The Intersection(s) at Vale

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. I'm just playing around with Rooster Teeth's property.

in·ter·sec·tion

in(t)ərˈsekSH(ə)n

noun

a point or line common to lines or surfaces that intersect.

"the intersection of a plane and a cone"

a point at which two or more things intersect, especially roads.

"red and green lights at the nearby intersection"

an action of intersecting.

"his course is on a direct intersection with ours"

Ruby Lamb, Part 3

Blake looked up at the darkening sky – skies that used to consist of multitude of colors. It was now a dull grey and black, covered by smoke and pollution – remnants of war and destruction, the aftermath of when everything started to go wrong. An apocalypse, some might say. She couldn't find it within her to disagree.

She walked across the post-apocalyptic land of Vale – No Man's Vale, the people call it. Despite the name, people still lived in the area, mostly looking for opportunities in the barren land, more so when knowing that the two responsible for all the destruction had gone to another continent.

The people were scattered. The White Fang was no more but a remnant of the past, but at what cost? Ruby was out there where the conflict was, along with Yang. Weiss went back to Atlas to manage her company, the SDC being one of the few remaining safe bastions for the people of Remnant. Ren and Nora wandered off; the only thing that mattered to them was staying together. She did not blame them.

Jaune, Whitley, and Cinder were all missing. It was as if the wind had swallowed them whole, leaving no trace whatsoever. Maybe they died during the initial battle? Who knows…

And her? Blake stayed in Vale to help the people. A few other huntsmen and huntresses followed her example, to which she was grateful of. Although, there wasn't much to help with other than damage control with the people. It was painful to think that most of the damage in front of her was self-inflicted – a result of mistrust bubbling within people as the world around turned to chaos. The abandoned buildings, the skeletons by the alley, the orphans, they were a result of the human and faunus-kind's fear and doubt.

The gaping maw she was standing before, though? It was done by them. It was actually the result of a claw strike, but it looked more like a huge trench than anything else. The damage continued from there, with toppled buildings from mere wing flaps as well as fire blasts and laser of lights incinerating parts of the city. The city had been an arena for their battle, its inhabitants seen as nothing but ants beneath them.

In the distance was Beacon, the CCT tower in ruins, its top missing – effectively cutting any form of long-range communication between all the kingdoms. Beacon itself was in no better condition, overrun by Grimm with no other life form in sight.

She remembered that day as if it only happened yesterday – the day everything started. The day they lost everything to the Deity Brothers – and the world began to end.

"I have to say, Torchwick. I did not expect for such a fine dinner. What's the occasion?"

Roman Torchwick stood up from where he sat with a glass of whiskey in hand. "I noticed that you've been gaining quite a lot of Lien recently, Marcus. Is this the new business venture you were talking about a few months back?"

Marcus was a criminal, a thief, a smuggler. But most of all, he was an opportunist. He was no huntsman, and his portly figure, snugged in an expensive dark-colored suit showed that clearly. His thick, yet groomed beard spoke of a lavish lifestyle, and the rings adorning his fingers showed even more of it.

"Oho!" Marcus laughed. "Do you want a cut out of it? I have to say, you run one of the best smuggling operations in Vale. It would be beneficial for both of us if we were to work together."

Roman smiled, circling the table, which was filled with an assortment of fancy food and the like. "Indeed it would be. But I have to ask. Aren't you afraid that the police might know of this?"

Marcus let out a hearty laugh. "The police in Vale aren't very competent, friend! The huntsmen might be troubling, but without them? It's like playing with children!"

"Hmm, be careful, Marcus," Roman stood close to Marcus' seat, putting his glass of whiskey on the table. "You might just be playing with fire."

"I'm always careful, Torchwick."

"Evidently? No, not always," Roman chuckled, moving his gloved hand to the ice bucket near him and taking the icepick in his hands. "Do you want some more ice for your drink?"

"Certainly," Marcus smiled, his eyes set on his food and hands already holding the utensils.

Then Roman drove the icepick through the side of Marcus' head.

"Are you experiencing a slight headache, Marcus?" Roman asked, as he circled around the table again, picking up his glass of whiskey and sitting back on his seat. He scanned Marcus' reaction, the icepick he had picked up lodged inside Marcus' skull.

"I-I can't s-see," Marcus stuttered, eyes unfocused and lips trembling. Even his fingers were acting up, the disturbance in his brain messing with his motoric. "D-did you say something, R-Roman? I c-can't seem to hear you v-very clearly."

Roman sipped his whiskey as he watched Marcus struggling to even stumble around, his body not cooperating with his damaged brain. Who knew that those anatomy books he had read back at Beacon would be useful someday?

Putting down his glass of whiskey, Roman pulled out a cigar from his breast pocket. Lighting it up, he released a puff of smoke towards Marcus' face. The man didn't flinch. It seemed that his sense of smell was disturbed as well.

Fricking hilarious…

Then the door suddenly swung open – Neo's tri-colored figure peeking in from behind it. She tilted her head and pointed a finger behind her.

Roman raised an eyebrow. "A guest?" he asked. "I'm kind of busy here, Neo. Send them away."

"Too late," said a gruff voice as he pushed past the girl. "I'm kind of in a hurry, Roman. Don't want to wait until tomorrow morning for you to finish whatever business you have."

Ignoring the transgression, Roman stood up, letting out another puff of smoke. "Ah, my favorite upperclassman – Qrow Branwen!"

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "I'm flattered. But If I'm looking to be flattered, this is the last place I'd think of. And what's this?" Qrow gestured at the twitching form of Marcus, the icepick still lodged to the side of his skull. "I thought you don't deal in assassinations personally?"

"Circumstances called for it – and I felt like it," Roman said. "The man had been running a human and faunus trafficking operation for the past few months. Cheap labors and the like, you know – the usual stuffs on Mistral."

"Didn't take you for a bleeding heart," Qrow crossed his arms.

"Not a bleeding heart," Roman let out a puff of smoke. "Just don't want to bleed for real. Human and faunus trafficking is fine and dandy in Mistral. Everyone does it – even the police, to an extent," he shrugs. "But in Vale? Too high profile. Huntsmen have more influence here than they do in Mistral. Quite a few figures in the underworld want this guy dead, especially since he has connections to many of them – me included."

"So the plan is to kill the guy before he's caught by the authorities?" Qrow asked, pulling his flask out. "Don't see why you should go out on theatrics, though."

"Because why the fuck not?" Roman spread his arms wide with a smile. "If I gotta do something unpleasant, might as well make it as pleasant as possible."

"W-who's that?" Marcus asked. "Can y-you turn on the l-lights?"

Roman chuckled darkly. "Well, pleasant for me, of course. Would you do the honor?" he gestured at Marcus.

Qrow narrowed his eyes, before shaking his head with a roll of his eyes. Pocketing his flask back in, he put a hand around the icepick, took a deep breath, and quickly pulled it out. Blood spurted out from the wound, and Marcus' form twitched for a second or two before unceremoniously falling face first into the meal in front of him. Qrow grimaced as blood kept pouring out onto the plate, mixing with sauce and gravy.

"Great," Qrow groaned, pulling out his flask and taking a swig. "Now I've got blood on my shoes."

Roman crossed his left arm across his chest, his right still holding to his cigar as he scanned the murder scene. "Yeah, I didn't really take the mess into account. Oh, well," he shrugged. "Neo! Clean this up for me."

The petite girl quietly entered the room and dragged Marcus' dead body by its feet, showing a surprising amount of strength, while leaving a trail of blood on the floor as she exited the room. Qrow shook his head before turning back to Roman. He was never one for assassinations.

Roman sat back down and stretched his feet on the table. "So, what brings you here?"

Qrow pulled the chair that Marcus had occupied and dragged it to another part of the table closer to Roman, not wanting to have a pool of blood in front of him while conversing. "Ozpin has continued his search for the Fall Maiden. How is the search for Spring?"

"This again?" Roman sighed. "Fall has been missing for centuries, and Spring for a decade, Qrow. They're not exactly on the top of my priority list."

"Well, it'll have to be," Qrow said, taking a swig from his flask. "I'm heading to Mistral to meet up with Winter Schnee. Was asked by Ozpin to help her on her White Fang problem, and then ask her about Fall."

"Yeah, I know about that bit," Roman said, puffing his cigar.

"Why am I not surprised?"

"I do know everything."

"Not everything. Just most things," Qrow corrected. "You remember that Summer used to complain about you on this, right? Do you remember how many times she called you a fake?"

"And what of it?" Roman shrugged. "Sure, maybe I do not know everything, but a good fake is indistinguishable from the real one. As long as me, the fake, is believed to be the real thing by other people, then I'm as good as real."

"Huh," Qrow chuckled. "That's a new one. You should've used that argument against Summer all those years ago."

Roman narrowed his eyes. "You didn't come here to talk about our old flame for a dead woman. Get to the point."

"Struck a nerve, didn't I?"

"Entire. Team," Roman smirked.

"Fuck you…"

Roman chuckled. "Struck a nerve, didn't I?"

"Touché. Well, I'm here to talk about two things, really," Qrow sighed, taking another swig from his flask before pocketing it. "First off, it's about the Brothers returning. Ozpin thinks there have been signs."

"The Brothers?" Roman raised an eyebrow. "Is that why he's so desperate to find the Maidens? So that when the time comes, he would have access to the relics?"

"That's the gist of it. I also want you to look out for signs of their return in Vale while I'm in Mistral, then report to Ozpin so that he could handle it," Qrow said. "Too much destruction on our hands, and the public might think it's a Grimm attack or something. We don't need any extra negativity. The White Fang is spreading enough as it is."

"Not going to promise anything," Roman shrugged. "I'll ask Neo to look around, though."

"And one more thing. I heard that one of my nieces crossed path with you during a robbery. And robbing dust stores? I thought you're above that?"

"Little Red? A feisty one, she is," Roman chuckled. "So eager to jump into the fray, too – just like her mother, even without the full image of the situation. The old man owes me and Junior some money, so I came to collect. Simple as that. You'd think that with as many business joints as he has, he'd learn not to ask for more loan than he could handle. Watch out for her, Qrow, lest she ends up dead like her mother."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a warning," Roman smiled. "The only reason she's healthy and attending Beacon is because she ran into me. Other criminals wouldn't be so merciful. And even then, I was only merciful because I had a past with Summer."

"Fair enough," Qrow growled. "You might not go out of your way to hurt them, but what about those kids under you? Those souvenirs you got from Mistral, as you call them."

"Emerald and Mercury?" Roman tilted his head. "If your nieces, along with their friends get in their way, I can't really guarantee a smooth sailing. Emerald might be more merciful, but Mercury? At the very least, it's a trip to the hospital. The boy's an assassin through and through, even when dealing with aberrant. Doesn't really like leaving loose ends and witnesses. Also, I'm sure you've heard about Tai and Raven's kid trashing Junior's club, unprovoked, I might add."

Qrow sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"Not going to talk to her about it?"

Qrow shrugged. "She got that from her mother."

The redhead scoffed. "You think I – or anyone else gives a damn? A lot of important figures had to cash out money for repairs, Ozpin included. Junior's an information hub for criminals and huntsmen alike – at least those that are willing to look away from the shadier things happening there. He's an investment, and a sound one at that," Roman let out a puff of smoke. "Those kinds of behavior are exactly what paint a red target on your head in this industry, Qrow. Blondie has gotten quite a few gazes, and not the kind she could wink and blow kisses at."

Qrow growled at Roman's prodding, not appreciating the criminal talking down on one of his family members. However, Roman continued.

"Not to mention that she was looking for Raven," Roman narrowed his eyes. "Be careful there. Dig in too deep and she'll have trouble getting out. The people Raven associates with, and not to mention the things she faces against…"

"You think I don't know that?" Qrow growled. "I'll take care of my family. You just stay out of it."

Roman chuckled darkly. "Oh, Qrow. When will you learn that I just can't help but know these things?"

Qrow glared at the redheaded man who was calmly puffing cigar smoke from his mouth, fully knowing what the thief meant. He would readily admit that Roman Torchwick wasn't someone he would want to be acquaintances with, let alone consider a friend. Heck, his team members, and by extension, family, had no reason to know the man personally – except for the very fact that Roman and Summer knew each other before entering Beacon.

A story for another time, and it was a story he was less than enthused to retell anyway. The story of his team leader and their underclassman – by a year – was a long one. The chapter would be nothing but expository segments. And goddamn, Qrow hated doing expositions. The last time he did that regarding the supernatural, as well as the Maidens, Winter had come up with so many questions. So many that he kind of regretted ever recruiting her in the first place.

Standing up from his seat, Qrow headed towards the door, before turning his head back towards Roman. "Remember what I said. If you find anything, report to Oz. Got it?"

Roman gave a mock salute from his sitting position. "I make no promises. But if Neo finds anything, I'll holler."

Qrow sighed. He guessed as much, as the man was doing this with no pay anyway. It would have to do. With nothing left to say between them, Qrow closed the door behind him, not even looking at the small figure of Neo who was standing by the door. He sighed once more as he got to the exit.

It had started pouring. Just great…

"You suck at storytelling…"

"Well, excuse me!" Ruby huffed, arms crossed under her breasts as she sat on Jaune's bed. "I'm the one who can barely see out of her eyes!"

True to that, but Jaune wondered what that had to do with anything. Still, he wasn't complaining about the situation. Ruby had returned to his bed, and he had discouraged her from going anywhere else, should the pain flare up again. Knowing his luck, he had a feeling it would.

"I bet you can't even see what's dangling in front of your face, huh?" Jaune chuckled, holding the offending object in front of Ruby's face. With her vision heavily impaired, she could only squint and sniff at said object.

'Bwehh! What is that!?" she gawked. "It smells funny!"

True, it did smell funny. The spoonful of Vacuan marmite he was holding in front of Ruby's face wasn't something he particularly liked either. Come to think of it, why did he even have it in his kitchen cupboard? Was it so that he could use it for a joke? He didn't know whether he should consider himself a comedic genius for thinking about it, or a complete fool for wasting money on such a silly thing. Thankfully, his apartment wasn't full of useless items he never used. He was practical like that.

Well, being a fool would be consistent with his current and canon portrayal, but then again, he'd like a change of pace, you know? Like, Jaune hadn't even had his aura unlocked, let alone discover his semblance.

Damn you, canon Jaune… Despite the circumstances, he still got the better deal…

Still, back to the current continuity…

"Why don't you start from the beginning, Ruby?" Jaune said, putting the spoonful of marmite away. "And no, don't use wild gestures. I can barely understand any of it."

"Hrmph!" Ruby pouted. "Fine! I'll tell the story in a much less exciting manner, so that you can understand it."

Was she making a jab at him? If so, he wasn't particularly impressed. Even after only a few hours, he had already missed Blake's sharp, deprecating jabs. Her jabs were scathing, and often times surprising, which gave him an incentive to get back at her. Ruby, though? It was like dealing with one of his sisters.

"Shoot, then."

Okay, so after meeting you and Blake, I went to one of the middle schools in Vale, specifically the one that middle schooler I asked before go to. It was a nice school, not that different from Signal. Have you been to Signal, Jaune?

Fine, I'll stay on topic. You're no fun… Eehh, don't put that funny-smelling thing in front of me again. I'll stay on topic, I promise!

Where was I? Oh, right! The middle school. At the time, it was when some of the kids were going home from school. It was pretty crowded, and I asked some of them the same questions I had asked the kid I met on the street. It seems the charm sold to them had become something rather common, even among other schools.

So, with me going after culprit, I asked them if they had seen him or her. They said that the surrounding was always distorted whenever they made a transaction. So, I guessed that the culprit is using some kind of semblance to hide their identity. One of the kids managed to catch a glimpse of a white cloak, though. It's not much to go on, so I asked the place where they make their transaction.

Turns out there are multiple of them! Can you believe it? Ugh, that made things so tedious! I had to run through Vale to check each and every place they mentioned Thankfully, they weren't lying, and after the third hour or so, I met the culprit.

What happened, you ask? Well, the simplest description would be to say we fought. I'm kind of ashamed to say this, but it wasn't much of a fight…

Well, you've heard Yang's story when you were at our dorm, right? About our mother? Well, the cloak she was wearing – yes, the culprit is a she – looks exactly the same as what our dad used to tell us our mother wore, the only difference being it's more torn than before.

She thought I was looking to buy something, so I took the opportunity to charge right in while her guard was down. But I was distracted during the whole fight – and before I knew it, she touched me on my forehead. Everything became blurry after that. I swung my scythe, but it hit nothing. She dodged my blows as if they were extremely slow. She was merely sidestepping my attacks, and her offensive…

She's good. I had so many near-misses during our fight. She's fast – probably as fast as Weiss or Blake, or maybe even faster! The only thing I caught from her was her skin and eye colors, which are mocha and red – so definitely not my mother.

I've never met anyone like that, so it was surely no one I knew. So why does she have our mother's cloak? Even when I was swinging my scythe at her, I wanted to ask her where she got it – about what happened to our mother. Is she dead? How did she die? Is she alive? Where is she now?

Aah!

S-sorry, the pain flared up again. No need for painkillers. I can handle it. No need for more wet towels… Y-you don't have to look so enthusiastic while suggesting it, Jaune…

Where was I? Oh, right! The fight. It was over before I knew it. That woman touched my forehead once more, and then I was thrown into that garbage heap where you found me, with my eyes and body feeling like they're burning. So, what do you think?

Jaune didn't really know what to think. Ruby's description of the culprit didn't really paint a clear picture on whether the ability the culprit used was a semblance or a sort of magic like the ones vampire possess.

But then again, he didn't really have anything to compare it with, as he had no firsthand experience on it. His time as a vampire was pretty-short lived. He would dare say that Whitley had more opportunity in exploring his powers than Jaune himself did. The things Whitley could do as a vampire... Must be the Schnee blood... Those glyphs semblance they had was just unfair. Next thing he knew, the Schnees could summon Grimm or something.

No, wait. Don't answer that. Don't even think about it.

You were thinking about it, weren't you?

You were.

I could see it in your eyes.

"Uh, Jaune?"

"What, Ruby?"

She looked at him strangely, before shrugging off whatever she saw Jaune was doing, pretending that he hadn't just glared at an empty space. "What are we going to do now?"

Jaune blinked. "We? What's this about we?"

"Ah, right," Ruby nodded at his direction. She must be trying to look at him in the eye, but she was instead 'staring' at his right shoulder. Just how blurry was her vision? "I can't get you involved in this. There's no 'we', just me."

"Who says anything about 'you' either?"

"B-but," Ruby stuttered, genuinely surprised that he wasn't letting her go off to solve whatever this was. "I got into this. I need to catch that woman!"

"No you don't."

"I have to!"

Jaune sighed, "Why, Ruby? Don't you think she thrashed you enough?"

"A hero never backs down from a fight!"

"I didn't know heroes are stupid."

Ruby gasped. "What did you say!?"

"A good huntress picks her fights, Ruby, not get dragged into it," Jaune said. "She beat you, and now you want to just rush back out there and face her?"

"It'll be different!" Ruby exclaimed. "I won't screw up!"

Jaune sighed, "Your team is coming to pick you up tomorrow. Best get some rest. You might not be feeling it, but you've got a light fever going on, and not to mention I have to keep watch when your pain flares up again."

"How do you know it's going to flare up again?" Ruby asked.

Jaune shrugged. "Call it a hunch."

It wasn't really a hunch. Not really. From the little details he could see, Ruby's chest was heaving every now and then – a sign of laboured breathing, which meant she was holding out on her pain. Her body was obviously still stinging with pain, but she didn't want him to worry.

Really, it would only make his job harder, to be honest. And her eyes. She was blinking too much for it to be natural. When one blinks a lot, it was an obvious sign of discomfort. Not only did she blink a lot, but she also scrunched her eyes a lot when she thought he wasn't looking at her – which was a lot, as she couldn't even see him properly.

Ruby looked at him skeptically for a moment, before sighing loudly at the thought of her situation. "Fine," she grumbled. "I'll get some rest."

"Good," Jaune nodded. "Don't try anything funny."

"I should be telling you that, you perv," Ruby stuck out her tongue. Jaune could only sigh as Ruby stuck her tongue towards the direction of the closet – far from his direction, her intended target.

Shutting the door behind him as Ruby laid on his bed, Jaune pulled out his scroll. It was just an hour before midnight. Should he call him? He had planned on getting to the bottom of this matter on his own, but he just couldn't leave Ruby on her own, even if it was his own apartment. Chances were, he'd be angry that Jaune had called him near midnight just to babysit.

To call or not to call. That was the question.

...

Eh, he wouldn't be too mad. Let's just hope he was in an aggreable mood. Pressing the intended contact on his scroll, Jaune held his scroll by his ear. He did not have to wait even five seconds before it was answered.

"Hey, Whitley! What a beautiful night, right?" Jaune said, blissfully ignoring the patter of rain against his window.

Not really satisfied with this chapter, to be honest. This is more like the calm before the storm. Yes, this story does in fact have an overarching story, as shown in this chapter. Some of you may have some inkling as to why I showed a glimpse of the future like that, but it'll come to light. Don't worry. Probably sometime after Jaune Vamp, though. Still a long ways to go.

Also, that cover is the cover for Whitley Drachen, drawn by yours truly. I'll be drawing a cover for each flashback story arcs. Speaking of flashback arcs, I'm wondering if people are interested for a Neo-Roman flashback story arc? I also have something in mind for a Winter flashback arc, if anyone's interested.

On another note, I feel that I have to share this with you guys. Mostly about my writing, and why I love writing dialogues. It's largely because I believe that the best comedy or even the most heartfelt moments come from character interactions, and spoken dialogues are the most blatant form of that.

Humor is also a nice tool for characterization, especially between friendly characters. I mean, that's how you get friends in real life. You might also wonder why the conversation between Blake and Jaune was written so randomly, even going as far as referencing other series a couple of times and breaking the fourth wall.

Well, life is random. Unexpected things happen, and honestly, I was winging most of the conversation anyway. In my draft for that set of dialogues, I simply wrote 'and then Blake and Jaune talked for a while'. A conversation that is formulaic can be really boring, and you can actually see that while reading if said conversation isn't set up well.

For instance, compare Jaune's interactions with Blake alongside his interactions with Cinder. For the most part, his interactions with Cinder felt more relaxed for both characters, with a nice flow put into it. That's because there's an established history between them – they speak of things that happened to them in the past, reference it during a conversation, and not to mention the intimacy between them on a certain level. Jaune and Blake are two complete strangers getting to know each other. That itself is pretty self-explanatory.

Sorry for the ramble. I just feel the need to share this with you guys, since I see a lot of writers fall into these same pitfalls when dealing with characters. You can't shove them into an overarching plot. You need to flesh them out first. While in a fanfic, I get that characters have been established in the source material, but it's a bit of a different story when writing an AU, as most people expect something different. Still, I guess what irks me the most is that RT is falling into these same pitfalls when writing characters. That finale is probably one of the only on-screen interactions between Ruby and Blake, hahaha (no, sitting beside each other doesn't count. RWBY Chibi doesn't count either). And Ruby's not much of a character herself – more like a mascot for the series. I'd argue that Blake, Yang, and Jaune felt more like the protagonists, with everyone else in for the ride.

Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review. Peace out.

TEASER FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER: Ruby Lamb, Part 4

"Don't you try anything funny, Whittle!"

"My name is Whitley."

"Yeah, that's what I said!"

"And you're talking to Jaune's closet."