Hands Holding Dust

As a child, Ruby had an imaginary friend. At least, that was what most people would call someone who only they could hear, and talk to, and interact with. Maybe hers would count as even less than that, because he was always staticy and goopy, and his words so distorted they hurt her ears and made her cringe until she got used to it.

She stopped talking about him to others pretty early on. It had been easy for people to mistake him for a Grimm, with his black body and stark-white face. And drawing him hadn't helped since she couldn't make him look right without making him look creepy, but that was just her art, honest! She made everything about him scribbly and shaky because she didn't know how to do goopy and staticy. His hands looked like claws because hands were hard, but she didn't want to give him mitten-hands like other kids would do when drawing their friends and family, because he used his hands to talk when his voice failed him and she felt it'd be mean to take that away. But no one listened to her and took away her drawings and whispered behind her back words liked "weird" and "disturbed" so she stopped.

But she still had a couple tucked away to show Gaster when he got really sad for no reason, like when she first spelled his name in hand signs. And they were extra special, too! They weren't of how he looked currently, but of how he'd "once been". It'd taken a while, but with careful instructions she'd managed to make a crude drawing of him solid and tall and professional-looking in a flowing coat and cape. And as bad as she thought they were, he loved them, making rapid signs of gratitude and reassurance before remembering she wasn't very good at reading signs yet and slowed down and patiently narrated.

Gaster was strange for an imaginary friend- she'd always known that. He liked things she hated, and taught her things she didn't know, and tutored her, and would even disagree with her! He wouldn't even change his mind when she insisted that he was wrong, which didn't make sense. He was her imaginary friend, so he should do what she wanted like all the other kid's did! But no, he insisted she wake up on time, and eat her vegetable, and study every day, and do her chores, and practice her hand signs. Even when she stomped her foot and cried loud enough to drag someone to her room in a panic, he was unmovable but gentle and looked at her with a strange happy-sadness like he was remembering something.

Ruby didn't think it was strange when things she lost would turn up, neatly stacked on her desk. Gaster was like another parent, so it only made sense he'd find things she lost like the other adults always did. Even the drawings the other adults took away ended up on her desk eventually, and even if she knew he must have stolen them back that was fine because they were taken from her first. So it wasn't weird he knew things she'd never heard about, because even if he was part of her imagination like everyone said, he was still an adult, so of course he'd know everything.

When the Beowolf that pinned her to the ground and tried to rip out her throat was torn to pieces with a click of Gaster's fingers, she realized that maybe her imaginary friend wasn't as imaginary as she thought. Even if only she could see him, even if she was the only one who knew he existed, she realized that Gaster was very, very, real when half the Beowolf pack disintegrated the very next moment. Qrow showed up then, and Gaster vanished, his last look towards her one of fear and hurt.

Qrow and Yang didn't believe her when she babbled about Gaster killing the Grimm, even though they nodded and assured her when she cried about him leaving her. She saw it in the way they looked at her, because Gaster taught her how to know when people were lying. She heard them muttering about possible Semblances, and knew they'd never understand that Gaster was Gaster, not a superpower.

She spelled Gaster's name in hands like it was a magic spell that would bring him back.

A week later when he reappeared he refused to meet her eyes and fidgeted. He said and signed some excuse about studying and expirments, nervousness making him alter between the two methods at random. Ruby couldn't understand it – only something about Dust and his magic and the Grimm - and she knew it was all a lie because he'd been afraid she'd be afraid of him. But that was fine, and later when she slipped her hand into Gaster's own to feel the phantom touch leech away at her warmth, she smiled. And all was forgiven, and he did his best to hug her and promised to never leave her again.

And years later, when she squirmed nervously on the airship to Beacon, he did his best to hold her hand, and assured her she'd do fine. Nothing bad would happen that she couldn't overcome on her own, because she was amazing. And if anything happened that really was too much, he'd be there to help her. Talk to her, tutor her, teach her, critic her, protect her, fight for her…

Anything she needed he'd find or do for her.

Absol t ly a ny th i n g.

I haven't seen much of RWBY and I'm not a huge fan of it. But I liked this idea enough to at least write a small snippet for it. No there will not be anything more for this. However, if someone wants to take this idea for whatever character catches their eye, go nuts. I just don't care enough about the RWBY cannon to write a whole story on it.

EDIT: Fixed some minor errors and the very end. Had to get pretty creative since FFnet didn't like me slowly increasing the spaces between the letters. So just imagine that instead.