Hellooooooo, people! Been a while since I've been back on the site, but now I'm here to bring to you guys another story! Or rather two.

So this story is an AU where Team RWBY are all working at the Schnee Dust Company. They'll be assumed to have their weapons and the know-how of dealing with Grimm or attackers, though as of now I don't have any Grimm attacks planned. This is one of two stories I plan to write concurrently, the other being Vale High, a high school AU where Grimm never existed and so Hunters and Huntresses never existed, so the characters go to a regular high school. I must warn you that this story is rather dark, so if you want to go for something slightly more light-hearted, I would advise you check out Vale High.

Some notes, and this is very important for the ending: All characters are at the same age they are at in the show (Weiss, Blake and Yang are all 18) with the exception of Ruby, who is one year older, at 17. I know Ruby is 15 and the others are 17 in the show, but I'm assuming a year has passed since Volume 1 and Volume 3.

Anyway, let's get on with it!

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. All rights belong to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum (RIP). Rated T for violence, blood and character death (yes, people are gonna die)

Chapter 1

Legends often talk of a time when man did not exist. In those days, there was nothing but darkness, and creatures of the night roamed and ruled the land. Mankind came into being when light pierced through the darkness, driving these creatures of evil away. Over time, humanity began to grow, unopposed by the creatures of the dark. They began to conquer and take over the land, driving out those who threatened them, while living harmoniously with other creatures that roamed the earth.

But light cannot drive away the darkness completely. Just as the sun rises and gives light to drive the darkness away, so darkness rises and settles when the sun sets. From this darkness came creatures far more fearsome and deadly than anything humans had ever imagined: creatures that were manifestations of nightmares and despair. These creatures of nightmares—the creatures of Grimm—snuffed out any light they find, determined to bring the brief existence of Man to an end. Man was young; he was incapable of fighting back, and hope began to fade.

But even a single ray of light in the darkness is a beacon of hope, a means of providing comfort and power against the dark. Eventually, man's passion, resourcefulness and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds against these creatures. This power was appropriately named, "dust". Over time, man discovered new ways of using dust in their fight for survival, the main use being as a weapon, and they soon discovered a few talented individuals who were able to channel dust much better than any regular human. These individuals became the front line against the darkness, hunting and destroying any Grimm who dared attack humanity. As time went on, the legacy of these Hunters and Huntresses spread, and there were many who sought to be a part of that legacy.

But many have forgotten the true reasons for mankind's revitalised fight against the dark. They attempt to join the elite ranks of the Hunters and Huntresses, without ever realizing where their power comes from: Dust. And it is because of this oversight that Dust mining companies became almost forgotten, doomed to spend their lives in obscurity.

There is, however, one exception to this rule, one company that rises above the rest. Known not just for Dust mining, but also known for the development of weapons capable of channelling dust that had been become part and parcel of a Huntsman's arsenal. It was even said that amongst these warriors, there was a chance each and every single weapon had once been made and designed by the Schnee Dust Company. Imposing, powerful and famous, the SDC made its name as the primary weapons developer and dust miner for Vale, Vacuo and Mistral, though most of its influence was in Vale. That influence can be seen from the imposing skyscraper that stands tall above the skyline, a shining beacon and symbol of the power of the SDC.

And it was this building that young 17-year-old Ruby Rose found herself staring at, mouth agape in awe. She had seen the SDC building from afar, but never this close. Security at the SDC was so tight and so strict that few members of the public were allowed near the building, and Ruby counted herself as lucky that she could count herself in the small group that were allowed in.

And if all goes well today, Ruby thought to herself, I can have this view everyday.

The nerves that Ruby had been pushing down for days suddenly flooded in, and she felt herself nervously looking around at the 6 other civilians that had been allowed in for the same reason as she.

Oh man, I can't do this. What if I screw up? What if something happens and I'm not prepared? The thoughts fly around in her head, and she begins to panic.

"Rubes!"

Ruby turns around to see a blond-haired girl walking towards her from the front door. As soon as the girl reaches her, she pulls Ruby into a tight hug. Ruby lets out a sharp exhale as the air is driven from her lungs, and the girl lets go.

"I'm so happy for you! You're the youngest applicant who's actually made it this far!"

"Thanks, Yang, but I don't think age counts for a lot here. If anything, it would be used against me, wouldn't it? Since I'm, like, the youngest here?" Ruby confides in her older sister.

"Come on, Ruby, don't be so sombre! You're gonna do fine! You're Ruby Rose, talented weapons designer and youngest graduate from Beacon Academy! Plus, look at me! I was the youngest in my group, and I got in and I'm doing well!" Yang encourages.

Ruby smiles, "If by "doing well" you mean having to constantly be on the move to SDC's factories in case of any riots or security issues and coming home stinking like a garbage bag, then I'm pretty sure I can better than that."

Yang mocks-gasps, "Is that a challenge, my dear sister Ruby?"

"It is, my dear sister Yang." Ruby challenges, her spirits being lifted by Yang's words.

"That's the spirit, sis! Now go in there and show them how it's done!" Yang claps Ruby's back, and the force sends Ruby toppling to the ground.

"Sorry! These mods to the Celica are still being tested! Still don't really know how much better they are!" Yang apologizes sheepishly before helping to pull Ruby up.

"They're-ow!-definitely more powerful than your last one." Ruby grunts through the pain.

"May all candidates for interview, please enter the building now." A mechanical voice sounds throughout the courtyard, courtesy of the many megaphones around the area.

"That's my cue. Wish me luck!" Ruby hugs her sister quickly, before pulling away and grabbing her stuff.

"You can do it, Ruby!" Yang cheers as Ruby disappears into the building.

-

Like all other companies, the SDC has to hire new faces every now and then to keep the job market afloat and to ensure they had a workforce that was young and innovative. However, the SDC's hiring policy deviates drastically from other companies.

Every 3 months, the SDC opened up applications for the people of Vale to apply for various positions in various branches. These include receptionists, service workers and the like. Over 400 applicants are eventually selected, of which 200 go on to secure a job in the company. However, the SDC's most coveted branch, Weapons Design, was entirely different. Throughout the year, the media division monitors news and reports on individuals who have the capability to design decent weapons. From there, the shortlisted individuals are called up and required to undertake a rigorous examination. Only the top 5 to 10 make it to the final round, where they are put through an interview with an important high-ranking officer in the division. The interviewer's identity is never revealed until all the selected candidates were called into the office on the day itself.

From these selected few, no more than 2 are selected.

Ruby remembered the stoic, expressionless face of the woman who had briefed the shortlisted few prior to the first examination, and it was only as she sat in the waiting room, surrounded by 6 strangers, that she realized the daunting task ahead of her. Not only was she competing against people who were older and more experienced than her, but she was competing against some of the brightest talents to come out of Vale's system. Ruby was no pushover—she had won her fair share of awards before with regards to weapons design—but it was as she scanned the room that she realized just how insignificant those awards could be.

One by one, the candidates were called forth. Earlier during the wait, an SDC employee had them draw lots to determine the order in which they would enter, and Ruby had the fortune—or perhaps misfortune—to have drawn the short straw. As each person made their way into the office when they were called, Ruby found herself sinking deeper and deeper into her fear and anxiety.

Oh god, oh god, it's almost my turn. Oh, what happens if something goes wrong? I cannot miss this opportunity to get here! But how am I going to stand out? I don't have anything on these people! Oh…

It felt like an eternity before the office door opened. A pale unsmiling female worker stepped out of the door and looked at her.

"Miss Rose?"

"Ummm…y-yes?" Ruby stuttered out.

"It is your turn now." The woman saw the young 17-year-old before her literally shaking in anxiety, and she relaxed her features slightly. She remembered how she felt when she sat here all those years ago, and she understood how the girl was feeling.

She gave an reassuring smile as Ruby walked through, and whispered, "Good luck" just as the door closed behind Ruby.

The office was huge. Ruby had attended Beacon Academy, the premier school for weapons design and training, and during that time she had a dorm room to herself. It had been so large that when Ruby first stepped in, she got vertigo just looking up at the ceiling.

While the office wasn't higher than that, it certainly had much more space. There was a single glass table that filled up about half the room, and there was still space for three bookshelves that were packed to the brim with books. One look and Ruby saw that none of them looked remotely like a fiction book; the books resembled her textbooks when she was at Beacon: binded in rich leather, bigger than her, and a pain to carry.

At the centre of the table sat a sole figure. The windows of the room were to the figure's back, so as Ruby stepped in, the sunlight caught for a moment and she hadn't seen the figure. As her eyes adjusted, Ruby began to realize why she hadn't seen the girl in the first place.

Ruby had never seen so much white on a person before. From her skin tone, to her hair, and even her outfit, the woman before her was white down to the bone. She wore her hair in one long ponytail of sheer whiteness, which ended halfway down her back. Her face was unblemished, the only shade of colour coming from her blue eyes.

"Would you like a seat, or would you prefer to stand for the next 20 minutes?" The woman asked, leaning forward to address Ruby. It was then Ruby saw that the "woman" wasn't actually an adult, but a teenager. She looked not much older than Ruby, maybe a year apart or so, and while she carried herself in a manner more mature than most girls' Ruby's age, her face gave it away.

It was also at this moment that Ruby knew who she was talking to, and it certainly didn't help her nerves.

Oh no. Nononono. Of all the people to interview me, it's her?

Even if Ruby had never met the girl in her life, she would have recognized the face of Weiss Schnee anywhere. The heiress to the SDC may have always been camera shy, but she was by no means less famous than the company she shared her name with. Intelligent, cold and ruthless were just some of the common terms used to describe the so-called "Ice Queen", who had graduated from Beacon at the age of 17, and was training to become the next CEO of the SDC.

"Excuse me? Are you deaf?" Weiss announced, and Ruby realized she had been staring at the girl without response.

"Oh, I'm…I'm so sorry," Ruby stammered, "and yes, I'll…um, have a seat, if…if you don't mind."

Weiss didn't respond, simply gesturing to an empty chair. Ruby pulled the chair out and sat.

"So…Ruby Rose." Weiss had a file with her when Ruby had entered; now she opened it. "Graduated from Signal High, top class honours, at the age of 13, and later from Beacon Academy at the age of 16." She recited, and Ruby noticed with a little element of shock that Weiss hadn't even looked at the file. In fact, she had looking at Ruby in the eye the whole time.

"3-time winner of the Vale Vytal Festival, and—get this—with a weapon described as "being unlike anything I had ever seen before" by Walter Schnee." Weiss continued, continuing to stare at Ruby.

Ruby shuffled uncomfortably in her chair. Weiss' cold demeanour chilled her, and it was obvious just how intelligent this woman was.

"With such a talent like you, being able to craft your own weapon and win a fighting tournament—especially a big one like Vytal—and at such a young age, no less, you seem like a no-brainer for the position here."

With those words, Ruby's spirits rose slightly. She knew it wasn't over—Weiss wouldn't have called her in here just to give her the job right off the bat—but it was encouraging to know that something was going right for her.

"However," Weiss emphasized, and immediately Ruby's fear rushed in, quickly replacing the small state of euphoria she had just felt, "I have also seen 6 others who have just as many good, if not more qualifications than you. In a way, your age puts you at a major disadvantage her, Miss Rose, but not in the way you think. You have substance, but you don't have enough experience, and your transcripts show that for all your talent, your immaturity certainly grew with it."

"With all due respect…" Ruby began, and stopped when Weiss held up one hand.

"Save your breath. You'll need it in time. Remember, for all your flaws, you still managed to make it here, to this point. That says a lot about you, and I am not going to risk losing a talent like you, unless…" Weiss trailed off.

"Unless?" Ruby asked, with a rising sense of dread.

Weiss looked at her in the eye, "I may have only officially joined this company a year ago, but I've spent my whole life growing up in these hallways. I've seen many different kinds of people: people with both the talent and charisma to do great things, arrogant people who thought the world belonged to them and should be thanking them, and many others. I have met some people who had talent and were shy, yet went on to do great things for the company. I've also seen people with talent blow it sky high, never living up to their potential and wasting company resources. Now, this is the first time the two of us have ever met, and your file is simply a list of your accomplishments and successes. However, these transcripts don't ever tell me the full character of the interviewee, which is where you come in."

Weiss leaned back. "I want you to tell me your life story."

The request was so out of left field that Ruby blurted out, "What?"

"You have a problem with what I just said, Miss Rose?"

Ruby realized she had just goofed up badly, and immediately sought to rectify the situation, "N…no, mam! I understand completely."

Weiss made a "go-ahead" motion with her hand, "Then speak."

Ruby took a deep breath, collecting herself and her thoughts. When she had calmed down sufficiently, she began her story.

"I was born and raised in Vale pretty much my whole life. Both my mom and my dad were Hunters, so I never really saw them a lot when I was growing up. Most of my early years, I was brought up by my sister, and when I turned 2, my dad retired from the business and started spending time with us. A few months later, my mom quit too."

"Tell me about your mother." Weiss intervened.

Ruby breathed in deep, "When my mom was still a Huntress, she would disappear for weeks, even months sometimes. As a kid, I hated it when she left. I was only 1 year old, but I knew, somehow, that what Mom was doing was really dangerous, and I feared for the day she would not return. When she quit, I was really happy. It really seemed like we could finally be a family together. My sister and I grew really close to her."

"You use the past tense a lot. What happened?"

"It…it's really painful to think about." Memories that Ruby had long tried to suppress came rushing in.

"Take your time."

Ruby took a while to collect herself, before continuing, "Everything had been going well for so long. We were a happy family, and the threat of death through Hunting wasn't there anymore. Then, when I was 8, my uncle Qrow came around. He said he had a very important mission and needed someone to go with him, but my dad had recently gotten injured after a tree fell on his leg. My mom volunteered to go."

"That conversation between your uncle and your parents, it doesn't sound like something any normal parent would let their kid listen to."

"I'm not exactly the most obedient child around. I overheard their conversation. That night, when my mom thought we were all sleeping, she got out of bed and tried to leave. And she ran into me. I had been waiting just outside the door for her."

"Long story short, it blew up into a really huge argument. In the end, she promised me she would return. I still remember…" Ruby trailed off, sniffling as the memory resurfaced. She wiped at her eyes, before continuing, "I still remember what she said before she left: "I solemnly swear that I will return home, and I will be there when you graduate from school, when you attend your first school dance, when you're walking down the aisle, and I'll be there when you have kids of your own for them to call me grandma.""

There was a moment of silence, then Weiss spoke up, her harsh and cold tone no longer there, "What happened?"

"I…I…" Ruby tried to speak, but the words could not come out. Instead, the tears came streaming down.

Weiss hurriedly pushed a tissue box towards her, "It's ok. It's ok. You don't have to tell me. I can guess what happened." She reassured.

It took a while for Ruby to calm down, after which Weiss said, "I'm sorry for your loss."

Ruby took a moment before continuing her story, "I sank into a really dark period of my life. I blamed my mom for abandoning us, even though deep down, I knew she was simply doing her job. It took me years before I was finally able to accept the fact that my mom was gone, and that I had been unfair for blaming her. That doesn't help relieve the feeling of loss I still feel, but it's still a lot better than how I felt back then."

"Interesting story. It's certainly one I haven't heard before." Weiss remarked, before closing the file.

"I'm afraid that's all the time I have. Thank you for your time, Ruby." Weiss stands up, arm outstretched and Ruby follows suit, reaching out to shake Weiss' hand.

Weiss presses a button at the base of the table, and announces, "Ciel, would you kindly escort Miss Rose out? Thank you." A side door opens, and out steps the same receptionist that buzzed Ruby in.

"It was really nice to know you, Ruby." Weiss comments as Ruby leaves with Ciel. As the door closed behind the duo, Ciel remarked, "Well, I'll take it that your interview went well?"

Ruby doesn't answer for some time. Ciel looks at Ruby, who has a dazed look on her face.

"Miss Rose? Is something the matter?" Ciel enquires.

Ruby seems to snap out of the trance, answering, "No."

As they reach the first floor, Ruby turns to Ciel, "How often does she call anyone by their first name?"

The question catches Ciel off guard for a moment, before she catches on. With a small smile, she replies, "So far, you're the only one I know."

Ruby's face opens into a big smile, "Thanks, Ciel. I'll see you around." She says, before leaving.

"Oh, yes, Ruby Rose. I definitely will." Ciel mutters to herself, as she watches the red-clad teenager leave the building.

-

From the diaries of Weiss Schnee

What is it about Ruby Rose? Why am I so intrigued by this girl?

Who would have known that this innocent-looking girl, who was so nervous she knotted her shoelaces wrong, would end up leaving me with this much…emotion?

Perhaps I was rather harsh on her. After all, she is 17, and this is the first job she would ever have. But Father would never have shown mercy to me if I was in her shoes, and I cannot afford to.

I read through all the files of the 7 candidates. They all had won at least some kind of design competition, with the exception of one: Ruby Rose, who instead won 3 fighting tournaments, and not a single design one. So what is she doing applying for weapons design? I had to figure it out.

Of course, my harsh demeanour probably held her back from telling me a bit more, but at least I know why she would choose to avoid the life of a Hunter. And it also told me just a bit more about her that might just be enough…

It is at times like these that I wonder if what Father told me was true, for if it were, Miss Rose would never have made it this far. But she did, and I am torn between making the practical choices, and choosing the one girl who managed to break the mask of ice I wear.

What is it about this girl that makes me feel so vulnerable and so exposed, yet unashamed? There is something about her, I can feel it.

I need to know more.

I have made my decision.

Well, this took me forever to write, but I really enjoyed writing it! Vale High Chapter 1 should be out by the end of the week, so do look forward to that if you are interested! As always, please read and review, and feel free to leave some suggestions. Don't be afraid to criticise, I want as much critique as possible to make this story better.

A few notes before I end. The last part is something I like to call "Weiss' Diary". Biting The Dust is very WhiteRose and Bumblebee-centric, meaning I'm focusing a lot of character development. I feel that sometimes, I don't give Weiss enough screentime to fully develop her character, but neither am I going to devote one entire chapter to develop one person's character. Weiss' Diary will appear in every chapter Ruby and Weiss appear in, and it will be based solely on Weiss' perspective of certain events that have happened and her feelings. Let me know how you guys feel about that!

Second, the next chapter is very Blake-centric, opening up the Bumblebee part of the story. What I like about writing "Biting The Dust" is that it's a way for me to experiment with new writing styles and chapter distribution, and I especially like what I have coming. Just a heads up for the next chapter!

Anyway, please leave a review or a follow and let's try to reach 5 of either! Thank you all for reading this far, and I will see you all next time! RWBYSanctum out!