Healing a Black Rose p4
An: I own nothing, Ruby and all other rights to their respective owners. this is the edited version by GateMasterGreen check his stuff out
As the sun was coming up for the morning, there was an energy apparent in team RWBY's dorm. Ruby was already up, smiling with glee and anticipation. After writing her plans in a small red notebook, Ruby finally decided it was time to wake up her team. Debating if she wanted to use the whistle or to wake them all up individually, Ruby decided upon the latter of the two. She'd wake Yang and Blake first, then Weiss, given the heiress' inclination to berate her. Creeping over to the other half of the dorm, she looked down at Blake. Ruby needed to wake Blake up so she could reach Yang. So, reaching out, Ruby gave Blake a small shake. Blake rolled over, waking slowly, amber eyes opening to see large silver pools, from one Miss Ruby Rose.
"Morning Ruby," Blake said, tone tired and yawning. She rubbed her blurry eyes, trying to get the sleep out of her vision.
"Morning Blake" Responded Ruby, cheerful smile on face.
"So waking up everyone individually today?" Asked Blake, glad to have a morning without the shrill sound of a whistle scaring her awake.
Ruby nodded. "Yeah, seemed like a better idea." She cast a glance at the top bunk. "I gotta wake up Yang now. Just wanted to give you the chance to get up before I climb up there."
"Sure, I'll be getting ready for the day." Said Blake, standing up before making her way to the bathroom. As she headed to the dorm's bathroom to shower, she hadn't noticed Ruby's eyes follow her, the team leader lost in thought.
Tearing her eyes away, Ruby continued her ascent to her sister's bunk. Yang was difficult to wake, to say the last. Shaking the blonde didn't work, nor did shoving, whispering loudly, or poking her face repeatedly. It took Ruby having to climb over to the wall and forcefully rolling her sister out of the bed, causing the brawler to hit the floor below the bed, the loud thump jolting Weiss from her sleep as well.
Springing up from her slumber, Weiss looked around, panicked. "Whats going on, is someone hurt?"
"No. Just the fact that Ruby pushed me out of my bed!" Griped Yang in an annoyed voice, laying on the hard floor, lilac eyes glaring at her sister as she jumped down beside her.
"I'm sorry, but, Yang, you wouldn't get up, no matter what I did," explained Ruby, helping her sister off the ground. As Yang regained her footing, the door to the bathroom opened, Blake stepping out in her usual outfit, though her hair was still wet.
"I'm finished," Blake said. "Whoever was wanting to go next, can."
At this, the entirety of team RWBY, excluding Blake, jumped to get into the bathroom first. They wanted a turn before all the hot water was , with her speed, easily entered first, the door shutting behind her. Yang and Weiss hit the closed door in their rush, sliding to the ground in defeat. Blake chuckled at the comical sight, before pulling up a book and settling on her bed.
After ten minutes or so, the sound of the shower died down and a few moments later, Ruby stepped out, attaching her cloak to her jacket. She stepped aside as her sister and partner rushed for the door. She heard the familiar ring of her partner's semblance as a glyph popped up in front of Yang, knocking the blonde back and allowing Weiss to enter the bathroom unimpeded.
"That's cheating!"yelled Yang at the shut door, rubbing her face from the impact.
"Don't care!~" Weiss gleefully sang from the bathroom. Yang muttered to herself, turning to see Ruby and Blake heading to the door.
"Where are you two going?" She asked, directing her gaze at her sister.
Ruby shrugged. "Well, while you and Weiss are doing what you'll be doing, Blake and I are heading to the city to hang out."
"Alright, have fun on your date," teased Yang, waving the two off, and smiling knowingly at the sight of Ruby holding the door open for Blake. Her smile widened as Ruby's face turned bright red.
"Not a date!" Shouted Ruby, following Blake out the door and slamming it behind her.
Blake quirked a brow at Ruby. The team leader seemed flustered, a decidedly cute look on the girl's face. "You okay?"
"Really, Yang?" said an exasperated Ruby from being teased moment ago before she looked at Blake. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired of Yang being, well, Yang."
"Its not that bad Ruby," Blake said, patting the embarrassed girl's shoulder. "She's just showing she cares."
"I know," muttered Ruby. "I just wish she was not so embarrassing about it." Shaking her head a bit, she smiled. "Let's get going."
XXXHABRXXX
In Vale, both Ruby and Blake were enjoying their time in the city, soon arriving at one of Ruby's destinations. It was a small little shop, but it got decent business, despite the fact that books were becoming more and more unpopular, thanks to the scrolls that most people had. Blake personally preferred the solid feel of a hardback book in hand. It just made the story seem more real.
As the two teens stepped inside, a warm voice greeted them. "Welcome to Tukson's book trade; home to every book under the sun, I'll be with you in just a minute." The voice came from the back of the store, the sound of objects being moved about also apparent as they made their way to the counter.
After a moment, a person emerged from the back of the shop. The worker wore a black shirt and brown cargo pants, a small name tag over her right breast, the name 'Topaz' etched into the small piece of plastic. She looked to be in her early thirties, late twenties, and had an air of intelligence to her.
"How may I help you?" She said in greeting, her eyes tracing between Ruby and Blake warmly.
"We're looking for a few books," said Ruby in way of explanation. Beside her, Blake pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Topaz.
The woman upon retrieving the list, smiled at the two. "I'll check in the back for the ones we don't have on shelf." She pointed at few of the books listed before gesturing to the shelves near the front "You'll find most of them there, but I know a few of these are kept in the back for specific requests."
Leaving the two girls to their devices, she made her way into the back room. The two girl split off to browse. Ruby grabbed the books from the list and placed them on the counter before resuming her browsing. Blake was looking at the books, tracing her hand over the spines of the books, amber eyes bright and happy. She loved books and all these countless stories had yet to be read. She spotted Ruby popping between sections, silver eyes searching over the titles. She was glad that Ruby held some love for books as well.
Well… that wasn't what Ruby was driven by at the moment. She was looking for a specific book that Blake had left off of the list and the younger teen knew why. Yang has said the book was for adults and that it'd be another 2 years or so before she could read them. Pulling her scroll out, she checked the note she had written. The book was called "Ninjas Of Love II: Shadow Tactics" and the leader of Team RWBY was determined to find it. Glancing around to make sure Blake wasn't looking, Ruby stepped into the adult section, a blush tinging her cheeks.
Ruby's face was profusely red, the shade coming just short of her cloak. Where was it?
Topaz had set down the books from the back on the counter next to the ones Ruby had grabbed. She looked to see Blake skimming through the pages of a novel, while she was surprised to see a blushing Ruby in the adult section. Walking over, she caught the teens attention, Ruby jolting at the woman's sudden appearance. Ruby saw the questioning look and whispered, "I'm looking for a book for Blake." Grabbing her scroll, she showed Topaz the book title. The book keeper nodded, taking a cursory look at the shelf and pulling out the small black novel, wrapped in plastic to keep wandering children from getting a look at something they shouldn't. She lead the girl back to the counter and rang it up before placing it into a bag. Ruby paid for it and slipped it into a pocket in her combat skirt. It was hidden from sight with the various folds in the fabric. Package hidden safely away, she called Blake over.
The faunus stepped over and set the book she was holding with the others.
Topaz motioned to the stack she had pulled from the back. "I found the ones you were asking for." Looking at the paper she read them off, "We have The Third Crusade, Faerie Tales And Folklore Of Remnant, Lighting A Dark World, and Bloodstained Chess Board. That right?" At the girls nods, she smiled. "Well, I'll ring them up with your other purchases, so you two girls can be on your way." She proceeded with the checkout, placing the books in two bags and handing them to Blake. Ruby handed her the lien for the books and the two teens were on their way.
Books in hand, Blake and Ruby decided to eat out at a small cafe nearby. They both had a pleasant chat over their meal and learned some things about one their conversation wore on, they decided it was time to head back. Picking up their purchases, they started the trek back to Beacon.
Soon enough, they arrived at their dorm, pushing the door open. To their surprise, Yang and Weiss were both absent. Yang wasn't too surprising, but Weiss would usually be studying. Ruby figured she had gone to the library to do so, which also fit the heiress' tendencies. She watched as Blake set the books down and made her way over to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Ruby waited for the lock to click into place before she sped over to her bed, trying to find a place to hide the book. Under the pillow? Too clichè. Her eyes caught sight of the ropes above her bed. Thinking quickly, she snapped the bag's handle before climbing up to her bed and reaching up the rope, tying the handle around it and hanging the bag so it rested on top of the make shift tent, thus hiding it from sight from below. Quite simply… genius.
She jumped down as Blake exited the bathroom and watched the faunus walk over to their purchases, pulling out the book from before. 'Raven's Kiss' was the title and Blake was soon settled on her bed once more, enthralled with the book. Ruby picked out Bloodstained Chess Board, glancing at the cover. Plopping down she cracked it open, after a few chapters, she reached an, ehem, adult scene. She didn't even read it, slamming the book closed and stuffing it back into the bag. "No wonder why it was in the back of the store…"
She grabbed the Third Crusade and opened it, hoping it would be more tame. After a few chapters, she deemed it safe and dove into reading it.
Now, it can be said that the average teen has a rather short attention span, even those of the most hardy of readers could fall to the temptation of distraction. Blake was still focused on her reading, but the onslaught of words wore away Ruby's resolve. Fight as she might to soldier on, she soon fell to boredom and closed her book, laying on the floor and staring at the ceiling. Outside, the sky was turning dark with the evening light and night was approaching.
Standing up, she made her way over to her bed and climbed up, plopping face down on the pillow, groaning to herself. What to do… Suddenly it came to her. Sitting up, Ruby reached over to her pillow clutching it in her hand and preparing herself for the battle ahead, not that Blake knew. Hiding the pillow behind her back, she jumped down and zipped over to Blake's bunk.
"Hey Blake?" Asked Ruby, an innocent smile on her face, checking to see if Blake was still aware of the outside world.
"Hmm?"Hummed Blake, acknowledging Ruby, amber eyes regarding the girl with curiosity. "Did you need something?"
"Pillow Fight!" Shouted Ruby, revealing her hidden weapon and slamming it down on Blake and initiating the battle before throwing the pillow at a retreating Blake.
Blake's eyes shot open at the fast approaching pillow, her reflexes letting her snatch it out of the air. Looking over at Ruby, all Blake could see was another large red pillow shooting at her, thus began Ruby's and Blake's pillow fight. Both were equally matched. Ruby had her speed and Blake matched it with her shadow clones. The battle went on for a good while before both were tired out.
As they lay beside each other, panting from the exertion, Ruby lost all sense of self control as she reached up and pulled off Blake's bow, hands setting to work at petting the cute cat ears that lay beneath. She giggled at Blake purring at the feeling before jumping Blake and pinning her, laughing playfully. Blake was pushing Ruby up off of herself, trying to keep the young leader at bay.
Enter Weiss and Yang, both having returned from a day of trailing the two bookworms. The two had stopped to get food on the way back and Weiss had picked up a few new things while the two were on the way back. Their arrival startled Blake causing her arms to stop pushing, dropping Ruby onto herself bringing their lips crashing into one another. Weiss stared, wide eyed at what was going on before making her way to her bed, after snatching her pillow from where it lay on the floor. Dusting it off, she set it back on her bed and sat down. Yang, on the other hand, was laughing her ass off at what had happened and gushing over what was seen, knowing full well that Ruby and Blake kissed by accident.
Despite that little fact, Yang fully intended to play it off as intentional. It was a sister's duty to embarrass their siblings at every opportunity.
The explanation, in Yang's opinion, was the funniest part of the whole situation. Two red faced teens explaining to their teammates what had happened and overstating the fact that it was an accident had Yang snickering the whole way. Weiss had waved their explanation off and said she understood, while Yang flashed them a knowing smile. Yang climbed up to her bed and snoozed off, while Weiss went over her notes.
Meanwhile, Ruby and Blake had left to make a quick stop in the cafeteria to get some dinner. When they came back, Weiss had fallen asleep as well, her white hair down and strewn over her pillow. Blake had changed into her yukata while Ruby slipped into her own pajamas and soon they were headed to bed as well.
Ruby closed her eyes, but sleep was not forthcoming. Rolling onto her side, she hoped it would help, but alas it didn't. She turned again. No change. She couldn't seem to get comfortable in her own bed, for crying out loud. Sighing, she sat up before swinging her legs over the side of her bed and hopping down. Creeping over to where Blake lay, she poked the faunus, amber eyes blinking open and glancing at her. "Can't sleep?" She whispered to the younger girl. At Ruby's nod, she scooted over, motioning for Ruby to lay down.
The younger of the two settled in and smiled, Blake sliding a cover over her. Ruby blushed and hugged Blake lightly, cuddling into the older teen. "Thank you, Blake."
Not another word was said as the two settled down to sleep, both aware of the scene tomorrow would bring if Yang or Weiss awoke first.
An: It took some time to write this down how I wanted it so here it is. I would like to thank GateMasterGreen for letting me use the scene from Ship Shape ch1. Also I Hope that The Silver Titan and GateMasterGreen don't mind that I used the titles of some their stories for book/comic/other reading titles.
GateMasterGreen has 'a Bloodstained Chess Board' and 'Ship Shape'
The Silver Titan has 'Lighting A Dark World'
if they wish for me to remove them I will.
Otherwise good night to all p.s. tell me is the writing style for the latter part of the story better and if you can point out what and where it is most appreciated.