Ruby trailed the two men in suits, looking around at the crowded venue. The dance floor was illuminated in a grid-like pattern of lights that shimmered against the sweaty and glittering skin of the club's patrons. Hundreds of bodies pressed tight as women in tight, flashy clothes rubbed themselves against well dressed men with hair that was once slicked back, but now fell in greased, random swathes of curls.

Around the club, cylindrical tubes poked out against walls and between seats, emitting a sickly sweet fragrance like wilting roses. Beneath that, Ruby could still detect the faint odour of alcohol permeating everything. A pang shot through her at the burning smell, reminding her of Yang.

It sickened her that this is what made her think of her sister now.

Gone were the memories of sunny days and starry nights atop their house in Patch. Now it was the gut wrenching feeling that she may never see her sister again. All she could think of was the pale, milky-skinned girl held in Blake's arms as she rushed from the club to the ambulance, covered in her own puke and spittle.

It bothered Ruby. Summer had always said…

Ruby clenched her eyes shut as she tried to remember her mother. In the weeks since her return, those were still memories that eluded her. She had occasional glimpses of a brilliant smile and silver eyes, half covered by a short bang that slid across a face. And the cloak… Always the cloak.

But she could never quite lay a finger on any particulars. Memories would begin, but trail off as if there were no true substance to them. As if her mind was searching in an area it knew there should be something, but there was just a hole now.

Shaking her head, Ruby moved forward, gliding through the shadows. A few heads turned to follow her, sometimes eyes would slide up and down her figure. Those gazes made Ruby a little uncomfortable, but she allowed them. Weiss probably would have stared them down until they stopped, and Yang probably would have toyed with them-

Or she would have used to.

The two men, who could have been brothers they were so similarly dressed and styled, led her to a back corner. There was a wide, glass staircase there that led up to a stylized lounge. There was a private bar to one side and large, red, plushy cushions upon which were sat an entourage of men wearing red shirts and black pants and girls wearing skimpy dresses, half of which were sliding off of shoulders. They didn't seem to mind, and many were in fact squeezing their chests together, encouraging the spaghetti straps to fall off. A few men encouraged the movements, fingers trailing down skin that rose in goosebumps at their touch and pulling clothing with them. Ruby curled her nose.

In the middle, obviously the centre of attention, was a large burly man wearing a tailored white shirt with a black vest and red tie. He had grizzly sideburns that, coupled with his large stature, made him look somewhat like a bear.

As Ruby strode forward, the chatter and smiles died out. The man in the middle, absorbed as he was with one of his own tales, was the last to notice. When he saw her, his wide grin was wiped off his face and replaced with a grimace.

"A huntress… Thought I was done dealing with your type." He grumbled as he leaned forward, hands on knees, and pushed himself up.

He was very, very tall.

Ruby tried to smile at him, be friendly the way she remembered she would have been the years before her death, but now of all times it was nearly impossible for her to summon the cheer and joy that had once come so easily.

So she didn't smile.

"Junior?" She asked, her voice taught and business-like. She drew her hood back over her head and let it drop.

"Haven't gone by that name for a while…" He trailed off and squinted at her. His eyes went up and down, but not the way the men's and women's' had downstairs. This was studious, almost academic. He was studying her. "... Which I guess is about right for you, Ruby Rose."

Ruby stopped in her tracks, hand gliding towards her scythe. Junior raised his hands submissively, and she stilled her hand. She didn't relax though, muscles taut and ready to spring into action.

"How do you know my name?" Ruby demanded.

"Because it's my job to. People don't come back to life without causing a bit of a stir, especially in the underworld. You're a hot topic now." Ruby's brow furrowed as she studied the burly man.

"What do you mean?" He paused, sighed, and grabbed his whisky.

"Do you have any idea what everyone in the underworld wants?" He raised an eyebrow at her, but Ruby didn't move, still half-ready to spring into a fight. He shrugged. "They all want to be feared. They want to make a name that makes people's stomach's churn and eye skitter around the room in terror. They want to build a legacy of malice, because then no one will ever forget them. In a thousand years when their bones are ashes and their families are splintered, they want people to whisper their names, use them to envoke terror. They want to be immortal, even if it is just a cheap facimile of the real thing.

"No one ever thought someone could live forever. And then you happened.

"Every greedy rat scurrying around the belly of the underground wants a piece of you. They want to dissect you and figure out how the hell you got back to life. Immortality fetches a high price, and you've finally offered a way to find what so many have desired for so long. Everlasting life."

A pit began to form deep inside Ruby's stomach. She had never considered for a second that anyone would take interest in her for having come back to life. The implications of it were worrying.

"But nothing's happened…" Ruby's mind raced as she tried to think of any strange encounter she had had, any shady figure, but nothing came to mind. There was nothing, and no one.

"That's because until just now, you've been surrounded by three of the best Hunters in Remnant. But now…" Junior stood, brushing some imaginary lint off of his waistcoat.

Metal scraped on metal as a dozen blades were unsheathed around Ruby, red glinting like drops of blood on the dark backdrop of the club. She dropped into a crouch, reached behind her to grab Crescent Rose and-

In one smooth motion, Junior pulled a hefty pistol from the back of his belt and cocked it, aimed directly at her forehead. The bullet wouldn't kill her - her aura would stop it, but it would drain the protective shield significantly, and against the odds she was facing, that didn't make Ruby comfortable.

"Melanie, Miltia, if you would." Junior spoke calmly, as if there weren't a care in the world.

"Whatever," Two voices drawled simultaneously, indistinguishable but for the slight cannon in when they spoke. Ruby felt someone unlatch Crescent Rose from its holster, and then two girls, a little taller than Ruby, passed her. One wore a tight red dress that flared out at the bottom, leading into lace stockings. Her boots were high-heeled and a shining, polished leather. On each of her forearms, there were two long, serrated blades jutting out like wicked claws.

The other girl was a mirrored image in white. Both had raven black hair pulled tightlly back into ponytails, turquoise eyeshadow, and lilting eyelashes. They were both pale, but not in a sickly way. Their skin each glittered like they were covered in diamonds, pulled tight over toned frames of wiry muscle that slid just under the surface.

Rather than the shadowy reds and blacks of her twin, the second girl was covered in an icy scheme. Pale blues and stark whites swirled on her tight leather bodice, which luffed out into swirls of crystalline fabric. She wore thigh high boots with sharp spikes like icicles flaring out down the centre of them.

She reminded Ruby of a colder Weiss. Ice, rather than snow. The winter that freezes and starves rather than reminds all of how beautiful the summer is, in turn making the season beautiful in its own way.

The red one had Crescent Rose, and dropped it on the couch behind the burly man in front of her.

Ruby lowered herself into a crouch, eyes flicking between the red weapons held at the sides of each man who had been sitting on the couch. None of them were drawn yet, but without her weapon, Ruby was ready to spring into action at the slightest twitch.

"Whew!" Junior let out a tense breath, and collapsed back into his seat, his shoulders relaxing. "Sorry about that, Red, but your sister's taught me that huntresses can be rather unpredictable." Ruby stared at him, wide eyed.

"What?"

"She used to do some jobs for me… She was always liable to trash the place after getting drunk on her earnings though. She was rather… Volatile."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry for the theatrics there, Ruby, but I just don't feel safe when huntresses have their weapons around me. Now, a recently revived huntresses wouldn't be coming to an information broker for nothing. Why don't we go into the back to discuss business?" Ruby opened her mouth to speak, but Junior raised his hand and stood. The entourage followed suit, their toys of flesh forgotten on the couches, each pouting at being cheated out of a night of poison and lust and the owner's expense.

The office was a large space, dimly lit, and painfully reminiscent of the club outside. The dark reds and deep blacks of the leather reminded Ruby of exactly what kind of person she was dealing with, even as he lounged behind a thick, glass desk in a high-backed chair. His thick arms rippled as he put his hands behind his head and leaned back. Behind him, the two twins stood with their hips cocked, looking bored.

"So, miss Rose, what is it I can help you with?" He boomed with a large, friendly grin on his face.

"Um, well I was looking for some information."

"Of course you were! I don't expect huntresses to drop in just to say hi." He chuckled at his own joke. The girl in white behind him rolled her eyes. "So what is it?"

"Well…" Ruby looked up again at Crescent Rose, clutched in the red twin's hands. "Um… I want to find someone."

"Listen here Red, I can't help you if you don't tell me what you need."

"Why would you help me?" Ruby blurted out. Junior's brow creased in confusion. "You took my weapon, you pointed guns at me, and now you're saying you're going to help me."

"Oh… That was kind of standard procedure with your sister. Look, it's nothing personal, but huntresses are a liability when they have their weapons. If you want to deal, we're going to do it without weapons."

Ruby fidgeted uncomfortably, playing with the hem of her skirt absently as she sized up the three other occupants of the room. Junior was big, but Ruby had fought plenty of people bigger than herself and won easily. She was worried about the twins. She had no idea how experienced they were, or if they were really just two club girls who liked to play dress up. The sleek muscles shifting slightly under their exposed skin didn't seem to indicate as much though.

"Weiss Schnee." Ruby breathed the name out between trembling lips as she turned back to Junior. "That's who I'm trying to find."

He was quiet for a moment, eyes locked on Ruby. Then he sighed and stood, walking over to a mahogany table on the side of the room, atop which sat a crystal strainer and a few glasses. He poured himself some scotch, swirled it around, then downed it in one go.

"Shit," He sneered out against the burn of the alcohol. He wiped his mouth across his sleeve, refilled the glass, then sauntered back over to his chair. "I was hoping this wouldn't come up."

Ruby watched him, intent, as he put the glass down with a trill clink and rubbed his temples. "What wouldn't come up?"

"You have no idea what kind of hell that heiress brought along with her, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I'm supposed to take everything I know about her to the grave, but if you're here… I know a few things. But if I'm going to dive into this, you're going to have to do something for me."

"What… Kind of thing?" Ruby inquired. If he had information, she needed to know. And for Weiss, she would do anything.

"Nothing past what your sister used to do for me. Shake a few trees, take down a few people who operate below the eyes of the law."

"Doesn't… Your whole operation work outside the law?"

"Yeah, but so does theirs. So, y'know, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?"

"Okay…"

"Anyways, there's a rogue faction of the White Fang operating in the northern quadrant. Normally the Fang and I have some agreements about boundaries, but these grunts don't seem to have any respect for the treaties we've negotiated. I'd like you to join Melanie and Miltia in disposing of a shipment they got. I don't need the contents, I just need them not to have it."

"Excuse me?" The red twin drawled from behind Junior.

"You want us," The white one gasped in disbelief, "To work with her?!"

"Yes!" Junior growled, irritated. "You worked with her sister all the time."

"Yeah, but Yang was cool." Ruby frowned. She was cool. Kind of. She was actually a little warm right now, but she was totally cool.

Junior sighed, and focused on Ruby again.

"They'll take you where you need to go. I'll dig up what I can on your heiress while you're out. We'll discuss more when you get back."

…

..

.

Blake could feel it.

It was the same thing she had felt when she was a child, lost and alone on the streets. It was the same thing she had felt when Ozpin had called them into his office in Beacon, so far from where all of them had gone since their time at the academy. When he showed them the tattered remains of Ruby's cloak. Blake's heart wrenched between each beat, her stomach twisted in a violent maelstrom, her skin was cold and sweaty and covered in goosebumps even though she felt like her face was on fire.

She tried to focus on her breathing, but she choked on the air and gulped and gasped it back out, the exhalation bringing tears to her eyes as she squeezed them shut to try and blot it out. Try to forget everything.

But she couldn't forget it.

Each pulse of each synapse in her mind cyclically ran through the same path. Every sense shut down until she was stranded in the desolate darkness of her own mind, with nothing but one single, repetitious, agonizing, obliterating thought.

Yang is dead.

It was the only thing that could possible exist for her. Her entire world, thousands upon thousands of kilometres, reduced to one, single, all-permeating thought. A pale corpse splattered in crimson, sprawled with twisted limbs and tousled golden hair across the pure white tiles of the hospital floor.

She could see it so vividly in her mind that nothing else was real.

And Blake was alone.

Her ears were ringing, her vision was blurred by tears, and her skin tingled.

She tried to hold it back, but the torrential storm of anguish crashed over her, and a single, chocked sob broke the eternal silence of the hall. It echoed off into the silence of the midnight air.

Click.

Blake froze.

It was the tiniest noise, the slightest movement of the brass doorknob slipping and twisting inside its socket, sticking and shifting.

But it was something.

Blake backed away from the door, eyes fixated on the glinting metal, studying each shallow scratch, each spec of light shining away from it for anything. Any movement.

And it moved.

Blake's heart stopped.

And the door swung open on smooth hinges, only the whisper of the door fanning the air making any sound.

And there was Yang.

Standing.

Alive.

Her face was pale, like a ghost, and her eyes were glassy. Her skin was damp with a sheen of sweat that glittered in the hollow fluorescent lights, and her hair was knotted and messy.

Drip.

Blake's eyes darted to the sound, a small, scarlet bead breaking against the ground and splattering in a thousand fractal replicas. Blake's eyes followed the path of the blood up to Yang's hand, covered in small rivulets of the crimson liquid, flowing over and between her fingers. They came from a shallow gash in her wrist, no more than a fraction of an inch from the delicate network of veins and arteries that, if slashed, would have inevitably killed the woman standing in front of her.

Alive.

"I…" Yang's voice was scratchy, like it was caught somewhere in her throat. "I did'n- I don'-"

Blake broke forward, slammed into Yang, wrapped her arms around her. A moment later, two strong arms surrounded her shoulders, pulled her close. Blake hugged Yang so close she was scared she might crack the other woman's ribs, but she didn't care. She just needed to feel her, warm, solid, real. She smelled like sunflowers and sweat and sick. Blake loved it.

"Blake, I…" Yang trailed off when Blake pulled back. Every detail of Yang's face was vibrantly clear, each pore, each bead of sweat, her eyelashes, the creases of her lips, and her amethyst eyes. Blake didn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. All she could do was feel the relief and lean forward, closer, and the distance between them disappeared and suddenly Blake's lips were against Yang's.

It lasted only a moment, but long enough for Blake's skin to ignite and the air in her lungs to flit away. It tasted a little like burnt toast.

Yang was the one to pull away, leaving her palm on Blake's cheek, who pressed into it, not wanting the moment to end.

"Blake, I-" Yang stepped back, and Blake raised her eyes to meet Yang's again.

"I… I thought you would…"

"So did I."

"Why didn't you?"

Yang took a deep, shaky breath.

"Blake, I need to know. If we're going to do this, if we're going to find out what happened to her, whether you're in. All the way. No matter what it takes." Blake didn't even pause to think.

"Of course."

"Okay… Okay." Yang's legs shook, and Blake lunged forward to catch her.

"Let's get you some rest." Blake's voice was laced with worry, trying to pull Yang back towards the hospital bed.

"No, not in there." Yang pushed Blake off, grabbing the side of the door to balance herself. "I… I need to get away from here."

Blake saw the shaking in her hands, heard the trembling of her voice. The fragility. Yang was broken and cracked and a moment from shattering. She nodded, wrapped one of Yang's arms around her shoulder, and helped her walk out, far away from the door leading to that dark room.

All the while, little bits of crimson dripped to the ground, leaving a trail of blood in their wake.

A/N:

Hey all,

Sorry that the updates are taking so long lately, but alongside the release of V4, I felt I had to power through and give all of you some more. This isn't where I was going to end the chapter, but it seemed as good a place as where I was going to, and I probably won't have that section finished for another week or so.

Anyways, to the story. I'm really excited and nervous for what's coming up. We're really going to be delving into the underlying mysteries of the story now, so keep reading. Those inquisitive minds amongst you may want to try reading between the lines now more than ever. I need to ease everyone into the ending... Which of course means I need to be dropping more and more hints.

Since it's been so long, I'll try to answer a few questions here since I haven't been very active over PM's (sorry everyone who's asking questions).

Reconnaissance: There's no posting schedule anymore. It used to be everyday, then every week, then every two weeks... I no longer want to rush it. I won't release a chapter unless I think it's at least mediocre or I can't think of a way to improve it... I want to try and get one out every 2 weeks from now on though, so that's the tenuous timeline.

Edmirus28: Very perceptive. I've had a lot of struggles that these characters are going through... Be they metaphorical representations or not. I can only write what I know intimately. Things are generally going better these days though, and thank you for the well wishing.

Hirshja: Yep :D though with a bit of a twist. I like to play with and spin well known concepts. If you look through the letters, you'll find a lot of variations of Hamlet's soliloquies.

Fury: Ruby's section from last chapter probably should have been moved to this one. I wanted to show some context to Weiss' letter, but it doesn't read the best. The ending of Yang's section before the conclusion was so that the reveal could be from Blake's perspective this chapter. The hope was that those reading would feel like Blake here. I get how it could be a tease though.

RWBY Order: I'm sorry, but I won't censor my writing. I know it can be hard to read, but that's kind of the point. To evoke the emotions in the reader the characters are feeling, I have to be a little vicious with how I phrase things.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope this chapter was a nice break from how things were going. Hope you all enjoyed!

Cheers,

-Unjax