AN: Happy October guys! A little bummed Halloween this year won't be like it always is, but hey! Everyone needs to stay safe! Anyway, you guys will recognize part of this chapter from the original and you'll know where it's going. Some of the scenes have been changed around a bit to be more cohesive. Anyway, enjoy!
ooOOoo
"Yang," Ruby tried to shake her squirming sister lightly without the teacher's notice. She was having a nightmare and Ruby was trying not to cause her to freak out. She never woke up well from them. "Psst! Yang, c'mon!"
"Miss Rose!" Ruby fidgeted back and forth as she watched Yang writhe in her sleep. Her sister always fell asleep during the first few minutes of class where Goodwitch explained what they were doing and Ruby knew this would happen eventually. "Control your teammate! This sort of behavior reflects poorly on your leadership! I'll not have your sister continue to cause a ruckus in this classroom!" Ruby gave her sister a harder shove, this time yielding the result she wanted, but not in the best of circumstances.
The blonde's eyes shot open in a fit of red rage and streaming tears. She grabbed Ruby's hand from her person and used her free hand to grab Ruby by her neck and take her straight to the ground. Instead of resisting, Ruby laid there calmly, waiting for Yang to return to her senses. This wasn't the first time she had experienced this with Yang. It was, however, the first time in a public setting, but she couldn't worry about that right now. Her sister was far more important.
"Yang, stop…" Ruby held a firm tone, and as realization struck Yang's eyes, Ruby brought her hands to Yang's face and she used her thumbs to wipe away the tears. "It was just a dream… You know?" Yang's eyes drifted to Ruby's left hand before she shoved it away and got up.
"Weiss, trade seats with me." Even if they didn't get along, the heiress had grown concerned over her reaction. If either of thought them thought that she or Blake had missed that exchange, they were sorely mistaken. Weiss decided that she would ask Ruby about this later and chose to move closer to Ruby.
"Miss Rose, what sort of nonsense is this now?!" Miss Goodwitch chided once more. "Fighting is for the arena, not the classroom!"
"Sorry, Miss Goodwitch!" Ruby called back with a reluctant wave. "I spooked myself and fell back. Yang was helping me up!" Weiss eyed her suspiciously before shifting her glance to her old spot on the other side of Blake. Yang was leaning on her arm, purposely looking away from the rest of her teammates. Concerned amber eyes also caught Weiss' attention and she acknowledged that they had both seen the same thing.
"Miss Xiao Long!" Yang's posture straightened at the sound of Miss Goodwitch's stern voice. "Since your team has elected itself to be the center of attention this morning, maybe you would like to start off today's demonstrations." Yang gradually raised her hand and opened her mouth to say something but was quickly cut off. "That wasn't a question, Miss Xiao Long." Yang hunched over in defeat. The stern huntress scanned the array of semi-comatose students, settling on the other rowdy bunch of students.
"Team JNPR!" Excitable as ever, Nora threw her hands in the air with a triumphant squeal. "… Miss Nikos and Mr. Arc will have this morning's honor of sparring with…" The combat instructor squinted her eyes in RWBY's direction. "Miss Rose and Miss Schnee." Pyrrha's face lit up with an open smile and Nora hunched over with a disappointed 'Nooo', as Ren tried to console her. Nora had been hoping to have a partners vs partners round with Ruby and Weiss, but that wasn't in the cards this morning. Ren shuddered at the idea of both Ruby and Nora in the same ring together. On the other end of his team, the red-and-gold gladiator looked to her partner to find the horrified face of a statuesque Jaune and she lightly shook him from his trance.
"Will the four of you please make your way to the arena," Miss Goodwitch extended an arm in the direction of their destination. Fired up, Ruby attempted to leap over her desk, but a firm tug to her crimson cape halted her and she turned her head to pout at her assailant.
"Have some patience, you dolt!" The icy heiress looked at the cape clenched in her hand, frowning at its rattiness. "This is going to be your undoing, you know. You should get rid- ." A firm grip enclosed around her alabaster wrist, squeezing tightly enough to cause her to release the fabric in her hands. With the sudden release, Ruby tumbled down the stairs with an audible 'Ow' at the end of her journey and several snickers came from somewhere across the room. Scarlet eyes pierced Weiss' heart as the older sister glared at her.
"The cape stays," Yang growled. "She can wear it all she wants." With a loud gulp, Weiss nodded and hurriedly walked toward the arena, contemplating the changes in the blonde's demeanor as this morning progressed.
Shooting a careful glance back, Yang had returned to her usual grinning self, throwing victory Vs at her little sister. Meanwhile, Blake maintained her iconic monotone expression, albeit with a second cookie hanging out her mouth and a small white Team RWBY pennant flag – courtesy of the busty blonde. Feeling bad for her darker counterpart, Weiss sighed in sympathy. The sisters were their curse to bare.
"Today we will begin a unit on the application of Aura and Semblance, but first I need to gauge everyone's understanding," Glynda announced as the four students made their way toward the small fighting dome. A groan came from the seats and she honed in on Jaune Arc, though it was easy to speculate why he had that reaction. "It had come to my attention that not everyone here has activated their Semblance. Not everyone's emerges at the same time or is even suitable to a given situation. Regardless, these lessons are not to find your Semblance or make anyone feel less than another." The teacher adjusted her glasses as she looked over the students. "Each pair of students has at least one student that has a Semblance practical for battle. Your task is to strategize, given the information you have regarding you and your partner's ability and using your opponent's ability against them."
"You will be given a moment to formulate strategies and then we will begin. For now, I will start up the Aura Monitor," Miss Goodwitch explained as she tapped the screen. A larger screen displaying their information appeared on the wall across the room, just outside the arena. "At 30% aura, you will be considered knocked out and leave the arena. Miss Schnee and Miss Nikos will act as support units today. Good luck."
Of course, they would have to face Pyrrha today. Weiss groaned to herself. On the bright side, Pyrrha was supposed to act as more of a support unit, which was a relief for Weiss. At least, this way she would be out of range of Pyrrha's Semblance. She felt certain that Ruby could clear Jaune out of the way fairly quickly, even if Pyrrha had been giving him lessons recently. It was after that that Weiss had her concerns.
Pyrrha's Semblance was magnetism. She could manipulate anything that was metal with her mind, which was what most weapons were made of. She could easily fry electronic systems, as well. It would be unfortunate if someone like Ironwood had to come up against her. Computerized prosthetics would have problems against her… Wait, what if Blake was wrong about Ruby's "gauntlet"…
"Ruby," Weiss called her name sternly. "About our earlier conversation…"
"Now's not the time Weiss," Ruby frowned. "We only get a couple minutes!"
"No, this is important!" Weiss tried to reason with her. "Your arm-"
"My arm isn't important, right now," Ruby dismissed her concern. "I'm fine."
"Ruby, will you listen to me?!" Weiss finally snapped. "I need to know because Pyrrha's Semblence is-"
"And BEGIN!" The professor gave the signal and Weiss groaned. They'd had no time to prepare at all. Even in their personal spars, they'd gotten very little done. It usually just consisted of Blake and Weiss trying to plan and the other two taking off toward one another.
"Relax, Weissy!" Ruby became a ball of determination and gave her a double thumbs up. "We got this!" Worried baby blues met unwavering silver pools and Weiss resolved herself to matching her partner's determination. Withdrawing Myrtenaster, Weiss held her blade before her in perfect fencing posture. The klutz was right. It was funny how the dolt's can-do attitude truly made everything feel possible… Maybe she would apologize about the cape comment later, but first, she needed an added incentive.
"If you do a good job, I will buy you cookies." Fire set the younger girl's eyes ablaze and she flared her nostrils.
"I see Miss Rose has a lot of confidence taking the 'just wing it' approach," Miss Goodwitch chastised. Cleary, they were already not off to a good start. Taking obvious bait, Ruby rushed in toward Jaune.
"Wait, you dolt!" Ruby deployed Crescent Rose and activated her speed semblance.
Frozen in place, Jaune stood ready to cry as Ruby's hulking scythe drew ever closer. That thing could cleave him clear in half! Any closer and he would most likely piss himself. Closer… Closer… Closer… He closed his eyes tightly in anticipation of the blade… but it never came. Cautiously opening one eye, he found Crescent Rose frozen in place, with Ruby struggling to make it budge.
"Ruby, what are you doing?! Move!"
"I can't, Weiss!" Ruby pulled harder, but it appeared Crescent Rose was fixed in place.
"Just let go of Crescent Rose!"
"Jaune!" Pyrrha called to him. He nodded in acknowledgement and drew his sword, swiping at Ruby, but he was met with resistance in the form of a large white glyph – Weiss's basic platform type to be exact. Okay, so that was cool. It had a defensive property to it. Nice one!
The ivory girl came running to Ruby's aid and it was then that Jaune remembered the battle plan. Pyrrha had definitely called this one and it was all dependent on Weiss' reaction. Unfortunately, Weiss arrived a little more quickly than Pyrrha had anticipated, so it seemed they would have to regroup. The heiress tugged at Ruby but began to panic when Ruby couldn't move. The younger girl seemed to be stuck by some sort of force pinning her arm to Crescent Rose. This was highly unexpected but set the plan back on track. Heavy footsteps rushed in from behind Jaune and Ruby panicked.
"Weiss, get outta' here!" Weiss looked back and forth between Ruby and the oncoming gladiator.
"Ruby, let go of the damn scythe!" Weiss tugged harder. There wasn't much she could do in this situation. Jaune wasn't much of a problem but Pyrrha, on the other hand, was a force to be reckoned with. This was more than proof of Weiss' worst fears and Ruby had ignored her. What if they had been out in the field?!
"I can't!... Go!" With her free hand, Ruby pushed Weiss and sent her flying back in time to dodge Jaune.
Effectively, they had been split up by the shield-and-weapon duo. It seemed that while Weiss had been focused on freeing Ruby, Jaune had decided to take advantage of the situation, which was a good move on his part. Ruby had caught this but how could she have not? She watched the distance between herself and Ruby increase. As she skidded across the ground, she forced herself to look in Ruby's direction and she felt time slow.
Jaune bashed Ruby with his shield and the force that had previously held Ruby in place released her, letting the girl in red collapse alongside her scythe. As Weiss came to an abrupt stop, she scrambled to sit up, but a red-and-gold shield slammed hard into her side. The shield boomeranged itself back to its owner and Pyrrha launched Jaune at Weiss for a final strike.
"Match over!" Glynda shook her head at the red and white duo. That was a horrible match for them, but she found it curious to see Ruby lock up like that. She would have to look into it further at a later time. Maybe the girl's performance during the Dust robbery had just been her imagination. Maybe she didn't need to be here, after all.
Ozpin's judgment sometimes made little sense, but she would have to trust in him… But that didn't mean she had to overlook her concerns. It was part of why he had selected Glynda. The man had a vivid imagination and someone had to rein him in and put that energy into something constructive.
"Nice, guys!" Ruby chirped as she hopped back up, almost unphased. She held up Crescent Rose and used it as a staff to walk herself over to Weiss, who she offered a hand to.
As for Weiss, she had sat up and focused intently on the ground. They had been grossly underprepared because Ruby refused to give her the information she needed. She balled her hands into fists and gritted her teeth. This was entirely avoidable situation, but she was so damn stubborn about this one thing! Weiss wasn't even asking for details anymore – just one simple thing. She didn't have to explain – Weiss just needed to know how much of Ruby's arm was coated in metal. She and Blake had assumed she wore a gauntlet. Ruby could have easily just gone with that.
"Hey, Weiss…"
The heiress briefly snapped out of her self-loathing and looked into those gleeful silver eyes, noticing her outstretched hand… No… If she couldn't trust her, there was no way she was taking her hand. Ruby didn't deserve it. Weiss pushed her hand away and stood herself up, leaving behind her solemn partner and their sparring partners without a word.
"You okay?" Jaune asked. "That was kind of rude."
"Yeah," Ruby sighed. She already had an idea of why Weiss was upset. From the start, she should have listened, and based on the change in Weiss' demeanor when she'd gotten stuck, this was what she wanted to talk about. "I messed up really bad..." The four returned to their seats and Glynda began a lecture about remaining calm and maintaining awareness of one's surroundings. She then called forth the next match's participants.
"Miss Xiao Long and Miss Belladonna, please take the stage with Mister Lie Ren and Miss Valkyrie."
"Don't worry, baby sis!" Aviators on, Yang acted coolly and waved as she took to the arena. "We'll avenge you and the Ice Queen!"
"Yang, hold on!" Ruby tugged at Yang's jacket. Aviators sliding down a bit, the blonde turned back around and gave Ruby a curious look. "You forgot this!"
"Huh?... Whoops!" Ruby placed something that glowed brightly into Yang's hand. Examining the small item, Yang grinned and popped it into her mouth. "Looks kinda' small though."
Taking advantage of the new match, Pyrrha voiced her concerns over the results of their own match.
"Ruby, is everything alright?" Pyrrha rarely spoke during lessons, but the incident with Ruby freezing had alarmed her. The gladiator's greatest fear was that her own power was for too great for her to control… and if she had hurt a friend.
"Yeah! Totally fine!" Pyrrha looked at her fellow crimsonness skeptically. Sometimes, she was just way too happy for her own good.
"Are you sure? You couldn't move earlier." Her stomach flipped as she thought about Ruby's eyes widening when she realized she couldn't budge. Weiss had seemed equally horrified and Pyrrha honestly thought that the opening that it had provided was the only reasoning she and Jaune had fared so well. Taking one of them out should have been fine, but more than one member of Team RWBY should have proven to be far more of a challenge for Jaune. That wasn't a shot at him; he just had a lot of room for improvement and Pyrrha was certain that he would one day stand tall among the best… with her at his side.
"Uhhh, yeah, that just… happens… sometimes?" Ruby laughed weakly, but Weiss had caught it.
"Just happens sometimes?" Weiss shrieked in a loud whisper. "If you had been honest with me from the start-"
"Yo, relax, Weiss!" Jaune defended his fellow team captain. Weiss could be pretty hostile, but this was different. This was… scared…? "Everyone has a bad match! Last I checked, you didn't do anything!" Silence… "Uh, Weiss?"
He was right. She hadn't done anything… except for let herself be distracted. A random tear slipped from one of her eyes as she recalled an even more distant failure. Though different circumstances, Ruby wasn't the only one that had frozen.
"I didn't mean to make her cry!"
Back at the arena,the BYRN match went a little less horrible for the BY half of Team RWBY, but ultimately ended in the same results. Yang and Ren had been assigned to the more offensive tasks, while their partners were to act as support. Marking Blake as their most difficult obstacle, she was quickly knocked out by a flailing hammer, leaving Yang on her own. The blonde managed to last a while longer, to no avail. With Nora as hyper as she was, she couldn't sit still and maintained a lot of air time. Yang had been locked in her own personal bout with Ren when Nora shouted from above.
"Hey, Ren!"
"A little busy here, Nora," the quiet boy grunted.
"Do you want me to put the hammer down?" He could practically feel the waterfall of glee gushing from above.
"That would be nice, Nora." Having noted that Yang didn't guard her feet particularly well, Ren dropped down and swept Yang out from under her feet. Her eyes turned to the sky just in time to see a large flat hunk of metal falling toward her. She grinned to herself as she activated her semblance and… nothing…
"Well, that's not fair at all," were the last words the brawler muttered to herself before impact.
"NORA SMASH!"
"…While Miss Valkyrie ought to learn the meaning of support, I do suppose that was more or less a correct demonstration,"Miss Goodwitch called the end of the match. Hobbling to her feet, Yang offered fist bumps to the sorely mismatched duo, all-the-while keeping a hand on her back to provide support.
"Good game. Ow, hahah," she laugh weakly. Yang staggered to the exit where Blake waited to help her return to her seat.
"I see you two didn't fare much better," Weiss stated listlessly. Noticing the heiress' forced attempt at nitpicking, Yang quirked an eyebrow at Ruby, who shook her head quietly.
"Ah, can it, Princess! We lasted longer than you two," Yang pulled an eye lid down and stuck her tongue out. Maybe some playful banter would revitalize the down princess. She didn't like her very much, but this was better than watching Ruby sulk until the heiress returned to normal. "Way I see it; you don't have much room to talk." Wrapping her arms behind her head, Yang kicked back and relaxed.
"I see we can't be civil today either," the heiress hissed. There was that spunk the blonde was looking for!
"Guyssss, stop fighting!" Ruby pouted. Loud pounding echoed from the arena as other nameless individuals did just as poorly, if not worse than others.
"Listen, Ruby, the cape I can forgive, but what if that was an actual fight… or worse! Out in the field!" Weiss tried to plead with her and it hit Ruby hard. Weiss shouldn't sound so… desperate. "If you can't trust m-" Weiss was interrupted by a series of loud snickers.
"Well, look! If it isn't Team Loser!" A tall armored brute with short brown hair hulked over them.
"I beg your pardon?" Weiss spun around to stare holes into him and Ruby placed a firm hand on her partner's shoulder to try to distract her.
"Weiss, it's not worth it."
"Only thing I see around here that isn't worth it is the Schnee heiress. I thought you were all supposed to be some serious shit!" He continued to prod, making her blood boil. "That was sad!"
"Weiss, don't –" Weiss pushed Ruby back.
"And just who are you?"
"Oh, me? I'm Cardin – captain of Team CRDL. You know, the position you wanted on your team," he winked as he delivered a low blow. "Unlike you, I actually won my match, and that's the rest of my team down there winning theirs."
He raised his arm over his shoulder and directed his thumb behind him while tilting his head in the same direction. Down in the arena, it was true. The other half of his team was winning their match against some poor schmucks who could barely hold their own weapons.
"That's not even a challenge!"
"And you are?" Cardin raised an entertained eyebrow at her, implying he viewed them as worthless competitors.
"Hey, Weiss is really awesome! Don't be so mean," Ruby puffed her cheeks. "We just had an off day!" Cardin shifted his attention toward the girl with a childish cloak. With one hand, he grabbed her hood and lifted her up.
"Well, look at you trying to be a super hero! Sorry to break it to you, but she's probably as useless as a Schnee can get." Weiss began to get more upset with him, but at that moment a gust of heat emanated from behind them. She peered back to find red eyes peering through an aura that seemed to make Yang's flowing lochs dance in flames. It was only a matter of time before Yang's temper would get the better of her, so Weiss shouldered her pride and pursued a different goal: Diffuse the situation before two brutes had to be dealt with. At least, this was something she knew was within her ability.
"Ruby, it's not even that big of a deal." As if to make matters worse, the rest of Cardin's team added their presences into the mix and Weiss hesitated for a moment. A Schnee never hesitates. Damn her father's ruthless teachings. "A- As I was saying, I'm not even that mad anymore. We should just carry on…" Her voice became hushed and she spoke through clenched teeth. "Before your sister gets carried away." A sudden flare in temperature emphasized Weiss' point.
"Hah! Look at this, guys! She thinks I'm gonna' be afraid of some blonde bimbo full of hot air!" A chorus of laughter erupted from the rest of Team CRDL. At that moment, the "blonde bimbo" calmly stood and walked over to him, golden flames still burning.
"It would be wise to let go," she stated.
"Yang, they just want to harass me. I'll take –." Weiss cut off as she was shoved backward into Blake. Apparently, everyone had a thing for pushing her around today.
"This has nothing to do with you right now, Princess." They were used to Yang getting angry. They were used to her being overprotective of Ruby. Hell, they were even used to the hot air! But a Yang that was so angry she was calm was something they had yet to experience… This Yang was terrifying. This Yang held resolve even while wearing a murderous glare. This Yang meant to gravely harm their oppressor. This Yang was one that only Ruby had ever known. "I'll ask one last time: Let my sister go."
"Yang, don't worry about it! It's not that serious," Ruby laughed awkwardly as she hung from her cloak.
"Oooh! Fellas! It's getting a bit hot in here! All that fire ain't soothe all that burn from earlier!" Looking back at his team, he inquired. "Don't you guys think this rag would look good in flames?" That did it - the point of no return. The smile on Ruby's face dropped and her eyes widened in shock, as she went somewhere she couldn't return from.
Little Rose, stay away from that place.
Can it.
A listless look washed over Ruby's eyes and she lost herself inside the dangerous part of her mind that the voice within her bade her to avoid and Weiss remembered those eyes. These eyes were dangerous and lost, but she knew she had seen these somewhere else… but where? It just felt so… familiar.
"What is going on here?" Enough had gone on to grasp Miss Goodwitch's attention and Weiss was the first to answer.
"Cardin's picking on Ru-"
"Cardin was just challenging us to a friendly match," Ruby said from behind darkened eyes. With an audible pat, her right hand firmly grasped his wrist. "In fact, he was putting me down so we could ask you to sanction it." A small, eerie grin worked its way across Ruby's lips and Blake felt her heart stick in her throat.
In the beginning, she had almost believed that she had imagined the Ruby from their first real conversation - the one that exuded far more complexity than the cheery front she had put on every day since. Any glimpses that she had caught of this other side had never alluded to any truly ill-intentions - merely that she toyed with her about her bow… but this time, this Ruby's iciness complemented Yang's silent anger.
"Really?" Cardin was caught off-guard. Shrugging, he dropped her and pocketed his hands. "Your funeral."
"Miss Rose, there's really no need. Your team should be taking this time to recover."
"If you check our meters, you'll find that Yang and I have fully recovered… and Cardin and his partner here didn't take any damage, right?" Cardin grinned smugly in response, but it was true. "Yang and I would just love to demonstrate what we learned by watching Good Ol' Cardin here!"
Miss Goodwitch considered for a moment and she sighed. While the instructor found it curious that they had managed to recover so quickly, she decided that it wouldn't hurt to let them have a redemption match… However, she noted that something about the two sisters struck her as off.
"Very well, if you insist." Miss Goodwitch spun around and proceeded with filling out the parameters for the match. Hyping themselves up for the upcoming match, Cardin and Russell began their venture back to the arena, boasting about how quickly this would be over. Curiosity getting the better of them, Team JNPR buzzed over to Blake and Weiss, voicing their concern over the altercation.
"Want me to break his legs?" It was disturbing how enthusiastic Nora's offer was.
"No, apparently Ruby and Yang are going to fight them," Weiss rolled her eyes as she responded. This caused Nora color to drain from her face and her normally happy demeanor drained away. The now tame girl clung closely to Ren's arm and she became withdrawn.
"Yang and Ruby are going in there?... Together?..." Nora shivered behind the green and white clad boy, who became equally apprehensive. Intense expressions decorated the faces of Ruby and Yang as they shared a look with one another. Taking that as a cue, Ruby unclasped her cape and calmly folded it, before laying it neatly in front of Weiss. She then removed her black pinafore and red skirt, revealing black shorts of a similar cut to Yang's.
"Watch that, would you." Ruby stated more than she had asked. Ruby began to peel back the single glove that covered her left hand, revealing something dark beneath it, but Yang placed a hand over her wrist and stopped her.
"That's a bit overkill, isn't it?" Ruby glared at her sister for a moment, but after taking a moment to think about it, she let go of the fabric and it hugged against her arm again.
"You're right. I need the extra grip."
"Woo! Look guys!" Cardin whistled from the arena. "Sisters really are alike! They think stripping is gonna' appeal to us!" He winked at them. "Lose a little more and we might think about going a little easier on you!"
"Mr. Winchester, that is enough!" Miss Goodwitch declared. "Anymore from you and you will find yourself under administrative punishment."
With that, Ruby snapped. Ignoring Yang, Ruby undid the straps that held the sleeves of her gray shirt to her wrists and removed the shirt, revealing a black tank top beneath and suddenly there were loud gasps from the remaining members for Team RWBY and JNPR. Yang smacked her hand against her face in frustration. There was no going back from this.
"Ya' done not listening to me yet?"
"Nope." Ruby turned and started casually heading toward the arena with Yang in tow. The most uncomfortable thing was that while Yang grit her teeth, Ruby hadn't a care in the world.
As they passed through the arena door, Miss Goodwitch did a double-take on Ruby's left arm. This sorely needed to be discussed later. Having personally looked into the Xiao Long-Rose siblings, there was nothing as major as an amputation for the younger sibling on record, let alone any indications that the child had a prosthetic or braced arm… but this did explain why her arm appeared to freeze in her earlier match… and it did beg a reevaluation of her skill-level.
"Hey, aren't you the one from the library?" Yang grinned as Cardin's lackey spoke and flames licked around her feet. She slammed one fist into the other and her knuckles cracked with her anticipation. "Cardin, we can finally pay her back for the other day."
"You're confused," Yang laughed bitterly. As an ominous aura began to fill the arena, the blonde motioned toward her younger sister. "She's the one you need to watch." The boys laughed as if they'd heard a hilarious joke and Yang smirked with her arms crossed. "Fine," she shrugged her shoulders. "Don't take my word for it."
Suddenly, several white petals began to flow from Ruby's left side, seemingly pouring from the seam where her shoulder met the brace. A single petal fluttered past Yang's eyes and she caught it between her fingers and Crescent Rose suddenly deployed. Ruby twirled it around and firmly planted it into the ground. Stepping forward, she altered her normal stance and held her scythe in a reverse grip, leaving it erected behind her. Red flashed across both girls' eyes and Yang spoke again.
"You laugh, but I'm not going to move from this spot the entire time."
ooOOoo
AN: As of this exact moment, the Partners segment has been written out to Part 8, with 9 being worked on. Part 6 will start to deviate from where the original was going and over these next four chapters, you'll have a general idea of what's going on with Ruby and Yang, though I won't reveal the why until the Sunrise portion starts. Weiss and Ruby will also start getting along with one another fairly soon too, though Weiss will still be pretty Weiss about it. It won't be for a little bit, but you will get to find out about Yang's dream. I know dreams are something I use in a lot of stories, but a big part of the RWY girls are dark things that loom over the girls. Blake won't really have them, though her fears come in a different way. I'll also be discussing the story Ruby's family handed down as well as we go. Anyway, hope you guys are enjoying this!