Sorry for the wait! I needed a little mental health break, even if it wasn't planned. I'm doing a lot better now, though!
As always, please comment if you can! Every comment really helps boost my mood, especially when I've got those nasty negative brainworms telling me that this fic is bad. Every bit of feedback, every review, every lighthearted comment, they all help a ton and I'm so grateful for them.
Two weeks had passed like the blink of an eye, things relatively calm around campus for the remainder of Teams RWBY and JNPR's break from anything to do with the investigations. They hadn't been perfect, of course, not with the way some students would gawk at Ruby, whether she was with Pyrrha and Jaune or not, but overall things were relatively low stress. Ruby had still had a few nightmares, but nights with the oversized Beowulf plush, now affectionately named "Loopy," had helped a little.
Today, the young leader of Team RWBY found herself awake early once more, not out of anxiety or fear, but instead of nervous giddiness. Today was the first day Weiss' sister would be training them, if they wanted! Weiss was definitely going, which meant Ruby was definitely going as well. There was no way she'd let her partner go and get all stressed out on her own.
It was around six in the morning when Ruby left her dorm room, dressed in a combat attire, given how well it doubled as casual garb as well. She felt restless, deciding against going to immediately eat and instead going for a small walk around the campus. It felt like even after five months, she was still finding new places whenever she took a walk; whether it was just another faded landmark, or just a cute little wildflower, it was always fun to see!
The young redhead hummed to herself as she casually strolled around the campus, a familiar tune that only Yang would really recognize, given that it was the same her sister had sung to her when she was younger. According to her sister, it was originally something from their mother, a soft song sung whenever she would go out on missions, all save her last. There was something a little bittersweet, knowing that the one time she didn't sing it, she didn't manage to find her way home, but that was why Ruby held it so close to her heart, now. No matter what, she wouldn't forget that she always wanted to come home, as much as she wanted to protect people as well.
She came to a stop near the statue at Beacon's main courtyard, the same statue every applicant passed on their way to the academy for the first time, after getting off the airships that brought them. A plaque was there, but it had faded in time, and for some reason Ruby couldn't imagine, the headmaster hadn't gotten it replaced with a new one. Squinting, she leaned down, trying to make out any of the letters, but all she managed was a C at the start of the first name, presumably tied to the man holding aloft the arming sword.
"Caius," Ruby jumped up, a startled squeak escaping her lips as Professor Ozpin spoke. "He was a friend of the last king of Vale, who founded the academies after the Great War. Well, perhaps friend was a strong word, they were also rivals, of a sort, but after the war, they were on good enough terms that he was immortalized here."
"Oh," Ruby furrowed her brow, finding the name vaguely familiar, before squeaking sheepishly and turning to the headmaster. "Um, good morning, sir!"
"Good morning, Miss Rose." Professor Ozpin chuckled, offering the nervous teen a gentle smile, before taking a sip of cocoa from his mug. "I'm surprised to see a student out quite so early, especially on a Saturday."
"Well, it's the first day of training with Winter and Cedar, and I guess I'm just a bit anxious to start." Ruby admitted, the headmaster giving an understanding nod. The young redhead turned back to the statue, looking towards the hooded woman with the axe. "Who was she?"
"That is a question with a somewhat more complicated answer." The white-haired man chuckled, taking another sip from his mug before continuing. "It represents two women, actually. The last living queen of Vale, Gwendolyn Rhosyn, and her daughter, Aurora, who took up her axe when her mother was slain."
"Oh, that's unfortunate." Ruby stated plainly, though her voice carried a melancholy the professor was very familiar with. The names felt familiar to her, just like Caius', but she couldn't figure out why. "Did Aurora ever have children?"
"Yes, but it was very late into her life." Professor Ozpin confirmed, though he was undeniably being a little vague. Ruby figured that was fine, she didn't really want to press into the identities of these people, not after how she'd seen the sort of pushing into Pyrrha's life tabloids were doing. "A son, and then five years later, a daughter."
"It's good to hear she had a family, even if it did take her a while." Ruby said, smiling at the headmaster, who gave a slight nod in agreement.
"Yes." His voice caught Ruby off guard, a subtle sorrow to his tone she almost missed. "Zoroaster would've been heartbroken had his last child been the last of the line he married into. Especially given his wife's reluctance in being married to him in the first place."
Oh, that didn't sound very pleasant. Ruby was a bit surprised that the headmaster had such an intimate knowledge of the last king of Vale, but she supposed it made sense, given he was headmaster of Beacon, a role the king had taken after the Great War ended and the Council was established in Vale, similar ones forming in Mistral and Mantle.
"Why was she reluctant to be married to him in the first place?" The redhead asked nervously, fiddling with the edge of her skirt.
"They were never in love, not truly." Ozpin said sadly, looking up to the statue with somber eyes. "Her father had died, and he was the most suitable noble for her to marry before taking up the role of queen. Unfortunately, her heart belonged to a simple farm boy." Almond eyes drifted from the statue of the last queen and her daughter, placing on the man with sword held high. "Despite his status, he joined the military, and through the determination of a hero, fought his way to becoming a knight, and eventually, one of Vale's greatest heroes during the Great War."
"But she died." Ruby's eyes widened slightly as the realization spilled from her mouth. "He never got a chance to be with her, even after the monarchy lost its power, because she was already gone."
"Yes," Ozpin confirmed, his gaze drifting towards the young team leader. "Their love was tragic, but despite it all, Caius never blamed the king of Vale. The two respected each other, and shared in their grief for the late queen. It was that respect which convinced the king to grant Caius great wealth and opportunities assisting rebuilding some of the cities torn apart by the Great War."
"I'm glad they didn't hate each other," Ruby said softly, "I guess it's… foolish, to hope that they'd get a fairytale ending, but…" The silver-eyed girl looked to the professor, offering a gentle smile. "At least they're together now, right? In whatever awaits."
"Yes," Professor Ozpin agreed, sounding so positively certain that it made Ruby feel a little better. "They are."
It was around 6:40am by the time she got back to her room, her mind still trying to figure out why Ozpin's tale about the last king of Vale sounded familiar. The weirdest part was probably that her middle name was the name of the king's daughter. Was she named after her? The redhead's brow furrowed as she tried to figure that one out, her attention so focused that she never heard the door across the hall open.
"Ruby?" The younger team jumped in surprise, turning around to find a rather perplexed Nora. "What're you doing up so early? Well, I guess it's not that early, but I didn't think I'd see you out of your room this early."
"Oh, I was feeling kind of… antsy." Ruby explained, giving the shorter redhead an awkward smile. "My mind's been on the upcoming training all week, so I'm a little giddy, I guess."
"Yeah! That'll be fun, huh?" Nora asked, giving the sheepish younger girl a reassuring grin as she cracked her knuckles. "I can't wait to see what we can learn to bring to those White Fang jerks!"
"Yeah," Ruby wasn't as enthusiastic about that point. In all honesty, she'd love if they never had to fight the White Fang again, even if she knew it was probably inevitable. Most people in the White Fang thought they were doing the right thing, it was this Adam person Blake had talked about who had tainted the message of the organization. "How are you this morning, Nora?"
"I'm doing pretty good!" Nora replied cheerfully, though her gaze narrowed on Ruby's somewhat slightly tense expression, the shorter girl leaning in a little with suspicion. "What about you, Ruby? You're looking a little tense."
"Um, well…" Darn, why was Nora so good at spotting that kind of stuff? Ruby tried to give a reassuring smile, but she could tell that the shorter girl wasn't buying it. "I just… As excited as I am to train with Weiss' sister and Mister Cedar, I don't really… I don't want to hurt people in the White Fang. Most of them are just desperate people trying to make their lives better."
"Yeah, I can understand that." Nora's tone was briefly solemn, before her face lit up again, and she took Ruby's hands into her own with a grin. "Let's not worry about that right now, okay? There's so much more we can do than think of that!"
"Oh!" Ruby could barely react as Nora dragged her along, a startled squawk escaping the younger girls lips as they tore through the hall towards the kitchen. "Nora, what're we doing?"
"Well, um, I figure that we could let Ren rest today!" The energetic redhead explained, eyes wide as she started to get supplies out. "As much as I love my rencakes, you know how to make them, too, and he's still asleep, the lazy butt."
"Sure!" Ruby chirped, offering the frantically moving teen a sheepish smile. "But I'll expect help from you!"
"No problem!" Nora agreed with an eager salute, grinning widely. With that, the duo started on their work, tirelessly running around the kitchen as they prepared a surprise meal for both of the teams. More than once, Ruby had to stop her friend from gulping all the syrup. As they worked, they continued to chat.
"So, um, Nora!" Ruby squeaked out, yanking the syrup away from her friend. "How did you and Ren meet?"
"Um…" Nora was surprisingly passive at the question, though her voice warmed with an unexpected fondness. "I was… lost, for a long time, and Ren found me. Things happened, and we started to wander Anima together. We've been with each other for almost ten years, now."
"That's incredible." Ruby said, clearly awed. "I'm glad you two got to remain partners, I can't imagine trying to forge that kind of relationship with someone else after all that time."
"Yeah," Nora nodded, offering Ruby a smile as the younger girl put more batter on the frying pan. "How are things going with you and Weiss?"
"They're doing pretty good!" Ruby announced cheerfully, "she still makes sure I do my homework for Dust Science, but she's been a lot less strict with me. She's still pretty stressed about her sister being here, though."
"Yeah, I don't blame her." Nora clearly didn't have the highest opinion of the Atlesian's older sister. "I don't know why Winter thought it was okay to call Weiss out like that in front of everyone! If she wanted to discuss that with her little sister, she could've waited until after we were done with the meeting."
"It was... it was rather harsh." Ruby agreed. She didn't want to judge the Atlesian Specialist too much, and clearly Weiss wasn't really angry at what her sister had done, but it was severe of the woman. Instead of angry, Ruby knew that her partner felt disappointed that she hadn't lived up to her older sister's expectations. Ruby couldn't blame her, if Yang had said something like that to her, she would've been heartbroken. "So, um, I hope you'll like the pancakes."
"I'm sure I will." Nora looked like she might start drooling, so the younger redhead didn't doubt her reassurances. "Do you want me to get the others while you finish up?"
"Yeah, sure." Ruby agreed, giving her friend a wide smile. There was only enough batter for a few more pancakes, but that was probably fine, they'd made a triple batch. "I'll get everything ready to serve!"
Nora gave another enthusiastic salute, grinning cheerfully before she bolted towards their team's doors. If Ruby didn't know any better, she'd say her friend had a speed semblance like her!
Breakfast was a blast, even if Weiss was a little reluctant to join the rest of the group in eating, and soon enough everyone was breaking off for their own things. Normally, Jaune would probably have gone off to train with Pyrrha, Ruby possibly joining them and reading while they worked, but instead, on account of probably having a lot of hard work ahead of them with Winter and Cedar, they decided to relax.
What to do to relax though? Visit the farms of course. Jaune was in the middle of the bench today, holding a large, somewhat overstuffed bag of feed. Ruby was on his right, a wide smile on her face as she offered more food to an eager chick. Pyrrha wasn't actively feeding the chickens, rather just resting her head on Jaune's shoulder, a gentle smile on her face as she watched their girlfriend eagerly feeding the chickens. They were silent, save the occasional laugh from Ruby, simply enjoying each others company as the time passed.
The croak of a raven drew Ruby's attention from the chick she was currently feeding, silver eyes squinting as she tried to get a better picture of the bird. It looked strangely familiar. As faded memories came back to her, the younger teen felt a little apprehensive, but for some reason, the raven looked a little different. Was it possible for birds to frown? That's kind of what Ruby thought it was doing. Another caw escaped the black bird, before it took flight, flying towards the main campus. The thought of that bird, although this was probably a very different one, left a slight frown on her face, one that her boyfriend was quick to spot.
"Hey," the sound of Jaune's voice drew Ruby's attention away from the raven, silver eyes turning towards cerulean. "Is something wrong?"
"No, not really," she shook her head gently, before a sigh left her lips. "Just thinking."
"What about?" Pyrrha asked, her tone ever gentle as she gave Ruby a reassuring smile. "You know you can talk to us, we won't judge you at all."
"It's just… it's weird." Ruby mumbled quietly, wanting to drop the subject, though neither Pyrrha or Jaune looked like they thought she should say that about herself. "I just… back at Signal, they made fun of me a lot for it, same with the kids at primary school before I started attending combat school. They said I was weird. Crazy."
"They were wrong." Jaune said, rather sternly, before his expression lightened. Reaching over, he gave the shorter redhead's hair a playful ruffle, smiling at her. "No matter what they say, that isn't true, Ruby. You can tell us if you want, but if you aren't comfortable with that, it's okay."
"It's… it's okay." Ruby did her best to return the smile, though she was clearly still a bit nervous. "I just… you promise you'll listen, no interruptions?"
"Of course, Ruby." Pyrrha reassured the younger girl, "we won't say anything until you're done."
"Thanks," Ruby mumbled shyly, ducking her head a little before leaning into the duo. "I, um… okay, where to start… when I was six, just a few years after my mom… yeah… I, um, it was my mom's birthday, we still had them even after she... I was playing with my sister, and she was telling me about our mom."
"It wasn't true, really. Just kid stuff, nothing serious, but I was just a little kid, and no one else would ever tell me about her. They still don't." Ruby explained, her expression slightly downcast until Jaune wrapped around her in a one-armed hug, eliciting a small smile from the redhead. "I saw a raven in our garden, after Yang went in to help dad set up."
"I always liked birds, ever since I learned my favorite uncle was named after one." Ruby said, a soft chuckle escaping her lips, "I know, he's my only uncle, but still… So, there was a raven, and… I walked up to it, and I asked it if it wanted to know about my mom, since I knew a whole lot after talking to Yang."
Her expression fell again, both at the memory, and at how people had treated her at school when she'd try to tell them.
"It spoke back to me." Ruby saw that both Jaune and Pyrrha looked a bit surprised, but thankfully held back from interrupting. "It… It told me awful things about my mother, said that she would never be Yang's mom, that I would be weak for being the daughter of Summer Rose."
Jaune hugged Ruby a little tighter, and she gave a bittersweet smile. "My uncle, Qrow, came and cleared things up afterwards, told me about my mom. I wish he'd been around more, he's the only one who ever seems willing to say anything, even if it's not much."
"Y-Yang took what I said at face value back then, but… I've always known she didn't really think I'd talked to that raven." Ruby sighed, looking at Jaune and Pyrrha with a hint of melancholy in her eyes. "I've never talked to another animal, but… I know that I talked to that raven as a kid. It wasn't just some doubts coming manifest, it spoke to me, and no one has ever believed what I said."
"Hey, it's okay." Jaune insisted, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze and he hugged her a little tighter again. "Sometimes... sometimes strange things happen, things that we can't really explain. That doesn't mean they didn't necessarily happen, it just means that it's something unique to us. I believe you when you said it happened, Ruby, even if I don't know how it happened."
Pyrrha gave a nod in agreement, and Ruby ducked her head a little before leaning into Jaune and giving the pair a shy smile. "Thanks. I'm glad I was just being silly, worrying that you wouldn't believe me."
They remained silent for a few moments, before an idea crossed Pyrrha's mind, and she spoke up. "Um… remember how that person directed you to the Warrior in the Woods? What if… I know this might sound strange, but… what if it's because of your eyes, Ruby?"
"I-I don't know." Ruby wasn't sure, she still felt nervous about the implications that there may be something abnormal about her eyes, outside of their rarity. If only because the implications that they were only rare because people had hunted down people with her eyes was more than a little unsettling. "I've tried talking to other animals, but it's never worked. Maybe there was something special about that raven."
"What if it was a person, with a semblance to turn into a bird?" Jaune joked, giving the younger girl a teasing smile, before he waved his hand dismissively. "I'm kidding, that's a bit far-fetched, even for a semblance."
"Heh, yeah." Ruby giggled softly, smiling a little warmer. "Thanks for listening… I-I don't like to talk about it. It's like how you noticed, the first day we were here, Jaune, back before initiation. Animals… Animals act weird around me."
"You shouldn't feel ashamed about that, Ruby." Pyrrha said, noticing the downward lilt her girlfriend's voice made at the end of her sentence. "You are a unique person, but that doesn't make you any less of the wonderful girl Jaune and I find so amazing."
"Thanks…" Ruby gave a timid mumble, eyes avoiding the duo as her cheeks warmed slightly at the sound of Pyrrha's compliment. "Y-You two are pretty amazing, too. A-And wonderful!"
"Hey now, there's no need to be shy!" Jaune said, as if he totally wouldn't become an embarrassed mess if Ruby or Pyrrha had complimented him, the jerk. "You're awesome, Ruby, and you can't get out of that no matter how much you think otherwise!"
"You're awesome!" Ruby retorted, as though that at all negated Jaune's words. It absolutely didn't.
Pyrrha chuckled at her partners as they continued to trade compliments, both of their cheeks growing increasingly red and the conversation drew to an end. They remained in silence for a little while, until the taller redhead spoke up. "Ruby… can you tell me more about your mother? I understand if you don't want to, I just… I want to know more about the wonderful woman who gave us the chance to one day meet you."
"I don't mind telling you and Jaune." Ruby said softly. "I don't talk about her a lot since there's still so much I don't know, but I can tell you what my uncle told me."
"My mom, she used her enemies' egos against them, made them think she was a just a dainty waif, but really she was strong." Ruby explained, smiling softly. "She was the kind of person who would rather risk being robbed than avoid helping a beggar on the streets. She was always eager to help people, even at a risk to herself. She wasn't perfect, but no one is, a-and she couldn't imagine putting herself before others. She was defined by her need to help people, but that didn't mean she didn't love me and Yang. W-We were her entire world."
Ruby didn't even realize she had begun to cry until she felt Jaune brushing away the tears running down her cheek with his thumb. "I-I wish I could've gotten to know her. I-I hope she'd be proud, o-of who I am."
"She is," Jaune said, his voice warm as he spoke. "No matter what, I'm positive that your mom is proud of you Ruby, I know it."
"Thank you…" Ruby wasn't sure when Pyrrha had moved, maybe it was when she had been lost in her lamenting, but she was suddenly brought into a hug from both sides, hiccuping softly as she tried to fight back more tears, a mixture of grief for her mother and happiness knowing she had two people with her that were so supportive.
"You don't have to thank us, Ruby." Pyrrha insisted, her tone warm and gentle as she tenderly rubbed the shorter redhead's back. "We promised that we'd be here for you, no matter what, and we will be."
"Yeah, we did." Jaune agreed, his voice firm, but not stern, adamant in his determination to be there for his younger girlfriend whenever she needed him. Giving her a reassuring smile, he turned his gaze back forward, towards the still gathered flock of chickens, who didn't really seem to mind that the Huntsman and Huntresses-in-training had been distracted. "Do you wanna keep feeding them, or should we take over for a bit?"
"I-I think I'd like to just sit here for a bit, you can feed them." Ruby mumbled, feeling a bit embarrassed she'd let herself get distracted with thoughts of her mother when she was feeding the chickens, though she knew neither the animals or her partners really blamed her for that.
"We're happy to take over." Pyrrha gave a reassuring smile before reaching for some feed. "Just take it easy, we'll all want to be one-hundred percent for training."
"Thanks, you two." Ruby said softly, her smile still not quite to its maximum cheerfulness, but doing a little better. She hated that sometimes she got overwhelmed with thoughts like that, and couldn't control her emotions as much as she'd like, but she was glad that at least Jaune and Pyrrha were understanding, and didn't mind accommodating her in moments of weakness like that, even if they didn't think it was weakness at all.
Maybe one day she could see it that way, too.