In JNPR's room, the young leader of the team of Team RWBY sat on one of the beds who belonged to one of the members. The young redhead checked her scroll while one of the members of the team held the girl in her arms. The girl known as Pyrrha Nikos hugged the young redhead a little tighter since she enjoyed her company. "Ruby?" Pyrrha said to get her attention.
"Hm?" Ruby made a noise to let her know that she has her attention.
"I was thinking maybe we could go somewhere tomorrow."
"Sure! Where are we going?" Ruby asked feeling a little excited.
"Uh, I was thinking maybe you can pick the place," Pyrrha suggested.
"Hehe, okay. I can think of a few places we can go. Oh! Like the arcade or something! I remember you telling me you never played a game once in your life."
"Are you sure? I'm afraid I won't be any good."
"Don't worry. You don't have to be good at them as long as we're having fun. That's all that matters. Besides, I can teach you everything I know."
"Hehe, alright."
"Okay! We can go after my mission!"
"A mission?"
"Yeah! It's just a simple extermination run. Nothing that will take too long."
"I'll be waiting for your return."
"I'll try to come back as fast as I can."
"Don't get carried away. I don't want you to be tired during our date."
"Please, you know me. I don't get tired that easily."
Pyrrha giggled a little as she once again hugged Ruby a little tighter. "And that's one of the reasons why I love you. You're so energetic and lively."
"I can't help it when I'm around you, Pyrrha."
"Thank you, Ruby," Pyrrha said with a smile. "As much as I want to stay like this, I have to go."
"What? But... I don't want you to. I feel so comfortable in your arms right now. I don't want to leave just yet." Ruby said as she started to pout a little which Pyrrha found to be adorable.
"Come on, Ruby. I have to go. I need to train with my team."
"Fine..." Ruby reluctantly let go of Pyrrha and stood up from the bed. "I guess... I could rest up for tomorrow's mission."
"Okay, rest up. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Oh, I just remembered. I have something important I want to tell you tomorrow."
"Hm? Like what?" Pyrrha said as she walked towards the door with Ruby.
"You'll just have to wait."
"I don't know. The wait might kill me... but I guess I can wait." Pyrrha said playfully. She leaned forward and kissed Ruby on the forehead. "I'll see you later."
"Alright, see ya," Ruby said as she walked over to her dorm.
Blake sat on her bed while reading a book like she usually does, but her mind was elsewhere. She has read the same page for the past ten minutes but never made any progress. Her mind kept going back to the night at the docks where she and Sun fought against the White Fang and Torchwick.
After they were able to drive off the White Fang, Blake ran over to her team leader after realizing what happened to her after she tried to help. Blake watched as Ruby rubbed her left shoulder from the hit she took from Torchwick.
"Ruby, are you okay?" Blake said with concern in her voice.
"I'm okay..." Ruby said while she gave her the most serious look her book-loving teammate has ever seen. "But, more importantly. Why did you leave?"
"I-I..." Blake hoped she wouldn't ask that question, but here she is asking that question. She hoped nobody would ever know about her Faunus heritage. Fear started to build up as she tried to explain, but Ruby's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"You're a faunus?"
Blake looked at her shocked for a moment but realized she forgot to tie her bow again. "Y-Yes..."
"You were afraid of what we might think? That we would ridicule and hate you for what you are?" Blake nodded. "Well.."
'Here it comes...' Blake mentally prepared herself for the insults, but what she heard wasn't what she expected.
"...Um, well, I think they're... cute..." Ruby said shyly.
"Wh-...what?"
"Uh, I said... I think they're cute..."
"O-oh, uh..." Blake felt her heart skip a beat after hearing her compliment which left her speechless.
"Blake? Is something wrong?"
"Huh?" The concerned voice of her leader snapped her out of her thoughts. "Uh, no. It's just... I didn't expect you to say that. I was waiting for you to... insult me. Just like every Faunus hater."
"Blake..." Ruby said in a calming and reassuring voice. "I would never hate or insult you just because you're a Faunus. You're a good friend to me." Ruby finished with a reassuring smile.
"Thank you... Ruby." She didn't understand why her heart skipped a beat, but all she cared about was that she didn't have to worry about Ruby hating her. All she had to worry about was her other teammates.
It wasn't until later that she realized why her heart skipped a beat. It was during the mission they had in the abandoned part of Vale near Mountain Glenn. During the time they were sleeping from clearing Grimm from the area all day and searching the ruined town. Shortly after being woken up Zwei's barking is when they finally realized that their leader was missing. They all followed Zwei out of the campsite to where he lead them to a large hole in the middle of the street.
"We got to rescue her!" Blake said in a desperate tone. She pulled out Gambol Shroud and jumped before everyone else.
"Hey! Wait up!" Yang said as she jumped after her. Weiss sighed before jumping in after them while Zwei barked at them before following them.
Blake, Yang, and Weiss, along with Professor Oobleck, fought against the White Fang as they tried to stop them. But they were either blown, slashed, kicked or punched out of the way.
'Where is she?' Blake thought frantically.
"You guys! I'm over here!" They turned towards the sound of the voice and they spotted Ruby running over to them. The moment she stopped in front of her team, she was enveloped in a hug by Blake. Everyone looked at her weird since they didn't expect their moody teammate to act like this at all. "Blake?" Ruby said.
"O-Oh..." Blake realized what she was doing and quickly let go of Ruby. "I'm sorry." Blake handed her weapon to her while not trying to look at those curious eyes.
"Blake? What was that..." The sound of a train about to take off broke Ruby's attention from her teammate. "We got to go! I'll explain after we get on that train!"
After they stopped the Grimm invasion and finally beaten the White Fang and Torchwick, Blake watched as the Atlesian military rounded up the surviving White Fang members and hauled Torchwick into one of the airships. "Blake?" A voice from beside her rang out.
Blake turned around to Ruby looking at her slightly worried. "Are you still worried about them?"
"No. Not anymore. We stopped whatever they were planning. It's thanks to you and everybody else."
"Oh, good." Ruby smiled at the cat Faunus and once again she felt her heart skip a beat, and she felt herself start to blush a little. She looked back at the airships because, for some reason, Blake could never look at Ruby while she smiled at her. It always made her feel way too shy to look at her and she found it weird since this never happened before. She was never able to figure out why she felt like this and she really wanted to know the reason.
Ruby noticed her acting weird once again like back at the underground village from a little while ago. "Blake? You're kinda acting weird. I never seen you act like this before. When I try to talk to you, you get all nervous especially when we're by ourselves. What's wrong?"
"I don't know. I'm happy when we are together. But, I also get shy and nervous around you. I don't really get it."
"Maybe... you have feelings for me," Ruby said jokingly while she let out an awkward laugh.
Blake froze up while her eyes widen once that was brought up for her predicament. 'Do I really feel that way about Ruby? N-No... that can't be...' But the more Blake thought about it, the more it felt like it was true.
"...right, Blake?"
"Huh? I'm sorry, but, what did you say?"
"I said, that can't be it. We're just good friends."
"Yes... good friends..."
"...Blake." Ruby waved her hand in front of her face trying to get her attention. "Yoo-hoo! Blake, are you in there?"
Blake blinked a couple of times after she snapped out of her thoughts. She blushed once she realized Ruby was right in front of her face. Blake inched away from Ruby since she felt her heart beat a little faster. "Um, R-Ruby, was there something you needed?" Blake said a little nervously as she closed her book.
"Uh, no. I thought something might be troubling you. You didn't answer me when I tried to talk to you."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just... deep in thought."
"Are you still thinking about the White Fang?"
"No. I'm not thinking about them. It's thanks to you and the others that you eased my worries."
"You're welcome. But then, what are you thinking about?"
"I-It's nothing. I just have this feeling." Blake said. She didn't really want to tell her what she was actually thinking. But, what she said also wasn't a lie. Ever since she was told about the mission that Team RWBY was assigned to. She had this strange feeling like something bad was coming but she didn't know what.
"What feeling?"
"I don't know. I just got a bad feeling about the mission we were assigned to."
"Don't worry. You got me, Yang, and Weiss behind you. Nothing bad will happen if we stick together as a team, right?"
"Yes, you're right."
Next Day
The team was about to arrive at their destination with Professor Port as the Huntsman they have to shadow for this mission. They all looked out the window of the airship while Port told stories of his past as a huntsman. "...Why I remember this one time near the mountains of Vale, where I was surrounded by-"
"We're here." Ruby interrupted Port from continuing his story. Everyone let out a sigh of relief, they didn't think they could survive another story. They already have enough of his stories during class.
"O-Oh... Let's get a move on!" Port said as he grabbed his weapon and hopped off the airship. The members of Team RWBY followed soon him out. Ruby took out her weapon and watched as the airship took off.
"Be on careful watch! Beowolves can be pretty crafty. Don't know when they will strike." Port warned the others as they continued forward watching their surroundings in case they try for a sneak attack. It wasn't long until they started to hear rustling in the bushes. They all readied their weapons and stared at the bush. Soon after they started to hear growling.
"Get ready everyone," Ruby said.
The Beowolves took the first chance to strike as they lunged out of the bushes. Everyone dodged to the side, but Ruby hopped in the air and brought her scythe down on one of the Beowolves. One after another, team RWBY worked together with Port to bring down the infestation of Grimm in the area. They sliced, stabbed, punched, and fired their way through the horde of Grimm.
Ruby sliced one of the Grimm in half and she turned to help out Weiss but was stopped by an Alpha Beowolf. She swung her scythe at the Grimm, but being an Alpha of the group, it jumped back from the attack. It quickly retaliated and lunged at the girl. Ruby used the gun of her scythe to propel herself away from the Grimm's claws. She aimed Crescent Rose behind herself and pulled the trigger. She propelled herself forwards and she used Crescent Rose to latch onto its leg to trip it. She slammed her scythe into the ground to stop herself. She pulled out her scythe and stabbed the Beowolf in the back. She pulled the trigger to fire the gun and the blade split it in half. She heard another Grimm lunge at her and she looked behind her to see a Beowolf's claw an inch away from her face. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the pain. But, instead of pain like she expected, she heard a gunshot. She opened one eye and noticed the Beowolf dead on the ground. Ruby looked around until she saw smoke coming from the barrel of Gambol Shroud.
"Thank you, Blake."
"No problem. Now, get up! We got work to do."
Everything was going according to plan as the Beowolves number started to dwindle. After Blake killed one that foolishly tried to attack them by itself, they noticed the remaining Beowolves snarled at them before leaving. They prepared to give chase but stopped when they heard something approaching them. They all readied themselves for whatever is approaching them. The sound of trees being toppled over was getting clearer and clearer as the seconds went by. Ruby jumped a little once the thing that was approaching them revealed itself as a Deathstalker. Ruby planted Crescent Rose into the ground and began firing at it. Blake ran in firing at the Grimm, but it used its giant pincers to block both Ruby and Blake shots. Blake hopped on top of it and slashed at its back few times before retreating so its stinger doesn't hit her.
Yang fired a barrage of bullets at the giant Grimm, but once again it blocked it with its pincers. It charged at them after trying to smack Blake but it wasn't successful. Weiss went in once it was distracted by the two and struck at it multiple times. She back away once the Grimm tried to swing at her. Everything was going as well as it can be when something unexpected happens. It was going until the Deathstalker was able to get a lucky hit on their Faunus teammate. The Deathstalker smacked Blake into a nearby tree. Blake slowly got up and slightly dazed from the attack.
"Blake!" Blake heard everyone else call out to her. Her eyes widen a bit after realizing what happened. She looked back at the Grimm as she tried to dodge, but was too slow as its giant pincer was already close to making contact. She let out a shocked gasp as she felt someone push her out of the way. Everything felt like it was going in slow motion to Blake as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. Ruby had pushed her out of the way but didn't have enough time to get out of the way. She watched as the Grimm smacked Ruby into a tree, hitting her head hard.
"Ruby!" Blake screamed as she got up and ran towards her, but was blocked by the Deathstalker. Both the Deathstalker and Blake glared at each other. She lifted her weapon getting ready to fight but stopped when she noticed a very familiar blonde punched the Deathstalker. Blake noticed Yang's usual lilac eyes were now red with anger. The force of the punch was enough to knock the Grimm off balance. Above Yang came Weiss sailing in and she stabbed the ground underneath it. Ice encased parts of its body and making it difficult to break free.
"We are leaving! I will not lose another fellow huntress on my watch!" Port said as they ran towards the extraction zone. Blake lifted up the unconscious girl and carried her back.
Beacon Academy
In the infirmary of Beacon, JNPR and Ruby's team stood worried next to the girl after the doctor explained the situation. "Do you think she's going to be okay?" Nora asked.
"She has to be! She has to be..." Yang said.
Pyrrha sat down on the chair next to the bed Ruby was lying and she placed her hand on top of Ruby's. Everyone noticed tears started to stream down the champion's face. Jaune let out a sad sigh, he walked over to Pyrrha placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It'll be okay, Pyrrha. Ruby's going to be fine." Pyrrha looked at Jaune, tears still streaming down her face. She nodded a little before looking back at Ruby.
"Come on guys. Let's give her some space." Jaune said. Everyone slowly walked out of the room one by one until it was only Ruby and Pyrrha.
Pyrrha started to sob once everyone left and she held Ruby's a little tighter. "Ruby... I should have come along... I... please wake up..." Pyrrha said as she started to cry more.
One Week Later
In the infirmary, the patient lying on the bed slowly opened her eyes and she stared at the ceiling while she heard beeping from some equipment. Ruby weakly got up and she noticed someone sleeping next to her while holding her hand. Ruby looked at the girl curiously and noticed the girl's red hair was slightly messy. She lifted her hand up and poked her head. The girl began to stir as she rubbed her tired eyes. Pyrrha noticed the girl looking at her with a certain amount of curiousness in her eyes. Pyrrha looked at her for a second before gasping in shock. "Ruby!" She said as she hugged her. "You're awake!"
"Um..."
"Oh, you're probably wondering what's going on? What would you like to know?" Pyrrha asked, but she didn't expect the question she got would shock her so much.
"Um... who are you?"
