"You're worrying too much. Everything'll be fine."
"Everything isn't fine," Ruby huffed as she sank down in her seat, bringing her knees up to her chest. Her head felt weird thanks to her sister insisting that they do something nice to it for this meeting. They got up super early to wash everything, do her hair with weird hair goop, cut stray threads from her combat skirt, and all sorts of other stuff that she only went along with because Yang and dad both insisted that 'appearances matter'.
All of it just felt phony. She wasn't wearing Crescent Rose for the same reason. Her precious scythe was in a carrying case underneath their bench! "We're flying to Beacon so they can, I don't know, interrogate me, test me, attack me… I was just trying to fight monsters and then... Then all of this..."
She waved a hand at the loading ramp of the Bullhead, then curled back up.
"Yeah…" Yang ran her fingers through her hair. She glanced from her sister, to the hatch in the back, then to Ruby again. She'd gotten a bit dressed up as well. Though she did so much with her hair normally, Ruby couldn't really tell the difference. Also, Yang's weapons were around her wrists where they belonged, "Hey sis,"
She leaned over and laid a hand on Ruby's knee, squeezing slightly, "I'm with you. No matter what they say or what we have to do."
"Come on," Yang shook her a little and grinned, "It's not like your semblance makes golden fire or anything really crazy, right?"
Ruby giggled into her skirt, "Nope, nothing crazy like that."
She leaned back and sighed. Her eyes flicked around the ship, pausing a little longer at each piece that was even a little complicated: the doors, the rotors, Ember Celica. She stopped there, frowning at her reflection. Everything looked almost right when she was reflected in the golden gauntlet. But things weren't right, they were just like last year when her sister discovered her semblance and got called in for a week of testing.
Yang didn't talk about it, but when she got back, she changed. Her normally loud sister was quiet at first. Then she started going out by herself more while coming home later and later each night. Sometimes she was gone for days at a time. Dad was worried it was boys, but Ruby was pretty sure that wasn't what she was looking for. Yang had been looking at dad's old picture book too often for it to be that.
She even vanished for a week straight during the past summer. She said it was for a road trip with her friends, but Ruby ran into them in Vale, without Yang. Ruby didn't tell dad about it.
Ruby took a deep breath and turned, meeting Yang's eyes. "Last summer, when they tested you. You came home and were acting really, really weird. What happened?"
Yang's grip tightened on Ruby's knee. For a brief moment, red met red while Ruby resisted wincing.
Yang snapped her head to the side and let go of Ruby. "I'm not supposed to talk about it," She paused and brought her hands together.
"That's the first thing they say. That they'll have to be harder on you if you know what's coming, so I shouldn't tell anyone. But you..." She bit her lip and hissed before shaking her head. "You'll be fine, I just know it."
Ruby gulped and nodded slightly. Yang still hadn't unclenched her fists though.
Ruby waited until Yang looked back at her and continued, "Dad went through it too, so did Uncle Qrow and mom. They said that only very good or very unlucky Hunters get called in. So getting called up like this, you've gotta be something special little sister."
Yang lightly punched Ruby on the shoulder, making the smaller girl sway back and forth again. With a giggle, Ruby nodded and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She went back to looking out the window.
They sat in silence for the rest of the trip.
As the engines spun down and the ramp lowered, they got up. Yang laid her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Don't worry. It'll be some professor with nothing better to do who-"
They froze when they saw who was standing on the landing platform. A silver-haired man in a green suit. One hand was folded over a finely crafted cane while the other held a steaming mug. He softly smiled at them and raised one eyebrow.
"-oh."
Ruby grimaced and waved to him, "Umm, hello Headmaster Ozpin."
"Please, call me Professor."
The girls were led to a small academic building near the landing pad. Most of the rooms were lecture halls named after famous hunters. Many were Beacon graduates, but each had done something incredible. Professor Ozpin called it a way to keep their memories and deeds alive.
The impromptu tour paused just outside of a small kitchen.
"Before we get to business, would you like any refreshments? Cookies, cocoa?" Ozpin held the door open for them. Ruby and Yang each glanced at the other then shook their heads. "No? I'll be just a moment then."
Barely a second after the door closed Ruby was moving. She looked from Yang to the door and gestured at it wildly. She mouthed several words and shook her head, "What, how, why?"
Yang shrugged and mouthed back, "I don't know."
Ruby raised her arms up and dropped them, sighing. None of this made any sense. She walked over to a window and watched the other ships landing. Furniture, boxes, and… cages holding Grimm were all being unloaded. "Woah."
"I heard some professors have you fight Grimm in class. You know, for practice." Yang stepped behind her.
"Cool," Ruby's eyes lit up as ideas about how to handle each of the Grimm passing by flew through her head. Beowolves she'd fought before, they were easy; small Ursa too. But they'd only read about Boarbatusks at Signal. What would be a good opening attack? A sliding upward sweep? No that would leave her open if it missed. Maybe...
"Hey sis," Yang waved her hand in front of Ruby's face, bringing her back to reality. She'd sunk into a combat stance, hands positioned where they'd be on her scythe. Ruby heard the kitchen door opening and snapped back to an overly rigid posture, back and arms completely straight.
Ozpin stepped out with a steaming mug of coffee and looked at Ruby, "Let's continue then."
He turned and started walking away, Ruby raised her hand slowly before clenching her fist and dropping it. "Um, Professor Ozpin."
"Yes, Miss Rose?"
"Why are you doing all of this? Showing us around and everything. Considering, well..."
"Considering the mystery surrounding your semblance?"
"That's…" Ruby stopped herself from saying anything else and quickly nodded.
"Now seems as good a time as any to discuss it," He opened one of the classroom doors. "Miss Xiao-Long, please wait outside."
Ozpin held the door for Ruby and softly closed it. He took a seat behind the desk and waited while Ruby pulled up a chair of her own. For one long moment they sat there. Ozpin sat calmly with his hands folded in front of him while Ruby tried as hard as she could to not fidget in her chair.
"You don't have to worry Ruby," Ozpin broke the silence with a smile, "You're not here to be interrogated."
"But Yang said!" Ruby paused. "She thought that this was just like what happened to her at Signal. Only instead of whatever it was, you've been showing us around, but she's already going to Beacon so- so I..."
"Ruby, while there may seem to be some similarities, you aren't in trouble or under investigation. I heard about the request your sister sent to us and thought that I'd speak with you myself. There's a mystery that I think you'll be able to help me with."
"Help you how?"
"A few days ago I received a very strange message from the night watch in Patch. What do you think it was about?"
Ruby gulped and avoided looking at Ozpin while she spoke, "About how there was a big Beowolf pack that was destroyed by an awesome girl with a bright red aura and weird sign on her head."
He nodded. "A Huntress who they could not consistently recall one thing about, besides her red aura. Each of them described a different girl entirely."
"Yeah that was me. I didn't know any of them that well so I didn't think it was weird that they didn't recognize me even though they probably should've."
"Why was a girl like you fighting a pack of Beowolves by herself?"
"Someone had to."
"What about the adult Hunters nearby?"
"They weren't there. It was the middle of the night. They were moving almost silently, the Grimm that is, and were already past the watch towers. If I didn't stop them, they'd would've gotten to someone who couldn't fight back."
"You fought them all by yourself?"
"I didn't mean to. Umm, I mean. I just wanted to draw them away, make them chase me back to the towers."
"What happened?"
"I hit them from the side and tried to pull back, but there were even more hiding in the darkness! I took out two really fast," Ruby grimaced, "And then I was surrounded. I tried to push past them, but they kept me boxed in. We went on a few hunts at Signal so I know a little bit about Beowolves. These ones were bigger and spikier than any I'd fought before. They also hit a lot harder, but once I got started I was able to keep them away. So I continued fighting and just sort of kept going even though there were so many of them."
"I didn't even realize when they were all gone at first, just that there were other things coming for me from the bushes." Ruby stopped for a moment and looked towards the side of the room, "Then I noticed I was glowing and… and the noises were Huntsmen and well," Ruby laughed softly, "That's pretty much it."
"I see." Ozpin had leaned forward during the story and was looking at Ruby very intently. She just smiled awkwardly and stayed silent. She'd left some stuff out. Some stuff that was probably at least a little important, but it was personal and she really, really didn't want Yang to hear. She was sitting right outside, she probably heard all of this. But, she'd already told Yang all of this so there was nothing to fear there.
Not like the way Professor Ozpin was looking at her. She knew that look, it was the same look Uncle Qrow gave her when she snuck cookies out of the kitchen. It meant that he knew. He had to know. She was a terrible liar and now she could practically see him weighing his options. He was going to ask, she knew it. 'No, no, don't ask.' She thought as loudly as she could.
Ruby clenched her teeth and matched his gaze, wishing with every bone in her body that he just not ask anything else about that night.
She felt something shift. Not the ground or her, something that she couldn't see. It was like when she was fighting and needed just a bit more speed so she pushed again the ground extra hard with her Aura. Was it Professor Ozpin? He didn't look like he was pushed, he was just smiling; smiling and no longer giving her that look.
"That's an impressive feat for someone so young." He leaned back and all of Ruby's tension flowed away, "It also explains most of what I wanted to know."
"Most?"
"Yes. I have one more question for you." Ruby winced and prepared herself for what was coming. "What do you want to do now?"
"What? I-" Ruby blinked a few times while her mouth hung open, "I want to be a Huntress, but..."
"But?"
"But how could I when no one remembers me?"
"Ruby, how many living Hunters can you name besides your family and teachers?"
She quirked her head to the side, "Fifty?"
"A very impressive number. Most people know of less than twenty." He took a sip of coffee. "In the kingdom of Vale there are more than one thousand registered Huntsmen and Huntresses, though not all of them are still actively fighting."
"To most people, any would be a stranger who came and saved them when they were most in need. Also, your sister seems to be able to remember you."
Ruby looked away again. "Yeah, though she didn't recognize me at first."
"Oh?"
"I, uhh. It wasn't just the glowing thing." Ruby rubbed the side of her neck and stared at the table, "My hair's a little redder and my eyes are…"
"They're very unique,"
She closed them, obscuring the unfamiliar red irises and bronze speckled pupils, "They used to be silver. Like my mom's."
Ozpin froze. He'd been bringing his mug back to the table and stopped inches above it. His expression shifted several times in an instant. Ruby couldn't keep up with all of it, but she could see several conflicting feelings before he finished setting his drink down. "I see."
"Professor Ozpin are you ok?"
"I'm fine Ruby, just surprised. Silver is also an eye color very few people have." He couldn't be fine after looking like that. She really wanted to say something, but he didn't ask her more before so it wouldn't be fair for her to now. "Now then, you say you want to be a Huntress?"
She nodded, "More than anything. Even if everyone keeps forgetting me."
"Would you like to come to Beacon?"
Later that night Ruby was lying on the roof of her room, looking up at the stars. She had to explain everything to dad, again, but it only took a few seconds before he remembered her this time. Then the hugging and the crying started. He felt so bad about it, which made her feel worse, and they just kept feeding into each other until Yang made them stop.
Then she told him that she'd been invited to go to Beacon with Yang and it started up again because "both of his girls were abandoning him at the same time." That time Yang got pulled into the bear hug. Thankfully it ended while Ruby still had ribs.
Dad was cooking one of his specialties to celebrate the good news. She'd normally be helping prep things, but there were too many questions running around her head. Why did Professor Ozpin react like that? What would having silver eyes mean? Mom's eyes had been silver too and no one ever made a big deal about them. Did he know her mom? Was that it? Mom and Dad were pretty awesome, but were they good enough that someone like Professor Ozpin would know them?
Ruby groaned and went back to her other mystery. The night sky was different now and she didn't know why. She could still pick out all of the stars she normally could and nothing really seemed different, but it had a weird energy to it. It was like there was something up there, dancing just outside of sight.
Maybe she wasn't looking hard enough.
She sat up and focused on the stars. She looked from constellation to constellation, the ones she remembered anyway, searching for anything weird. They just twinkled down at her. She sighed and closed her eyes, thinking back to her night in the forest. She whispered to herself while she remembered.
"Once, there was a maiden who looked to the stars,
In their heavenly dance she saw many answers,
And many more questions,
Then one night, the stars grew silent,
'Why me?' She asked, again and again,
'What now?' She cried in desperation,
But the stars could not answer her,
For her Fate was her own."
There was something hiding in there too. But figuring out the poem was even harder. If it was true, then why wasn't she getting any answers from the stars? She wasn't asking "why me?". It was more like "What are you? What're you doing?".
"That's a really pretty poem."
"Grah, Yang!" Ruby jumped up and turned around. Yang was leaning on the window behind her. She was grinning and holding a half-eaten skewer of meat.
"Dad sent me to get you. Dinner's ready and it is good!" She tore a piece of meat off and pointed the stick at Ruby. The younger girl giggled and slipped into the window. She could worry about weird poems later.
"Race you there!" She yelled and took off.
"Oh, you're on!"
