I do not own RWBY

When he woke up, he didn't expect it to be in a warm bed covered with furs; honestly, he didn't expect to wake up at all. Walking into that icy hurricane had been an all or nothing sort of play and after wandering around for what felt like hours, he'd been beginning to think it was a mistake. At least someone had found him after he'd passed out from the cold. He was also vaguely sure he had frostbite due to the ache in his limbs, but he had bigger things to worry about. Keeping his eyes closed he pretended to still be asleep as he studied his surroundings.

He could hear the crackle of a fire, most likely from a fireplace, but more interesting was the sound of humming. The voice was soft, feminine, and it sounded young too. Had he stumbled out of the hurricane and been found by a child? If the Winter Maiden was a child, then things would be all the more complicated. Hearing someone stand he barely kept himself from reacting as a small hand touched his forehead. The instinctive urge to grab the offending limb and twist until the owner screamed was almost overwhelming but he pushed it down.

Opening his eyes slowly he met startled green eyes before their owner squeaked and stumbled away from him. She was young, around ten years old. Sitting up slowly he watched the girl with a surprisingly blank face as she dove behind a chair with her short blonde hair flying out behind her. The reaction wasn't normal, it was almost as if she'd never met another person. If the girl was around ten and the Winter Maiden had run away from Atlas after a relationship went wrong. The child was most likely hers.

"Eliza."

It was panic that colored her tone, yet when his eyes turned to her, she seemed far more caution than panic. Dark brown eyes met his own before they snapped back to the younger blonde. It was obvious that they were related given the similar bone structure and the apparent care in her voice. She was more attractive than Cinder, with her long blonde hair that reminded him of woven gold. Crossing the room quickly she reached down to lay a hand on her daughter's head while acting as if she was ignoring him. Her eyes shifting to him for a moment gave away the act.

"Why don't you go get our guest something to eat," she said softly. The calm tone was unable to hide the sheer annoyance she felt but her daughter didn't notice. Giving a nervous nod to her mother the girl shifted before rushing from the room. Smirking as the woman's expression changed becoming hostile the very second that her daughter left the room. Narrowing her gaze at his expression she said, "usually I would push those found outside my home back into the snow and leave them to die, however, this time my daughter found you."

"How ruthless," he muttered causing her to flinch before she crossed her arms.

"I do what I have to in order to protect my daughter," she said as if she had to justify her actions.

"It's nice to meet you miss Winter Maiden."

Flinching at the words she glared down at him. Her brown eyes met his own as they took on a golden tint much like his own. It was likely that she'd never actually killed anyone if this was how she reacted to his presence. Once he got stronger it would be easy to overpower her and force her to return with him to Salem's castle. As if sensing his thoughts, she frowned, but quickly hid the expression as her daughter came back carrying a bowl.

(Ruby)

It wasn't in an explosive fight that she met the very people that would bring Beacon crashing to the ground, it was in a training room. Even if it was only two of them; of course, she knew that they weren't exactly hiding but it was still a little surprising to see Mercury and Cinder sequestered in the training room reserved for Haven students. Sun had pointed the place out to her when he offered joint training between their two teams before Neptune reminded him that they were enemies during this Vytal festival. She'd come here hoping for peace and quiet to practice a new idea for her semblance.

Walking into the room slowly she stared at the boy with silver-gray hair as he practiced his kicks. She had to admit it was shocking to run into one of the antagonists of the original timeline; but she'd known she'd run into them eventually. Just like Roman she could appreciate the lean muscles that ran over his body and the skill he obviously had. She wanted to fight him. His being here meant that Tucson was already dead, which kind of sucked but didn't affect her personally.

His style reminded her of kickboxing; given her quick battle style, she didn't know if she could win against him. Just from watching him she could see he was strong, especially in his legs, that she knew were metal, but also skilled enough that the movements were ingrained in his body. He could most likely run through these motions in his sleep. Someone who spent all their time training was more dangerous than most of the people in Beacon. From what she could remember he was also an assassin's son but didn't have the title himself. Either way, she wanted him on her side.

"He's quite good, isn't he," Cinder asked the girl standing in the doorway. Ruby jumped at her voice but turned to face the woman less than a second later. Meeting those amber eyes, she blinked at the protective glint she could see but it was gone just as quickly. So, Cinder did care about him which meant she must care about Emerald too. It was a good thing to know if she couldn't sway them to her side. It also meant she wasn't heartless, and that Cinder had something to lose.

"Yes," Ruby said with a smirk. Tilting her head, she motioned to his legs, saying, "I assume his boots are his weapons."

"Yes," the older woman said studying the girl Roman almost killed months ago as Ruby did the same. She didn't look like much, but Cinder knew not to underestimate anyone especially not little girls with cute faces. They tended to be the worst people to deal with. Mostly due to their preaching about honor and being heroes without realizing how the world worked.

"He's good," Ruby confirmed again as her eyes ran over the older woman's body. She could admit that Cinder was attractive, but what drew her eyes was the Haven uniform worn by the woman who looked too old to be a student. Knowing her true goal, Ruby also knew that she'd either tricked the headmaster of Haven or he was working with her. The cynic in her thought that it was the second option.

"See something you like," the woman teased. Her lips pulling into a smirk as she looked down at the shorter girl.

The second the words left the woman's lips, Ruby twitched. She most definitely did see something she liked and disliked. It would make this whole goal of conquering the world easier if she wasn't a hormonal teenager. An example of her current issue was standing right in front of her and she couldn't even tell which of the two were more attractive. It was the exact issue she had with Roman; why were villains so good looking? Did being evil come with a predestined level of attractiveness? That couldn't be true because all her teammates and team JNPR were attractive too. If Cardin was here, he'd be laughing at her.

Deciding that she needed to think about something else; mainly because her face was slowly turning the same color as her jacket, she shifted her eyes back to Mercury. He also looked too old to be a freshmen student. Had their team disguised themselves as second or third years? Either way it didn't matter beyond sating her own curiosity. It wasn't as if it mattered what grade they pretended to be in when they were going to destroy Beacon.

Seeing an opening in his stance Ruby rushed forward drawing Thorn as she moved causing Mercury's eyes to widen as she appeared in front of him. Cinder's golden eyes followed the movement as she saw the girl block Mercury's kick easily. Maybe Beacon did have some strong students in their first years after all. She knew that Roman had been having trouble with a few freshman students, but she hadn't expected to see one of the problem children so soon.

She had however studied the files of every student closely and she even remembered this girl from the night of Roman's failed dust robbery. Ruby Rose was a fifteen-year-old first year who'd been recruited by Ozpin himself after stopping Roman's robbery. There were still unanswered questions around why he cared enough to recruit her personally, but Cinder could see the girl was skilled. From the reports she'd gotten, mostly from Roman, the girl had been able to keep up with him at the docks and she'd allowed him to escape. That had been the most interesting part of his report. Why would a huntress in training allow him to escape? She supposed the girl could've been more worried about her teammate than about capturing him, but that didn't explain Roman's near defensive attitude whenever the girl came up in conversation.

"It's better to practice with a partner," Ruby said with an amused smirk. She'd expected Mercury to notice her the second she came into the arena, but he hadn't. She guessed that he'd been too focused on his training to notice her.

He stepped away and looked over at Cinder. Was he supposed to spar against the little red tornado that had just interrupted him? He didn't mind having a sparring partner, but weren't they supposed to keep their abilities hidden? Watching the woman think it over, he kept an eye on the girl from the corner of his eye. Even if they were still supposed to act friendly, she was an enemy. Her amused expression was slightly annoying although he also noticed that she seemed more indulgent than anything else. It was obvious that she thought she was in control. He wanted to wipe the expression from her face. Cinder frowned in thought for a moment before nodding to him; it would be a good chance to learn about the girl's skills in a controlled environment.

"Okay," he said aloud and lashed out with a kick at her head. Almost as if she'd been expecting his action, Ruby ducked under the blow and slashed at his ribs with her dagger. Backstepping he raised an eyebrow as she flipped the knife in her hand and slashed upward at his face at the last second. Grey eyes brightened as he tilted his head to the side to avoid her knife.

Slowly his lips mirrored her smirk; this girl was good. She hadn't hesitated to redirect her attack the second she knew that it was going to miss. Her mind obviously worked faster than most peoples or perhaps she simply had more battle experience. If her semblance was speed-based, then her thoughts might work at a different speed then his. Either way, the smirk on her face was well deserved. Flickering his eyes down to meet her own he decided that he liked this girl.

Ruby jumped back putting some distance between them when she caught the expression on his face. He was most definitely going to be a challenge, she loved that. Activating the fire dust option on Thorn she took off using her semblance to get behind him. The rapier-like thrust she sent at his spine was one she'd copied from Weiss. Mercury ducked feeling the heat from her dagger as it passed over his face, his eyes caught the haze of battle lust on her own. It was obvious that she loved battle more than a normal person; maybe he could use that against her. Kicking the girl back he shot at her with his boot.

A normal person would have dodged the shot before putting distance between them, Ruby, however, cut it in half as she lunged at him. Petals drifted to the ground behind her, as she appeared in front of him with her blade heading for his heart. Catching her wrist before the blade could hit him he held her in place as her own eyes widened in surprise. It was obvious that she hadn't expected him to keep up with her speed.

"Just because your fast, doesn't mean you'll win," he said allowing a bit of mocking to enter his voice.

"Thanks for the tip."

The words were followed by her dropping the dagger. Following the weapon with his eyes he expected it to hit the floor not fall into her waiting hand. With a flick of her finger, the blade's fire turned to ice and she slashed at the hand holding her in place. Instead of releasing her, he moved to the right jerking her along. He continued dodging her attempts to free herself, but she didn't seem too annoyed at the situation.

The smirk on her face had changed to a wild grin reminding him more of a fox than anything else. Twisting her feet around his own, she lashed out with a kick at his stomach that he was able to dodge, however, she wasn't aiming for him. His only warning was when the hand he was holding twisted to grab his own wrist, then she was using his arm as a balance beam. Kicking at his face in a move that reminded him more of Neo than anything else she forced him to release her. Briefly, he wondered if all short women had the habit of kicking at his face.

Reaching up to touch his jaw as she landed a few feet away, he was glad that she hadn't' been wearing heels. Launching a kick at her he shot at her face. Ruby dodged the shot and leaped forward, the ringing of her scroll, however, had her freezing just as the boy went to kick at her chest. Mercury tilted his leg, so it hit the floor and not her causing it to crack under the force of his strike. They were both a little annoyed at being interrupted.

Pulling out her scroll, Ruby glanced down hoping that it wasn't her team looking for her already. Seeing Qrow's name was flashing across the screen she almost bounced in her place as all annoyance faded from her expression. Sending a mild apologetic glance at the two she said, "I have to take this."

Without giving them time to answer she rushed from the room unaware of the amused glance shared between the two. This was the first time she'd heard from her father in over a month, she had a right to be happy. Closing the door behind her; she was excited not stupid; she answered the call. Leaning against the wall beside the training room door she didn't care that a bright smile was on her face.

"What's up," she asked trying to sound normal and not like she was about to die from happiness. She doubted he even noticed how hard his long missions were on her. Deciding to tease him she said, "please don't tell me your drunk and lost again."

"That was one time," he defended sounding as if she'd just told him Zwei had drunk all his whiskey.

"One time too many," she teased causing him to laugh. The sound caused her smile to widen but she resolutely ignored the pain she felt at only hearing it through a scroll and not in person. It wasn't his fault that he was always away on some important mission for Ozpin. Pushing away the thought she asked, "so why'd you call?"

"What I can't check up on my favorite niece," he asked with a taunting tone.

Feeling a rush of bitterness at the words, she twitched as her smile faded. She hated this. She hated him not being here. He was her father and he was always gone. She'd already had one horrible father she didn't need another one. Tightening her grip on the scroll she tried to push down the bitter anger. He was a great father, and this wasn't his fault; so, why was it so hard to push back her feelings. She knew that Ozpin was the one sending him on missions, but he could have refused; couldn't he?

"Ruby are you alright," he asked. There was concern in his tone and she knew that if she said no, he would rush to Beacon. For a moment she wanted to say no.

"Fine, just tired, my teammate snores," she said forcing a happy tone into her voice. She didn't feel bad about throwing Jaune under the bus.

"Yeah, I know how that is, Tai snored all night long then through half his classes. It drove your mom crazy," he told her with nostalgia in his voice. Coughing to both clear his throat and presumably push away his emotions he said, "I'll be arriving in Vale in about three weeks. I was thinking of spending it with my favorite niece."

"Yes!... I mean that would be great," she said quickly causing him to laugh.

"Well I'll see you in three weeks kiddo," he affirmed before muttering a quick goodbye.

Letting her hand fall as he ended the call, she tried to ignore the stinging tears in her eyes. It wasn't his fault that he wasn't here but sometimes it was hard to remember that fact. Sliding the device into her pocket she reached up to rub at her eyes as a bitter laugh left her throat. She hoped he wouldn't cancel due to a last-minute mission again. Taking a deep breath, she pushed back the negative emotions that she felt in favor of straightening.

Wiping her face one last time she reentered the training room with a fake smile that fooled neither of the two criminals. There was no pity in their eyes however as Cinder handed her Thorn. Taking the dagger, she let out a small breath before sheathing it on her thigh.

The golden-eyed woman smirked as she filed away the girl's actions for another day. Tilting her head, she asked, "team trouble?"

"No," Ruby said walking back into the arena. Facing Mercury, she clenched her hand if only for a second before asking, "want to keep going?"

His answering smirk was the only warning she had before he was lunging toward her.