A/N: Hello again! Thanks again to all who've read, favorited/followed, and reviewed. I'm glad i've been able to do something right for people to have liked this story.

For those who haven't seen, I have another story started up as a bunch of one-shots. This will be my main focus until I finish it, but afterwords any random ideas I have will be found in Red, White, and Pink.

Anyways, onto the remainder of the duels! Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: RWBY and it's characters belong to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum.


Learning from History

Chapter 4

Silence was all that filled the student packed stadium as the two smiling Huntresses stood across from each other. Their lack of tension only seemed to increase everyone else's, an eerie sense of the calm before a storm.

Sora's feet separated as she took a loose stance, her midnight blue hakama flowing with her movement. The black chest plate on her torso moved with her, as a single gloved hand rested on the hilt of her sheathed sword. She drew it slowly, the sound of metal grinding cutting through the silence with each inch, before holding the blade in front of herself with both hands.

Finally pulling herself out of her shock, Glynda stepped back to the instructor's stand, her fingers rapidly trying to make up for lost time as she set up the aura display. Ruby, unaware of the oddity of the situation that everyone else seemed to feel, simply smiled at the young girl before her.

"So you're the leader of Ammy's team, right?" Ruby eagerly asked, a sparkle in her eyes from meeting not only another friend of her daughter's, but also her team leader. Sora's eyes never left her own, her smile as unwavering as when she stepped into the arena.

"That is correct. My name is Sora Mizu, and I am the leader of team SKRA," Sora replied easily, her stance completely relaxed, yet not moving an inch as she spoke. Ruby wasn't even sure if the girl had blinked since she began staring her down. "It is an honor to have the opportunity to battle you, Ruby Rose."

"You can just call me Ruby," the named Huntress stated casually, her own posture relaxed even as she took in the young girl's unfaltering readiness. Her silver eyes glanced along the shining blade held in front of Sora eagerly, her excitement at seeing so many new weapons starting to get the better of her. "So, what's your sword's name? I doubt you'll tell me anything else about it."

The blade shone brightly, the immaculately white color of a cloud. In Sora's hands, it seemed to almost be weightless, providing no visible burden on the girl. A Dust canister imbedded in the hilt told Ruby that the blade had more functions than simply cutting, but as to what they were, she was unable to tell. Lowering the blade ever so slightly, Sora spoke out in the same calm voice, her tone seemingly unable to fluctuate. "It's name is Kaze, and that assumption would be correct, Ruby Rose."

The continued use of her full name unnerved Ruby slightly, as she looked past the blindingly white blade at the two sky blue eyes on either side. The sight reminded her of the sky, a colorful void that seemed to have no limit. Ruby was dragged out of her trance as Sora's voice spoke up again. "After all, knowledge of one's opponents is crucial. Currently, I have the advantage in those regards."

Ruby had felt an odd feeling of being watched during her previous fights, but had simply chalked it up to a class full of students seeing her battle. Realizing the intent gaze had belonged to the leader of SKRA, Ruby recognized how much she had witness of her skillset. She had made ample use of her semblance during her fight with Krann, and had resorted to her prototype Dust bullets given to her by Weiss in her attempts to overcome Regalia's knight.

'So, she's and observer, huh?' Ruby thought to herself, her body instinctively taking up a battle stance as she reassessed the calm demeanor of the smiling Huntress in front of her. What she mistook for serenity was actually the quiet confidence of someone who had entirely memorized a piece of information by heart. 'She might be tougher than I thought.'

Taking notice of both combatants in a ready stance, Glynda finished the last of the preparations. Looking briefly between the two Huntresses staring each other down, pulled the attention to herself before calling the start of the match.

In an instant, Ruby had rushed forward with her semblance, only to be met by Sora's blade anticipating her path. Metal clashed with metal as sword and scythe connected. Firing a shot from Crescent Rose, Ruby attempted to pull the girl's weapon from her hands. Receiving far less resistance than she expected however, threw Ruby off balance as Sora flew into the air with her blade. Trying to take advantage of the airborne girl's vulnerability, Ruby quickly moved her scythe in for another strike.

Only to swing through empty air, as Sora managed to redirect herself in mid flight. Launching herself towards Ruby like an arrow forced Ruby to have to dodge the strike with her Semblance. Before hitting the ground, Sora redirected herself yet again in Ruby's direction, giving her no time to reposition her large weapon.

Ruby was unable to bring Crescent Rose up to defend or attack, as Sora seemed to fly around her, extremely limiting her range of movement as the girl seemed to control the entire air space around her. Finally finding a moment to raise her scythe, Ruby clashed with Sora in mid air. She could only stare as the young Huntress was seemingly bracing herself using the air itself, not moving back an inch as the two struggled against each other's strength. 'Some kind of air stepping semblance?'

With hardly a second to think on Sora's abilities, the two pushed away from each other. Ruby shifted Crescent Rose into sniper form to take on Sora at range, but watched in awe as her blade split and bent in the middle, a string of Dust running from the hilt to tip in the appearance of a bow. As Sora pulled back the bowstring comprised out of Dust, Ruby quickly opened fire as she realized the melee clashing had turned into a firefight.

Bullets met Dust arrows in the center of the arena, each clash sending elemental plumes and metal shrapnel scattering. The light weight of the blade seemed to translate into draw speed for the bow form, each arrow in time with Ruby's shots. Any lack of accuracy in Sora's shots was seemingly corrected by Dust detonations as the bullets neared them, the long-range stalemate obvious to both as they shifted back to their melee weapons.

A petal trailing dash met an air pushed leap as each blade struck each other again.


Sparing a momentary glance at the aura display during a lull in between strikes, Ruby saw her own aura dipping into the yellow. Sora's aura had dipped much lower, but the prolonged fight was taking its toll on both. Ruby realized she needed to end the fight sooner, rather than later.

Racking her brain for ideas drudged up nothing. Every trick she pulled out was something Sora had witnessed during the previous bouts, and already had a counter devised. Every switch to range was anticipated with fired arrows, and each dash of her semblance was met with a blade in mid swing. The few tactics that allowed Ruby to get a strike in would cease to work the second time, Sora having memorized it after seeing it only once.

Ruby only had one idea that could end this fight before it became a battle of attrition.

The clatter of metal on stone as Ruby ejected the magazine from Crescent Rose surprised Sora. With a small smirk at seeing the analyzing girl caught off guard, Ruby reached back into her pouch of ammo. Loading a magazine emblazoned with a cross instantly put Sora on guard, preparing to withstand another unknown attack before learning to combat it. Raising Crescent Rose behind her, Ruby prepared herself, flaring her semblance slightly as she pulled the trigger.

The world blurred around her as she was launched forward, Crescent Rose's blade shifting parallel to the shaft as Ruby spun herself in mid air. Sora barely had the time for her eyes to widen before she was hit by the spinning whirlwind that was Ruby. Her aura dropped rapidly as strikes came out of nowhere, the direction impossible to keep up with as rose petals spun around Sora in a tornado. One shot from Crescent Rose sent Sora flying across the arena, her sword clattering to the ground alongside her.

Sora's attempts to catch her breath were all that cut through the silence of the stadium, her eyes tiredly watching rose petals still drifting through the air. Though she knew the result, she shifted her head to glance at the aura display. Her aura was clearly in the red, nearly out as she saw just how much damage had been done in that single storm of strikes. Ruby's own aura, however, had dipped noticeably into the yellow from her last attack, showing Sora the double-edged aspect of an attack that powerful. A hand reaching into her view pulled her attention back.

Ruby smiled down at Sora happily, albeit a bit tiredly. Pulling the girl up to her feet, she sent her a grin as she patted her shoulder lightly. "You're pretty good! I see why you're a leader," Ruby exclaimed excitedly, her voice completely void of any signs of the battle. "You've got one of those, uh, picture memories, right?"

"Photographic memory, is the term," Sora corrected, a habit from her team, specifically Krann. Quickly realizing whom she was speaking too, Sora hastily added onto her statement. "I-I mean, yes, you're right Mrs. Rose. U-Uh, I mean R-Ruby." Sora corrected herself, remembering her refusal to refer to her casually as her mind was in a combative state. Her hero-worship was pulling itself back to the surface to fluster her, now that she had been reminded of the difference between their abilities.

"No worries, Weiss is correcting me all the time," Ruby replied good-naturedly, chuckling softly as she recalled the many times Weiss would interrupt her to fix her grammar. Ruby sent Sora another smile as she flashed her a thumbs up. "And your semblance is really neat. I bet it makes fighting Nevermores super easy!"

Stuttering out denials as a near legend of a Huntress gave her praises, Sora was thankful as Professor Goodwitch stepped up to the two with the clearing of her throat. Sora made her way back into the stands after thanking Ruby for the match, an even stronger sense of respect for the professional Huntress growing in her.

As Glynda looked over the Ruby's aura gauge, she had to decide whether to let Ruby keep fighting or not. Ruby's repeated fights and constant use of her aura and put her halfway through the yellow, and though not visibly tired, Glynda knew her stamina wasn't infinite. Taking into consideration Ruby's dwindling supply of ammo, Glynda made her decision.

"Mrs. Rose can only handle so many battles one after another. I'm afraid I will have to call today's class-"

"Wait!" The rapid pace of boots running down the stairs startled both Glynda and Ruby. The hem of the girl's dress, sorry, combat skirt flared with each step. White and red locks swayed as the Amaranth came to a stop in front of Glynda, a pleading look on her face. "Please, let me fight."

Glynda glanced to Ruby, who sported a similar look of surprise. Catching notice of Glynda's questioning gaze, Ruby nodded with a small smile. Letting out a soft sigh as she looked between the two Roses, Glynda stepped back to the instructor's area as she already began reconfiguring the aura displays. "Very well, if Mrs. Rose is fine with it."

Sighing in relief as her request was accepted, Amaranth made her way to the opposite end of the arena. Her black boots rang out clearly in the stadium, any chatter having been cut short as the students were intent on the battle between mother and daughter. The hem of Amaranth's combat skirt flowed freely with each step, transitioning from pink lace upwards to a white blouse. A piece of pink cloth draped down her right shoulder, the emblem of the Schnees glowing faintly as the hint to Dust weaving. A small bit of pride tugged at Ruby's heart as she saw the earrings in the shape of her rose hanging from Amaranth's ears.

As Amaranth turned, two pairs of silver eyes met. Ruby's smile only grew, prompting Amaranth to smile slightly as nostalgia reared up, reminding her of past sparring sessions. Hoping to show her mother what she had learned and how much she had progressed since then, Amaranth put on a confident smile. "No holding back against me, alright Mom?"

"Don't worry, I learned not to after last time," Ruby replied with a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of head sheepishly. Ruby had never seen her daughter with so much of her wife's traits as the time Amaranth lectured her for hours about showing her the proper respect during a duel. Trying to seek support from Weiss was a bad idea, her wife simply giving her a glare that spoke of her full agreement with Amaranth.

Amaranth nodded, satisfied with Ruby's reaction. Her hand moved to draw her elegant saber, holding it in front of her with a single hand as she took up a fencer's stance. It always disappointed Ruby a bit that Amaranth took after Weiss' style more than her own. An off hand remark to Weiss caused her to point out that the steep curve of the falchion was a homage to her scythe, letting Ruby happily know she contributed to Amaranth's desire to be a Huntress.

The curved blade shone in the lights of the arena, every bit as elegant as Myrtenaster before it. Veins ran along the length of the blade, pulsing lightly as Dust flowed through them. The pistol shaped hilt gave Amaranth a firm grip even with a single hand, her empty one hanging at her side, tense and ready. Ruby had practically squealed in excitement when Amaranth reluctantly revealed her weapons name after it's forging. Rosenrot.

Glynda watched as Ruby raised Crescent Rose into a battle stance, mother and daughter staring each other down in silent communication. She actually held an interest in this fight, duels between two Huntresses who had known each other for years being a rarity. Seeing the tension of the students grow as both Roses stood ready, Glynda prepared herself for what she hoped would be an impressive display on both sides.

"Begin."

In a flash of petals, Ruby had crossed the arena floor, Crescent Rose swinging down before being caught in a silvery pink glyph, Amaranth knowing her mother's habit to charge at the start of a battle. A shot from Ruby's scythe gave it enough power to shatter through her glyph, her blade rising to deflect the blow, knowing her mother's weapon surpassed her own in sheer stopping power. Propelling herself away with a glyph, Amaranth fired Dust infused shots out of her saber as her free hand littered the arena with glyphs.

Batting away each shot with a swing from her scythe, Ruby eyed each glyph being made, trying to figure out the pattern that would help her anticipate Amaranth's strategy. Catching on, Ruby fired a shot to escape the grasp of a black holding glyph as she noticed Amaranth using a haste glyph beneath herself. Years of fighting Ruby taught her that minimizing the difference in speed between the two was crucial.

Moving at a speed much closer to Ruby's, Amaranth bounded from each raised glyph, Crescent Rose and Rosenrot clashing as the two passed each other, Dust bullets colliding as the two rushed around the arena. Each glyph Amaranth formed was matched by Ruby shattering one. Using her glyphs as platforms only gave her temporary air superiority, Ruby's pinpoint shots breaking glyphs moments after her feet left their surface.

Using a glyph to propel herself downwards, Amaranth launched herself at Ruby in a spin, mimicking her move from earlier. Her sword trailed Dust as she spun, turning herself into a flaming vortex as she spun towards Ruby. Rose petals were caught in the flames as Ruby used her semblance to escape the tornado of fire, ice Dust infused bullets negating the heat. A glyph and petal filled rush had the two clashing again, multiple Dust elements filling the arena with each strike of metal and fired shot.

Crescent Rose's weight allowed it to push back the lighter Rosenrot, Ruby's swing pushing Amaranth back a few feet. Throwing her scythe out akin to a spinning buzz saw forced Amaranth to defend against the brunt of the attack. Catching her scythe back in her grip, Ruby turned into a spin before planting the blade of her scythe into the ground, taking rapid shots at Amaranth as she struggled to regain mobility.

Unable to evade, Amaranth threw up glyph after glyph as a shield. Each bullet from Crescent Rose had enough impact to render her glyphs as single use, giving her no spare time, as she had to recreate her shield each time. Taking a chance, Amaranth abandoned the idea of creating a shield, using her next glyph to propel herself out of the line of fire, even as she felt a few shots batter her aura.

Hurling herself at Ruby, Amaranth hoped to catch her while her scythe was still embedded in the ground. Evading a Dust infused swing, Ruby leapt on top of Crescent Rose, redirecting Amaranth's charge with a kick. Pressing the trigger with her foot, Ruby sent Crescent Rose and herself spinning from the recoil, Amaranth right in her path. Barely blocking the wild strike, Amaranth was pushed back in midair, the momentum of the massive scythe easily overpowering her own weight. Barely managing to get her feet back to solid ground, Amaranth skid to a stop as she tried to catch her breath, Ruby mirroring her.

"You've gotten really good, Ammy," Ruby breathlessly said with a proud smile as she switched in a fuller magazine. Watching Amaranth refill the Dust vial in her sword's hilt, Ruby noticed the changes since she'd last seen it. "You've even been modding your weapon. Oh~ I'm so proud!"

Amaranth cleared her throat bashfully, a light dusting of pink on her face. Though she had taken more of her Mother's fighting style due to their shared semblance, Amaranth was always awed by Ruby's skills. Inheriting Weiss' desire to make her parents proud was an awkward struggle, when Ruby so easily expressed how much she was. "C-Can we talk about weapons later, Mom? We're in the middle of a fight right now, after all…"

"Oh! Sure thing, Ammy!" Ruby happily exclaimed with a gleeful laugh, already dropping back into a ready stance, prepared to let her daughter reinitiate the fight. Amaranth similarly retook up her stance, sword leveled in front of her as she tried to come up with a plan.

The last few hits had given her aura a large drop, having gained most of her stamina from Weiss. Ruby's had been dwindling slowly as well though, as the constant anticipating of her movements forced her semblance into working overtime. Knowing she would run out of aura much quicker than her mother, Amaranth settled on an all or nothing plan, despite her lack of mastery of the glyph yet.

With a glyph pushing her forward, Amaranth charged at Ruby, sword meeting scythe as they clashed again. Though Ruby was the superior melee combatant, Amaranth just needed to distract her long enough for her to form a glyph above the two. Her ability to use the glyph properly in combat was low enough already; trying to match Ruby in a battle of blades while doing so, made it an ordeal.

Just as a powerful swing from Crescent Rose sent her skidding back, the hovering glyph completed. Finally noticing, Ruby had just enough time to evade with her semblance as a claw swiped down at her. Regaining her footing, Ruby looked back towards Amaranth, a small bit of surprise filling her eyes as she saw a glowing white Beowolf shielding her as she caught her breath. 'She can summon now? Ohmygosh! I can't wait to tell Weiss!'

Too excited with her daughter's progress, Ruby barely noticed the Beowolf rushing towards her; it's summoner safely behind it firing Dust shots. Blocking the shots as she evaded the wide sweeps on the beast's claws, Ruby could barely react to the glyphs forming around her.

As Amaranth leapt onto the glyphs to begin another series of launching strikes, Ruby continued trying to fight back the Beowolf, struggling significantly more with it's sense of will than Regalia's single purpose knight. The coordinated strikes from Amaranth's sword and the Beowolf's claws had Ruby on the defensive, her aura dropping lower and lower, even as Amaranth's drew closer to the red each second the creature made of aura existed.

Taking a gamble, Ruby lowered her guard in front of the Beowolf, as Amaranth lunged at her from behind. Seeing her defenses drop, the beast swung it's arm down as Amaranth neared. Realizing too late her mother's plan, Amaranth slid into a shower of petals, holding her sword up in a desperate block as the claw smashed down at her. Sliding back along the floor from the force, Amaranth watched as her glyphs and summon faded, the last of her aura running out.

Petals filled her vision as Ruby's smiling face came into view. Accepting the offered hand, Amaranth was lifted to her feet tiredly, glancing at the aura monitor. Well into the red was Amaranth's, as she had expected. Ruby's aura was just a sliver into yellow, however, giving her a small bit of pride in her accomplishments, even with the knowledge that Ruby's aura was half full at the start of their fight.

"Ammy, you were so totally amazing!" Ruby's loud scream of praise was quickly followed up by a tight hug, Amaranth's sore body protesting the rough display of affection. Managing to pry herself out of her mother's grip, Amaranth sent her a smile even as she continued to ramble. "Your glyphs have gotten so good and you've gotten really good with Dust just like Weiss and she'll be so excited to hear you can summon now because that was so surprising and I was like 'Ohmygosh a Beowolf!' and I was just totally freaking out!"

"Mom, calm down," Amaranth finally interrupted, knowing how long Ruby's rambling could go if not stopped. Ruby managed to close her mouth, though her body was practically shaking in contained excitement. With an exasperated sigh and a small smile, Amaranth offered a compromise. "We can tell Mother about my summoning together later, alright?"

Ruby let out a cheer of glee even as Glynda walked over. Sighing softly as she could still only see the eager young Huntress from so many years ago, Glynda turned to the class with an unnoticeable smile. "That will be all for class today. I hope you all learned something from our gracious guest. Dismissed." Glynda made her way out of the stadium as students slowly filled out, talking excitedly about the duels. A burst of rose petals had Ruby walking next to her; already going into 'proud parent' mode as she gushed to her former Professor about how much Amaranth had progressed.

As Amaranth rejoined with the rest of team SKRA, the chatter between them was few and far between. A duel against a professional Huntress gave each of them a lot to think about, as they became all too aware of the difference between their ideals and reality. Amaranth in particular was reminded of a question she'd had for years, yet still didn't have an answer for.

She couldn't understand the connection between the smiling face of her mother, and the near legendary skills of the Huntress Ruby Rose.


A/N: Every fight needs a dramatic, near tie!

Thanks again for those who've read to here, I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are always welcome so I know whether i'm doing something right or horribly, horribly wrong. So thank you in advance to those who do!

Similar to last chapter, here is a bit of info on Sora and Amaranth, for those interested:

Sora Mizu (name origin - Japanese): "sora mizu" literally means sky blue/water, depending on the translation. Her color theme is blue and her motif apperance is a combination of japanese archers and temple priestess dress. Her personality is normally very calm and flexible, easily adapting to a situation. Similar to Ruby's weapon loving side, however, she can be very excitable around professional Hunters. Krann nicknamed her "Fangirl." Her weapon, Kaze, means wind, and is meant to allude to a cloud. Her semblance similarly lets her air step, giving her alot of aerial mobility.

Amaranth Rose-Schnee: I figure this should be obvious, but, red and white make pink! I just picked the shade of pink i thought made the best name. Her personality is a mix of Ruby and Weiss. She tries to act prim and proper, but put cookies in front of her and she'll devour them with a sweetooth rivaling Ruby's. Her appearance is likewise a mix between Ruby and Weiss, and the draping on her shoulder was my way of giving her a mini cloak ("It's not a cloak!") It's totally a mini cloak. Anyways. Her weapon was the hard part, as I didn't want to just give her a scythe. Scythes are meant to be notoriously difficult to master, and with the hereditary Schnee semblance, she needed a free hand that should wouldn't have with a scythe. So, I gave her a falchion, so it was similar to Weiss' rapier while still being her own. The curved blade and name were an homage to Ruby. Myrtenaster in german means "white flowers." Rosenrot in german is "rose." So, the name is a mix of both Weiss and Ruby.

So, theres a few more chapters left of this story, give or take a bit depending on how long/short they run. I had a clear idea of what plot points I wanted to hit, and essentially divided it into 3 arcs. This duel is the end of the second, and you can probably guess the third, based off of the name and the professors shown. As I said up top, once this is done, any of my one-shot ideas will go into Red, White, and Pink. This story was essentially a multi-chapter one-shot, as I don't think I'd do well with long plots.

Thank you again to all who read and enjoyed.

Until next time, keep moving forward.

~Nekonyaneko