Ch. 7: The Seed is Planted
Once it got remotely quiet enough Ruby climbed up to her feet from the bed and walked towards the door. She reached for the door handle then stopped inches away.
"What if it's locked?" She asked herself. If this door happened to be locked Ruby would probably lose hope. She buried this feeling in her chest and took the knob. With a slow turn the door actually opened. What came through the door tickled her nose. Ruby's never been a big meat eater, but she knows steak when she smells it and she wanted some… That's a lie she wanted it all. To sink her fangs into that hot, juicy, medium rare steak.
Ruby tilted head over to the right a bit at her peculiar terms.
Fangs? Where did that come from? She has teeth not fangs.
Ruby left it alone and pushed through the doorway. She stopped when she heard something fall down to the ground. It was so loud it might as well be equated to a shot fired from Yang's Ember Celica at point blank near the ear. That thing was so loud that it was annoying to hear at times. This was that much louder which made it worse.
She turned around and looked down directly at the thing that blew up her eardrums. She noticed a white rose badge on the floor. Mother's badge. The last reminder she has of mother, her idol, and one of the greatest huntresses in the world of Remnant. Ruby leaned over the picked it up, but for some reason it felt different in her hands. She didn't understand why, but it just felt different. Ruby ignored that and clipped it to her pants belt loop and turned back to the door. She closed the door on her way out just to be polite and followed her nose.
She walked down a simple hallway with tan colored walls and dark blue carpet a couple feet before she reached different part of this place. "Oh wow," she marveled at the sight she was treated to. The room was so large with couches, a sofa, two love seats, and a long table on top of a cool looking rug. It was like a living room, dining room, and entertainment room put together. Almost like a dream home or every rich person's summer home.
Maybe her death won't be so bad.
Ruby's eyes went to the large panel of windows on the opposite side of the room. No, they're doors because they have handles. The view of the cleared backyard and the few Grimm in the forest was super cool. The television was so huge as well and hung in the corner of the room on the wall across from her. If this is where she was sent for her final resting place in death she could 'live' with this. Ruby snickered to herself and walked in.
She noticed a weapons rack at the front door and wandered towards it out of curiosity. She turned to look inside and saw a whole manner of different weapons inside of it. "O! M! G!" She reached for the first one that caught her fancy. It was obviously a sniper rifle of sorts but so very long with a sword hilt instead of a hammer. She balanced the weapon in hand the best she could without dropping it and barely struggled to keep it up. The weapon was heavy and honestly, she surprised herself with how long she could hold it. She placed it back and reached for what looked to be a machine gun. When Ruby took the grip then she felt something give. The machine gun narrowed and a blade shot out from the sides. "Whoa!" Ruby has seen and taken apart her fair share of weapons but this craftsmanship was unlike anything she had ever seen.
She looked down to the weapons and even picked up the scent of coals in the air. A forge to be accurate. That must mean these were made here. That means there's so many more weapons to touch and caress than this. "And I'm going to spend my death time here." Ruby grinned and hugged the gun blade to her cheek. "I'm in heaven~" Ruby sang.
"No, you're not."
Time froze for Ruby when she heard this voice. It was so dark, deep, and unnaturally hollow. Those three words echoed in her ear, but how they were said brought chills to her spine. Ruby slowly turned around and knew she was still in her nightmare. He was standing there. The monster in the hood here to torture and kill her again. In his hands was a weapon of mass genocide and Ruby was the unfortunate race to suffer from it. In his evil and dark hands was… A plate with a steak that looked grilled, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob? Goddess above he must plan to eat that in front of her and laugh evilly at her pain.
"Please put that down," he spoke in that same calm and hollow tone that made her wince, but Ruby quickly did as told. "You shouldn't touch other people's weapons without permission. understand?" He was chastening her, and it honestly made her feel even worse for some reason. Who is this man? "I made you some food," he gestured to the plate on hand and then to a table behind him. "Now come to the table and eat." With that the man turned around and left her at the front door with only her shock keeping her company. He didn't do anything. He didn't touch her, and he barely looked at her. He made her food? Ruby wasn't sure if she should to trust the man from one of her nightmares, but her stomach urged her to go forward.
Ruby took a moment to examine this strange man. The man has really dark skin from what she can see from his naked hands. He was tall as well. A bit shorter than Uncle Qrow. He wore some sort very ornate like clothing. It could be called fancy almost for his pants seem a little more like trousers he blouses just above his ankles over pitch black socks. His pants are dark nearing black color with a greyish sheen to it. It like ash was sewn into the fabric of his clothing not just his trousers. His blouse, best way she could describe it, was a mixture of rust red, dark blue, and a sort of dark green that blended well together to different areas of this blouse. The colors caught her eyes and she caught herself staring at how they seemed to change with every little movement he made or the change of the angle of light upon it. Ruby found herself mystified but also equally intimidated. She noticed a couple straps around his thighs and waist like belts. They also reached around his back in a diagonal fashion from his left hip to the right shoulder and across is back in a crisscross fashion the wrapped around his shoulders then trailed down his sides.
Being a gun nut she could tell right off the back that the full body harness he wore was meant for him to carry more than one weapon without effecting mobility too drastically. The way it's made and the loops for his holsters or chest knives looked so clean and shiny. His weapons, if the ones in the rack really are his, are so well maintained and made as well. No one that appreciates weapons in such a manner could be that bad of a guy. Maybe it was just a dream like the one about Bloody Ruby. That might be it. That hood still creeped her out. His face covered by a cloth mask, and his head shrouded by that hood made him too strange and too mysterious for her to be comfortable. Ruby wondered just what is or was under all of that. All she could see under his hood was his eyes. Dark chocolate brown and lifeless. What if this man was dead just like her and has been her for years. Maybe the time here made him like this. There but not all there. Like yeah his body is here, but just his body. Do spirits even have a body? She thought through this for a moment.
Ruby blink when suddenly found herself looking at this man. Not just looking at him but actually looking At and Into him. It doesn't make sense but does as well. She saw his body in ways she never thought possible. She never really understood Yang's fascination with the male bodice but from what she could see it was quite amazing. His body was like a sculpture of pure brute strength yet shocking speed. It made her a little curious to see what it looked like under the clothing. Curiosity killed the cat but good thing she's already dead.
Ruby paled and reached for her chest. She can still feel pain though. So maybe she's not dead like he mentioned. He can't be dead as well especially with what she could see within his man. He's so bright. Like a sun on two legs. Ruby had to shield her eyes from it once she saw it. It wasn't a red and hot sun though. It was like dark in the center with a whitish outline keeping the darkness contained. She saw this but what she felt was much more extreme. She felt…
"Do you want to eat or not?" Ruby jumped and shielded herself with her hands and closed her eyes. She felt an unbridled fear of this man. Afraid of what he'd do whether he's real or fake, and what he planned to do afterwards. Maybe get her fat so he can eat her. She's too young to be food. Well she's been food already that's how she ended up here, but she didn't want to be eaten again. If she's dead she's a soul then. If her soul was eaten she might just disappear and… Ruby didn't want to think about it.
Her stomach growled again, and her body moved towards the table. Ruby blinked as she lost all control and sat down at his table in front of a plate of food. She stared at the dinner plate for a moment and one thought came to mind. "I wish I had some cake as well."
"Heh eh," she heard a chuckle that made her shiver. Worse though she felt embarrassed for speaking her mind in such a way. She looked back and saw the man beast in what she assumed is the kitchen. She thought he was maybe sharpening knife to cut her open like before, but when she looked over the bar she saw him washing dishes. He was in the middle of scrubbing a pot when she took her peek.
'He seems normal enough,' she guessed as she narrowed her eyes a bit to see that light again. She tried but couldn't.
"Eat before it gets cold."
"Yes sir!" She instantly sounded off. This man beast thing had an aura that screamed 'do as I say or else I won't kill you but something much worse' or somewhere along those lines. Ruby wasn't sure if someone can die twice and she wasn't willing to risk it against this thing.
She looked down to her plate and noticed she has a nice set of silverware in front of her along with wooden utensils and some dark grey ones. Ruby didn't understand, but she wanted nothing to do with the dark grey tools. Strange that this bothered her. A spoon is a spoon after all.
Regardless she followed her instincts and left those alone. The wooden ones were so boring in her mind and not really worth messing with so she turned to the silver one. They appeared to be pure silver and if so worth a great deal. Most rich people would pay thousands for a set of silverware seeing that the metal is so very rare. Not like gold. That metal is so useless and abundant it made Ruby wonder why it was ever discovered to begin with.
Ruby reached for the silverware. She always wanted to eat with something classy like this just to rub it in someone's face. Can't really put her finger on who that person was but that didn't stop her from making a grab for the utensil. Ruby stopped half way and grabbed the wooden spoon instead. "I cannot ruin perfectly good silverware like this," she put sagely.
Ruby picked up a steak knife left to the side and her spoon and got to work on preparing her potato to eat. She started out slow, but soon she grew a little impatient. She was hungry and really wanted to eat. Ruby scooped up some of the potatoes and threw it in her mouth. She didn't stop for an instant to chew and just swallowed. Her stomach stopped hurting for a moment but then the hunger pains came back as fast as it went away. 'More,' heard in her head and eagerly complied. Before she knew it she was full of food with a stack of four plates and eight empty cups at the table. Each must have had the same thing on top. A large meaty steak, corn, and potatoes plate. She leaned back and pat her full stomach. She witnessed her uncle do it all that time whenever he got full and always wondered. He just said it was a gluttony thing or something like that and that made it even more confusing to her. Though tapping her stomach did give her a sudden sense of accomplishment. Why? She couldn't guess but just accepted it as 'one of those things' that she heard around the snooze berry vine.
"You must've been hungry."
Ruby blinked and he was right there in front of her. He's just sitting calmly with elbows on the table, fingers intertwined, and chin resting on top of that staring at her. His eyes carried a bluish glow so very unlike the brown or the red she saw earlier and in her dream. The red was so terrible. This blue though is more…good looking? It feels almost invasive for some reason but not in a bad way? It makes no sense.
Ruby quickly remembered what he said and noticed the small stack she had on the table. Her hands were covered with grease and other stuff and her mouth felt sticky. Ruby felt her cheeks heat up and could have sworn he wore a smile on his lips. She couldn't see it, but she could feel it.
"Normally I'd get a thank you for the meal."
Ruby jumped in her seat. That voice of his was still scary. Solemnly she bowed her head with her hands in her lap. "T-Thank you," she said more out of terror than gratification.
"You're welcome." Ruby came back up with her head bowed still. She looked down to the dishes more than him. Something he must have noticed. "If you're willing to look at your mess so much you might as well clean it up." Ruby didn't know what to think or say about this. She's washed her own dishes a couple times at home with dad but not much after that. She nodded regardless and collected her dishes. "The soap is in the bottom cabinet and the scrubber next to the sink. Don't forget to dry them off before placing them on the rack." Ruby really wanted to say 'okay dad' right now because the way daddy talks to his little Rubes is the same this beast man monster thing is now. It's disturbing how similar they sound.
Silently Ruby did as the monster said again. She walked around up two steps and around the bar to the kitchen area. Like the rest of the house it was truly impressive. The fridge was grey and extremely shiny. The tile matched the granite countertops as light met with darkness overhead. Ruby dropped her plates into the sink and nabbed the scrubber. She looked up through the window in front of her and notice that there's a deathstalker outside just resting there inside of the boundaries of the yard. It made her wonder. Ruby was really letting her mind wander today. She quickly got back to work to wash her dishes. "Wow I ate a lot." Usually dad was the bigger eater of the family. Even more then Yang on most days but she just ate enough to feed herself for the whole day. Half a plate would've made her close to full and she ate four instead. She must have really been hungry like the beast man said.
"Are you finished?" The beast asked, his voice seems to come from everywhere. She looked down and found that all the dishes where not done and just sitting in the sink full of water.
"O-one minute!" She rushed through cleaning the plates and cups and placed them to the side. She drained the water and grabbed a drying towel that was next to the sink. She wiped down each one of the plates and the utensils she did use before and placed them on the rack. She walked swiftly back to the table to the man who still didn't move from his spot. Ruby gulped and sat down in the seat she had occupied before and faced him. The man said nothing and just stared at her and she was anxious and getting more tense. She really wanted run away right now but without a weapon how long would she last out there? Then again she's dead so maybe there's nothing to worry about.
"You're not dead," the man said suddenly.
He just said she wasn't dead, but it was difficult to agree with him. Then again dead people can't get hungry. If she wasn't dead then where was she?
"In my home," the man answered her unspoken question.
'Could he read my mind or something?' she thought.
"No, I can't read your mind."
If he couldn't read her mind then how?
"You're thinking out loud right now."
"I don't…" Ruby finally heard herself speak and covered her mouth. Her cheeks burst with fire and so did her ears. The man chuckled shortly but never once moved his pose. Ruby looked down again and tried to make herself appear smaller than she really was. She was actually thinking out loud without even noticing it and this man was laughing at her because of it. That hurt so much. When did she start doing that?
"You're very much alive though you did almost die." Ruby was alive, but she almost died. She wasn't sure if this was good or not. If you're dead you can't die again but if she's still alive then the pain will come back. She could see her sister Yang though and not have to wait. Ruby went through her thought process and the man stayed quiet during. When Ruby was finished he continued. "An alpha beowolf got its claws and fangs on you. When I got my hands on you for the most part you had lost most of your blood. Your injuries were fatal placing you in critical condition. Your chances of surviving were nonexistent. Less than one percent." The man rose his hand and pinched them together then separated them about an inch. The message was quite obvious to her.
"I was an inch from death then," she said sort of nonchalantly. It was like she was talking about the weather almost. She had accepted death so quickly and living her afterlife studying and making weapons in this house, and now she's being told she's actually alive and well. 'Come on I should be happy I'm alive. I should be bouncing off the walls right now, but that's the opposite of what I'm doing. I'm just sitting here with a headache now.' Ruby rubbed her head and groaned. Something the man noticed and seemed to take note of.
"I could assume that you had another four or five minutes to live at the most. Your will is exceptionally strong to stay alive as long as you did but without some form of special treatment you would've perished for sure." The man pointed towards Ruby, more accurately her chest.
Ruby glanced down to the yellow bindings that must have covered her wounds. One she got how? Ruby recounted that the beowolf she fought and how it fought. It was almost like the Grimm was playing with her. It broke her down, slashed her back and chest, slashed open her legs, slit her wrists, and nearly crushed her head in and yet despite all this it was holding back. The injury she remembered the most of was the first injury she sustained from that thing. It's claw came down upon her and she tried to block but it didn't work out well. She felt every second of her flesh being ripped open. Those claws slid into her body like a hot knife through butter.
Ruby looked up towards her wrists, clean and faintly shown any mark. Ruby reached up for her neck and gulped she felt a small line along on left jugular. She lowered her hands to her chest and when form on shoulder and down. One, two, three, and four ridges. She reached down to her thighs and rubbed along the back. She felt the line leading from the inside to outside. That wasn't even half of the wounds she sustained because she knew it cut her more. These are just the ones she remembered the most. Ruby knew a great deal about human physiology and what certain places can spell your end. Ruby questioned right now how she was still alive right now.
"I see you realize a margin amount of the injuries you sustained." Ruby swallowed what she could but still refused to look up towards this man. "They're close and heal over in time."
"Are you going to kill me?" Came out of Ruby's mouth like a squeak but he heard every word. Honestly that question seemed to have amused him. He was laughing at the prospect of killing her. Ruby didn't know whether to be afraid or angry. She literally laughed at her own death a while ago so this man laughing at hers as well can be all that different"
"If I wanted you dead I would've left you with the beowolf instead of saving your life."
So he saved her from the beowolf that almost killed her. 'Man I owe him a lot more than I thought,' Ruby thought to herself but the still left a good question. "But how am I alive though? I'm not complaining because I like living and all but my…" She understood a little from anatomy class and with her injuries and how long she had them she should be dead right now. She shouldn't be breathing because her lung collapsed. She shouldn't be warm because she lost like eight gallons of blood. She shouldn't be walking right now because her legs were sliced open to the point that she couldn't move them without crying in pain. So much has happened to her and yet she still breaths, can move, and can enjoy a good meal like the one this man made for her. Ruby never liked meat as much as she did before. She shouldn't have survived and yet she did, and she wanted to know why.
The man seemed to understand this and nodded. "I can tell you about your treatment if you wish it." Ruby nodded as well to the man that supposedly saved her life. "When I came across you, your clothing were ribbons and covered in blood. I'd say you had maybe three pints of blood left in your body at most and were losing that as well. To save your life you needed your wounds closed fast but cleaned so to prevent infection. You needed a blood transfusion else all or that would've been for naught. So I decided to stop your bleeding the only way I could at the moment." The man rose his hand and on it was a small mark that had to be a scar from a cut. The longer she stared the more it seemed it wasn't there to begin with. It was more like a mark on his being instead of his body if that even makes any sense. Nothing Ruby has been experiencing lately makes a lick of sense though.
"I had to introduce my blood to your system." Ruby blinked not fully understanding the magnitude of what she just heard. The man noticed this and clarified. "My blood carries very special properties that if the one given it survives will make sure said person's life force endures." He pointed to her chest where he touched her.
'That pain from my chest?' Ruby reached for her mark under the wrappings and remembered. The man with the hood, his ghastly red eyes, the sky turning black, the feeling that something wrong like worms were squirming underneath her skin, and the feeling of helplessness. One she never knew before even when a beowolf once trapped her up a tree when she was a little girl. The man was holding her down. She fought but he was too strong. He was doing something to her that's why everything hurt again. The pain was unbelievable. Worse than anything she ever felt. Ruby has been afraid of dying after all there's so much she still has to do, but the things she saw and felt during whatever the man did made her afraid of something worse.
The scar upon her chest from what she could feel was warm to the touch but for new wounds that's nothing new. Right now her wounds barely hurt at all. She was critically injured, and her greatest pain was from her stomach. Being dead was her explanation but now she knows she alive it has to be something different.
She looked up to the man's eyes and before she could think about it something came out of her mouth. "I saw things." 'Wait, why did I say that?' Ruby tried to find an answer to this but found nothing to give her closure. Instead she just kept talking. "I saw my sister. I saw a couple girl's I never met before…" Ruby explained her dream to this man and he calmly and silently listened to her every word. He seemed to understand everything she said even though she herself had no idea what she was talking about. One thing she did realize is that this man's blood is what caused this. He did say it has effects. This man's blood carries special properties to "those who survive," she spoke in a whisper.
"My blood is fairly…potent to normal humans and humanoids. The visions you saw and the dreams you experienced was influenced by my blood."
"So none of it was real?" She asked desperately with a hope that was quickly shot down when he shook his head up and down. Her heart sank, and she felt like puking again but her body seemed to say not to this and kept her dinner in her stomach where it belonged.
"I have a special ability. Some could call it foresight or even Precognition."
This only served to make her even more confused. The confusion quickly turned into excitement. "You mean I can see the future! Awesome!" Ruby put her fist in the air in triumphant then let it fall. The dream she had. If it was one of those future things then that mean she will...She will become…
"Bloody Rose," the man answered her fear, but he sounded sad to have to do this. It helped lessen the pain to hear that he cared for her feelings at the least. "What you saw or rather who you saw are either people you have met but haven't gotten to know truly or will meet eventually." That made some sense to her. She remember a couple things from the two girls she watched Bloody Rose hurt and couple probably recognize them at least a little if she saw them.
"When do I meet them?" The man shook his head. He didn't know. Why would he know? This was her vision and her power of foresight so why would he know anything about her life and three she was with.
"More than likely these three and you are going to be a team since you seem to have some form of nostalgia with them." Again that made sense because she felt they were a team but her own logic came to play. She's a second year at Signal after all so teams are something she doesn't really worry about. "The fact that Bloody Rose was the one harming the members of this team shows that you will be the apex among them." Ruby didn't understand what he meant and turned her head to the side in confusion. "You will be the strongest, maybe the leader." He clarified and that made her blink.
Ruby never pictured herself as the leader of her own team. She would've thought that maybe her older sister would be the leader or maybe the one in black because they seemed to be the oldest in years and experiences. The more Ruby thought of it the more it didn't seem like a good idea. Ruby wouldn't let Yang lead her to breakfast let alone a mission for humanity. Ruby loves her sister to death (she snickered again) but that Yang wasn't always the most reliable person to listen to or follow. Ruby would stand behind her sister in front of anything but that's fighting and the tank doesn't make the best leader. All the video games her friend Nivea had her play said so, and Yang is a tank in every form of the word. Even her semblance is meant to eat damage then dish it back out just as fast. This left the other two and why this 'Bloody Rose' came to being anyway and did what she did.
"I'd never hurt my friends," Ruby said strongly but the man just stared at her. She felt that strength from before leak away.
"Never say never," the man spoke quickly. "If you say Never you are asking for the worst to happen. You must accept what you saw and learn from it."
"But I…" The man rose his hand up and Ruby's mouth closed instantly.
"You don't need to worry about the 'Bloody Rose' phenomena. That was most likely an effect of the initial shock."
'Initial shock? What sort of shock did I undergo?' Ruby mused on this little bit of information but came up with nothing. Luckily the man seemed to have all the answers she needed yet again.
"Your body had to first accept my blood and integrate it into your own blood stream, but the process is lethal. If your body would've kept rejecting it and you'd give in to the pain, you would've died. if you were lucky." The man leaned back from his hands into his chair. "As you can see your body accepted the blood and in an instant my blood got to work to save you but a couple drops would not have been enough. As I said you needed a transfusion but if you couldn't handle a couple drops a steady stream would've meant nothing. The results would've been the same. After my blood stopped your bleeding, both internally and externally, I brought you into my home to wash out your injuries."
So the first part of her dream with the monster beowolf and him was the initial shock he mentioned. The dream the seemed to very real must have come after or during the blood transfusion that saved her life. This blood changed her or is changing her little by little. Ruby thought it was nothing, but she could feel something crawling under her skin. Something was making her feel things and think strange things. Maybe that's why she's so calm about this insanity.
"I created a dust powder when added to water will automatically run into and clean every wound you have." The man continued, and Ruby perked up a little at the mention of this tub thing.
"Like a healing tank," Ruby said with blatant excitement. A healing tank would be so cool to see like from her video games.
The man cocked his head to the side a moment then nodded. "Something like that. I left you in the 'tank' for ten or so minutes to get the items I needed to do the transfusion."
"So your blood stops bleeding and heals wounds?" She asked quickly before he could continue. Honestly she was extremely curious now about what kind of blood that could do all of this.
"Curious I see," the man jested she thinks but it was hard to tell. His tone never changed and still couldn't see his face. "My blood keeps its host alive and grows stronger the stronger you make it." Again with the confusing words. He speaks like the blood is its own living entity that has a mind of its own. This sounded totally crazy but maybe, just maybe, there's some truth to this. Ruby rubbed the area around her heart and took a deep breath. She didn't know why she did this but for some reason she felt a little tingle at that area. Maybe this had something to do with his blood.
"What does that mean? Like how?" She finally asked him. This blood thing was so confusing and if Ruby wasn't so calm right now she'd be freaking out and running away in a daze.
"If you eat a great deal like you have it makes your blood richer same with drinking the right assortment of drink or even taking in an entity." That last part brought out even more of her confusion. Ruby was a bout filled up on nonsense for the day, but it seemed the stone just keeps on rolling. "I'll explain later. If you take part in the joys of your blood as well it makes it richer like you've felt when touching my weaponry without permission," he reminded her, and Ruby smiled sheepishly. But she did realize the pain go away when she did that. When she ate food like this the pain faded with ease. Now that she thinks of it the pain in her wounds are gone on top of that.
The man pointed to the silver knife on the table still which caught Ruby's eye for some reason. "You may find yourself obsessed with material objects like precious metals or jewels. The amount of blood you needed will eventually clash again and integrate. Slowly the blood that is still yours will be devoured by mine. It will grow stronger as you grow and soon you will be on your own level. You may experience moments of intense weakness or anger during though. You could say it's like going through puberty."
That's the thing though. Ruby is smack in the middle of puberty right now. She wasn't even sure if she was going through puberty because of the lack of growth she's had for the past couple years. Puberty for girls start when you're like twelve and the only difference to the Ruby of then and the Ruby of now is three inches from head to toe. Yet she'll be going through a second growth thanks to this blood that now swings through her body. From what he told her, her body will grow and adapt around the blood until it becomes her own making her stronger than before. "All of this from blood?" Ruby has never heard of something like this and it should be impossible. Blood no matter how rich shouldn't be capable of giving powers to a person like this.
"You may have the sudden desire to breathe fire as well." That spiked her interest.
"Will I be able too!" The man shrugged his shoulders but if that wasn't a yes or at least a maybe she didn't know what was. Sometime in the future she will become like a dragon. That's so cool and awesome. Yang would be total jealous of her fire breathing sister and Ruby's supremacy over her. She can't wait to show the world just how strong she really is and to stand above them all ahahaha.
The man adopted a strained expression for some reason. Ruby blinked and noticed that she was on her feet with her hands up in fists under her chin. "In time maybe. It depends on how rich your blood becomes and if you take in the right entities you can control."
Ruby quickly shrunk down with her head following suit. "So embarrassing," she muttered to herself. Her cheeks felt like someone simply came up and smacked her a couple times with how red and hot they are right now. Again she was thinking out loud and actually turned words into action as well. Around a stranger a well.
"Don't worry about it Ruby Rose." Ruby separated her hands from her eyes. This was the first time she heard him say her name fully, but it wasn't just that. It was the way he said it. For some reason it made her heart skip a beat but if that happened doesn't that mean she has a heart tumor or something like that. Her breaths felt a little heavy and again this does make sense to her, how can her breaths feel heavy if they were perfectly fine a second ago? It almost made her feel important to him in a way. It was weird but everything about this man is weird.
"Your lack of control is one of the side effects and trust me you will learn to control it. I'll make sure of it." Ruby looked down to the man and yet she felt like she was on an equal level even though she was the one standing up right now. She was sure that even if he was standing up he'd acknowledge her as equal instead of down to him and it made her feel…strange. Not the bad kind of strange but strange regardless. What did he mean by learning to control it?
"Are you going to teach me? How?" He nodded and that's all he did or really needed to do. He seems to say or do mostly the minimum. Maybe it one of his ticks but he's unfeeling from Ruby's stand point. Again it could just be one of those things. Back to what he said though.
What could he teach her?
He seemed like a strong huntsman just from the large assortment of weapons he has, his aura is much stronger than Uncle Qrow's, and if his blood allows him to see into the future as well. That means he can plan out every future conflict he'd ever be involved in. He lives in a Grimm infested forest and yet they don't attack his home at all. Do the Grimm fear him? Whether or not they can feel fear or not this is still an accomplishment in on itself. He made Grimm fear his actions towards them enough for them to stay away from him.
"My blood isn't what gave me my powers. It's just a byproduct of it." So these powers of his are all his and his blood just followed suit then. Maybe he's stronger than Ruby first thought if he can get so strong or special that it turns his blood into whatever it is. It was enough to change her inside and out. She can feel something but isn't sure what yet. "And in time it will be your in more ways than one," he said in an numinous tone that made her gulp. She almost didn't like the sound of that but at the same times feels right.
"You came from signal correct?" She nodded slowly not at all surprised that he knew this. She probably mentioned it in her sleep or something or while thinking about it. "They can't help you anymore." Ruby frowned. He was talking down in Signal Academy like that. If it wasn't for Signal she'd be garbage and never become a huntress. Ruby had a moment of rational thought then slumped. No, it wasn't Signal. It was her uncle that taught her everything she knows and trained her exclusively to become a scythe master like momma was. The other teachers are nice, but she just barely listened to them and past tests just by reading the books early on before the classes start. Photographic memory and all that. Then there's the thing about the blood. It's known only to this man and he's offered to train her. To teach her what he knows and help her though whatever she's going to go through.
She thought on it until she saw him wave his hand towards her. He gestured to somethings behind her and looked back. She saw a chair on its back on the floor. She looked at it for a moment then snickered nervously. It was the chair she might have knocked over in her excitement over breathing fires of pure unadulterated awesomeness. "You gonna stand forever?" He questioned.
The question quickly brought her back to focus and she picked up the chair from the floor. Ruby fiddled with the pants she wore before taking her seat yet again. The pants are a decent enough fit but still too big around the hips regardless. Why she put them on instead of her old skirt she'll never know. Then again her old clothes are nowhere to be found. 'Oh yeah he said my clothes were tore up,' she answered her own question silently and this time she knows it. 'How did I get out of them though?' Ruby tried to wrap her head around this then it came to a halt when she realized something else.
"Wait, you saw me naked?" Ruby felt like someone slapped her cheeks a thousand times. Oh god, no one has ever seen her naked other than her mom, her sister, and her dad and he was the only boy. This man not only saw her naked but she's sure he was the one that undressed then partially dressed her as well. He was alone here she was sure of it. The man thought nothing of it but to her the innocence her father went on about was now gone and it crushed her. She might even be pregnant now. Daddy always said that men need to see you naked for you to get pregnant.
'Oh no I'm too young to have a child! I don't even know this man!' Ruby cried in her mind and didn't care if the man heard or not. This was a travesty in her mitts or something like that. Weiss was never clear on what her strange words meant, whoever she is.
'He did save your life.' Ruby heard in the back of her head which is true.
'He gave you food and new clothes.' Another true statement and unlike what she first thought the man's not a bad guy. He fed her all she could eat and got her clothes so not to look like that nightmare Ruby.
'He takes pride in his weapons and has a nice collection.' Momma always said "a bad person can't be all bad if they properly manage and take care of their weapons. At most they're just misguided." This man makes his own. She can tell with a glance the time and love he placed in each so he can't possibly be a bad man. She can't believe she's even thinking about this right now! She's never kissed a boy and this guy might be her daddy's age and now she's going to have a baby with him. Ruby cupped her head and took a couple breathes.
'Momma always said that if we meet a man that we do the deal with him then to hold him accountable.' That voice in her head worded truthfully once more, but would this man do that? What would daddy think about him? Would they try and kill each other if she brought him to dinner? Regardless what's done is done so there's only the question that needs to be asked.
"For everything you've done to me will you…" Ruby took a couple breathes but they came out more like wheezes. She felt a cold sweat form on her brow and her hands shake.
'What if he rejects me?' Ruby has never been rejected by a boy before. She's never even touched a boy other than daddy or outside of a duel. She's been called cute and asked out once or twice but never went through with it. Uncle Qrow told her that boys are too much at her age so she never bothered. Ruby has been rejected before but that was for when she asked to see someone's weapon. This was so different. It's a lot more personal and had her involved in a deeper level. This man had no obligation to say yes but she had to ask. She had to ask here and now.
"Will you take responsibility for me!?" Ruby roared before she buried her face in her hand to shield them from this man's gaze. It didn't even work because his eyes burned into her skull like a welding torch all the way until it reached her eyes and then her soul. Ruby has never felt so small in her entire life. This would possibly break her if…
"Of course." Oh god no he said…
Ruby shot her head up with her eyes slightly widened. "Did you…did you say yes?"
The man nodded with an amused snicker and this time and she could tell. Maybe he is human. "You expect me to say no?"
"A little," she admitted with a swirl of emotions going through her she could barely understand. "It's just, I'm new to this whole thing and I…"
"I'm going to help you through both the physical and mental changes you will face. If you experience what I believe you will then you will need my help which I offer to you."
"But what will I tell my friends and family about us, this, or you?" This is going well she assumed but still her family is still out there and would have words.
The man shrugged. "You can tell them the truth of what happened if you wish. I leave that to you, but I need to have your word that the existence of this places stays between you and I." Ruby thought on this and already this guy met up to mother's expectations of an honest man so maybe she could do this.
"How will we meet up?" Ruby asked.
"I'm surprised you so accepting of this sudden change," he noted.
"Honestly I'm not," Ruby groaned and again the man snickered. "Stop laughing at me this is serious."
"Don't worry," he turned serious again. "A neutral friend of ours can bring you here and back to the Vale anytime you need help but for now I can say this. You will need to eat more than before as well as find a way to occupy your hands. You will get extremely restless if you sit around." Maybe that's what the impulsive movements that she's been making stems from. She can't stand staying still before and now it's worse. That's not good.
The man stood up from the table and waved for her to follow. Already he was finished talking? What is does he plan to do to tell her today? She really wanted to see his weapons some more or learn something new, and maybe that's his aim. He said he would take responsibility and take care of her so she shouldn't worry. She could stay, but for how long is the question.
'As long as up you need to.' Yeah, she can stay until she's ready to leave. Yang may be worried, but Ruby felt that maybe it's for the best she stick around until she's in good shape again. She can learn a couple things and see if she can breath fire. That would be cool.
A/N: The trailers and music of RWBY drove me to create the story. Yang's quest for answers haven't ended yet. Blake will have her part in this later. Weiss has had her piece with more to come. Finally with Ruby its interesting to make a demented version of her in the way the others blood kin to the Hunter are. Kindle as we know is a disturbed young man because he indulges in desperation. Aerial is a bit more open than she should be as she indulges in desire. Ruby though is different than them so how will the blood shift such a sweet girl as time goes by? What is the reversed alignment of her? Think about Persona the game and submit your best answer. Let's find out.
POV's will continue to shift and fold from third person to first. There's significance behind it so keep a look out.
What's hunting without a little empathy?
