Author's Note- Hey everyone I know it's been awhile since I posted(last chapter of Beautiful Death was LazyKatze) but I'm back! This is the first thing I've written in a while and I'm hoping it came out well. I haven't had much time to write between school, personal life, and a bad case of writer's block. I'm going to try my best to get back to regularly posting but if I disappear again I'm sorry to all you wonderful people. Thank you to LazyKatze for editing as always, she does an awesome job and thank you to Hana(momoxtoshiro) for helping me with some information I use in this story, Hana is just a lovely person and an awesome RP partner. This story will have more to it when I can write it though the next update will be to Fighting a Beautiful Death. As aslways Read, Review, Favorite, Follow, and most importanyly Enjoy!
All Ruby could feel was heat. The air around her felt like an oven and the bricks beneath her feet felt like they were on fire, even through her brown boots.
'Why did I have to quit my day job?' she thought to herself, adjusting the straps on her blue denim overalls, hoping to alleviate some of the heat.
Sweat beaded on her brow as she stepped onto a drawbridge held up by a single chain. There were no guardrails on either side of the bridge and beneath the wooden panels lay a lake of lava.
'Well that explains the heat. Better not fall off.' Looking around she saw there was nothing on either side of the cavernous room except pitch black shadows. Gazing ahead she could vaguely see the outline of someone at the far end of the room far past the end of the bridge, The reason Ruby had quit her day job.
"Don't worry princess, I'm here to rescue you!" Ruby yelled, raising her white gloved hand out in the direction of the fair maiden whose face was hidden by darkness. The only thing Ruby could make out was the princess' emerald green eyes watching her. Between the two of them stood an obstacle though, a giant monstrosity that had taken the princess captive in the first place.
The massive creature had a dragon-like quality to his appearance even though he walked on two legs. His body was stout, his limbs proportionally thick and short compared to his enormous frame. Both his scaly feet and hands ended in large, white claws that gleamed in the light emitted from the lava beneath both of them. He had a huge shell on his back, covered in large spikes as sharp as his claws, along with two horns atop his stocky head. This monster could easily eviscerate any adversary. Unfortunately, that was Ruby right now. Taking a large gulp, she stared at the creature. He was easily twice her height and he was looking down on her. He didn't say a word, but she could see from his dark red eyes that he was intelligent and planning his move.
"Well, no better time than the present," Ruby said loud enough for the monster to hear her as she started running forward.
The minute her feet began moving the creature lurchingly advanced towards her at a slow deliberate pace. 'Maybe I can try to maneuver around him...' Ruby thought to herself as she started picking up speed, the giant turtle-lizard getting closer to her. Suddenly he opened his mouth wide revealing two rows of equally sharp teeth, That wasn't the thing that had Ruby the most worried though. From the depths of his maw Ruby could see a faint orange light and before she could fully comprehend it a ball of fire was launched at her.
"Oh come on! He can breathe fire? That's not even fair!" she shouted while jumping over the first flames only to see that her enemy had already fired three more, forcing her to slow down.
Timing her leaps she continued to make progress, albeit slower than she wanted as the fire breathing monster continued to approach her, still spewing bright orange flames. Stopping after the last jump, she ran underneath the next inferno as it bounced over her, Crouching down, she gathered her strength and leapt as high as she could. Keeping her head forward, she hoped her idea would work and that she wasn't about to feel sharp spikes or claws. When her feet connected again with the bridge she heaved a sigh of relief. Looking over her shoulder she saw the beast slowly turning around to resume attacking her.
"See ya!" she shouted as she rushed forward, seeing a lever that could only be assumed to control the bridge. Behind her she could hear the loud stomping footfalls that meant the abomination was starting to draw closer again having turned around. Ruby reached out, trying to reach the lever as soon as possible. 'Come on, come on... just a little bit more!" Fingers scraped against the metal of the lever as she heard the crackling of more fireballs coming towards her. Getting a grip on the warm metal, she pulled it towards her, an audible sound of machinery reverberating throughout the expansive room.
She turned around just in time to see that the chain was only there for show, the bridge retracting into the opposite wall that it was connected to. The incoming flames fell harmlessly into the lava and Ruby gave a little wave with her gloved hand as the lizard looked down before falling off the bridge, disappearing into the molten lake beneath. With a sigh of relief Ruby turned around and started walking towards the green eyed princess.
"Like I said, I'm here to rescue you," Ruby said with a cocky smile, a little unhappy with how out of breath and sweaty she was. Even though the danger was gone the princess still remained silent as she looked at Ruby. "Soooo, this is getting weird." Ruby nervously chuckled as she shuffled her feet, not sure what to say or do next. 'Did I mess something up? I've never saved a princess before. Maybe there is some procedure I didn't do,' worrisome thoughts raced through Ruby's head until she saw the princess start to open her mouth.
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
It was with a start that Ruby woke up, almost falling off her bed as the alarm on her phone went off at full volume. Bleary eyed and disorientated, Ruby scrambled to find the source of the noise, the sound muffled slightly now, only serving to make it harder to find. Eventually she found her phone tangled in with the blankets.
"Damn you, that was the best part of the dream. Or at least I think it was, you always wake me up whenever it starts to get good," Ruby mumbled angrily towards the phone. Huffing, she stood up. 'I'm awake now, might as well get moving.
The thing was, Ruby was up an hour and a half earlier than she needed to be. She had a fear of sleeping through her alarms and having to rush like her sister Yang. Stretching out, Ruby reached her arms up and stood on her tip toes, feeling the tightness in her muscles as she moved for the first time in several hours. Scratching her bicep, Ruby forgot where she had put her clean laundry last night and scrambled as she looked around her room for the clothes.
"Where did I put that damn thing?" the red haired girl muttered to herself. I don't need this. I just want to find some clothes to change into. A suspicious pile of discarded clothes caught Ruby's eye, and walking over it looked like it was large pile of clothes. Tossing the black jeans aside, she saw the prize she had been looking for, the laundry basket full of her clean folded laundry. "There you are, sneaky laundry basket," Ruby mumbled to herself.
"Talking to inanimate objects again, Ruby?" asked a low feminine voice from behind.
"Gaaaah!" Ruby yelled, spinning around to see it was only her roommate Blake. "Come on Blake, you know I don't like when you sneak up on me like that. I swear you're as quiet as a cat." the red head finished calmly, going back to getting her clean laundry out from underneath her dirty clothes.
"Maybe you would have heard me if you weren't having a conversation with your underwear," Blake retorted, picking up the folded pair of teddy bear patterned panties.
"Ahhh!" Ruby vocalized, snatching the garment away from Blake, keenly aware of the taller girl's bemused expression. "Did you have a reason to come in here or did you just want to tease me a little?" Ruby questioned. She liked Blake, and they got along great, but she had noticed that ever since her and Yang had become friends that the golden eyed girl liked to tease Ruby more often.
"Yeah,I actually did. I'm going in to cover Velvet's shift at the store. Something about her mom being sick, so she needs to go and help take care of her today. After that I'm going out with Sun to see a movie and staying at his place, so you have the apartment to yourself. That doesn't mean you are allowed to throw a party tonight. I'm still finding those damn—"
"Alright, I get it mom, I won't throw a party tonight. I can't anyway. I have to go to class in a few hours and it's a long one tonight, plus I have work tomorrow. So you'll come home to a clean apartment."
"Thanks Ruby, I appreciate that. So class tonight, am I going to hear about the class or your princess?" Blake teased, that playful glint in her eye that Ruby knew she had to have learned from Yang.
"You'll hear about neither if you'e going to tease me." Ruby pouted, turning around, leaning over, and grabbing a pair of athletic shorts as well as a plain black t-shirt. She felt a hand on her shoulder and slowly she stood up straight and turned around. Blake had an apologetic smile on her face.
"Alright, I'm sorry, Ruby. I won't tease you about this. Seriously though, you should talk to her, even if it's just asking her out for coffee or something," Blake said softly. Taking her hand away from Ruby's shoulder, the older girl started walking towards the door only to stop right outside it. "Just remember that you're pretty great, Ruby."
"Thanks, Blake," Ruby paused for a minute before awkwardly rubbing the back of her head, "Not to ruin the moment, but can you leave so I can change now?" At Ruby's statement Blake just shook her head with a small laugh as she walked away, closing the door for the shorter girl's privacy.
After her roommate left her alone to get changed, Ruby started taking her sleeping attire off and putting on her outfit for the day. After she put her underwear and her shorts on, Ruby grabbed her phone to check the time. Perfect, I have plenty of time to eat before I need to get to class. Putting her shirt on was the last thing she needed to do in her room. Grabbing a pair of socks, the girl opened her door and walked into the bathroom that was across the hall. Switching the power on doused Ruby in the bright fluorescent light of the overhead energy saving bulb. Squinting from the blinding illuminationt, Ruby reached out for her toothbrush and paste, squeezing some of the pale blue colored paste out onto the brush before starting to brush her teeth. At the same time she looked up into the mirror, her eyes had adjusted to the light and were no longer squinting.
Ruby was a shorter girl, easily towered over by Blake and Yang. Her eyes were a bright silver, like a polished coin and her hair was black that faded into deep red as it got closer to the tips. Grabbing her mouthwash, Ruby swished it around her mouth a little before spitting it out. Her footsteps were muffled on the carpeted floor in the hallway. The apartment she lived in with Blake was a modest one with two bedrooms, a single bathroom, and a kitchen. The last part of the house she hadn't been in was her destination, the smell of food causing Ruby's stomach to rumble at the promise of breakfast. The kitchen was as simple as they came, with only the bare essentials in it. Blake sat at the table finishing a cup of tea.
"I was just heading out, Ruby. I made enough breakfast for you."
"Alright, I'll do the dishes when I get home tonight," Ruby replied flippantly as she gravitated towards the enticing pan of food only to see Blake's expression out of the corner of her eye. "I promise I won't get distracted watching cartoons and not do them this time,"
"Good. Well, I need to get going, so I'll see you later, Ruby," Blake said, putting down her mug and grabbing the items she needed. Ruby already had a piece of toast in her mouth as she turned and waved.
"Bye Blake," her words were muffled by the toast.
Blake opened the door before looking over her remember what I said, Ruby,"
"I know," Ruby grumbled, swallowing the food in her mouth as Blake nodded and closed the door.
Ruby sighed as she saw what Blake had made for breakfast aside from toast. The black haired girl had made scrambled eggs and bacon leaving enough for Ruby to have some. That she did, grabbing a plate and dishing the eggs out onto her plate and picking up all the bacon along with another piece of toast. She set her plate down on the table and grabbed a bottle of water and fork to eat with. She chewed slowly, reminding herself that she needed to compliment Blake on the food as it was delicious as usual, that and clean the dishes later or else Blake wouldn't make her any next time. Ruby browsed on her phone using the app of the self proclaimed 'front page of the internet' while she ate, trying not to think about the person Blake had mentioned even though it was all that she wanted to do. She had a crush on someone in the class she was about to go to, she had had it for nearly two months now, but she had yet to work up the courage to admit her feelings or really to talk to her crush beyond basic greetings.
"Oh well, maybe today," she muttered to herself around a piece of bacon before she nodded her head in time with a beat that only she could hear, pumping herself up. "No, not maybe, it will be today."
Finishing the last of her breakfast Ruby checked the time. Just enough time to get there and change before class starts. Putting her plate and the pans Blake had used to cook into the sink, Ruby ran the water to let them soak. Strolling over to the front door, Ruby put on her converse before she grabbed her uniform off the rack where she had placed it last night so she wouldn't forget it. The clothing was all black, a jacket, long pants, and a belt with the emblem of the school on the back of the jacket in a contrasting white. Throwing the uniform in her backpack, she slung it over her shoulder before opening the door. It moved on the hinges without a sound, the lock making an audible click when the door closed, reassuring her it was good before she started walking away.
Walking up to the building, Ruby stepped inside, the general bustle and hum of Vale fading behind her as the solid wood doors closed. She moved down the long hallway for a few moments, the hardwood flooring making every footstep louder than it needed to be. She turned left and entered the women's locker room. She timed her arrival perfectly so she wouldn't see her crush till class started. The other person was always there early. Ruby saw that several of the regular students were already there putting their uniforms on along with several newcomers, and it was likely the same scene in the men's changing room. Ruby set her backpack down on the bench placed in the middle and pulled out her uniform, putting the pants on first, then the jacket. She tied it closed before tying the belt on. It was a blue belt with a single black line down the center.
Closing her backpack, she left the locker room and resumed walking down the hall, sighing as she came to the double doors at the end. Opening the door she entered a large, open room with no dividing walls, only a small one that didn't even reach the ceiling near the back. There were several chairs spaced around the area, but for the most part it was sparse. The people around were of various ages, though the youngest were only eighteen, this class being one that had a minimum age requirement. While the majority of the people were scattered about the room randomly, about fifty in all, there were five people who stood in the front of the class in an organized line, three men and two women.
"Good day, class. I hope everyone is ready to work. It's going to be a long Taekwondo lesson today and you are going to sweat, a lot," one of the two women in the front called out in a clear friendly voice.
She was tall, with long red hair that she pulled back into a ponytail that reached down her back. Her face was smooth, with two bright green eyes that looked like emeralds. It was at the sight of her that Ruby felt her heart start to beat faster. That was the girl who Ruby had been crushing on for the last few months. Her name was Pyrrha, she was one of the teachers at the Taekwondo studio. It was in fact one of the best ones in the city of Vale. Pyrrha was only two years older than Ruby, but she had been training for years longer and was a third degree black belt, something that took at least eight years to achieve. Ruby had begun training there the previous year, looking for a hobby and to get in better shape. Pyrrha hadn't been there at first, she had been away for personal reasons and had returned only a few months after Ruby had started training there. She had been instantly infatuated with the teacher, but had never been able to work up the nerve to talk to her.
"Alright class, line up," the oldest man of the teachers called out. He was the founder of this studio.
All of the students lined up in several rows, and Ruby got into the front row as close to Pyrrha as she could. "Today is going to be a conditioning day, and after that we will break off into partners and practice some of the basics," he further announced.
There were several groans from the class, not many people were fans of conditioning days and Ruby was one of the few. She was just happy to see Pyrrha. The first thing the class did was jog in place, after a few moments when the complacency started to set in they moved to jumping jacks. Several people were yelled at to improve their form. Ruby kept her going in time with the rest of the class, mindful of her form, especially when she saw Pyrrha's green eyes looking over the room. After the jumping jacks came burpies, an exercise that is dropping down to a pushup form, jumping your feet forward and then jumping up. Ruby hated them, but she kept going even when her legs screamed at her to stop.
"Alright, everyone take five before we keep going," a middle aged male teacher called out before him and the other teachers started talking amongst themselves. Most of the students dropped to the ground as they caught their breath. Ruby remained standing, placing her hands behind her head as she tried to regulate her breathing. It's going to be a long class today.
"Alright, everyone break off into partners and practice the moves that we have demonstrated," Pyrrha called out as the class gasped for air, having just finished the conditioning portion of the class. Ruby looked around and quickly saw that everyone already had a partner. There was an uneven number of students, so the silver eyed girl was the odd one out. The teachers quickly noticed and Pyrrha walked over. With each step Ruby felt her heart start to beat faster. No, please, let's do more conditioning! But regardless of her thoughts Pyrrha stopped a few feet in front of Ruby.
"It looks like I'll work with you since you don't have a partner. I don't think I've caught your name before."
"I-It's Ruby, Ruby Rose," the shorter girl mumbled, doing her best to avoid making eye contact with her teacher.
"It's a pleasure to work with you tonight, Ruby," Pyrrha answered with a genuine smile and kindness that made Ruby's heart melt.
"O-Okay." All she could hear in her own voice was the uneven tone as she tried to stop it from cracking. They started off with basic tumbles, mats passed out so no one was hurt while they practiced the move. That was simple and Ruby did well at that. The next thing they worked on was combination of headlocks for one partner and escaping for the other partner.
"Well, you know both moves, so which would you like to practice first?"
"Uhhhhh... I'll try escaping first," Ruby answered after a moment of thinking. She wasn't very certain about either considering her partner.
"Wonderful! Well then, come here and I'll put you in the hold. Just remember how to escape and you will do fine." Ruby took a few steps closer to Pyrrha before spinning around so her back was to her. She felt a muscular arm go around her neck, the junction where forearm met bicep was placed under Ruby's chin. She felt a hand at the back of her head push forward at the same time the arm around her neck pulled back. Right away she could see how strong Pyrrha's arms were and how tight the hold was. I'd like to feel these arms when they aren't wrapped around my neck, the thought passed through Ruby's head as she followed the technique to escape the hold. No matter how hard she tried though she could not break her way free of Pyrrha's headlock. She knew objectively she had only been in the lock for a minute, but the seconds started seeming longer. Ruby was beginning
to have trouble breathing, the teacher's headlock tight enough to restrict her air, her hand tapping the side of Pyrrha's arm for release.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make it so tight, I'm so sorry!" the older girl apologized as Ruby caught her breath.
"It's alright," she said between gasps of air, "Just try going a little easier on me when I put you in the headloc. I don't need you breaking my arm," Ruby finished with a weak smile, Pyrrha smiling too before patting her on the back.
"I'll keep that in mind." This time Pyrrha turned around so Ruby could practice the hold. The silver eyed girl was just tall enough to practice on her teacher without needing assistance to reach. She replicated what had been demonstrated to the class and what Pyrrha had done to her only a few moments ago. She circled her right arm around Pyrrhas neck grabbing the bicep of her left arm as it pushed back on Pyrrha's head.
"Alright, I'm set," Ruby declared so Pyrrha knew she was ready. She waited for the girl in her hold to move or try escaping. What seemed like a minute went by before Pyrrha moved, putting all her weight into the movement and breaking free with ease.
"That was good, Ruby! You need to work on the technique more. Your elbow should be right under my chin instead of to the side like it was, that makes it harder for someone to escape."
"Alright, P-Pyrrha. I'll make sure to practice."
"Good! Otherwise you have the move down, shouldn't be too long before you test for your brown belt."
"R-Really?" Ruby kept stammering, kicking herself mentally each time for it but unable to stop it this was the most conversation she had made with Pyrrha.
"Yes, really! You are a good student, Ruby," Pyrrha said happily. They practiced the movements several more times, only stopping when Pyrrha saw the other teachers motioning for the class to finish soon, "I need to go and help finish the class, could you stay after so I could talk to you?" Pyrrha asked. Ruby wanted to think of a reason to say no, nervous to be alone with Pyrrha.
"Sure, I can stay!" At least I didn't stutter that time.
"Wonderful, I'll talk to you then!" Pyrrha happily said as she walked back to the front of the class with the other teachers.
Ruby finished taking off her uniform. Folding it up, she placed it in her bag before hoisting it up over her shoulder. She was the last one in the changing room, staying back to talk to Pyrrha. As she walked to the main room where class had just ended several minutes prior, she remembered Blake's words from earlier in the morning. You can do this, Ruby! the red haired girl yelled in her head, psyching herself up as she pushed the door open. The room was much different without class going on, seeming to grow in size when it was empty. Ruby scanned the room for Pyrrha.
"Ruby, over here!" she heard from directly to her right.
Turning in that direction, Ruby felt like her jaw was going to hit the floor. Pyrrha was standing by one of the chairs in the room, her uniform was placed on it. The tall, green-eyed girl was wearing a black tank top and athletic shorts that showed off her muscular physique, something that Ruby was having trouble not staring at.
"Hey Pyrrha, so what did you want to talk about?"
"Well, I was impressed by your energy throughout class and how well you learned the new moves. I wanted to ask if you would be interested in personal training sessions," Pyrrha said matter-of-factly, though her trademark cheerfulness never left her voice.
"What!? Personal training!? Me!?" she exclaimed completely taken by surprise.
"Yes I see a lot of potential in you Ruby and I'd like to help you develop it."
"I... I" Ruby stammered, not expecting this at all and unsure what to do, "I like that idea," she finally said unable to deny the idea of spending more time with Pyrrha was both nerve wracking and appealing. At her agreement Pyrrha broke out into a big smile, pulling out a piece of paper and writing on it.
"Excellent news! Here, this is my phone number. We can work out when these sessions will be later. It was good talking to you Ruby and I look forward to training with you." Pyrrha said excitedly, handing Ruby the piece of paper. Ruby looked at it for a moment, just processing the turn of events and making sure the scrap with writing in her hand was real.
"Yeah, so do I. Well I need to go home, so I'll talk to you later it seems," Ruby replied starting for the door before she saw the exasperated look Blake would give her if she didn't seize this opportunity. Turning around, she saw Pyrrha had started to put her uniform in a drawstring bag. Ruby's face felt like it was catching on fire the heat blossoming in her checks. "P-Pyrrha, would you like to go out for coffee or something?!"' Ruby practically shouted, her anxiety fading slightly as she finally said it though returning when Pyrrha turned around with cheeks as red as her hair.
"I... I... uh, why yes, I would," she stammered, sounding like Ruby had earlier, "Anywhere in particular?"
"I... well, I didn't really think I'd get this far, so I don't have any ideas" Ruby answered sheepishly, .Pyrrha only smiled at the answer.
"Well how about we discuss this when we discuss your training sessions. That way you have some time to think of ideas where we should go."
"Alright, I like that idea."
"Good, then it's a date," Pyrrha finished with a smile that Ruby decided was her new favorite thing.
It's a date.