That first meeting with Headmaster Theodore had been tense. Velvet had worried they’d have to beg for admission to Shade. She’d been overwhelmed by everything they had gone through, not to mention the headmaster’s strong presence. Back then she’d kept quiet, studying her surroundings.

Unlike Rumpole, Headmaster Theodore seemed to be the sentimental sort. That, or he liked showing off the important friends he had. His office wall was covered in pictures of him posing with the headmasters of the other Huntsmen academies and even the Shade teachers. Velvet had recognized a picture of Ruby’s uncle Qrow and wondered what the connection there was.

She still remembered that her attention had been drawn to one photo in particular: a black-and-white picture of a young girl in pigtails and a checkered dress with a small black dog. She hadn’t mustered the courage to ask who she was to Theodore. A daughter? A sister? Whoever she was, Velvet could see the resemblance.

Some of those pictures were missing now—though it was likely no one but Velvet, with her photographic memory, would have noticed. The framed pictures of Theodore with Professor Lionheart from Haven, and General Ironwood of Atlas, were gone entirely. And one picture had changed positions, now occupying a more prominent position at the top of the wall: the one of Headmaster Theodore with Professor Ozpin.

Velvet’s eyes burned when she saw it. She blinked back tears, memories flooding through her mind. When she regained her composure and turned her attention to the group, she noticed that Headmaster Theodore was watching her.

“I sent someone to the Mirage to look for Mr. Daichi,” Theodore announced to the whole group. “They reported that there was no one there. The place looks like it hasn’t been touched in decades.”

- RWBY: Before the Dawn, Chapter 16