6

Professor Glynda guided both Team RWBY and Team JNPR through the Forest of Forever Fall, letting out an annoyed breath through her nose when Team CDRL screeched like the uncouth nuisances they were, reminding her that they were on the same mission as well. Though, it would have been impractical for her to voice it, she could not wait to get away from them any sooner.

"Though, the Forest may be beautiful this time of year," she stopped in the middle of a clearing which was bathed in the red hues on the forest, "that doesn't mean that danger isn't lurking in the shadows, waiting for an opportune time to strike. So, I urge you to be cautious. Professor Peach has asked of you to gather some sap samples from the trees. I'm only here as supervision, and to ensure you all leave here safely. You may go about your way." She finished, allowing the teams to go about their task.

"Come on, come on! Let's go, let's go!" Ruby shoved Weiss further along the mulch littered path, Yang trailing behind Blake.

A slight chill washed over Ruby as she continued to push Weiss, halting when frost creeped over her fingers. "Um, Weiss, what's this-"

Weiss turned her head a touch, sapphire eyes chilly as they glared at Ruby. "Stop. Pushing. Me."

More ice spread on her fingers, causing Ruby to jump back with a yelp.

"Y-Ya know, I-I-I'll just go over there, like waaay over there, since I can see you're fine on your own, hehe-eh." Sapphire eyes narrowing further made Ruby disappear, leaving Weiss to herself.

"Ice Queen wins again." Yang grimaced while Blake felt sorry for Ruby.

With enough space between her and Weiss, Ruby switched her attention to her near frost bitten fingers, blowing on them to restore some of the lost heat. A solemn sigh diverted her attention. To her right, she saw Pyrrha, face bent in worry.

Should she go over and ask her what was wrong?

Perhaps it was better if she minded her own business. It looked like a personal issue she needed to deal with alone. On the other hand, she couldn't exactly go back over to her team, where Weiss was clearly still pissed. She chose the 'stay alive' option.

"Pyrrha, something wrong? You look down." Ruby asked, genuinely concerned as she moved to her friend.

Pyrrha jumped slightly at the unexpected voice, turning to see Ruby behind her. "Oh, Ruby, I didn't hear you approach."

"Yeah, I guessed as much. Are you okay?"

"I am." Her lips told one story, but her eyes told another tale.

"Are you sure?" Silver eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Thank you for your concern, but I assure you I am fine, Ruby." Pyrrha said, trying to appease the crimsonette's worry.

"Well, if you say so. Come on, we should get back to our mission." Ruby grabbed Pyrrha's hand. "We can hang out while we collect the samples."

"That would be pleasant, but I should get back to to my team first."

"Oh, alright." Ruby dropped her hand, and watched as Pyrrha left.

As she left to find her teammates, her mind was muddled as it swam with thoughts. A belly flutter compelled her to rest her hands atop her stomach as she recalled Ruby's concern for her. Tightness gripped her throat as she remembered those worried silver eyes.

"Woo!" Nora's wild cry broke Pyrrha from her thoughts. She smiled when she found Ren and Nora filling their jars with sap, frowing soon after when their leader was not to be found.

"Ren, where is Jaune?"

"He's with Cardin and his team again, though I suppose you already knew that."

"I see," Pyrrha exhaled, her gaze dropping to the ground, "Ruby asked me to join her in collecting the sap, I thought it would be nice if you all came with me."

Ren nodded, and stood as he called Nora, who was somehow hanging upside-down from a tree branch, gathering sap.

Ruby quickly bypassed Weiss' hunched over form as she gathered sap. A safe distance away from her icy partner, she bent down and cut small pocket in a tree trunk, a flow of sap oozing after. Before her hands got sticky, she fished out her earbuds, and put them in her ears. Uncapping her jar, she collected the copious liquid.

Even though her attention was focused elsewhere, Weiss heard when Ruby zoomed by her, clearly wanting to avoid her. Weiss sighed. It's possible she may have been a bit too harsh on the girl. Ruby was excitable by nature, a common fact, she should've gotten use to this by now.

To rectify this wrong that plagued her mind, Weiss came to the decision she would go apologize to her partner.

Weiss straightened up, and sauntered to Ruby, whose back was still turned to her as she focused on collecting the sap. "Ruby."

No response.

'Is she ignoring me?' Weiss moved a bit closer. "Ruby."

Still nothing as Ruby continued to fill her jar, head bobbing ever so slightly.

Weiss became agitated. "Ruby-!"

"Yoo-hoo, your queen of the castle has arrived!" Nora's raucous shout did the trick in breaking Ruby's concentration from her task where Weiss failed.

"Huh?" Ruby took to her feet, removing the small earbuds. "Nora, you guys came."

Meanwhile, Weiss clenched her teeth, vein throbbing on her forehead as she stared at those noise-cancelling-with-more-noise ear pieces, but simmered quickly after. 'She couldn't hear me because of those earbuds, not because she was ignoring me. At least, that's something.'

"Hello, Ruby, I see your team is fairing better than us in collecting samples." Ren monotoned, motioning to his orange haired counterpart who was stuffing her face with the sticky fluid.

"Hehe, so it seems." It was only then Ruby noticed Weiss. "Oh, Weiss, there something you need?"

Weiss could literally hear Ruby carefully choosing her words, tone meek. She breathed out. "No, never mind."

"Oh, alright." Ruby stepped around Weiss, moving onto a next tree to fetch more samples.

Weiss remained where she stood, feeling more than responsible for Ruby's behaviour towards her. 'Great.'

Yang and Blake had seen the whole ordeal, empathy rising in their eyes for the girl. "Ouch, Ruby unintentionally shut down Weiss. Any input?"

"Well, she did yell at Ruby earlier. I kind of saw it coming." Blake added her own commentary.

"Reasonable enough."

Before the two could comment any further, a scream echoed within the forest. In the distance, members of Team CRDL were running their way, minus their leader. Jars and sap were forgotten as everyone focused on the three figures. Once the boys got close enough, they saw the spooked and frightened look on each face. One of the fleeing members, Russle Thrush, had the unfortunate fate of colliding with Yang, who yanked him back by his collar.

"What's going on?"

"It's Cardin, an Ursa's attacking him!" The frightened boy shouted. Pyrrha's blood ran cold. Jaune was with Cardin.

Yang let Russel fall in the dirt, watching as he scurried away. 'Coward.' She looked to Ruby, faintly nodding, Ruby nodding in return.

"Listen up, everyone!" Ruby declared, gaining the attention of the others. "Pyrrha, Weiss, you're with me." She turned to her sister and her partner. "Blake, Yang, I need you two as backup in case things get ugly. I'll send a signal in case we need help." Two nods of understanding. "Nora and Ren, you go inform Professor Goodwitch about the situation." Obeying the orders, Nora and Ren set out to find Goodwitch.

"Alright, girls! We have an Ursa to kill!" Something dangerous glinted in Ruby's eyes as she sped down the path Cardin's team came, her comrades struggling to keep up.

In a large clearing, Jaune did battle with the Ursa. Bobbing and weaving under its powerful claws, parrying when he found the smallest openings. Upon arrival, Ruby and Weiss were keen to assist him, but their attempt was halted by Pyrrha.

"Watch." was the only thing she said.

And, watch they did. Jaune rolled under a massive claw, his shield coming up as the Ursa moved to stomp him. With some effort, Jaune was able to push the beast off, and stumbling back before he got back to his feet, grip tight on his sword and shield.

To say they were impressed at Jaune's fighting prowess would be an understatement. He was holding his own against the Ursa, blow for blow. No one would have thought he would have been so adept in a fight, furthermore alone, given his previous battles. Weiss seemed to have gained a slither of respect for the boy as she observed him.

Worry replaced admiration when the monster got a hit in, knocking Jaune back, but he recovered swiftly, and lifted his shield, bracing for another attack. The beast roared, and charged, engaging the blonde once more.

Realizing Jaune had proved his mettle, Pyrrha subtly lifted her hand, a low hum buzzing around it.

The Ursa tried for one more claw smash, which Jaune blocked easier than the previous times. Defense broken, Jaune threw the creature's paw to the side, and swung his sword in a crescent arch, cleaving the beast's head.

"Wait, what?" One minute Jaune was being overpowered, then the next he pushed back the Ursa with ease and beheaded it. "What the heck just happened?"

"I'm inclined to agree." Weiss said, equally as confused.

"I've been meaning to tell you, but I suppose I forgot." She turned to face the two girls. "My semblance is… polarity."

"Impressive. It must be quite efficient during combat." Weiss said.

"Polarity…" Ruby repeated, focus going back to Jaune as he caught his breath. "Cool."

At Ruby's whisper, Weiss trained her gaze on her partner. Closely inspecting her, she noticed a few things she'd never paid any attention to since becoming attached to the girl. Like the small, almost indiscernible cuts that littered her face, and the pudginess of cheeks. The last thing she noticed, was the way her eyes glowed whenever she became fascinated with something. Her eyes strayed down the side of Ruby's body that was to her, taking in how tight the fabric of her top seemed around her biceps. The gaze fell further, coming to a standstill when very slightly purple tinted fingertips came into view.

'My fault.' Weiss inwardly scolded herself. "Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"Show me your hands."

"Uh, why?"

"Just, show me your hands… please." Weiss rarely said please, let alone to her, so Ruby obeyed the request, taken by the demeanor.

Ruby lifted her hands, breath hitching when Weiss tenderly took them into her own. Weiss' hands were soft, and smooth, unlike her own calloused ones. A sense of inadequacy urged her to take her hands back, and hide them away, but it vanished when Weiss spoke again.

"It's frostbite, nothing too severe, but your fingers must be slightly numb." Weiss gnawed at her cheek. Oddly enough, only the fingers on Ruby's left hand suffered from frostbite; the digits on her right were completely fine. Weiss didn't let that minor oddity stop her from experiencing guilt, however. "I'm sorry."

"Hey." Ruby said softly, noting the downcast expression on her partner's face. "It's okay. It was my fault. I know you don't like being pushed around like that, so I was kinda asking for it."

"Still, I should heal it for you, as an apology." Weiss' hands were already glowing a light blue.

"You don't need to do that, my au-"

"Please."

That word again. A foreign term coming the heiress. One Ruby hoped to hear sometime again in the future.

"Okay."

Given permission, Weiss covered Ruby's hands with hers. A warm, prickling sensation flowed along her fingers, the purple tint on her injured hand clearing up the longer Weiss held her hands. After some time, feeling returned to her fingertips as the slight numbness vanished, and the frostbite subsided.

With the deed done, the two should've released each other's hands immediately afterwards, but they didn't as their hands remained firmly locked together.

"Thank you." Ruby breathed, looking up to find oceans of cerulean.

"Don't mention it." Weiss spoke under her breath.

They stood there for what felt like ages, no words said as silver stayed locked with sapphire, content with simply being close. However, their moment would end when Yang jumped through the foliage, shouting her name; Blake appearing soon after.

"I should go tell them what happened here." Ruby murmured.

"Of course." But, Weiss made no moves to let go. It was only when Ruby stepped back, and gave her one last fleeting touch before she made her way over to the others did she wake from her trance.

'What… What was that?' Weiss clutched her hands close to her chest, the same hands that'd been entwined with Ruby's. She directed her gaze to her rear, where Ruby was animatedly telling the tale of Jaune doing battle against the Ursa. Yang grinned as she watched Ruby over exaggerated actions, while Blake had a small smile on her lips. Weiss focused on her hands again, gripping the cloth of her bolero. 'What is… this?'

Meanwhile, Pyrrha had witnessed the whole exchange. She resolved to go check on Jaune, choosing to put her attention on a matter that wouldn't leave a bitter taste in her mouth.

Dorms: Team RWBY

Today, Ruby and Blake were the only ones to occupy their dormitory. Yang had woken up early this morning—shockingly—for her routine workout, which consisted of pulverizing a sandbag.

Ruby set her eyes on the other side of the room where Blake sat on her bed, back against the pillows and legs drawn up to her chest, a book resting on her knees as she read.

On Blake's side, even though her eyes were focused on the book before her, Ruby's gaze was a rather heavy presence in the room.

"Blake, can I ask you something?"

"What is it, Ruby?" Being emotionally introverted proved to be useful at times, as it meant people couldn't guess what she was thinking.

"Can you tell me about your childhood?" She had learnt a small bit of Weiss', though she had an inkling there was more to it. However, Ruby saw no point in pressuring Weiss to talk about something personal to her. If anything, it would just force Weiss to go back into that cold shell she was working her way out of.

Blake's body went rigid. It was only a matter of time before that dreaded question came her way. In truth, it was an innocent question asked by someone with a curious streak, but the events that occurred in her childhood… Blake refused to taint Ruby's innocence with such grim tales. The uncomfortable guilt that came with delving into her past only reinforced her stance on the topic.

Blake's abrupt silence worried Ruby.

"Er… you don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable." Blake nodded before hiding her face behind her book. 'Guess I'm not the only one with a troubled past.'

"By the way, where's Weiss?" Ruby asked, seeking to dissolve the growing the tension in the room.

"Volunteered to help with the dance." Short, and to the point.

'Great, I think I screwed up.' She groused, flinching at the older girl's tone.

"Well, I have nothing to do right now. Wanna come with me and help Weiss?" She bit her lip, praying the girl would agree.

She was relieved when she heard a soft 'sure' from the amber eyed girl. Jumping from her bunk, Ruby waited at the door as Blake bookmarked her page before joining her.

Ruby plodded down the hall as Blake trudged after her. Reaching the ballroom, they jerked slightly when Weiss' voice pierced through the commotion of the workers as she shouted for someone to bring her a ladder.

"Hey, Weiss! Need any help?" Ruby chirped as she pranced over to Weiss.

"Ruby, when did you get here?" She remembered leaving the girl inside their dorm, fast asleep. "Blake?" A perfect brow met her hairline as she eyed the ebony haired girl. Blake was usually submerged in one of her books around this time.

Blake gave a lazy wave in acknowledgement.

"We just got here, actually. Figured you might need some help." Ruby gestured, flexing her moderately sized biceps.

Weiss closed her eyes, and shook her head at the childish antic, the corner of her mouth turned up in a smirk. "That was very considerate of you. Feel free to help anyone in need of assistance."

Ruby gave a salute while Blake wandered off to a quiet corner, where no one would trouble her.

An opportunity to help presented itself when Ruby spotted Velvet adding some decal to the walls.

"Velvet." At the sound of her name, Velvet offered a meek wave when she saw Ruby approaching.

"How's it going?" Ruby greeted. "Need some help?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Thank you for asking." Velvet replied. "And, yes, help would be most appreciated."

Plastering decals on the wall served to be a fun task for Ruby made better with Velvet at her side. The work load was easier, and it was enjoyable to laugh with a friend while she worked. Grabbing a few more decals, she scaled the ladder, and resumed sticking them on the wall. Every once in awhile, she would steal glances at Velvet, checking her progress. When she looked again, she caught Velvet staring at her. Squeaking, Velvet hid her reddening face by busying herself with more work.

Confused, Ruby shrugged it off.

Plastering the last decal on the wall, Ruby slid down the ladder, when she heard a shriek. Whipping her head around, she saw Weiss about to go crashing down off the ladder.

Weiss closed her eyes, bracing herself for an impact that never came. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see Ruby holding her, a cheeky smile on her face. "You're not gonna fall on my watch."

That feeling she felt during their mission returned as a blush crept along her nose bridge. Dipping her head, Weiss offered her gratitude. "T-Thank you, Ruby."

"Hehe, no problem." Ruby set Weiss down on her feet. "Be a bit more careful next time."

"Of course. We should finish here, so we can go back to the dorm." Weiss quickly said, wanting to get as far away as she could from Ruby. 'That feeling's back again. What is it?' She thought back to the Forest of Forever Fall, how guilty she'd felt when Ruby avoided her. Then, she recalled the look in her eyes as she healed the frostbite she'd cause. The way they unknowingly dissected her entire being as she returned the stare. And, now, when she'd been about to fall to a painful impact, Ruby had swooped in and caught her, securely placing her arms under her.

Right then and there, Weiss had felt safe in those small, yet strong arms. 'Could it be?' Weiss glanced back to where she'd left Ruby, who was doing silly faces as Velvet laughed, head whipping back around when Ruby caught her, and sent a smile her way. 'It's not possible…'

But, it was quite possible as Weiss recounted the facts. If she could go further up the line, regarding previous encounters with Ruby, she would always say she felt like a normal person around the active teen. There was no need to carry herself with so much stiffness, and upright posture around the girl, even though she habitually continued to due to the constant discipline instilled in her. Around Ruby, she considered herself a free soul, a normal teen even. Someone who could make mistakes, and laugh them off while they strived to do better in the future. Ruby was the only known person, besides her sister, who could cause such emotions to rise in her.

That's why it was all the more possible for her new found discovery to be true.

'I can't believe it… I like Ruby.'

Ruby called Blake, a sign it was time to go. Blake came almost running, more than happy to leave. She waved goodbye to everyone, about to leave when a gloved hand grabbed her wrist.

"There you are. Come on, you're coming with me." Yang didn't even wait for an answer, already halfway down the corridor.

"What, wait!" Ruby struggled in the grip, but just couldn't free herself. "I'll see you later, Blake!"

Blake distractedly waved, staring as Yang kidnapped Ruby, taking her to Dust knows where. 'So, Yang's gone with Ruby, and Weiss is here cleaning up.' She smirked. 'Well, you know what they say. When the owner's away, the cat will play.'

City of Vale

"Yang, did you really have to drag me out here?" Ruby whined, and pouted. "Why did you even drag me here?"

"No reason."

"You dragged me out in the cold for no reason." Ruby smacked Yang on the arm. "You could've gotten my coat for me!"

"Ow! My bad. Here, accept my apology." Yang pulled Ruby closer, and wrapped her arm around her, letting her abnormally high body temperature ward off the biting cold. "Better?"

"Better." Ruby gave a contented chirp as she snuggled deeper into the welcomed warmth.

"Glad to be of service. Now, come on, we're almost there."

"You still haven't told me where we're going."

"We're gonna go get you some new clothes. The ones you have now are pretty much ruined."

"That's not true!" Ruby squawked, tempted to pull back, so Yang could see her face, but chose to stay in the warmth.

"Right." Yang said, not believing her one bit. "We're here." She pushed open the door of the boutique, where a store clerk greeted her as she dragged in a reluctant Ruby.

They'd spent Remnant knows how long in the store, searching for clothes for Ruby. It had gotten to the point that Yang decided to spare the kind lady as she sent her away to deal with less picky customers. So, that left Yang on her own to deal with her hard to please sibling.

Anything that caught Yang's eye was thrown in the growing clothes pile in Ruby's arms.

"Yang, do we really need all of this?" The clothes in her hand amounted to enough money that could've been put towards spare parts for a weapon. Spare parts for Crescent Rose.

"Duh, all your other clothes are torn, and ripped from fighting Grimm." She bopped Ruby on the nose. "Besides, no little sister of mine is gonna walk around looking like she just crawled out of a trash heap."

"B-But, we only wear our school uniform these days."

"Doesn't matter! Now, time to try on your new digs." She shoved Ruby into a dressing stall, and waited on the plush sofa until she finished.

Ruby let out a pitiful whimper, sobbing as she gazed at the mountain of clothes in her hands.

The two siblings waved bye to the store clerk after they paid for Ruby's outfit. As they walked down the sidewalk, Yang sent Ruby a disappointed glare.

"What?"

"I just can't believe we spent all that time shopping, and all you buy is a damn coat!" Yang gesticulated to make certain that Ruby knew how peeved she was.

"But, the coat's really comfortable!" Ruby exclaimed, rather offended. The coat in question was a nice red with a fine black fur trim, and button fastening. It even came with a red velvet hood, so, of course, Ruby leapt at the chance to buy it.

Yang smack her forehead and sighed. "Whatever. We should hurry, you're complaining held us up so much that it's almost night."

"But, airships don't run at this hour! What are we gonna do?"

"Just great." Yang massaged her temples. "We'll go to a hotel, but I don't think I can afford anything nice."

"I can." Ruby pulled out her scroll, and displayed her funds.

"Holy crap! Where'd all this cash come from?" Yang counted at least seven zeros.

"Ya know, did some volunteer work, or killed some really pesky Grimm after I left Signal. I mainly helped those who were in need of it." Ruby placed her scroll back in her pocket.

"Really?" Where was she when this all went on? "Why did you leave to begin with? You were only twelve at the time."

"I wanted to do things on my own, ya know, get a feel for the world out there."

"Well, how 'bout that? Little sis is wiser than I took her for." The blonde poked.

"Hey!"

"Let's go, rich sister of mine. It's starting to get colder." Yang ushered Ruby along.

Ruby bounced into the hotel, and walked up to the front desk where she kindly asked the receptionist for a room, thankful when he gave her the room keys. Yang lounged in a chair while the transaction took place.

"Yang, I got us a room." Ruby waved Yang over. Once they reached their room number, Ruby opened the door and flicked on the switch to reveal only one bed in the room.

"Why is there only one bed?" She gave Ruby an expectant stare.

"I may, or may not have forgotten to ask for more than one bed." Ruby sheepishly laughed. "We're sisters, so it shouldn't matter, right?"

"As much as I love you Ruby, you drool like a Beowolf pup."

"And, you snore like an Ursa!" Ruby retorted as she rested the bag with her coat in a chair.

"Touché." Yang conceded as she stripped her outer clothing, remaining only in a vest and a pair of shorts. In front of her, Ruby stood clad only in her sports bra, and tights. "Oooh, was someone hoping for some action tonight?"

"Does this scream 'come eat me'?" Yang's lecherous grin told Ruby it did to her. Ruby scoffed at the gesture. "Oh, just get in the bed, you perv."

"You love this perv, though."

"Unfortunately."

Yang climbed into the bed, crawling up to the headboard before she settled in a comfy spot against the pillows. She patted the spot next to her, inviting Ruby. Ruby sidled up beside her sister, curling up to side of Yang as she rested her head under her neck. It never took long for Ruby to fall asleep when she was already exhausted. Yang brushed a stray strand of crimson hair from her face, smiling gently as she watched the younger girl snuggle closer.

'I love you, Ruby.' Yang thought, soon joining Ruby in peaceful slumber.