Chapter 4: Too Much, Too Soon

Ruby Rose

"Hey," Ruby sang, happy to slide her arms around Weiss from behind, "Whatcha watching?" A quick session of exploring the Schnee estate for her wife had paid off. Didn't take long. Even if Weiss wanted to get away from the growing pre-party, her penchant for planning refused to free her. The grand head Schnee stood, shoulder propped against the plaster of an open air window corner, the festivities below always a glance away. She could see the temporary outdoor theater, the tables of treats stacked like edible evergreens made of cheeses and hors d'oeuvres. Her face had a hint of blue and green from her scroll light, her body wrapped in a single-strap dress with strips of sapphire blue. Honestly, they both looked like a pair of flipped over blooming roses. With Myrtenaster and C.R. strapped to their sides, these flowers kept their huntress thorns.

"You're affectionate," Weiss commented, still keeping her eyes pointed sharp like gatlings at the goliath on the screen. Ruby snuggled her chin into the clavicle of her partner, finding a nigh neck to rest her cheek and watch together.

"I know, aren't we just cute," Ruby had plenty of built up cuddles between her hunts. Before she left again, Weiss was going to be swatting at her with a bat. "Summer and Azura did so great, you must be a proud mama," Ruby added, recognizing the footage. All parents get to watch the initiation feed, a last gift from Beacon to the mourning adults missing their kids. It was, despite trusting them completely, so intense Ruby had felt her nerves all burn to a crisp.

"I want to know why Jaune let it get to this. I'm going to kill him," Weiss clicked the mini egg shaped scroll, the display starting back a few minutes, recording the kids fight with the griffon.

"Nope, I can't let you," Ruby slipped her hand over the holographic light of the display, blurring the virtual image, and pulled it down to their sides. "But we can yell at him at the meeting tonight, if that'll make you feel better?" Ruby could feel Weiss' back muscles press against her chest as she let in a huge breath, a bad attempt to blow out the bitter flames of an angry mother bear. "Our babies did well. I'm like super proud."

"It's too much. Too soon." Weiss' lips twitched by the force of her grinding teeth. Stressed, she leaned back into Ruby's arms. The shift in weight gave her a reprieve from the anxiety and a brush of warm skin to touch.

"We were baptized in 'too much, too soon'. It'll be okay." Considering the scars, the missing limbs and departed friends, any comparison to their lives was perhaps a bad one. Ever since the pair showed any interest in hunting, their growth was a cocktail brimming with pride and soured with a lot of anxiety. "We got ourselves a big day, too." But there was more to the life of a parent than their children. Especially for hunters sworn to the good of humanity. "It's time to enjoy a fanciful evening of intrigue and dance!"

"I really don't want to pretend to like these people for five hours."

"I don't want to wear heels, but you're going to make me," Ruby whined.

"Me?" Weiss chuckled, "Are you not the one standing in the way?"

"Weiss, you both know you're going to go out there and do the best you can do no matter what I say to enable the worst," Ruby shuffled her body infront of Weiss', the pair face to face against the incoming ocean winds. "I just want to make it easy on you."

"I hate you," Weiss whispered to herself before shutting her scroll off. The light dimmed, and her chest swelled with a deep breath. "Well, let's do it then."

The sound of chatter and the crying strings of a low volume orchestra playing over the estate's speakers hit the pair as they began to descend the circular staircase. The bottom step forbid ascent with a guard on vigil. He was dressed in a metalic, silver plated, blue vest just like the standard soldiers of Vale, baring the SDS and snowflake logo on his chest. He stepped aside for the pair. Every doorway and stairway was guarded by one, or an equivalent Atlesian Knight, each meant to carall the wild guests back into their respective pastures.

Except for them of course. The Queen was free in her castle.

"Ruby, Weiss!" Not two steps onto the main floor the early guests had already began calling for them. First one wasn't too bad though, a younger man in a full tux swinging around a cane a little awkwardly sized for him, his hair already frizzed up from the coastal humidity.

"Yo, Jaune!" Ruby swallowed her almost shout down to an above average reply. Announcing themselves at the party was probably a bad call, considering Weiss pretty much hated everyone there. The guest list of the yearly Beacon commemoration was a perturbing mix of the three major political parties that dominated the modern decade. Touchy 'nobles' with frills and dresses reminiscent of peacocks with more gold on their clothes than in their assets, the bulk card carrying members of True Monarchy. To counter them were the stuffy and grumbling commanders of the Valen armed forces, jowls always clenched tight in great discomfort at affairs like this and almost all One Vale representatives. At least most of them were Beacon graduates or fellow hunters. Lastly the new rapscallion kids of HFS, Human-Faunus Solutions. A growing party of revolutionary faunus and humans, unbending, resilient, good looking, and heroic. Like herself which was obvious considering all of RWBY were part of the founding members.

They were a split from One Vale who had grown tired of the biggest parties posturing on Faunus rights and the focus on emulating Atlas' military obsession that dominated a post-Salem Vale. First year they started to pick up speed gaining local seats, now they were hosting Beacon's commemoration. Ruby never thought politics would be fun, but seeing the old men huff about every bill was really funny in a morbid sense. "Ruby, focus," Weiss whispered and shocked her from the tangential machnications. Jaune was giving her a confused look and the thought dawned on her, he probably asked a question.

"Hey, where's Pyrrha?" Ruby asked, distracting from her immediate screw up. Jaune scratched his head and leaned on his left, hiding a cringe. Definitely not here. "Is she feeling sick?" Ruby wasn't exactly sure she could feel sick. "You're not seriously fighting, are you?"

"No, it's not a fight." Jaune ended with a sigh, tainting what was in theory good news with just the slightest hint of something worse. Weiss of the two always asked the real questions.

"Is she able to leave the school?" It wasn't meant to be cruel, but Jaune recoiled at the inquiry. The young Schnee didn't seem to take note of it. Running the SDC and SDS meant getting use to people hating the words that slipped from her mouth.

"Sometimes. It's difficult. We can talk more about that at the meeting." Beacon's new interim headmaster took a more dull tinged tone. Sullen didn't befit the kid.

"We should visit. I wanna take apart her new sniper spear so bad and mess with all the magic bits." Ruby gifted a changed subject. Wasn't a lie either. Pyrrha had been and would always be a dear friend to her, regardless of the situation. "And~ I can sneak off to see Summer and Azura. Odyssia and Rouge were awesome, by the way. They both have gotten friggin' huge."

"Speaking of which, why did they fight a goliath?" Weiss' tone, carving a path right to her point, cleared from the words like rust from the blade. Direct.

"It was just a baby go—"

"A goliath," Weiss insisted. Jaune chuckled and stretched out in an manner unfit for the haughtiness of high living. Their blonde friend found no salvation in stalling. Can't sweat out the snow after all, same with Schnees.

"We can talk about that later, I promise you," Jaune waved it off and kept up his goofy smile, "They were never in any trouble, Neptune was watching the whole time." There was a whisper rising in the party. Everyone's eyes and necks tilted towards the main entrance, whether or not they knew why.

Except Weiss. "I'm filled with confidence." Weiss' tongue clicked with sarcasm and Vale River was damp. Ruby on the other hand made it a business to be overly curious for Weiss. Despite the risk of falling on her ass given the heels, the huntress leaned even farther on her toes, an inch or two of extra height letting her see the source of disturbance. The thickening crowd tossed in some difficulty, but even from the slightly elevated foyer, Ruby could recognize the overcompensating shapes of Vale's "Woodsmen", a domestic knock off of the Atlesian Knights. Larger, but slower, and prone to failure, Vale's military never even adopted the green painted guards, especially after Cinder's takeover tainted the concept of automated armies. Their build did not cover their wires, in full view like visible strings of muscle. The only armor along the eyeless head unit, the weakened inverted legs, and of course the core power cell in the chest. That plate was branded with the symbol of a battle axe, a crown wrapped around the twin heads, the crest of their very own ceremonial monarchy.

"The king's here," Ruby announced to the still squabbling Jaune and Weiss. King Jaundice was an old man of sixty-eight years, his mother had replaced her brother during the faunus rights revolution. An uncharismatic and vacillating man, his reign had seen the council move from just the right axe of their kingdom's twin government to the only real authority in matters of state. Salem and the unhappy nobles of True Monarchy had done more for his position of relevance than anything attempted by the crown itself. Decidedly Anti-Atlas, Anti-Faunus, and definitely Anti-Schnee, he had become one of Weiss and Blake's more vocal adversaries, though Ruby had never even had the chance to meet him. She wanted to, maybe even have a word. People dressed with crowns were still people, after all.

"Shit, I have to give a speech, like, now." Beacon was independent from Vale, but that didn't mean Jaune could avoid pretending he was a public servant. "We'll talk more at the meeting tonight." They got an excellent view of the headmaster scurrying towards the impromptu theater, literally holding his pants up. What a sight.

"My, Jaune," Ruby mumbled with a laugh, "He really does take the 'I'm just a bumbling idiot' act far. I would suck at pretending to be dumb." Worked though. Jaune proved very keen at gaining information and influence that way, all without turning heads or accruing the envy of his peers.

"Don't worry, you'll never have to pretend to be stupid," Weiss snaked one arm around Ruby's, linking the couple in both an affectionate and socially appropriate manner.

"Did you just call me stupid?"

"I didn't call you anything."

"You can be so mean, you know that?"

"Yes," Weiss noted with a simple smile, something hard to get from her in one of these toxic gardens of a party, "but I think you prefer me mean."

"To be totally honest, I like it better when you're mean to other people." Weiss coughed a laugh, and Ruby marked one win on the scoreboard for tonight.

"Come on, it's time to see the fun I planned," Weiss' grin turned sharp, etched into her cheeks by a devil's amusement. "I'm about to be exceptionally mean to someone else."

"Good evening, everyone," Jaune strolled on stage to get down his general discomfort. An outdoor theater pressed its false back against the left wing of the mansion plaza. Sparse in terms of decorations, the only props kept behind the curtain, a spartan show tonight Ruby guessed. "Thank you all for coming to our yearly commemoration. Over a hundred of these and Beacon continues to leave its doors open to new generations of hunters and huntresses." The headmaster spoke out towards the crowd, a sea of men and women sat in white chairs with a velvet touch to the skin. Rentals, of course.

"While everyone here knows the truth of the matter, this is a glorified fundraising dinner, that's what really makes it special to see such a strong support. Each one of you willing to put a little money into our pocket if it means saving the world. You have my thanks, each of you. Especially our hosts, Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose," Jaune pointed his cane right at them, an arrow for the forced applause. Weiss stood as a representative of their family, bowed as was expected, and took her second row seat with grace. "They are a beautiful pair and their support to Beacon will never be forgotten. I'm proud to say two of their own children just joined our school this spring season.

I want to thank plenty of you big donors out there, such as Blake Belladonna, who's taken time away from her work as our chief of police to join us tonight. Stand for us, please," Blake popped her head from seats away, Ruby couldn't fight the urge to wave, seeing that Faunus in her black suit with purple accents, a standard for her station. "I know that she'll be missing that check come the latter part of our council election. Speaking of, thank you to donor Admiral Coco Adel, also with us tonight," Coco took a stand, dressed in the green formals of her navy uniform, the black beret and medals on her chest adding a bit of flare. "Her military collection and long time support of hunters has astounded us. We wish you both luck on your council elections, as mutually exclusive a statement as that really is." The crowd gave away a nervous chuckle and eased some of the sweat building on the edges of his golden curls.

"I know you want me to shut up and get on with tonight's performance, but beforehand Beacon wishes to thank His Majesty for his presence here tonight." The king sat just in eyes view at the front row of the performance, his body arched forward, the hook of his nose could practically tag the top of the stage. He had lost most of his hair, the emerald crown on his head something disturbingly anachronistic. He nodded as the audience gave mild applause and Jaune continued. "And I implore you to maybe toss some family jewels into the collection! Alright, please have a wonderful night, and don't ruin anything else of the Schnee's I might have to pay for, thank you!"

Jaune walked off the stage with a snappy thud of his shoes and cane, the replacement popping out a young fox faunus dressed in fake armor, a soft expression over her face and faux-blue hair. "Wait till you see this, I think you'll find me to be quite the devil tonight," Weiss spoke softly right into her wife's ear.

"Oh jeez, you know just how to get me going," Ruby whispered back.

"Good evening," the young faunus woman began, her voice shuttering just a bit as she witness the breadth of her patrons. Ruby had a funny feeling this wasn't the clientele she was use to. "We are the all faunus acting troupe Lions here on invitation of governor Schnee," an uncomfortable wave ran through the audience. The title governor, even the status of Roseland was simply not covered by the law of Vale. Weiss seemed to enjoy it though, rubbing salt in the wounds of her critics with someone else's hands. "To show our award winning performance that has sold out in even the largest of Mountain Glenn's theaters," Oh boy, Ruby realized exactly what this was, "Autumn Vale."

Weiss made an excellent demon. The play proceeded as it had many times through Roseland. The story followed a revisionist and perhaps not wholly accurate retelling of the faunus rights revolution from the perspectives of the struggling faunus in Vale and the opposing Schnee, honorbound and forced into conflict despite trying to avoid it. It featured a number of famous faunus and humans from history, including Weiss' father, uncle, and aunt, as well as the king's mother.

Which, is where the plot went a step toward the sinister. Around the second act, after plenty of jabs at the Valen Monarchy and formal feudal practices, the true cause of all the misfortunate was discovered to be a conspiracy linking to the greedy Queen herself. All the fighting, death, and suffering was just to get the throne from her brother. The story was meant to be chilling, but watching the King try and storm out, too old to do so in any impressive manner, just led to a lot of laughing from the One Vale party. Many of True Monarchy walked out as a show of solidarity, but it didn't stop Weiss from cracking up.

"You are such a rebel. Blake is going to skin you, I swear," Ruby whispered to her wife, trying not to join her in the barely withheld giggles as intermission was called soon after. Weiss waved it off with a dignified tilt of her chin to the sky and a wry smirk.

"I'm sure she thought it was funny."

"And dangerous," Ruby noted. They last thing they needed was more enemies, even if in this case said enemy was a grumpy old man who nearly tripped on his chair exiting the mansion's yard.

"Are you going to tell on me?" Weiss tipped her head. Her silver bangs slid to the right, toward her partner. A child's joy glimmered from her eyes, and Ruby could not but shake her head and sigh.

"Leave the dumb stuff to me, okay? It's more my M.O." The outdoor lights dimmed down again and with a sliver of the audience gone, the play continued with an awkward third act. Eventually the crew got over the sudden exodus and the play really came into its own. The narrative perhaps never escaped its bias, but the tragedy took its twists well. By the time their cast dwindled down to a handful of survivors, each one felt precious, and Ruby let herself be there in the moment.

The last light died down, and in the faux-mud the final main character exited in a fatal finale, and everyone took a bow. The remaining audience loved it, not surprising given the reviews they had received touring in Roseland.

After the lastl cheers, the deep darkness of evening had taken over the event and cries for free booze and overpriced food dominated. Fundraising plates of crab and goose came with ludicrous prices, each one a donation they were likely to commit, especially after each free drink loosened the socialites wallets for every unspent lien.

"You're atrocious at making friends," Blake slithered into their social circle with her customary cuts, one of many formed in the ballroom of the Schnee Mansion. The white moonstone interior as well as humidity treated air made for a much better party environment.

"Heaven's no," Weiss argued, "I have plenty of friends, you're my friend." Despite her showy display of blasphemy, the huntress spared no expense on making tonight a pleasurable affair for the guests. The band was brought in from Mountain Glenn, the best of the city's concert hall playing a spattering of period music to loosen the atmosphere. The food was prepared by Roseland's top four chefs, barring number three, she had another commitment, and drinks brought in from the old Castle White's best collection.

"Maybe, but I don't think you'll be setting any play dates with the king now," Blake replied, nursing a glass of wine watered down to the point of discoloration.

"Yo, where's Yang?" Ruby asked, comfortable enough to drop the formal speech with her old team. Blake sighed into her glass, fogging up the rim right before she downed it all. Well, something was wrong.

"It's been like a week since I saw her, she's staying at Beacon for the new freshmen students. Temporary dorm mother." Blake and Yang, despite being perhaps a volatile pair, never seemed to stand the time they had apart even if both avidly complained about each other. Match made in heaven.

"No, Velvet's the one on dorm mother duty." Or maybe not. Jaune cracked his comment along with a piece of crab. He was the only one in this set of hunters not afraid to dig in wholeheartedly. After all, the money went straight back to him. By the time he noticed Blake's indignant stare he already had half a crustacean in his mouth. "You didn't know?" he gargled back.

"You're lying," Blake whispered.

"No, he's not," Coco Adel had joined them, not holding drink or food, just her beret and sunglasses, "I was on a call with Velvet all last night, she was definitely alone, and I think my wife would tell me if she had a roomie like Yang." Smart.

"I'm going to get a drink," Blake tossed up the white flag, stomping away towards the nearest plate of champagne. So much for sobriety.

"I think I'm going to join her. Want anything, babe?" Ruby didn't wait for her answer, too concerned for her sister-in-law to delay. A quick twirl and team mom was following their sweet faunus friend.

"Blake?" Dignity be damned, Blake downed one glass and picked up a second to nurse her troubles. Teetotaling was such a fleeting thing under marital stress.

"Ruby," Blake stirred without making a scene, though the former team leader did notice the sharp rise in her furred ears. "Do you know anything about this? I really don't need this right now, please?" Blake's eyes drooped with such exhaustion, Ruby's first instinct was to drag her off to bed and make the cat take a nap. How hard have you been working?

"No, but I know Yang, she's probably just after something stupid and doesn't want to worry you, like when she took down the remnants of Roman's gang?" And almost lost her other arm, good fucking choice Ruby, "Or you know just out for wild motorcycle rides. We both know my sister, whatever it is, it's not as malicious as you're probably thinking."

"I know she's not cheating if that's what you're saying." Thank god.

"She would never," Ruby argued, believing it 110%, "but I will look into it, you deserve to know what trouble she is getting into and why."

"I miss when running away was my thing," Blake whined.

"We're all a little too old for that," Ruby pulled at her old teammate's suit, back into the party and toward the circle of friends they had kept close through all these years and all the shared heartache. "Let's go back." Ruby hoped Weiss wasn't thirsty for her order.

From the look of it, she probably could have used it. By the time Ruby and Blake started their ballroom bolt back, the social sphere had a new member, this one not an old Beacon hunter, not a hunter at all, not of grimm anyways. Pyrite Valeswood, the TMP's pick for the open council seat, famed critic of hunters, Roseland, faunus, Atlesians, and pretty much any descriptor one might tie to RWBY, and with a greasy grin, short cut hair, and impressive stature for a woman so short on ethics.

"Your wife seems lovely," from the twitch in Weiss' eye, Ruby guessed Pyrite pounced as soon as she left after Blake, leaving her with minimal support. Vulture. "So, the question I have, is when you two are intimate, does your pet cat watch or join you?" Weiss's left hand floated towards the hilt of her sword, and this woman just kept smiling like she was hilarious. Bitch was about to be skewered.

"Oh, if you knew my sister," Ruby slid her arm around her wife's back, embracing her from the right side. Her hand snatched the hilt before Weiss could and Ruby made sure to look nice and comfortable doing it, "you'd know Chief Belladonna is way too worn out to deal with our fun." Ruby put on her best 'I don't hate you' smile in her arsenal, something over two decades of being part of the Schnee family she had learned.

"Finally, someone who can appreciate a good joke without going all politically correct on me," Pyrite mocked, perfectly manicured nails pressed to her fingers as she laughed at her own joke. Her pale gold eyes flashed to the hilt Ruby held and lips pulled in self-satisfaction. "I was just talking about how much of a delight you are. Good to meet you, Mrs. Rose."

"Pleasure." Not remotely.

"So, is this a special club of hunters? Is that why Professor Arc left my bid for council out of his speech? Such colorful collusion," Pyrite continued her wry remarks, eyes rolling over to the new mark, a young headmaster much more interested in the crab and deserts with fancy names than her moans.

"Nope," Jaune remarked dryly, "just a standard fundraising hack. Beacon doesn't get into politics," he dropped his napkin on the congealed plate of now unappetizing food, and tossed it to one of the tables normally reserved for people, not trash, "if True Monarchy wants me to mention them, try donating," he passed her right by, giving a friendly, and disrespectful, slap to her shoulder, "I'm off to pick up Ren and Nora. I'll be back to conspire later."

"He's charming," Pyrite noted and brushed the blonde of her hair away from her eyes.

"And you're not." Coco took the bait, jaw clenched tight since the moment this woman interrupted the peaceful gathering. Election season already embittered them with impossibly deep trenches.

"Excuse me?" she asked, unused to the directness of the famed fashionable Admiral Adel.

"Mrs. Valeswood—"

"Duchess Valeswood," Pyrite corrected.

"Mrs," Coco didn't bow out, "I don't care about titles that have been purely ceremonial nonsense for the last hundred years. I do care about my family. Stop the slander attacks on my daughter. She's not running against you, I am."

"I didn't attack your faunus family or the half-breed kid—"

"Your party did," Coco's voice cracked just one or two decibels above the rest, their mutual political careers locked up in an untenable conversation. Pyrite meant to stir up the wasps a bit, but Ruby wagered she didn't realized there was no half stirred with Coco. "And if you keep doing it, Valeswood, you will regret it, deeply."

"Alright," Blake stepped between them, her desire to side with her schoolmate overshadowed by her official duty, "Are you two going to separate for the evening, or am I going to have to call this in and make a scene?" Blake spoke softly and contained, eyes were on them and ears listened to every detail they could pick up.

"You should go," Ruby added, unwilling to say nothing at all. This had gotten out of hand and become quite disgusting.

"Understood," Pyrite adjusted her black suit and green armband, taking the false position as the bigger woman. "I'll be off. Just remember, threats are the preferred tactics of the desperate. Evening."

All four of them watched, or more accurately glared, till she was out of earshot. The last step cracked open Weiss' mouth. "I hope she chokes to death on Jaune's shitty crab."

The party had died down, as all do eventually. The scene slowly lost its interest without the drama. One by one the guests began to drizzle out, realizing no booze could rationalize the cost of a thousand dollar tray of goose. Eventually no one remained, but the chosen few. Jaune, Weiss, Blake, Nora, Ren, and Ruby herself, each pretending to get caught up in the moment.

"Oh my god, I've missed you. It's time for bone crushing hugs!" Nora had stayed a tiny little thing, gifted only a pair of extra inches since they met. She kept bulky arms and a cute cut of red hair, only a little longer now, incorporating two thin ponytail like streaks. She still carried around that massive hammer and dressed in thick vests interlaced with armor. Only noticeable change was the loss of her left eye, the patch and the scarring not exactly subtle

"Don't kill her," Ren requested politely. He hadn't changed much either. Still soft spoken, still dressed in green, still had the pink streak even if he lost his pony tail. He had gotten a little more natural looking in his age. Stubble darkened his jaw and chin, and his hair grew longer and frayed. Plenty of time in the field had its effect.

"Never!" Nora dropped her catch, letting Ruby land on the dirt of the interior mansion garden, a pathway of soil and flowers only those allowed deep within ever saw. "I'm sorry we didn't get much girl time in there, that party was so stuffy, everyone was looking at us weird."

"It's because we came straight from the forest. We're a mess, Nora."

"Well, we are hunters! Why would we not look like we just came back from kicking ass?" the ginger snapped back. Ruby had missed them.

"Sorry, but we have work to do," Weiss interrupted, leading Blake and Jaune with her down the path to the back of the mansion. There, functionally disconnected from the rest of the house, though technically part of the far and right wing, was a strange wooden structure just slightly off from the rest. It was an older building with a steeple, the original home, previously owned by a huntsmen, the mansion was built out from this center piece. Its garden had moonlight flowers, purple and white, and a small pond that shimmered blue opposed to the sterile aesthetic of the rest of the Schnee mansion. This was Ruby's foundry, this was the hunter's workshop, formal base for their organization. The Guardians.

"It's late, we've all had a few, can we do this tomorrow?" Ruby complained, despite unlocking the door. Double wooden inauspicious things. Slightly red in color. They chose to meet here when Ruby first moved into the workshop, officially where the organization of "The Guardians" came together.

The Brotherhood died with Ozpin. Though his old contacts remained, much of the organization crumbled under Qrow. He even seemed to want it that way. Wasn't until Jaune was secretary and Pyrrha returned, that he and Weiss even considered the idea of resurrecting the old secret society, but with new ideas, new practices. They could protect the world, the maidens, and keep things calm without such… dreadful consequences. So far it worked.

Wasn't without critics. Even if Yang had shown up, for this, she wouldn't have stayed. "Sorry about the mess, I really do mean to clean it up." The air inside was several degrees warmer, but much drier than the humid night outside. The side effect of an active forge that made up the bulk of the right wing segment.

"Cool spiders," Nora whispered, shuffling in and taking note of the brave arachnids that survived the heat and soot, webbing the ceiling above the iron and dust filled cupboards.

"I hate this place," Weiss commented, not sharing a love for old tools and machines quite like Ruby. Opposites attract she always assumed.

The group passed the piles of stained books and manuals, and ignored the dark feeling of the left hand crates. All of Salem's artifacts not to be stored in the Beacon vault hid in plain sight, the far corners of an old wooden armory.

The back of the hunter's workshop stood as both a headquarters, a monument, and a vault to the Guardians as well as their precursor, the Brotherhood. In the center sat a table, just flat wood with some candles, a small booklet of meeting notes, a map of Remnant, and the latest clockwork of Ruby's next design. Behind this little altar of utility were three weapons cases. One to remember, one to use, and one to mourn. Simple Forever Fall back boards holding up the tools with large nails. Not even glass to make this as special. An uncaring eye may never notice the wonders of the workshop.

Left were 'the mistakes'. Designs worth keeping for the concepts, but unusable in the field. Center's nickname was 'the successes', weapons made to compensate for Crescent Rose's weakness. Fast SMG's that fired live rounds and converted light into daggers, a sword that could distort wind she called the Storm Ruler, a cleaver that burst apart into a massive chain blade, Qrow's great scythe, or just the railgun-zweihander called Royal Charlie.

The last wall, the right. They were Ruby's failures. Raven Branwen's red odachi, Cardin's hammer now caved in, and Yatsuhashi's greatsword, melted into a sickened inward curve. There was a chunk of old Ember Celica, the least morbid piece and then the first two. A single of the many swords of the first Penny, Scarlet's scabbard, and a replica of Milo, the sword spear of Pyrrha Nikos.

And plenty more.

"Alright," Weiss started, skipping the formalities, "I was hoping you all might shed some light on some of the strange grimm movements that we've seen recently. I've heard there is an infestation of creeps in Emerald Forest. Doesn't competition with the beowolves keep them out?"

"Yeah, but they decided to get along, I guess," Nora commented from her corner of the room, staying far away from the failures wall.

"You guess? Should we expect a breach?" Blake sat down on a box right next to the milo replica, the haunting space not bothering the slightly tipsy and absolutely exhausted faunus.

"No, they seem to just be waiting around, like they did after the battle of Beacon. Sometimes they attack the students, but never in force, almost like a test," Jaune muttered, standing above the map, opposite of Weiss, back facing the exit. He didn't like the wall either.

"My daughter had to blow the test up by turning into a meteor. Seems serious to me," Weiss argued. She stood beside Ruby, eyes down on Remnant below. Considering something, maybe?

"Yeah, I saw that, Summer was hella. Dawn, Odyssia, and Rouge, too. I'm so proud of them, my nieces and nephew are all great and beautiful." Nora went on her tangent, bringing a small smile to all the parents in the room.

"Unlike with the dragon, none of the grimm are new. It's all from the outside area. We've noticed a drastic reduction in requests outside the city itself," Ren noted, going back to the subject on hand.

"Guess that's good news for some," Ruby reasoned, even if big groups sounded a little apocalyptic.

"Anything like this in the other kingdoms?" Blake questioned, "And signs of Cinder's old cells or White Fang? Anything to cause panic?" If there was something big enough to effect grimm, no one would have to ask.

"Nothing but silence, and no, everything is normal outside Vale," Ren answered. He was after all the eyes and ears on the ground for Jaune. Peace was an incredibly uneasy existence for a hunter.

"Well," but so much better than war, "For now, we enjoy the calm of sunset before eventual nightfall."

"Very poetic, Ruby. Good job." Weiss got a good chuckle from Ruby's attempts at somberness. She was never meant to be a cynic, everyone just giggles at every attempt. At least, laughing together, they could be children just a little longer.

*** THIS IS SO LATE I AM SO SORRY! I just sort of broke down over the summer (but Im a-okay now) with a bunch of stuff (including my house flooding) I really hope you liked this chapter, I know it's a bit of an info dump, but I hope everyone can enjoy the spyish mystery stuff of the adults and more traditional rwby stuff with the kids. Been super fun to world build and I hope you enjoy it (and the several bloodborne references I made, god I wanna make a crossover so bad it hurts)

Thanks so much to Lazykazte who edited literally the day I finished and on a busy week. She is beautiful and amazing and just everyone should love her. It might be a little longer (than usually, not than the last wait) for the next chapter as next week I have to leave my house so it can have the floors replaced and walls painted.