Qrow Branwen was in the middle of teaching his sigal class. He was supposed to be teaching his class advanced survival tactics. He would love to teach them with a little… hands on teaching. Drop them in the middle of the forest near vale for a month; if you live, you pass. If not, then you need to study more because your life literally just depended on it.
But nooooo. He has to teach his class this boring book work that won't be useful to anyone. What was worse, he seemed to be more aggravated about that then his students. He could push for chance but it wasn't going to happen; he had quite that reputation.
Qrow sighed before leaning back into his chair and throwing his feet into the deck. He informed Ozpin about Raven and Ruby about a year ago and updated him on how they were doing on the Salem crisis. Yeah, he told Ozpin everything. Raven wasn't going to be happy if she found out but then again, what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Let her live at her barbaric village while he got to not only keep tabs on her, he got to spend time with his niece! It was a win-win.
Qrow grabbed his liquor canteen and uncorked it. At the same time, a red portal came out of nowhere. Only one person could make those… and she slid from his niece's grip and onto the floor, throwing blood all across the floor and room. The students were quick to notice. "AHHHHH!" Half the class went. Qrow got right into action. "All of you shut up and leave! Jeremy!" A kid near the entrance froze still. "Go call for help or just call the emergency ward. Fuck it, call both." The kid fumbled his scroll before making his way outside of the room. Now for the wound. "Ruby! I need yo- woah…" Ruby had already ripped her shirt into pieces hoping to cover as much of the wound as possible. She also didn't have a bra…
"For Oum's sake…" Qrow wrapped the false bandages around Raven as quickly as possible. As long as she had a bit of Aura generating at all times, she would recover. "Ruby?" Ruby took her eyes off Raven and looked at Qrow. He could see the conflict in her eyes. "Can you tell me what happened? If possible, give me the short version. You're going to fully debrief us when we talk to Ozpin." Ruby eyes widened at the name of Ozpin but then calmed.
"Okay… okay… So, today was the day Salem attacked. She sent hundreds, maybe a couple thousand Grimm and 3 people. Cinder is confirmed as the fall maiden. The other two were there to prevent me from interfering with Raven's and Cinder's fight. It's my fault though. It my fault the rest of the tribe didn't make it. I can't say that I'm really affected by their deaths because they were a bunch of asshats and twats. But that blood is on my hands. I had a job and I failed that job. Raven is going to be so mad at me."
Qrow put his cloak over her, wrapping it around her shoulders. "Ruby, you don't have to stay with her anymore." Ruby looked at Qrow. "If you want, you can stay here with the hunters and huntresses. Hell, I could probably get you a spot in Beacon Academy!" Ruby looked down, face scrunched up as she thought about it.
"Qrow?" Ruby looked up at him with her ears to the sides of her head. "I...I don't want to just leave Raven. I know, I know! She's been nothing but cruel and a hardass but she is nice at times. She just lost her entire tribe minus me. She's going to need someone to count on." Ruby heard shuffling behind her. "Don't.., don't count on it welp." Raven nearly whispered.
"Don't talk. Any energy you have left should go to healing that wound." Raven scoffed. "I made sure that it stopped bleeding. But you're right Ruby, I just lost my entire tribe, my home, everything except for my weapon. I have no plans left and we're in enemy territory." Qrow smiled. "Come back to Ozpin." Anger filled Raven's eyes. "Wait! Let me speak! If you join up with Ozpin, you can pretty much have immunity because right now, you have two options that won't end up with you dead; join us or jail time. Your choice."
Raven sighed. "Ruby, I know I haven't been the best to you." Ruby gave her a deadpan look. "Okay, I've treated you very poorly but you were right about one thing, I do need you. You were Summer's little mistake but through the years, you become so much more than everyone else I've met. I know you don't want to hear this from me, and trust me, it's the only time you're going to ever hear me say this…" Ruby looked Raven dead in the eyes. Raven looked away from Ruby's eyes. "You made me feel like the mother I never was with Yang. And I… thank you."
Ruby just continued to stare at Raven. "I'm sorr-". Raven didn't get to finish as Ruby practically pounce on her to give her a hug. "OW! Ruby! Wound! Bleeding!" Ruby didn't let go though. "You know what this means Raven? You're the third one… please please don't die. I don't think I could take it." Raven opened her eyes, previously closed in pain, to look at Ruby. She was openly sobbing into Raven's chest. "Please don't leave me…". Raven leaned back down onto the floor and rubbed the back of Ruby's head with her right hand. "No promises." This only made Ruby cry harder.
They both ignored Qrow entirely during their cry fest. Meanwhile, Qrow had left to talk to the first response team about the current situation. Very soon after, they carried Raven out on a stretcher with Ruby following close by. As soon as they loaded up, they left for an emergency ward.
A bright light shined in Ruby's face. Ruby narrowed her eyes at the light as her teeth showed for a second. Her ears pulled back and stayed. "So. Want to tell me why I'm here?" The woman in front of her looked around a bit. "It's absolutely safe." Ruby gave her a deadpan stare. "It's a giant box. Can you unchain me from the seat as well? It's really starting to hurt my tail." The blonde took out a wand and wave it left to right. A loud clunk was heard as Ruby was freed of her restraints. "So, because you are the first person to show me any bit of kindness since I got here, tell me what want." The blonde put away her wand and sat in the adjacent seat. "Ms. Rose, if I may, will you sit back down?" Ruby looked at her. "If you turn the interrogation light off. If really hurts my eyes. I'm a Faunus. I'm sensitive."
The witch complied. Ruby saw the witch produce a much dimmer light that seemed to float around her head. Ruby sat in the seat and waited for the first question. "Ms. Rose, I have been informed that you took part in many crimes across the past 5 years." Ruby sighed. "Yes, I have done many things I regret and some I don't regret. I have committed a lot and I mean a lot of crimes." The blonde didn't even seem fazed. "Did you willingly take part in the crimes you committed?" Ruby's eye twitched.
"What are you after? I was taken out of the hospital, away from the two people I consider family and locked me up in a giant metal box! What are you looking for? Where is Raven?! Tell me!" The witch calmly sat in her chair. "If you are calm Ms. Rose, I may speak." Ruby bared her fangs as the ears on her head almost slicked back.
Ruby closed her eyes. She sat down when she believed herself to be more calm. "Please… can you answer any of my questions?" The witch gave a hint of a frown. "That's what in here for Ms. Rose. It's my job to see weather or not you can enter or not." Ruby sighed. "Enter what exactly?" For the first time, the woman narrowed her eyes at the Faunus. "That's my business. As for my questions, you will answer all of them. Now, tell me, did you or did you not do these crimes willingly."
Ruby felt her Faunus traits start to take over as her anger flared up again. "Yes and no. While in the Branwen Tribe, none of the crimes done were done with my feeling in mind. Before that however was all me." The woman nodded. "What do you know of the current world?" Ruby gave her a confused look. "Huh? I don't understand the question." The blonde rolled her eyes. "Who is in charge of the world as of right now?" Ruby narrow her eyes again. "I really hope you don't shoot me for this… Salem is the current strongest thing I know." That took the woman completely off guard. She stood up and waved her wand around the room. Ruby flinched thinking it was a spell to kill her.
"The room has been secured." The room shined with a blue tint before fading away. "Tell me everything you know about Salem." Ruby explained what she knew leaving out who the current maidens were.
"This is very interesting. You are leaving a lot of details out of it." The blonde said. "And how would you know that?" Ruby asked mockingly. "A huntsmen by the name of Qrow Branwen gave us quite a bit of info regarding the maidens themselves." Rubies eyes grew wide. "Cinder fall is the fall maiden. Isn't that what happened the day you were attacked? You were attacked by Salem's little pet weren't you?" Ruby breathed out. They didn't know about her and Raven.
"Yeah… they killed everyone. Me and Raven were the only ones to survive. And yes, Cinder fall is the fall maiden. By the way, what's your name?" The witch seemed to smile just a bit. "Here we are, almost done with this discussion and you finally have the nerve to ask my name." Ruby smiled. "I learned that it's best to kiss the ass that can get me out of a bad situation."
"My name is Glynda Goodwitch. Pleasure to meet you Ruby Branwen Rose. However, I must bid you adieu." The blue glow around the box shimmered before fading, the light above Ruby's head flickered out as Glynda walked out. As the door closed behind her, a paper flew out of the Manila envelope she carried around her. Ruby calmly walked over to it and picked it up.
'I will be getting you a pardon so you may speak to your leader. She is still in a hospital bed. In return, I will have you meet my boss.'
Ruby gave a half laugh. As long as she got to see Raven again. Now that she wasn't restrained, there was a lot more she could do. Well, not that much huh.
Ruby sat on table and waited with her arms in her lap. She closed her eyes. All she had to do was wait.
"So what did find Glynda?" Ozpin said amused. Glynda sighed. "She is a wild child. Look at this Oz. 'Taken when she was 10 and turned into a Faunus'? 'Taken in by Eis schnee'? 'Abducted by the Branwen tribe'?!" Ozpin gave Glynda a smile that didn't quite make it to his eyes. "Yes… she does does have quite the story doesn't she. Remember, her entire family was just killed by Grimm and Salem save for one. Im sure that once we meet her again, she change. She's already had everyone close to her die. So give her a chance Glynda."
Glynda smiled. "She's strong and fierce. Something I expected from her. She seemed to hate all her tribesmen except Raven however. She a survivor, that for sure. When we test her combat experience, we'll see if she can be admitted into Beacon. I hope she does well, I already promised her that I would pardon her of her crimes if she came with us tomorrow. We are also going to stop by the hospital tomorrow." Ozpin smiled. "Quite the deal maker aren't you. Anymore secret deals you made with Ruby or is that it?" Glynda gave him coy smile and walked out of the room with a smile.
When Ruby heard the door open, she knew who it was. Only one person would come for her and she was here. "Ms. Rose, I'm here for you. Please come this way." Ruby jumped off the table and walked beside the woman. She felt a bit small compared The the woman. Ruby stood at 5'2". She was really small. "I really hope that you won't do anything rash Ms. Rose." Ruby rolled her eyes. "The worst you could do is cast a spell on me with your magic wand. Still, you're the one person who can get me out of this dump. I'll cooperate." Glynda nodded and walked with Ruby until they got to the hospital.
"The room number is 142. Raven Branwen. She's under huntsmen watch right now." Ruby and Glynda walked to the room where they heard arguing.
"... and I told you that I'm leaving that for her to decide! I've lost everything and she's the only thing I have left! If you didn't hold me here against my will then I would have found her by now!" A voice that was clearly Raven's was heard. A more masculine voice chipped in. "Raven, I've told you many times now, with the current crimes under your belt, you could be sent to jail for centuries at this point. All I'm asking is if you can-"
"Are we interrupting anything?" Glynda said coyly to the two occupants of the room. "No, we were just negotiating." Ozpin said. "Has Ms. Rose arrived?" He asked. Glynda walked next to Ozpin. "Ms. Rose, this is my boss, Headmaster Ozpin." Glynda had no idea that Ruby knew exactly who Ozpin was. Ruby just stood in the doorway looking in awe at Ozpin. "Are you okay Ms. Rose?" Ozpin asked. That snapped her out of it.
"OhmyoumitsheadmasterOzpinImRubyRosecanIbeinyourschoolplease!" Everyone in the room had a surprised look on their face, no one more surprised then Raven. "Oh my…" Ozpin gave a sly smirk at Raven before speaking. "That is why I am here. I was wondering if you could… perform a test for me. If you pass, I'll enroll you in Beacon Academy of Huntsmen arts and pardon you and Raven of all past crimes." Ruby nodded her head enthusiastically. "Very good. You will spar against one of our most trained huntsmen we have av-"
"Can I fight Qrow! Pleeeeeease! I want to fight him again!" Ozpin gave a hearty laugh. "Yes Ms. Rose. You may spar against Professor Qrow." Ruby smiled wide with tears in her eyes. "I guess that tells you what you're going to be doing Raven." Ruby blinked and looked over at Raven, who was in peak condition, standing just behind the hospital bed with a hospital dress on. "Raven? What's going on?" Raven sighed.
"You just signed me up as a professor at Beacon. I told Ozpin here that I'd put my trust in you and let you make that decision for me. I forgot that you knew who Oz here was. I was betting on you saying no but this is… surprising to say the least." Raven said in an annoyed voice. "Raven Branwen! You made a promise to me and I hope you intend to keep it." Ozpin said. Raven grumbled. "All crimes you and Ruby have committed will be pardoned if Ruby passes the test. This is going to be a fresh start for the both of you. Please don't ruin the only chance you will get." Ozpin looked in Raven's way. "Then let's take this test!"
Ruby merrily walked behind the much older and more experienced fighters in front of her. To Ruby, the day couldn't get any better. She finally got to get out of that stupid metal box, meet thee professor Ozpin, reunite with her mentor, have all of her past crimes pardoned, and currently being tested on her aptitude for Ozpin's school for witchcraft and wizardry! Err… Beacon Academy for hunters and huntresses.
"We have arrived Ms. Rose. Please make your way to the center of the arena." Ruby looked from behind Raven to see a man with a large sword on his shoulder waiting in the middle of the arena. As the poor man yawned, Ruby dashed over to him using her semblance to tackle him in a hug. Needless to say, he was startled as a ball of red tackled him to the ground.
"Uncle Qrow! I've missed you so much! I haven't seen you since they took us to the hospital!" Qrow stared at the girl before rubbing her head between her eyes with his free hand. "Yeah, I've missed you to kid." Qrow looked to see the small audience just up the stairs sitting down. "Hey kid, how about we show these milk drinkers what you can do?" Ruby nodded enthusiastically before reaching for her scythe. Her eyes widened before remembering it wasn't there and hadn't been there for a while.
"Oh, right." Qrow unhooked something from behind his back. "Heads up!" As the red artifact flew through the air, Ruby looked in awe seeing her scythe again. The moment in reached her hands, Ruby cradled it while mumbling about never leaving it again. After talking to her weapon, Ruby unlocked it out of it storage form and into it's full combat form. Ruby got into a crescent stance and stood there. "I'm ready." Ozpin nodded once to Qrow and like that, the match was on.
Qrow dug his front foot into the ground and launched himself at Ruby. As he reached her, she swung down with the blunt end of her scythe while pivoting to his left. A loud sound of metal hitting metal reverberated across the room. They held their positions as they battled for dominance. "How's that for a start." Qrow said calmly. Ruby looked like she was struggling but smiled.
Ruby backed out before pressing herself on the floor. She quickly tried to sweep his leg but failed as Qrow backed off. Not waiting around, Qrow tried slashing at ruby only for her to duck and click her scythe's trigger. She went flying to her left before firing again to launch herself into the air. Qrow quickly saw what was happening and prepared a guard. Ruby began to spin as she used her scythe as a tool to increase her spinning by firing more shots to increases the speed.
Ruby's scythe crashed with Qrows sword only for her to let go of the scythe to unsheathed her sword. Qrow tried to back away as Ruby swiftly swiped forward, just barely cutting his clothing. Ruby sheathed the sword just as quick and grabbed her scythe mid fall and posed in a different position. This time, Qrow took the defensive as Ruby seemed to blink out of existence only to reappear in front of Qrow. Ruby quickly changed her momentum using the embedded sniper to go left, using it as her first attack. Qrow quickly blocked the attack before unleashing his scythe form and swinging it in Ruby direction. Ruby evermoving, moved behind him before sweeping his right leg from under him.
Qrow smirked as he merely twisted on his left and struck Ruby's scythe with the back of his. "Not bad. Still haven't drawn first blood." Qrow said. Qrows body then tensed as the force repelling him back disappeared. He felt the wind shift near his leg before he went back into sword mode and stabbed it into the ground stopping Ruby's next attack. Qrow quickly dodged all of the next attacked as Ruby scythe came from all angles around him. Qrow quickly jumped on his sword as the next swipe at his midsection knocked his sword loose. Both Qrow and the sword went flying. Qrow did a quick aerial flip transforming the sword back into the scythe form.
Ruby stood in front if where Qrow landed. "How's that?" She said arogently. Qrow just get her a thumbs up before reaching into his coat pocket. He gave her a wink before taking the flask and taking a large gulp. "Really? In the middle of a fight?" Glynda said under her breath. Ruby smiled and dashed off towards Qrow before he could put his flask away. Qrow smiled as she came forward. Ruby threw her scythe at the man with a fast spin and pulled her sword out of its sheath.
Qrow boredly knocked the scythe up into the air as if someone flicked a coin into the air. Ruby razed the sword above her head before releasing a barrage of sword slash after sword slash. Qrow blocked each of the strikes as he could but the longer he blocked, the faster her hands seemed to go. Qrow noticed the look on Ruby's face; Wide, calculating eyes, ears completely slicked back and a combined look of determination and euphoria. Qrow felt his aura get nicked. It was small and negligible but it was still something. Besides, if it continued, Qrow would've had to start using his real attacks to counter Ruby's.
Qrow backed up and slammed his now transformed sword into the ground. "And that's game." Qrow said lazily. Ruby's scythe hit the ground next to her as Ruby looked at him as if he was crazy. As soon as Ruby picked up her scythe, she heard clapping coming from both Ozpin and Glynda. "Bravo Ms. Rose! That was quite the entertaining spar! I can't believe that Qrow was the loser in it as well." Ruby condensed her scythe into storage form. "Yeah but only because he stopped the fight. If we were going to first blood, he would have won. Uncle Qrow is amazing! He's got so much Aura it's crazy!" Ruby said smiling.
Qrow made his way to Ruby as they both walked over towards the group sitting on the sidelines. "That doesn't make your performance any less impressive Ms. Rose. You were the first to land a blow." Ruby snorted. "More like a nick… my speed is good against people that hit hard like uncle here but against someone like Raven… I'm at a disadvantage." Ozpin smile. "The first step to improving is knowing where to start. For the record, I do believe that was one of the best auditions i've seem in my time as chairman." Ruby glowed at the praise she got from one of her idols.
"Your form was messy when you rushed in head first. Work on breathing as you fight. Make sure you think about how to kill your opponent as fast as possible. You could have struck him down as he was drinking but you let him until he was nearly done." All of them gave Raven a piece of attention. For Glynda and Qrow, it was narrowed eyes. For Ozpin, it was a fatherly smile. For Ruby, Raven had her whole attention as she spoke. "Got it!" Ruby said quickly straightening her back and looking Raven in the eye. "I believe that this school year will be the greatest yet." Ozpin said with a smile. "You are welcome to Beacon Academy of huntsmen arts. The Bullhead to board will be at landing pad 1-5 at 6:00 AM, tomorrow. Good luck Ms. Rose. And Raven, you get to come with us. Qrow, take care of Ms. Rose would you?" Qrow nodded before looking at Ruby. "Well kid, looks like we're going shopping." Ruby felt herself shiver at the very naming of the word 'shopping'. "I have a bad feeling about this…"