Chapter 13

Melancholy RWBYs

(A/N: Thank you everyone for the kind words and the support you have given me. I can't believe how many people are reading this week to week. Thank you so much you people rock. Please enjoy this chapter and my version of the Dance Arc. God bless)

There was an unnatural silence in the team RWBY dorm room. Normally, a game of World of Remnant could be heard from out in the hall, ending with Yang cursing and being labeled a sore loser by her sister. For those with incredible hearing, they may hear a page turning courtesy of Blake, and Weiss could occasionally be heard calling someone a dolt or yelling at her partner that a flamethrower attachment for Crescent Rose was a terrible idea and to return it where she found it. Little did she know however that Ruby kept it in her locker just in case Arachne Grimm ever invaded Beacon.

Right now there was little disturbance to be found. Blake had run off to the library after class citing she had some unfinished homework which fooled no one as she'd been skulking to the library after class every day that week. Yang claimed Professor Goodwitch had wished to speak with her about the dance which Ruby and Weiss would've believed, but they had caught her carrying her motorcycle helmet and could hear Bumblebee outside the window.

The heiress was sitting at the desk trying to multitask multiple objectives at once and failing. Her mind felt as cluttered as her partner's side of the closet. Normally Weiss was good at multitasking and enjoyed the feeling of accomplishing multiple things at once, but had too much on her mind now. She was half tempted to cast a haste glyph on herself but she knew that would end disastrously.

Ruby to her credit was leaving her partner to her own devices. She had laid a white cloth on the floor and was stripping Crescent Rose down and cleaning her parts. This was her fourth time to do so that week despite not seeing any combat besides Torchwick. She was itching to use her unofficial first born in battle again, and being with her baby always calmed her nerves.

While most students normally kept their weapons in combat lockers, it wasn't unusual for her teammates to wake up and see her in the bathroom cleaning Crescent Rose in the sink while listening to music in her pajamas. It was normally a sign that the caped-girl had a nightmare and couldn't fall back asleep. Her team thought this was odd the first time they saw this, but they quickly accepted this as just another one of their leader's odd quirks.

Ruby finished putting Crescent Rose back together on autopilot before deconstructing her again. She couldn't get her team out of her head. They were all good fighters and worked well as a team. They all had different personalities but they all put their differences aside for the sake of their friends. 'So why are we avoiding each other? Why do we always go our separate ways?'

Besides the night in the medical bay, Ruby had spent little time with her team. Blake would hide in the library while Yang and Weiss spent all of their time prepare the school dance in place of team CFVY who were busy on a mission. Ruby had tried to help, but she had little to no sense of fashion so normally just watched the two bicker about something as trivial as tablecloths before going back to the dorm alone. The caped-girl wanted to pull everyone together again but she didn't know how. She was over two years their junior and self admittedly not good with people. She was however good with weapons.

Weiss sighed loudly and pushed her scroll away. Nothing was being accomplished it seemed.

"Anything wrong?" Ruby asked absently.

"No," Weiss replied, perhaps a little too sharply.

Ruby never stopped her disassembling of Crescent Rose as her partner's sharp tone barely fazed her anymore.

Weiss sighed again, and looked over at the young girl with the oversized rifle. 'She's just trying to be nice. It wouldn't kill you to be nice back to her for once.'

Every night that week, her partner had been woken by nightmares, and each time the heiress had tried putting her back to sleep with a glyph. Sometimes she succeeded and other times she failed, but it worried her that the girl's nightmares had become more frequent, as well as more violent.

"I'm reading the Schnee Dust Company reports," She said offhandedly, trying to sound casual.

Ruby looked up in surprise. "Find anything weird?"

"No, and that's just it. Nothing's out of place. I've been going over these files all week, and all Paladins are accounted for."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Normally yes, but we know at least one is missing. These records have everything listed, even the top secret stuff not released to the public."

"Really?" Ruby asked excitedly, standing up to get a peak.

"Back up, dolt. Schnee eyes only." Ruby groaned about her not being fair but sat down on the heiress' bed, giving the scroll its space. The bed sat noticeably a little lower to due Weiss lending her dust mattress to her to help her muscles heal. "Actually, you'd probably remember this," she mumbled. "What was the serial number of the Paladin? I wasn't able to get a good look at it during the fight."

"APP-617," Ruby reported dutifully.

Weiss nodded and checked her scroll. "Yeah, it's right here. It should be in Mistral right now. I don't get it."

"Maybe your info is out of date."

Weiss shook her head. "No, these reports were from that morning. Unless Torchwick managed to steal it and bring it to Vale in the span of a couple of hours, then these reports are wrong. And that means someone in my family's company is dealing under the table..."

"Oh." Ruby said simply, unsure what to say.

"What's more disturbing is seeing just how much dust has been stolen in the last year alone," her voice cracked. "Ruby, this is my family's legacy. Mining dust is what made us, and in the past year enough has been stolen to supply a small army. How did my father let things get this bad?" She slammed the scroll down in frustration and looked as though she might pull her hair out.

Ruby wished she had answers for her. The heiress had been extra moody all week, but she knew her partner had her reasons. Weiss has was the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company but she had no real power. All she could do was watch as tragedy after tragedy befell her family and future company.

A new binder on the desk caught Ruby's eye and she pointed. "What's that?"

Weiss turned and smiled. Its contents had also frustrated her, but she needed a distraction from the SDC, and her partner's easily distracted mind was welcomed.

"These are the plans for the best dance activities ever." As if it were proof, 'Best Dance Activities Ever' was written on the front in perfect handwriting.

Ruby laughed at the inside joke. "Are those all the plans you and Yang have come up with the past couple weeks?"

Weiss shook her head but kept smiling. "Yang doesn't know it yet, but I've made some subtle changes to our plans."

"Like what?" Ruby asked worriedly, not liking the sound of that.

"Like changing the napkins and doilies from lilac to cerulean. That way they match my dress." Ruby rolled her eyes, and silently prayed this wasn't how her partner died. "Neptune likes the color blue."

"I've noticed," she giggled.

"Do you have a date yet?"

"You already know the answer, Weiss." Suddenly not quite as upbeat as before. "I promised Yang I would go to the dance, but I never said anything about a date."

She laid back closing her eyes, and grimaced as if something hurt.

Weiss looked hard at the younger girl. Even with an oversized weapon, Ruby was just fifteen. She knew how pent up the team had been since the encounter with Torchwick. They needed some levity, which was why she and Yang had been pushing their partners so hard to go the dance. But perhaps another strategy would help. One that was more suited for Ruby Rose...

Weiss glanced at the wrist scroll she'd started wearing and saw the caped-girl's aura was just above 60 percent. Goodwitch may never allow her in a match, but luckily she wasn't Goodwitch.

"Hey, Ruby?"

"Hmm?" She opened an eye.

"What would you say to a sparring match with me in a training room?"

"Huh?" Ruby asked confused, believing she must've misheard. "I mean sure but don't we have to reserve a room first?"

Weiss shook her head. "All the second and third year students are on missions, which just leaves us first years. I can't imagine all of them are filled up."

"But what if you get injured? You're going to the dance with Neptune and what about your aura?"

"My aura is fine, Ruby, and I don't mind a few bruises. What about you? Are your shoulder and muscles doing okay?"

"Me? I'm fine. Just a little sore. As long as I keep my semblance to a minimum I'll be fine."

"I'll try to keep mine in check too then." Weiss smiled thinking back to a memory. "You remember playing World of Remnant in the library back at the start of the semester?"

"Yeah..." Ruby wasn't sure where she was heading with this.

"You remember what we said about your weakness in fighting defensively when you're low on aura?" Ruby nodded. "Well, I think this would be a prime opportunity to see if you've improved. Perhaps you can use your aura for defense for a change." If there was one thing the caped-girl couldn't resist, it was a chance to improve her fighting skills.

Ruby's eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute..."

"What?" Weiss asked, afraid she said something wrong.

"You just want to take advantage of me being injured so you can finally win a match! Sorry to disappoint you, princess, but I'm not going to lose!"

Weiss smiled at her partner's over the top antics. "You caught me. Now let's gear up."

"Okay, and thank you, Weiss," she said clearly grateful, holding her hand up.

"Don't mention it." The heiress grabbed her partner's arm and helped her to her feet.

Just then, the door opened and Yang walked in with a head full of helmet hair.

"Hey guys. Um, where are you going? I just got here."

"Weiss and me are going to the training room," her sister said gleefully.

"Weiss and I," she corrected, despite knowing it wouldn't do any good. "We thought it'd be a great way to relieve some stress. The team's been a little edgy since last week if you hadn't noticed." She pointed at the girl's hair.

Yang nodded but looked reluctant and unhappy. "Are you both sure you're okay? The three of us still aren't at a hundred percent. Ruby, what about your muscles? And your shoulder?"

"They'll be fine, Yang. As long as I don't over do it with my semblance I'll just be a little extra sore tomorrow. No big deal."

"What about the dance, Weiss? You don't wanna show up with black eye or something." Yang hoped appealing to the heiress' vanity would knock some sense into her.

"I don't really care about that," Weiss said stiffly, though not unkindly. "And I deal with a black eye every day of my life..."

Yang couldn't help but glance at the heiress' scar, and after a moment the shorter girl in heels cleared her throat.

"It'll be fun. Why don't you go to the library and get Blake. We should go as a team."

"Yeah, okay." She nodded her head in defeat. "I'll go find her."

"Alright, then let's do this!" Ruby cried, running for the door.

"Wait!." Weiss cried, carefully picking up Crescent Rose and handing it to her partner.

"You're going to need that."

Ruby nodded and ran out as a cloud of roses trailed behind her. Yang gave the heiress an annoyed look but she smiled back sheepishly and shrugged.

"She'll be fine. Probably..."

(A/N: Thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed. I'm changing some of the Dance Arc as I wasn't a big fan of it. I also want to put more focus on Ruby and her character development. Next chapter is going to be fun. If you have any comments please be sure to share. You people are awesome. All credit goes to my Lord and Savior who without Him none of this would have been made possible. God bless.)