A/N: Okay this might be the longest chapter I've ever written, or at least it felt that. So anyway besides how long this chapter is, my internet was down for two days so I rarely got to work on this. That's all in the past now and I do like how this chapter turned out. So thank you guys for reading my story. You all are the awesomest people in the world. Well that's enough of me and my excuses, let's get to the chapter.
" Settling in"
Later that night, Liz, went to Jozy's command tent. This place was like a second home to her since she spent most of her time here. She scanned the tent until she saw Jozy still looking at a map. She slowly stroud over to him, her hands behind her back.
"Still planning this late at night?" she asked, signature smirk adorning her face.
Jozy gave her a tired smile, "You know me, I'm always working."
"Yes, I do know you. In fact I know too much of you." she said; with a chuckle.
"So what did you find out about, Ruby?"
"She's perfectly healthy, besides needing to use reading glasses of course."
"Well, that's good at least we can train her now." Jozy said.
Liz put her hands on the table; and looked at the maps Jozy had on the table.
"So who will be training her?" she asked.
"You will be of course." Jozy replied.
Liz looked at him in bewilderment.
"B-but I'm the rustiest one here. I haven't been on the front lines in over a year." She argued.
"I know, but it's a perfect opportunity to get you back into shape, and also to complete Ruby's training." Jozy said.
Liz thought about it for a moment, and finally gave in. "I can't argue with that, besides she's not the worst 17 year old I've met."
"Good, I'm glad you like her." Jozy said.
Liz started to leave, but before she left, Jozy got her attention, "Hey Liz, I need a refill."
She turned around to see Jozy holding an orange pill bottle.
"But, I just gave you that bottle a week ago." she said, taking the bottle.
"I guess we'll need to up your dosage again. How's the seal?"
"Its fine, just hard to control the urges." Jozy said.
Liz nodded, and was about to leave, but the situation jogged her memory.
"By the way, how is Saffeara doing?" she asked.
"She's stable, but she's still having mental trouble." Jozy said.
"Well, that is to be expected. Unfortunately. I can't give her a higher dosage, it would kill her. I also can't Seal her anymore either." Liz said; a sad look on her face.
Seeing this Jozy hugged her. She was stiff at first; but quickly loosened up.
"You've done enough." he said.
With that Jozy let go of her; and exited the tent. Liz soon followed; content with herself.
Meanwhile, Ruby was soaking in a bath inside one of the many "Bath Caves" the Sequoia Tree had built. It had been ages since she got the chance to relax; and she was going to enjoy it even if it killed her.
She started letting her mind wander; and found herself in the same bath. However, Weiss was sitting across from her. She was completely nude; except for the wedding ring on her hand.
Ruby suddenly was brought back to reality,and smirked. "You know its funny. If it wasn't so fucking sad; it would actually be rather pleasant." she thought.
She got out of the bath; and was about to put her prison jumpsuit back on. However, a knock at the door stopped her. She threw a towel over herself; and opened the door. She was surprised when she saw Saffeara standing there.
She was fully clothed this time, thankfully. In fact she was wearing a hooded black robe that had a bunch of holes torn in it. The moonlight was also making her pink eyes light up like the prettiest of jewels.
"Hi, I thought you could use some things since you didn't come here with much." she said, holding a bag out to Ruby.
Ruby accepted the bag with a thank you; and started looking inside of it. It was a bunch of clothes, and underwear.
"Sorry if they're a little big; but they're from when I was about your age." Saffeara said; with a quizzical look on her face.
"They'll be fine. Thank you again, Saffeara." Ruby said.
"Your welcome, Little Rose." Saffeara said.
Saffeara started skipping down the stairs leading to the Bath Cave. "What a strange woman." Ruby thought.
Ruby closed the door; and proceeded to put on one set of pajamas that Saffeara gave her. The underwear and pants fit nicely, but the shirt was a little big on her not that she cared. She stepped outside, carrying the bag in her hand, and the cold air immediately took her breath away. "Holy Crap, this place is cold." Ruby thought to herself. She used her semblance to race down the path and into her tent.
She placed the bag on the desk that was provided for her; and crawled under the covers of her bed. It was significantly warmer there; and Ruby felt comfortable again. "Tomorrow will be better than the past few weeks I hope." she thought before drifting off to sleep.
Ruby awoke to light streaming through the green fabric of her tent. She looked at her clock that was on her desk; and saw that it was only 7 o' clock. She debated whether or not to stay in bed a little bit longer, but got up anyway, figuring that Jozy would want her up early anyway. She got out of her bed and went over to the bag Saffeara had given her last night.
She found a pair of cargo pants, and a bra. She quickly put those on and started looking for a suitable shirt. She found a white button up shirt; and decided that it would do. She threw in on and buttoned it up, purposefully leaving a few buttons undone at the top. It was something that a fifteen year old Ruby would have never done, but then again she wasn't fifteen anymore.
Ruby cracked her knuckles before exiting her tent. She was immediately blinded by the hot, desert sun. Her eyes adjusted fairly quickly; and revealed the busy world around her. Everywhere, Sequoia Tree soldiers were busily preparing for the day. Ruby started surveying the area around her; looking for anybody that she knew.
It took her sometime, but she finally spotted Jozy, and Tyler standing on the outermost rim of the hole that the base resided in. They both were looking into the desert with binoculars; and talking to each other.
Ruby made her way to the two men; and stopped behind them. Jozy heard her come up; and turned around.
"Morning Ruby, did you sleep well?" he asked.
"I did, thanks." Ruby replied, looking out into the sandy space.
"So what are you guys looking at up here?"
"Sand, sand, and more fucking sand." Tyler said, turning toward Ruby.
He had his visor up; and it was the first time Ruby has seen his face. He looked to be in his early thirties with a big brown mustache; and blue eyes. To anybody else he would have looked very intimidating; but to Ruby he was pretty normal.
"So we really are in the middle of no where." Ruby said; shielding her eyes from the sun.
"I'm afraid so." Jozy confirmed.
They suddenly heard a strange growling sound. Jozy and Tyler looked at Ruby, who had a faint blush dusting her cheeks.
"You guys wouldn't happen to know where the food is, would you?" she said; her hair half hiding her face.
"Head over to the Command tent everybody else is already there anyway." Jozy said.
Ruby nodded; and made her way to the Command tent.
When she arrived the flap was open and she could clearly smell the sweet aroma of caramel chocolate cookies. This immediately made her mouth water. She walked in and found Kale, and Saffeara sitting at a large white table with an equally large plate of cookies on it.
"Morning, Ruby!" Saffeara said; looking up from a coloring book.
"Morning." Ruby said, with a confused smile.
She had no idea why Saffeara was coloring in a book made for five year olds, but it didn't really matter. Saffeara was Saffeara. Tourniquet made a gurgling sound to acknowledge Ruby. He was reading something on his scroll; and was only half paying attention.
Ruby was surprised to see that Saffeara was actually wearing her armor this time. Her top armor was essentially a sports bra that was wider and was made out of reflex armor; and her pants were more heavily armored than her top. Her boots had very high heels on them, which was very unusual for someone in her line of work. Underneath all of that she was wearing a dark blue body suit that was made out of leather.
On the other side of the table Kale no longer had the black robe on, instead she got to see the full extent of his armor. He was armored everywhere except for his arms; and below the knee. His armor also had a slight red tinge to it.
Ruby reached over to one of the cookies; and took a bite out of it. The flavor exploded in her mouth; and Ruby was seeing stars. These were the best cookies she had ever had.
"I'm glad you like them, Ruby." someone said.
Ruby opened her eyes and saw Liz looking at her with her arms crossed. An amused smirk on her face.
"These are great, Liz."
"Thank you, but they're not the best ones I've made." Liz said.
"Awe, they're good enough." Saffeara said; a long claw growing from one of her fingers.
She stabbed a cookie with it and brought it to her mouth. Liz hit her in the shoulder for this.
"Claws off the table, missy."she said.
Saffeara immediately started pouting.
Ruby was very surprised by this turn of events.
"I didn't know you were a Faunus, Saffeara." Ruby said.
She seemed to perk up when Ruby acknowledged this.
"Yep, only half though, that's why I don't have the ears or tail." she said; letting all of her claws come out of her fingers.
"Oh, well what kind of Faunus are you; if you don't mind me asking."
"I'm a wolf Faunus." she said.
"Coool." Ruby said; purposefully drawing out the word.
After the conversation ended Jozy and Tyler walked in. They looked at everyone before taking their seats.
"I take it everybody has had a chance to meet Ruby?" Jozy asked; putting his scroll on the table.
"We have; but we haven't given her the introduction." Liz confirmed.
"Well, I think the only thing she doesn't know is Saffeara's name." Jozy replied.
Ruby looked at Saffeara with a questioning expression.
"My name's the Fragile." she said.
Ruby nodded; and turned back to Jozy.
"Okay with that out of the way let's get this meeting started so we can move on with our lives. First I want to here what is coming out of Atlas since we left." Jozy said.
Tyler sat up more in his chair as he began to speak.
"It's all quiet in Atlas. Well besides the daily corruption accusations, but other than that it's peaceful."
"That's concerning. I've never known them to conduct a large military operation and not have somebody ask questions." Jozy said.
"What about the SDC?" Liz chimed in.
"They're the only one's that won't stop talking, but it's usually racist jabber; and shit."
That concluded Tyler's report.
Jozy started asking more questions, but one thing was weighing heavily on Ruby's mind.
"So do we have any idea what's going on in Vale?" she asked.
Jozy looked at Saffeara.
"We have no clue; all my agents have been snuffed out." she said.
"You're fucking with me, all of them?!" Tyler said.
" Fraid so, and I can't get anymore in. The place is locked down tight." she said, a rare form of maturity sparking from her.
Ruby got a depressed look on her face, but quickly banished the emotion. Jozy saw this but dismissed it.
Having seen that no one else was going to add anything, Jozy, decided to end the meeting.
"Okay, with that this meeting is over. I remind you that the prison raid is at the end of the month; and I want you all trained and ready to go." Jozy said.
"Ruby you need to meet your trainer." he said.
"Okay who is that?" she asked.
"That'll be me." Liz said; walking over to her.
"Really?" Ruby asked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Liz countered.
"Um, nothing it's just you don't look like that much of a fighter. No offense though." she said; trying to recover.
"Oh, believe me Ruby. I can kick your ass, with the best of them." Liz said, leading Ruby out of the tent.
"I knew they would like each other." Jozy thought as they left.