"Alright alright, I give!" Roman yelped. "My arm! Dust, just stop-"
"You picked the wrong store to rob." Ruby deadpanned, tilting her head sideways to avoid his flailing arm while putting extra pressure on the one that was pinned against his back. "You owe me a hundred lien for breaking my headphones, asshole."
The thief felt his throat close up as the searing pain rippled through his arm and tried not to lose consciousness. He would be damned if he got arrested after being taken down by a fucking kid. He whimpered when the pressure on his arm was suddenly lifted, his bones almost sighing in relief. The relief was then transformed into sheer agony when she lifted him with one arm and threw him on the ground. She finished it by stomping on his hand.
The sound of his wrist snapping was like music to her ears.
"There." Ruby watched as the thief keened from the pain, cradling his broken wrist. He lifted his head to glare at her, and she returned it with a cold stare of her own.
Ruby crossed her arms over her black, bullet proof vest and snarled. "You send your men after me again, and the only thing left to bury will be your head."
His glare wavered slightly at the threat. "I didn't send anyone after you! I don't even know who you are." Roman seethed. The pain was far too intense for him to even get up, so he just lay on the cold wet cement, arguing with a girl who had enough strength to shatter his arm, and maybe even snap his neck. He blamed the poor decision making on all the blood rushing from his head to his arm.
"Oh?" She said, looking genuinely surprised. "That's good. Which means if I kill you right now, there wouldn't be any repercussions, would there?" Her lips twisted into a small smirk. "That's the best news I've heard all night."
She reached behind her and brought out her weapon, and with a small click, the rectangular box of metal began to unfurl itself. Red metal and silver blades soon took the shape of a crescent moon, and he watched in thinly veiled fear as another set of blades settled under the first one. It looked like it weighed a ton but Ruby held it like a master would, not a trace of hesitation or exertion on her pale, youthful face.
The emotionless mask she wore made her seem like a puppet, and the sight of it chilled Roman's blood.
"Wait wait wait, can't we talk about this?!" He began crawling backwards, gritting his teeth in pain when he fell on his broken wrist. "I have connections, I can set you up and give you anything you want-"
"And if what I want is your blood on my blade?" Ruby twirled crescent rose in an arc, making a swish sound as it cut through the air. "Don't make promises you can't keep. I hate liars." She murmured.
And then she disappeared in a burst of rose petals, the image of her phasing out of existence only to appear right in front of him. Ruby slashed downwards, expecting her blade to slice him in half. But instead, looked up to see a wall of stone shielding him, a large, smooth cut going straight down its middle.
"Miss Rose." Glynda stepped into view, looking very unimpressed. "I know that old habits die hard but please do not think that murder, even if the target is a criminal-" Her gaze flitted to the man cowering behind the wall of stone she'd made, "-will allow you to get away with it. This is not a battlefield. And I implore you to act like it." She finished sternly.
"Murder…it's such a strong word." Ruby gave her a mocking look as crescent rose folded back into its gun form. "It would imply that this was premediated, right? As it stands, I don't even know who he is. He attacked and I defended." She shrugged. "You make it seem like I'm some sort of psychopath."
Glynda sighed, her semblance rushing to fix the road when she waved her weapon. Roman fell back with a relieved groan, the feeling of imminent death leaving him.
"You have my apology." The huntress responded curtly, "But I'll suggest that you tread lightly. The Vale military already have their eyes on you, which means they're keeping tabs on us as well. Your actions will reflect on the headmaster, so I hope that you'll take them into account."
"Noted." Ruby replied, rolling her shoulders.
"Well then, let's go." The sound of sirens made their heads perk up, and they stared at the blue and red lights flashing in the distance. "It looks like he will be taken care of."
To her surprise and utter shock, Ruby suddenly took out a gun and pointed it at the downed criminal. The resounding gunshot echoed throughout the empty street, accompanied by an ear splitting scream, the man now cradling his now bleeding calf. The ex-mercenary was about to unload a second bullet in his other leg when the gun was ripped out of her grasp by an absolutely furious Glynda, who was glaring daggers- no, scimitars at her.
She shrugged.
"I was just making sure that he wouldn't get away." Ruby gestured to her gun. "I'm doing them a service. Now if you please. Buckshot doesn't like to be held by strangers."
Her 'new' life had finally begun. Ruby stretched her sore joints as soon as she got off the airship. She rolled her eyes when the passengers of said airship gave her a wide berth, likely afraid of her after she caved in someone's face when they'd pushed her into the wall. She snorted. She should have made Ozpin prepare a private charter for her. The man might have hired her to lead a team of green faced students, but he was probably the best employer she had to date. He payed generously and didn't threaten to kill her. That was enough to get Ozpin into her good books.
Wiping off the last traces of blood from her knuckles, she placed her hand on Crescent rose and took in her surroundings.
"Beacon academy." Ruby breathed in at the sight of her new school, street lights lining almost every road, slender towers of grey jutting skyward. It was truly a sight to behold, and she eyed the impressive structure with a low whistle. Well, this place certainly had money to burn.
She glanced at the gaggle of noisy students in front of her, all of them making their way to the main hall. They each wore an armour of some kind, some fully decked out in metal while others had smaller ones, like elbow or knee guards. It wasn't to say that there were none without any sort of metal guards though. She glanced at the loud mouth who'd just walked past her with a group of friends. The girl had a brilliant golden mane, and to Ruby's amusement, her risqué outfit looked to be more suitable for a club rather than a combat school.
She glanced down at herself. "Well…it's not like I can judge." She muttered wryly.
Ruby was dressed comfortably, donned in a loose dress shirt that mostly covered up her muscles (it was a lovely shade of grey she really liked), complete with black dress pants and red sneakers. It was an odd combination, but what mattered most was that she liked it. It was definitely a large contrast to her military grade outfit she'd used to wear, like bulletproof vests and nylon jackets, not to mention the flame resistant rayon trousers with enough belt loops to hold an army's worth of knives and grenades.
A scrawny blonde suddenly stumbled past her, toppling into a nearby trashcan. The people that passed him tossed him disgusted looks as sounds of retching filled the air. Ruby snorted, shaking her head. Taking out a pair of stylish red aviator shades she'd bought on one of her missions to mistral, she slipped them on and continued toward the main building, not noticing the stares that followed after her.
She neatly sidestepped a girl with an absurd amount of luggage, lightly pushing the topmost bag with her finger. The previously wobbling tower of bags no longer looked like it was about to topple over, and she felt her eyebrows rise when the owner of said bags shot her a dark look.
'The Schnee heiress.' Ruby observed with surprise. The girl let out an angry huff, the vein in her forehead visible as she pushed the cart of luggage away while mumbling angrily under her breath.
'It looks like anything is possible with enough lien. How surprising that Mr Schnee even allowed his heir to go within ten feet of this place.'
She did work under the man, in her gold digging days where she accepted any job as long as it payed well. He was everything the media said he was. Cold, determined, arrogant. And also, extremely racist. Ruby wasn't a good person, no one who killed for a living could ever describe themselves that way, but that man was in a league of his own. Even the small fling with his oldest daughter Winter hadn't been enough incentive to keep working for him. She decided to cut her losses and high tail out of there as soon as her contract ended.
If there was one thing Ruby hated more than liars, it would be people like him. Smug, racist and hypocritical pricks who let others do the dirty work for them. Most of the mercenaries tended to stay away from these types of employers. If they ever came under fire, they would sell out the people working under them in a heartbeat if it meant saving their own hides.
Lost in thought, Ruby pushed her way through the thick throng of students crowding near the mouth of the hall. The crowd was too thick, so she ended up getting stuck amidst the hormonal gaggle of sheep. She frowned. Places like this made her head hurt. The amount of noise and stupidity were overbearing.
Thankfully at six foot one, she easily towered over majority of the girls and a fair amount of boys, and saw what was the holdup was. Apparently the blond boy who she'd seen vomiting had gotten hit over the head by the Schnee heiress's unhealthy amount of luggage, and was now laying comatose under the pile. A few of the older students on duty were helping the unconscious boy and the extremely embarrassed heiress to pick up the bags.
Ruby snorted. All this and the initiation hadn't even started. The boy was going to be done in today, if not, tomorrow.
"Hey, can you please move?" A calm voice addressed her. "I need to get in."
Ruby turned to the source of the voice, and looked down. The girl was short, but tall enough that she reached her shoulders. The black bow on her head gave her a few inches in height, and it did a pretty good job of tickling Ruby's nose.
"The entrance is blocked." She replied. "No one's getting in or out."
"Oh." The girl slouched, an irritated expression replacing her neutral one. And…did her bow just twitch? "Sorry to bother you then." With that, she turned on her heel and forced her way out of the crowd, disappearing behind another bunch of students who had joined the throng.
Ruby stared after her. She looked very familiar for some reason. Her gut instincts never lied. Was it her voice that jolted her memory? She didn't quite know. Deciding that it was worth checking out, and better than wasting her time in this meat sack, she shouldered through the students and exited on the other side of the crowd, purposely stomping on someone's foot when they refused to get out of the way. The pained scream that followed afterwards succeeded in relaxing her abit.
'Now…where did you go?' Ruby's cold stare combed over the court, littered with students coming to and fro from the airship drop-off. She caught sight of the end of the black bow fluttering as the girl turned around the corner and made to go after her, when someone suddenly grabbed her sleeve.
Her hidden blade was out in an instant, and Ruby barely twitched as she pressed the sharp end against her assailant's neck. The move was executed in less than a second, and she'd taken the liberty of pulling the attacker closer to her so the blade wouldn't be seen. Ozpin's lady advisor would not be pleased at her causing an uproar on the first day of work.
"You better let go of me before I slit your-" Cautious silver eyes met delighted turquoise ones. Ruby's voice tapered off in confusion. "-Nora?"
"YOU'RE HERE!" Nora's scream of happiness damn near took her ear off. "EVERYONE, MY BEST FRIEND IS HEREEEE-" The students around them jumped at the loud voice, and quickly walked away when Nora turned her gaze on them.
Ruby shook her head wryly and placed a hand on her shoulder, the girl practically vibrating in excitement. "Hey Nora. It's great to see you again." Ruby said, and yelped when the shorter girl hugged her waist, crushing the life out of her.
"I missed you soooo much!" She squealed, burying her head in Ruby's chest. "We can finally do a sleepover! And I have a whole bunch of new sloth pictures to show you! Ren helped me to print them."
Nora finally deigned to let go of her bestest friend ever, and grinned at the smile on Ruby's face. People were often surprised that she could get the normally cold girl to show some sort of emotion other than sarcasm, but they just didn't know Ruby as well as she did. Nora knew she was a total marshmallow under that prickly exterior. And man did Nora love her marshmallows!
"Where's your stuff? Did Ren already take them inside for you?" Ruby asked, her smile growing even wider when Nora continued to flail around in excitement. Her excitement for everything was something she found extremely endearing.
"Yep!" Nora suddenly tilted her head up to stare at her with wide eyes. "I have an idea! Let's sleep together tonight, it's been so long since we did it!" She said happily.
Ruby sighed when she heard a series of chokes and coughs around them, and glared menacingly at a few of them who started snickering. They sunk into themselves and skittered away when they saw the look on her face, much to her immense satisfaction.
"Alright, we can do that." Ruby agreed, patting Nora's head. "But I need to get my bag first. I'm supposed to pick them up from the staff inside-" She pointed to the entrance to the main hall which was still blocked off by the crowd. "So we can't have a sleepover unless we get in."
The cheerful look on Nora's face was suddenly replaced by a very determined one, and she watched as the girl who was only 5' 1 scatter the throng of people by bringing out Magnhild, and swinging it wildly.
"MOVE, OR I'LL BREAK YOUR LEGS!" She screamed.
Needless to say, everyone was unwilling to see if the crazy orange haired girl was joking or not. The giant hammer was already proof enough that she could break their legs if she wanted to. And when a taller, scary looking girl with red aviator shades proceeded to fall in step beside her, most of the students couldn't back away fast enough.
A series of grunts and snores rippled throughout the hall from one end to another, reminding Ruby of the domino effect. Night time in Vale was especially dark, and teachers warned that anyone who decided stroll around at this hour would be sent home immediately.
Thankfully, everyone settled into their sleeping bags when midnight came and went, and Ruby was the only one left awake. Like Glynda had said, old habits die hard. There was never time to rest when one was infiltrating a heavily guarded area, and Ruby was embarrassed to admit that her body was already too used to falling asleep at wee hours of the morning after a successful mission.
She lounged in her sleeping bag beside Nora's, keen eyes scanning the ridiculously humongous hall. It looked even bigger on the inside, and it easily held at least six or seven airships worth of hopeful teenagers. She looked to the right and saw Pyrrha fast asleep next to Ren. The two had hit it off well, the boy's calm and reserved nature a perfect fit for the Mistral champion's anxious, but genuinely nice persona.
Ruby left the two to their own devices after introducing them, well aware that Ren wasn't exactly fond of her. Pyrrha was slightly warmer toward her though, and Ruby appreciated the fact that the girl still thought of them as 'friends' even though they hadn't kept in contact after Ruby got into mercenary work.
It was difficult to hold conversations with someone who travelled around the world on a monthly basis, and Ruby didn't fault the girl for falling out of contact with her. It wasn't as if she tried any harder to send Pyrrha messages either. Her jobs often required long periods of radio silence, and it was too risky to have only one scroll, or number. She stuck to disposable ones, less likely to get caught by the authorities, so it had been too troublesome to keep track of her contacts that weren't prospective employers.
Nora let loose a particularly large snore, and Ruby ruffled her hair like an older sibling might. Seeing that it was almost two am and that all of the students were fast asleep she decided to grab something to drink.
She easily made it to the water fountain; nimbly walking through a bunch of sleeping people was definitely much easier when they weren't highly trained and out for your blood. Ruby proceeded to gulp down several mouthfuls of cold water when she heard a soft splash of water. Senses instantly on alert, she pinpointed that the sound was coming from the toilet. Or more specifically, the female one.
Ruby held her breath, the M9 bayonet already out of its sheath and in her hands. Crescent rose was best weapon she'd ever made, but totting around a giant sniper scythe tended to be unsuitable for stealth missions.
Pressing herself into the wall, she approached the toilet in absolute silence, years of mercenary work showing itself as her mind became a blank slate, her focus and awareness increasing twofold. She slid into the brightly lit bathroom with ease, her figure coiled like a tightly wound spring. She immediately zoned in on a clothed figure on the far end of the bathroom. Ruby made a sound of disbelief and irritation when she realized it was just a student. Doing some nightly beauty regime, no doubt. She slipped the knife back into its sheath, which was strapped to her upper thigh, just in time for the girl to turn and stare straight at her.
Blake felt the blood freeze in her veins as she stared came face to face with the girl she'd met this morning. The ribbon in her hands slipped from her grip, and fell to the ground in a breathless flutter. It reminded Blake of a dying butterfly. Atop her head, cat ears twitched nervously, flattening against her skull when the girl took notice of it. The flicker of surprise in her eyes said enough.
"I…This is…" She felt her throat close up, the feeling of despair already bubbling up inside her. Her new life hadn't even started, and it was already ruined. All she just because had to take off her bow. She had only wanted to give her ears some relief, and it had barely been five minutes since her decision came to bite her in the ass.
She flinched under the cold gaze of the crimson haired girl, and braced herself for the inevitable fallout. Only to hear something even more frightening.
"White Fang. You're a White Fang trigger agent."
At those words, Blake reacted on pure instinct. The discovery of her heritage and her past was just too much. She lunged forward, intent on taking the girl out. If she could just knock her out or make it seem like a dream-
She barely even reached her before Ruby was upon her, arms locking Blake's head in place. The Faunus spluttered when her airway was forcefully cut off, and tried to trip the other girl by flaying about. Unfortunately for her, Ruby was one step ahead, a swift kick to her legs bringing Blake down like a sack of potatoes.
"What's a white fang agent doing here?" Ruby hissed. "Give me a good answer or I'll break your fucking neck."
"I'm-" Blake tried to speak, the headlock she was held in making it difficult to talk, and even merely breathe. "D-Deserter. I'm not White fang anymore."
She fell to the floor, breathing heavily when Ruby let go of her. Silver eyes stared down at the Faunus, gauging her every move. She sighed. No wonder the girl had been so familiar. Some of her more dangerous missions had her tangling with the White fang, so they must have come across each other at some point. She didn't hold any ill intent to those group of vagabonds, but money was money. Killing Faunus were no different from killing humans.
"Ozpin?" She said, slightly amused at the similarity of their situations. The headmaster was either insane, or just plain stupid. An ex-assassin and an ex-mercenary. What a spectacular turn of events.
Blake gulped down generous amounts of oxygen, and glared at her. Ruby quite liked the strength behind those amber eyes.
"Who are you? How did you even-" Blake was interrupted by a sleepy blonde girl stumbling into the toilet. The cat Faunus felt her heartbeat rising once more at the prospect of her heritage being revealed to even more strangers, and started frantically searching for her ribbon. Just as she was about to dive into one of the empty stalls to avoid the blonde, Blake felt her heart jump in surprise when the crimson haired girl suddenly stepped forward.
Blake noted that the girl was tall, surprised that she hadn't taken notice of that fact when they had first met. The girl was large enough to shield her, and Blake's cat ears nearly sagged in relief when the blonde girl's footsteps didn't pause until she was safely out of sight. When the small 'click' of the stall door was heard, Blake was about to shove Ruby away when she felt a pair of calloused hands touch her cat ears.
Her first instinct was to flinch, thinking that they would be pulled roughly, since most of their encounters with humans ended up that way. To her utmost surprise, what followed was a series of soft, strokes that made her inner feline purr. Ruby stepped back with an unreadable expression to observe her handiwork. The black ribbon was now sitting atop the brunette's head, obscuring the cat ears. Blake tentatively reached up to touch it, marvelling at how comfortable it was. It never felt this way when she was the one who tied it.
If Blake wasn't standing in front of a mirror, she wouldn't have known that it was on her head at all. The lack of unbearable tightness around her cat ears, and the missing itchiness that usually plagued her day to day life was enough to stun Blake into silence. Ruby grabbed her wrist, her face deadly serious.
"Let's go."
They ended up in some empty hallway a little ways from the bathroom. It was deserted, and Ruby made a sound of satisfaction before she shoved Blake against the wall. "Talk. Now." She demanded.
Blake scowled, rubbing her sore wrist. The girl had an iron grip, and she felt her hackles rise at her tone of voice. "About what exactly?" She spat, enjoying the look of surprise on the girl's face. "How I ended up here? Or why I'm hiding this?" She gestured to her bow, the object giving a small twitch when addressed.
"I could care less about your heritage." Ruby snorted. "I want to know what an ex White Fang member is doing here. Dust, what was Ozpin thinking?"
"The headmaster-" Blake swallowed when she realised how loud her voice was getting, "The headmaster offered me a chance to start a new life. No more killing, robbing and hate. And I took it. Running away from the White fang doesn't exactly give you much options."
"How would I know that you're not a spy? We got some big names here. Nikos. Schnee. Wait, you're here to kill the heiress aren't you? Her family is the biggest obstacle in Faunus rights, and offing the heir would be a great way to get your revenge." Ruby said, eyes narrowing. If the girl so much as ran, breaking every bone in her body would just be the tip of the iceberg.
"I- what?! No! Didn't you hear what I said?" Blake seethed, glaring at her.
"Like I said." Ruby replied coldly, "I need proof."
The girl let out a frustrated sigh, resisting the urge to punch her in the face. "I don't have any. I don't have anything."
Ruby paused at the desperation in those words. She shifted her jaw, an idea coming to mind.
"I don't know if you're telling the truth. So I'll leave you alone. But- if you so much as try to make a move on anyone here, your past and your little secret," Her eyes flitted to stare at the innocent black bow. "Will be broadcasted to everyone. And I'll see to it that you won't be able to show your face in Vale, ever again."
Blake swallowed, feeling a small bubble of hatred for the crimson haired girl. Well…she would take what she could get. "Fine. Fine. But if my secret gets out, I'll-"
"Do nothing." Ruby pinned her with a glare. "If you try anything, the press will be the last thing to worry about. I'll hunt you down and skin you alive." She growled, half-smirking when the Faunus shrank, slouching in defeat. "Remember. I'll be watching you."
With that, Ruby shot her one last dark look before walking away. Blake stared after her, the feelings of annoyance and frustration frothing in her stomach.
"Who the hell are you?!" She growled, her hands curling into a fist. "God damn it."
Her name, Blake learned, was Ruby Rose.
When the girl was introduced at the team ceremony, she had been absolutely floored. The hall had fallen silent, the only sound being the soft breathing of the headmaster standing at the podium. He had given everyone a wry smile, and continued the rest of the introductions. Blake was too shocked to even roll her eyes when Weiss Schnee curtsied when Ozpin said her name.
Ruby Rose. The world famous mercenary.
All muscle and no nonsense, she fit every part of a globetrotting gun for hire especially with the red aviator shades perched on her nose. The girl was infamous, rumoured to be the best of the best, the merciless weapon who left behind a mountain of dead bodies on every battlefield she'd stepped on. Blake had been there when the White Fang issued a 'run on sight' order for Ruby. And of course, she had first-hand experience of the terror the girl could cause.
It was supposed to be a simple hit and run job for a low ranked politician who'd taking a liking to torturing Faunus prostitutes. He had hired a small number of body guards, the types that were dime a dozen on streets, but when the team of trigger agents –or assassins, as the civilians called it– broke into the two story manor, they'd found Ruby Rose instead. Back then, her name wasn't as big as it was now so the captain of the mission decided to go one on one with her while he ordered the rest of them spread out to find their target.
Blake was one of the lucky ones. She was jumped by some guards, they were dispatched easily with a few bullets from gambol shroud, and when she went back to the rendezvous point…there was only blood. Half of the trigger team were dead, cut into small bite-sized pieces. The other half were grievously injured, bleeding out of their arms, legs- everywhere.
And Ruby had stood in the middle of it all, the head the captain held tightly in her small hands.
Blake shuddered. They ended up failing that mission, but none of them got off badly since the man they were after was killed by Ruby herself when he didn't pay the amount he promised.
The hall was buzzing with noise when Ozpin dismissed them and called for the next students.
After Blake's new team (God, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry) was shuffled off the stage, Ruby turned and pinned them down with a stare that could've frozen water. Even the grumbling Schnee and the happy-go-lucky blonde girl had cowered under the fierce gaze, herself included.
"Listen up. I'm not here to babysit you. If you have any trouble with me, you tell me and we'll deal with it. But if you resort to low brow tactics like calling for daddy-" Weiss stiffened at the jab, "I won't hesitate to put you down. Permanently. So act your age. This is a combat school, not a sorority. Stay out of my way, and we won't have any problems."
That was all she said before giving them one final look and disappearing in a whirlwind of rose petals.
"Wow…who peed in her coffee?" Yang muttered as the three of them made their way to the dorm. Blake snorted at the mental image while Weiss let out a disgusted groan. The heiress huffed dramatically as she pulled along her cart of bags, the ugly white things piled on top of one another like a building blocks.
"I still cannot believe that she's our leader." She grumbled. "What was the headmaster thinking? Having a murderer lead us."
"Well…we'll just have to get used to it." Blake replied coolly, "But at least we can all agree that Ruby is-"
"A bitch?" Yang grinned.
"Cold. I was about to say cold." Blake chuckled. At least she wasn't the heiress as the partner. She thanked dust for small victories. They kept her sane, at least.
Turning down the hallway, they finally came to a stop in front of their dorm room. Blake looked it over, a wave of reassurance washing over her. This was the start to her new life. Her redemption.
Everyone took in a deep breath as Weiss grabbed the doorknob and pushed it open, the small creak of the hinges making their shoulders tense. The figure of Ruby came into view, the girl bent over as she unpacked her small suitcase. Their faces tightened when she looked in their direction with a raised brow.
Three years with Ruby Rose.
Dust help them all.
A/N: Okay so this fic is long long over due. A thousand apologies to rwbybomb21 who has been waiting for my lazy punk ass to write this ladybug fic. Go check out the fic he wrote for me! I had quite alot of fun writing this, but I'm not sure I did cold Ruby right. The second chapter will be up soon, so let me know what y'all think! :D Oh and if any of you want to read some RubyEmerald fic go check out 'Competition' cuz it's awesome.