A/N: This note is for people who know and are concerned with the current state of my previous works on this site. If you are not curious, tarry on and enjoy this new project of mine.
"Where the Hell is Zwei-Handlers?!" I hear you cry. "The Pickpocket and the Fraud was starting to get interesting!" I hear you lament. "Weiss vs. Atlas…"….. okay there wasn't much of a following there.
I... started working on Zwei-Handlers, trying to clean up the slight mess I made in the later chapters, make the story more cohesive again, in spite of it having an absurdist and self-aware tone I really did get lazy and drag things out. There's something in the works, but I'm still wrangling the very beast I made.
"Pickpocket" also isn't "done" per say, I just entered a dark place mentally recently, and Pickpocket wasn't doing me any favors in terms of its tone, so I took a break.
Thing is, I was having fun doing this. It polished my writing and I got some constructive feedback, and I want to get back into it. In order to do this, I thought I would just start a simpler, easier, and shorter project, to get me back in the groove. And here it is.
As usual, I don't own RWBY. That goes to Rooster Teeth, with its conception to the late Monty Oum.
It was night on the Beacon grounds, the shattered moon illuminating a quiet pavilion as trees whistled in a mild breeze. The benches held no one, the boardwalks were empty, the windows dark and the arches undisturbed. The trickling of a fountain added a disjointed rhythm to an otherwise barren overture of wind and silence. Beacon was asleep, dreaming a formless hope of a new day.
At least, a casual observer would notice only that, but one with a sharp eye and acute ears, that don't have to be animalistic, mind you, could discover the slight quivers in such an image: The hints of the lie of peace and quiet. At that very moment, a brute practiced alone to attain strength unmatched. An acrobatic sort rested in the trees, gazing at the stars with thoughts most vapid. Another gazed more interestedly at the stars, determined to connect the twinkling dots with lines not there, and imagining forms within that didn't make sense. A thoughtful one didn't even pay the stars mind, eyes closed and in most precarious balance along a slackline. One simply strutted stealthily, returning to a room to sleep, for the previous room no sleeping could take place. Another silently slunk away with objects most vulgar and amoral. There was even one that couldn't sleep, and used this time to imagine a world burning.
And alongside a cliff, a small form sat, huddled in a red cloak that kept the wind from chilling her. The canopy trees, a faint blanket of green hinted by silver moonlight, contained ravenous, haunting creatures that fed on the corpses of the daring, stupid, or unlucky. Woe is their light, anger their passion, and fear their desire. Water couldn't refresh them as much as the salty tears of man, innocent or guilty, and they could hear the droplets trickle on the grass far above them.
The sheer side of the cliff was too great for the feckless gang of bottom feeders that roamed a forest floor frequently hunted for sport by both student and professors (well, one professor) alike, and the Nevermores that flew were perched in trees, wings too fatigued from a long days swooping to spend all that effort rising to the school they knew would kill them for the trickle of a small morsel of sadness.
Hence Ruby Rose was undisturbed. Her cries quiet, her shivers slight.
She was being a baby, and she knew it. She was a big girl, with big girl bones strengthened by big girl milk, and babies don't drink big girl milk!
Wait…. They do. In fact "Big Girl Milk" could literally be interpreted as….. Ruby sighed as she blushed and snuggled further into the red cloak.
Why was she being a baby? Why did she have to wake up in the middle of the night, and pensively come to the sheer side of a cliff overlooking an expansive forest of doom? Why did she want to be alone? Or at least, even more alone that sitting in a room with three sleeping teenagers.
She knew the answer. She was stressed. She was worried. The Vytal Festival was coming up, Finals were coming up, and she was expected to be the leader of the exceptional Team RWBY! Named after her! And… whenever she felt stressed like so, whenever she felt alone, she felt a compulsion to visit the grave of Summer Rose: her mother.
She was 15! She was the youngest girl in Beacon! And here upon her was all the pressure of being the best for her team who expected a lot from themselves, and in a various levels of consciousness a lot from her! She wished she could go to her sister, Yang, for help, for comfort, but Yang was…. Yang. She would downplay it, say she didn't have anything to worry about! And as much as she'd like to hear it, Ruby couldn't help but realize that, even if Yang didn't mean it, it was a lie! She SHOULD worry, she should stress about it! She was their leader, and if she didn't strive to do well in classes two grades above her, if she didn't try to inspire people with more experience than her, if she didn't try to lead the charge against fighters unknown to them, then… then….
Mom….. how did you do it?
The slab of her grave wasn't there. Her body not respectfully beneath her feet. Only Ruby herself, as far as she knew, and the haunting churning beneath the canopy of the Emerald Forest.
And of course there were the nightmares: some childish, like forgetting an assignment, and some not so much, like her team getting hurt on their first field assignment, which was coming up this semester.
She needed to talk to Mom. I really, really need to talk to you Mom.
But it didn't feel right, she wasn't there.
Ruby sighed, and tucked herself further away into the cloak, chuckling a little bit. I am a baby. She admitted, with a small amount of self-loathing humor. A grown up would've realized that Mom was always with her. She was everywhere. But a Baby wouldn't be able to accept that. Baby wanted Mommy and wanted her now.
Her eyes were still wet as she looked down, her body fully covered by red. She always had this cloak with her. Her mother always had a cloak with her as well. Did Mom obsess over this cloak the same way Ruby herself did? Ruby wondered, if she anally kept it, made sure no one touched it, and wore it even over the school uniform. The only difference was Summer's was White.
Inspiration struck! A metaphorical lightbulb attempted to illuminate the literal darkness.
Ruby shrugged off the cloak and hung it off the low hanging branch of a tree. She tied a knot into the bark, one that would not tear the fabric away. The wind was existent but it wasn't strong enough to untangle the knot and fling her dearest piece of clothing into the Emerald Forest below. It would stay.
It was the wrong color but it would do.
"Mom?" Ruby said aloud, "I need some advice."
Ruby dear, the cloak said, not aloud, what's the matter? You could tell me everything.
"I'm worried I'm not a good leader." Ruby pouted. "I'm worried I'm not a good student. I'm worried I'm not a good huntress. Sometimes, I worry that the frequency of my screw ups cause me to not even be a good person."
Oh Ruby, the cloak said, I'm pretty sure everyone has thoughts like that. I mean, I also had thoughts like that!
"You did?"
Oh yes. I had your uncle, your father, and your sister's mother on a team! I understand you don't know much of the latter, but just picture the first two as teenagers! Do you think I competently handled them well all the time? Could anyone?
Ruby laughed. "Yeah… I mean no…. no one could control them…. That must've been discouraging, I can imagine."
The cloak laughed, it even shuddered a little as the wind billowed beneath it. It was, but you know what I did?
"What?"
I messed up.
Silence, as Ruby stared at her cloak dangling gracefully from the tree branch it was tied to.
"What?"
I messed up. And then I messed up again. And then I messed up again. And I dwelled on it. And then I dwelled on it some more. And upon dwelling upon it, I messed up even more.
"How's this supposed to encourage me?"
It's less to encourage you and more to have you stop being so harsh on yourself. People mess up, they make poor decisions. The best option is to rather avoid making mistakes but make no decisions, but to make mistakes and learn from them. It's called living. Failure is not something to be avoided, you can't, but maybe it's not something to be feared either. It's just what living life is.
"So…."
I won't lie to you and say you'll do great. Sometimes you won't. But think about all those successes you DID have! The fact Weiss and Blake made up…
"That was mostly Yang."
…but you didn't exacerbate the problem. The fact Weiss could move on by losing the leader position
"That was mostly Port, and Ozpin comforting me."
….but you took Ozpin's words well. And what about Jaune? Didn't he have an issue, and you helped him out of it.
"That was….. mostly himself and his devotion to his partner."
Okay, now admit it, that's stretching it. You really helped there.
"….are you sure?"
Of course! That "Nope" shtick? BRILLIANT!
"It was the only word that came to my head!" Ruby blushed.
And wasn't it the RIGHT word?
"….yes…."
Look, we both know that you are just imagining what responses your mother would have. You're not a schizophrenic. But… I'm glad you were able to imagine me giving these words of wisdom to you.
"Yeah… me too." Ruby smiled. "Hey…. Do you mind if I pretend you're there… for just a little bit longer. I like talking to you."
Of course Ruby. I am both your Mother and your Imagination.
Ruby laughed as she sat down and pulled out a packet of mini-cookies from her pocket. She brought it out as anticipated comfort food, but now she just wanted to hang out with her cloak that reminded her of her mother.
To be honest, she didn't even remember her that much, considering how little she was when she lost her, but maybe that allowed a little bit of the myth the woman was to her. The myth was nice and comforting at times, just like that cloak, which now gave her warmth in spite of not being on her.
Her fingers loosened at an inconvenient time, as a large burst of wind blew the cookies out her grasp, darting along the cliff-side. The cloak remained tied to the tree branch as the sturdy knot prevented its escape. Ruby, a deep lover of cookies, stood up and turned towards the fleeing package of sugary processed goodness. She did spare a look to her cloak.
"I'll be back."
In a flurry of rose petals, Ruby disappeared, desperately chasing the floating bag still filled with cookies. It really illustrated how much of a highway robbery those things were, mostly air and a little bit of tiny cookie.
Ruby was fast, certainly fast enough to catch up, but Ruby's dexterity and agility were tested in ways that she had never experienced before. Every time she reached out the cookie bag would shift in some other direction. She flailed and swiped in a multitude of directions, hoping to find purchase on the package. After an amount of time, she finally grasped upon the goodness: the bag of cookies in the palm of her hand.
After reveling in victory, she felt the cold upon her, and suddenly felt wanting for her cloak once more. She giggled, "okay, whatever that was, we can stop now." She told herself, once more aloud.
She darted back towards that tree, and then stared at it. She stared at it some more, her silver eyes darting at every facet of the humble tree atop the cliff beyond the Emerald Forest.
For the red cloak was gone.
Ruby shrieked so loud, it awoke everyone, and brought slight nourishment to the cruel beasts that lapped up her sorrow.
Yang hated herself. She rarely did, but she truly hated herself now, because she knew.
She knew no matter what she did, she couldn't comfort Ruby, and it broke her heart.
It made her angry. Someone DARED to steal Ruby's hood? It was the sole connection she had to her mother! It was something she would never part with! She SLEPT with the damn thing, until it became too apparent that it was way too hot to wear under the covers!
If she ever found who did this, Yang would obliterate them! Not hurt them, not cripple them, not even kill them. Obliterate, their very existence wiped off the face of the Earth. If they were the type to resurrect, he'd find the gimmick that would make them NOT resurrect, and then destroy them.
But she didn't know who did it, and beating up people potentially innocent would only make Ruby feel worse. Hell, if she hurt the GUILTY person Ruby would feel bad about it. That was just the type of person she was. So forgiving. Yes, she'd forgive Yang, but Yang preferred the idea of Ruby NEVER being disappointed in her. Annoyed, definitely! Frustrated, absolutely! At odds, it was only natural! But disappointed?
Yang sighed as Ruby continued to cry. She turned to her sister's partner, Weiss, who patted her back. Weiss was being sweet. Sweeter than usual. She offered to get a replacement, in spite of her thinking wearing it over Ruby's uniform was a blatant disregard to the purpose of a uniform, but Weiss immediately understood when Ruby said it "wasn't that simple." Yang almost felt warm by how much Weiss had come to appreciate and understand her sister.
Yang crossed her arms. "We'll get your hood back. I promise."
Ruby looked up from the pillow she was sobbing upon, "…you can't promise that." She protested weakly.
Yang was going to correct her, saying that indeed she could promise her, until Weiss unsurprisingly spoke faster than her, "maybe she can't." Weiss than stood up, "but I can promise that I will not rest until either your cloak is returned, or justice is served. And failing both those, that I won't stop trying."
Ruby looked at Weiss, and after squirming, she mumbled a "thank you" and continued to bury her head in a pillow.
Weiss sighed, and then looked to Yang, who couldn't help but jump from the look of frustrated determination on her face, even if Yang was certain she felt the same, Weiss was just an expert at contorting her face to express a negative emotion. All Yang could do was flash her eyes red.
"I meant that." Weiss reaffirmed, "we have to do something. I refuse not to."
"I agree." Yang nodded. "I'm ready to beat the answers out of the whole student body if I have to! Including the exchange students…. ESPECIALLY the exchange students!"
"NO!" Weiss shouted, making everyone in the room jump, even if Ruby's face was still melded to the comfort of the pillow. "We cannot result to violence or 'enhanced interrogation,' at least until the tournament. If we are to do something about this, 'situation,' we need to be more subtle."
Weiss did have a point. Yang sighed, "okay, how do you suggest we do that."
"We need not to infiltrate, we need to investigate. We need to learn, observe, and deduce, and locate the stolen cape."
"It's a hood," Ruby replied, muffled by the pillow.
"Sorry. Locate the stolen hood." Weiss corrected. "Thing is, it's not like some kind of Grimm hive or criminal activity, we can't beat up our way out of it, we need a different approach."
"One I'm not good at." Yang admitted.
"And neither am I." Weiss resigned to. "I'm elegant, but I tried to avoid the crafty side of things. It reminds me too much of my father."
"What we need is someone experienced with stealth. Someone used to working in the shadows…"
"indeed," Weiss nodded. "Someone who can both observe in the most obtrusive of circumstances, like darkness and a large crowd, as well as someone empathically observant: a good judge of character."
"Yeah…." Yang nodded more aggressively, "someone good at listening. Someone good at not making much of an impression, yet is deceptively dangerous. Someone with enough damage to know what it is to be a criminal, but enough morality to punish it."
"Someone who can peer into darkness and see the truth." Weiss scratched her chin. "Someone with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of random facts."
"As well as stubborn enough to see whatever she…. Or he…. puts her mind to finished through."
"Someone with the attention span to research to no end."
"Someone with enough wile, charm, or morality to win anyone on to her side, even someone effectively harmed by their actions."
"Yes." Weiss started wagging her finger and nodding her head in rhythm, " someone…"
"Are you guys passively aggressively pressuring me into this, or are you both that stupid?" A new voice asked, that forced Weiss and Yang to shift their heads to pay the speaker heed.
Blake sat on her bed, cross-legged and peering into them with yellow eyes of judgement. Weiss looked sheepish, but Yang was Blake's partner, she was more than used to this.
"Blakey! Of course!" Yang pretended to have a eureka moment. "You can help us with this!"
Blake huffed, but Yang still pressed, changing her sarcastic smile to a genuinely desperate frown. "Look, I'm too aggressive, and Weiss… is way too blunt and deliberate. There is no subtlety to her actions, as it is with me." Yang ignored Weiss's deliberate, not-subtle protests. "Look," Yang continued, "you're the best person to deal with this. Pleeaasse? If not for Ruby…. For me?" Yang did the look that she offensively called "puppy dog eyes." (It apparently wasn't a favorite expression upon all dog based faunus, and even Blake didn't like it)
Blake grit her teeth, "look, I understand the cloak was important to Ruby." The way Blake looked at Ruby clearly showed Blake was struggling to say 'no.' "But… I'm…. focused on other things. Things that, no offense, I find more important. Torchwick. The White Fang. Homework!" Blake's exasperation was starting to show. "I need to do well on the upcoming finals, while also…. Well… Atoning." Blake, looked down, her embarrassment and shame apparent. "I wish I could help more…. But…."
"We don't care what you did before!" Yang yelled, once again making everyone jump, in spite of Ruby's current attachment to her head-based sleeping device. "What matters, is what you do now! And really, wouldn't it really stick it to the White Fang if you put your effort…" Yang made a gesture towards her sister, "…..in helping a Human friend in need?"
Blake dipped her head deeper, which proved to Yang that she made a point. YUSS!
After a solid five minutes of silence, in which Blake stared and looked at both Weiss and Yang, but mostly Yang, she grievously heaved a heavy sigh.
"Fine. But not because you told me to." Blake looked at the sobbing 15 year old, "because whoever did this, hurt my leader, but most importantly, my friend."
Jaune learned a lot of things about offices, and how people present them.
An office was not only a "home away from home," it was a physical presentation about yourself to those who wish to visit you, either the visitor is voluntary or the owner of said office summoned him. In Jaune's case, it was the latter.
Port's office was littered with diagrams with Grimm with "X"s on them, a grim checklist of what he'd slain. Oobleck's office was cluttered by historical artifacts and documents, a disheveled reference to his knowledge. Goodwitch's office was clean, organized, and effectively organized, to remind the entrant upon her rigorous regard for order and a clear plan. Peach's office…. Was hard to explain, though Peach was very rarely present in her own office.
Ozpin's was barren, for the most part. There was a large desk that featured multiple monitors. There were two chairs on both sides of that desk. But other than that the very floor upon which Jaune stood held nothing.
Gears noisily clicked above him, and Jaune realized something. There was no clock upon Beacon's tallest tower, or any device warranting such gears, so from what Jaune could discern, the gears were pointless. At least pointless in any functional purpose.
"Jaune, as much as I appreciate you marveling my workspace, would you like to sit down?" Ozpin asked, forcing Jaune from his distractions.
"Oh!" Jaune coughed, "sorry." He meekly walked forward and slid himself into the chair in front of Ozpin's desk. Ozpin smiled as he sipped his coffee, not saying any more words. Jaune twiddled his thumbs, wondering if any of his other professors were going to show up. If anyone was going to be there to accuse him of what he truly did, fake his way into Beacon.
It was his only chance to be somebody! Or at least somebody he wanted to be. He hated the dishonesty, and became more than aware of the risk he held to those with whom he wished to serve. But he was too deep now: it's hard to turn back, especially since his partner was more than aware of his transgression.
He shook his head of the thoughts, and returned to Ozpin, who continued to stare at him with a soft smile, but with a crushing and cruel silence.
After existing in the ominous atmosphere, Jaune finally spoke. "So…. You wanted to see me?"
"Indeed." Ozpin nodded. "I was made aware you applied to be a Hall Monitor."
Jaune nodded. He found it a bit strange such a position existed in Beacon, instead of traditional Residential Assistances in other boarding schools and primary schooling. But he applied anyway, even though he was fully aware he wouldn't get the position.
Still, for some reason it was brought to Ozpin's attention.
"Well…. I mean… I didn't expect to get it…. But… that's no reason to try, right?"
Ozpin nodded, "such a philosophy is what will bring you far, Jaune. Even if you don't know it." Before Jaune could process such words Ozpin asked a question. "There was a question there was a question about 'which fellow student inspires you the most,' and you wrote 'Ruby Rose,' rather than your incredibly successful partner." Ozpin folded his hands. "Care to explain that response to me?"
Jaune blinked, he remembered giving that answer, but he also remembered giving more than that. "Didn't the application ask to 'explain?' Did I not explain enough?"
"I wouldn't say that," Ozpin corrected, "but I wish to hear the answer from you. Truthful and improvised."
Ozpin and Jaune continued staring at each other, long enough for someone watching to start shipping them. Time and minutes became indecipherable for both participants of the moment, and Jaune could only formulate the proper response.
"Because Ruby inspires me. Because her youth should mean she isn't ready for Beacon, yet she constantly proves to me she belongs here more than most people do. Especially me."
"Especially you?" Ozpin responded.
"Well…. yeah. I mean, it's no secret I'm not the best at combat, or anything, and….
"…you faked your transcripts to get here?"
The pause was so pregnant it gave birth to octuplets. "What? I mean? What do you? How? Am I? No! What's going to happen to me? You can't prove it!"
Ozpin held his hand out, which convinced Jaune to silence himself. "Look, you honestly think that I, Ozpin, would be fooled by fake transcripts? I let you in on my own volition." Ozpin leaned back as he smiled, as Jaune's mouth was thrown agape. "In theory, you are just as special as Ruby, though most obviously less skilled."
Jaune remained agape. "….why…"
"Tell you now? Because I want you to know that what I'm about to tell you, what decision I'm about to make, is not based off misinformation. I'm not saying it's a mistake, but I'm saying it is a choice that is based all the true knowledge that I have of the situation."
Ozpin pulled out a file, and looked over it, "in your response, Ruby Rose was chosen not just because she should have no reason to be inspiring, yet she is, is that she holds a humbleness only prescribed to people who truly, in all logical senses, do not deserve and should not deserve that respect. In all logic, Ruby should earn only envy and ire, and yet she continues to prove herself, not because she already has it, but because she strives to have it. Naturally, I'm paraphrasing, you don't word it that well here." Ozpin chuckled, "but that's the vibe I got from your written response, is that correct?"
Jaune nodded.
"In Beacon, when things like this happen, I often rely on people close to the victim to sort things out. It's the same reason I stood by the wayside as I caught footage of Cardin bullying you into oblivion, as well as blackmailing you. It was truly a test of whether or not you deserved to be here, and if you made close enough friendships to support you, and you proved me right, even if you still remain one of the weakest people in combat class." Ozpin snickered as Jaune blushed in embarrassment. "Nevertheless, when such an event like this happens, I like to inspire those close to the victim to take action, especially when superficially it appears to be 'none of their business.' An excuse I can imagine you making, Jaune."
Jaune responded with nothing.
"So, I'd like you to be the official investigator of this specific case on behalf of Beacon, as a recently accepted Hall Monitor, even if that position doesn't open until next year."
Jaune then realized something, "wait, if you don't believe inf interfering, why do you have Hall Monitors in the first place."
"Because I DO like interfering, but I can't in any direct way, otherwise it's too obvious."
"However, I do not expect you to do this alone. I can already imagine RWBY sending Blake to sort this mess out. However, just to make sure you have the support you need, since Blake seems to be those 'I work alone' types, I have arranged a partner for you, to assist you in your investigation."
The elevator doors partitioned in a timely fashion, revealing a meek, bunny eared faunus.
"Ace photographer, perceptive listener, and most empathic and peaceable people I know. Velvet is also a Hall Monitor, even though she focuses most on reporting things to my attention rather than actually enforcing things."
She quickly walked up without saying a word, and only seemed to slightly budge her head to acknowledge Jaune.
"Jaune Arc, acquaint yourself with Velvet Scarletina, fellow Hall Monitor, and your crime partner. Because let's be honest. If Pyrrha joined you, she's too famous and awkward to be successful, and Nora is too boisterous, and Ren…. well… Nora would tag along if Ren was 'solving mysteries without her.' So… I hope you don't mind."
Jaune looked at the shy rabbit faunus standing beside him.
"Nope. None at all."
A/N: And now the scene is set, may our players play their part.
I can't tell you which story will be updated next, all I can say is 'I'm working on it.' I'm sorry how unreliable I am, but what can I say, I'm not that reliable a person. I hope those who you consider friends are more reliable than me….
Anyway. Fave! Follow! Review! Do NOT Steal Someone's Clothing, ESPECIALLY When they Use it as a Imaginative Proxy of a Deceased Loved One.