It wasn't until the second month when Ruby's guilt started kicking back in again. 2 months of fighting in Haven, desperately looking for leads to where Cinder had taken refuge in. These past few months were painful to her, and she was sure that she wasn't the only one suffering. She remembered Yang— her beloved sister that had raised her and protected her all these years, the figure Ruby had looked up to; the girl who never backed down and retaliated harder than the force that pushed her down. All that passion, all that fire in her eyes died that moment when Blake ran away. Ruby wondered if Yang was still cooped up at Patch, brooding over the event that separated team RWBY. Yang never did respond when Ruby had said 'I love you' before she left.
It wasn't fair. They were just children looking hopeful about the future. They were supposed to fight Grimm, the enemy of mankind. Hunters and Huntresses were supposed to protect the innocent from dark monsters like Grimm, not protect them from their own kind. 2 months without any leads to where Cinder was, were months where Team RNJR had properly bonded.
The subsequent months had opened up their eyes to the truth. It wasn't all black and white like how they had perceived it to be. The remains of Team JNPR were maturing and honing their skills. Months spent outside of the Academy was years spent inside Beacon Academy. They had learnt new skills, trained their semblances and more importantly, helped Jaune find use in his semblance. To say the least, his semblance was very useful. He shielded them from harms way more often than Ruby could count. If it weren't for Jaune, they wouldn't have made it this far.
The next to change were their appearances. Their clothing was tattered and torn thanks to the countless of battles Team RNJR had flung themselves to. They didn't bother to trim their hair, instead letting it grow long. They really had no use in fussing over trivial things like those on the battlefield. In time, Team RNJR was far more coordinated than Team RWBY in during their Beacon days.
By the sixth month, Ruby started pondering about her team once again. How was the monochrome duo doing? She had asked around for Blake, but none of her friends claimed to have seen her. Of course, the world had been thrown into chaos, who would have the time to set out and find Blake when the Faunus herself didn't want to be found?
The last person she worried about was Weiss. Quite frankly, Ruby tried to avoid thinking about the Ice Queen. For reasons unknown to her, thinking about Weiss made her heart clench. Unlike Blake or Yang, Ruby had no idea of Weiss' whereabouts. The last time she saw the heiress was when she left the alabaster haired girl to fight the masses of Grimm. Time and time again, Ruby berated herself for leaving her partner to solo the hordes of Grimm. If her partner was hurt, it would have been Ruby's fault. In fact, Ruby took the hardest fall when Team RWBY split up. No matter what others told her, she felt that she could've done better, held them together longer. She held onto the belief that she could have prevented it. Ruby felt that she had disappointed Ozpin; she was a terrible leader after all. She didn't know what Ozpin saw in her. Hell, she didn't understand how her teammates trusted her orders.
Team RNJR had saved many lives during their time in Haven. Although they couldn't save everyone, they did the best they could.
At the end of the day, Team RNJR had come to an end.
"I'm thinking of heading to Atlas." Ruby had finally said after a long pause of silence.
"Atlas? What about Haven! Cinder is here, right?" Jaune exclaimed. It was true, they still had not progressed in their search for Cinder. It had been 6 months since they arrived in Haven.
"I know, but what if this lead was to throw us off? Besides, I… I need to make it up to Yang. I'm thinking about g-getting her a p-p-prosthetic arm.." Truth to be told, she had no idea if Yang even wanted to fight again. Ruby had planned on it being a surprise but was scared of the outcome. What if Yang hated her even more?
"I see… You've told Yang about your plan?" Jaune nodded in understanding. It was natural after all. Even though they had spent months together as Team RNJR, he knew fully well that Ruby's heart belonged to Team RWBY.
"Not yet. I plan on telling her soon, though.." Ruby rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
"You should go, we need all the teams available if we were to stop Cinder and her plan," Ren spoke up beside her.
"That's right! Then together we could be Team RWBYJPR!" Nora grinned, "Though we could use a serious name change.. Anyway! Go get'em, Rubbles!"
The rest of Team RNJR chuckled lightly at Nora's antics.
Ruby knew she had failed as a leader, but her time with Team RNJR had changed her mindset altogether. She was determined not to fail again.
It was the first time in months since she laid eyes on the Heiress, and Ruby couldn't help but take note of Weiss' regal appearance. The running joke of Weiss being an 'Ice Queen' certainly did fit her now. She looked like royalty. In fact, she might as well be royalty. Instead of the appearance Weiss had held over the time she spent in Beacon, the heiress took on a completely new look. Her hair was no longer tied up to the side, but now at the centre of her head. Her combat skirt was swapped out in favour of a dress piece that cascaded all the way down to her heels. Every part of her screamed perfection. Ruby didn't know what the occasion was, but she was glad that it happened. Otherwise, Ruby wouldn't have gotten the chance to gape at Weiss' form like this.
Weiss was the definition of elegant. She had never looked so pristine during her time at Beacon. Here in Atlas, she was being cared for and treated like a glass figure. After Ruby was done ravishing Weiss' appearance with her eyes, she took a good look at Weiss' facial expression. Her face schooled into an insincere smile, her eyes distant as the first time Ruby had met her partner and her posture; upright and graceful like a princess. At a glance, Ruby instantly knew that Weiss wasn't happy representing the Schnee Dust Company at the event. There she was, Weiss Schnee, standing on the stage before the crowd of people, presenting whatever dust machine that Ruby had long stopped paying attention to. Blue eyes trained at the crowd, but Weiss didn't make eye contact with anyone. Ruby doubted that Weiss had noticed her amongst the crowd. She was nothing but a commoner after all.
Ruby frowned when the event ended. She no longer could continue to stare at Weiss. As if she completely forgotten what she had come here for, the silver eyed girl tailed the heiress back to the Schnee manor, determined to catch up with the Ice Queen. The security was tight, but with her semblance, it made it easier for her to navigate up the manor to search for her partner. Of course, the rose petal that she had left in her wake would have been a dead giveaway that someone had trespassed, but she was lucky that the Schnees had an obsession with rose bushes.
The silver eyed girl made her way to the window of Weiss Schnee's room. No doubt, she was going to get an earful from Weiss about breaking in, but she wasn't going to leave her partner alone like this. Not when she had just found her best partner.
Ruby peered inside the room. White, of all things. Ruby rolled her eyes at the prominent colour of the room. Weiss was staring at the mirror at her dress table. She had changed out from her dress piece and back to her combat skirt. Even with the combat skirt, Weiss still looked elegant as ever. Ruby couldn't help but admit, she was completely infatuated with Weiss. Suddenly, Weiss stood up from her seated position and whirled around to face the figure perched on the window sill.
Ah, the mirror gave away my position.. Ruby grimaced as she watched the heiress stomp over to her, blue eyes blazing with anger and… Longing? For a moment, Ruby was at a lost. Fortunately, she had many viable options. She could grin as she waited for the heiress to open the window and let her in, she could remain passive and continue to look cool with her hood up and the moonlight shining on her figure, or she could look absolutely terrified and start losing her balance. Unfortunately, Ruby had chosen the last option in panic.
Luckily, Weiss had reached the window before Ruby fell off the window sill. The heiress flung open the window so quickly, Ruby had trouble keeping up with her actions. All that Ruby could feel was the tight embrace she was pulled in.
"You absolute dolt.." The heiress mumbled affectionately into the embrace.
"But I'm your dolt," Ruby grinned as she returned the embrace.
Maybe coming to Atlas wasn't such a bad choice after all.