Team RWBY was exhausted. Not the good kind of exhausted from a satisfying spar, but from their first real taste of a Huntress' life. While their experience went far better than most, that fact did little to calm their chaotic minds.
Yang and Weiss missed the fight at the docks, but were fatigued from worrying over their leader, Ruby, as well as how Blake would react to them now. An entire weekend to process the team's newest revelation had left Weiss with a plan to scold Blake once they reconvened. She didn't want to sound like what Blake did was wholly unforgivable, nor to sound like she considered Blake a close friend. Simply a teammate RWBY couldn't live without. Weiss made sure she mentioned that Blake's heritage and past meant nothing to her. Even with a plan, the heiress still worried over what Blake would do afterward.
Yang had been anxious over losing her partner so early in the year. Their personalities could not be more opposite, but Yang already considered Blake a good friend, better than her, more or less, passing acquaintances from Signal. She knew Blake had her reasons for hiding her Faunus heritage, and as curious as the blond was about it, Blake would open up on her own time. Maybe not tonight, next weekend, or even the following semester, but she'll talk to them one day, and Yang would wait forever if need be.
The door to team RWBY's dorm room clicked unlocked, opening with a small creak they've all become strangely fond of. Ruby entered first, followed by Yang, Weiss, then Blake. None of them bothered to turn on the lights, moving to simply flop into their respective bunk beds, not even wanting to change.
Except for Ruby.
Ruby moved to the center desk beneath the lone window, placing her dorm key in the left most drawer. She lazily unsheathed Crescent Rose from her holster and held it in the moonlight, inspecting the weapon for any damage. The blade perfectly reflected the shattered moon through the window pane, and Ruby simple froze in place, staring at the reflection as if hypnotized. It didn't have any cracks, chips, dents, scratches, or even smudges, just a mirror image of the broken moon. For a moment, Ruby felt incredible pride in her craftsmanship and everything she learned to construct her glorious sweetheart.
A clear drop fell onto the moon's reflection, slightly startling the girl. She looked at it for a few seconds, mind going quiet. With a quick swipe of her sleeve, the droplet was gone, no trace of its existence remaining. The action tilted the weapon back somewhat, and instead of the moon shining in the blade, Ruby saw herself and her own silver eyes, slightly darkened from the dim light.
Despite being utterly exhausted from her day, the reflected face still showed a hint of resolve and determination, just enough to get her mind running again. Ruby looked up from the weapon and directly at the moon. A strange feeling began to blossom in her chest, spreading to the rest of her body like a stream of water flowing over dry soil.
"Team meeting" Ruby suddenly said, shattering the silence into dust.
The other members of RWBY had to take a moment to rouse themselves from nearly falling asleep, looking at their leader with tired and rueful eyes. Ruby continued to gaze out the window, clutching Crescent Rose tightly.
"Ruby, can this wait until morning?" Yang asked, rolling onto her back then draping her arm over her eyes. Weiss and Blake were about to agree when Ruby cut them off.
"No. It can't." She replied, turning away from the window, strutting to the center of the room, and promptly sat down, crossed her legs, and faced the window once again. "Team meeting. Right now." Her finger pointed to the floor.
The sudden change in Ruby's demeanor surprised all three of her teammates, even Yang, whom all traded confused looks with each other. Relenting to concerned curiosity, Yang swung her legs over the bunk, dropped onto to floor, and sat down to her sister's right side. Ruby continued to stare out the window at the shattered moon, giving no sign of noticing Yang. This only caused her to grow more concerned.
Weiss let out an annoyed grunt as she sat up in her lower bunk. "I'll humor you just this once Ruby, only because we were given the day off tomorrow." She made standing up from the bed and sitting across from Ruby a single action, perhaps to snap her partner out of what ever self-induced trance she put herself under. When Weiss noticed Ruby's total inaction, but her expression showing one of utmost determination and resolve in the pale moonlight, the heiress forgot about sleeping entirely, suddenly intrigued by their young leader, and somewhat concerned.
Blake audibly sighed and made her way to Ruby's left side, sitting down in a kneeling position. While she knew something was up with their leader, that had somehow enraptured both her partner and teammate, she didn't expect to see the swirling inferno in Ruby's eyes, nor the lone streak of reflecting moonlight under her left eye, stopping at her cheek. Blake had never seen Ruby cry before, and seeing her like this was both unnerving and worrying. What if she fell apart right in front of them? Would Blake know what to do in that situation? Would she become violent? What if-
"Thank you." Ruby's soft but strong voice interrupted Blake's thoughts. "Just give me the next minute to speak my mind, then we can go to bed." Her gaze fell to the open bit of floor between the four girls.
"After what happened tonight, which we all know was a lot to take in, I feel that I should just... talk about some stuff." She swallowed down the emotion burning her throat and willed herself to continue. "When I came to Beacon, I didn't expect to even be here for another two years, I didn't expect to kill a giant Nevermore at initiation, I didn't expect, well, a lot of things, but what happened tonight, I did expect. Well, not exactly, but I knew if I was going to be a huntress, nights like these were going to happen."
The other three members of team RWBY continued to listen to their leader, ignoring the words she tripped over, and all of them wondered where she was going with this.
"When I say 'nights like these', I guess I don't have a real definition for it, but it's what I wanted to talk about. On nights like these, when the bad guys come out of their hideouts and terrorize the city, that's when a huntress shines their brightest." Ruby's gaze lifted to look out the window above Weiss' head. The moon and its fragments hadn't moved. "This wasn't my first night, nor was it Yang's by a long shot, but whenever I thought about these kind of nights, I would always get terrified because I always imagined doing them alone." Her eyes closed, she took a breath, and opened them again, finally looking at the three individuals giving her their full attention.
A determined smile found its way onto Ruby's face, and another small reflective streak appeared below her right eye. "I am still afraid of those nights, and that won't change, but I don't need to be scared of them anymore. I won't need to do them alone; I have you guys now. The four of us, we are more than just a team, more than just partners, more than simple friends,"
A sudden worried look crossed Yang's face, afraid she said the wrong thing, "Uh, Ruby-".
"-we are all of those things, but above all of that, the four of us are a family." Ruby completely ignored her sister's misplaced, but well intentioned, concern and continued her speech unabated, "We are in this together. If someone or something messes with one of us, they mess with all of us." She then returned her gaze to the floor, a more melancholy tone gracing her voice. "I sometimes think this was how Mom died. She had one of those nights, but instead of having her team at her back like she was used to, she was alone." She sniffled, a sparkling drop falling from her left eye onto her combat skirt. Yang considered stopping Ruby, not only because it hurt to be reminded of their deceased mother, but also because Yang hated seeing her baby sister slowly fall apart.
"And when the moment finally came, Mom tried fighting with the strength of four hunters. She didn't fear nights like those when her team was by her side. No one would. Mom just... forgot to." Ruby sniffled again and wiped her eyes with her hand, letting out another swallow before continuing. "That may have not been our first night, but it will not be the last, not for a very long time, but you know what? I'm okay with that." Her gaze lifted once again to look at her family.
"As long as we are together, as a team, as friends, and as family, nights like these will become the greatest moments of our lives."
The words hit Weiss, Blake, and Yang with an almost audible resonance, and their eyes went wide as they traded expressions with each other. From what they had seen that night, it easily matched up with what Ruby just concluded with. They couldn't deny they had fun, but in the back of their minds, they knew it wasn't over, and more nights breaking dozens of school rules were all waiting to be experienced. Maybe next time, all four of them could be there, watching each others' backs, and foiling another evil plan. Who knows? Life is pretty awesome, and if they just keep moving forward, they'll all meet each other there.
A squeaky yawn interrupted the three girls' romanticized thoughts. "Thanks for listening to me, now let's go to bed; leader's orders." Ruby stood up from her seat on the floor, placed Crescent Rose on the desk, and climbed into her seemingly precarious hammock above Weiss' bunk.
The three remaining members of team RWBY watched their leader effortlessly fall asleep after giving such a strong and resonant speech. Weiss was the first to speak, "I'm never going to get to sleep tonight, not after hearing that from my partner." She stood up and moved to her bunk below her sleeping partner.
"Ditto. Too much to think about." Blake agreed softly, standing up and moving to her own bunk also below her partner's empty one.
Yang was silent on the matter, electing to stare at the floor. She thought back to the night at Junior's club, and wondered if that night could have been her last if things had gone differently. She then thought about what Ruby just said, specifically what she thought happened to Summer, and couldn't stop herself from making that connection. Yang was never scared of going alone those nights, but after processing what Ruby had said, the night suddenly seemed terrifying... but at the same time welcoming. It didn't make any sense to her; why would she suddenly be scared of something so familiar but equally enticed by it?
"Yang, are you going to call another team meeting tonight?" Blake teasingly asked her partner from behind a book.
"What? No, no! Just thinking is all." Yang quickly stood from her place on the floor and climbed into her top bunk. Then the answer came to her, and she couldn't hold back the smile. Why was the night equally terrifying and enticing now? It could kill her, if she was alone. But with her family, the greatest time of their lives was only just beginning.
Author's Notes:
First story on the site. Woo! Thank you for reading!
If you spot any mistakes, let me know. It's currently 4:30 am at the time of writing, and things will be misspelled/misused. This was almost entirely written as a single "draft" so to speak. Very little editing actually took place.
This one goes out to you, Monty.