Everything was passing by in a blur to Alex and Ruby as they tore through the streets of Vale. They had a few minutes ago left the cafe they were in as fast as possible and were making a direct sprint to the airship back to beacon. Ruby was absolutely certain that if Neo was back, they didn't stand a chance without the team, so she was leading the charge back to the airship, Alex tagging along behind her trying to keep up with her abnormal speed.
Within minutes, they showed up out of breath at the front of the docking terminal, and Ruby's eyes couldn't stop darting around, seeing enemies around every corner while Alex didn't see anything but normal people.
"Ruby, tell me what's going on already." Alex said as they waited for the airship to open. Ruby was pacing around in small circles, antsy to get inside as quick as possible, and didn't seem to his voice. Alex finally had enough and grabbed her shoulder, earning a startled glare from an out of breath and freaked out Ruby.
"What?!" She almost shouted.
"What is wrong?" Alex said as gently as he could, and her glare died down, realizing she was snapping at an ally.
"Back during the fall, I went to fight a man named Roman Torchwick, but I didn't realize he had a buddy: A woman named Neo, at least that's what he called her." She paused and started to get her breath, the sprint and panic not doing much for her but she was finally calming down.
"I fought both of them, and thanks to Neo, I was going to lose, had me hanging off the side of one of Ironwood's ships. But Neo got careless, her weapon was a parasol and at those heights all I had to do was open it and she was out of the fight and alone in the sky full of Griffons. That was the last I saw of her." Ruby finished summarizing, and gave Alex a chance to speak.
"So why would she be after you now?"
"She maybe blames me for Roman's death. During our fight after Neo was gone, a Nevermore came down and ate him whole during his last rant. If i had a guess, she probably blames it on me."
"So what's so bad about this Neo person?" Alex said, still having learned nothing of this person other than they associated with criminal masterminds that like to monologue.
"Her semblance, we still don't know what all it could do, but she was able to disguise herself well enough to not only throw us off their trail a few times, but she was able to infiltrate and participate in the Vytal festival with Cinder and her crew. She was integral in the death of a very close friend to me: Penny." Saying the name seemed to reveal another side of Ruby that was rarely seen: Sad Ruby. More often than not she would put on a brave face and cheer everyone on, but in these few moments, when the memories come back to her, she feels everything ten times over.
After saying the name, and a few precious moments slipped by, Ruby was on the verge of tears, remembering Pyrrha tearing Penny to pieces with her own weapons, trying so hard to fight past Mercury but getting there just too late to do anything but watch as the life faded from her friends eyes. Just too late to stop Penny from being used as a catalyst to a much larger tragedy.
The airship finally started admitting passengers into the cabin, and Alex guided them both to that familiar seat at the back of the airship. They sat next to each other, back to the wall and would spend the whole trip scanning the rest of the passengers, looking for something out of the ordinary or any semblance of a threat or sign they were followed. If the flight before felt that it went on forever, this was easily ten times that, aware of every second, every move of a body in a seat, the seconds passed like days.
Even when the airship touched down, and fatigue was setting in, they did not drop their guard. They made sure they were the last to leave the ship, and set foot on the iced over tarmac and quickly left the crowded area and out to the familiar walled off area of Beacon's square, and finally Ruby was able to relax as they walked slowly to the dormitory. Alex looked over at his smaller leader, noticing that she was covered head to toe in snow, but also seemed so distant as to not notice. He held out his palm and focused in the center of it, causing a spark of fire to roar up in the next instant, a portable bonfire in his palm and held it before Ruby, seeking to warm her up before she got sick. Again she didn't notice until he had stopped her and made the fire a touch larger.
She extended paled, frozen hands around it and winced as the blood started flowing through them again, steam coming off of her now warm hands in wafts that blended with the steam coming from her breath.
"I don't know what we should do. We were never able to beat her before, and I only got lucky that she dropped her guard." Ruby admitted all of a sudden. Alex didn't know how to respond either, knowing nothing about this person, at least until an idea came to him.
"Can you remember anything else about her? How she looked? And this is going to sound weird but what about smell?" Ruby looked up to him and thought to herself for a moment before speaking.
"She had pink and brown hair, pale skin, and off color eyes. Like, separate colored eyes, pink and brown. She always dressed nicely, an overcoat with slacks I think, and boots and she waved around this parasol that had a hidden blade in it. Never seen her use a gun though." Ruby trailed off as she tried to remember anything else about this person.
"She's mute, but other than that...Oh wait! Maybe Yang would know. She fought Neo too!" Ruby said, and life jumped back into her eyes as she started walking again.
With renewed vigor, they reached their dorm in no time, thankful for the heat pumping around inside and the sight of their dorm room door right in front of them.
On the other side they were greeted to the other member's doing their normal routines, Blake reading, Yang trying to interrupt it for attention, and Weiss doing homework but also doing it markedly more annoyed. When Weiss locked eyes with Ruby, and noted the worry set in those silver eyes, she dropped what she was doing and went into worry mode.
"What happened?" Weiss had crossed over to Ruby and helped her out of her jacket, showing an nice red shirt with her Rose symbol crossing her core, and the material looked soft and was, of course, as red as her cloak.
"We need to talk, team meeting." Ruby said, gathering the others attention.
She went on to explaining what happened at the cafe, and more and more words just seemed to set off Yang's semblance, making the room even warmer and making Blake cuddle up to her closer absentmindedly as she focused on what had happened.
"It's a good think that Alex was there, I don't think she'd try anything when she's outnumbered." Blake said, breaking the brief silence after Ruby had finished.
"But why? Why would this...Neo, want anything to do with Ruby?" Weiss said.
"Maybe she blames me for Torchwick biting the big one. Probably doesn't know that a Nevermore did it." Ruby said, now sitting on her bunk, Crescent Rose by her side.
Yang rose from her seat, earning a huff from Blake as the warmth left her, and crossed over to her little sister.
"Nothing will happen to you, especially if we stick together. I do have some unfinished business with the little girl." Yang growled out her sentence, but never released her gentle hold on Ruby's hand, even when upset still wanting to support her sister and ensure she's okay.
"Yang, can you remember anything about her other than her appearance?" Ruby asked, remembering Alex's questions.
"Well, when we fought, I did keep wondering why I smelled ice cream." Yang said, putting and inquisitive finger to her chin as she recalled her fight with Neo.
"Ice cream? At least that will be easier to sniff out." Alex said. All the girls looked at him clearly confused.
"My nose is even more sensitive than Blake's, I'll be able to smell her if she comes close to us." Alex clarified, tapping the side of his nose with a prideful grin. Blake rewarded him with an eye roll.
"How sensitive is it, anyway?" Yang asked, interest obviously piqued.
"Well, I can tell you what Blake had for dinner today." Alex replied, and Blake's eyes immediately started darting around the room.
"Duh, tuna, that's an easy one." Yang said, not impressed.
"Nope, more than tuna, there's a hint of…" Alex leaned in close to Blake and sniffed, earning a blush from the girl in question but it was all in good fun to him.
"Something i shouldn't say in front of Ruby." Alex finished, and Blakes blush immediately rivaled Ruby's cloak. Yang fell over laughing, and Weiss gave him an incredulous look, silently asking what was wrong with im.
"What? What can't I know?" Ruby said, innocent as always and Blake dove beneath her blankets trying to seal off the world.
"But we didn't even do anything today." Yang said, sounding disappointed but still joking.
"Oh! You mean sex!" Ruby said, rocking from her perch off the corner of her bed, and everyone froze on the spot, hearing that small innocent voice say such a vulgar word like it was so easy.
"What? Weiss and I are dating too you know." Ruby said with a wink, and with that it was Weiss' turn to challenge Ruby's cloak for sheer redness, Alex could swear that steam was coming from her ears and her eyes were starting to roll back in her head. Yang however did not have the same laugh as Ruby, as she closed in on Weiss and gave her the best death glare that Alex had ever seen, pure malice behind burning red eyes that threatened one wrong move being met with swift but painful death.
"What did you do to my sister?" Yang said, her voice walking a fine line between anger and psychotic.
"What hasn't she done? She's been such a big help in that field." Ruby said, stoking the fire even more as her mischievous grin grew even larger. Yang creeped ever closer to Weiss, who while sitting on her bunk, had nowhere to go.
"Yang, I can explain." Weiss said, trying her best to stay level headed in the face of a raging Yang. Death seemed certain, as her words did nothing to stop Yang's approach, to stop that cold metallic hand from reaching out and grabbing her by the shoulder, albeit somewhat gently. It was more the touch that rattled Weiss.
Yang leaned in even closer, her steaming breath wafting into Weiss face as her terrified sapphire eyes darted around for any semblance of escape, an echo of Ruby in the background all blocked out by sparks igniting off of Yang's hair and dancing around both of them. Yang took a deep breath, and finally spoke in a cryptic tone that rattled the room.
"At least it's with someone I trust, but you hurt her or force her in any way, Neo will be the last of our worries. The pain she can bring you will be heaven compared to what I do to you. I won't kill you, oh no, but you will wish I had." Alex mustered up his courage, and dragged Blake into it as well, much to her irritation, and once they were on either side of Yang, coaxed her away from Weiss, who looked like she was on the verge of tears. Ruby had finished her laugh and jumped down from her bunk and went to hold Weiss while she spoke.
"Weiss would never pressure me into anything. What we've done we both agreed to and is our business, now no more threatening teammates." Ruby leveled a firm glare on her sister who looked like she would argue, but instead let it go, content to nuzzle into her girlfriends hair as she held her close. Alex went back to his bed and laid down, thoroughly tired from their new antics.
"Don't worry though, all jokes aside, I'll know its her." Alex said confidently, and shortly after he was snoring away. The others went to bed as well, Ruby choosing to stay next to Weiss for the night. Even with their new revelation, normally she'd be up all night planning, but something about how calm they all were was enough for her to relax, and sleep claimed her too.
All that left Weiss, snuggled up close to her partner turned girlfriend, but one still terrified eye staring at the blonde mane across the room from them, until exhaustion took her too.
The next morning, Alex awoke to the calm snoring of his teammates, all still paired up and in dream land. Alex blinked away the sleep from his eyes, feeling relaxed and refreshed as a brisk breeze blew in from the slightly open window. Alex was thankful for the extended winter break from studies, the last thing he wanted to do was get out of his warm cocoon of a bed. He decided to look around the room again to make sure everything was in order.
In the corner was his and Ruby's weapons, resting in the corner waiting for their daily maintenance. The wall was lined with their desks and books, homework half finished, and the coat rack empty.
Wait, empty? Alex remembered putting his jacket there when Ruby and him made it home finally. He shot up out of his bed, panic starting ot set in as much as frustration. He couldn't lose that jacket, it was the last gift he had from his parents since the fall. He was pacing around his room, until he finally saw it in a heap at the end of Yang and Blake's bed, Zwei sleeping soundly on it, his little leg twitching as he slept.
"Sorry Zwei, not a pillow." Alex said, lifting the dreaming pup and placed him down next to Ruby, who immediately started snuggling the now even more content pup in her dreams, a small happy smile playing across her face. He went back to his jacket and lifted it, feeling it's familiar weight off by a very small margin. He gave it a quick swing, shaking out Zwei toys and dog fur, but it still felt off.
He checked his pockets, feeling the familiar dust shells and knick knacks, but hidden away in a sleeve, was a scroll. Alex's scroll was sitting on the table next to his bed, and he had no idea whose this was. Pressing the home button on it, the screen came to life, and the only icon on it was a video icon with the title: 'play me'. Alex tapped on it and held the phone horizontally, extending the video's frame as it started to play.
The video was shaky as a gloved hand toyed with the lock to their dorm room, which he made a mental note to check later. How the sound did not wake him, he'd never know. The hand quickly finished the lock and the video ducked into the room, seeing him and all the girls in their familiar positions around the room, similar to how they are now. The video scanned the room, and landed on Ruby and Weiss, creeping forward with silent steps much too quiet to be picked up by the scroll. As the video closed in on Ruby's face, the video cut out, and the scroll died, sparks coming from it's back as the battery shorted out. Throwing the useless scroll aside, he looked over at Ruby, and quickly walked over to her to make sure she was really okay.
As soon as he was over Ruby, that smell hit him, the smell of ice cream. And blood. He sniffed for a short while, committing it to memory even if it did burn his nose, and continued scanning the bed for anything. On closer inspection, and partially buried by Zwei, was a small paper note, easily pushed down the front of Ruby's shirt, and Alex cursed under his breath. He wasn't about to get caught in that kinda situation with how his luck hated him. Thinking of a better option, he opted for waking Weiss.
A quick shake, and sapphire eyes awoke full of sleep and wrath, but before she could lecture him, he placed a hand over her mouth and fixed on her with his most serious eyes, silently telling her to focus up. She nodded, and shook her hand as to say 'what do you want?'. Alex pointed down to Ruby, not trying to get too close to her chest.
"I need it." Alex said as quietly as he could, his voice coming out as a growl at this point. Weiss sighed and pushed her hand right in and produced the note, only for said hand to get grabbed by a half asleep Ruby, who rolled over to stare into Weiss' eyes.
"I thought we agreed not to wake each other up for that." Ruby said in a daze. Before Weiss' arm was draped back over Ruby, Alex took the chance to snatch the note out of her grip. Weiss was not in a sleeping mood anymore though, and from her cuddle prison stared at Alex waiting for answers.
Alex unfurled the note, and his nose went to work out of his control. It was that smell again, the ice cream, the blood, all over the note. It burned, but he just couldn't stop.
"Alex, what are you doing?!" Weiss whisper yelled, pulling Alex out of his trance.
"Was documenting that smell…" Alex said, then started examining the note with his eyes, not his nose, and the contents did nothing to help him relax. The contents of the note, written sporadically, ink bleeding down the paper were four cryptic words.
I was this close.
All of a sudden, he felt the most exposed than he ever had, and Weiss was still waiting for an answer from him. For the first time in a long while, he paused, and just stared at her, his mouth refusing to move.
Yang was not going to be happy.
The next day, this proved true to an extreme extent. Yang was filled in on what happened, and without a word left the dorm room only to tear through the school hoping that Neo was still nearby.
While she was out, Ruby retreated into Weiss' bed even more, only snapping out of a daze when Weiss took her into her arms and whispered kind words to make her feel more secure. While they were talking, Alex and Blake were looking over the note, looking for anything to help give them any type of hint, from the type of paper to the very ink itself. Nothing came from it, but it was better than sitting around.
"How did nobody notice her?" Blake said, flipping the note over in her hand, furrowed brow looking down in disgust at the threatening note.
"I thought I'd pick up something, but I didn't even wake up." Alex replied, that feeling of vulnerability setting in even more. He could've swore he'd smell her out, but that wasn't the case. This girl was able to infiltrate Beacon, their home, their dorm and get close to Ruby with the whole team in the room, and leave a note next to two huntresses in training. This was a whole other level from what he's faced before. At this point, Alex would rather fight the White Fang again.
Before long, the door to the dorm slammed open and shut, splintered drywall around the frame and a still fuming Yang pacing in front of the freshly slammed shut door, sparks coming off her hair in large amounts, and her eyes a deep blood crimson. Blake practically dragged her back to the bunk and assumed the same task that Weiss was doing with Ruby, albeit more uncomfortable as she wasn't that accustomed to it, but she was doing her best.
"We could bring it up to Ozpin." Alex said.
"And what? Have the whole school on lockdown and high alert? That'll just make it worse for others." Yang said from the crook of Blake's neck, a headache setting in fresh as her rage ebbed and faded under Blake's care.
"Then what? Bunker down in this dorm? I'm not hearing any other ideas?" Alex snapped back, making Yang bring her head up and fix him with a stare that under other circumstances if he was thinking clearly, would have him apologizing for overstepping, but not this morning.
"Not like this." A small voice coming from Ruby sounded through the tense air. Alex and Yang broke their stare down to look at their leader, registering the bags under her eyes but the confidence shining through silver.
"She will not win by turning us on each other. We're a team, and we. Will. Win." Ruby said, gaining her confidence and energy as she stood up from the bunk, Weiss in tow, and looked at her whole team. Alex took a deep breath and nodded to their leader in understanding.
"I'm sorry Yang, I let it get to me." Alex said.
"Me too, we'll get her. She can't beat us." Yang said, borrowing her little sister's confidence, and holding Blake to her a bit tighter, but her cocky grin on full display. Even Blake gave a nod and a small smirk. Suddenly, a loud rumble shook the room, pictures rattled on their nails and the curtains almost falling from their home at the small window, and Yang's bunk threatened to fall from it's perch over Blake's bed. They all looked around wondering where the new threat was coming from, Alex's weapon already in hand as he scanned the room.
Ruby rubbed the back of her neck with a small shy chuckle.
"Breakfast first." Was all she said, and all the girls broke into laughter at the sudden change, Weiss dropping modesty to laugh fully.
One thought stayed with Ruby as they all shared in their merriment, they will not be beaten.