Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY nor the characters within, I'm merely playing around in the sandbox Rooster Teeth has provided us with.
Note: This takes place sometime during Volume Four, while Team RNJR is out on the road.
The fire crackled below and behind her as Nora peered out into the darkness from her treetop perch.
She'd love to be asleep in her bedroll like the others, but sadly she'd drawn the short straw that night and received the painful midnight watch. Fine. She could deal with it for a night (Ren would take tomorrow's no matter what, she knew. His sense of fair play wouldn't let him miss it more than a few nights in a row, and he rigged the draw anyways so Ruby and Jaune didn't get saddled with too much either).
Ren was a doll like that.
Nothing approached them that night, however. Just like the rest. Nora had a sneaking suspicion that something was giving them an easier time than they deserved, but no real evidence to back that point up. Just the instincts honed over a lifetime out on the streets or roaming the wilderness, both alone and with her steadfast partner.
Ren had admitted to having some of the same feelings when the two exchanged watches before. Ruby and Jaune said nothing of the sort, but they'd never spent much time out in the wilds. They didn't have the same sixth sense for something being up.
Her fists clenched on Magnhild's cool metal haft. They'd learn. It was only a few weeks into their journey – soon they'd start building up those instincts, and as much as Nora wished cute little Ruby could remain her dopey, happy-go-lucky self and Jaune could stay the dumbass farmboy, they needed that edge more than ever now.
Not too much of an edge, of course. Nora maintained that levity was the sole reason she and Ren had made it as far and as long as they had. But something.
There was little moon that night, a fainter-than-normal sliver surrounded by glowing shards instead of the full glory it normally displayed on its best nights. The stars overhead were more comforting to her. City light eliminated most of them from view – it was the thing that most unnerved her about Vale. Not being able to see the heavens above her was like stealing a friend away.
Something shuffled in her peripherals. Nora tightened her grip on Magnhild. Something hostile? Something smashable? Perhaps food come to deliver itself, or their mysterious follower?
Both?
Blue eyes darted back to the camp and her tension vanished. Ruby was upright instead of down and sleeping, a pale, tiny hand held to her chest as she panted with wide, wide eyes.
Oh Ruby.
Nora dropped to the ground with a soft thump. Years of practice kept her footfalls light so she wouldn't be heard, wouldn't wake the others or alarm her friend. The tiny girl's heaving grew steadily louder the closer Nora got, still too quiet to alert their male compatriots, but louder than the quiet crackle of the diminishing flames.
"Hey."
Ruby jumped as Nora plopped herself down on top of her bedroll, just inches from her. Wide eyes, pupils contracted from staring into the fire for too long, whipped to her so fast Nora was afraid they might get some form of whiplash (was that where headaches came from?), before relaxing in recognition.
"H-hey Nora," Ruby whispered, quelling her panic. Nora frowned. Ruby hid a lot from them – tried to stay strong for them and be the leader they needed now – and Nora hated it. Ruby was supposed to wear her heart on her sleeve, not hide it behind a mask. That kind of behavior was for the Ice Queen and the Wayward Blake.
Seems Ruby had learned as much from them as they had from her. Nora subtly hid her tightening fingers behind her thigh, not wanting Ruby to pick up on it.
They should have been here for her.
Team RWBY was supposed to be the paragon of teams. Nora held her own team close to her heart, but she knew that even with Pyrrha fucking Nikos rounding out their quartet they didn't hold a candle to the true prodigies of Beacon's freshmen. They were the disparate outcasts brought together by fortune; unique and varied skillsets combined to form a greater whole; exotic ingredients mixed, forming powerful flavors and textures.
Or something like that. When they were alone – talking about nothing and everything at the same time – Ren waxed poetic on a variety of subjects. Nora just knew that team RWBY was nothing to scoff at and considered their friendship to be one of her most valued possessions.
Was an emotional bond a possession? What did you call it otherwise? Bah.
But they were gone now, and Nora loathed them for it.
It wasn't powerful loathing, like what she held for Cardin or Cinder, but it was still there. She knew they had baggage and a multitude of things they needed to work through. She could understand. She knew.
But so did Ruby. So did she and Ren and Jaune, and they were here, right? She and Ren hadn't left Jaune when they could have. Ruby hadn't left any of them. When they'd first gotten that text from the girl, grieving and devasted by Yang's distance and apathy, they'd latched onto each other. They made plans. They made preparations. They started on their quest to do something.
And through it all Nora had a front row seat as Ruby grew up right in front of her eyes. Not in the way a parent might see a kid, but like how she and Ren had been forced to when the Grimm destroyed their village.
Ruby shouldn't have to force cheerfulness when they all woke up feeling down in the morning. Ruby shouldn't have to hide her pain when everyone else faltered. She shouldn't have to fake any of it when they questioned their purpose. But she did. Nora loved the girl for it and held on to the anger she felt for her team – the ones who should have been there to hold her close and help her through it. Who she trusted to let close enough to see behind the front she put up for them. It wasn't fair that she felt this way – none of this was fair – but it was the truth.
Well fuck it. They weren't here, and she was.
Ruby sucked in a breath as Nora slung her arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to her side. Her warm cloak pressed against Nora's side (nice and toasty in the cold night air) and Nora felt the girl tremble against her.
"I'm fine, Nora," Ruby muttered, as quiet as before. Her breathing had settled. Silver eyes stared into the flames, searching for something. Nora held her closer, lips pressing into a thin line as Ruby's trembling increased, shoulders hunching in on herself.
Her leader didn't shrug away her touch like Nora expected. Instead Ruby melted against her, still muttering. "It's fine. It's fine. I'm fine."
Nora didn't know when the tears started. She felt them when she tucked her chin on top of Ruby's head and held her close, warm against her chest.
They should have been here.
But they weren't. She was, so for a time Nora played the big sister for Yang. She played the best friend for Weiss. She played the emotional anchor for Blake. She hummed the broken melody to a fractured lullaby Ren used to sing to her long ago, barely remembered from a time before he'd seen his mother killed before his eyes. She rocked Ruby as she vented her emotions – knowing they would be hidden away by morning light.
Because Nora Valkyrie knew.
There's so little good Nora content out there, same with Ren. Volume Four was and remains my favorite volume of the series, because everyone got their time to shine on screen. Nobody was allowed to languish as a side-character any more. I hope you all enjoyed this little scene that I personally headcanon to the series. Leave a Review if you enjoyed, and if you have any short RWBY prompts I'd be interested in taking them.