Ruby wandered out of the bakery absolutely delighted. She had been constantly hearing about this new pastry shop from friends and online reviews for weeks now, but this was the first time she had been able to make her way here. With their upcoming mission starting on Monday, a week before the rest of the second year missions, Team RWBY had to scramble to get their school work done in advance.
Typically second year teams ran several missions, with their final one taking place a week before the first year missions as to not pull too many students away from their classes and duties at once. They were scheduled to finish before the annual dance instead of starting afterwards like the first years did. For their final mission they were being deployed to an outlying village that had seen a huge spike in grimm activity. Swarms of monsters left over from Cinder's attack almost a year ago still wandered the countryside, and many of school assigned missions was to destroy them before they could wipe out settlements. Ruby had wanted to stock up on her cookie supply just in case there was no reliable bakeries in the village.
With her hood up and box of cookies held securely under one arm, Ruby took a peek at her scroll. 4:45, only time for one more stop. Pulling up the list of antique shop she had looked up before she left her teammates studying back at the dorm. Checking the addresses, she homed in on the nearest shop.
It was a beautiful spring day out, so the young leader of team RWBY didn't mind walking about. The evening sunlight was bright, though a chill was starting to creep into the breeze. She shuddered and drew her cloak around herself a little more tightly. Despite the sunshine, she hoped she would be done soon and be able to make it back to the school by nightfall. Though, she had some extra things to take care of before she returned to the dorm itself.
Keeping herself entertained on the short walk by humming cheerfully to herself, the cloaked girl started to space out. Ruby had been wanting to ask Weiss to the dance for sometime now. Wracking her brain for ideas was almost worthless and inevitably gave her a headache. How could you impress a girl that could get anything she wanted with a snap of her fingers?
The only thing she could really think of was a vague memory of Weiss' old necklace. A small, silver apple pendant the heiress had worn night and day. The look of despair on Weiss' face when it had been destroyed by an ursa while on a mission still brought tears to her eyes. Weiss had said it was the last gift she had ever received from her Grandmother. Ruby could only imagine how upset she would be if something happened to the cloak she was wearing, the last thing her mom had ever given her.
Weiss had mentioned that they weren't made anymore, so Ruby figured the her only hope was an antique shop. If she could only find one and present it to the heiress, it would hopefully put the snow-haired girl in an amiable enough mood to say yes. Passing by a costume shop, she peeked in the window spying a dog eared headband. She smirked to herself. Weiss loved puppies, maybe she could help tip the odds in her favor a little more.
Torn out of her thoughts by a rather rude piece of extruding sidewalk, Ruby tripped rather ungracefully. As she fell she had to quickly decide between protecting her face or the cookies. Flailing about in indecision, the cloaked girl squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the pain. It took a couple seconds to realize she wasn't falling anymore, instead there was an uncomfortable tightness around her neck.
Slowly gathering her feet under herself again, she unclipped the cloak strangling her and put the box of cookies down. Turning around, the sight of what saved her caused the young girl to giggle. Dangling from a sign jutting out of a shop wall by the very tip of the hood, was her beloved cloak.
She was happy that none of her teammates, especially not Weiss, were around to witness her spectacular moment of klutziness. There would have been no end to the teasing from Yang and Blake, and unceasing lecture from her partner. Even though she had grown up with Yang, she still wasn't used to her sister's teasing. And Weiss' lectures were as strict as ever, though recently there had been a shift in her tone. She seemed less exasperated and more⦠caring.
Retrieving her cloak and clipping it over her shoulders again, she checked the sign she he had been caught on. 'Deja New Antique Shop?' Ruby groaned. It definitely was a good thing Yang wasn't there. Though it did leave the black and red haired girl a little confused. She couldn't recall the shop name coming up in her search. Maybe it was new, or poorly reviewed.
Looking at her scroll again, she checked the time. Only 4:58, less than 15 minutes had passed since she left the bakery. As she moved to put it away, the device vibrated. Looking at the sender's name and message, Ruby smiled. Weiss was checking in on her. Typing back that she was still out and about in Vale, but would be headed straight to the library afterwards instead of the room. She added a second message that she would probably not be back until after they fell asleep, so they shouldn't worry about her.
Placing the phone back in her satchel, she picked up the cookies and stepped into the shop. Despite the clean exterior, the inside of the shop was dusty and cluttered, as though no one had been there in some time. The front of the shop had piles of junk Ruby could only assume were antiques. Dozens of old books lined shelves on one side of the shop, while worn down armoires occupied the other. Everything, included the sales counter, were covered with a thick layer of dust.
"Hello?" Ruby called out tentatively. "Helloooo?"
No response. Spying a door in the back corner, she made her way to it trying to avoid knocking anything over. Pushing the door open slightly, she poked her head into the dark room and tried to call out again. Instead she ended up with a noseful of dust.
Achoo! The red clad girl sneezed violently, and cracked her head on the doorframe. "Owwiee."
She instinctively pulled her hood up over her short black and red hair to hide her shame, before realizing that once again, there was no one around to witness her klutziness. Unless there was someone hiding in the back room.
Poking her head back through the doorway she called out. "Hello? Is anybody in here?" She briefly paused. "Nobody? OK."
Ruby reached out to the side of the door. After grasping around for a couple of seconds, Ruby found what she was looking for. Flicking the switch, she winced as a harsh light flooded the room.
Looking about, Ruby realized she was standing a room that was completely barren except for a lone mirror. Like everything else she had seen in the building, it was covered with dust and the glass was smeared and smudged, making it almost impossible to see anything clearly. Still, there was something alluring about the mirror. It was as if it radiated a power of some kind.
Curiosity easily overruling her hesitation, she approached the mirror, trying to peer through the grime, as if there was something lying behind it. She tried to make out her features, but everything looked distorted in a way she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Trying to make sense of it, Ruby reached out to clean the glass, closing the final gap between her and the mirror. When her fingertips grazed the cold, smooth glass a bolt of energy raced through her. Letting out a small gasp, the hooded girl slumped to the ground unconscious.
'Ungh.' Ruby let out a groan as her eyes fluttered open. "What happened?"
The last thing she could remember was touching a mirror, then waking up on the floor. She could barely see without squinting. For some reason it was incredibly bright in the room. Was it daytime already? Had she slept through the entire night? She had to make it back before she was reported as AWOL. Checking the time, it was still only 23:24, still before midnight. If she could get back quickly, she could avoid discipline.
Realizing the harsh light was coming from a single fixture located in the middle of the ceiling, she turned away and slowly pulled herself off the ground. Flipping the hood of her tattered cloak up to help obscure her face she stepped out of the store onto the street. Hopefully none of the patrols would recognize her.
She shuddered in the cold wind. The temperature must have dropped quickly after the sun set. Trying to avoid the street lamps, the cloaked girl darted quickly up the empty street. She had to get back as quickly as possible. Everything was around her was quiet, almost a little too quiet. While there were several people out and about, which was incredibly odd for it being so close to curfew, there were no guard patrols.
Making it to the port just in time to grab the last airship to Beacon she flopped into the first seat she saw. It was a short ride, and she entertained herself by playing with her cloak. She pulled at how uncomfortable the hood was, it was too constricting. Maybe someday she would modify it so it wouldn't smash her ears down against her head. The cloak was the last thing her uncle had ever given her, and she didn't want to accidentally damage it anymore than battle did.
A few minutes later she stood in front of the dorm, perplexed by her method of entry. There seems to have been a new locking mechanism installed that her key didn't work on. Not wanting to wake up her teammates or, she grinned to herself, Weiss unnecessarily by knocking. Before coming up with anything creative, she tried the handle first.
'Aha!' Of course her teammates would forget to lock it when she wasn't around to remind them. Quietly slipping into the room, she pulled off her hood so she could hear better. The quiet sounds of three sleeping individuals reached her ears. Perfect.
First order of business was a shower. While it hadn't been a terribly warm day, she still felt gross from the combination of running around the city and passing out on the shop floor. She made a beeline for RWBY's washrooms. A chance to unwind from the day would be greatly appreciated.
Making the decision to draw a bath instead may have been her greatest idea in her short 18 years of living. Slowly unwinding in the soothing water, she had to fight of the urge to fall asleep in the tub. Still, it was a nice reprieve from the constant ready status her team has been on for the last 6 months. Thoroughly cleansed and relaxed, the leader hummed to herself while drying off. She paid special attention to her almost waist-length hair, ears, and fluffy tail. After all, who wants a wet bed?
Passing back into the sleeping area she noted that all three girls were still fast asleep. Silently slinking over to her dresser, she pulled out the first pair of PJs she could find.
'How did this get in here?' She wondered to herself as she held one of Weiss' light blue night gowns if front of her. Smirking, she slipped it on. It was a little short and tight for her, as the heiress was a good half-a-foot shorter than she was, but it still managed to cover everything. Besides, it would be a nice surprise for the heiress in the morning.
Slipping under the covers of the bottom bunk, she snuggled up to Weiss. After not seeing her for the whole day, to spend some time with the white-haired girl was nice, even if she was asleep. Ruby kissed the girl on the back of head and murmured a soft goodnight before slowly being lulled to sleep by Weiss' soft breathing.
Ah, fun things are happening to Ruby. Something tells me Weiss won't be too happy the next morning though. Yes, there are inconsistencies, and they are deliberate.
