It was early evening, and Blake had only an hour or so earlier gotten out of the police station. Auburn had told her that the information she'd provided was extremely useful. He asked if she'd be willing to come back for more questioning if they found something in their investigation they thought she could shed light on. She'd agreed. She left them to their ineffectual pursuit, not caring if what she'd given them changed anything. She'd given them a week long head start and they'd gotten nowhere. It was no wonder law enforcement in Vale enlisted the help of Hunters and Huntresses so often.

Blake, Weiss, and Ruby were now walking down the street, taking the same path Blake and Yang had walked the night they were attacked. It seemed like so long ago now. They had been two carefree girls out for a night on the town, having fun, getting more than a little drunk. In the weeks since Mountain Glenn, and what many were now calling "The Great Breach Of Vale," Blake had found herself feeling happier than she'd been in a long time. With Torchwick in prison, a major attack by the White Fang stopped, and Team RWBY hailed as local heroes, there wasn't as much to be afraid of. Her past was still following her, but not as closely, and Blake had warmed to the notion that she could have a life not defined by running from it.

The plan for the night was to visit every bar, club, and store the two of them had been too. Some of them were well known gathering places for the local gangs. The chances of finding a Guardian that they could get information out of were slim, but it was worth trying. If they couldn't get a Guardian, some other gangster might prove to have useful information. The Guardians were infamous in Vale's underworld for their brutal attacks on Faunus.

It felt weird to Blake to be out looking for trouble without her weapon. She'd been carrying Gambol Shroud so long, she felt almost naked without it's weight on her back or the cold metal of it's grip in her hand. She didn't feel as comfortable with any other weapon, so until she got Gambol back, she would fight barehanded. Beside her, Weiss carried Myrtenaster, holding it at her hip but ready to bring it up to combat stance at a moment's notice. Weiss was clearly nervous, looking from shadow to shadow and avoiding eye contact with every pedestrian. Neighbourhoods like these were unfamiliar to Weiss, and Blake sympathized with her discomfort, though she didn't share it. This was the world Blake grew up in.

Ruby was walking more casually, with Crescent Rose collapsed into it's compact state and in it's resting place on her hip. Ruby's face was entirely neutral, she stared forward at the path in front of them with her eyes unfocused. Blake had been unable to get a read on what was going through Ruby's mind since her sister's death. She cried often, but otherwise seemed to be actively trying to hold on to her optimistic self. She would hold Blake or Weiss when they cried, doing her best to reassure them. She would reminisce about Yang, telling childhood stories of the two of them playing, or going on adventures in the woods. Every so often, there was something else. A hint of anger, and an eagerness to begin the hunt for the killer. But she seemed to be trying to hold it in. Sometimes Blake would catch her grimacing, or squeezing her fists tight without noticing, only for her to quickly snap out of it when noticed. It was amazing and baffling to Blake that anger was so foreign to the girl that she didn't want to partake in it even towards her sister's murderer.

As they walked, Ruby noticed that Blake was glancing down at her. She gave Blake a little smile, forced but not entirely empty, then looked forward with determination. As they rounded a corner, their first stop came into view. The Ice Castle was a rather upscale bar, catering more to Weiss's side of society than Blake's. Yang had insisted, to Blake's initial resistance, they go here so that Blake could try "this really fruity drink that I can't remember or pronounce the name of". They had each bought one, and shared a third.

The three of them stepped through the door, and paused momentarily for a tentative look around. Blake found herself hit by a pang of memory. She couldn't afford to be distracted right now, so she steeled herself.

"We don't need to be here long. They definitely didn't start tailing us from here, it's too upper-class, and we left almost two hours before the attack. Ruby, we shouldn't be here, its a waste of time."

As the official team leader, it had been Ruby who laid out the plan to retrace Blake and Yang's steps.

"No it's not," Ruby insisted, "We go everywhere you went, do everything you did. It'll be good. For the investigation, I mean."

"Alright," Blake said, "we sat right up at the bar."

The bar itself was clear glass and polished crystal. Beautifully designed, but a bit excessive, as if flaunting wealth. The stools were intricately designed to match the rest of the art style in the bar. As they approached, Ruby hopped up onto one of the seats. She placed her hands on the bar, and politely awaited service. The bartender came by, a young, well-groomed man in formal attire, the colour scheme also matching that of the interior decoration.

"What can I get... um, ma'am, I'm not sure you're old enough to be drinking, may I see some ID?"

"Nope, sorry. Strawberry martini, please." Ruby said.

"She'll have a water." Weiss said.

The bartender raised an eyebrow as he looked between Ruby and Weiss.

"I do have just the strawberry juice," He offered.

"Ooh, yeah, I'll take that," Ruby said, excitedly.

Blake sighed, again admiring Ruby's ability to be cheerful even in the face of everything. She looked around at the rest of the bar, the patrons. Well-dressed, proper upper-class folk. No tattoos, no piercings other than in the ear, no threatening glares in response to being looked at. A woman walked past her, no older than Blake herself. She had blonde pigtails and wore a pink combat skirt. There was a bladed revolver held to her side with a ribbon. As she passed by, Blake noticed the revolver's hammer wasn't on a hinge, but was rigidly attached to the rest of it. The weapon was decorative.

Blake turned back to the bar, shaking her head. This place was a waste of time.

"Hey," she called to the bartender, "Straight rum, no ice."

She sat at the nearest unoccupied table with her drink. She gulped rum for a few minutes, then looked over at Ruby. She was drinking her juice and talking animatedly with Weiss. For a moment, Blake wondered if she was being selfish. She'd been focusing so much on her own pain. She'd been fantasizing so much about finding Yang's killer and all the things she was going to do to him before he died, and she had barely acknowledged that Ruby had equal cause to want vengeance. And here was Blake, irritated at the girl who'd lost her sister for holding up her quest for revenge.

Blake rose, grabbed her drink, and went over to Ruby. She sat down next to her. Ruby was in the middle of telling Weiss about when Yang and herself first brought home Zwei. Weiss was laughing. With some effort, Blake forced herself to smile. Weiss saw this and smiled back, clearly happy to see it. Blake downed the rest of her rum, and looked around. She glanced to her right, and her eyes widened a little. There was Yang, sitting in the seat next to her, opposite Ruby. She was sipping on a straw from one of those weird, fruity drinks. She smiled at Blake and winked.

Lie Ren was leaning against a brick wall in a poorly-lit alley in a substantially less prestigious part of town. Team JNPR was one of the many teams at Beacon who were dredging Vale for anyone who might be connected to the now infamous attack. When Ozpin had made the announcement to the school that one of their own had been killed, many of the students had immediately begin preparing their weapons, coordinating with each other to sweep the city and find the perpetrators. Ozpin had been very clear to his students how they should respond.

"It is only natural for us to feel some volatile desire for justice," Ozpin had said, to a few shouts of agreement from the crowd, "But I want to warn you all of rash decision-making. Though it is quite possible that the vile attackers responsible for this are connected to a larger network, the so-called "Guardians", their pursuit and persecution should be left to Vale's police force, who will exact justice with slow, but steady methodology. I expect you all to honour our fallen Sister-In-Arms as should be expected from Huntsmen and Huntresses. Remember, you are the defenders of Humanity against all threats. That is all."

JNPR had been the first team to hit the streets. Over a dozen teams were patrolling by the end of that day.

Across the alley from Ren was a small door of dull, grey steel. It was the back exit to a pub frequented by the sort that JNPR was looking for. Inside, Ren heard the muffled sounds of a scuffle. Something hard crashed against a wall, some glass shattered. There were a few clangs of metal on metal. Somebody screamed. Ren raised an eyebrow, but otherwise didn't move. The door burst open, and a man stumbled out, breathing heavily and looking very scared. He wore the colours of a local gang called the Playing Cards. He stumbled towards Ren.

"Help! You- you gotta help!" He cried, "She's crazy!"

He reached out to grab hold of Ren to support himself. Instead, with a fluid motion, Ren batted his hand aside and uppercutted him. The guy flew into the air, did a complete flip, and landed face down on the pavement. Ren casually dusted off his knuckles and leaned back again.

"Yeah," He said, "Ain't that the truth."

Nora Valkyrie emerged from the door, resting her hammer on her shoulder and smiling brightly. She gave the guy on the ground a dismissive glance, then waved animatedly at Ren.

"Hey Ren!" She said, "I found somebody who might know something!"

Ren grinned, "Yeah, I saw. Was he alone?"

"Nope! His friends are about to attack me from behind!"

Ren gave her a quizzical look, "You going to turn around?"

She shrugged, "Nah."

There was a loud, painful-sounding thud, and Nora stepped to one side as another Playing Card came flying out the door, hitting the ground and curling into the fetal position in pain. Jaune Arc casually strode out, collapsing his shield and putting it on his back. Nora turned to him, smiling, and held out her fist. Jaune raised his own fist and bumped it against hers. Pyrrha Nikos joined them a few seconds later, casually swinging her Javelin around her hand in it's collapsed state.

"Did you get the last guy?" Jaune asked her.

"Not yet," She said. The last thug suddenly appeared in the doorway, brandishing a pistol. He put it to the back of Pyrrha's head. Pyrrha extended her javelin and the end of it struck him directly in the crotch. He keeled over, and she swung her shield behind her without looking. It clanged against his head, and he went down like a sack of potatoes.

"Got him," She reported, with a grin.

"I sure hope the Guardians have more to offer than these chumps," Jaune chuckled.

"There's no way punks like this could beat Yang and Blake," Pyrrha agreed, "We shouldn't get cocky. The Guardians will be a lot more challenging than these guys."

Ren reached down to the guy still laying face down on the ground, dragged him to his feet, and slammed him against the brick wall. He was barely conscious, so Ren gave him a slap to focus him. Nora walked up and stood just behind Ren, smiling at him. The thug looked at Nora with utter terror in his eyes.

"Hi there!" Nora said, "We'd like to ask you about some people we're looking for. I'd really, really appreciate if you refused to talk, because then Ren will let me use Magnhild here to coax an answer out of you!"

Pyrrha and Jaune glanced at each other, both smiling.

"I'll talk!" The thug said, quickly, "I don't know much but I swear I'll tell you everything!"

Nora's head sunk a little. Ren turned his head to her and whispered, "Maybe next time."

"You guys are looking for the Guardians, right?" The guy said, looking between them, "I- I heard the blonde kid say Guardians, right?"

"You heard right," Jaune said, doing his best to act tough.

"Right, I know what this is about!" The thug said, smiling nervously and nodding, "This is about the dead girl and the animal that-"

The guy caught himself, and squeezed his mouth shut, a little too late. Nora brought her free hand up and gripped Magnhild's handle, her smiling fading.

"Please, Ren?" She asked.

"Tell us where to find the Guardians." Ren ordered the guy, coldly.

"Alright, alright. Look, you're not going to find them just walking around the streets, okay? They stay behind the scenes. They supply the Playing Cards with drugs, black market Dust, stuff like that. They're suppliers for a whole bunch of different gangs in Vale, I think. Its how they make money without exposing themselves."

"So where do we find them?" Pyrrha demanded.

"I don't know!" The thug said, "I've never even met one! They deliver stuff to us with dead drops. Always different places, only calling us to tell us where to get it. There's only one time when they show themselves to anybody, and that's to attack Faunus!"

"Why?" Nora, asked, "Why would they want to hurt people who didn't do anything to them?"

"Listen, don't get me wrong, I do not like the shit the Guardians do. My bosses work with them 'cause its good money, but those people are monsters. They're worse than Grimm. Is it true they cut the cat-girl's ears off?"

There was a moment of silence. Nora nodded.

"Look, I'm so, so sorry that-" The guy began.

"Save it." Ren said, "What else do you know."

"Nothing." The guy said, then noticed Nora stepped forward, "I swear that's everything! On my mother's grave!"

Ren tossed him aside, "Get out of here." He ordered.

The thug ran off. Team JNPR looked to each other, looked down at the thugs still unconscious on the ground, then walked out of the alley.

"What's our next move, Jaune?" Asked Pyrrha.

"Call team RWBY, tell them we got something." Jaune said, "Get in touch with some of the other teams, too. What we're doing right now isn't going to work. We need to strategize."