Every Rose has its Thorns

*Author disclaimer: This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic. Any and all criticism is welcome, though try to keep it constructive, please? Anyhow, I had this thought buzzing around in my head for a while, and I finally found time to bring it to fruition.*

. . . . . .

Scene begins in the Beacon Academy training hall, where team RWBY and team JNPR are having a joint training session. Ruby, the leader of RWBY, is currently engaged in a sparring match with JNPR's leader, Jaune Arc.

"Nice try Jaune, but you can't just run forever. Try fighting back!"

This was the advice Ruby Rose, a 15 year old girl attending Beacon Academy, was giving to her sparring partner, Jaune Arc.

Now, Beacon Academy was designed to educate and prepare huntsmen and huntressess, warriors who are trained to hunt and combat the threat known as Grim. To say all of the students here are incredible fighters would be an understatement. Well, almost all. . .

"Waaaaaah! Oh God, save meeee! Ruby, do you know how terrifying your weapon is?!"

Ruby, at Jaune's complaining, stopped chasing him and took the time to look offended.

"Wha-? Crescent Rose isn't terrifying, she's a beautiful work of art. A masterpiece! Don't worry sweetheart, he didn't mean anything bad by that. You're still the most beautiful weapon ever" said Ruby as she caressed and petted her weapon of choice.

Now, said weapon is a 6 foot long bastardization of an anti-material .50 cal sniper rifle and a scythe. Most students in beacon were already aware of Crescent Rose, and absolutely refused to fight such a monstrosity. This was the reason Ruby was practicing with her first friend and fellow team leader, Jaune.

"Come on Rubes! Get back to chasing Jauney-boy! Make him run for his life!"

The sparring match was being watched by the members of Ruby and Jaune's teams, RWBY and JNPR respectively. Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's adoptive and very protective older sister was eager to watch Ruby continue doing what she does best; fighting.

"Uhm, Yang? I think that Ruby might actually be going too far. Jaune does not seem like he even wanted to participate in this match-up. Maybe Nora would have been a better partner for her?"

Yang, completely oblivious to what Blake Belladonna, her partner for her stay at Beacon, just said, started heading towards the arena. "Hey hey, Jaune's trying to run away! Stop him!"

Anyone who walked into the building would be treated by what seemed to be a playful scene, with some friends practicing their craft against one another, honing their skills for their upcoming trials and tribulations. But not everyone has a soft heart. Some would look on this with disgust, and do what they could to try and ruin such a precious moment. It just so happens that a passing team, team CRDL was comprised of such people.

Team CRDL is known for their atrocious acts of bullying. Many students have fallen prey to them at one point or another. Led by Cardin Winchester, the largest freshmen recruit at Beacon, the team was known to not cut corners when it came to causing others grief.

Walking into the arena, the leader of team CRDL, Cardin, decided to cause whatever problems he could for these happy-go-lucky friends.

"Hey there losers, how are ya? I couldn't help but notice you were trying to practice in here, and I figured your training would go much better with a stronger opponent. And since I see no other suitable candidates, I have decided to so graciously volunteer my services."

Ruby, her team, and team JNPR all got the same scowl on their face when Cardin stepped into the arena. A look that showed disgust, as well as anger.

"Hey hey, no need to get mad. I just wanted to get a warm-up in, and I figured you could benefit from the experience as well."

As Cardin slowly walked his way into the battlefield, with a swagger that would cause some spectators to think he was confident in his abilities, he was intercepted by Yang. Now, a momma bear will do anything to protect her cubs. But when it came to Ruby, Yang was many times scarier than a mamma bear, and many times more ferocious. If anyone so much as even looked at her sister wrong, she would send them to the infirmary or hospital.

"Back off Winchester. This is a practice match between my sister and her boyfriend! There's no room for you to interfere!"

""She/He is not my boyfriend/girlfriend!"" said Ruby and Jaune in unison. Then again, both being social outcasts and having their often-awkward interactions, one could assume this of them. Yang was different though, she just loved to tease Ruby.

"Hey now, there's no need to get all hot and bothered. I was just offering my services in training your little sister and her little geek friend."

"Yeah? Well you can take your offer, and ram it down your damn throat Winchester. You and your team of misfit bullies are bad news. Nobody likes you or even wants to associate with you, let alone train with you."

"So then, I take it you're scared of me?" said Cardin with a rather smug look on his face.

"Professor Port's lectures are more terrifying than you and those little wannabes that follow you."

Now, said "wannabes" overheard these insults, and figured Yang had gone too far. "You bitch!" cried Russel Thrush, a rather scrawny individual with an odd haircut, resembling a small wisp of fire sticking straight up off of his head. With this little cry, he smashed Yang as hard as he could in the back of her head with a nearby folding chair from the audience.

"""Yang!""" came the resulting cry from the members of team RWBY and JNPR.

"Hah, you dumb bitch! Trying to act all high and mighty."

"Yeah, look at you. Groveling on the floor! How pathetic."

Now, it should be mentioned at this point that Yang wasn't the only one who was an over protective sister. Ruby, despite having never really had the need to, was always protective of her big sister Yang. It was something their parents taught them growing up.

With this display in front of her, Ruby could only watch in horror as team CRDL started kicking her downed sister. Yang! The one who she had never seen taken down. The one who had always been left standing after a fight. The one who went toe-to-toe with Ursas in hand-to-hand combat and won for dust sakes. And here she was being teamed up on by these weak jerks! While the rest of team RWBY and team JNPR were still in shock from this display, Ruby started slowly walking towards the group. Russel, with his back turned to Ruby, should have noticed the increasing amount of Aura she put out. He should have heard the whirring of the intricate parts that allowed Crescent Rose to unfurl. He should have noticed the thudding of her heavy boots and she stalked towards him.

"Huh?"

For about half a minute, this was the only sound in the entire arena. The assault on Yang stopped when Russel noticed his hair, which he had painstakingly spent an hour that morning styling and such, falling and scattering to the ground. When he and his team turned to face what was behind him, they were met with the site of an absolutely livid Ruby Rose wielding her trusted scythe in a manner reminiscent of the Grim Reaper.

"GET YOUR FEET OFF OF YANG!"

To which Russel's only response was, a rather poorly thought out "My hair! You damn bitch, I'll kill you!"

Before he even had a chance to move though, Ruby placed Crescent Rose under her arms, and holding both ends, fired a round into the ground causing her to start spinning quite quickly. With the blunt end of Crescent Rose, she smashed him hard enough in the head to send him flying quite a ways away into the stand, landing with a loud crash. Stopping herself, Ruby spared a moment to glance over in Russel's direction and confirm that was out. She would put him through worse later. But for now, she still had his team to deal with.

Without missing a beat, she dug her scythe into the ground, and with a slow, practiced movement, cocked the gun. This was not simply ready her weapon for the next shot. Oh no. This was a warning. Not a subtle hint. It was a large, neon sign that said "I am going to murder you all."

Apparently, despite being dense under achievers they were, the remaining members of team CRDL get the message and ran out as fast as they possibly could. Their survival instinct warned them this was not going to end well, and their fight or flight mechanism kicked in. They knew if they were to stay there, they would end up as their friend had; lying, with a concussion, and possibly several broken bones, in a small puddle of their own blood.

Now Ruby, being more worried about her older sister at the moment, sparred a second to check on her. Her breathing was fine, though a little ragged. She was bruised up, and had a nasty welt forming on the crown of her head. She was going to be fine. But the rest of team CRDL wasn't.

"Call the school nurse and get Yang to the infirmary. Now." And with these orders, the other six members of RWBY and JNPR sprang into action. Nora, Weiss, and Jaune ran to the infirmary to grab the nurse while Blake, Ren, and Pyrrha checked up on Yang and prepared to move her to the nurse's office. Nobody dared question Ruby's orders right now. They had a feeling that she was a ticking timebomb.

"What are you going to do Ruby?" questioned her teammate and parter, Weiss. Weiss, having known Ruby for a couple of months now, and getting to the point of actually considering her a friend, has never seen the younger girl get so angry before. In fact, she couldn't recall a situation where Ruby has even gotten a little angry. Due to her childish personality and carefree nature, Ruby generally was the kind who let wrongdoings against her slide; partially out of not caring, and partially out of being an easily forgiving person.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to hunt those jerks down, and I'm going to do to break their legs. They attacked Yang for no reason Weiss. No reason. And I'm not going to let that go. Nobody hurts my big sisters and gets away with it."

. . . . . .

Scene shift to Cardin, Dove, and Sky, the remaining three members of CRDL, running for their lives through the Academy's courtyard while frantically checking behind themselves. Their only thought is to reach a professor and pray that he or she can help stop that psychotic little red hooded girl.

"Oh man oh man! We are so dead Cardin!" said Sky, the second tallest in their little group. While not the same build as Russel, he didn't give off the impression most hunters did. He didn't have the same kind of pressure to him that Cardin and the others did.

"Shut up Larke! We just gotta find a teacher and have them stop that runt before she gets a lucky shot in on us."

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Without really turning around to confirm it, the guys had realized that the angry "runt" was now firing at them with her beloved weapon. Well, the need to turn around became unnecessary when the bullets started flying past their heads, missing them by mere inches. Now, this gun had been known to tear Beowolves and other such Grim apart with ease. Being hit by one was definitely not on their list of things to try at Beacon Academy.

"Come back here and take your punishment like men! I'm going to make you suffer for what you did to Yang!" As she was roaring out this threat of hers, she was accentuating every few syllables with another round from Crescent Rose. She had enough aura control to make the rounds non-lethal, and therefore less damaging to the environment. Had she been in her right state of mind and not so blindly angered, she would have likely already hit her targets. As it were, they are lucky that she wasn't performing to her usual standard.

Now, as they say in the west, even with a crappy gun, shoot enough and you're bound to hit something. While Crescent Rose is anything but a crappy gun, her creators aim was a little off. But after firing so many rounds, she eventually hit one of her targets. One of the bullets managed to hit Dove right in the back of the leg, connecting with a loud and resounding *snap*. Of course an aura infused bullet fired from Crescent Rose, lethal or non-lethal, would be enough to break bones. Even aura protected ones. He was no exception. With his friend down, Cardin Winchester decided on an everyman-for-himself policy and abandoned him, while Sky tried to stay behind and aid his wounded comrade. Boy what a mistake that was.

. . . . . .

Cardin, nearing the main building, spots Professor Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy, and Goodwitch, his right hand woman, sitting on a bench. They seemed to be talking about something while Ozpin was sipping away at his mug, nonchalant as always. Glynda seems to be getting quite annoyed with him, but nevertheless contains her temper with tempered grace.

"Please, help mee!"

This caught the attention of the headmaster and his secretary, as they both looked behind them to find a terrified Cardin Winchester running towards them with great haste. They were about to ask him what is the matter, when off in the distance, two loud screams were heard from the area behind Winchester. It seems to have come from the courtyard. In an un-hunter like display, Winchester flinched and stumbled for a second. After having regained himself, he increased his running with greater urgency than before.

"Whoa whoa. Hold on their young man. Now, tell me what is the matter. And what was that screaming from before?"

After having reached the headmaster, Cardin explained everything, though conveniently leaving out the portion where he and his team ambushed, and ganged up on Yang. With his story, it seemed to the professor that Cardin and his group simply wanted to get some training done with Ruby, Jaune, and their teams. But when he suggested they train together, the members of team RWBY and team JNPR started to get hostile and attacked them. In self defense, they knocked Yang out and that set off Ruby's temper. And now she was chasing him for no reason other than that he defended himself. He also plead Russel, Dove, and Sky's cases, informing the headmaster of how Ruby caught each one of them and began to do horrible things to them with her weapon.

"Professor Ozpin, I believe we should go and stop Ms. Rose before she hurts any other students. Mr. Winchester, report to the office and wait there for our return. We shall here the full account of this later from all parties involved."

Just as Glynda was saying this. . . .

"WINCHESTER!" Over came Ruby Rose, dashing towards them with a speed that very few could track with their naked eyes, brandishing her scythe and readying herself to kill Winchester. It was a roar that made all students in the nearby vicinity cringe, and a sight that left those who could track her movements quaking in fear.

"Halt Miss Rose. I can not permit you under any circumstances to harm another Beacon student."

Ruby, who has always been quick to give up against adults, somewhat reverted back to her usual childlike attitude, and started to pout. "That's not fair. They started it by attacking Yang! I'm going to kill him no matter what!"

"Please clam down Miss Rose. From what we gather from Mister Winchester here, you and your team started hostilities. But from your attitude, I surmise otherwise. Now, cool your head. When your are finished, calmly give me your side of the story."

. . . . . .

After explaining the events and getting a statement from the 12 members of RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL, Professors Ozpin and Glynda decided that team CRDL was in the wrong, and that they would each face 3 weeks of detention, and be made to write a 2 page apology to Yang, who had been stuck in the infirmary since the events of yesterday. Ruby had to write out a 1 page apology letter to each Russel, Dove, and Sky who were nursing more serious wounds and were unlikely to see combat for a good several weeks.

. . . . . .

In the infirmary, checking up on Yang are the other members of team RWBY, and team JNPR. Ruby and Jaune are standing near the head of the bed next to Yang, holding some bags for her. The rest of the gang gathers around near the edge and foot of the bed.

"Uhh, I'm sorry Yang that this happened to you while you were helping your sister and me. I really wish there was more I could have done to try and help you when this happened. I feel ashamed that all I could do was run and get a teacher."

"Nonsense Jaune. According to Nora and the princess, you took off like a bolt of lightning after the nurse. Well, after Ruby barked orders to you and your team that is."

"Well uhh, it was all I could do at the moment, and I felt I owed it to you to do what I could as fast as I could. My mom always said 'Someone worth helping is worth helping right.' Err... nevermind. Anyhow, I'm really sorry. This was my fault, and now you're stuck in here for another couple of days to heal up. Since I know this will be boring for you, I brought you these."

Jaune picks up what appears to be a stack of motorcycle and beauty magazines.

"Yeah, I kind consulted with Ruby on the things you like to make sure, y'know? I didn't want you to be completely bored, so I brought these in to help you keep your sanity."

"Aww Jaune, thank you. You know what? I like you now. I approve of you dating my little don't get any funny ideas, will you?" she says with a little wink and he signature grin.

"Geez Yang" "W-w-wha?!" Both Ruby and Jaune react to Yang's teasing.

While Ruby bickers with Yang about her merciless teasing, and Jaune is standing around without a thought of what to do, Blake says out of nowhere-

"Y'know, with Ruby back to acting like her usual self, it's hard to imagine this was the same girl who had just chased down and assaulted 3 of the tougher freshmen this year and left them hospitalized for weeks."

"Seriously. Who'd have thought that such a small and innocent girl could cause so much damage when provoked? And I thought Yang's temper was bad when her hair was messed with."

And with that, the gang hung around the infirmary a while longer and kept Yang company until the nurse shooed them out. Changing into her Beowolf and Rose themed PJ's, Ruby silently reflected on how she'd gotten angry, and promised herself she would keep better control the next time it happened. And that if Cardin ever showed up again, she would just let Nora end up breaking his legs.

. . . . . .

*Again, this was my first attempt at trying to write a fanfic. Any criticism is welcome, be it on my writing style, my story progression, anything. Anyhow, this was done in about an hour and a half by me when, after trying, and failing, to fall asleep, I thought of what would happen if Ruby ever got angry. I have about 50 different ideas in my head, this just being a random one of them. Again, comments appreciated.*