Red The Beast Descends From Darkness Volume 2 character short
Penny
I had been tipped off by a source on this night that a cat Faunus and a girl in a red cloak were at one of the docks. It was precisely 0200, and I doubted they would be there just for a walk in the park.
The one in the cloak, friend Ruby. She seemed to be of an unknown origin, I could already confirm Faunus origin, but of her other half, I am unsure…
"Penny." My father said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Yes, father?" I responded.
"Go power down in your room, it is much too early for you to be awake at these hours." My father commanded.
I clasped my hands and nodded. "Of course." I replied.
"Good. I shall see you at 0700." My father said, and dismissed me from the balcony I was on.
My thoughts drifted back to Ruby as I headed back to my room.
She had seemed… timid, when I spoke to her. Her sister Yang Xiao Long, was protective, and kept trying to end the conversation. But then that strange girl, Ruby, had declared me her friend!
It was something I had never had before.
The next day, Specialist Schnee came with the General to take me to training.
Or so I thought.
"Penny, take a seat." The General said. I obeyed the direct order.
"Now, I am aware that you ran into one Ruby Rose, the other day?" The General questioned.
I nodded. "Yes sir. I met Ruby Rose and the rest of her team, along with Specialist Schnee's younger sister." I responded.
"Yes. I was aware of my sister's unfortunate choice of a partner. Beacon has such lax standards that Weiss was partnered with such a hyperactive girl." Specialist Schnee said, disdain clear in her narrowed blue eyes and cold tone.
I knew I should say something else. Tell them what I discovered.
"Permission to speak, ma'am?" I requested.
"Granted." Specialist Schnee said.
"Ruby Rose is a Faunus, Specialist Schnee. But that is not all of it, the rest of her genetic compound could not be identified, whatever it was - it wasn't human nor Faunus." I said, the words coming out before I knew what I had said.
"Yes. We are aware of Ruby Rose's… questionable origins. That is why we have called you in here," The General said "We want you to bring back all you can find about Ruby Rose, directly from her."
"And how do you wish me to do that, General?" I asked.
"Befriend her, earn her trust. Learn from her quirks and patterns," The General stated. "And then return the data to us for studying."
"Yes sir." I said.
"Good. You will have until the end of the Vytal Festival Tournament to gather as much data as you can. And most importantly, you can't let Ruby know." Specialist Schnee said.
"Yes ma'am." I replied.
"Good, you are dismissed than, Penny." The General said with a wave of his hand.
The door shut behind me, and I heard the General speak again.
"With Penny planted as a spy, we will have an easier time capturing Ruby Rose and working on our next project." He said, something that chilled my "bones".
But from the files uploaded to my hard drive, Ruby Rose was a threat. And not something to be taken lightly…
Yet why did I feel sympathy for her? For a dangerous hybrid who had unknown capabilities?
But I realized the answer quickly, and shook my head, trying to dispel the obvious truth:
Ruby is just like me.
"No, I'm wrong," I said softly, hands involuntary clenching into fists. "Ruby isn't like me - she'll never be. I just have to follow orders, and this will be over before I know it." I said, and headed away from the office and down the hallway.
I would follow my orders. I wouldn't let my father and the General down.
To distract myself briefly, I opened a file on a screen in my optics.
Name: Ruby Rose
Sex: Female
Race: Faunus; Wolf, Grimm; insufficient evidence
Age: fifteen
Date of birth: Friday, October 31, 2003
Relatives: Taiyang Xiao Long (father, human), Summer Rose (mother, human), Raven Branwen (aunt, human), Qrow Branwen (uncle, human), Yang Xiao Long (half-sister, human)
I froze in place for a moment, rereading the data:
Race: Faunus; Wolf, Grimm; insufficient data...
Grimm; insufficient data...
Grimm...
My optics widened in absolute horror.
Insufficient data.
It hit me. It hit me harder than any Atlesian Paladin.
No… this can't be my assignment…
A/N Here it is everyone! I am already working on proof-reading the Cinder Character Short, and writing the Blake Character Short. Volume two as a whole has no set release date yet, but I hope it will be soon. Favorite, Follow and drop a review and tell me what you think!