I do not own RWBY

Little one,

Just because you're in pain doesn't mean you should go home with random men. Anubis told me you were smart please don't get yourself killed before we meet again. I hope you enjoy my gift.

Tossing the note away, she stuffed the rose gold flask in her pocket before heading back to the academy for a shower. She'd expected a headache when she woke up this morning not to have the best sleep she'd had in a while. That man was the person Anubis told her about but she had no idea who he was. Well besides the fact he'd driven away her nightmares so easily they might not exist. She'd felt safe with him in a way that only Cardin had brought out in her. He was strong enough that nothing in this world could ever harm him she'd realized that even in her drunken state. Oh, well, they would see each other again soon.

On another note, today was the day she would be meeting Raven's other students. Dakota of course would be there she couldn't wait to see how strong the wolf faunus was. She suspected that Adam Taurus was one of Raven's students although she had no proof. Either way, she needed to get ready before her aunt arrived. It was easy to return to the school, given that it was four in the morning there was no chance of anyone seeing her. Part of her thought she should check on her classmates, instead, she took a page from her new friend's book and left a note.

Yeah, she was a coward, but there was no way they would allow her to leave. She had at least a few months until she reached her limit and broke down again.

Showering quickly, she didn't hesitate to pull on her combat outfit and zip up her jacket, before shoving the flask in her pocket. Eyeing the feather dangling from her hair she wondered if how her father would react to her having a flask now but she pushed away the question. There was no time to worry about that when she was leaving soon. Grabbing her weapons, she stormed from the bathroom only to find Yang sitting on her bed. Which would've been fine if Cardin was sitting beside her putting on the first united front the two had ever formed. In any other situation, she would've been amused.

"Have any good drinks,' Cardin asked. There was no judgment in his voice. He'd been there the first time she'd broken apart, nothing would ever compare to how horrible that day had been. To them both, there was a difference between her losing a bit of control and shattering completely under the pressure.

"Yeah."

"Did it help?"

"Yeah," She honestly felt a lot better than she had before she'd went drinking. There was no way that she could keep going without allowing herself to decompress every so often.

He stood before moving to lay a hand on her head. This close he could feel the emotions running under her skin as if they were his own. She wasn't lying about feeling better now although her habits were something, he wished she would break. At the moment she was not only skittish but fully prepared to run away from them all. She needed time away from everyone that would treat her like a child. He wasn't about to make her hate him by keeping her here when she wanted to run free. Ruby always made her way back to his side eventually or he went to hers. Either way, they wouldn't be apart for long.

"Be safe," he said softly. Ruffling her hair, he noticed her eyes close as she basked in his acceptance.

"Really that's it?"

The anger in Yang's eyes was slightly annoying but Ruby couldn't stop herself from smiling. When angry her sister really did look like her mother.

"Ruby doesn't need us to baby her," Cardin stated. Shifting away from Ruby he pretended not to notice how she relaxed even further at his action.

"Is that why you're going to train with Raven," Yang asked. The accusing tone of her voice destroyed all the work Cardin had done to calm down the reaper in less than an instant.

"That's part of it," she admitted. She needed to get stronger, but the other reason was even more simple. She wanted to meet Adam, she wanted to see the man who decided to test her.

Glancing at Cardin she wasn't all that shocked to see amused understanding in his gaze. Almost purring when he reached out to run a hand through her hair again, she hoped that he would be alright without her here. While she was gone he would be the one in charge of the others, although she had no idea if they would actually listen to him. If they didn't then he might have to make them; part of her wished she would be here to see his sadistic side. It had been far too long since he'd cut loose.

"See you soon."

It wasn't a question but a statement. Nodding in agreement she gave him a quick hug before doing the same to her still fuming sister. Slumping in defeat, Yang hugged her back.

(Adam)

As always Raven's cabin gave off a warmth that the woman herself refused to acknowledge existed. Three floors tall with rich wooden walls the cabin was situated deep in the Anima forest only a few miles from the base of the Branwen tribe. A tribe that would be his soon all he had to do was prove to Raven that he was ready to take it from her; he doubted it would take much worse since the woman was getting ready to retire.

Opening the door, he ducked to the side avoiding the kick Vernal sent in his direction. Grabbing the girl's ankle, he tossed her away hoping that the sneak attacks weren't going to be an everyday thing. Not even bothering to glance at the brown-haired girl, he entered the cabin tossing his bag on the red-trimmed couch. From the scent of coffee, Dakota was already here too. He was proved right when he found the wolf faunus in the kitchen glaring at the coffee being made as if it had personally offended him. It wasn't that shocking given that the man was pickier with his drinks than Viper was with poison.

"Where's the new kid?"

"Sparing with Raven," Dakota said. Motioning to the window, he almost growled at the coffee maker.

"Is she any good," he asked. He'd seen the girl's battle against Viper but he wanted to see how strong she was in person.

"Oi bastard don't ignore me!"

"Yeah, she's a vicious little thing," Dakota said. He didn't even glance at Vernal who had finally managed to find her way back inside. The huffing and puffing coming from the brunet was a normal occurrence.

"That's good."

If she was strong then she would survive them. Sidestepping another of Vernal's sneak attacks he didn't even blink when she crashed into the counter. He was honestly starting to think there was something wrong with her mind, but there was nothing he could do short of putting her out of his misery. Glancing out the window the redhead could see nothing but a hurricane of petals tearing apart the yard. Little dashes of black twisted through the air followed by the ringing of steel.

Her speed was impressive although nothing that a trained and skilled fighter couldn't handle. None of his men would fall for her little habit of dashing around unless they were either playing with her or named Yuma. The bat faunus had a habit of getting distracted by quickly moving targets and shinny objects; that didn't make the man any less of a cold-blooded killer. The fact was all killers had quirks, he couldn't wait to see what quirks Ruby had.

Laying a hand on the hilt of his sword, he wondered how she'd react if he jumped into the middle of her battle with Raven. The urge to discover it was almost overwhelming but he pushed it down, it wasn't as if his teacher would approve of him jumping in, although the desire to see Ruby's shocked expression was almost enough to outweigh the fear of Raven.

"Dude, don't do it," Dakota said. Sighing he turned his gaze away from the window as the other faunus held out a coffee cup in his direction. Raising an eyebrow behind his mask he took the cup.

"Giving up?"

Scoffing, Dakota grabbed a glass of water before heading toward the living room. Raven bought cheap coffee again. Sitting down he leaned back. With Adam's arrival, they were all here although he had no idea why Raven had decided to host a hunt but he suspected it had something to do with the attack on Beacon. The woman had been on edge since the attack happened yet she'd told them nothing of what she was planning beyond giving the order for the tribe to start slowly moving toward Mistral. He almost wanted to say they were preparing for war but the city had always looked the other way when they did less than legal activities. It didn't make sense to try and take on the entire Kingdom.

Flickering his gaze to Adam when the man moved from the kitchen to the backyard, he pushed down a smirk. From the moment Adam learned about Ruby the man wanted to test her and he doubted the little reaper would object to returning the favor. They were both incredibly violent people with no concern over if their actions were right or wrong they simply pushed on with persistence and drive; it was what made them unstoppable. Having two people who amounted to unstoppable forces of nature in the same group would either be a great thing or kill them all. Was it wrong that he was shipping it just a bit?

Adam had always been the one in line to take over the Tribe even if the tribe was slowly turning into a military force that could rival most Kingdom defenses. As Raven's first student the man had always had dibs on the leadership although it helped that neither Vernal nor Dakota much cared to become leaders. They were much more suited to the battlefield where they could wreak havoc with no restraints. So, neither of them had ever been a threat to his claim, however, now there was a silver-eyed reaper who could threaten his status. The logical thing to do would be to take her out; she was a threat. She'd been a thorn in his side since she sent that berserker to save Blake.

That had been his plan until he watched the video of her fight with Viper. Ruby was stubborn, bloodthirsty, and vicious. She was nothing like the classic image of a heroic huntress out to save the people from the horrors of the dark. In truth, he saw more of himself in her than he was almost willing to admit. She was dangerous, in just a year or two she might even be on Viper's level in terms of combat ability. He logically should've ordered her death regardless of if she was a fellow student or not, but he hadn't.

Eyeing her every movement as she danced around the training yard he was unable to look away. She'd used a dagger to fight Viper but she used a sword to fight Raven. Her ability to use multiple weapons was interesting it also raised her value as both a combatant and a person. If she were a faunus he would've already offered her a place in his inner circle if only because of her skill level. What really caught his attention was the expression on her face. The wicked smirk and joy filled silver-eyes were enough to show that she had a love for battle; Blake had never worn such an expression, if she had then he would've been a bit worried. On Ruby however, the expression looked so natural that it might've been her default setting. She was dangerous.

Skidding to a stop as Raven pressed her blade against her throat, Ruby laughed. Eyes widening behind his mask, Adam stared at the girl who stood there laughing despite the blade pressing gently against her skin. The pure happiness on her face was something that made his heart speed up. Blood red petals floated around her just barely brushing against her body on their journey to the ground. For only an instant he wondered if they were as soft as they looked. She really was dangerous in more than one way.

He was hyper-aware of the way her hair brushed against her neck as she turned her attention to him, amusement shinned in her eyes lighting them up until they were pools of liquid moonlight. It was obvious that she was only half-listening to Raven who was discussing her performance. Catching his teacher's gaze when the woman followed Ruby's line of sight he noted the exasperation in her gaze. Rolling her eyes the woman gave an order for the girl not to spend too much time training before stalking toward him. Relaxing as the woman patted his shoulder, he turned his attention back to Ruby who simply eyed him with a raised eyebrow.

Tilting her training sword toward him the girl gave a challenging smirk that he couldn't refuse. Scoffing, he tried to ignore just how childish it was to lower himself to her level as he picked up the training sword Raven had left on the ground. The only thing that warned him she was going to attack was the flash of red when the light hit her jacket. Blocking her strike, he didn't bother to use both hands only to wish that he had; the girl was stronger than she looked. Twisting away from him she raised a taunting eyebrow daring him to chase after her.

Every action she took was childish, yet he still moved after her if only to prove he was the stronger fighter. Letting the sound of clashing steel fill the yard he could almost feel the years of responsibility fall away. How long had it been since he let himself fall into a battle without feeling pressured to uphold the honor of his people? Knocking the sword from her hand he expected her to surrender, instead, she drifted almost like one of her falling petals. Closing her fingers around his wrist she slid into his guard easily to press the blunt edge of her dagger against his throat. The smirk on her lips was nothing short of wicked. Meeting her eyes although she couldn't tell, he finally allowed his lips to curve into a small smile.

Dropping the practice sword, he barely noticed her dance away as his hand fell onto the hilt of his sword. Flipping the knife in her hand she laughed with a primal joy that he could feel growing in his own veins. Lunging toward him, her hair was a curtain of red and black that looked far softer than it probably was. She was fast but predictable, but this wasn't a battle that either of them wanted to end early. Matching her movements, he noticed the smile never fell from her lips, she was truly happy that they were fighting.

She was floating. Adam Taurus, the dangerous leader of the White Fang, was a good fighter. He was strong enough to keep up with her; he was good enough that just one mistake would end this match. In truth the reaper was all too aware that he was better than her, she just didn't care. This was fun, a sort of fun she hadn't felt since she fought Cinder. The rampaging warmth in her blood was almost too much to think about as her body moved almost on instinct.

What color were his eyes?

Would he let her play with his hair?

This was the same thing she felt around her criminals. The desire to fight for nothing other than fun; there was nothing better than this. Without bothering to hold back a laugh she flipped forward aiming a kick at his neck; the arm he brought up to block her didn't keep her from seeing the almost invisible smile on his face. She wanted to see more. Everything he was hiding from his eyes to the skill that he refused to show; she wanted all of it. Lashing out at his neck with her dagger she soared when sparks flew off the sword he used to block.

Landing roughly when he tossed her away, Ruby threw the dagger at his face before vanishing in a burst of petals. Dodging the dagger, he didn't bother to follow the weapon with his eyes as it flew past him. Appearing in a shower of petals her hand wrapped around his wrist keeping his weapon from swinging at her head at the same time her knee impacted his stomach. Crashing to the ground the man barely allowed her a moment to feel victory before yanking his wrist from her grip and flipping them over. Stradling the woman he gently pressed the blade of his sword against her skin daring her to move. Pouting Ruby couldn't keep the disappointment from her gaze. She'd been so close to winning or at least stealing his mask. Closing her eyes in defeat she hoped that the chuckle he let out wasn't part of her imagination.

Sitting on the ground beside her, Adam rolled his eyes when she almost instantly bounced into a sitting position. Tilting her head like a curious cat, she studied him as if he was the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen. On some level her interest was flattering. Nodding to herself the reaper offered him her hand with a smile that screamed wicked.

"I'm Ruby Rose," she said brightly. The eager expression on her face was enough to make him scoff.

"Adam Taurus."


Hi guys,

It's finally here the long-awaited meeting between Adam and Ruby! What did you guys think of their meeting? The next few chapters are going to be the Hunting Arc followed by the Mistral Arc. I'll be mainly trying to build Ruby and Adam's relationship during the Hunting Arc; they have to be friends first before they become anything else. Anyway, what are your thoughts on this chapter and Ruby and Adam?

-have a good day and stay safe

-Shyla