Yang rode next to Murphy in relative silence. Morning traffic in this Chicago was pretty dense, and the smell of all that exhaust still bothered her a lot. It was hard to believe that they didn't have Dust here. Earth people seemed capable of so much, yet they seemed so backward in a lot of ways. She wondered if it was because they didn't have a common enemy to worry about. What made them so different from the people of Remnant? Not one person had an activated aura? How many of them were there, even?

Yang noticed that Murphy would sneak glances at her, but hadn't said anything. Was there something on her face? Neither of them had spoken since they'd left Harry at the parking garage. Maybe she was waiting for Yang to say something. They could talk about aura stuff, or what was going on here in the city that Murphy was looking into, but those all seemed boring. She made up her mind.

"Murphy?" she asked, who looked over at her with a questing hmm. "How long have you known Harry?" If the question caught her off guard, it didn't show. She thought about it for a minute, figuring the math.

"It's been almost nineteen years aaand wow, has it really been that long?" Murphy shook her head in disbelief.

"How did you two meet?" They seemed so different from each other, even if they did fit together really well.

"I was a beat cop back then, looking into a kidnapped child case, which turned out to be a load of bull. He was working with a private investigator back before he struck out on his own. I liked him for the kidnapper on account of the girl he had in tow." Murphy laughed ruefully. "Turns out the kid's parents had hired them and then changed their minds. I didn't actually meet him until we had to fight a troll." A what, now?

"What's a troll?" Yang kind of remembered something from one of the stories she used to read to Ruby, but that was such a long time ago.

"Big ugly monster that lives under bridges and snatches up naughty children – or Billy goats, if they're hungry enough. So Harry says, anyway." Murphy shivered at the memory.

"Are you pulling my leg, Murphy?" Yang was sure she was.

"Well, maybe about the goats. I can't always tell when he's being serious about that stuff. Yeah, a real troll. I'd never seen anything like that in my entire life. Scared the hell out of me, thinking I was going crazy."

"So you didn't know about wizards or magic, or any of that before you met him?" she asked, curious now.

"Sometimes ignorance is bliss, Yang. I've seen things that would give you gray hairs." Murphy shrugged a shoulder uncomfortably. "That wasn't how the world worked, as far as I was concerned. I wouldn't trade any of it, though." Yang thought she understood what Murphy meant by that.

"How long have you and Harry been together?" Now that did get a reaction. Murphy's cheeks colored as she huffed out a breath.

"It's only been a few months. We'd been dancing around it for a while." She smiled. It looked good on her. "And what about you, Miss Xiao Long? Got anybody special back home?" Yang tilted her head and turned both palms up for a moment.

"Not really, not like that anyway. I like boys, but nobody's ever really held my attention long enough to be special." Besides, seeing what her dad went through, sometimes it didn't really seem worth it. "I mean, there's my partner, Blake, but she's more like a sister than anything else, ya' know?" Murphy gave her a knowing look.

"And where is she now, do you think?" Yang's thoughts darkened at that.

"It's hard to say, what with the time difference. She went on a mission with Weiss, dad and Uncle Qrow, trying to track down Adam." She really wanted to be there to help with the beating he deserved, but was probably going to miss it.

"Who is he?" Murphy asked.

"He's dead meat, is what he is. Adam Taurus, leader of the White Fang – a bunch of crazy Faunus that use violence to get what they think they deserve." The thought of what they'd done was making her blood boil. "He led them in an attack on our school. We were able to run them off, but not before they did a lot of damage." Murphy took it in stride, anger and all.

"What are Faunus?" Yang was taken aback for a moment, forgetting where she was.

"Oh," she calmed after a moment, "they're people with animal traits. Cat ears, monkey tails, that sort of thing. They kind of have a right to be upset – humans don't always treat them so good. That's no excuse for the things the White Fang has been doing, though." It was especially hard on Blake, watching her people rain destruction down on her friends.

"And is Blake a Faunus?" Murphy's question took her by surprise. Was she a mind reader? She looked over at her traveling companion with wide eyes. "I'm a—I used to be a cop, Yang. I read people pretty well, and can put things together along with that. Is Weiss a Faunus, too?" Yang choked on air. It would have been priceless to see Weiss react to that question. She'd have to settle for imagination.

"No, she most definitely is not," her voice was full of mirth. Yang couldn't get the image of that conversation out of her head. "Blake and Adam have history, and Weiss and the White Fang are the same way. Dad and Uncle Qrow were the only Huntsmen available to go with them after the safe zone in Vale was established."

Her dad had been pretty upset when Qrow asked him to go. He hadn't wanted to, but Qrow insisted. She could only imagine what would happen once he found out that both she and Ruby had been hurt. Taiyang Xiao Long was a gentle man, but she'd seen his temper once. He never raised a hand or voice to Yang after her … adventure with Ruby. Heat had rolled off him in angry, physical waves while he calmly scolded his eldest daughter for putting herself and Ruby in so much danger.

Some good had come of it, though. That had been what snapped him out of his misery, got him to start acting like a dad again. Her training had started the very next day. Of course, she hadn't thought about it like that at the time. Taiyang was a great dad, but a tough instructor. She was so lost in those thoughts that she hadn't heard Murphy's question. She was brought back to the present by a light touch on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" Murphy smiled and returned her attention to driving.

"I was asking what kind of Faunus Blake was, but if something's on your mind, it's not important." Yang grinned and shook her bangs out of her eyes.

"She's a cat Faunus. Little ears on top of her head, but she usually hides them with a bow." Murphy's eyebrows went up, but she smiled in pleasant surprise.

"Why would she do that? Does she purr?" Yang belted out a laugh of surprise. She'd often wondered if Blake did make cat noises, but had never asked or tried to get her to do it. They were friends and partners, but Yang felt that was a line she shouldn't cross.

"She didn't want the attention, and no, I've never heard her purr like a kitten. She does love her tuna, though." Yang noticed that the buildings were getting smaller, leaving the city and it's, what did they call them, skyscrapers? They were one of the most amazing things about this Earth, to her at least. She supposed that if Remnant didn't have Nevermores and Griffons, they might build like that too. Beacon tower was pretty tall, but it housed the CCT – it had to be.

"What made you want to become a Huntress, Yang?" Murphy was a very curious woman, probably because of her former profession, Yang supposed. It was nice to have something to talk about, to distract her from everything she'd been worrying about since she got here.

"Porfess- Doctor Oobleck asked me that, once. At the time, I thought it was because I wanted the adventure. Nobody had ever asked me about it before, and I hadn't really thought about it until then." Murphy said nothing but nodded as she turned a corner. "I like helping people, and I do enjoy getting mixed up in crazy situations, but it really all comes down to finding my mom." Yang had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, she was angry about being abandoned. On the other, there had to be at least one good reason why Raven had taken off. Yang intended to find out why.

"Raven and Qrow…" Murphy trailed. "Brother and sister, I take it?" Yang nodded mutely. "Why do you think she left?"

"I honestly don't know. He says she's dangerous, and that the way they view the world clashes. I never knew her – Summer was my mom, as far as I'm concerned. She raised me like her own, and never treated me any different than Ruby. I still want to know about Raven, though."

"Wouldn't your uncle or dad tell you anything about her?" Yang gave a quick exhale from her nose, resigned to the answer.

"The only thing dad would say was that she wasn't ever coming back. I think her leaving was just too painful for him. And Qrow… is Qrow. If he doesn't want to talk about something, he just ignores it and changes the subject." Yang was still kind of upset with him for holding out on her. "I caught him by surprise right before everything fell apart. We haven't had much time to talk since then." She didn't really expect anyone to understand, but Murphy surprised her.

"Families, right? At least your sister didn't marry your ex." Yang's jaw dropped wide open.

"Are you kidding me? She went and did that?" Murphy quirked her eyebrows and nodded.

"Wow. I mean, there's messed up and then there's that. I can't even imagine what that must be like."

"I do what your uncle does – ignore the situation as much as possible and get on with my own life."

"That sounds sensible. And besides, you've got Harry!" Yang gave a thumbs up. She was going to ask what finally got them together, but the building Murphy parked in front of erased all thought of that from her mind. "We're going to a castle?"

"Yep. Welcome to the Chicago Alliance H.Q."

* * *

Yang had to admit that the baby castle was pretty impressive. Murphy had scanned the parking lot, though she wasn't sure what the woman was looking for. Once she was satisfied with whatever she found, they got out and made their way to the front door. She had kept her cane and wasn't really using it. Yang had winced at the explanation of the injury, and was very glad that she was able to help.

Yang had never seen an aura awakened manually before, but she was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to happen like that. She felt a little bad about messing up Murphy's kitchen. Murphy, however, had shrugged it off as 'another day at the office'.

They were greeted by a man named Sven as they entered the building, and she had given him an appraising look up and down. She had to give the man credit; his face betrayed no emotion. Part of her had looked at him from a fighter's perspective, but another part of her couldn't help but appreciate all those muscles and the rough look. Murphy traded a few words with him. He was soft spoken, but still managed to sound like a piece of iron.

After they talked, Murphy gestured for her to follow, and they made their way upstairs and through a couple of hallways, passing a gym with odd looking contraptions and a roped-off ring. Murphy stopped at a set of double doors and went inside. Yang followed and ran into Murphy when she pulled up short. Yang couldn't quite see over her head, so she leaned to the side.

Sitting at the conference table were two people, and next to it was the biggest dog Yang had ever seen in her entire life. It wasn't a dog so much as it was a shaggy, heavily muscled pony. A little girl sat happily coloring on a piece of paper with a few different crayons. The girl had looked up and had a big smile on her face. The woman sitting next to her, by contrast, did not.

For a moment, Yang thought she was looking at Weiss, but that didn't last long. The pale-haired woman was a fair bit taller and didn't have a scar over her left eye. She wore a business suit of blues and greens made out of some shiny material that looked really soft. The outfit and her demeanor would have suited Weiss just fine. She wasn't frowning, but her eyes were like chips of sapphire. And looking right at her.

"Hi, Karrin!" The little girl quipped. The dog chuffed and bounced happily on his paws, doggy grin wide and lolling. Yang thought they were adorable. Murphy softly toned an 'uh-oh' and put on her best smile.

"Hi, Spaghetti-o!" What the heck was a spagettee-oh? "You're spending time with Molly today?"

"Uh-huh! We're going to see a movie later. Are you gonna come, too?" She turned to look at Molly. "Are Karrin and her friend coming too?" Molly genuinely smiled down at the little girl. "Who's your friend, Karrin? Would she like to see a movie?" Yang had forgotten how adorable small children could be. Molly looked back at Murphy and Yang, and while the smile didn't completely disappear, it shrank a fraction.

"I don't know Maggie, Murphy and her friend, Yang Xiao Long, might have work to do." As soon as Molly said her name, Yang suddenly felt pinned down in place. It wasn't painful, but she could tell right away that she was rooted to that spot. Everything felt heavy. "Can you take Mouse and go show Skaldi your drawings? We need to have grown-up talk for a few minutes." Maggie nodded cheerfully and gathered up her papers and hopped off the chair. Mouse stood up and walked her to the door, pausing long enough to rub up against Yang and lick her hand a couple of times.

"I hope you can come with us. We're going to go see Finding Dory!" Murphy ruffled her hair.

"We'll see kiddo. Go on now; I'm sure Skaldi will be excited to see what you drew." She reached over and scratched Mouse behind the ears as he passed. Maggie and the monster dog shuffled out of the room and down the hallway. Once they were out of earshot, the pressure lifted off of Yang and she could move again. Molly looked at the two of them with a neutral expression, and then gestured to the chairs opposite.

"We need to talk."