AN: Hey guys! I'd like to indicate real quick that this AU doesn't particularly follow the same rules as the original RWBY-verse and Ruby/Yang's Semblances aren't the same. They share qualities but Burn and Petal Burst aren't the same. What they do have will be discussed as we go, including why.

ooOOoo

"Ruby's missing an arm?!" Jaune shrieked, but Weiss stayed frozen. She'd thought it might be a possibility. Her hand, maybe up to her elbow… but her entire arm?! What had happened to the poor girl? Sure, Ren had said that both girls underwent therapy, but she didn't realize that it meant Ruby was indeed missing parts.

She never told me…

"Weiss, why didn't you tell us?!" Jaune pulled at his hair. "Oh, Dust, we could have hurt her!"

"I… She couldn't move because of her arm…" Pyrrha covered her mouth. "I could have dismantled it and she never even said anything."

"We've been arguing all morning…" Weiss said listlessly. "I thought it was a gauntlet... but then I realized she never takes it off… I was trying to get her to open up about it… She won't say anything." No, maybe she did try.

"You don't understand what I gave for the ones I loved!"

Weiss thought back to a recent altercation with Yang that she had blown off as another of the blonde's mood swings. The damn brute just would not let her into their bedroom! Eventually, she had learned that Ruby had been in there and this happened every few days. They kept changing around the times to try to find a window of time where no one else was there, but it was taking up Weiss' valuable time. Instead, she had tried to push past Yang, who became alarmingly aggressive and pushed her against a wall with a warning that she was pushing her luck.

With impeccable timing, Ruby had opened the door and sheepishly asked for her sister to come in and help. Weiss remembered making a snide sort of comment related to them cavorting in the bedroom, but she had never meant it. With what she had witnessed in the showers and what she was seeing now, she realized that Ruby had been having difficulty cleaning and reassembling her dominant arm… and she'd accused the two of them of all manner of things. No wonder they didn't trust her.

"For Remnant's sake, what could you possibly be doing that you need to lock us out?" Weiss said almost monotone. "It's not like you're falling apart in there."

"Huh?"

"That's what I said to Ruby the other day," Weiss remained listless. "It's why Yang and I got into that argument the other day…. I didn't know."…But the reality was that Ruby probably was in pieces and needed her big sister to help her… because Weiss made her feel insecure about it. Weiss gritted her teeth. That was when Yang had started dragging her to the showers with her. "No wonder Yang hates me!"

"If you're worried about Ruby being handicapped or having issues, you don't need to," Ren tried to keep a soothing voice. Of course, the arm came as no surprised to him. He and Nora knew them. "What I mean to say is that Ruby already had a pretty crude prosthetic when we got to Patch. She refused to tell us how she lost it, but we just assumed it was the fire… She and Yang had burns all over them too, but Ruby was a bit different. She had these awful cuts all over her. It looked like she'd fought off some kind of Grimm."

"But why wouldn't she let us know?" Blake's voice was perplexed. "As her team, we should be aware."

"Ruby doesn't view it as a big enough problem," Ren stated calmly.

"What are you talking about, Ren? You're confusing me," Nora furrowed her brow, finally chiming in. "You know Ruby still has both arms, right?"

"Nora, Ruby was in physical therapy for almost an entire year learning how to operate her new arm," Ren stated firmly. "That doesn't even touch on the mental damage she suffered."

"Renny, I'm telling you!" Nora argued. "I've seen it! Before Ruby started wearing a brace on her arm every day, I saw it!" Nora face fell. "I must have hurt her feelings so badly, Ren. She started wrapping it in bandages."

"Nora," Ren called her name with a serious tone. "I didn't run into Ruby in Patch until after the first week. Does that mean you saw her when we first got to Patch?"

"I… I couldn't sleep the first night and I saw Ruby heading to the workshop after you fell asleep. I realized that they must have gotten out and sent help. I was so excited to see someone I recognized and I thought I should thank her," Nora smiled bitterly. "After what we all went through, I thought that if anyone could keep themselves together, Ruby and Yang would be the ones, but…" Nora hesitated before continuing.

"When I got to her, I saw her arm and I screamed… Yang said that Ruby started wrapping her arm up and hiding it from everyone… That was when she started locking herself in her room and wouldn't come out. Yang was the only one she'd let in but she didn't know what to do. She said her baby sister felt like a monster." Ren looked at her with eyes full of questions. "What?"

"Nothing," he murmured. "I'll talk to you about it later."

"From what I know, Ruby couldn't move her arm before. Her dad said that all the tendons in her arm were severely damaged and she suffered a lot of muscle loss, so she built the first brace to so she could do normal, everyday things." Nora tapped her finger to her chin as she spoke. "The one she's using now is military-grade and based on some model she saw in a Schnee catalogue. It's too heavy for her to put on with one arm, so Yang has to help her."

"So in other words," Ren looked at Pyrrha. "Your Semblance would not have hurt Ruby. She just chose to take the loss rather than reveal the power disruption and not let you feel guilty."

"It supports her arm, but she can't move her arm at all without… How does she get it to move so fluidly?" Pyrrha wondered. "Now that I think about it, I didn't sense a traditional flow of electricity running through it. Is it kinetically powered?"

"Oh, that's easy," Nora grinned. "Ruby builds stuff to focus on renewable energy sources and draining her Aura as a power source. It's literally self-powered! I almost asked her about doing that with Magnhild, but it wouldn't have been as efficient as Dust. Not for what I do!

"If this is a problem that Ruby has," Blake began. "Then why didn't Ruby go straight for Yang at Initiation?"

"Ruby rigged the Initiation test." Weiss blurted out.

"What?!" Jaune shrieked.

"She told me before that food fight that got us all detention..."

"Was that why Ruby wasn't eating?" Weiss nodded to Pyrrha's question.

"I told her she wasn't fit to be our leader because she had no ability to lead and was the type to abandon her teammates," Weiss took a labored breath. "She said that she made some adjustments… Do you understand what kind of planning that would take to predict the exact landing sites of three particular individuals?!"

"Wait," Blake looked at Weiss. "I was part of this plan?"

"She told me herself that she put in a lot of effort into get the exact team and partner she wanted," Weiss insisted and Ren and Nora flashed looks at each other.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Ren hummed in thought. "What you're talking about isn't something you can do in a single night."

"Definitely not," Nora shook her head. "But it makes sense if you knew who they were and what they did before Beacon."

"I thought they just studied to become huntresses and entered competitions," Jaune gave her a puzzled look. "Oh, and Ruby's weapon hobby."

"Hobby? Hah!" Nora gave a hard laugh. "You guys seriously weren't listening to anything we were talking about last time. Ruby and Yang's family help with the Patch orphanage, which is kept up by the Hunter's Hall."

"Yes," Weiss frowned. "I think we can all remember that much."

"But you don't get it," Nora insisted. "Ruby's family are the ones that oversee it." It took a second, but it finally clicked.

"Are you saying that they're tied to the Hunter's Hall in some way?" Blake asked.

"Exactly!" Nora grinned. "The orphanage is operated by its personnel. Those of us that were interested in becoming hunters learned from their family. Mr. Xiao Long said it was always nice to give kids an extra edge. Yang was sometimes there, but Ruby was never available. The Hall always had her working."

"Working?!" Weiss shrieked. "Yang was upset with her over working the other night."

"She's working?!" Nora turned pale. "I knew it was too good to be true that she was just trying to be normal…"

"Why?"

"Do you know what Crew Branwen is?" Nora asked.

"They're a group of three hunters lead by the mercenary Qrow Branwen," Pyrrha nodded. "They hunt Hunters."

"He's their uncle…" Nora said quietly. "And they're the other two…"

"They hunt… Hunters?" Blake swallowed thickly. They had approached Blake the first night and Ruby seemed to know a great deal about her. Was that why Ruby had built this team this way? It sounded like Yang wasn't aware of the job Ruby had taken, so had Ruby been hired by someone to take her out? That would have meant that Ruby knew far more about Blake's past than she let on… So… did Yang?

"Are you kidding me?!" Jaune stood in shock. "There's no way that the Ruby we know kills people for a living!"

"I didn't say she killed them," Nora blinked. "As far as I know, she's never had to. Most of Ruby's marks are wanted alive or just some kind of tracking or surveillance job. The jobs you're thinking about are Qrow's, haha!"

"But it's our job to fight Grimm, not people!" Jaune insisted. "Why would they want to do that?"

"Jaune, why do you think we spar or the schools hold competitions?" Pyrrha asked him grimly, but he had no answer. "It's because we are a form of military power. While the original purpose of Hunters was to drive off Grimm, the fact is that there are those who use their abilities to harm others and cause widespread panic to draw in the Grimm, so it's inevitable that we'll face them. While the military is used more for policing the people, enlisted Hunters are often deployed as a deterrent for Hunter-related crimes. Students who do well in the Vytal Festival are coveted by the militaries and fought over, but the ones that don't go military are usually approached by Hunter's Halls. Then there are those that choose to work privately or competitively in the UHC."

"Huh," Jaune rubbed his chin. "I bet you'll be one of the ones everyone fights over."

"I'm glad you think of me that way," Pyrrha turned red at the compliment and hid her face.

"I refuse to believe that Ruby's involved in that kind of thing!" Weiss hissed. "I was under the impression she assisted the weapon smith."

"Ruby was the weapon smith," Nora added. "Well, at least the personal one for the Hunter's Hall. When the Hall realized that she was Qrow's understudy and saw her passion for it, they'd ask them to do repairs. Then she decided to build her own weapon and he helped her with it. The Hunter's Hall was so impressed that they wanted her full-time once she got her license, but she told them No too… Renny, I wonder who's handling that now that Ruby's not there."

"Qrow, I would imagined," he answered calmly.

"I dunno," Nora sighed. "I heard he was tracking someone. He'll probably flip when he hears that some big wig was impressed with Ruby's work. Haha, they wanted to hire her before anyone else discovered her, but she turned them down. That'll drive him nuts!"

"Is she really that good?" Weiss asked, recalling Ruby's desire to work on Myrtenaster.

"The first time I saw her, she was wearing the Atlas Academy uniform. She said she was participating in the Vytal Festival," Ren hummed in thought. "She was looking to commission Qrow to work on her weapons, but she was pretty bent out of shape when she learned he was out on a mission."

"Hah, oh man," Nora laughed out loud. "You should have seen the look on her face when Renny took her to Ruby and told her place the order with her! She looked like she'd seen a ghost and Yang decked her pretty hard!"

"Yang hit her?!" Weiss went red with anger. If this was who she thought it was, how dare she!

"Ohoooo yeah," Nora grinned. "She still had a black eye when she picked her order up. Ruby wound up doing the work for free as an apology, then that girl kept coming back every four to six months – so weird! This one time, she placed an order for a weapon built from scratch. Ruby didn't have the materials and told her it would be easier to get it made in Atlas, but she was suuuuper insistent, like it had to be Ruby."

"We're talking about the girl that had an order of Atlesian titanium alloy overnighted directly to Ruby, right?" Ren asked and Nora nodded. "She stayed in town for several days going over the schematics with her. She said it was a present and had to be perfect."

"This person," Weiss heartbeat picked up and she swallowed nervously. "Is there anything else you can tell me about them?"

"Other than she was deeeeeeefinitely taller than you?" Nora grinned obnoxiously and Weiss glared daggers at her. "Mmm, suuuuuuuuper pretty, military posture… Actually, last time I saw her she had on an Atlas military uniform… She was very…. direct…"

"…I feel like such an idiot," Weiss held her head in her hands. "I thought it was suspicious how much she knew about me and how familiar she was with holding Myrtenaster. I designed her based on my sister's rapier, but the revolving Dust chambers and the dispersion system were a custom order that had to be built from scratch according to my specifications. Winter said she had someone special in mind to build it, but it never occurred to me that they could have been Ruby."

The realization hit her hard as she considered some of the comments Ruby had made regarding the weapon and Weiss was suddenly hit with a wave of guilt. Ruby had been fishing for ways to start a conversation with what she knew about her. If she really did build Myrtenaster, then that was what she meant by Weiss' success was her success.

"Neither of you are very good at communicating with the other," Pyrrha sighed. "I remember you said that your Semblance and Myrtenaster were the only things she cared about. If it's true that she built Myrtenaster, then wouldn't that mean she would have to understand how you work inside and out already?"

"A good way to open up lines of communication is to ask someone about things you already know the answer to," Ren observed. "Sometimes, it's just nice to hear them talk about the things they are proud of – the things that make them glow. I can assure you, Ruby will never get tired of talking about cookies and weapons… even if she just had the same conversation an hour ago."

Weiss thought to herself about everything she had just learned. Ruby really was an enigma, but she was deliberately keeping things in. She wanted to be trusted and relied on, but she was unwilling to do the same in return. Was this all just another example of what Weiss' name did to her? It was times like this that she absolutely hated to be a Schnee. The name had done nothing but cause her problems since she'd started at Beacon.

"Recently, I've thought that they've been holding back to match their skill level with fellow classmates," Ren spoke to the group. "I thought for sure that the next four years for Beacon would be in for something spectacular when they announced Ruby had been offered a full-ride to Beacon, but they've drastically altered their combat styles since Team RWBY was formed."

"Oh look, they're starting," Nora turned to the arena. "BREAK THEIR LEGS!" At this time, Pyrrha felt that something didn't quite sit well.

"They both feel different now." Weiss and Blake's eyes eased up. For Pyrrha to be making a point to say something, it must have been a concern. "It's not anger or determination. Their auras feel different from before – like they're not the same people. So much sadness… darkness." She turned to Jaune. "Do you feel it?"

"No," he gulped. "I can see it." Large waves of a red and yellow haze emanated from the two girls.

"Jaune…" Pyrrha cocked her head. "There's nothing there."

"Oh, come on!" He shot around to look at her and threw a hand out in the arena's direction. "You can't all not see the huge clouds of Aura around them!"

"There's nothing there, Jaune," Blake said as she looked on. They definitely had a different vibe about them and she was going to have to watch. With what she'd learned, she'd have to be careful, especially around Ruby. She didn't know what she knew.

Dismayed, Jaune looked on at the growing miasma that leaked from them; the red one twisting its way around Crescent Rose. With a ding, the Aura Meter signaled the match.

ooOOoo

"Hey, Cardin, you think they'll cry?" Russell grinned toward the sisters. "Maybe, we should take it easy on them?" The two boys snickered at them.

"Nah, we gotta' show them their places!" He brought a fist up and tilted a thumb down. "Beneath us!"

"Sounds good, boss!" Russell straightened himself up into as much of a macho posture as he could manage, though it was effectively reversed standing next to Cardin.

"So, look Russ, I want you to lure the dumb one in and I'll knock her out, then we'll teach the blonde not to fuck with our playtime." Russell nodded in affirmation and looked at the two sisters again. They appeared to exchange a few words, though there didn't seem to be enough to form any sort of tactics. "Uh, I think they're winging it again."

"Really? Again? I guess they didn't actually learn anything!" An arrogant laugh escaped Cardin and he focused his sights on them. "Well, whatever. This will be easy."

ooOOoo

"Yang." The blonde focused her eyes on her black-and-red clad sister and grimaced. Without the cape, she really looked like a different person. "Did you have trouble activating earlier?" Silence was the only answer Ruby received. "I forgot your ArtiSem. Sorry, I've been paying so-"

"Much attention to Weiss?" Yang snapped. She deserved that. Clearly, her sister had already been upset previous to Cardin's jeering. He had just been the icing on the cake. Figuring it would be best to deal with the issue later, Ruby moved on to the planning stage.

"Yeah, we'll talk about that later. For now, you know what to do." In response, Yang rolled her eyes. As if Ruby needed to tell her – only show off a little. Miss Goodwitch would probably have a cow if they went all out. They didn't want to kill the idiots in CRDL – just give them a lesson they wouldn't soon forget.

"Right, I got you." A warping sound drew their attention to the Aura Meter, as it measured their auras and began to fill their respective gauges. Figuring she should get started, Ruby deployed Crescent Rose and started to focus her Aura.

Red petals flurried out to her left from her arm, dancing excitedly in the air, swaying as they made their way to the floor. Red eyes basked in the storm of petals and Yang reached up to lightly grasp a single petal that lost its hue and glowed a bright white. Placing it between her teeth, she clamped down and held it in place. As the Aura Meter completed its loading procedure, flames of gold engulfed Yang and the signal to start hummed. The show of flames, followed by a twisted grin spreading across Yang's face, ebbed away at Russell's spunk and Cardin became aggravated with his partner's lack of guts.

"Dude, just bait the annoying one! The flames are for show – she always does this." With that reminder, Russell became somewhat relieved and drew his daggers. Maybe he'd try some sort of feint and some stunts to reel her in. Ruby Rose was known for both her speed and gullibility, but her ability to process a situation rivaled her speed – not to mention her combat tactics were usually borderline insane.

Without proper planning though, she was pretty much useless and that showed in her earlier match, so he would stay wary of the older sister, for now. He closed his eyes and sighed to himself, before refocusing on them. He took a few steps forward before every hair on his body stood and his muscles clammed up.

Basic instincts alerted the body to possible danger and hunters were trained to pay special awareness to their bodies. Right now, his body was processing this unshakeable feeling that some serious shit was about to go down. Reassessing the situation, he noticed Yang's fire licked at her surroundings and scorched everything in its path, except for Ruby. Alarmed, he looked at the meter for reassurance that the flames were indeed harmless and became unnerved by what he saw.

"Cardin, what's going on with them?! I thought you said it couldn't hurt!" Confused, Cardin looked at the board. Nothing was wrong with Russell, but the Aura Meters on their challengers' side dropped a percentage with each passing moment. If it had just been Ruby's, that might have been understandable, but the flames waned away at its owner's aura, too … yet, both girls remained equally unphased.

On the sisters' side, Yang opted for a more supportive role. She took a few steps in Ruby's direction, remaining behind her capeless compadre, and the flames raged once more. Ruby's mother… no… Their mother… even if they shared no blood, Ruby's mom raised Yang as her own… How dare they threaten what little Summer had left behind! Yang reached out toward Ruby and placed her right hand on the shoulder that yielded the haze of petals. With another burst, the petals spread across the arena, creating an infernal storm of molten rain.

As if to pull the same stunt as her earlier match, Ruby dashed forward and Russell prepared to intercept. As she neared, Ruby changed things up and lunged forward. Thinking quickly, Russell ducked out of the way, letting Ruby plow straight into Cardin's incoming mace. Responding with her own set of evasive tactics, Ruby slammed Crescent Rose's blade into the ground, allowing her to vault herself over him. Hands now devoid of her scythe's presence, Ruby grasped Cardin's shoulder with her left hand and snaked her way below him, using her right to cushion her landing. Puzzled, Cardin searched for the flexible girl, finding her sprawled out on the ground and he immediately slammed his mace down.

As it connected with Ruby, her body burst into a flurry of red-hued petals that faded to white as they covered the arena. A tap from behind caused Cardin to swing into another of these flower clones, missing his intended target. A set of searing petals fell from above, igniting the most recent additions to the petal collection, and Cardin became irritated as the smoldering blossoms mocked him. Letting it get the best of him, he blindly swung at Ruby, connecting instead with Russell's face and launching him straight at Yang.

Amidst the commotion, Yang rushed toward their now-separated opponents, armed Ember Celica, and intercepted Russell. As the gauntlets deployed, she threw a right hook and effectively caved his face in on itself and sent him flying into Cardin. As Russell collided with his partner, the incoming force was enough to take Cardin with him. After a moment, Cardin realized they were no longer moving forward, nor had they collided with the ground. In fact, they were hovering above the ground. It was then that he registered the blade of Crescent Rose beside his face, with the pole-arm bearing their weight… Ruby had caught them.

In as short a time as it took to interpret what had occurred, Ruby virtually teleported with Cardin and Russell in tow... arriving next to the blonde… who grinned at them with eyes full of mischief. With a shake of the scythe, the two oafs fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. Cardin rolled onto his back and immediately wished he hadn't. He was greeted with the sight of a cyclone of flaming petals rushing toward them, trapped in the current Ruby's speed had created. Well, on the bright side, at least they'd all be roasted toge- oh come on! Seriously?!

As the conflagration hit them, Yang completely absorbed the concoction of flames and petals into her aura and a golden glow brilliantly outlined her voluptuous frame. Resting her arms on her hips, Yang's grin widened and she disarmed Ember Celica. Flames began to pool around Yang's feet, lighting the ground beneath all of them and she leaned back and cocked her right arm back all the way to the ground, preparing the necessary force for this next move.

The source of heat energy beneath the ground lurched at her hand, attaching itself as it offered a small resistance that tugged her fist toward the ground. The glow that surrounded began to permeate through her being, shaping into an ethereal-like form. Six lengths snaked out from her, taking reptile-like forms that snapped at one another as the energy raged explosively around her. In the mean time, Ruby planted Crescent Rose into the ground, then perched herself atop the sickle.

In a split-second, the chaotic energy went silent and delved into Yang. She launched a rocket-force punch that ripped the energy beneath her from the ground. The force of the action created an updraft that of flames that carried Ruby and the two meatheads with it toward the heavens. Flames licked at them from all sides, melting away their auras, but Ruby smirked through the ordeal. Driven by sheer force, the flames collided with the arena's roof, smothering them.

Reaching the maximum height, Russell's eyes were drawn to Ruby's and they widened in horror. The small girl grinned smugly and his blood ran cold. His chest hollowed as she rolled in the air to prepare the trip down. The slaughter wasn't over yet. Who the fuck was she?! These weren't the Semblances iconic to the sisters, nor were these the happy girls they tormented for fun. These were just a taste of the monsters truly buried beneath their skin and they did it with such ease.

In a flurry of more petals, Ruby vanished and the downdraft that trailed behind her sent them barreling back down to their own demises. Ruby reappeared atop Crescent Rose, eyes closed, and perfectly balanced as she awaited their landing. In that moment, the flames cleared and the petals returned to their former red hue. It truly looked as if the ground was soaking itself in blood, but they were simply just petals.

Having taken heavy damage to their auras, the impact knocked Russell out at just under 30%, with Cardin holding on at 31%. Barely able to move, his foot twitched and he tried to push himself upward but collapsed again. Noticing the remaining percentage, Yang casually walked his way, while humming a tune.

"Yang…" Prominent silver eyes shining through her bangs, Ruby peered down at her sister as she called her name sternly.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." She paused in front of the downed captain and defiantly returned Ruby's gaze. Petal still clinched in her teeth, she flashed a goofy smile before proceeding to tap his foot with her own, just hard enough to take down the last percentage. The blonde wrapped her arms behind her head and waltzed toward the exit, pausing briefly as she passed Miss Goodwitch. "They might need some help." Behind Yang, Ruby hopped off of Crescent Rose, collapsing it and approaching the more agile member of their opponents.

That seemed a bit unnecessary.

Coming from someone that wants me to use unnecessary power?

Ah! I'm a someONE now?!... Now, THIS is exciting!

I despise you.

Little Rose, I would rather our existence be made known under more… spectacular circumstances...

Unsure of where he was, Russell opened his eyes to look at the top of the arena. That's right. He'd just been in a match… but with who? Groggily, he tried to push himself up, but had a hard time. He lifted his head and tried to look down his feet to make sure he was still alive. His vision was blurred, but a dark silhouette approached him, filling itself out vivid accents of red as it drew closer… Who?... Silver… His eyes widened and his breath quickened as he clambered backwards across the floor, but she only walked a little faster.

"St- stay away!" The figure hesitated for moment, considering his request, but it decided against it. Russell found his back against the arena's plasma structured wall and he prayed for forgiveness. They had done horrible things to people in the past, but he never truly meant any of them. He was just doing what his leader did. They were all afraid of him. He didn't know that cape was so important to them! The figure leaned down and Russell was sure it was the end.

"Miss Rose! That is enough!" The figure ignored their instructor, remaining focused on Russell and the haziness began to clear from his vision.

Instead of some horrifying figure, he could make out concerned silver eyes and a hand offered to him. He looked to her hand and then back at her to wonder to himself if any of this had been real. It must have, otherwise Glynda's voice wouldn't have carried so much concern. Regardless, he took her hand in hopes she would understand he regretted his actions.

"If you're truly sorry, Russell, you should stand up for yourself. You should also make an effort to earn forgiveness." He gave her a confused look. Had she read his mind? Ruby suddenly blushed and rubbed the back of her head as she helped him up. "Oh, uh, you've been talking out loud. I think we knocked the inner monologue out of you! You might have a concussion." He grunted a dazed response and his eyes traveled to Miss Goodwitch as she hurried to check on him.

"I'll be needing to speak with the two of you later." The huntress glared at Ruby as she passed by and Ruby trotted over to Yang, bashfully walking out and bickering with Yang.

"Hey Yang," Ruby grinned mischievously. "You moved from your spot." The blonde paused for a moment as they arrived at their desks before it dawned on her.

"Oh, whatever," the blonde playfully swiped at Ruby's right arm. "I didn't even move that much! I barely did anything!"

"Barely… did…" Ruby stared at her in disbelief. "My intention was just to scare them with the Searing Petals. You decided to be all fancy and show off with the flaming updraft! You could show off less!"

"Oh, I could show off less? Well, excuse me for manipulating air currents and basically teleporting around the ring… Oh wait, that was you!" The blonde bit back with her own brand of sarcasm. Yang eyed Ruby's cape before grabbing it and handing it at her. "You don't look right without it… and tactically, it would have been better." Ruby gave her a confused look that begged her to elaborate. "What?! You make more petals. More petals equal more fuel!" Yang shouted excitedly toward her, earning a facepalm from the younger girl.

"I was raised by an arsonist… That must be what's wrong with me!"

"Hey! That hurts!" Yang smacked her in the arm and Ruby stuck her tongue out in response. "I prefer 'Flame Philanthropist', thank you!"

"Whatever," Ruby laughed through the word, before snatching the petal out of Yang's mouth and letting it disintegrate. "And give me that! You don't need it, anymore!" The laughter continued but died out when she felt six pairs of eyes staring holes into them. The crimson and coal huntress-to-be began to sweat as it now dawned on her that she would have to explain so much. Slowly, she turned her head to meet the many eyes of their friends and she froze. Ruby looped herself around Yang and hid behind her. "Yang… pressure… help!"

"Relax, I got this!" The golden girl shifted her weight onto the table and drummed her fingers. "Well, wasn't that an explosive match!" Silence…. "Well, I tried! You're on your own!"

"Yaaang!"

"Ruby, what the hell was that?!" The heiress initiated the barrage of questions. "You couldn't have tried that hard earlier?!" So many questions flooded the heiress, fueling her frustration. It just didn't make any sense.

How was it that Ruby and Yang were so much farther ahead together than with their own partners? Not even once had they shown that amount of control over themselves. By all accounts, it should have been impossible to be placed on the same team, let alone wind up in the same classes, as them. Every student had to take a placement test before they were even allowed to attend Beacon – regardless of acceptance. Afterward, students were either assigned to the Emerald Forest Challenge or special placement among similarly skilled peers was granted to the exceptional ones, with both clearly falling into the latter category.

"I think it was us winning," Ruby's brow furrowed causing Weiss to grit her teeth. The crimson girl took notice of her assigned partner's irritation. "CRDL started crap with us and we finished it. I don't really know what else you want me to say, Weiss. At least, we stood up for Team RWBY."

"Well, if everything went the way we all wanted, then maybe youcould have chosen the right partner." Weiss said sarcastically.

"What're you trying to say, Schnee?" Yang stepped in.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Guys," Jaune tried to play the peacekeeper. "Let's calm down."

"Stay out of this, Jaune," Yang glared at him and he backed down. "Seriously, what're you trying to say?"

"Things weren't going right, so you just traded us out for whoever you could show off the best with! Is this all a joke to you?" The heiress failed at finding the right words and lashed out. Ah, so that was it. Having figured out the problem,Ruby smiled warmly. "Oh! And now this is funny to you?! Blake and I are trying to make the best out of our abilities with our given situations and you two running off on secret bathroom rendezvous and showing off makes this team look like a joke!" Insulted, Yang took a step forward, stopping when Ruby held up a hand to halt her.

"Stop, Yang."

"Oh, what a surprise! You take her side! This is bull-"

"I said, 'Stop', Yang… Calm down… Too much adrenaline…" Ruby became quieter as she finished speaking. The blonde pouted and collapsed hard into her seat, keeping an annoyed glare trained on the heiress. She'd be damned if she let Weiss keep hounding Ruby. "It's not like that, Weiss. It's not a game… It's just, enough is enough. They won't bother us anymore, now."

"Ugh!" Weiss vocalized her frustration. "That's not the point!"

"Then say it." It was like Ruby knew what Weiss wanted to say. Why was she being so difficult?!

"I… just… it's…" Words failed her once more and the heiress struggled with expressing herself. The dismissal bell rang and she slammed her hands on the desk. "Forget it!" She stormed out of the classroom with haste. "You obviously don't need me, so I don't need you."

"What's eating her?" Yang off-handedly commented, earning a scoff from Blake.

"You don't get it? You really don't get what you two did?" Yang gave her an alarmed look that said that she genuinely didn't understand what was so bad about it.

"I take it 'No' is the wrong answer, but it's the only one I have?" Blake gave an aggravated sigh and began her explanation.

"Sure, Cardin started it. Yeah, he needed to be put in his place by someone… but what you two did… I understand why… but I feel the same as Weiss." Blake clenched her fists together. "Ruby was moved up a couple years, so she's already ahead. She's a prodigy – it's expected - but you're the same age as us, Yang." Blake gritted her teeth. "I understand you've lived your whole lives together, but to us, we all just met… According to student guidelines, the entrance exam is supposed to place us amongst peers of similar skill level, but that outclassed what most people around us are capable of at this point in our career. It stings a lot that my partner is ridiculously more efficient with a member of my team other than myself - that I can't achieve even similar results. It says that I'm the one holding her back…" Blake paused and gathered herself. "Have either of you ever even experienced what it's like to feel disposable? Like nothing you do will ever be good enough?…" The two sisters took a moment to consider Blake's words before Ruby started to walk toward the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" Yang jumped up.

"…To find Weiss…"

"I'll go wi-"

"I'd rather do this on my own," Ruby scratched the back of her head. "It's probably best if we don't partner up for a while… That's kinda' why we're here, right?" Ruby left the room and Yang crossed her arms in thought. As Blake passed her, Yang reached out and touched her fingertips to Blake's arm.

"Walk with me."

ooOOoo

AN: Woooo, fight stuff. Yaaaaaaay! So I'm wondering if any of you guys picked up the reference that I made with Yang's Semblance. If you did, good on you! You'll probably be interested in what Yang has going on! If not, I can't wait 'til it happens and everything suddenly clicks! Lots of info dumped at the beginning, but I think it helps to bridge the gap between Ruby and the others – especially Weiss. I want Weiss to go through a period where she questions how she thinks of others before the incident that makes her officially see everyone in a different light happens.

Let's see… So, there are four more chapters in the Partners segment, a short arc after it, and I'm halfway through the arc after that. In the coming chapters, you'll get an explanation of Ruby's arm and the incident Nora referred to, the team gets its first official mission and goes through hell, Neptune and Sun debut, Blake gets territorial when Yang's BFF shows up, and Weiss becomes the overbearing mom friend. Wow, it actually didn't seem like that much happened when I was writing it…