the sky was still, and Yang almost missed the subtle wind that was around the manor. The moon was starting to rise up on the far side of the mountains, bathing everything in its ethereal glow. They hadn't found any places within that could house an owlbear. There was no room inside that had obvious usage of some giant pet, there was no chain dungeon somewhere underground that could hold it. The manor didn't even have a basement.

Which meant that, to Yang, the owlbear came from somewhere else. And that was dangerous. She knew better than to run around on her own looking for a place like that, because anyplace that could house an owlbear probably had other things that may have been zombified.

Although with the new gauntlets from Ruby she was sure she'd be able to win without an issue, but that didn't mean it wasn't reckless to go on in. There was no way she'd let Ruby go on her own in the middle of this kind of dangerous territory, and why would she not follow advice she'd set for Ruby?

There were dozens of streets going every which way. "Think we should use the manor as our base of operations? We did clear it out pretty well," Yang asked. They had gone through well, and they knew the layout. And they'd already rested there once, and now that the Grimm wasn't there, and hadn't that been a surprise having to fight a Grimm of all things, it should have settled down.

"Works for me. It's also on a hill too, so it should be easier to see," Blake shrugged. Weiss nodded.

"Very well, we'll have that manor, whoever it may have belonged to at some point, be our base of operations while we're in Mountain Glenn. I suspect that while the city is overly large, we already know the majority of the type of enemies we'll be facing," Weiss announced as she took the lead. "Until then, I say we keep to the streets, and don't go in any of the buildings unless you feel like you have to."

"Getting no argument from me," Yang said, moving behind her just a bit. "There's too many things around for me to want to go into more of these places," she said.

Most of the structures laying around were dilapidated at worse and outright hazardous at the best of times. Many of them had small bits of moss growing on them, the wood having long since rotten and falling apart. The parts of the street that belonged to most of the peasants or those who didn't have much money was obvious to see, as those structures were just hovels at this point. The moonlight gave them plenty of light to see.

Ruby did run up to peer in one, before she shook her head. "Most of these places have already been looted," she reported back. Yang made sure that she was in sight the entire time. She remembered the various monsters they'd already fought far too well for any other outcome.

"I'm not surprised. These would be places without much in the way of locks. We could search for those places with the secrets," Blake suggested, "but that would also take us inside. And they'd probably be in more of the wealthier district."

Weiss held up her hand for a moment, before Yang saw a pulse of magic come out of her. It seemed to tell her something, but whatever it was Yang couldn't tell. "What was that?" she asked.

"Detect Magic, it's a cantrip spell, and it's one that every wizard or anyone with the spark can learn, and it's one of the most universal. Everyone is encouraged to learn it."

"Because it's so useful?" Ruby asked.

"Exactly," Weiss explained. "What it does is that it sends out a quick pulse of magic, and it tells me how strong magical signals are in the area. It's not a wide area, that comes from the strength of the spark, but it at least tells me the basic information."

"So if someone held a bunch of engraved items to you, you'd be able to tell if they're magical. Like that scroll from earlier," Blake pointed out. Weiss nodded. "You were using it in the mansion, weren't you?"

"I was, but there were a lot of confusing signals around. This guy bounces a signal off of me," Weiss said, pointing to the large armored figure next to her. "Most of our items do too, like the spacious pouches."

"And I'm guessing that part of the trick is making sure that you get results that you can ignore what you already know," Blake suggested. Weiss nodded.

Yang knew that magic was complicated, and the more that Weiss spoke really just said how much more complicated it was. Her job, Yang knew, was much simpler than everyone else's. Blake's was the second simplest, and it was basically just 'run up and stab in place that would hurt a lot.' There was, of course, like all things, more to it than that. But in Yang's mind, as strong as they were, all that she needed to be there for was to take the hits and be supplemental damage. It worked when Ruby and her was on Patch, and it would work everywhere else too.

The surroundings of Mountain Glenn got worse the farther along the streets the four went. As much as Weiss complained about moving with the group, she made no attempt to separate or call to separate. Whether it was because she realized that they were stronger together, or because staying as a group was simply better, Yang didn't know. The streets got worse, slowly going up and down the small hills. The cobblestones were broken in many places, large potholes and sinkholes that Yang made sure everyone could easily walk around with problems. Broken down fences lined the side streets.

Small rats scurried to and from, and more than once Yang had to stall herself from launching at one of them, having accidentally pushed over a small metal can. The air was still, and there was a sense of ominousness that sat over the entire city.

"We should start heading back," Ruby muttered as she glanced up at the sky. "We can just go into the foyer. It was wide enough and we can put the tents up at least," she said. Weiss nodded, and Yang kept up the rearguard as they turned around onto a secondary street.

This one was much smaller, and more than once Ruby and Blake had to defend themselves against the small brambles and thorny bushes that threatened to envelop them. The fences back here were just regular posts, unlike the ones back on the main street. It was nearly impossible to figure out that they had been fences if it wasn't the small stacks of rotted wood that showed where the wood had once stood.

The sun was setting quick, and Yang kept trying to get the group to go just that much faster. They were nearing the mansion again, and as long as there wasn't anything around that would hurt them they'd be golden.

But she knew better. Dark was the element of the undead. When the sun set, that was when the things that went bump in the night came out. That was one of the reasons why she figured they were out here right now; to see what the nighttime brought them.

It was one reason that Yang had suggested using the mansion for it that they had already cleared. They knew what had been in it, but Grimm didn't come back, as far as she knew, and most of the undead were on the magical power type and that meant someone would have to be on hand to resurrect them. Or revive them. Weiss grabbed a small piece of the broken cobblestone, holding it aloft high above her head as she cast her light spell on it. The soft golden light made things easier to see as the moon rose to its highest apex, and Yang was starting to feel the chill. It was an unnatural chill, the kind that sent goosebumps up her arms and spine.

But within another five minutes, they'd hit the mansion, and Yang walked around to the front, making sure that everything was still in decent condition. The zombie dogs were still dead, and most likely couldn't be revived anytime soon. She motioned to the rest of the team, telling them to come further in.

It was only after Blake had shut the door and locked it that Yang began to relax. "Alright, now that we're out of the cold..." she said quietly. Blake was going around to each of the doors, locking them as best she could. On any of the doors that couldn't lock, she was putting some kind of barrier in the way, a chair here or a cabinet there. She gave a quiet nod to the faunus, knowing that as irritating as it'd be in the morning, they'd be thankful for it later.

Ruby sat down on one of the couches. "Well, we don't have beds but we have these things. Two people per watch? That way two people can sleep and the other two can keep on watch?" Ruby suggested.

Yang nodded. "It's what makes the most sense. Come on, let's get a fire in here," she said, holding out her hand for one of Ruby's spacious pouches. With a dubious look, the inventor handed her one.

"How did you know I was storing wood?"

"Ruby, remember who taught you that trick?" Yang asked with a roll of her eyes. It was a common trick out in Patch, that when hiking through the forest or anywhere with wood, take as much and put it into the pack when possible. That way, at night, there was no scrounging around in the dark for new wood to light or relight the fires.

Finding the giant wood piles that Ruby had been collecting had been the easy part, bringing them out had been another. The girl had everything in here for a massive campfire, including a large ring of stones and some flint and steel. Yang had grabbed a small few bunches and put them on the center table, glad that it was made of stone. It wasn't the fanciest piece here bar none anyways, and in another moment a small fire was starting to go.

Weiss and her eidolon took some of the pillows from the couches and moved them off to the side, away from the firelight, and eventually took one of the couches as a whole. "You know we all gotta take turns on that, right?" Yang asked.

"I'm the one who needs a full night of sleep," Weiss complained. "Remember how I had to rest in the tub earlier? I need minimum eight hours."

"And then we spent a good chunk of the night just walking around. So far we found nothing," Yang answered. "I think a few more days of that and we'll be good to go."

"I already know what's on the north side," Blake shrugged. "Mostly bandits. Most of them with the White Fang, but occasionally there are territory disputes. Those go away quickly once the Fang gets in there."

"How do you know what the White Fang does so well? I knew you were a part of it, but that doesn't say much," Yang asked, leaning over to Blake.

"Oh. Uh..." she started to stammer, before she looked to Ruby. The inventor was staring down at Crescent Rose, her toolkit out and slowly looking through it. At the pause she glanced up, and gave a soft smile with a silent nod. Blake took a deep breath as Ruby went back to her repairing. "It's complicated," Blake started.

"When it comes to rogues and thieves, there's nothing complicated. She wanted money. They had money. End," Weiss' voice said from the far side. "And keep your voices down!"

"Not sorry over there Princess," Yang hollered back before she grinned to Blake. "So dumb it down then, if it's complicated."

"Part of it is for that reason," Blake said, motioning with her head over to Weiss' corner. "Thieves such as me are often looked down on for what our skills are. Rogues, they call them up in Atlas. Those away from the law."

"Atlas is Atlas and Vale is Vale."

"I suppose Ruby already told you most of it, so I'm just filling in the blanks then," Blake muttered. "When I was seven, I was over in Menagerie. Fantastic tropical island. It's where the origin of all faunus is supposed to be at. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but we definitely don't own most of the island. Most of it is uninhabitable desert, like Vacuo, but only worse."

"You were seven?" Yang prodded. Blake wasn't being deceiving on purpose, nor was she trailing around on purpose. She was deliberately trying to avoid saying what it was or how it happened.

"Right, seven," Blake started again. "Anyways, I got caught up in a Teleport spell. To Vale. From there, Adam Taurus, the commander of this branch of the White Fang, told me that I had to obey his every whim or else I'd get no mercy."

Ruby took a deep inhalation of breath, and Yang didn't blame her. Threatening a kid with death, really? That just pissed her off, because she had no doubt that a kid wouldn't know what was going on. "He told me that my parents were safe...for now. But that could change at any time, so I needed to do my part to ensure that they were taken care of. And that meant I needed to get one hundred gold a month, every month."

"You were seven?" Weiss spoke up from the back. "That's...horrible."

"I was seven," Blake nodded. "I got good at begging. It's how I know most of the beggars. A few faunus, like Tukson and Night, taught me how to survive on the streets, taking what I needed to. I hadn't been a pampered princess, but I knew what it took to survive on Menagerie. Not in Vale."

"Begging couldn't have paid one hundred gold a month," Yang said, speaking from experience. "I'm guessing you stole the rest?"

"When I needed to," Blake nodded. "Other times I learned how to dance and sing. Some days I found more than five or ten gold in my hat, and other times I was lucky with only five silver. But each month, I made the payments."

"How did that work?" Ruby asked from the side. She had Crescent Rose put away, pushed off to the side. "Was there a single drop place for payments?" she asked.

"Sometimes it changed. Most of the time it was to Deery, in that tea shop where we met, Weiss," Blake nodded to the white haired girl, who was now paying obvious attention to the story. "But sometimes they had me trek out here and hand it to Adam directly."

"That's how you knew the way so well. But then how come you didn't know about the Grimm?" Weiss asked.

"It's a flyer, Weiss. What did you call it earlier, a nevermore? Those would be nearly impossible to predict, and the bigger ones could fly for thousands of miles before they stop and find a roosting place," Ruby said. "That one I'm not surprised she wouldn't know. But what about the other two bandits?"

"They were new too. Otherwise I doubt the White Fang would've let them in if they could help it. Most of the time they don't like competition. They don't keep much of the competition around here either, but some of the gangs are too well entrenched to be anything but survivors of Mountain Glenn," Blake surmised.

"Why didn't they go to this house then and loot it, if they looted everything else?" Weiss asked. "Parts of that story just don't add up to me."

Blake shrugged. "It's what they told me, at least. But...well, Ruby and I cut a deal," she said, looking over at the inventor. Ruby grinned and nodded. "She'll take me over to Menagerie, and we'll rescue my parents together."

"That's why you wanted to head to Mistral," Yang put it all together now, her head rolling a mile per minute. Did Ruby really think that was a good idea though? It was just an idea, and Blake had betrayed them earlier. "Because Mistral's right on the way to Menagerie."

"We don't have any leads on Qrow Branwen, Yang. He could be anywhere. In Vale, in Mistral, even in Vacuo or Atlas," Ruby said. "I figure this way we could help out Blake and try to expand our search for him at the same time."

Yang glared at her sister, before she paused. She had a feeling she knew the real reason Ruby was so intent on helping Blake, but really, couldn't she have developed her empathy on someone a little bit less backstabby? She had already stolen from them once. But really, a backstory like that...it wasn't really a wonder.

But then again, how much of that was fiction and how much of it was true? Fact or fiction?

Either way, it was obvious to Yang that it was going to be their next stop then. When Ruby put her mind to something, it was all Yang could do to just keep up. At least out here Ruby wasn't adverse to Yang keeping up and helping out. "Well. I can't exactly deny it," Yang said as she sat down, crossing her legs next to the makeshift fire. She went back through the spacious pouch, pulling out a few pans as well as bits of various foodstuffs. She could make some quick hardtack stew, as long as it boiled long enough it might be edible in the morning.

She put one above the fire, putting in some water and a few of the pieces. Ruby watched her for a moment, before she leaned back. "Why are you watching so closely? You can't cook," Yang asked.

"Because I need to make sure that what you're making is fit for consumption," Ruby retorted.

Yang rolled her eyes, but continued with the stew anyways.

It was only after Ruby and Weiss had fallen asleep that Yang allowed herself to relax a bit. Weiss, the princess that she was, was sleeping on the other couch. The eidolon had disappeared the moment that Weiss had actually fallen asleep.

Blake sat next to her at one of the windows, casually looking out into the courtyard below. "You're...not mad? About being asked to go to Mistral?" she asked.

"Kind of," Yang replied. "But I'm also...relieved, I guess? It's more of anything than we had before. I have no idea what he looks like, what he does, where he is, nothing more than a simple name. And even then, the name is less than significant to most people."

"I'll admit I've never heard of him."

"Everyone in Vale said the same thing. I wanted to ask Ms. Goodwitch, the headmistress of the Schnee School of Magic, but, well, the jobs came up too quick."

"Why would she know?"

"Maybe he's a wizard," Yang shrugged. "I figure the more people I ask, the more likely it is we'll find someone. We have to go back to Vale anyways after this."

"Hopefully it won't take nearly as long on the way back."

Yang shook her head, "Shouldn't be long at all, considering how much stuff happened on the way here. The way back will be smooth sailing."

That's always how she'd discovered that it worked. The trip out to somewhere new was almost always found to be difficult, time-consuming, and fraught with danger. On the other hand, going back to someplace known was almost...skipped over, in a way. It wasn't, of course, but now that they knew the way it would be easier to come to and from Mountain Glenn to Vale.

"If you say so. I've always found the way back to be worse. Then again, I was heading to Vale," Blake shrugged.

"I suspect that you wouldn't find it fun, heading back. You were heading back to just steal more stuff and beg for money. Speaking of, is that why you needed to sell our stuff too?" Yang asked.

Blake nodded, although she looked a bit like she'd swallowed a lemon. "Yeah. The elixirs sold for a bit, and they managed to get me up to the amount I needed for the month, but I wanted a safety net for next month."

"Hence Weiss found you."

"Well, I found Weiss," Blake admitted. "And she knows what I intended to do. Same thing to her that I did to you. On the other hand, I wasn't expecting the inspector."

"To be fair, I don't think any of us expected Oobleck," Yang said. "And the way he just overpowered you, I admit, was rather cathartic for me."

"I expected that it would be," Blake shrugged. "I can't fault you for that, I'd probably feel the same if someone did to me that I did to you."

"Do you feel guilty for it? Guilty at all?" Yang asked after a second.

"All the time," Blake said quietly. "I never wanted to do it. But I was good at it, and it was what I felt I needed to do. I wasn't a wizard, I didn't have the spark. I tried, dozens of times, of finding ways to pass the wizard test without one."

"They get paid pretty well, don't they?"

"Amazingly well. It was why I targeted Weiss. Anyone with the spark is going to be a target, because they probably have either a lot of money or useful gear. Sell it to mercenaries like us, make a fortune."

"Is that what that equipment seller was doing? What was his name, the one Ruby found?"

"Night?" Blake asked. Yang nodded, that sounded about right. "No, he wasn't a part of the White Fang. But he was making a safe place for those he knew the story of. His brother is Tukson, the guy who runs a bookstore down the main lane. Whenever I have a lot of spare cash, even just a few silver or so, I go down there and see what I can find."

"You read a lot? Obviously you must, considering how many books you picked out of the study here," Yang smirked.

"No one's using them, and they were just going to rot and mildew. Better I grab them, enjoy them, and trade them in for better ones than just letting them sit there," Blake shrugged.

"That sounds like Ruby talk. She was always the one who was asking to loot the corpses first," Yang said, shivering a bit. She hated the idea of looting, but she knew they had to do it.

"Did you have a lot of those, over on Patch? I can't imagine that you'd have a lot."

"It was rare," Yang admitted, "but there were more than enough for me."

Blake nodded. "You know, as long as you kill in self-defense, it's not a worry on your soul. I suppose you follow the God of Light?" she asked.

Yang shrugged. "Truth be told, I follow Light and maybe Ozma a bit. I'm guessing your Salem and Darkness?"

"Darkness, definitely," Blake nodded. "But Salem? No. Not at all. Probably why Grimm like to kill me."

"Can you two keep it down? I'm trying to get some sleep," Weiss' obnoxious voice called out from the other couch. "And for the record, Salem and Ozma are the gods of magic, and I follow both. Now shut up!"

Yang laughed. "Sure thing princess. Sleep well, and see you in the morning," she gave a half salute, only to get a rude gesture back.

Chapter Text

Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by VIZ Media. I do not make any money off the publication of this fanfiction. Please support the official release.

Blake - 26

Blake's eyes opened slowly as sunlight tried to reach to them. The foyer of the mansion was still in decent condition, and the windows had been shut and blinded by her last night. There was a smell in the air, but she couldn't quite identify what it was. Her eyes snapped awake as she glanced towards the barricades.

It was a trick she'd learned from sleeping while in dangerous areas. Put something in front of the door, and it'll at least break and give a moment to wake up before whatever it is tries to kill everyone.

Three out of four were in place, and the one that was...pushed aside led deeper in. She rolled off of the couch, grabbing one of her daggers and the sword she'd found a few days ago. She wasn't quite used to it just yet, but was finding it more and more acclimated to her style. Best of all, she could get a returning rune on it, eventually, assuming she had the money, and have it just...pop back into her hand. Night would have to tell her more though, she didn't quite get it. But those were probably expensive.

"Hey, foods almost ready," Yang said from next to her, hovering over the fire. "Weiss went to the bathroom at the far end, because she didn't want to just go outside," she said, rolling her eyes a bit.

Blake nodded, relaxing as she sat back down. Yang wasn't tense, and that meant there wasn't any danger around. "Where's Ruby?" she asked, looking for the inventor girl.

"Tinkering. She has to do her alchemy thing early in the morning, and she can do a few elixirs each day, but they're not good for long. Use 'em or lose 'em, as she says," Yang said. "She'll be back soon."

"I'm surprised she isn't cooking."

"She did," Yang shrugged. "I'm just heating it up, and I can do that much at least."

"You made a decent stew last night," Blake said. She could still kind of taste it on the tip of her tongue. Creamy, but not runny. Could have used more fish though, or more potatoes but she doubted that the duo had enough money for that.

"As much as she and I tease each other, we are quite capable of taking care of ourselves," Yang said, pointing the metal spoon at her. "And the spacious pouches Ruby bought makes lugging these things around a breeze."

"I always carry one just for that," Blake nodded. "They're fantastic."

"Any idea how to make them?"

"Get good at sewing and find an enchantress," Blake admitted. "I'm not sure which spell exactly, but there's a few small time wizards out there who master the spells and then sell these things."

"Huh. That's one way to make money out of having a spark," Yang shrugged. Blake nodded. She'd seen more than a few of the wizards who could barely cut it get absolutely masterful at very specific spells, and ended up going into embroidery or sewing. There were more than a few, too, who went into runesmithing, but they were few and far between. One of the big reasons why runes were so rare.

Blake finished the reheated...it wasn't quite a stew, but it was quite heavy and creamy nonetheless. She wasn't sure what it was, exactly, before she grabbed at her bag and grabbed a book. Weiss was probably off preparing her spellbook, while Ruby was off finishing off the elixirs. The faunus wondered if she should try to get Ruby to get into actual potion making, because as handy as the elixirs were they were nothing compared to actual healing potions. Although those didn't need the spark...did they? Maybe they did...

She only got a few pages into her book, about a lost sailor trying to make it back home to his beloved and being attacked at all angles along the way, before Weiss and Ruby each came out of the different rooms. "All done?" Weiss asked. Next to her was the geist eidolon, standing tall and proud as if they hadn't just killed it a day or two ago.

Ruby nodded. "Yep. Five of these things. Don't use 'em too quick, because we don't have any more," she said, handing them out. She gave Yang two of them, Blake noticed, but she wasn't going to call her out on it. If anything, it made it all the sweeter that the younger was trying to take care of the older sister too.

"We should try finding an actual alchemist," Weiss noted. "For if we...well, stick together."

"I don't quite see that happening yet Princess," Yang smirked. "We haven't yet been paid for this job," she said. Weiss rolled her eyes, before she turned serious.

"Alright, we've covered a lot of ground yesterday, so I think it's time we hit the city center. Looting was probably common there, so there probably won't be a whole lot to find. We're just trying to find what creatures are there," Weiss explained.

"We know what creatures are there," Yang interrupted. "The undead, zombies, zombie owlbears, and bandits on the northern side. That pretty much settles it, right?"

"While I have no doubt that they'd be happy with that much knowledge, it is up to Schnee's to be perfect, and that included when we're doing every job."

Ah. So it was a pride thing then. Well, as Blake knew well, pride cometh before the fall. "Alright. Just avoid the northern section. I know where the line is, and I'll let you know before we get there."

"The White Fang doesn't come out of the northern section?" Ruby asked. "You'd think they'd have claimed the entire city."

"They don't have the manpower for that. There are other gangs here, but the majority of their forces for Vale are in the city. They'll definitely have some in the satellite cities, but nothing compared to how much are in the big ones," Blake explained.

And that had been a shock to learn just how organized they really were. She'd thought they were a small time crime syndicate when she'd been kidnapped, but now knew they were a globe-trotting crime ring. Everything that a crime syndicate could be in, they were doing. And they had some extremely powerful casters in their pocket as well, based on the fact one of them knew Teleport.

As Weiss had explained earlier, Teleport was a spell that requires a powerful spark to use, and it was an uncommon spell because everyone wanted to learn it, so everyone who knew it didn't want to share it. Blake got up quietly, making sure that the new sword which had yet to be named was strapped to her waist, and she had a few extra daggers on her person. She never knew when a dagger could be needed, so she always kept a spare few. on her.

Yang and Ruby got to packing the food and pots, making sure to keep everything the way they needed and wanted. Weiss surveyed the three of them, before she nodded and headed out the door.

The quiet of Mountain Glenn was always surprising. She had better hearing than most, what with having four ears and all, and could see in the dark. But the silence of Mountain Glenn was almost deafening.

There was no birdsong. There were no insects, no crickets and no frogs. It was as if the very town had turned to stone, a silent kingdom based on a throne of loss.

The northern district started at around a third of the way in. It was a line of old shops, old bakeries and blacksmith shops, that told where the northern district began. It wasn't nearly as rundown as the southern district was, nor nearly as well protected as the rich area. They'd been in the rich area, with large opulent houses. Most of which Blake knew had already been looted and run through. The fact that one of them hadn't was more surprising than anything.

But they weren't checking every house. They were just supposed to survey the area.

More than once on the way to the north, Blake held up her hand to caution the group from moving forward. Generally small things, although there was really no way that rats the size of Blake's torso could be considered small, ran from street to street.

Very rarely was the undead actively seen. Most of them were inside the bakeries or the shops, standing away from the light as much as possible.

"Which one's that?" Weiss asked as another creepy crawly of some kind crossed the street. It was a small insect like thing, with two antenna on its head. It was rushing from one side close to a blacksmith shop to another one, with hanging cast iron.

Ruby glanced at it. "We're not fighting that one. That's a rust monster," she said instantly. "I remember seeing something about it."

"Yeah, they're nasty," Yang agreed. "They basically just rust all weapons and armor that they touch. Some say that one rusting disease originally came from rust monsters, but no one knows how or why it suddenly became a disease and jumped like that."

Blake hadn't known any of that, but she was glad to know it now. Any of her weapons would be nearly useless against such a thing. "Alright. We avoid that thing then," Weiss said, writing down what it was and where it was. "Let's go through the bakery to the next street," she said.

"We should be careful, we're getting close to the north side," Blake warned. Ruby and Yang nodded, but Weiss shook off her warning with a wave of her hand. "Alright. We'll go through this one," Blake chose one at random.

It had a small pink sign that hung on the top, although the chains used to holding it up were rusted and slowly breaking down. The doors were easy to open, and obviously didn't protect much from the elements.

The inside had the look of a shop that was once loved, but now had nothing there. Spots of what used to be show bagels sat in a small glass case, most of them having long since been broken down. The tiles on the floor having the dozens of nicks and scratches on them, and Blake could see small puddles of water slowly collecting on them. Other barrels that probably once contained fresh bread were now empty, the wood containers rotting away, damp from the hole in the roof.

The glass counter was gone, hundreds of shards showing what happened to it. There might have been food there at one point, but either it was looted quickly or it just decomposed. Either way, it didn't smell, so Blake was thankful for those small mercies.

The door to the back, where the actual ovens were, was on the ground, and Blake carefully stepped over it as she glanced in. Weiss was behind her, content with the eidolon next to her. It was odd actually, just how quick she'd gotten used to having essentially a Grimm walking alongside her. It was quiet though, at least.

The ovens and kitchen were full of pots and pans, and it had long since lost all of its smell. One of the ovens had its door open, a small metal pan still inside it as if they'd been baking something when the Grimm came. Other pans and pots hung on the ceiling, and Blake ignored that Ruby and Yang started to look through them.

Most of them were terrible quality, built mostly for intense use and then promptly being thrown away. Blake wasn't at all surprised when the both of them passed up all of them, although she did notice a very nice cast iron pan that would be extremely useful if they had more people on their team. On the other hand, it looked like it was rusted through, with some teeth marks on the rust.

She also noticed that Ruby winked at her, before grabbing that one and putting it in one of the spacious pouches. Apparently she'd been noticed. She hoped that Ruby would repair it before using it, all things considered.

Outside of the kitchen was the storeroom, and Blake wasn't at all surprised to see everything here at either rotted away, or been eaten by rats. Or looted. This was fairly close to the northern section that she kept telling Weiss to avoid.

The door to the outside from the storeroom was still in decent condition, and Blake opened it carefully. It didn't want to budge at first, but with a quick shove she tried again.

It also didn't open. "Hold on, let me," Yang said, pushing her away gently. The door was unlocked, just jammed, and with a full shoulder shove the door was unlocked.

It also created a loud bang sound that Blake winced at, especially because of the five guys in gray clothes just coming out of one of the other structures. Not quite a bank, but the remains of a tavern that probably held a lot of money.

"Oh shit!" one of them said. "Someone grab the boss, people's here!" he shouted. One of the other ones, a small runner that Blake didn't know, although she'd seen him around, ran off, his rustic red dog tail remarkably still.

"Hey, we don't want to fight," Yang said, moving out of the way of the doorway, her hands up. "We're just here to survey Mountain Glenn, that's all. We were almost done."

"Survey!? You expect us to believe that nonsense?" The one who spoke shouted. "Give us everything you got, and maybe we won't kill you!" he said, pulling out a long sword.

"Get ready," Yang warned as she took up a stance, her fists lighting on fire gently. Blake pulled out the sword, hoping that she'd stayed hidden enough to be able to jump out without being seen too much.

"They're attacking! Take the loot from their corpses!" one of the other bandits roared, and Blake heard Weiss sigh. Blake hoped she didn't blame Yang for this, this was entirely on no one but the White Fang. This was the exact type of behavior that Blake had been telling them they shouldn't have been doing, and that they'd be going a lot farther if they were acting like the people stationed out in Vale.

Ruby burst out of the door faster than Blake had ever seen her do, launching into the middle of the street, before she tapped on her scythe, and instantly she could start to hear the blade whir to life. If that didn't scare them, then by all means Blake had no idea what they were doing.

But she hadn't made an attack. "We don't need to fight," Yang tried again as she stepped out into the middle of the street. "But we're prepared to fight anyways!" she said, standing her ground against the four.

Blake nodded, hiding just behind the doorframe. She looked over to Weiss, who was breathing somewhat hard. "It's just bandits," Blake said, mostly as an attempt to help her rationalize it. "There's no reason to be afraid."

"It's not me I'm afraid for," Weiss answered as she calmly walked out the door, the eidolon right behind her. Instantly the armor began to darken in the sun, and Blake could tell that it had definitely been at one point an armored gigas.

Somehow, Weiss' eidolon wasn't just a copy of a Grimm. It was the actual Grimm itself, killed and lodged onto part of Weiss' spark. Was that because she'd killed it with magic, or was that just an inherent part of who Weiss was?

Either way, Blake had to hide her wince when one of them pulled out a bow, and tried to fire at the obvious Grimm. The armor caught it in one hand, smashing the arrow in its hand before throwing it to the ground.

"Guys. I think Cooper had the right idea," one of them said quietly. "We should get out of here."

"Only if you're afraid of a little illusion!" the first one said, before he darted in to kill Yang with the longsword at his side. He had it aimed well, Blake noticed, but she managed to duck just enough to knock it to the side, before she responded with a ripping uppercut, sending him back down onto the ground.

Yang had all eyes on her, and that meant it was time for Blake to make her move. They'd been attacked, and without cause.

Now was the time to teach them why the White Fang should take cause and effect into their calculations.

Her feet were silent as she darted behind the blacked eidolon. With Yang having so many eyes on her from the uppercut, and the sounds of Ruby's Crescent Rose starting to do something that by all means it probably shouldn't be, meant that she could sneak around easily.

"Look, we don't want to fight, and we've already proven to be better than you," Ruby tried again. At least Blake had to get both of Blake and Ruby that, they certainly tried the diplomacy route. It wasn't working, yeah, but on the other hand they were still trying it. Better than her, at least.

One of them pulled out a shortsword and in their brightest moment that it would be a perfect time to attack Weiss. He ran right by the eidolon, sliding underneath the obvious strike coming from the thing, as he grinned a dark laugh.

It didn't help him as Weiss already had her weapon raised, her rapier glowing with a chilling light. The White Fang, Blake couldn't remember his name and wasn't going to bother trying to remember it now, tried to knock it to the side to stab her in the stomach, only to have her almost dance out of the way, the rapier's spell exploding out of it at the last possible second.

"Fine, if you want to fight, we'll fight," Yang said, as she punched her hands together. Both of them on fire, Blake couldn't help but smirk as the bandit on the ground, the one that had just been uppercut, stared with wide eyes. Yang didn't pull her punches much as she slammed them down onto his stomach.

He went down like a light.

"Shit, they're stronger than we thought!" the last one said, the one with the bow. "Well, okay, not me but still. Come on, Cooper! Where the fuck's the boss!?" he started to shout.

Blake launched herself over the railing of whatever shop they were coming out of, glad that it could still withstand her weight, although it wasn't much. Her sword dug into his leg, and he let out a shrill scream that honestly hurt her ears more than anything. He barely had another chance to turn around before Blake slashed towards his stomach, cutting him down but not killing him.

She hoped.

It wasn't as if they had magic for that. To be honest, the only thing they had were the elixirs that Ruby had made that morning.

There were still two up, Blake noticed, although one was now being hugged by the eidolon, his shortsword on the ground a fair distance away. The last one had attacked Ruby, and that had just been a pure mistake. The inventor had pulled out some kind of acrobatic flip, before the man had found himself disarmed.

Literally, she'd cut off his arm. And if he didn't get help soon, it would probably prove fatal. Blake wondered if she knew that or just thought it would be an easy way to not technically kill him.

"Huh," a dark voice called out. Blake's ears turned inwards. She recognized that voice, that dark, almost eel voice. Like oil that could drip everywhere. "When you said there were wastes here, I didn't think you were talking about us," the man said as he walked up the road.

Blood red hair, with two small horns sticking out towards the front. A large mask covered his eyes, but Blake knew he could see out of them very easily. He wore light leather armor, but Blake knew that it was heavily enchanted and had more than a few runes engraved onto it. And that was to say nothing of the blood red blade he held in his hand. It more than just looked sharp; it looked as if a blood moon itself had carved a piece just for him. Adam Taurus. The leader of the Vale White Fang.

And the one person that Blake had never wanted to meet here.

"Let's see. A failed summoner, an inventor with worthless steel, and a brawler who can't take a hit," Adam smirked as he glanced back towards Cooper. "Oh, and the ransom. We should increase your price now. After all, we can't collect it if you're dead."

"We didn't want to fight!" Yang tired to say. Blake shook her head. That was the wrong thing to say to him.

"That's too bad. They're under explicit orders to kill everyone who wanders anywhere close enough, unless they're one of us. And judging by you, Belladonna, you're no longer one of us."

"I never wanted to be one of you!" Blake roared out. She held the sword in one hand, her arm tensed. She wanted to fight, but she alone knew the danger that greeted them with his visage.

"That's too bad. It worked well for a while. Two payments on both sides?" Adam smirked. "Way too easy."

"Wha...what?"

"Did you think that we would honestly just hold your parents for ransom? Of course not," Adam rolled his head. "We'd do both. And we did. To your parents, we're holding you ransom too. Whichever one fails to pay first, the other dies," Adam smirked. "Needless to say, it worked well. But I guess if I have to kill you now, we need to make it believable."

"Shut up!" Ruby shouted as she planted her scythe on the ground. Blake knew what was coming, and covered her ears just barely quick enough as the loud gunshot rang out.

Adam didn't just dodge, it was as if he simply wasn't there. He was next to her now, and with a grin, slashed upwards.

Ruby was knocked onto the ground, and Blake could tell that he'd scored well against her. Her armor hadn't been able to protect her, and she barely rolled onto the ground, the long red line that went from her hip to her shoulder, straight in the middle of her chest. She was unconscious, and rapidly bleeding out.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" Yang shouted as she took a few steps forward. Adam chuckled, dancing and dodging and weaving his way around her efforts, and even the one lucky strike she got barely got more than a grunt out of him.

"Like I said. A brawler that can't take a hit," Adam repeated, flashing his sword up. Yang knocked the first slash off to the side, just barely able to get out of the way, before the next two struck home, and Yang found herself bloodied around.

She was still awake though, unlike Ruby over there, who was almost on the ground dying.

Because of something that she could do something about.

"Weiss! Flank with me!" Blake shouted as she hopped over the railing. Instantly the eidolon moved, rather than Weiss herself, the large armored giant taking large steps towards Adam. He smirked at them, confident in what he could do.

He was probably right, Blake knew.

But against four of them? No, there was something they can do. She came forward and slashed forward just as fast as the eidolon did, despite coming from much further away. Adam parried her blow, while casually taking a step back from the eidolon. "How the mighty have fallen. You know, there was a bet going around that we were having relations?" Adam asked conversationally.

"I'd never sleep with you!" Blake roared as she tried again.

"More the other way around, but yes," Adam agreed as he parried her easily. His eyes went wide just as Weiss showed up off in the corner of his eye, her blade glowing an ominous red. "A magus!?" he identified instantly, his blade moving to parry her blade instead.

Blake took the opportunity, diving in to cut at his arms and legs. She only nicked the one arm, but she knew she got him well as he let out a grunt of pain, even though the fires from Weiss' sword went past him.

Adam started to laugh. "Of course! Now it all makes sense! I wondered why you wanted to betray me now of all times. And now I know!" he said, his eyes wide with crazed laughter.

And his sword started to glow with a yellow light.