A car drive home.
Sum: Ruby drives a drunken Jaune home.
A glimpse into the world of Remnant... after the war.
It was just another night in Vale, and Ruby Rose was driving Jaune Arc home.
Well, to say it was just any other night would be wrong. She had literally just returned to Vale after a month long mission, and Jaune too had just returned from the front for some official bussiness. Before the man simply ditching that as he dashed to the nearest bar and began his day-long bar-hopping spree and she was asked by a very worried sister to go find and drag his ass home.
And now he was drunk, passed out unconscious while still dressed in his full plate combat gear. His shaggy salt-peppered mob of hair leaned onto the window of her car as he drooled all over. And has she said he smells?
Street lights zipped past them, spots of light illuminating the woefully empty street of the Northern Commercial district. The woman's silver eyes glanced at the speed-o-meter. Fifty. Just a bit over the recommended speed limit, but it wasn't as if there were anyone out after curfew.
Viewed from the air, the northen-most highway of the city seemed a dividing line between death and alive. On one side, there was the lights of a city, if not bustling, then lively and breathing. On the other side, there was a barren, desolated landscape of treeless hills and scorched plains that stretched for miles to the very broken mountains of Vale. Red and green light dotted the far skyline, helicopters and Bullheads flying in patterns over where a forest once stood, their tell-tale 'whoosh whoosh' far away like the sounds of crickets in summer. Above them is the pale light of the broken moon, no longer so dark. Vale had withstood the onslaught of the grimm, and they are alive. That's all that matters, isn't it?
Ruby Rose let her mind drift to more mundane things, like her current situation and the stinky man sitting next to her. She just hope no one would caught them like this, the nosy reporters that constantly hound her worse than the most tenacious Grimm. Just think, the prime gossip material that could be gleamed from this: two old friends, two heroes, two fellow leaders and partners - a man and a woman - that have always been at each other's side as 'just friends.' What could happen behind closed doors, in the mid of night, a moment shared between just two lonesome souls in a cramped tight space like a car, take her car for example... and with one of them drunk, how easy is it for one of them to lose control of themselves, and let the inhibitors holding back their emotions for so damn long loose for just a few, sweet moments...
Yeah, as if that would happen, Ruby thought. This isn't that kind of story, not that it would ever be, and she should really stop with sneaking a peek of Yang's private stash.
*ping!* her scroll rung in her pocket, taking her mind from going any further down that trainwreck of a thought. She looked down and picked up the scroll with her free hand, flicking the screen on to display a message.
'Found him yet?' - Jean.
'Yep. Drunk off his ass at old man barkeep's.' She typed in.
There was a few moments of silence before the scroll pinged again. 'Damnit. Did he forget he has another High Council debriefing tomorrow morning?'
She gave the drunken man a quick, flat stare, before typing in. 'I think he perfectly remembers that.'
. . .
'Drat. And I went and checked at his office.'
'Ha ha.' She chuckled, in text.
'Like, seriously. He's just returned to Vale and he's already getting himself drunk off his ass. Shouldn't have given him so much credit as to stay back and work late again, huh.'
'Yep.' She said, popping the 'p' in her mouth.
'Sorry that I have to bring you into this, now that you too just returned to Vale.'
'Nah, it's no biggie. I'm used to doing this.'
'What, track and rescue idiots before knocking some senses into their heads?'
'The Grimm usually have taken care of that part for me... but in this mule's case, I think I will make an exception.'
'Leave some for me when you are done with him, 'kay?' She could hear the chuckle in the message, as her own lips too curled up at its edge.
'Sure I will.' She typed in her reply, but paused from hitting 'send' when the scroll pinged with a new message.
'Strange. This isn't like him.'
She stared at the screen. A new message popped up.
'He doesn't drink - not like this. What could have caused this, do you know?'
She deleted what she typed in previously. 'I don't.' She lied, or a half-lie as she only think she does. 'And sure. I'll get him home.' A vooting sound of message delivered. The light shut off with a click, the screen returning to a transparent cyan, showing the palm of her hand.
Ruby put the scroll down, reclining back on her seat. Some time passed, signaled by the faraway spire of the Beacon Tower becoming smaller, hidden behind the taller modern skyscrappers of the financial district. Her left hand rested on the familiar hilt of Crescent Rose. A hilt lovingly cared for and maintained, even if her wielder no longer use her for a long, long time. Years ago, since the time she had fully embraced her mantle as the Silver-eyed Warrior.
But even then it's always good to have a bit of solid, cold steel by her side, even if he's drunk out of his ass.
She bit back a soft chuckle at her terrible attempt at a joke, and looked at the knight pickled in whiskey sitting on the seat next to her.
-Cybernetic limb and lungs, a replacement heart and far too many scars to count.
He barely looked 27, let alone being the youngest Commander in the Remnant Combined Force.
Her gaze lingered on him for a moment, before turning back on the road. It was something almost serene, watching him sleep. His weary face covered in all kinds of cuts fresh and old, hardened by all the carnages he had seen was now relaxed, if just for a fraction, and the small line of drool dripping down his chin and the way he were rolled up in her red cloak could be described as 'innocent.' Something that was thought to be lost for them now found again, even if she hated that it required for him to be drunk.
It brought a small smile to her lips, this serendity, this peace and quiet. No more rattling, scattered echoes of gunfire, no more thunderous, rhythmic booms of cannons and missiles streaking in the air; no more were the sounds and growls and shrieks of feral Grimm nor the oppressive, lethal silence of intelligent ones. No more screams of death echoing from far away gnawing on her conscience and sanity. It was just that, peace and quiet.
A few minutes later, she reached a small patrol post down the exit ramp of the highway. The window panel of her car shifted down, letting a fresh breath of the breezy night air to fill her nostrils in place of the harsh stench of alcohol. It tasted bitter and sulfuric, ashen with hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of dusts and ashes thrown into the atmosphere by the detonations of countless artillery shells, High-yield Dust bombs and missiles that had ravaged -and saved- Remnant across the length of the War. She paid little mind to these, focusing onto the scent of the sea hidden underneath all the smoke and ashes, cold and salty and welcomed. She could see the North Sea from here, just a glimmer on the horizon reflecting the pale moon light
"State your ID and business, please." The soldier stated monotonously behind the bullet proof glass of the guard post, cameras pearing up to view inside her car.
"Huntress Ruby Rose. VDF-P7879. Huntsmen registry." She nodded, following as per procedure before she broke into a grin and wagged a finger back at the sleeping man lounging at the side seat, whom was drooling a small puddle onto her cloak. "And this drunken ass on the side seat is Commander Jaune Arc. RCF-M0272. Same."
The glowing blue helmet visor covering the soldier's eyes remained cold and unfeeling as he typed in her registry, yet his lips softened into a puzzled smile. "This is unusual."
"Yep." She said, popping the 'p'. This has been the first time she's done this, and she hoped it would be the last. "Sorry for bothering you, Javj."
"It's nothing, miss Rose. Hell, of all the people deserving a drink, I think you two deserves all you can get. Of which... he seems to have taken... quite literally." Javj teased, before he coughed awkwardly seeing Ruby's unamused frown with a mumble of 'you have no idea...'
"You two are free to go." A press of a button. The metal barrier withdrew back into the asphalt and concrete street with a sharp metallic *fwoossh.*
"Thanks. And tell Cecille I said hello." She smiled. The car engine roared up, exiting the highway.
Soon, an impenetrable silence settled over the tiny car again, a silence of soft snoring and vrooming car engine, and a woman quietly thinking. She did not close the window. The ashen breeze whipped agaisnt her face, it's chilly and bitter breath keeping her awake and focused on the not-so-long road ahead.
Ruby allowed herself a moment of weakness, of remembering the fresher air that had once filled her lungs and the familiar smell of Red oak of the Forever Fall. Memories that had been so far back resurfaced, since before the War began and ended, since before the Forest was burnt down when it was deemed too dangerous to have a Grimm spawning nest right next to one of the few remaining Safe Zones during the war. Images of happier days flashed before her eyes, when all was peace and the threat of war had been something so far away, when all she had to worry about was a few sap thieves wanting to take a lick of the delicious red sap, herself included. And memories of a knight pulling his first heroic feat, saving his then-rival-and-now-comrade-in-arms.
Her hand adjusted the back view mirror, her gaze briefly turning to the face of sleeping man. Something changed, a shift in the peace from before. Her heart twisted, seeing his face contort and hand clenched tight up. His remaining, whole and scarred hand and arm, after the other was taken from him by Salem. Another wound, another proof that she had failed him, as his teammate and his friend. And how many more of his wounds were her fault? How many could she had prevented, or averted, had she just been smarter, stronger or just plain quicker?
Her eyes fell from the mirror and focused back into driving, trying to dispel that thought away. No. That truth. It was more than just some random thought, but a clear, given fact. That it was her-
"It's not your fault, you know." Her eyes widened, just slightly, glancing back to see the knight wearily pushing himself up with his left arm.
"You awake already?" She feebly smiled, blinking something from her eyes.
"As if anyone can sleep with that much negative aura floating around." He grumbled, his hand producing a silver flask from his pocket.
"Me, this ball of sunshine and rainbow?" Her lips curled down in an exaggerated frown, but the gleam in her eyes said otherwise. "Nah, how is it even possible, at all?" Then she glared at the flask he was holding. "And as if you can stay awake chugging that down."
"Ha, joke's on you - I'm all out." He smirked smugly, before it was wiped off his face when what he said hit him.
She bit back a grin. It broke into a snicker.
Jaune swore under his breath, a garble of different curses he strung into one.
Her snickers didn't stop. But her curled-up lips hardened at its' edge. Time for the hard question.
"Well... now that you're awake... are there any reason you want to share...?"
"What reason?" He said, suddenly wary of what she was to say.
"You know... any particular reason for you being drunk? Or just the nightmares?" She asked, her eyes staring at the road ahead.
"Aside from the fact that I've just went to Glenn and back? Yeah, very." The man shrugged in an irritated, almost angry tone in voice. His breath smelled very much of whiskey. "Having to stand 2-3 hours before the Council while repeating like a parrot what I already said for a dozen times is one. Having to listen to their insufferable, incessant and insufferably incessant ramblings for another 2-3 hours... is another. And that it's the first thing tomorrow morning?" He only sighed.
"How does getting a hangover help with that?" She pointed out the error in his logic, on her lips a wry smile. She knew she had said the right thing when Jaune let out an exaggerated groan mixed with a half-chuckle, as his hand moved to hold his face in realization.
"Shit, you're right. I'm not nearly wasted enough to avoid that."
Shortly, his chuckle withered and died. His hand slid off his face, and he turned to stare off at the distant mountain range. His face was a blank mask that betrayed nothing, except for the rays of light from the pale broken moon dripping off his dusted hair and face. But she could see the weariness shone through clear as day, the torrents of emotions stirring beneath the still surface of the two ponds of his blue eyes. The lines of cuts and bruises mixed with faded in that light, like the first cracks on a breaking dam.
Then he spoke, without a trace of humor left.
"The situation at Glenn is bad. Real bad. Through, I suspect you already know this. You were there. You saw how bad it is." Blue eyes turned to face hers, staring but not accusing. Gone was the slightest glimpse of light beneath, and in its place something dark and ugly that she could hardly recognize. Her grip on the driving wheel tightened. He took this as a sign to continue. "And yet the Council doesn't believe it. They don't want to. Through who even does - seeing the truth in front of your face, staring back at you with its own blood red eyes."
"Jaune..." she called out, but he did not heed her, his mind spinning with a buzz that refused to go away, words and emotions that continued to spill out of control.
"We unearthed another Gate in Eden, three more cultist cells in Vacuo, and the entirety of Atlas is a powder keg waiting to burst thanks to Marigold and younger Schnee's little feud. Meanwhile, reports are coming in of Grimm growing in numbers in the North East, East and South Sectors. And these aren't just the 'usual mindless gatherings', these are guided, organized and with purpose. There are patterns in their movements, clear cut patterns that any mere strategist can read clear as day: They are circling around our defenses, evading our patrols, gathering in spots our guns and bombers can't reach. Waiting. For... something."
"Jaune." She called out again, trying to reach out to him. It didn't work, the knight's voice becoming more and more frantic as he ranted, the haze in his mind too thick to pierce through.
"We have both seen this before. We know what this means. They have a leader, Ruby. Something is at their head, controling them, telling them what to do, planning and lurking in the shadows waiting for the chance to strike and bring us all down, Ruby. Something like Salem. And yet the Council just refuse. To see."
"Jaune." Again.
"They dismiss my warnings as 'nonsensible! They sprout their empty promises, blinded by the thin veneer of peace. They are content to sit on their asses and watch. Us. Die. Undersupplied, undermanned and stretched too thin, being forced to hold onto a place as indefensible and worthless as Glenn. And for what? A mere PR victory?! A 'proof' that Remnant is stronger than ever before?! Expending lives for a gods-damned lie-!"
"Jaune!"
"Yes!?" He bursted. The shout rung in the small confine of the car.
There was only the ragged sound of heavy breathings. Flaring nostrils reddened by wine as much as by anger, which seethed with every breaths.
"Look to your right, Jaune."
Blue eyes darted to the right. They widened as they saw their own manic, unfocused reflection in the windscreen. His entire frame, rigid, body lurched forward, like preparing for combat. His prosthetic hand gripped tightly to Crocea Mors half-way out of its scabbard.
His hand let go of the hilt like a rod of scorching metal.
"Ruby, I..." his words came out, this time barely a whisper as his tongue swelled up at the look on her face, forcing him to swallow down.
Pale hand trembled, holding back with all her might from slapping the man.
"How long has it been since you take a break?" Instead, she only spoke. Her voice as even and calm as she could muster, betrayed by her glistening eyes.
They stopped at a red light. The number counted down, ponderously slow, enlongating the intense silence to what almost seemed like forever between every blink of LED lights.
Slowly, the man slumped back to his seat. His hands shaking all the while, eyes still struggling to not lapse back to before.
"I'm here, pickled in whiskey, am I not?" He let out a broken, bitter laugh.
"Sure as hell doesn't seem like rest to me." Silver glare cut into blue ice.
"Better than seeing my men slowly bleed out in Glenn." A huff.
She breathed in. And out. Trying her hardest to calm the minute tremble in her voice.
The light turned green. The engine hummed as the scenery outside the window resumed its change.
"Drowning yourself in alcohol is never the answer, Jaune. Nor is drowning yourself in despair." Her words came out softer than he had expected to hear, softer than he deserved.
He didn't know what to response with.
"You can start with saying yes."
"Yes." Jaune gave an uncommited nod, before he was silent again.
She bit her lips. For a few moments, it seemed like she was about to say something, but none came out. The darkened buildings surrounding them too seemed to not shed any light om their conversation. The rest of the ride remained in silence, until they reached a modest, suburban house in the middle of hundreds like so. None of its lights were on. Jean must have not headed back yet from the RCF Regional HQ.
The car pulled to a stop outside the house. None exchanged a word. Ruby stared at him. She gave him a sad smile, empty of any warmth. The knight turned away, his hand grasping for the car door handle.
Before he could pull on it, an unknown force stopped him. Forcing open his mouth.
"Do you honestly think we can survive another war?" His question pierced through the choking silence.
Ruby sat still, frozen in place. She continued to stare at the backview mirror now reflecting the man's face and his pleading blue eyes. Pleading for her to say 'yes', or just a half-hearted nod of confirmation from her.
"No." Her tight-pressed lips cracked open, a simple, honest answer. The man seemed to shrink smaller, his white knuckle on the handle bar clenched tight. His downcasted eyes seemed to echo the thought he didn't speak out with words.
'Thought so.' "Thanks-"
"No, Jaune." She repeated what she said, with a firm shake of her head. His hand halted in place, still half pulling the handle. "Because survival is never enough. We must win. We will win."
Jaune turned to face her, surprise in his widened blue eyes. The smile on her lips was not just an empty shell, but a real smile, true and unwavering and filled with belief even as she blinked away the redness in her eyes.
Jaune stared at her. Before his stone-faced visage cracked. Into doubts, into denials, insecurities then disbelief. Before it settled into a smile, and stayed. And then a laugh escaped from that pair of curled-up lips. A laugh dry but genuine and without any bitterness or suppressed anger attached.
"You really never change, do you."
"Nope." She popped the 'p' in her mouth. "Hope never change."
He stared at her for a long moment, seemingly unable to decide on what to reply, or even think of her impetuous answer. His mouth moved on its own, not waiting for him to.
"We just have to keep on fighting, huh."
"Yes. That's all we have to do." She nodded, the smile still firmly planted there.
They stared for a few moments.
"I'm sorry. For earlier." He said apologetically. She looked away.
"Forget about it. You were on edge. Stressed. And drunk. You just... needed to get it out. I know this isn't like you, Jaune."
There was a lapse. No word was exchanged, and it seemed like this time the silence would last.
Until her hand shot out and pinched as hard as she could at his neck, and twisted.
"O-ow-owowow-OUCH!" Jaune yelped, yelling in pain as she shouted into his ear.
"That's for being a foolish, bloody prick, you drunken ass!" Ruby's shout cracked into a smile even as she could no longer control the liquid streaming down her eyes. She made up for that by making sure he couldn't even open his eyes by pinching and twisting even harder.
"Owowowow- I get it Ruby, stop-stop-!"
"Th-this is for making Jean worry! And that's for making me worry! A-and this for yelling at me! You stupid, hopeless idiot!" She pinched him harder with every shout, but somehow the shouts were filled with laughter. An exasperated, relieved and happy laugh that they both joined. The tension dissipated away into the air. "You... truly are hopeless."
"Yeah, I guess that's about right." He shakily smiled.
"Y-you... don't ever. Ever! Touch alcohol - again!" Her finger jabbed at his chest, forceful with every sylabel she grounded out. "I don't care what's the reason the next time you do... but I will make sure that you will regret it, am. I. Clear!?"
"I... I won't." He said very nervously.
"Promise me!"
"I... promise."
"Good." Ruby held back a sniff. Then a sob escaped her throat. She buried her face in her palms, letting the sniffles come freely, one part out of relief, the other wild emotions that she could not define. She did not care anymore that he could see her now. She just let it all out.
Then...
She felt something warm wrap over her, pulling her head onto something that, while far from soft, was warm. A musky scent filled her nostrils, and with it a soft buzz filling her head.
It took her a moment to realize Jaune was reaching over the aisle, holding her in an awkward but protective embrace.
And now he does it! She sniffled, but didn't resist.
They sat like that for a long time. Until her sobs reduced to sniffles which too then ceased, and she managed out with a weak smile.
"Hey, Jaune... how about we spend the day tomorrow off and have a meal together? It's been forever since we did that."
There was no reply. He had fallen asleep holding her like that.
Her lips twitched into a smile. She took that as a yes, and allowed herself to drift to sleep, too, in his arms. Uncaring of the awkward position that they had fallen asleep in (it's warm), uncaring of the fact that he smelled (she doesn't mind), just as whatever schism that might have divided them (they're friends). Uncaring of the fact that Jean was returning soon (just let her see them), or the fact that it is going to be a lot of explaining to do once morning comes (she'll do it when the time comes).
In her sleep Ruby Rose dreamt of the day she could taste Red Sap again.
A/N: another work from me, another glimpse into what could be the future of Remnant told through the eyes of one Ruby Rose and one Jaune Arc. Slightly hinted Lancaster, as always (yay I'm a sucker for this ship.)
I hope that this work was of interest to you, dear readers. Once again, I have special thanks my friend Sandiitos96 for his consultance and patience listening to all my jumbled ideas, thus helping me to actually finish this... from almost one and a half year ago!
Until the next time, everyone.
Cheerios!
And have a nice one. :)