Author Note: Slightly little late in the fragile schedule of mine.

Without further delay, I hope you'll enjoy the chapter.


Waiting On Her

Have we met?

Chapter 3: Trouble Starts with Two Girls

Ruby was well on her way to the upper-class district on the west side of Vale. The thin bicycle tires were being pushed to their limits, they let out a noticeable screech, the head tilted gawks that Ruby attracted were also pushing her timidness to the limits as she pass by them. Ruby tried to keep herself cool and kept going.

"Thirty minutes or less! Or your Lien back!" was the ambitious deal put out by Boss; something Ruby had some not so nice words for when being task to travel a good chunk of the Kingdom within that time frame.

Ruby was thankful for Jaune having her back and humoring Boss as he watched him like a hawk in making the two pizzas that were now insulated and covered in the pink basket before her. Jaune knew what he was doing despite the forced tutorial, and because of that he was able to make those pies quick which added to the time she had to travel. Still, there was the question on why he would put himself in that position in the first place-something she wanted ask him about on the way back.

More eyebrows rose wherever Ruby went, and soon anxiety from nosy eyes made the fresh pizza before her mouthwatering enough to tempt her to cope with anxiety. Ruby was quick to slap her reaching hand with a loud thwack, she yelped, giving the angry stink eye back at the passersby for making her do this. The pizza delivery girl wanted to give them a piece of her mind as well for being rude for staring at her, and making her feel weird and self-conscious, but she still a job to do.

So Ruby kept running, not pedaling, pushing her bicycle from the side while on foot faster than most cars passing by in her rose-petal filled journey to the the upper-class district.


On the last leg of the first destination Ruby sat on the seat of her bicycle, she was on top of a slope with its own dedicated bike route; it seem most of the traffic was composed of bicycles and their cyclist of expensive taste. She pushed down the steep incline letting it do most of the work as she rode it down. Ruby took the opportunity to enjoy the ride that overlooked the shimmering sea with many of the surrounding houses and buildings being the most beautiful the isolated girl has ever seen.

At the bottom Ruby took control, taking a hard left off the red bicycle path into a road vacant of cars. Few people were walking the lean sidewalks, busy with their Scrolls glued to their ears, wearing fancy suits and stylish clothes that she couldn't hope to afford; even if she wanted to. Everything was new and felt dizzying at the same time, the trendy urban environment was expansive and elaborate to the island dwelling girl. It's been a long time since she had come to the Kingdom, only a faint memory, containing her mother.

Ruby stopped to take a moment to herself. She closed her eyes, massaging her temples with a strained look on her face, then out of the darkness of her vision the soft notes of classical music was heard. Opening her eyes Ruby shifted her head left and right until the music became clearer with the echoing sound of chatting that accompanied it, it was coming from a passage a few yards ahead. Passing by striped bollards guarding a dark blue brick road from the regular streets Ruby entered in between a rows of fancy apartment buildings, the area has yet to see the sun so it was dark and cool, more so than the main street it was devoid of most people except two gruff guys in suits in front of one apartment.

The apartment itself was three stories making it rise above the rows of other buildings in the affluent area. The three by three rows of windows were concealed by white curtains that felt and looked empty, then a roar of laughter came from what was the more centered area of the building, a louder set of classical music became clearer. She convinced herself that this was the right place, but still she needed to clarify. Her off putting presence had already caught the attention of the two sentinels standing in front of the short stairs leading to fence off arch entrance.

The timid pizza delivery girl quietly rode to them, a strong gaze was felt even from behind their shades who in turn had a set of big scared silver eyes fix on them, putting them at equally at odds, and one girl really freaked out.

"Can we help you?" one of the men who had combed platinum-blond hair and wore a pink tie asked her after contemplating silently with his partner.

Ruby gulped, nervously stumbling through her trouser pockets she brought up the slightly crumpled order snippet. "Y-yeah, um, I'm here for a p-pizza delivery," she pause and gulped a second time. "Did anybody here order pizza? Yeah?" she asked awkwardly emphasizing every word.

The other man raised his open hand to refrain anymore talking. He then pulled a grey Scroll from his pockets, placing it silently near his shaven head. The guard relayed what Ruby said into the phone, he then nodded twice, shook his head, then the guard turn to his partner and shook his head to him.

Both of the sharp dressed guards turn to Ruby, and in unison told her: "No." Baritone, loud, and to the point, the answer scared the delivery girl to shivering mess. All she wanted to do was to leave in defeat; rattling on excuses already in her head. The address could have been wrong, but with her and possibly Jaune's job on the line, Ruby needed to swallow the apprehensive doubts and ask once more for clarity.

Her body twisted and turned, face contorted by the color of timid red, she looked up, coughed into her hand. Ruby said, "But-"

"No. Leave now." They both said as clear as before.

Ruby nodded vehemently, an imaginative fear chased her until she had stopped at the end of the street. Back into the sunny main street, goosebumps still pricked at her and heartbeats raced as Ruby caught her breath. Then came a disappointed sigh. "Aw crud." Ruby back into the brick wall and complained, chest rising and falling she took a sly peek back to the apartments and immediately freaked out when she thought one of the men caught her. After calming down Ruby took out her Scroll to check the time. "Fifteen minutes." when that deal-or time constricted limit-goes bust. It was now or never before she can deliver both, but what can she do?

Taking another-more confident and steady-peek, Ruby saw something she didn't catch the first time, a passage in between the apartments that was hidden by the lack of sunlight; there were their own rows of windows, and one of them with white curtains flapping out of an open window. She was sure as anything that this was the right address, that Jaune, and to a lesser extent Boss, had counted on her to make this delivery. It was now or never, there was no time to lose.

Afraid that the bicycle would garner too much noise to make the stealthy errand, Ruby had left the bicycle to be prop against the wall; hoping it would be safe from unwanted hands in the broad daylight of the expensive part of the city. Retrieving the right order from the insulated covers, Ruby held it close while she crouched and position herself to blast off. Other than the small draft and scurry rose petals wafting around, the men did not noticed the unwanted pizza delivery girl peeking much closer from the passage. Ruby sighed. She took a good look of the narrow passage in between the buildings: a small brick way with an occasional dank dip that led to another road at the end. The classical music and roar of snooty laughter came from an open courtyard that actually divided the apartment in two. Ruby looked up at the opened window by its drawn white curtains. The party full of stuffy people being crashed by an anxiety filled girl wasn't something she had in mind, the window was the only course of action.

Ruby thought of many ways to catch someone's attention on the inside, and hope they weren't rude. Contemplating and complete focus on the window, Ruby didn't hear the heavy footsteps creeping and stopping with their shadow draping over her. A sinister chuckle and knuckles cracking made themselves known to Ruby, a cold shiver crawled from her feet to face, petrified, she couldn't face the person.

"Well, well, well, whom do we have here?" It was an older girl. Ruby could almost make out the sneering grin on her face. "A thief perhaps? Bit colorful clothes you got. A lost tourist? Media? This a private party for the well-connected of Atlas and you have your own zone already, so probably thought you can catch an exclusive picture, or scandal or two? You guys are big and already make us busy trying to keep you in your place..." Ruby shook her head, no longer was she tensed up. Exhaustively, the list continued. "I see. Gasp! Maybe you're a troublemaker! Maybe even an assassin? Well looks like it's your unluck-"

Ruby stomped her feet angrily and spun around. "Dang it, Yang, I know it's you!"

"Ruby! What are you doing here?" the elder sister was genuinely surprised to see Ruby, "Wait a minute!" she eyed the exasperated little sister up and down at her uniform. "Don't tell me that the job Qrow was talking about...Ah! You make the cutest widdle pizza delivery girl ever!" she gushed and picked Ruby up and spun her around much to the annoyance.

After a brief struggle from her elder sister's iron clad embrace Ruby finally pushed her off. "What are you doing here of all places, Yang?!" she said between gasps. "Also 'whom?'."

"Just picking up the local parlance around here." Yang shrugged, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, I keep getting nagged by my V.I.P to speak properly. She was very nice and outgoing at first, guess the politeness went away after she gotten use to me. Shes not a bad person, deep down. It's sometimes not worth the employment, if it wasn't for her I would have left already."

"Who-whom?!" Ruby asked impatiently.

"Xiao-Long?!" an unknown girl, suddenly shouted from above the window, she was just a feminine silhouette hidden behind the white curtains. The silhouette briefly disappeared, a physical stumble was heard, followed by a hush self-imposed chided that left the sisters looking at one another in confusion. The unseen girl spoke again in more delicate, hushed, voice. "Did you find the Pizza delivery person, Xiao-Long? Please tell me you did. Also, I think I broke a nail."

Yang moved closer to the second floor window. She looked up, "Actually, Wei-"

"Hey!" Ruby pushed Yang aside, holding the transcript of the name and address and order. "It's pizza delivery! Excuse me but are you ICY WIEN-!" Yang suddenly grappled her from behind and had her mouth covered under Yang's hand.

"Yup! The pizza's here! I'll make sure to see if its right and bring it right up, fresh and hot!" the red face Yang struggled to hold down Ruby, Yang snatch the pizza box, dropping the embarrassing, childishly named transcript. "Um, just giving out the tip before I-I get there!"

The squirming pizza delivery girl finally slipped away from Yang, she fell on her knees and grabbed the transcript, inspecting the fragile paper for water damage. After finding none, Ruby's face turn to disappointment as she read again. Yang blushed. "Oh, I get it, very funny." Ruby said listlessly, standing up mildly peeved at her older sister. "So you're the bombing blond? I don't really get it. Because it rhymes?"

Yang sighed relieved, silently thanking her young sister's innocent persevered by naivety. She said smiling sheepishly, "Just alliteration. I'm blond and I bomb."

"And that was enough to practically pull some wrestling moves on me?" Ruby annoyingly dismissed it. "Anyway, I don't know if its you or your mystery boss but someone needs to pay."

A loud hit resonated from the window, a firm slap on a soft surface that ended in muffled weeping, the window then dramatically closed by unseen hands. Both Yang and Ruby were unsettled on the event that transpired, so much they didn't see a dark skinned man in business attire walk up to them until he coughed. While Ruby was still astonished she was a bit intimidated, Yang however was familiar with him.

"I'm sorry Yang but they found out." The gruff man showed sadness. "You're being let go for this, and Daisy as well for helping. I'm sorry."

"Really?" Yang cringed. "I told Daisy not be an accomplice in helping her, but she was too much of a stubborn maid with a good heart." she sighed, then smiled melancholy. "She's already knew the risk, but she'll be back on her feet, I know it."

"Here's your severance." He handed Yang an envelope: inside the last payment of Lien. "Always been a pleasure to work alongside you, Yang. I'll see you on the next bodyguard stunt with the rest."

Yang slapped the much taller man on the shoulder. "Thanks. And remember, you owe me one Strawberry Sunrise." she winked at him as he left around the corner. She turn to Ruby and immediately answered the obvious question. "It's a long story on about what happened. Let's just say we helped someone in need and we paid for our good needs." Ruby was left unsatisfied peeved till Yang gave her a cut of her paycheck. "Here, Ruby. It sucks my former boss couldn't get hers, but I know a former maid and a few bodyguard friends that would want a pick-me-up."

"I really want to know what happened!" Ruby glanced at the transcript and her silver pupils sunken. "But I got another delivery!" she gasped a goodbye and disappeared loudly around the corner.

"Keep the change, Ruby." Yang smiled. "Proud of you, little sister."


"Nine, ugh, just eight minutes now!" The Scroll slipped back into her pocket. Ruby rushed ahead, way ahead almost to the end of the sidewalk before coming back.

Ruby paced another trip before her mind caught up from the adrenaline. But she was right the first time; her heart sunk, because her bicycle was no longer where she left it. Pure desperation spurred Ruby to hug and pat around the brick wall, looking for any sign of its absence, finding none, whiny frustration let her to kick off a black substance off the ground. Ruby only just noticed it. The patch of noticeable residual had Ruby follow to a black trail that were no doubt that of a bicycle-her bicycle. The tire marks led an obvious mark across the street to another just down the road. Renewed search had her bolt after the trail with a disregard for traffic.

The tire tracks let down to the end of the sidewalk to a pedestrian crossing and across the brick pavement. Ruby ran down the entire block, no longer caring for the gawks of the people caused by her commotion, eventually she followed the track to the next block, a shiny red glare spotted among heavier traffic. As Ruby gotten closer to the horizon of the road she saw her bicycle and its new rider in a form of a husky guy in a green tracksuit. Anger that someone would steal it made Ruby burst into a cloud of rose petals, she sped until she was right next to the thief.

"Hey!" Ruby shouted. The thief was surprised by the pizza delivery girl jogging to his side. "That's my bicycle! You can't just take it, that's against the law! Didn't your parents raise you better?!"

The thief didn't say a word as he frantically pedaled at a faster rate. Ruby went after him, both were neck in neck, but with Ruby and her speed all that did was allow her to threaten the thief to stop in her leisure while he was gasping for air.

"Halt!" two men in elaborate armor commanded them in the middle of the road. Both Ruby and the thief did stop, with the latter falling off the bicycle breathing heavily on his side.

The two men began to walk towards them, Ruby was petrified by their dwarfing size and tried to calmly explain the predicament, they walk past her, lifting the thief up and immediately secured his arms behind his back.

Ignoring the thief's garbled protest, one of the men came up to Ruby. "You're arresting him?" she asked him. Ruby wasn't sure if they were lawmen; they certainly were militarized, despite Vale having no official army.

"No. We're just holding him until the local Vale police arrive." the man said. "We don't have jurisdiction here in the Kingdom of Vale. We're soldiers from Atlas."

Ruby examined the soldier in black body armor with upper-body armor and face concealing helmet highlighted by a yellow stripe. She heard of the other Kingdoms that had armies, Atlas being the most famous to showcase their military might. This was the first time she saw them in person, she was a bit awestruck by their weapons alone.

The Atlas soldier spoke, "Luckily we spotted the whole thing." he directed her sight at the four story modern building that dominated the wealthy residential block. "Or rather one of our V.I.P had a good vantage point with a nose for spotting trouble and call us down to help." he went over the bicycle picking it up and made it stand. "Less of a coincidence this hotel's sole two residents are the ones who order the pizza you are carrying. I think you should come and deliver it."

Ruby sighed relief, thanking her stupid luck. Taking the bicycle Ruby stuck her tongue out at the thief provoking him into a gibberish rant until the soldier holding him verbally threatening him, she followed the other solder to the modest yet tall building's awning entrance. The soldier went to take a sentinel position by the clear glass doors, Ruby took her attention back to the doors where she was slightly startled to see an older, gentle looking man waiting outside. Being technically her first delivery Ruby was adamant to show the utmost professionalism. It wasn't like it was hard: the slender and tall man looked like the nice grandfatherly type. Ruby didn't have the slightest clue why a man like that would hold a hotel with Atlas soldiers guarding, he didn't dress the part of someone important with his casual dark brown slacks assembled with button long sleeved shirt in lightest spectrum of dark blue that was mostly concealed by a geometric pattern sweater vest fuzzy by its looks.

"Hello, sir." Ruby still retain some timidness in her tone from the earlier stunt.

"And a hearty salutations to you, little miss." his smile, circle glasses and cowlick on his fading light hair seem to bounce as he spoke. "How are you doing today?"

"Could be worse." Ruby awkwardly chuckled as she reach the pizza inside the insulated covers-thankful it was still there and perfect despite the earlier escapade. "Sorry to bring a storm of trouble but I hope by being the second customer in Red's Pizza history that we meet you satisfaction."

"Of course!" the customer was handed the pizza, he exchange the corrected Lien amount to Ruby. "You made it with time most satisfactory-considering the terrible trouble that had befell you. So here a bonus! I'm not one to be a miser with it comes to rewarding those who go above and the beyond for service." he gave Lien that amounted to twice the relatively expensive pizza was paid for.

Ruby gleefully smiled."Thank you sir!"

"No, thank you." he said beaming, almost relief. "You see my gra-daughter was feeling deeply blue about being so far from our Kingdom, and she has yet to set a foot outside the hotel since arriving; she actually wanted to attend a social event just a block over."

Ruby peaked back the same road, and sure enough the private apartments were in view. "Huh? I actually just delivered another a pizza there." she carefully omitted the full scenario.

"That's interesting coincidence. Perhaps there is someone at that event with the same taste as my gr-daughter." he said hopeful, a demeanor that soon dimmed. "I do hope this pizza would brighten her day a little bit. She won't even come out of her room, it's a shame that girl in similar age to you would conceal herself in a lonely place. Anyway, I'm sorry for running my mouth. An independent person like you would be surely be needed elsewhere." he glanced at the bicycle, he was quite distressed. "My goodness! Your bicycle looks like it seen better days. Should I call a taxi for you?"

The pizza delivery girl looked to see the bicycle basically on its rims, completely deteriorated from her excessive use of her Semblance. No wonder the thief was struggling to move it.

Ruby shook her head. "It's okay. I'm very fast on foot and I'm sure Boss-my boss-won't be unreasonable." Ruby said. "I also hope your, um, daughter will also enjoy the pizza. I'm sure she's looking forward to it."

"She will." the bespectacled man's green eyes were mirthful. "She's the one who called out for help when she spotted you in trouble."

Both delivery girl and customer bid farewell. Ruby was left with a sense of optimism about her luck, and leaving with twice payment as a bonus she hoped to make a good impression on her first day. As she pushed her bicycle down the street Ruby felt a sensation of being watched, she turn her head to see shifting movement behind a window at end of the row of the fourth story, behind a closed window and its blue drape, a youthful freckled face was watching her. Ruby was under the impression that the person wanted to say hi, which Ruby abide with a brief wave, the person squirm unexpectedly as her green eyes bugged out and disappeared behind the blue drape. The person didn't expect Ruby to see her, much less acknowledged her.

Ruby smiled emphatically. No doubt she found someone to rival or surpass her own shyness.

As Ruby left around the corner the sensation of being watched returned too.


The journey back to Red's Pizza brought another round superfluous attention to Ruby from every person in the city.

Ruby brought her mind to elsewhere. Wondering if there was any work to do once she arrive. Inexplicably, only those outside the Kingdom would order from here; two ordering from that place already boggled her mind more so than the prospect of a third or more customer. Ruby then felt a little harsh on the odd employer of hers, though time will tell if their pizza would catch on she wished him luck, for the sake of being employed for the rest of the summer too. The job that also brought her into a little drama from customers that she never seen, nor would she fully understand-maybe Yang would bring her up to speed on her former employer if she asked. Regaling this story back to Jaune during their work break would be an interesting method of breaking the ice further, he seemed too quick to risk his job for her, almost like he didn't care too much to work here. It made Ruby feel apart of an unwanted drama. Then there was the issue with her bicycle. But the pizza delivery girl was too good in a mood to care for now, Ruby pushed her roughed up bicycle and let her Semblance coast her back to the pizza place, sure that today would be a slow one anyway.

There was an unironic quizzical head tilt about her earlier statement as she arrived to a very busy Red's Pizza. Anxiety swept over Ruby on the idea of how many hours it would take to make the orders for all the customers literally surrounding the pizza place entrance, but as she gotten closer she saw almost all of them carried cameras. Ruby saw through the front windows Jaune looking extremely confused and a bit scared-perhaps he met with the same realization about a heavy workload as she did-and on his right was Boss full of misplaced glee. The crowd was loud in the desolate corner, the flashes brought to light the blight features of it too, the large white fancy limousine parked in the broken street was the worse offender that showed the ugly contrast. Ruby parked her bicycle away and went off to investigate. Trying to make sense of all this Ruby tried to find away into the building, the crowds blocked every inch of the entrance, they all had their attention to the passenger door, Ruby peaked behind the oblivious people zealously flashing their cameras to see a tall feminine person be let out of the limousine by a sharp dressed woman.

"Pyrrha! Pyrrha!" the people shouted and adored the teenage girl that emerged. The people were busy clamoring, shifting around so much that Ruby had to avoid all the elbows and shuffling of their legs, their excitement denied a good look of the girl. Eventually through the gaps of the people's limbs Ruby saw her clear as day.

"Thank you very much!" that girl Pyrrha exclaimed. The legion of what seemed to be fans responded in shouts and hoots. She waved weakly at a random direction, her small smile looked awkward and forced on her strained face. "I, um, do enjoy pizza? It's like...a very popular dish back in Mistral, and I look forward to enjoy the local version of every place I visit. I make it an occasion to dine on pizza for every win I take." she was so awkward in her speech; Ruby mused that she might have found yet another rival to take the crown of timidness away from her.

After all that Ruby didn't find the answers she wanted: Why were they making such a fuzz over this girl? All Ruby could see was that the girl was tall but in no way a pushover as even the tone arms were noticeable under the maroon sweater, of which that Pyrrha girl acted like she wanted to hide inside of it, her finger twisting the tendrils of her red-hair and touching the edges of skirt as she talked, and despite the sweater and black tights she shivered in the summer day. Pyrrha didn't look like she enjoyed the attention, at least not like the shorter girl that just got out of the car door.

"And she is a fourth time champion back in her home Kingdom." the second girl absorbed the attention as soon as she spoke. "Make no mistake, my friend works very hard to make sure those pies don't slow her down." Pyrrha didn't pay much attention to her other than a fix stare and a polite smile, though she looked less tense as the shorter girl lapped the attention away from her, even for a brief moment.

Unlike the taller Pyrrha this shorter girl behaved more confidently in the ensemble of a strapped blue shirt and white pants that were made from a rich effort to appear mediocre mainstream, at the very least the snow white cardigan hiding the pale skin was something a certain pizza delivery girl could never afford. Ruby wasn't mad, it wasn't her style or color anyway. The short-girl worked it to her advantage, strutting forward accompanied by the camera shy Pyrrha, the short-girl was definitively someone who grew up around an audience.

The short-girl whipped the ponytail of her snow-white hair facing a video camera while adjusting a thick lens glasses that she wore, it made Ruby snort on how out of place it was on the short-girl's otherwise pristine face, more so than the pink scar on her left eye. The short-girl spoke: "Being around Pyrrha Nikos has earned me an insightful look few actually appreciate in the culture of Huntsmen and Huntresses. They're the bane of every enemy of all of the Kingdoms; none more dire than the Grimm." she said, "My family has always appreciated their existence and solidarity for our safety, all the way to my grandfather, Nicholas Schnee. Though I'm not a Huntress or aspire to be one, I value the time Pyrrha has allowed me to spend with her, whether its seeing her train her heart out or if its a just nice visit to a pizza shop in the Kingdom we never been to, I can always count on Pyrrha being earnest with my family's support."

A reply was waiting from the short-girl to Pyrrha, and all of the attention made her dizzy headed. "Huh? oh, ah yes, sponsor." she fumbled her words around, the short-girl's on-hand social skills quickly picked up from it.

"That's right!" the short-girl exclaimed straight into the video camera. "The Schnee Dust Company has greatly enjoyed introducing many charitable events throughout Remnant, including sponsorships-" Ruby couldn't hear anymore as the crowds that she dug herself into started to shuffle yet again. She didn't care to hear anymore, or rather she could not. During the shuffling a person's elbow struck at Ruby's right ear, before she began to rubbed the bruise lobe another sharper hit smacked her left cheek, one foot was stepped on and the other stomped, then another struck at her forehead. Ruby was too livid to even complain and pushed herself just another elbow had missed her.

All she wanted to do was to work, but there was no entry on sight passed the stupid crowds. Looking around the tall white limousine the idea of gaining a high ground on the sea of people was too appetizing to pass up for the irate pizza delivery girl. No one was paying attention as she climbed on top of the long car without event a threat. Once on top, Ruby saw that she was oblivious to them all, something snapped on her pleasant head, and the only right thing to do was vented it out.

"All this trouble over two girls?!" Ruby shouted in frustration.

Ruby finally got her wish, they all turn around to witness her outcry, at least hundreds not including Jaune or Boss replied in absolute quietness, and only her heart drummed in the most embarrassing moment of her life.


Author's end notes: And so Pyrrha makes her debut, plus two characters that you already know that I'm gonna dance around not naming them even though you all ready know whom they be. Yes, I know, I'm terrible. Pyrrha also might play a role in this story along side Jaune. I also decided to use my OC stand in for that robot-girl's father seeing as he isn't yet introduce; he has own back story too.

Anyway, I just began working on the next chapter, depending if writer's block hits, it might be on schedule or just delay.

Let me know any spelling mistakes or grammar in pm or reviews, I'd appreciated.