Chapter 9 - - - Cryptic . . . Part 1
Ruby eyed the doorway of team CVFY's dorm room from inside, wondering exactly how Yatsuhashi could stand to bend over so frequently just to enter and exit through it.
Or if maybe he was just used to bending down all the time for doors.
After all, he was really-
Glowering at the thought, Ruby shook her head to prevent herself from thinking it.
"Hey… this okay?" Cardin grunted out as he stood at the side of the door, holding out a clear film that stretched from the other side of the frame.
"No. You need to pull on it from the top." Ruby pointed out.
Cardin sighed as he followed her order, tugging a little from his hand stretched at the corner of the doorframe. "How 'bout now?"
Ruby critically eyed the sheet, searching for any sight of a stretch or shine before nodding in approval. "Looks good!" She claimed with a small grin. She pulled a chair over in front of the doorway and reached into her bag to pull out a roll of tape and began applying the adhesive on the clear sheet to stick to the door frame. After taping the top section, she carefully placed a "Got'cha" note with a silly drawing at the center, to ensure its' fall after the sheet was run into.
She nodded in approval.
Yatsuhashi deserved this.
And even if he didn't run into this, there was still a good chance that Coco or Fox would since they're also pretty-
Ruby shook her head again, refusing to think about it.
Cardin sighed in relief when she hopped down, allowing his arms to fall back below shoulder level and rotated them to get the kinks out.
"Alright, one more to go!" Ruby stated, exiting straight out of the room after putting the chair back in place.
Scrambling to gather the few materials, Cardin had to duck through the doorway, to ensure he didn't run into the carefully set prank (again), and quickly trailed after his boss after gently closing the door behind him.
For nearly the entire duration of lunch, the two had been setting up pranks for those with weekend morning classes, were away on missions, and who, according to Ruby, are fine being on the receiving end of said pranks. Cardin had no idea as to how Ruby was able to remember the schedule of so many people nor the idea of knowing those who were easygoing to take part of her endeavors, but they were humorous enough that he didn't mind helping her set them up.
It sure beat studying the layout and map of the school. Then again, apparently all that studying was meant to help her with her pranks.
Regardless of her mischievous undertaking, agreeing to run errands for her has been significantly smoother with each passing one. It… helped that Ruby had been lessening her threats against Cardin and his team.
Besides, it was… nice when they accomplished something to her liking. She would always smile, or hum in appreciation. And it even seemed like she was enjoying their company as of recent seeing as she would slow her pace to walk alongside them.
But when she had a small scowl on her face, it was the most terrifying thing.
Like the one on her face currently upon catching sight of Jaune exiting his dorm room and making his way over to her team's with a guitar strapped to his shoulder.
Out of reflex, Cardin tensed upon noticing his boss's expression, gripping onto the materials just a little tighter as he slowed his pace.
She quickly schooled her features though, forcing the corners of her mouth to turn up as she bounded over toward Jaune, causing Cardin to wince.
Being exposed to so many of her expressions for nearly half of a school year allowed him to identify and place just about every single one of hers. And while her scowls were terrifying, there was just… something horrific about her fake expressions.
It was just, unsettling.
"Jaune! What are you doing?" Ruby asked
"Oh! Hey Ruby," Jaune smiled brightly, causing Cardin to give him a piteous look. "I just- Well. The dance is coming up!"
"O… kay." Ruby nodded
"And I just thought that I should ask Weiss to it by song!" Jaune beamed, "L-Like in the movies! What do you think?"
Ruby stared at him, her fake smile stuck on her face as she just stood before him in silence. She could already feel the areas under her eyes begin to grow even heavier than they already were. "I think… No."
"Wha- N-No?" Jaune asked, flabbergasted. "B-But why?"
She continued staring at him, the corners of her mouth still pulled up as far as they could go, but now it was obvious that she did not even attempt to make it look genuine as her eyes didn't crease with her mouth.
While she would not call Weiss Schnee her friend, Ruby was not going to allow her team mate to suffer through a headache such as this.
"Look Jaune." Ruby started, mentally sighing to herself in annoyance as she wondered why she even had to explain this. "Weiss already expressed that she's not interested in you and she was pretty firm with it. So why would you want to keep going after her?"
"W-Well, I-I mean," He stuttered out, his cheeks turning red in slight embarrassment. "She's amazing, and pretty. And a great singer. And-"
"You have a crush on her." Ruby finished with a blank look, causing him to turn redder and wide eyed in shock.
He rushed forward to her, attempting to cover her mouth as he placed a finger to his mouth to gesture as he verbalize a "Shhshshhhh."
Ruby blocked his hand though, leaning away from it with curled lips.
"Do you want to tell the whole school?" He asked in a loud whisper.
"I'm pretty sure most of the school already knows." Ruby claimed, pushing him back gently while taking a large step away. "Anyway, you should really stop. A public rejection really should have told you that she's not interested."
Jaune frowned, "I don't get it. My mom told me that all women look for is confidence. I-I mean, Weiss was interested in Neptune! … Briefly."
The people sending the investigators after Ruby are pretty confident about taking her away from Cinder and everyone else too, but thankfully that annoyance ended, for now.
Ruby momentarily wondered if she could do the same to Jaune. It would be rather easy.
…
But no. She couldn't.
For one, it was not her place to do so. Secondly, she was not at the right place to do so.
She allowed a sigh to escape, "Listen Jaune, there's really no good way to tell you this, but what you're doing… it can actually be kind of annoying and kind of creepy."
"I-I… What?"
"Look at it from another perspective." Ruby continued, "Imagine…" She thought for a moment, before the corner of her eyes caught Cardin shuffling in place, and she smiled. "Cardin kept following you around." She said, causing Jaune to pale as he glanced over to Cardin, just noticing him and whimpering a little.
Ruby was quite aware of the bullying stunts Cardin pulled over Jaune during the first few weeks of school, the most memorable one where Cardin stuffed Jaune into a locker and sent him off flying. Which is why using him was a perfect example.
"And, he kept watching you. But you don't like it. But he likes you. So you tell him to stop. But he still keeps doing it. Because he has a crush on you." Ruby said, exaggerating each pause by a fraction of a second to show her point.
"I-I get it." Jaune nervously stated, eyeing Cardin in fear and taking a step back.
Despite winning a few matches against the other warrior, Jaune still couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by him. It seemed as though Cardin realized this as he threw a small smirk.
"I'm glad we could have this talk." Ruby nodded in approval.
Jaune bit his lip in thought, "I guess I should say sorry to her if I'm being…" he glanced back over to Cardin before quickly averting his gaze, "... Creepy."
Ruby nodded once again, this time with a satisfied smile.
Awkward silence settled over Jaune as he kept glancing up to Cardin and over to Ruby while shuffling in place.
"So… Uh… Exactly… Why is Cardin with you?" He asked
"That's because he's-" Ruby paused short of her explanation as she realized that she couldn't exactly tell people that Cardin was working under her because she used to blackmail him. "He's uh… He's…. Helping me." she finished lamely.
"Helping? With what?" Jaune asked, looking over to Cardin skeptically. He couldn't imagine Cardin willingly helping someone.
"Er… Yeah! He's helping me with… with…. Running errands!" She exclaimed, elbowing Cardin sharply in the side.
He nearly yelped at the sudden pain, but upon noticing (or rather sensing) Ruby's narrowed eyes and silent command, gritted his teeth to bear it as he forced a smile. "Uh. Yeah. Yup. I help her run… errands. All the time." Cardin nodded alongside Ruby.
"He always sees helpless little ole' me and always decides to help." Ruby continued.
"Yup. She's helpless alright." Cardin agreed, and not wanting to pass up the chance to sort of get back at her, he continued. "Because she's so shoRT!" He nearly yelped again at the sensation of his foot being stomped on, and although he didn't see it, he was able to sense the indignant glare Ruby was throwing his way for mentioning her height.
Cardin wondered if, for whatever reason, Ruby was used to having her height being poked at because she never truly got upset at him for pointing it out. She just seemed to act like a normal… well… short stack with a height complexion.
It was just about the only thing that he could get away with.
"Hahaha, yup. Just kind Cardin. Helping helpless little me!" Ruby grinned as Jaune gave a surreptitious glance between the two.
It was probably hard for him to imagine someone mean like Cardin going around and hanging out with someone as nice and fun-loving as Ruby.
Apparently, the three caused a bit of a commotion as the door to JNPR's dorm room opened once again, and Pyrrha's head peaked out to check on everything that was going on.
"Jaune? Is everything-" She began, concern on her face as she looked for her team leader before her eyes took notice of Ruby. Her expression changed to inquiry as the rest of her body emerged from the doorway. "Hello again Ruby. What a pleasant surprise! And-" She took notice of the third person, her eyes suddenly becoming guarded, her eyebrows lowered as she walked up to him, blocking his path from Ruby and Jaune as best she could. "Cardin. What are you doing here?"
Jaune seemed to relax at the presence of Pyrrha, happy to have someone standing in between him and the other.
Meanwhile, Cardin spluttered, intimidated by Pyrrha's appearance as he slowly stepped back, frantically glancing toward Ruby, who genuinely seemed entertained (though a little confused) by the situation, for help.
Noticing his silent cries, Ruby figured that she should put a stop on the situation before it escalated as she sort of stepped in between Cardin and Pyrrha. "He's just... helping me out Pyrrha."
The answer didn't seem to ease Pyrrha's concern as she frowned. "Helping? With what if you don't mind me asking?"
Recognizing that Pyrrha would not calm unless she obtained the truth, Ruby figured that it just might be easier for her and Cardin to get away and continue on with what they were doing if she just told Pyrrha. "He's helping me set up some pranks."
Cardin slightly relaxed in relief as he realized that he would no longer in danger. Though decided to keep his eyes on the situation.
"... Pranks?" Pyrrha asked in tone that implied she wasn't certain as to whatever was being spoken of.
"Yeah…?" Ruby answered uncertainly.
Upon the blank, questioning look she received, Ruby found that she had to fix this travesty that was Pyrrha's ignorance to the magic of mischief.
"So you set up this... trap-" Ruby began, gesturing with her hands in front of her to help show her explanation. "-for someone. And the point is that you try to fool them into falling for the trap so you can laugh."
"That sounds terrible." Pyrrha exclaimed in concern, her hands pressed together in a silent prayer as she held it against her mouth. "Why would you hurt someone for a laugh?"
"Er. No. No one is supposed to get hurt by the prank." Ruby frantically waved, as though to erase her previous words. "The trap is harmless. It's just a silly little thing that people fall for."
"But… Why would you set up a trap that is harmless?" Pyrrha asked, her hands falling back into place as she thought about the strategic implications for a battle.
"It's just supposed to be funny." Ruby said with a small smile. "Like that time when Ren's body had pink coloring? It was because he fell for the prank."
"Ohhh." Pyrrha sounded with a slow nod as she finally understood. "It is all for jest!"
"Yes!" Ruby confirmed with a wider smile.
"So what is it that Cardin is helping you do?" Pyrrha asked in curiousity.
"Oh, well." Ruby glanced back over to him, who had an eyebrow that was pulled up in interest toward her, before glancing back up to Pyrrha. "He's helping me go around and setting up clear sheets at people's doors for them to run into. We were just about to set up one at my room so Weiss could-"
"Ruby?! What are you doing?"
The sound of Weiss shrilling her demand down the hallway made Ruby freeze as she turned around, seeing her teammates walking toward her. Blake and Yang were both walking slightly slower than Weiss, who was marching up to Ruby with a sense of purpose.
"Nothing!" Ruby squeaked, before she hurriedly gestured to Cardin to put the items behind his back. "Hide them!" She hissed.
Weiss's eyes narrowed down at her, coming to a halt a few feet away as she pointed an accusatory finger toward her leader. "Don't lie to me. You were going to set something up against me weren't you?"
"No I wasn't!" Ruby claimed, causing Pyrrha to look questioningly down at her.
"But you just said-" Pyrrha began.
Ruby frantically waved her hands about, holding a single finger to her lips as she attempted to hush Pyrrha with a "ShshShhhhh." Only to elicit an amused, but confused expression to cross from Pyrrha.
"Ah ha! So you were planning on pulling something over me." Weiss glared.
It was too late, Ruby knew that her prank mission failed. The only hopes she had to salvage this situation and for redemption was to pretend it wasn't going to happen. To Weiss.
"Not everything is about you Weiss!" Ruby exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air.
"When it comes to all your 'mischievous misdemeanors' then it usually is." Weiss enunciated with air quotes before crossing her arms in indignation.
"You're just all huffy because you fall for all of them." Ruby sassed
A sigh broke the bickering between the two, "Why can't the two of you just… get along for once?" Blake asked wearily.
"Blake! Please! If it were not for her… shenanigans, then we would not have problems in the first place!" Weiss protested.
Blake could only give a small nod of agreement.
Ruby stuck her tongue out in defiance.
"Ruby. Please." Blake sighed
Ruby merely huffed, crossing her arms as a frown worked its' way up on her face, causing Blake to breath a sigh of gratitude in knowing that the situation would not escalate any further.
Pyrrha nervously glanced back in between Weiss and Ruby, unsure of what to do to help calm the situation, before she can voice anything out, Ruby beat her to it.
"Wait a second… You guys are back early by a few minutes." Ruby stated with slight confusion. "Are you going out somewhere?"
"Hm. The way you manage to keep track of so many schedules and correctly use deductive reason to guess one's current train of action never ceases to amaze me." Weiss hummed in praise. "But yes. We do have some important business to attend to in town."
"You should come with us." Yang grinned, "It'll be fuuun." She sang.
Blake nodded, "We'll also be a bit more productive if you helped." she reasoned.
Weiss was inclined to agree.
"Oh. Gee. Uh." Ruby began and already, Cardin could tell that his boss did not have any desire to join them, "I'd love to! But I kind of already have plans to meet with Glynda."
Everyone (besides Cardin) looked at her with astonishment. Unsure of whether or not to be astonished at the fact that Ruby had been able to make plans with the professor, or the fact that the professor had willingly made plans with Ruby.
"Did you finally get in trouble?" Weiss voiced out.
"No. Glynda is helping me with weapon maintenance and upgrading!" She stated with a large, excited smile on her face. "You see, I've wanted to add these mechanism to my swords to help improve my flexibility, but I never knew how and I was too scared to do it myself. So I asked Glynda and she said that she would be more than willing to help me!"
Her teammates couldn't help but share her excitement, knowing fully well that Ruby had no other choice but to settle with her current build of her weapons due to her inaccessibility to a proper education growing up.
"Awww! That's great! I'm happy for you!" Yang encouraged, clapping Ruby on the back to emphasize her statement.
Blake also smiled, "I'm glad that you'll be able to upgrade your weapons to how you want now."
"It's certainly worth leaving us." Weiss nodded
Ruby merely grinned, beaming under all the positivity heading toward her way. "I'll try not to have too much fun without you guys." She stated, causing Yang to laugh.
"Don't worry, we're not too jealous." Yang said, nudging Ruby a bit.
"Well, try not to do anything that I would." Ruby cheekily stated
"We won't." Weiss deadpanned, causing Blake to shake her head with an amused smile as the three went into the dorm room to change and leaving Pyrrha, Jaune, Ruby, and Cardin out in the hallway.
"Well that was…" Jaune began, though was left unsure how to finish his sentence.
"... Interesting." Pyrrha finished for him.
Even Cardin was a little stupefied at the team's rather odd dynamic, though he was mostly surprised at how Ruby seemed almost... relaxed, even silly, with her team. Though just barely. The moment they left, Ruby seemed to be back on her guard and her eyes seemed to dull.
"Are you four always like that?" Pyrrha asked Ruby who half shrugged.
"Pretty much." Ruby answered, glancing on over to the door of her dorm room with a sigh. "I guess we're finished with our pranks then." She concluded, causing Cardin to mentally thank Remnant.
"Let's go return that stuff to Sergeant." Ruby said to him, eyeballing the materials in his hands.
"We'll see you later then Ruby." Jaune waved.
Pyrrha waved good-bye to Ruby as well.
Ruby continued waving to them cheerfully until the two disappeared back into their room, and within a split second, her eyes seemed to have lost what little luster they had left before turning down the hall and walking.
It was as though she had lost all sources of amusement, and Cardin wished, he preferred the look she had when she was with her teammates.
While she was only just barely relaxed, while her guard that was constantly up was barely let down, she still seemed… well… alive. It was sharp contrast to her usual demeanor; languid, idle, cold eyes that always seemed calculating, watching every movement with interest and amusement as though she were above it all just so she could wait for a moment to strike with mischievous intent.
With her teammates, Ruby seemed to actually be present and not in her mind with constant thinking, constant planning.
With her teammates… Ruby didn't seem to actually think much about her actions.
It made Cardin feel… happy that his boss had some people to open up to. Even if it was just a little.
"Cinder?"
Cardin snapped his head up in confusion upon hearing Ruby speak, looking up to find who it was that Ruby was speaking to and seeing three students from Haven walking down the hallway toward them.
"Hello Ruby!" The one in the center, leading the other two smiled.
"Oh my gosh! You're here!" Ruby exclaimed, running up to Cinder with a wide, excited smile that was even wider than when Ruby was talking about upgrading her weapons, and gave her a crushing hug.
Cardin's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets at the display of affection. He had thought that Ruby was incapable of such things.
"Mercury! Emerald! When did you guys get here? I thought you weren't coming for days!" Ruby rushed out, glancing between the three as she leaned away from Cinder, but not out of their hug.
"We just got here this morning." Mercury chuckled, ruffling Ruby's hair. "Along with the rest of Haven students."
"Which, if you had paid attention to when Haven was arriving, you would have known that we would be here too." Emerald haughtily stated while poking at Ruby's forehead.
Ruby stuck her tongue out, blowing a raspberry at her.
Cinder gave a small frown upon noticing something, bringing a hand up to Ruby's face and lightly pulling under her eye with a thumb. "Ruby… Why have you not been sleeping enough?" She softly, but sternly demanded, causing Ruby to nervously chuckle as she tried to pull away from the hold. Only for Cinder to tug her head back into place as both Mercury and Emerald leaned closer with concern, noticing the slightly darker lines under her eyes.
"I have been!" Ruby vowed, "Honest! It's just… Well there were a few tests recently and uh… I guess I've been helping someone out with something too, so that's been tiring me out."
Her tiredness also probably had something to do with that recent, emotional and stressful bout with Blake and the fact that she had to constantly show her… pleasantries to people even when she doesn't want to. The constant motion of studying for her classes, analyzing other students, keeping a somewhat low profile in sparring class (and now, with Pyrrha), and ensuring her well-likeness around campus, then of course it would eventually take a toll on Ruby.
But… she refused to acknowledge the fact.
"That's not good," Cinder sighed, letting her hand drop from Ruby's face. "You need to ensure that you stay well rested. Have you at least been eating properly?" She asked.
Ruby pouted, puffing her cheeks out at the question. "Of course I have." She huffed. "I've eaten loads!"
Cinder smiled in amusement, bringing her hands up to pinch Ruby's cheeks, "Hm. Considering the sudden appearance of the pudge on your cheeks, then I suppose it must be true." She teased before squeezing them together to force the air out, allowing Ruby to take the opportunity to blow another raspberry. Cinder grinned a little wider before pulling on them again. An easy feat considering how elastic Ruby's cheeks looked.
Ruby whined before bringing her own hands up to pinch at Cinder's cheeks and slightly tugging at them in silent demand for Cinder's to do the same.
Though it was evident that Cinder refused to allow this to happen, taking advantage of the height she had over Ruby as she merely pulled her head away with a smirk to prevent Ruby from properly grabbing her skin.
"Si~s!" Ruby whined the word with slight contortion due to her cheeks still being held and stretched.
"Ruby!" Cinder mimicked with a grin, squishing her sister's cheeks in as Ruby continued to struggle reaching for a hold of Cinder's face.
Witnessing Ruby's difficulty of getting back at her sister due to her shortness, Cardin realized one of the reasons as to why his boss had such a height complex.
Mercury seemed to have caught him staring, looking up from his source of entertainment after sensing someone watching, and his eyes hardened.
Cardin froze, like a deer caught in headlights as his knees began to tremble.
"And who are you?" Mercury asked with a slight growl.
"Uh… I-I…" Cardin swallowed hard, not sure why he was so frightened by a mere question when Mercury hadn't even done anything yet. He tried glancing over to Ruby in vain as she wasn't even paying attention to him. Instead, he caught sight of a fierce glare Emerald was throwing his way.
"That's Cardin!" Ruby stated, her words still contorting in various sounds as Cinder continued squishing and pulling on her cheeks. "He's sort of like a gopher."
"So Roman." Emerald summarized.
"Yeah. But if Roman couldn't steal."
"Then Mercury." Emerald mocked, throwing a side smirk over to her affiliate.
"Oh how you wound me." Mercury drolled, placing his hand over his chest.
"Less drama, more huffy." Ruby said, still focusing on trying to grab Cinder's cheeks.
"Then basically Emerald." Mercury snarked.
"She said no stealing." Emerald growled.
Cardin could only watch in complete confusion as the 4 continued talking amongst themselves, completely engrossed in one another. It… felt like he didn't belong there at all. Like he shouldn't even be watching this moment despite the fact that he was the subject.
"Now now," Cinder began in a quiet tone, making Emerald and Mercury immediately silence themselves while Ruby continued whining and grunting as Cinder kept amusing herself with her younger sister's cheeks. "Whoever he's most like, I'm sure that he's still a diligent worker who would, with no doubt, continue serving and being loyal to Ruby even if he dies. Am I right?" Cinder asked Cardin with a silent glare.
The look caused a harsh shiver to run down Cardin's back, his legs trembling even more than before as he nodded harshly. "Y-Yes Ma'm."
Apparently the confirmation wasn't enough for Cinder as she narrowed her eyes which began to glow down at him, "Swear it."
"I-I swear that I will r-risk and serve my l-life to Ruby." He stuttered out.
Cinder hummed in amusement, returning her gaze back to Ruby's face. "I"m happy that you were able to find someone so useful and compliant dearest sister."
"Can you let go now?" Ruby whined, her eyes slightly tearing up from all the prolonged pinching and stretching, already giving up trying to get back at her sister and instead, placing her hands over the other's in a slight attempt to prevent any more abuse to her face.
Cinder smirked, letting go of Ruby's cheeks and slipping her hands out from under her younger sister's.
Ruby rubbed her slightly swollen and deeply red cheeks with a pout, tearfully grumbling at Cinder for putting her through all that pain before glaring away.
Cinder cooed down at her, "Awww, don't be so mad Ruby."
"I will get my revenge." Ruby vowed, refusing to even look at her sister as Mercury snickered at her words and misfortune.
"You say that all the time." Emerald stated, rolling her eyes.
"That's because I will!" Ruby declared, dramatically shaking her fist in the air. "With the help of Neo, we will get revenge on all of you- where's Neo?" She asked, looking around as she just noticed her absence.
"Helping Torchwick." Emerald said
"He's in charge of the faction meeting tonight," Mercury explained before allowing a small crooked smirk to tug on one side of his cheek. "And the new recruits."
"It's to show off the new military weapons." Emerald finished, causing Ruby to gasp. Emerald donned a look of arrogance at the reaction, lifting her chin up as she taunted, "We got them while you were away."
"You stole new weapons without me?" Ruby asked in an accusatory tone toward an amused Cinder.
"We couldn't exactly pull you out of school when it happened." Mercury said.
Ruby pouted. "But! I wanna see them! What are they like? Are they robots? Giant robots? Do they shoot laser beams? Can they fly? Do they come with death rays? Can they teleport? COME ON! I WANNA KNOW!" Ruby whined, as the temptation to just melt down to the floor and bang on it grew stronger.
"If you want," Cinder began. "You can go take a look at them tonight. It would do the recruits some good to know who you are."
Ruby allowed another gasp, this time of excitement, to sound. "Really?"
Cinder nodded with an affectionate smile. "You can pick Neo up before returning. Just promise not to get into any trouble."
"Yes! I'll try my best not to!" Ruby fist pumped, right when her scroll began beeping. "Oh. That's my alarm, I need to go." Ruby frowned.
Emerald seemed confused, furrowing her brows in slight annoyance. "What's so important?"
"Well, I have this meeting with a teacher to help me improve my weapons' build." Ruby stated sheepishly. "Send me the info about the meeting?"
Cinder nodded, "Maybe we'll see you around." she teased, opening her arms for Ruby to enter.
Ruby giggled, wrapping her arms around Cinder in a hug and giving her a quick squeeze before the two separated. "Maybe! C'mon Cardin, let's go!" She called before they departed from one another.
Cardin nodded, silently following after his boss and ducking his head to avert his gaze from the other three.
When they were far enough and he felt safe, he finally allowed himself to relax.
"Don't tell anyone who they are." Ruby said, causing Cardin to tense again.
"I-I had no plans to." He reassured.
"Good." Ruby nodded with a smile, allowing him to relax as he smiled, albeit nervously, back. "Now, I really gotta go before I'm late. So, after you take these back to Sergeant, you can take some time off until I call you again."
"Thanks." Cardin smiled before Ruby left him in a hurry to meet with Glynda.
"What do you mean you don't know what happened to him?!" Yang yelled, slamming her hands down on the bar countertop harshly.
Blake and Weiss glanced to each other nervously, standing a few feet away from behind Yang as they watched her interrogate some shady owner of a nightclub that she had taken them to while being surrounded by what they can assume to be guards.
"I mean he disappeared! Gone! Dropped from the face of the planet!" The owner of the nightclub, Junior (as Blake and Weiss found out to the latter's disdain) repeated as he massaged his forehead from the obvious stress in front of him.
"Well figure out where he disappeared off to or help me get more information for my investigation otherwise you're going to wish you were gone!" Yang gritted out with a clenched fist.
"Hey! Sit your ass down and cool it." Junior pointed down to emphasize his demand.
Yang gave a weary sigh, wilting as she slumped over on her stool and leaned onto the bar with her hand rubbing her scalp. "Look, I'm sorry okay? I'm just frustrated. He was really close with his investigation and all of a sudden dropped out of contact."
Junior sighed himself. "Alright, look Blondie. If it's information from the guy you need, I can get it." He tried to placate with his palms out. "I can track his scroll and download everything he last updated or input onto it, to easily make a duplicate." He explained.
Yang suddenly straightened up with renewed interest, "Then what are you waiting for? Do it!" She demanded, emphasizing each word with a clap onto the countertop to encourage his haste.
"I'm going! I'm going." Junior relented, stalking away from the counter to go into a backroom.
"That was most impressive." Weiss stated, eyeing the door Junior exited through.
"How do you know him again?" Blake asked warily. It wasn't everyday that a friend had connections with some real shady people.
Yang gave a low chuckle, "I got a tip that he knew about all the dealings in Vale and had men to lend. So I came in and asked for his best investigator. I couldn't afford the initial price and he didn't want to bargain."
"You didn't start a fight did you?" Weiss asked aghast.
"What? No!" Yang denied, "Before I could leave, Junior stopped me so he could talk to his buddy and hashed out a discount."
"That's rather... generous of him." Weiss said with a bit of skepticism.
"Yeah, I thought so too. I asked him about it and he told me that it's kind of a family thing to help out kids that come to their place" Yang shrugged.
"Alright, here you are blondie." Junior's voice came as a scroll slid down to Yang while he walked back to his spot behind the bar.
Yang checked the scroll, going through a bit of the information before nodding in approval. "Thanks Junior." She said before getting up and walking toward the door with Weiss and Blake.
"Anytime." Junior grumbled, as he picked up a glass to clean.
By the time the three got out, they quickly slid into a cab that they had hailed earlier (asking the driver to wait for them). Weiss tried to peek over Yang's shoulder to see what was on the scroll, but was nudged sharply in the side by Blake to stop.
She had no choice but to settle for asking, "So? What did your investigator find out?"
Yang glared down at the scroll, a deep frown on her face as she violently shoved it into her pocket. "Apparently, the investigator found out that the last place Ruby's trail leads to is Vacuo, of all places. Robbing a dust shop." She grunted out in agitation.
"I mean… What was she doing all the way over there? How did she get there? Why did she leave Vale? Is she all right? Why was she robbing a dust shop? Is she poor? Does she need help? Has she gotten sick? Is she eating okay?" Yang continued asking herself, growing more and more anxious with each passing one.
"Yang. Please." Weiss interrupted, placing her hand on Yang's shoulder to help draw her attention. "I'm sure your sister is… relatively fine. Besides, chances are unlikely that she is dire financial need as one simply just does not rob a dust shop for money."
Blake nodded in agreement, "If anything, she just might need dust to help her stay safe."
Yang's eyes widened in fear while Weiss shot Blake a look of disapproval for increasing their friend's fears.
"Listen, I'm sure she is in better condition than what you think." Weiss tried to console.
"You don't know that!" Yang woefully stated, "And I don't know that! And I can't find out because she's in Vacuo and I'm here!"
"Which is why I will gather some files from that dust shop while gathering information for Blake at the CCT." Weiss reasoned, "It'll be easy for me to access the records in that area."
Yang sighed in relief, "Thanks Weiss."
Weiss hummed as the car stopped, quickly paying the driver as Blake got out and opened the door for her. "You're welcome." She said as she and Yang exited as well.
"That was nice of you." Blake whispered to Weiss as she closed the door after.
Weiss preened at the compliment, throwing her hair back behind her shoulder. "It was only natural seeing that I am the one who called the cab."
Blake smirked, her eyebrows twitching in amusement. "I meant what you're doing for Yang."
"Oh!" This time Weiss glanced down nervously, "It's nothing. Just a simple feat for someone like myself."
"Regardless, it was nice." Blake nudged, eliciting a small smile from Weiss as they entered the CCT.
Yang stood near the center of the lobby area, staring up at the high ceiling, numerous balconies, and the crystal clear windowed elevators overlooking them with awe. "It looks a lot bigger on the inside." She whispered.
"This is nothing compared to the one in Atlas." Weiss informed as the three made their way to an elevator. "While yes, this is rather impressive, it seems to be a major part of the city and out of the Vale Council's way, but instead - close to Beacon Academy. The CCT in Atlas is at the center of the kingdom due to the fact that the government, military, and education system are integrated. Everything in Atlas is built around the tower to accommodate it. It was also the first one to be built. I suppose due to that reason, they wished for it to be the most imposing before gifting the other three communication towers to the other kingdoms after the Great war."
"But, I must say. The one here seems," Weiss looked around, as if searching for the correct word to place. "More welcoming." She smiled as they entered a lift and pushed a button for one of the higher floors.
"The one in Atlas is known to be guarded heavily with security." Blake explained after noticing Yang's puzzled look. "They know who is in the tower and why they're in the tower at all times. I believe it's more of a formality then it is for security though."
"Correct." Weiss nodded, stepping out of the elevator once it stopped. "They simply wish to show the public the exact importance of the tower. After all, without it the kingdoms would no longer be able to contact each other and their people to each other. All information that could easily obtained from servers would be lost as well. Being able to provide such an important item to the world is one of Atlas's most proud achievements. So they wish to showcase it to their people."
"Atlas kind of sounds like they're full of themselves." Yang muttered, though was sharply nudged by Blake who nodded over to Weiss. Realizing her mistake, Yang tried to backtrack and began stuttering. "Uh. Not that… All Atlesians… Well… I mean, Weiss is kind of- But not as bad."
Weiss hummed as she sat down on one of the free computers, "I have to be inclined to agree. I have met one a many of politicians, CEOs, and military commanders due to being the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, so yes. We do have a tendency to be… self-centered. I suppose." She confessed before connecting a call.
Yang and Blake glanced to each other, and before either one of them could even try to tell Weiss differently, the call was answered.
"Thank you for calling- Oh! Miss Schnee, good afternoon!" An employer greeted, their face coming into view with the Schnee Dust Company logo behind them. "Would you like me to patch you through to your father? I believe your sister, Winter, is also here."
"Good afternoon." Weiss greeted with an amiable smile, "And as pleasant as that may sound, I'm actually calling in hopes of obtaining some data for my friends and a school project. I've already compiled a short list." She stated, already inserting her scroll into the designated station
"Friends you say?" The employer asked with an arched brow, looking behind Weiss and a much too wide smile.
"... Yes." Weiss nodded.
The employer seemed to bounce a little in giddy, glancing over to the side to take a look at the information. "Right away ma'- Um. I'm sorry ma'm, but there are some really sensitive documents that you're requesting."
"I understand. Please do not worry, my friends and I will be sure to treat them with the utmost care." Weiss promised. "But some of that is incredibly vital to some… personal interests."
The employer pursed their lip in thought, glancing between the three before nodding. "Very well then." They stated before sending the requested information. "The data is being transferred to your scroll now."
"Thank you very much. That will be all then." Weiss smiled, attempting to disconnect the call.
"Are you sure you don't wish for me to patch you through to your family before you?" The employer hurriedly asked, "I'm certain that they'll be happy to see that you've made new friends."
"Yes." Weiss hesitantly answered with a shaky smile. "I'm sure."
"Alright then. Have a nice day." The employer stated before disconnecting the call and allowing Weiss to sigh in relief.
"Are you okay?" Blake asked, noticing the wry look on Weiss's face.
"I'm fine." Weiss nodded, swiveling around in the seat and standing up to face Yang. "Here, I'll send you the information on that dust shop your sister was last seen." She said, holding her scroll out as the three began walking back to the ground floor.
"Thanks Weiss. You're the best." Yang smiled, "But I'll check it out when we get back to the dorm. For now, we should focus on Blake."
"You mentioned something about… faction meetings?" Weiss asked in a low voice to ensure no one heard them.
"Yes. The White Fang holds regular faction meetings." Blake restated, "If I can just infiltrate one, I can-"
"Wait. Hold on. No way." Weiss shook her head, "There is absolutely no reason for you to infiltrate one all by yourself. It's too dangerous."
Blake frowned, "But there is no other way to find out what they've been up to. You and Yang aren't Faunus either, so you can't exactly help infiltrate a meeting with me."
"Well you can't go in by yourself." Weiss repeated with a hiss.
"Then what do you suggest?" Blake argued.
"I-" Weiss hesitated, "I don't know. I just know you can't go in there alone!"
Blake was about to try and continue their argument, until Yang placed herself in between the two and got their attention.
"Look, it's fine. Weiss and I can just hide around a corner and wait for you." Yang interjected. "This way, if Blake needs any help, we can easily come running in."
Blake smiled at Yang in gratitude while Weiss huffed in annoyance.
"Fine." Weiss irritatedly and reluctantly agreed, "But I don't approve of this. If Blake gets hurt then-"
"I'll be fine." Blake tried to placate her teammate. "I have you two watching my back."
"I think that's enough for today Miss Fall." Glynda announced. "We'll have to pick this back up some other day."
"That's fine! I think that this is more than enough!" Ruby happily cheered as she gathered her books and dozens of notes. "Thank you so much for putting in some time for me!"
Glynda gave a small smile, "I'm more than happy to help. Now, just remember to go over your notes before our next session and to put some thought into what upgrades you wish to include for your weapons, that are realistic. I understand the excitement you hold for your fanciful wishes, but you must understand that there is no practical reason to incorporate… rocket launchers into your weapons and fighting style. Then, we'll go over the applications, draw out the plans, and build a few trial cases for you."
Ruby nodded along, "Alright! Again, thank you so much! You're the best professor ever!" Ruby announced.
At the proclamation, Glynda indulged herself to a self-satisfied look. "You're very welcome Miss Fall, but please do be sure to tell the rest of your teachers that."
"I will." Ruby jauntily saluted, "Have a good night Capt!" she waved before rushing out of the room while Glynda mouthed her new title to herself, this time with a nod of approval.
Ruby continued running through the halls, smiling at herself in pure happiness.
Everything seemed to be going right for her today; she was properly learning how to upgrade her weapons, her sister and everyone had arrived to school, and she was going to see Roman and the arsenal he had at his disposal.
She did a quick, giddy jump into the air just thinking about seeing the new weapons.
Then after, she and Neo will hang out for a while, getting into some mischief while Roman tags along or amuses himself. After a while, she and Neo will return back home (or… the dorms in this case) and she'll be able to wind down and relax with Cinder, Mercury, Emerald, and Neo.
AN: Ta-dah! I actually had quite a bit of fun writing this first part! Anyway, thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed :)
Also, I've noticed I'm getting quite a bit of new readers here so I should mention that I started writing this story before Volume 3 came out. And since Vol 4 is starting up next month, I would like to take this time to announce that I've already outlined about a little more than a third of the story. I'm mentioning this because I've noticed a few reviews mentioning the Fall maiden or Salem, and due to the fact that I already had a slight vision of my story since before I started and have considered it for a while, I've concluded that I do not have any idea how to incorporate these canon verses into the story. SO, while in the future, there will be a few similarities to certain events from Vol 3, please note that there will not be an appearance from Salem or any of the maidens and that after, the story line should be heading completely away from the show's narrative that I've been using as a guideline of sorts. Thank you!
