As I was writing this I checked my calendar and realized that this would be the third year anniversary of when I started this story. It almost slipped past my mind as writing this has become part of my life along with many other responsibilities added in the past year. Anyways, here's some White Rose and I have another picture from Bakki featuring the two.
Ruby: Lying Dormant
"No, the amount of dragons that are located in Remnant will not be on the test. Mostly because there's a lot of Remnant that remains dark to us," Ruby explained, surveying the students for another hand in the air. "Umm, yes, Bartley."
"Will there be a way to personally dispatch Grimm on the final?"
"Yes, but that will be extra credit. This is a class about Grimm and not necessarily about your skills in dispatching Grimm. However, I have seen you guys all fight throughout the semester so I wouldn't mind seeing how you think when I present a random scenario for you. It will be free response, but keep it brief. I have thirty of these to grade."
It was the penultimate class, the students pouncing on the invitation of Ruby's open forum before the final as she didn't have any more of the required curriculum to teach. Surprisingly, most of the class showed up. She didn't think it would go over as well as it did with it being her first go-around as a professor, but relished and over-performed in the limelight. Standing in front of so many people, all eyes on her, became natural, and seeing the smile of students as she looked up from the room's center circle made it worthwhile.
The bell rang, but Ruby stayed behind as long as she could, letting the students get in as many questions as they could before they had to move to their next class. With the last of the people gone, and she was left in the room, she took a deep breath of relief, a prideful feeling washing over her to know she did everything she could to groom these young huntsman into proper fighters. But as the feeling ebbed from her, a little sadness was left, knowing that the term was almost over and she'd have to leave Beacon for another mission soon.
As she was packing her teaching satchel, she heard a clapping from the back, the leader happily spooked to see Ozpin at the frame of the doorway, lauding her efforts. "You did very well, Ruby."
"I-I did... well, thank you, Sir. Were you watching the whole time?" she inquired.
"Not the whole time. I was strolling back to my office when I heard your voice. Seemed a student forgot to close the door all the way, so I took a look to see how you carried yourself through class. Needless to say, I put Professor Port's class in good hands," he said, the praise nearly overwhelming the former pupil. She hadn't been a student for three years, but Ozpin has always been a model master huntsman, a proper gentleman, and a strong, caring voice for others to follow. With those accolades, and much, much more, Ruby always shied into the adoring fan girl whenever he bestowed her with such honest approval.
"Th-that's very nice of you to say, Professor Ozpin," the leader started, politely interrupted by her boss.
"Ozpin is fine. I will start deducting your pay if you don't start addressing me more familiarly," he jestfully corrected.
"Ri-right. Sorry, I went to school here for four years. It's hard to break that habit," she said.
"You have a point. Mind if you join me for some tea and cookies so we can bend that bad habit?" he requested, the leader taking it as an order, rushed packing her belongings, and flew up the stairs to meet the headmaster.
"I hope you don't bribe me with cookies like Yang does."
"If you remember, I did do that when Glynda first brought you to my attention," he reminisced, Ruby remembering shaking in her boots as she thought she was being reprimanded. "But I have a bit of a sweet tooth myself. Nothing goes better with a warm cup than a soft, doughy treat."
They walked back to the office, Ruby no longer afraid of stepping foot in the room, but was always dazzled by the view, the entirety of Beacon and the cityscape of Vale on display. She wanted to press her face and fingers on the glass, but restrained herself, remembering she was twenty-two and shouldn't give whomever has to clean the office more work. Ozpin called up a fresh serving of the meal, one of the chefs from the cafeteria delivering in record time.
Ruby took a seat across from him, taking only one cookie, even though the smell was heavenly enough to devour the dozen and lick the plate clean. "Do help yourself to some more. Glynda hounds me if I leave too much and they get stale."
The leader resisted herself from immediately grabbing another one, but reserved herself to finishing off her first cookie before helping herself to another. "I'll take some home if that will help."
Ozpin smiled at the offer, taking a sip from his drink before addressing her again. "You did very well this semester, Ruby. I almost regret stealing you from your father."
"Thank you, Ozpin, but I needed to leave. I love Dad, but I can't be under his wing forever. To be honest, word was getting around saying I was a 'daddy's girl', so I might have made the right choice."
"So long as you're happy, I assure you, you did. I know you've been dreading it since I mentioned it, but I'm here to tell you that mission that we did have planned will be moved up," Ozpin dropping information on her.
"How soon? I have the final next week."
"I know. I did not forget your current duties. Glynda and I will personally oversee that class. As of today, your responsibilities of a professor are done," he pronounced, Ruby sinking in her seat as she had unfinished business in the classroom.
"I wish you told me before today. I wanted to give a proper sendoff. Everyone was so cooperative and patient with me the first few weeks. I watched them grow as they watched me and I kind of wanted to express that to them," she sorrowfully put.
"Then I'm sorry for stripping you of that opportunity, but something has come up and we need someone on the ground. I tried contacting Qrow, but it seems he's still off in Minstrel. That leaves you, Ruby, and I know I can trust you with this."
As much as she loved hearing her new boss' confidence in her, she was not ecstatic in going back into the field. Still, she would do what she was employed to do, hoping it would be a different experience with a little time away. "Do you have any information for me?"
"I have everything you'll need right here," he said as he pressed his hand on his desk, pictures and graphs forming in front of her in the blue, pallid light. "An SDC scouting party went dark off of the western region of Anima. With an SDC mine running low on minerals, they made the natural decision to make another. Sadly, as do all search parties, they were met with Grimm resistance."
"And what makes this so urgent?"
"None came back, not even a distress call. In a flash, we lost over a dozen men and women and all we have to go off of is the last signal that came from their GPS."
Going over the details given briefly, she knew there was one glaring fact that didn't fit with the others. "That seems impossible. Grimm couldn't kill twelve people before one of them sends out a beacon. That only leaves human interference."
"I love that you're already at the next step," Ozpin said, moving onto the next of the mission bios. "Grimm are smart, but they aren't organized. Only The White Fang could've done something that well-executed. We suspect that deep in those forests, there's a White Fang base, but I think it's something much deeper."
"What is it?"
"That's what you're going to find out. SDC is justifiably mad, but they also have a legal duty to see if they can recover any of the bodies of the former search party. They called me and asked for my huntsmen and my opinion, and I said I'd give them both if I could lead the the task force. You and one of the SDC elite will go and do a thorough gathering of data. You do what I've assigned to you, it fills all parameters on my end and theirs."
"Whoa, Ozpin, not to doubt your plans or anything, but just two of us? What's out there took out a dozen people," Ruby objected.
"I would never send a colleague on a suicide mission. I believe that they were caught because of their numbers. The less of you making your presence known, the better. My first order is to not engage unless necessary. This will be information gathering and body recovery only. Simple, yes?"
"You may want to narrow your definition of simple," the leader said, her voice steady, but her body shaking as the weight of mission felt too much to carry by herself and one other person. The headmaster perceived this, walking over to the other side and giving a comforting hug to her.
"What's got you shaken, Ruby?" he asked, his tender eyes peering past his small lenses exactly what she needed to be more open.
"I think... it feels that there's more at stake this time around. Doing missions for Dad felt so routine, no different from doing chores at the house. Difference is, I've disappointed him before I worked for him. It's not a great feeling, but it happened. With how important this is, I feel that the slightest misstep will be my first disappointment with you," she confessed, Ozpin's smile growing wider until she finished.
"I, too, had the same feelings as you when I first worked underneath someone I respected. I'm still here. Not the best pick-up talk, but there is a story behind it that would make it worse," Ozpin joyfully recanted, the leader appreciating the effort. "I expect a lot, but not perfection. You'll do fine, Ruby."
Ozpin could say just about anything and it would lift her spirits, the woman enamored with her personal hero. This time, he picked exactly what she needed to hear, Ruby getting that adrenaline to get back out there again. "Yes, Headmaster. I won't let you down."
"Ozpin is fine, and you're buying dinner for that slip-up," he said, Ruby happily ready to pay until she reached the entrance of one of Weiss' favorite five-stars, hoping she wouldn't max out her credit card with a dinner for two.
A small snow storm passed through Vale, the leader wrapping herself tight in her cloak as she waited for the SDC member to meet up with her and Ozpin. The headmaster waited patiently, the two in a comfortable silence as she mentally prepared herself for an excursion past the boarders. However, the bitter cold was getting to her, her readiness thoughts all diluting to, "I should've packed extra blankets."
"Not ideal conditions, is it?" he briskly mentioned.
"Nope," she said, re-bundling herself to keep her from shivering.
On the morning horizon, a ship came into view, Ruby getting a chilling feeling up her spine, but couldn't pinpoint why she got nervous until the picture became clearer. The glorious white tresses of a Schnee signature ship shined with the rising sun, the butterflies she thought died had returned, the leader desperately hoping that Winter would depart from the ship and not her ex. She closed her eyes, repeating in a fevered pitch, "Please don't be Weiss. Please don't be Weiss. Please don't be Weiss."
As she heard the bay doors unlocking, she peeked in hopes her wish came true. To no avail, she watched as the heiress gracefully departed from her personal ship, hands tucked behind her back, looking as beautiful and professional as ever. She tugged on Ozpin's jacket, getting his attention. "Sir, Sir, when you said SDC was going to send help, did you know it was going to be Weiss?"
"No, that's why I personally requested her," he replied, the leader's eyes shooting up to the stern headmaster.
"You what?" she hushly screamed.
"Back when you were my students, I always liked you two working together. You produced results. This time should be no different," he casually said, Ruby feeling the need to fill Ozpin on the background to their huntressing prowess.
"Not to get into too gory a details, Ozpin, but after our breakup, we barely talked and only kept that facade up because we funneled our frustration for one another in our training. The last project we did together tore us apart. I just started talking with her again, and it been going great, and I'd rather not blow this."
The headmaster placed his finger to his mouth, cuing Ruby to settle herself. "I do have a passing familiarity with you and Weiss' current status. Rest assured, I put that into consideration, but like I said, you two produced results."
With Weiss within earshot, Ruby simmered down, slacking in her professionalism and mimicked her ex as she scrambled to attention. The leader wasn't alone in her discomfort, the heiress keying in on her presence before she approached Ozpin. "Headmaster, nice to meet you this brisk morning."
"Brisk is a nice way to say freezing," he joked, Ruby remembering that the ice princess' aura combated these frigid temperatures with ease. "Punctual as always, Miss Schnee. You have my orders and you have yours," he said to both women respectively. "I'm not going to waste any more daylight trying to figure out how this will be operated. Do it on the drop ship. Dismissed."
Ruby missed the warm nature of her boss as he coldly conducted this mission, wondering which could be colder, the weather or him. She looked towards her ex, the woman just as bewildered as she. "Well... let's get going then," Ruby adhered, going to the opposite side of the airfield to their ship.
Upon boarding, she couldn't bend with her body so rigid, the leader figuring using her words sparsely would prevent her from inevitably putting her foot in her mouth. "Fast, concise, and to the point. No need to rock this boat again. You got this, Ruby."
*-Weiss-*
"I knew this was a trap. The second I was told to come to Beacon, I knew this was going to happen," the heiress hotly thought as she sat across from her ex, the air deathly still as the women stayed in their own heads. "I should've exercised what little power I have in the company and shirked this responsibility on someone else. Someone who doesn't have a history with her."
She glanced over to Ruby, the heiress noticing the telltale signs of worry on her partner's face, the safety tug as she wrung her red cloak between her fingers, the ends fraying from the extended wear and tear. "Winter was right. Even if they're no bad guys, I am the one who feels responsible for what happened. I need to take initiative."
"Hey," she gently called out, the leader's attention now at her. "What are your objectives?"
"Why? Don't you know?"
"In the past, it wasn't unheard of for cooperating parties to have their own priorities. It's not you or Ozpin I'm worried about. It's the SDC." Weiss felt like being honest wouldn't be the worst policy in this case. In the past, she's watched others walk into that wall where they thought everything was going according to their plan only for the SDC directive to take point and sully a working relationship mid-mission.
"Help you find and recover bodies, and recon," Ruby replied.
"And that's why I asked. I wasn't asked to do any intel gathering. Can you tell me what you're looking for or is that classified?"
"We don't know. It's why I'm here," her ex said, confirming what Weiss had been dreading, that they were walking blind into a White Fang base. The heiress sat back in her seat, feeling both relief and dread that she was excessively orderly and packed for the worst case scenario.
"I like your cloak," her ex said, startling the heiress who was lost in her train of thought. She lifted the heavy fabric with the length of her arm, Weiss forgetting she was wearing her sister's cloak over her snow white, buttoned-up battle skirt.
"Thanks, but it's not mine. Winter left it at my house and when I saw a snow storm hit Vale, it was the first thing I packed." Weiss took a deeper look at her partner's attire like Ruby did, the heiress liking the new outfit even if it needed some tender loving care, the added white shirt to her battle skirt was a subtle flare that accented her matured body well. The classic red cloak may not have not had the necessary upkeep of a huntresses missions, but her rose emblem tied the whole ensemble together. With Ruby dishing out compliments, the heiress picked one she particularly liked the last time they saw each other. "I see you cut your bangs. You look your age now." The heiress couldn't bite her tongue quick enough as she heard the double-edged reply, but it seemed to be taken like it used to.
"Glad you think so. I still get carded for movies," the woman heartily joked, Weiss also hating being reminded that she didn't look twenty-four.
"Ladies, we're approaching the LZ. Be ready for the drop off," the pilot's voice came over the loud speakers. As much as Weiss wanted to continue the fun chat, the smile on Ruby's face at least confirmed that the conversations over text were translating well in person. With pep in her step, she hopped off the aircraft, loving the crunch of snow beneath her boots.
"We're at least ten miles out from the last GPS marker, so lets move," Ruby pausing as she found her bearings, "that way."
"Ten miles? Even that seems far for safe insertion point," the heiress commented, her ex at the ready with an appropriate answer.
"Ozpin scared me a bit with how quickly the search party went dark. Whatever got them had the element of surprise and I intend on keeping ours."
"Well, you're the leader. I'm not going to second-guess safety on your part," Weiss added, the off-comment intriguing the leader.
"Yeah... I am the leader again," Ruby brashly smiling a little too wide that got the heiress to inquire.
"What's with that smile?"
"Umm, it's kind of nice to not do this alone," the leader replied, her grin just as wide as she looked at Weiss. "It was me for a long time, and I guess you can say Beacon conditioned team and partner relationships into me. I really liked it, more than I thought I would. I was the weird, awkward kid before Glynda found me, but being alone was something I became accustomed to. Then I became leader of Team RWBY and had a ton of friends. I don't want to think I peaked at Beacon, but I do reminisce on those times more fondly than they probably were."
Weiss knew a fraction of her was to blame for Ruby's loneliness. When the breakup happened, sides were taken, very few having a neutral ground as the fighting spurred sporadically during their tenure at Beacon. Weiss couldn't remember the last conversation she had with Penny before the wedding and if it wasn't for Blake, Ruby and Yang would be distant acquaintances she went to the academy with.
"I can sympathize to a degree. It's not like many of the old gentlemen at the SDC are friendly to the daughter who's rising in the company faster than them. Because of my father, they all think it's because I'm getting familial perks, but it's me. All the hard work is me, and I stay after hours, bring work home with me, because I'm ironically getting the cold shoulder. Being buried in work has had maintaining relationships, or making new ones, quite difficult."
"So none of them are as humble as Ozpin," she asked, Ruby knowing the answer, but the ice princess used this as a window to vent.
"Oh my goodness, not a single one of them is worth having lunch with. Winter warned me, but I thought I'd be overlooked because I'm not as curvy as her, but I get the same glances she did. I'm not saying I'm above giving the overt flirtatious stare when I see a well-groomed man, but we're working. I expect professionalism until we leave the building."
Weiss expected a listening ear, but not a poorly hidden smirk from her partner. "Well, not for nothing, Weiss, but you're very... pretty and I can see people getting distracted by that."
The heiress turned to her leader as the compliment stunned her, Ruby keeping her pace and attention forward. Weiss wasn't sure if it was the chill hitting her cheeks or the embarrassment rising from being so bold, but she took a leap to see how strong they built back their friendship. "If that's how you flatter people, I can see why the headmaster has taken such a liking to you."
That tease got Ruby to take notice of the heiress, eyes big as she frantically explained herself away. "It doesn't look like that, right? I've been denying it so many times in my head, but it looked like that when you saw us, didn't it?"
"Ozpin is a good guy, Ruby. I don't think he would butter you up this much to get to you. You should know. Your uncle is around his age and a philanderer of the insidious kind. I think you'd see the signs by now."
"You're... you're right. I do hope he stops, or at least his appetite for women changes. It was fine when I was fifteen and I overheard him talking covertly with my dad about the twenty-two year old he slept with. Now... now I'm twenty-two and I want to throw up when he drops the subtext."
Weiss belted out laughter, finding her partner's ilk in the matter deviously entertaining. The conversation kept like that for miles, the girls not distracted and kept a good pace for the mission. Ruby quieted the heiress when they were a couple miles outside the GPS signal, the ice princess enjoying resting her voice with how chatty the both of them got. Deep in the forest, they stumbled upon a decrepit road, Ruby seeing former signs of civilization a little ways down and deviated from the mission momentarily.
In a short walk, they reached a town, the place a shadow of its former self with how much had been reclaimed by the land. Weiss felt uneasy being in such a place, rusty to that sixth-sense of someone watching you had her head on a swivel. Her paranoid head had her take a proper survey of the layout, the town small, buildings not getting any bigger than three stories on the mains street. It was cluttered, but cozy, as the small town charm lingered even under all the debris.
As she poked around windowless shopping, she lost track of the red visage of her leader, Weiss nearly calling out for her until she heard windows smashing. The woman trotted towards the sound in the music shop to find Ruby perusing through outdated media. "You scared me. I thought we were under attack."
"Sorry. That's me forgetting that I'm not alone on this one," the leader replied, eyes glued to the CD in front of her. Weiss had her curiosity piqued and nosed around to see what Ruby was looking at. It might as well been forgotten history, the heiress not recognizing the group or album cover.
"What's this you're looking at?"
"I killed time by looking at history first hand while I was by myself. It's... eerie knowing that there was life here at some point. Most of this is lost, but it was a nice breather between my objectives," the leader replied, Weiss fine with an appreciation for the past, but felt there was a more pressing matter at hand.
"Shouldn't we be looking for shelter? We can do this later."
"Oh, that's been done. We're next door to a bank with an underground vault. You look for towers, basements, and banks. They're the most secure and give you, kind of, a good nights rest," the leader aptly defined, the ice princess stunned at how expert Ruby came off.
"I thought I graduated the same year as you, but you have this huntress thing down to a science. I feel so green," the heiress complimented.
"I've done this a lot," she said with a chuckle. "We'll toss our packs in the vault and we'll continue with the mission," she offered, Weiss following her leader's orders, keeping Myrtenaster close as they went into the thickness of the forest.
Days past as the girls searched the surrounding area, the occasional Grimm too small to give them much of a threat or a clue as to how the search party went dark. Even it was a few flashy swings with her scythe, the heiress flashed back to when she'd watch Winter practice when she was a younger girl, so enamored by her ex's talents that she felt far surpassed hers. The ice princess flexed her own flares to prove to herself and her partner she still had it, but she wasn't all rust as they came upon their first hint.
Every huntsmen gets that feeling in an area that has experienced extreme violence. It's an instinct that sharpens the more they go out in the field. Weiss may not have been hands-on in the past six months, but she felt the presence hit her as they reached their destination, the small hairs on her body rising as they walked into a small pocket in the forest. Trees surrounded them, blotting out what daylight they had left, dense bushes waist high, all good criteria for placing an ambush.
With the fresh layer of snow, it looked like a peaceful patch in the dark forest. Ruby got on her knees and shuffled the layer around, finding the evidence Weiss needed and intelligence Ruby was seeking. The heiress took a picture before picking up the SDC insignia patch off the ground, the sleeve of one of the party members completely torn off, dried blood on the sides gravely indicating what she suspected.
"I don't expect any survivors," she grimly mentioned, the leader lifting her spirits as she dug further.
"Actually, I don't see a lot of blood. I mean, there's blood, but not gallons of it," the leader mentioned as she unearthed more clues. "There might be survivors, but I don't know in what shape they'll be in now. It's been a few days. But this is what has me most concerned."
Weiss joined her on the ground, the talon engraving of a Griffon was joined by another intimidating species of Grimm. "Beowovles, Griffin, and maybe Nevermore. These seem to be as fresh as the humans, but there's no way Grimm could coordinate like that."
"These boots could be SDC, but then there's these that are opposite, clearly countering the search party," the leader explained, Weiss connecting the dots.
"So, are we on the same page in that we think The White Fang figured out how to tame Grimm?"
"Yeah... and I think I found what Ozpin wanted me to confirm," the leader concurred, a chill running through both of them, evident in Ruby's eyes as she brought out Crescent Rose. "If there's still survivors, we have to find them."
"Agreed," the heiress following suit as she wielded Myrtenaster. "If they were caught, then I suspect that they were followed. Do you think we can backtrack their trail?"
"I think I can. I'm great at being a huntress, but I'm no master tracker," the leader pointed out, the girls shuffling the snow around until they got a decent point of where to go.
The women kept a combat silence, Weiss keeping her eyes and ears alert as Ruby guided them. With not much daylight left, the sounds of the forest were all that was left to guide her on. Wanting to keep their presence low, she and Ruby abstained from using lanterns, the heiress wanting to change that understandable tactic as she kept bumping into the back of the leader. Her careful ear heard something that wasn't natural come off the beaten path. It was faint, but deemed worthy of investigation.
In the low light, Weiss and Ruby were stunned to see an abandoned factory in the middle of nowhere, the women realizing The White Fang might have dismantled the roads to conceal it better, because it was conspicuous amongst the sea of green. The gray steel was the foundation for the sizable building, only a few flood lights scattered to give the entrances a proper frame. It was quiet, but not too quiet, and from both girls' experience, it meant business as usual.
With no gates or walls, the huntresses scouted around the building, keeping to the shadows as they searched for the window they could peer through that would least likely get them caught. It could've have been classified as an above ground bomb shelter as the window situation proved harder that it should for a building housing that many people. The women stealthily scaled to the roof, a few well stacked crates aiding them. With the windows still out of sight, Weiss bolted their boots with ice, and hung downward from the roof to get a look inside.
It might as well been a mirror of the outside, the facility as poorly lit, the shadows that were the members walking about their business. Hanging upside down had the blood rushing to their heads, both women having to take a breaks from the surging dizziness until Weiss got smart and pulled out her scroll, recording the rest as she slowly panned around with a icicle attachment. "So, I guess we were wrong. I didn't see any Grimm, but it doesn't look like a White Fang operation."
"I would agree, but I saw the three claw marks on some of the uniforms," Ruby replied. "Something's happened since they were driven out of Vale and I'm starting to think they willingly withdrew." Weiss hadn't thought of that scenario, the idea they were walking in on an impending trap both advantageous and frightening with so much unknown.
A woman's scream pierced through the static silence, the huntresses maneuvering themselves back to get a proper look. The heiress noticed immediately the white uniform of SDC being carried away. It may have been torn and dirtied, but there was a survivor. As Weiss was figuring a plan to find a way to the basement, a squawk came from the thickets of the branches, the red grooves of the Grimm face lighting up as a Griffon descended from the darkness.
The bird-hybrid attacked with its beak, a fatal mistake as Weiss dove her weapon deep in its eye. Once the ice encroached most of its head, her partner shattered it, effectively silencing it, but enough to alert the facility. Before either girl could step off the roof a flood of Grimm and White Fang personnel stormed out of the doors, the ice princess spontaneously recovering her battle strategies from her days at Beacon.
"We couldn't have kicked the Rapier Wasps's nest harder," Ruby commented.
"I would take actual Rapier Wasps at the moment," the ice princess remarked. "I wish Yang was here. Freezerburn wouldn't be a bad idea."
"I wish Blake was here. Her semblance would come in handy," the leader added. "I'm all out of good ideas and the bad ones are leading to one of us not making it. You got anything?"
Weiss didn't want to let Ruby know she also was running down her list of bad ideas, the heiress scared that this could end like the search party. The cheap roofing they stood on was a weak metal, the heiress thinking dropping down would give them a chance to run and hide, but not long enough. They needed a diversion, the perfect one cropping up as the drooling Beowolves gave her an idea.
"Ruby, shoot our footing. Sink us in the building."
"Where we'll be trapped?"
"No, where we'll lose them and head for an exit. I have an idea," the ice princess confidently said, the leader doing as instructed and carved out a hole with slices from Crescent Rose. As they descended, Weiss' semblance ascended, hundreds of tiny, cold Nevermores erupting from the hole, the Grimm and White Fang caught in the summoning distraction. "Move!"
White Fang members sought shelter from Weiss' Nevermores, the heiress and Ruby cutting down the opposition with their diversion clock waning down. As they burst through the heavy double doors, the chaos was as she predicted, her faithful summons getting picked off as much as they were doing damage, readying her final summon for their great escape.
Before she could complete him, the women were stopped by Beowolves that were clearly upset with Weiss' devious deviation. A snag on Winter's coat had her turn to meet the hot breath of the creature as its roar bore down on her. The leader was quick to muzzle the beast as she drove the large, sickled edge of Crescent Rose down its throat. Weiss undid her cloak, not wanting to repeat history. "Do you have something else up your sleeve?" Ruby yelled out.
"I don't, but he does," Weiss said with confidence as the last of her white knight had been summoned. The towering behemoth took charge, pulling a downswing with his sword that cleared a path for the girls. Weiss took Ruby by the hand, the leader still in awe from her creation.
"Did you make him bigger?"
"Yes. Every once in awhile, you need brute strength to get through an obstacle. However... ahh!" the heiress screamed, a seething hot burn ran through the outer skin of her inner thigh, Weiss falling as the pain rattled her momentum. Ruby didn't let go, pulling Weiss up as the escape wasn't over yet.
"Get up!" the leader screamed, the task harder to do even with the adrenaline pumping through her. Weiss threw up an ice barrier, stray bullets chipping past the thin wall wasn't enough to spur her natural movements with the pain. With her injury lagging their progress, Ruby unexpectedly picked up Weiss by her legs, carrying her gallantly before giving her cue. "Keep your head down. You'll get whiplash."
Before Weiss could protest the dashing act, she felt the force of Ruby's semblance nearly give her what Ruby warned her of, the speed force she never got used to. The battle was raging, her knight performing admirably well as the women were in relative safety. Weiss took a look around with Ruby, both lost with their bearings gone from the fight. "We could just pick one direction and run."
"Or," the heiress paused, lighting up the forest's trees with her glyphs, forming a step ladder to the top. "we could find the town with a bit of height." Ruby took the hint and went with it, using the glyphs as stepping stones until she reached the highest point. The tops of the trees were bathed in white, but the shroud of light was only temporary as they sunk beneath the leaves. After a few unsuccessful tries, Ruby was able to find the town, Weiss confident that The White Fang were sure to give up with the amount of mistakes they had to backtrack.
Her heart was able to calm as they reached the town, the clamor of gunshots and Grimm not even in the distance, the crunch of the snow and the steady, heavy breathing of her partner the only sounds left. Still in her arms, Weiss' attention focused upward, the leader's skin and hair sleek with sweat, the silver polish of the moon highlighting her finer features, Weiss noticing she wore pink lip gloss only until now. Ruby brought the ice princess closer to her body as she readjusted the heiress her arms, her strapping body and perky breasts resting up beside hers.
The placid heart became wild again, a flush running across the heiress' face as she was captivated by the physical beauty of her ex. "It's the rush of battle. It's nothing. It's the situation. Don't be so naïve, Weiss. Neptune would get me to flush like this if he just pulled a stunt like that. But... I know she didn't even have to think twice about it. Then again, neither did I. Everything just came back so naturally with her. I didn't realize she's been carrying me for the better part of an hour until I felt like being uncomfortable about it. It feels... right."
"Did you want to be let down?" the leader asked, Weiss so lost in thought that the leader repeated herself, only for the heiress to be stumbling on her words as the gray eyes enchanted her as they sparkled.
"It's all situational," she hotly thought.
"Of-of course. Let me down, you dolt," she roughly said, still using Ruby as a crutch until they got back to the bank, the leader giving a nostalgic grin that the heiress couldn't ignore.
"'Dolt'. I haven't heard that in a long time," she fondly recalled.
"Really, 'dolt' is something you missed?"
"Not 'dolt' itself, but this, I missed," Ruby clarified. Her ex's eyes glimmered as she turned to face her, the warm expression she wore only having Weiss take the leader's interpretation as what her heart was wanting. Her partner scrambled as soon as the heiress felt the heat rush to her cheeks, clarifying what she meant. "Not 'this' as is you and me. Let's not get ridiculous, now. I mean, yes I did, and yes I didn't, but I wasn't eluding to that, you know."
The ice princess would excuse the leader's babbling this one time, Weiss dismissing this all as conditional. "Let's try this one more time."
"I... I missed having all of the team together," Ruby conveying what she meant. "I always hoped, no matter where life took us, that we'd all still be friends. Some of the fondest memories I had at that time were with you girls. The best ones were when we were dirty, tired, drenched in blood and sweat, Yang patching Blake up or you getting us tea afterward as we're laughing about our death-defying acts."
"I prefer the times where there's less blood, but go on," the heiress piped in a joke.
"I know the mission isn't over, and there's plenty of ways this can go horribly wrong, but I'm glad it was you that stepped off the SDC ship. You helped solidify what I've been wondering?"
"What's that?"
"It's more fun sharing the experience than the story," the leader replied. "I know it's crazy to think I was losing interest in being a huntress, but it turns out I was tired of being alone. I loved hearing Uncle Qrow's stories, but I am not the huntsman he is, and I'm starting to see a lot of Summer in me. By that account, I'm exactly where I need to be."
Weiss would take the credit for getting Ruby over this hump, but she was envious. The upward climb at the SDC has been fraught with every type of challenge. She was never adverse to a tough job, but she felt so hollow coming home some days, the company draining her from a fight that she was deeming less important with each clashing. Being on official business with her, she had to admit, had been the most enjoyable time so far at the SDC.
The lack of walls had the chilling air blowing to the downstairs, the vault a freezing square of metal and tile, the heiress jumping as Ruby lay her up against the arctic base. Weiss inspected her wound, thankful the bullet grazed above her black stocking. She looked around for her pack, but the leader was already on the task as she propped up her own first-aid kit. Without asking, she spread Weiss' legs apart, the heiress' reaction justified.
"Hey!" she yelled as she gripped a handful of her battle skirt and concealed her undies. The light from the lanterns was dim, but the leader's face bloomed brighter as she realized what it looked like.
"Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry. I wasn't... I'll-I'll just let you handle yourself," the leader hurriedly got out as she left the ice princess to handle herself. However, Weiss knew there would be a new scar if she were to attempt this and called her ex back over.
"No... I need help. I'm going to botch it from this awkward angle. Just ask a lady next time," Weiss scolded. Ruby returned to her former position, cracked open her kit and brought out the most painful measure. The leader soaked the cloth through, the liquid leaking along with her painful seething as Ruby disinfected the area. The next part wasn't fun, but the throbbing in her leg from the alcohol numbed her enough to not feel the needle pierce skin. Weiss wished she could've slugged down some of the bottle, the agony proving troublesome as Ruby lowered herself to stitch her.
"I can't watch," the heiress thought, focusing on anything else in the room. "I was always so fresh and proper before sex with her. I'll be mortified if I see her make a face after all the running we've done. I mean, she'll understand, right? It's not like we haven't been disgusted by one another's smells after a long mission. But... it's been a long time since we've been in this position."
She took a peek down, Ruby dutifully mending the ice princess, the heiress feeling sick as the twisted thoughts roamed her mind. "Oh, this is embarrassing. I should be better than this. I mean, it hasn't been that long since I last had sex, even if I'm brushing up on a year. I shouldn't be having these weird intentions just because Ruby is down there. We're both professionals. There is nothing sexual going on. It's totally..."
"Done!" Ruby exclaimed, her attitude not deterred from the action as the heiress.
"OK, maybe only one of us is a professional," she cynically thought. She observed Ruby's work, the heiress impressed how quick she fixed her up.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome," the leader replied. The heiress dug into her pack for the item she needed the most; coffee. It took a fifth of her backpack, but she couldn't count how many times a warm brew carried her to the end of missions. A quick chip from her red dust on the portable heater had the fire roaring, the ice princess gathering snow and melting it for water.
"Call me when it boils. I'll take first watch," the heiress told, picking up Myrtenaster as she headed out the massive door.
"Wait," the leader pleaded, "I'll take first watch. You took a bullet. I'm sure you want some rest."
"It's almost zero degrees outside. I can handle the cold better than you and I'll have coffee to mull me over. Take my sleeping bag if you need it. It's not exactly toasty in here either," the heiress didn't give her ex to protest further and climbed up to the top of the building to settle herself in.
The silence in the night is what always had her on edge, having to canvass the land as she panned the area looking for trouble. With her mind running on fumes, her attention slacked, her aura having to exert too much energy to keep her alert and body protected from the elements. She wrapped herself tight, regretting not keeping the half that wasn't torn of Winter's cloak.
She heard a commotion behind her, Ruby clumsily scaling the building as she held a mug full of hot brew in her hand. "Nailed it, kind of."
"I told you to call me."
"I'm still awake and I thought I'd bring a cup up to the woman who took a bullet in the leg today," Ruby altruistically explained, Weiss charmed by the thoughtfulness. The leader handed over the large mug. "A cream and two sugars, right?"
Many things she assumed people would forget about a relationship, Weiss not even remembering Neptune's birthday anymore. Having Ruby remember how she liked her coffee pleasantly stunned her, the sip smooth to her liking. "Yeah... perfect. Get back down and rest. I'll wake you if I can't make it till morning."
Weiss shied away, not wanting Ruby to see how wide a smile she was sporting. As she pressed herself to her patrol, she didn't hear her ex uncloak herself, donning on the red garment around the heiress' shoulders. "I don't need this. Use it as a blanket."
"I caught you hunched over and warming your hands under your pits. It's yours tonight," Ruby countered, the heiress agreeing with her, never willing to admit it out loud. Weiss turned to thank her, Ruby already scampering off to the vault as she called out, "Night, Weiss."
"Good night, Ruby," she said, the ice princess not sure if her partner heard her response as she had her breath taken away.
She returned to her post, not thinking she could smile harder as she took another sip from her coffee. "I'm cold, tired, dirty, I've been shot, I almost got mauled by a Beowolf, hungry, and am dehydrating myself only to make myself more tired. And I can't remember the last time I was this happy."
*-Ruby-*
"Hey, wake up," a voice gently called out to her, the leader's eyes fluttering in the darkness. The features of the heiress were dimmed by the light, tired eyes and a smile accompanying her. Any mission where she wasn't woken up by an explosion or Grimm uproar was greatly appreciated, but waking up to Weiss' melodic tone was beautifully nostalgic.
"Hey," she sleepily said, rubbing the dust from her eyes as she stretched out of her double-sleeping bag combo. "What time is it?"
"Almost ten," the heiress stated, the reply waking up Ruby faster than the first cup of the day.
"Wait, really? You patrolled the whole night?"
"I was going to turn in early, but you seemed to be having such a restful sleep that I went and stayed for as long as my eyes can tolerate it. With it being morning, I will confidently say we're in the clear." Ruby didn't know what she meant until the wet slime of her spittle greased across her lips, the leader wiping it away as she offered the sleeping quarters to her ex.
"Well, thank you, but now I need you in top condition. Rest and I'll figure out a strategy for tonight," the leader said, the heiress collapsing into the soft, fabrics, and bundling herself to keep the heat.
"Oh wait, I almost forgot," the heiress untying Ruby beloved red treasure. "Here."
"Actually," the younger girl starter, gripping her cloak and bundling it nicely around her arm. "As restful as it might have seemed, I have a crick in my neck from the lack of pillow."
She handed back the makeshift cushion, the heiress in such a tired state willingly accepted the gesture, a smile souring as her nose came into contact with the cloak. "I forgot you never wash this thing, but it's smelled worse."
"Sorry," she mentioned before walking out the bank door. The morning weather fared far better than the night, Ruby glad she succumbed to the heiress' advice and didn't freeze to death out here. The threat of Grimm and White Fang was still present, but she took a moment to enjoy what's transpired in the past days.
"Well, I can't say for certain anything, but at least she hasn't been actively hating my attempts at flirting. Or, more appropriately, the happy accidents that looked like flirting. If there was a third person on this mission, I would like to get their input because... I know she felt something. I know Weiss well enough to know when I'm charming her. Those cheeks and eyes cannot lie to me after two years of dating. And if I'm honest with myself, I got a little red too," the leader thought, embarrassed that the singular memory that popped was when she casually brushed into her ex's legs. "I deserved more than a scolding on that one. Glad I was able to fix her up before I passed out when all the blood rushed to my face. The last time I was intimate with anyone was with her."
The leader basked in the morning sun With her body happy with a healthy glow, she starting her patrol while stopping for some of the usual time-killers. Her time on patrol wasn't long, Ruby triple-checking to see if any scout tracks passed in the night, the leader surprised Weiss didn't fall asleep with how little happened. With the threat of danger on the lower side as she'd prefer, she got back down to the vault, turning on her field lantern and getting to work on a plan to get the survivor out.
Ruby tried for hours for the perfect scenario, one with no casualties, no chance of a fight, and spend as little time in the den of the enemy. With only her and Weiss, she needed to find a way to dwindle the numbers without blowing the building to rubble. With no idea where the survivors were or how many there could be, Ruby had to get creative.
"I hope yesterday wasn't the last one and she was executed after we showed our faces," she grumbled to herself, massaging the bridge of her nose as the bad ideas crept up into the plan. A grumbling happened next to her, Weiss' dreams seeping out as she murmured in her sleep. Ruby looked over, the heiress' scowl indicating the dream turned nightmare. She reached over, brushing her bangs from her face and running down the length of her luxurious hair as she soothed her ex in her sleep. With the heiress' conscious pacified, the leader brought the back of her hand to her face, caressing the ice princess' cheeks.
"It's soft... like I remember," she reflected, happy to see some things didn't change. "At least I know why I was never able to move on. I hate admitting this, but I never got over Weiss. I think it is because I knew we had something, even if it was under bitter ugliness. And clearly we still do. I've seen her shut down interested men in front of me. She's certainly not afraid to lay down rules and explicitly state her hate. On the other side of that spectrum, she has trouble showing a loving softer side, and... I think that's where I stand. When we get back, I'll ask her out like I couldn't when we were younger. If she says no, at least I righted that wrong. I better not think about it, the whole rekindling of love has the fluttering come back. Wait... fluttering... wings... That's it!"
Weiss counted to three in her head, a couple summoned Nevermores dive bombing into the faces of guards on the outside, the ice sealing their lips. Their muffled screams couldn't alert the huntresses presence to their members, Weiss and Ruby taking the stealth approach and silencing their unheard cries for help.
"That part never got easier," the heiress lowly mentioned after taking another life for the greater good.
"No, but it's necessary," the leader concurred. "I just had a thought, maybe we should have left these two alive for questioning. I don't think the others will fare well in there."
"You make a good point, but what's done is done. On to part two of this preposterous plan." With the guards taken out from the outside, Weiss took her time, summoning as many opponents as she could. It was only a handful of Grimm, Ruby hoping for an army, but she knew that was a pipe dream. The final preparations came as she dove her weapon into the ground, forming a slick surface for the Grimm that would break out for their masters. "How did this not end up in the bad idea pile?"
"Cause it's going to work flawlessly," the leader confidently replied. "All that's needed is one more summon."
Weiss stood back, summoning a mature Nevermore, the massive bird definitely alerting the inside to intruders as it gave a loud caw. Ruby as Weiss saddled in the creature's talons, even Ruby misjudging how cold her ex can create her summons as goosebumps spawned along her body. Even though she's dangled from a Nevermore's claws before, she felt her heart beating wild, perfect timing for the rush of battle.
Ruby transformed Crescent Rose into her sniper, hoping she got as good as she claimed at hitting moving targets. "Ice flower," she called to her partner, the circular glyphs forming to a pinpoint accuracy with their descending form.
The alarm sounded, the Grimm arriving just as they did the night before, Ruby having an easy time targeting as she followed the red lining of their masks in the dark. The beasts didn't have a chance, running straight in from the forest had them lose their footing, sliding across the ice until they hit the side of the building. The leader took the double-tap approach, Weiss' blue dust-lined bullets killing even the biggest of Beowolves.
Ruby waited for the plan to go awry, enemy Nevermores arriving on queue as Weiss' summon was being nipped from both ends. With the blue beast thrashing about, Ruby couldn't get a clear shot and was about to throw up her rations. Weiss threw up a black glyph, trapping an enemy Nevermore right in front of them. "Do I have to give you permission to shoot? I can't keep this up for much longer."
The leader heard the strain in her partner's voice, Ruby blasting the behemoth and blind fired into the darkness. Happy to finish another one of the birds as she emptied her clip. She reloaded and took aim at the last Nevermore, Weiss' glyphs helping her zero in, nipping the bird on the wing, the ice heavy enough to have it crash into the the brush.
With the threats taken out, Weiss had her summon drop them off, the Nevermore forcefully dissipating into nothing as the heiress composed herself. The leader tenderly aided to the ice princess' side, gingerly taking her by the hand and up to her feet. "You did incredible, Weiss."
"And I can't believe that worked," the heiress said, a weak smile forming under the soft gaze. If a gunshot from the inside didn't pull her from the undivided stare, she would have gotten lost in the steely blues. Ruby readied Crescent Rose, extending its large sickle as Weiss took to watching her back. She kicked open the doors, the lack of a barrage of gunfire a pleasant cue that the heiress' summons did their job.
Like the day before, it was very dark, Weiss lighting a path as she threw up glyphs for light. They tread lightly, tallying the carnage, but they knew someone had to beat her summons, that person still around. The first floor proved fruitless without electricity, the battle cutting off the generators powering the few computers that were present. A green luminescent glow came from the edge of the lower story, the huntresses taking a closer look as the light drew them in. At the bottom of the steps and around a corner, Ruby's jaw dropped at the sight, her eyes confused, but her brain sure she wasn't hallucinating. Behind sheets of metal and cloth, a green cylinder with with fluid held a dragon's heart, wiring exposed on all sides, black tar pumping from the container.
"That can't be what I think it is?" the heiress said in astonishment.
"I think it is, though," the leader conveying the same stunned tone. "Five years ago, at the Signal breach, my dad and I fought a dragon that lost its lower half. Are... are The White Fang harvesting hearts?"
"Well, if they can control Grimm, then I don't see why they wouldn't want to try producing them. Sure beats inciting fear and panic to spur the beasts," the heiress logically pieced it together.
"I really hope your genius just didn't figure this out. That's... that's a frightening concept that keeps... adding up," the leader drearily said, fitting in Weiss' hypothesis in to the current events. It was a working idea, but it seemed to fill all the cracks in the disappearance in The White Fang.
"Die, huntress scum!" a battle cry echoed in the deathly ill warehouse, Ruby forced to the ground as someone jumped on her. The leader threw a lucky elbow, knocking his weapon out of his hands, but had Ruby struggling to keep his hands from snapping her neck. In a burst of heat, Weiss shot him off, the heiress hurriedly dusting off her partner.
"I can't believe I let him sneak up on us. Are you alright?"
"I'll be fine," the leader said as she kneaded her throat. The blast of red dust crumbled the helmet of The White Fang member, Ruby taking a look to see if he still breathed. The leader took a deep sigh, the last of the witnesses gone. "That's unfortunate."
"I can't believe that killed him. It normally doesn't... Wait... Ruby, look at his eyes." The heiress' alarming tone had Ruby investigate. The presence shocked her as the sclera was completely blackened, the iris' veins red as it bled through the darkness.
"They're like Grimm's..." the leader trailed off.
"Hello," a voice came from down the halls, the huntresses going from their discovery back to the mission at hand. Down the corridor in the basement, they found the SDC woman who was from the search parry, the poor girl handcuffed to a steel pipe. Weiss was quicker to the woman's side than her.
"Oh, my goodness. Please help me," the woman hysterically spouted, the heiress quick to cut the cuffs and hold the trembling woman. Ruby stood back, letting the ice princess sooth the victim.
"It's fine. The SDC sent me. You're going to be OK," the heiress tenderly said, the woman holding tight as Weiss cradled her. Ruby let her partner do her duties, the leader taking her scroll out and recording video and images of as much of the facility as possible.
"This is worse than my predictions," Ozpin muttered to himself. Ruby and Weiss sat behind his desk, waiting patiently as the headmaster combed over the details. "And no survivors?"
"I'm sorry on that one, Headmaster," Weiss taking the blame.
"Don't worry about that too much. I doubt they'd talk. I can't thank you enough, girls, for doing this. I will pass this info around to the proper channels and see what we can do to prepare for this," the man said, closing the videos and handing the leader her scroll.
"Anything we can do?" Ruby inquired.
"Keep your weapons sharp and your mind vigilant. The White Fang have been dormant long enough that the probability of an attack is high. I wouldn't be surprised if this mission accelerated their plans. In any case, Ruby, Weiss, you did well. Ruby, feel free to take the next week off and return at the beginning of the semester. You earned it."
"Thanks, Ozpin," she said, the heiress following suit and out the door with her ex.
On the elevator ride down, a stifling awkward silence was heavy as neither of them spoke, the leader not helping the matter as she was battling one of the hardest questions of all. "How do I ask her out? Do I do it directly? Do I do it now? There's a chance she could say no and I misread the whole mission. If she says no, does that dismantle everything we've revived since the wedding? We're five years older, I wouldn't think we'd be that petty, but I get weirded out when guys come up to me and do it. Do I let it go? Ahh, the elevator is opening."
Time dwindled, Ruby having to make a snap decision, but the heiress broke the air and brought her out of her head. "Like missions past, we're a mess, but it was nice working with you again, Ruby. SDC doesn't give me the opportunity to do this often and I'm glad it was with you."
Ruby turned as the comment struck her, the heartwarming eyes and broad smile had her bashfulness show in her cheeks. "I-I, uhh, thanks, Weiss. It was nice to work with you, as well," Ruby kicking herself that a couple of cool blues could have her stumbling over something more meaningful to say. "Actually, Ozpin requested you. He said he liked it when we worked together."
"So, I have him to thank for this," she said, a little hope beaming in Ruby's heart. The two exited the main building and headed towards the airship field. The sun was setting on the campus, Ruby glancing over to the white silhouette as they chitchatted away. "I can't wait to get a real meal. Rations can't even compete with fast food."
"I know what you mean. A cookie never tasted sweeter after a long mission." At the mention of food, the leader's stomach growled on cue, unquestionably heard by the heiress. Expecting to hear the quiet ignore, the heiress poorly hid a giggle, Ruby's rosiness burning from two ends.
"I can see you're already craving more than a cookie," the heiress joked, the women stalling as they reached their destination. "Well, this is me."
Still not knowing how to say goodbye, the leader waved off Weiss. "Yeah... I'll text you tomorrow." A weird shuffle happened as the ice princess closed in, Ruby carefully embracing her ex to not come off overzealous. A little linger in the hug had the leader in overdrive, knowing this was the last chance before Weiss takes off. Each step from the heiress' boots echoed in her ear, Ruby snapping as she called out.
"Weiss."
"Ruby," they said in unison, the leader's confidence leaving her as she was met with Weiss' gaze. "I'm sorry, you go first."
"No, you go," the leader politely offered.
The heiress' posture strained, the mannerly stance of an elite woman taking a turn as her hands wrung around, a reluctant smile forming as the heiress looked back with giddy at the leader. "Ruby... would you care to join me for dinner some time?"
As much as she wanted to be the one to ask, she would happily let that conquest slide for the solace she didn't have to wonder if Weiss would say no. The heiress' demure attitude was infectious, Ruby stifling a titter before answering. "Yes, of course."
"Excellent. I heard you were off from work, so is this weekend fine with you?" the ice princess expertly bantered back.
"Yeah, I'm free."
"Then I'll text you with the details later. Bye," Weiss gleefully expressed, a hitch in her step as she boarded her ship.
"Bye," the leader copied her ex, the goodbye so faint she was sure Weiss didn't hear it. She watched the SDC ship depart, Ruby looking until it was a speck on the horizon. She didn't care how many people were around her, the emotions bottled up longer than they should and exploded from the leader as she threw her hands up in triumph. "Yes!"
