Hello everybody! This is The Burning Ruler and I am back with another chapter of RWBY: A Demon's Life. I can't stop writing this story! This story is really giving something to do in my spare time, and even though I'm in college, I actually have quite a bit of spare time. I also realized something. With the way my story has been written so far, it isn't very aligned with the summary. Just know that, I intended for the story to match the summary sooner when I had started the story, but I haven't had a good enough opportunity to add it in yet. Finally, I have created a Straw Poll. The site is on my profile, so go and cast a vote for it please. But enough rambling, I have some reviews to respond to.
Tyson113: Thanks. It's good to know that I was able to make you laugh. That's what I was hoping for.
Alright now that that's over with, I don't own RWBY, and let's get on with it already.
Chapter 10: I need help
Shade and Ruby woke up earlier than anyone else. Ruby because she couldn't wait to go get more gifts, and Shade because Ruby jumped on him the second she woke up. Ruby went into the shower, followed by Shade. When Shade came out of the shower, he noticed that everyone else was still asleep. He wrote a note to the team saying that he and Ruby woke up early and decided to go into town. 10 minutes after they left, Weiss woke up. She saw the note and read it. She saw this as a good opportunity to get some help about Shade. First she decided that she needed a shower. Her hair was messed up, mostly because she had a long night after a particularly vulgar dream about her and Shade.
"Oh god." I need to get some help. Either that or I need to get some Shade." said Weiss after she got in the shower.
After Weiss finished her shower she got dressed in casual clothes. When she walked out, Yang ran into the shower, and Weiss sat down on her bed, thinking about who could help her. Blake? No, she already knows. Nora? No, she isn't much help with relationships. Ruby and Shade are in town, so their out of the question. Pyrrha? Maybe, but I should get some information before I talk to her. Yang? She is good at relationships, she knows about guys, and she is somewhat like Shade, now that I'm thinking about it. I guess I'm talking to Yang first then. Yang then walked out of the shower, just as Blake woke up and went into the shower.
"Hey Yang?" asked Weiss.
"Yeah Weiss? What's up?" asked Yang.
"I need your help with something. It has to be kept a secret though. Can I trust you?" asked Weiss, serious and looking a bit sad too.
"Of course Weiss. What's wrong?" asked Yang, concerned for her partner.
"I need your advice about guys. I'm having a serious problem and its beginning to affect me in worse and worse ways. But we need to talk in private. Follow me to the roof. We'll talk there." Said Weiss leaving. Just then Blake walked out of the shower and saw Weiss leave.
"What's up with Weiss, Yang?" asked Blake.
"I don't know, but she said that she needed to talk to me about something in private, and that it was causing her big time problems." Said Yang, leaving the room.
Yang arrived at the roof and saw Weiss sitting against the wall. She sat down next to her.
"OK Yang. This is what's wrong. I'm kind of in love with someone who already has a girlfriend. He already knows, but he says that he wants to stay with her. I know that what I'm thinking is wrong, but I really love him. I would gladly give up anything just to be with him. He asked me why I loved him and back then I didn't know. But now I do. I love him because he is strong. I love him because he is sweet. I love him because he is intelligent. I love him because he is the nicest, coolest, and overall best guy I have ever met in my life. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I love him because he is him. That is the only way I can describe my feelings." Explained Weiss.
"Wow. You've fallen for him hard haven't you? So, who is the lucky guy?" asked Yang.
"You are pretty much the last person I want to tell, Yang." Said Weiss.
Yang began to wonder why. She could only come up with one answer, and it wasn't something that she wanted to think. "ARE YOU SAYING THAT IT'S MERCURY?!" Yelled Yang, her eyes starting to turn red.
Weiss looked at Yang and saw that she was getting angry. "NO, NO! It's not Mercury!" replied Weiss.
"Then why don't you want to tell me who it is?" asked Yang, calming down.
"I don't want to tell you because I am worried that you will tell him." Said Weiss.
Yang looked at her like she was crazy. "I may not keep seem like someone you can trust with the identity of who you like, but I am. I have been keeping a secret like that for a while now." Said Yang, proud of herself.
"Really? Who likes who?" asked Weiss.
"Velvet actually has a crush on Shade, but you can't tell anyone. She told me at the café a while ago." Said Yang.
"I knew that already. She told Blake and Shade her feelings at the same time I told Shade mine." Said Weiss before realizing her mistake. "Shit…" whispered Weiss.
"Oh…So you love Shade huh? Blake also knows, and you want to know how you can break them up so YOU can date Shade, right?" asked Yang. Weiss was amazed that Yang was able to figure out all that so fast.
"Yeah. I know that it's horrible to be asking someone for an idea on how to break two people up so I can go out with one of them, but I am actually going insane without knowing if Shade and I can ever be together. I might be Ok if you hadn't interrupted his answer to my question last night, but before he answered, you came in." said Weiss.
"What did you ask him?" asked Yang.
"I asked if he wasn't with Blake, which one of us would he be with, me or Velvet." Said Weiss.
As Weiss was telling Yang this, Blake was eavesdropping on their conversation. She had no idea that this was affecting Weiss on such a huge level. She was also recording this, at first so that she could listen to it again so she could think of a way to help her out, but now she thinks that maybe she should send it to Shade, so he can sort out his feelings for her, and see if he like Weiss as well as a who he likes more, between her and Blake. Blake loved Shade, but if Weiss loved him this much, it would probably be better to let Weiss have him if he had feelings for her as well. She continued to record the conversation.
"I honestly don't know what to do. If I knew how he felt about me it would make this so much easier, but I don't. Please, help me Yang. I need help." Said Weiss.
Blake stopped recording here and ran back to the room to prepare a message to send to Shade.
"I'm not sure how much this will help, but Ren told me that he was talking with Shade about what he looked for in a girlfriend a couple days ago and he is on a team with Pyrrha, who used to go out with Shade. They are both in their room now, so you could ask them for some help. Hell, maybe they can help you figure out Shade's feelings towards you." Said Yang.
"Thank you Yang. If you ever need my help with anything, don't hesitate to ask me." Said Weiss.
"I won't." said Weiss. "Thank you so much Yang!" said Weiss, hugging Yang.
"No problem, but there's no time to waste! GO! NOW!" yelled Yang, sending Weiss off.
After Weiss ran off, Yang got a call from Blake telling her to come to the room quick.
Weiss showed up at Team JNPR's dorm soon. She knocked and when Pyrrha came to the door, she already knew what it was about. Ren was still in the room, but Jaune and Nora were nowhere to be seen.
"Where are Jaune and Nora?" asked Weiss.
"I told Jaune to take Nora into town to get some pancakes and when I asked Nora heard me, and dragged him out of the room. We heard that you were looking for a way to break up Blake and Shade right?" asked Pyrrha.
"Yeah…I know it a horrible thing, but I am actually starting to lose my mind over this whole thing." Said Pyrrha.
"So we heard. Now, while we won't be much help in that particular department, we can help you figure out Shade's feelings for you, or at the very least give you an idea of how he feels about you. We will need to ask you a number of questions, but at the end we should have a pretty good idea about his feelings towards you. Are you ready to start?" asked Pyrrha.
"Yes. We might as well get this over with as quickly as possible." Said Weiss.
"Alright then let's start. First, which of these is the most important to you? Family, Friends, Significant Others, Yourself, or all of the above?" asked Pyrrha.
"Um…probably…Family." Said Weiss. Ren then typed something out on his scroll.
"Ok. Second, if you were interested with someone other than the person you were involved with, what would you do? Be blunt and break up with him, Be subtle and get him to break up with you, Cheat on him, Tell him then break up with him, or nothing?" asked Pyrrha.
"I would probably, tell him then break up with him. I don't want him to wonder why I broke up with him. I want him to know that it wasn't his fault, it was my own problem." Answered Weiss. Ren the typed something on his scroll again.
"Next question. You are given control over someone's relationship, and you have a crush on someone in the relationship, what do you do? Drive the relationship into the ground and ask out your crush, keep the relationship flawless, let the relationship play out how it would normally, tell the one you liked your feelings, or other?" asked Pyrrha.
"I would definitely tell the one I liked my feelings. He deserves to know." Said Weiss. Ren continued typing out on his scroll.
"I see. Ok. A guy you like is in a relationship. He hasn't broken up with his girlfriend, but he wants to hook up with you, while still in a relationship with his girlfriend. What do you do? Tell his girlfriend, Hook up with him, Tell him to leave you alone until he is single, Refuse to even give him a chance, or break up with his girlfriend in his place." Asked Pyrrha.
"Refuse to even give him a chance. I don't want to be with a guy that is willing to cheat on his girlfriend, even if I do like him." Said Weiss. Ren once again typed on his scroll.
"Alright. Next question. On a scale of 1-5, how important is loyalty in a relationship to you?" asked Pyrrha.
"5, no question. If a guy isn't loyal 100% of the time, I don't want to be with him anymore." Said Weiss.
"Last question. Have you been completely truthful during this quiz?" asked Pyrrha.
"Of course I have been. I needed to be truthful to get an accurate result right?" asked Weiss.
"Yes of course. That wasn't a part of the quiz. That was for us. If you weren't truthful, we instantly would say you had no chance with him because we want him to be with someone who would actually have a chance with him just being themselves, not who he would want them to be." Explained Pyrrha.
"Smart move guys." Said Weiss. "So? How'd I do?"
"Ren?" asked Pyrrha. Weiss looked towards Ren.
"We had a rating system based on your answers. If you gave the most favourable answer, you got 4 points, second most favourable was 3, lower and lower until the least favourable answer being worth 0 points. You were scored between 0 and 20. 0 being no chance in hell, 20 being practically perfect for him." Explained Ren.
"Ok then. What was my score?" asked Weiss, hoping for a high one.
"You're score was…" Ren paused for dramatic effect, "20! You answered every question the exact way that Shade would have wanted you to! I would say that there is at least a 99% chance that he likes you back, and that is just being cautious. It's probably guaranteed that he likes you back, but there is always a chance that he doesn't." said Ren.
"REALLY?!" asked Weiss almost exploding from happiness.
"Yeah. Based off your answers, it is very likely that he likes you back. Not as a friend either. How much, I can't say, but there seems to be feelings there." Said Ren.
Weiss was happy. She was beyond happy. She had no words that could describe the amount of happiness that she felt. She just sat there smiling widely. Ren and Pyrrha were worried that they had broken Weiss. But luckily they knew how to fix her.
Pyrrha looked towards the door and said "Oh hello Shade."
This cause Weiss to jump up and turn to the door. Shade wasn't there. No one was. She tuned back to Pyrrha and Ren who told her that she spaced out and they did that to snap her out of it. She wasn't happy with them, but she understood why they did it. She had realized that the sun was starting to set. She didn't know why, but then she realized that she woke up at about noon, and she had been up for about 5 hours. That made it 5 in the afternoon. She realized that Shade might be close to getting back and she wanted to be there when he did. She thanked Pyrrha and Ren for their help and went back to her room. As she walked into the room, Blake looked like she was about to send someone a message on her scroll and Yang was up on her bunk listening to music. After a few minutes of waiting, Ruby burst in the door and shouted something about criminal, Shade, and follow. This was enough for everyone to know that Shade was off chasing a criminal and that she needed them to follow her. They all got into their combat gear, grabbed their weapons and followed Ruby. They all then went to get team JNPR, Sun and Mercury as well as team CFVY. They all then left towards the docks where Shade said he was.
(AN-I will now be cutting to the others back when they began what they were doing today)
Shade and Ruby walked through the streets, or rather Ruby dragged Shade through the streets. She first brought him to a weapon shop. She got a weapon modification set, more ammo for Crescent Rose, and a blade sharpening set. Ruby then brought Shade to the bakery they went to a little while ago. She got a bunch of her favourite cookies as well as a few other assorted sweets. The way Ruby was acting reminded him a lot of his little sister. She even looked a little like her. Shade paid for everything, of course.
"Hey Ruby? Do you want to get some lunch?" asked Shade.
Shade got his response in the form of Ruby's stomach growling loudly.
"Alright then. Let's go. Lead the way Ruby." Said Shade, smiling.
She then was bringing him to a restaurant because he offered to buy them both lunch.
"Thank you for taking me out today Shade. Also for all the gifts." Said Ruby.
"No problem. Happy to." Said Shade.
A waiter came up to their table and took their orders. After ordering, Ruby looked at Shade like she wanted to ask him a question, but was too scared to.
"What's up Ruby? You look like you need to ask me something." Said Shade.
"No, I'm fine. Really!" said Ruby. However, Shade could easily tell she was lying.
"Come on Ruby. You can ask me anything. Maybe I can help you out." Said Shade, trying to coax an answer out of her.
"Alright then. I'll tell you. You see, Sun is my first boyfriend ever. To be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing. I really like him, but other than telling him that, I don't know how to let him know that I do." Explained Ruby.
"Well, you could kiss him." Suggested Shade.
"Ok. I guess I phrased that wrong. I know that I could kiss him, but I don't know how to kiss. I mean as a girlfriend. If it was as a friend, I could do it, but this is my first relationship. I've never had to do anything like this before and it's freaking me out. Can you help me?" asked Ruby.
"Well, if you have any ideas as to how I could help you, I'd be glad to, but I don't have any ideas as to how I could." Said Shade.
"Ok. If you think of any, let me know Ok?" asked Ruby.
"Of course Ruby." Said Shade.
The waiter then came back with their orders. They two friends ate together while making small talk. In a little over 30 minutes, they had finished. The waiter came back with a bill. Shade quickly paid the bill, and they left the restaurant. They started walking back towards the airships to go back to Beacon. Ruby looked over to Shade and randomly remembered Shade's fight with Cardin and how he beat him. She then also remembered that even though Shade had told them the name of his semblance, no one knew what it did. It was called Shade's Deception. But that was all anyone knew.
"Hey Shade? I just realized that I still don't know what your semblance does." Said Ruby.
"I'm actually surprised that no one had asked that before now." Said Shade.
"Yeah. What exactly does your semblance do?" asked Ruby.
"It's kind of hard to explain, but I'll try to. Basically if you look over here, you'll see my shadow right?" asked Shade.
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with it?" asked Ruby.
"Just wait." Said Shade as he exploded into black smoke. After the smoke cleared he was nowhere to be seen, but his shadow was still there. Then his shadow started to move around. Ruby just looked on in awe. After moving around for a while, Ruby saw Shade emerge from the ground where his Shadow was.
"Um…What just happened?" asked Ruby, clearly confused.
"I used my semblance. Shade's Deception lets me merge with my shadow for a little while. That's how I avoided Cardin's attacks. Before he hit me, I exploded into smoke right?" asked Shade.
Ruby thought back to the fight. "Yeah you did." Said Ruby.
"Well while that smoke was thick, I merged with my shadow, giving the illusion that I was invisible, when in reality, I was underneath Cardin's nose the whole time. I then emerged from my shadow behind him, hit him, and re-formed with my shadow. I kept doing that until I won. However, my semblance has one fatal flaw. If suffer a direct hit while using it, my aura takes a massive hit, even if it wasn't a hard hit." Explained Shade.
Ruby was shocked by his semblance. It sounded impossible to counter. She decided not to ask how to hit him while his semblance was active.
On their way back, they passed by a shop that had obviously been broken into and robbed. Shade looked over to the shop. The windows were smashed and the police were looking around for clues. He and Ruby notice the shop at the same time and decided to go over to it to see if they could find out anything about what had happened. From what they heard, a group of people came in earlier that same day and stole all the dust, but no money.
"Weird. They left all the money? None was taken at all?" asked Shade.
"Yeah. The register was left untouched." Replied one of the officers.
'Odd. Who would only steal the dust? Could it be the White Fang? No…no…they wouldn't risk a robbery in broad daylight, and they never have needed any dust before.' Thought Shade.
Shade then thought he heard something. He looked around and all but dismissed the noise as his imagination until he saw a man in a fedora and white coat holding a cane disappear on top of a building. He immediately that it was the notorious criminal Roman Torchwick. He turned to Ruby.
"Ruby I need you to do something t for me Ok? I need you to do exactly what I say." Said Shade, seriously.
Ruby was confused by this sudden outburst, but agreed.
"I need you to go back to Beacon and tell Ozpin that I think I saw a crime lord by the name of Roman Torchwick. I am giving chase ok? After you tell him let me know with a message. I will then tell you where I am. After you get my message get Weiss, Blake, Yang and everyone else Ok? Bring them to where I tell you I am. Be as quick as you can Ok?" asked Shade.
"Got it. Go after him Shade. I'll get everyone." Said Ruby as she ran off towards the airships.
Shade then immediately took off after Roman. He jumped onto the roof and saw Roman jump off the other side. Shade followed him. He stayed close enough that he wouldn't lose him, but far enough away from him that he wouldn't be noticed. The chase lasted a long time. Eventually he ended up at the docks. He got the message from Ruby a while ago and told her he was at the docks. She said that she told Ozpin and that Glynda was there as well. Then she went and told everyone and that they were on their way there now. Shade decided that now was as good a time as any to reveal himself. He just needed to stall and give Ruby and everyone enough time to get there with some backup.
"Hey you!" yelled Shade getting Roman's attention.
"Who are you?" asked Roman.
"That's not important. What's important is who you are. You're Roman Torchwick aren't you?" asked Shade.
"Oh, so you are familiar with my work then?" asked Roman.
"Yeah. You were the one who robbed that dust shop in downtown Vale in broad daylight right?" asked Shade.
"Now why would you think that?" asked Roman.
"Let's see. You were the only one anywhere nearby during the robbery, you ran as soon as the police got there, you are a known criminal, and you are carrying a briefcase full of the dust that you stole, right?" asked Shade, knowing that he caught him.
Roman started to clap slowly. "Well done. Very well done. Ok, you fund me out. But what now? There is only one you." Said Roman.
"True, but there is also only one you, I'd say we are pretty evenly matched." Said Shade.
"You think I'm stupid enough to go it alone?" asked Roman as he snapped his fingers.
It was after this that at least 50 members of The White Fang came out of hiding. All of them holding some form of weapon.
Shade knew that this was too many people for even him to handle on his own. 'You better be close Ruby.' Thought Shade as he drew his swords. He had brought them with him for no reason at first, but now he was glad that he did.
"Alright let's get this over with quickly please." Said Roman as he sent all the members of The White Fang after Shade. After The White Fang members attacked Shade, he started to fight them off, but they got back up as fast as he could knock them down, all they had to do was wear him out, and then he would be finished. Just before he ran out of energy, he saw a blur of red flash by his eyes. He then looked to his left and saw all of his friends come out of the shadows with their weapons at the ready. They all made quick work of the White Fang members. Shade then looked around to see Roman escaping on an airship. Shade tried to shoot it down, but he couldn't. He was about to chase after it, but was stopped by Weiss.
"You may be fast, but that is an airship. It is even faster, and it can fly. You can't." reasoned Weiss, before realizing that her hand was on Shade's shoulder, and she instantly became nervous and blushed a bright red before pulling her hand away. 'My god. Even the slightest contact?! Really?!' Weiss asked herself.
"Alright good point. But DAMN! Good thing you guys showed up when you did. I don't think I could've held out much longer." Said Shade.
Blake the walked up to Shade and hugged him tightly. "Please promise me you won't do anything so dangerous again! You could've died! If we didn't get here when we did…" Shade silenced Blake with a deep kiss.
"You don't need to worry about me. I will be fine. As long as I have a reason to fight, I won't go down. At least…not easily." Replied Shade.
"Alright. I'm spent. Let's get back to Beacon. I need to rest up." Said Ruby.
"You're spent. You fought for like 5 minutes. I fought for 20 easily, and I fought at least 50 guys. You fought like 5 at most. How tired do you think I am?" asked Shade.
They all shared a good laugh. They all then started walking back to the airship that Ozpin had sent to pick them up. Shade started to doze off on the ride back, but managed to stay awake. Ruby, however, wasn't as good at staying awake. She fell asleep halfway back. When they got off the airship, Sun carried Ruby off the ship. Sun brought Ruby back to the room before going back to his room. Everyone said a quick goodnight to each other and went to sleep. Weiss was actually able to sleep now that she knew that Shade might like her back.
'Hopefully I'll have a chance at getting Shade sometime in the future. Maybe not soon, but eventually. I hope so.' Thought Weiss.
Chapter end. Well that was an eventful chapter huh? I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it too. Remember to leave review if you liked it, as well as if you have a suggestion for this story. Also remember to vote on my Straw Poll. It will only be up until I post the next chapter, and it will have an effect on the way the story progresses. So remember to cast your vote and let your voice be heard. But for now, I will see you all in the next chapter of RWBY: A Demon's Life.