FEBRUARY 27TH 9:23AM

"I think it's just a quick check up, no biggy..."

The words barely registered to Ruby's ears. It was the tenth night in a row of terrible sleep, and it was beginning to take its toll on her. She'd barely managed to get herself up to let Yang in to use her shower, and sat numbly on the sofa, humming to seem as though she were listening. Not even the silly singing of her sister while she had been in the shower was enough to wake her from her saddened daze.

But the drop in mood didn't go unnoticed. Yang knew deep down the reason for it was Blake's goodbye. She felt her ears droop when she could see for herself how much Ruby missed her, and felt guilty in knowing it was her suggestion. But regardless, she stuck by her own words. Even if her sister was upset, she was safe.

While that was her main goal, she didn't want her sister to remain sad forever. Finishing up with drying her hair and ears with the towel, Yang looked back to her sister with an equally saddened expression. Moving to the arm of the chair, she sat by Ruby's side, and lightly patted her shoulder.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. It's just something to get used to."

Ruby could only sink down into the sofa, sighing sadly. "I don't wanna get used to it. Not while I know she hasn't got anywhere to go out there."

"C'mon, don't be like that." Her light grip on her shoulder tightened, just to assure her. "She was totally fine on her own before, she can survive again. Blake's tough."

But Ruby didn't reply again. While in her head she knew that was true, in her heart she wasn't so sure. The truth was, Blake wasn't totally fine on her own before. Aside from the bullet wound, she was starving. It took a long time for her to get stronger, and longer to come out her shell. Now the process would be reset.

Sighing sadly herself, Yang hauled herself up from the sofa. "I know you're worried, but it's for the best. You did everything you could." The words were half hearted, as though Yang herself didn't believe them. But she had other things to worry about. As she tucked the lion tail into the back of her trousers, that was enough of a reminder.

Pulling her beanie hat over her ears, Yang knew she could do nothing more. "Well, you got my cell if you need me." When she walked toward the door, she hesitated by it once it was open, looking back to where Ruby sat on the sofa. "For anything, I mean. Cause sitting around here alone, it's just gonna make you feel worse."

All Ruby offered in response was a small shrug, and she looked away from the door instead.

Once the door clicked shut behind Yang when she left, Ruby flopped over and lay down on the sofa properly. Yet again she was asking herself the question; how could everything have come to this? She could barely sleep or eat anymore, barely do a thing without wishing Blake was there. It was far more than just missing a friend. It felt like grief that she couldn't explain to anyone. She felt as though she'd lost far more than a friend.

Once more she looked at the vent. Still no fix after all this time. As usual, she was hoping Blake would come back. Last time that happened, it took a month. Ruby didn't know if she could last that long. Getting herself up, she headed toward the vent again. Anything so she could think of the memories.

'It feels like years.' She thought to herself as she looked at the cover. 'But it was only September when I saw you in the vent looking back at me. God I feel so dumb for thinking you were a rat or something. Even if I was just one letter off..."

Holding a hand on the cover, she held her breath. She knew Blake wouldn't be there deep down, but she wanted to relive the memory. Finally, she pulled it open again, and stared into the darkness. Where her and Blake first met.

Though her eyebrow was raised. There was something in there that she wasn't expecting. Leaning up as best she could, she reached in and pulled the objects from the vent. Out of any possible things she'd see in there, this was definitely one of the last things on the list. A small rectangular box, with a pink ribbon tied around it, along with a small heart shaped label stuck to it. Curiously, she held it to her ear, lightly shaking it to rattle what was inside. Chocolates. But in addition to that, there was something even stranger.

A pink Envelope. One with her name written on it, accompanied with two hearts either side the name. That handwriting was very familiar. Curiosity continued to grow within her, and she gently turned it over and opened it up.

Ruby gasped. It was a valentines card. One that had a small, cute, black cat on the cover.

'Roses are red, my eyes are green. You're the cutest girl, I've ever seen.'

It was probably the cheesiest line Ruby had ever read, but regardless she opened it up. And sure enough there was a message inside.

"Ruby," She read aloud, leaning back against the kitchen cupboard. "When you entered my world, you made it so much brighter than I thought it ever could be. With your perfect smile, your amazing, bubbly personality, your beautiful eyes. Everything about you is like a dream come true, and I only hope this card can give you a fraction of the happiness you've given me..."

She looked to the bottom. There was no signature, nothing but the usual 'from ?' as put in most valentines cards. But the handwriting... She knew it was familiar. She knew it could come from no one else. Blake.

Suddenly she was looking back at it as though it were made of gold, like it was the most precious thing she owned. She read it again, then again. These weren't the kind of words that one would say to a good friend. Or even a best friend. Tears were beginning to form when she had a shocking revelation. One that came far too late.

"Holy shiz... She loves me."

Ruby ended up covering her mouth once the words left her mouth. That was why Blake was so devastated about leaving. That was why she'd been so awkward about cuddling closer in their last few weeks. It explained everything. Blake had fallen in love with her, and was going to use Valentines to come out and admit it. Chances were, if Yang hadn't grown her faunus features that day, she would have done it.

Ruby'd never met anyone like Blake before. Even if she wasn't a human like her, the person she was, was incredible. A smart, determined and kind natured women, who was willing to put the feelings of others before her own and do anything for a just cause. If there was anyone that she could ever fall in love with, it would be a person just like Blake. In the end, the more Ruby thought about it, the more she began to realise.

The feeling was mutual.

KNOCK KNOCK

A quieter knock brought her out of that daze. Quietly she packed the card and box into her hoodie's pocket, wiping her tears on her sleeve as best she could to hide all evidence of how torn she felt. When all she wanted was to go to bed and cry, guests was the last thing she wanted. But regardless, she spoke up. "W-Who's there?"

"Could you just let me in?" Weiss. Definitely not a guest she wanted at this time given that she was also partially to blame for Blake getting away. But when Ruby didn't reply, an annoyed grunt came from her. "I know you're still upset and I'm probably the last person you're wanting to see, but this is super important. Please?"

Sadly sniffing, Ruby did as asked and walked to the door to open it. Weiss wasted no time in entering, quickly closing the door behind her and heading toward Ruby's sofa.

Whatever it is Weiss had to tell her, it seemed there could be no risk of it getting further than the dorm room. Before Ruby could answer any further questions about the rush, Weiss was placing her bag on the sofa, pulling out a ring binder full of various documents. Most of which all bared the same slipper symbol that Blake had been so angry at Weiss for.

"You were onto something." She flicked to one particular document, one that showed a printed screen cap of all of the file names, along with a screen cap of the error messages when she tried to access the out of place file. Removing them from the binder and handing them over to Ruby, she continued. "When you first suggested the Faunus and the company were connected I thought it was impossible. But after seeing Blake, and hearing what she said, I did some digging."

Confused, Ruby looked at what was in her hand, eyebrow raising in confusion. "Menagerie Cell... wha? What is this?"

"It's a folder of files I found when I accessed everything on Miracle Dust," Weiss clarified. "Everything in there was in folders that were named after each of the staff that worked on it. Except that one. The word 'cell' seems to suggest an area. Or a storage facility. Especially with the word 'intake' after it."

Looking to the cap intently, Ruby read it over and over again. It didn't take much to know that the word Menagerie also meant 'cage', which tallied up with the traumatic past Blake told her before. A room she was imprisoned in for years. But what got her most was the last word.

"Blake said she had her blood taken when she was imprisoned. What if that's the 'intake' part?"

"That's what I thought, since she kinda yelled that in my face. Either way though, just one faunus could never be enough for all the testing just to manufacture the drug, so there has to be more." Pointing to the next file, she went on. "But I can't look at it to find out. No one can, not even my dad's username could log me into this and get me access to it."

"If he doesn't have access... Who does?"

Turning to the final page in the binder, Weiss showed one of the last pictures. A screencap of the file properties, including who made the file.

"Cinder." Weiss's eyes narrowed when she pointed at the name. "She created this folder, and she was there on the second expedition to Vacuo. She will have definitely known what Faunus are. And all this secrecy, then the sudden department appearing..."

It seemed Weiss and her were on the same lines. While it was awful to think about Blake's past again, and everything that had just happened, Ruby couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with determination. The trial she took didn't yield the evidence they needed to link the Faunus with the Schnee Dust Company, but Blake's words accompanied with these files did. It took the four of them to get their evidence together for Weiss's father when he returned.

Talking of 'four' of them...

"Wait... Where was Yang headed today?"

Eyebrow raising, Weiss looked up confused. "She's... just got an appointment to see Torchwick to do with the trials... Look, I think this is way more impo-"

"Oh no..." That wasn't good. Ruby had seen numerous times Cinder and Torchwick together. But added in with how close he seemed to want to be with Yang, and other fighters for that matter; And also that it seemed only the fighters were displaying Faunus features...

'They're after a specific type...'

Ruby was already dashing to fetch her shoes, quickly shoving them on as fast as she could to make a move, leaving a very confused Weiss rushing after her.

"Hey wait! Where are you going?! UGH you're just as impossible as your sister!"

FEBRUARY 27TH 10:15AM

A mixture of emotions were going through Blake's head as she waited at the rear of the college dorm block. Excitement, fear, nervousness; even if it was just the place for the dumpsters, this place was a sight she'd grown more familiar as the times she met with Sun rather than where she first awoke when freed, but not a sight she was used to seeing in the daylight. Nevertheless, this was where she'd been lead by Sage in the hopes of meeting with her saviour once more.

'I can't believe I'm gonna see Adam again after all this time'

The thought was bringing a smile to her face. At last she had the strength to do something, to assist him in his efforts to assist the others. At least that's what she hoped was happening. Blake had no idea why Sun was so uneasy about her coming here. After all, such an important part of her life returning, surely that was a good thing.

Peeking around the corner to the college clock tower, she started to grow anxious waiting. She didn't like being out in the open, even if the bow on her head was protecting her identity. But nor did she like being so close to the dorm block when it was against Ruby's wishes. No matter how much she wanted to go back, she wasn't about to abuse that trust. Enough damage had been done.

'I wonder if she's in...'

Distracted, she looked to the vent. Maybe a quick visit wouldn't hurt. Just a quick two minutes to see her face again, maybe even hear her voice. Oh how she missed her laugh so much. Maybe she could spare just five minu-

MRPH?!

Suddenly a hand covered her mouth out of nowhere, and she was being pulled backwards. Out of sight, away from the vent and away from the open to behind the dumpsters. Very quickly Blake was yanking at the hand to pull it away, or desperately trying to look around to the cause. But that was revealed when she felt a furry tail wrap around her wrist and stop her doing so.

"Sun?!"

"SHHHHut the heck up!" Her monkey tailed friend was keeping his voice down, holding himself low to the ground by her side as he tried to peek around the dumpsters, looking out for something.

But that raised more questions for Blake, and more anger. How dare he ruin this for her! "What are you doing?! I said I can look after myse-"

"I said shut it!" Once again he covered her mouth, cutting her off midsentence. But as he continued to keep Blake quiet, the sound of footsteps could be heart. Not the usual thing to hear around somewhere so out the way unless it was garbage day.

As the footsteps grew closer, Sun drew his head back, lowering his hand from Blake's mouth gently as he focused more on listening out for the faintest sounds. With a twitching of the bow on her head, so did she. They seemed to pause for a while, but eventually there was a brief amount of static from some sort of radio, then voice speaking into it.

"Checked the perimeter again. There's still no one here, boss."

The two continued to listen more intently as the footsteps continued again and he went on with one side of the conversation. "Yeah, well there ain't exactly anywhere they can go back here for me to check."

Both Sun and Blake looked to each other in confusion, but continued to listen.

"Look, you can either keep me patrolling this lil patch of trash all day or I can do the job you first gave me. The fighters you wanted are already in the minibus waiting to go, they're gettin' kinda impatient."

After a brief pause, the voice chuckled. "Never give up, do you? Alright, I'll have one more look after the drop if that'll make you happy. I'll check in with you later." The footsteps began to pace away after that point. Whoever it was headed back toward the college and away from the two of them.

Once it was safe, Sun breathed a heavy sigh of relief. However he instantly flinched when he felt a tap against his head from Blake.

"Ouch! Hey!"

"What is your problem?!" Blake glared back at him, still keeping her voice fairly low in case whoever's voice they heard was still nearby. "One week with you and you already think I can't look after myself without you?"

"When the hell have I ever said that?!" Rubbing his head gently, he narrowed his eyes in Blake's direction. "God, I was just worried, that's all! Am I not even allowed to worry about you?"

"Not when I've told you there's no reason to!" Finally standing back up again and making her way out from behind the dumpsters, she continued to growl; "This is a friend! And not just a human friend like Ruby, another Faunus like us!"

"Then he won't mind me being here then, will he?" Following Blake as she started to wander around, he continued to look around as much as he could. The daytime made the poor boy a lot more nervous than he usually would be, even someone as confident in his skills as him. "I don't want to feel like this, alright? But I could never forgive myself if something happened to you and I wasn't there to help."

Rolling her eyes, Blake continued to wander toward the college itself, remaining convinced Adam was still around somewhere. He had to be. "Fine! Fine, fine, fine! But don't act surprised when he turns out to be one of the good guys like us, like I've been telling you all along."

"UGH! Why are you acting like such a jerk because I care about you being safe!"

He continued to follow, keeping to her trail as she wandered around the building, toward the main college itself and away from the dorm complex. Even if this was the first time seeing it in the day, he wasn't here to sight see. He was too focused on not getting caught, and keeping his friend from walking straight into danger. "Like I said, I don't want to be right about him! I want you to prove me wrong and for us to have another person we can tru-"

When Blake froze up and stopped walking, he snapped shut. As they peered around one of the walls, they saw said minivan the voice was talking about.

Queuing outside of it were a group of students, all well toned, fit individuals with one thing in common; they all had different animal features in various places. For a red haired girl, there seemed to be feathers in both her hair and around her lower back, poking out just above her waistline. For a smaller ginger girl, a pair of rounded rodent ears and a small, nubby tail. And for a much taller, dark skinned man, a set of horns on his nose, accompanied with a thin tail with hair on the end. Yang was not the only one after all.

Speaking of which...

"Dibs on front seat." Blake recognised the voice of her Ruby's sister and saw her right away talking to the taller hatted figure, one who only nodded in response, which made her sigh.

"Usually when the college does school trips, the zoo's outside the van, am'a'right?"

"Oh Blondie, you're hilarious." The man smirked, beginning to encourage the students to climb into the vehicle one by one, seeming not to mind speaking to Yang a little moment.

But that was definitely the voice they heard speaking just. Not only that, but Sun recognised him from another time as well. "That's definitely the guy that chased me before you got back from Hanukah."

"It's all connected. Whatever they're made from, it's connected to the Faunus for sure." Blake watched all the more as Yang followed the rest of them onto the van. Blacked out windows were enough of a sign, what better way to transport a group of strange looking students in broad daylight without a single person realising.

"Wait..." Suddenly her heart began to drop. She remembered what happened just before she left, their plan to gather evidence to nail the company properly. Ruby had taken it. If Yang was there, willingly travelling with everyone else who'd taken the Miracle Dust, then chances were...

"Ruby..." She uttered quietly as she thought to herself; 'No, they can't take Ruby!'

When she heard the van start up, she looked around to Sun with a panicked expression. "We gotta follow that van!"

"Suddenly Adam's not priority number one, huh?"

All Sun received in response was a glare. But that didn't stop the fact of how true it was. It didn't matter if he was around waiting for her despite how long it had been or how much she looked up to him. If there was even the tiniest chance Ruby was in danger, she needed to be the priority. Whether she hated her at this point or not was irrelevant, if Ruby was under threat and she wasn't there, she'd never forgive herself. Funnily enough she ended up understanding Sun's worries after all.

FEBRUARY 27TH 10:25AM

"Just wait a minute, Ruby Rose! You get back here and explain this properly!"

In her haste to get moving, Ruby had little time to express the sheer danger Yang was in. Weiss managed to hear her ramble about the vaccine, and something about a side effect, how it was just the fighters; but she didn't understand a word of it. In her attempt to make it clearer, Weiss repeated some of the words as she ran after her.

"What side effects are you talking about? She's been fine! There's been literally no difference in her at all, other than her suddenly liking beanie hats."

"Under the hat!"

There was no time to clarify what that meant any further, and nor would she want to as she saw the main building to her sight. But to her horror, she was too late. The minivan full of students was already pulling away from the main entrance, and already picking up speed as it exited the college campus. They'd missed it.

"No! Damnit!" That was all Ruby managed to call out as she watched it drive past and into the distance, grabbing her hair and pulling out of pure frustration. Missed by mere seconds. Not only had Blake gone from her life, but Yang was in real danger of doing so as well. She couldn't let that happen!

"We gotta go after them!"

Just catching her breath after Ruby, Weiss looked on in the direction the van headed with an equally concerned expression. She didn't understand, but she could see how worried Ruby was. With everything going on, she could believe the danger Yang was in was very real. And before Ruby made another dash for it, she held onto her arm.

"We'll never make it on foot, but I know how we can."

With a small nod of understanding, Ruby followed Weiss back to the dorms again. This was bigger than any kind of lesson, bigger than anything she planned on doing with Blake even. If everything was true, this really would end up as a rescue mission. For that, she needed all the help she could get.

While Weiss prepared Yang's precious motorbike for them to leave on, Ruby went back to her dorm to fetch her school project. The Crescent Rose. The sleepless nights did help her in her progress of building it, but it was far from complete. As it was, it could only fire rubber bullets and transform into the scythe form. Not the best thing to rush in with, but when it was their only weapon, what choice did they have?

Attaching it to her backpack, she rushed out to Weiss again where she had the motorbike running, wasting no time in hopping on behind her and holding on.

"You do know how to drive this right?"

The bike suddenly jerked forward and startled them both. "Uh... I don't have a license, if that's what you mean." Another jerk as she shifted the gears. "But Yang taught me enough to get from A to B."

Swallowing, Ruby held tight. "I guess that'll have to do!"

Weiss obviously agreed when she finally got the right gear, and was able to accelerate off onto the road and after the van. They simply hoped they could make it in time.

[[Oops, uploaded without editing. But thanks for waiting for the next chapter! I'd like to work on Remnants of Heart next but stay tuned :)]]