RWBYA: Volume 1: Vale. A RWBY AU/Fanfiction.

Chapter 11: Azure's Broken Embers

The air got colder as Rain began to pour down across Vale and Beacon Academy. It made the mood even worse as Weiss ran across the campus.

"Aoihi! Aoihi! Where are you?! Aoihi!"

She ran across every inch and corner, both in and out. She had JUST gotten to the statue when she found him sitting in front of it. Her heart ached at the mere sight of Aoihi. Not only did he look miserable, but he looked hurt, scared, cold, and just vulnerable. Hitching her breath, she edged closer to him.

"Aoihi." Weiss said to the boy softly as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Please, don't run. Don't cry. I'm here."

"Don't treat me like an infant, darn it." Aoihi said as he sniffled and sobbed. Weiss was not deterred at all.

"I didn't mean to." She replied with a soft and genuinely concerned voice. She then hugged him tenderly. "Aoihi. You're going to catch a cold if you stay out here. Please, come back with me to your dorm room."

Aoihi sniffed and shuddered.

"Okay..." He replied, his voice cracking with a sadness Weiss had never seen.

Slowly following her, Aoihi stayed close to Weiss as she led him back to his dorm. Once there, Sunlight was sound asleep in his kennel, as Aoihi sat down at his desk with no light but the desk lamp on. As Weiss sat across from him on his bed, she glanced over at her crush, worried for him.

"Aoihi, you look so rattled after Cardin's 'announcement.' I've never EVER seen you like this. Not this vulnerable."

Aoihi sighed and nodded.

"Not surprised. I always kept things in check, though I suppose have such a personal detail being revealed in public didn't really help me either." He soon stood up from his desk chair and walked over to his dresser where he opened up one of the drawers that he told Weiss to not open. After a bit of rummaging, he closed the drawer and returned to his desk chair with a plate type belt buckle that was in the shape of the emblem on his armband. Weiss gazed at it with wonder as she saw a few nicks and rust marks on it.

"Whoa! That's an old belt buckle! How long did you have it for, Aoihi?"

Aoihi shuddered some and sniffed.

"7 years. The same amount of time I have been TRULY been at Beacon."

Weiss's eyes widened.

"7?! But, you said 4!"

"I know." Aoihi sighed. "It's not a complete lie, I have OFFICIALLY been a part of Beacon's students since age 13. However, unofficially, it's 7, for Ozpin took me in as his ward at age 10. For the sake of not bringing too much jealousy, we only state the years when I was officially in the system as a Beacon student."

Weiss nodded thoughtfully.

"I get it. Truly, I do. But what does this have to do with everything that Cardin said?"

Aoihi took a deep breath, he decided to tell Weiss the tale.

"Within one of the furthest outskirts in the Kingdom Of Altas, there is a small mining village that is practically owned by the Schnee Dust Company. Very little know its name, but boy do they not know that would be a very good blessing for them, for Jundo is anything but a nice little town. This mining village was very terrible and its mines were in even WORSE shape than most. Yet, the mining Faunus and worker still pushed on without the proper safety measures in place."

Weiss gasped in shock.

"J-Jundo! I heard of it. A massive dust vain is there." She then looked at him with worry. "You mean to tell me that my father was being neglectful of all the safety there?"