In retrospect, Ruby knew what she was planning to do was a terrible idea. It had an almost zero percent chance of working… Almost.
Because first and most importantly, she had never spoken to Blake before. She knew Yang probably had mention her 'precious little sister' once or twice, but that didn't mean Blake would want to talk to her, let alone trust her.
Heck, the brunette wasn't so sure if Blake even trusted Yang.
And even if she did, for some reason, trust Ruby to a certain extent - a low extent, most definitely - it wouldn't mean she would carry out Ruby's wish.
After all, her wish could potentially ruin the entire band's career.
Looking back at it now, it really was a terrible plan.
There was almost no chance of it working.
… But she was willing to do it anyway because she was Ruby Rose and she was willing to do whatever it took to make her big sister happy, even if it meant asking a famous musician to abandon her tour to stay with Yang.
Which was how Ruby found herself leaning against the wall, right outside of her apartment door, holding her sister's phone without the owner's permission, looking for Blake's number.
C'mon, c'mon, it's gotta be here somewhere, the brunette thought, her patience running thin. Yang's gonna get suspicious soon.
After awhile of searching relentlessly for what felt like hours, though in actuality was actually seconds, she'd finally found it…
And let out a loud "Aha!"
She covered her mouth in a second, muttering a curse towards her own gracelessness.
"Rubes?" her sister called from inside. She mentally berated herself. "Did you trip on something again?"
Luckily, the girl was quick to coming up with excuses.
"Uhh, y-yeah, the wall!"
Even if those excuses were far from good.
She heard a sigh, one of exhaustion and frustration, before a mumble of "...Why am I not surprised?"
Ruby pouted at that. She knew she was clumsy but she wasn't that clumsy… right?
Shaking those thoughts away, she focused on what really mattered. Calling her sister's favourite musician; Blake Belladonna.
Or, in this case, 'Cutie Kitty', stated by the contact name.
Ruby almost failed to stifle her laugh. She actually had to bite her thumb, though not too harshly, to keep herself from sounding suspicious.
She is SO not getting away with this were her naughty, if not, evil thoughts.
… Maybe she could use this as a way to blackmail Yang into giving her more cookies.
Ruby realised that she was getting distracted and sighed.
She looked down to the device that never belonged to her, and swallowed.
I'm gonna be in trouble for this, the realistic side of herself declared. The side she ignored completely, that was.
I can't believe I'm about to do this.
She pressed the call button.
The phone rang.
Ruby found herself leaning more and more towards the wall, as if she was in need of support of standing up.
It rang again.
A shiver ran through her body. She looked back and forth towards the empty, pale hallway and wondered why it was suddenly so chilly.
At the third rang, someone picked it up.
Out of all the things Ruby expected Blake to say, she never thought a commanding and worried-sounding "Where is she?" would be one of them.
"U-um, what?" dumbfoundedly, she asked.
The woman on the other line growled, "Blake! Isn't she with you?"
Silver orbs widened in none other than shock.
"Wait, who is this?" All traces of nervousness had been wiped out from her mind, now that she knew who was answering Blake's phone wasn't Blake herself.
"I'm her…" There was a pause. "I'm her friend."
One eyebrow was raised. And I thought I was bad at lying.
"Really, now?" She put her free hand on her hip, even though this… potential thief couldn't see it.
"Yes." If this woman was a snake, she'd be hissing right now. "And that's not the point, I want to know where she is."
Her eyebrow was re-raised. Ruby sensed she was missing an important piece of this confusing puzzle.
"Who are you talking about?"
"Blake, of course!" The woman screamed, forcing her to pull the phone away from her ear and rubbed said ear with her other arm.
Dust, that woman has a powerful voice, Ruby noted as she cringed.
Even when Yang's phone was not on speaker, the brunette could still hear this person's voice, shouting something along the lines of 'brute' and 'blonde'.
Something clicked on her.
She must be thinking I'm Yang…
Slowly, she put the calling device back on her ear, and carefully, and like taming a wild beast, she whispered slowly, "Okay, Miss, listen-"
But she could not finish her own sentence, seeing as how this person was shouting too loudly to be able to hear any word she was saying.
After a while, though, she had enough.
She went to the corner of the floor, near the emergency exit door where she knew nobody would be able to hear her, and shouted very roughly;
"Miss!"
The other end of the line was quiet. Good. This was her chance to explain.
"Miss, look, I don't know who you are, but I am not Yang Xiao Long."
It was quiet for a moment. The mystery woman must be collecting her thoughts and thinking of the right question to ask, choosing the right words to say.
"...Then, why are you using her phone?"
"Why are you?" Ruby smiled when the woman didn't answer immediately.
There was a sigh, and a loud one at that. "Fine, then, who are you?"
Ruby's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"
"I told you, I'm her friend."
Those silver eyes narrowed even more. "And why should I believe that?"
Some might say that Ruby was innocent and open-minded, and maybe they were true… but that didn't mean she was a fool.
"Because… because I believe you when you say you're not Yang Xiao Long."
Okay… perhaps she was a bit of a fool, which she blamed on her sister, mostly.
"I'm not!" Ruby said, desperately. "Look, I can prove it, I'll let you talk to the real Yang-"
"Then do it." The voice calmly said.
… Crap. She's good.
Nervous sweat appeared on her forehead. She bit her lip and let the few seconds slipped by in silence.
"Okay, look," she said, making sure to calm her voice down. "I can't let you talk to Yang because she doesn't know I'm using her phone which kinda sounds like I'm some kind of creep, but I'm not! I'm her sister! Ruby! Ruby Rose! And I need to talk to Blake."
Another few seconds was bathed in silence. For the mysterious woman, it must mean nothing. But for Ruby, waiting was agonizing.
"Hello? You still there?" she tried.
The annoyed sigh which came from the other line relieved her. "It seems you are not a thief. No criminal in their right mind would use their victim's phone to call anyone, nor dumb enough to tell their name."
"... So, you believe me?"
There was a huff. "Yes, you dolt."
Ignoring the odd choice of insult, she asked again, "And you're not a thief too?"
"Should you really be asking that?" the woman said in a rather harsh tone, making her flinch.
"Okay, jeez, sorry," she backpedaled, "I'm just… trying to figure things out."
"We both are," the voice breathed.
Ruby suddenly froze. She became concern at the familiarity of the voice. She'd heard it somewhere before, but she didn't know where.
"Do I… know you from somewhere?" she asked, swallowing.
"I think you do," was the answer. Ruby noted how guarded this woman sounded.
"Umm… who are you?"
There was silence. The brunette knew that, just by hearing her voice, she was scared but didn't want her to know.
"I'm a friend of Blake and that's all you need to know."
Ruby didn't answer, not immediately, at least.
"Sorry if it was a little rude of me, I'm not really good at talking with people."
Honesty was the best policy… except for when you forgot to do your homework, but that was besides the point!
"Obviously, you are, seeing as how you revealed your identity to a stranger you're calling."
"Well, sorry," she apologized without really thinking as to why. "I panicked!"
There was a sound that closely resembled to a mix between a groan and a sigh.
"Just talking to you already gives me a migraine," the woman complained.
Not wanting to let this meanie insult her just like that, Ruby blurted whatever came out of her mind.
"Y-yeah, well, you sound awesome! So your voice cured your own migraine!"
… Did I just say that? she asked herself.
"Did you just say that?" the woman from the other side asked as well "... Nevermind, I'm just gonna pretend I didn't hear that."
"Yeah, same here," she said numbly, too embarrassed to form proper thoughts.
She was so glad she didn't know this person at all… and that Yang didn't hear that awful compliment/pick-up line.
"Okay, first things first, I need to know why you want to talk to Blake."
Ruby kept her mouth tightly shut at the moment, reviewing her situation.
On one hand, I can just lie and say that, umm… what should I say, exactly, if I were to lie? … Moving on, if I tell the truth, there's a chance this woman would help me.
Honesty is the best policy.
"I want to ask her if she could spend another one or two days here in Vale."
Even when she could hear nothing, Ruby could sense the anger burning in this person.
… Maybe she could've phrased that better.
"What."
One word was enough to get her to let out a small, high-pitched "Eep!" and explain, "I m-mean, she seems to really like this place, right? And my sister too! I think it'd be bad for both of them to get separated just when they were getting to know each other, and-"
"Stop."
Ruby did as she was told, quite literally. She even almost stopped breathing entirely.
Every word this woman spoke was filled with such intensity, Ruby couldn't bring herself not to listen to it.
"You want to ask Blake, someone who I assumed has never met you before, to 'stay here' even when she has to PERFORM on those 'few days' just so she can… 'get to know' Yang?"
"... Well," Ruby cringed, not knowing what to even say after this woman had… 'truth-bombed' her. "When you put it like that, it sounds like I want to risk Blake's future."
"You do." The brunette had a large suspicion that this woman was deadpanning, judging by her tone of voice.
"Then, umm…" She scratched her head, hoping it would help her brain in figuring out how she'd come up with a good excuse.
Then an idea popped into her head! It might even be worse than her previous ones, but it was better than nothing.
She raised her index finger. "Tell me where Blake is."
"...Excuse me?" Yep, this person was definitely raising her eyebrow. Ruby could, somehow, feel it.
"All this time I've been asking about Blake," Ruby pointed out, "yet you never answered. Not even once." A sly smirk found its way into her mouth. "In fact, I think you don't know where she is."
She heard the woman growl in frustration - and possibly defeat - before letting out a huge sigh.
"And why on Remnant would I do that?"
Ruby dumbfoundedly blinked. "Umm… because I'm not a bad person?"
A familiar voice, scarily so, called out. "Rubes? What are you doing out here?"
She turned towards the source, and her fear was true, it was Yang.
Why didn't I hear her footsteps? She thought as she quickly hide her sister's phone behind her back. Maybe she won't notice-
"And were you just using my phone?" Crap.
Silver eyes trailed to the side in nervousness as she said, "No…"
However, being the responsible big sister that she was, Yang was able to see through her lie.
Crossing her arms, and raising an eyebrow, Yang rhetorically asked, "Oh, really?"
Ruby could do nothing but nod, afraid that her voice might give herself away.
The blonde sighed and rubbed her temple. She extended her arm and looked at the younger girl frustratedly.
No words needed to be said.
Slowly, Ruby gave the device to its owner, who quickly found out what her sister had been doing with it.
"Wha-? Why are you calling Blake?! What did you tell her!?" The blonde said, starting to glow with anger.
But, before Yang could speak with not-Blake, Ruby held out her two arms. "W-wait, Yang, put it on speaker!"
Lilac orbs narrowed. "Why?"
After flinching, Ruby gave her sister a half-cheerful smile. "Please?" was all she could think to say.
The two sisters stared at each other in silence. Well, Ruby could faintly hear the girl who claimed to be Blake's friend yelling questions, but it was mostly silence.
"Fine." Yang groaned, but for Ruby, it was good enough!
She pressed the speaker button and held it in-between her and her sister.
… And immediately cringed from the extensively loud rambling that came from it.
"-and I honestly cannot stand any of this! Do you have any idea how hard it used to be for me to get her to say anything?! Yet, now she-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Yang said, waving her hand despite knowing this girl couldn't hear her. "Calm down… you."
Ruby could hear very clearly how she took a deep, calming breath. "Alright… I assume you're Yang Xiao Long."
Her big sister raised an eyebrow. "...Right, and you are…?"
"Her friend," was the short answer.
"Ha ha, and I'm Weiss Schnee," said Yang, dryly. "Now tell me who you are and what you're doing with Blake's phone?"
There was a long sigh. "What is it with you people and not believing that I am her friend?"
Ruby thought it would be best to pipe in, "It's got something to do with your voice."
Yang shot her a glare that sent all the devils crying.
"Ignore her." The blonde rubbed her chin as she began to think. "Fine," she said after a short period of silence. "I believe you."
"Thank you," the girl answered curtly.
"Now can you tell me what you two were talking about?" The blonde gave her sister another, more sinister glare, if it were even possible.
Ruby gulped.
Please don't tell her, please don't tell her, please don't-
"Only if you tell me where Blake is," was the reply.
Yay! Thank you, Mysterious Lady!
"Wait, what do you mean? You're using her phone right, she should be with you," argued Yang, her face growing less frustrated and more thoughtful; worried, even.
There was silence. It wasn't filled with thoughtfulness, nor comfort. In fact, it was the opposite.
A thought grew in Ruby's head, just a mere simple guess, really. But it was one she wished wasn't true.
It was also one she knew everyone must be thinking.
"... Blake isn't with you?"
Yang's face was somber, devoid of any emotion as the grim reality finally caved in.
"No." Ruby found herself taking a step back in great fear and shock. Meanwhile, her big sister was, unsurprisingly, handling the situation much better. "Tell me what happened. Now." It wasn't a plea. It was a command.
At first, what Ruby could hear from the other end of the line was an uncontrolled chain of breathing.
It was understandable, Ruby would too if she'd found out that, perhaps Jaune went missing.
The two siblings waited patiently until the woman finally spoke what they'd dreaded.
"I- I was with her, we were supposed to be packing, but she chose to lay in her bed and play with her phone… then she… she left. Without any explanations."
Ruby flinched at that tone. She nervously glanced at Yang, who was looking at her phone and listening ever so seriously with an unreadable expression on her face.
It was an understatement to say she was scared.
"I asked her where she's going, and she didn't answer," Blake's friend continued, "I thought she was going to Sun and Neptune's room so I checked but she wasn't there so I thought maybe she went to the bookstore so I waited here while the boys went out and look. I was just about to call you but Ruby called first and-"
"And then we talked." Ruby didn't remember saying those words. It simply… left her mouth.
Yang and Ruby looked up at each other. Silvery orbs were filled with intense emotion of panic, now that the truth had truly dawned on her.
None of them said anything, not after a long while. They didn't want to say it. They feared what they'd guessed. They feared what could be the truth.
"Blake's missing."
It was Yang who finally broke that silence of comfort.
"Blake's missing."
Her entire body went stiff.
It took all of her willpower to not sway nor falter on where she stood. Though, she did put a grip on the desk counter, weak as it may be.
"Oh Dust," she whispered. Over the phone she could hear the two girls in a panic themselves; the blonde brute was cursing huskily while the dolt was gasping and shouting words too fast for her to understand.
Her own phone buzz. Weiss turned it on to see that it was a message from Sun.
Shes not in any bookstore. She defs gotta be wth that Yang girl
If only that were true.
The situation was much more gruesome than she'd thought at first.
Where could she possibly be?
Her mind began to conjure thoughts - ones that were unimaginably horrid - and she couldn't stop them.
"Alright, um… You…"
Unbeknownst to Yang, she had saved the heiress from the powerful thing that was the mind.
"Yes, me." She kept herself sounding level-headed and calm, when in actuality she was very close to having a seizure.
"How long has she been gone?" Came the first question.
Weiss glanced at her device before answering swiftly, "Thirty to forty minutes."
The blonde mumbled something along the lines of 'time' and 'fast'. Then, she asked another question. "Have you checked the park? Or… maybe a bookstore."
"No, we checked," the heiress answered with more confidence. "I saw her when she left, she didn't bring a wallet so she couldn't've used a taxi or an uber; she must've walked..." That confidence, however, faltered at her last sentence.
"Okay, and…?" The blonde pried. Weiss sighed before answering, only because she knew none of them would like it.
"She's not anywhere nearby."
"Crap," was the dolt's immediate reaction. Weiss silently agreed.
It wasn't after quite a while that Yang's voice emerged again, this time, with more soothingness and lightfulness. "Okay, okay, good news is she hasn't been gone for that long, so you shouldn't worry that much, because I think I know where she is."
If that didn't capture Weiss' attention, nothing would.
"You do?!" She wasn't even trying to hide emotion. Even if she did try, she was very certain she would fail. "Well then where?!"
"Look, don't worry, I'll go get her, alright?"
Weiss frowned, she didn't trust this blonde despite everything Blake had said about her… well, she never told the heiress much about Yang since she never even spoke much in the first place…
"But how can I trust you won't hurt her?"
"Because if I wanted to hurt Blake I certainly would've done so in the first place," the blonde offered reasonably. "And if I am with her right now I certainly wouldn't allow anyone to call her, let alone my sister."
… That was surprisingly thoughtful and logical. Blake did say she studies law…
She sighed. "Alright… I trust you."
"Great choice, 'Blake's friend'," was the irritatingly snarky remark.
"But," she continued, ignoring that remark. "If Blake isn't in her hotel in an hour, or if there's no news about her, the police will be involved."
She expected the blonde to comment on how dangerous it was and how there wasn't any need to involve the fuzz. But, much to her surprise, the blonde simply hummed and reply, "Good call. I'll call you when I find her."
She had no idea what the proper response was. "O-okay," she ended up mumbling.
Weiss heard footsteps. And then: "I'll go get my jacket and key, be back in a sec."
"Okay," came the response from the girl who called herself Ruby.
More footsteps, growing more and more distant with each steps, until it finally disappeared.
Ruby coughed deliberately.
Weiss already loathed what was to come.
"So… since you're friends with Blake… does that mean you're friends with Weiss Schnee too?"
Weiss froze again, this time, not out of dismay, but rather… interest.
Yes. Interest. Nothing more.
"Umm… Miss?"
She blinked, realizing she hadn't give the dolt an answer.
"No," she said, "I'm not." After all, how could anyone be friends with themselves?
"Oh, okay." Perhaps her ears were deceiving her, because she swore she heard a tone resonating sadness and disappointment.
It's all in your head was what she told herself.
"So…" The annoying voice drawled again. Weiss was already pinching the bridge of her nose, and this dolt hadn't even said anything yet! "How close are you with Blake?"
"Very." She deadpanned.
"...Riiight." Weiss really hated how unconvinced this person was.
"Look, we've been friends from before she was even popular, alright!?" she snapped.
"Oh, um, that's good, I guess." Weiss sighed deeply. "So… close enough for you to have already meet Weiss? Maybe?"
Perhaps what was most infuriating was how this Ruby girl only wanted to know more about just her, and not the band entirely, like most people.
As much as she wanted to yell at the girl again, she was also curious of why this person wanted to know more about, well… her. The heiress decided to use a calmer approach.
"What if I have?" she inquired.
"Then that would be amazing!" Well, Weiss was… she really wasn't expecting that answer. "Does she look different than the photos? Oh-! Is she nice to people? What about her height?"
The girl kept rambling on and on about the singer, and Weiss found it was hard to keep up with her words. At last, the brunette stopped talking, expecting an answer.
Weiss blinked a few times before answering.
"Well, she looks a little different than in the photos," the heiress started, her finger consciously ran up to touch her scar. It felt a little weird to be speaking about herself in third person.
"But I'm sure she's still pretty tho!" the voice blissfully said in response, ignorant of the effects her words had on the musician; wide eyes and red cheeks. The girl suddenly gasped. "Please don't tell her I said that!"
… Oh, the irony.
"Right, well." Weiss looked back at her own phone, filled with new messages she had yet to read from Sun and Neptune, before continuing, "I have to go now."
"O-oh, okay!" the girl agreed. "Me too, actually! I need to practise for this show I have-"
"Really? What show?" the heiress found herself asking.
"Well, it's not a big show actually," the girl comfortably said. "I'm just gonna play some songs in a cafe. I was supposed to do it tomorrow, but Jaune said the guy who's playing today is sick so I'm probably gonna do it today."
"Where will you play?" The heiress looked down, hoping she'd get a clear answer from the girl.
"Oh! At Adel's restaurant!" the girl supplied easily. "It's not really popular, so you should ask someone for directions."
"Huh, maybe I'll be there." Weiss shrugged.
The girl barked a laugh. "Yeah, maybe…" There was another fake cough. "Well, I'll see you soon, Miss…?"
Weiss couldn't take not giving this girl any name.
… Perhaps she should tell the girl who she was.
She smiled ah so devilishly before giving her answer, but not before waiting for a long time, just for the dramatic effect.
Ruby Rose's smile began to fade away when, after seconds had passed, received no answer.
Maybe her hopes were too high.
But it's just a simple name, right? It's not like I can hurt her using JUST her name…
The woman she'd talked to proved to be much more fun than she'd initially thought.
The mystery woman was still a bit rude - and a little scary - but she was also… unique, in a way.
Ruby couldn't place her finger on it, but there was just something special about her…
It was as if this girl were… royalty.
Maybe she's a princess?... No, that can't be right, princesses don't exist anymore. The closest thing we have to a princess is… wait, what's it called-
"Weiss," the voice rang. It didn't interrupt her train of thoughts.
Ah! An heiress! That's what it's called! Kinda like how Weiss Schnee is the heiress to the SDC!
"My name is Weiss Schnee."
See! Exactly like-
Wait. Wait. Wait.
Hold on…
I just…
WHAT?!
Ruby repeated that last thought in a scream. She received no answer. Soon, she found out it was because the line had been disconnected.
No. No. Nope. That cannot be. That just CANNOT be!
Yet why did she quickly figure out why this 'random person' was using Blake's phone in the first place, and why, many times, she told everyone she was Blake's friend.
… Her voice. Ruby figured out why it sounded so damn similar!
She was hit with what felt like a tsunami of realisation.
Oh Dust…
… Should I scream or should I cry? she dully asked herself.
Author's Notes : O-hokay, turns out this chapter took longer than anticipated. The reason was because the original concept was for this to all be from Weiss' POV, meaning we see her getting confused and worried when Blake left and you'll all get your hearts broken again when I plan to have her have a breakdown, similar to Yang but much more hurtful…
You guys are lucky I didn't include that.
… Hooray! We got our first real interaction between Ruby and Weiss! Finally, the White Rose shippers are happy! Including me! What do you guys think of it? GAH! I'm scared I'll disappoint you all! Crap, what if I overdid it? What if it was flat and forced!?
… Eh, I tried.
I can't say a lot due to spoilers, but let's just say that the next chapter will be pretty juicy! Well, not "M-Rated Juicy" but still pretty juicy… I think… hopefully. It'll focus entirely on Blake and Yang.
Buut, I've got some bad news for you all. Well, it's not actually bad or anything, but it could be considered bad news for you all who's dying for the next chapter… I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but it could take me awhile before I could post my new chapter.
Just to clear this up, I am NOT going to be on hiatus and I will not abandon this story. I am just warning you guys that, since exam week is coming up, I'll focus on my studies more, therefore less time on the internet.
Sorry, but I take my studies as seriously as Ruby is with her cookies!
Overall, I'm pretty proud of this chapter. I certainly hope there was no forced dialogue or dry humour, especially since it's more dialogue-heavy.
Don't forget to give me your thoughts! I really love reading them! It's interesting to know what you guys think of this chapter. And don't be afraid to be truthful! I won't get offended or anything… just make sure you're actually being constructive and reasonable when you want to critic my story and not just say that it's bad… please?
… Hmm… well, I've got nothing else to say other than I hope you have a nice day today and goodbye, so I'm just gonna say that!
So, um… I hope you have a nice day… bye…
(Jesus fuck I am horrible at author-noting)
0: Heey, thanks! My main goal in writing is to be able to make the readers believe that the characters are real due to their realism in personality and thoughts.
RyuNoMe24: … Dude, thank you! Thank you so much! I've been looking for ways to improve my writing and your review got me just that! And, no, I am not at all offended! Instead, I'm glad! There was always something off about my story, and I couldn't put my finger on it until now! Just… wow, you really took your time writing that review. And I want to thank you for that! Sorry I couldn't write anything longer than this, but just know that I am glad you write that review and I'll do my best to improve on my writing!
THATANIMOKID: Ehehe, I'm glad you liked it~ I try to put myself in her shoes when writing that. So it mostly came from the heart :)
Complicated Kurumi: Yay! Glad I broke your heart :D But seriously, I'm glad you think my writing is good. And yeah, I agree with you. Everything feels more natural and realistic with my new way of writing. Which is way I'm gonna continue writing this way!
mrmanguy47: Hmm… Well, from a website I read (forgot what it's called), her name means "Sunny Dragon". But, likewise, I could be wrong too.
Gryffindor620: Thank you! Glad you liked it!
M: The team is mostly together!... sort of.
meeyaaargh3412: Yup~ Yang can't always be the strong one. Plus, Ruby's growing up! And thank you :)
Z: Ehehe, did you like the interaction? :3 also, don't worry! The next chapter will heal your frail heart~
Mattricole: Oh, c'mon, Ruby's a dolt but her ideas aren't that bad, right?... oh, wait.
The White Wolf of Remnant: First of all, I gotta say, I love your username. Secondly, I'm glad you think so! And you're right! Just going with the flow can be better than planning things out! Well, I still plan things out in general, but I don't plan out all the dialogues and words.
Aelar (Chapter 1): Wow, that actually was depressing. "Blake greeted her"... hmm… people would sometimes misinterpret "Black" as "Blake"... I could actually use that 0_0