Glynda Goodwitch had already begun the class as team RWBY filed in to her room. Giving the four girls a scathing look, which made Weiss, Yang, and Blake cringe while Ruby simply returned the look, Ms. Goodwitch continued, "Now that we are all here, we may continue with today's training. As you should all know, today we shall be having one on one sparring matches. Our first competitor will be..." Ms. Goodwitch consulted her scroll for a moment, waiting for the randomizer to spit out a student. "...Pyrrha Nikos."
There was an audible groan from the class as Pyrrha walked down to the arena and took her place on one side. They all knew that none of them could beat Pyrrha, so whoever was chosen could only accept a beating. None of them would envy whoever was chosen.
"And her opponent will be..." Ms. Goodwitch frowned at the name on her scroll. After a short pause, she finally revealed, "...Ruby Rose."
Feeling uncertain, Ms. Goodwitch looked at the mute girl in red. "Ms. Rose, do you believe yourself to be well enough to fight?"
All the answer she got was the clacking of an unfolding Crescent Rose as Ruby took her place opposite Pyrrha in the arena. The girl had already fastened her gaze on to Pyrrha, and gave no sign that she even had heard her teacher.
Ms. Goodwitch sighed as she considered Ruby, the girl who had come out of the hospital less than a day before. Part of her wanted to forbid the girl from fighting, as it was almost certainly not healthy for her recovering body. Ms. Goodwitch held her tongue, however, as she thought back to her conversation with Ozpin the previous day.
"You cannot be serious!" Ms. Goodwitch said, a slight rise in her normally controlled voice all that belied her anger at the man calmly sipping coffee in front of her. "She is not well yet! There is no way she should attend classes."
"Doctor Redmond informs me that she is physically healed. She should have no problems going about her daily routine." Ozpin replied mildly, taking another sip of coffee. He tapped his scroll a few times, doubtlessly looking through yet another report on the academy.
"Healed?" Ms. Goodwitch growled. "Have you seen her?" A chill ran through her as she thought back to when she had seen the young girl in her hospital bed. The blankness of her gaze was just do... different from the normally upbeat girl. Ms. Goodwitch had grown to like the young girl and her enthusiasm, even if her scolding the young Rose when they first met hadn't been the best of introductions. What remained of the girl, however...
Ozpin paused for a moment before speaking again. "Glynda, I spoke with Ruby after she woke up. One of the questions I asked her was whether she remembered what a Grimm was." Ozpin frowned for a moment before continuing. "Her answer was a quickly written 'things to kill.' The resolve in her eyes... the desire to put the Grimm down... She may be a better Huntress now than before."
Ms. Goodwitch's anger boiled over at such an offhand comment. "BETTER? Do you really want Summer's child to-"
"Glynda." The sharpness in Ozpin's tone made Ms. Goodwitch stop dead in the middle of her exclamation. "You know what we have to do, as leaders of the Huntsmen. It is not our place to be happy. I don't like it anymore than you do, but we will do as we must."
Ms. Goodwitch released an angry sigh before spinning on her heel and walking briskly away. She knew Ozpin was right. This was how the world worked for the Hunters and Huntresses.
That didn't mean she had to like it.
Snapping herself back to the present, Ms. Goodwitch sighed. Looking at the two girls standing in the open circle, ready to test themselves against one another, Ms. Goodwitch steeled herself.
"You may begin."
At first, the two girls simply stared at each other. Pyrrha raised Miló and Akoúo̱ in an easy defensive stance, preparing for the other girl to move. She was reasonably confident in herself; after all, she was a few years older than her opponent and had one Mistral's regional tournament several times, so she didn't think fighting Ruby would too difficult. Of course, she had learned the hard way many times not to underestimate her opponent, so she resisted the urge to get cocky, and kept herself in the moment.
"Alright, Ruby." Pyrrha called out with a smile to the silent girl standing in front of her, scythe at the ready. "I know you probably aren't 100% yet, so let's take this easy, alright?"
Ruby's silence was slightly unsettling to Pyrrha, but she shook off the feeling as she prepared to make the first move.
As she took a step forward, Ruby struck.
Activating her semblance, the girl in red lept forward at Pyrrha, spinning to bring Crescent Rose to bear on Pyrrha. As the rest of the class gasped at Ruby's speed, Pyrrha brought Akoúo̱ up to stop the swing.
She let out a surprised gasp as she staggered, shocked at how hard Ruby hit. Regaining her balance, Pyrrha drove forward with Miló, attempting to exploit the opening.
Ruby twisted Crescent Rose to use the haft of the weapon to deflect Pyrrha's attack, then disengaged as she leapt back, to settle into a combat stance again. Pyrrha met the silent girl's eyes, and found them a glare of pure intensity staring back at her.
Ruby didn't seem like she was playing around. She looked like she wanted a fight.
Pyrrha smiled grimly, adjusting her stance and her attitude. Just from that single exchange, she could tell that this was going to be interesting.
The rest of the class watched in rapt excitement as the two girls clashed again and again. Their fight almost looked like the two were dancing as they fought back and forth, spinning and twisting. Finally, after a furious few minutes, the two separated again, both panting from their exertions.
Through her heavy breathing, Pyrrha smiled. She believed she could win this. In their last fight, she had managed to get a hand onto Crescent Rose. It had only been for a moment, but now Pyrrha could feel the slight tug of Crescent Rose on her semblance. Very few had ever been able to defeat her once she began to push and pull with her semblance to give her the edge she needed. Glancing up at the Aura meters on the screen above, she was vaguely surprised to see that the two girls were fairly even, hovering at about half of their full capacity; the fight wouldn't end until one of their auras got too low to continue.
Looking back at her opponent, Pyrrha was again met with the intense gaze of the mute Ruby. The silent girl had also controlled her breathing, and was holding Crescent Rose back behind her as she crouched, obviously preparing another strike. Pyrrha pulled herself away from the girl's soulless silver gaze and focused on the scythe she was wielding. All she had to do was...
Ruby leapt forward, activating her semblance in a flurry of rose petals as she engaged as she had before, giving Crescent Rose a large, horizontal swipe towards Pyrrha's chest. Focusing and calling her semblance, Pyrrha mentally grasped Crescent Rose and pushed. Instead of the tip of the scythe's blade connecting with the girl, by the time Ruby reached Pyrrha Crescent Rose was already on it's backswing, it's swing accelerated by Pyrrha's magnetic semblance. Ruby just had time to widen her eyes in surprise before she was spent sprawling as Pyrrha slammed Akoúo̱ into her face. A sharp crack echoed throughout the room Ruby hit the ground and lay still.
Pyrrha too widened her eyes. She hadn't meant to hit Ruby so hard. "Are you alright?" She called, worried that her friend was genuinely injured.
Ruby slowly pushed herself to her feet, as silent as ever. When she finally lifted her eyes to meet Pyrrha's gaze, Pyrrha was stunned by what she saw.
Ruby was angry.
A fiery rage burned in her silver eyes. Pyrrha took an involuntary step back and settle into a defensive stance. She had never seen Ruby this angry, or angry at all; her mind cast back to lunch. What had Weiss said?
"That's not like her is it?"
"No, no it isn't."
On the far side of the room, Ruby seemed to control herself. Her stare was still just as intense, but the moment of anger seemed to have passed. The mute girl locked eyes with Pyrrha again, before seeming to jump a little. A flash passed over face, and she smiled a bit, a grim smile of a huntress who had found her prey.
Pyrrha tensed. She had a feeling that this was going to be it. Whoever lost the next exchange would lose the spar.
Even with how tense she was, Pyrrha managed a small chuckle. It hadn't seemed much like a spar, had it. She had had less intense matches at the highest levels of tournaments than this. Sighing, she refocused of Ruby.
As she expected, Ruby was the first to move. But, she did something that Pyrrha certainly hadn't expected.
Ruby threw Crescent Rose.
Twirling once, twice to add some extra momentum to the weapon, Ruby sent her scythe spinning across the room. The class gasped in shock, and Pyrrha yelped in surprise as she again reached out with her semblance to deflect the weapon.
So focused was she on stopping the spinning Crescent Rose that she almost didn't see the crimson blur of Ruby herself.
Moving far faster than Pyrrha had thought her capable, Ruby slid at her legs. She swept Pyrrha's legs out from under her as the older girl was focused on the scythe, knocking her flat on her back as she let out a gasp of surprise. As Crescent Rose whirred as it spun off to the side, as Pyrrha had managed to deflect it enough, Ruby pressed her advantage.
The young girl, eyes still terrible in their lack of emotion, gave a small hop before bringing both her legs down on to Pyrrha's stomach. Years of running and training gave those small legs enough force to make Pyrrha cry out in genuine pain as the dual-booted kick punched through her remaining aura and knocked the wind out of her.
Immediately, Ruby leapt off her, sprinting towards Crescent Rose as Pyrrha shoved herself off the ground, gasping for air and preparing to fend off the assault she knew was coming.
It never came.
Ms. Goodwitch shouted, "Enough! Due to Miss Nikos' aura falling to dangerous levels, that is the end of the spar."
Shocked, Pyrrha looked at the screen above as she wheezed. Sure enough, her gaze was met with the gentle red flashing of her aura bar. She coughed once in surprise, and looked back towards Ruby, who had picked up Crescent Rose and was staring back at her.
Controlling her breathing- and massaging her aching stomach- Pyrrha stood straight and offered her hand to Ruby. "Great job! That was a really good fight." Pyrrha said brightly, happy that if she had to lose to anyone, it was her friend.
Ruby didn't even spare her a glance as she walked back to her seat, ignoring the proffered handshake.
Pyrrha's hand dropped, as did the smile on her face. She looked sadly for a moment at the back of Ruby as the girl walked away before following at taking her place again amongst her team. Jaune laid a hand on her arm as she sat down, giving her a reassuring pat as they all wondered what Ruby had become.
The room had fallen silent as the class contemplated what had just occurred. Pyrrha had lost! The girl was seen as easily the best fighter in the grade, and she had been taken down by a girl who had just come out of the hospital. Whispers broke out as the students turned to each other, quietly discussing and gossipping.
Ms. Goodwitch coughed, breaking the ensuing noise. "That was an excellent match. Both sides displayed great skill and creativity in their fight. Our next two contestants will be..."
The rest of the class was a blur to Weiss. She had watched the fight between Ruby and Pyrrha with rapt attention, and couldn't deny the moment of pride she had felt when Ruby had been declared the winner. However...
Weiss had never seen Ruby willingly part with Crescent Rose except to sleep and shower. She always seemed to have the weapon folded up and hidden behind her cloak, no matter where she went. For her to have just thrown it aside...
Weiss clenched her fists as she attempted to pay attention and ignore the feelings welling up inside her. Why did this have to happen to Ruby... why was any of this happening?
That night, Weiss was awoken to find that she wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping.
The heiress hadn't been able sleep well ever since Ruby had been loaded into the medical airship, held in stasis by Weiss' dust-infused ice. It had only gotten worse after Ruby had woken up to reveal herself to be... whatever she had become. Every time Weiss closed her eyes, she was confronted with those cold silver eyes that used to be so full of life...
Shivering, Weiss banished the thought. She poked her head out from under her covers to take in the silent, dark world around her, trying to ascertain what had woken her up. Gradually, she became aware of a soft crying.
It sounded like... it sounded like it was coming from above her.
"Ruby?" Weiss whispered into the darkness before pulling herself out of bed and stepping up to see the second level.
Weiss' eyes were met with a pitiful sight on Ruby's bed. Ruby lay there, eyes squeezed tightly shut, with tears streaming down a face contorted with fear and anguish. She quivered as she slept, shivering as though a she was sleeping in the dead of winter. Weiss noted absentmindedly that the girl was not using the Grimm patterned blindfold that she had night before... she had changed.
Her heart pierced by the crying mess of a girl in front of her, Weiss reached out a hand and stroked the sleeping Ruby's forehead. "There, there," She crooned, "You're alright. You're safe here."
Though the younger girl still slept, Weiss was sure that she had heard the comfort. The shaking slowed and the redhead's face softened, though the tears still ran down. Struck by a sudden urge, Weiss did something she had never thought herself capable of.
Leaning forward quickly, Weiss pressed her lips to Ruby's forehead.
The effect was immediate, on Weiss as well as Ruby. As Weiss blushed redder than Ruby's hair, shocked at her boldness, Ruby's face cleared. Her face was still streaked with tears, but suddenly she smiled through it all, the first genuine smile Weiss had seen from her in far too long. The younger girl's breathing smoothed, and Weiss felt another burst of pride, though a different pride than she had felt from Ruby's victory over Pyrrha. And pride was certainly not the only emotion Weiss felt as she looked on Ruby's face as she entered a peaceful sleep.
"Sweet dreams." Weiss whispered as she slipped back down to her own bed, still blushing. She fervently hoped that Blake and Yang hadn't happened to wake up and see that. Just knowing that she had... kissed Ruby was embarrassing enough, without anyone else knowing. Her face reddening again at the mere thought, Weiss pressed her face into her pillow and attempted to banish the thoughts from her mind.
She couldn't deny, however, that Ruby's smile and the sound of Ruby's calm breath made Weiss sleep much easier that night.
And we're back again, after way too long. I'm sorry (as usual) about my lack of punctuality; school and a lack of motivation got in the way of my continued writing. However, I got something out, at least!
Speaking of that something, I apologise if this chapter is of a lower quality than the previous ones. I wrote this a fairly long time after the other chapters (at least two months I'd say), so I might have gotten out of the flow of the story. I hope not, but I think it's certainly possible. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!
Finally, as usual, please leave a review with comments, criticism, complements, or hate for this horrible author and his inability to write on time. I hate that guy.