Yup. RWBY fanfic Enjoy
Chapter 1 - Into the Woods
The nearly silent hum of the airships engines was the only sound that pervaded the thick silence surrounding the only two passengers. It had been this way for half the ride, ever since Yang and Blake had been dropped off in their assigned area. Yang had given her a wink as she pulled on her shades and hopped out of the still flying airship. Blake had simply rolled her eyes as she followed her partner out the open bay doors with a quick bye.
Nervous silver eyes slid to eye the frowning woman to her left.
Weiss sat rigid in her seat, staring straight ahead at nothing in particular, resolutely refusing to look at her partner.
"So..." Ruby started tentatively. "How hard do you think this is gonna be?" She asked, daring a glance at the heiress.
Weiss remained unmoving and mute. Not so much as blinking, adamant on pretending the younger girl wasn't there.
Ruby slumped down into her seat, staring at the tops of her combat boots. It had been a couple of hours since Weiss had spoken to her, though before that she had been yelling. Ruby wasn't sure which was worse, the yelling or the silent treatment. Both killed the hooded leader of team RWBY.
She knew why the heiress was mad at her, she'd knocked over and broken several bottles of her special dust, mixing it with glass and rendering it useless. Still, Weiss had never been this cold to her, other than the first time they had met. She sulked quietly next to the fuming heiress. Weiss's temper had been rather short the past couple weeks and every day it seemed to get worse, even worse, was that it all seemed to be aimed at Ruby.
She looked up as they felt the ship descending. The pilot turned around to look at his two last passengers.
"This is your stop ladies." He said to them as the ship came to a stop in a clearing. "Good luck." He smiled. Weiss rose and sauntered over the now open doors not waiting for her partner. Ruby sighed before shouldering her pack and following. The second they stepped away the ship began to rise up and away, back to Beacon.
Ruby watched it disappear into the distance before turning to find Weiss walking away. She sighed silently to herself before turning to follow.
They remained that way for about twenty minutes before she ventured to speak to heiress again.
"What do you think we should do first, find food or build a shelter?" She asked as she glanced around the thick foliage of the forest that surrounded them on all sides for miles. After a minute Weiss said nothing and her shoulders slumped in defeat.
"We need to have a shelter first." Finally came the curt reply. Ruby perked up now that her partner was at least speaking to her again.
"Right. I'm on it!" She ran ahead of Weiss a cloud or Rose petals scattering in her wake.
"Ruby!" The irate woman called after her long gone partner. She sighed exasperated.
Weiss rubbed at her temples as she recalled the words of Professor Goodwitch.
"As a field work exercise and test of your ability to work with your partner you will be dropped at off at points in the Emerald forest where you will remain for 5 days. As professional working hunters and Huntresses you will often be required to spend extended amounts of time in the field. Survive and in 5 days you will be recovered."
Weiss groaned to herself. An entire 5 day of just her and Ruby surviving in the forest. Just perfect, and now the dunce had run off on her own in a Grimm infested forest.
She followed the direction Ruby had vanished, carefully taking in her surroundings. The trees in the section of the forest were so thick they filtered out a lot of light, casting dark shifting shadows over everything. The eerie stillness made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
Ruby was still nowhere in sight. Weiss wouldn't admit that a tingle of worry had started to work its way up her spine till she spotted the trail of rose petals left in the wake of Ruby's semblance. She followed them not far to a small clearing where a large cropping of rocks rose out of the ground; a large person sized crack in the rock drew her attention.
Ruby's pack sat open in the grass besides the opening, a small chunk of burn dust sitting next to it. Weiss frowned as she stopped at the entrance, looking into the darkness.
"Ruby?" She called into the seemingly endless void of black. A faint light deep within began to grow brighter until Ruby stood in front of her grinning widely, a roughly made torch burning in one hand.
"How about this Weiss? It's not very deep, it's dry and empty and Grimm can't fit through the hole." She suggested. The heiress stood silent for a minute causing Ruby's grin to fade before she crossed her arms with a slight huff.
"It will do, I guess." She huffed, causing the younger girls grin to return full force.
"Great, you set up camp and I'll collect wood for a fire." She handed Weiss the torch before zipping off back into the foliage.
"Ugh..." Weiss grunted angrily to herself as petals dropped to the ground in the wake of her hyperactive dunce of a partner.
Sliding off her pack to sit in the grass next to Ruby's she adjusted her grip on the torch as she took a few steps into the mouth of the cavern.
It wasn't all that deep. Maybe 30 feet and about half that wide. The stone floor was a little rough but flat enough that they could make do for sleeping on it with their blankets. Ruby was right though; it was dry and would keep them sheltered for the duration of the exercise at least.
A loud cluttering racket made the heiress jump. She spun around to find her smiling partner had drop a pile of sticks and logs down onto the stone floor creating a loud echoing crash throughout the cave.
"You dolt, don't scare me like that!" She chastised, glowering at Ruby while trying to brush away the feeling of the chills running up her spine.
"Sorry, Weiss." She sheepishly apologized with a small smile.
Weiss pursed her lips before resolutely spinning around to continue her examination of the cave and look at anything other than her partner.
Ruby deflated a little at the return of the cold shoulder but she knew this was just how Weiss was. She had a temper and could be cold and callous for sure, but she was also a reliable partner and a good friend.
She started pulling together a ring of stones to hold the firewood, occasionally glancing up at Weiss as she moved around the cave setting up her sleeping pallet.
Ruby frowned to herself. She wanted to be positive about this but if she were honest, the way Weiss had been treating her lately stung.
She wasn't even sure what had happened. Two weeks ago things had been great, better than ever in fact.
Something however had changed somewhere round the heiress's birthday.
Weiss hadn't said anything about the upcoming date and it had only been while searching on the terminals in the library that Ruby had found the date in question.
She hadn't been looking things up about the heiress or anything...really...
Using stealth and cunning she didn't even know she possessed she had planned out a surprise party for her partner, inviting team JNPR and a few upperclassmen that they occasionally hung out with.
To say Weiss had been surprised was the understatement of the year. Ruby had never seen the white haired girl smile so brightly and it made her stomach flip that she had been able to put that expression on her face.
She couldn't put her finger on it, but sometime after that Weiss had been steadily getting colder toward her. She didn't understand what she had done wrong but she couldn't bring herself to ask the heiress about it directly either.
She didn't notice she had been sitting, staring into space until she focused on the fingers snapping in front of her face.
"Ruby. Remnant to Ruby!" Weiss was calling to her. Silver eyes focused on the hand in front of her face. She blinked and looked up at the frowning face of her partner.
"Oh, sorry Weiss." She smiled sheepishly. "I was thinking and just kind of...zoned out." She shrugged with a smile. Weiss made a sound somewhere between a groan and a grunt and Ruby would have laughed except the disgruntled noise was of course, aimed at her.
She glanced over to find that Weiss had hadn't set up just her own sleeping pallet but hers as well, her bag sitting next to it rather than where she'd left it sitting outside the mouth of the cave.
That was something else that confused the hooded huntress to no end. Weiss would be cold to her but then she would do something thoughtful like bringing her a snack when she'd been studying all afternoon or setting up her pallet and bringing her things inside.
It was all very confusing and more than a little frustrating for her. Really she wanted to stand up and yell at her. Ask her why she was being a jerk and then turning around and being nice, ask her what she had done or what she hadn't done. Ruby Rose was many things but a mind reader wasn't one of them.
She finished placing the wood in the now finished fire pit before standing up and brushing off her knees.
"Camp is all set up." Weiss informed her. Ruby nodded.
"Great, now we just need food and water." Before she could zip off back into the woods Weiss clamped a hand down on her shoulder.
"We need to stay together, Ruby. The forest is full of Grimm, were safer together." She said like it was the obvious thing in the world and it was, actually.
The leader of team RWBY was simply having reservations about being alone with the heiress for long periods of time. She would mess up and Weiss would yell at her and she just wanted Weiss to stop yelling at her.
"Right, sorry." She nodded and watched as Weiss walked past her, shimmying out of the narrow open of their temporary home. Ruby followed.
They had a few hours till dark and had collected enough water to last them a few days. Food was the real issue.
They hadn't been allowed to bring any, as it would partially defeat the purpose of the exercise. It was as if they'd been stranded.
"What are we supposed to do for food?" Weiss wondered aloud as they walked. She'd yet to see any kind of fruit tree or plants they could eat.
"We'll just have to hunt." Ruby hummed. Icy blue eyes turned disbelievingly to her partner.
"Do you even know how to hunt?" Her brow hiked in question. Ruby grinned, puffing up.
"Yup, Dad taught me." She hooked a thumb toward herself, smiling proudly. "Just follow me, Weiss!" She jumped up into the nearest tree startling Weiss who followed her quickly.
They could hear the distant cries of Nevermores and the howls of Beowulfs as they moved The Emerald forest was full of wildlife, both of the safe and the not so safe variety.
Both girls were completely silent as they slunk around the forest. On a search for a meal. Ruby dropped onto a branch and held up a closed fist. Weiss came to a silent stop beside her.
Motioning toward the forest floor. Weiss followed her finger and partially hidden by the underbrush was a deer.
The quiet click of Crescent Rose unfolding halfway into its riffle form was the only sound coming from the huntress. Weiss watched her in silence as she aimed up a shot. The loud crack of the rifle shot echoed out across the forest, shattering the silence. The deer gave a wild jerk before falling dead onto the dirt. The empty shell casing hitting the bark made a quiet plink.
"Dinner" Ruby smiled at her partner proudly. Weiss rolled her eyes in turn but could admit at least to herself that Ruby did know how to hunt and had secured there dinner.
"Efficient" The heiress said causing Ruby to beam at the close enough complement. Weiss quickly turned from her and jumped down to the forest floor.
"I don't suppose you have a knife?" She asked as she walked around the carcass. Ruby dropped down in front of her and glanced at crescent rose for a moment before dismissing the idea.
"We'll have to drag it back to the camp." Her weapon folded back into its dormant form as she walked around and grabbed the front legs. Weiss made a grunting noise but didn't argue as she grabbed the back legs and then began dragging it back.
They were nearly there when the earlier howling of Beowulf's was now much closer. The girls stopped looking around into the trees.
A series of low deep growls vibrated the air and the a quick clicking of Crescent Rose as it unfolded to it full imposing glory and the quick swish as Myrtenaster slid from its place at Weiss's hip.
Burning red eyes watched them from the darkness an orchestra of growls and snarls the prelude of what was to come.
The tension in the air snapped as a snarling Beowulf leapt from the bushes, razor sharp fangs poised to kill.
A flash of red and black accompanied a swift crunch as the first of many fell dead in the dirt ad Ruby's feet. The tide unleashed as the pack lunged from the places.
The tell tell clicks of Myrtenaster's spinning barrel alerted Ruby to Weiss's incoming strike. She jumped, launching herself into the air as a blast of fire engulfed the immediate are. Killing several of the Grimm.
Weiss flew upwards.
"Ice flower!" Ruby called spinning Crescent rose, barrel pointed downward as Weiss thrust her rapier downward. The glyphs flashing into existence as Ruby rapid fired through them blasting the surrounding Grimm with the explosive rounds of ice.
Loud cries of pain rose up from the creature's throats as they were caught in the blasts. Some were frozen as the few that remained scattered.
A quick spin of her scythe shattered the frozen Beowulf's, sending chunks flying. They landed with a muted thump, eyes flickering back and forth. When nothing stirred Ruby smiled as she flicked her wrist, snapping crescent rose back into its collapsed form and storing it under her cloak.
Weiss scoffed as she flicked the rapier, sending tiny shards of ice from the blade.
"They were no match for team RWBY." Ruby laughed as she threw an arm across Weiss's shoulders "Or half of team RWBY, anyway." She giggled.
Weiss shrugged off the hand but smiled.
"You act surprised." She commented with a quirked brow.
Ruby just grinned and opened her mouth to speak but whatever she was going to say was cut off by the roar of a Beowulf as it leapt from the bushes.
The girls startled as they leapt apart, out of harm's way.
Or at least Weiss thought as a garbled cry of pain tore its way out of Ruby's throat as she hit the ground with a thud.
"Ruby!" Myrtenaster's barrel clicked as it spun to the green dust cartridge and with a pointed thrust sent the Beowulf sailing through the air and through several trees, killing it.
"Ruby!" Weiss called as she jogged over to where her partner was kneeling on the ground.
"Are you alright?" She held her hand out. Ruby took it with a strained smile as she stood.
"I'm fine. It just caught me by surprise is all." She assured. Striking a pose as to convince Weiss who pursed her lips before sliding her weapon back into its resting place at her hip.
"We should hurry, they might come back and it will be dark soon." She turned back to the dear, a little singed from her initial attack but still intact.
She grabbed one end as Ruby grabbed the other and they hurried back to their camp before the sun could set or another pack of Grimm could show up.
Once they had shimmied back into the cave Weiss dug a small burn crystal from her own pack and sending a spark of her aura through it sent out a small burst of flames, igniting the fire pit Ruby had set up and folded her legs underneath sitting by the fire, watching Ruby skin and gut the deer in gruesome fascination.
He face twisted in disgust as she watched.
"Did your father teach you that as well?" She asked around the bile threatening to rise up in her throat.
"Yup, He said Yang and I needed to know how to survive in the wild. I didn't think I'd ever actually need it but…here we are." She chuckled and gave a single shrug before focusing on the task at hand.
"Must you do that in here?" Weiss made a face as Ruby looked up at her.
"If I do it outside it'll attract other animals and probably more Grimm." She explained with an apologetic look. Weiss's nose wrinkled at the thick coppery smell that now filled the cave but didn't comment. Ruby frowned but continued to work.
It only took an hour or so before Ruby was carefully turning chunks of meat on a stick over the open flame.
Once their dinner was gone and the remainder wrapped tight in the skin and pushed to back of the cave for breakfast. It wouldn't stay good long.
Weiss sat on her pallet running a cloth down Myrtenaster's blade as Ruby looked out the opening of the cave, starring up at the stars she could see through the tree tops.
Weiss glanced up from cleaning her weapon to stare at Ruby's back as she gazed out into the forest. A rumble of guilt twisted in her stomach but she was quick to stomp it down with a scowl.
"I don't think this is going to be so bad." Ruby's quiet voice floated into her ears. She didn't dare to glance back over at the younger girl she simply grunted a noncommittal response and returned to cleaning her weapon more enthusiastically then necessary
Ruby sighed noiselessly as she glanced over her shoulder at her partner before turning back around to look into the darkness. The only sound was the cracking and popping of the fire and the occasional metal clink as Myrtenaster touched the ground.
When she finally turned back around Weiss was laying on her pallet covered in her blanket and the gentle rise and fall of her chest indicating sleep.
Ruby frowned as she quietly walked over to her pallet across the fire from Weiss and lied back starring up at the ceiling, glancing at the back of the heiress head.
Across from the fire Weiss laid quietly, blanket tucked under her chin and starring at the cold stone wall as she listened to the quiet rustling of Ruby getting comfortable in her pallet.
Hope you liked it guys! Next chapter will be out soon. enjoy!
~Malthazar LOS