Chapter 8: Ravens and Writing Desks

Weiss sat cross-legged in front of the mirror in the ballet studio and tried to breathe steadily. It had been a week since she'd managed to unlock her Aura, but even still she found she had a hard time "calling" it as Winter had put it. It was a process that involved somehow making the spiritual, physical - manifesting her Aura as a sensation that would allow her to manipulate it easily or pull from it for strength and speed.

She took another deep breath and did her best to set her insecurity aside. The method she'd used last time had seemed to work, and she tried to invoke it again. She imagined the air around her solidifying, the light bending ever so slightly as it did. She tried to see the image in the studio mirror in front of her refract, as if she was seeing it through a lense. She surrounded herself in glass, beautiful and crystal clear. Delicate and fragile at first, she spun the glass into a fortress, armor that surrounded and protected her. She felt a small surge of strength as she did and she lifted herself carefully to her feet.

She could do this. She was a Schnee. That still meant something to her, it had to. She recalled the moment she unlocked her aura, looking into the mirror in her room and seeing not blue eyes staring back at her, but silver with a broad smile and nothing but encouragement.

"You're stronger than you think you are."

Weiss felt an odd sensation, as if the air around her snapped. She inhaled sharply. There it was. She couldn't have said how she knew, or what exactly she was feeling, but she knew she had succeeded. She let out a long breath and allowed herself a triumphant smile.

Thank you, Ruby.

She heard a knock at the studio door and she quickly moved to the ballet bar at the back of the room. She began to practice her positions as she called out, "Come in!"

Klein entered the room, bowing his head slightly as he did so. "Miss Schnee, you have a visitor."

Weiss dropped the position she'd been holding and tilted her head. "A visitor?" The only person who had come to see her since she'd arrived back in Atlas had been her sister. "Who is it, Klein?"

Klein cleared his throat. "Well, um, actually it's the general. General Ironwood."

Weiss raised her eyebrows. What was the general doing calling on her? Surely he had far more important things to see to, he was one of the most influential men on Remnant. Still, that meant ignoring a summons from him was unacceptable. If he'd come all this way to see her, he would see her. "Very well. But I'm hardly dressed appropriately for a meeting like this." She was wearing a pair of white tights under a blue leotard with a white skirt around her waist. She'd opted for ballet flats instead of her heels for a change, to better disguise her true purpose in coming to the studio.

"General Ironwood has said that there is no need for formality, Miss Schnee. This will be a brief visit, he does not wish to intrude."

Weiss wondered briefly if her father would care. Still, if the general was in a rush, then wasting his time and ignoring his wishes would almost certainly be more rude than coming underdressed. "Very well, take me to him then, Klein."

She followed him through the east wing and down a hall that connected them to the northern wing. For a second, Weiss was afraid they would be going up to her father's study, but Klein led her down a flight of stairs instead to an office Weiss didn't recognize. There was a plaque on the door that read: Romeo Lampwick, Security. As they approached, Weiss could hear a man's voice speaking inside.

"...why it's necessary for me to wait here. I would be more than happy to go to Miss Schnee myself." The man's voice was familiar. Though Weiss had only met the general on one or two occasions prior to today, she had no problem placing James Ironwood's commanding baritone.

"It's simply a matter of security, General," another man answered. His voice was smoother, and seemed to carry a hint of amusement. "I'd make a poor head of security if I let just anybody wander the estate. These are dangerous times, as you very well know."

"What I know, is that Jaques no longer trusts me." The general's voice was edged with bitter contempt.

"Nonsense," the other man replied with an airy, unconvincing tone. "He trusts you plenty. But I don't."

Klein cleared his throat and knocked on the door. Both voices called out "Enter" at the same time. Klein opened the door for Weiss, standing back politely.

The office was styled very much like her father's study, though significantly smaller and with less lavish furnishings. One side of the room had a desk, though unlike her father's, it was crowded mostly with a collection of monitors rather than paperwork. A few chairs were set between the door and the desk, collected around a small, low table where an unused tea set sat gathering dust. Two men were seated in the chairs. The first stood up as soon as she entered. He was tall, well over six feet, with a strong, square jaw and features that looked as if they'd been chiseled from stone. His dark hair was greying at the temples, and he had the shadow of a beard beginning to grow in. He was dressed impeccably in clothes that reflected his position - a long white coat over a dark shirt and red tie, belted at the waist with dark leather. The collar of his coat was decorated with four badges, two on either side, denoting his rank. Despite his ranking, however, General James Ironwood bowed when Weiss entered the room.

"Miss Schnee, it is a pleasure to see you."

Weiss curtsied in return. "And you, General, though I must apologize for my attire. I was practicing in my studio, and Klein told me that time was a factor so-"

Ironwood held up a hand. "Please, no apologies necessary. I am the one intruding on your time." Behind him, the man who remained sitting rolled his eyes.

He was wearing the uniform of the security personnel, a white suit jacket worn over dark slacks and dress shirt, but he had added a scarf around his neck and a bowler hat to his personal ensemble. His hair was longer than most of the other security staff too. It was a vibrant shade of orange and fell over his right eye. His left was very green and held the same amusement present in the half-smirk on his lips. Weiss recognized him, though she'd never spoken to him in person. He was Romeo Lampwick, the newly appointed head of her father's security.

"Enough with the pomp, General," Lampwick said, twirling a cane casually in his left hand. You said you had a delivery for Miss Schnee, so by all means, let's see it."

The general glared at him, but reached down and picked up a small case from the coffee table. It was finely carved wood with a silver lock and fastenings. Though not terribly large, it was heavier than Weiss would have thought when Ironwood handed it to her.

"These are a gift from your sister," he told her as she opened the lid of the case. "She said that your rapier was fitted with gemstones. She thought that you might appreciate more of a variety." Weiss stared at the contents of the box. There were six gems in total, in as many colors.

"They are very beautiful," Weiss said after a moment's hesitation. "Please convey my gratitude to Winter when you see her again."

"Of course," the general agreed. "She wanted me to tell you that the blue was her favorite." There was a look in his eye, something that Weiss couldn't place. She wondered how much he knew about Winter's investigation and their plans together.

She shut the case and tucked it under her arm. "Thank you for delivering these, General. I will not keep you any longer. I will see you at the banquet this weekend."

Ironwood grimaced, but managed to turn it quickly into an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid you won't, actually. No invitation, I'm afraid."

Weiss furrowed her brow. "I do not understand. Father said he wanted to host all the members of the council."

"Only the ones whose opinions he feels he can sway," he said. Weiss thought she could hear a slightly bitter tone in his words, but if he felt resentful, he didn't show it on his face. "I apologize again for the intrusion Miss Schnee." He inclined his head. "If you will excuse me."

She nodded and stood aside as the general made his way to the door. "Please don't dawdle, General," Lampwick said, checking his nails. "I'll be watching." He tapped the nearest monitor with the tip of his cane.

Ironwood glared at the man over his shoulder, but otherwise said nothing, letting the door close behind him with a snap.

Weiss stood awkwardly in the room with the head of security for a moment, unsure if she should ask permission to leave. She took a step towards the door.

"Your father is a very clever man, you know," Lampwick said before she got far. He was looking at her now, smiling mischievously. "Do you think you can tell me why?"

Weiss was used to tests like these. Her father would ask her questions from time to time, things to make her think about the SDC from a CEO's perspective, or to analyse the political moves that were being made. Her eyes darted back and forth as she tried to recall everything she knew about the embargo and her father's banquet.

"The Dust Embargo was General Ironwood's idea," she finally said. "He drafted the legislation and got it approved by the council. He holds two seats, so getting the majority approval was not difficult." Lampwick nodded, encouragingly, and Weiss pressed on.

"General Ironwood is well-liked and trusted by the other three council members, but the decision was still controversial and is affecting businesses all over Atlas, not just the SDC. Father will have a greater chance convincing the council members to change their minds if the general is not present making his counter-arguments. He not only makes himself out to be the voice of reason, but he gets to make his case the same way General Ironwood would have - without opposition."

Lampwick's smile broadened. It made Weiss feel uncomfortable. "It seems your father isn't the only clever one in the family." He finally got to his feet, walking around the table until he stood between Weiss and the door. He leaned on his cane and looked down at her. He wasn't terribly tall, the general would have dwarfed him, but most people looked down on Weiss. Still, she held her ground and his gaze, refusing to let herself be intimidated by somebody who worked for her family. Lampwick chuckled.

"Such a fire inside. I won't keep you Miss Schnee, I know you're quite busy what

with your dancing and practicing for the banquet. We all quite look forward to hearing your angelic voice." He stood aside and swept his bowler hat off and into a low bow. Weiss just nodded curtly at him and strode towards the door. As she opened it, she heard him humming under his breath. It was a familiar tune, and Weiss felt something nagging at the back of her mind, but she couldn't put a finger on why.

Weiss made her way back to her room, winding down corridors and staircases, running through her conversation with the general and Lampwick in the process. The new security head made her feel more than a little uneasy. He was definitely an oddity; much less rigid than she had expected a man of his position to be. His credentials must have been impressive to convince father to hire him, despite his eccentricities. Especially since he and he alone was allowed to keep watch over the whole manor.

Well, except for certain rooms. The ballet studio, for example. Weiss had refused to have cameras installed for privacy's sake which had made it the best place to practice with her Aura. And of course, the family living quarters, her rooms and Whitley's were not allowed to be monitored at her father's insistence.

And yet…

Weiss brushed the nagging feeling away and found herself at her door. She slipped inside her sitting area, closing and locking the door as she did. It appeared that Sable had already been through, the floor had been swept and the carpet that covered most of the cold stone beneath her feet looked recently vacuumed. Her papers were also nicely stacked and organized on her writing desk.

She set the case the general had given her on the desk and opened it again. He remembered what he'd said about Winter favoring the blue one, and she picked it up to examine it more closely. The gem was a pristine sapphire, clear and elegantly cut. Valuable maybe, but not particularly special in any way that Weiss could discern. She turned her attention instead to the box, feeling around in the divet the sapphire had sat in. She found what she was looking for immediately, a small loop of velvet fabric, pressed down so as to become invisible against the interior of the box. She gave it a small tug, and the layer of the box containing the remaining gems lifted off. She placed the false bottom aside to look at what it was her sister had truly wanted to deliver.

Beneath the gemstones was a group of crystals, six, like the gemstones that had concealed them, but these were not precious stones. Weiss recognized the crystalized Dust immediately. Set between the red and blue crystals was a communication chip. Weiss took the chip and moved into her bedroom where her scroll sat. She inserted the chip and waited a moment for the message to load.

Unsurprisingly it was her sister's face that greeted her from her scroll's screen. "Hello Weiss," Winter said formally. "Hopefully this package has reached you without any undo trouble. I have asked General Ironwood to deliver it in the hope that Father would not dare to intercept a package from him personally. I remembered you telling me that you had your sword constructed using blueprints from the Schnee family archives, and with the general's help, we have managed to procure crystals that will fit your blade.

"These crystals are not, technically, illegal. They have not been refined in such a way that they can be constructed or worked into ammunition. They can be used, however, by somebody with the right training. This chip contains a video I have made for you that I wish for you to add to the training you are already doing with your Aura if, as I hope, you have managed to access it already. If not, do not focus on them, and instead focus on building your familiarity with Aura."

Winter paused, looking as if she was organizing her thoughts. "I am leaving for Mistral after I finish recording this message. With any luck, Qrow will have made contact with our extractor by now, and I want to be able to pick them both up as soon as possible." Weiss felt her stomach clench at the news. With Winter in Mistral, she wouldn't be able to call her, and sending messages was out of the question since they were doubtlessly still being screened by her father. She was alone again. Winter's face was apologetic, seemingly understanding this even as she recorded the message, but she continued regardless.

"I will be back in Atlas before you know it, but you will not hear from me again until after your job is done. Remember everything we talked about. After your performance, you will find time to excuse yourself. You will find the documents in the records' office in the North Wing. Take what we need, and rendezvous with our accomplice upstairs in the conference room."

Winter glanced over her shoulder at that moment and she heard a male voice somewhere in the background. "Yes. Of course, just one moment Lieutenant," she said before returning her attention to the camera. "I have to go now Weiss. Be careful, and please keep yourself safe." The recording ended, leaving Weiss staring at her own reflection.

Weiss swallowed past the lump in her throat and tried to consider the situation rationally. Realistically, it wasn't as though Winter would have been able to do anything to help her between now and the banquet, not if their goal was to keep their father's suspicions at bay. But Weiss couldn't deny that the ability to call her sister had been an enormous comfort.

"Pull it together," she scolded herself, returning to the sitting area and the box of Dust crystals, and retrieved Myrtenaster. She placed her finger on the catch and the revolver-like barrel that made up part of the crossguard folded away from the hilt, exposing the gems she had fitted into the blade. She extracted them one at a time before loading the Dust crystals in their place. Red for Burn Dust, blue for Freeze, yellow for Shock, white for Wind, purple for Gravity, and green for Earth. Once she had shifted the hilt back into its original position, the sword looked nearly identical to the way it had with the gemstones set in it instead.

Weiss contemplated watching Winter's video and trying to learn what exactly she was supposed to do with these crystals - after all, it was like her sister had said, they weren't refined to fit ammunition. Shock Dust in this form might be used to power the lights of a home, and Freeze Dust might be used to keep a refrigerator cold, but neither of those were particularly useful traits for a potentially dangerous heist.

Despite her own curiosity, however, Weiss opted to replace the sword on its rack and turn her attention to the performance. It would have to be perfect. She would need to be in Father's good graces if she wanted to escape the crowds for even a few minutes without arousing suspicion. Reluctantly, she began shifting the papers Sable had meticulously stacked for her until she found the sheet music she was looking for. She hummed the tune to herself as she glanced over the music. Odd. Weiss had the most peculiar sense of deja vu…

Realization hit her like a bolt. It was the same tune Lampwick had been humming in his office. Her song, "Mirror Mirror, Part 2." But that wasn't possible. Weiss hadn't performed the song yet, it was an original. And the only place she had practiced it had been...here...in her room.

Weiss' mouth went dry. She began to run her hands over the surface of her desk, before hunting through the stacks of papers. A rising panic began to make her heart hammer and she searched more frantically, tossing papers left and right, scouring the surface of her desk. She grabbed drawers, tugging each one out, sending paper, bottles of ink, fountain pens, anything flying as she rapidly searched the only piece of furniture in her rooms that would make a good hiding place.

When her search yielded nothing, she dropped to her knees and crawled under it, running her hands over the wooden engravings that marked the base and the underside...until her fingers found a groove in the wood they fit into a little too well. She twisted her fingers and heard a small click. The underside of the desk dropped into her hand, a small tray meant to keep things hidden from sight.

Inside was a small device hooked to a tiny glowing crystal. A listening device. Transmitting to...somewhere.

Weiss wanted to be sick. She felt her skin crawl. She grabbed the device and placed it on the surface of the desk, before taking Winter's case in hand and bringing it down with a shout. She slammed the case down again and again on the bug until it was nothing but scrap and shards of Dust.

Weiss' mouth was dry. Lampwick was spying on her. Father had forbidden that. Unless he was acting on Father's orders? How much had the head of security heard? How much had he reported? Most of what Weiss and Winter had discussed was done beyond the walls of the estate, but that first day, they had conversed here...and in her bedroom. She wondered how far the device could have picked up their voices.

Weiss dashed to her scroll instinctually, halfway through dialing her sister's number before remembering. She had left Atlas. She had no way to contact Winter. The heist was on, whether she liked it or not.

Whatever Weiss did next, she would have to do it alone.

Ruby sighted down the long scope and took a deep breath. She focused all of her attention on the target, and as she exhaled, she centered her crosshairs on the bullseye. When the subtle sway of the scope stopped, she pulled the trigger. The protective earplugs she wore helped dampen the sound, but the gunshot still felt like a particularly rude slap against her eardrums. The recoil was intense too, and she felt another twinge in her already aching shoulder as the enormous weapon dug into her. She gritted her teeth and chambered another round, already lining up her next shot.

It wasn't her first day out with the rifle. True to Qrow's promise nearly three weeks ago, he had found Ruby places to practice wherever it was they ended up. For a while, that had been villages and small towns. They'd hopped around for a couple of weeks relying on trains to get where they were going. Usually upon arrival, after dumping their travel supplies in some inn, Qrow would take Ruby beyond the boundaries of the village or town, deep into the woods or, a couple of times, to the abandoned ruins of civilization that had been left in the wake of the Last War. Then, while she practiced in seclusion, Qrow would poke around asking after their mystery accomplice. In the evenings, Ruby would work on the weapon blueprints she was supposed to deliver before passing out, exhausted. It was rare they stayed somewhere for longer than a night, and they did more sleeping in train cars than in beds. Most mornings, she woke to her uncle tossing her bag at her and hitting the road once again.

Around five or six days ago - Ruby was beginning to lose count - things had changed. Instead of taking a train out of Shion village like Ruby had expected, her Uncle had showed up at the inn that night with a tent and some newly acquired camping supplies. The next morning, they'd left Shion on foot, heading deeper into the woods that Anima was well known for. They would hike a day, then stop the next, with Qrow seemingly vanishing during their non-travel days, leaving Ruby alone with her thoughts, her blueprints, and her practice.

The final shot in the magazine clapped against her ears and Ruby took a moment to examine the target through the scope. Two or three of the shots were definitely in the "ten ring" as Qrow had called it, and none of them had missed the target entirely. Ruby felt a surge of pride and unease in equal measures. Even if it was sanctioned by her uncle, practicing with a weapon like this made Ruby feel apprehensive. Still, she couldn't deny the thrill that came with using something with this much raw power, and the more she'd learned about the deceptively simple weapon, the more she'd come to appreciate it in form, if not in function.

Ruby slid the empty magazine out of the rifle and stood up, stretching her sore arms and stiff legs. She ignored the familiar trembling in her hands and hit the button on the gun that converted it back into its lower profile form and slung it over her less aching shoulder by a leather strap. The sun was going to be setting soon, and as Qrow pointed out, there was little point in practicing after dark.

By the time she'd gathered the target and arrived back at the clearing they had set up camp in, dusk had well and truly fallen over the forest. The tent was set up, just as she remembered, and there was a fire crackling in a makeshift fire pit ringed with stones. She could see Qrow sitting with his back to her, a sheaf of papers in one hand and his flask in the other. She set her weapon and the rolled-up paper target near the tent before joining him at the fire. Autumn was truly in the air now, the evenings dropping to a temperature just below comfortable for anyone but maybe her sister. Ruby drew her hooded cloak closer around her as she sat cross-legged in front of the fire, the yellow orange light from the blaze casting the leaves around her in shades that foreshadowed the colors they'd be taking on in just a few short weeks. Ruby noticed that there was a small tin cup sitting in front of her, and a pot was suspended over the fire. She helped herself to the camp meal, clutching the cup of warm soup in her hands to stave off the fall chill.

It was only at this point that Qrow seemed to notice her. He glanced up from the papers, and Ruby caught a glimpse of one of her schematics in his hand.

"This is nice work, kiddo," he said, returning his attention to the blueprint in front of him, a detailed re-working of his own sword which was currently propped up against a tree half a dozen paces from them. "Wouldn't have thought there was room for two barrels and a firing mechanism in the hilt. Looks less like a sniper though and more like-"

"A shotgun," Ruby finished for him, sipping at the soup. "Sawed-off, not full barrel. It wouldn't have much range, but your scythe doesn't have room for anything bigger. That was just a proof of concept though." She reached towards him and took the sheaf of papers he had, rifling through them before pulling one out and handing it back. "This is my pride and joy," she said with a little smirk.

She'd designed the weapon from the ground up. It folded into a condensed form, not so unlike the case her rifle resembled now, but somewhat less cumbersome. She'd sacrificed barrel length for a sleeker overall form, but it should theoretically handle pretty well at medium distances.

The true beauty of it was in the extension, the way the weapon unfolded into an enormous bladed scythe. The gun could still fire from the head of the scythe, the ricochet from the blast able to propel the blade with deadly force. She had finished this draft the night before, and though it would need another couple to clean up properly, Ruby was pleased with it.

From his expression, it seemed Qrow was too. "I'm impressed," he said. His eye was drawn to a rose doodled in the bottom corner of the schematics. "So, what's this?"

Ruby blushed and snatched the paper back. "Well, all good weapons have a name, right? So, I decided to name this one after me. 'Cause, you know, I made it."

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "So, it's called Rose?"

"Crescent Rose," Ruby corrected him. "You know, because it's curved…" She felt incredibly foolish.

Qrow didn't laugh. "Crescent Rose it is," he said, solemnly. "I guess we'll find out if it's good enough. We've got a meeting tomorrow night."

Ruby perked up at that. "Did you find her? Whoever it is who's helping us?"

Qrow nodded. "I found her alright. She's agreed to meet and talk terms, but she's not making any promises. Typical. Still, at least we've got something to bring to the table now."

Ruby glanced at the papers in her hand, folding them over carefully and tucking them inside her hood for safekeeping. She sipped at her soup pensively as she mulled over the question she wanted to ask. "Uncle Qrow," she said after a long minute of silence, "this woman...the way you talk about her, you make her seem, well, dangerous. Should we be worried about giving her access to weapons like this?"

Qrow examined her silently. "That's a fair question," he said after a moment of consideration. "It deserves a fair answer. Yes, she is dangerous. And yes, you should be worried about handing schematics like that to anyone, regardless of how dangerous they are. Fortunately for us, she's not our enemy. She's not always our ally, but you and I shouldn't have anything to fear. Probably. Besides, without her help, we stand to lose a lot more."

Ruby swallowed. "This is another one of those big-picture things, right?"

Qrow sighed. "Yeah, something like that."

They sat a while longer, the crackling of the fire and the sound of the nocturnal creatures of the forest coming to life around them filling the silence. Ruby wasn't used to seeing this side of her uncle. Pensive, worried, always so guarded. She was used to him annoying her dad, or playing video games with her and Yang on the couch in their home back on Patch. If she closed her eyes and concentrated really hard, she could even conjure up an image of Qrow and her mother laughing about something sitting around the kitchen table, her father rolling his eyes in the background. Ruby wasn't sure if that was a real memory, or something she'd created, but she held onto it regardless.

Lost in thought, Ruby hadn't noticed Qrow stand up, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw him unroll the paper target she had used that day. "You really weren't kidding about being a fast learner," he mused as he examined the bullet holes. "You've come a long way from shooting low branches off of trees." He folded the target up and tossed it nonchalantly into the flames, watching it curl and blacken. Ruby felt a brief glow of pride, but it was dampened by the anticipation of the question she knew would follow.

"So you're coming along nicely on your weapon training and your designs," he said, taking a seat as well as a pull from his flask. "How about your other project?"

Ruby bit her lip. As it turned out, no matter how fast of a learner Ruby was, even her own gifts were limited when it came to undefined maybe-spirituality. "Not great," she mumbled, filling her empty tin cup with more soup. "I still don't...I don't know exactly what it is I'm supposed to feel," she said, frustrated with her own lack of comprehension more than anything else.

Qrow shook his head. "That's because there's nothing it's supposed to feel like," he explained for what Ruby suspected was the dozenth time. "Remember, your Aura is a reflection of your soul. That means-"

"That it will be personal for me, its own experience, I know, I know," Ruby finished for him, choosing to stare into the flames instead of meeting her uncle's red eyes. "I've tried visualizing it, I've tried feeling for it, smelling it, tasting it, everything, but there's just nothing there! Also, meditating on the nature of my "true self" is exhausting and boring," she finished, her annoyance getting the better of her. "I can honestly say I don't know who I am, or what I'm doing, and I don't know any seventeen year old who does. And those are just normal seventeen year olds, not ones who are backpacking across Anima to perform a top-secret rescue op." Ruby took a deep breath, setting her untouched second helping of soup to one side before burying her face in her hands.

"I just...feel lost," she admitted, her words blunted somewhat by her palms. "I'm lost, and I still can't stop being scared. Even learning to use, you know, that," she gestured vaguely behind her where the rifle was propped up, "my hands start shaking. And I don't know how to make it go away."

She wasn't crying, but Ruby felt empty inside, hollowed out. Her body ached from weeks of endless travel, her shoulders and arms were sore from training. And all she could ever imagine when she tried to envision herself in her own mind was a weak and scared little girl who was in vastly too far over her head.

She felt an arm around her shoulder and the familiar scent of Qrow filled her next breath. She buried her face against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. He patted her back, and said nothing, just sitting there, silent, but warm and supportive nonetheless.

"I know it's hard to believe Ruby," he said after a moment, "but fear isn't the enemy. Hell, everything you've been through, the things you've had to see, I'd be more worried about you if you weren't scared." Ruby pulled back just enough that she could look up and see his face. He was staring into the fire, the dying light throwing his face into sharp relief. "Your mother told me once that fear wasn't the opposite of bravery. She said that bravery was acting in spite of your fears, not without them." Ruby felt a lump rise in her throat at the mention of her mother.

"I miss her," she heard herself say. It felt childish, but it was true.

"Me too, kid," Qrow said.

They sat like that until the fire had burnt down to embers, and the stars began to appear overhead. Ruby was dozing off when Qrow helped her to her feet and towards the tent. "Go ahead and get some rest. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

The last thing Ruby remembered hearing as she laid her head down in her sleeping bag was the cawing of a crow and the rustle of wings.

For the first time in her life, Weiss was trying to channel her father. She sat in the high-backed chair she kept near the window of her sitting room, trying to freeze her anger, fear and disgust into a razor-sharp blade. She had sent Klein to fetch Lampwick a quarter of an hour ago, and the wait had not been good for her nerves.

She went over her list of goals in her mind, bullet points, a to-do list. It was easier to think about in that respect. When was the bug planted? Who had wanted it put there? Why? She repeated the list to herself like a mantra. Figure out those things, then go from there.

She jumped ever so slightly when there was a knock on the door. "Miss Schnee?" she heard Klein's voice clearly. "Mr. Lampwick is here to see you."

Another deep breath to compose herself. With a focused effort of will, she felt the increasingly familiar snap in the air around her as she called her Aura. It was probably overkill, but if the man had been spying on her, who knew what he might be capable of when confronted? Better safe than sorry. Besides, she was discovering that when she was able to call her Aura, the world would open up to her in ways she had never expected. Hints of intuition would blossom into physical awareness, and even subtle things like facial expressions and body language would become easier for her to read.

She was going to need all the help she could get.

"Enter," Weiss said, remaining seated, staring out the window without seeing the sprawling grounds of the Schnee estate below. She heard the door open behind her, felt the presence of two people for a moment, before the door closed leaving only one behind. She tried to extend her senses beyond herself, to see the way Winter had instructed, but if the security head was nervous, he was doing a remarkable job at concealing it. He was also, apparently, a patient man, and declined to speak first. Not a great start.

Weiss turned in her chair to face him. He was leaning on his cane with a politely inquisitive expression.

"Mr. Lampwick, do you have any idea why I've called you in here?"

Lampwick raised an eyebrow, never taking his eyes from hers. "Can't say I do Miss Schnee," he said, his voice light and conversational despite Weiss' confrontational tone. "If there is a security matter you would like to discuss, I hope you know you could confide any-"

"Silence!" Weiss barked, and she rose to her feet. She was her father's daughter, and for once, she wanted somebody to realize it. She gestured to her writing desk where the device she'd found earlier had been smashed to pieces.

"Explain." Her voice was ice.

Lampwick's eyes flickered to the desk. Weiss studied him carefully, but his face became a mask. His expression shifted only slightly, perfectly smooth in its execution. He recognized the device, that was all Weiss was prepared to say. That and he was certainly hiding something.

In a moment, the cool confidence was back as he met her gaze with an innocent curiosity. "Why, it's a surveillance device Miss Schee. Audio only, as per your specifications, and as unobtrusive as possible."

Weiss blinked. "My specifications? My specifications? Explain yourself, now."

Lampwick cleared his throat. "Yes, your specifications. Your father told me that you'd spoken after your sister returned to the estate. He said that, despite his trepidations at allowing her back, you had assured him you would keep an eye on her, and to prove it, you were requesting a listening device put in your room so that you could have proof of any...unsavory action Winter might be planning to take against your father. It was very clever of you, I thought, very clever indeed."

Weiss had to keep her fists clenched to keep from shaking. She focused on her list, she had one of her answers. Her father had ordered the bug planted, but he hadn't wanted the head of security to know he was making the order himself. Maybe because she wasn't sure Lampwick would do it otherwise? That might be worth something.

"Is everything alright Miss Schnee?" Lampwick asked. "If I may, you don't look well. Perhaps a bit of rest is in order? I could tell Klein to fetch something from the kitchen."

"I am fine," Weiss said unconvincingly. Truth be told, she wanted to lie down, or at least sit. She wanted to lock herself in her room and stay there. Stay there until she could leave, run, flee back to her real home and her real family. But Beacon was a long way away, and she didn't know if she had any family left there. "Mr. Lampwick, tell me, where do your loyalties lie?"

The question seemed to catch the man off guard, but he recovered quickly enough. "Why, with the Schnee family of course," he said, sweeping his bowler off and giving her a low bow.

"And if a member of that family was conspiring against another?"

Lampwick raised his head. "My job is to protect the members of the Schnee family. If that means from one another, so be it." He righted himself, settling his hat back on his head. "Afterall, no Schnees means no paycheck, and I'm afraid that is a bigger motivating factor for me than you would like."

"Under some circumstances, perhaps." Weiss said. She considered her next move carefully. It was all a game. Moves and countermoves. She had been letting her father play more or less uncontested for her entire life. It was time she started making some plays of her own.

"I did not order the surveillance of my room," Weiss said, studying Lampwick's expression. "My father lied to you."

There was a flicker of surprise across Lampwick's face. A tightening of his jaw, slight raise of his eyebrows, before settling back into a stoic glare. "What?"

"He lied. He wanted to spy on my sister, so he told you I came up with the plan so that you would go against orders and plant surveillance in my room. I am guessing that you had Sable do it?" She was the only one who had access to Weiss' chambers, and she had a connection to Lampwick.

He seemed to consider her words a moment before nodding carefully. "Yes, I did. I had her do it when you and your sister were out of the estate, I thought it would be best for your - or rather, I suppose - your father's plan if Winter wasn't present."

Despite everything, Weiss felt a small amount of relief. There was no way her father could have spun this story and Lampwick could have planted a bug between the time her sister arrived at the estate and they'd made their way to her rooms. Whatever her father had heard, it hadn't been anything too damning. A plan was beginning to unfold in her mind, a way to use the situation to her advantage. She had to play her cards carefully, do just as her father would do, as much as it sickened her.

"There is a reason my father wanted you to spy on Winter and I," she said.

The corner of Lampwick's mouth twitched. "I figured as much."

Weiss glared at him before continuing. "My father might soon find himself in a compromising position, and I believe he is aware of it. I think he suspects that Winter is looking for a way to expose that compromising position. If she does, my father stands to lose everything. He would be in disgrace. The family name tarnished. Our company ruined. I doubt very much that that would be a favorable outcome for you, would it Mr. Lampwick?"

The man before her gave nothing away. His eyes were calm, and level as they met her gaze, his cocky little half-smile never wavering. "I suppose it wouldn't, Miss Schnee."

"Then before we continue, I have to ask you again: where do your loyalties lie, Mr. Lampwick?"

The pause between them stretched on and on, too long for Weiss' tastes. The tension in the air was tangible, she could hardly breathe.

Finally, Lampwick relaxed every so slightly. "I suppose it would be with the future CEO of a successful Schnee Dust Company," he said with an oily smile.

Weiss nodded curtly. That was unlikely to be her, but he didn't need to know that. All she needed to know was that he was on her side.

"If I am going to prevent our company from collapsing, I need to retrieve some documents from the records office. I plan to do so on the night of the banquet, after my performance, when my father will be speaking with the members of the council."

Lampwick nodded. "So what do you require of me then, Miss Schnee? A security escort? Access?"

"I do not need an escort, and I have access," she said. "What I need, is a distraction. I need my father's eyes elsewhere so that he does not notice me leave, and I need assurance that none of the security that night will alert him to my absence."

He was so difficult to read. Even with her expanded senses, he gave almost nothing away. But he bowed another little bow. "That will be easy enough to accomplish, Miss Schnee," he said with a flicker of amusement in his eyes.

Was it really? Weiss didn't feel as if any of this process had been easy. She felt like she was falling apart inside, her heart beating too quickly, her mouth dry, her skin cold and clammy. She held her facade together out of sheer willpower, ice and glass spun together like the Aura that protected her. It hadn't felt easy...she didn't think.

"Good. We will not speak of this again until after the banquet, and I hope I do not have to remind you that it is best my father thinks you are still listening to me." She seated herself once more, trying not to look as though she were collapsing in the chair. She turned her attention to the window once more, seeing him bow again, lower, out of the corner of her eye before he turned sharply on his heel and headed towards the door.

Weiss' eye fell on her sword on the rack, and she turned back towards the retreating head of security. "Mr. Lampwick, a moment. There is one more thing I will require from you."

The wind cut through Ruby like a knife. She and Qrow were standing at the top of a large hill, forest stretching out around them as far as the eye could see. The dense canopy made it look like they were on an island in a sea of green leaves. The only break was the ruins of a city that they'd passed on the way up here. They were maybe half a day's hike from their last campsite. Ruby had spent the morning putting the finishing touches on Crescent Rose's design before they'd packed up and taken off, Qrow adjusting their course seemingly at random since Ruby never saw him consult a physical map or even a compass.

They'd left everything except Qrow's sword and Ruby's schematics at the base of the hill, and had hiked up just as dusk turned to twilight. It had been a windy day, with grey clouds rolling in to block out the sun, and now without the shelter of the trees, the chill was becoming problematic. The gathered clouds also meant that there was little in terms of starlight and the moon would be completely hidden. The two of them stayed that way for a while, Ruby shivering beneath her cloak and Qrow glancing around them impassively. When it became too dark to see, Qrow lit a covered lamp and placed it on the ground. He turned his attention to Ruby above the low light.

"Our guest is going to be arriving in a slightly unorthodox fashion, so just try and keep your head about you, got it?"

"What, is she f-flying in?" Ruby asked, her teeth chattering.

"Not this time," Qrow said with a smirk she didn't understand. Ruby considered asking about it, but she had a more pressing question. One that had been nagging at her for nearly their entire trip, but one she hadn't dared to ask for fear of the answer. Now, however, she couldn't put it off any longer.

"Uncle Qrow, what happens if this person decides not to help? You said only she could get Weiss out of the Schnee estate."

Qrow nodded, his expression neutral. "She is. At least, she's the only one who can do it safely. If she doesn't agree, we'll come up with a different plan."

"A more dangerous plan?" The thought of something happening to Weiss, or to Qrow was almost too much to manage. She thought about Yang and Blake, how badly they'd been hurt. She thought about Pyrrha.

Qrow hesitated, but nodded. "Yeah, a more dangerous plan. But we're not there yet. One step at a time."

But before Ruby could ask a follow up question, she heard a deep, low humming sound in the air, and felt a strange pressure that she couldn't quite explain, as if a very small shockwave had just passed over her. Qrow turned to look over his shoulder as the darkness behind him began to grow more absolute. Whatever was happening, whatever the thing forming was, it drank the light of the lantern, and blossomed, red swirling patterns of hazy energy rippling out of it, expanding the hole in the world.

Ruby gave a should and stumbled backwards, tripping over her cloak and landing hard on the grass. When she looked back up, the thing, the gaping wound in the air itself had gone. And in its place stood a woman.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the shock, Ruby couldn't help noticing first that the woman was dressed for battle. She wore dark red armguards, segmented to allow for more flexible movement, as well as long black boots that went all the way up her calves. Black shin guards were strapped over those, rising to cover her knees, but leaving bare the skin between where the guards ended and her skirt began. She left her torso largely unarmored, Ruby noticed, wearing a close-fitting top in black and red rather than anything more defensive.

Then there was her mask. It was more like a helmet really, covering her whole head. Black feathers trailed off the back tangling in an oddly familiar mess of black hair. The mask itself was bone white with red accents, and had four slits for eyes, though she could only make out a hint of red in two of them.

The woman took in her surroundings carefully, the masked face sweeping first over the hilltop, then Qrow, and finally settling on Ruby. The woman's hand was resting on the hilt of a sword, protruding from a rectangular sheath with a rotating chamber built into it about three-quarters of the way up its length. Each chamber had a different color visible within it, Dust if Ruby had to guess, but the chambers looked low from what Ruby could see.

The woman's gaze felt like a physical weight on Ruby, who scrambled awkwardly to her feet, making a show of dusting herself off until the stranger addressed Qrow. "You didn't tell me she would be here."

"Nice to see you, too," he said with a hint of dry amusement in his voice.

"What does she know?" The woman's voice was sharp and aggressive.

"She knows enough. I needed some help on the job, and I was a little strapped for resources."

"So you decided to recruit a child? Ozpin would be proud." She made the statement sound accusatory. "And Summer's child no less. Well done you."

The mention of her mother brought back a memory to Ruby. A Spring afternoon, a week after Summer's funeral. She and Yang had been going through some of their mother's old stuff in the attic when they'd stumbled upon a picture. Four friends, posing around an old tree. Three of them they'd recognized: Summer was there, wrapped in a white cloak, blushing and doing her best to hide beneath her hood; Qrow lurked off to one side, a little in the background, looking somehow more gaunt and angular in his youth; their father, Taiyang was laughing in a sleeveless shirt, showing off for the fourth person in the picture, a dark-haired woman with red eyes who was smirking at his antics.

Ruby felt an odd lurching sensation in her stomach. She knew who the woman was.

"You're Yang's mom, aren't you?" Ruby said, shaking from more than just the wind chill. "You're Raven."

The woman returned her attention to Ruby and Qrow crossed his arms with a wry grin. "What can I say sis? She's sharp."

Raven said nothing, but the hand resting on her sword reached up to pull off the mask. The resemblance to her daughter was immediately striking. She had the same strong, feminine features and she'd seen Yang's eyes take on the precise same shade of red as Raven's when she was upset. Instead of her sister's familiar, easy smile however, Raven's face was hard, her expression stern.

"Well, now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk about the job," Qrow said, breaking the silence.

"The job you need a child to do?"

Qrow bristled, but he didn't rise to the bait. "I needed Ruby because I wanted to offer you something worth your time." Qrow tugged Ruby's schematic out of his belt where he'd had it tucked and held it out to her.

Raven hesitated, then tore her eyes from Ruby and snatched the paper from his hand. She glanced over it, eyes tracing Ruby's work. "A picture of a scythe? That's cute," she said without a trace of amusement.

"That's a down payment," Qrow said. "I'll deliver you the parts to make it after the job."

Raven looked up from the paper. "You've told me precious little about this job, brother. I'm beginning to think that there's a catch I'm not going to like."

Ruby could practically hear the gears turning in Qrow's head as he squared off with his twin sister. "I need you to help me get someone out of the Schnee family estate," he said after a pause.

For the first time, a smile touched Raven's lips, though it didn't quite make it to her eyes. "The Schnee estate? So not only do you want me to willing put myself right under the nose of General Ironwood and his soldiers, but you also want me to do a job that involves breaking into the house of one of the richest, most powerful men in Remnant? What kind of fool do you take me for?"

Qrow's frown deepened. "The kind who works for hire."

"And this is the payment you offer?" Raven held up the paper before tearing it once down the middle, then quartering it. She tossed the pieces in the air and let the wind carry them away. "I don't think so."

She turned and began to walk off, towards the crest of the hill. Qrow clenched his fist but called after her, "Stop. You and I both know you have a price you're willing to pull this job off for." Raven stopped, the wind whipping her long hair dramatically. "What do you want?" Qrow asked.

Raven turned, her small smile triumphant now. "I have plenty of weapons Qrow. What we're low on is Dust. It strikes me that Jaques might have a private stash somewhere in that eyesore of a house you want to break into so bad."

Qrow tensed up. "No. That's too much."

Raven shrugged. "Fine, no skin off my neck. Good luck finding somebody else who can help you." She smirked over her shoulder at Qrow before continuing to walk away, that strange mask tucked under her free arm.

Panic seized Ruby. That couldn't be it. She couldn't let Raven leave, not if she was the only person who could help. She shoved past Qrow, calling after her. "Wait!" she cried out. "Wait, please you can't leave!"

Raven stopped and turned slowly on the spot, all traces of amusement gone. When she didn't say anything, Ruby barreled on. "Please, my friend is in trouble. Not just my friend, she's Yang's too! She's important to us, she's our family! Please, you have to help us."

Raven's face remained impassive but for a muscle working in her jaw. "You're not my family. You may call my brother your uncle, but don't presume I owe you anything for that. As for your friend," Raven shrugged, "Sometimes people get hurt," she said, her voice cold as steel. "That's the way the world works. The strong survive, and the weak die. You see it every single day. The sooner you accept that, the better."

Her words were like a slap in the face. All she'd ever known about Raven from what little her dad spoke of her was that she was strong-willed, but troubled. This woman, heartless and cruel before her...what could he have ever seen in her?

"That's not true." Ruby heard herself saying. She couldn't hold Raven's gaze any longer, her eyes dropping to the grass instead. "I've...I've seen s-strong people get hurt, and d-die." The images from the attack on Beacon flashed before her. She screwed her eyes shut willing back tears.

"Maybe they weren't as strong as you think."

Ruby's eyes flew open and she stared at the woman in front of her, standing with a hand on her hip and a smirk on her lips.

"Ruby," she heard Qrow behind her, warning her, but all Ruby could hear was a ringing in her ears.

"How can you say that?" Fury competed with fear now, beating it away as tears fell freely. Ruby clenched her fists so hard she could feel her nails biting into the flesh of her palms. "You didn't know them. Yang was one of those people, your own daughter! They hurt her and you think it's because she was weak!?" She stormed forward now, half a foot from Raven who stood her ground, her expression unchanged. "My friend Pyrrha was worth twice what you are! She died to keep people safe, to protect them! Is that weakness?"

Raven leaned over, her face only a few inches from Ruby's. "If it were strength, she'd still be here."

Ruby punched her in the nose.

It was something that Yang had showed her a long time ago, before they'd gone to Beacon. Yang had said any self-respecting young woman should know enough self-defense to keep herself safe out in the real world. She wasn't a fighter by any means, but her sister was a good teacher, and there was plenty of power behind the blow.

Raven staggered back a step, looking more surprised than injured. For a moment, even the wind seemed to be silent. Then, in a flash, she lunged at Ruby, shoving her to the ground with unnatural strength. Ruby felt the wind go out of her as she hit the grass and slide back a few feet, but before she could regain her composure, she heard a ringing of metal on metal.

She looked up and saw Qrow standing over her, blade in hand, crossed with Raven's sword. It was long, and curved like a katana, but enormous, longer than could have realistically fit inside the sheath without some sort of telescoping effect. The blade was black but streaked with red, the same color as the most prominent chamber on the revolver.

The two were face to face, not moving, sizing the other one up. "Put. The sword. Away." Qrow's voice was deadly calm, his strength unwavering. Raven barred her teeth at him, and gave his sword a shove before backing off. She swung her weapon once in a wide arc before stowing it, impossibly, in the black sheath at her waist.

For a little while, none of them spoke. The howling of the wind and the distant rumble of thunder from the oncoming storm the only things to break the silence. Ruby still felt the anger pulsing through her veins, but the fear was creeping back in. Had she just ruined everything? What would happen to Weiss now? What had she been thinking? Raven looked at her one more time.

"You remind me of Summer," Raven finally said. "Fine. I take enough Dust for me and only me, and I'll do the job." She raised her gaze to meet Qrow's. "Deal?"

Every muscle in Qrow's body was tensed, and he still held his sword in one hand, but he nodded. "Deal."

"When's the job?"

"Four days. We're being picked up tonight."

"You're being picked up. I'll meet you at sunset the night of the job." Raven's gaze lingered on Ruby. She looked like she was going to say something, but she turned instead and stalked off, disappearing over the crest of the hill.

Qrow let out a long breath and shoved the blade of his sword into the ground before stooping to help Ruby to her feet.

"Uncle Qrow, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that, I-" Qrow lifted a hand to silence her.

"You don't have to apologize, kid. My sister can be a real piece of work. She needs someone to knock her down a peg or two every once in a while. Besides, she's trained same as me. Only thing you bruised was her ego."

As he spoke, he pulled a device out of his back pocket. Ruby recognized it as the same gadget he'd used to talk to Winter back at Haven. It was pulsing with red light now, and he tossed it in the grass about half a dozen paces from where they were standing.

Ruby shifted in place. Now that her adrenaline was fading, the cold was creeping back in, and with it came questions. "Why didn't you tell me who we were meeting?"

Qrow pinched the bridge of his nose. "I didn't want you to get the wrong ideas in your head. I thought if you knew it was Raven, you might think she'd go easy on us, that she'd be willing to do us a favor maybe. I wanted you to see her as dangerous first, and Yang's mom second."

"You said she wouldn't hurt us."

"I said she probably wasn't dangerous to us. And to be fair, I didn't expect you to attack her," Qrow said with a grin. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

Ruby didn't return his smile. Her hand still hurt from where she'd punched Raven, it had been a solid hit. She should have broken her nose. But Qrow said she'd been trained.

"You weren't the only one on your team to be picked as a Huntsman, were you?" She bit her lip, almost dreading the answer.

Qrow's smile faded, but he didn't try to lie to her. He nodded his head. "We all were. Me, my sister, your dad...and your mom. Oz said we were some of his most promising students."

Ruby didn't want to ask the next question, but she had to. She had to know. "They said Mom died in an accident, while she was away on business." She'd known so little about what her mom had done for a living, and she didn't care back then. Even after she died it hadn't seemed important. Now…

"Yeah, Qrow said, seemingly reading her thoughts. "A mission she was on went wrong. Very wrong." Tears stung at Ruby's eyes.

"Were you going to tell me?" She felt the same flash of anger she'd felt towards Raven, but worse somehow, the sting of betrayal leaving a bad taste in her mouth.

"Yes," Qrow said. "After. I figured you had more than enough to deal with for the moment."

Ruby had nothing to say to that. Maybe it would have been better for her to learn later. To leave the pieces of the puzzle where they were instead of trying to fit them all together. But it was too late for that. The picture had resolved itself before her, for better or worse.

"Why did Raven say I reminded her of Mom?"

A sad smile tugged at the corner of Qrow's mouth. "Because she would have said the same thing. She did, in fact, many times. Your mom and Raven disagreed on a lot of things, and they were very competitive. Most of the time it meant they brought out the best in one another. Other times…" he trailed off, lost in a memory. Ruby let him. She didn't want to talk about her mother any more. She didn't want to talk about Raven anymore. She didn't want to be scared, or angry, or upset anymore. She drew her cloak around herself and stalked away, collapsing in the grass at the far side of the hill where Raven had disappeared. As she did in, she saw Qrow out of the corner of her eye, heading down the hill. To fetch their things she supposed.

Ruby laid in the grass and listened to the wind around her, the herald of the storm. A low crackle of thunder from somewhere off to the west meant that the rain wasn't far. They'd be wet in addition to cold soon enough.

You should have stayed home, a small voice in the back of her mind said. You should have never left.

I couldn't let Jaune, Ren and Nora go on without me.

So why not stay in Haven, where you were safe?

Weiss needs me.

Do you really think you're strong enough to help her?

That voice was Raven's, mocking her, voicing fears she'd had from the moment she'd convinced Qrow to let her come.

If it was strength, she'd still be here.

"No!" Ruby said to nobody in particular. She stood up and stared after Raven, though she had long gone. "You're wrong!" Summer would have said the same thing. A bubble of defiance rose in her chest at that.

"I don't care that I'm afraid," she cried out, after Raven, after the storm, at any gods who might be listening. "I don't care that I'm lost, or in pain, it doesn't matter! It's not about me!" As she said it, she realized how true it was. It had never been about her. Ruby understood what Pyrrha had done because she would have done it herself. It wasn't weakness, Raven was wrong. Ruby would do anything for her friends. That's what it meant to be strong, to love somebody. She thought of her sister, of Blake, of Jaune, and Ren, and Nora. She thought about Sun and Neptune, Scarlet and Sage. Arslan, Reese, all of her friends.

Weiss.

What wouldn't she do to keep them safe?

She had to be strong, because it wasn't about her. It wasn't about keeping bad things from happening ever. It was being there to keep those you loved safe, and to help them when the bad things did happen.

Ruby felt the wind against her, her red cloak billowing as she stood on the hill. The wind rushing past almost seemed to cling to her, to catch in her hair and around her clothes, coalescing across her body, but instead of the autumn chill, she felt a surge of warmth and strength. Purpose.

She closed her eyes.

And when she opened them again, the world felt new. She felt almost impossibly light on her feet, the darkness seemed a little less dark, her ears picking out sounds that had before been drowned out by the wind. She could feel the presence of the storm, the oncoming force of raw nature in the air. She felt the presence of her Uncle as he crested the hill. Felt him approach her. Sensed his hand before it rested on his shoulder.

"I still don't think I know who I am," Ruby said without looking at him, still staring at the dark expanse of forest below. "But I know who I'm not. And I know who I want to be." She looked up into her uncle's eyes. "Is that enough?"

He nodded. "I think it just might be."

Another clap of thunder rolled over the hill, and from a long ways away, Ruby saw a large black bird rise from the trees and take off into the night.

A/N: One of the many fun things about writing this story in this time line is getting to explore how the main characters all take different paths towards unlocking their Aura. Blake did it first, obviously, and was mostly motivated by fear, fueled in no small part by Adam. Yang's was defiance and sheer stubborn willpower. Now we have Weiss, who uses not the way she views herself, but the image Ruby makes her see, a reflection of herself if you will. And then Ruby, who decides to focus on her aspirations, and who she will one day be. I think all of these are valuable parts of their characters and all valuable paths towards self discovery, even Blake's, though her fear is more of an obstacle to conquer than the other's methods of self discovery.

Oh, right, the elephant in the room. I'm writing again! Sorry for keeping everybody waiting so long for this chapter. There were a lot of reasons I walked away from writing, but I prefer to focus instead on moving forward rather than wallowing in the past. The point is, I'm back now and deeply enjoyed putting this chapter on paper.

To those of you who might have read this story ages ago, I do encourage a re-read if you're bored. All seven previous chapters have been edited and rewritten in some way for the better, though admittedly none of the plot points are really that different. If you're finding this piece for the first time, then thanks for reading! Not sure when the next chapter will be up. It's going to be a big one and I don't want to set a deadline I can't meet, but I'm aiming for 3ish weeks.

That's all I got. If you've got feedback, please let me know, I love improving my writing and hearing what my readers think. Cheers.