Yo Peeps, GMG here with chapter 2 of AF. Not much to share except... this amazing quote by reader Eclipsent: "The best reason is the reason of no reason, for if you have reason then you may lose sight of your true reason."

This gem is from our kik chat and many like it show up fairly often. This quote was especially beautiful, thus it's featured here.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY...

Ruby Rose looked at the three students from Haven before glancing at the one she hadn't met before. "Is this your teammate?" she asked them. "She kind of looks like you.." she trailed off, gesturing at Cinder.

"She's not our teammate," Mercury said, grinning at the obvious discomfort Cinder was in. Just because she was his boss, didn't mean he had to play kiss up all the time.

Cinder glared at him before turning back to Ruby. "This is my sister... Autumn."

The older Cinder, now Autumn, waved with a small smile. Reaching out, she shook Ruby's hand before pulling it up and laying a kiss on the back, grinning as the girl's face lit up a bright red. "Nice to meet you," she forced out, her hoarse voice still a strain even a year or so after the incident that caused the injury.

Letting the girl's hand drop, said scythe-wielder stammering awkwardly, she turned to look at the other three, having to hold back a snicker. Cinder looked mortified, probably wondering why she was so friendly to a girl they both knew was Cinder's enemy. Emerald was looking between Autumn, Cinder, and Ruby, a hurt look on her face. Autumn grimaced. Note to self, get the girl to meet someone... Meanwhile, Mercury's smug smirk intensified. It seemed like he had won the all time lottery of black mail on his boss.

"Ruby Rose," squeaked Ruby, drawing Autumn's attention back to the girl. "Would you like a tour? Y'know, if your sister hasn't done so already?" She shuffled nervously, looking down at her feet and her red cheeks holding onto the vibrant hue.

Autumn nodded her assent and motioned for the girl to lead on. As she followed behind the flustered girl, she giggled silently as she heard Mercury. "Little Red, huh?"

This was followed by the scathing hiss from Cinder. "Shut up!"

XXXGMGXXX

It was surreal, being led around the campus. Of course, she had traversed it plenty of times before, both in its ruined form and its current, in tact form. Autumn was more than content to listen to Ruby chatter on about her friends and how the semester was progressing. In fact, it had acted as a bit of catharsis for both in Autumn's time as captive. She'd not be left to silence and the inevitable madness that would come of it, while Ruby was able to get everything off her chest about the war.

Even with the innocent topics spoken of now, Cinder just hummed quietly as she followed. It caused some pain, but the Schnee girl had said it would help her in the long run. She hadn't done it much in her time, not wanting to be interrogated upon recovering her ability to speak coherently, something Ruby had understood and left the decision in her hands.

Speaking of the Schnee, she had actually met the girl on the path Ruby had taken her. The white-haired heiress was accompanied by Yang and Blake, both pleasant enough to Autumn. It was a bit strange seeing the blonde without her prosthetic, but an actual arm.

What had happened was certainly amusing. Much like Mercury, Yang had grinned deviously at the sight of her flustered sister leading an older, very attractive woman around the school. The Fall Maiden had simply stood with Blake and Weiss as all three watched the two sisters hash it out. Ruby tried to get Yang to leave her be, with no success. Meanwhile the trio of girls were snickering as they watched.

She introduced herself to the monochromatic pair, her whispered voice earning her the expected concerned looks. A bright smile allayed their sympathy. Weiss spared a knowing glance at her injured eye, her own scar showing how close she was to such a fate.

Finally, Ruby had given up, throwing her hands in the air before stomping over to Autumn, pouting. It took the Fall Maiden's entire concentration to resist the urge to hug the girl tightly and never let go of the precious thing. As she was pulled away from Ruby's team, a lecherous grin pulled at her lips. There would certainly be benefits to such an action, Autumn admitted. Ruby Rose was certainly something to behold in the coming years and just because she never tried at her former enemy, didn't mean she hadn't planned to.

Her grin dropped. The sad thought of never seeing that Ruby was disheartening in the extreme. So much lost time. Glancing again at the bright smile of the Ruby of now, she couldn't frown for long. This girl was the same as the young woman who had touched Autumn so deeply.

Another thought popped into her mind, pushing her to twine her hand with Ruby's. The following embarrassed dialogue had Cinder beaming as the girl continued their journey around Beacon. Eventually, time passed and the sun was falling behind the horizon. Bidding Ruby fare well, Autumn walked off, an entirely different location in mind.

She would have to remember the look on Ozpin's face when she managed to appear in his office unannounced, with no indication of her arrival. When he had noticed who it was that had appeared his composure quickly settled and he bid her to take a seat.

Ignoring him, she walked up to his desk, looking down at the seated man. "There is need for you to hear me, Ozpin."

Looking up at her over his specs, he nodded. "That much I figured once I caught sight of your sudden appearance on our cameras." He cleared his throat. "Given your conversation with Cinder Fall, I assume you are somehow related to her?"

"I am her."

End...

Another chapter down. With this one starts the pattern of early chapters for kik chatters. Remember to vote on the poll for any PR readers, if you haven't. If you're new to my stories, check out some of my other fics. Adieu for now!

Added: check out Birds Among Dragons by In The Cold I'm Standing. This is for anyone who likes both Overwatch ship PharMercy and the game skyrim. The writer did really well with what they have so far, and I thought it'd be nice to help find more readers for it.