RWBY Fic, Heart of the Sythe

Takes place after episode where Ruby gets the speech on leadership, focus on character development and team-building, will likely divert from canon, especially when it comes to when the cat gets out of the bag..and Blake will probably slap me for wording it like that.

Chapter One

Less than a week of classes, and Ruby felt she was completely out of her depth. A sort of oh-crap-what-am-I-supposed-to-do, only without frantic urgency or even a clear sense of what was wrong. If she had some idea what precisely made her feel like this, she could do something to fix or hide from it.

It wasn't the course work, they'd only just started their first term. The combat related courses were at the stage of getting a feel for each student's style and the barely formed team dynamics so future classes could be better organized to fit each student's talents and needs. The generalized non-combat courses had more freedom to challenge students intellectually more quickly. The pace of those were kind of fast, they'd already had a history test and two math quizzes, but nothing was outright over her head. It was just a question of how quickly she could understand concepts and memorize details in a variety of areas, and the results would probably help determine future course choices, though they probably wouldn't start having actual choices until their second or third year.

Surprisingly, it wasn't the social aspect that left her feeling like a fish out of water, either. The school seemed designed to make sure nobody felt alone unless they exerted plenty of effort to isolate themselves, and Ruby would bet money someone else trying to find some peace alone would 'accidentally' stumble to the same spot. It was like Beacon was filled with hidden cameras and had a section of their staff devoted to integrating as many people into as many groups, official and otherwise, as possible. Various social events constantly going on all over the place, some run by clubs and particularly enthusiastic students, others appearing because of faculty aid, made sure things always felt vibrant. Add in the fact that teams ate, slept, and at least for the first years went to class together, and you either grew some strong bonds, or at the very least learned how to cope with the clashing personalities. And oh good god, did Yang and Weiss clash like..well, fire and ice. At least Weiss was acting more friendly towards Ruby..though going from openly hostile to trying to make 'some' kind of working relationship was probably more out of resignation than anything Ruby had done so far.

No, what had Ruby feeling like a turtle being told to fly was the fact that despite the fact she was pushed forward by two years, she was now a team leader. She was, on paper at least, in charge of three other people, one of whom was her older sister. Honestly, she didn't even think about it until Weiss verbally tore her a new one after their first class with Professor Portman. She didn't think the whole team leader thing was something to take seriously for some reason. Maybe because it was thrown at her so suddenly, while she still hadn't quite digested the fact that she'd been pushed forward two years. Maybe because back at Signal, she tended to either follow someone else's lead or just fade in the background, and figured someone else would unofficially take over. Maybe she'd wake up and learn she hadn't actually gone through initiation yet.

But no, she was actually supposed to be the leader of team RWBY. The fact that the team essentially shared her name made things arguably worse. She didn't know how a leader was supposed to act, didn't know how to actually give orders. Okay, sure, she came up with the plan that killed the Nevermore during initiation, but that was an on-the-spot flash of insane brilliance! If she'd known it would have..okay, she would have done it anyway mostly because nobody else seemed to have any ideas other than keep shooting and hope the massive bird either gave up or died from a lucky shot. But still! Why put her in charge because she was the first one to come up with a plan?! Shouldn't there be more to a leader than that? As nice as it felt that Professor Ozpin had faith in her, he didn't really give her any ideas of what she 'should' do to really deserve to be called a leader.

So, in a desperate attempt to figure out what she 'should' be doing, she wrote a letter to her old crew at Signal filled with her worries and asking for anything that could help. Books with extraordinary leaders, books 'by' extraordinary leaders, books meant to inspire, whatever! At the very least, she needed an image in her head of what a leader was supposed to be if she was going to have any hope of not screwing up royally! Most of the hero stories she was familiar with involved someone dealing with evil on their own, wandering around aimlessly and improving the world a little whenever the opportunity arose. No one she could model herself after in her current circumstances.

The post office wouldn't be open until morning, so as she finished writing the letter, there wasn't really much she could do at the moment. Maybe work on some history homework. That should keep herself busy, and probably wouldn't bother Blake quietly reading on the other side of the room. Some small part of Ruby wanted to try sparking a conversation with her quiet teammate, but she'd learned over the course of the week that trying to talk for the sake of talking didn't hold much if any appeal for the raven haired bookworm. It's not like she could try talking to either of the others, they'd left the room.

Weiss said she had a "company matter to take care of" and walked off to make a call. Based on the barely withheld grimace, it wasn't a call she was pleased to be making. As much as Ruby wanted to ask and possibly learn more about her partner, she was more relieved that she was getting a break. While her highness stopped acting like Ruby's presence was toxic, she still was a perfectionist at heart and seemed to take it as a personal insult whenever the sisters messed around. If you weren't all business around her, then she wouldn't be happy with you, but at least she didn't feel as volatile as nitro glycerine anymore.

Ruby's brain was barely paying attention to the historical facts she was reading. Ugh, why did Oobleck start the class at chapter four again? She didn't catch the specifics of his distaste for the opening tenth of the textbook..mostly because Yang made a joke comparing him to a hamster on a sugar high. And remembering the joke just got her giggling again, which drew Blake's eyes away from whatever story she was engrossed in.

Ruby waved off the unasked question. "Sorry, just remembering something Yang said about Professor Oobleck."

Shrugging as her eyes went back to her book, Blake's voice sounded only vaguely interested. "Oh yeah, comparing him to a hyperactive rodent. Sorry, I can't see the connection."

Huh, guess Yang felt it was a gag worth repeating. "Really? Constant motor mouth? Dashing all over the place to burn off energy? Drinking that much coffee when he's already at the point of bouncing off the walls? Where's the disconnect?"

Shrugging, Blake turned the page, and now that Ruby bothered looking she seemed just a few pages away from finishing the remarkably thick paperback. She couldn't quite make out the title, but it seemed pretty well-worn, likely something Blake had read multiple times. "Probably the fact that hamsters aren't known for their attention spans, and outside of the occasional moment where metaphors got away from him, he seemed pretty focused. Physically all over the place, but verbally on target. Certainly better than Professor Portman's tangents at any rate."

Pleased to have something to do other than homework and stew in her own thoughts, Ruby eagerly replied, "Yeah, how can anyone manage to make a story involving a Deathstalker sound boring? It's a Deathstalker, an armored monster larger than a van!"

Blake let out a short breath from her nose, it was hard to tell if it was an amused or aggravated noise. Possibly both. "By bragging about a kill he made over a decade ago. Whatever his lesson plan was, assuming he had one, he lost track of it the moment he said the word Deathstalker and went down questionably-accurate memory lane."

Ruby let out a short giggle before asking, "Do you think it would have been better all around to hear Jaune talk about the one his team killed at initiation?"

Blake just made a short, uncommitted hum in response, and Ruby wouldn't call what followed a companionable silence. More like she couldn't think of what to say after that, and Blake didn't seem inclined to continue the conversation. Blake was hard to figure out, and surprisingly unpredictable. One minute, she'd go along with whatever Ruby and Yang wanted to do with a good deal of enthusiasm. The next, she'd retreat to her own world, relaxed and seemingly barely interested in her surroundings regardless of if she was engrossed in a book or not. The girl was a walking puzzle, and Ruby didn't know how to ask for the pieces.

Another few minutes of silence as Ruby went back to work, and Blake broke the silence again. "When should we expect Yang to come back?"

Since it was Thursday, Yang was probably off to make plans for Friday night. Usually she either scouted someone to date, or picked out a club or bar she could pop into, legally or otherwise. And that was assuming she didn't start feeling adventurous and try something new. "It could be anytime between nine to one."

Blake paused as she put the book back on the bookcase. "She left at seven..will that narrow down when she'll be back?"

That probably just meant Yang didn't have too much of an idea where to scout and was wandering aimlessly. "Nope."

Now the raven haired girl seemed either worried or confused, Ruby couldn't tell the difference. "And how often does she disappear in the middle of the night?"

"Thursdays and Fridays every week, with the occasional Saturday thrown in."

Now she was obviously confused. "Most people save the partying for the weekend, they don't start on Thursday."

"Yang isn't most people. So long as she's back before one, it's nothing to worry about."

It was a little past midnight when Yang came back, grinning widely. It wasn't a pleased I've-got-a-date grin, so it could mean anything. Hopefully it wasn't something experimental this time. Not that Yang was addicted to any drugs, just that every once in a while she would do pretty much anything in order to get an extra thrill for the week.

It sounded like Weiss was sitting up in her bed, and Ruby could 'hear' her heated glare through her whisper. "Just where were you?! We have a class at eight in the morning!"

Yang's smile turned into something more playful before she shut the door, cutting off all but the small, less annoying light that leaked from beneath the door. "So you stayed up waiting for me? How sweet!"

Before Weiss could finish forming her first word, Blake cut in, "Less talking, more getting to bed and sleeping. Talking can wait until tomorrow."

Part of Ruby couldn't help thinking that 'she' should have been the one to say something like that, not Blake. It felt like a leader thing to do. The other, less guilty-for-little-to-no-reason part of her mumbled, "It already 'is' tomorrow..the morning's going to suck, isn't it?"

If anyone answered, Ruby didn't hear them. She drifted off sleep at some unknowable point later, dreaming of protecting a poor village from monsters, and generally being an awesome hero. Childish dreams, nothing particularly worrying. If she was more aware during her dreams, she might have wondered why this time she was protecting a village full of fairies that looked like a worn down, dusty town from a cowboy flick. Normally, she fought monsters in an open field of some kind or another with no real detail. She'd also probably wonder why one of the monsters attacking the town was a six foot tall blue turtle with a pair of water cannons sticking out of its shell. Every other dream, it was a bunch of Grimm, mostly Beowolves with the occasional other beast mixed in. And strangest of all was the sound of another girl giggling in the distance. But it was a dream, things get weird in dreams, and frequently don't matter in the long run. Why else do we forget about them when we wake up?

Most Friday mornings in Ruby's life were dull, unmemorable affairs. Hear Yang's alarm clock for a few seconds, try to get an extra twenty minutes of sleep before her own went off, get the day started, and remember not to set her alarm for the next day. Really, the only reason she paid any more attention to Friday than Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday was because Saturday was next. As her sister's alarm went off, the generic and annoying klaxon doing what it was designed to with no sense of style to make it any different than any other digital alarm clock, Ruby could already tell this was going to be a memorable Friday. Not a pleasant kind of memorable either, unless she was in a particularly masochistic mood or that ominous feeling in her gut was..no, if it was the chicken she had last night, she'd probably feel some kind of stabbing or burning in her stomache, not this familiar chill in her insides. She typically only had this kind of chill on days where it felt like she had little to no luck at all.

Three minutes before her own alarm would go off, she remembered the letter she wrote last night, grabbed it at the spot she'd absently placed it on her bed when she'd finished it, folded it up and shoved it into an envelope, absently noting that Blake was already in her uniform and putting the various books and notebooks for the day's classes into her bag. Just how did Blake keep waking up so early without an alarm clock anyway? It was like she had an internal clock that said "your day begins right now" in her head.

Any further thoughts as her brain booted up screeched to a halt when she heard a short screech from the showers, followed by an enthusiastic yelp and a reflexive scream. This was soon followed by a barely dressed Pyrrha slamming the door open, panting, "Yang and Nora..wrestling over soap..need help before one of them actually gets hurt."

Any remaining drowsiness in Ruby's mind vanished the second she heard Yang might get hurt. Time slowed down as she threw her covers off and dashed to the showers. In hindsight, running into a room with wet tiles under semblance enhanced speed was probably a bad idea. Running into semi-playful wrestling that Pyrrha, a multiple time tournament champion, felt was too intense to break up alone because of the implication her tank of a sister could get legitimately hurt in some spirited rough housing but couldn't find it in her to worry when she'd stay out late doing whatever..that was just blind panic driven by "this is new" and the chill in her insides. So really, she deserved it when she lost her footing, sliding across the tiles the instant her foot entered the shower room. She deserved it when her flailing attempts to balance herself sent her other foot onto wet soap. So her falling painfully and awkwardly on top of Yang in her mindless charge to help was kind of deserved.

The good news? Neither was seriously hurt, and any weakening of her or Yang's aura would probably fix itself in around half an hour or so. The bad news? Nora was laughing uproariously, Blake was at the door with a full-body droop that seemed to say "oh dear, this is how we're starting our day", Ruby's alarm chose now to start blaring an eight bit rendition of "This Will Be the Day", and Yang was mumbling something about a license plate number. To add insult to injury, Pyrrha walked in and said, "Well..that's one way to break up a fight. Not quite what I was expecting, but surprisingly effective."

Nora eventually stopped laughing, about the same time Ruby and Yang untangled from one another. She then grabbed the bar of soap, walked to a shower stall that was currently in use, knocked in what sounded like a short bit of morse code, and tossed the soap above the door. Three seconds later, Ren's voice gave a barely-paying-attention "Thank you."

Author's note

When I first started this fic, it was December. I didn't know Monty Oum was in a coma in January. I was busy with five or six things at once, putting off some creative projects in favor of others or just trying to figure out where my life is going. Learned what happened on February 9, too late to even pay respects at his funeral. At the very least, I can put this fic as a priority project. This is the first story I've tried writing in years, the only other thing is a book attempt that's stalled out. Hopefully I can make it entertaining, and hopefully on the other side, Monty's looking at everyone's fanfics and fanart of his stuff, enjoying every bit of it.

I'm trying to go for an almost slice of life sort of thing with this story, looking at the interesting environment of what Beacon is, and seeing where that leads me. I've got some plans for the future, and certainly they'll have more to worry about than their grades before this is over, but the most important thing is building this ride, seeing where it leads, and most of all, having fun with it.

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Second chapter is in the works. I expect to be done with it some time next week.