Chapter 3: A Chance Meeting

Ruby sat upon one of the many benches available within the dust ship with her eyes closed as she meditated. Once again due to her father's clumsiness she was on her way to Vale to perform a task in his stead only this time it was a bit different.

"Eh… Sorry Ruby… I could have sworn the date was different," came a sheepish mutter beside her.

Ruby didn't open her eyes as she answered.

"Honestly Dad, between your sense of time and Yang's puns I don't know which one is worse."

Ruby felt her father slumping a bit in the seat beside her.

"Cruel…"

One might wonder why she was currently in the dust ship with her father, or more importantly what her father forgot that caused him to turn to Ruby… like every other time.

"So Ruby."

Ruby didn't look up from her current task of washing the dishes, but she did let out a hum of acknowledgement to let her father know she was listening.

"I, uh… well… you see…" the man started slowly and sheepishly.

Ruby knew this tone of voice all too well and this caused her to sigh heavily.

"What do you need me to do?" asked Ruby, cutting off the older man's rambling.

Ruby's father laughed nervously.

Ruby sighed at the memory that went through her head. Due to some mishaps with the roof, Ruby's father had decided to call a woodshop in Vale to place an order. Mind you, Ruby was the one who had to tell her father about the problem in the first place before he frantically made the scroll-call. The only problem with that call was the fact that in his rush, Ruby's father didn't realize that he set the date to be the day of freshmen orientation at Signal, something no instructors could miss unless they wished to risk their jobs.

Perhaps I should have made sure to check on what date he planned.

A loud ding was suddenly heard overhead signaling that the pilot had turned on the intercom.

"This is your pilot speaking, we are beginning our approach to Vale. Please make sure you have all your personal belongings as we make our descent. Thank you for flying with us and enjoy your time in Vale."

It was easy to tell due to the rather lifeless droning from the pilot making it obvious that he had likely recited these lines many times before just as Ruby heard that same greeting word-for-word every time she had to go to Vale.

I think someone needs a change of pace.

Soon enough the dust ship docked at the airport and all the passengers filed out before scattering in different directions as they headed off to do whatever they set out to do in the city. Ruby made to do so as well stating a quick farewell to her father who replied with yet another apology as he made his way towards Signal. It was fortunate that Ruby knew where the woodshop was thanks to the man who owned it being an old friend of her father's. She had gone there many times in order to pick up materials for some of the upgrades she made; wood was a very useful material after all.

"Let's cross the street right now, honey."

Ruby idly let her eyes drift over towards the source of the voice only to see a woman tugging on the arm of her daughter as they hurriedly crossed the street. It seemed that the two were in a rush to get somewhere, but Ruby knew better. She was aware of the fact that the two were walking at an idle pace before then, window shopping until the mother spotted her approaching and went out of her way to avoid crossing paths with Ruby.

"You kind of have this… weird aura that says, 'Don't talk to me or I'll kill you'."

That was what her sister had told her when she walked with Ruby one day to pick up her shotgun gauntlets. While it was a rather dramatic way to phrase it, it still was fairly accurate in the fact that it kept people from interacting with her, but in all honesty Ruby couldn't find it with her to care all that much for this.

I've stopped caring about the fact that my own uncle ignores me, so why should I care about what random strangers think?

Thus Ruby turned her eyes back towards the path she was walking, not sparing the mother and the child another glance. Ruby also ignored the many others who gave her a wide birth as she walked instead focusing on her trek through the city streets until she came across an older looking building made of bricks. Ruby looked up at a rather small wooden sign that hung by metal chains from a simple metal bar that was bolted to the brick wall. The sign read:

Simon's Woodshop

It was simple and got the message across, just like the owner who came up with the name. Ruby spared the sign a glance before she walked up to the door and opened it. Upon entering the building, Ruby's nostrils were immediately assaulted by the smell of freshly cut wood and cigarette smoke. Ruby continued on idly taking note of the few people that were there working with the various tools available at the woodshop.

"Oh. Ruby," stated a monotonous voice.

Ruby looked over at the speaker to see a man leaning against a wall, his arms crossed and a cigarette in his mouth. The man himself was fairly decently built but his height made him appear scrawny with the fact that he was wearing a red plaid shirt that was a size too big for him along with a pair of beaten and torn denim jeans and worn brown shoes. To complete the man's rather haggard appearance, was his shaggy, medium length hair, which was tied up into a messy ponytail and his dull grey eyes.

"Simon," Ruby replied in a similar fashion.

Simon and Ruby shared a stare down for a while, neither willing to back down before Simon finally allowed a ghost of a smile to appear on his face.

"Good to see you again."

Ruby gave her own smile.

"Likewise."

Simon looked around Ruby, searching for a certain someone before looking back towards Ruby.

"Tai messed up again?"

"Yup."

"Figures."

Simon let out an exasperated sigh as he started playing with his shirt's collar, a habit that Ruby noticed Simon had ever since she first met him. And had seen him do once in a while in all the times she came here. Honestly Simon was like Ruby's second uncle with how much she hung out with him.

Almost more of an uncle to me than Qrow.

While a venomous thought it was also sadly true. Unlike those who were related to Ruby by blood as well as the strangers that walked the streets, Simon was the only who truly spoke to Ruby eye-to-eye. He was blunt and honest, two traits that Ruby found severely lacking when she interacted with her father or her sister while interaction with her real uncle was nonexistent. Simon was another reason Ruby came to the city, making it a habit to visit him whenever she was in Vale. Simon allowed her to hang out in the shop as long as she wanted so long as she didn't disturb the customers. Most of her visits, Ruby spent time fixing up some of the older equipment around the shop while they weren't being used as a way to pay Simon back for all that he did for her. While he saw it as a trivial thing, to Ruby it meant the world to her. He was a big reason why Ruby even did most of the things she did for her father.

"Honesty I sometimes wonder how that dumbass even got the certification to teach little kids how to swing dangerous weapons around," said Simon as he pushed off the wall he was leaning on and trudged over towards a nearby workbench motioning Ruby to follow.

Ruby walked along with Simon with a small smile on her face.

"Well, life is full of mysteries isn't it?" she asked.

Simon let out a snort,

"Your father being the biggest of them all," he stated idly as he stopped in front of the bench where Simon took out a piece of paper from his pocket which was crumpled up due to Simon stuffing it into his pocket without a care in the world, "So Tai ordered some replacement pieces in order to patch some weathering on your roof right?"

Ruby nodded in confirmation. Simon looked down at the paper before he took his cigarette out of his mouth and exhaled allowing a trail of smoke to escape in a long stream.

"Well unfortunately the wood's not here yet," stated Simon as tugged on his collar again.

Ruby lifted a brow.

"That's new, did your usual supplier bail on you?"

Simon let out another snort.

"No, they're out of business because of shitty management."

Ruby let out a sniff of amusement.

"A long time coming I suppose."

"Yeah."

"So who's the new supplier?" asked Ruby as she leaned on the workbench they were near.

Simon sighed as he placed his cigarette back in his mouth.

"Got called up from another old friend up north, apparently the guy is a woodsman now and offered to sell me some good quality lumber for a fairly cheap price," he stated, "I guess this is what I get for making a decision just for the hell of it."

Ruby lifted a brow.

"When did you not make a decision 'just for the hell of it'?"

"The day I became your 'uncle'," stated Simon as he surveyed the shop, "But that was probably the only time."

Ruby couldn't help but feel humbled at the simple comment as she lowered her head.

"…Simon…"

Simon let out a sigh through his nose.

"Idiot, I told you many times before that thanks isn't necessary, it's the least I can do since that Tai can't seem to do his job as a father right at the moment."

Ruby smiled at the floor and allowed a comfortable silence to settle between them even as the ambiance of the woodshop took hold again. That moment was fleeting however as the entrance was suddenly thrown open, the sound of the door slamming the wall startling all the occupants of the building save for Ruby and Simon who simply looked over. Standing there was a burly looking man with a bushy beard and ginger colored hair. He looked like the stereotypical image of a lumberjack. The man looked around before his gaze fell upon Simon before he let out a mighty laugh.

"Simon!" the man hollered, his powerful voice reverberating off the walls of the enclosed space, Ruby could have sworn she felt the floor shake, "It has been too long my friend!"

"Not long enough," muttered Simon as he started picking at his ear with his pinky.

Ruby caught a small smirk on Simon's face, however telling her that he was at least a little happy to see his old friend again. The other man, apparently having heard Simon let out another booming laugh.

"Now, now there's no need to be so harsh!" he stated jovially, "After all I did just drive across the entire country of Vale to see you!"

Simon rolled his eyes.

"Did you also remember to bring in the wood?"

The man let out a pout of indignation.

"Woah there now, unlike Little Tai, I take care to handle important business!"

Simon rolled his eyes again while Ruby observed the other man wondering how he knew her father. As if sensing the extra pair of eyes on him, the burly man looked over towards Ruby.

"Oh? Who's this now?"

Simon closed his eyes before he placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"This is Ruby, 'Little Tai's' daughter," he said before he motioned his hand towards the man, "Ruby, this is Torvald."

Torvald, as Ruby now knew, studied her for a while, his expression unreadable, which slightly unnerved Ruby before he put on another smile.

"Pleasure to meet you!" he stated holding his hand out.

Ruby let out a polite smile and shook his hand. He had a very strong grip, not that it really bothered Ruby.

"Pleasure to meet you," she said.

The pleasure is all yours.

"Well let's go see to what you brought and make sure it's everything," said Simon as he made his way between Ruby and Torvald towards the door.

"Why don't have any faith in me?" grumbled Torvald as followed Simon outside.

Thank you Simon.

Ruby watched as the two walked out the door, taking note of the way the two talked back and forth as old friends should. Suddenly Ruby felt like she shouldn't be there. With that thought, Ruby pushed off the workbench and made her way towards the door as well. She knew Simon wouldn't mind if she left without saying goodbye, she'd be back soon anyway… when there was less company around. And so Ruby made to go back home, back to her simple, quite life… or so she would have if not for the fact that she ran right into what felt like a wall. Letting out a small sound of surprise, Ruby fell backwards only for a pair of rather warm hands to save her from the concrete floor.

"Sorry, you okay there?"

Ruby looked up and met eyes with her savior and what she saw was the ocean.


Jaune had expected many things from this trip.

Yesterday, after Jaune had that run in with the Wolfgang, Torvald approached him again stating that he had a delivery to make with a new client down at Vale. It wasn't very strange for this to happen especially since while Sol Harbor's main buyer was Atlas, they were still considered Valean. Torvald had asked… no… more stated that Jaune was to come with him and Jaune, in the state of mind he was in didn't really have the energy nor drive to complain.

"It'll be good to see new sights every once in a while, no?" Torvald had said as they loaded Torvald's large semi with a few of the logs that they had chopped down that morning.

Jaune agreed to this statement. He hadn't actually been to the main city of Vale, most of his life was spent in the village that he grew up in. Perhaps what he needed was a change in atmosphere to clear his head and calm down his nerves. A real plus was that the Wolfgang wouldn't be able to follow him all the way to Vale too.

And so the two made the ten-hour drive there and Jaune had known it would likely be a tedious journey due to the fact that both would be sitting in a truck for a very long time. Jaune spent the first couple of hours napping before his uncle told Jaune to drive so that could nap. Jaune didn't have a problem with this, especially since his father had taught him how to handle a semi at a very young age in hopes that Jaune would be able to help out with the family business. There were a few pit stops for bathroom or food breaks where Jaune would immediately be surrounded by the local critters all while the local Grimm would slink into the shadows, their red eyes balefully watching from afar. These two things were also what Jaune had come to expect and also made him glad that he went with his uncle.

Upon reaching the wall of the main city, Jaune got to watch Torvald argue with the Valean security about "protocol" due to the fact that visitors through ground transportation was apparently rare and the security officers at the time had forgotten how the procedure went. While amusing, the whole ordeal took an hour to rectify and afterwards Jaune was able to see a sight that he had never seen before: Buildings made of metal and glass that towered over any of the wooden houses back home, black roads of asphalt designated specifically for cars and trucks and concrete side walks specifically made for pedestrians that were a far cry from the dirt roads Jaune had walked, and finally the amount of people that were there. This was without taking note of the technology that was available there, the first time that Jaune saw a dust ship flying by Jaune couldn't stop staring at it until his Uncle finally told him what it was. Jaune had remembered the description of Vale through Marissa, who had read many books on what city life was like, but books could never compare to the real thing.

Thus after allowing Jaune to gawk at the city, Torvald drove them to their destination, brick building with an old sign that read:

Simon's Woodshop

Jaune remembered wondering if the owner of the shop was as lazy as he was. Torvald had told Jaune wait by the truck while he went in to speak to an old friend and thus Jaune waited by the entrance of the shop keeping a watchful eye on the truck. As Jaune waited, he got to observe an oddity, that oddity being that the people who passed by him on the sidewalk seemed to start off looking tired and slightly miserable only to leave a bit happier when they passed by him… Perhaps that was just Jaune over thinking things. Besides that, the local birds still flocked around him as expected and Jaune even caught a few sewer rats surfacing and gathering nearby only to hide more in the shadows when the door was thrown open. Torvald walked out with a rather worn-out looking man about half Torvald's size (mostly due to the fact that Torvald was basically a giant). The two seemed to be in a deep conversation with each other about a past they shared, something that Jaune couldn't help but feel slightly jealous of before he shook it off and made to help his uncle with whatever he needed.

The events that followed would forever be engrained in Jaune's memory. As Jaune walked, the door suddenly opened forcing Jaune to stop short to allow the person to pass him, only for that person to run right into him before falling backwards. Using his fast reflexes, Jaune managed to grab the person before they fell to the floor saying a quick apology with a nervous smile on his face as he took care that his monstrous strength didn't hurt the person in his grasp. When he finally met the eyes of the girl, as he found out now that he got a good look, before him, what he saw glowing silver.

Now it was the present time and Jaune was frozen in his position staring into the eyes of the strange girl who ran into him with the most mesmerizing silver eyes that he had every seen. How much time had passed? Seconds? Hours? Jaune couldn't really tell in the trance he was in.

"Are ya going to kiss her or what?"

The spell was broken by the boisterous sound of his uncle calling him and soon he realized that he was holding the girl for a very awkward amount of time. He immediately set her upright, let go and backed off, his face beet red.

"Gah! Sorry!" he yelped waving his hands in front of his face.

It didn't help that the girl continued to stare at him with a blank expression on her face; her eyes seemed to stare into his soul. Jaune scratched the back of his head awkwardly before he finally managed to take in the rest of the girl's appearance. She was fairly tall compared to most girls he had seen back home, her hair was long, straight, and raven-colored with red tips, a few of the bangs slightly shielding her left eye and really pronounced her face due to her skin being paler than most people had seen. The girl wore a black jacket over a maroon shirt, a pair of dark blue denim jeans and black traveling boots. Completing the look and likely the most second most noticeable thing the girl had (the first being her eyes) was a bright red scarf that was wrapped around the girl's neck.

She's still staring at me.

Jaune stole a glance at his uncle who simply smiled back rather mischievously, which meant that Jaune was not going to be receiving any help from his uncle anytime soon. Jaune then met eyes with the haggard man who stared back at him with narrowed, dull grey eyes. The silent message was simple: mess up and you're in for a world of pain. Jaune gulped before looking back at the girl… who was still staring.

"Uh…" he started a memory from his father suddenly flashing in his mind.

"Remember my son! Ladies always like confidence!"

Jaune kept back a grimace at the memory.

I don't think that helps me in this situation, Dad!

Thus Jaune simply followed his instinct. He smiled his brightest smile and stated a simple phrase:

"Hi! I'm Jaune!"

Suddenly girl before Jaune blinked for the first time since she met eyes with him. Then she blinked again. And then a third time before she finally seemed to realize the situation she was in. A pink tinge appeared on her cheeks before she seemed to quickly school her features and put on a bright, polite smile she spoke in a wonderfully melodic voice.

"I'm Ruby, nice to meet you."

Jaune found himself at a lost for words, not knowing how to respond. Ruby, as she was named, seemed to take that decision right out of his hands as she kept talking.

"Sorry, but I really need to get going, thanks for catching me, Jaune."

Then like that, she was gone. Jaune only managed to get a glimpse of her red scarf as she walked passed him and into the crowd before she disappeared from sight, making Jaune wonder if it was all just a dream.

"Oy, you gonna stand there all day, lover boy?" called his uncle.

Jaune shook himself from his stupor and turned to his uncle apologetically.

"Sorry Uncle Tor kinda got a bit sidetracked."

"And then some," stated Torvald with a cheeky grin.

Jaune simply looked to the side, heat making its way to his head as embarrassment continued to kick in.

"Let's just get this over with, day light's burning," stated the other man.

Jaune looked over towards him again only to almost physically flinch as the man seemed to continue to stare at Jaune rather balefully.

Great, someone else that doesn't like me, that was fast.

Jaune bit back a sigh as he continued to smile ready to help his uncle with whatever task this man had set for them. Focus was a bit hard to grasp, however, as his mind was still lingered upon the colors of red and silver. Jaune had expected many things, but this was one of the things he definitely wasn't expecting.


Ruby sat upon the dust ship back to Patch suddenly feeling colder than she had ever been before. She hugged herself as the image of a stranger with blonde hair, sun-kissed skin and ocean blue eyes resurfaced to the front of her mind.

The boy, despite being a stranger, despite not knowing who Ruby was, met her in the eyes; something that only Simon was able to do. Ruby still remembered the warmth she felt upon looking at his eyes and she remembered basking in it, even as the boy tried to dispel the awkward situation that had surely arose due to her constant staring. The warm feeling was a good feeling… as well as a terrifying one. Thus Ruby found herself retreating into her shell, simply greeting Jaune with a polite smile and bidding him a polite farewell before making her escape into the crowds. She had hoped that getting away from him would get rid of these strange thoughts in her head, but it only served to make things worse.

"Hi! I'm Jaune!"

He said those words with so much warmth behind them and that bright smile seemed to light up the entire world around her. Ruby reached up and gripped onto the scarf around her neck as she closed her eyes, her mind suddenly filled with the grand blue ocean and the golden sun.