A few days had passed since the group fought Taiyang and his Grimm, and they had begun their journey through the frostbitten mountains to the north, their destination lying in wait on the other side. Things did not go as smoothly as they had hoped, however, as during their time heading through the mountain pass the snow began to fall. It was light at first, but it gradually worsened over time until they were forced to take refuge inside a cave opening lest they wished to be buried under the blizzard that viciously crashed down. Luckily enough, Raven was able to use her portals to transport herself to and from the northern facility, bringing with her a large heater, supplies of food and blankets. Even in the dank, dark cave they still managed to wait somewhat comfortably for the storm to pass. It showed no signs of letting up, however, and a week had passed before they knew it.

'Geez, will this blizzard ever end?'

Yang's words were not out of frustration – they were out of fear. Fear of what was told to her at the White Fang facility all those months ago.

You will have complete and total control over the Grimm inside you until you yourself choose to rely on its power.

That meant that the second she had allowed the Grimm inside to come out during her fight with Taiyang it essentially turned her into a ticking time bomb. One day she would wake up, completely unable to control her inner Grimm. When that day came, she might end up killing her very own sister. That thought alone was enough to convince her to leave the first chance she got. Even if she had to spend the rest of her life in eternal agony, she refused to let the Grimm have its way.

'Normally blizzards only last a few days at most,' Raven informed them. 'It shouldn't be too long before it's over.'

Noticing Yang's discomfort, she leaned over to talk to her.

'You OK?'

Yang's jerky, almost fearful response confirmed Raven's suspicions that something was most definitely bothering her.

'What is it,' she whispered, making sure Ruby and Neo didn't hear, 'come on, you can tell me.'

'I can't tell you,' Yang answered, her voice wavering as she spoke. 'It's something I have to deal with by myself. I'll be fine, just give me a day or two and I'll be back to my old self.'

Realising she wasn't going to get any more information out of her, Raven stopped pressing her.

'Fine, but if you ever need someone to talk to we're here, alright?'

Yang smiled at the notion, laying down on her blanket as she tried to sleep. Outside the cave the snow raged, but the group managed to get to sleep despite it. When morning came, the snow had stopped and begun to melt like Raven predicted. However, along with the disappearance of the snow came the disappearance of a certain blonde Huntress.

'Yang…?'

Ruby nervously called out into the mountains, her echoing voice only serving to confirm a horrifying suspicion.

Her sister was gone.

During the night, Yang must have forced her way through the snow and left. Ruby couldn't imagine how Yang must have been feeling when she made that decision, or what kind of emotional pain must be eating at her for having done so.

'Yang? Yang! YANG!'

Ruby continued screaming her sisters name, refusing to accept that she would just leave. They had survived all this time, they had come all this way only to be torn apart by her very own sister? Ruby didn't want to believe it.

'Shh,' Raven cooed, taking Ruby in her arms. 'Ruby, listen to me.'

Looking straight in her eyes, Raven told her a sentence that almost drove the young girl to hate her.

'She's gone, Ruby. We have to keep going.'

'NO! I'm going to find my sister! I have to! I'M NOT LEAVING HER!'

In between sobs, Ruby managed to blurt out painful screams of emotion, Raven's attempts at trying to calm her doing little to calm her, Neo deciding to try and help the situation.

'Ruby, it's pointless to go blindly searching for her in the mountains, and besides, we have no idea which way she went.'

'I DON'T CARE! She's my sister… she's all I have left!'

'That isn't true and you know it Ruby,' Raven sternly said, evidently having taken offense to Ruby's last statement. 'You have me and Neo here for you, and Ozpin and Glynda are waiting in the Snowpeak Valley. We don't even know if Yang is still alive! She could be dead-'

SLAP.

Ruby's trembling palm left a stinging red mark on Raven's cheek. How could Raven just give up so easily?

'She is NOT dead! Don't you dare say that! And besides, how the hell would you know how I feel anyway?! It's not like you-'

'BECAUSE I'M HER SISTER TOO! THAT'S MY TWIN SISTER THAT DISAPPEARED OVERNIGHT! YOU DON'T THINK IT FUCKING HURTS FOR ME?! WELL GUESS WHAT? IT HURTS. I FEEL LIKE SOMEONE JUST RIPPED MY HEART OUT AND BEAT ME HALF TO DEATH WITH IT!'

For the first time, Ruby had seen Raven's tears of agony. Those tears which she hid so well behind her façade had finally come bursting through the dam, and Ruby was seeing firsthand the effects of what she'd seen combined with the words she had said.

'I'm sorry, I…' Ruby tried to apologize, before she was interrupted by Raven again.

'No, don't even bother. You've made it pretty clear how you feel about me and Neo. You said it yourself, didn't you?'

Ruby's heart felt like it would stop beating when Raven quoted her own words back to her.

'Yang is all you have left. I'd say you made it pretty clear how you felt towards us with that.'

'Look, I'm sorry… I didn't mean…'

'I know what you meant. I'm done helping you, Ruby. You can go search for Yang if you want. Go on, go and pointlessly search the mountains for her by yourself until you freeze to death. These mountains hit -20 °C sometimes. Go on, search for her to your heart's content. I'm through helping you.'

Before Ruby could say another word, Raven opened one of her portals and stepped through it, and like that she was gone.

Ruby dropped to her knees at the realisation of what her words had caused.

I… I drove her away. All because I was selfish.

Unsure of what to do, her eyes welled with tears as she turned to look up at Neo.

But she was not there. Ruby was alone. She had pushed everyone away, all because of her own selfishness.

With no other goal in mind she began aimlessly wandering, hoping to find Yang somewhere among the mountains, even though she knew that the odds were very heavily stacked against her.

What now…? What do I do now…?

Arriving at the facility, Raven collapsed to her knees in tears, a man with greying hair walking over to her to comfort her.

'What happened, Raven?' his gruff voice causing her to raise her head.

'I… I'm sorry. I said I'd bring them back, but I just abandoned them out there…'

'There, there, it's OK. I'm sure you had your reasons.'

Shrugging him off, Raven got up to leave.

'Sorry, I… don't really feeling like talking today. I just need some time alone.'

Saying no more, the two parted ways. As Raven walked back to her room, she was met with a familiar voice, one she had heard several times already yet still made her uncomfortable to hear.

'What did she say to you?'

'Ozpin… how did you…?'

'Come now, I was the headmaster of Beacon for a time. You don't lead an entire school of Hunters and Huntresses if you can't read people like I can. Besides, Ruby was always one to wear her heart on her sleeve. She's honest. Maybe a little too honest sometimes, but she doesn't mean anything bad by what she says.'

'She didn't care about others. All she wanted was to sate her own feelings, to make herself happy. Yang left us, and she couldn't handle the fact that we weren't going to find her.'

Pausing for a second, Ozpin's next words gave Raven some food for thought.

'In the end, don't all humans do things to satisfy their own desires? Tell me, why did her words upset you? She was just a girl who wanted to find her sister. While it is true that that girl is your sister also, Ruby is far less accustomed to this sort of lifestyle than you are. She wasn't thinking of anyone but the person she had lost, and that's what caused you so much distress. But doesn't that distress stem from a desire to feel wanted? Weren't you upset because you wanted her to care about you?'

She didn't know what it was with Ozpin, but he somehow always managed to make her see things from a different light. Leaving her with that, Raven spent the rest of the night in her room thinking over his words.

Is that really true? Was I just angry because I wanted to feel like they needed me? Was it all just because of my own selfish thoughts that I snapped at her?

With those thoughts lingering in her head, she felt pangs of guilt gnawing away at her.

And I left them out there. Two young girls, with no food, water or warmth. I left them to die. What have I done…?

Neo continued her walk through the mountains, the frost beginning to take its toll on her health as her joints began to numb. She knew that she would have to find warmth or at least somewhere that wasn't so cold very soon or she would freeze to death. Eventually, after another hour of walking, she came across a group of Grimm that had abnormally thick coats compared to the ones in the south. With no other choice, she systematically killed them all before skinning one of them, retreating into a nearby crevice after she was finished. The pelt didn't help much against the bitter temperature, but it was enough to keep her from freezing. Managing to find some solace in sleep she peacefully dozed off, hoping to find the facility that Raven mentioned in the morning.

I'm sorry, Ruby.

I had to leave.

I couldn't take the risk of losing control of my Grimm side and killing you.

It's for the best.

Just… make sure you survive, OK sis?

Wiping tears from her eyes, she felt the dull, thumping feeling of her headache growing ever stronger.

It was a strange feeling.

And she knew.

She knew that it would only get worse and worse.

It would continue to grow worse, the destined day drawing ever closer.

It was a feeling she would never forget.