Chapter Text
“Well, this has been disappointing.” A cultured, ancient voice says. Ruby struggles to roll her eyes, tuning the ancient woman out.
'She's such a bitch.' God, she's so tired. And everything hurt. Heck, her eyes hurt, and they never did anymore! Her eyes haven't hurt her since she was fifteen. She's long since learned to control the Silver. Maria really helped, when she was still alive. The old woman hadn't lived long after the fiasco that was Atlas, about five years back. But she survived long enough to help Ruby with her abilities.
Ruby returns her attention to the still-in-the-midst-of-a-monologue Salem. 'Don't even get me started on this bitch.' Does she ever stop talking? Seriously, Ruby clearly hasn't been paying any attention. A long, black blade forms in Salem's hands. 'Oh, look, she's almost done talking.'
Ruby tunes back in just as Salem finishes her monologue with, “-such a shame. Truly.” Salem holds the blade to Ruby's left eye.“Any last words?” Ruby scoffs and shrugs, the motion sending painful shivers through her. A brief flash of pain later, and it's dark, and she can feel her life slipping away. 'What a fucking bitch.'
She's in a wagon. Ruby sits up in said wagon and frowns. 'How in the ding-dang-diddly did I get here?' A familiar looking blonde child is slowly tugging the wagon down a barely-used forest trail. Ruby looks around, getting her bearings, before staring at the blonde. The child looks over her shoulder at her and grins, lilac eyes wide. Ruby's jaw drops.
“Just a little longer Ruby! We're almost there!”
'Holy fucking shit that's Yang! ' Ruby hasn't seen her sister since the blonde had gone off on a mission with Ironwood's Ace-Ops and simply never returned. They never found her nor the Ace-Ops, and, due to high Grimm concentration in the area they went missing in, the whole party had been labelled deceased. The team split up shortly after, with Blake up and vanishing one night only to turn up dead (Ruby later found out that Blake had tried to avenge her wife), and Weiss having been killed by Salem's minions mere months later. Ren and Nora (alongside their unborn child) were assassinated in their sleep by Cinder about two years after, and Jaune fell into a manic depression, leaving on a suicide run against Cinder (he ended up successfully killing Cinder, but had forgotten about Emerald, who had returned to Cinder's side, in the heat of the moment, and fell to her blade). Qrow headed back to Beacon after receiving a distress call from Glynda and Taiyang, but fell out of contact and was presumed dead upon finding only shreds of his cloak left. Oscar and Ruby had been the only ones left, but even that didn't last long, with Salem and whatnot. They never found Ozpin's latest incarnation after Oscar was killed, but a young boy in Vacuo seemed like a promising lead. Ruby had been on her way there when –
“Look!” Yang's childish voice cuts into Ruby's thoughts. Ruby looks to where Yang is pointing and –
She wakes up in the back of a wagon. A familiar looking blonde child is slowly tugging the wagon down a barely-used forest trail. Ruby makes a vaguely confused grunt as she sits up and looks around. 'What the actual fuck.' She thinks, silver eyes drifting to the blonde child. Yang looks over her shoulder at her and grins, lilac eyes wide.
“Just a little longer, Ruby! We're almost there!” A constant mantra of 'What the fuck, what the fuck?!' repeats in Ruby's mind. Ruby peers past Yang, at a run-down, barn-like building. 'What the fuck?!' Yang lifts an arm and points at the barn. “Look!” Ruby looks to where Yang is pointing and-
She's in the fucking wagon again. Ruby's eye twitches. 'God-fucking-dammit. Salem, this is your fucking fault isn't it?!'
“Who's Salem?” Ruby blinks. That was different. Yang stops pulling the wagon and looks back at her sister, lilac eyes wide. “Ruby? Who's Salem?”
“Did I say that out loud?”
“Yes.” Yang's eyes narrow. “And daddy says you shouldn't say the bad f-word.” Ruby nods distractedly, eyes darting to the trees, just in time to see an ominous red glow.
“Yang, Grimm.” Ruby points at the emerging Grimm. A small pack of three Beowolves. Yang squeaks in fear.
“Oh no, oh no, what do we do?!”
“Well, calm down for one.” Ruby says, hopping from the wagon. “And hand me that stick.” Yang does as she's told, handing over a thick branch.
“Ruby? What are you doing?” Ruby grins and brandishes the stick like a blade.
“Gonna save our fucking lives!” With that, she leaps at the Grimm pack, stabbing the stick through one of the Beowolves's eye-sockets. She turns to the other two and, focusing her aura inward, draws up the power of the Silver. The Silver greedily sucks up all her aura, and there's a blast of light and-
She's standing in the back of a dust store, a magazine on weapons in her hands, music blaring into her ears. Ruby blinks rapidly, looking around the store, absently turning the music off. 'Isn't this where...?' The robbery. Roman Torchwick. Right... she puts the magazine back on the shelf and grabs the sheathed Crescent Rose. 'At least I have my sweetheart with me.'
“Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a dust shop open this late?” Yep, definitely Roman Torchwick. Ruby turns, just in time to see a thug approach her.
“Hey kid!” The thug shouts, drawing a red blade. “Hands in the air.” Ruby snorts, unsheathing Crescent Rose into its scythe form.
“How about no?” She says, before she slams her scythe into the thug's gut, sending him flying through the store, right out the front window. With a burst of her semblance, she's out the window as well, stabbing down into the thug's chest with her blade. Distantly, she feels like killing the guy is a bit much, but eh, she's done worse – has done worse? Will do worse? What the actual fuck even is her life right now. She's lived through this already. And the wagon thing! She's never appreciated Crescent Rose more than when she fucking died three times in a row without her. So help her god if she fucking wakes up in that fucking wagon again-
“Wow, Red, didn't see that one coming.” She turns, glaring at Torchwick. He's eyeing her with barely-concealed interest, cane twirling in his hands. “A bit overkill though.” Ruby shrugs.
“Eh, I've done worse.”
His eyebrows shoot up, “Oh? Really? Do share.” In a blink of the eye, she's in front of him. A loud clang rings out from where her scythe collides with his cane. “Okay...” His eyes are a bit wider, a hint of fear in them. “You're a speedy little minx aren't you?” He looks at the rest of his thugs. “Well?! Stop standing around like morons! Get her!” Ruby rolls her eyes and quickly finishes off the rest of the thugs. Torchwick blinks at the carnage around him – at the broken and bleeding, most likely dead, thugs surrounding him. “Gods, Red.” He lifts his cane and aims at her. “Gotta say, if you weren't being a complete nuisance, I might've offered you a job.”
Ruby smiles and winks at him, “Maybe next time.” He fires, and she dodges, and yep, there he goes. Ruby marvels at how fast he was able to escape. “He's the speedy minx. Good god, that man can run. ” With a quick gunshot and a burst of rose petals, she's on the roof. He groans into his hands and turns to her.
“Go away little red.” He makes a shooing motion with his hands. Ruby raises a brow and cocks her gun. He shakes his head and sighs, “Persistent.” And there's the bullhead! Ruby grins and props her scythe-gun up, aiming for the fucking bitch piloting it. She quickly loads a heavy-fire ice round into her gun's chamber. Torchwick leaps onto the bullhead just as Ruby pulls the trigger. Her strongest ice crystal round blasts through the front windshield, and, somehow, the bitch fucking dodges it. But the ice does cover the entire cockpit, so that's a plus. They're not likely to get away anytime soon.
“Fuck.” Ruby mumbles, lifting her scythe. Fireballs begin to rain down at her and Ruby ducks and weaves, batting them away with ease. Distantly, she wonders where Glynda is, as the older huntress should have arrived by now. As the ponders, one of the fireballs grazes her, burning her arm. “Cinder, you fucking bitch!” She shouts. The fireballs stop, and Ruby glares at the now confused villains. “That fucking hurt!” Ruby's angry now. She'd been toying with them earlier, still not quite believing she was in the past, but now she's pissed. One moment she's on the roof, and the next her scythe has cut straight through Torchwick, the thief's eyes wide in horror and pain as he's bisected. She whirls, and her blade meets two slim black ones. Cinder's eyes are narrowed, and Ruby can see a hint of fear there. “Gotcha.” Ruby grins viciously and squeezes the trigger, sending an ordinary burn round at the ceiling. The bullhead shudders and tips, and Cinder stumbles – just barely but it is enough. Ruby slashes down and there's a scream, and Cinder's right arm falls to the ground.
Gods, Ruby loves Crescent Rose so much. The blade had been custom made to channel a large amount of aura. When she was younger, Ruby used the ability to slash through Grimm armour. It took her a few years to figure out that, with the right amount of power applied, the blade could also cut right through someone's aura. Aura shielding was next to useless against her blade. Cinder glares at her and – oh fuck. The villain's eyes burst with flames and Ruby thinks she might have made a mistake. “Right, fuck, you're the fall maiden!” She reaches for the Silver and-
She's in the back of a dust store, a magazine on weapons in her hands, music blaring into her ears. Ruby sighs, dropping the magazine back onto its stack. 'So, this is a thing then? I'm fucking reliving the past. Great.' If she wants to live to make it to Beacon, she's going to have to let this play out, which means no attacking the false fall maiden. 'Ugh fucking Torchwick, fucking Cinder, fucking Ozpin and his shady ass “Oh, you have silver eyes!” bitch please.' Ruby clicks her music off, and there's a tap on her shoulder. 'If I die, I hope I don't wake in that fucking wagon again.' She turns to see one of Torchwick's thugs behind her.
“Can I help you?” She says blandly. The thug lifts his sword.
“Hands in the air, kid!”
Ruby snorts, stifling a laugh, “Are you robbing me?”
“Yes!”
“-and then I threw him out the front window, kicked his and his buddies' asses, and chased Torchwick up to the roof.” Ruby explains to a rather harried looking officer, teetering dangerously on her chair, legs propped up on the table. “Then there was the whole bullhead thing and then there were explosions and fireballs and then Glynda came and saved me.” She waves a hand in Glynda's direction. “Thanks for that, by the way. Could've gotten out of it on my own, but, eh, your way was so much more fun. And then, yeah, you know what else happened.” Glynda releases a sigh as the officer finishes writing down what Ruby was saying. After getting Ruby to sign one of the pages, the officer bids the two women goodbye to file his report. Glynda stalks around the small interrogation room, hand pinching the bridge of her nose. “So...” Ruby starts, and Glynda slams her riding crop down on the table next to her feet.
“Miss Rose! Your actions tonight were reckless and could have gotten yourself and others killed!” Ruby shrugs.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever Glynda.” She swears she could hear Glynda grinding her teeth at her flippant attitude. Glynda takes a deep breath.
“If it were up to me, you'd be sent home with pat on the back,” Ruby grins, and Glynda slams her riding crop down again. “and a slap on the wrist!”
“Does it have to be the wrist?” Ruby asks with a lustful burr to her voice. “There are a few other places you could-”
Glynda cuts her off with, “MISS ROSE!” There's a light blush on the stern teacher's face. “That sort of talk is inappropriate!” Well, it would be if she was actually fifteen like her body suggests, but she isn't so... Ruby kicks off the table to sit properly. Her hands raise in a peaceful gesture.
“Alright, alright! Geez, sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood.”
Glynda sighs, “I'd send you home right now if I could. However,” She glares at the door. “there's someone who wants to meet you.” And then Ozpin walks in, as if he had been waiting for his cue. And he probably had been. When you're an immortal, reincarnating wizard, you gain a flair for the dramatic. He sets a plate of cookies onto the table and looks Ruby dead in the eyes.
“Ruby Rose, you have-”
Ruby interrupts him, “Silver eyes, yeah, they're amazing, I know Oz.” She points at her eyes. “I can vaporize Grimm! It's awesome! ” Ozpin looks like he is struck speechless, exchanging a disbelieving glance with Glynda.
“You... know about your eyes?”
Ruby shrugs and mutters vaguely, “Eh, I've done this all before.”
“Come again?”
“I said my mom told me before.” Ozpin and Glynda share another glance.
“She... did?” Ruby nods. Seeing that he's not going to get any elaboration, he continues, “So, Miss Rose, where did you learn to do something like this?” At that, Glynda shows a video displaying her impressive scythe skills.
“Eh, you know. I wanna be a huntress, and like, yeah, I could have gone with any weapon I wanted, but hey, Uncle Qrow uses a scythe-gun-sword, so I was all like, 'I wanna use one too!' and yeah, he taught me when he taught at Signal.” She affectionately pats Crescent Rose. “Of course, Crescent Rose isn't sullied by a sword form, she's pure awesome, just a scythe and a sniper rifle.” She reaches for the plate and snags a cookie, wolfing it down in one bite. “Great cookies, where'd you get them?”
“I... see...” Ozpin says. He clears his throat. “So, you want to be a huntress?”
Ruby, now having finished most of the cookies nods, “Yeah. I'll be applying to Beacon in two years. My sister's going there this year, and my whole family's gone there, so I want to as well.”
“Why?”
“I want to help people. When mom told me about my eyes,” Of course, Summer Rose hadn't told her daughter that, but Ruby needed the excuse because the whole 'I'm repeating the past over and over' thing probably wouldn't go over well, and really, she was not giving up the Silver. She put so much work into getting it perfect! A little white lie wouldn't hurt anyone. “I realized that with them I could save people. The Grimm are destroyed by the Silver, or at the least frozen, and I can use that to help when I can. With these eyes, a huntress is the only career I can really have. And as a huntress, I can make a difference.” Ozpin and Glynda share another glance, which ends with Glynda rolling her eyes. Ozpin turns back to Ruby with a minutely triumphant look in his eyes.
“You want to come to my school?”
“More than anything.”
“Okay then.”
“Oh, I can't believe my baby sister's coming to Beacon with me!” Yang shouts, hugging Ruby close. Ruby says something, but it is muffled by the blonde's chest. Yang releases her. “Sorry, what was that?” Ruby smiles at her sister.
“I just said that I'm glad to be coming here too. Hey, think maybe we'll be on the same team?” Yang purses her lips, eyes narrowed. Ruby raises a brow. “What? You don't want to be on a team with me?”
“Well, no, it's just... maybe you should be on some other team?” Ruby gives her a scandalized glare.
“You don't want to! Wow, Yang, wow. I'm hurt.” She presses a hand to her chest, right above her heart. “Right here.”
Yang rolls her eyes, “Oh, fine, whatever. We'll see where the chips fall.”
“You're not...” Ruby trails off, silver eyes meeting bright green. The redheaded amazon before her smiles with a wave.
“Hello!” Ruby looks around in disbelief. 'Oh my god I fucked up.' She went the wrong direction. Weiss was to the left of her! Not to the right! Realizing that, yes, this is happening, and yes, Pyrrha fucking Nikos was now her partner, Ruby forces a grin and waves back. Might as well see what happens.
“Hiya! I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose!” Ruby holds out a hand, and Pyrrha grabs it firmly to shake.
“I'm Pyrrha Nikos. Nice to meet you!” And Ruby knows Pyrrha's waiting for the usual gush about her championship wins or other such nonsense. But jokes on you Pyrrha! Ruby really couldn't care less about that. 'She's gonna fucking live this time I swear to god.'
“Nice to meet you too! Anyway,” Ruby looks at the redhead's shield and missing blade. “where's your weapon?” Pyrrha blushes a bit.
“Oh, well, when that blond boy, Jaune, was launched, I used my spear to save him from crashing. I was just on my way to pick it up.”
“Great! Let's go then!”
“Hello all!” Ruby says, striding into the clearing, Pyrrha at her heels. Jaune and Weiss are standing by a large tree, loudly arguing, Pyrrha's spear on the ground between them. Ruby skips up to them and picks up the weapon. “I found it Pyrrha!” She's positively beaming at the redhead as she holds out the spear. Pyrrha returns her grin with a soft smile.
“Why thank you Ruby.” She sheathes her weapon and turns to the two other teens. “Hello Jaune, Weiss!”
Weiss looks at Ruby with a steely glint in her eyes, “You! Trade partners with me.”
Ruby frowns, head tilting, “Sorry, that's not how it works.” Weiss is clearly baffled, which is extremely amusing to Ruby. “See, there's cameras everywhere, y'know?” She points to one of said cameras, where it is hidden very well in a tree, only visible if you know what to look for. “So the professors know who you're partnered with before even you do.”
Weiss sighs, “Great. Just great.”
“AHAHAHAHAHA!” Ruby and Nora laugh, as they viciously attack the huge Deathstalker. Ruby stabs her scythe into one of it's eyes, and Nora slams her hammer onto it's legs. Ren and Pyrrha are ducking around, slashing and cutting at its thick exoskeleton, occasionally peppering it with gunshots.
Ruby leaps and stabs her scythe into the top of its head, shouting, “Now Nora!”
“Aye aye Captain!” Nora, using Pyrrha's shield and natural strength as a propellant, launches into the air and slams her hammer heavily against Ruby's scythe, driving it right through the Deathstalker. It shrieks with unholy furor as it dies, slowly dissolving into smoke.
“That was awesome!” Ruby holds a hand up to Nora, who slaps it gaily.
“Hell yeah!”
“Sky Lark, Russell Thrush, Cardin Winchester, and Dove Bronzewing.” The four men walk onto the stage, heads held high. “The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day on, you are now team CRDL <cardinal>, led by Cardin Winchester!” They clap each other on the back as they walk off stage amidst cheers. Ozpin clears his throat, “Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao-Long, and Jaune Arc.” The four walk onto stage, Yang sending Ruby a quick wink. “The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day on, you are now team SABL <sable>, led by Weiss Schnee!” Weiss looks ridiculously proud of herself. Ruby giggles quietly as they walk off stage. “And finally: Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Ruby Rose, and Pyrrha Nikos.” Ruby skips happily onto the stage.
“Hi Glynda!” She shouts, giving the blonde teacher a wave. The crowd bursts into snickers, only quieting when Glynda glares at them. Ozpin coughs to hide a chuckle.
“Right. You four retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forth,” Ozpin's eyes sparkle strangely. “you are now team RRVN <raven>,” Ruby felt her eye twitch. “led by Ruby Rose!” She plasters on a fake smile as they walk off stage. Oh god they're named fucking raven. Oh fuck Ozpin seven ways to Sunday. She fucking saw that knowing glint in his eyes! She doesn't want to be named after that fucking bandit! It's like he's setting her team up for failure!
“Alright, team R R V N!” Ruby says, bright and early in the morning. Nora cocks her head to the side.
“Why'd you say each letter like that? Ozpin said it's pronounced raven.”
Ruby's eye twitches again, “Alright, team... RRVN.” The word is filled with disgust. “Time to decorate! We've got an hour before classes, so let's get this place in shape!”
Surprisingly, they manage to get everything done within ten or so minutes. Ruby hadn't brought many items with her to Beacon this go-around, and Nora and Ren, being orphans, had little as well. Pyrrha also had little to decorate with, merely a few trophies and family photos, and a painting of some forest in Mistral. There would be no bunk-beds this time. Ruby almost pouts. Those bunk-beds had been fun! And dangerous. But mostly fun! Ruby looks around at the still sparsely decorated room.
“Well...” She begins. “I guess we're done? We honestly didn't have much.” She scratches her cheek. “Well, we'll probably get more stuff the longer we stay here, I guess.” She looks at her teammates. “So... breakfast?”
“Hey, Ruby,” Nora starts, chewing her pancake slowly. “why don't you like our team name?” Ruby looks up from her bowl of sugary cereal, and Ren and Pyrrha look up from their respective dishes.
“Oh, it's just...” She looks around. Not seeing her sister or her sister's teammates, she says, “My sister Yang, her mom's not my mom, y'know? Same dad, different moms and all that.” Her teammates nod. “Yang's mom, her name is Raven Branwen, and she's a bitch. Like, mega-bitch. Straight up abandoned my sister the day after she was born to go take over some bandit tribe in Mistral.” She jabs her spoon in Nora's direction, spilling a bit of milk that had been on it. “Anyway, she's also kinda a murderous psychopath too, so like, yeah. Crazy and a bitch.” She begins to finish her cereal, allowing her teammates a second to digest the info. After a moment she continues, “Don't tell Yang though. She's like, obsessed with finding her. And she doesn't like it when someone bad-mouths her. She can and will punch you if you tell her what I said.”
“That's...” Ren trails off, glancing at Nora and Pyrrha. “...a lot. To take in.”
Pyrrha nods, “Yes.” The redhead looks at her leader. “We won't tell Yang what you told us, Ruby.”
Ruby grins, “Coolio!” She lifts her bowl and chugs down the milk from it. “Anyway, we gotta get to class.”
Oh god she forgot how annoying Professor Port was. They'd been in class for a half-hour already and the man hadn't even begun his lesson. He was still telling some stupid story. Ruby groans, getting a glare directed at her from Weiss, who, for some reason, sat next to her. Probably some stupid 'team leaders' bonding thing. Ugh. Ruby looks at the heiress and rolls her eyes. Weiss is writing down the story nearly word for word.
“Good god.” Ruby mumbles, flopping down onto the desk with a loud thud.
“Ah yes! Miss Rose! You volunteer?” Ruby blinks and sits up. Port is staring directly at her, a hand on a large cage beside him.
“I... what? No I didn't.” Port laughs uproariously and the class snickers at her.
“Of course you did, dear girl! Now, come down here and show us what a true huntress looks like!” Ruby sighs, standing. Slowly, she makes her way to the front of the class. “Why! Without a weapon! Are you sure?” Ruby blinks, reaching for Crescent Rose. Only to remember that her scythe was tucked away in a rocket-locker. With a groan, she grabs a pen off of Port's desk.
“This'll do.” Port smiles and releases the hatch on the cage. A large Boarbatusk comes charging out. Ruby easily dodges its charge, and with a kick to its underside, sends it flying upwards. It lands on its back and Ruby, never one to miss an opportunity, stabs its unprotected stomach area multiple times with the pen, adding a brief touch of her semblance to her attacks. The Grimm screeches with each attack, finally dying after what feels like a hundred stabs. She drops the pen, now dripping with a dark black ichor, and turns to the silent audience. She meets Weiss' wide, disbelieving, eyes and winks.
“Marvellous! Truly, you are a tried and true huntress Miss Rose! What an absolutely splendid display!”
Ruby rolls her eyes, “Yeah, sure. Whatever you say professor.”
“Damn Ruby! That was awesome!” Nora shouts, the second class is over. Ruby grins as she shuffles through the small stack of papers that held both homework and class notes.
“Eh, it was nothing.” Finally finding the page she wants – a page describing a few key weak points on Ursai – she sets it at the very top of the stack. “ 'sides, any of you could have done it.”
Pyrrha hums in disagreement, “I'm not sure about that, Ruby. I, for one, would not have been able to use a pen as a weapon.”
Ruby rolls her eyes, “Sure you can! I can teach you all how to.”
Nora whoops loudly, “Hell yeah! Let's go now!” She makes to run off, but Ren catches her by her uniform's collar.
With a sigh, he says, “Nora, we have combat class in five minutes.”
“I want to fight Ruby Rose!” Ruby's head shoots up at the declaration, her hands pausing mid-drawing, a half-finished Beowolf on the paper before her. Weiss is standing near the front of the class, glaring at her. Ruby blinks and points at herself dumbly, which only increases the intensity of Weiss' glare.
Glynda looks between the two and nods, “Very well. Miss Rose, Miss Schnee, please grab your equipment and make your way to the arena.”
They stand on opposite ends of the small arena, decked out in their combat gear, weapons primed and ready. Ruby smiles at Weiss, only to get ferocious glare in return. Glynda stands at the edge of the battle area, riding crop in hand.
The teacher checks the two's aura levels once again before declaring, “Begin!”
Weiss barely has time to blink before Ruby is in front of her, Crescent Rose already mid-swing, ready to slash her chest. She hastily brings Myrtenaster up, parrying the blow. Ruby smiles again and disappears, the only indication she had even been before her in the first place being a few rose petals slowly fluttering to the ground.
“Behind you Weiss!” Jaune shouts, and Weiss rolls out of the way of a slash. Ruby's smile widens and, once again, she disappears.
“Urk-” The sound comes unbidden from Weiss, as Ruby's scythe buries itself in her gut, sending her flying back. The heiress' aura flares as she hits the wall opposite. A quick glance up shows that the one hit had taken nearly 20% of her aura. Weiss' eyes widen. “How-” She begins to ask, only to receive the blunt end of Crescent Rose slamming into the side of her head, sending her airborne again. She lands heavily, and staggers to her feet, feeling a bit woozy. Ruby is standing on the far end of the arena, a grimace on her face upon seeing a trickle of blood on Weiss' forehead.
“Miss Schnee, can you continue?” Weiss looks to Glynda, blinking slowly. Glynda's lips are pursed and her eyes are narrowed. “I see. Miss Rose is the winner!” Ruby winces, sheathing Crescent Rose. “Miss Rose, please help Miss Schnee to the infirmary.” Ruby approaches the heiress slowly, hands raised in peace.
“S-Sorry about that, Weiss. Didn't think I hit you that hard.” Weiss blinks, finally realizing what happened.
“Oh...” She says, eyes lowering. Ruby places a hand on her shoulder and grins.
“But hey! If you were a bit quicker, you could've had me! I'm just really fast.”
“That explains it...” Weiss mumbles, leaning heavily on the red-cloaked girl. “Speed makes you hit harder...”
“It does?!”
“So...” Yang starts, standing just inside the infirmary with the rest of Team SABL. Combat class had just ended, and they had nearly an hour until they separated for their chosen Electives. “A concussion, huh?” Ruby winces, scratching the back of her head.
“Yeah. I hit her so quickly her aura wasn't fast enough to protect her.”
Weiss huffs from the bed, “Yang, your sister is a dolt. She didn't realize that the faster she went the harder she hits.” Ruby grins.
“Now I do! I'm amazing!”
Blake holds out a few sheets of paper, “Professor Goodwitch gave us these for you two.”
Jaune nods, “There's a report on your guys' fight, and, uh...” He clears his throat and looks away. “...a detention slip for you, Ruby.”
Ruby squeaks, “WHAT?!” She grabs the papers and digs through them, finding the small pink slip. “E-Excessive force during a sanctioned spar?! B-But I didn't...?!” Ruby groans. “Great! First day at Beacon and I already have detention for a week.”
Yang laughs, “You beat dad's record!”
Ruby fidgets beneath Glynda's stern glare.
“S-So-” Ruby starts, only to get cut off by,
“Miss Rose.” Ruby winces. “Do you know what could have happened, had you used the bladed side of your scythe?” Ruby swallows the dread in her throat and nods.
“I-I could have... k-ki...”
“Killed Miss Schnee.” Ruby flinches at Glynda's bluntness. Glynda shuffles a few papers on her desk, bringing a specific one to the top and writing something on it. “The purpose of these detentions are to show you that, one, there are consequences to your actions, and two, that you can ask any of the staff here at Beacon for help when necessary.” Ruby blinks, confused. “You clearly need help refining your Hunter-to-Hunter fighting techniques, as well as learning to control how much force you place into blows.” Ruby winces. She's nearly twenty-four, thank you! She doesn't need any help! 'But I did hit Weiss with too much force.' She winces again. Okay, she needs some help. And who better to get help from, than one of the best teachers she's ever known?
“O-Okay. Um... can you help me?” Glynda looks startled for a moment, before smiling briefly.
“Very well. I can assist you Miss Rose.”
“Um... can I speak with you, Ruby? In private.” Weiss asks, eyes pointedly staring away from her fellow team leader.
Ruby shrugs, “Sure Weiss.” Ruby follows Weiss out onto a balcony-area that overlooked the courtyard. “Whoa, I've never been here before.”
“That's because this is a teacher's only area.” Weiss says, sitting on one of the benches. “I asked Professor Port if I could borrow this space for a few minutes.” Ruby smiles, sitting next to Weiss.
“Cool! So, what did you want to talk about Weiss?”
Weiss takes in a deep breath, “How... how are you such a good leader?” Ruby blinks. “I mean, you're team is one of, if not the, most cohesive units in our year. Team RRVN is top of the ranks in nearly every class! How did you do it? I've tried many things, even made a studying and training schedule, yet my team is near the bottom rankings! I've spent my entire life learning how to lead my father's company. I should be near the top!” Weiss finally looks at Ruby. “How did you do it?”
“Uh...” Ruby taps her lips with her fingers. “Um, I don't really know how to describe it! I've never lead anything before, y'know? At first I thought me being leader would be a huge mistake!” 'A lie, you're lying, liar, liar,' “But when Ozpin named me leader of Team RRVN, things just... clicked! Y'know?” She rubs the back of her neck. “Being a leader isn't something you can just learn about. It's something you just do. Although, I can give you some tips.” Weiss smiles hopefully.
“Really?” Ruby nods, shifting to sit closer to the heiress.
“Yeah! Uh, first, those schedules? Get rid of them!” Weiss blinks.
“But-”
Ruby cuts her off with, “Look, Weiss, not everyone likes being on a schedule. I know my sister, Yang, certainly doesn't. She likes to do her own thing, y'know? You have to work with your team. Just because you're the leader, doesn't mean you're the best, or that you're the only one who can make decisions.” Ruby grins widely, reaching out and tapping the other girl's nose. “That's second! Communication!” Weiss looks down in thought. “You gotta be clear with your team. If you're clear with them, they'll be clear with you! There's no room for secrets on a team of hunters.” Ruby's grin fades. “Sometimes, keeping a secret has major consequences.” Weiss looks up at Ruby, eyes wide. “A secret can kill.” 'Hypocrite, hypocrite!'
“Oh... I...” Weiss simply stares for a few seconds longer, before looking away again. “Thank you, Ruby.”
“Anytime, Weiss. Anytime.”
“This has been a productive week, Miss Rose.” Glynda says, as Ruby slows from her cool-down run. Ruby grins.
“Yeah! Thanks again, Glynda!” Glynda's eye twitches, but she's long since given up trying to get Ruby to refer to her by Professor. The red-cloaked girl only ever called Port with the Professor moniker. “I've sure learned a lot.” Glynda looks down at her tablet and checks something off.
“Indeed. You've certainly learned to dull the force in your blows, at least against human opponents.” Ruby does a few stretches, slowing her breathing to an even tempo.
“So, if I wanna get some help training, I just gotta ask a professor, right?” Glynda nods.
“Correct.” Ruby grins widely.
“Awesome! Thanks again, Glynda.”
“Blake did what?!” Nora shouts. Ruby's brow furrows. 'This is a bit sooner than before... will things still be the same? Had things progressed as they should, we should have just heard about the Vytal Festival and we would meet Sun and Penny in a few days.'
“Blake ran off! We were talking about some things the other day, trying to clear the air, y'know?” Yang says, eyes flicking to Weiss, who is studiously glaring at the ground in betrayal. “And there was a... disagreement. About something said. It... escalated. And then Blake ran off. She hasn't returned yet.”
Ruby cocks her head to the side, “Is this about Blake being a faunus?” Weiss, Yang, and Jaune stare at her, jaws dropped.
“H-How did you know?!” Jaune sputters.
Ruby gestures vaguely to her head, “The fact that she has kitty ears?”
Yang's brow furrows, “But she wears a... bow...” She trails off, realization dawning in her eyes. “Oh my god.” Ruby looks between the three.
“Did you guys seriously not know?”
Weiss puffs up indignantly, “How did you know already!?” Ruby blinks, gesturing once again to her head.
“Her bow twitches, y'know?”
Ruby broke off from the group, heading for the docks, after finding out from Weiss that the SDC cargo ship would be sailing in earlier than scheduled. Still fairly late in the day, as the sun was currently setting, yet days earlier. 'Seems like the universe is determined to make some events happen.' Spying a specific shade of orange hair in the distance, she grins. 'Speaking of-' She races forward, tapping briefly into her semblance, and 'accidentally' knocks into a ginger girl wearing a grey and green dress.
“Oof!” Ruby fakes tripping, landing next to the girl. With a slightly exaggerated groan, she pushes herself to her feet. Brushing some dirt off her skirt, she smiles down at the still girl. “Sorry about that, friend!” Ruby holds out a hand to the girl. The girl takes it, green eyes widening as she is easily pulled to her feet. “Again, sorry! I wasn't paying attention.” The girl smiles widely.
“Salutations!” She takes a step closer. “You called me friend! Are we really friends?” Ruby nods vigorously with a grin.
“Sure thing! I'm Ruby Rose!”
“And I am Penny Polendina! Nice to meet you, friend!” Ruby is positively beaming at this point.
“Nice to meet you too!” She gives a small wave. “Say, have you seen a dark-haired faunus girl around here? She wears a bow over her ears.” Ruby mimes a bow being on her head. Penny tilts her head.
“I think I saw someone matching that description. Down by the docks.”
Ruby claps her hands, “Awesome! Let's go then!”
“Ruby?!” Blake nearly shouts, as Ruby comes swinging down at Torchwick, who dodges. Sun isn't there, as the ship from Mistral doesn't arrive for a few more days.
Ruby grins and waves, “Hiya, Blake! I knew you'd look better without the bow!” Blake's jaw drops.
“Y-You knew?!” Before Ruby can respond, Penny comes skipping up.
“Hello Ruby! Is this your faunus friend?” At Ruby's nod, Penny turns to Blake and smiles. “Salutations! I am Penny! It is nice to meet you, friend of Ruby!” Blake gives her a stiff wave. Penny looks back at Ruby. “Ruby, are these the bad guys you were speaking of?”
“That's right!”
“Mwahahaha...” Ruby chuckles evilly under her breath, watching Penny tear through the many villains, ignoring the way Blake is looking at her. Penny will always be awesome in Ruby's eyes. She could watch this a thousand times and still be super pumped up! “AHAHAHAHA!” She explodes into full laughter when Penny laser-beams the two bullheads. It's unfortunate when Torchwick conveniently escapes on a third bullhead. Penny comes skipping up to them, smiling happily. “Penny! That was awesome!” Ruby launches herself at the robot girl, cheerily spinning them around. Penny's smile widens into a grin.
“Ruby! That was spectacular!” She places the red-cloaked girl down on the ground. “I had so much fun!” Ruby is practically vibrating in place.
“I KNOW! You were all like, witcha hee-yah!” She makes a few vaguely karate-like moves in the air. “Totally awesome!”
A sudden shout makes them all turn,
“RUBY!” They see the rest of Teams SABL and RRVN come running up, Yang having been the one to shout. Ruby waves at them.
“You guys! I found Blake!” Blake stands, taking a step forward. Weiss comes marching up, a cross look on her face.
Blake gulps, “W-Weiss! Look, I-I'm not a member of the-”
“Abahbahbah!” Weiss says, pressing a finger to Blake's mouth. “Hush. I don't care.”
“Y-You don-” Weiss glares.
“AH! Shush!” She takes a breath. “I. Don't. Care. We both may have... overreacted... to certain things that were said. And I'm sorry I said those things. I've done a lot of thinking these past few hours, and I've decided. I do not care. I don't care that you're a faunus. I don't care that you were a part of the White Fang. I don't care that you've lied to us since the beginning of the term.” Blake looks close to tearing up. “But... I do care about you. As a person. As my teammate. You were gone for so long, Blake. We... I was worried.”
“W-Weiss...” They shift a bit closer to each other, and Ruby begins chanting,
“Hug, hug, hug, hug, hug!” Weiss blushes, but concedes and pulls Blake into a short embrace. “Yeah!” Weiss glares at the red girl.
“Shut up, you dolt!”
“-and then Penny kicked ass, maybe took some names, and was a major badass all around. Then Weiss and Blake made up, hugged it out, and then we called for transport back to Beacon.” Ruby explains, having taken control of the short interrogation that she and her friends were dragged into. She looks over her shoulder at the group of teens. Weiss, Jaune, and Pyrrha are mostly mortified at how flippant Ruby is being, while Nora and Yang are smothering laughs. Ren is simply silent, shaking his head. Blake, too, is quiet. Ruby grins and turns back to the teachers. Glynda's eye twitches, while Ozpin merely smiles mysteriously. “Thanks for coming to pick us up, Glynda.”
“Thank you for that... interesting... tale, Miss Rose.” Glynda hisses out between clenched teeth. She looks at the rest of the group. “Aside from Miss Belladonna, you are free to go.” The group lets out a collective sigh. “And you all have detention this weekend.”
“What for?!” Yang shouts. Glynda glares at her.
“For unauthorized fighting, as well as vigilantism.” The teacher's glare intensifies. “Do you want to make it two weekends, Miss Xiao-Long?”
Yang shakes her head, “No, no! Uh, we'll just... leave now!”
“Why am I here?” Ruby asks, as she follows behind team SABL, walking in the general direction of the docks. It's been nearly a week since the whole Blake running off thing.
Yang shrugs, “I wanted to spend some time with my sister,” She glares at her teammates and each pointedly look away. “and everyone else just tagged along.”
Weiss huffs, “You never said we couldn't come.” The heiress rolls her eyes. “Besides, the Vytal Festival is starting soon! Since you were already coming to Vale-”
“You want to spy on the competition.” Yang deadpans.
Weiss sputters, “N-No! Not at all!”
Before anyone can respond, a male voice shouts, “Stop that faunus!”
The group of five turn, and see a monkey-tailed faunus running at them. He shoots Blake a wink as he passes.
They watch him run off for a few more seconds, before Yang snorts, “Well, you wanted to see the competition, there he goes.”
Weiss begins running after him with, “Hurry! Chase him!” She doesn't get very far, as she runs into a ginger girl. “Oof!” Weiss stumbles back.
Ruby grins widely, “Hi Penny!” Penny, still laying on the ground, smiles up at Ruby.
“Salutations!” She looks over the group. “I am Penny. Are you Ruby's friends?”
Yang cuts in, “Are you sure you didn't hit your head?” Blake smacks her in the ribs. “Ow, uh, I mean, I'm Yang!”
“Yang's my sister!” Ruby crows, helping Penny to her feet. “This is Team SABL. That's Weiss Schnee,” She point at the heiress. “Blake Belladonna,” She moves to point at the faunus. “Jaune Arc, and Yang Xiao-Long!” She gestures to the two respectively. Penny gives a wide wave.
“Nice to meet you all! Ruby, these are your friends?” Ruby nods.
“Yeah! They'll be your friends too!”
“Sen-sational!” Penny looks to Team SABL, only to realize that they've disappeared. “Oh, they are gone!” Ruby pouts, throwing a betrayed look at the ground.
“Jerks!”
Ruby skips down the hall, making her way to her dorm. She spent a wonderful day with Penny, showing the robot girl around Vale. Ruby's eyes are closed as she skips, as everyone would be winding down for bed. Thus, she isn't quite expecting to run into someone. Ruby staggers back a few steps, mumbling obscenities under her breath. She opens her eyes and immediately has to force herself to calm down. Standing before her is a dark-haired woman, a green-haired girl, and a grey-haired boy. 'Cinder fucking Fall and her stupid fucking lackeys!'
She grins at the three before her, eyes showing only the barest hint of malice, “Sorry! Didn't see you there!”
Cinder waves it off, “Oh, it is as much my mistake as yours. I wasn't paying attention.”
Ruby shrugs, “I guess.” She looks over the three. “Say, you're not from around here, are you?”
“Visiting from Haven.”
“Oh! For the tournament!” Ruby nods. “Did you get lost? Beacon's pretty large.”
Cinder seizes the opportunity to leave the conversation, “Indeed. Can you point us in the direction of the Eastern Visitors Dorms?” Ruby gestures behind herself.
“Just take a left up ahead, and then another at the end of the next hall. There's a map there.”
“Thank you.” Ruby keeps them in her sights as they walk past her.
Unable to stop herself, she calls out, with a hint of malice in her voice, “Welcome to Beacon!” Emerald glances back at her, and Ruby can see the illusionist shiver at the manic, angry, glee in her silver eyes. “Fucking bitch.”
Ruby throws open Team SABL's door about two or so weeks later, a huge grin on her face. Team SABL stands in the middle of the room with Sun and Neptune. Ruby had set her team on a training exercise without her, leaving her free for this.
“Hello all!” Ruby shouts, striding into the room. “Little birdie told me that y'all are heading out to battle a terrorist organization and other such nonsense without me!” She presses a hand to her chest. “I'm hurt! You invite those two,” She gestures at Sun and Neptune. “but not me?!” Team SABL looks at each other. “So, can I come with?”
“Uh...” Yang starts, exchanging a glance with Weiss. “Um, okay?” Ruby whoops loudly, grabbing Weiss' hand.
“Sweet! Weiss, I'm going with you!”
“W-Wait!”
“So, Penny, do you want to come battle a terrorist organization with me and Team SABL?” Penny just stares at Ruby in disbelief. The robot's hands are terribly scratched, revealing her true nature. The nature she'd just revealed to Ruby, only to have the red-cloaked girl ignore the fact that Penny was a robot and instead ask her that.
“Ruby, you are taking this extraordinarily well.” Ruby shrugs, gently grasping Penny's hands.
“Penny, you think just 'cause you have nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts like me, that doesn't make you real? You are! You have a heart, I can tell.” Penny smiles widely, grabbing Ruby tightly in a hug.
“Oh Ruby! You're the bestest friend ever!”
Ruby positively beams, “Damn straight I am! Now, let's go kick some ass!”
“-and then Yang destroyed Torchwick's mecha thing, then the weird multi-colour girl showed up, and then they escaped together. Then we noticed Sun and Neptune were missing and we found them in a noodle shop. Then we came back to Beacon and y'all started questioning us.” Ruby explains, delighting in the way Beacon's staff were reacting. Glynda is especially reacting well, with a clenched jaw and an excessively twitching eye. “Anyway, how much detention are we gonna get for this? A week? Two?” Ozpin seems split between hysterical laughter and extreme disappointment.
“Miss Rose.” He begins, pausing to sip at his cocoa. “Can you promise to not get in trouble until the tournament?”
“No.”
Ozpin sighs, “Very well. All of you have two weeks of combat detention with Glynda.”
Ruby blinks, “Combat detention?”
“IT'S OVER! THANK THE BROTHERS!” Ruby shouts, flopping onto her bed. Two weeks! Two weeks of near constant combat drills and pain! Her teammates groan from their own beds. Even though they hadn't been involved with the incident, they had been forced into the detentions as well, under the excuse that 'teams are punished together for the leader's mistakes'. Ruby knows it's just because Glynda's a sadist. Ruby lifts her head and looks at them. “So, y'all excited for the dance on Sunday?” Nora gives a thumbs-up. “Me too! I'm going with Penny. Who are you guys going with?” Nora points at Ren. “Ah, Ren and Nora. Got it. And you, Pyrrha?”
“Jaune Arc from Team SABL asked me.” The redhead blushes. “He's... cute. And he was the only one to ask me.”
“Cool! Jaune and Pyrrha!” Of course, Ruby may have nudged Jaune into asking Pyrrha during their combat detentions. And by nudged, she means she straight up asked Jaune in Pyrrha's stead. “You all have fancy wear and all that?”
“Yep.”
“Sweet.”
Ruby dances the robot with Penny, a wide smile on her face. She's long since mastered moving about in heels, so there is none of the awkward fumbling she'd done last time she was here. Ruby finishes her robot dance, and Penny laughs at their antics, and Ruby can hear the two soldiers guarding Penny snicker quietly. Ruby glances out the window and sees a dark shape hopping along the rooftops. She looks to Penny and nods in the direction of the bathrooms, the secret signal they created for this moment. Penny dips her head and turns to the soldiers.
“Excuse me, sirs! My friend and I are heading to the facilities.” The soldiers exchange a glance.
“But aren't you-” Penny loudly clears her throat, giving them a stern look. They look vaguely sheepish. “Okay then, don't be long.” Ruby grabs the robot's hand and begins dragging her towards the bathroom. They skive off once their near enough, stealthily exiting the dance. Ruby lets go of Penny's hand and dials a number on her scroll, causing a locker to fall before her. She grabs Crescent Rose and grins.
“Alright! Let's do this!”
“Knock knock, motherfucker!” Ruby shouts, as she thrusts her scythe into Cinder's side. Her attack is unexpected, as Cinder was in the middle of doing something or another with the computer, and it sends the older woman flying across the room. The false maiden hisses in pain, glowing eyes connecting with Ruby's malicious silver. “ 'sup bitch?” Suddenly, Penny's voice echoes through the empty room,
“Ruby, I've contacted General Ironwood!” The robot girl cheerfully waves. “Salutations, villain!”
Ruby smiles at Penny, “Thank you Penny!” She turns back to face Cinder. “You might wanna run, maiden.” The villain's eyes widen slightly.
“You-” She starts, before cutting herself off.
Ruby cocks her head to the side, “Wow, you sound familiar! Have we met before?” The elevator dings loudly. Ruby's smile darkens and her eyes narrow. “Leave. Last chance.” Cinder looks between the elevator and Ruby. She drops a small dust crystal, which explodes into flames once it hits the ground. “FUCK!” Ruby shouts, leaping back, hastily patting her dress to put out the burning. She lifts her gaze from her now ruined dress. “And she's gone. Thank the brothers.”
“Ruby! General Ironwood is on his way up!”
“-and yeah, I looked out the window for the bitch, but she's like, a fucking ninja or something 'cause she was just gone. Honestly though? Using fire as a smokescreen? Iconic.” Ruby says, teetering dangerously on a chair in Ozpin's office. Penny is standing next to her, nodding along with a small smile. Glynda looks one step away from an aneurysm, while Ironwood looks like he's about ready to strangle Ruby.
Ozpin sighs, whether in disappointment or something else, Ruby couldn't tell, and says, “Miss Rose. Please, for the sake of Glynda's health, try to not get into any more trouble.”
Ruby shrugs, “Can't! The bitch said something about the hideout in Mountain Glenn or what not, and I'm planning on going to check it out.” Penny looks vaguely confused at this, as she hadn't heard the false maiden say anything. “Penny, this was before you arrived.” The robot nods.
Ozpin sighs again, “I assume, should I ban you from leaving the school, you'll end up in Mountain Glenn anyway?” Ruby grins and nods. “Very well. In three days, first years are leaving on training missions. I'll rearrange the teams for this.” Ruby blinks.
“What?”
“Clearly, you cannot be trusted to lead a team into such dangerous territory.” The look Ozpin gives her makes her flinch. “So, I will exchange a student from Team SABL with you.” He pulls up the team files on his computer, humming softly to himself. “Ah, mister Arc. Yes, he should do.”
“But sir! I can too lead Team RRVN in Mountain Glenn!” Ruby protests. Ozpin looks at her over top his glasses, his eyes hard.
“Miss Rose, this is the third time I've spoken to you about your behaviour since school started. We are barely into our second term. Most students never meet me like this.” Ruby winces. “You have been extremely reckless with both your life and the lives of others. Had you not shown such promise with leading your team, I would have had you removed from leadership.” Ow, that was a punch in the gut. “However, under your leadership, Team RRVN has been consistently at the top of the first year ranks, and is one of the most cohesive teams in Beacon. So I will not remove you. That being said,” He glares at her. “should you do any more reckless stunts like this, I will. Do you understand?” Ruby nods, eyes focused on the ground.
“Y-Yes, sir.”
“Very well. I shall inform the leader of Team SABL about the mission changes. On the mission, you will be known as Team WYBR <wyvern>.”
“But that's not a colour?” He glares at her again. “Right, sorry.”
“You may leave now, miss Rose.”
“Ruby, a mail-tube arrived for you this morning.” Pyrrha says, holding up said tube. Ruby grabs it, finding a note taped to the side.
She reads it out,
“Heya, Ruby! It's your dad! I'm sending Zwei for you to take care of, because I have to leave the island for a few days! I would have sent him to Yang, but I'm sure you remember what happened last time she was left alone with him. Love you!”
Ruby folds the letter with a smile, “Good ol' dad.”
“What happened? Who's Zwei?” Nora asks, leaning closer.
“Oh, Zwei's our pet. And Yang... let's just say that dust-infused, aura-enhanced, kibble is bad for a dog.” Ruby says, popping open the tube.
“Wait, your dad said he sent Zwei to you.” Ren asks, and Ruby grins, tipping the tube over. A fluffy-looking block slides out of the tube, landing on the ground with a small bounce. The fluffy block yips quietly, and unravels to reveal a small corgi.
“Zwei!” Ruby bends down and picks up the corgi. “Oh, I've missed you boy!” Zwei barks and licks her face. Nora makes an 'aww' noise, reaching forward to pet the dog.
“Um...” Pyrrha starts, giving the corgi a quick pat. “Your dad sent a dog through the mail.”
Ruby waves her off, “Ah, he does this all the time.”
Ren snorts, “Your dad, or your dog?”
“Ruby Rose!” Weiss shouts, grabbing Ruby by one of her backpack straps. Zwei is not in this backpack. The pack was filled with extra ammo and camping supplies. Zwei would be joining Ruby's teammates on their mission. “What in the world did you sign my team up for?!”
Ruby grins, “A clear-out mission to Mountain Glenn! Ozpin apparently doesn't trust my leadership in such a Grimm infested area.”
“And what,” Weiss starts, letting Ruby go. “are we really doing there?”
“Can't get anything past you, Weiss!” Ruby straightens her backpack. “See, I almost caught this infiltrator at the dance the other day! The bit – I mean, she said something about a hideout in Mountain Glenn.” And now for the trump-card, “She's apparently working with Torchwick and the White Fang.”
Before Weiss can answer, Ozpin's voice cuts in, “I see you conveniently left out some information in your report, Miss Rose.” Ruby winces, turning to see the headmaster standing behind her.
“Oz! I didn't see you there!”
His eyes narrow at her, “I was going to assign either Peter or Bartholomew to be your escort, but it seems I may need to change that.” He gets a scroll out from his pocket and types a few things in. “Ah, good. He's available.”
“Who?” It isn't going to be Oobleck, so Ruby honestly has no idea who it could be.
“Don't worry about it. He is a professional huntsman, one who returned to Vale a bit sooner than expected. You'll meet him at the airship field.” Ozpin looks to Weiss. “Gather your team, Miss Schnee.”
“Where is he?!” Yang shouts, glaring at every passing person. “He's late!”
“Technically,” Ruby starts, “Oz never gave us a time to meet. For all we know, we're early.” Weiss rolls her eyes, checking over her weapon.
Ruby goes to retort, but Blake cuts her off with a disgusted snarl, “Ugh, it smells like cheap liquor.”
Ruby's jaw drops, as a familiar ragged voice says, “Damn, I was told it was top-shelf.” She whirls on the spot. Standing a few feet behind her is a tall, rugged-looking man, with dark hair and red eyes. He smirks at them, “They cheated me.”
“Uncle Qrow!” Ruby shouts, leaping at the man.
“Whoa, whoa!” Qrow stumbles a bit, catching the cloaked girl in his arms. “Geez, brat, warn a guy next time.”
“Did you miss me?! Did you miss me?!” Ruby climbs him like a monkey. “Did you?!”
Qrow snorts, shaking her off him with an amused, “Nope.” Ruby pouts. “So, you are Team WYBR?”
“Wait-” Ruby starts, eyes widening. “YOU'RE THE HUNTSMAN?!”
“So, the White Fang, huh?” Qrow asks, sipping at his flask, voice barely audible over the engines of the airship. “How, in all of Remnant, did you all end up in a tussle with them?”
Ruby scratches her head, “Like the mushroom?”
Blake chuckles, “No, that's a truffle.”
“Oh, then, like the sprout?”
Yang elbows her sister, “That's a brussel.”
Weiss looks to Ruby, exasperated, “A tussle is a fight, Ruby.”
“Oh.”
Qrow clears his throat, “Anyway, how'd you guys do it?”
Before anyone can make an excuse, Ruby pipes up, “Well, Blake was a member, and you should know all about my thing with Torchwick. Long story short, I nearly caught an intruder at Beacon, we stopped Torchwick several times, and the White Fang is working for whoever Torchwick's working for.”
Qrow nods, “Cool.”
“Firecracker, you're with me up here.” Qrow says, voice loud to be heard over the roar of the train. Yang pumps her fists together, grinning widely at the incoming White Fang. “Ruby, take the others down below and try to stop this thing.” Ruby nods, and, sparing a glance at Weiss and Blake, hops into the carriage below. Weiss and Blake land next to her, unsheathing their weapons.
“Blake, here.” Weiss says, holding out a cartridge of dust. Blake smirks and loads it into her weapon.
“We've got company.” Ruby says, just as a short woman steps into the carriage, umbrella in hand. Ruby grins, spinning Crescent Rose to its full form. “I've got this, you two stop this train.” Without even bothering to wait for an answer, Ruby leaps, slashing down at the woman. Weiss and Blake speed past them into the next carriage. Ruby smirks, firing a shot, using the momentum to hook her scythe around the woman's waist. Her image shatters like glass, and she reappears on the other side of the carriage, a small smile on her face.
Ruby cocks her gun and tilts her head, “Hey, you're Neo, right?” The woman blinks, eyes switching colours briefly, before she nods. “Cool, I'm Ruby.” Neo gives a short wave, confusion evident in the movement. “I can see you're confused.” Ruby says, “See, I just thought that, should one of us die here, we should know each other's names.” Neo raises a brow. Ruby shrugs, “I dunno, seems like a waste not to know each other's names.” With that said, Ruby launches forward, scythe slashing towards Neo's side. The shorter woman easily dodges, and Ruby curves her scythe upwards, aiming for her arm. Neo simply dodges again. “Wow, you're good. Fuck, I might actually die here!” Ruby grins, “Awesome!”
Of course, despite having several years of experience and clearly having more aura than Neo, Ruby loses. She lies on the ground, staring up at the ceiling in disbelief. She lost. The sound of a blade being drawn comes and Ruby sighs, silver eyes flitting to Neo, who is walking towards her, a long blade in her hand. “Well, fuck.” Ruby mumbles, trying to force her body into moving. She crawls slowly away, but Neo is relentless. Eventually, the multi-colour woman stands above her, malicious smirk in place, and blade raised to impale her. “Fuck, please don't be the wagon this time...” Ruby mutters, eyes closing. Then she hears it. An familiar whooshing noise. “Oh no fucking way.” She groans, eyes cracking open. And yep. There she fucking is. Raven Branwen. “Oh fuck me seven ways to Sunday.” Ruby growls, pushing herself to her feet. She watches as Neo looks between the newcomer and Ruby, before she disappears. Ruby rolls her eyes. “Fucking coward.” She looks at Raven, eyebrows raised. “Hey.” She gestures vaguely to the roof. “Your brother and daughter are up there, y'know.” Raven merely shakes her head, slashing open a portal before her. “Cool semblance. Whose bond are you using? Yang? Qrow?” Raven's head snaps to her. “I'm gonna assume Qrow.” The two stare at each other for a moment more, before Raven steps back into her portal, closing it behind her. Ruby's eyes roll. “Bitch.”
This is not how this is supposed to go. Ruby falls to her knees beside Pyrrha, hands pressing into the gaping wound that had once been the redhead's abdomen. No one is supposed to get seriously hurt during the breach! Ruby knows that Pyrrha's fighting a losing battle. She's simply lost too much blood and has too little aura.
“C-Come on...” Ruby whimpers, eyes burning, the Silver furiously trying to escape her, “This isn't...”
“...Ru...by...” Pyrrha coughs out, and Ruby looks to her face, silver meeting green, “Thank... you...” Ruby trembles.
“No, no, no no no nonononononono-” Pyrrha's eyes slide shut. “PYRRHA!” Ruby screams, silver light pouring from her eyes, wiping easily through all the Grimm around. Ruby stands, the light dimming to a mere shine. Immediately, she spots Emerald and Mercury, crouching next to a clearly pain-riddled Cinder. “YOU!” She's before them in less than a second, Crescent Rose slicing through the air towards the false maiden. Cinder throws herself to the side at the last second, eyes wide. “Cinder Fall, you're fucking dead, you hear me!?” Cinder blocks Ruby's next slash with a pair of dark blades.
“How did you know my name?” The false maiden growls, pushing past what pain she's clearly feeling. Ruby glares, silver wisps escaping her.
“Pyrrha wasn't supposed to die! Goddammit, I said she wouldn't die this time!”
The older woman frowns, “This time?”
Ruby drops her scythe, lashing forward with a sharp jab. Cinder parries the blow easily. Ruby snatches her scythe back up and twirls, slicing wildly. Cinder's eyes ignite as she draws up as much of the maiden powers as she could.
“No you fucking don't!” Ruby hisses, eyes beginning to glow brightly. They lock eyes and the Silver explodes outwards-
Ruby jerks back, eyes wide. She's on a cliff-edge. A familiar cliff-edge. She turns her head and spots her mother's grave.
“Oh...” Ruby blinks away tears as she kneels before her mother's grave. “This is... before.” She's back in the past again. She remembers visiting her mother's grave the day before the Torchwick thing. She laughs quietly, reaching up to wipe away a tear that had begun to escape her eye. “Fuck me...” She whispers hoarsely, before she laughs again, the noise coming out more as sobs. “At least it's not the fucking wagon...”