Ruby stayed for another two days at the mansion, telling the team about what it was like at the Rogue camp and how she escaped. Of course, she censored some details, but they still looked a little shocked at the lawlessness of the camp and the fact that Ruby was sent there in the first place. They avoided the topic of Ruby's past, trying to avoid judging her as they had promised. Ruby got a few more details from them about what Everest was doing, in order to "eliminate the need" for people like him.
"Blake and Yang asked us to help in a settling program," Pyrrha explained. "We were going to help skew the selected volunteers in favor of faunus settlers, but Everest caught us. We thought he was going to arrest us, but after we explained what we were doing, he said that he would help."
"It was really surprising," Nora said, "But I think, after overhearing your conversation, I understand why he's doing this."
"So what's the point?" Ruby asked.
"We're going to help give the faunus their own city, where they can live their lives freely and have their own independence," Jaune said.
"And they'll also get some negotiating power and an informal state," Pyrrha added. "Hopefully, we'll finally be able to make some headway in faunus-human diplomacy."
"That sounds really good," Ruby said, impressed. "So where is it?"
Ren shook his head. "Sorry, Ruby, we can't really tell you. Private information, and all that. We weren't even supposed to know, but Blake heard them talking about it."
"Makes sense," Ruby said. "Can't have people blabbing about the faunus takeover of a settlement, I guess."
As she was packing up to leave the next day, Ruby finished her story.
"And then I hijacked the hoverjet and parachuted down, landing in front of Jaune. And then you know what happened next," Ruby finished.
"Yeah, I was really surprised," Jaune said, "and then you choked me unconscious before I could say anything."
"Well at that point, I really wanted to kill Everest," Ruby said. "I would have done anything to get to him."
"So, Ruby, what are you going to do now?" Ren asked. "I hope this trip has given you some sort of closing about the death of your parents."
"Ren! You're not supposed to say things like that out loud!" Nora exclaimed, elbowing him. "Sorry Ruby, he's a little insensitive sometimes."
"It's alright, that's a good question," Ruby said, smiling. "I'm going to go back to Beacon and then I'll see what I'll do from there."
"Why are you going back to Beacon?" Pyrrha asked, curious.
"Umm," Ruby said, blushing. "There's someone I like there."
Pyrrha realized what was going on. "Oh! Well, good luck with that!" she said, grinning.
"Yeah, good luck!" Nora said.
Ren and Jaune also wished her luck as Ruby finished packing up her new set of belongings. They had given her a large travel bag, along with a new set of clothes. Her scythe had been cleaned and reloaded with her usual heavy-duty ammo. Everest had allowed her to use his private hoverjet, as her fugitive status would get her arrested if she used any of the airships for transportation. He said it was the first step toward "righting the wrongs between us".
He also gave Ruby a small card, looking like a miniature lien. "You are strong, no doubt about it. You could use your strength for good, once you get your things taken care of. I asked JNPR to talk to you about the settling program, and I've decided that you could definitely help us. The coordinates are on here. Think about it."
Ruby nodded and slipped the card into her pocket. She wouldn't even need it, as she was never going to leave Alys again, but she appreciated the offer.
Just before she left, Pyrrha took her aside to talk to her in private.
"Ruby, I know I promised not to judge you, but can you tell me something?" she asked.
"Sure," Ruby said.
"How do you feel mentally? Do you still want to injure and kill people, like you did back at Beacon? I don't want to send you back to Beacon so you can kill some more people."
"Pyrrha, I'd like to think that I'm changed. I messed up really bad in the past, but Alys brings out the best in me," Ruby said. "I can promise you that I won't kill anyone at Beacon. I'm really trying to change, Pyrrha, I really am."
Pyrrha nodded. "Alright, Ruby," she said, giving her a hug. "I hope everything works out."
"Me too," Ruby responded quietly.
As they flew to Beacon, Everest showed her how to properly use a parachute. Everest had been a bit stumped when he realized that he wouldn't be able to land normally and deliver Ruby as a passenger, but Ruby had the idea that she could parachute down, properly this time.
They arrived in a few hours, the afternoon sun illuminating Beacon in a warm glow. Ruby was wearing a white sweatshirt and grey sweatpants, trying to obscure as much of her features as possible. She held the large travel bag in one hand, a parachute pack on her back.
"Are you ready, Ruby?"
Ruby nodded, too excited to speak.
He held out his hand. "Let's both work towards becoming better people, alright?"
Ruby shook his hand. "Thanks for the ride, Everest."
Ruby opened the sliding door and jumped, beginning to freefall. The aerial view was spectacular, the columns and towers of Beacon rising into the sky, the sprawling courtyards and ponds forming geometric patterns. Ruby aimed for the edge of the Emerald Forest, trying to remain out of sight.
She opened her parachute two thousand feet above the forest, her descent slowing as she continued to fall. Right before she hit the trees, she puffed out the canopy of her parachute a little more, slowing her fall to a crawl before she hit the trees, smashing through thin branches until she hit the ground. Dusting herself off, she slipped out of the parachute pack and picked up her travel bag, beginning the trek to her dorm room.
She planned to stop by her room first, to see how Yang and Blake were doing and to grab her lien so she could access her inheritance. Pulling up her hoodie and shrouding her face, she pretended to be just another student as she walked through the courtyard and into the school. Traveling down familiar hallways, she noted that the damage she had done had been fixed, the walls put back up with a fresh coat of paint on them.
She finally arrived at her dorm room, nervously setting down her bag and adjusting the bottom of her sweatshirt. Reminding herself that Blake and Yang had tried to help her escape, she knocked on the door.
Half a minute later, the door opened and Blake's head popped out.
"Hey, who's-" Her eyes widened, recognizing Ruby's face.
Ruby immediately grabbed her throat and shoved her back into the room, closing the door behind her.
"Shh," Ruby whispered furiously.
She let go of her and Blake stumbled back, coughing. Yang came out of the guest room, wondering who had been at the door.
"Ruby?" she asked, unbelieving.
"Yup," Ruby said. "Hi, Yang."
The two were wearing shorts and t-shirts, their clothes hastily thrown on and their hair messy.
Blake moved in front of Yang, blocking Ruby's view. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Rogue camp?" she asked, frowning.
Ruby sighed, having been asked that question for the umpteenth time. "I escaped, long story, and I'm here to get my lien and see Yang again."
"It's alright, Blake," Yang said softly, gently moving her aside. "So how are you, sis?"
"I'm okay. I just wanted to see you again, before I leave." Ruby held her arms out for a hug.
"We should report her," Blake said fiercely. "She's been at Rogue camp, and she somehow managed to escape when nobody else has been able to. We don't know how much she's changed. Stay away from her, Yang."
Ruby saw the hesitation in Yang's eyes and dropped her arms. "It's fine, I understand," she said sadly.
"Ruby..."
"It was good seeing you again," Ruby said. "I'll just get my lien and leave."
They watched her from across the room as she walked to her bunk bed, lifting the mattress up and grabbing the lien she had stashed under it.
Ruby suddenly thought of something. If they reported her, her meeting with Alys would be compromised...
She spun on them, making the two flinch. "You're not going to report me, are you?" she asked, a hand on her scythe.
"Of course not, sis, I-"
Blake interrupted her. "Of course we're going to report her! She's a dangerous criminal who just escaped one of the most heavily guarded prisons on Vytal!"
Ruby's face took on a bleak expression. "Are you sure, Blake?" She unzipped her travel bag, quickly pulling out her weapon in shotgun form. "Move and I'll shoot you both. Don't think about running, I'll shoot you enough that your aura won't be able to protect you."
"Blake," Yang hissed, "that wasn't really smart of you. We're not even armed."
She raised her voice so Ruby could hear. "Ruby, I won't call the cops on you, promise." She nudged Blake.
"Fine, fine," Blake said, acquiescing.
"I don't know if I can trust you anymore," Ruby said, her vision growing red and hazy, all of her instincts screaming at her to shoot them and get it over with.
"Don't do this, Ruby," Yang pleaded.
Blake suddenly leapt forward, intent on disarming her, her faunus speed making her a blur as she shot across the room. In a shower of petals, Ruby vanished and reappeared behind her, her shotgun holstered again, one hand slamming down on her neck while her other hand grabbed her forearm, twisting it and pushing Blake to the floor.
Blake spat out a mouthful of carpet. "Yang, get her!"
Yang had a moment of doubt, but then made up her mind, seeing her lover on the floor. She flared her aura, fire exploding outwards from her, and dashed at Ruby. Ruby let go of Blake's arm, blocking Yang's first punch with her palm, but then Yang's other fiery fist slammed into her midsection, sending her flying back into one of the bunk beds, the ropes snapping and the bed crushing Ruby.
Blake rolled her head and cracked her neck as Yang helped her up. The bed suddenly burst apart, wood fragments and stuffing flying everywhere, the mattress springs bouncing across the room. Ruby jumped onto her feet, her aura flaring a dark red around her, her teeth bared in anger and her grey eyes coated in red, her sense of reason gone.
"Yang, we can't stop her without our weapons. I'll go get my blade, keep her busy!"
Yang nodded, crouching down and lowering her center of gravity.
Ruby sprung off of her heels at Yang, hands outstretched. She grabbed onto her shoulder even as Yang punched her rapidly in the stomach, one-two-one-two, her aura adding small bursts of fire to each punch. Ruby didn't let go, instead grabbing with both hands and squeezing. Yang gave out a little cry as her shoulder bone fractured, her flames flaring even brighter.
And then a ribbon was around her neck, strangling her. Ruby felt her vertebrae crack as Blake dragged her off of Yang, swinging her around and slamming her into the wall. A shower of petals, and Ruby was behind Blake again, a closed fist hammering into the side of her head. Blake stumbled and blurred across the room, and Ruby dashed again to follow her, chasing her around.
Finally, Blake stopped, exhausted, and began to swing her sword, predicting where Ruby would appear. Ruby stopped in front of Blake, and then the sword was swinging at Ruby's chest, and Ruby tried to block it by slapping down the flat of the blade with her palm. The sword angled down, barely slicing into Ruby's left leg, her aura blocking most of it, as she swiped at Blake's throat, her fingers ripping open her neck.
Blake moved back, clutching her throat, blood leaking out from the shallow wound as Ruby stumbled forward, intent on finishing her off. And then something punched into her head, her vision briefly flickering. Yang was back up, one arm held at an awkward angle but still functioning, grabbing Ruby's neck and punching her again in the head. Ruby tried to push her off but Yang never stopped, punching repeatedly, fire encircling her arm, as she dragged Ruby to the window.
Ruby slumped to the floor, dazed, as Yang opened up the window, picked her up by the neck, and and threw her out of it. Her traveling bag sailed out after her, the bag landing on Ruby with a grunt.
Yang's head poked out of the window, an angry expression on her face.
"Come back to your senses, Ruby, and leave before I really report you."
The window slammed shut.
The cool air swept over Ruby, the sun now setting, her numb skin barely tingling, as she idly wondered if anyone had heard them.
Yang was gone. Ruby had hurt Blake, and Yang would never forgive her for that. Alys was her only hope.
She stifled a sob as she picked herself up, her grief drowning any lingering rage. The minor injury on her leg stained her grey sweatpants red as she crept off the school boundaries, toward the Emerald Forest, toward Alys.
A knock sounded at the door, so Alys set down the dishes and wiped her hands on the towel.
"I'm coming," she sang.
She opened the door, an unexpected sight greeting her. A young girl was standing in front of her, barely taller than herself, having a pretty face with black-red hair. She held a bag, wearing a white sweatshirt with its hood pulled down, a hopeful expression on her face. Blood stained her sweatpants, a cut on her thigh.
"Do you need any help?" Alys immediately asked, seeing her bloody appearance.
The girl's face went pale. "A-alys? Don't you remember me?"
Alys shook her head. "I think I would remember someone as distinctive as you," she said slowly.
"I-I-" the girl choked up, at a loss for words.
"Why don't you come inside," Alys said, gently taking her hand. "We can talk in here and get everything sorted out."
Alys led the stunned girl to the coffee table, sitting down on the couch next to her. Her face was buried in her hands, tears trickling out from between her fingers.
"What's your name?" Alys asked, rubbing her back and trying to console her.
She felt the girl shiver. "Ruby," she whispered, "Ruby Rose."
Alys felt a tug at her mind, a brief image flickering into existence then fading.
"I feel like I should know you from somewhere," Alys said, hesitating.
Ruby looked up, her gray eyes staring into hers. "You should," she growled, and suddenly grabbed Alys.
"W-hat?" Alys squeaked out, Ruby's movement startling her.
Ruby ignored her protests, nuzzling her face in Alys' warm neck, planting a kiss on her soft skin. She felt Alys' body tremble, the little ears on her head twitching, her breaths becoming shallower, more rapid. Something told her to go further, to push her down, to violate her, to rip her head off...
Ruby let go of her, forcing those feelings down, unwilling to hurt Alys no matter what. She could take her time, let Alys learn to love her again, recreate their relationship.
Alys was flustered, confused by her own reaction.
Ruby interrupted her thoughts. "Why don't you remember anything, Alys?" she asked.
Alys shrugged, her cheeks still pink. "The doctors told me I had been in a coma, and that I had something called retrograde amnesia. I can't really remember anything from the past year or so, although some things are slowly coming back."
Ruby thought for a moment.
"Alys," she asked softly, "do you have a dress and cloak somewhere? It's red and black."
Alys nodded. "I didn't know who's it was, so I kept it in the closet. Is it yours?"
"I made it, while I was living here," Ruby answered.
"Wait just a second," Alys said, getting up.
She walked down the hallway, rummaging around the closet and pulling out a red and black bundle. It was surprisingly heavy, the clothes made from dense material. She handed it to Ruby, who reached out to receive it.
"Thank you," Ruby said, smiling, and Aly's heart stuttered, a memory trickling back.
And then another set of knocks came at the door, and Alys got up, a look of worship entering her eyes. "She's home," she breathed, getting up and running to the door.
And Ruby's world fell down around her as Weiss stepped in, sweeping Alys up and kissing her.
And Weiss broke off the kiss and looked at Ruby, shock entering her eyes.
"Get behind me," she told Alys, and stepped in front of her.
Weiss pulled out Myrtenaster, aiming it at Ruby, but all Ruby did was stare at Weiss, an understanding coming into her eyes.
"You did this," Ruby cried, tears leaking from her eyes. "You took her from me again."
In a blink and scattering of rose petals, she dashed in front of Weiss, grabbing the collar of her dress and lifting her up. Weiss reacted instinctively, stabbing her sword into Ruby's side, but Ruby ignored it, unfeeling. Alys let out a little gasp, reaching forward, but Weiss told her to stay back.
"How could you?" she demanded, shaking Weiss. "Why would you do this?"
Weiss shook her head. "Ruby, let's talk somewhere else, alright? Away from..."
Ruby looked around her, seeing the shocked and conflicted Alys staring at them, hands over her mouth. Ruby wanted to cry, wanted to tell her that she wasn't the bad guy, but there was nothing she could say that would convince her.
Another scattering of petals, and they were on the roof of the small cottage, Ruby still holding Weiss up.
"Ruby?" Weiss asked. "Can you let me down?"
Ruby instead slammed her into the tiles, bending down over her. "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you," she breathed, her glistening teeth bared.
Weiss sucked a breath, the air having been knocked out of her.
"She fell into a coma, and I was there when she woke up," Weiss said. "I thought she died, I thought she couldn't be saved, but she lived and I was so happy. I stayed by her bedside for an entire week, and one night, she woke up."
She took another breath, gulping, reliving the memory.
"And she told me that she loved me," Weiss said, awe on her face. Ruby hated her expression, her words; she wanted to break her. But she held herself still and listened.
"She said that she loved me," Weiss repeated, "and she said that I was beautiful. She wanted to be with me forever, and who was I to stop her? I loved her back."
"I loved her too," Ruby said in a tight voice.
"But I thought you were gone," Weiss explained, "locked up forever in the Rogue camp. Alys needed someone, and she wanted to be with me, and so..." she trailed off.
Ruby let go of Weiss, sitting down next to her, resigned to the events that had occurred.
"I see," Ruby said.
Weiss got up, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, Weiss warily watching her.
Ruby finally spoke again. "I'm glad Alys found someone. She was always lonely, always by herself in this cottage," she said, standing up.
She wiped her cheeks, clearing away the last remnants of tears and love.
"It was good seeing you again," Ruby said in a sad voice. "If Alys remembers anything else, tell her that I forgive her, and tell her to just forget about me."
Weiss cautiously nodded, a hand still on her sword.
Ruby gave her one last broken smile, and jumped off of the roof. She stepped past Alys, who had been watching them speak, uncomprehending, and went inside to grab her bag.
Reappearing outside of the cottage, she looked back one more time, taking one last glance at Alys and what had been her home. And then she disappeared into the forest, rose petals scattering.
Weiss stepped down from the roof, landing softly on a glyph. She walked up to Alys, giving her a hug, checking her for injuries.
"Are you okay? Did she do anything?"
Alys shook her head, whispering a "no".
They went back inside. Alys was silent for the rest of the evening.
Note:
Read, review, point out my mistakes, etc :D
I love reviews that analyze the story :)
Response to stein, about inconsistencies of characters and time and transition from a dark fic to a comical fic:
You raise very good points. I probably should have put a scene that showed them getting back up and stemming their wounds. It wasn't a span of just a few minutes, I really should have done an overall view of the mansion grounds, but the point is that Everest is an important official mansion area is HUGE. Like, really really big. Consider how far Ruby can throw things, so when I say she throws him far away, far enough so that Pyrrha's semblance can't affect her weapons, it's like really, really far away, into the gardens on the other side of the huge mansion grounds. In addition, I mentioned that there was a wide expanse of lawn between the mansion and the courtyard, and then I skipped past the part where Ruby takes quite awhile to walk across it, planning her attack. I probably should have put a segment for her thinking, and walking, for thousands of feet, across acres of the mansion. The lawn is large enough that Everest didn't even hear Nora's grenade explosions, Pyrrha's spear firing, Ren's double-palm strike, and Nora's hammer hitting Ruby again. And in addition, besides for the fact that Ruby does take awhile to walk across the gigantic lawn, they do recover quickly, being aura users. Nora hasn't been confirmed as being an aura user yet, so I tried to avoid mentioning her aura and instant have Jaune try to help her. The others, once the are conscious again, can recover their auras and immediately reinforce themselves, slowing the bleeding. The confirmed uses of Aura in the show include offensive capabilities, reinforcement capabilities, and then Jaune's (temporary?) healing abilities. Thus, the effect comes up instantly once Ruby slows their bleeding and wakes them up.
Oh, and maybe this chapter didn't make it that clear again, but hopefully me previous explanation did, but they aren't friends, per se, but more as though they have stopped considering Ruby as a threat and they can talk to her again. Remember, only team RWBY found Ruby at the scene of the crime, only they saw what she did in real-life view. JNPR only heard what she did through hearsay and rumors, and so they don't actually realize Ruby's threat. They instead are able to joke around with her again, once it seems that Ruby isn't going to kill all of them. Their friendship definitely isn't as high as before, as shown by Pyrrha's conversation with her, but she have definitely settled back into sort of "allies". They are young, and impressionable, and if they didn't see the actual scene of Ruby's crimes, they'll take their present perceptions and overlay their previous memories with them. Thus, the image of Ruby being a slightly emotionally disturbed young girl with a tragic past, but yet still friendly with them and not a threat anymore, is what they think of Ruby in their minds, and they are basically able to ignore anything they've heard about Ruby. Also, remember that Ruby is 2 years younger than all of her peers, due to her early acceptance to Beacon. I believe this is canon, and was explained by the show. Thus, they also have a sort of age-superiority that you've all probably experienced before, and they feel that they can fully understand the complexities of her situation, because as elders they should have a better understanding. This is shown in the way that they tease her about the person she likes, once along with the fact that they get along with her again. It is also shown in how Pyrrha' believes her after Ruby says that she wouldn't hurt anyone, even though it was obvious that Ruby was willing to hurt them to get what she wanted.
Everest also sort of falls into this trap, shown by his willingness to believe that her vendetta was purely against him. His loss of his son cemented the image in his mind that Ruby was out to get him, as his son was the only one she killed. Now that they have talked out their differences, and realized that they have both severely wounded each other, emotionally and physically, they can "agree to disagree" and thus remain at peace. Everest all sees the possibility of helping a young girl back onto the right path by pointing her at Alyss, who he knows she was involved with due to her living for weeks with her without killing Alys, and he also offers her to the opportunity to help out at the settlement. Everest also displays an assumption of authority, that he can resolve her problems as her elder, by shaking her hand, and not realizing how emotionally disturbed she still is. His single-minded focus on the fact that he has resolved his differences with Ruby means that he assumes that her troubles are over, now that they have talked with each other about how her parents died. In actuality, Ruby still has to mend her relationships with her other, adopted family, that Everest ignores. Yang is still against her, she's still conflicted about Alys, and Blake, who used to be a good teammate and a friend, still completely hates her for her faunus killing. Weiss also used to be her teammate, and she's also gone and betrayed her. Basically, Ruby's surrogate family, at Beacon and with Yang, has no been lost, and she is therefore still searching for somewhere to belong, once again. At this time, her emotions and dreams are completely crushed, and her view of the world is bleak, having lost Alys and pushed Yang and Blake even further. Now what will she do?
The main point, I think, is that no one truly understands her pain. Although that may sound cliched and "emo", that's one of the main points of the story, and one of the main reasons that Ruby acts in her ways. She seeks understanding, and when she can't get it, she tries to forcibly take it. JNPR thinks, "Oh, look, she's lost her family, she talked to the person who killed them, now she's fine right? Look, she's going back to Beacon to find love, and she said she won't hurt anyone." Ren believes this, shown by his "parents" comment, and it is evident that the rest of the team also believes this and has discussed this in private, evidenced by Nora's elbowing of Ren to get him to shut up. Except their belief is not true, because losing her family is only part of the equation that makes up Ruby's psyche, because she has to find another family after losing her real family, Yang's family, and Lily/Max's family. Blake thinks she has a sadist and ruthless, Weiss feels sorry for her but doesn't trust her and thinks she is a psychopath. The closest person to understanding her would probably be Yang, who understands her loss, after adopting her, but Yang is also incredibly emotional, demonstrated by her fiery aura and overreaction in fights, such as when she loses her hair, and so after Ruby injures someone she truly loves, she beats Ruby, something she has never done before, and is severely disappointed in her and basically outcasts her from her family, symbolically shown by throwing Ruby out of the window, out of their Dorm, out of Ruby's surrogate home at Beacon.
I'll probably go over this Act after I'm done with it, to correct a lot of these points and possibly add additional explaining scenes for when the show clarifies things more, before I can declare myself "finished' with an Act.
Thank you for your review, I will work to improve my story.
Also, an edit from Yesterday some people might have missed:
I'd like to respond to the guest comment, which I have to do here because I can't message him/her. The guest said that Ruby was too strong and the others too weak, and it became unbelievable.
The point was, no matter how well prepared they claim they are, they actually aren't, not at all. They are still naive students at Beacon, who haven't realized how close they were to dying. They treat this thing almost as a game, Nora's comment about Ruby being a "zombie" clearly indicating this. And they still try to talk it out with her, even when Ruby nearly killed Jaune.
Pyrrha was
1. Completely surprised at Ruby's endurance, not expecting her to recover so quickly. Sure, as one of the mature members of their team, she responded with lethal force, recognizing Ruby's threat, but she really didn't expect Ruby to get back up, nor expect Ruby to be able to just pluck the weapon out of her chest and throw it away.
2. Her semblance has a certain range, and her fighting style depends on full use of her shield and sword, so when Ruby tosses these weapons out of her reach she is essentially defenseless. She fought quite well with Ruby when she had her weapons, able to block each shot from Ruby and able to damage Ruby's clothing, despite part of Ruby's semblance being "speed", as said in the show. You might also want to notice that her shield is a Dipylon style shield, which may or may not even have been used, as it has mostly been seen in geometric art on Greek vases. It is highly impractical, with sides cut out of it, and Ruby takes advantage of that, attacking form multiple directions and exploiting the shield's weakness.
Jaune
1. He's one of the foolish characters, one of those people who are slow to respond. He's probably one of the most innocent of the group, as he doesn't instantly react upon seeing Ruby, instead choosing to let out a surprised scream and stare at her. Thus, Ruby knocked him out of the fight before he could make full use of his aura, as Ruby choked him out.
2. Jaune is easily emotionally disturbed, as seen by his reaction upon seeing Pyrrha bleeding out. Thus, when he attacks, Ruby, he does it out of passion, conducting his aura into his sword and setting it alight with a white glow. If you haven't known by now, the show officially stated that their weapons are conduits for their aura. Jaune channeled his mostly into his sword, intending to kill Ruby, swamped with emotions. Ruby is unaffected by the attack, due to her unique state of numbness, rage, and healing factor, and thus completely negates his attack and takes the opportunity to attack his unprotected body.
Nora
1. She loves to fight, but is also fun-loving and a "good" girl. She definitely has hesitations about killing Ruby, and thus also stops to try to talk to her.
2. She has an extremely close bond to Ren, and once again, like I said, no matter how much they might claim it, they are very, very inexperienced. They are still students at Beacon, and they haven't been in many actual "life or death" fights. So when Ren goes down, she panics, immediately focused on helping him up, so Ruby shoots her, too. They are essentially like children, easily distracted from the immediate fight and not realizing the severity of the conflict they are in. Meanwhile, Ruby has literally gone through life and death, and knows what is important. She is also single-mindedly focused on her goal, she has no hesitation in taking Nora out.
Ren
1. Ren is almost as ruthless as Pyrrha, being one of calmer and more serious mind. He stabs Ruby in the shoulder and leg, intending to incapacitate her, then lands a palm strike on her throat, the same palm strike that he used in the official show to explode the King Taijitsu's head. He takes this fight seriously, but still not seriously enough, still trying to negotiate with Ruby. You can see how he also doesn't recognize the severity of the situation, by the way he instantly offers Ruby clothing afterward.
2. He's one of the few main characters shown in the show to get tired. He collapses during the Death Stalker fight in the show, worn out and beaten after fighting the King Taijitsus. He put a huge amount of energy into his palm strike, as shown by the pink shockwaves, and once that didn't work he has to try to recover. He also lost both of his weapons in a gamble to disable Ruby and have the chance to land his palm-strike, which obviously didn't work out.
Now, back to another point. You say that Ruby is suddenly having focused thoughts, something she wasn't capable of before. However, you'll notice that whenever Ruby has a goal, a loved one, or a passion, she will be able to suppress her primal instincts and focus. This is shown by her escape from camp, along with her calculated attempts to hijack to hoverjet.
She didn't spend the last several months killing people randomly, she did it out of necessity. If she let the truck driver live, he would have alerted her. In addition, I think that's the only one she killed. The other things were just animals. She only remembered Everest on the day right before Max and Lily left, so your statement didn't really make any sense and I encourage you to re-read the chapters.
And once again, I point out, they overheard the entire conversation, and learned what made Ruby the way she was. And once again, they are very innocent, naive, 2-year Beacon students. Their viewpoints of the world have still not matured, and thus they don't treat Ruby as the threat she really is. They should have called the cops after seeing their inability to handle her, but instead they try to get back up and fight her again, and they even take the chance to stop and try to eavesdrop on her. All their actions point to an immature view of the world. Maybe they'll learn from this experience, but in mostly likelyhood they won't. Their worldviews just got validated from the fact that Ruby let them live, and everything turned out "alright in the end". They'll need to learn their lesson, sooner than later, if they want to survive in the world of Grimm and forces of darkness.
As of Ruby's power level: Ruby is not invincible. She came close to death upon being drugged and almost losing her head and she nearly burned to death in the fire. In fact, all she has going for her is wolverine-like(as another user pointed out) healing powers, and the only people she's been fighting so far are common murderers and prisoners, who aren't even hunters, and then some inexperienced Beacon students. Sure, she's demonstrated great strength and she's crushed androids, but you saw how easily Blake and Adam destroyed those androids in the trailer. Furthermore, Glynda easily stopped her with a few glyphs, and Ruby hasn't even come close to the Fire User(episode 1)'s power level. The fire user literally created multiple explosions and dissapated an entire lightning storm. Glynda created a giant chain of ice and almost speared a hoverjet. I don't think that Ruby's even close to becoming "too strong", she's just stronger than her similarly-aged peers as of this moment.
I obviously can't put all of this in the story, but I ask you to trust me :)
However, I do enjoy explaining this, so if you have any questions feel free to ask :D