Yeeeeaaaah, it's been a bit. In my defense, RWBY Volume 6 is too hype for me to function right now. So last chapter wasn't exactly a great chapter, and as WolvesRock14 said, "Someone better give Ruby a hug next Chapter of there will be consequences!" Yeah, I'm sorry in advance. Things start getting real Au-ish, even more than before. This is where the T rating really starts to come into play.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorite, followed, or read last chapter, I appreciate it a lot. I'm also very sorry for what's about to happen.

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. If I did, Unicorn of War would've burned down my house long ago (props if you get the reference).

Yang and Weiss were quick to join Team JNPR in the cafeteria, but were surprised to find it absent of the wolf faunus. "Yang," Jaune spoke in a worried tone. "That girl you talked about, she showed up and Ruby left with her."

Turning to glare at the boy, she asked, "What?" Clearly, she hadn't quite calmed down yet.

Ren came to the other boy's aid. "The Belladonna girl you mentioned. She came in and asked about Ruby's wellbeing before requesting her in private. They left a few minutes ago."

"I have no idea where they went," Nora chipped in.

"Sorry we don't know more, but she talked very little," Pyrrha apologized in her normal fashion. Weiss looked frustrated, thoughts surrounding the raven haired girl who had messed up their whole school life in just a few days.

Pointing a finger at Team JNPR, Weiss starting giving out orders. "I'm going to go find her before the bell. I assume you all want to help, and you can do so by looking for her in groups. Jaune, Pyrrha, you two check Ruby's homeroom." They nodded and stood up, ready to leave when they were dismissed. "Ren, Nora, you two check by Ruby's locker. See if anybody nearby saw her."

"I love a good manhunt," Nora said manically.

Weiss rolled her eyes at the crazy girl. "Yang, you and I will check the more private areas. Closed classrooms, bathrooms, the like."

"Let's go Ice Queen," Yang took command, not wanting to waste another second. The paired off Team JNPR left as well in search of their friend. "I don't trust that girl with Ruby. Doesn't she seem off to you?" Yang questioned.

Weiss's mind flashed back to Blake and their confrontation. Great first impressions, she thought bitterly. "She talks like she's pretending to be someone else, and Ruby's the only person she's fooling."

The blonde sighed at the mention of her half sister. "Ruby's adorable, but sometimes she's just too trusting and naive." Weiss nodded. The two of them approached a nearby bathroom, and the inside looked like it had just been recently used. The sink was still dripping water and their were still paper towels scattered around on the floor.

"Nobody here, let's go," Weiss stated. The two left the room, failing to notice drops of blood tainting the white tile.

Starting to come to, Ruby noticed she wasn't in the bathroom anymore. Her body was laying on something soft, and her head felt weightless. The wolf also noticed something warm covering her up to her chest. She tried to open her eyes, and it took a few attempts until she was successful.

The room she was in was painted purple, a dark color that gave off an eerie atmosphere. Shelves filled with books lined the walls, and papers seemed to be strewn about a desk in the corner. Ruby herself was lying on a bed with a black duvet cover, and when she went to touch her head she felt a bandage wrapped tightly around it.

A creak sound and the door opened, causing Ruby to jump in her bed and scramble back. Through the door walked Blake with another handful of bandages. She dropped them when she noticed the scared faunus. "Ruby, you're okay!" came the surprised response.

"Wh-what happened?"

A frown showed up on Blake's face before she leaned down to pick up the fallen bandages. "We were at school and you passed out and hit your head. I brought you back to my apartment."

The younger girl now wore a matching frown. "Why not take me to the nurse's office. They probably could have treated me there." Blake looked nervous. Truth be told, she had brought Ruby back to her apartment to avoid the girl's friends and keep her from telling anyone what Blake had asked. Surely the young faunus wouldn't talk to Blake again without some motivation.

"The nurse was out on a trip and I didn't know what to do," Blake lied. Warily, Ruby accepted the lie. "What do you remember?"

Pausing, Ruby thought back to her most recent memories and gasped at what surfaced. "You-you asked and… then I remembered. W-why did you?"

Bypassing the girl's question, Blake pressed on, ignoring the mental state of the scared faunus. "What did you remember?"

Ruby kept stuttering, "Not today, N-n-no, no, no, not t-today. Please, please, please, not today." She was trembling beyond belief.

"Ruby!" the young girl looked at her savior. "I need you to tell me what you remembered."

And then the floodgate opened. Ruby was sobbing and held her head in her hands. "My mom, she tried to leave. S-she, she tried. He, he showed up and, and it happened so fast and, and, oh no, no, no, no. Not today! She was going to give me my gift when we got home, no, no, no, no! I ran, I ran so fast, and, and, and-" she couldn't get her final words out.

Hesitantly, Blake asked, "And?"

"SHE'S DEAD! He killed her, he killed her. I ran so fast, as fast as I could but he's always there! He still sees me, I know he does. I can't run anymore, I can't! Yang doesn't know, Weiss doesn't know, Jaune and Pyrrha don't know, Ren, Nora, none of them can know!"

Blake was afraid she had broken the girl by bringing up her past. "It was my birthday, the one day she said it was all for me! I was so excited and then she died. It's all my fault! I tried. I tried, Mom, I tried, but I can't do it!"

Finally stepping in, Blake put a hand on the girl's shaking shoulder. "Who did this?"

"I did! It's my fault!" The faunus cried.

Rephrasing, the older girl questioned, "Who is 'he'?"

More sobbing until she choked out a name. "Adam Taurus."

With all the robberies he was pulling and the planning in between, Roman was not happy that Cinder had him observing some little girl as well. The child was probably useless, like every other kid on the market, but he still obeyed his boss's orders. "Neo, tell me, if you were a little defenseless faunus, where would you hang out?"

She flipped him off, knowing he was teasing her for the very fact she couldn't tell him. The master thief ignored her and continued to talk to himself. "That's right! One little Beacon Academy for Idiotic Children. Observe her patterns, know her friends, we find out her weak spots." Neo just rolled her eyes and followed her partner.

Reaching the gate the bordered the grounds the two noticed how empty it seemed without any kids milling about within the gates parameters. "What a shame, they've already started. Should we join them?" Neo slapped his cane hand and glared at him. "Okay, yeah, I get it. Lay low until we've got what we need." The ice cream girl's eyes widened in surprise and she slapped Roman once again.

He turned around and noticed two girls approaching the school, one with a bow atop her head and another with wolf ears and a tail. "Well, looks like we hit the jackpot, ice cream." She glared at him for using the nickname. "Oh red!" He called, gaining the two girls' attention.

The older one stepped in front of Red but held onto her arm protectively. "Who are you," the raven haired girl asked.

"I'm surprised," Roman exclaimed, waving his cane around. "You haven't been watching the news lately, have you?"

It clicked in the raven haired girl's mind as she figured out the notorious Roman Torchwick was holding them up. "Ruby, run," the older girl spoke. Red tensed up at the words and slowly backed away from the scene.

A sigh from the thief. "Neo, make sure she doesn't get away." A nod and a cartwheel later the man was left facing the angry teenager. "Now I don't wanna hurt either of you, but I need some information. Preferably free." A silent glare from the girl prompted him to keep talking. "See, your little mutt knows someone by the name of Nightshade," the girl immediately tensed at the name. "Wow. Do you know her too?" the orange haired man mocked.

"You leave the two of us alone or-"

Roman cut her off, "Or what?" He motioned to behind the girl. She turned around and noticed Red with a new bruised eye standing next to Neo who looked frustrated (although she would never admit the faunus almost got away). "Now, what do you know about Nightshade?"

The girl reached for her back as if on instinct, before dropping her hands into fists. She charged Roman who managed to dodge her punch and swing back, only for his punch to be dodged as well. The thief threw a right cross that was parried and he sidestepped an uppercut. He brought up his cane and slammed the girl with it, but she was up without a second thought and kicked him in the side.

She kept attacking until a sick pop echoed across the courtyard. Red was doubled over in pain, and she dropped to her knees when Neo slammed her fists into the her back. "Ruby!" the raven haired girl called, but Roman took his chance and slammed her down with his cane. He swung his cane again but the girl caught it and pulled it out of his grip. She held it like she was wielding a katana and charged the man.

Neo interrupted the fight and knocked the older girl down to her knees. The bowler hat man snatched his can from her hands and kicked her one more time, ensuring she would stay down.

With both of them on the ground, Roman let his own guard down, relying on Neo for the time being. "I was hoping the information would come free, but sometimes a good beatdown does the job well enough. Your little mutt's hurt now because of you. All because you thought you could take me. Information on Nightshade, please."

"Blake," Red called as she attempted to stand up. She was thoroughly beaten. A black eye, an already bruised head, and likely a broken rib from Neo. She dropped back down to her knees and called, "Blake, no. Don't hurt her."

Roman recognized the name Blake. What had Cinder told him again? Blake Belladonna goes by the name Nightshade. Adam wants her bad, and the best way of covering up the wolf is by getting Nightshade. Roman turned to Red, who looked much more defeated than Blake. "What's her last name?"

Blake's eyes widened as she tried to stand, Neo quickly shoving her back down to the floor. "Ruby, no."

"What?" Ruby mumbled. Roman kneeled in front of the faunus and lifted her head to look him in the eyes.

"What's her last name?"

Blake shook her head. "No."

"Belladonna."

A smile, and he dropped her head. "Neo, I think we've got what we need." Neo held up a finger to him and tugged on Blake's bow. It came undone, revealing a twitching pair of cat ears beneath. Red gasped, but Roman rolled his eyes. "I figured that out Neo, you don't have to be so dramatic." The ice cream girl shrugged and let go of Blake, before joining her partner in walking off.

As quickly as she could manage, Blake stumbled to Ruby's side. "Ruby, are you okay?"

"You're a faunus? Why would you hide that?" the wolf asked. Both tried to get her up but neither succeeded. Ruby was far too fragile at the moment to move.

"That doesn't matter, I have to help you."

"That's why you were asking about the White Fang." Blake cringed, but she figured Ruby was putting the pieces together. "You've never asked about those things. You wouldn't even know if I had any connection with them. The only person who-" she froze.

Blake realized she put the pieces together. "Ruby…" she spoke warily.

"Y-you're Nightshade."

I can't help myself, I know. Cruel me. So Ruby's figured it out. It's probably Blake's fault. She's been so single minded that she stopped caring about being super secretive, and that lead to Ruby figuring out her identity. I know I skipped over Blake's reaction to Adam killing Summer, but I'll go over that later. For now, I wanted to timeskip to Roman figuring out Blake's identity.

The startup with JNPR, Yang, and Weiss was mainly there to represent how Ruby's friends don't trust Blake, and how blissfully ignorant they are of what's actually going on. Trust me, that'll factor in later.

Anyway, thanks as always for reading, and hopefully it won't take so long for the next chapter to be out. RWBY Volume 6 has me hyped, so writing has been harder seeing as I'm focused on that. Hope you enjoyed, I'd appreciate a favorite, follow, or review, but just reading is enough! Bon voyage!