AN: Once again, thanks everyone for the amazing responses I keep getting and I encourage everyone to point out any flaws or any grievances you might see or find in this story. I may not agree, we may have different opinions in the end, but I like discussing why I did what I did and went with this or that path. That being said, enjoy!
KHARAKI TAKAN: Thanks for pointing out the "effort"/"afford" mix up! We discussed everything else, so I hope you enjoy this!
Silent Reader 6100: Of course she has experience fighting adults but she still is only fifteen and adults have naturally more general experience than her and more physical strength. Still, in the end she outclassed them and got away with a single hit.
JackTheSpades: Not gonna lie, I'm not sure I catch your drift :'D. And yeah, wolf Faunus!Ruby works and is adorable as hell but there are so many other adorable faunus types...and I'm always up to go for roads rarely, if not ever, taken.
Masane: Oh, I don't feel pressured. The fact that these chapters keep popping up is because of a mixture of time, motivation and inspiration. I know it won't last but until then I will enjoy writing as much as I can.
And yes, I had so much fun having Ruby call out the people pointing fingers at her. Ruby definitely does not shy away from dropping truth bombs. Also, I think in canon Yang was not aware of her mother's 'occupation' at this time of the storystory. She basically knew nothing about Raven, only that she was a difficult person. Qrow also never talked avout her...I think. I'm pretty certain.
As for the interrogation, Ruby just used fear tactics. She would only have gone there if really necessary.
"So, let me get this straight: the White Fang and Roman Torchwick plan to breach past Vale's walls. They plan to do so by using the abandoned underground train tracks connecting Mountain Glenn with Vale. The train is armed with bombs and stolen Atlesian mechs. The compartments armed with bombs disconnect after a set time to blow holes for Grimm to come through. The train is supposed to breach through the barrier built to seperate Vale's inner city from the underground railway."
Oobleck kept on nodding during Ruby's repeating of what she and the rest of the girls had just been told. It sounded utterly ridiculous, the entire plan seemingly with no outcome that could benefit the White Fang's supposed goal in achieving equality with humans.
"And he just told you all of that."
"You have your ways, Miss Branwen," Oobleck explained while adjusting his glasses, "and I have mine."
"Fair enough," Ruby shrugged. "On another note...what exactly does Torchwick get out of this? Stealing all of Vale's dust is one thing but aiding an act of blatant terrorism is another."
"We do not know what goes on in the head of a criminal and we won't find out by sitting around and speculating. Ladies," Oobleck exclaimed while rising back to his feet, "we have work to do! I will contact the headmaster and explain the situation to him. We still have time as the White Fang are still in the middle of their preparations for a larger scale attack of which this train is a part of. Once I have talked with the headmaster we will see how we are going to proceed here."
The girls nodded at the professor as he moved away from the group for some privacy and quiet, leaving the two teams to their chatter.
"You said you were aware of Torchwick working with the White Fang?" Ruby asked her sister's team, their attention now on her.
Team RWBY glanced at each other before Blake sighed and answered Ruby's question. "Yes...he was stealing dust from the docks with the White Fang helping him and he was at a White Fang rally I infiltrated."
"Did you actually stop him at the docks?"
"No...we were outnumbered and...he is a good fighter," Blake admitted, the bitternes evident. "He didn't get everything but a lot was still lost."
Ruby nodded at the explanation, still confused and curious about Torchwick's motives. It made absolutely no sense that a common criminal like him would get sucked into any political group's agenda, let alone the White Fang's.
"Another question," Ruby began as she remembered listening in on the two grunts before the battle started. "Do you know anything about some girl working with or for Torchwick?"
"There was a girl during the rally and she also helped him escape later after we destroyed that mech he was in," Blake explained once more.
"Oh yeah, that's right," Yang spoke up, "he called her Neo I think."
Ruby began to cough wildly as she choked on the water she was drinking upon hearing that name. It couldn't be, it just could not be her. "Does she have heterochromia?"
"Heterowhat?" Yang asked but Weiss answered after rolling her eyes at the blonde.
"If her hair coloring wasn't artificial then yes, she does. Pink and brown hair and I think her eyes were pink and brown too but I can't be too sure; there was a bit of a distance between and still a bit of smoke around us after all."
Ruby had stopped listening after the description of the hair color, her heart beating rapidly in her chest as the feelings of betrayal and abandonment came flooding back.
"You know her?"
Ruby looked up at Rina, suppressing long forgotten memories as annoyance at RWBY's leader once again took over. "If she is whom I think she is then yes."
"And why exactly-" Rina began but Oobleck was back from his talk with Ozpin and Ruby sighed softly in relief.
"Girls, I have good news for you." He looked around the group, having their undivided attention. "While your performances during handling the Grimm was splendid and professional and you have proven that you have the potential to become outstanding huntresses, your performances became subpar as soon as the situation moved you out of your comfort zone. I would have been forced to give most of you...average marks at best," Oobleck explained, indicating with a quick glance that Ruby was excluded from the 'most of you'-part. The other girls looked disappointed and ashamed, or in Weiss' case ready to faint. "But," Oobleck continued into the silence of the girls, "I know you can be better, do better, so I asked our headmaster to give us a chance to handle it and, luckily, he accepted. This is a chance for you to show me your true potential. Show me you can work together, stay focused and be professional!"
The girls sighed in collective relief before thanking the professor while Ruby quickly went to her sleeping bag to put on her top but was stopped by Gwen.
"Does your back still hurt?"
"It's getting better, my aura's started to work on it and that heating pad did wonders."
"That's good...cooling it probably would have been better but I didn't have anything with me," Gwen explained while looking through her own bag.
"Don't worry; I'm fine, really."
"I believe you, but since we are likely to get into lots of fights I should still compress it though...there we go." Gwen moved towards Ruby with a compression bandage.
Ruby dutifully stood still and raised her arms up to give Gwen easy reach around her body as she wrapped her lower torso up tightly.
"Tell me if it's too tight."
"I can breath okay, so it's fine like this," Ruby said before doing some testing of her range of movement. Once done, she gave Gwen a satisfied nod and grateful smile. "Thank you. Now off you go, back to your girlfriend; I doubt she's happy about you hanging around half-naked me for the past hour or so."
Blushing furiously, Gwen looked scandalized before walking back to a laughing Nebula, who had heard Ruby, after throwing said bandit a deathly glare.
"That was mean."
Ruby glanced at the direction of the amused voice, sighing internally when seeing Yang. "Just a little bit of teasing."
"So..." Yang began, looking nervous as she watched her sister pack up her sleeping arrangements, checking and double checking her bag before putting on her top.
"What is it, Yang?"
"Can I ask...how you know that Neo girl?"
"It's personal."
Yang frowned at that. "Damn it, Ruby-"
Interrupting her sister with a loud and annoyed exhalation, Ruby pinched her nose for a few moments before walking up to her sister and putting her hands on Yang's shoulders, guiding her a bit farther away from the rest of the group. "I want you to listen to me, Yang, because I will only say this once: I love you, I truly do. You are my sister and nothing can change that and I will never forget how strong you were as such a small child when my mother...never came back," Ruby spoke, her voice soft but her steely gaze locked firmly with her sister's, "but I am begging you to stop trying to force yourself into my life."
"Ruby-" Yang began, obvious that she wanted to protest, but Ruby interrupted her.
"No, Yang. It won't work like this. I do want to have as good a relationship as it is possible, even though I know that it can never again be like it was; believe me, I truly do," Ruby looked at her sister, her sincerity clear in her voice. "Respect my privacy. Stop pestering me when I indicate, or outright tell you, that I won't answer your question."
"You never answer anything!"
"And yet here we are because all you ask are questions you have no business asking. Stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, Yang." Granted, Yang didn't actually ask many questions...at least not directly and out loud, but Ruby was aware of her; of the little glances the blonde threw in her direction, of the longing gazes. And all the while, Ruby saw the many, many silent questions Yang had. It was obvious; too obvious. Ruby had promised Yang answers at some point but she would bet her sword-arm that her elder sister would not wait that long. No, she would be digging but in some places the soil should be left undisturbed.
Yang gave her sister an unbelieving look. "Did you just...threaten me?"
"No...I warned you." Ruby's voice was soft, barely above a whisper. "Please heed it." She let go of her sister and returned back to her things, checking her dust magazines before slotting one into Mist Thorn. She didn't look back at her sister and Ruby was sure that she damaged the brittle relationship they had; maybe not irreversibly, but it certainly would not heal overnight. She knew she hurt Yang and it really was not something she took any joy in but it was for the best. It was something that had to be done, for Yang's sake.
Oobleck led the group to the area described by their captive. Ruby still had no clue how Oobleck managed to get the White Fang to just reveal everything but if she had to guess she'd go for his semblance.
Their captive was tied up in as secure a location as Oobleck could find around their camp, ready to be picked up by the reinforcements that Ozpin and Ironwood still sent their way.
It made sense, honestly. Ruby would have been shocked if the headmaster would have allowed a bunch of second semester students and one teacher to infiltrate a White Fang hideout which held loads of explosives and stolen Atlesian army equipment.
"Huh," Ruby looked around, "this is were I fought them. Look, there's blood."
"Where are the bodies?" Rina asked before glaring at Ruby who returned the glare with a deadpan expression.
"I ate them," Ruby said emotionlessly, "secretly I'm a racist Grimm and I eat the flesh of innocent faunus."
Dew actually guffawed at that while Gwen and Nebula looked away to hide their silent laughter but they couldn't stop their shoulders from shaking. RWBY on the other hand looked entirely unimpressed.
"Ladies, I have found the entrance!"
The group quickly made their way towards the professor, Dew still giggling.
The entrance, a steel trapdoor, was not particularly hidden, as it simply was inside a broken down building with barely any walls left to actually justify calling it that. But then again, there was no real need for the Fang to go out of their ways to hide that trapdoor as there were hardly ever any 'visitors' in Mountain Glenn.
"What now, Professor?" Ruby asked, itching to go inside and see if it really was Neo team RWBY saw as her heart started racing again.
"We wait for the reinforcement to arrive," Oobleck answered before muttering under his breath something about first good thing coming out of having half of the Atlesian army stationed here.
And there went her approval of said reinforcement. "We have no idea of what's waiting for us inside though. I could go in and take a quick look around," Ruby suggested, trying to quickly come up with reasons to support her suggestion.
"I doubt that is a good idea, Miss Branwen. It is risky enough to have you girls be part of an infiltration of a rather large enemy operation, but it is something else entirely to allow a single one of you inside there by yourselves."
"My semblance is speed. I am rather hard to catch."
"Although I have seen your speed with my own eyes, I would still rather not risk it."
Ruby could barely contain her groan of disappointment.
So, without much of a choice, they waited. Both teams were sitting somewhat distanced from each other, their earlier arguments still somewhat in the air between them. Ruby, personally, didn't mind as it just meant that her sister's teammates backed off a bit from her.
Except maybe for that Rina girl.
Ruby had no clue what that girl's business with her was but it was plain ridiculous. It was one thing to be supportive and protective of a teammate and friend but RWBY's leader acted as if she held a personal grudge against her.
Ruby shook her head clear of such thoughts. She had other goals right now. Other worries. Other people to occupy her thoughts with.
Suddenly they heard a low hum of powerful engines and, looking around them, they saw the slow approach of a couple dropships.
Oobleck wasted no time to light a flare, indicating their position.
After a few more moments the aircrafts arrived, several Atlesian soldiers and smaller mechs being dropped off on their position before the ships continued to their camps location, probably to pick up their captive- if a Grimm didn't find him already.
Ruby glanced at the professor talking with one of the soldiers but didn't pay much attention to what was being said.
It seemed their talk went on for forever until finally the soldier in charge approached them.
"I have been told you are all very talented huntresses in training, so my expectations are high. I will ignore your age and experience and trust that you do make up for what you lack there with the raw talent you supposedly have and the survival and combat skills you should have, considering the career path you chose." He paused for a moment, looking at the group of girls, assessing them before locking onto team RWBY. "You have had run-ins with the White Fang and Roman Torchwick before." It was a statement, not a question.
"Yes, sir," Rina answered the question and quite proudly so, causing Ruby to roll her eyes.
"And I have been informed that two White Fang were killed?"
"Yes," Ruby spoke up this time, "three attacked me and two died in the process."
"You seem to handle the fact that you took somebody's life considerably well," the soldier commented without sounding accusing.
"They were terrorists who threatened my life. I'm not going to feel guilty over ridding the world of those two."
With a noncommittal sound, he turned his attention to the rest of NDGR. "You three I know the least about. Talented fighters with a good work ethic. The least one should expect of hunters and huntresses in training."
"He's not wrong," Dew commented after a moment of silence before another soldier approached them.
"Sir, we are ready to breach."
With a nod he returned his attention to Ruby. "Professor Oobleck mentioned your semblance; speed."
"Yes," Ruby answered with a nod.
"You will use that semblance to get to that train and sabotage it. I don't care how you do it but it needs to be disabled. We will give you a small head-start, to keep suspicions at a minimum. We will then follow and engage."
Ruby couldn't believe she got to go in by herself after all. Oobleck did not look happy at all, but she didn't care. Just speed in, destroy the cockpit and find Neo. "Easy enough."
"You are ready then?"
"Yes."
"Very well, then, let's not waste any more time. Move in."
With a nod, Ruby stepped past the entrance, barely hearing her sister's soft be careful, and made her way down a long row of stairs. She had an inkling that this was all built recently, maybe as a means of quick access to escape and entrance routes. Ruby wondered if there were more strewn across this place.
After some moments of walking deeper and deeper below ground, Ruby finally started to hear the sound of work and she inched closer to a wall as the narrow pathway led to a gigantic area swarming with White Fang. Crates and boxes were moved to and fro, lift trucks carrying cargo and lots of work done on the train.
Ruby took a deep breath before shooting off like a bullet. Her speed had the desired effect and created enough suction that White Fang and lots of cargo flew through the air behind her. However, the chaos and distraction created by her would not last forever and she sped towards the train, leaving a mess of faunus and rose petals behind. Within moments she reached the train and sped on until she arrived at the driver's compartment. Finally deactivating her semblance and catching her breath, she entered the compartment before drawing her katana. Not wasting another moment, she activated the fire dust of the dust magazine in her weapon and drove the blade into the controls before quickly removing it and turning away from the small explosion of fire and sparks.
Rising back up, Ruby saw something approach her from the corner of her eye, a reflex allowing her to deflect it with her Thorn.
Turning towards the direction from which she was attacked, she saw her attacker; a young woman, who happened to be even shorter than her, with both hair and eyes of the same pink and brown colour.
Despite the myriad of emotions, Ruby found her voice to be surprisingly calm.
"It's been a while, Neopolitan."
AN: I always thought heterochromia was that two different eye colours thing but it apparently affects hair and skin too, although the hair heterochromia I looked up on google never showed two-coloured hair as vibrant as Neo's. Also, just to make it clear, nothing romantic ever happened, happens or will happen between Ruby and Neo. I meant it when I commited to the casual fling Ruby.