Causality

Chapter 2: Bearings

Thankfully for his sanity, the trail of petals Ruby left behind slowly dissipated before him. Whitley was now free to search for the student dorms. Ruby had told him guests tended to stay within the building right across from the student dorms. He was confident he could stumble his way to what must be somewhat of a distinct building. If not, he could always flag down a random student and ask for help.

Whitley exited the cafeteria through the same door Ruby had fled the building from. Upon his exit, he noticed he was shaded under a veranda. Several tables and chairs were placed around in what he could only assume was a small outside eating area for students. With minor regret at not having eaten his snack outside, he left the shade of the veranda and moved through the small courtyard.

Whitley wrapped around towards the front of the cafeteria, assuming it would be far easier to find the dorms by starting his journey from the front of the campus. Once he reached the front of the campus, he decided to follow the walking path around the right side of the campus.

'Surely, the path must go in a giant circle around the campus or the designers were incompetent to the extreme.'

He wheeled his luggage behind him as he walked forward down the path. His gaze sometimes strayed from the architecture of the buildings to glance at the occasional student. None of the students obstructed his path or flagged him down, thankfully. As much as he wished to find his dorm, he did somewhat enjoy just having a chance to wander the grounds of the campus his sister constantly gushed over.

He was grateful he was never infected by the same lust for martial activities his sisters were. Whitley could only imagine Winter and Weiss would have driven him insane trying to make him choose between Atlas Academy or Beacon Academy. He still recalled how disappointed Winter was in Weiss choosing to attend Beacon Academy over Atlas Academy. A part of him was disappointed by Weiss's drive to seek out a measure of personal independence causing her to move so far out of Atlas.

The Schnee estate was feeling much lonelier with both of his sisters effectively moved out. Their decisions to leave somewhat pushed him towards a path to stay closer to home to spare the feelings of his parents from having all three of their children fully moved out. Whitley didn't mind following in his mother's footsteps with the SDC. Plus his position offered him this wonderful opportunity to surprise Weiss at Beacon.

Well, he also had to admit he was curious about where Weiss would be spending her next few years training to be a Huntsman and who she would be spending those years with. Ruby, though a little odd, seemed like a sweet girl. He still found it a little difficult to wrap his head around her being responsible for the death of Callows, but her weapon of choice certainly explained how she achieved the feat. If anyone deserved such a brutal way to go, it was that murderer.

Whitley slightly rolled up the sleeve of his blazer to check his watch. He had told Ruby to call him around thirty minutes after her departure from the cafeteria. So far, his exploration of the campus had cost him around five minutes. He needed to increase his pace if he didn't want to be doomed to dragging his luggage around all day.

He stopped his leisurely studying of the campus, opting to move with some speed in his steps. Eventually, he reached the back of the campus. Two nearly identical buildings were placed across from each other. The only notable difference being the building on the right having a few extra floors. He moved off the main walking path to follow the side path leading towards the area dividing the two buildings.

The side path led to a small circular area with a central fountain. A few benches were placed up against half-walls with hedges placed behind them. The circular area branched into two separate paths individually leading to the two buildings. Whitley felt confident one of the buildings had to be the one containing his room. He followed the split path to the smaller building on the left on a whim.